Christmas in Bangkok.

[drron]

Mrsdrron is a little down in the dumps for obvious reasons so today was just a short walk for me around the Embassies.
First walked through the Kempinski hotel where they were getting ready for the New Year’s celebrations.

The whole lobby was taken over by tables.
Instead of walking up the canal to Sukhumvit I went south past the American Embassy. First noticed that there was an Oriental Residences here.

And looking back at the Marriott Mayfair.


The US Embassy is hidden behind high walls and trees.


But here is the main entrance.


Past the Embassy the klong is much prettier.


Then there is the Sindhorn on Wireless road which I decided to cut through.

 

[drron]

The Sindhorn apartments don’t look too bad with a row of restaurants in front of it including 2 good looking Japanese restaurants. The Conrad and Indigo hotels are close by. Not too far from Central Embassy as well. The spirit house.


Over the road an old house.


Also a construction site which has a sign saying the US Embassy. Maybe a new one.


And next to the Sindhorn the current entrance to the US Embassy.


And a Thai post box.


The Conrad.


And the Oriental Residences.


Then the Netherlands Ambassador’s Residence.

 

[drron]

Now I had previously thought that the buildings surrounded by the most were the residences of the Netherlands Embassy. But when seen from Wireless road that was obviously wrong. I realised when I saw the flag in front of this place.


It is the Stars and Stripes. And confirming that it is the residence of the US Ambassador.


At this point I was in front of the gate to the Ambassador’s residence. There was a large golden sign so I took a photo. Immediately confronted by a Thai security guard with a marine in the background. Told I had to delete the picture. Showed him it was just a picture of the sign but he insisted I delete it. So I did. Pretty stupid really as on the iPhone I can restore recently deleted photos. Well it is the land of the paranoid.
Some buildings near by.



Another thing that has changed in Thailand is the complete disregard for previous niceties such as walking on the right. Even when it is made obvious people appear to be blind.

Then walking down Soi Ton Son a water monitor was very close to Sukhumvit road. He was in the water but after he looked at me for a moment he decided I was no threat.


So climbed out to sun himself.

 

[drron]

My last walk was on Monday the second. Decided to cash the last of my US dollars into baht as we will definitely be back. Again checked the website and Superrich at Central Embasssy were open. But walking to their booth no lights or queue. Fortunately a sign up lunch 1400 to 1500 and it was only 1430.
So down to the basement and their upmarket food court Eat thai. Very nicely set up but more expensive than other. I had a very nice oyster omelette.




It was nice.
Got back to the currency exchange at 1504 and there was a queue of 20 people. It went quickly until the 3 in front of me. All were cashing in Baht,all the same amount but in GBP,Yen and USD. The one in front was the USD and she got $US 10000. All 3 reported back to a guy waiting on the side. possibly a Thai money laundering outfit.

My turn. I knew I had $US 300 to change. It had been counted several times. The woman rejected one note as it had a small anount of ink on it. She put the remaining notes in the mecanical counter and it counted 7 $50 notes. Gues what I said.

So back to the Apartment and they had taken down the Christmas decorations and some new flowers.
.

 

[drron]

The last of Bangkok. The final breakfasts and the long weekend wines. Saturday wine and Sunday breakfast. Was good to try some different wines and much better being able to get them at a supermarket instead of a restaurant. Wine prices in Asia are high.



This time from one of Argentina's oldest vineyards. I enjoyed it.
Now for breakfast. Only 2 more to indulge in curries.



But how could I pass up the grilled lamp. now that would have been un australian.


And they even had mint sauce only brown.

 

[serfty]

But how could I pass up the grilled lamp. now that would have been un australian.

Surely a shining beacon after the grilling.

 

[drron]

Tuesday comes around and time to start the trip home. As usual mrsdrron wants to start early but I booked a time 30 minutes later. Very quick trip to BKK. On arrival the lines had already formed for our SQ flight. A dozen or so in the J queue. but 6 were one family and 3 left the line. The fellow in front of us was traveling light. No suitcase and no carry on. We felt good with just 1 suitcase along with our 2 carry ons. Very soon to the recently reopened SKL lounge. Not a good look decorated with plastic orchids.


Nice and bright.



Now Just after we walked in a bit before 090 a woman asked when the lunch dishes would be served and the reply was after 1100. So I decided to wait a little before having breakfast. I got up at 1000 and it was all lunch dishes with only the scrambled egg left from brekkie. Ah well an early lunch. Some of the food.




And my plate.


Left for the gate about an hour before advertised boarding.

 

[Quickstatus]

@drron what were the highlights for you?

 

[drron]

The gate was open and was nearly full. Only 2 of the seats for old and infirm were available. All the others filled with young healthy folk. Maybe I should post in the what cheeses me off thread? Boarding began early but a lot of preboarders with Indian ladies in wheelchairs and families with children. Some though were definitely not young children.

We were first on when J boarding was called though one of the wheelchair women was already in her J seat. The FAs were really good making sure mrsdrron was comfortable. So much so that she was the first to be given a glass of champagne. I had to wait a few minutes. So the seat.
.


Perfect for a 2 hour flight! But more evidence of cost cutting. this was the menu given out.


Just 1 sheet of paper and no wine list. Mrsdrron had the Chicken breast.


And I had the roast duck.


Both OK but nothing spectacular. Book the cook was not available for this sector.
For entertainment I watched The Woman King based on the female warriors of Dahomey which is now Benin. Theym were a force to be reckoned with. Here is an article from the Smithsonian on them.

Dahomey’s Women Warriors

www.smithsonianmag.com

A few liberties with the film such as a skimpy uniform when actually they were fully covered. The film also has them fighting another tribe to stop the slave trade. In actual fact they were one of the greatest suppliers of slaves to the Europeans.
The film finished only minutes before touchdown.

 

[Quickstatus]

@drron what was the sauce for the roast duck?

 

[drron]

@drron what was the sauce for the roast duck?

Not sure what the brown stuff was as I did what I always do. Douse it with the chilli.

 

[Quickstatus]

brown stuff

Was it sweet?. Could be plum sauce?

 

[drron]

Arrived at Terminal 2 with a fair walk to the arrivals hall. Once there there were no queues and straight through the e gates. that meant a bit of a wait until our bags arrived. When I first turned on the iPhone it said our bag was still at BKK. It quickly changed to 80Km north east of SIN in the middle of the ocean off Malaysia. As I heard the baggage trolley arrive with the first bag it decided it was close by and soon reunited with our bag.

Straight through customs and another walk and Air train to get to the CP Changi. Once again upgraded from standard king to pool view king. But basically the same room. At check in picked the drinks for the amenity as breakfast would be in the SKL. However a week after we arrived back the 600 points amenity landed in my account as well.

So the room.



The view.


And later at night.



On the other side of the building you get something like this.


Freshened up and went down to the bar. mrsdrron had a Spanish dry white as they had run out of SB. it was quite acceptable. i had a tiger beer. Mrsdrron was happy at this stage.

 

[drron]

We decided we would try eating at the hotel as our experience with the restaurants in Jewel has been that they are expensive and not great.

Unfortunately most of the dishes were spicy and as Mrsdrron is allergic to chilli and capsicum that was not a good start so she decided she would just have a plate of satays. But as she does in places with a mainly spicy menu asked if there was any chilli in the satays. well yes there was in the satay sauce. her good mood vanished so we headed over to Jewel. It was extremely busy with long lines for a few of the restaurants. Her mood was not improving. Finally came across Luke's lobster which we had been to a few times in NYC. Quite expensive. So I had a crab roll and Mrsdrron a lobster roll that came smothered in seasoning. never had that in NYC.




So about $A100 for the rolls and a lemonade.
Back to the hotel and off to bed.

 

[drron]

Now the time has come to head for home. as usual decided to head for the lounge for breakfast. Changi was still decorated.


The SKL lounge was very quiet.





Had some Asian delights and a coffee. Boarding was at 0920 so didn't partake of any alcohol. It was a bit of a walk to the B gates. There was a bit of a line at security but as we walked in the door they opened a second lane. Only 1 fellow in front of us. mrsdrron went through the normal Xray but her bag was pulled aside to check something. not sure what it was. i went through the body scanner and although I had to wait a couple of minutes for an operator I was able to collect our bags before Mrsdrron got there.

As usual a bun rush when they called business class boarding and about 20 in front of us. When we got onboard the only other pax in the J cabin was one of the wheel chair pre boarders. And as usual the plane weaved it's magic and she was able to walk off in BNE and pass us on the way to Immigration.

 

[drron]

So first to the menu.



And the wine list.





And for those that were flying back to SIN here is their menu. the wine list was the same.

 

[drron]

So once again a familiar seat.


The plane still thought it was Christmas.


Started off with the satays but didn't think you needed another picture. the FA came around with 3 second helpings. There were 4 offered them before me and sadly only 1 refused. So I started with the smoked salmon and then had the Nasi lemak. Both very tasty.




Desserts were brought around and I asked for the cheeses plate but somehow the FA got me to agree to having the banana cheese cake as well .



I passed on the second meal before arrival. Two classes of the PH bubbles and 2 glasses of the Clarrendale french red.
I watched 3 movies
See how they run.
The Good House.
Joy ride.

Wouldn't have paid anything to see them though.
Then 3 episodes of a Japanese doco. Budget trip in Japan. A food blogger with a local celeb spends a day in the various regions with a budget of 50000 yen. A bit over $500. But an enjoyable show with some good hints. Japanese sound track with English sub titles.

Worth a watch if you are planning a trip to Japan.

Budget Trip in Japan | KANSAI TV

Basically on time into BNE. Air tags told me our bag had made it. A bit of a wait for the carousel to start but soon on our way home. a bit slow as a massive storm on Brisbane's northside.

So December, January a good time to visit Bangkok weather wise so you can walk around in comfort. We basically have done virtually all of the main tourist things but i hope I persuaded some to go off the usual track and see life as it was.

 

[Pushka]

Your photos of Christmas decos long after Christmas remind me of our least favourite cruise on Princess Diamond out of Singapore a few days after Christmas. All the musac played was Christmas Carols. We were ready to throw Frosty the Snowman overboard especially as it was blazing hot. We used to 'annoy' the crew by humming it as we passed them because we knew they detested it as much as we did.