Back in Bangkok

Still on the bus, approaching Lebanon. Let's see if I can wrap up this blog before getting home. (*It's not going to happen... Blogger just erased at least 20 minutes of writing... toward the end of this post.) Oh shit - I65 traffic jam. We just pulled off the interstate to take back roads.

Monday morning we again had breakfast at the hotel. I was not super hungry, so I had some fruit, yogurt, and yummy granola. I was once again disappointed in the range and availability of hot foods. But it was probably just as well considering my meager appetite.

We headed to the airport and checked in, where I got my coffee and blogged while we waited to board. Just after wrapping up my post for the day, and only about 10 minutes before boarding, a student noticed her camera was missing. I went with her back through security to the airport entrance security checkpoint. We were about to give up there when a woman told us they had a camera at the information desk. That was the missing camera! But it took the student a minute to convince the employees it was hers.

Of course we made it back to board on time. The flight is only about an hour and 20 minutes, but I slept as much as I could. In Bangkok we walked to a hotel restaurant adjacent to the airport. It was warm and crowded, but we sat near an air conditioner which I appreciated. I still wasn't hungry, and I didn't find the spread at all appealing although Brenda and Angie seemed to enjoy the food. I had some good pumpkin soup, fried rice, half a boiled egg, and the two last bites of teriyaki chicken. They didn't seem to offer any entrees with no sauces. The only drinks were fountain drinks or water from pitchers, so I went without.

After lunch we took a bus to the Board of Investments and were back into the swing of the business-y stuff. There we met the #2 person, a woman who received her MBA from the Kelley School (Secretary General Duangjai Asawachintachit). She told us some interesting stuff about the ease of doing Business in Thailand, a new manufacturing corridor, Thailand 4.0, and other stuff that tied in quite nicely with what the students had learned in class. During the presentation I was fidgety, then cold, and a little unfocused. They provided some coffee which wasn't working for me (wish I could have tried the Thai iced tea, but the beverage service seemed... random). I could barely bring myself taste the pork-filled bun they gave us. I went to the restroom and realized I actually had the chills so bad I couldn't type on my phone. I knew I had to abandon ship and go to the hotel.

The guides convinced me to ride the bus to the next visit and take an Uber to the hotel from there, since it would be closer. I watched the map on my phone as we approached the city center, passed near the hotel, and kept going in a big circular path to the east and ultimately far south of the hotel. And of courses we had to go past the place and cross over to the other side of the road and backtrack before we finally arrived. The students went inside to learn about copyright law and the counterfeit goods industry while I waited for my Uber. Finally he arrived, and a mere half an hour or so later I was back. I went to the mall and bought a higher strength Tylenol and a thermometer before getting some harsh Thai Whisky and heading to my room to sleep for about 12 hours.

We are seriously driving around on country roads and through subdivisions somewhere near Zionsville... and he just turned the wrong way. Now literally driving north, away from the student drop-off point.

Tuesday morning I awoke feeling better, but not 100%. I had fruit and yogurt for breakfast, which I ate by myself. We had a nice briefing meeting and we headed out for a day of cultural visits. We took a bus to the area of the Grand Royal Palace where we had to walk to the security checkpoint. We showed our passports to get in to the area, then walked a couple hundred yards to the Palace entrance. It was crowded, but apparently with fewer people than during the high season. While it had been raining when we left, it was now dry but overcast and humid. The place covers something like 60 acres, and of course we could only see part of it. We did a group photo first then proceeded to the temple area where we learned about the various structures there such as the gold stupa, the assembly hall, and the building where the sacred texts are stored. Next to all of that was a large building holding the tiny and most sacred Jade Buddha. No photos allowed inside, and of course we had to remove our shoes to go in. Only the Thai people could go closer to worship the Buddha.

[Starting here is where all of the brilliant stuff I wrote before disappeared]

Everything was very detailed and ornate; things that were not gilded were covered in painted tiles or mirrored mosaic tiles. We were given about 15 minutes to walk around and take pictures. There were tourists of every nationality taking pictures of themselves - selfie sticks or not - or of groups, or of us. If was all a bit overwhelming and claustrophobic. I paused to take my temperature, which was going up, and realized I couldn't make it through the day. (I later discovered I was taking the wrong dosage of Tylenol.) We headed away from the temple area and toward the palace itself, but first we had to stop to learn about pollution and the ongoing restoration of the temple buildings. Finally we got to the palaces, where the King no longer lives, and the guides told us all about their uses, architecture, and history before we at last we headed toward the "Happy Rooms" (restrooms), at which post I told Angie and the guides I couldn't continue.

To get out, we had to walk out the same entrance but the streets were restricted there so we had to walk a couple hundred yards around to the back side of the palace before I could summon an Uber. Thank God the driver was right there,  but the ride back was excruciatingly long due to the stop-and-go traffic. I took my temperature during the ride, and it was now up to 102.4. I knew I had to see a doctor.

At the hotel, I asked the nice Duty Manager Wannisa(?) to call a doctor. I was resting in my room with a headache when he arrived with his nurse. He looked me over and asked some questions and knew right away he had to give me a shot to bring my fever down. I also got a shot of antibiotic, an electrolyte drink, an antihistamine described as a ”Face Bomb," antibiotics for later, and some other tablet. He also gave me a large bill, but it was totally worth it.

Within a couple hours, while everyone else was seeing the giant reclining Buddha, hearing personal stories from the guides, visiting the Marble Hall, seeing the Queen's high-security exhibit, and enjoying free time at Khao San Rd (as seen in Hangover 2!), my temperature had returned to normal and I was feeling much better. The hotel sent flowers for me, and Wannisa called once or twice to ask if there was anything else she could do for me.

I blogged, ordered room service, and even sat outside for a while on the pool level (after the heavy shower that popped up) before going to bed around 10:00.

We are finally south of Martinsville and getting closer to home. I think I recreated most of my lost writing and added on the last two or three sentences describing the day, but that puts me out of time and energy to write about the last day and the trip home, although there's not a lot to say about the travel. I will simply have to do another post to wrap up Thailand after I get home -  which kind of defies the name of the blog. I might also tweak these previous entries with more links and photos at some point.

You may be interested to know that the bus driver is still playing annoying R&B...

I can't wait to see Barry and our dogs soon!

Elephants!

Sunday morning after an adequate breakfast at the hotel we got on the bus and rode about an hour or an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai, past a number of military bases, golf courses, new developments, and smaller communities to the scenic countryside. Eventually we stopped at a remote and quite modest mountain village where we got off the bus and walked through the the streets and up the hill to the Thai Elephant Home.

After changing into attractive blue mahout uniforms and shoving our belongings into small lockers, we listened to a basic briefing about the place, Asian elephants, what we were about to experience, and how to ride an elephant. Before long we were off to interact with the magnificent beasts. We took a group photo and fed the animals bananas and sugar cane before practicing mounting the animals and taking a quick practice ride around the lot.

Once we had our initial test run, we were off for the full day's excursion. I started out on my own at first on Wan (well, I assume she wasn't "Juan") a twelve-year-old ele with a consistent Grey color and sparse, spiny, black hair. We took off down a path that eventually crossed the road and led us to the river. Once there, Brenda joined me on Wan and we crossed the fast-moving river which was very brown from the rain the night before.

On the other side of the river, I wasn't sure what to expect. Based on the briefing, I thought we would soon be going back to the Thai Elephant Home for lunch. Boy, was I wrong. Once we crossed we began an immediate and pretty steep ascent up the hill. It was a big hill. We kept going, and eventually I figured it out: we were climbing a mountain. As long as we kept Wan on the path and away from the delicious bamboo and trees along the way, we continued to climb higher and higher until we began to see the surrounding mountains through the thinning trees and great views of the now-distant village below. About when I thought it would never end, we reached a hillside structure and watering hole where we stopped for lunch.

The lunch itself was a quite delicious Pad Thai wrapped for us individually in banana leaves along with some sticky rice also packaged in banana leaves. I was barely hungry enough to eat all of it, as delicious as it was. We also had some fresh, green, little oranges. As we ate, we watched the elephants come about two at a time to bathe themselves in the mud. When we were done eating, we all got an elephant kiss and the students got in the mud to play with a couple of the creatures, applying mud to their skins to help them stay cool and to keep flies from bothering them.

Following that messy event, it was time to descend the mountain. By this time I was feeling a little off, and I thought maybe it had to do with the intense heat. I got a Sprite, thinking the sugar would help, and when offered a choice I concluded it would be better to ride back down rather than walk (especially since I was wearing flip-flops). This time I had Wan to myself. I thought we would never reach the bottom of that mountain. I was second in line, and it was impossible to turn around to see the group behind me. By the time we finally got to the bottom of the mountain I definitely knew that I wasn't feeling very well and I was ready to go back. However, the at the bottom of the mountain was the river, which meant we all got to play in the river with the elephants, rinsing them and splashing around. It was pretty cool, and I heard students remark that it was the best day of their lives.

Once we had our fill of fun and photo opps, it was back on to the elephants for the trip back to the Thai Elephant Home. I thought it would be a short ride back up the same path we came down, but of course it was not. We took the long way - first past a handful of very nice riverside homes, then past what seemed like a center of operation for the village with lots of trucks and oxcarts parked around, past a number of mostly vacant tree-level stands (many of which were in disrepair) where people sell bananas and sugar cane to passing tourists, and finally onto a dirt road leading away from the Thai Elephant Home. It was a chance for one last photo before we rode the elephants through the streets past many of the local homes, up the hill, past the school to the Home.

We dismounted our rides and said goodbye, then went up to get our things, shower, and change. We ate watermelon while everyone cleaned up and we waited for the staff to finish a slide show of our day. They captured some great photos of us, which we were able to see on site and which were actually posted on Facebook before we left! A fun day, but I was feeling pretty crappy by the end of it. Oh - and we all used muscles we didn't even realize we had to maintain balance on top of elephants for more than two hours of riding. We walked down the hill to the bus and rode through the pretty tropical mountain scenery back to the city.

We had free time when we got back. Brenda and Angie disappeared off the bus before I knew it and I proceeded to make a plan to meet my acquaintance Paige for dinner. I know Paige through mutual drum corps connections -  she marched in the Colts and Colts Cadets for several years before spending a couple of years on the tour admin staff. Oddly enough, our timing never really overlapped so we probably hadn't met in person before.

Paige and I made plans to go for the Northern Thai noodle curry dish, Khao Soi. She came to meet me at the hotel, where we said "Hello" to Angie and Brenda in the lobby bar where our students were quite loudly enjoying Happy Hour. She cringed a bit when we told her about the elephants , and recommended a sanctuary Angie might take the class to in the future. We took an Uber to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the Chinese market called "The Best! Local Thai Restaurant" because, why wouldn't we? We had some delicious Khao Soi, mediocre Thai beer, and some good conversation about Thailand, her teaching work, our class, and of course, drum corps. Before leaving the area she went with me to a pharmacy to get some Tylenol and cough medicine. I asked about taking a Tuk-tuk back to the hotel, considering Paige seemed to be an advocate for them prior to the trip, but she said it would cost way more than and Uber - so we took an Uber back to the hotel and she went home to sleep before her first day of teaching in a new school the next day, which was the first day of the school year.

Although I wasn't feeling great, I was feeling better after dinner and I was equipped with Tylenol so I didn't want to squander my last, and only free night in Chiang Mai. One thing the city is known for is the Sunday Night Market featuring a lot of locally made crafts. I walked to the market from the hotel - about a 15-minute stroll. I came upon the east end of the market where it meets a massive brick gate that was part of the original city wall. Beyond the gate, the market extended for blocks and the street was filled with tourists checking out the various vendors, with and occasional Street musician and some side areas for Street food. There was lot of fun stuff to look and, and I could have sent a lot of time there, but I knew I needed to keep an eye on the time so I could get a reasonable amount of sleep. So I ventured in just a few blocks before turning around, leaving with only a few small items and an odd little ball of chocolate ice cream.

On the way back to the hotel was a massage place I had identified in advance. I knew I wanted a massage at some point, and with the sore muscles I had after this elephants this seemed like an appropriate time to do so. I went in and was soon disappointed to learn they the guys who do the Thai massage were not working that evening. I had to settle for a regular "aromatherapy" massage - although I must say the oil really didn't seem scented. In any case, I enjoyed a massage and made my way back to the hotel to be in bed by about Midnight.

So that was Sunday. We're still on the bus, somewhere near Lafayette. Close to wrappings this thing up...

We really got some great photos with Elephants. Check out all the May 14 photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/My-Elephant-at-Thai-Elephant-Home-1825029831056274/

Cooking School

I literally had hours to write on the plane, but instead I watched several movies and read parts of a thin New York Times. I'm not even sure I can name everything I saw, but I remember watching Sing, Manchester by the Sea, and an episode of Family Guy. Oh - of course the other movie was The Founder, which I should have remembered right off, considering I was thinking of it as I stood in line at McDonald's, the only restaurant option in the International Arrivals terminal. And there are two U.S. flags hanging above it. How intentionally and distinctly American!

The point being: now here I am blogging on a bus in stop-and-go Chicago traffic on the way back to Bloomington. The driver said there is WiFi but it appears he was wrong, so here I am typing slowly in my phone. It is unlikely I will be able to attach photos to the post. Too bad - I was looking forward to making good progress before getting home. Oh - the driver is also playing some really annoying music, so I hope I don't snap. I guess I should dig out the noise-cancelling ear buds I was wearing for the past 16 hours or so...

The last thing I wrote about was our visit to the mountaintop temple in Chiang Mai on Saturday. From there we drove north of the city to a more rural area to visit a family-run cooking school called Baanhongnual. They have a website, but apparently the Blogger app doesn't want me to create a link. There is a hyperlink icon ,but if you tap there it says you must first select text to link. If you select text, the entire interface changes and the hyperlink button disappears. Maybe you can check it out at http://baanghongnual.com.

It was a somewhat open-air space which reminded me a little of the little place we went for lunch Christmas Day 2015 in Mexico. Of course they grew some of their own ingredients on-site. We were seated at two large tables and when the time came we did our cooking, receiving instruction and did individual prep work in two large groups, then moved to the burners to cook the ingredients alone or in small groups. We made spring rolls to start (no cilantro!), and after eating them we got to work making hot and sour soup, Pad Thai, and mango sticky rice. By the time we were done we were worn out from a very long day, but full and quite satisfied wit our meal. It was a fun way to bind, and some students said that was a highlight of their trip. It was fun, except for when the student next to me dropped an egg in boiling grease that splattered on my arm. It was uncomfortable, but I'm confident the marks will go away soon.

It was a fairly quite ride back to Chiang Mai where we could finally check in to our hotel, the DusitD2. As we approached the city, we ran into a torrential downpour which lasted until after we checked in. By the time we arrived the streets were flooded and on the corner next to the hotel we saw a woman's entire electronics stand topped into the rushing water. We parked as close to the door as we could get and dashed in.  The hotel was trendy (orange is trendy, right?); check in was ready to go and easy, fortunately. Unfortunately, one student's bag seems to have fallen into the wet. She was upset, but the hotel offered to clean anything that a needed it. I got to my room and discovered that my bag was wet, too. I suspect water got in through the the bus Bay doors, but who knows. I emptied everything out of my bag and spread it around the room, then used the hairdryer to try out some of my clothes before crawling into bed.

Look at that - finished up this story right at the Indiana state line.

Chiang Mai Arrival

Saturday morning we left the hotel early for the airport - not the one we arrived at - to fly to Chiang Mai. We left our big bags with the hotel concierge so we wouldn't have to take everything for the weekend. Dom and O helped us get checked in, and all went smoothly so we arrived with time to spare. Our boxed breakfasts from the hotel did not include coffee so we dashed to the Starbucks we saw just past the security checkpoint. I skipped a hot coffee in favor of a Popzel Frappe, which I first saw advertised at the lobby Starbucks in the Starbucks building. I think it was a regular frappe with caramel, a few pieces of caramel corn and a pretzel on top. I passed on the whipped cream, because of course I'm not a glutton.

Once we had our drinks, we walked to the gate which was at the end of a nearly empty terminal. Along the way, Brenda noticed about nine other coffee vendors which we think belies the claim that Thailand is not a coffee-drinking country. The three of us sat among a sea of pink chairs and I blogged while we waited to board our flight.

We landed in Chaing Mai before Noon, and we were immediately struck by the beauty of the nearby mountains. Our guide Pan met us at the airport and once we were on the bus he had the driver take us on a short tour around the city. The one-time capital of a northern kingdom, Chaing Mai sits along the attractive river Ping and still prominently features a moat and portions of the medieval wall and gates that originally surrounded the city. We stopped for a quite impressive buffet lunch at the Empress Hotel, which also featured an impressive entrance and lobby as well as live music in the dining room. The lunch included traditional Thai dishes, salads, fruits, dim sum, sushi, soups, and a dessert bar, but we were all delighted by the little fish-shaped waffles that accompanied the ice cream bar. After eating more than we should have, it was time to go to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep on top of Doi Suthep mountain.

Lunch at the Empress.

Fruit, ice cream, and waffle.

Empress Lobby, with memorial to King Rama IX.

In the taxi, before our trip up the mountain.

The bus took us to meet four songtaews, or small pickup trucks with benches built into the bed which operate as taxis. We piled into the songtaews and proceeded to climb, at considerable speed, up a very steep and winding road the the temple. The bus never would have made it. After probably half an hour, and only minor motion sickness, we arrived at what seemed like a small village where we boarded a cable car to take us up to the temple. The main feature of the temple was the very tall gilded stupa which is said to contain a piece of bone from Buddha. We also saw a teak-wood carving depicting the story of the temple, prayer bells of various sizes, Buddha statues representing various styles and various days of the week, various temple rooms where monks sat giving blessings. A number of visitors walked counter-clockwise around the stupa carrying candles; others prayed or sat with the monks. The most annoying of the observant very loudly shook containers of bamboo sticks until one would fall out and reveal something important,  such as a potentially winning lottery number. In spite of the temple's beauty, it all seemed a bit complicated and overwhelming to me. I did have a nice moment when I ducked into a room to take a picture of a student. A monk beckoned both of us over and tried sting bracelets to our wrists. The guide later told me it was for good luck, and most people would wear it for three to five days. I'm still wearing mine.

After leaving the temple proper we went around the back side where we finally got to see the amazing views of Chaing Mai and the valley below. the views were breathtaking, and it was a great photo opportunity. once we pulled the students away from the photo op, we descended the 309 steps back down to meet the songtaews. The steps, which I'm glad we didn't have to climb, are lined with ceramic tile dragons which run the entire length of the staircase. Impressive and beautiful. Once down, we boarded the songtaews to descend the mountain, not really sticking to any particular lane in the road, and we were off to the next adventure. To be continued... I've got to go to bed.

 

The view from Doi Suthep.

Friday

Google meeting room.

I'm sick and stuck in my hotel room, so blog I will. OK, so where was I? Friday, right? I can barely remember it. According to the Itinerary, we went to Google. We took the BTS to get there. They had a pretty cool office, as you would expect. The floor we were on was more of a meeting space for clients; we didn't see the actual staff offices which were one floor below. The main room was a cafe/kitchen for employees, with nice views, some private booths for phone calls, a meeting room that looked exactly like a Bangkok SkyTrain Car, and a casual seating area with screens. We went into a larger meeting room for our presentation, where the screen saver showed the most common current Google Thailand search terms. Our presentation was good, but a little unfocused. One of the students asked a question about censorship. The presenter gave a very surface-level answer and made it very clear he wouldn't say any more on that topic. We would, of course, hate for one of our business hosts to end up in prison for something he said to us!

Central Embassy Open House space.

 We went for lunch on our own at Central Embassy Mall, a very upscale location. Angie, Brenda, and I went with Peter for Dim Sum at Hong Bao, and although it was early and I wasn't too hungry, we ate a lot. Every time we go to eat with Peter, he just orders a bunch of stuff and we gorge ourselves on it. After lunch we still had some free time, and we went to the top floor of the mall to look around a bit - it was a really cool bookstore, "Open House," as described in my "Getting to Bangkok" post. Angie and Brenda found some French pastries while I blogged.

Central Embassy Open House

After lunch we went to Yum! Brands, where we met specifically with the KFC people. There was a Thai woman who was head of Marketing, and an Indian Expat who spoke with us after she had to leave for another meeting. KFC was a great business, which started with a chicken tasting - as if we needed more food! KFC is the number one restaurant brand in Thailand, and has a stronger brand than companies in most other sectors. They have more than double the number of stores than McDonald's, which they do not even view as a competitor. The biggest competitors for out-of-home dining in Thailand are street food and convenience stores like 7/11. KFC opens a new store about every week, and we learned how they hire and train employees and prep for six months for each new store, so customers are guaranteed a quality experience. We learned that KFC does a lot of data analytics to understand their customer base, which includes families with children, working millennials, and students. They spend a lot of time focusing on the experience, offering free Wifi in stores which appeals to the Millennials and students. As one might expect in Thailand, they sell mostly hot and spicy chicken, and very little original recipe. The have an app for online ordering and delivery, and are working toward the delivery standard set by the pizza industry. We really learned a lot at KFC, and several students commented that although they weren't necessarily excited about visiting KFC they really enjoyed it.

Embroidered Muslim Skull Caps

We went back to the hotel for a short break before meeting to go to the nearby Bangkok Art and Culture Center for the art exhibit DISPLACED by IU Alumnus and textile artist Jakkai Siributr. The exhibit included three works: a set of prayer caps and military uniforms embroidered with children's drawings; a series of woven flags inspired by the Rohingya in Myanmar, and a large piece representing the horrible Tak Bai incident in which 78 Thai Muslims were suffocated in police custody in 2004, which marked the beginning of the violence in the south of Thailand. While the large work about Tak Bai was quite symolic and moving, the works were a little difficult to understand until Jakkai spoke and shared the stories behind the pieces. It was a wonderful cultural experience, and we were excited to learn that he will be visiting Bloomington in October, where some of his work will be on display at the Mathers Museum.

Memorial to the 78 suffocated Thai Muslims.

I would have enjoyed exploring the BACC more - it looked pretty interesting - but we were exhausted and they place seemed to  be closing down by this time in the evening. Angie, Brenda, and I walked back to the hotel through the MBK Center, and we decided to find some dinner there. I wasn't super hungry, but I figured I should eat something. We went to the food court, where my first choice food vendor was laready closed. We finally found some Middle Eastern food, so we got some kebab, hummus, and naan. I got a Chang beer to wash it down, and I wasn't impressed. As I said, we were exhausted, and I don't think we were thinking or communicating clearly. We ended up having what turned out to be a way-too-involved, confusing, and frustrating conversation about tipping. We finally resolved it about the time we finished eating, paid the cashiers for the meal, walked back to the hotel, and went to bed.

More About the Second Day

After a great, but whirlwind visit to Chaing Mai, we're now sitting in the airport waiting to board a flight back to Bangkok. I bought a bottle of water and a Mocha from Black Canyon Coffee, one of the local chains which uses an American cowboy for its logo. It's not a large ariport, so the gate was right inside security and there's no Starbucks here. We had an interesting check in experience. Eighteen of us got through the check in line in about 5 minutes, and I decided it's the fastest airport check in I've ever encountered. It made me wonder what the hell is wrong with Cathay Pacific at O'Hare. But for the last six people, some man collected their passport and took them to a self-service check in kiosk where he spent what seemed like a ridiculous amount of time going through the self check in process for each person. Then he had to take them to the self-serve baggage drop off and go through a 3- or 4-step process to self check in all of their bags. It was a frustrating waste of time and reminded me of those awful self check out lanes which I hate.

While I blog, most of the students are sitting here working on their assignments which are due Tuesday. We're using the free airport WiFi, which requires us to enter our passport numbers for access. Considering the laws in Thailand, providers of free WiFi must collect information about who is using it, in case anyone uses the WiFi to post anything illegal. We learned about this at Google last week, so we're experiencing the regulation first-hand.

The last time I posted I mentioned that I was feeling much better just as the business visits wrapped up and we were going out for the evening. Now I feel much worse. But anyway, we headed from Philip Morris to the nearby Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit to enjoy drinks and catch the sunset at the Octave Rooftop Lounge and Bar on the 46th Floor. It was happy hour, so drinks were half price. I had a drink called Mango Sticky Rice. Drinks aside, the views were absolutely incredible and the weather was near perfect. It was an wonderful way to begin the evening, and if we weren't headed to dinner I could have stayed there all night.

But Angie, Brenda, and I did head to dinner with Peter. We went to a small place in a trendy neighborhood that was slightly off the beaten path. Apparently, the restaurant started in the family home of some of Peter's cousins They have since added on a modest but nice dining room for the public, and we shared a number of delicious traditional thai dishes which Peter ordered on our behalf. In all, the dinner cost 220 Thai Baht, or $6.37, which was one Baht less than my drink ealier in the evening.

After dinner we walked through a trendy mixed use contemporary market space next door, which is apparently owned by an honorary graduate of IU. There was live music, and it would have been a cool hangout spot, but we were headed to a bar about a block away called Iron Fairies. Iron Fairies was truly an experience. It was desigend by and architect who creates lots of bars in the city, and it had a unique, dark, steam-punky vibe. There were tiny medicine-like jars lining the walls, stairs to nowhere, multiple levels, a seating area accessible only through a door hidden in a bookcase, gargoyles, pipes, and general funkyness. I tried a Thai beer (Singha) which I enjoyed; Angie had some sort of Smoke drink "#1," which came in a closed bottle with incense smoke inside. After a while a band started playing live music, but we left after one drink to take a short cab ride to the next spot - designed by the same guy - called Iron Balls Distillery.

This place was totally Steampunk. Lots of iron latticework and gear motifs on the exterior of the glass-house still room. This place was slightly less dark, but had pressed tin ceilings, multiple levels, and walls lined with empty specimen jars. We settled into a cozy upstairs nook to enjoy some delicios Gin and Tonics made with the gin distilled on-site. It was a really cool place and a lot of fun. Once we finished our drinks we took a cab back to the hotel and headed to bed for much needed rest.

Bangkok Day 2

Photographic evidence that I exist: Channin & me following dinner Wed. night.

We’re now in-flight to Chiang Mai on the highly commercial Air Asia. The back of the tray tables and all of the overhead bins are plastered with ads. The seats are a little wonky, but I’m sure everything is perfectly safe. Several of the students near me are taking the one hour, twenty-five-minute flight time to journal and I also thought it would be a great time to catch up on writing, even though I won’t be able to post until later this evening after we check in to the hotel.

Thursday was our first day of business visits. We began the day with a morning briefing, led by a student team, and they did a wonderful job of prepping us for the day. I wasn’t feeling quite as congested, but I felt borderline feverish so I tried my best to just keep to myself for the morning. Our guides Dom and O met us at the hotel and took us by train to the building where we had our first visit: Starbucks. It was a sunnier day, warm but certainly more pleasant that Wednesday. We arrived at the Starbucks building quite early, as there may have been a slight misunderstanding about the visit time. The assistant came down to get us about 10 minutes late, as well, so we had plenty of time in the building lobby for our students to take advantage of one of the two Starbucks in the lobby. Finally, we went upstairs for the visit, where we were led into a nice conference room set up with a number of Starbucks pastries and treats. The visit began with the head of Marketing, Dao, leading us through a tasting of the local Thai blend of coffee. It was quite good, and a lot of fun. Dao told us more about the brand’s position in the local market and how she helped build it, before the General Manger joined us for his presentation. The GM is a Scottish Expat who has worked in Europe and the U.S., and who has an American wife and a home in South Carolina. He gave us a wonderful presentation about Starbucks, his career path, the challenges and cultural intricacies of working with his team in Thailand, comparisons with the team he manages in Singapore, aspects of marketing to the Thai consumer, the expansion of Starbucks within the country, designing the customer experience through unique stores and architecture, the introduction of drive-thrus, LEED certification, and CSR initiatives including direct service with the coffee farming communities in the North. He even shared a SWOT analysis with us. It was really an excellent visit and a wonderful way to kick off the trip. We were really pleased with the company’s openness and generosity.

After Starbucks we visited an impressive multi-level mall where each floor is themed for a different city. The top to floors were almost exclusively food, with the fifth floor being a San Francisco Street-themed collection of restaurants and the sixth floor was more of a food court based on a San Francisco Pier theme. We opted for a Piri-Piri chicken restaurant and I followed it up with a Mango ice cream from Swenson’s. The students tried different things, but it seemed like almost everyone enjoyed it. Unfortunately, Brenda had to take one student back to the hotel becase she wasn’t feeling well.

Class at Mead Johnson.

After lunch, the rest of us returned to the same Starbucks building for our second visit with Mead Johnson Nutritionals. Although we had researched the company, we were naturally a little less familiar with their products. I did know of the company, though, because they were formerly based in Evansville, IN. Now based in Chicago, they are a market leader for infant and child nutritional products which promote health brain development. Their manager is a Kelley Alumnus, an Expat who has worked in the U.S., Vietnam, the Philippines, Columbia, and now Thailand. It was fascinating to learn from him about the various product lines, product differentiation, new products in the pipeline, the various consumer markets, how those markets differ significantly by country and why, how the products are marketed and brand awareness is built, how those processes differ by country, and the core values and key considerations driving the business. He also had a wealth of information to share about living and working as an expat, how he got into working internationally, the effects on his family, the costs to the company, and the support provided by the company. Although we didn’t sample the products, it really was another excellent visit.

As it turns out, the flight to Chiang Mai isn’t long enough to write up a full day. I had to put the computer away shortly after typing the sentence above. We’ve had a long but wonderful day in Chiang Mai – more on that later – and now I’m finishing this up at 11:30 pm. We got to our hotel around 8:00 in the middle of a deluge and minor flood, and only got settled in shortly before 9:00. I was too exhausted to go out, but I sent a couple of Tweets, unpacked my damp bag completely, dried out my clothes, sorted out some tip money, prepped for our big day tomorrow, and chatted online with an acquaintance who (I just learned) is vacationing in Bangkok until Tuesday. I should have taken a shower and gone to be an hour ago, but I want to finish writing about Thursday.

The guys from our class at Philip Morris.

To conclude the afternoon, we took a brief SkyTrain ride to the office building for Philip Morris. There we met another IU alumnus, Tuk, who hosted us for our third visit of the day. At Philip Morris, we only met with Thai people, which made that visit a little different than the others. Also unlike the other visits, we were given a tour of their new and fairly magnificent offices on the 39^th and 40^th floors. The office was quite intentionally designed to be fun and employee-centered, with themed meeting rooms, a stunning balcony, cozy seating areas with amazing views, massage chairs, games, artwork, and motivational wall-mounted sayings. They have developed workplace policies to match: they use flex time and have no dress code. The presenters shared interesting information about the increasing regulation of thier industry over time, the challenges such regulation presents, new laws to be implemented in July, and the creativity required by their marketers and product designers to work within the legal framework. We learned about some innovations in development which will help this tobacco company move toward a smoke-free future. It was a thought-provoking discussion that was challenging for some of our students. I found myself to be quite tired at that time of day, but I powered through. Again, at Philip Morris, we did not sample the products.

We left Philip Morris and once again took a short ride on the BTS to our next event. I had taken some Advil shortly before leaving Philip Morris, and as we walked outside on the train platform it struck me – I finally felt well enough to really enjoy myself. The weather was partly sunny and pleasant, the sights were interesting, our students continued to impress us, and we had a day of really wonderful business visits that tied in well to our classroom learning. I was ready to have a fun and relaxing evening, which we most definitely did – but I’m afraid I will have to write about that next time. It’s time for bed!

For Fun: My colleagues and me at Dawn Temple (Wat Arun) on Wednesday afternoon.

Bangkok Day 1

It's Saturday morning and we're at the airport waiting for our flight to Chiang Mai. There is WiFi, so it's a good opportunity to blog. Our first day in Bangkok was Wednesday, which was a National Holiday - the celebration of the Buddha's birth. We visited cultural sites since most of the businesses were closed. (Also , I alcohol sales.)

The day started grey and pretty dreary. We took the SkyTrain to the river, where we got on a long boat for a cruise. The water was a bit choppy and also had a quite a bit of debris in it. I would call it dirty, but the guides seemed to claim it wasn't, really, and it's true that at each lock where boats can enter the canals there was a filtering/skimming system to clean debris from the river.

The river was interesting, with boats like ours, water taxis, and barge traffic. The area was lined with hotels and condos, but also smaller and older buildings - some quite nice and others run down. We passed an old fort and naval base, and some temples, and we saw the area of the Palace before turning off the river into the canals.

The canals were a fascinating mix of homes and some mom and pop businesses which represents what old Bangkok was like. These homes are now technically illegal, but the government has allowed people to stay as long as the homes remain in good repair. All of the houses are on stilts above the water, with many of them being in amazing states of disrepair. Some properties were abandoned, but others still showed signs of life including laundry hung to Dr, potted plants, small watercraft, etc. Of course we saw people, too, many of whom waved as we passed. Some houses leaned precipitously, some lacked windows, many lacked paint, and I was amazed they were standing at all. But mixed in - seemingly at random - were historical, we'll maintained examples of traditional Thai architecture, some very nice homes, and the occasional contemporary gem. For me, it was a fascinating but confusing place. A highlight of the canals, beyond seeing the way people live there, we're to water monitors we saw sunning along the walls and near the locks.

In the canal area we stopped at the Artist House for a puppet show. We had no idea what to expect. What we found were traditional style, elaborate, carved puppets each of which required three people to maneuver. There was a male puppet who seemed to dance and play mischievously, and a mermaid puppet. The actors brought the puppets to interact with the audience, and one of our students was invited up to help operate the puppet. Of course they made fun of him for not knowing what he was doing. It was a fun break and a nice diversion, but I was still not feeling well, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I didn't quite know what was going on.

We got back in the boat and headed back to the river. Along the way, there were some other extremely loud boats, and they didn't exactly have clean exhaust. Back at the river we stopped at the Dawn Temple which was bustling with activity on the holiday. We went in and climbed up to the first level of the very elaborately decorated structure, which was being restored. It didn't take me long to conclude that the environment was way too stimulating for this introvert. I did my best to appreciate the architectural detail, but before long I left the temple and walked briefly through the market stalls before sitting down by myself for the last few minutes before everyone gathered to leave. As we left, it began to rain so we all had to walk down the precarious, wet, metal, bouncing, floating dock to climb into the boat across the wet, painted wood bow of the boat in the choppy river. I was pretty sure someone was going to fall in, and I had to wonder what the hell we were doing there.

We took the boat back to where we boarded and then walked through the streets to lunch - literally the streets, as the sidewalks were too small or non-existent. We turned this way and that, wandering around as I wondered where the heck we were going and just what sort of high-stimulus he'll I had gotten myself into. When we finally got to the lunch place for pre-ordered Pad Thai , it was OK. I was content to sit there in relative quite and eat once my food finally arrived. It was pretty good food, and eating made my cold feel better.

After lunch we returned to the hotel where we debriefed - our students did an amazing job -  and then I went to my room for a brief nap. That evening we went with our local host Peter to meet my friend Channin for dinner. I've known Channin for 28 years since we marched together in the Colts -  but I probably hadn't seen her in over 20 years. She's had an interesting career teaching abroad, and she has been in the Bangkok area for about a year. At Channin 's suggestion, we met her and her friend Beatrice at a unique and delicious restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. It's affiliated with a NGO that works in population. Control and HIV prevention with the Northern Hill Tribes, and the place has all kinds of interesting condom - related decorations. The authentic Thai food was delicious, and they brought condoms with the check. I don't think any of us took them...

It was great to see Channin again after all of these years, but I was quite happy to get back to the hotel for some sleep. It was interesting to see the posh shops along the street from. The taxi on the way back - it was a very different Tha and from. What we had seen so far.

Getting to Bangkok

Day five of this trip, and I finally have a small break during which I can blog. There seems to be a lot of peer pressure not to, and an expectation that every waking moment will be spent eating. We just finished a delicious meal of Dim Sum - which we sat down for around 11 am, even though our next commitment isn't until 1:30. That gives me about an hour and a half to write - assuming we don't walk around and find more to eat. (A student brought us some cotton candy crepe things, so we will have to eat those at some point.)

The trip here was fairly uneventful. We left Bloomington at 7:04 am Monday morning, May 8. We shared a bus with people going to Switzerland, but there were only two of our students leaving from Bloomington with Angie, Brenda and me. We picked up a few more in Zionsville and headed on to O'Hare. We Arrived plenty early and met the rest of our students there.

Cathay Pacific as slow to check-in, but the security line wasn't horrible. We went through in small groups, and I got through in enough time to grab a salad and guacamole at Frontera, which was way more food than I should have had. Boarding was quick compared to check-in. I as in row 71, next to last - but I didn't mind the location. There was extra space in the aisle between Brenda and me (which benefitted her) and we were close to the restroom. It was easy to get up and move around when I needed to. The flight to Hong Kong was about 15 hours. I had a couple of pretty good meals and slept a bit, plus I got to watch some short films and comedy TV shows on the flight's excellent entertainment system. The worst part about the flight was the leg room, which I think was the least I have ever had on any flight. My knees were constantly in contact with the seat in front of me, and when I stretched my legs underneath my toes stuck out into the space below the person in front of me.

We arrived in Hong Kong early, which was good due to the short layover. We had time to get some tasty coffee before boarding the three hour flight to Bangkok, which included another meal and some delicious Häagen-Dazs. I spent that flight watching The Girl on the Train. We landed in Bangkok around 11:30 Tuesday night, met our guides Dom and O (seriously), took a bus to the hotel, checked in, and then I showered before finally getting to sleep around 2:00 or later. I did pretty well with the travel, I think, considering I felt a cold coming in beginning Thursday night. I took all kinds of supplements and OTC meds to fight it off throughout the weekend and in transit, but I definitely was not 100% to begin this trip. I was pretty miserable by the time I fell into the comfy bed at the Pathumwan Princess Hotel.

Well, look at that - I didn't write nearly as much as I had hoped to, and it's time to get back to work. As it turns out, we're in a high-end mall and I spent a lot of time wandering around taking in the top floor, which is a stunningly designed bookstore / gallery / co-workers space / food court / play space. We were wondering why there is nothing like this in the U.S., at least not that we're aware of. I'm off - we have a visit with Yum Brands this afternoon.

On the Road Again...

And, we're off.

It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks. In addition to trying to keep up with normal work stuff while attending C272 class twice a week, the biggest stressor and time commitment was the Quarryland Men's Chorus concert on April 29 & 30, with quartet rehearsals on top of the chorus rehearsals. We made it past that, and my focus turned more toward preparing for the trip, but we still had a Senior Recognition event for about 7000 people to worry about. In spite of a couple of last-minute surprises and a late night, the event itself went very well. Got home around 11:40 pm Friday, and all I had to think about this weekend was packing and organizing for the trip. Barry and I even had time to enjoy breakfast at BloomingFoods, attend a craft beer festival, and go to an Indy Eleven game. It was nice spending time together before I had to leave.

The final big accomplishment for the weekend was mowing the lawn after a couple of weeks of near-record rainfall. Perhaps the rain was good practice for being in Thailand. Except there, it will be about 50 degrees warmer.

Another stressor has been my health. We still have no definitive answers to why I ended up in the ER in March, but I've had a series of follow-up appointments and tests. We learned that I have some Kidney stones and we weren't able to take care of those before leaving. We're taking a bet that nothing will happen while I'm gone, but I'm traveling with some serious pain medication just in case. As if that weren't enough, I chipped a tooth two weeks ago. Fortunately, the dentist was able to fix me up quickly. Now, since late Thursday night, I'm doing my best to fight off a cold. We advised our students to get plenty of rest during finals week so they wouldn't be run down and ill on this trip; here's hoping I can sleep this off on the plane so I'm in good shape while in-country.

Angie, Brenda, and I boarded a bus with two of our students as well as Laurie, Debbie, and their group of students traveling to Switzerland three hours ago. We picked up a few more in Zionsville and we're now on I-65 headed toward O'Hare. I'm finally feeling about ready to go, which is a good thing, since we're actually on the move. I do wish I were more up-to-speed on all of the class's online discussions. They did a great job exploring all of the topics related to Thai Business, culture, and economics - and I'm frankly feeling a bit under-informed. I'm carrying my Thai dictionary, but I didn't get the chance to learn anything beyond "hello," and I didn't practice language using the Nemo app. I signed up for Google Alerts on Thai business and politics, but I've hardly read more than an article or two. The good news is I paid attention during class, and since I've spent more than eight weeks learning something about Thailand, I'm probably more prepared than a lot of visitors. Here's hoping for the best!

Now if only I can remember ALL of the students' names...