“The Unity of Myanmar’s Noodle”- To Myanmar with Love from Ma Thanegi

Dear Readers,

I know its been a while that I have been totally out of sight. I know I don’t have much excuse for that except the fact of being a working mother is a struggle only another working mom can understand. To add to struggle is that I am pregnant again! Yes thats right I am pregnant again with another baby who will be due on July 18th.

So I decided to dedicate this entry to what I have been loving- food! Since we are getting close to Myanmar’s Union Day- I thought about highlighting something common among all different Burmese ethnic groups and that is "khaut swe" what the rest of the world understood as "Noodle". Here is an excerpted from my Phwe Lay (Grand Aunt) Ma Thanegi’sTo Myanmar With Love: A Travel Guide for the Connoisseur, available from ThingsAsian Press.

"When I am too lazy to cook, I stroll out to the shops in my neighborhood, where I can get oodles of noodles from dawn until midnight. This is one advantage of living in Yangon, the country’s largest city: the availability of a large variety of noodles, some of which were previously found only in remote parts of the country. To a dedicated foodie like me, the diversity of the 135 ethnic groups of Myanmar is reflected in their food, and the noodle dishes in particular.

The majority ethnic group in Myanmar, the Bamar (Burmese), live in the central part of the country, and their two most common noodles dishes,monhinga and mondhi, battle it out for the honor of favorite. But the rest of the country’s population, especially those ethnic groups living near the borders, ignore this rivalry and enjoy their own variety of noodles.

The Dawei people of the far southern coastal region prefer a noodle dish they call kut kyee kite, or "cut with scissors." As the name implies, flat rice noodles are cut, stir-fried with vegetables such as bean sprouts and steamed peas, along with shrimp, chicken, and squid, and then served with a sour spicy sauce. In this part of the country it’s common to see customers bring their own veggies and other ingredients to local noodle shops and hand them over for the cook to fry along with their noodles. The last time I was in the region, I saw two male customers stroll up to one street-side noodle shop with little bags of shrimp, squid, and greens, and then take over the cooking process themselves. I asked them why they couldn’t simply buy the stuff at the market, take it home, and cook it all there. It’s just not the same, they told me.

There is another wonderful south coast Mon dish called kaw yay kauk swe, or "gooey noodles." Egg noodles are mixed with a rich chicken stock that is thickened with a little corn starch, making a soup as smooth as liquid silk. Bits of chicken and simmered strands of beaten egg float at the top. You eat it with a special sauce, a mixture of shrimp paste, lime juice, and some pounded green chilies. My cousin loves this dish and often makes it at home. I’m always standing in her kitchen, asking, "Can we eat now? Can we eat now?"

The Rakhaing race living on the western coastline call their noodle dish ar pu shar pu, meaning "burn throat burn tongue," and also known as Rakhaing mondhi. This is a recipe of thin rice noodles with fish flakes, served dry or in a soup of fish stock strongly laced with pepper and galangal. To make sure the dish lives up to its name, two types of chilies are added: fried, pounded red chilies and lightly cooked, pounded green chilies. I was once visiting the old Rakhaing city of Mrauk U with a friend from Australia, and before I could warn her, she took a hearty bite of ar pu shar pu and nearly set her mouth on fire.

The Kachin and Shan races, living, respectively, in the north and northeast, have some of the tastiest noodles in the country. The rice noodles of the Kachin sometimes have slivers of pickled bamboo shoots in them; the shoots can also be served separately as a relish. These noodle dishes tend to be spicier and sharper in taste than Shan noodles. The meats are usually chopped chicken or pork, whole chicken legs or wings, or pork ribs, all cooked until very tender.

Shan noodles have a milder taste, but their spicy herbs make up for it. Shan rice noodles are usually accompanied by crushed peanuts, a dash of salty pickled soybeans, and something similar to Hoisin sauce. They also have a ladleful of chopped chicken or pork cooked in watery gravy and flavored with a powdered mixture of herbs. The noodles are served with a relish of pickled mustard greens, much like Korean kimchi, but milder.

Around 1990, after peace accords were signed with various rebel groups, locals from remote regions around Myanmar finally enjoyed the freedom to travel. This brought many of them to Yangon. So it was only somewhat recently that the city’s residents first discovered these varied ethnic cuisines. Now, along with more well-known favorites like monhinga and mondhi, we have the benefit of the country’s culinary diversity without having to leave the city.

FACT FILE:

Noodles around Yangon

Ah pu shar pu
"Burn throat burn tongue" noodles are usually served at roadside stalls. They are not found in restaurants serving Burmese (Bamar) and Chinese food.

Happy Café & Noodles
This café serves authentic Kachin noodles. The owner grew up in Kachin State.
62 Inya Rd.
Bahan Township
Yangon
(+95-1) 705-620

Kaw yay kauk swe
Gooey noodles are typically served in Chinese noodle shops. In the Chinatown district you will find numerous venues, including roadside stalls.

Kut kyee kite
For Dawei noodles, look for the stalls inside the compound of the Home Economics Technical School on the corner of Dhammazedi Road and Thanlwin Road, which runs beside the Savoy Hotel."

My Grand Aunt Ma Thanegi is many great things and one of them is that she is a great food and cultural writer. Extremely proud of her and her work toward many things. And I am very blessed and lucky to have such members in my family as I get to learn a lot of things from first hand sources. It’s always a fun when you can have intellectual conversation whether its comes to food or others within your family. If you are interested in Myanmar food and culture you can go to amazon and get a few of her books and recepies as well. Or send me a few request for her recepie and I will find the time to upload it here. In next few months, if I dont have time to write, I will give you all highlights from some of the books that I am reading including many books of hers.

Hope you all love food and love this entry..

xoxo

lovelifelikefashion.com & family

The Thai King turned 78th

Thai King’s birthday would always be my favorite embassy event of the year. There were actually a few reasons behind it-

1. It was my first embassy party to be invited as a kid in 7th grade and the invite came to me personally. The reason behind it was that Nond- my classmate, was the son of the Thai Ambassador at the time and it was labeled “Free Food Day” at Nond House which was the embassy. Of course I didnt dress up for the event then, I was too little to understand what was going on except that we got really good free Thai food. Back in those days- us kids- would room around the food stall early then play inside or do some projects. It was one of the events that our class loved after international day and before the finals or x mas break. Just writing about it made me miss my class of 2006- ISY, we were the batch with a lot of weirdos (i was one too) but we all grew up together and knew each other inside out. I would never get back those kind of friends again…

So moving on… Today- most embassy parties are done at Sedona and most of the functions involved the same people with the same kind of buffet with different stations from different countries. Its all really nice to go as we get to see and chat with the same crowd and the discussions we have with the are great. But I for one, really miss the days when events were held at the Embassy gardens with Embassy staffs made food of food vendors from related countries- the old fashioned Embassy party from the 90s…And that is the second reason why I love the King’s Birthday because it is hosted at the Embassy with tons of food stalls and vendors from different Thai companies and related businesses.

For this year, the Ambassador and the staffs put a lot of effort into decorating the garden into a great birthday party ground with the King’s picture and other pretty things. I love how the food stalls were all authentic Thai food with tons of different choices- all Thai (non hotel food which isnt as authentic or tasty as it should be) with Thai ladies cooking and really with the true smiles and true heart to feed the guests (hotel staffs are great but they cant really smile 24/7 to feed people who complain a lot). I really felt the Thai authenticity of both food and heart at the event so I would say it made a real difference from all other Embassy Party (I hope this post would not take my invites from other Embassies Parties).

Last but not least, the third reason is that Uncle Kallayana, His Excellency- the Ambassador to Myanmar from the Kingdom of Thailand, is the host of this year event. He is not only an Ambassador of Thailand to Myanmar but he is almost a Burmese himself. He lived in Burma for more part of his life than in Thailand during his childhood and his diplomatic career as well. He is a Thai but a Burmese in heart who can really bring the best out of both Thai and Burmese. Not only because he is one of my fellow ISY alums but he is indeed one of the best person to talk to and be around, he really made this year party truly exciting and fun. Thank you for being the host my uncle dear.

As you are reading about the party, you must be wondering, what did she wear right? Here come the fashion part- I wore a blue and pink achike and dress by Aunty Pauk (Moguk Pauk Pauk- u can get her ready to wear at Dagon Center 2 and get appointment to see her at +951 511996). It was actually such a rash job because even though i had my outfit planned for the day, when i saw the achike (the blue and pink du nars) at 2 pm i just couldn’t resist but nagged Aunty Pauk to zip me into a it. So she did in 4 hours the outfit was done (this is not to be tried at home or her house- she only did it because I nagged her way too much). I really love this achike color combo the patterns. Even though this is a duu nar- (which meant the achike only starts below the knees) she made the whole hta main with different patterns that it looks very unique and this is truly what Aunty Pauk does. She takes something old- and make it into something new, something unique and something her. Because this is an Embassy events, she makes me a burmese Yin Phone top to match the longyi. She finishes off the outfit with her very own make up and I just adds the Sapphires, a timeless clutch and a loub to finish of the total look.. Husband is the perfect accessories in his little achike poe- pa soe as well… So for the health and wealth of Thai King- we wait for the next year Birthday on December 5th..


Yes I need a bow somewhere on my outfit

the host and us- Congrat Uncle Dear~

Babyay first cheik~

If you are a Burmese girl, one of the most treasures item in life is cheik. It has been this way for more than centuries due to the respect and treasure we put in cheik. The design, style and value of the cheik defines what kind of the person you are. That is also the reason why there were many competition of cheik among the royal court before British colony. It takes a great skill to make cheik, even the artisans who are trained for more than three years might not be able to make a full cheik longyi. The value of silk cheik is more than 180 times normal longyi due to the time and labor it takes to make one. For my family, we value cheik so much that my grand mother still have the cheiks from their royal court days as they took the longyi with them everywhere they went, even to the bomb shelters.

Thus, this is the reason why I always paid so much attention to a cheik. It not only tells people who you are but it also tells people what kind of a person you are. So for babyay’s first achike, I have to think hard on what it should be.

I finally decided that I would give her one of mine and I choose the one I wore to our engagement swan kyae (donation ceremony for a monastery which we build for my grand parents). Aunty Pauk (Mogok Pauk Pauk) made and a chiek and lace dress for her to wear on her 6th month birthday. She actually ended up wearing it a day after when she went out for her first International day at ISY and went to Kyee Kyee Boke’s little brother wedding. I decided to give her a flower hair piece, bracelets (courtesy of see eii), and lace shoes (courtesy of Aunty Kay~).

For me Aunty Pauk made a longyi with a cheik from three years ago. Its one of Aunty Pauk’s first a cheik that she kept as a souvenir. What Ma boke was wearing was also from the same collection. We had the top (mine with the little curl- her without) and we looked like twins!

i bet u thought ma boke and I are the same person in the picture above!

Aunty Pauk and babyay- they share a birthday- just 39 years apart!

My true big sister and mee.. yes- one is short, one is tall, one is big, one is small, one is dark, one is fair but we are sisters in heart- wouldnt survive the dramatic Yangon without my kyee kyee boat


the three of us… the perfect god sister and god mother for me. I decided to accessorize with pearl to match the light golden color and I wanted to be causal so i just went with a single strand of pearl. My highlight for the outfit was my shoes- my lace hyper prive CL which matches with my shirts lace detailing.

Hope u like it..

xoxo
lovelifelikefashion &babyay

I am backkk~

As the wedding season is back, my works are finally a bit settle and babyay is growing up well- I am back to blogging.

I would really like to apologize to all my readers for disappearing on you, but I will try to be back as much as I can. For now, I have pictures of a few posts (3 or 4) so I am pretty sure I will be updating those for the next few weeks…

For the last six months since babyay was born- i have been exhausted with babyay, running a new hospital and a few other businesses. Its really not a good idea to give birth to your first baby and to start two businesses that are totally out of your usual fields. Thus all your emotions, life and everything that has any time must be invested in it.So my advice is dont try it at home..

Finally to the fashion- last weekend i finally had the urge to dress up (after two to three hours of Aunty Pauk- Moguk Pauk Pauk, brain washing that I am ready to return to life) I decided to dress up for the first time in what I felt like a life time ago. Aunty Pauk zipped up this outfit for me, which was my current favorite (thus if you see me repeating this outfit then just say hi!).

The achike of course is designed by Auntie Pauk (Moguk Pauk Pauk- her number is +95-1- 511996 for people who wants more information) as usual but she made this design especially for this year brides. Even though I am not a bride anymore (i do feel wish I get to be the brides all the time- even though i was for more than most people due to different ceremonies), I do like to dress up like a bride (almost). I believe that I should put in the most effort into an event to show my appreciation to the host (okay- this is actually my BC (before child birth) era believe- no longer have time nor energy for that). So for the first real event of this wedding season- i decided that I should dress up in an achike that I would wear if I were having an ROM (register of marriage) which my husband and I never did.

Aunty Pauk thought this achike has my name written all over on it. She called me as soon as it arrived and said “Thameedaw your perfect achike had finally been made”. It was pretty much love at first sight when i saw it as well. Even though I was not a pink girl (i am red girl!) this achike was really really perfect. I love the color combo of Pink, Purple and Green and its unique design. And also the combination of the bottom design and the corner design are just the most sensational for me. Especially the multicolors cross on the corner just took my breath away. The bottom lines design reminded me of ice cream cone! I love love love it.

For the shirt- Aunty Pauk decided to take purple (to create the illusion of my weight- i still need to lose around 10 pounds to get back to my pre preggo body) and take pink as the top color. We decided to go with the corset- again to hide my baby fats. For the top part, I wanted to have the little curl to ensemble the ancient Burmese top. I really like it and it will probably be my this season signature.

Aunty Pauk also added a bow belt to make sure that i dont go out bow less~ lol~ i know me and my bowss..

To accessories-
Aunty Pauk put my hair up and braided my hairs side ways as well. I decided to take a YSL mail in pink to match up the pink and wear Emeralds to highlight the green in the ensemble.


and with my best accessories ever~

hope you guys like the outfit- next post will be with babyay in her achike dress- stay tune!

Black and White Ball

On the fourth of August, Aunty Khaung Nan from May and Mark held her annual Black and White Birthday Ball. Like always, she prepared a new collection of Jewelry for the gals when Aunty Pauk creates amazing dresses to go with the blings. I have yet to get what the model wore on the runway but all the gals wore Aunty Pauk (Moguk Pauk Pauk)’s RTW (ready to wear) and Couture. Moguk Pauk Pauk RTW collection is now avaliable at her studio in U Wizarya Road near House of Memories at phone number (511996) and it will also be avaliable at her RTW shop which will open in second and third floors of Dagon Complex at the end of the month.

Even though it was a black and white party, most of us chose black- except Aunty Pauk..

To Start out with my sista wore, Aunty Pauk’s Black Couture dress that was made for her. It was actually nude and black with little mirrors on the top and a belt at the waist to show her tiny waist line. Since it was a black, she decided to go with a red theme with her make up and accessories. I loved how my sista paired the dress with a lot of rubies bangles, earring and a red cartier watch. She wore a nude lace Christian Louboutin to match the nude and lace theme she got going on with the dress. To complete the looked she added a black Chanel Classic Clutch.. Just simple, and elegant- thats my sista..

For me, Aunty Pauk spend a lot of time thinking what to make that would not only looked pretty but also hided my fat chuncks. She finally decided on a layered dress that is shorter with tons of layers in the front and a big tail at the back. She even added lace sleeves to hide my big arms and a heart bow to hide my bulging clevege. Out of all the dresses that Aunty Pauk had made for me which I am sure was close to 100 now, this was one of my most favorite. It really brings my spirt ups in the days that I felt like I dont even want to go out anymore. Since i was wearing all black, I decided to bring in the white with blingsss. All of them in total was the set I wore for my wedding reception. I paired the dress with nude Mcqueen lace pair of shoes, which i got to mourn for Alexandre Mcqueen death last year. To finish the looked, I just added my Mcqueen ring clutch that i loved so much… I will post a few more posts of my sista pictures..

Hope babyay is making you happy enough…

xoxo
lovelifelikefashion.com

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Red Bow Vs Black Bow

Dear Mommy’s Readers,

Thank you so much for the love. Both Mommy and me are very blessed with having all of you in our life. Mommy and I will try very hard to update you more often than Mommy has been doing last year. We pinky promise…

I don’t know if Mommy had told you yet about our Tutu obsession. Since I was born, Mommy, T-T yay and I really loved to dress me up in TuTus. Mommy and T-Tyay got me all TuTu there was from all different brands. Out of all my Tutus (i have around 30 plus), one of my favorite was this little black bow Tutu from Baby Gap. We loved it so much because not only it was a little Tutu, it also had little hearts and a big bow of our liking.

So this morning after my wash up, Mommy and I changed into this little Tutu. We decided to wear a red body suits with a very cute doggie in a pearl necklace and lady shoes. We also thought this was one of the cutest bodysuits from Baby Gap. We choose this little red number not only because its cute and red but also that i loved red just like Daddy and Mommy.

For accessories, Mommy, T-T yay and I believed one should never go out without any accessories, we choose a pair of black bow shoes from Baby Gap (I know Mommy had an obsession with Baby Gap too- she thinks they make the best baby casual clothes that is super cute) and of course a red bow for my hair was essential before the outfit could be complete…just like the way Mommy loves it..

xoxo

Babyay & Lovelifelikefashion.com

P.S. I got a hair cut yesterday by Kyee Kyee Boat’s little sista T-T- Sivoephat and U U Nyi Htwe from Cab’s Hair Care

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Babyay Debut Entry

Dear Mommy’s Readers,

Hi There, Its Babyay here. Since Mommy is a bit too busy with her work, me and everything around her, I decided to update her blog on her behalf. I was not too sure what she usually write for the entire entry, so I would just tell you what I wore today..

Today, Mommy and I decided that I want to be in pink and flowers. Just like Mommy, I always pick my shoes first, then the outfit to go with the shoes. Thus, to go with the Pink and Flower theme, I choose my Shocking Pink Flower Sandals that T-T yay got me, on the day of my birth. It fitted me perfectly today, not too big or small. That probably meant I had to wear this pair a lot before it get too small. I was quite happy, since it was the first time shoes fitting me perfectly. Also now that I could finally stand with Mommy or my nurses help, I could feel whether the pair is comfy or not. This one in particular was very comfy and pretty!

To match the pair of shoes, I choose my flower dress with Shocking Pink Belt. I believed the dress was from Carters, but it felt great. I loved how its a babydoll dress with a high waisted belt, so it had good room for my bulging tummy that my parents love so much. I also loved the dress for its flowery mid knees length. The color combo of the dress was also outstanding with orange, pink and white. Just great for a nice day out, but sadly its been raining nonstop in Yangon.

To complete my overall look, I just put a pink bow as my hair piece. Aww, how I love boww.. like my mommy, its a necessity indeed.

Ciao for now,

xoxo
babyay & lovelifelikefashion.com

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Babyay goes to her first Partyyy

A long time ago, two little gals were very good friends, one was a little older than the other.. Then they grew up and they got little gals of their own. So on a very nice Saturday of last week, the older little gal’s brother turned five and had a party. Thus, the little gals went to party.

Soo on the 30th of July, Babyay for the first time went to attend a birthday party of one of my very good friend’s son. My friend and I were very close and since my friend had a little son and a little daughter, we were hoping that our daughters form a similar relationship. Just as my friend was three years older than I was, our daughters are also nearly three years apart. Its funny how not only we were friends and alike, both our husbands thought we acted like twins as well..The party was actually very cute, well planned and fun. Even me, who wasn’t very much into kids party had a lot of fun and thought of throwing one for babyay when she turns 3 or 5. It was the first of many parties for my daughter life and we look forward to many more.

To the party, both my friend and I wore Aunty Pauk (Moguk Pauk Pauk), so as her daughter (baby head piece was mad by Aunty Pauk). I had my Mcqueen and lace Loubs on and it was one of the first time I felt like dressing up in a long long time. Even though I was still big, Aunty Pauk tried to find something cute for me (my sista and Aunty Pauk co-designed the dress). Aunty Pauk was wearing one of her Ready to Wear, which I was dying to fit in (but still 20 pounds too heavy to)… Looking through the pics, I was just so mad at myself that I was super big now. I guess we just have to embrace of the body we have until we can get back to the condition we want…

xoxo
lovelifelikefashion.com

p.s. thank you 7 Pictures for the picturess

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The Last weekend off before Babyay came out

The weekend before Babyay came out was really eventful. After the morning event of Ear Piercing of my baby cousins, the evening continue on to be one of my friend’s engagement. It was pink, it was sweet and it was one of the most personal wedding where everyone had so much fun. It was one of the best events to be just before I would go underground for a long time (which meant I was and still am not going out at all for nursing baby purposes). I wore the only preggo gown that Aunty Pauk made me for the final month of my preggohood, with pearls and my happy lovely red Big Bang…

will catch ya later~
xoxo
lovelifelikefashion.com

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Ear Piercing Ceremony

In every culture around the world, there is a tradition to showcase their daughters when the daughters have come to age. In the western world, there is a ball called Debutant ball where, the daughters(the Debutants) who have just entered their teenage to the Society. In some African cultures the elderly tattoo their daughter bodies to recognize her into adulthood. Different cultures have different traditions and in Myanmar its the ear piercing ceremony.

Most people think that Ear Piercing Ceremony usually would be for the girls ear to be pierced, however there are a lot of meaning behind that. Myanmar culture glorified that there are three main events for a girl before she would get married. The first event would be her naming ceremony at 100 days, then Ear Piercing ceremony to showcase the teenagers into the society, and the last and final event would be taung yan event in which the groom-to-be parents and guardian come ask the girl’s hand in marriage. Therefore, before getting married or to the girls who would never get married, Ear Piercing Ceremony is the main ceremony for a girl life.

In real Myanmar tradition, Ear Piercing is only done after the girl entered or passed puberty as it is when the girl enter the adulthood. In the ancient time, until the ear piercing ceremony occurs, the girl are treated as a young girl or a baby as they wouldn’t need to wear Hta Ma Thein or put their hair up in an up do. The girls can play around with their hair down and wear pretty much anything to run around and they usually don’t have any responsibility. However, when they do enter into adulthood and reach puberty, their parents must held the Ear Piercing ceremony to celebrate their daughters entrance to adulthood and show the society that they have eligible daughters in the house. The guests, who are usually the society they live in and parents of sons and daughters come to the event to congratulate the parents for racing such pretty daughters and acknowledging the fact that they have eligible daughter for the society. After the ear piercing event, then the daughters have to start taking adult responsibilities and to learn the household chores as they are certified adults from the moment onward.

On May 7th of 2011, two of my baby cousins (well i think of them as Babies but they are teenagers already) had their Ear Piercing ceremony hosted by my beloved uncle and aunt. It was one of the event of my life and our family since we were very small family, so there wasn’t much events to really host or celebrate. My aunt ( I actually called her Ma Ma Gyi because she was closer to me in age than she was to my mom) worked very hard to plan this event as this was very important for my baby cousins life (we came from very traditional family). It was done at Sedona Grand Ballroom and the color theme was Gold. We all wore gold in color to match the theme. The Hta Ma Thein were done by Aunty Myint Zu of Zu Zu Collection and the Make up and hair was done by Aunty Pauk (Moguk Pauk Pauk). Of course my dress was by Aunty Pauk no doubt, and it was specially made as I was four days away from giving birth. The event was traditional yet short and sweet. We started by having See Me (Candle Light) dance. The first people to walk into the hall were the Day War Min, Yar Zar Min crowd (it was around thirty people who dressed as King, Queens, Ministers, King and Queens of Haven and other Nats), then followed by the Ear Piercing Party (the Gone Daw Kaing, Pan Daw Kaing- the girls who held flowers and earrings (something like flower girls and ring holders in the wedding) were to be the prettiest of the town- in this case it was my other cousins and their friends), then followed by the parents, then by the Ear Piercing gals and their Ear Piercing girlmaids (Something like brides and bride maids in the wedding). After they were on the stage, the master of ceremony read out scripts that were supposed to be read in these ceremony, then asked the parents to put pierce the girls ears (In the old days, the piercing was done on the stage- my mom had the worst nightmare as her ear was pierced in front of hundreds of guests with just a cube of ice behind her ear as the only pain reliever, but now girls usually get their ear pierced before the ceremony). Then the grand parents of both side feed shwe hta min (Golden rice) to the girls. Then the guests eat the food that was served and the ceremony ends when the girls walked out to say thanks and bye to the guests. Usually in the old days, the marriage proposals come after the ear piercing ceremony and the girl parents have a few years to choose the husband for their daughters. However, that tradition was no longer followed as now girls usually choose their own husband. It was pretty much the most successful Ear Piercing Ceremony in the year as the guests were happy, the ceremony as short and sweet and the girls were the right age and happy.

The main worried that everyone had leading to the event was that I was 4 days away from my due date. Thus the whole family was scared that I would give birth during the event or my water would break. For me it wasn’t that much of a worry as Aunty Cherry (my OBGYN) was one of the guests so as Aunty Aye Thein (my peds) and Aunty Daisy was there. My only worry was that if my water was to break then my achike which i specially ordered to match my wedding Hta Ma Thein and wove silver and gold into with tons of beads would be ruined. However, baby was nice enough to stay in and I came out of the ceremony in tact. My mom wore a pink achike by Aunty Pauk and all of our hair and make up was by Aunty Pauk.. It was a great day for the family to celebrate and welcoming my baby cousins into adulthood.

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