Bangkok Week 19 November 8, 2008 The week of the Conference! View fullsize The ultra-posh Four Seasons Hotel, where the conference's guest speakers were put up. View fullsize A tapioca-ball-filled iced tea. Look, how refreshing! View fullsize Since there are no mountains in Bangkok, climbers are forced to scale man-made heights instead. View fullsize One posh mall was having a flower exhibit, complete with frames ... View fullsize ... in which to take beautiful portraits of your loved ones. View fullsize We don't have a clue who this woman was, and neither did most of these camera-wielders. View fullsize Lunch at a deserted food court, in a mall that's seen its heyday... View fullsize ... that at least provides a nice view of the city! View fullsize Ooh, tall buildings, malls, and sky trains! View fullsize You can see the congestion created by the sky train lines, and many elevated walkways. View fullsize Old meets new. Greek old, that is. View fullsize Yet another traditional dessert: sweet mango with sweet sticky rice, coconut milk, and crunchy corn on top. View fullsize It's Christmastime! Christmas at Paragon! More photos in coming weeks! View fullsize A fried, taro-filled appetizer. View fullsize Mmm. A fried, taro-filled appetizer! View fullsize Look! I finally finished the throw I'd been working on! View fullsize You can use it to disguise yourself like a pillow ... View fullsize ... or curl up under it during the cold winter months. View fullsize Sunday breakfast, featuring the pineapple I (barely) had the patience to cut up. View fullsize Fried Everything-You-Can-Imagine at a stall in Chatuchak. View fullsize Cookies, take 3. To avoid greasy flatness, used less butter and more baking soda ... View fullsize ... which, of course, turned out to be too little butter and too much soda. View fullsize Mr. Snazzy, heading off to his Welcome Reception. View fullsize Waiting in the lobby of the hotel for the VIPs to arrive. View fullsize A miniature welcome sign outside the registration table. View fullsize The mingle-and-network room that hosted the hoards of guests on the first night. View fullsize Can you guess what this dish was made of? View fullsize There were so many leftovers (due to the overwhelming turnout) that we took home a box of desserts, to avoid their going to waste. We also took home 100 spring rolls. View fullsize The next morning! The Big Day (TM). View fullsize All the names, waiting to be claimed at the registration table. View fullsize A poster advertising the EU-South East Asia collaboration. View fullsize Preparing the slideshow files for the speakers' presentations. View fullsize Realizing at the last minute that it's no longer the "Networking Reception". View fullsize The black-haired crowd of attendees. View fullsize The panel of speakers, during the afternoon's discussion session. View fullsize The boss and his research assistant, unwinding at (a posh) dinner. View fullsize The Pudelmeister, the speaker from Indonesia, and a random American woman. View fullsize The restaurant very much catered to Westerners. The food was atypically ornate and bland. Fancy, though. View fullsize Four types of rice, methodically scooped onto each person's plate. View fullsize I didn't realize I changed my name! View fullsize The lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel. Painfully posh! View fullsize Showing the European guests sights that they might like to visit during their few free hours later that afternoon. View fullsize The guests pile into the Speaker-Mobile for Tuesday's field trip to a biofuel plant. View fullsize The plant provided each guest with iced tea, a waffle, water, and an umbrella. Oh, and a pen. View fullsize Before heading out, be aware that your "phone and pages might not be the explosion proof type"! View fullsize A gift from the Indonesian speaker. View fullsize A little too big, though. View fullsize A monstrous building going up near the immigration office. View fullsize The newly-made set: pencil case, ID badge holder, and ear bud sac.
