2019 Tour to Thailand and Hong Kong

October 1, 2019 AshworthSH Kitchen Chemistry in Hong Kong, Kitchen Chemistry in Thailand, UEA Roadshow

I worked with the International Office at the University of East Anglia again this year and was asked to visit schools in Bangkok and Hong Kong, which I did at the end of May and beginning of June. I was looked after very well in both places by UEA representatives so I was spared all sorts of otherwise potentially embarrassing situations. It turned out that timings were such in Bangkok that not only did I have time for some sightseeing, but I was also able to fit in some university visits and a presentation at the Sirindhorn Science Home while I was there.

My arrival in Bangkok was timed such that my first weekday was, in fact, Buddah’s birthday. This important public holiday meant that none of the schools would be in session, so I had a whole day to take in the sights of the city. I visited lots of temples, but apparently there is lots more to see and do. On my way I managed to sample the Metro, a tuktuk, a river taxi, and the Skytrain.

Decorative roof in Bangkok.
Next to the big Buddah.
Colourful is the norm.
Interesting modern architecture alongside more traditional styles.
A tea shop.
Shrines are everywhere…
… really, everywhere.
The entrance to a temple complex.
The large temple in the complex.
The bells, the bells…

I started Kitchen Chemistry on Tuesday at the Sirindhorn Science Home to about 600 primary school children. They didn’t get to see the whole show because, for the first time, I was using an interpreter. Both the show and the interpreter were organised for me by Dr Deanpen Japrung who works nearby at the National Nanotechnology Centre and acts as the representative for the Royal Society of Chemistry in Thailand.

The rest of the week was full of Kitchen Chemistry in schools, apart from my presentation of Elementary! A celebration of 150 years of Mendeleev’s periodic table of the chemical elements at Sirindhorn Science home, and one of Light powered therapeutics (which is more research focused) at Thammasat University. We rounded off the week on Saturday morning with a trip to Saipanyarangsit School before catching the plane to Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong I was busy with eleven shows from Monday to Friday with usually two or three a day. In addition the British Council had let the Nerd Nite organisers know that I was coming. So I did a modified and shortened version of my Periodic Table talk there with the title “Taking the P out of Pee“. (If you want to know the significance of that, just look up the discovery of phosphorus.)

As I reached my destination on Saturday, and spent Sunday getting over travel, getting used to humidity and getting some things ready for the first show, I did not manage to see too much in the way of sights. Over the next few days though, I travelled far and wide and managed to get to see some of the more out-of-the-way parts of Hong Kong.