Saturday 6 October 2007

Trip 4 - Day 58

October 6th

I’m awoken to the sound of tapping on the bedroom window. It’s A; she’s returned home and needs me to unlock the door to let her in. I look at the time and see that it’s only 08:30 and I really am not ready to wake up but it seems I have little choice as A has arrived with food “Eat now!”.

The morning passes with A doing several loads of washing, however by lunchtime we grab some time to sit and talk. The biggest concern that she has it seems is how she will manage if I’m not there as she is not working the all night shifts now with having Phil stay. (This months pay is 12,000 baht)

It seems that she’s also getting told that I don’t want to stay with her as “I not care for you good” and “I only want money you”, but when I ask who is saying this, she will not say. I try to reassure her that I want to be with her, however I want to see her laughing again and not sad. I ask what I’ve done wrong and she says that it isn’t my fault, it’s because she feels tired after working and travelling every day. She then says that she knows that I want to “be with lady more” and once again she goes through the “Is okay; I leave and you can have lady new” which I tell her I don’t want to happen.

Then she says, “I cannot do for you all the time, I understand if you go with other lady sometimes, but if I stay here, you not bring home”. Now whilst this isn’t exactly what I had in mind, it does have certain advantages.

We get no further talking as she has to sort out food for Phil and I go to the local shop to get more Coke. We do agree that tonight we’ll go to the Thai Buffet near Big C for a change.

Later in the afternoon, it becomes a race against time, to get the washing dry before the heaven’s open and there is torrential rain with the Soi looking more like a river than a road. It doesn’t last long though and once the rain ceases, the road dries up very quickly. A gets a call from Kye and tells her where we will be eating tonight, and it’s agreed that Kye & Robin will join us (assuming that the rain holds off).

By 20:00, we are all sitting down with the hot coals burning in the middle of the table and the ‘broth’ just starting to oil. There’s plenty to eat, however Phil is more interested in playing on the swings and slides and A is distracted keeping an eye out on him rather than being part of the group. It’s a ‘no alcohol’ day for me today as I feel that a total break is a good idea and so we only have a big bottle of Coke and a big bottle of Coke between us.

Expenditure :

Coke & Ice : 70 baht
Thai Buffet : 300 baht

Friday 5 October 2007

Trip 4 - Day 57

October 5th

I wake at just after midday and after ahowering, I just go and sit outside with a cup of tea and a book. After a couple of hours I decide that I’m feeling peckish but I don’t know what I want. I decide to prepare some deep fried chicken at home, so I mix up a tempura batter and open a bag of breadcrumbs. Eight small chicken drumsticks are prepared and I eat three for lunch and I have the rest before going out in the evening.

Back to my reading and when the sun goes down, I move inside and iron a shirt in readiness for tonight.

I speak with A on the ’phone and she confirms that she’ll be coming back home in the morning but she doesn’t know what time she will be arriving. I have to admit that I’m missing her and whilst my stint at Cherry Bar has been fun, just one or two nights a week out is sufficient for me and I really don’t know how Hammer does it.

At 19:45, it’s time to get to the bar again and by now the local scooter taxi drivers are becoming used to me doing this trip and there’s no messing around. I jump on the back of the scooter and they take me to the corner of Klang and 2nd. I actually enjoy getting off here, as it means that I walk the length of Soi 8 and can see how busy the Soi is and whether there are any parties on at any of the other bars.

It’s a very quiet, but there’s one bar near 2nd all decked out in balloons, so there’s at least one party taking place.

I arrive at the bar and business is slow. A few groups turn up but they are bar hopping and only stay for one drink and a couple of BM’s drop in to say goodbye as they are leaving on either Saturday or Sunday. Tonight the main interest for the girls is playing dominoes to kill the time, however the downside of this is that they aren’t quick to respond to the customers when they do arrive. For the first time, I see the bar next door (Planet Bar) actually doing better business than Cherry Bar, but this is due in main to a group of half a dozen that have settled in for the night.

Andursch comes over to the Bar to say hello to everyone, but he has a girl at Best Bar that he is spending some time with, but he is extremely generous to the Cherry Girls and after buying a round of drinks for them all, he leaves some cash with Nam for a further round of drinks later.

I stay at the bar until around 04:00 and when I say that I’m going to go home, Pun once again makes arrangements and the same guy as last night arrives for me. When he drops me off tonight though, I insist that he takes 100 baht for his trouble.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi : 150 baht

Thursday 4 October 2007

Trip 4 - Day 56

October 4th

Another late start to the day, but as I’m not getting in until around 03:00 at the earliest, I guess it’s to be expected. I head over to Kev’s place and avail myself of his ADSL Internet connection and grab an hour in the pool.

I head back home around 17:00 and grab some deep fried chicken and sticky rice from a stall just up the road from Noi’s Bar. After eating, it’s time to SSS and head off to Cherry Bar for another night.

It’s not too busy tonight, but there is a steady trickle of customers, so the girls get bought a few drinks and a few barfines are paid. I find myself checking out the surrounding bars and whilst a couple of them are busier, it is definitely a quiet night on the Soi. When it’s slow, the girls start playing Jenga, The Dice Game & Connect 4 to pass the time.

By 03:00, there are no customers left at the bar, so one of the girls makes a call and gets her boyfriend to give me a lift home on his scooter. When we get home, as I take my wallet out of my pocket, he simply waves his hand and say “No is free” and he heads off back on to Soi Khao Noi.

I get in and have a bottle of water and send a text to A which I know she won’t read for another couple of hours and then simply crash out.


Expenditure :

Fried Chicken : 45 baht
Scooter Taxi : 50 baht

Wednesday 3 October 2007

Trip 4 - Day 55

October 3rd

I awake at midday and still feel tired, but today is to be a long one as there’s the Bar Crawl to attend and then ‘duties’ at Cherry Bar in the evening.

I just have time for tea and toast to start the day and then it’s a case of getting out of the house and off to Shooter’s as this is the starting point this week for the daytime crawl to Jade & Jomtein.

At Shooter’s, around 10 BM’s turn up and we end up staying there a little longer than originally planned as BM JBoy has called through to say that Jade is extremely busy at the moment, so we wait to let the early rush dissipate.







Once we set off, we arrive at Jade to find several BM’s already there, so I join Kuranda Bagman and Brian sitting in one of the pagodas by the pool. As soon as I take my seat, I am joined by one of the Jade ‘lovelies’ who is complaining that it’s too hot and that to resolve the problem, I should take her to an air-con room with a shower. I say that it’s too early for me to do so, but she is VERY persistent and proceeds to undo my trousers and carry out an ‘intimate’ massage (to the mock disgust of a BM LordFlash who has now decided that he won’t bother with a barbecue hotdog). I still decline to take the lady up on her offers that have become ever more blatant and descriptive and she finally concedes defeat and moves to another BM to carry on her ‘chat up’ lines.

After Jade, it’s another baht bus trip into Jomtein where we make our way to Take Care bar on the corner of the main road towards the beach. There are several good looking girls here once again even though a couple are totally uninterested. I sit with a very quiet girl called Cat (Prrrrr!) who is pretty and very affectionate, but unfortunately speaks next to no English. It doesn’t really matter though and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable experience.








BM LordFlash has an 'invisible' BG sitting with him, but he claims that they were real and not silicon.




Kuranda Bagman has the 'real thing' though. The girls name is Nui but definately not 'same same' as Nui of Cherry Bar fame.




Some of the guys take the opportunity to play pool here




Next stop is to be Fantasy Bar, but it seems that the ‘plans’ made last week have come to naught as there are very few girls and the manageress has obviously ‘forgotten’ that we’d told her last week we’d be arriving (TiT) today. A quick reassessment is necessary and it’s decided that Las Vegas will be given another chance but after MM enters the door, he simply ‘about turns’ and says that it’s even worse than last week with only 3 girls working and two of them are already sitting with customers.

We just move into the Blue Room for a drink and the company of a few girls, but nothing very special before walking down the road to Country Road 3 which is a very big open style bar with good music and several ‘diamonds’ amongst the many staff. It’s ‘no hassle’ and the girls are both friendly and attentive which makes it such a popular venue.

Lek from Country Roads




And a table of 'crawlers'




The final stop on the crawl is straight across the road to the We Are Number 1 GoGo (previously called Champion I believe). Myself and Kuranda Bagman take up the same seats that we occupied last week and in no time I am ‘accosted’ from behind by the lovely ‘Kim from Surin’. (Business is obviously still quiet as she still cannot afford to buy any panties) I buy her a drink whilst having the first beer of the crawl for myself. She continues giving me the same attention that she had done last week and I get little opportunity to really see the other girls working, but there is a ‘tiny’ cutie who I’m told used to work in Club Boesche a year ago and a couple of other pretty girls providing some fine eye candy for the BM’s on the crawl.

At this point, my crawl effectively ended, as I need to head upstairs for a ‘shower’. Kim is very enthusiastic and provides a very pleasant finale to the afternoon for me.




When I return to the bar suitably refreshed, the crawl is just finishing with everyone paying checkbin. It’s gone 19:30, so I simply head straight to Cherry Bar for the night.

It’s a relatively quiet night there apart from a period when a group of guys decided to liven things up for a couple of hours.




I manage to keep my alcohol intake very low and as it's quiet, I take the opportunity to view what's going on at the other bars in the complex, Even Nui takes a wander next door for a dance with the 'cutie'




But returns back shortly afterwards




However the 'cutie' stays put.




I am feeling extremely tired, so at 02:45, I call it a day and head off home. I’m still feeling okay and after a quick shower and sending a text to A, I get a very good sleep.

Expenditure :

Crawl : Drinks, LD’s & Tips : 610 baht
Internet charge for month : 535 baht
Toilet : 10 baht
Short Time in GoGo : 1000 baht
Petrol : 100 baht
Barbecue Chicken : 30 baht
Telephone Top Up : 100 baht

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Trip 4 - Day 54

October 2nd

A pounding head signifies the start of another day in Pattaya. I get up and simply go through the motions of sorting out tea and toast before heading over to Kev’s place for a swim to clear the head.

It works and I feel close to normal once more, however the day is disappearing quickly and it’s 15:30 already. I spend the late afternoon writing up the TR, and reflecting on what has ‘gone wrong’ between myself and A. We need to resolve some issues, but it is not going to be possible this week I fear, as we are operating on totally different timescales.

At 17:00, I head back and A returns home at 18:10. By the time that she’s showered Phil and we’ve eaten, it’s too late for a real ‘heart to heart’, however we do get a few minutes to talk and A is obviously not happy with the situation either.

She feels that I’ve been too distant and not been talking with her which has some validity. She says that she and Phil will spend a few nights with Auntie in Sri Racha and we will talk about ‘everything’ on Saturday. I tell her that I hope we can sort everything, as I want to see her happy again and not sad. She says if I want ‘lady new long time’ that it is okay and she will leave, but I tell her that isn’t what I want, however I don’t want her to be unhappy either.

It’s something we need to resolve, but there is no time to discuss anything else tonight. I have to SSS to get out to Cherry Bar as I have made a commitment to Hammer to be there five nights this week whilst he’s away in Cambodia.

When I arrive at the bar, Andursch is already there as he’d come to pay the balance on his checkbin which was a mighty total it has to be said. (It’s the largest single person checkbin that I’ve seen in all my time in Pattaya). He start the night by ringing the bell once again, but he doesn’t stay long as he says he needs to head off and eat.

Kuranda Bagman arrives and he’s now ‘alone’ as his girl of the past couple of weeks has gone to Bangkok to meet up with a ‘regular’. He’s unsure of what he’s going to do tonight, however he suspects it will involve Walking Street and GoGo bars. Andursch then arrives back at the bar and says that he couldn’t be bothered to eat much. He’s reminded by me and Kuranda Bagman about some of his ‘antics’ from the night before and I’m relieved to discover that I’m not the only person that suffers with ‘mental blank spots’.

Tonight is not a tequila fest, but instead the B52’s are flowing like water and once again the alcohol intake is much higher than it should be under ‘normal’ circumstances. The night passes quickly and there’s a lot of laughing at the bar and as it’s reasonably busy, the girls are happy. Pun tells me that she’s going to be working at the bar a bit late tonight, but I am welcome to a lift home when she finishes at 05:00. As it’s nearly 04:00 already, I accept the offer and finally leave the bar at 05:15.

Two nights completed and three more to do.

Expenditure :

Toilet : 5 baht

Monday 1 October 2007

Trip 4 - Day 53

October 1st

I wake up there’s still a feeling of loneliness. It’s my birthday; I’m 47 years old, I’m 6000 miles from my birthplace and I am on my own. I check my e-mails and that cheers me up some as I’ve got several messages wishing me all the best. In addition, there a few text messages on my ‘phone and that helps to cheer me up.

I cannot go out this morning as I have to wait for Sophon cable to turn up and hook us up. They turn up at just gone 11:00 and it only takes them around 30 minutes to get everything completed (We now have 62 channels of crap TV to chose from).

I find that I have to pay 1350 for 3 months rental in advance, so I call A to check and she says that is correct. I tell her that we need to talk about finances, as I thought she’d already paid this the other day and now I don’t know what the1000 baht that I’d given her on Saturday was used for.

For lunch, I decide that I’m going to have a ‘fry up’ as a birthday treat, so I head out to Tesco (for a change) and get a few bits and pieces for ‘me’. I end up buying ham, eggs, chips and beans as well as a baguette and a few doughnuts. Whilst in the store I also top up on items such as cream soda & sala syrup; tiger balm (for the ‘mossie’ bites) and I also get a mouse mat as I find using an external mouse easier than trackpoint devices.

On the way home, I also stop off to get a haircut and by the time I get home I’m feeling considerably better. I eat my ‘farang’ meal and then wash the dishes before settling down to watch “The Bourne Ultimatum”. Just after the film finishes, A returns home and we have a kiss and cuddle (in the bedroom away from Phil), but she breaks off as she has to get food ready early as I am going to be going out tonight.

After eating, it’s time to SSS and get myself off to Soi 8. When I arrive, the whole Soi is quiet. The bars in the Prince Hotel Complex have a total of 4 customers between them and on that basis, the Cherry Bar is ‘busy’ as it has one of them. Kurunda Bagman and LordFlash arrive and they both buy me a ‘birthday drink’ and there’s a ‘surprise’ visitor to the bar much to the amusement of them both.

We discuss the forthcoming Jade & Jomtein bar crawl which LordFlash says he’ll try to make and then the ‘Darkside’ trip for the following week. We discuss the venues on the ‘Darkside’ and I tell them that Hammer is dropping ‘Paradise’ from the list as it hasn’t really been a success in the past and nobody has had a favourable review when they’ve attended ‘alone’ either. We struggle to come up with an alternative until it’s suggested that we simply get a dozen girls together and a couple of crates of beer and make Kev’s place the new venue. (I don’t think that he’ll be too keen on this idea though.)

After a couple of drinks LordFlash leaves and it looks like it’s going to be a quiet night until the ‘larger than life’ character of Andursch arrives at the bar and his first action is to ring the bell and demand that as it’s my birthday I am required to have a tequila ‘chaser’ with my beer. After getting over this, he promptly rang the bell for a second time and not surprisingly the bar (and the girls) sprang to life.

Kurunda Bagman became the main photographer for the evening and should have some good pictures of the attendees (and a cheeky panty shot of one of the girls from Best Bar) A few guys from the GoGo bar crawl last week also turn up as does Geewiz (The little ‘hottie’ from the next door bar that we’d been admiring last Wednesday is also around and looking good again in a purple dress this time).

A third bell ring (and more tequila) did the damage and whilst I know that it was a great laugh, the short term memory took a pounding and as I write up this report, I once again have no recollection of how I got home, but as I woke up in my bed, I must have managed somehow.

How Hammer does this six nights a week is totally beyond me. It would kill me in two weeks let alone the two years that he’s been in operation.

Expenditure :

Drink for Aoy (I don’t know how it happened either) : 100 baht
Scooter Taxi : 150 baht (best estimate)
Toilet : 10 baht
Tesco : 466 baht
Haircut : 50 baht
Mama Allowance : 500 baht

Sunday 30 September 2007

Trip 4 - Day 52

September 30th

Today is the birthday of A’s nephew ‘Fim’, so there’s a family ‘do’ and the invite is not extended to me. I’m told that A will be staying over, so it’s a bit of a disappointment as she’s not going to be around tomorrow for my birthday and then in the evening I’ve got the first of five nights at the Cherry Bar as Hammer has gone off to Cambodia for a visa run and a bit of a holiday.

Once A leaves, I have a bite to eat and then go over to Kev’s place to take advantage of his swimming pool and his ADSL connection. Whilst there, I’ve also been asked to check the fridge as on a previous return, Kev was welcomed to the condo by a seven week old decomposed fish.

I get a scooter over to his place and the key to the gate works fine, but there is an outside grille to the door for which I don’t have a key. Not a major problem though as I just go next door and the landlady comes round and unlocks it for me.

The task for today is to get the remainder of my TR posted to blogger.com and whilst the task isn’t difficult, it is time consuming just changing the BBCode tags to html and doing a bit of basic editing for each entry and it ends up taking me several hours to get everything done, (I do break off to watch a bit of ‘footie’ on the box), however with ‘DMX Classic Rock’ playing in the background it’s not too bad.

Before leaving later in the evening, I do remember to check the fridge and it is just as well as I don’t think six week old milk would be a pleasant ‘welcome home’ treat for Kev. When I get back home, I feel quite lonely for the first time since I arrived and consider going out somewhere, but decide that I’ll just have a beer sitting outside and reading for a bit.

It’s going to be a strange week as I’m only going to see A for a couple of hours in the evening each night and that is going to be when Phil is around, so it’s not going to be a particularly intimate period, but it’s something that I’m going to have to put up with as there’s no way round it. Being out for one or two nights a week as I am at present should be fine, but every night on a regular basis would simply not work out.

By 23:00, I’m starting to nod off, so I call it a day, lock up and turn in.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi : 50 baht