Bangkok Favorites

I'm getting ready to go to Bangkok and just had an e-mail from a friend who is also Thai bound. So, I'm reminding myself of the wonderful aspects and locations of Bangkok I must revisit:

Four Seasons Hotel: This is an absolute oasis set in the middle of hazy, hot Bangkok. Walking in the front doors just takes a huge burden off of me and I am still in awe of the night I spent there, when they updated me to a deluxe executive suite!

Weekend Market: I love its kitsch, its crowds, its randomness and its bargains! Can't wait to hit it again for goodness knows what.

Nancy Chandler Maps: And or course if I'm going to hit the weekend market, I'll have my Nancy Chandler map in hand. It's like a secret source code to the stalls of the weekend market.

Rasi Sayam: I love this store located at 32 Sukhumvit Soi 23 -- it's a treasure trove of Thai products from throughout the country. I've shipped things back from here unscathed....and the staff is wonderful.

Jim Thompson House: Another oasis of tranquility. Must go there for lunch and tea.

River boats: One of my fondest memories of Bangkok is renting a long boat (and driver of course) and cruising the canals around dinner time. People bath, brush their teeth, fish and LIVE on these canals and it's a fascinating insight to life in the Venice of the East.

Tailors: I was referred to Queen Thai silk at 199 Sukhumvit Road (in the Ruamchitt Plaza) by some previous Embassy employees last time I was in Bangkok. I had a beautiful suit made and a great skirt...time to go back. They will even come to your hotel for final alterations.

Amantee House of Oriental and Tibetan Antiques and Art: Probably saved the best for last; one of my favorite Thai memories is having an exquisitely prepared simple lunch with the owner at this architectural wonder after salivating over antique benches, scrolls and wedding beds. From the moment you walk through the wooden gate, you know you are in a special place. Did I mention the owner grew up in Chechnya...and married a man with Thai connections?

The Perfect This, the Perfect that

I'm always in search...in search of the perfect travel bag. Travel alarm. Travel mask. Travel shampoo bottle. Travel map. And, of course, travel books. I keep lists here and there, jotted in journals and pull articles out of magazines every time I see something that I think could occupy me on a plane or a beach and whisk me off to another culture or another era. Now I've come across the so-called "86 Greatest Travel Books of all Time" at a website called Longitudebooks.com. What shall it be? The Arabian desert or the last decade of the Shah of Iran?

Tablet Hotels

One of my first Internet stops when planning a trip is this site, Tablet Hotels. Its picks the small, luxury hotels worldwide and publishes beautifully-designed books that make me lust to be a travel writer, just so I could stay in all the hotels featured in just one edition. Travel awaits in 2008...Bangkok, Santo Domingo, France....and hopefully so do some of these hotels as well.

L'Amour, L'Amour Sarkozy Style

Well, you do have to admit that she is beautiful. The kind of beautiful that requires no makeup and mimimal hair fussing. The kind of woman it's hard not to hate. So photogenic. Press accounts seem to indicate there is also a sizable bit of intelligence behind that face. I'm intrigued. With polling numbers splashed across U.S. papers declaring that the Republican primary is still wide open and Clinton and Obama exchanging racial accusations, it's much more amusing to watch this amorous French political drama unfold. Where else can a sitting President take his main squeeze on an official vacation without a huge outcry? Granted Sarkozy's polling numbers are on the decline, but really....the French seem only to be most upset because he's out in the open about his mistress.

Back in Vermont

We're back in Vermont. Oversized fleece and Uggs. Hot chocolate in big white mugs. The snow plow at 5 a.m. Sunsets on Lake Champlain. Snowmen made by my daughter. Cozy afternoon naps. Chili at Sleepy Hollow after a good run. White steeples and snowy plains. Starry nights and silent mornings in our loft. Snow. Snow. Snow.

Remembering Benazir Bhutto

She was a strong, independent woman -- groomed to take power and encouraged by her father to read about other women leaders including Joan of Arc. What made her so amazing is her ability to take and keep political power in a Muslim country, one that has become increasingly more militant and frightening. I worried when she returned to her native country from exile in Dubai and London, as did all of those who watch Pakistan from afar, particularly when her first rally was met by violence and a suicide bomber that killed over 130. Today is a sad day for Pakistan, a tragic one in fact. It's a sad day for all of those that hope for democracy, but fear for something much less in Pakistan.

Jane Perlez's obituary is worth the read.

Some of my favorites for 2007

BRAC: This organization, founded in Bangladesh in 1972, is truly life transforming and helping millions escape poverty. With a focus on women, it makes the path to self-sufficiency a much easier one.

WORLD CHANGING: I've spent more time this year than ever thinking about the choices we make -- the car we drive, products we use, how much we recycle, what we read. This site is the one stop shop.

CENTER FOR U.S. GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT: For those of out there that care about our engagement and contribution to the world, this organization is making a difference; and Impact -08 is helping to ensure that the U.S. Presidential candidates focus some of their energies on foreign assistance and our humanitarian and development efforts from Iraq to India to Indonesia.

SMART POWER: First it was called "soft power" -- but now even Joseph Nye is using the term Smart Power to define a better way of engaging around the world and using our powers of persuasion. A smart combination of public diplomacy and engagement, including efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and reduce poverty, it just makes sense. Listen up Bush Administration.

THE BOTTOM BILLION: A must read, by Paul Collier, if you didn't do it in 2007 to help understand more about the world's poor, primarily in Africa, and how our actions impact them.

MINA AGOSSI: She is truly a chanteuse; saw this sexy French signer at Blues Alley in Washington, DC and was transported right to smoky Montmarte jazz club.

PANDORA.COM From Journey to Lauren Hill to Lizz Wright to Dixie Chicks, I love plugging into this free website for radio stations that I create.

SUNDANCE CATALOGUE: No matter that I live in the city and love my high heels, this catalogue always make me lust for mountain views and fresh air in Montana, Colorado or Idaho -- a life spent in kick ass boots with a big chunky sweater and a cup of jo' looking out over the horizon at my herd.

Old Saint Nick

Ho...ho...ho! Looking forward to Old Saint Nick's arrival! To all my family and friends in Kabul, Paris, Prague, Zagreb, Phnom Phen, Belgrade, Dili, Bangkok and beyond....have a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday!

Favorite Christmas Windows of the Season

Here are just a few of my favorite holiday windows I passed by this season!

Makin' My List..and Checkin' it Twice

I've been trying to make my list. No, I don't mean Christmas gifts. I mean Christmas cocktails. From the famous Bellini to the red wine cocktail , I'm trying to figure out what to serve some friends on New Year's Eve. My husband is making hot wine (glog) but I think a nice champagne cocktail may be in order!

As Winter Sets in Here

Travel and Leisure's "best of" issue is out and it always makes me salivate. The photo on the cover is a place I visited a few years back, La Casa Que Canta in Mexico -- only for dinner but I've always lusted to go there and stay in one of those beautiful adobe rooms overlooking the infinity pool as music floats up into the cool night air. I lived vicariously through some advice to my friends, Paula and Mark, as I recommended it as their honeymoon destination -- and they ultimately loved it.

Now I'm lusting after these African safari locations.

Vermont Awaits...

I've been bad, very bad. I haven't posted in days with any real focus. I've been over, over, overwhelmed with work. Presents are piling up to be wrapped. Cookies to be baked. A party to throw. I love it! I love this time of year and the joy in my daughter's voice as she tells me what she'll be asking Santa for -- a watch, bubbles in a jar and a doll. I think Santa can deliver!

Then, it's off to Vermont to ski and relax, including a spa day the Pitcher Inn. Doesn't it look exactly how Vermont should look that time of year?

....on Travel

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
~ Mark Twain

Another Day...Another Valley

Another thing I love about long weekends is the ability to explore so many different neighborhoods in a city. We started this morning at Le Zinc, a French bistro, in Noe Valley, a neighborhoods which reminds me in many ways of ours in Washington, D.C. So many shops...so little time, including the Urban Nest, which is what I'd want my store to look like, filled with funky stationary, old-fashioned Christmas ornaments and little treasures tucked into many nookes and crannies.

A Hayes Valley Day

Today we checked out Hayes Valley in San Francisco, a once "seedy" neighborhood which is now home to quaint boutiques and French-style bistros. This is what I love about a long vacation weekend -- lunch with a bellini in a sunlit cafe watching strangers walk by, discovering new, funky shops filled with handknit sweaters and assorted designers...and ultimately knowing we have nothing more significant to do than return to the hotel and....nap.

Counting our Blessings

I'm counting my blessings this time of year, particularly when I think back to the months I spent in East Timor and how so many families lived in thatched huts, often sick with malaria and lacking basic food and clean water. As we think about the holidays, it's the perfect time to reflect on how we can help those less fortunate abroad, be it through an organization such as World Vision, UNICEF or CARE.

All Things Swedish

This is what happens when you start thinking about a Swedish table and searching for recipes....you get fixated on all things Swedish!

Swedish Inspiration

Given that my husband is partly Swedish, we've often talked about doing a lavish Christmas Eve Swedish table -- pickled herring, lingon berries, glog -- you get the blue and yellow pciture. But until this year, I haven't been truly inspired. Transport me to Sweden and you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be whipping up a Swedish feast but admist the hustle and bustle of the American holidays, I've never been truly inspired...until now. What has contributed to this state of mind? I was partially transported the other night on Coming B (okay, it was a French website) and a trip to Ikea today, so I'm now dreaming of our lovely table.

Can We Go Here Soon, Please?

Can you believe this place, Camp Ya Kanzai? Amazing....I was flipping through my November Travel and Leisure tonight and voila! Last year, South Africa...this year dreamin' of Kenya.

Happy Thanksgiving

Another wonderful Thanksgiving -- and so much to be thankful for, including my family, friends, health, travel and so much more!