Day 261 - Radio Interview - Movies - Bus from Yangon to Ngwe Saung
Monday, March 25th, 2019.
Today we actually woke up early for breakfast because we were invited to a radio station for an interview. At first, I was not excited because we had to wake up early, the interview would take all morning, we needed to check out at noon and wait for our 9:00pm bus to the beach. [Gregory's note: see what I have to deal with? I work with a radio producer, get us booked on a show to do an interview, and Lili starts in with the list of why it's going to be a hassle.]
It wasn’t bad at all. We took a taxi to the station to meet Chris Hnin, whose family is from Yangon but who lives most of the time in Singapore. Gregory met her when she was the guest speaker at the Rotary meeting. She is very sweet, smart, and dynamic. When we got there, the kids were busy with some puppies they had found at the office gate. The puppies had tons of fleas but this didn’t stop Sunshine from holding two of them!
We walked into the station and Chris went over some of the questions she was going to ask us. The kids were excited and we started the interview. Luckily, the show wasn't live, but it is English-language. Anyway, Chris interviewed us all and Gregory and I were surprised to hear some of the kids' responses. Like when Daniel said that he still wasn’t thrilled about the trip. He also got sentimental when he mentioned how much he missed our dog, Lulu.
My favorite part of the interview was to hear Sunshine say that traveling solo wasn't dangerous because she had learned that for the most part, people are friendly and want to help you! We also all agreed that the best part of the trip is the people that we meet along the way. It really makes a difference in how much we enjoy a place. I was surprised to see Daniel sad when Chris said that it was our last question and that it was time to wrap up. He wanted more. He actually enjoyed it. I think we all did very much because it was like a reflection of our nine months of traveling. We took some pictures in the studio and then we left in a rush to check out of the hotel.
We decided to leave our suitcases in the hotel and just pack our backpacks for the beach. We really only needed swimsuits and two outfits! We ask the men at the front desk to hold our backpacks while we went out for lunch and the movies. That was my idea to kill time in air conditioning because walking outside in the heat is unbearable!
First, we walked to a shopping mall near our hotel but they were only playing one movie, and it was in Myanmar language. We ate at the mall and found another movie theater playing Captain Marvel in English! It was a movie palace, with a balcony and assigned seating. I think the ticket was like $2 per person, what a deal. Everything was great except that they had the AC full blast and it was freezing. Sunshine and I hid our arms inside our shirts!
I have to mention that before the movie started, they played the national anthem. I had never seen this in any of the countries that we have traveled. On the screen, it said (in Myanmar and English) "Every Good Citizen Stands to Respect The Flag" and then they played the anthem while a computer-generated flag waved.
The movie started OK, but it's not my kind of movie. Whatever it takes to kill time with AC but it got too long and exaggerated for me, maybe because I was freezing. After the movie, I ran to the bathroom and… not again -- squat toilets! Sigh. [Gregory's note: if only she had the patience to walk to the lobby, where there were large, clean, Western toilets.]
We used Grab to get a ride back. I was praying because Gregory’s battery was dying and the app was not working on my phone. We finally made it. Did I mention that there is bad traffic in Yangon? Cars just don’t move. At one point, we told the driver to drop us and we walked faster. Sunshine was not feeling well and Gregory wanted to stop for drinks because it was happy hour and me… well, debating whom to please and what to do.
Today we actually woke up early for breakfast because we were invited to a radio station for an interview. At first, I was not excited because we had to wake up early, the interview would take all morning, we needed to check out at noon and wait for our 9:00pm bus to the beach. [Gregory's note: see what I have to deal with? I work with a radio producer, get us booked on a show to do an interview, and Lili starts in with the list of why it's going to be a hassle.]
It wasn’t bad at all. We took a taxi to the station to meet Chris Hnin, whose family is from Yangon but who lives most of the time in Singapore. Gregory met her when she was the guest speaker at the Rotary meeting. She is very sweet, smart, and dynamic. When we got there, the kids were busy with some puppies they had found at the office gate. The puppies had tons of fleas but this didn’t stop Sunshine from holding two of them!
We walked into the station and Chris went over some of the questions she was going to ask us. The kids were excited and we started the interview. Luckily, the show wasn't live, but it is English-language. Anyway, Chris interviewed us all and Gregory and I were surprised to hear some of the kids' responses. Like when Daniel said that he still wasn’t thrilled about the trip. He also got sentimental when he mentioned how much he missed our dog, Lulu.
My favorite part of the interview was to hear Sunshine say that traveling solo wasn't dangerous because she had learned that for the most part, people are friendly and want to help you! We also all agreed that the best part of the trip is the people that we meet along the way. It really makes a difference in how much we enjoy a place. I was surprised to see Daniel sad when Chris said that it was our last question and that it was time to wrap up. He wanted more. He actually enjoyed it. I think we all did very much because it was like a reflection of our nine months of traveling. We took some pictures in the studio and then we left in a rush to check out of the hotel.
We decided to leave our suitcases in the hotel and just pack our backpacks for the beach. We really only needed swimsuits and two outfits! We ask the men at the front desk to hold our backpacks while we went out for lunch and the movies. That was my idea to kill time in air conditioning because walking outside in the heat is unbearable!
First, we walked to a shopping mall near our hotel but they were only playing one movie, and it was in Myanmar language. We ate at the mall and found another movie theater playing Captain Marvel in English! It was a movie palace, with a balcony and assigned seating. I think the ticket was like $2 per person, what a deal. Everything was great except that they had the AC full blast and it was freezing. Sunshine and I hid our arms inside our shirts!
I have to mention that before the movie started, they played the national anthem. I had never seen this in any of the countries that we have traveled. On the screen, it said (in Myanmar and English) "Every Good Citizen Stands to Respect The Flag" and then they played the anthem while a computer-generated flag waved.
The movie started OK, but it's not my kind of movie. Whatever it takes to kill time with AC but it got too long and exaggerated for me, maybe because I was freezing. After the movie, I ran to the bathroom and… not again -- squat toilets! Sigh. [Gregory's note: if only she had the patience to walk to the lobby, where there were large, clean, Western toilets.]
We used Grab to get a ride back. I was praying because Gregory’s battery was dying and the app was not working on my phone. We finally made it. Did I mention that there is bad traffic in Yangon? Cars just don’t move. At one point, we told the driver to drop us and we walked faster. Sunshine was not feeling well and Gregory wanted to stop for drinks because it was happy hour and me… well, debating whom to please and what to do.
We walked to the hotel, gave Sunshine Dramamine and Gregory and I went upstairs for happy hour. At first, I was nervous but then I have to say that the mojito helped. Gregorio had two because happy hour was buy 2 get 1!
At 8:00pm we took a taxi to the bus stop where we waited for the 9:00pm bus. Sunshine was thrilled to find more puppies in the street. I finally relaxed when the bus arrived and we were sitting inside. Again the AC was on full blast and we froze for a while. Eventually, they turned down the air and we were able to sleep but the bus made two break stops. Also, at the beginning, it stops in different neighborhoods picking up people so I’m sure the ride could have been much shorter. We slept for a while. I woke up when the driver’s assistant yelled a warning. I opened my eyes and saw how narrow and curvy the road was. I looked back and saw some people awake with worried faces. I prayed and then I fell asleep after we passed that part.
At 8:00pm we took a taxi to the bus stop where we waited for the 9:00pm bus. Sunshine was thrilled to find more puppies in the street. I finally relaxed when the bus arrived and we were sitting inside. Again the AC was on full blast and we froze for a while. Eventually, they turned down the air and we were able to sleep but the bus made two break stops. Also, at the beginning, it stops in different neighborhoods picking up people so I’m sure the ride could have been much shorter. We slept for a while. I woke up when the driver’s assistant yelled a warning. I opened my eyes and saw how narrow and curvy the road was. I looked back and saw some people awake with worried faces. I prayed and then I fell asleep after we passed that part.
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2fAKyukfMZuPnVNt5
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