A Night Out

Friday night the other PharmD students and I decided to check out one of the pubs on the university campus. We had a great time. One difference between the Thai bar and bars in the US, is that in Thailand you mix your own drinks. You can order either a bottle of whisky, vodka, beer, or coke. Then they bring you glasses, ice and let you do the mixing. In Thailand, you drink beer in a glass with ice…which means that I had to drink my beer really fast before the ice melted! I think my favorite part of the evening was when a Lady-Boy got up on the stage to lip sync “I will survive” with a bendy-straw in her ear acting as a microphone!

Bangkok Part II

Monday morning P-Kik met me in Bangkok. We started our day off with a visit to Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. Wat Phra Kaew is home of the famous Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade!). The Emerald Buddha has a different royal robe for each season (hot, cool, & rainy), which the King himself changes. The Grand Palace is a former royal residence. Today the Grand Palace is only used for certain ceremonies.

Palace guard that eats humans:

Next up, we walked over to Wat Pho. This wat has the largest reclining Buddha image in the world (46m long & 15m high). In the temple you walk a circle around the big Buddha. When we first entered the temple, I asked P-Kik what all the jingling noise was because the place was nearly empty. On the way out of the temple there are eighty metal bowls where you can donate 0.25 Baht into each bowl, filling the wat with this wonderful sound.

After the rain died down, we left Wat Pho and hopped on the river bus to Wat Arun. Wat Arun is named after the Indian god of dawn (Aruna). We didn't get to stay for too long due to the all the rain, but it was great to see one of Bangkok's landmarks.

Monday night I was lucky enough to see the award winning Traditional Thai Puppet Show with traditional Thai singing and a traditional Thai orchestra(http://www.thaipuppet.com/core/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/lang,en/). This is the only place in Thailand to see this dying art. The Traditional Thai Puppet Theater Company is also the official authoritative guardian of Thai puppetry. The show we saw depicted the story of Ganesha's birth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha). I loved it! I recommend to everyone visiting Bangkok to see a puppet show.

After the puppet show, I had to book it to make the 10pm overnight train back to Phitsanulok. I had rented a bed on the train in one of the non-air conditioned cars (it wasn't very hot that day). I was expecting the sleeper train to be similar to what Kelly and I travelled in Egypt with private rooms...However, it was no where near as nice! I slept ok despite the fact that they never turned off the lights in the train...

Bangkok Part I

Friday I decided to catch the bus down to Bangkok for the weekend. I was lucky to stay at Kay's house for the weekend (P-Kik's friend). We woke up early on Saturday and headed off to visit many temples or wats surrounding Bangkok:

After lunch, we went to the famous floating market. The floating market has many boats on the river where venders cook and serve food delicious meals and snacks:

Coconut-something wrapped in banana leaf...so good!

Sunday we visited the huge JJ market in Bangkok. I was glad to have Kay with me to help me get Thai prices on all the items I bought. Sunday night I was fortunate enough to attend a real Thai wedding reception. It was quite similiar to a western wedding ceremony, but no etoh or dancing...

Sukhothai

On Sunday I decided to make the 1 hour bus trip to Sukhothai, the first capital of Siam. Sukhothai means “Rising of Happiness.” I was excited to visit Sukhothai Historical Park, home of the Sukhothai ruins dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Sukhothai Historical Park is also one of the World Heritage Sites. I rented a bike (for only $1!) and rode my way around the park with a 5km radius. The park consists of a series of wats or temples. The park is very serene with many trees, ponds, and moats around the wats. There were many peaceful Buddha figures still standing throughout the park. I had a wonderful time riding my way around the park; I think pictures tell the story best:

And a lizard:

Day Trip

Ba-Ouwan, P-Kik, P-Yoo, and I headed off to Petchaboon on Saturday. We visited The Imperial Phukaew Hill Resort; the pharmacy staff will come back to this resort in October for a weekend of relationship development. The resort was beautiful. I also partook in a ropes course and go carting down the mountain.



After lunch at the resort we visited a farm to buy fresh fruit. I bought dragon fruit (my favorite!), star fruit, and passion fruit. Next we visited a local palace of the King which was surrounded by a lush garden:

Then, we stopped by a memorial dedicated to Buddha. At this Buddha memorial there is a place to make a wish and your wish will come true if you can lift a large rock. I made my wish and I was able to lift the rock, so I guess it will come true! We also visited a memorial dedicated to the Thai citizen’s that died during a war that happened in the Thai mountains a few years ago.



Our last stop was at a local coffee shop located in the picturesque mountains in northern Thailand.

Me, Ba-Ouwan, & P-Kik:

Nice to meet you.

On my first day of clerkship rotation P-Kik picked me up and brought me to Buddhachinaraj Hospital, where I will spend the next eight weeks. I met my preceptor, Apple, who is a wonderful pharmacist specializing in neonatology. Apple took me all over the hospital and introduced me to everyone. At first it was difficult to learn all of the Thai names (nicknames, actually), but I think I am getting better. A couple of pharmacists traded off taking me on tours of all of the different pharmacies in the hospital. Apple is excited for everyone at the hospital to practice their English with me. Everyone here has been unbelievably friendly and nice. Pharmacists and Pharm.D students have been so kind to take me out for meals, take me to the supermarket, walk me home, show me around Phitsanulok and offer useful advice about Thailand and Thai culture. I am very lucky to be in such good hands here!

Song, Ann, Pao, & Me...We are working hard at the drug information center:

The hospital consists of many buildings that are connected with outdoor pathways (with covers because it rains a lot). Before entering many of the rooms in the hospital you must remove your shoes and either go barefoot or put on another pair of sandals. Some parts of the hospital are open to the outside (no doors, no glass/screen in windows). The hospital is nice and it is not as hot & humid as I had anticipated (that is in the hospital, it’s even hotter and more humid than I had imagined when I am walking around the city).

Part of the hospital:

Ba-Ouwan (the Director of Pharmacy), P-Kik, and P-Yoo have invited me to join them this Saturday to visit Petchaboon, a city that is two hours away from Phitsanulok. They are having a meeting in Petchaboon later, and we are going to check out the hotel, participate in adventure activities, and shop in the market…but more on that later!

Pharm.D students: Ann, Song, Me, Pao

The Pink Room

Mission accomplished. I have a home in Phitsanulok. I rented an apartment just blocks from the hospital for less than $100 a month.

P-Kik and and P-Yoo (two pharmacists at the hospital), took me around Phitsanulok Monday night and helped me pick out a suitable place. On our quest, the apartment I ended up choosing was dubbed “The Pink Room.” The Pink Room has pink walls, a pink floor, and a pink ceiling... The Pink Room was the least expensive apartment we viewed, but it was the only one with all of the things I wanted (air-con, fridge, & TV). Most apartments lacked a fridge, which is crucial to my hydration status. Here are some delightful photos of the place (which unfortunately do not show the color very well):

The wonderful view from my balcony: