Weblog
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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Happy Thingyan!
Well, it's that time again! Time for Myanmar New Year Festival! (Thingyan!)
Our office will be closed until the 20th, so I'll be back to office on 21st. Thingyan starts this Saturday (12th) and ends on 17th, and 11th, 18th and 19th are all holidays together. (Part of 10 Days Thingyan holiday).
I will be going to Bago this Sunday. It's just a day trip, and I hope that I get to take some photos there.. And yes, I'm sorry that I haven't been able to post Part 2 of the Indonesian trip.. I've been busy lately.. :P
So Happy Myanmar New Year everyone! *splashes water on everyone*
Friday, April 04, 2008
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Photos from The Trip
Here's the belated post of the trip to Indonesia. :P
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Well, I arrived to Jakarta on January 25, 2008 (Friday). On Saturday, I went to Taman Mini, which is an "Indonesian miniature park" which shows the different ways of live of the people in Indonesia's 26 provinces. It was sort of like National Village of Indonesia, with different-styled houses from each of the provinces. It is located in East Jakarta.
In the park, there were also a Komodo Museum, an IMAX theater, and an aquarium. So I visited them also. In Teater Imax Keong Emas (the IMAX theater), I watched "Beautiful Indonesia" which was a very good and informative movie about all the provinces of Indonesia. At the Komodo museum, they have also displayed snakes and turtles. You can even take a photo with a python wrapped around your neck. I declined. :P At the aquarium, there was a lot of species of fish.. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take good photos there because it was a bit dark inside. I finally saw how a piranha looks like though.. :DWe ate lunch at Taman Mini, and then afterwards, went to Mall Taman Anggrek (translation: Orchid Garden Mall) at the outskirts of Jakarta. Actually, it happened to be just a window-shopping cos we've just reached Jakarta, and we will still amazed by the currency difference - $1=9000 Rupiah Dollar - so we were abit "gasping" at the prices, which were like 200,000 for a blouse.. haha (Don't worry.. I got used to it later :P)
Figures wearing
Traditional Batik
Wall Painting from
one of the pavilions
Wihara Buddha
(one of the pavilion)
Cable cars passing over
Yogyakarta pavilion
the famous Komodo
@ Komodo Museum
Imax Theater
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Mall Taman Anggrek
Posing especially for me :P
(a sales promoter at the mall)
Ice Skating Rink
is said to be the first in SE AsiaOn Sunday, we went to Bandung. Bandung is the capital of West Java Province. It is located about 180km (112 miles) southeast of Jakarta. It is 768 meters (2,520 ft.) above sea level. Bandung is sort of like Kalaw – a summer resort town and there are a lot of mountains and pine trees there. It is the city where the first African-Asian Summit was held in 1955. It is also know for its shopping outlets.
We visited Tangkuban Perahu volcano in Bandung. Tangkuban Parahu means “up-turned boat”. It’s 28km north of Bandung and 1830 ft. above sea level. It is still active, but you can only see the mud and not the red hot lava. Since it was cold there, there were vendors selling hats and scarves.
Afterwards, we went to eat lunch at Kampung Daun Cultural Restaurant and Café. We ate traditional Indonesian meal – rice on banana leaf, fried chicken, fried fish, and Indonesian sauce with vegetables. One thing we have noticed about Indonesian meals is that they put chips (which looks like fish crackers from Myanmar but is not made of fish) on the plates as an appetizer of some sort.
View from Tangkuban Parahu
Tangkuban Parahu's Kantin (Canteen)
View from the Crater
(Tangkuban Parahu)
Bamboo Pipes
They call this Batik Wood
Selling hats & scarvers
Entrance to Kampung Daun Culture Cafe
Waterfall is abit muddy there
Kampung Daun Culture Cafe
Private Huts
where you can eat your meal in peace
We didn't get to visit a lot of places on this trip to Bandung because by the time we finished eating lunch, it was already around 3:00pm. We didn't want to get caught in traffic so we left Bandung. But don't worry.. I went there again two weeks after (slept a night in Bandung and went shopping!), and also visited the vicinities.
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Will update about other trips next week. (I hope :P)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
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Build to Last
Built to Last - MeleeI've looked for love in stranger places
but never found someone like you
someone whose smile
makes me feel i've been holding back
and now there's nothing I can't do
cause this is real, and this is good
it warms the inside just like it should
but most of all
most of all, it's built to last
it's built to last
all of our friends
saw from the start
so why didn't we believe it too?
now look, where we are
you're in my heart now
and there's no escaping it for you
cause this is real, and this is good
it warms the inside just like it should
but most of all
most of all, it's built to last
walking on the hills at night
with those fireworks and candlelight
you and i were made to get love right
cause this is real, and this is good
it warms the inside just like it should
but most of all
most of all, it's built to last
cause you are the sun in my universe
consider the best when we felt the worst
and most of all, most of all
most of all, most of all,
most of all. most of all
it's built to last
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Yeah..... it's built to last... ^_^
Watch MV here.
Listen here.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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Alright
Hey everyone.
Sorry sorry sorry again. I haven't been updating once again. :) I've been so busy at work, and with my personal life ;) that I haven't had the time to update. Plus, it doesn't help that internet connection is slower than a snail lately.. It started ever since Gambari visited Myanmar. Some are calling this problem, "Gambari Virus" lolz... I don't know if it's deliberate or the ISP's backbone broke again for the umpteenth time. I just find that it's hardly a coincidence that the backbone had to break just when Gambari comes to visit... It happened the last time when he visit too.
I've been attending morning computer classes at KMD. I have to get up at 5:00am (ok.. ok.. I crawl back into bed and try to sleep until 5:45am :P) to go to the computer center downtown. It's a course called, "Excel in Business Applications" - which teaches, did you guess?, Microsoft Excel. I found that I needed more technique in using Excel, cos I only know the basic functions in Excel, and it's necessary at work to handle more complicated spreadsheets and calculations. My office paid for the fee though cos it's for work... hehe
In the evening, after work, I've started teaching 2 new Korean kids. Grace had gone back to Korea last month - while I was in Jakarta. I didn't even get to say goodbye to her or give her the gift I had bought for her in Jakarta. Oh well. The 2 new kids I'm teaching right now is connected through Grace's mother, who recommended me to them. :)
On Sat. and Sun., I'm teaching a Korean adult English... it's a woman, and I just gotta teach her for an hour in the morning. But so far, I've only taught her one time cos one day, I wasn't free, and the other 2 days, she wasn't free. Hehe So I've been busy busy busy.. :D
I've been working on a journal about my trip to Indonesia. But I haven't work on writing my own entry for blog.. hehe I'm gonna put it on my top priority list this weekend - I'm gonna do it at home.
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*sigh* I'm so happy right now.. hehe I think I'm finally seeing a glimpse of what I've been searching for so long. ^_^ Will elaborate much much later, when things settle down, cos things are so complicated right now. But I'm really happy. :)
Currently listening: Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore - Way Back into Love
Monday, February 25, 2008
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Fire in Mandalay's Yadanarbon Market
YANGON (AFP) — A major fire Monday tore through the largest market and biggest shopping mall in Myanmar's second city Mandalay, witnesses said.
The blaze broke out around 8:00 am (0130 GMT) and was still burning six hours later, they said. Flames swept through the Yadanarbon market as well as the three-storey Sky Walk shopping mall.
Plumes of black smoke filled the sky as vendors raced to rescue their goods and load them into pickup trucks, which lined the nearby streets.
Police said they were still trying to determine if there were any casualties.
The fire appeared to have spread to most parts of the market, witnesses said.
Meanwhile, in Myanmar's main city Yangon, a fire erupted at a tea shop in the Hlaingthayar industrial area early Monday and spread through the surrounding neighbourhood.
Firefighters spent more than two hours putting out the blaze, which destroyed 200 homes, many of them small shacks, authorities said.
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I'm hearing that there are causalities, since Yadanarbon Market is a busy place, where there is Mandalay ICT Park (with IT companies and IT training schools like MCC), and also Skywalk Shopping Mall, which boasts that it fits international standard, but I doubt that there are proper arrangements there (smoke alarms, water hoses built in the wall, emergency exits?) in case of fire.
I have no words to except to say that I'm feeling very sad about all of this.
You can see the photos at Ko MgHla's blog.
