Bangkok

I have been here for a couple of days now, living in Sonia's hotel room at the Conrad. Yesterday was very busy (for me), starting with cooked breakfast in the executive lounge. I had to rush this a little bit, as it finishes around 10am. I managed to fit something in though, and then spent time checking emails and reading the news on the computer.

Then off to get fitted for a new suit (Gulati's in Nana). Sam (the owner) has an amazing memory and knew who I was as soon as I walked in. He also knew where I worked, and that Sonia was my wife, and the names of the people I know who are also his customers. To put it in context, it is probably two years since I last walked into his shop. The fitting took about an hour, although we quickly picked out the fabric (dark blue with a pinstripe). The rest of the time was spent waiting for the tailor to come in and then do the measuring. While waiting we were talking about the economy and the market behaviours (Sam spends the downtime during the day investing in stockmarkets online). Sam also pulled out the measurements from the previous time I was in and commented on how much smaller I am now.

Then down the road to Liu's Bootery, recommended to me by a friend from AIG Japan. He has had some shoes made there a few times. Mr Liu will create whatever you want, using most different types of leather. I chose a pair of new black shoes for work (not sure where I will wear these yet), and also asked them to make me a new pair of more casual shoes. For the leather I chose snakeskin. The Crocodile, Ostrich, and something else, all looked a bit too flashy for me :-). I am going in to pick up the shoes on Thursday morning.

Then stopped for lunch at the Food Loft in Chit Lom, which is a food-court type of place. A huge range of types of food, including Japanese (yeah!).

After lunch, back to the hotel and the executive lounge to let lunch settle before going to the gym. The gym was not busy (as you would expect for 3pm on a Monday), and I did the bike, weights, and treadmill.

Then back to the executive lounge to wait for Sonia. The nice people here are going to recognise me quite quickly, I suspect. Sonia and I sat here and had nibbles before leaving for Siam Paragon where we were booked to see the new James Bond movie (thanks to "Tippie" on the concierge desk for her help making the booking). The movie was at the Nokia Ultra lounge - think lazy-boy chairs with pillows, blankets, and waitresses who will bring the popcorn and drinks to you. Of course I will need to explain the plot to Sonia later today...

What does today hold in store? Well it is almost time for lunch, after which I need to go to the gym. Then meeting an ex-colleague for coffee at 4:30, then back to Sam's for a suit fitting, then out to a restaurant for dinner. Such a busy life - it is truly amazing that I managed to find time to write this update.