Phnom Penh (Ah!) Travel Tips - Freshie Contest - Water Festival - What's Going On - October 2006

James Loving NR Applications for the Freshie Boy & Girl contest are being accepted through November 10.

DJ Ken - National Radio Text Service

Thursday October 26, 2006

The Water Festival in Phnom Penh is Cambodia's biggest celebration - The Freshie Boy & Girl contest is currently accepting applications for this year's competition.- Toshu Fukami Library - Sorya Shopping Center - French Films - Internet THEFT warrants INTERNET OPTIONS

FRESHIE Boy & Girl Contest

The Freshie Boy & Girl contest is currently accepting applications for this year's competition. Applicants can pick up applications at the Camshin telephone sales centers in Phnom Penh on Mao Tse Toung Boulevard near Wat Toul Tom Poung and the Phsar Toul Tom Poung Market (Russian Market) as well at Camshin phone sales centers in Kampong Cham, Battambang, Sihanoukville and Siem Reap.

Applications will be accepted until November 10. One hundred and fifty boys and girls each will be chosen November 12 to compete in the interview sessions of the competition.

The show will be telecast weekly at TV 3's outdoor stage through December and January.

WATER FESTIVAL

The Water Festival in Phnom Penh is Cambodia's biggest celebration. This year it will take place November 4-5-6.

Cambodian families from the provinces travel to Phnom Penh to enjoy the festivities that include the boat races held during the day from 9am as well as the parading of colorful floats on the river in the evening from dusk and live entertainment on numerous stages throughout the area that the festivities are held.

"Basically the city will be turned into a party mode for three days," said K.B. Thuraisingham the Principal Advisor for the Ministry of Tourism.

Be advised if you are traveling to Phnom Penh by land you should do so several days before the festival begins as the transport will be jammed with the locals that will be making the journey to enjoy the festivities as well taking the holiday time to visit relatives and friends.

The boat races go on throughout the day. The competition involves teams from the provinces that compete for a small amount of money. They build their boats specifically for the event. The real enjoyment they derive is being a part of the activities that are also televised.

During mid day is quite hot unless it rains. Be prepared to pace your self for the evening events of parading floats, fireworks and live entertainment.

Most of the festival activity will take place along the riverfront. Many of the expatriate owned bars would close during the festival since the crowds are so large that their customers can't take transportation to their business.

The streets are closed off from Norodom Boulevard to the riverfront.

If you take transportation the riverside you will have to walk several blocks to reach the river walk street of Sisowath Quay.

There will be activities from the Independence Monument area of Hun Sen Park going in a northern direction to street 106. That is near Wat Phnom and the Post Office area.

There are plenty of vendors in the festival areas selling food and many restaurants will be open.

The fireworks show that is a part of the EARLY evening's entertainment menu begins normally at dusk.

They are most readily appreciated from a riverfront viewpoint.

Last year a number of restaurants and bars were open that have outdoor balcony seating.

Most notably they include the Pon Lok restaurant and the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia (FCCC). Both have good food that is catered to foreigner's tastes as well as alcoholic beverages.

They are within a block of each other on the riverfront street of Sisowath Quay and Street 178. The FCCC is on the corner.

Be alert… the crowds are so thick at the riverfront it creates body-to-body contact and is a pickpockets dream environment. Keep your hands on your possessions.

TOSHU FUKAMI LIBRARY

For those that are visiting or living in Phnom Penh there is a library that has books and magazines in ENGLISH.

The University of Cambodia offers such a facility that is open to the public seven days a week.

During the week Monday through Friday the TOSHU FUKAMI library is open from 7:30am to noon. In the afternoon it is open from 2 to 8pm. Saturday and Sunday 7:30am to noon and 2-6:30pm.

The university is located near the Independence monument at #143-145 Preah Norodom Boulevard. Tel: 023-993-276.

VANN MOLYVANN SPEAKS

Famed Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann designing credits include Olympic Stadium, Independence Monument, Chaktomuk Theater and the Bassac (National) Theater.

SORYA SHOPPING CENTER

For shopping in air-conditioned comfort the place to be is the Sorya Shopping Center. It has Cambodia's first escalator that serves as a thrill ride for some Khmers that come from the provinces that have never been on an escalator before. There are many shops and places to eat. Parking is available on premises. Located on Street 63 just one block south of the Central Market in downtown Phnom Penh.

NOTE:

French films some with English subtitles are shown at the French school theater every Friday and Saturday evening.

The times and titles of the films are listed on the back page of the Friday edition of the Cambodia Daily newspaper.

INTERNET THEFT WARRANTS CAUTION

TIP… Internet theft is rampant in the region. The work you are doing at many of the Internet cafes can be accessed from within or outside the shop from another computer.

Also many of the shops have the computers set to remember passwords and save forms and downloads.

In some shops we have found that legal documents that were scanned were saved in files that remain in the system for a week or more.

Use the Fire Fox browser whenever possible.

After receiving too many requests from business to change passwords we decided to look at how the computers are set at Internet shops. In doing so we found that there was too much to think about and self-protection was in order.

When using an Internet shop computer it is wise to go TOOLS on the computers tool bar and click on INTERNET OPTIONS.

From there in general information click on open to BLANK PAGE.

Delete links to other sites as well as the history.

Go to PRIVACY and set remember history to 0 days. Also delete remember history, clear the cache, save NO passwords.

Make sure the computer will not SAVE OR REMEMBER PASSWORDS or COPY FORMS.

Close and then click REFRESH THREE TIMES then open the browser.

Check history. If there is a history something is wrong.

Repeat the process or change computers.

After you finish your work repeat the process to make sure the person that uses the computer after you can't track your information and go to the sites you've visited.

Also some employees have been seen going to a computer after a customer has left the shop and clicked on and went to every website the customer visited.

We have pointed out to some shops the copying of passwords and forms in their computers in Internet Options. Some were very squeamish and others were attentive and tried to correct the problem. In some cases customers input the spy devices.

Some shops have set their computers so that what they have set can't be changed. You then have the option to leave and go to another shop where you can repeat the process and have a clean computer to use. Some shops have a system that whatever they scan will be saved to a file.

This may not solve all of the problems but it's a start. More suggestions are welcomed.

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