Had dinner with HG and CH at Nam Sing Restaurant (39-47 Soi Texas, Th Phadung Dao, off Yaowarat Road, Bangkok, Thailand) Tuesday night. We had fresh oysters, sharksfin soup, braised abalone rice, BBQ pork neck, grilled fresh water prawns, and baked sea bass in salt crust. The food is good and fresh. I especially like the sea bass and the abalone rice. The pork nect is also fragrant, although too fatty. This is a restaurant that is popular with Singaporeans.

Was invited to a dinner reception last Monday evening by the OpenWay Group at Sirocco (1055/111 State Tower Bangkok, Silom Road, Bangkok 10500, Thailand). When I stepped out of the elevator, which opened on the 64th floor of the State Tower building, I was immediately taken aback by the opulence and magnificent scenary offered at this rooftop restaurant. We spent about 2 wonderful hours just sipping wine and chatting amidst a very light drizzle on the top of Bangkok. We had unobstructed views of the entire city from up there!

After our pre-dinner drinks, we proceeded to dinner in a private room on the 67th floor. The food is very good but I believe what many agreed to steal the show that night was the cream of corn soup with caviar. Actually it is salmon roe (rather than sturgeon caviar) in the soup, but nevertheless very nice. The texture of the salmon roe bursting in your mouth with each mouthful of soup is heavenly!

I had breakfast at Mistral while staying at the Sofitel Silom Bangkok Hotel. Mistral is a contemporary Mediterranean restaurant. I find the quality of food served at breakfast to be good. There's carved honey baked ham with roasted pineapples (my favourite), smoked salmon, eggs benedict, and a whole range of usual breakfast fare.

I just got back last night from Lafferty's Cards & Payments Asia-Pacific 2005 Conference & Expo in Bangkok, Thailand.

Stayed at the Sofitel Silom Bangkok (188 Silom Road, Bangrak 10500, Bangkok, Thailand), which is near the conference venue (Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok). The staff at Sofitel Silom is very friendly and the rooms very comfortable. I had a standard room with a king-size bed which is very generous in size. The location of the hotel is also great, being situated on Silom Road and within walking distance of the Chao Praya River and Patpong.

While in Sydney for AKKI's Annual Meeting, I had dinner with HG, WG, AT, and EG at Pyrmont's Restaurant (Level 1, Lyric Theatre, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont, Sydney, NSW 2009, Australia). We had oysters to share and I had a ribeye steak as main course. The oysters were so succulent and sweet that we ended up ordering another dozen. The ribeye steak was average. Service is friendly and attentive but not overbearing. We enjoyed our dinner here a lot.

We spent our last night in Sydney in the Star City Hotel. This 5-star hotel is located right in Star City Casino, near Darling Harbour. The rooms are quite luxurious and comfortable and had a great view of Darling Harbour.

Was in Sydney for AKKI Annual Meeting two weeks ago and stayed in the 5-star Avillion Hotel (389 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia). This hotel has a great location. It is located right at the doorstep of World Square monorail station, and is within walking distance to most places of attraction, including Chinatown. The rooms are comfortable, spacious, very well appointed and comes with a balcony. The only complain I had was rigidity in service. There was one morning when I forgot to bring down my breakfast voucher, and both the waitress and manager wouldn't even let me have a cup of coffee, when I was clearly a hotel guest, with my hotel keycard!