Skip to main content

One night in Bangkok... turned into two.

This weekend I took a quick trip into Bangkok to meet Gavin to get my extra camera lens that was not available before I left. I thought I was just going for a night and planned to zip through the stores, pick up some stuff I need, meet Gavin, and zip back. But my overnight trip quickly turned into a weekend adventure as soon as I got into the city when Suchinda called to invite me to dinner and Music in the Park - which is an outdoor performance of the Bangkok Symphony Orchastra in Lumpini Park. Pretty cool. Totally unexpected, so I didn't bring my camera to take pictures. It was the last night of the 3 month concert series and all about a mix of Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day... so that was an interesting playlist. But it was a lot of fun. Next day, met Gavin at the airport then we tootled around Bangkok for a bit. Took a boat through the city to the see the Palace but it was closed for a ceremony because of Chinese New Year; went to see the Reclining Buddha instead.
Cool, cool.
Now I'm back at it in the forest... first two days of data collection down for this month. Camera is awesome. Here's a good picture of Rak... she's so photogenic :)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Life Under the Canopy - Survival Tips for Primate Research.

All too often students begin fieldwork full of anticipation and high hopes for big adventure, only to end up burned out and on their way home within a month. This has inspired me to write a post about what it takes to survive primate behavioural research for people who may be considering taking this "road less traveled by" in the future. I won't water it down for you; primate research is not for everyone. Fieldwork is an uphill road, overloaded with obstacles that will test your personal strength every step of the way. (Perhaps there's a reason we opted to leave the forest and culture up our lives, oh so many years ago :). But if you've got what it takes to push yourself beyond the comforts of the average everyday world, and you're interested in finding out just how strong an individual you really are, then studying primates is one of the most inspirational and rewarding jobs available! Think you've got what it takes? Here are my tips for what it...

Appearances Can Be Deceiving.

One day when I was volunteering at the Chimpanzee Human Communication Institute in Ellensburg, Washington, where Washoe (the famous chimpanzee trained in American Sign Language) and her family live, an argument broke out between the chimps. At the time there were 4 chimps living in the facility, in order of dominance rank: Washoe, her adopted son Loulis, Tatu, and Dar. I was in the observation area recording their independent, seemingly peaceful, behaviour for a paper project conducted by Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold when the tension broke out and chaos ensued. The chimps were screaming loudly, jumping from platforms to the ground, and swinging on fire hoses and tires hung around the enclosure for enrichment; toys and magazines (other enrichment items) were being thrown around as they chased each other around their enclosure. It was an intense moment and all of us humans just observed in awkward silence. I remember everyone stopped what they were doing. A few volunteers and staff we...

What Matters Most by James Hollis, PhD

Quite possibly the best book I have ever read, though Mindsight by Daniel Siegel ranks equally high, so I guess there are two best books I have ever read. Excerpts from my favourite chapters: That We Risk Growth Over Security & That We Accept at Last that Our Home Is Our Journey "Our moral, intellectual, and emotional development embodies a series of deaths, followed by enlargements of soul often painfully acquired.... Through analysis I learned that something in me had to die before the rest of me, the larger part, could live.... In choosing security over growth, we all outrage the soul, and the soul, outraged, manifests in symptoms-depression, anxiety disorders, envy and jealousy of others, dependencies, and so many more.... We all set off expecting the achievement of our goals to bring lasting satisfaction. It is not that the goals are unworthy, as such, but that they so often become tempting stopping places for the soul, places where we decline the invitation to trade ...