Adventures with Mum

Last month I had the wonderful privilege of hosting my mom in Cambodia. It had been 7 months since we had seen each other, of course not counting Skype calls, and I was so excited to show her my life in Phnom Penh, as well as go on some other adventures together to Siem Reap, Cambodia and Bangkok, Thailand! 

She arrived on a Friday early evening, and the week started off better than I could have hoped for, as she unloaded all of the goodies from home - chocolate, girl scout cookies, sunflower seeds, makeup, hair products, airborne, magazines, and more chocolate! Within minutes I was diving into my first box of samoas....oh how I have missed those delicious little things! 

After indulging for a bit, it was time to hit the city. The next couple of days were spent getting drinks, listening to live music, showing my mom the streets of Phnom Penh, introducing her to my friends, teammates, and coworkers, riding my little moto, eating at my favorite restaurants, and exploring the typical tourist sites. Once all the shenanigans were over in Phnom Penh, it was time to head to Siem Reap for some luxury tourism.


We arrived in Siem Reap early Monday morning, and were only just beginning out long, adventurous day. As soon as we got settled into the hotel, we geared up and headed to the temples where we explored, of course, Angkor Wat, Bayon, and the "Tomb Raider" temple. They truly were magnificent sites, and it was just as good the second time around, bring up memories of my first trip to Cambodia 5 years ago.

After a few long, hot, and sweaty hours of walking around and climbing old ruins, we then explored the silk farm where we got to see a taste of the silk-making process - from mulberry plants and silk worms, to silk-dyeing and then, of course, the final products. We splurged on some beautiful Cambodian silk items, then headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening. While in Siem Reap, we had more drinks, more food, watched Absara cultural dancing, relaxed by the pool, got foot massages, and best of all, explored the floating village where we had an entire giant boat to ourselves. It was on this boat that we may or may not have had a couple beers while laying on hammocks before 10am. Oops! Let's just say it put my mom flat on her @$$ as she was trying to sit back down in the hammock - good times ;). It's the little things which make everything more spectacular! Then, it was sadly time to say good bye to our beautiful hotel in Siem Reap, and head back to Phnom Penh for a night. 

The next day after we arrived back in Phnom Penh, it was time for Bangkok! We arrived in Bangkok Thursday evening, went to a lovely dinner, relaxed, and hit the hay early. Then the next couple of days before she departed back to Los Angeles, we explored the city a bit, met up with my soccer mates, ate, drank, and played lots of soccer! It was by far one of the best weekends I've had. Got to explore a new city with my mom, and she got to see me play soccer for the first time in 5 years - so good! She was the team "mum" and was such a trooper dealing with our sweaty soccer stench, the crazy heat, cheaters of taxi drivers, and my crazy teammates who well, are men. Need I say more? 

All in all, I got to spend an incredible week with my mom, showing her my life, my work, my friends, and the woman I've become since my time began in Cambodia. This place and my experiences here have had such an impact on me, and it was truly a blessing to get to share all of that with her in this place I call my home. Love you mom! :)