Phnom Penh Pals

Today was a bitterly cold day in Beijing, with temperatures of -17°C and a cruel wind-chill factor of -27°C. In fact, it was so cold today, the condensation on the inside of my windows turned to thick ice. Brrrr!

These plummeting temperatures are the coldest I have ever experienced in Beijing and it has resulted in me swaddling myself in a blanket and thinking back to warmer times.

Last year, towards the end of September, I travelled to Phnom Penh in Cambodia to see Kate and Becky. It was a great holiday because I had missed them so much since they had left Beijing. Plus I was able to spend the holiday with Omar, Lyra and Warner who had also arranged to visit. It felt wonderful to have the gang back together again.

I first visited Cambodia in 2006, so I was lucky enough to have already seen Angkor Wat, Siem Reap and places around the capital city. Cambodia is a friendly and welcoming country with so much history and culture to experience. I would definitely recommend a visit to the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Museum Of Genocidal Crimes. It is a harrowing and disturbing experience, yet extremely educational and worthwhile in understanding the history of the country. Since I had visited both these locations in 2006, I did not feel the need to see them again this time.

I don’t have access to many photographs from my first visit to Cambodia, as most of them are stored at home in Wales. But I do have a photograph taken at Angkor Wat, one of a tuk-tuk driver and another of a child at an orphanage in which my friend Kendell and I visited. 

Angkor Wat 2006

Tuk-Tuk driver near the backpacker area.

I also have a lasting memory of the phrase “powms oi na?” (Excuse my crude anglicised spelling of the Khmer language) which translates to “who farted?” In 2006, I decided that this would be a crucial phrase to add to my arsenal in as many languages as possible; so I asked my Angkor Wat guide to teach it to me in Khmer.

My visit in 2015 was very different to my my trip in 2006. I was no longer a backpacker (now I travel with a suitcase!) and this time focused more on relaxing and catching up with close friends. Not long after we arrived, I decided to give everyone a small gift from China – a plant sprout hair clip. At the time, these were inexplicably popular with both children and adults in Mainland China. The clips came in many varieties and you could frequently see both men and women walking around with flowers and shoots sprouting from their heads. So once I had given everyone their very own sprout, it was only fitting that we took a selfie.

Sporting sprouts - note that Lyra is absent in this photo due to being asleep.

During our stay in Phnom Penh, Becky and Kate booked us places on a cookery course. Cambodian food boasts some delicious dishes, including my favourite – amok. We made this along with some other dishes on the course. It was a fun yet exhausting day (tiring due to the heat and my general laziness).

Cooking up a storm!

While on the course, I was overjoyed that I had correctly remembered the Khmer phrase that I had learned almost ten years ago. Our teacher happily confirmed that it did indeed mean “who farted?” although I think any bad smells were actually coming from my poor attempt at recreating Cambodian food.

Kate and Becky also took us on an evening river cruise. I was super pleased with myself for capturing the moment of a lightning strike by chance on my old phone. During late September/early October there were frequent thunderstorms but this did not hinder our holiday, as they were generally short downpours. The views of the sunset were spectacular and the silhouettes of the temples and buildings were stunning.

Cruisin' and boozin'

Although we were on holiday, Kate and Becky were working during the day, so Warner and I decided to visit Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. After a rather long tuk-tuk drive we arrived at the centre. There were so many animals there and we were happy to see that they appeared to be well cared for and lived in good conditions.

Getting snap-happy at the sanctuary

Monkeying around at the sanctuary

The whole experience was wonderful and it’s so nice to think back to that time last year. Kate and Becky were the best hostesses and I cannot wait to see them again soon. I still miss their presence in Beijing, but it's great to have such good friends in Cambodia as it gives me the excuse to visit them again in such beautiful surroundings.

Memories of the hot climate and fun times are definitely keeping me warm on this chilly January evening!

The Summer Palace

Last weekend I finally visited The Summer Palace (颐和园) for the first time. I can’t believe I lived in Beijing for almost three years before visiting one of the main attractions in the city. In my defense, Beijing is huge and it’s quite far away from where I live.

But enough of my excuses, last weekend I had arranged to meet up with some friends from the UK, Andrew and Fran, who were touring Asia. They were stopping for a few days in Beijing and asked if I would like to meet them at The Summer Palace.

It had been seven years since I had last seen them, so I was very excited to see them and finally see The Summer Palace in all its glory.

It was a beautiful, clear and sunny day. After the initial issues of meeting up with people in such a big park, (coupled with my terrible bearings and sense of direction) I found them waiting for me near the north gate.

Many parts of the park were crowded but incredibly beautiful and the spectacular views almost made me forget that I was still in the same city.

After walking around the park for a while, we sat down by the lake and reminisced about the past while catching up on the main events of the previous seven years.

Andrew and Fran told me that they had eaten some suspicious snacks and mystery meat while visiting some night markets, so I decided to take them both for a couple of drinks and the chance to taste some delicious authentic Chinese food.

It was a lovely weekend catching up with two friends and I feel a sense of achievement that I can finally add The Summer Palace to the list of places I have been to in Beijing. I hope it's not another seven years before I see Andrew and Fran again.

Tuần trước, tôi đã đi Di Hòa Viên, một công viên rất đẹp. Ở đó tôi đã gặp vài người bạn cũ. Sau đó, tôi đã dẫn bạn cũ tôi đến nhà hàng Trung Quốc. Tôi yêu thích từng giây phút của một ngày tuyệt vời!

Beijing Birthday Shenanigans

Living away from one’s own country is often exciting, but sometimes the absence of home comforts and family can leave you with feelings of melancholy. So in order to avoid feeling blue on my birthday, I decided to dedicate the entire month of April to celebrating the anniversary of my birth. This basically meant that any activity that I deemed fun or interesting would, by default, be in honour of my birthday (when in reality it rarely was).

Another reason for wanting to milk the attention is because my birthday this year fell on a Wednesday. Who wants to join a midweek party? Nobody! Luckily, my students also remembered my birthday (perhaps the constant hints prevented any forgetfulness) and helped me to celebrate with a tower of cupcakes, oreos and Choco Pies. The chocolatey cylinders were adorned with candles, chocolate sauce and sprinkled with M&Ms, which I am told spelled out MR. D. (They do realise my surname is Cole, however they informed me that the “D” stood for Detention…no idea why…). 

After school, I went to a café with Kate and Becky, where a young girl serenaded me with a very cute, if not a little repetitive Happy Birthday greeting. After leaving the coffee shop, I was pelted with dust and dirt. Thankfully, it wasn’t the deed of a birthday-hating member of the public. Mother nature is a cruel mistress and as such, decided to pummel me with a grainy blast to the face. I later learned that I had been caught in one of Beijing’s worst sandstorms for many years. Nothing makes you feel special like a mouthful of sand.

For my actual birthday celebration, I invited some friends to my place. We ordered Chinese takeaway, (the REAL kind of Chinese takeaway!) played card games and ended the night at KTV. It was wonderful to spend the evening with my close friends, albeit a little poignant at times, as some of my friends will be leaving Beijing soon.

I was recently invited to a Chinese barbecue. This involved driving to the outskirts of Beijing, and barbecuing a variety of meats on sticks. 烤羊串儿 (lamb kebabs) are very popular in Beijing and usually coated in cumin. Anyone who knows me well will understand that I am a terrible Welshman, due to being a reluctant lamb-eater. But because I choose to believe that everyone had gone to all this effort for my extended birthday party, I felt obliged to partake in the excessive eating that took place that afternoon.

Finally, this event may not be connected to my birthday in any way, although it’s too amazing for me not to include it in this blog entry. This evening I met a robot that served me ice cream (let's refer to it as birthday ice cream). I stumbled across the Ice Cream Robot booth and saw that for a mere 10RMB, I could be served original, blueberry or mango ice cream. I excitedly paid the robot lady and watched in awe as she filled a small cup with ice cream, added blueberry sauce and a robot-handful of nuts. My inner-geek and outer-ice-cream-addict was overjoyed with such a treat. I feel that I may have to make many return visits!

Tôi đã có một bữa tiệc sinh nhật rất tuyệt. Tôi đã có một buổi tiệc ý nghĩa, vì bạn bè của tôi sẽ chuyển đi. Chúng tôi đã đi karaoke. Gần đây tôi đã ăn thịt nướng ở ngoài trời… ngon miệng và rẻ tiền.

Tối nay, tôi đã thấy một rôbốt phục vụ kem! Rất tuyệt!

A Chongqing Surprise

It has been a while since I have updated this blog. Mainly due to work, the dreaded report writing season and the subsequent deadly (yet necessary) sin of sloth that followed.

Last month, Kate suggested a surprise visit to Chongqing to celebrate Lyra’s birthday. So, on the 13th of March I joined Kate, Becky and Mike to put her plan into action. It had been five months since we attended Omar and Lyra’s wedding, so we were all excited for a return trip.

After the three-hour flight, we took a taxi to a top-secret location that Omar had suggested (a subway station). We anxiously waited there while he took a taxi with an unsuspecting Lyra so that we could ambush her with a slightly drunken barbershop quarter remix of the happy birthday song.

Lyra was genuinely touched by the gesture and we quickly made our way to a small restaurant where we sat outside, chatting, drinking beer and gorging on aubergine into the early hours of the morning.

The following day, we explored more of central Chongqing. After a delicious meal, we took a cable car across the river. The views (apparently) were rather nice. I was a tad apprehensive at the prospect of dangling on a cable in a rather full cable car and therefore did not appreciate the scenery to the fullest.

Becky and Lyra enjoying the cable car journey while I assess the risk-factor.

Omar and I with a haunting rendition of Wuthering Heights.

Chongqing is famous for spicy hotpot so it would have been a travesty if we didn’t try it on our second visit there. Later, we went to KTV and belted out karaoke classics. The only way to soothe a hoarse throat after a singing marathon is to guzzle a bowl of beef noodle soup (or two…).

Oodles of noodles

On the final day of our weekend trip, we had brunch at an Irish bar before bidding farewell and making our way to the airport. It was such a great weekend spending time and reminiscent of our first few months spent in Beijing together. Thank you to Omar and Lyra for being great hosts, thanks Kate for the great suggestion of spreading birthday cheer and thanks to Becky for the photos I have stolen!

Tháng trước, bạn thân của tôi có một bữa tiệc sinh nhật ở Trùng Khánh. Chúng tôi ăn lẩu – nó thật là ngon! Sau đó chúng tôi đi hát karaoke. Thật vui mừng được gặp lại bạn bè cũ.

One great wedding and a giant panda sanctuary

Apologies for the lack of blog updates. Work has continued to be busy which in turn has limited my adventures and therefore blog-worthy content. However, two weeks ago, I visited Sichuan Province to attend my friends’ wedding.

I worked with Omar and Lyra in Beijing for two years and they recently transferred schools; moving to her hometown in Chongqing.

The wedding took place on October 1st, which is during China’s national holiday. I was given the great honour of being asked to host the wedding alongside a Chinese host. The wedding ceremony itself reflected the coming together of Eastern and Western cultures.

I have been lucky to attend weddings in the UK, Poland, Vietnam and now China. All of the wedding ceremonies were completely different but all had the common theme of celebrating love and union.



I particularly enjoyed how the wedding day began. After a photo shoot, the groom followed Chinese tradition and visited the bride’s residence. There, he had to persuade her bridesmaids to allow him inside the hotel room through giving them red envelopes containing money (红包 hóngbāo). Nothing says love like bribery. Once he gained access to the room, the Omar had to complete a set of dares (with the help of his friends and family).

The first dare required him to choose cards that listed an exercise and the number of times he had to partake in that exercise. After doing the plank and squats, Omar had to finish one hundred push-ups. Unfortunately, despite already being sweaty from the humidity, I had to pitch in and did my set of ten (while hoping that the sweat patches faded before the ceremony began).



Next, the groom had to play a game similar to roulette. A number of cups were filled with different liquids, which included soy sauce, orange juice, vinegar and bai jiu (Chinese rice wine). This was to reflect the different tastes of marriage (sweet and sour etc). Again, the groom called on his friends for help. I think I drank the soy sauce. I then innocently asked for a biscuit chaser. After eating the Oreo, I realised it was wasabi flavoured. Rookie mistake. These games certainly created a happy and fun atmosphere.

Finally, the groom had to say “I love you” to the bride in 3 languages. He then ascended the stairs and met his bride-to-be.

I was rather nervous when reading the speech. I didn’t want to make any mistakes or ruin the ceremony. The speech included vows written by the bride and groom and also explained the order of the ceremony to the English and Chinese speaking guests. It was a wonderful, emotional-yet-happy ceremony and one that I will always remember.




After the ceremony, I felt that I could finally relax and along with the other guests, enjoyed a hearty lunch. Shortly after the meal, the newlyweds had their first dance. Later in the afternoon it began to rain, so many of the guests went into the hotel and played mahjong (麻将).



In the evening, some of us went to KTV (karaoke), which was the perfect end to a magical day.





The day after the wedding, we travelled to Chengdu – the home of the panda. It was quite a long bus journey; however, it was definitely worth it. The Panda sanctuary was very busy - probably due to it being the national holiday. Despite this, it was a great experience to see the giant panda and red panda. The giant pandas are really quite big, although I still secretly hoped that I would encounter an actual giant-sized panda roaming around. My personal highlight of the day was seeing the baby pandas. The word "cute" cannot fully describe them accurately. Even the way one of the baby bears happily excreted on one of the carers was adorable.



Although it was a fleeting visit to Sichuan Province, it was an unforgettable holiday and I sincerely hope that I will make a return trip there someday in the future.



Đầu tháng này, tôi tham dự đám cưới của bạn tôi ở Trùng Khánh. Đó là một ngày rất đặc biệt.

Ngày kế tiếp tôi đã đi Thành Đô. Tôi đã thấy rất nhiều gấu trúc. Bây giờ gấu trúc là một loài thú hiếm.

Farewell Hanoi!

Another visit to Hanoi is coming to an end. I don't feel sad. As I walked around Hoan Kiem Lake for the last time, I thought about my very first trip to Vietnam. So much has changed and a lot has happened in the past eight years. But I am grateful for my experiences in Hanoi. They definitely helped to shape the person I am and my love for the place is probably the main reason why I am working as an international primary school teacher with a love of travelling. I know I will return to Vietnam again someday.

On my last trip around the lake, a young girl with cerebral palsy came to sell me water. She was so surprised that I could speak some Vietnamese and was interested to know where I was from and how I knew Vietnamese. It reminded me of the openness of many Vietnamese people and how appreciative they can be of foreigners trying to speak their language. She told me that she goes to the lake every day to sell water. She wanted to take a photograph with me before I left. How I love Hoan Kiem Lake.

Since coming back from Bac Ninh province, I have tried meeting up with friends again before I leave Hanoi, while also finding time to relax (because I am lazy, but also because I am aware work will be starting soon).

On Thursday evening, Ngan invited me to a gathering. In 2006, we visited a zoo with her sister and neighbours. Ngan thought it would be nice to have a reunion. We went to Cau Giay Park and took some photos. Ngan said she will try to edit the photographs from both 2006 and 2014 so that we can easily compare the changes from past and present.

Those shy children from eight years ago are now young adults and were very successful in making me feel old (while repeatedly telling me how fat I have become). I will post the photo from 2006 and 2014 when I get a copy. Back then, I was a lanky nineteen year old and was still called fat by some Vietnamese. So I haven't got a chance of being thought of as thin now!

It was nice to meet Ngan and her group of friends. Her sister Thu had some great news that she passed her exams and will begin university after the summer.

On Friday, I ate mì xào (fried noodles) and drank a fruit tea before meeting with Khoa. He has some more guitar concerts in Hanoi and next week will go to Danang for the remainder of his summer holiday.

Afterwards, Minh and I ate crêpes. I chose to have a banana and custard cream filling. Later, we had a beer on a rooftop bar by West Lake.

Today I spent time with Minh and Nhung. I had my last Vietnamese coffee and a brownie with vanilla ice cream. Then we went souvenir shopping and took an obligatory selfie.

In the evening, Quy invited me to try the food at a vegetarian restaurant. I am by no means a veggie, but it was interesting how this restaurant recreates dishes without meat while still being very tasty and having a meat–like texture.
I once tried vegetarian bacon (fake-on) with dire consequences. It tasted like the world had ended in my mouth. In fairness I was hungover. Anyway this restaurant however, impressed me.

We had stir fried cauliflower in a sweet and sour sauce, vegetarian summer rolls and spring rolls and vegetarian kebabs. There was something suspiciously like sausage meat on that kebab, but I will trust that it was indeed meat free.

As we left the restaurant, we were caught in the mother of all electrical storms. It seems that Hanoi thought I deserved one last soaking before I left. Quy stopped the motorbike to get a plastic rain coat for me. Because I was already quite wet, the lady selling the coats had to help me into it. Quite a funny scene. A road sweeper was also sporting a similar coat and shouted in English "handsome boy!". What a fashion statement.

Quy and I went to eat che before driving through the rain back to my hotel.

It has been a fantastic summer of travelling and seeing friends. Thanks to all the people who made it special and hope to see them all again in the future.

Tôi thích đi du lịch suốt các kì nghỉ hè. Kỳ nghỉ hè của tôi thật tuyệt vời. Tôi đã đến Hàn Quốc, Thượng Hải, Tô Châu và Việt Nam. Chuyến đi vượt ra ngoài mong đợi của tôi.

 Bây giờ tôi cảm thấy buồn vì kì nghỉ hè sắp kết thúc. Hẹn gặp lại Hà Nội! Một ngày nào đó tôi sẽ trở về và ngày đó sẽ không còn xa nữa~