DFW_CK

This is an awesome trip report. Thank you Christian.

ChristianKiev

Saturday, March 7, 2020

I really can’t tell how often I’ve been to Goa, for business and pleasure.

Business ? Most people think of Goa as a beach/holiday destination, but it’s also an important industrial region for chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Most of the Indian pharmaceutical conglomerates, due to tax reasons, to have subsidiaries in the Goa area. But not only local companies, also such global players such as TEVA (Ratiopharm) are present in the area.

When we come back to Goa as a holiday destination you’ve to think of a quite huge stretch of beach, from Agonda in the very south to Guerim in the north, with a distance of nearly 100 km in between, Vasco da Gama with GOI airport being the center.

While the north is more ‘party style’, the south is more for those looking for a relaxed beach holiday due to its wonderful 20 km long stretch of finest beach.

In the past 20 years I’ve stayed at many properties at southern- and northern Goa.

The W in northern Goa is a beautiful property - but lacks a beach. For 3 or 4 days the Rock Pool in combination with the public beach is just fine, but if you’re looking for a real beach holiday, it’s the wrong location.

The south offers 3 luxury hotels, ITC Grand Goa, Taj Exotica and The Leela, all of them located at the stunning beach. All three are fine, but the highest level of Luxury is offered at The Leela which has a high-end luxury section within, called ‘The Club’. The Club consists of villas with huge apartments, a separate pool, separate restaurant for breakfast, a buggy with driver and a separate beach section including butler service. If money doesn’t matter, that’s the resort of choice.

For lower budget Agonda is just perfect, offering beautiful little beach huts, from budget to midrange. But it’s in a bay, not at the 20 km stretch of beach.

In case you wish to have a very unique experience you may check out ‘The Cape’, located between The Leela and Agonda, a beautifully arranged set of villas (I would call it luxury beach huts) built into a cliff above the small private beach. It’s maybe the most relaxing location in Goa – but there’s absolutely nothing around. 3 days for us were the maximum we could spent there.

Enough said about Goa – we selected the ITC because it’s Bonvoy, it’s beautiful and located at the best part of the southern Goan beach.

We woke up around 8 and before 9 we were at the ‘village square’ where breakfast is served at the Coffee Shop.


We selected a table outside near the fountain, ordered Masala Dosa for Valentyna, plain Dosa for myself.

As usual breakfast is buffet style,


offers basically all you require, even – because it’s Christian Goa, bacon. There’s one think which in India is always fabulous: Yoghurt, plain, sweetened or with fruits (today’s choice: Pineapple and Papaya).

The Dosas were fine, but the Sambar was exceptional, very spicy, full of spices.


And today (it's weekend !) I opted for a small sin: French Toast with maple syrup, whipped cream and some sliced of bacon. For some the combination of the sweet and the salty bacon might sound strange – but the combination is just so yummy !


Back through the resort to the room.




Just before 10 we were laying at the beach, getting tanned.


Due to the absence of wind it was rather hot – so we jumped into the Arabian Sea quite often, enjoyed the partially quite high waves.

‘Beach’ isn’t getting boring in Goa. Either some cows are walking around, some friendly dogs will visit you or 2 guys are walking their bull, which they’re doing twice a day, so he is strong for the next fight.


At 12 we were roasted enough, went back to the room, changed and went straight on to the gym, located at the far south end of the resort.




In India gyms aren’t that great because the average Indian didn’t get it by now. They rather sit around the pool, enjoying beer and fatty snacks, rather than looking for their shape and health – which you can tell. A belly still seems to be a sign of status and wealth, such as in Ukraine/Russia some 15 years back.

Even the gym isn’t that great equipped, there’s a trainer helping you to do your program with the existing tools, a very good service.

After an hour of weights we went on the treadmills, with a nice view towards the garden and a small artificial waterfall.


(music from 3:30)

At the beach bar I got my proteins mixed with milk – to my surprise for free.

After a refreshing shower we went for some lunch, started with some homemade bread with tomato salsa,


then I chose a chicken burger (of which I removed the upper half of the bun),


Valentyna got some overcooked Linguini with prawns.

Shortly after 1500 we were back at the beach for another session of tanning and swimming.


Now there was more wind than in the morning, which made tanning more comfortable and the waves even higher, a great pleasure to jump the waves !

After 45 minutes I moved to the shade, reading a book (The President Is Missing by James Patterson & Bill Clinton), Valentyna went on roasting.

At 1800 we were back to the room, relaxed and got ready for dinner, today within the premises of the resort.

Because there’s something very positive about ITC hotels, no matter if in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Agra, Goa etc.: they all have very good restaurants, not only ‘Bukhara’ and its sister restaurants, but also other high quality Indian restaurants, for example with specific kitchen from the South and others.

Today we chose the Indian restaurant at the village square for dinner.




After we took a seat outside the very friendly waiter serves us Papadam (thin, crisp flatbread from black gram flour) with a dip and cut onions.

As a starter I ordered ‘Dudhiya Kebab’ from the Tandoor, rounds of Paneer (cottage cheese) filled with spiced mashed potatoes, topped with Masala spices.


Very, very good, a dish I never tried before.

For main we had our regular Dal Bukhara and ‘Murgh Bemisal’, smoked chicken tikka cooked in a gravy of tomatoes and brown onions, spiced with fenugreek, accompanied by my favourite Purina Paratha and Butter Garlic Naan for Valentyna.


The dishes were of high quality, not to be compared with the simple food we had the evening before, also the portions were quite generous.

I don’t know how, but Valentyna still managed to eat a dessert, Kulfi, the Indian ice cream from condensed milk. It wasn’t as good as the one which we had in Delhi, by far.

The bill came to US$ 60 (incl. taxes and tip), 2 ½ time more expensive than the dinner at the beach – but 5 times better.

Back to the room where A/C wasn’t needed, just the fan and open door (they do have mosquito nets) did the job.

worldtraveller73

A great trip report. We don't get too many India trip reports on the forum and It's nice to see some familiar spots that I'd been to in the past: Bukhara, those AI lounges.

Bukhara doesn't seem to have changed much,. I agree that the dal is fantastic. The Aloft looks much nicer than the ITC Maurya which seems quite dated by comparison.

"The President is Missing" is sitting on the shelf at home waiting to be read.

ChristianKiev

Sunday, March 8, 2020

International Women's Day, a big thing in Ukraine – fortunately I’m not there. All Instagram will be full of girls and women showing to others how many flours they got, how brave their husband or boyfriend is. But I don’t play this game, I’m just not rich enough to spend money on presents which are thrown away after 3 days…

Except that I thought it will be a very quiet day: breakfast, beach,




gym, lunch, beach & dinner – really nothing to write home about.

But while I was running on the treadmill, I received an Email from AirIndia, informing our flight from Delhi to Bangkok was cancelled.


No, this wasn’t the first cancellation… Originally, we had booked the return GOI – BOM – BKK, but on 17th of February I received an Email that BOM – BKK would be cancelled, I should contact AirIndia.

I contacted AirIndia the next day and we had been changed to GOI – DEL – BOM with a 6 hours layover.

So now even that flight was gone !

I checked and really, there was no AirIndia flight available for our date. I called AirIndia Call Center at lunchtime (1400), explained and was thrown out the line. The next try went better until the lady put me on hold while she would get information. This was when I was thrown out again. Next try back in the room. The lady didn’t understand that our flight had been cancelled, wanted to contact a Supervisor – that was the moment I’ve been thrown out again. The next call center person explained that AirIndia would not change us on any other airline, such as Thai. The only possibility would be refund.

I searched for our possibilities and there were 2:
1.) Flight with AirIndia to DEL or BOM, further with TG to Bangkok. But that would have been more expensive and, due to layover, not very attractive.
2.) Flight with AI on 13th or 15th of March, via BOM, daytime.

I preferred 2.), asked if we could leave ITC Grand Goa a day earlier without penalty. I’ve been informed that normally this wouldn’t be possible. But because I’m TE, they would do it. Fine !

Back to the room I tried again to call AirIndia, but something was wrong with the 24/7 toll-free number, not in operation. So back to the lobby where I asked the concierge to try the toll number – which worked.

I explained a lady that I wanted to be changed to 13.03. – but she didn’t understand, after 5 minutes transferred me to another person. So I explained again, but he didn’t get it. After the 3rd explanation he understood that we want to fly through BOM instead of DEL and changed the ticket. Luckily, before I hung up I found out he only changed Valentyna, but not me. So, after another explanation (he was surprised that we do have the same routing) also my ticket had been changed. Hurray, at 1900 the change was done !!!


1 ½ hours in the gym, no lunch and stress with the airline call center… I was hungry like a wolf !

And it’s ITC, so there’s subsidiary of ‘Bukhara’ in Delhi, here called ‘The Royal Afghan’,




beautifully located between the huge and well maintained park and the beach, with the sound of the waves in the background – normally.

But because of weekend of course there was a huge wedding going on within the premises, not too far from the restaurant. So, in case of the sound of the waves we had a loud mixture of Indian- and International music, plus an annoying firework.

Since the hotel is maximum half occupied, we, without a reservation, were able to get a first-row table.

The menu, as with all the Bukhara subsidiaries comes as a massive piece of wood with the dishes and prices engraved. Since it’s not THE Bukhara, prices are about half. I made our order, Sheek Kebab, Paneer Tikka and, of course, Dal Bukhara, accompanied by Butter Naan and Pudina Paratha – then I went and observed the cooking process at the open-air kitchen.


The dishes came quite quick, everything as we were dreaming off.


The Dal was of the same quality as in Delhi, but especially the Paneer, still very good, but not as fluffy, airy as at the real Bukhara.

The bill came to US$ 60 including tip, taxes and a glass of red wine, totally fine for the wonderful experience near the sea – if not the firework would have destroyed a part of it.

Back to the room to end the day.

quirrow

Similar to you, I enjoyed Bukhara as one of the nicest meals I had in India. I also stayed at the ITC when it was branded as a Park Hyatt. And my experience with Air India was terrible as well since I was initially on a direct flight to Mumbai from Delhi, and they routed me through a domestic flight with a stopover, with the change notified only during my check-in. Terrible customer service and I would avoid Air India at any cost when travelling within India. Indigo would be better for domestic India flights.

gaobest

Great TR and I look forward to more. More cigarettes please.

ChristianKiev

Monday, March 9, to Thursday, March 12, 2020

We had some beautiful & relaxing days at the ITC Grand Goa, basically tanning, gym and eating wonderful Indian food.

The weather was just perfect, some light clouds in the morning, and a nice breeze made the burning sun in the afternoon bearable.

One day we tried the pool with the slide, which doesn’t really work.

The ITC Grand Goa is the perfect spot for a fantastic beach holiday. The only thing that was subpar were the wedding ceremonies, with loud music and lots of construction. But that’s India !

Since there’s nothing more to say, I’ll let photos talk.

ChristianKiev

Friday, March 13, 2020

Honestly during the last two days we’ve been a bit worried that either our new flight would be cancelled also or Thailand would introduce any travel ban for people coming from India.

I read that for entering to Thailand now you’ve to download the AOT-App, fill the T8 form, to show it to the immigration officer. I did as requested, for both of us.

At 0445 we left our room towards the lobby


– India, especially in the early morning, is such a wonderful country.

In contrast to the previous years, which involved lots of travel within India, cultural sights, close contact to the real Indian world, 2020 was a bit on the lazy side, just a bit of Delhi and a tourist resort such as the ITC Grand Goa, where you don’t feel ‘India’ too much. But still, India – for us – offers the best beaches within Asia.

At 0500 we boarded the ITC shuttle bus towards GOI airport. As usual it was freezing cold inside, the vents were blowing icy air from all sides.

Luckily the drive wasn’t too long until we reached the airport. To my surprise already in front of the terminal it was very crowded and therefore the check of passport and ticket before entering the terminal took quite a while.

Inside there was a very long line to reach the AirIndia check-in. But fortunately there was a counter for business class and *A Gold members where we didn’t have to wait.

As we observed during check-in process most travellers were holders of either UK or German passports, traveling onwards to London and Frankfurt. Further to the very busy AirIndia flight there were many Russian tourists checking in for the Royal Flight flight to Krasnodar.

We received our boarding passes for both flights, of course with seats in different rows since we had two separate tickets.


Up to the security check point


where again we were faced a long queue. While Valentyna at the women-queue has a short wait, mine at the men-queue was much longer – and pushier. I really don’t understand why Indians always need to be so close, so much that in your neck you feel the breath of the guy behind you.

But at a point I was through, we went up to the departure hall. Surprisingly there’s still no AirIndia lounge at GOI airport, so we had to look for two empty seats where the A/C wasn’t blowing too much.


GOI airport, as most other India airports, still has a smoking lounge – but it was really small, crowded and smelly. You wouldn’t have to light a cigarette to get a smoke.

After more than an hour waiting we went to gate D where boarding had just started. Again, a very long queue. There wasn’t any priority boarding or business class access, but we got towards the aircraft without any wait.

We saw an Airbus A320neo at the gate, so we thought of a clean and new interior. But either they installed the seats of an older Airbus or they really don’t care because the seats, in contrast to the rest of the cabin, looked well worn.


After ‘boarding completed’ we were able to change seats so we could sit together. The flight was well booked, Economy Class was completely full, Business Class 10/12.

I fell asleep even before take-off, slept until Valentyna woke me up for breakfast.


It wasn’t an opulent meal – but okay for a 75 minutes flight.

While India during the last 25 years changed a lot – the jam didn’t. It’s still the same bright colour (I think it would shine in the night) and the same artificial, sugary taste. To eat it for me is a bit of history.

After breakfast I slept for another few minutes until the steward woke me up and the outskirts of Mumbai, with its beautiful mountain range was well below us.




For all those who want to experience these mountains I would recommend a drive from Mumbai to Pune, another very interesting city where it’s possible to visit the OSHO Meditation Centre – just to see and have a laugh.

We arrived at BOM in time, passed the slums which are built into the wall of the airport.


Passing a B737 with the Taj Mahal on the tail,


we arrived at the gate with another AirIndia A320neo next to us. I like the painting, still a bit of tradition.


Into the terminal and straight towards the International part, another security check and passport control.

I never saw the international sector of BOM so empty !


After Valentyna bought some presents we walked towards the AirIndia East-wing lounge, which was closed. Due to the little number of passengers AirIndia decided to close the East-wing lounge, only to operate the West-wing lounge,


which still was quite empty.


After taking a seat at a table with view


we went to the buffet


to take our last India breakfast.


We’ll miss Indian breakfast – for us it’s the best.

I huge plus for smokers with a longer layover is the smoking lounge located in the centre of the terminal, quite close to the lounge. When I came back from smoking at around 1130 the lounge staff was busy to put up the buffet for lunch.


And, as usual, the Mumbai lounge impresses: not too many business class lounges do have a real Tandoor where kebabs are made to order.


While Valentyna selected some curry with Aloo (potato) as well as some prawns from the Tandoor, I chose one of my favourite Indian dishes, a dish I this time would have missed: Pani Puri.


At the Mumbai lounge they serve it with two different liquids (I wouldn’t call it ‘sauce’), the standard with mint and a second one which is more on the fruity side. I tried both options. While the standard is fresh/spicy, the second one is more sweet & spicy.

After some Indian sweets,


at 1330, it was time to leave the lounge, walk through the empty terminal towards gate 47B,


from where AI 340 to Bangkok should leave. I was surprised to see so many flights to be announced,


because at our terminal most gates weren’t in operation at all.

Interestingly there was a flight from/to Iran. Okay, India banned all tourists – but there’s a flight from/to Iran ?

When we arrived to our gate there weren’t too many passengers waiting, even it was the only AI flight to Bangkok that day.

Boarding started 1340, Valentyna and me went downstairs first, to enter another Airbus A320neo,


this time with new and clean interior.

During this trip I’ve been really lucky, until now no B737 or B787, something I’m more afraid of than any Corona Virus.

As mentioned, we didn’t have seats together. But that really didn’t matter, because we were the only guests in Business Class.


I guess the ratio of empty/occupied seats in Economy Class wasn’t any worse with less than 20 passengers.

Before push back we were served Watermelon- or Guava juice and some cold towel.

Off we were, passing some stored B737Max of SpiceJet, other JetAirways airliners and the slums next to the airport.


Just before turning into the runway we saw the IranAir Airbus standing in the middle of nowhere.


Maybe at least they do have a health check before driving the passengers to the terminal.

Ready we were for take-off. I like the sound of the A320neo during take-off. It’s far from loud, just a very pleasant ‘ssssssss’, not bad for a smaller aircraft.

Some minutes later we passed Mumbai, turn east and soon reached flight altitude. As you can imagine the service was very ‘personalized’. So we got a tray with a selection of three different nuts, cookies, tea & coffee,


were asked if we wish ‘hard alcohol’ (she was surprised we denied) and the question what and when we would like to have lunch.

Both of us selected ‘Indian’, ‘non-veg’ – because we know that’s something AirIndia knows how to prepare.




While airline food normally is blend and boring, AirIndia is one of the very few airlines that serves food that’s not too far away from what is served on the ground. The food was very tasty, medium spicy – the dessert very sweet, such as an Indian dessert has to be. Indian food outside India ? No, it’s not the same, we’ll wait until we return.

The crew asked if we would like to have a rest, closed the curtains and blinds, excellent for having a short nap.

Shortly before landing we woke up, saw the brightly illuminated Bangkok area below.

Nearly in time we landed at BKK, got a gate position quite at the end of the terminal, even we only saw 4 other aircrafts.

We thought of temperature measurement inside or outside the aircraft, but nothing at all. Also when walking through the totally empty terminal


there was just one general temperature screening – but nobody was at the checkpoint, absolutely nobody checked the screen.

We skipped Fast Lane Immigration, went to the normal immigration where maybe 5 passengers did the immigration process at approx. 20 open counters.


No questions at all, no checking if we filled the T8 form online, just a ‘welcome to Thailand !’.

Luggage arrived 2 minutes later, through immigration,


bought a SIM card and down to the taxi area. After a quick smoke we went to the taxi queue – but this time the other way round: normally the tourists are waiting for a taxi to arrive, today taxi drivers were waiting for passengers.


Also the highway towards centre, empty, on Sukhumvit no traffic, the sidewalks without foreigners.

45 Minutes after touchdown we arrived at my favourite Bangkok hotel, the famous Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. A friendly ‘welcome home !’ and we were inside the – empty – lobby where we did the check-in.

We were informed that just 5 floors are open to the public, they would use the low occupancy time to perform some minor renovations. Also ‘Rossini’, my beloved breakfast restaurant would be closed, but for Titanium Elite members the Rossini breakfast card would be available at the standard restaurant.

As usual we were upgraded to a ‘Luxury Suite’ (-02),






the luggage was delivered within seconds. You could just feel that the staff is happy to have something to do instead sitting around.

After we unpacked we decided to have a light dinner: chicken rice.

A taxi brought us (by meter) to Go Ang Pratunam.


Without any wait we got a table, ordered the big serving of chicken without skin, rice, spicy morning glory, vermicelli-seafood salad and Longan juice.


Wow, as good as usual !

Afterwards we crossed the street, got without any problem a taxi by meter (a rare thing in this area), drove back to the hotel, went to the nearest 7/11 (Coke Zero, of course) for some shopping. Here a photo for all my German readers, as I’ve been informed a rare thing, toilet paper available in the supermarket without any problem.

Jaenks

One of my best friends would never fly with SSJ-100. What could be wrong with B787 or B737? It is always about how the planes are maintained except B737MAX which was designed by clowns and supervised by monkeys as one pilot said.

Lufthansi

Hi christian,
thanks for sharing-I always followed your (food)trip reports in the German FT forum.
You know that the Ukrainien Government has suspended Flights ex foreign Countries. per 17th.
So take care and fly , if possible hurry up. to get home quicly ! avioding Quarantine.

ZIITAT:
Ukraine will close all passenger air traffic as of March 17, according to Parliament Speaker Dmytro Razumkov. He made the announcement during a live evening show on NewsOne TV channel. It comes on the day when the nation’s first death from coronavirus was confirmed.
Ukrainian citizens will not be limited from traveling home, but will be placed under fortnightly observations if they arrive from countries with high numbers of coronavirus infections.

ChristianKiev

It's just a bad feeling when you understand what standards this company follows. I've no problem sitting in an older B737, B747, B757 and B767. But everything newer I try to avoid (the T7 because of the noise level).

ChristianKiev

The question is: to hurry or not to hurry...

Better stay in relatively safe Asia or fly there where the Corona hot spot is ?

We'll decide later today. No panic !

gaobest

Great TR and lovely photos. Happy decision-making... good luck and safe journey.

ChristianKiev

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’.

ChristianKiev

Sunday, March 15, 2020

I woke up at around 6, ordered the standard double Espresso, Orange juice and Green Tea, took a refreshing shower and woke up Valentyna before going down for a slow & light breakfast with another Espresso, Mango, Papaya and some cheese & smoked salmon. When I just wanted to leave Valentyna arrived, took over the table.

In contrast to yesterday it was grey and raining, but hot and humid.


So, instead of tanning by the beautiful pool, I decided to do my gym session.



Afterwards I checked LH.com – now SQ328 cancelled, but my flight from Zurich to Kiev on March 29th still active and confirmed, even the flight ban is in place until March 31st. The problem with the ticket on SQ328: it’s an award ticket of which the miles would have been expired by end of 2019. So, let’s hope I can still change the ticket before the miles are credited back to the account where they would expire.

Another interesting fact: I did the reservation for JW Marriott Khao Lak resort more than 6 months ago. Now you should think the actual rates are lower because of the absence of many tourists. But you’re wrong… today’s rates are 10% higher than half a year ago. At least car rental rates are down by 20%, petrol got really cheap.

I had a chat with the head of the concierge team. The hotel, due to low occupancy has sent 2/3 of the staff on an unpaid leave. He told me that people are more afraid of their economical impact (paying rent, helping relatives countryside) than of Covid-19. Most are hoping for a fast return of Chinese, Japanese and Korea tourists to have a paid job.

At around 12 we left the hotel, since it was raining took a taxi to Centara Grand @ Central World. Unfortunately the taxi wasn’t able to go there, so we had to walk via the covered skywalk


and through the completely empty mall


(normally Sundays shopping malls are very crowded) to the hotel entrance.

On 24th floor of Centara Grand restaurant ‘Dynasty’ is located, an upscale Chinese restaurant offering daily Dim Sum Brunch (1130 to 1400). At US$ 33 including taxes you may enjoy different starts, soups, noodle- and rice dishes, desert hot and cold tea and of course a la carte Dim Sum as much as you want. Since there weren’t to many customers we received one of the rare tables with view towards Siam Paragon Shopping Mall and Kempinski hotel.




But we were up for Dim Sum, skipped starters, noodle- and rice dishes, just went for soup (mushroom-bamboo-soup and classic hot-and-sour-soup)


and a lot of different kind of Dim sum, prepared to order.




In my opinion Centara Grand offers one of the best upscale Dim Sum selection, including the dish I like most, chicken feet.




Everything is freshly made, served steaming hot – such as it should be.




I also like the very soft sweet buns, either filled with egg custard (lava bun) or melted chocolate a lot, while Valentyna went for iced Cantaloupe with Sago and sesame filled rice balls in a hot & spicy ginger soup.


After we paid and left the restaurant trough their little hall of Chinese exhibits,


we walked over to the Kempinski hotel to meet a Danish friend who’s living in Shanghai for years.


Since he had been to France he now has to stay in Bangkok for some days until he can enter Mainland China without being locked away.

We chatted about the situation in China, especially Covid-19, the economy, the fall of his sales and the ability of people to work from home office.

At around 1630 we left, walked to Siam Paragon Mall, where a lot of people were in the supermarket, buying basically everything available, including packs of toilet paper – something I don’t understand because in Thailand all toilets have a shower-function.

Back to the hotel by BTS, where we were informed by the concierge that we shouldn’t panic, but the Thai minister of health would have unofficially announced a shut-down of all ‘entertainment venues’. Well, that wouldn’t effect us.

Up to the room where I called some friends, Valentyna went to gym & sauna.

Shortly after 2000 we left the hotel, walked all the way down to Soi 5, where not only the Hookah bars are located – but also Foodland, a chain of nice little supermarkets, which always include a 24/7 open-counter restaurant with clean and very authentic Thai food.

After taking a seat at the counter we ordered Pad See Ew,


Green Curry with Chicken,


as well as egg-topped rice with very spicy prawns.


We paid US$ 15 we went into the supermarket, bought nuts, checked the availability of other products. As long as you’re getting instant noodles at half price, in Thailand everything is okay, no shortage in food.


Also toilet paper, soap, tooth paste etc. available unlimited.


On the way back Valentyna bought Mango with sticky rice,


before returning to our room.