althom1122

Oh my, oh my, we're here! And so far we have manged to...
- get confused about our arrival time by TWELVE HOURS... and told JulieTaxi to pick us up at the airport at 11:20 p.m. when in fact we arrived at 11:20 a.m... so no Julie.
- nearly lose my MasterCard (but then later discover it under my jacket)
- and unbelievably... knock the 27 inch Sony TV OFF the cabinet and onto the floor, cracking the corner of the TV and ripping off a piece of the cabinet. We thought the TV was broken but it turned out not to be. Julie thought she'd try moving the DVD player into the bedroom to watch movies in there, but when she tried to unplug it from the back, the TV upended and crashed to the floor. She was so upset - she cried. We went down and reported it. Turns out the TV still works, but we'll have to pay for damages to it - and I'm not sure about the cabinet.
But most importantly, we are safe and sound in Bangkok - and I cannot believe it!
I don't want to upstage myself by spoiling my trip report (I'll give you all the details when I get home), but we LOVE Centre Point Silom - had dinner here - wonderful cream of asparagus soup, pineapple and chicken fried rice, and chicken with cashews (to die for)... ALL for 315 baht. LESS than $8!!! Oh my gosh.
So... in spite of our mishaps (these kinds of things tend to happen to me), we are excited and jet-lagged all at the same time.
And I almost forgot, the main reason I logged on (50 baht for the first 10 minutes, 5 baht per minute after that at the hotel) was to ask a couple of questions...
BOB - how do you get to Tongue Thai? My hotel has never heard of it, but I thought it was within walking distance? It seems you provided the directions once before, but I can't remember which post it was in.
ALSO - Where is COTTON HOUSE located? Kathie?

Tomorrow we're having a sleep-in day and hopefully going to Jim Thompson house for lunch (pomelo salad) and then to MBK for some shopping. And we're meeting fellow Fodorite Susan for drinks!

That's all for now - will check back tomorrow to see if anyone has answered my questions!

stitchintime

I too will be returning to the CP Silom when I get back from CM on Feb 10. When you walk out of the hotel, go towards the Oriental hotel. When you see the sign for hotel, turn left. The first soi go right and it is on the next block. There is a small sign for Tongue Thai. Don't feel bad, it took me several tries to find it last time.
Cotton House is right across the street from Tongue Thai and on the first floor.

glorialf

Cotton House is in a small mall called Oriental Place right near the Oriental Hotel. It is on the first floor. Tell them you know me (Gloria). Ask for Reed or Da. Reed is the owner.

I think the pomelo salad is much better on the Verandah of the Oriental than it is at Jim Thompson. I love the restaurant at JT for ambience and good food but the pomelo salad is not the best around. Since you'll be two steps from the Oriental you should try it there.

Kathie

I'm glad you are safely in Bangkok. Blame the mishaps on the jetlag...

rhkkmk

i think these directions are quite clear, but to restate:

ask centre point how to get to oriental hotel which will include a walk along new road---the road that mcdonalds and the robinson's department store are on next to centre point....you want to walk to the left when mcdonalds is to you back....you will come to oriental lane....turn down oriental lane to the left...i think the first soi on your right is the street that tongue thai is on...you go down about a block and the restaurant will be on your right and oriental place (OP) will be on your left....they are directly across the street from each other....
cotton house is on the ground floor of OP Place---there are two corridors and cotton house is on the further corridor from the oriental lane side of the building....nice little shop...closes for lunch...

while in the area, make sure to visit the shops on oriental lane....the thai home goods store is a hoot ---old fashioned thai business....don't be put off by all the dust...look around...the robes near the front, in 100% cotton in blue and white, are a marvelous buy....we find the bronze ware tarnishes too much with our water...

MAKE SURE TO HAVE THE CHICKEN CASHEW AT TONGUE THAI....

you are also in the neighborhood for harmonique....continue along new road until you reach the giagantic general post office on your left....the soi just before it is where harmonique is....the soi has a huge decorative arch over it....

across the street and back a ways is the himili cha cha indian restaurant which is excellent....sign over new road for it and it is at the end of the small soi on the right....

don't miss sky bar at corner of silom rd and new road in state building...building with starbucks in it....64th floor...go at nite...dressy sort of...

i have that room reserved at centre point so now you have wrecked my TV....i'll just have to go over to patpong instead to play...

enjoy and keep us posted...

go to an internet cafe on the street for much cheaper usage....ask the door man at centre point...

rhkkmk

karen---it may be the next soi down oriental lane rather than the first one...i can't seem to clearly visualize it today...

also on oriental lane is lim silversmiths....they have 3 stores in that area....great gifts and quality stuff...very cheap...pill boxes are a wonderful gift and they will also monogram them....

rkkwan

I actually broke a TV at a hotel in Milan during my last trip to Italy. The tube didn't break, but plastics and wires all over the place. I felt like a rock star!

Gpanda

Drat. You have escaped the delinquency penalty. The slush fund thereby suffers. Tongue Thai and the Cotton House are separated by about 500 feet. You have the directions above. If you want dinner, you could go to the Cotton House first and then wander over.

Guenmai

As for how to get to Oriental Place. Take the skytrain to Saphan Taksin and then the Oriental's private boat to the hotel...only one stop up the river. The boat will ahve a YELLOW flag waving on the back of it. Just don't be wearing shorts,cut offs or carrying a backpack or they won't let you in. You can also take the river taxi the one stop if you don't want to take the Oriental's boat. Whichever one comes first. They won't ask you if you're staying at the hotel or not. When you get off the boat, you will have to walk through the hotel. You'll walk in through the Author's Lounge...a room with a lot of sun light where guests have tea. Walk straight through and then you'll see Louis Vuitton, on your right, keep walking straight and you'll see a door leading to the outside. Walk out that door. When you get outside walk straight up the street that runs to the right of the Oriental until you get to the FIRST street and turn LEFT and then at the next first street, turn RIGHT. Now you will be at the Oriental Place Shopping Mall which is a small,colonial-style building. You'll see a guard at the door...enter that door and when inside turn RIGHT and walk straight until you empty out onto the main, open area of the shopping Mall...you'll see a staircase to your right. Now that you are in the open part of the mall, you'll see an information desk to your LEFT...walk in the direction of that information desk and walk down the corridor past the information desk and you'll see Cotton House on your left side. After leaving Cotton House, walk back up that same corridor, in the direction of the information desk and when you get to the desk, you'll see a door to your right. There will be a guard there. When you exit that door...you will now be outside...turn RIGHT and walk to the end of the street and then turn RIGHT again and right to your LEFT you'll see Tongue Thai Restaurant. It's a 3-minute walk once you've exited the door at Oriental Place. If you want to take a taxi after you've eaten, go back to Oriental Place...to the same door you exited and ask the guard to get you a taxi. This is better than flagging one on the street. There will be benches to sit on while you wait for the taxi to come around. Make sure the meter starts at 35 baht and you can tell the guard to tell the taxi driver where you want to go next. Hope this has helped. Happy Travels!