Gpanda

Guenmai-Give serious thought as to whether you want Bob to speak to the food service personnell on your behalf. This cannot have a good ending. With him as your advocate, the best you'll get is a bad meal. Food poisoning is a definite possibilty. Plus, they already know him from a previous GTG. I'm sure bad feelings still linger. If he does intercede on your behalf, make him promise that he will tell them that it is not for him. Whenever, Beth and I have dinner with him, we make sure to get two orders of Mango with Sticky Rice and have them served separately.

rhkkmk

guen---the man is deranged as you can clearly see----just bring lots of sharpened bamboo to poke into his cage...i don't need pictures to order from a menu like some people...

Gpanda

When you always order the same thing, i.e., Chicken with Cashews, Larb and Mango with Sticky Rice, of course you don't need pictures. You barely need words. Check his last two trip reports and you'll see exactly how limited his diet is. Pandas are omnivores. Bob is a bore-a-vore. I had too shame him into trying the Special Tofu at Dok Bua.

simpsonc510

OK OK OK...... truce!

Now, back to the subject at hand. I just wanted to volunteer a couple of spaces in my smallish rental car, for those of you who are flying into the GTG and will be relying on taxis to get to the Thai restaurant for a followup meal. I can follow our friend Bob, or the panda, either one, unless they drive like maniacs.
Carol

Craig

So, is there going to be a follow-up meal in the evening??? Sounds like a food-a-thon, rather than a Bob-a-thon. If this is going to extend to the evening, I may be able to pursuade my wife Jeane (the shopper) to join us for the Thai restaurant gig.

Gpanda

Craig and everyone-Bob had an actual good idea ( and who says there's no hope for personal growth in middle-aged men?). He thought that the Out-of-towners and anyone else might be interested in an Asian dinner as long as they were going to be lurking in the area anyway. Unlike most of his "ideas", this one has some validity. We could do it more informally, or if there is a groundswell we could pre-arrange something. I'm not sure Dok Bua takes reservations, but this can be determined if necessary. There's another good Thai restaurant called Khao Sarn, also in Brookline.

Guenmai

Thanks folks for the food information. From what you described, I think I'll be fine. If I'm super hungry and there's nothing to eat...I can always revert back to a meat eater and throw a Panda bear on the grill!! Ha...HA..Ha...Happy Travels!

Craig

If you want to formalize the evening dinner that is fine with me. Jeane and I would spend the night at the Marriot Courtyard just off the Mass Pike in Natick. It is about 15 minutes from the restaurant and $119/nt on weekends.

Gpanda

Craig-How is the pool at the Natick Marriott? Is there a boat down the River Charles that takes you to the T station?

Craig

Andy, according to the Marriot website, the Courtyard has "the ONLY indoor pool in Natick" - I guess you'd have to look elsewhere if you are looking for palm trees and resorty atomsphere. The hotel also provides a free shuttle (presumably not a boat) to the bus station.

simpsonc510

Where's our buddy Bob these days? He has not posted for a few days.

I hope we can get a group to "do" this Thai restaurant in the evening. I'm looking forward to the whole day of the 15th of Oct.

Carol

Craig

Bob was relaxing in Maine for the weekend. I am sure we can get a group together for the Thai restaurant since there are so many out-of-towners.

Guenmai

Bob...You need to start a new Thread. This one has gotten too long to scroll down. Why don't you just name the new Thread..."Boston GTG-Announcement-Part 2". Then it'll be faster to access. Happy Travels!

Craig

Guen - The Fodors site has a very nice feature: if you click on "Jump to most recent post", it takes you right to the bottom of the thread - no scrolling required.

Gpanda

Craig-when you stay at the Marriott, pull an RhkKmk and make sure you attempt to ingratiate yourself with the manager.

Carol-Don't worry, my sense of things is that the Thai dinner is a dome deal. As we get closer, we can do a head count of likely victims and arrange accordingly.

Please note that in the interests of keeping the piece, I am refraining from commenting on Bob's weekend sojourn to Maine. Nothing about Moose, teeth or Marriott's. I'll bet he got some neat wooden jewelry though.

simpsonc510

I just returned from booking my Sept20 to Oct4 trip to BKK! I will have just (barely) returned home when I join you lovely people in Boston for the GTG.

Bob seems to travel quite a bit, here and there! I'm glad he will soon be back on line giving us an update about Maine.

Carol

kuranosuke

carol, are you flying ua? if so, could you tell me the cost. i've been checking ua rates for travel from hnl to bkk from jan-april 2006, and they are all over $1100. none of last years $615-$750 fares avail. i wonder if those fares are gone forever.

simpsonc510

The basic price for my Sept 20-Oct 4 dates would have been around $950 (but I never saw that fare on line, that's what my T.A. quoted) and then I pay extra for "H" class so I can use my miles to upgrade.

IsisMnroe

Kuranosuke: In a past Lcuy posting, she recommended H.I.S. Hawaii agency in Honolulu at 808 922-4447. They specialize in Japan/South East Asia, Japan Rail Pass, domestic flight and others. Here's part of her posting:

"Author: lcuy
Date: 01/03/2005, 04:29 am

After searching for internet airfares in all the usual spots, I lucked out with our tickets by calling H.I.S. travel agency in Honolulu. They have gotten some pretty good prices on past trips, and this time I got tickets on Japan Airlines, Honolulu -Tokyo (change planes)-Bangkok(1 week)-Tokyo (4 days) -Honolulu for only $732. I thought they were just a local agency, but later saw their ads on billboards in both Bangkok and Tokyo, so I guess thats how they can get such great rates."

Guenmai

Kuranosuke...Yes, United has gotten ridiculously expensive, that's why I've started using Thai Air for the paid tickets...they are cheaper...plus the frequent flyer miles end up in United's account anyhow. Then I cash in the miles for free tickets on United. HAppy Travels!