Welcome home!

Kuranosuke....Thanks for the British India, twice annual, sale info. Unfortunately, I'm not in Singapore at those times. I also shop at the one in Raffles Plaza Shopping Center. The salesgirls know me there quite well. Smiles. The last time (August) that I was in that store, the salesgirl laughed and said, "Madame, you're always in a hurry". Well, I am since I move like a tornado and can get a lot done in a short period of time.
You'll have to wear your British India clothes to the L.A. GTG Smiles.Oh, in Bangkok, at the department store where there's British India, they have big markdowns in August. I've bought in August at the department store inside of the World Trade Center/Central World Plaza...Zen department store(?). Happy Travels!

I have some random thoughts on the trip, but I think I'll do that in another thread.I do note that once the report is finished it feels like the trip is really over. This may explain why certain unnamed Needhamites take so long to write their reports. This is exactly why we have instituted the penalty provisions.

gpanda,
Enjoyed the report. I'm glad you and Beth made it home, safe and sound. I hope B and K make it back to Needham as well. Do you have any snow at home? DH and Bradinbangkok and I will all be returning from our various locations on Wednesday afternoon. We have 10.5" of new snow, and with temps below freezing, there is no chance it will all go away before we hit OHare. Grrr....

I think home will feel good. Time to get ready for Christmas.

Carol

Carol...10.5 inches of snow? Absolutely beyond my comprehension. It was in the 80s this past weekend. The first time I had ever seen snow actually fall from the sky was in Jan 2004 when I had to fly into Frankfurt Airport coming from Ghana and heading back to L.A. I was sitting in the plane getting ready to take off and down it came. I had seen snow on the ground before, but not actually falling. Smiles. Happy Travels!

Especially loved the secret place stories. Could actually hear the sky train conductor voice calling out Sala Daeng in my head when I read that part of the post. What a great trip !

It really did get cold here on the east coast. Am really glad we're getting out of here for 2 1/2 weeks in January.

Thank you Mr. Panda :)

Carol-one year our return trip was delayed in Detroit for two days because Boston had gotten 24 inches of snow. We were lucky this year that we flew through JFK. If we'd flown through the midwest, we would have been delayed.

Jenskar-one of the special things about that day was that we did not see a single other tourist. Bob and I discussed how much different it would have been if there were flocks of other farangs.

Absolutely wonderful report, <b>Gp</b>. Thanks for the great detail on the places you went, stuff you ate, and the fl;avor of the city.

23.5 hours is a long trip, especially in a full plane ... still, it's a whole lot better than before the bkk-jfk flights started.

Andy,
Thanks for your usual thourough presentation of the facts. Enjoyed them immensely. Welcome home!

Aloha!

Welcome back!

Why is it that that last leg from NY/Newark to Boston invariably takes so long -- it always happens to us as well.

Sorry we have such cold temperatures to greet you. It was a balmy November but winter seems to have arrived in earnest now. You can always take refuge in your memories and photos though -- while you plan your next trip.

Excellent report. Sounds like you had a great time.

Welcome back! I really did enjoy reading your report, although for the life of me I can't figure out why you call it a &quot;vacation&quot; when you're running uphill!

BC

Welcome home, Gpanda and Beth! Many thanks for your report. No penalties incurred due to on-time and interesting reporting! Wishing you an easy week ahead!

Glad you had a great time. Happy Travels!

Thanks everyone for the nice words. Bob is in transit, so I'm safe for a few more hours.

I'm in total denial about being home. I still have not reset my watch. It's not that big an issue because BKK is 12 hours ahead of Cambridge. The time is always right, but the a.m./p.m. is always wrong. we'll see how long I go.

One thing about the return flight. There is absolutely nothing commercial once you clear security at the gate. All of the food and drink and other shopping is after check-in before security. Note also, on the BKK-JFK flight there is a second security just for that flight at whicj your carry on luggage is examined to meet current US standards for liquids. we had our water bottels confiscted. Thai Air did provide a bottle of water at each seat, so we broke even.

December 10, nine days after our return and I think we're finally over our jet lag. Earlier this week, I was driven to go to my office at 4:00 a.m.. We'll see how I did in my two trials last week.

Bob's report on the same events will be forthcoming shortly. One can only hope some of the facts are the same.