SEA Games: Football Finals

15th June 2015

Myanmar VS. Thailand

I thought I would continue updating the finals' results. I can't just stop at the semi-finals...

For the third and forth placing. Vietnam fought against Indonesia to secure their third place while Indonesia got forth. 5-0.

Alright, the second and first placing: Thailand won, congratulations to all Thais. You guys were great! For my fellow Burmese people, I am glad to see how enthusiastic fans were. Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed myself last night despite the defeat. I felt nostalgic after the whole match... People were that amazing. One has to be at the actual venue to FEEL the atmosphere and loud cheering.

SEA GAMES 2015! ONE OF THE BEST GAMES EVER! :"D

Appreciate all athletes, staffs, officials and of course... those who played a part in it (fans, volunteers, photographers, behind-the-scenes people...). Those that made it possible. Can I just say it was a success? Kekekekeke. Ahhh such emotions and unity.

Today's the Closing Ceremony already. On a bright side, those who put in extra effort for the event to take place can take a good rest. Singapore will see you again in what...22 years? Anyways, See you after two years in Malaysia, SEA Games! ;)

Part 3: Taunggyi, Pindaya & More! (Sta's Burma Adventures FINALE)

We exited Kyait Ti Yoe much later. It was a pretty long ride back (but not as long as from Yangon city to Moulmein). Honestly, we were all physically drained by then.

After crossing a checkpoint, came the separation part. My extended family had to go on different routes because they all live far away (definitely not around the main city). There were three groups, to three different places/hometowns. We were headed back to Yangon, of course. Almost everyone on the van had gone silence. This is a sign that all of them had something, or someone in mind they missed. I was reminiscing all the times spent with my cousins, parents, nieces etc. It'll always be such wonderful, amazing recollections of my past.

However, this road trip wasn't the end. Because......

After resting for a few days in Yangon, The "Mom side relatives -Singaporean pals [leftovers]" group (I don't even know how I derived at that group name), decided to continue the journey for further exploration. We went to another region - The Shan State via Bus/coach that travels to long distances this time hehehe. It was mainly planned by my Aunt-in-law. Therefore, because of her and some others who scheduled our stay there...I got to see GREAT views and scenery. Arigato! ^ o ^

I'm in love with the cooling weather over there, like I REALLY WANT TO LIVE IN SUCH PLACES FOR LONG... very chilling and beautiful!

First of all, we arrive at a place further down Taunggyi (which was our main destination), called Aye-ta-yar (forgive my spelling)... Yeah, it's basically like the "new city" developed at the later years, or so a person said.

We placed all luggage at the Chanmyay meditation center afterwards, which was breathtaking (at least that's my opinion). Now that I think about it, the place reminds me of those "you-can-get-out-of-the-real-world for a moment and escape from troubled soul" places written inside novels. Not kidding, but it does appeals to those who loves, or needs the silence and learn more about their inner-selves (eg soul search, meditate).

Upon greeting all seniors who welcomed us at the center, and giving respect to the Sayadaw (monk), we continued our journey. This time, for Pin Da Ya.

And boom! I fell in love with the place instantly. Couldn't resist asking dad to take photos on my behalf (because sadly my phone's battery died and there was no charger around).

But... here are the long-awaited photos! Now speak little memories!

Notice: pictures of myself alert!! X-D

Seriously such a eye-opening place. ;'D

Freaking looks like a painting O.O

Dreamland I say!

That smile signifies the fact the I was feeling really over the moon!

Because #WeAreYoung and #KidAtHeart. There you go.

What is Burma without its pagodas and uniqueness?

The fog though... ;b

We headed for Inle next. Along the way, dad was like "you'll see Myanmar Venice there" I get why he said that...

Alas! We finally went up to Taunggyi. It was my dad's hometown. Hence. there are definitely gonna be some childhood memories buried there! We met up with some of my "long-lost relative"/ older generations. Daddy totally talked about 'what used to be what and which home belonged to whose' last time. Obviously, 60% changes were done in comparison to the present Taunggyi. FYI, the place is a small village so it wouldn't be surprising for people living there to recognize each other easily. Unfortunately, I didn't really take a lot of photos. Okay... Mainly because my phone was misbehaving (there's this point when it even blanked out).

What d'you say? Wild sunflowers being wild...

There was this pagoda in a cave located several feet higher than Taunggyi, at a place that has been called another name (which silly me doesn't know).

Okay its magnificent!! Except that I was feeling a little dizzy then.

This was at the festival, which was ah-mayy-zing! ^^ Click here to view more info.

The rest of the photos are either inside my love ones' phones, or other cameras.
Yeap this was my Burma Adventures this year. Guess I will still be having more trips to there (if I can hopefully save up enough $$, that is)!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING MY TRAVEL JOURNAL PARTS (1), (2) and now...this. THE FINALE. I HAD SOO MUCH FUN AND EXPERIENCE I CAN'T EVEN THANK ENOUGH >.<

/bows to all my readers to show appreciation/

Have a nice Christmas y'all!

Part 2: The wedding & Kyait Ti Yoe. (Sta's Burma Adventures)

As you can see from my previous video, "PART 1" of my Myanmar trip: The particular day was well spent at the beach! And not to forget...visiting pagodas and having a extended family bonding time, aka dinner together. ;)

Alright, the actual wedding day came. I feel so happy for my girl cuzzie whom I'm immediately close to on the first time we met, years back. 

It was a simple, traditional marriage and celebration with families from both sides, colleagues and some officials. Simplicity is lovely sometimes. Some people prefer celebrating with just a specific number of people. Not hiring any bands/singers or booking major places and renting big stages. My cousin in one of them.

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Anyways, we (extended family) went on with our road trip afterwards. We headed for Kyait Ti Yoe.

We couldn't go up the steep hills all by ourselves (or our vehicles). We needed to take the lorry located at the base. The drivers are pretty remarkable when it comes to driving skills, I would say.
 Whew! We reached the top approximately after a 20-30 minutes drive from the base.

Here are the photos!

Night view above! ;)

We walked down the hills without taking the lorry again when we go back. It was better in my opinion kekeke...probably because I can enjoy the horizons!!

Like playing with textures and patterns, isn't it?

Breathtaking! Beautiful!

 Pretty cool seeing a solar panel used up on hills by villagers. Dad kind of "interviewed" one of the villager saying which was more effective: batteries or solar panel and he answered the latter. He added on by saying that buying batteries are pretty much twice the price of the panel. Moreover, he has to pay for batteries monthly in order to have electricity flowing in.

To be continued on part 3!

Part 1: Moulmein, Setse and more! (Sta's Burma Adventures)

I am back!
Officially back from my vacation to Myanmar (Burma)!
This trip has been one of the best yet. Probably because I love road trips, and sightseeing. I got them both! The experiences I stumbled upon were beautiful, the views were breathtaking, and people were friendly and nice. How I wish I have more of such trips... where everyone will get physically drained out and yet, able to stay mentally strong till the end.

I learned so much throughout this journey, even from the littlest of one occurrence. Singapore and Myanmar are very much different in terms of management and environment (really depends on which region someone lives too). Either way, both countries have their own forte. I made this statement after visiting Myanmar for several times now.

Maybe a short description will do fine, right? Myanmar is rich in its resource, and great cultural sense. There are remarkable pagodas, rivers and many more. Buddhism is a mostly practiced all around the island, whereas there are also other religions such as Islamic and Christianity in some regions/places. Burmese people addresses one another politely, respect is seen everyday when one greets the other party. People there uses words like "A-ma (older sister/someone (female) of an older age), A-ko-gyi (older brother/someone (male) of an older age), Nya-mar-lay (younger sister/with adoration or care) and Nyee/Maung-lay (younger brother/with adoration or care)". It seems pretty similar to the Japanese culture on first thought, huh? Like Nee-chan or Senpai. There are different several ethnic groups like Kachin, Shan, Mon...etc people. Just like how Chinese will have the Cantonese, Hokkien etc...

That is a short introduction to the country. Below are my actual thoughts.

"What did you do there, Cal? Could you summarize as a whole?"

Sure. Why not. I went for hiking down approximately 33 hills, rode on a small boat, car---van--bus rides for many hours, walked on irregular pathways, rocky/uneven roads, got baked under the scorching hot sun (not too bad though) and is dancing on the dance machine (in the arcade) counted? Hahaha either way, physical strength was needed in order to carry out those activities mentioned earlier. In a nutshell, I flew, ran, walked, sailed...and maybe danced and knocked my leg against something hard. Whatever, I was glad to have said "hello" to the skies, waters and land. Not funny yeah? Blame my horrible sense of humor gahahaha.

Despite having mild sunburns and body aches etc. If given another chance, I would love to go through this whole process from the beginning. Why? Because I love the bonding time with my extended family, and having to taste and see things I could not find at home.

Ps. Another reason for us to go there was because one of my girl cousin is getting married! Hence, the happy occasion. 

We reached Yangon International Airport safely.



First Stop: Moulmein Road Trip

We got on to two separate vehicles (as our group [family] was pretty big). Two of my bro cousins drove there on their own accord. Very thankful for them to sacrifice their precious sleep times, just to bring us there! If I were the one driving... wait... can I even survive driving for a day long?! Oh Cal.

We arrived at the bungalow we are staying first. I stayed on the second floor. Cool. It was pretty much planned from the newlyweds and the bride's brother. ;)

We headed to Setse Beach one of those days...

Very shady palm trees, especially good under the burning sun!

Very vast area.

My nieces actually. Fun, fun, fun...

The waters.

View from some Pagoda,

To be continued on part two!