We were ready to head back to Siem Reap
on the night bus again. One of the families offered to give us a ride to Phnom
Penh as they were also going out to the city to celebrate for their daughter’s
birthday. Since we had time, we decided to follow along with them. We went to
the mall to buy her a new outfit and also a birthday cake. We then asked KFC
(of all places!) if they can allow us to celebrate there. After some
negotiation, it worked and we hurriedly brought in our cake and candles into
the store (only in Cambodia). We were very fortunate to have an accommodating
staff as they all came out to our table to sing the happy birthday song with
us.
It was truly an interesting sight on
many different levels. Cambodians don’t
typically celebrate birthdays; traditionally they all become a year older on
Khmer New Year. But many Cambodians are on transition to moving towards Western
traditions and celebrations and fr this family, it was the first times they
were celebrating it. It was an intriguing sight to witness this cornerstone
event for this family. A memorable birthday for sure.
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