May 13, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees No Comments

“They can’t drink the alcohol or woo the ladies”

Originally sent: 27 June 2005 About this series I’m in Battambang: which is famous across Indochina for its decrepit colonial French architecture, raunchy statues of garudas having their way with apsaras and a state of sleepiness that gives the lack of English expressions for somnolence a bad name. Since the

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May 06, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees 1 Comments

“At worst, it’s an ugly manifestation of foodies’ deep-seated disdain for the poor.”

“However good the illusion, would anyone really mistake Moto’s BURGER with cheese for the fast-food familiar? No more than one would confuse an Andy Warhol silk screen of Campbell’s soup cans with Campbell’s soup.” But it is not 1962, a petit four is not a silk screen, and McDonald’s burgers

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May 06, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees No Comments

Ratspotting

Originally sent: 12 May 2005. About this series. I spotted my first rat on the way to work this morning which was the size of a small pony. It was headed in the direction of my house. Things bode ill. I’ve just finished my first few weeks of work and

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Apr 26, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees 1 Comments

Phnomenon

Sent: 10 April 2005 It’s day seven of CNN becoming Pope Channel, and M and I are rapidly settling in the expat Cambodian lifestyle. Fairly unsurprisingly, Phnom Penh is absolutely different to what I thought – I was expecting everything that we need to do to be much harder. Quite

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Apr 26, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees No Comments

I like your old stuff better than your new stuff.

I get this, often. Writing was more of a priority when I was virtually unemployed in Cambodia with no responsibility whatsoever rather than holding down a full time job that I enjoy and being a somewhat responsible parent. Circumstances have changed a little. Like anyone who writes, I’ve got a

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Apr 24, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

A trending history of Australian home-baked goods

The relative Google search volumes for various popular Australian cake recipes.

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Apr 22, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees 1 Comments

Two links on the cult of authenticity

The quest for authenticity is an ugly thing. Will there never be an end to the spectacle of (usually white, middle-class) people draping themselves in exotic tribal fabrics, bribing sherpas to haul them up mountains, spending $15 for turkey-burgers in urban hunting lodges, throwing out perfectly good kitchen tables for

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Apr 20, 2013 | Post by: Phil Lees 3 Comments

Goodbye, Rosemary

I pulled out a rosemary hedge that’s been growing down the side of my house for a few decades, in about two hours. Not even the keenest lamb cook can eat that much rosemary and I still have a massive plant in the backyard to attract bees to pollinate more

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