Visit to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda

Catherine Reporting

One day, I had a field trip to the Royal Palace with my family. We had a tour guide. She as a young girl and she spoke English very well. She was dressed in yellow with a black skirt. We visited the throne room first but we had to take our shoes off. It was very nice. It had a mirror and our tour guide said that when we looked in it, that we are the future King and Queen. Then, we took some pictures in front of the king‘s house. Then, we went to a building with Khmer women manikins wearing different colored sarongs for different days. Then we went to the Silver Pagoda. The Silver Pagoda had many treasures and had a silver floor made up of thousands of pure silver tiles. Then, we went to see the model of Angkor Wat, and when pigeons landed on it, it looked like they were invading it. There was a pond filled with fishies and one turtle, and I got to feed the fishies with fishy kibble. Then we got some snacks. Then we went to see the white elephant house. (There were no real elephants.) Last, we went to an ice cream shop called Swensen’s. I got a single chocolate scoop on a cone. I was happy.

Best of the Best Cambodian Rock Concert

Michael Reporting

It was Valentine’s Day. We went to the Olympic stadium to see a rock concert called Best of the Best. When Uncle Kosal dropped us off, we were 3 hours early. But we had to eat something first.  Dad had noodles. Me and Catherine had cotton candy, but I gave the rest of my cotton candy to a poor man. I tried to give him my quarters but they are useless in Cambodia. After that we went to our seats to see the show. Unfortunately it was 2 hours late! I thought I would rot and die, but I didn’t. While we were waiting for the show, we got shown on the big screen. Then the show finally began. They had loud Khmer rock music, and funny comedy skits. They had tons of special effects like fireworks, smoke, and big spotlights. It was the greatest show I had ever seen! I got tired, so we went home early. But the exits were super crowded. On the way out I had to use the people as bars so I would not fall, but then people tickled my tummy! When we got out people were selling snack bugs, like fried crickets. Dad wanted us to eat the bugs, but we refused. We went home and we went to sleep. I thought it was the greatest day ever!  

My Family Eat Ants!

Michael Reporting

Did you know that some people eat ants? Well, its true. One time my Uncle Kosal brought a container of big red dead ants. We were so grossed out, we almost threw up! Dad tried to make us eat them, but we refused. We sat and ate our food on the floor because we didn’t want to be near the disgusting ants. First my mom ate them, then Dad ate them, then Uncle Kosal and Aunt Vy ate them. Yuk!

Our Trip to Vietnam - Jeffrey Reporting

In our trip to Vietnam, we went on a bus. We saw the sights of Cambodia and Vietnam. At the border, we had to check our passports and our baggage. When we arrived at the hotel in Ho Chi Min City, we checked into our a room. And there was free high speed internet in the hotel lobby.

We went to the Unification museum. It was the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam before the end of the war. It’s like the capital building and the president’s house in the U.S.A., combined! At the 1^st floor were rooms like the meeting room. This room has a piano. On the 2^nd floor, it was like the 1^st floor. The 2^nd floor has some animal sculptures. It was kind of creepy. The 3^rd floor is the president’s and the first lady’s recreation room. There is a movie theater, a gambling room, and the courtyard. On the top floor is the watch tower. There is a helicopter here. At the basement is the military area. It showed a map of Vietnam. Then at the ground floor, the rooms are the kitchen and the garage. The president had a luxurious car! Then we move out of the unification museum.

At night we saw a Water Puppet show. It showed the life of the countryside of Vietnam. The puppets are doing boat races, fish catching, and dances. There were musicians signing and playing instruments to accompany the puppet show. The puppets’ voices are in Vietnamese, and the people that are playing the instruments are speaking the voices of the puppets. The Water Puppet show was 90% good.

The food here is bigger. They even have the R-word! I ate ice cream, onion rings, and a hamburger for dinner and desert.

Catherine's Poem - Down in the Valley

Note: In addition to reporting on their experiences here in Cambodia, the kids will also be publishing some of their school work from homeschooling. Here's a poem Catherine was inspired to write after reading some poems by Shel Silverstein.

Down in the Valley

by

Catherine S. Wright

Down in the valley

With the purple dragons,

I asked the valley keeper

if I can keep one

But he said, "No."

Down in the valley

With the blue dragons,

I asked the valley keeper

If i can keep one

But he said, "Go to a different valley."

Down in the valley

With the red bunnies,

I asked the valley keeper

If I can keep one

But he said, "Go to a pet store."

But I said, "No."

Down in the Valley

With the orange baby triceratopses

I asked the valley keeper

If I can keep one

But he said, "No way!"

Down in the valley

With the black puppies,

I asked the valley keeper

If I can keep one

And finally, someone said "YES!"

The black puppy and I lived happily together.

Dancing Water Fountains in Phnom Penh

Catherine Reporting

One night, my family was going to the riverside, but we stopped by the Dancing Waters to watch It. :-) It was awesome! There was this guy controlling the water underground. It had really catchy music. There were a lot of colors, and my favorite color was light blue. There were many styles, and my favorite style was the one that looked like an ice cream cone melting! It was in Phnom Penh, in between the Independence Monument and the Royal Palace. I went with my parents, my brothers, my aunt Vy, my cousin Tong and my uncle Kosal and I rode his tuk-tuk. And guess what, the riverside was boring.