More Photos of a Day in Mandalay

Another attempt to show you what a day of errands in Mandalay looks like.  What you may not be able to see is the happiness that comes with shopping and interacting with such friendly people.  Sometimes, I asked to take pictures.  Other times, they volunteered.  Sometimes they asked to take my picture before I took theirs.  That's life in a country where foreigners aren't typically seen.  And, when they asked where I was from, people were consistently enthusiastic when I said "America".  They love Obama!

This guy is pushing his lottery ticket cart down one of the main streets.  He has large speakers and music blasting to let everyone know he's coming.

These kids sell strings of jasmine flowers to motorists - the flowers are placed in cars as air freshener or in women's hair as decoration (and for the scent).  One of my local friends, a cleaning lady at the school, often brings me the flowers to wear in my hair at school.

At the entry to Mingalar, a "wet" market that has produce, fabric, seamstresses and meat, there are vendors outside as you enter.  Cauliflower is in season.  Huge, fresh and about a dollar for an enormous head.

Outside stalls at the market also sell other household goods.  I have a basket like the ones on the left, to carry my produce.  I also have a trunk (provided by the school) like the ones on the right, to store my stuff in my apartment.

Photos of a Day in Mandalay

Last week I posted a description of my typical Saturday in Mandalay.  This week, I'm posting photos of what it looks like.  Except it happened on a Friday instead of Saturday because we have a 3 day weekend due to a holiday.  Here's what a typical, fun day in Mandalay looks like.   Note:   I've spent about 4 hours uploading these photos.  I'll work on the rest of the day as internet permits.  Sorry for the delay, but that's life in a developing country.

My friend (and boss) Saundi.  We usually start our "chores" with breakfast at one of the many local tea shops.

Sorry that this photo is out of order.  This is a pharmacy that I passed after leaving the tea shop.  The pharmacist and cat were both comfortable with having their picture taken.

The guy in red and white is a chef.  I was trying to catch him tossing dough but was too slow.  The boy in yellow is one of the many young servers.  He knew I was taking his picture but was too shy to look toward the camera.

My driver.  He's reliable, safe and fun.  He charges 4,000 K per hour (air con car is usually 8,000 K per hour.) and the best part - he carries my groceries up the 3 flights to my apartment.

After breakfast, we walked down the street to buy a special pastry I like.  This lady was working at a shop along the way and didn't hesitate to have her picture taken.

A typical small restaurant along the street.  Good, cheap food with friendly staff.

This man walks around town, sharpening knives and scissors.  Another big smile when I asked to take his photo.

Another Typical Day in Mandalay

Yesterday was a typical Saturday.  My driver and friend picked up a friend and I at 8:00 a.m.  We headed to a local tea shop for breakfast.  The place was crowded but the young manager recognized us and immediately came over to escort us to a table.  The fact that a man was sitting at the table did not seem to be an issue.  He was apparently finishing up and gave us a smile as he left.

Tea shops in Myanmar are open air and patronized mostly by men, although there are usually at least a few women there, usually with a man.  The servers are young boys who consistently seem to be both curious and shy when approaching us.  The small tea shops are rarely patronized by tourists and there aren't that many expats in Mandalay, so standing next to me may be the closest they've ever come to a foreigner.

I ordered my usual breakfast - e ja gway (the spelling is of my own invention - that's how it sounds) and oh no!  cow sway!.  E ja gway is long a long, plain fried donut.  They are greasy and fabulous.  Even if I didn't like oh no!  cow sway!, I'd order it just because I think it is fun to say.  It's a bowl of chicken broth with coconut cream, noodles, a tiny bit of cooked chicken and boiled egg.  As with most soups in Myanmar, it's served with raw onions, cilantro and lime on the side, to add as you like.

There is a pot of tea on each table at tea shops, along with small cups.  It is complimentary.  If you order tea, you get a cup of sweet, milky tea.

Breakfast for two, which included several of the pastries (I like to take them home), sweet tea, the coconut chicken soup and a 1 ltr. bottle of water.  Cost was $2.

The show that comes with every visit to a tea shop is free.  While the locals talk and concentrate on the people they're with or the large tv screen which most tea shops have, I look around.  There is ALWAYS something new and interesting going on.  I could easily spend an entire day sitting in a tea shop.

Yesterday, the most curious thing were the women walking past.  They were in a row, about five of them.  Each one had a very large basket on her head full of owls.  No one else seemed to notice.  I was fascinated.  After a bit of research, I now know that people in Myanmar consider owls (especially pairs of owls) to be good luck.  And, if you release a bird and you're Buddhist, you gain merit by saving a life.  If you release an owl, that's even better.

After enjoying an hour over breakfast, we headed to the wet market.  At Mingalar market, in the center of Mandalay, you can have clothes custom made, buy a fresh whole fish, orchids and roses or a variety of produce.  It's a full service market.  It's indoors and outdoors and not air conditioned.

Before visiting my favorite vendors we went on a search for buttons.  After asking several locals by pointing at the buttons on my blouse, we found the notions lady, right where everyone had pointed.  I pointed at my buttons and she pulled out a box of buttons.  All about the same size but different colors.  They were a penny apiece.  My friend grabbed a large handful and asked how much.  The woman looked horrified that she wanted to buy so many of her buttons.  They settled on 10 buttons for 100 kyat.  That's a penny apiece.

I bought the basics...potatoes, onions, avocado 3 large ears of corn and a large bag of perfectly ripe strawberries.  Total cost was about $2.50.  That's because I splurged on the strawberries - they were $1 for about a kilo.  I was also happy to see green mangoes for sale.  I didn't buy any.  I'm too lazy to make green mango salad when I can buy it from a street vendor for about a quarter.  But the green mangoes mean that ripe mangoes are on their way.

After Mingalar, we headed to New Ocean, not to be confused with Old Ocean, which is in Diamond Plaza.  I stopped to change $300 into 327,000 Kyat.  The nice lady tried to convince me to take the money in 1,000 K notes.  That was a stack about four inches tall.  Not wallet friendly.

I bought a few things, including green chiles and olive oil.  I'm assuming the long green chiles must be imported since I've only seen them at the produce market once.

We sat near the entrance of the mall to enjoy a cold drink.  As we chatted and watched people going by a family ran over and sat down on either side.  Photo!  The two men whipped out their cell phones and took multiple photos of the two white ladies and their wives.

Next stop, Style Star.  Two hours of pampering - massage, shampoo, mani/pedi was 8,500 K.  Beauty shops are one of my favorite things in Mandalay and Style Star is my favorite.  They're friendly, no longer intimidated by working on the white women and do a great job.

After all that shopping and pampering, it was time for lunch.  I've ordered pizza occasionally from Central Park but hadn't been to their new location.  I was impressed.  Indoors, air con, nice ambiance and great service.  No tea shop prices here, though.  Pizza for me and chicken tacos (which bear only a passing resemblance to tacos but are ok) for my friend, fresh grapefruit juice and water for me and an iced cappucino for my friend was 17,000K.  Worth it, though - the pizza and grapefruit juice were delicious.

If you're visiting Mandalay and would like to experience a few hours with an expat here, give me a shout.  I love this place and am happy to show you around.

I Went to Bangkok for a Cronut

I started this blog as a way to keep in touch with people I love when I joined the Peace Corps in 2010.  Now, I should just acknowledge the truth and turn it into a food blog.  If you are not interested in food or grocery shopping in Bangkok, move on.  Although, I am wildly funny so you might want to read just a bit more.

I've looked forward to this long weekend for a couple of months.  Five long, luxurious days in Bangkok.  They've flown by.  Partly because of the flight schedule.  I didn't arrive at my hotel in Bangkok until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.  Sunday and Monday I rested, grazed, Skyped, went for walks and did a lot of napping.  Tuesday was grocery shopping.  Wednesday I leave for the airport at 8:00 a.m.  Too short!

First, some general comments about Bangkok.  Like any big city there are some consistencies.  As I walked quickly to the open elevator door at Terminal 21, a woman met my eye, smiled and hit the "close" button.  As I crossed a major street (Asok at Sukhumvit) I was almost run over by a car racing to run the red light before the other traffic was through the intersection on a green light (I had the green pedestrian light).  I almost got mowed down on the sidewalk because I didn't hear the motorbike taxi coming up behind me.  Yes, on the sidewalk.

I also got bumped into by numerous young people texting like mad while walking. I think a fabsulous invention would cut off people's access to the internet when they are within 3 feet of another human.  I love the internet, truly.  But what its doing to human interaction is too much like the song "In the year..."  It was in the 70's.  Google it!

One great thing about big cities is street food and Bangkok does it better than most (or all).  My first night's meal was salad bar, raw tuna and salmon and steamed mussels.  On Sunday, I had pizza (Pala Pizza, awesome).  On Tuesday, I had Mexican food at Sunrise Tacos.   It was disappointing and I'm a fan of their food.  The rest of the time I ate street food in the area near my hotel.

I love Thai street food.  Cheap, fresh, delicious.  Chicken gizzards and livers, grilled.  Fried chicken.  Curry.  Steamed pumpkin and corn.  Crepe-like things filled with sausage and egg for breakfast.  All good.

I grocery shopped at the original Villa Market at Soi 33 Sukhumvit.  I bought all the stuff I can't get in Mandalay.  The list of what I can't get has been reduced significantly since CitiMart opened.  I bought chili beans, dry pinto beans, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, mustard, wasabi paste (which used to be available in Mandalay), jars of jalapeno peppers, corn chips.  I also bought some portabella mushrooms,  zucchini and honey baked ham.  Yum.

The good news is they now carry Jiffy Corn Bread Mix.  The bad news, they were out of it.  The other bad news is they had neither tortillas nor refried beans.  Mexico - not my job to tell you what to do but the government in Thailand is currently in flux.  Now would be a good time  to invade and take over the country and import your food here.  Just kidding, Thai government.  I respect your government and this afternoon before the movie " Birdman" (which was excellent) I stood in respect for the King's anthem.  I do wish a few more Mexican expats would move here and bring their food with them. 

The food highlights of this trip, though, were the salad bar at Gourmet Market (Caribbean floor of Terminal 21) and the cronut I had from Tops grocery store (basement of Robinson's department store.

I'd heard of cronuts but never had one.  I'm very glad they don't have them in Myanmar.  Back to Mandalay tomorrow, school for two days then the weekend.  Life is good.

No More !

I've been contemplating my views on travel recently.  I was given the opportunity to attend a conference in Borneo in March.  I respectfully begged off.  Really?  Who would turn down a free trip to Borneo?

I used to beg my employers to send me to conferences.  Toledo?  Fabulous!   A big factor in becoming a consultant was that I got to travel every week.  But now?  I'm slowing down.  Becoming jaded?  Lazy?  Hmmm.

Part of my rationale for turning down the conference was the timing.  I'm currently in Bangkok on a visa run.  The conference would have been two weeks from now and would require 4 airports for a 4 day trip, each way.  Two weeks after that is a 1 1/2 week holiday and I was hoping to visit Vietnam.  It just felt like too much. 

For 18 years as an independent management consultant I traveled a lot.  I have lifetime status on Delta, thanks to the million plus miles I flew on them.  Now, when I have time off, I don't care to spend it in airports.

A friend recently took a 16 hour bus ride to go to the beach.  Nope.  Wouldn't do it.  No interest.

Other friends are riding their motorbikes across Myanmar for days.  Nope.  Not interested.  Seen enough pagodas.  Had my photo taken by enough locals.

So, am I getting old and lazy?  Jaded?  Or is it because I've lived abroad (Guatemala, Samoa, Malawi, Myanmar) long enough that I've learned to appreciate the routine.  For example, here in Bangkok this weekend, I'm just relaxing.  And grazing.  So far I've had salad, New Zealand green lipped mussels, raw tuna and salmon and some grilled chicken livers and gizzards,  I'm enjoying fast internet and cable tv,  I'm going to take a bath when I log off. 

Whatever the cause of my decrease of urge to see everything/do everything, I'm enjoying this stage.  I may not see every pagoda in Myanmar but I'll treasure the time I spend with my favorite vendors at the produce market and my ladies at Style Star who work hard to make me feel so pampered.

What's New in Mandalay

I find it hard to believe that it's February 21, 2015.  Time seems to be flying by.  Nothing extraordinary has happened but I thought I'd fill you in on what I've been up to the last couple of weeks.

I continue to love having the new Citimart grocery store open.  The good news is they have a variety of western products, including cheese, ham, olives and more.  The downside is that they cost American (or more) prices.  When I shop at Mingalar, the produce market I prefer, I can spend $10 for all the food I can carry.  At Citimart, I can spend $40 for one bag of groceries.  Still worth it, though.

Teaching first grade is an adventure every day.  I work hard to keep it fresh for the kids and for myself.  Routine is good because kids that age like to know what to expect.  But, it's always good to have novelty and make it interesting.

Last week we had international tests for grades 3-10.  One of the grade 4 teachers asked if I was willing to do some shared stuff in the afternoons after their tests.  You bet!  The first afternoon, we played Science Jeopardy to help my kids prepare for their upcoming Unit 6 Science test.  My first graders proudly beat the socks off their grade 4 competitors.  Admittedly, my guys have been studying this stuff for the last few weeks and this was long ago info for the 4th graders.  It really didn't matter who won - there was learning going on and a lot of excitement and fun.

The country celebrated Chinese New Year last week.  At least 50% of people in Mandalay are of Chinese descent so it's a big deal.  So big, in fact, that only 6 of my 19 students showed up that day.

We started the day with the fourth grade again.  The seven students from their class joined ours and we created timelines of a typical day.  Wonderful to see the kids working so well together and helping each other.

It's customary to give gifts of food and cash on Chinese New Year.  Kids told me about receiving up to $100 from family and family friends.  One boy came in on the holiday with a grocery bag full of "snacks"  = cookies, chocolate, jellies, etc.  The bag was a gift from his Chinese tutor.  I asked if he planned to eat all of them (anticipating a major sugar high) but he assured me he only planned to eat two- one for each of our breaks.  He gave me one snack and another to Tr. May, our assistant teacher.  When he realized that only five other students were there that day, he realized that he had plenty of snacks to share with all the other students.  He told me before school he had a surprise - he was going to give everyone a snack.  All day, he kept reminding me of his surprise and I let him know it was up to him to decide when to share.  He happily waited until the end of the day when he announced his surprise to the class and shared his treats.  I was happy to hear the "thank yous" and see the appreciation.  The best treat of the day was at the very end of the day when this independent, creative, sweet little boy gave me a hug for letting him share his "surprise".

The same day, we had one period where the kids worked on a variety of projects in math and language arts.  When they finished their work, they got to read or draw.  One boy was drawing and proudly came up to give me the "project" he'd made for me.  He'd drawn a heart, colored it in and written the word "LOVE" in the center, then cut it out.  He gave it to me and told me it was because he loved me.  I love him, too, along with the rest of these amazing kids.

Since there were so few kids at school, for the last 30 minutes of the day I organized a kick ball game for all 3 first grade classes.  13 on one team, 12 on the other.  We didn't exactly go by the rules but everyone had a fabulous time.

On Friday, I went grocery shopping after school to one of the three modern grocery stores in the city.  While checking out a family asked if they could take their photo with me.  Sure.  Always nice to be a celebrity.

After shopping, a friend and I went out to dinner and then to the beauty salon for shampoo, blowdry, massage and mani/pedi.  Total for pizza, beer and spa was $14.  A great Friday night.

Next week is a full week of school and then on Saturday I'll fly to Bangkok for a visa run.  We've got three days off the following week so it will be short.  I'm looking forward to the break in Thailand but also to a week with my littles.  There's nothing better than seeing all that excitement and enthusiasm as the kids come in every morning.  Except, maybe, all the hugs I get every day.

New Friends

The internet has made the world so much smaller.

I got an email from a charming lady from London recently.  She'd been googling Zeygo market because she was coming to Myanmar with a small tour group.  She stumbled upon my blog and not only took the time to read it, she emailed me about it.

After a couple of email exchanges, we agreed to meet up when she was in Mandalay.  I'm so glad that we did!

We agreed that I'd pick up Dorothy and her friends Diana and Miki at their hotel at 4:00 p.m.  on a Friday evening.  I must confess, as the day progressed, I was not looking forward to it.  My Friday evenings are usually dedicated to being a sloth and relaxing after a tiring week.  Having said that, I knew that once we met and got out, I knew we'd have a good time.  I was right.

Another teacher and I met the ladies at their hotel and we planned our evening.  I was a bit concerned that they had passed on their group tour of U Bein Bridge and dinner to spend the evening with us.  Especially since we weren't taking them to the tourist sites, but rather to the places that we go to regularly.

We started at Mingular market, the produce/wet market where I buy most of my food.  We wandered around and tasted some of the local fruits.  Miki and I agreed that dragon fruit is a big damn disappointment.  It is beautiful and has an exotic and misleading name, since it is one of the blandest fruits you can find.  Dorothy was impressed, as I am, with the Mandarin oranges, which are relatively cheap and plentiful here.

Our next stop was a quick one at Gandamar market, which is a local grocery store.  Dorothy was interested in buying some soap for souvenirs and I've bought thanaka soap there.  Less than a dollar, smells like sandalwood and foams up nicely.

Next we headed to our primary goal - Style Star, the salon where I go at least once a week.  It was busy on a Friday night but we each got a treatment fairly quickly.  Three of us went for the shampoo/shoulder and arm massage and blow dry.  Two of us opted for the foot/leg scrubbing and massage.  The hotel where the ladies stayed charged $70 for a foot massage.  Style Star, which is for locals rather than tourists charges $6.50.  The shampoo/massages were $2.50.  The ladies seemed quite pleased and seemed to really enjoy the pampering and local experience.

To top off the evening we headed to Joy Garden on 62nd St., near 35 to have a Myanmar dinner.  Rather than ordering from the menu, we went for the barbecue.  We chose the sticks of stuff we wanted - paneer cheese, okra, spring onions, goat, chicken, pork, spicy fish in banana leaves, a whole fish, lotus root and more, along with a bottle of white wine, some sodas and a beer for $35.  Our visitors generously paid for dinner. The food and the conversation were terrific.

I so enjoyed meeting these ladies.  We found so many things in common.  We had so many common interests.  Intelligent conversation.  The serendipity of spending time with like-minded strangers.  I'm sorry we only had a few hours together.  They each generously offered to host me at their homes in London.  I hope they realize I was very serious when I said I'd take them up on it.  I'm already checking dates and flights.  Really, 70 countries and I've never been to England?  I have to correct that.  Having new friends there will just make it better.