rhkkmk

great report...keep it coming

laartista

Sounds like you all had a great time! I really liked Paragon as well. Since you live in Tokyo I guess Zara would be cheaper in BKK. I love zara but only buy it when I'm in Europe. Much less there than even in the states. And in Spain it's dirt cheap! Hope you'll be posting on the other destinations of this 5 week trip.

bmttokyo

Would love to hit ZARA in Spain of course. I'll be happy to go through their past year's clearance bin. May have to wait till we get there sometime in the future. Who knows?

laartista

Oh yeah, prices in Spain are great at Zara. I was there in Feb. and bought a spring 07 new arrival coat for 49 E. In May saw it in Zara in NYC for 129 dollars. So even with the bad exchange rate dollar to Euro, still less there.

bmttokyo

I'm trying to use SHUTTERFLY to upload my photos myself so it may take while but wanted to work on it anyway......... I am so computer challenged !!!!

bmttokyo

Since I checked in last, I turned 46 & spent part of our day at Kamakura, attended 4 of my children's ball games- worked on learning how to upload my picks- my first try will be of our day in Kamakura.

<bmttokyo46th.shutterfly.com/action/?a=0EYsWrlq1ZMXEA>

This is my first attempt on getting pix up. I think it works. Let me know if it does. Am working on the rest of my BKK trip. Thanks for your patience.

bmttokyo

Boy, this is more work than I ever thought- apart from a real slow connection here at home- (yeah right!) & my inability to get this going- I really should have read Computers for Dummies-

I have a few pix of our first day in BKK. I have been at this for several hours now- I think i need a break !!!
Will get back to the next installment & photos when I get a breather.

bmttokyo

oooooooops !!! My brain doesn't work to well anymore- forgot to put the link in.

Here it is- Photos of our BKK Day 1

<http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...Wrlq1ZMXMg>

bmttokyo

Catching up a bit- this upload just took me 2 hours as opposed to the other 2 which I have been working on for the past 2 days.

Here is the link with our Day with Tong.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...0EYsWrlq1ZMXRQ

laartista

bmt- You're pix are beautiful as is your family. Looks like you guys had a great time. Also looks like the river is where to stay. I should have gone out to eat with you guys because my food in BKK didn't look like that.

ps- tiger kittens just precious!

bmttokyo

Sra. Artista,

Thanks for dropping a line. Very glad to know that all that hard work has not gone to waste. I think I am learning a tad more each time I give it a shot.

Speaking of pix, your place by the ocean is something else. I'll include that place in my wish list. Thanks for sharing. I'll make sure I stick to our rule though- NO STRANGERS IN OUR PARTY !!!
Just kidding !

jgg

Enjoying your pictures, but had a problem viewing the first set. It required a password. I have my own shutterfly account, but my password doesn't work.

bmttokyo

jgg,
Let me check on that OK. Thanks for posting
B

bmttokyo

jgg,
I put a password totally by mistake. If you try it once more & get it, could you let me know?
Thanks.

jgg

bt - that worked! Thanks, already had Japan on my list of places to go, so it was fun to see those pictures.

bmttokyo

Sra,

Just for you........ here's some of the other things I did this summer .........

Although I understand why the Phil is way low in the list of places to visit for too many people, in fact I chuckled when I read the thread about "JAKARTA OR MANILA" & the majority of people, including a number of our dear friends here kept on replying "BALI" OR "BANGKOK", this remains a favorite of mine as I get a real vacation when we're in town. As family & friends or the hotel have a full staff who help out with everything, who can say NO to NO laundry, NO cooking, NO cleaning, NO driving, NO doing dishes, NO grocey shopping etc etc etc.for a whole month ? You get the idea. And YES to: weekly trips to the salon, the spa, shopping as much you dare, eating out everyday if you wish etc etc etc. You get the idea too, right.

Part of our time in Manila during the weekend is business related so when we do have to deal with horrendous traffic there, we get to enjoy many new places to eat & great reunions with friends & family as well.

On weekdays, we go away to the mountains where DH's Dad has a beautiful place called Ponderosa Golf Course. Dad used to be a Marble Pioneer in the Phil & acquired significant property to quarry from. He has been a golf enthusiast as well so when he retired close to 20+ years ago, he built a Golf Course carved out of the mountain. Here is a write up about the place <http://www.philippines-travel-guide....alera.html>

I did not really plan on getting these photos uploaded here but since someone asked......... Here's our album of our time with Dad up in the mountains..... <http://bmttokyo.shutterfly.com/action/>

I was able to travel down South to Negros Occidental, the Sugar Bowl of the Phil & visited a lot of my High School friends who I have not seen since graduation. That was 29 years ago !!! It was a wonderful time to reminisce & enjoy each other's company.

It is now 4 AM TKY time. DH & I went to the Sento this evening & I could never say no to Macha Latte that's why we are still up. Anything other than the Puerto report has to wait till another time. I still have to be up at 7 AM to see the kids off to school.

Talk to you all later..........

rhkkmk

great pics thanks for showing them

bmttokyo

After spending 5 wonderful weeks of vacation mixed in with a little work- our time in the Phil which included the above mentioned highlights also entailed a visit to a very well run Orphanage under the care of good friends of ours. We spent the day with the kids & our children played with them. Our kids decided to buy the whole staff as well as the children a special dinner that evening. I am glad they could be part that at least for a day. We also had the pleasure of taking a great walking tour in Manila's Walled City- Intramuros - IMO, Carlos Celdran is Manila's answer to Tong. Both are knowledgeable, witty, passionate about their cities & on top form of what they do. CC had props & a small sound system to help him retell Manila's history. I learned more that day about Phi.l history than I had ever learned in school.

As we were set to board our Cebu Pacific plane from MNL-BKK, the only 5 seats available to us were those closest to the rest rooms. We've had one too many next to the RR experiences so DH spoke with the Manager in charge, who quickly & graciously released the seats on HOLD up front so we ended up with a lot of room with a whole row for myself during the entire flight. As it is- we landed in BKK close to 1 AM. We managed to get 2 cabs outside without much incident & arrived in Lebua at 2AM. This time we knew where to go to. The kids were really happy with their Lebua experience with the exception of the queer looks they always got from the ladies manning the 52nd floor where Breeze is located. I suppose these ladies are used to enforcing the Dress Code with the patrons visiting their restaurant that they didn't know what to do with kids who frequently stepped out of the elevator with board shorts & summer outfits. I wrote a glowing review to Management about how happy we were with Lebua & mentioned in passing our experience with the ladies on 52nd. An email from the Customer Relations Manager shortly came apologizing for the incidents with assurance that this was going to be taken into account.

I made our on line return reservation to Lebua with agoda.com while DH was squaring away our bill with the Front Desk. At this late hour, we were met by a very cheerful staff who remembered us from our previous stay a month before. We were informed that the interconnecting rooms we had requested were not available & in about 10 minutes got approval from Management to give us an upgrade to a 2 BR suite. This time, we were escorted to our suite, what a sweet deal that was- it was real huge- definitely bigger than our home here in TKY- it is over 180 sq m while home is only 100 sq m!!! 2 nice, clean bedrooms, marble BR with seperate shower & tub, ra full sized kitchen, an extra ROOM for suitcase storage, a dining area & work area. It was beautiful with a wonderful wrap around riverside view from the Living Room & our Master's BR. My 3 kids ended up sleeping for 2 nights in the long couch in the LR - they didn't get to sleep in their room at all. There was also a full sized washer & dryer which was very convenient to make sure we had clean clothes coming home.

Woke up just in time for brunch & personally visited by the CR Manager while we were having brunch. Had a good chat with her & thanked her for the wonderful treat of our upgrade. DH then went to the FC for his workout, CS & YD went to the pool as OD & I hit the road to MBK for some shopping that we needed to do. Took the BTS which is about a 10 minute walk from the hotel back door. We had already done major shopping while in Manila & as expected our weight limit was up to the hilt already. Picked up a few things then hurried back to get ready for our treat for the evening. We had asked Concierge to help us make arrangements for Siam Niramit tickets. A RT van pick up, dinner for 5 & the show cost us close to $300. Later learned that Tong could also make the same arrangements for less. We are very involved in the Creative Arts as our profession & were fascinated by the size of the production of Siam Niramit - including a flowing river on stage with elephants , goats & chicken as part of the cast. About a hundred dancers recounted the history of Old Thailand, the festivals, their heaven & hell concept ( my 9 year old had to keep her eyes closed in this portion). The stage looked like it covered 120 degerees of the front including what normally would be the sides already. We learned a lot about Thai history since all I knew about them was from Anna & the King . All in all a feast for the eyes !!! Highly recommend it. Dinner- SKIP IT !!! It was a Thai style King's Table in CA . There was plenty of food but quality was wanting. Many nicer places to spend your dinner money.

Another wonderful day in BKK- had to tuck every one in early again as we have another day with Tong tomorrow !!!

Penelopestar

To bmttokyo: I just scrolled through and read about your Thailand trip! Your pic's at the floating market and with the elephants are amazing!! I'm going in Dec. and would love to know exactly where that is, and how to get the infamous Tong as our tourguide....could you help with that?

rhkkmk

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