ASEAN CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL -BEHAVIOUR STUDIES AcE-Bs 2012 BANGKOK (Part 1)

This conference organized by the Centre of Environmental-Behavioral Studies in the Faculty of  Architecture, Planning and Surveying, University Technology MARA, Shah Alam,  Malaysia is held every year since 2010 and this year was held in Bangkok. The actual conference started on the 16th July and finished on the 17th July. The following day was the post-conference tour. This year's conference was also co-hosted by King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang (KMITL) in Bangkok, Thailand. I went as a Board Member of the International Scientific Committee and also as co-authors for 4 paper presentations.

Saturday 14th July 2012

My husband sent me to KLIA very early in the morning as my flight departed at 9.10am. After our Subh prayers at the musollah in the airport we had breakfast at McDonald's.

The floor below is where the passengers had to go through the immigration for the international departures. 

Although we do not normally eat at fast food outlets, we liked the McD's big breakfast because its convenient and filling.

I looked all ready to go to a conference. 

So its bye-bye time. I was feeling quite sad to leave because my son who had been in UK for 6 years was coming back home for good and his flight back to KLIA was 6 pm later that day. 

The flight took about less than 2 hours. The landing was quite bumpy but all was well. This was where we claimed our baggage but our friends lost one of their baggage. We were told that it was left behind in KLIA!

The people behind me were part of the conference committee. I decided to go along at the same time with them because I felt safer with familiar faces around me. There's Ridwan who was waiting for his baggage (which did not come out until the end) and Roslinda posing naughtily behind me. 

Then there's other committee members like Nehzat and Hassan (Iranian post-grad students) and Zalina with her husband Salim. There were many other committee members who comprised of lecturers and post-grad students. Some brought their spouses and children with them. After finally settling in the van we head towards Bangkok and went to find Muslim restaurants in Nana Street to buy packed lunch to bring to the hotel.

And you can see the very packed packed briyani chicken I bought. I ate only half of this and gave the rest to Fahmee and Fauzee who finished the rest of the rice and the chicken.

The Sukosol Hotel is very nice, looked new, refreshing, delightful and welcoming. 

I just can't help but sit in this chair. Its shape is so unique.

The interior of the hotel was decorated with lots of flowers, antique cupboards, porcelains, beautiful drawings and sculptors. The bedroom is very comfortable for two as I was sharing the room with Che Bon who is a much younger lecturer than me. She arrived much later that night.

I truly love the mattress of the beds. Its not too soft, its firm but not hard. Very good for people with back-ache. Later that evening we were invited to a welcoming dinner at a Muslim restaurant, Sofea. They served Thai halal food. 

Prof. Nopadom was giving a welcoming speech. 

The tom-yam was a wee bit too sour for me. But the rest of the food was yummy.

The Thai group sitting at my table consist of one Phd Dr., one Phd candidate, 2 senior Phd students and 2 junior Phd students. Due the language barrier the conversation was quite limited. The Thais are brilliant people but because the medium of learning is mostly in Thai, we cannot have a deep conversation with them except for a few like Dr. Witchitra who speak good English. Let's see if I can remember the names of those sitting at my table. The Thai people have long names so they use short nicknames for the benefit of foreigners. Next to me was Mee, then Dr. Tu, then there's Salt who is so friendly and helpful, then there's the big and quiet Peter, then there's the shy Oil, and last but not least is the ever so helpful Tony. Next to Tony is my friend Yati.

The next day is a preparation day for the committee but since I am not a committee member I got the whole day free except for a Board dinner and a Board meeting later in the evening. I will post more news in future postings.