Sunday afternoon I met Brian for dim sum at the Conrad Hotel, then we walked up the block to his new condo. The complex, the Athenee Residences, is part of the Athenee Hotel, a five-star Royal Meridian property on Wireless Road near the US and British embassies.
(Yeah, a little hi-so for me, but what are you going to do?)
Brian’s unit is on the 28th floor and has views to the south and west. At this point it is unfurnished but it sounds like in another month or two he’ll be able to move in. It is interesting to look at other people’s homes because everyone has different values and desires when it comes to living space: layouts, size, views, etc. are all dependent on personal taste.
Personally, I’d replace the craft paper window treatments, but that’s just me.
Needless to say, at twenty-eight stories above the Big Mango, he enjoys some nice views. It was hazy on Sunday afternoon, but here are some shots and a short video clip.
Looking to the west (and zooming in) you get a good view of the US ambassador’s residence, which is on one of the largest, most lush and most under-developed plots of land in the city center.
At the corner of Wireless and Phloenchit Roads is this property, a series of shop houses that are being slowly demolished. I wrote about this in October. The open space on the other side of the Skytrain tracks is the British embassy, the front portion of which (demarked by the white wall) has been sold to the Central Group. Central, a retail chain that owns the Central Chidlom department store which is just out of the upper left corner of the frame, plans on building a mall and office complex here to connect to the department store.
Phloenchit Skytrain station is on the right hand side of this picture and Wave Place, an office/retail complex that houses Home Pro (kind of a weak Home Depot) is the large building in the upper right hand corner of the picture.
Here’s the panorama from his balcony with a little explanation.
On the way home out in the “countryside” of Soi Thong Lor, I found myself behind a pickup truck carrying two bulls. Why in the world they were driving into Thong Lor Soi 25, I have no idea. It is a residential alley with no outlet and, to the best of my knowledge, no farms.
The strange things you see in this city!
christao408 
Oooh. My other half and I saw a really nice condo in San Francisco yesterday and man, I thought the place would be cheaper due to the crisis and all, but I guess some places are just immune from the crunch. I would love to live in a tower once in my life, but I think I would ultimately have to live in a detached single family home like my suburban-upbringing taught me. I don’t know how to live the infill lifestyle. I do want to try it out though! Oh, the condo was right along Castro too! Definitely ‘home’. And apparently everyone drives a Mini there (I lost count driving down even one block!) so no complaints here! Yay! And thank you, I feel better. I can breathe through every outlet I’m supposed to breathe through. :o)
The space looks nice… you should post pics once he furnishes as well.
Nice to have your updates on the city on a regular basis. Well, bull…as they say,”Anything goes..in BKK”, right?
@kenpcho – Glad to hear you’re feeling better. Where was this condo exactly? I lived for years in and around the Castro. The thought of living in a high-rise with a sweet view is pretty tempting. We know some people with beautiful locations. The question is, what is the right price? I work from home, so I’d love to have the view. Just don’t know if I’m willing to spend so much.
@Dezinerdreams – Will do. I’m curious to see how he’ll decorate. I didn’t bother showing the two bedrooms, two bathrooms, or the kitchen because I’ll wait until they are done.
@curry69curry – Is that what “they” say? =)
I love that view from the condo. It’s stunning!
I can hardly tell that it is a bull or a cow 🙂
The view is quite beautiful. Please do show us the finished product… I would never do well in a high rise or an apartment. I like my suburbia with all the yards and drives with basketball hoops…
Love the new look and your new snap! Looks like a professional blog now.
i like all your videos. what program are you using?
Wow! Bangkok certainly has changed since 1968. Great video and pics. It would certainly be a terrific seduction pit, but I like being closer to the ground with a lot of green around me. Our ambassador’s place looks nice. With the slump going on, maybe he would take a few hundred thou? Ha-ha!
I like the new look Chris. The lotus in the middle is very far east. Oh Lord! those bulls are massive.You sure they weren’t elephants? lol.
@budgetwam – I shoot with my Panasonic Lumix camera and then edit in Adobe Premier Elements. Audio voice over is recorded on my Olympus digital voice recorder, converted to MP3 with Blaze MediaPro, then edited in Audacity before being imported into Premier Elements.
@Dezinerdreams – Glad you like it.
@zacksamurai – Hard to say. I was trying to focus on taking the picture without causing an accident.
@RakkaRay – Yeah, the ambassador has a pretty nice place to live. We could probably make a big dent in the federal deficit if they sold the grounds for development.
@ZSA_MD – I was worried they would fall over, taking the truck with them!
@christao408 – The address is 161-165 Collingwood (www.collingwoodchic.com). I thought the condos were alright and there’s a corner market on Castro so no driving necessary! But alas, I don’t think the price nor the parking availability is suitable…But you get to work from home! AH! Very jealous. My other half works from home frequently and it makes me so envious. I on the other hand half to drag my half-asleep body into my humble car and drive through luxury-car infested streets – albeit comfortably since our roads are always newly paved and wide lanes are prevalent – and arrive always 17 minutes later at the same parking spot every morning by 8am. But then again, I get to blast Britney Spears’ new cd as I drive so that’s okay. :o)
@kenpcho – I know that condo. A friend used to live in one of the units as a renter. Convenient location, although a bit noisy because of Market Street. Working from home has its advantages and disadvantages. Right now, it suits me well enough.
Wow….the US embassy has a really nice tract of land there.
Oh my… I was at the same place on dec 5 for a wedding reception, a part of my rare trip back to BKK.
Then we decided to check the two units available in that complex, one of which is on 21 st Floor. The oher one, I don’t remember.
28.5 million baht!!! Your friend must be loaded.
@christao408 – Oooh! Thanks for the insight! :o) I think the bf is having doubts about it now. I think he is still looking for a place in Palo Alto. But I will definitely consult to see if you know about future places we find!