TOPS Day 1: First Impressions.

Chiang Rai.

We were up bright and early as we boarded the bus yet again for the 2-hour journey to Chiang Rai. After an hour or so of driving, we stopped by at a local Chiang Rai hot springs for a short toilet break and to stretch our legs. I managed to get my first taste of some authentic Thai milk coffee.

Upon checking into Wang Come Hotel in Chiang Rai, we had time constraints and had to rush to prepare the room for our first interview with a local general practitioner. Being the videographer and photographer for the trip, I was tasked to set up the interview room, which involved rearranging the furniture, working with the different light conditions. These aspects were rather new to me as I personally invest more time in photography than in videography. It was definitely a new learning experience for me and I suppose these accumulated number of learning experiences will most certainly prepare me for any more upcoming videography opportunities.

From the doctor, we learnt much about the level of nutrition literacy in Chiang Mai and whether nutrition food labels do play a key role in consumers’ food purchasing decisions. We also learnt that taste and convenience place themselves high on the priority list when it comes to locals buying food outside, much higher than the nutritional content itself.

After we finished our interviews, we headed to Topsmarket, at the nearby City Plaza Shopping Centre to conduct our first round of behavioural observations on the locals’ food purchasing habits. This also gave us a good opportunity to observe how nutrition labels are printed on the local foodstuff. However, there was a strict “No Photography or Filming” rule in the shopping centre so we had to stop our interviews prematurely.

Our professors advised us on an alternate location that is more populated with locals in order for us to get as many interviews. As such, Pat brought us to the ASEAN Flower Festival. We managed to secure multiple interviews with students, middle-aged locals and an elderly woman. Mohn, with his friendly and cheery disposition, played an instrumental and integral role in securing interviews with the locals. Mhon’s friendly nature and reassuring smile blesses him with a unique ability to connect with the locals, allowing them to be more willing to share about their knowledge about nutrition and participate actively in our interviews.

After conducting several interviews, we decided to call it a day and begun making our way around the ASEAN Flower Festival. Edwin Curran once said, “flowers are the music of the ground, from earth’s lips spoken without sound”. If flowers were likened to music, then stepping into the Tulip Gardens is like listening to an orchestra playing in a grand concert hall.  The grass grew in tussocks and flattened in waves with each gust of wind, only to spring up as fresh as a bunch of flowers right after. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the Flower Festival, admiring the various species of flowers and their vast range of colour tones.

Coffee Break.

Team Healthcare at the Hot Springs.

Team Healthcare in Chiang Rai.

Tuk-tuk Drivers.

Grocery Shopping. 

Interviews with the staff.

Xinyu discussing with Mhon about the interview questions.

Phuong takes the lead in the taste test.

Market.

Mohn interviewing a local elderly woman.

Sea of Flowers.

Tourist mode: ON.

 

Father-son Bonding.

Chiang Rai ASEAN Flower Festival 2015.