Best of April 2007

1. Bird flu scares ( Don’t know if that’s the best news to begin

    with)

 2. I continue eating chicken ( very brave ,don’t you think or

     stupid maybe) 

3.  8 students of mine leave for Singapore to atttend 

     hotel,tourism, accounting ,computer schools.Altogether

     about 35 have left for there in the past 4 months. 

4. I work on my blog try to think of stuff to put on it. I enjoy it

     though.

5.  It’s getting real hot, the afternoons are only to be spent in the

     shade. The new shopping mall in a good place to hide from

     the sun .

6. A teacher of mine becomes a monk for seven days to please 

   his   mum. But his bald head afterwards ,probably didn’t 

   please his girlfriend tho ( but you never know )

7. Before the Water Festival the number of students in my

    classes drops substantially. I am left with a lot of extra hand-

     -outs.

8. The wife and I talk about going to the beach , then about the

    Inle lake, then we decide to stay at home during the

    Festivities and take a short trip to Maymyo instead. 

9. The Water Festival is quite fun , but moderate not so go-getting . Well with the economy in the state that it is . put together with the fears of the powers that be ,that the whole thing would get out of hand and their ” I don’t give a shit attitude” towards the populace made the whole festival down beat.

10. Myanmar/ Burmese students ( according to New Year custom    here in Mdy ) give me a lot of presents  .

   Thank You  and   My Best Wishes to You All.

   Being a teacher here is great, you   are still very much

   respected ( if you do your job well , that is )

  and you really become an integral part of the community. The

  community is really important here.Everyone knows everyone

  but not to the extent of a small town where everyone knows

  everything about everyone else .

11. One of my favourite sayings :

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”

11. And anyone who wants to know something about the Bel

     Air/ Falcon pyramid scheme ,disguised as a Multi-level Marketing  ,go    to : http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=177899

These are the kind of things that happen when education and common sense is scant and  greed is in excess. Especially in countries like this and Albania etc will people fall for these scams .

 

Everyone is welcome to drop in

To all the readers/visitors from Burma / Myanmar  and around the world, thank you for reading this blog and I invite you to visit us here in Mandalay anytime .

 Just give me ( U Soe Lwin ) a phone call  (+95 - 02-36596 ) in advance .

Best Language School  is at :

Rm.10, 2nd /3rd Fl , NanYadanar Building ,37th st, Btw 78th & 79th sts ,Mandalay

Visit our classes . All the students would love to talk to you in English.

Cheers

 U Soe Lwin 

P.S.

And can someone tell the Lonely Planet that the range of places to eat etc. in their Myanmar  book is so limited .

 

Best food ,drink and all in MDY

The best places for chow ( a slang word for food ) etc  , in my own  and my friends’ opinion and as of April 2007  are as follows  :

1. Best Yunnan-Chinese  style Barbeque  :

Shwe Pan Saing   Restaurant     30th X 66th corner

Shwe Khaing  Restaurant         33thX 82nd corner 

Yunnan Restaurant                   39th st Btw 78th & 79th

Kaung Kaung                            35th st  Btw  68th & 70th  

2 . Internet Cafes     :

Imagine   38th BTW 78th &79t

Acme.net   26th BTW 78th & 79th

 CityNet   80th BTW 30th & 31st

3. Cafes & Tea shops            : 

Minthiha     28th X 72nd corner

Friends      73rd   BTW 39thX 40th

Cafe City  66th st    , Near National theater

There’s one near the Nylon Hotel  83rd X 24th I think ( forgot the name ) 

4. Food Courts           :

 At Sky Walk Shopping Center, 2nd Fl. Yadanarbon Market ,  78th st BTW   33rd & 34th

At 4th fl of 78 Shopping Mall   78th Btw 37th & 38th

5.  Best places to buy computer parts and accessories :

     Innwa computer         73rd st BTW 30th&31st

     DCD                               82nd st    BTW 34th X 35th

     I-net computer             Yadanarbon Cyber Corporation  ,Yadanarbon 

                                           Market    78th BTW 33th& 34th        

6. Southern Indian Cuisine ( Chittee food )

    Lachimi 28th BTW 80th&81

   Pan Cherry   81st  BTW 27th & 28th

7.  Muslim food  and Biryani ( Danbauk )

     Karaweik 35th Btw 74th & 75th

                     26th & 83 rd corner

     Tin Win     35th  Btw 75th & 76 th 

                                                

8.  Myanmar/  Burmese Food      : 

  Tu Tu  Lay   27th St  Btw 74th & 75th

   Daw Lay May  73rd btw 29th & 30th

   Unison  78th  Btw 39th & 40th

   Daw Yee   80th X 81st and 18th X19th  compound

9. Shan Cuisine / Food :

Shan Yin Yin  62nd Btw 34th a& 35th      

Maw Kam Noon  31st Btw 80th & 81st

Shan Yoe Yar    23rd & 84th corner

10.  Cold Drinks & ice-cream

Nylon  83rd & 25th corner  

Paung Taw Thi   80th Btw 34th & 35th

Easy Ray    78th St Btw 32nd 33rd

Ko Ju       22nd & 83rd corner ( Drinking  Yoghurt )

            10:45 - 11:45 am ( Runs out very quickly )

11.   Bakeries :

        Dumbo     80th Btw 28th & 29th       

        KK             32nd Btw 81st &  82nd       

        Seasons     1st fl.   78 Shopping Mall , 78th st Btw , 37th & 38th sts

12. Bookshops

Nagar     83rd st  Btw 30th & 29th

Tun Oo   84th st  Btw 28th & 29th

13. Libraries :

British Council Library     SY compound, Btw 30st & 31st , 78th & 79th

14. Night open-air markets/ Bazzar

Night market    Btw  34th &35th , 77th & 78th

Night market    84th st  Btw 27th & 29th

15. Playing Billards / Pool :

Relax      3rd Fl. Yadanarbon Market 78th Btw 33rd & 34th

Fantasy World    78th st  Near the railway Station Btw 31st & 32nd ( I think )

16.   All kinds of Restaurants

Golden Duck      17th st & 80th corner ( Chinese )

No. 12                 Kandawgyi Lake Rd     ( Shan Chinese )

Ko’s Kitchen      19th & 80th corner   ( Thai )

Kaung Kaung      Kandawgyi Lake Rd   ( Barbeque & Chinese)

JJ’s                       Corner of 78th & 38th   ( Western & Chinese)

J34                       Corner of 34th & 73rd  ( Beer & Barbeque )

MD                       2nd Fl   Skywalk shopping mall 78th st Btw 33rd & 34th 

 

17.  Hotels

Hotel Mandalay 78th st Btw 37th & 38th

Power Hotel       80th st Btw  39th & 40th

Tain Phyu ( White Cloud) 29thst & 73 rd corner

Mandalay View Inn  66th Btw 26th & 27th  

Mandalay City Hotel  26 th Btw  82nd & 83rd

Sein Sein   81st Btw 32nd & 33rd  

Hongta   82nd st Btw 26th&27th ( Big rooms under reno but should be good soon )

  ( more to come )

Please look in the Lonely Planet and other guide books too ,they list a lot of convenient and inexpensive places for backpackers. 

18. Supermarkets :

City Mart   Supermarket  :   1st fl , 78 Shopping Mall 78th st Btw

                                                     37th & 38th

Blazon  Supermarket  : 80th st  Btw 28th & 29th sts

Orange Supermarket  : Skywalk shopping center , Yadanarbon

                                               Market 78th st Btw 33rd & 34th sts                                                    

 

Just after the Water Festival, MayMyo/Pyin Oo Lwin

Downtown area of the cool ,quaint and unhurried town of Maymyo/Pyin Oo Lwin 

Road to Maymyo /Pyin Oo Lwin

Up and down  the mountains

Great view of Shan Highlands

Quiet village along the way

Nice trees at the Pwe Gauk / BE Falls

At the Botanical Gardens

It has been really hot /baking in Mandalay for a few weeks now, so I went up to Maymyo aka Pyin Oo Lwin for a two-day break from work and the heat. 

I was at the Botanical Gardens  for an afternoon. Great breeze and wouldn’t you  want to take a nap in the shade somewhere here  ? I did . Totally refreshing ! The kids wanted to swim but the swimming pool there had no water in it. Being summertime, quite strange , don’t you think ? But that’s Burma for you !  LOL LOL LOL !  Anyway I had the kids  fill the tub at the hotel and splash in that instead.

 We stayed at the Star Hotel, downtown near the market and restaurants and all. No view from windows and bit small ,the rooms but with A/C and they run the generator if the electricity’s out( some places don’t ). But we didn’t spend any time there  except while  we were sleeping , so I guess it suited our purpose. Next time  which will be in a few  months , I’ll try the Thiri Myanmar Hotel.

I had pizza and  hamburgers with the family at the Golden Triangle Cafe , wasn’t that good to be honest. Even my younger daughter was complaining  “The pizza’s not like last time “. But their garlic bread is still OK.

But a dinner of  Chinese dishes at the San Fransisco Restaurant was really delicious. Great cooking ! The baby corn with mushrooms was fabulous. We got around by  a motor-cycle taxi, something like a tuk-tuk in Thailand. It was nice strolling in the evening along the main road looking at the shops too.

I’ll have more photos from that visit and the Water Festival soon in this blog .So drop in again in a day or two . And also a list of my favourite places in Mandalay to eat out, use the internet ,play billards /pool ,buy baked stuff etc.

If you want to see lots of photos of  and info about Maymyo/Pyin Oo Lwin go to www.pyinoolwin.info

Tomorrow, it’s back to the classroom. I’m looking forward to seeing all the students.

Cheers !

USL

                                                                         

 

New definitions sent by maha2 in S’pore

Cigarette = A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool on the other.

 Father = A bank provided by nature.

 Etc = A sign to make other believe that you know more than you actually do.

Opportunist = A person who starts taking a bath if he accidentally falls into a river.

Optimist = A person who while falling from Eiffel tower says in midway “See , I’m not injured yet”.

 Compromise = The art of dividing the cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

 Conference room = A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagree later on.

 Office = A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Experience = The name, men give to their mistakes.

 Doctor = A person who kills your ills by pills , and kills you with his bills.

Divorce = A future tense of marriage.

 Criminal = A guy no different from the rest, except that he got caught.

 Diplomat = A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

 Committee = Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Conference = The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

 

What do u think of this ladies ? Is this stuff true?

A friend of mine sent me this ……… 

Why Ladies Today Are Still Single

1. The nice men are ugly.
2. The handsome men are not nice.
3. The handsome and nice men are gay.
4. The handsome, nice and heterosexual men are married.
5. The men who are not so handsome, but are nice men, have no money.
6. The men who are not so handsome, but are nice men with money think we are only after their money.
7. The handsome men without money are after our money.
8. The handsome men, who are not so nice and somewhat heterosexual, don’t think we are
     beautiful enough.
9. The men who think we are beautiful, that are heterosexual, somewhat nice and have
     money, are cowards.
10. The men who are somewhat handsome, somewhat nice and have some
     money and thank God are heterosexual, are shy and NEVER MAKE THE FIRST MOVE!!!! 11. The men who never make the first move ,automatically lose interest in us when we take the initiative.
NOW, WHO THE HELL UNDERSTANDS MEN?

 

Studying abroad info

Hi everyone,

Any of you students who want the latest information about the following schools or studyng abroad in July/August 2007 , contact my wife Daw Nan Thinn Thinn after 4 pm in the evening at 02- 36596  and/or make an appointment and  come and see her.

The schools are :

(1)          TMIS ( Tourism Mangaement Institute of Singapore)

(2)        Nayang Institute of Management

             ( Hotel  management studies)

(3)        Accounting Academies in Spore

(4)       Inswold School

             ”A” level ,”O” level preparatory school for university entrance 

              around the world and scholarships

(5)      Informatics Singapore  (Computer studies)

Visit this site regularly for info /dates on my   short info-talks/seminars that I’m giving at school in the coming months.The talks will be be on :

(1) Studying abroad

(2) Choosing a career

(3) Applying for scholarships

If you have any suggestions on interesting topics ,we welcome them very much .

BM 

 

Hi everyone ,

The internet cafes have been closed for the last couple of days here so I couldn’t post anything . I think I had a good Water Festival .Thoroughly wet and a bit tired I was too.Will give you some links to some good photos of the fun in a few days .

I hope everyone had a good time too

and

 Best Wishes for the coming year.

Cheers

USL 

 

April photos:

Look ! Old ordination hall meets new cafe on the corner of 78th & 38th sts.

This is the place on 38th st btw : 78th & 79th sts  from where I ususally communicate with the outside world.

Quiet little lane beside the tracks

Nice street , I’ll show you dirtier ones ,older ones and ones with the old flavour of MDY soon.

 

On the Road in Mandalay

Motorbikes and bicycles are the best way of getting around this town.

This rail -road track is in the smack centre of the town.

To see  pretty photos  or the usual famous places and scenic stuff of Mandalay,go to the links in the last post  

 

Thoughts about education

Some people have said that my blog is a bit soft , rosy or doesn’t give the hard facts/ details about life in this part of the world  .Thank you for the feedback but I’d like to explain a few things.

Well, I don’t write certain things in this blog becauses I see no use in getting into hot water for for things written in thousands of other pages . It would just keep me out of the classroom. And that would be a real bore .

So those wanting critical commentary of this country I suggest they go to the inumerable pages devoted to that.

But I happen to believe that most of what has  happened here in the last 50 years is because of the levels of education or more precisely , the deterioration and glossing over of such ,which in my opinion , sadly, leads to lowered levels of decency to one another and the dignity of all and much more. 

But , I see one way of overcoming the challenges that we face everyday here, in education.What do I mean by education ? I guess a lot but overcoming those challenges through education will surely be a slow , unflashy and tedious endeavour but I’m in  it for the long run .

Join me and the students in this journey by dropping in here every now and then. 

I wish my blog and the links in it to serve as a portal or a starting point through which students can discover the world , more importantly, the country they live in , and most importantly : themselves.

And anyone who is not a student I hope they get some ideas and info about Mandalay that will be useful.

I hope I don’t sound popish or preachy in some ways /places in this blog but bide with me as I try to start discussions , give advice , information and sometimes a bit of guidance and also try to  get more kids to read / be curious /submit comments and  formulate views on their lives , futures and etc.

Best Regards,

 USL