Spode Dish Factory

I went with a few friends on a mommy-field trip to the Spode Dish factory in Malaysia.  We had the best time and it was an experience I won't soon forget.  We met at Becky's in the morning and got our three car caravan ready to go.  We said a prayer, did a cheer and were off at about 9 am.  We crossed the border without any issues (except for toll top-up cards) and hit the road.  In about an hour we arrived at this little side-of-the-road pottery market.  It was typical of a third-world place. True Outlet shopping.  There was a nice aluminum roof and some big fans to keep us cool.  The plates were very dusty from being outside so long but there were so many lovely treasures.  We all had a good time just wandering around searching for new dishes.

I was looking for a set of every-day dishes and anything else was a bonus in my mind.  Spode is a European brand that outsources production to Malaysia.  Their retail cost is pretty high but we got some amazing deals.  After we had been browsing for about an hour we rolled up our sleeves and got to work finding some great dishes.    A few of us are moving back to America after being in Singapore (Asia) for a while so we knew we wouldn't likely get another chance to procure these items.

After we had all loaded up our goods we went in search of food.  The options were... interesting but we ended up at a little market and I think everyone was  satisfied in the end.  Then we loaded back up and headed home to our families.

Thank you all for a wonderful time, fun memories, and thanks for sharing your photos!  Credits to Robin and Sarah for adding to my post!

Becky and I choosing our blue and whites 

lots and lots of dishes

This is the Spode stuff

Karen and Becky

Emmett and Jess

really getting to work here 

Robin and I 

Margie and Michele 

More Spode.  I may be going back for some of these lovelies.

Our Group:
Margie, Sarah, Michele, Jess, Emmett, Becky, Teri, me, Karen, Robin and Laura (Teri's mom)

Fruit man.  We stocked up on fruit because it was 1/4 the cost as in Singapore! 

Robin taught me an important lesson today: You can order vegitarian fried rice anywhere and it's usually pretty good!
This was delicious. and spicy!  

I love this shot Sarah got.  All of us leaving the market with our fruit. 

I bought a few things... 

This is the set of dishes I got.  I bought 12 place settings of 10" dinner plates, dessert plates, and wide-rimmed bowls.
 I LOVE this color.  These dishes were on display in a nice gray color but I saw this color and asked if they had more of the same.  She brought out all I wanted.  I also got 3 large 12" plates and 3 big salad bowls to match.  LOVE this set.  I'm happy with my decision!  

I bought 12 dessert plates in the "Willow" collection.  I got 4 different designs, three of each.
These are all an Asian landscape/ buildings design.  I really liked them.  

Then I got 12 large dinner plates.  These are caged animals from the "Blue Room" collection.  

I got an ostrich. 

a camel

a tiger

and some kangaroos

Here's what they look like all together and with the dessert plates on top.
Also featured is the white table cloth from Greece that Katie gave me for Christmas.