As usual, I flew EVA from the west coast on this trip. I always fly Elite class (or whatever they are calling it these days) and upgraded from coach for the SFO/TPE portion to use up some of my frequent flyer miles. Elite is normally fully booked with nary an empty seat to be seen. Not so on this flight; there were 10 empty seats, including the one next to me . . . nice!

Normally with only a 2-3 hour layover in Taiwan I stroll around a bit and hit the smoking lounge a few times to replenish the nicotine levels in my body. But IтАЩd discovered on my return trip in January they had closed the smoking rooms so I opted instead to check out the EVAтАЩs lounge instead. Quite nice. Comfy chairs. Decent array of free food and drinks. And they come and let you know 30 minutes before your flight departs so you donтАЩt have to keep an eye on the clock.

Figuring itтАЩs only 3 hours from TPE to BKK, I had decided to fly coach for the last portion of the trip. ItтАЩs been decades since I flew cattle class and thought IтАЩd see how bad it was. OMG! I canтАЩt believe they actually cram people into those tiny seats! But I lucked out. They double booked my seat. So after much confusion, the flight attendant brought me a new boarding stub and escorted me up to a nice seat in Elite. Phew, disaster avoided! ThatтАЩs as close to actually flying in coach as I ever want to get again.

The flight attendants handed out a health form for you to swear you werenтАЩt sick with swine flu along with the normal immigration form prior to landing. Upon landing, I guess figuring no one was really going to admit they were ill and be quarantined, just prior to reaching the immgration area you have to file in line past a thermal scanner (assume itтАЩs reading body temperature?) And they had pulled a few people out of line as I passed by. CouldnтАЩt help notice the number of people on the plane wearing masks, too. But then those things seem to be popular in Asian countries anyway. At the airport, most of the guards you passed and all of the immigration folk had them on too.

I had a choice of several lines to pass thru immigration, none with more than 6 people in them, so getting through was a breeze (and this at 11:00 am).

IтАЩm staying at Centre Point Silom for the first time and am very impressed. For $57 on wotif.com I have a 45 sq meter room that is nicely decorated. Decent work space, tons of cabinets, a small sofa/seating area, kitchen table, full kitchen, washer/dryer, and there is both a nice sized tub and full shower stall in the bathroom. And the water pressure and temperature of the shower was perfect. TV has lots of English channels and there is both a DVD player and sound system in the room, And free internet service in the room. Breakfast was decent with enough choices to satisfy all tastes. The bed is on rollers (on a wood floor) so IтАЩm not sure if this will be a problem or fun when I use it for something other then sleeping . . . IтАЩll let ya know.

The hotel is above Robinsons (and a McDonalds, KFC, Coffee World, and TopтАЩs) with a 7/11 across the street. Maybe a minuteтАЩs walk to the BTS station. BTS to Saladang is 25 baht and a taxi back is 45 baht so fairly cheap to hit the bars at night (plus there is a money exchange rate place on Silom at the exit of the station that advertises, truthfully, they have the best exchange rates in town).

OK, no sex in this report, so a bit boring . . . but then this board has been a bit dull over the last few months anyway. Good thing Bitch Bunny spices things up occasionally. . .

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