It's the second day of my weekend and I'm heading to downtown to an EU film festival event. I wait for an hour or two as the monsoon has arrived with a vengeance. When I get to the station, parts of it are under water. The station at Thamaing is a living community with people selling vegetables, fish, meats, flowers, clothes and providing food too. I have some time to wait as the train is delayed and I just walk and watch. I am approached by a man with mental ...

'Freedom' is a word you hear a lot and it's sometimes difficult to understand what it means in practice. This afternoon, I get an insight in what it means for people and how it is a natural human instinct. I walk to my local railway station, about twenty minutes away and pay my 100 kyats (8p) for my 45 minute journey to downtown. The taxi would cost 5000 kyats, so I am living within my allowance today! I walk for hours around the area and chat to an English coup...

It's been a very busy day in the office, writing a major four year proposal for funding. Small organisations like mine can only survive through donors, from different countries such as Norway, USA, UK and Australia . Therefore a lot of time is spent writing donor reports or proposals. I leave the office quite late and make my way home on the busy dusty bumpy road out of Hlaing Tharyar to my home. It's an intense city - horns of vehicles, people shouting, cars, bu...

It's Eid today and a public holiday, only announced last week. i decide to head down to the People's Park where the sun is shining and people are out in good numbers. It's a really great laid back atmosphere, especially in the fun area where there are rollercoaster, bumper cars and many other attractions. I look for a place to eat and the choice is red chairs or pink chairs? Then I notice a sign which says, 'clean and tasty' and so the red chair cafe wins! Fro...

It's drizzling and the mist is hanging in the air as I approach the iconic pagoda. I have seen photos of this place, usually at sunrise and sunset and to be here in the rainy season is special. Some are carried on stretcher like means of transport, protected from the rain in their temporary rain capes. Some have travelled for hundreds of miles from within Myanmar and beyond in other Buddhist countries. It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage location. For or ju...