These are some originals pics by U Soe Lwin

Again relayed from Singapore,

Actually he sent me 16 photos but I am posting just six right now.

and will someone tell me how to make the pics bigger!

 

Scenes From Mandalay

Hello Everyone,

A few pictures to gaze upon, and reflect upon what life has to give you and …  oh! enjoy!

These come to you relayed from Singapore!

The Daily Collection

Expecting Too Much

 

House-hunting in MDY

Loads of bad ones
Lots of tacky ones
Many expensive ones ( grand mansions built by /for a ____  baron )
A lot of unlivable ones
Far-off ones surrounded by paddy fields and other unlived-in houses

Tons of poorly built ones
Crowds of careless owners
Some domiciles said to be haunted
Heaps of heat absorbing concrete-paved compounds bereft of plants

Run-down ones
Paint-peeling off  living-space-less ones
Some in dire need of a major refurbishment
Some just ready and waiting to be torn down
Some should have never been built
Some are warehouses masquerading as residences
Some are just hole-in -the wall whatever you wanna call them

No condos
No serviced apartments
No rent-wise mid-priced flats

Water is got thru manning the pumps when electricity is on in the dead of the night  for a few minutes
Electricity is now ( 10th of December 2008) for only 2 hours a day
I shudder to think of what will happen to us in summer @ 36*C + in the shade

Eye-sores galore
Unready & unfinished ones
Soul-less and depressing ones
Unsafe and security-less ones :Leave home a few hours and all your posessions carted-off
Ones surrounded by mosquitoe-breeding grounds
Drains and pools of stagnant water just screaming :  “Dengue ! “

The ones that have character and comforts are few and  far in between
The best ones are those in which the owners themselves live
A dozen in the whole town that are perhaps decent and affordable

The good ones are all ” TAKEN”
And taken ” YESTERDAY” to boot !

The brokers are be-diamonded ladies with bee-hive hair-dos driving old Land-rovers
Younger ones with mobiles and motorcycles, jabbering house locations and conditions
All trying to talk up the “advantages” of places and hoping we’ll decide on a house asap
Some silently swearing at us for being “choosy”
Flattering us, then urging us to buy the mansion around the corner for a few mil…
Rolling their eyes behind our backs when we say : ” Lets see another place .”
Gnashing their teeth, sighing, swallowing saliva
Steeling themselves for trip across town  for the next viewing at the next place

We criss-cross the town in vain
But one good / decent / acceptable / livable / not too expensive one will be there for us
So……
We call our friends to call their friends etc..
We send our scouts ( real estate brokers / agents ) out tomorrow again

And hope

 

Scholarship links

For students looking for scholarships, here are some sites that may help you out :

www.ngoinmyanmar.org/

http://www.myanmarstudyabroad.org/index.html

http://www.peacescholarship.idp.com/apply/burma.aspx

http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/scholarships/asean/

http://www.scholarshipnet.info/postgraduate/asian-development-bank-adb-japan-scholarship-program-jsp/

http://www.myanmarscholarship.com/

http://www.usyd.edu.au/fstudent/international/postgrad/costs/adb.shtml

http://www.getscholarship.net/tags/myanmar

http://www.ait.ac.th/news-and-events/archive/2007/News.2007-09-11.132633-2/

http://www.boell-southeastasia.org/en/web/index_112.html

http://www.studyabroad.com/forum/financial_aid_ielts.html

http://www.studying-singapore.com/scholorship.html

http://www.studying-singapore.com/polytechnics.html

http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/scholarship/

http://admissions.ntu.edu.sg/undergraduate/scholarships/Pages/default.aspx

http://scholarship-positions.com/undergraduate-scholarships-in-newzealand-for-myanmar-burma-students/2008/10/09/

ww.britishcouncil.org/burma-educationuk-scholarships.htm

http://www.arakanera.com/intscholarship.html

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/international/scholarships_and_finance/scholarships/scholarships_a-z.php

http://www.mm.emb-japan.go.jp/profile/english/studyabroad_e.htm

Here is some other stuff that may be of help :
Donor Country specific
United States                  : Fullbright scholarships, Humphrey scholarships
United Kingdom               : British Chevening scholarships, British Council scholarships
Japan                             : Mobusho scholarships, JICA
Government of Germany  : DAAD scholarships.
Asian Development Bank : scholarship scheme for candidates from ADB member countries
Singapore                       : ASEAN post graduate scholarships, MOE scholarships
Thailand                         : King, Queen, Princess Siridon scholarships
University or Graduate school specific fellowships for mid-career professionals
Harvard Kennedy School of Governance fellowships
Yale fellowships
NUS LKY school Master of Public Management fellowships has LKY fellowships and
Temasak scholarships for its Master of Public Policy candidates
Cambridge trust fund from Gates foundation
Gates foundation

I hope all that helps !

USL

 

Hi everyone !

I have been off-line for some time now because in September I couldn’t access the blog. I think WordPress was blocked but now, here I am again !

In the meantime I have started GCE “O” Level classes and been to Mrauk U in the Rakhine State. I was supposed to be off to Angkor Wat but the demonstrations at Bangkok Airport coincided with my trip and so I couldn’t make it to the Angkor. I will be writing more regularly and uploading more photos of my trips ,Mandalay and its environs soon.

Thanks for visiting the O’l blog

SL

 

New Posts Relayed from Singapore

Hi everyone!

This is not U Soe Lwin but rather his younger brother writing, and poorly it is, on his behalf.    He has not been able to log-on for new posts for a while now, about two months, so he is now going to post new articles by means of relaying them off me, from Singapore.

He went to Myauk U, last week.,an alternative location for his trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and his shopping spree for books in Thailand was postponed by the thousands of demonstrators at the Bangkok airport.

Check out some of his photos here.

And by the way you can check out my blogs too,  they are carrying a lot of his photos (that was before we came up with this idea!) [ http://moelwintravels.blogspot.com/,  http://moelwinstuff.blogspot.com/]

The first photo is of the Rakhine Myat Muni Buddha Image, it’s not the famous one in Mandalay, mind you !

Tattos of Bodyguard

Ko Thaung Pagoda, Mrauk U

Downtown Sittwe

Lawka Man Aung Pagoda in Mrauk U

 

Greetings to everyone again !

I have been out of the loop for some time . Real busy ! You know, a schoolteacher’s life !
Not much to report from Mandalay. Ha Ha ha  I couldn’t be a journalist, could I ?
Well enjoy the blog !

( Actually for a time, this wordpress blog site was blocked off, funny, isn’t it ? Harmeless o’l me not being able to get into my own blog ! )

 

Surviving, survival ,survivors

So easy

The broken cart to lose another wheel

chin up says the donkey

but cries dry tears

Lost in front of everyone

seldom down, always smiles

and choking internally

need a bit of  freshness

in an ancient land

 

New School address and Tel no.

First :Our condolences for all who have lost family & friends because of the Nargis Cyclone and our love and encouragement to the survivors.

And now….

Hi everyone ! Ever since the great fire of February 25. 2008 Best Language school and I has been very busy , relocating etc..  and not even much time to work on the old blog..

I give you our new address :

No. 301 , 3rd Fl, Ray World office Complex

Btw: 32 & 33rd sts. and 77th & 78th streets.

Te no: 02-72467 ext: 301,

(The old phone numbers don’t work anymore )

( The preschoolers and kiddie classes are in 78th st)

As you see in the last post , we are thinking of recruiting a member of staff from another country and I am doing lots of teacher training. I believe in a lot of training for the teachers , the more they know and can do in class the happier and more  professional they are and for the students well … you know what I mean !

We have wound down the Summer school for this year in both MDY and Monywa  and at the  bye bye ceremony  on the stage of Hotel Mandalay the kids gave a great show of dance, series of short skits, songs including ” The Concert Etiquette Rap  ” and the Myoma Youth Choir entertained us too ! ( Thanks Parami ! )

For Sat-Sun kiddie classes that run the whole year, we are doing : English , Maths, Music ( with incomparable  Music Teacher and Musician Mr Parami Shoon )  dance classes  , Arts and Crafts and soon  Science and social studies using an international syllabus….

Don’t ask me what kind of school we are , I don’t know what to call it myself. It’s more than a language school with the pre-school and kids classes but anyway we would like to inform you that all teachers are doing their BEST …

We are still running F & B diploma courses in conjunction with AEC Business school in Spore and student numbers are  quite OK.

Lots more projects in the pipeline .

Ta for now !

 

Teacher Wanted

(This is the first wanted ad I’ve ever written in my life

Teacher Wanted: to work in in Mandalay busy but flexible, warm and very very friendly environment.

1. Filipino,Australian, British, American, New Zealander, Irish, Canadian

2. Female

3. Novice teacher / Intern / Graduate student , TEFL / TESL Qualification holder, if experienced good too

4. Must love working with kids ,will teach children ages 6-12 yrs old

5. Light work load with reasonable holidays sandwiched in between

6. Accomodation, meals provided ( but will have to endure blackouts and sweaty sleepless nights like everyone else here in Mandalay)

7. Air-fare: Bangkok-Yangon and bus fare Yangon -Mandalay provided

8. Send expected salary and resume to : soelwin.best@gmail.com

9.Will work in Mandalay and have great trips around Upper Burma : Lashio,Monywa , Myitkyina,Thibaw

10. Better if willing and able to share activities with other younger Burmese teachers at my school