Sunday, September 10, 2006

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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".

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Sakhon Nakhon Wedding (Part 1), January 2006

Our wedding in Sakhon Nakhon was not a very big nor a very fancy affair. It was small, quiet and very personal. After having been together for quite a while, and having announced our engagement to everyone, we went up country to her village in Sakhon Nakhon and had a very traditional Issarn style wedding.

06-Jan-2006

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Our journey from Bangkok started out very early and included a very long walk from one end of the airport to the other. My brother, Nico, was with us and there was a small problem with his airline ticket that needed sorting out. So we went from the international airport to resolve his ticketing issues, to the domestic airport for our flight up country via this very long corridor.

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We arrived at Udon Thani airport in the morning and drove out to the village of her family. The early morning drive was pleasant and uneventful.

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Here's an image of the front yard and the house with a few more improvements since last time. Things are certainly looking up... considering the less than humble beginnings that this house started from.

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Probably the last image of us together before the big day. Here's an image of myself and Kanittha standing in front of their house up country.

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Gorgeous sunset here. The natural scenery in the province is simply stunning. Nothing paints a landscape better than Mother Nature can, and when she decides to impress it is nothing short of absolutely breathtaking. Standing there that day I was reminded of a Longfellow poem that is my mother's favorite, "The Day Is Done".

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My brother and I sitting at the front porch of the house late in the evening. Nico and I have always been close. We would spend hours just talking, about anything and everything that comes to mind. I don't remember exactly what it is we spoke about, but I'm sure we covered the whole bit about long term commitments and other topics of that nature.

07-Jan-2006

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My wife-to-be, Kanittha, sitting with the rest of the family at the front of the house having breakfast.

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Preparations for the wedding.

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Assembling a tent on the front yard.

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Beautiful scenery.

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Late night preparations for the wedding day.

Sakhon Nakhon Wedding (Part 2), January 2006

08-Jan-2006

The big day started with the first arrivals of close family.

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Here's my soon to be, mother-in-law, with someone.

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Anxiously standing around waiting for the wedding procession to get underway.

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The band.

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The parade.

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The circus moves through the village.

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Arriving at the house.

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Us.

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The dowry.

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Her parents.

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Tying the knot.

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The ceremony.

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Too late now.

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More stuff happening.

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Wedding entertainment.

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The newly weds.

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A group photo.

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A bunch of women related to my wife.

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My surrogate stand in mother.

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Family.

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Eating.

09-Jan-2006

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Breakfast.

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Some big thing in the landscape.

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A nice photo of us as a couple.

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My brother, Nico.

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Taking the plane back to Bangkok.