River and Hot Wheels

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Last weekend we finally got to see the river! We took a boat from the dock (walking distance from a Sky Train stop) to the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The hotel is very beautiful and it was very cool to take a boat to it and see all the long boats and water taxis on the way. The river is definitely a great way to view Bangkok and I am also told that it is the best way to see the Grand Palace, which we have not done yet but hope to do soon. I have attached a picture of the Oriental Hotel lobby. Afternoon tea there is supposed to be fantastic and so is the Oriental spa, which has its own boat dock, separate even from the hotel. Afterwards, we took another boat towards the Sheraton hotel and had lunch at a restaurant on the water. It was a pleasant experience.

Yesterday, we took Max on a tour of Mattel's Hot Wheels factory, sponsored by the Embassy. It was really cool - in Thailand, many U.S. companies have their factories, which is one reason why goods are so cheap here. For example, Little Tykes brand has a factory in Thailand that you can order from here, that is so much cheaper than in the States. The Mattel factory is for export only though, so they can't sell the product out of their factory, but they did give free samples out to everyone of toy Monster Trucks and hot wheels cars, so Max was in seventh heaven. It was pretty neat to see them put the little cars together part by part, and then have them painted. We also got to go into the "test room" where kids could put the cars on motorized tracks to see how fast they could go and into the "ideas room" where people actually think up new ideas for the products. One thing Mattel is coming out with soon are personalized messages that you can order on the cars. They also have a whole series of Nascars too.

As for personal stuff, it's amazing how fast you meet people when you're an expat. Tomorrow I have a play date with an Australian family, whose son is about the same age as Max. We met them through the school - they live close by. Next weekend, Jim is going to start playing with a pub soccer league and I am planning to meet with an informal Bangkok women's writing group. So we do keep busy. Tomorrow, Khun Somnuk, our housekeeper, starts with us, which will be great.

We have some more trips coming up and also our first visitors. Already, some people are visiting at the end of August and a few days in September. We also have booked a trip to Phuket in October and to Australia (primarily Melbourne) and the South Island of New Zealand at the end of November/beginning of December. We are very much looking forward to all these trips.

Best,

Maddy

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Photos

On the river
Max and Jim on the boat to the Oriental hotel.

River View
Colorful boats on the river.

Oriental hotel lobby
Really beautiful hotel.

Hot Wheels Factory
Max holding a Monster Truck tire.

Conveyor Belt
Max watching the little cars come down the conveyor belt.

More Hot Wheels
Making little blue trucks.

Gimme Cars
And lots of 'em.

Mattel's Testers
These guys were tough customers in the test room!

After a Hard Day at Work
On the bus after the factory trip - note that he is not letting go of his monster truck.

Baby ducks
Two of the ducks that live in our building's pond had babies - much to the delight of Max and the other children.

Fogo Vivo
This is Jim and Max whooping it up at a fabulous Brazilian restaurant in Bangkok called Fogo Vivo. Amazing food and caipirinhas!

Comments

[Susan]

Love to read your journal
It's always fun to catch up on my e-mail and find that you've added a new entry. Perhaps you can publish your entries as a book when you come home. With Max as the "leading character" it can't help but be a hit! Glad to see that you're all having so much fun.