Gloria in Bangkok
 

Well here we are. The flight in business class on thai was fabulous and I thankfully did not have to pay an overweight charge. We had the Oriental pick us up -- I know it's a lot of money but it's a luxury we both like and split between the two of us it's one taxi ride in our home cities. Got upgraded to a gorgeous split level suite in the garden wing and got greeted with lots of hugs. Doing a bit of email before lunch and then I'm off to Cotton House.

Gloria
I totally know what you mean about the limo service, just well worth every penny.
Enjoy BK (Again) looking forward to hearing all about it.

Jane

Ok. don't faint-- I have a complaint about the Oriental. I really do NOT like their redo of the verandah area. Yes I know they haven't changed it in over 20 years but if it ain't broke why fix it. They took a perfect area and turned it into a nice area.

Been to cotton house -- a pleasure as always. Tonight I have a date with peking duck. Came back to find a bottle of veuve cliquot in the room along with a gorgeous floral basket.

I've just recovered from fainting. I guess no place is perfect but I'm sure it won't stop you from staying there. I hope the Peking Duck hasn't changed! I plan on having it again when I return in May, in fact, my mouth is already watering.

I've been enjoying your posts on the trip so far. Glad Ann is feeling better.

Hi Gloria,
I'm glad you and your friend made it to BKK. Business class on Thai is nice, indeed. We always do that upgrade, whether to Phuket or CM from BKK.

I've got a note attached to my itinerary to give you a call at the Oriental on the 20th to see if we can plan a meeting. Are you still up for that? I wonder if anyone else will be in BKK on the 20th to join us for tea or a glass of wine. Place TBA.

Have you been to Paragon yet?

Carol

The Peking Duck is even better than I remembered. Absolutely wonderful.

Carol-- I am definitely still up for a drink on the 20th so do give a call.

Going to Siam Paragon tomorrow.

Gloria-I'm sure the manager of the Oriental was frantically trying to reach you at home to get you approval/input on the renovation - but perhaps you were away at that time and did not get his calls?

Glad you made it to Bangkok. I'm sure you'll have a blast. I didn't have time to get to China House, so I'll try to do it in August. I still have things on my Bangkok to-do list from back in the 90s. Even with 3 weeks in Bangkok this last trip, I still didn't get everything done. Happy Travels!

Siam Ocean World is terrific and definitely worth a visit. So is the food hall in Siam Paragon. The shopping center itself is huge and seems very much geared to foreigners. It is definitely very high end. The stores overall are the same ones you see in any major city in America so of zero interest to me. There is one floor of thai stores which is nice. Golden Triangle is in #417 and their stuff remains gorgeous but either I've become poorer or they've become more expensive. Whichever it is I definitely did not buy anything. Very little paint smell.

Stocked up on some gift items at Jim Thompson outlet and had lunch at Jim Thompson House -- garlic with chicken which was good. Tonight we are eating at Pen.

Gloria
Thanks for your perspective on Siam Paragon. If it is really as high end as you say, then I might not be all that enthralled with the place, but will check it out for myself. I know I'll like the aquarium and the food hall. Is there a food court such as the wonderful one on 7th floor at Chitlom Central Store (Loft)?

The prices at your Golden Triangle store may have had to be increased in order to pay the rent at their new location!! Ha ha

Carol

gloria....when you say the penn, do you mean the pen restaurant or the pen hotel?? anxious to hear the review in any case...

btw, the peninsula called bill to ask about renovations and he said not to make any, so they have left it as the dump it has always been...haha

assume ann is better...tell her we were all feeling more ill than she just thinking about her plight....

i have always felt the golden triangle shop had fantastically expensive prices but the merchandise matches the prices....glad they are back on the scene...

do you remember which floor has the thai shops?? anything new and great on that floor??

keep the report coming...

any last minutes thoughts about BO??

bob

Gloria...I spent days in Siam Paragon checking merchandise out...and yes...there is a section with western designer stores like Chanel and the like..of which many have not opened yet, but I found the Exotic Thai store...on the top floor very nice. The one with all of the seperate vendors selling mostly high-quality items. Plus, many of the clothing designers that were carried in the Paragon department store are Asian designers/companies and not available here at home...well I've never seen them here in L.A. There are also European collections of handbags, for example, that I can't get at home...like I buy a lot of Kipling...of which we have two excellent stores here in L.A....however, we get a collection that's sent to the U.S. which many times can be different from the European collection. The European collection can be spotted by the monkey key chain that comes with each bag....the American monkey key chains have tails and the European ones don't. I found some great Kipling items that were not in the collection that we get here in the States. Maybe we are just shopping for different kinds of items/clothing, but I would say that 95% of all of the things I bought, came out of both Siam Paragon and Central Chitlom...and NONE of them could I have bought at home...and I bought nearly my entire spring/summer wardrobe at those two locations. Also, as I reported in my trip report, when Paragon first opened only 80,000 square meters were finished out of the total 800,000 square meters. It's a three-year project. Within the three weeks I was there new stores/restaurants were opening up all the time. I went to an Italian restaurant at the beginning of the three weeks that was across from another Italian restaurant that was empty. In the third week, that restaurant was finished and I ate there and was told that it had been open for only one day. So, the place is evolving. And as for the prices, I find the stores at River City outrageously high. There are many stores that have, over the last 4 years, just either moved or gone out of business I guess. Or maybe they are moving to Paragon...who knows. Happy Travels!

Gloria, I'm following your explpoits. Glad to hear the Peking duck is as wonderful as ever. It's already written in stone for our next trip.

PS It is certainly annoying when your favorite places redecorate, isn't it?

The thai stores including Golden Triangle are on the fourth floor. They are all beautifully designed. I absolutely agree that the quality of the stuff at Golden Triangle match their prices -- I just can't afford them at this point in my life. I must add that I have gained a lot of weight in the past couple of years so buying anything off the rack is pretty hard for me in thailand so I didn't look for clothes. If I can find a way to take the weight off I may well spluge next year.

Went to the Pen (not the Peninsula) restaurant last night. No atmosphere and was pretty empty. Food was very very good and service was warm and friendly and they spoke English. We basically had what Apple and someone on this forum recommended -- grilled giant prawns, deep fried parrot fish with mango sauce and stir fried morning glory with garlic. All was excellent. One prawn is more than enough for two people. Prices are high for thailand. Our bill for the above items, one bottle of water and one beer was over $40 which is more than we paid at China House the night before. However, I would still recommend it.

Ann is better but still has a cough and gets tired more easily than usual so we are not up to full speed yet.

Opas (owner of Baan Orapin) called her yesterday to see how she was feeling and to wish her an early happy birthday. He is indeed a very special man and he makes his B & B very special.

Ratt remains a joy. We had a lot of fun with her. She had never been to Siam Paragon and we paid for her to see the acquarium with us which she loved. She knew exactly where the restaurant Pen was so we didn't have any of the problems others have had finding it.

I know others will say it's a waste to have a driver to do what we did yesterday. When we originally booked Ratt we thought we would be doing different things but with Ann's health we've scaled back a bit. Even so it was great having Ratt since we didn't have to expend any energy getting to the places we wanted to go. Plus she's fun to be with.

Bob-- does BO stand for Baan Orapin? If so I may post a separate report under the name later today or tomorrow so people can easily find it. If it doesn't, let me know what it does stand for.

can anyone post the address of pen rest. and its general location, and closets bts station? it sounds like a good place to dine. i did a search on johnny apple but couldn't get anything. perhaps the spelling is incorrect.

yes BO is the hotel whose name i cannot spell....

would you suggest i put penn on my list??

If what you care about is food only I would definitely put Pen on your restaurant list. But it has no atmosphere or decor. It's not gracious dining -- we ate in less than an hour. And the price is high for thailand. As I said it cost more for the two of us than the Peking Duck at China House. But it is definitely more "authentic".

I posted the address a few months ago for it and the other restaurants in his article. I think it was in one of kathie's trip report threads.

"Johnny" Apple is actually R.W. Apple. Everyone who knows him calls him Johnny but his bi-line is R.W.

Yesterday was Ann's birthday and she was greeted with happy birthday wishes from the hall butler, the waitress at breakfast and several other staff members. When we came back after lunch she had received a silk pouch, a gorgeous floral bouquet, a bottle of champagne and several cards from the staff as well as a small cake. We had a spectacular (and expensive) dinner at Lord Jim. Split a caesar salad and I had red grouper on braised cucumbers with sour potatoes and prawns. Beautifully presented and delicious. Ann had tuna with artichokes in a balsamic sauce which she said was one of the best dishes she has ever had. Sevice was warm and good. They have a singer and guitarist who then led the packed restaurant in a happy birthday to ann and they brought out a gorgeous cake along with a white chocolate "coral reef" dotted with exquisite tiny pastries. All in all a very special dinner.

This morning one of the women at the concierge desk stopped ann and wished her a belated happy birthday since she had been off yesterday.

Had lunch yesterday at Lemongrass and we both found it very pleasant. I continue to like the decor and we had a very good chicken with lime. Spring rolls were ok. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here but if you're in the neighborhood it's pleasant.

Ratt took us on a fascinating walking tour of Chinatown. Definitely worth doing for real local flavor.