October 30, 2005

Droonsta's Move

Hi Sorry Blog.com but i've decided to move my blog to blogspot due to the fact that over a day blog.com was playing up, big time and it was annoying :)

 

so please visit my new blog at

http://droonsta.blogspot.com/

This blog has all my articles on life, my day to day thoughts, updates on my travels and its all a big mess. Below are an organised selection of my travelogue/journal entries

OR u can visit an organised travelogue of my trip to Cambodia in 2005 November

http://travelogue2005.blogspot.com/

AND u can visit my fotoblog of my holiday in cambodia 2005 November at

http://photolog2005.blogspot.com/

Posted by droonsta at 16:42:28 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |

October 20, 2005

It's the FINAL Month

Official Countdown: [31 DAYS]

Over the last few weeks, time has flown by, 100 days turning into 80, then 50, 40, and finally as of today, reaching the 'FINAL month'. The thought of going overseas is an extremely overwelming feeling. With the combination of excitement and the continual warm weather here in Melbourne Australia, it has made me become lazy and distracted from my studies.

First exam is exactly 1 weeks time, and typical me, I have barely started studying. All my exams are cluttered together on the 27th October, 1st, 2nd and finally 4th of November. I'm sort of getting a bit stressed out and worried as I have finally managed to meet up with one of the Course-advisors and I have been informed that in order for me to finish within one semester in 2006, I will need to PASS all my subjects this semester with a C average, otherwise I will have to do the lengthy one year subject rather than the shortened one semester subject. "Study, Study, Study, Study, Study..." (Golden Boy)

Following the end of my exams on the 4th of November, I will have an exact 2 weeks to pack my bags and get ready to jump on a plane to Cambodia. During my stay in Cambodia I hope to do a lot more site seeing of places I haven't already been and to possibly re-visit a few of the places, in order to relive the moment. On my way back to Australia I will be dropping off in Singapore and will be touring as a lonely tourist in a foreign land.

If anyone would like anything from Cambodia, Singapore or Duty Free just give me a holla. However there are no gauranties of finding your wishlish in Singapore, as I will be travelling alone, for a very short period of time.

Primarily this blog is for the sole purpose of uploading my Journal of my travels around Cambodia and to communicate with friend's and family back here in Australia. I will try to update this blog on a frequent basis, in order to keep you guys and gals informed and up to date on my holiday. All comments and greetings are welcomed and appreciated. I will be uploading a small amount of photo's for each blog entry I post, and once I return I will upload the whole photoalbum to http://droonsta.myphotoalbum.com/.

On a side note... after being kicked in the arse and taken advantaged of (MULTIPLE TIMES), I have come to realise who my true friends are, as they have been here to help out and assist me however much they can. As Tuan asked "How could someone do that? and Why would someone do that?", has been left unanswered as we will never know why these kind of Jackass' would risk losing years of friendship, loyalty and trust. As Chow would say "When will your learn, Allan?" and "Where's my Playstation!?"

So for the time being goodluck to all those with exams, as I for one will need it big time. And I will keep you guys posted after my exams, on the date and time I will be leaving.

- Allan -

Posted by droonsta at 00:17:01 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |

October 09, 2005

Lesson's in Life Part 6: Even Friends Fuck You Over

Unfortunately not everything in life goes your way, whilst being such a nice guy, all i get back in return is a kick in the arse as a thank you. With this I am extremely happy that i booked a flight out of Australia for the end of the year. This trip has been arrange with perfect timing in order to get away from all the troubles and problems that are here, in reality.

As I have learnt the difficult way, you can not trust anyone and I mean anyone, not even your friends. I won't get into any details as I feel I don't need to disclose such details, however a simple lesson to be learnt is that, a person may be all nice and polite to you on the outside but as soon as you get all nice back with them they will kick you up your behind. Be cautious with who you associate with, and who you trust and do favors for, because in the end they are just another stranger who may be out to get you. You can never know a person's true intentions, even if you have been friends with them for many years

The countdown started 100 days back, on August 15th, and surprisingly time has literally flown by, the countdown is now at 43. I will be heading to Cambodia for the third time this year and will be stopping off in Singapore on my way back. During this trip I hope to experience something different and in order to experience this I hope to tackle a few of these points below.
     - Work the fields (try to, don't know if I would be able to handle the weather hah)
     - ride a buffalo
     - climb a palm tree
     - explore the area of Tuk Chaa in Kampong Cham province, where the remnants of 554 ancient ruins remains (well whatevers left of it, after the American carpet bombing during the early 70's)
     - visit rural schools and donate excercise books, pens and pencils to less fortunate kids/students
     - trace my family roots as much as I can
     - possibly try to visit a few orphanages
     - ride an ox-cart hehe
     - watch a Cambodian kickboxing "Kun Khmer Borann"
     - explore cave temples in Kampot
     - watch a traditional and classical performance of Khmer Royal Ballet/dance/shadow puppet theatre
     - locate and jot as many GPS coordinates I can of the off-the-track ruins in and around Cambodia's countryside

Anyways during my trip, I plan to write a journal entry of my stay and will hopefully either upload the journal whilst I am there or when I get back. The photo albums will be made available once I get back as I plan to take many photo's just like my previous trips.

- Allan -

Posted by droonsta at 09:15:47 | Permanent Link | Comments (3) |

Loss of Innocence

As you drive towards the dusty town of Svay Pak or K-11 (for its distance 11km from the city), the red-light district on the outskirts of Phnom Penh - Cambodia, you will a continual influx of "berungs" along the way, on their hired moto's. The obvious purpose of these trips are to visit the brothel's within the area. 

On the left, right outside the entrance to the village, there is a huge billboard, with a picture of a giant condom with the phrase "We Practice Safe Sex" in a multiple languages. As you turn left into the red light district, rows and rows of brothels are fronted with young girls, smiling and waving trying to gesture you in. The terms "Yum-Yum" will get you oral sex, while "Boom Boom" will lead to intercourse.

Svay-pak a small Vietnamese community, is mainly known for its abundancy of underaged and light skinned girls. A large proportion of these girls have been smuggled in from Vietnam, promised with great job opportunities, however as they arrive in Cambodia they are bound by yearly contracts with the pimp.

The first impression as you arrive in Svay Pak, are the abundancy of available girls who are eager to make that extra buck. What the brothel owners don't make public, is the fact that there are also a wide selection of underage children available for foreigners and local pedaphiles alike, as young as four or five.

In the west, young children smile and laugh about the most innocent things, whereas here in Cambodia they are suffering and being forced into the sex-trade, where they have 'loss their innocence,' bearing pain and humiliation. Instead of playing with toys and learning their ABC's and 123's, children here are the actual toys for firty old pedophiles.  

Most prostitutes come from poor families in Cambodia's country-side or smuggled in from neighboring Vietnam. Parents of the girls, are misled into thinking that their daughters will have a better life and more job opportunies in the city. However as soon as the pimp offer an amount of money to the parents as an incentive for letting go of their daighter, the girls are forced into the sex trade and are bound by yearly contracts in order to pay their debts.

Virgins that have been smuggled in from Vietnam are considered delicacies and therefore are an expensive addition for any brothel owner, usually costing them $350-450, with non-virgins they are usually bought for half the price. A "berung" who wants the complete package, minus the disease pays up to $300 per session with a virgin. Once the girls are considered 'used-goods, or second hand products' their value drops dramatically, to as low as a $3-4 per sexual transaction. Some brothel owners will go to great lengths to provide virgin look-alikes, in order to do so, brothel owners gets non-virgins stitched up. To prevent their escape, some brothel owners lock the girls up in small tiny cages, where they are treated worse than animals.

Everyday more and more children from Cambodia and Vietnam are forced into the inhumane sex-trade of South East Asia. Why are there so many sick freaks in this unjust world? Can you imagine your own children as young as 5 being raped and forced to do things that are morally wrong? Can you imagine young innocent children who are supposed to be learning their ABC's and 123's, being used as sex-slaves and forced to do things kids in the west have no knowledge of? "It is a sin against humanity, and it is a horrendous crime."

It just hurts to know that my many young little cousins live nearby the brothels in this area. It makes me uncomfortable to think they are raised up in such a community, and have to witness the continual influx of "berungs" going there for one thing. It just scares me, to think that they 'could' possibly get involved if made to, or threatened to by the neighbouring people of the area, (pimps and brothel owners). Let's just hope for the best

- Allan -

Posted by droonsta at 09:10:03 | Permanent Link | Comments (3) |