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BANGKOK RESTAURANT & HANGOUT PLACE
2007-12-17 12:25:00
The Social LunchThe Cup3F, Lake Rajada Bldg, 193/21-22 Rajadapisek Rd.Cuisine: International; Closed: EveningIn the days when it occupied a lot at the Peninsula Plaza,Bangkok 's galleria pa excellence, there was no more fashionable rendezvous after a shopping spree. The location has changed, but elegant thanyings still congregate for social chit0chat and francophile fare in the third-floor dining room near the Queen Sirikit Convention Center.The Social DinnerThe China House - Hotel OrientalOnce a private residence, Bangkok's most beautiful Chinese restaurant seduce the guest with valuable decor, graceful intimacy, charming service, and Cantonese specialties by four acclaimed chefs from Hong Kong. A drink in the front garden, a tete-a-tete dinner in the dining room or an exclusive banquet in one of the separces upstairs belong to the civilized pleasures of life.Romantic DiningOriental Terrace - Hotel OrientalCuisine: Eclectic, BarbecueCriticize the flotsam in 4he river, the passing ...
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WHERE TO STAY IN BANGKOK
2007-12-17 07:44:00
The HeadquartersThe Oriental Hotel - 316 rooms (78 suites)48 Oriental Avenue, Bangkok A legend, a myth, a reality - the ideal gateway to Southeast Asia. At the glamorous Oriental Spa on the opposite river bank your jet-lag will be massaged away after arrival and your body rejuvenated. The floor butler takes care of you as if you had come home. The General Manager created an abode of Western luxury, Oriental charm and a unique personal service. Stay ing here, you understand why so many think it is the best hotel in the world, and why the world, from heads of state to pop stars, from historians to sentimentalists, all pay tribute to the hotel - which has become a landmark, a romantic rhythms and the only place for the Happy Few. You don't have to leave for gourmet cuisine (Normandle), jazzy rhythms (Bamboo Bar), chamber-music concerts (Lobby), a cool swim or hot night, for fanciful folklore (Rim Naam), for in house shopping ot just dreaming up illusions in the suites of the Author's W...

BANGKOK ATTRACTION GUIDE
2007-12-15 09:58:00
The Sights:* Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keo - former royal residence and the temple of the Emerald Buddha. One of Thailand's most impressive sights: 54 acres featuring a collection of palatial buildings, golden stupas, sculpted nine-foot demons, and richly ornamented wats (temples)* Jim Thompson's House - historic teak houses containing the antique collection of the American who rescued the Thai silk industry;* Suan Pakkard Palace - private museum, exhibiting Thai antiques, from ancient to recent ones. The museum compound contains eight traditional wooden Thai houses with exhibits inside.* Wat Traimitr - with a huge Golden Buddha, located in Bangkok ‘s Chinatown. The official name of the image is Phra Buddha Mahasuwan Patimakorn or Phra Sukhothai Traimitr. Three meters high and weighing five and a half tons, it was covered in stucco to protect it from the invading Burmese in the eighteenth century. When it slipped while being moved by a crane the stucco cracked, revealing the gol...
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BANGKOK - Thailand
2007-12-11 18:34:00
Population: 5.5 m (official); 8 m (unofficial)Area code: (+66) 2;Time zone: GMT +7Currency: Baht (Bt) = 100 satangClimate: tropical, monsoonalAverage temperatures: hot season (Mar-Jun) 27C/80F - 38C/100F, rainy season (Jun-Oct) 24C/75F - 32C/90F, cool season (Nov-Feb) 18C/65F - 32C/90FBangkok International Airport (Don Muang) (BKK): 2.5 km/16 milesProsaically interpreted by the rest of the world as the 'village amongst the plum-olive trees'. for Thais the name of their capital hovers like an incantation above the sprawling megalopolis on the banks of the Menam Chao Phraya, the 'Mother of Waters'. What's in a name? Krung Thep... 'Great City of Angels, the Supreme Repository of Divine Jewels, the Great Land Unconquerable, the Grand and Prominent Realm, the Royal and Delightful Capital City Full of Nine Noble Gems, the Highest Royal Dwelling and Grand Palace, the Divine Shelter and Living Place of the Reincarnated Spirits'. Ancient rites and myths have here retained their power ...
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THAILAND
2007-12-11 17:38:00
No wonder the Thais smile more authentically, more gently, more happily, than anyone else. They live in one of God's preferred places on earth. Mysterious fairytale forests of primeval teakwood alternate with romantically rolling hills of luxuriant flora, mighty wild rivers nourish eternal fertile plains and a dramatically choreographed coastline is dotted with hundreds of tropical islands and the climate to go with it. Since the dawn of time, Thailand 's exemplary beauty and its location at the crossroads of Southeast Asia have made it a prime goal for tribal migrations. They now make it a destination for vacationers from everywhere. Today's tourist hordes follow the Chinese peasants, Burmese warriors, Portuguese mercenaries, French traders and waves of Mons, Khmers, Vietnamese and malays to get a taste of paradise.The 'Land of Smiles' is also the 'Land of the Free', since it - unlike its neighbors avoided colonization. The odd political coup notwithstanding, Thailand today i...

SAIGON ATTRACTION GUIDE
2007-12-11 11:30:00
Photo: Vinh Nghiem Pagoda - Saigon The Sights:* Gia Lam Pagoda (17thC) - the oldest in the city;* Vinh Nghiem Pagoda - the newest, built in Japanese style;* Ngoc Hoa Pagoda (1892) - with a statue of the Jade Emperor and wooden carvings of the Buddhist hell;* Thien Hau Temple - to the Chinese patroness of sailors;* Giac Vien Pagoda - with an array of carved statues;* National History Museum - Vietnam's cultures from the Dong Son Bronze Age civilization;* War Museum - gruesome exhibits;* Nha Rong (Dragon House) - memorial to Ho Chi Minh;* Thong Nhat (Reunification) Conference Hall (1966) - former Presidential Palace;* the French COlonial legasy;* Cathedral of Notre Dame (1877-80) - neo-Romanesque red brick;* City Hall - by Ruffier, in a manicured garden;* Municipal Theater;* Ben Thanh Market;* Cholon - Vietnamese ChinatownThe HeadquartersNew World Hotel - 542 rooms (28 suites)76 Le Lai Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh CityAffil.: New World Hotels Int'lEven Graham Greene would have lov...
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SAIGON - HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam
2007-12-09 20:49:00
Photo: View from Saigon Trade Center building - currently the tallest building in SaigonPopulation: 4.5mArea code: (+84) 8Time zone: GMT +7Currency: Dong (D)Climate: Tropical, hottest months Mar-May, monsoon rain May-Oct;Average temperature: 29C/82FTan Son Nhat Airport (SGN): 7km/4milesOld habits die hard. Just St Petersburg has officially triumphed over Leningrad at last, it seems as if Saigon is also rising phoenix-like from the ashes of Ho Chi Minh City - in spirit as well as in name. Saigon is the name on everyone's lips, for the entrepreneurial flair of Vietnam 's southern metropolis has survived undaunted, and the airport baggage tags never ceased to bear the legend 'SGN' anyway. Hanoi may be the capital and a few hundred years older, but the motor behind the country's progress into the next millennium is being fuelled by its largest city.Built on the site of an ancient Khmer settlement, Saigon's transformation into a flourishing trading center took place about a century...

HUE - Vietnam
2007-12-09 19:45:00
Nestling between the mountains and forested valleys of Annam lies the former imperial capital of Vietnam . The enchantment of Hue has withstood the depredations of centuries and the vicissitudes of war, including severe damage during the 1968 Tet offensive. For over a century from 1802, the 16th-century capital of the powerful Nguyen princes served as the country's political hub. Man of letters Somerset Maugham, who visited Hue in the 1920s, found the pomp and glory of the court was as breathtaking as the scenery below the Trouong Son Mountains. According to tradition, Hue is the home town of the country's intellectual and academic elite as well as its prettiest girls. A few miles along the Perfume River stands the 17th-century Thien Mu Pagoda, the seven tiers of its octagonal tower each representing a different incarnation of the Buddha. Behind the four citadel-like gates of Da Noi, the Imperial City, lie the Forbidden Purple City and the Yellow Enclosure - a paradise of green mea...