Out and About With Sothai and Long

At least once a week I explore one of several open-air markets in Phnom Pehn. The experience is intense. Most markets are choking with wares and goods of all kinds. People wheeling and dealing, loads of various product - both coming and going - in all directions - through narrow isles, continuously. Each market is divided up by commodity. The smells swing wildly from fresh raw fish, beef, pork to fruit, flowers and spice. Markets here are another example of Cambodia's calm chaos.
Other than fresh fish, there is little, if any, refrigeration in these markets. While repelling to Westerners, there are some sensibilities at work here. First there is the, 'farm to market' factor. Nearly everything is cut, harvested or slaughtered the same day it goes on sale. That's fresh.
Every day at 3:00 AM, the vendors negotiate and take possession of their purchase for the day.
Come 5:00 AM, chefs for rich people (cooker's as they are known here) show-up along with the high-end restaurant folks to take the best of everything - at the highest price of the day.
As the day progresses, prices drop until most everything is sold. By 4:00 PM, the party is over.



Sothai and I have been friends for three years now. Her mother, father, brothers and sisters have been a pleasure to spend time with. Sothai has completed her undergraduate degree in banking from Phnom Penh University and been accepted for their MBA program. Before she accepts this choice, she is attempting to gain entry into one of Australia's MBA programs first.
Accurately, she understands a post-grad degree outside Cambodia is better. She has the grades, let's wish her luck.

Some fresh chicken. Feet on? you bet. One of the ways one can check the health of the bird. Cooked with the rest of the bird and served to staff gratefully.

Beef for trimming and served with rice. Cambodians do not eat slabs of beef. Here it is 70% rice, 20% beef, chicken or fish and 10% sauce.

A load of rolled foam off to market.

Long scanning the landscape with his telephoto lens.

This is the egg department of the market. It's a lot bigger than what you can see here. Chicken eggs, duck eggs, dove eggs. The list goes on.

Jeff Massnick & Chean Long Video Shorts

My good friend Chean Long and I have acquired some quality video equipment and editing software. We are making progress in getting the hang of both and producing some shorts along the way. We have two, 'in the can', and more on the way. Once we get acquainted with this equipment, we are threatening to tackle some commercial projects.

While recorded in HD, broadcast-quality, these videos have compromised resolution as a trade-off for your ease and speed of download off this blog.

In the pipeline are "Fighting Fish" and "Cooking with Reinert". Reinert has been a friend of mine from day-one here. Temperamental, vivacious and clear in opinion. Reinert just designed, built and opened the most expensive restaurant in Phnom Pehn.

Take a look at what we have produced so far.

CAMERA VERSUS ROLLER:

MORNING ON THE RIVERSIDE:

Street 275 Project: Defining Our Construction Site.

Rome was not built in a day. The same holds true here. Besides my distinctive architecture, my approach to building and treatment of people is unique. In the third-world, workers are treated like dogs. Not so on my job sites. We have cultivated talented native people that will be able to shower, sleep and be well fed and laundered, all on-site. Fellow developers here think I'm nuts. I don't think so.
So far in my life, paying folks fairly and treating all with respect and dignity has paid me back in spades.




Cargo container. Half office, half storage.







This new structue is for staff cooking, laundry and sleeping. Once the big building is finished, this building will be demolished.

The Street 275 Project is by far the largest and most complex inner-city structure I have ever endeavored to build in my life. We have now completed the building design and interior lay-out. Slated is a 14-story, 40-unit (+/-), high-end, family living experience consisting of large, Western style three and four bedroom environments with generous rooms, bathrooms, ergonomic kitchens and entertainment friendly balconies. The third floor is dedicated to health, fitness, pool, children's area, lounging, reading room and kitchen for parties. My clientele will be diplomats and leaders of private enterprise.

This prospective reveals about one-fifth of Phnom Pehn city of 1.5m Souls.

There has been a lot of construction in the area since Google Earth was last updated. The red-roofed building below my parcel was built by the Prime Ministers 28 year old daughter as her residence.


This is the parcel upon my purchase.


Clearing begins. Survey and geology analysis is performed.


A proper property wall is prepared.

We are walled, gated and secured. Now, we are in the midst of building temporary facilities to feed 50 workers three square meals, launder their clothes. Roughly half will also live on-site.

Splitting Up Khmer Style

This is from todays Phnom Penh Post. The article speaks for itself.

Where is the other half of the house? I checked. It has been disassembled and will be made into a new more "peaceful" house elsewhere on this rather large property.

Phnom Penh Development

"Asia Life" is the premiere English-language monthly magazine in the Kingdom of Cambodia. This months cover story is, "Developing Phnom Penh: Sky-high or Pie in the Sky". The sky-rocketing land prices and break-neck pace of development in Cambodia have some wondering where all this is leading. Lenders, brokers and developers, including our firm, were invited to participate in discussion for this cover story.

My business partner in Khmer-American Development Co., Ltd. is Em Buntha. In Asian culture, the family name proceeds ones given name in formal introduction. In the case of this article, Buntha is being addressed as 'Okhna Em'. The word 'Okhna' is a formal title Buntha holds that roughly translates to, 'Supreme Council to the King'. Besides the work Buntha and I do, he draws a salary from the government that is 100% donated to efforts for the poor. Buntha travels on a diplomatic passport and addressed as Excellency in formal settings.

To properly read this article, simply click the individual page. When you are done reading the page, click-back, scroll to the next page, click again -- and so on.

Reprinted by permission, AsiaLIFE, (c) 2008 Mekong Media Company, Ltd.

Mark Jackson, Publisher & editor-in-chief
All rights reserved.

Newport Beach Renovation

This is a wonderful Southern California property I have owned over 15 years. The building is 25 years old and in class A condition. When I first acquired the property, a modest renovation was made. This property, over the years, has been my home-base as well as a property provided to others on a lease basis.
In 2007, it was determined this space deserved a 100% make-over. We ripped-out everything to the studs. Kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, ceiling -- all gone. And started fresh. This is the result:

Ancient Aboriginal Art

Jonathan Glenn and I explored sacred aboriginal cave drawings on islands north of Darwin, Australia. These are images created over 20,000+ yeas ago. The fellow with the beard is a paleontologist. The dark guy is the cheif. The bald guy is Jonathan. This is some of the earliest form of human expression. What we now call art.