RVHS WILLY: Iris' Holiday~

During my holidays, i spent most of my time earning money. I had tried different types of jobs. I had done surveys, but realized its a waste of time because you have to do at least 1000 survey to get just some ntuc voucher. I had done flyer distribution,but then again, it took long and you have to stand for quite long for the whole stack to finish. Sick and tired of working outside or looking for outdoor jobs, i tried to look for jobs that had to be done at home, such as filling in forms, filling in spreadsheets but those requires you age to be 16. Thus, i went back to handling a blogshop where i sell albums and merchandises and tried to earn myself some extra pocket money, Sometimes spending the money when i am going out with friends, sometimes when buying some things that i like.

All of my days are the same routine, finding jobs, doing jobs, trying to get as much money as possible, and if i am really bored, i would do some homework or look through Maths textbook and read up on the topics they will teach this year.

That was until i heard that i am going back to Myanmar for the last two weeks of holiday. In around 1 month and 2 weeks, i didn't really learn anything new and life was boring but during my trip back to Myanmar, i learnt a lot of things, mainly problems like what developing countries are going through.

My first reaction was crying or getting all sad cause there is no wifi. (TT_TT) "nowadays, we are not slaves of laziness but rather slaves of wifi.--Zelo,B.A.P" If there was no wifi for me, there won't be anything to watch, anyone to chat with, as the last time i went back to Myanmar was around 5-6 years ago, thus being awkward with my cousins, etc. I was really sad during that time as i imagined the possibilities that could happen without wifi...that most probably i would rot and die.

I slept throughout the whole flight with my Exo Kris mask. It was a budget airplane. It was super cold and they did not even give you a blanket, and the seats were so squeezed.

Mainly, there were two places i went. We went to other states of Myanmar and to some villages but most of the time, we stayed in the "near city area".

First, we went to my grandparents' house. They have a kindergarden set up. My mum usually sends back my younger sister's and my simple story books and primary one worksheets and taught the kids with the resources. I used to live there when i was young until seven years old. I still had some childhood friends back there and we practically grew up together since babies.

When i saw them, i gave them some souvenirs that i wrecked my brain to think of and though we had a lot to talk about, it was just...awkward. We had not talk for 5 years plus and I really wanted to talk to them badly but don't know what to start from. I only stayed there for 2-3 days, and i know that fact that time was running out to reunite with my friends, but...i just can't...

That night, after i met them, i realized that their lives and my life were already having quite a big gap. They were in grade 9? Though they are the same age as me, after grade 10, they can go college? I think its college... In grade 10, they have a major exam like the A-levels. Even in the holidays, they were revising hard on it all day long, and they had around 10-13 subjects? And all are needed to be memorized. If it is not the same format or the exact same word as the teacher had taught them, even if it is just one word, they won't get a good mark. And here i am, complaining about the number of phrases i had to memorise for Chinese spelling.

Furthermore, their clothes were not as good as my clothes. I really pitied them. I wouldn't exactly say pity but rather feel helpless. I might have not met them for quite long but to me, they are the one of the closest friends i had. I wanted to do something to help them out, but it sucks when i can't. :(

When you ride taxi, and there is a traffic jam, teenagers my age or younger, would be walking on the dangerous streets, selling newspapers, flowers, and even cigarettes. It is understandable to me that they are selling those things to earn a living and at least have a meal per day to eat, but you would have no idea how dangerous the streets are. The drivers don't really care about traffic rules, driving even when it's a red light, speeding non stop, etc. Just on a particular street, there is at least an estimated number of 10 accidents every fortnight. There are even some cases when the cars crashed into each other continuously, 4-5 cars in a chain.

However, if you are those type of rich people living in Myanmar, you would love it. There are restaurants all over and the food were super delicious. Though to normal people it seemed expensive, but SGD1 is a lot in the Myanmar currency. There was even once where i ate too much and some food when eaten, it don't really match, so the next day, i had to rush to a hospital. The next 2 days, i ended up eating instant porridge that have no taste at all. In contrast to the day i survived this day in which i ate one bowl of something that is similar to fishball mee, one bowl of another type of mee, one bowl a type of mee with soup, and then after that a buffet and managed to eat ard 20+ grilled prawn... (Prawns there are huge. :3)

Then, after the days, when I just healed from my stomach ache,we went off to the visit my grandparents from my mother’s side. We stayed there for 5 days. The first day we just stayed at the house and played around. Don’t under estimate the house because it is just super awesome. Just in the backyard of the house, there are 3 rabbits, 6 birds, lots of fish, 2 squirrels, and 2 dogs and a swing and many pretty flowers as well. The dogs are called David and Rosy. They are bloodhound dogs but none of them really bite. Though they are quite huge, they are still so cute.

The next day, should be one of the most fun day. LIKE EVER. We went to lots of pagoda and some are just so cool. We went to lots of other states of Myanmar that I have never been to, such as the Mon state, the Kayin state, and the Kachin state.We went out pretty early like around 5am.

There were lots of places we went to but mainly, there are 3 places that I like the most.

This pagoda-Kyauk ka lat paya, is very interesting. First, you have to pass this bridge then you can reach it. While you are passing the bridge, you can feed the fishes as well. After that, there are steps for you to climb up to the top. However, I had to be careful when I climb because there wasn't really any barrier or safety nets to hold you, so there is a risk of falling down. Like they say “Going up a mountain is easy, coming down is hard.” Going up was easy, when I was at the top, I managed to take some pictures of the sceneries as well.

Second place:

This place is super cool. *^* First, when you want to go to the cave, you have to first walk through this.

After you walked through, there are 2 lakes, which are super cool. One lake has hot water while one side have cold water. It is not manmade, purely natural. After you go into the cave, if you look carefully, there is this small hole for you to “explore” more into the cave.

This cave, had a path. After walking through it, you will reach another small pagoda inside, which is known to be powerful and that your wishes made there would come true. Through the path, in the cave, there are natural jade and stuff, and there was this small mountain. It was glittery gold and it’s not man-made. You were allowed to touch it. I touched it and I thought it is those type where the glitter stick onto your hand, but it doesn’t.

3^rd place:

Apparently, I have no idea what the name of the cave is. ._.

When I first arrived there, there were monkeys all around. My dad was carrying a pack of peanuts. My dad took out one and gave it to one of the monkey. The monkey took it, smelled it, then he bit open the shell and eat the peanuts inside. We started feeding those and I was holding one out for a monkey and that monkey practically took it from my hand. I thought the monkey’s hand would have like..have nails or something. O.O Its hands are just like human’s hands, just that it is a bit more hairy. Right after I feed the monkey,my dad was like “Don’t let the monkey touch you.” Oops.

Like the second cave, there is an entrance as well. However, you can’t go in with your shoe and the surface on the ground is damp, uneven and sometimes spiky. There is a path but it’s not safe at all. There wasn't any barrier or such again to hold you or something if you fall. The stairs is uneven, and some too steep to climb.