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...

Thailand Travel Rapidly Approaching

C272 Class at the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center

Inside the Cultural Center

It's difficult for me to believe that we're leaving for Thailand in two weeks and one day. Our class has been meeting twice a week to prepare, as well as having a couple of meetings outside of class, but I haven't put in nearly enough time following the online class discussions or completing my own research to prepare. While I certainly know more about the country and the culture than I did previously, I feel under-prepared.

Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center

One thing we did as a class was visit the local Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, founded by the brother of the Dalai Lama. We learned that there are several branches, understandings, or practices of Buddhism, and that Buddhism in Thailand is not the same as Buddhism in Tibet and Mongolia. But the visit was a good general introduction to the religion, and after living here for twenty years it's about time I went there.

Below are some picture I pulled from the web of sites we will see in Thailand, which I'm incorporating into a slide deck for tomorrow's class. I get to talk about safety, rules, and expectations. This trip is coming up so quickly... all I have to do between now and then is 3-4 rehearsals, two concert performances, and the Kelley Senior Recognition event for more than 6000 people in Assembly Hall.

Hong Kong Airport, where we will have very quick layovers.

Our Hotel in Bangkok, the Pathumwan Princess, on the left, and the attached mall.

Wat Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai.

The Grand Palace, Bangkok.

Next Up: Thailand

Lonely Plant map.

On May 8, the Kelley School of Business will send me on my first trip to southeast Asia. Once again, I am traveling with 24 sophomore students and two colleagues for an 11-day immersion trip. Our class, BUS-C272 Bangkok & Beyond: Business in Thailand, begins today. We will learn about business communication styles and customs, the historical and political framework affecting business, issues and strategies for companies considering investment or expansion in Thailand, and more.

Our trip will begin and end in Bangkok, but our weekend in country will be spent in Chiang Mai, which I understand is a beautiful mountain city. While there, we plan to visit a Thai cooking school and an elephant sanctuary. Highlights of our time in Bangkok potentially include visits with MeadJohnson, Phillip Morris, the Board of Investments, Toyota, and the Grand Palace. I'm excited about the possibility of connecting with one or two Colts Drum Corps alumni who are living and teaching in Thailand. Stay tuned!