Welcome to Bangkok, Andrea. I'm on my way back to the states in the morning, otherwise I'd suggest meeting for a coffee or cold beer...

Do enjoy your time here! This city is amazing. I hope you can see a bit of the Loy Kratong festival that will be going on this evening. Do try to see some of it....

Carol

Thanks for the info, Carol. If I'm in that area I'll stop by!

Andrea, Bangkok's shopping is much better and less expensive than Taipei.

I'll be surprised if you can find a Burberry down jacket in Bangkok... this is, after all the tropics! You may have better luck with that one in Taipei.

New glasses - consider new frames as well, as you'll find designs not available in North America and prices are quite good. Wait - aren't you in Bangkok for just two days? You'll have trouble getting lenses in that time unless your correction is very simple. Get the best lenses available, Hoya. There are optical shops in all of the malls.

Asia books (in many shopping centers) will have the best selection of books.

Business cards are often printed while you wait.

Check in Bangkok for your sandals. Just because the sandals are made in Taiwan doesn't mean you can find them there.

Happy shopping!

There's a chain called [I think] BetterVision that can do lenses in an hour. Branches all over the place. Good range of stock. Perfectly decent frames will go from 6,000 - 16,000 baht ish - up to infinity. How do I know this? I bought a pair in BKK two days ago, on a 24 hour secret stopover.

BetterVision will also mend sunglasses that have been sat on.

Dogster!!! You dog.....!!! Secret stop over in BKK... for shame. I was probably sitting at Haagen Dazs when you walked by....


I have to run to catch my flight to NRT/ORD now, but will try to jump back online at NRT so I can give you an accounting of the wonderful evening w/hanuman and family and friends!!!

C

It was nice seeing you and Brad again last night. Have a safe flight home Carol and see you in Bangkok again soon.

Here's the video from last night(I had to reduce the resolution a lot so that it can be easily uploaded to YouTube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccHdV8cVLZY

I wish we were there!

hanuman, fab video, looks like a ekachai uekrongtham production. did i miss the otoro again? lol.

We wish you guys were here too Kathie & Ken! This year the fireworks were a bit longer than usual. The total time for the Shangrila hotel alone was around 5 minutes of solid fireworks, I edited out about 1.5 minutes worth of video.

I think the special fireworks was because the king was watching from Siriraj hospital which is a short distant upriver from us.

Hanuman, your video is fantastic! Thanks for putting it on youtube. I should learn how to do that. I need to download the video I took of the fireworks to my laptop to see how it turned out.

Brad and I had a really lovely time at your condo on the river last night. Thank you so much for the invitation to join you and your lovely family and friends for the evening. I had no idea what to expect from Loy Kratong, and I was certainly impressed with every display.

First there were the military boats that were all lit up like Christmas trees. They provided quite an impressive parade, early in the evening. Of course, the kratongs we got to light and send down river were beautiful! A very special moment... hope my wish comes true. Thank you for providing such beautiful memories!

We enjoyed the lanterns, some that seemed to fly on forever! And then, the fireworks, oh my oh my! Beautiful! And especially so, from 23 floors up... right at eye level.

You and your lovely wife were the perfect host/hostess. The food was delicious, the wine and champaigne most tasty! All of it made for one of the most memorable experiences I've had in Bangkok. Thank you, thank you!

After we left, we stopped briefly at Maeng's so that I could bid my goodbye to my dear sweet friend. I'm glad I got to see her one more time. She fed us some fresh mango... the sticky rice was all gone by that time... haha!

My wakeup call came right on time at 3:45 (ugh) and the taxi was ready at 4:30 to take me to the airport. There was a short visit to the Thai lounge for fresh fruit and snacks, as I had not eaten breakfast at my apartment. Then, off to NRT. I slept all the way there!! Fantastic!! Now about a three hour layover, and then on to Chicago. It will be good to be back home once again. My suitcases are full of treasures, so time to go home!

Hanuman, I thought about something your friend from Thai Airways said last night... want to confirm it... that Boeing planes actually really do fly faster than Airbuses ... is that why my trips to Zurich on an A300 seem so long, going from ORD? Funny what one thinks about as they are riding along at 39,000 feet.

Brad is still in BKK until next Monday. That should be enough time to resolve his passport issue, as they are supposed to have a temporary one for him Thursday. He'll have to apply for replacement ASAP as he is heading back to BKK in early December! I know that there is expedited service available, but is there a face-to-face passport office in Chicago where we could stop next Monday afternoon when he arrives at OHare?

Carol

lol Carol - I learnt a long time ago never to meet people for the first time when I'm jetlagged. It's not pretty.

Now now, doggie, I'd certainly take that into consideration and not hold it against you. After all, it's also not a good idea to meet someone for the first time when one has been wandering thru the markets at Pratunam all day!

maybe next time????

Carol

(hanuman, I also got some great video, just downloaded it and had a look... how to post on youtube?)

Oh, of course Carol - I'm not avoiding you. lol. Perish the thought. But I am a little bit shy... I always feel that, in person, the mongrel would disappoint.

dog, I have yet to be disappointed in any fodorite I've met face to face. All of them have interesting lives!

Gonna leave the Red Carpet and go out and walk for the next hour, so I'll have a bit of exercise before boarding my long flight to Chicago. I'll "see" everyone after I get back to my home-sweet-home.

C

i have not read this all yet but will when we return home later this week...

had a fun 24 hours with smeagol over the weekend... it was her birthday...

visiting other english friends for a couple of days now before our return home on wednesday nite... then 9 days home and its thailand with the gpandas...can't wait...

enjoy the rest of your trip

B&K

I'll go if the Dogster goes.

I'm back home-sweet-home. UA upper deck was nice and quiet, so I slept almost aaalllllll the way home. I made my 3 hour drive from the Hyatt Regency OHare (which I can now recommend highly for a park/sleep/fly if one needs to do that) with my eyes wide open. Now the unpacking, sorting, etc begins.

Back to Chicago in a couple of days for a long weekend, then wait in the city until Monday to pick up Brad on his BKK return. A couple of days after that, it's off to Tulsa (I know, boring for most of you) for about a week, followed by Switzerland on Thanksgiving day for two weeks, and then back to BKK for the holidays!! A frantic (but fun) time ahead...

Carol

Bangkok-Tulsa. Hard to tell the difference. How do you know Brad is coming home?

I note that Thanksgiving is a holiday and we will be in BKK. Thai turkey!

Karen will NOT agree to eating Maeng's Thai turkey on T'giving although I'm sure all would enjoy that experience.

BKK/Tulsa... um, have you been to BOTH? BIG differences. I'd much rather be in BKK, but will enjoy Tulsa anyway.

Brad WILL be home. He needs to go to Tulsa as well, and he knows it. He will have an emergency passport in hand, and he will have to get a new one... trust me... he'll be home next Monday!

I will be in Tulsa next week. I have to go.

The party at Hanuman's on Monday night was fantastic. Thank you again.