My Post-trip Reflection

Oh, how I miss Chiang Mai.

It has merely been three weeks since we touched down into Singapore and concluded our trip in Chiang Mai. I’m sure everyone will resonate with me when I say I MISS THE WEATHER the most. The heat in Singapore has been excruciatingly painful to deal with, and I miss the company as well, (I miss you, nutritionists and smokers!)

My group and I have been working on our essay and I’m proud to report to whoever the is reading this that we have confirmed a narrative and are progressing well with our report. I really enjoy working with my fellow Nutritionists and I’m glad to be on the same team as them. Look forward to our mix-media presentation friends!

Our research topic: Are nutritional labels relevant to the people of Chiang Mai and their eating habits? <- Based on this alone, I feel that one of the biggest takeaways I have as a researcher is that food is definitely one of the most prominent indicator of one’s culture.

For example, I am sure that this is no surprise to anyone; When you think of Thailand, you think spices, sweet, sour, spicy, curry, chilli, pad thai, mango sticky rice, fried street food and a lot of meat (mookata). And according to our research, this more than resonates with the people of Thailand as well! They pride themselves with the food they make, and there are even campaigns that advocate the eating of traditional foods and desserts! Even the patrons of some cafes that we chanced upon are filled with 98% foreigners and 2% locals. This can be compared with street food stalls, local eateries, that are filled with 100% Thai people. Thai people love their food!

In greater relation to our research topic, people are so in love with the flavours on their food that they are willing to prioritise taste and flavour over nutritional labels! Of course, this does not represent everyone, but it does definitely echo the thoughts of the majority, especially the young and middle-aged who still do not see the need to pay as much attention to their health yet. I guess this can be said to be one of the reasons for the increase in health-related illnesses over the years.

I was especially surprised by this finding during my focus group discussion with a group of Chiang Mai University students. A lot of them mentioned and agreed that Thai university students often do not see the need to indulge themselves in overly priced food and more often than not simply prefer the Thai local dishes that are cooked and prepared at home, or can be easily found in the streets of Thailand. Also, they don’t really see keeping fit very much, and the some girls commented saying that even if they wanted to lose weight, they would do so by increasing the amount of exercise they do, and not by cutting down or changing their diets!

This, I feel, can be compared directly with the kind of culture we have here amongst Singaporean youths. In order to lose weight, it is common to see young teenage girls starving themselves and skipping meals, or in order to keep in shape, guys visit the gym 108292374287384 times a week, and people who manage to hit that particular kind of body type, are seen as a “fitspiration” (Fit + Inspiration) on Instagram and Facebook, sharing with you their <1000 calorie daily intake, and their low fat, low oil, low sugar, low salt meals. This, again, can be contrasted directly to the other end of the spectrum, where teens are willing to spend exorbitant prices on rainbow cakes, lattes, and cafe foods, going on cafe hopping trips and indulging in other cultures, that, can be quite costly.

Now, I’m not saying if there is a right or wrong, though, as I have mentioned, the kind of youth culture (ahem heads up Youth Culture people) they have with regards to food and fitness is a drastic change from what we have in Singapore, and I feel like this is really interesting (for lack of a better word)!!!

I guess going to Chiang Mai only made me feel even more patriotic, as I start to remind and immerse myself in Singaporean culture once again. All the chicken rice, rojak, and the list of Singaporean delights goes on and on; My resolution for the new year: More hawker centres and less hipster cafes!

Also, another part of the entire trip that left a really deep impression of me would be the Amazing Race. I have always thought myself to be a leader; I was always in Student Council and have been engaging in the development of leadership programmes for my secondary school juniors. Thus, I have thought, complacently, that there was nothing that I could possibly learn about more, and that I would just be focused on playing during the Amazing Race. Boy, was I wrong.

Firstly, I would like to thank the Profs and my group mates for saying such nice and affirming things about me, to me. It really felt good to be on the receiving end of compliments, especially with compliments with regards to my leadership skills.

Secondly, I want to thank my group mates, again, for making me run the last 108249230472387km (okay it was only like 1km+) all the way to the hotel. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but to be honest, running really brought me out of my comfort zone. I was running. In a foreign country. I hate running. But I ran anyway. I was uncomfortable through and through and I really didn’t want to continue. But I knew I had to do it for my team, and for myself.

Thirdly, I think this was probably the first time I was working in a team as an equal, as a team player, and not a leader. I always found myself having to take the lead, but with the nutritionists, where everyone played the part of the leader, I found myself taking a step back and just enjoying the process. It has been a while since I let the ‘product’ take a back seat, and simply enjoyed the process. I never want to exchange what I felt then, for anything in the world!

To conclude: These two learning points definitely doesn’t sum up the learning experiences I had from Chiang Mai. I will never forget my trip, the people, the sounds, the food, and everything that was there, for anything. Thank you, USP, for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!