I know the title doesn't quite make sense, but I just wanted to share my joy and excitement -
I am going Burma in June! :D (okay, this is the main point and you can skip the rest of the post)
A colleague of mine was asking me, "why Burma?" and my reply was simple - because i had to drop my thailand-laos plan for the sake of my own safety (to spare my ears from the incessant nagging from my mum).
well, I guess myanmar wasn't exactly my first choice. i considered doing Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri la - Yuanyang but that is beyond my meagre budget of (hopefully) less than one grand. I contemplated India (especially with my new obsession with yoga - imagine going to the renown schools for classes! :O ) but my guts would never take me there alone. Taiwan is on my travel plans for this year, but I wanted to save that for the later part of the year.
so i spent many sleepless nights worrying about a june holiday that may not come to pass. I was afraid with nowhere to go, I really had to stay in Singapore (which I thought wouldn't be too bad since I can still take leave and attend many yoga classes in a day... ...okay I'm kidding!) until one random night when I was sulking over the limitations of my bank account and the restrictions I have as a lone female traveller, my brother said to me, "why don't you go to myanmar? it's a beautiful country."
and then the lightbulb lit up. within one week, I did a feasibility, accessibility and affordability check on the country, and the verdict was favourable. I started looking at lonely planet, travelfish, rough guides and online forums for information on tourist attractions, and drew up a rough itinerary. with a skeleton plan in mind, I was almost ready to go, except I had the hardest task ahead - getting my mum to give me her "blessings" for the trip.
if you had been a teenager once (yes, that makes all of you), you will understand the concept of "choosing the right time to request for something/ break bad news to your parents". when you fail your finals, or want your parents to get you the latest gadget on the market, I'm sure you would take careful calculated steps to make sure the time is right so that you can increase your rate of success by a handsome margin.
so all I did was to adhere to this golden rule. last night, when I was helping my mum buy her own tickets for her vacation in may, I tactfully sneaked in a comment in the most casual manner that I can - "by the way, I'm thinking of going to Myanmar in June..." Well, the key is to sound as tentative, as unsure as you can be - as if you are seeking opinion, and not announcing an already-made decision - even though you may have decided beforehand that you will go ahead anyway (I think our government is quite skilled in this technique)
my mum kept quiet for a while (I may have caught her by surprise) before she replied, "when are you thinking of going?" and there, I knew I had it! silence means consent, and I took her lack of immediate objection as an affirmative reply!
so with that hesitant nod from my mother, I jumped to my feet this morning, went ahead to ask my boss, apply for leave and purchase the air ticket.
and finally, I am off for my third solo trip in a couple of weeks' time! wish me luck and good weather!
