In the elegant bungalow that is home to Bagan Cybertech, a housewife seeking information on foreign education for her daughter and a commodities trader looking for price data have signed up to join Rangoon's version of the internet revolution.
Until recently, Burma's 50m citizens have been almost totally cut off from the global information superhighway, denied access by a military government fearful of the consequences. Only a handful of senior officials in government ministries have been allowed to surf the net, while another 4,000 people can send and receive e-mail, presumably monitored by authorities.
But last month Bagan Cybertech, a "semi-government" company under the auspices of the defence ministry, and its private joint venture partner, Maykha, launched a minor internet offensive. It began accepting public subscribers to a new service - BaganNet - that combines e-mail accounts with access to a handful of carefully screened sites on the world wide web.
In a country where the average government salary is just 12,000 kyat a month - or $15 (£10) at current market exchange rates - the initial installation fee for the service will be $260, and potential users will have to secure their own scarce foreign exchange to pay that and subsequent monthly fees. For this handsome sum, public users will initially be allowed to send and receive e-mail and to visit about 860 websites, though Ye Htut, the sales manager for BaganNet, says the company will open up open up other websites requested by subscribers if board members - that is, the military - decide that the content is appropriate.
"If you are in the car business and you request a car website, if it is for your business, that's OK," Ye Htut said. "But if sites are not suitable for this country's culture they will not open them, even if there is high demand."
The initial offerings are an inoffensive mix of computer-related sites, corporate websites for hotel chains, airlines, international banks, electronics companies and sports sites. The menu also includes the sites of Mercedes-Benz, a few foreign universities, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Nasdaq and, oddly, the US Federal Reserve.
What's definitely not available is access to international news sites, web-based e-mail accounts such as Hotmail, or any search engines; the seamless move from one site to another is essentially out of the question.
However, "reputable" local and foreign companies, travel agents, hotels and trusted non-governmental organisations are being allowed to apply for accounts with unrestricted net access, though there are no guarantees that they will get it. For the chosen ones, prices are steep: $500 for installation, $300 in annual maintenance, then use-based monthly charges.
Aung Aye Htut, the venture's US-educated chief financial officer, says the purpose of the gradual opening "is to have policy makers here get more confident. They understand the power of the internet and what information can give to the public. It's just a matter of being comfortable with the people who are going to be running the system."
The current set-up should reassure the generals. Maykha, which holds a 70 per cent stake in the venture, belongs partly to Dr Ye Naing Wynn, the son of Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, one of the country's three ruling generals.
Before its foray into infotech, Maykha built a name as a key figure in the local chicken and animal feed market, and it has distribution rights for up-market brands such as Swatch and Adidas. The company also operates a bread and cake-making plant, which distributes products under the brand name "Wonder".
Maykha is also selling VSAT networks for internal communications and has so far clinched deals with three government ministries - education, health and science - to supply the systems for 40 universities and other government facilities. It has also installed VSAT networks for five private banks.
For BaganNet, Maykha sees strong growth potential, despite the high cost and restrictions. Mr Aung Aye Htut expects to sign up 10,000 subscribers from the general public for BaganNet by the end of the year, and says the subscriber base could double each year after that for several years. The lack of telephone lines - Burma has only about 250,000 - will be made up for by wireless technology. "We're coming very late so we can implement the latest technology available," he said.
Only time will tell whether this rocky, broken trace of a footpath eventually widens into real public access to the information superhighway, or whether it merely doubles back on itself, going nowhere. But about 500 Rangoon residents have already signed up to see where it might lead. As Tin Maung, a 40-year-old commodities dealer, said: "It's better than nothing."