Saturday, March 14, 2020

When I woke up around 0700 I had two messages on my phone:
1.) SQ328 from SIN to MUC on 29.03.2020 has been cancelled
2.) Ukraine closes its borders for all international flights on Tuesday, 17.03.2020, for at least 2 weeks. But travel to Ukraine would still be possible by train, bus or car (what a nonsense). In case you would arrive from a high-risk country (no information which country is ‘high-risk’) you would be under quarantine (no information if at home or in a clinic).

So there would be two choices:
A) Flying home today or latest tomorrow, not knowing if we would be under quarantine or not.
B) Stay in Asia until the Covid-19 hysteria has been gone.

When Valentyna woke up I served her Green Tea from the Butler service (I already had my shot of caffeine),


explained her the situation and within seconds she made the same decision as I did an hour before: better stay in Asia than flying back with unknown restrictions.

At 0900 we went down to the main restaurant – which I never saw that empty before.


We got a table right away, Espresso, Tea and watermelon juice were served. In addition to the standard buffet, which for me is one of the best, we were handed out the ‘Rossini Menu’


of which I chose the Thai Omelette with rice.

As usual the mangos were delicious, far better than the once you buy on the street.

After breakfast we went to the wonderful pool area, a bit of jungle-Bali-feeling within the big city.






Normally during the weekend it’s hard to find a sunbed – but not at the moment. Ice water and fruits were offered – that’s luxury compared to the Marriott Sukhumvit Thong Lor !

Also, I checked out the smoking area at the top park deck, which had been especially set up for me. Perfect !


But there isn’t only sunshine: at the pool of the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit (SGS) there’s no wind, so it’s extremely hot. That’s much better at the Marriott where there’s nearly almost a nice breeze.

I used the time to contact the Lufthansa Senator Hotline, where, after a 20-minute wait, I got hold of an agent. I explained that for one ticket the flight SIN – MUC would have been cancelled, that for the other flight ZRH – KBP would be available due to flight ban.

The agent checked and checked – then informed that both, SIN – MUC operated by SQ and ZRH – KBP operated by SWISS would be active in the system, no cancellation so far. It didn’t help that I informed him about the Email of SQ, he just said I would have had to call again when the flights are cancelled in the LH-system.

At around 12 it got just too hot, even a dip in the pool itself didn’t help. Therefore we went up to the room, changed clothes, went to the gym (one of the best hotel gyms), 1 hours weights, 30 minutes treadmill.

After a refreshing shower and cold low-fat milk (for my proteins) served from the butler service we took the Skytrain to Thong Lo Station were we enjoyed the fabulous fishball-soup for lunch.

With a bag of mango & sticky rice from the mango-shot at Thong Lo(r)


back to the hotel, I brought our used clothes to the nearby laundry, 3 ½ kg, washing & pressing at US$ 12.

I went to the concierge, asked for cancelling our flights from Bangkok to Phuket, which he did. Surprisingly even in Covid-19 times Thai Airways for a Business Class (booking class J) ticket charged US$ 60/person cancellation fee.

Up to the room I tried to cancel our AirAsia flights from Phuket to Singapore online. But of course, you have to talk to a generic agent, follow the steps. But at a certain point, even I tried the process 3 times, I have been informed that there would be an error. I would have to try later again.

In the late afternoon I spent my time thinking of where to go, actually we can stay in Thailand without problems until April 12. So I shifted another hotel reservation, made a reservation for a car – the rest will be discussed with a friend who lives in Thailand for some years.

Valentyna wanted dinner, so we walked our way


to Soi 31 where the famous Japanese restaurant ‘ISAO’ is located.


Even on a Saturday night we were able to get two seats at the counter without any wait. The counter by far is the best spot, because you can observe the chef preparing some dishes.

We ordered our classic plus a roll with ‘Saba’.


While I love my Lava Maki (which is very smooth in taste),


the Saba roll was much more interesting, much stronger, versatile.


After we finished our meal we walked all the way to Soi XX where lots of Arabic restaurants, offering Shisha (Hookah), are located. We entered our standard spot, ‘XXXXX’ (deleted because it's illegal to sell Shisha in Thailand), went upstairs, ordered a Shisha and coconut for Valentyna, a Coke Zero for myself.


At ‘Isao’ and ‘XXXX’ they know how to serve Coke Zero/Diet Coke: the Coke has to be ice cold when poured over ice. When the Coke is too warm the bubbles immediately disappear when poured over ice.

After an hour of smoking we made our way back to the SGS, the App showed 12.4 km plus 3.2 on the treadmill.

Bangkok always gives a feeling like ‘coming back home’.