Expresso Kamuchea

[BigJon]

Great to hear from you Tan! Any pics of the wild/tame cat?

[Shapley]

Aha! I knew civilization would catch up with you sooner or later. Maybe I can open a 'Chicken Phnom' franchise here in the states...

[Shapley]

By the way, it's very nice to hear from you! I have linked your blog to my facebook page, but I haven't checked in for a while to see if you've added anything new.

If I remember correctly, the last episode I read involved a cobra hiding under your bar...

[piqaboo]

Welcome back! A wild cat sounds just about right for your place. Should give it a nice added touch most dont expect.
We chased a rattler out of our yard a few months back, but only 4' long. Nothing like that monster cobra!

[tan]

here some pics of Eusje,the half chaus version;




..and here a pic of the real full version chaus
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[piqaboo]

Rats, beware!

[tan]

.and not only the rats, as it turns out.
Yesterday was a windy and cold day at least what we perceive as such here... an English couple was sitting on the terrace under the roof and had just finished their meal and asked all the usual questions, as in are there snakes here?, and not to frighten them: nooo not really- I had just answered -when a rustle, then a rattle, then a sliding sound occurred on the roof accompanied by not -quite -a -cat -pussies groveling, then a slippy sound and a sturdy snake of about meter flopped off the roof and into the garden where it landed with a rubbery thump. While it lay there slightly stunned I swear I could here kitty giggle on the roof.( As an acquaintance who worked as a dentist's assistant at one time taught me: never say oeps! )Eeh well, I said instead,there are some of course and grabbed a stick. It was one of those snakes that could be a cobra but could be something else.... something quite harmless masquerading as one of his poisonous brethren. Could d you throw one of those stainless steel coffee filters at the snake (which still lay motionless on the ground)- I asked the British guy. He did and hit the snake dead center in the head. The snake recoiled in fear and when I whacked it for good measure,it left the premises, with a somewhat miffed air, not a cobra, just a rat-snake, I said, meanwhile the -not quite-cat sat on the roof and giggled on....

[DavidS]

Do you happen to know how good cats really are at fighting snakes?
When my neighbours complain about me leaving food, water & scraps out for the local feral cats (who become more tamed in the process) I always ask them if they'd prefer snakes, rats & mice to cats? Am I right?

[tan]

David, quite frankly, i have no idea: i think it's a draw: the better one wins
.. generally, snakes tend to stay away when there is a cat in the house- mostly-, certainly we do have less snakes. Cats, ours at least will always tangle with any and each snake that comes around, so far we only lost one cat.( she got swallowed by the biggest pit viper i have ever seen,(about 5m) then yet: snakes here are getting more and more aggressive, understandably so, as the town gets built up more and more of the jungle and their natural habitat vanishes, they will have to come closer to so called civilisation, they have no choice:as their normal food resources dry up, they will have to seek food els where, same as with my cat, as the wildlife diminishes, wild cats will go to human habitats to feed on domestic fowl and mate with domestic cats just to keep their species going... and survive... as for the snakes i hope they will only eat the fowl and not mate with anything....
the worst snake story of this season: a dutch family visited. they had lunch. their two little sons got bored and wanted to fish. so i gave them a rod and off they went. when i heard them yelling- we- the parents and me went to see: the kids had hooked a pit viper and were happily reeling in this very dangerous and by no angry beast; i took the rod away from them and threw it into the river, the best thing i could come up with under the circumstances; now everybody as pissed off at me; the kids because i threw away their 'catch ' and the parents because it happened in the first place... aww can't win...

[Shapley]

Our cats will occassionally bring us a snake head to let us know there are snakes about. The cats will eat them, all except the head. I've never seen them tangle with a big snake, but I've seen them devour small ones.

They'll play with a mouse for hours before killing it, but they usually kill snakes right away, at least the few times I've seen them tangle.

One of them must have killed fairly large snake last year, because they brought us a head that was about 2 1/2 inches long. It did not appear to be a poisonous snake.

Our dogs, on the other hand, appear oblivious to the presence of snakes. I was walking to the mailbox one day, with the dogs following, and saw a small snake in the drive. I stopped to look at it. The dog, seeing me stopped, decided it was a good time to get friendly, so it ran over and stood in front of me, right on top of the snake, wagging its tail and waiting to be shown some attention. I grabbed its head and turned it towards the snake, but the dog just looked on stupidly. He's not much of a snake-dog, I'm afraid.

We have a bobcat hanging around the house lately. She may have found the animal feeder, and decided it's easier to creep up to the house at night than to hunt for mice. I've not actually seen her at the house, but she tends to hang pretty close. Raccoons, skunks, and opossums frequent the feeder, I see no reason to suspect a hungry bobcat wouldn't do so, as well. She's a pretty big cat, so I suspect the dogs won't tangle with her. They just bark from the security of the front porch, the same as they bark at deer, coyotes, and other dogs.

They have 'treed' a raccoon onto the back deck a couple of times. I've gotten up to see why they were barking, only to find a 'visitor' up on the deck, safely out of their reach.

[tan]

Happy Khmer new Year!
Yes, it is upon us a very long week end, the town full, so full that the electricity gets turned off at the worst moments , just when all and each are in the shower; the rich and corrupt, the few tourists who don't know what's going on and the ngos and the expats....
the nog's hit my restaurant en masse: oozing righteous political corresctness and cultural ingorance while their badly brought up brats pester my pets and keep falling into the r iver....
let's hope there will be some expats arriving too, at lest they are fun to have.
On the bright side, there seems to be a buyer on the horizon for my place! - he made me an offer I am trying to hold out for more but on reflection what is a few thousand dollars compared to having to suffer another rainy season in this miserable outpost instead of getting on with life... if and if this deal goes through I will hit the ground running, as I have a very good idea what is to be next and it's gonna be fun if... I just hate this waiting , waiting to get going, and always the big if. Awww!

[Shapley]

Good luck to you!

[tan]

The rainy season has begun, and finally there is enough water to be had- and that's about the only good thing; as every year things break down give the ghost get hit by lightening- so did my internet and it as a big one
, the net is getting better but not anywhere near good. The roof was leaking to an amazing degree,yesterday a friend from the countryside came with his dad and nephew and they nailed the leaks shut, heavenly now it can rain and we'll keep dry t least;there is nothing more depressing than a damp or even wet bed... brr...
after almost four years bong serrei quit: she and her family opened a little street stall so she has to move on, I do miss her terribly and have not found anybody to replace her yet.
Guests are few and far between, yesterday no bus made it into town at all: whether our new road flooded or a piece got washed away or it was a barricade of some villagers in coseima commune to protest the latest land robberyy by some one rich and powerful is so far unknown people in the market can not quite agree what the reason was.

On the bright side;a second buyer for my place is on the horizon! Now it truly gets interesting... and I am quite curious how this one will play out.

The not quite cat was gone again , for two days this time, she was walking down the street towards home when I found her, a bit the worse for wear she seems to have been in some fight or other, but is hungry and happy to be back it seems.

[tan]

Well, the rainy season has truly started and it is truly rainy: mud oozes, grass and other greens grow at a startling speed to obstruct the garden path just a few hours after it had just been cut free... and as the rains came early and rather strong, this year the jackfruit are rotting on the vine- I want to write- but as they can grow to more than 35 kg per fruit I have to be honest and say they rot on the tree. When they have sufficiently rotted- almost none get harvested as even the Khmers think them too vile for eating, they just drop off the trees with the sound of a squashy world war two bomb. And let me be honest : jackfruit do stink and I mean stink- not to be confused with the durian-the stink fruit par excellence – now those do stink and make no mistake: but the do taste divine. –like eating your favorite dessert while sitting on the toilet as a famous writer or other said so wisely. Now: jackfruit they only stink and they do taste the same. Despicable. And now as nobody sees them fit to be harvested and you have you duck the bloody things while crossing the garden- and nobody even wants to steal those- man that’s a first!- the bulldogs do find them and as dogs are won’t to have a different idea as to what is palatable- needless to say, they love them… and eat and eat and eat them- including their pits and then they come home and sit under my writing table and fart jackfruit and fart and fart and it seems that the whole world is made of jackfruit, and if I chase the bullies and their smelly farts outside thy will only eat more jackfruit…..
A green world made of Jackfruit the stuff of nightmares

[Shapley]

I saw jackfruit growing in Hawaii. I've never tasted it.

[jamiebk]

Doesn't look edible to me but I guess it is a staple for many people

[tan]

..well, jackfruit are edible i have done so and did not die. people do actually eat them- but nobody sees those things as a staple, they are just a fruit and an unpalatable one at that. I have seen jackfuit used as an ingredient in a pork/ginger /mushroom dish.. it did nothing for and a lot against that concoction. Probably the reason it was served at all was because they had it in a stop on one of those interminable bus rides and the weary travelers did not have a choice in this particular matter..

[DavidS]

..well, jackfruit are edible i have done so and did not die. people do actually eat them- but nobody sees those things as a staple, they are just a fruit and an unpalatable one at that. I have seen jackfuit used as an ingredient in a pork/ginger /mushroom dish.. it did nothing for and a lot against that concoction. Probably the reason it was served at all was because they had it in a stop on one of those interminable bus rides and the weary travelers did not have a choice in this particular matter..

Are they more unpalatable than aubergines, courgettes, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and liver?

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

... aubergines, courgettes, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and liver?

I like all those things. Don't know about jackfruit, though.

[tan]

,,Jackfruit is a lot worse than over cooked brussels sprouts- a lot