Bangkok Bar Scene, Guangzhou Bites and the Latest from Luxury Collection

The Buzz in Bangkok

Bangkok's another popular choice for Christmas or New Year's getaways, so if you're looking for a place to while away the holiday hours with a cocktail (or six), then check out one of these three rooftop bars that have opened in the last year. The Speakeasy (www.hotelmusebangkok.com) takes you back to the roaring 20s with a space full of Prohibition Era-inspired décor capped off by a chilled-out 24th-floor balcony. Then there's Above Eleven (www.facebook.com/aboveeleven), which gets its name from its location high atop hopping Sukhumvit Soi 11 and serves Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine (alright, now we're curious) along with a cocktail list full of options made with Peruvian pisco. Book ahead to get a table right by the edge. Last but not least, the Sofitel So's Park Society (www.sofitel.com/6835) rooftop venue is full of soaring columns, killer cocktails and lounge-y tunes. And the view, of course.

Guangzhou Bites

No, not like THAT. All you folks out there who haven't made any travel plans over the public holidays? I shake my travel columnist finger at you… but there ARE still some options. Traveling to China, for example, where no one's off from work, is pretty easy and affordable, even at this late date. If you read my recent piece on how Guangzhou is actually really cool and not the polluted pothole everyone believes it to be, then that's another place you could check out at the last minute. I didn't mention any local places to eat, though, so I asked Anthony Ng, a digital media whiz who blogs, writes and produces TV shows about food and travel in China, for his top picks. He recommends: Bing Shing Delight (specifically, the Tianhe branch, ((+86) 20-8751-8682) for its char siu, which comes in either black or crispy varieties, any tofu dish or the Shun Tak-style sashimi; Amber Kitchen ((+86) 20-8305-6545), which he calls a "nouveau Cantonese creative kitchen serving excellent soup" that's made using mineral water and includes a chicken and softshell turtle signature option; and Tong Kee Chicken, Congee & Noodle Shop ((+86) 20-8186-7395), a back-alley joint whose must-tries are the chicken served with mustard and spring onion soy sauce and the congee with blood pudding. Ng's got a mass following on Weibo under his handle Spam, so, you know, he's gotta be a guru.

By the Dozens