A Birthday Sunrise in Bagan, Myanmar

Back in 2011, I took a cab to Changi beach and shot a sunrise on my birthday. Ever since then, I will try to shoot a sunrise on my birthday to remind myself of the blessings I have had, and to rejoice in the days ahead.

In 2012, I flew to Thailand and caught a sunrise on a sunflower field in Lopburi. In 2013, I trained for 6 months and scaled the 4095.2m Mount Kinabalu, risking my dear life to catch a glimpse of the rising sun. Last year in 2014, I battled the cold winds and meandered through the thick, sandy paths in the dark on an e-bike to catch a shot of the rising sun at Bagan, Myanmar. This blog post details of my account back on that wondrous day.

3 Dec 2014, Wednesday

Unlike the previous years where I struggled to get a shot of the rising sun on my own, I had company this time round! My very sweet friend / travel pal / nanny / chauffeur / doctor / financial controller had very kindly agreed to join me on my virgin trip to Myanmar. After some planning and discussions, my birthday sunrise (as I named it) would coincide with one of the days in Bagan instead of my initial plans to catch it from a bedside window on Inle Lake.

We arrived Bagan on 2 Dec 2014, Tuesday, 8pm and rented an e-bike from a stall near our accommodation. By 5am on 3 December morning, we were up and on our way to Thisa Wadi Pagoda for a sunrise shot.

Upon arriving at the pagoda, we had to remove our footwear (Ahhh… please do not remind me how much I hated going around barefooted) and up, we went on the steps. At the top of the pagoda, we set up our tripods and waited, and waited, and waited, out in the cold, dark, windy morning before the break of dawn.

Just as we thought the dawn has broken, the sun rose from behind the hills, blanketed by a shroud of mist. In less than 5 minutes, it went from less than-a-fraction of a yolk to a full, burning egg yolk. It was simply breath-taking, awesome and a lack for better word – Amazing!

Picture shot at 6.11am

Picture shot at 6.13am.

Just as quickly as the sun came, as quickly as it left.

Below’s a wacky poem which I came up with for the morning sunrise. Haahaaa… 🙂

Early early we rose for the dawn,
Off we go on our E-bike with headlights on.
Up and up the sunrays flaunt,
One by one, everyone else is gone.
Two Ah Xiao’s suddenly went ding dong,
For all you know, tomorrow, a fashion star is born…
(“Ah Xiao” is a Singaporean (Hokkien) term meaning loony peeps and “Ding Dong” meaning crazy)

And thereafter, when everyone else was gone, we did what we loved best!

A friend once described both of us as, “Put these two together with cameras and they are like kids in a candy store” and there is no doubt about that! We were shrilling over how and where to pose as if we were really super models. And the best part was that, both of us were neither the most stunning, flawless subjects, but yet, we brought out the best in each other. And that is the best part of having a crazy travel pal.

My Birthday – hence, the dressed up for the ‘fashion-shoot’! Haahaa… : D

Man-Hunt of the Year

This is one of my favorite pics! Simply loved the context of this pic with the high ceiling, lighting and shadow. Shot at Dhamma-Yan-Gyi Temple.

This is another pic which I loved. The juxtaposition of a small subject in a wide and large space. Converted it to black and white and gave it a dash of colour on my dress. Shot at Dhamma-Yan-Gyi Temple.

My photo pal, travel buddy, stylist, nanny, chauffeur, doctor, financial controller, all rolled in one. What more can I ask for…

Night came and we chanced upon this eatery. Not too long after we sat down, we bumped into Nick (again!) for the third time. We were on the same flight from Inle to Bagan and bumped into him at Thisa Wadi Pagoda during the morning sunrise and then here again at dinner. It was too much of a coincidence. Maybe he was stalking me! Wahahaa… Jes kidding! I wished! 🙂

We invited him to join us for dinner. Upon realising that it was my Birthday, he sang me a Birthday song in Ming Nan language (Taiwanese Hokkien). Awww… How sweet of him.

Bumped into Nick once again (for the third time), and invited him to join us for dinner.

We decided to proceed to a cafe to chill. But as we couldn’t locate a nice and conducive one, we bought some drinks and headed back to our accommodation for some quiet time.

Quietly and sneakingly, Nick had bought a cake (a swissroll) to celebrate my birthday. I was really taken aback and touched as we had barely known each other. Every other year, I would be celebrating my Birthday (actual day) alone. This time round, not only did I have my best friend with me which was already such a bonus, I had such a shweet surprise from a new-found friend too. It was a day that will bring back many beautiful, lovely, memories for a long time to come.

Thank you for the lovely Bday cake, Nick and also a big hug to my bestest friend for the shweet dinner and drinks.

 

 

 

 

 

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