InDepth (MYANMORE) - Volume 10, August Issue

InDepth No.10, August 2015

from growing pains to heartache nyan lin aung

more art more fashion more travel more lifestyle

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

TEAM MANAGING DIRECTOR Andreas Sigurdsson andreas@myanmore.com

EDITOR

CONTENTS 5

8

12

23rd Street - morning dosa, family temples and the perfect mont lone yay paw

Tim Aye-Hardy and his Myanmar Mobile Eduction Project, helping teashop kids

streets of yangon

Bob Percival editor@myanmore.com

14

CONTRIBUTORS

San Lin Tun Tet Ka Tho Soe Moe Naing Mimi Wu Bob Percival Chit Chan Cho Marie Starr Win Lei Lei Tun Manny Maung Richie Chan

Manny Maung sits down with singer heartthrob Nyan Lin Aung

PHOTOGRAPHY & ARTWORK

ART & PRODUCTION Kyaw Kyaw Tun

design

16 cover story

Gerhard Joren www.gerhardjoren.com

10

art

Interview with artist NCS about his beautifully connected paintings

18

travel

Last episode of Strange Murder Case, with San Shar, the Burmese Sherlock Holmes

through the looking glass

Chit Chan Cho looks at Wet Market Mayhem

24

fashion

26

edge

28

health

30

bistronomy

32

infocus

The Avenue introduces the 2015 Tadashi Shoji Collection

A design look at the new Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone

Marie Starr takes us on a photographic journey down south to Myeik

PUBLISHER

translation

23

Richie Chan takes a close examination of use of space at the Muditar Condominium from a designer's point of view

COVER PHOTO

Gerhard Joren Marie Starr Richie Chan Hong Sar Salai Suanpi pt@images

22

social enterprise

Jojo talks about Yangon Yoga House

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PRINTER

Tin Tin Yangon, BIIO in the heart of Chinatown, and the Burmese food of Danuphyu Daw Saw Yee

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ABOUT MYANMORE

MYANMORE is a registered brand under Lychee Ventures (Myanmar) Limited that manage the leading lifestyle and entertainment website www.myanmore.com. On top of InDepth, MYANMORE also provides city maps, a privilege card, a weekly guide and two guides - EnjoyIt and KnowIt. The mission is to give visitors and residents of Yangon more to enjoy and explore.

DISTRIBUTION

InDepth can be found in hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, business centres and embassies etc in Yangon. It is also distributed locally inside International New York Times, Nikkei, Bangkok Post, Nation, Straits Times, Business Times and Zaobao. Subscribe to any of these and get InDepth delivered every month. For more info contact indepth@myanmore.com

DISCLAIMER

No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the Managing Director. All details are deemed correct at the time of print, the editor, employees and contributors can not be held responsible for any errors, inaccuracies or omissions that might occur.

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

6 WHAT’S ON events 7TH AUGUST “WALKABOUT” International Residencies for Myanmar Artists | Activities Walkabout International Residencies for Artists presented by Yone Arts and Gallery 65. Uninterrupted time for artists to work in the studio is a great gift!

Learn how to apply to international residencies abroad. Yone Arts @ Gallery65 will take you step by step on how to apply to an international artist in residency. Using online resources they can guide you through the application process, including portfolio selection and crafting an artist statement.

Gallery 65 - 65 Yaw Min Gyi Rd (Behind Parkroyal Hotel) | 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

7TH - 9TH AUGUST Myanmar Healthcare Investment Summit & Myanmar Med-Pharma Cosmetics Expo | Business Myanmar Healthcare Investment Summit & Myanmar Med-Pharma Cosmetics Expo will cover: Pharmaceuticals, Bulk Drugs, Generics, Medical Equipment, Medical Devices, Hospital Equipment, Diagnostic Eqpt, Hospital Management Services, Telemedicine, Medical Tourism, Cosmetics, Sports Fitness Eqpt., etc.

For more info : +95 9420110451.

8TH AUGUST Future Music Festival | Nightlife Future Muisc Festival with the DJs including DJ Mickey, DJ Dynamite, DJ Naung Naung, DJ Lu Lu, DJ Si Thu, DJ Myat Thu. There will also be Live performances by Jimmy Jacobs, Luffie, OGK and Zwe. Ticket information at 09 262373134, 09 780981223, 09 780981224.

J-One Music Bar - Bo Cho St (Near Union Business Centre), Bahan Tsp | 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM

FAHR OUT – Funky Beats at Fahrenheit | Nightlife FAHR OUT brings you funky beats, great people and delicious cocktails.

Every second Saturday of the month.

What more could you wish for on a Saturday night?!

its supporting industries to showcase the latest developments in the building and construction industry.

Tatmadaw Hall - U Wisara Rd (Next to Minder Ground), Dagon Tsp | 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

FAHRENHEIT Bar - No. 38, Corner of Bo Gyoke Rd and Botahtaung Pagoda Rd | 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Smartphone Film Festival Yangon | Business

TOP CAREER Myanmar Job Fair 2015 | Business

Novotel Yangon Max (Pyay Conference Room) - 459 Pyay Road, Kamayut Tsp | 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

13TH AUGUST

14TH AUGUST Night Shelter | Nightlife

This month, YG is truly thrilled to present Yangon’s favourite DJ ,the one and only YU KT, spinning together with DJ Datslap from London to give you a house and funk filled night mixed with some of your favourite pop classics to get you thru this rainy season. 5,000 Ks per person.

J-One Music Bar - Bo Cho St (Near Union Business Centre), Bahan Tsp | FROM 10:00 PM

Builders Myanmar 2015 | 14TH - 17TH AUGUST Business Builders Myanmar 2015 featuring: Foodtech Myanmar Construction Myanmar 2015 and 2015 | Business Building Materials Myanmar 2015 is set to be Myanmar’s most complete Building & Construction event in Myanmar. It brings together an international congregation of building and construction companies, contractors, property developers, architects and also

Myanmar Event Park - Shin Saw Pu Rd, Sanchaung Tsp (near Myay Ni Gone City Mart) | 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

15TH AUGUST

9TH AUGUST

TOP CAREER Myanmar Company is the global HR consulting firm which is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. This is their First ever job fair in Myanmar which is especially for Executive and Manager Level Candidates and also for fresh graduated students who would like to know more wider career network.

ber & Synthetic Fibre, Adhesives , Fillers, Extruders & extrusion lines etc. in the Food & Beverage industry. More info at exfdp@chanchao.com.tw

Foodtech Myanmar is a 4 day event being held from 14th August to the 17th August 2015. This event showcases products like Preprocessing, Injection & blow moulding, Recycling, Semi-finished products & technical parts, Rub-

Smartphone film festival Yangon is the first ever in Myanmar. They would like to introduce an experience for those who want to be creative with their smartphone. This is a chance for your dream idea. They will be contributing to your passion. Let's see your creativity and be inspired.

Yangon Heartz Media & Business Solution - No.104(A), 4th Floor, Near San Pya Hospital, Yadanar Myintzu St, Thingangyun Tsp | 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

17TH - 18TH AUGUST Myanmar Green Energy Summit 2015 | Business Hosted by the Republic of Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (UMFCCI), the 2nd series of the Myanmar Green Energy Summit 2015 (MGES 2015) will once again brings together foreign investors from over 25 countries to gather in Yangon; get updated on the new market directions, opportunities and economic priorities of the Myanmar’s green and renewable energy sectors at the same to build potential business networks with the local industry players.

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Sule Shangri-la Hotel Yangon - 223 Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Tsp | 7:30 AM - 6:30 PM

20TH AUGUST 2015 Joint Chambers Networking Event | Social Network with members of the British Chamber, Singapore Association Myanmar, Australia Myanmar Chamber of Commerce, Australia Myanmar Business Group, Thai Business Association Myanmar, Malaysian Business Council of Myanmar, American Chamber, German Myanmar Business Chamber, French Myanmar Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Swedish Chamber of Commerce. Free Drinks and canapés will be provided by Irrawaddy Pizza Co. Irrawaddy Pizza Co - Building A5, Star City, Kyaik Khauk, Pagoda Rd, Thanlyin Tsp | 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

22ND - 23RD AUGUST Yangon 2nd Intensive Kizomba Dance Workshop | Training Following their successful 1st intensive workshop, they are delighted to do it again. Ministry of Dance Mod”JoJo” will fly all the way from Thailand to teach during this weekend. JoJo Alfonso has years of experience as a professional dance in all forms of latin dance and been conducting workshop on Kizomba dance throughout Asia. US$ 50 for two day training of Kizomba.

7th Joint Bar & Grill - Corner of 48th st & Mahabandoola St, Botahtaung Tsp | 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM

23RD AUGUST 6th Myanmar Cosplay & Otaku Festival | Activities Event tickets are available to purchase from 3.7.2015 at some of the places like Motaku Center at No.36 19th Street and Swae Matt Store - Dagon Center (1) 2nd floor. The price of the ticket in August is 5000 Ks and may subject to change. They have made the tickets waterproof to prevent from damage in

WHAT’S ON 7

rainy season.

promotions

Myanmar Info-Tech (MICT Park) - Hlaing Tsp (Next to Yandanarpon Teleport Compound) | 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM

carte" menu by Chef Daniel Polo.

This nouvelle "Carte' will last till the end of September and will be followed by a Winter "A la carte" menu created by a new French chef arriving from a Michelin starred restaurant.

29TH AUGUST FAB 31 - Club Night for Lesbians, Gays and Friends | Nightlife Catch the hottest party in town with some legendary beats. FAB has been incredibly busy lately, so go early if you want to make sure you make it in.

And if you don't want to wait for the music and the beautiful people, head to Fahrenheit on Bogyoke Street for the pre party from 8 pm.

J-One Music Bar - Bo Cho St (Near Union Business Centre), Bahan Tsp | FROM 10:00 PM

Moon Cake Festival @ Sule Shangri-La Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Mooncake Festival with Sule Shangri-La with a delectable variety of mooncake flavours from 1 August to 27 September 2015. Early bird discounts of 25% with a minimum purchase of 10 boxes within 1-15 August! For orders and reservations, please call (01) 242828 Ext. 6403, 6402, and 6401 or email restaurantreservations.ssyn@shangri-la.com.

31ST AUGUST Hamlet Performance by Shakespeare's Globe | Art & Stage To celebrate the life of the founding father of the English language, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre from London is touring William Shakespeare’s most admired play, Hamlet, to every country on Earth. The production will be will be coming to Myanmar for the first time ever. Ticket price is US$ 50 per ticket and can get one ticket free for 10 purchased. Two show times available; 15:30 and 19:30. To buy ticket: https:// goo.gl/hwsW2l Strand Hotel - 92 Strand Rd, Kyauktada Tsp (Next to the British Embassy) | FROM 3:30 PM

NEW OPENINGS ABURI SUSHI BRANCH OF 2ND FLOOR A new Japanese restaurant by the REN Group.

No(285) Bandoohla Panchan Street Upper Block, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon 11 AM - 11 PM

New Menu For L'Alchimiste Starting August L'Alchimiste will propose a totally revisited "A la

Moon Cake Festival @ Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon US$ 24.00 Net per box (4 pcs). 11 flavours of Mooncake in exquisitely designed gift box for your business partners, friends, family and loved ones. Mooncake in various tastes of Durian, Lotus, Red Bean Green Tea, Taro and Black Seasame to you favourite ranges of Baked or Snow Skin.

For Mooncake orders, delivery or more information, please call (95 1) 544500 ext 6221, 6287 (or) fb.chry@chatrium.com

POTATO BREAK OCEAN TARMWE

SNOW FACTORY (CHUPCHUP BURGER)

First fast food restaurant mainly devoted to potatoes. Get ready to be spoilt by the choices of dips and recipes for their great tasting fries and snacks!

New taste dessert cafe in Myanmar serving the dessert with snow flakes (Ice flakes). Now they also have a new menu which is a new culture of Burger.

Chupchup Burger is made with Rice.

Ground Floor (G3,4), Ocean Supercenter, Shwe Gone Daing, Tamwe Tsp, Yangon | 9 AM - 9 PM

No.25 Hledan Road, Kamaryut Township, Yangon 8 AM - 10 PM

ONYX WINETREE RESTAURANT ONYX Winetree restaurant which serves western style food, grilled dishes and old aged wines. They have improved customer service, great atmosphere and much more.

No. 12, Bogyoke Pya Tike Street, Bahan Township, Yangon 11 AM - 3 PM and 5 PM - 11 PM

For more up-to-date happenings, check out the MYANMORE Weekly Guide that comes out every Friday and can be found all over Yangon. For daily updates and complete listings go to www.myanmore.com

8 STREETS OF YANGON

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

  Photos by pt@images

23 Street rd

Bob Percival goes for a morning walk along 23rd Street, finding morning dosa, a family temple, and the perfect mont lone yay paw.

T

he rain has just finished, torrential rain falling across the city all night, swept over the Bay of Bengal, across the Delta and into the city. It brings with it a coolness that can only be appreciated this time of the year, a breathing space between the heat and the rain. With me this morning is Amy, a Burmese friend just returned from education in London. We both love street food. Her English sounds much better than my own.

23rd Street is in the heart of Chinatown and in the old colonial days was infamous for its opium dens, long gone now. At the start of our walk along the lower block, on the corner of Strand

Road there is South Indian stall serving delicious egg topped dosa, two for 300 Ks, a good start to the day. A few metres up the street on the left there is sign in Burmese that reads Temple Monastery, attached to a block of early 1920 apartments. Fascinated by this, we climb up the steep wooden stairs. On the top landing to the right is a gated doorway through which you can see a small Fujian Chinese family temple. A woman fro the opposite apartment tells us that a group of Chinese family elders visit the temple every Sunday morning to give offerings. She also tells us that here place is actually a hostel or ten young women, Yangon workers, who share the apartment for a monthly rent of 400,000

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Ks (@ US$390). There are hundreds of these cheap hostel rooms throughout the city offering cheap accommodation, the only way a person can live and work in downtown, considering the low wages in Yangon.

Further along there is a 1989 seven-story apartment block with funky designed façade, unusual for downtown. The shop at ground level sells a variety of rubber bands in different colours and thicknesses, 2000 Ks for 1lb; that is a lot of rubber bands. Nearby No. 25 is a classic three-story Chinese-style building, a rarity these days, with beautiful wooden shutter and fascia-board frontage; and across the street at No. 36 is another old apartment building with am amazing concrete facade of splendid Burmese designs. The only building I have seen like this in Yangon. At No. 51 you can buy wholesale green tea form Shan state for only 1000 Ks a halfpound., and at No. 54 there is a plethora of commercial traditional medicines for sale, digestive pills only 6000 Ks for six bottles; this medicine contains moonseed wine, citrus lemon, licorice and rock salt. That has to be good for you if it’s true. At No. 78 you will find Alice Thread, which sells an incredible range of embroidery thread, all colours, at 1,700 Ks a spool. Coming up to Mahabandoola Street, there is a beautiful and terrazzo pavement outside No. 84, and a teashop selling a variety of fresh mooncakes. Best of all, on the southern corner is a street stall selling freshly

STREETS OF YANGON 9

made monn lone yay bow (literally, ball surfaces). These delicious rice dough balls with a centre of sweet jaggery sugar, are hand-rolled the placed in boiling water, when they rise to the surface they are ready to eat with a topping of freshly

grated coconut; all this for 300 Ks per serving. Amy is delighted and tell me how it was a family trick to insert a hot chili one of the dough balls to the horror of he family member who ate, and to to the delight of those who played the joke.

Crossing Mahabandoola Road we enter the upper block. On the western street corner is a stall selling a variety of condiment with a fish and chili base; a free tasting is welcome. Further long we come across Tike Han Lone Musical shop selling a variety of acoustic guitars both local and overseas brands.

The cheapest is a Yangon model priced at 21.000 Ks. The electric guitars are priced at around US$100. Violins are also for sale. The guys running this shop are super friendly and welcoming. Continuing the musical theme, further along, there is Tower Sound Amps at No. 133, and then the Mingalarsein Recording studio at No. 143.

But now, all we can hear are the shouts and rote-learning chanting of the school children at Latha Elementary School No. 2. Memories flood back for Amy of these early years of education, a long way from the colleges and universities of London. We find ourselves at the end of the street at Anawrahta Road eating the last of our mont lone yay paw.

Again the streets of Yangon have come up with their wonderful unexpected treasures; the people, the buildings, the food and the spaces in-between, all filled with a common spirit of living together with a common understanding.

Enjoy. g

10 ART

Silent Yet

Powerful

By Mimi Wu

NCS constantly pushes past traditional art with new forms of expression to personally connect with humanity.

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

ART 11

I

t’s 11am when Nyein Chan Su (better known as NCS) and I meet. He has been working at his art studio since 7am, before moving into his managerial role at Studio Square Gallery, which he founded with four other artists in 2003.

NCS is a multidisciplinary artist, who is most creative in the mornings. Though initially trained in impressionist painting at the Yangon State School for Fine Arts in the early 1990s, he wants “to know how to do everything in art and how to present to different audiences. I want to use any medium.”

NCS is famous for his contemporary abstract expressionism and range of mediums. Make no mistake of his rather reserved disposition; NCS is daring.

Using painting, video art, sculpture, street performance, installation, and print media, he silently yet powerfully expresses how socially charged events around the world personally shake him.

Many of his works have been questioned and misunderstood by the Myanmar police and government. This includes a performance installation inspired by student demonstrators at the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

NCS’s installation involved coloured eggs surrounded by large coloured tires; for his performance, he laid on on the floor while others turned a wheel over his body.

Another of his earliest exhibits was of nudes. “This show was a little early for this new generation. My wife, sister, and my parents didn’t like the nude paintings; even the art gallery where we displayed them didn’t like it. But nowadays, there has been some change.”

Indeed, the government recently permitted NCS to showcase, in Singapore, twelve sculptures of soldiers protecting government bureaucracy in the forms of paper punches and telephones.

Though societal issues, particularly in Myanmar, inspire NCS, he insists he is “not interested in the political situation or revolution. I have feelings for people around the world. The government thinks I’m a rebel artist; I make art, but they don’t understand the art. Some of the newer generation of artists make art for political reasons. This is not true art.

The government focuses on this, but I’m not interested in that.”

Nor are true artists beholden to donors.

“If you want to make it, you make it.

Artist Nyein Chan Su

If you want to make it, you make it. You’re an artist. If you have a lot of supporters or donors, you are not free. You make a project for the donor You’re an artist. If you have a lot of supporters or donors, you are not free.

You make a project for the donor.” For this reason, he has distanced himself from galleries that focus on selling “commercial art”.

NCS is most proud of his paintings of which his Dreamscape series is one of his best-known works. Using a hard palette knife and soft paintbrush, he sweeps broad strokes of vibrant colours

across a singularly hued background.

Ever present are two brush strokes that depict two individuals, perhaps in conversation. This painting style is also utilized in his Nat series, which was inspired by his deep fascination with animist worship in Myanmar, and his Deep Dreams 2010 series, which delves into his subconscious.

NCS’s talent and avant-garde art has won his international accolades, including the 2001 Certificate of Recognition from the then ASEAN Art Awards, second prize at the Myanmar Contemporary Art Awards in 2004, and a nomination for the APB Signature Art Prize in 2011. His highly prolific work has

appeared in countless solo exhibits and group shows in Myanmar and abroad.

What of his current state of mind? “I have a plan to draw a new series of landscapes, using transparent color to look peaceful. I have a lot of confusion in my mind and a needle in my heart because of student demonstrations. My heart is very sorry about that. Now I want to draw peaceful paintings.”

You can find NCS’s work at his Studio Square Gallery; in permanent collections at the Fukuoka Asia Art Museum in Fukuoka, Japan and the Singapore Art Museum; and in private collections in Asia and Europe. g

12 SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Photos by Hong Sar

The Teashop Children

By Manny Maung

D

owntown Yangon. It’s an early, rainy, evening on a school night during monsoon season. Most people are making their way home from work, clutching umbrellas or sitting in heavy traffic, impatiently waiting for the congested roads to ease up as they finish their working day.

The headlights of cars swirl about a busy intersection, creating kaleidoscopes against the growing dark. An observer might look once and not notice the small bus parked just off the side of a main road, instead distracted by a large billboard discouraging the recruitment of child soldiers in the armed forces.

If an observ-

Tim Aye-Hardy, founder of Myanmar Mobile Education Project

er looked again, they would notice the strange placement of a parked bus near the intersection, a small stream of LED light leaking out from its open windows. Get closer and there are gleeful sounds of small children laughing as they watch cartoons and educational videos.

Tonight, it’s an instructional video on converting a used plastic bottle into a crafty little reusable cup.

Kaung Sithu’s little legs hardly touch the ground and he swings them on the bench seat as he gets more excited about the evening’s craft project. But he patiently waits his turn to retrieve a bottle and to use the scissors necessary to turn the plastic vessel into a fine work of art.

He breaks out into a grin when he notices the founder of the Myanmar Mobile Education Project, Tim Aye-Hardy, who has arrived to observe the lesson.

“Sayar! Do I get to keep the cup?”

Kaung Sithu calls out.

The rest of the children, aged between three and 15, also notice Tim’s presence. While they show a suitable degree of respect to their elder, there is also a relaxed, almost peer-like attitude towards him. It’s clear they are rather fond of him.

“Some of these kids are usually exhausted by the end of their working day,” he explains. “Some of them have been working 14 hour days and this is the one time they can be themselves and relax.”

The Myanmar Mobile Education (MyMe) Project was founded by Tim in 2013, after he had returned to Myanmar from New York and found himself dismayed by the extensive use of child labour, particularly in teashops across the country.

While no accurate or current data exists, the 2014 Census estimated about 21%, or 1.65 million children aged 1018 are working to earn a living. There is an unconfirmed number of working children are under the age of 10. It is likely most of these children will end

up in gruelling working conditions in order to support their families from meager earnings.

“Children working in teashops earn about $20-$30 a month and most of that is sent to their families who rely on them for a living,” Tim says.

Of these children and young people, many will have to drop out of school.

It’s probable that most have never received primary education.

Tim explains how the MyMe Project aims to bring that schooling to them, albeit a vocational curriculum that teaches them literacy, numeracy and some life skills rather than the curriculum taught in national schools.

“We have three converted buses that are equipped as classrooms,” Tim describes. “Since the children can’t go to school, we take the classroom to them.”

The project started initially through an online crowd-funding campaign on the website, indiegogo. Tim, and some friends he rallied together, raised more than $30,000 helping to seed fund MyMe. For Tim, Yangon has been a place he has yearned after for many years. He was born and raised in Myanmar but

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

left shortly after 1988. As a university student then, he became involved in the student uprisings of the time and fled, not being easily return home as was the case for many of his friends who were also exiles.

It wasn’t until 2011 when he could return.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE 13

says. “I’ve visited some of the villages where children’s families live. They have nothing and they rely wholly on their children to send money home.”

While poverty is a driving factor for child labour in Myanmar, there are more sinister undercurrents at play. Brokers

“These children wake up at 4am to start their day,” Tim explains. “They work 12-14 hours a day on their feet. And our project – we can’t ask to take more than a couple of hours of their time a week because that’s all the spare time they have and they are tired by the time they get to evening classes.

more practical equipment such old computers, laptops, tablets and eventually, books. He hopes to add a mobile library as an extension of the program.

“We do have tests and regular reports but mostly we want them to have a bit of their childhood back and to enjoy their time, to forget about their hardships a little.”

enterprise.

For those concerned about future interactions with child workers, Tim is firm about not boycotting or shunning an

“So much had changed. So much was still the same,” he recalls.

“Of course I wanted to come back to this place that I had fantasised about for so long and initially I had thought to come back and open a software firm but then I ran into this situation with the teashop children.”

On his return to New York, he pulled together a team of friends to research ways to help the children. For a year, they researched extensively, eventually coming across similar bus-to-classroom projects in the Philippines and India, where classrooms are brought to constructions sites, so the children of families who work there can receive an education.

Armed with a Masters degree in Computer Science and years of experience working in New York’s financial sector, Tim’s finance experience is evident when assessing how well MyMe has expanded in just over two years.

“We want to expand responsibly,” he says.

“What’s the point of growing and losing control over this when we can make such a big impact by keeping it simple.”

MyME now has about 550 students, and 30 staff including 20 teachers, drivers and administrative staff. Tim also pitches in as a teacher, teaching basic computer literacy.

The program has three levels of curriculum: Basic level for those who have had no primary education and are considered still very young; Level 1 which includes literacy, numeracy and some English to help them read the menus they are serving; and Level 2 for older students, which includes aspects such as self-awareness and hygiene.

But the core issues are pervasive, Tim says. Decades of military rule and grinding poverty are evidently forcing parents to turn their children to work.

“Education is key to alleviating poverty, but so often the parents themselves have had little to no education,” Tim

Photos by MyMe Project

often lure the families into believing the children will be treated well under gainful employment and act as go-betweens for transporting payment from the teashop owners to the families. But they also take a cut of anywhere from up to 10-12% of the paltry wages the child earns, Tim says.

“In many situations, the broker is the only way the child has contact to their family and vice-versa,” he says. “To an effect, that is indentured labour.”

All too often, and distressingly in some cases that he has come across, the brokers have been found to be poor mothers of children. Tim admits this is a factor he finds difficult to understand.

“I know that these families are desperate, but to hand them over with no knowledge of how the child will fare is something really terrible,” he confides.

“It is too normalised now to see kids working.”

He adds that while not all teashop owners are unkind, they expect the children to work hard under pitiable conditions.

Some teashops offer their own space as classrooms. The young men at Seik Than Gyar teashop in Myinigone and the Morning Glory cafe on Upper Pansodan Road are where staff are encouraged to attend night classes.

“The staff of teashops like these are bit older so the curriculum is adjusted for them. We have great support from the owners,” Tim says.

Others such as young Kaung Sithu are also benefiting from the program. The child of a betel nut salesman whose stall happens to be near where a classroom bus parks every Tuesday night, he is also able to attend the classes with his sister, free of charge.

With momentum gaining for the project, Tim says he is still seeking CSR [corporate, social responsibility] partnerships with companies and of course, more funding. Specifically, he needs

“The children don’t need to be kept away, they need exposure to normal behavior,” he advises. “Look at them when you speak to them, use your manners so they remember to use theirs, ask them how they are and what they’ve eaten today.”

By doing so, a customer can help give a more humanising experience to the child, he explains.

But Tim does express his concerns over the so-call opening up of Myanmar, and subsequently to what is happening to a widening gap in poverty.

“The transition is not really helping,” he says. “It’s creating more demand for cheap labour. The only way these teashops are surviving are by using such cheap labour so I can’t see these places, which are actually very much a fabric of Myanmar society, being able to survive for too much longer – and that’s not necessarily a good thing either.” g

For more information or to donate, visit www.mymeproject.org

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

14 DESIGN

Muditar Condominium’s

“Superstreets”

By Richie Chan

Photos by Richie Chan

T

he concept of streets in a city’s context typically associates with notions of general publicness, porosity and accessibility. Any individual or group, regardless of background or origin of departure, is entitled to use the streets – at all times and at free will – to roam about, interact and assemble with others or simply fulfil an agenda.

These streets are non-discriminative and inclusive. Streets are also hierarchical: main or primary streets support higher volumes of traffic and commerce, while side or secondary streets tend to be considerably quieter and are often for residential use. The best streets are legible and identifiable, attributed

largely to distinctive street features, and profiles and types of buildings flanking on both sides. Streets make up the city’s fabric and structure and are capable of creating locales (the concept of genius loci, or sense of place).

Yet there are streets in Yangon that challenge such notions and overturn common perceptions – as in the case of Muditar Condominium 1 (located along Baho Road, in a residential quarter in Insein Township; not to be confused with Estate 2 located elsewhere). The condominium is designed with two internal lanes that end with cul-de-sacs, lined and flanked by three monolithic

linear residential blocks (it is easy to imagine the estate layout). In general, condominiums with commercial quotas are common; condominiums that distribute the quotas by designing internal streets, or public thoroughfares (as opposed to multiple split levels within the same building footprint) are few and far between, with the exception of mega-scale developments where thoroughfares are encouraged for connectivity within the huge premises. If the city’s streets are “public-public”, streets within gated communities may be defined and demarcated as “private-public”, as they are intrinsically intended to serve exclusively for their residents.

Yet in Muditar, thresholds are observed to have been crossed; the qualities and use of street spaces have treaded along ambiguities are reterritorialization.

This article sheds some light into some serendipitous findings found in what appears to be just ordinary streets.

Understanding the characteristics of Muditar’s street blocks and streets In Muditar, the three towering 9-storey high blocks dwarf almost everything else in-between and in the foreground, unmistakably prominent and imposing.

The blocks wear a convincingly timewarped character, made by stains, deposits, moss, filth, delamination and patina on surfaces likely caused by weathering, neglect and cultural attitudes of the community. It is hard to imagine Muditar is only three years into its occupancy, according to a local taxi driver’s account on its construction. Its seemingly accelerated state of near deterioration in such a short span of time leaves on in bewilderment. But despite the scratchy surfaces, the architecture is modern in its 1920s-30s international style without any references to traditional Burmese elements, and is fundamentally conceptualized around ideas of functionality, natural lighting and cross ventilation. Vertical circulations from ground level up through lift lobbies and steep concrete stairs designed at their facades constantly throw back views onto the internal streets below, as streets look up to occasional circulatory spectacles. On every residential floor, the corridors appear ironically, often dark and gloomy, and have a tunnelling effect, that connect both ends of the block. The corridors access into standard 2-bedroom apartments. The facades are distinguishable by individual crescent-shaped metal awnings, a majority of them in cerulean blue, assigned in an orderly fashion for every window that looks out into the streets. The facades too, are dressed by similarly coloured satellite dishes (and other discernible objects) that dot and spawn sporadically in a seemingly random and haphazard manner, their round profiles echo the awnings’ language – almost like scenes of a parasitic empire of mushrooms grown (gone) wild. It is a sight to behold – as the facades are constantly dynamic and represent dominant expressions and signifiers of life.

The haphazardness on the facades continues onto the two internal streets, one clearly appearing busier than the other as its mouth faces directly the property gates into Baho Road. The streets are relatively narrow, about 8-9 m wide,

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Muditar’s driving and parking scene however unabashedly takes on a whole new level. It is a crisis, a nightmare of nightmares.

100 m long, barely enough to squeeze three cars through, have no side pavements, only flushed concrete drain slabs. The hard edges of the streets are defined by canopies and concrete steps that lead up to the shop units and steep curbs (presumably to also address flooding concerns). More often than not, the hard edges become indistinguishable by the changing streetscape and soft edges of transient street peddlers, boys playing sepak takraw, mobile furniture, shop spill-overs, delivery wagons of goods (and rubbish), and as expected – all kinds of objects imaginable that would “reserve” car parking spaces (lot markers are absent). The streets sustain a range of commercial activities – amongst others, a clinic and pharmacy, a video rental shop, a textile design and manufacturing shop, an internet and gaming centre, laundry services, cafes, a bakery, family-run restaurants, con-

venience and sundry stores, provision shops, an architect’s office, a real estate company, stationery and printing shops, fashion shops, hair and beauty services and a travel agency. The owners of the establishments and their clientele base are telling of the diverse mix of demographic groups. Besides locals, there are also other Asian and Western minority expats who are likely residents of Muditar. Not surprising, the staff of some establishments like the sales assistant in the Korean-run bakery has multi-linguistic abilities – she speaks fluent Korean and Burmese, conversant English and has begun ten months of self-taught mastering Mandarin. The atmosphere of the streets is always lively and sensational, especially during weekends, brought about animated neon-lit signboards, straying people and animals, and the scenes and sounds of transitions, transportations, conversations and commercial activities.

Street crisis: parking With peak hours (and now almost every hour of the day) come peaks of frustration for drivers trying to manoeuvre their way through public roads and streets in traffic-congested Yangon; the feelings ease upon entry into private property. Muditar’s driving and parking scene however unabashedly takes on a whole new level. It is a crisis, a nightmare of nightmares. It needs more than

DESIGN 15

just resourcefulness, stroke of luck, skill, strategy and patience with errant drivers; it needs stamina and courage.

The property gates are almost always the reception of traffic wars. In the streets, delivery trucks are given priorities; taxi drivers who know the premises are afraid to pass through the streets again – no exception sometimes even for the passenger carrying bulky items or many a grocery; drivers who are not familiar with the estate delight after finally managing to get through the streets, only to frown in dismay as the infinitely deep and far-in cul-de-sacs

come into sight (the only way out is to reverse!); the permanent resident drivers are the ones who feel exasperated the most as they desperately find a lot on the sides of the street – as time is ticking – to rest their vehicles. When faith is lost, the drivers settle for an in-between, parked behind another vehicle in the middle of the street and surrender their contact numbers (and sometimes addresses) on the dashboards. The night scene of Muditar ends with a grid-lock.

The next working day, as early as 6 am, the ‘first’ driver at the cul-de-sac end needs to head off to work, gasps in horror at the numbers he has to call.

The early birds, including shop owners who have just opened, and the 24-hour security guards, render their assistance.

The sounds of car horns would pierce through the morning silence and their echoes would amplify and extend in the street space. According to a local resident, it takes a good 30-45 minutes to exit the streets. Residents are sure of a reliable yet annoying alarm clock that never seems to stop.

“Superstreets”: of contestations and interactions.

In Muditar, the concept of a gated community and “private-public” streets will remain contested. Because the main gates are never closed, the internal streets are shared with the outside streets. They will continue to be reterritorialized and permanently part of the regional street network and flows of space. They will continue to be another shopping destination that can be accessed by anyone. The automobile will continue to overwhelm the internal streets and frequent contestations of ownership, authority and right of way will persist. Finding a parking lot will remain as challenging as it will be

16 COVER STORY

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

From growing pains to heartache Manny Maung sits down for a Sunday morning chat with the baby-faced singer, Nyan Lin Aung, on work, love and chilling out.

N

yan Lin Aung agrees to meet on an early Sunday morning at his house, but when I arrive, his Aunt tells me that he has forgotten about the interview and has slept in.

“Sorry, I had a late night,” Nyan Lin Aung apologises when he comes into the living room a few minutes later, wearing a pair of bright orange board shorts and a black T-shirt emblazoned with a sequined parrot on the front.

While he doesn’t quite look the part of glamourous heart-throb pop/rock star right at that moment, Nyan Lin Aung explains he is more of a night creature.

“I think it started off when I was younger. I was going to lots of events and parties but now it’s a way of being able to go out without attracting too much attention,” he explains.

“I still like going out but it’s just mostly hanging out at my friends’ houses rather than clubbing. I have more fun these days just chilling out with my friends.”

With 22,858 followers on Facebook, it’s easy to understand why Nyan Lin Aung, or Nge Sar as he’s known by his stage name, might like to avoid crowds.

But Nyan Lin Aung is almost unrecognisable from the images of him on posters and album covers. There is so little formality upon first meeting him that I hesitate to say anything in case it happens to be his older brother. I learn eventually that he’s an only child and Nyan Lin Aung gives a hearty, booming laugh when I explain my confusion.

“Yeah, I lost a bit of weight and I cut my hair after entering the monastery for the water festival,” he says.

The lanky long hair, dyed a platinum-blond just before he entered the monastery to mark the Buddhist new year in mid-April is gone, and he has lost his puppy fat. His upper arms, chest and legs are covered in tattoos – some-

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

COVER STORY 17

Sound engineer Salai Baw Luke (lft) and Nyan Lin Aung at PTL Studio

thing that seems slightly at odds with his wholesome looks. The short hair is more flattering and he no longer looks so boyish.

Apart from being a bit bleary-eyed with his now short hair sticking up slightly at the back of his head, my host is welcoming, cracking jokes about himself and speaking easily. He doesn’t appear arrogant or to have some of the attitude that is only excusable when possessed by young celebrity-type people.

Asked how he has managed to remain so grounded, he replies that it is simple: hard work.

Nyan Lin Aung was originally brought up in Kyeemyindaing, a traditionally working-class part of west Yangon that flanks the Yangon River. His father, a merchant seaman who still travels for a year at a time, passed on his love of music to his son, encouraging him to learn to play the guitar and sing from an early age.

But Nyan Lin Aung went through most of school believing he would be an actor.

“I could remember lines and could mimic actors,” he recalls. “Somewhere along the way, I realised I could also

remember song lyrics and my friends started writing me songs to play for fun.”

At just 17, Nyan Lin Aung got his break, being invited to play as a guest guitarist and back-up singer with the infamous rock band, Iron Cross.

Now 26, he is best known for his deep voice as he croons songs about love and heartbreak, mainly to the genre of pop-rock ballads. He says he loves the acoustic guitar, which he can take with him anywhere he goes.

“I have to be careful when I’m home or walking about on the streets,” Nyan Lin Aung says. “I’ve got a distinct voice and I can’t sing quietly. If I sing my neighbours knows I’m home, or people recognise me more easily, even from just hearing me humming a tune.”

He does have a surprisingly deep voice, even more so because of his youthful appearance.

“They don’t like me as much here in Yangon,” Nyan Lin Aung adds modestly. “I’m more popular in the regional areas and around Mandalay.”

Asked what it’s like to be young and noticed throughout his teen years to be-

coming a young adult, he admits it can be difficult at times.

“It’s really difficult when all you want is a bit of privacy and I’m very grateful for what I have, but you know what it’s like in a Burmese community, nothing is a secret!”

I got my heart really badly broken a few years ago when the girl I liked went off with my friend, so I’ve been wary for awhile.

He’s not entirely sure how he received so much attention on the social media site, but says his mother who is also his manager, helped him create an online profile.

“My mother actually created the Facebook account for me and she’s a lot more active than I am,” he says. “She’ll tag photos of me and put up status updates with me in it – I’m not really that into it.”

Nyan Lin Aung’s Facebook status also

Photos by Gerhard Jörén

shows he’s in a relationship with the model, Ladyy Lamin, who herself has almost 16,000 followers. Could something serious be on the cards?

He explains they have known each other awhile but have only been romantically involved with each other for three months.

“I swore to myself when I was younger that I wouldn’t get married, that I thought it was all nonsense,” Nyan Lin Aung says.

But that changed dramatically when he fell in love and the feeling wasn’t returned.

“I got my heart really badly broken a few years ago when the girl I liked went off with my friend, so I’ve been wary for awhile.”

For now, he says he’s content to see where it goes and take it slow.

As we wrap up the interview, almost as an afterthought, he adds: “You know, I have my meal-ticket, but this industry is really hard and it won’t last forever. Maybe I should reconsider my attitude, because I’m an only child and my parents would like to see me settled.” g

18 TRAVEL

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Trip To The South

By Marie Starr

The boat building yard in Myeik

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

TRAVEL 19

  Photo by Marie Starr

20 TRAVEL

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Win Sein Taw Ya, the world’s largest reclining Buddha hangs over the village below

S

itting on the benches at the lookout amongst some young revelers and early exercisers, Mawlamyine slowly revealed itself. The sky brightened over a sleepy town.

The chocolate Thanlwin River formed a backdrop to the smoke rising from fires cooking breakfast below. Chanting from a nearby Buddhist temple danced

in the air, with the call to prayer from mosques below, a monotonous, meditative chorus. The birds joined in.

Our trip started to the South from Hpaan, where several buses leave for Mawlamyine throughout the day (1.5 hours).

From Yangon, there are numerous overnight buses to Mawlamyine.

Monk statues at Kyauktalon Taung, on the road back from Win Sein Taw Ya reclining Buddha

Having previously visited Shampoo Island and the beautiful colonial churches, we took a shared pick up to Kyauktalon Taung (20km outside of town), home of the world’s largest reclining Buddha. The effigy truly is colossal in size and hangs over the village below in a surreal way. Inside, you can walk through a series of displays depicting the teachings of Buddha. They are life -size and graphic and the cave-like setting creates an eerie atmosphere. Continuing to the end, there are unfinished scenes and the statues gesture with incomplete limbs towards invisible others. When the lighting fades you can get a serious case of the heebie geebies.

Walking back to the main road, along the way there is the marvel a seemingly endless row of alms-collecting monk statues. Here you can catch a pick-up back to Mawlamyine.

The bus from Mawlamyine to Dawei, the next destination, leaves at 6.30pm (K11,000). Arriving in Dawei the middle of the night, we chose to take a motortaxi straight to the guesthouse in

Photos by Marie Starr

Maungmagan (K5, 500, 30mins). We zoomed under an uncompromised view of the infinite constellations towards the coast. The Coconut Guesthouse is US$15 per night during off season.

The next morning, Maungmagan beach was very relaxed. A few families splashed around in the water. Bamboo huts on the beach are served by nearby restaurants and serve cold drinks and excellent seafood. There was almost no-one else there but apparently it gets busy around holidays. A few hundred metres away to either side of the main beach there area few other people but you are likely to have the white sand and tropical blue waters all to yourself.

To the south, rolling green hills hug the curving bay, at the tip of which you can see Myawyik Pagoda. Nestled in the bay, a 40 minute walk along the beach, there is a picturesque fishing village.

Children fishing in the rock pools will come to say, ‘Mingalabah, hello!’ Rows of wooden fishing boats, with colourful flags fluttering, rest on the sand. There

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

is a beer station where you can cool down in the shade and watch, smell and listen to life in a fishing village.

We biked to Myawyik pagoda (40mins south of Maungmagan Beach) on a small island off the coast at San Maria Bay. It’s accessed by a footbridge and there are shaded places to sit and daydream, gazing out at the surrounding emerald sea.

Back on the motorbike, 50 minutes to the north of Maungmagan along some rough, sandy lanes followed by some suspiciously straight and wide roads (built as part of the controversial deepsea port project) is Nabule Beach. Park at the pagoda, drink a cold juice, feel the breeze, prance along the boulders, gather some shells.

The next day, we were able to get a lift to Dawei with Mama Gyi (Big Mama) from the guesthouse. Dawei is bustling, vibrant and has some great colonial architecture. The main thing to see in the town is Shwe Taung Zar Pagoda – a particularly blingy Buddhist temple complex. Bizarrely, you can drive through the temple on a motorbike but only if you take your shoes off. Don’t forget to try moke ka la mae, the tradi-

tional Dawei snack.

The bus to Myeik leaves at 5am and costs 8,000Ks. The road is extremely windy and narrow but with some enthralling views of jungle, mountains, rivers and streams. In Myeik, you can walk north along the seafront and watch the frantic loading and offloading of people and goods from boats coming in from the Myeik Archipelago.

Turning right off Strand Road (Kanna Lan) just before it forks, there is a fantastic teashop at the intersection with C Street. They serve very delicious bey palatha (bean paratha) and black coffee which will come as a bitter oasis in a desert of sweet 3-in-1 coffee for many travellers. We sipped, waiting for the rain to pass, mesmerized by the skill and dexterity of the teashop’s naan man rolling, stretching and slapping naan bread onto the walls of the brick oven.

Climbing the steps to Thein Taw Gyi pagoda to watch the sunset followed by dinner at the night food stalls along Strand Road is a great way to round off the day.

Presuming we had seen everything in Myeik, we were reluctant to join other travellers on a walking tour of the city the next morning. How wrong we were!

TRAVEL 21 Tamk (092 54303230, tamkaungkohtwe@gmail.com) was not only a wonderful tour guide but also our very own comedian, story teller, guitarist, singer and travel agent among other things. He barely stopped talking during the entire day and gave us interesting and personal insights into what it is to be a young person with big dreams and bigger hurdles in Myeik today. Between 6 of us it cost 15,000Ks plus Tamk’s meals for the full day.

Maungmagan beach was very relaxed. A few families splashed around in the water.

Tamk began by taking us for a delicious breakfast at Number 1 teashop followed by the busy port area and mesmerizing boat building yard. His ‘land diving’ consisted of visiting an interesting and smelly part of town where you can see all manner of caught fish, including giant manta ray, ready to be processed and sent to Yangon and China. Next, a broom factory and a lobster farm where

Boys cycle home with their catch near the fishing village south of Maungmagan Beach

you can buy your own live lobster to be cooked for you at a restaurant of your choice (or, I guess, set free). The town is home to a lot of fantastic colonial architecture, much unchanged during the last century. We were even invited by a friend of Tamk’s to go inside one particularly beautiful teak house and look around.

Granted it’s not every day Myanmar plays Thailand in the U-23 SEA Games football final, it was good to meet Tamk and a few others to watch the match and absorb the atmosphere the next day at Shwe Ya Su restaurant (Strand Road).

The great food, whiskey and stories softened the disappointment of losing the game and everyone went home happy.

Unfortunately, the ferry to Kawthaung does not operate during the rainy season and foreigners are not yet allowed to travel further south by road as planned.

However, the excellent experiences we had and the memorable characters we met on this trip proved that there is more to Southern Myanmar than the elusive Myeik Archipelago. We flew back to Yangon satisfied with a mind full of happy memories and belly full of culture. g

22 TRANSLATION

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

A STRANGE MURDER CASE

san shar - the burmese sherlock holmes Episode Four: San Lin Tun takes us into the world of famous detective San Shar in 1930s Rangoon, with his translation of Shwe U-Daung’s Htuzandhaw Luthathmu (A Strange Murder Case), an adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story, The Crooked Man.

T

he retired District Superintendent, U Tin Pe, and his wife Daw Mya Hnit, had been living peacefully in Syriam (Thanlyin). The couple had built a big fine house, kept two servants. Then one night, the usually quiet house turned into a boisterous one, like a thunderstrike in an unfavourable season. The servant, taking a lamp, climbed in the window of the locked back room of the house, and checking, found that Daw Mya Hnit was alive, but not U Tin Pe. A strange footprint was found outside, which San Shar deduces must belong to a carnivore, as it had tried to eat the pet parrot. San Shar also found out that Daw Mya Hynt had an unexpected meeting with a hunchback on the night of the murder, and that they had had a serious altercation.

The hunchback was also known to be a magician,as well as a snake charmer ...

Next day about eleven o'clock, Maung San Shar and I arrived at Than Lyin (Syriam), Maung San Shar took me into a shabby hut which was at the edge of the town. When we entered it, a hunchback man of about fifty years old was sitting on the bed, with totally grey hair so that his face seemed older than it seemed. But based on his features – distinct nose bridge, dark eyes, curl-up eyelashes and broad forehead – he must have been handsome in his youth. He saw us when we came in. With a suspicious face he asked us about the matter of coming here.

Shar: " Are you U Chit Maung? We come here asking about U Tin Pe's death."

Maung: "What's wrong with me concerning his death?"

Shar: " We come here to find out whether it is concerned with you or not. You have to clear this case, or Daw Mya Hnit will have to bear the burden of it."

Maung: "Who are you? How do you know about our story? Are you telling the truth?"

Shar: "Sure it is the truth. The police are ready to arrest Daw Mya Hnit when she

comes back to consciousness."

Maung: " Are you not a policeman?"

Shar: " No, I'm not."

Maung: " Then, what does it matter to you?"

Shar: "It is everyone's duty to accomplish the fact whether an unfair person should deserve a fair punishment."

Maung: " It is true that Ma Mya Hnit didn't kill."

Shar: " Then, you did?"

Maung: " Me, neither. I did not."

Shar: " Then, who did?"

Maung: " He died in his own way. But, in truth, I have a reason to kill him, as I have that desire. But, I didn't breach any precepts, but he saw me and died out of shock. I didn't think he was alive when he fell down. As soon as he saw me, he died instantly with startled eyes."

Shar:" Let me hear your story."

Maung: " It is like this. The deceased Ko Tin Pe and I served together as policemen over twenty years ago, he was a sergeant in the same police station in the border of Myit Kyi Nar. Then, I was a constable. That time, the sergeant's daughter called Mya Hnit, was so pretty that every policeman tried to court her. At that time I was handsome and everyone praised it. So, Ma Mya Hnit fell in love with me, but not the other SIP, sergeant and myo oat (the lowest grade judicial service officer). But, her father did not like me. He liked Ko Tin Pe. But, Ma Mya Hnit promised that she would not marry anyone but me.

During the time, one day, dacoits made a revolt in rural areas. One night Ko Tin Pe summoned me to send a dispatch to the place named Myit Kyi Nar. It was urgent. If I went there, there would be a chance of promotion for me. But, in my mind, I did not hope to get promoted.

But, I wanted to meet Ma Mya Hnit in Myit Kyi Nar. So, I agreed. Accordingly, I left around twelve p.m., but I didn't reach even a mile’s distance. I met four men who were waiting for me. They caught me and tied my hands behind

Cover of 'The Memoirs and Records of Shwe U-Daung'.

my back. Later I found out from them that U Tin Pe had made preparations to catch me, sending them a letter secretly.

Then, under their custody, I was taken across mountain after mountain to reach a far away place, and they treated me like a slave. They tortured me. I tried to escape from them three, four or five times, but failed.

Finally the dacoit revolt had been completely suppressed, to the relief of the government. But, nobody seemed to notice my vanishing. When they did notice, Ko Tin Pe made them believe I was dead. I was in the hands of these bad men for fifteen years as a slave, and luckily one day I escaped and reached Myit Kyi Nar. I didn't want to be a policeman again, and I didn't have any other education so I put myself in the the position of a disciple under a magician and followed him. I learnt about snake charming. So, I found some magic apparatus, and caught two cobras, and traveled towns and villages. My purpose was not to earn a living, but to find out where the Ma Mya Hnit couple were living.

I: "So, you learnt they got married?"

Maung: "When I got to Yangon (Rangoon), and I got news that they lived in Than Lyin (Syriam). Knowing this, I earned my living as a magician and kept a low profile. And, one night…"

Shar: "Then, Daw Mya Hnit met you.

You two talked about all the things that had happened. Daw Mya Hnit found out the bad deeds of U Tin Pe. When she reached home, she related these things to him. At that time, you were watching them from the road and entered the house. It was like that, wasn’t it?"

Maung: "Yes, that’s right. When I climbed over the window and stared at him, he was at a loss, and his eyes bulged out and he was in the manner of shouting out, but he couldn't do it and fell down. When he fell down, Ma Mya Hnit fell down onto the bench. Then, I was trying to open the door to call the servants. But, I thought they would think I killed Ko Tin Pe and I would be in trouble. I didn't put the keys down and took ‘Pu Kyw’ and aaway.

Shar: "What is ‘Pu Kywa’?"

Maung: "Pu Kywa is a mongoose which I caught in the countryside. I earn my living with it. Anything you want to know more?"

Shar: "Not right now. But, you have to be a witness for Daw Mya Hnitto say she was not guilty, when the police arrest her."

Maung: "Certainly. I'll be ready for that anytime."

But, there was no need to submit a witness for the case, because when the doctor did an autopsy on U Tin Pe's body, his death was not due to head injury but because of extreme shock. So, they did not arrest Daw Mya Hnit and the court sentenced the case as a homicide. I had an unsettled fact about the case. So, I asked Maung San Shar.

I: "Well, Daw Mya Hnit cried "Ko Bai Sat",but there was no "Ko Bai Sat" in the room. Only U Tin Pe and U Chit Maung.

Shar: "Ko Bai Sat was the very terrible bad man in the Myanmar King's days.

She compared it to her husband to hurt his feelings. And, what's next?"

I: "Next, I finally understand." ….. THE END.

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS 23

Wet Market Mayhems

By Chit Chan Cho

I

n this age of air-conditioned markets and ingrained notions of milk originating from cartons on counters, the Myanmar wet markets would prove a mild challenge for the carton-accustomed. By no means obsolete, these markets can be found in every township and are most robustly thriving from the patronage of everyone and anyone. It is where the freshest ingredients are to be got, latest gossips are to be had and all the intrigues of the world laid open-quite literally-for the public to prod and pry.

These wet markets are usually endowed with a compound and sheltered structures but the sprawl of hawkers outside, often as not, quite conceal the market itself. The operating hours are between an ungodly 5.00am and slovenly 10.00am. However they ‘kware’, directly translating to mean ‘breaking’ or ‘shattering’, by around 9.00am. Which portends that nothing good is to be had by that villainously late hour. (Fret not, there are night markets for the tardies.)

When open, the markets, including the sprawl seen in its full glory, will congeal one in mid-stride. A cacophony of riotous colours and shapes would greet one from the trays laid out at sole-level amidst the mass gathering of the wideawakes. Vegetables ranging from the mundane to the queer are fanned around their cross-legged proprietors intent on catching the eye of any passer-by. On less colourful trays, fishes with funny names writhe just enough to rile up some or someone’s appetite.

Everything is demand on attention but the lustre loses slight appeal upon entering the sheltered structures where the meat and poultry stands are mostly situated. The occupants of this territory are raised on a pedestal and their wares, dead or alive, enliven the air with their tang and texture. The fragrance of a wet market, no doubt, requires no fur-

ther need for account, just as the scent of a hospital or a rubbish dump or your hoarding grandmother’s house. In here, the on-goings cannot register on one’s mind instantaneously, due to a possible sensory overload and the niggling notion of a macabre Richard Scarry’s world crowding one’s head. Against the backdrop of a black goo-coated ground and the genial presence of four-legged best friends of men, the flashes of longtailed critters seemed almost befitting.

Dazzled, befuddled or otherwise, one must be game to bargain and anyone foggy on maths and metrics should become snug with the concept of receiving less by paying more.

The stars of the wet markets, indisputably, are the vendors. These vibrant gents and ladies are famed, and make up the stuffing of many an urban legend. The general perceived notion of their persona includes marked volubility, volatility and an inclination to be rather reactionary. They are maths whizzes in their own rights and kings of their castles (or vegetables). Anyone wishing to contest on their terrain must contend with a vehement onslaught of shouts and waving of cleavers. Not forgetting the aiding and abetting from the neighbouring royalties. Many contesters, however, belatedly realise that the sight of

cleavers or the promise of publicity did wonder to their sangfroid and desist.

Therefore, most heated tiffs are just smoke with no fire, gone with the wind, with little notice.

Such is a one in which a customer (a dry goods royalty herself) was purchasing some powder of sorts from a neighbouring Spice Lady. Nothing out of the ordinary in that, except when she released a shout like a paper bag bursting, and continued screeching like a fiend from hell. There surely was a disagreement. The cause cannot be quite deciphered as the squabble fast degenerated into an exchange of personalities and innuendos. The Spice Lady, evidently less attuned to shouting, ceased responding and simply glared with the intensity of an unhinged Pterodactyl.

The gist to be had was as follows: Dry-goods monarch. Spice-sifter. Former buying a pinch from latter. Supposed payment of a paltry sum. Spice bird denied knowledge of any such payment. Dry-goods then cried blue murder and something about the civility of notification if one was bent on fleecing another.

At this point in the proceedings, the dry-goods lady started rallying any human life in the vicinity for support.

She asserted her concern for moral decay

rather than naked cash and it roused the Spice-dino to retaliate with un mot juste. There was little neighbourly help in this bout as they were possibly bound by the diplomatic code of not interfering in wars between allies. Thus the fight fizzled before reaching saturation point. A lady of some authority diluted the lukewarm ending further by reproaching both about the preservation of peace.

Quarrels do break out ever and anon but life in the wet market, although not lacking in society, is somewhat repetitive.

“It is rather slow here but I don’t have much to complain about. I have all my friends here. All spinsters like me,” twinkled the careworn little banana lady. It is indeed true that the majority of the customers are female. However, the vendors’ daily 4.00am pilgrimages to the wholesalers would indisputably put a damper on even the bounciest of romantic spirits. What with the tiring physical nature of their work, the biased reputation and the difficulty of appearing to an advantage amidst the blood and goo, all the odds are seemingly against love.

Customers are another reason for love not being in the forefront of their minds.

They would come pumped up like old martyrs ready to wring miracles out of them and demand to try, test and taste whatever was on offer barehanded. Unflattering feedbacks of the test products would then be objectively proffered before their rightful claims to discounts.

It is with little wonder that the sellers were of a ‘You bite my cheek, I bite your ear’ mental attitude. If they are to be on guard at any one time, there must surely be some reward for their vigilance. And reward they do. When customers ask the customary did-you-give-me-thebest-of-the-best, they would bestow upon them a smile and the time-honoured reply. g

24 FASHION

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

The Tadashi Shoji Collection

By Mimi Wu

Tadashi Shoji’s bohemian embroidery, softly sculptured geometric leatherette, and grand gold and black lace gowns with dramatic capes, capture the attention of women worldwide “My muse is the everyday woman.” – Tadashi Shoji

W

hy do women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities love Tadashi Shoji’s work? He understands how to flatter them.

Tadashi is one of few designers who caters to women of all sizes. Not only does he cut dresses up to size 24 – ‘Queen size’ – rather than stopping at the typical size 10 or 12, he also ensures that regardless of size, his design is becoming on all.

Utilising techniques, such as ruching, draping, and shutter pleats, he accentuates the femininity of women without being overtly sexual. A subtle chain mesh at the waist and down the breastbone for glimpses of skin; a three-quarter sleeve and high neckline offsets a keyhole opening at the collar; conically pointed breast cups in leatherette are tempered with softly pleated chiffon.

Though Tadashi Shoji, and his eponymous label. may not be familiar, his 30 years of design have shown up on countless red carpets, garnering loyal A-list celebrities, such as slender Kate Beckinsale, voluptuous Octavia Spencer, and even First Lady Michelle Obama.

The Designs Tadashi believes that every woman “deserves to feel confident, comfortable, and gorgeous.” His designs are first and foremost built for movement and comfort, but this is no Easy Spirit: comfortable but fashion-challenged.

Tadashi specialises in ornate, glamorous eveningwear that often features lace and intricate embroidery in basic blacks, blues, and whites and the occasional standout gold.

This vision and his extensive use of lace is why the Tadashi Shoji collection has done particularly well in Myanmar.

Currently being showcased at The Avenue store (near the intersection of Kabaraye Pagoda Road and Nat Mauk Road) are designs from the Spring/ Summer 2015 and Pre-Fall 2015 collection.

The Spring/Summer 2015 inspiration: the reflection of Ca’ d’Oro, the famous golden palace in Venice, in the waters of the Grand Canal.

A gown with a dramatic floor-length cape radiates that warmth in gold lace.

In another, gold brocade is fitted with a three-quarter sleeve and V-neck over a simple black skirt. Lace appears again in several frocks, though it is embroidery that stands out. In particular, a fulllength cobalt blue, brocade-embroidered dress over nude fabric; romantic, like Venice itself.

Apart from lace, many of Tadashi’s gowns also use sequins, whether all over in a matte blue sleeved piece with strips of black lace or decorating a wine colored gown with its floral pattern.

Expect an edgier Tadashi in his Pre-Fall 2015 collection. Inspired by airplanes, the designer trades lace for laser cut leatherette and neoprene, embroidery and sequins for machine-influenced matte metallic studs and gems. Mechanical elements call for metallic colors in predominantly gunmetal and black.

Tadashi also opts primarily for elegant long sleeves and capped sleeves.

Available at the store is a sleeveless black gown accented with shimmering sequins embroidered like rivets, a bolt-like part that fastens together metal frames and buildings. Tadashi also experiments with leatherette cut into geometric shapes and mounted on stretch mesh. It is futuristic and pleasantlt unexpected. The A-line version of the sleeveless moto jacketwould would certainly work well for an evening out on the town.

Peruse the catalogue for more looks, which one can order directly with The Avenue. My favorite was the rib jersey overlaid with laser cut neoprene and embellished with gear-motif hardware that line the gown’s inner silhouette.

The laser cut leatherette cap sleeve gown with a neoprene slit skirt is polished and chic.

If scuba diving is an interest, check out two dresses made with what feels like wetsuit material, in black with blue ac-

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

cents. The first a body-con that would do well in a club but has a workplace look to it, the second a gown.

Tadashi’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collection is coming soon to The Avenue.

Again, the theme is flight, but rather than mechanical flight, there is an avian feel in fluffy, jewel-toned tulle and feathered skirts, while tiered faux fur jackets and dresses move with each step. A standout is the block-set, hand-embroidered capes and dresses.

The Designer Tadashi Shoji is the founder and chief designer of his eponymous label, Tadashi Shoji, which began in 1982 and is now carried in over 700 major department and specialty stores worldwide.

Tadashi was born and raised in Sendai, Japan. As a boy, he had a talent for painting and drawing that later led him to Tokyo, where he studied fine art. As an apprentice under contemporary artist Jiro Takamatsu, Tadashi became fascinated with the style and how New York City influenced the scene.

Inspired, Tadashi moved to the US in 1973; not to New York but Los Angeles, California, where he furthered his art studies at the Lost Angeles Trade Technical School. Here, he discovered fashion design, which sparked a newfound passion and set the stage for his career. Tadashi graduated with a degree in Fashion Design, but while still at school, Tadashi apprenticed with famed costume designer Bill Whitten, whose original designs were coveted widely by musicians, such as Elton John, The Jacksons, and Neil Diamond.

Tadashi made his runway debut with the Tadashi Shoji Runway collection in Fall 2007 at New York Fashion Week.

The Avenue first introducd the Tadashi Shoji brand into Myanmar in the Summer of 2015.

The Tadashi Shoji collection at The Avenue ranges from 495,000 Ks to 985,000 Ks. Try on an evening gown or cocktail dress for your next party, and pre-order your Autumn/Winter 2015 selection now. There is a complimentary alteration service.  g

The Avenue No. 18A, Kohmin Kohchin Road, Bahan Township, Yangon.

Ph: 01-860-3337 or 01-545-929

FASHION 25

26 EDGE

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

The Galaxy S6 edge:

A Beauty that Incorporates Essence and Purpose

T

he rain in Yangon has really set in now, and the monsoon season leaves us plenty of reasons to spend time on our phone, cancelling or rearranging meetings and dinner dates. Samsung has just released design details of their new Galaxy S6 edge smartphone that is now available in Myanmar. Calls to your friends and clients might be a little bit easier and more enjoyable.

The brief for the Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Communications Division Design Team was for the phone to have “ a beauty that incorporates essence and purpose.” They were to begin at zero, to return to the beginning and focus on the basics.

By focusing on core design principles, the first step for the design team was to incorporating organic materials to deliver authenticity. After much consideration, glass became the obvious choice. Glass has depth even at its thin-

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

nest, so it was a perfect solution as a key component of its design. The Galaxy S6 edge uses 2.5D glass. 2.5D glass creates a water-like appearance with its rounded edges and flat surface, which Samsung has used since Galaxy S3.

The sleek metal and glass design is at the core of the Galaxy S6 edge’s beauty.

The refined sides were created with an elaborate cutting process, creating lines that resemble a metal bowl overflowing with water. The design enables a comfortable grip, while providing convenient access to the side keys.

Here are a few questions that were put to the Design Team: Q: How did the front glass change from previous models? Were there any challenges toproduce the new glass structure?

EDGE 27

A: The back glass consists of a color pattern that delivers the depth of reflected light and allows to realise the various colors. If you inspect the glass closely, it looks diamond-cut due to the way it captures and reflects light. If you magnify the structural layer, you can see thousands of layers emitting light. Through the reflection of light from different angles, diverse and enchanting colors are created to deliver a mystical feel.

Q: How is Galaxy S6’s edge screen different from Galaxy Note edge?

A: The concept for the edge screen of Note Edge was more of an extra screen that is attached to the main display. Galaxy S6 edge on the other hand is a design aspect that pro-

vides a 3D effect with both sides curved. It appears to feature one display and the device’s grip has also been improved.

Q: What is the core philosophy of Samsung’s design that is in every

product?

A: ‘Innovation’ is the keyword that captures the immutable philosophy of our design. We focus on Innovation in all of our design. g

28 HEALTH

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

A House for Yogis Mimi Wu sits down with multi-talented Jojo Yang to talk about her yoga studio Yangon Yoga House, her long-term plan to expand Myanmar’s health and wellness market, and what exactly Vinyasa Flow yoga is.

J

ojo Yang, founder of Yangon Yoga House, sits upright on the couch in lotus position – legs crossed over each with feet resting on her thighs – while I half-slouch, cross-legged and lean against the couch back.

“I started yoga because when I was a management consultant in New York City, you have this four days on, one day off tarvel schedule,” which made it difficult to stick to an exercise regime. But “you can do yoga anywhere.

It’s one of those exercises where I can sneak in sun salutations for fifteen minutes, even when I'm pressed for time, and still get the benefits.”

As a longtime yoga practitioner, she’s extremely slender, but she makes it clear that “yoga is about holistic wellness. Yoga is not about losing weight necessarily; it’s about feeling good in your body. Especially when you’re traveling, when you’re sitting in conference rooms, taxis, you never feel like you’re expanding your body. It feels really good getting into these postures.”

When she and her partner felt it was time to move somewhere new – and for Jojo, she realised that included getting out of the corporate world, “a soulless thing” – they considered Vietnam and Taiwan before settling on Yangon less than one year ago.

Though both she and her partner landed in Yangon with “absolutely no job prospects”, Jojo quickly found full-time consulting work and began teaching yoga on the side.

“Right before I came here, I got my yoga teacher training certificate. I’ve been taking yoga for 10 years, and I wanted to deepen my practice. It is a 200 hour course, and I just never had the opportunity to do it before. You know, the best thing to do for yourself is to jump right in and teach. I didn’t come here with the intention of setting up a studio, but it was perfect; I started by teaching to small groups of four to five people in a friend's apartment.”

Jojo teaches Vinyasa Flow, which is a series of poses synchronised to the

breath. Inspired by Ashtanga Yoga, this style takes Ashtanga postures but allows practitioners to change the routine without being bound to a philosophy or rulebook. The beauty of Vinyasa Flow is its almost dance-like quality; the classic sun salutation, for example, flows smoothly from plank to chaturanga to upward facing dog to complete a sequence. By inhaling and exhaling

through movement, there is a rush of energy, clarity of the mind, and expansion of the body.

“I pull my inspiration from Pilates and calisthenics,” said Jojo, who incorporates push-ups and core work into her practice.

“Yoga is about building strength, flexibility and balance in your body. Some teachers think if you’re doing the moves

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

with students, you’re amateur. ut I want to be right there with you, especially the more challenging poses.”

That mentality towards Jojo’s teaching style is the reason why so many of locals have become regular attendees, and it is little surprise that demand for her classes shot up quickly. “In a couple of months, we had completely filled out the space, so I started looking at other spaces. I was teaching on a rooftop in Tamwe; I was bouncing around. So I thought, ‘now it’s time to open a studio.’”

Jojo needed a place within walking distance from her house that was also, conveniently, nearby the majority of her students’ residences. “I wanted some place that was 100% my own that wouldn'y disrupt others.”

It was a random taxi driver that eventually found her a suitable space, but “it was a long process to get it to where it is now. We found this single storey house, but because it’s a stand alone home, it comes with a host of problems: tons of leaks, loads of structural problems.

The plumbing, electricity, and water weren’t working. We blew our budget by 100% renovating the place.”

Despite the logistical setbacks, Jojo is dedicated to her students, teaching daily at the Yangon Yoga House and often taking on additional private classes throughout the day for up to classes in one day.

What sets the studio apart from others is that, first and foremost, Yangon Yoga House is a centre that thoughtfully has been built with a padded floor, showers, and kitchen and provides yoga mats and other props. The business also uses a simple but professional website that allows advanced booking, a feature markedly absent from Yangon’s sprawling yoga market. The major draw, however, is being a one-stop location to explore yoga techniques taught by several different instructors, who are diverse in their styles and pose sequencing. Pilates and barre classes are also offered.

“There are quite a few yoga teachers around Yangon, but they’re all teaching in random spaces, like L’Opera and Governor’s. What was so important for my personal yoga

HEALTH 29

practice was learning with a bunch of different teachers,” she said.

“I’ve definitely had people come to my yoga class just once and never again, and I just want to say to them: I’m not offended, you don’t have to like my style, but there’s definitely a style for you, so don’t give up on yoga.”

However, Jojo has been already confronted with the reality that “yogis in general are a bit of a nomadic group. Pair that with people in Yangon being so transient. We’ve only been open for two months but have gone through three teachers.”

Jojo plans to buck that trend; the plan is to stay in Yangon indefinitely with a long-term goal of the studio being self-sustainable with reliable teachers.

“The next step for the studio is to incorporate healthy eating [into the studio]: Kombucha, quinoa…” For a short time, her partner and she experimented with protein balls and smoothies sprinkled with chia seeds. “Once you’ve taken yoga and been healthy, you’re inspired to eat healthy as well. And I think certainly being in Yangon with the lack of healthy food options, I’ve been a lot more aware for the need for it.”

Eventually, Jojo plans to develop Myanmar’s health and wellness tourism. “Myanmar has so many of the same qualities as places like Bali and Thailand where wellness and yoga centres are thriving. There are beautiful mountains and secluded beaches, and there’s a huge opportunity here to have a sanctuary of holistic wellness.”

Though some may be wary about starting yoga – perhaps you think you must come in with a dancer’s grace and flexibility and a gymnast’s strength – Jojo herself only practiced yoga casually for years.

It was a love-hate relationship, one that she quickly dropped when she went back home to NYC after a week at client sites but still reaped the benefits from. Ultimately, yoga is about feeling good and energized within your body.

“No matter how shit of a day I’ve had, I get on the mat and everything else dissolves. It’s me, the mat, and the people practicing around me.” g

30 BISTRONOMY

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Tin Tin Yangon

Great Mexican Food Pops Up

By Bob Percival WHAT IT IS Tin Tin Yangon is a pop-up Mexican restaurant and tequila bar situated in the heart of Bogalazay Street, just down from the old Secretariat building. Established by the same people that have brought you Parami Pizza, Gekko, and Union Bar, this is an add-on eatery to an expansive new kitchen that 57Below will use for their catering business. It’s also a chance for Chef Myo to have his dream kitchen and add to a menu initially designed by Mexican chef, Jorge Bernal. It serves as a place to experiment and perfect a quality Myanmar international cuisine using local ingredients.

ATMOSPHERE The atmosphere at Tin Tin is relaxed and very social, with great latin music playing, low lighting and a very busy kitchen always present in the background.

Downstairs, you feel as though you are almost in there with the cooks, which is a great sensation for lovers of food.

The interior design is unique, in that the walls are lined with recycled timber, which, combined with the timber floors and tables, makes for a natural and comfortable ambience. The sound of patrons enjoying themselves is muted, not harsh and crashing off brick and concrete, as in so many of Yangon’s eateries. The interior is modern and stylish, with an impressive brass chainmail curtain through the restaurant area, like dining in an architect’s home, (I am guessing). The music really makes the place, with a mix of great Latin American and French-Algerian.

RECOMMENDATIONS The first dish we had was also the highlight of the night, the Nachos ($8). It is a stand out dish from the Chef Myo. With magnificent re-fried beans, and fresh jalapeno and sour cream, and picade gello, and just the right amount of cheese it was perfect. The Cerdo E Chile Verde ($7) promised a lot, with slow-cooked pork and salsa wrapped in

The only criticism is the poor quality of the taco chips, which were over greasy and unappetising (the very talented Chef Myo assured me he was working on it, as imported chips are not an option).

Other highlights, apart from the Nachos were the small soft tacos, delivered in sets of three on a simple black serving dish. These were the Taco Chile ($6) (handmade charrizo, grilled chicken and sour cream) and the Taco Al Pastor ($5) (spicy corn, salsa de pina, guacamole and black beans. Highly recommended. The tequila cocktails are great to wall glass frontage gives a great feeling of being directly on the street, and it’s a fair exchange, with local residents able to peer in, and café patrons equally free to survey those passing by. It gives a feeling of rare intimacy with the streetscape. Situated in 20th Street, you are in the heart of downtown Chinatown.

Something you can really enjoy as you walk the street. Inside, the atmosphere is low light, with wood and red brick.

DJmix sounds play in the background.

Diners can sit at tables or high benches to eat and there is a good bar to prop yourself on. Shisha is also available.

BIIO

in the heart of chinatown

By Bob Percival WHAT IT IS BIIO is a Cafe & Bar set in the heart of downtown Chinatown. Open for six months, and established by two young local Burmese guys, it focuses on quality food and cocktails at reasonable prices. It’s a place where both Burmese and foreigners come together to enjoy a upmarket downtown experience

tortilla topped with sauce, and delivered accordingly.

without exorbitant prices. The design is modern Singaporean. On crowded night the chairs are stripped away and people stand to eat and drink at the bar and bench tops.

ATMOSPHERE The atmosphere at BIIO is ruled by its modern architectural design – a ceiling

RECOMMENDATIONS The restaurant offers a go small but varied ranges of predominantly Western dishes, ranging from Pan Seared Bass and Fish & Chips to Bacon Wrap Prawns, Pork Ribs and Shish-KaBab. We tried the Chicken Milanese (9,000Ks), a generous helping of tender crumbed chicken with a side dish of fries and salad, filling and satisfying.

The standout dish though was the Fajitas Beef, a very tasty dish of strips of Australian beef marinated in olive oil, lime juice, and cumin, wrapped in a thin tortilla and combined with grilled

here, especially the Green Agave ($7) and the Gilda ($7). The Flan Napolitano ($4) is also recommended.

FINAL THOUGHTS Tin Tin is the perfect place to take friends and have a really enjoyable dining experience, with great food, good music and excellent service. It’s also an excellent opportunity to explore Bogalazay Street and the Lower East Downtown. Enjoy the food and the streets of downtown Yangon.

116-118 Bogalazay Street (between Merchant Street & Mahabandoola Road, Yangon Tel: 01 559 548 Opening Hours: 11 AM - 11 PM capsicum. The chef, Arkar Naing, has previously worked in the kitchen of Elcerdo and his experience there with Mexican cuisine is evident in the excellent cooking. Quasadillas are now on offer. The Bar has an extensive range of cocktails at very reasonable prices (3,800Ks), which makes the place a great option to come and drink after a foray into 19th Street. The Amaretto Sour, a mix of brandy, amaretto, fresh lime and sugar was one of the best cocktails I’ve had in Yangon.

FINAL THOUGHTS BIIO is a great place to experience the unique atmosphere s of downtown Chinatown, complete with quality dining.

The Mexican inspired food on the special menu is definitely the way to go.

The cocktails are a highlight, both for their unique taste and excellent value. Servings are hearty, and the service from local staff is very relaxed and friendly. (Drinks: 3,800-4,500Ks / Food: 5,000-15,000Ks).

No. 98, 20 Street (Upper Block), Chinatown, Latha Tsp, Yangon Tel: 95 9 515 8797 Opening Hours: 11 AM – 11 PM

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

BISTRONOMY 31

DANUPHYU DAW SAW YEE U Chit Maung Branch

By Win Lei Lei Tun WHAT IT IS Ask any local where you can get the best Burmese food in town and they will tell you Danuphyu Daw Saw Yee is the place to go. Though this branch has only been around since 2007, Danuphyu Daw Saw Yee has satiated the palates of locals and visitors alike for over fifty years.

ATMOSPHERE The place tends to get noisy during peak hours, but the casual atmosphere allows for a fun dining experience where patrons can share a laugh or engage in some good conversation. Though the place is often busy, the level of service never falters. The waiters are attentive and will make sure you have everything you need.

RECOMMENDATIONS The curries come with rice, Danuphyu Daw Saw Yee’s signature soup, and a side of crudités. Two dishes stood out. The first was sat thar hnut (3,800 Kyats), which was a lovely venison curry. The meat was tender, and the curry sauce was flavorful – perfect to pour over your rice. The second, ngaku sin

kaw (2,300 Kyats), was stir-fried minced catfish. This unique dish is cooked with noni leaves, which are believed to lower high blood pressure and reduce cancer risk. The leaves have a slight bitter taste, but the dish was delicious overall. Be careful of fish bones though!

PRICES Salads: 800 Ks Vegetable dishes: 800 Ks Main courses: 2,300 Ks to 4,800 Ks FINAL THOUGHTS Burmese food is famous for being very oily, and the food here is no exception. Apart from that, the dishes are culinary masterpieces.

If you’ve been here often and are all too familiar with the regular menu items, ask for the daily staff special. The staff menu changes everyday, so you’ll be able to try something new!

No. S-1, U Chit Maung Housing, U Chit Maung Road, Tamwe Township, Yangon.

Tel: 01-553688, 01-553689 Opening Hours: Daily from 8 AM - 9 PM

YOUR SOURCING PARTNER FOR MYANMAR

We also provide FACTORY PRE-AUDITS, PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT & INSPECTION SERVICES

www.myanmar-garments.com | info@myanmar-garments.com +95 (0)99 75702400

32 IN FOCUS

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

Rejuvenating Myanmar Heritage What’s hot this season? Accessorizing your wardrobe with vintage Myanmar images and colorful 1950s inspired pop art How did Yangoods start?

It happened like many good things - in Mojo. A colleague showed us a collection of old postcards, and I showed them to Delphine [de Lorme] and Clara [Baik]. Delphine’s an interior designer and painter, and she has always wanted to work with Clara, who has brand experience in fashion. They saw the postcards, and it clicked. There are so many designs in Myanmar, so the creative energy of both came through to become Yangoods.

been a brand merchandiser, brand manager, and fashion designer. She knows how to control quality from the brand to the finished product.

We also focus on being affordable. A small clutch is 10,000 Ks and our biggest tote bag is 50,000 Ks. Souvenirs start at 2,000 Ks for a bracelet.

The products are female-centric. Can we expect anything for men in the near future?

The next season is focusing on men more. We do it like fashion – having seasons twice a year to keep things fresh. For men, we’re working on passport covers and – it’s not very healthy but – a cigarette box. We are working with some quality cigar makers in Myanmar to bring their brand out. And the rest is a secret!

Tell me about the design.

Delphine has worked in pop style for a while. You can see some of her painting in Singapore and in Mojo. She adapts and creates pop images from Myanmar designs. It’s a blend of colors and a collage of pictures and drawings. Super colorful, super pop.

We have two lines: the Burmese Vintage, which is a rejuvenation of Myanmar heritage, and Myanmar Pop, which is colorful.

Some of it is drawings, some are old photos from more than one century ago that we have changed because, for instance, they are not smiling or their eyes are closed. Sometimes we remove one person from the photograph or turn the head completely. We recreate a scene. There is a lot of reworking and post-production.

With all of the design parts, it took six months. Before you produce any item, you have to create a sample. So when it came out, we showed it to friends and family. Most of the answers were, ‘Can I buy it?’ And we had to say, ‘No, this is only a sample. We only have one!’

Have you run into cultural issues with your designs?

Htin Htin is more in charge of the public relations. She’s always giving precious advice about Myanmar fashion as seen by a Myanmar and Myanmar background for items, colors, or ornaments.

She gives us the local point of view.

It’s happened a few times. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t do this. Maybe replace this element with this element.’ Sometimes, we focus purely on the aesthetic without the full knowledge to understand Myanmar culture.

What products do you sell?

We have 48 different products. Our target is 200. We really want to create a lifestyle brand; we want to propose items for your everyday life, and we want both Myanmar and foreigners to experience Myanmar design in their everyday lives.

We have pillows, notebooks, some stationary, paperweights, and tablemats.

The brand started with three women, so there are a lot of bags and clutches and female items. For Clara, her focus is to have a blend between good fashion and having a very useable product. For example, our bags are waterproof with enough pockets and strong zippers. For her, the product has to be durable with good design and practicality.

Are your products produced in Myanmar?

It depends. We still cannot do everything here, but we stay on the lookout every time a new factory opens. The first focus for the company is having a high quality product at a decent price.

What we can produce here, we do. Of course, the target is to produce 100% in Myanmar. For customers and us, it’s the best way.

What sets you apart?

There aren’t many shops doing something new with souvenirs. We have an artist on the team [Delphine], and we would say we have a European touch and French art nouveau and pop influence.

Where can we find Yangoods?

We have two stores, Le Planteur and Bogyoke Market, and the rest we call them corners because we have shelves but we don’t have our sales team there. We have 2 stores and 5 corners. We will probably open in Mandalay airport in the coming month. First we focus on Yangon.

Of course, after we focus internationally. That’s really the goal, to spread Myanmar design outside of Myanmar to Europe, Japan, Korea. [Spreading Myanmar design] makes us the most happy. All of our fans on Facebook feel really proud of Myanmar design and vintages images. They are really vocal about it on social media.

Quality is the focus. Our focus is to show the bright side of Myanmar, to make Myanmar trendy and fashionable, to make young Myanmar women proud of their heritage.

Anything else you’d like to share?

The visible part of the iceberg is the souvenir shops and corner stores, but we’re doing a lot of business-to-business stuff. We created the French National Day souvenir. We created a personalised version of our paperweight, and produced 550 to 600 of them.

Clara worked with Bean Pole [one of the largest fashion brands in Korea] and has been in fashion for 20 years. She’s

For Le Planteur Restaurant, we created all the wall art. We can do corporate gifts and celebration gifts. g

34 HOROSCOPE

Myanmar

Horoscope Tetkatho Soe Moe Naing has got the degree of Science majoring in mathematics from Yangon University. At the present time, he is writing articles and prediction horoscopes in monthly magazines and weekly journals published in Myanmar. Astrologer, philosopher, traditional medicine practitioner and author Tetkatho Soe Moe Naing looks to the celestial bodies to predict what lies ahead this month focusing on love and business. You may be unfamiliar with the Myanmar zodiac so allow me to offer a brief introduction. In Myanmar astrology, star signs are determined by which day you were born on. Each sign represents its own day, cardinal (utmost importance) direction, planet (celestial body) and animal.

SUNDAY

Free And Easy Time Your future will be good. You can do what you want, when you want. You will be free, easy and comfortable. You will be pleased with your life style. You will easily familiar to your environment because of no secret and opening speaking. You will be clean and tidy. You will travel local trip. You will really want to study sport especially swimming or football.

Love – During this month, you will engage with smart lover. Engagement party will be happy, elegant and serious for your life.

Business – In business, your decision will create success or losses. You will do a serious project. You will apply latest information technology.

Lucky numbers - 1.2.7 Lucky colour - Green

MONDAY

Satisfied Time Your life will not smooth everything, but you will be satisfied. You are interested in developing skill in human relationship. You should relax listening songs or dancing. You will be glad because one of your family members gets recovery from illness.

Love –Your sweet heart will be important to you. You will date with your lover at theatre.

Business – In business, monetary problem will occur.

But it will be not a matter to you. Wisdom and experience will solve your challenging problem. Strong and will-power will conquer all problems.

Lucky numbers - 3.6.9.1 Lucky colour- Violet

TUESDAY

Mature Time You will be mature. You will realize every human matter. You will be interested in international history. Everybody will admire you because of ability of speaking power. You will help not only family members but also relatives. You will learn foreign languages. To be healthy and wealthy, you should avoid dirty. Dirty causes bacterium.

Love – You will realize life and love are always difficult. Your parents will make disapproval of your love.

Difficult love will attractive you deeply.

Business – In business, international trade will be a big success. The communication will provide to persuade customers. Many of your success will be due to enthusiasm and eager.

Lucky numbers - 1.4.9.6 Lucky colour - Light Colour

MYANMORE InDepth Magazine / August 2015

THURSDAY

Simple Time You life style will be simple. You will attend important ceremony or celebration. You will interest modern drawing. You will fulfill your family's desire and needs. You will visit and pay respect to temple or cathedral with your family and member.

Love –Love is happy felling to you. You will hear blessing and good wishes for your love. Everybody will admire your real lover story.

Business – During this month, you will start new product, new project. You will get excellent success in business matter because of real qualification power and management power.

Lucky numbers -1.2.6.0 Lucky colours - Blue

FRIDAY

Excited Time You will be excited.

During this month, you will take an examination or interview. During this examination or interview, you should correct your weak point especially impatient and easily angry. You will get fancy present from a lovely friend. To be healthy and wealthy, you should avoid alcoholic drinks.

Love – During this month, you will find real love, real heart sweat. You will be happy because of pure love.

You will more love and love innocent lover.

Business – You will collect important business data from supplier and customer. And then you will make long-term investment using large amount of capital.

Lucky numbers -1.4.2.7 Lucky colour - Pink

SATURDAY WEDNESDAY

Talent Time You will show your talent. You will be honest and hardworking, so you will be proud of yourself. You will study information technology because of thirsty knowledge. To be healthy and wealthy, you should eat fresh vegetable and season fruits.

Love – You will lack to take care of heart sweet. This will affect that you will part your lover. You will be regret and remorse for love.

Business – In business, you will try again and again to produce a new product. As a result, your new product will be popular. Your customers will accept you creative idea and new product.

Lucky numbers - 3.2.5.8 Lucky colours - Yellow, Gold

Happy Time You will be happy at the idea of travelling local trip with closely friends. You will be interested in debate or public speaking contests. You will get charm (against evils) from elder persons. To be healthy and wealthy, you should smile.

Smile states you believe yourself.

Love – You will face sad, strange, angry love problem. If you can not control your feeling, and you will follow your heart, you will make a big mistake. You should forget love.

Business –Combination of imagination and practical will appear great invention. Your consumer and customer will accept your excellent idea.

Lucky number - 2.5.8.0 Lucky colour- Bright color Tetkatho Soe Moe Naing has practiced astrology and Burmese traditional medicine for 40 years.

Contact: 095012767

Organisations in Partnership with the MYANMORE Card:

MYANMORE CARD 00000001

RESTAURANT -

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50TH STREET BAR

20% off on total bill for lunch (11am to 3pm) 10% off the main course for dinner Valid everyday,1 person per card

999 SHAN NOODLE HOUSE

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10% off on total bill one free dish of Myanmar salad or seasonal fruit, when 4 people and above.

Valid everyday

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BULGOGI BROTHERS

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20% off on total bill.

Free Flow Coke, Sprite & Max Orange No room charge and no corkage fee Valid everyday.

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CHATRIUM HOTEL

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KOHAKU JAPANESE RESTAURANT

15% off on A La Carte menu Valid from Monday to Thursday, minimum 2 people.

Booking required

LOBBY LOUNGE

20% off on Hi Tea Special (3pm to 5pm) Valid everyday, up to 4 people per card.

THE EMPORIA RESTAURANT

15% off on international buffet dinner Valid everyday, up to 4 people per card, booking required.

TIGER HILL CHINESE RESTAURANT

15% off Dim Sun Lunch Valid everyday, minimum 2 people and up to 4 per card, booking required.

CORRIANDER LEAF

a free coffee or tea with breakfast, a free glass of wine or beer with lunch, and 5% off on total bill all day long.

Valid everyday, for 2 people.

EDO ZUSHI JAPANESE RESTAURANT

20% off total bill between 11 a.m and 5 p.m..

5% off total bill for dinner.

Valid everyday.

ELIQ RESTAURANT

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GEKKO

GINZA TEPPAN-YAKI @ OCEAN SHWE GONE DINE

20% off on total bill from 9 a.m to 5 p.m Valid Monday to Friday, 1 person per card

HOUSE OF SINGAPURA

10% off total bill for dinner (5 p.m onwards) Valid Monday to Friday, 1 person per card 20% off on food bill on Saturday and Sunday Valid on weekends all day long, 1 person per card

KOKINE BAR & RESTAURANT

1 free cocktail or long drink when ordering one European main dish Valid everyday. 1 person per card

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20% off total bill Valid everyday, up to 8 people per card.

L’OPERA ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND BAR

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10% off the A La Carte bill (not valid for set menu, business lunch and promotions) Valid on Sundays (lunch and dinner), for cash payment only, for up to 8 people.

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MONSOON RESTAURANT AND BAR

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10% off total bill (Mon to Fri: 10 a.m to 5 p.m) 15% off Afternoon Tea Sets (9,000ks upwards), 2pm to 5 pm Valid everyday, up to 4 people per card

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PADONMAR RESTAURANT

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1 free glass of wine or beer with lunch or dinner.

Minimum order: 2 main dishes per person. Not valid on Set Menu.

Valid everyday, 2 people per card.

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PEPERONI PIZZERIA

10% off on total bill Valid everyday, 1 person per card

LOBBY BAR

10% off food and drinks, except Happy hours Valid Monday to Friday.

SPICE BRASSERIE

10% off food and drinks Valid Monday to Friday, booking required

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SI CHUAN DOU HUA

10% off food and drinks Valid Monday to Friday, booking required

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Deals exclude promotions, set lunch/dinner and cakes and are not valid for outside catering.

DAGON LOUNGE

10% off food and drinks Valid Monday to Friday, booking required

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PORT AUTONOMY

20% off total food bill Valid everyday, 1 person per card.

PORTICO RESTAURANT @ ROSE GARDEN HOTEL

10% off daily Business lunch Valid on food items only, on weekdays, 1 person per card.

BRASSERIE

15% off total bill Valid everyday, 1 person per card, not applicable to festive promotions.

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LOBBY LOUNGE

15% off total bill Valid everyday, 1 person per card, not applicable to festive promotions.

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ORZO ITALIAN RESTAURANT

15% off total bill Valid everyday, 1 person per card, not applicable to festive promotions.

SKY BISTRO

5 % off total bill from 7 p.m onwards Valid everyday.

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PARKVIEW CAFE

5% off total bill Valid on Weekdays and public holidays, 1 person per card

TAING YIN THAR

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THAI 47

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THE MANHATTAN FISH MARKET

Free “Garlic Herb Mussels” for minimum spending of 50,000 Kyats.

Valid from Monday to Friday, for up to 4 people per card

THE PIZZA COMPANY

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TITUS INDIAN BANANA LEAF

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TOBA RESTAURANT & CAFE

30% off total bill from 12am to 5am Valid Monday to Thursday, up to 3 people per card

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UNION BAR AND GRILL

20% off total bill for lunch (11 a.m to 4 p.m) Valid everyday, up to8 people per card

VINO DI ZANOTTI

10% off total bill for dinner Valid everyday, 1 person per card.

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CLUB 5 @ PARKROYAL

10% off bottles of wine and hard liquor.

Valid Monday to Friday, not valid for loose drinks

CLUB RIZZOLI @ CHATRIUM HOTEL

20% off on total bill from 10pm onwards Valid Saturdays and Sundays, up to 6 people per card.

ICE BAR @ SEDONA HOTEL

15% off total bill (excluding cover charge and festive promotion) Valid everyday, 1 person per card

MOJO BAR

2 for 1 drinks from 2 p.m to 7 p.m, everyday 2 for 1 on all food items on Sunday, all day.

Valid for 1 person per card

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

10% off all drinks (beer and cocktails) Valid everyday,1 person per card.

10% off of total bill Valid every day, 1 person per card

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D BISTRO

15% off on all types of coffee before 12am (on weekdays only) 10% off on total bill Valid everyday, 1 person per card

EASY CAFE & RESTAURANT

10% off total bill for minimum spending of 6,000 Kyats Valid everyday from 5pm onwards, up to 6 people per card

NERVIN CAFE AND BISTRO

15% off total bill Valid from Monday to Friday, for all the people from the same table.

WTC - World Training Center

5% off Barista & Bakery classes Valid everyday, 1 person per class.

FROZEE

Buy 1 Get 1 Free (80g gelato cup/160g gelato cup) Valid Monday to Friday, 1 person per card

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SNOW FACTORY

10 % off Snow Flake Menu 10% off Coffee menus Valid everyday, 2 people per card.

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SWENSEN’S

20% off on Super Sundae on weekdays 20% off on Kids Sundae on weekends Valid for 1 person per card The deals are applicable to 3 outlets Dagon Centre 1- Myaynigone Ocean Shwe Gon DaingTamwe Junction Junction Maw Tin

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CALIFORNIA SKIN SPA

20% off on any treatment and services.

Valid everyday, up to 3 people per card, advanced booking recommended.

D SPA

15% off total bill for 1 person 20% off total bill when 2 people Valid from Monday to Thursday, from 11 a.m to 3 pm, booking recommended 10% off total bill for 1 person 15% off total bill when 2 people Valid on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, booking recommended

FIRST THAI SPA

10% off total bill for 1 person 20% off total bill for 2 people Valid from Monday to Friday, 2 people per card

INYA DAY SPA

15% off Spa treatments 10% off Thai full body massage Valid from Monday to Friday.1 person per card

PARKROYAL Fitness & Spa

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10% off spa treatments, except Happy Hours.

Valid Monday to Friday, booking required.

PHOENIX ESTHETIC BEAUTY CENTRE

10% off facial treatments for one person.

20% off facial treatments when two people Valid Wednesdays and Thursdasy from 10: 30 a.m to 6: 30 p.m, advance booking required.

REVEAL - EMINENCE HAIR REMOVAL

20% off one waxing service per bill 10% off one I2PL (SHR IPL) service per bill Valid everyday, 2 people per card, advanced booking required.

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VESTIGE MERCANTILE & RELICS

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10% off total bill.

Valid everyday at: Vestige Flagship Store, Yangon Vestige Flagship Store, Nay Pyi Taw Vestige Kiosk, Avenue 64 Hotel.

ACTIVITY

SENSE SPA

20% off all spa treatments Valid everyday,1 person per card, advanced booking recommended

HOLA Dance Club

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15 minutes Free private lesson 1 hour Free beginners group lesson Monday through Saturday (Sunday is closed), 1 person per card, advance booking required.

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SPA D’LAX

10% off for 1 person 15% off when 2 people Valid from Monday to Thursday, from 11am to 3pm.

5% discount for 1 person 10% off when 2 people Valid from Friday to Sunday, Advance Booking required.

SPA ELEMENTS

15 % off - JAMU pre- and post-natal care packages 10% off - Face, body and foot spa // Mani-Pedis // Hair // Waxing and scrub Valid on Wednesday & Monday, 1 person per card.

THAYA DAY SPA

15% off Cooking Classes Valid everyday except Tuesdays, valid for up to 4 people, 2 days advance booking required.

WTC - World Training Center

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5% off Barista & Bakery classes Valid everyday, 1 person per class.

HOTEL BUSINESS ALLIANCE HOTEL

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VINTAGE LUXURY YACHT HOTEL

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10% off all SPA treatments Valid everyday, for up to 10 people!, Advanced booking recommended.

MONSOON RESTAURANT AND BAR

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15% off Spa Services 10% off Full Thai Body Massage.

Monday to Friday, 1 person per card

15% off on any room type.

Valid everyday, 1 person per card

HOTEL 51

15% off on all room types.

Valid everyday, 1 person per card

ORCHID HOTEL

15% off on all published room rates Valid Sunday to Thursday, 1 person per card, advance booking required

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YVES ROCHER

10% off all products Valid everyday, 1 person per card

GYM

WELLBEING

VINTAGE LUXURY YACHT HOTEL 15% off food and drinks Valid everyday, for 10 people!

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BARISTA LAVAZZA

DESSERT

20% off Pasta, from Monday to Friday 20% Off Large Pizza, on the weekend Valid for 1 person per card The deals are applicable to 3 outlets Dagon Centre 1- Myaynigone Ocean Shwe Gon Daing- Tamwe Junction Junction Maw Tin

free dessert with your meal: Gulab Jamun, Kulfi and Halwa.

Valid everyday, 1 person per card.

Buy one Cocktail of the day, get one free (from 4pm to 6:30 pm) Valid everyday,1 person per card.

CAFE

10% off total food bill Valid everyday, 15 people per card.

30% off total bill, Mondays to Thursdays 15% off total bill, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 2 for 1 drinks from 7 p.m onwards, everyday.

Valid for up to 5 people, advanced booking required for weekend treatments.

VERANDA BAR @ ROSE GARDEN HOTEL

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5% off total bill Valid on Weekdays and public holidays, 1 person per card

BAR & CLUB

DUFU CHINESE RESTAURANT

15% off total bill Valid everyday, 1 person per card, not applicable to festive promotions.

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SHIKI TEI

SEDONA -

SUMMIT PARKVIEW HOTEL

LA MAISON 20

PARKROYAL

40% off total food bill between 11a.m and 6 p.m compatible with the two-for-one beer offer on Sundays.

Valid everyday, 1 person per card

20% off lunch (from 11 a.m to 4 p.m) Everyday, up to 6 people per card

25% off total bill, Monday and Tuesdays 15% off total bill, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10% off total bill, Friday to Sunday.

Valid for up to 4 people per card

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10% discount on total bill Valid everyday Advanced booking required

ESCAPE GASTRO BAR

L’ALCHIMISTE FRENCH RESTAURANT

DEALS

BALANCE FITNESS

5% off on the published rates for all package booking from Oct to April 10% off on the published rates for all package booking from May to September Valid everyday, 2 people per card, advance booking required.

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15% off 6 months or 1 year membership contract 15% off monthly package for classes ($120 for 10 classes) Discount cannot be used with other promotions Valid for Silver, Gold or Platinum memberships, 2 people per card.

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CHATRIUM HEALTH CLUB

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10% off on daily rate from Mon to Sun. Valid everyday, 2 people per card, advance booking required.

THAHARA (www.thahara.com)

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VINTAGE LUXURY YACHT HOTEL 10% on rooms Valid everyday

SERVICES HINTHA BUSINESS CENTRES

One hour free wifi + a cup of coffee once a month.

Valid everyday, once a month, 1 person per card.

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SHOPPING

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DAILY MART

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K & H TRAVELS CO.,LTD

10% off for the second guest on any mini getaway tour Valid on weekends, advance booking required.

Free delivery for total bills between 10,000 and 29,900 Kyats 5% off for total bills of 30,000 Kyats and above Valid everyday, 1 person per card

ELEGANT GEMS JEWELLERY & SOUVENIR at Culture Valley

15% off on selected items. (Excluding Pearl, Jade, Loose gems and 18 K Gold) Valid everyday, no max limit of people!

MONUMENT BOOKS

10% off any purchase superior to 50,000 ks, Valid from Monday to Friday, 1 person per card

BUY YOUR MYANMORE CARD HERE! -

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PATRICK ROBERT THE GALLERY 10% off total bill Valid Monday to Saturday, 1 person per card, Advance booking required.

SELECT BOUTIQUE THE THIRIPYITSAYA

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10% off all Jewelry Valid everyday (closed on Tuesday)

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SEVEN FRIDAY SWISS WATCHES

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Free Food voucher worth 20,000 ks to be used at House of Singapura, Pepperoni and Ya Kun Cafe.

Valid everyday, on purchase of a watch.

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MYANMORE Office 1st Floor, Annex Bld, Strand Hotel, 92 Strand Rd, Kyauktada Tsp | 01-375680 50TH STREET BAR 9/13, 50th Street, Botahtaung Township | 01-397 060 Balance Fitness (Avenue 64 Hotel) 64 (G), Kyaik Wine Pagoda Road,Yangon | 01 656 916 Monument Bookstore 150, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Township Inya Day Spa 16/2, Inya Road | 01537907 Padonmar Restaurant No.105/107, Kha-Yae-Bin Road, Dagon Township, Yangon Between Pyi Daung Su Yeik Tha (Halpin Road) and Manawhari Road/Ahlone Road.

Tel/Fax : +95 1 538895, +95 9 73029973, 73108606 Orchid Hotel 91, Anawrahta Road, Pazundaung Township, Yangon | 01-399930, 01-704740 Happy Footprints No.498, Thein Phyu Road, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township, Yangon | 01 381862

www.facebook.com/samsungmyanmar

Samsung Customer Contact Center - 01 2399 888 Mon-Sun : 8AM to 6PM (အစိုးရရု​ုံးပိတ္ရက္မ်ားအပါအ၀င္)