Thursday, May 19, 2011 (Bangkok and Singapore)

SO FAR, SO GOOD FOR APPAREL FROM TOM'S: A centerpiece of yesterday's circuitous and tortuous trip to the Grand Palace was the tuk-tuk-fueled 10,000 baht ($320.00 US) pit stop at Tom's International Collection in Bangkok. (I found the picture above while dredging the Web, and I'm pretty sure that was the store my little tuk-tuk took me to.) As mentioned yesterday, the company did, in fact, deliver the SIX SHIRTS and TWO PANTS to the hotel by 7 p.m.
Today, I decided to take them for a test drive on Singapore Air (Bangkok to Singapore). The results are good. In fact, good things happened even before we got on the plane. For one thing, I swear that I overheard someone in the Bangkok airport point to me and whisper to her friend,

"He shops at Tom's."

When I turned, they pretended not to be looking at me. The ensemble also survived the flight. The clothing was NOT affected by the altitude changes. I spilled NO RICE on the shirt. The photo at right (taken by Sandy) gives a decent indicator of how good you can look after shopping at Tom's (de Bangkok).
I consider this a great triumph. Bangkok is a GREAT PLACE!
The close-up of the pocket (right) shows that the tailors made some effort to LINE UP THE STRIPES where the pocket lies over the shirt. Good job! All in all, I'm satisfied with the clothing. I might have lucked out. I did do some Google searches on Tom's (de Bangkok) and some irate Australians had a lot to say. But they bought SUITS. I played it safe with shirts and pants.


SPEAKING OF CLOTHING.....: Today we got an email from Terry Kerr of Henley and Sloane (boyfriend of Katie and purveyor of fine men's clothing and accessories). He noticed, from a close reading of the Economist article Power and Pinatas that a major hedge-fund investor was photographed wearing one of the cuff links Terry sells exclusively (online, at shows and in Nantucket). Tom's (de Bangkok) doesn't carry this stuff. Some of Terry's designs are based on SINGAPORE coins.

HOME AGAIN: It was very good to get back to Singapore--home. When we got into the cab at Changi Airport, the driver...

DID NOT ask "How much will you pay me to take you there?"
DID NOT insist that he take us by a clothing store so he could get a gas coupon.
DID NOT have to keep his head on a swivel to watch for motorbikes buzzing at him from all directions.
DID NOT take one look at me and think to himself, "Here's a sucker."

For that last one, I attribute my new shirt from Tom's (de Bangkok).