AudioAficionado.org - Amazing trip plus meeting with exceptional people

Hi guys,

I'm finally back from my vacation which were followed by a seminar in Sardinia. All in all, I took 9 different flights in 2 weeks and I'm exhausted but happy.

The first few days were in Bangkok where I visited all the major temples and the royal palace. I took a trip along the river and I discovered the joy of air conditioned museums. I really loved the city in all its quirkiness. The people are amazing and the food is excellent. I highly recommend Nahm and Issaya Siamese Club.

In Bangkok, you learn to sweat. It is a city sized hammam and there is no way to avoid sweating if you want to walk outside, no matter how brief. It's a little graphic stat but I must have drank between 3 or 4 liter of water each day and I barely went once to the toilet. I was one giant sweating machine.

I discovered in Bangkok the most impressive mall I've ever seen even better than Dubai! It's the first time I see car dealership in a mall, on the third floor nonetheless. I'm not talking Toyota but Porsche, BMW, Lambo, McLaren, Rolls Royce, ... Just in front of an audio dealership (one that is not selling Bose in a mall) with all the Sonus range, MacIntosh and ARC plus some impressive MBL.

It's the first time I see such brands sold in a mall.

Following Bangkok, it was time to relax in Bali. First stop was in Ubud, up in the mountains, and we stayed at Kayumanis where I booked a private villa of 3500sq feet including a private pool at an insane price. I would barely get a small room at a decent hotel in Europe for the same price. The villa was lost in the jungle and close to rice fields. We did a trek over there and it is a really wonderful place. I also visited the monkey forest which is a temple complex filled with hundreds of monkeys. I made the mistake to sit down to take a picture and I had two monkeys jump over me and played with my hair.

I also tasted the Luwak coffee which is produced from the beans found in the feces of a civet. This is one of the rarest coffee as they barely produce a few pounds a day. It has a very smooth taste, one of the smoothest I tasted and it is filled with flavour.

I spent only a night there and if I had to do it again, I would spend at least another night there. After leaving Ubud, we went to Jimabaran along the sea with a vast expense of beaches. It was time for relaxation with beach day and some spa. We ended the day with a trip to Uluwatu which is a temple at the end of a cliff and where a dancing troupe was performing the Cecak dance every night.
We also made a trip along the east coast to visit the temples and royal mansions.

I was impressed by how nice the Balinese are and how they spoke perfect english. The food was much cheaper than in Bangkok even in the high end place but I found that it was more rustic and lacking the more defined flavour of Thai cuisine.

The next leg was Singapore which I didn't enjoy as much as Bangkok. My friend who lived there for over 4 months described it as a "not really" city. It is asian but not really, it is big but not really, service is good but not really, they speak english but not really, weather is nice but not really... I still enjoyed my time there and I had the time to do all the main attractions : Gardens by the Bay (impressive), Rooftop drinks at Bay sands, Night safari, Sendosa and the Aquarium, Little India, Arab Street and China Town, Rooftop at Raffles (highly disappointing, wouldn't recommend). I wanted to visit Singapore as I had some friends there and I wanted to see what it was all about. However, unlike Bangkok, I don't feel the need to go there again.

Finally, the last leg was a last day in Bangkok before returning to France. I was woken up by a tropical rain and thunder at 5am which barely cooled down the city. After a quick jump to MBK mall to see some cameras, I went back to the hotel to meet Ron (aka bachrock) and Toga. They first took me right across the street to a mall with many shops selling high end audio. It was not surprising that Toga was greeted like an old friend in those places. I had the chance to briefly listen to some Avalon, which were quite good and see more exclusive gear.

They then took me to another place where they knew a good camera place. I bought a Nikon D610 with its grip and the AFS 24-70mm f2.8 at a great discount compared to Europe. And we had a great lunch in the mall where I had other Thai dishes. It has become my favorite Asian food. I love how they vary the flavour with different spices and fresh vegetables.

Finally, they invited me to their homes. They live 5 min away from each other! Toga system is simply impressive. The Q7 are monsters and much more impressive than the Aida (though not as good looking). The Griffon amp is a beast, much bigger than most amps. The bass is out of this world. We played some Metallica (Enter Sandman) and the bass was the cleanest I heard. We had some classical music and the precision and soundstage were unbelievable. This is a first rate system.

We then went to Ron's place, which was getting nervous after the demonstration at Toga's. He fired up the MC275 plugged into the Guarneri. I found the amazing Sonus sound that I love so much. The richness in the mids is amazing and you get all the emotion in the music. Sonus and tube are a love story and, even though it's not the most perfect sound, it remains my favorite. Those are two awesome systems with different philosophies but great in their own rights.

I'm lucky to have found AA where you can meet exceptional people like Ron and Toga which are extremely nice. They took great care of me and I wish I had more time to spend with them. We became friends really fast and you have both an open invitation to Paris. Toga, I expect you soon as you will now fly to Paris ;)

I'll post pictures as soon as I get them edited. I took over 1 400 shots (many are useless).