Chiang Rai, Thailand

Quick photos from our dinner last night! Ok... not really photos of dinner per se, but of our speedy trip to the supermarket to get ingredients! Dinner was a home-cooked meal prepared by Lung Piak and Narlae. We had lots of fresh meats and vegetables and piping hot, fluffy white rice and pumpkin soup. Yum!


Narlae selecting the best chickenwings for our dinner!








Bedroom photos at long last!

Chiang Rai, Thailand

In Chiang Rai at the moment to do fieldwork for my thesis, and it's been exactly a week since I've been here. It's been great getting to meet familiar faces once again--Nopy, Narlae and Lung Piak--as well as to meet with new people. Narlae's friend, Phi Liew, is a really friendly guy with the most adorable daughter. He's always offering his time to fetch us between places--a godsend especially when transportation is so unpredictable in certain parts of Chiang Rai. We also got to meet two of Dr Carl's students, on exchange in NUS. One's Russian, the other's English. They've been really wonderful people to speak with, and it's amazing how much you can learn from people from other countries. Greatest takeaway so far? Russian politics, and the British welfare system! Ha.

We spent the first few days settling down. Moving between guesthouses and then between rooms. Nopy put us up at the popular Cabbages and Condoms Inn at first, but the prices were sky-high as it's high season at the moment. So we switched to a cheaper guesthouse at half the price--210 baht a night per room. Spent the first night at the 2nd guesthouse fighting with tiny red ants though. They were everywhere in our room--which is why we had to make the final switch to where we're staying at the moment, which really isn't too shabby. I've yet to take photos of our cozy room--will probably do that soon!


Saturday night market, and one of my favourite savoury snacks. It's mini coconut pastries with corn and stuff, if I'm not wrong. Nice and warm--delightful in the cool Chiang Rai weather!


We had our dinner picnic-style. Each of us were tasked to return with some food to share with everyone. Bad idea--we ended up with too many egg dishes! Overwhelmingly eggy night, it was.


This was taken at a museum in Chiang Rai Rajabhat University. Our Thai friends call it "The Black House". It's essentially an exhibition of art work collected and produced by a famous artist. Can't really make out his name though. Phi Liew's at the extreme left!


Painting of a Muslim Thai lady--really beautiful!


Nopy and I! So the artist has a penchant for making art out of dead animals. There were chairs, tables, sculptures made out of animal skins, bones etc. Was quite a lot to digest for us.


Mandatory group photo.


Nopy and Herman decided to get a haircut. Before.


After. Not too obvious a difference in Herman's hair methinks. Spot the happy barber at the back. He's an uber perfectionist! He spent lightyears on Nopy's hair!


Olga and Miriam on the 4 wheel drive. Hilarious duo. Miriam was acting drunk with a bottle of unopened Chang beer at the back. Should have video-ed the whole thing down!


Quick photo with one of the luk thung performers at the Curly Wurly place Nopy brought us. It's a small outdoor restaurant/cafe thingy, where Thai ladies and men take turns to go onstage to perform a luk thung number. Audience members can then choose to present the performer with a garland of ribbons to express their appreciation and respect for the performer. Lung Piak forced Miriam and I onstage to do a Westlife number before we left. Horribly embarrassing experience, but was fun.

Loch Ness & Malta 2010

Gonna experiment with larger thumbnails. Hmmm...


Loch Ness :)


Exploring the area... and dealing with frost-bite.


Dingli Cliffs, Malta


The pretty Maltese boats


Azure Window, Gozo, Malta

Europe 2010

This is going to be a nostalgic post. After more than a year, I finally dug up my manual cameras and sent the 2 rolls of sensia film for cross-processing. I present the best of the lot... such beautiful memories. As they say in Britain--good times <3


Group of us in Barcelona--one of the first stops of our mini Europe tour.


Loch Ness, Scotland :)


Double rainbow in Nottingham


Vatican City


Colosseum


Roman forum

Huay Xai, Laos

We took a boat trip across the Mekong river to Huay Xai, Laos, a few days back. Despite lagging in development, compared to neighbouring Thailand, stuff in Huay Xai are surprisingly more expensive. A fruit shake costs approximately 30-35 baht in Huay Xai, and 15-20 baht in Chiang Khong. Strange. Wisa explained to us that it's because most stuff in Laos are imported--people are too poor and lack the infrastructure to produce their own goods.

We brought nothing back with us to Chiang Khong, save for two bags of Beer Lao and lots of dust coating our bodies.

We'll be going on a boat trip tomorrow morning with Dr Carl... to talk to some local fishermen and hear their stories about the Mekong giant catfish. Hopefully we won't be disappointed with our findings tomorrow. Our "Lao Kao" trip awaits...


At the Chiang Khong side of the Mekong river, awaiting our boat to bring us over to Huay Xai.


Lao customs...


The equivalent of our bubble tea stands... these beverage stands are everywhere in both Thailand and Laos. They sell everything from cha yen (icy cold Thai milk tea), ovaltine, milo, to fruit smoothies. We even saw a few selling milk tea with pearls... but i don't think it's gonna be as good as the ones in Singapore.


Local weavers...


The whole weaving machine is hand-made, and it takes days to weave a bag, and months to complete a fabric to be sewn into skirts


Outdoor market... run mostly by Chinese people. There was Chinese music and soap operas blasting in the background.


Surprise surprise!


Hanging wax candles!


Beer Lao in our little red basket!


Sweet puppy!


Road-side stall selling omelettes!

Chiang Khong, Thailand

Today marks the start of our final group project--which I am incredibly excited about. I'm going to be working on a poster related to the Mekong Giant Catfish and that's something I've been wanting to work on ever since Dr Carl gave a lecture on it during Natural Resource. Not too sure what we're going to focus on exactly. But there's the orientation to look forward to tomorrow. We're going to be taking a boat tour along the Mekong River, and Dr Carl has invited another Dr Carl (Middleton) to give us ideas on project topics :D

Chiang Khong's been really lovely. It's great to be able to take a break after all the bedbug-infested beds of Ban Rak Thai. I still love that place though, and Herman and I are hoping to make a second trip there sometime after. This current guesthouse is really huge, and the shower's awesome! Not sure what kind of conditions we'll have to put up with for the next few days though, since we're going to be splitting up from the bulk of the group the day after tomorrow.


Mekong River at Chiang Sen!


Zi Hui and I with the ice cream man! I got a milo icecream, which comes with frozen condensed milk in the middle. Bliss! We got lured by a group of elderly aunties dancing in a circle, and joined them for awhile--that's why I'm all sweaty!


Dancing shrimp in a jar! They are basically live, jumping shrimp which you just pop in your mouth and munch on. You shake them in the box and coat them with the chilli sauce which comes with the dish. Let's just say that, while they weren't vile tasting, it's probably going to be my first and last time eating these things live.


Our dinner by the river with Dr Z. There was steamed fish, fried fish, tom yum soup and chicken. Maximum spiciness!


Herman with his spicy food!

Huay Suer Tao (Long Neck Village), Mae Hong Son, Thailand

It's ironic how I visited a Long Neck Village, but didn't get a single picture of any of the women. We got to know Dr Carl's friend, Mr Abel Tweed, during the trip to Huay Suer Tao. Interestingly, it's a majority Christian village. It's mostly the women who are involved in the tourism aspect of the village. They set up little stalls, similar to those you see at our Pasar Malams in Singapore. Stuff they sell include mini Long Neck figurines, statues, and Karenni bags or attire. The stalls sell almost the same stuff so there's really nothing much to be exciting about...

Huai Ma Kha Som (Tomato Village), Mae Hong Son, Thailand

Yesterday marked the day we got split into teams of 3-4 to work on our group research projects. As a group, we decided to focus on spirit mediums (or otherwise known as voodoo masters by my group) for our project and we’ve been interviewing spirit doctors for the past two days. We’re in Tomato Village at the moment, and have been blessed with Jib, or teaching assistant cum translator, who has an Aircard (giving us access to internet).

We’re at a homestay in one of the Tai-yai (Shan) houses. I think the walls are made out of bamboo strips which have been weaved together to form some kind of checkered pattern. I hope the photos do greater justice than my explanation. Our bed is basically made up of 2 mattresses laid on the ground, with pillows and a blanket each. I’m glad the owners were nice enough to help us lay out a mosquito netting too (:

I’ve learnt quite a bit over the last few days, I think. Relationships are key to interviewing people. You can’t just barge into a house and expect your questions to be answered. Sometimes, people are just waiting for others to just show a little interest in their life story, and it’s heartwarming to discover how much people are actually willing to share with you. And it’s amazing how people are willing to help for free. Running errands with us, under the hot sun, and translating our questions for us patiently—never uttering a single complaint. Simply amazing. Thank you, Jib, Noppie, Yada and Pang!

Just got back from a surreal bath under the stars, with candlelight. Seriously, this is one crazy field trip.


The beautiful, breathtaking landscape of Tomato Village


Pang explaining the Shan practice of tattooing their spirit doctors with Burmese letters to mark their transition into a spirit practitioner (a.k.a. sala in Shan language)


The Shan spirit doctor’s granddaughter. Chubby and bubbly all in one package!


Second time bumping into this little girl. The last time was during our first visit to Tomato Village. Her grandma explained that she was unwilling to smile for the camera because she’s got a tooth loose! How adorable :D


A snapshot of our interview with the Shan spirit doctor, with Pang as our translator and Jib as our resident entertainer :P


Our beds for the night!


Taking a photo on the 2nd level of our homestay. The view’s amazing. But of course, we had to endure numerous flights of stairs to make our way here. We were panting so heavily I couldn’t greet the hosts with one breath! Sa waa (gasps), dee kah!


Our homestay!


Not the house we’re living in at the moment, but it’s just opposite us and looks pretty much the same—made up of bamboo pieces and really sturdy.