Huh, PAH, qu'est-ce que c'est?

Whoo, I feel like I haven't blogged for ages. I've been kind of busy lately, so I apologize for not making my regular Xanga-rounds. Anyways, the Bangkok segment of the AsiaTox convention is now over, and so we'll all be trekking on over to Chiang Mai in a little bit. My mom has returned from her trip to Italy and Spain, and so I have been jubilantly reunited with my camera. My usually spastic finger did not go insanely wild with the camera yesterday, so consider yourself lucky.


The souvenirs that my mom brought back with her are as touristy as you can possibly get, but that's okay because at the moment, it's the closest I'll ever get to Italy and Spain.



BTW, you can see some more pics from my mom's trip here. Yes, upon viewing the pics for the first time, I too was just as insanely jealous as you. Wait for me Italy, I'll be seeing you someday!


Mom said the Leaning Tower of Pisa wasn't leaning over far enough, and so here she is giving it a little shove.





~*~

The AsiaTox Convention, while admittedly a bit on the dull side, has been quite an interesting experience thus far. Amongst the crowd were lecturers, celebrated professors, brilliant scientists, and four wee, dimwitted undergrad students who are still attempting to hopelessly figure out what this one Korean guy's topic - "Genetic Polymorphisms of Xenobiotic Metabolizing Enzymes and Multiple Biomarkers in PAH Exposed Populations" - is all about. If we actually knew what the heck PAH was, then I think that we would have at least been able to understand half of what he was cleverly rambling on and on about. "PAH" appeared in his abstract and symposium about a schmillion and one times, but we still don't know what the friggin heck PAAAHHH is!


According to P'Poh, the ho-hum lectures were worth suffering, seeing as how we were being bombarded with piles of free tidbits - a free shoulder bag, free pens, free notepads that advertised various pharmaceutical companies with ardent zeal, and as P'Poh said, "most importantly, free food!". I won't go into great detail about P'Poh and his reaction towards the food, but let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight. I believe I've seen tigers at Safari World dine with better etiquette, hehe.


P'Ying and I aren't nasty perverts or anything, but this notepad in particular nearly made us break out into violent giggles in the middle of Dr. Visith's lecture on snake venom. Hello, faster, longer, stronger - what on God's green earth was Novartis thinking? There are other less graphic ways to advertise pain-killers for arthritic patients!


In addition to the various free tidbits, they also gave us our nametags.


They spelled my stinkin' name wrong!! Hmph. The whole point in my parents naming me Lynn was so that both Western and Thai people would be able to pronounce and spell my name with ease, but I suppose that their efforts were all in vain. Gee, twelve wonderfully available letters in my last name for them to scramble up, and they end up muddling my easy-peasy, plain-Jane name instead. Hmm, Linn. It looks weird spelled that way. Reminds me of Anne, from Anne of Green Gables fame, who once said that "Anne looks so much prettier than Ann". Same goes for Linn and Lynn, I think.


Even after our hearty lunch in the banquet room, Priya announced that she was experiencing massive chocolate cravings (you know how it is, ladies, especially during that time of the month), and so we went searching for the hotel bakery. It was snuggled in a corner on the first floor and was evilly emitting heavenly scents. We drooled a bit, but P'Ying and I are proud to say that we were able to defy the delectable treats. Indeed, we didn't waver in the slightest, not even when the Black Forest cake and Apple Crumble Pie both called out our names in unison and beckoned to us. Good gosh, we deserve a pat on the back.


Priya's chocolate marble cake was 90 baht. To put that into perspective, you can buy four bowls of roadside noodles with 90 baht, or even bribe two traffic cops with 90 baht (um, not that I've ever bribed a traffic cop before, *cough* yeah right *cough*). Someone said that it was "some damn expensive shit", and the consequent reply was that "yeah, it sure will be in a few days." (Yes, I realize that my friends and I aren't too well in the head.) =P


Like most Asians, Thai people in general toil and yearn to have light-colored skin. They consume skin-lightening products like mad and use all sorts of odd objects - loose sheets of paper, purses, grocery bags, a jacket - to cover their faces from the sun's blistering rays. Upon seeing this picture, P'Poh moaned and lamented that "this picture looks like an Oil of Olay lightening cream advertisement, complete with before and after images." Hehehe…


Me, Priya, and Chocolate Marble Cake's crumby remains.

Miracle Grand Convention Hotel, where the Bangkok segment of the AsiaTox convention was held, is lovely. It has a modernist feel to it and is tastefully decorated with quirky, artsy-fartsy designs and artwork, making it stand apart from other more traditionally-decorated BKK hotels.


View from the bakery. (left)
The lobby area. (right)



We browsed around a little later and had a look at the various poster presentations. I think it's safe to say that we are now rather adept at feigning absolute comprehension and keen interest. If there's anything I've learned from the convention in the past few days, it's that my current Toxicology/Pharmacology-related knowledge is miniscule in comparison to these eminant giants. The whole lot of them are freakin' brilliant. Anyways, we began to grow a little bored later on, but gee, with topics like "Constitutive Activation of NF-KB is Elevated by Ectopic Expression of BCL-2 in PC12 Cells", you can't really blame us.


We were delighted to come across one poster presentation in particular, because we at least had the slightest inkling as to what it was pertaining to, even though the complex title of Dr. Kaew's presentation - "Antimutagenicity of Morinda Citrifolia on Urethane-Induced Somatic Mutation and Recombination in Drosophila Melanogaster" - momentarily scared us away at first.


Here we are with Dr. Kaew and Dr. Tadsanee. Dr. Kaew is a genius scientist from Mahidol University and is well-known here for his oodles of published papers. By taking this picture, we were secretly hoping that some of his brilliance would rub off onto us, but unfortunately I haven't been able to detect any changes as of yet.

~*~

Yesterday, I met up with Siri and Gug, since we were planning on having dinner with Peter. Peter and I had already confirmed the night before that we would be tentatively meeting up at around seven, but that I should give him a call at around six to confirm where and when exactly since he had to pick up his mom from the airport that afternoon and wasn't sure when he'd be returning home. I called, and called, and called, and called, but no one picked up. So, I ended up missing Peter again for what has to be the umpteenth time. Without fail, every single time he comes back to Thailand I'm either out of town, not available, or unable to be reached, and so I still haven't seen him since high school graduation. Arghh. Anyways, he called me later that night and we're now planning on meeting the day after I get back from Chiang Mai. Hopefully we'll be able to break the curse and actually meet up before he leaves for Taiwan this time around.


Anyways, Siri and I took a little jaunt down to Siam Square (our home away from home) to wait for Gug who had just gotten off at work. Siri bought two new university uniform blouses and after much bargaining, I managed to procure a cardigan after getting the lady to lower its price from 299 Baht down to 250. Hehe, bargaining takes skillsss. We later walked towards Discovery Center to meet up with Gug, but Siri had to leave early since her mom, who was visiting from Indonesia, had made a huge, warm-cooked meal for her. Gug and I decided against dinner (we'd both had humungous lunches), and opted for some Strawberry Delight over at Au Bon Pain. Delightful, indeed.


Our desperate logic was that the healthful strawberries would cancel out the calorie-laden whipped-cream.

We had a great time talking. I haven't talked (like really talk-talk) with Gug for ages, and so it was nice to catch up on each other's personal lives. Gug just started working a few months ago, and while I'm overjoyed to hear that she's happy with her job, it was also disheartening to hear all her stories about the nasty work politics that goes on at her office. But Gug's a strong chick, and so I know that she'll stand her ground no matter what.


Au Bon Pain's Strawberry Delight only whetted Gug's appetite for more food, and so we set out on our quest for more junk food. She settled with some French Fries and we talked some more. As we were walking to the car park later that night, we passed by an Oishi bakery stand, and so she succumbed to her gnawing appetite and bought a pistachio chocolate-chip cookie. Along the way home, the following conversation ensued:

Gug: Last piece, last bite, last freakin' cookie of the night.
Me: Ooh, Guggy, you're a budding poet...
Gug: What can I say? I had inspiration in the form of whipped cream, fries, and cookies.


Looks like somebody didn't skip dinner after all.


~*~

Gotta leave for Chiang Mai now. Have a great week everyone!




<< past entries | latest entry >>