Notes From Bangkok

Update: Added some pictures.

[Scott:] We are in Bangkok.

Nicholas' cousin Pan came to Bangkok last weekend to visit with Nicholas. We took the children to an indoor amusement park for Nicholas' 5th birthday. They loved it. We had ice cream at Swensen's, which is very fashionable right now in Bangkok.

On Sunday, we took Nicholas and Pan to Wat Arun, and they climbed to the top of the stairs. They also had a lot of fun swimming together at the hotel pool.

Tomorrow (August 12) is Nicholas' actual birthday, and we're planning to visit the alligator farm in Samut Prakarn. He also wants to see the Pixar film Wallee, which will be released in Bangkok tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also the queen's birthday in Thailand, so there are a lot of special events. The queen's birthday is mother's day in Thailand.

George Bush came to Thailand for a 24 hour visit a few days ago and stayed down the street from us. Apparently the entourage filled the Four Seasons hotel, which must hold a couple of thousand people. Traffic was redirected for a few blocks. We didn't see him, but we saw a lot of black cars, Thai police, and U. S. security agents.

Ying is enjoying the shopping in Bangkok, and I've had an opportunity to study Thai language at the American University Alumni school. Bangkok is internationalizing and changing very quickly. I notice a difference even since my last visit two years ago.

The big news in Thailand today is that a Thai athelete (Prapawadee) won the gold medal for ladies' weightlifting.