My supper today

Just sharing. This is my supper. I didn't want to buy any food after coming back from work this evening. So I grilled gammon what I bought 1 week ago. I fried vegetables. I had got 2 cans of lager. Later I found out Baguette that I made this morning. I intended to eat it at lunch time. But a pharmaceutical company provided free lunch at meeting. So no chance to tough it.



This morning, inside the shuttle bus.

I live in a hospital accommodation. I work at another hospital which is 5 miles away. 2 hospitals are in a same NHS trust and half an hourly shuttle bus running. Here, parking place is difficult. Moreover, they discourage to use own cars because of traffic problem and air pollution. So we use this bus to commute even though we all have our own cars. Nice. Comfortable.


2 drivers chatting. They all are nice. I took this pic while sitting in the bus.



This is not our usual bus. For some reason, the hospital buses in a shortage or broke down this morning. so they rented this bus for today. In the evening, I saw our regular bus.

Long Island

Rebecca taught me how to make Long Island cocktail. I'm just sharing. It's fantastic. Both girls and boys can have it. Ingredients are :

• 1 part Tequila
• 1 part gin
• 1 part whiskey
• 1 part white rum
• 1 part vodka
• 1 oz sugar syrup
• Coca-Cola
• Orange juice or lime juice

Combine and mix all ingredients in a collins glass and serve. You need ice cubes as well :)

Enjoy!

Various brands of Tequila

Some more drinks are here.

Long Island Iced Tea
Mountain Breeze
Adios Motherfucker
Fat Frog
Grateful Dead
Tokyo Tea
Red Death
Baltimore Zoo
Walk Me Down (Sweet Jesus)
Adios Motherfucker #3
Hurricane
Red Devil
Key West Cooler
Texas Tea
Blue Motorcycle
Vesper
Irish Trash Can
Blue MotherFucker #2
Long Beach Cocktail
Long Beach Iced Tea
Call a Cab
Long Island Tea
Tokyo Ice Tea
Cornwall-Nash
Cape Cod Islander

Black Opal
Swimming Pool
Boston Ice Tea
Georgia Peach Iced Tea
Fucked on the Floor
Raspberry Long Island Ice Tea
Green Demon
Greek Sex On The Beach
Flying Kangaroo
Hurricane Sunrise
Brass Monkey
Kansas City Ice Water
Dale's Long Island Iced Tea
Absolut Stress
Electric Long Island Iced Tea
Midori Illusion
Adios Mother
Coco Loco
Blue Long Island
Double Omega
El Bastardo
Laser Beam
Yellow Bird
Grateful Dead #2
.50 Caliber

Counsellor or Consul?

Basically, I rarely need to use my Myanmar passport as it is not so useful apart from visiting Burma. For ID purpose, I use my UK driving license. When I go to Europe and the States, I use my British passport. Myanmar passport is a pain. The holder will face a difficulty from obtaining a visa to travelling across the world. (an example)

Yesterday, we were talking about immigration matters with a friend of mine, leading to check my Myanmar passport again. At that point, I noticed that on the passport renewal page, stamp showed this passport is hereby renewed to be valid until xx.xx.xxxx.

signed by
Wai Lwin Than
Counsellor
Myanmar Embassy, London


My Myanmar passport renewal page

Counsellor? Not consul? I was wondering how a counsellor relates with a matter of passport renewal, instead of giving an advice to his own people living in Britain. I was a bit confused with that English usage. So I did check with dictionaries.

• Longman dictionary:

counsellor: someone whose job is to help and support people with problems

• Oxford dictionary

counsellor:
1. a person who has been trained to advise people with problems, especailly personal peroblems
2. (AmE, Iris E) a lawyer
3. (AmE) a person who is in charge of young people at a summer camp

• The free online dictionary (www.thefreedictionary.com/counsellor )

coun·sel·or also coun·sel·lor (kouns-lr, -slr)
n.
1. A person who gives counsel; an adviser.
2. An attorney, especially a trial lawyer.
3. A person who supervises young people at a summer camp.

When I checked my first time visa issued by British embassy, Yangon, the official's post was Pro-consul.

So I did search word "consul" in dictionaries. Here is the result.

• Longman dictionary

consul: a government official who is sent to live in a foreign city in order to help people from his or her own country who are living or staying there.

• Oxford distionary

consul: (N)a government official who is the representative of his or her country in a foreign city: the British consul in Miami

consular: (Adj) consular officials

• Online free dictionary (www.thefreedictionary.com/consul)

con·sul (knsl)
n. Abbr. Con. or Cons.
1. An official appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country and represent his or her government's commercial interests and assist its citizens there. See Usage Note at council.
2. Either of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, elected for a term of one year.
3. Any of the three chief magistrates of the French Republic from 1799 to 1804.



My Myanmar and British passport. legal to keep both in the UK.

After all, I was not clear about the role of Burmese embassy official. He is an advisor for Burmese people living in Britain, according to his title on the stamp. Moreover, he was able to authorise to renew a Myanmar passport, according to what he had done on my passport. It's interesting isn't it. If he has been doing those 2 jobs, what would be the role of Myanmar consul in London. Is there any Myanmar consul in Britain? I am sure, last time, U Nay Win was the Myanmar ambassador for the UK. During ambassador Dr Kyaw Win's era, he had to take responsibility of 2 embassies, Britain and Canada.

By the way, Myanmar embassy in London's Green Park is not bad and their service is straight forward while I have been hearing a noise from Myanmar embassies from Japan and Singapore .

My holiday, Harrods soup, Dabenham shirts and Suhsi bar

You may know this week I am on holidays, that means free from seeing dying people. I am in London. Nice weather outside just before chilly and gloomy winter coming, so I went out with my friend yesterday late afternoon. Our destination was uncertain until we were on Jubilee line.

Later we decided to go to Harrods where we had so called "the best soup in London", costing us £16.20 total. It reminds me 21st street rice porridge from Yangon China town. Interestingly, the taste was more or less the same.


Chicken soup £8.20

The Harrods looks like a museum for me, rather than a super store, crowded with European tourists who were taking photos and doing window shopping. Basically many items are for super rich people, despite a full range of consumer products available, ranging from vegetables, perfumes, designer's clothes to electronics and furnitures. I also saw the Harrods financial service.


Harrods at Knight bridge, London


A shoulder bag with price tag £1750



Dodi and Diana memorial on the lower ground floor (You may be aware that Harrods' owner's son Dodi was a lover of Diana. They are killed in fatal car crash in France. It's a tragedy)


Some vegetables available in Harrods. Ma Mi will like it.

From there, we took the tube to the Bond street, going to Dabenham store, the place where I normally buy Thomas Nash shirts. Nice ones with reasonable price. A few year back, I found out that that brand is good for me. Other brands I buy are Maine and Redherring. Fortunately, from blue cross, size 16 Thomas Nash shirts were for only £5 . Their original price was £22. £30 Redherring was only £10. I just took the opportunity.

After that, we walked along the busy Oxford street where we felt hungry. So we popped into a sushi bar at off Oxford street . Sushi pots were on conveyor belt. We also ordered a bottle of Chardonnay. Bill showed £44 at the end. My friend expressed that I was thinking again and again to buy a shirt, chasing a final discount, but for food, I spend too much with ease. I have no idea. It just happens.


Moving Sushi

It is sad

It is regrettable that in our Myanmar, a group of people killed our monks. This kind of event happened in British colonial era. Last year, it came back again while Burma is governed by own people. In fact, the state man is 100% pure Burmese and he is a Buddhist as well. Definitely something went wrong in Myanmar.



The following is the related article published on Irishtimes.com

One year on in Burma

Thu, Oct 02, 2008

INTERNATIONAL commemorations marking last year’s brutal suppression of the popular revolt against Burma’s generals in recent days have had to acknowledge the disappointing progress made since then in putting pressure on them to relax their military rule. Precious little has been achieved through United Nations and regional diplomacy or by economic sanctions. The regime remains firmly in control of Burma and has even been given some political leeway by certain external powers.

Last year’s events were the most important eruption of street protests against the regime since the ill-fated democracy uprising of 1988. They were originally provoked in mid-August by sudden increases in government-controlled prices of diesel fuel and compressed natural gas. At the beginning of September members of the security forces attacked a demonstration involving Buddhist monks, provoking a much broader nationwide protest movement over the following three weeks, in which the clergy took a leading part. As it developed calls were made for political and economic reform, culminating in demands that the regime be overthrown and democracy restored. Huge demonstrations raised such hopes.

It was not to be. On September 26th soldiers and police opened fire on a large demonstration in Rangoon and went on to raid monasteries, arrest demonstrators and put down public protests with tear gas, baton charges and lethal force. At least 31 people died and over 3,000 were arrested, most of whom are still in jail. Within a few days the population was cowed and in fearful retreat. This rapid collapse of this popular movement shows it was more spontaneous than centrally directed. Unfortunately there was not time to develop a more long-lasting and organised leadership, and it looks as though the military is fully back in control.

Four strands of external pressure have been applied to Burma since then. United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has visited the country a number of times, but has made little progress on political prisoners or human rights, including release of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Neighbouring Asian states initially held out the promise of engaging the regime in political dialogue, but have not followed it up. Economic sanctions from the US and the EU are ineffective. This policy vacuum has given India, Russia and China – all with special interests in Burma’s energy resources – an opening to encourage the regime’s highly disputed plans to hold controlled elections in 2010. It is a bleak and depressing picture.

© 2008 The Irish Times

5 Kyat currency note in central London

I think it was in last July. I went to Tottenham court road where I normally buy books. I was surprised when I saw this 5 Kyat note with the Bogoke's head. Just sharing what I saw.

Corruption: Burma, Iraq, PNG and the UK

According to the news, Papua New Guinea will remain one of the most corrupt pacific countries. In east Asia, Burma and in middle east, Iraq are at the bottom of the list of most corrupted countries.

Malaysia’s score in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has not improved this year. The country’s ranking declined to 47 out of 180 countries in 2008, compared to 36 out of 91 countries in 2001 and 43 out of 179 countries in 2007. Source. Thailand has risen from 84th to 80th in the rankings. Source

The UK had dropped from a score of 8.4 out of 10 to 7.7 out of 10 in the last 12 months - the first time it has ever fallen below 8. That means the score put the UK joint 16th on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), alongside Ireland but one place above the USA. Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand were judged to have the lowest levels of corruption on a score of 9.3, followed by Singapore on 9.2 and Finland and Switzerland on 9.0. Somalia was bottom of the list with a score of 1.0, with Burma and Iraq on 1.3, Haiti on 1.4 and Afghanistan on 1.5. (Source).

Full result is here.

As far as I remember, in Burma (Myanmar), teachers corrupt. Students have to give bribes in the name of gift to pass exam or to secure a high mark. Doctors corrupt. Most give more medical attention on paid patients. Judges corrupt for less or heavier sentences. Income tax officers corrupt for less taxation. Immigration officers corrupt. I saw some Chinese with Myanmar passport in London. They never speak Burmese. Civil servants corrupt by saying their salary is quite low. Bribery is everywhere at hospital gates, at the check-points at border areas, On the streets when traffic police stopped the cars. At the offices.

At the same time, partiality is very common in employments, company permits, export and import permits and many thousands of partiality going on.

The worst thing is people in Burma are no longer aware that they have been corrupting. They think that it is a usual thing they are doing.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Lately, I watched Captain Corelli's Mandolin as 7th time in past 7 years. It is a 2001 film based on Italian and German invasion in the island of Kefalonia during the WW II. It is a kind of war, politics and romance.Really nice mixture, I think. Music is also good.

Platic Surgery

Well, today is the first day of Autumn 2008. Sunny in the morning and gloomy from afternoon. I am on holiday and watching TV, chatting on gtalk. A friend of mine shared this link. Apparently it is an interesting web page showing time with gymnastic animations.

When I checked its root, I found some youtube clips. One of them made me shocked. It is about plastic surgery i think.



According to the news, in England, New Castle is the most popular for plastic and reconstructive surgery. But South Africa is an oversea destination for this purpose while the service in Iran is good and cheap, attracting UK customers.I heard that South Koreans easily go this surgery, such as eye lid, earlobe and nose corrections.

One well-known glamorous model benefiting from cosmetic surgery is Katie Price (Jordan)

A trip to Bath

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Today I went to the city of Bath which is famous for nearly 2000 year-old Roman Baths complex . My navigator showed it's 120 miles away from my London place. Some photos here.

Historically, 20 centuries ago , England was a part of Roman empire. Romans built a bathing complex where natural hot spring was available. After many centuries, it was discovered and today it is a tourist attraction place. Here is more info about Roman Baths

By the way, today is the last day of summer 2008 in England.