This post covers eight days spent in Thailand, including two days in Chiang Mai, three days in Bangkok, two days in Koh Samui and a couple travel days.

I did take a number of trips after Iceland (girls weekend in Miami, home to the Pacific Northwest for Thanksgiving, a relaxing four nights at the fantastic St. Regis Punta Mita with my friend Tina) that I’m not going to write about here. My next real travel adventure came during the holidays, when I planned to spend eight days exploring various parts of Thailand, capped off with two days visiting by brother in Shanghai. Jonathan (aforementioned brother) was going to meet me for three days in Bangkok, including Christmas, and we planned to celebrate New Year’s Eve together with his girlfriend, Ana, in Shanghai. Jonathan and Ana had been living in Shanghai for about six months, since Ana had a job opportunity arise managing a bar. It was not Jonathan’s first choice of a city, but he was making the most of it and he seemed to be happy to have a home base after over two years of being a nomad (literally, he was subletting his San Francisco apartment and had been jumping from country to country until recently). I was also going to be checking out Chiang Mai and chilling in Koh Samui on my own. It was a pretty ambitious itinerary (my brother warned me I was trying to do too much) and also the biggest trip I had ever done solo, so it would be a good test going into the next year. I really hoped I didn’t end up lonely and hating it.

Day #1: Travel

My trip started on the Friday before Christmas (ten weeks remaining at work!), on the same day that the Northeast was hit with a massive winter storm. Fortunately, it wasn’t cold enough to snow, but the wind gusts of 50+ mph were grounding planes inbound and outbound in all NYC airports. I had a tight connection in Detroit en route to Seoul, with my final destination in Bangkok, and was worried that if I missed the connection, I could be stuck in Detroit for a night. Super fun times. I knew I was in trouble when I got the alert from Delta that my 9am flight out of LGA was delayed to 10:15am when I was already in an Uber and about 15 minutes away from the airport. One hour and fifteen minute delay combined with a one hour layover in Detroit translated to definitely missing my connection. Time to get on the phone with a Delta representative. After about 45 minutes, the lovely and helpful Bridget (we were on a first name basis pretty quickly) proposed some pretty depressing options, but finally was able to get me on a nonstop Korean Air flight to Seoul that departed at noon and would land at 4:15pm, giving me plenty of time to make my 6:50pm Korean Air flight to Bangkok. It would mean no Delta One suite on Delta’s new A350, but I wouldn’t need to reassemble any of my other plans, so I could live (I got zero sympathy when I complained about this to a couple of my friends). It also meant flying out of JFK, so when my Uber dropped me off at LGA, I walked straight down to Arrivals and got in the taxi line so I could head to the other airport in Queens.

I won’t bore you with the rest of the details of my travel day. Fortunately, everything went pretty smoothly and I arrived in Bangkok as originally planned, relieved that my potential travel crisis had been averted. I didn’t land until almost 11pm and had a flight to Chiang Mai at 1:15pm the following day, so I had booked a room at the Novotel airport hotel, about a five minute walk from Suvarnabhumi Airport through an underground tunnel, that would allow me to get some sleep and a shower without wasting too much time in transit. It also meant that I wouldn’t see the outdoors (except from a window) for nearly 45 hours. Cabin fever, anyone?

Day #2: Bangkok to Chiang Mai

After a delightful 3.5 hours of sleep, I found myself wide awake at 6am. Nothing like jet lag to help you get an early start to the day. On the plus side, this allowed me plenty of time to hit the gym before I needed to get back on a plane. Working out always makes me feel better.

A few quick words about the Novotel if you ever find yourself needing a quick overnight stay at the Bangkok airport. It certainly wasn’t luxurious, but from an airport hotel standpoint, it wasn’t bad at all. It had plenty of amenities, including a large gym, an outdoor pool, and several restaurants. Price-wise, it was on the expensive side for Thailand (I think I paid about $200), but it was by far the best option at/near the airport. I also saw a number of “box” hotels and “pods” on the walk between the airport terminals and the Novotel, which made me very happy to have my own standard hotel room.

Workout complete and after my second shower in twelve hours (making up for 24+ hours of travel and zero showers), it was time to head to Chiang Mai. I had booked a business class ticket on Thai Airways for the one hour flight, which I don’t usually do on such short trips, unless the price difference is nominal. In this case, it was. It was my first time flying on Thai Airways and my first impression was lots of purple. Purple walls, purple seats, flight attendants in purple uniforms… it was like the designer had thrown up a bunch of grape Kool-Aid all over the plane. However, the cabin was spacious and the service was decent; they even managed to serve a hot meal (chicken with noodles, which I of course turned down) with less than an hour in the air.

I was so happy to land in Chiang Mai. The hills were green, the sky was clear blue, the temperature was hot, but dry. After a longish wait in the cab line, I was on my way to the Ping Nakara Boutique Hotel. I had chosen the hotel for numerous reasons: location (conveniently located near the Old City), design (modern amenities, but classic architecture with a lot if intricate, hand-carved woodwork) and great reviews on TripAdvisor. It also had only 19 rooms, and I often prefer to stay in smaller, more personal hotels over massive, impersonal resorts (although there are certainly exceptions to that rule).

Upon arrival, I had a couple hours to get settled and chill, so I unpacked, changed, read a little, and enjoyed a round of 2-for-1 happy hour drinks at the bar. I was getting picked up at 6:30 for a small group street food tour, which was going to show us a number of stalls at a couple of the different Chiang Mai night markets. After having minimal conversation over the past couple days, I was looking forward to talking with some fellow travelers and hopefully learning a few things from our tour guide. I had also booked the tour knowing that I was likely going to be jet-lagged and that it would be helpful to have someone else showing me around to keep me awake on my first full day in Thailand.

In both of those areas, the tour was successful. My fellow travelers were friendly and social, although not likely to be interested in grabbing a drink together later. Vincent, Marisa and Matteo were a family from Paris (Marisa was actually Italian, but Vincent was French and they all lived in France now). Matteo was this adorable, energetic, smiley three year old who majorly impressed me by switching between French, English and Italian the entire evening. This is a sweeping generalization, but I love how Europeans raise their children like little adults. I had a hard time imagining many American families that would bring their three year old on a food tour that would extend past 10pm and expose their children to numerous germs. Our final group member was another solo female traveler named Christina. Christina was from Hamburg, Germany and in the beginning of her own 1.5 month sabbatical in between jobs (although her travel style seemed to be a little different than mine; she was planning to only visit Thailand and was staying in hostels).

Our tour guide, Sunny, was also friendly and knowledgeable. However, I will say that he lacked the presence and charisma of guides from other food tours that I’ve experienced. He was rather soft-spoken and I found that we needed to ask a lot of questions to get information out of him. Still, the tour accomplished my goals and I was able to enjoy plenty of good food and learn about some authentic Thai dishes. Some of my favorites: Khao Soi (curry noodles that I ordered vegetarian), Khao Niew Ma Muang (mango w/ sticky rice), Pad pak bung (stir-fried morning glory, served with chili sauce), and Nam Tok Moo (traditionally grilled pork with onions, chilies and lime juice served with sticky rice, although I had mine with grilled squid).

My belly full and jet lag catching up to me, I was happy to get back to my hotel before 11pm so I could hopefully get a good night’s sleep and wake up ready to enjoy my only full day in Chiang Mai.

Day #3: Christmas Eve in Chiang Mai

While I didn’t sleep perfectly that night, I managed to get enough hours in that I felt pretty great on my third day. Yessss, I beat you, jet lag (at least I hoped). My morning started pretty leisurely, which is one of the great things that I love about traveling solo. I can do whatever I want and not feel bad about it. I did particularly love lounging on the terrace at the hotel restaurant and reading for an extra fifteen minutes after I finished my delicious breakfast (included in the room rate).

But after a bit of dilly-dallying, I started to feel anxious. This was my only full day in Chiang Mai, so I needed to make the most of it. I had a rough game plan (basically, a list of things I could do, depending on my mood), but no specific agenda. The only requirement was for me to be back at my hotel by 4:30, when I was going to be picked up for my cooking class.

I started by walking into the old city, heading in the direction of one of the most popular temples, Wat Chedi Luang. There are actually three different temples on the same grounds as Wat Chedi Luang, so I could get three-for-one! I felt well prepared with my midi length dress, chambray shirt to cover up when going inside the temples and Havaianas that would be easy to slip on and off when going inside as well. After making the mistake of dressing inappropriately in Bangkok during a temple-viewing tour earlier in the year, I had learned my lesson. I was going to show Thailand that I was now a temple pro, damn it.

I saw that the Three Kings Monument was close to Wat Chedi Luang, so I decided to meander that way next. It turned out to not be very impressive, but on the way I ran into Wat Phan Tao. The temple itself was rather small, but the grounds it sat on were decorated with all sorts of colorful flags, which I found to be rather beautiful.

Next up was Wat Phra Singh, which was probably the most glorious-looking of all the temples in the old city.

It probably isn’t apparent, but by this point I had been walking a lot and my feet were hurting (while Havaianas are great for slipping on and off when viewing temples or, say, going to the beach, they aren’t the softest on the soles of one’s feet). However, one of the amazing things about Thailand is that you can get an incredible massage for a fraction of the price that you’d pay in the States. While there are countless “spas” on the side of the road, I had been keeping my eyes open for a spot that looked slightly more luxurious than the standard place. I was willing to splurge and spend an extra 100-150 baht (about $3-5) for a little more comfort and privacy. Well, the timing was perfect because next I ran across a place called “Calm Massage” that looked like just what I had in mind. Modern, calming ambiance (hey, that name may not have been the most imaginative but it fit) vs. the sterile, but not totally clean, almost frantic atmosphere in other places. And a 60 minute foot massage was 300 baht (less than $10). I was in heaven but also really sad that I wouldn’t be able to go back the next day.

I decided to check out one more temple: Wat Chiang Man. It was cool, but I was ready to be done. I don’t mean to sound flippant when talking about these historic, holy destinations that are very important to the Thais. While I am not religious, I do have a lot of respect for the Buddhist religion and I find visiting temples to be a very peaceful, spiritual experience (except when there are tourists running around everywhere, taking selfies and wearing their dumb elephant pants). One of the nice things about visiting the temples in Chiang Mai was that they were less crowded than the temples I had previously visited in Bangkok. It was, well, nice to see the monks walking around the grounds (especially the adorable child monks in training) and the people praying inside the temples. However, after several hours of walking in the hot sun, looking at temple after temple after temple, I was ready for a change of pace.

Time to go shopping! I mean, I didn’t really need to interrupt my spiritual day with some good old American consumerism, but I had heard of a local cafe/art gallery/”lifestyle” shop called Woo that sounded pretty neat. And it was the only time during this visit to Chiang Mai that I’d be able to check it out. So… I kind of had to do it, right?

Well, I didn’t regret it. First of all, the ambiance in the cafe was very stylish, clean and modern. I wasn’t hungry, but if I had more time in the city, I would make it a point to go back to eat at the cafe. The gallery upstairs showcased works from local artists and the shop also featured local goods. I ended up finding a really unique straw tote that I thought would make a great beach bag and would be easy to pack in a suitcase (one of my previous gripes was that I hated to have to choose between a beach bag or a regular tote when traveling… I know it’s silly, but at least now it’s no longer a gripe). And I was supporting the local economy. And it would always remind me of Thailand. And when people complimented me on it, I could regale them with the story of how I found it in this incredible boutique in Chiang Mai. Win-win-win-win!

By now it was after 3pm, I was sweaty and my feet were ready for another break, so I headed back to the Ping Nakara for a quick break before my scheduled pick-up. One of the strategies that I’ve employed to prevent loneliness when traveling alone is to book small group excursions and activities. While it is a touristy thing to do and I sometimes feel like a nerd, it is usually a great way to learn about the culture from a pro (or at least see the sights with an expert) and meet fellow like-minded travelers at the same time. It was also not a coincidence that both activities I chose for this trip revolved around food.

I found the Thai Akha Cooking School on TripAdvisor. It was the #1 ranked cooking class in Chiang Mai and had absolutely stellar reviews, so my expectations going in were pretty high. They had a morning option and an evening option; the morning option also included a visit to the markets to pick up your own ingredients, which I’m sure was very interesting. However, given my short stay, I wanted the daytime to explore on my own and I also needed to eat dinner, so with the evening class I would kill two birds with one stone.

To start, my fellow students and I were picked up in a red truck taxi (also known as a “songthaew”). These open-backed trucks with bench seating and no seat belts would in no way be legal in the States, but we were in Southeast Asia, so it was time to embrace the culture. It was one of my goals to ride in a tuk tuk on this trip, so I was pleased to at least be able to experience a songthaew. There were 12 of us in total: three Americans (one originally from Russia, now living in the Bay Area, and two of us living in New York), one Brit living in Amsterdam, two Brits living somewhere in Britain, two Italians living in Como, two Canadians living in Montreal and two Colombians living in Bogota. Everyone was friendly and well-traveled; basically, what you’d expect to find in these kinds of group activities.

Our instructor, Doh, was of Akha origin. I learned that the Akha are an indigenous tribe that live in various parts of Asia, including Thailand of course. We were going to be learning to cook 11 dishes in total, including a couple traditional Akha dishes and more general Thai dishes. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so fortunately I was ready to eat. The class was structured very well into various small sections; sometimes Doh would provide instructions, sometimes we would all watch him cook, sometimes we would cook on our own, and we of course took mini breaks to eat throughout. All in all, it was paced thoughtfully and it flowed well, so there was never time to get bored or lost.

Because I was in the front station closest to Doh’s station (not by choice, just because it was the only one remaining after all the couples snagged their spots), I was chosen to be his helper. One of the first dishes we made was spring rolls, starting with the filling. As Doh’s lucky helper, I got to stir all of the ingredients in the wok together over high heat while Doh kept adding more and more and everyone watched me. Let’s just say the station didn’t look as spotless as it had before I showed up on the scene.

The other appetizer that we made was papaya salad. This one we did individually, and I’m happy to report that it turned out a lot better for me (at least in the end).

After a break to enjoy our appetizers, it was on to the next course: curry. But first, some of us wanted to break into the beers. The class included complementary water, tea and coffee (not a bad deal for 1000 baht, or $32, considering that it also included transportation, three hours of instruction and an eleven dish meal). I wasn’t too upset that we had to pay 60 baht (less than $2) for a bottle of beer… in fact, I was feeling proud of my frugality over the past couple of days, not that I was really trying to find deals. I was just in Southeast Asia, so it was happening naturally.

I had chosen to make red curry and wanted it to be spicy (other curry options were green curry, panang curry and massamum curry, at all the spice levels of course). We started by putting all of our ingredients in a pestle and then had to smash them with a mortar to literally turn everything into a paste.

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Doh also made a couple of authentic Akha dishes: a soup and a salad. As his helper, I contributed by stirring together all the ingredients for the salad (cucumber, tomato, peanuts, some other stuff that I don’t recall). Doh was prepared for me this time and provided an extra large bowl to prevent messes. It kind of helped.

Next, we boiled our curry paste, added coconut milk, our protein of choice, and veggies. After a few minutes, we were ready to eat our third course (I forgot to note that we also had a creamy coconut milk soup with pumpkin chunks as our second course). I loved my curry and it had just the right amount of kick. I may have to try to make it at home sometime.

On to the final two dishes that we’d be cooking: soup and a stir fry. I had selected the hot and sour soup and the spicy basil stir fry (usually prepared with chicken, but I substituted tofu). You may notice a spice theme happening here. We prepared the soup first, then covered it to keep it warm while we made the stir fry.

Finally, it was time to eat our last two courses. We all gathered around the large table in the back room with our soups and stir fries and instantly became silent as we dug in. I was already pretty full, but everything tasted so good. Plus, as the Brit from Amsterdam pointed out, it was Christmas Eve. Of course we deserved a delicious meal! I kept forgetting it was Christmas Eve, but once reminded, I embraced his logic.

The final course was sticky rice with mango, which Doh had shown us how to make earlier. It was one of my favorite dishes from the night markets the previous day, so I was pumped. Doh sent us off with a cookbook of recipes for everything we had learned to make and a packet of curry spices so we could make our own curry at home. Woohoo! Another successful group event. I was also reminded how much I enjoy cooking and inspired to book more cooking classes (whether at home or abroad). There’s nothing like travel to motivate you to continue to try new things.

Some final thoughts on Chiang Mai… two nights were enough to get a taste, but I could have stayed another two to three nights. I would’ve liked a day to go trekking in the mountains (another small group tour option), it would’ve been neat to go to a (humane) elephant sanctuary and I also could’ve used some pool time, especially since the weather was so great. I guess I’ll just have to go back!

Day #4: Christmas in Bangkok

Remember how I thought I had beat jet lag? Well, it struck back on my third night. I woke up around 2am, tossing and turning. I was finally able to go back to bed but woke up again at 6am, which resulted in maybe three hours of sleep. Wonderful. However, I was on vacation, so I was going to do my best to stay positive.

I was relieved that I had enjoyed my solo travel time so much and was actually really beginning to love being on my own, but I was also excited to see my brother in Bangkok. It was Christmas, I always have a good time with Jonathan and I had high expectations for him as my Bangkok tour guide. This part of the trip was likely not going to include any temples or much sightseeing during the day (note that I had already done an extensive tour of the Bangkok temples during my first trip to Thailand earlier in the year in March). My brother has a passion for bars and restaurants and has turned that into a consulting business, while working remotely for a San Francisco-based software company that enables him to pay the bills and live anywhere in the world. He has a pretty sweet deal. He also has made a ton of connections and friends at some of the world’s best bars and restaurants, so it is always a great experience going out with him.

After my final poolside breakfast at the Ping Nakara, I hopped in a taxi and headed back to the airport for my return flight on Thai Airways. Time for more purple. I finished my second book of the trip on the flight (“Bad Blood,” not about the Taylor Swift-Katy Perry feud, but an incredibly detailed account of the fraudulent one-time unicorn startup Theranos and its sociopathic founder, Elizabeth Holmes. I couldn’t put the book down and hear it is being turned into a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence). One mistake I had made on this trip: only bringing three books. As much as I love having a physical book in my hands, I really may need to go back to the e-reader when I’m traveling full-time.

Anyway, back at Suvarnabhumi, I got in another taxi and battled the Bangkok traffic en route to my next hotel, The Athenee. Part of the Luxury Collection (one of SPG/Marriott’s brands), three nights at The Athenee would enable me to clinch my Platinum status for 2019. I had previously stayed at the St. Regis Bangkok and am usually partial to the St. Regis brand, but was also curious to try a new hotel and The Athenee had excellent reviews. Plus, I had found a great rate (actually, the Government employee/Military rate, although I am obviously neither… shhhh) that was an excellent deal, didn’t require pre-payment, and had a flexible cancellation policy in case I changed my mind. Since my remaining Suite Night Awards were going to expire at the end of the year, I redeemed three SNAs and ended up with an additional upgrade, resulting in a Royal Club Suite. It may seem overindulgent and unnecessary, but I love having a 1,000 square foot hotel room all to myself. Especially when I’m paying less than $200/night (!) for said room.

Upon arriving at The Athenee, I began to question my decision, however. The hotel was huge, the lobby was crowded and loud, and the check-in process was less than smooth. They brought me up to the club lounge with several families and screaming children, then informed me that my suite was actually a smoking room. WTF. How is that still a thing? Oh yes, I was in Southeast Asia. I am usually very patient and gracious about these types of things, but my jet lag and lack of sleep paired with the screaming children were really getting on my nerves. Oh yeah, and I was hungry. Not a good combination. After a few scowls and bitchy comments from me, a woman finally brought me to see the room and I realized it didn’t smell like smoke at all, so it turned out to be a non-issue.

However, while waiting for my bags, I made the mistake of checking my work email and found a surprising and rather annoying email from my CEO. It was a frickin’ holiday! And why were my bags taking so long?! With work anxiety kicking in, I was officially in a bad mood. I could tell I really just needed to get some sleep. My bags finally arrived, I jumped into my very large, very comfortable king size bed and did my best to push work thoughts aside so I could nap. I was finally able to get about an hour, which was very helpful. I also shot off a couple of responses to the aforementioned email, which allowed me to feel like I had voiced my opinion and was dealing with the issue. And then I reminded myself I was in Thailand. And I was quitting my job in less than ten weeks! No need to stress.

After showering and unpacking, I headed downstairs to meet Jonathan. A couple things to note about how we travel together: first, we hardly ever stay at the same place as we have different priorities when it comes to choosing hotels. Second, we rarely hang out during the day. We usually do our own thing in the daytime, then meet up for dinner and drinks at night. There are certainly exceptions to that rule for things that you can only do during the day (i.e. lunch at Contramar in Mexico City, picnic in the Tuileries Garden in Paris). Overall, the setup works well for us as we’re both pretty independent people and enjoy our solo time, but are also social creatures that enjoy good food and drink over lively conversation. I think it is one reason that we have been able to travel together so frequently without wanting to kill each other.

We ordered a couple of dry gin martinis at the lobby bar and learned that the drinks were complementary since I was staying on the club floor. Score one for The Athenee. After a few sips of my martini and a few minutes of venting about work, I was ready to move on and enjoy the evening. We caught up about what had happened in life since we had last seen each other (Thanksgiving), ordered a Grab (no Uber or Lyft in Southeast Asia; Grab is the equivalent) and headed for the Bamboo Bar at the Mandarin. I do love a great cocktail bar in a five star hotel.

We enjoyed more catching up and a couple more cocktails at the bar, and then it was time for our main event: Christmas dinner at Gaggan, which had been ranked the #1 restaurant in Asia for the past four years in a row and was currently ranked 7th worldwide. This was the first year of my life that I wasn’t spending Christmas with at least one of my parents, so that was a bit sad, but I didn’t mind dining at Gaggan in place of a traditional Christmas dinner one bit. Jonathan had been to Gaggan several times and had also become good friends with the head sommelier, Vladimir (or just Vlad). I had heard great things about the restaurant and had enjoyed watching the Chef’s Table episode about Gaggan, the executive chef/owner, so I had very high expectations for the dinner. I have a belief that high expectations are dangerous; they are basically just an invitation for disappointment. I’d much prefer to go into an experience with low expectations, only to be pleasantly surprised.

Well, Gaggan did not disappoint. The entire experience was fucking phenomenal (pardon my French) and now holds a solid place in the top five dinners of my life (also solidly on that list: my brother’s 30th birthday dinner at Pujol and dinner at Eleven Madison Park with Jonathan after getting the VIP treatment at NoMad bar. After that, it’s a toss-up.) Other reasons that I expected Gaggan to be great for me personally: I love Indian food and the menu is heavy on vegetarian items. Since I am a pescatarian that is picky about fish (or a vegetarian that dabbles in fish), I am always very happy to find places with chef’s menus that are designed to be primarily vegetarian. While many restaurants have no problem accommodating vegetarians these days, often times chefs really focus on the meat dishes and the vegetarian substitutions are more after thoughts. Sadly, Gaggan was in London for the holidays, so I did not have the chance to meet him in person (Jonathan has met him several times), but it was great to be able to to meet Vlad and chat with him throughout the three hour dinner. Jonathan had talked about him in the past, and I found him kind of cute, in a tall-guy-with-an-Eastern-European-accent-that-happens-to-be-an-expert-in-wine kind of way.

Anyway, I’m not going to detail every single moment from the meal (you really should experience it for yourself, and soon since Gaggan has said that he plans to close the restaurant in 2020 to focus on other projects). To summarize the highlights in a few bullet points/images:

Between jet lag and Vlad’s heavy pours (not complaining; thanks, Vlad!), I was ready to call it a night after the 3+ hour event. Before we left, Vlad brought us next door to tour the site of his upcoming wine bar. Wet, which was slated to open in 2019, would feature natural wines and small bites, and already had me thinking about a detour to Bangkok on one of my upcoming Southeast Asia trips. Thailand in 2019, anyone??

Day #5: Relaxing and Cocktail Bar Crawling in Bangkok

After all the running around I had been doing the last few days, I was ready to chill. Fortunately, the weather on the 26th was pretty much perfect: clear, blue skies, warm breeze and not too humid. Time to head to the outdoor pool at the Athenee on the 4th floor. While I was basking in the sun, inspiration struck and I decided I needed to get my second massage of the trip. Fortunately, the hotel spa was able to accommodate me later that afternoon. After a couple hours at the pool, but before my massage, I finally got motivated and went to the gym. It wasn’t the best workout of my life, but I went and I felt like I really earned my massage. Some people may view vacation as a time to take a break from their fitness routine, but given the amount that I travel, that would essentially mean that I hardly ever worked out. Plus, gym time always makes me feel better, so I try really hard to carve at least a few days a week into my travel schedule to sweat it out.

While my day was packed with activities (that was sarcasm), Jonathan had other plans for the evening. This was going to be our night off from long, multi-course fine dining dinners; instead we were going to do a long, multi-stop cocktail bar crawl in Thong Lo (apparently, this is the cocktail bar area of Bangkok, where most of the good cocktail bars are clustered. When in doubt, head to Thong Lo.) To meet up with Jonathan, I got to experience my first ride on BTS, Bangkok’s public transportation sky train. It was rush hour, so it was crowded, but otherwise soooo much better than the NYC subway. Clean, efficient, easy to figure out, cheap. Ever since moving to New York, I have developed a newfound appreciation for public transportation and am always curious to see what it’s like in different cities. Depending on your route, the BTS is a great option since traffic in Bangkok can be terrible.

Jonathan’s agenda for our bar crawl included six different bars: Thaipioka (beautiful, with a tropical feel), 008 (newer bar in a hotel with armchairs that filled the entire place with the scent of leather), Rabbit Hole (one of Jonathan’s long-standing favorites), Backstage, Find the Locker Room, and Liberation (another brand new bar). We also stopped for a very necessary dinner at a “farang Thai restaurant” (Jonathan’s explanation) and I got to try extra fizzy Thai soda water.

I was very proud of myself for staying out until 2am and more than ready for sleep after we closed down Liberation with Chacha, another one of Jonathan’s friends and a member of the founding team at Liberation from Rabbit Hole.

Day #6: More Relaxing and Dinner at Suhring

I’m not going to pretend that I woke up all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the following day. It was another hot, sunny day, so after sleeping in, I took myself down to the pool again with a book and made myself feel slightly more productive with a gym session. We had an early dinner reservation at Suhring, another two Michelin Star restaurant that featured German food. I was certainly eating well in Bangkok even though I wasn’t eating much Thai food, which reflects how global and sophisticated the cosmopolitan city can be. The owners of Suhring are twin brothers from Germany (where else?) that now live in Bangkok.

The restaurant itself was beautiful: clean, modern, minimalist design surrounded by lush gardens. The menu was split into three “chapters,” which each included multiple items, so it was going to be another long meal (3.5 hours as it turned out).

We opted for the wine pairing and reminded the server that I was a pescatarian as we settled into our seats at the chef’s counter (always the best seat in the house).

It was impossible to top Gaggan, but I thought the meal was very good. My brother had been to Suhring twice before and said that this was his least favorite visit, but he did give the wine pairings high marks. My biggest complaint was actually the music. The soundtrack was an Agnes Obel album on repeat, which I appreciated upon first sitting down, but after 3.5 hours, I was ready for a change. I can only imagine how the staff feels! I made a comment about the music to Jonathan and he admitted that he hadn’t noticed until I brought it up. For someone that observes and comments on every detail at restaurants and bars (the lighting, the menu design, etc.), I am always surprised that my brother does not pay attention to the music. For me, the right music really enhances an experience, just as bad music will really detract. In this case, for better or worse, I will now always associate Agnes Obel with Suhring.

After a couple big nights and with jet lag continuing to haunt me, I was exhausted but didn’t want to end our last night in Bangkok too early. We decided to make a quick stop at Vesper, the one cocktail bar that I had actually visited on my previous trip to the city, and then capped things off at the Anantara hotel, where Jonathan’s friend Neung from Backstage was doing a guest bartending shift. Being my last night in Bangkok, I had limited time to experience a tuk tuk ride. Grab was being extremely slow, and just like that, an empty tuk tuk was coming our way outside of Vesper. It was fate!

At the Anantara, Neung had created a rum cocktail for the annual Bacardi Legacy cocktail competition called “Pink Me Up,” that he was promoting, so of course I had to try it. Pink in color (duh), the cocktail was reminiscent of a refreshing rum Bloody Mary, which was unexpected but delicious. We closed out with one final round and said our goodbyes until Jonathan and I were to meet up again in Shanghai for New Year’s Eve.

Some final musings on our time in Bangkok. I will admit that after my initial visit to the city in March, I wasn’t sure that I needed to return. The city was certainly dirty and I will never forget the night that I literally ran the block from the restaurant Eat Me to Vesper while screaming because there were so many rats scampering along the sidewalk. It made the NYC rats seem like nothing. However, I am so glad that I gave the city another chance. I had actually suggested Bangkok for Christmas because my brother had always said such great things about it and I knew it would be fun to get the bar tour from him. Plus, the weather was pretty terrific in the winter. All in all, I left Bangkok with a newfound appreciation for the city. It’s not all dirty (in fact, I walked the 20 minutes back to my hotel from the Anantara without seeing one rat or screaming once), it possesses a bustling energy, the food & beverage scene is world class and the people are happy and friendly. That being said, after three straight days of heavy boozing and late nights, I was ready for a change of pace.

Days #7-8: Koh Samui

When planning the trip to Thailand, I knew I wanted to see Chiang Mai, but I also wanted to spend some time on the beach. While I had been to Koh Samui earlier in the year and I wanted to experience a new place, I also knew that Koh Samui would be an easy trip considering the limited time I had available. The flight was an hour from Bangkok and there were multiple excellent resorts within a 15-20 minute drive from Samui airport. I was also able to book a night at the Vana Belle resort, part of SPG’s Luxury Collection brand, for just 60k Marriott points, even though rooms during the holiday season were priced at upwards of $800/night.

Somehow, I ended up leaving The Athenee earlier than I expected and then my Grab got me back to Suvarnabhumi airport more quickly than expected, so I had plenty of time to kill once I checked in and got through security. And once again, my flight was delayed (literally, the fifth delayed flight in a row out of the five on this trip so far. It was time to just accept that my air travel plans were doomed.) I was not in the mood to start drinking early and I needed a new book, so I was happy to find a small bookstore in the domestic terminal. Given how quickly I was getting through books, I opted to buy two: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

My Bangkok Airways flight to Samui finally departed, and after a quick flight and a quick taxi ride, I was at the Vana Belle. My plans for this part of the trip were simply to stay at the resort and chill the fuck out. The gorgeous property was built into the hill on the beach, so it was the perfect place to achieve this goal. Overall, the resort had 90 rooms, two restaurants, one outdoor pool, a smallish gym, and a spa, so it provided a relatively intimate setting without sacrificing amenities. All of the rooms also offered their own private plunge pools and I had been upgraded from their basic forest view room to one with an ocean view. Yessssss.

I quickly got settled into my room, changed into a swimsuit and headed for the beach. It was already 4pm and the sun was making its way behind the hill, but all I needed was a lounge chair with a view of the ocean and sound of the waves crashing against the beach. The weather forecast had been iffy for Koh Samui, with a potential for showers and thunderstorms, but I’m happy to report that international weathermen continued to be incorrect, and the weather was warm and sunny the entire time I was on the island (albeit more humid than Bangkok).

My time on Koh Samui can be summarized as follows: beach time, lots of reading, some travel planning, a few solo meals, amazing sunrise view from bed, workout, pool time, massage. While I only had about 30 hours on the island, it was perfect and just what I wanted. I kept pinching myself at how fortunate I was to be in such a beautiful place at the moment and able to embark on nearly a year of traveling where I would have the opportunity to see many more beautiful places and learn so much about myself and the world. I left the island in a state of calm and bliss. I needn’t have worried; this solo travel thing in 2019 was going to be amazing.