Ultrasound, September 2006

Four months into her pregnancy with our son, Antonio, we were able to get our first look at him when we went for our first ultrasound session.



This was taken at the older maternity building of Vichaiyut Hospital. This hospital is located very near our apartment right along Rama VI Road. It's less than ten minutes away, which is really convenient specially with Nio on the way.







It's amazing what technology allows us to see. In this context, I believe that it enables us to attain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the miracle of life. I am overwhelmed with joy and humbled by all this.

At The Millennium Hilton, September 2006

Thanks to our really good friend, Gerald Gonzalez, we were fortunate enough to get a free voucher for a night at the new Millennium Hilton Hotel here in Bangkok. Not only did we get to stay for one-night free, but we were able to book a second night at a specially discounted corporate rate.



My wife is about four-months pregnant here and she is starting to show. Fortunately for us both, she's still managed to retain her figure very nicely. This is the seating area of our room at the Hilton.

We checked into the hotel in the early evening, so we really didn't get much of a chance to explore the hotel, but I was able to take a pretty good look at the room and the different amenities.







Frankly speaking, I was not at all impressed with the spatial layout of the room, the quality of the finishes, or even the room's appointments. For all the hype and the price tag that's attached to this hotel, there was nothing exceptional about it. Perhaps all the hype led to some very unreasonable expectations on my part.



Despite the initial disappointment, we did get a very nice view of the river from our room even though we were only on the eighth floor. The next morning we were able to do a bit more exploring around the hotel.





Here we are enjoying the breakfast buffet of the "Flow Restaurant", located at the ground floor of the hotel, right beside the Chao Phraya River. Very good food. We made sure to sample almost everything there. It's almost as if I have a "Noah's Ark" policy when it comes to buffets — "take two of everything".







Their main entrance lobby has a very impressive sense of scale and the design is very stylish and chic. Despite the trendy look and some very unusual pieces of art, I can't help but feel that the place is a little alienating. Take for instance the giant floating hairball with Christmas lights hovering over the lobby. I can understand wanting to establish a unique style, but this feels like forced eclecticism.









Here is my wife, Kanittha, contemplating an oversized and unusual art object.



This corridor leads to another one of their restaurants. I think this one is called "Yuan". We were only able to dine at their steak house, called "Prime", and enjoyed the view from the bar named "Three-Sixty" which has a commanding 360° view from high atop the hotel.



I don't know what it is about my wife and a camera, but she really knows how to ham it up for a picture. We've gone up to their pool deck level, which has one area filled in with white sand brought in from a beach. They expended a tremendous amount of creativity to name this area — "The Beach". Note the sarcasm.



It wouldn't be a bad thing to come back and stay in this hotel again. We both had a very good time here.