We're on a Trip, not a Vacation!

At breakfast I discovered a new dish called cao yum or spicy rice salad, which is eaten in the south. It’s a yummy mix of rice, vegetables, turmeric leaves, and dressing to which you also add curry paste according to your spice tolerance. The rice is blue from the pea berry flowers with which it is cooked. On the 2nd day of the workshop, I presented the Director of the Division of Vector Borne Diseases with a Malaria Elimination brochure. She suggested we take a selfie with it. The man is the former DVDB director who now works as a consultant. At the end of the workshop we took another photo. This time I got to sit with the VIPs on a chair. Since our flight to Bangkok was delayed and also didn’t depart until 10 pm, I spent the afternoon shopping, visiting a temple, and eating with the malaria program chief and her team. Nui and I did not get to Bangkok until almost midnight. We stayed at a nice hotel by the river so we could go for a walk in the morning before she had to fly home to Ch...

Today was the first day of the prevention of re-establishment (POR) of malaria workshop for the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. In the group photos, I'm in the second row standing on the far right. There were representatives from all districts within the province, many of whom have not had any experience with handling malaria cases because the province has been malaria-free. However, there are three districts that are high risk, either due to environmental factors that make them hospitable to the malaria parasite or due to certain high-risk groups who get exposed to malaria through the prolonged periods of time they spend in the forest as rubber tappers, border patrol police, soldiers, monks, or doing migrant work. Participants were divided into four groups according to their role in handling malaria cases: 1) diagnosis and treatment; 2) surveillance; 3) vector control and entomology; and 4) response, whether that involves insecticide treated net distribution, community education,...

I’ve been busy with work the past two days but am now at the airport with a little time to kill before my flight from Bangkok down to the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. I visited this province when I lived in Chiang Mai 21 years ago but took a very long train ride from Chiang Mai to get there before crossing into Malaysia and eventually meeting up with Brian in Kuala Lumpur. Every morning Nui and I have been meeting around 6 to walk to a nearby park so that I can run and she can walk. Then we go for noodle soup of some sort before heading back to the hotel to shower. On Monday we took a taxi to the Ministry of Public Health, where I met the Malaria Program Chief. We spent the morning in a meeting with the MOPH, WHO, and other partners discussing the program's priorities for their next Global Fund grant, which will start in 2024. A lunch of pad Thai was provided, which Pratin and I ate at the canteen. The MOPH is huge, spanning several buildings, each 6 floors with their ...

I forgot to mention that the "tour guide" on the canal cruise was horribly loud. The speaker on the boat was turned up way too high. She really enjoyed hearing herself talk and sing, but she was really annoying. It was definitely a relief to get off the boat to not have to listen to her anymore.  After our early morning run at yet another park today, we walked over 4 miles from the park to try another Michelin star restaurant that serves pork noodle soup and then back to the hotel. The soup was quite good, and I washed it down with some Thai tea.  After showering, we took the sky train to Chatuchak market, where I bought 3 tops, a linen jacket, and 2 pairs of pants. We also had "boat" noodle soup, which is called that because it was typically served from a boat. Nui knew the owner's wife, who was there, because she works for the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). I also finally got to have some mango and sticky rice, one of my favorite desserts.  We then headed t...

Started off the day with a run in the lovely newly opened Benjakitti Park. It is the site of the former Thai tobacco factory but has been converted with walking and cycling paths and wetlands. It just opened in August. Afterwards Nui and I went by the same market at Lumphini Park for fried eggs and milk tea. After returning to our hotel to shower, we then set out for the Taling Chan floating market, where we had this amazing feast for lunch of a whole salt grilled fish, scallops with fried garlic, and huge prawns for less than $10 each. We then took a boat tour to this temple with a huge Buddha. Then it was off in a taxi to another part of the city to meet up with Nui’s friend and then hit a Michelin starred street stall specializing in seafood glass noodles. They were scrumptious! We got there at 4 pm to avoid the hour long wait later on. Then it was off to a Thai dessert place for chestnuts, noodles, and other goodies with ice and coconut milk. We then walked across this newly comple...

Acadian has had two wiggly front teeth for the past month. We kept threatening him to use the doorknob trick to extract them. One finally fell out when we were over for brunch at our friends’ house in Lafayette to see the Percivals on New Years Day. As predicted the other one fell out last night while I was gone. Too bad Christmas is a long way off!

Perhaps this blog should be renamed our food travel diary. I didn't sleep well last night. I think my body is so confused as to what time zone I'm in. Met Nui at 5:30 am to go for a  walk at Lumphini Park and then have breakfast at a market. We had a sweet black sesame and red bean soup and a noodle soup with fish balls and pork. So good and all for $2. I went shopping for clothes (bought a skirt, 2 tops, socks) and had chicken and fish fried rice for lunch. Then met Nui and my other colleague Pratin in the afternoon. After discussing plans for next week’s meetings with the Division of Vector Borne Diseases (including the malaria program) and the upcoming workshop  that I am supposed to evaluate in the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, a province that has successfully eliminated malaria (zero transmission of malaria) and is now is the prevention of re-establishment phase, we went shopping and out to eat for fish noodle soup. I got spicy tom yum soup with glass noodles....

After getting home the evening of the 31st, I was off again 3 days later on a work trip to Thailand. The 20 hr trip took me first to Taipei, where I had to jump the transfer line to make my next flight with about 15 min to spare. I stupidly decided to check my suitcase and was very dismayed to find EVA had lost it. Hopefully they will find it in the next day or two. Luckily I packed two spare pairs of underwear and my Thai colleague Nui, who lives in Chiang Mai, is staying at the same hotel. I took the Airlink train 25 min into Bangkok for about $1.50 and then transferred to the sky train to get to my hotel a few stops later. Picked up an earl grey milk tea with boba for $2.50 and then checked in. These are not Japan or Zimbabwe prices! Nui loves to eat and explore so it’ll be fun to spend the weekend with her and helps to compensate for the fact that I’m gone for 11 days. But it still stinks to have left Kyusik and the boys so soon after we just got back and for so long. I hope they w...