You're riding a biyclce and trying to navigate an unfamiliar city on tour.  Of course you consult Google Maps and check the route.  When settled and everything is rolling, where do you keep your phone?  Certainly not in your hand I hope.   

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This was the scenario while biking about 15km out of the city to where my friend and her husband invited me for dinner at their house.  We used to work together in Shanghai and there was a lot to catch up on.  

They lived during the glory years from 2004-12 before Xi came to power and ran his own country and economy into the ground.  Things all started to really unravel around 2016.  Lucky for this couple, they left before all that happened and settled in Phnom Penh where they now have four kids and a thriving life.  They've been here ever since and are well familiar with the international school system.  The whole family is on track to become dual citizens  (the husband is from the US, the wife from Canada)

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The meeting was almost kaiboshed because two young punks on a scooter came up from behind and tried to grab my phone out of my hand.  They pulled hard, I pulled harder.  In the ensuing tug of war, I managed to balance the bicycle but I was no match for a scooter.  Once the driver got enough momentum from the engine, I had to let go or else I would tumble off.  In those few seconds my mind keeps thinking of what else I could have done but they were able to outpower me.  I then yelled and screamed and pointed at the scooter as it sped up while I tried to catch it in the hopes that some onlookers might see what was happening. 

I stopped at a nearby hospital and explained what happened and where I could find a police station to report this.  The guy was helpful and told me to follow him.  He also said, "Next time bro don't hold your phone in your hand like that on a bike, it's too easy to take."   I fully admit that was pretty stupid on my part but I blame it on being too coddled in China with poor street smarts.

We went to the police station and he helped me translate.  Right away the police said, "There's not much we can do to help you"  which was stating the obvious.  Then I figured what was even the point.  I at least asked, "Can you help me logon to my facebook to contact my friend?"  They obliged and it turns out the couple was only 500 meters away.  I sighed.  The theft had happened in the suburbs and only a few blocks away from their house.

Figuring there was no solution here, I got on my bike and bounced.  But the police had other ideas.  Three guys showed up out of nowhere with machine guns and told me to wait.  They said, "You're coming with us."  Well ok then.  They wanted me to get on the back of their scooter and take them to the location where the phone was stolen.  I did my very best to remember where, and got it accurate to within a few meters since I remembered the markets and people on the right side.  The people had seen me screaming earlier, and now I was here with the police.  Some talking went back and forth in Khmer but no idea what.

The police then took me on back roads to another police office that was in the jurisdiction of the theft.  There, a young officer spoke English and helped me fill out the report.  This took almost two hours and I felt like I was the one being punished here, not the asshole who took the phone.  They wanted my passport (which was thankfully kept safe) and all sorts of details.  I had no idea what was going to happen next, and whether they might turn the whole thing around and make me the criminal.  

The police at the former station were helpful though to also bring back my bicycle to where I was now.

The report done, they asked where I was going next and I told them my friends' place who had dinner waiting.  They said, "But it's late now"  I wanted to say, "You're the reason for that" but wisely kept my mouth shut.  Instead I found a polite way to get out of there safely and started using old school navigation methods.  What I did was pick a random direction then stop at a shop to ask directions on how to get into the city.  Once on that route, it was confirmed by seeing the moon rising in front of me, so that direction was east.  Using this as a compass, I then turned north to find the main crossroad which I needed to swing around and bike west to where my friend lived.  I started seeing familiar landmarks and had memorized the address inside the compound based on the facebook message that the police had earlier helped with.

That all done, I arrived and knocked on the door.  Veronica was absolutely astonished and asked, "How did you find us without a phone?"  I told them, "I used moonlight to navigate" and she couldn't believe it.  She said, "That's some next level stuff."  The kids knew about the whole thing too, including the adorable five year old with blonde hair who asked as only kids can ask, "Did someone steal your phone?"   

I couldn't help but wonder what all this was going to teach the family.  For starters, if they weren't already aware that petty crime was rampant in their neighborhood, they sure knew by now.  Also if someone could be so brazen as to snatch a phone from a moving bike in a non-touristy area, these thieves were no ordinary criminals.   Nor was I an ordinary person for continuing on with my plan despite all this happening and navigating by the moon.   

Veronica said, "Get yourself some supper, you must be starving."  We had a most enjoyable meal and managed to catch up.  They said "We had no idea if you'd actually make it here after the theft, it was fine if you just went back home" to which I said, "I made it a point to meet you guys and so I wanted to follow through"  

One of the main reasons for that is they were a kind and compassionate couple and great with listening to stories of people on their life journey.  I absolutely had to share the stories of what happened to China after they left, and in particular the Shanghai lockdown.

This time I went into more detail including the incident one Friday night.  That was when our neighbor committed suicide and then the police came in white hazmat suits to take the body away in a coffin the next day as the wife wailed and mourned.  She listened intently and said, "I can't believe you have been through all this trauma"  I then told her more stories and she said, "Wow, so it is true what all these people are saying about China, I keep hearing more and more stuff like this from those who move to Cambodia.  There are also a lot of Chinese people who left and came here after Xi took power."

I said, "Well that's the thing, and it's only accelerating.  My job all along is to help get Chinese people out and immigrate to Canada through study abroad.  But after having done this for so many years, it's doubtful how long this will keep going.  It's only a matter of time until Xi closes down all the offshore schools, because this is one of the main ways that Chinese parents are getting their money out of the country along with their kids.  If they want their money out, they have to do it now.  Thankfully most of them already did this."

She said, "We'd sure like you teaching here and helping my children out with their math."

More conversations ensued and more seeds were planted.  I told her the metaphor with the diving board in Kampot and how I faced my fears by jumping off.  I didn't share the hallucination, but it was all very well connected to everything and the pieces of the puzzle were starting to line up.  She understood the metaphor 100%.

They were the most hospitable couple but I didn't want to bother them too late.  What I decided was to leave the bike at their care, and they could help get a Grab back downtown.  Then they invited me back for lunch the next day which was conveniently on my route out of the city and towards Thailand.

It was time to go.