I didn't plan to upload a picture of a half bathroom, but here is the proof.

Instagram persuaded us to go to Lennon's, a listening bar concept on the 30th floor of the nearby Rosewood. It is a lovely bar.

Potong's plaudits (e.g., #13 on Asia's Best 50 Restaurants list, one Michelin star) are well-deserved. The dishes were inventive with excellent flavors. I especially liked the "choose your own adventure" elements--at the outset, diners can select one of three choices for how much they'd like the servers to talk at them (we chose the middle path), and later, before the main course, they can select from among different pairs of chopsticks to use.

The restaurant is located in a Chinatown building where the chef's family fabricated and sold medicinal products for generations. The space has been beautifully reconfigured while retaining many original elements. One particularly nice touch is that formerly outdoor areas are encased in glass, which gives the impression to diners that the shutters and doors to the balcony are thrown open, emitting a cool evening breeze.

The meal begins on the ground floor with a komboucha before you head to the top floor for a nice Thai wine and some bites. The small elevator is glass, permitting you to view the chefs at work as you ascend. NB: the sensors in the elevator are very sensitive; the elevator stopped several times because my shoulders passed some invisible threshold. So be careful.

All in all, this was an impressive meal with good wine pairings. It was expensive. I will be in a better position to opine on the price after eating at Gaa again tomorrow.

Please see the tasting menu here. Photos follow in the spoiler.

Glad it worked out, the last time instagram persuaded me to go anywhere it was a very instagrammable Indian restaurant that turned out to be Dry, no
alcohol, no corkage. Imagine my horror!

The view was probably bad, too!

I started the day with an 8 am tour. Unfortunately, my wife wasn't feeling well, so I did the tour by myself. Coincidentally, I had the same guide as in 2023. She pulled up pictures she had sent on Whatsapp and enthusiastically showed them to the hotel staff.

This was labeled as a Thonburi Canal tour. I was happy with the choice because I got to visit two new interesting temple complexes, including one with a museum, and a part of Bangkok along the canal that I hadn't seen before.














Our plan for this afternoon was to eat a lot of streetfood, but under the circumstances, we will likely go somewhere with air conditioning and take it easy before dinner.

My wife was feeling a bit better, so we got a streetfood-lite experience on the first floor of the Icon Siam mall.







We've now returned to the hotel for the afternoon tea offered in the lounge.

Glad to read she is feeling better. No fun to be travelling while feeling unwell.

Great photos, fascinating to follow your experiences

This post will be short because I have an alarm set for 3 am for tomorrow (5 hours from now), and SFO777 did a review of Gaa a few years back (and I tacked one on). After my second visit, though it comes down to personal preferences, I can definitively say that Gaa has my favorite flavors of any restaurant I've ever visited. It's my second favorite restaurant in the world--after Flying Pie Pizzeria in Portland, Oregon.

There have been some changes to the menu since 2023, but the piece de resistance--a durian dish--remains the same. The beef appetizer was the best beef I've ever had. Again, a remarkable meal. And the tasting menu was ~20 percent cheaper than at Potong.

Sorry about the shadows--I couldn't get the photos quite right.




Pre-dinner drinks. My gin-based cocktail tasted like peanut butter and strawberry jelly. I also had a fabulous negroni.



One of several dishes that uses freezing techniques to concentrate flavors.









The label is made of soil. It paired perfectly with the durian.



Ceci n'est pas un vin blanc.


A liquid "petit four" that tasted like banana bread.

No calvados available, so I washed them down with a cognac.

We made it to the airport in under 30 minutes and completed checking our bags and--aided by fast track--going through security and passing through the exit immigration e-gates in about 20 minutes.

The line for economy passengers for our Sri Lankan flight was already quite long 2.5 hours before the flight's departure.


We received a lounge invitation for the Miracle Lounge but opted for the Qatar Lounge. Lounges at BKK are located one level down from the main level you enter after clearing security and border control. The Qatar Lounge is located in section D, which was where we exited. We had a short three-minute wait before the lounge opened.

As in Doha, access to this lounge is limited to passengers with business or first class tickets on Qatar or other One World airlines. (Economy passengers with elite status may access the Miracle Lounge.)

The lounge attendant scanned our boarding passes, and then we were offered an overview of the lounge.

It is a small and elegant lounge with a dining area and several discrete seating areas. We hadn't yet eaten, so we took seats in the dining area. A server quickly offered us a choice of water and took our order a few minutes later. The lounge has limited but solid a la carte and buffet choices.

I started with the unorthodox combination of champagne, pineapple juice, and an avocado smoothie. The BBQ bao and coconut chia pudding from the buffet were good. I didn't like the veggie omelette (not pictured) as much and should have ordered differently.

Our flight leaves from an F gate, and we will also swing by the nearby Miracle Lounge if time permits.

We left the Qatar Lounge around 7 am. Boarding was scheduled to begin at 7:10 but did not begin until about 7:20. Business class passengers were invited to board first, and we settled into our seats. The twelve business class seats were full. Boarding went smoothly at first but became somewhat jumbled when the overhead bins filled up. This took until after our scheduled departure time of 7:45.

Waiting at our seats were a blanket, pillow, menus, and headphones for the inflight entertainment system. The seat is pretty old school, but it has character and a fun color scheme. It also has a legrest and easily accessible power ports.








Row 1 had ample leg room.


A flight attendant distributed predeparture glasses of orange juice, apple juice, or water and a bottle of water. We then lingered at the gate for an unannounced reason and didn't take off until approximately 8:45. During the wait, a flight attendant took our breakfast order. I was watching a Netflix show and didn't mind the delay.



I ordered the kiribath breakfast, which was distributed soon after we reached cruising altitude. It was outstanding.


I didn't use the IFE, but it had 96 movies and some TV shows. You could also use it to access the drink list. I believe Joseph Perrier champagne was on offer.



We landed about an hour late. There was a separate bus with comfortable seats for business class passengers. I think CMB is more active in the afternoon and evening, as there were no other planes in the vicinity of our remote stand. We drove 5 minutes or so to the terminal. I did a double take when looking at the clock; I had forgotten that this was a time zone where the difference from GMT includes a fraction of an hour (+5:30)--it is my first visit to one. From there, we were through immigration in seconds, waited perhaps 10 minutes for our bags to catch up, and walked out to meet the driver of our pre-booked car. As with every other international flight on this trip, we first had to put our bags through a scanner at customs on the way out.




Other than the minor and ultimately inconsequential delay, I liked Sri Lankan and am looking forward to flying them again tomorrow night.

We're staying at the ITC Ratnadipa, part of Marriott's Luxury Collection. On the way from the airport, we learned from the many Indian flags and signs that PM Modi is in Colombo currently. You can guess where he is staying. Our room wasn't ready, so we hung out in the lobby--I loved the sunken seating--and headed to our 1 pm reservation at Ministry of Crab. This is an iconic restaurant, so I felt we had to visit. I don't really like crab, so I had the chicken curry. It was very good. My wife said the prawn and crab were good but she was not very impressed. Prices for the prawns, crab, and some alcoholic drinks are very high. I did not order a $65 glass of Veuve.

We then returned to the hotel, and our room was ready. The room (a tower suite) makes good use of the curvature of the building. The hotel has been open for under a year, and everything seems new.

Frankly, we are a bit fatigued as we near the conclusion of this trip and will probably stay close to the hotel.

Thankfully, it has a number of bars and restaurants. We first tried to check out the skybridge pool but it's closed. The fourth floor pool and pool bar are well designed.




The skybridge links the hotel and residence towers.

The hotel has a complimentary happy hour for all guests (I believe) from 5:30 to 7:30. We thought it was limited to the 29th floor bar so we headed to the third floor Oyster Bar first to ensure we wouldn't be too tired to experience it. It turns out it has the same free happy hour menu during this timeframe. I am not complaining, as our primary motivation was to sit in this beautiful room.