A night on the town

Meng picked us up 30 minutes late but right on time according to Asian tradition. It was a great reunion for him and Mike, not having seen eachother for at least a year and not having spent quality time together for five or more. Meng and his friend then took us to a local Khmer restaurant where we gorged ourselves on fish with black bean and ginger, grilled squid, vegetables and rice. Mike requested that he take us to eat corn, to relive an experience he had had four years before in the rice fields outside Phnom Penh but instead we were driven to a local amusement park where we lounged in hammocks, ate corn with pickled cabbage and smashed lotus flower seeds on our foreheads, giggling like children as they let our their 'pop!' From there we moved onto to a local beer garden where we caught up, drank up and observed the local tradition of having a 'beer girl' served up with the drinks. Our companion was a Vietnamese-Khmer with an expressive face that contorted into expressions I had never seen a human being make before. Late that night after many beers and shared jokes, we retired to 'Happy's on the Lake' to rest up before yet another day in Phnom Penh.