Day 5, How Japanese I looked like,at Botanical garden

Even though getting there was not too easy, I knew it's all worthwhile, when the ticket girls smiled and greeted me.( Same as other attractions, for foreigners, 4 dollars each.) Unfolded in front of me was a long, nice archway out of ivory leading into a world of greenery and flowers. In the middle,was a lake with families of black swans and mandarin ducks. Quite many local families, ( together with novice monks, so good a reunion day) photographing on the manicured lawn. There was one Mtv producing team shooting a pop star here.

There were a couple of foreigners here. I asked a Danish family to help a picture for me. And the girl guide, smiled and waited then to continue her explanation. She replied my greeting.' Mingalar,hello. You come from Japan, right?' She was a little surprised when corrected. But she emphasized again in her perfect American English,

'But you DO like Japanese.'

We said goodbye to each other but minutes later we met again in the groves of huge bamboos ( taller than timber bamboo in my hometown); and orchid flower expo of course. I had never seen so many different colors of orchids before. Steps away, I sat down at 'tea garden' the snack shop, sipping the coffee while enjoying the whole view of garden, rarely at same price paid as locals, 300 for coffee plus 1000 k for fried noodle. I wished I could stay here for more days.

There when I looked around my seat, I noticed the indian couple coming from Mandalay on same van sitting next table. We smiled at each other, wondering how small world it was. Actually it was a small and smaller world, for one dinner when I returned to Mandalay, I met them again in a vegetarian restaurant .

Behind the cypress trees were walking an adult monk in robe, supporting his mom. What a touching scene! In China, when you become a Buddhist monk, you have to break away from your family and avoid showing in public your feeling for them; but here, monks reunite with families each time with more intimater bonds fostered after each goodbye. How nice!




Colonel May used Turkish prisoners of war to develop this 96-hectare Botanical Garden during WWI. The garden features wide expanses of manicured grass, large flower beds, 20 hectares of natural forest with walking trails, a rose garden, an orchid house, a small stupa on an islet i na pond and several other ponds. It's very popular with picnicking families on weekends and holidays.
An open-air snack shop sits on a slope overlooking the park. (from Lonely Planet)