Missing Vietnam

I'm in Myanmar but I still think of Vietnam a lot....

People and things I miss in Vietnam: (not in any specific order)
1. Tuan Anh brother and family, especially Long, his nephew
2. My students: Chan, Thao, Minh Hieu and many more....
3. An and Hanh, who taught me how to prepare Vietnamese spring rolls
4. Luan, my hairdresser
5. The staff of RV Nam Viet: Mdm Huong, Son, Thao, Vi, Nhu
6. Sweet soup
7. Food made from rice paper
8. Fish sauce
9. Wearing my mask, hat and gloves when I hit the streets
10. Cheap haircut, manicure and pedicure
11. Riding the motorcycle
12. Teaching the primary school kids

Holidays!

One of the perks of working in Myanmar is that they have countless holidays here..... When a full moon coincides with the last week of the month, or something like that, they have a holiday too! Next Monday is some sort of Armed Forces Day.... so let the soldiers go march in the streets while I go on a short holiday to Hsipaw! Wait for my pictures!

Conquering Mandalay Hill

I’m here in Mandalay, so of course I have to climb the Mandalay Hill. This is a place where the locals go to for their morning exercise. It’s amusing to see what they wear to work out. It can range anything from jeans and slippers to pajamas. It really funny to see people walking around in their pjs…. It’s as if they are sleep walking! But it’s usually the ‘uncles’ who are dressed like that. Beautiful sunrise between the branches.

I caught the sunrise as I was climbing the hill. The sun here rises and sets very early each day. In order to witness the sunrise, my colleagues and I had to start climbing the hill at about 5 plus. We were a little late because the taxi that was bringing us to the foot of the hill broke down midway! We took the winding road up to the summit and at the top was a pagoda. What else did you expect? But coming down, we took the flight of stairs that linked the countless pagodas that were dotting Mandalay Hill. It’s really amazing to know how devoted these people are to their religion and the number of pagodas they have built! But one thing I dislike about visiting pagodas is that I have to remove my shoes. And it’s not like their ground here is very clean! So I always end up with black feet when I return home. The ground can sometimes be very sandy and rocky as well, so I feel like I’m having a free massage / acupuncture as well.

Even though I have kind of become immune to seeing pagodas, (I no longer gasp in amazement when I see one) I still think they have some kind of mystical attraction. So watch out for more photos of neat white rows of pagodas in varying sizes!

Kaunghmudaw Pagoda

I like this place because the pagoda is so big, white and clean looking. It rises about 46 m in height. There are 812 stone pillars each about 1.5 m high surrounding the pagoda. One of the staff says that the shape of the pagoda is supposed to represent the breast of a Myanmar queen. Erm…. Ok…. But if that’s the case, then why is there only one big dome???

The interior of the pagoda has many thousands of pieces of mirrors adorning the walls. They create a beautiful piece of art. I could not capture the beauty of it because of the reflections created by the mirrors. The dog is enjoying a nap right in front of the Buddha! So much for respect! But it is such a cute sight!

Big Bell

Look at my big hat! Haha! This is the world’s largest hung, uncracked and working ringing bell...

Hsinbyume Paya

We are now at Hsinbyume Paya. If I’m not mistaken, paya = pagoda. From far and under the glaring sun, it looks very clean and white. When you actually go up close to the pagoda, it is very grey and dirty. But nevertheless, it is still a beauty. It was built in memory of the King’s senior wife, Hsinbyume. There are seven wavy terraces around the stupa (centre dome) which represents the seven mountains around Mt Meru. Mt Meru is the mountain that stands at the centre of the universe

I met a cute young monk at the top of the pagoda. He speaks very good English. I would say that he speaks even better English than my students! Too bad I didn’t manage to capture a good photograph of him and his cheery smile.

U Bein Bridge

This is U Bein Bridge. It is a 200 years old, 1.2 km-long teak footbridge. According to my students, it is taboo to say the word 虎 when you are crossing the bridge. The person who utters this word will go crazy and jump into the water…..

My students and I crossed the bridge to the opposite side, but decided that we were too tired to walk back, so we took the boat. Bad choice! When we were nearing the shore, water started to seep into the boat! Yikes! We all had to lift our legs up as if we were doing some kind of abdominal exercise. That’s not the worse part…. The boat could not get any nearer to the shore to let us get off board. So we had to abandon ship and walk the remaining distance. We had to hike up our jeans and hold our shoes in order to walk in the calf-height waters. It was a funny sight and a once in a lifetime experience! But I’ll never want to do it again! Happy times before tragedy struck….

Abandon ship!!!

Mingun Paya

This structure is an unfinished pagoda from long long time ago. The unfinished structure is already so big! I can only imagine how big the finished product would have been if the king had mamaged to see through the construction of the pagoda before he passed away. There are many cracks in the structure due to a massive earthquake in the 1800s..... But the cracks give this pile of bricks so much character! It's easy climbing to the top of the pagoda, but I got the jitters when I had to walk down....

Beautiful Mingun

I acted like a tourist yesterday! Took lots of photographs when I went to Mingun, a 2-hour drive away from Mandalay. It's a beautiful place but very dusty and dirty and smoky and... you get the idea right? Just imagine my white t-shirt turning to some brownish-orangey tinge! I really have no idea what kind of mud particles got onto my shirt! No matter how much I scrubbed or how long I soaked it, it was still that digusting colour! Argh!!! My favourite GAP t-shirt is now ruined!!! Now I know to wear some grubby old clothes when I go to such places. But ruined t-shirt aside, I now have some wonderful pictures of Mingun. The pictures are so good that I wonder if I were the photographer!!! Shameless, I know! Will post more pictures of Mingun later.... Having lots of problems with the internet now.....

Simple Life

Brother Tuan Anh once asked what makes me happy...... He was able to guess them..... I think I'm quite an easily contented person.....

1. Ice-cream
2. Chocoloate
3. Flowers
4. Perhaps a little love wouldn't hurt

But what do I have over here? No ice-cream, no chocolate (they sell expired stuff here!), flowers may be plentiful (but no mood to appreciate them) and there's definitely no love.....

Think I'm starting to whine again.....

Happy At Last

I have managed to perk myself up.... How? Retail therapy! Haha! Bought myself a special wallet to hold the humongous dollar notes used here and two pieces of traditional Burmese fabric to make skirts and bags! Then this morning, my colleagues and I went for a morning exercise. We followed a group of uncles and aunties and did qigong with them. After that, it was aerobics! So funny! The qigong was conducted in Mandarin naturally, but so was the aerobics! Haha! First time I did aerobics in Mandarin! You know how qigong you are supposed to xi (inhale) and hu (exhale)..... I never once did xi very deeply..... I don't want all the yucky, dusty stuff to get into my system!

Blink Of An Eye

Ever shut your eyes for a moment longer than a blink whenever you feel tired? I do it here in Myanmar quite a lot. But I do not do it by choice. Not a day goes by in this country where there isn’t a power failure. Sometimes it’s just for a split second, that’s why I say I take a long blink quite often. Sometimes it can be for a few minutes. I have yet to experience a power shortage for more than half an hour, fortunately. I hope that never happens. My night blindness is really quite bad. More carrots?

Her & Him

Scenario 1
Her: I’m sure you like girls who can cook. Am I correct to say that?
Him: Can you cook?
Her: You are not answering the question.
Him: If you can cook, then I’ll like girls who can cook. But if you can’t, then I’ll teach you how.

Scenario 2
Her: I’m older than you.
Him: I don’t think age should matter in love. Anyway I think you still look young.

Scenario 3
Her: What do you think of the little kids in the photograph? They are cute right?
Him: Yes, but they are not as cute as you.

Scenario 4
Her: You are tall. I like your height.
Him: Then I’ll strike you a bargain and be your boyfriend.

Scenario 5
Her: Did your family see our photos?
Him: Yes, grandma asked if you were my girlfriend. I told her not as yet.

Scenario 6
Her: If I’m not married by thirty, I’ll go look for you ok?
Him: No problem. I’m already waiting.

Does one take the answers literally or does one have to read between the lines?
Subconscious flirting or blatant show of attraction?
You decide.

Positive Thinking

For the sake of my brother 李岩, I have learnt how to type in Chinese!

大家好！我现在阵在办公室里。我有我自己的一台电脑，可是没有internet，给我电脑也没有用！我觉得好无聊。因为这里的上班时间是从八点半到五点半。之间也没有太多的课。这里没有像在越南那么自由。我快要闷死了！

I guess you all should not have much problems reading this. I have used simple words. I have so much time in the day that I can use the free time to write my blog. Then I will upload the posting when I go to the internet cafe at night. But you must have noticed that my postings have been rather short lately and there are no photos. Reason is simple: I can't stand the things around me, so how to get into the mood to take pictures?! I keep telling myself:

THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE, THINK POSITIVE.