May's Travelogue

I was surprised to learn from friends who have travelled to Europe that many hotels there don't provide single-use toothbrushes or toothpaste and that guests need to bring their own. This was surprising because the hotels I’ve visited always provide these items. I always use my own personal items when travelling and rarely use single-use items, so it wasn’t a problem for me. However, I did wonder why wealthy European countries would skimp on such minor items. When shopping at supermarkets abroad, I noticed they don't provide plastic bags for free. Initially, I didn’t pay much attention, but I soon realized that every customer brought their own bags. At the checkout counter, they would scan the items and place them in their own bags. Cashiers don’t bag items; they simply scan and push them to the customer. One day, I forgot to bring a bag and ended up buying more items than planned. Struggling to carry everything, I noticed paper bags near the entrance. Assuming they were free, ...

Just as every region or country has its own traditions and every village has its unique customs, each country has different beliefs, behaviours, and policies. When you visit another country, you may notice that some things are better than at home, while other things may be less convenient. This is natural, I think. When we arrived in Tokyo, we found it hard to find trash cans. Even before going, I had heard that it was difficult to find places to throw away trash and that people often had to carry it home. But I didn’t see people carrying trash bags around. I couldn’t find trash cans either. Yet, the city was clean, and I rarely saw street sweepers. I did see garbage trucks, though. This experience made me reflect on how we also don’t have many trash cans in Myanmar. Personally, I find it quite troublesome because even something as small as a tissue can be difficult to dispose of properly. My bag ends up filled with litter. Since trash cans are scarce, they accumulate. In Singapore...

For me, Italy can be aptly called "The Land of Graffiti." Everywhere you go in Italy, you can find graffiti. While France also has its share of graffiti, it isn't as abundant as it is in Italy. Graffiti enthusiasts argue that this art form brightens up the area, adding vibrancy and character. Although I appreciate the sentiment, my preference has always leaned towards clean and orderly surroundings, making it challenging for me to fully embrace graffiti. I have had to make a considerable effort to understand and appreciate it, given my inclination towards tidiness. Historically, graffiti emerged as a medium for people to express dissatisfaction, spread revolutionary messages, share poems, or communicate secretly. In Italy, particularly in Rome, almost every wall is covered with various forms of graffiti. The walls are adorned with colourful letters and vivid drawings that are captivating in their own right.  Everywhere you look, you can see spray-painted letters and drawi...

One of my teachers told me once, that when you hesitate whether to continue your journey or U-turn to the beginning, that’s halfway as your destination is closer to you. Halfway is very important to success because most people give up their ambition at that point when they suffer the most difficult challenges and lose their energy.  Let me tell you a story to elucidate how true it is.  When I arrived at Cameron Highland, it was a high season bustling with tourists. We were not able to find private cars as well as all group tours were fully booked. As our second-day plan was to visit the tea garden, transportation issues made us distressed. I checked with local people about the location and the distance from the town; they said it took 35 min and we could walk slowly to reach BOH tea garden. Therefore, we decided to go on foot enthusiastically.  Maybe it’s true for some residents, or maybe that men pranked us. It took about 15 min from the hotel to the foothill, and we not...

  Panorama Beauty of Uluwatu It took about four months to prepare to go to Bali. As I wanted to relax on the beautiful Islands for a moment, I decided to go there free and easy.  I made a detailed plan for each day by taking time to search for information from several resources.  During the promotion, I bought air tickets even though the vacation was a bit far.  And then, I also made hotel bookings very early.  As everything was fine, I was very excited about the coming trip and couldn't wait to see Bali. The day I waited for was closer and closer, day by day.  One day, only a week to go to Bali, I saw breaking news about the Volcano in Bali on the internet. The volcano known as  Mt. Agung has been dormant for a long time, since 1963. It now produced several warning signs, in 2017. As the ash cloud formed above the volcano, many people from the villages around there were evacuated at once.  I started to worry and hesitated whether I should go or n...

Many pessimists judge that travelling wastes money.  In our country, elderly people used to go on pilgrimage because it can avoid others' criticism.  For me, the definition of travel is just self-love giving myself freedom and cheerfulness. When I worked in Singapore, I got a reasonable salary but I had only left a little money after managing my income; some was transferred to family abroad, some was saved in a Bank in my country, some for room rental, phone bill, taxes and insurance.   Feeling exhausted and stressed, I frequently think of quitting my job after working hard continuously, but, my mind refreshes again when I see my salary at the end of the month. Nevertheless, it is a very short time because, as I said above, only a very little money for personal expenditures is left in my bank account.  It's like meditation counting on come in, come out. I think, "What a pity! What a thrifty life! However high my salary is, I still cannot expend as I wish." But s...

I felt like the richest entity in Japan was Washrooms.  We can find them easily everywhere and they are very clean and fanciful. (In Singapore, it is always shown as "Toilets" but we can see it as " Washroom" in Japan.) However, one problem is to flush out. There are plenty of switches which are mostly described in the Japanese language. Designs are also different from one place to another. As we foreigners cannot read the descriptions, it is very hard to find the flush button. Therefore, I take much time to come out of each washroom. It's not working taking note of symbols and word styles because designs vary depending on places. Sometimes, I fly blind to press any button, but the water splashes out at me. "Hmm ..., quite interesting!" We the tourmates sometimes share information about the location of the flush button in the specific washrooms. In this situation, we don't need to take time to use it and just relax.  One day, after a few hours of s...

I am not sure people how to define the Highway. My personal understanding is just simple. "It's ‌a city bypass and always constructed far from town or city. It connects one town to another which are distance of miles. It is wide and has several lanes so that the vehicles can drive safely and swiftly." If you ask, "Is that all?"  I would say, "That's all"  According to our country's situation and my experiences that I passed through, I am not able to define more than that. It's true. When we visited Japan, we chose to hire a private coach as our group size was medium. It can not only save our time but also our expenses. We had no plan to take the bullet train at this time due to many reasons. It took more than 6 hours from Fuji to Kyoto even though the bullet train would take only 3 hours. But it was still a better option to visit many attraction places.  As a writer, taking a coach along the journey is the most precious experience as I can ...