Asking my oldest daughter Srey-Yuu to take pictures together with me is like pulling teeth, as you can see in the above photo.
That's A Little Better 🤳
To get a picture with Srey-Yuu, usually I have to secretly signal my wife without letting our daughter know, then I have to restrain her while producing a smile, and the results are often comical. I wouldn't call her a cooperative photography subject, but sometimes she offers a natural smile free of charge.
Document Me Too! 🌿
Not long after embarrassing Srey-Yuu, I heard Pov call out to me, and this almost always means to snap a photo for Hive content. She was busy today cutting grass and vines to see what was underneath, and we found wood scraps, hand tools, and even some glass bottles with mystery liquids.
Butterflies Like Pee 🦋
Yellow is an appropriate color for this gang of butterflies I saw while pumping water from the river. I smelled urine and found these pee drinkers just congregating around the shiny wet rocks. Butterflies are beautiful but disgusting creatures, just as happy sucking on some fruit as they are sucking perched on a turd.
Swim Break With Monkey-B 🏊♀️
I have been telling Monkey-B for days that we'd go swimming together, so today I pulled the trigger and took her down to the river. We weren't in the water for 5 minutes before the rain started, but I did capture a photo as proof that we went swimming.
Wedding Party Treats 🍚
Our next-door neighbors are throwing a wedding party, and today they have been making preparations. We've been officially summoned with a formal invitation letter, but here's the catch, you're expected to put money in an envelope when you attend these things, and this is meant to offset the costs of all the alcohol and food you'll consume.
They know we're vegan and don't drink alcohol, so by sending the invitation letter, it means they expect some money even though I don't enjoy the food, drinks, or music that is played so loud it prevents any attempt at conversation and getting to to know the attendees. At least Monkey-B scored some sticky rice the day before the big event.
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Again today you showed something amazing and touched my heart by seeing your closeness and laughter with your child, you are a humorous and warm father, I know you are very busy, taking care of your family, taking care of us members of #aseanhive, but no matter how busy you are there is always time for family, jokes with children and wife, sometimes many people are indifferent to it, and consider jokes and humor with family not so necessary.
I find it very difficult to joke with my children, they are more familiar with their mothers, maybe because I have little time for them, just imagine sometimes I go to work in the garden before they wake up in the morning and come back when they are asleep, sometimes even in a day I don't have time say a word with them, only shedding tears on their cheeks while I stroked their heads.
Oh my dear friend.
I've experienced the same thing as you feel when attending a wedding invitation where I live, at that time I was fasting, which means I can't eat and drink until the sun goes down, even though I still put money in the envelope as alms, however The funny thing is that I don't dare to put in small quantities, because it's customary in our area to have the name of the person who gave it on the envelope, I smiled and had to take out my HBD of 15 HBD just to shake hands with the owner of the house he he.
Haha, same here. Every Cambodian has a special book they keep which contains all the wedding parties they went to, how much was put in the envelope, and also the names and amounts of money of all the people who attended their wedding party.
As a foreigner, it's unfortunate because I've paid to attend so many parties but I had to get married in another country because Cambodia wouldn't allow us a legal marriage. I always joke with my wife that we should have a wedding party to earn back all the money we've spent attending wedding parties in our lives.
This made me laugh! You funny guy!
Disgusting or only natural? ;<)
I believe us humans are about the only animals who can't eat their own shit, without getting sick or dying haha!
Has Srey-Yuu always been so photo-ungenic? ( I made up that word )
or do you think it's a teen thing?
No matter what, it does indeed make for interesting pictures.
I get your point on the not wanting to pay for a wedding that doesn't really give you anything in return.
Perhaps think of the value of some sticky rice and put that amount of money in an envelope ( it would help if the envelopes all looked the same and were deposited in a box though haha! )
Butterflies are deceitful, makes me want to create a coffee table book filled with only butterflies on trash, turds, and pee. I constantly explain to Srey-Yuu that the more she resists photos, the better the photos get. The only time I hate taking a photo is when everybody poses and smiles like mannequins.
I think one of the hardest things for Cambodians to understand about me is that I can speak fluent Khmer and love hanging out with Cambodians while also wanting nothing to with the culture or religion, although I do respect it. The vegetarian thing is mind-boggling by itself, already caused a lot of whispers around here.
Hahaha! Please don spoil one of the last things that I always enjoy ( just kidding ). Forget that, too late - from now on I will think of shit and pee whenever I see these creatures. It might make me laugh though haha!
My mom always made my siblings and I pose for photos ( back in the days before digital photogaphy ), so much so that we couldn´t smile any longer when she finally took the photo. I learnt the trick to fake smile though. Next level is the duckface.
I guess you feel the same about The US of A ,>)
or did you lose all respect for your counry of origin?
P.S. Do the butterflies also gossip about your eating habits / lifestyle?
Big hug to you and your family!
I never thought about it, but I guess my attitude towards the USA and Cambodia are very similar. The biggest difference is the weather, economic freedom, and the fact that Cambodians actually have time to hang out and socialize, and they for the most part are not consumed by the overwhelming stress that often plagues those in western countries.
There's a lot that I recognize in the above ( concerning The Netherlands and Portugal ), although there's still enough stressed out people around here ( but I guess they are mainly the expats ).
The thing that still troubles me in the USA is the 60-hour work week that the working poor have to endure. I do think Europeans as a whole are better at not letting their work/careers control their lives. Dutch are notoriously uptight, especially the older generation, but I must say you are one relaxed Dutchman-osaurus.
Start the first picture It creates smiles and laughter, you and your daughter are such a lovely sight. 😄😄 If comparison, Asking your daughter to take pictures together with you is like pulling teeth, I think asking my son to take pictures together with me. Like multiple pulling teeth. You are such a good comparison I like this sentence haha.
If i just look at the butterfly picture you took, it looks beautiful, but reading your description of butterflies, it's the opposite.
If I were near the river like you I will jump into the river every day Thailand is very hot.
Good day. Thank you.
Butterflies are not to be trusted, just a bunch of poop-loving deceivers 😉. I love the expression "...like pulling teeth," and we have so many creative expressions like this where I'm from in the USA. Unfortunately the longer I live in Cambodia, the more English things like this I forget.
I will leave you with another beautiful expression that we say back home.
This is used as insult when asking someone to leave your house and not come back. I love that even when we are being rude, we still take the time to make sure it rhymes 😁.
Yup. Envelope with money in to attend ceremonies, absolutely the same here. The worst will be in Hong Kong. Your envelope will be opened at the reception counter, and the value and names will be called at the PA system so the whole crowd are aware of how much you've contributed 🤣
Now that is extreme, I would feel so ashamed. I really have an aversion to all things with public contributions like this. If I give money to any cause, I like it to be anonymous, otherwise the motives are questionable. I once went to a wedding party and asked the money takers to take my envelope, but please do not tell the newlyweds the money came from me because I didn't our friendship to involve money in this strange way, and also because I wasn't able to enjoy the alcohol of non-vegan food at the party. They promised and immediately told the newlyweds how much money I gave them, hard to break habits I guess.
ha-ha-ha.... it's really the first time I've seen her hug tightly for our dearest Princess from behind, a little annoying to a daughter of ours it doesn't matter in my opinion,
those memories that he will remember someday when he grows up or he has a family later.. things like that are hard to forget..
it looks like pov is carrying grass, and the atmosphere looks already bright, the soil around your house has started to dry out,
I do hope they are all good memories when look back on them in the future. Right now we are just hoping for the rain to subside for a few days so we can do some more dirt work.
That is one of the tradition in South Asean Country I think. If you have a big family even, you will do the same. I do not aggree with the tradition but if we reject we will be socially punished. I prefer to avoid social punishment because it is hard living in my neighbourhood with the sticker of social punishment.
Social punishment is a good term for it, and I'm sure Indonesian culture is very similar because Cambodian was once a colony of Java. I totally agree with you.
Srey Yu did smile for the second photo, maybe she secretly likes to be photographed with you. We have the same custom of giving red packets of money (called ang pow) if we attend weddings. It is very expensive to hold a wedding reception, and the ang pow will help to cover some of the costs.
This is true, I just have to play with her a bit first to break her pre-teen defense system. We have "ang pow" in Cambodia too, for Chinese New Year. Many Khmers are of Chinese descent, so the Chinese cultural holidays are well-known here even by Cambodians without any Chinese ancestry.
In Khmer language, the money in the envelopes for wedding parties is translated as "string hand/arm," not really sure exactly why it's called this. The purpose is the same, to cover the costs, but often times a lucky married couple can make a generous profit.
Lovin the Srey Yu shots. That would have been the same look on my face at that age if my dad did that haha. Nice!
I am now a little disappointed with butterflies. I didn't imagine them on anything but a flower. I'll have to get that out of my mind. They're just so pretty.
Butterflies are poo-loving liars. They like anything sweet, and are just as pleased with a fresh pineapple slice as a fresh turd.
Ah hugs, is a wonderful yet memorable. I've seen so much when they ( kids ) have grow up and that day gets married. Hugs and memories from this pic surely going to become another pic sir should keep it for. And is priceless sir.
She will look back on this time one day and be glad I took all these embarrassing photos. Indeed priceless 😁
Kids grow up very fast too sir. Just blink the eyes the hits 20's already.
Love the photos of Srey Yu, it's hard to get kids laughing sometimes. Once kids get to a certain age it's just not cool to be amused by their parents, lol. ScreyPov looks very busy clearing the land. You guys are very productive.
We try to productive, but hard to manage Hive, parenting, homeschooling, land work, so on and so forth. Once we have a renter in the cabin, the extra income will give us a stable foundation to live on so we can make time for projects.
Bring on the renter! Does each cabin have its own toilet or do you have to share yours?
The cabin has a water and gravity fed water system with western toilet and a showerhead. But the brick house has no running water or toilet, and only an outhouse outside. In the future we hope to remodel the brick house too, perhaps break it into rental rooms.
Sounds like a big venture but it would be good to have income coming in with several rooms to rent. How big is the brick house and when you remodel it would you livein the cabin as your own house? Or are you going to write a blog on all of that in which case you tell me to be patient and all will be revealed 😂
Right now we just began work on the cabin. We have moved our stuff the brick house, two small rooms and one big room. Good idea, I should write a blog detailing the plans.
Those photos of you and your daughter are cute! Looks like you are now adjusted with your new home.. When we were young, we used to swim in the nearby river back home.
Thank you, I only wish she would take more shots with me for the memories. I grew up in the cornfields of Indiana, so we only had big dangerous brown rivers and snake-infested dirty ponds full of farm chemcials to swim in, so I didn't do it much as a kid.
The first time I saw mountains as a child, I was truly amazed, and I can still remember playing in the cold clean water. I think in the Philippines you have a lot of places like this because of all the mountains there, such a blessing to grow up with natural places like this around you.
We've already heard of the term "instagram husbands" snapping pictures for their wives/girlfriends, but I can see "Hive husband" becoming a thing as well. !LOL
"Hive husband," I would be honored. I'll have to make Pov walk behind me and hold the camera on our next adventure, a good opportunity for plenty of Dad booty shots.
🤣🤣🤣
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i love that first picture... haha. Looks like you got her in the end.
I've been invited a few parties where donations were expected but I do drink so I got my money's worth :)
I know exactly how to crack Srey-Yuu's anti-Dad defense system. You nailed it, the attitude of most Cambodians at a wedding party is apocalyptic, purging to continue eating and drinking is not uncommon.
A wild guess it was one of the urinating tourists passing by yes? (didnt know butterflies fancy pee...lol)
ps: I love seeing you guys happy :)
Anything sweet with moisture content is fair game for a butterfly. There's always a secret when there's too much beauty. Moths aren't as pretty as butterflies, but at least they aren't sucking turds all day.
Welcome to cool neighborhood ;) . I think even the butterfly is welcome your family ;).
There is never a moment here not filled with butterflies.
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Beautiful, but their yellow color hints at the yellow pee they are sipping.