28/11/2002
This is about town watching which I haven't written for a long time. I am not sure how many series I have written and I will write about it from the beginning. The other day, I visited the office of Sanay Travels & Tours at the Lanmadaw Palaza in China Town. Ingredients used in Chinese foods are available here. The things sold in Tamwe Township where a lot of Indians live are quite different from China town. I ate boiled rice in 20th street. I haven't had it for a long time. I came back home after buying dried Shiitake mushroom. To my surprise, the building with cream colour has finished. It is written "MTM Construction" at the building. The eight-story building has no lift. The building is located on the Maha Bandoola Road, between Lanmadaw and Latha Streets.(K.K)

27/11/2002
It has been three consecutive rainy days. It has been raining heavily day and night yesterday. Normally, it is the beginning of the cold season. Paddy and other crops are being harvested. It was untimely rain. The rain caused a lot of damage to the crops. For this reason, prices of consumer goods may go up.

26/11/2002
I went to the Yuzana shopping centre in Tamwe where most of the people do the shopping. There is a pet shop at the left end of the ground floor. They usually sell puppies. I saw a shepherd in a cage on that day. It is gentle. And was taken out of the cage next day. It is called "Tiger". The male shepherd is about one year old. The price tag reads 250000 kyats. I wish it would meet kind owner. Because, I am always very busy taking care of the old dog brought from Japan and the Dalmatian bought three years ago. At our building, the owner of a shepherd never walks his dog. Moreover, he doesn't care much of it. Big dogs require walking everyday. I had been watching condition of the shepherd without interfering others' affairs. The dog had become more and more aggressive and barked a lot. It made the neighborhood scared. It seemed the dog was sold out finally. Is it because of increase in number of dog keepers? The books on "how to keep dogs" are being sold at bookshops. This month issue of "Life Style" monthly magazine carried an article about keeping cats. (K.K)

25/11/2002
City FM radio has become in vogue recently. The small radios that can tune FM, AM lines sell like hot cakes at road-side shops a small radio is priced at 1300 kyats.

22/11/2002
It has been in my mind since a long time ago. This shop is a beer pub of Dagon Beer. The small shop opened two years ago. I had to go pass the shop whenever I went to Yangon University of Foreign Languages. Every time I passed the shop, I thought that the name of the shop was taken from somewhere. The other day, I went pass the shop where I had not passed since my graduation from the university. I made up my mind and enquired a man from the shop about the name. My thought was right. The owner used to live in Japan. He is one of the fans of Japanese artist Kinkikids. He named his shop Ginkikids after him. The Myanmar owner might mishear as Ginkikids. (K.K)

21/11/2002
We, Myanmar language learners, owe a lot to Mr. Ono who compiled the Myanmar-Japanese dictionary. I used Myanmar-Japanese and Japanese-Myanmar dictionaries through out four-year study of Myanmar language at the University of Foreign Languages. I am using both at the present. Most Koreans are Christian and they are good at English. But, they told me that English words used in the Myanmar-English dictionary were very old and they had to look up the English words in a dictionary again. I am sorry for two Vietnamese military attaches. They knew French very well because Vietnam used to be colony of France. But, they were not good at English. They looked up English words that imply the same meaning as Myanmar words. Then, they translated them into French using an English-French dictionary. We, Japanese students, are lucky to have such a good dictionary. (K.K)

20/11/2002
Phuket Air starts the service of Bangkok-Mandalay from December 16. Flight schedule is Bangkok departure time 16:00, Mandalay arrival time 17:15. Mandalay departure time 18:15, Bangkok arrival time 20:30. 3days in a week.(Monday, Wewdnesday, Friday.)

18/11/2002
I visited Yankin Centre where middle class people do the shopping the other day. I went to City Mart at the basement of the center. This time I visited there, I saw the shop full of Japanese food; Ramen, Chinese noodles, Udon, Japanese fish sauce which tastes a bit salty and four kinds of Sashimi (sliced raw fish). There are also sauce and Mirin (sweet Sake used as seasoning ingredient). The stock also includes seven-colour chili, Wasabe (Japanese horse radish), seaweed, konomiyaki (a thin flat cake of unsweetened butter fried with various ingredients) etc. the goods are rather expensive as they are imported from abroad. We can't do without Miso (soybean paste) and Japanese soybean sauce in daily meals. I usually buy Miso at Jyanko Super Market. Generally, goods sold here are very expensive for Myanmar people. But, cash counters are always crowded with customers. There are some people who buy a thing and tell the cashier to be hurry without joining the queue. You will surprisingly see luxury cars at the car park there. (K.K)

15/11/2002
A friend of mine in Japan brought us Japanese snacks. I put the snacks on the table so that Myanmar people can eat with Japanese tea. I had been watching them to know what they think of the snacks. One of them tore the small sachet wondering what it is. He seemed to eat with snacks in the bag. Although it is written「Do not eat!」in English and Japanese. But, the youngster seemed to think that the sachet in the instant noodles was to eat with noodles. I think if I was not watching he might eat this. Desiccants are not put in every packet of snacks. So, he might not notice it in the Japanese snacks.

14/11/2002
Making of Cuba Liberty spirit contained in a book brought from Japan by a friend of mine. I tried the method with available ingredients in Yangon. I put me ounce of Cola into Mandalay rum. (Star Cola made in Myanmar can be used.) I added lime juice into it. The delicious liquor, called Yangon Liberty by me is made. Liber means Liberty is Spanish. (K.K)

13/11/2002
It rained in the first week of October. It is for the first for me to see such rain in October. The rain that lingers for a long time seems to end this time. It is very hot in day time. But, it is cold early in the morning. It seems there are a lot of persons who catch cold. I have a headache after having a cold. A lot of e-mails from Japan reported to me that it was very cold there. An e-mail from a friend of mine in Thailand said that it was cold there in the morning. Travellers should take notice the fact that it is always hot in Southeast Asia.(K.K)

12/11/2002
I saw strange Japan-made thing again. It seemed to be China-made. It was written "It smells sweet." in Japanese on it. It might be written by someone who can speak Japanese. But, it was not good Japanese. The thing was a cookie with blue berry. It was quite delicious. (K.K)

11/11/2002
Is it a strange Japan-made thing that I meet again? Although it is written Japan-made paper on the sign board, it is out of the question that it is not made in Japan. It seems that branding Japan-made on things makes reliable.(K.K)

08/11/2002
There are a long stretch of rubber farm on the way to Kyaik Hti Yoe, if one turns left after passing Bago while driving to Mawlamyaing from Yangon. You can see strange mountain ranges if you enter Kayin State passing Tha Hton in Mon State. On the top of every mountain, there are small pagodas. Then, you can see so many mountains. If can also be called Guilin of Myanmar. (Guilin is a scenic spot of China.) (K.K)

07/11/2002
This is Mawlamyaing. This was my second visit there. There are still a lot of old buildings although it is said to be bombed during world war II. Every where is elegant in the town. Verandahs of house have interesting design. I once heard that mural paintings in pagodas in Bagan where cultural heritage abounds were work manship of Mon people. I saw old three-wheelers in Mawlamyaing which we cannot see in Yangon. My friend saw such kind of three wheelers in India. Their bright orange colour is very eye catching. (K.K)

06/11/2002
This is Mawlamyaing. This was my second visit there. There are still a lot of old buildings although it is said to be bombed during world war II. Every where is elegant in the town. Verandahs of house have interesting design. I once heard that mural paintings in pagodas in Bagan where cultural heritage abounds were work manship of Mon people. I saw old three-wheelers in Mawlamyaing which we cannot see in Yangon. My friend saw such kind of three wheelers in India. Their bright orange colour is very eye catching. (K.K)

05/11/2002
This time, fifteen of us toured Mawlamyaing. The mini-bus took us to Mawlamyaing through a new bridge near Pha-an after 12-hour drive. It took my friend and his wife 11 hours to get there when they visited their parents. They said they crossed to Mawlamyaing from Mottama by a ship. I went to Mawlamyaing by a ship four years ago before the bridge has not been built. I stay at the hotel near Than Lwin river. My thought was about the Japanese soldiers who survived the second world war who left for Japan from Myanmar. I was also wondering why did they came to this harbour crossing Than Lwin river. (k.k)

01/11/2002
Driving out of Mawlamyaing across the Attaran bridge about 15 minutes, one can reach Khayon village where there is a cave. It is named after the village and called "Khayon Cave". In the cave, there are image of reclining Buddha image, Buddha images in sitting posture and natural stalacite and stalagmite.