Philippine Travel Notes

This is still Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom . We earlier talked about window views from my room. This time, let us look around my room and the hotel which is nothing new! My Room Oh yes, my room! I need to tell you about it, right? Well, to make the long story short, my room was mainly like other Holiday Inns I've stayed at. Their brand is consistent! That's how my room looked like, as I stood by the famed, iconic, protruding window ! Amenities Very IHG , very Holiday Inn: furnishings, amenities are generally the same anywhere . Syempre nag-iiba ng konti sa ashtray (minsan ceramic, minsan glass) ; sa prutas (kasi baka mas matamis ang fruits sa ibang lugar) ; at sa tubig (depende sa available brand)! But the gadgets and peripheral access points are generally the same everywhere. Oh yes, desk lamps, alarm clocks, telephones, writing pads & pens, sometimes even their desks are similar - not just at Holiday Inn facilities but in many of IHG's brands. Syempre ...

Wasn't I lucky again that my party was happening here? Yes I was, so I booked here. But let me tell you first, "little some things" that I know, about how this hotel started! Historical and still in business ! It's been a hotel for decades now, starting as Rama Tower Hotel (1970s) owned by a local operator/s, becoming a Crowne Plaza in the 1980s and as Holiday Inn in 2003. Hindi ko inabot lahat ng iyan ha, huwag kang ano! I do remember, in the '90s it was already named Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza . I think the Holiday Inn part of the name was chosen to remain (in 2003) because Crowne Plazas at that time, were being re-positioned by IHG as their higher-end or upscale product. Remember the Pan Pacific Hotel at the other end of Silom (Rama IV Road), which is 2kms away from here? It became Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park in 2011. Timely di ba? I am mentioning these, so you don't get confused, because this is different from the 'Holiday Inn Bangkok...

Happy New Year 2019! While most of Bangkok were at the Chao Phraya River for the 'midnight countdown', I was "embroiled" in a little partying of our own. Unfortunately, we weren't outdoors. We were at one of the 2 nd floor function halls of Holiday Inn Silom. And, I so wanted to at least peep at the much-touted IconSiam fireworks display on the Chao Phraya. Two colleagues also yearned to do so. Pinoy ang isa! So, abili bad summoned, I said I could see part of the river from my room on the 26 th floor! We schemed. Alams na! I only said "me Family Mart sa baba, me 7-Eleven sa kanto" di pa ako tapos magsalita hiniram ang susi ko, at tumalilis si Pinoy friend, 'kala ko e-ebak sya! Dinner time yun. We knew our party would be 'forever' anyway, so at 2355H, we went up to my room, and I think I somehow expected this: my little fridge was unsurprisingly full of these: We knew 'di kami hahanapin sa baba since there was also a coun...