1. When young people ask you where you are from, and you say Canada, they are very disappointed when you tell them you don't like Justin Bieber. He is huge here .... so much for being isolated from the world. The power of the web and radio is still able to penetrate any regime.
2. The very first day I'm walking around Yangon and an old John Mellencamp song, "The Authority Song", is being played on a loudspeaker, with the chorus on a continuous loop. The chorus goes : "I fought authority and authority always wins (repeat)". I think it's rather strange but funny to hear this in a country where the military was 100% in charge for so long (and really is even today)". My local friend says the song is for a local Myanmar beer and the song's lyrics are just a tiny bit different. It tells people to drink this said beer, since it is the best. Not sure if it's more funny, ironic or more like black humour. Tell me what you think.
3. So U2 writes a song "Walk On" in 1999-2000 that was apparently banned here because it refers to Aung San Suu Kyi and her struggle for democratic rights. They name a coffee brand U2 anyway. Pictures and billboard proof will eventually be shown. Even the bands colours, red and white match from the last three tours .... Hmmm ....
4. Don't judge places by distances ... time is more important. Especially when the highways can be driven at 40 km/h maximum.
5. Supermarkets have lots of variety of food ... but not much cereal. It's actually quite amazing what they have here despite the crappy gov't they've been subjected to. Only other problem is that their ice cream bars are pretty bad. But not bad enough to eat four the last two days .... Maybe THIS one will be better!! NO!
6. Gold leaf is a big deal here ... more than any other place I've been to.
7. So here's the deal, you MUST under all circumstances give people perfect, crispy, brand new looking US dollar notes. You get crappy, old, look like they've been through a war notes back in return. When you exchange Myanmar notes back to US dollars, they are NEVER nice ones back. You are NOT in control, if you think you are, you are in denial, and I don't mean the river in Egypt.
8. Stray dogs are everywhere, but luckily they don't really bother you, unless they are chasing each other like it's a war, and you just happen to be in the way. Meanwhile, ads or pictures for Angry Birds are everywhere too, ..... but they are much safer. So much for being isolated from the rest of the world for the last 50 years. If you are over 50 .... you probably don't understand the second part. It's not worth worrying about.
9. Probably the thing I will miss most about Myanmar is just people making eye contact and then smiling. Many times guys will yell out "Tall Man", "Strong Man", or "Superman". One out of three ain't bad. Or some will say "Handsome" ... well, yes, I have two hands. When walking around shops or shopping malls the girls like to make eye contact, smile and laugh/talk with their co-workers. Not sure if I'm THAT funny looking, or their standards are really, really low. It would probably kill them to know I'm almost old enough to be their dad.
10. More than any other country, sometimes it's really, really difficult to figure out how old the younger people are here ...... people who look 15 could easily be 23??? Kinda like David Thompson, except I know how old everyone is.
11. If Yangon had been your introduction to Asia, probably not a good move. Yes, it is a massive cesspool in some places, but it has more character than many places I've been. Don't worry though, satellite dishes are everywhere in the city.
12. Not sure what was more amusing ... hundreds of monks using cellphones, or one monk who was using an ipad to take pictures on Mandalay Hill or Bagan (or wherever it was). Someone was lucky enough to report that she saw an entire group of monks in one internet cafe all playing "World of Warcraft" together. Now THAT would be a funny picture to capture. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that one.
13. Call me stupid, but it seems the ethnicities of Chinese, Burmese, and the various faiths of Indians get along quite well in the major cities. Too bad the other minority peoples in the outlaying provinces are still fighting the army near the borders. Very sad.
14. The easiest way to make sure it won't rain is to bring an umbrella. I think I was about 50% successful with that strategy. After 10 seconds without one, you are drenched pretty much from head to toe.
15. When tourists start to flock to Bagan without the tourist infrastructure ... boy look out.
16. If the market vendors had already cut up mangoes, like in Bangkok .... boy I'd be in big trouble with my stomach. Blessing in disguise, although the lovely people at my hotel cut them up for me at night.
I'll probably think of the other stuff soon .... stay tuned.
2. The very first day I'm walking around Yangon and an old John Mellencamp song, "The Authority Song", is being played on a loudspeaker, with the chorus on a continuous loop. The chorus goes : "I fought authority and authority always wins (repeat)". I think it's rather strange but funny to hear this in a country where the military was 100% in charge for so long (and really is even today)". My local friend says the song is for a local Myanmar beer and the song's lyrics are just a tiny bit different. It tells people to drink this said beer, since it is the best. Not sure if it's more funny, ironic or more like black humour. Tell me what you think.
3. So U2 writes a song "Walk On" in 1999-2000 that was apparently banned here because it refers to Aung San Suu Kyi and her struggle for democratic rights. They name a coffee brand U2 anyway. Pictures and billboard proof will eventually be shown. Even the bands colours, red and white match from the last three tours .... Hmmm ....
4. Don't judge places by distances ... time is more important. Especially when the highways can be driven at 40 km/h maximum.
5. Supermarkets have lots of variety of food ... but not much cereal. It's actually quite amazing what they have here despite the crappy gov't they've been subjected to. Only other problem is that their ice cream bars are pretty bad. But not bad enough to eat four the last two days .... Maybe THIS one will be better!! NO!
6. Gold leaf is a big deal here ... more than any other place I've been to.
7. So here's the deal, you MUST under all circumstances give people perfect, crispy, brand new looking US dollar notes. You get crappy, old, look like they've been through a war notes back in return. When you exchange Myanmar notes back to US dollars, they are NEVER nice ones back. You are NOT in control, if you think you are, you are in denial, and I don't mean the river in Egypt.
8. Stray dogs are everywhere, but luckily they don't really bother you, unless they are chasing each other like it's a war, and you just happen to be in the way. Meanwhile, ads or pictures for Angry Birds are everywhere too, ..... but they are much safer. So much for being isolated from the rest of the world for the last 50 years. If you are over 50 .... you probably don't understand the second part. It's not worth worrying about.
9. Probably the thing I will miss most about Myanmar is just people making eye contact and then smiling. Many times guys will yell out "Tall Man", "Strong Man", or "Superman". One out of three ain't bad. Or some will say "Handsome" ... well, yes, I have two hands. When walking around shops or shopping malls the girls like to make eye contact, smile and laugh/talk with their co-workers. Not sure if I'm THAT funny looking, or their standards are really, really low. It would probably kill them to know I'm almost old enough to be their dad.
10. More than any other country, sometimes it's really, really difficult to figure out how old the younger people are here ...... people who look 15 could easily be 23??? Kinda like David Thompson, except I know how old everyone is.
11. If Yangon had been your introduction to Asia, probably not a good move. Yes, it is a massive cesspool in some places, but it has more character than many places I've been. Don't worry though, satellite dishes are everywhere in the city.
12. Not sure what was more amusing ... hundreds of monks using cellphones, or one monk who was using an ipad to take pictures on Mandalay Hill or Bagan (or wherever it was). Someone was lucky enough to report that she saw an entire group of monks in one internet cafe all playing "World of Warcraft" together. Now THAT would be a funny picture to capture. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that one.
13. Call me stupid, but it seems the ethnicities of Chinese, Burmese, and the various faiths of Indians get along quite well in the major cities. Too bad the other minority peoples in the outlaying provinces are still fighting the army near the borders. Very sad.
14. The easiest way to make sure it won't rain is to bring an umbrella. I think I was about 50% successful with that strategy. After 10 seconds without one, you are drenched pretty much from head to toe.
15. When tourists start to flock to Bagan without the tourist infrastructure ... boy look out.
16. If the market vendors had already cut up mangoes, like in Bangkok .... boy I'd be in big trouble with my stomach. Blessing in disguise, although the lovely people at my hotel cut them up for me at night.
I'll probably think of the other stuff soon .... stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment