Unlocked phone works! That was the main objective.

We ended up having dinner at Monsoon. They served turkey and trimmings as a set menu. Not bad!!!

Today was laundry (machine had no power at first, so repairs had to be made...20 minutes maybe). Then an adventure!

I took the Airport Express out to BKK airport because I wanted to speak face to face with an agent from Thai Airways. I enjoyed my ride on the train. Twenty minutes from Phaya Thai to BKK. Seats are very comfortable. Plenty of room. The train stops at the 'basement' level (one floor below taxi stands) so is very handy! The City Line is much more crowded... it costs about half, but it makes some 6-7 stops along the way and takes slightly longer to reach the airport.

I took a number and waited my turn to speak to a Thai agent. Got what I needed in about 20 minutes, then stopped for a Black Canyon coffee, and then back on the Express back into Phaya Thai station. Round trip is 150 baht. One-way is 90.

We had dinner at the top of the Sofitel tonight. Gorgeous view. We ate outside. Weather was pleasant. Not windy at all. Last time we were up there it was quite windy. The restaurant is French, so we had dishes like terrine and foie gras, seared tuna and salad nichoisse (sp) and cold cucumber gazpacho soup. Tasty but not exceptional.

If you want to relax and watch the view (and there were some fireworks in the distance tonight) just get a pint or two of beer (200 baht each) and take your time. Much more relaxed than Sky Bar! Less costly too!!! No 'grand staircase' or Greek portico architecture, but still worth the time to go into Sukhumvit at soi 15. If you are my friend on FB you can maybe see a few pictures!

Not a late night. We're ready to hit the sack at 10:30.

why didn't you just go to one of the thai air offices in the city?

Bob, I knew exactly where to go at the airport. I'm not at all sure where the office in Silom is located. Travel is an adventure!!! Bring it on!!!

Can you believe, I've not had Haagen Dazs since DH got here? I think I'll head to Central World this afternoon for an ice cream fix!

Dinner at Monsoon tonight, with Chef Lars and Pong! Reservations suggested... DONE.

Plans sidetracked today and maybe tomorrow as well.

We had a very nice dinner at Monsoon last night. There were ten of us. Nice to see Thai friends and Dr Jack.

Quiz night at PL left us in next to last place... but still a great time.

What will you do instead? Sounds like you're having more out-and-about at night than we are.

Question: What in the world have you done in BKK or Thailand for 30 visits? I thought about this as we marched on the very thin bridge over the water by the AWatergate. My inside my head voice: "What does she do for 30 visits?"

I have many friends here for one thing. We do printing jobs here in Bangkok for another. I used to supply a small stall in a ladies shop with bags and scarves and such, with goods from here but that shop closed. Bangkok is my favorite city! I really enjoy being here; I can easily stay for weeks at a time.

Sorry for being AWOL for a bit. DS has been in and out of Bangkok Heart Hospital, where he had an angio for some minor pain. Eveything's OK, thank goodness. Now I can get back out again after spending time in the hospital.

Anyway, a couple of dinners: Via Vai last night. Really good pumpkin soup!! I did not do pizza there again, since having it when I first arrived in BKK a week and a half ago. Then tonight we had dinner at Monsoon again. DS wanted to do something close and comfortable because he s/be taking it easy today.

Tomorrow is a big pool tournament and I'll be watching and rooting for DH, DS, and DSs GF Lat. DH has not played much in about a year, so he probably won't be in it very long. DS has issues with his 'bridge hand' since having an IV tube in the top of it! I'd put my money on Lat. She's a really good player. Girls rule!!

It was really pretty hot today in Bangkok, so relaxing in the AC in our apartment after dinner is wonderful! Sometimes ya just wanna veg out....

We are set with a van to Pattaya on Monday at noon. New Years Eve celebrations

Enjoy and Happy New Years.

Another sunny Bangkok in day. Hoping it is not as hot as yesterday was.

No specific plans other than the pool tournament.

Happy New Year to one and all. Watching CNN Int'l and wondering about fiscal cliff. It's actually nice to be away from all that doom & gloom news!!

DH was out of the tournament after round #3, same with DS's GF. DS was still playing when we (DH and I) finally left. Maybe he won?? We'll find out later on today.

DH and I went to a new place for dinner last night. It was an international buffet that was really quite good. They were having a 2 for 1 special so we both ate for the 1400 baht price for just one person. This did not include beverage. We ordered a glass of red wine each, which we did not drink as it had a cork-y taste. Try explaining THAT ONE to a server who speaks very little English..... anyway, we were not charged for the wine. We spoke to three different people until we finally could get the word across, and advise that they get rid of the bottle of wine and not try to serve it to anyone else.

This buffet is located at the Grande Sukhumvit. This big lux hotel is located on Sukhumvit soi 6 and was originally built as a Sofitel (and a really nice one!! I stayed there about 5 years ago) but there was a name change a few years ago. The location on this small soi is probably the reason Sofitel did not keep this location. The traffic out in front of the building is one-way, single lane, and it 'feeds' into Sukhumvit Rd. Traffic can sit on this soi and wait and wait sometimes, so if you have a plane to catch or an appt to keep, you just might not make it on time! Anyway, we may very well return to this buffet at some point.

We are heading to Pattaya at noon today. Marriott points used for two rooms, two nights. We are not charged for the Gala Dinner that the hotel will be having tonight. Some places require payment, whether you attend the gala or not! Marriott does not do that, at least at this location.

have fun

Fireworks here seemed even better than in years past. Marriott is at full capacity (sorry to say, no upgrade to a higher floor room) but we could still catch sight of the amazing display. Pizza and wine for a snack. Happy New Year to one and all!

This morning Pattaya feels (dare I say it) COOL and breezy and FABULOUS!!!! Really enjoying my morning coffee on the balcony!

Today will probably be a trip down to the big mall, Central Festival, for a walk around and maybe get a Haagen Dazs treat. The mall is 7-8 blocks away, not a bad walk actually. There is also a smaller mall attached to the Marriott, where we did a stroll yesterday while waiting for our room to be cleaned. DH got a new Jim Thompson shirt... nice!

The van ride down to Pattaya yesterday was uneventful, although I kept thinking the driver would fall asleep! (Like Edgar's did, and ran into a toll booth!)... but Lat sat up front and kept him busy in conversation the last hour or so!!! Pattaya traffic was like a parking lot, but we knew to expect that.

Marriott Executive Lounge had great food last night. DH and I managed to make "dinner" out of it. DS and Lat went down the road and played pool for a while. We caught up later, when they brought pizza before the fireworks display.

Our one full day here looks like a fabulous one. It is 9:30 and the heat has not settled onto our shaded balcony!! A great place to spend some time today.

Enjoy your holiday, where ever you spend it.

Carol

Hey Carol
Long time, no check in (on Fodors) mainly because dh wasn't going along with my plans to return to Thailand inJan 13. However, he's game for '14.
I just KNEW, you'd be there again over the Christmas New Years period so thought I'd check in and see what's happening. Sounds like a really nice relaxing trip with good sunshine and plenty of shopping expeditions.
We have been going to Florida for Fall and Winter (home for Christmas) and I'm really excited to be planning to return to lovely Thailand next January.
Love your updates. still hope to get together with you on one of these trips or GTG's.
Sue

Hi Sue!! Nice to find you following along here. I thought I'd be found on "page 2" by now! lol Hope our dates can merge at some point here in BKK! Would love to meet up.

DH and I have returned from Pattaya about an hour ago. Travel is an adventure (our motto) and it was, indeed, an adventure getting back 'home' to Sukhumvit soi 8!

I first asked for 2pm check out at Pattaya Marriott so that we would not have to rush around packing and taking time to get breakfast at some point. No problem with late check out as I am a platinum with Marriott.

I went to the 'limo desk' to ask the price of a ride back to Bangkok Suk soi 8. 2800 baht. And we could leave at 3 or 4 pm. (not what I wanted to hear) We paid 2000 baht to get from our Suk location TO Pattaya on New Years Eve day. 800 baht more is too much....

Told DH what I had found out and he said we should walk along the busy street outside the hotel and find a travel agent to ask. Well.... we stepped out to the street, and right there was a TAXI stand... DH asked and was told it would cost 1500 baht to get from Marriott Pattaya back to Bangkok Sukhumvit soi 8. GREAT!!!! The taxi was sitting right there, waiting for a fare. We just needed to go check out and return to the taxi stand.

Checking out took about 15-20 minutes longer than anticipated. Off to the taxi stand.... NO TAXI now. Someone else beat us to our ride! Drat! The guy who stops (flags down) the taxis at that location said we should sit and wait maybe 10 minutes and we would be on our way.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock..... no taxis are stopping for this guy who promised us a ride.

Finally a taxi stops about 50 feet away. I insist that DH go ask that driver what he would charge us. DH tries to negotiate (3000 baht is asking price) and ends up walking away. The taxi driver then pulls up next to where I am sitting, waiting with our bags. I ask him how much to BKK airport and he says he'll take us to "Swampy" (nickname) for 2000 baht. I say YES. It's now 1:15.

So, about 1.5 hours from "beach area" Pattaya to BKK airport. It takes a l-o-n-g time (in traffic) to get from the beach to the big highway. We arrive "Swampy" at 2:45. The taxi driver drops us off on the street level taxi area, and we go down one level to catch the Express Train (same one I took a week ago in this report) which will leave at 3pm. Whew!! Good timing. We get our tickets and hop on the train.

BKK to Phayathai, 19 minutes, then lugging luggage (not too much, thank goodness) down the stairs and back up the escalator to the sky train, which was just pulling in!! Talk about good timing!!

At 3:40 we are back "home" on soi 8. Yippeee!!

Right now we are relaxing. Not sure what we will do for dinner, but we'll come up with something!

Last night we did the international buffet at the Pattaya Marriott. Four buffets and one (nice) bottle of Chilean wine was about 5500 baht. Everyone ate until full. It was all quite good.

I somehow managed to catch a cold a couple of days ago, and it kept me from doing very much walking around/shopping while in Pattaya... boohoo... but today it is much better. I got some cough meds from a Boots pharmacy and they are helping. My runny nose has pretty much stopped, thanks to Benadryl that I had in my kit bag.

DS and his girlfriend left Pattaya this morning at 9am, taking transportation to the Rayong vicinity, so they could catch up with friends at 10am and get a speed boat to take them all out to Koh Samet for a couple of days. They will be back in BKK on Friday afternoon. DS has already posted a photo on Facebook. It looks very nice! I'm sure they will have a nice time. DH and I might consider this for another time. This time we are happy to just be back in Bangkok.

there is a new marriott at rayong, fyi.

next year reserve a taxi a day in advance...

Bob, we've not always had the best experience reserving that taxi a day in advance. If that taxi driver gets a 'better deal' he's off in another direction and we're left standing. It has happened before!!!

I just chalk it up to experience. We made it back to Bangkok in one piece, and DH enjoyed the Express train ride.

We ended up having dinner at Via Vai and it was very tasty. We each tried a different salad (and I had their excellent pumpkin soup). Live music has started up again in the evenings. It's a 3-pc jazz combo. Not too loud. Pleasant! I think the music started about 8/8:30. We were just finishing so only heard about 3 songs played.

Oh... Bob, Swiss friends of ours spent the holidays in Rayong about 2 years ago. I think they thought it was pretty quiet. Probably not what we are looking for. But still good to know that there is now a Marriott there. (free on points is always a plus)

Our last few days in Bangkok will go by quickly, I'm sure. One of the highlights of this trip is, however, the trip HOME. We are all flying the new Thai A380 in first class! That makes leaving Thailand a little bit easier to handle.... lol

DH and I will leave Monday NIGHT (not that AWFUL 6 am BKK-NRT schedule) for routing via Europe instead of Japan. No getting up at 3am to get ready to fly home... yippeeee

DS will have to be up early on Tuesday morning as his flight IS via Japan, but on the A380 at 8am.

Other than re-connecting with a number of friends here in Bangkok, the next few days will be void of anything special (unless I can get the group to go down to the river to see Asiatique... I might accomplish that...) We've not been to the river yet, in nearly 3 weeks!

Hoping you are all enjoying your new year thus far. We are certainly enjoying the pleasant weather here in Bangkok.

Carol