Happy belated birthday USCGamecock!


Yes, I did visit "Little Chinese Boy" (rough translation), the food stall across Charoennakorn Road from the Peninsula. It was, as always, arroy arroy (very delicious). Once placing the order, it does take a little while for the food to come out. But once it does, on a rolling basis because they expect everything to be served family style, every dish was amazing. The whole fish in tamarind sauce is simply unbelieveable, though it does get really pricey at 200 baht. All the other dishes, your usual Thai fare, were excellent. Whole meal came to around 500 baht for three people, including a large Singha. The place has no ambience at all, save for the great experience of dining on the street in Bangkok. I feel like I've "gone native," and it's great fun walking out the main drive of the Peninsula into the little stall across the street, then walking back. (Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't, as the saying goes.) Two other nights, we did room service at the Pen: reliably great food, great service, unbeatable convenience, and we can enjoy a bottle of wine I usually bring with me from the States, this time a Spottswoode Sauvingon Blanc. For my birthday, on a friend's recommendation, we went to Le Vendome, a French place (duh!) on Suk. Soi 31. Food was great, our server was great, but the overall service was lacking. They'd been hit by an unexpected group of 26 who hijacked basically the entire dining room; they tried to stick us at a little table in the corner but we didn't want to feel like the poor cousins or the kids at the kids table on Thanksgiving, so we sat outside in the pleasant garden in Bangkok's stifling heat. Highlight of the meal was the '02 Silver Oak Napa Valley I brought with us, which was simply spectacular. Food was not quite up to NY or SF standards for French food, but the price was much more reasonable, under $200 for two with corkage for three full courses (with lots of foie gras).

In Phuket, we stayed at the Chedi. The resort was quite beautiful and fully recovered from the tsunami. The service was good, but when stacked up against the Pen, they were in different leagues altogether. Mr. Megatop got us a fantastic rate on a great room, so no complaints. While there, we ate at a restaurant called "Silk" on the main road near Surin Bay, in a new building above a bunch of galleries. Ambience was great--modern chic, complete with DJ spinning very pleasant upbeat dinner music--and service was quite good (one server in particular ), and the food was excellent. Pricey by Thailand standards.

In KL, we stayed at Carcosa Seri Negara, our fourth GHM property. They upgraded us to a spectacular suite, undoubtedly the biggest one in the Seri Negara building. I would spitball it at about 200 square meters. Our personal butler, Alawi, was wonderful: exceptionally warm and attentive without being intrusive in the least. We had a complimentary car service all over central KL, which made up for the occasional hassle we had in getting a cab to run us up to CSN. The setting was beautiful, in a secluded garden that made it seem like we were not in a city at all. Looking for fusion food on Friday night, we asked about a restaurant called "Delicious," based on the recommendation of a FlyerTalker, in the Bangsar neighborhood. Alawi suggested, instead, a place called Frangiapani near the Bukit Bintang neighborhood. We followed his suggestion. Fantastic ambiance, great food, and interesting wine list, with tons of over-the-top bordeaux but very few new world selections (my preference). Alawi and our server recommended that we try the bar upstairs. We had a glance and it looked like a morgue. Our server assured us it got going after 11. Whilst outside waiting for Alawi to pick us up, we saw a parade of KL guppies (gay urban professionals, with a smattering of expats), at which point we figured out what was going on. Too late, though.

Service at the Peninsula was better than ever. We had lots of bennies in our room when we arrived-- a dizzying array that does nothing for my girlish figure. On my birthday, just about everyone I ran into wished me a happy birthday. It was really amazing. The GM sent us a cake in the room and other staff sent cards and such. With all that, I needed extra time with the personal trainers to work off the calories. Can't wait to be back at our home on the river in Bangkok.

Didn't have time to make a proper trip report, but that's the food-centric version.