louislitt

Excellent trip report! The picture quality was superb! Just out of curiosity if that was an average drag show, what is an above average one like? As irritating as it can be, boarding a large plane via bus can sometimes be rather cool. Also loved the fact that you took us on a crossfit gym tour of the countries that you went too! Look forward to the rest. Safe travels

Kind Regards, LL

JVPhoto

Chiang Mai Pt 1 (Loy Krathong)

Decided to do a bit of chronological order and break up Chiang Mai with y next post which will be a weekend in Bangkok for a wedding.

I rented my place off the North West corner of the old city from AirBnB. Actually form a young(ish) expat couple who picked me up from the airport.



Gret balcony view that gave me clear view of every departure from CNX. Even with the curtains drawn you can certainly tell the difference when the LCC A320s are leaving compared to the TG 777s.

Just out the apartment were a lot of great options. I ate at K's Kitchen at least once a week. The khao soi and pumpkin penang were great.



Just up from that was Ombra Cafe which is attached to a guest house. Very well designed, gave me the feeling of being in Portland or Brooklyn.


Having a scooter really opens up the city. I was able to get all around from my apartment on the NW corner to my school on the NE and to the gym along the Super Highway in between. Not to mention all the other running around I would do.


The morning commute does not suck.




The TEFL course I did took up a lot of my time. Left the house at 8:30 M-F and classes were done about 4/4:30.
The first two weeks were more or less grammar classes and some teach method practice. It would be the 2nd two weeks where we had 6 lessons in actual thai classes.
My first demo to the other TEFL coursemates.


We also got 10 hours of Thai lessons.



Funny enough that was the day the class would go to Ram Bar (gay club near the river) for the drag show. Some questionable choreography and some lip synching ballads...and one sat on my lap.



It was nice to fall into a little rhythm and schedule. More or less would ride up past the school to a fruit lady and get my 3 bags for 50 baht every morning. After that around the corner to the small shop set up for an iced Americano.


I joined GO GYM which sits off the "Super Highway" just north of where I was staying. 900 baht/month, cheaper if you do more months in advance. It was nice that it was "open air" without walls and in some glass AC building.


I also went to Cross Fit Chiang Mai for about two weeks even though I paid for a month. While they have several classes throughout the day the Strength focused ones were only at 8am or 5pm so it was a little limiting. Plus it just made me miss my friends from the one in Monterey.


Finding protein and supplements was a little harder than I thought but eventually got to Sandy Health Shop on the Super Highway near Central Festival which was a decent resource.





One of my closest friends would come to visit me in the first week while there. We would then meet up in Bangkok after she went to Phuket.


Can you spot the offense?


I also said farewell to an old friend...the small Superman logo I got when I was 15 with a fake ID. Happy to have found an artist at De Ja Vu to start a larger floral piece I want with the center being the lotus covering up the Superman. When I come back in 2 months he's going to add a chrysanthemum.


They did some sightseeing but we mostly ate. We did Chiang Mai Street Food tours one night which was nice with a guide taking you to the night street food market on the north and south ends of the city. It's about $25 but all the food (about 10 different things) is included plus them picking you up and driving.


Going to the South end market just for these sweet corn coconut dumplings is worth the extra hike.


Some other highlights just down the street from the school were Kitchen Hush and Hinlay Curry House. I went to each 2x for their lunch sets which are about 270 baht.






Both were delicious and little serene refuges in the city.



Jok Sompet is open 24 hours and had noodles/dim sum but the real winner is this roasted chicken with friend basil dish. Had it 3x! Sits right on the north moat road and easy to find.



Also in love with khao soi just down the street from Jok between two temples is Khao Soi Khun Yai which is open M-F 10-2.



Sitting in the old city is also Ung which is an analogue photography shop and has a cafe in the front where they grind the beans to order.



Dash Teak House in the South East corner is also lovely. My "landlords" had their wedding there and are very close with Noi & Dash (Mother & Son). I soon met Dash a few times and even did Johnny Walker Black shots with him. The "Swimming Rama" of peanut curry over morning glories is amazing and the tamarind chicken.


Also in the old city was Hueh Phen which was pretty good Northern food but the service was really lacking and not "land of smiles."



Not much of note but we did have fun at the Korean charcoal bbq on the 4th floor of Central Festival.


The real highlight in the first week was that it was Loy Krathong which is when the small floating lanterns are set out on the river.





The more visually exciting aspect was the paper floating lanterns.









While the festival is 3 days, the 2nd was the "official" time you could release lanterns after 9pm when they would close the airport. My photos were taken around 7:30pm so no one listened to that. Also on the 3rd day there were a few but no really that many.

jacobac00

Chiang Mai looks amazing. Makes me want to go more than ever.

DanielW

Looks like an awesome 30 days in Chiang mai. Must be great to spend a decent amount of time there rather than just doing the 'tourist' thing for a few days.

Didn't realise they closed the airport for the paper lanterns, I hope this is just a precaution and nothing has happened previously!

JVPhoto

I have more photos from the last two weeks coming up in another post. I fell I love with CM after my first visit and this time coming back I immediately felt a sigh of relief and sense of calm once I landed from BKK.
Even if someone had 3 days it's well worth it to do the Old City and Doi Sutehp. It's pretty walkable in the Old City and you can stay outside and it's not hard to get into at all.
I'm looking forward to the 2 three month periods I'll be staying there next year.

Also I don't think there were any accidents in previous years with the lanterns but just talking and hearing from random people it was pretty well known they were trying to limit the releases to Wednesday night and (on paper) after 9 which like I said by 7:30 there were hundreds and eventually thousands of lanterns littering the sky. Most of the temples had people releasing them but it seemed like the main area was actually on the eastern side of the river...not on the take off but right in the area where the planes begin to turn south.
The other "fun" part was to watch them all come down once the flames burned out, nearly caused a scooter accident or two when someone all of a sudden gets drop attacked by 3 foot paper and wood sky jelly fish.

JVPhoto

THAI J CNX-BKK-CNX & Le Meridien Bangkok

It was time to head out to Bangkok for a wedding over the weekend. Nice thing at CNX they don't charge to park your scooter so it was nice getting in 90 min before the flight (could have been 45 since I had no bags). The lounge is a smaller (very smaller) version of the domestic BKK lounge with similar offerings of fruit, steamed buns and little sandwiches.



About a 20 min delay boarding and taking off. I took the evening flight because I didn't feel like going straight from class to the airport. It was still on a 777 but this time the 2-3-2 product.



Good cashew chicken!


Traffic around 9pm on a Sat night was showing 90 min or so driving from BKK. I ended up figuring out the train...all byyyyy myself!
The lines to buy tickets seemed like a madhouse but it went pretty quick since they had staff doing all the buttons and selections for people. Soon enough was on the train and then switched to the MRT which put me out 4 min walk from Le Meridien.

The wedding was going to be here this weekend which is why I stayed here (and it's an SPG brand) so I made it easy on me. My friends who were visiting Thailand (and me in CNX) just arrived from Phuket but they stayed at The Pullman G since it was close and like $100/night cheaper.
Feeling a bit silly I booked the room with the circle bed. Sadly it didn't rotate.



Had a nice view of the new Ritz Carlton Residences building. I think from what I read it'll be the tallest one in Bangkok.


Very nice touch with Nouvelle Vague playing throughout the hotel and elevators.


Pretty snazzy room service

Gym and pool area are okay, nothing special.

The breakfast buffet on the other hand was amaaaaaazing! The hostess did a great job even remember my name and room number on the 2nd morning.







Woke up to a sunny day on King Rama IX's birthday and hoped in a taxi to head near the On Nut BTS station to go to Muscle Factory gym to meet my friend....the Russian Johnny Bravo.



Really nice gym, just sadly so far out of the way (from where I would ever stay in Bangkok).



Didn't really do any sightseeing. Mostly just met up with the girls and took them to Chatachuk Weekend Market since I wanted to do a little gift shopping as well.
Walking out to hail a street taxi we got accosted by two tuk tuk drivers asking where we were going and told us because it is the King's birthday that the market is closed. I thanked him for giving my friends the "(something) is closed" scam and maybe when they visit the Grand Palace someone will do it there to.

We ate at some place in the market where it seemed everything was in a hollowed out fruit that we spent the whole meal trying to figure out if it was plastic or real.



I had a lot of high expectations for the wedding hoping to see a bunch of HighSo aunties decked out. The groom is American and the bride is Thai, they met working in Guam. He & I actually went to the same HS but he was about two grades ahead of me. I went because my friend who took me was roommates with him for a while. That being said the wedding was mostly just a big cocktail party. She wore a Western dress, the ceremony was a little 10min vow thing and then the rest was eating and drinking with some live music and then a DJ. I drank a bit (for how much I drink now...6 months ago that would have barely buzzed me) and was happy that when I ducked out to "go upstairs for a minute to change my shoes" I went to bed and never came back down.



I was given 4pm check out with my status which was great since I had time to hang around in the morning before my flight at 6. No traffic getting to the airport so spent about 75 min in the lounge.
Wanting a bit more to eat I went to the food court for some larb gai which was 5x what you would pay for it and tasted 1/2 as good.


Boarding was more or less on time. When they called for J/Gold a Chinese tour group of about 20 bum rushed the podium but luckily the TG agents handled it well and made room for us to board.


Didn't know that Qatar was flying this beauty to BKK...quite the capacity.


A decent little chicken and rice that I made skinless.


Loved getting off the plane with my duffle bag, hoping on my scooter and being home within 20 min of landing.

JVPhoto

Chiang Mai (Pt. 2)

With two weeks left back in CNX after the wedding it would not be when a lot of the prep was done for the actual in school teaching practices (6 of them that we would have).
It meant that our days were a bit more free since we were able to prep on our own.



I wanted to make it up to Doi Sutehp which I am happy I did. No problem riding up on the scooter or coming down (at night).







While exploring I saw some chairs set up and some performers practicing. As I was about to leave the area and head down a man came on the speaker and asked everyone move to one side of the plaza as "our Princess" will be arriving.



Cool! Well after about an hour of sitting on the floor while they made people put their phones away, take their glasses off, put their bags behind them I started to contemplate leaving because I didn't also want to get trapped while she was there watching the performance. I saw some commotion down the way which turned out to be the military type guys with big canvas bags of packaged cakes and chips to give to people while they ate. I decided to take off at that point.
I tried googling in the news and looking on social media but there were conflicting reports saying it was the Prince and not one of the Princesses...although the guy coordinating everyone said "Princess" several times.



The remainder of the time spent would be falling into a groove of working out.





And eating.



Near my apartment was a relaxing spot called Huen Muan Jai (you can google it on Conde Nast etc) where I went to have a late lunch/early dinner one afternoon.





The khao soi wasn't bad, the "northern" sausage was great.
I was said my stir fried ant larva was more of a friend omelette than stir fry.



Another spot in the center of the old city is Beet Root Stories. Veg cafe, juices, "super food" dishes, it was great.



Next to it is also a nice Vietnamese place.



The day we finished our last teaching practice me and one of the coursemates went to the Thae Pae Gate Boxing Stadium for a Muay Thai fight.
Its 400 baht general and 600 baht ring side which we did and was well worth it. I'd read some times when you see these matches it is all choreographed and like WWE. The fights started off strong and you for sure hear the kicks connect and see the welts and on a few even blood. A few fights were not that entertaining and seemed like it would have been "scripted". One of our teachers said in CM for the REAL stuff go to the Kawilla stadium near the train station.













After about 2.5 hours on our way home zig zagging through the old city looking for some street food we couldn't pass up on TACOS BELL!!

The guy typically sets up across from the Zoe in Yellow bar area.


Great noodle place (no idea what it's called) sits on the eastern side of the river near Warorot bridge.



Also in need of a haircut I found The Cutler which seems to be a pretty popular place. Make a reservation because they take their time and only have 2-3 people working. I saw them turn away 4 walk ins during the hour I was there.




GO GYM where I had been working out hosted a physique competition at the We Be Real Biker show at the Promenada Mall one evening.
I had no idea the chopper, customs, motorcycle culture was so big here.



Had a little bit of time towards the end of the trip to ride the scooter down to Baan Tawai Creative Village.



Basically a wholesale/retail area to get not only gifts and souvenirs but also what looked to be some AMAZING furniture. If I do land here for a long time and have to fill a house I know where I'd go.

An awesome four weeks and I can't wait to come back in February for 2.5 months (just in time for the heat and haze) and the end of the year for another 3-4.

JVPhoto

Thai J CNX-BKK + The W Bangkok



Time to say goodbye! Sat in the domestic TG lounge for about an hour and half given our flight was delayed 30 min even though the inbound arrived on time.
With the amount of gate lice and seemingly random lines forming I thought I was leaving EWR on UA.
I just hung back and off to the side knowing they would hold up the J/Elite card for boarding and would go up. A few of the men in the lounge started to form a line right by the counter slight in front but adjacent to one of the other general lines forming. An American man made a comment to two of them saying "You know we've been waiting in line too, you just can't come up and go wherever you'd like!" They didn't say anything. As the GA was starting to make an announcement and another taking down the elastic band that man and 3 others rushed the agent to maneuver in front of the newly formed J/Elite line. They were then told to go back in line and it was not time for them to board yet and waved in the J/Elite line.

The flight was a 2-3-2 config 777 and was about 75% full in J which is the most I've seen on this leg.
Slightly sweet pasta with meats I couldn't tell what they were.


My bags were the first two off the claim and I made it down quick to get into the taxi line and head to The W. Driver was friendly and talked a little about if I was on holiday and had been to Thailand before.

I had not stayed at The W Bangkok before but I had been in the area before going to Coup d'Etat night club as well as the larger Dean & Deluca in The Cube. Plus it is next to the Chong Nonsi BTS so it would be easy to do the little bit of getting around. Figured I would just round out the SPG properties.



I can't remember what I booked but I think it was the 2nd tier room in the WOW, COOL, NEATO or whatever the hell they call their rooms.





Initially I liked it, but then it started to wear on me. A bit too much flash and pizzaz made it seem a little gauche. I would have loved to been back at the St. Regis...where I've already re-booked for my 2 nights in February.




I really liked the boxing dragons blanket and they sell it in the lobby for 2900 baht. I was going to buy it but I realized it's only like a narrow half blanket to just put on the end of the bed. If it was a full size blanket I probably would have bought it.

Being lazy the first night I went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner and took a liking to the build your burger options. Pretty tasty.


My friend who lives in Bangkok was going on about how awesome the buffet is. I went down to try it the first morning. I thought it was pretty standard. Yes it was good, but nothing I would travel to there for if I wasn't staying at the hotel.





Aaaand waiting for a friend to come by I got hungry and lazy and had dinner in the hotel again. The haloumi quinoa salad was great.

The salmon with melon was wonderful.


I went for the "healthy power" breakfast the next morning instead of the buffet. Promptly delivered and hit the spot. There's also an American, Chinese and Japanese breakfast available.



The fitness center is okay, the thing I disliked was that everyone going to the pool basically walks through it.


Not having what I needed in the hotel I went to the Sathorn Square office building next door where there is a Fitness First Platinum. At first the woman told me it was 1000 baht for the first day pass but then 475 for days after. Seeing my hesitation at not wanting to pay 1000 baht she told me she could do it this one time for 300 which was fine for me. Really nice facilities.




The rest of the time was just hannnnnging ouuuuut. I went to see Star Wars at Siam Paragon. Wow...I had no idea the theaters were that intense. I really wanted to go into the Bangkok Airways Blue Ribbon theaters with the couches and what not for two...but I wasn't going to pay 2,000 baht for just me. I'll have to find a date when I come back.



There are several seating choices in the theater that start at 250 baht but I went for the 300 baht seat which is sort of in the middle prime viewing area of the screen and are slightly larger and leather seats. Very nice to have assigned seating.

Had a nice tuna bowl in the food court downstairs.


I went out to Ari in the afternoon to check out Porcupine Cafe where my friend's girlfriend works. A really cute space...felt like you were in some Where The Wild Things Are x Wind & The Willows x Keebler Elf house.




Lots of people in gov't/military uniform in the area. Not sure what sort of branch or division is situated around here. The Cafe is just drinks and sweets. So down the street and around the corner was D Noodle where I had a great bbq pork noodle bowl for 45 baht.


I had 1 tshirt and 2 pairs of print pant/shorts to buy as gifts. I decided I would head for a walk to the Patpong Market area for shopping and...entertainment.*
*Seeing them try to persuade me (sorry ladies...and lady boys, I prefer the boy boys) to come in.

After that I went to the Dean & Deluca in The Cube that sits next to Sathorn Square building (which has a smaller coffee D&D) for dinner. Had a delicious feta and carrot vinegar salad and a Waygu beef lasagne.



Finished packing and some sleep for the 4:45am wake up so I could leave at 5:15 for BKK.

JVPhoto

Thai Royal First Lounge & Spa + Thai Royal First BKK-NRT

Let The W just about 5:10 as I wanted to so that I could get to BKK and to the F lounge just before 6 so I could schedule an appointment in the spa.
Sure enough no traffic and a minute of convincing the driver I wanted the meter and not a flat rate 500 baht fare.

Check in behind the partitioned F area is pleasant.




Escorted through security and passport control to the waiting buggy for the comical ride THROUGH the J lounge.




Got to the lounge at about 5:50 and was told it was no problem for a 1h Thai massage at 6am. Was able to sit down and have a little tea and then right at 6 I was escorted to the spa.




Last time I got the oil massage but I didn't feel like showering after and wanted to get pulled around so I slipped on the linen massage clothes (like them better than the TG pjs) and let her do her thing.

Back in the lounge at 7 I would have about 30 min before we were collected.

A bit of commotion around these monks who were shown around and then had some photos taken of them back by the dining room.


3 of us were walked to the plane.


A porter came along helping one man with this bags. He and another woman were a bit slower than the TG lady and I so it then became she and I walking onto the plane where she passed me off at the door to the FAs.



A chocolate brown kit for me today.


Purser came around and introduced herself and then also gave the F pax a free 10MB wifi card.




We had maybe 5-10 min delay leaving the gate and then had about 4 planes ahead of us before take off. All seemed like it would be fine for my 1:20 min connection at NRT.

Here was the menu. I ended up special ordering which I had not done before on Thai. I wasn't sure they loaded my meal but then as the FA came around to take orders she mentioned they had the special Thai set for m.


During the pass through with the trolley I did take them up on the fruit and museli.


Then it was Thai Set #5
Steamed premium Thai Hom Mali rice. - Stir fried mined chicken with garlic, chili and basil. - Deep fried marinated chicken with lemon grass. - Tom Yum soup with prawn and young coconut. - Omelet Thai style. - Dessert : Black & White glutinous rice with longan.

The soup was good. The lemon grass chicken was REALLY good.


The eggs were bleh, rice was okay (not as good as on NH), the pad krapao gai had just enough spice on it for this farang but not as hot as I had at random lunch stalls in CM.


It was a good amount of food and I am happy I ordered it.

Before landing there was this middle of the road yaki soba.


I noticed we were doing a few banks and turns, curious how we were lining up. 15 min before we were due to land the captain said depending on traffic we may land in 15, we may land in 30 min. We ended up getting to the gate about 20 min late. Didn't think much of it as transfer security isn't usually and issue and the F lounge is right there. This time though it would be my first flight from NRT leaving out of the 50s area...

mad_atta

As always, enjoying the updates

Am I sensing a misconnect in the making....?

JVPhoto

Nope! And thankfully not...normally I would love an extra stay in Tokyo but I did want to get home (a rarity) this time.
Just a dash underground, a few bites of sushi and a cold green tea and then boarding to find out I had the whole NRT-SFO F cabin to myself.

Will finish by the weekend.

TOMFORD

TOM FORD.

I love Thailand, and love seeing the nontouristy parts of Thailand through your pictures. Spending such a long time there much have been a great experience!

JVPhoto

ANA Suite Lounge NRT & NH F NRT-SFO

As I got off the plane at NRT there were a few NH reps with various signs, I noticed my name on the one for SFO. It wasn't for an escort, just for some gate info.

The TG A380 always seems to park at the same spot which was quick to transit security...I was the only person there. It spits you out right by the NH lounges but this time the flight was leaving from the 50s...my first time in that section. Made my way down into the belly of NRT and on the moving walkways that shoots you up to where the other NH lounge is.
I saw I had about 12 min before boarding so I ducked inside the Suite Lounge for some green tea, Nikka and a few bites. The duck canape was great.



Just as I finished up they called boarding for SFO. This lounge had pretty much the same vibe and feel as the Sat 4 lounge...but, I didn't really have any time to pick it apart though I'm sure there were no issues with going here if your gate is close.
A few other people left the lounge at the same time so I thought they would be my cabin companions. I checked about 3-4 days before the flight and the cabin was showing 3/8 booked.

I got to the gate and was in the fish bowl of being the only person in the F line in my camo, linen shirt, beads and tan from Siam. A BP/PP check and scribble and then 30 seconds later they opened boarding.



I was graciously welcomed by the F FA who showed me to my seat and encouraged me to change into the PJs now to get comfortable. I also took her up on the offer to open the bottle of Krug before we left.



She briefly asked me if I had flown NH before (yes, I said it is my favorite way to cross the Pacific) and what I was doing in Thailand/California. I mentioned I was working on a thing to teach English and she began to apologize for her English. I said her English is certainly better than my Japanese which consists of some food vocabulary and 5-8 phrases/greetings.
The Purser also came by but was a bit more robotic/forced/unsure with her chit chat.

I noticed the doors had closed and no one else was on. I would have the entire F cabin all to myself!



The case is nifty, it's not the Rimowa but I don't mind as long as The Ginza products are still inside which I love.

Once she was out of her jump seat I took her up on another champagne and also the amuse for drinks.



Once the food came out I switched to this Junko Koshino sake which was easy to drink.


Excitement!


Big fan of all of this.


Okay but nothing I would want again.


Very good.


Yum! Would have been great to warm up after skiing in Nagano.


Each time she brought the dish she would begin to explain in English of the notes she wrote down. I could tell she was really trying and I didn't want to cut her off but I would also take out the menu and follow along and nod in the event I felt she was getting tripped up.


Skipped the sweets for some fruit.



I started watching Star Wars 1-3 and after the first one I went to sleep for a bit.


By the time I brushed my teeth and freshened up the bed was made. I had a total of 5 pillows, I like a lot of pillows and I had already snagged one from another seat when I was lounging. She mentioned that I like pillows and also brought me the aroma packets.

Once I was done resting and continued to watch some more TV I got hungry about 2 hours before landing. I could hear and see the lights on in J that service started. The FA wasn't in the galley or around the cabin so I figured she must be in the back helping. I rang my call button and within 10 seconds she came through the curtain on the other side and around to me and apologized for the wait saying she was helping out in Business Class.



Pretty soon I had my arrival meal, while good wasn't anything as memorable or a quality to savor as the main meal.


About 35 min before landing she asked if I wanted any coffee and I went with an iced Americano. NH uses Illy and this was a great coffee. UA is going to start serving Illy soon however it'll just be brew/drip and sadly not an espresso machine like on this plane.



Once we landed I got up and was going to make my way towards the forward door. The FA and purser both in the cabin said we were exiting from the business class door and somehow in tandem coordination they both seamlessly blocked the route for me and made way so that I was the first person at the door. Not that I cared to be behind 3-4 people in J, but it's something like this that goes to show the attention, service and detail of the airline.

I wished them well and hoped that I would fly with them again sometime soon.

We must have been the first flight in, not a single person was in line at CBP at SFO. Bags took about 25 min to come out and my two F tagged bags were the first ones off the belt. Hertz had text me 10 min before that my car was ready and I got on the train and made my way there to pick it up and drive down to MRY.

My last flight of 2016 was my best. Coming up in Jan-April includes Telluride, LHR in UA GlobalFirst, Hong Kong, TG F to Australia and more including another 6 weeks in Chiang Mai.