Bagan (Myanmar Days 3 and 4)

I am currently uploading my videos from the last few days and will spend this time waiting writing a bit about my time here in Bagan. As you can tell, I have switched mostly to a video blog but as I don't capture everything on video I will write a few scentences as well about what I've been up to.

As you likely do not know, Bagan is the ancient city here in Myanmar. There are over 3,000 pagodas and it is absolutely breathtaking. They are literally everywhere (just along the road in many places) and all are accesable. You can walk right up to them, climb all over them, they are in the middle of people's farm land, on hotel property, everywhere. And they are for the most part in very good condition. If I had to compare Bagan to Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia (as many people do) I would rank this much higher. Not only are there almost no tourists here (I am here in the off season), it is not nearly as commercial and popular (yet) as Angkor. Everything is more accessible, more real, and many times you go places people still find a lot of uniqueness in your being white - which is cool.

A few cool things to note that were not captured in any of the videos so far:

- I saw an old man tilling his field this morning with a wooden till pulled by two oxen. I sat and watched him awhile. He controlled them almost totally by vocal commands and he had to manuver the oxen around the thousand year old pagodas in the middle of his farm field. It was like I was looking back a few centuries in time. Amazing!

- I have spent many hours the last two days watching TV in the local restaurants. Both yesterday and today in the afternoon (around 4) I found myself at the same restaurant/cafe in Nyaung U watching Burmese soap operas (or maybe movies). Either way, they were so dramatic I could understand them without problem even though I obvisouly do not speak Burmese. Yesterday I enjoyed this time by myself where as today I was accompanied by a very nice Italian, Andrea, who I had dinner with last night and spent the afternoon and evening with today.

- Tonight, after dinner, Andrea and I went to a cafe in our town (New Bagan). This is the same cafe my "First Meal in Bagan" video was filmed at. We spent two hours there tonight enjoying a tea and bottled water while we watched Rise of the Plante of the Apes with about 30 Burmese men. It is a great set-up here in Burma. All the local cafes have nice HD TVs and they play whatever they want. As a patron you watch whatever is being played (can be a soap opera, the football game, a movie, the home shopping network, etc...) while you drink your coffee. Tonight, I was the only female (as I appear to be mostly when I go to these cafes - I'm not sure where the ladies hang out), we were the only 2 non-Burmese people, and we had a fabulous time! I know this will be something I likely will not forget.

- Not sure if I wrote about this yet or not, but when I was still in Yangon I saw a very young child (still learning to support his own weight as he was leaning on a shelving unit when I saw him standing up) playing with a butchers knife. The child was using one hand to support his weight on a shelving unit and simultaneously holding a cucumber slice against the surface (with the same hand). In the other hand, the child was holding a butcher's knife that he was using to pretend chop at the cucumber slice. I'm not sure how sharp the knife was, but I hope he didn't drop it on his foot. How crazy! I would have taken a photo, but I didn't want to ruin the moment.

- I ran into a Dutch girl I spent Christmas with in Penang, Malaysia last evening here in Bagan. Crazy small world, isn't it?

- We have regular power outages here in Myanmar. I experienced one in Yangon and they have them twice daily here in Bagan - once in the morning around 9:30 (lasted until maybe 11?) and one in the evening at 7:30.

- Today I was ushered out of my hotel quickly by the owner because the government was coming and I couldn't be here. I had come back from some sighseeing around 2pm and dropped off my electric bike for charging downstairs. I told them I would leave at 4 pm. At 3:30 the owner came to my room and told me I eithere had to leave at 3:30 (so immediately) or wait until 4:30 to leave, I could not leave at 4 pm like I had wanted to. She said the government was coming to check the hotel so I either had to go then or stay in my room. I told here I needed to shower and could not leave for at least 5 mintues. I finally got her to agree to this plan. I showered quickly, tucked away my valuables, and headed downstairs. (As a law here in Singapore, foreigners can only stay at registered guest houses. I suspect the guest house is not registered and that is why she was concerned about me being here. I did not check, but assumed it was registered since there were so many reviews online from foreigners. To note, this is only a suspicion. I never found out why they needed me to leave). Anyways, because of my suspicion, I was careful as I walked to the main door in case the government was here. They were not, but as I walked down the stairs they ushered my quickly out the door so "the governement" would not see me there. This country is such an experience!

- (I keep thinking of more things to write about....) I took the overnight bus from Yangon to Bagan. The bus, a VIP bus, was amazing. At one point, about 1 hour into our 10 hour ride, we pulled over on the side of the motorway, one of the "bus hostesses" (as I've named them) got a large item from under the bus, brough it up the front steps, and there in the aisle next to me appeared one of the push carts the air hostesses use on the airplanes. They did one round of snacks and around of refreshments for us. It was amazing! Plus we each got our own blankets, after our dinner stop they passed out little digestion tables (not sure what they really were and they weren't exactly to my liking...), and we had free water bottles. All for only USD$20! If travleing in Myanmar, use JJ Express and take the bus, it is a great experience!

Okay, I think most everything else can be seen in the videos below.

Enjoy! (If you don't watch all of them, at least watch the last two videos from Day 2. They are the best show of what life is like here in Myanmar!)

Videos Day 1 in Bagan:

Windy First Video from Bagan

First Meal in Bagan, Great Little Cafe in New Bagan Town

Inside a Pagoda In Bagan

Out Back of a Beautiful Pagoda

A Refreshing 7-Up in Nyaung U

Videos Day 2 in Bagan:

The Streets of Nyaung U

The Streets of Nyaung U Part II

Nyaung U Local Market

How the Locals Live in Bagan

Okay, I'm off to bed now as I have an early morning flight to Inle Lake tomorrow. I will be leaving the 105* temperatures here for 75* in Inle Lake. Not sure I've packed appropriately....

Best!

Yangon Day 2

So today is my second and last day in Yangon. I spent the morning eating breakfast with a German American, Elisabeth, who lives in Michigan and teaches at a community college. Every summer, a week after school lets out, she packs her bag and heads out to see the world, one country at a time. She is here in Myanmar for 6 weeks - what a life! I then went into town and just wandered around, eating street food, drinking smoothies and coffees and juices, and soaking in the sights and sounds of Yangon. I am now back at my guesthouse for a shower and a quick rest before I take the overnight bus to Bagan. Here's one video from today. When I watch it the quality is really bad but I think that may be due to my internet connection here. Hope it isn't so bad for you guys.

I'll try to get photos up in the next few days.

Best!

Yangon Day 1

So I am lying in bed right now writing this post and I am extremely tired. But, I just want to make sure I get a few videos up before I totally pass out for the evening.

I have not sletp much - just a couple of hours on my flight and another 2 at my hotel. I have been out sightseeing all day and then ended up out to dinner with 2 people who work for the UN and then for after dinner drinks with one of them and his local Subcontinent friends. (Subcontient apparently refers to India and Pakistan - I just learned this tonight.) I am super, super tired now but to sum up the day: AMAZING! I really just do not know how I could be so lucky that my life has led me to this point. I am here, in Myanmar, on holiday and it is totally fabulous. It really has been occuring to me recently how amazing my life is and I'm just trying to soak it all in. I know that it is due to a my hard work, decisions, and courage, but there must be some bit of luck in there as well and man, I am lucky! 

Okay, enough of that. Here's the video's from today:

Yangon Market Part 1

Yangon Market Part 2

First Meal in Myanmar

Elizabeth, Where Are You?

Shwe Dagon Pagoda Yangon

And just as I am now thinking of going to sleep there is a baby (well at least I think it's a human baby, could be some baby animal) crying outside of my room, somewhere in the street, very loudly. Weird! I'm so tired, however, I'm sure I will still get to sleep just fine.

Night!

On My Way to Myanmar

I am currently sitting at Changi airport in Singapore waiting for my flight to Myanmar. As I've been sitting here waiting I just booking my flight to go back to HK in June for 3 nights this time and I'm going to make a day trip to Macau. Already looking forward to it!

So to give you a bit of insight into my life these days, it consists of three things: working, planning my next vacation, and going on vacatoin. I have just the most fabulous life. (If you want to hear me talk more about how fabulous my life is, feel free to watch the video here.) I cannot believe how lucky I am to be living here, in Singapore, in the middle of Asia, at a job I enjoy most of the time, and with the time and resources to go on holidays on a regular basis. Hong Kong last week. Myanmar today. Back to Hong Kong (and also Macau) in just a few weeks. In July I am going to try to get another three days in a row to go to Taiwan. When I am not traveling, I am running here in there preparing (the money changer, getting laundy done, buying whatever I need, processing visas) or spending my time on-line doing research on what to do or where to go or whatnot. I think I am going to get addicted to this sort of life - high intensity, coming, going, here, there, everywhere! I love the thrill of having an idea, doing the resarch, seeing what I can find, planning, researching, deciding, researching, planning, over and over again, booking the flights, booking the hotels, not knowing what is ever really going to happen, and then seeing it through! It's just great.

All that said, Myanmar is going to be the biggest adventure of my trip so far. I have no idea what to expect. I have booked all my internal transportation and accomodations, but I don't really have any idea what I'm getting myself into. I don't know what I am going to be doing during the day, what the food is like, what the country is like at all. This is the most "out-there" trip I have gone in yet to date in my life. And I'm excited to see what happens. Now, I must be off to get ready for my flight and get to my gate. Wish me luck, and I'll post as many videos as possible while I'm away - depending on Internet speeds - and whatever else when I get back to Singapore next week.

Later!

Hong Kong Day 2

Here's my Videos from Day 2 in Hong Kong in order of filming. Hope you enjoy!

Argyle & Nathan Street Corner - Hong Kong

Tim Ho Wan Mong Kok - Hong Kong 

Star Ferry Kowloon to Central - Hong Kong

View of Hong Kong Island from Star Ferry - Hong Kong

View from the Top  - The Peak, Hong Kong 

Burger Circus - Hong Kong

Best!

Hong Kong Day 1 Videos

Here's a few videos from today:

Hong Kong - First Moments

Hong Kong Yuen Po Street Bird Market

Hong Kong Day 1 Review Over BBQ Pork Steam Buns

Hope you enjoy them as much as I'm enjoying HK!

Best!

Hong Kong, I'm On My Way!

Waiting at the airport for my flight to HK! Can't wait.

Made a short little video for you all to enjoy.

Best!

Being Private about my Private Life

So it is Wednesday night here in Singapore and I am sitting outside a burger bar, Fatboy’s, waiting for them to bring my burger with onion rings and blue cheese dressing. This is my only night off this week, it is raining (I was hoping it would rain), and I am just relaxing by myself, trying to take the day to just enjoy my free time.

I am not sure what I said I would write about in my next post but I’m sure it was something like what I’m up to in Singapore, talk about my upcoming vacations, etc….

Today I spent my lunch hour with Pawan (pronounced Paven), the Pakistani customer who’s wedding I will be attending next year. We went for lunch ad then coffee, spending almost 4 hours chatting and enjoying the food and drinks of Singapore – and visiting a few of my old haunts from when I used to stay with Richard. After I showed Pawan the way back to her hotel I went to the local bookstore to try and find at least one of the three books recently recommended to me by a customer – none of which they had. I then spent at least 30 minutes trying to find a different book I could get instead.

Finding this book was a truly Singaporean experience. I had asked the sales clerk for advice on a book. The advice he gave was not that helpful, but in an effort to be helpful he stood next to me for the entire time I browsed the shelves. This would have driven me crazy 4 months ago (and I still tried to dismiss him a few times by telling him I was happy to just browse) but now I know this is just how they are in Asia and I didn’t let it bother me. How strange to notice, in the moment, how not bothered I was by this situation. I am starting to really acclimate to my new culture.

After getting home I was very tired and was going to take a rest but ended up on an almost 2 hour Skype conversation with Chris, a German customer from the bar who I happen to be going to Myanmar with. Well, I shouldn’t really say I happen to be going with him, I mean we did plan it rather intentionally, but I haven’t told any of you that yet.

(Side note, I ran into someone from Edina last night. I was running a payment for a table in my co-worker’s section when I noticed it was an American credit card (Delta Skymiles). I checked the name on the card, as I always do so I can present the card to the customer by name, and the last name was Buchok. This can’t possibly be a common name and I went to elementary school with a Buchok so I figured I’d ask. First I asked about Minnesota and then about Edina. Turns out it is the older brother of my old classmate. What a totally small world!).

Okay, back to Chris… So as I’m sure you have all realized I don’t talk much about my personal life on my blog. Well, it might seem like I do, but what I mean by personal life is my romantic life. That is for 2 reasons. 1) I don’t really have one and 2) I don’t always feel like putting it all over the Internet. But here goes. Chris came into my bar in maybe my second week of work with a few colleagues/friends. They all had one drink together and then his friends went home. We then got into a conversation about something – I’m not sure how it started – and we ended up trading contact information. I invited him for lunch the following day, he took me up on my offer, and we had a great time. Chris then met me after work that evening, we went out for a few drinks and again had a great time. The following day (two days after we first met) he flew back to Germany where he was from and that was that.

Chris, however, is much more interesting than most of the people I have met here in Singapore and I have thought about him from time to time. I was recently telling one of my friends about Chris’s plan to quit his job, move to Australia, work for a while until he has enough money to buy a boat, and then sail around the world. After telling my friend this I though I should send him an e-mail and see how he was doing. A few days later, and a few e-mail exchanges later, we ended up on Skype and he suggested we go on holiday together. I asked for a week off from work (assuming they wouldn’t give it to me since they had only days before approved my one month holiday home) and when they approved it I started looking at tickets. Finally, two nights ago, we got back on Skype and bought out tickets. We are going to Myanmar together for 7 days at the end of May. And I can’t wait!

I know it is super spontaneous, and we barely know each other and can only hope we can get along for 1 week, but life is short and you just need to give everything your best. Chris was forward enough to ask me to go on holiday after only spending a few hours together, and I have always liked people who can be spontaneous and adventurous and confident so I would only be doing myself a disservice if I turned down his offer. And now I’m busy planning a holiday with a guy I barely know to a foreign country and I couldn’t be more excited! And I’m pretty sure Chris feels the same way. (By the way, Chris I hope you don’t mind that I’m writing all this about you…. Chris reads my blog as well. This is probably a good time to warn everyone, if you end up in my life you will likely end up in my blog, especially if I like you. If I don’t like and only have negative things to say I don’t write about you.)

So that is how my trip to Myanmar came about. And I also have a trip to Hong Kong coming up in like 3 weeks and I have done nothing to plan for that. I meant to do that today but I just didn’t do it. There’s always tomorrow!

I am now halfway done with my dinner, it is delicious, and my keyboard is all covered in little greasy fingerprints from my eating the fries with my hands.

Now… what else? So the book I bought today is all about vulnerability and how to make yourself more vulnerable. I also think that I do a good job of this in all parts of my life except in my love life. As you may or may not know it has been almost 3 years since I have had a boyfriend. This is for a variety of reasons – including the fact that I never seem to find any good candidates – but I recognize how good I am at protecting myself from getting hurt and thus at even the first hint of something not going well I put up large emotional barriers and won’t let myself get attached.

Elizabeth and I had a very interesting conversation about this in Vietnam – how do you make yourself vulnerable without becoming too reliant on someone? How do you become dependent on someone when you can do everything for yourself? Where do you draw the line? How do you let someone in and allow them to add to your happiness without your happiness becoming dependent upon that person? Why would you even want to when your emotional life seems more stable when you are single (at least mine does!)?

Being single, I am fully responsible for myself – which I have shown myself I can clearly handle being that I had a made a life from nothing for myself in two foreign countries now – and I can be in complete control. When I’m happy it is me, when I’m sad it is me, and I need to keep my self in check – emotionally, financially, with everything. I do not need anyone and I know that is true.

But it would be so nice to have someone to share my experiences with. I get very tired of having to completely start over, totally from scratch in every country. All of my co-workers here in Singapore (well, almost all of them) came to Singapore with their boyfriend or girlfriend of many years and how nice that would be. They have someone to share these new experiences with, they have someone to go home to at night, they have someone to laugh with, complain to, go to dinner with etc….

And I think this adds to why I don’t feel settled anywhere. I feel that at any given moment I could get up and leave, I have nothing keeping me in Singapore except a paycheck and if I could get one somewhere else I would go there.

I want to have someone to share everything with (Elizabeth, come back, will you?!) but with that comes so much risk. At any moment they could just leave and why would you want to open yourself up to that possibility? It is so much easier to keep yourself emotionally and/or physically distant from this possibility because it is just so much easier.

Now I know I don’t want to live my life like this – who would? – but doing what needs to be done to get into a relationship just sounds so scary. So I am hoping that maybe this book I picked up today can maybe give me even one small hint that might help me here. How I can be more vulnerable and open up my chances to finding someone to be with. (Plus, I think my parents are starting to worry about me so I really need to start trying.)

And it really is strange, isn’t it? How I can post my entire life (well, almost) on the Internet yet I won’t make myself vulnerable enough to another person to get into a relationship.

Now, on the other hand, I don’t want to take all the blame. I have met a handful of very interesting guys since I have left the states – and with many of them it was just bad timing or for some other reason it didn’t work out – but I also just am not willing to be with someone who can’t be what I need them to be – confident, spontaneous, adventurous, outgoing, interesting. I can’t be with someone who is going to detract from my life and my plans and I can’t be with someone who can’t handle me (since I am sure it is a bit of a task – Elizabeth and my parents can probably comment best on this one!).

Anyways, this is how I got to purchase the new book I now own and I will keep you up to date on what I learn from it and hopefully the positive impact it has on my life.

What else…? Nothing really right now. I have nothing more to say that seems to be itching to come out so I’m not going to force anything else at this time. Oh, one thought, I was walking through the self-help book section at the book store today and I kept picking up books that talked about things like happiness, or travel, or success of something and many of them I looked at I realized I had learned at least some of the lessons in all of the books during the time since I left that states. All of the things I have figure out about myself, about the world, about happiness and success maybe I should write one of these books!

Okay, that is all now.

Hope you are all staying warm back in MN, or cool if you happen to be here in Asia. Have a good night and chat soon!

Best!

And Myanmar!

Just booked my ticket to Myanmar as well! I have a whirlwind month of work and travel ahead of me. So excited!

And I have the day off tomorrow so I will try to fill you in a bit more on what is going on in my life, my upcoming travel plans, my updates from work, updates from life, etc.....

Best!

Hong Kong Here I Come!

Just booked my ticket to Hong Kong for May 17-19. Can't wait! Now I need to start planning my itinerary as I have very little time while I'm there and want to make sure I make good use of it.