2018, May, Star Art Gallery, Bosunpat Street, Yangon
On 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, May, British Club, YangonOn Sunday, Lin woke up at seven in the morning but the sunrays had already intruded his room to bright the room up. He hurriedly stood up from bed for preparing breakfast for his uncle and himself. His uncle returned from the monastery after staying at it for more than two weeks.When he emerged from the kitchen, he brought two plates of fried rice and put them on the round table in the living room where his uncle was already seated at a chair and reading a newspaper. As he saw Lin’s arrival, he put away the newspaper and prepared for taking breakfast.Lin said warmly, “Just wait, uncle, I will bring a cup of tea for you.” At the end of the sentence, he went into the kitchen again. U Thein Lwin simply stared at the back of Lin, reflecting his nephew’s proper care towards him. Then, he picked up the steel spoon to taste fried rice that was still warm with steam hovering over the ric
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, June, Armenian Church, downtown YangonLin had managed to organize a team of ten Chinlone (cane ball) players for a spectacular Chinlone performance at the space in the compound of the Armenian Church. When he explained to the players the purpose of the performance, the players showed much eagerness and willingness to take part in the heritage festival as well as they would like to display their sports skills of playing a Myanmar Chinlone game.At the office, John asked Lin to prepare certificates of appreciation for the players because he thought that they deserved appreciation and recognition. They also denied accepting any fees for their outstanding performance as they preferred going pro bono.“Lin, can you go and print certificates for them because I want to give them today at the ceremony. Do you know any printing shop that can carry out that?” asked John.Lin replied quickly, “I th
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, Yangon It was a Saturday morning in the second week of July. Last night, it was raining heavily and Lin could not sleep well because of the noisy pattering of raindrops on the corrugated roofs. He also heard coconut trees and mango trees in front of his house were hushing and swaying wildly when the strong wind blew. So, he closed all the windows not to let rain in. He guessed all were drenched with rain and the gutters attached to the roofs would overflow with rainwater. He knew that some parts of the city would be flooded if the drainages were blocked with rubbish and plastic bags. Last night, making more sense of the Rainy Season that set in at the beginning of June, he also read a poem titled “Rain” by C. J Richards that started with some lines: (“Ne daing, ne daing mo ywa de.”)/ Waso, Wagaung, ye hpaung baung!/ See the rain come pouring down / On the fields and on the town./ Cats and dogs come down togeth
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
2018, July, Sule Square, YangonAs soon as the rain lessened, Lin hurriedly walked out of the Sarpay Beikman building to meet Eli at Sule Square. He glanced at the watch that said that it was only fifteen minutes to one. He quickened his steps to reach there on time but his flip-flop hindered him.He cursed faintly, “Damn!” It was really difficult to walk on the wet pavement and he had to control his composure. The more he walked hurriedly, the more he dodged among people and cars.He crossed Merchant Road first to walk down until he reached Mahabandoola Garden Street (previously called Barr Street). He entered the park, from which he emerged through the gate facing the City Hall.He found a crowd of people waiting at the bus stop because they knew that when the rain came down, the arrival of buses would be delayed because of traffic jams and flooding at some junctures. He crossed Mahabandoola Road again and walked tw
2018, August, Ga Hmone Pwint Shopping Centre, Yangon Being free today, Oo was slouching on the couch in the living room of his flat and he was just drifting with the song he liked when a telephone rang up. He picked it up and heard the voice of his girlfriend, Pan Che who said that she would be in his flat in fifteen minutes. She did not tell why she came to him. After declaring their engagement to Lin and Eli, she called him often to talk about the marriage arrangement and preparations. She seemed quite excited about them. Oo also understood that there would be a lot of things to be planned before a marriage. They surely needed assistance and help from their best friends, Lin and Eli. These days, Lin was busy with taking notes and visiting places for writing assignments. Oo could not meet Lin often but they talked on the phone mostly and he knew how Lin liked his new job working for the magazine. Oo envisioned that Lin would be successful in
2019, March, Yangon With panting and perspiring, Lin woke up suddenly after having dreamt a bad dream. The room was dark and so, he was trying to fumble a jar of water and a cup beside his bed to cool him down. He found the jar and poured water into the cup and drank it after turning on the light bulb. Soon, he felt at ease. When he watched the clock, it said half-past one.He was fully awake and he knew that sleep would not come easily to him in this situation. He did not also want to lie down on the bed again. He stood up from the bed and walked outside. He tiptoed out of his room because he did not want to disturb his uncle’s sleep. When he was out of the house, Lin inhaled fresh air fully.He walked to and fro in front of the house for a while before he sat down on a charpoy under a mango tree. He was looking up at the night sky and found a crescent moon and several stars. Apparently, they were looking down at him. The who
2019, March, a literary event at Pansodan Scene, Yangon On Saturday, a week away from Valentines’ Day, Eli called Lin to come down to Pansodan Scene for a literary event and she thought that it would interest Lin. Lin reached Pansodan Scene at around 11 to attend the literary event.At first, he did not know what the event was. Later, when he entered the room, he saw “James Joyce’s event” organized by an Irish poet who lived in Yangon. When Eli saw Lin, she called him to sit beside her on a bench.Lin readily joined Eli who introduced him to the Irish poet who was also M.C of the event and the organizer of the event. The Irish poet extended his hand to Lin who shook his hands with him.Soon, the event opened and Lin saw some writers including Myanmar writers and foreign writers who would read some extracts from James Joyce’s works. For Lin, James Joyce's Dubliners always inspired Him. He really envied his li
2019, February, a literary walk, downtown YangonLin thought that on Sunday, he should take a literary walk in downtown Yangon. It was a part of his future plan because he would begin a literary walk around downtown. He needed to know some spots that were related to literary history and themes He discussed his plan with his uncle who told him that it was a good idea and encouraged him to do it pronto.. . .On Sunday, Lin left his house for downtown. While he was walking in the downtown streets, he asked this question, as for a Yangonite, what would be the best thing he or she could expect in a city like Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, apart from its burgeoning gorgeous restaurants, and splendid bars.Apparently, Yangon was never devoid of the fun and excitement any city dweller was looking for. In the downtown area, there were several colonial buildings that still maintained their grandeur and significance to visitors and vie
2019, February, Valentines’ Day, YangonLin would meet Eli on Valentines’ Day and Eli was quite happy about it. So, she exclaimed, “Valentine’s Day!” What thrilling word for me. Eli thought. She knew that this year Valentine’s Day would be really special for her because Lin and she became a couple, a month ago.It was such a happiness she felt when they found out they loved each other, especially reading his poem. She thought that one of the most blessed moments of their life was loving and understanding each other.She knew that Lin would love her sincerely because he must have spent much time to write a poem to court her. Every time, they met, he showed much care about her. Not a single time, he missed that task of taking care of her.Eli noticed that Lin all the time glanced at her whenever they met but he never came too close, and he kept his own distance. At first, he seemed a little bit far from h
2019, January, A Talk on Foreign Writers, Freelance Writer’s Club, YangonIt had been two days since Lin arrived back in Yangon from Mandalay's trip. When he went to the journal office, Editor John told him that there would be a literary talk organized by Freelance Writer’s Club.Editor John asked Lin whether Lin wanted to take part in it or not. If he was willing to participate, John could arrange for that. It would start on coming Saturday. Lin thought for a while and he agreed to take part in it. He told John that he would talk about foreign writers who ever visited Yangon (then known as Rangoon).John agreed that and he asked Lin to prepare a PowerPoint presentation. Lin counted the days and learned that it was five days away. When he left the office, he called Eli to come down to FWC on coming Saturday at about 10 am and he invited Oo and Pan Che to attend.. . .When Lin got back home, he took out some books
2019, January, A Trip to MandalayIn the first week of January, Lin’s uncle U Thein Lwin told Lin that he would go to Mandalay and he would like Lin to accompany him. They would go there by train. Lin called Eli and Oo that he would go on a trip to Mandalay on the second week of January and he would be back in three or four days.He told them that he would bring Htoe Mote (a kind of Myanmar delicacy) and Lapet (picked tea leaves) for them as souvenirs. Eli said Lin should take care of his health and she would come to see him off at the train station. Later, Lin called his editor John and explained to him that he would also visit some interesting places in Mandalay and he would contribute some stories of them to the journal after his trip. His editor agreed and so, Lin felt quite happy.. . .On the day when Lin left for Mandalay, at the train station, Eli arrived and saw him off. His uncle U Thein Lwin asked him wh
2018, December, New Year’s Eve, YangonOn the cab, Eli was thinking about Lin who gave her a poem on Christmas Night. She looked around to see Lin who was standing and waving at her at the corner. On the way home, she was so excited that she did not remember the time when she got home.On that night, she could not sleep well after reading the poem. It was so well-written and it could express the real feeling of Lin towards her. She was reflecting when she got firstly met Lin. Pan Che introduced her to Lin who was energetic and hard-working.She also liked his style and his relentless endeavor. She read the poem again and again until her eyes seemed droopy and finally, she slept. In the dream, she saw Lin who smiled down at him while he was extending his hand that she grasped.Soon, they were in a park, all beautiful flowers around them with butterflies flapping their colorful wings while both of them were enjoying the sceneries. At
2018, December, downtown YangonLast night, when he came back from the classical music concert at Chatrium Hotel, Lin could not sleep well because he was thinking about Eli. He thought that he had fallen in love with her. But, he could not reveal his real feelings to her because he thought that their friendship could be ruined if he disclosed his feeling towards her.He was rolling over the bed, sighing several times. He thought that he should talk it with Oo who would be back in Yangon tomorrow after their honeymoon trip. He wondered what Oo would say about that. He felt a little bit worried because if things went wrong, he could lose friends.Finally, an idea entered his head and he sat upon his bed before he went over to his table. He picked up a pen and wrote a poem. He felt that his feelings were dripping into the tip of the pen. It took nearly half an hour to finish the poem that he intended to give Eli.He felt satisfied now. At ab
2018, December, Chatrium Hotel, YangonLin was longing to meet his friend Oo and Pan Che who would be back on the morning of Christmas Day. When he called them, they said that they were now in Dawei and they would take tomorrow’s morning flight to fly back to Yangon.These days he had several assignments and appointments because the editor John told him that their media company would publish a weekly journal soon. He was happy for being busy but he thought that he would have less time to meet friends.At that time, a phone call came in and he picked up to hear Eli’s voice. Eli said, “Lin, it’s Eli. Are you free this evening around 7 p.m? I would like to go to a classical music concert at Chatrium Hotel. Can you accompany me there?”When Eli called, Lin was sitting at his writing desk and he was about to finish his last article on contemporary Myanmar art. He quickly replied, “Sure, Eli. I am free this e