Back to Bangkok!!
Oct 27th, 2009 | 06:25 PM
#105
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
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Wow, I thought this thread would have been either banned or moved to about page 13 by this time!!!
Good morning from Bangkok. I'm sitting on my couch, CNN is turned on (paying NO ATTENTION to it) and I am staring at this huge huge huge sized rice bag that I brought home, stuffed pretty full, from Chiang Mai. The bag is large enough for the typical Thai sized person to set up housekeeping inside of it!!! haha
How to begin the report on yesterday's "journey"... I'll explain that term in a minute.
Yesterday (Wednesday 27th) started very early, as we (DS, Maeng and I) had a 7:50 flight to Chiang Mai, Royal Silk class on Thai, from BKK airport. Other than the fact that the plane was NOT the usual B747 at this hour, but an A300 (ugh) instead, the flight was pleasant enough. The seats on this older jet were nothing plush in first class, but the service (and breakfast) were certainly top notch.
Maeng often asks me the meanings of words in English. Her English is excellent, as she owns a British Pub style place (the Pickled Liver of which I often speak) and is always dealing with expats and farangs who speak English. Anyway, her question was about the difference between the words "travel" and "journey." I told her that "travel" is usually a word that means a nice vacation, or trip, to someplace nice, and that things are typically planned out in advance, and that there are few problems, if any, as things are very well planned.
A "journey" on the other hand, often means that there is no plan (there is time to take the fork in the road, if you get my drift) and that things "might happen" that are not in anyone's plan book! A journey often means going to places off the beaten path, exotic, exciting, where one might expect the unexpected.
Anyway, CM was a JOURNEY for sure!! But sooooooo much fun. Brad and Maeng both indicated that our day trips to CM just keep getting better, and this one was indeed the best one yet. It didn't have so much to do with the shopping aspect of the day, but also of the friends we have in the city and don't always get to see... but we were lucky in that regard yesterday.
We made our usual stops, the frog factory (DS needed another 1200 frogs! plus other items), Hangdong and Bantawai markets, and then Bosang, and of course the food market for Maeng, and the mall for ice cream and a stop at the Northern Thailand store.
We hit all of those places, plus another one or two, in our 12 hours in CM. It was a real run for the money. Wish I could post the photos here, so I could prove to you that we all shopped until we just about dropped and had a super time!!!
Jit, our driver, was asked to rent a van for the day this time, rather than just driving us around in his car, which has a decent sized trunk, but that would not be enough space for today!!! Jit paid about 800 baht (for which we paid him) for renting the van, which was like an 8-passenger mini bus that you often ride in when taking trips to the airport via shuttle.
I had two (yes, only two) specific items that I wanted to bring back from Chiang Mai markets. Without going into too much detail, I managed to find those items, plus a "few more" things.... like I said.. I'm staring at this HUGE rice bag that I need to start emptying sometime this morning. Let's just say, shopping was fantastic. But it was Maeng who out-did us all. She had the most bags at check-in at Thai airways in CM last night.
In August, I found some animal shaped bags for little girls, which I mentioned here on fodors. I had purchased them at the CM Airport Mall, since that was the ONLY place I had ever seen them, and when I saw them, I just knew they would be a HUGE hit back home. So I paid mall price. Well, I asked my CM friend Tim (who is in the export/wood products business) if she knew where I could find the source. She did not have an answer for me, so off to the mall to buy some more of them.
Well, as the day was winding down, after shopping at Hangdong and Bosang, the frog factory, the mall, and the food market, Maeng with her super eagle eyesight spotted a shop, very close to the food market, and she shouted "That shop is full of the animal bags!!! STOOOOOPPPPPP! Se we went around the block, Jit parked, and Maeng and I ventured into this little shop. And yes, indeed, it was filled with these cute little animal bags, which I now know are made in the YAO area, in the mountains above CM. Way to go, Maeng!!!! Even though I had already purchased about 30 of these animal bags, I bought a bunch more.... and at MUCH better prices than I had paid at the mall. This little shop is now very much on my radar screen, and I do plan to return in December and everytime I go to CM.... just as long as the bags are still a "hot" item. I'm seriously thinking about maybe selling on e-Bay (which I've never done before) and/or setting up another vendor space in the little shop where I "do business" back at home, just for these animal bags. These little bags are THAT GOOD.
After shopping, we stuffed two heavy bags of frogs, squirrels, etc. from the frog factory, plus a huge rice bag containing those pillow rolls that Thais have in their homes (Maeng bought them), a box of food from the market, a bag of dragons, and at least two bags of animal purses and various other purchases.... into this big van that Jit had rented for the day. The three of US barely fit after all was stuffed inside!!! Again, I've got photos to prove it!!
We headed to the airport to drop off all of our purchases at about 6:30. Our flight to Bangkok was not until 9pm, but we wanted to check in and then have dinner with our friend in the export/wood products business. We got everyone's attention along the curb as we unloaded bag after bag after bag out of this huge van. We needed three carts to push it all into the airport!!! (photos, of course) The hostess at the Thai Royal Silk counter barely batted an eyelash as we piled all 5 bags onto the conveyor belt to check for the BKK flight. "Shopping was good today," we told her.
Boarding passes in hand, we headed to dinner w/friend Tim. Tim had suggested we meet her at a place right across the road from the airport. PERFECT!!! The name of the place is written in Thai (as is the menu, but w/English descriptions of most of the items). The name is Kaew Pla, which means "fresh fish restaurant" and fresh it was. Delicious meal!! Seems to be a favorite place for Thais and farangs who have a flight to catch, since the airport is just steps away.
We laughed and laughed throughout dinner and shared photos of our shopping journey. Jit, our driver, joined us for the meal, as he almost always does. Jit isn't just a driver, he is a very good friend. Tim is also a very good friend. Everyone knows everyone, and we all had such a nice time sharing a meal, Thai style, before leaving CM. We had fish, tom yum soup, fish balls, shrimp dishes, glass noodles, fish pancakes, etc etc and several pitchers of beer!
Boarding time is 8:40, so we hop in Jit's van to go to the airport at 8:30, make it thru security, walk to the gate, and step right onto the plane for the trip home! Perfect timing! First class (Thai Royal Silk) on a B777. Lie flat seats (we all slept). Very comfortable!!!!
Interesting flight though... not bumpy or anything... but the pilot comes on and tells us that there is a very bad rain storm (monsoon) taking place at BKK and that we are being diverted to the old Don Muang airport instead! OK, that's fine. We can get a taxi back to the city from either airport, no problem. Oh, and there are about 50 planes lined up and waiting to land at the airport.... we will be circling for a short time.... "sorry for the delay" .... etc etc. Still not a bumpy ride.
Circling over Don Muang for only about 5 minutes. Pilot comes back on and informs us that the weather at BKK has become much better, so we will be going there to land, rather than at Don Muang. Great!
We landed about 40 minutes late (but that meant more sleep time, so not a problem) at the newer BKK airport. Our huge rice bags arrived among the first ones coming down the conveyor belt. (everyone waiting for bags gave us a look) We each packed our luggage cart with our own purchases (Maeng had the most....lol) and then headed to the taxi line.
Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that all of our stuff plus ourselves would NOT fit into any of the taxis or vans or any vehicles that were waiting to pick up passengers at BKK. We EACH took our OWN taxi into the city!!!lol
At about 10 minutes past midnight, I was back at my apartment on soi 8. I just have to assume that Maeng and DS each got their own taxi and made it safely back into the city.
What a fun day!!! I would repeat every last bit of it again today, if I could!!
Today is my final dental appt, and I will be very happy when my "high spot" is sanded or drilled down to a point where I can chew normally again!
Michael, if you are reading this, I hope you will consider coming to the Pickled Liver for quiz night (Thursday about 8)for our little GTG. And Fanny (nywoman) would also love to see YOU there as well!! I promise lots of laughs. If not quiz night, we will figure something else out, hopefully. Oh, and Fanny, your message was waiting for me at my apt. It had been slipped under the door. I'll call you!
And now, I'm starving. Time for a quick shower and then b'fast. Gotta rush.
Carol
Good morning from Bangkok. I'm sitting on my couch, CNN is turned on (paying NO ATTENTION to it) and I am staring at this huge huge huge sized rice bag that I brought home, stuffed pretty full, from Chiang Mai. The bag is large enough for the typical Thai sized person to set up housekeeping inside of it!!! haha
How to begin the report on yesterday's "journey"... I'll explain that term in a minute.
Yesterday (Wednesday 27th) started very early, as we (DS, Maeng and I) had a 7:50 flight to Chiang Mai, Royal Silk class on Thai, from BKK airport. Other than the fact that the plane was NOT the usual B747 at this hour, but an A300 (ugh) instead, the flight was pleasant enough. The seats on this older jet were nothing plush in first class, but the service (and breakfast) were certainly top notch.
Maeng often asks me the meanings of words in English. Her English is excellent, as she owns a British Pub style place (the Pickled Liver of which I often speak) and is always dealing with expats and farangs who speak English. Anyway, her question was about the difference between the words "travel" and "journey." I told her that "travel" is usually a word that means a nice vacation, or trip, to someplace nice, and that things are typically planned out in advance, and that there are few problems, if any, as things are very well planned.
A "journey" on the other hand, often means that there is no plan (there is time to take the fork in the road, if you get my drift) and that things "might happen" that are not in anyone's plan book! A journey often means going to places off the beaten path, exotic, exciting, where one might expect the unexpected.
Anyway, CM was a JOURNEY for sure!! But sooooooo much fun. Brad and Maeng both indicated that our day trips to CM just keep getting better, and this one was indeed the best one yet. It didn't have so much to do with the shopping aspect of the day, but also of the friends we have in the city and don't always get to see... but we were lucky in that regard yesterday.
We made our usual stops, the frog factory (DS needed another 1200 frogs! plus other items), Hangdong and Bantawai markets, and then Bosang, and of course the food market for Maeng, and the mall for ice cream and a stop at the Northern Thailand store.
We hit all of those places, plus another one or two, in our 12 hours in CM. It was a real run for the money. Wish I could post the photos here, so I could prove to you that we all shopped until we just about dropped and had a super time!!!
Jit, our driver, was asked to rent a van for the day this time, rather than just driving us around in his car, which has a decent sized trunk, but that would not be enough space for today!!! Jit paid about 800 baht (for which we paid him) for renting the van, which was like an 8-passenger mini bus that you often ride in when taking trips to the airport via shuttle.
I had two (yes, only two) specific items that I wanted to bring back from Chiang Mai markets. Without going into too much detail, I managed to find those items, plus a "few more" things.... like I said.. I'm staring at this HUGE rice bag that I need to start emptying sometime this morning. Let's just say, shopping was fantastic. But it was Maeng who out-did us all. She had the most bags at check-in at Thai airways in CM last night.
In August, I found some animal shaped bags for little girls, which I mentioned here on fodors. I had purchased them at the CM Airport Mall, since that was the ONLY place I had ever seen them, and when I saw them, I just knew they would be a HUGE hit back home. So I paid mall price. Well, I asked my CM friend Tim (who is in the export/wood products business) if she knew where I could find the source. She did not have an answer for me, so off to the mall to buy some more of them.
Well, as the day was winding down, after shopping at Hangdong and Bosang, the frog factory, the mall, and the food market, Maeng with her super eagle eyesight spotted a shop, very close to the food market, and she shouted "That shop is full of the animal bags!!! STOOOOOPPPPPP! Se we went around the block, Jit parked, and Maeng and I ventured into this little shop. And yes, indeed, it was filled with these cute little animal bags, which I now know are made in the YAO area, in the mountains above CM. Way to go, Maeng!!!! Even though I had already purchased about 30 of these animal bags, I bought a bunch more.... and at MUCH better prices than I had paid at the mall. This little shop is now very much on my radar screen, and I do plan to return in December and everytime I go to CM.... just as long as the bags are still a "hot" item. I'm seriously thinking about maybe selling on e-Bay (which I've never done before) and/or setting up another vendor space in the little shop where I "do business" back at home, just for these animal bags. These little bags are THAT GOOD.
After shopping, we stuffed two heavy bags of frogs, squirrels, etc. from the frog factory, plus a huge rice bag containing those pillow rolls that Thais have in their homes (Maeng bought them), a box of food from the market, a bag of dragons, and at least two bags of animal purses and various other purchases.... into this big van that Jit had rented for the day. The three of US barely fit after all was stuffed inside!!! Again, I've got photos to prove it!!
We headed to the airport to drop off all of our purchases at about 6:30. Our flight to Bangkok was not until 9pm, but we wanted to check in and then have dinner with our friend in the export/wood products business. We got everyone's attention along the curb as we unloaded bag after bag after bag out of this huge van. We needed three carts to push it all into the airport!!! (photos, of course) The hostess at the Thai Royal Silk counter barely batted an eyelash as we piled all 5 bags onto the conveyor belt to check for the BKK flight. "Shopping was good today," we told her.
Boarding passes in hand, we headed to dinner w/friend Tim. Tim had suggested we meet her at a place right across the road from the airport. PERFECT!!! The name of the place is written in Thai (as is the menu, but w/English descriptions of most of the items). The name is Kaew Pla, which means "fresh fish restaurant" and fresh it was. Delicious meal!! Seems to be a favorite place for Thais and farangs who have a flight to catch, since the airport is just steps away.
We laughed and laughed throughout dinner and shared photos of our shopping journey. Jit, our driver, joined us for the meal, as he almost always does. Jit isn't just a driver, he is a very good friend. Tim is also a very good friend. Everyone knows everyone, and we all had such a nice time sharing a meal, Thai style, before leaving CM. We had fish, tom yum soup, fish balls, shrimp dishes, glass noodles, fish pancakes, etc etc and several pitchers of beer!
Boarding time is 8:40, so we hop in Jit's van to go to the airport at 8:30, make it thru security, walk to the gate, and step right onto the plane for the trip home! Perfect timing! First class (Thai Royal Silk) on a B777. Lie flat seats (we all slept). Very comfortable!!!!
Interesting flight though... not bumpy or anything... but the pilot comes on and tells us that there is a very bad rain storm (monsoon) taking place at BKK and that we are being diverted to the old Don Muang airport instead! OK, that's fine. We can get a taxi back to the city from either airport, no problem. Oh, and there are about 50 planes lined up and waiting to land at the airport.... we will be circling for a short time.... "sorry for the delay" .... etc etc. Still not a bumpy ride.
Circling over Don Muang for only about 5 minutes. Pilot comes back on and informs us that the weather at BKK has become much better, so we will be going there to land, rather than at Don Muang. Great!
We landed about 40 minutes late (but that meant more sleep time, so not a problem) at the newer BKK airport. Our huge rice bags arrived among the first ones coming down the conveyor belt. (everyone waiting for bags gave us a look) We each packed our luggage cart with our own purchases (Maeng had the most....lol) and then headed to the taxi line.
Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that all of our stuff plus ourselves would NOT fit into any of the taxis or vans or any vehicles that were waiting to pick up passengers at BKK. We EACH took our OWN taxi into the city!!!lol
At about 10 minutes past midnight, I was back at my apartment on soi 8. I just have to assume that Maeng and DS each got their own taxi and made it safely back into the city.
What a fun day!!! I would repeat every last bit of it again today, if I could!!
Today is my final dental appt, and I will be very happy when my "high spot" is sanded or drilled down to a point where I can chew normally again!
Michael, if you are reading this, I hope you will consider coming to the Pickled Liver for quiz night (Thursday about 8)for our little GTG. And Fanny (nywoman) would also love to see YOU there as well!! I promise lots of laughs. If not quiz night, we will figure something else out, hopefully. Oh, and Fanny, your message was waiting for me at my apt. It had been slipped under the door. I'll call you!
And now, I'm starving. Time for a quick shower and then b'fast. Gotta rush.
Carol
Oct 27th, 2009 | 06:43 PM
#106
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,844
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Last night's storm was about the worst of the year, I think, at least at my place. Very windy in addition to a lot of rain in a short time.
I may be able to drop by for a short visit on Thursday. I have a function at the Panorama Bar (23rd floor, Pan Pacific hotel) to attend, but I should be able to slip away by 8:00.
BTW there's a temple fair at the Golden Mount this weekend (through next week I think). It might be interesting for you if you've never been to one.
I may be able to drop by for a short visit on Thursday. I have a function at the Panorama Bar (23rd floor, Pan Pacific hotel) to attend, but I should be able to slip away by 8:00.
BTW there's a temple fair at the Golden Mount this weekend (through next week I think). It might be interesting for you if you've never been to one.
Oct 27th, 2009 | 08:05 PM
#108
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
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PS.... Fanny called a short time ago. We are meeting for coffee at the Monsoon restaurant on the ground floor of my apartment hotel at noon!!! Wonderful!!! Should be great to meet yet another fodorite.
Kathie, you read it right. GREAT fun and fantastic shopping in CM. Fodors needs to find a way to let us post a single picture with a thread...........
Great news, Michael. Looking forward to seeing you at the PL on Thursday night!
C
Kathie, you read it right. GREAT fun and fantastic shopping in CM. Fodors needs to find a way to let us post a single picture with a thread...........
Great news, Michael. Looking forward to seeing you at the PL on Thursday night!
C
Oct 28th, 2009 | 01:20 AM
#110
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
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Sawasdee kah from the Pickled Liver! NYwoman, DS, and I are here, having a snack and a beer. Maeng is a gracious host, as always. She fixed us a plate of finger foods, gave NYw a PL t-shirt, and we are having just a delightful time! Wish you ALL were here with us.
C
C
Oct 28th, 2009 | 04:48 AM
#111
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,160
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Sawasdee krub! Carol I hope you, Brad, Maeng and Fanny will watch the local TV channel tonight as the Miss Thailand contest will be telecast live. I'm the official bikini wax applicator and remover for this year so I hope you will appreciate my work!
Oct 28th, 2009 | 05:42 AM
#113
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
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hanuman.... lol!!! indeed.....
It's about 8:30 pm. I'm back in my apartment, NYwoman is at her evening function with friends, and DS is playing pool (what else). It was such a lovely day today! (and it didn't involve ANY shopping at all ...haha) It was just a "typical" day in Bangkok, hanging around soi 6 and soi 11.
FYI... Maeng knows the chef at Bo Lan so it looks like we will very likely be going there for dinner.... if not before I go home, Brad and Maeng will for sure go there before HE heads home about a week after I do. You can expect a full report, in any case, I would say.
Brad and I bid our goodbyes to NYwoman around 4:30, as she had to leave Maeng's and get ready for the events of the evening. It was great meeting yet another lovely fodorite and sharing travel experiences!!! Hope we get to meet up again sometime, NYwoman.
Brad and I chatted w/Maeng a while longer, and then headed to yet another bar (you are going to think I'm a bar fly... haha) to meet up with Danish friends and have a beer. Fun conversation... always great to catch up on life when meeting up with old friends here in Bangkok.
I don't want to pull up my old thread from April, but some of you will recall that DS and I paid the "bar fine" to take a couple of soi 4 girls out to a lovely dinner at the top of the Centara Grand one evening. One of the girls is always asking DS about me, so DS and I went to her place of employment to say hello! We visited for a while, until DS had to go to his pool league, and I decided to call it an evening early. We didn't have any fancy dinner... I'm just eating "stuff" that's in my fridge and calling it a night early!!! I am ready to relax after yesterday's busy day to Chiang Mai.
Michael, hoping we will see you at quiz night tomorrow night at the Pickled Liver. Brad says I should start a thread here that is just about quiz night... must be loads of fun!! I have been before, just once, and found that many of the questions were way beyond my field of knowledge, but then again, I know little bits of trivia that might surprise you!! Looking forward to it, in any case.
Carol
It's about 8:30 pm. I'm back in my apartment, NYwoman is at her evening function with friends, and DS is playing pool (what else). It was such a lovely day today! (and it didn't involve ANY shopping at all ...haha) It was just a "typical" day in Bangkok, hanging around soi 6 and soi 11.
FYI... Maeng knows the chef at Bo Lan so it looks like we will very likely be going there for dinner.... if not before I go home, Brad and Maeng will for sure go there before HE heads home about a week after I do. You can expect a full report, in any case, I would say.
Brad and I bid our goodbyes to NYwoman around 4:30, as she had to leave Maeng's and get ready for the events of the evening. It was great meeting yet another lovely fodorite and sharing travel experiences!!! Hope we get to meet up again sometime, NYwoman.
Brad and I chatted w/Maeng a while longer, and then headed to yet another bar (you are going to think I'm a bar fly... haha) to meet up with Danish friends and have a beer. Fun conversation... always great to catch up on life when meeting up with old friends here in Bangkok.
I don't want to pull up my old thread from April, but some of you will recall that DS and I paid the "bar fine" to take a couple of soi 4 girls out to a lovely dinner at the top of the Centara Grand one evening. One of the girls is always asking DS about me, so DS and I went to her place of employment to say hello! We visited for a while, until DS had to go to his pool league, and I decided to call it an evening early. We didn't have any fancy dinner... I'm just eating "stuff" that's in my fridge and calling it a night early!!! I am ready to relax after yesterday's busy day to Chiang Mai.
Michael, hoping we will see you at quiz night tomorrow night at the Pickled Liver. Brad says I should start a thread here that is just about quiz night... must be loads of fun!! I have been before, just once, and found that many of the questions were way beyond my field of knowledge, but then again, I know little bits of trivia that might surprise you!! Looking forward to it, in any case.
Carol
Oct 28th, 2009 | 06:56 PM
#116
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
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Today I have friends (who live just down the street from me back in small town Illinois) coming into BKK for a visit. They have been teaching English for the past several weeks in one of the suburban areas. They go back home to Illinois tomorrow, so one last chance to meet up in BKK seems to be in order today. I'm not sure just what we will be doing. They have seen the city on three other trips here, also for the purpose of volunteering their time to teach English.
Tonight is quiz night at the Pickled Liver. That should be fun. "Chopper," the quiz master, has an interesting take on the questions/answers...... that's all I say for now. We (DS and I) would love to get together a fodorites team, so if anyone else is in the neighborhood, we could use your help. Michael, we're adding your name to our team. Hanuman?? I asked NYwoman, but she cannot help us out tonight. Too bad...
Carol
Tonight is quiz night at the Pickled Liver. That should be fun. "Chopper," the quiz master, has an interesting take on the questions/answers...... that's all I say for now. We (DS and I) would love to get together a fodorites team, so if anyone else is in the neighborhood, we could use your help. Michael, we're adding your name to our team. Hanuman?? I asked NYwoman, but she cannot help us out tonight. Too bad...
Carol
Oct 29th, 2009 | 06:40 AM
#118
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 61
Likes: 0
Hello All
I feel like I am shamelessly eavesdropping on a conversation among friends. What great information, wisdom, humor and a little drama too. You guys are great!
It’s my maiden voyage to BBK. Gasp, I can hear you all the way over here in Cambodia.
We have been in Cambodia and are heading over to Laos tomorrow. Then, I go to Bangkok for a few days on my own. From there, I will join a group of volunteers going to Laos for cleft lip and palette surgeries.
So, I will ask for your wisdom. I’ll have 2 full days in BBK and on the return; I may have two more days. What is your top 5 list for BBK? I’m open to just about anything.
And after getting a 18K quote from my dentist in the US, I have to tell you that I may consider the dental work in the future.
Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll adopt the “BBK orphan.”
Regards, Andrea
I feel like I am shamelessly eavesdropping on a conversation among friends. What great information, wisdom, humor and a little drama too. You guys are great!
It’s my maiden voyage to BBK. Gasp, I can hear you all the way over here in Cambodia.
We have been in Cambodia and are heading over to Laos tomorrow. Then, I go to Bangkok for a few days on my own. From there, I will join a group of volunteers going to Laos for cleft lip and palette surgeries.
So, I will ask for your wisdom. I’ll have 2 full days in BBK and on the return; I may have two more days. What is your top 5 list for BBK? I’m open to just about anything.
And after getting a 18K quote from my dentist in the US, I have to tell you that I may consider the dental work in the future.
Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll adopt the “BBK orphan.”
Regards, Andrea
Oct 29th, 2009 | 10:03 AM
#119
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
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Andrea, welcome to the forums. All are welcome here! Some of us really DO know each other, as we meet at get togethers (GTGs) in various places around the world. Perhaps you can join us sometime! Your work sounds very rewarding! I'm sure it will be much appreciated.
Well, michaelbkk joined us and the three of us (Michael, DS, and myself) were a team called the "fodorites"... how appropriate is that! We had a respectable score after the quiz was completed, which I was quite proud of, since we are all 3 Americans and know NOTHING about sports and TV in the UK, which was the subject of several questions!! (the P L is a British-style pub after all) We gave 'em a tough fight! Micael, hope you decide to return to quiz night again sometime. Brad will be there next Thursday, if you are in the neighborhood! I was slightly disappointed that last week's humorous quiz master didn't direct the festivities tonight... but it was still very entertaining.
Dear friends who live in my same small town in downstate Illinois are in Bangkok volunteering their time teaching English. Today was their last day in Thailland, as they return home tomorrow. They had time to come into the city from their location about 45 minutes away from my apt, by taxi. I wasn't sure what they might want to do, but we had a good time just visiting in my apartment to start, and then off to lunch at the Jim Thompson Cafe at Isetan store (Central World), which was really very tasty.
We then went over to Pratunam market area. My friends had shopping to do before going home. I suggested Pratunam, and "Dee" was very pleased with what she got, and was able to negotiate some good price as well.
It was about 4:30 when my friends left by skytrain to head in the direction of their school, and were certain they would be fine getting a taxi at the end of the skytrain line. I really thought they would save some time by taking the BTS and avoiding Sukhumvit traffic, which can be a real snarl. I'm hoping they got "home" safe and sound. They have been to BKK before, so they know the ropes. I'll see them at home in about a week, and we'll have a few laughs about our experiences in Bangkok, I'm sure.
Now, I'm pooped. I have no reason to get up early in the morning, other than I want breakfast (by 10)!!
BTW, I posted a message on the Bo Lan thread, as DS met the chef(s) at Pickled Liver, after hours, on Wednesday night! BoLan's chef likes Maeng's cooking!
Carol
Well, michaelbkk joined us and the three of us (Michael, DS, and myself) were a team called the "fodorites"... how appropriate is that! We had a respectable score after the quiz was completed, which I was quite proud of, since we are all 3 Americans and know NOTHING about sports and TV in the UK, which was the subject of several questions!! (the P L is a British-style pub after all) We gave 'em a tough fight! Micael, hope you decide to return to quiz night again sometime. Brad will be there next Thursday, if you are in the neighborhood! I was slightly disappointed that last week's humorous quiz master didn't direct the festivities tonight... but it was still very entertaining.
Dear friends who live in my same small town in downstate Illinois are in Bangkok volunteering their time teaching English. Today was their last day in Thailland, as they return home tomorrow. They had time to come into the city from their location about 45 minutes away from my apt, by taxi. I wasn't sure what they might want to do, but we had a good time just visiting in my apartment to start, and then off to lunch at the Jim Thompson Cafe at Isetan store (Central World), which was really very tasty.
We then went over to Pratunam market area. My friends had shopping to do before going home. I suggested Pratunam, and "Dee" was very pleased with what she got, and was able to negotiate some good price as well.
It was about 4:30 when my friends left by skytrain to head in the direction of their school, and were certain they would be fine getting a taxi at the end of the skytrain line. I really thought they would save some time by taking the BTS and avoiding Sukhumvit traffic, which can be a real snarl. I'm hoping they got "home" safe and sound. They have been to BKK before, so they know the ropes. I'll see them at home in about a week, and we'll have a few laughs about our experiences in Bangkok, I'm sure.
Now, I'm pooped. I have no reason to get up early in the morning, other than I want breakfast (by 10)!!
BTW, I posted a message on the Bo Lan thread, as DS met the chef(s) at Pickled Liver, after hours, on Wednesday night! BoLan's chef likes Maeng's cooking!
Carol
