Oh Daddy please don't forget me in your will. Mom did say that I look like you!

Carol,

Sorry but I can't make it. Some friends drop by so we are staying home. Hope Brad will have a great birthday bash and you all have a lot of fun!

Aloha Carol,
Been following along your journey with anticipation and hoping that when you post everything will be alright in Bangkok. We need more shopping from you,lol

Did you know that Mos Burger is the Japanese answer to McDonalds? We have one here in Waikiki a block or so away from your hotel the Princess Kaiulani.

Stay safe and start the <b>serious</b> shopping already, can't wait to read about what you get!

Aloha!

Carol, please tell us more about "Tawandang". How do you get there? Drinks only or perhaps dinner as well. Will be back in BKK next month, and looking for a new place to visit at night.

Good morning from a stormy Bangkok (at least it's raining this morning... who knows how long it will last). I'm up a bit later today and need to shower and get breakfast before the buffet is done! I'll come back and tell about the party. And vinovino, you would LOVE Tawandang!!!

Yes, I want every dirty detail.

no time for breakfast when we are hanging on your every word, or lack thereof....

(smile)... yes, Bob... yes, Dogster...

Breakfast was delicious, and necessary! I need to something to soak up all the German beer I drank last night! haha

We had a table for 30, and filled pretty much every seat. The party got underway at about 7pm, with some folks arriving closer to 8, and most staying until about midnight. It was 1am when I put my head on the pillow last night... er, this morning.

The entertainment was great, as always. There was a Lady Gaga act that was really outstanding. Our Dr friend sat in awe.. so much fun to watch a "newbie" to Tawandang! There was also the traditional Thai music, Thai dancing, top 30 Thai songs, and some oldies from the US. 'YMCA' for one, Tom Jones 'Sex Bomb' for another. The singers/dancers/musicians are all very talented. An amazing array. And many of the stage sets are elaborately done. A number of famous Thai entertainers appear on stage at Tawandang. I never know who is famous and who isn't, but the Thai girls all seem to go crazy when they see their favorites.

We had a huge variety of dishes on the table, from 'Pork Tawandang' to lotus salad to spicy fish to fried rice with crabmeat... the list goes on and one. It was all very tasty. I think everyone ate until they were quite full.

Then there was a birthday 'cake' with candles... but it was all ice cream. It was like a 15-scoop sundae with a candle in the middle. There were two of them for the table, so everyone got to eat ice cream.

I have no idea what the drink is called, or what is in it, but Brad and some of his closest buddies drink a shot glass of something that is set afire, and you drink it all with a straw... one big gulp... no stopping... while the drink burns! I saw 'the boys' have at least two of these flaming brews. We also had the usual bottles of champagne.. which are shaken and sprayed before serving! You might just get a little wet.

There was, of course, dancing in the aisles. I think Dr Jack and I were the first ones in the whole place to get up and dance. It doesn't take much to get the crowd started. Jack had me asked earlier for the 'first dance' and he got it! We (mostly the girls at the table) were dancing with girls from other tables nearby. So much fun! But today the muscles are just a tad bit sore. (I can deal with that)

Um, let's see... Andy, if you are reading this, there was a song dedicated to YOU last night. It was about a panda! I'd write about it on your thread, but it takes too long for my little mini laptop to download that thread 'cause it's so huge, and it gets hung up and I have to shut down and start over!!!!

Those of you (Pook...) who missed last night's party can put the same date, time, and place on your calendar for next year. This is now an annual tradition!

Our Dr friend is on his way home today. He will be coming back to Thailand again. I'll bet he's here before the end of 2010. He may or may not come back when DS and I are here... he would do just fine on his own. He now has a new group of Thai and expat friends who will welcome him back whenever he decides to return. Brad told him, when he comes back it will be for the people, not the tourist things. It's the people you want to see again and again.

OK... what else do you need to know about last night?

Vinovino, for you... to get to Tawandang you have to take a taxi. It is away from the center of the city. It is on Rama 3 Road. Most taxi drivers would know where it is. If you leave from a hotel, ask the front desk to look up the address and write it down, in Thai. That would help to get you there, just in case the driver would not know where it is... but it is a favorite place for the Thais, so I'm sure most would be familiar with the place. The food, the entertainment, the German beer... it's all fantastic. If it were me, I'd want to call ahead and make a reservation. It is difficult to get a table if you just show up there. The place holds hundreds of people.. and believe me, it fills up! It is by far our favorite nightclub in BKK. We started going there in 2001, and we were the ONLY falongs in the place then. Now you will see a nice mix of Thais and falongs.... but mostly Thais. The amazing thing is that the place is huge, and the people are all happy and having a great time. No one gets into any fights. At home in the US, a bar like this, filled with people who are drinking and dancing, etc. would probably end up in a fist fight somewhere/somehow during the evening. Not at Tawandang!

The rain has stopped for now. I think I'll venture out to the weekend market today. I need some retail therapy!

I'm glad that it appears that maybe the red shirt situation is being negotiated and things will calm down. For now, the red shirts are not giving up their compound around Siam... darn. I hope they go home before I leave for the US!! I want my Haagen Dazs ice cream!

More later...

Carol

Carol,

If you have time there's the Bangkok International Gift fair happening at Bitec(Bangna area). We just came back and the selections are pretty good this year. Tomorrow is the last day and if you're interested I recommend that you go there early - 10.00AM.

http://www.thaitradefair.com/Temp.aspx/HighlightDetail4

Glad to hear a song was sung for pandas at T. We're accepting help from every source these days. It sure sounds like you had fun at the party. Please keep us informed.

A true, but strange, BKK story: An older man went into a restaurant along soi 4 this morning, at 7:30-8ish to get breakfast. A short time after sitting down at a table, the man slumped in his chair, his head on the table, and DIED. The restaurant called the police, but since they are all busy with the red shirts, no one had yet appeared by 4:00 this afternoon. I'm not sure of chain on command in such a situation, but there are people who come and collect dead bodies. Maybe the police have to call them?? The dead man was still sitting at his table late this afternoon!!!

Speaking of police/red shirts, I have noticed a lot more security people as well as police and military in uniform in and around neighborhoods and along the expressways. I have no idea what is happening in Silom, or even just down the street beyond Phloenchit. I assume the red shirts are still there, but I've not heard anyone talking about the situation, or what they think may happen next. Time will tell. The other day, many seemed to think that things would come to a head this weekend. It might be good that we are heading to CM on Monday for a couple of nights.

Carol

My post about shopping today seems to not have been submitted here! AAAARRGGHHH.....

I'll type it again.. but maybe not in such detail (frowm).

I headed out to Chatuchak today. It was sticky hot after the rain, and busy as usual. What with the malls being closed, people opted to shop at the market I guess.

I bought more coconut bags. I've bought them at least two or three times, and from one vendor. Today I found a new guy. He had a better variety of them, really, and his prices were considerably better! I think I'll stick with this new guy! The most expensive one was 400Bt and the cheapest one was 180Bt. The quality is identical to the 'old' vendor's goods. So I bought 8 bags in a variety of sizes and colors, ranging from 180Bt to 400Bt.

I also bought some very nice crocheted cotton thread triangle shaped scarves/wraps. A nice variety of colors was available. The weave is very airy, very summery. I usually think of crochet as being pretty heavy, but these are not heavy at all. Definitely hand crocheted. Definitely a good buy!

Vinovino, I came back from the market and had lunch at Monsoon. I tried a watermelon smoothie... wow, a sure winner! I'll have one again before I head home in a little more than a week.

Ken and I talked about dinner tonight, but he went with his cousin and friend, since he leaves for HNL tomorrow morning. We had a number of dinners together here in BKK already, so I'm fine with sharing Ken with his relative!!! haha I went with Maeng to Tapas on soi 11 instead (it's right next to the Pickled Liver). A great little place to eat. It was busy. A sign of good food.

Brad was playing in a pool tournament this afternoon. His hand is sore (no details...nothing to do with red shirt confrontation) but he must still be winning or I would have heard from him! Maybe a sore hand with 14 stitches is an advantage! Who would've thought it...

Wish me luck with shopping tomorrow. I want to take as much stuff as I can to CM on Monday to ship. I'll do a lot more buying in CM also. I'll be picking up last minute stuff until the day before I fly home, and it helps to be able to ship a good portion of it. But to do that I have to find it and buy it first!!!

I'm going to try to get to sleep a bit earlier tonight. The last two nights have been pretty late for an old gal like me!

Enjoy your day!

Carol

Enjoying reading your news Carol and pleased to hear you found where Od has moved to.Seems as though Bangkok is not getting any better from the sites and papers I am reading this morning. Cannot help but feel for all my friends there.

Spoke to some of them yesterday and they just want life to return to normal, go back to work, have the skytrain running, etc. They sound very upset and it makes me feel sad, frustrated and just plain angry at the lack of action.

I am still in Melbourne about to go to Denpasar,Surabaya then plan to go to Chiang Mai, all being ok with the airport and Bangkok. Sounds like JJ is getting all the business with so much closed elsewhere, as are many of the riverside hotels.
Hear Marriot on the river is running at 30% occupancy from a friend who works there, other properties are about the same.

Carol, where do you like to shop for scarves and gift/quirky items in CM? The nite market on Sundays I have found good, nite bazaar ok and there are a few places near the old city walls which offer reasonable prices. Am I missing other places ?

Love the peace [ I hope it is rally/demonstration free ] of CM and the people.Cannot wait to get there

Carol, will meet you at Starbucks near the old city wall if I am there in time !!!!!! I will keep in touch
Keep cool and safe.

Hi bkklover... I'll be flying to CM on Monday, arriving about 2pm, and staying thru Wednesday night, flight at about 9pm. I do not know where we will be staying. We'll make that choice when we arrive. We like the 'old' Westin Riverside. I have no idea who owns that hotel building by now. It has changed hands a number of times. But this time we may try something new. I have no idea where Starbucks is located. I know the night bazaar area. Where do you stay in CM?

My shopping there is mostly done in Bosang and Hangdong market areas. I like Bosang the best. I once went to a scarf factory outlet in CM... don't ask me where it is! Our driver took us there, along with a CM friend who does exporting of wood products. Her friend owned the scarf outlet. I think I bought a good 200 scarves that day.

CM is a red shirt stronghold so I hope that the demonstrations don't overflow to their streets! Sounds like something will begin to happen to disperse the group at the compound around Central World in BKK. The normal people want this to end...NOW. They've had it with this situation disrupting so many peoples' lives. The telly keeps showing the news from last Thursday night, when the grenades went off in Silom. The good news is, soi 8 life goes on as usual. You would never know that there is trouble less than a mile away, just beyond Phloenchit BTS station.

I'm going back to Chatuchak/JJ Mall today, but it sounds like it is going to be really hot. I probably will not stay very long. It would also be nice to make it to Pratunam/Platinum if I can. Sounds like Maeng is concerned about getting to Pahurat, and I won't do that market alone. The others I'm fine doing solo. Pahurat is all local, no falongs, and few, very few, speak English.

Carol Good to hear from you.Pahurat is also the market I will not do on my own.I only go if one of my Thai friends is free, the last time I spoke to a friend who went there they had their bag stolen, never to be found again. This is the second time in the past few months that someone I know has had their bag stolen.

You can always advise friends but sometimes I feel they think you are just over reacting to visiting these areas and they want to see what all the fuss is about.
Still I must say there are lots of bargains there.

Is Platinum and Pratunam open today? It will be good to go there, but Pratunam is so hot I always take lots of water and cannot wait to get inside Platinum.

Have a good time at JJ. Sounds like Maeng is a great friend to you and makes me think of my friend Samaporn whom I miss.
Not decided where to stay yet.

Have fun, Carol. I guess Ken is heading home. I haven't been keeping up with it all, but will probably e-mail you two soon. Happy Travels!

Shopping today was only done at Chatuchak and JJ Mall. And I really didn't buy anything at JJ Mall other than a cute hand painted t-shirt for myself.

At Chatuchak, I picked up a selection of denim bags in all sizes and styles. Some are embellished and others are quite plain. Prices were very good!! I also picked up a few other smaller things, nothing exciting enough to report here.

I am mostly packed and organized for CM tomorrow. We fly at 1:00 and our driver will pick us up at 2:00 in CM. A CM friend has reserved rooms for us at the Holiday Inn (used to be Westin Riverside) which we really like. The suites are huge!!! Hoping to get a good deal on them. Maeng will be amazed at how big they are; and the jaccuzzi tub is great.

I am taking a large rice bag filled with things to ship from CM. I'm leaving a suitcase at my BKK hotel, as I do not need to take everything with me up north.

Guenmai, nice to see you over here. When will you come back to BKK? Yes, Ken headed home today. He asked if we will come to HNL in September and I said yes. Will you be coming over this year? It would be great to see you again.

Bkklover, I believe Pratunam/Platinum were open today, but I heeded my BKK friend's warning and did not go there. It will wait until after CM. There was nothing I really needed to get. I will heed your warning about Pahurat! Thanks for that info. I understand that red shirts moved down to soi 31, to protest in from of the Prime Minister's home. DS says that he thinks maybe some red shirts have gone home now. DS saw a pickup truck with the back end full of shirts of all colors except red. The red shirts were taking off their red shirts and putting on regular colors (all styles were available in the pickup truck). I had read in the paper that the red shirts would be doing this, in order to get out of the compound without calling attention to themselves.

My eyes are trying to close! It was sooooooo hot today, and it just made me more tired. I did not get a nap this afternoon because I got back from Chatuchak and had to organize my new purchases and prepare things for shipping. Then, I went to the PL to meet up with some Thai friends at 6pm. No nap time!! Boo hoo. I'm really pooped. Hope it cools a little bit, but I keep hearing that CM will be even hotter than here in BKK. But we will have the better part of 3 days to get our shopping done so we can slow down. We have 3 days to do the stuff we would normally do during a one-day trip to CM. We may try to work in a visit to a hill tribe. Maeng mentioned that today, and I said that sounded alike a good idea.

Hope the Hol Inn CM has wireless so I can stay in touch!

Carol

Is the HI a 7-8 story building? We stayed there and the powere went off... Off for 12-14 hours. No A/C...and we had to do the stairs up to the 6th floor. Brutal! Enjoy CM. My favorite place is the Celedon factories.

No Karen the HI is the old Sheraton Chiang Mai. Over 20 story high.

Is the HI a 7-8 story building? We stayed there and the powere went off... Off for 12-14 hours. No A/C...and we had to do the stairs up to the 6th floor. Brutal! Enjoy CM. My favorite place is the Celedon factories.