RHK's 2010 Thailand and Vietnam trip

Have a safe and pleasant flight over Bob. Look forward to seeing you guys again this weekend.

Most of our Thailand accomodations will be at Marriott properties. We expect to take full advantage of our Gold status which dictates room upgrades and club privledges at every stop. By the end of the year I should be at the Platinum level. This will last for all of 2011. All the reservations were made at the Marriott site.

In Vietnam I instructed Tonkin that we wished to stay in locally owned 3* hotels in the center city. They made several suggestions for each city and we chose from their listings, and Karen suggested a place or two as well from her research on various sites, including TA. We are not huge fans of TA, as we find the info provided often not wholly independent or impartial. It is however one source, and often has fairly complete lists of frequently used hotels. You can then do more research on your own. Most of the hotels are between $75-100 per night, including tax/service and breakfast for 2.

For eating, one of our main activities, we hope to visit both new and often visited establishments from past trips. We expect to eat a variety of cuisines, both eastern and western.
Chicken cashew being a favorite along with fried morning glory... yellow curries, pad si woo and so on.... But there will be new items to try this time as well, especially during the two weeks in vietnam. Fodorites have published the names and descriptions of enough vn eating establishment to surfice for the rest of the year. Karen is in charge of making choices there.

In SEA, we will use Air Asia and Vietnam Air--booked both thru Air France, Tonkin and directly on line-- to get around.

This trip i hope to use the skytrain more than in the recent past, but i am sure taxis will be my fall back as i am lazy and like to arrive cool and dry at indoor places we are visiting. Nothing worse than arriving at a nice dinner restaurant, or any restaurant dripping wet and uncomfortable...

We have been spoiled the last few trips with arriving in bkk at a decent hour and leaving at a decent hour, but this trip we are back to arriving at 11:45PM and departing at the un-godly hour of 5:40AM.... This means little sleep on both our first and last nights.... Singapore Air, Thai Air and Korean Air really spoiled us. We want to try Finn Air in the future and maybe one of the middle east airlines or Eva thru Heathrow. You become a slave to FF programs however.

pook---new camera and slippers all packed

Bon voyage!

I am eager to follow along.

We would like to be more creative in our hotel selections in Vietnam next time so I await your comments on the 3* hotels.

Just yesterday my husband was recalling how much he enjoyed our day out at the fishing village guided by Jerry from Tong's team. We will be curious to hear what imaginative outings you take with Tong.

Enjoy it all and do report in.

Have a great trip Bob. Looking forward to reading all about it.

Bon Voyage Bob - Looking forward to seeing you both in Bangkok soon.

If you get chance to go to La Badiane in Hanoi do, the food is lovely. Good luck with those crazy VN roads!!!

PS you REALLY should consider EVA, that way you could come and see us too!

I wish that you people would travel once in a while.

In accordance with your wishes, I will make a substantial cash donation to your summer travel fund. Please send me your bank account info by return mail, and I will of course deposit the funds (which were bequeathed to me by my late uncle, the deposed King Sammy of Chelsea) as soon as the info is received.

Good massachusetts is rid of Bob for 5 weeks. Hopefully, the Democrats will win again and he can suffer on his return. While he hasn't technically left yet, timely report, no penalty.

I'm looking forward to following along on your journey. Have a fabulous trip.

Have a great trip.

Bob, Karen,

Have a great time. Sounds like a busy (but relaxing) time. I am sure you will like being in serviced apartments rather than hotel rooms for your lengthy stays.

Please give BKK (and Pook and Maeng) my best. I'm on my way back there again on December 16th for almost 3 weeks.

Have a safe flight. Good thing you aren't going via ORD as I think the severe wind and weather they are predicting for today and tomorrow may result in flight delays/cancellations. I'm in TPA for a few days (actually I'm on the beach near St Pete) and hope to fly back to ORD tomorrow afternoon. (I can cope, should I HAVE to remain in TPA another day)

Carol

Have a great trip. Don't know if you have used Alaska before, but as you know, we used them EWR-SEA and then on to Kauai - same aircraft as BOS-SEA. I think you'll enjoy the flight.

Looking forward to your reports from the road.

Gpanda, I believe he cast an absentee ballot, so it's early yet for jubilation.

Rizz, I count myself most fortunate to have assailed visited with Bob & Karen during a moment of weakness (theirs, that is) when I was last in Boston. As usual, they were an outstanding host and hostess.

B&K, I'm very glad you checked in and I'm excited to read more about your trip once it's underway. Please let Tong know that I regularly wear the TravelingwithTong tee shirt I'd received a few years ago at the Fodors Boston GTG. Safe travels, you two!

BC

craig, while you were up front, we will be in the back....in checking my res the other day i discovered that for some reason they cancelled karen's seat assignments.....so for tomorrow she has no seat assigned, we have to go to the airport early.... coming home i am in 12 and she is in 28...
they were unwilling to do anything to make changes and in fact were quite unfriendly, read rude, during the whole conversation... i made those seat reservations in January.
it pi--ed me off quite honestly, so i start the trip with a bad attitude....

Have a great trip you two, I know you will.

Karen, Linda says to buy shoes, shoes and more shoes in VN, Bobby will be there to fetch and carry,lol.

Bob, my father passed and left you his entire estate but was mysteriously awaken by someone so no dough.......this will only make sense to rhkkmk

Aloha Oe!

Have a safe and fabulous trip! (I can't believe ours is coming up in only 4 months!!)

Karen and Bob, have a wonderful trip. I look forward to following along through your reports.

Have a great trip, look forward to reading about as it unfolds. We'll be in Vietnam in February, so all your news will be of great interest to us.

By the way, who is the revered Tong? Does he work with Tonkin Travel - or on his own. We'll be in Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, boat on the bay, and probably Sapa. Where does Tong work out of - go?

Tong is a she in BKK, not VN. A great travel guide at that...used and loved by many Fodorites. If you want to use her reserve well in advance. We contacted her over a year ago for our dates.

HT..sorry your father "unpassed".. we could have used the money for our summer adventure.

Thanks all for the well wishes. We are looking forward to the trip, esp the Vietnam part, and showing our newbies the BKK/Thailand we love so much.

Bon Voyage! I'm following along.

we sent flowers to the funeral home but they were returned...

> we sent flowers to the funeral home but they were returned

I hope you had the decency to put them back in the cemetery from which you stole them.

Looking forward to hearing all about it.
In Hanoi, try and eat at the famous Bun Cha Dac Kim, #1 Hang Menh St, Hanoi. It's right in between Yen Thai and Hang Non street. I would go back to Hanoi just to eat there.

Gee Bob, I really think Alaska Air should put you and K up front to compensate you for the stress of having your seat assignments changed without telling you.

Seriously, I hope it all works out - I really hate it when that happens...

Rizzuto - lol

Bob/Karen - have a great trip!

we didn't take many from each grave...just drove around to several sites and took a few from each... hey, it's HI, what d'a they know...

We are looking forward to meeting up with you! And seriously - Morocco in March/April of next year? This is our next trip! Bodes well for discussion and a possible GTG!

Have a great time & looking forward to reading wonderful tales from your travels.

Have a great trip. I can't remember whether you are Chote Chitr fans or not, but if you haven't tried it on your many trips to BKK, I think you should give it a try. The mie grob (or however you spell it) and other dishes were delish!

Sure! He wants us to think that Karen didn't call the airlines so she wouldn't have to sit with Bob.

Rizzuto-you think he paid for shipping the flowers? Unlikely.

Have a great time. This time we expect a timely report, photos, and recipes. The secrets of a good summer roll and a piping hot Pho would be appreciated.

we are not fans of either CC or its nasty owner...

Enjoy and travel safely. Looking forward to the reports.

Have a good trip. At least they only canceled the seat assignments, not the tickets!

Bob & Karen,
Have a wonderful time and hope you post some photos. Guess I missed a great buying opportunity because I never even looked at shoes in Vietnam!

Well, ARE barefoot after all!! I will let you know what you missed.

touchdown seattle---10 minutes late... great flight for the service part onboard...

tomorrow i will write the latest seat fiasco

Karen's seat switching plans are working. Now, if she could just figure out how to get different flights, I would be impressed, but not surprised.

ok, we arrive at the airport at boston and turn in our one way hertz rental ($52). Off to alaska air... bad news begins again... our seats have now been changed again... we had 12 C&D originally---booked last january, later 12 C and 28C. now we have a middle and window in 28. picture this: sitting in your aisle seat next to me, all 330 lbs in the middle seat... not pretty
the woman at checkin says to talk to the woman at the gate... ok, pass the buck.... the seating supervisor the night before had said to talk to the woman at check in...so gloria is waiting for us at the gate... nothing she can do... then she looks back further in her computer and sees our original seats from january... she keeps our boarding passes and sends us to dinner... when we return we are called to the platform. The Boston station mgr is waiting to speak to us... he never apologizes... he just talks in circles... "so what is the bottom line" i ask.. gloria offers us the two seats in the last row with no recline and the constant smells from the bathrooms both in back of us and beside us... with a free seat in between... it was not very nice but we had decent room.. i ask the mgr for some token and he says he has none, not even a drink coupon---he is young and inexperienced...

everything changed once we were in the aircraft... they could not have been nicer and more efficient... water was passed constantly and drinks were served 3 times i think, plus food for purchase... very impressive for a domestic flight... Alaska air...

the steward at the back of the plane was an extremely nice vietamese guy. He smilled all the time and was wonderful with the passengers.... he is the prototype of the person to have this job!! Donny is his name...

We arrived 10 minutes late to seattle which was amazing given the headwinds and turbulance all across the country... we appreciate kathie and cheryl's waves from their front porch as we flew over..

our bags were waiting for us... alaska has a 25 minute policy...the shuttle to the fairfield came along quickly from the garage on the 3rd floor---all very efficient at the airport...

Fairfield is older and rooms have been redone... small room.
its now midnight so we are tired and a bit hungry.. we walk to the local "sports" bar, the only place nearby---Bull Pen Tavern---about 5 blocks... dim place full of prostitutes... food service has ended... now i am annoyed with the hotel for sending us there... walk back to hotel and take the shuttle to 13 coins, an "italian" 24 hour fine dining place... decent enough... I had a fattatia and karen had a philly cheese steak---mine delicious, hers not so good..

print boarding passes and bed finally...

btw, i used my new Bose quiet sound headgear on the flight for the first time and they are amazing.....BOSE!!!

off to bangkok via narita in the early afternoon... delta flt 295.... seats in row 18 (aisle and window) 2 seater...

Why didn't you let Bill Gates know you would be in Seattle? I am sure he would have been happy to have you and Karen over for dinner if he were in town. Hope your seats on Delta are better than on Alaska Air.

fattatia?

i let a far more important perso know...kathie... she invited us to dinner, but i told her it would have to be at 11PM.... too late for cheryl... we have taken a rain check

its a one pan meal for a fattie... can't believe you are not aware of it..

off to the airport

You should have stayed and ate at the Bull Pen Tavern.......could of had a lap dance with their fattatia....

So pulling a Kimball didn't work on the BOS stn mgr......write a long letter to the boss when you get back home....at least no ankle sprains yet..... enjoying the report

Aloha!

Bob, you were almost right next door to the Hampton where we stayed. You should have gone to Dave's Diner which is open til 2 am and where we had a great, inexpensive meal.

Enjoying the report. Keep it coming!
Yes, yesterday was really w-i-n-d-y!!! I was flying from TPA to ORD. I was sooooo glad when the wheels touched down on the runway at ORD. Bumpy! Wow!

Remember to go say hi to Maeng. Let her know a day ahead of time when you will come to dine at Pickled Liver so she can have plenty of whatever you decide you want to eat. It's fun to just let her cook for you (a surprise menu) but if you want the garlic shrimp for sure, then let her know ahead so she has plenty for you.

Carol

Sitting in sunny Florida, wishing you a fantastic trip. Hope you are in Saigon over a weekend to go to the the marvelous food feast.

Glad you could see us waving in the dark, Bob!

We have beautiful weather for you, sunny and warm.

Welcome back to Thailand Bob, Karen and friends! See you all tomorrow!

The luck of the New Englander! A nice cool front from China has finally reached Bangkok. Nice clear, cooler weather for the next few days.

Not just sure where I left off as it is 6AM and I am in a bit of a fog.

After a good night’s sleep and a typical Fairfield breakfast we headed to SEATAC airport about mid-morning for our 1:40PM Dleta flt #295 for Bangkok via Narita.

We had a delicious lunch at one of the fish restaurants within the airport. I had a combo clam chowdah in a bread bowl and a delicious Caesar salad and Karen had a halibut salad. Both were delicious.

We used our “old and impaired” status to board the airbus 330 early. Our seats were in row 18--- a 2-4-2 configuration. Perfect save one thing: in the reconfiguring of this former Northwest plane, they built the inside for midgets… It was tight to say the least but we made the best of it. Once aloft drinks were served: free coke products, beer and wine—anything else $7. The meal was “chicken or beef”…. The chicken was the best airplane food I have ever had!!! Pieces of white chicken meat with a dark sweet sauce on it--- fluffy rice and crunchy carrots. The roll and brownie were stale however. A great start. K said the beef was good. The steward in our section was a real character, so that made the flight go by quickly. He wore a digital pin with a moving electronic message: “welcome aboard”, later, “chicken or beef” etc… Quite fun for the back of the bus.

I spent almost the whole flight enjoying my Bose noise reducer headphones---they really work… I attached my i-pod and enjoyed my recordings when not dozing… We both took sleeping pills.

Our arrival at Narita was on time. The former Northwest terminal—the round one--- has been reconfigured and enhanced and expanded--- very nice. After a short wait we boarded another airbus 330 for the 5.5 hour flight to Bangkok… It left right on time and like the previous flight was full.

Because of my luck with the previous meal I again chose the chicken and so did K… My chicken was unrecognizable as such and was left largely uneaten. The flight arrived at BKK ½ hour early. As a result we were assigned to a bus gate, which actually worked to our advantage as the bus took us almost to the entrance to immigration. K & I were rerouted to the fast line by an attendant (over 70 it said), and there was only one person in front of us. The suitcases were already starting to come out when we arrived at the luggage pick-up. Ours came out in about 8-10 minutes… Perfect.. A stop at an ATM for 10,000 B and we were at the cab stand---again 1st in line… SO FROM TOUCHDOWN TO TAXI IT WAS 45 MINUTES---- W O W….

The driver never touched the brakes and we were at the Marriott Resort and Spa in short order. 301 B…..

No wait at checkin in. We were in our room in no time--- an upgrade to river facing, above the pool PLUS based on our Marriott Gold status free use of all club facilities, breakfast either in the Market (huge buffet) or in the club, free internet in the club (wi-fi), plus free 5 piece of clothes cleaned, etc., plus afternoon tea and evening drinks…

About a month ago I changed my rate to an advance pay rate so this was a real bargain at 3360 B++ (about $105++)… Remember all rates go up on Nov 1 each year. I was thrilled with this rate needless to say.

By 2AM we were partially unpacked and in our comfortable over-sized king bed. Less than 2 hours later I was awoke for the day however. K took a sleeping pill and lasted until about 6:45 before getting up.

Let me speak to the weather. When we got off the plane it was about 80 degrees with NO humidity. The same is true this morning--- I think it must be 70… In 13 trips to Thailand, this is the most comfortable weather we have ever experienced… Surely it can’t last. Pook told me it may…

Saturday

So we decided that we should do something productive for the day as we seemed ready to move early… We went down to the buffet before 8 and it was mobbed…. There seemed to be a big Spanish group.. We ate a moderate breakfast…

Earlier in the week I had noticed that the thai craft organization was holding one of its bi-monthly sales at the jasmine ctr on sukhumvit at the corner of soi 23, so off we went by taxi about 9. These sales are always a highlight of our shopping in bkk… Today was no exception… The wide ranging goods are 99% hand-crafted and range from greeting cards, to bath mats, to stainless steel to children’s toys… Quality is excellent and prices are very reasonable (www.thaicraft.org)... Upcoming sales are nov 13, 27 and dec 18 all on the 3rd floor of the jasmine bldg--- 9:30AM to 3PM…

From there we headed to thai stone jewelry in the nana hotel on soi 4, sukhumvit. Karen had a few items to discuss with our friend and jeweler Porn. It also seemed to be a good time for me to play an early Santa, so she added two other items to the pile. This all took about 2 hours. I can only tell you that three colors come to mind: gold, green and a unique clear white. Only santa knows and he ain’t telling.

We jumped on the skytrain and headed for the river---boy was it crowded. We took the Marriott boat back to the hotel. It was now after 1 and we were starved… we each had a maharaja rolled sandwich--- tikka chicken on a warmed nan bread with a spicy pesto sauce, plus slaw, plus fries, plus cucumber and yogurt with mint, all on the side. All delicious.

Next was Jack at Monet il Sarto for some clothes discussions… K brought two pieces of bali cottons for him to make shirts for her and even though I said I would never own another suit, I ordered a dark blue wool cashmere blend (a la stan kase) with a muted herringbone pattern. Stan—the wool came out of a hidden drawer with your name on it…

I didn't see marijuana rolled sandwich on the Marriott menu when I was there. Guess you have to ask the G.M. for on a special order.

Bob, I'm excited to read that the Thai Craft fair will be on December 18. I'll be in a fog, having just arrived the night before, but I am going to try to get there. Thanks for the heads up. The fact that it is in the Sukhumvit area also makes it so much more appealing than if I would have to ride in a taxi in heavy BKK traffic to get there!

Glad you made it to BKK. So happy to hear that the weather is so nice. Hope it lasts until early January! haha

Carol

The pool was next, followed by drinks and hors’ in the club…. Dinner is up in the air at the moment---dinner or more gin and tonic…??

Settled… the hors and 3 G&T and 4 glasses of wine (k) and dinner is postponed.

I spoke with both Hanuman, who had called us, and Tong today… Tong will be stopping by the hotel tomorrow morning to “give me a hug”---I told her that I hope she has long arms…. We will be meeting pook, dang and mony for brunch tomorrow as well, but other than that the pool will be our destination of choice…

We will be leaving Monday noon for Vietnam..

Reminder to newbies---this report will have more touristic details once we arrive in VN… This is our 13th trip to Thailand so we do few of the “to do” things anymore… Later next month some friends will be joining us in bkk so we will then do some touristic things on schedule as well as lots of foodie things----it killed me to skip Harmonique tonight…

Special hello to A&B




craig---we saw that diner, but it had closed...

HT--- better if you experience the ld

Can you imagine anything worse than the playlist on Bob's ipod? Perry Como and Andy williams come to mind. I'm sure Vic Damone is in there as well.

Chicken tikka sandwich for your first real meal there? No pad thai, no cashew chicken, no banana flowers? If you have pasta for your next meal we will have to make a Thai food intervention. Have fun.

Gpanda- did you leave off Lawrence Welk and the Lennon Sisters?

I'm soooooo ready to be in Bangkok. Your description of the weather, heading for the skytrain, etc. makes me want to be there now.

I do agree about the chicken tikka sandwich- it sounds yummy, but your first meal in Bangkok??

it was at the marriott, not at a "thai" place.. i did think about ordering nasi goring or phad thai but sandwich appealed...

off in an hour to meet pook et al for more indian food...

loaded up on dim sum this AM at a mini-breakfast at 7:15

we both had sleeping issues again last night...

Enjoy the weather....and it looks like it will be a perfect time for you in Vietnam also. I am in Chiang Rai and this morning it was almost COLD! We return to Hanoi tomorrow and checking the weather for that location were almost stunned by the cooler temperatures and dry forecast. You should have WONDERFUL weather for this time of year.

Ha, you nay-sayers slay me!

First of all, Gpanda, Bob used the Bose headphones to mostly listen to nothing and drown out noise. To my way of thinking, it's pretty much the same result as listening to Perry Como.

Rizz, that's obviously envy talking. If you have a prescription, I can take you to a place on Main Street in Ann Arbor for that sandwich, although we'll have to make a brief stop at Zingerman's on Detroit Street to get the bread and condiments.

Bob, lovin' this trip report! And just so you can gloat a bit more, we've had frost here the past couple of nights, and a windstorm late Wednesday took down about a third of the mountain ash in my front yard! (My yardman showed up on Friday morning with a chipper to dispose of errant branches and said he was happy to help.) Keep apprising us of the doings, as you know, I live vicariously through your travels!

BC

up early once again after a fitful night's sleep for both of us... breakfast by 7:15--if you know us, this is unusual..

tong came by about 10:15 for that hug and we sat in the club for a few minutes..

we met pook, mony and dang just before noon. The brunch at rang mahal (rembrandt hotel, soi 18 sukhumvit) never disappoints.. we had a nice table by the window... i have a few pics..

pook had purchased a couple of things from amazon and had them delivered to our house so we illegally imported them to thailand for him.. haha.. we brought them to brunch.. We spent a couple of very pleasant hours with them enjoying the company, good chat and delicious food offerings: favorites were a warm pita with chicken kabob carved from a gyro type cooker which was served sliced with a green yogurt sauce and white onions.... and the best ever array of western desserts... we parted about 2 PM with hopes of seeing each other later in our trip...

on behalf of all of us, I warmly welcomed pook back to fodors. he is truly an asset to the asia board, not to mention a "war" veteran reporter.

We made a short stop at the marriott svc apartments on soi 24 and then returned to the hotel for a coolish swim... i never thought this day would come, when i would use the words cool and swim in the same sentence about bangkok...

we welcome a cool stay in vietnam as well..

btw, the taxi we took to the rembrandt hotel had a rigged meter...

we have yet to experience heavy traffic...

off to vietnam in the AM. i booked our flight to hanoi with air france. they later notified me that the flight had been cancelled and they had rebooked me on vietnam air, so we will be using them for 3 flights on this trip..

i think all of our vn hotels have wi-fi so the reports will continue...

Bob we used vn air several times last year and they were excellent!
Glad you caught up with Pook et al, enjoy Hanoi I am envious you are going back to that lovely city

Ha ha yes Bob is my mule for illegal contraband. Between Carol, Brad, Ken and Bosoon to be Kathie) I have no need to travel to the USA for anything!

A pleasure seeing both Bob and Karen again and what a nice time we had chatting. A great trip to Vietnam and see you when you get back here!

Looking forward to hearing about your impressions of VN. We also used VN airlines and were very happy with them. You sure are lucky with the weather. Hope it holds up in VN for you.

Looking forward to an update from Hanoi...

Sounds like a nice time as usual with Pook and family.

What time is your flight to HAN? My husband and I are flying from BKK to HAN tomorrow also. Leaving BKK at 12:20pm on VN airlines. If you are on this flight I can show you a photo of your guide for Hue and Hoi An! We can also discuss the "wonders" of air travel vs train travel!!

Gailmo

gailmo-you will be able to recognize Bob if he's on your flight. Just think of a very large smiling Buddha In caucasian form. That's him. Or just go up to the largest person complaining. That's him.

My husband has a rather large belly. Throughout VN people called him the "Happy Buddha"! The Vietnamese people are not used to robust men or woman and their comments were very funny.

We are on that flight ..look for us.

in fact i might even equal 2 buddhas...

we should be at the airport about 10:30, leaving here at 9:30..

i can't believe it, we have benn in bkk for a couple of days and we have not had one bite of thai food save a few hors in the club, and that does not count...

for anyone coming to bkk soon, the new kempinski hotel is open and sits at siam paragon... it has a 3 for two night opening deal... for basic room that work out to about 4000 B per night... can't beat that for this lux... go to their site..

Ahhhhh...I have met the famous smiling Buddha and he is very wise and all-knowing when it comes to travel! I seemed to have lost him and his wife in the scrum to get off the plane in Hanoi and through customs. Perhaps the border guards really knew his past history and wouldn't let him through passport control!

It was great fun to meet and talk with such an avid Fodor poster boy. I only wished we had more time to chat----which of course means that I need to get myself to a GTG at some point in time.

One side note: Bob thought "Gailmo" was someone from Italy and was looking for a sexy Italian man instead of a "hot" lady named Gail from Missouri. BTW....hot refers to my mid-life temperature and not my fading body.

How were the club hors Bob?

Gailmo - it's always fun to find out something about a poster. Enjoy VN. We'll be waiting for your trip report as well!

Gailmo-good job losing Bob. A nearly impossible task. It's safe now because he's asleep in VN. I'm sure he'll catch us up soon.

Monday

up early again and down to the market for a substantial breakfast.... met up with one of the hostesses whom we have known for years...

decided we better take some lunch with us on the plane so went to the marriott bakery and bought a few things... and was that a good idea when we saw the trays on vn air...

The taxi driver we had asked the day before came for us at exactly 9:30 and off we went... very little traffic... i love rama III for getting into the city or to the highway from riverside... flat rate 500B-- fair enough.

Almost no line at vn air... K checked out a couple of shops, of course...

While sitting in the waiting area a very nice italian man spoke to us---whoops... it turned out to be gail from MO...

btw, tell us more about your overseas teaching assignments please...

we had a very short chat and then we had to board... we were nearer to the back and gail and hubby were mid-plane so we never got to complete our chat... sorry to say..

we were visa on arrival which i would not do again---way tooooo inefficient... consequently we were the last to leave customs and gail was probably in the city already...

the drive to the city center takes perhaps 30-45 minutes...

We stopped at tonkin travel's office to pay our bill--very reasonable we think... the office is small with perhaps 5 staff... our rep was very friendly---they served us tea..

The driver they had sent ($20.) was excellent, but very little english... He drove very slowly and carefully...

HERE I WILL STOP FOR A MOMENT AND TELL YOU THAT THE HANOI OF TODAY IS NOTHING LIKE THE HANOI OF 10 YEARS AGO... We almost could not believe the changes.... way more cars, more animals--cows in the fields, way fewer fields, many more big impressive houses... way more traffic... very few bicycles... many more motorbikes---did i mention more cars and expensive ones too---what's happening to socialism--i guess it only still exists in cambridge...

Hang Gai St which in 2000 was a quiet little shopping street with no cars really, is nearly a major street now with twice the shops with 1/2 the quality, but much more variety...

We are staying at the newish Gia Boa Grand Hotel on Lo Su St in the old town area--3*... Noisy during the day but quiet enough after 10 PM... I heard the 1st horn at 5AM this morning... Right now at 5PM, its one horn after another...
$90 per night including a nice breakfast/taxes/service--free in-room internet too... We are on the 9th floor in a "VIP" room... Large room and hard bed--but its better than too soft... One wall is a picture mural of a park scene in hanoi... 4 big windows and a view of the famous old bridge.. we are very pleased.. Tonkin did good... They offered us about 3 choices of hotels in each city after i told them that we wnted to try locally owned 3* hotels.

After arrival we walked around the area a bit---out to the main drag around the lake and found ourselves just across from the red bridge---so this is a great location..

We stopped at green tangerine restaurant for a drink and they only had 2 res left for dinner---8:45 and 9 so we passed... K liked the menu, but i found it boring... we may go another night...

After a while in the room we walked to the near-by Highway 4 Restaurant (4 locations) after not finding two others that the hotel front desk had suggested... PERFECT... we were on the 4th floor---walkup-- roof terrace with only 2 tables for 5... another couple from OZ came along, and joined us at the other table... we had a nice chat...

Dinner was cashew chicken, of course, good but a bit bland....a fried noodle with veggie dish which was excellent... to start we had had 2 plates of paper wrapped (one rice paper and one soft wrap) large shrimp spring rolls, which were excellent... 6 in one and 4 in the other. two hanoi beers and 2 waters... 346,000 dn (~$17).

back to bed... one small problem... we could not figure out how to turn off two sets of the lights... i gave up and K was annoyed and jumped out of bed and spent 5-7 mins until she finally found a reostat on my side of the bed, which i had already fooled with... nothing new here..

better sleep but still not right...

Tuesday

delicious breakfast with really fresh french style light baggettes... really good omlette also...

asked doorman to get us two pedi-cabs.... 50,000 dn ($2.50) each for about an hour trip around the lake, with a drop off on hang gai st.... great leisurely ride with tons of sights... only nearly killed a dozen times, but drivers/peddlers are firmly in control...

our morning's goal was to fully explore hang gai st. As noted above, it has changed totally since our last visit in 2000.

First stop was the gorgeous Thang Long Gallery at #41... We saw several things we liked.... most of the art is huge, but our old house only has room for "norman" sized art... prices roughly $500-$10,000+. After perhaps one hour there we moved on visiting shops and more galleries. we found a couple of more things we liked. we bought some bookmarks from a blind man... K bought a raw silk blouse....

For lunch we stopped at a small place called Les Malxaux, #2 Hang Bong, at corner of hang gai... Chicken, noodle, and veggie dish for K and a weird onion soup and a croque moisseur for me, coke and large water, plus a creme caramel and a lemon tart.... 284,000 dn ($14.50).

We completed the rest of the street. of all the shops we went into, only one was remembered from 10 years ago...

the long gallery had suggested that we visit a "workshop" where they show and produce lifelike looking embroidered art. We took a taxi there and are thinking about a couple of things we saw.

Back to the hotel after that... taxis start at about 10,000 dn ($.50) at flag through. a long ride today cost about $3.

Decided i needed a haircut. a few doors up from the hotel was a small busy salon with an empty chair... For 100,000 dn ($5) i spent about 15 min being cut mostly by sissors. I tipped her and everyone was shocked ($1)...

up to room to relax and do internet...

will try Mediterraneo on nha tho, 23 tonight... had a great lunch there 10 years ago... near the cathederal..

may do some standard tourist stuff tomorrow---temple of literature and hanoi hilton...

The mid-Missouri girl posing as an "Italian man" did make a fast get-away from the airport. My husband and I have a multi-entry visa, so we breezed right through passport. I must add though--baggage is soooooo slow in Hanoi. Plan on at least 30 minutes for your bags to appear!

A standard taxi from the airport to Hanoi is 250,000 dong ($12.50). It is cheaper heading back to the airport from Hanoi (170,000 dong) because the taxi drivers can get a fare back to the city. The airport taxis cannot do this and typically drive back empty.

Make sure when you leave the terminal you cross the street to the taxi area. DO NOT agree to take a taxi from someone who approaches you inside the terminal or on the sidewalk right outside. CROSS THE ROAD...and you will see guys with yellow shirts who will put you into a Nobai or Airport taxi to the city. Set rate is 250,000 dong.

....and, at some point (after I get my Thailand blog entry written and an entry on using Hanoi buses) I will post on my overseas teaching experiences. It is a great way to travel and (sometimes) get paid too!

I remember when I had my hair washed in a salon in Northern Vietnam, I tried to tip the lady who performed the service. It took several minutes for the other ladies in the shop to explain to her what it was for. I don't think our guide quite knew what to do either.

There's actually a lot of change in Cambridge due to the constant upheaval of high tech companies. Plus, this tremendously reduces our real estate tax bill.

The difference between now and ten years ago in Hanoi is interesting. Especially from someone who lives in Needham where nothing has changed for fifty years.

Bob-I was thinking of using pre approved VOA. Could you be more specific about what was inefficient about doing it this way, (ie length of line, or too much time getting through the paper work and getting it stamped)?

voa---you come down a stairway and off to the left is the VOA counter---marked visa as i remember.... people are pushing and there is no organization to whose papers are taken first...once they take your papers, they send you around the exterior of their office to the payment window...

your passport and papers move down a line of officials to one woman at the end who takes them in no special order and then takes your $$... timeframe 30 min.... no one was in a hurry... all Democratic gov't workers....

i forgot to report the most amusing thing to happen thus far:

when the plane was almost ready to pull back at bkk, a monk and a woman entered---they were k's seatmates. all of the seats behind us to the back of the plane were held by older women who had been on a pilgrimage to thailand.... they spoke very loudly--yelling really. The monk was much younger than all of them... he was their darling... he pranced around, keeping K standing, waiting for him to take his seat.... finally the plane started to move and he finally sat down--K too... he ignored my request for him to sit down..

he tried to expand all over that row... he hung his monk bag from the back of the seat in front of him... he practically yanked k's fodor's guide out of her hands so he could look at it... he just handed it back to her with no comment, after looking at it.. he kept trying to push her arm off the arm rest... she would not yield an inch... he waved things around outside of his own space.. K had to duck a couple of times... he picked his teeth and food flew everywhere around him... he ate his salad and cake and took the main meal home with him.... he was completely animated with arms flailing... the woman would not raise her table for landing... she had 2 drinks..other food and other stuff... the attendent was mad...

i had to hide my face laughing... you had to be there..

dinner was great: 1/2 c of white--very good... a draft tiger.. 2 filets, medium rare with a mixed fresh veggie... a prosecco and sorbet dessert for K and a tiramisu for me: 1,120,000 dn... very good.... checked out the shops along this short street afterwards.... there are several nice bars/restaurants along this street too... the cathedral is nicely lit at night...

Bob- Last year we ate at Mediterraneo in Hue and met the italian expat owner (who owns the place in Hanoi too). Good food. They have a wood burning pizza oven and make their own pasta. Try it if you go to Hue.
Love the story about the monk.

Glad your trip is going well! The monk incident on the plane is hilarious! Poor K!

Looking forward to more installments from the road!

Still following along. It sounds like Hanoi has changed a lot since we were there.

Hanoi hasn't changed much since we were there...

Isn't Thang Long Gallery great? The piece we bought was quite large (and heavy, a bear to hang) but I admire it almost every day in our bedroom.

We saw a fab picture in the same gallery and regret not buying it.
Nice little lunch spot called little Hanoi right by the lake.

will look for little hanoi... we can bring the pic to you in bkk nicky... there was one i saw with a hold sign on it with muffin's name..

trying to weigh our interest in oils vs. lacquer paintings---ANY THOUGHTS ANYONE???????????? we have seen pictures in both mediums which we like very much...

kathie---the change is not positive for the tourist, except there is more choice...

Bob,
I read your "monk" posting to my husband--who is Buddhist. His comment was that the monk was not acting very appropriate. It is a precept that you don't take what hasn't been given. K's book was not "given". Monks are not supposed to eat after noon--unless they have special dispensation--which perhaps he did. But this also depends upon the type of Buddhism he practices. I am surprised the airlines sat him next to K--a woman. Typically they put them in a seat next to men because they are not supposed to touch women. With that said...my husband also added that the monk might have been Vietnamese and not of the Theravada tradition found in Thailand.

I did see the monk and the women with him board the plane. I also noticed the large group of LOUD Vietnamese women--and was wondering who they were. Interesting that they were on a pilgrimage! In the classes I teach in Vietnam --the students are very quiet---until they get into groups. WOW--the volume increases substantially! I mentioned to my husband this fact on the airplane that day! Quiet in small groups--but loud and very social in large groups!!! Interesting cultural bit of trivia.

Loved your story about the monk too.....Karen should have touched him just to get back at him! Sorry you didn't like
Green Tangerine's menu....it was one of my favorite meals in Viet Nam!

I didn't know the Normans made art in specific sizes.

I loved Green Tangerine as well and we ate there twice. Perhaps Bob & Karen will make it back there.

I am angling for the green Tang. There are so many good places. It is hard to choose. Had lunch at Koto over near the temple of Lit. Very good food and I liked the idea that it is a vocational type school.

gail---very interesting... my first comment to K was about the touching... she said she was not giving way on the arm rest, and they did touch plenty... i think he liked it...

stand-by for my most recent taxi rip-off attempt...

Bob, the painting we bought was lacquer...

Bob, we bought a fabulous lacquer at the shop in the art museum. It is one of the nicest things we have. We bring most of our art to one of DC's most highly regarded framers. He doesn't usually comment on the pieces but he could not stop raving about this one. After he framed it but before we picked it up, he put it on display in his gallery. We also bought a gorgeous embroidery piece at the same shop, very different than anything we saw at a gallery or on the street stores.
Whatever you buy, I am sure you will love it when you get home.

FromDC....which art museum are you referring to?

yes which one... k still wants an embroidery piece as well... i feel sad about putting a monet in the celler in order to hang this new art...

Bob, that's like our Van Gogh! Hate to put it in the basement to make room for embroidery!

Wednesday...

can't skip forward without saying how pleased we are of our fellow americans today..

a really nice day... cool, a bit of wind, but still short sleeved weather... very productive day..

breakfast was pleasant.. took a taxi to the hanoi hilton... spent perhaps an hour plus viewing this horrid old prison. While it has been cleaned up nicely, you still can feel the horror...

Following that we took another taxi to the Temple of Literature, which really is basically an open air museum. The gardens are nicely laidout but not all that well tended. A few of the buildings are quite lovely, with temples set up within.. There were lots of visitors, mostly vietamese and small children's groups..

After our walkabout there and a sit to enjoy the weather, we went around the corner to the two shops of craft link. K purchased a number of small things for gifts.. They suggested that we try the famous Koto Restaurant, just a few doors down... this too, like craft link, is a non-profit, employing and training street kids and disadvantaged kids. The food was outstanding and the staff really nice... K had a chicken noodle dish and i had a tasting plate of dumplings (like fried wontons filled with ground chicken) and fresh spring rolls... we each had a fantastic lemon tart for dessert.... ~$16. This is a must try... sit on the 2nd floor...
Both are located on Van Mieu St...

From there we took a taxi back to the long gallery on hang gai st.... We looked at a couple of pictures and bought one. It will be shipped to us in December. I tried to talk K into a mask too but she did not like them....

Oh, back to the taxi.... The meter started out ok, but soon was showing huge numbers and ended up at 389,000 dn..... I knew the short ride should be about 50,000 at most.... So I gave the driver a 50 and he said no.... then he was quiet... then i asked him how much... he pointed to the meter... i said no and got out of the taxi... I offered him the 50 again... no... I said "get the police"... I tried to give him the 50 and told him he was dishonest--of course he did not understand... now he started to raise his voice... my reply was---police again... K said just give it to him... I started walking away to cross the street with the intent to put the bill under his wiper blade, which i did... he walked after me and then yelled twice.... F U.....F U.... I walked quickly across the street and went into the gallery.

I deserved a treat so we bought the painting of the head of a tribal woman.... They will ship it to us once we return home... cost $180. for the shipping...

Another taxi back to the hotel.... can anyone tell me why the flag down fee ranges from 8.5 to 13?

We did internet and relaxed for a while and then decided about 4 to take a one hour cyclo ride.... The doorman got us two, and off we set with no destination. My driver asked me if i wanted an hour and i said yes...

We drove through some parts of the old town where we had not been before... some areas were very local... Next we passed through a main market area which was very busy and colorful... After about an hour we just kept going.... We were going around parts of the west lake, also a new area... Later we went past uncle Ho's resting place, the presidential palace, lots of embassies and lovely government buildings, and the Ho Museum. Now it was approaching 2 hours.... I thought to myself, who cares it is fun and interesting, but i feared a $$ problem....

Finally he approached the Quan An Ngon Restaurant, on phan boi chau st.... He asked if we wanted to stop there and karen was keen as she had it on her list and some OZ folks at the hotel had suggested it to us.... The driver just wanted to wait for us, but i said no.... He asked for 500,000 each for the ride... i said no and offered him 300 and the other guy who peddled K 200. He was not pleased and finally asked for 300 each. I went to get change. The manager came out and spoke with him and he left quietly with the 300 each... I figured it should have been approximately 150 each, but it was enjoyable.... and it was my fault for not negiotiating beforehand...

We loved the rest. and have tons of pictures... its a big place with different kitchens all around the exterior---sort of like hawker stalls... a waiter/waitress does all the running for you and assists you with instruction on preparing/eating and makes suggestions... We had a group captain who had an assistant... they took great care of us... 5 beers, two types of spring rolls (build it yourself), fried noodles with beef and veggies, bbq skwewers of chicken and pork seperately, fried wontons and for dessert glutunous fruit with honey and a tapiocca drink with fruit and ice--very odd. fantastic time and good food.. 516,000 dn plus a general tip and some extra for our captain, who hailed a taxi for us too. Back to the hotel for the night...

a really good day... Hanoi is a huge interesting city !!

Plans for tomorrow may involve a return to the market place...

now i am gun shy about viet drivers....

Glad to hear you are having such great weather and such a lovely time in Hanoi. We really loved the city.

We bought the lacquer, embroidery and a few other inexpensive water colors/prints at the Fine Art Museum. I wish I had bought more embroideries especially.

Great report as usual.

I bought my embroidered pictures at the Russian Department Store in Saigon.

Bob,
I laughed when I read your taxi scam story! Yeah, it happens and at least you realized that 300,000 + dong is not correct. That fare was over $15--which would get you all the way to the airport!!! Sadly, many people will just pay it. The key is to watch the meter and if it starts rolling quickly--yell stop and get out. I HATE taxis in Hanoi because of this fact. I have migrated to using buses--which really are easy. And when I am alone, I just hop on a motorcycle taxi (Xe Om) which are very cheap. Sometimes my husband and I will each get a motorcycle because we can set the price and not have to worry about the fake taxi meters.

Also.....ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS negotiate the price beforehand. I am sure you know this and like you, sometimes I forget and then regret it. I have learned a bit of Vietnamese while living here and one short phrase I find helpful is:

bao nhiêu? This is pronounced: Bow New

It means HOW MUCH? they will come back with a price...I have learned numbers--but also carry a small calculator in my pocket to verify their price.

My response to their price is: quá đắt (too expensive) and usually end up paying about 60% of what they propose.

Also....I am not sure...but think the drop flag rates for taxis depend upon the size of the vehicle. The small car rate is about 8.5 dong. If you get a SUV or larger taxi--the drop flag rate is higher--11 dong or more.

What I typically do when taking a taxi is just to watch the meter as we travel. Most of the time the meters are ok...but several times I have seen the damn thing start to spin like a slot machine. That is when you bail out of the taxi. It happens to the locals too---so something people just need to be aware of.

Great report.

On the taxi scam there has got to be some bad karma in store for that taxi driver; trying to rip off the Happy Budha and all.

gail---thanks... ok now you have met me--which motorcycle taxi can hold me?? haha... 45 degree+ angle comes to mind..

its all still very cheap, but one never likes to be ripped off...

taking a walk this AM from national geographic guidebook...

then lunch at little hanoi and dinner at LY Club...

The noodle dish I had for lunch was Bum bo nam bo...outstanding. I would not call it spicey as the menu suggested, but delicious. Off on a walking tour, so hopefully we will avoid taxi issues today.

We had a fantastic walk which took all morning... going north, i think, from the lake we followed the path nat'l geo laid out.... there were about 8 main sights: a couple of temples, uncle ho's 1945 residence, the main market--dong xuan, a sweets shop, and a city gate. Along the way we stopped in a quaint local bar and had a lemon and a mango cold drink. The bar was quite lovely on the inside.

At one temple there was a ceremony going on, but strangely there were no people there participating. There was talking from two sides of the area using microphones... a small band... a monk in swirling robes, who did a whirling dervish type dance. He cut down paper decorations and lit them on fire... lit job sticks... twirled around some more, sang...
the temple had beautiful food offerings and a glut of decorations, mostly red and gold of course... All of this was being recorded. we spent quite a while there...pics to follow...

i took a million street scene pics during the morning...

Eventually, around noon, we worked our way back to hang gai street and went to Little Hanoi Restaurant for lunch... We sharred a banana flower salad which was delicious--just a tad of spice and quite sweet... we each had a tandori chicken bagette with fresh tomato slices and cucumber slices and a large piece of green lettuce... simply delicious--i want more!! the bread is unbelievable!! K had a creme caramel and i had chocolate cake... 486,000 dn...

We walked from there back to the north end of the lake where we sat in the almost perfect weather people watching and admiring the lake.

We walked a bit more around the lake, and then through many of the shoe displays and back to the hotel...

In total modesty, I must tell you that his Bobness was quite the star of the day... or should i say the entertainment or main attraction... As has been happening since our arrival in hanoi, locals have been yelling out, snickering, yelling to their friends to look at the freak, rushing over to touch my modest tummy, running beside the pedicabs, having their children's pics taken with me---having their own pic taken with me---having their girlfriends or boyfriends pic taken with me... Now i know what it must be like to be a Gpanda or even a regular panda... Contrary to what most large people might feel, I rather like the attention, and appreciate the fondness with which i am greeted.

For the rest of the afternoon, we lazed around, did some reading and internet, took a brief nap and prepared to go to LY Club for dinner. A great relaxing and fun day.

Mid-afternoon tomorrow, we fly to hue on vietnam air.

.... Buddha Bob.....

Sounds like you are having a great time.

Oh i had Bun bo nam bo at Koto too!!! and we LOVED craft link bought some really cute laquer pictures from there. Sounds like you are enjoying Hanoi. Try Quan An Ngon in Saigon it's really good.
We walked to La Badiane from the sofitel in Hanoi (which is right by QAN) i told M it was only round the corner. Because of all the issues i read about we walked pretty much everywhere except when we were with hanoi kids and they sorted out the taxis.
Loving the updates.

we had the most fabulous meal at the LY Club---just across from the American ambassador's residence....

we chose a tasting menu and K had sav blanc and i had tiger beers with it...
1. young coconut with seafood and vegetables soup
2. pomelo salad with prawns, chicken flavored with vietnamese herbs
3. browned, vermicelli-wrapped minced scallops with apple and pear sauce
4. crispy fried beef tenderloin with sweet and sour sauce
5. steamed snow fish with ginger and spring onion in superiors soya sauce
6. grilled duck in orange sauce
7. stir-fried mixed garden vegetables with olive oil
8. steamed hai hau fragrant rice
9. trio of creme brulees: green tea, passion fruit and ginger

reasonable at $30, but bill was $98 because of drinks...

the restaurant is in a former mansion and is well preserved. I would rate this a top class place at a moderate price. Our dining room was comfortable with brown, cream and mocha coloring.... a musician played a 20 string harp/guitar instrument... the music was lovely... we did not have a res, but i think it advisable... Tel: 844-3936
4 le phung heiu st.

This is our best meal thus far, albeit expensive..

nicky---you missed something if you didn't try ly club--next time... will try your saigon place i hope

Sounds lovely will put on the list for next time!

We also bought some art from the gift shop in the Fine Arts Museum (close to the Temple of Literature). Lovely and very inexpensive. We also purchased from a gallery in old town, can't remember the name, only that the very old man tending the gallery only spoke Vitenamese and French. We negotiated in French.

Still having a great time reading this. (Ahem..Bob, it wasn't REALLY expensive, especially considering you're from Boston where that kind of meal isn't expensive AT ALL!) I liked reading about the walk and the galleries, too.

As for that monk, all I can say is grrr...and it takes a lot to get me to say that!

Please, keep it coming. I'm traveling vicariously through you guys!

BC

Would I bookmark a thread like this while planning a springtime Hanoi trip? Why, yes. Yes I would.

Please keep it coming, Bob. I am enjoying this immensely.

karen is quite sick this AM and all night too... she craves some toast and coke..

she feels her problem is from the mango drink yesterday... it contained ground ice/yogurt in the blender prep... usually a no for us... otherwise we ate all the same things...

let me dedicate this entry to the streets...

horns are the rule, the only rule... the constant noise is almost too much, from 5AM to 11PM.... constant beeping..

THERE ARE NO ROAD RULES AS FAR AS I CAN SEE... vehicles do as they want... zoom forward to get any advantage... cut corners...ignor traffic lights... no police in evidence anyplace.... drive down the wrong side of the road... inch forward in a crunch... don't look left or right... complete chaos, but some how it all works...

crossing the street.... just walk forward being totally aware of your surroundings... look in the direction of the oncoming traffic... walk slowly... no dashing or quick movements... the traffic will avoid you... all works very well.. helps to be from boston... don't have panic on your face... be confident... i love it!!!

Saigon the same. Only Cairo is worse.

And whenever crossing the street in Vietnam, whatever you do, DON'T STOP! Interrupts the flow of the dance, nobody knows what to do. I prefer crossing with little old ladies and small children.

Sorry to hear Karen was sick. Other than that, sounds like you're having a great trip. Great report as usual. I'm taking notes...

CFW--- make sure to eat at LY Club and Little Hanoi and Quan an ngon, and koto... all are fab...

we love the cyclo rides but rob may find itn hard on his back... negioate price before ride---50,000 for 1 hour is a good rate---don't know if this is a morning rate..

temple of literature was only soso... but koto and craft link are right across the street...

we still find Tan My shop at 66 hang gai to be one of the best in town---same as 10 years ago===clothing, table cloths, and general mdse...

20,000 dong to the dollar roughly... many prices are quoted in us dollars and you have to ask for the dn price---shops and restaurants....

WE HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH THE GIA BOA GRAND HOTEL...the location could not be better for ius at 1.5 blocks from the lake, in the old town area... shops and restaurants nearby... fabulous friendly english speaking staff... clean and comfortable... good simple breakfast with choices.... fabulous bread!!!

hotel car to the airport $15... can't beat that for a 1 hour ride...

K ate 1/2 piece of toast and drank some coke and took cipro, which stayed down this time and she is now sleeping... she can sleep for 2 more hours...

Sorry to hear that Karen is under the weather. We loved the street traffic and the challenge of crossing. I'm just curious how this compares to India and China street crossings.

i don't remember china being that difficult, but i would not trust the chinese mentality to deal with avoiding me...

india is india.... we had less problems there...

OFF TO HUE

Sorry to hear Karen is sick, hope she feels better soon.

so far coke and dry toast is staying put.As luck would have it out flight is delayed by to hours..There goes our 1/2 day of sight seeing. At least the airline got in touch with Tien(our guide) and she know we will be late. Looking forward to Hue and the villa Hue.

we can't complain, we rarely ever encounter delays..

they offer lunch at the bleak restaurants... all tables taken, so they gave us 2 rolls and 2 waters... sitting people were having hot food... truth be told, we had already gone to the other sm restaurant.. i had a pho--cup in stryo bowl that you add hot water to---quite good actually and spicy... k had coke.. i tried a roll and it was salty and foul, so i took it back and left it on their counter..

i have now had a european cookie covered with chocolate from ritter sport--they have them at trader joes at home, ....so i am all set till dinner... i bought k another coke and some tea cookies... she seems quit good now...

Karen,
Sorry to hear you are not feeling well. It is a big bummer to be traveling and not feeling well--as I know from first hand experience.

My hubby and I were at the Old Quarter today and had a wonderful lunch at Green Tangerine. I love that place. But we have added the restaurants you mentioned to our "must try" list while we still are in Hanoi.

We both hope the rain stays away in Hue and that you enjoy the Villa Hue and Tien. Tell her we send our love!

Hope Karen is better now. Stop feeding her street food Bob!

VN traffic habits seem very familiar to me, as a bostonian

Oh dear. Karen, feel better soon, and baby yourself as much as possible.

This is bringing back many memories of classmates from the linguistics program who ate halo-halos.

BC

Bob- Sorry to hear Karen is not well. Before I got to that point in your tale, I was thinking of mentioning something about the Banana Flower Salad and now I must.

When I was in Siem Reap we saw banana flower salad on a number of menus. Lori told us she no longer eats it because she believes it has made her sick more than once. Then, independently of her, I was having a discussion with another woman who lives in SR while there who said the exact same thing! I'm wondering if there is something about banana flowers that some people just cannot digest?
Has Karen eaten them before without problem?

Looking forward to hearing what you think of Villa Hue. We stayed there last year and liked it.

I'm glad Karen knows what to do and has some meds for being ill. It's no fun, but fortunately, she's on the mend. Those kinds of juice drinks can be a problem in many places - unfortunately, as they look/smell/taste so good.

Kristina, I eat Banana Flower Salad in Bangkok regularly without problems. But I would naturally be more cautious in Siem Reap... my concern is how the flowers are washed before preparation.

karen is much better tonight... she ate some risotto tonight..

after 7 hours at the airport our flts were finally cancelled... we returned to the gia boa, the sister hotel of where we stayed before...

expect to skip hue all together and to fly to danang on sunday, and then resume our schedule...

tired

Cancelled flights certainly add another layer of stress to foreign travel. Fortunately, you and Karen are experienced travellers and know how to roll with the punches. Sorry to hear about the cancelled flight, but happy to hear that Karen is feeling better.

(the following has nothing whatsoever to do w/Bob & Karen's trip.)

shellyk: 4 weeks too late, I just remembered a possibly irrelevant piece of info. Please tell Jim that the semi-redneck bar in Naples (ME, for you quidnuncs who are reading this) where Eddie C. got into some unspecified amt of hot water for playing Hatikvah on the piano was named Morton's Pavilion.

Bob why was your flight cancelled?

7 hours and Karen not feeling well? You guys are troopers - I'm sure a record of it will be retained here but in the big picture, just a blip on the travel screen...

Forge ahead and enjoy the rest of your Vietnam tour.

(and avoid those frozen thingies - but you already know this, right?)

Rizzuto-Jim says his main priority and the only place he had time to go on his night off was Howard Johnson's in Naples. Her said you will get it. (If I knew how to make a smile and a wink emodicom I would).

All of this barfing would not have happened if you went to Branson MO instead.

Rizz, not necessarily true, but the barfing may have been for different reasons, not necessarily related to ingesting anything. (Draw your own conclusions.)

BC

Glad Karen is feeling better. Enjoying the trip report as usual.

excellent point, chica del booka.

As for B&K, maybe some unscheduled mid-trip down time is not such a bad thing. Hope they're making the best of it.

Those of you us who are of a certain age may remember that a "B & K" pair was in the news in the late 1950s. Back then they were Bulganin and Khrushchev, and the two were jockeying for the leadership of the Soviet Union. Great interest was placed on whether it would be "B and K" or "K and B" -- it was seen as tremendously meaningful if TASS or Pravda mentioned one before the other.

So, Kimballs, are you "B and K" or "K and B"?

k & b for sure

details of yesterday to follow...

we are happy in our new room @ $60, and it has a balcony over the street which we will enjoy... i can throw water balloons at those who are honking...

waiting to hear back from tonkin today as they have now taken charge of our future...THEY HAVE BEEN VERY HELPFUL SINCE THE INCEPTION OF OUR PROBLEMS...

nicky---its a weather issue---typhoon hanging over hue area and no radar at that airport for landings

Seven hours at the airport and then a return to Hanoi -- ouch. I hope that Karen is feeling much better and you both can enjoy the bonus time in Hanoi. I am enjoying reading along and often find myself grinning broadly and nodding vigorously. All that glorious food but, oh, the traffic and, oh, those familiar taxi scams.

I might be joining Arn in Hanoi in January. We are looking at an old quarter 3* instead of the usual international hotel. There is talk of the Maison d'Hanoi. If you hear anything about it, will you pass along what you hear? A meal at the Ly Club sounds like a wonderful idea.

Happy onward journey. I look forward to reading more.

Ouch....7 hours at Nobai Airport. That is double pain! I could easily wander around ICN or BKK or HG airports for that period of time. But HAN is another story. I am sure you "loved" those terribly hard metal seats and the miserable places there that pose as restaurants.

Also sorry that you missed Tien and the Villa Hue. I guess you just are going to have to schedule a return to Vietnam sometime.

Meanwhile.....my hubby and I went to our local market this morning in Hanoi. The air pollution here is getting worse and worse. The lack of rain and the dust and dirt in the air is driving me crazy. I am wearing my mask almost daily now. I am hoping for rain because that typically washes the gunk out of the air and improves things. But it has been dry for weeks here.

I feel for you Bob. We had 5 hours in the Hanoi airport waiting for our international flight out. What a shame about Hue. Is Hoi An your next stop? Hope Karen is feeling better by now.

yes we hope to fly to danang on sunday and go to hoi an, adding an extra day there...

gail---how about dinner tonight... see my seperate thread with your name

bob

ttt

OUR DAY FROM HELL OR ALMOST…

Karen did not feel all that great and had ½ piece of toast and tea for breakfast… We had ordered a car for noon---$15 for an SUV as it turns out… We just hung around the hotel for the morning—karen slept for 1.5 hours….

At noon we checked out of the gia boa grand hotel---a solid 3*+. We had a VIP room which was quite nice--#901. $90 inclusive… The driver was there waiting for us. The traffic on the raised “highway” was quite heavy. The drive was about 45 minutes to the domestic side of the airport… Airport is about 8 years old I think and very utilitarian at best--- the seats are bare painted steel with high backs---get the picture… the two restaurant are more like lame coffee shops…

Check-in was swift and efficient… our seats were in row 6 of this vn air airbus… Next was a simple xray screening of carry-ons---nothing taken out of your bags… no mention at check-in of any delays or potential delays… no real tv screens to look at once inside either. We had a wait of maybe 1.5 hours for the flight. We went into one restaurant and I had a pho, which in this case was a large styro foam bowl of instant pho… aside from the “instant dried meat substance” it was spicy and quite good… K had a coke again…

Five minutes before boarding---we were first in line for this bus gate entrance--- an official spoke to us and said there was a 3 hour delay (that would be 5PM) and that we could have “lunch” at one of the restaurants… We had eaten already.. As we had a guide (tien—more on her later), we wanted to contact her quickly to advise her to delay her departure to the hue airport… we found her phone number and K used this official’s phone to call her and I sent her an e mail---free wi-fi at the airport… That done, we did some internet and just sat for a while on the very comfortable steel chairs with no padding…

I thought that we would see if we could have some free drinks so I went to the assigned “restaurant” and requested something---she took my boarding pass and wrote something down… she returned with two bottles of room temp filtered water and 2 rolls… I asked about coke and candy instead and she said NO! The water tasted terrible so we did not drink it… I tried one roll and it was salty and DRY… I took it back to the counter… placed the unopened one there along with the opened one and said to the woman—TERRIBLE!!, and walked away..

So about 4:15 they made another announcement that we all should go to gate 10 as the flight had been cancelled… the announcement was very hard to understand… we went to gate 10 and there was chaos…. I got right up front… it was very noisy and no one could hear what was being mumbled… I suggested to the man that we should be taken to a quiet place… people were yelling out, “what is going on…we can’t hear….”… they simply did not get it… I asked for the station manager to come and speak to us…. He never came… I asked that we be taken to a quiet place again…like the business lounge right there next to gate 10…no….

Finally we were told to go out into the lobby to check in lane number 50…… security would not let us out…. Finally we were let out…. At lane 50 they were not prepared for us, and it was even less quiet there…. I asked that we be taken outside in the quiet so that everyone could hear---NO….. just a blank stare from this woman who was about to cry… Then a man came to help and he was useless too… no real management person was taking charge…. I asked the man for the supervisor… he took me to a woman finally…. She said we all had to go back inside, through full security again, back to gate 10…. What a pain… many of us had water we had been given inside and they wanted us to throw it away… I said no… they checked the sticker and said ok…

So back at gate 10, a young guy with no authority again murmured but no one could hear… I repeated my request for the station manager and for a quiet place… a german woman stepped forward and pushed me aside and tried to clearly find out the situation… I had become quite obnoxious by this time… most people went down stairs to the luggage collection point to retrieve their luggage… vn air wanted people to go back to Hanoi and be reticketed….yes this is right…take their supplied vans to the office in hanoi for reticketing… it must be almost 6 by now… why not do it at the airport??

Finally we went downstairs after I stopped badgering the gate 10 guy and followed him into the business lounge…

There was a small service center downstairs and K rounded up the luggage while I spoke to the first nice official I had encountered… Bottom line he finally took me, alone, upstairs to meet the station manager, mr Phi…. He was at yet another service desk with perhaps 35-50 people trying to be rebooked by 4 reps…. Many of the 50 were from our flt, incl the german woman….

I decided that we should leave the airport, maybe even fly back to bkk tomorrow…. I got to speak privately to the station manager… he gave several scenarios but nothing comcrete… K spoke to our travel agency and they booked us in a $35 room at the “airport” hotel…. We got a taxi and went to the hotel… it looked doubtful… I kept the taxi… I went to look at the room---no way…. The stained old tub had a huge cock-roach in it and the floors were shabby etc… no way… I left and told them no thank you….

I told the taxi man to take us to Hanoi town after we made a quick phone call to gia boa and they had a room for us…. The meter on the taxi was still running…. As we went along it started to roll up quickly… I commented and he pulled over… I asked for a flat fee and he took out a paper and pen… I wrote 300, 000 dn and he said yes…. Same amount, $15, we had paid to get there…. He seemed thrilled with 300, and so was i…. the meter kept running, but suddenly more slowly… odd…. When it passed 300 I felt good about my move….

After our arrival at the hotel, Tonkin called us back, after we called them… Bottom line was we would hear from them in the morning…. I figured out that we could stay here 2 nights and fly to danang on Sunday and drive 30 min to hoi an, add one night there, and then be back on schedule…. We would be sad to miss hue and tien as a guide, but that this would work for us…

There is flt availability on Sunday at 1230 and hotel for another day at hoi an….evidently our hue flt was non refundable so we have to pay $45 each for the flt to dang---ok doable… hope there is no fee for canceling villa hue hotel---they are checking, but whatever….i am game for fees… we are waiting for final info which is being sent to us at hotel by Tonkin… waiting a few more minutes for a phone call…

So basically this is our day from hell, but it all worked out thanks to Tonkin, gia boa and our grit and years of know-how, and of course willingness to pay…

Back to last night…. After settling in to the room, we took a taxi back to mediterreano on nha tho st 23, where K felt she would be fine with some western food…

Suddenly I feel drifty---my sugar is 83, so some chocolate brings me back to normal…

Ok, phone call from Tonkin now coming in… no chg for villa hue… bottom line is they owe us $28 and rep will come to hotel at 5 to bring new tickets etc and refund---PERFECT…

Back to last night again… they did not have a table immediately for us---fine…ordered wine and beer for sidewalk consumption… talked with a german guy who works for WWW in loas and Vietnam as micro biologist and a OZ couple… our table was ready…same one we sat in last visit… the open-fronted restaurant is very lively as is the neighborhood on this Friday night… its fun…. I am loving the scene—the vibe, the people, the art deco wood around the window/door… K has risotto and I have a veggie pizza to which I add parma ham… she has the sorbet/prosecco dessert and I have tiramisu again… 655,000… perfect end to terrible day, but its not over yet…

We hop into a taxi out front of the rest… his meter will not work… I open door while taxi is still moving… he stops and we jump out… go figure..

Back to hotel and a good sleep…

So we are all set now for a flt at noon tomorrow

So off to enjoy Hanoi for another day…

A bad day but you guys dealt with it like the pros you are. On the plus side you get another day in lovely Hanoi (and 28us) refund lol!!

Bob,
I think you will like Hoi An....and hopefully be back on schedule. Again, we are sorry that we cannot meet you for dinner tonight. But we wish you both the best of luck tomorrow and for the rest of your stay in Vietnam.

Gail

up at a decent hour again... breakfast downstairs...the same as g.b. grand, but not quite as nice somehow... some smoke for one thing...

spoke with travel agent twice and we are all set...

decided to take cyclos to the fine arts museum... door boy found two for us... they wanted 200 each.. i said no, 100 and they said 150 and i said no, and then 100.... the lead guy said 60 each and i said fine.... it was further than i thought... maybe a 20+ minute ride.... i gave them each 100... they were pleased and offered to wait for us but K said no to them...

the museum in roughly in the diplomatic area.... it's a large 3/4 story colonial style building....

on the first floor we found mostly large wood carvings and statues... on the second floor was the retail area and paintings---many of them quite somber...

we spent quite a bit of time in the retail shops---there are perhaps 4 of them.... in the largest the manager is the daughter of the former museum director and wife to a former employee and himself a well known sculpture in clay and ceramics.

As kathie and others have said these shops are an excellent source of original art at a fair price--very different from western museum shops..

K admires one wonderful oil of a female child... but it is just too big we think.... it's a steal at $1500... we have not left town yet however...

We did buy two smaller paintings...one oil on silk (probably 14X18) and another smaller square painting on rice paper (probably 10X10), or maybe it is silk also---its of a cat... they are in a tube for hand carry...

We had a long conversation with this manager and she has invited us this evening to her house to view her husband's work---oh and maybe buy something... We plan to go there after the travel agent leaves here after 5...

We had a lovely lunch in the wine bar restaurant attached to the museum... We each had a delicious bagette sandwich, and sharred a fabulous chocolate mousse with dabs of rasberry sauce---yum!! best outside france!

We hailed a taxi (suv), after a couple of failed attempts, to go and find the downed B-52 in the "nearby" lake... K had an address... or said she did... it managed to put us into fighting mode... We never found it, but did visit a lot full of "surplus" war parts, including usa B-52 wings, etc, large cannons and viet anti air guns... spent 45 min getting there and 5 min looking around-- a bust... The same driver took us back to the hotel---a $10 taxi boondoggle a la K...

We have spent the next 2 hours in the room with internet and a nap for K...

not yet sure about dinner... K does not want to go to the artist's home... thinks it is wasting his time.... and the B-52 was??? better quit while i am ahead..

gail--thanks for the answer, i just thought nthat on the odd chance you might be free it would be fun...

ok, we open ourselves up to ridicule... we returned to italian again tonight... karen thought her belly could better handle it...

she had a filet steak, eggplant, veggie plate and i had a free style veggie lasgne and a salad of mixed greens, walnuts, gorganzola cheese, and ham...

i had a tiger beer and she had house white... i had a chocolate mousee in a cookie, which actually was more like a thin cake---sort of a tower with a top on it... she had a mango sorbet and prosecco drink... 577 dn....
Tonight we sat on the 2nd floor balcony overlooking the street and the RC cathedral, which was having sat. nite mass---people were even out on the sidewalk---like the old days..

taxis to and from were 20 and 24 rn or $1+...

i think this is the end of our hanoi stay... next stop danang airport and later hoi an...

i think this is the end of our hanoi stay

We've heard that before.

<<better quit while i am ahead..>>


Okay, and how long have you been married now?? I'm thinking 40+ years...and you're just reaching this conclusion now??? Well, I guess better late than never, and you have reached the correct conclusion. Sheesh, some guys...you know darned well all the sympathy here has been with K because she's been feeling ill.

BC

flight was on time and swift to danang... taxi to hoi an--$18...

OMG, HOI AN IS FABULOUS AND ATTRACTIVE WITH TONS OF shops and RESTAURANTS...

MORE TOMORROW

Yay! Glad to hear after the delay, you've moved on to the next part of your journey!!

Looking forward to further reporting...

BC

Bob
My friend went to HA in the summer and said it is just fantastic, on my list..... Looking forward to hearing all.

So far you have found outstanding pasta, risotto, some steak and perhaps, just perhaps, a good summer roll. We get the distinct feeling you are simply bypassing every Asian restaurant in sight. Have you yet had a banh minh sandwich?

Have fun.

This is the person that ridiculed me for having one Italian meal in Shanghai? How quickly the Needham worm turns. Oh, Needham worm is repetitive. The early bird gets the Needhamite.

Gpanda, LOL!

BC

Looking forward to detailed Hoi An restaurant reports. Looking at our itinerary I'm just now realizing we'll be in Hanoi for my birthday - which will definitely require great eating!

Yeah!!! You've made it. Hoi An is a wonderful town to wonder around. Be sure to try Brothers. It was our favorite restaurant in Hoi An. Very atmospheric and good food. Such a shame that you had to miss Hue. It is difficult to decide which I liked better. Will you and Karen be having clothing made?

k looked at fabrics last night and we will return today for styles and ordering... yaly tailoring---very busy place..

brothers is on our eating list as is tam tam...

glover--- go to ly club for your birthday and have one of the tasting menus.... cost us $100 with one beer and one glass of wine, or maybe two of each...

make a res... we sat on 2nd floor in a lovely dining room....

hope to continue report this pm....

hoi an is simply lovely!!

Ok, after another delicious dinner at mediterrano on 23 nha tho st, just across from the cathedral, and a good night’s sleep, we headed to the airport about 10AM… this time we had a sedan for $15… it was Sunday morning and traffic was light but it still took over 45 minutes…

Check-in at vn air was swift and we headed upstairs to the domestic departure lounge… wonderful gray steel seats again… We bought a sandwich each---uhg and coke and water, but it held us over… fyi, mint milanos were 110,000 dn or about $5.50…

A delay was announced for our flight so we thought here we go again…. But in 5 minutes we began to board and the plane pushed back right on time… we had a spare seat between us… one hour flight to danang…

There is a new terminal being built at danang, but the tarmac must date to the 60’s when this was a major US base…

As you exit the building, there is a desk on the right for taxi hire… $18 to hoi an… another SUV and a 30 minute ride through the barren town of danang---new stadiums being built, however… We rode all along china beach where there are many lux hotels and many more coming---hyatt, meridian, etc…

We arrived at our resort, the vinh hung resort (they have some hotels in town by the same name)… we are a 5-7 minute walk from the center of town or a free boat ride of perhaps 15 minutes—limited hours… The resort is fantastic…. Plenty of green space, two pools and other rec. areas… Our room #705 is right on the river… we are sitting now on our back porch which is 50 feet from the perfume river—no smell… Our front porch overlooks the larger pool… The bed is hard, but the room is nicely furnished and there is a large Jacuzzi tub and big bathroom… we have a suite of Chinese furniture near to the back door made from heavy carved rosewood as is the bed… $92 incl breakfast and fees… Thank you Tonkin..

After settling in we went to the daily food sampling on the lawn near to the river… we met a few of the other guests.. From there we headed out to find mango mango restaurant… We got 3 or 4 different directions… I ended up mad and hot…

We ate at a small place suggested to us by a german couple we met while walking along…. I had 3 appetizers-- cold fresh spring rolls, white rose (another dumpling type thing), fried shrimp wontons—about 4 “ square with fruit pilled on top—delicious—4 of them….and K had a whole grilled fish which she said was dry, with white rice and the same spring rolls I had… for dessert k had banana pancakes with honey and I had fried bananas… very reasonable-- about $15.. name: thanh phuong, nguyen phuc chu st 29…

Walked into the main part of town after dinner and looked at some of the shops… Because of the rains, the road along the river was flooded… kids loved riding through it on their bikes and screeching with joy…

We stopped at Yaly Couture, the most widely respected fashion house in HA…. K got some ideas and we will return the next morning when it is not so busy… it was a mad house… Boston Harbor scores again… We were tired so we walked back to the hotel… The town is brightly lit up every evening, which is quite festive…

While some would call HA overly commercial, we find it just perfect with its combo of water, old buildings, history, former affluence, nice hotels, quality shopping and lovely streets and lanes…

We must have not minded the hard bed because we did not get up for 9+ hours…
Decided to check out the buffet breakfast…. It was pretty good with lots of choices…. I love the French bread---today it was large rolls which were a bit soft but crunchy I also had a bowl of pho, some other pastry and apple juice… K had her usual boiled eggs, but they were actually hard cooked..

We requested a ride to town on the boat shuttle (on request btw) for 10… it takes you almost next to the daily market… we enjoyed walking through the market taking tons of pics… many tummy rubbings by interested workers and plenty of laughs as well…its tough being both from needham and being an idol to many…

Next we headed back to yaly for some serious design tailoring… we failed to realize that they have more than one shop, but this location we liked better—on tran phu st, #47…

First there were 2 chiffon tops for Karen from pics she brought, and then a wool suit jacket in a modern style from a sample… I ordered 2 linen shirts, one bright yellow with navy accents and ephelets (sp) and tied-up sleeves, and a navy sporty/dress one with hidden buttons…

Next we went in search of the gallery 41 le loi (same name as the address)… another boston hbr find… they do very realistic, picture like, embroidery… Patricia had brought one of her purchases to the boston gtg last year and k and others really loved it… We found two that we liked… K’s choice won out… We got to meet the artist as well which is a bonus… Demonstrations are on going so it is a great stop if you have time---the work is far better and more detailed than the place we visited in Hanoi which does the same thing…

For transportation the pictures fold up carefully into a small box… they send directions for stretching etc when you get home…

By now we were starved so we walked down le loi a bit more and ate at the “before and now” bar, #51…

Two cyclo drivers attached themselves to us and followed us for ½ an hour… we went into Hoi An pastery at 107/109 nguyen thai hoc st for some delicious French pastry desserts… I had lemon tart with a huge hard meringue on top and K had the coconut tart---we shared… YUM!!

Directly across the street is the tam tam restaurant where we want to go for dinner tonight… so we went over to make a res and look at the menu… 7PM it is… on the balcony…

At 6, I have to go to yaly for a shirt fitting…

Guess who was waiting all this time?? The two cyclos, #007 and #090… I told them 100,000 dn for both and they said ok… way overpaid…

So it has been very pleasant out on the porch… it is very overcast but any rain has held off thus far… there were some sprinkles, but mostly while we were shopping…

Btw, we tried the pool yesterday and it is freezing… never got deeper than the bottom of my trunks….no, no speedo

Thank god our friends are meeting us in bkk next week, we need their cash…

while i am thinking about it---china beach... the beach looked lovely what we could see of it, but there is litterally nothing else there to do... no restaurants other than hotel ones and nothing other than the usual hotel activities... danang does not look like it is worth more than 5 minutes... hoi an is not that far but you would need a car or transportation... the resorts looked almost deserted---some bargains maybe... plan to visit in perhaps 10 years

To correct some of Bobs miss info ....the river here is the Thu Bon river. It is pretty high on it's banks right now and very muddy after the rains. Speaking of rains..I think this is what we are going to have for the next few days it looks like.

We stopped at another tailor where I am having 2 simple cotton shirts made. I want to compare price and tailoring skills between the primo place and a smaller one that has come reccomended also.

Glad you are having fun. Wonder why the pool was freezing!?

But just to correct your last post, there are many local restaurants on China Beach, and in Danang itself.

I think it's the humidity and wind that make Hoi An so cold in Nov. We were there mid to late Nov last year and it was like London weather. I bought a gore-tex windbreaker as soon as I saw one in Hue. Hue was also cold.
For restaurants we like the Secret Garden, great setting and food, it's a must in my book, they also offer cooking class in the morning and at 2pm. Cargo Club for coffee and desserts and the usual suspects, the display of sweets is in the front of the restaurant, better seating upstairs overlooking the river. Opposite the street is Morning Glory, a popular restaurant that requires reservation way in advance. We liked our table on the balcony overlooking the street. They also offer cooking classes. Have fun.

Morning Glory was by far the best place I tried in that town.

For a bit of theatre, the Red Bridge cooking class was fun...a colorful boat ride gets you there...and it begins with a market tour where you can take photos at will.
We loved the Mango Restaurant....and ate sweets/ice cream several times at The Cargo Club...had a nice casual dinner there as well.
I would've skipped having clothes made there at Yaly's....I didn't love my dress, but my husband got a great suit made.

we have been twice to cargo for cakes... may try for dinner...

will see about morning glory and secret garden

now have a res at each for dinner....


spent a fun day with danang kids in hoi an today...

does morning glory have any indoor seating?

our dinner at tam tam was disappointing and i would not go there again.... The food was ok at best, the service was horrible... The building itself is really nice and the upstairs bar area would be a good place to hang-out i should think...

After dinner we returned to cargo just across the street for a dessert.... we were in the same window seat as last time, and struck up a conversation with an israeli couple sitting just outside the window.... we talked mostly about travel and they spend most of their time travelling, often for months at a time...

It was raining on and off, sometimes quite hard.... from the bridge crossing the canal we took a taxi back to the hotel--12,000 dn ($.60)...


Decent sleep as we finally figured the best way to handle the air handling within the room...

Breakfast in the dining room....went to retrieve our laundry... 7.5 kilos for $8.

At 10 we were scheduled to have two students from danang kids begin a day long tour, but at 9:15 they were here already.... I asked them to wait 30 minutes as i needed a shower... no problem. the students were men, both 20, and juniors in college in danang, both majoring in electrical engineering.. Both were very nice kids and their english was good... One was a seasoned kid on the job, the other was new... we actually thought the newer kid did a better job... It rained all day..
contact for danang kids: danangkidsvn@gmail.com

The service is free... there are such groups in saigon and hanoi as well...

We took a taxi into town... the only instructions they gave us was to act like we were friends, because some of the professional guides at sites do not like other guides there.. no problem...

We bought the heritage pass to enter the main sights---one price for farang, another price for vietamese... very cheap.. We visited a couple of temples, the japanese bridge and it's temple, an assembly hall, and an house museum---the oldest in town...

After this they asked if we would like to take a harbor/river boat ride... sure... 150,000 for 1/2 hour or see much more for a full hour at 250... the hour flew by... we rode along the river and watched the life along the shores...lux houses and hovels... got very close to two different net fishermen which was interesting... saw many mid-size fishing boats too as well as many small powered and manual powered boats...

After our return to the quay, we went to a local restaurant and 3 of us had the local dish cao lau---noodles, stock and beef with soup salad... 20,000 dn each--$1.---very good and filling... i also ordered 2 plates of shrimp fried spring rolls to share... they had cut up fruit and we had creme caramel--ugh-- for desserts... about $10 for 4 for lunch...

It continued to rain, but we had a reprieve for 1/2 the boat ride---it was covered which helped...

After lunch we walked across the bridge and hired a taxi to take us to "the pottery village" about 3 kilometers outside town...

we were left at the end of a road and walked down and around a sidewalk for quite a ways... wet and mud... i don't think either student had been there before... finally we arrived at a huge rustic kiln and a pottery wheel... Uniquely the wheel was foot powered with the ball of the foot of another woman, not the one throwing the pot--no power..

K threw 2 "pots"... Then we bought 4 small pottery bowls.. $5 total..

The boys called for another taxi and back to the hotel... The hotel would not allow the boys to come to our room until i asked for permission for a 5 minute visit fro the manager... I wanted to give them each one of our cards and it was still pouring...

They had been terrific and i gave each of them 500,000 dn as a tip/present... I have no idea what the norm is but i hope this is generous.... nothing like the 10B tips gpanda doles out...

they left and we relaxed in our room trying to warm up and dry off a bit...

About 4 we took a taxi into town using the back road to get there... We had clothes fittings to do and things were much improved over the previous day... this proves multiple fittings are truly necessary to receive a quality product...
At the second shop we met a woman who had just had boots made so before you know it we are off to the bookmaker--- K, one pair tall custom boots ($95)... pair of custom leather sandals ($30) and for me a pair of brown and black custom lofers ($55.)...

From there we took a taxi to Le Loi St for dinner at #60 at The Secret Garden Restaurant.... Down a long darkish alley... simply the best meal we have had thus far: shrimp spring rolls for me... pork ones for K...soup for me... fried sweet and spicy boneless chicken for me and fried pork for K... coconut ice cream and special secret garden pudding for us to share... $30...
An OZ couple and their grown daughter sat next to us and we enjoyed a conversation..

we did not enjoy the french tour group who were in the next dining room to us however...

a cooking class for 4 was going on at the same time in the middle of the restaurant...

live music during the whole meal... nice bar too..

Taxi back to the hotel...

Nothing on the docket for tomorrow except dinner at The Morning Glory... Hope it is as good as morning glory on nantucket--an old haunt...

Gotta admire the way these people will strike up a conversation with anyone at any time.

(And best of luck with tomorrow's Morning Glory!!)

Rizz... it's easy to do that in some places. I can well understand it. When I was in Australia, folks (strangers) would talk with one another, me included, at red lights and on elevators. We really don't do that sort of thing here in the US. Pity...

Morning Glory has a large indoor dining room. It is a tourist restaurant but from my two brief visits, I believe that their cooking hews to the original with fewer concessions to foreign palates than other places I had experienced on that trip. Note that I ate there more than two years ago, so...

From my trip report; I had two meals here but I did note that I was disappointed on the caramel-sauced pork ribs on my second visit. (Nuoc Mau, or caramel sauce, is a traditional sauce used for braising protein in vietnam. It is not a sweet candy.)


"For lunch I headed to the Morning Glory restaurant, which had been the recommendation of Mr. Loc, who assured me that I would find excellent local fare. He was right! I liked the Morning Glory very much.

The owners have a real interest in introducing tourists to Hoi An’s
much-lauded cuisine and this shines through both in their menu and in the cooking itself. I was not hungry enough for a large lunch, but after sampling their version of White Rose dumplings, far superior to those I had the night before at Café des Amis, I made a reservation for a table on the terrace for later that evening. White Rose dumplings, 30,000; fresh lime juice, 20,000. Service was friendly and seating is both indoors and on the ground-floor terrace.

http://www.restaurant-hoian.com/en/restaurant-morning-glory-hoi-an


The place that I disliked in Hoi An was Cafe des Amis. Very disappointing.

THANKS FOR INFO ON morning glory... we look forward to dinner there tonight...

its raining again, so we will have a lazy day in our room till lunch time, then p/u of clothes...

mango mango is up for lunch.. can take taxi to door... good in the rain... fares are less than $1 usually...

btw, much of the main tourist area is scooters and foot traffic only...

there is no such thing as too many days here!!!

"Gotta admire the way these people will strike up a conversation with anyone at any time." - normal behavior for travelers in traveler hangouts. Not normal in posh hotels, which is one of the many reasons I don't usually stay in them.

I'm with thursday; my solo travels are FULL of conversation - until I check into the best hotel in town,then Dog becomes invisible - indeed, a man to be avoided.

I can see why.

I also think that sometimes as a solo traveller you strike up more conversations. When I have been on trips on my own I have spoken to way more people than say when I am with M.

Dog when are you next in BKK?

Debating at this very moment, Smeagol. It could be verrry soon, maybe next Sunday. Maybe not.

It's a toss up between Etihad straight thru to Istanbul with a swizz stopover in Abu Dhabi - or my existing BA flight from MEB - SIN - BKK, then a Turkish airways flight to IST. Dunno.
Gotta be in Istanbul on the 20th.

I'm leaning toward the vastly expensive Etihad option. I'll be, theoretically, in BKK for Christmas.

mango mango was fab for lunch...pumkin soup with cilantro/celery greens floaing on top, folloed by a chicken quesidia(sp) and for k a taco with sliced grilled tuna... the rst. is a vietnam/mex crossover, thus the new cuisine: viet mex... quite successful... $25... coconut and hazlenut ice cream scoups for me and flamming mango (no flames visable), but it was delicious, for k... #2 best meal...

after lunch, it was more fittings while dodging raindrops...
this is getting old!

late afternoon in room.....


we are very pleased with the hotel... room is large and comfortable enough.... price $92 inclusive... location great---out of the fray.. water view and tons of boat traffic... breakfast ok...

Oh, you lovely people! I enjoy so much hearing of your travels!

(RHK, I think you meant to say you and K went to the bootmaker and not the bookmaker---unless there's something you'd like to tell us now. Placing odds perhaps on a Royal Wedding next year, or would it be the Patriots?!) In any case, glad to read you are a more generous tipper than Gpanda, heavens only knows if he'd have given those boys one of his "People's Republic of Cambridge" lectures, LOL.

BC

dog, come to our gtg on the 20th... small group

I wish, rhk. I'm in Istanbul that day.

Shame our paths will not cross, M and I are out for dinner with mr & mrs pook one night and the rhks another! Would have been great to catch up with you also!
I am also glad to say we have managed to arrange dinner with Lori in SR one night, so some great company to look forward to on this trip? Only a few days to go for us!!

yea--its bootmaker... i need to try to proofread better... my spelling is hopeless...

Bob, LOL, it's one of the things that "makes Bob Bob", IMO. It's just that in this particular post, you know, "bookmaker" stood out a bit!!

BC

Now Mexican food? This is unbelievable. Does he know he can get all these foods in Cambridge? A very short plane ride from Needham.

Gpanda, I think Bob may be stopped short by lack of knowledge as to the location of the Cambridge airport.

BC

Bob can get the best Mexican food in the US in Austin --- but I digress.

Will Dogster write a trip report about his Turkish adventures on the Asia board or the Europe board?? Youth wants to know . . .

I doubt you can get a "quesidia" in Austin, Boston or anywhere in the U.S.

Quesadillas in Vietnam. You gotta love it.

Well we didn't have "quesidia's" a few weeks ago at a Mexican restaurant on Kauai but the fusion of Mex and Hawaiian was awesome with the fish tacos that I had. So, bottom line is that if a VN/Mex combo works for you, enjoy. Food is more exciting than it's ever been...

I'm not sure there'll be much to write about, indiana. I'm only there for a day. We should all understand that this is the 'Be Kind To Dogster' tour. The mutt's life will be completely uneventful. There are no adventures planned.

He's too scared to go into the Europe room.

Dogster, are you going on a cruise with your Russian friends?

Dogster, surely you jest! You can out-think, out-write, and out-wit 99.9% of the cretins who'd dare show up on the European Forum, and I'd defend you to the death over there. (One of my unofficial titles is "Holy Roman Empress of All Italy" and I've also been called "The Sweetheart of the Vatican", but given that the latter is so heavily male, that distinction was frankly not difficult to earn!)

BC

Azamara, Marija. Istanbul to Singapore, 31 days. Scarcely rivetting tourism...

Why? $4,300 including $1000 onboard credit and free stuff.

You can start the sweepstake now.

leaving hoi an in 10 min. if our yaly tailoring ever gets delivered... they ruined one of k's blouces and the back had to be remade...

Time to review Sound of Music lyrics, dogster.

And here's the route for the current "Predict dogster's fleas" contest:

http://www.bestcruises.com.au/cruise/display/29809?itinerary=152093

One entry per contestant. Restrictions may apply.

yeah, I can just see the dog doing his morning yoga class and pilates.

dogster start your own thread..

Isn't The Quesdia that place in San Francisco???

I don't want to talk about it at all. I'm totally ashamed.

Yea! Another dogster contest!

Ok, as I remember, I guessed right last time. If I do it twice in a row I think I should get a prize - maybe a free cruise on the Mekong, or, more likely, I won't be required to take an ocean cruise.

This one is a bit harder to predict. I don't think he'll abandon ship in Turkey - too early or Greece (unless he likes Greece much more than I did). So Alexandria is the next port.

I'm going to guess Alexandria, as if he stays on the ship he'll have to spend the next eight days at sea with his scintillating companions.

I'm sure he'd rather stay on board until he could disembark in India, but I'm not sure he has the stamina.

" . . . a nightly treat on your pillow"? I wonder what that might be . . .

Is "at sea" after Suez to take place on the Canal? Not a good place to jump ship.

RhkKmk, don't be so touchy. Only I ridiculed your western dining, so you're getting off easy.

When one thinks of a Fodors "three hour tour", Bob is clearly the skipper, Dogster, the professor, I may be Gilligan and I leave Mr. and Mrs. Howell and Ginger and Marianne to others.

How are you doing Mr. GPanda?

Now for dogster. I've never been a cruise so I don't know the cost of, ummm, beverages. How quickly do you think dogster will go through the $1000 onboard credit, assuming he's not wasting it on miniature golf and manicures? That may be important for predicting the duration of his captivity.

i see dogster more of the rock wall climbing type....

for dinner this night, our last night in hoi an, we went to morning glory for dinner and sat on the balcony.... we had a good dinner of rice pancakes filled with shrimp, mushrooms and sprouts---B had shrimp stuffed mushroom caps.... K had white rose (a local dish) and pan seared sea bass with lemon sauce... Across the street to cargo for pastry/ice cream.
basic dinner was $24...

we met a family from concord, ma at morning glory---we had met the wife a day earlier while buying shoes.. we had a nice chat about fodors and travel...

Thursday

spent some time on internet.. went over into town to pick up some purchases and after still more alterations arranged for some to be delivered to hotel before 3 when we were leaving...

lunch at mango mango, a viet mex fusion restaurant... very good.. $6.... chicken burger and a bagette with crisp bacon, melted cheese and spring onion...

cyclo back to hotel and 3 pm checkout... our final purchases finally arrived and our van to the airport about 3:30---350,000 dn.

The vinh hung resort was perfect for us and would have been even nicer, had it not rained EVERY day... i found the bed too hard, but everything else in the room was excellent... our view from one porch was the swimming pool and from the other porch was the river...

Breakfast was sufficient but not fabulous... the bread was fantastic...

the out of the tourist area location was a plus, but a 5-7 minute walk takes you to the center of the action--or a 10,000 dn taxi ride ($.50)...

we arrived at the 1960's danang airport way too early for our 6:20PM flight to saigon... it was pouring btw...

with less than luck, we had a bus gate, but the rain let up... the plane was an airbus 330 with 2X4X2 seating and looked brand new... quick on time flight--1 hour... but no gate upon arrival at saigon for maybe 15 minutes...

The Liberty Central hotel had sent a car for us... price must be on my bill that i have not seen yet..

The hotel is new, 3*, 12 floors and very well located... small snafu with the length of our stay, but that was easily fixed with one e mail to tonkin travel... they telephoned us this morning...

Dinner was in the hotel's dining room as it was raining, 9PM and we were tired.. quite good, nice variety...

our room on the 11th floor (club floor--no privledges) overlooks the local market and saigon's newest and tallest highrise... one floor up is a nice small outdoor pool..

a good bet for the tourist... we are very pleased here... $97.


Friday....

the phone rang at 8AM... it was our guide... i was expecting her at 9, but had never established a starting time... booked through www.comeandgovietnam.com... asked her to wait 60 minutes while we had breakfast and i had a shower--no problem... hey it's rhk---who wouldn't wait 60 to spend a day with him...

good breakfast and a great quick shower with both hand held wand and rain shower...

btw, while writing this i am watching mr bean on tv in vietamese... and laughing...

our driver was a genial man with a nice SUV... the total tour cost was $41 each inclusive except lunch..

first stop was the Cholon market at the binh tay market... unbelievable place selling fresh foods and wholesale everything you can imagine from toys to pots... we spent about an hour +... i took tons of pics...

next we stopped at the thien hau pagoda temple, the oldest in saigon... it was the nicest i have visited, with almost every decoration imported from china...

we lit a special burning coil in gpanda's name. it will burn for at least two weeks..

from there we moved on to the war remnants museum... while interesting to many i found it both old news and something best forgotten... i did find the few armaments from the usa interesting... noon arrived quickly and we were kicked out..

we went almost next door to Pho Xua for lunch--11B le Quy Don St... quite good.. $31 for 3...

Mango our guide was well spoken, informative and fun... she joined us for lunch..

After lunch we moved on to the Reunification Palace... the site of the tank crashing through the gates in 1975 (?), ending south vietnam....

The building is a combo of 1960's starkness and chinese design... I found the inside quite interesting.. and it was larger than anticipated... mostly it is large ceremonial rooms, a few rooms of the former president's residence and military rooms... on the roof was a helecopter simulating the final escape... in the basement was the mercedes from which the monk emerged and lit himself on fire--one of the last such events of the war, and one that was highly publicized at the time...

next we visited the old french designed post office and the exterior of the main catholic cathedral, all of which was transported from france originally (church)...

i was very hot, sweated-out and tired, so we headed to the famous fanny ice cream to cool down and conclude the day... mango suggested that we consider having dinner upstairs at the Temple Club (29-31 ton that thiep st), a former temple and a sort of shanghai bistro... K made a res for 7, while i took some ice cream out to our driver..

Back to the hotel...

After some down time we took a taxi to the club about 6:30... it is on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building, just to the right of fanny... it's very much like a private club, a bit dark and warm feeling...

we had an excellent dinner: fresh shrimp spring rolls, BBQ spring rolls in lot leaves (fabulous), smoked eggplant, fish in tamarind sauce--the best, bbq ribs--pork and beef--not great... for dessert we had banana pudding and hue cake with special sauce (bright green). $47... may be our best vietnam meal... or tied with secret garden in hoi an...

Taxi back to the hotel...

a quiet and easy day and 1/2 coming up before our return to bangkok and 2 busy weeks with 2 thailand/asia newbies...

Curious how you liked Saigon compared to Hanoi? Glad your guide worked out for you. If you recall, our Saigon kids never showed up and we wandered on our own. It was quite easy to get around on our own, so it really didn't matter to us.

Bob I though th temple club so so but maybe it was because the service was so off, cute place though. I got some really cute bangles from a store just before the temple club,maybe Karen should take a look. Beautiful leather boxes and lamps shades as I recall.
Are you going to cu chi?
The driver we had via come and go was excellent, spotless car and it felt like he was a safe driver and didn't rely to much on the horn!!

We also thought the Temple Club was one of our best meals in Vietnam...the Hue style crispy spring rolls were the best I've had....and I loved the atmosphere.

If you can, have a cocktail on the 9th floor terrace of SaigonSaigon, inside the old Caravelle Hotel. It's lovely looking down on the city lights...directly below you is the Opera House and across from that the Hotel Continental....beautiful in the night. You can almost imagine being a war correspondent and watching the bombing while imbibing....(not such a good thing)

A great place for lunch or breakfast is Cafe Au Parc, a french style cafe that also has mediterranean type food (hummus, etc). It overlooks the huge park that fronts the Reunification Palace, and there's also great upstairs seating overlooking the park.

Enjoy! Wish we had spent more time in Saigon instead of using it as a coming and going place.

Saigon is another big city..I have to say we enjoied the laid back feeling of Hoi An better. But....The history here that we lived thru in our life time, is neat to see in person. I am off to check out Ben Thanh market for awhile.

I'm sorry we didn't spend time in the Ben Thanh market. It was so unbearably hot that I couldn't bring myself to go in more than a few moments. Our Liberty Hotel was just around the corner and I kept planning to return, but never made it there.

Glad you and Karen are having a good time, cancelled flight and all. Thanks for your report on Saigon so far. I decided to skip it when we went so I am interested in your eye witness account of what we missed. And yes, it rained daily in Hoi An when we were there. Keep bringing us the good words. Bob I have an unrelated travel question for you,so I'll email it to you.

just a clarification... saigon is a huge and somewhat uninteresting city in comparison to the rest of the country and hanoi in particular...

we lasted less than 1/2 hour in ben thanh mkt... k bought one pr of knock off japanese designer sandals... 100,000 dn ($5), asking price $15...

robbie, ask away...

i have not mentioned it, but i have suffered with vietnam belly for a week---much better today....

our newbie friends arr in bkk tonight after their first asia flight...

last vn report later...

Bob muffin lasted 10 minutes in that market it's was SO hot and crowded.
I liked HCMC but it's no where near as lovely as other SE Asian cities IMHO.
Actually preferred it to KL though?
.
Sorry to hear you have been unwell too.

Quiet Friday

Hung around until late AM... just could not get moving---me, not k...

took a walk up the street 1/2 a block to the ben thala market... it is a large covered marketplace... foods, dry good, etc... it is a tamer and smaller version of the market we went to yesterday... full of tours and westerners... way less busy, but still busy enough... we found it less interesting and a tad boring... more expensive too, but still cheap comparatively...

K bought one pair of sandals...

took a taxi from the main door.... rigged meter, but we did not have far to go...meter jumped from 10 to 32... k had decided we would have lunch at mojo cafe at the sheraton, as they had some western items which might help my tummy...

we both had the grilled beef tendeloin sandwiches with bbq sauce, cheese, salad and large fries... they specialize in using a heavy western style bread with the crusts cut off... the sandwiches were delicious... we each had a pastry dessert too...K had iced tea and i had a rasberry lassi type drink... $50....very expensive, but worth it..

taxi back to the hotel..

we nipped into an optical shop directly across from the hotel... i need to replace my every day "car" glasses...
I found just what i wanted with a "local frame", sort of chartreuse colored frames with 1/2 frame bi-focals... $37.50, including eye exam to verify reading taken from current glasses... my script was re-verified in june...

K ended up with two pairs, both progressives... one designer frame (spain) and one "local" frame for new sunglasses... total cost $279... can't beat it... her last pair at home were over $750... they changed her current script slightly..
they will be ready by 11 tomorrow.. we leave about 2:30.

spent the rest of the afternoon in our room...

thinking italian for dinner..

we had a fabulous dinner at La Hostaria, 17B Le Thanh Ton St....opposite end of the strret where our hotel is...

Not much to look at at first, but nice inside... owned by 2 italians... fantastic vn staff... really good food...

i had a filet grilled ouside... it came with home made fries made in small chuncks, grilled eggplant and zucchini, all presented on a bed of greens... k had linguini with seafood and a light red sauce.... 1/2 litre of good house white... large tiger beer; Tiramisu and crepe suzette... 900 dn...
everything is very fresh and well presented...

beef twice in a day... wow... the owner personally cooked my steak to a medium rare...

pizzas looked excellent as did all the dishes which passed our table... no vn food...

watching the release in burma with interest...

There's an obvious explanation for the Vietnam Belly. Stop letting strangers rub your belly...

brilliant... that is surely the problem... but if i stop it would i be creating an international incident??

Bob, one way or the other, you create an international incident wherever you go. (Even in Boston!) Glad to read that it was a good day. The restaurant sounds terrific! I love places that grill outside to the customer's specifications.

BC

Are you going to the Cu Chi tunnels? It's a bit kitsch, but given the stories of the tunnels during the war I really found seeing the actual tunnels fascinating. The also have a firing range and the constant sound of gunfire makes it pretty chilling. You do have to watch an annoying propaganda video, but they did win the way, so I guess it is their call. It's always fascinating seeing the war from the other side.

(BTW, it is pronouced "Koot-Shee" ) .

I love following your journey. Sorry Tam Tam didn't work out. It was great when I was there.

Bob is no tunnel rat!

LOL, the one tunnel that is available for crawl-through is pretty small, even though it has been doubled in size for tourists.

How did the custom boots and shoes turn out?

What about the clothes you had made at Yaly?

Forget the shoes, the boots and the clothes. I want to hear how the eye glasses they had custom made turned out. I can hear it already: "we were walking to the correct gate at the airport, past the departure lounge, but, with these new darn glasses we read gate 3 to be gate 8 and wound up back on the HCMC flight sitting next to the same monk by mistake."

Have fun.

Maybe you want to get back to eating some local food and such, and not the filets. Just a suggestion . . .

Bob and Karen, I'm following along and loving every minute of it! Thanks for all the details.

just finally paid for internet... marriott "status" does not work at executive apartments...

more to follow when i can again see through my $37.50 bi-focals

The glasses turned out great. He gave me an eye exam and updated my RX.. I can tell the difference between 3 and 8 now. Shoes and boots all fit well. i am not sure about the qualitiy of finish work, but they are comf and wearable. Yaly clothes are great also. When we went to pick the things up from Yaly , there was a big pull in the back of one of my tops. This was at 12:15. By 2pm my shirt was at our hotel with a new back in place.

up to another slow morning... sort of a couple of down days... about 10:30 we went across the street to pick up our glasses.... they were ready and waiting for us....

I thought hong kong and thailand had reasonablly priced eyewear, but vietnam is cheap in comparison and they seem to have a far greater variety of frames and styles, both knock-offs and authentic brands and non-branded styles too...

We paid about $315 for one pair of bi-focal inexpensive frames mens glasses ($37.50) and the remainder was two pairs of progressive lense glasses, one sun with knock off max mara frames and one pair of calolina herrara genuine frames.

All are fantastic and as kmk noted we also had eye exams as well.

i really can't get into the clothing in any detail, except to say i had 2 linen shirts made, both long sleeved, one dressy one with a covered button placket and the other a bright yellow, sort of bushman style with epilets and roll up sleeves, with navy accents and navy buttons...--$50 each

K had a wool short jacket produced with a ton of stitched detail ($65) and a number of blouces...

Yaly did most of the work, but not all. They push a ton of product through there i can tell you...

i had a pair of black and brown european style blunt toed loafers produced in a dull, non-shine leather.... i have mixed feelings about them--$55..

Besides the boots k had a number of sandals made, mostly $20 or less..

STOP THE BUYING!!!!

A taxi to the airport took about an hour... The saigon airport is better than other vn airports, but not much...

check-in was very slow... we were on air asia.... they were ruthless about bag weights, including carry-ons.... we failed the carry-on test, and i had to get into a discussion with AA reps, and they finally let us go with overweight carry-ons... they were nasty quite honestly... so was i...

Flight to bkk was quick and easy and so was luggage retrieval.... bags in 5 min, immigration-- head of seniors line again...

taxi to marriott soi 24---~300B.... our friends were waiting in the living room for us just before 9.... we have a two bedroom apartment at the marriott sukhumvit park serviced apartments, on soi 24---across from seafood market... units are well appointed and comfortable---and HUGE...

talked to midnight after a dinner at crepes and co on soi 12....one of my favs...

Monday

woke early and had breakfast in apt... nice swim on the 3rd floor....

mid-morning we headed by taxi to the jim thompson outlet, soi 93, sukhumvit, where the 3 women began buying everything not tied down...

from there we took a taxi to gallery cafe, behind the ROS, for lunch---fair....

after lunch we walked to river city shopping center and visited JS Thai silk, newly relocated to the 2nd floor of RC.... Much of the fabric purhchased in the AM was to be transformed to garments at JS...

Took the chao phara express boat from pier 3 to pier 6. we walked to the flower market and bought a ton of orchids for our rooms---white and purple...

taxi back to hotel... internet---535B++ for 24 hours---BURRRRRRRRRRRR...

marriott tuk tuk to emporium for dinner.... italian... ice creams for dessert...

internet-bed

any hyatt property would have honored your gold status with them......

not nearly enough shoes for karen in vn but that was expected

glad to see you supporting the thai economy, shop and eat more please

Aloha!

Tell Karen and friend not to buy everything at the JT outlet - we'll be there soon!

shop eat shop eat shop eat shop eat shop eat shop eat.

btw, thanks rhk for the tip on the Hyatt credit card: it arrived today and will soon make res. for 2 free nights @ Park Hyatt Vendome (700 euro/nite).

We bought our glasses in Hoi An and were also surprised at how little they cost compared to here in europe, we bought 2 pairs of progressives and one pair of Transition and paid
450 $US for the 3 with Luxotica Italian lenses, I have to say that we didn't bargain so it's possible we could've got them cheaper but we were so surprised with the price that we just paid up. Here I was quoted 600 Euro for one pair, they were with Prada frames but even so the price difference is huge.

Glasses sound like a great buy.

Let us know how much wear you get out of those shoes and boots after you get home!

I think you need to post pics of you both dressed up in the new duds.

According to my brother the eye specialist (practicing in Edmonton, but educated at an American medical school), most people would faint if they knew how little it costs to make a pair of glasses, even "complicated" prescriptions like trifocals or bifocals for someone with an astigmatism.

BC

Forget the frames -- are the glasses made well? You can see clearly?

Oh, and is any particular optometrist/optician shop recommended?

Is this trip ever going to end?

my entry: Dogster flees at Cochin.
sorry Kathie.. .
(...Lessee, 10 Foster's a day at $7 a pop = $70 per day. If he buys nothing at the gift shop but spends $40 at dinner on a bottle of wine, that's $110 per day. Wow, that's only 9 days! Maybe Alexandria is correct after all. )

But I have to say it's quite the experience being escorted by a fleet of international navies through the Gulf of Aden, watching for pirates.

Dogster wrote:

"As for the 8 days without sighting land bit: well, I have a plan."

Guess dogster's scheduled a "cleansing" of one kind or another with that shipboard credit. That'll keep him onboard for some time, maybe even until the end if it's still underway.

A real pleasure seeing Bob and Karen again and meeting newbies Pat and Catherine.

Pook, you cannot just leave it at that---we count on you to be our intrepid reporter! More details, please? Photos??

BC

Bob's lunch menu for an iffy tummy is risiculous. Where's the chicken soup?

Where did you go? More info please and where is Bob!
Pook looking forward to seeing you all. The special delivery for mony is packed!! They look very nice!!!

Pook.... just how many people are bringing special deliveries to Mony????!!!! (lol)

i'm back... have been off line..

Ok, so I am not really sure where I left off, so I will just start writing from our arrival back into bkk….. it just always feels like coming to a second home… we can’t get enough of it, but this time it is even more exciting because we will be meeting two newbie friends who have never been to asia before. Pat and Kathleen are sisters, pat being our friend since 1962, our college days, when we all lived in boston and were totally carefree….. Pat recently retired from Talbots and Kathleen is still gainfully employed in the York, Maine school system---thank god, someone has to be supplying us with retirement funding…

Our air asia flight from HCMC—saigon--- was smooth and arrived in bkk on time. Another bus gate, which again meant a bus ride closer to immigration, which is a plus…. This time there were substantial lines at immigration, so again we moved way to the extreme right---an easy move for me… we ended up in the over 70’s line with no one in front of us…. Breezed through, and luggage collection took 6-8 minutes and we were in a taxi heading to Marriott Sukhumvit Park Serviced Apartments behind the emporium mall on soi 24 Sukhumvit…. Pat and Kathleen had arrived the night before from boston on the dreaded United flight, via Chicago and Narita….

Our rooms for the next 6 nights are a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment of about 120-160 sq meters…. Its two huge rooms with a dressing/closet area, huge bathrooms—the size of a standard hotel room and a huge living/dining/kitchen area connecting the two… 6900 B++ per night—no breakfast…. PERFECT

The girls were waiting for us upon our arrival just before 9PM… We chatted upon arrival… United had cancelled the first leg of their trip to DC and rerouted them through Chicago, which actually worked fine, so they needed to tell us all about that…. They were dead, even after a night of fitful sleep, an emporium fix, and two pool sessions…. But they were up for some dinner, so we all taxied over to soi 12 to Crepes and Co, one of our fav light (haha) eating places—right next door to cabbages and condoms…

We each had a delicious crepe for a main course followed by an even more delicious dessert crepe…. The girls wanted to see C&C so we walked through there after dinner and admired some of the “sculpture”, entirely made from condoms of course…
Back to the apartment for more gab and some show and tell of our Vietnam purchases…
The girls are both big shoppers…

BED!!



Monday Nov 15


Pat was up at the crack of dawn and off to the 3rd floor pool. The rest of us followed at a normal hour…. Pool is moderately large and has a lovely view eastward from the hotel with a bit of an unobstructed view. The water seems a bit cool, but refreshing…
We meet a young guy in the pool from Ohio who is in the far east sourcing manufacturers for his internet based childrens themed rug business… We have a very interesting talk with him about this. www.kidcarpet.com I think this is his site…

We return to the room and have some breakfast. We regroup and head for the Jim Thompson Outlet on soi 93, Sukhumvit…. The girls are overwhelmed with the choices… Pat goes wild… All of them buy yardgoods to take to the seamstress and other goodies as well.. Karen does the same. Both girls have brought garments from home to be copied…

From there we taxi to Gallery Café for lunch… Captain Bush Rd near to the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel on the river…. This is their first thai meal… I find the food good, but bland…. This has never been one of my fav’s…

After lunch we walk to River City Shopping Center, next to ROS. The place has been completely renovated…. Many shops are gone…. PANIC… JS Thai Silk, K’s seamstress is gone from its long time ground floor location…. I inquire and am told they have relocated to the 2nd floor, room 204, almost next to the bridge to ROS…

We are warmly greeted by “boss lady”- the owner, and Penny, our saleswoman… The ladies lay out their fabrics and items to be copied, plus choose other items from JS’s silk collection… Pat is now fully out of control…. She orders 9 or 10 garments…. Karen orders a new blk silk dress (funeral dress) and a JT silk jacket to cover it, plus another blouse. K orders a few things as well.

From there we take the chao phara express boat to pier 6 to visit the flower market…We need flowers for the apartment…. We arrive at a lull in the day and the usual vendors seem to be reduced by 50%, but we manage to buy 3 huge bunches of orchids… The largest bunch being pure white---the sales woman rips us off for 120 B, but at $4 it still is very cheap to us… The other colors were less…

That night we decided to return to emporium for a simple supper… we ate Italian.. followed by ice cream cones---Perfect.

Bed, and we all slept like babes…

Tuesday

Breakfast and a swim… Then we headed for thai stone jewelry on soi 4… Some of k’s items were ready and the maine girls made their orders… K was very pleased..

The girls had never had dim sum so we headed to the Conrad hotel to the Liu Restaurant. The new manager introduced herself to us and made sure we were well taken care of.

Following that we headed to Siam Paragon Mall and some intense looking and purchasing primarily on the 4th floor where we like the shops, especially Harmm for scents, creams, etc (a smeagol institution), exotic thai (everthing thai) and indigo house (silks, cottons and natural fibers—a K fav)….

Spent out we returned to the Marriott for showers… We ate in the Marriott dining room quickly as we had tickets for Calypso Cabaret (lady boy show) at 8:15…. We took the skytrain directly to the asia hotel where the show is staged. I had reserved front row seats on line. Sadly, BillT had the night off so his understudy was performing that night.
We all loved the show.

Returning to the Marriott was less easy. It was pouring down rain. We decided a taxi would be easiest…. Of course they all wanted a flat fee of 300-400 B… No way!!

Finally we found an older man who would take us for the meter. He had excellent English. He had worked for the US Air Force for 15 years and later for Thai Airways. We loved talking to him… the fare was under 100, but we gave him 150 cause we really liked him and were appreciative of his service in the rain.

Back at the homestead we nipped into the bar for some desserts… pat and I had lemon meringue tarts----tart and yummy!! K had sorbet

Telephone calls home… my sim card works great and calls home are very cheap---way under $1 for several minutes.

Early to bed we had hoped, but it was not to be… too much talk and unwinding…




Wednesday


Wake up call at 6…. I had scheduled a cooking class for us at the Marriott resort and spa commencing at 8. We took a taxi there at 7. Had a breakfast of fresh pastry at Uno at the Marriott before heading to the pier and our Manorha boat, the site of the floating cooking school….

The four of us were joined by Mary from WI. She was delightful and a Thailand newbie.

The boat staff consisted of 3 women assistants, a captain and a chef. A central cooking station was set up at mid-ship. Chairs and tables surrounded the outer rail of the boat…. We asked mary to join us at our table where we were served drinks and more fresh pastry. We cruised up the river to taskim pier, where we deboarded for a market tour at an open air market directly behind the Shangri-la hotel… Fresh fish, meats, fruits and veggies were on display, plus lots of plastic bag treats of prepared foods for purchase.


After this food introduction we reboarded the boat to begin our course. First we had about 15 min. to relax and enjoy the riverside as we steamed slowly northward….

We were each given a copy of the 5 dishes for today and a handsome black apron to wear.

Kritphan Jitmanowan (Krit), our chef, a Marriott and Shangri-la veteran, explained what we would be doing and introduced us to the ingrediance and spices, etc. The class would be largely participatory with samples given out after each dishe was completed.

The menu consisted of:

Moo Ma-Naow---spicy pork with chili and lemon sauce
Tom Yam Talay--- hot and sour seafood soup with thai herbs
Goong Phad Med Ma-Muang--- stir fried shrimps with cashew nuts and dried chilies
Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai--- chicken in spicy green curry
Mun Gaeng Buad--- sweet potato in coconut milk--- although we did it with tiny sweet bananas.

Some of the cutting and chopping had been done, but we all took turns in doing some more. Krit was excellent in keeping us all involved and participating… He tasted each dish for correctness. As you may know each dish consists of many many items to achieve the complex flavors. I took a million pics.

After the completion of each dish we were given a small sample to taste. Each time new bowls were supplied and new silverware. The staff kept us well supplied with iced water.

All during this time we moved northward in the river, passing all of the riverside sights including wat arun, the navy headquarters, supatra on the river, the grand palace. We went as far as is currently possible (high water level) until reaching a bridge we could not fit under…

BTW, the boat is a tall converted rice barge, one of many owned by the Marriott group.

A this point, we reversed course and headed back south towards the Marriott. The cooking was done, and a table had been prepared near to the bow for our luncheon. The courses were all presented with artfully decorated plates. We loved each dish… some objected to the woody lemongrass in some dishes and to some of the rubbery squid in the sea food dish, but over all we delighted with each dish. The favorites were the fried shrimp dish and the green curry chicken dish.

We arrived back at the Marriott pier exactly at noon. Cost for 4= 11,200 B…. plus an additional tip for each staff person. Some of the best travel money we’ve ever spent!!

Next we headed into the Marriott mini mall to see jack at monet il sarto tailoring… we were a day early for our fittings—my fault… the girls each had a number of items to be copied in wool and gabardine. We have decided now that Pat is out of control… she did not just order a pair of slacks, but had to have them in navy, black, brown, etc… same for skirts… I fear a container may be needed!!
Jack will come to our room tonight (thursday) between 9 and 10PM for fittings…

After finishing with jack we returned to Uno to select a house gift for pook and dang where we had been invited for dinner that night. We chose a decorative small suitcase and the girls filled it with food goodies. We had purchased a green lacquer ware box in vn for them, which we also had filled with hand made fresh chocolates, which was also included in the suitcase. It was all wrapped in cellophane, thus making a nice looking gift.

We rushed over to river city for a fitting and then back to the Marriott apartments…

BTW, we are really liking the serviced apartment concept… tons of room, friendly staff, full kitchen and washer and dryer… the wash alone is 3 hours btw…

At 4:15 the driver tong had arranged for us arrived…. We only kept him waiting 10 minutes while we freshened up. He drove is to pook’s---about 45 minutes.

Pook greeted us at the front door… introductions were made and we retired to the living room where champagne was served. Dang joined us there. A house tour followed as we made our way to an outdoor veranda perched above the river where our champers glasses were never allowed to be empty and dang served some of her wonderful thai nibbles--- it was a meal in itself….

Pook and Dang are such lovely hosts. Kathleen and Pat felt immediately at ease… it was almost cool and certainly comfortable sitting there and chatting…. Yes some of your names came up: nicky, andy, ken, dogster and others. Mony, their poised daughter, returned from college and joined us. She is just as pretty as her mother and has the easy grace that both pook and dang exude.

The tour continued and we concluded at the BBQ area where we surrounded a large old wooden table which the staff had built from some old wood dang had brought from up country. We were served a lovely dinner, including the best eggplant known to man--- a smoked eggplant dish which dang is famous for… we were also treated to special sausages from the north east, which were really delicious and many other lovely offerings.

Lots of stories were told and we had tons of laughs. Dang had us in stitches at times, and pook regaled us as well… It was a perfect evening.

The driver was waiting for us when we were ready to leave. The house staff had taken lovely care of him while we were enjoying pook’s family.

Back to the city, exhausted and so fulfilled from one of our most perfect travel days ever, enhanced by our relationship with dang and pook…. It is impossible to think of fodors without him!!

Oh, the soft bed…

Bob, my washing machine at Adelphi is adjustable. You can set the water temp, the number of rinses, the speed of the spin, etc. which will make a washload less time consuming! I don't use the drier, opting to hang things to dry instead. The drier takes FOREVER!!! I would be surprised if your washer/drier isn't also one that you can adjust time/temp/spin etc.

Glad you enjoyed your time with Pook and Dang. I hope your two newbie friends enjoy their time in Thailand!

Leaving tomorrow for our Europe trip. Then BKK in mid-Dec for the holidays. Please don't let the girls buy everything at the malls/markets!!!!!

(you have email)

Carol

Bon voyage Carol. [from Istanbul] See you at Christmas. After 31 days on a cruise, you may have to enlarge the doorways at Maengs to get me in.

Who would have guessed that the Bobster could use exude properly in a sentence. Dang's eggplant is the best that I've ever had.

Bob,

How to book Calypso Cabaret show? We will be in BKK on Jan 13-17?

And the cooking class at the Marriott -- that sounds really nice..do you know if they have it weekly, and change the menu?

We went to that same market near the Shang when I did a cooking class at the Blue Elephant. The Marriott floating cooking class sounds unique, however. Is this new?

just go onto calypso site and book it there

Great update.

PS: Get the recipe for the eggplant. Please.

So glad you are having a great time. We'll see you tomorrow!

Bob, I sent you Maeng's phone number so you can call her ahead of time if you want/need to. Lucy and her daughter went there! I'm anxious to see what she has to say about Maeng and her cooking. Maeng sent me photos of the visit.

Enjoy your GTG with Kathie and all who are coming.

Off to Amsterdam in about 12 hours!

its after 8PM and we just got back from a day with tong, starting at 6:45AM....

went to railroad market....floating market with extensive add on klongs... finished up at an orphanage in the forest, not far from kanchaburi.... then 3 hour drive back to bkk....

there were demos in bkk today near central world, but other than disturbing traffic, we don't think it amounted to much...

details to follow

bkk GTG tomorrow at noon... looking forward to it

Gpanda, His Bobness has a better command of the English language than you've ever suspected. It's his spelling and punctuation that would let you think otherwise.

The trip sounds delightful, Bob! I'm so glad you 4 were able to meet up with Pook and Dang. Our own little Fodors' slice of heaven, hearing about this. Although it may sound like Pat is "out of control" at Il Sarto, she sounds to me as though she's merely experiencing "Catholic girl syndrome": one in brown, one in navy, one in black---generally the idea of "color" may get to burgundy!

I am a bit confused about what was written about Crepes and Co., however.
<<...right next door to cabbages and condoms…>>
While part of me would really like some clarification, another part of me is saying to leave well enough alone, and ignorance is bliss. What a conundrum!

BC

BC,

You must try and make it here soon. A good time to be here is about right now - around Loy Kratong. Weather is nice and the festivities of Loy Kratong is always fun to witness or participate in.

Bob,

Yes look forward to the GTG with you, Karen, Kathie and Cheryl(plus who ever else is attending). We will open up our condo on the river for a party on Sunday night but I know you already have plans at the ROS. Similar view of the fireworks but more food and drinks at our place - just ask Carol, Brad and Ken!

Bookchick, Cabbages and Condoms is a grocery store that specialises in vegetables and contraceptives. I'm amazed you can't see the connection.

A world with too many vegetables is a world out of control.

Pook, yes! The view from your condo on the river, plus the food/drinks/fun is THE BEST place to see Loy Kratong festivities. Enjoy it!

BC... you must join other fodorites in BKK sometime. What a fun place to be! Can't wait to get there again, in December.

Wahhh. I'm jealous. Will they have Loy Kratong in Istanbul?

dogster,

Have fun in Istanbul and be good! No Midnight Express kind of experience please...

Relax. Doggie's drug running days are over.

Well, actually they never really began - but why spoil a good story?

Dogster.. 31 days on a cruise??? YOU??? Must be a good one. Can't wait to hear the details. See you for Christmas dinner at Maeng's.

Hanuman, if I ever make it to SEA, meeting you is one of the first goals I hope to realise. My former room-mate and I shared a fondness for fireworks, and while she was in graduate school here, we'd go to all the July 4th fireworks within driving range of our apartment. After she returned to KL, she phoned me (it was Sunday morning for me) from a venue in Malaysia where there was a fireworks show, just to tell me she was thinking of me and our student days together, while watching the fireworks!

Dogster, thank you for that clarification. In my part of the world, however, I'm not sure vegetables will overtake the world. Accent is on turkey for Thanksgiving, less than a week away, and people here also seem to be "fattening up" for winter, I fear.

Carol, I would dearly like to share a meal with you at Maeng's. Not to mention a drink at The Pickled Liver!!

BC

I'm so hurt...Everyone gets invited to Hanuman's condo, except me. All my Fodor friends, my calabash cousins Clint and Tommy...

(Nevermind I won't be there during Loy Kratong, but I hate missing any fun)

I did get to have a fun dinner with Maeng in mid-October though. She even let us peek in her computer, Carol!

Thirty one days in prison or thirty one days on a cruise ship. Hmmmm.

Lcuy, gee, would you like some cheese go go along with that whine????? Not all of us travel the globe, collecting frequent flyer miles for the princely airfare of $$1100 and triple mileage, as you did in 2009, Missy!

Carol, when you meet up with Dogster, he may be the guy with the prune-y fingers. That's because I'm guessing he'll jump ship and be swimming for a bit. Add me to the list of those who're unable to picture The Dog aboard a ship for very long. But I guess we'll see...

BC

Hey Lcuy if you are here then you are welcome. PS - this year Tom will be joining us as well.

I'm guessing after Dogster's good experiences on the Mekong he's come down with a bad case of cruise amnesia.

No-o-o-o. All will be revealed. I embark in 8 hours. Strangely unexcited. Why? AWBR.

Dare we ask when AWBR? (We're still awaiting the AWBR about the Udaipur mafia, to mention but one of many outstanding AWBRs.)

Gawd, you're pushy. lol lol lol.

Remember, A has to BR to me first. Great art cannot be rushed. Mediocre art takes even longer.

Thanks Pook! I was just feeling so neglected

Actually, my daughter and I were in Bangkok two weeks ago, so Loy Krathong is definitely not in the cards this year. I do hope to meet you one of these days!

Hey, BC... It is NOT easy tracking down these flights, nor sitting on them for
so many hours!! Waaaa Oh wait...that's the line I give my husband each time I head out to the airport.

We very much enjoyed the gtg today with the two of you and Pook, Dang and Mony. I wish we were going to be here on Loy Krathong.

Enjoy the rest of your time in Bangkok. We expect a full report comparing the FIVE Bangkok hotels you are staying in this trip!

Like Kathie said we had great GTG. On the menu were some new dishes that I thought everyone would enjoy. Foie Gras infused dim sum, pork belly pyramid etc.. Bob got the prize - complimentary Peking Duck on his next visit as well as cash coupons!

all the goodies came with the check which pook oversaw... he passed the coupons on to me...

C&C is a restaurant which serves thai food... it is part of a population control group who use the profits for birth control education

how could i fail to say that in addition to the things i listed above for our tour yesterday, we also went to the tiger temple.... tomorrow i expect to write all about our experiences and the new ones we had today.....

we have moved to chatrium suites for 3 nights.... it has a fantastic location downriver from the shangri-la hotel and upriver from the montien and marriott.

thus far we give the place a "D", or maybe a "C-" to be kind... more to follow....


i'll say it once more: TONG IS THE BEST!!

Bob, thanks for the clarification.

And I still love wearing my "touringwithtong" tee shirt, despite the fact I've never met Tong! (It never fails to spark conversations.)

BC

Can you offer details about the pools in the Bangkok places that you visit/stay?

Chilled pool, I am assuming from your comments, at the Marriott apartments..(??)

Lucy, Maeng emailed me some photos of you and your daughter! Looks like a nice time at the pL. Hope the food was up to your expectations.

Carol, her food was amazingly good. We had planned to go back a second time, but had a little problem with a taxi ride....More on that later.

Hope her lease problems get resolved, because she is a must see in Bangkok for my next trip!

off for a klong tour in 30 minutes... i have two major days written up, i just need to proof read them

Lucy, the amazing thing is that Maeng will remember you the next time you come in. She remembers everyone! So glad you enjoyed her food.

Thursday


All up early…. We still had some fantastic raisin bread to toast and two kinds of jam and butter, plus tea, orange juice (thick and non-acidic), so breakfast was easy in the apartment…

We all did some internet (535B per day), which was expensive….

The morning’s activity was a rare weekday thai craft organization craft show at the jasmine center (corner of soi 23 and sukhumvit). www.thaicraft.org It started at 9:30…. These are held at least twice monthly, usually on Saturdays. They offer a variety of fair trade craft items from various workshops, mostly in the north… K always finds tons of goodies there: placemats, silver jewelry, greeting cards, baskets, pottery, clothing, fabulous silk scarves in a variety of designs, kids gifts, hand painted items and much more… check their on line schedule for shows…
This is a good source of reasonable high quality items and profits go directly to the producers, many of which are charity based programs…

Even though we had attended a show in October, K found a number of items to buy… P & K also found nice things… all bought modern designed silk scarves from one vendor who then placed them in nice silk covered presentation boxes--- about $12-15 each…
Greeting cards were handmade and cost about $.75 to $2.25.

From there we headed to the Jim Thompson House for lunch and a tour…. It took me about 5 or 6 tries to find a taxi willing to go there, or to understand what place I wanted to go to…

We were all starved by this point so we went right into the restaurant----ate inside in a/c, although you can eat outside… we love this restaurant for its food… a highlight was the pomello salad…. K had her usual pasta dish with bacon… lots of pics… the girls had fancy fruit drinks… we all had yummy desserts…

Following lunch we bought our tour tickets for the English tour of the house. We had some extra time so we visited the JT store there. We met up with Mary, from our cooking class, who was on her day tour with one of tong’s staff, which I had arranged for mary’s family…. They were very pleased thus far with their guide experience….

The house was very busy… Our tour began… our guide was good, but not fabulous… the tour takes 35 minutes. We noticed that they have reduced the rules and you are now allowed to roam a bit more freely in certain areas after the tour… also more pic taking is allowed from outside the house. Cost of tour 100 B….

As I have said so often, I consider this the # 2 or 3 tourist highlight in bangkok.

From JT we took a taxi back to the hotel, but not without a hitch… a co-ordinator/facilator, read crook, was waiting right outside JT house on the soi… If we were willing to stop at a “government shop”, we could have the taxi for 100 B, otherwise it would be 300 B to our hotel… I can play this game… so quickly we were in a taxi and on our way to this tourist rip-off shop about 5 blocks away… our plan was a 5-10 minute stop… the driver then gets 1 litre of gas for his taxi and a huge commission if you buy anything… we fooled them!! We did make one comparison: a channel set sapphire gold ring was about $1100. A similar ring at thai stone jewelry, with a much heavier 18k setting, was about $675. we got out of there in less than 10 min.

We rested in the hotel for an hour or so, then headed to river city shopping center, next to ROS… the taxi took over an hour. We checked in with js thai silk for progress on projects and fittings… things were coming along nicely….

We walked from there to Harmonique where we were meeting up with a friend of Pat’s and his partner. He is a Bostonian who moved to bkk right out of college and is now president of a PR firm here. The partner is about to open a pastry shop on ruam rudi rd.
We had a nice dinner with a real variety of dishes…

We took a taxi back to the Marriott on soi 24. Jack was due there between 9 and 10 for fittings…. He and 2 staff arrived about 9:30 PM… all garments are progressing…. Kathleen is amazed at how fast they can produce fabulous items…

Fell into bed exhausted and not looking forward to our 6AM wake up call….

We are really liking the Marriott serviced apartment… the suite is lovely and comfortable, there is a full kitchen, a nice eating table and a nice living area and work area, plus two huge en-suite bathrooms—one king and one with 2 double beds. Perfect for a family or two couples… Marriott sukhumvit park serviced apartment… 6900 B++


Friday

This was to prove to be the first of two back to back exhausting days with Tong (tourwithtong.com)…..

Our wake-up call came at 6AM for our 6:45 p/u…. Tong was in the lobby by 6:40 and we did introductions for P & K… Roger, tong’s fabulous and funny driver was waiting for us in tong’s huge grey van. We really love roger!!!

This day was slated as our out of town day and was to last 13+ hours…. To see some of the out of town places, you need to start early from bkk to avoid traffic and to get to places at the optimum time…

First stop is the railroad market…. This local market is about a 1 hour ride from bkk. You walk along the road bed of the tracks… foods of every description are displayed right up to the edge of the train tracks… many are on the ground, but also many are on carts on sliding tracks which can be pulled back a couple of feet when the train comes, which it does 8 times daily. Awnings are also on swing devices which allow them to be retracted when the trains come. It is an absolute hoot when the big yellow commuter train pulls through the market… items are retracted on their skids, awnings are pulled back…. THIS IS THAILAND AND IT IS UNIQUE…. Many of tong’s guides are here with groups… everyone knows tong… locals call out her name…

Roger picked us up at the other end of the market… cool van, cold water and lovely cold towels… THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO TOUR AND SURVIVE AND SEE LOTS IN ONE DAY…

Maeklong is the name of the market and it is in Sumutsongkram province according to K’s notes.

From there we headed to the famous floating market at Damnoen Saduak, perhaps a one hour ride…. Tong spends at least 50% of her time hanging over the front seat and talking and joking with us and giving the newbies tourist info… she fields calls all day from customers and we get to see her very detailed and neat schedule book…. She has so many things going on it is truly amazing…. She has about 10 guides working for her…

A boat was hired for 400 B and we were paddled through the main part of the market, but also through many back local canals…. This was a lovely hour plus ride before returning back to the main canal and a huge traffic jam…. I wish they would return to only paddled boats, instead of also allowing motor boats in the canals…

All during our ride, tong is constantly buying foods for us to try… all fresh, all delicious… my fav was the grilled, slightly spicy, pork slices served on a bamboo stick…

After more than 15 minutes stuck in a 30 foot area of the canal, we finally made it back to the pier….

A short walk through some of the shops and we were in the van heading for the Tiger Temple, in the Kanchanaburi area…. It now has a slightly new name which reveals it new commercial existence…. Everyone there knows tong and she gets many favors, including some head of line privileges…

Our immediate impression, and the one for our whole visit and afterwards, is one of a well run, caring, safe, clean, compassionate, do-good facility. As tong points out they are not 100% pure in any way, but they are doing a good job and the tigers do not appear to be mistreated in any way or drugged….

The staff is mostly thai young men and women, but there are a number of western volunteers as well…. We spent some time talking to a canadian guy who has been there for 18 months, and is the “mc” and probably a supervisor of some kind… the staff often takes your cameras from you to get excellent shots of you and the tigers… there are currently 75 tigers here along with a variety of other animals. The large tigers are restrained with huge chains secured into the ground…. The young ones are on lesser restraints…

We spent quite a while watching 4 4 month olds fighting and playing with each other in a wet area…. We patted and touched a number of mid-size animals…. The staff which must number 100 are constantly watching the animals for aggression and quick movements and for visitors keeping a safe distance from animals…. It is all very well run and imo very safe, and tons of fun…

At two different times we were invited to approach the big fully grown guys and kneel by them, stroke them and have pics taken… if the animal decides to move, turn over, etc you are moved out of the way very fast by the staff….. your position is always on the left side of the tiger between his butt and mid chest…

Following this informal “touching”, the people assembled are invited into a pavilion where you are spoken to, in English, about the processional walk down into the “canyon”.

Groups of about 25-30 are formed for accompanying the 12 large tigers on this walk down into the manmade canyon. Each person is allowed to walk the tiger on a leash and pat him during this walk… Tong advises that you hang back to be in the last group as it is hot as hell in the canyon and nothing happens until all groups reach the canyon—maybe 30+ minutes. Once in the canyon, more instructions are given and you line up to be taken one by one to visit almost each tiger and have tons of pics taken by another staff person… so in fact two staff persons are assigned to each of you….. while this sounds all very militaristic, in fact it is all necessary for safety of you and the animals and staff…. We were very impressed…

I had long had mixed feelings about this visit, but after having finally done it, I can suggest strongly that each of you include it in your tour plans…

The center has many other offerings, like feeding babies, etc, all at a significant cost, but the basic program we did cost us only 500 B pp.

Following this visit we were hot, starved and tired. Tong phoned ahead to the Pak-wan-ban restaurant, just down the road and ordered a fab thai lunch for us… it was on the table when we arrived…. Clean place…. The food was all delicious… spice was just right too… we had our own small garden thatched roof house to eat in with an electric fan… PERFECT!!

From there we headed cross country through beautiful rolling hill and small mountain farming country (lots of sugar cane). Our destination was the Moo Baan alternative education community---a local orphanage and home for children whose family could no longer care for them…. Ages 5-15 y.o. Rather than a book learning environment, each child is taught a trade or job…. For instance one shop was to learn about electricity… a very good program… the large wooded campus had many many buildings…. There are currently about 140 residents….

Tong had arranged with a local culinary college to bake fancy decorated sheet cakes for us to give to the kids….

When we got out of the van, we were surrounded with bright and happy (mostly happy) faces…. Many spoke a bit of English… “big” immediately attached himself to me…. Rather appropriate… all were clean and decently dressed… this is an independent orphanage started by a local teacher…. Their funding is very limited…

The kids gathered in a large open air structure and sat on the floor all lined up… K, P and K sat behind a large table with the 5 or so cakes on it… the cakes had been but into 2 inch squares… each had a different look and taste… the kids lined up and pointed to the cake they wanted… after first servings there were 2nds and 3rds for some… it was great fun…

There was another line too where they were given a drink, cookies, candy and other things---sugar highs all around…

WE LOVED IT AND THEY LOVED IT…..

Tong advised that a 1500 B donation would be appropriate…. This included the cake cost….

We toured many of the buildings including one where the kids were dancing, and I joined in….

At the end we went to the camp store and bought several things that the kids had made---all quite nice…. The kids get 100% of the money individually for their works which are sold… there was weaving, silk painting on squares, pottery, etc…

From there we began our 3 hour ride back to bkk… all was well until just before bkk when the traffic thickened and slowed to a crawl… part of the problem was that the red shirts were having yet another demo near to central chitlom…. It was peaceful and more demands were made but made a mess of traffic…

We finally got back to Marriott about 8PM.

Dinner was in the Marriott restaurant… I had a turkey club and fries which hit the spot, followed by yet another lemon tart…

Totally exhausted we all fell literally into bed….

Sounds like a terrific day. Tong was sick when we went to the Tiger Temple, so we went with one of her guides and while I also had mixed feelings about going, thoroughly enjoyed my time with the tigers and have had a photo with one of the big ones as my screen saver ever since. I did feed one milk tablets off my hand and was surprised at how soft his tongue was. However, I quickly removed my hand when the tablets got too soft and he was about to try to bite them off my palm!!

we saw no real interaction of that sort with the tigers.... it was all very controlled...

the cubs were very fun to watch

I'll predict lots of blow-back on your tiger tale. As well there should be. Grown tigers in chains and tourists walking and petting them?

Bob - your day with Tong sounded fabulous. We loved our time at the railroad market and at her "secret place" when we spent the day with her. Tong is such a hoot!

Bob, loved reading your very descriptive account of your day with Tong, although I think I'd still be a chicken about those large tigers! Just wish that Tong had been available for us when we were there....would have loved to have met her.

We did the tiger experience in Chiang Mai and they seemed drugged. The tigers barely moved. We had photo ops with them, but it was relatively boring. Wish we had gone to see the tigers with Tong.

LA--- what's the problem, you don't like tigers?

never got around to writing today... just too much runningn around...

hope to write in the AM before we leave for khoa lak for 5 days... relaxation at last...

jewerly is all in hand and most of the tailoring as well... all are A-1....

6 of us at the bkk gtg: us; pook, dang and mony; plus kathie and cheryl... lots of fun and yummy dim sum

A banker who can't count to 7.

Bob and Karen = 2
Their college friends = 2
Hanuman + family = 3
Kathie + Cheryl = 2
_______________________

TOTAL = 9

What happened to the college friends? Perhaps they were eaten by tigers . . .

Perhaps it was a "strictly Fodorites" gathering?

And don't get Gpanda started on Bob's "math skills", please, as this is something Gpanda has noted over the course of quite a few years now.

BC

LA doesn't have the problem. The problem is the chained tigers and other abuses that you mentioned but are obviously blind to. Even your precious Tong admits to the heat they are forced to endure in the canyon. You open yourself to lots of criticism endorsing this cruel abuse of tigers that you have just described for us all. Ask yourself what a hundred trainers would do for you if the tigers got pissed off and did what they do naturally mate. Maybe you can ask Siegfried and Roy what to do.

I found the description sickening.

our friends continued with tong during the GTG, visiting the major bkk sites.... yes we were 7...

yes, it was sickening. A sickening way to get tourist dollars. They are on display for no other reason.

It is about time that this awful place and others like it were closed down. Unfortunately they never will be as long as naive/irresponsible/uncaring western tourists and their Thai guides support them with their tourist revenues.

PLEASE NO MORE COMMENTS ABOUT THE TIGERS!!!!!


everyone is entitled to their own views on this and similar subjects, but they are not welcome on my thread, SORRY!!!

Bob - I know this is unrelated to this thread, but I just came across info on shopping in India which I thought you and Karen would be interested in. Here's a link to the thread: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g304551-i3482-k3596679-INDIA_IN_A_BAG_India_s_Own_Shopaholics_Revel_Best_Stores-New_Delhi_National_Capital_Territory_of_Delhi.html

meowwwwww

Saturday


The intent of this day was a complete Bangkok sightseeing tour for the newbies, or as much as you can handle in one day. Tong came for us at 6:30AM…. UGH!!! She had had very little sleep, as after dropping us off she had to drive 1.5 hours to her house… It was nice then to have roger drive us and we enjoyed the added space of the van….

Btw, all of this time her daughter, age 5, was in the hospital with a stomach problem…

So first we headed to the marble wat, as tong thought by going there 2 things would be accomplished: alms to the monks and seeing the marble temple…. Very good idea. In the parking lot of the wat there were perhaps a dozen or more monks seeking donations so the newbies were instructed on this etiquette. Tong had brought the food to give to them… Then we toured the wat grounds and they went inside… I was too lazy to take my shoes off, plus I had visited previously… a great take anyways… I believe this is the only wat to be built entirely of stone (marble) in bkk…

From there we headed to the khoa san rd area to buy gifts for the monks. On the way tong instructed us on the proper way to fold, neatly, the blossom pedals of the lotus flower for presentation… I failed miserably…. Tong said I would go immediately to hell…

We bought a medical kit for the monks and the newbies bought a kit with coffes, sugar, etc in it…. Tong bought a huge parcel to give… We drove to Wat Indraram, home of the giant outdoor standing Buddha and made our donations to the monk on duty…. He asked us to repeat his prayers, then he blessed us and finally sprayed us with water using a flexible reed or grass….. he also blessed some water which we poured from one vessel to another and then finally symbolically watered a tree in the garden with it---all joining hands to hold the water vessel….

I feel no different after having done all this---perhaps it’s too late for me??

The standing Buddha is 35 meters tall and amazing… we had never visited here before…

Next we went to a local market, next to a klong, which specializes in live fish…. We bought a few different kinds. K & I bought a few small ones which are known for their healing abilities. We dedicated these to Andy when we released them… we all bought others as well… they were put in large plastic bags with water and we drove them two blocks to the river where we ceremoniously released them back into the river creating great karma and good merit for ourselves….

We also bought a few large frogs/toads which we released into the garden and into the river…. More good deeds…. The frogs were huge and some were pregnant….

Next we were driven to the new sight of the wat housing the golden Buddha which was discovered in 1959 when a large plaster Buddha image was being moved and it was dropped revealing the solid gold Buddha inside… valued in the millions today….
When we first visited it about 12 years or so ago, it was located in a dumpy one story building….. Today a new very impressive and very tall building has been constructed to house this national treasure…. I was too hot and lazy to climb the many steps to visit, but the others did and said it was beautiful…. K says it is now in a place where it is show-cased properly. Also on the property is a new Chinese museum, which we did not have time for, but which others report to be very interesting…

We were not finished with our morning’s activities yet… Based on a suggestion a few years ago from laurieco, we went to buy coffins for the poor… Another merit making mission…. I expected a dirty wood workshop, but instead we went to an office with desks and chairs lined up and a very efficient method of paying (anything you wish to give) and doing some simple paperwork… you are then given a square of paper to paste onto a pile of wooden coffins on display… there are young girls there to paste for you…. You then stick the paper yourself onto the coffins… OMG are we holy… nearly at the gates for sure….There was an interesting small wat attached to this which we visited as well.

From there we drove tong and the newbies for a flower mkt tour and as this was loy krathang, a national holiday, involving flowers, the place was swinging…. We left them there for a tour with tong. From there they walked to the coconut palm restaurant for lunch, which they loved, and then on to wat pho for the reclining Buddha and finally to the Grand Palace….

Roger, tong’s fantastic drive,r drove us (K and me) to the Conrad hotel on wireless road for our mini GTG….

We found Kathie and Cheryl patiently sitting in the Conrad lobby when we arrived…. Together we went to the 3rd floor Liu restaurant where Hanuman and his family were waiting for us… We had a lovely private alcove room. Pook chose most of the dishes… Each was better than the previous… We had a great variety of dim sum. Dang added in at the end a favorite soup like dish which was very nice. We also had a unique pork dish. It looked like a 5 inch pyramid. The dish is made from the stomach of a pig, which has been cut into strips, and is really like soft bacon…. I did not care for it honestly, but I was glad to try it…

Lots of hugs and kisses were offered after we had been there about 2 hours…

All of our luggage had been traveling around in the back of the van all day, as we were changing hotels this day…

K & I took a taxi to the Marriott riverside to have fittings with jack…. K and pat showed up with tong after a while for their fittings… We all went by van to our new hotel, the Chatrium Suites directly on the river, south of the Shangri-la hotel…

We were quite impressed with the exterior and lobby of chatrium. I had reserved a 2 bedroom, two bath unit. I was not happy with the unit we were taken to…The primary reason for moving here was to watch the fireworks on Sunday night… But this suite was located on the downriver side of the building… Added to this, the rooms were small and the rug in the living room was very soiled as was the sofa…. I was mad…

I asked to speak with the supervisor… She arrived in a few minutes and was correct, but very cold… She said the only option was 2 separate double rooms at an increased price of almost 40%... Karen suggested we stay for the night and deal with it in the AM…. I asked the woman for the name of the GM… She gave me 2 names: the GM and the director of rooms…

The double (king) rooms were fine, until we discovered the bathrooms were dirty… Now I was really mad…. Up came the supvr again and a cleaning staff…. At this point I was ready to move in the AM…. But we loved our new view and balcony on the 30th floor… We looked directly up river with a full frontal view for the fireworks…. The newbies were directly next door with the same view… The bed was fine and after a sleep I just bit my tongue….



Sunday



The breakfast room was nice with a lovely river view…. The pool, while a bit cool was fantastic with a full river view from its 6th floor location… EK--- fine for laps….Lovely sculptures adorn the pool area…

Breakfast was good, but not outstanding…. A huge buffet… pastry was stale and not imaginative… eggs good… limited dim sum good… limited sushi good… cheeses excellent… fruit adequate, but limited…. Good service and friendly but not well trained staff…

We are fine to stay here as a move would be disruptive… Initially we had scheduled to go to the weekend market in the morning… As pat had purchased everything that was not tied down already, and we were tired, we decided to bag a visit there… Instead we had chatrium arrange to have a long tail boat come for us at 10:30… We would do a Klong Tour in Thornburi. The boat was over a ½ hour late, so we just sat by the river and watched the traffic… fun…

When the boat arrived we got underway and proceeded way up the river and entered the klongs just north of the Navy headquarters…. As the water is so high, we had to wait about 15 minutes for the locks…. Btw, the cost was 1000 B per hour… high but acceptable as we were picked up and returned to where we wanted…

Once the lock opened we entered and were lowered maybe 6 feet… We roved through a number of klongs… there was a medium amount of klongside activity… the girls loved it… Just short of our 2 hour time, we arrived at the barge museum and all the woman went for a quick look…. Presently you can get much closer to the boats than you could in the past…

The driver seemed to stall in moving forward, so I decided I would not pay for more than 2 hours unless we got in an argument….. He stopped dead in the water and waited for another boat to come alongside and he gave them a can of gas…. At the beginning of our ride we had spent almost 10 minutes getting gas… we would then move forward slowly then fast… all very odd…. When back in the main river there were large swells which made the ride slower…

We asked to be dropped off at the Peninsula Hotel. I gave the driver 2000 and walked away… no comment…

We went into the lobby bar and decided to have a drink and listen to the live music…. It was a nice interlude…

We knew that the hotel has an internal contest each year on loy krathang. It was scheduled to commence at 4, so we hung around…. Each department creates a large krathang from fresh flowers and has them judged… After each is floated a winner is declared…. There were 8 I think… The winner was mistky white and perhaps 5-6 feet tall---it was amazing, as were all of them…. There is also a beauty contest with each department having one of it’s women parade the pool area in traditional costumes. Everyone is given ballots to vote…. I voted for #12 who had lovely purple orchids around her neck and in her hair… The fellow employees whooped and hollered as the women walked the cat walk around the pool…. PLEASE NO NEGETIVE COMMENTS ON BEAUTY CONTESTS!!!

From there we took a boat to river city for some fittings at the JS Thai silk… Things are looking good… We walked from there to Harmonique for dinner with a friend of Pat’s who has lived in Thailand for 24 years and now runs a PR firm here. He brought along his thai partner, a really nice guy who is just about to open a pastry shop near Marriott Mayfair serviced apartments… The food was excellent as always… the yellow crab curry a favorite and of course the fried morning glory with garlic….We had lots of fun and enjoyed stories of 24 years in bkk…

Taxi back to Chatrium in plenty of time for the fireworks to begin….

I received a phone call from the Director of rooms…. His colleagues had informed him that I was unhappy…. He agreed totally with me after reviewing my e-mails about room location, etc… He informed me that we would pay the same rate as we would have for the 2 room suite…. I thanked him… he also threw in free internet. He said he had viewed the rooms during the day and had ordered the toilet seats replaced (unnecessary) for which I thanked him…. I felt much better after his call..

There was a decorated (bright lights) boat parade along the river… About 9:30 there was a small, but nice, firework display in front of our hotel…. About 9:45 Marriott and Montien hotels had a moderate show down river which could be seen from our bedroom floor to ceiling windows….About 10 the major hotels up river commenced their huge show… It was really nice… We enjoyed them from our balcony… The girls polished off our wine…

Bed and good sleep

Well...in regard to your soul (note, I did not say K's soul), I think Madison is your only hope! If she can't come through for you, you might want to look at investing in asbestos in the future...

Interesting good works, though.

I'm slightly surprised (and disappointed), however, that you didn't ask for the CEO of the Chatrium Suites, as trifling with the GM will get you nowhere, as you probably now know. (Well, live & learn.)

And don't worry, Bob--I don't mind praying for you!

BC

Why did you break the toilet seats?

i did not break the toilet seat fat a--..... it was stained and the room director saved face by rteplacing it....

i have broken at least one seat in the past however and cracked a whole wall mounted toilet at the hyatt in bali...enough toilet talk!!

Monday---last day in bkk for all 4 of us


Up, and down to breakfast…. We were liking chatrium more each day, especially if you overlook the service inconsistences, but for this location and directly on the river it is perfect…. I just looked at my bill and we paid per room $104 inclusive of tax/svc and breakfast… can’t beat it!!

This would be another busy day… we took a taxi to celadon pottery on asoke. Each woman bought something…. From there we went to porn to pay for and pick up jewelry…. One piece of pat’s had been forgotten so it was taken to the factory and would be delivered to the hotel before 7…
Next we went to platinum fashion mall for a couple of hours…. First stop was that costume jewelry place on the 4th floor where fodorits have bought so much…. The girls loved it and stocked up…. Cheap, cheap, cheap…. I boughtr a joke gift for mr lee…

I think I have the order of stops out of line, but it is an overview of the places we visited…

From there we headed to the Jim Thompson Main store on suriwongse at the corner of rama IV… we went right to the café for lunch…. After lunch we shopped the entire store…
From there we went to river city but they were not really open, although “boss lady” was there…

We took the Hilton boat across the river and went up to the bar 360 on the top floor for a drink…. This bar has fantastic views for 360 degrees and especially up and down the river from floor 38 maybe… we took the Hilton boat to taskin and then boarded the chatrium boat back to the hotel…

We ate that night in the Silver Wave Chinese Restaurant on the 36th floor of chatrium.. we were the only people in the dining room I think… we had a round table for 4 in a private alcove with a fantastic view of the river, both up and down… The food was good, but nothing outstanding…. 2 appetizers, 4 main dishes and one white rice, wine and prosecco ($15 a glass), beer…. Expensive at 5,143 B, but a nice experience.

At about 9:30PM, jack came to the hotel to deliver most of pat’s clothing and kathleen’s slacks. A couple of things are not ready including my suit and robe, but they will be delivered next week to the Marriott Mayfair before the girls leave for home on Tuesday morning…….

Another long but fun day…. We are all exhausted and looking forward to some down time at the beach at khuk khak, prang nga, near to khao lak, at the new JW Marriott Resort. We are hoping that it is as nice as the hotel by the same name at phuket..



Tuesday

Up a bit late and some last minute packing after breakfast. We are leaving quite a bit behind at chatrium as air asia has such severe restrictions on luggage even though I supersized our capacity.

Our r.t. air asia flight was booked on line with a total cost for 4 of 17,069 B or about $550. we paid extra for insurance, extra luggage and the most essential--- seat reservations in the first 5 rows—aisle and window with an empty seat between.
I checked in on line the day before the flight, but could not print boarding passes as I had no printer available… seats: 1 A&C, D&F…. I should have done row 2 as there is more seat room because the arms are movable…

Tong sent a van for us at 10:15 as requested to take us to the airport. Checkout was easy enough, although I never understand why you have to sign every piece of paper twice and why there is so much paperwork.

We were on our way… I would have taken a different route but I was not driving… it took one hour to the airport… just before the airport the driver pulled over. A car came up behind us and they exchanged something…. The driver got back in and changed his T shirt???? We were off again… odd…

Checkin at AA was easy using only the bag drop window… she printed our boarding passes…. A long walk to the domestic gates at B 1-6. The incoming flight was a bit late arriving but we took off only a few minutes late…. Flying time 1 hour and 20 min to phuket… all of their bags came out almost immediately and mine was the next to last …

A rep of pure car rental (on line) was there waiting for us just outside the terminal. I have successfully rented from them in the past. I ordered a crossover SUV with auto which is just right for us… it has a 3rd seat which we folded down for luggage, but would be fine for 6 for around town… it is a Toyota… price 7000 B for 5 days with p/u , dropoff at airport and insurance included…. Car is almost new, has great a/c and electric locks and windows and best of all auto, which always costs a ton extra.

Easy exit from airport (40B), a quick right and later a left and with the hotel map we had an easy drive for just about 1.25 hours…. It rained on and off… we made good time and there was just normal traffic….

We zoomed right by the hotel entrance---their signage is pending… K caught it out of the corner of her eye. We u-turned and entered the driveway, a 1.8 kilometers to the resort.

The entrance way and lobby are lovely—enclosed and a/c. we were seated in the lobby and registration was done there while we were served a tadsty red cold drink and cold towels. The hostess was sweedish. We were greeted by the general manager, Ty Collins, a 30ish American. Very nice guy. We talked about his past assignments which ranged from seoul (fantastic) to vegas to hydrabad to phuket to here 2 months ago. The hotel owner is German/Turkish.

We were automatically upgraded to pool access rooms in bldg one. There are 300 rooms. The rooms are roomy and very nicely appointed with all thai accessories and furnishings…. One sofa bed and one shaise. The bath is huge with a marble tub, a double shower room and a toilet room, plus unique double connecting marble sinks. Oddly, very little counter space…. The towels are huge and fluffy.

On our bed was a dog made from towels…on the girl’s an elephant… each room has a large porch with table and two upholstered chairs and large foot stools. A swinging gate leads to a stone path to the lagoon which is about 4 feet here.

The place is fantastic… There are lots of restaurants and bars scattered around the property. The beach area has a wooden boardwalk swirling through grassed areas which lead down to a sandy beach…. My only complaint is the distances and that is only because I am lazy…

Dinner was in the Olive restaurant with a Turkish chef. The sisters had pizza, K had a pasta dish I think and I had lamb moushka…. All delicious… we had two desserts to share: both apricots soaked in muskadat (sp) and served with nuts and fresh yogurt….outstanding…

Internet (free wi-fi) and then bed….



Wednesday


A wonderful sleep for all… about 9 or so we walked over to the huge breakfast restaurant…. There were quite a few folks, which was good to see, but it was not crowded…. Ty came by our table and wished us good morning. I guess this prompted the rest of the staff to faun over us….. they were all so friendly… They kept coming back asking if we wanted this or that… Not all were thai… there was a german guy, who I named wolfgang, a Romanian guy who I called roma, a swiss girl and a bunch of young thais each nicer than the previous…. The breakfast was outstanding, fresh and complete as one expects from asian marriotts…. Soup to nuts literally. The sisters were blown away.

We stayed there for quite a while…. The girls went to the beach and I hung out doing this and some paperwork…. Pat spoke to my sister in umbria via skype…

At 2:15 it rained lightly so they came back to the room… K swam in the lagoon for a while and has now come into the a/c for a shower…

I am now caught up to date with this…

We are having a fantastic time as we always do, doing both new and old things, tons of shopping and eating with some sightseeing added in… We have added the railroad market, new golden Buddha wat, standinf Buddha wat, chatrium, Marriott sukhumvit grand and a few other things to our experience list.

Karen here... just spent a few hours at the beach. The beach it's self and the water are fabulous. There is the usual scramble to claim the beach chairs (esp the front row ones ), there were some empty ones so they have enough. Around the side lagoons there are sun beds tucked into the foliage along the way for privicy. There are 3 km of pools you can paddle along. My legs are tired of swimming all around. Very relaxing.

Oh, it sounds fabulous! (B&K, it's about 24 degrees here right now--no snow yet, and yesterday was sunny but cold. I climbed a ladder and cleaned our gutters and was glad to be wearing gloves!) I loved hearing about the railroad market, and loved hearing about the beach, too. Am living vicariously through your travels, so keep it comin' and thank you so much for this!

BC

Just wanted to say that I've been following your reports and reading with pleasure. Thanks for taking us along.

DH and I were traveling in Vietnam the same time as you - just found your report. In fact we crossed paths at the Vinh Hung Resort in Hoi An. I got a laugh out of your Nov. 4 fustrations at the airport in Hanoi when flight to Hue was cancelled. We were on the 19:20 flight, also cancelled, and here is an excerpt from my trip journal:

"Arrived at the airport to huge line and confusion at the Hue check in window. Terrible weather in Hue. After about an hour the flight was cancelled and we were handed a sheet of paper with instructions to apply at the office in Hanoi the next day in person or by phone to rebook! I went downstairs to the Tourism Office which I had seen on an earlier foray and found an absolute angel of a young woman. She couldn’t believe the unhelpful information we had been given. She took charge, found us a flight at 6:55 AM tomorrow (which I had to battle for in a huge mass of disgruntled travelers), called H.at Tonkin to change our Hue arrangements, booked us a hotel near the airport. In an hour we were sorted and on our way to the “airport hotel”.

The “airport hotel” didn’t look bad on the outside really until we got to the room – although the carpeted stairs were filthy and frayed. Room smelt like chemicals and was clearly not clean, the sheets and duvet were used, the bed like sheetrock, odd wood paneled walls, and a window with no glass – only shutters. Well we were exhausted and hungry so went for a bite at the restaurant “in the back”. It was a little open shed on a deck which we were soon to discover was located over a pond/lake? (couldn’t see in the dark) and the mosquitos descended. I found a Deet wipe for exposed areas but we probably still got bitten before we could scarf down our soup and beer (not bad and less than $5 dinner). Back to the room and reluctantly ready for bed when I spotted a HUGE flying insect that looked like a 2” wasp with long descending stinger….and then another one. P. captured one in a filthy glass covered with book and I took it to the man and girl at reception. I made gestures about “biting” and they nodded. Then killed the bug and handed me the disgusting glass. I gestured that there were more. Very fustrating time trying to get them to understand we needed a new room. The girl telephoned an English speaking friend, I explained, friend talked to girl, girl smiled sweetly and blankly. This went on for awhile. P. came down and went through the whole routine again. Nothing. I admitted defeat after a while and said I’d sleep with a towel on my head. We walked away but P. fed up – back to desk, holding our ground and eventually we got another room offer. I think the problem may have been that we were in the “best” category room and there wasn’t another, so they said nothing. We must have said at some point we would take ANY other room. The new room was smaller, also dirty with used sheets, but this one smelled of old pee instead of chemicals. Exhausted, I covered the duvet by my face with a clean looking towel, took pill and slept 6 hours."

After a long drive from Halong Bay that day and with such an early morning flight, we couldn't face going back to Hanoi, but in 40 years of budget traveling, that was by far the worst hotel. And we've had some good laughs in retrospect.

lina--- worth the trip back to hanoi for sure

So we really had a totally lazy day… I was so lazy that I did not even swim… I hung around the room all day, took a couple of naps, sat on the deck and did nothing productive at all….. seems vacation has finally begun…

At 6, we moved over to the olive restaurant where Ty, the GM, was hosting his weekly cocktail party. Because it was still raining slightly the party was moved from the beach to olive… Even though it was raining the sky at the horizon was pink as the sun went down…I expect that means a nice day tomorrow…

We were greeted at the door by staff and welcomed with drink orders and passed hors’…
K&I had g&t’s, and the girls had beers—pat tried chang for the first time… We spent almost all of our time outside on a covered porch which was very pleasant. People were not very friendly and did not mix at all… very odd. We were repeatedly served plates of mixed sushi, which was fresh and tasty. Other hors’ were passed as well. Ty introduced us to his wife Kim, a charming Korean-American, who also had worked in the hotel industry. The women were very interested in her role and life here in Thailand.. We each had another drink. By this time it was 7PM and we felt we should leave.

We moved inside and took seats in the restaurant as we still were a bit hungry.. I had interest in a burger, but alas no burgers on this menu. I settled for lentil soup and bread and butter…K had a baked lasagna with meat sauce.. pat and Kathleen each had green ravioli… Portions were quite small, but just right for what we needed…

During the meal a thai band set up and played for a while… later a dance troupe did two thai dances… after them a duo did a thai dance story, circulating around the room….

I ordered a black and white dessert: chocolate ice cream and a chocolate topped white cheese cake---yum…..don’t ask me about my blood numbers after this meal….

One of the waiters told us that a fire show was about to begin outside, so we went out onto the front steps and watched a thai man perform with torches, swirling them around, tossing them in the air, etc…. it was fun to watch…

We all went back to our room and gabbed for a while, did internet, and then went to bed by perhaps 10 or so….

Another restful night…



Thursday---Thanksgiving


Awake early, but I stayed in bed…. K read on the deck…

By 8:45 we were on our way to another fab breakfast: for me… dim sum, sushi, pastry, bacon, salami, parma ham, mustard and wasabi, smoothie, strawberry juice, more salami, 2 kinds of cheese, etc oink

Ty came by our table again and spent quite a bit of time chatting about his life in this industry, moving his dog from country to country, home leave and many other subjects…Kathleen asked about the large piece of land next to the hotel and he told us it belongs to the hotel’s owner, and he described possible future uses for it…

Back to the room about 10:30…. The girls were off to the beach to reclaim the chaises they had marked earlier…. I’m again staying in the a/c…. will probably swim after a while in the lagoon…

This afternoon we need to go into town and drop off some laundry…

Tonight at 6 is the Thanksgiving dinner exclusively for the 16 americans on property…
900B each. We are looking forward to it…

Bob - just how many GMs do you know LOL?

enjoying reading along, see you next week.

Smeagol, dear, he makes it a point to make the acquaintance of as many as possibly. It's his pleasure to do so, but it remains to be seen if it's the pleasure of the GMs!

BC

BC -LOL

they just flock to me like small children do... they never rub my belly however like other asians do...

and after our dinner tonight it is an even bigger belly...more tomorrow on that...

just spoke to our daughter in MA and her family and also our NH daughter who is in PR for the holiday....plus K's mother..

i put 1000 B in my phone on oct 29 and i still have over 500 B left unused, even after many local and calls to the usa... its so cheap to call...

Flock?? Hardly! Flee? More like it. Bob tries to phone the Mariotts, Hiltons, etc., ahead of time and ask if any of the GMs have leg, knee, ankle problems. Then HE flocks to them until they grant any/all of his requests just so they can see the light of day again.

BC

Thanks for the hotel tips for Bali, Bob. They were great choices.

Am a few weeks behind on your thread so will catch up over the weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American Neighbors!

Ok, we never made it out of the hotel… the laundry will have to wait until tomorrow… We whiled away the afternoon… There was rain about 5 but it subsided enough for us to make it over to the building where Ty and Kim would host the 14 Americans for what proved to be a fantastic thanksgiving dinner with all the fixxins…

The sun was going down as we walked towards the beach… the light was one of those fabulous twilight happenings… great for pic taking…. The palms fringing the beach and the umbrellas gave a beautiful foreground for the sea and the sunset… The pavilion building where our dinner was set was floor to ceiling windows with wonderful décor with gleaming wood, plus a/c. One long table had been set out just next to the window on the beach side of the room. On 3 sides there were buffet tables arranged, which were spread with amazing foods. Kim and Ty welcomed each of us as we arrived. We introduced ourselves and shared some cocktails and chat. The group was as follows: the 4 of us from New England…. A New Zealand/Aussie couple currently living in Sacramento—he in the undersea robot business…. A couple from Peoria and their daughter and son returning home from 3 years in India with Caterpillar… Kim and Ty—he the Marriott GM… a couple from NYC, he an international HR search firm former owner, she a flight attendant on private jets…

After we sat down Ty asked if there was anyone who wanted to say anything… there being no takers, he gave a very short “thank you” for our bounty in life, etc. It was a lovely way to start an American Thanksgiving meal…

We were a very congenial group.

The food was amazing and for the most part very traditional American Thanksgiving fare. A 4 station buffet was set up.

First there was delicious crab chowdah, in kim’s honor

On a central table the center of any thanksgiving was displayed: the golden brown roasted butterball turkey… Next to it was a large ham… each platter was adorned with many fresh veggie displays, like ¼ ears of roasted corn on the cob, roasted yams, and other veggies. It all looked so inviting. A chef carved for us.

On a side table were displayed perhaps 10 salads: green salad, pot dilly salad,2 pasta salads, artichoke/pepper pickled salad, small shot glasses with a cherry tomato on a skewer with a liquid base of some sort, and a few others.

Opposite that was another table laden with veggies: warm giblet gravy, tiny long carrots with a sweet glaze, green beans, roasted pots, warm julienne beet salad, brussel sprouts, fantastic stuffing which chef told us that he learned of in napa valley, creamed corn, and one or two more…

Cranberry sauce of course.

None of us were shy about digging in.

White and Red wine was continually poured every time your glass got to the ¼ full level.

There was a staff of perhaps six to cater to our every desire. They were all so friendly and kind… We especially like “dimples” one of those very friendly and very gay thai men who served us. He was the wine guy this evening and we got to know him quite well. The staff as a whole is so caring, friendly and service oriented it is a pleasure to be staying here.

Then there was a dessert table: sweet pumkin pie a la thai, berry cobbler, sweet bread pudding with berries baked in, several kinds of cut up local fruit, and one or two more.

Coffee and tea were offered at the conclusion of the meal…

Many of us stayed on and drank more wine and chatted. Ty shared info about the hotel, about his hotel experiences, about Thailand, etc…. Steve (nyc) talked about golf locally and how he was ripped off for a golf cart (1800 B) that day at the canyon club---the only cart used was his caddy used a dilapidated pull golf cart…. Our New Zealand friend spoke about their recent experiences… simply, it was a very compatible group and we most enjoyed this lovely setting, fantastic food and good company.

It was after 9 when we finally left for our rooms. K & P came to our room for some gossip and a review of our vacation, and we made some calls home to family… We even spoke to our daughter in PR…


We were charged 900 B each (~$27.) for the dinner.




Friday


Up by 8:30 and over for breakfast…. We chatted with the oz/nz couple and said good morning to the caterpillar family…

What a fantastic spread the breakfast is here….it is 700 B normally if not included in your room rate, which ours is…

Btw, our rate is only 3000 B++ or about $118 per night. WOW!!! A steal, plus we were upgraded, although I do not think there is a bad room here. I guess this is still the soft opening for the hotel--- yikes it lasts almost one year…

After breakfast we all went swimming…. I lasted about 2+ hours and the ladies are still at the pool/beach edge.

This PM we will leave the resort for the first time, taking out some laundry and checking out one shop we have been told about—opposite mcdonalds. We may drive the coast a ways as well. We will have dinner in town tonight…. K has a list of options.

Sounds like a lovely Thanksgiving, Bob!

(I served not quite as many side dishes, and there was no wine. Nevertheless, we made do here, and feel, although 2010 has by no means been a stellar year, we have a great deal for which to be grateful.)

Still loving this report! I think I'll pop over to the Europe Forum for a moment, though. I wonder how Laurieco and Eric are faring in Rome...

BC

so we did take to the road about 3.... we found a laundry just out on the main road after an initial miss.... we saw lots of clothes hanging out in a yard, so i pulled in and K went to ask. the non-english speaking woman did not understand the word "laundry"--so evidently it was her family's clothes hanging out front... go figure..
6.5 kilos at 65 B per kilo. ready tomorrow at 3.

we drove south for perhaps 10 miles looking for mcdonalds, as we had been told there was a nice shop across the street...we found it and P and K bought a few things...

We then headed north again...

we passed the meridien hotel where we had stayed 2 years ago...

we saw 2 elephants along the road and turned around for a better look.... they, with their mahoots, were just off the road and they were eating trees and bushes.... we stopped and took pics from the car... one mahoot called his beast and he came right up to the car and spit at karen... we then gave him a macaroon cookie, the only food we had. he stuck his trunk into the car... this satisfied the newbies wish to see and touch elephants...

we continued north and took a small road toward the ocean. we saw lots of post tsunami destruction---abandoned boats, foundations, etc. we saw two new tall buildings which have been built as escape houses should there be another emergency.

we rode along a beautiful beach area..

this area was one of the worst hit in the 2004 dec 26 flooding. lots of lives were lost all along this coast including at our hotel.
we saw new storm warning sound towers. everywhere there was new building...we saw a huge fish/shrimp farm...huge!!
we saw what we think are former fish smoking buildings.

Finally we visited a very moving memorial to the T victums. set into a manmade hill is a walkway set between two walls. on the left wall are plaques with names primarily of western tourists who lost their lives... on the right side is a shinny curved wall representing a huge wave.... it reminded us of the DC war memorials.

We drove south again and went to dinner at the excellent "The Candle" restaurant.... we had perhaps the best thai food we have had during this trip....$12 each including 4 large beers and 5 main dishes and 2 appetizers.

After dinner we returned to the JW

Internet and bed...

<<...he came right up to the car and spit at karen... we then gave him a macaroon cookie...>>
Is it just me, or does anyone else find some just wrong about this???


<<he stuck his trunk into the car...>>
What, the car didn't have a trunk of its own????

BC

Boy, the Thanksgiving Dinner sounds terrible......

Terrible for the rest of us, that weren't there . It sounds as if you all haven't yet been kicked out of the hotel or Thailand. Have a great time.

PS
who knew they had Butterball Turkey's in Thailand.

i think it was flown in special for kim....

butterball would be my last choice, for sure, but it tasted good... i bet they got it from a US military PX

Hi Bob, thanks for your advice on my other thread about hotels in Phuket. I am extending my vacation time to include PhiPhi too.

Would it be better to do airport-Phuket(Marriott Khao Lak)-PP(Holiday Inn)-airport OR airport-PP-Phuket-airport? Which one is better transportation-wise and not missing the return flight?

How do I arrange for ferry or speedboat and how long is the transfer from PP to Phuket airport because I have not book the flight without knowing the ferry/speedboat schedule and transfer time.

Thanks.

i have no knowledge about anything to do with phi phi... it has often been reported here however..

put a seperate post out asking for help..

sorry

a real lazy day on saturday...

breakfast was another pleasant experience... we talked briefly to some of the other americans and the nyc lady gave K a spare bottle of cab sauv.... the girls managed to drink it late this PM...

we all did some internet... the girls headed for the beach/pool.... i spent the whole day in my room---relaxing and doing internet--ok some naping too.

late in the afternoon we got dressed and headed out to pick up our laundry. 6.5 kilos for about $14.---clean and ironed.

we headed back into khao lak town and turned into the main side street (just next to the 7/11) where lots of restaurants are located. kathleen checked out a couple of shops.... we drove to the end of the road to look into the most famous seafood restaurant (chong fat)---we had seen a motorcade with police escort go there last night... we decided to go back 1/2 up the road to Green Pepper Restaurant. Kim had told K that the food was excellent and the beefsteak was especially nice. 3 of us had it and pat had a hamby... it was good but not outstanding---hit the spot however... we had a delicious shrimp cocktail as an appetizer (K&B) and Pat had bacon wrapped shrimp... 600 B each with four giant bottles of singha... 3 of us had homemade ice cream and K had pineapple pancakes for dessert.... there was live guitar music during the meal... we were very pleased with our choice... western meat and pots hit the spot...

visited the adajacent night market after dinner, which was closing down...

back to the hotel for internet and bed...

Tomorrow we head back to bkk mid-afternoon and the sisters go home early monday morning (staying at the novotel at the airport).

K & I have 4 more days in bkk... 2 nights at the marriott mayfair and 2 nights at the dreaded ROS.

Wednesday we will be having dinner with smeagol and muffin at Biscotti in the 4 seasons... we look forward to that...

Am enjoying your report immensly. Have not been to Fodors for the last 5 weeks as we were in Florida and I limited myself with computer time. Now we are back in chilly Chicago and looking forward to our 6 week Thai/ Hawaii trip beginning Jan 6th. I have already picked up a few new ideas of places to go from this report and you have never let me down in the past. I'm trying to figure out where it is you are staying right now in Phuket. It appears there is a new Marriott Resort and I have heard nothing about it before. I was so happy to learn of the "goodies" you get for Marriott Gold at the Riverside Marriott location. I just became Platinum and will also be spending several days there. We will then go to Phuket to the Marriott Beach Club for a couple of weeks but will be staying in the Villas. Oh where is the Candle Restaurant on Phuket? - We have been looking into a rental car for Phuket and now I will research your lead of Pure Car. Seems like a pretty good deal.
Just want to say, your narrative has me so excited at the thoughts of returning to my alltime favorite place... Thailand. Enjoy the rest of your trip and keep these wonderful posts coming.
Sue

sue the new jw is in khao lak, which is one hour north of the jw in phuket... it is even nicer than the jw phuket...

pure is fantastic to deal with...

candle is in K/L too

last night the green pepper was also a good take... same area as candle..

Bob, this thread takes forever to download..... Just hoping you still plan to visit the PL for dinner! I will try to catch up with this thread again in a day or two.

Hello from Chiasso Switzerland... passing into Italy today. Headed to Fabro, near Orvieto. Three days w/Italian friends.

Carol

Carol, Ciao, Bella!

Bob, still enjoying, thanks for taking me along (vicariously, of course)!

BC

K&B: you people are amazing. What a trip. Have you thought about just selling the Needham mansion and traveling non-stop? I can find a cousin who'll sell the house for you for a low commission, you'll easily net $1.5 or $2 mil. That will last a long time on the road.

Many thanks for the info... I checked out the new JW on Phuket at the Marriott website, didn't even know that it existed. Your room rate, incl breakfast and upgrade is just fantastic. We'll have to check it out when we have our rental car, and, combine it with a visit to Candle on weeks 2 & 3 of our Thai trip.

Another great deal I got because I read this Asia Board was one of the Crazy Deals at Asia Rooms. Even though I was expecting the ROS (a la Bob) I landed up with 2 days at the Lebua at State Tower Superior Suite with balcony incl Breakfast at $76 a night. So far in looking at the place at their website it looks quite good, will let you know after we stay (our first two nights in BKK)-I believe it's quite close to Harmonique one of our favorites since Bob turned us on to it. Last time we were there we took a great photo of the two old sisters that own it and it's a very sweet photo as they are hugging each other.

After Lebua, we move to the Riverside Marriott for a week.

We stayed at the BKK Marriott Mayfair on a previous trip and liked it a lot, especially the space vs a hotel room, however, the Marriott Rewards are not the same per night for the Executive Apartments, so I was a bit disappointed in that, though the same happened when we stayed at the Marriott Executive Apartments in Prague.

Enjoy your final days in BKK and keep the report flowing.
Cheers
Sue

Carol,

You are in one of the most fascinating spots on Earth. I've spent lots and lots of time in Lugano, and for the life of me I still can't figure out how Ticino manages to get away with merging Italian and Swiss sociocultures, which are at polar opposite ends of every spectrum imaginable.

rizzuto--if Bob and Karen sold their mansion where would they store all the endless stuff they keep buying?

don--no deal if you can't get more for the shack---and dear cousin's rate means she is a newton r.e. agent... or were you just selling the garage and back 40??

Sunday


Over to breakfast… sad that this is our last meal for this year at the JW in Khao Lak. The food is amongst the best hotel food we have had in Thailand and the staff is A++. I took a bunch of pics at breakfast….oh so tacky…

We loaded up the car and left town about 11. We made our first stop at the huge wat just in front of the hotel… There are several very elaborate buildings and more are being built and some are being renovated… We drove on.

Kathleen had requested that we stop to take pics of rubber trees. There are many plantations between K/L and Phuket…. There was a place to pull off the road so we took pics of both young trees and mature ones, all in their very straight rows. Each tree has a tap and a small cone shaped cup which collects the white sap when it runs.

We also saw 4 or 5 elephants all “saddled” up and waiting for customers for a trek into the hills.

It rained a bit which slowed us slightly. We stopped for gas and in 5 days we used just less than 1000 B’s worth. The small SUV we had was perfect for 4 and would work for 6 too (7000 B). We were met at curbside by the pure rep and passed the car over to her.

The airport was quite busy but our air asia check-in was quick—no waiting as we went to the line for on-line check-in---bag drop and id check… I had checked in on line.

We went to burger king near to our gate…. Prices has risen substantially since we last ate American fast food in thailand.

The plane arrived late from bkk, but they turned it around quickly and we arrived in bkk almost on time…. Luggage was very very slow to come out…

A greeter was waiting for us in the lobby and took us to the van we had ordered through Tong…. First he drove us to the novotel at the airport so Pat and Kathleen could check in…. Pre-paid room= $153---a total ripoff… the room is ok, but the beds seemed soft and it was two steps above a dormitory, imo…. We won’t be staying there—I hope…

Next stop was Chatrium to pick up left luggage…

Our final stop was Marriott Mayfair serviced apartments on Langsuan…. I had forgotten what a lovely street this is. Our rooms were ready for us. Because of my gold status we have been upgraded and given breakfast as well. Very odd as the Marriott on soi 24 offered no benefits at all… The lobby is a long wide corridor with a stream of water on each side of the walkway, with some small spouts and beautiful flowers and rich deep blue and gold accents and huge urns… it sounds tacky, but actually is very rich and warm looking.

Our rooms are on the 22nd floor. You enter from the hallway into a small foyer with the kitchen off to the left (no dishwasher??)… This opens up to a large living room with chairs and a couch, plus a table with four chairs and a tv and sound system. A desk is also in the living area and live plants.. There is a full bath next to the kitchen… Down a short corridor are two rooms: a large ensuite master bedroom with tons of closets and a den/computer/work room with a sofa, maybe a sofabed. I’m guessing this was once a 2 bedroom unit. The place is very large…

Jack delivers Pat’s last items downstairs…. All are fine except the robe which probably would not even fit a slim thai woman….We will have it remade and take it home to her…

We have a 7:15 res across the street at Calderazzo Restaurant. This is a chic modernistic all glass building with several levels. We have not been there before… They also have a bistro in front of the Marriott… White starched tablecloths, gleaming glassware and a fantastic menu make it a star in my book…. But then the foods comes, and it becomes a cosmic rocket…. Each dish is better than its predecessor… We had some pastas, an eggplant dish, some singha beers, and 4 lucious desserts (some were better than others).
I was thrilled with my choice and will be adding it to our regular bkk stops… Their red sauce was just as I like it—chunky with a bit of zip to it… 800 B each.


Carol, I’m sure you and brad know this place?? Hanuman also… Excellent for a moderate priced Italian meal.


There is a villa market just beside the Marriott. We made a water stop there and then put the ladies in a taxi to the airport hotel…. This ends their 2 week + trip. They are converted…THEY LOVE THAILAND TOO… They found each day more amazing than the day passed. They want me to write a book… I keep telling them that most of what I know is based on my fodors friend’s experiences, and a little bit of my own digging…

Pat is putting Thailand on her calendar for 2012.

We look forward to the next 3 days of just dubbing around, enjoying the rooftop pool here and to a day and ½ at ROS---giving it another chance.



Monday

A good night’s sleep again. We went down for breakfast with low expectations, but actually it was quite nice. There were much more limited options but all the main groups were present: cereals, pastries, eggs, meats, fruits, drinks, soups, breads, jams, etc. We were very pleased. More nice staff too.

I have developed a very sore toe. I think I must have been bitten by something yesterday. As the day progresses it gets more bothersome, but that only slowed me down a bit. We decided to knock off as many things as we could today. Thursday wants me to return home immediately for amputation at the least… haha

For starters we head back to JT at soi 93 sukhumvit. I had seen some bright yellow/gold fabric with huge monkeys on it that I liked. I want new drapes in my (our) computer room. We had our houseminder measure the two windows so now K knows how much fabric would be necessary. Easily purchased along with a few other items, we then head to the khao san rd area via taxi, via the expressway---a long way!!

Pat had purchased some glasses from chang, tong’s husband, but they were not ready before she left, so we went to pick them up. While there K ordered new lenses for a pair of her glasses (600 B---premier quality lenses). They are progressives and will not be ready before we leave, so carol simpson will transport them home for us in January---she’s the best!! We walked over to khao san rd searching for a cheap duffle bag. Finally found a perfect one for 500B after some bargaining.

From there we took another taxi to the Marriott riverside. We needed another jack fix---the tailor. Pat’s new robe, delivered last night, would fit a small, but very tall, thai woman, but not a tall American woman, of a certain age.. It had to go back for adjustments. K also had 2 shirts waiting, but they now need some other small neck adjustments.

We will see jack tomorrow afternoon with all of this done, plus my suit and robe also—I hope. It is always worth the wait… this is why one cannot hurry custom tailoring….

We had lunch in the Marriott mall at our fav local thai place: the business card is in thai so I can’t tell you the name. Its on my restaurant list---1st floor behind the bank.
Pad see u (phoenetic), phad thai and chicken larb---all delicious--~400B
Sweasons ice cream followed…

Taxi back to Marriott Mayfair on langsuan…

K packed up most of our stuff. I put my foot up and caught up on internet… K went to the pool until dark and I fell asleep on the chaise.

Unexpectedly, we are having dinner with some friends so will forgo pickled liver tonight which had been on schedule.

Tomorrow should be an easy day.

The sore toe is called gout......

Can't wait for the review on the ROS.....

Stop by Tokyo on your way home and I'll buy you dinner

Aloha

can't be gout i don't think, as i already take a gout med for another "problem"... but there is always a chance.... i've been eating tons of bad things for sure...

What do you think the total duration of his taxi time in Thailand is?

I vote against gout. In my experience, which was not brief, it was worst in the morning (tends to get explosive overnight, when the joints aren't active), then improved (slightly) as the day wore on.

Gpanda, why is he eating a durian in a taxi?

lots of time in taxis... supporting the local economy... skytrain is so crowded these days that it is no longer a pleasure.... democrats use public transportation...

moving to ROS this PM.... is that any way to end a wonderful trip?

very busy last night after dinner...

K was talking with her mother and mom said she did not feel well... her housekeeper was there and k tried to have her take her pulse---lost cause...

ambulance came, our eldest daughter met them all at the hospital... youngest daughter on the phone... calls back and forth.... Dr K called the shots.... Mom fine now, just needed some meds adjusted.... overnight in hospital... K's sister arrived from cape cod and hopefully took over...

never a dull moment....

probably no reporting again until we return home...

looking forward to having dinner with nicky and muffin on wednesday night at biscotti at 4 seasons. not sure if they can offer us a sound proof room.... we usually need one...

5:35AM flight home on thursday--thank you delta...

5 weeks have flown by!!

Ok, so that we all have the correct mental image:

Wake up for a departure at an hour when even the birds are asleep.
A heck of a long haul flight.
More carry on bags then anyone can imagine.
Bob declines to check any of his roll on bags.
Bob declines to check any of his Jim Thompson shopping bags.
Other passengers mumble to themselves, "do you see all the bags that man is taking on board?"
Big toe continues to ache, likely a break through gout attack.
And, when they arrive home in the USA they may get the special TSA welcome: a "special" pat down.

Travel safe.

not big toe, but 4th toe... much better today

Have a safe trip home - I can't believe its already been almost 5 weeks. Time flies for those of us who are following along, too.

Yikes!! (Re: Karen's mom.) Glad to hear it's a matter of adjusting her meds and your daughters were so helpful. Also happy to hear your toe feels better. (Problems with feet or any component of feet are always a bummer, but especially so when traveling.)

BC

Glad to hear mom is feeling better.

Yes it does sound like gout as I have had more attacks than I can remember and the more you take the meds the less they are effective. You may need to adjust your meds. I will send you the bill for the diagnosis. Double the usual amount as it came on a holiday weekend......

What do you mean that might be your last post before you leave? We are all waiting for your take on the renovated ROS and your dinner with the Smeagol's. You are not allowed to take a vacation without letting us know what is happening every minute. Enquiring minds (and BC) want to know all the details in primetime.

Aloha!

HT, given all I've heard about the ROS (from Gpanda as well as the Kimballs), I must admit my curiousity is getting the best of me, and I am on tenderhooks to hear about it. However, if Bob cannot share it until his return, he can't...it's a situation with which we must "deal"!

BC

ok, ok, i'm back...ros has free wifi in public areas...

we were upgraded based on our amex starwood cards.... we get the vibe from the towers rooms through our ceiling.... i think i heard kathie singing in the bathroom a few minutes ago...

actually our room on 24 is quite nice... a bit small after out serviced apartments, but for 1999 B++ ($62.), it is fab...

it has been nicely renovated.... our large window looks up the river... we can see from the peninsula to the grand palace.... the smell from the dead rats is almost gone, so for 36 hours we will be fine...

the bath is small with a tub/shower only but that too is ok...

the lobby has lovely elements and decorations, but just seems so flat and lifeless....but this building id old...

so far we are perfectly happy...

we had planned to go across town to pickled liver tonight but we suddenly became lazy and ate locally...

we went to himili cha cha, a fantastic indian place we have been to may times before.... soi 47, new road... opposite the soi next to tongue thai and across new road from op place and the oriental... the food was fantastic... our waitress is also a united flight attendant....

i'll pick up more details after getting home and the smeagol exposee will be revealed then too...

i have a few hotel comments to make also... here i will say we love serviced apartments!! carol is right...

I loved the emporium when I stayed in BKK in November, so I am also a serviced apartment fan too, muffin I have yet to convince.

No expose Bob but I have plenty of dirt on Muffin!!!!!!,

now i can't wait for dinner and the dirt...

is he in his maria mood tonight?

buy any haarn yet?

I feel as though I've wandered into the set of a play for which I have no script! Toss us a bone here! I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel sorry for Muffin or hope that you succeed in "putting one over" on him!

BC

Bob and Karen will leave us tomorrow and it was so nice to see them again in Thailand. Come back soon!

Bon voyage, Bob and Karen.

Today in the Boston area is grim with rain a sure thing later today, but Thursday and Friday are expected to be sunny to partly sunny. That, as you know, is as good a homecoming as we can muster around these parts in early December.

The holiday lights are helping us cope with the terribly short days (hate the 4:30 p.m. middle-of-the-night kind of darkness). You will, of course, be carrying that SEA glow which helps dispel the gloom.

We are going to be back in Hanoi for a week in January so I must consult your trip report and you about "musts" for dining.

Have a good trip back.

Have a safe and uneventful trip back, I don't envy you leaving at that ungodly hour and then getting off the plane to this awful cold weather. It's begun snowing here in Chicago this morning and just reading about BKK make me feel a little warmer (and happier). Many thanks for your great trip report I have really enjoyed it.
We love Indian food so I took note of Himili cha cha and will try to give it a whirl in January.
In that same general area we experienced a good Indian too, called Little India - very close to the Shangri-La Hotel on Soi wat suan phlu. It's North Indian cuisine and was very good.
Safe travels
Sue

Safe travels home, you two. Glad you are not heading to where we are, Lausanne Switzerland. We have an incredible amount of fresh wet snow on the ground. It has been snowing for more than 24 hours, so you can imagine how much we have.

I'm sorry you guys missed the PL. Maeng was so looking forward to finally meeting the two of you.

I'm ready to head for BKK in a couple of weeks after this weather. Not anxious to fly back to ORD in a week... hope things moderate somewhat by that time.

Bob, glad you are now a fan of serviced apartments!

Carol

Enjoyed reading your exploits....glad you had a great time and hope the trip home is uneventful.

home safe and sound... will catch up in the next few days

just a little preview.... we had an absoulute blast with nicky and david (aka muffin).... we tried to behave in the four seasons but when the 4 of us get together it tends to be noisy.... the food was fantastic, as always, and we had a most pleasant evening.... even 'fritz' enjoyed us being there

Welcome home . . . looking forward to some photos.

Hmmmm...kicked out of Four Seasons..I wonder if His Bobness will now still be able to invoke the famous expression "I've been kicked out of better places than this!". Somehow I would like to wait for Smeagol's version of events..not that I'm distrustful or anything!

Glad to hear you're home safe and sound. Better bundle up, as those white things outside your window aren't butterflies!

BC

BC,

It's cooler but, as yet, no white things yet out the window! Yeah! Not looking forward to the snow. I have a short dog.

Do you have snow in Michigan?

bring on the snow... think white xmas...

cw---there are nearly 3000 pics i think... i need to pair them down....lots of flower pics, lots of interesting people pics, lots and lots of food pics (demanded by other fodorites), no bathing suit pics of K (demanded by her or was that a threat), but a few group pics of us and friends...

I think that wasn't a threat from K, but a promise!

Celeste, yes, we do have a "dusting" of snow. It fell so very slowly two days ago, it was gorgeous, flakes just swirling a bit before hitting the ground. The sun is out now, though (past 2 days had been cloudy) so it's melting some of the snow on my back lawn, but I still have snow on the deck. Certainly not enough here yet to warrant shoveling or salting.

BC

I like photos but will appreciate your pairing the 3000 down a bit.

BC, that's the kind of snow I like! Just enough to be pretty.

ok, ok...maybe 2899

Celeste, you must understand to a Needhamite such as Bob, eliminating 101 photos from a collection of 3000 is radical, intensive editing.

BC

let's jump back to monday PM for a full report...

our friends suggested that we stay local for dinner so we went diagnonally across the street to Calerrazo again... it was just as good the 2nd time... we then went a couple of doors up to Lenotre for desserts....yum, yum and all French.


Tuesday

We had another marriott buffet for breakfast... K spoke with her mother and things were much better and she would be going home later in the day.

we went for a swim.....the roof top pool is what i remember most about our inspection tour there about 5 years ago... there is a roof over the whole pool but on 3 sides it is open air.... there are some nice views over much of the city....

After the swim we finally got to visit the Amari Mall, just up the road....ever since carol mentioned it a couple of years ago we had wanted to visit.... how do i describe it... it is located in a grand building right on plenochit rd, sort of across from gaysorn plaza.... it was one of the early grand malls of bkk.... today, a bit less grand, it is still a great shopping location.....there are many independently owned shops and stalls selling all sorts of stuff, from local designer to fabulous jewelry also from a local designer.... the 3rd floor has tons of crafts and thai items...

lots of the shops seem to cater to the young upwardly mobil woman....smart botique wear...

we spent quite a bit of time in one unique jewerly shop---'Keeping, one of a kind'... much of the line was too dressy for karen's lifestyle, but a few things have planted a seed in her mind for the future....take a look at it... 3rd floor... two sisters run the shop and the brother designs....they are young and talented.

more shoes....yikes!!

went back to Mayfair and checked out.... we stored our luggage for an hour or so and went across the street to have lunch at the Ninth Cafe and botique.... great place and good food....the clothing in the shop was high quality... SOI LANGSUAN....

taxi to ROS..... god is the lobby DULL.... later i looked more closely and there are some lovely elements but over all it looks so damn dull... We had pre-paid thru asia travel.com for their 'crazy rates' deal ($62 or 1999B including tax, service and breakfast) as seen on fodors.com... our room was upgraded based on our starwoods credit card... we were on the 24th floor with a full view up river.....the room appeared to have been renovated and was far nicer than the suite we had, the only other time we stayed there... We were quite pleased.... NO WE STILL DON'T LOVE THE PLACE, but don't tell kathie or gpanda that... it is better than the Y.

we taxied to the marriott for a suit fitting.... took the hotel river boats back to sheraton... relaxed and did some more packing...

took a taxi to soi 47, new road to himili cha cha, a really wonderful indian restaurant where we had been a few times in the past....it is approximately opposite to the rear of OP Place and the Oriental, but on the other side of new rd. K reports that we had dall, plaka paneer, shrimp korma, chicken tikka, saffron rice, and plain and kasmeri nan... 2 delicious kalfi's for dessert....


Wednesday....our last full day in thailand


breakfast buffet....very nice, but not fab.... internet...free wi-di in public areas...

K went to the pool located in land owned by the portugese embassy, which is located next door... i joined her later...
she was amused by the roaming peacocks and a large lizard...

at about 6 jack delivered most of our clothing....he has to mail me my new robe...similar problem to pat's---sewer took actual measurements rather than to allow for overlap of fronts, etc...

At 7 we met nicky (smeagol) and david (aka muffin) at the four seasons....when we arrived they were sitting in the lobby having delicious looking drinks.... we joined them and we began a night of true fun and laughter.... I asked one of the official looking staff (security or whatever), who are always around in this lobby, to tell Biscotti that we would be late for our res...'no problem sir'...

When we entered biscotti, perhpas 45 minutes later, we saw how badly business and tourism has been affected recently by the economc and political situations--- the restaurant was perhaps only 1/3 full.... normally there would be a waiting line... The young maitre d' seated us at a lovely table... we continued our gossip and chat.... finally we looked at the menu....yes they still have K's favorite soft shell crab salad which both she and nicky ordered it....i had carparchio and muffin had the same... he and i also ordered the raviolis, karen had a pasta dish and nicky had pasta with a white sauce... all were fab, but the ravioli was unbelievable...david kept talking about how good it was...

i had a black and white dessert which was a fudge like chocolate cake with a white foam and some white chocolate decorations... K had sorbet... i think the english kept a stiff upper lip and had no desserts...their loss...haha

i think it must have been 10:30 when we said our good-byes on the steps of the 4 seasons...


Thursday....

our wake-up call came at 2AM.... Breakfast was delivered at 2:15.... we were in the lobby by 2:50 and our driver was waiting for us... At that early hour he drove mostly on surface roads beneath the highway for at least 1/2 the trip.... 35 minute drive

After arrival at the airport we did the VAT refund for our JT purchases and check in at delta moved very quickly.....Immigration was another thing all together and took 45 minutes.... the walk to the jet way was another 10... lesson learned, arrive very early... the plane loaded up about 5 minutes after we got there.... 5+ hours to japan, 8 hrs to seattle, where customs etc was a breeze, followed by a long 6 hours to boston... i had nice seat mates which made the flt move quickly...

rental car to home and take out for dinner and early to bed, after i fell asleep at the computer... just as i am doing right now at 8:30PM..


so this completes our 13th trip to Thailand.... We loved it just as much if not more than our 2nd trip---the 1st is one of bewilderment really.

i have a few general comments to make, but first i must complete the review of the mountain of snail mail that 5 weeks away creates.... then i also need to work on pics and my updated restaurant listing....

thanks for your comments along the way and for reading....i hope that one or two people might find just the item they are looking for in their future trip planning here....

Welcome back home. I enjoyed following along on your journey.

Fantastic trip report as usual.....I may have picked up an idea or two but won't admit it here,lol. We waited for you in Tokyo for dinner but you never showed...oh well. Welcome home and where are the pics????????

Aloha!

BTW your ROS review sounds very prejudiced. Are you a first time poster with an axe to grind?

Welcome home to chilly New England...

Is it really true that "one night in BKK and the world's your oyster"??? Someone sang that once, and I'm still wondering whether I should believe it or not.

BC

here is the first section of my pics....hope they don't bore you too much...


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"Wake up call at 2 a.m.?" That must be a typo. I 'm not sure that when you answer your room phone at 2 a.m. it can ever be called a wake up call. Ouch.

Great report. We all are awaiting distribution of our BKK purchased holiday gifts.

only 250 pics were to have been sent but i must have pushed a wrong button so 400 have no descriptions... sorry... i will correct in a few days...

i also see i labeled snails as beans and prison garb as entertainment... duh

Enjoyed seeing the pictures. I'm looking forward to tasting some of the great food pictured for Hanoi!

Good grief, lots of nice pics.

What did you do in the days when pictures meant buying film and paying to have each photo developed? Or are you making up for lost time/pics?

I was wondering about those "beans."

Bob. great pics! But, I have to ask....why have you gone to Thailand 13 times? What started your love affair with the country? Do you travel to other places as well or simply prefer Asia? I'm just curious.

What started your love affair with the country?

He found out on his second trip there that everything is cheap. Cheap,cheap cheap......I think it's his middle name.

Aloha!

Barefootbeach, I asked Bob this question once. And aside from Hawaiiantraveler's hysterical response, Bob answered me. He and Karen had done some traveling and wanted to plan a celebration trip to mark an upcoming birthday. (Their birthdays are close together.) A close friend of theirs (the best man at their wedding) suggested BKK. They went, they fell in love with the place and the rest is history. Based on how ardently Bob has tried to get me to go, I'd say he's probably getting kickbacks of some kind from the national Thai Tourist Board, though.

BC

Bob - loved reading your report and seeing your pictures. Waiting to see the rest of them.

As for why Bob & Karen love Bangkok - it's easy to understand - great food, shopping, people, sites, etc.

Great pics Bob- keep them coming. I'm in San Francisco now- we flew in on Thursday night and will be heading home on Monday. Visiting family and seeing the city- wonderful to be here. We have had Thai and Malaysian food- all great.

I'll be looking at your pics later today and look forward to it. Hope you will announce when your updated dining list is ready - It's only 30 days until we leave and will be at the same places as you just returned from.
As for the question why do you keep going back? It needs no explanation for me, I've been bitten by the same bug and can only ask, what's not to like?
Sue

i hope to work on the rest. list in a day or two... i will post the link here...

bare... BC has answered part of the question and HI has answered another part, but let me see if i can add more:

asia is different... it's unique... when we began it was extremely affordable... it is trully exotic... the people are second to none...the lux hotels are very very affordable... the reg hotels are nice as well... asians have maintained "standards" which othere civilizations have allowed to slip... did i mention affordability??... shopping is outrageous... custom made clothing is 1/2 the price of off the rack elsewhere... K loves sapphires... gold items, until recently, were very affordable... in bkk and some other parts of thailand (largely the main tourist centers) the international food venues are fantastic... we have made some friends in thailand...the heat and humidity sucks and the ride to get there sucks even more, but the end product is well worth the suffering... i could go on and on...

and yes we continue to visit tons of other places: st petersburg, argentina, south africa, northern europe, england, france, usa, and many other places...

this winter we will go to the floria panhandle for 2 weeks, have a week each in the malaga area of spain, marraketch, morrocco, and tuscany, umbria and rome... in the fall we hope to go to UAE, kathmandu and a return to northern india for 4-6 weeks...

and the question now is when can we return to thailand?? got to escape that # 13...

Thanks Bob for clarifying why you keep going back. Everything you said makes perfect sense. I especially loved that we could stay in such luxurious places as a reasonable cost. My travel philosophy right now is not to repeat a place since although I've been to 64 countries (who's counting!) there are still many more I want to visit. But, I have a feeling we'll get back to Bangkok...especially since my shopping there was seriously curtailed by the red shirts! And, I'd like to see Chiang Mai and another island. Hope you get a 14th trip in too! It looks like your travel schedule is very full....you're lucky to be able to travel that much.

Just made it through the photos and I wasn't bored at all. Particularly enjoyed the city scenery of Hanoi, the view from your room in Bangkok, and loved the last photo where the guards? police? must have been watching you take their photo! They didn't look amused.

off to work on the next set of pics

here is the 2nd group of pics....it takes you from the end of hanoi to HCMC (saigon):


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Okay, either photo #641 is upside down, or I need to start drinking!

I especially love the Vinh Hung Resort!

Bob, seeing you in a place with an "escape door" and a heliopad made me wonder if you miss the trappings of your career as a banker.

In all seriousness (or as serious as I will get, anyway), it was especially nice to see you and Karen at the palace. And I always enjoy the market photos you take. I'm always so impressed with the care and artistry taken in other countries in the presentation of so many things---I noted that slices of carrot are "carved" like flowers, and of course several of the other foods you photographed were so lovely, I'd have been afraid to "interrupt" the artistry by consuming them! (A couple of pieces of actual art, however, made me wonder if Picasso had ever gone to Asia.)

BC

yup, its upside down....just seeing if anyone was looking

Yay! I passed the test!!!
(Did you really doubt me, Bob??)

BC

here is group III of my pics....

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Great pics Bob

Great pictures. Loved the market on/near the train tracks which had to be moved. Clever.
Bob, your camera?

sony T-200

i have something set wrong causing some bluriness

Welcome back from another wonderful trip. Loved the pictures. Hanoi looks like it has a lot of charm.

here is group # IV



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Thank you Bob and Karen..superb picture-story of SEA.

stu (ok, ok, how do they sedate the tigers?)

Are you back already?

When is the next trip?

no trips till jan 24--florida
march 1: spain, morocco and italy

yes we are back....5 weeks in SEA was fantastic as always and no nearly 4* hotels, cum 1*....

we are unsure about any drugging of the big tigers... they were mighty tame and lazed around all the time, but they had just finished a large lunch (cooked chicken and dry meal like you would give a dog).... i would not want to challenge anyone of them however, drugs or no....

if you are lucky, this is the last section of my pics....


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I enjoyed the pics.... and recognised some of the venues. What a great trip you had. Thanks so much for a very enjoyable report.
Now, if you have yucky weather in Mass this weekend, how about updating the Thai Restaurant list? I look forward to reading through that. Did you not go to Harmonique this time? Is it still there do you know?
Just thought I'd mention that I went to our local Thai Restaurant yesterday and was introduced to the owners' sister in law who was staying here in Chicago while her sons are being schooled here (she stays 4 months at a time then her mother comes over) She lives in BKK and her husband is the Deputy Commander of the Metropolitan Police - She will be back in BKK at the same time we will be there in January and has invited us to her home and for she and her husband to take us to some unusual temples. I thought it was so nice of her and she is a lovely person. It won't be bad either to have the Deputy Commander of Police as someone we know there!!

Sue
Don't suppose you'll be there before I head back home from BKK on Jan 5??? We did not get the chance to meet up one other time a year or so ago.

Hi Carol,
We just miss each other We arrive at midnight on the 7th.

Oh Bob, sorry, I see you DID eat at Harmonique during this visit, is it still good?
Sue

harmonique was as good as ever...

i have done the updating of the existing rest. on my list, i just need to add the new ones and some in vn.... should be done by the end of the week or sooner...

we are in nh for the weekend and a santa's brunch on sunday....all the grandchildren will be here tomorrow....wentworth by the sea... great old wooden NE hotel...

is there any interest in my posting my updated and on-going bangkok restaurant commentary here?

Bob I think the numbers of posters or viewers on Fodors have dramatically reduced. From a quick survey of 3 forums:

Europe forum: a new post every 5 - 10 minutes.
Africa forum: a new post every 2+ hours.
Australia and the Pacific forum: a new post every 45 minutes.

Do u have that info on the Asia board Pook, seems really slow these days.

I want your list Bob! But how about in a new post?

Nicky I just look at the time on the list of postings in the left column and not really accurate. Right now it looks like a new post every 20 - 30 minutes?

those people who say hanuman is s l o w are simply just not correct...

Rhkkmk, I'll gladily read whatever you write, even if you're copying stuff out of the phone book!

BC

phone book, i never thought of that.....where do you find one these days??

we just received a greeting from our guide in HCMC with her correct e mail address.... for some reason the one i used first was returned...

her nickname is mango---

nguyen_ngochieu2002@yahoo.com

give her a try she provides a really nice tour of saigon

Bob - did you post the restuarant list?

i think i did but i will do it here again:



Y FAVORITE BANGKOK and some Thailand RESTAURANTS AS OF OCT 2005 (revised 12-31-06), (FURTHER REVISED 7/08) and further revised Jan 2010, and now revised December, 2010..Baht was reduced to about 32/33 per US Dollar in 2008. Baht remained about the same for my 2009 visit.. Baht was between 29-31 in oct-dec, 2010.

We had some wonderful meals in Fall, 2010… we tried a few new places and went back to some of our favorites. We entertained two SEA newbies who could not handle much spice for 2 weeks, so this influenced where we ate quite often. They did learn to tolerate some spice. Thailand remains as a very favorite eating place for us—it beats france, germany, UK, most other parts of SEA and offers almost any cuisine you might want, especially in Bangkok.




I will divide the restaurants by cuisine for easier reference….some I have only eaten at once, but many I go back to over and over again…
Generally food is cheaper in thailand, and presented in a much more pleasing and
innovative way with great pride and courtesy, than what you find elsewhere in the world…I do note that prices have increased significantly in 2008…in some case as much as 30%... and again in 2010 I see more price increases… The western restaurants increasing generally more than the thai ones.


THAI

Tongue Thai--- Thai restaurant located directly behind OP Place
which is in back of the Oriental Hotel (1/2 block off of new road)…
Small place with maybe 10-12 tables…moderate price…they will spice the food to suit your
desires…res not necessary…lunch and dinner…very high on our list of
favorites…dinner for two with beer and bottled water about $30---1200 B
We had three meals there in 2006, two were ok and one was excellent…it has
perhaps slipped to #2 thai in Bkk for us… $45 for two , $36 for two another nite.
2009-- again a very good meal 1300 B for 4 (pomello salad, chicken cashew {remains the best in the world}, fried morning glories, flat noodle and chicken dish, beers/water).
Nov, 2010… still excellent, good service and the thai food is well prepared…. Prices may be up a bit but still moderate… good family place or for a quiet dinner for 2 or 4…. Never very busy..
18-20 charoen krung rd, soi 38 tel: 0-2630-9918

2008, they have sprung back and may have new owners and/or management…… we had at least two excellent meals there in 2008…menu remain the same.. same relaxed atmosphere… 1191 B for a good dinner (cashew chicken, river shrimp with garlic and pepper, pineapple rice {fantastic}, fried morning glories, 2 beers and H2O…
all very delicious… a second meal for 4 adults: $30 per couple…pomello salad, banana flower salad, spring rolls, chicken and cashews, pork with pepper sauce, yellow curry chicken, phad thai with glass noodles, fried morning glories, 1 beer each, H2O’s, and finally mango and sticky rice….again a delicious meal…
CAN’T WAIT TO GO BACK ON THE NEXT TRIP… see 2010 above.

Harmonique---unique thai restaurant…located in a former alleyway between a
couple of buildings, and in some rooms directly off of that alley…when it
rains, if you are sitting in the alleyway you get wet…eclectic décor…owned
and operated by 3 (2?? 2006) old
people—family…delicious…reasonable--$22.---855 B full dinner with hors d’,
mains, rice, mango and sticky rice and beers and waters….huge menu….
22 New Rd (Charoen Krung Rd), soi 34…Tel: 02-630-6270….the soi is just to the left
of the huge general post office on new road….there is a colorful archway
over the entrance to the soi and the restaurant is down the soi about 200
feet on the right….they will hail a taxi for you when you leave if you ask them.
also very high on our list…
2006---stays at the top of our list, based on quality of food, serving size,
price, variety of menu----service is still slow but who cares at this price
and quality----closed Sundays…also closes for holidays from mid-December to
early January….the male owner was not seen this year….have never made a
reservation….a/c room on the right has been cleaned up and painted (well
partially painted) and has a new tile floor…we have only eaten in this room
which is a bit isolated but cool and dry (if it rains)—you have to ask for
a/c on arrival…appetizer plate with 4 choices, chicken cashew (best in
Thailand!!), fried morning glories (best in thailand too!!), rice, beer and
water, mango and sticky rice…505 B ($13.75 for 2)….800 B another visit--$22…

2008---closed on our first attempt…. They continue to spiff the place up a bit, but it is still an eclectic place….same two ladies running it…. Sat in a new a/c room to the left…much nicer… same good food… mixed appetizer, chicken cashew, lemon chicken, fried morning glories, steamed rice, pomello salad and mango and sticky rice---1140B… noted it was about 30% more expensive than before: exchange rates and price increases….but still a bargain for excellent food…

2009--- just as fabulous as ever….2 visits this trip.. prices have remained about the same with some increases……. Yellow Crab curry was a hit…

November, 2010--- still no male owner in sight….still fantastic, still a favorite….prices are up a bit… food was good as usual.

ALWAYS A MUST RETURN!!!



Celedon at the Sukhothai Hotel on south Sathorn road….expensive….
Beautifully served and decorated thai dishes…worth a visit if in the area…we thought it
overpriced and food was so so….we are told they have an excellent Sunday
brunch (featuring lots of chocolate)…..2006 – did not visit
2008—did not visit
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit


Gallery Café---86-100 New Road, soi 30 Tel: 02-639-5580…near the Sheraton
Orchid Hotel…from the door of the Sheraton turn right , go to the end of
capt bush rd, turn left…it is along that stretch of the road on the right
before you reach new rd….excellent…moderate…massages available on second
floor…eat in or out…lovely asian decorations….good service…food is very
tasty…mostly foreigners as customers…$29—1154 B full dinner with one glass
of wine, one beer and bottled water…a gpanda favorite…nice gift shop
2006---still a nice and convenient place to eat….shop has even nicer things
than previous years….did not record price, but still moderate…excellent
service and food..

2008---had dinner there our first nite as harmonique was closed… went there with tong who was not impressed with it…. Our dinner was fine, except I think they really dumb things down there as most of the customers, westerners, come from the Sheraton near-by…. The food was fine, but nothing special in any way…. Dinner for 4 plus a child: $86… too expensive for what it is… dining room is pleasant and you will not have bad food here, just not very inspired….hey gpanda loves it??
2009—did not visit
2010—had lunch here one day… a bit bland.. I’m just not wild about the place but it is very convenient from royal orchid Sheraton.



Coconut Palm Restaurant; 394/3-5 Maharaj Rd; Tel: 02 622 2246.
Beside wat pho and not far from the grand palace… basically a luncheon place… I think it closes at 7PM. Clean and fresh simple interior with comfortable seating. Tong’s favorite in-town restaurant. This is authentic thai eating. 100 X better than CC.
We ate: fried mushroom spring rolls, fruit papaya salad, banana flower salad, fresh pork laab, fresh spring rolls with a sprig of mint and wrapped in rice paper, seafood macaroni (way too spicy for westerners), tom yam soup, steamed rice, fried chicken wings and more water than the river holds…. 600 B total for 4.5 of us.
Simply the best regular thai food we have had.
Can’t wait to return. 2008

2009—returned for lunch one day… good food just as in 2008.. English menu..
November, 2010—we did not eat here but our friends did… they loved it…




JOK Thai Kitchen; 23 Trok Issaranuphap; phlap phla chai rd---good luck finding it….its in the middle of a market near to Chinatown, down an alley… Tel: 02 221 4075….reservations essential months in advance….only a few tables….BYOB…. as far as I know there is no choice as to menu…you get what you are given, but it is all excellent…mostly very fresh fish/seafood… we went with 6 of us and had the following: shrimp dumplings, steamed snowfish, stir fried ginko nuts, steamed ‘she’ crabs, shrimp in a ginko sweet sauce, monki (sp) fish soup, special fried rice, smoked duck pieces, some sort of unik (sp) (former male) crabs,…sticky rice with bean paste… wine (byob), tea and water…I think I have left items out…. Hanuman ordered and paid so I have no idea about price or exact items…. It’s a fantastic place and all thais… 2008

2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit

Spice Market---located within the Four Seasons Hotel on Rajadamri rd…average
thai food prepared with foreigners in mind….not very spicy… nice plain
restaurant atmosphere…moderate to expensive….
2006—did not visit….a favorite with many foreigners….

2008—did not visit, but did look in the door—almost empty at 8PM

2009—did not visit, although walked by one day and it was only ½ full of people..
2010—did not visit



Face, Thai Restaurant---29 soi 38, Sukhumvit rd….Tel: 66-02-713-6048…open
lunch and dinner….excellent thai food and preparation…expensive…lovely
setting…beautiful at nite with candles…$45 for lunch—1385 B…see also Indian
section…hard to find on soi 38…watch for a black sign on the left of the soi
with a gold face on it…
Did not visit in 2006-----excellent spa on premises as well as bakery and
Indian restaurant (see below) and a bar…res essential for dinner….
2008---wanted to visit but just never had time.

2009—unfortunately did not visit but on list for 2010..
2010—on list but got scratched during a realignment of restaurants on list….



Lemongrass---Soi 24, Sukhumvit rd….old thai house….res essential or you will
be turned away…so so food and atmosphere….we would not go back there, but
many love it and it is always crowded with tourists and ex-pats…moderate…it
is sort of run down…
2006 did not visit but Kathie reported a great meal there…
2008--- did not visit.

2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit


Baan Khanitha, soi 23, Sukhumvit rd…there is another one, but we have not
yet been there—it is on sathorn rd…old thai house…lovely atmosphere…lunch or
dinner…res suggested…Tel: 02-258-4181…delicious thai food well prepared and
elegantly served…carved decorations…good service…moderate to
expensive…$35---1377B dinner with appetizers (always given free, house
selection, unique to this restaurant), mains, rice, beers and water, mango
and sticky rice…
2006---did not visit either one although did drive by new on on
sathorn—looks nice..

2008---did not visit although rode by the new sathorn location several times and it looks very fancy indeed…

2009 – did not visit
2010—did not visit, but it was on our list



Cabbages and Condoms, soi 12 Sukhumvit rd….cheap thai food…eat in or
out…project of the international population control center…shop, with
everything made out of condoms…food was bland…tourists love it…lovely garden
dining outside if you wish…we would not go back there—uninspiring…
2006—did not visit..
2008--- did not visit.

2009 did not visit…
2010—did a tour but did not eat there



Salathip at the Shangri-la Hotel…indoor or outdoor dining, next to the
river…thai…lovely red thai pavilion building…have not eaten there myself but
have looked at the very varied menu….recent reports not good…expensive…
2006---did not visit yet again…
2008---did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Sala Rim Naam---opposite the Oriental Hotel on the other side of
the river…owned by the Oriental…site of their nightly dance show…also dinner
only…expensive…food decent …uncomfortable seating for dance show…show good
if you like thai dance…they also provide outside lunch/dinner only service,
sans show…. Take boat from hotel…
2006 – did not visit
2008---did not visit, but saw that they were doing some riverside reconstruction.
2009 did not visit
2010—did not visit



Thanying---behind the holiday inn silom…10 soi Pramvan, Silom road…old thai
house, formal dining…good food, moderate to expensive…2006 – did not visit
but did drive by..
2008---did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit


Thalaythip at the Peninsula Hotel…al fresco dining…dinner only and only on
non-rainy nites…excellent…dine near to the river…3 tasting menus with
excellent choices or an a la carte menu…set meals for 2 in the 1900-2500 B
price range….moderate…$65 or 2600 B for middle priced tasting menu for
2….res necessary…one of our favorites…menus have great variety…
2006—did not eat there this year, but noticed a small 2nd floor dining area… only Thai food.
2008---did not visit, but I have observed that people are not liking the food very much on the forums.

2009—did not visit, although reviews lately have been less glowing.
2010—did not visit



Jim Thompson House and Main JT Store Cafe (Suriwongse rd at junction with Rama IV rd)….excellently prepared thai
and western dishes, lunch and dinner…reasonable….new restaurant at
the JT House Museum is large and well appointed, although modern…fits nicely with
old houses on property…walk from national stadium stop of skytrain…Main
store: 2nd floor….Suriwongse rd at junction with Rama IV rd…excellent
place for lunch while shopping…worth a trip just to eat….lots of
local business people were eating there when I ate lunch there in june, ‘05…
always cheap and excellent….$10 or 400B…2 mains and 2 desserts with water…excellent
desserts….we eat there at least once per trip…so cheap and good
quality…there are other jim Thomson eateries around town….all excellent…
2006---did not visit house….main store remains a favorite…prices up a bit…
there is a new JT café at the outlet on soi 93, sukhumvit…limited menu but a
great addition..5th floor…
2008---of course we had lunch at the main JT store… reasonable and excellent as always..K did not record the menu, but I am sure she had the pasta with the ham, as usual, and I think I had pomello salad---in any case, 2 mains, a split dessert and two drinks---550 B..

they maintain their good quality year after year, plus you get to shop the wonderful JT new items….

Café is still at the outlet on soi 93, sukhumvit…

2009- unfortunately did not visit…
2010—ate lunch at both the JT house and the JT main store—menus are changed a bit—less selection for desserts, but main courses are basically the same….prices slightly higher….remains high on our lists… good value, but way less busy at main store…house still very very busy




There is a new thai restaurant next door to the Six Degrees restaurant at 42
convent road…it is very attractive and the food is excellent we are
told…can’t wait to try it…moderate to expensive…bright and airy with tons of
plants…very modern.. the name is Naj Exquisite Thai Cuisine…Tel:
66-2-632-2811
2006---had a reservation but went elsewhere in some minor re-arrangements of plans..
did not visit in 2008
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit


Kaew Saveoy---on the ground level of the Marriott resort and spa
Mini mall…in back of the bank and directly across the parking lot
from the Swenson’s ice cream…very cheap…mostly thai families eating there….excellent
simple thai food…clean…$15 or 612 B…beers and glass of wine, many
mains and mango and sticky rice…tons of food..
2006---remains good with low prices…600 B with beers…excellent service and tasty.
2008---never got there this time but others told us it is still good..
2009—did not visit
2010—lunch one day… good and reasonable






Supatra River House—266 Soi Wat Rakhang, Arunamarin Rd..Tel: 02-411-0305..
This restaurant is located directly on the river, up opposite the
Grand palace….lovely building with a huge dock for their private boat and other
boats to dock at…their boat comes from a parking lot across the river (call
for instructions)…delicious food but expensive…only had lunch
there…4000-5000 B for 5 people without booze….wonderful restaurant also on
the water at hua hin at a far cheaper price (our #1 rest. In HH)—2006.
no visit in 2008.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



MahaNaga—2006---after passing it up mainly because of price in
previous years we did go there this time largely based on kathie’s
and other’s suggestions….huge disappointment…2 sukhumvit, soi 29…first building in on
the right from sukhumvit…Tel: 02-662-3060..the location is fantastic and so
is the building and its setting…the more we sat there the more we felt it
was overdone…service was showy and aloof, but moderately attentive…Karen
feels our waiter was new so this may be part of the issue….very few people
there for dinner at 8PM…expensive….1853 B .. $50…no desserts…food was ok but
nothing special …will not return…
2008---saw sign and it brought back not great memories.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Basil at Sheraton Grande Hotel, Sukhumvit Road….guenmai has raved
about this restaurant and others have had good comments but we were totally under
whelmed…our waitress, the head person, was totally distracted and
bordered on rude….no greeting, no smile, no warmness---one of the few times we have
ever experienced this in thailand…strangely other times have also
been in Sheraton hotels…food was decent but a bit bland.. karen
used the word “unimpressive”…combo appetizer platter, chicken and cashews, beef with
mushrooms and asparagus and a house fried rice, one glass of wine
and one beer plus water—we were so unhappy with the meal that we
skipped dessert---1871 B--$51…they offer what travelduo and guenmai have reported to
be an excellent cooking school….we intended to do that but after such a bad
meal experience we decided against it…we might give it another
chance on another trip??

2008---not even in the hotel this trip.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Kinnaree; 43 Skhumvit Rd, soi 8.. opposite the Adelphi Suites serviced apartments…. Easy walk down from nana skytrain station..
Tel: 02 256 0328… carol simpson found this place as it is just past the adelphi suites on the left hand side of soi 8…. Attractive modern style thai house adapted to restaurant usage…… set back from the soi down a driveway….large sign out front…. Open air bar out front and both inside (a/c) and outside dining… we had two appetizers, pork with garlic and peppers, S/S chicken (whatever that is??), combo of crab and chicken shredded, then fried and served in a crab shell……all was very delicious, 1971 B…I had beer and K had a house wine I believe.. a definite repeat place for upscale thai. 2008.

2009—held a Fodor’s GTG there in private room… food choices were mostly appetizers, so no main dishes sampled…. What we had was good.. it remains high on my list..
2010—did not visit





Chotechitr…made famous by the NY Times… also in a side soi near to Chinatown… Prang Pu Thorn alley, off of Tanao RD.. owner is a very disagreeable older woman, who made the whole process a bit uncomfortable… we would NOT return there….the food was good but not excellent… we had smoky eggplant salad, banana flower salad, yellow curry shrimp (only 2 shrimp in the dish), mee grab noodles fried in coconut sugar…drinks for 4 plus child… 435B.
No a/c which is ok as we were the only customers, but if the place was full (maybe 6 tables) it might be quite uncomfortable… 2008

2009—did not visit
2010—thought to try it again, but backed off







INDIAN


Rang Mahal on the 26th floor of the Rembrandt Hotel, soi 18, sukhumvit rd….
Great views of bkk…wonderful Sunday brunch…mostly Indian families…res
necessary and ask for a window seat…Tel: 02-261-7100, ext 7532…also open
nightly for dinner (not sure about lunch)….delicious food well
prepared and served…brunch is huge and turns over quickly---very fresh…brunch 575 B each
(june, ’05) --$14.50….very very high on our list..
2006---still at the top of our list for Indian…excellent brunch.
2008, unfortunately did not visit there this time.
2009—did not visit
2010—did the Sunday brunch which remain excellent (850B).. good variety and great location



Face---Hazara Restaurant…only open for dinner…in Face complex, soi
38, sukhumvit rd…reconstructed thai houses….candle lit at nite….
excellent food…restaurant is on the 2nd floor of one of the houses.
Res necessary…moderate to expensive…huge menu…$43---1700 B for two…full dinner
with beers and water…high on our list..
Also thai restaurant at same location (see above), plus spa and bakery and
bar…only thai section is open for lunch …see above…
2006---did not visit
2008---did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—on our list but got axed..



Himali Cha Cha---off New Road, soi 47—opposite to the rear of OP Place and Tongue Thai
Side of the street…excellent Indian food…small restaurant….… moderate…a favorite of Karen’s.

Branch off of sukhumvit closed in 2006.. new branch on sukhumvit near nana
2008—did not visit.

2009—did not visit
2010---had dinner one night and it was better than I remembered.. prices are excellent…. Food is rich and filling.





ITALIAN


Biscotti---in the Four Seasons Hotel, Rajadamri Rd…excellent Italian meals ..
…german or swiss chef (new chef in 2006)…open kitchen…innovative
and attractive servings…excellent pizza and soups as well as intricate entrees
and first courses…artful…one of our most special favorites…moderate
to expensive…$73---2930 B…full meal…beer and glass of wine, 2 first
courses, 2 main courses and 2 desserts, plus one cappuccino…meal would be $200 in
usa…there is a sense of excitement at this restaurant…only thing to
change in 4 years are the prices and they are up about 30%....well
worth it however…special occasion or a break from thai food…Tel: 02-250-1000…
2006---remains a favorite—new chef I read recently but not during
our visit.. 4048 B ($109)—one beer and one glass of wine ($12);
water, crab salad, parmigiana, 2 beef tenderloins, 2 fantastic deserts

2008---one of Karen’s only requests for the trip was dinner here… not as busy as in years past but a res gets you a very nice table we have found.. we had the following: crab salad for K (her favorite all time dish anywhere), soup for me; we each had pastas (black ink pasta with shrimp and scallops for me) and some other pasta for K with meat or seafood?; 2 delicious desserts (I had the raspberry treat: raspberry sorbet on raspberry reduction sauce, 3 huge fresh raspberries, and an almond cake with raspberry filling---K had a fruit, probably mango, sorbet—boring)…. K had a nice glass of wine and I had a singha beer, 2 H2O’s… price continue to increase---$100+---- I do note that it was cheaper than in 2006, but in 2006 we had beef which is twice as expensive…

2009—one of our group said it was the best meal she had on the trip.. remains expensive… always good… less crowded..
2010—final night’s dinner there… fabulous… was not busy at all.



L’Opera, 53 Sukhumvit, soi 39…on a corner where road goes to the left…not
easy to spot…worth the effort however…excellent Italian foods, well
prepared…huge servings…all the favorites…good service…interesting
interior…$40 or 1600 B for full dinner…also open in Yangon, Myanmar….will go
again and again…
Did not visit in 2006
On the schedule for 2008, but we did not get there.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Gianni’s…off Lang Suan…very disappointing and expensive…lots of
Attitude…would never return…
2008—would not return there as noted above.
2009- did not visit
2010—did not visit



Angelini in the Shangri-la Hotel…two level restaurant with view out to river
over swimming pool…excellent lounge with live western music that can be
heard throughout the restaurant….expensive….$7.50 for a small pony size
bottle of Evian water (that made me mad)….excellent dinner…very
romantic…delicious food…great presentation…maybe $75+ without a bottle of
wine…
2006—did not visit
2008---unfortunately did not return.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Lalo Italian---corner of soi 23 and Sukhumvit….small modern
restaurant…decent food…moderate…we only had pizza for lunch…good place for
lunch or even dinner…good location…2006—did not visit
2008—did not return.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Six Degrees, new restaurant at 42 convent road, off of silom…excellent, hip
place…minimalist…excellent food…straight forward service…highly suggested as
an alternative dining place…$48 or 1836 B…glass of wine, beer, two appetizers., 2
main and two desserts…we look forward to returning….excellent


looking thai place next door…Tel: 02-632-2995…2006—did not visit
2008—did not return.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Buono Italian Restaurant---286 Silom Rd…located in a house set back from the
street and just next to the Evergreen Laurel Hotel…excellent full service
Italian rest…moderate…2006—did not visit
2008—did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Portifino on the 2nd floor of the Bumrungrad Hospital….odd place
indeed for a good Italian restaurant…33 sukhumvit, soi 3..Tel: 02-667-2580…open lunch
and dinner…we had lunch and it was delicious…not cheap, but
affordable…expansive menu…thank you carol…2006
2008—did not visit but did mention it as an option one nite.
2009-- closed




Shaz in the lobby of the Majestic Grande Hotel on soi 2, sukhumvit…behind
the JW Marriott hotel….thank you carol again!!..we had dinner res
but had to cancel, but made it back for lunch and are glad we did.. excellent service
and delicious food… attractive restaurant on the first floor…953
B--$26---pizza, caesar salad, drinks…expensive but fantastic and beautifully
presented….2006----would definitely return there….getting good marks for
rooms also….we looked at them…they are small but decent…
2008—did not visit..
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Via Vai, soi 8, sukhumvit rd…. directly across the street from adlephi suites….again a suggestion from carol simpson…. Decent simple Italian restaurant… more supper than dinner … house wine is fair to poor.. K had wine, I had beer….she had a pork dish which she said was very good and I had rollitini’s—rolled filled pasta in a red sauce…. Water….. 1020 B…. would return again but not rush back….european chef…2008.

2009—good simple lunch: salad/pizza lunch special—199 B pp.
2010—did not visit.



Pomodoro, located on the food floor (5) of the Emporium Mall at soi 24, sukhumvit. Decent but not memorable…. Pasta dishes and pizza.. $17/pp incl 1 beer each. 2010


CalderazzO, 59 soi Langsuan.. Italian and thai. Modern, minalmilistic, multi-floor small restaurant. Excellent.. ate dinner there twice-2010. good selection. Great red sauce. 804 B/pp with dessert (they were not great—a big disappointment). Diagonally across the street from Marriott Mayfair. 2010


LeNotre, soi Langsuan, directly across from Marriott Mayfair… only had dessert as the menu was more French than we wanted. Very good. Indoor and outdoor seating. 2010


9th Café, 59/5 soi Langsuan. Opposite Marriott Mayfair between lenotre and calderazzo. Not sure of night menu, as we only had lunch, but combo of thai and western. Excellent food and fabulous desserts. 2010

New French pastry shop opening in that same block as 9th, Lenotre and CalderazzO on soi langsuan. Thai/American owned but not opened yet as of dec 1, 2010. French trained thai owner. Should be fab. May be in the lobby of the new condo project on the right of the Marriott Mayfair. Owned by an acquaintance. 2010








ASIAN--other


Le Delat Indochine---Vietnamese…cousin restaurant on same street:
Le Delat(permanently closed in 2006)…excellent ….beautiful presentation and tasty
food (2006—not overly tasty)…grow all of their own greens so this
is a place to eat lettuce, etc… old thai house…costumed wait staff…excellent service..
exceptionally fresh…14 Sukhumvit road, soi 23…Tel:
02-661-7967….moderate…res suggested.. 2006---good alternative--
$51.. res necessary…lunch and dinner..fried carp is their specialty
and its presentation is worth the price of the dinner alone…
2008 did not return.
2009- did not visit
2010—tried to call but no answer—may be closed?




Liu Restaurant on 3rd floor of the Conrad Hotel, Wireless rd…excellent fixed
priced dim sum luncheon or a la carte…select items from a 36 item menu…unique dim sum…
all you can eat…the best we have ever had…I can’t get enough of
this place….highly highly encourage you to visit…600 B or $15 per person….total
bill 1458 B one time and 1500 B the next visit…high high on my list…
2006—remains my favorite for dim sum….huge menu for dim sum—42 items..1883 B
a la carte this time--$51, but worth every cent---huge quantity of
food for this meal…2nd visit 1200B --$33 fixed price menu…
2008---of course we went back here…our first lunch… chose from the menu again..1295 B..its hard to beat, except for the Penn..

2009—never got there but was on our schedule twice
2010—fabulous as ever…went twice: once with our new to asia friends and once for a fodor’s GTG… just the best!!




Mei Jiang at the Peninsula Hotel…lower level, 333 Charoen Nakorn Rd, lower level.
Tel: 02-861-2888…res not necessary…dim sum and other asian specialties…lovely
setting, overlooking the hotel lawn…excellent attentive service..limited dim
sum menu but Karen says it is the best she has ever had---very unusual
choices and all delicious….expensive…1030 B $28, 2nd visit 1383 B ..$37…2006.
2008—return visit for lunch….delicious as always…had about 9-11 dishes---all so very different than normal dim sum….its not to be missed---K’s favorite DS---1295 B.
2009—did not visit
2010—on list but did not make it..





Oishi, Japanese Restaurant, Thonglor soi 10, Sukhumvit rd, soi 55…Tel: 02 712 2456.
Lunch stop for their buffet….anything Japanese and they have it…decent but
not fabulous but reasonable…$30 for 2….
2008---did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



China House, Oriental Hotel, Oriental Lane, Tel: 02-659-9000…recently
renovated (2006) into a ‘Shanghai Opium House’ look-a-like…lovely to look
at, horrible to work or eat in….they have ruined a perfectly good
restaurant….the rhkkmk’s and the gpanda’s had longed for the peking
duck that fodorites rave about (1100 B and will feed 4 with an additional dish or
two--$30)—beware there are two peking ducks listed on the menu—one
is much cheaper than this one.….we had it and are completely non-plused…. There was
nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t fantastic, ioo’s—none of us
had had it before and will probably never order it again…we were badly disappointed,
and the service was awkward at best….lets put it this way…we left no tip…!!
They did know it without even a word from us, and the restaurant
Manager offered us a complimentary dessert….he was ‘no where’ to be
seen when we left the restaurant even though he had been falling all over us upon arrival. 2006

We had been twice to the old china house for dim sum and quite
enjoyed it…now we will never return….but this does not mean that you should not try
it….i had to be honest in my comments…
2008—based on past experience I don’t think we wish to return.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit


Silver Wave, top floor of Chatrium Serviced Apartments. Fantastic view up river from high floor location. Very, very expensive: $175 for 4. food good but not exceptional. Probably would not return. 2010





GENERAL/INTERNATIONAL


The Loft on 7th floor of the Central Chitlom Department Store,
Plenochit road…direct access from skytrain…excellent upscale cafeteria…unique system
for purchasing and paying…very fresh food…almost any cuisine you
want…inexpensive to moderate…staff provides some table service…each
thing we tried was excellent and very very fresh…italian pizza for two with water and
desserts $11—431 B…Japanese tempura for two $22—866 B…quick and
delicious….shop and eat at the same time….great place for a break
during shopping…lots of shops are near by as well…freshly made items/ongoing and
cooked to order…will go often in future….
2006---remains perfect lunch destination—852 B--$23…huge sushi
selection, water for me and Karen had pasta plate—waters and desserts…
2008---did not have a chance to return.
2009—our pick for lunch one day… uniformly good.. less offerings as the space has shrunk to less choices, but still plenty to choose from..
2010—did not visit




Crepes and Co…18/1 soi 12, Sukhumvit rd…Tel: 02-653-3990..directly
next door to cabbages and condoms…open from early morning to late at nite…
middle eastern food as well as crepes of all sorts…a favorite for a
full meal or for just a dessert…dining inside or out…Swiss owned…
relaxed atmosphere…moderate..very fresh and delicious….$28 (1100 B)
for full dinner with glass of wine and beer and two courses…. $19 (750 B) for late nite
supper…all very delicious…unique in bkk….high on our return list…we
have eaten there many many times…
2006—contiunes to be a favorite—1100 B--$ 30
2008—no chance to return.

2009—good dinner one nite—600 B pp…
2010-- as good as ever…



Lord Jim---located in the Oriental Hotel…Tel: 02-659-9000…one of
the best luncheon buffets in bkk…about $27 per person…emphasis on fish/seafood but
loads of other items…very extensive…lovely view out to the river
from large picture windows…excellent for dinner as well…
2006---simply fantastic buffet…one of our best meals of
2006…expensive…expanded varieties over previous years—2519 B--$68…
no booze…almost anything you might want to eat…res important for
best tables overlooking the river…
2008—no chance to return.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Senses---simple restaurant located in the lobby on the 2nd floor of
The Gaysorn Plaza on Plenochit…lunch and dinner…excellent
sandwiches and entrees…moderate…gaysorn is an upscale designer plaza with nice thai shops
on its 3rd floor…
2006—did not visit.
2008—never went to gaysorn this trip.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Senor Pico…excellent Mexican restaurant located in the Rembrandt
Hotel on soi 18, Sukhumvit rd…moderate to expensive but very good…
2006—did not visit, but most consider it the best mex in bkk….
2008---did revisit with 6 of us….good but not fantastic… expensive for what it is…
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Suan Lum nite market at the corner of Rama IV and Wireless roads….
Open air beer garden and restaurant in addition to a tourist
orientated night market…one stop shopping especially when you don’t have much time in bkk….
Still open in december, 2006
2008—still open but did not visit.
2009—still open—did not visit
2010—looked mostly closed



Gourmet Gallery---6/1 soi Promsri 1 which is a right turn off of
Soi 39, Sukhumvit rd…Tel: 02-260-0603…restaurant is located behind a row of shops on
the soi…on the right, look for a small parking lot behind a dry
cleaners…excellent continental meals…onion soup a specialty—get the
one with the “hat”….good steaks…excellent desserts…we almost always go there the nite
before our long plane ride home…American style food…moderate…$33 or 1339 B
for glass of wine, 1 beer, 2 filet mignon, 2 desserts…
2006---unfortunately did not visit in 2006
2008---did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Uno---ground floor restaurant/coffee shop/bakery at the Marriott resort and spa..
simple fare like pizza, salads, bakery items and limited menu
including the famous Marriott burger made with American beef (no longer offered in 2008).. a quick stop for a bite
or bakery items…moderate..2 caesar salads, desserts and with
water.. $24 or 1070 B..
2006---ate there a couple of times…no more Marriott burger…good but
moderate to expensive….great salad bar… salad bar may be gone in 2008?
2008—only had one or two pastries there, but did have a 2 pound cake custom made there for about $50—expensive but fantastic and decorative..
2009—only pastry this trip
2010—ate there twice—good but expensive…did buy a house gift there for a thai friend. Good place for salads and burgers and even pizza… pastry is excellent and cakes delicious.



Marriott Evening BBQ by the river….first time in 2008---freebie with reservation (X2)….very expensive if you purchase it—about $45, but for free we could not pass it up….great variety of food, much cooked to order: shrimp, phuket lobster, chicken, steaks, lamb chops, pork----raw bar---indian specialties---sushi--- fruits--- Italian cooked to order--- desserts of many kinds, including ice cream---live thai dance entertainment on both nites we went…other nites they have other things—thai boxing for instance…

Food was ok, but not fantastic… good turn over in many things but others just sat there for the whole meal, i.e. Indian dishes in pots…

2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit

Bed Supper Club---soi 11, Sukhumvit road…unlike anything else in bkk or this
world…you sit on 50 foot long beds with bed trays as your table,
bathed in white sheets, with loads of pillows to prop you up..…everything is white in the place..
gourmet meals--continental….set meal on weekends and choice of 3
appts. and 3 mains and 3 desserts during the week…during the week the price
is 1090 B per person (june, ’05)…expensive…our total bill was $69
or 2640 B…excellent drink list…good service…res necessary…lounge/club attached…free
entertainment each evening…dj with good tunes…projections on walls
of animation…good for all ages…adults only—over 20 I think…Tel: 02-651-3537..
2006---we did not visit—its really a one time thing we think…we
maintain that the food is excellent contrary to some reports…
2008—did not go there, but did consider their new venue, The Long Table on soi 16, sukhumvit..
2009- did not visit
2010—did not visit










Manohra---sunset cruise on the chao payra river…operated by the
Marriott resort and spa hotel…one hour cruise up the river to
Memorial bridge and back at the time of sunset…lovely trip and chance to enjoy a cocktail…dinner
cruises also available, however we consider the food storage and
preparation on the edge…many other hotels also offer dinner cruises on the river…
2006---complimentary cruise offered with our accommodations…a nice
leisurely hour ride to observe river activities…
2008---took the cruise again as part of a package with our room… finally we had sun.. nice cruise on a nice boat.
2009—did not visit
2010—did a cooking class and it was fab—contact Marriott resort and spa. See write-up below.




Saladaeng Café—one of the Jim Thompson restaurants, also called JT
Farmers Market…1 Saladaeng, soi 1, Silom….similar menu to other JT outlets…
Excellent place for lunch or dinner…sort of in back of the dusit thani hotel…near to
the nite market..cheap to moderate…
2006---did not visit
2008—did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit





Sky Bar…atop the State Building at the corner of Silom and New roads….
64 floors up… an open air bar with an unparalleled views of Bangkok
and beyond…there are several other venues up there as well including the ultra
expensive Sirocco restaurant….don’t go if it is going to rain…
indoor and outdoor dining…2 beers at the bar are a whopping 610 B or $15….well worth a
visit on a clear nite…we were there as a thunder storm approached and it was unbelievable in 2005. no seating in bar area.

2008—did not visit—see below—vertigo.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Vertigo Grill and Moon Bar---2008--- roof top dining and bar on roof of the Banyan Tree Hotel on Sathorn… need to be a mountain goat to get there: one elevator, then another, then up a flight of stairs, up another, then down one flight, then up some more, and yet up again…

However, it is all worth it just as is the sky bar….we think we like vertigo better as there is ample seating around the bar, plus bar tables, which sky bar does not have…..extremely expensive….we went twice on the same nite….one before dinner and once after dinner… view is breath taking.. unique…59th+ floor.

2009—mini fodors GTG .. continue to prefer it.. nice seats.. great views… bottle of wine $120..
2010—on schedule but had to be cancelled




Taihei Japanese Restaurant, 53rd floor Banyan Tree Hotel, Sathorn Rd--- unique style restaurant where you are given a chef to prepare Japanese foods for you in your own unique dining area….the chef has a full kitchen at his fingers… Hanuman took us there and it was quite interesting and the food was good..we had a sampling of all types of food and styles of Japanese cooking… fixed prix and a la carte..2008

2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit








White Lodge—41 sukhumvit, soi 4, Tel: 02-251-1701…quaint English looking building down past all the hub-bub of soi 4 on the left… lovely dining room
with both thai and continental food….we had a quick lunch there…2006----
looks out onto the pool of a local hotel…friendly service…525 B--$14—sandwiches and water.

did not go in 2008.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Witch’s Tavern English Pub, 306/1 sukhumvit, soi 55…Tel: 02-239-9791…
We did not eat there but nicely located amongst the shopping area of soi 55….2006
2008—did not go.

2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit



Fiji Japanese Restaurants…. a chain with shops popping up in
various places around Thailand….we ate in the one in Hua Hin which was excellent….they have
about 32 (2006) in Bangkok…excellent fresh sushi and other Japanese
specialties…475 B for 2--$13…very cheap…we both had a set meal with
soups, and a main…excellent value and delicious…we do not like chains generally…
2008—visited their new restaurant in pattaya…same good experience.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Flow, the main restaurant at the new Hilton Hotel on the river—
“other side”…much of the front, riverside, of this hotel is devoted to a series of
restaurants….most have no walls, just dividers, that make one sort
of ‘flow’from one to the other…there is a huge open kitchen and a very unusual buffet
area….we took lunch one day at flow so that we could experience the
hotel….we were quite impressed….we were not expecting much as one
senior bkk hotel person had told us the food was terrible…we found
quite the opposite…huge windows allow a fabulous view out to the river and river city
shopping center on the other side…they have an office, like the
penn does, on the other side of the river at river city shopping center, so you can
just go in there (entrance from outside the building on the river
side and nearest to the Sheraton) and they will call the pathetic Hilton boat for
you…did not record the price but a simple lunch was hotel prices,
but it was fresh and delicious…
Guest rooms are weird—we will glad we cancelled our res there and
stayed at penn instead….
2008---attempted to have lunch there. Large convention was having lunch and they shuffled us off to an adjacent building where seats were practically on the floor, so we left… not sure I would return there after that treatment.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit






360 bar ---this is the bar at the new Hilton…it is on its top
floor and is perhaps floor 34?? The bar completely circles the round top of the
building, thus its name….the views are fantastic…we were there in
the afternoon and it was not operating so we got a good walk around…highly
suggest a nite time visit or late afternoon (sunset)….it has its
own elevator or it can be reached by the regular elevators and you
enter through the club lounge and then have to climb one flight of stairs…
2008—did not visit
2009—did not visit
2010—went for a drink..expensive, but view is fab




Le Bouchon…the oldest French restaurant in bkk…37/117 Patpong II,
Tel: 02-234-9109
A bit difficult to find but it is there about ½ down patpong on
your right if you access from silom…set back from the soi a bit…just ask anyone…very
small and simple like a real neighborhood paris bistro, and I was
told they do not take res…does not open until 7…3 of the 4 of us
had delicious dinners, mine was under cooked stew….all your favorite French things, and
moderate in price….did not record the actual price…moderate…2006---
would return again….
2008 did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Cy’an in the Metropolitan Hotel , 27 South Sathorn Rd….Tel:
02-625-3333—total minimalist hotel…cool and calm as you enter the
front doors—black and white…fusion…delicious and expensive…$140 for
two.. 3 courses and a few drinks including wine by the glass…a splurge but a memorable one…I
thought the food quite delicious, others were turned off by the price I think..
2008--- did not visit.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit, but may have been transformed to another restaurant with a famous british chef




Tawandang Brewery…a german brewery in Bangkok… 99% thais in this huge, and I
mean huge, place with a stage show…did not eat there but Brad says
the food is very good, we are told, and huge portions from what I observed….the beer is
excellent…dispensed from 3 litre + cylinders with its own ring of
ice to keep it cool…very dramatic…rama III… a young peoples place really….2006
2008—did not visit, not our type of place.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit




Many food outlets at the new paragon mall on plenochit rd…. check
them out, and a gourmet grocery and wine and cigar shop in the basement…..2006
2008---walked through again without eating—very busy area.
2009—had simple lunch one day—lots of choices
2010—did not visit




Marriott Resort and Spa Sunday Brunch in the Trader Vics Restaurant…
Billed as the ‘best brunch in Bkk’, just as each other hotel bills themselves…
Every cuisine represented….huge undertaking and very delicious…soup
to nuts affair….1500 B per person ++ --$48 each all in…. unlimited
booze of certain types… we took 3 hours there….we did not find one thing that we did not think
was perfect…. fois gras to satay to ice cream sundies…. nice laid back affair to talk to friends and lay low..

2008—had to cancel our plans to go when our friends were unable to join us at the last minute. Price up about 100-200 B per person.
2009--Did not visit
2010 did not visit





Au Bon Pain---many locations…. good sandwich place and pastry… in 2008 I could not have the santa fe southwest chicken sandwich enough times…. It drove K crazy.
2009—did not visit
2010—did not visit





Swenson’s Ice Cream---simply the best ice cream for the price---2008—39 B per scoop…we paid as much as 130 B in other places… sundies, huge dishes of ice cream… located all around Thailand.. could not stay away.. lemon sorbet for me---mango sorbet for K, plus other kinds..

2009—no ice cream this visit
2010—good as ever.


Bistro M Restaurant, located on the ground level of the Marriott Sukhumvit Park Serviced Apartments, soi 24, Sukhumvit. Clean, fresh and bright.. International and Thai food. Excellent.. Moderate. Eat in or out (limited).. separate bar. 2010



Plaza Anthanee Hotel main restaurant--- breakfast buffet was very very good, but not as fabulous as the Marriott resort and spa.. 2009
2010- did not visit


Olive Kebab and café…Emporium plaza mall…way in the back on the food court floor…. 600 B for 2 for great lunch---2009
2010—did not visit


River Barge Restaurant, ground floor of the Chatrium service apartments bldg, New Road. Lovely river view from wide windows overlooking the gardens. Dinner buffet was 7000 B per person—good selection. Could also eat a la carte, which we did.. 4378 B for 4 including 4 beers and desserts. 2010




I hope that this gives you some ideas on where to eat in Bangkok….it is one
of the best eating cities on this globe…. There are many, many
more restaurants, but these are our favorites, and some not so favorites…bon
Bon Apetite!!

Last update in December, 2010




Elsewhere in Thailand:

Hua Hin



Figs at the Hyatt Regency, Hua Hin….this is the main restaurant at
the hotel…a fabulous breakfast buffet (400 B each...$11—a bargain)
is served here daily….totally open kitchen…3 meals per day…dinner quite delicious:
wine and beer, cannelloni and penne main courses, ice cream and a
chocolate tart…671 B..$45….breakfast is extraordinary—try to have it included but it
is also worth the expense as a stand alone…each day they feature a
fruit cooler/shake all of which were exceptional…pizza and salad another nite was
very reasonable….hyatt has made a wise choice to keep food prices d
down and thus many people stay at the hotel for meals…
2008---good breakfasts..




You & Mee…at the hyatt regency hotel, Hua Hin… poolside….excellent
casual eating….lunch and dinner…burgers, salads, noodles, lite fare
or just drinks…847 B..$23 for 2 phad thai and soft drinks…very charming and again an open kitchen.

2008—remains a good place to eat and prices are still decent.




Let’s Sea---located on the beach south of the hyatt…. road and
beach access….return transportation a bit of a problem…but you could walk out to
main road…83/188 soi talay 12..Tel: 032-536033—odd number of
digits?? Charming location right overlooking the beach…interesting
thai architecture….nice bar just above beach…several seating areas…
1900 B..$51..pommello salad, chicken larb, yellow curry shrimp,
fried butter fish, rice, desserts, drinks…reasonable and tasty… thank you jamesA….
They have a new hotel there as well…
2008—did not eat there.



Fuji Japanese Restaurant in the new village mall opposite from the
Marriott hotel…a chain written about above….excellent and very very reasonable…
2008—had dinner there one night..both had benito boxes, plus an extra sushi plate.. beers and H2O—717 B---very good.

Regency Club Lounge, hyatt regency hotel….drinks and canapés are offered
Offered nightly to regency club guests….open air pavilion
overlooking the pool….delicious varied canapés and various drinks…lovely service and
beautifully displayed foods…could make it your meal but we chose not to…
too many other good places to eat….not sure we would spend the extra money for
club rooms another time ($50 per nite)—rooms themselves were
identical in both club and regular hotel…
2008---very good breakfasts and good cocktail hours…more favorable impression than our 2006 stay.




Supartra by the Sea….fantastic, our best meal in thailand we think…
right on the beach…lovely thai buildings but we ate al fresco under
the stars…charming service, exceptional food…just up the beach from
the huge standing Buddha at the base of the hill where La Mer Restaurant is
located…they have their own tuk tuk transportation, small charge…
122/63 Takieb Rd, Tel: 03253-6561..fresh sea prawns out of the shell, fried whole
fish, other dishes, rice, beers—many…laughs galore…1600 B..$43…a
steal at double the price….a must visit!!!
2008—did not visit---did not want to ruin our 2006 experience.




La Mer Restaurant….rustic restaurant atop the hill overlooking the entire HH
beach back towards the town and palace….did not eat there in
2006.. all fish…little English spoken….excellent fresh fish!! Moderate…
2008---no English problems.. dinner one nite…good: curried crabs, huge grilled shrimps with garlic and pepper, morning glories and steamed rice—890 B. excellent.




La Villa, for Italian…. we did not make it there in 2006, but are told that it
is excellent by an ex-pat friend.. 12/2 poolsuk Rd.
2008---on a side street in town near to the town hall building..
open air restaurant…. Good but not fantastic.. eggplant lasagna for me and pork in wine sauce with proschut. for Karen…wine and beer—952 B.. prefer a/c but not available with Italian food.




Platoo, on beach near to new Courtyard Hotel between Cha Am and Hua Hin.. fantastic fresh fish open air restaurant right on the beach.
fish steamed in soy sauce with mushrooms and veggies, chicken sautéed with garlic, shrimp with veggies, 2 rices, 1 large beer and 2 H2O… 994 B…would definately return—2008.




Chomkluen Seafood, naresdamri rd, hua hin…..fish pier restaurant..
Good food served in thai style…






Pattaya

Casa Pascal, 485/4 Moo 10…Tel: 038-723-660…directly across the
road from the pattaya Marriott….excellent service and fantastic food…International
fare with a european feel….water, beer, wine, lobster soup, mushroom soup,
thai seabass, goulash, crème brulee and mango sorbet…2477 B--$67….they will
pick you up for a fee equal to a taxi…old world upscale feeling
inside….2006---would return in a minute…
2008—did not visit.




Pizza Pizza, located in the new mall called The Avenue on Second Rd..
Excellent Italian fare at reasonable prices—next door to au bon pain on the front of the mall—2008—2 visits.





Lobster Pot, 228 Moo 10, Tel: 038-42683…on the walk-in street….a
pier out into the water….select your seafood from the display or
eat from the menu…. excellent…did and would return again…2005
2008—did not visit.



Bruno’s, 306/63 Chateau Dale Plaza, not far from the Sheraton towards
towards jontien beach …Tel; 038-364600…excellent European restaurant…
fantastic service…delicious food….were we in france or nyc?? 2006…
beer, southern comfort, 2 wines, lobster bisque, French onion soup, liver pate, angus beef
filet, angus sirloin, angus rib-eye and pork tenderloin, share
mango ice cream and coffees….5568 B (for 4)--$150…. excellent and expensive meal but
again well worth it, especially for a splurge…res necessary…
2008—did not visit



Pan Pan Italian Rest…. across the road from Bruno’s….reasonable
family style Italian red sauce restaurant….delicious….we went twice…pizza is
delicious….so are pastas….simple to complex meals…moderate…not far
from jomtien beach….
2008—had dinner one nite and again very excellent: brushetta with our wine and beer, pasta with fish and herb sauce for K, pizza for me, 2 H2O… no price but reasonable.

Brio—Marriott Resort and Spa Hotel—Italian, expensive… very very good… their special meatballs are exceptional.. 4500B for 5 without dessert---2009




Several good quick restaurants in the mall attached to the Marriott hotel, including Au Bon Pain, a Boston chain..




Rimhad Restaurant, off of Sukhumvit Road, south of Pattaya and
jontiem…near to the sun, sea, sand resort…THE BEST THAI MEAL WE
HAVE EVER HAD IN THAILAND OR MAYBE IT TIES WITH SUPATRA IN HUA HIN……..the freshest of
fish and seafood served informally on a pier jutting out into the
ocean near to the fishing village of Bang Sarae…there are several restaurants along
this sea side road…I think they are the first one you come to…
moderate price I believe but we were guests so I really don’t know…yellow curry crab
(my newest favorite dish or with shrimp---Nuea Poo Pong (the crab);
spicy tom yam shrimp soup; grilled prawns; rock lobster steamed;
mussels cooked with basil; fried morning glories; steamed rice….simply fantastic…we went in
a private car but I think a taxi could take you out there….have them wait as it is very isolated.
2008---one of the only places I wanted to return this trip….went for Sunday nite dinner.. : curried crabs, morning glories, sea food rice, fried whole fish, grilled shrimp, raw oysters (not for us but for our guest), sweet pepper soft shelled crab…lots of drinks…. 1750 B for 4 persons---very reasonable.



Phuket


Patong Beach Hotel restaurant called Papaya; on beach road… open air dining in the wildness of patong beach road….good food however: shrimp in tamarind sauce, chicken and potato in yellow curry---huge pieces of white meat chicken—fantastic, fried morning glories, pineapple seafood rice, beers and water—1766 B….could not believe the food was this good at a roadside place in patong..


Kan Eang; at the pier in Chalong port….. big venue, but weak on taste, imo… highly recom. by a fellow fodorite but it failed us..
Tamarind shrimp, garlic snapper, stir fried veggies, pineapple rice, beers and water---1495 B---2008
Would not return again, although the setting is lovely


Mom Tri’s Kitchen; Kata Noi Beach area---part of a complex including mom tri’s boathouse restaurant and their hotel complex.
Situated above the pounding surf, basically an open air restaurant with many different sections. We sat on an open patio, next to a tree with a small pool directly down the cliff from us and the sea pounding the rocks next to the pool.. Res essential. Fabulous views, very good service and delicious food: international, thai, seafood.
Next to the kata thani hotel which many fodorites use. Our menu consisted of the following: an eggplant salad appetizer for me and mussels in wine for K; a steamed seabass and a pork tenderloin which we shared, 2 fabulous desserts, wine and beer plus water…expensive but we did not record the price, but worth every penny---a perfect splurge location…..cool sea breeze made us forget that there was no a/c..2008
A definite repeat place!!


The Deli at the JW Marriott Resort. Ground level. Fantastic sandwiches and pastry, wines, beers, smoothies, etc. expensive but perfect for a quick bite to eat. Moderate to expensive. 400 B each for sandwich and a drink.




Krabi


The Terrace Restaurant; directly across from the driveway to the Sheraton Krabi… excellent thai foods, friendly staff, good value.. we ate there a couple of times and everything was good..
Fabulous fried pineapple and honey for dessert… curried shrimp and veggies, chicken and cashews, steamed rice, 1 beer, two waters and two pineapple desserts—900 B---2008

2009—ate there several times.. excellent value, excellent food…
grilled eggplant salad with shrimp was fantastic..






Amari Vogue Hotel, Italian restaurant beside the sea…simply a fabulous location.. excellent service, very good food..
We all had appetizers followed by pasta dishes and all were excellent….. some had desserts as well which were good.. we were treated so I do not know price—I suspect it was normal hotel pricing—expensive. 2008

2009—excellent dinner.. Bellini is name of its restaurant… the gen mgr suggested we try the gnocchi and we all agreed it was the best we had ever had--- shared it as an appetizer for 4… WOW!!



Blue Mango Restaurant in Ao Nang Beach… good stand alone restaurant with fans.. 161/1 moo 2, Ao Nang, near krabi..
Thai food/western foods.. 880 B…menu not recorded.. 2008.

2009—good meal, but nothing special—nice change from thai food—sweedish run..



Khao Lak


Pinocchio…wood fired oven.. Italian open air restaurant next to the road on a side street. Excellent pizza and pastas. 1800 B with wine and beers—not sure of this price—it seems high?? 2008
2010—did not visit.


Olives, JW Marriott Resort. Excellent site, looks to beach through lawns. Italian/greek/middle east menu. Excellent—moderate. 2010


Waterfront Restaurant, JW Marriott. Breakfast buffet.. soup to nuts… excellent quality, well laid out… smoothie station.. 2010


Candle Restaurant, 31/6 M. 5, Bang Niang Rd…. Thai… one of the best thai meals we have ever had. Small restaurant with seating inside and out. About 400 B/pp with a huge quantity of freshly cooked food. 2010 A+++.


Green Pepper, 67/145 Moo 5, soi off same road as the candle restaurant, and almost next door to the back of the night market. Outdoors only, covered. Thai/western.. excellent.. 600 B/pp with 2 beers each and dessert. Steaks cooked as requested—medium rare. 2010



Near the Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi area


Pak-Wan-Ban Restaurant, 91 moo 2, Tambon loomsoom, Amphor Saiyok
Remote restaurant very near to the entrance to the Tiger Temple, but out on the main road.
Eat in the main building or one of the small out huts with fan.
Excellent thai food, tasty and well prepared..



Cooking Schools

We have attended two thai cooking schools over the years.


Anantara Hotel, Chiang Saen.----visit to the market in chiang saen followed by a full morning of cooking with a chef and helpers. Chef explained many items in the market to us as we walked around and he bought a few items there. Each person had his own cooking stations. After returning to the hotel the chef demonstrated each item which we would cook at the front of the room. We then went to our individual stations and cooked all of the 4 or so recipes. The staff had prepared most of the ingredients, chopping, etc.
After the prep and cooking we ate our own creations at a large table at the back of the room… great fun, terrific chef, memorable day and good instructions. Recipes and apron given to each person and a certificate of course completion. Probably 2005 or so.


Manorha Boat, Marriott Resort and Spa. 2010… 2800 B each, minimum of 4 persons required.
Course is unique as it is held on a large rice barge while cruising up and down the river in Bangkok.
Course started with 5 of us having a light breakfast aboard the barge, including pastry and juices and coffee/tea.
Next we cruised up the river to the taskin pier where we disembarked and walked to a market place in back of the Shangri-la Hotel, accompanied by our chef and one helper. We toured the fish, veggie, meat and fruit market. Basically we were the only farang there.
We re-embarked onto the boat and had a nice drink and relaxation for about 15 minutes.
A central cooking area was set up mid-ship. Most of the prep work had been done while we were gone, but we did some chopping, cutting, etc. The chef explained the 4 or 5 dishes which we would prepare. He then led us through the preparation of each dish using a one burner gas stove. Each of us participated and observed.
All during our cooking we were sailing by the landscape of Bangkok. This makes for a remarkable and unique cooking experience. We went as far north on the river as the very high tide would allow. Finally we reached a bridge which we could not go under.
We turned southward and took our places at one large table and enjoyed our creations which had been plated beautifully by the staff (I think the staff was about 4 plus the captain). We also had a fantastic vista of Bangkok as we rode south.
Drinks were served all during the experience. We started at 8AM and returned to the dock at exactly noon.
Each participant was given recipes for the dishes we prepared and a very nice black apron.
A TRULY UNIQUE EXPERIENCE!!




I have tried to be objective and informative and to give you our honest
honest impressions on the day or days we have eaten in these
places, but as we all know each of us has different tastes and establishments vary from day to day or cook to cook---Bon Apetite!!

2008---there is never enough time for us to eat at all the places we wish to, but I have tried to present again this year our impressions of old and new places.. by and large we have had very few poor meals in Thailand, most are above average and some are absolutely outstanding…Let’s keep sharing them.

2010—we revisited some of our favorites and some new places… Thailand is just such a wonderful place to eat and eat and eat.
I will add a small section on Vietnam this year for the first time.




July 11, 2008/ January 16, 2010 December 16, 2010
Reg. rhkkmk