Day 2 in Beijing

My second day started with temperature around 5 deg C. It was very cold and misty.

Today is the first day of the work. After the formal Opening Ceremony and the Group Photo Taking, the real work started. Each representative from the ASEAN countries made a presentation on how the natural disasters are managed and handled, what are the measures taken to migitate these disasters and how cooperations between countries can be sought etc.

Natural disasters include tsunami, earthquakes, landslide, typhoons, duststorms, deforestations, floods etc.

Philippines in particular, faces about 22 typhoons yearly with 5 to 7 of destructive nature, during June to December. Almost every participant remembers how typhoons Ketsana and Parma affected Philippines badly during the recent months. After the typhoons have crossed Philippines, they are likely to continue their tracks to Vietnam.

Tsunamis from the east and west are likely to affect Thailand in different manners. If the tsunami comes from western Philippines, due to relatively shallow water, the speed is likely to slow down and these tidal waves are likely to reach Gulf of Thailand later. But if the tsunami is from Nicobar Islands, since the water there is deep, it is likely to reach Phuket real fast.

Very soon, the lunch time arrived. Maybe is due to the extreme cold weather, I felt hungry easily despite I had a heavy breakfast. The lunch break was a luxurious 2 hours. But since I am a fast eater, my 2 rounds of rice and dishes were done in about 45 min. So the rest of the time was spent walking around the hotel to "enjoy" the cold weather.

After lunch, another participant talked about how satellites can be used to help monitor any development of natural disasters.

The dinner was hosted by the Organizer. Peking Duck is a must have famous dish in Beijing. Besides this dish, we ate duck's liver, shredded duck's wings, duck soup, duck feet etc. In fact, just like the chicken and pigs, many parts of the duck can be eaten. This amount of food was just too much for all the participants to finish. We were very grateful to the Organizer for such a delicious feast.

In the evening, the temperature dropped below freezing level and light rain started. The roads were wet. People were hurrying so that they can get to their destination faster and be shelted from this dull and cold weather.

Tomorrow, we will learn how the Organizer made use of various satellites in natural disasters management.