Deal or no Deal

You can sit on your couch and watch “Deal or no Deal” on TV, or you can experience the thrill of playing it yourself. The decision is clear. Get together a group of friends and head over to Pencil Supermarket to try it out. For just $.50 you can guarantee yourself a good time, and if you have any luck, you won’t walk away empty handed. You may not able to win thousands of dollars like contestants on the famous TV game show, but with the supermarket’s budget version of the challenge, you can walk away with store credit, rings, toys, dolls and a bunch of other stuff. Just like the real thing, an imaginary banker gives you the choice of taking your current prize or playing on for something better. There may only be a few people watching, but you will feel like it’s the most important decision of your life.

Beads

Gold and silver might be what most girls think of when it comes to beautifying jewellery, but beads can have the same aesthetic effect and give you a unique look from your metallic-minded peers. Whether you are looking for earrings, rings, key chains, pendants or bracelets, going the bead route will make you look strange and sexy and people won’t be able to take their eyes off your exotic style. There as many varieties of beads as there are personality types, so decide what type of look you are going for and find the ceramic, porcelain, crystal or wooden beads that fit you. As if you needed more motivation, many cultures believe that beads are bring you luck, so save your style and your soul and bring beads into your wardrobe immediately.

mp3.baidu.com

This isn’t the first music downloading site to appear in the ever-popular 5 cool things, but in honour of the Chinese influence issue, I can’t help but tell you about my favourite music site, which happens to be nearly impossible to use if you can’t read Chinese. Fortunately I can, thanks to years of studying the language, and therefore can enjoy browsing the expansive library of hits from China and other Asian countries. The site organises new songs and singers so I can stay up to date on what’s popular in far-away countries with much better music scenes than Cambodia. If you didn’t already have a reason to learn Chinese, mp3.baidu.com is all the inspiration you need to learn the most widely spoken language in the world.

Guitar

Being an avid consumer of American movies, I realised years ago that playing the guitar is perhaps the coolest musical endeavour there is. If you feel inspired to become a guitar master yourself, you are in luck, because compared to other instruments like the piano, the guitar is downright affordable for someone without much cash or musical experience. Although it will be years before you are strumming like the stars in movies and music videos, within three months of daily practice you can begin to play some simple songs. Then when you go on trips with friends, you will be the main attraction as everyone gathers around you and your guitar and sings the night away.

Basketball

You may think that playing basketball is best left to the boys, but think again, because this little lady loves to hoop it up. You might be surprised to hear that this is among my favourite ways to use my free time, but it’s not hard to believe if you consider the health benefits and the excitement of the sport. As you dribble circles around your friends and dazzle onlookers with your sweet skills, you will also sweat out the poisons from the past week and run off the stress that’s been building up after days without basketball. If you aren’t ready for the real thing, you can hone your skills in the arcades at Phnom Penh’s malls and rain jumpers in the comfort of air-conditioning.