A Day in the Life

I arrive at the drug information center at 8:30am every day after grabbing a hot espresso from the coffee shop on the first floor of the hospital.

In the morning, Apple and I go to the neonatology unit for morning rounds. Before entering the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) we must take off our shoes and put on special sandals for the NICU. The neonatologists and residents are sometimes willing to do the rounds in English for me; otherwise Apple or one of the brave residents translates to English.

Me, Apple, NICU Nurse:

Dr. Namtip teaching me something about our "golden baby:" Me with Dr. Naa, one of my favorite doctors:
Me giving a presentation to a few nurses about preventing catheter associated blood stream infections:

After eating lunch either in the cafeteria or at a local Chinese restaurant with the other students, I research drug questions in the drug information room with the Thai PharmD students and pharmacists.

Every evening when I leave the hospital, I walk through the middle of an aerobics class held at the hospital... After work, the other PharmD students and I grab dinner (my favorite place is Connections Restaurant) then relax (shopping or watching movies).

Fast Facts: Thailand

-In Thailand, the year is not 2008; it’s 2551.


-You must drink EVERYTHING with a straw (even beer…and no, you don’t get drunk faster that way).

-A napkin equals a two squares of one-ply toilet paper.


-You must eat EVERYTHING with a spoon (and I mean it, even salad or chocolate cake!). The fork is used to help put food on the spoon and there is no knife.


-“Where are you going?” Actually means “Hello.”


-When I first arrived in Thailand, I wondered why everyone was sticking chapstick up their nose. But actually, many Thai people like to sniff a menthol/peppermint/eucalyptus concoction when they "feel dizzy."

-There are many “Lady-Boys” or “Tiffany girls” in Thailand.

-Products to whiten your skin are popular here, quite the opposite of the bronzing products you see in the US.


-Many Thai cars are blessed by a Monk and have painting on the inside roof similar to this:


-May is only person in Thailand (at least that I've found) who can pronounce my name. To all others, I am known as "Ewa."

-Most people in Thailand seem to think I look like Natalie. She is from Canada and won Ms. Universe 2005. Natalie is famous in Thailand because she married a Thai pro-tennis player and now lives in Thailand. Who wouldn't love a country where everyone thinks you look like Ms. Universe?!



-Thailand truly is the “Land of Smiles!”

Thai 101

I would like to share my "knowledge" of the Thai language. These are all of the important words and phrases I have picked up over the last eight weeks. I don't have a word here for "goodbye" because in Thailand if you say "goodbye" it means that you may never see that person again. Please note that I have written the female versions of certain phrases...if you are male, just replace "ka" with "krup."

Being Polite:

Sawadee Ka = Hello

Kop Khun Ka = Thank you

Chai = Yes

Mai Chai = No

Mai Pen Rai = "It's ok" "It's alright"

Mai Pen Rai, Kop Khun Ka = The "La Shokran" of Thailand... How you say "No thank you."

Food:

Kin Jaay Ka = I am vegetarian

Alloy = Delicious

Alloy Maak Maak = Very delicious

Mai Alloy = Not delicious

Nam Plow = Drinking water

Cow = Rice

Numbers:

Nung = One

Song = Two

Saam = Three

See = Four

Haa = Five

Ho = Six

Jet = Seven

Baad = Eight

Cow = Nine

Sip = 10

Sip Et = 11

Sip Song = 12

Sip Saam = 13

Sip See = 14

Sip Haa = 15

Sip Ho = 16

Sip Jet = 17

Sip Baad = 18

Sip Cow = 19

Yi Sip = 20

Yi Sip Et = 21

Yi Sip See = 24 (my age!)

Saam Sip = 30, 30Baht is equivalent to about $1

See Sip = 40

Haa Sip = 50

Jet Sip = 70

Roi = 100

Song Roi = 200

Saam Roi = 300

See Roi = 400

Haa Roi = =500

Jet Roi = 700

you get the idea...

Random:

Farang = Caucasion Foreigner

Soi = Road

Pang = Expensive

Taaw Lie? = How much?

Mahout = Elephant trainer

Tuk Tuk = A three wheeled taxi

Good-die = OK, you must say the "good" part really fast

Ma-die = Not OK

Mung = O'Clock, Haa Mung is 5 o'clock

Amazingly enough with these few words I have had many Thai people ask me: "You speak Thai?"

Phuket, Part II

Since I was on holiday in Phuket, I just wanted to relax! On Sunday I decided to rent a motorbike and give myself a tour of some the different beaches that Phuket has to offer. The motorbike rental for the day only cost $7! And yes they drive on the left side of the road in Thailand and yes I did a great job driving on the left!

First up I took the short drive over to Karon Beach, which is just north of Kata Beach. I did not like Karon beach as much as Kata Beach. It was quite large, but there was no one there picking up the garbage, so it seemed a little littered to me.


Next I drove to the market to eat some real Thai food, not the westernized stuff I was finding at the restaurants near the hotel. After lunch I thought it'd be a good idea to relax when the sun was strongest by getting a massage. I naively thought I'd be getting a western massage, but in fact the massage was half western and half Thai. But it still was very good and relaxing.


Next up I drove down to Kata Noi Beach (Little Kata Beach). Kata Noi was just as amazing as Kata Beach, but just smaller. I would recommend staying on this beach if you don't want to be near really any restaurants or shops at all.


Here is Karon Beach on top, Kata Beach in the middle, and Kata Noi Beach on the bottom:

Next up I made the long trek over to Nai Han Beach, which was recommended to me by all of the locals back in Phitsanulok. Nai Han is supposed to beach one of the most beautiful and isolated beaches in Phuket. However, this was probably the busiest beach I visited the whole weekend! This beach was full of expats and their Thai wives. It is a beautiful beach though. However, my photos are not that great because it was overcast when I was there.

Just in case anyone has forgotten what the sun looks like when setting over the sea:

Phuket, Part I

I was so excited to be in Phuket, I spent the whole first day on the beach!!! I began the day with breakfast (from 7 Eleven of course) on the beach:

I had such a wonderful time lounging around the gorgeous Kata Beach. I believe that Kata Beach is the best beach I have ever visited in the world. It's quite big, the sand is absolutely perfect, no rocks or shells to step on, there's no garbage, the water is clear and beautiful, and I almost had the whole place to myself! Later in the day, the waves also got almost intimidatingly large.

For the next day I booked a tour of Phi Phi Island. The first stop on our tour was Maya Beach. This is where parts of the movie "The Beach" were filmed. Even though I haven't seen that movie, I still recognized the scenery:

After relaxing on the beach and swimming around the cove, it was time for some serious snorkeling. I saw many beautiful fish and even one shark!

Next up was Phi Phi island for lunch. The next beach was one of my favorites, Khai Nok Island. This was a tiny island in the middle of the Andaman Sea. I enjoyed more snorkeling and the picturesque scenery. After a long day in the sun I was ready to head back to the resort for a swim in the pool and an "after sun facial."

Bangkok & Phuket

Wednesday night I hopped on a flight to Bangkok with P-Kik at the last minute. We stayed at Asia Hotel in Bangkok (http://www.asiahotel.co.th/asia_bangkok.htm) for the night. Asia Hotel is expensive (from a poor college student’s point of view) and looking a little old, but it’s still quite nice. One great thing about Asia Hotel is that you can walk straight from the hotel’s second floor onto the Sky Train.

Thursday morning I hopped on the Sky Train and headed over to the famous Siam Paragon shopping center. Just picked up a few things of course.

I spent the afternoon flying down to Phuket, the largest island in Thailand. This is where the tsunami hit back in 2004.

I chose to stay at Sugar Palm Resort located just 100 meters from Kata Beach. I was told that the beaches on the west side of the island are much better than those on the east. I thought that Kata Beach was a good compromise between the crazy tourism at Patong Beach and the isolated feel of Nai Thon Beach. And oh what a great choice! Kata Beach turned out to be one the most beautiful beaches on the island and the Sugar Palm Resort (http://www.sugarpalmresort.com/) was so amazing!!! I highly recommend Sugar Palm Resort and Kata Beach; it’s the best in Phuket.

Thursday evening I saw the Simon Cabaret show. This was an exciting show filled with lip syncing transvestites. Somehow I ended up with a front row seat to the show. Many of the lady-boys were quite beautiful and more than convincing. The Simon Cabaret show was quite entertaining, however the dancers seemed less than enthusiastic. After the show all of the lady-boys lined up outside begging for photographs. Of course every photograph you take with them costs about $2. If you want to see the Simon Cabaret show make sure to call ahead; they will pick you up from your hotel in a minibus and drop you back off after the show for only 160 Baht.

The Kitchen of the World

I eat most of my meals from street vendors. I must say that most of the time before I eat, I think to myself "I hope this food/drink does not make me sick." But apparently I am very lucky or vegetarian; I'm not sure which is the responsible factor here.

One of the shops in the hospital cafeteria:

For every meal in Thailand you usually eat either rice or noodles. The rice here is either your standard rice or sticky rice. But there are a few different types of noodles.

There are glass noodles which are clear in color and long/skinny.

Then there is the fat, dark noodles that taste a lot like eggs.

There are also dark, long/skinny noodles that are quite stretchy and difficult to cut (not pictured here).

Some of my favorite foods are:

-DragonFruit! (The black and white fruit):

-Rice with Veggies:

-Pad Thai (noodles, sprouts, peanuts, veggies); Sorry, I've eaten numerous times, but have always forgotten to photograph.

-Fried Rice with Cashew Nuts:

-Pad See You (fat noodles, veggies, tofu, some delish sauce and spices)

-Coconut Smoothie:

Som Tum (raw papaya, peanuts, carrots, tomatoes, and sticky rice on the side):

Desserts!:

-Mangos with sticky rice and coconut milk (my personal favorite)

-Fried Bananas topped with something "made from rice:"

-Mini crispy crepes with cream:

Big crispy, sweet crepe:

-Taro balls in coconut milk (similar to Boo Alloy)

-A dessert I didn't really like...I thought it tasted like leaves:

-Coconut ice cream

-Coconut sweet bread

-Boo Alloy, Coconut milk with flavored sticky rice balls! So delicious:

My favorite part about Thai food is all the coconut I get to eat everyday!

And some food I haven't tried: