Bangkok holidays...AGAIN...
 

I'm packing today, packing warm weather clothes, for a 5th-year-in-a-row trip to Thailand for the holidays. This time I get almost THREE WEEKS.... yippee!!! After this many years, we've now established some very nice traditions. I so look forward to all of it yet again!

DH, DS and I will travel on different days but the same flight itineraries. That is a story all unto itself!! Every one of our itineraries have changed in the last 24 hours, changed, thank goodness, to BETTER routes and travel times. DH and I originally were going via Shanghai (where you have to reclaim and recheck luggage plus clear immigration/security... and on and on). With a 2.5 hour layover, it was beginning to sound tooooooo hairy for us old folks!! Now we go through Narita instead! Whew! We have 1 hr 15 min layover, and then will catch Thai first class onward to Bangkok.

DS's itinerary has changed from an 8-hour layover upon arrival at Narita, which would be needed in order to transfer to Haneda airport. DS is now also doing the 1 hour 15 min layover in NRT and then hopping on Thai (first class) onward to Bangkok.

I'm thrilled to get these changes in place, and there were no fees to do it (we are 1K and platinum with UA). It was very easy to accomplish the changes on line!!! Thank you UA.

So, now I'm packing and will head to Chicago tomorrow, on Amtrak, sleeping at a hotel near OHare, and flying on Monday! Taking Amtrak is something I've not done in a long time. I usually drive and do a park/sleep/fly and then fly off to parts unknown the next day. DH has the responsibility of the park/sleep/fly this time, as he is coming to Bangkok about 5 days later.

We are booked into the Adelphi on soi 8 for the entire trip, but will be gone on a couple of short term trips: one night in Ban Bueng on Christmas Eve, and two nights at Marriott Pattaya for the New Year (free with points).

I really have no idea if other fodorites will be in Bangkok at the same time. If you are planning and holiday trip, and if our schedules just happen to merge, I would love to do a GTG and put more names and faces together. Just let me know, on this thread, and we shall see what we can do.

Back to my packing!

Carol

Enjoy your trip, Carol. I think we'll just miss you since we'll be in Bangkok from 28 January to 2 February.

Seriously just HOW many times do you get to go to BKK a year!!!! Very jealous. :)

Smeagol, this is #5 this year. I was there in January (end of LAST years holiday trip, if that counts), then again in April for DS's birthday bash at Tawandang; July was for the birthday of DS's girlfriend, plus I flew on to Sydney for two more birthday parties; and then October was for no special reason, just fun; and then we're back to December's holiday trip!

Have (another) great trip...

bon voyage...

simpsonc510~ I am up for a get-to-gether with you! My dear friend who travled with me in Up With People is from there. My days of saying, 'I should come see you' are over. Our plans are to be there (BKK) during Christmas week. Only 1 week, but a good introduction week, nonetheless. Please let me know if you'd like to meet for a coffee or (what-ever-there-is-to-do in Thailand. :)
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Coffee would be great, onetwothree. As I mentioned, I will be in the Sukhumvit area on soi 8. Let us see what we can manage!

Arriving Chicago by Amtrak! Uneventful 3 hour ride. Now to get to my OHare hotel......

Have fun!

Happy Travels!

Guenmai, I really wish our BKK schedules would have been in sync!

Just had a very nice margherita pizza and glass of Italian red wine at a very good restaurant at my OHare (Intercontinental) hotel. Very tasty for hotel fare... My room is really very spacious. I'm in a corner room, but that doesn't mean that I have two walls of windows. When you come into my room, there is an "entry" area, and then you turn left to go down a 'hall' that passes the nice bathroom on the way to the sleeping/TV area. I'd stay here again!

DS left for BKK this morning, and is right now on his way to NRT. He will reach BKK about the time I'm flying out tomorrow, since it is a 24-hour trip, pretty much.

My schedule changed as of yesterday and I'm rebooked for a couple of weeks later than the original booking, thus cutting my BKK time in half, if the trip happens. The airline was quite understanding. I don't want to get into the circumstances.

Have fun and one day we'll hook up.

Happy Travels!

Guenmai, I really hope you don't have to cancel your entire trip! But I understand your situation, what with aging parents... been there myself.

I didn't sleep much last night (excitement I suppose). I'm having my coffee and will head to OHare around 9:30-10:00. My flt is at noon. Plenty of time to enjoy the International First Class (IFL) lounge.

Having my breakfast at the international first class lounge at OHare. Nice selection!

Have a fantastic trip!

Havea great trip. Enjoy that nice warm weather...cold, wet and icey here today.

Made it to Bangkok tonight. My flight (Thai from NRT in 1st class) landed about 10:45, and then I had the royal treatment (the buggy ride to immigration, someone to collect my bags and take me to a taxi) and was checked in at Adelphi by 11:45. A quick jaunt down to say hello to a few friends at Sports Academy, and then I hope to get some sleep.

The flight from ORD-NRT was uneventful. Smooth as silk. Not a single bump until we got close to NRT. First class seating is very comfy, with lie-flat seat/bed. United now does a turn-down service, where they put your seat down and then put a pad on top of it, to sort of buffer the various bumps and seams in the design of the seat. I didn't personally feel much difference from the normal feel of the seat. I managed to sleep some, which is what I really like to do on that long haul.

We left ORD about 30 minutes late, which concerned me because my connection time was 1 hr 15 minutes to begin with. The pilot made up the time in the air, and we landed on time. I had a very quick visit to the ANA international first lounge. I was not hungry, so just had a coffee and used internet.

The Thai flight left about 15 minutes later than scheduled. The first class cabin on this aircraft (Jet Airways) is really unique. I was in the center of the 1-2-1 configuration. There was a "wall" that popped up between myself and the person in the next seat, so privacy for sure. Then, the compartment has a sliding door. There's even a sign that you can turn on... Do Not Disturb! How 'bout that!

The lights are never completely turned off. Cabin lighting includes tiny little lights that look like a sprinkling of stars on the ceiling. Nice touch!

The bathroom gets serviced very frequently. What a neat touch.... the end of the roll of toilet paper is folded into the shape of a bow!! I tore off the end and kept it! The towels for drying are really face cloths. There are little clear plastic tubes containing toothpaste and toothbrush, so I indulged, even though the amenities kit (from TUMI) already has this sort of stuff in it.

The TV screen has listings for movies, TV, games, and then there is "telephony".... you can make a call to the ground, but you can also call from seat to seat!! I've not seen that before.

Loved loved loved the massaging seat!! I think I used it for the last 1.5 hours of the flight! It felt soooo nice after sitting on planes for nearly 24 hours.

The food was very tasty. It was pretty much a Thai meal, although there were sushi offerings with the appetizers. The entree choices were beef, chicken, and fish. I typically do not have the main course, just doing the appetizers and then dessert. The appetizers were 3 courses in and of themselves! There was a white bean soup that was really delicious! There was a chicken satay sort of thing, very delicious, and a duck liver pate with wasabi and spring roll and a lobster piece. Dessert was the fruit and cheese plate.

Another dessert just prior to landing was some Haagen-Dazs strawberry ice cream!!

All in all, it was a very nice trip from ORD to BKK. Now I here, and I can relax and soak in the warm temps. It was 83 and clear when we landed.

Time for some sleep now, if I can manage to close my eyes. I'm pretty wide awake right now.

Carol

Sounds like a good first class flight!

I hope to fly first class on United some day. However, I am too cheap (not as cheap as Bob though), even with points.

Wake up Carol, time! Lucky you always getting first class. Will be following along too.

Aloha!

Just had a nice breakfast with friends from Samui who are in BKK for Christmas (and baby-to-be) shopping and who are also staying here on soi 8.

Newbies are here in the city for about 5 days, and I do believe I get to be the shopping guide today!!! Whoop whoop!! I can do that!!!

So what did you buy? Any new finds? I loved how PLatinum has divided the floors. Easier to find what you are looking for.

Hi K, we bought scarves (some really NEAT ones... they feel so soft... no idea what they are made of), and of course we bought jewelry at Coco Banana. My newbie did the 'twice around the shop' to make sure she saw everything.

We also hit the stationary department at Tokyu (MBK) and the newbie bought lots of pens, pencils, journals, stickers, and I don't know what all.

The group went to Red Sky for dinner, but I took at nap. I caught up with them later on, on soi 4, at Hanrahans, to hear our friend Lee, the one-man band, do his music.

I managed to stay up until now (after 12:30) so I'm doing pretty good!

Now, if I can just sleep in until at least 6:30-7 in the morning, I'll be good to go.

Carol, we're not shoppers but I feel we should visit one mall just to see what it's all about. Which one do you recommend? We're staying at the Peninsula.

Platinum....easy to navigate, has AC, Lots of interesting things to see. But, there are no electornics. Be sure and take a holtel card with you , to use getting a taxi out of there. Some times it takes us 3 or 4 tries to find on,so don't give up. I brought home 12 pr of shoes last trip.

Thanks, Karen. I think I've owned 12 pairs of shoes in my lifetime!

Marija
Frankly, I would say MBK for someone who will only go to one Thai mall. Much more variety. You will get the 'feel' of the place, and the mobs of people who go through there. If it is just curiosity that takes you there, and not a hunt for shoes or bling jewelry or bags, then MBK will be more interesting.

Yes, I buy more at Platinum. But I'm a shopper!

I slept in to 8 this morning!!!! Woke up at 5 and convinced myself to go back to sleep. So glad I did.

Had breakfast with Samui friends again. They are leaving this morning, so I'm glad I got to see them one last time. Her shopping was at Paragon, Emporium, and Central Chitlom department store. She says she bought LOTS of things.

BTW, the husband says there is a new Central going up on Samui, just north of Chaweng, on the beach road, across the road from the beach. There is a 10 acre plot of land being turned into a shopping venue. GREAT!!!

It's a beautiful sunny day (Friday) here in Bangkok. I slept in until 8 this morning with no difficulty at all... maybe not so much jet lag trouble this time??

Yesterday was a shopping trip to Central Chitlom department store, where I bought a really nice white loose fitting shirt. I have not seen the brand "Sophie" before, but a very nice fitting and comfy gauzy sort of Asia hot-weather top. Nice quality as well!!

Off to Paragon where I shopped the Gourmet Market. I'm a strawberry freak, so I picked up two different containers of them. One container, darker red strawberries (not sure where they are grown) has an almost "perfumed" taste to them. Not sure I like them so much. The other container cost nearly TWICE the price of the already-expensive first selection. OMG, these Korean Organic strawberries are AWESOME!!! If I can afford it, I'll get more!! The price (are you sitting down???) was nearly 800 baht for the container. That translates to about $25!!!!!!! But the taste is unbelievably juicy and sweet. They could become habit forming... yes, an expensive habit!!!

We did two quiz nights last night. We started out at the Beer Vault on soi 15, Four Points Hotel. We were pleased to have Edgar Degas join us for a beer and conversation. I met Edgar a few years ago at the Pickled Liver, when Maeng pointed him out to me. He had been there before and had asked Maeng about me, so she gladly pointed him out to me the next time he was there at the same time I was! In any case, nice to sit and visit with another fodorite in Bangkok! Edgar is a very interesting individual. Maybe I can convince him to come to a GTG in HNL sometime. We tried the quiz but were not really in the running. It's all a picture quiz... ie name the movie and or character in the picture, or name the song/artist that is played on the PA.

The "big" quiz contest on Thursdays is at the Pickled Liver. Wow, what a tough quiz!!! It was a special Christmas quiz. All 6-7 teams had a hard time coming up with answers to the questions and picture "puzzles" but our team came in a very respectable 3rd place!! We beat out 4th place by a half point. We were delighted to be in such close competition with the trivia pros. Some of these teams compete 2-3 nights a week at various locations around BKK. Mostly around Sukhumvit I think.

Today, Friday, is a day for loafing!! I love these days with NO plans and NO particular place to go. I might even get started on a book I brought with me to read. The last three years in a row, I've been doing proofing projects for books that our family business publishes (here in Bangkok). This year I'm not proofing!!! Whoop whoop!!

DH has hopefully survived the somewhat dangerous (blizzard) drive to Ohare and will be flying out to join us in BKK tomorrow. Hopefully no weather issues and delays on Friday!!!! Get those plows out and clear those runways.......!!

I'll report in on exchange rates today as I plan to go to VASU shortly.

Stay warm everyone....

Carol

VASU was 30.60 today. One of the banks at MBK was at 30.31, and a street walk-up on Sukhumvit (near soi 8) was 3.26.

Having issues with signing in here, so not sure what is going on. If I don't post for a while, it might be because I can't seem to log in and have my password accepted! I'll be on FB though, if you are one of my FB friends.

Hoping DH is going to wake up this morning to clear runways at OHare! I want him to get here tomorrow night....

I was playing on the computer last night, on the United site, and managed to change DSs homeward bound ticket to avoid China. He was scheduled thru Beijing, with a fairly short layover time. Now he is scheduled via Narita, and on a Thai A380 in first class! Pays to keep a watch on the reservations!!!

We dined at Via Vai last night. The pizza was great (although not as good as it was about a year ago). A friend here says he prefers the pizza at Monsoon now, over Via Vai. Monsoon is our lobby restaurant here at Adelphi Suites.

Today, a haircut. Not sure if I will look for my usual stylist (OD) or if I will go to a Toni & Guy salon and hope for the best.... I'm looking shaggy. This pixie cut is great, but it demands attention about every 4-5 weeks. My last cut was 5 weeks ago, in Amsterdam, at a Toni & Guy. Not a bad cut... but not a GREAT cut either... if you have short hair, you can tell when you've had a great cut vs an OK cut. With that in mind, I should probably stick with OD!! He is at a salon right behind Central Chitlom department store.

Taking it easy today. The last several days have been go go go. I might even take my pleasure reading and go upstairs by the pool for a while! That's very unusual for me.

Carol

You could even hop IN the pool. Might be fun and relaxing. How was the hair cut?

Haircut was good. I went back to OD. After that I went out to the weekend market. I didn't shop in the market itself. I was on a mission to JJ Mall. I was looking for specific items and I knew they could be found at JJ Mall.

Success!

DS and girlfriend both played in a pool tournament today so I went to watch them They both got beat but it was fun to watch anyway.

Now I'm waiting for DH, trying to stay awake. His plane has just landed, so he should be here in about an hour!

LOL, you rich American tourists! ;-)

I've been eating a lot of strawberries lately, but I buy the local frozen (IQF) ones at around 85 Baht for a 500 gram bag. They're just fine with plain yogurt and bananas for breakfast.

Carol hasn't mentioned how hot it is this year (guess it's relative). This is the hottest cool season I can remember for several years.

Off to Ban Bueng today, to spend Christmas Eve with friends at their weekend house. Always enjoy this time together. DS will rent a car and we will drive down. About 1 hour 15 minutes south of Bangkok... in the direction of Pattaya.

Yesterday was a busy day trying to get DHs phone working. He is switching his BKK phone from an old iPhone to a newer iPhone 4S (he has the latest iPhone 5 for home now). Anyway, what at adventure. MBK can do some stuff, but not all of it. Today we go back to MBK to get the iPhone 4S "unlocked" which had NOT been done. Right now it shows "no service" but hopefully it will get service once it is unlocked! Why didn't we think of that little glitch yesterday!

We had dinner at Monsoon last night. Very nice. We dined outside. Quite pleasant!

Another sunny day in Bangkok is upon us. It is Christmas Eve day here now.

Michael, I don't mention how hot it is because it is no bother to me. Chicago is very C-O-L-D.... I much prefer THIS weather in Bangkok!!! Bring on the heat... :))

Carol

Hi Carol! Can't believe it was just about a year ago that I met u and got your tour of a mall and advice on getting around BKK. Sounds like you're having a great time. Wish we were coming again this year. happy holidays!

Happy Holidays to you as well, yestravel. The weather here today is delightful! A bit lower temp, I think. Illinois is covered in snow!!

Well.... the iPhone adventure continues. DH switched his SIM card yesterday to his 'old' iPhone 4S.. but he got "NO SERVICE"... because the phone had NOT been unlocked. We had discusions (at times heated) about what was going on with the phone. (I was right) Would you believe, 1000 baht to have it unlocked? And it takes 24 hours. Live and learn.

Off to Ban Bueng in a couple of hours.

You should shop around. USD $10 and only 10 minutes in Saigon to have your iPhone unlocked.

when i unlocked mine it simply was a series of perhaps 5 numbers used ... MBK saw you coming.. TIT

Whatever.........

I wish he could have gotten it done that quickly and for that much. This is perhaps an iPhone with extra security measures that took a long time for the hackers to figure out how to unlock it?? I recall one of the venders who was buying all of them he could get, but he could not sell them yet, as the unlocking had not yet been figured out. He had a bunch of them in the safe! There is a difference between iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. DH has 4S.

Anyway, we will pick up the phone when we get back into Bangkok this afternoon. We have spent Christmas Eve at the weekend house in Ban Bueng, and it has been great fun. A fabulous Danish meal of roast duck, roast pork, sweet potatoes, boiled potatoes and gravy, red cabbage, and a mud pie for dessert.

Time for breakfast! Chef Lars is preparing an omelet and French bread, etc.

I don't like shopping at MBK for this reason. Too many scams and scammers there. The iphone 4s has been out for months and getting ones unlocked are easy peazy. It sounds like you have been scammed. But like you say whatever.