Currently there are 3,912 7-11's in Thailand, or rather jet-sip et's (which is how I prefer to call them, but I don't think Thais like it when I do that it literally means seven-eleven in Thai). They are more densely packed than Starbucks' on a corner in any big US city. There are two across the street from each other in my apartment complex. It doesn't make sense, but many things in life don't.
On a similar note, grocery stores are not common in Thailand, and most people do their everyday shopping either at 7-11 or day/night markets. The US mindset of stocking up on food for a long period of time is not considered as much in Thailand, although it seems as if times are changing as big box stores started popping up across certain areas of Bangkok.
Bangmod is the name of my neighborhood in Bangkok. Quite literally, the meaning translates to many ants. If you come to our apartment, you might understand this phenomenon.
Now that I have finished midterms, I am headed to Ko Chang, an island in the Gulf of Thailand for an extended weekend. It should be fun, I'm looking forward to the beach and apparently there are some hikes in the interior of the island to see some waterfalls. Hopefully I won't get too sunburned. We are trying to leave really early tomorrow morning and catch the first bus out of Bangkok...until then
Ciao
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
One thing you should never bet against in Thailand during the rainy season is rain. When it rains, it doesn't pour, it floods. The rainy season is upon us. And while it has been the rainy season the duration of the my stay in Thailand, the past few days felt like the entire Pacific Ocean was being poured out onto Bangkok. Yesterday, I didn't even realize how wet my shorts were from standing in the rain for a minute at most until I felt my cell phone and saw a flashing screen. It's working now though.
Speaking of things running like clockwork in Thailand, besides the rain, I forgot to mention the Bat Caves last week at Khao Yai. I can't believe I omitted it, because it was one of the most fascinating events of the entire trip. At dusk, precisely when the sun descends from the horizon, bats emerge from caves by the thousands, maybe even on the order of hundreds of thousands. I have never seen so many bats. They all fly in a single line, and they are so densely packed that it looks like somebody took a black marker across the sky. Coming from all directions the bats stay together leaving military style from the cave, and then after fifteen minutes, all the bats have left the caves and they disperse throughout the night preying on all the annoying mosquitoes. It's a pretty good deal, and I just couldn't believe how exact the rangers were in discussing the bats' release time. Against the sunset, it makes for quite a sight.
I had my chemistry exam today and it was actually pretty easy, but I did end up studying quite a bit for it. Before the exam was the longest solar eclipse of the century across Asia, unfortunately it was at 7 am, I didn't know about it until 12 pm and apparently it was cloudy and rainy. I was asleep, but that's okay.
Over the weekend, I decided to stick around Bangkok, and I did some catching up on studying for my upcoming midterms but also our research project on building-integrated solar photovoltaics. But on Saturday night a group of us had a lot of fun going out to dinner, and then we saw a Thai jazz band, and experiencing the madness of Khao San road. I had the best Indian food I've ever had in my life, I couldn't believe it. We had mutton curry and chicken tandoori and roti and it was a great meal.
I am not sure why the picture was documented after the meal rather than before, but you can see the relics of animal bones and clean plates.
Since it is exam time around KMUTT, and most of my Thai peers are taking 6-7 classes, midterms are very intense. The Thai undergraduates seem to do schoolwork all the time, without much time to do anything else. They are in school from early in the morning until 5 pm nearly every day and then have homework. So when midterms roll around, it's crazy to witness all of the coffee shops and study areas packed with students. Yes, this happens at UNC, but I think the Thai students have much more difficulties considering they are taking about double the courseload of a UNC student and don't seem to ever take breaks. I don't think I would be able to be a regular college student in Thailand. Also, everyone is an engineer basically, and they barely even have opportunities for study in the humanities.
Speaking of school, I received a weird, and kind of funny email from the UNC Students' advisor in Thailand. I don't think it's a Thai thing, I'm hoping that maybe something was messed up in the translation...
Dear Christina and all UNC students,
Thank you for your message and sorry for late reply since I got a strong diarrhea these last few days and so I'm just back to work today. I asked P'Neung to get in touch with K. Parichart (P'Nok) of the International Relations office to arrange you the ID card 2 weeks ago to get them by mid-July as previously informed. I will contact her myself today again and will try to get them for all of you by* this Thursday** or at most next Thursday*, since normally they make the ID card every Thursday at the IT office. I'll keep you inform asap.
Thank you again for your kind assistance in keeping me update on the UNC students status. Please also provide me by e-mail the progress on your respective capstone, as I mentioned several times, the weekly progress report of the capstone should be quite short since it aims at providing information to Ajarn Rich and I.
With best regards,
Ajarn Savitri
Last night I watched Thailand play Liverpool in soccer to a draw, which was cool. It was pretty good for Thailand, perhaps somewhat embarrassing for Liverpool. But, the ridiculous part ended up being that on TV it looked like all the fans were wearing Liverpool jerseys (the game was played in Bangkok). They cheered when Thailand scored, but I guess Thais expend their national pride elsewhere.
Speaking of things running like clockwork in Thailand, besides the rain, I forgot to mention the Bat Caves last week at Khao Yai. I can't believe I omitted it, because it was one of the most fascinating events of the entire trip. At dusk, precisely when the sun descends from the horizon, bats emerge from caves by the thousands, maybe even on the order of hundreds of thousands. I have never seen so many bats. They all fly in a single line, and they are so densely packed that it looks like somebody took a black marker across the sky. Coming from all directions the bats stay together leaving military style from the cave, and then after fifteen minutes, all the bats have left the caves and they disperse throughout the night preying on all the annoying mosquitoes. It's a pretty good deal, and I just couldn't believe how exact the rangers were in discussing the bats' release time. Against the sunset, it makes for quite a sight.
I had my chemistry exam today and it was actually pretty easy, but I did end up studying quite a bit for it. Before the exam was the longest solar eclipse of the century across Asia, unfortunately it was at 7 am, I didn't know about it until 12 pm and apparently it was cloudy and rainy. I was asleep, but that's okay.
Over the weekend, I decided to stick around Bangkok, and I did some catching up on studying for my upcoming midterms but also our research project on building-integrated solar photovoltaics. But on Saturday night a group of us had a lot of fun going out to dinner, and then we saw a Thai jazz band, and experiencing the madness of Khao San road. I had the best Indian food I've ever had in my life, I couldn't believe it. We had mutton curry and chicken tandoori and roti and it was a great meal.
I am not sure why the picture was documented after the meal rather than before, but you can see the relics of animal bones and clean plates.
Since it is exam time around KMUTT, and most of my Thai peers are taking 6-7 classes, midterms are very intense. The Thai undergraduates seem to do schoolwork all the time, without much time to do anything else. They are in school from early in the morning until 5 pm nearly every day and then have homework. So when midterms roll around, it's crazy to witness all of the coffee shops and study areas packed with students. Yes, this happens at UNC, but I think the Thai students have much more difficulties considering they are taking about double the courseload of a UNC student and don't seem to ever take breaks. I don't think I would be able to be a regular college student in Thailand. Also, everyone is an engineer basically, and they barely even have opportunities for study in the humanities.
Speaking of school, I received a weird, and kind of funny email from the UNC Students' advisor in Thailand. I don't think it's a Thai thing, I'm hoping that maybe something was messed up in the translation...
Dear Christina and all UNC students,
Thank you for your message and sorry for late reply since I got a strong diarrhea these last few days and so I'm just back to work today. I asked P'Neung to get in touch with K. Parichart (P'Nok) of the International Relations office to arrange you the ID card 2 weeks ago to get them by mid-July as previously informed. I will contact her myself today again and will try to get them for all of you by* this Thursday** or at most next Thursday*, since normally they make the ID card every Thursday at the IT office. I'll keep you inform asap.
Thank you again for your kind assistance in keeping me update on the UNC students status. Please also provide me by e-mail the progress on your respective capstone, as I mentioned several times, the weekly progress report of the capstone should be quite short since it aims at providing information to Ajarn Rich and I.
With best regards,
Ajarn Savitri
Last night I watched Thailand play Liverpool in soccer to a draw, which was cool. It was pretty good for Thailand, perhaps somewhat embarrassing for Liverpool. But, the ridiculous part ended up being that on TV it looked like all the fans were wearing Liverpool jerseys (the game was played in Bangkok). They cheered when Thailand scored, but I guess Thais expend their national pride elsewhere.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Khao Yai
Friday, July 10 I thought we had a class at 1:30. However, the class was rescheduled (as is often the case in Thailand, which can be good or bad) for this Tuesday. Without class or plans, Ricker, Christina, and I decided that we would finally fulfill our goal of going to Khao Yai National Park this weekend. Ever since we arrived in Bangkok, Khao Yai was one of the first places we all wanted to go, however, something kept preventing us from going. Once it was our friend Wit, who called the night before inviting us to come with him around Bangkok, once our teacher suggested we go to Ko Samet instead, once I got sick...
So anyway we already knew how to get there and had most of the plans already contrived. We found our way to Mo Chit Bus Station and took a bus to Pak Chong, the closest resemblance to an urban area near Khao Yai National Park. Judging from the map, Khao Yai is about 3 hours from Bangkok. We arrived at sunset in Pak Chong, ate some dinner (I had some really weird food actually it was soup with the consistency of a runny nose--it may have been Chinese and some resemblance to egg drop soup), and hired a taxi to take us to a guesthouse/hostel that was closer to the park, but an unwalkable distance. Unfortunately for us, the guesthouse had been booked up, which was a possibility nobody considered because currently in Thailand it is the "rainy season" when few people travel. The irony was that we could have called and reserved a room ahead of time, but we didn't realize that the owners would speak perfect English. Retrospectively, their non-vacancy helped us out a lot, because instead of merely saying we're full, the owners talked to us for about 10 minutes giving us some valuable advice about the park. The taxi driver drove us back to the bus station where we originated, so we chartered a joy ride around the area.
At night in the hotel I watched television for the second time over the trip, and there were some notable channels. Of them, the best included Australian Rugby, Michael Jackson tributes (in Thai), and the Thai Extreme Sports Competition (this consisted of really bad skaters falling every ten seconds.
We woke up fairly early, bought some snacks for the day, and then rode a songthaew to the park entrance. The rangers convinced us, and as we learned from our last experience at a national park, having transportation is pretty essential. We hired a guide between all of us, while Matt and Megan joined also by getting to the park around 11 am. The guide drove us to various areas of the park and we had a really good day checking out some of the waterfalls, doing a bit of hiking (although there aren't too many trails--or at least long ones), and meeting some random travelers from around the world. Among them include an Israeli woman traveling, some Thais who spoke nit noi (little) English, and some other folks. We ended up making pretty good friends with some of the rangers too, because one of them for some reason had five beers at 9 am, when we arrived and Ricker made a comment in Thai that they found particularly funny. He called him drunk or something to that effect and then they gave us some thai dessert, basically eggs and coconut paste and some sugar (I'm not sure). It was great though, because we kept running into the rangers and they were really nice and helpful and generous.
The next day we got up early for the sunrise actually, because there was nothing to do at night so we just all fell asleep at 9:30. The day was full of surprises, but mostly leeches. Leeches are common in the rainy season, while they aren't harmful, they can become a nuisance. I would describe leeches as a slushier, lingering type of mosquito, but unlike mosquitos you can't always feel them. We were warned ahead of time by many signs about leeches, but for some reason we didn't encounter any the first day. The next day we started walking and then looked down on our shoes and these leeches are extremely quick, you wouldn't think so, but they move with purpose. Our socks and shoes were covered in leeches and we left the trail and re-assessed the leech situation, bought some "leech guards" for about $1 at the visitor's center and resumed the day. Matt had one he didn't realize stuck in his shoe for quite awhile and it looked like someone tried to drill a hole in his toe. There was a lot of bloodshed, but not much pain or severity to his injury. The bites are like mosquito bites. After practicing flicking for awhile, we completed a longer trail in the afternoon, ate lunch, and headed back to Bangkok. The bus ride was fairly normal and not too eventful. Although we took a bus from the bus station back to our apartment that for some reason the attendant didn't make us pay, which was a nice oversight.
We came back and ate dinner, and it was already around 10 pm. I had a short assignment due for one of my classes at 9 am, so I spent a couple hours working on it. Yesterday, not too much happened, but I did realize that next week I have a chemistry test sometime, so I will need to do some studying over the next couple of days.
 |
| From Khao Yai |
So anyway we already knew how to get there and had most of the plans already contrived. We found our way to Mo Chit Bus Station and took a bus to Pak Chong, the closest resemblance to an urban area near Khao Yai National Park. Judging from the map, Khao Yai is about 3 hours from Bangkok. We arrived at sunset in Pak Chong, ate some dinner (I had some really weird food actually it was soup with the consistency of a runny nose--it may have been Chinese and some resemblance to egg drop soup), and hired a taxi to take us to a guesthouse/hostel that was closer to the park, but an unwalkable distance. Unfortunately for us, the guesthouse had been booked up, which was a possibility nobody considered because currently in Thailand it is the "rainy season" when few people travel. The irony was that we could have called and reserved a room ahead of time, but we didn't realize that the owners would speak perfect English. Retrospectively, their non-vacancy helped us out a lot, because instead of merely saying we're full, the owners talked to us for about 10 minutes giving us some valuable advice about the park. The taxi driver drove us back to the bus station where we originated, so we chartered a joy ride around the area.
At night in the hotel I watched television for the second time over the trip, and there were some notable channels. Of them, the best included Australian Rugby, Michael Jackson tributes (in Thai), and the Thai Extreme Sports Competition (this consisted of really bad skaters falling every ten seconds.
We woke up fairly early, bought some snacks for the day, and then rode a songthaew to the park entrance. The rangers convinced us, and as we learned from our last experience at a national park, having transportation is pretty essential. We hired a guide between all of us, while Matt and Megan joined also by getting to the park around 11 am. The guide drove us to various areas of the park and we had a really good day checking out some of the waterfalls, doing a bit of hiking (although there aren't too many trails--or at least long ones), and meeting some random travelers from around the world. Among them include an Israeli woman traveling, some Thais who spoke nit noi (little) English, and some other folks. We ended up making pretty good friends with some of the rangers too, because one of them for some reason had five beers at 9 am, when we arrived and Ricker made a comment in Thai that they found particularly funny. He called him drunk or something to that effect and then they gave us some thai dessert, basically eggs and coconut paste and some sugar (I'm not sure). It was great though, because we kept running into the rangers and they were really nice and helpful and generous.
 |
| From Khao Yai |
The next day we got up early for the sunrise actually, because there was nothing to do at night so we just all fell asleep at 9:30. The day was full of surprises, but mostly leeches. Leeches are common in the rainy season, while they aren't harmful, they can become a nuisance. I would describe leeches as a slushier, lingering type of mosquito, but unlike mosquitos you can't always feel them. We were warned ahead of time by many signs about leeches, but for some reason we didn't encounter any the first day. The next day we started walking and then looked down on our shoes and these leeches are extremely quick, you wouldn't think so, but they move with purpose. Our socks and shoes were covered in leeches and we left the trail and re-assessed the leech situation, bought some "leech guards" for about $1 at the visitor's center and resumed the day. Matt had one he didn't realize stuck in his shoe for quite awhile and it looked like someone tried to drill a hole in his toe. There was a lot of bloodshed, but not much pain or severity to his injury. The bites are like mosquito bites. After practicing flicking for awhile, we completed a longer trail in the afternoon, ate lunch, and headed back to Bangkok. The bus ride was fairly normal and not too eventful. Although we took a bus from the bus station back to our apartment that for some reason the attendant didn't make us pay, which was a nice oversight.
 |
| From Khao Yai 2 |
We came back and ate dinner, and it was already around 10 pm. I had a short assignment due for one of my classes at 9 am, so I spent a couple hours working on it. Yesterday, not too much happened, but I did realize that next week I have a chemistry test sometime, so I will need to do some studying over the next couple of days.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
FOOD Poisoning AhHhH
My first encounter with Thai medicine happened to fall on a Buddhist holiday of all days, when nearly all doctor's offices, schools, and government buildings were closed. The Thai government decided to stimulate the economy by encouraging tourism, so the usually minor holiday this year turned into an all out bonanza. Well, for most people.
As for me, I enjoyed a nice breakfast of duck soup (guay dtieow pet) with Pai, Neung, and Ricker. I went to this place once before and I don't think duck soup is commonplace on the Thai breakfast scene, but it should be. This is basically chicken noodle soup with a different bird. After eating, we stopped at a convenience store and I picked up a glass of chocolate milk. It was pretty rainy, so there wasn't much to do outside that day, also nobody felt like venturing much outside the apartment complex. Ricker and I headed over to Pai and Neung's to hang out, but then after an hour or so I felt queasy. I went back to my apartment and saw Matt, my other roommate, and then immidiately vomited. It wasn't pretty and then it lasted for awhile, I ended up having a mild case of food poisoning. The eruption ceased and so I asked Neung to take me to the doctor. He took me after the rain died down a bit. We got in a cab, but I didn't feel so well, so I had to make a pit stop at the university which we happened to be passing on the road to go to the bathroom. The university turned off all the water and electricity for the holiday so I broke through the chained gates and somehow accessed some door that never locks. I made it in time. I got back in the cab and then we somehow found the one doctor's office open on the holiday. That was relieving. Although I wouldn't have probably gone to the doctor in the US, I wanted to be sure of my health in Thailand and get some medicine. He spoke really good english and gave me some medicine, told me I would probably be better after a day or so. I ate some plain steamed rice and fell asleep for 15 hours. Since I woke up, I have felt pretty much back to normal.
The next days were pretty rainy too, so we didn't make it to the national park, mostly because I got sick and I don't think anyone else wanted to orchestrate such a trip. I read a lot since I was sick. Actually over the whole trip I have already read 5 of the 7 books I brought. Fortunately, all the UNC students brought several books so we can trade amongst ourselves.
I had class today about photovoltaic technology, which is interesting, but pretty crazy. The process to create pure silicon creates a byproduct of toxic carbon monoxide, but I think in my LCA class I will try to determine the net carbon monoxide emitted into the ambient air from solar cells and how much perhaps is saved by extracting pure silicon than running a coal-fired power plant.
School so far hasn't been very hard, but we have a midterm coming up in Environmental Chemistry in 10 days. Hopefully the test won't be too difficult although much of the material we had to learn on our own.
Farewell
Noah
As for me, I enjoyed a nice breakfast of duck soup (guay dtieow pet) with Pai, Neung, and Ricker. I went to this place once before and I don't think duck soup is commonplace on the Thai breakfast scene, but it should be. This is basically chicken noodle soup with a different bird. After eating, we stopped at a convenience store and I picked up a glass of chocolate milk. It was pretty rainy, so there wasn't much to do outside that day, also nobody felt like venturing much outside the apartment complex. Ricker and I headed over to Pai and Neung's to hang out, but then after an hour or so I felt queasy. I went back to my apartment and saw Matt, my other roommate, and then immidiately vomited. It wasn't pretty and then it lasted for awhile, I ended up having a mild case of food poisoning. The eruption ceased and so I asked Neung to take me to the doctor. He took me after the rain died down a bit. We got in a cab, but I didn't feel so well, so I had to make a pit stop at the university which we happened to be passing on the road to go to the bathroom. The university turned off all the water and electricity for the holiday so I broke through the chained gates and somehow accessed some door that never locks. I made it in time. I got back in the cab and then we somehow found the one doctor's office open on the holiday. That was relieving. Although I wouldn't have probably gone to the doctor in the US, I wanted to be sure of my health in Thailand and get some medicine. He spoke really good english and gave me some medicine, told me I would probably be better after a day or so. I ate some plain steamed rice and fell asleep for 15 hours. Since I woke up, I have felt pretty much back to normal.
The next days were pretty rainy too, so we didn't make it to the national park, mostly because I got sick and I don't think anyone else wanted to orchestrate such a trip. I read a lot since I was sick. Actually over the whole trip I have already read 5 of the 7 books I brought. Fortunately, all the UNC students brought several books so we can trade amongst ourselves.
I had class today about photovoltaic technology, which is interesting, but pretty crazy. The process to create pure silicon creates a byproduct of toxic carbon monoxide, but I think in my LCA class I will try to determine the net carbon monoxide emitted into the ambient air from solar cells and how much perhaps is saved by extracting pure silicon than running a coal-fired power plant.
School so far hasn't been very hard, but we have a midterm coming up in Environmental Chemistry in 10 days. Hopefully the test won't be too difficult although much of the material we had to learn on our own.
Farewell
Noah
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