As I watched fall arrive in New England from afar, I enjoyed a month packed full of goodness. October seemed a little shorter due to the full week-long holiday at the very end, but it was no less demanding. This stretch of time between the beginning of school and the first break is the longest uninterrupted time we are in school all year! We turned over to the second quarter which means that students and teachers are both getting overwhelmed, overworked, and just tired. But I have been uplifted with the great happenings this month, from visiting friends, to photo events, to a trip to Bangkok, it has made October fly by!

The rainy season came back full force in the first two weeks, dumping loads of rain across the city. There were street flooding and rainbow sightings. But soon there was a noticeable coolness in the morning air and the sun didn’t seem quite as scorching during the afternoon. We are all excited about the cooler weather, the upcoming holidays, and the school breaks. 

Early in the month I had my very first visitor to Yangon! Megan is a fellow art teacher that I met at an AP Art workshop in Vermont the summer before I moved abroad. She is teaching art in Korea with Emily, a music teacher. They planned a short trip to Myanmar for their October break and stopped in Yangon for the last leg of it. It was so fantastic to show these two around and tell them all about Yangon. We went for Myanmar BBQ, walked the streets, did some souvenir shopping, and visited Shwedagon (the biggest pagoda in Myanmar). We had great conversations comparing living abroad and our different cultures. I only wish they could have stayed longer. 

​On October 8th I joined a group of photographers to capture some snap shots of our city. Every year Scott Kelby, a world famous photographer, hosts his annual World Wide Photo Walk. It is a time for photographers to get together and take photos of their neighborhood. It is labeled as the "social photography event of the year," as one of the main goals is to bring together a community of people with this common interest. On the single day hundreds of Photo Walks are held across the world with thousands of photographers participating. 

​The visa situation in Myanmar is very outdated and constantly changing. Even though we live and work here we (myself, Kim, and my coworkers) only have 70 day visas. This means that every 70 days we need to leave and re-enter the country to get a new visa. Other expats I have met have been able to get 6 month, 1 year, or even longer visas that do not require them to leave the country. The only reasoning I can find for the discrepancies is the connection or weight the business has with the government. Either way, it is most certainly a “don’t ask” situation where you must do what you are told.

​Last year they revealed the option to get an in-country extension, which means that we could get another 70 days added to our visa without leaving. Kim and I choose to do this for this visa round because we were not planning on leaving the country. We submitted the paperwork to my school in September for them to take care of.
It was the second week of school when the HR office emailed us to say that the extension did not go through. Due to the election coming up (more about that next month) the government was not allowing any visa extensions. With the sensitive nature of the elections, my school did not want to risk us being “illegally” in the country so with four days’ notice they sent us to Bangkok.

​Who can be disappointed by a free weekend in Bangkok? Yangon is a difficult city to live in due to the limited modernization so it was wonderful to be able to escape to the modern hub of SE Asia. We left Saturday morning and after an hour flight and a short tram ride we were in the heart of the bustling Bangkok. We spent our time wandering around, visiting a few western grocery stores, popping in a few HUGE shopping malls, trying to find somewhere to fix our external hard drive, and enjoying our western hotel accommodations.

​Of course, the majority of our trip revolved around eating! We indulged in deliciously crafted sandwiches, one in particular was a steak sandwich which ended up being a whole steak layered between bread – it was unbelievable. It was difficult to find the “right” place to eat since it was such a special treat, we ended up walking around for an hour or two one night in search for something that would satisfy our high expectations, and I’m so glad that we held out because we stumbled upon the cutest little food truck that served the most scrumptious burgers I believe I have tasted. We continued to gorge ourselves on all of the food that we can’t get in Myanmar: beef, milk, good chocolate, cheese cake, pizza cones, street kebob, etc. Looking back my only regret is that we didn’t drink more milk.
Spending time together was certainly the highlight of the weekend but the entire trip was delightful. It was refreshing to get away and be in a place where we are not gawked at while walking down the street. I can’t wait to do it again soon! 

​One of my favorite times in the week is when I get a chance to make some art. Through photography, painting, digital work, or something else, creating fills my soul. This month I continued to work on my art journal. This is simply a sketchbook that I have been filling with (mostly) paintings based on what interests me. It is refreshing to work on smaller paintings that don’t have a purpose, taking off a lot of the stress that artists can feel about making a finished product and focusing on just the act of creating. Here are the pages that I finished this month: 

​The last week of the month was a Buddhist holiday Thadingynt. We had the entire week off of school so Kim and I set off to explore more of Myanmar. We spent half of the week in Bagan and half of the week in Mandalay. I have lots more to tell you about the week and of course bunches to show you but that will need a post of its own. For now here are a few teasers. 

Another great weekend started with taking it easy and watching E & H so Sharon and Steven could have a night out. Saturday morning we met up with the four of them to go for a ride on the Circular Train. The Circular Train is a slow-moving train that makes a loop around Yangon over a three hour time period. 

On the way back I managed to gu-estimate which stop to get off to be closest to the Shan noodle place that we love so it was only a very short walk before we were seated in front of some noodles and dumplings. Yum! Here is a video of the awesomness (don’t mind how incredibly hot and sweaty we were, three hours on an open-air train in the tropics will do that to you):

Still very hot, we tried to find some ice cream but ended up with this creation called a caterpillar that was so overly sweet and artificial. It was not good. Not good at all. 

I had always admired the concept of couchsurfing, letting a fellow traveler crash on your couch (or spare bed or even floor) for a short time as they are passing though. Unlike airbnb or similar sites where you can rent out your spare room to visitors, couchsurfing is completely free for both the host and the guest. The only thing I expect to gain is meeting new friends and fellow travelers that can share their stories and advice, plus some good karma and hopefully some invites to other’s homes across the world. Seeing as we lived in the middle of Maine, we didn’t get a whole lot of travelers wondering though our neck of the woods; but here in Myanmar, the backpackers are flocking in now that the country is open to foreigners with the hopes to see this unknown land before it gets run over with modernization. With few foreigners that live here and even fewer ones that have extra space to offer guests, as soon as I signed up with couchsurfing.org I began receiving requests to stay. 

This weekend we accepted our first couchsufers, two young backpackers from China, Rachel & Jo’di. We invited them out to join us for our Sunday tradition of dimsum and it was just as delicious as ever. Then we wandered around the mall area and found a $1.80 store where Jo’di explained this contraption to me that was designed to make your face slimmer. I also found a “lame mirror,” as well as a phone store that sounds like they take really good care of their customers.

As we continued wandering the streets we stumbled on the very last thing I would expect on a random back road of Yangon – an Amusement Park. It was the creepiest, funniest, most strange find ever. As it was almost 9pm we expected it to be closed but the happily let us in to wander around and I could only think of one thing – that this would be the PERFECT place for a creepy serial killer movie. Let me set the scene for you.

Firstly it is pitch dark, the only lights coming from the off-colored bulbs on the rides that are almost all standing perfectly still except for the occasional merry-go-round which is spinning without anyone riding on it. In fact there is not one person there at all, visitor or worker. As you hesitantly walk around the plastic characters intended to entertain the children look anything but cute as their creepy eyes seem to follow you wherever you go. I continued to glance behind us to make sure we weren’t being followed by a man wielding a giant machete or something. When I turn back around a man appears out of the shadows motioning to an old, peeling sign that says “haunted house.” Always up for an adventure, the group decides to take him up for it and we hand him $700 kyat ($0.70 usd). With a low, menicing laugh he directs us to a dark doorway that I am unable to make anything out beyond the door frame and waves us a slow goodbye. That was the last time anyone every heard from Alisa, Kim, and their couchsurfers. 

Hehehe, obviously not – but that is seriously what it felt like at this place. The haunted house was actually really good. It was just the right amount of scary/creepy and poorly constructed making it funny.  This is my favorite kind of adventure, when we wander around and stumble upon crazy random awesome things. 

Monday started off another school week, in the afternoon I joined a group for the first yoga lesson offered by another teacher (and yoga instructor) in one of the classrooms. I am so glad to have a yoga class again! On Tuesday I began my first meeting of Photo Club. The idea is to get a group of photographers (students, teachers, staff, ect) together to learn some new techniques and practice together. It was a small but interested group that joined, hopefully I will be able to have a great time in the club this year.

Wednesday, Shelly and I decided to go grab some dinner after school. I took the bus over to her apartment and we grabbed a taxi downtown. We didn’t have a real destination but decided to just wander around and see if we could find something tasty to eat. A short while after getting in the taxi we were stuck in the ever growing Yangon traffic – one of the most frustrating and most unavoidable parts of living in a city (especially one with no city planning). After sitting at a light for a good 15 minutes we decided to just get out and walk around that area to see if we could find something to eat. Of course as soon as we got out of the taxi the light turned green and it speed off. That’s okay, not a big deal, but looking around we realized that we were in the wrong part of town to find food because there were no restaurants –not even any stores- in sight. We did the only thing we could do, started walking. I kid you not, after only ten steps or so the skies opened and it started pouring. Now, of course it was not just sprinkling or raining a bit, oh no, it was one of the normal Myanmar monsoon rains that feels like buckets of water being dumped on you.

Shelly was smart enough to have a small folding umbrella with her but I hadn’t picked up the habit yet. Although she tried sharing, her attempt was in vain due to the miniature size of the umbrella and the massive amounts of rain. Since there was no where to duck into we did the only thing we could – kept walking. It looked like we were in the area of Vista Bar where I had gone over the weekend so I gave my best estimate at how to get there and we trudged on.

After taking a wrong turn we found ourselves at one of the entrances to the famous Shwedegon Pagoda. This entrance is unique in the way that it is split halfway through so a road could run through it. We turned left to take a shortcut through the other half of the entrance to reach the road below. As we were almost out of the entrance hall we were stopped by a middle-aged local lady who pointed to our shoes and said “no.” I realized that we hadn’t taken off our shoes when we came through the entrance because we were going backwards. Normally I try to be very respectful of the traditions and customs of the locals but we were literally only 10 feet from the street so we skirted around her saying “sorry” and pointing to the outside.

Normally I would have loved to take the time to curiously wander through the shops we found at the foot of the entrance but by now we were soaked, hungry, still unsure of how to get where we were going, and grumpy from being yelled at. So we hurried along and after another 20 or so minutes of walking finally, FINALLY, found ourselves at vista where we gladly welcomed some tasty drinks and happily munched on some western food as we watched Shwedegon’s lights turn on. 

I don't think I'll ever get sick of this view, ah, Shwedegon

We arrived in Yangon on a warm dark night. It didn't take us long to make it through customs and find our bags. To welcome us was the school’s director, Almber, my principal (of the High School), Randy, the middle school principal, Chloe, and the elementary school principal, Zoe. We piled into an ISM bus with all of our luggage and were off to our new apartment. Also in our building at Pearl lives Almber and Zoe (along with a number of other ISM employees). The two of them personally escorted us up to our new apartment to make sure we were happy and had everything we needed before leaving us for the night. They provided us with $100,000 kyats (about $100 USD) and a welcome basket that included:

-Tissues
-Toilet Paper
-Milk
-2 apples
-2 oranges
-2 bananas
-Tea
-Sugar
-Instant coffee
-Oreos
-Croissants
-Bread

To see our new apartment take a look at this post: Our Apartment. 

Our first full day in Myanmar was quite busy and really great! After a shower and unpacking just a few things we went downstairs to find something to eat. The first two floors of our condo are filled with businesses, mostly restaurants and stores. When we got to the bottom floor we ran into Almber who showed us around a bit. He brought us across the street to a little market called Asian Light which has a fair selection of groceries as well as household items. We poked around for a bit then went back to the condo to eat at the bakery. The Yangon Bakehouse is a social restaurant who’s mission is to help battered and beaten women get on their feet by teaching them how to cook/bake and work in a restaurant. We ordered a sandwich and some small quiche. It was quite a pricy place (our bill came to about $9 usd) but it was great food and for a great cause. 

Shortly after we finished we met up on the ground floor of the condo with the rest of the new teachers and the welcome staff. We took some time to change money at the money exchange on the ground level then wandered around in Pearl for a bit longer before boarding the bus. The ISM PTA was so kind to bring us all out to lunch at a lovely local restaurant. A few of the parents met us there to welcome us and show their support. It was a buffet style lunch in an old British house and included shrimp and fish skewers with sweet chili sauce, fried rice, thai chicken and vegetables, pork salad, cold sliced beef with tar tar sauce, and a green salad with cheese sauce. For dessert we were served mango mousse and a fruit salad. Lunch was excellent! We were surprised that there weren’t any Burmese dishes and are looking forward to trying true Burmese cuisine.  We enjoyed walking around the grounds of the estate and running back to the porch when it began down pouring. It is monsoon season here (May to October) which means that the sky is almost always overcast and it often lets out enormous amounts of water suddenly that floods the streets and everything else. 

Kim began talking with one of the PTA mothers who, after finding out Kim was a chef, mentioned that her sister just opened up what sounded like a café of sorts that served coffee and pastries. She said that her sister might be looking into expanding to include a wider menu and asked if she could contact Kim. Although this specific opportunity might not amount to anything, we are very excited to be right in our assumption that Kim will be able to find prospective jobs by just meeting different people. 

Back on the busses we were taken to get some household items. We went to Ocean View which is a type of department store with a variety of  household goods and groceries. We were told just to get the essentials and that we would have plenty of time to come back and get other goods. There we purchased:

-surge protector strip
-mop
-broom
-mop bucket
-dish soap
-laundry soap
-floor cleaner
-disinfectant 
-all purpose cleaner
-dish towels
-dish scrubby
-wall hanger for shower
-hangers
-lamp
-toilet paper
-trash bags
-silverware holder
-storage container

All of this came to $58,000 kyats (~$60 usd). The store itself was extremely busy and they only gave us an hour to grab things so it was very hectic and a bit stressful., but it was a good first trip all in all. This is a picture of Kim on the conveyer thing in the store. It is brilliant because it locks the shopping cart wheels so it doesn't roll.

When we got back to our apartment one of the workers from Eco (the business who service and maintains the apartments) came by with an inventory list. We had to go through the list item by item to say what was in the apartment and make sure that everything was in good shape. Our hosts warned us not to sign unless we checked every item. We are missing a few things like a bureau for Kim, a dish drainer, another garbage bin, etc. so hopefully they will bring those by in the next couple days. 

At this point we were still exhausted but we really wanted to try and stay awake so we could sleep through the night. We decided to go find some groceries and headed across the street to the Korean grocery store. This was an interesting experience. As soon as we walked in all six cashiers turned to us and bowed while saying what I assume was ‘welcome’ or ‘hello’ in Korean. As we began to wander around the store there were many more workers standing around who seemed to be only there to greet us (again with a bow). Everything was in Korean and there were many strange items. All of the products were very expensive (as it was a very nice store that was very clean and well lit) but we didn’t want to leave empty handed so I got a box of moon-pie like cakes that I had tried a sample of and Kim got a thing of soda. 

There are no crosswalks so we almost died multiple times crossing the street back. But Zoe said that the locals would get in A LOT of trouble if they were to hit a foreigner, so they might come very close but they would never actually hit you. It kind of reminded me of a game of frogger where you had to try and get to the next line on the road. 

So we went back to Asia Light to grab some things to eat. We grabbed:
-apple juice (~$2.00 usd)
-mandarin orange juice (~$2.00 usd)
-yogurt (~$0.70 usd)
-crackers (~$0.85 usd)
-chips (~$0.50 usd)
-milk (~$2.00 usd)
-chocolate cake snack (~$0.35 usd)
-creamhorn like snack (~$0.35 usd)
-clock (~$2.60 usd)
-2 adapter plugs (~$0.65 and $0.20 usd) 

When we returned we finally were able to get online! Yay! The internet is not quite as slow as I expected, it does take an extra few seconds to completely load a page but it is defiantly better than what I was prepared for. We took some time to Skype with Robin, Sonny, and Stan (and by we I mean me because Kim feel asleep while I was getting it set up. So that was our eventful first day in Myanmar. I am so happy that everything has been going smoothly and that ISM is so welcoming. 

Sunday began with our first trip to the wet market. There are many, many wet markets all around, Zoe led us to the one closest to our building. It was about a half a mile away. As we walked there Zoe shared little tidbits about the neighborhood and life in general. One thing she mentioned was about how they changed the import regulations for vehicles a year or two ago so now there are an extraordinary amount of cars and trucks on the roads making it difficult because the city was not designed for them. Another thing she mentioned was how they tried to fix up the city a bit when they hosted the South East Asian Games back in December. They made the sidewalks a bit nicer but you still have to be careful when you walk around to be sure you don’t step off into a crack or hole. 

We will be making a post all about the wet market very soon!

For lunch it was getting a tad muggy out so we decided to get take out and eat in our very cold air conditioned apartment. I went down to one of the restaurants in the Pearl complex (in the building next door) and ordered from a little shop there. I got two types of fried noodle dishes, one with larger noodles and one with small rice type noodles. Only one of the dishes was supposed to have seafood but they both ended up having an array of shrimp, squid, and fish in them. Although I will eat seafood every now and again I’m not a big fan so that was a little disappointing. We also got a chicken soup dish that was very tasty. I was surprised that there was no chicken in it but rather it was made with chicken broth that was thickened and creamy and served with the thin rice-type noodles. Lastly I grabbed some tea leaf salad. This was something we had read a lot about and was excited to try because it is one of the main dishes of Myanmar. It was a cold salad that had a mixture of things in it including pickled tea leafs, nuts, and seasonings. Each noodle dish was $2.00 usd, the soup was $0.50 usd, and the salad $0.85 usd. So we ate lunch (and had leftovers) for about $5.35 usd.

We met up with the rest of the new teachers and our hosts (the principals and director) to board the bus headed to Shwedagon Pagoda. See our whole Shwedagon experience on this post: Shwedagon Pagoda | The temple of all Myanmar temples

After the visit to Shwedagon everyone stopped at a hotpot place for dinner. Hotpot is where you have a large container of broth in the middle of the table to share with the group. Everyone goes to pick out ingredients to add to the broth, this ranges from seafood to tofu, from noodles to eggs, from vegetables to greens, and so much more. After letting the ingredients stew in the broth for a bit everyone enjoys a big bowl. It was a fun event for sure, the food was good and more filling than I had thought. Kim got a little stressed out when everyone began throwing random ingredients in that didn’t normally go together, perhaps next time we will set up a game plan first.

What a weekend! I can’t believe how much information we have received so far and how much we have learned in just this little time here. I am so glad that we are here for so much longer which will hopefully be enough time to see and do all the amazing things that Myanmar has to offer! But for now, bed, it is orientation first thing in the morning. 

First thing Monday morning I hopped on the ISM bus to school where I finally got to see where I would be teaching for the next two years. The High School has two buildings (one of which used to be the middle school) with a small outdoor space in between. We have one large art room that will be shared between me and the other new art teacher. I will also be teaching out of one of the computer labs for my digital media/ 2d design class. We have quite a bit of work to get the room ready for students next week. The tables and stools were recently purchased from the west and really make the art room. There is a range of supplies that need to be sorted and organized. There are also preparing a small adjoining room for us to use as well. This room needs to have carpets removed and furniture moved in as well as other projects done to ready it for the students.  I’m not sure how we are going to work everything exactly but we will know more when we see our schedules later in the week. (I'll do a post soon all about my school, with lots of photos I promise)

After a tour and a new teacher meeting we went over to the middle school where they hosted lunch for all of us. They prepared a variety of Myanmar dishes most of which were meat and/or vegetables in either a broth, sauce, or curry. They were served with rice and a clear-broth soup. Everything tasted very good and most were not spicy. 

We then had our first Myanmar culture lesson. Zoe started by showing us various maps of Myanmar and Yangon, explaining the different regions and ethnicities who live in each. We talked about different restaurants to go to, transportation, sites around the town, and other various city related advice. Auntie Amy then joined us to talk about Myanmar traditions; she showed us the traditional dress, explained Myanmar customs, and shared with us some Myanmar snacks.  She was so sweet to give us small gifts to go away with. We received one pair of owls figurines – a symbol of good luck in the Myanmar culture. She also gave us these two small dolls always land heads up no matter how you throw them – they are given to people who are down on their luck to show them that no matter what happens in life you can always get back on your feet. 

After school Regi, the other art teacher, and I joined Zoe to go meet Gail, the previous art teacher. She had invited us to her apartment so we could greet each other before she left for her retirement in Texas. Over a glass of wine she shared with us the Yangon art scene and all of the progress she has made with the art program over the years. It was lovely to be able to absorb some of the knowledge that she has about art at ISM and in Myanmar. 

Kim has been keeping busy this week organizing the household and finding her way around our neighborhood. Our new friends Steven and Sharon live right downstairs with their kids H & K; Steven is a Social Studies teacher with me at the high school. On Monday Sharon and Kim went to the wet market to get some groceries. She got 20 quail eggs for 600 kyat ($0.60 usd) unfortunately only about a dozen of them made it home. Pork was also purchased from a meat vendor which turned out to be very fatty and expensive, 8000 kyat for 1 kg ($8.00 usd for 2 lbs).  Being a foreigner that they don’t know they tend to jack up the prices of everything. We are working on developing our bartering skills. It was amazing to come home to all of the suitcases unpacked and the house in order! I am so lucky to have a wonderful partner!!

Although it was fairly late when I returned home I wanted to talk with my family because I hadn’t gotten the chance yet. Luckily I was able to Skype with Andrea, Sam, Zane, Dad, Drew, and Autumn, all at the same time! It was so nice to see everyone and get to share with them a bit of the adventure that I have had so far. Before long I had to say goodbye because I was so very tired! Long and exciting days!

Another orientation day started with the director of the school addressing the entire ISM faculty. He shared with us all about the school’s mission, the school’s directive plan, his philosophy, and what we were to expect in the next few months. Afterwards we headed back to the high school to have a school only meeting. For lunch some of the returning teachers took us out into the neighborhood to show us some good places to eat. Oddly enough many of the usual places were closed (we later found out there was some sort of holiday), so we all hopped in the bus and headed to a restaurant down town. There was a big group of us and unfortunately they only had two English menus, needless to say it took us quite a long time for everyone to order. After which we ended up waiting a while for our food to start arriving, when it did become coming it took about 45 minutes from the first plate to the last plate. I’m not sure if I mentioned it before but we quickly realized here that the concept of one person ordering their individual plate is very strange to them. In Myanmar culture (and many others) they eat by getting a variety of plates to share and all eat a bit of everything at the same time. For this reason they do not wait to serve everyone at once, rather they bring dishes out when they are ready. This happens very sporadically. It is strange and defiantly something we will need to get used to.  After lunch we returned to school where I only had a very short amount of time in my classroom before grabbing the bus back to Pearl.

Kim had been very busy during the day and I walked into an amazing smelling apartment. Kim had found her way to CityMart which is a more high end grocery store for the area that has a larger selection of goods with a variety of meats, frozen foods, cheeses, and a few aisles of dry goods. For dinner she made a delicious soup of carrots, eggplant, onion, pork, baby potatoes, with a chicken curry base.  We invited another new teacher over to enjoy the meal and Li Qi made great company.

The rest of the week continued with about the same routine; I went to school from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm returning home about 4:45 pm after days of meetings and getting my classroom prepared. It became pretty stressful and overwhelming with the amount of information I was presented with and the short amount of time I had to get ready for teaching the following week. But I made it through. I ate out at the stalls near school a couple times usually having a rice dish with a bit of protein and some veggies. Here is where I ate on Thursday:

Kim spent the rest of the week going on adventures with Sharon, H & K. They found the park to go for a walk in, went downtown for an indoor playground, tracked down the stationary store, and did lots of laundry. We have shared washing and drying machines in the building that only hold a very small amount of clothes at one time. Most people find easier to hand their clothes up in their house to dry. There are some very helpful housekeepers who have been hired to do laundry for other people in the building who have switched over our laundry on more than one occasion. They do it just to be kind and don’t expect anything in return. 

It was an intense first week. Everything of course still feels very foreign and new but mostly in an exciting, adventurous kind of way. It feels nice to be unpacked and getting to know the area. I'm looking forward to feeling more settled and for school to start on Monday. Here's to a weekend of rest and of course more adventuring.

Almost all Myanmar people practice Buddhism which means there are an extraordinary amount of pagodas, stupas, and pyas throughout the country. Out of them all Shwedagon is the most revered. If you are lucky to live nearby you may visit Shwedagon on a daily basis but more often it is the dream of many to visit it once in their lifetime to pay homage to the Buddha. There is a dense amount of history and meaning in every nook and cranny, the three hours we spent there seemed didn’t allow us to even skim the surface. 

The Pagoda, which is also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda, is 325 feet tall and is completely covered in gold. The crown, or very peak of it holds 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies plus a 76 carat diamond. It is said to be the oldest pagoda in the world at over 2,600 years old. It has been rebuilt and added too over the years and there is always at least one section of it that is getting work done. There are four entrances that lead up to the main floor, all grand and quite spectacular. Along most of the entrances are vendors selling all sorts of goods including religious items as well as every day items. 

We did participate in a few traditions while we were there, first I rang one of the giant bells - I'm not exactly sure what the meaning to this is but they were everywhere and it was very fun. While walking around the pagoda we each found the "corner" relating to our day of birth (Wednesday morning for Kim and Friday for me). Buddhist believe strongly in astrology and have many superstitions around dates. While we were at our corner we poured water over the buddha statues there to wash away the bad.