Passengers on Silk Air from Phnom Penh to Singapore in late January were

both comforted and a bit shocked just after take-off. Air stewardesses came down

the aisles offering the latest copy of the Straits Times which carried the banner

headline "Silk Air crash victims to have pay-out doubled". The story ran

with photo of the wreckage of the Silk Air crash in an Indonesian swamp.

** Germany's second most popular TV station had a crew in town last week,

but they may have missed the story. Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) was trying

to get the lowdown on illegal logging. They managed to find the $2000 in cash to

rent a private plane for five hours so they could fly over forests up north which

enabled them to get pictures of lots of trees.

However when it came time to do some ground work, coughing up $30 per day for a translator

was apparently not within their limited budget. They puttered around Kratie and Kampong

Cham on their own and ended up in a linguistic fog. One ZDF camera crew member was

left to comment: "Its so difficult. We can't understand what anyone is saying."

** Surprise, surprise! Congratulations to Anthony Alderson & Kelly Karatau

and Chris Fontaine & Laura Ngo. Both couples, we now know, are expecting babies.

Veteran PPPost reporter Fontaine, well-known for his romantic Floridian soft touch,

even proposed to Laura on Valentine's Day. She said 'yes'.

** Sources say that the new flagpole and wall in front of the Council of Ministers

was constructed for the low, low price of only $90,000.

** For all those who have been fretting anxiously, it has now been confirmed

that the Sound of Music is available on digital video disc at the Russian Market.

** Harry Nesbitt, the Cambodia IRRI Australia Project's rice Guru, turns 50 tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Harry. Keep those improved rice strains coming and don't let the recent

outbreak of false smut disease get you down.

** What's the big secret? BAT is holding Racing Media Workshops today for

press who want to better understand Formula One Racing. According to their press

release "Any information presented in the workshop may be used in the media,

but the actual workshop itself should not be reported on. As a result, we request

that no photographs or film footage be taken of the Media Workshops."

Oh well, what the heck. All attendees get free 555 gifts and a chance to "experience

the thrills of racing in the Kambol F1 GoKarts".