At Inya Lake

Myanmar not being one of the top holiday destinations in Singapore was one of the main reasons why we've decided to head there. We thought that it would be a backwards country in terms of development and we were in for a pleasant surprise. It was actually like Malaysia or Batam, not as backwards as we initially thought to be.

Golden Guest Inn

Our contact recommended us to stay in Golden Guest Inn while we were in Yangon. This guest inn is a family-run business, they have built an extension at the back of their house to allow more rooms for guest and the family would stay in the main building. This guest inn is more like staying in a chalet. As I'm not a hotel staying person, this guest house provided me what I needed. It was homely and comfortable. They had wifi, hot water, a small fridge, TV with international channels, air-con, clean towels and some basic soaps.

During our short stay, Tat and his family were really friendly and helpful. They would recommend places to eat and places to visit. Tat is fluent in English while his parents are fluent in Mandarin. So communication was not a problem for us at all. From Yangon airport, it would take about 15 mins by taxi to the guest inn. To the city (downtown) area, it would take another 15 mins from the guest inn. Depending on the time of the day, do expect peak hours traffic jam.

Inya Lake

We arrived early in the afternoon, and with our limited time, we visited Inya lake and just strolled around the area. Inya lake was well maintained and you could tell the cleanliness difference by just looking across the main road. It's not uncommon to find piles of food waste at random corners of the streets, uneven side walks, very little traffic lights and bi-direction one way roads. Compared to Mandalay, I felt that Yangon was messier.


In the evening, we met our contact for some volunteer work. We visited families who lived in the squatters and interacted with them for a couple of hours before we left.  The contrast between the rich and the poor is obvious in Yangon. On one end of the street, you could see concrete houses where the rich lives and on another, the poor are just living off with what they make do with, building their homes with what you can see above.

The little ones are adorable. They were really curious about us (I guess it's not common for them to have visitors) and I was reliving my childhood again when I played their favourite game. Volunteering has always been a humbling experience and trust me when I say that Singapore is good place. As much as we're finding our identity as Singaporeans, in terms of development and welfare, we're considerably better off compared to our neighbouring countries. It's just finding the balance of appreciating what I have currently and being contented with it.