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Tim_and_Liz are counting down to take-off
19 days to go!
I am forever indebted to all of you Fodorites who encouraged us to travel to Asia when I posted with my irrational concerns way back in March 2007. Here is our rough itinerary. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions. I will definitely write a trip report here on Fodor's, but will also be updating my travel blog. If you'd like to be added to my blog list, send me an email at [email protected] (I have to keep my blog set to "private," because I am just about to enter the job market.) <b>T March 4th</b> Depart MSP... we have secured exit row seats for all NW flights... Tim is 6'5" and very happy about his legroom. :) <b>W March 5th</b> Arrive in Tokyo at 5pm. Take bus to Park Hotel Tokyo and check in for two nights. Dinner somewhere in Shiodome complex. <b>R March 6th</b> EARLY morning fish market tour. http://homepage3.nifty.com/tokyowork...ijiTourEng.htm Sushi breakfast. Mid-day nap. Afternoon: Asakusa area. Evening: Ginza area... dinner at Daidaiya? <b>F March 7th</b> Tokyo Shibuya or Harajuku area(s)? Depart for HKG in evening, arriving at 10:20pm. Bus or taxi to Salisbury YMCA and check in for 3 nights. <b>S March 8th</b> REST! Chill out. Wander around HK. Figure out what the heck we're doing the next day with my parents. Nice dinner. <b>N March 9th</b> Day in Hong Kong with my parents, who will be stopping there on the Queen Victoria cruise liner... Victoria Peak, Escalators, ?? Not sure what we'll all do. Evening cruise on the Aqua Luna. Dinner at one of Cicerone's recommendations. Parents depart at midnight. <b>M March 10th</b> Day in Hong Kong, possible trip to Lantau (dealing with luggage as suggested by Ray), or just relax because I think we need to be fully rested upon arrival in SR! Fly HKG-REP, arriving dinnertime. 3 nights at the HanumanAlaya Boutique Guesthouse. <b>T March 11th</b> Day with Ponheary. <i>Must-see list for three days with Ponheary:</i> School visit One sunrise at temples One sunset at temples Temples: Ta Prohm Angkor Wat Bayon Angkor Thom Banteay Srey? Pre Rup? Landmine Museum Tonle Sap Artisans de Angkor <b>W March 12th</b> Day with Ponheary. <b>R March 13th</b> Day with Ponheary. Fly Siem Reap to Bangkok, arriving late. Meet up with my parents who are flying in from HCMC. 5 nights at the Adelphi Suites. <b>F March 14th</b> Floating Market and Fishing Village with Tong and my parents. <b>S March 15th</b> Bangkok with Tong and my parents My parents depart Bangkok early afternoon to meet up with the QV in Laem Chabang. Afternoon with just us and Tong: Wat Arun? <b>N March 16th</b> Tiger Temple and Orphanage with Tong or a team member (details up in the air). <b>M March 17th</b> Free day in Bangkok Shopping, possible 1-hour cooking class with Thai Kitchen? <b>T March 18th</b> BKK-NRT-MSP in exit row seats Return to grad school and finish my dissertation! Tim is off work until the 25th, lucky guy! Liz |
I know you will have a wonderful time!
One comment on your itinerary at Angkor, do include Banteay Sri. It is unique. |
we have 3 days with Ponheary/Dara in July. Can't wait to hear about your highlights! We plan to go to one of the remote Tonle Sap villages like Kamphong Phluck or Kamphong Kleang, but it will be rainy season when access is by boat. Will be interested to hear what trip you take to Tonle Sap Village. Have a great trip...
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sounds busy, but fabulous....lots of territory in a short period....but you are young i gather...
we prefer the seats at the back of the plane (if 747's)---rows 63-67...the only two seaters--window seat has almost 1/2 more leg room...i always find exit row seats more narrow and sometimes the cold air from the door is way tooooo cold.... you will love tong and i am sure you all will love the secret place and reed and his wife..... |
Wow! That's quite a trip!
Can't wait to hear more about it. You know how much I love both Ponheary and Tong. Give them both my best please. I will be in Rome before you return but will catch up when I get back. PS-Thanks again for donating to the PLF. :-) |
Enjoy!
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Liz, so psyched (and jealous) that you guys are leaving so soon!
You'll have a great time--an itinerary I can absolutely appreciate! ABSOLUTELY do sunset at Pre Rup. It was bar-none THE high-point of our trip to Siem Reap. Can't wait to read your blog...and hopefully hear some of your stories in-person in Minneapolis soon! |
T & L,
I am really sorry I'll be missing you here in TKY. I'll be in Chiang Mai when you land & will be BKK when you leave. Do make sure you'll let me know when you come back though. It would be great to meet you both. If you have time, go to Kappabashi Dori http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3020.html between Ueno & Asakusa , the cookware capital of TKY. There are several shops there that sell the plastic food samples. We were there a couple weekends ago with the kids & it was fun to see specialty shops dedicated to plates, paper products, chairs, signs, banners, pottery, bake ware etc etc. Food wholesalers are there as well. |
Give Tong a big hello from the Panda. Your trip sounds super. Make sure you give yourself a little down time each day. This will enrich the up time.
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It sounds a great holiday! Please consider one of Ciccerone's previous recommendations for dinner in Hong Kong - we did and it was great - easy to get to from Salisbury YMCA - Hutong.
http://www.aqua.com.hk/ Wonderful views of the harbour and very interesting presentation. To get a front row window seat you need to book well in advance we were told. |
Sounds like a great trip - hope you have a wonderful time. But, I agree with Kathie, definitely visit Banteay Srei. I would also suggest Bayon for a second sunset - I still remember watching the moon appear beyond one of those enormous, brooding, faces.
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Thanks, all!
Kathie- definitely will request Bantey Srei/Srey. It does look beautiful. We do have the Dawn Rooney Angkor book which I need to review--I believe you originally recommended it to me months ago. Do you suggest we take it along? Alison- We'll definitely report back! rhkkmk- Yes, we are relatively young... 28/31. I think we'll be able to keep up the pace, but we are always willing to cut things or just slow down depending on our moods. The exit rows we have secured only have two people across... pretty nice. I don't like how the armrests don't go up, and it can get cold, but it is all worth it to me for the legroom (for me too but especially for Tim). Thanks for your suggestion of the last rows though. We had them on a similar plane on our way to Sydney on Qantas. I would highly recommend those seats to anyone who doesn't need exit-row legroom or who can't secure the seats. It's so nice not having a third person in your row. And I am so looking forward to going to the "secret place"! Kristina-- Have fun in Rome! We will be back there briefly in June following BIL's wedding. I love Rome and look forward to reading your blog! I loved your Asia entries! Thanks, KimJapan! filmwill-- I hope that Tim and I enjoy SE Asia even half as much as you and David did. Hopefully we can swap stories over cocktails in Mpls sometime this year. I will definitely try to have sunset at PreRup. If it was a highlight of your trip, it must be fabulous! bmttokyo- I am sorry we are missing each other too, both in Tokyo and in Thailand! Will definitely let you know if/when we're in Tokyo again. I will write down your shopping tip-- I saw that area on some TV show and it looked like something worth seeing! Gpanda- Thanks for your help in planning this trip. I loved seeing your photos and it helped me explain to Tim what we'll be seeing/doing with Tong. We definitely will put in some "down time." janev- Aqua is at the top of my list, thanks to Cicerone! I will attempt to make a reservation. I am glad that you enjoyed yourselves there. thursdaysd- Your description of sunset at Bayon gave me goosebumps. I hope that we can experience it! |
Liz - Have a great trip. We leave for our trip March 19th so will be e-mailing you to be on your blog list so I can get updates right away!!
I like the place you have chosen to stay in Siem Reap. I had some of the same concerns you did, but I think we are going to stay with HDLP, partly because I like the idea of being right in town. However, I look forward to hearing how you liked HanumanAlaya. |
Go ahead, make us jealous! ((*))
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Liz
You must be so excited. I love that feeling you get right before a journey almost as much as the actual trip. I'm sure Ponheary will work this out with you, but a visit to the Knar School is on the road to Banteay Srei and the Landmine Museum is also on that same road, so that makes all that easy. Ponheary will try to get you to Banteay Srei before 9am...go with her suggestion; it's a zoo once the buses arrive. Have a great time! |
Banteay Srei is an hour's drive each way... to avoid the tourists (which what we're going to do) you can go before the end of the day... the sandstone is pink, so the soft, late, afternoon sun (what we call in the film biz the 'golden hour') is very photogenic to the pink sandstone & from what our guide Tek tells me, the tourists are gone too... it's the temple I most want to see.
We will be visiting Knar Primary beforehand, so I can teach English & give out toothpaste. You are young, as long as you keep yourselves hydrated your schedule is not too much. Bob, Be aware that Thai Air flies AirBus not Boeing. They just changed our return plane model from BKK to LAX & it now has no P/E class, so they put us in business class! Seat guru claims that model AB 346 has first class too, but according to Thai Air reservations, there is no first class on our flight, just economy & business, no Premium Economy. We are in bulkhead, no exit doors & the bassinets are at the back of the section, not in the bulkhead... which is lovely. |
AskO...please not that in the original post above, she says that they are flying N/W which does still fly some 747's so that is why i responded as i did....
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jgg- I am sure you will love HDLP. I can't wait to read about it, and maybe we'll stop there for a meal. I added you to the bloglist!
Jed- you are always jetting off somewhere exciting. Where next? Have you been back to NZ lately? Lori- Will we get to meet you?!? I figured Ponheary would be able to take us to the different places in a logical sequence... that is why I just made a list of must-sees and we can hopefully see it all in the three days. We are not big on tour bus crowds (nor heat!) so visiting B.Srei in the morning is good. AskOksana/rhkkmk: Yes, Bob's correct, we are flying Northwest, not Thai Air. From Minneapolis, NW flies 747s non-stop to Tokyo Narita. NW also uses some Airbus planes to NRT, but they depart from west-coast cities. |
<Jed- you are always jetting off somewhere exciting>
Just came back from St. Martin 2 days ago. More relaxing than exciting. No decision on our next trip yet. ((*)) |
"...relatively young 28/31".......that IS young Liz! ;)
I think you've probably seen it on our blog but we went to Yellow Door by the Escalators (one of Cicerone's suggestions for HK) and loved it - also its sister restaurant Kin's Kitchen (Causeway Bay area). It looks like you did change your hotel in SR? Have a wonderful time!!!!!!! Barcelona is great BTW - I saw your blog post about Montserrat - would you recommend we do that? Liz |
"Seat guru claims that model AB 346 has first class too, but according to Thai Air reservations, there is no first class on our flight, just economy & business, no Premium Economy."
Thai switches to the 340-600 when the 340-500's go in for maintenance. There is a First Class section on this flight. You can try and request it when you check in, but unless your a Thai Gold member, you probably won't get it. Service is still Business Class drinks/meal, but you get the better seat. You will also be stopping in Osaka (KIX) to refuel on the way to BKK. [ |
Tim and Liz, have a wonderful holiday. It sounds like you've done a lot of research and planning...as you did for your New Zealand trip.
Good for you... have fun. |
Jed- St. Martin is beautiful. I would love to teleport myself there today-- it's so cold in Minnesota!
Hi Liz! Yes, we did change our hotel in SR. I saw the HanumanAlaya referenced in a post written by KimJapan, and it seems like exactly what I've been looking for! I forgot about the Yellow Door recommendation. I will definitely look into it! As for Montserrat, GO! But wait for a clear day, and go early in the day. The views were absolutely beautiful. I don't think I have very many photos on my blog, but if you want to see hundreds more, send me an email and I can send you my shutterfly album. Enjoy Barcelona! Kodi- so nice to see you here on the Asia board! I've sent you an email. Trip update: I did make a reservation with the Aqua Luna at 6:30pm and Aqua Roma/Tokyo at 7:45pm (a window table). The email reservations staff at Aqua is excellent! Liz |
Tim/Liz:
You have an exciting journey planned! I wish you the best of happy travels. >>>Take bus to Park Hotel Tokyo and check in for two nights. Dinner somewhere in Shiodome complex.<<< As I said earlier, you will love the Park Hotel..very unique establishment...for dinner, suggest you go to the basement floor where there is a 7-11 type convenience store...and in the corridors next to the store there are about 6 different restaurant choices. We liked "Katsuretsu"... I think I might've mentioned before that if you decide not to have the mediocre, expensive buffet breakfast at the hotel, or the $7.50 ala carte coffee, just go down to the building's entrance lobby and there is a fine little coffee shop with pastries, etc. I would also recommend "Tsukiji Ichiban Sushi"(#1) in the Tsukiji market complex, excellent and reasonable, with a fun sushi chef. Also, for lunch you may want to try that little hole in the wall I recommended to you, on upscale Omotesando Street...featuring the very tastiest okonomiyaki! Also, try to get to the Mitsukoshi Department Store in the Ginza for the ceremonial 10:00 am opening, where you're officially greeted and every one of the employees bows to the customers as you enter. Harujuku's "parade of the colorfully dressed young folk" is unfortunately only on the weekend. Doubt if you'll see much on a Friday. We caught in on a Sunday morning...an it was amazing, even for us jaded folks from "Hollyweird"... Enjoy every minute...and we all will await your reports and pix! Sayonara! Stu T. |
Thank you, Stu!
I have noted your recommendations and will definitely utilize at least some of them! One question for those who have been to Siem Reap-- is it possible to easily find/purchase sunblock there? We want to avoid packing it if possible. Thanks! |
Never looked for it there - I wear long pants and use an umbrella as a sunshade.
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I second the sunset at Pre Rup. It was lovely. Dara also took us to Pre Rup in the morning and I got some really nice photos.
Bantey Srei was also worth the visit in my opinion. It is slightly different and MUCH smaller (building and the temple itself) compared to the rest of the temples (which are BIG). However, the carvings and the pinkish color of the stones was beautiful. |
Sunscreen and mosquito repellant are both easy to find in Siem Reap, no worries.
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Tokyo is getting ready for your arrival Liz !!! Sorry I'll be missing you both.
The weather is perfect today. It really feels like Spring is in the air. In fact, majority of the clothes I left to line dry during the night are quite dry. Although you are several weeks from the forecast of Cherry Blossoms blooming (the papers said several agencies have been vying to get the date on the dot- they have March 22-25 as their target dates here in TKY & Nagoya. You might be able to see the Plum trees starting to bloom here & there. My girlfriend told me her crocuses have started to say hello to her as well. As for me & my bulbs, all 50 of them are still in the plastic bags I bought them in :(. Hope you bring all you have to bring & leave all you have to as well. Have fun !!! |
Liz...I e-mailed your blog with concise directions to that great little, hard to find okonomiyaki joint on Omotesando Street in Tokyo....but in case you didn't get it, here it is :
...if you're into little holes in the wall, unique places, both wife and I heartily recommend, that while strolling tree-lined Omotesando Street treat yourself to lunch at a place whose name is only visible in Japanese...but you will find it...trust me! It's worth the search....directly across the street from Benneton (what better universal landmark!)..the resto is on the same side of the street as the famed Oriental Plaza Bazaar. It is located between the "Shu-uemura" make-up store, and Tod's shoes and bags store...in the very narrow little "Maryoshi Building" ...take iffy elevator to 3rd Floor...and there it is...seats about 15, and all the action takes place on the Benihana-type grill where three young guys are at work making their specialty "okonomiyaki"...a combination of some sort of pancake batter, egg, cabbage, shrimp and onion..all grilled and topped with a brushed teriyaki sauce. De-e-elicious. Cost a whopping 860Yen per (about $8). stu t. |
Thanks Stu-
I still have to find a restaurant that I can try in Omotesando with good recommendations. I'll give that a shot next time we're in the city. Too bad- we were just there a couple weeks ago- when we took a friend on a Walking Tour through the Meiji Temple. I must have gone past it since we were down shopping at Oriental Bazaar. I make it here at home but it is never the same as the ones in the restaurants........... |
bmtt
...it's only a few doors upstreet from the Bazaar, toward Omotesando subway station. stu |
Thanks Tower !
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