Ume season staeted@ Hanegi park: Jan. 17&24, 2015

It is still mid-winter and cold days continue. Still the daytime is getting longer.

I walked to Hanegi Park in Umegaoka and found Ume (Japanese apricot) flowers started to open.

The park has red, white and yellow ume trees. Only a few of hundreds trees had flowers open.

They have “Ume festival” from early February to early March.

Life and Society @Myanmar: Dec.27, 2014-Jan. 1, 2015

Following the story of "Pagodas, temples and landscape", I write a story on the "life and the society" of Myanmar.

It was interesting to see how the country was rapidly changing.

The economy was still less-developed and the old lifestyle remained. The monks and temples played important roles. 

Still, new economic development started and the waves of new life style began to creep into the society. The mobile phones were already popular. 

I felt strong energy of the people and the society for future changes.

There is a view that Myanmar is 20-30 years behind China and Vietnam in economic development. I agree to the idea. The cities and towns were messy. 

Automobiles were old and trucks were used for public transportation. People rode on the rear decks (See also the photo 2nd from the top). 

People shop in the local markets and at the open-air stools along the streets. 

Yangon’s Bogyoke Aung San Market, the city’s largest market, looked old.

The presence of the temples and the pagodas is big. There are stalls in and around the temples and the pagodas. I saw people buying tanaka, a tree trunk used for cosmetics, at the stalls in the Kaungmudaw Paya in Sagain, near Mandalay. Families gathered in the building of Shwethalyaung Buddha and enjoyed picnic and daytime sleep(the 3rd photo from the top).

Monks and nuns were everywhere. Monks walked around the cities in the early morning to do their morning services. Kids were taking courses to learn the teaching of Buddha in the temples using their winter holidays (See also the top photo).

The waves of IT (information technology) revolution swept into the traditional lives. People used mobile phones and smart phones everywhere (even in the praying places). 

The monks also used IT goods in sacred places.

Electronic shops opened one after another in central Yangon.

I met the pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi in many places including the open-air shops in the street, local markets, souvenir shops in the airport and restaurants. 

I also visited her house in Yangon. She was absent in the day, but I found some visitors gathering in front of the gate. 

I could connect any internet sites from Yangon although the data transmission speed was slow. The bookshop I visited in Yangon had various books in
both English and Myanmar language. They sold George Owell's 1984, too.

Pagodas, temples and landscape @ Myanmar (off off Tokyo): Dec. 27, 2014-Jan.1, 2015

I spent my year-end and new-year holidays in Myanmar. It was my first visit to the country.

The rapid change of the society and economy was interesting. The pagodas (payas), temples and the nature were impressive.

There are thousands of pagodas and temples (including ruins) in the forests in Bagon, an old religious city in central Myanmar. 

I climbed up the Shwesandaw Paya (Pagoda) as well as the Shwegugyi Temple and enjoyed the scene. It was so beautiful. Hundreds of visitors were there to see the sunset.

There lie hundreds of temples and pagodas in the Sagain Hill in Sagain, near Mandalay, the nation’s second largest city in central Myanmar. 

Many monks and nuns live there. Orphans are raised up in some temples. I saw many monks walking around the town for their morning services.

The Ayeyarwaddy River flows through the nation. Mandalay, Bagan and other cities have developed along the river.

I visited many famous pagodas and temples. They included:

The Shwedagon Paya in Yangon:

It is the largest pagoda in Yangon with 2600 year history.

The Sule Paya in Yangon:

It locates in the center of downtown Yangon.

Shwemawdaw Paya in Bago, near Yangon:

It has 1200 year history.

The Shwethalyaung Buddha in Bago, near Yangon:

The Buddha is 55 meter tall. It was built in 994 bt the Mon tribe king.

The Kyaik Pun Paya in Bago, near Yangon:

It is 30 meter high.

The Shwezigon Paya in Bagan, an old religious city in central Myanmar:

Most temples and pagodas in the area were built between 11th to 13th century by the first Burmese dynasty.

The Ananda Temple in Bagan:

It was built in 1090.

The Dhammayangyi Temple in Bagan

It is the laegest temple in the area.

The Sawn Oo Pon Nya Shin Paya, at the top of the Sagain Hill, Sagain, Near Mandalay:

The scene from here was beautiful.

The Maha Muni Bhddha in Maha Muni Temple in Mandalay:

Gold leaves have been added on the Buddha sculpture for centuries. 

The Kuthodaw Paya in Mandalay:

729 small pagodas are build around a big pagoda. Each small pagoda has a stone plate inside, on which the Buddhism text words were curved.

I also visited many other places.

The story of the "life and society" of Myanmar is posted in other page.