I was given a melted popsicle from a local ice-cream seller while visiting a pagoda in the suburbs of Yangon/Rangoon. It was a bit of a surreal experience. The old man smiled so kindly as he eagerly handed it to me. He was so sweet and toothless. He had come across me as I was trying to find the vendor of the incense stall so I could offer some incense to Garuda my Burmese deity. In Myanmar your horoscope is the day of the week you were born on. I am Sunday born and therefore my Burmese name must begin with an A and my special animal is the Garuda which is half-beast and half-bird. Interestingly it is said that worship of Garuda is believed to remove the effects of poisons from one’s body. On this day, my worship of Garuda brought a colony of destruction down on my gut.