10:23 AM Saturday
Feb. 8, 2005
Bangkok, Thailand
Here I am sitting in the Cafe Net in the Emporium Shopping complex in Bangkok. I have nothing planned today until dinner time so I decided to take this opportunity to write a few lines.
My flights on EVA Air from SFO to Taipei and to Bangkok were uneventful and quiet. The flight on a 747-400 to Taipei was very full. I lucked out and got a seat near one of the emergency exists so I had a lot of leg room and only a three foot walk to the rest room. That closeness to the bathrooms was the big drawback to this seating. When lines started getting long they extended into my leg room space. Oh well, win a few lose a few. The flight from Taipei, also on a 747-400 (last year they used a smaller aircraft for this leg) had tons of room. The rough count at the boarding gate in Taipei was 60 passengers. That should have left about 220 empty seats.
It was good to get back to the Tarntawan Place Hotel and meet their deightful staff once again. Since I arrived a little after 12 Noon, I used the first few hours of the afternoon for just walking around to see what was new, if anything, and for a few phone calls and for rest. I was very tired from the long flights which was made worse by my sinus condition which had flared up just before leaving home. My ears suffered once again despite following my doctor's order to irrigate the sinus passages regularly with a saline solution and then Neo-Synephrine before landing. As a result I went to the pharmacy and bought a few things to try to ease the situation. They have helped but now it sounds like I have more of a cold than anything. During my first afternoon I rode the new subway line two stops to the Hua Lamphong Railway station and back to the Silom Station.
On the first evening here I met with Wit, my tour guide, and we discussed our plans for one or more tours. This time his friend Eddy will be my primary guide but Wit will join us if he has the time. (His primary job now is with a travel agency here.) Anyway, we discussed our plans in the hotel lobby and then went to the Mango Grove restaurant for dinner. After dinner Wit walked me back to the hotel after which I decided to revisit my favorite restaurant/bar on Silom Soi 4 - The Balcony. Returned to the hotel after that.
On my first full day here I decided to check out more of the new subway and rode it to the north end of the line at Bang Sue Station. This is the first line of a planned 7 line system and is very nice. Some of the stations are very large by anyone's standard so I can only assume that some of those are built that way with expansion of the system in mind.
Also yesterday I returned to The Balcony for a few drinks and dinner where I ran into Rick, a friend who used to live in San Francisco. Later in the evening I took in one of the shows in Twilight Soi.
This morning on the way to this complex I ran into Wes, another friend from San Francisco who is vacationing here.
So now I am sitting in this Internet Cafe in the Emporium Complex, one of the upscale shopping centers of the city. After this I will probably go over to the Big C (another shopping center) for lunch. I had gone there yesterday and still have 60 Baht left on my card which I paid 100 THB for yesterday.
Tonight I will be meeting a friend for dinner although I do not yet know where we will go for dinner.
Tomorrow? Good question! I have more phone calls to make this afternoon and must talk with Wit some more about our tour plans.
Feb. 8, 2005
Bangkok, Thailand
Here I am sitting in the Cafe Net in the Emporium Shopping complex in Bangkok. I have nothing planned today until dinner time so I decided to take this opportunity to write a few lines.
My flights on EVA Air from SFO to Taipei and to Bangkok were uneventful and quiet. The flight on a 747-400 to Taipei was very full. I lucked out and got a seat near one of the emergency exists so I had a lot of leg room and only a three foot walk to the rest room. That closeness to the bathrooms was the big drawback to this seating. When lines started getting long they extended into my leg room space. Oh well, win a few lose a few. The flight from Taipei, also on a 747-400 (last year they used a smaller aircraft for this leg) had tons of room. The rough count at the boarding gate in Taipei was 60 passengers. That should have left about 220 empty seats.
It was good to get back to the Tarntawan Place Hotel and meet their deightful staff once again. Since I arrived a little after 12 Noon, I used the first few hours of the afternoon for just walking around to see what was new, if anything, and for a few phone calls and for rest. I was very tired from the long flights which was made worse by my sinus condition which had flared up just before leaving home. My ears suffered once again despite following my doctor's order to irrigate the sinus passages regularly with a saline solution and then Neo-Synephrine before landing. As a result I went to the pharmacy and bought a few things to try to ease the situation. They have helped but now it sounds like I have more of a cold than anything. During my first afternoon I rode the new subway line two stops to the Hua Lamphong Railway station and back to the Silom Station.
On the first evening here I met with Wit, my tour guide, and we discussed our plans for one or more tours. This time his friend Eddy will be my primary guide but Wit will join us if he has the time. (His primary job now is with a travel agency here.) Anyway, we discussed our plans in the hotel lobby and then went to the Mango Grove restaurant for dinner. After dinner Wit walked me back to the hotel after which I decided to revisit my favorite restaurant/bar on Silom Soi 4 - The Balcony. Returned to the hotel after that.
On my first full day here I decided to check out more of the new subway and rode it to the north end of the line at Bang Sue Station. This is the first line of a planned 7 line system and is very nice. Some of the stations are very large by anyone's standard so I can only assume that some of those are built that way with expansion of the system in mind.
Also yesterday I returned to The Balcony for a few drinks and dinner where I ran into Rick, a friend who used to live in San Francisco. Later in the evening I took in one of the shows in Twilight Soi.
This morning on the way to this complex I ran into Wes, another friend from San Francisco who is vacationing here.
So now I am sitting in this Internet Cafe in the Emporium Complex, one of the upscale shopping centers of the city. After this I will probably go over to the Big C (another shopping center) for lunch. I had gone there yesterday and still have 60 Baht left on my card which I paid 100 THB for yesterday.
Tonight I will be meeting a friend for dinner although I do not yet know where we will go for dinner.
Tomorrow? Good question! I have more phone calls to make this afternoon and must talk with Wit some more about our tour plans.
Things are pretty much the same in Bangkok as they were last year when I was here. It is very crowded now in the height of the busy season. Many construction projects continue in this bustling city and some new businesses are in evidence here so the economic condition of the city would seem to be very good.
So I guess that will be it from here for now. Will try to write more before I head north to Chiang Mai on the 18th.
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