Was a Boomshakalaka 2015... Booyah 2016 !!!

This photo best describe Myanmar with
the men-operated Ferris Wheel. You know
the risks, but you get up for a ride of your life
and then you go again. Booyah! 

Another year!! Egad!! Where did all the time go? And wait, once again, lemme dust out these cobwebs from my blog... Very unbecoming of a writer to have cobwebs on her blog page. Tsk. Tsk.

2015 had been another blessed year. It was bang full, packed up to the brim with work, new projects, the Youth Centre, the SoyAi Boys, more work, bang-head-on-wall, lots of training, fight camps, travels, new experiences, a spa venture, ASEAN Impact Challenge, more travels, eCommerce (my biggest yuck of the year), more training, new training programmes, teaching, more teaching, lots of food, more head-banging, new friends and even a Crossfit certification. Was that a boomshakalaka year or what? :D

It may not all have been peachy, bed-of-roses but if I had to count my blessings, I'd say it was yet another awesome year. So many great new experiences, both on the work front and on the personal front. Sometimes, it's funny how when we're going through the shit, and we wanna throw in the towel, but we grit our teeth and bear with it just one more try (and then one more try... Ok, and just one more!!) - much like the pain you get from doing 100 burpees and you say "I can't anymore!!!" But you push till you hit your 100th and you go "Booyah!! I did it!! I. OWN. YOU."
That pretty much sums up 2015 for me. Upon reflection, I've actually learnt much more from going through the shit than I would've, had I brought out the white flag. Plus, I'm not a giver-upper. I may go all yucks on that eComm project, but I ain't gonna quit till it is launched!! Actually, work had been pretty tough this year and the crazy salary increment had created a lot more stress for me which made work life a lot less enjoyable. What do people say about money being evil and all again? But you know what? Just....just one more try!! And I'm still officially a part-time consultant. I've the best job in the world! :)

Moving forwards.... Hello 2016! I think it's safe to say that my plate will continue to be packed full to the brim cos that's how I like it. There'll be a few major changes though... And the first being me stepping down and away from the SoyAi project. As many of you know, the SoyAi Boys were recently in Malaysia participating in the ASEAN Impact Challenge and watching them stand up in front of the judges, competing against financial analysts, investment bankers, tech developers, in English, in a PPT file they prepared. It was definitely the proudest, proudest moment for me. Can you imagine that once upon a time, they didn't even know how to switch on a computer? And their English language was limited to "Hi, how are you, I'm fine, Thank You." Just, booyah again! And I knew then, it's really, really time for me to let go. I've brought them this far, this high. How high they will now fly depends solely on them. They are no longer boys. It will be hard of course. But I cannot always be there to hold their hands and cushion their fall. When they made their moving on plans without me, I was a little saddened. Geez. But it'll be harder I assume, to watch them fall and the only thing to do is pray they'll get up stronger - all by themselves. So good luck Boys!! You can do it!! As the trend goes : "May The Force Be With You." (#notafan :P)

Well, I'm going to take my time looking at the possibility of another project. This time, I'm hoping to empower marginalized women. So we'll see. Meanwhile, life as a lecturer will officially begin for me as I take on a teaching position at one of the colleges for industry professionals here in Yangon. This should be fun! Ten years ago, if someone were to tell me I'd be teaching someday, like my Mama and Papa, I'd be ROFL-ing. !! Who knew right?

Not only am I gonna be teaching advertising and digital marketing, I've also taken on a fitness class at the gym as well. This definitely is a lot more fun and I've already started on this one. Glad that I've yet to kill anyone LOL and the members who come for the class have that "Just.One.More!!!" booyah factor too :) All those time and money invested in my certifications, now is time to earn back them moolahs for it, man! So, coming up in 2016, I will be taking on more fitness classes and help people get lean and mean, like moi :)

I'm not one to make NY Resolutions. This is what happens with them :

2016 Resolutions :
1) Wear more dresses LMAO!! No man. Just no. I'll wear happy anytime.

2) Train less. Sleep more. You've gotta be kidding me, right? Might as well say "be grumpy all da time" :P

3) Be a better wife. Say whaaaat?? I'm already fabulous as a wife :P Duh.

4) Talk softer in the office. My voice is naturally loud. I don't need a mic.

Just scratch all that.

In 2016, I'm gonna work hard, I'm gonna try hard (I will still bitch though, don't get me wrong!) and I'm gonna balance it all out with my passion projects (think fitness, races, empowerment of marginalized groups). And I will live only by one rule :

"When you get, GIVE. When you learn, TEACH." ~ Maya Angelou
(was from that inspirational speech by the mayor of Hawaii)

So, to all my loved ones and friends - may 2016 be as boomshakalaka for all of yous and remember, always #LOOK4THEGOOD :)

6th Year, Baby!!!

At the Baan Chaang Elephant Park June 2015

25th August 2015 : Today, we celebrate our 6th year wedding anniversary. 6 years! Well, actually if counting the official marriage certification which all the old folks insisted upon, it's 7 years. That plus the dating period, it's 9 years together. Wowza. And it still feels like we got married last year :)

What's new? Nothing very much actually. Aside from both of us being really crazy busy with work and the fact with MOH being in the mobile industry and me spearheading the digital stuff in the company, we have our faces stuck to our phones half the time. With the digital invasion, we never stop working :( And yes, very funny, sometimes, we communicate that way too. Of course we have times where we force ourselves to disconnect, you know. Just for a bit of sanity.

In my last trip home to see Ah Por, I told her I worried about her when I'm away. She retorted by saying she worried about me even more. Apparently, my frequent trips back home alone had caused her much worry as she thought that it meant "trouble was brewing" because I am so "samseng" all the time or we were "growing apart" and also that "your husband not happy because you don't know how to cook." (whaaaat?? where did that come from?? Who's been telling her tales??) Worse - we don't have kids yo! I just LMAO. But to thwart her worries, I went about regaling her with tales of our relationship.

Our relationship had been really easy and I thank God for that always. Whilst we've both gotten really busy since the start of 2015 - like, I don't even know how or why I got this busy at work!! We make it a point to spend the weekends doing something together that is not work or Youth Centre-related. Grocery shopping or checking out a new restaurant in town or simply swimming. Grocery shopping is by far the most real for any couples. Never in my younger days would I have imagined asking this : "So, which toilet roll shall we get? This one is expensive but it's got floral prints." :P Friday date nights and Sunday brunches, we try to keep it exclusive to ourselves. But on some occasions, we do socialize and meet up with some friends. Me - I'm the anti-social one. Actually, we're both pretty anti-social. But he's got no choice sometimes. Work-needs. My work doesn't require me to socialize so it's awesome. Plus, I never have anything to wear :P 

You know, it was MOH who actually debunked my fairy-tale notion of "you jump, I jump". Truth is - understanding each other is important. And when I'm thanking God, I'm thankful for the fact that this understanding developed and grew with ease and no drama :) We just know that we've got our shit to do and we need to get it done because that's the type of people we are. We committed to our employers or projects or the children so we need to do the best that we can. On top of that, we also have our own hobbies and passion that we pursue and just the same as I still can't understand why 22 grown men would run around after a bloody ball, he can't understand why I would torture myself by signing up for an intensive fitness boot camp! So, if I was home late and dinner meant instant noodles or some bread with canned curry, he doesn't complain. (Because if he does, I'll ask him to make his own dinner LMAO!!) Or if I've cooked a nice and "proper" meal as Ah Por would say and he called to say he's got dinner with Miss Myanmar, I say "Oh, ok. You'll be having leftovers tomorrow." Speaking of food, the funniest conversation would be him checking out what food I had packed for him for his lunch. When I asked him why, he said "I need to know how much energy I have to use because you will say use the power of my imagination." Like, seriously ROFL - for me. Yes, he would have some annoying 'meal-order' like Loh Mai Kai or Hokkien Mee or whatever and I would say "Sure. It's all in your mind....... If you think it's Hokkien Mee, then it'll be Hokkien Mee." :P 

Our one daily passion is the fact that we love annoying each other! LOL! I was telling Ah Por how we would hide behind doors to scare the bejesus out of each other (I actually have a celebratory dance when I am successful in scaring the shit out of him!!) or take photo evidence of how our sleeping positions disturb the other person - him, especially him and his elbows.. aargh which he then denies and instead tells me I'm lethwei kicking him in my sleep.... or how I would pour cold water over the shower door at him or him switching off the water heater when I'm showering in the middle of winter....or how he loves trying to poke my tongue when I am yawning.....  and if all else fails, it's just plain ol' monkey-faces and witty sarcasms. This happens a lot especially when he's upset that I've gotten his white shirt pink - AGAIN! "Real men wear pink!" or "I told you not to wear anymore whites!" and again, if all else fails, I just mock him behind his back while he's mumbling and scrubbing out his stained favourite WHITE shirt :P You know, he also ain't Da Tiger for nothing. Sometimes, he'd go "WEIIIII!!!!" like really loud and I would jump out of my skin. And then he would say "Huh. Must be did something wrong that's why scared of my roar." What an idiot! Anyway, in all of these, Ah Por said "So, still like children! Why not give birth to one??!" #slapforehead

I think any DINK couple would agree - when living together, there always seem to be a fairy or a gnome in the house too because you get these conversations ALOT.

"You took all my loose change!"
"No I didn't." 

"You idiot. You left the door opened again!"
"It wasn't me!" 

"Where did you hide my phone??"
"I didn't take your phone." 

"You didn't close the refrigerator door properly!"
"I didn't open the fridge!" 

You get the drift. And honestly, there are only TWO people in the house! :/ 

To say the least, we're both actually quite anal in our own ways. I'm not OCD ok :P I just like things in their correct position, compartmentalized and organized properly. I can still remember back in Cambodia when we didn't have help with the chores, my poor hubby would be standing outside the balcony trying to determine the floor mat colour to make sure he got the right ones placed where it was supposed to be placed. (You see, the floor mats were all of the same colour, except there's the older ones, thus colour is not as bright and I know exactly which one goes where... he on the other hand, #slapforehead!) When things are not in the correct 'compartments', it disturbs my chi :P Just the same as him being really anal about his car!! I actually never really knew this about him until once when I ate my sandwich in his car (then still 2 month-new) and dropped a teeny morsel of chicken somewhere and he spent every red light stop looking for that stupid piece of chicken! And then one day, I opened his boot and looking back at me was one box labeled "Dirty Stuff", one box labeled "Clean Stuff". God forbid things in the car to be scattered in disarray!! And don't you even dare "drop tears in my car." Yes - that's what he told a friend's kid! They were visiting and she was crying in the car and that was what he said! Truly! It stopped the crying like in a nanosecond!! Till this day, we all still joked about it. Sorry, I think I got a bit carried away writing about all our stick-up-our-butt stuff. What I'm saying is that, being in a relationship means learning to deal with all these crazies about each other. In sickness and in health y'all. "And this is my sickness," as Monica would say :)

The boys,... I hadn't realized how we affected them. True that MOH is always in the newspapers and the kids go "oh, so cool." When we were asking the boys which field they're interested in after they "graduate" from #SoyAi, all of them said 'marketing'. Ummm... Houston, we have a problem. I realized that it could be because of the two of us being in the marketing field and they just decided that marketing was the way to go for their choice of career. That was when I called in reinforcements to introduce them to stuff like plannogram, physical packaging, other stuff, not marketing. I never had someone present options like these to me when I was younger. I could've been on the BAU team if I had known more options :P Anyway, the serious shocker for me was in one chit-chat session I had with the boys and we spoke about girlfriends and marriage (you know, they're all 18 and I have to make sure they don't go making babies outside!!), one of them said this : "Ma Eileen, how Ko Richard find you? Because girl same-same like you, cannot find. I want to find." My heart broke a little for him. I wish to tell him, my dear boy, there are plenty of girls who are awesome out there with golden hearts and would be deserving of your love and attention. Instead, I said "If you work hard now, you have a better future, when you are 30 years old, you will find same-same girl like me because Ko Richard also found me when he was 30 years old." Silence..... LMAO.

In one of our deep-meaningful conversations, we spoke about the future. I mean, it's obvious that we will never have kids (I'm sorry to say, but THANK GOD!!!) And to be honest, we don't expect any of the children we help to look after us. We were initially considering some "assisted living" homes in Thailand or something like that.... But we've got a new plan. Here's what we plan to do : we will both continue working our asses off for another 6 more years. After which, we intend to quit, sell whatever we have, and we would go travel to adventure zones doing voluntary work for underprivileged communities. I think we would still be fit and able then (I'm picturing us dodging bullets right now and I'm going "Faster la Fatty!!" LMAO!!)  and we'd try to save the world one community at a time. We still champion the fact that education is the best weapon against poverty.

To the world's most awesome husband a girl could ever ask for........

Thank You for letting me be as "samseng" as I like. 

Thank You for the daily laughs. Every second of it is enjoyable. Especially when I'm pranking you.
Thank You for letting me drive your car even though I constantly "drop sweat in your car."

Thank You for letting me eat you poor :) But you're still the fatter one :P
Thank You for loving me in your own way, the way you know best.
Thank You for letting me love you in my own way, the way I know best.

It's still you and me, just us two :) #4eva 

p/s : font-size changed for the reading pleasure of my Mama & Papa :) 

Me & Fight Camp

Fight Camp 2 - Day 1.... so many campers! 

"Will you join Fight Camp with me?" I asked MOH. His response? "You want me to die izzit??!" :P

So, I signed up anyway. I don't usually train in a group and haven't done a "group" fitness activity like in years! Even at Saya Lone Chaw's place, I don't train in a group. I dunno, call me anti-social? Considering my training regime every mornings, MOH went like "Are you crazy??" Well, I am. I am crazy about training. And when I read about Fight Camp, I just thought - ok - why the hell not. It could be fun.

So, 6 weeks ago, I attended my first ever group fitness boot camp and 6 weeks later, I've survived the last class. How was it? Here's how I described it to my Mama & Papa - in the first week of class, everyone was excited and full of energy, it was hello, hello! how are you! The 3rd week saw us (me included), crawling up the stairs to the boot camp room, too tired to go hello! hello! how are you! Just a simple nod will do - that is if my neck wasn't stiff :P By the 5th week, we saw many drop-outs and that's always shitty because the less people in the class meant more eyes on you!! Noooooo!!!

In the 6 weeks of Fight Camp, my entire body had remained sore constantly. Problem was, I didn't stop my normal training and I was still chasing for that personal best in my sprints, in my 25km runs, in my swims, in my bike every time I'm training and with the additional ten million squats and infinity push-ups I had to do, my recovery time was very much shortened. Don't. Even. Get. Me. Started. On. The. Bloody. Burpees. I. HATE. BURPEES. I detest! I detest! I detest them vehemently.

But you know what? Fight Camp made me realize that many a limits are usually in da head. Many, many years ago, when I started being active, I could never do a full push-up nor a pull-up. As such, up till recently, I had never bothered attempting to do so. And that was me, being "pretty fit". When the coaches said "full push-ups" no "knees"... I was like shit. And then I did like 50 that first class (it was the bloody 10 kicks left, 10 kicks right, 10 FULL push-ups and repeat for what felt like ten million minutes!) And the pull-ups. God, I never knew! I could even "hold" it right up there. Yeah, it was much easier with the coach standing below you going "Hold it! Hold it! C'mon!!!!! Hold it!!" In the first pull-up attempt, I managed to complete 30 pull-ups in a circuit. I was literally quite impressed with myself. LOL! Who knew???

Then came the Death By Burpees. Aaargh. As many of those darn things you can do in 1 minute for 15 minutes. You see, in my head, I don't know why, but only 15 burpees registered. But then a fellow camper pointed out that if you worked out the math, it was 105 burpees in the 15 minutes (105 for me, more than that for those who were much fitter!). I was like - whoa!! What??? 105? I've never done that before!!! I. Still. HATE. Burpees. :P But you see, I'm now forcing myself to do them even in my own morning training. Sometimes, what you hate could actually be good for you :/

Needless to say, Fight Camp was awesome! It was good just to see how fit I really was - and I realized I'm not all that fit. It was good to challenge myself that much more - try 30 pull-ups and then going for Saya Lone Chaw's class the next day, taking it 6 rounds in the ring and another 12 rounds on the punching bag. And telling yourself, it's all in the damn mind.

I love training and I love pushing myself all the time. And I also love seeing really strong people. I like to see determination in people. And there were some serious campers who were awesomely fit. Best part was, we all go there and whilst we trained, we also had a good time laughing. Because by the 3rd class, we're exchanging understanding smiles. We saw each other's legs shaking while doing the Hell Squats, and we're like "yeah, I feel your pain, but I can't even really laugh now cos I if I did that, I would keel over!" And by the way, the coaches just have some seriously fancy names for torture. Who names 1,000 punches "Sweet Sixteen"???? Death by Burpees though, speaks for itself :P

Somedays, I went in to class, willing myself to try. God forbid if I embarrassed Saya Lone Chaw's good name! Then, there were days where I went into class and it's some crazy circuit (Hell Everything :P) and I'm hungry and I'm telling myself, "F***, Saya Lone Chaw can disown me for all I care!!!" :P

Who knew, despite not really going all the way out in Fight Camp because I've serious knee issues and a yet-to-heal sprained ankle, I would still come out gaining yet another level of fitness. I'm kicking harder, I think I've more strength in my upper body and best part of all - I am now able to cause Saya Lone Chaw some pain when we spar. And I think he realized that I've grown stronger because I no longer get a 1 minute rest after 4 minutes. I get a 1 minute rest after 9 minutes in the ring. By the way, I also managed to put on some weight cos I thought Fight Camp was an excuse to eat more... Wooots!!

I'm gearing up for my first triathlon race after a 4 year hiatus this coming October. It's not possible for a podium win but I'll die trying to keep my record clean at least :)

To the coaches (L & L) who brought Fight Camp to Yangon (who knew such professional training could be found in Yangon?? 3 years ago, there were only gyms with equipment from the 1980s!!), awesome classes. You can tell how much I hated burpees because not once was I ever late for class (every minute = 5 bloody burpees as punishment). I will never ever forget Death By Burpees and Buns of Steel. Sadly, I'll be missing the next Fight Camp as I'm gearing up to push all the way for my October race. Hope to be back next Fight Camp!

Meanwhile - to all the other Fight Campers - Fight On !!! And thanks for the laughs and thanks for those who held the pads for me. I truly sucked at holding them!

With the national Lethwei champ - Saya Lone Chaw

3rd Year of loving Myanmar

We got Myanmar wedding portraits done the first
year we were here. Super fun! 

Every time I start my blog piece, I always have to clean out the cobwebs first. Yes, I can't find the time to blog, let alone upkeep it. But I at least make it a point to blog my milestones :)

And then because it is only milestones, I will start with - OMG, time really flew by! 3 years, baby! I survived!! 3 years ago, on exactly the same date, I arrived to rainy Yangon, luggages and all, and was picked up by MOH's colleagues. Traffic was ... huh? What traffic? :P I spent 3 weeks cooped up in a hotel (Shwe Gone Daing Hotel to be exact) and lived out of my luggage because we haven't settled our housing arrangements.

Coming straight from Cambodia, it was still a shocker. Especially the housing arrangement. Admittedly, I had been spoilt silly by my Cambodian landlady who cooked for me and even the slightest "Madame! The door knob is a little loose!" she'll send her handyman running up the stairs. Myanmar? The roof could blow away the landlord couldn't care less because you had already paid your year's rental in advanced. Fast-forward 3 years.... it's still the same. Oh, not exactly. Rental rates had quadrupled in the last 3 years. Don't get me started on the housing nightmare that I've had to experience since arriving to Myanmar. I've had my fair share of indoor swimming pools, indoor waterfalls and landlord who kicked us out.... Ahhh, but this year, this year, (Thank You Mr. B!!), the landlord had been kind, the apartment had no issues (except a tiny leak) and he'll renew the lease for us for another year with only a USD100 increase from previous rent. I'm not hopeful that the leak would be fixed, but I'll live. I just don't want to handle another move. Not in the middle of the rain, not in the middle of my nightmare project at work. And another bright side is - I'm all adjusted to this strange "water pump" thingy as well as "inverters" although ours had busted after 2 years. Let me tell you - that water pump thing - when we first arrived, we had moments where we flooded the house simply because we forgot to turn it off! Pretty sure I'm not the only foreigner to do that :P

Speaking of work........ Haha. When we moved to Myanmar, MOH expected me to stay home and be a housewife. It lasted all of 7 days before I wanted to murder him. First of all, I don't think I was born with the "tai-tai" spoon. Second of all, sure, I can do the housework but with no electricity and no water,....... you've gotta be kidding me :P So, right after the strangulation episode, he agreed I needed to get out and get a job, any job and then DBW sent a Lexus to pick me up for an interview and I was supposedly interviewing for the job as a cashier. She had seen my CV and naturally, she thought I was joking. I told her I was about to strangle my husband and I just wanted to get out of the house. I also told her I couldn't do full-time, to be fair because I have my own businesses which I still oversee. A week later, she offered me a consultant's job with a 3 hours x 3 days per week schedule. 3 years and millions of work bloopers later, I'm still here, still "officially" on 3 hours x 3 days per week... but you see, DBW, she had increased my salary since the first month at work. For the first time in my life, my salary scale had been increased at a tremendously fast rate in a short period of 3 years. Needless to say, the dream arrangement of 3 hrs remains just that - "official". LOL! Today, as a result of 'put your hands up! put your hands up!' I head up the digital team and I drive all digital efforts within the organization, aside from the CSR, IMC, HR stuff and a whole lot more. I supposed, I'm still very passionate about my work and most of all I am passionate about learning. I don't know retail except from maybe doing weekly groceries. But here I am. And oh - I also bring a helmet to work - for all the #bangheadonwall moments :P Sometimes, I also wonder if DBW increased my salary like... like a lot, because she knows that I am using it to help her people - the people of Myanmar.

3 years have also seen my voluntary weekends turn into an everyday job - #myOtherLife :P As most would know, MOH and I started a Youth Centre and a self-sustainability project for the Children of Tomorrow and the climb is still very much uphill. But like my passion with my job, I'm even more passionate with guiding and mentoring all these kids who had really difficult backgrounds and hence, difficult emotional and mental states. Again, steep learning curve. I'm not a trained teacher nor counsellor nor anything. Just using my heart to help them the best way I know how. And with the support of so many great and kind friends both locally and abroad.... I sincerely hope these kids have a chance at a better tomorrow. I'll be honest, some days, after lots of head-banging at work, I feel really tired and I would ask myself - OMG, what did I get myself into? What happened to just volunteering my weekends?? These are days where I feel, shiiiiiitee!! The climb is so steep, I'm gonna tumble and fall with all of them in tow! But most days, no matter how tired I am, when I see their smiles, I see their excitement over a small, tiny win....it becomes all worth it. So, the Youth Centre's lease will be renewed for another year as well. This year, I didn't go cycling 192km to raise the funds. This year, we offered the Centre out for rent for a 6 weeks workshop carried out by an NGO. So, yay! Rental settled! :)

You know, sometimes, I really do miss the Myanmar of 2012 when I first arrived (except the 7-hour power outages, no internet and USD350 SIM card that can't call properly problems :P)... I mean, back then, aside from the awesome no-traffic condition, there was like kindness in the air itself. There was no feeling whatsoever of people being out to get you because you're a foreigner. The rate for flagging down taxis started at 1,500 Ks. No need for negotiation. (Sometimes, I miss those Flintstone taxis too!! LOL!). Donation boxes filled with monies to the brim were placed right out there on the streets and no one would be guarding it and it'll still be there the next day! Everywhere, you'd hear of stories of thousands of dollars in cash returned to owners, laptops lost will be returned, hell, once MOH left his camera in the taxi and the taxi driver drove all the way back to his office to return it without expecting anything. We had a whole block of friendly local neighbours who invited us to their homes for food (and I so love the food!), who came up to check on us to make sure we're ok and we're settling in well into their country. The immigration staff were friendly, the people at the ticketing counter of Shwedagon Pagoda were friendly.

I'm actually really, really sad that I see this diminishing daily. Of course, I still have really nice local neighbours - there's an aunty who cooks for me too! But I don't expect the whole block of local neighbours to look in on us anytime cos these days, there are also whole blocks of foreigners. How many can they check up on? LOL! My saddest is to see the state of Shwedagon Pagoda now. I last went there in November of 2014. Nevermind that the staff was rude, but I felt so taken for a ride with the longyi crap that they made my godson rent when he wasn't even wearing shorts! That place used to give me so much peace, but today, it is dotted with ATMs and LEDs, it's a damn shame. Good thing is, we can see the Shwedagon from a far so when I go on my runs, I make it a point to say hi to Mr. B. But I wouldn't pay USD8 to go in there again. Sadder still is reading the expat forums and being warned about women taking taxis especially at nights. What happened to the safest city in the world? These days, you'd read of robberies, mugging and even petty thefts - like how we ourselves got a few pair of shoes stolen even though it is behind locked grills. (Eventually, I got fed-up and left a note outside in Burmese saying - "don't steal. If you need something, knock on my door to ask. I'm willing to help." The stealing stopped.) When we go out nowadays, we can see how everyone's faces are literally stuck on their phones - thanks to cheap SIMs and cheap China phones.

I suppose, that's the price people pay for building the road towards development. Still, I try to see the beautiful side of Myanmar. I'll never forget this scene I once witnessed - a young YCDC garbage collector ran across this big main road full of zooming cars to push a few hundred kyats into the hands of an old beggar woman. That moment, my heart was like... ohhh. So I very much still believe there are good and kind people everywhere. And they come in many different forms. We may not be rich, but we can still share what we have with people who are not as privileged as we are. The old lady whom I buy flowers from,... well, she's no longer at her usual spot and nobody knows where she went. I pray everyday that she is in a better place, is all.

I've just finished my 3rd winter, and an excruciatingly hot 3rd summer and seasonal changes are like that where your body gets adjusted to the season and then it changes and in Myanmar, it changes abruptly! So, counting my 4th rainy season - it means, I'm well-trained to battle the mold problems - I remember vividly the first year we arrived and the mold was like some sort of alien mold which just wouldn't die or go away....!! Aiyaaa!! I'm looking forward to my 4th winter.... but for now, I cannot wait for 6 months of dreary rain to go away.....

Myanmar's charms may be diminishing, and since I intend to call it my home (for how long? I don't know. We don't know. But we are after all, citizens of the world...).... I'll continue venturing out with my eyes wide opened in case I miss these little acts of kindness that always give me hope for this country and her people.

p/s : font-size changed for the ease of my Mama's and Papa's reading :) 

Eating in the Shwe Gone Daing hotel room when we first arrived. I stayed 2 weeks..
But MOH had to be all hotel-cooped-up for 2 months. LOL! 

Cleaning out our 1st apartment, no water, no electricity, NOT HAPPY!! 

Back then, no car, no driver, life was a lot simpler :)
Here taken after grocery shopping, jungle-trekking back home :) 

Cooking of the hta ma net! YUMMY! 

One of the many local community gatherings we attended...
This here was the cooking of the hta ma net - a sticky rice thing that
required a few strong men to cook

Perhaps the funniest moment ever of my time in Myanmar -
taking the Myanmar driving test! With bad translation and a simulator and
adjustable parking space. LMAO!! 

Thankful for 2014..... Praying into 2015.....

Wow. Time really flew by this year. I seem to find myself repeating that every single year I do my year-end blogpost.

Ok. I’ve survived 3 sweltering hot seasons, 3 mold seasons and this is the third cold season for me in Da Golden Land. Last year, the cold temperatures dipped to 12 degrees. Unfortunately, this year, the cold hovered at 17 – 18 degrees for TWO DAYS! And now it is back to hot, hot, hot. Aiya.

The year had gone by really fast simply because I’ve been kept really busy. As we all know, I started a Youth Centre for the Children of Tomorrow and also kicked-started the self-sustainability project – SoyAi for the Children of Tomorrow. Work had kept me challenged, frustrated but yet still enjoyable at the same time. To top that off, I’ve been traveling home a lot more in 2014 to spend time with my beloved Ah Por (who is so famous on Facebook – if only she knew that!).... and I can't wait to see her again during CNY!

On the work front, I’m pretty pleased about ending the year with a big bang….. well, 3 major “firsts” were approved and executed within the final month of 2014 – namely a Weekend Bazaar featuring various self-sustainability projects in Myanmar (yes, yes, SoyAi included – how could it not??), I also convinced DBW to let the team do a surprise for shoppers and boy were the shoppers caught off guard when the cashiers at our flagship store sang the beatbox version of Jingle Bells on Christmas Eve and finally, finally – the biggest event ever in the history of the company – we held the Active Family Day Out which featured a 5km Fun Walk and a full day of activities to promote healthy living amongst the people of Myanmar. For those who have not worked in Myanmar before, you may not have a clue as to how challenging or frustrating it is to get such “firsts” implemented, because it includes changing mindset, behaviours, fear, etc. etc….. Nevertheless, I’m very happy we managed to get all those dream proposals done! Aside from the usual marketing role (and I’ve finished doing my proposals until 2016….. so…..), I’m also taking on some new projects related to HR, trying to put in place an OCB/IMC plan as well as the big black hole of e-Commerce. All new stuff for me and as daunting as it looks, I’m actually quite excited and happy to have the opportunity to learn new stuff. So right, I do look forward to seeing all these new plans executed for 2015. I’m only bracing myself for the frustrations and challenges ahead. Therefore, I pray for tenacity and wisdom in facing these challenges.

As for my “full-time” job with the kids – in itself, an entirely steep learning curve (like serious f***ing 90 degrees steep)…… after staying strong and positively pushing forth for a whole year with the self-sustainability project and the Youth Centre, I’m now conceding defeat in one battle. I’ve climbed the bloody mountain pulling everyone along for so long and so far that I am now honestly D-E-A-D-T-I-R-E-D mentally and physically. Before I do more self-damage and face a total burn-out, I screamed for help. And am I not that bloody lucky gal who gets so much love and support because help came. Some are still on the way, some aren't so suitable but one thing’s for sure – help is here. What were some of the problems I had to face? To name a key few – caretakers who just wanted to create trouble one way or another, caretakers who saw the self-sustainability project as a mean of milking money for themselves, con artists who didn’t bat an eye on over-charging (read cheating) poor kids who didn’t have a better clue nor experience (stupid me included) and most of all, kids who were giving up left, right and centre because I was pushing them to start climbing on their own – I cannot keep pulling them up the mountain forever. I’m mentally drained because everyday, I spend hours-long trying to guide them in doing business and at the same time, motivating and encouraging them, believing in them and telling them they’re worth something. I’ve let the ropes go on 3 kids so far. Without a doubt, there’s obviously the conflict within myself – you know, that stupid demon questioning “Have you done enough? Are you sure it was right to let him go?” On another hand, MOH had been kind with his words – if these kids do not appreciate the opportunity given to them, shouldn’t my time and resources be better spent on kids who would be willing to kill for these opportunities? I’m still questioning myself and the decisions I made on these kids who gave up. I mean, at the very least, I want to understand why. I’ve actually literally tried every way possible with them. I’m just wondering if there’s something I missed. So, I need to take a step back from this whole thing for moment. Take it easy for a while and at least learn to see that their failure is not mine alone to bear. MOH, sensing I might be going a little crazy and near breakdown point, introduced me to another guy who is doing something for his own country too – the myME mobile education founder who is Burmese but had spent 25 years living in New York. He's really so inspiring with the work that he does with the underprivileged kids as well and shared horror stories about some of the conditions these kids live through (think locked-in-cage, modern day slavery stories) – and best of all, he told me the first year he came back and started the project, he wanted to shoot himself. Mindset and emotionally-scarred kids are tough to deal with. So, it’s not just me! I’m not alone! A few local friends have also stepped up when I screamed for help and are now extending their arms, time and all that to get us all through this period while I…. recover. And it is very inspiring to see that there are many people doing lots of good things here in this country.

I always told my friends (for whom without their generous support, this road would be a lot tougher if it existed at all) – next time I say I wanna save the world, knock me on my head. Don’t egg me on!! Shite. Look at what I got myself into! Honestly, there are days, very many days, I question – WTF am I doing this???? I could be out gallivanting the globe! But what Mr MyME said hit the jackpot – once you see it with your own eyes, you will not be able to let it go. That’s what’s happened to me. I cannot turn away and say – oh, I’ve done enough. Full stop. Pat on the back. There’s never enough I think. Because there’s always someone who needs a bit of your kindness.

The battle may be lost, but I have no intention to lose the war. I pray for continued courage, wisdom and tenacity in my fight.

On a more positive note – there’s a new adventure awaiting me in 2015 – a whole new venture on yet another totally unfamiliar ground. (I see a pattern now.…. I’m always venturing into unfamiliar territories. One day, if the chilli doesn’t kill me, these “blind venturing” would!!). But as my friend and new partner puts it – “How about this? We just close our eyes and jump?”

I’m jumping :)

So, I pray for unwavering faith.

For 2015 – here’s how it’s gonna work for me – I’m gonna continue venturing into unchartered territories, I’m gonna continue discovering new adventures, new things, new places, I’m gonna continue learning and falling and getting up again, dusting myself off (I’ve even done this literally in 2014!!) and I’m going to channel every positive thought to keep me smiling through the year.

I also pray for my family, my friends and all the children to always be safe, sound and healthy and may they always laugh in joy and journey 2015 happily.

As we close the year and before I end my post, I’d like to take some time to say a prayer for those affected by the tragedies of 2014. May you all be blessed with strength, peace and unwavering faith. My prayers are with you too.

Happy 2015!  

5th Year of Marriage : Still DINKs

Well, whaddaya know! 5 years as a married couple :) And proudly still DINKs :) Don't ask us about children - our answer is that we have too many :P

The last one year since our 4th anniversary had seen yet more changes to our lives here in Myanmar. Namely, MOH moved from HTC to Samsung, and with a portfolio increase, his working hours had gone crazier. Meanwhile, my working hours are a little longer at CMHL although still on a part-time basis which is fabulous. And on top of all that - we started a Youth Centre for underprivileged kids and a self-sustainability project for the teens to work on being free from donations and the cycle of poverty. Oh, and we also moved TWICE.... and one more - MOH bought a car too! (he's super-anal about his own car...!) 

With our commitments, we see a lot less of each other and Friday date nights are iffy and almost non-existent. He spends more time at work, with work, with celebs, with the media, with retail, with his boss, with everything work and I spend more time with the kids. We even resort to leaving notes out because we sometimes don't get a chance to speak! We did manage to spend 2 weeks of quality time together earlier this year when we visited Bagan, Taunggyi and Inle Lake. That was really quite fabulous. Other than that - we get breakfast together on Sundays - that's like a ritual and a must. And about a week plus ago, I saw a comment he made on FB when a friend asked to meet up on a Sunday morning... MOH said "Sundays cannot! Breakfast with wifey!" I would've been ok if he said yes. But it was sweeeet that he said that! I didn't know Sunday breakfast was an exclusive time. Now I know :) He also turned down a trip to Korea just so he'd be around for my birthday. Again, honestly, I would've been ok with that. Really. !!

Ok, so right...... it doesn't sound like we have the roaring passion ala Hollywood movies but long ago, before we even got married, MOH had already dispelled my romantic novel notions. Love is not really about "you jump, I jump." Love is about endurance. And how 'bout that? I'm a long-distant athlete ;)

Given a romantic at heart and someone who cried when Jack in Titanic died (even after watching it 26 times), you'd think my marriage would be fireworks and passion everyday! But it's not. Jack never had to live with Rose's farts and warts. Rose never had to live with Jack's incessant snoring. Let's put it this way - they never had to share a toilet, or move apartments every 8 months! Can you imagine Jack saying to Rose : "Did you just fart? OMFG it stinks like KKC!!" That would be funny, eh? Or what about "Are you done yet? I need to use the toilet NOW! NOW! NOW!" LOL!

I think I'm at a point in my life where I don't need the drama or the fireworks. It's a very comfortable marriage - one which we both know our love is strong and sure. There's no need to question if we love each other or not. No guessing games. In fact, we haven't had a fight in like a long, long, long time! (minus the one time I chastized him for driving like a madman and he shushed me so I told him to talk to my hands). Trust me, with our work and the children, there's no time for drama. Only time for love and understanding. And we've both come to understand that we will both need and have our own space to do what we need to do outside of each other. Sometimes, at the end of a long day, there's nothing we want to say or talk about because our brains are so fried, we just want to watch some bad TV and then go to bed. And that's alright. It doesn't mean our love is fading. If at all, I see it as a sign that we are surer of our love and understanding for each other. (And this year is the second time we've had to spend our anniversary apart!)

You know, I never wanted to get married. I was OK living together. But of cos, no one took my side at that time. Not even MOH :P Marriage was not considered and I think the number one reason was because I'm me :P I do whatever I want, whenever I want. MOH just made it easier transitioning into married life. Even my Ah Por says "Why you behave like an unmarried woman??!!" That says it all. And being DINKs make it a whole lot easier (though I have this feeling the powers that be don't intend to let us get away so easily with this by sending us a whole lot of kids to work with and specifically, a group of teenagers with all the teenage drama intact! #shootme) 

And with the kids - what can I say? I spend all my time and energy with them and as much as I know they love me, they worship MOH! I'd show up and they'd be asking, "Ma Eileen, where is Ko Richard? We miss him!" The boys - they just look up to him. Sure, they're afraid of Da Tiger, but he's like Da Man for them. And I can confirm this because at a recent launch for SoyAi, our self-sustainability project, the fact that I was there for the boys' presentation - from practice till the day itself was incomparable to ONE 2-min video MOH sent via whatsapp to the boys, wishing then good luck and saying he believed in them. Hah! They kept asking me to play the video AGAIN. "Ma Eileen, one more time please. We want to hear Ko Richard speak to us." He may not be around on their big day, but his video boosted their confidence by so much. Unbelievable. I also caught the boys practising to sit and pose like MOH...... overheard their conversation saying "This is how Ko Richard sit at the table in front.... you saw or not? In the newspaper, Ko Richard photo. It's like this. No. The hands must be like this. Put here!" That was so funny. But that also made my heart beam with pride. He's Da Man, alright. But he's MY man. I'm proud that he's a great example for the boys.

And what's more - I'm also proud because it doesn't get to his head. If it did, he'd be telling me to be careful what I am wearing outside in public. Hahaha. Yet, he lets me wear as I please because he says if I am comfy and happy, then he's happy. And I like to be comfy. Plus, I'm a hoarder and though he nags me about using a raincoat that is no longer waterproof, wearing shoes that are all holes ("You wear la some more! Sure pokai when you run!") he still lets me. But he'd come back with new gear for me #love

He also still kisses me every night even though I'm "snoring like a pig" as he would say. Sometimes, I know he deliberately wake me up while kissing me just so I am aware he actually did kiss me otherwise I wake up in the morning and deny being kissed. LOL! Me? I just like to wake him up by putting icy hands on his bum or by pinching his butt :P

He may be gallivanting with Ms Myanmar or all the beautiful celebs out there, but he comes home to my dinner-eaten-out-of-the-frying-pan and finishes up every morsel of it. And when we can make date nights or usual Sunday brunches, when he feels like indulging, although I'm like - what's the occasion? he includes me in the equation. In fact, he insists I'm in the equation ("Why do you need to babysit them? You can do that after we come back from lunch!" :P) For that, I am happy. And every time he goes away for a trip, he comes back with lots of goodies for me - junk food, sports gear and chillies. I see other girls get diamonds and pearls, but I didn't marry him for that cos I'm not a diamond-and-pearl kinda girl.

And then there's all that laughs. Never forget - if you can laugh together even if it's just once a day - it's great. Whether it's from sharing Myanmar moments, or if it's taking jibes at each other, or simply - my favourite - playing pranks on each other (ok, ok... more me than him!) ...... just have some fun! It's easy and not time-consuming to have a bit of fun :) And you know what? Don't sweat the small stuff already. In 5 years of marriage, we've both discovered how anal we can both be about certain things. We let each other be as OCD (ok, ok... again, OCD is just me!) as we like, but we also don't go crazy it if it doesn't happen. (like someone going crazy looking for breadcrumbs in his car and couldn't find it........ LOL!) The little things count. The little things are important, well at least to me.

So you see, he may be Da Tiger, roaring ever more so loudly these days (and honestly, I have learnt when I should stay out of the way!! Except when it comes to umm... exercising in the rain or when I'm sick and I get a full-name calling and that is me pushing my luck), in his heart, I know for sure - he loves me.

To my beloved MOH, here's to a great 5 years. We've had our personal ups and downs and we've stood alongside each other throughout...... I'm still looking forward to more and I know that with you by my side, I will always have strength to fight another day. Know also that if the day's boring, I'd be planning my next prank and will continue looking forward to planning more pranks for many, many, many years to come ;) Always sleep with your eyes opened :P

Thank You for making this marriage work so easily. Thank You for loving me and letting me be and do whatever I need, whatever I want (and honestly, the full-name calling - ooooh, I'm so scared :P). Thank You for loving my less-than-presentable dinners. Thank You for being the best thing that happened in my life.

I have enjoyed every moment of our time and marriage together (except when you fart under the blanket, then you deserve a kick!) 

I LOVE YOU and always, Me and You, Just Us Two :) 

Tanaka DINKs :) 

Life in Myanmar : 2 Years On.....

Sunset at Inle Lake... I so LURVE

Hello! I've just dusted out the cobwebs from my blog. OMG.

So right, I've gone through 2 cold seasons, 3 heatwaves and 3 monsoons. Well, actually, the monsoon has just only started - and that marks the start of my annual arch nemesis - Mr. MOLD. Well, I'm more equipped to battle the mold this year - we switched to steel cabinets for our wardrobe. Yeah, yeah.. it's the office type cabinets, not exactly my dream wardrobe but anything to keep the mold at bay! And I think it's time to bring out the vacuum seals and my 'spaceship' thingamajig as well - for the drying of clothes, you see.

Well, whaddaya know. It's been 2 years since I've first moved to the Golden Land..... A lot has happened in the 2 years - we're talking work, we're talking the kids I work with, we're talking apartment-hunting nightmares... and finally - after 2 years, I got to see a bit more of Myanmar and fell in love with Inle and the Inthar people. MOH? He's been busy being Da Tiger at work, at home and with the kids :P

Sure, some of the bright-eyed novelty of this place has faded. Myanmar has its moments - the unbelievable growth rate of the horrendous traffic, the water-pumping system in each house, the power-cuts (yes!! still happening, but THANK GOD and touch wood, at the current apartment, it's not so bad), the feeble optics and the growing greed of the people. I suppose, that's what commercialization / internationalization of a country does to some. I mean, it used to be community-driven society and then now, it's slowly moving towards "to each, its own".... Sad. But every so often, Mr. B sends me a reminder that compassion and humanity is not lost despite. I am still lucky enough to see amazing kindness happening right here. Just the other day, I saw a young garbage collector with K-Pop hairstyle running across the road just to give some money to an old beggar woman. Wow, right? And I am reminded to live by love and compassion as much as I can (and I have to remember compassion and pity are 2 different things!) 

Work... OMG. Work. Whilst the bloopers still happen - work has grown increasingly frustrating for me. I find the biggest problem is changing mindsets. And that is only the mindset of 1 person. I feel that if this one person changes her mindset, the team can really move far ahead. So what happens when there's an inexperienced and risk-averse leading the team? You get status quo that remains unchallenged and ideas that are regurgitated year-in-year-out. Everytime I present a new idea, I hear the same thing "I'm afraid....." or "I'm worried...." either that, or total ignorance of my proposal. In all honesty, there is not a shred of maliciousness in this said person. I know that. But she doesn't know how to lead a team and everyone "cannot do something" according to her. Plus, she only wants to hire candidates with MBA background so the team's still understaffed! I want to help her and I've been doing staff-training, I've put new SOPs in place, I've reached out via emails, sat down with her at lunch... but it seems to be falling on deaf ears. And what's more - DBW is hell-bent on expanding and she's running ahead so fast, I think it'll be a matter of time before the soldiers all fall down trying to keep up. It has come to a point where that said person tries to keep me busy by giving me "English-editing" work to do. I should be so happy with the 'goyang-kaki-dapat-gaji' situation, but it insults my intelligence and my sense of responsibility, so much so, I butt my head in every opportunity I get just so I am abreast of things and I'm doing my fair share to earn my keeps. The last couple of weeks, I've really thought about quitting. I know someone with my expertise and qualifications would have no problem getting another similar job here, but DBW had been awfully nice to me and I also teach the kids not to give up so easily, so I'm wrecking my brains trying to look at how else I can make this work with that said person........ But then again, I think I am at a stage of my career where I do have the choice of working for happiness. Hmmm..... #bangheadonwall 

Now, speaking about the children, looking back, I cannot believe I am THIS involved with them. What started out as just weekend volunteering has turned into a full-time responsibility! Again, might I add - I couldn't have done it without the support of many - all of you know who you are and from the bottom of my heart, Thank You for your believe in me and the kids. You know, it took me a whole year to earn the kids' trust. And who can blame them? So many people have promised them things and not show up. Life had not been fair to them - and again, I have to keep reminding myself when I am with them that life is never fair. Suck it up, man! (Uh-huh..... ok, ok. MOH plays the bad cop. I'm the good one. Haha.) 

Well, things with the kids had been tough. Do you know how it really feels for me? It feels like I am climbing a very high mountain and all the kids are tied to me via a rope and I'm pulling them along. I am so waiting for the day when they will all snap out of the rope and climb the mountain themselves! There's been several problems with the kids and caretakers and I can't believe my arse-luck - 3 out of 3 homes that I support have the same stupid caretaker problems! And then someone (my idol) pointed out that if I supported 10 homes, it'd be 10 out of 10. It's just the way things are! But should that stop me from helping the kids? No, of course not. The monk at the monastery is not allowing the kids to come out to the Youth Centre and so when the monastery boys do come, they have to lie and say to the monk "we're visiting pagoda." *gasp!!* Whilst I do tell them off for lying as we're trying to teach them the right thing, deep inside me, I feel very sorry. Why should they have to lie to come out to learn? To come to see their brothers and sisters? To come to help clean or do some part-time work for the soya milk business? I feel angry and sad. I do. But the only thing I can tell them is for them not to lie to the monk because it is bad, and that if they cannot come, I understand.

The latest problem involved one of the caretakers holding the kids' student documents as ransom. Even if he was the one sending them away (back to their warring and drug-infested villages in upper Myanmar), he demands money in exchange for getting back the student documents - with which without, the kids cannot go to school! When I found out about this - I was hopping mad!! It is outrageous! If little Malala knows how important education is as a tool to change lives, what the f^%$^ is this arse-hole doing? This is the one time, I'm going to risk everything and look at a way to stop this man. Because if I continue looking the other way, the many more kids that come through his home will be affected too. Poor families who trusted him have had to beg, borrow and steal to put money together to pay for the 'ransom'. To me, this is so wrong and someone pointed out that this is akin to HUMAN TRAFFICKING! So true! Holding anyone's personal documents as ransom to keep them in place is similar to human trafficking! He needs to be stopped!

And I did try to write to the NGO I know who is raising funds to build a house for this particular crazy man's Home. NO RESPONSE. I think the NGO is ball-less at best or they don't know how to answer to their donors about the funds being raised for such a home? I dunno and I don't care to know. And here's the reason why I would slap the shit out of the next person who tells me I should set up an NGO so that the funds coming through can be better managed and audited. Last I checked, I wasn't staying in a USD7k per month apartment (in fact, my apartment is right next to the largest garbage dumpsite in this township and the quarter master told me "you pay peanuts, you get this kind of conditions."), I don't get a salary, not even petrol or taxi claims, and I certainly don't get hardship posting allowances. So up yours if you think I'm using donors' money to subsidize my lifestyle. I mean, let me clarify - firstly, I agree, not all NGOs are crap. Some are really doing good work. Secondly, I myself would like to have a proper accountant do the tracking of money and would like NOT to have to deal with money coming through. But clone me, if so. And let it be known - I hate numbers!!

The next up yours would go to those who have remarked on my tattoos, MOH's tattoos and Ti Lone's tattoos and our smoking and whether or not we are setting good examples for the kids.....  You find me another person who is as passionate and as dedicated with the kids, I'll gladly replace myself....! We don't smoke in front of the kids, period. Though, we had been upfront with them about it so that they know this as a bad habit. (yes, yes, note-to-self too). Preferable, whoever you find should also truly love the kids and know all their names by heart and only have the well-being and future of the kids as utmost importance. Occasionally, show them the world by taking them for trips and movies and food would be a plus-point (and just so we're clear, donors' money don't go here, unless specific people request to share the cost with us - and they have and I have to say THANK YOU again for your kindness).

I may not have a receipt for the money that had been given to me, but here's what's been happening with the kids - the results of their final school exams, up to Grade 10 were out earlier this month and the kids from all 2 homes have registered 100% passes, the monastery boys had 4 boys who failed but the rest all got through..... now, I'm just only keeping my fingers crossed for the Grade 11 (much like our SPM in Malaysia) kids who will get their results in June and I hope, really hope they all get to go to uni this year. For the older monastery boys, we've managed to get job placements for them as well and they're doing quite well at work. Pat on the back for them for not wasting the opportunity.

Aside from that, we've started a Youth Centre - earlier this year in January and the kids love having a place like this - not so much that they can learn because classes are still "iffy" at the moment except for English and Art...... there's plans to put in a computer and apps development class in June and a fruit-carving and crafts class too. You know, in their respective homes, they cannot talk so "freely". So when they get to the Centre and see their friends, OMG - non-stop talking!! #SoNoisy!

What's more - we've finally launched a proper self-sustainability programme by way of soy milk and tofu production - SoyAi. The start was really rather tough for the SoyAi team, and needless to say, myself  (think that mountain, now make it 5 times bigger in your head!!). I am someone who has no idea about soy milk and tofu except to eat and drink them. Now, I have to teach kids with zero background and experience how to do this business. Oyyyyy..... what was I thinking???? I keep telling Ti Lone - next time I want to save the world, please just knock me on the head! But I gritted my teeth, I held on, I climbed, I towed the kids along, I encouraged them, I cried with them, I taught them..........  mind you - there wasn't a single day where I didn't want to hang myself, but I always had to remind myself of the kids' background and their Home/Monastery military-style upbringing. As positive as it all sounded on the FB page, I think the only person who knew how difficult it was for me was Ti Lone. He saw and experienced it himself, the difficulties and there were many a moment where the only thing we could do was to laugh privately about the frustrations (in this, I want to say a special Thank You to my Burmese brother, Ti Lone, for keeping me sane during the tough times with the kids)....

Anyway, after 2 months of pain, we finally launched. We lost a team member (he gave up, it was a big disappointment for me, but we all have to move on) and found a new one, and we launched with a #SoyAi "Feed Myanmar" Programme at that - to continue on with the "love" message behind the brand SoyAi. There's still an uphill battle but the kids are learning, slowly, but they're getting there and I'm trying to expose them to as much as possible. Actually, one of my wish list is to be able to send the SoyAi team at least for a ... no nicer way to put this : psych-evaluation. Hmmm....

This whole self-sustainability thing comes down to only one single reason - and that is the children understand what it means to be useful and to stand on their own two feet and not to rely on donations. To teach them this concept was no easy feat. But MOH and I did it. And these days, when kind neighbours come around with cash donations, the kids - on their own accord tell the neighbours "Aunty, we thank you for your kindness. We will not take cash donation because we are really trying to learn to stand on our own two feet. If you have old books or furnitures, we can take. But not cash." And these are kids, who really need the money. Recently, a Malaysian friend came round to the Centre for a visit. Before they left, they wanted to hand cash over to the kids as a donation. I said "You can try..... go ahead." It didn't work, of course. And friend said to me "Wow, you really teach them until like that ah??" ..... I believe I can teach all I want, but if they themselves don't want it, it'll not work anyway. Right? A donor also bought a bottle of soy milk with USD100. The SoyAi team put it towards our Feed Myanmar Programme. You know, sometimes, I know the two boys don't have much food because their salary at the moment from the SoyAi business is miserable - and I want to buy food for them. I want there to be food in their house like how I always, always have food in my house. But they tell me, "Ma Eileen, don't keep buying food for us. We will learn by ourselves." I am so proud of them. Very, very proud. Wait till I tell them I'm going back to KL in June to raise funds for them. I can picture the confusion on their faces already! *grin*

And then there's the whole joy-from-giving attitude they have. Via the SoyAi "Feed Myanmar Programme", people buy the soy milk to be donated out to other orphanages. The team just love seeing other kids with similar background to them getting some dose of "love". And they would chat excitedly about "how happy they were when they got the soy milk!"

I had never seen kids with so much determination to change their lives. The only thing they lack is the "how" and then there's all that bad 'military-style' upbringing habit to break... MOH and I don't have our own kids so we vehemently vowed to do our best and to do right by these kids. We will guide them and MOH can continue being the bad cop (and it's so annoying that he comes in once in a while and in a swell swoop becomes a hero because he brings snacks or he brings them out for movies and lunch!! :P) And education is important. It is the ticket out of their current lives. Funny, when I was a kid, I was never punished by having education taken away from me. If at all, I was punished for not doing well in my education. So, I believe every child has a right to education and I will shoot people who stand in the way of that :P

Meanwhile, I need to say again, my gratitude to those who have been following the kids' stories, to those who share their concerns and love and support for the kids and now for the SoyAi team, to those who have included the kids in their prayers and most of all, to those who cheer for and believe in the kids. Your cheer and support helps keep them going so please, I shall continue relying on your support and prayers for them. Send them a message or a cheer on the children's FB pages. They have access to the page and to the internet! Might I add in a word of gratitude for friends who would be ready to hire the most fantastic social activist lawyer if I do "get in trouble" for the work I do (like confronting the crazy man)..... like people who were willing to spare some time to meet the kids to help build their confidence, speak to them, motivate them, encourage them, like people who would fly a thousand miles to do workshops for them, like people who organized a whole biking-fund-raising thing to raise money for the children.... basically, in anything we do, we have the naysayers and the believers. I THANK you all for believing. And to YOU who would hire the best social activist lawyer, I'm braver because of your promise *ultraman gesture*

And to Myanmar - whilst the "oooh-that's-so-amazing" novelty had kinda faded, I don't intend to be a jaded old hag in this country. I still laugh at the ridiculous situation of being naked with shampoo in my hair and the power-cuts.. what are the chances? Everytime! ... and I know you are always reminding me of your beauty one way or another.

Thank you for 2 awesome years! I look forward to more!