Sareoun took us to Sisophon yesterday. The road was a mess, not only with the usual flooding, but a bulldozer was working in the middle of the road. Sareoun masterfully weaved between the cars, driving mostly in the ditch of the side of the road where the water was up to our doors. It was impressive. I later found out that one of his jobs as a soldier during the Vietnam War was the driver.
We picked up Laum and his girlfriend, Roam, and went shopping at the market. I got potatoes, onions, garlic, bean sprouts, red pepper, lime, noodles, and soda. I asked the price of the bean sprouts. The girl said, "Bai bpoan" (3,000 riels, 75 cents) and filled up a plastic bag to the brim. I could barely stuff it in my tiny refrigerator.
Then, we went to a karaoke place owned by Sareoun's friend. It was a huge building with dozens of small rooms, each containing seating and table in a U-shape with a large flatscreen t.v. in the front. The walls had big pieces of fabric for sound proofing, and disco lights flashed all around. There was an air of seediness despite attempts at making it fancy. Two girls handed us song lists, and queued up the songs we wanted. Sareoun was the best singer among us all. He sang several songs in Khmer. Naturally, Laum was a total ham. He danced in front of the screen while belting out songs in English. At the end, he would say, "I dedicate this song to Kerri, Cynthia, my wife (girlfriend), and Sareoun. He sang one song that was supposed to be a duet, but he sang both parts, making his voice higher for the female part. We got a much bigger kick out of his antics than Roam did. I'm sure she's seen it all before. I was the worst singer by far, but that didn't stop me. I sang: American Pie, Uptown Girl, Stand by Me, You are My Sunshine, and Like a Virgin.
Afterwards, we had dinner. They led us through the building to some individual huts outside. On the way, we passed about 20 scantily-clad girls sitting on benches in the main room. My suspicion that more than karaoke was offered here was confirmed. For dinner, we were served rice, vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, and fish. It was really good. We had four servers who stood next to our table the whole time and watched us, always ready to refill a drink or bring more rice.
We picked up Laum and his girlfriend, Roam, and went shopping at the market. I got potatoes, onions, garlic, bean sprouts, red pepper, lime, noodles, and soda. I asked the price of the bean sprouts. The girl said, "Bai bpoan" (3,000 riels, 75 cents) and filled up a plastic bag to the brim. I could barely stuff it in my tiny refrigerator.
Then, we went to a karaoke place owned by Sareoun's friend. It was a huge building with dozens of small rooms, each containing seating and table in a U-shape with a large flatscreen t.v. in the front. The walls had big pieces of fabric for sound proofing, and disco lights flashed all around. There was an air of seediness despite attempts at making it fancy. Two girls handed us song lists, and queued up the songs we wanted. Sareoun was the best singer among us all. He sang several songs in Khmer. Naturally, Laum was a total ham. He danced in front of the screen while belting out songs in English. At the end, he would say, "I dedicate this song to Kerri, Cynthia, my wife (girlfriend), and Sareoun. He sang one song that was supposed to be a duet, but he sang both parts, making his voice higher for the female part. We got a much bigger kick out of his antics than Roam did. I'm sure she's seen it all before. I was the worst singer by far, but that didn't stop me. I sang: American Pie, Uptown Girl, Stand by Me, You are My Sunshine, and Like a Virgin.
Afterwards, we had dinner. They led us through the building to some individual huts outside. On the way, we passed about 20 scantily-clad girls sitting on benches in the main room. My suspicion that more than karaoke was offered here was confirmed. For dinner, we were served rice, vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, and fish. It was really good. We had four servers who stood next to our table the whole time and watched us, always ready to refill a drink or bring more rice.
Ha Ha!
ReplyDeleteCletus is back! I was at a place like that once with scanly clad girls! I like singing kerioke to!
Only once? I find that hard to believe. ;)
ReplyDelete