Stan's 40th Birthday

Hi All, now that Stan is 40, Nicole can tell everyone he is pushing 50 which is exactly what she said while we were sitting on the road at midnight waiting for our night bus to be fixed.

Where Stan was at midnight when he turned 40.

For Stan's birthday party, we provided a feast for a Cambodian village about 40 minutes away from Siem Reap. We had friends and family from Geelong, Sydney, Solomon Islands and Cambodia attend. The villagers ate so much food and they had tons left over for the next few days.

After arriving, we walked out to the rice fields to see the farms, buffalo and the sunset.

Group photo with many of the group.

Waiting for the food to cook.

Feast starts to arrive.

We later did some firecrackers which caused Eric our cook's dog to run away for an hour. The little kids got really into tickling the adults and if you were sitting there minding your own business, you were likely to get a couple fingers jabbed into your side. This was ok before we ate, but not so comfortable after we had gorged ourselves.

Stan 40 today

Stan turned 40 today. Here are some photos of him growing up.

Stan and his dad at the river in Nigeria.

Stan with a baby goat.

Stan plowing with two heavily sedated cape buffalo in the first ever test of whether this would be possible (Kenya).

Stan, Matthew and their mum Henny looking at Monaco.

Stan, Matthew and Ana holding a bright blue snake near Mombassa, Kenya.

Stan looking at elephants in Kenya

Trip to Kampong Pluk (Floating village)

We went for a tour of Kampong Pluk. This village is flooded every year in rainy season when the water raises 6 meters. You can see the houses are all built on stilts to handle the flooding.

Even the school is raised.

We went out for a boat trip into the flooded forest. These trees are so important as wind breaks and protection for the village that the chief's permission is needed before cutting any of the trees down. In the flooding 90% of these trees are under water.

Second house in Cambodia

We had to move to a new house in August. This was good and bad. The last place was a little too big for us and was very hot as it had no AC and we couldn't install one easily.

The people who moved into our old house loved how we set it up, so they bought 90% of our furniture when we left. Here is the new place we are living and what we have done to make it comfortable.

Master bedroom

This was the master bedroom when we moved in.

We first added an air conditioner. After many sleepless nights, we needed on just to cool the room enough for us to fall asleep.

We then added block out curtains and furniture. What a luxury to sleep in past the 5:30 am sunrise.

Our bed was made by a local carpenter, a little pricey as we needed drawers in it as storage space is very limited!

We found a very cheap second hand TV which Stan installed. Now we finally have a TV to watch which is larger than a tablet!

Guest room/office

Identical to the master bedroom, this is what it looks like now.

Lounge

We moved in and spent 8 weeks sitting on the floor, eating on the floor.

We now have a comfy couch and interesting coffee table.

A media unit with no TV.

Kitchen

Our kitchen had a leak in the wall fixed.

With fridge and small dining table.

Santa on Christmas Eve

A five star hotel did a big Christmas eve party in Siem Reap. Our kids were invited to sing six Christmas songs for the live entertainment. We were allowed to have a stand at the show and we sold Christmas presents that the guests could buy for the children. The catch was that CDO also had to provide someone who would be Santa for the guests and the CDO children. Stan was asked to do this.

Nicole, Stan and Mom at the CDO stand.

Everyone wanted a photo with Santa. All the hotel staff and guests each wanted their own photo. The nice thing with the beard is you didn't need to do a big smile all the time and get a sore face.

Our kids sang their six songs very LOUDLY and I thought they were the star of the show.

After the show they each got a present from the guests.

After they sang for the guests, Stan finally had a chance to play Santa for the CDO kids as they were taken away behind the stage. This was his highlight of the night.

This is Stan's favorite little girl Kounthy. She is always so well behaved and polite.

More interested in the present than Santa.

Group photo.

After the show, Stan and Nic were invited to have some of the buffet dinner. What a feast! Crabs, roast duck, lamb, beef and every other kind of meal we had not been able to have for a year. We ate until we could hardly move.

After the show was completed, we were invited to our friend Eric's house for a Christmas Eve party that lasted until well into the morning, though we left early at 2 am.

Nicole with some new friends. The one in the middle must of had a very uncomfortable Christmas day as we watched her finish two bottles of red wine. She did get some hydration as she drank the wine over ice.

Christmas day party

We went to CDO for their Christmas day party that they threw for the local Khmer people in their neighborhood. They make their English lessons available free of charge to the poor families around them. These families were invited to the Christmas dinner.

Sajune was struggling to stay awake after her late night.

The kids sang their songs again to the visitors.

A big feast was provided.

A good turnout

Christmas at CDO and elsewhere around town

The kids at CDO are very excited and looking forwards to Christmas. They have a tree and decorations in the middle of the compound. The children are going to a 5 star hotel on Christmas eve where they will sing some Christmas carols for the guests and get a meal as well. Stan will be Santa for the occasion. They are a bit nervous of singing though and are scared their accents will make the songs sound bad.

Stan has been fixing some old computers at CDO. These things are old. The dirt and dust in the machines don't help either.

A few weeks ago a popular night club burnt down here and officially six people died including one Australian man. Unofficially we heard that there were 20 unclaimed motor bikes after the fire and someone we know was employed to go in and clean up the bodies and we heard that it may have even been 20-40 people who died. Three days later the night club was open again. To cover up the tragedy, the old entrance is now covered with Christmas decorations.

The smaller shops are also in the holiday spirit and coming up with really creative ways of doing their decorations.

Even the little market stalls on the side of the road try and have a christmas tree as you can see in the background of this photo. We are having a meal with Nicole's cousin Louie and his girlfriend Michelle.