Anthology of Snippets

Tag: Cambodia

  • November Rain

    November Rain

    We’ve come to the end of November, and with it comes the tail-end of 2023. Around this time of every year, I frequently experience fatigue and a slight zombie state of mind. It feels as though I have run a marathon and I am losing speed and losing care that the finish line is appearing.

    Nothing to worry about. It happens every year. This year just feels a little bit heavier.

    I suppose I will have more strength in a few days.

    November: A Month in Review

    Despite the fatigue, November came with surprises and new things learnt. No wonder my back hurts so much. Here are some things to remember this month by:

    • Stretching my coding brain – I relaunched my attempts at Flutter. This time, I made more progress. Perhaps you will soon see my app.
    • Creative BuKo – I’ve taken a step back to reassess where we are with Creative BuKo and thinking of more ways to improve it. I believe I have an idea now, but I just need one thing that I always needed: TIME.
    • Attended conventions – Little Boxes Solutions has attended conventions and participated in n events. One of which was the Cambodia Tech Expo. While majority of the speakers spoke in Khmer, it was still interesting to see how much growth Cambodia has had in the technology scene.
    • Reading progress – I’ve made progress with my reading after a month reading slump. This is one thing I am most ecstatic about because reading is life.
    • Revamped my business card – I have revamped my business card somewhat. Hope to have it printed soon.

    One thing I have missed is my writing, which I suppose this is the reason why I am writing a bit. I really hope to write some more, but the previous challenge was with having to switch laptops. Sometimes having multiple laptops can be challenging when some of the things you need are in another laptop, but you brought a separate one.

    Let’s talk more about other things when I get back.

  • On Assumptions

    On Assumptions

    I suppose one of my pet peeves is when people make assumptions that are based on their beliefs, rather than based on facts, information, and research. I believe that it is possible to deduce possibilities – but not state it as facts – for basis of an assumption.

    Assumptions on Race

    I would rather not call out anyone to their face as “racist” but I do have a tendency to call people out for making racist remarks. I find that the people who tend to make assumptions are the ones who are ill-informed, or who basically have not had many encounters with a variety of people.

    So, I sometimes feel the need to point that out. I have heard some people say things like “oh these people are thieves…” they are not. “These people are always lazy…” not all!

    It stresses me out.

    Judgement based on photos

    I take a lot of pictures wherever I go. Sure, there are picturesque areas, and there are some that are more eye-opening.

    When I first moved to Cambodia, I saw so much beauty in the architecture and the vibe that made me take photos of everything. My mom rolled her eyes and said, “what beauty?” She couldn’t see what I saw.

    Recently, some people have come to judge Cambodia over photos I share on my Instagram account. Photos, I believe, that show daily life or at least a less glamorous view. But as a result, some people have concluded that Cambodia is as rural as can be.

    This is not the case. Cambodia, like many countries, have rural areas and urban areas. I, however, am always an island girl at heart. Nature and bits and pieces of life will always make me smile. My feed, my decisions.

    Take my featured photo as an example… it was captured from a moving car as people continued to transact despite the mini flood. This is a reality. At the same time, you can see that urban Phnom Penh is littered with sky scrapers, too.

    As they say, there are two sides to a coin.

    We cannot help but generate judgement, I suppose. But keep in mind that what you assume based on what is shown may not always be correct.

    That is all.