http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Tim-and-Heather/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Tim and Heather en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:14:13 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:14:13 +0000 I learned a lesson a long time ago that I didnrsquot head last night. Donrsquot drink cheap gin. With a massive hangover I missed breakfast which heather said was terrific and on par with the Banyan Tree breakfast. I donrsquot know about that wersquoll see. She did manage to capture a video of me snoring deeply that wonrsquot be posted here.After being dragged from bed we headed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-361676.html While I think Bangkok and Chiang Mai left us a little Watted out over Wattage Phuket offers the serene beauty of a tropical paradise along the Andaman Sea. While there are plenty of attractions to see there are no major temples or historical sites that are must sees safe for the natural beauty that rises out of the Southern Coast in the Andaman and the neighboring Gulf of Thailand. We had http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-361675.html We arrived to our hotel on Patong Beach in Koh Phuket with no major issues to report. Our hotel The Amari Coral Beach Resort www.amari.comcoralbeach is gorgeous with incredible views of an inlet that leads out to the Andaman Coast again surrounded by the mountains. Even though the resort is beautiful and posh we have no internet and Irsquoll need to update the blog each morning from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-360943.html We didnrsquot have anything planned for us today and wanted to see the actual city of Chiang Mai. The old city the original area that made up the city of Chiang Mai is a square plot of land smack dab in the middle surrounded by a stone gate and moat with the larger surrounding area encompassed by the picturesque mountains. As we drove up to it you could picture how it looked 600700 year http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-360934.html Today we went to the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School for some lessons in the art of making Thai cuisine www.thaicookeryschool.com. It was an all day schooling run by Chef Sompon Nabnian that entailed the cooking of six traditional Thai meals that we would learn cook and eat. The first lesson was about the ingredients we would be using throughout the day the different herbs and vegetables and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-360191.html We arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon after a 90 minute flight from Bangkok. Chiang Mai Thailandrsquos second largest city is in the rural northwest and our hotel was about a 40 minute cab ride from the airport. The car ride reminded me of a trip through the American south with patches of desolate areas and plenty of farming. The terrain in the north of Thailand is mountainous and is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-359668.html Not much to talk about the day as we slept in recovering from NYE but we were going at about 930. We were all Watted out and it was out last day in Bangkok before departing for Chiang Mai in the northeast of Thailand. After breakfast dragging our feet and moving slow we headed back to Siam Square to do a little shopping. As my favorite nieces Charlotte Rose Veronica Marie in the world http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-359290.html Today I had my fitting for my suits. Sweet. After breakfast which was excellent as always we strolled back over to Paul Smith Tailors to see our friend Peter. It took about 20 minutes to sort everything out but to say the least Irsquom pretty psyched for how the final products will look.Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff for todayrsquos adventure to Wat Saket the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-358903.html I was on a mission today to get my suits. We had seen a tailor that looked to be pretty reputable on our way to the night bazaar the other evening and figured wersquod give them a try. The Paul Smith Fashion Tailors lucky super 1 tailor in Bangkok is on the other side of the street from our hotel about a block down so we hoofed it in the oppressive humidity alongside the bustling daily Ban http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-358646.html Breakfast is so good here I needed to put an entry dedicated specifically to it. It is delicious. They have a mixture of breakfastlunch brunch for the sophisticated items and will make you a fresh omelet to your liking with real eggs cracked right in front of you. They also have fresh sushi but who wants that at 9AMThey have an amazing array of fresh fruit to choose from as well with diffe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-358636.html Today we were feelinrsquo it when we woke up and headed out after breakfast to tackle the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. After a 30 minute cab ride we arrived to the Grand Palace and got out and were immediately told that the Palace was closed until 230 for the New Yearrsquos Thai holiday and were shuffled away. So we crossed the street and walked amongst the shops and stopped into a 711 for a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-358379.html Today we headed out to Siam Square section of Bangkok which is known for the shopping. We had looked up tailors so that I could get some fresh suits made up on the cheap and wanted to find Marco Tailors on Soi street 7 Siam Square. We took the Sky Train two stops and decided to walk around amongst the shops until we stumbled upon Soi 7 and Marco Tailors. The streets were packed with locals http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-357994.html So we're finally here after 24 hours of traveling 14 hours to Tokyo 3 hour layover and then 7 hours to Bangkok. Crazy day of travel and we're a bit tired for not having done anything of much and we don't have much to report as of yet no pictures yet either.First Class is definetly the way to fly though. Anything else is soooo Baltic Avenue httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiMonopolygame. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-357644.html