Myanmar, a land frozen in time

"Traveling puts life back into perspective"

                                                      - The Scratchy Cat

LOL... *waiting for eyes to roll. Quoting myself will be how I would start my writing on places traveled. Otherwise, how else would I start? What shall I write? There is always Google for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

Myanmar, who would have thought it offers so much. Top of mind, it is Aung San Suu Kyi's home country and just another Indochina nation, only less (less) developed. Yangon, the former capital paints a picture of my country back in the 60's?... 70's?...maybe 80's? Everything seems so dated.

P/S: The new capital of Myanmar is now Naypyidaw

One thing for sure that would stands out here is betel-chewing, scenes of mouths full of blood-red juice and rotten looking teeth would remind you of some horror scenes. Ugghhh...this reminds me of the man I spoke to at the bus station. Out of politeness, I can't be closing my eyes when speaking to him, hence!

Most men still wear sarong and women with face smothered in thanakha. We have been wondering for a while the thing that they had on their faces. Turns out, the paste is from some tree bark/root grind-ed with water. Voila, natural sun screen and gives you baby smooth skin with cooling effect. Save the face mist spray :P

The main bus terminal to travel to most major destinations in Myanmar. Yes, it is a bus station.
If you are wondering what is that man doing, he is frying some kacang putih and it smells good.

We took the overnight bus to Bagan. First Class Super VIP bumpy ride with air-conditioning, meals and drinks served and power outlets for charging, also comes with back aches and sleepless night. LOL. Awesome. 

Sunrise from Shwesandaw
 Breathtaking...

... made more spectacular with the presence of hot air balloons

Land scattered with pagodas
Recommendation: Rent a bike and go wild

Thatbyinnyu Temple, a famous temple built by some king some centuries ago

Popa Mountain National Park: Lots of monkeys and greasy bare-footed climb up mosaic stairs
Reward: Bird's-eye view and temples

Day-to-night beauty, Shwedagon Pagoda

Karaweik Palace: They serve buffet dinner with cultural show
*Place your bookings in advance

They said a blog would not be interesting without food content. So here you go...food...yumm…

Tea leaf salad: Picked tea leaves, roasted peanuts and other beans, fried sesame seeds and fried garlic
*Mix them up (like rojak) in a plate. The taste? I dont know...LOL

Myanmar visit concludes my Indochina journey. I am back in perspective. Life is great. LOL~

Halal Food blog

Just want to share an interesting halal travel blog for our Muslim friends (we too). I find it short, simple and with direction (which I think important). The link is http://www.havehalalwilltravel.com/.

Enjoy!

My food journey

I have moved to the dark side, joined the mass of diners who take pictures of their meals. These group of people whom I have never understood previously, whom I would roll my eyes at. Today, I am guilty of this act myself, which also means, I am potentially developing some sort of mental issues. (Taking pictures of food may be a sign of mental illness, my mom read it off somewhere and gave me the disapproving look when I once took a picture of my food). 

I have come quite a long way in jumping into this trend wagon. It is not without lots of effort to be willing, and of course the practices and critical remarks for improvement. Now, when the food is served, it is like almost instantaneously that I would reach out for my phone. But of course, I would still be conscious of who my dining companions are, which side do they belong. Depending on the crowd, I would either be discreetly trying to snap a picture or two, hoping nobody would notice of this act (but pretty sure they do and is judging me from across the table) and end up with a few blurry pictures or joined my fellow compatriot in taking the best angle shot with crisp clear image. 

As long as my food pictures are still in demand, I would still be in the wagon. Be it blurry or not, these pictures do not come easy. So let's us all dig in, with our smartphones first. Bon appetit.

According to Yelp : Best 10 cafes in Semenyih

Looks like we have a few new places to check out for lunch.

Best 10 cafes in Semenyih 

Lunch at Brogla

Service was slow. Waited forever.

Do you like the title of our blog

Dear all, I had talked to few people regarding a sharing a blog on travel or interesting stuff. The concept is that we will have an blog account where we share and update any events we thought interesting. The sharing will not be too burdensome for us comparing to blogging alone. This will keep the blog updated. It is also a good sharing for us to spread the love. If you are interested, please let me know. We come out with the title “Sleeping Otters” which few people is alright with it. If you have a better suggestion, please do. If not we will stick with the title proposed. Susan the picture for the blog. Just wondering how to credit the pic to the owner. ~Sock Fang

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Pic #2