Just another day in the uniquely nerve-wracking life of a mine-removal expert in Cambodia. These guys are real heroes – and completely fearless. The closest I’ve ever been to bonafide Land Mine Country is Koh Ker, but I don’t think I’ll ever have the stones to walk in the footsteps of a landmine clearance pro. […]
Tag: cambodia
Happa: Japanese Teppanyaki Cuisine in Phnom Penh
Happa #17, Street 278 Phnom Penh Tel: 077749266 I realized recently that the restaurants I eat at the most here in Phnom Penh are rarely the ones I review. Something about incredible familiarity makes me less likely to go ahead and haul the camera with me and do the review – so I’m glad I […]
Suzume: Homey Japanese Food in Dark Heart of Phnom Penh
Suzume 14A Street 51 092 748 393 Phnom Penh Phnom Penh has more Japanese restaurants than I ever expected it to have, mostly due to the city’s healthy (and apparently chronically starving) population of Japanese NGO workers. Most Japanese restaurants here are of the rustic variety, specializing more in curries, soups, ramen and gyoza, rather […]
Buddhism and the Khmer Rouge – Nuon Chea’s Curious Theology
I am not a Buddhist scholar, but I have some grasp on the religion and the precepts of it. It does not flow into you naturally just because you live in Cambodia, but I know this much from a college Buddhism course and the Zen books my semi-observant grandfather gave me. Buddhism involves: the destruction […]
Nuon Chea and Implausible Deniability: Back to the War Tribunal
Witness Long Norin was too sick to testify today, which meant that former Khmer Rouge second-in-command Nuon Chea was brought into the dock to answer judge’s questions. I am not sure why he has shed his former uniform of a mugger’s ski cap and shades. Perhaps he feels a need to look more credible. The […]
Mekong Korean: Food for Pretending It Is Cold Outside
Mekong Korean Restaurant Sothearos Drive Phnom Penh, Cambodia Korean restaurants are rife in Phnom Penh, and family restaurant Mekong Korean occupies a convenient location in the very center of the city. Dishing up rustic versions of Korean standards such as bi-bim-bap, tofu stew, stir-fried pork with red pepper and chicken stews, the restaurant has an […]
Nothing Happened At the War Tribunal Today, If You Were Wondering
I did not attend the War Tribunal today due to both a pounding headache and a vague feeling that nothing interesting was going to happen – my usual tuk-tuk carpoolers agreed. As it turns out, history vindicates me: according to the War Tribunal Monitor, “reluctant witness” Long Norin begged off for the day for health […]
KR Witness Denies Everything, in Shocking Development
Long Norin, today’s witness at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, suffered a lamentable amount of memory loss when it came to recalling his formerly close association with former Democratic Kampuchea Minister of Foreign Affairs Ieng Sary. Thankfully, journalist Nate Thayer has been kind enough to jog his memory. The 73-year-old Norin, whose testimony began Wednesday afternoon, […]
An Old Farmer And the Khmer Rouge: A Civil Party at the Tribunal
Another day, another live-tweeting session at the Khmer Rouge tribunals. The press room is violently air-conditioned and I am the only journalist willing to eat the “weird” Vietnamese sandwiches. Oh, yes, right, the court proceedings…. Nuon Chea has continued to beg off the dock, claiming health issues, which means that today featured one civil party […]
Another Tuesday at the War Tribunal, Nate Thayer on Landmines Being Kind of OK
Live-tweeting the Khmer Rouge War Tribunal for the past few days and will probably continue until Thursday. Saying it’s been “fun” veers into the realm of the vastly inappropriate, but it has been informative. I can easily summarize Nuon Chea’s opinion on his involvement in the genocide years thusly: It Was All Those Vietnamese Douchebags […]