Read the Fine Print

We have seen many interesting labels and English translations of signs. One of my favorite places we pass is the "Pretty Car Wash" and the "Hippopotamus All you Can Eat Buffet" (may not have the same implications as it would in the USA)  Anyway...those signs are hard to photograph because we are usually in a taxi and speeding and swerving in and out of traffic.
But I do have some good labels for you....

this looks like a good snack! How many fingers do you want?

Heinz has translated it's label. This city loves it's dips so it probably does really well here.

we have determined after much testing, this is chocolate milk, choose wisely at the store, the same brand carries a mocha version!

Yum!

Smuckers really doesn't care if you can't read English, in another country. Thousands of miles away from England.

Single people get your own flour, this is FAMILY flour!

the back of the rice bag, I think this is here for parent's to show their children at dinner...."look at this poor poor man harvesting the rice, look how tired he is and how hard he works, now EAT YOUR RICE!!"

this came off of a plastic storage box we bought for toys....it will not only save your pome, it tells us that space will be so exciting!




Now for this next image, have the children leave the room!!!! We found a loofa-sponge (like to scrub yourself with liquid soap) at the 60 baht store, and well,  it really goes above and beyond any sponge I had in America.....

Kob-khun-kahhh for reading my blog!

Sp Mansion Gang

We live at the SP Mansion.
There is what I consider a "gang" of small-ish children that run amok around the 24 floors, pool area and small garden and lobby. On any given day there are 2-8 of them. I am guessing ages range from 5 to 10.
Instantly, AC (as he is now called) wanted to become friends with these boys. They are cool. They have some cool toys, eat some interesting snacks and are unsupervised! There are a couple of them that seem on the edge of being feral.
Well, this relationship has been so interesting to observe. I want to write my dissertation on how this type of thing develops. You see, these boys speak Japenese, maybe  a little Thai, and AC speaks English, and a tiny bit of Thai. They communicate with facial expressions and hand gestures. It is really quite fascinating. It started with AC just inserting himself into their play. And they were not quite sure what to think of that. Lots of laughing and awkwardness.
Then after a couple weeks they started seeking him out to play and just this week they actually knocked on the door looking for him!
Today after school AC went looking for them and convinced them to come into the apartment to play for a few minutes. Then they all took off with other plans. Anthony followed them.
His excellent dad went along to supervise...these kids are certainly not used to an adult around but seem to like Alex.
I love seeing it all play out. It is quite an experience.

Anthony, Thai SuperStar!

There has been what I consider an unusual reaction to my son in Thailand. Before we came here I knew that the Thai people love children.  But what is happening is beyond what I expected. People in stores stop and smile and wave at him. The security guards at the supermarket run out to greet him and go out of their way to get him a cart. People stop and touch his hair or his face. On the subway (MRT) when he entered, old men got up and gave him their seats. The young girls sitting next to him started giggling and talking to him and smiling at him. Before we got off one managed to take her photo with him! I am sure it is on some Thai facebook page or something. Then on the way home on the skytrain (BTS) some lady was smiling and laughing with him and gave him some candy (which are what we consider cough drops) before she got off the train! Literally, everywhere we go somebody is going crazy over him. He usually responds by smiling and flirting back with the people. He has made the comment, "I am a super star in Thailand. I love it!"
Here are some photos from our adventure to Aisatique. We rode a taxi to the MRT, then the BTS, then a boat to the market. Then on the way home all of those except instead of a taxi we rode a tuk tuk!

the boys on the boat to Aisatique

view from the boat

view from the boat

we made it through the MRT and the BST!

on the way to Aisatique

we did not get to ride the ferris wheel this time so we have to go back

me and Anthony at the fountain, taking a break from shopping

The night market, really anything you could want is here!

First Taste of Thailand

Tish insisted we post photos of what we have eaten so far....There will be more to come, because we eat nearly 3 times a day...

 

this cup of stuff was in my welcome package and Anthony gobbled it up. He calls it "chicken porridge" the label is in Thai but I have seen it before and it tastes very similar to soup we had at the Thai place in Laramie. We had to go buy more.

This was dinner, Fried Squid with a lemon dipping sauce, Pad Thai, and a couple orders of fried rice (not all pictured). All delivered to our door for under $8 US. The squid was great!



Next, at the Rama 9 mall we found a cute bakery called "Bread Talk"
we found what is essentially a pig in a blanket, and a lemon custard filled bread, that was called Smart Aleck. Each item was about $1

 

pig in a blanket, called Standard Sausage at the store

Smart Aleck

 

We made it!!

We made it! The ride from LA to Beijing was lovely. About 12 hours but it was the most comfortable plane I have ever been in. Air China impressed us on that flight.
  Anthony's total sleep time on the trips was about 6 hours. And when we got to China he was very impressed with himself, "I told you I could stay up for 2 days!" It was really interesting watching the quickest day ever disappear. It was 3 AM China time when they fed us "breakfast" on the plane. Anthony was silly tired by now and I told him to eat his breakfast, and he said, "But the sun just went down and now this is breakfast? Whatever you say mom!"
The  friendliest TSA award goes to China. They scooped Anthony up and just adored him. They gathered around him and I have no idea what they were saying but the ladies were ooohing and giggling at him. That happened at every shop we went to in the airport, too. We could not leave the airport so for 9 hours we got to hang out there. Slept on a bench and found a couple play areas, and also found Mango Juice!
The ride from Beijing to Thailand was hot and bumpy and there were some very grumpy people on it so we were happy to land. We made it through immigration and customs within an hour and there were 3 lovely people from the SP Mansion waiting for us with my name on a sign! First time for everything.
Anthony has made it all in stride, a few grumpy moments but we have all had those!
We went to the market, and found McDonald's and our first meal in Thailand ended up being McDonald's breakfast. We went to the market from there, which is all connected, and Anthony said, "I like how the McDonalds turns into a WalMart!"
It was pretty much WalMart but we had to get some necessities, like toilet paper. Which, I was told by our escort, and HR person from my school, that the large size, 24 pack was too embarrassing and I had to put it back to get the 6 pack! "You only here for 2 year!"
After that we went to the pool and now it is nap time.
So that is pretty much the first 20 hours for us here. Tonight we are going to order Thai food! Photos to follow.
I am sure once we are not so tired, we will get a little more interesting.

One week

Welcome to the newest blog! We will be leaving little Laramie, Wyoming and heading for Bangkok, Thailand in one week.

We have spent the last 14 years in Wyoming and are ready for some adventure. Join us as we start our new life in Bangkok, Thailand.
Our house is almost empty and our bags are packed. We get to spend a few days with family in Denver before we go. Nothing has really happened yet, so look back in a week or 2!