Bump to baby on the beaten expat track
All’s quiet in the Penh as celebrations to welcome the year of the Horse continue. It’s our second chance to kick into gear those New Year’s resolutions. But for those who truly excel at procrastination the biggest one is yet to come, Khmer New Year in April.
Our son’s first word (apart from mama and papa) was elephant – every time we pointed to an elephant in one of his books he’d say “peh-pet”. Last year he was still a bit young to appreciate the celebration of Christmas, and was afraid of Santa Claus, even when he arrived with his favorite creature, Sambo the elephant. This year we milked that naughty/nice list idea cuz it works like a charm – it’ll be a treat to watch this little boy on Christmas morning now that he knows better. Sambo, happily, is no longer a regular on Phnom Penh’s busy riverside. He retired this year to a zoo.
I bought these cards at a Women’s International Group (WIG) Christmas Fair a few years ago. On the back of the cards is a copyright for Global Art and Anita Dean who, from a quick google search, is the founder of Global Art, Phnom Penh. I wish they printed the name of the artist too.
Anyway, I hope I’m not breaking any copyright rules by scanning and posting these beautiful cards. If anyone knows who the artist is, please leave a comment!
She isn’t happy with his idea to give her to Santa for Christmas!
It’s always nice when work takes you down to the coast. This is our team’s last trip to assess public health facilities. That we were in Kep was much appreciated! Kep is a small seaside province which has been designated a resort area so it is rapidly developing – see some photos of Kep on our Flickr. The crab market (Psar Kdam) is an especially big attraction. There are all manner of seafood on the grill for sale here. Ten squid on a stick cost 20000Riel (US$5). Whole chicken on the grill is around 30000Riel too. Big fish are around 8000-12000Riel each.
Blue crabs are the signature catch for Kep, so we splurged on these for lunch on our last day. For small crabs we were able to haggle 18000Riel/kg (~US$2/lb). For 35000Riel/kg the crabs are bigger and meatier. We got 6kg (13.2lbs) and had them steamed (1000Riel/kg). While waiting, our team made a yummy dipping sauce by pounding together a mix of garlic, chili, lime and some palm sugar. It was really hard to go back to work that afternoon!
As of this writing, the exchange rate is 30 Baht=US $1. So a normal delivery package at Bumgrungrad is US $1,196, while a C-section birth is US $3100. I was quite impressed with my experience at Samitivej hospital for our first child’s birth in 2011. I imagine the facilities in Bumrungrad, which is considered a higher-class (5star) facility, must be better.
In comparison, when we had our daughter in March this year in St Luke’s Hospital (Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Manila) the quote for a C-section delivery is PHP155,000-185,000 (US $3789-$4512) for 4-5 days’ hospitalization including delivery, recovery and nursery room charges, medicines and supplies used in the delivery room, hospitalization expenses (private room) and professional fees (OB-gyne, Pedia, Anesthesiologist). St Luke’s BGC is a similarly-billed 5star medical tourist hospital in Manila.
Other posts on this topic:
Having a baby in Manila vs. Having a baby in Bangkok (for expatriates) Aug 10, 2013
Bumrungrad Hospital in pictures Aug 10, 2013
Giving birth in Manila vs Giving birth in Bangkok Jun 16, 2013