Kampuchea Crossings

Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

Life

Book Review: Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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I’m fortunate for my background where good enough is simply not enough, and to constantly aim high. Working in foreign aid and development has opened my eyes to poverty and the reasons behind it, perpetuating it, situations that unintentionally(?) encourage it. When most peoples’ realities means that the basic aim of survival is aiming high, it’s difficult to keep occasional bouts of disillusionment and apathy at bay. To keep upbeat, I seek out the occasional motivational book from the meager selections of used bookstores in Phnom Penh.

While the motivational messages (e.g. productivity, financing/ investing, self-help) tend to be regurgitated and re-packaged by points of view in different books, the nuggets of advice are useful reading for anyone working in developing countries hoping to motivate counterparts to aim high.

Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success
My first review here, ironically enough for being in Cambodia, is by Donald Trump; it’s an entertainingly inspiring read.

It’s a useful glimpse into the attitude and willpower it takes to realize big goals. Don’t expect original advice or a detailed how-to guide. To sharpen your game this book offers a package outlook on living life large with extraordinary goals, substantiated by Trump’s experiences in real estate and business.

Message: Success starts with vision and a subsequent smart and aggressive focus on your goals / targets; if grounded with a lot of passion, thirst for knowledge, tenacity and resilience, then the foundations for personal and business success are laid.

Delivery: Arrogant at times yes– this is someone who enjoys life and its many challenges, honing success factors not inherent to many people. He deliberate places himself front-center where luck can’t help but find him and this is a great life strategy, whether born with a silver spoon or not. The grit and passion comes through in the first-person narration and effectively hammers his points across.

5 Ways to Eat a Mango!

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Typically existing in two races, the mango finds its roots in Burma and South India, and in Southeast Asia particularly the Philippines.

Mango season is one of my favorite things about living in Asia! All the charm and sensuous sweetness that is the essence of the tropics– in one fruit. Mangoes signal a reprieve from the hot season, heralding the summer monsoons. It kicks off the festive Khmer New Year and launches the summer fruit bounty: rambutan, lychee, mangosteen and durian. Long bamboo sticks with a cage-like trap at the end ensure reach into the highest cluster (these evergreen trees grow to 60 feet tall).

Street vendors now walk their bicycle-loads of mangoes, and market sellers pile them on mats and in baskets. National roads are lined with stands stacked high, selling for as little as 1000Riel or $0.25 per kg. Because techniques to increase mango yields are so successful, and growers don’t have the capacity to export the fruit, its prices are largely insulated from inflation and the depreciating dollar.

So what to do with all those mangoes?

1. Eat it raw, it’s packed with nutrients! Khmer taste buds are inclined towards bitter and salty flavors, so a popular way to eat it here is unripe, sliced and dipped into a mixture of salt and chili. But many of us prefer it melt-in-your-mouth golden sweet and custardy!

2. Toss cubes of ripe sweet mango into your favorite curry for a smack of fresh tropical sweetness.

3. Make a Mango Chutney and serve with brie on a cheese platter or with grilled chicken or fish. From the Food Network:

2 1/2 cups diced mangos
1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
1 Scotch bonnet pepper, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
Freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until thick, about 25 minutes, stirring often to keep from sticking. Let cool, and store in an airtight container.

4. For a sumptuous dessert pair it with the decadent richness of coconut by making Sticky Rice and Mango (Recipe by Sophat). This combination of the fresh sweetness of mango with the rich creaminess of coconut milk is really a fabulous treat. Sticky rice is a staple to Laos and Thailand. Sticky Rice and Mango is credited generally to southern Thailand where sticky rice is served with mango as a dessert, with condensed or coconut milk poured over it.

1 1/2 cups sticky rice
1 1/2 cups canned coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
2 to 4 ripe mangoes, depending on size, peeled, pitted, sliced.

(To make your own coconut milk: Take a cup of unsweetened shredded dried coconut and stir in two cups of boiling water. Let sit for a few minutes then strain with a cheesecloth to extract all the liquid. Sweeten to taste ~around 3Tbsp~ with white sugar. This is much better than canned coconut, but the latter can be substituted. Set aside.)

Steam the rice (this needs less water than regular rice) and set aside to cool for half an hour or so.

In a pan, gently warm coconut milk with sugar and salt until they dissolve. Stir in half the coconut milk mixture over the warm sticky rice. Divide sweetened rice to individual serving bowls. Add mango slices. Pour the rest of the coconut milk over the mango. Serve.

5. Whip up a Mango Lassi (Recipe by K Kelly). Lassis are a tasty shake, good as a filling snack on those hot days. It’s a traditional North Indian beverage, and it’s found in ancient Indian texts. Yogurt sweetened with honey is still used in Hindu rituals.

2 cups milk
1 individual container plain yogurt
2 mangoes, diced
2 tsp honey

Mix all in a blender. Serves 2.

And if you have an event coming up that requires a cake, mango complements chocolate very nicely. It’s also excellent paired with coconut, passion fruit or taro in a moist layered cake, with mango incorporated into the icing. I unfortunately am not a good baker and have only had cakes professionaly catered, so can’t offer a recipe. If anyone has a good one I’m game to try!


There are over 1000 varieties, ranging from a deep golden yellow to green to red. Svay teethai and svay kailchun in Cambodia are known to be sweet.


One of many fruit sellers at Psar Toul Tumpung (Russian Market), with pre-season harvests.

Is that an IV drip on an Angkor bas relief?

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Photos courtesy of K. Estela

Ha– no wonder there’s such a problem with IV use here LOL!

Without regulatory standards and mechanisms such as licensing or accreditation, quality of care is partly determined by consumer demand. People more often than not believe the more invasive or expensive a treatment, the more effective. This means treating simple fatigue with an intravenous drip instead of coconut juice ($10 vs $0.25)! IV drips are VERY popular; fishermen coming in from a long night out on the water will often seek IV treatment. Some pharmacists even color it (food coloring usually) because people associate the color with increased potency! Patients hooked up to their IV drips while riding on the back of a moto is a common sight on the streets (I just wish I can grab a picture of that!)

Hmm.. that sure looks like an IV drip…

Dark hours in Burma

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Design prompted by disturbing news from friends in Burma.

After decades of proclaiming itself the protector of Buddhism (to secure legitimacy), this regime repeatedly brutalises its peaceful, devout people. International pressure for concrete action is increasing, especially among ASEAN, which considers Burma strategically important. Its policy of non-interference may soon change as state failure carries widespread ramifications for the geopolitical stability of the region.

From within, severe economic contractions, rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions and a highly fragmented population are buckling this fraught state. Policy differences are rife within the junta, including growing competition among the ruling elite’s heirs. The one remaining institution allowed, Sangha (buddhist community), is not united. The political opposition represents few if any of the over 100 ethnically-riven communities. The current movement against the SPDC perhaps carries sustainable energy: despite a daily onslaught of arrests and killings, corroborated by state crematoriums running overtime, the protests continue…

There are no easy answers, but awareness and recognition of developments by the global community, given previous actions by this junta (e.g. the crackdowns of 1974, 1998), is one step in a helpful direction…

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

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Remember Lee Iacocca, the American industrialist who rescued Chrysler Corporation from death throes? Here are some excerpts from ‘Where Have All the Leaders Gone?’ (c)2007.

“Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening?… We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course”

“I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?

“We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

“But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: “Where have all the leaders gone?” Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense?

“In my lifetime I’ve had the privilege of living through some of America’s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of our worst crises: the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this: You don’t get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it’s building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play… So let’s shake off the horseshit and go to work.

“You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged.