Sometimes it creeps up on you.  You hardly hear it coming.  It’s a freaking crazy Saturday.  It’s so packed, you feel the need to document it all (or most of it at least – you don’t need to see me eating fried chicken).  Particularly because you have your hands on a sweet ass lens that your photo sensei placed in your hands for a morning of overhead squats and muscle shots. And more so when you discover that soap making with a thickly accented Korean man can actually be the best thing since soap itself (and that says a lot).

It all started with the Crossfit Open.  For those of us who drank the Kool-Aid, it’s the best way to start off the weekend.  That’s right, 30-odd sweaty nutballs squatting, pulling themselves over bars and cheering each other out over at Crossfit Amatak.  For me though, I was so inspired by the gorgeous (lady) muscles out there.  So I might have gone a little shutter crazy on that. And let there be a GIF.

Very shortly (and just a few blocks) after the sweat fest, Cait and I went and did the complete opposite.

Lee Byoung-Hee began making soap as a response to his wife’s sensitive skin and the lack of appropriate cleansing products in Phnom Penh.  He now has sourced the best ingredients and sells his wares in the Russian Market (near the Bodia stall), but also teaches soap making from his very own home!  Our wonderful friend Caroline organized a group of amazing women (and us messy art lovers) to learn how it all gets done and to make some crazy designs of our own; and boy did we make some fun little soap bombs (and annoy our instructor with our colour choices).

Lessons start from $40 and prices may vary according to group size. For more information, email Mr. Lee here.

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All photos by Tiffany Tsang. Please request permission for use.