Destination Bangkok, again
 

My flight to Thailand is in a few hours. I bought my ticket many months ago, when a first class ticket was priced just slightly more than business class! Little did I know when I bought it that United would stop serving BKK airport. Maybe that's the reason for such a good price! I know many here like ANA, but I'm not one of them. Oh well... 1st class to NRT on UA and business class on ANA to BKK. I shall survive. My return is same, unless I need to make changes.

The main purpose for this trip is the birthday of a Thai friend. I plan to take her to Hong Kong for sight seeing and shopping, barring any bad weather. Then plans will change to either Singapore or Penang. We shall see.

I return to Adelphi, Sukhumvit soi 8, but will also stay at the newer Marriott at soi 57. HKG will be sandwiched in between these two stays.

Weather outlook: rainy in Bangkok. I shall not be deterred! Haha.

Meeting up with a fodorite for dinner at the new Embassy mall.

Wheels up soon! Time to head to the airport.

Have a good flight over Carol and I spotted your semi tall, dark and handsome Fodorite dinner companion today!

Have a good trip. I look forward to hearing about your travels outside of Bangkok...

Hanuman...haha. Good to know he is there. You should join us for dinner. Any recommendations at new Embassy mall?

Wish I could Carol but I am leaving town tomorrow and will not be back in time. Lots of choices there but I have not tried them all yet. I suggest you walk around and look first before you decide.

sending you a Marriott HK special

what is it you don't like about ANA??

Carol, have a wonderful time. I know you will. We are envious - we are having Bangkok withdrawal!

Have a great time Carol! Will be following along with interest as always.

Is this fodorite usually dressed in a black ninja outfit? lol

Aloha!

semi tall? black ninja outfit? might that be bob?

Haha! Kuranosuke, I'm trying to picture Bob in that outfit.... pretty scary! But I will certainly keep my eye out for him!

Pook, sorry to miss you yet again. We must try harder.....

Karen, Bob, I just am not a foodie and looking at food and wondering "what is THAT" is not my cup of tea as you know. Food allergies could give me a difficult time if I'm not careful. I also don't care for the barcalounger seating. I much prefer UA's flat bed seat! No comparison. UA food is so so, as everyone will no doubt agree, but comfort is #1 in my book and UA wins that battle.

Hello from Narita! Just had a shower in the UA 1st lounge. If I were to head to ANA lounge I would not get to go to 1st class part so I'll just relax here for a bit.

The flight over was quite bumpy. Must have been lots of storms! Narita is cloudy and about 75. I think it must be windy as I can hear it sitting by the window. Bangkok may have rain when I arrive, but it will be tolerable! Things to do and people to see as soon as I hit the city! I will get my second wind, as usual, but will fade at about 2:30am!! Time enough for a cold beer and warm greetings from Thai and other friends.

I will catch up once settled into Adelphi once again.

Karen, Bob, just saw your email re: Marriott. Thanks for that. I would like to use points if we head to HKG. As I mentioned, it is going to depend on weather. If a typhoon is heading to HKG then we will rethink our plans! I'll have to wait a couple of days before making a decision.

Bob doesn't wear black, so it must be a different Ninja. Have fun. Hope you get to HK . That Marriott is fabulous. Ask off. A harbor view room...high floor.

"ua food is so so". how kind.

UA is so so, but breakfast at Adelphi is delicious. Can't believe I am up at 7:30 to eat. I think my head had just hit the pillow from last night.

Carol, are you thinking of Hong Kong in November?

Kathie November is always Europe for me. No Hong Kong then. Hong Kong will happen next week though!

My fodors ninja and I will meet at Paragon and select a dinner location there instead of Embassy mall. My goal today is to stay awake!! :)

Keep moving.

Ninja and I ate at a Hawaiian (not authentic) restaurant on the 4th floor food lane at Paragon. We had a lovely 2-hour dinner with lots of conversation about travel, United Airlines, and of course fodorites!! Were your ears burning? Haha!

I made a quick trip to the Beer Vault at Sheraton Four Points on soi 15, to say hello to singer Lee Shamrock. It's always good to see him. He's a very personable guy, and a great entertainer. He's the one-man band!

Plans are to have Sunday brunch at the J W on Sukhumvit tomorrow. There will be about 10 of us. Should be a good time. Then it will be time to book the trip to Hong Kong. It is looking like a Tuesday thru Saturday trip starting in just a few days! The good news is there are plenty of frequent flier seats left! Yeh! And I've about decided on the J W Hong Kong, and can do that with points. Too bad I missed out on the special deal (thanks Bob and Karen) but I had no idea of our travel dates until just a couple of hours ago.

I want suggestions for things to do in Hong Kong. We'll of course do the Peak and Stanley Market and ride boats around the harbor. I'm thinking maybe to go Big Buddha, but that is not a sure thing. Shopping will be at the top of the list, but most of it in Kowloon (markets and such). Suggestions for markets I might not know about????

Time to catch a nice L-O-N-G sleep now. I can't believe I stayed awake until 10pm. I did get a 3hour nap this afternoon, but that was after only sleeping 2 hours last night. Don't you just love jetlag?

Carol, are you flying Thai to HK?

Hope to hear more details on Bkk, Carol! ;)

Try and book the Aqua Luna junk that tours the harbour. How about a trip to Macau, very easy ferry ride over.
I LOVE Lane Crawford in HK, upscale dept store, very nice. Check out the Peddar building, has some interesting "vintage" shops. Of course take the ferry over to Kowloon.

Craig, yes indeed. I'm going to use UA points. May up the ante and fly 1st class coming back to BKK... it IS a birthday celebration trip after all.

Macau is an interesting possibility! Thanks for that, Smeagol. Tell me more about the Aqua Luna junk. Is that a dinner boat or something?

Might check out Lane Crawford, but I doubt we do any upscale shopping. I really enjoy the local markets. You never know what you will see. The Peddar building sounds interesting. Is it near the JW?

Smeagol, what do you think of the JW? Good choice? Good location?

Of course we'll ferry over to Kowloon, probably more than once or twice. I've always stayed "over there" in the past, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. This will be something totally new. Looking forward to it.

Up at 5:30 this morning, but had a great sleep! Feeling much more human this morning. Chatting (FB) with family at home woke me up!! So much going on at home. I should probably be there, but for now I'm staying put in Bangkok!!! hahaha

I'm hoping today's birthday brunch will be nice. About 10-12 friends are gathering together at JW. A number of Thais, some expats, and also a friend from Chicago who heads back home on Tuesday (or is it Monday). A nice cordial group. Good people, one and all. (no fodorites)

Yesterday's exchange rate at VASU was 32.05. On the street I was seeing anywhere from 31.4 to 31.7. Nothing beats VASU.

We've had brief showers everyday since my arrival, but they don't last long, and the temps are quite bearable. I have not seen much sunshine. Rather cloudy, but I can handle it. I try to stay out of the sun anyway.... haha.

Time for breakfast. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone. Stay safe.

What a busy fun day! I think my deal friend Lat had a very nice birthday brunch at the J W. Everyone ate and ate and ate, for about 2.5 hours! It was excellent! I've done this buffet at least one other time so I knew for sure it would be great. Food choices for everyone!

Time for laughter and good friends, some I have not seen for a couple of years. A group of us met up at Hanrahans on soi 4 for one last beer before heading off to various areas of the city. Me, I'm ready to get back to soi 8 for some sleep.

Hong Kong is all booked. Tuesday thru Saturday. We will fly economy going and 1st class returning to Bangkok. Both flights are on 747s with 3 classes of service. I hope the BKK arrival service is as good as I remember, with a golf cart to immigration, then help with luggage, and finally, help getting a taxi back into the city! Looking forward to the trip. Lat and I were getting tips from our friends today about what to see and do and how to get around the city.

No big dinner tonight. I've eaten quite enough today already, thank you! Just a light snack from the fridge and then I shall get ready to sleep.

No special plans tomorrow. Maybe I'll make it to the two new malls that opened shortly after I left Bangkok in early May. The one new mall is, of course, Central Embassy, located at Phloenchit skytrain station. It appears to be very upscale, but I want to go and have a look for myself. The other new mall is in Siam Square. It is called Square One. It looks interesting from the outside anyway. Very modern design. It is located directly across from Paragon, just the other side of the skytrain platform.

I took note that a lot very close to soi 8, which was once a deserted concrete structure, then torn down about 2 years ago, and then became a forest with big trees and plants. Well, now the lot is empty! Wondering if there will be some construction going on when I get back to Bangkok in December! I would like to see a new serviced apartment/hotel in that spot, but I have no idea what might be going on. Time will tell.

Enjoy your Sunday. Mine was a lovely day!

That should read "my DEAR friend" in the first sentence. Sorry for the typo.

Gr eat, Carol. Please let us know how u like the new malls. I've seen Central Embassy on YouTube and it looks very clinical, almost sterile environment. Have fun..

the boat smeagol speaks of is the one I mentioned to you.. you get 1 drink as part of your fare... great afternoon ride back from Stanley... you can get the bus going to Stanley right in back of the jw..

Carol I am not sure ref the JW I have never stayed there am sure it will be fab! you need to pre boomAqua Kuna , we did it to coincide with the light show.......

"pre book Aqua Luna". Damn this keypad!

Karen found the light show to be almost a waste of time... but I bet from the boat it would be a great advantage pt.

I knew it would be a waste of time so I stayed in the jw club...

Hollywood rd is a great shopping/walking around area. the escalators are fun to jump on, jump off too---both on the island..

jade market

I believe the peddler bldg. is now just one big upscale shop..

Great suggestions from one and all! Thank you. So excited about Hong Kong! We will do the hovercraft to Macau one day. I am hearing from folks here that it's worth it.

Hanuman is traveling maybe? I know he was not going to be around for dinner with my ninja. Ken, I hope your trip home to HNL is safe and uneventful. See you in September in Hawaii!

Hanuman, if you know anything about the empty lot on Sukhumvit at soi 6 I would love any insight.

Time for a big breakfast and then seeing the new malls!

Bob, is Hollywood Road near the JW?

I really think Siam Square One will be a good Thai shopping venue. Think Asian sizes and local designers. Cute stuff! Not many of the shops open at 10am when I got there. I need to go back later in the day.

Central Embassy is very modern. It isn't all high end. Rather like Central World but with high end names mixed in. Nothing I want to buy.

Bangkok just keeps building malls!

Shame re Peddar Building, things change fast I guess......
I know what you mean re the light show, I wouldn't say it's a must do for HK, but it was fine from the boat .

I have no idea about the empty lot at Soi 6. Probably another hotel or apartment or a condo?

So if we have a harbor view room will we see light show from there?

Pook, that's OK. I just thought you might have some insight. Do you know when the Hyatt at Hyde might open?

I'm not sure last I heard the opening is a few years away. I don't trust the projected completion date so when you see it going up then you can give an estimate I guess.

Carol, I don't think you can see the light show from the JW but truthfully I didn't look or notice when we were there.

I don't/ wouldn't think you can see it from there. IT is lazer, and maybe is only 2-3 stories high on some of the buildings. We took ataxi down to the pier, ferry across, saw the show, reversed our steps and were home in less than an hour and half. Easy to do. BUT. If you miss it, you have not missed one of life's dramatic moments. Just interesting.

There use to be a tourist office on the K side near the Starr ferry. They had a list of where the factory outlets are. Like Diane Frees,,and some other good label We went to some of them years ago, and got some FAB bargains. Didn't have time to doit our last trip. You may be able to find the list on line some where.

not sure of exact location of Hollywood rd, but it is not far.. google it.. easy to spend a morning there..