Sunday, November 30, 2008

Mom's trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia, & Thailand, Suvarnabhumi Airport and Thaksin the Satan - Continued

Yes, just a short update of what has transpired to ol' mom trip.

It has been postponed to February next year. By that time the Thais might have their act in order.
So mom, together with good ol' older bro have gone to Myauk Oo, in Rakhine State, another place in her considerable list.
Actually, a place that I am dying to visit too. A place steeped in ancient history.
Off they went yesterday, with my bro irking to use his camera.
Here's some pictures of Myauk Oo. I found on the web.




Useful Myanmar WebSites

Take a look at these websites that are trying to make life a little easier for Myanmar overseas, as i am in Singapore, of course there is a little more about Singapore.

http://www.topsitesasia.com/autorank/myanmar.html for all Myanmar sites listed in all countries

Here's a blog that I found from a Shwe guy in England: http://blog.mandalar.net/ nice to know that there are other's like me. Sounds like a doctor or something.

Then here's one for rooms search in Singapore: http://www.shwerooms.com/ make sure you call and view the room and get to evaluate the Thu Gyi's before you commit to rent, some of them can be very nasty. Yes that's the truth.

And another http://pinoy.com.sg/ given to me by my Filipino friends a rather outstanding bunch I must say, (I had I Filipino friend in Bangladesh something like 30 years ago, Mark Anthony B Martepakay- I am not sure of his last name, attended Greenherald School same class as me)

More to come, no point in listing the models and actresses and MP4 sites, anyone with half a brain can find them

Some of the websites that I found really useful

Check out, oh people of the shwe Myanmar for some sites that are useful for you guys and gals hanging out over here;



To find a room to stay : http://www.shwerooms.com/sg just call them and ask

This another site too: http://www.ninoy.com/ the same too just call them





This one is about everything about Myanmar: http://www.topsitesasia.com/autorank/myanmar.html

A Look of the Peninsular Plaza




This is the Peninsular Plaza of Singapore, located at 111 North Bridge Road. The place where all the "Shwe" gather for matters of all sorts. Ya know what I mean? No not that! Yes you got that right!

Great Book Sales at Bra Basah Complex

There was a great book sales today at the Bra Basah Complex, which is right beside the National Libary. Great deals on many books there. I got some books there for a dollar a piece.
Follow this link to see where Bra Basah Complex is: http://wikimapia.org/21117/Bras-Basah-Complex
And I forgot to ask when the last day this sales is!
Anybody know?

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Hello World!

Yeah, I know,
Tiger Woods said it before me. And I admit, those were mighty appropriate words for the occasion of the time.
I am Moe Lwin and I am in Singapore. And I will be authoring this chronicle of my experiences, and stuff that appeals to me. I surely hope that you find it a bit interesting. Something to brighten up a boring bit of your day I hope.

Many of the items that I will post will normally be real life stories. So if they tend to become a bit boring then you would know that it would be a particular boring part of my life. I am a very family oriented person. And that will be a source a much material too.

I have considerable experience with doing business in Myanmar and still have a lot of contacts there so if you need to know anything pop me an email and I will try too get a answer that you will hopefully find interesting.
I spent a four and half year stint with a FAO project and 576 days with World Vision, both in the dry zone part of central Myanmar.

So hi and nice to meet you and enjoy the ride.

Moe
Nov 28, 08

Friday, November 28, 2008

My Respected Reverend Monk

My Respected Reverend Monk
I come from a family of deep devout Buddhists. Even though that me and my brother are not at all the religious and pious members we demonstrate enormous respect for the Sangha, the order of monks. The monk in the picture is monk that I usually go for my religious support and to fulfill the need of belief in the sense of the word. Buddhist chants are what he has taught me and the calm my mind and prepare me for the day ahead.
Please visit him if you can, just ask my brother when you are in Mandalay and he will probably drive you there himself.
Please try reciting the following chant for a boost in your daily life. I can’t explain it, well not yet.
1) Su – Thaw Ma Na Ka Ri Hta Dha
2) Khway – Ba Tha Tha Wi Tha Day Ba
3) Ngwe- Ga Bap A Du Dha Wah Ga
4) Min - Ah Wi Thu Nu Thar Nu Ti
May all have peace of mind and heart.
Moe Lwin
For the short time that we are here.

My Beloved Wee Little Daughter Muchi Moo


This is a nice picture of my beloved little daughter.
Soon she will be seven years old. And then going on 30 I suppose. People say that kids grow up so fast, I fully agree with them. 7 years have gone by too fast, way too fast.
I am surprised at my self when I find myself wishing that she becomes not a doctor, or a particular profession like that but rather I hope that she will be able to do what ever that she wants living a life of high quality and to travel the world.

She loves everything about her life and all her family, way extended family too.


Mom's trip (26th November 2008) to Angkor Wat, Cambodia, & Thailand, Suvarnabhumi Airport and Thaksin the Satan

We are Myanmar’s, and the happiness of our parents is one of the paramount tasks that we the kids, most willingly undertake. And this is a story of an attempt to fulfill that objective and the events that are happening even as I write this, that made it even more memorable. Really, really memorable!
A classic case of “if things will go wrong, then they will go wrong!” despite anything you can do.
My mother has spent the last five years dreaming about going on an overseas trip to a destination of her desire. It is not a simple thing for a 65 year old who depends on the financial support of her grown children to think about. The situation is even more difficult when she is from Myanmar (Burma). But we have all promised her that she would definitely be going, and mere lack of money would not stand in her way. She should just pick the places or places that she would like to go and the time of the year and one of us would accompany her in this trip of her life. It would be the first trip abroad in twenty something years and the first trip without her husband, our father who had passed away eight years ago losing a battle against liver cancer.
The destination selected was Angkor Wat, Cambodia, as she is a devout Buddhist, this destination came as no surprised. Thirty years ago in a similar situation like this the destination selected then was Buddhagaya in India. A trip enshrined in our family memory.
Originally I was the one who was supposed to take, dear mom, on her pilgrimage to tour Angkor Wat. But events transpired to prevent me from embarking on the trip. I got a job in Singapore which is from where this story is being penned. So it was up to my older brother to take up the responsibilities of ensuring that the trip took place.
Now my mother is a former nurse, an operating room nurse, a veteran of staring down all sorts of people, and also the mother of three boys and one boyish girl, and the spouse of a Myanmar diplomat, and the oldest of member of her generation on her side of the relatives. Although she has mellowed down quite a bit, there are times when the old fire and temper comes out, a lot less frequent then before but it still comes out when the occasion demands it. A few years ago when our district was collecting money for a community activity and funds had to be raised, people were wondering who would be the one to approach our mom for the required contribution, a thought that brought grown men of the district into a most sorry trembling state. In the end they made her the treasurer and a board member and got her to collect all the contribution of the community which she did so well that she still is the treasurer, Hillary Clinton would have been proud. And my sister has to top up the amount when it sometimes is short because she miscounted or something.
The first hurdle was getting a passport, even with the system currently in place that works at light speed compared to the nightmare of a system of old; it took her 3 months, mainly because she forgot to put in her old passport number, which was something 25 years ago before the common use of copier machines in Myanmar. The fire and temper settled that, so things fell into place.
Then she started saving money not only for the particular trip but also for the subsequent trips around Myanmar to tell everyone in the clan about it. And this was done in a cool 6 months.
Then on the 25 of November, yesterday, my brother came down from Mandalay to embark on the trip scheduled for the 26th of November 2008. Bear in mind that all and every tiny detailed had been ironed out, with my brother with extra cash, stashed secretly away to buy extra convenience and a little luxury, if it came to it.
Then,
Thaksin, the former prime minster of Thailand just got himself a new title – the Satan, as christened by dear mom.
Actually the airline staff of the airport got it first, even if they wore metal jackets and had the skin of old wild rhinoceros would not have soften the piece of mind my dear mom gave them when they told her the flight to Bangkok, and for her transit to Siam Reap, was canceled.
The hordes of antigovernment demonstrators had taken over the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok bringing all flights and my mothers’ tour to a standstill. She was hopping mad, and literally jumped into a taxi and fumed the way home.
My brother also enraged because his shopping plan had been ruined.
He simply could not speak kindly of the Thai’s all afternoon and probably for the coming months too. But he was also quite amused as he observed that dear ol’ mom, still has every single bit of the energy and fire that we saw in her growing up. He said was refreshing to see the energy. The same could not be said for the airport and airline staff. He also felt sorry for all the family members who were going to have to hear this story over and over again for the years to come at family reunions.
And they are calling the airline every hour for updates of the situation in Thailand. For this will be a trip that will be taken.
Let’s see where this goes. Stay tuned for updates on this topic.
Now I finally understand why Burmese used to go over to Thailand to beat them up in the old days of old history.

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