Strongs Do Thailand
Sep 24, 1999
Sunny and Mike headed for Bangkok this morning via EVA Air
and Taipai. They will
spend the week there, with Mike lecturing at the Medical
School in the Graduate
Program and Sunny being the tourist. The temperatures in
Bangkok are in the 90s with
daily thunderstorms and high humidity so it will be a change
of climate for sure from
Seattle. A follow up story will be posted upon their return.
Oct 3, 1999
Mike and Sunny have survived another cross Pacific sojourn.
After 2 days of sleeping following their return, things are again beginning to
appear normal. Sleeping in an upright position dose not get any easier with
age. Mike spent the week with lectures and discussions with students from
VietNam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand. It was an interesting
week explaining the American perspective to these students. This is the first
graduate program of tissue banking in the world and the Thais are to be
commended for taking a leadership role despite working in less than ideal
surroundings. The final day included presentations of assigned reading for each
student and an written examination that took them 2 hours to complete. It was
apparently an even longer week for them, with their hours in the classroom and
hours of study.
Sunny, meanwhile, was cruising in boats along the Chao
Phraya River and canals. This is a cool escape from the traffic and from the
heat. Life along the waterways is fascinating to watch. Early in the week, I
wrote my wish list, and then managed to check off each item. First, was eating
delicious mangosteen fruit, found at the open market near the National Palace.
Then, massage by our host's favorite massage therapists. The entrance to their
house is lovely jungle with palms and geckos and wooden Thai antiques. The
rooms smelled of camphor. The massage is acu-pressure. Some of the pressure was
too much,
most was heavenly. Another thing on my list was a visit to
Suan Pakkar Palace. One of the princes moved century old wooden Thai homes, in
different styles and with beautiful teak carving, to one place, then filled
them with well-displayed antiques, some of solid gold! The gems in Thailand are
gorgeous in the museums. Unfortunately, the sapphire ring we bought for
Dorothea and the emerald ring for Trish were not good lasting quality, so I
stayed away from gems this time. However, our host gave me a 1-carat ruby. He
was so generous-taking us out for our meals, paying for our massage, driving us
way out of
Bangkok to see Thailand's highest pagoda plus a country fair
with vendors tossing ice cream scoops high into the air, then catching them in
a serving dish. Today, after two days at home, I am feeling human again and can
really say it was a great trip. I was sick when we left, so the first 2 days
were yucky and the last two days of jetlag were, too.
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