​My feet are numb, my belly is full and I have the biggest smile on my face!
 
This is what happiness looks like for me ...  when I share a meal with volunteers, friends and families at my village home in rural Siem Reap!  

Eating Out  
Occasionally I enjoy a good meal at a nice restaurant in the city of Siem Reap. Most of the tourists would be able to tell you about Pub Street, which offers cheap drinks including $0.50 beer and some local food. 
 
One of my ‘must eat’ restaurants is Olivewho serves fine French food. My favourite dish has to be the ‘Blue Cheese Soufflé’ that is cooked to perfection every time. 
 
There are many other nice places serving great food in style without breaking the bank. Malisis one. Beautiful setting with a stunning bar.


My Happiness journey
In this and my future blogs, I’d love to share with you what happiness means to me especially when I am in Cambodia. I call these as my currencies of happiness. 
 
I don’t believe there is an exact formula to happiness because personal perspective plays a vital role in determining what happiness means to us individually. It is more or less like a currency which works in one country but perhaps not in another.  Some currencies are worth a little bit more than others but there is beauty and happiness in every single one. 
 
There you have it, my take on “Currency of Happiness” in Cambodia!
 
Follow me if you like it. Let me know what your Currency of Happiness is. I’d love to hear from you! 
 
Of course we at PeopleStories are always happy to have volunteers over in Cambodia. See and feel for yourself how much real impact you can make and bring at the same time a smile onto your face ;-)

In Cambodia, the rainy season starts in May and ends around November.  At its peak which is around now (September), it normally rains every 2 out of 3 days.

As I watch Vanou (one of my local students who is 11 years old) crossing the watery alley with his bicycle, my true admiration goes to the Khmer’s resilience and readiness for the rainy days!
First of all, most of the Khmer houses (especially in rural Cambodia) are built on stilts.  Although the local communities could not afford much furniture in their houses, but one thing they would never cut corner is having the strong and steady stilts holding up the entire house.

When the houses are on stilts, not only they can escape from the rainy season floods (which is very often) but they also offer a cooling area for community gathering during the dry days.  

Not far from here, there is Kampong Phluk which has been turned into a deep water village.  In fact, it is a famous floating village that all houses (homes, schools, shops, temples etc) are built on the incredibly high and strong stilts.  It is part of Tonle Sap, which is the Asia’s largest freshwater lake that covers an area of 2,500 square kms 

The rainy days are fantastic for children too!  There are natural playgrounds created everywhere.  While strolling around the villages on my motorbike, I often hear laughters and see children swimming (naked!) in front of their houses.  The joy and happiness on their tiny little faces are just priceless.

Another local activity during the rainy days is fishing.  Children from my local home have been telling me every morning, ‘Let’s go fishing!’, and they are absolutely serious when it comes to fishing!   I often see people holding their fishing baskets, nets or rods to find their catch.  They hope to bring home some fish so that the many children and elderlies can have an unusually good feed (for free).

My Khmer friends and families inspired me, “Always look at the bright side in life!  One can always find joy (even in challenging environment) as long as you are ready and look for it.”

What is your way to get ready for the ‘rainy days’?

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​One of the most traditional dances in Cambodia is the Apsara Dance. It’s slow and sensual movements signify beauty, which I heard that even kings in the history couldn’t resist it. 

Girls here in Cambodia learn to dance like Apsaras at a very young age. Their movements are just mesmerising. 

I like watching the Apsara Dance not only because of the highly skilled dancers nor the beautiful costume they wear, it is because the long standing tradition, cultural reflection and ability to pass it on to next generations to come.  

It makes me feel closer to the history and enables me to slow down to enjoy the moments. 

What tradition would you like to pass on to the generations to come?

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Food is a very important element of life. Not only it provides the nutrients to give us energy for all functions of our body, but it gives us much pleasure when we are sharing it with others.  

In Cambodia, meals are shared and we always eat together. Although not all families could afford to put plenty of food on the table, but the joy and happiness of eating remains regardless how much they have to share. ​

In Cambodia, there are two seasons. As principal Nika says, “we have rainy season and not rainy season (aka dry season). Right now we are in rainy season”.

Today, it is not rainy at all and the sun is working extra hard!  We are hot and sweaty as we continue to build a strong foundation for the new classrooms. 

I remember... one of my senior leaders used to spot my grammatical mistakes in emails or presentation like a flash, which was way before he even paid any attention to the messages I was getting across    I used to mind it, in fact hated it!  I felt absolutely embarrassed about it.