Leslie - A Legend By The River
	The Oriental Bangkok - Leslie's home away from home

At the time when I planned my Bangkok holiday I had very little idea about The Oriental. I only knew that Leslie was reported to have stayed at this hotel when he was in Bangkok.

Then a week later, I read about Leslie and the Oriental in Ming Pao Weekly. It was reported that he was a regular guest who would stay there a couple of days every other month. When I came to the part about the friendship of Leslie and Paitoon, my heart warmed up. It is difficult not to love him!

Finally, after more than 3 weeks' waiting, I was all set for Bangkok. Thanks to the report in Ming Pao Weekly, I was ready to follow the footprints of Leslie at the Oriental!

Finally, I arrived at the hotel. As you can see, the decor is an interesting mix of the east and the west in a colonial style setting.

When the girl at the check-in counter told me that my room would be 1016, I couldn't believe it - that would be quite close to 1012, the Barbara Cartland Suite, one of Leslie's favorites.

Here's a photo of the Barbara Cartland Suite which I found in the Oriental website. It's decorated in water melon-pink and pale cream tones. Very elegant, isn't it?

Now I invite you to take a look at my room.

Once I entered the room, I unpacked. Then I put Ming Pao Weekly and 'Time of Leslie' on the desk as though Leslie was sitting by the window overlooking the river. That was something he enjoyed so I sat and watched the river for a while. There were all kinds of boats, some for tourists and hotel guests, some for locals, and even some for transporting sand and mud to the other end of the river. What an interesting view!

How do you like my room? I spent some time looking for the pillows, which were neatly tucked away in the baskets under the bed.

Let's move to the windows so you get a view of the river.

At the Oriental, they clean up your room twice a day. When I returned at night, I found a little card with a quotation on sleep at my bed. Wasn't it a nice?

Thailand is a country of orchids. Look here, they put a pot of orchids in the bathroom. Nice touch!

There are 3 parts in the bathroom: the bath tub, the powder room & the walk-in shower. See the blinds? They can be opened and closed completely as you wish. Such a naughty idea :)

Good morning. Let's have breakfast at the Verandah.

Heard that Leslie loved to watch the river from here. Where's his favourite table? See the unoccupied table behind the man in a white shirt? That's Leslie favourite table! Imagine what a beautiful scene it would have been if Leslie were here!

There's a pool between the Verandah and the garden terrace. Leslie was a swimmer. Did he ever tan himself under the sun here? During my stay I found 80-90% of the guests were westerners. It was probably one of the very few places where Leslie could completely unwind and relax. No wonder he came so often.

When I saw the pool, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my swimming suit. It would be odd to walk into the pool area fully dressed. So I thought I would just be bad this time and peeped behind the plants.

This is the Authors' Wing. It's the oldest block among the 3. All 4 suites are named after authors who had been guests of the hotel. Guess which one was Leslie's favourite?

I found this picture in the hotel's home page. It gives you a full view of the Authors' Wing.

See this nice, smiling guy in a Thai costume. One thing I like about Thailand is its people. They are very friendly and are happy by nature.

Colonial style decor reminiscent of a bygone era!

How do you like it?

The famous Authors' suites are upstairs. Leslie must have walked up and down these stairs numerous times.

Our dear gorgor loved this suite very much. In fact, this was his no.1 choice. It was reported that he would never allow the cleaners to remove the peacock blue covers from the room. Sounds familiar? Right, he reminded me of Linus in the Peanuts cartoon--the boy who cannot be separated from his blanket. Gorgor was such an adorable baby!

Gorgor loved to have afternoon tea in the Authors' Lounge. We've just seen the place and it's not difficult to understand why.

Are you ready to explore the other side of the river? Let's take the hotel boat.

As we sailed off, I was able to capture a full view of the River Wing and the Garden Wing. The sixth one from the top right hand side of the River Wing is the Barbara Cartland Suite, which was reported to be one of Leslie's favourites.

Look ahead of you and you'll see a Thai style building. Go inside and you'll find a Thai restauant.

It was quick! It only took a minute or so to cross the river. Let's check where the famous spa is.

So the spa is upstairs. Wait...let me take a look at this lotus pond first! Now I've found another reason why Leslie loved to stay here. The lotus pond was a big attraction. He was so fond of it that he had one built at home, a goldenfish pond, in his former house, always in Kadoorie Hill.

Go upstairs to the spa and you can still see the pond.

It was reported that Leslie always went "yum cha" at the China House Restaurant before he left for the airport. Well, this is the restaurant.

Paitoon recalled that Leslie had celebrated his birthday at Le Normandie with his friends. The photos are from the hotel's homepage.

Just to give you some idea where everything is...

Thank you, Oriental Bangkok, for a nice holiday and, most of all, thank you for being there for dear Leslie when he needed peace and relaxation. I'll see you again soon, I hope.

Pictures and report by C. from Hong Kong - pictures of the guestbook by Ming PaoWeekly

THE GUESTBOOK OF THE MANDARIN ORIENTAL BANGKOK

pictures kindly provided by Lux

visit Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Official Webpage

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