RHK'S FALL 2012 ASIA TRIP
Nov 4th, 2012, 05:48 AM
#183
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we had some drinks at the elephant bar when P&L came over. We took the anantara boat over to Asiatique {btw--anyone coming to asiatique needs to skip their boat as it is very crowded and has long waiting lines.. instead take the anantara boat after 5:15PM as it stops each time at Asiatique (both directions)}.
we had a 7PM res at Baan Khanitha. They seemed a bit disorganized and then we found out that they had only been open 9 days. Good meal---more of the same thai foods.
After dinner we walked around a bit. There are some very nice "modern" restaurants here and lots of shops. P & I sat on a bench while the girls wandered one large section. there is lots going on here with tons of people. We suggest that you give it a try.
We bid our final farewells to P&L, sadly. They have been very fun to travel with. We look forward to a rematch, if they can put up with me again. They are off to Hua Hin on Sunday.
Back to our hotel; a visit to the bakery for some dessert.
A bit of fitful sleep as we anticipated a 6AM wake-up call.
We were very slow, but showered and had a quick breakfast.
Tong arrived right after 7 with one of her guides and a driver. She is thin, but otherwise seemed bright and in good shape. In her usual exuberance she jumped into my arms and i nearly keeled over... kisses, kisses for us all.
So we loaded up and headed west to the Sunday Floating Market called Klong Ladmayom. We found this market to be hugely larger in the food area than DS floating market, but we found the actual boats playing bumper boats superior and more interesting at DS. The boat ride was far more interesting at KL and included some on land touring and home-stay visits.
We told Tong that we needed to be back to the hotel by 10:30 and we arrived at 10:25.
Quick showers to cool off as we had gotten very hot and sticky.
Taxi to The Peninsula to meet BillT and Olive at noon for Dim Sum. I had made the res some time ago and they had requested that we pre-order as sundays are very busy. They ordered and so did we so there was much more time to chat instead of reading the menu. Expensive but excellent... We also ordered tooo much. We brought B & O some fodors loot and they brought us a couple of things from the Philippines, which are very nice.
A taxi took us back to the hotel where we were expecting the daughter of our jeweler to drop by at 2:30. She had been our guest in Needham last New Year's weekend---she is working in Pittsburgh on a project for the sky train.
They invited us to their house west of BKK. This proved to be an entertaining afternoon. They served us some dim sum and later we went to an Italian restaurant where K & I shared a pizza. They drove us back to the hotel by 8.
Tomorrow we have a 2:30 flt to khao lak via phuket on thai air -- 4400 B r.t. ($147). We look forward to our beach stay at the JW Marriott for the 3rd year in a row.
we had a 7PM res at Baan Khanitha. They seemed a bit disorganized and then we found out that they had only been open 9 days. Good meal---more of the same thai foods.
After dinner we walked around a bit. There are some very nice "modern" restaurants here and lots of shops. P & I sat on a bench while the girls wandered one large section. there is lots going on here with tons of people. We suggest that you give it a try.
We bid our final farewells to P&L, sadly. They have been very fun to travel with. We look forward to a rematch, if they can put up with me again. They are off to Hua Hin on Sunday.
Back to our hotel; a visit to the bakery for some dessert.
A bit of fitful sleep as we anticipated a 6AM wake-up call.
We were very slow, but showered and had a quick breakfast.
Tong arrived right after 7 with one of her guides and a driver. She is thin, but otherwise seemed bright and in good shape. In her usual exuberance she jumped into my arms and i nearly keeled over... kisses, kisses for us all.
So we loaded up and headed west to the Sunday Floating Market called Klong Ladmayom. We found this market to be hugely larger in the food area than DS floating market, but we found the actual boats playing bumper boats superior and more interesting at DS. The boat ride was far more interesting at KL and included some on land touring and home-stay visits.
We told Tong that we needed to be back to the hotel by 10:30 and we arrived at 10:25.
Quick showers to cool off as we had gotten very hot and sticky.
Taxi to The Peninsula to meet BillT and Olive at noon for Dim Sum. I had made the res some time ago and they had requested that we pre-order as sundays are very busy. They ordered and so did we so there was much more time to chat instead of reading the menu. Expensive but excellent... We also ordered tooo much. We brought B & O some fodors loot and they brought us a couple of things from the Philippines, which are very nice.
A taxi took us back to the hotel where we were expecting the daughter of our jeweler to drop by at 2:30. She had been our guest in Needham last New Year's weekend---she is working in Pittsburgh on a project for the sky train.
They invited us to their house west of BKK. This proved to be an entertaining afternoon. They served us some dim sum and later we went to an Italian restaurant where K & I shared a pizza. They drove us back to the hotel by 8.
Tomorrow we have a 2:30 flt to khao lak via phuket on thai air -- 4400 B r.t. ($147). We look forward to our beach stay at the JW Marriott for the 3rd year in a row.
Nov 4th, 2012, 09:57 AM
#185
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NICE!!
OK, not to take away from your lovely story, here is the reply I received from my German friend about leaving BKK. Typos are his, and are included;
*********
no it was including in our ticket - but the system at koh samui was broken -so they cuttn send as right away to berlin over munich - so they ask as too check out in bkk and chekc in there - so thats amkes easy for us. so we did this...in bkk they told us - this is stupid, the system was not broken and why we listen to the woman at the airport - i truly ask them are they getting nuts - because we check out and in again in Bkk we had to pay - and in one minute the friendly thai person change to a very rude person with a bad attidude - thats the point- when ever you need help there - you dont get any - this is absolut for sure....they just can handle it - they look at you like a marsian ...and in the best - they juts walk away or just smile....land of smile....
**he's not happy right now, but will be again, when he returns hopefully later in 2013.
****now back to regular programming.
Rhkkmk, the trip to Phuket sounds like a heck-of-a-deal. I tried to look at Thai Air to Cambodia, but it si $350. No go.
Can't wait to hear more, and maybe someday, we can duplicate your travels
OK, not to take away from your lovely story, here is the reply I received from my German friend about leaving BKK. Typos are his, and are included;
*********
no it was including in our ticket - but the system at koh samui was broken -so they cuttn send as right away to berlin over munich - so they ask as too check out in bkk and chekc in there - so thats amkes easy for us. so we did this...in bkk they told us - this is stupid, the system was not broken and why we listen to the woman at the airport - i truly ask them are they getting nuts - because we check out and in again in Bkk we had to pay - and in one minute the friendly thai person change to a very rude person with a bad attidude - thats the point- when ever you need help there - you dont get any - this is absolut for sure....they just can handle it - they look at you like a marsian ...and in the best - they juts walk away or just smile....land of smile....
**he's not happy right now, but will be again, when he returns hopefully later in 2013.
****now back to regular programming.
Rhkkmk, the trip to Phuket sounds like a heck-of-a-deal. I tried to look at Thai Air to Cambodia, but it si $350. No go.
Can't wait to hear more, and maybe someday, we can duplicate your travels
Nov 4th, 2012, 04:05 PM
#186
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onetwothree.... So what you are saying is that your German friend check in for their flights to Samui in Germany but the German agent in charge there only check them to BKK and they had to go through immigration there before rechecking in for their flight to Samui?
If that is the case then the German's tickets didn't include airport tax for BKK as they were not suppose to go through immigration there and they were suppose to only connect to the flight to Samui.
Please tell your German friend not to blame the people at BKK airport when it was their fellow countrymen's incompetence!
If that is the case then the German's tickets didn't include airport tax for BKK as they were not suppose to go through immigration there and they were suppose to only connect to the flight to Samui.
Please tell your German friend not to blame the people at BKK airport when it was their fellow countrymen's incompetence!
Nov 5th, 2012, 12:15 AM
#187
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Linda was just mentioning how much she missed her chopped liver this morning......and her shopping buddy. You were right about HH, it is fab here,so glad we came. Have a great rest of your vacation and let us know if Bali is in one of your future fall travel itineraries.
Aloha!
Aloha!
Nov 5th, 2012, 03:54 AM
#189
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last breakfast at anantara for this year..
no rushing this morning which was nice so breakfast was leisurely. our driver arrived promptly at 11:30 and he made fast work of the ride to the airport.
I need to put in a plug for him again as he is so reliable and a very safe driver. see his contact info above. he will do airport runs as well as sightseeing driving and especially drives outside bkk.
check-in was very easy at the domestic thai counter and the walk to B-3 was not all that far... right by the food court... that whopper with bacon, cheese and angus beef was delicious, but was about $10 with the upgrades and "set" meal.
While waiting at B-3 I was approached by a charming woman and man and it was a fodorite with whom i have had contact. They were on their way from Beijing to Phuket on our flt. She is Evelyne from Canada. Our plan was to meet them at the JW Phuket on nov 13 for dinner. We had exchanged pictures a month ago.
The uncomfortable seats were ok as the flt lasted less than 1 hr, 5 min.
The cases came out quickly and the rep from Pure car rental was waiting for us with our toyota avanza SUV.---1400 B/day.
The 1 hour plus drive north to Khao Lak was again extremely easy. There are perhaps 3 turns. The pavement is excellent.
Check-in was easy. We have an early book rate (done 12-29-11) of 3800++. We were upgraded to a pool access room---3 steps down from our terrace directly into the pool lagoon.
The food service mgr brought us a bottle of champagne and some fresh honey covered nuts--platinum bonus. Our status also gives unlimited drinks from 6-7 at any of the bars.
off to dinner at the italian bistro now--light dinner.
no rushing this morning which was nice so breakfast was leisurely. our driver arrived promptly at 11:30 and he made fast work of the ride to the airport.
I need to put in a plug for him again as he is so reliable and a very safe driver. see his contact info above. he will do airport runs as well as sightseeing driving and especially drives outside bkk.
check-in was very easy at the domestic thai counter and the walk to B-3 was not all that far... right by the food court... that whopper with bacon, cheese and angus beef was delicious, but was about $10 with the upgrades and "set" meal.
While waiting at B-3 I was approached by a charming woman and man and it was a fodorite with whom i have had contact. They were on their way from Beijing to Phuket on our flt. She is Evelyne from Canada. Our plan was to meet them at the JW Phuket on nov 13 for dinner. We had exchanged pictures a month ago.
The uncomfortable seats were ok as the flt lasted less than 1 hr, 5 min.
The cases came out quickly and the rep from Pure car rental was waiting for us with our toyota avanza SUV.---1400 B/day.
The 1 hour plus drive north to Khao Lak was again extremely easy. There are perhaps 3 turns. The pavement is excellent.
Check-in was easy. We have an early book rate (done 12-29-11) of 3800++. We were upgraded to a pool access room---3 steps down from our terrace directly into the pool lagoon.
The food service mgr brought us a bottle of champagne and some fresh honey covered nuts--platinum bonus. Our status also gives unlimited drinks from 6-7 at any of the bars.
off to dinner at the italian bistro now--light dinner.
Nov 5th, 2012, 05:56 AM
#190
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surprise, surprise, while we were waiting for our dinners to be delivered in walks evelyne and mr evelyne. They were less than pleased with the jw marriott phuket and took an hotel car to this JW. We were very pleased to see them and enjoyed our dinner conversations.
dinner:
minestrone soup for me
goat cheese and spinach ravioli for pat
spaghetti carbonara for K
ice creams for dessert
dinner:
minestrone soup for me
goat cheese and spinach ravioli for pat
spaghetti carbonara for K
ice creams for dessert
Nov 5th, 2012, 01:10 PM
#191
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Do not despair! I and many others are reading your Excellent Asian Adventures.
When we were in HK, and less so in India, several people approached us for photos as Mr. Pearl is 6' 4". "you are so tall," they would say.
Love eggplant in brown sauce in Cantonese/Mandarin cuisine - one of my favorites!
Woke up one morning many years ago in the middle of the night - watched a show on the History Channel about the first emperor - the one whose tomb you saw in X'ian. It looked really interesting, but it sounds like you spent a lot of time walking in the rain and stooging around in sheds. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best, how would you rate it?
When we were in HK, and less so in India, several people approached us for photos as Mr. Pearl is 6' 4". "you are so tall," they would say.
Love eggplant in brown sauce in Cantonese/Mandarin cuisine - one of my favorites!
Woke up one morning many years ago in the middle of the night - watched a show on the History Channel about the first emperor - the one whose tomb you saw in X'ian. It looked really interesting, but it sounds like you spent a lot of time walking in the rain and stooging around in sheds. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best, how would you rate it?
Nov 5th, 2012, 11:35 PM
#193
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Tuesday
a great night's sleep in our very comfortable room. The JW Marriott is amongst our favorite hotels worldwide.
Breakfast in the very large and bright breakfast room. a full buffet, including eggs, smoothies, pastry, pancakes and waffles, cheeses, fruits, cereals, yogurts, juices, meats, sushi, dumplings, breads, etc.... everything you would want.
one end of the room looks out across a lawn to the beach and sea. lots of staff.
Ty Collins, the low key GM, stopped by to welcome us and we chatted for quite a while.
Directly after breakfast, we all had a swim in the lagoon outside our room.
Later we headed out to take some laundry up the road to a lady we have used before... 80 B per kilo.
On the way we stopped at a new tailor shop, just outside the hotel. I needed some shorts. I ripped a pair yesterday. The tailor is from Burma. I ordered two pair. Because of my size they are quite expensive. While there I also ordered 3 shirts (9100 B total). WAYYYY TOOOO MUCH $$$$.
Returned to the hotel and stopped for a snack in the deli---smoothies and 1/2 sandwich.
Looked at the shops for 5 min.
Returned to the room to hang out. Girls are sunning and/or swimming. Expecting a storm this PM.
Dixville Notch, NH---5 to 5 voting results.
watching election carefully. ABO
expecting drinks in the bar tonight (platinum benefit) followed by dinner in town at The Candle (Thai food).
a great night's sleep in our very comfortable room. The JW Marriott is amongst our favorite hotels worldwide.
Breakfast in the very large and bright breakfast room. a full buffet, including eggs, smoothies, pastry, pancakes and waffles, cheeses, fruits, cereals, yogurts, juices, meats, sushi, dumplings, breads, etc.... everything you would want.
one end of the room looks out across a lawn to the beach and sea. lots of staff.
Ty Collins, the low key GM, stopped by to welcome us and we chatted for quite a while.
Directly after breakfast, we all had a swim in the lagoon outside our room.
Later we headed out to take some laundry up the road to a lady we have used before... 80 B per kilo.
On the way we stopped at a new tailor shop, just outside the hotel. I needed some shorts. I ripped a pair yesterday. The tailor is from Burma. I ordered two pair. Because of my size they are quite expensive. While there I also ordered 3 shirts (9100 B total). WAYYYY TOOOO MUCH $$$$.
Returned to the hotel and stopped for a snack in the deli---smoothies and 1/2 sandwich.
Looked at the shops for 5 min.
Returned to the room to hang out. Girls are sunning and/or swimming. Expecting a storm this PM.
Dixville Notch, NH---5 to 5 voting results.
watching election carefully. ABO
expecting drinks in the bar tonight (platinum benefit) followed by dinner in town at The Candle (Thai food).
Nov 6th, 2012, 05:43 AM
#194
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because of a pending storm we decided to eat here again tonight.. at 6 we went to the bar at Olive's restaurant. The GM joined us after a time and spent about an hour with us, relating lots of stories of his hospitality experiences as well as places to visit in this area.
i had 2 tom collins for the first time in years... the girls had wine.
K had sea bass, I had chicken sprittzle and pat had the same raviolis again. delicious.
watching early returns on the election. watched the next president of the US vote in Belmont, MA..
i had 2 tom collins for the first time in years... the girls had wine.
K had sea bass, I had chicken sprittzle and pat had the same raviolis again. delicious.
watching early returns on the election. watched the next president of the US vote in Belmont, MA..
Nov 6th, 2012, 06:02 AM
#195
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Japan and Bali sounds interesting... two NEW places for me!
Off to vote in about an hour. Hope lines are not too long, but will wait it out in any case.
Bob, is it the same mgr we met last year? He and his wife were both lovely people.
Off to vote in about an hour. Hope lines are not too long, but will wait it out in any case.
Bob, is it the same mgr we met last year? He and his wife were both lovely people.
Nov 6th, 2012, 03:23 PM
#198
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Yes he does.....ABO
OK, you plan 10 or more days in Bali(since you are Mr Bali) and I'll plan the same slow moving itinerary for Japan. We'll compare notes in a couple of months.
The big question is "will Pat make it home with her camera". Hope you are taking care of her. I pulled a Kimaball last night and had a nice talk with the GM of this resort. Found out we had a lot in common and he hails from Nusa Dua(sp).
OMG, how much were the shorts? Looks like you were on the short end,lol. Hugs to Karen and Pat.
Aloha!
OK, you plan 10 or more days in Bali(since you are Mr Bali) and I'll plan the same slow moving itinerary for Japan. We'll compare notes in a couple of months.
The big question is "will Pat make it home with her camera". Hope you are taking care of her. I pulled a Kimaball last night and had a nice talk with the GM of this resort. Found out we had a lot in common and he hails from Nusa Dua(sp).
OMG, how much were the shorts? Looks like you were on the short end,lol. Hugs to Karen and Pat.
Aloha!
Nov 6th, 2012, 03:33 PM
#199
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Thank you so much for all of the detail in your trip report. What is wrong with the ROS? We are staying there next month. Will give some of the restaurants you mention a try. Also appreciate the shopping tips. We will not be in BKK for very long so will just get a taste of it.
Nov 6th, 2012, 06:00 PM
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Re ABO: EYHO. (At 9:56 EST, Mittens is in serious trouble, having lost PA, NH, PA, WI, MI. His potential path to 270 now requires the pre-election polling to be badly wrong, and there's been no evidence of that happening to this point. Nate Silver is looking very good.)
