So last I wrote we were leaving beautiful Bali enroute to Bangkok where we had a couple of days to master the mass transit system. Gotta love that skytrain with the connected elevated walkway which conveniently wisks you from shopping mall to shopping mall high above the bumper to bumper traffic. I've come to the conclusion that I actually like Bangkok, it kinda grows on you once you figure out how to get around. Skytrains, tuk tuks and the Chao Phraya river taxi. 
We stayed in our base hotel - The Atlanta - which in the last 4 months we stayed a total of 4 days and stored a bag there for over 3 months for FREE! Talk about customer service. We ventured out for a typical touristy day of shopping, but of course to muster energy John had to stop for his favorite - yellow mango and sticky (sweet) rice. 
We hit a few of the malls just for kicks - the 5 story IT mall would make any computer geek drool but for the unsavy like John and I its a bit overwhelming. We had contemplated buying a new "netbook" (our mini travel computer) with more memory but..well we didn't.Then we went to a mega mall complete with Lamborghini, Porshe, Mercedes, and Lotus dealers right in the mall. I never did figure out how you would take a test drive - one how do you get the car out of the mall and two I've seen any open road here - its just bumper to bumper traffic.
We finished off our trip to SE Asia with one last ferry ride on the Chao Phraya river and another visit to Kho San road - yes, the place that freaked me out when we first arrived - enjoyed our last few Tiger beers and then made a mad dash via tuk tuk to get to the Skytrain by midnight for the last train back to the hotel. Some things are predictable and it seems that mishaps at the airport on this trip are becoming predictable. We arrive with plenty of time to check in, eat, and relax before our long journey back to LA. Ha! Turns out we can go from Bangkok to Osaka as planned but our connection to LA no longer exists. So after 20 minutes or so they rebook us on a flight through Tokyo - which just happens to be currently boarding! We still have to exchange our Thai baht to dollars, get thru customs and security and make our way to the gate. The attendant says "go, go now they are holding the plane". And the race is on... We made the flight and then Thai Airways escorted us thru a very empty airport to the VIP club where we spent the day before our flight to LA. Massage chairs, free internet, bizarre fish breakfast sandwiches and all the cold beer you could want...the VIP club was an interesting place to spend the day. Although we would have preferred to venture out and check out the city, we were just too tired - not to mention unprepared. We had planned on a day in Osako which is further south and warmer than Tokyo John didn't even have a jacket with him. So, the VIP club it was ... chair massage, nap, tv, beer, repeat... oh yeah and I did spend a bunch of time trying to catch up on this blog.
