simpsonc510

Guenmai
Thanks again for the report. I have my ticket for January now, but you will not still be there... too bad!! I'll arrive on the 18th (late).

I'm very excited about visiting Paragon. It sounds wonderful. I noted the construction at the WTC when I was there in late September. I, too, hope they put in a skytrain walk. We did the walk underneath the skytrain that you talked about. It's soooo much nicer than walking on the uneven and very busy sidewalk on the street level!

Merry Christmas to you.
Carol

Guenmai

Bob and Kathie...I've picked up your copies of Bangkok 101 and Laurieco...I'll go over to Kinokuniya and see if they have more and try to get you one. Last night when I went they were nearly sold out. As for the merchandise, Bob,there was celadon and textiles, but I didn't find it all of high quality. It's good tourist type of stuff, but I've seen better around town. Now the other store across the way specializes in those gorgeous baskets that are woven with the tiny weave. I forget what part of Thailand they come from and the brochure is up in my apartment. But they are beautiful and in all sizes and even minatures. Oh, today I was out all day and went to a restaurant that was absolutely delicious....I took the first bite of my food and thought I heard the angels sing. It's a vegetarian restaurant that was voted the best restaurant...period... of 2005 by Thailand Tatler magazine and was voted best vegetarian restaurant by another magazine.I talked with the owner who's a young, French woman named Sylvie who's a chef from Tours. She's very nice.I ordered the steak with mushroom gravy/rice/and vegetables and it was beyond belief. You MUST order that dish. I also ordered spring rolls that were perfect. My Thai friend ordered something in curry which was quite good, too. The restaurant is at Sukhumvit Soi 20....300 meters and on the left. When you enter Soi 20 you'll first see Bei Otto...the German deli/bakery on the left...keep walking and then you'll pass the famous L.A. restaurant called Koi...which has opened in Bangkok now and it's on the right...a beautiful restaurant...peep in through the gate...and right past Koi is Tamarind Cafe on the left side. It's open Mon-Fri 3Pm-midnight and Sat/Sun 10Am-midnight. I can't wait to go back and order the same thing and then add another new dish with that. Oh, Kathie...this morning, when my Thai friend dropped by, I had her call the realtor who has a listing for a condo for sale in the building you were talking about...across from the Royal Orchid Sheraton. I was going to go there and check it out. There are two units for sale...both one bedroom and 68 meters and 4.8 million baht. But, since they are both occupied, she was told that an appointment would have to be made with the owners and then I could see it. It's quite far from where I'm staying so I probably won't be able to check it out. Plus, my Thai friend forgot to ask if the owners are Thai or foreign and if they speak English and if they own the Thai 51% of the building or the foreign 49% of the building.I had to go over to the river area today so I was hoping that I could just do it today. BUT...I did go to the new condo building called the Lakes...The realtor I met at the Legend,At Saladang, in August, told me to call her when I got here and she'd show me the Lakes. I didn't feel like having to make an appointment. So, I told my Thai friend that we should just walk over to the building...about a 35 minute walk from my place... and just go in and ask to see units if possible. The worst that could happen is that they'd say we couldn't. But that didn't happen. They gave us a tour of the place and showed us the two...1 bedroom units left...which were at the back of the building and the view was beyond horrible. I just looked at the person who was showing the place and said,"Is this for real?". One unit was 119 sq.meters big which is a decent size for a one bedroom, but as soon as you looked out the window to your right, there was a new office building...or maybe condo building(?). I mean....so close until you could almost stick your hand out the window and shake hands with the person in the office building. I've never seen anything like it. And the price....7.735 million baht....ouch! The second condo had the same view, but was really big....175.07 sq.meters big and one bedroom....great size...but definitely not a layout I would want under any circumstances.I couldn't figure out how that layout came about.I always wanted to be an architect. Oh, the price...12,955,180. baht. And you have to put in your own kitchen in both condos. The kitchen is non-existant. The positioning of the kitchen in both condos was a mystery. Now, at the Legend... at Saladang...there were two prices...one price for condos where you had to put in your own kitchen and some your own bathroom and the other price where everything was all ready to go and basically you just move in. Oh, and at the Lakes...there is a small rooftop infinity pool. The gym was nice.. I liked the Legend at Saladang much better. The only gripe I had with it was that I wish it had a higher ceiling. This condo search is a headache...to say the least. But, at least I have some ideas of how the condos look, in general, as to layouts. The layout that I would want is the exact layout I have here at my apartment....layout wise and ceiling height wise. Whoever designed these units was very sensible because I've seen some strange layouts elsewhere in this city. So, that's the report for now. Merry Christmas...It's Christmas Eve for me. Happy Travels!

Kathie

Thanks so much for your report on Condo hunting! I thought the prices for the place on the river sounded very reasonable - depending, of course, on what they actually look like.

Enjoy Christmas in Bangkok!

rhkkmk

i think one thing i would be concerned about buying in bkk is just what someone else said recently here....you move in and have a great view and bingo one year later they are putting a wonderful new building in front of you 30 feet away....that is the problem with a fast growing meto area any place in the world...what with the language barrier to begin with and the usual less than forthright realty agents you probably would never know what was in the future...

Kristina

Guenmai-
Thanks for sharing your travels with us in real time!

Also, thanks for the info on the aquarium. We're going in April and that's now high on my list. I didn't even know about it until I read your post. A coworker of mine from Bangkok hadn't even heard of it!

I do have one request; could your break up your posts into smaller paragraphs? I'm loving reading about your experience, but the one big block of text is making my eyes cross!

Merry Christmas and keep posting!

rhkkmk

kristina---try using your glasses....we won't tell anyone you now need them to read...haha

Guenmai

Kristina...Glad you're enjoying my post. I'm typing very fast and against the clock since I'm paying at an internet cafe. That's one reason why there are no paragraphs...the other is that I'm a very bad typist and bad at making paragraphas and the like. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

Laurieco...Yesterday morning I went and picked up your copy of Bangkok 101. So you'll have one,too. I'll mail it when I get back home in two weeks from now. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

Oh, I forgot to add that I went to a GREAT restaurant yesterday called,"Sonies". It's at Sukumvit, Soi 39....a 10-minute walk from Emporium Mall...the opposite side of the street. This place is very special and reservations are essential. I had my Thai friend call about an hour and a half before we went and we were able to get a table.When we got there at 1:00PM, people were pouring in. Hikokazu Koyama (Sonie) is the owner. He graduated from a cooking school in Japan and ended up working in a steakhouse in Memphis, Tenn (USA). He fell in love with a Thai woman named,"Oil". She brought him back to Bangkok and the rest is history. So, he opened this eclectic restaurant where only about 10% of the customers are Japanese. It's Japanese, but not really Japanese.He cooks what he likes and he said that Thai people aren't afraid to eat,so he can be eclectic. So, his cooking doesn't have to be put into a defined box/category. There are pasta dishes on the menu that look absolutely delicious. A lot of people ordered pasta. I ordered grilled Ahi tuna with a red miso gravy that was absolutely heavenly. It came with mashed potatoes that had been shaped into a big ball and then fried so that there was a thin, crispy outer layer...totally NOT oily... and topped with sauteed mushrooms and fresh salad greens on the side. For an appetizer I ordered California roll which I eat at home a lot and this one was perfect. The nori was rolled inside the roll and the roll was rolled in roe. I also ordered the famous sushi pizza for an appetizer....delicious! There's no pizza crust, but the crust is a sheet of nori, topped with rice, shrimp, roe, avocado slices and tempura crackings. Then the whole thing is baked in the oven. My Thai friend had a seafood bowl that came with a side salad...with more pieces of seafood... which was a lot of food. She had pieces of raw fish. I don't do raw fish, but she said the dish was delicious. Most of the fish dishes are with cooked fish. Just ask before ordering. She'd never heard of this restaurant before, but loved it. The whole bill came to 1,030 Baht which was well worth every baht. It's closed on Mondays, but the other days open from 11:30AM-2PM and 5:30PM-10PM tel.66.2. 258.8336. It's situated in a nice house. It's about a 200-meter walk when you enter Soi 39 and on the left side. There's a big sign so you can't miss it. It's a MUST! Happy Travels!

simpsonc510

Guenmai
Sounds like another restaurant to add to the list of possibilities in January. Thanks for the recommendation.

I hope your upset stomach is now OK and that you made it to the GTG.

Carol

simpsonc510

Oh, I forgot to mention that Andy (gpanda) said there were some bothersome construction odors at Paragon. My eyes get bothered by such stuff. What about you? Did it bother you or did you notice it? Maybe not, since you seem to have made it back to Paragon a couple of times. I hope I can go inside and spend some quality time looking around, with the eyes burning and watering.

Carol

rhkkmk

guen...another wonderful restaurant on soi 39, just as it takes the 90 degree turn to the left is L'Opera....great italian food and comfortable setting...

rhkkmk

another choice in that same area for continental/american fare is gourmet gallery....we love it for the nite before we come home....like american food no surprises...great filet...the onion soup is to die for...get the one with the "hat"..

about 1/2 way down soi 39 there is a soi off to the right (a dress shop is on the corner)...it begins with a "P"...the rest. is down this soi about 1/4 mile after some beautiful private homes on the right....it is set back behind a shop out on the street....lots of ex-pats eat there...we love it...

Guenmai

Thanks Bob, for the restaurants. I'll try to make it to them. Today, I ate at Biscotti at the Four Seasons...for lunch. I just couldn't stay away from my beloved Four Seasons....Smiles. When I walked into the dining room, one of the waiters said,"Oh, Ms. Banana Bread". I couldn't believe that he remembered that one morning, back in August, when there was no banana bread for breakfast that I asked him if it had been taken off the buffet menu and that I absolutely had to have banana bread...life without the famous Four Seasons banana bread was not possible...Smiles...So, he laughed and the next morning I came into the diningroom there was a whole loaf of freshly baked banana bread on the buffet table. Well, he remembered that as soon as he saw me walk in today. I didn't remember him at first, but he sure did remember me. We laughed hystericaslly. Then the other waiters came over to say hello,too. So, I had a great lunch of fresh, soft crab salad to start and spaghetti and seafood and then two lime juice with soda drinks to wash it all down with. Delicious. I'm going to try to get up early enough one day to go there for breakfast. It's my favorite buffet breakfast out of all the hotels I've stayed at in Bangkok. Oh, Carol...as for Paragon...well, for me it was the paint fumes. It's not all over the mall, but they are definitely there. It's much stronger in some areas than in others. Give it a try, though. Just try to go in there during the middle of the day on a day when folks are at work or school so that you don't get the mobs. I was in there on Sunday with a Thai friend and the food court was mobbed. As the saying goes....everybody and his/her mama was out in the foodcourt! It looked like Disneyland on a summer day. Well, got to go. Bangkokonians are bigger mall-ies than Angelenos! Well, both of our cities mean,"City of Angels". So, we're sort of like family, I guess. So,it must be genetic....a special "mall" gene! Smiles. Happy Travels!

simpsonc510

guenmai
Son Brad (who was with me at BOS GTG) is on his way to BKK today, staying at Patumwan House (near MBK) until the 5th. Maybe you two will run into one another at Paragon! I'm sure he will be spending time there. I'm looking forward to my time there also (but not until you are safe and sound back in LA). Paint doesn't bother me as much as the smell of freshly stained wood, such as kitchen cabinets or library shelving. I should be OK w/paint.

DH and I head for Puerto Rico for our island visit and then a 1-week cruise on Princess. Looking forward to it. I hope we have the same weather that BKK is having!!

Brad might enjoy seeing your apt at the Emporium, as we always stay in serviced apartments in BKK now. Omni, Grand President, Patumwan House... Plus we have friends who live in other nice apartment buildings. One of them is directly behind Four Seasons, overlooking the country club. Can't think of the name of it.

I'll be checking in from San Juan and Princess so keep the news from BKK coming!!

Carol

Guenmai

This Saturday I will be walking around in the neighborhood of the Four Seasons and jotting down the names of apartment and condo buildings since that's my favorite area. Who knows...one day maybe I'll even live in that area. As for Brad...if he posts, maybe we can get together somewhere. Or he can drop by my building and I could show him the building. One needs a key card to access elevators to any floor including the pool and gym area. There's security everywhere. When I turn on my TV to a certain channel, I can view everyone walking around in the lobby waiting area where guests wait. So, if a guest arrives, you can just look at the TV and then go down to the lobby and get the guest. Happy Travels!

rhkkmk

guen---centre point has their newest serviced apartment building across from four seasons on wireless road....you might check that one out...it looks nice from the outside...wait have i mixed up the roads again....it is on wireless in any case which is sort of the neighborhood you like...check out the marriott too on ruan rudee....there is a centre point there as well...there may be something in the conrad complex as well....

laurieco

Guen, thanks for picking up the magazine for me. Sounds like you're having a great time. The Paragon Mall and aquarium are on the list for the next trip.

Guenmai

Thanks, Bob for the info. I'll try checking out the Centre Point on Wireless Rd. As for the street...Ruam Rumdee (sp?)...that's not exactly a street that I would want to live on. Remember, in August 2004, I stayed at the Chateau de Bangkok which is on the same street....and although I liked the Chateau de Bangkok, I wouldn't want to stay on that street for a long period of time. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

Laurieco....You're welcome and I'll e-mail you soon for an address to mail it to. Since I don't own a computer, at home, I'm trying to do a lot of my computer stuff while in Bangkok since it's just easier to do it here. Happy Travels!