Cambodian Royalty

A..pane...I love to watch you standing on the ground and not so much travelling by you. Finally landed! phew! I have never seen my parents so eager, excited and relieved to see a complete stranger holding their name card at the airport. It was hot, humid and dusty. But wait a minute there was something better in store....

"Your baby has curly hair. She belongs to Cambodia! The natives have curly hair" exclaimed our guide's brother :) (The people of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand supposedly have straight hair according to our guide) This is the beginning of my royal treatment in an unknown country.

Scene on the road

I was sleeping in my stroller and my parents were offloading me from a tuk-tuk (rickshaw but the name is very kid friendly:) My head dropped awkwardly and 3 random people walking on the road came running to ensure my safety :)

Scene at the Cambodian palace

I was mobbed by 30-35 Cambodian girls who were admiring me and clicking pictures galore. Well, what can I say, "sorry your Cambodian Highness... I rule ;)"

On the way to a tourist spot

"Baby... very nice.. I give this bangle.." said a small boy selling bangles and bracelets. My ammA refused. "I give this bangle to baby.. no money... baby play" I gracefully accepted the gift. Later another small girl selling bangles thought that I had a big bangle and what I needed was a small one and gifted my a couple of small bangles!

In the parked car

I stayed back with ammA in the car while appA had gone to click a few snaps. I could not resist my excitement on seeing a small baby and before I knew, there were lots of kids around me who entertained me till appA was back. One kid introduced himself as my boyfriend!

At the airport

I was allowed to stand and jump on the luggage weighing area. The security sang "ABCD..." and "twinkle twinkle..." when she checked me at the airport. I was allowed to pass through the metal detector on the stroller (usually my stroller is scanned along with the hand luggage)

And how can I forget uncle Khom (our guide)? He lifted me, pushed my stroller and constantly called my name :) He is the one who translated people's comments about me from Khmer to English.

The warm and friendly people everywhere made my 4-day trip to the hot Kingdom of Cambodia very memorable!

(Pictures) February 2010

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Happy to me (Feb 20th:)

When Lakshya called to wish me, I was not there to answer the phone:( But I have saved her recorded wishes and am listening to it daily. Laks, "thankoo"

Here is the best birthday wish I got when I turned two.

pAdukA-isms

pAdukA - whassit? (pointing at a picture)

appA - tiger

pAdukA - whassit?

appA - pooh bear

Questions a couple more times and then..

appA - (pointing at the same picture) enna idhu (what is this)

pAdukA - cartoon !

pAdukA eating corn puffs

pAdukA - whassit?

ammA - puffs

pAdukA - no! whassit?

ammA - puffs

pAdukA - no no.. chips!

pAdukA watching her ammA eat.

pAdukA - sAdam

ammA is done eating

pAdukA - goo goo (means good girl) and pats her head :)

pAdukA (brings a book) - ammA, amunAn (book tiltled HanumAn:)

ammA starts reading and narrating the story

pAdukA - whassit (pointing to vAyu, HanumAn's father)

ammA - HanumAn appA oda peru vAyu ( HanumAn's father's name is vAyu)

ammA - HanumAn appa peru enna sollu ?

pAdukA - caillou (pAdukA's favourite cartoon character:)

ammA - vAyu ma... vaaaa uuuuuu

pAdukA - no no caaaaa uuuuuuu :)

While playing pAdukA falls on the book that appA is reading

appA (pushing pAdukA away) - Don't disturb

pAdukA - ammAsheee (ammA see)

ammA - enna?

pAdukA - pushshee appA

pAdukA - pushshee no!

pAdukA watching Tamil movie song along with ammA and appA

The hero in the song along with many other men dances with huge

flags.

pAdukA - mAmA marchee-aa?

(as she does along with other children in her play school)

ammA - pAttu ma idhu

pAdukA - alla (means "no" but in this case pAdukA's mazhalai turns out to be sentamizh:)

mAmA marchee

pAdukA - vEnmA vEnmA chockate

uwan uwan chockate

Neighbour - what a sweet kid, she is offering chocolate!

pAdukA - uwan uwan ( non stop)

Neighbor - Thank you, I have already taken

ammA - uwan means she wants :)

(Pictures) January 2010

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The Adult Play-Doh

From my experiments over the last few weeks, I am convinced I have seen the adult form of Play-Doh - something they like to call the "remote".
My parents love playing with this thing in their hand and every time they press something on it, something changes on the lighted screen in front.

It is amazing how frantic my parents can become if they cannot find one of these. I like to take one and place it at some odd place. And then, sit back and watch the drama.

First, both parents will go to every corner of the house looking for it. After a few minutes of hunting in vain, one will start trying to muck with the controls close to the TV and open up some booklets. Sometimes, each would be blaming the other. If it starts getting ugly, I try to calm things down, by asking for some milk or some such thing. One of them will even try to quiz me about it (as if I am going to reveal anything!!). They usually end up finding it, and I have been trying to move places a few times now. Maybe I should try the bathroom next time.

Note to other Twoers:

• There are usually 2-3 of these remotes, so you can pick any of them and make them go crazy.
• Best time to try this out is in the evening around 5 pm, and expect the action to start around 7:30 pm.
• When they ask you about it, pretend you have no idea what they are talking about.
• If you are under pressure for doing something bad, start saying "TV" again and again, until they start hunting for the remote. This works as excellent distraction.

Happy to you..

Best Wishes for the new decade
May all good come in a cascade
With peace and health as company
and friends and relatives in harmony
More charming memories to be made!