Dinner & a Show at Karaweik Palace

Migalaba! Last month, the family spent one cultural Saturday doing dinner and a show at Karaweik Palace. This has been my favorite outing to date. Our family photo in front of the palace actually made it to my home screen on my phone, replacing the Blarney Stone. Those of you who know how much I love Ireland can understand what a big deal that is! I loved this evening and I love this photo:

Just OK Club Cultural Saturday at Karaweik Palace

When we first moved to Yangon, we were told about the cycle of culture shock. Initially we were in the honeymoon or "appreciation" phase, where we love everything about this new place. We were told that about 90-100 days in, all those little things we love would start to get on our nerves, and we would start to miss home. I had a really hard time envisioning that because I was so happy about everything in this new place, but I did not expect one thing: I did not expect how much I would miss fall! I grew up in Florida, and one of the reasons I chose to move up north was because I wanted seasons. Fall has been my favorite season for the past eight years of my life. I knew it would be different here, but after seeing all of the pictures of apple picking, pumpkin patches, scarves and sweaters, I started to miss that crisp air and the colors of the leaves. A lot. It's (still) monsoon season here, and I'm very ready for the rain to stop. Despite all of this, I will NOT miss winter. Especially Midwest winter. In the meantime, I have blog posts to catch up on, which allows me to remember how much I really do love this new place that I now call home. And for the rest? I can improvise:

On the left, I found some supplements from the Japan Store (like a Dollar Tree). Since fall isn't a thing there, I had to get creative. My makeup stand brings me a little more joy now. On the right, I found a coffee place in Myanmar Plaza today that sells "Pumpkin Special Latte." I think they meant Pumpkin Spice Latte. It made me so happy :-)

Anyway, my newbie family had this little tradition going. I liked to call it our Cultural Saturdays. Our last outing was in mid- to late September, when Daniel found this event at Karaweik Palace. I didn't really know much about it when I was going into it. All I knew was that it did not conflict with volleyball practice on Saturday morning, and it was a chance to spend time with the family. So I was in. 

That Friday was Myanmar Food Day on Main Campus. There are a few "dress up" days throughout the year at my new school. We are asked to dress in traditional Myanmar clothing. We have now had two of these events, the first being Myanmar Food Day (more about the other event in a later post). Each grade level teamed up to prepare traditional local food, and all of the students and teachers were able to come and feast. My favorite dishes were the fifth grade coconut rice and chicken curry, and the tea leaf salad (I don't remember which grade level prepared that, but it was amazing!). I missed out on the 123 Campus Event because I am not on that campus in the mornings, so I was really happy that I got to participate in the Main Campus event! I wore a longyi (the "gy" is a /j/ sound, and the "i" is a short /i/ sound). I had my longyi special made by a tailor. The cost of fabric and labor was cheaper than an outfit in the US would cost. It still amazes me. The tailor had to add an extra panel of fabric because I am SO TALL, and she hand-stitched the beading on the top. I absolutely love how it turned out!

#pauling in our traditional longyi 

*there is another name for the men's longyi, but I haven't quite learned that word yet

The next evening, we all met up to head to dinner. Karaweik Palace is a tourist destination in Yangon and is well worth the visit. It is a beautiful "floating" palace on the water at Kandawgyi Lake. It was a hot, humid, sweaty, bumpy, GROSS cab ride that left us [me] crabby, but all of that melted away when I saw the view of the sun setting. As you approach the palace, there is a long walkway that has stands along the way with different types of food. They had everything from veggies to fried do with dipping sauces. Every one of them was absolutely delicious!

Sunset on the water is one of my favorite things in this life.

Karaweik Palace

The long walkway - notice the food stands along the way

Looking out past the boat decor, onto the water

Sampling the (delicious) foods along the way

"Guards" at the entrance of the palace

The inside of the palace was just as beautiful and ornate as the outside! There is a lot of gold, which contributes to Yangon's nickname of the "Golden City." There were painting and ornate sculptures inside. We turned in our tickets and were immediately able to participate in some "cultural" activities. The girls got thanakha powder on our faces. This is a sunscreen and cosmetic that many Myanmar women wear on their faces. It is cool and creamy, and when it dries it does not become stiff like face paint. Afterwards, we got our Myanmar name based on the day of the week that we were born. In this country, there is no family name. Each person in the family has a unique combination of names that means something different. He gave us a card so we could remember our new names. Donned with traditional makeup and new names, we went inside for dinner.

Very interesting sculpture inside the entrance of the palace

It is very common to get stickers when you enter places here.

Thanakha powder

Getting our Myanmar names

The card told me about my nature according to their astrology. Do you agree? Also, my Myanmar name is Thuzar Khin (pronounced THOO-ZAR, and "Khin" rhymes with "shin").

My "new name" is royal. (I find this interesting because my given name means "crowned.") The script under the translation is how it is written with the Burmese alphabet.

The dining hall inside Karaweik Palace is huge and very ornate. There is a large stage at the front of the room. The stage has golden carvings of the boat and some dancers, and there was a heavy beautiful curtain hanging before the show started. We arrived rather early and had very good seats close to the stage. We put our belongings down and headed over to the buffet. Yangon is a very safe place, so people generally leave personally belongings unattended here. It took me some time to get used to this, but it's definitely refreshing! It was particularly nice on this evening because we had our hands free for the buffet, which was absolutely incredible. There was a lot of traditional Myanmar food, and pretty much every type of Asian food I could think of - and then some! In fact, it was a bit overwhelming. I kept doing laps of the area, trying to decide where to start. Each of us definitely took two or three trips to get more food... and then dessert. The food was so good that I forgot to take pictures of it all. I had everything from lamb to pork to chicken, to rice and noodles, veggies, fruit... you name it, I had it! I did not think I had enough room for dessert, but then I had food envy when I saw the other plates at the table. 

All done up for the event!

The stage

Close-up picture of the top of the stage

Close-up picture of the side of the pillars by the stage

Our (excellent) seats

The (very ornate) dining hall

Ornate details EVERYWHERE!

The food hall

So much to choose from!

More interesting decor at the buffet

 A little bit of everything... I physically couldn't try it all, but I did my best!

I managed to snap a picture of the dessert plate. Those tiny fruit tarts really rocked my world. And this was one of the only times I've had ice cream since I moved here! So yummy!

On top of this delicious spread and wonderful company, we were entertained with a show while we ate! There were multiple acts, all of which were very unique. Some of them were traditional dances that are performed at ceremonies, others were choreographed for entertainment purposes. There were acrobats, storytellers, live musicians, props, puppets, swords, and even a giant sequins dancing elephant! I wish I could describe all of them in the greatest of detail, but sadly it was one of those situations where you just had to be there. I attempted to upload the videos onto my blog a few different ways, but I was unsuccessful. All of them are very short clips to give you a glimpse into our wonderful cultural entertainment for the evening. If you follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook, you were able to see some of them when I posted about a month ago.

Beautiful dancing, with hand gestures that make it all so elegant.

Storytelling.

More dancing and storytelling.

This one had props! These guys were so acrobatic.

These costumes were gorgeous, and there were performers down by the tables as well.

Puppet show! The story was a bit odd for my taste, but still fascinating.

Daniel and Stefanie were fascinated by the puppet show!

Performed at ceremonies. See "Shwedagon"?

This was my favorite act! The sticks and the jumping were so rhythmic and fun. I would love to try this in my classroom somehow!

The swords... their entrance was epic!

#pauling

This elephant dance/battle was also a highlight of the evening!

Beautiful music, costumes, and staging.

Finale: A little bit of everything!

After a delicious dinner and a wonderful evening of cultural entertainment, we stopped at the craft shop outside the palace and then walked around the lake for a little while. The Palace was gorgeous when the lights were on against the dark sky, and Shwedagon was not too far across the lake. This place really is stunning. There is also a little "village" with small food shacks and bars along the way. There is much to explore. At the very least, I hope to come back here soon for a run around the lake!

All lit up against the night sky

The full view

Shwedagon across the lake. So pretty :-)

After our walk, we went our separate ways. Daniel and Stefanie had some Pokemon to catch, and Brenda and I headed to another Myanmar Rap Event. I had just as much fun as we did the last time! In case you missed that post, it is an event that hosts up-and-coming hip hop artists who rap in Myanmar. They have DJs before and after the performances too. The event takes place on the rooftop bar of a hotel with views of Shwedagon. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite nighttime activities here in the city. Each time, we have made new friends with ex pats either living or visiting here. Even though we do not speak the language, the music is still energetic and so much fun to dance to! My favorite is the German guy who raps in Myanmar. I am fascinated (and I look forward to more!). Also, this time they had a photo booth. Excellent addition to a night of fun!

My favorite is where the "hot mess" sign is pointed! Haha! #weready

DJ spinning old school hip hop before the show

This view never gets old.

Epic light show and amazing energy from the stage!

Throughout our night, Brenda sent me a bunch of snaps of various acts from dinner as well as the rap event. For those of you who do not know, Snapchat is a social media platform where you share photos and short videos of moments from your life, and then they delete after they are viewed. I waited until the next morning to watch all of the snaps, and it was like an amazing recap of my favorite night thus far in Yangon :-) I wish the videos had uploaded here, but our internet situation does not always allow such things. All in all, I am loving all the memories I am making and look forward to many more experiences. The cultural show really makes me want to take a traditional Myanmar dance class. I am not sure if that exists for foreigners yet because the country has so recently opened up to Westerners, but it is definitely something that I will be looking into. 

Work is about to get really hectic for me - it's sort of the "calm before the storm." This week will be full of volleyball as the whirlwind end of the season approaches. I was hoping to coach middle school volleyball this year as well, but it isn't in the cards for this school year. Right now, it is also crunch time for my assemblies, as my students will be part of three different assemblies in December. I am ready to buckle down and work but also hope to continue to make time for myself (something I often neglect to do). I am hoping for successful assemblies in the coming weeks, and am oh so grateful for the break from grad school as I enter this busy time! In the meantime, I'll continue to take in as much culture as possible and continue making wonderful memories with my newbie family.