More sightseeing and stuff

Despite the quantities of alcohol consumed at Melbourne Cup we still managed to be up and out in time to meet Jen (Teastains JJ) at 8.45am in Asok Skytrain Station (not bad eh!!). We'd both received invitations to attend a coffee morning at the Bangkok National Museum (We're both part of the NMV) so that we could view the Photography exhibition in more detail (It was difficult to see everything on the opening night because of the number of people there!!) and to attend a talk by the President of the Thai Photographic Society. I had never been to the Museum via the River Taxi before but had decided that it was probably a hell of a lot quicker than trying to get there by car (Honestly - Bangkok Traffic is really a sight to behold and I'm not even going to go into how bad it is in rush hour!!). It turned out to be a good move - we met up with Merran and Heather at the boat and it turned out that Heather had done this route before and we could actually just walk to the Museum at the other end (So we didn't have to go through the rigmarole of trying to get a taxi to take us where we wanted to go!!). We spent a really lovely morning there......we walked round the exhibition, Mum got to meet my NMV friends and then we sat under the shade of a huge tree eating cakes and listening to the speaker. Normally it's so hot here that sitting outside is not really an option but we're heading into the cool season now (which means that the temp goes down to about 28 degrees) so there was a pleasant breeze and it was just lovely!!! It was great that she got to see it in all it's glory and she managed to pick up a few copies of the book to take home with her as presents.

Jen headed off to do some writing and Mum and I went along to Kuppa on Soi 16 - If you've not been I can highly recommend it.....the roast vegetable salad is absolutely gorgeous and, this is the best bit, if you've had salad it means that you can have cake (The carrot cake is to die for!!). Mum and I met up with my friend Caroline and her friend Amanda who we discovered has a cat that weighs 12 kilos!! (2 stone......now that's a big cat!!). We had a lovely lunch then headed off to the SCAD (Soi Cat And Dog) shop where I volunteer and Mum helped me update their shop window for Diwali. (I'm not sure we did a very good job but at least we got rid of the mouldy pumpkins that had been there from Halloween!!).

I'm sorry but I just can't help myself.....
Diwali is lovely and is celebrated by Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe. It's known as 'The Festival of Light' where lights or lamps signify the victory of good over evil within every human being. The story behind Diwali varies across different regions - some believe that it's the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after a 14 year exile and that the people of Ayodhya lit oil lamps to light his path in the dark, some believe that it's a celebration commemorating the killing of an evil demon called Narakasura by Lord Krishna whilst others believe that it is the day that Lord Krishna defeated Indra who is the deity of thunder and rain but, no matter what the belief, it is celebrated with fireworks, lights, flowers and worship.

Through Our Eyes - Thailand Up Close

Do you remember me saying that the National Museum Volunteers were putting together a book called Through Our Eyes - Thailand Up Close in celebration of the Thai Kings 80th Birthday?







(The King is very keen on photography so the NMV thought it would be good to put something together that showed Thailand through the eye's of it's volunteers). Well, the books official launch was on Wednesday night and it was absolutely fantastic - the National Museum grounds are stunning and when it was all lit up it looked a bit like something out of a fairy tale. (There was even an orchestra playing classical music!!)


I had volunteered to help out at the beginning of the evening so was chaperoning people to their seats. I did have a very stressful moment when Khun Yui (She's one of our blind volunteers) turned up and I went to collect her from the gate. The bloody taxi hadn't dropped her off where he was supposed to and she had no idea where she was or how to get to me......we were on the phone for ages and she ended up having to ask someone who was walking past where she was and asking them to turn her so she was going in the right direction!! (We got there in the end and she had a blast).

The Oriental Hotel did all the catering so the food and wine was fab and a number of VIP's turned up including Khun Wanchana Sawatdee who played King Naresuan in the movie (He grinned like a loony when Chris and I recognised him) and Khun Arak Sunghitakul who is the Director General of the Fine Arts Department - he officially opened the exhibition.

My photo was not one of the ones in the Throne Hall (there were too many to have them all enlarged and framed) but it was on the first page in the book and I was chuffed to bits when I saw it. We bought a copy when we were there and have placed an order for another three. (So Mum, Dad, Sadie - guess what your getting!!). If anyone else would like one then let me know - they are 750 baht each which works out at about £10 (They are beautiful books and look very professional!!). The exhibition will continue at the NMB for a week or so and then will be touring all the major museums across Thailand.

Access Program for the Blind - The beginning

When Chris and I went on the History of Khmer Art trip as part of the NMV we met a lovely woman called Susy (I wrote about it at the time - she is the one that got married in the same room as we did about two months after us). Well, whilst on the tour we had had a chat about the fact that tourist attractions in Thailand were not very inclusive when it came to people with disabilities and we thought it would be a great idea to put together something that would enable blind tourists to visit. After the trip Susy did some research and attempted to get some commitment from those involved in the tourist industry which didn't really go as well as she had hoped and the idea was shelved (but not forgotten).

Then late last year the NMV had a Study Group at the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum (SEACM) on shipwreck Ceramics. (The Museum was established in 2002 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Bangkok University and it houses more than 2,000 ancient and valuable ceramics most of which are from shipwrecks). During the study group, Dr Roxanna Brown the director of the Museum, said she often taught people about ceramics by blindfolding them so that they could learn through touch. Susy, who had already decided to scale down the original idea, spoke with her about the possible development of a blind access program at the NMB (National Museum Bangkok) and Dr Roxanna Brown kindly offered to facilitate a pilot session at the Ceramics Museum - Susy contacted me and asked if I would like to be involved.

So on Wednesday afternoon I met up with Susy and a couple of other volunteers, Nidhi and Margo (I knew both from the Khmer trip), and we made our way over to the Thailand Association of the Blind (TAB) to pick up Khun Monthian, Director of the TAB, (He's amazing and had only just got back from delivering a presentation to the UN in Geneva about human rights) and the three students that had agreed to be our guinea pigs (Yue, Air and Quam). Then made our way to SEACM where we met up with Barb, Chair of the NMV, and the Director and his assistant from the NMB. (The photo above from left to right - Dr Roxanne, Khun Burin, Yue, Nidhi, Air, Barb, Quam, Me, Khun Monthian). Our job was to assist the participants by guiding their hands whilst Roxanna taught them about ceramics and how to identify them. It was absolutely fantastic - everyone sat on the floor whilst the ceramics were passed around - the three girls and Khun Monthian were taught how to identify the differences between Sukhothai, Sisatchanalai and Chinese Ceramics and then were given a piece each and asked to describe to the rest of the group where it was made and why. It was the first time that they had been able to learn something about the history of their country and actually be able to touch what they were learning about. (Normally things are displayed behind glass and, when your blind, being told that it's a green pot that's over 1,000 years old doesn't really mean much). They absolutely loved it and were really excited (Quam made the comment 'I can't believe I'm touching history') - the pieces they were touching were thousands of years old. After the session we went round the museum itself and agreed that we would form an Access Program working group to discuss how to move this idea forward. We're meeting again on Monday at the NMB so that the participants can provide feedback and we can discuss how the NMB could go about implementing such a program.

It was a very humbling experience and I spent some time talking to Khun Monthian about how the BWG could get involved so I am also going to visit the TAB's adult training centre, with my volunteer co-ordinator hat on, after Songkran to identify what volunteering positions there might be. (I also learned that the TAB fund a blind school so will do more investigation into that as well).