Yangon Post

The conflicts and challenges of working and living in Burma

Our next shipment was meant to have left Yangon this morning. It didn’t. Our jam-packed container is still sitting in the docks, waiting for an obscure new piece of paperwork which conforms to some new regulations which came in last month.

“This was always going to be a difficult shipment,” I hear myself say to Rosiam, our Yangon Manager, implying to us both that Corona is behind the problems. And to an extent that’s true: Corona has created more red tape for imports and exports, and some inevitable delays. But in truth, these have very little to do with why this shipment has been a struggle to get together. 

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As soothing as they are, we're not talking about throat pastilles.

The COLOURS. They seem to fit into everything anywhere, to go with every outfit, with every painting, with every room scheme.

So here's the low-down on why they're been such a success story, and when they first came onto the scene...

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Where to buy great value original artworks and prints online

An art-world sage once told me that when you're young, you should just take a deep breath and buy art you love, even if you can't afford it, because you definitely won't be able to afford it later. Now this is very fun advice. I haven't done terribly well yet, but if you're ready to buy, or fancy a browse and either shelling out on a bit of a stonker, or snapping up a £10 print to cheer you up, here are the places I scroll through of a lockdown day. 

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The Orwell Shoe Horn

I'll be honest with you, I thought this was a bit of a rogue product when we launched. Who even uses a shoehorn?

Just try it, said my husband. They're beautiful. You never see such long ones anywhere else. And men will love them.

Well....as much as it galls me to admit it, he was absolutely right (on this occasion). This was one of our first products, and since day one has been a bestseller.

So why do people love them?

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Remember the days when working from home was the privilege of the few? When we longed to roll from bed, through toast and tea into our desk chairs, without the honk of a bus or clack of a shoe on pavement? When the ability to whip up a quick spaghetti alle vongole for your working lunch was just not an option?

Well here we are, in week 12 of lockdown, all living that long sought-after dream. Over 60 working days of no shoes. 60 days of zoom calls. 60 days of living in a fusion of our home and work lives.

And for lots of us, it really has been a dream. But plenty of people are ready to return to reality and go back to the office. Here are our top tips for falling back in love with working from home. 

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Rattan Cane and Stainless Steel Furniture to brighten up modern homes

The concept of our Maha cane furniture hit the slates in June 2018. Two whole years ago, almost to the day, we sat down with our friend Lottie to design some new products that merged the feel of Burma with the requirements of modern western homes. 

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"Temperatures may reach 27° degrees..." That's what the Weather Lady said. And we're ready for that sun. We're ready for long lunches, tomato salads, mozzarella. For spoiling puddings, for raspberries, for a little bit more cream. For afternoons on the grass. For reading every inch of the papers. For dozing off to the hypnotic coo of a wood-pigeon. We are so, so ready...

Here's our Summer Selection

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One of the fun bits about running a small business is watching the data. It's satisfying when things happen as you expect them to, but it's way more interesting when something weird happens and things start to feel a bit illogical.

Well about eight weeks ago, something weird happened. We all retreated into our homes, shut the front door, and wondered when we'd next leave them for anything other than a perfunctory leg-stretch or to buy more doughnuts.

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It's very odd realising that the world is no longer your oyster. Or that your oyster has become very much smaller. A clam, if you will. A four-walled winkle.

But in the same way that having a child forces you to slow down, spending a protracted spell in the same space and not knowing when that spell will break does help to distil things. 

Take breakfast, for example...

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