In search of an Empire.Siam,Burma and Singapore.

[drron]

More gore-

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And outside you can eat street food-

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[drron]

Out in the street it was more fruit and veggies-

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There was a woman selling mangosteens.A local in front of me bought a bag for 3000K.When I asked the price it was 2000K for 1.I told her she was dreaming and I could get them cheaper in Woollies.
Time to cross the street.getting more adventurous so give the overpass a miss.As the day wore on I got better at this and eventually had the locals following me.I guess the sight of this large,bearded,grey haired fellow with his hand raised in a stop motion was something that they weren't used to.

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The next block was much more mundane stuff-

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Also a much more salubrious area-

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[RooFlyer]

<snip>
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Time to cross the street.getting more adventurous so give the overpass a miss.As the day wore on I got better at this and eventually had the locals following me.I guess the sight of this large,bearded,grey haired fellow with his hand raised in a stop motion was something that they weren't used to.

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<snip>
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You are doing better than me! I found out, almost the very hard way, that busses are much better at playing chicken than me. Cars would stop/slow/go around but a bus very nearly collected my head with its side mirror - at speed.

 

[Pushka]

Yeah. I don't do wet markets. Fish I can handle. The rest? Nup.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

While Ron was trying to get himself killed in the Yangon traffic I was being sensible and having a rest day and sunning myself at the hotel pool

 

[Pushka]

While Ron was trying to get himself killed in the Yangon traffic I was being sensible and having a rest day and sunning myself at the hotel pool

Of course. Much more sensible.

 

[drron]

I avoided playing chicken with a bus.
Even though I missed out on the pool I really enjoyed my day.So now some random street scenes as I walked towards Monument Park-

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I was assured these were genuine sapphires and rubies-

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[drron]

Some lovely old buildings in colonial white with blue trim-

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Now this is a street shot with a story.i arrived at this intersection just before Monument Park and the lights were red.I was the only pedestrian and a policeman with 3 stripes walked out and stopped the traffic signalling me to cross.Didn't mind when I stopped to take a photo-

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And once again the women doing the manual labour.

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[drron]

At the monument for Independence I was asked by 2 fellows if they could practice their English.The first fellow was genuine and I appreciated the opportunity to stop and rest.The second fellow though was trying to sell himself as a guide-no thank you.Then an older indian woman invited to to cross the river with her to go to her village.I don't think so.
Some lovely old buildings around the park.Across the road a typical colonial building which was the High Court-

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Also the Sule pagoda said to be 2200 years old but now in use as a roundabout-

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[drron]

So some more buidings around the park-

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And now as I head back towards the river-

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As Rooflyer noted when walking in Burma always pay close attention to the ground.footpaths are terrible-

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Now that was one time when I was a little uneasy.busses would fly down the inside lane.

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[drron]

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And the Strand hotel.I imagine the choice of Aussie and British diplomats-

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As their embassies are just across the street-

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[drron]

So now I started heading back to the hotel-

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I hope no one is booked at that guest house.You go past the old Ministers building-the place of the British administration.Now behind barbed wire and starting to crumble-

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[drron]

Still some more colonial buildings-

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What looks like the old English private school and opposite the catholic version-

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Across the rail line and an engine is coming.The driver stops and signals me to take a photo-

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Just over the rail line is a mosque-

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[amaroo]

Some of those buildings reek wealth - must have been quite a place in its day!

Enjoying the TR .... it's a ripper!

 

[drron]

Coming to an end soon.
But this day was just a day to try and see the Yangon tourists don't always see.After the mosque the footpath became a car repair and modification area.often had to walk on the street.The locals here all thought it was a hoot with me crossing roads with my hand raised-they all followed though!

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Note the last building was constructed in 2005 but now looks awful.Surely there is a market for mould resistant paint in Burma.
It was here that I collected my last good karma for the trip.A woman had her food stall near that canal.her small daughter was running on the footpath.An elderly local on a bicycle nearly hit the young girl.He really went to town shouting at her.The child was in tears.But a cheery mingalaba with the offer of tamarind candies soon had the girl and her mother smiling again.I must have a huge good karma score this trip.

Hmmm-

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I then arrived at Inya lake on the opposite side to the Chatrium.Good views to the pagoda and they have built another replica palace here-Kandawgyi palace.

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[drron]

There was an entrance fee to get into this area of the lakeshore-300K for me and 500k for my camera.80 cents.I felt up to it.The water didn't look inviting but that didn't stop the geese and ducks-

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It looked like you could pay to go into the palace but it was closed this day.The area was obviously very popular for young locals to get their pre-marital 30-40%.
Then you came to an area with lots of restaurants.Not all the names were illuminating-

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[drron]

So some more of the lake and restaurants.But first I walked over this bridge but soon came back-

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It turns out it is a heart shaped island and an old fellow with a grey beard was definitely out of place.

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There was also this Japanese shop which turned out to be a 100 yen shop though the price was 1500K.

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There are a couple of new unit blocks in the area with more being built.maintenance though seems lacking-

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I was going to continue on to the Aung sun museum but I was knackered.So a couple of coke zeros in the lounge,cold shower and a 2 hour nanny nap before happy hour and then dinner in the Japanese restaurant.Our time in Burma was coming to an end but still 2 flights and a little on Singapore to come.

 

[drron]

we have just downloaded the photos we were given after our balloon flight in Bagan-

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absolute highlight of the trip.if you go to bagan it is a must do.

 

[drron]

Thursday and we woke early.Had brekkie at the hotel.checkout was a little long-they always have a problem when you use a CC.No trouble getting a taxi to the airport and fare 10000K which is the usual fare.He actually took a quick route missing the bottleneck we encountered on our last 3 trips to and from the airport so I gave him an extra 600k in small notes and he seemed really pleased.
When you arrive several fellows descend on the taxi to get your bags.I had read about this and it is best just to let them take your bags to the X ray screener and give them 1000k.

Checkin opened just after we arrived.Through"security"quickly.Once again my new knee did not set off the alarm when it does everywhere else I have been.Funny though there is another security check at the gate where my knee did set it off-I was asked to go through again but just went to the allotted position spread my legs and arms and said "new knee".So wanded and waved through.

A long line at Immigration not helped by 4 who looked like locals but had aussie passports just walking up to the front of the line and pushing in.There were 4 Europeans in front of us displaying their passports and BPs.They were from Luxembourg and were flying Tiger.They each had full size backpacks as carry on.Once through converted my remaining kyats to Singapore dollars and went to the Royal Jade lounge.According to the sign most airlines use this.

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Not a great food selection but you could have a few beers for brekkie if you wished.Nice cappuccinos.Now you are told on entering that no password needed for wifi.however you do and when you approach the desk there is a sign facing into the lounge with the password-you don't see it when entering.However I could get AFF and picassaweb to load but no more and couldn't access any other sites.It kept dropping out so I gave up.
Left the lounge about 10 minutes before boarding time and through the second security point.boarding commenced about 5 minutes after we arrived.It was a real scrum and quite a few Y pax got through before they insisted on J only.

SQ997. RGN-SIN. ETD-1025. PB-1021. TO-1043.
ETA-1505. land-1453. at gate-1500. Seats-14A,C. A333 Regional seats.

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On boarding my jacket was taken immediately and as soon as I went to my seat I was greeted by name.Quite impressive as we have no status with SQ.As I sat I had a glass of champagne in my hand so time for a refill before take off.So to the menu-

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Now I obviously hadn't had enough to drink because the photo of the list of reds is just too blurred to read.Anyway mrsdrron was happy with the Spy valley whils my red was a lovely Bordeaux.I liked the seafood salad.it was spicy so I had 2 serves.mrsdrron had the pork loin-very tough.I had the duck leg which wasn't that good either.

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Then watched a movie-"What we did on holidays".Hilarious.

Naturally after landing at Changi everything went smoothly and we were soon reunited with our bags and on our way to the Westin.

Just one strange thing.To get to our carousel we passed a carousel with a JQ flight number up.When the luggage started coming out there were at least a hundred bags this colour-

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A JQ convention?

 

[drron]

The Westin is actually convenient by taxi with the meter showing less than $20.For my review of the westin se here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ences-and-reviews/westin-singapore-65367.html

Our reasons for visiting Singapore is shopping for mrsdrron and eating for me.For restaurant reviews see here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-restaurants/singapore-restaurants-39941.html

This year's reviews start at Post 31.
So a few pics including the first gold Atm we have seen-

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The old buildings near the Singapore cricket club and the view towards the coast that is very different to when I was a boy-

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Now we didn't always eat at fine dining establishments.We did eat at the Marina Bay sands food court and had some very nice BBq pork.Also ate at a Japanese place in the basement of the Robinson's store on Orchard road.Fairly nice though not super cheap-

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