Waking up covered in sweat. We sleep with the air conditioner on, at 26C, because outside it’s hotter and humid at night. But this morning no power. No cool breeze. No shower (electric pump). No coffee..wait, we have a car battery in the hallway. “Use only for lights, and TV, nothing else”, the landlord told me four times...now the coffee is dripping, I can get ready to go to work.

It rains. Forgot my umbrella. A taxi stops, but the driver gets out, speaks a lot of Burmese (I have learned about 5 words by now) and points to his mouth and a small shed with chairs. Aha, breakfast first. No problem. Did I mention it rains really hard?

After 40 minutes in traffic jams (floods), I reach downtown, where my office is located. It is a temporary place, that must be said, for over half a year now. Finding a bigger and cleaner place is hard; the real estate prizes skyrocket. At the entrance a man is sleeping under the stairs. Meet the guard. The elevator doesn’t stop on my floor, because that landlord won’t pay for the maintenance. The stairs are covered in sticky red betel nut saliva. No problem.

No power. Good morning colleagues in the dark. On the balcony two guys try to get a gigantic generator started. After a while it works! It’s like a tractor driving around in the office, so much noise and fumes, but there is light .. and internet!

Today the baby is there too. A young couple, both working on the news floor, became parents 2 months ago. The baby sleeps like a rose in between the sound studio and the central desk and doesn’t seem to mind the tractor either.

“I finished the leader of your new program. Please download the clip”, mails the graphic designer, based in Thailand. It’s a ten seconds intro video. ‘Downloading will take 1 ... 2 hours’, the computer says. Power off. The tractor ran out of gasoline. No internet. No coffee.

Lunch. Spicy noodles around the corner on the top floor of ‘Ruby Market‘, a huge and very crowded department store. Power off, no kidding.

Somebody got fuel: power on in the office. Internet and coffee are running. The baby wakes up. Download attempt no.II begins: 30%...50%...70%. A cloudburst outside, too many splashes into the generator: power off.

It is getting dark, also outside, so time to go home. In a tiny taxi I fold my legs around my neck. No problem. When I enter our apartment, I realize my mobile slipped out of my pocket. I run down the road, but the taxi is already gone. The cook from the taxi breakfast joint walks up to me and understands the situation. He grabs his phone, asks my number and calls the driver. Within 5 minutes the taxi returns with my phone. The power is just back on at home.