Sibeh chio hor. Freakinnn good hair day this was.

Also, please don't mind this selfie thing I don't usually do it at all. But ya know... over here... I'VE NO MIRROR AT ALL. So I constantly have to use the front camera of my phone as a mirror goodness....

Also... I am told that,

I look Burmese.

Coz ya know why? There are seriously a lot of Chinese here. I mean they're not from China. But they're just like us Singaporeans whose ancestors have roots in China. So some of them can actually speak a lil bit of Mandarin. What I find fascinating is that... they've naturalised completely as a Burmese. I feel like they all have such a strong unifying thread of national identity. Similar to Singapore - they have Indians, Chinese, and other indigenous races like Shan, Karen, etc. But all of them register as BURMESE FIRST. Above all others. I wish Singapore was like that? That we don't look at our CMIO segregation. And that we identify as Singaporean first and foremost.

I see this in Myanmar and it's beautiful~~~~ people of all races coexisting without all that propagandic stuff you see on our TV hahaha stuffing in your face every Channel 5 TV drama the 4 major races. Oh wait, Eurasians are always forgotten.

One thing I learnt about from my Burmese colleague is that over here, they have to give up their seats to monks when they board the bus. Monks are the equivalent to pregnant ladies and old people in Singapore haha. They're God. Specifically monks. Male. Because another thing I learnt that intrigued me was the fact that nuns aren't treated with the same reverence. If monks came begging, you must give. But if nuns came begging, you can ignore. This screams: deeeess-cream-ination.

But one thing lovely is the inverse discrimination when it comes to women in Burmese households. Local women are treasured in Myanmar. You know in Chinese culture how females are supposed to leave the house once they get married? Over here, IT'S THE MEN WHO GET KICKED OUT WAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. That should be the way eh? Coz apparently, the women are the ones who provide for the household so they get to care for the parents and stay.

That was what my friend cum colleague told me. The one who treated me to dinner. I asked her if her family follows this tradition too. She shook her head and said, "Because I'm Chinese, I don't get to stay". Then she added, "But I like the Myanmar tradition that girls should stay because girls...."

“比较关心父母亲”

- care for their parents better [than boys]

When she said that, I was caught off-guard because she said it so smoothly. I exclaimed, "you know Chinese!!!!" and she just smiled shyly. 

I had another encounter with another lady, which I described in one of my Instagram photos.

It's so amazing how there are so many Burmese of ethnic Chinese background. I truly can blend in as a Burmese over here. I just needa get a longyi (traditional Burmese skirt) and I tell ya, I'd be one of them.