Thailand - Peninsula

We landed without much incident or fanfare on Tuesday around 6pm(Bangkok Dangerous Time). I always found it interesting that we could leave on Monday at 9am and get there at 6pm Tuesday. To be fair it was really 6am in NY, shy of 24 hours of travel.

The bags came quickly considering it was two international flights. We exited customs and saw our Tour guide, Kaew, standing with a sign that said “Shenoy/Smith”. It should just say Shenoy, but changing one’s last name and government papers can take awhile. Next trip though, it’s Shenoy only!Kaew (pronounced “Cow”) was perhaps the nicest lady. She told us that she normally deals with much older clients and was surprised that we could be her children. We told her we were probably older than she thought. She then told us that she’s older than what we think because Asian’s age well. Fair enough.

In retrospect now, the tour company, Destinations Asia, was so professional and so classy, I’m sure most of their clientele have the names William Henry Something and his wife Buffy or someone who goes by his First Initial and his middle name (J. William Masterton).

Shelly and I packed two huge bags like American tourists. I’m sure William Henry and Buffy pack much lighter. In any case our private car was a Camry. It struggled to fit 2 gigantic bags. So we stuck one bag in the trunk and the other rode in the back with us. Still fresh with “Brokedown Palace” in our minds, we watched the bags carefully.

On the ride to the hotel, I was thinking, “If Shelly or I ever became President of the US, our Secret Service names would probably be “Bombay” and “Sapphire.” It made sense since I’m Indian and she has really blue eyes. Now I knew why we won this trip. It was to start our lives in politics.

Arriving at the Peninsula Bangkok was interesting. We pulled down a quiet dead end street. We got out of the car, and the most unassuming building said, “Peninsula”. I was a little sad. We walked through the doors and the lobby looked very Holiday Inn-ish. Oh no! The scam is on. Keep your eyes open for the Gunmen!

But the lobby was tiny. Kaew walked right out the back door and to a set of piers. There was a beautiful boat that said Peninsula and across the river you saw a gorgeous hotel with the same name. Phew! Kaew explained that the hotel was techinically on the Queens side of Bangkok. “There isn’t anything to see on this side; it’s just residential apartments.” We would have to take the ferry to get to the Manhattan side. The difference between Bangkok and NYC is that the Ferries run all the time and no wait is more than 2 minutes. Oh, and the water doesn’t smell like dead bodies.

The Ferry to the Peninsula. Sweet!

Upon check-in, we received a nice jasmine bracelet for our bed side and were escorted up to the 29th floor. Our Grand Deluxe Room was beautiful. The view of the city was amazing. Within moments of walking in at 9pm, there were fireworks that we could see parallel to us. It felt like Bangkok was celebrating our arrival.

Jasmine Bracelet

Sweet Suite #1

Sweet Suite #2

We were so tired upon arrival that we bickered about food. Should we suck up our tiredness and venture the streets of Bangkok for food? Maybe we should go to the restaurant downstairs because Kaew said she’d pick us up at the piers at 8am. She even told us to go straight to bed. We have to take showers because we have air stink on us. Is the restaurant downstairs too nice to go down without makeup?

In the end, we decided to just get room service. We normally never do this because of the heavy costs associated to it. But we were about to collapse from tiredness, our Wednesday was going to start bright and early, we really didn’t want to have to dress up after our showers, and we were hungry.

We ordered a Pad Thai and a Thai soup. In 20 minutes we had a white jacketed server with a small cart at our door. Within 5 minutes, he had expanded the cart to a nice circular table with white linens. He took our dishes out from a heated box hidden under the table. He laid them out with great care and gave us two glasses of water (which the hotel hand book said was purifed and safe to drink). He also arranged the chairs so we could eat. He gave me the bill.

I'm missing because i was signing the $23 bill!

It came out to $23 US including the 10% gratuity. At this point, I knew I loved Bangkok.

As for the rest of Peninsula amenities, it had his and her sinks in the bathroom, the required Peninsula TV at the bathtub, a shower that was always the right temperature upon turning it on, and master boxes that controlled everything in the room on Shelly and my side of the bed. So we could close the shades from our bed, turn off our lights, change the temperature, and of course, put the do not disturb sign up from the comfort of the bed. Oh, Peninsula, I miss you already.

NEXT: Starting the Tour, Catfish feeding, Golden Temple, Emerald Buddha, Tailor made clothes and, of course, dinner cruise.

Thailand - The Flight Out

I am back. Back from Bangkok and Koh Samui. It was some of the best 2 weeks of my life. Mainly because no one planted any drugs on us causing us to be imprisoned in Thailand for 30+ years, and no one made a blatant attempt to steal our kidneys. However, one lady did try to steal my arm, but more on that in a later entry.

We departed on Monday January 12^th at 9:55am. In order to make the flight Shelly and I decided to pull an all nighter on Sunday. No mercy, no sleep. That was the motto. So we stayed up all through the night. I catnapped at 2am to 3am. Shell remained busy packing throughout the night.

At 6am the car picked us up, and we were officially off on this crazy adventure. Once we arrived at the airport we went straight to the Cathay Pacific counter. Earlier in the week, I had been reading on the internet on how one can score an upgrade. The consensus was that there is no way to do it in these lean economic times; airlines just didn't care to do it. Their only advice was to just ask directly, once, and be nice about it. You most likely won’t get it.

When we got to the counter, I asked the fellow Indian Cathay gate agent named Pushpa S. It was direct, once and definitely nice. She indifferently agreed to look but that was it. She handed us two tickets for economy. Shell and I were bummed. But on closer inspection that was only for tickets from Hong Kong to Bangkok (a 3 hour flight). She kept typing away. Then she handed us the tickets to seats 24D and 25D. Business Class from NYC to Hong Kong (a 16 hour journey)! I definitely heard trumpeters trumpeting, angels singing, and for car with license plate number "SMUTHLVR" to move or be towed.

Pushpa S. working the Magic

It felt like a bank robbery. Pushpa only winked at us and told us to enjoy the flight. We felt like it could be a mistake. We didn't want to ask any questions, so we just ran for the gate despite the fact we were 2.5 hours ahead of the departure time. But, nonetheless, we tempered our reaction until we were sitting in the two seats assigned to us. We didn't want to think we had the seats and then get to the gate and find out that they botched it and we were back with the rest of the herd.

The look of not believing it's true

To describe the Cathay Business Class section, let me put it to you this way. If God came down and said, “I can guarantee one of the two things for this flight. I could either guarantee that this flight you are on lands safely, or I could guarantee you a seat in Business.” I’m not kidding you when I say you have to think it over for at least 10 minutes. And after those ten minutes, I’m not sure what you would pick.

Shelly getting comfortable with the setup

This is me enjoying the seat as well as all the economy people passing us with envy in their eyes. Sure it's not the right thing to do, but I'm loungin'.

The seats went into a bed position. They gave you a down comforter. The food was outstanding. There were like 3 flight attendants that attended to your beck and call. This is the life I should be living daily.

One thing I love about Business on all airlines is that they have the ice cream sundae cart. Due to our all nighter, I missed ice cream sundae cart due to exhaustion. That's the rockstar way of saying I slept like a baby. I’m still torn up about this ice cream sundae fiasco.

However, I still managed to watch several episodes of 30 Rock (which has totally grown on me), even more episodes of Curb your Enthusiasm (which I’ve always loved), the movie The Dark night (which I love but still fell asleep during), the movie Bangkok Dangerous (which was as bad as expected but we were going to Bangkok, damnit), and a complete greatest hits of Michael Jackson songs. Also I kicked butt at Roulette on Al Casino’s. So yes, 16 hours on a plane allows you to try a lot of different things.

And in case you were wondering, "Is Kevin grateful to Bombay Sapphire?" I hope this picture gives you a clear answer. And the fact that we posed with Bombay Sapphire bottles at least 5 times a day during the trip.

Give me Life, Liberty, and Duty Free Bombay Sapphire!!

NEXT: Landing in Bangkok, getting to the Peninsula, and starting the tour.

Weekend before Thailand - January 9, 2009

I was wanting to hold off from writing until after we got back from Thailand. But I had some time and figured, "what the heck". 

You've seen the post below. You know that Bangkok is the part of the trip we won. The Koh Samui trip is what we extended.

Back in December we called www.hotels.com to book the hotel for Koh Samui. Like I mentioned previously, the 5 star hotel came ultra cheap due to the world economic problems and the Thai political crisis. I'd give you figures on the hotel cost, but some of you think I'm rich and I'd like to hold on to that misguided thought. Others know that I'm poor, and I'd rather not have the exacts known. So we'll just say, "it was a really good deal."

So let's also just say when Shell and I called the hotels.com people, we were looking for a steal. On the Anantara's website, they offered every 4th night free. Additionally, their $400-600 rooms were significantly less. But as a guy looking to bring out his inner, older, cheap man/bastard status, we had to look for a better deal. 

Hotels.com had never really given me any problems before. We had questions about the rooms and choices. So we decided we'd call the 1.800 number. We got through the automated call and got a real live human within 2 minutes. It took a while of bumbling but he found us our room. In a non-native English, he said, "OK, here is a room with King size Bed, 3 massages, and breakfast daily for this ridiculously low rate."

Shelly and I were excited; but we aren't stupid. Good deals always have a catch. We are also on a great deal to begin with. So we asked in every mathematical combination of possibilities, "are you sure? 3 massages? What are they?" Every time he answered, "yes, three massages. The Perfect Spa, the Mandarin Surprise, and the Asian Discovery."

I'm not a massage guy. I hate people touching me. This is why I've avoided fame. I can sing like no one's business, but I can't have people touching me. OK that's not true, all singing I do has an Indian accent. The hilarity of singing with an Indian accent takes the attention away that I missed the words and missed the key. But this isn't the point.

The point is that I figured, "I'll do a spa if it's included." So we asked the guy again, "is this for the both of us?"  He was sure of it. So we said OK. 

Now this week, I've been ultra sensitive to the whole trip. I think it all comes back to watching that "Locked Up Abroad" show. I was wondering, "how are the Thais going to plant drugs on me and then imprison me for 30 years?" "Can i be vigilant to stop this?" "i can't go to jail. I love AC." "What happens if people sit on the run way again?" "What happens if India toilets are everywhere?" 

RULE #3 of SHENOY-DOM. "Ye shall be provided proper American Toilet or no Shenoy shall appear." I don't really care if the country has lesser facilities, but my hotel must. I knew the Peninsula and the Anantara had them. 

Point is I was paranoid about everything. So I called Hotels.com since Anantara was impossible to reach. When I was awake, they were asleep and when I was asleep, they were awake. Ahh, the joys of being 12 hours behind them. 

I needed to make sure the spa's were included. It sounded too good to be true when we first spoke. I needed to be aggrevated now and get it fixed than to be there and find this out.  

The first time I called hotels.com I spent 45 minutes on the phone to be told in the last two that there was no record of the Spa package.  I am about the nicest guy a customer service agent wants to deal with. I used to be the jerk, but they don't want to deal with you. i have found that being nice actually gets things done faster.  

But when the words, "so that's the situation, I'm sorry. Is there anything else I can help you with today", i had to go into attack mode. So I sternly said, "call the hotel back and make sure it happens. I'll be waiting. Your company has lied to me." Within 10 minutes she came back and said, "yes, your spas are confirmed." But she sounded very scared. So i didn't really believe her. The "Let me talk to your supervisor" line had no impact. So I had no other options.

Worst of all, I knew going back to Shelly with this news, she was going to flip. I felt like the Jack Lemon character from Glengary Glenross. I didn't make a sale today.

I called back the next day to go through the same same experience. 

Finally on Wednesday night, I called at 11pm. I waited 20 minutes two separate times before being magically disconnected. The Third time I called, I was like a hockey goon. I was begging to start something. Luckily this guy, Kim, came on. 

Kevin: Kim, I've been disconnected 2 times already. I told the other guy to call me back if I was disconnected. He said he can't call back. You are going to call me back.

Kim: No, our systems don't allow that. but I promise you I will not drop your call.

Kevin: Kim, I don't have time. I leave for thailand soon and need to know this is taken care of. 

Kim: Let me call the hotel and verify. I will not drop this call.

I was fuming. But Kim sounded dutiful. I actually kind of believed him. I was also sitting with a buddha like patience. I didn't want my cell phone to move an inch. I did not want that call dropped. My arms hurt, my neck hurt. He put me on hold forever. But the 30 second looped hold song played a million times. And while it annoyed me, it was proof that I was still connected. Best.elevator.music.ever.

Kim: Mr. Kevin, I just want to let you know that I've gotten a hold of the Anantara representative.

Kevin: And?

Kim: No, nothing. I need to put you on hold again. I just wanted to let you know I got through.

Kevin: You just wanted...... (confused by the mass stupidity of coming back, but I'm no longer a jerk on customer service) OK, I'll wait on hold for another 15 minutes. See what you find out.

Kim: OK, Thank you for that. please hold

I'm still holding the same position for 30 minutes now. Nevermind it was almost 1am and I had been on hold for 20 minutes 2 times earlier. 

Shelly is sitting across the room. She's worried about losing her spa's. She is a spa girl. She loves them. She craves them. She was excited that we'd both be pampered. Now that it was in jeopardy, she seemed to be awaiting news in the hospital waiting room and I was the doctor in the ICU. The heat was on. 

Kim: Mr. Kevin.

Kevin: Yes.

Kim: you're reservations do not include a spa

Kevin: (angry rant that includes no curse words)

Shelly moves closer to the phone to listen. I couldn't go speaker phone. I worried about the dropped call. 

Kim: I'm sorry. The most I can do is take 20% off the final bill.

Kevin: (considers 20% off as a great deal)

Shelly motions, "no deal. No Deal"

Kevin: Kim. I am angry. You've bait and switched me. I have my confirmation letter in hand. It says DEcember 22nd at 4:30pm. That means I talked to this representative somewhere between 3:30 and 4:30pm. Check the tapes. I'm not lying. I want what was promised to me.

I'm motioning to Shell, "20% is a good deal." Shell still signaling that either she witnessed an incomplete pass or that it's still no deal.

Kim: I don't think you are lying. I will take it up with our supervisors.

Kevin: But this simply isn't fair. This is a special trip for us (I figure all our trips are special to us. The two of us are doing 1,000 things in the city daily. When we're away, it's just us and we like that.) I think 20% isn't good enough.

Shelly gives the thumbs up. I'm actually done completing the math on what the final cost of the trip is with the 20% off. I am positively loving it from my 30 year old perspective as well as my old man, cheap bastard perspective. This great deal has gone to amazingly sweet.

Kim: I can go ahead and cancel your reservation if you like.

Drat, Kim is calling and I don't have the chips. Shell looks to the upper left of the room. She knows we've been called. She's the better poker player of the two of us. 

Kevin: Fine. We'll take the 20%, but I want to know that the tape is reviewed. What has happened is not right. 

Kim: Fair enough. I will make sure the tape is reviewed. I hope this is not your last booking with hotels.com. 

Kevin: You were very helpful. thanks for helping us out. 

Kim: Anything else I can help with.

Kevin: I want a confirmation letter saying the 20% was taken off.

Kim: It'll take 30 days to confirm. 

Kevin: I want it now.

Kim: Mr. Kevin it will be done.

Kevin: That's what I thought about the spas.

Kim: (Kim knows that he's been called this time. He doesn't have the chips. So he laughs) Let me see if I can get this done now. 

Two minutes later, he comes back and says it's completed. The email comes through.

And that was that. Honestly, if I booked a hotel in the states for someone else's wedding or for a vacation. I'd go with hotels.com. If I had to do it international, I'd just book directly with the hotel itself. That's my travelers tip of the week. 

To be fair, I was really impressed by hotels.com's gesture, and it helped ensure that I use hotels.com for the next trip/adventure. Also, secretly I'm happy the spa is not included. I feel like "Mandarin surprise" sounds like a reason I'd get arrested and kept in Thailand for most of my life. Same with Asian Discovery. Shelly now can use the 20% and buy whatever she wants for herself. I can be stranger touch free while in Thailand. 

I also redid the math with the 20% off. The first 3 days are what they cost. The 4th day is free and with the 20% off, the fifth day is $11. I realize you can potentially do the math back into the hotel cost, but you'd either have to care a lot and be Indian. I don't think anyone reading this is both.  I rarely trust white guy math, and I don't know too many Indians who care about me. ;-)

I am excited about the trip still. Can't wait to get 16 hours of flying behind us and be in Thailand already. I am debating on taking the computer. Most likely I won't. So the blog will be updated daily once I return. 

If you don't hear from me on the 26th, chances are "I'm locked up abroad." Please contact the consulate and get me and Shelly out.

January 1, 2009 - Thailand Trip - The Backstory

Woah....a Kevin Shenoy Blog entry. The first one in 2 years (almost three)! Something must be up.

Indeed, something is up. First, it's a new year, and I'm going to try and be more faithful to the blog. Second, I won a trip to Bangkok, Thailand, and everyone has asked about it. I've told a ot of you how it played out, but like the theory on diminishing returns, the more I tell it, the less gusto it has. I rush through the story as to not bore others. But there was a lot to it.

So I figured I'd give the backstory to you. Then when Shell and I would go on the trip from January 12-23, 2009. I'd immediately sit down and write to let you know of all the fun stuff we did. A few pictures will go up on the blog, but many more will surface on Facebook. And then I'd read all your comments. I'm sure no one has ever thought of this before. I'll probably have to buy bloggerfacebook.com before someone else takes it.

On to the good stuff: The Backstory of the Trip

March-April 2008. Shelly had gotten me a subscription to GQ for my birthday in 2007. It has become one of our staples in the Loo Library. In March or April (I can't remember. I just know it was before the wedding stuff got hectic), I sat down for my evening duty. Shelly hadn't come home from work yet, so I snuck the laptop in with me as well. The wireless connection is at its best in the bathroom.

As grossed out as you are, realize that for whatever reason, I do my best thinking without pants. In fact, I've claimed publicly for quite some time now that if I could go back and do high school over again without my pants on, I probably would have ended up in Oxford. It's really best left for a debate in another blog. Just know that this is my view point and that this story is just another example of greatness without pants on from Kevin Shenoy.

As I sat in the bathroom thumbing through GQ, I noticed an ad that prominently showed "Win tickets on Cathay Pacific." In 2004, Montu Patel, a good friend, took me on a once in a lifetime trip to Hong Kong. He had us flown out on Continental. I thought their business class experience was divine. That was why Shell and I chose to fly Continental to Greece and Italy for our honeymoon. A few months after Montu and I went, Nandita, my sister, went to Hong Kong. She flew out on Cathay Pacific and told me how it was essentially the Willy Wonka chocolate factory for airplanes.

When I saw that ad, I thought, "I have to try to win these tickets." I wanted to know the beauty of the Cathay experience. So I looked at the ad carefully, and it said it was a Bombay Sapphire sweepstake. The contest asked, "What does exploration mean to you?" It asked for an essay of 50 words and that it be submitted online. So I switched from GQ to laptop and wrote what first came to my mind. 

I wrote, "exploration means putting aside your fears, your reservations and your desire for normal and status quo. It means taking a sip from the cup of life and rolling with the punches. And if the cup of life has Bombay Sapphire, then all the better."

I even remember thinking, "that's good. That's got to win something. Maybe not Grandprize worthy, but something." But that was it. I closed the laptop and flushed. I wouldn't think of this again until Oct 9, 2008.

Oct 9, 2008 - 10pm - I was sitting on the couch with the laptop after dinner; Shelly was sitting on the couch going through some of her stuff. We were just lazily unwinding from our day. I was checking the email account I have when I am asked to provide an email address from products or services. I also use it for my "One Fan's View" mail box. I check it regularly enough, but it's not my main account. It's binaural02@hotmail.com

I had just posted my Billszone.com article about the horrible loss to the Cardinals and was checking the fan responses.  I decided to check the junk folder email as well since it had been awhile. 

In that folder I saw, "Bombay Sapphire Spirit of Exploration from Alex S." in the subject and To: headings, respectively. It clicked immediately that I had done something with Bombay Sapphire awhile ago. So I opened it. It said, "You are the grand prize winner, but I need to hear from you by tomorrow. This is your third and final notice."

Now think of the circumstances. It was in my junk folder of my junk email account. It said 3rd and final notice. It required that I answer quickly. It looked like every other scam email that I get in the binaural02 account.Yet in the back of my mind I thought, "but I did something with Bombay Sapphire." I was confused. 

So I showed Shell the laptop and she said, "well, if you did something with them follow up. What's the harm?" The email did have the guy's contact information. He was New York City based, he had a company url which took me to a very corporate looking ad agency. So i agreed. I should follow up with this tomorrow. I was getting excited, but I didn't believe it at all. 

October 10, 2008 - 3pm - I had a busy Friday at work and went down to the gym to work out. As I was walking back to my desk I remembered, "Oh Sh*t, I have to call that guy about the Bombay Sapphire trip." It was 3pm.

I got to my desk and called the guy, Alex S. He was really nice and super laid back. He didn't have the voice of a huckster. He didn't sound like he was a scam artist. But Kevin, that's the scam. These guys are good. 

Kevin: Hello, Alex? This is Kevin Shenoy.

Alex: Great to hear from you. You won a trip to thailand.

Kevin: Is this a joke?

Alex: No, it's totally legitimate. 

Alex now proceeds to read the official rules and regulations of the trip. 

Alex:...11 day trip to Morocco, Spain and thailand with a film crew......dates of travel must be taken by Sept 15, 2008.....

Kevin: Wait, the 15th passed. And what is the film crew all about.

Alex: you know what, this isn't really clear.

Kevin: Is this a scam? This doesn't sound real.

Alex: No, it's real. Do you want me to read you your submission?

Kevin: Yes.

Alex:

Kevin:<> But why Morocco, Spain and Thailand. And what is with the film crew.

Alex: Like I said, this isn't exactly clear. What happened was Bombay Sapphire put together the contest and had to evaluate what they thought was a winning response. They got more responses than they expected, and it took more time than they thought. They are actually behind in terms of the official rules. So I'll have to go back to them and find out what this is all about. We're just the 3rd party marketing arm. 

Kevin: Cool. Let me know what has to happen.

Alex: Well, I just needed to hear from you. So I heard from you. It's official. You won. I just need you to fill out two forms. One is a release that says you are over 21 and the second is the tax form that you need for tax purposes. Take your time with them. Look them over and get them back to me when you feel comfortable.

At that point, I believed it was legit, but I didn't want to say anything to friends. I called Shell immediately and said, "That thing we talked about last night. It seems to be real. but let's not tell anyone anything. I want to run this by some people and get the trip in our hands. Then we'll let people know." Shelly agreed and was just as excited as I was. Maybe even more. 

Later that night Shelly's facebook status was going to be, "Shelly and Kevin have a surprise for everyone." We talked it over and agreed that it sounded like we were waiting to announce we were pregnant. So her message read, "Shelly and Kevin have a surprise for everyone...and we are NOT pregnant."

Oct 9 11:30pm - We just had come back from a movie and ran to Pam and Paris' apartment. Paris is a lawyer and reviewed the documents Alex sent to us. He agreed, "if you submitted to their website, then all these documents look very legitimate. You aren't really giving them too much information. It's a very low risk at this point that its a scam. If he read you your submission, then it sounds good."

The only problem was that I didn't know if maybe I was making it all up in my head to justify that I won. Maybe this was the new step of diabolical internet scamming. Tell you something that you wrote and 80% of people just agree. But "sipping from the cup of life" seemed so familar. It sounded like something I would write. I had wished badly that there was a way to look back and confirm I wrote that, but there was nothing I could do. 

Paris's approval made this all the more real. But I was still left wanting to see the planning of the trip happen before I got excited. So I emailed Alex S that night and said, "I'll come down on Tuesday with my wife to submit the papers. I have a few questions."

October 14th 2008 - 1pm- Shell and I walked into Alex's office. It looked quaint but legit. It wasn't exactly the largest marketing firm in New York, but it wasn't a shoe box either.  Alex shook our hands and seemed like a cool 30-something just doing his job. He again told us that the trip details weren't clear, but that Bombay Sapphire has had contests like this in the past and Bacardi, the  Parent company, often times ran similar contests. He said it can get confusing. We asked if we could postpone the trip into 2009 as we were short on vacation days. 

He said it would be fine. 

I asked if I could get a copy of my submission. He agreed, he'd email it to me. 

We left the offices with our questions somewhat answered, but still open-ended. It was still really frustrating to not know the details of the trip. It was frustrating to not get to talk to a Bombay Sapphire representative. Shell and I walked out looking at each other like, "I guess it's ok. I guess we won. Let's tell people."

We immediately changed our Facebook status's to "we won a trip from Bombay Sapphire." But I remained worried. 

November - December 2008 - The dialogue with Alex S. had been limited. He had confirmed that Bombay was ok with us going in 2009. He told us that there was no camera crew and that it was just 7 days in Bangkok. This made more sense as the website of Bombay Sapphire is a picture of Bangkok's famous Sky bar. There is no mention of Morocco or Spain on the website. However, he could not get us a Bombay Sapphire person to contact us to get the trip. The two times i emailed him, he said that the Bombay Sapphire people had been busy but were suppose to call soon.  They wouldn't ever call me. Finally, in early December, he emailed me saying that Kervin Y. of Explorient Travel would contact me to set stuff up. 

Getting anxious about the contest's validity, having a world economy meltdown, working at a company that had come to a virtual standstill, and wanting to be on a cool vacation all pushed me to google Explorient. I found their number and called looking for Kervin. He knew who I was and told me he just had to talk to the bombay Sapphire people. 

Within 3 hours, he called back saying, "ok, the dates you wanted are fine. If you want to extend your trip on your dime but fly back for free, that's ok with them."

At that point, Shell and I talked about Thailand in every detail, figured out where we wanted go while we were on that side of the world and got back to Kervin within a week of what our final itinerary would be. We debated about going to India since we have friends out there and we really want to see the Taj. Shell loves traveling and somehow always feels like each trip will be our last. So she likes to do as much as possible. It's very cute and endearing. Like a puppy who thinks their owner won't return when they seem him/her walk out the front door. 

The more we talked about it to each other and with other people, it seemed like we'd be rushing two great trips into one by going to India. We also have family on my side that we'd have to see. It would be expensive and exhausting. 

Traveling to another island within Thailand became a great idea. Thanks to Political unrest in Thailand, Hotels and airfare came ultra cheap.  For the cost of taking a 7 day vacation in Ft. Lauderdale, we'll be spending our time at Koh Samui at a 5 star resort. Friends who had been all raved about Phuket and Koh Samui. So we kept reading stuff and pulled the trigger on Koh Samui.

Conclusion - So that's how we got this trip. It's pretty awesome so far. The high of winning, the worries of if it was legit or not has been really taxing. Of course the airfare is economy. The first flight is 16 hours from NY to Hong Kong. I'm trying my hardest to get into business class, but we can't. Out tickets are a special class of ticket that can't use miles to upgrade you. The cost to just upgrade is outrageous. They want $8000 per person. You figure those tickets are about $1000 per person and now they want an additional $16,000. Why not just ask for two unicorns and the holy grail?

I find it pathetic that bankers could mess up every bank in the world, that politicians can sell seats, that Bernie Madoff could steal $50BN from people, and that the auto industry is failing but the same guys stay in charge. Yet somehow, I can't find a single loophole to get my specific class of ticket upgraded from the 3 different airlines that I have miles with. 

But I am excited for the trip. I can't wait to write about all the stuff we got to see and eat. I'm most excited about getting some more tailor made clothes. 

The only worry we have is that Shelly and I have been watching a show on NatGeo called, "locked up abroad." There are people who are locked up or captured and you see their story. There have been a couple on Thailand, but most of them are from people who tried smuggling drugs. I get angry at my dad when he smuggles nuts into a football stadium. So i think we're ok on that front. However, we saw "Brokedown Palace" with Claire danes, and it freaked me out. I can't wait to go to Thailand, but most importantly, I'd like to come hom.

With that all said, my only thoughts until January 13th is, "Thailand, here we come!!!"