Bangkok Day - 1

Some places just stick in your memory, and give you a feeling that you can spend a lifetime trying to recreate. Be it the atmosphere, the drink, what you ate. Many years ago I was able to stay at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, drink at the Bamboo bar, and listen to some great Jazz.

I have always wanted to go back, and on this trip I was able to share the time with my wife. Its not often you can recreate a memory or feeling, but to actually blow the previous experience out of the water! Speechless.

We started our evening with dinner at the terrace restaurant. The food is decent, and over priced for Bangkok standards, but the view is beyond amazing. Watching the boats ferry passengers across the river while weaving in between barges and long boats in almost complete darkness is just a mesmerizing ballet, on the verge of disaster!

After dinner, there is only one place to go, the Bamboo bar. Order a Thai-ito. Yes, it is a cheesy over priced version of a Mojito, but it is a fabulous drink. Thai Whiskey, (an almost 50/50 taste blend of rum and Makers Mark) Muddled Lime, Lemon Grass, Ginger, topped with soda water!

There is nothing that could make the bar, and the drink a better experience... oh wait, a cigar! Right next door is one of the best Habanos shops in the world. I don't know if it is the humidity of Thailand, or the way the wait staff cuts and serves your cigar with a pleasant smile, but I have NEVER had a better cigar experience!

The quaint shop has a good variety of difficult to find cubans along with the favorites most everyone is looking for. For myself a Bolivar, but for Manda's first cigar, of course a Cohiba. Nothing like spoiling her with the best!

www. pacificcigar.com/eng/location/th/stores/shop1.php

So settle in, let the staff expertly light your Habanos, sip on your Thai-ito and wait for the Jazz band to show up! The perfect way to kick off a trip to Bangkok.