Yangone thwa meh!

Well, I guess it's about time for my yearly blog update. I average one blog entry a year so here is this year's installment. I may even surprise myself and have two entries this year, but I won't hold my breath. ;)

Well I'm off to Myanmar again (also known as Burma). I love the country and its people and it's funny how I feel so much at home when I'm there even though I have no ancestoral ties to the country. Having a son who was born in Burma now means that the seeds of my genes are now firmly implanted there. I have this vision that in fifty years time, a clan of my descendents would be sitting around the dinner table, (or make that sitting crosslegged on the floor) and talking in Burmese about their grandfather who lived in the distant land of Oz.

They'll say, "Oh yes, grandpa was ethnically very different from ourselves, but bore some resemblance to the Malays of Singapore and Malaysia". They'd be flipping through their photo albums (yes, they would still be keeping photos in albums in Burma in 50 years time coz in Burma, time stands still and the digital camera is still some years off! LOL!) and pointing to a scratched photo of grandpa Mingalababya, and saying how this man had travelled there half a century ago, fell in love with their grandmother who then bore their father. Boy can I dream! hahahaha!

This trip will be my 14th trip in the last 5 years. It's no wonder I feel so much at home when I'm in Rangoon since I've been there more times than I have to my own capital city where I live. Because I prefer to walk to places when I'm there, I can certainly find my way around Rangoon better than I can my own hometown these days. I know where all the nice halal food stalls are, where all the masjids are, the bargain basement shopping centres, the bus stations and for my sanity, where the internet cybercafes are. And when I'm required to speak the local lingo, I find it quite easy to adapt to bamar zaga (Burmese language). Assimilation into the Burmese language, culture and lifestyle usually happens quickly after I step off the plane and I feel as though I'd only just left a few weeks ago, rather than half a year.

Arriving in Burma is like turning the clock back 40 years in time, especially when I'm away from the capital in the outback town where my family currently lives. It's such a contrast from the hussle and bustle of my life in Melbourne, but in many ways, this change of lifestyle is very much welcomed as it forces me to unwind, relax and take it easy for a few weeks.

How to get to Burma? Well, step into the time-machine and select 1965! ;)