Cambodia Calling: Cambodian Spider!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cambodian Spider!

I laughed when I watched a spider freak Mark Beaumont out somewhere in Australia. Beaumont's attempt to smash the Guinness World Record for cycling around the world was shown on BBC recently. The spider he found on his backpack, while definitely dangerous looking, was smaller than this one living in my house...If you click on the image you can see its eyes, shining green!

I actually like spiders. Those we find in the house are mostly harmless and eat insects. I googled poisonous spiders in Cambodia but all I could get were spiders as food in Cambodia. Skuon is a province famous for its hairy edible spiders and you can see a picture of it and read more here weirdmeat.com.

I have tried the spider - just the legs though, I did not dare eat what I imagined to be its gooey stomach! My friends and I tried it at Romdeng restaurant in Phnom Penh and I have to say I liked the legs. It's crunchy and tasty and the hairs weren't a bother. Bon appetit!

1 comment:

TR Ryan said...: This spider was lurking under the lid of my toilet this morning in Ratanikiri Province. It has huge fangs and was defending the toilet bowl. I can't find any reference to its venomosity.; 9:10 pm

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THE BLOOM MANIFESTO

1. We believe in the right of all people to a decent life, free of poverty and with access to education

2. We believe you will be enriched helping the poor

3. We believe women hold up half the sky

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12. We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of handbags!

WHAT IS A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

A social enterprise has as its central objective, a social or environmental purpose, and not the obsession with profits. Yes, of course we want to be profitable, but it is so we can hire even more people in unfortunate circumstances, and offer them a shot at a better life, and not because we want to "increase shareholder value" or for the sake of lining our personal pockets. In fact, the only foreign staff (and founder/funder) does not get a salary from Bloom.

At Bloom, our mission is to alleviate poverty and save the environment at the same time, through our recycled bags.

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So please, before you ask us to discount our bags, remember that we are not a minimum wage factory; we are a social enterprise. If you want a cheap factory-made bag, Bloom is not what you are looking for. If you agree that workers (where-ever they are--Singapore, Germany, France, the US) should always be paid fairly and are not here to produce goods and services at low wages for the profit of big business, then please consider Bloom. Bloom bags are all hand-made by our small team who spend our working hours dreaming up and making bags.

All Bloom profits go to our Khmer staff and to growing Bloom. Ultimately the aim is for Bloom to be a workers' cooperative, where workers own, manage, grow the business and share the profits.

WHO WE ARE

Bloom is a social enterprise established in Sept 2006 with the intention of providing fair-paying jobs to abandoned, widowed and divorced Cambodian women. Bloom is not a factory. We are a small workshop of nine people who work closely as a team to produce original, quality handmade bags made from recycled rice and fish feed bags.

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Please Visit Bloom's new workshop off Norodom Boulevard in Phnom Penh and our retail outlets. Bloom is next to Warehouse Pub in the Old Market Area in Siem Reap and at No.808 Russian Market, Phnom Penh.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cambodian Spider!

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