Anyway, get ready for a long one - here is an update of the last two days or so...
So Monday afternoon we walked over to the frozen foods giant CP Foods. This meeting was the highlight of the business meetings for me. They talked to us about what they do and how their extreme vertical integration allows them to do it, and they had asked our group to investigate how they could sell more shrimp in the US. After the group gave their presentation we all were able to engage in a lively discussion and brainstorming session where I was able to shine - my professor has repeatedly told me since that I "hit a home run"with my idea for them to partner with a non-profit on a childhood obesity campaign to establish themselves as a company with heathy food that kids like. :) so it was a great meeting!
After that we had a brief moment to regroup before we left for the alumni dinner. The place was a lovely spot on the river overlooking the royal palace. Great ambiance, only so-so food. The alums were all thai nationals and from two "eras" - a group from the 90s and some from the mid-00s. They were all very welcoming and excited to share with us the work that they do. One of the young alums, Nat, gave us some good insight into the Stock Exchange of Thailand so that we could show off the next day. Apparently with the downturn in the US economy, alot of American money has flowed into the SET in the last couple years leading to historic high numbers. Nat predicts that growth will level out since the US is recovering and investors will most likely return to the States.
Anyway, we didn't get back to the hotel from dinner until 11:30pm and we had one more long day in front of us - including our presentation. Plus, I was starting to feel sick to my stomach, so I went to bed. Unfortunately it was a long night of feeling rather awful.
But I still had to be up in the morning for our last day in Bangkok - another non-stop whirlwind! Up early and off to visit the Siam Cement Group.
((For those of you who don't know, Thailand used to be called Siam and the movie The King and I was based on a true story of King Rama the 5th (I think) and an English teacher named Anna.))
Anyway, we had that meeting, which was fairly uneventful and then a short break for us to eat quickly (Pad Thai) and do final prep for our preso.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand was very cool - we had a tour of the building and they had a live quarterly statement meeting being broadcast that we visited. We met with the head of issuing from the Exchange and delivered our presentation to him without a hitch. With that, our official trip events were complete!!
We all went out to happy hour - where I decided that I would not feel sick anymore, and some how, miraculously, that worked!!
Then, out of nowhere, a HUGE rainstorm hit Bangkok. Thunder, lightning, flash flooding - the works. We waited out the storm for awhile and then Kelly, Vanessa and I headed out into the night!
We sort of floated down the street in a taxi to a restaurant that came recommended by classmates. The food was decent (Phad Sew Yew), but the outside seating was closed due to weather and the inside ambiance left much to be desired. We were sated though, and the rain had stopped so we wanted to go check out the famous Patong night market - something we had yet to have time to do! But of course, even though the rain had stopped the market had been cancelled. :( we were bummed. (and all of you expecting Asian presents - you're out of luck! That was my chance for souvenir shoapping!) but the night wasn't ruined - we headed off to a rooftop bar at the Banyan Tree Hotel called Moon Bar. WOW! The views of the city were spectacular and the gin&tonic hit the spot!
Finally it was time to call it a night because we had to be at 5am again for our flight to the BEACH!!! I felt like I didn't get to really explore the city, but time was up - next time I guess!?
So yesterday started early, but ended in paradise. We flew from Bangkok to Phuket and the transferred to the dock where private speedboat delivered us to our hotel in just an hour! It was spectacular! The water is a gorgeous shade of blue, the sand a soft yellow-white. The only thing on the agenda is relaxing - which is quite welcome after the busy couple of weeks we've had. There are rocky islands scattered around and I think tomorrow we will go boating and explore some with snorkels. We also want to go see the bay where the movie The Beach was filmed.
Last night we dined at the hotel and saw a traditional Thai dance performance, which was somewhere between a hula and an Indian dance. Then it was off to bed after a long day. We were finally in paradise!
- Posted on the go...
Location:Koh Phi Phi
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