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| Southeast Asia |
| Welcome to the killing fields cafe... |
| 2005-09-30 |
| Ummmmmmmmmmmm...don't think Mickey D's started out like this. PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A new Cambodian cafe is offering diners a slice of life under the Khmer Rouge, with a menu featuring rice-water and leaves, and waitresses dressed in the black fatigues worn by Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist guerrillas. Newly opened across the road from Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng "S-21" Khmer Rouge interrogation and torture center, the cafe is meant to remind Cambodians of the 1975-1979 genocide in which an estimated 1.7 million people died. Have it OUR way! Or else! But the set "theme menu" of salted rice-water, followed by corn mixed with water and leaves, and dove eggs and tea at $6 a time is proving too much to swallow for many visitors. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...but kinda pricey. "Our grandfather and other relatives lost their lives under Pol Pot's regime," said 17-year-old manager Hakpry Agnchealy, whose brother owns the business. "This is more than just a restaurant. It is to remind us of those who died." Might be other ways to go about it maybe? "We opened two weeks ago, but have only had two Europeans coming here to eat. We don't know how much longer we can go," she said. Might want to go "sports bar". Or maybe move to San Francisco... Faithful to the Khmer Rouge era, when many victims starved to death after a disastrous attempt to transform the country into a peasant utopia, the waitresses are barefoot and clad in the black pajamas and red-white scarves of the guerrillas. Speakers blare out tunes celebrating the 1975 toppling of U.S.-backed president General Lon Nol and the walls are adorned with the baskets, hoes and spades Pol Pot hoped would power his jungle-clad south-east Asian homeland to communist prosperity. Doesn't sound like a dating hot spot. Recognizing that many tourists might not be able to stomach such a close brush with the Killing Fields, the "Khmer Rouge Experience Cafe" is also promoting itself to those wishing to shed a few pounds. Now that might work... "It's good for me to slim down," said Tan, a 40-year-old Malaysian visitor. Don't say that too loud or a waitress might beat you to death with one of the shovels. In keeping with the theme... For some who survived Pol Pot's rule, the cafe served up too many chilling reminders of one of 20th century history's darkest chapters. "My mother visited me here once, saw the Khmer Rouge style and has never come back again," Hakpry Agnchealy said. Wonder who their marketing expert is? |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 I bet Chomsky would give it four stars..... |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-09-30 20:34 |
| #3 waitresses dressed in the black fatigues worn by Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist guerrillas Hooter's it ain't. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2005-09-30 17:24 |
| #2 That's sick. Next up The Dachau Deli |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-09-30 13:32 |
| #1 Wonder who their marketing expert is? Must be the same firm that the DNC uses. Pyscho Hillbilly |
| Posted by: PsychoHillbilly 2005-09-30 13:16 |