Trip 4 - Day 15

24th August

Friday morning and A is off to work early and doesn't expect to be back tonight, so she cooks me a meal for tonight, as she feels that I am not capable of cooking for myself (?) and she's away.

I spend the day sending slightly more angry e-mails to my ISP (Demon Internet) enquiring as to what they consider to be 'Support' or 'Service' within their company and I also start searching to find somewhere to buy a reasonable spec PC secondhand.

The budget brands in Thailand (SVOA & VZIO) have their machines in the main supermarket chainstores and pricing for a machine is pretty good, but a little more than I'd been led to believe I'd need to pay. The systems are based on either 1.8GHz Sempron or 2.66GHz Celeron processors and all seem to come with 512Mb RAM, 80Gb Hard Drive and 17" CRT monitor as standard for a price of around 13000 - 14000 baht (£200 / $US400). So, I want to find a system like this (but secondhand) for around 10000 baht.

I find a website www.thaisecondhand.com which looks promising, but being in Thai, I am not really able to sort this out myself and will require the assistance of A to translate and make telephone calls.

I'm also determined that I'm going to get the hose for the washing machine sorted today, so after lunch I set off on my constitutional. The local shops all shake their heads when I attempt to explain in sign language that I want a hose like this but longer, but eventually on Pattaya Klang I come across a hardware store that seems to have everything for sale. (It's one of those places that I doubt even the owner is 100% sure of what is stocked.)

The assistant asks me what I want and I'm led in to the depths of the shop where there are reels of hose on the floor and she points and says "We make for you. How long you want?" When I explain that I want just 1m longer, she leads me to the next aisle and gets a hose with a connector and she digs around in a box of fittings to emerge with a brass fitting. I understand now; she's suggesting what is effectively an 'extension lead'. It's a good solution and it costs the grand total of 185 baht, so I am quite pleased with myself.

I'm close to Carrefour, so I decide to get myself a couple of beers for tonight (to add to the two I already have) and I'll have a Friday night watching DVD's; drinking beer and eating curry.

I'll also check out what I can buy A as a gift for her birthday on Sunday. I had a budget of 10000 baht set aside for a party and a gift, but she has said that she doesn't want a party at a bar, and as she doesn't know as yet if she'll be working on Sunday, it's difficult to plan anything.

I 'know' that gold will certainly be an acceptable present, but that will mean an 'upgrade' to an existing piece, so A will need to be with me to hand over either the necklace or the bracelet and the 'guarantee', so I cannot arrange that in advance. I just buy a simple gift of a rose in a bowl as a token gift ( 160 baht) for her to open on Sunday and we can then go out together to get her main present.

I have a chuckle when I see the pricing for Beer Chang, as it is 30 baht a bottle or 364 baht for a case of 12 (WTF?; TiT). I buy two bottles of beer, four bottles of soda, a bottle of Hale's Blue Boy Cream Soda syrup, Coke, Sprite, a bottle of water and a bag of ice as well as a connector lead to hook up the DVD to the speaker system in a 5.1 config instead of just stereo.

I then head back home with my two bags of shopping and en-route I decide that I am not going to carry beer and Coke any great distance ever again. The saving on the beer compared to buying from the local shop at the end of the Soi was a whole 6 baht. It really isn't worth it and the local shop will appreciate the business much more than the likes of Carrefour.

I get back home and the family in #2 (directly below us) are sitting round the table out front along with our neighbour from #11 and they have the barbeque coals burning and the Thai Buffet cooking away. I'm invited to join them and I say that I have food upstairs, so intsead I'm simply offered a chair and invited to have a glass of beer.

It's 19:30 by now and once I'm sat down, the ladies suddenly stick a plate in front of me and start adding tidbits of food and constantly topping up my glass with ice and beer. I spend the night mainly chatting with the husband of 'lady #2' who is of Indian ancestry, but he and his parents are all Thai born and hold Thai passports. His English is excellent, so communication is not a barrier and I'm told that A is a 'good' girl and I agree of course.

I mention that it's her birthday on Sunday, so it's decided that if she's in agreement, I'll provide the supplies and 'Robin' and his wife will provide the space and the cooking facilities for us to have a little birthday party on Sunday. He telephones A to check with her and she's happy about this as she still gets a party but without the 'expense' of a bar party.

The evening finally concludes at around midnight once the rain starts and everyone is full and a little drunk into the bargain.

Expenditure :

Supplies & provisions at Big C : 225 baht
Washing Machine hose : 185 baht
Gift for A : 160 baht