Our last day in Myanmar was spent touring Yangon. Yangon was known as Rangoon and was the former capital but not anymore.
The city is an amalgamation of British, Burmese, Chinese and Indian influences, and is known for its colonial architecture, which although decaying and beyond appreciation, remains an almost unique example of a 19th-century British colonial capital. New high-rise buildings were constructed from the 1990s (and some are scarily unoccupied and left as ghost skyscrapers and hotels as seen along Upper Pansodan Rd) as the government began to allow private investment (while former national government buildings such as the massive Secretariat Building, as the capital is shifted to Naypyidaw, have been left to rot). However, Yangon continues to be a city of the past, as seen by its longyi-wearing, betel nut chewing and spitting pedestrians, their friendly or even familial attitude towards strangers, its street vendors and its pungent smells.
Yangon’s former name is not the only victim of symbolic changes in this country. For one, the country’s name has been changed. To add up to this identity crisis going on in this country, this city has been stripped of its capital status, the capital relocated to a secluded new site called Naypyidaw built from scratch. The flag too has been changed, recently redesigned in 2010, replacing the old one which replaced another one slightly more than a decade earlier. ( Wikitravel.org ) 
Our hotel 🙂
I usually only show the nice things in anything so many of the nice structures that I like are the old buildings. It’s sad that some of them are not maintained too well. I wish they could maintain it and use them because they are beautiful
More reality photos 🙂
We saw this wall being held up by wood. Maybe to save on demolishing and fixing it, they just put the wood :-O
Market!!! Always a must for us in every city we visit
The market is not too big and it is not crowded – we did not stay long so here are a few photos
We were wondering what these Christmas tree of things were -Apparently they are gift suggestions for the monks. People buy them and gift them to the monks in the temples
Umbrellas 🙂 I posted this in my Bagan post and that is where they are made so if you really want to purchase them its best to buy them where they are made so it is cheaper
Mother of Pearl
We went to this French Home 
Where they sell home accessories and antiques
I forgot what you call these but these are antiques and it was the collection of the owner and it was not for sale. There were several around the place
Love this guest powder room which was full of mirrors
Whenever I travel I like contacting friends in the cities I go to. I did not think I would have any friend in Myanmar!! But apparently I do!!! Cobo and Cathy Nepomuceno. Cobo was my grade school neighbourhood friend while Cathy was a batch mate in grade school in St. Paul’s College of Pasig. We were in touch but really had no time to meet up due to the tight schedule!! They have been living in Yangon for a year or so with their youngest son Luccio. Their eldest, Jaco, is in Manila studying in DLSU.. Cathy is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Sule Shangri-la, Yangon and DOSM at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
