Second-hand clothes in Cambodia

The used clothes have been imported to Cambodia for many years since Khmer Rouge had been finished.  The used clothes are from American, some parts of Europe, Korean, Japan and China. Those countries are contributing the second-hand clothes as the charity to the poor countries like Cambodia. There are many kinds of used clothes that are available all over the country in Cambodia. You can have shoes, sports, trousers, pants even underwear staff and more. Most of the buyers come from the poor who have low income such as farmer,s motor taxi drivers...Etc as they think the second-hand clothes are much cheaper than the brand new clothes and their quality is almost the same, the price of used clothes range from 0.20 $ to 2 $ in average. People  can buy them from the markets, along the street stalls, and some sellers even sell to the people's doors.

The clothes are sold in rural area of Cambodia in Svay Rieng Province. The seller buys the clothes from the city and sells out to the province

 

The clothes are sold in Phnom Penh City, Psar Kandal Market.

 

The clothes are stored in the storehouse before go to the markets, each pack weight 100 kilograms.

Ap or the Krasue​​​​ (អាប)

Many religions believe that the Ap or the Krasue (Thailand ) heredity came from The Physical or Supernatural. Someone trying to learn the black arts in Hindu culture makes a mistake or studies the wrong magic. It appeared to them to separate their head and body. Past sins are also related to Ap Heredity; women who aborted or killed someone in a previous life will become a Ap as punishment. Another story refers to a person who later became the Ap, by food and drink contaminated with an old Ap 's saliva or flesh. Transformations into a Ap mostly happens to the relatives of witches, especially their daughters or granddaughters. Commonly it can happen only to the woman or teenage girl.

Ap is a malevolent spirit appearing during the night with her internal organs hanging down from the neck, trailing below the head. Since it has no lower body this spirit hovers in the air above the ground. The organs below the head include a length of intestine and are usually represented freshly daubed with blood. Her teeth often include pointed fangs. This hungry ghost is always active in the night when it goes out hunting, seeking blood to drink or raw flesh to devour and other dirty things. After hunting for such food, the flying head will go to rejoin the body before the sunrise, and if anyone turn the body upside down, the head will  rejoin in the wrong side and causes the great pain to Ap.

Ap person is alive as an human being unlike ghost. At the day time Ap person can live her life other normal people, but there are some noticeable marks which make Ap person is different from other from some points. Ap can’t look straight directly into normal human’s eyes because she feel frightened with normal human’s eyes and when she goes out at daytime she always wear thick clothes covered up from head to toes.

Ap can prey on pregnant women in their homes just before or after the childbirth. It uses tongue to catch the fetus within the womb and its sharp teeth to devour it. This habit, among other unmentionable things that this spirit does, is believed to be the cause of many diseases affecting mainly women during their pregnancy. In order to protect pregnant women from becoming victims before delivery, their relatives place thorny branches around the house.

Cambodian Rice Noodle

This dish is served as one of the famous dishes in Cambodia. It is inspired by Chinese Noodle, but
it’s far different because of its soup, ingredients and vegetables .  If you travel all over the country, you would see Cambodian noodle sole all over the place with different ways, along the road, on restaurant or even at some people’s home.

Mostly Khmer people have it as breakfast, lunch and dinner. It will be served in the family or even in the party.

Noodle paste is made from grinned rice and mixed with water. Noodle soup is make from fish, coconut milk, prohok, and grinned ingredients.The soup was topped with a little salad of flower petals called phkar sngor – finely shredded banana flower, cucumber and green papaya and some other Cambodian vegetables to give the same texture and taste.

 The process of grinned rice with the traditional tool

This is the raw rice after being grinned and it becomes pasty which is easy to make the noodle.

After the rice paste is cooked, they cool it to make up the shape of the noodle like this.

 
Many kinds of Vegetables are severed with noodle soup



Cambodian have noodle as their meal for breakfast along the road

Ghost Scarecrows in Rural Area of Cambodia

 Hey, most of us may have seen those  Ghost Scarecrows in some places in any time that we are in some rural areas. Probably you feel wow, a little bit scared or even wonder why some Cambodian People put such scaring thing in front of there houses.


Is it to scare kids not to leave home or what ?

This is one of the scarecrows which is made up of the wooden body covered with the old and torn clothes. On the head wearing the leave hat make from Slek Tnont, and it is usually hanging on in front of the house where the gate way located. There are more scarecrows made up with the same patterns and maybe some different decoration.






Well, we will talk about the faith and belief. As Ihave known for long time and been told by my parents while driving to those places. My dad told me that, this anti-ghost scarecrows are used to scare and to drive away the evils who always come at night to take the people's souls


Probably this is really unsure for what, but people put those caring things just whenever there are some serious spread-out diseases take place in the community such as  malaria diarrhea or others cruel disease that come to harm and take away many lives from the community.

houses because the evil can't get inside the house and the people believe that if the evil come to community that will be life losing in the place, and they believe Scarecrows will drive away those evil from theirwhole family will be secure

The Cart and Scale that Keep Some People to Survive

This morning, my mom and I collect all the broken zinc from the roof, and we replace the new. I call for the chunk buyer to buy the unused zinc. 

The 30 year old man, chunk buyer comes in front of my house with his rolling cart to buy my broken zinc. 

Well let see what he’s got in his cart, and how he makes his business.

 

Heyyyyyy, there are some bottles, cans, plastic container, papers or oven old things in kitchen, haha, this time I don’t see TV or Radio in it.   

There is one special thing that would make him work out with his business, it is a Scale. OOPs, he can pay you 600 riels equal to 13 cent in dollar for 10 cans, or bottle, but for the iron, zinc and papers, that’s just something to work with the scale. Lala, he pays you 500 riels (11 cent) for 1 kilogram of papers and for the iron and zinc maybe around 1000 riels (25 cent ). Haha, My mom gets 25000 riels (6.2 dollar) for her 25 kilograms of zinc.

Well you may wonder how much he will get back from what he buys. All the chunk that he buys he will sell out to the recycling place around town, maybe not much to earn but it can support his living, maybe not only him who will survive from this cart, also his wife and children are depending on the cart as well. I also question him some questions : 

How much does he earn for a day? 

Answer ( around 15000 riels to  30000 riels ) (3.5 US to 7.2 US)

How many kilometers does he walk with his pulling cart ? 

Answer (at least 30 kilometers)

This is what some poor people working to earn their living, walking along the street, pulling the cart, collecting the unused stuff and knocking door, then asking such a question “ Do you have chunk to sell please” and without the cart and the scale they would not be able to do such earning, that is why I call "the cart and scale that keep some people to survive"

I lost in my feeling, but this is a happy loss.

I lost in my feeling, but this is a happy loss. 

I’m starting to feel that I miss one or two or three things and more in my life as I reach 27. Maybe You, I or We are not sure for what it is going to be. Well it really sounds funny and you may wonder what I’m talking about. Haha, let’s start with simple things, I’ve been through. Beside works, I like to hang out with my best friend, well along the road, I see some beautiful couples with their kids holding each other hands, and I feel like I wanna be like them, I think I need a family now.

Hey but wait, When I see some independent people, they are living alone with their own, I wanna be like this too, and I’m thinking free life with no responsibility over kids or wife is great. It sounds just like I’m in between these two worlds. Ohhhhhhhh that is how I will go crazy, that just the way but for what. and who know if I don’t know.

Once a month, I visit the countryside, haha, I see life with beautiful nature surrounded, Then I’ve got the  feeling I should have been born here again, I would not have known about school, computer, modern world, but farmer or fishery or whatever that I should have lived my life in nature.

Looking at the birds, I wanna be like them again haha, so I can fly, I can go to anywhere that I like and even can see the whole thing from above. They live a short life, but meaningfully, and simple living. Just to find the food, and go home then sleep. Emmm, maybe find their mates and have family haha. Then raise the kids together. WoW, I think that should be enough for them to have a better life.

Well, once again when I’m sitting down for the break time in my class with my student around I see them all having a good time by just simple things such as listening to music, playing game, chatting, gathering together for snack and even joking on each other, OHHH, there the feeling comes again, wanna be like them .

I just don’t know why everything comes in the way that I should not think of, but I already do.

It seems I missed so many things in life, Doesn’t it ?

What about you guys, ever been through this feeling ?