Fried Crickets More Robust than Ritalin in Angkor Wat

Guest blog entry by Melissa Taing, a marketing intern at CSOFT

Five years ago, I went to Cambodia and was overwhelmed by how much of my life still remains there. Granted, “life” is used in the broadest sense of the word, as it really was my parents’ lives that started there.

As a product of these two Cambodian-born, ethnically Chinese Americans (say that five times fast), I now have a permanent visa into the country, free access to most temples and tourist attractions, and dozens upon dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins, half-siblings, nieces, nephews… you name it, they’re there. My first visit flew by in a blur as new faces appeared daily, as we custom-made traditional Cambodian outfits, and as I struggled to memorize the entire Cambodian segment of my family tree.

What’s even more interesting than traveling somewhere for the first time, though, is returning there for a second time.