Karen thank you for your thoughts! Bangkok is back to normal now but the cleaning up for those affected will take a long time.

Kathie and Singha? No way! She's more Dom than Singha.

Cheryl, however, loves Singha. And she had one with lunch today. (and you are so right about me, Hanuman!)

Karen, we fly home Wednesday morning.

Today is the King's birthday. We were headed for a wat in the area of the Grand Palace this morning. There were huge crowds of people waiting to catch a glimpse of the king. We stood and watched the horse guards. Eventually, the king was driven into the Palace in a big gold car. There were rumors that he might make an appearance on the balcony at noon. Cheryl, bitten by a bad case of photographer's fever, stood there for another hour and a half getting sun burned. The king did not come out on the balcony, but was driven back out of the palace about noon.

There will be fireworks on the river tonight.

Enjoy the fireworks!

enjoy your all too few days in bkk... fireworks on the river are always a blast

We have just returned from a lovely evening with Hanuman and Mony. Unfortunately, Dang was out of town and couldn't join us. We ate at the renowned Gaggan, a temple to molecular gastronomy with an Indian accent. What a superb meal! For the gourmands amongst you, this is a must-visit place. In addition to eating the truly remarkable food, we got a tour of the kitchen.

Thanks again, Hanuman!

Very happy that you guys like the restaurant and thank you for the lovely wine! The only thing better than the food was your company!

Where is Gaggan and do you need to make a reservation? We arrive Christmas Eve (after midnight!) and would like something special during our three-day stay.

It's close to the four seasons and yes you do need a reservation.
Mathis, isn't Gaggan awesome? I had one of my most favourite meals there and of course our man on the ground knows everyone here!!! How was the new dish Pook?

Nicky,

A lot of new dishes from the time you and Kuranosuke went there. Some excellent tasty new dishes with just the right amount of spices and the perfect ingredient. This is one of the new dish which is my favorite: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater

Guess what? They are thinking about opening a branch in London as they want their Michelin Star(s)!

jspbeutp,

Their website is still not fully up yet but there's a location map on it: http://www.eatatgaggan.com/

Note to self to add that one to the list for February!

ah yes, had one of the best meals ever, at gaggan, with nicky and hanuman. i want to go again.

It sounds like we have a good group for a gtg there!

Filmwill, you might be interested to know that the chef cooked at El Bulli. I think you and David would like it.

More conventional cuisine today - we ate at Biscotti, a favorite of Bob and Karen. Excellent Italian food.

We also visited the tree here on the ROS proprty where some of Andy's ashes were deposited, and spent some time remembering him and the good times we had.

glad you liked biscotti...i wish they would not keep raising their prices however...

was there cigar smoke around the tree??

No cigar smoke, lol.

We had a lovely set lunch at Biscotti for 790 each.

Just a quick check-in from Narita. We had a good view of Fuji on our way in. We'll soon be boarding our flight for Seattle. It's been a great trip.

A couple of post-trip notes:

While in Bangkok, we decided to look at some serviced apartments, believing that our stays in Bangkok will be longer once we have retired (still a couple of years away).

We looked at the "new" Marriott Vacation Club offering at Empire Place. First of all, they won't even show you an apartment unless you are a Marriott Vacation Club member. Empire Place is a condo tower, Marriott owns 50 of the units (spread all over the tower). We were not impressed with the apartments. WHile they had washer/dryers, they had no dishwasher in any of the apartments, and the one bedroom apartments did not have an oven. The decor looked tired and a bit dark, most of the views were of the buildings next door. While I read some rave reviews on Trip Advisor, we gave it a thumbs down. Not for us.

We also stopped by to see the Marriott mayfair Executive Apartments near the Chitlom BTS, as Bob and Karen really liked this place. We liked the neighborhood, the apartments were nice, again, only two bedroom apartments had ovens. I know there are two other Marriott Exec Apartments we have not seen. Our verdict? The apartments were nice, but we aren't yet ready to give up the amenities of the ROS.

We had a nice surprise on the last leg of our trip - the 777 from Narita to Seattle has the new seats! At last!!

Nice to hear you had the new seats on your United flight - they are the best!

Nice to know you are having a good time

Kathie: Glad you're having a great time. When I have more time, I'll read more of your threads in detail. Have been a bit swamped with lots of stuff including Pasadena windstorm damage. I'll e-mail you at some point. Have a great continued trip. Happy Travels!

Kathie, thanks for your on the spot updating. We'll be at the ROS on Feb 10...first time in Bangkok. If I'm remembering correctly, you do a meet and greet transfer from the airport to the ROS. What company do you use?