Tijn in Bangok & Random family moments

Tibbe with his favorite doll.

Quinn with her favorite doll.

Tibbe with uncle Tijn .... what big eyes you have Tibbe ... all the better to see you with ...

Impressive fish tanks at Siam Ocean World.

The first picture ever taken here.

Walking through the tunnel ... Tibbe still liking it.

Even more fish .... I have to say that this place is very impressive.

Quinn running over Tijn and her brother

Tibbe still can't get enough and loves being around people ... if we thought Quinn slept less than average then Tibbe beats Quinn hands down.

He's starting to crawl.

Umit's 19th birthday

High tea at the Oriental Hotel ... Quin teaching us how it's done.

Quinn explaining how to eat her sorbet.

Tibbe getting attention but staying cool.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam: our Electric Canal Boat taking shape

Nerds rule! .... an irrational yet cool project

Less = more.  A birds-eye view of the 5kW Lynch motor (Agni) powering the 80 year old 'bakdekker'.  Notice the rivets; this boat was made before they knew what welding was.

Vic spent day's designing the electric propulsion.  A glass plate will cover the engine room so that people can see the beauty of simplicity.

Bangkok's life on the water; view of the Chao Phraya

View over teh Chao Phraya river - from an apartment we borrowed for a weekend

View to the other side

Luxury little barge that brings you to the Oriental Hotel - at night the river is like Disney World for grownups ... all the activity on the water and the colored lights all around

A typical long-tail boat cruising the Chao Phraya river

The gods will keep this boat afloat.

A prime example of Asian practicality - just use a cheap engine and stick a propeller on it to power your boat.

Around our appartment; foodstalls & more

With so much cheap and good food around you almost wonder why they both to put a kitchen it your apartment.  With 11 million people in Bangkok needing eating most of their 3 meals on the street it's not only popular but also cheap.  It's also perfectly clean and safe - the is the free market at work: you don't serve quality you go out of business & no need for overpaid and corruptible hygiene inspectors.

The stalls generally have 1 specialty and 1 type of meat. If you want something else you go to the stall next door.  For example they will sell dry chicken noodles and chicken noodle soup, and next door they may sell red lacquered pork and rice and pork noodle soup.  The Thais being picky eaters keep know who's good and in the office there's a constant chatter about where to eat.

Street view around Thong Lor

At an average price of about 40THB (a little over EUR1) these street vendors actually make good money and its surprising to see them pack up their stuff in their new pickups.  Of course they pay no taxes and the benefits of that are share between their customers (getting a decent meal for a god price) and themselves ... another lesson of the benefits of free markets.

Sticky rice, BBQ fish and misc. Salad ... this woman stands outside our apartment and works like no other. Often her customers help her out cooking while they're waiting.

 

BBQ chicken and Som Tam Thai (spicy papaya salad) ... my favorite & a Northern Thai dish around

The crushed ice and syrup man ... never tasted this.

Our old man (in Blue) selling BBQ Chicken and papaya salad - he's the best on Thong Lor.

Quinn and dad on their way to work & school.  I'm afraid we'll never get Quinn in a normal car again let alone on the back of a bicycle in `Amsterdam.

A walk around our apartment.

A beautiful gate ... a reminder that we're in the rich part of town.  Never a shortage of tropical hardwood in Thailand ,,, there is an environmental price though.

 

Another impressive gate.

Miscelaneous moments In Bangkok

Tibbe asleep in Noi's arms ... amazing how well children respond to Thai people (and vice versa)

Asbestos removal Thai style ... I guess we did the same 30 years ago (and may still do depending on who's watching)

Tibbe sleeping .... My favorite moment.

Tibbe and dad at the Royal Varuna sailing club

Notice the working hours at the hospital .... I've raved about the medical care here in a separate blog but the service level is just beyond belief

Quinn's favorite outing ... swimming at the Bangkok Dolphins

Tibbe with Noi's daughter 'gift' ... handling children starts at a young age & Tibbe likes it.

Guests in Bangkok - Alba & Brian

The guest keeping Tibbe busy (how I love being relieve of my duties)

The Thai meal - the result of a 1/2 day going to the market and cooking with Noi (our helper).  This is our version of teh Thai cooking school.

Tibbe hits it off with Brian

Tibbe flirting with Alba

Swimming with Quinn at the Bangkok Dolfins

Putting on the essential tools ... Quinn loves her goggles.

Quinn's favorite outing ... swimming on Saturday morning (9AM & not necessarily dad's favorite).

Showing off Quinn's swimming skills ... The Bangkok Dolphins and her favorite instructor 'Teacher Tom' have almost got her her keeping head up and swimming (not bad at 2years &  months).  Unfortunately we're heading back to Amsterdam soon and we'll lose some of her progress.

Views from the RMA office

The RMA Group is a private diversified group operating predominantly in frontier markets in SE Asia, C Asia and Africa.  The company's main activity is automotive related but also covers heavy equipment, power generation, leasing/financing, mechanical & engineering contracting, and food retail (including airport retail).  Generally the group goes into markets early when the investment opportunities are still limited but the economic outlook is improving and the government is starting to open up its market to foreign investment.  At this stage competition is nonexistent and there is an opportunity to dominate business sectors.  We like being the big fish in the small pond.  Once we're in the market we will typically expand and diversify our activities as the country develops.  This strategy sometimes works (i.e. Cambodia and Laos entered in the mid 90's) but can also fail (Myanmar in the late 90's).  The good thing is that failing is not that expensive.

It has been 3 years that i've been working for the RMA Group and the growth has been spectacular.  From a company of about 1,500 people when I joined it it now closer to 5,000.  I'm responsible for the group's Merger and Acquisition activity and work closely with the CEO/Founder.  Although we generally grow organically there has been a constant stream of deals that we like to pick up if we can get them at an attractive price and if they fit the portfolio of activities and geographies.

This work has taken me to some challenging places and interesting opportunities land on my desk daily.  The last time I saw so much opportunity was in my San Francisco days around the year 2000.  It's the mindset I like ... charging ahead with a very entrepreneurial mindset at the edge of what the company operations can handle ... like Mario Andretti once said (F1 Driver) "if everything is under control you're not driving fast enough".

View from my window

View from my office - Our 'clean desk' policy obviously is interpreted differently ... it means you're not at your desk

Quinn signing some papers.

An intense business meeting

Quinn shuffling around the new marketing plan.

Singapore the ever growing South East Asian hub

At the end of July it was time to leave Thailand again for the so called 'visa run'. For some obscure bureaucratic reason we have to leave Thailand every 3 months and this time we spent 6-days in Singapore. Tibbe is the only family member without a 1 year visa and his tourist visa that was valid one month had expired.  Theoretically our 3 month old Tibbe was in breach of the law and could have been refused entry for something like 5 years.  I had prepared my arguments and was read to challenge the customs official but luckily no need for action.  The official was about to make a remark but when he saw the crying baby he went silent.

View of the CBD from Marina Bay

I've been traveling to Singapore on average about once a year over the past 10 years and the transformation has been close to phenomenal.  On every trip there are more people, more businesses, more buildings, and visibly more money flowing around.  In every way this has become a regional hub and even a global hub.  Unfortunately the prices have also been steadily increasing placing the city on the list of most expensive cities globally.  10 years ago this was a cheap city but it is now on par with cities like New York.

All cliches about Singapore are true; it's a rather boring place that is over organized and has lost its Asian charm.  However, for a short break it's actually quite nice; particularly if you live in the region. The change in scenery from the chaos on the streets of Bangkok to the efficiency and structure of Singapore works almost therapeutic. On this trip I had my first meeting down town 45 minutes after landing.  In every country this wold be impossible but here I made it and even had the time to check into the hotel with the family.

Landing at Changi Airport in Singapore.  I guess their English colonial heritage requires the to put carpet on the ground

Dim-Sum at Redstar on Sunday morning .... 200 Chinese Singaporeans and us...

Quinn is still sleepy and getting ready for her favorite food ... rice!

Our hotel room.  I never realized how important the room is when traveling with children.  I always thought a hotel room was a place to sleep. Now we spend half the day there and even watch TV (well ... Quinn does).

View from the hotel room with on the horizon the ugliest building in Asia ... the Marina Bay Sands with the 'Sky Park' - a huge park spread over 3 huge buildings.

Quinn recognizing letters at Singapore Zoo.

Relief on another hot day ... water world in Singapore zoo.