Time to travel to the Land of Smiles

We went back to Sundays yesterday morning and tried their pancakes and the Phnom Penh Breakfast Bagel. Both dishes were tasty.

After breakfast, my daughter J wanted to go to the pool but it looked like it was going to rain, so we decided to wait for a while. It ended up not raining, but the rest of the day the sky looked like Bear Grylls would have built a shelter. It was also cool (for Phnom Penh standards) and humid; cool weather is always welcome.

I spent the rest of the day fiddling with the blog, reading Derek Sivers blog, which I hadn’t visited for years, writing my own Now page, and choosing a few pieces of furniture to buy in Thailand and ship to Cambodia when we ship the rest of our stuff here later this month.

I made humus with carrots, cucumbers and some Ciabatta bread and we had dinner watching Kiki’s Delivery Service. I’m on the lookout for new movies for J. So far she’s watched a few Studio Ghibli animations over and over, and a couple of nature documentaries. We tried a couple of other Studio Ghibli animations a few months back, but she said they were too scary.

I dislike Disney, so we’ve avoided all of that for now. Other girls we know are obsessed with princesses. Since it’s impossible to avoid all the Disney propaganda, J likes them but at least she’s is not obsessed. She knows I don’t like them, and from time to time asks me to explain why. I tell her I find regular people more interesting and affable, and I tell her we should like people for who they are and what they do, rather than because we’re told or taught to like them. She says she understands, but she still likes princesses, because it’s fun.

Changing topics, I finally decided to buy a ticket to Thailand yesterday night. I’m flying on Tuesday morning and will spend most of the time packing at the farm. I found some clarity during the 12 day silent meditation retreat a few weeks ago, and decided we should simplify. When I got back, N was on board with the idea. I’ll go to pack first and then she’ll go to sell things and arrange the move. I’m looking forward to rediscovering things I’ve forgotten we have.

I was afraid to buy a one-way ticket because I’ve heard countries have become more strict about return tickets after the apocalypse, and I didn’t want to have to buy a return ticket in a rush at the counter. If I finish packing early, I’ll spend a few days hanging out in Bangkok. If I don’t finish on time, I’ll buy a new ticket. I’m lazy about the task ahead, but excited to consolidate and simplify.