Today I continue my  nostalgic  Pearl's Ashes  series , focusing on  Bangkok .  But there will be a few informational detours, leading to a nightmarish journey to my hotel in Tokyo, and finishing with a hint of what will be my posting next Tuesday. I flew first class, and left Honolulu on 1March2011, 24 hours later arriving at my favorite hotel in Bangkok, the Sheraton Grande Sukhamvit. My philosophy when flying is, "if free, every drink not drunk is money wasted."  I'm not sure my body, and liver in particular, would agree, but it makes for an enjoyable flight. Go to my posting that day for the details , but I had 16 different alcoholic drinks getting from Honolulu to Bangkok. I selected the  Grand Palace for Pearl's Ashes #15 . Here is a  short video of this attraction . Official residence of the Kings of Siam, now Thailand, since 1782, until 1925. Over 8 million visitors/year. One of Pearl's very favorite spots on Earth is the   Grand Pala...

A 6:15AM pickup at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, two hours in the Suvarnabhumi Airport first class lounge, first class flight from Bangkok to Dubai, then after two hours in the airline first class lounge, a second AirBus 380,   largest passenger liner in world , from Dubai to Munich, a total period of around 20 hours.  Basically, we had to wake up at 4:45AM in Bangkok, and did not get to the Munich Westin Grande Hotel until 3:15AM ( or 9:15PM Munich time--there is a 6 hour difference ). This was the ultimate in luxury, and a prime example of too much of a good thing. First, Emirates picks us up at our Bangkok hotel and drops us off at our Munich hotel.  Nice. The Emirates Bangkok first class airline lounge early in the morning has the full complement of food and drinks. First class on an Air Bus 380 features unlimited caviar and high end champagne/scotch, like Dom Perignon, Johnny Walker Blue and Dalmore. The TV screen is huge, video/audio selections immense and a door b...