2018, April, Thingyan (Water Festival) Celebration, YangonIt was only six-thirty in the morning and it was Akya day of Thingyan Festival. In fact, there were four days for the Thingyan festival days such as akyo (the eve of the festival), akya (the beginning of the festival), akyat (the mid of the festival), atat (the end of the festival).Lin woke up to hear noises coming from his neighbor’s house in which Padauk (gumkino) trees were grown. People in their ward gathered around the trees, some climbed up the branches to pick yellow flowers for themselves or their families.Those who were waiting at the foot of the trees were shouting loudly at those flower-pickers where they should go to pick flowers. Excitement and fun arouse their noises louder. Lin saw merriment in them when they were picking up those flowers.Thingyan (Water Festival) and padauk flowers are

2018, May, Star Art Gallery, Bosunpat Street, YangonOn a day in the first week of May, Lin had to attend a meeting for the heritage festival at Star Art Gallery on the lower block of Bosunpat Street (formerly known as Maung Htaw Lay Street). He had to walk down from Sule Bus Stop to reach the gallery.On the way, he saw street vendors who sold pieces of corn for pigeons because people liked to feed them on the pavement. He also found bird cages and some kinds of sparrows were tweeting wildly in them. He walked down two more blocks to reach Bosunpat Street from the junction of Sule Pagoda Road and Mahabandoola Road.When he reached the corner of Bosupat Street, he turned left to walk into the street, looking for the art gallery which he had not been to before. Then, a story about the street came into his head.It was related to the former name of the street because at first it was called Maung Htaw Lay Street. In fact, it was nam

2018, June, 40th Street, Oo’s apartment, YangonWith Eli’s endeavor and Lin’s enthusiasm, John happily accepted Lin’s participation in the heritage exhibition at Oo’s apartment. But, John said that Lin needed to curate the exhibition himself if he knew how to do it. Lin replied that he would try to carry it out without fail. So, John set the third weekend of June for the exhibition because the other weekends had already been assigned to other tenants.Moreover, John asked Lin that he knew some traditional Myanmar Chinlone (cane-ball) players because John wanted to hold a cane ball spectacular demonstration at the compound of the Armenian Church. He liked to revive cosmopolitanism via a traditional sport because once Rangoon was inhabited by various nationals such as Armenians, British, Jews, Portuguese, French, etc.Lin thought that he knew some cane-ball players through his uncle’s connect

2018, July, Thakin Mya Park, YangonThe first Sunday of July had seen the closing ceremony of the heritage festival. John and his team held it at a spacious ground of the downtown park and the program would include a live performance and a screening. Invitations were sent via their Facebook page and other social media to outreach more people.Lin arrived at the park before 4 pm though he knew that the ceremony would start at 4:45 pm. He took a bus to get there. When he reached the park, he saw some commuter buses were taking a break from their diurnal activities, parking around the park.He was strolling into the park, looking here and there until he found some sculptures displayed in the park. A sculpture named “A Garbage Man” attracted his attention and he stopped by it. It was a bronze sculpture portraying a garbage man who was pushing a trash trolley.In the trolley, they put some rubbish bags. It seemed that it w

2018, July, Sarpay Beikman Building, YangonBefore Lin left the house, he paid respect to his uncle U Myint Thein for receiving blessings and auspiciousness. He conducted this because he believed that showing respect to elders before embarking on a new job would grant him blessings and auspiciousness. After that, he left quickly to catch a bus that would take him to a bus stop near the magazine office at Pansodan Tower which lay at the corner of Pansodan Street and Anawrahta Road, that is one of the five main roads of downtown Yangon.Though it was in the Rainy Season, everyone felt the heat as soon as the rain stopped because the fierce and playful sun came back from its temporary jaunt. Attentively, Lin took his umbrella to protect the sun and rain. He wore a white shirt and a blue striped longyi for a formal meeting. He looked neat and tidy with his crew cut hair well-combed and coconut oil applied.He knew that it was not e