I can't stop thinking about hugging my lovely 3 ladies in Cambodia again, but until then I'm doing my best to stay distracted and tornado-free in Kentuckiana.
Are You Too Young To Dial? ☎️
I've been visiting a lot of family members on my exodus in the USA, and I noticed this rotary phone in the basement of my aunt's new husband's house on the way to check out his model train set. As soon as I saw it, I called my 15-year-old niece to come down and show me how she would dial her Dad. Needless to say, she failed.
Mini Trains or Giant People? 🛤️
Funny that the first time I see a working model train set is at 38 years old, but it seems my aunt's new husband has a lot of toys. He even had several vintage bicycles I marveled at, but I didn't take any photos of those.
Here is a view of the master controls. I can understand the joy this hobby brings, it was kind of meditative watching and listening to the little the trains race around track.
New Textile Tech 🧣
Now moving to a different day and location, this little shot I took is of a blanket my mom had in her house. Do you notice anything unusual? Monkey-B and Srey-Yuu's names are on it, as well as the names of other grandkids and dogs. I guess you can print on fleece now, pretty incredible technology, I have no idea how it works.
My Dad's House 🏡
Onto yet another location, my Dad's house, where we had a small Christmas with celebration with my stepmom, my brother, and my niece. People are generally frustrated with me because I refuse to allow anyone to buy gifts, but I've been living out of suitcases for year, so every ounce counts, especially considering the cost of excess baggage fees.
'Merican Excess 🍪🧁
At my Dad's house I discovered another piece of new technology, culinary technology to be exact. In the USA everything is bigger, like my brother's belly, which he highlighted in the above photo. I present to you cake-cookies, basically oversized super thick cookies that miraculously contain no raw dough in the center.
I am vegan as well as generally trying to eat healthy, so I didn't partake in these beauties, but I did marvel at them. It is all too easy to end up supersized in the USA. I am always shocked at the comically sized cups of soda I sometimes see my fellow 'Mericans carrying around.
Sauna Treatment ♨️
Something else I notice about my fellow 'Mericans is that we have a lot of things we don't use much. I try to remain in the mindset of a tourist when I visit my country, so I always ask to see the motorcycle, train set, sauna, computer, or whatever things people are proud to present. I talked my way into the use of the above sauna during my stay in the USA, and I hope to use it again at least once before I leave.
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Ok. By now I know you're in Cambodia. Not sure if you'll have to go through the quarantine, but let's hope you'll be with the family.
Nothing much to comment on the Merican Excess. Technically, we're also on the way to Malaysian Excess nowadays. Everything up size, charge a premium, a huge cup of soda which probably bigger than a regular Asian guy's head, and milk tea in a bucket.
Okay that is massive, and the smile seems to indicate "We beat you at your own game 'Merica!"
You make your remaining days busy in USA. Oh my! You will be with your lovely girls in few days! You can have them tightly and you can kiss them too! Yey! You will be together again. 😃❤️
Enjoy the remaining days in USA. I am so glad that you are now vegan and that you are not big as mericans like your brother. 😃😃😃
I am so anxious and excited, I just hope there are no complications with immigration procedures, COVID testing, etc. Well, I do know many junk-food vegans, because even though vegan means no animal ingredients, it doesn't necessarily mean natural or healthy. Here in the USA fresh produce is so expensive, so it's hard to maintain a healthy diet. Soon I'll be chomping on jackfruit again.
I can feel how much you wanted to see your girls and to live a simple life in Cambodia. Jackfruits seems to be waiting for you too. 😃Praying for you sir @justinparke! 🙏 I would love to see you reunited with your family again in Cambodia. Praying for the best! 🙏
I can only imagine how much you misses them. Just few more days 💪💪
Hahaha, same goes with my daughters when we saw a replica of rotary phone at 99 Wonderland last week. 🤣🤣
The model train look cool!! I never seen one in real life yet 😅😅
Hope you had a great week and Happy new year in advance 🎉🎉
So excited to see the family again. I think the kids of today probably would have no idea how to manage answering machine and the cassette tapes. This was the first running model train I've ever seen outside a hobby store.
That model train is quite mesmerizing to watch. The controls, does it mean the trains can change tracks too? I can't imagine that coz there's a lot of cabins.
The huge cookies look like something I would indulge on. Hehhe
Hope you still had a good Christmas despite being away from your girls. Excited for your homecoming to Cambodia. Cheers!
I'm not sure how they change tracks because all the space is taken up with trains. I do know he had different throttles for each train, and there are mechanisms to change the tracks, but I didn't get to see an of that stuff in action. Cambodia can't come soon enough...
5 more days until countdown. I managed to ( help with ) get(ting) a model train to wor, a week ago, at my neighbors' place. It fades into nothingness compared to the one you are sharing here, though haha!
Wishing you all the best for your upcoming trip and family reunion.
Let's make 2022 an unforgettable year, in the best way possible :<)
Funny you were also around model trains recently. I don't know much about them, but I used to race R/C cars in my teenage years, so I'm familiar with the stuff from seeing all the parts at hobby shops. Thanks my man, I can't wait to release a post from Cambodia.
I love these kind of parallels!
And I can't wait for you to be 'released'
Safe travels!
very busy for today, i am happy to see you can hug 3 beautiful girls, it's a heartwarming family after few days of not hearing their whispers. miss again
technology is awesome. this is people's future thinking. good luck to you, back to cambodia
I can't wait, and even now it's hard to talk to them on WhatsApp because the time difference is so great. They are going to bed when I wake up and vice versa.
I've always had a thing for train sets since I was a kid. That one is the cream of the crop. Your family seem like nice folk. It must have been surreal for you to be there after so long. I hope you're hanging in until the final departure day.
I love the blanket with the names on it.😊
It was a good time, the train set was the highlight of the dinner. I'm at the hotel now, heading to the airport late tonight, so excited.
Whoa I am super excited for you!!!!!! Can't wait to see the reunion post/video?!!!
Your brother's belly is magnificent. I marvelled at it... Wow.. very nice train set collection. I am a collector of toys too so when I saw ur uncle:s train collection, my saliva dripped. Did ur family say that they were gonna miss you once u go to Cambodia?
I think if I stay here much longer, I'll end up with a similar belly. The train set was awesome, but I love the diorama just as much as the trains. It's a shame with the thousands of dollars he likely has invested in all of his trains, that he never built a town or a mountain for the trains to run around in. Of course my family always remind me how much they will miss me, but nobody ever mentions coming to see me, but I've made peace with that after all these years.
Hi hi.. Justin.. wow.. those train sets cost thousands.. That is a belly that needs lots of investment. Just wondering.. Have your family travelled out of US to places in Asia before? Maybe Europe? I mean your family from the states. Most the toys I collect are usually affordable ones.. only my cameras go above a thousand.
My Dad's been to Honduras, Japan, Mexico, and a few Caribbean countries. He even visited Japan while I was living in Cambodia, but didn't come to see me. I think they're all just scared from all the the anti-communist propaganda they were raised on in the 50s and 60s. I think they think it's the wild west here, people killing each other in the streets, totally lawless.
The communist eras were pretty scary.. I think it stayed in their mind for a long long time. My parents still have these little stories of those times. I think what's even scariest is living with communist. But luckily, most of the world went democratic. Good to know that your back with your family. At first, I was worried for your absence till I thought, maybe you were on a flight back.
It's good that I read one of your post that you did not take any grudge with your parents for not visiting. I want to ask, it is that in the Western world, once their teenager reaches 18, they have to basically go out and earn a living on their own?
The stories Pov has retold me that she heard from her mom are enough to make a Hollywood blockbuster movie. The crazy thing is that her story is far from unique. Even wilder is Pov has some family members that stayed in Cambodia during the genocide and Khmer Rouge reign. They actually were permitted to stay in their house just outside Phnom Penh because they were subsistence farmers. I've hung out with those folks, and boy have they seen some of the most extremes humanity has to offer.
I hold no hard feelings for all of my western friends and family never coming here, but it's now been so many years these two worlds are totally separate that I now almost have like split personalities, using a different one for each place. You're right about the 18 thing for the most part. Most girls are uninterested in dating guys without at least a nice apartment, car, and good-paying job, ant that's at 18 years old. Pretty hard to live up to that when the standard of living in the USA has been decreasing the last 60 years.
Living through a genocide is hard... It is something that cannot be forgotten.. even listening to stories would make my goosebumps pop up as they too listen attentively.. luckily, now all those are over and the country is moving forward...
It is definitely hard to make it with the decreasing standard of living and inflation nowadays. Elon Musk is right about the world's biggest threat which is the decreasing of the world's population.
I don't want to comment anything, because you haven't returned to Cambodia, I'm always waiting, and faithfully waiting for your post when you arrive in Cambodia, because my idol is on Cambodian soil..hi my friend @justinparke
Well, I am sure my family and I will recall many good memories with Harry the lamb. When I'm back in Cambodia Monkey-B will likely become the Hive star of the family. Thanks for stopping by my friend.
I always loyally stop by your posts my friend, because you are a very friendly person,
If you were to tell me how to dial on that, I'd fail as well. That looks so old! The model train also looks super cool, I've never seen one in person, and that set-up must have cost a lot. Wishing you a safe trip back to Cambodia!
Haha, that tells me about how old you are. I am 38, and when I was a kid most homes had already stopped using them, but my aunt kept hers plugged in well into the 1990s, so I'm well-acquainted with a rotary phone. Thanks for the wishes, I'll take all I can get.
Wow, that must have been a long time ago, I would love to see one in person and give it my best shot to try and use it properly haha. You're welcome!!
Just been catching up on everything. So glad you'll finally be getting back to your family and Cambodia. I can't imagine how hard it's been since they left.
Will you ever be able to become a permanent resident of Cambodia?
I sit in the hotel now, just a matter of hours before flight now. Supposedly the new law can grant me permanent residency, but we'll have to read the fine details and see if it's actually possible or not in our specific case.
By the time you read this you'll hopefully be with you girls again. I'm so excited for you.
Fingers crossed that you can get the permanent residency.
So glad and happy that you will be reunited with your girls. There is really a right time. And I think the day you meet your girls again was the right time. Keep safe always.😊😊😊
I really hope to document the moment I reunite with the family outside the airport. I think we will all be proud to share that moment with Hive.
You have not introduce Harry the Lamb to your mom, Yes, Harry the Lamb, I miss your story of Him. 🐐🐐🐐
Haha, I tried to show some of my 'Merican friends and family videos of Harry playing football, but they weren't interested. It's just another example of how I feel like a stranger in my own country. To me though, Harry is one of the most incredible things that has happened in my life in the last few years.
Be sure to have your camera(s) rolling when you reunite with the girls :)
ps: If your uncle likes gadgets, he must have some RC toys laying around, right?
I have already thought about this, just as much for my fellow Hivers to see as for a memory I definitely want to relive a few times. I didn't see any RC cars at my uncle-in-law's place, I would've been all over em' if I did. I did seen an interesting 80cc mini-moto in disrepair, would've made an offer if I was here to stay.
Exciting times for you guys, enjoy your stay as you know you will be soon united. All the best and a happy new year! 🤗
Thank you so much, and a happy new year to you too. I can't wait to have an infinite amount of content to post.
8 more days and you'll be with them. Have a safe flight to Cambodia.
Happy New Year 🍾 🎆
Thank you, as much as I've flown, it never has become enjoyable to me. I guess I've traveled mostly as a migrant and not so much as tourist. If HIVE goes to the moon, perhaps 2022 will see my family's first tourism-related flight.
Happy New Year to you too 🎉.
Long flight can be so tiring.
But glad you'll see them soon and hope that you and your family's wish to be able to have your first tourism flight will happen very very soon. Let's claim it. 😊
Happy 2022 and more blessings to come.
but these still can't compare a life with 2 angels and 1 queen in your cambodia.
You got that right, can't wait to climb out of that aluminum can with wings and hug those lovely ladies.
Those vintage trains are awesome! I wish I can have a view at them personally. Lol
They were mesmerizing to watch.
You got your visa??? You have a great trip, and stay safe 🙌
I did, visa in hand. Still many hurdles left, but one of the biggest ones is now behind me.
Congratulations 🙌 You must be so excited!!!
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Yeah, my new uncle-in-law had a lot of interesting things to show visitors. My brother has a good sense of humor like me, he wasn't afraid of the cookie cake at all 😆.
I think it's relaxing for my uncle-in-law to go downstairs and power on the trains. Also, when there are tornadoes, it is something to entertain while waiting for the danger to pass 🌪️.