Familiarity, Old and New

Growing up, when the Kennifers set out on family vacations, they usually were road trips. We headed east to Yosemite, north to my mom's hometown, south to my dad's hometown and/or La Jolla, our favorite summer getaway. Instead of stopping at fast food or other restaurants, we always stopped at the grocery store instead. The fare was always a loaf of bread, a block of cheese, and often some deli meat and fruit. We'd load back up in the car and make sandwiches on the go. Those good memories clearly traveled with me across the Pacific, as evidenced by my choice for a quick and easy dinner:

I've done more exploring of the city and feel pretty familiar about the riverfront area now. I took a walk north along the river, which is much more industrial and much less touristy. I didn't make it to the English language mass at St. Joseph's, but I did find the church for next week.

Things I accomplished on that outing:

• Explored a different (more authentic and out-of-the-way) part of the city
• Found the church I set out to find
• Brought my camera
• Left the camera SD card at home (good one, Devan)

So, I don't have any photos from that outing, but I'll be back. I went out walking the other direction in the evening because I figured it could be my last chance to see the action since Monday is cremation day.

Memorials like this one are up all over the city.

I kept hearing fireworks the past few nights, but happened to catch them as I walked towards the royal palace this time.

More fireworks over the river to the left and riverside walkway to the right. This is where the young boys were playing soccer the other evening.

Blurry, but you get the picture. 

Some live shots of the palace area and specially renovated funeral area (as promised!)

Royal palace with large likeness of King Norodom Sihanouk in the middle. It's pretty dark, but note the very large crowd on the green in the foreground.

The gates open to where the King's coffin lies in wait for Monday's cremation. Check out the large crowds trying to catch a glimpse and taking pictures.

On the way home, snapped some sights that are becoming familiar.

Friendly neighborhood KFC. In Cambodia, almost every restaurant with indoor seating has free wifi - even this KFC!

 The bridge in the background is the Japanese bridge, which I will be crossing to get to the CSC each day.

Neighborhood restaurant where the girls took me to eat pho the other night.

If there's anything that could make you feel like you're home, it's an Irish sports bar. This was a very comforting sight. Might have to come back here to watch some March Madness (that seems to have started in January this year!).

They even had my back for Super Bowl coverage! However, watching the game 12 hours after the fact isn't gonna cut it for me...

Hello Monday morning Super Bowl! The only downside is that drinking beer doesn't feel right when you're watching the game by yourself... at 6:30am. So it was a coffee kind of Super Bowl, but still fun to watch the 49ers claw their way back into the game!

Tomorrow the clinic opens back up and it will be my first day! I can't wait!