I started errands at Bumrungrad. It takes 3 days (and 500 baht) to get a CD of my medical records. Glad I went there today and not at the end of my short trip! Isn"t technology wonderful! No need to carry papers or slides anymore. Just a simple CD has it all.

Now at MBK ordering business cards and getting a phone unlocked. Then some serious shopping!... Until I am ready to crash! Haha. Or as the Thais say, 555.

Wow... I think I needed sleep! My nap after shopping went on, and on, and on, and when I really woke up the sun was getting ready to shine! Rested and ready for the day!

I ended up moving to a different apartment this morning due to a myriad of issues with the one I moved out of. Some of it due to wear and tear, but the biggest issue was the extremely poor wifi signal! Tech could not make it any better. Not sure why.

Tonight is birthday #1 of 2 this week. It will be celebrated with a nice dinner at Monsoon, the lobby restaurant here at my soi 8 hotel. It's a very good restaurant! Should be a nice time tonight.

I see that Via Vai (good pizza) is closed for remodeling. The sign is still up, so hopefully it isn't closing for good!

Azooki, your idea certainly has merit. Maya Bay is beautiful! Wish I had the time to go there, but not on this trip.

Sounds like you are already having a great trip! Keep enjoying your time in Thailand - I'll be following along!

Birthday party #1 was a big success. Good friends, good food, tasy wine, and lots of laughs. Monsoon was a great choice for the location. This lovely couple will visit us in the states for about 4 weeks, in July. First time to USA for the birthday girl. First time also for Lat. Everyone is getting excited about the adventure. We are happy to show them around.

Two friends from Germany are now on their way to Bangkok for birthday party #2. They will arrive in the early morning. One is a 1st timer, the other has been to Bangkok once before. I hope they are ready for HOT weather, because we are having record high temps right now. The heat is quite oppressive, really.

I had a look at the new Emporium mall this afternoon. Similar to Central Embassy in some ways. Similar stores, upscale. Many places are not yet open. For those who like Thong Lo area, this is a nice addition, and much closer than Siam Paragon.

Speaking of Thong Lo, we have a business luncheon Wednesday on soi 13 (?) at a much touted place. Will have more details in my next posting.

Lunch place is called Roast. Excellent place!!!

Today is birthday party #2. I hope to be able to stay up much later than I have been doing! Tawandang is the party place, and it is our favorite Thai night club. The first time we went there in 2001 we were the only falongs in the place. Tonight, other than the falongs in our group, there might be 20 more, in a place that holds maybe 2000 people. Live entertainment, music, dancing, great food and beer, it is going to be a fabulous night! We have light showers today but it isn't going to dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

My taste buds and tummy are ecstatic after the huge breakfast I ate this morning. Other than my usual eggs, fruit, yogurt, breads, etc, there were two Thai dishes that were so yummy I had seconds! One was a very mild fish, the other was minced chicken with cashews. There was also a delicious sweet corn soup. So good!!

German friends arrived on time yesterday and are settled into Grand Sukhumvit Hotel, which is about 4 minutes walk, and visible out my big windows. They want to do a longtail boat into the klongs, which we will probably do Friday or Saturday.

I will go to the temple on Friday or Saturday morning with Thai friend, and #1 birthday party girl, to make merit. I welcome the good karma it bringsl. It can be a very moving experience.

I am off for a bit more shopping. I think Pratunam area today, and maybe Central Workd for a Haagen Dazs sundae to keep me going until Tawandang food tonight.

Party #2 was last night. Huge success! I think I'm the only one up in time to have breakfast this morning. Good thing we didn't get tickets to Chiang Mai for this morning. Looks like I will be staying right here in Bangkok. No side trip to Chiang Mai. That's fine. I love spending time in this city.

Weather has cooled down about 10° compared to +100 of my first few days here. Still better than 44° at home.

The time is quickly passing, and I have only a couple of days left here. Today will be a klong tour, unless we get heavy showers, with dinner at Monsoon. Tomorrow we will do a Red Sky dinner. The view is awesome, and it isn't nearly so stuffy as Sky Bar/Sirocco.

We did have a heavy downpour yesterday around 5pm, but we were all safely settled in at a gathering of good friends at Hanrahans for a cold beer. Dinner was at a middle eastern restaurant, Dubai Restaurant, on Sukhumvit soi 4. Interesting place. They do water pipes so the aroma filled the air. There was a saxophone player with electronic music background and he was terrific! Favorite dishes were the butter chicken and white snapper. We also had prawns and crab, all served Thai style.

I always love reading your post when you are there. You do such interesting and different things each time. It seems like the time has gone really fast.

We managed a 1.5 hour klong tour in between rain showers. We were lucky! Then we went to the Verandah at Oriental for coffee and desserts while we were down by the river. A stop at Paragon to get out of heavier rain before returning to my hotel.

Tonight, dinner at Monsoon, soi 8, and then we will go to Beer Vault to see good friend Lee Shamrock (singer) at Sheraton Four Points, soi 15. A busy day! Hopefully a good sleep tonight. Then one more day in Bangkok before going home on Monday. Time flies when I'm in Bangkok!

Time has flown! But it sound like you have had a fine time in Bangkok.

Still following along and enjoying the good times with you, Carol...

Carol have a safe trip back home. I enjoyed reading your enthusiastic reports. :).

Larry.

We squeezed in a stop at the top of Sukhumvit Sofitel for one beer last night, between the other two stops. Beautiful view! I was stopped because of wearing Fit Flops, but was allowed to go out to the deck anyway. They offered me shoes, but I told them I have sensitive feet and couldn't wear other shoes. I told them I thought Sky Bar was the only snooty place like that! Caught me off guard because I always wear Fit Flops in the Sofitel. I live in Fit Flops as soon as I hit the ground in Bangkok! They are comfortable and stylish! So there!!! LOL

Ready for my last tasty breakfast buffet! Loving the flavors. My tongue is dancing! :)

My last day included a business lunch at Moom Muum Terminal 21. A favorite for lunch! Time for packing and then a nap. We skipped Red Sky due to hogh humidity and the possibility ofshowers and opted instead for Via Vai, which just reopened after a few days of renovation. Good choice.

And now it's time to head home. I am enjoying coffee and croissant at Cathay Pacific business class lounge. A long day of flying back to Peoria!

Have a good trip home, Carol!

Home sweet home! The flights home were all on time and comfortable. Cathay could not give me my boarding passes for United, although my check bag was tagged all the way through. I had to make a stop at the United counter in HKG. Not a big deal. I still had time to visit the United Club before boarding my flight onward to ORD. The longest wait was for my regional flight out of Ohare. A 4 hour layover. Ugh. Very often these flights are delayed or cancelled, but tonight it was an on time departure. This is why I almost always drive to Ohare for my travels! The 3 hour drive often gets me home earlier than waiting for a regional flight to PIA or MLI.

Anyway, Bangkok trip #37 was short and sweet, but I'm so glad I was able to go.

Ttt

Carol....if you pick this up, what was the menu , atmosphere etc at Roast like. Worth the trip?

Just caught up on your report.

The skies are gray here in holland and it is probably 65... Can hear church bells across the water inlet beside our hotel.

Meeting Beth (former mrs gpanda) tomorrow in delft and we will visit the flower fields and the annual flower displays at keugenhof and go on to Ghent in Belgium.
Should be fun.

After stops in Germany and Brussels we will return home in a couple of weeks. Btw, our transatlantic cruise was fun and relaxing and the two weeks passed quickly.