Myanmore Magazine - No.37/November 2019

No. 37 /November 2019 It’s free!

magazine

FATE AND THE FUTURE

SAN ZARNI BO

Q&A WITH ED BREA THE ULTIMATE GUDIE TO YANGON’S NIGHTLIFE IT’S TIME FOR THE BEACH! MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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No. 37 /November 2019

magazine Managing Director Andreas Sigurdsson

Editor

Min Ye Kyaw

Cover Photo

Gerhard Joren

Photography

JP Klovstad Khiri Travel Rasmus Steijner

Contributors

Christian Gilbert Edwin Briels Min Pyae Sone Nay Thiha Tom Sanders

Illustration

Ben Hopkins

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Interns

Kyaw Soe Han T Nang Seng Myat

Art & Production Zin Wai Lin Phyo Thu Kyaw

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Publisher

Cinema 8

MYANMORE Magazine Pyit Thiri Thaw Lychee Ventures (Myanmar) Limited Permit No. 01588

The Teashop 10

Printer

What’s On 6

Shwe Naing Ngan Press Permit No. 00296/00371

Cover Story

San Zarni Bo 12

Sales & Advertising

Feature

sales@myanmore.com 0977 900 3701 / 3702

Did you know? 16 Ultimate nightlife guide to Yangon 2019 22

Travel

It’s time for the beach! 20

Q&A

Ed Brea 24

Disclaimer Eat & Drink Nova Patisserie 26 Review 28 New Openings 29

Arts 30 Sport 31 Rangoon Rhythm 32 Tech Talk 33

About Myanmore Myanmore is a registered brand under Lychee Ventures (Myanmar) Limited providing digital and print publishing as well as creative services. Myanmore is managing the leading online city guide www.myanmore.com and printed publications Weekly Guide, EnjoyIt, KnowIt. We also work closely with the team of DRIVE, the first and only premium car magazine in Myanmar.

Recently, we have launched application Sarmal (for finding restaurant & bars in Myanmar). The mission is to provide great content and experiences for residents in Myanmar.

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No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from Myanmore. All details are deemed correct at the time of print.

The editor, employees and contributors cannot be held responsible for any errors, inaccuracies or omissions that may occur.

www.myanmore.com www.facebook.com/myanmore www.issuu.com/myanmore Follow us on Instagram and Viber.

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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What's on

Silent Disco Outdoor Cinema 22nd November

With high-quality wireless headphones, the listeners can share moments with the rest of the audience, while also experiencing individual intimate sound, controlled by you. Prices are –– Cinema Package: 50 % for entry if you already have Silent Disco Rave Ticket for 23rd Nov Saturday, get your ticket at Pansuriya and get 5% off at Pansuriya restaurant. Normal ticket price is 15,000 ks which included dinner, wine, cocktail, popcorn and cozy place. Call for booking at 09785804162.

The British School Yangon - No.68/A, Taw Win Road, Hlaing Township, Yangon | 5 pm - 6:30 pm

Don’t Let Daddy Know 2019 29th and 30th November

Don’t let daddy know is returning to The ONE Entertainment Park in Yangon on November 29th and 30th with a massive weekender. This year raver will get two days rave along with Afrojack, Nervo, Tujamo, Da Tweekaz, Nicky Romeo, Showtek, Brennan Heart and Sennox.

Backpacker Bed and Breakfast - No.40, Shwe Bon Thar Street, Pabedan Township, Yangon | 7:30 pm - 9 pm

Oktoberfest Yangon 2019

The ONE Entertainment Park - Paw San Hmwe Street, ThinganGyun Township, Yangon | 4 pm - 12 am

22nd & 23rd November

Reserve your weekend for Yangon’s biggest beer fest and German cultural event! As you can see from the new logo, this year Oktoberfest will be brought to you in the original tent style for the first time so make sure not to miss it.

Novotel Yangon Max - No.459, Pyay Road, Kamayut Township, Yangon | 5 pm - 11:59 pm

transferable skills such as creativity, curiosity, resilience, resourcefulness, collaboration and confidence. Visit the School Website to register your interest.

Yangon Zay

23rd and 24th November Sustainable concept market that features exciting foods, vendors as well as other exciting pop-ups curated especially for family fun weekends.

The Tea Factory - No.2, Kanyeiktha Street, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Mayangone Township, Yangon | 10 am - 6 pm

STEAM Open Evening 28st November

Join us at the BSY campus for an exciting evening of workshops, taster sessions, experiments and challenges for children ages 2 to 16. Learn how BSY collaborates with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to bring a new approach to learning the interdisciplinary subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). STEAM will play an invaluable part in helping your child to develop academic, social and personal success. Discover how practical, hands-on problem solving will help your child develop

Beaujolais Nouveau 2019 29th November

The Beaujolais Nouveau is a festive event mixing the French joy of life, gastronomy and tradition. In France, whole villages come together on that day to share wine, food and music, simply to have a good time with friends. It is an important day in the French calendar, which strengthens the sense of community. Rate: presale at US$ 40/person (free flow of wine and food) with an “earlybird” rate at US$ 30/person. You can buy the tickets at CCI France Myanmar office, O’Thentic, The Warehouse and Melia Yangon.

Inya Lake Hotel - No.37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Mayangone Township, Yangon | 7 pm - 11 pm

Bagan Temple Marathon 2019 23rd November

The 2019 Bagan Temple Marathon will be held on 23 November 2019 in Bagan, Myanmar. Tucked away in central Myanmar on the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy River, the ancient site of Bagan is home to more than 2,000 Buddhist temples. Three competitive distances are available at this event: full marathon, half marathon and 10km. Learn more and book at: http://bagan-templemarathon.com/registration.

Bagan Temple Marathon - Bagan, Myanmar | 6:15 am 1:15 pm

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MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Guest Bartender Joey Keen of Madame Em’s Cocktail Bar at Sarkies Bar 29th & 30th November

Experience a Campari adventure at Sarkies Bar as their welcome guest bartender, Joey Keen of Madame Em’s cocktail bar. Joey Keen will bring you a guest shift experience, curating three @CampariBartenderASIA 2019 competition cocktails, as well as two Southern-USA inspired cocktails. For over 6 years, Joey managed the popular Seven Spoons Restaurant in Bangkok, and has recently returned to Myanmar to showcase his talents. On Saturday 30th November, Joey will host a special cocktail masterclass at Sarkies Bar. For more information and reservation call 01 243377 or email sarkies@thestrandhotel.com.

vember to 30th November. It is a great chance to catch Ocean Pride Thai Seafood restaurant’s premium seafood platters. Call 09 443 993 772 not to miss the chance as Ocean Pride is waiting to serve you.

Ocean Pride Thai Seafood restaurant - No.20, Thukawaddy Street, Yankin Tsp | 11am - 4pm

Enjoy your meal, Enjoy your time You may choose to have a cup of drink with your partners in the day, or simply have a relaxing evening enjoying one of our special offers in The Heaven Bistro. But wait! There’s more good news. There will be a 10% discount for all Food & Drinks. Enjoy your meal with delicious food & friendly services, reasonable price, and relax & sophisticated surroundings with cozy vibes.

Sarkies Bar - No.92, Strand Road, Kyauktada Township, Yangon | 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

The Heaven Bistro - No.4,G/F,Room(I,J), Wingabar Road, Bahan Tsp | 11am - 10pm

Jazz Night at Sarkies Bar

The Ritz’s Special offer for Children

Every Wednesday

Every Wednesday from 7pm to 10pm at the Sarkies Bar, Jazz Band “Rainbow IV” plays sultry tunes inspired by famous musicians including Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, and Frank Sinatra.

Unwind with live Jazz music paired with $5 imported beers, $6 select cocktails and select wine by the glass. For reservations, please call (95) 1 243 377~79.

Sarkies Bar - No.92, Strand Road, Kyauktada Township, Yangon | 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Sedona presents: Yangon’s One & Only Symphony High Tea Event Every Saturday

Delight in classic sounds by the Chromatic Orchestra, an 18-piece strings orchestra as you savor exquisite selections from the delectable high tea buffet. Happening all Saturdays of November and December from 2:00 to 5:00pm for US$ 28nett at Lobby Lounge.

Sedona Hotel Yangon - No.1, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Yankin Township, Yangon | 2 pm - 5 pm

Lazy Sunset Sundays, DJ Ana Red Every Sunday

Every Sunday from 5pm to 7pm until end of April 2020. Enjoy a relaxing sunset party with free flow drinks, delicious finger food and breathtaking sunset for only US$ 25 per Person.

SEEDS Restaurant & Lounge - No.63/A, U Tun Nyein Street, Ward 10, Mayangone Township, Yangon | 5 pm - 7 pm

The Ritz Restaurant is offering Year Round no charge children’s menu for kids under 12 years of age. The kids have a choice of Pizza or Pasta including Dessert. So this is a great chance for parents to dine with your children.

The Ritz Yangon - N0.61,University Avenue Rd, Bahan Tsp | 11am - 11pm

Premium Canadian Lobster at Babett This November and December, Babett Eatery & Bar is going lobsters, presenting a special menu featuring premium Canadian Lobster. Babett’s executive Chef Christophe has prepared a special Canadian lobster menu consisting of 14 different ways to enjoy this delicacy starting from 18,000 Kyats.

Babett - No.5,Alan Pya Pagoda Road, Dagon Tsp | 7am - 11pm

The Taste of the Turkey Menu Festivities have come early to the The Strand Café this fall. Throughout the month of November, enjoy a 3 course menu that pays tribute to one of the festive period’s favourite proteins, the turkey. The turkey is popular during the months of November and December to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas in the USA and Canada. For starter, savour a special Turkey Pâté en Croûte served with pistachio, and a port wine and onion compote. Then for the main course, enjoy a Classic Turkey Stew prepared with seasonal vegetables. Finally, a sweet finish with a Deconstructed Sweet Potato and Brown Sugar Pie served with vanilla sauce. The 3 course menu is priced at just US$ 24++ per person and it is available all November 2019.

Promotions

The Strand Cafe - Strand Hotel,No.92,Strand Rd,Kyauktada Tsp | 6:30am - 10pm

Southern USA Inspiration

21st November

This November, journey to Southern USA, where senior bartenders have curated a selection of two Southern USA-inspired cocktails, the ‘Autumn & Ohio’ and ‘Royal Romance’. The Autumn & Ohio cocktail is enhanced with the flavor of popcorn, and explores the renowned American Whiskey, Bourbon, which is a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. For the perfect pairing, enjoy Creole Jalapeno Hushpuppies and Mini Muffulettas. Available until the end of November 2019. For reservations, please call (95) 1 243 377~79.

Thinking where to escape for a day or two from bustling Yangon city?

What about a good idea to travel to Bago Yoma forest where you can trek for about 2-4 hours a day and enjoy the nature resting besides forest creek and connect with nature. This trek is children friendly to give them opportunities to experience different natural elements.

They will encourage working professionals who have work stress in order to reduce their daily stress. Price is 52,000 Kyats per person and if you want to know more information please contact 09780049400, 09798000989.

Bago Yoma Day Trekking

Sarkies bar - Strand Hotel, No.92, Strand Road, Kyauktada Tsp | 6pm - 10pm Bago Yoma | 5:30 am - 7 pm

Ocean Pride’s Happy Hour Ocean Pride is now offering 30% off on all food items during the happy hour starts from 11am to 4pm. The promotion is valid within 1st NoMYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Check out more updates on myanmore.com/events.

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Cinema

Now Showing Terminator: Dark Fate Action , Adventure , Sci-Fi

Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger return in their iconic roles in Terminator: Dark Fate, directed by Tim Miller and produced by visionary filmmaker James Cameron and David Ellison. Following the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: Dark Fate also stars Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, and Diego Boneta.

Cast: Mackenzie Davis , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Linda Hamilton , Diego Boneta , Natalia Reyes , Gabriel Luna & more.

Coming Doctor Sleep Horror

Danny Torrance is a middle-aged man drifting through America in order to shed his father’s alcoholism, which passed down to him in order to forget the events of “The

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Shining”. After landing into a small Massachusetts town and with the aid of a cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep”. After meeting a young girl with the most powerful shining Danny’s ever seen, he must now face the demons of his past and the demons of the present in order to save her from a horrifying evil known as “The True Knot”.

Cast: Jacob Tremblay , Ewan McGregor , Rebecca Ferguson & more.

Ford v Ferrari

Action, Biography, Sport

Academy Award-winners Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in FORD v FERRARI, based on the remarkable true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles, who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

Cast: Jon Bernthal , Matt Damon , Christian Bale , Josh Lucas , Caitriona Balfe , Tracy Letts , Noah Jupe , Remo Girone & more.

Midway

Action, Drama, History

Midway centers on the Battle of Midway, a clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy which marked a pivotal turning point in the Pacific Theater during WWII. The film, based on the real-life events of this heroic feat, tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome the odds.

Cast: Woody Harrelson , Luke Evans , Ed Skrein , Aaron Eckhart , Dennis Quaid , Mandy Moore , Patrick Wilson , Tadanobu Asano & more.

Knives Out

Crime, Mystery, Thriller

ern-day murder mystery where everyone is a suspect. When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate.

From Harlans dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlans untimely death. With an all-star ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell, Knives Out is a witty and stylish whodunit guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the very end.

Cast: Toni Collette , Daniel Craig , Michael Shannon , Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer , Chris Evans , Ana de Armas , Lakeith Stanfield & more.

Acclaimed writer and director Rian Johnson pays tribute to mystery mastermind Agatha Christie in KNIVES OUT, a fun, mod-

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Last Christmas

Comedy, Romance

Kate harrumphs around London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, another irritating consequence from her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. Tom seems too good to be true when he walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate’s barriers. As London transforms into the most wonderful time of the year, nothing should work for these two. But sometimes, you gotta let the snow fall where it may, you gotta listen to your heart and you gotta have faith.

Cast: Emma Thompson , Emilia Clarke , Michelle Yeoh , Henry Golding & more.

Frozen II

Adventure, Animation, Fantasy

Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest of an enchanted land. They set out to find the origin of Elsa’s powers in order to save their kingdom.

Cast: Josh Gad , Idina Menzel , Jonathan Groff , Evan Rachel Wood , Kristen Bell , Sterling K. Brown & more.

Bike Man 2

Drama, Comedy

“Sakkarin” is a 25 year old guy who could not find MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

a job as his mother wishes him to be a banker. To take care and make the family happy, he has to lie by wearing the bank uniform out of the house every morning before turns to his true self and his real job as a motorbike taxi man. But, secrets don’t exist in this world when he meets his high school crush “Jai”, a real life banker, “A” Jai’s boyfriend and a bank director, and “Uncle Preecha”, an ex-cop friend of his father who always has an eye on him.

Cast: Pachara Chirathivat, Sananthachat Thanapatpisal, Jennifer Kim & more.

Charlie’s Angels

Action , Adventure , Comedy

Elizabeth Banks directs a fresh new contemporary take on the popular Charlie’s Angels franchise.

Cast: Sam Claflin , Kristen Stewart , Patrick Stewart , Djimon Hounsou , Naomi Scott , Ella Balinska , Nat Faxon & more.

Check out more updates on myanmore.com/ cinema.

Cinemas in Yangon Junction Maw Tin | 01 225 244 Junction City | 01-9253591, 01-9253592 Junction Square | 01 527 055 City Mall | 09 764802081 Mingalar Sanpya Cineplex | 09 260 887 035 — 36, 01 230 3 165 Mingalar Cineplex (Gamone Pwint) | 09 779 054 671 — 73 Mingalar Cinema 2(Dagon Centre (II) | 09 732 54 091 — 92 Mingalar Sein Gay Har | 09 402177771— 73 Mingalar Tamwe | 09 402199991, 2, 3 Nay Pyi Taw | 01 251 277, 01 251 288 Shae Saung Cinema | 01 252 113, 01 388 034 Thamada Cinema | 01 246 962, 01 246 963 Thwin | 01 372 594, 01 388 033 Mingalar | 01 243057 Mega Ace Cineplex (Tamwe)| 01 554383

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THE TEA SHOP Illustration by Ben Hopkins

Rest in peace, Hero!

Ayeyarwady wild elephants found dead, poached

A tragic incident has happened to Myanmar Railways train engine DD1214 while it was derailed on its way to Bagan and Nyaung-U in Natogyi, Mandalay on October 20, Sunday. U Kyaw Kyaw Oo, assistant driver of DD1214 passed away after being thrown from the engine when it derailed. Reports say no passengers were injured during the incident happened to the train engine with four upper carriages, two ordinary, one sleeper and one brake carriage. The passengers claimed that he tried to save them while his life was on the edge. “Necessary actions are being taken according to the laws,� a police officer at Natogyi station said. No one is being held in custody now due to the accident, but according to the reports, the investigation will be continued. People are sharing the heroic action of U Kyaw Kyaw Oo on social media and has shown their condolences to the rest of the family members.

and skinned

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On October 23, locals found the bodies of two wild elephants, both being poached and skinned in Ayeyarwady region. The remains of an old female elephant was found in Myittya forest in Ngaputaw, Pathein and the younger body was found at the village near Ngwesaung beach, reports say. Two guns and poaching equipment were found together at the crime scene, no other evidence was found yet. Local police are on the run to trace the poachers at nearby areas. The survival of elephants in Myanmar is now vital for the future of the species. According to the records, 16 elephants were killed during 2016 and 2018. The availability of the largest reserves of elephant habitat in Asia married with the greatest concentration of elephant experts on the continent represent real hope that elephants will continue to thrive here.

We need to stop this and all of us should join in this battle against poaching and killing wild animals.

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Filipino “King of Catwalk” to be debuted in Myanmar film Sinon Loresca, the gay Filipino model had a great time enjoying in Myanmar with local people. This warm-hearted person has traveled across the country since his very first arrival in July, 2019. Since his first journey, he has uploaded tons of video clips on his Facebook, one of them was a catwalk on busy Mandalay road with heels which went viral on the internet with over 1 million views. As a model in the other hand, he surely knows how to do business. Sinon has been shooting commercials for hotels, cosmetics and other lifestyle products in Myanmar. And now the “King of Catwalk” has made his very first move into Myanmar’s film industry. The cast of this upcoming film are Myint Myat, Ye Aung, Soe Myat Thuzar, Sinon Loresca, Patricia and more to be starred.

US Assistant Secretary visits Myanmar on Asia tour According to the press on October 24, 2019, US Assistant Secretary David R. Stilwell will visit Tokyo, Rangoon, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Seoul, and Beijing from October 24 to November 7. The Assistant Secretary will be in Tokyo October 25 to 27, where he will participate

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

in the annual U.S.-Japan Business/Policy Dialogue Program, also known as the Mt. Fuji Dialogue, to speak with policy professionals about some of the most pressing topics in the Indo-Pacific. From October 27 to 30, the Assistant Secretary will travel to Burma, where he will meet with representatives from the civilian government in Nay Pyi Taw, as well as individuals representing civil society organizations and ethnic communities during events in Rangoon. He will also travel to Rakhine State to meet government and community leaders, victims of violence, and humanitarian partners. This visit is his first to Burma in his capacity as Assistant Secretary.

November AGTI evening classes are now open The Ministry of Border Affairs has announced that the AGTI evening classes will open at the only main center – Insein Government Technical Institution last week. After 15 years of shutdown, the compound was renovated in 2017 and now it’s ready for the evening classes. Students can learn four main courses: Civil Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Electricity and Power Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The entrance to these classes depends on the total achieving scores of two subjects English and Mathematics on your Grade 11 record. The student fee is set at 240,000 kyats per year and those who are interested can apply the courses directly at the Insein Associate of Government Technology Institute.

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Cover Story

Photo by Gerhard Joren.

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MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

SAN ZARNI BO: FATE AND THE FUTURE Words by Tom Sanders. Photos by Gerhard Joren.

San Zarni Bo’s destiny was foretold. At the tender age of six, a traveling astrologer read his horoscope and informed him that he would become a fortune teller himself.

But this prediction didn’t make the young man happy. In fact, it annoyed him. At that time, Myanmar’s fortune tellers eked out a living in pagodas, or hawked their skills on the street, and the young San Zarni Bo found their choice of lifestyle uninspiring. Incensed and dismissive, the young man ignored the fortune teller’s words and set out on a life removed from mysticism, engrossing himself in the world of facts, laws and logic as an electrical engineering student in Yangon.

It was here that San Zarni Bo’s interest in politics first got him into trouble. He was arrested at the age of twenty, in 1974, then again two years later for his dissident political beliefs. Today, he is a card-carrying member of the National League for Democracy, the party of democratic reform and progress, despite these beliefs being heretical under the junta.

But his stint in jail was a blessing in disguise. It was there that he met U San Tin Aung, a palmist,

fortune teller and master of Burmese magic who instructed the young student in the higher path of prognostication. The syllabus included astrology, palmistry, numerology and tarot card reading - a far cry from his engineering studies. Today, San Zarni Bo still describes jail as his second University, where he learned the techniques that have made him a household name in modern day Myanmar.

San Zarni Bo makes it clear - he is no magician, and he claims no supernatural gifts. ““It is not clairvoyance. I predict by calculating the statistics,” he explains, in his distinctive voice which is heard across Myanmar, broadcast via radio to millions across the city.

With about 150,000 Facebook fans and a dedicated following, San Zarni Bo is perhaps the nation’s foremost teller of fortunes, although his skills are available to one and all. Using just a palm print with ink, and the date, time and place of birth, anyone can receive a consultation. A basic reading with three questions costs 10,000 Kyats (US $6.50), a full lifetime reading 50,000 Kyats (US $30). Foreigners can expect to pay US$ 50 - perhaps because paler palms are harder to read.

The Burmese affinity for magic and superstition runs deep. In a nation where twists of fate have had catastrophic effects over the years, and hardship and difficulty have been the norm, many Myanmar people have turned to lotteries, fortune tellers and the magical “high path” to improve their lives and those of their families. Whether its seducing a potential partner or predicting lottery numbers, there’s a legion of hedge wizards, soothsayers, monks and wizards who offer their services in the pursuit of knowledge and power through supernatural means.

Myanmar’s population continues to believe in Theravada Buddhism, suffused with animism and magic, and see no contradiction between the two. Indeed, Buddhist monks are trained in elementary mahabote, or fortune telling, in the monasteries. The two systems are seen as complementary and mutually inclusive, although some see the pragmatic effects of fortune telling as more immediately beneficial than more abstracted Buddhist concepts of karma and reincarnation.

Burmese fortune telling varies from its global relatives. The history of the zodiac system actually has its roots in the Western

world, but passed through India and eventually to Myanmar, morphing to accommodate the different cultural needs along the way.

The Burmese zodiac is unique in that it places great importance on the day of birth, rather than the month, and predictions are still mostly founded on the day of the week and time rather than lunar sign. To San Zarni Bo, all systems are connected, and the Myanmar zodiac system is internationally valid.

In the British colonial era, centuries of magical tradition were ground into the dust by imperialist troops with rifles and belt fed machine guns. In desperation, Myanmar’s rebels and warriors turned to magic and “weikza” partly-divine Buddhist saints, as well as magical tattoos meant to deflect bullets, to fight against their well-armed foes.

Although British machine gun bullets proved fatally effective against supernatural protection, the invaders eventually left, leaving a power vacuum that was filled by some of the nations more nefarious leaders. The era of the Generals was not kind to wizards and soothsayers - as the military government were deeply superstitious, they lived in fear of black magic, and viciously

Photo by Gerhard Joren.

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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Photo by Gerhard Joren. persecuted anyone who claimed supernatural power which they might use to depose them.

But the era of the Generals came to an end, and since 2011, magic has enjoyed a resurgence in Myanmar, aided by the power of Facebook, a huge cultural force in the nation today. In fact, many Burmese see the rise of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD as vindication of their magical beliefs.

“Before, during the junta, everyone lived in fear,” explained one Burmese citizen in his thirties.

“We prayed for things to get better, and placed our trust in magic and in saints. We hoped for a new time of freedom and democracy.

Now our prayers have come true.”

and financial successes.” Even if Myanmar’s youth can be bashful about their reliance on such services, a thriving cottage industry continues to promise supernatural results for believers, and online magic courses are attracting flocks of members.

“When I was young, we all read San Zarni Bo’s books” explained one Myanmar lady in her mid-twenties. “We would come into school and compare our fortunes - our future husbands

San Zarni Bo continues to ride this wave of successsuccess and renewed magical interest. Asked for his thoughts about Myanmar’s precarious future, the fortune teller signs. “The conditions will

get worse in 2020. The military government is still in charge. But from 2020 onwards, things will get much better. The military government will not take over again, but we can expect more from this government in the future. Things will get better.” He remains a great proponent of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s State Counsellor, and describes her as “a diamond… getting brighter with time.”

Today, Facebook and fate make unlikely bedfellows in a rapidly modernising Myanmar. As the country is pulled into the light of a global community, traditional beliefs and fortune tellers continue to flourish, especially in the nation’s rural heartlands. Meanwhile, high-rises and power plants seeded by Chinese investment rise against the Burmese sky, and the irrepressible forces of global capitalism turn their eyes to this rapidly developing nation.

An upcoming election season will again reshape the nation just as the NLD’s rise to power in 2015 did, and the spectre of climate change threatens to transform the country and uproot its coastal populations. These are uncertain times for SE Asia’s youngest democracy, and even for those as esteemed as San Zarni Bo, Myanmar’s future remains a mystery.

Photo by Gerhard Joren.

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MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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Feature

Burmah Oil Offices, George Street, Glasgow (Source - RCAHMS)

Former Burmah Oil Company Offices, Merchant Road, Yangon (Source - Yangon Archit

DID YOU KNOW THAT MYANMAR AND SCOTLAND HAVE A SHARED HISTORY? Words and photos by Christian Gilberti What do whisky, golf, office buildings, steamboats and drilling for oil have in common? They were all brought to Myanmar in the nineteenth-century by Scottish people.

The Scots were the premier merchant adventurers of the British empire, and they came to Myanmar in droves seeking fame, fortune and a way out of the rigid class structures of Victorian Britain.

Scottish soldiers, civil servants and entrepreneurs were instrumental in transforming British Burma from a minor outpost of the Indian empire into the economic powerhouse it would become in the early twentieth-century.

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So important was their role that Burma was sometimes referred to as “the Scottish Colony”.

Scots brought with them their habits of protestant Christianity, whisky-drinking, and golf - which arrived in Myanmar as early as 1893 with the creation of a course in what is now the People’s Park, Yangon.

They also brought football, which was introduced to the country by the Scotsman James George Scott in the 1880s.

The connections between Myanmar and Scotland go all the way back to the first Scottish trading firm to supply the teak-logging industry in Mawlamyine, D. Shaw and Co., which set up shop in 1839.

After the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-3), when lower Burma fell to the British, Scottish engineer Alexander Fraser laid out the grid pattern of streets that would make up Yangon’s colonial core, and Scottish businessmen soon comprised the majority of the Chamber of Commerce in the new city.

Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885.

When the foreign minister of the Kingdom of Upper Burma, the Kinwun Mingyi, U Kaung, made a trip to Europe in 1871, he made sure to address the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, many of whose members also sat in the Rangoon chamber.

Rangoon was now a boom-town, to which flocked a number of Scottish entrepreneurs.

The Kinwun Mingyi’s diplomacy, however, did not prevent the British from taking over the entirety of Burma following the

Ultimately, it was a dispute between the Burmese monarchy and a Scottish firm, the Bombay-Burmah Trading Corporation, that led to war and the subsequent defeat of King Thibaw’s armies.

Perhaps the most famous were the Findlay family, who established the Irrawaddy Flotilla Co., which operated the steamboats that ferried passengers and goods around Myanmar’s intricate system of rivers and water-ways.

IFC ships were manufactured

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Golf - the Scottish Game in Myanmar - Pun Hlaing Golf Club - source - goasian.com

Burmese envoys in Scotland, 1872 what they thought the Burmese might like) by including “oriental” patterns featuring dragons, pagodas and elephants.

tecture Guide) at Denny’s shipyard on the Clyde River in Glasgow and then shipped to Rangoon in pieces to be reassembled.

At the height of its power, the IFC commanded a fleet of over 600 vessels featuring a shallow-draught designed especially to navigate the tidal creeks of the Irrawaddy Delta.

Meanwhile, Burma’s natural resources - rice, oil, and teak began arriving on the docks in Scotland.

Scottish rice exporters Bulloch Bros. harvested the grain from the husk using steam engines built

by Cowie Bros. in Glasgow. Some of these machines - battered and patched - are still in use in small towns in Myanmar today.

Another major Scottish venture was the Burmah Oil Co. (later to become British Petroleum) whose advertisements by the Burmese artist U Ba Nyan featured scenes from the Rangoon docks and whose logo at one point featured a chinthe (a mythical Burmese animal somewhere between a lion and a griffin).

The 1920s were a time of im-

proved communications between Burma and the rest of the world, testified to by the fact that the Bibby and Henderson lines ran a regular steamship service between Glasgow, Liverpool and Rangoon.

Lighthouses began popping up along the coast of Myanmar that bore a suspicious resemblance to those along the Northwestern coast of Scotland (the largest of these is still standing at Alguada Reef in the Bay of Bengal).

Meanwhile, as the railways expanded throughout Burma, larger horsepower engines were required that could handle the steep gradients of the Shan plateau.

Locomotives were purpose-built

by Dunn and Co. in Glasgow and then deployed along the country’s more than 2,000 miles of track.

As the colony grew in importance, the ships that carried raw materials to Europe began returning with a variety of cheap manufactured goods aimed at the Burmese market.

Manufacturers like Bell’s Pottery in Glasgow adapted their products to suit the tastes of their wouldbe Burmese clients (or at least

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Cheap cotton cloth from Scottish mills had an even larger effect on the Burmese economy, almost totally replacing the local weaving industry by the 1930s.

It was no coincidence, then, that resistance to British (and Scottish) rule in Burma in the 1920s coalesced around a boycott of imported cloth in favor of domestic production.

By then, the twin cities of empire - Glasgow and Rangoon - had begun to resemble one another to an amazing degree.

Many of the Scottish companies operating in Burma at the time had offices in both Glasgow and Rangoon and the same architects were employed in the construction of both.

For instance, the Scottish architect John Begg (1866-1937) designed buildings in Scotland, India and Rangoon, including the Customs House on Strand Road, Central Telegraph Office on Pansodan, and Printing and Publishing Enterprise across from the Secretariat on Thein Phyu Road.

Even the door-knobs, elevators, iron posts and railings of many of Rangoon’s office buildings were made in the iron foundries of Lanarkshire.

Moreover, by the twentieth-cen-

tury, Burmese students were beginning to travel to Scotland to study in growing numbers.

The first two Burmese students to study at the University of Glasgow arrived in 1913-14 (their names were Maung Soe Minn and Maung Kyaw Htin and they studied medicine and botany, respectively).

At least one Burmese man, Dr. Ba Kin, studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1920, and there were likely many more.

The Japanese invasion and the devastation of WW2 led to the running down of Scottish businesses in Burma. But, while Scottish firms were compensated for their losses following the War, the post-war independent state of Burma was left in tatters, with much of its infrastructure destroyed.

The Scottish connection, however, lives on. Just take a walk downtown in Yangon today. You will see signs above doctor’s offices that read “M.Sc. Edinburgh”, a church called the Scots Kirk, advertisements for “Glan Master” whisky, and longyi patterns that look suspiciously like Scottish tartan.

Perhaps there’s even a Loch Ness monster lurking in the bowels of Inya Lake? The connections between Scotland and Myanmar run deep, after all.

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Sponsored

MYAN SAN TECH EXPO YANGON 2019 AT MYANMAR CULTURE VALLEY Myan San Tech Expo 2019 is an exhibition to explore and spread the technology of Myanmar such as applications and services for users, including the personal and business to the world. Backed by many tech schools and the government is here as a first time, it is named based on the Burmese language Myan San = fast/accurate, to enhance Myanmar’s tech fields.

Han Sak, Founder of My Me My Mine Entertainment, has been working as an organizer and coordinator since 2013 for events such as First Tech & Art training. Since then, he had handled many events such as expos, public funds, corporate occasions, and customer cares for big telecommunication/tech companies such as MPT and telenor.

At this exhibition, there will be open booths from many companies along with seminars, product shows, free trainings and others PR classes to survey your rational needs. Most digital technology companies can be involved to get a great opportunity for both companies and students for recruitments. There will be Banking & Payment Solutions, Schools, Electronics & ITs, Programmings, Smart Devices & Gadgets, Real-estate Services, Online and Digital Marketing, Travel & Tours, Taxi Services, Ticketing, Delivery and E-Book displays that entrepreneurs and students can participate.

Others such as agriculture technology, Eco system, and entrepreneur projects can also involve in this biggest expo that will be held at Myanmar Culture Valley from 25th to 27th December, 2019.

During this expo, guests can walk in through the booths and involved in the trainings & seminars. After that you can enjoy product auctions and buy Raffle tickets for the Grand Prize of event –– an iPhoneX. And of course, it’s Free entry.

Date: 25 - 27 December 2019 Time: 9am – 8pm Address: People Park, U Wisara Road, Bahan Township, Yangon Myan San Tech Expo is a PR event between Professional and Customers.

Culture.Com will welcome to consumers training every month. See more details on their Facebook @myansan.org.

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MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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Travel

Ngapali Beach

IT’S TIME FOR THE BEACH! People say that vitamin D is good for the body and mind and that it helps to bring you in an upbeat mood. Apparently, regular sun exposure is the most natural way to get enough vitamin D. As the dry season has started in Myanmar, it’s time to head out to the beach and get some extra vitamin D and luckily Myanmar is blessed with fantastic beaches; crystal clear water, sandy beaches and palm trees waving in the sun. Much has been written about Myeik archipelago in the south with hundreds of islands and all Yangonites know the road driving to Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha beach during the long weekends so I won’t go deeper into these options. Southern Rakhine state beaches are starting to get more attention thanks to some new hotels and lodges opened recently. The area can be reached by road through the Rakhine Yoma (mountain range) and the road along the coast; one of the most scenic drives in Myanmar.

Remote beaches & small lodges

Ox carts at Maung Shwe lay beach (Photo @JP Klovstad)

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Last year’s opening of Arakan Nature Lodge (www.arakannaturelodge. com) has set a trend that focuses on sustainability, being closer to nature, and enjoying a huge empty beach - even ideal for people who want to bring their dog along - Quickly discovered by expatriates from Yangon, the lodge offers excellent food with a set menu prepared daily and the best bread you can imagine. 10 luxury bungalows from Wah Pyu Villa (www. wahphyuvilla.com) will open this November just south of Gwa, strictly speaking not Rakhine state but Ayeyarwaddy division. Its promising spacious villas built totally from locally sourced natural materials and the pictures on their websites are showing a dream beach. The sustainable Lalay Lodge (www.lalaylodge.com) offers an opportunity to experience and connect with an unspoiled beach and the sense of community that is at the core of daily life in Maung Shwe Lay village. Spacious rooms, service with a genuine smile of young people from the village starting their career in hospitality, run on solar energy and serving a daily changing set menu of traditional Rakhine food right in the beautiful Andrews Bay. It’s soft-opening is happening towards the end of November and the lodge can be reached overland or after an enjoyable 45 minutes boat ride from Ngapali beach. Kanthayar beach has been developing a bit more over the last years and some small guesthouses and restaurants have sprung up and more is to be expected in the coming years.

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On the road to Ngapali The road to Ngapali is an interesting and scenic one. If you want to avoid the traffic in busy Hlaingthayar, you can actually cross Yangon River on a boat ferry from a jetty near Chinatown and continue from Dala to Maubin. Then connect to Nyaungdon and get a good impression of the fertile Irrawaddy delta. Continue over the beautiful mountains of the Rakhine Yoma and arrive in Gwa. A few small guesthouses have opened at Gwa beach (just behind the abandoned airstrip). A turtle conservation project has been setup just north of Gwa and amongst the endangered species is the “Rakhine Turtle”. While driving north along the Rakhine coast notice the mountain range on the right which apparently is still home to sun bears, wild elephants and a wide range of other animals. The Rakhine Coastal Region ConservationAssociation (www.facebook.com/RCA.Arakan) does fantastic work for the conservation of the area - they were the ones who assisted the BBC’s documentary about the nature in Myanmar - and has documented information about flora and fauna in Southern Rakhine state, including sea turtles and dungeons. Drive further north and you arrive at Zalun monastery, famous for the two bodies of monks who were so pure that their bodies never decomposed after their death. Half an hour further brings you to Thandwe town and from here it’s a short 30 minutes’ drive to Ngapali beach. If you’re in for some adventure it is possible to do parts of this trip on foot through remote traditional Rakhine villagers that are literally not yet on a Google map.

Ngapali Beach

Ngapali Beach

Ngapali Beach When overseas tourists ask me what Ngapali Beach is about, I often tell them: “imagine the most beautiful beach in Thailand yet without the bars, souvenirs shops and tourist infrastructure and with beautiful boutique hotels in traditional architecture built below the palm tree line offering a view right on the beach”. I think that Ngapali beach should be compulsory twice a year for any expat living in Yangon to realize how peaceful and quiet Myanmar can be. It’s less than an hour flight from Yangon, or from Heho, and has plenty of hotels to choose from and for any budget, here are some: The luxury Sandoway Resort (www.sandowayresort.com) has always been very consistent in service, food - excellent Italian chef! - and beautiful bungalows. Especially, at the beginning and the end of the season, their deluxe rooms offer excellent value for money. Their sister hotels Residence by Sandoway and The Art of Sand are very good as well. Another good hotel, especially for families with children, is the Bayview (www.bayview-myanmar.com) which is recently partly refurbished and offers tasty food for kids at the beach side restaurant. Also the refurbished Amata Resort (www.amataresort.com) with a big pool MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

facing the ocean offers a good value for money and is a popular choice for expats. Last year the Lake View Lodge (www.ngapalilakeviewlodge. com) opened in Ngapali. It is just a short walk from the beach and has fantastic views over a nearby lake and the sea in the distance. Another very special place to stay and worth mentioning here is the always charming Yoma Cherry Hotel (www.yomacherrylodge.com) a small boutique hotel in a hidden bay with super friendly staff that continuously supports people and planet in the region.

Start planning your trip, it’s time for some vitamin D and at the same time support beautiful and peaceful Southern Rakhine state. The New Year’s period tends to be very early fully booked but no worries, hotels stay open for the season till at least 15 May (while some are open all year round). Make sure you don’t forget to give yourself enough beach time in the coming months.

Edwin Briels is MD of Khiri Travel Myanmar and has been working for over 15 years in travel in Myanmar and will share his experiences travelling in Myanmar in a monthly column.

Khiri Travel ,01 375 577,edwin@khiri.com,khiri.com

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Feature

THE ULTIMATE GUDIE TO YANGON’S NIGHTLIFE

At any day of the week, when the sun goes down, most of Yangonites leave their works and grab some drinks with their co-workers or friends at different areas of the city. In Yangon, there’re a lot of places to get a drink, or more. The buzzing nightlife of this city is a messy experience. So if you already knew Yangon, this guide is not for you. From award winning cocktail bars to gaudy nightclubs, here is Myanmore’s ultimate guide to Yangon’s urban nightlife.

Getting a drink! (or a few) Blind Tiger Follow the tiger paw prints to this hidden speakeasy-style drinking lounge, tapas bar, and restaurant. While speakeasies were once illicit drinking dens in 1920s America, there is nothing illegal about The Blind Tiger. Rather, it evokes the allure, mystery, and privacy of yesteryears with modern bar food. Part of the fun is finding the restaurant, and find it you must. Try the burger, imbibe, converse, or merely marvel at the secret lounge behind the wooden door with your favorite drink. The BT’s signature cocktails are a musttry!

93/95 Seik Kan Thar Road (Lower Block), Kyautata Township, Yangon

BLOW & After 8 Located on the 4th floor of busy Myanmar Plaza, BLOW, the only place where you can try the luxury hookah in Yangon, take shisha-ing to the next level. Here, the high-end hookahs cost 45~50,000 kyats each and last for roughly one and a half hours. With a line of seven capsules striped with soft red lighting and overlooking the Sedona Hotel, the place itself turns into a spaceship or alike whenever you visit.

At After 8, the most significant cocktails and shots are available with different shapes and forms. The menu boasts the largest gin selection in town with more than 28 different types of Gin produced around the world serve with fresh local and organic ingredients in order to create a true

paradise experience for Gin enthusiasts.

4th Floor, Myanmar Plaza, Kabar Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Township, Yangon

Harry’s Being the first franchise bar in Yangon, Harry’s is quite the photogenic bar with a growing presence on social media.

Over the past few years, Harry’s has attracted a stream of diverse customers and has already gained some regulars.

Their menu is a mix of different cuisines and circulating beverages, a sports bar meets Southeast Asian food. As the main outlet is located on the ground floor of Myanmar Plaza, you have a choice to enjoy your meal inside surrounded by the quirky interior, or the cool, crisp air to keep you company outdoors.

192, No(1) Industrial Road, Bahan Township, Yangon

Kosan Double Happiness Bar Probably the best el-cheapo bar in Yangon’s night-life scene as it offers delicious cocktails and beers at such jaw-droppingly affordable prices---truly one “double happiness.”

The carte is gathered with Mexican, Chinese, Burmese and Continental food which will not kill your budget. “Backpacker’s haven” to describe precisely, as it’s cheaper than your daily caffeine hit and the clientele is usually mixed with both locals and tourists throughout the night. Take a sip of their 1$ mojito while enjoying the psychedelic rock music playing in the back. Sounds good, eh?

No. 108 19th Street, Latha Township, Yangon

Port Autonomy Bigger and better than ever before, Port Autonomy brings Yangonites the best of beer pong, boozy brunches, live DJ sets, iconic cocktails and killer food. Rustic decor, a vintage atmosphere and a strict no-plastic scheme makes Port Autonomy a silver lining. With awards winning bartender Jen Queen and her team reside, you don’t want to miss this place when you are planning a night-out. Oh, it is now one of the most instagrammable places in town, so don’t forget to take a picture or two to fill up your feed with some neon.

42 Strand Road, Botahtaung Township, Yangon

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MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

TIPSY It’s hard to miss the swirling, drunken eyes logo and brightly-lit facade of Yangon’s latest favourite bar Tipsy. With a rooftop bar, pool table and menu filled with intriguing drinks, Tipsy is definitely the place to head for some Friday night fun. Game of Thrones, Democracy, Bobba Tipsy Tea — these signature cocktails are taking Yangonites’ hearts for a reason. Future plans for the bar include a shisha lounge on the mezzanine floor. Overall, Tipsy satisfied our night-out ravels, with its tipsy drinks and favourable food.

38C New University Avenue Road, Bahan Township, Yangon

Locals’ favorites 19th Street of Chinatown The heart of local night-life enthusiasts, long rows of barbecue stalls, low-budget booze, and open-air restaurants are the signature traits of Yangon’s famous 19th Street.

Not recommended for people with a weak stomach for this authentic experience, but you’re already missing out a lot if you haven’t been to this “landmark” of Yangon. As China town itself represents a significant portion of the most delicious street food in the city, you can also explore the rest of the area on foot, it’s Yangon style!

Win Star Beer Station The heart of local night-life enthusiasts, long rows of barbecue stalls, low-budget booze – Win Star – is an icon in Sanchaung, known by most and offers a relaxed environment to primarily enjoy draught beer. A popular choice among beer stations in Yangon.

Sanchaung Street, Sanchaung Township, Yangon

Late night out 7th Joint Bar & Grill The one and only hangout spot with a reggae ambiance in town, 7th Joint Bar & Grill presents the perfect place for Yangonites to sit back, sip on a dirty martini and revel in reggae music, live indie rock bands and many more.

The staff is attentive and friendly. Plus, the bar opens past midnight-- that’s a rare thing for a Yangon bar. A fun funky evening is promised as soon as you walk in, now it’s time for you to see what else the night brings!

48th Street, Mahabandula Road, Pazundaung Township, Yangon

The Penthouse Among the first generation of the sky bar scene in Yangon, the Penthouse; is still in vogue; still decent enough to keep you hooked and going back and forth, over and over again.

Both indoor and outdoor seating is available so the singles can mingle around. Not only is the ambiance one-of-a-kind

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but the music is also numero uno for those who like 2000s pop music hits. The modern Mediterranean menu, great cocktails and the service they offer are superb. From the terrace, the spectacular view of the Shwedagon Pagoda and the city’s suburban area with their spires lighting up is something to remember.

271-273 Bar Ga Yar Street | Parkside one building, 8th floor, Yangon

The Attic Head to the Attic Bar in the Golden Valley street to find yourself in one of Yangon’s chicest spots. On Friday nights and weekends, young crowds of locals make this bar a destination of choice to meet up with their friends, play beer pong and take some edge off of their everyday life. Sway along with the trending music playing under the vibrant neon lights, while observing how the young affluent society of the city celebrates the weekends.

10/A, Shwe Taung Gyar St., Shwe Taung Gyar Ward (2), Bahan Township

Pioneer Music Lounge Still up and running after serving our ancestors as a “disco place” to create the best party experiences, let loose or simply have a drink with their good pals---Pioneer club is still arguably one of the most talked-about night clubs in town, considering that it is still bustling with the young crowds of a whole ‘another generation. At present, the club mostly plays EDM, Top Hits and party anthems. You should not expect a sophisticated venue, but you can for a good time.

Yangon International Hotel Complex,No-330, Ahlone Road

SafeHouse Offering a wide variety of new generation dance music entertainment, Safe House introduces to Yangon a worldclass clubbing experience with Hip-Hop, R&B, chart-topping remixes, SLAM music, vocal and progressive house.

Other than its audio and visual sensory wonders, this hippest bar in town offers premium spirits and cocktails. Living true to its name, Safe House is the place to get loose and spend the night together with your squad.

Sedona Hotel Yangon, Lower Ground Floor, No. 1 Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Yankin Township, Yangon

LEVEL 2 LEVEL 2 just opens a new portal to another world if you’ve been there for their recurring Techno events. An immersive experience of sounds, lights, music, and vibes – a space for the sounds of tomorrow, for pushing boundaries, for a different perspective for, and by, lovers of the true, the progressive, the alternative; Level 2 is a place for those who want to spend the late night getting boozed and hooked up till dawn.

Beside Pioneer Music Pub, Yangon International Hotel Compound, Dagon Township, Yangon

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Q&A: ED BREA

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ROSEWOOD YANGON

Ed Brea has run many prestigious properties across the world, especially in Asia. With his 40 years of experience in the luxury hotelier industry, Mr. Brea has an interesting story to pitch in. Former graduate from Maryville College’s School of Liberal Arts and Cornell University of New York, he started his hospitality management career in Hawaii and has lived in over a dozen countries and immigrated to Australia along the way. Now in Myanmar appointed to manage Rosewood Yangon, one of the world’s leading hotel companies across North America, Caribbean/Atlantic, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Min Ye Kyaw visits him at Rosewood to talk about his career, visions, achievements and future plans.

Tell us your background.

My career started out at young age, washing dishes, and worked my way up from there. I moved to Hawaii after University joining Hyatt beginning my life in management. I wanted to go overseas and explore new horizons and our first stop was Manila, Philippines. My wife had grown up there and so we had a built-in support network, a very gentle beginning for first time expats. Our next stop with Hyatt was Australia as

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permanent residents. As soon as we got our citizenship, I was asked to transfer to Singapore where we did the conversion from a Hyatt Regency to a Grand Hyatt. I was fortunate to be part of the team that opened some fantastic restaurants concepts, working with cutting edge Japanese designers at that time, a relationship that has carried over the last 25 years, including our current restaurants here at the Rosewood Yangon.

From Singapore, we went to the Grand Hyatt Taipei and again

contributing to a large makeover of the F&B outlets. After 17 years with Hyatt, our journey continued when I joined Island Shangri La in Hong Kong, the start of a 15 year adventure. After Hong Kong we returned to Singapore and then back to Australia to carry out rebranding of Shangri-La Marina Cairns, a three year project that proved to be more challenging than opening a new hotel. When it was completed, we went to Kuala Lumpur for the opening of the Traders Hotel, which is a business brand of Shangri-La.

After that, we went to Vancouver to open the Shangri-La there, the company’s first hotel in North America. I found the Canadians to be similar to the Aussies, easy to work with, very happy, and whist laid back, quietly efficient and excellent in serving guest.

Our daughter liked it so much she went to University there and will stay on after graduating. My son went to school in Melbourne and stayed on there so we are fairly spread out. After Vancouver we moved over to China, first to the Kerry Pudong project in east

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Shanghai, another Shangri-La brand, and then to the opening of the JingAn Shangri-La in west Shanghai. After Shanghai we went south to the Shangri-La Bangkok and then returned to Australia to the One&Only Hayman Island.

After a short break and some world travels, we came here to Myanmar and fell in love with the country.

What have you prepared before you came to Rosewood Yangon?

The truly believe my entire career has prepared me for this iconic project as I have done many hotel openings and renovations. In the last couple of years, there’s been some nice hotels built here; LOTTE, Pan Pacific, and Excelsior, etcetera. But this is really what one would consider as the potential to be a legacy hotel. It will be something very special with its heritage as well as positioned at another level of ultra-luxury. Our expectation is for our guest to feel the sense of place where the architectural history has been respected during restoration. While it cannot be replicated in style, let alone for simply the size of the building itself, it can be an example of commercial viability and a catalyst for foreign investment for other Heritage buildings. This project will be a proud example for the government, proud for the people, proud for the owners and proud for the Rosewood brand.

In order to be truly successful, it’s something that everybody has to be invested in emotionally as well as financially as it has the potential to set the tone on how we move forward as a city in the downtown core. In the end, if you have the patience along with the requisite intestinal fortitude and endurance to go the distance, others can make it happen too.

Our owner is a very good example to follow in this regard!

Having worked in luxury hotels across Asia, what do you find different in providing a luxury experience in Myanmar?

The Myanmar people are naturally born for service in the hospitality industry. It’s amazing how friendly people are here and how they’re so keen to learn.

Most of the people that we hire have some experience but that wasn’t a prerequisite. We were very open to hiring staff

that just had the right attitude.

We’ve been very successful in blending them together with those that were fortunate to go overseas and have now come back to their home country with the experience of working in international luxury hotels and in some cases the cruise ships.

The re-pats are armed with a broader view and hired with the expectation to transfer those hospitality skills and knowledge to the next generation, giving them not only a better chance to succeed and perhaps to go overseas themselves someday.

We feel they are very proud to be with us and are working together with a high level of engagement.

We also believe they understand this is not just working in another hotel and how they can play a role in the changes at hand and what this means to the success of tourism in the country. Investing in our people for them to better understand the way we work and commit emotionally, making this a better place to work, serve others and develop their hospitality careers is our ultimate measure of success.

If you must make a choice, would you do the things right or would you do the right things?

A trick question? Well, I don’t think I would have to make this choice as they are the same. I believe that you cannot have one without the other. I always like to say, it takes the same amount of time to do things right than to do things wrong so we teach to do things right the first time, easier said than done. Gentle pressure and relentless repetition the key. In respect to doing the right things, if you give merit and do good deeds, you are already doing the right thing and good things will happen for you. I’m a big believer in karma, good or bad deeds will always circle back on you. “The Noble Eightfold Path” is focused on doing the “right” things and here it is culturally understood. Reinforced, it can be your organization’s greatest asset.

In the end, if you choose to do the wrong thing, in most cases it’s not by accident and on you.

Can you think of a time when you made the impossible become possible?

Unfortunately, I’ve been through a lot of crisis in my career, most

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of them being natural disasters, a couple of typhoons, two major earthquakes, a volcanic eruption, a false alarm for a tidal wave and also a fire in a hotel. Being prepared for these unexpected experiences helps handle the seemingly impossible. It’s like being a pilot of an aircraft, you must train for any circumstances.

If something happens and the cockpit alarms are going off, what is your reaction to that? The plane is going down and most cases you have to react quickly or you will crash. Sometimes there are crashes due to a catastrophic mechanical error, but a welltrained pilot can deal with most emergencies, go through their contingencies, recover and save the ship. In any crisis situation in a hotel, the number one goal is to make sure everybody’s safe. It’s on us to make sure that our associates are trained and prepared to do the possible.

Where are you likely to be on a Sunday afternoon?

We enjoy entertaining guests, friends and colleagues so eating and drinking is a pastime. I’m fortunate to have a very flexible palette, I eat about anything.

Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth so I do try to get as much exercise on the weekends by doing some long walking and going to the gym. My wife is very active and keeps me going.

During the week I get around the hotel as much as I can, I do not camp at my desk. So being on my feet so much, a good foot massage on Sunday gets me through the week…And I watch any kind of sport. Doesn’t matter what kind of sports. It is also likely I might just be at work! After all, we are 24/7, hospital hours.

What one thing do you wish guests to Rosewood take notice off? What are the things that sets a great hotel apart from a good hotel?

I would hope they take notice of our associates and experience a high level of emotional engagement. You can walk into a lot of places and the service would be good, but unless there’s an emotional engagement between the associate and the guest it’s really just a business transaction and most likely not memorable. That’s really the difference between a good hotel

and a great one, the people. This is where the selection is critical.

They need to be the right kind of people, willing to serve others with their heart and without expecting anything in return.

The second part is the training.

The people here are naturally friendly and they are also smart and inquisitive. So with all those boxes ticked off, it’s really a matter of just making sure they have the opportunity to learn. Making sure they are shown the path forward through consistent training, and positive reinforcement through recognition is a key success factor of a great hotel.

At work, what puts a smile on your face?

I’m sure you can pinpoint what I like about or associates staff, they’re always smiling! And that’s what makes me smile when I come into the hotel every morning. The other thing that puts a smile on my face is when the team receives a nice comment or recovers from a glitch. We strive to teach teamwork and family here. Regardless of what differences you have, or what happens, at the end of the day, we need to make sure that we work together collectively as a team and serve our guest together. When we have this kind of success, big smiles all around!

So what is the advice you would give other expats coming in?

Understand the culture, it is unique, and practice being as patient as possible, especially in public. You’re here for a reason.

Whatever you do, make a difference not just a contribution.

Most other places we are like a small fish in a big pond, but as an expat in any organization here, you’re most likely a big fish in a small pond. So, make a difference, teach, transfer your skills and that’ll be how you are remembered long after you are gone. If you’re not into that, you probably won’t be here very long.

Whether you’re a first time expat or a seasoned one, come with an open mind and with a view that you can be a changemaker. So much opportunity to contribute here. That’s what I like about Myanmar and in the end, that’s the real reward.

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Eat & Drink

Chef Guillaume.

NOVA PATISSERIE INTRODUCES 4 DESSERTS INSPIRED BY EXECUTIVE PASTRY CHEF GUILLAUME COULBRANT Rosewood Yangon is housed in a stunning 1927 heritage building that was originally established as the New Law Courts. It has been meticulously restored to incorporate every contemporary amenity and comfort while simultaneously preserving the essence and splendor of the building’s storied past. Located at the junction of the city’s famous Strand and Sule Pagoda Road facing the north bank of Yangon River, Rosewood Yangon is a neighbor to a large number of heritage buildings as well as highly venerated Sule Pagoda.

Each of Rosewood Yangon’s dining concepts possesses a distinctive character and showcases creativity and a contemporary interpretation of accessible

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gastronomy and refined beverage craft. The hotel’s culinary approach focuses on collaborations with local producers and seasonality via its Partners in Provenance program.

Vibrant and fast-paced NOVA European Brasserie features an open kitchen and an impressive skylight for natural daylight dining.

Traditional French desserts such as Chocolate Mousse, Millefeuille are nicely displayed at the dessert station.

Destined to become a popular Yangon gathering place, NOVA Living Room & Patisserie is the perfect venue for a cup of local artisan coffee or premium quality tea paired with chocolates and homemade French desserts where

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afternoon tea meets the highest expectations in terms of service, creativity, and quality, including a bespoke selection of loose teas.

Here at Rosewood Yangon, NOVA Living Room serves its very own signature patisserie Caramelia, Coco Sago, La Phaet Yea Choux and Sawbwa Moka exclusively prepared by the Executive Pastry Chef Guillaume.

Guillaume’s pastry journey started at a very young age in Tulle, a port city in the middle of France, in 2005. He has won several awards in France: André Lacombe, Regional Olympic Craftsmanship, Best Apprentice of Limousin, National Olympic Craftsmanship, Gilbert Pony Belfort Trophy (3rd

place), and Trophées Gérard Barsé (2nd place).

him to Rosewood Yangon in late 2018.

After a few years in Tulle, Guillaume moved to Fontainebleau to find something more delicate and artistic than what he did. So, he relocated to Fontainebleau for two and a half years, then move again to a famous pastry shop in Paris called Patisserie Gerard Mulot, a very old, famous and one of the oldest pastry shops that you can find in Paris.

“I came to Rosewood Yangon because I want to try something different from what I’ve tried before.

Rosewood has a concept which is very unique and different from my previous work. That is why I came here to work here like those who want to take the responsibility,” Guillaume explains.

Then he was offered a job from a friend who was working in Thailand, so Guillaume decided to move to Chiang Mai and stayed there for about one and a half years. Later, he relocated to Taipei and eventually his career brought

At first, he was interested in neither baking or cooking. He wanted to be a rally car driver.

That was his dream and his mum said, “No, you have to find something else.” His mum was baking cakes at home and it was at that moment that he realized that he wanted to do that. So Guillaume’s

first job was a baker and over the years, it evolved to an executive pastry chef.

“I’m always thankful to my mum for that”, Guillaume smiles.

NOVA patisserie is now open for dinner from 6pm to 10:30pm.

Pop up at NOVA for some European Brasserie then check in at Patisserie for these 4 highlight desserts.

Address: NOVA European Brasserie, Hotel Entrance on Bank Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar Phone: 01 2307 916 Opening Hours: 6pm – 10:30pm

NOVA Brasserie - Crudo Seafood Bar

Sago Coco

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Saw Bwa Moka

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Review

WAI WAI’S NOODLE DOWNTOWN: A PLACE OF NORTHERN SHAN VIBES The owner, Wai Wai has come to Yangon from Northern Shan state with only one goal — to serve customers with the best specialized dishes from her hometown, Moe Meik (Mongmit on google map), in a healthy way. You can even see her friendly and charming smile on the front page of the menu.

Upon our visit, the waitresses seemed to be busy with the vegetables and perhaps some tittle-tattle. Once inside, you can see the flower pot on every wooden table put together with wooden menu plate. Upstairs has cushions and sofas set with low

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tables if you want a private space.

The menu is separated into four sheets; Salads, Mains, Sides and Juices. Amid the 3,000 Ks salads that are pennyworth, potato, ginger, tea leaves, eggplant or long bean, green or tomato, Wai Wai’s specials Shan Rice Noodles and Soups (2,500 Ks) are a must-try if you are a fan of Shan noodles which we did try. Delicious!

Then we tried the Pennyworth salads (3,000 Ks) which tastes a little bit sour than other places.

But it has its own taste of goodness. Chicken salads (4,500 Ks)

was my favorite, comes with celery, onion, pepper, pickles, a variety of mustards and greens.

The taste really amazed me, neither sweet nor sour yet good!

One of them has ordered “Extra rice, please!”

More customers came in while we were trying out each dish. The Potato Curry with Chicken (4,500 Ks) didn’t get my attention much since it looks a bit oily but it was fine. My friends said they like it.

Sides features taro soup, bean & veggie, spinach, tofu, watercress and kailan, each has its price of 3,000 Ks in average. Overall, Wai Wai’s has its own unique dishes and healthy menu. All plates are big. Cheers to the owner Wai Wai for another milestone!

Address: Bo Aung Kyaw Road (Middle Block), Next to Hindu Temple, Botahtaung Township, Yangon Tel: 09796611013 , Hours: 11am – 10pm

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

What’s new in Yangon?

The November update on new restaurants and cafes in Yangon. Check them out and share your feedback!

Mustache Bar This new bar is recently opened only a few steps away from busy Junction Square. The latest contender to Yangon’s ever-growing F&B scene, this place has a quirky name: Mustache Bar. A bar with a cozy atmosphere and great surrounding made you more relax with extra cold beer. The establishment seems to treat everyone besides nightlife enthusiasts since day one, yet it suits its name.

Address: Corner of Kyun Taw Street & Narnat Taw Street, Taw Win Street, Kamayut Township , Tel: 09 893 999309

Scuba Seafood - BBQ Seafood Buffet

This BBQ food spot is a guarantee when it comes to seafood. Craving fresh seafood dishes and bbq charcoal grilled bbq can be enjoyed there with the good quality The spacious environment with good service make your craving time more comfortable.

Address: 5, Moe Kaung Road, Yankin Township Tel: 09 798 668414 , Hours: 4 pm – 11 pm

TT’s Kitchen This restaurant focused on Kayah ethnic cuisine and the menu is divided into traditional Kayah food and Asian.The room is dimly lit to add bar vibes with the two-floor building can house both lone diners and family banquet.The pricing is reasonable and the service is quite pleasant.

Sushi Tei Myanmar @ Yoma Yeik Thar Street Sushi Tei – where pristine culinary skills and incisive expertise with an innate appreciation of nature come together to inspire and enhance the experience of true Japanese dining. Since their debut in 1994, they have combined the best that the expansive Japanese cuisine has to offer, marrying the intricacies of sashimi to the theatrical flair of teppanyaki with an innate intuition of local tastes to forge an inimitable identity of their own. They present an assortment of scrumptious and creatively designed Japanese gastronomy that appeals to the delight of aficionados of Japanese cuisine.

Address: 5D (R2), Corner of Pyay Road & Yoma Yeik Thar Street, Kamayut Township Tel: 09 44700 4500, 09 77700 2285

Khit Daewi Savor the best foods from Myanmar and also wonderful variety of dishes like Chinese, Thailand, Indian, European. As they care about the consumers’ health, they only use the high quality vegetable oils and yes you can expect the high quality foods and services, plus the environment is comfortable for gathering and a great evening.

Address: No. 33,Bauk Htaw Station Street, Yankin Township Tel: 09 775 499873 , Hours: 7 am – 10 pm

Address: No.17/A, Thadi Pahtan Street, Kyaukmyaung, Tamwe Township Tel: 09 952 107 799 , Hours: 12 pm – 1 am

Check out more on myanmore.com/restaurant-directory.

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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Arts

CLARITY THROUGH CONTRADICTIONS: Mor Mor is an Engineering-graduateturned-artist experimenting with droplets of water after an inspirational revelation. In this issue, Min Pyae Sone sits down with her to chatter what’s got into her mind of artistic career path.

Being a predominantly male community, the Myanmar postmodern art scene had its glassceilings. However, it is also hard for any artist – both male and female – to find their own niche. It may be convenient to just paint the repetitive landscapes or the overused “beauty” of Myanmar.

Mor Mor describes her works as preplanned and meticulously thought of, but still reliant on her feelings and emotions throughout the entire process, “Like everything should be, in my opinion,” she says.

With her very photorealistic droplets of water, Mor Mor breaks away from the norm of nudes, self-portraits, and landscapes to try and represent the finer details of life – specifically nature. She possesses an array of skills, ranging from meticulously laying out the texture of a single droplet to imitating extremely fine speculations of water, cracks on the wall, and even the human figure.

Her artistic coming-of-age was when she graduated from the State School of Fine Art – while also on track with

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MOR MOR

completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering at Yangon University this was no easy feat on its own, let alone becoming a successful artist in a country where scrutiny still exists.

Water in all its forms represents purity and tranquility, but in a larger scheme – revolving the painting itself – it possesses the effect of contradiction and the altering of moods along with other representational qualities of a piece. For Mor Mor, the latter can be thought of as her niche; the water itself is unchanging, but in the presence of water, distortions and reflections appear in the things surrounding or it.

The artist describes her epiphany with an anecdote of her past: “I was painting a small still-life piece one day, but as I cleaned my brush and shook off the excess water, I noticed the drops that formed on my backing board. I was transfixed, looking at the different shapes of the droplets, how they altered the look of the wood in the background, and of course, the paths they made as they trickled down the board.”

During our interview, she also expressed her love for values of true Myanmar realism, something that extends beyond pagoda stupas and still-life depictions of fantasy landscapes. After all, she takes her

own pictures, which she then uses for her paintings. What needs to be commended is her ability to bring out motion from sources of water, and said ability can be seen in her piece Diamonds 3 – acrylic on canvas - that portrays a novice monk fetching water with a plastic bucket. In the painting, the water is seen rippling across the surface as the novices reach in with the bucket; the shadows and light reflections are also well depicted across the canvas. If the fact that it’s a painting wasn’t known, it would pass for a photograph.

However, in recent years, Mor Mor has shifted to more abstract forms of expression. Finding inspiration in cracked walls and other surfaces, she demonstrates her ability to reach a whole new level of artistic maturity with her semi-abstract series – with her signature water droplets of course. This series was a breakthrough with multiple curators and galleries collecting her work and fetched her the Audience Choice award in the prestigious Sovereign Asian Art Award back in 2008.

Since then, she has been developing her series into one with droplets galore. In her latest addition to the series, the painting September, she correlates two domes of clear water than amplifies the abstract orange background. The droplet on the right trickles down slightly leaving a wet

trail, this brings the piece back to “reality” which surprisingly does not hold back Mor Mor in experimenting with abstract subjects.

Throughout the years, Mor Mor has seen little improvement in the growth of contemporary art from the time she started being an artist till now. This is not surprising. As we’re leapfrogging through the times, skipping various movements of art that have shaped other countries’ cultures but have rather not existed in Myanmar, we’re seeing a whole new wave of art that seemingly does not make sense to artists that are still active decades after their debuts.

This has stunted the creativity in some of our youth who choose to explore more practical things as opposed to the whimsical ideologies of real contemporary art.

Having said that, I believe Mor Mor’s droplet series is, no doubt, pushing things in the right direction and will continue to do so as time progresses.

Some of her works are currently featured at the River Gallery – who also has endorsed our interview and the production of this article.

Mor Mor can be reached at her email address, mormor25@gmail.com, and her Facebook page Painting Artist Mor Mor.

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Sport

BUILDING FIGHTERS INSIDE THE RING:

JOEY KYAW

MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) has become a hot topic in Yangon, partly thanks to Aung La Nsang aka the Burmese Python. As the part of consequences follows, more people have shown interest in learning it.

But what does it take to become an MMA fighter? What qualifications does a person have to acquire? Nay Thiha talked to Joey Kyaw or Soe Wai Yan Kyaw, an owner-cum-coach of Transcend Fitness Yangon. His trainees Tom Sanders and Luke have won gold medals in their respective weight classes at Myanmar’s very first amateur MMA tournament held last month.

proper professional MMA fighter, for example, can have 3 or 4 different coaches working with them. They might have a striking coach, a BJJ (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) grappling coach, or a coach for strength and conditioning then a nutritionist. The same goes with the members at Transcend.

They have Lethwei coaches that take care of their needs, BJJ coaches for grappling training, and fitness and also conditioning classes.

As a kid, Joey had always been into fitness and martial arts. But growing up in a developing country like Cambodia, there were not many places for him to train until he moved to Melbourne for his studies in 2009.

When he relocated back in Yangon 3 years ago, he opened a mixed martial art studio, Transcend Fitness.

“At first, I just opened it, and never really planned on coaching. But as I started helping out my customers, one thing led to another and here we are now,” he recalls.

Joey believes that people have different personalities and the fighters have to use them against the opponents.

Since MMA training encompasses many martial art techniques, there are many skills to be learned. A

“It’s a very collaborative effort from all our coaches when we sent out those guys like Tom Sanders and Luke to compete.”

“It is a form of art – sort of selfexpression. You express yourself through the moves you make in the ring. We have to let them express themselves. That’s why it’s called ‘martial art’. Trying to change and mould them in the way I want them to be wouldn’t help anyone.”

As a trainer, Joey has to deal with many people due to their different learning capacities. Some might pick a move up in 5 minutes. Some members might need a few days

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

for their body to adjust to the movement.

“In terms of injuries, it is a part of the game. If you train hard every day, it’s normal to get injured. You just have to work around it. If you sprain your wrist, then you focus more on kicks.

You hurt your ankle, maybe more boxing,” he explains.

Throughout his career, the most memorable moment for him would be the first time he coached and cornered for an MMA fight in Yangon.

“About two years ago, Ms Bozhenna “Toto” Antoniyar was working as a boxing instructor in our gym. And she was offered to fight MMA in One Championship. So as a team member, I helped to prepare and corner the fight with the assistance of our MMA coach Zay Yar Oo. It was a nerve wrecking but also very good experience, especially because we were pushed into one of the biggest MMA promotions in our careers.”

When I ask him about the fighters he admires, he responds quickly “the Burmese Python”.

“I met Ko Aung La personally about 4 years ago. I found him to be quiet, soft-spoken, humble and honest.

After 4 years, even with all this fame and popularity he has achieved, he

doesn’t let it go to his head. He’s still that same humble and honest person I met 4 years ago. I admire that in him.”

Some people in Myanmar see fighting as a negative sport. When I tell him about this, he replies calmly.

“I think that is changing as MMA becomes more popular. Now we have all these incredible role models like Ko Aung La and Ko Phoe Thaw (Phoe “Bushido” Thaw). Thanks to social media, people see it what’s behind the scenes and understand that fighters are regular people like you and me, not just brute savages. It is our job to be a better role model – to represent ourselves and our sport well.”

He reveres hard work and dedication among many things that make a fighter.

“Fighting is not always so glamorous like you see on TV. Hard work, sweat and blood go into every fight, every competition. And there can only be one winner at the end. So most of the time, people will end up disappointed. It takes a lot of heart and dedication for a real fighter to pick themselves up and keep going, especially when things are not going well in life.”

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Music

RANGOON RHYTHM:

AJOHN

A familiar face to the music scene, AJOHN is not a stranger to Myanmar’s EDM rising. Formally known as Sai Won Nge as his birth name goes, he is making big waves at every show he performs. Building a reputation in his music career at the age of 21, with right hand filled with tattoos, his encyclopaedic knowledge of electronic music is furiously blossoming across the clubs and music festivals in Myanmar. With some upcoming collaborations arriving shortly, a new track being released and more and more appearances in Yangon clubs, Min Ye Kyaw sat down with him to talk about his current achievements and future plans.

Although he wasn’t a happy kid who comes from a happy family with a good childhood memories, he used to move a lot of places to crash in and wasn’t affordable enough to have a home. Since then, the only thing he was attached to is music; the beats.

As AJOHN grew up with his mom’s massive effort, he got educated and a chance to start playing musical instruments.

Then he found out DJ BL3ND on Youtube for the first time and he was influenced by his music. At the age of 16, he started learning how to make electronic music with very well-known digital audio workstation FL Studio.

“I met a lot of great people because of this career, some became my friends and brothers who always pulled me up whenever I was drowning,” he commited. With his effort and dedication, AJOHN released a track together with ATz, a remix of by international duo DVBBS. “That track was a burning fuel and it changed my entire life.’’

Many huge international artists

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have supported his remix at various festivals worldwide — EDC, Hard Summer, LA EXCHANGE and more. It pushed him to make more music in building his brand AJOHN. After a few months, AJOHN released a local remix called, ‘Lay Htal Ka Eain’ by Bunny Phyoe and Amera Hpone. Then he started playing out more gigs at clubs and festivals in Myanmar.

Last year, his remix of Hijueputa

by GRAVEDGR and first single “I am Chinese“ with rappers BEE LATT PYAN, WÙ and SOE ZARNI TUN were released and they both gained a lot more international awareness.

As a young artist, AJOHN spends most of his time in front of his computer in the studio, trying to export his ideas into the sounds.

“In the making of music, a moment that we have to work on one single idea and try to express it with the technology is such a fun and it’s my favorite thing to do. I guess that what I’ll be always doing. As a musician, you are the only way to grow your music bigger,” he quotes.

Djing is different for him. He wants to to express who he is to the crowd.

“There’s always a message, the vibe and expressing yourself with music. As a producer who performs as a DJ, you have to be unique and different. Your whole mix should be your own style. So wherever I perform, there is always my fans or people who are waiting for my set just to party with me and my songs.

That’s how I keep up with my performance”.

I asked him about his dream places to perform anywhere in the world, his go-to places are Lost Lands, Coachella and EDC. “In Myanmar, I wish I could perform at Thuwana National Football Stadium. Playing inside the Football Stadium would be so much fun,” he laughs.

However, he found social media very effective and convenient to promote his music and shows, yet it’s hard to reach your real target audience and also that audience have to be watching you among others. So he prefers 50/50 with social media and reality in the marketing strategies because the community is affected by the social media every day.

“Some are really talented and good. It’s simple. Most of them are being impeded at hobby stage and expecting huge results. If you want to be professional, start acting like a professional. Do it professionally and the results will be in professional,” he advocates.

Listen to his music and stay updated on his social platforms @ajohnofficial.

His belief on Underground growing scene in Djing in Yangon, Mandalay or beyond doesn’t really add the odds. All he sees is that there are tons of music producers and DJs, struggling and making up their ways to the top.

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

Xiaomi Gaming Headphones (7.1 virtual surround sound) Upgraded with two awesome microphones and the unique feature of reducing environmental noise and ensuring ultra-clear call, Xiaomi Gaming Headphones are available at Win Mobile stores at 89,000 Ks and come in only one color -- charcoal black. A bonus feature of 40mm Grephene diaphragm offers superior sound quality ensuring the three different sound frequencies are aligned perfectly. What’s more?

The adjustable Ergonomic Earpads that can deliver you out from reality and still be in your comfort zone.

Address: Win Mobile World , No. 46,48(A) Shan Kone Street, Myaenigone, Yangon Contact: 09785222888, 09443222888

Amazfit Bip Lite This Amazfit Bip Lite takes the stunning role ‘Fit Longer’ for its outstanding function of the battery life which lasts to exactly 45 days after a single charge. Weighing 32g with an elastic light strap, athletes will surely loves it every day wearing it on. Not just this Amazfit Bip Lite is adjustable, it can be submerged up to 30 meters’ water pressure. It can be said that this gadget is amazing for its environmentally friendly advantage that has transflective screenenabling one to read all the details under intense sunlight. The 24hr continuous heart rate measurement is another advantage with its efficiency: notifying your heart rate when it exceeds the warning limit. Likewise, this is the tracker that every cop must have.

Address: Win Mobile World , No. 46,48(A) Shan Kone Street, Myaenigone, Yangon Contact: 09785222888, 09443222888

TECH TALK Application Microsoft Outlook

Access your everyday tasks, files and keep track of emails every hour with Microsoft Outlook which helps you to manage each file in the most suitable way accordingly to the set times, dates or alphabetical order. Swipe gestures within splitseconds, a huge significant feature provide you to finish each task. Every step throughout the whole process can be monitored continuously while ensuring an error is avoided at a slight moment.

Overall, Microsoft Outlook is a benefit for all numbers of customers - over 10 million; it is downloaded for various purposes.

Myanmar Exchange Rates

A brand new application for everyone in Myanmar who have been financing budget after going through currency exchanges. Similar to the functions in other countries, Myanmar is known to be developing in economics and especially in the Tourism sector, therefore, exchange rates have been the hot issue that every business encounters. So, this app could become a solution with over 20 different currencies, their available rates and exchange rates, organized by the Central Bank of Myanmar.

Logo Maker

Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 5 The Onyx Studio 5 will be standing as an iconic design in any corner that has this special feature of easy portability structure with an integrated aluminum handle. Having a wide range of Frequency response from 50 Hz to 20 kHz, it also has a powerful significant Bluetooth transmitter frequency range. Recommending one to place two at each corner for room-filling listening experience via a wireless dual sound, it comes in three luxurious colours: Black, Indigo blue and Grey. Experience a live-life studio before you do the final recordings.

The Logo Maker offers 3D effect manipulation, over 5000 original logo templates, unlimited logo icons and over 100 font styles available to complete each gap. Available in two options: the round maker and 3D. You can save your projects for future edits and download in various standard size and quality 100*100, 250*250, 512*512, 800*800. Being used by over 500,000 google store users. Create a logo that represents your business identity.

Address: Win Mobile World , No. 46,48(A) Shan Kone Street, Myaenigone, Yangon Contact: 09785222888, 09443222888

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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Sponsored

MACARTHUR’S: A WINNER AMONGST FINE SCOTCH WHISKIES The title of who turns the humble grain into the best whisky in the world has always been up for contention: should the award go to the joyous Irish, the gutsy Americans or the hardy Scots? It’s a battle that has raged from time immemorial and one I will be wading into today in order to champion MacArthur classic Scotch whisky, a true classic amongst modern impersonators. (So let’s buckle up and hope that the others don’t come for me).

This Scotch has everything you would want and expect but with some welcome additions. Harvey’s manipulation of toffee notes with vanilla aroma makes for an incredible flavour and mouth feel. The whisky is clear and golden in colour, sweet on the nose and light on the tongue with a touch of apple. The citrusy flavour cuts through the rich toffee to a gorgeous spicy finish. It’s Scottish roots are undeniable, robust but delicate in only the way a Scotch can be.

Allow me, if you will, to set the scene for you of the Scottish highlands. They’re stunning, they’re hauntingly beautiful and to be honest they’re cold and harsh as well. It’s fair to say they’re a stark contrast to the Myanmar we know and love but when it comes to whisky this environment is where you want it to be made. You really cannot compromise when it comes to how whisky is distilled and the MacArthur Clan are not pulling any punches when it comes to quality.

They’ve been making it since 1877 so they know a thing or two about what makes a good Scotch. The integrity they maintain is unparalleled and you’ll be hard pressed to find a more authentic Scotch.

In times such as these, the alcohol market is more highly scrutinised than ever before, people around the globe are savvy when it comes choosing their brands and won’t settle for bad quality. The same is true in Myanmar, the times when an average whisky would be suitable for a night with friends is over. We want better. MacArthur are giving us their 200 year old recipe and we should receive it with open arms, because this is what the alcohol literate are crying out for.

When you get the assurance that your whisky comes directly from Scotland, you absolutely have to try it. Nothing is better than the smooth, delicious elixir that comes from that mind blowing landscape.

The Scots have long reigned as the kings of whisky and Master Blender Stuart Harvey intends on maintaining the heritage of this stunning drink. Let’s not forget, he has over 20 years of blending under his belt so it’s safe to say you’re in good hands.

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It’s everything a fine whisky should be and more, delivering on both taste and quality with a dash of heritage thrown in. Whether in a Rob Roy cocktail or simply on the rocks, it won’t let you down. There are many fake Scotch whiskies in the market, but with MacArthur’s you will always be getting 100% authentic Scotch whisky. So the next time you’re gazing at the supermarket shelves, unable to discern which whisky will see you right, glance up and get the true taste of Scotland with MacArthur Scotch.

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019

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THE BRITISH SCHOOL YANGON A NORD ANGLIA EDUCATION SCHOOL

CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE

What will you be?

RSVP by Thursday 21 November 2019 to secure your place.

michelledean@ britishschoolyangon.org 36

STEAM OPEN EVENING DISCOVERY LAB

SCIENTIST TECHNOLOGIST ENGINEER ARTIST MATHEMATICIAN Thursday 28 November 2019 BSY 17:00 to 18:30 Join us for an evening of workshops, taster sessions, experiments and challenges for ages 2 to 16.

Inspiring confidence, defining futures www.britishschoolyangon.org MYANMORE magazine #37 November 2019