Goodbye South Korea. Goodbye kimchi. Goodbye adjummas and adjoshis. Goodbye students and teachers. Goodbye serviceu. Goodbye couple clothing. Goodbye dogs in makeup. Goodbye perms and sequins. Goodbye Mokpo, Suncheon, Gwangju, Naju, and Seoul. Goodbye Konglish. Goodbye KPop. Goodbye trucks selling random things. Goodbye delicious Korean food. Goodbye to everyone I’ve met during my time in Korea. I’ll miss it all.
Please Vote
This is just a friendly reminder that tomorrow are elections in Canada. Please vote!!
Fish Heads
What’s the first thing that you think of when someone says fish heads? I normally think of ‘Fish Heads’ by Barnes and Barnes. I mention this because when me, Mr. Win Tin, V, and T were on our way to the floating pagoda, we crossed several stores that sold nothing but fish and fish heads. All products being sold were well petrified. Mr. Win Tin told me and T that the fish products are used in soups to give them flavor to used as broth. They made for some amazing pictures.
Day Four In Myanmar
Day four started with me, V, T, and Mr. Win tin driving towards the monastery that Mr. Win Tin’s family visits. We were treated to snacks of a spicy dish that included pickled tea leaves and a drink that looked like stringy cola but tasted absolutely amazing. I can’t say I’ve ever eaten anything quite like those tea leaves but I hope I do again someday. Mr. Win Tin noticed I liked them and kept on bringing me more of them to eat. After eating more pickled tea leaves and drinking more of that oddly textured but delicious drink, we all went to meet with the head monk of the monastery before heading to our next destination.
The next stop was at a tailor shop that V and T shop at. The shop looked rather small outside but was surprisingly large once inside. The main room was full of handmade dresses, shirts, pillows, and many other things, all elegant and beautiful. The second room was the workshop where the women made their creations and where they modified clothes for customers. The two women who work in the store were so amazing. They not only made beautiful creations, but were also amazing people. I bought several shirts for myself and several things for my family before we were all on our way to the Floating Pagoda.
The drive to the pagoda took us out of Yangon, over the Yangon river, past rickety roadside huts, old buildings, newly built apartments, and the odd cow. The villages were full of people on scooters buzzing about, old cars and trucks struggling onward to wherever they were going and held together with string and a prayer, people walking, and dogs milling about. We stopped for some water at a roadside store/shack that had Korean snacks for sale along with other international snacks. We noticed that small temporary stalls were being built all along the roadside and were being stock with water melons. Mr. Win Tin told us that these stalls were being built by vendors for an upcoming festival that was to be happening near by. We eventually arrived at a small waterside village that contained restaurants, gift shops, and shops that had nothing but dried fish parts for sale. The floating pagoda was a boat ride across from this village. We boarded the rickety boat, took off our shoes, and sat in a shade. After a short and bumpy boat ride, we disembarked from the boat and set foot on the floating pagoda.
The floating pagoda is not actually floating on the water at all but was built into the middle of the river. There were groups of people near the boats, throwing balls of puffed rice into the muddy and fast river for fish to eat. Mr. Win Tin bought me, V, and T all fish food, and we were soon throwing balls of rice into the river for the fish. The Yangon river is fast flowing and muddy, making it near impossible to see anything moving in the water. The only time you could catch a glimpse of the large catfish like fish was when it came up for food. Luckily the fish had huge appetites, giving me lots of chances to try and get a picture of them. Sadly, the picture below was the best picture I could get of the fish.
We then headed up to the Pagoda. Nothing I will write will really accurately describe how amazing the pagoda was, but I will try and do my best. The pagoda consisted of a series of buildings, each with a seemingly different purpose. Some were under construction and were covered with burlap while being worked on. The one room had a series of paintings, depicting famous Burmese myths/stories. I wonder how many of these paintings compare with stories from the Bible. In one of the main prayer chambers, there was an overly friendly cat milling about. It looked well fed compared to many of the animals I’ve seen in Myanmar. We walked around some more, coming across more beautiful paintings, decorations, and a stone tablet that contained a brief summary of Buddhism. We spent some more time walking around the pagoda ground before taking a boat back to the mainland. We hopped off the boat and went to a snack stall nearby for some fresh coconut. It was absolutely and refreshing. T and I then made our way to the fish head stores to take pictures. It is here where I will end this entry. I’ll write about the fish heads, giant Buddha, and other adventures that day. Stay tuned!
Want To Get Elected In South Korea?
All you need is a truck blaring loud dance music, people in neon colored jackets, peple dancing, people clapping, and people bowing.
Shwedagon Pagoda
Words won’t do the pagoda enough so pictures will have to suffice. Information on Shwedagon can be found on the Wikipedia website.
Myanmar: All Aboard The Trains
In my last article about Myanmar, T and I missed our train and were waiting for our train to arrive. A train was approaching the station, showing no sign of stopping at the platform. People were grabbing their wares and bags and heading towards the boarding platform. I can’t put into words what I witnessed but thankfully technology gave me the ability to show you. Watch the video below.
Yes, that did actually happen. After this, T and I went back to waiting around for our train, still having no real idea when it would arrive. Our train did eventually come and we were finally on the way again. The further we got away from Yangon, the poorer the surroundings became. There were piles of burning garbage right against the tracks, paddies filled with plants unknown, wild dogs sniffing for scrape of food, and small shanties in the fore and background.
The train would chug along and make stops at stations that were either little more than slabs of broken concrete or stop at a bustling market that set up between the two train lines. We came up on a market set up between both tracks that quickly wound up being being packed into the train. The train only remained at this station for a few minutes, giving the market vendors little time to load all their wares and themselves aboard the train. T and I soon found ourselves surrounded by huge bags of cabbage and other vegetables in only a few minutes time with little room to move around.
The train would hear further away from Yangon for nearly another half hour to forty five minutes before slowly heading back towards Yangon. The pile of vegetables and those selling them began to thin out as people got off the train as it got closer to Yangon, giving T and I room to move again. The train eventually reached Yangon Station and our adventure on the trains came to an end. T had to head to work and I had to head to my next destination, Shwedagon Pagoda. Stay tuned for the next entry.
Raison’s Cigarette Packaging
When you look at this box, what do you assume is inside? My first guess was candy. Nope. This youthful looking package contains only cigarettes. Raison, a Korean cigarette manufacturer, has changed the packaging of their cigarettes to look more “cool and hip” in an attempt to get more younger people smoking their product. This packaging on the Raison cigarettes reminded me of the cigarette ads on tv and other media formats that our parents grew up seeing that also appealed to them to light up a smoke.
