I called Thavy tonight to see if she was up for having dinner before I depart. She was game, and we met at one of the Italian restauraunts on Unity Street (by Fraser Place). There are two there, and I can never remember their names.
An older asian gentleman was providing the soundtrack, with the help of a mic’d acoustic guitar. He sang mostly Simon & Garfunkel tunes and had a voice like Mr. Bean. Very charming.
The restaurant was running a promotion where they were donating all proceeds from bottled wine sales to a local children’s charity. All wines were S$25 a bottle (which is good to begin with), and they were donating the entire S$25 to charity, as a holiday gesture. A local news team was there filming, and they asked Thavy and me to perform some toasts for the camera. First a two-shot, then a close-up of each of us. Thavy has an amazing face and is very photogenic, and I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t make the evening news.
Why bean town girl? Thavy is the child of a French woman and a Cambodian man. She was brought up in Boston but speaks fluent Khmer and French.