Sawasdee. Thailand.
Contributed by Jens Hoffmann
Bangkok can be as bewildering as it is bewitching. There are few things to do to make the most of Thailand’s exuberant capital, filling your days with luxury feelings, massages, street food, impressive temples and lively bars.
“The City of Angels” began as a trading centre and port community on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River some 200 years ago.
Today, while the city is up to speed with modern times, the grandeur and glory of its illustrious past still prevails. Be it dazzling temples, spectacular palaces, a world-famous floating market or colourful Chinatown, each of these famous places has an intriguing story to tell.
Bangkok was “the Venice of the east” for a reason. Built upon water, its river and canals (khlongs) formed the thoroughfares until roads were constructed in 1851. Its so beautiful.
Back to our hotel, we checked in at the lovely “Sofitel So” in Bangkok.
So, the city’s first truly urban design hotel, a masterpiece of high fashion dedicated to the high life inspired by legendary couturier Mr. Christian Lacroix.
The city offering an unparalleled discovery experience and an extensive range of benefits.
In a design-driven hotel, Club Signature is, as the name suggests, exemplary of Sofitel So Bangkok’s taking interior design to a new level that heightens guests’ experience and enhances their lifestyle choices. Giving it a unique ambience is the creative flair of Mr. Christian Lacroix. Known for his dramatic creations for Hermes, as well as his own haute couture line, he has designed everything from lifestyle products, accessories and perfumes to stage costumes for The Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Opera National de Paris.
He has drawn on his inimitable personal touch of French elegance, theatrical flair and fantasy to produce a surprising ambience created out of imaginative patterns, rich textures and vibrant colours that combine to offer a surprising interplay of images and motifs of old Siam and 19th-century France. Most eye-catching of all is a huge surreal art piece that greets guests as they enter and in which figures in historical French dress are finished with heads of flowers typically found in Thailand.
The Club is located in the hotel’s 25th floor, guests find not only a world of fashion and style, but also a world of ease with a remarkable array of complementary facilities and courtesies.
Created by Sofitel as a label, Sofitel So personifies its designer hotels vision, the latest addresses, resolutely contemporary. Blending design and pleasure, style and soul, each Sofitel So address aims to express the essence of the destination. A concept that combines Sofitel art de vivre and personal style entrusted to an international name from the world of fashion, the arts or design. Conceived as a story, each address is a new chapter. The book opens with Sofitel So Mauritius and the narrative continues with Sofitel So Bangkok, Sofitel So Mumbai, Sofitel So Ipanema.
We had a great dinner together with a nice bottle of champagne. Perfect combination. Sanuk.
Bangkok is perfect for foodies.
My restaurant tip in BKK is no asian restaurant, but one of Bangkok’s Top French Restaurants and my fvourite one. The Le Beaulieu Restaurant by Chef Herve Frerard. Based on my frequent dining experiences Chef Herve claims the cuisine to be Mediterranean, with the exception of the odd pasta dish sprinkled here and there and a few recipes from Provence, it is basically French.
It has a perfect size and produce the excellent cuisine that comes out of the small but well thought out and designed kitchen. The restaurant is centrally located in the Sukhumvit, Skytrain and subway connections are within walking distance.
Turning to the cuisine, which is why you would be dining at Le Beaulieu in the first place, it is excellent; and following are just a few highlights:
Dinner starter: Parmentier of Roasted Frog Legs and Baby Leeks, Lentil broth, garlic and fresh chervil; Snail Lasagna and Poultry Breast, Spinach shoots and green tomato syrup;
Dinner main course: Braised Veal Cheek Cooked in Merlot Wine and Old Port, Celeriac purée, black olives and sun dried tomatoes; Chefs Specialties: Roasted French Bresse Pigeon, Cépes mushrooms and braised endives, orange bitter condiment 2000;
Soup: Artichoke Soup & Half-Grilled Violet Artichoke, white truffle foam. Yummy!
Herve learned from the legendary Paul Bocuse, you will enjoy it.
If you travel to the the islands, here is one of my favourites: Koh Phiphi.
The James Bond “007” movie was filmed on our location.
Wow.
Story: Roger Moore was the MI6 agent James Bond, the film has sent him after the Solex Agitator, a device which can harness the power of the sun, while facing Scaramanga, the “Man with the Golden Gun”. The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex.
The film was being shot in Thailand, Hong Kong and Macao.
