Trinkets tell of my travels outside the Philippines (Part 2 of 2)

 

In memory of the lost bracelets along the way and  in honor of these surviving ones, I have to write a story for you my dear readers about these finds I got from my travels outside the country. While trinkets abound, one has to look closely and feel affinity with the item before buying the same. Sometimes choices are overwhelming that one ends up not buying anything. It can be a visual overload actually at the flea market aside from the noise of haggling. So here is my stories...

These bracelets are made of candle wicks. I can feel the candle texture on each strand actually. I lost one of this, the one with blue-green, green and blue color combination. One can buy stones of value but I found some art and soul in these candle wicker bracelets. It spoke to me like the wind, inaudible yet felt. I bought this in the night market of Siem Reap, Cambodia which is located just a walking distance from where we stayed, a hotel called, No Problem Hotel. From that hotel we would walk and we passed by a foundation teaching children to read before reaching the flea market where I bought a lot of elephant-design pouches and wallets as well as cloths. Siem Reap is the place where the Angkor City is located, and it is one of the best travel destination in my heart. It was an unexpected love for Siem reap for me because I thought Bangkok, Thailand was my place to be.

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This was the best yet unexpected find for me, a choker made of black shiny beads yet intricately woven to look grand and nice and pricey. And yet, I bought it in the market in Bangkok, Thailand in one afternoon when we had our free time to walk around and explore nooks on our own. This is memorable because I lost or gave away every other pieces I bought there except for this one. Thailand is my childhood place to be but I quickly changed it to Siem Reap Cambodia where the Angkor City is located. When I get to go back there, I want to explore the rainforests of Chang Mai and visit the tribe of Karen in the North.

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 The jades are a staple buy in the stalls leading to the temples of the Myanmarese, be it in Yangon, Bagan or Mandalay. As I already mentioned, choices can sometimes be overwhelming because everything is pretty. I bought what again talks to me. I scan everything and then I choose ones I would love to wear back home. I bought a lot of these and gifted them to family and friends, and I guess I regretted given them out because they surely lost these bracelets since back here, jades are not adored, unlike in Myanmar and China.

 The other set is a very enticing set to own. I wonder until now why it survived four years in my closet. I need to have a pictorial with these set soon before they disintegrate. I bought this at the Mandalay Hill in Myanmar (old name, Burma) and the pieces are made of the seeds from the pods of the tree growing on that hill. This means the seed are organic and will eventually brittle down. But then, this photo is taken four years after it was bought. There is the hair piece, a necklace, and a bracelet.

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This bracelet bears my lucky color and birthstone, Turquoise. This is not from my travel but a gift from a dear friend and travel buddy who went to Nepal on an extended trip after we did the Myanmar trip. I loved this one and I wear it all the time. Nepal is in my bottom list and I would surely go to Sri Lanka to see its wide tea plantation first before scaling the mountains of Nepal.  

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I am saving this for last. The necklace is a green Jade and I bought it because I am born under the year of the horse. The bracelet is a jade with pinkish glow. I bought the bracelet in Beijing, China in a store where the watercube olympic structure is located. It came with pearls I did not use ever. The items were overpriced and it was the first and only time in my travels so far that I returned the items and I got my money back because we do not like the modus of the store. After complaining in broken English and not being answered in English, we settled into me having the items and half of what I paid via credit card in yuan cash. So I ended up going home with lots of yuan in my pocket and a credit card bill to settle.  Hall of Shame for this story as backdrop, but I loved these two pieces.