Skygod in Pattaya

Still here

2011-05-29T18:21:00.002+07:00

Well folks, I'm still living in Pattaya and as I have reached 50, I've managed to get myself a 1 year Non Imm 'O-A' visa, so that's a fond farewell to all the bloody border runs to Laos and Cambodia.

It also means that my passport will not fill up so quick which is another benefit.

Money is still tight, but that was to be expected, however a small windfall from the UK has been enough to buy .5 Rai of land 'up country' and should have enough to get the basic structure erected (Walls / Roof / Plumbing / Electrics).

For those that are vaguely interested the location is on the road from Khok Kha Min to Non Ya Plong. (The middle of the field can be found at Latitude = 17.2080, Longitude = 101.8577)

Around 30km to the nearest Tesco, but one benefit is that there is a small airport at Loei with flights to Bangkok costing around 2,000 Baht (compared to 500 Baht and 11 hours on the bus).

September 2009

2009-09-05T15:38:00.002+07:00

I'm still here in Pattaya and am all official with Visa and Work Permit.

I gave up posting to this blog as there were too many instances of my past being used against me.

Trip 4 - Day 121

2007-12-08T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 8th Saturday

I get up and leave Nam a tip of 300 baht again which she makes no complaint about and she heads off back to see Mama and she’s definitely going to work tonight and I let her know that I won’t be at her bar as I am not planning to go out tonight.

There is a party on at the FLB tonight, that I had no intention of attending, however I am informed by Kev that my attendance is not optional; it is mandatory.

The first beer is bought for me by MM and I’m asked to check out his Camstreams Webcam. I check out all the settings and can find nothing wrong with his configuration, however there is no video stream being broadcast and I cannot determine what the fault is. I am reluctant to shut down the system completely as there are closed circuit recordings also running on the machine and I do not wish to jeopardise any mandatory recordings. (so sorry about that guys!)

When Kev arrives, he sends me another beer over and when I finally give up on getting the stream working tonight, I find that Green Malaka has also turned up. The party tonight is Sexy Secretaries, but I find that I am more interested in hostess Yok than the girls on stage. Tonight, Green Malaka and Kev take it in turns to ply me with beer and the night ends up with me quite drunk, so I simply head off home.

Expenditure :

Food 130
Tip 300
Scooter Taxi 160
Drink for Da 100

Trip 4 - Day 120

2007-12-07T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 7th Friday

The 07:30 waking has not been such a problem this week as I thought it might have been and it is actually quite a good feeling knowing that there is a purpose in getting up each day.

I leave with Nam still wrapped up in bed and realise that I have only a little money in my wallet, so can only leave a ‘tip’ of 300 baht. As I had no plans to barfine last night, I had not been to the bank.

I spend the afternoon visiting a few properties around Jomtien and then a trip out to Siam Gardens which is a development out by Maprachan Lake. For 6m baht it is quite impressive the amount of property that can be bought. (see website)

I get a call from BM Bryan saying that he’ll be in Noi’s Bar for a while this evening, so I end up getting a scooter taxi back to Khao Noi and have a few beers in the company of Bryan, Kolobos and the ever lovely Bow.

I am still very desirous of this girl, but as I have Nam waiting for me just 50 yards away, I decide that it is definitely time to leave instead. On the way home I stop off at the corner shop to get some more booze which myself and Nam proceed to consume during the evening whilst watching TV.

Expenditure :

Baht Bus - 20 baht
Scooter Taxi - 60 baht
Tukcom - 150 baht
Nois - 460 baht
Beer Whisky Ice Soda - 230 baht
Cigarettes - 48 baht

Trip 4 - Day 119

2007-12-06T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 6th Thursday

I have no idea what time I left the bar last night, but on the basis that I wake up at home with Nam at my side, something obviously happened, so just to make sure that it’s not a complete waste of money, I manage to find time for a ‘quickie’ before having to head off. This doesn’t let me off from a severe ‘earache bashing’ over not having my phone, so Nam couldn’t get in touch with me or for being ‘mau mak mak’ last night

Nam has also got up this morning as she’s going home to see Mama, so we leave together. She gets a scooter taxi, whilst I walk down to Klang.

Today, the Bar Crawl is an afternoon one in Soi 6 which I cannot attend, but I am able to meet the guys for a quick Coke in The Queen Vic before they all head off. This is when I am told by Volsfan that he had been at the Cherry Bar last night and whilst it hadn’t been particularly late, I had been pretty well smashed. Hammer overhears this conversation and says that at least I’m keeping up the Cherry Bar tradition.

On the way home in the evening, I finally get around to buying a new padlock for the front door, so now I’m reasonably safe from an unannounced visit from A and removal of everything in the house.

At 22:00, I get a call from Nam saying that she doesn’t want to work bar tonight and can she come round. I need to pay barfine and scooter which will cost me 400 baht. I just end up agreeing and 20 minutes later she arrives on a scooter. 100 baht for the scooter and 300 baht for the scooter rider to take back to the bar.

At least it’s not too late a night and I’m able to get a good nights sleep tonight.

Expenditure :

Tip - 500 baht
Bar Crawl - 40 baht (A coke in the Vic)
Baht Bus - 20 baht
Padlock - 120 baht
Barfine – 300 baht
Scooter Taxi – 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 118

2007-12-05T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 5th Wednesday

I wake up and Nam is still fast asleep and is still that way after I shower. Sense would dictate that I wake her and get her out of the house before I leave, but sense has not been one of my strengths out here and instead I end up giving her a set of keys to lock up when she leaves and I leave a ‘tip’ on the table with her bag.

I leave the house hat 08:00 and as I reach Sukhumvit highway, I realise that I have left my mobile at home. There’s no way that I’m walking back for it, so just decide to leave it where it is.
The day is spent continuing to appraise myself of procedures and starting to document how things are currently done as it is currently a word of mouth process which is not the way to do things in my opinion.

I have been asked if I can make myself available in the early evening to attend the launch party of the Paradise condo development in Jomtien Soi 7 which I attend with a couple of colleagues.

After the ‘bash’ at which each of us manages to demolish the best part of a bottle of Hardys ‘bubbly’, it’s time to finish up, so we make the decision to have a few beers, however it’s the Kings birthday today and many of the local bars are closed (including Country Roads and the We Are Number 1 GoGo). We end up in the Jomtien complex, but Fantasy Lounge is closed as well and we end up in El Coyotees which is in the process of being refurbished. Dire would be an understatement as to the quality of the staff working here tonight, so we leave and as there is nowhere else open, we head back into town as I need to be in Soi 8 for 20:00.

We park on Soi 7 opposite Amazing Paradise, so I see Nam sitting out the front of the bar and so I go to talk with her. The bar is not serving alcohol though, so we do not stay for a drink. I explain that it is Wednesday night and that I am working at the bar in Soi 8 tonight, but I will call in when I finish.

We walk round to Cherry Bar and the effects of the wine and the beer is already taking effect. It’s only 20:00 and I’m pissed already. MM turns up with his ‘wife’ as the FLB is closed for the night and later Volsfan turns up. (I don’t actually remember this until I’m reminded the next day.)

Expenditure :

Tip + Scooter Fare - 550 baht
Baht Bus - 10 baht
Scooter Taxi – 100 baht
Drinks – 210 baht

Trip 4 - Day 117

2007-12-04T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 4th Tuesday

The alarm goes off and I’m up and out the door at 08:00 once again and it feels good to have some ‘purpose’ once again. The day is spent determining how existing procedures operate and it is clear to me that there is much that can be done to automate and improve the internal processes, however with little in the way of technical expertise on hand, things will have to be taken slowly in order that full training and clear documentation can be provided.

The day passes quickly and it’s 18:00 before I finally leave. Instead of going home, I walk down to Soi 7 and settle myself down at the corner of the bar in Amazing Paradise.

Many of the girls come up and say hello and start giggling, but I’m not particularly bothered. After 30 minutes, I sense someone standing behind me and when I turn, it’s Nam. She sits with me for a while and explains that the “Big Boss” has been taken ill at the bar tonight and “he go to hospital”.

There’s a collection being taken by the girls to buy flowers and other gifts. From what I’m told, the collection is actually for gifts to Buddha to say prayers for the boss rather than for him directly. On the grounds that Nam has said that she doesn’t want a ladydrink, the 100 baht that she asks me to give as a donation on her behalf doesn’t seem to be too big an expenditure.

Whilst on my second beer, I’m told that I don’t need to pay big money in the morning if I pay barfine, so with such a deal on offer I pay checkbin including the barfine and we go for something to eat. I’m introduced to the food stall at the end of Soi 7 where we have a meal of chicken, noodles and soup with whole garlic and chillies as an accompaniment. It’s extremely tasty and very good value and we’ve also bought a large bag of chicken bones for 10 baht that Nam is going to take home for “My dog”

We get a scooter taxi to take us back to Khao Noi and after a bit of messing about on the sofa, we move into the bedroom and it’s a great finish to the first day of a new regime.

Expenditure :

Breakfast (Apple) - 10 baht
Baht Bus - 10 baht
Beers - 140 baht
Barfine - 300 baht
Food - 70 baht
Scooter Taxi - 140 baht
Donation for Amazing Paradise Big Boss - 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 116

2007-12-03T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 3rd

I am awoken by the phone ringing and it’s yet another unidentified number. I answer and am not surprised to hear Nam’s voice. She doesn’t sound pissed, but I cannot make out what she’s saying as the background noise is too high.

I try to make it clear that I cannot hear what is being said, but have no idea if the message gets across, however after about ten minutes Nam hangs up. I don’t know if she’s planning on coming round or not, so just in case, I unlock the front gate and turn on a porch light and then go back to bed.

Next thing I know it’s 07:30 and the alarm on my phone is going off. SSS and I’m off out at 08:00 and I take a walk to the end of Pattaya Klang to get a baht bus into town where I am going to spend the day working on a PC away from any distractions. This is my ‘plan’ for the coming months, so my blog is likely to become pretty boring and repetitive I’m afraid, however it really isn’t practical to keep up the lifestyle of the past couple of weeks and hope to stay long time in Pattaya.

It seems fairly likely to me that my evenings are going to be spent alone in the main as I don’t expect A will return and I don’t think I’ll see the money that she faithfully promised to repay. In addition, I ‘plan’ to spend a few nights a week completely off the booze, so we’ll have to see how that pans out.

The one thing that I have to do today is pay the electric bill as it looks like A isn’t going to be paying as promised. So 656.75 for electric and 285 for water are paid. I don’t know when I’ll get to see the landlord about the rent that is now due, but as they have A’s number as contact, maybe she’ll get in touch.

In the evening, I spend 55 baht on stall food of a green curry with rice and an omelette also I buy a fresh case of bottled water. I also get more top up for the phone as I’ve been sending many texts (which haven’t been replied to).

A finally deigns to call me at 21:45 to tell me that I need to telephone the landlord to arrange for the payment of the rent for the month. She also says that she has the money due to me and claims that she’ll come back for a few hours on number five (Wednesday) in the evening. To be frank, I will be very surprised if either of these ‘promises’ is kept.

Trying to get the Thai at the other end of the phone to understand took some doing until I said “Six thousand baht on number two. Near Soi Khao Noi”. This gets the “I send someone to see you now” answer and within five minutes the rent is paid.

Midnight to bed alone and sober once again.

Expenditure :

Baht bus – 20 baht
Telephone topup – 100 baht
Electric – 656.75 baht
Rent – 6000 baht
Water – 285 baht
Stall Food - 55 baht
Bottled water – 50 baht

Trip 4 - Day 115

2007-12-02T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 2nd

I am woken by my phone going off at 02:45 and once again it’s Nam. “How are you? I not like work tonight, too many farang watching football and I not like them. I want to finish work but boss says that I have to stay. If I want to go, he will cut my money. If you can give me 500 and money for taxi, I can come stay with you now”. I simply agree and I get out of bed to await her arrival.

Fifteen minutes later she’s in the house and is a bit pissed, but not ‘out of it’. The first thing that she realises is that she’s forgotten (or lost) her cigarettes and this is a major issue. She says that she is going to shower and asks if I can get her cigarettes. She goes to get the money and I say not to worry, I can buy them. I go to the local 7/11 and get cigarettes for 48 baht and I return home.

Nam is just coming out of the shower and she’s wrapped up in the towel, but when she sees me looking at her, she just undoes the tuck at the top and lets it fall to the floor and says “You fuck me now”. This seems to come out more as an order than an invitation, but either way, there’s no way that I’m going to refuse.

I can’t believe the muscle control that this girl has. Once I ‘finit’, she just refuses to release me and starts doing ‘exercises’ that keep me locked in tight. I have not encountered this before and it’s actually quite pleasant, however there is no way that I’m going to get ‘up’ for a second session, as I’m too tired now.

We cuddle up and grab a few hours sleep before having a wake up session that is deliberately taken at a very slow pace and seems to last forever. By 10:30 she says that it’s time for her to leave as she needs to see Mama and get some things done before going to work tonight.

She asks if I still like her and when I say that I do, she asks if I want to see her again. I say that it would be nice and she says “maybe you see me again in two weeks or next month”. If she seriously means it that having a break is best, I’d agree, but in the back of my mind, I am concerned that I might get some late night telephone calls or scooter taxis pulling up at the house unannounced. I guess that only time will tell.

At 13:00, I get a call from Alleycat to say goodbye. He’s phoning from passport control at Bangkok Airport and is returning to England along with DirtyDisco who is on the same flight. From our quick conversation, it sounds as though they both have some tales to tell of their latest forays to LoS.

Rather than buying stall food, I decide to cook for myself today, so it’s Pork Masman Curry. This is a coconut based curry with potato and peanut. A couple of tablespoons of fish sauce added at the end of the cooking and I am very pleased with the result. There’s enough to finish off tonight, so that’s food sorted for the day.

The rest of the day is spent very quietly as I am planning to get an early night as tomorrow marks the start of a new regime which will see me devoting my days to generating some income.

During the evening, I attempt several times to get in touch with A, but all to no avail. Drastic action is going to be required I fear, so I will be changing the locks on the house so that she cannot simply turn up when I’m not about and clear the place out. I’ve been there and done that once in LoS already and do not intend a reoccurrence.

By 22:00, I head off to bed and I’m asleep very quickly.

Expenditure :

Tip – 600 baht
Cigarettes – 48 baht
Phone Top Up – 50 baht

Trip 4 - Day 114

2007-12-01T23:59:00.000+07:00

December 1st

What’s that noise? It’s my phone going, so I grab it out of my trouser pocket and don’t recognise the number. I answer anyhow and it’s Nam. “You call me straight back”. I do so and she says that she cannot find ‘home me’. I don’t know the name of the side Soi that I live in, so cannot give instructions to her taxi driver. I pull on my jeans and a top and go out to Khao Noi. As I leave the bedroom, I realise that it’s only 06:15

I get one of the taxi drivers from my local stand to talk with the other rider and 30 seconds later Nam is getting off the scooter and paying the driver. She’s still wearing the same clothes as last night, so it’s obvious she hasn’t been home. She tells me that she went short time with someone called John but "him no good", however he has given her 1000 baht. I have no idea why she then decided to come round to see me, as she knows I have no spare money. I’m still half asleep and my head cannot fathom out why I let myself get into this particular scenario, but it is quite exciting and a complete leap of faith into the unknown.

We spend a couple of hours messing about until at 08:30, Nam decides that she has to sleep and she just wraps herself up into a cocoon of bedding and hardly moves for the next five hours. She then wakes and decides she’s hungry, so we walk out on the Soi and she buys a whole raft of stuff which we take back to the house to eat.

She’s still tired so she just heads off back to bed and says that she needs to leave at 16:00, as she has to take food home to Mama and to change her clothes ready for another night working in the bar.

As she gathers up her stuff, she says again that she is sorry about the other night and that I had wasted my money.

In the evening, I finish off the food that she bought earlier and whilst it is spicier than anything A tends to eat or prepare, it’s very enjoyable.

I have been trying to speak with A today to find out what is going on, but after ringing a couple of times her phone then comes up as ‘busy’. I send her a text and then call again 30 minutes later. No real surprise in that she’s not coming back tonight and says that she doesn’t know if she’ll be back tomorrow either.

Due to the early start this morning and the recent run of late nights, I decide to get an early night for a change and at around midnight, I call it a day and hit the sack.

It's been an extremely strange day, however it hasn't cost anything and has been most enjoybale.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 113

2007-11-30T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 30th

I’m being woken up and rolling over I see the stranger in my bed and it takes me a few minutes to remember the events of last night. I look at the clock to discover it’s just after 08:00. The little girl gets up and dresses and I think about managing a ‘quickie’ before she leaves, but I really don’t have the energy or desire, besides I think there was an element of beer goggles last night as she’s not as good looking as I thought she’d been last night. (To be fair, the picture doesn’t really do her justice.)

After she leaves, I go back to bed for a few more hours as tonight is to be another late one at Cherry Bar with an Addicts meet up.

I finally rise in the afternoon and cook myself a decent English Breakfast of Bacon, Eggs, Sausages, Fried Tomatoes and a Fried Slice. It may not be the best meal for the arteries, but it’s bloody tasty all the same.

Once I’ve eaten I feel a lot better and I watch a couple of DVD’s before deciding to go out early and see if I can meet up with Nam for a drink and a chat tonight.

By 18:00, I’m heading out and I’m welcomed by many of the staff at the bar. The Mamasan comes over to chat and check that everything is okay. Then I am aware of someone standing behind me; I turn around and it’s Nam. She sits down and we start talking. She says that she’s a bad girl and asks if I am angry with her about the other night. I say that I had been angry yesterday, but now that has passed. There is nothing I can do about, so there is little point in worrying. I say that I have to leave at 19:55 as I have to be at my friends bar for 20:00. I’m asked what I do there and I try to explain that I just talk to the farang that come to drink and try to answer any questions that they may have. She doesn’t really understand, however hard I try to explain.

She then goes on to tell me that she is trouble with ‘big boss’ because the other night when I left her, she hadn’t gone home, but returned to the bar instead. She then had a fight with the girl that I’d kissed, and the result was that she’s on a final warning and had to apologise to the other girl.

We finally come to an agreement that I’ll call in at the bar once I finish at Cherry Bar. I say that if the bar is busy, it will be about 04:00, but if it is quietr, then I may get away between 02:00 and 03:00. I think that everything is clear and settle my checkbin and make my way to Cherry Bar.

A few guys from the Addicts board arrive at the bar and Dudebrah has a girl with him who I recognise. He tells me that she’s one of the dancers in Oasis GoGo and he’d barfined her on the crawl last night.

The night is fairly quiet with long spells of their being no customers at the bar. The same situation can be seen in many of the surrounding bars, so high season for the bar owners still hasn’t ‘kicked in’

I suddenly see out of the corner of my eye a customer that I didn’t want to see. Nam is entering the bar; this is not good, so I quickly go over to chat with her and she says that she wants to go out and buy a new top to look sexy, so can I pay barfine for her. I do not want any sort of scene here, so just give her 300 baht and tell her that I’ll see her at her bar when I finish. She heads off and I get a few quizzical looks from the girls, but nothing is said.

Later in the night at just after midnight, I am chatting with one of the customers about West Ham United and listening to his stories of having a minicab firm that used to run a lot of the players around back in the late 1960’s, when Nam turns up again. She has a new top and she does indeed look very sexy, however I am busy and cannot spend any time with her. The guy I’m talking with buys her a drink though and she has a whiskey. It’s pretty obvious that she is fairly well pissed now and I am worried that she’ll start shouting like she did the other night. She tells me that she came to the bar to see if I had been telling her the truth and then she says “If you do this, then I think you not have much money”. I tell her that she is right and I don’t have much money. She then starts crying saying that I should have told her and that she is a bad girl because she made me spend money the other day for nothing and I’d paid barfine for today for no reason.

All I can do is tell her not to worry about it and I’ll see her when I finish. I reckon the bamboo telegraph is in full swing now, so I’ll just have to see who hears what about this episode.

At 02:00, business picks up a little and there’s a fairly busy hour where I talk with another boardie about what he’d done during the day. He’d had a good time in Sri Racha at the Assumpta schoold watching a football game and then having dinner and drinks with some of the teachers. By 03:00 though, there’s only two customers and they are both more interested in talking with their partners than me, so I say my goodbyes to the girls and make my way down the Soi.

When I get to Amazing Paradise, Joan informs me that Nam was mau and had gone home, which I could fully believe. She asks me if I want to take a different lady home and I decline the offer.

I get indoors and sit for a few minutes trying to make sense of everything that is happening, but it makes little sense, so I just switch the lights off and make my way to bed.

Expenditure :

Tip and scooter for LT – 1100 baht
Scooter Taxis – 150 baht
Drinks at Amazing Paradise – 400 baht
Barfine – 300 baht

Trip 4 - Day 112

2007-11-29T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 29th

I wake up and feel absolutely wretched. I obviously ‘screwed up’ big time last night and I really didn’t understand why it was such a big deal, but obviously it was.

Classic newbie mistakes made include paying for a ‘service’ in advance and not being able to get a refund. And having paid for a room that wasn’t then used also galls me somewhat, but for some reason, I still want to see this girl again. Maybe it’s something about a feisty girl that makes it different to the usual supplicant girls that are encountered on a daily basis.

I have a lazy day reflecting on what is going on at the moment. I try to call A, but she’s not even answering her phone now, so I guess that another relationship is now dead in the water. As it’s Thursday, tonight is FLB Bar Crawl night. I think about not bothering as I don’t feel in a particularly good mood, but in the end, I decide “What the hell?”

I walk to Klang and get the bus into town which takes me 30 minutes all told. Jump off at the lights by Topps and head down Soi 7 to Amazing Paradise. I don’t know if Nam will be working tonight and if she is, whether she’ll even talk to me. I sit up at the corner of the bar and have just a single bottle of Singha which I nurse for nearly an hour. I’m watching the football channels on the big screens and listening to the music whilst watching the girls arrive for the start of another night in Pattaya. By 19:30, Nam has not arrived, so I simply pay checkbin and leave.

I jump on a baht bus and head off to the FLB. Walking down Walking Street, I make a conscious effort to look at the people out and about. As many have commented before, there are a lot of Eastern European couples about, but they don’t seem to be in the bars which are all looking very quiet.

A couple of beers to start with and then we are off in 3 baht buses to Buffalo Bar. They are a bit overwhelmed by the number of guys suddenly turning up, but there are plenty of girls on hand to make the wait an enjoyable experience. As I was getting sat down, I’d seen a real cutie on the other side of the bar, and whilst I’m waiting for my drink, she’s suddenly at my side gently massaging my thigh. She is an extremely pretty little thing called Arun and I find out that she’s 22 years old and has only been in Pattaya for 8 days. Her English is extremely limited, but she gets the other girls to help her in translation.

All too soon, Hammer is shepherding us all up to move on to the next venue which is Oasis GoGo. We walk down Soi Lenkhee and glance at the bars along the way. Captains Bar is still looking a good venue with several good looking girls sitting around the tables outside. We have no time to stop though and it’s in to the GoGo. Kev has decided to start the crawl here and he’s actually been here for 30 minutes already. He’s got two little darlings sitting with him and he’s on one of his ‘mission’ nights I fear. He’s already at 2200 checkbin and the drinks are being ordered at a cracking pace. A couple more bottles for me and I realise that I haven’t eaten today, so I guess I’m going to be in a pretty bad way by the end of the night.

Next stop is a drink where you want hour in Soi LK Metro. LordFlash says that the last few times he’d been out thi sway, Storm Bar on the corner had a few pretty girls working, so that’s where we head, but the pickings are meagre this evening so we decide not to bother. So a decision has to made, Beer Bar, GoGo Bar or BJ Bar? GoGo bar it is, so three of us enter Gorkles (what is a gorkle?).

We sit up at the bar and whilst there aren’t many girls in the place, #14 does look particularly fine. Whilst drinking my beer, the Mamasan turns up at my side and thrusts a girl towards me. I am not happy with this approach, so decline the offer without having even looked at the girl. She’s huddled up in a baggy sweatshirt and doesn’t seem too interested anyhow.

The record finishes and a new girl appears on stage. It’s a little waif of a thing and now there’s no sweatshirt, just bra and panties and I am smitten. I guess I should have paid more attention earlier and taken the Mamasans advice.

After a few tracks, she finishes and when she comes off stage, I’m unsure whether she’s going to come my way, or having spurned her before, maybe she’ll go over to the couple of guys sitting on the other side of the stage who have also shown some keen interest.

I’m the lucky one and I have been granted a second chance, so I buy her a drink straight away and we take it from there.

Our hour is already up and we should be off to the bar complex in Soi Dianna, however we have made a decision to return at the end of the crawl. To ensure that we are going to commit to this plan, Kevin decides that he’s going to pay barfine for me for the little darling in payment for the IT work I’ve done for him he says. I don’t complain but for some reason I am a little hesitant.

We do the rounds of the bar complex and then a flying ‘in one door and out the other’ visit to Papagayo’s and we return to Gorkles. The little darling comes to join me and #14 who is dancing comes over to the stage and announces “Little sister me” and points to the girl I’m with. She then says “I 18, seeter me 16”. All sorts of alarm bells are going off in my head now and my mates are also suddenly paying attention. When she sees the look of shock on our faces, out comes the “I joking. I 20, sister 18”. I am still not sure though and I am unwilling to even be in this girls company until I know for sure that she’s of legal age. She goes off and gets her ID card which shows a birth date of 2532, and the picture does look similar to the girl I’m looking at. The Mamasan has also become involved by this stage and she also says that the girl is definitely 18, so we head off into the night on a scooter taxi and I’m at it again just taking a girl straight back to my home. I wonder whether I have some inner desire to be caught out by A or I am just too much of a thrill seeker hellbent on some trail of self destruction?

Whatever it may be, things are not particularly good or exciting as the girl is just that; a slightly nervous, timid little thing. And it doesn’t help matters that I’m pissed into the bargain.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi – 100 baht
Baht Bus – 40 baht
Bar Crawl – 955 baht

Trip 4 - Day 111

2007-11-28T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 28th

I get up and am feeling pretty lethargic. A light hangover doesn’t help matters either.

I have to go round to Kevs to investigate some problems he’s been having with his ‘net connection. When I get there, nothing can be done as he is in the middle of a power cut. After 10 minutes, the power returns and he tries to demonstrate the problem, but of course everything is working fine now. Unfortunately the quality of service for broadband connections doesn’t seem to be all it should be around Pattaya. Bandwidth is frequently throttled and connectivity to the DNS servers is often lost.

Whilst I am there, I install the soundcard drivers for the old Averatec laptop and start a new torrent download of McVicar which is Kev’s favourite movie.

Joy has gone out to get her hair done, so I have to wait for my lift home. We’re both checking out the boards for a while until Joy returns and gives me a lift home on the scooter.

I decide to start the night early at Amazing Paradise as I cannot get Nam out of my head and just want to see her again. I sit at the bar and at 19:00, Nam arrives and looks good in a black top and a long flowing skirt. We move over to the sofas next to the fishtank and in no time, she has me ‘hooked’. I say that I have to go to see my friends at Cherry Bar, but I can come back later if she wants. She tells me that she has been with “Man Hong Kong” for the past few days and she doesn’t know if he’ll be back again tonight. Our conversations are a little difficult at times as the language barrier stops us making things clear. Nam takes my telephone number and says that she will call me later to let me know, but if she does “go with man”, she says that he leaves early in the mornings, so she can come to see me at 08:00 in the morning.

At 20:30, I pay checkbin and make the short walk to the Cherry Bar. The Party is a fairly low key affair as a couple of the hosts have been partying hard since their arrival and another has had a few problems with his TGF. There has also been a run of 4 parties in the in the past week at the bar, so the girls aren’t really ‘into’ things. It’s still an enjoyable do though and I get bought a few drinks and have a laugh with both the girls and the customers.

It has to be said that the views in the bar beat anything that I could witness in Stansted in November.

TheFiend found a solution to getting over his girl problem and he seemed very happy with a ‘sprig’ of Mint.

Pun has managed to commandeer TalbotMan’s headwear

Gunshy has a message for all the hawkers that come by and hassle him

But for SparkyDave, tonight is his last in town for this trip, still he has the next two or three trips already lined up, so don’t feel too sorry for him.

I then find that I’ve had 3 missed calls from an unrecognised Thai number, so I assume that it’s Nam trying to get in touch. I call the number but simply get a voicemail announcement, so I am unsure what to do. I’m a bit pissed by now and come up with the bright idea that I’ll take Nam to the Penthouse Hotel and ‘sod the expense’.

I borrow 2000 baht from Kevin and after thanking the party hosts, I leave the party and go back to Amazing Paradise. Nam isn’t there so I just sit at the bar and talk with one of the other girls. When Nam arrives, I kiss the girl on the cheek and I leave her so that I can be with Nam.

We leave the bar and get a scooter taxi down to Soi Pattayaland and they have a room, so after paying we wait whilst the key is collected for us. As I’ve got my wallet out, I commit a typical newbie mistake and give ‘tip’ in advance. The key is given to me and we head up to our room and I’m feeling like a cat that’s got the cream.

Now as we all know, when everything is going well, Pattaya has a knack simply ‘sticking the boot in’ and tonight is no exception. Nam goes ‘into one’ and starts screaming at me “Why you kiss other lady in my bar? You want to fuck her like you fuck me? Well fuck you, you full of bullshit”. I try to calm her down and this has the opposite effect and she becomes angrier. This is a situation that I haven’t encountered before and I don’t know how to handle it at all. It’s now obvious that nothing good is going to happen tonight, so I simply cut my losses and we leave the unused room and checkout.

As a final 'stoopid' thing to do, I still end up giving Nam 100 baht for her scooter taxi home. I’ve survived the ordeal unscathed and the only damage inflicted has been to my ego.

I get home and just collapse on to the bed.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxis – 250
Barfine – 300
Tip & Taxi – 1100
Hotel – 1300
Drinks – 430

Trip 4 - Day 110

2007-11-27T23:59:00.001+07:00

November 27th

I’m up and about by 10:30, but before I can have any breakfast, I have to make a quick trip to 7/11 to get Coke, Butter, Bread & a phone top up. Rather than buying eggs in 7/11, I buy them from one of the local shops where they are 25% cheaper.

Toast & marmalade with a mug of tea and then I decide to tidy the house and do a bit of ironing. After my chores are completed, I check up on my emails.

This afternoon I’m meeting with Kevin at 16:00 as he’s arranged for a few guys to visit Black Pearl 2 and Dao Bar. I speak with him on the phone at 15:30 and he is already at Noi’s, so I hang up and in less than 5 minutes I’m sitting with him at the bar with a cold Chang and shortly afterwards we’re joined by a ‘hot’ Bow.

By 17:00, nobody else has turned up, so just the two of us make the journey out to Black Pearl 2 and it was a big letdown. There were only 2 or 3 girls there and they didn’t seem to be particularly interested, so we made a quick decision to drink up and head back to Dao bar.

When we walked in the door, we instantly recognised a fellow BM (The Assasin) and he came over to join us for a chat and we were later joined by another BM called Bob. I had no intention of getting up to any real mischief today, but one of the older ladies seemed determined that I was going to be her prey. My hands were firmly placed in all the places guaranteed to get me interested and once she was sure that she had my full attention, she made sure that I was going to keep it, as she removed her thong and bra in full view of everyone in the bar.

She won out and I had to relent. I paid bar, but we couldn’t get to a room just yet as they were all ‘in use’, so we ordered up another drink and a few minutes later a room became available.

For an older lady with two children, she had a pretty good figure and after a very nice BBBJ to get me fully aroused we had an energetic romp together in which she managed to get me to ‘finit’ twice, so it was a satisfying enough afternoon in the end, but nothing really memorable.

After showering, we head back to the bar, but everyone has gone, so I take a walk down the Soi to Noi’s bar and after chatting with the guys there I realise that in the space of just twenty minutes I have already forgotten her name.

I have a few more beers before settling up; buying some supper and heading home.

Expenditure :

Barfine & ST – 1000 baht
Drinks – 350 baht
Stall Food – 30 baht

Trip 4 - Day 109

2007-11-26T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 26th

I don’t sleep very well and am wide awake by 08:00, so I get up and just have a mug of tea as I feel too ‘churned up’ to eat. I’m thinking about A and where we go from here and to be honest, the outlook isn’t particularly bright. I also reflect on my past ‘failures’ in Pattaya and in England. I don’t really understand why it’s not working out with A as we had previously agreed that it was a mutual benefit arrangement that we had. I would pay the rent, an allowance for Mama and food when we ate together. A would pay for utilities and her own food when out to work.

We would both have somewhere to live and we had spent enough time together to know that we liked each other enough to enjoy sharing a bed. I also agreed to do a number of the household chores such as cleaning and laundry, whilst A was to do the ironing.

The reality over the past few weeks has been that A has done very little. We have had very little time together and what private time we have had has been limited to a couple of furtive short time sessions or quickies in the early hours of the morning before going to work. In the longer term, this is just not going to work out and I know A is more than aware of this as well. She told me that it is one of the reasons that she wants to change job “So I can come home and I can take care you every day”, but now I don’t trust her as implicitly as I had in the past. I truly hope that she gets things sorted out and that she will call me to say that she has the money for me, however in my heart I already strongly doubt it.

Whilst thinking about the ladies and the girls of Pattaya, I cannot help but reflect on my recent couple of nights with Nam. There is no denying that she was wild and that I had a great time, but I also know that there is no way that I could ever see myself just sitting and chatting with her as a girlfriend. I do find that I can actually recollect many snippets of the conversations that we had even though I don’t remember a lot of talking taking place.

One thing she did say is that she wanted to have sex in front of a big mirror, so I log onto the boards and make a posting asking for any recommendations as to where to go, as my curiosity has got the better of me and I want to see if she can be even wilder than before. I also remember her talking in Italian at times as well as French and a bit of German. I then remember a little more about the “I not know word English, but same horny” conversation. She said “amore” and I replied “love”. She said “Not ti amo; amore. Is different”. My Italian is non existent, so I try and get a meaning by searching the ‘net and I think the meaning for amore is ‘with love’ and ti amo being I love you. (I’d appreciate if anyone is able to shed any further light on this for me)

By 15:00, I’m feeling quite hungry, so I head out to get a simple dish of chicken and rice with a bag of ‘soup’ as it’s both easier and cheaper buying as required from the stalls than it is to buy in ingredients and cook at home (unless cooking farang food).

I decide to take a few photos of the condition of the road to show how crazy the traffic conditions are out here. They started excavating at the end of last week and the road is technically 'closed'

And looking at the road surface it's possible to see why...

But that doesn’t deter anyone from carrying on as normal

The excavation has moved on from when I last checked on Saturday night

And by with these additional 'hazards', watching the traffic drive by whilst having a beer at Noi’s will be much more interesting

The Soi is a complete mess and there is no way that it would be used for traffic in the West.

I get a call from Kevin asking if I’m going to attend the party at FLB tonight, but I decline the offer as I’m not feeling particularly happy today and I would only end up drinking too much; spending too much and either end up doing something stupid or just feeling sorry for myself, so I decide that I am going to stay in and have a quiet, sensible, cheap night.

Finally I get a call from A and she says that she has spoken to ‘boss new’ about the money she says is due to her and she tells me that it will be in the bank on Number 28. I ask her if she is sure that it will be there and I get a “I not lie. Why you think I lie to you?” I say that I am scared she will not pay and that the other money that she is due to repay in six weeks will also not be paid. (Her savings account requires 90 days notice she told me). We finish the call and I know that it will take a lot to recover from here; we will just have to take it one step at a time, but I shall leave the decision to her.

Just me, the TV and a single bottle of Chang and I go to bed just after midnight.

Expenditure :

Stall Food – 50 baht

Trip 4 - Day 108

2007-11-25T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 25th

I don’t surface until lunchtime and feel much refreshed. I get up and make myself a cup of tea and as I start to drink it, A arrives home. There’s a smile on her face, so that pleases me as it’s something that hasn’t been there for far too long.

She comes and sits next to me and I check with her that Phil is okay. She says that he is now staying with ‘seeter’ as it is easier for school.

A tells me that she wants to change job from shop as “have new boss” and “I no like”. This is also one of the reasons that Phil has moved out I discover. ‘New boss’ told A that she couldn’t have a break in the afternoon to collect Phil from school. I then get a ‘story’ about going for a new job selling in shop, but “need to have guarantee”.

I don’t really understand what is being said until the request for money is made. (I have deliberately kept our financial transactions out of the TR as it is no business except ours) I tell her that I cannot help out and indeed she is due to return a loan to me tomorrow ( “Number 26” ). She asks again if I can help her and I tell her I cannot. At this point the smile disappears and we are both now annoyed with the other. A gets on the phone to ‘the family’ and then we sit in stony silence whilst she watches TV.

She receives several calls and by 19:00 she says that she has to go as she needs to see family to get money. I remind her about ‘Number 26’ and she says she will call me tomorrow.

After she leaves, I head out and buy Pork Panang from the nearest stall and return to eat alone with a single bottle of beer. Getting to sleep takes a long time as there is much to think about.

Expenditure :
Stall food – 25 baht

Trip 4 - Day 107

2007-11-24T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 24th

With only 2 hours sleep until we check out at 08:40, I’m not feeling particularly bright. Nam is quite sad this morning and tells me that I do some things that make her feel “I not know word English, but same horny”.

To be honest, I don’t think my body could take another night at this pace without a breather. Without a shadow of a doubt, I’ve had the best two nights of intense and adventurous sex that I’ve ever had in my life.

We talk about this after we’re dressed and Nam confesses to me that last night in the bar she had ‘accident’ and made “big water” which is why she had to go and change at one point. Even if it is all lies, my ego has had a bloody good boost over the past couple of days.

There are no pictures of Nam, as she wouldn’t let any be taken; even in the bar. I have one ‘half shot’ that I can remember her by in the future, however I will most definitely see her in the bar again and will ask her once more.

We separate at the entrance to the apartments and Nam goes one way whilst I go the other. I say that I will definitely pop in sometimes to see her again, however I suspect that if A continues to be away for 5 or 6 days at a time then some repeats of last nights activities could well be on the cards.

I get home just after 09:30 as I don’t know what time A is going to return. As it happens, she calls me at 11:55 to let me know that she’ll be back at around 18:00. She actually sounds quite happy for a change, so it will be interesting to hear about the developments on the Phil front. I say that maybe we could take a wander down to the beach tonight to see the Loy Krathong festivities, but I just get a “Maybe” in response.

I spend the day doing laundry and getting my Report written up.

During the late afternoon, I’m just waiting for the call from A to say that she isn’t coming back and I am getting fairly aggrieved about this situation now. I know that I’ve been out seeing other ladies, but there is no point in being in Pattaya and being celibate unless it’s your lifestyle choice and it is most certainly not mine.

Sure enough the call comes through at 18:00 and what annoys me most isn’t that A isn’t coming back, but if I’d only known it this morning, I could have spent an extra three hours with Nam as we had use of the room until 12:00. A then says that she knows she has not been home for a long time and says “I know you want, so is okay you go with lady tonight”. I tell her that I will not be going into Pattaya tonight on my own, I’ll just go to Noi’s bar for a few beers instead.

I am at a loose end as to what to do tonight now. The ‘plan’ was to go into town and watch the Loy Krathong festivities with A, but somehow it doesn’t feel right to go on my own. I log on to the ‘net and check the webcam at Noi’s. It’s very quiet in the bar and the guys on the chat are a little bit bored as well, so I say that I’ll take my laptop along to the bar and login again from there.

To get to the bar is a bit of a trek at the moment, as I had to negotiate my way around the latest roadworks taking place on the Soi.

What gets me is that the cars just carry on as normal.

The pics don't show how bad the surface really is, so here are a couple of pics taken on Friday morning.

I arrive and sit at the table and once I connect to the Webcam, the girls all swarm around the PC. They are reading the chat as it’s written and when they respond, I type in what they say. It’s a bit of fun and the girls seem to enjoy whiling away a bit of time as well. The beers taste good and I’m buying too many LD’s for Bow, but I am enjoying the relaxed company and do not mind the expense.

I was asked to take pictures of the bar and the girls by the guys who were online, so here you go...

First is the bar and pool room which is where you see the girls 'disappearing' to on the right hand side of the webcam

And to the right of the pool room (looking at the bar from the road) is the lounge bar which is home to the Wii and has been known to be used for a bit of general 'messing about' and sometimes home to a 'friendly' game of cards.

It was a very quiet night as Kolobos was 'laid up' with some bug and many of the girls were off doing their 'Buddha' thing for Loy Krathong, but we had 'lady in green dress'; 'lady in white dress'; 'lady at side with legs' and YaYa. The online guys kept the language clean and the girls had a laugh. I was the centre of all the attention (well my laptop was), so it was good for me too.

'Lady in green dress', Bow and 'Lady in White dress'

'Lady in green dress' and Bow

'Lady at side with legs' (and the two "hansum men" in the background)

The legs in question

and of course the ebullient YaYa

Now whatever it might have looked like on the Webcam, I can assure you that YaYa was NOT giving me a blowjob. She was just kneeling with her head in that position so that she could see the screen on my laptop. My time and baht at Noi's bar are invariably spent with Bow who was looking lovely as ever.

After a couple of hours, I’m happily pissed, so I pay checkbin, then cross the road to buy my supper. After eating, I go straight to bed to get some much needed sleep.

In the end it had been a fun night :D

Expenditure :

Tip – 1000 baht
Sccoter Taxi – 60 baht
Noi’s Bar – 600 baht
Stall food – 30 baht

Trip 4 - Day 106

2007-11-23T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 23rd

I wake at just past 10:00 and stretch out an arm to touch Nam, but she’s having none of it. She’s sleeping and obviously intends to continue sleeping.

It’s just past noon when she finally wakes and after showering and dressing, we have a little kiss & cuddle but there’s no repeat of last night as she says she has to “go home, eat, talk with old lady, joke with baby she, have beer and go back to bar.

I’ve already decided that I am very interested in a ‘second helping’, so ask if it is okay for me to come to the bar and pay barfine again tonight. I also say that we will go to a hotel and not come ‘home me’. She is okay with this and whilst it might kill me, it would be a damn good way to go.

At 17:15, I get a text from Kevin inviting me to join himself, Lord Flash and possibly The Fiend tonight. I send a message back saying that I had an ‘appointment’ and ever the true romantic, Kevin sends me back :

“Fuck early! When shag fest is over pm me. Can meet then. I will be Soi 6 or Walking”

I get to the bar just before 19:00 and am there when Nam arrives. She says “Sorry I have to go do something and change shirt” and after putting her nametag and ID card on the bar in front of me, she heads off to a parlour to get made up.

When she returns, she looks great, however she is unhappy about the eyeliner and too much powder, so starts modifying the effect immediately. The Mamasan even comes over and gives Nam a full up and down look and says. “Good. Very good. Better for you; better for me”, so I guess that’s a compliment.

We leave the bar to go somewhere else for a while and end up in the complex on Beach Road with the boxing and Blue Lagoon GoGo at the back. We’re in the bar at the front on the right hand side and Nam knows who I assume to be the manager here. The two of them play the dice game with the lowest score winning and double for a jackpot. The end result is that Nam loses 40 baht (Well, to be fair she loses 40 of my baht).

We then return to Amazing Paradise for an early nightcap and by 00:15, we eventually end up at a place that Nam knows called Deeden Apartments on Soi Khopai near the junction with Soi 8.

We pull up and the bored looking guy at the reception area simply asks "How long" Nam tells him we want all night and after parting with 350 baht we're shown to a basic but functional room with TV and en-suite. A can of Singha is ordered from the guy that shows us to our room and this costs an extra 40 baht.

Expenditure :

Tip & money for scooter taxi – 1100 baht
Scooter Taxis – 500 baht
Barfine – 300 baht
Drinks for two – 1330 baht
Deeden Apartment – 390 baht

Trip 4 - Day 105

2007-11-22T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 22nd

A thumper of a hangover is not the most pleasant way to start the day, but ‘Som Num Na’. Everything seems to take an age to get done and after showering I just end up sitting on the sofa with a towel wrapped around me trying to get rid of my headache.

At 11:45, I’m surprised to hear A arriving home on her scooter. She is very quiet and there is obviously something wrong but she says she doesn’t want to talk. She wants me to get dressed, so she hasn’t returned for any ‘hanky panky’. Once dressed, I try to get more information and from what I can gather, she’s looking to change her daytime job as she’s only being offered basic hours now which reduces her income. She says that she is “tired too much” having to take Phil to and from school (It’s also affected her day job in that she has to leave early to collect Phil from school).

At 13:00, ‘seeter’ then turns up with Mama and I have no idea what is going on. All three of them proceed to gather up Phils ‘gear’ and I’m told that Phil is now going to live with Auntie.

I ask A why and what is happening. I simply get “I not want to talk because if I talk I sad”. This isn’t helping matters and I try to determine if it’s my fault “You ‘angly’ with me or something I have done?” which solicits the response “Is not you, but I tell you before I not want to talk. I not want to be sad more. You want me cry?”

They all then mount up on the over burdened scooters and set off. A announces “I see you Saturday okay?”, which isn’t really, but once again “What can I do?”

The timetable for tonight is a bit rushed, but I should manage. A couple of very swift beers with Kevin at Noi’s Bar at 19:30 (where I’m once again tempted by the girl that I sit with every time I’m in the bar) and then a scooter taxi to Beach Road to the Shami restaurant for which should be for 20:00 but I get there at 20:10. It’s the birthday of Nikki (Daughter of Robin & Kye – our old neighbours from #2) which I am supposed to be at with A. Kye knows that A is away, but Robin has called me earlier to check that I was still coming albeit alone. I feel that it would be very poor if I was a no show after confirming.

It’s a small gathering of mainly family and work colleagues in the room above the main restaurant. I’m made very welcome and it has to be said, the food was bloody good (Chicken Curry; Vegetable curry; Samosas; Pilau Rice and Chapatis) and washing it down with a few glasses of 100 Pipers & Soda worked just fine.

I end up staying until 21:15 which makes me late to meet up with Bryan at Party Bar on Soi 8 as the meet up time is 21:00. I guess that they will be there a while though, so take the opportunity to pop into one of my favourite bars on Soi 7 which is Amazing Paradise. I take a seat on the right hand corner of the bar in front of the dancers and just order a Coke.

After a couple of sips from the bottle, I feel my neck being massaged very firmly yet tenderly. I turn to see who is providing me with this service and whilst not a stunner there was a certain ‘something’ that I found very attractive, so I let her continue to do ‘her thing’. I had finger pulling; hand bending; hair ‘scrunching’ eyelid massage and several other techniques that I hadn’t undergone before, but were very pleasant.

I ask if my companion would like a drink and she just asks me “Why you want to buy me drink?”. This takes me unawares as I’m pretty much used to the “Thank you” and sometimes a little wai. I say I’ll buy a drink to pay for her time, but if she doesn’t want a drink then it’s up to her.

She does take a drink (Bottle of Singha) and suggests that we move over to one of the sofas in front of the fish tank which I readily agree to and she gets a cold towel and an ice cube from the bar whilst I carry the drinks and checkbin. I then get a massage that takes 20 minutes and includes having my feet, legs, arms, hands, neck and scalp all treated to a confident and competent pair of hands.

I try to kiss her, but she’s having none of it and says that she doesn’t like farang kiss and she imitates a quick pecking kissing motion. She says that she likes to kiss slowly and she moves her head close to mine and then says “Don’t do anything. Don’t move”. She gives me more of a suck than a kiss and her tongue is probing between my lips and at this point any thoughts of leaving to join Bryan and the guys goes right out the window.

I then try to find out her name and she says “Not matter. You notice I not ask you ‘What Your Name; Where You Come From’ bullshit because when you go I not remember anyhow” Her nametag for the bar says Numyai, but I later find that her name is actually Nam, however she couldn’t use that name as there were already 4 other Nams working in the bar.

We have another drink and the ‘snogging’ becomes very intense. I am a willing partner, however I do feel a little self conscious when we break off and find that several of the girls as well as one of the ladyboys and the Mamasan are all watching us. Nam explains that she never kisses customers and only gives massage, so the girls in the bar are surprised and that’s why they are looking.

She takes my hand and leads me the stools towards the back left of the bar and we continue in a little less of the ’public eye’ than before, but Nam is still self conscious. She gives in and we move back to the sofa, but rather this time I’m treated to another face, neck and head massage.

By 12:45, I’m unsure of where we go from here. I have insufficient money on me for a hotel let alone tip. I call for checkbin and am asked if I pay barfine. I say I cannot but will return tomorrow. This is not taken well by Nam and to try and prove my point, I give her 300 baht and say that it’s for the barfine tomorrow to show that I meant what I was saying.

“I not want your money” and the notes are thrown back in my lap. I am confused and annoyed with myself for upsetting her so much. I end up giving her the money back and saying “Okay. I pay barfine for tonight”

As we leave the bar, Nam says that all she wants to do is walk along the beach, so that’s no problem and we go and sit at the waters edge and chat for over 30 minutes. I admit to having a girl that I’m living with and that I am in a house in East Pattaya and not a hotel. It’s no problem as I’m told “Me and you no boomsing. Just massage and kiss”. I convince myself that this would be okay as there’d be no actual ‘sex’.

We head back along Soi 7 past Amazing Paradise and there are plenty of cat calls from the girls out front, but we manage to get past and I ask Nam where she wants to go. “My bar open 24 hours, but many closed now” It crosses my mind that Cherry Bar would be open, however I manage to dismiss this thought very quickly. Instead, we go to Party Bar (Bryan had obviously left by this point) for a couple of drinks where Nam is dancing in a very suggestive manner and the thoughts of not having boomsing are becoming a non starter and I try to explain to Nam that it would be best if I just gave her money for taxi and she went home.

Suffice to say, this was not the right thing to say and I receive a lecture on how farang are liars which I cannot really argue against. She’s got me beaten, so I end up on a deathwish. At 03:30, we’re three up on a scooter taxi back to Soi Khao Noi and I still haven’t got a real idea of what to expect.

We get inside and once the curtains are drawn things get a little lively. I’m stripped by Nam very quickly and at least a BJ is on the menu, but not to completion as she then goes off to have a shower.

When she returns, she is naked and although the belly isn’t totally ‘flat’ it’s a pretty good sight all the same. What came next took me totally by surprise; the “no boomsing” was completely out of the window and she was insatiable. After an hour or so of utilising just about every piece of furniture and several of the walls for support, we finally move into the bedroom and the sexual athletics continue. This lady has great muscle control and she amazes me with the short time it takes her to get me recovered between bouts.

Finally at 06:45, she has had enough and just announces “I sleep now” and I am so shattered that I am asleep within just a few minutes.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxis – 200 baht
Amazing Paradise – 880 baht (inc 300 baht barfine)
Party Bar – 340 baht
Cigarettes – 45 baht
Lost at Connect 4 – 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 104

2007-11-21T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 21st

We are woken by Phil calling out at 04:30, so A gets up and goes to settle him down. It’s the first night that she’s stayed over for more than a week and she’s incapacitated and not in our bed. I’m not happy with the situation and nor is A and I know that we cannot continue like this.

I hear her get up at 06:00 and after showering and providing breakfast she’s off again. I know that I shall not see her tonight as I am at Cherry Bar and it’s going to be a late one as there is the England game on at 03:00.

I grab a few more hours of sleep and after getting up, I make a phone call to the bacon shop and they have bacon ‘pieces’ in stock. I walk down Soi Khao Noi to the shop and get my bag of bacon as well as half a kilo of sausages. The ‘usual’ lady wasn’t there today, so there was no ‘banter’ today and I just paid and headed back with a quick detour into 7/11 for more Coke and a loaf of bread.

Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, Tomato & toast for lunch followed by a nap and then a couple of hours on the ‘net and then it’s time to iron my shirt and get myself ready.

I walk down the top end of Soi 7 and cut through to Soi 8 at the Pig & Whistle before wandering down Soi 8 and the whole area seems bereft of customers. Approaching the Cherry Bar things are very quiet as well. Two guys then arrive and sit out front. They call me over and introduce themselves as Nohlsson1 & Gunshy. They are at the bar to pay their money for the FLB Bar Crawl tomorrow. I get that sorted and then sit with them and I find that it’s Day 1 of their first trip. They buy me a couple of drinks (Cheers guys) and I give them instructions on how to use the baht bus to get down to Walking Street as they want to go and see Keeper at the FLB to pay for their party that they are hosting. Whilst we’re talking, Kevin wanders along and as he’s also going to Walking Street, I ask him to help the guys out. (From what I heard later, it seems that they had a pretty good first night taking in Sisterz, FLB and a couple of barfines out of Angelwitch.)

When they leave, the bar returns to its quiet state until another guy turns up and says he recognises me from the Cherry Bar website. He’s a poster on Thaigers rather than Talk or Addicts, so I don’t know of him, however we know a number of people in common such as Rixkix & Alleycat. (Another beer is bought for me which I also appreciate). Next to arrive at the bar is Streamer from Sweden. It’s also his first night in town and he’s here to pay for the Ban Chang outing as well. (He also buys me a couple of beers so I’m having a pretty good night.)

The night continues; the beers keep slipping down and I end up buying yet another Ladydrink for Mint, but what the heck? 03:00 arrives and the TV’s are switched over to watch the football and when the 3rd goal is conceded, everyone knows that it’s all over for England and they will not be participating in Euro 2008.

I’m not sure what the time was when I finally left the bar but at least I made it and I woke up alone, so didn’t do anything too stupid I guess.

Expenditure :

Bacon & Sausages – 140 baht
Bread & Coke – 64 baht
Scooter Taxis – 150 baht
Ladydrink for Mint – 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 103

2007-11-20T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 20th

I awake at 10:30 and see Joy sleeping next to me and the memories of last night come flooding back. It has to be said that I felt little shame and it was another hour before I was getting up to have a shower.

I left the money for Joy on her bag which disappeared quite discreetly whilst she was dressing and then handed her another 100 baht note “For taxi”. She thanked me and then I let her out of the house and watched her disappear down the Soi probably never to be seen again.

A sniff of the pillowcases was enough for me to realise that I was going to have another marathon clean up, so the duvet went through the wash as did the sheets, pillowcases and the clothes that I’d been wearing the previous night. Mop the floor and a good dousing of air freshener and the place was ‘as new’.

All this activity took me some time and I went out for some food. Feeling ever more confident, I ventured to a different cart and after lifting the lids on the many big pots of food, chose a chicken panang along with 5 baht of rice. I had also told A that I would get the ‘Buddha’ items for her, so I buy two apples; a kilo of oranges; 4 garlands & 4 bottles of Red Fanta.

After eating, I have a quick nap and then read for a little bit when I am disturbed by the ’toot’ of the bike and A has returned (with Phil). She is in obvious pain when walking and just heads indoors and crashes out on the sofa. She says that she couldn’t sleep last night as her foot hurt so much, but then she sits up and insists on going out to get food.

She returns and we all eat, but she is in a lot of distress. She’s also left the gauze dressing at Aunties, so she asks me if I could go to the pharmacy for her. She writes out a shopping list and I go for the various items.

Ibuprofen; Antibiotics; Gauze; Tape & Hydrogen Peroxide.

When I get back, she removes the old dressing and I can see her foot starting to bruising in several places and a nasty looking ‘hole’ in her foot with a nasty looking discharge.

She applies the Hydrogen Peroxide to clean the wound thoroughly and is reduced to tears whilst she carries out this task. By 20:45, she says that she is tired and so she gets Phil ready for bed and they both crash out whilst I clear away the remnants of dinner.

By 21:30, A calls out for me and when I go in to see her, she’s laying in bed and her face is streaked with tears. She is in pain and she cannot sleep and I feel pretty helpless. The best I can offer is a Vallium to assist in getting her to sleep. She takes a 5mg tablet and I sit with her for 20 minutes as she finally dozes off.

At 22:00, I get a call from Hammer asking if I’m coming to the Cherry Bar party that’s taking place and I try to explain why I need to ‘cry off’, but it’s so noisy that I don’t know if Eric or Hammer heard why I couldn’t come out.

Expenditure :

Short time – 1000 baht + 100 baht for taxi
Stall Food lunch – 35 baht
Stall Food Evening – 70 baht
Pharmacy – 115 baht
Buddha ‘stuff’ – 136 baht

Trip 4 - Day 102

2007-11-19T23:59:00.001+07:00

November 19th

A quiet morning; just tea and toast before reading up on any common configuration issues with MSN Messenger. The reason for doing this is that I’ve been sent a message by Volsfan asking me to go and sort out a problem on the PC in his condo. He is currently in Hong Kong and will be returning to China for another couple of weeks and he wants to keep in contact with Joy and his daughter in Pattaya. At 12:45, I set off for his place after getting the scooter taxi driver to talk directly to Joy first.

The problem is that Messenger insists that an upgrade be installed before Messenger will operate. The wireless connection at his condo is very poor and when Joy tried to do the upgrade by clicking ‘Yes’, it would often timeout and fail to upgrade.

I downloaded the msi package directly from Microsoft which took in excess of 1 hour for the 19Mb file and then installed it satisfactorily. I spoke with Volsfan in Hong Kong and we then got the Webcam working as well, so everyone was happy.

Whilst out, I had also received a call from Kevin saying that his broadband had failed once again, however when the fault was logged with Maxnet, they informed him that the line was fine. I said that I’d come over once I’d finished the job I was currently doing.

When I get to Kevins, I determine that the Wireless router configuration had not been saved by the Maxnet engineers earlier in the week and the ADSL logon name was now showing simply as ‘usrename’. As we didn’t relish the idea of trying to explain to Joy to speak with the engineers to get a new password, the first plan of action was to try and return the configuration to the way it had been working before (i.e Having the wireless router acting simply as a switch and using the Prestige Ethernet router.

This was a success and I stayed for an hour and a half to check that everything was working and stable.

Kevin has had his staples removed today and he’s been told that his next appointment is for the 18th December, so it looks as though he’s not going to get back to Iraq in time to let anyone leave to be home for Christmas.

Kevins Joy then gave me a lift home on the scooter, so that I would be there for the return of A.

At 17:05, A calls and tells me that she has had an accident and has had to go to hospital. I immediately envisage a mangled scooter and am actually relieved when she tells me that she has been bitten on the foot by a dog whilst she was waiting for Phil to come out of school. She’s been to hospital and had a shot (I don’t know what though), but she ‘hurt everywhere’ and will not be returning to Pattaya today.

To be honest, I’m unsure as to whether she’s telling the truth, but I know that there is little point in saying anything as she’s unlikely to change her mind and if I insist that she comes home, she’ll only be angry so I say that I’ll see her tomorrow instead.

As I hang up, my phone immediately bleeps with an SMS message received. It’s an announcement that I’ve missed a call from Alleycat, so I call him back and he asks what I’m doing tonight. I tell him that I have nothing planned now and he says that’s good and he insists that I come out with him and a few of the ‘lads’ for a night out. He also insists that it’s his treat and whilst I feel a bit of a ‘ponce’, I do look forward to meeting up with all the guys in town.

It’s a short notice invite and I’m told to be at the Cherry Restaurant on 3rd Road (opposite eXcyte nightclub) for 18:00. I just have time to SSS and rush out to get a scooter taxi to arrive on time.

There’s Alleycat, Bryan, DiscoCol, Seanie and a guy called Bruno whose boardname I forget. The meal is excellent and I strongly recommend the place to everyone. The food is mouthwatering and the presentation is beautiful. I have Beef Stroganoff followed by Cherry Tart and I could not fault it.

The next port of call is the Boxing Roo just a short walk along 3rd Road. Tonight is the wedding party of Eric and Lai (cashier at Cherry Bar) and as we enter the Bar, there are many very well known faces already there. Kev & Joy; Sparkydave & Porn; gs_joe & Wee, Hammer as well as Ning, Nam, Noy, Tai and many other staff members from Cherry Bar.

We stay for a couple of drinks and avail ourselves of the marshmallows in hot chocolate sauce before we leave the wedding party to have drinks in Buffalo Bar. We’re joined by Kaddafi and a couple of guys at this point and the night starts to become a little more raucous. There’s a girl that comes over to me and after asking my name, says “I have your name on tattoo” and she points out the location. Know we all know that this is highly unlikely and so she tries to bet me 100 baht that she is telling the truth. She is undone though as I have seen pictures of this particular tattoo and she is correct. She has the words “Your Name” tattoed on her and I guess that she has ‘won’ many bet with this ‘game’.

By 23:00 a decision has been reached that we’re going into town and I’m told that I have to come along and to be honest the company is so good that I need little convincing. We grab a taxi and head over to Soi Diamond where we all head up the stairs to Heaven’s Above and enjoy the company of the dancers and each others company for a while. We are also treated to a complimentary drink each by one of the owners.

From Soi Diamond, it’s off to Marine Plaza and Coyotee GoGo. I sit with DiscoCol and we talk about the place. There are a few good looking girls here, but the majority seem very bored and looking around there’s little interaction between the non dancing girls and the customers. I suddenly feel a splash of water on my arm and I look away from the dancers and realise that DiscoCol has just been hit full in the face by an ice cube. We look around to see if anyone is ‘owning up’ to having done this, but there’s no acknowledgement from anywhere in the bar.

DiscoCol goes over to explain to the management what has happened and simply gets a shrug of the shoulders as if to say “What can I do about it?”. We drink up and leave with DiscoCol saying that the last baht he’ll be spending there.

We’re now heading back up Walking Street and into Soi Diamond once again. This time, we go to Imsomnia Gentlemans Club which is a new venture by spanky4star and it has to be said is very smart.

We start off downstairs having a drink and a chat before heading upstairs where we meet Tomski808. After a couple more drinks, most of the guys are settling in with their ‘teerak du jour’, so I’m feeling quite out of place now, so I finish my drink and am about to leave when I’m asked what I’m doing. I say that I’m going to have a drink at TQ2 with ‘Avatar girl’ if she’s there and then head home.

I thank everyone for the wonderful night that I’ve had when I’m told that I’d been promised a no expense night and am given some baht to buy drinks in TQ2 which is typical of the big heart and generosity of Alleycat & DiscoCol.

Into TQ2 and there are hardly any customers. I see my ‘favourite’ service girl disappear out the back of the bar and wonder if I’ve done something terribly wrong. It seems not as she reappears with ‘Avatar girl’ in tow. I am feeling quite drunk by now and have few inhibitions. I know that ‘Avatar Girl’ & ‘Service Girl’ share a room together, but despite my best efforts to get an invite, my advances are spurned. I finish my drink and head off up Walking Street with the intention of getting a scooter taxi straight home.

There’s still a fair amount of traffic coming down Beach Road, so rather than cross over straight away, I stay on the side of the Beach where I am a target for the many freelancers plying their trade. I’m obviously a little ‘wobbly’, so 1 of the ‘ladies of the night’ takes my arm and says she’ll take me to the scooter taxi stand. En route she also says that for 1500 baht, I could enjoy a ‘long time’ experience with her. I say that I only have ‘little money’, so cannot. She continues walking me to the scooter stand and as I give the driver my address, she makes her final offer and says “Okay I come with you and look after you for 1000 baht long time”. “Okay” says I and make the mistake of once again taking a lady (Name Joy; Age 39; Baby 1) back home. It has to be said that having a warm sexy lady in bed that you can snuggle up to and simply fall asleep with is one of lifes luxuries that I have re-discovered that I enjoy too much.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi – 190 baht

Trip 4 - Day 101

2007-11-18T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 18th

Off for meeting at 10:00 which lasts a couple of hours and when I return home Mama, Phil and ‘seeter’ have come back with A. Mama is busy in the kitchen preparing a lunch of bacon, prawn and noodles, whilst A is doing the ironing and ‘seeter’ is washing the scooters. Phil is playing on his computer games machine and everyone is engrossed until Mama announces that food is ready and we all sit around to eat a tasty and extremely filling meal.

After eating, Mama washes up and I discover that A needs to take Mama to get the bus home as ‘seeter’ is going to see friends in Pattaya. I also find that A is going to be working once again tonight, but she says that she will return after taking Mama to get the bus.

She is gone for a couple of hours as I’m told that they had just missed the bus in Naklua and A chose to wait with Mama for the next one. One benefit is that Phil has gone with Mama so our couple of hours of time ‘alone’ is put to good use and I don’t feel quite so disappointed when the time comes for A to leave.

I am missing having someone to cuddle up to though and A promises that she’ll be back tomorrow night and she will leave Phil with ‘Auntie’, so I have something to really look forward to.

I speak with Kevin on the ‘phone and his appointment at the hospital had been cancelled, so he’s still got his staples in. He asks if I’m out tonight, but I decide to just have a quiet night in.

I head out to a new stall tonight and get Pork with noodles I was expecting string noodles, but it turns out I get ‘flat’ noodles and so the meal is actually very similar to lunch (Ho hum). I also get a bag of what looks like Pork Scratchings but is in fact chicken pieces. Only 10 baht, so if I don’t like them, it’s no big issue.

I return home with my purchases and spend the night reading and drinking a single bottle of Chang before retiring for the night.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi – 120 baht
Stall food – 50 baht
Mama allowance – 500 baht

Trip 4 - Day 100

2007-11-17T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 17th

First thing I need to do after getting up and showering is get out to the 7/11 for bread, eggs, a phone top up and a large bottle of Coke. Back home and brunch consists of bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes, toast and a mug of tea.

Next, there’s the laundry to be done, however there’s only the one load this week as A & Phil haven’t been about so much. Whilst the machine is doing its thing, I settle down to a read of one of the books passed on by Kevin earlier in the week and get quite engrossed for a few hours.

I then log on to send an email to a mate in England and this seemingly simple task takes over 30 minutes as the Webmail service keeps timing out as does the Hotmail account. The message has to be sent before 09:00 GMT, so I have plenty of time, but I do get somewhat frustrated.

Then I check the boards for recent activity and get up to date with who’s going to be around in the near future and what’s going on in town. I will not be able to attend too many events, so will have to be particularly selective when making my choice.

Kev invites me to join him at Cherry Bar tonight and as A will not be home I agree to meet him at 20:30. I’ll be drinking on my own tab tonight, so the plan is for a ‘Cheap Charlie’ night on the draught beer.

There’s a fair turnout at the Bar and I’m bought drinks by a few BM’s in town as well as by Kevin. At only 45 baht a drink, I do manage to get quite merry on ‘little money’ and have had a pretty good day today.

Expenditure :

7/11 Groceries – 99 baht
Phone Top Up – 100 baht
Scooter Taxis – 130 baht
Cherry Bar – 250 baht

Trip 4 - Day 99

2007-11-16T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 16th

Bacon and eggs with a mug of tea is the way to start the day off (well a way to start mid morning off), followed by a call to A. She says that she’ll be home for the afternoon, but she will be working again tonight.

After SSS, I sit in the lounge with just a towel wrapped round my waist and log on to the ‘net to check my emails, but my connection is terrible and keeps timing out, so it’s a bit of a waste of time.

Just as I give up, there’s a ‘toot’ from the gate. A has returned (minus Phil) and it’s great to see her smiling face. She has a drink of Coke and quicker than I’d take to make a move in a Soi 6 establishment I’m leading her to the bedroom without being sidetracked into showering first.

Afterwards, we both lay there and hug for a while before getting up; showering and getting dressed. She says that she’s hungry now, so off she goes to procure some sustenance. She returns less than ten minutes later with a ‘red’ pork dish with noodles and soup which is nourishing without being too heavy and we devour every last morsel.

Then it’s time for her to catch up on some Thai soap opera on the TV, so we just cuddle up on the sofa and I hold her whilst half watching the rubbish being broadcast.

After an hour or so, I’m feeling ready for another ‘round’; however A is having none of it. She gets up and busies herself getting clothes gathered up for Phil and fifteen minutes later she’s on her way back to work again.

I know that the visit was only a few hours, but I’m pleased that she made the effort and it was most enjoyable.

In the evening, I spend a long time online whilst listening to some music and drinking a couple of bottles of Chang. I persevere with MSN Messenger and actually manage to get a reasonably stable connection, but unfortunately the people I want to chat with in the UK are not online

Expenditure :

Stall food – 120 baht

Trip 4 - Day 98

2007-11-15T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 15th

As I didn’t get to bed until 05:00, I am not best pleased to be woken at 08:30 with my phone ringing. I check who’s calling and have to take the call as it’s about a possible job prospect.

Straight back to bed for a few more hours of much needed sleep and then I get a call from Kev. The engineers have arrived to sort out his Internet access and he’s having difficulty getting things up and running, and we determine that the issue is not likely to be resolved using telephone support, so it’s necessary to make a trip over to see what’s been done. There’s also the ‘old’ laptop to be finished off, so there’s plenty to still be done.

Before leaving I shower and change as I might as well go directly from Kev’s place to the FLB for the Bar Crawl. I’ve already predicted that Soi 1 & 2 will win and there are plenty of ‘fun’ bars in the area.

When I get to Kev’s, I soon find out why I couldn’t resolve the matter over the phone. The engineers have disconnected the Prestige router and must have reset the password on the account as only the wireless router is now operational.

After sorting out the DHCP Server settings and setting up port forwarding for uTorrents, everything is working as it should.

Kev kindly provides me with a meal of ham, chips & spaghetti and as his back is feeling better today, he decides that he’s going to go on the crawl as well, so Joy is instructed to book the taxi whilst Kev goes to SSS.

What a turnout at the FLB! (Pictures courtesy of Hammer)

Many faces that I've met in the past and in the voting Soi 1/2 won by a landslide. At one point the voting was Soi 1/2 - 19; Soi Diamond - 7; 2nd Road - 1.

A quick drink in Hooty's to say "Hi" to BM treacle with his latest venture and then off to Soi 1. Joy Bar was the first stop where there was one really 'dirty' girl in particular that got the testosterone flowing for quite a few guys I reckon.

Down the road a bit to the complex containing Cosy Bar where there are is an extremely fine LadyBoy

Classroom GoGo next where they were a little bit overwhelmed by the numbers suddenly arriving. I found the service a little lacking and I was about to leave, however my mind was changed very quickly by a little lovely that came and sat with me. (I was so engrossed with her that I completely missed watching the shows that were put on for us).

Classroom beer bar next and an absolute stunner was playing pool. I couldn't take my eyes off her, but she was with someone else, however I still had some fun.

Ever onwards, we moved to Tropical Bar and the stunner followed. (Sheer poetry in motion). The pictures don’t do her justice in my opinion, but what a marvellous little body and big smile.

There’s no rest for the wicked and we had to move across the Soi to the last venue for the night which was The Honey Pot. This place can be a bit ‘hit or miss’, but tonight there was a good selection of eye candy for everyone to enjoy.

All too sudden the crawl was over, so there’s a quick trip down the Soi to Beach Road and a journey on a baht bus to Soi 8 where a few of us meet up for a 'nightcap' at Cherry Bar.

Not a night of total debauchery unlike the past few crawls, but a future return journey to Classroom beer bar could be on the cards.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi – 140 baht
Bar Crawl – 1400 baht

Trip 4 - Day 97

2007-11-14T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 14th

I wake up on the sofa and see that it’s 03:00. I turn off the TV and just crawl into bed for a few hours. I reawake mid morning and try desperately to remember what the hell had happened the previous night.

I remember being at The Rockhouse and then …. Nothing

I go to get a bottle of water from the fridge and find that I’ve got 3 unopened bottles of Chang there and a bag of water (used to be ice) on the floor. I guess that I managed to buy these last night, so I call Kev to check the ‘gory’ details.

I’m told that we left The Rockhouse and got a taxi to Noi’s Bar where I apparently started trying to mess about with the girl that I seem to sit with on a regular basis. He says that she was having none of it and declared that I was “Mau mak mak” (No kidding!)

By mid afternoon, I’m feeling ‘brave’ enough to eat and it does make me feel considerably better.

Around 17:30, I make a call to A and we have quite a long chat. She’s working ‘boat’ again tonight and I find that I don’t really mind too much. Time has marched on and I need to SSS and get myself ready for my Cherry Bar duties tonight.

At 19:45, I leave the house and get the scooter to the junction of Klang & 2nd Road as I do most Wednesdays. I make the walk down Soi 8 and everywhere looks very quiet tonight and I’m not even hassled to go into the GoGo.

Cherry Bar is quiet as well. There’s only Sean at the bar until he’s joined by Matrix a bit later. Tonight there are parties on at Sam’s Bar and Best Bar as well as one in the bar right opposite, so I anticipate a long drawn out night. Whilst sitting at the bar, I’m being fed melon on a stick by Mint which is rather nice and I have to admit to having a few ‘naughty’ thoughts.

Matrix receives a call from Alleycat and I’m told that DiscoCol doesn’t want to come to Cherry Bar tonight, so the two of them drink up and then head off to all meet up in Walking Street.

The bar is virtually deserted now and the girls have little success in tempting any new customers off the Soi. The lady from the bar across the Soi then arrives with a plate having a whole chicken on it. She says that it’s for me and when I say that it is too much, I’m just told. “For give you much power”. I manage to eat the legs and wings, but cannot manage the breast. Kwan then takes the plate away and the chicken is stored away under the counter and not just thrown away.

There’s a trickle of customers coming to the bar, but it’s still quiet and it’s hard to believe that this is the beginning of the high season.

One of the visitors to the bar is BM Chang who created a Youtube video that myself, Kev & Chris Brewer watched incessantly last year. I still think it rates as one of the best video clips introducing some of what Pattaya is like to a newbie visitor.

He has a selection of other Youtube presentations that I think some of you will enjoy watching.

Changs Youtube Presentations

The other bars in the complex now have their girls up dancing, so Nam instructs a couple of the girls to start dancing on the bar to try and compete with the other bars for the few farang that are about. There’s little success unfortunately, however Chang decides that he is going to get Nam up dancing. This is something that neither of us has ever seen before and she is unwilling to do so until a crisp 1000 baht is proffered. This has the desired effect, however she’s unwilling to get up on her own and Mint joins her. There are many pictures and video clips taken (Mine have mysteriously been deleted from my camera by A. “It was accident”). Chang has paid out 1000 baht and I’ve paid out 100 baht for Mint to have a LD.

Later, I’m invited over to the other side of the bar to have a Sambuca with an ex Cherry Girl (Anna). She’s drinking with Eric and Innis, so I pull up a stool and join them for a while.

We talk of Eric’s impending nuptials and he tells me that he’ll be joining in on the Bar Crawl tomorrow as a sort of stag ‘do’. As 04:00 looms, I think about going home, but Chang buys me another beer and we decide to play pool for a while. We play ‘triples’ which is confusing to say the least. There’s myself, Nam & Neng v Chang, Aoy & Mint. We play three games and win 2 – 1, but few shots that we could really be proud of.

By 04:40, I finally head off to get some much needed shuteye.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxis – 150 baht
Toilet – 15 baht
Ladydrink for Mint – 100 baht
Beer / Ice bought on 13th – 115 baht

Trip 4 - Day 96

2007-11-13T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 13th

05:30 and I’m wide awake and A is just rousing as well. There’s time to ‘do the deed’ before it’s time for A to get up and get Phil ready. Once she leaves, I simply go back to bed and grab another three hours sleep.

Today, I have to go to Big C to stock up on meat and vegetables as well as getting some scouring powder to try and clear the limescale from the floortiles in the shower. Basic food shopping is very cheap here and I after I get home, I compare some of the prices to those in England.

The local citrus fruits such as pineapple, lime and oranges are about 1/7 of the UK supermarket price; pork loin 1/5; chicken breast 1/3; bottled water 1/5 and Coke 1/4. Overall my shopping bill is 1/4 of what it would have been at home for similar purchases.

I then make a phone call to the ‘bacon shop’ to check if they have anymore bacon ‘pieces’ in stock. They do, so I say that I’ll be along in 10 – 15 minutes. As I get on to Soi Khao Noi, I hear “Jawd” being called out. It’s Kye and she’s on the scooter, so I’m given a lift the couple of hundred yards to the shop.

The lady in the shop asks me if it was my girlfriend that had dropped me off and I say that it wasn’t and she just used to be a neighbour. “Okay. I have friend who see you in shop before. Maybe you want to see her. She is very pretty.” I say that I do have a girlfriend and agree with her that Pattaya has many many pretty ladies.

I get my kilo of bacon for the princely sum of 50 baht and as I leave the shop, Kye is just returning with some shopping in the front basket on the bike, so she stops and I get a lift back home.

I’ve not been in long when I get another text from Kevin inviting me out for a few ‘early door’ beers again. I call him to find out what time he’s thinking about and he tells me Rockhouse at 17:30! I say that I’ll need to call A to find out what time she’s getting back and then I’ll call him back.

When I speak to A, she says “I have something ask you. I scared you angly.” I laugh and say “You work tonight?” She says that if I am ‘angly’, that it’s okay and she will come home. I tell her that I’ve been invited out by Kevin, so maybe I get a bit ‘mau’ tonight and it’s okay if she works.

I call Kevin back and say that I’ll be at The Rockhouse at 17:30. He says that with no Internet and no local farangs, he needs to get out of the house. We arrive at the same time and tonight Kevin is in a drinking mood. I should have realised that it was all going to get messy, but the beers were sliding down, the music was good and we were chatting and joking about anything and everything.

During the night, a guy turned up with a professional camera setup and the reflective screens. He wanted to see the mamasan or the owner, but as neither were there, he just ended up dismantling all his equipment after about 30 minutes and left. (He hadn’t taken a single picture)

I remember still being in The Rockhouse at just after 20:30, however all issues after that are all ‘hazy’.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxis – 150 baht
Big C – 412 baht
Bacon Shop – 50 baht
Evening - ?

Trip 4 - Day 95

2007-11-12T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 12th

I wake at 08:15 and as I put the kettle on, I get a text message on my phone. It’s a message from Kev saying that with ‘Mama Joy’ staying over, he’s being woken very early every day, so after drinking my tea, I get a scooter over to his place to investigate his ADSL problem and his ‘non booting’ laptop.

The problem with the ADSL is a service problem rather than a network problem, so it’s necessary to contact the service provider. This is easier said than done and it takes several calls and trying to explain to Joy what to report.

Eventually, it’s determined that there is a major communications problem affecting many customers in Chonburi and it’s unknown when the issue will be resolved. This is a major problem for Kev as he is expected to be in contact with work on a daily basis as part of his recuperation ‘deal’. From a security perspective, it’s not acceptable for him to use an Internet café and he doesn’t want to sit in a public place to utilise a WiFi connection.

An additional problem was that his laptop had stopped working yesterday and simply went in a continual reboot sequence. To get over this, he’d just gone and bought a new laptop and that’s when he’d found the problem with his Internet connection.

I check out the laptop and as he now has a new system and all his critical data has already been backed up, it’s going to be simplest to do a reinstall of the Operating System rather than spend too long attempting to rectify the problem. The problem with this is that he has no OS media, so I say that a trip to Tukcom would be required. Kev then says that if I go to Tukcom, could I also arrange to get his hospital bills scanned and have the images put on his memory stick and also to get some new dressings for his back.

I use his scooter to set off on my chores and the scanning costs 200 baht; Windows XP costs 150 baht and a couple of dressings from the pharmacy next to Tim’s cost 130 baht.

I return and get started on the software installation. This is a success; however there are a number of drivers that need to be downloaded from the Averatech website which cannot be done until a ‘net connection is back.

By 16:45, I’m ready to return home, but the heaven’s suddenly open and there’s no way that I’m going anywhere for a while. After 30 minutes, the rain ceases and Joy then gives me a lift home and 30 minutes later A arrives home with Phil.

A is tired as she hadn’t finished work until 03:00 and was up at 07:30 to take Phil to school, so she just goes out and gets some stall food. She returns with chicken in coconut, a selection of vegetables in a clear broth and a deep fried fish. Asking what type of fish it is, solicits the response “I not know name in English. Is black fish”

By 20:30, it’s time for Phil to sleep, but A takes the opportunity to lie down to settle him quickly. 15 minutes later I look in to find them both fast asleep. I have a shower and watch TV for an hour before carrying Phil to his bed and snuggling up to A. I consider waking her, but feel that this would not be fair and I can simply wait until morning.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi – 60 baht
Stall Food – 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 94

2007-11-11T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 11th

I’m woken by the sound of the gate opening, so it seems that A has returned home. She comes into the bedroom and strips off, then goes for a shower and climbs into bed. Just a simple “I sorry” and she puts her arm round me and unsurprisingly I’m instantly alert. I also realise that she has come home without Phil, so the next words were music to my ears. “Not do long time okay?” “Okay”

Afterwards, A rolls over and says “I tired”, so I just lie there with her in my arms until she falls asleep. A quick kiss on the forehead and I tuck her up whilst I gather some clothes together and leave her to her dreams.

A couple of hours later, she wakes up and prepares some food with the supplies in the fridge. We have a meal of Pork Loin with gravy, carrots, sweet corn and a salad of lettuce tomato and onion.

Then comes “I work again tonight okay?” “What time you have to go?” “Have time for you do me again”

It’s not what I was looking for, however being a ‘typical’ male, I do not decline the opportunity for some more intimacy. After ‘finit’, we shower and then A’s phone starts ringing. After she finishes, she tells me that it was Kye and she wants to borrow the scooter for 10 minutes to go to the market as Robin has their scooter today. A has told her that she can but it has to be straightaway as she will be leaving soon.

We dress and within a couple of minutes, Kye arrives. She goes off on the scooter and A starts getting her and Phil’s clothes ready for tomorrow. Just over ten minutes later there’s a toot on the horn and Kye is back. A goes out to meet her as she’s going to drop her back home on her way to work.

It’s now 16:45, so I logon to the Internet and the ‘plan’ is to check my e-mails and maybe get some posting done. Just 15 minutes later, my line drops and I realise it’s because I’ve received a text message. It’s from Kev and he says that he’s finally managed to make it out for a bit and did I want to join him for a few at The Rockhouse followed by some grub at The Pig & Whistle? (His treat)

I call him and say that I’d love to and to find out what time. “NOW!”

I change my shirt and I’m heading out the door within five minutes. A scooter taxi gets me to LK Metro very quickly on this Sunday evening and when I enter the bar, Kev is the only customer.

He starts building his playlist on the music PC and we spend a while looking up ‘old favourites’. We are both very surprised at some of the music on the system as it’s possible to get stuff from very non-rock bands such as The Carpenters, yet there is nothing available from The Clash.

Kev downs a few vodka diets and I’m on the Chang beer and they are sliding down nicely. Kev is still suffering a lot of pain from his back and he says that he doubts that he’ll be getting out in the evenings much as he’s always going to be anxious about getting his back knocked. A few quiet afternoon beers every now and then though could be a distinct possibility.

What he’s also missed is his roast dinners, so we get a baht bus to Soi 7 and have a meal at the Pig & Whistle. No booze, just a mug of tea each with the meal and then Kev says that he’s not up to any more and he’s just going to head back home. Rather than stay in town, I say that I’ll head back as well, but I’ll have a couple in Noi’s before going home.

A phone call to Joy to get her to book their regular bus and we’re met at the end of the Soi about 10 minutes later. Kev carefully clambers into the front and I jump in the back. Over to Khao Noi and I disembark outside Noi’s whilst Kev resolve holds and he’s not going to be persuaded in for a ‘quickie’.

I don’t stay too long and at just after 23:00, I make my way back home where I fall asleep almost immediately.

Expenditure :

Mama allowance – 500 baht
Scooter Taxi – 60 baht
Noi’s Bar – 250 baht

Trip 4 - Day 93

2007-11-10T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 10th

I awake and send a text to A asking when she’ll be returning. She says that she’ll be arriving later in the afternoon, but Phil has a high temperature, so she’ll see if he gets better before making a final decision. I guess I’m resigned at this point to anticipating another night alone, but don’t say anything.

I make a trip to the local 7/11 to buy eggs, bread, coke, water and a much needed bottle of Lipo and when I return I cook have bacon, eggs & toast with a mug of tea for breakfast and I feel suitably refreshed.

By 17:30, I decide that the afternoon is now over, so I telephone A and unsurprisingly find that she’s going to work again tonight. She goes through the routine of asking me if it’s okay and there’s little that I can do about it except say that I really want her to return in the morning as it has been too long since I’ve seen her.

By 19:00, I wander out to get something to eat and investigate the carts immediately opposite Noi’s Bar. I get myself roast pork and pork wontons with bright yellow noodles and a bag of ‘broth’ for 40 baht and manage to resist the temptation to stop off for a beer as I’ve still got a few bottles in the fridge at home.

I eat my food and have two bottles of beer whilst watching a couple of films on the TV and by 23:00, I’m tired enough to go to bed.

Expenditure :

7/11 – 145 baht
Stall Food - 40 baht
Stall Food (Friday – not mentioned) – 35 baht

Trip 4 - Day 92

2007-11-09T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 9th

I awake with a bit of a hangover at 10:00 and after breakfast, I start a load of washing. The events from the previous day are clear up until I left Cherry Bar. I know that I went to Noi’s Bar after that and by the fact that I have three bottles of Chang in the fridge, I obviously stopped off at the corner store and thankfully hadn’t consumed them.

I remember very clearly that I had already paid ‘tip’ to the lovely Ja of the Winchester Gun Club for ‘services to be rendered’ but I did have a problem in that I couldn’t remember the exact location of the Bar. (I had been given a business card yesterday, but don’t know what happened to it).

I have enough dirty washing to make up a machine load. So I get this going straightaway and then make myself some breakfast. (The bacon sarnies are going down well as a quick and easy meal)

I log on to the Internet and using Google the full history of the Bar is discovered. It was originally The Winchester Gun Club then became The Blind Beggar (hence the pictures in the bar of the London gangsters and their accomplices). It then underwent another change of management and reverted to its original name. More importantly, I determined that it was located on Soi Wat Boon and confirmed that its opening time was 12:00.

After hanging out the washing, it was time to get shaved and generally ‘tarted up’. By 12:15, I was out the door and was pleased to find that the scooter taxi rider knew the Soi that I was talking about. A long trek down Sukhumvit past Tesco and then the Wat is on the right hand side and you just keep going until you see the orange building with the massive sign.

As I enter the bar, there’s a little squeal and Ja steps forward through the crowd of girls at the door and takes my hand to lead me into the bar.

She’s as cute as I remember her which is a great relief (Beer goggles can be deceiving) and we settle down for a drink cuddle and chat. The first thing I’m told is “Your friend from yesterday. He come today. Is upstairs now.” I see him as he leaves 20 minutes or so later, but I don’t think he sees me.

I’m feeling very comfortable sitting with Ja and her English is excellent as she went to English lessons paid for by a Dutchman who had told her that he would return to stay with her (but didn’t).

Ten minutes later, I’m settling checkbin and paying the room charge (250 baht) and we make our way upstairs to a well appointed clean and tidy room with en suite and air con where I admit to making yet another ‘transgression’.

On the way out, I’m asked to give ‘small tip’ to the maid for keeping the room clean and tidy and 20 baht is deemed sufficient for this.

As we head down the stairs I’m asked what I’m going to do for the rest of the day and I say that I’ll stay for a few drinks and continue to chat with Ja.

We settle down and over the next two hours, I find out a lot of information about this lady. She’s 28 years old, has two kids, weighs 45kg and is 153cm tall. She works in her tattoo shop which she runs with her elder and younger brothers between 08:00 & 11:00, then 8 – 9 hours at the Winchester where she has two days off a month (but cannot be Friday, Saturday or Sunday) and is paid 5000 baht a month. If she fails to get 20 ST’s in a month, she’s ‘cut’ 1000 baht. If she fails to get 60 LD’s a month she is ‘cut’ 1000 baht. If she fails to turn up to work, she’s ‘cut’ 1000 for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday or 500 for other days. Staff ‘uniform’ has to be worn on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays otherwise there is a ‘cut’. In the evening, she works an hour at the tattoo shop between 22:00 & 23:00 where she cleans and locks up. She gets home and into bed by midnight and has to get up at least once a night to feed her two year old baby. I’m told that the father of the baby is no longer around and it’s not a problem as she doesn’t like him anymore.

It’s now 15:00 and I’m in a great mood, however Ja tells me that she needs to go and eat (The girls get 20 minutes lunch break a day), so she heads off whilst I just have another beer.

When she returns after less than 15 minutes, I’m pleased to see her and it just had to be done. So it’s time to pay checkbin again including another room charge and this gets a hoot of laughs from a number of the other girls and a few high fives. I really don’t care though and this time the session is quite different to the earlier one.

When we return to the bar this time, I decide that it really is time to return home, so Ja escorts me outside and waits with me until a scooter taxi arrives.

I’ve had a couple of ‘over budget’ days, but have had a very enjoyable time and consider the expenditure ‘well spent’.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxis - 200 baht
Winchester – 2100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 91

2007-11-08T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 8th

I wake up at 12:00 and after a quick breakfast and SSS, it’s time to leave for the Bar Crawl. I haven’t got a place booked but it’s a fairly common occurrence for someone to pay for these early start crawls and fail to make it in time. (Cheers Bazzap!)

We all mustered at Mike's and to say that Hammer was looking a little the worse for wear would be a gross understatement, however he was convinced that after a couple of Tigers he's be fine.

At the appointed hour, we made our way to the hired baht bus and set off for our first port of call. Up 2nd Road, left into Soi 2, left onto Beach Road and then left again into Soi 3 and we pull up just past Lucky Bar (Too early for me to get in any trouble there though) and into [url=http://www.welkominnthailand.com/e_index.htm] Welkom Inn[/url]

There weren't many girls working and of those that were, I didn't see any real lookers, but then it surely meant that things would only get better.

After 1 hour we all paid up and got back on the bus. Back round the block Soi 3; 2nd Road; Soi 2 and on to Beach Road again. We turn off on one of the Soi 13's and park up just down from Soi Post Office.

This is a free rein visit and we were all instructed to return in 1 hour for the next stop. I headed right down the Soi with Kuranda Bagman as he'd had a report that Club Nevada had been pretty good just the day before. We entered the bar and there were a few customers sitting on the couches and a decent lineup of naked lovelies dancing.

Not being backward in coming forward, we parked ourselves right in front of the stage and were pleasantly entertained by a couple of the girls. When the first of them reached the end of the dance rotation, she got dressed and was immediately jumping into my lap which was perfectly okay with me and things were definately 'on the up'. (Of course it cost me a couple of ladydrinks, but for the fun and general playing about it was a bloody good 'investment'. )

4 o'clock came around all too soon and it was time to move on once again. We all boarded the bus and headed off to a part of town that I'd never been to before. Eden Pub (previously called Harleys) was our destination, however as a short time venue, the place didn't really work. It seemed to be more of a conventional bar / restaurant with a sizable hotel attached. (Considering that the bar is not in a central area, it was surprising to find the drinks pricing quite high with a bottle of Chang costing 70 baht.) A quick decision was made to just have 1 drink and move on, so the next stop was the Lion Pub just down the road. The company here was more receptive to the needs of our group, but once again the atmosphere was more of a pub than a short time venue.

The next stop was to be the 'banker' location where we 'knew' we'd get the full attention we were craving. Jade was the venue and whilst we were aware that there would be fewer girls working than on the Wednesday barbecue days, we were not prepared for the paucity that we actually encountered. I found myself with my arm aroud the waist of a little stunner and was immediately asked for a ladydrink which I agreed to. Things were looking up, but the girl wasn't really interested and wouldn't even allow Hammer to take a 'safe' pic. This was a great disappointment and I was now looking for the last venue to finish the day on a high.

We headed down to Jomtien beach and made our way to the Winchester Gun Club (formerly known as The Blind Beggar) where the girls seem to take the customers on a rotation basis. I found myself allocated with a chubby girl which wasn't really my type, but "What the hell?". She had to get up to dance and then she was noticed by Casper UK who has more of a penchant for girls with the 'fuller' figure. I looked at who he was sitting with and when he offered a 'swap', I leapt at the chance. I found Ja sitting on my lap and she was a real darling with a great smile and we all had a laugh at the tattoo being sported by Hammer, however Ja was not so happy about seeing this as I was told that Hammer had told her a couple of days earlier that he'd go to her shop to have the tattoo done

I seriously considered paying for a room, but knew that I'd had too many beers to really enjoy the experience, so told Ja that I'd return the next day. This was a line that she's obivously heard many times in the past and I don't think it was really believed. To prove that I was serious, I paid 'tip' in advance and told her that if I didn't come back then she would have made some easy money.

The crawl was now over and we jumped on the bus for the return to Pattaya. Hammer was off to Soi 6 and myself and Casper UK went to Cherry Bar. The other BMs dispersed into the Pattaya night.

Not what I had been expecting from the crawl, but I did have a couple of high points.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi – 160 baht
Beer – 105 baht
Crawl – 1900 baht

Trip 4 - Day 90

2007-11-07T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 7th

Up at 05:15 and after a quick SSS, I head out to get a scooter taxi to Witherspoons. I arrive at 06:05 and after sitting down I am offered a full English breakfast of bacon, egg, sausage, tomato, beans, fried slice, toast and a mug of tea which is included within the fee.

Within 15 minutes, the other 5 guys doing the trip have arrived and by 06:45 we are boarding our minibus with our complimentary bottle of water. The minibus is well appointed with comfortable leather seats, plenty of legroom and a decent video screen mounted in the ceiling. Each passenger is supplied with wireless headphones, so that if you choose not to watch the movies, you aren’t disturbed by any noise.

After 90 minutes or so we stop for a comfort break and it’s obviously a popular stopping place as there are other buses with passengers all doing the same journeys. A quick look in a couple of the other buses shows that the 9 seater configurations look considerably more cramped.

Next stop is the Thai border where we leave the country and our completed landing cards are handed over.

Having ‘left’ Thailand, there’s now an opportunity to purchase items from the Duty Free shop. Several flavours of Kamagra Gel are available as well as Viagra, Penegra, Apcalis and other ‘generics’. For reference, Kamagra gel is 2300 baht for a carton of 50 sachets.

We’re given our passports back and we’ve ‘miraculously’ been to Cambodia and returned.

For the guys that are getting a 30 day entry, they are required to go and buy a bus ticket showing their ‘onward’ travel and they are charged 200 baht for this ticket. It’s the only bus company I know of that sells tickets that passengers never actually use. (I wonder if they do really have a bus even)

We then all re-enter Thailand with all the paperwork completed for us and jump aboard our minibus for the return to Pattaya.

Another comfort stop on the return and we are back at Witherspoons just after 14:00. We then have lunch which is included as well (I had Roast Pork, Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding and vegetables) and am very fortunate in that a fellow passenger lives just up the road from me, so I get a free lift home.

Once home, I try to grab a couple of hours sleep, but do not manage and all too soon it’s time to make my way to Cherry Bar for the evening. The place is ‘steady’ for most of the night with a good number of BM’s attending at some stage including Seanie; Dr Dod; Sparkydave; Kuranda Bagman; Bazzap and Dudebrah.

One of the girls tried to take a pic of one of the BM’s and discovered that it’s not only the girls that are shy of being recognised.

The combination of several Singha’s and having been up for over 20 hours has me a little ‘light headed’ and I end up buying a drink for Mint after she’d spent some time hand feeding me.

I finally get home at 04:30 and collapse into bed totally exhausted.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi – 210 baht
Coke (with lunch) – 50 baht
Ladydrink for Mint – 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 89

2007-11-06T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 6th

As she doesn’t have to drop Phil off first, A sets off a little later today, however we are both suffering a little from the night before. It had been a good night and A had enjoyed seeing a couple of her ‘friends’. I am ‘reminded’ that I hadn’t paid money for Mama yesterday and so I hand over a 500 baht note to A.

We get a call from Kye just before A drives away saying that the electric company would be round sometime before 18:00 to reconnect us. The first thing I need to do is get round to pay my fee for the visa run tomorrow, so I grab a scooter taxi and get there for 10:00. Unfortunately the girl hasn’t arrived yet, so I take a 20 minute walk around the block and it’s quite entertaining seeing a number of girls leaving the local hotels and jumping on to scooters to return to ‘loom’. I’m actually propositioned twice, but it’s far too early to even consider the idea and if they are just leaving the hotels, the thought isn’t particularly appealing.

I return to Witherspoons and sign the various forms for the Thailand landing card and the Cambodian visa as well as paying the 2400 baht all inclusive fee.

I decide to walk home from here and walk up Buakhouw and then left into Klang, where I pop into Carrefour to get a few basics such a Coke, baguette, lettuce & chillies. I also need to get my Internet connection renewed for the month, so I stop off at 7/11 to buy my top ups.

As I walk up Soi Khao Noi, I pop into the D2M English Food Shop to see if they have a pack of the Bacon ‘pieces’. They have, so I get a 1kg pack for a princely 50 baht and I have to say this is a great way of getting bacon suitable for sandwiches at a very reasonable price.

Once home, I make a very tasty BLT baguette which I wash down with a couple of bottles of water and then have nothing to do but wait for the electric company to arrive.

17:30 we are reconnected and at 18:00 A arrives home. The first thing she does is get a load of washing on the go. We eat fairly late and as I have a very early start in the morning, I decide not to bother with the usual Tuesday night beers at Noi’s Bar.

Expenditure :

Mama allowance – 500 baht
Scooter Taxi – 60 baht
Visa Run Fee – 2400 baht
Carrefour – 71 baht
Internet – 535 baht
Telephone Top Up – 100 baht
Evening Food – 150 baht

Trip 4 - Day 88

2007-11-05T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 5th

Tonight is Sparkydave & Porn’s joint birthday bash at Cherry Bar, so A is leaving Phil with ‘Auntie’ at Sri Racha. She goes off early as usual to get Phil to school and to head off to work, but she also wants to get her hair treated and trimmed. This is something that she hasn’t had done for about a year and says that the reason for not having it done is that it costs too much.

The last time she had it done, her hair wasn’t as long and it cost her 700 baht, so she doesn’t know what it will cost this time. I give her 1000 baht to get it done as I also want her to look good tonight.

In the middle of the afternoon, we get a power cut which is not something strange, but after 1 hour, I realise that the neighbours have music playing. I telephone A to find out what to do. She doesn’t know, so she telephones Kye who comes round about ten minutes later.

A telephone call to the electric company determines that we’ve been disconnected due to non payment. A has previously paid the landlord for utilities rather than direct and we hadn’t realised that the bill had been delivered into our mailbox 10 days earlier.

Kye volunteers to ride round to the electric company to pay the bill, but when she gets there it’s too late to make payment and she contacts A to say that she’ll return first thing in the morning.

I have shower ‘cool’ at 17:00 whilst there’s still some daylight and A arrives home at 17:30. She gets washed and changed, but there is not enough light for her to apply makeup.

We leave at just before 19:00 and we go to eat at the Thai Buffet next to Big C on Pattaya Tai before going on to the party. A veritable feast of pork, chicken and prawns with plenty of vegetables and just Coke & water to drink make this a healthy eating option and quite cheap as well at just 300 baht for the two of us.

After eating, I get A to drop me off at Witherspoons on Soi Buakhouw, as I need to do a visa run within the next two days. I make a booking to do the run on Wednesday as the Tuesday trip is full, however I am required to call in tomorrow with my passport and a couple of passport photos so that they can prepare the paperwork in advance.

Ten minutes later and we now make our way to the Cherry Bar. The place is busy as usual on a party night and apart from Dave, there’s a few ‘regular’ faces arrive during the course of the night.

Both A and myself are drinking Singha tonight, but as she’s not been drinking any alcohol for several weeks, it only takes a few for her to start becoming a little ‘mau’. I’d been worried that there might be some ‘stories’ passed to A tonight which could be ‘awkward’ to explain away, but I am lucky and nothing is said thankfully.

A spends a lot of the night chatting and dancing with Joy & Pun2 and makes the comment that Joy is now wearing more revealing clothes than she had done when A was working at the bar. (Of course I claimed that I’d never noticed this detail).

We get back home quite late, but there is no contact as it’s far too hot even for a cuddle with no fan or air-con in the room.

Expenditure :

Hair treatment – 1000 baht
Electric Bill – 700 baht
Thai Buffet – 300 baht
Cherry Bar – 850 baht

Trip 4 - Day 87

2007-11-04T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 4th

A arrives back with Phil just before midday and we decide that we’ll go to the beach for the afternoon. A ‘phones Kye to see if she wants to tag along and in the end there’s six of us on two scooters heading off down Sukhumvit highway en route to Jomtien.

The water is very warm and whilst I decline the idea of a swim, just a paddle in the warm water is very enjoyable and the kids have a great time playing around in the sand and in the water.

We get home and have a snack to eat which keeps us going until we eat ‘cart food’ in the evening. It’s been a ‘lazy’ day and a relaxing day with A looking more relaxed than she has for a while, however we are once again we are starting into the next ‘28 day cycle’.

Expenditure :

Cart Food – 60 baht
Beer / Water / Coke / Ice – 132 baht

Trip 4 - Day 86

2007-11-03T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 3rd

I wake up quite late and get a phone call from A in the afternoon. She says that she can come back today, but has to go out early tomorrow to ‘do Buddha’ for an ‘Auntie’ that’s moving house.

She wants to be back in Sri Racha before 07:00 in the morning, so to be honest it makes little sense in returning and I say that she might as well stay over and return as soon as she’s finished in the morning.

I stay in again and just have a couple of bottles of Chang that I had in the fridge.

Expenditure :

Chicken & Rice – 25 baht
Phone topup – 100 baht
Bread / Coke @ 7/11 – 58 baht

Trip 4 - Day 85

2007-11-02T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 2nd

I’m woken by my telephone ringing. It’s A calling and I’m pleased to hear her voice. We chat for about 15 minutes and she reminds me that “Is number 2, so you have to pay rent today.” I’m told that somebody will arrive later to collect it.

I then get a text from Kev complaining about the state of the Thai roads and what they’re doing to his back, but I suspect he’s really quite pleased to be back.

In the evening, I think about wandering along to Noi’s bar, but decide that I’ll simply have an early night with no alcohol for a change as I’d only had just over four hours sleep last night.

Expenditure :

Rent – 6000 baht

Trip 4 - Day 84

2007-11-01T23:59:00.000+07:00

November 1st

I wake up at 10:30 and write up the past few days Trip Report offline. Lunch / Tea is sausage sandwiches and a cup of tea which makes a change and then I have a long hot shower before getting myself ready for the FLB Bar Crawl, and I am a little apprehensive as to what will happen if Soi 3 is on the agenda again tonight.

I arrive at the FLB in time for the voting and when Hammer gets to our table, the voting is finely balanced with two locations having seven votes apiece. I joke that I shouldn’t vote as it could get me into trouble, but I think this is exactly what the other BM’s want to see, so all five votes from our table go to Soi 3,4,5 (Oh dear!)

To be fair, this is a good crawl with a number of bar complexes and several bars having some real ‘lookers’, however I just ‘forgot’ to take many pictures.

Prices are not as cheap as other locations around town, but for the holidaymaker it is unlikely to make a big difference.

Be wary of the prices for LD’s though at some of the bars as pricing can be higher than Walking Street in many instances.

As expected, the crawl did finish at the complex containing Lucky Bar on Soi 3, however Nok was ‘not work tonight’, so I was able to avoid any ‘problem’.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxis – 140 baht
Bar Crawl – 800 baht

Trip 4 - Day 83

2007-10-31T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 31st

I’ve had a call from Hammer saying that as it’s Halloween, he will not be taking today off and so I have a ‘free’ night, however I do not intend doing anything ‘silly’ with the time this week.

Today the scooter is being returned to Kev’s place in readiness for Joy arriving back from Udon tomorrow, so I make a trip to Big C to get a number of supplies in including washing up liquid and fabric conditioner as well as a selection of vegetables so that I can cook for myself for the next few days. On the way back, I also stop off to buy some English sausages as it’s something that’s easy and quick to cook for a lunchtime ‘snack’. They don’t have any packs of bacon ‘trimmings’ in stock today, but I shall enquire again later in the week.

A final trip over to Kev’s in the afternoon, where I leave the scooter parked up and as I prepare to leave, I see the landlady who asks how I’m getting home. When I tell her that I’ll be walking, she says that she can get a taxi to take me. She makes a call and then informs me that it’s the husband of the cleaner. She also says that the fare will be 200 baht which is a bit steep, but I guess she used to dealing with ‘rich’ farang rather than the likes of me.

I get home and prepare a meal for myself and then head over to Noi’s bar for a few beers. When I get there, it seems that most of the guys are going to The Rockhouse as it’s Mulphy’s birthday and he’s having a bit of a ‘bash’. I decline the offer to join them as I will be out on the FLB Bar Crawl the next night. We talk about how quiet the town has been in the past week or so and the consensus is that tonight will be quite strange as there are so many parties taking place and not enough farangs to really go around. There are parties taking place at TQ2, Buffalo, Cherry Bar, Baby Dolls, Secrets and The Rockhouse that we know of and no doubt many others as well.

Once all the guys leave, there are just two customers left in the Bar along with around a dozen ladies. It’s a tempting thought, but I manage to keep the brain in the head in charge tonight and once the brain in my pants starts to take control, I call checkbin and wander home. I buy a few beers at the corner shop, but once I get indoors, I decide that a cup of tea is a much better idea really and so the beer is there for another night.

Expenditure :

Big C – 358 baht
Sausages – 90 baht
Taxi – 200 baht
Noi’s Bar – 340 baht
Beer & Ice – 110 baht

Trip 4 - Day 82

2007-10-30T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 30th

I’m awoken at 05:00 by A and I wish that every day could start like this, however in the afterglow, there’s a shout from the next room. Phil has woken up and the moment is killed. A asks me if I can do the laundry today as Phil is running low on shorts and I say that I will sort it out, so by 07:00, I’ve got the first of three loads of laundry on the go. As it’s a bit overcast when I finish, I move the drying rail under the eaves of the porch before leaving the house.

First task on the agenda today is to get a haircut. I head down to the place I’ve used the last couple of times, but the lady there is busy, so I just use the next place along on the Soi. The cost is a little higher at 70 baht instead of 50 baht, but it’s okay.

Another day at Kev’s place getting updates sorted out as my access is going to be restricted shortly as Kev is due to arrive back in Pattaya in just a couple of days.

Once again, I return home at just after 17:00 and when A arrives home at 17:45, she’s brought food with her, so we all have an early meal. A then gets a call asking if she can work tonight, but she declines the offer, however there are boats to be loaded with sugar for the next three nights, so she accepts this work. 6000 baht for three nights work is money that cannot really be turned down when it’s offered.

As it’s Tuesday, it’s Curry Night at Noi’s bar, so I make the short walk and go to see who is about. It’s a very quiet night though and I just have a chat and a few beers with a couple of the regular ex-pats for an hour and a half before heading home to bed at 21:30.

Expenditure :

Haircut – 70 baht
Noi’s Bar – 220 baht

Trip 4 - Day 81

2007-10-29T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 29th

I wake up and A has her legs entwined around me even though she’s still fast asleep. I try not to move in order to savour the moment as long as possible, however the time is short lived as there is a shout from the next room and Phil has woken up. A just wakes instantly and gets out of bed to sort him out. The time is 06:00 and there’s no time for any further intimacy as A needs to leave at just after 06:30.

Before leaving she asks for money for Mama (nothing was paid last week and with the extended absence of A, she wasn’t around to ask) and as I give her the 500 baht note, she also asks if I can buy the ‘stuff’ for Buddha today. She wants me to get four bottles of ‘red soda’; four flower garlands; two apples and a kilo of oranges.

The day is spent at Kev’s posting content to a couple of websites, however it does seem that getting an income from Adsense is going to take some time to get established. I will need to build several more sites and look to generate a small income from each of them, but the timescales are more long term, so a job is needed to fund the shorter term.

At 17:00, I return home and stop off at the fruit stall on Soi Khao Noi where I buy all the bits for Buddha. I then get some fried chicken for myself and top up on drink supplies.

A returns home and I help her with sorting out all the offerings when we realise that there are no straws for the ’red soda’, so I head off to the corner store and make good on ‘my’ mistake.

A then goes out to get food for the night and once we’ve eaten and got Phil settled down, we finally manage to get some ‘private’ time before getting another early night.

Expenditure :

Buddha ‘stuff’ – 125 baht
Fried Chicken – 35 baht
Beer / Coke / Water / Ice – 152 baht
Straws – 10 baht
Evening Food – 130 baht

Trip 4 - Day 79

2007-10-27T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 27th

I call A to see if she’s returning this morning, but she says that she is also feeling unwell and only finished work at 06:00 this morning. She’s going to take Phil to see Mama and have a sleep before coming home later. (Well that’s the plan.) It seems that we are all suffering with the same bug as the symptoms seem similar for all of us.

So it’s another day comprised mainly of sleep and watching the TV, however I am getting my appetite back, so maybe I’m over the worst of it now. I consider wandering down to Noi’s for a few beers and to have some company, but decide I’m not really that fussed, so once again just a trip to the corner shop for beer & ice which is consumed at home whilst watching yet more movies.

Before going to bed though, I log on to the Internet to check the football results and it’s another unbeaten game for Leeds and they’ve made it to the play off area even with the 15 point penalty that they’ve had imposed. This cheers me up and I go to bed feeling the best that I have for many days.

Expenditure :

Beer & Ice – 115 baht

Trip 4 - Day 78

2007-10-26T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 26th

Friday morning and I still don’t feel right and I know it’s not alcohol or sleep related as I’d had such a quiet day yesterday. I need to eat though as I’ve not had anything since yesterday morning. As A is due home later today, I decide to head off to Carrefour to get some basic supplies in for the weekend. Pork Loin & Chicken Breasts are the staple foodstuffs and at around 85 baht per kilo they are extremely good value too.

I buy a cooked Pork Panang curry and a bag of rice for 25 baht which will do me for lunch and I ‘treat’ myself to a baguette for a further 25 baht. A couple of bottles of Coke, a dozen eggs, tomatoes, cold meat and a bag of salad complete my purchases and I return home to eat.

I get a call from A telling me that the rain last night delayed getting their work done and “if is okay” she’ll work tonight and return tomorrow. To be frank, the way I’m feeling at the moment this doesn’t bother me too much. I cook up some strips of chicken and have these with the salad that I’d bought earlier. I then collapse on the sofa and watch TV between naps.

In the evening, I watch a couple of DVD’s and manage a couple of bottles of beer, but by 22:15, I just call it a day and turn in for the night.

Expenditure :

Carrefour – 387.25 baht
Beer & Ice – 115 baht

Trip 4 - Day 77

2007-10-25T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 25th

I awake early feeling pretty lousy with a sore throat and a runny nose. I manage a bit of breakfast and then head over to Kev’s to update the Blog and have a quick Messenger chat with Kev. His back is still playing up, but he has wangled it that he can get the treatment done in Pattaya rather than Kuwait, so he has sick leave and holiday leave for his next trip.

I don’t feel any better by lunchtime, so I just head back home to grab some shuteye and hope that I’m feeling better this evening as it’s the GoGo crawl and they are usually good fun.

I get home and stick the TV on and lay down on the sofa, but before I manage to fall asleep, there’s a call of “Jarge” from outside. It’s Kye (Lady from #2) and she’s turned up to collect the buffet cooking ‘ring’. She’s spoken to A and she knows where it is, so she heads past me and into the kitchen where she rummages around and then reappears clutching the utensil.

As she’s about to go, she points at the rear wheel of the scooter and I look to see what she’s pointing at. Damn! The rear wheel is flat and a closer inspection shows a shard of glass embedded in the tyre. Once she’s gone, I push the scooter to the repair place which is thankfully only opposite the end of our Soi and the chap there inspects the tyre. He tells me that the tyre is too badly damaged and needs to be replaced as well as having a new inner tube, so it’s 580 baht for the tyre and 120 baht for an inner tube.

When I get home, I finally get to grab my ‘nap’, however it ends up as a sleep rather than a nap and I don’t wake until 21:00 which means that I’ve completely missed the Bar Crawl. With the way I feel, that’s maybe not such a bad thing to be honest. I have a single bottle of beer then have a shower and just go to bed.

Expenditure :

Scooter Tyre : 700 baht

Trip 4 - Day 76

2007-10-24T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 24th

I awake with a serious hangover and feeling like absolute shit. I then realise that I’ve been a complete pillock, but that’s what happens when you’re pissed up and letting yourself be controlled by your prick.

I spend the day doing lots of laundry and ensuring that there will be no evidence for A to find of my visitor from last night. As the ‘deed’ was not done, I feel that I’m a little ‘safer’, but what the hell was I thinking? And why oh why did I do it?

Add to that some of the details that I’d previously forgotten about and it seems that I have a deathwish. I shall just have to wait and see what the fallout from this is (I fear it could be pretty bad).

As it’s Wednesday, it’s Cherry Bar duties tonight. When I arrive, there’s already quite a crowd at the bar, but many are there only for an hour or so before moving on. Many BM’s turn up to say hi during the course of the night including (but not limited to) ajsp9 and his mate on his ‘newbie’ trip, Don Dadda, Shuggabear, Dirty Sanchez and suprice.

I last out until 04:00 when I finally give up and decide I need to get some sleep. Sods law though that the scooter taxi that I get is the same guy that dropped me off at the house last night (and he knows the girls at The Cherry Bar!) Pattaya is just too small sometimes.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi : 150 baht

Trip 4 - Day 75

2007-10-23T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 23rd

The early night has done me a power of good and after eating the meal that A has cooked before going to work, I set off to Kev’s to get pics uploaded, the TR written and posted and some general website maintenance. It’s now been 1 year since I first ‘discovered’ Pattaya and I end up reading the TR from those early days of discovery and realise that I’d like to know how Nok is doing, so rather then going home from Kev’s, I head over to Soi 3 and this time she is at the bar and is looking really great.

I spend just an hour chatting with her and then it’s back home to meet up with Casper UK at Noi’s Bar as it’s the curry night once again and Chicken Madras was on the menu this week. The ‘plan’ is to just have a few beers and then make the short walk home. Tuesday night is becoming a regular ‘fixture’ where it’s virtually guaranteed to meet up with a few people and not have to make ‘plans’. The girls may not be ‘stunners’, but they are good fun and good company.

Casper has a taxi to go into town though and says that I should join him and his ‘teerak du jour’ for a while and once again my will power is found to be lacking and I agree. I’m pissed already and shouldn’t be doing this but this is Pattaya and many things are done that shouldn’t be.

We go to the bar his lady works at (can’t remember the name) and I play several games of Connect 4 and am very pleased that I can now win sometimes at this game.

Next stop was Cherry Bar

Then the ‘sensible’ brain closed down and the ‘stoopid’ brain kicked in. Back to Soi 3 to see Nok and it’s decided that we’re going to go for a skinny dip at Kev’s place, so we jump on a scooter taxi and once he’s been paid, he disappears back to civilisation. I unlock the gate and to my horror, I find that the landlady has locked the screen in front of the door, and I don’t have a key for that. We are now in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night and there’s no way we’re going swimming without towels as it’s a bit ‘cool’ to dry off naturally.

We head out on to the new ‘highway’ and are lucky to find a scooter taxi dropping someone off at the next complex, so we jump on the back and I end up giving directions to my home. (My saving grace is that I’m too drunk to manage anything ‘naughty’, however the intentions were most definitely there.) When Nok goes to leave, I walk with her to make sure that she gets a scooter taxi okay.

Not one of my cleverer days in Pattaya.

Expenditure :

Night Out – 2150 baht

Youtube - My Birthday at Cherry Bar Soi 8, Pattaya

2007-10-23T18:40:00.001+07:00

1st October 2007 spent with a great bunch of people

Trip 4 - Day 74

2007-10-22T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 22nd

Monday morning, so A is up early. Before leaving, she cooks me a meal and as she kisses me goodbye, she says that the rice will be ready in about ten minutes. She will be back home at about 17:30 tonight as she’s going to be away three nights this week (Tuesday – Thursday). I get up and eat but am very lethargic and find doing anything to be a great effort. I’ve got a sore throat and a headache right behind the eyes, so I end up just spending most of the day laying on the bed hoping that it’s nothing serious.

When A returns, it seems that Phil is also not well with a temperature and a hacking cough, so A says that she’ll take him to the ‘hopital’ tomorrow (He’s on the 30 baht treatment scheme).

After eating, we watch a bit of TV before all getting a very early night.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 73

2007-10-21T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 21st

Sunday morning and Mama and ‘Seeter’ are coming over today. A goes to collect Mama from Laem Chabang and when they return, they set to cooking the bags of seafood that they’ve bought in Naklua on the way home. There’s a pot full of crabs (about a dozen of them), a big bag of prawns and what looks like a bag of shells.

When ‘Seeter’ arrives, we start to devour the mountain of food and it has to be said that really fresh food like this is extremely tasty.

Once we finish eating, Mama once again does the ironing, whilst Phil just plays with his toys and the rest of us do little chores including cleaning the scooters and mopping the floors.

Late in the afternoon, ‘Seeter’ leaves and she takes Mama with her. The three of us then settle down on the sofa and end up watching cartoons on the TV for several hours until A decides that it’s time to eat again. Our evening meal is stall bought rather than home cooked, however there’s a good selection of dishes and I’ve probably eaten enough today to last me for several days.

Expenditure :

Food – 500 baht
Beer – 100 baht
Coke & Ice – 70 baht

Trip 4 - Day 72

2007-10-20T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 20th

A arrives early with Phil and I’m awoken with a cup of tea in bed and few minutes of ‘messing about’ which is a very pleasant way to start any day. The day is spent just chatting, hugging and eating. I tell A that I’m ‘angly’ about her staying away for five nights and that it is too much.

I get a call from Stuart Morelli saying that he’s in town for a couple of days and I’m invited along to The Rockhouse for a couple of beers from 18:00, however I think that A is looking to eat at around 18:30, so I say that I’m not sure that I can make it. There’s also a party there later in the evening, so I finally decide to give it a miss as I’d probably end up staying out too long and I really want to spend some time with A.

Once Phil has gone to sleep we continue to talk about what we both want and whilst the conversation is not the easiest or most pleasant, we are at least both honest with each other. Whilst things aren’t running as smoothly as I’d like, this isn’t a perfect world and I understand some of the concerns that A has.

We finally just snuggle up close and then head off to bed to fall asleep with arms, legs and bits of bedding all entwined.

Expenditure :

Food – 200 Baht
Phone Top Up for A – 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 71

2007-10-19T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 19th

After waking up late, I get started writing up the TR as I’m a few days behind on posting now. I have one task planned for today which is to help Kolobos sort out the Webcam at Noi’s bar. It’s been down for a few days and there’s no obvious reason why.

The camera can be seen at http://noisbar.camstreams.com/ and after just over an hour, we’ve managed to get back online to the relief of Lee.

I get a call from A whilst I’m with Kolobos, so it’s not possible to talk too easily. I’m told that she’s going to be working again tonight, but that she will be home early tomorrow morning. She will have been away for five nights this week and whilst I understand, I know that this is not sustainable, because if she works long hours so many consecutive days, she’s too tired to spend any meaningful time with me when she is at home. It’s yet another issue that we need to sort out, however I suspect that part of the staying away is still a result of my time with Sa.

Late in the afternoon, I cook myself something to eat and am toying with the idea of going to the FLB party, however sense prevails (for a change) and I simply crash out on the sofa with a few episodes of ‘Lost’ and a couple of bottles of Red Horse.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 70

2007-10-18T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 18th

I wake at 12:30 and after making some breakfast and having the obligatory mug of tea, it’s time to SSS ready for the Darkside Bar Crawl.

I’m making the trip on Kev’s scooter, so it’s Cokes only for me on this crawl, so I should remember everything that happens (for a change).

I’m meeting up with Hammer’s group at La Guinguette on Soi 27 Siam Country Club Road. The group is leaving from the car park at Mike’s Shopping Mall at 14:00, so they should be there around 14:15, but my plan is to get there a little earlier and grab myself a good seat.

I arrive just after 14:00 and there’s just one other customer there, so I head over to the ‘hut’ on the far side of the pool where I’m instantly joined by three girls. One of them announces that she’s a bit ‘Ting Tong’ but makes it clear to the others that she has decided that I’m to be her prey for the next hour or so. I get my Coke and I’m asked why I come ‘alone’. I say that my ‘friends’ will be arriving soon and when she hears that there will be 12 ‘friends’ she runs off to tell the others. I buy O a couple of beers and she is a very enthusiastic and accommodating lady. She tries hard to get me to go and shower with her in ‘loom’, but I decline her very kind offer (300 baht for room & “Up To You” for the lady). She’s a little on the heavy side compared to my usual ‘tastes’, but I feel sure based on the ‘messing around’ that the experience would be good.

Next stop is Butterfly Bar, so I head off and beat the rest of the guys to the place and as a reward, I ‘bag’ the attention of Pun before the rest of the guys arrive. There is a good selection of girls working at this bar and fair number are ‘lookers’ Rooms here are just 200 baht and it’s the same “Up To You” for the girl, however I once again manage to control the urges of the ‘little head’ and whilst I am sorely tempted, I decline the offer made (however this could well be a return visit on another day which I will NOT then tell A about).

We are on a roll now and the next stop is to be Black Pearl 2 which has only been open a couple of months, however if it’s as much fun as Black Pearl 1 was the last time I went there, then I shall be happy. We pull up and sit at the front of the bar and wonder what has happened. There are hardly any girls and there doesn’t seem to be much to do. Then a few girls arrive (seems they’ve been sent over from Black Pearl 1) and one of them stops dead in her tracks when she sees Hammer. We find out later that she knows him from the Bar Crawls to Ban Chang as she used to work in Papas Bar. We then head out to the back of the bar where there’s a decent sized pool and things started going ‘downhill’ rapidly.

‘Skinny dipping’ was most obviously the order of the day (for a few of us) and was a great amount of fun and then VicVegas announces that it’s one of the best crawls so far and each bar that we’ve visited has ‘upped the ante’ a little, so he’s looking forward to the next place. It’s another previously unvisited place called Oasis, but when we get there it’s a great disappointment. There’s hardly any girls working and there are family groups sitting in the bar. The decision is very quickly and easily made to have just one drink and then move on, so within 10 minutes we’re on our way to Dao bar.

Once again there are plenty of ladies and some real ‘hotties’ amongst them. Whilst I’ve been here before, this is certainly the best I’ve encountered in my three visits to date. Seems that many of the others agreed as there’s lots of messing about going on and a couple of BMs decide that the deed has to be done and disappear for some ‘Short Time’ fun (300 for the room here and I’m informed that it’s 500 for the girl).

Next stop for me is home where I park the bike before walking back to the Cock Inn which is being added as a quick additional stop because we are running a little early because of the problems with Oasis. I get here before the rest of the group and I telephone A who tells me that she won’t be coming home tonight as originally expected. Deep down, I had half expected this to happen and I can only wait to see what develops this weekend.

Hammer then arrives and tells me that he wants to get the pictures from VicVegas to post on the website, so I volunteer to take the memory card home and copy the pics to my memory stick (and grab a copy of the incriminating evidence for myself). Ten minutes later, I’m back and it’s time to make our way the short distance to Noi’s bar where the crawl will finish.

When one of the girls brings me my Chang, she tells me that Sa has now left the bar and has returned home, so that’s probably the best solution for me. Noi’s Bar is now definitely ‘off limits’ (as far as barfining goes) for me.

Instead of calling a halt and wandering back to an empty home, I decide I might as well grab a lift on one of the baht buses that is heading into town, It’s Lord Flash’s birthday and he’s having a few drinks at the Cherry Bar, and as he came along on my birthday, it would have been rude not to go along for his. So, even though I started drinking very late on in the day, I still ended up getting fairly wrecked by the end of it.

Judging from this pic, it seems that I might have 'upset' Nam somehow.

It had been a really fun day in Pattaya and many of the crawl participants rated it as one of the best ever.

Expenditure :

Petrol : 130 baht
Red Bull : 10 baht
Scooter Taxi : 80 baht
Telephone Top Up : 100 baht
Crawl & Cherry Bar : 1800 baht

Trip 4 - Day 69

2007-10-17T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 17th
h
I wake up and feel very ‘queasy’. I know that I had a few beers last night, but this isn’t a hangover and as I’m at Cherry Bar tonight, I hope that I’m feeling better than this later on.

I hang around the house for a while, but do not improve much, however I don’t feel the need to be close to the loo, so I decide to get some air. I might as well investigate the Bar Crawl route for tomorrow as it’s quit easy to get very ‘lost’.

Out of my Soi and it’s left and left again down to Dao Café

For those of you that haven’t been before, the ‘club’ entrance is behind the main café and pool complex.

Then it’s over to Soi Siam Country Club where I find Butterfly and Black Pearl 1 easily enough, (however I think that the crawl is taking in Black Pearl 2 rather than Black Pearl 1 this week).

La Guinguette is a nightmare to find. There’s a sign on Soi Siam Country Club pointing to the left stating that it’s just 1km, however the road then goes to the left and I know that it isn’t right when I end up back on Soi Siam Country Club. I try once again, this time doubling back on myself at the only junction and lo and behold there’s another signpost further on. I finally locate the place.

When I leave, I try to get back on to the main road and realise that the main approach (Soi 27 of Soi Siam Country Club) is being dug up and I guess that the signs have simply been relocated without changing the distance indicators.

I send Hammer a text warning him about this, as I suspect that it could cause problems tomorrow and whilst “Road Closed” signs don’t usually bother baht bus drivers, I suspect even they would have difficulty manoeuvring their way around this.

I then head back home after a quick trip to Carrefour to stock up on Eggs, Bread, Pork Loin and a couple of bottles of beer on special offer (Red Horse - 25 baht for 64cl of 6.9% alcohol beer). I’m still not feeling quite right and when I get back, I have a good ‘clear out’ from both ends and then I manage a two hour nap. When I rouse I am feeling much better, but realise that I have missed my 15:00 appointment to see Kolobos, and when I log on later in the day, I respond to his PM and make my apologies.

Later I risk having something to eat and then it’s time to SSS in readiness for my night at Cherry Bar. Soi 8 is very quiet tonight and business is very slow, however from around 22:00, there’s a steady flow of BM’s coming along and I get to chat with a load of them and watch the Russia v England ‘footie’ game. Time just passes by until I realise that it’s gone 03:00. The bar is now very quiet and after checking with Nam, I decide to call it a day and head back home.

Expenditure :

Carrefour : 157.50 baht
Scooter Taxis : 130 baht

Trip 4 - Day 68

2007-10-16T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 16th

Tonight is ‘Curry night’ at Noi’s bar and I’m due to meet up with Casper UK for a beer and to get my camera back after leaving it behind at one of the bars in Simon Complex whilst on the FLB Bar crawl last week. It’s also my first visit back to the bar since my 09:15 departure from the bed of Sa last Friday.

I arrive just after 20:00 and am shocked when I see Casper UK. One arm is in a sling and the other badly beaten and grazed. Seems that last Thursday after the crawl, he was involved in a scooter accident and as is usually the case, the road had won most comprehensively. (Last week was a complete disaster for him)

I then have a quick chat with Chef and he tells me that the curry night has once again been a great success. (Anyone fancying a change, consider making the trip to the Darkside on a Tuesday night for a few beers; a curry and a more ‘chilled out’ experience than the Central Pattaya bars)

I take a quick glance around the bar and I don’t see Sa, so there’s no issue of having to explain that I cannot repeat what happened last week and I just have a few beers ‘with the lads’ and I agree to ‘pop round’ to see Kolobos the next day to look into some issues that he’s been having with the webcam before making the short walk home.

It’s been a very pleasant evening and I’m not feeling ‘down’ tonight as I had been last night.

Expenditure :

Noi’s Bar : 300 baht

Trip 4 - Day 67

2007-10-15T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 15th

After saying goodbye to A, I go back to sleep and don’t re-surface until lunchtime. I spend some time cleaning the house and I wash the bedding. For food, there is still plenty left over from the weekend, so I have a substantial afternoon meal before I head over to Kev’s place to get some more website maintenance done.

I don’t know where the time goes, but next time I check, it’s nearly 20:00. I set off for home, but then remember that there’s will nobody there tonight so there isn’t a real need to rush back. I decide to take a quick ‘detour’ into town to go and see an old ‘friend’. I make my way over to Soi 3, but when I call at the bar, I’m told that my ‘friend’ is not working today, (and maybe that’s for the best) so I about turn and this time I do go home.

As I open the door, my phone bleeps to let me know that I’ve received a text and it’s from my ‘friend’, so it would seem that someone has called her and described me as I didn’t leave my name. “Where are you now? What do you do now? Today I day off.” I send a quick reply “I cook and eat now. I will see you another time. Take Care”

After eating, I watch a couple of movies on Sophon; down a bottle of Chang and then go to bed feeling a little ‘lonely’.

Expenditure :

Allowance for Mama : 500 baht

Trip 4 - Day 66

2007-10-14T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 14th

Our early night didn’t exactly lead to a good night’s sleep, however it seems that we are back ‘on track’ this morning and the atmosphere is not so frosty.

Today we are due to be visited by Mama and ‘seeter’ as they are bringing Phil’s bicycle over, however there’s a problem (Isn’t there always?) and I’m told that ‘seeter’ has to “go police” this morning as there’s been some incident with a Thai guy the night before threatening her. This means that A has to go and collect Mama and she also wants to get some food in as Mama will be cooking.

A makes the trip to Sri Racha and when she gets back, the heaven’s open and the Soi becomes a torrent of water. As I watch the water flowing, I realise that there are even bricks being washed along. It’s quite a strange experience standing there witnessing this power of the elements which has developed in less than 15 minutes.

Mama then cooks lunch (Panang) and I have to admit, she’s a great cook. After we’ve eaten, she then gets stuck into all the ironing that has stockpiled whilst A hasn’t been around. I’m ordered out of the way, so I just head outside, sit on the sofa with my book and while away a couple of hours of a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Once the rains stop, A asks if “We go shopping” as we need to restock on meat and we are nearly out of rice and a few other basics. I say that I’ll go to the shop and proceed to make a shopping list and I’m told to get 2 x 5kg of rice (1 for Mama) and 2 x Cooking Oil (1 for Mama) amongst other things.

As I get out onto Sukhumvit highway, I find that there are only two lanes of road and the other two are now a river. As I pass the ends of various Soi’s along the route, it looks like brown water rapids are joining the highway, however nobody seems to be the slightest bit fazed or even interested. I do my shopping, but when I get to the checkout, I’m not allowed to buy the beer in my trolley as it’s between 14:00 & 17:00 and illegal to buy.

Later on, A heads off to take Mama home, however she returns after only 20 minutes. It had started to rain, so Mama was going to simply get a bus from Naklua instead.

For our evening meal, we make our own Pork Wontons (Geeo Nam?) and very tasty they are too.

As A has to leave early in the morning for work, we have another early night, however I’m warned that if I “go with lady” again then A will “cut me for sure” and “feed to ducks”.

A is going to be away for three nights and she knows that I am out on Thursday, but I say that I’ll be home “Not too late” that night (It’s the Darkside afternoon / evening crawl that day).

Expenditure :

Petrol : 100 baht
Tesco : 665 baht
Food from market : 115 baht
Chang & Ice : 110 baht

Trip 4 - Day 65

2007-10-13T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 13th

I’m awoken at 04:30 by A returning to bed and she just puts her finger on my lips indicating that I shouldn’t say anything. She cuddles up to me and whilst I know that I haven’t been forgiven, it seems that she doesn’t want to simply finish things at the present time.

When we finally awake, I ask her to telephone the landlady to get the air con sorted out. The bad news is that air con is not covered under the tenancy it seems. If we want it repaired, it’s “Up to us”, but we are given the number of a local service company and A gives them a call.

I'm running short of cash, and as it's a Saturday, the local bank isn't open, so I make a trip to Tukcom where the banks are open and cash £200 of Travellers Cheques.

The air con people arrive at 16:30 and it seems that the switching unit in the outside unit has packed up, so that’s 800 baht for the part and the clearing of the filters. Then they check the Freon levels and it seems that where it should be registering as 50 ‘somethings’, it’s only 15 ‘somethings’, so a gas recharge is required which costs an additional 900 baht. The end result is that the system works properly now and the bedroom is cooled within a matter of minutes.

We have decided that we shall eat a buffet ‘at home’ tonight, as A cannot really relax if we go out due to needing to keep an eye on Phil all the time, so A heads off to the market for all the ingredients. When she returns, we spend the next hour cutting up various bits of ‘green stuff’ that I cannot name and slicing ‘pig’ and chicken into thin slices that can be cooked with ease.

To get the charcoal burner started, A simply ‘cooks’ a few large chunks on the gas burner in the kitchen and then transfers them to the clay pot. At this point, the rain starts once again, but rather than postponing our meal, the charcoal burner is simply brought indoors and we have an indoor barbecue and I'm certainly 'Im' (full) at the end of it.

The rain continues and I decide that with a combination of this and the domestic ‘situation’, it’s probably best if I don’t go out to Valleyboy’s party at Cherry Bar tonight, so simply send a text to Hammer askinhg him to pass on my best wishes to the 'happy couple'. I also send a text to a few other guys that I know are having a get together in London tonight.

After we’ve eaten, we decide that we’ll have an early night ourselves and even though it's only 21:30, we retire to our cool bedroom which we then proceed to warm up.

Expenditure :

Air Con Repair : 1700 baht
Food for buffet : 195 baht
Coke & Ice : 60 baht

Trip 4 - Day 64

2007-10-12T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 12th

‘NEVER carry on a telephone conversation with a Thai Girl when you can’t fully understand EXACTLY what she’s asking and you’re suffering from a hangover’
After leaving Noi’s bar, I stop off at 7/11 to get a phone top up and more essentially a bottle of Red Bull. As I’m up and dressed, I don’t stay at home, but simply grab the laptop and head off to Kev’s place. The plan is to get the TR posted, update the Blogger site with some more Trip 1 content, have a swim and then head back home at around 17:00 in time to meet A.

As with just about all Pattaya ‘plans’, this one is also doomed. A calls me at 13:00 and the line is poor and I can hardly hear her. I’m unsure what she’s saying but she then shouts down the phone “You lie” and hangs up. A combination of a guilty conscience and a hangover do little to alleviate my worries, so I call her back and she says “I know you not at home”.

I make the assumption (wrongly as it turns out) that she somehow knows that I didn’t get home last night, so tell her that I was ‘mau’ last night and I sleep in bar. More shouting and she hangs up again, so I call her back and she says that she knows I’m not at home as she is there now. Of course then she seizes on the ‘sleep at bar’ comment and won’t let it go.

(Whilst I’ll avoid telling the truth sometimes, I try not to actually lie and when A starts asking very direct questions, she gets to find out that I ‘go wid lady’ last night.)

I tell her that I’ll be home in 10 minutes and we can talk.

The talk was not the most pleasurable experience of this journey to Pattaya, however it did ensure that a number of issues that hadn’t been discussed openly in the past were brought in to the open. I’m not going to go through them all here, but suffice to say we get more resolved than we did from our ‘chat’ at the weekend. The end result is that I am left in no doubt that I am NOT free to butterfly as had been intimated, however A also understands a little more why I was not ‘happy’ and I guess we both need to decide what we want to do.

The rest of the day is spent quietly and I’m unsure as to where we go from here, so I’m not pushing anything and will simply see how things develop.

That night, we go to bed early and discover that the air conditioning unit has packed up. The night is hot and sticky, so does little to help tempers and eventually A says that she cannot sleep, so she goes and shares Phil’s room (he has the use of the fan).

Expenditure :

Phone top up : 100 baht
Red Bull : 10 baht
Stall food : 95 baht
Coke & Ice : 60 baht

Trip 4 - Day 63

2007-10-11T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 11th

The day is spent at Kev’s place updating the Blogger site. First problem to resolve is why the Google ads aren’t displaying and after spending a while trying to determine the fault, I simply remove all traces and start again from scratch. It’s not a major problem, but it takes time and then I start adding some ‘back content’. It’s strange going back to Trip 1 – Day 1 and reading the early reports and remembering those first days in Pattaya.

As I don’t have the source pictures on my PC here, I have to download them from the report; upload them to Flickr and then post the new URL location. Again it’s a time consuming task, but it needs to be done, so I just get on with it. For a bit of fun, I also include a few of my Youtube montages on the site and it is finally beginning to take shape.

By 17:30, I finally decide to call it a day and return home to SSS in readiness for the bar crawl tonight. I am in a good mood today and I am really looking forward to a good night out. Once I’m ready, there’s still time to wait before leaving for the FLB, si I decide to have a couple of quick beers at Noi’s Bar first.

I sit with Kolobos & Chef and I’m introduced to a ‘banned’ member from one of the Pattaya forums. It seems that he was considered to be a ‘troll’ and got banned after just 1 post. His board name was SusanRichardson and I remember the discussion that took place about him / her at the time. I’m joined by Na, but I manage to resist the temptation to buy her a drink. (I do get a couple of pictures of her though, however I cannot post them at the moment as I have sort of ‘mislaid’ my camera.)

I get a scooter to the end of Soi 15 for 50 baht and make my way down Walking Street to the FLB. I am too late for the voting and we are to ‘do’ Walking Street this week. First stop is Peppermint and I realise that this is a GoGo that I’ve never been to before. I am very pleasantly surprised it has to be said with several very pretty girls dancing and being more enthusiastic than many of their ‘sisters’ in the other GoGo bars. I sit with Hairloss & Casper UK and find that I’m actually enjoying a GoGo and not just thinking ‘same same’.

Next stop is Champion GoGo which I visited just once before, but I find myself chatting with another BM rather than paying great attention to the girls. There’s no time to get too settled though as we are on a schedule and the next venue is Dollhouse and then Coyotee. The beers are having the desired affect now and things are starting to get pretty hazy, however I do remember moving on to the Simon complex at the bottom of Walking Street and I think this is where the crawl finished (well I was finished anyway).

For some bizarre reason, on the scooter home, I obviously decided that I was just going to ‘go for it’ tonight and instead of returning home, I end up back at Noi’s Bar once again. Quite what I got up to there, I am not sure, but I do remember somebody knocking on the door and demanding 300 baht to avail myself of a bed for the night (Oops), which I fortunate to share with a lovely Cambodian lady that has only been working at the bar for a few days. She speaks no English, but is extremely loving. (I remember seeing her for the first time on Tuesday night when she was sitting with Mulphy.)

I awake to find this lovely curled up around me and if I failed to ‘do the deed’ last night, I sure as hell made up for it this morning with a new Pattaya ‘first’ recorded for me. After the post session shower, it’s time to finally go home. It’s quite a strange experience having the bar shutter unlocked in order to let me out at 09:15 in the morning, but hey “This is Pattaya” and strange is normal here.

I check my phone and find that I’ve got a text from Casper UK which he sent at 00:25 last night “I’ve got your camera”. (I didn’t even realise that I hadn’t got it)

Expenditure :

Scooter : 130 baht
Room & Tip : 1500 baht
Crawl : 2100 baht (process of backward counting)

(An expensive night maybe, but a bloody good one!)

Trip 4 - Day 62

2007-10-10T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 10th

I awake and when I look outside, the Soi is awash. The rain is relentless and I decide that there is no way I’m going anywhere whilst the weather is like this.

I spend the day sitting out the front listening to the rain pattering on the roof and as I have food in the fridge as well as Coke & Beer, I just settle down to spend the day reading and breaking off to cook up a chicken curry and for several cups of tea. Around 17:00, I speak to A who says that she misses me and I tell her that I am missing her as well, but she says that she needs to earn money.

She asks me to pass a message on to Tai at Cherry Bar, but I tell her that I won’t be going unless the rain eases up as Hammer is not taking a day off this week due to having taken 5 nights off last week and I’m not required to be on ‘duty’.

The rains persists through the early evening, so I just stick on a DVD and have a single bottle of Chang at home, followed by an early night.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 61

2007-10-09T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 9th

A gets an early morning call from Mama to inform her that it’s raining heavily in Sri Racha, so A loads up with clothes for her and Phil and they don coats before they head off. The sky in Pattaya is still clear, so I decide that I’ll get an early load of washing done.

I then prepare my ‘tea & toast’ breakfast and see that there’s not a lot in the fridge at the moment, so I decide that a trip to Carrefour to stock up is necessary. It’s still before 09:00 though, so I have to wait as the store will not be open yet. I send a text to Casper UK to see whether he’ll be at Noi’s tonight for the Curry Night. He confirms that he will, so it’s agreed that I’ll meet him for a drink and to find out about his recent Cambodia trip at around 20:00.

I get the washing done and hung out to dry and then make the short trip to Carrefour where I spend 406.50 baht, however this does include buying black sacks and insect killer as well as foodstuffs. As I make my way home, it starts to rain and I just manage to get the washing in before there’s a 5 minute deluge.

After my success with the chicken drumsticks the other day, I’d bought another packet of tempura batter, so my late afternoon meal is strips of chicken breast in batter and breadcrumbs accompanied by a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion. (My attempt at Onion Rings was not a success).

I then spend a couple of hours reading before getting ready to go out to Noi’s Bar. When I get there, it’s a good turnout with Mulphy, MM, Helicopter, Bob (of Bob’s B-B-Q), Kolobos (and many others) there. No Casper UK though. Timekeeping in Thailand is nobody’s great strength though, so I just grab a seat and a Chang (my first alcohol since Friday night) and join in the chit chat around the table. Several guys comment that the curry tonight is one of Chef’s best and then there’s a discussion about which have worked ‘best’ and surprisingly the ‘mango’ curry seems to come out top.

I am now joined at the table by Na and this a very pleasant ‘diversion’. I end up spending quite a time chatting with her and I discover that it’s her birthday next Wednesday (17th) which is the day before the crawl will ‘hit’ the darkside. She tells me that she’ll be 19 which surprises me as she’d previously told me that she was older. When questioned, she says that she thinks I like ‘”older lady, so I tell you I older”, but because she now knows that I am living with a girlfriend she can “tell you truth” (You really can’t help but love these girls).

She says that she knows I cannot pay barfine for her (however I am sorely tempted) but says that maybe when she is older it will be okay. I ask her how much older and she says that Christmas will be fine.

On the way home, I stop at the corner store and buy 3 bottles of beer for the fridge (I’ve had sufficient for tonight).

Expenditure :

Mama Allowance : 500 baht
Carrefour : 406.50 baht
Bottles of Beer : 100 baht
Noi’s Bar : 600 baht

Trip 4 - Day 60

2007-10-08T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 8th

Monday morning and it’s an early awakening as A is off to work, however I also get an early start as I need to get my TR written and uploaded along with a pictorial report on my week at Cherry Bar, so I head off to Kev’s place and when I get there, I realise that I’ve left the keys on the desk at home.

There’s no alternative but to return and whilst the distance isn’t far, it one of those things that just niggles at me and sets me in a bad mood.

On the return, I stop off to fill up with petrol as with my luck today, I’d run out in the back of beyond.

The day passes with some good progress made on the Blogger site and replying to a few comments and before I know it, it’s 17:00 and I need to head back to meet A when she gets in.

She gets Phil showered and sorted out then asks me what I want to eat. I say that I’d like something similar to the pork wontons that she’d made previously. She goes out and returns just 5 minutes later with exactly what I wanted and she has got red pork and rice for herself and Phil.

I realise that I’d forgotten to replenish the Coke supply, so a quick trip to the store on the corner rectifies this. We all then eat and settle down to watch TV, however after a while, the Thai TV bores me and I pick up my book. A then asks me if it’s okay for her to work a couple of late nights and stay in Sri Racha. It’s not really ‘up to me’ as far as I’m concerned, but as she’s suffering with the monthly ‘cramps’ and there’s the family death, she’s not the best of company at the moment and I simply agree.

Expenditure :

Petrol : 135 baht
Coke : 50 baht

Cherry Bar - October 1st / October 5th 2007

2007-10-08T11:59:00.000+07:00

A collection of pics from the Cherry Bar

1st - 5th October 2007

The roof leaked and the first thing to be rescued? The Ladydrink & Barfine vouchers!

Hammer : "I've only got two ladyboys at Cherry Bar" (Are you sure?)

'Cherry Bar' - A suitable barfine for everyone!

One for DiscoCol

Pun does take a good photograph

The 'Cutie from next door' - Kwan

Trip 4 - Day 59

2007-10-07T23:59:00.000+07:00

October 7th

We are awoken by the constant ringing of A’s phone. It seems that there is a family ‘crisis’ and she has to go to Sri Racha today. I ask what the problem is and she says that there has been an accident and she has to go to ‘opital’ but “if you no want me go, I stay here with you”. I say that if it’s important then off course she must go, but if she is going to be late back then she should call me. She agrees that if she’s going to back after 18:00, she will call to let me know and with that, she showers and her and Phil disappear off.

I spend a very lazy Sunday doing sweet F.A. until A arrives home just after 17:00. She’s definitely not looking too good and it seems that an ‘Aunty’ (I make little progress in determining the bloodline connection though) was returning from work at 03:00 in the morning on her scooter when she was hit by a car driven by a drunk Thai. Her 10 year old son was killed instantly and “They take Aunty to ‘opital’ for her to die there later”. It seems that she was only one Soi from home and the driver when apprehended didn’t know that he’d killed anyone. I’m told that she will be taken to Buddha on “Day 4 in the morning”, so I’m guessing that this means there will be a funeral on Thursday.

On top of this, A is now suffering a bit with her usual 4 weekly cycle and after having something to eat, she gets Phil to sleep and then heads off to bed herself.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 58

2007-10-06T23:59:00.000+07:00

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

Trip 4 - Day 57

2007-10-05T23:59:00.000+07:00

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

Trip 4 - Day 56

2007-10-04T23:59:00.000+07:00

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

Trip 4 - Day 55

2007-10-03T23:59:00.000+07:00

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

Trip 4 - Day 54

2007-10-02T23:59:00.000+07:00

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

Trip 4 - Day 53

2007-10-01T23:59:00.000+07:00

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

Trip 4 - Day 52

2007-09-30T23:59:00.000+07:00

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

Trip 4 - Day 51

2007-09-29T23:59:00.000+07:00

29th September

We wake up mid morning and it's a day for getting in a few supplies for the coming week, so off to Big C and the total bill is 678.50 baht.

As said before, we have no TV service at the moment . Instead of Banglamung cable which we received before, we are now to get Sophon. A doesn't know how much it is going to cost, but I accept that TV is almost a necessity for A & Phil. I have no small bills, so I give her 1000 baht and she disappears off to get things sorted.

When she returns she tells me that it's 1350 baht for three months. (I've only just realised whilst writing this, that I haven't asked her if she's paid the extra amount yet.) The engineer will be arriving on Monday and when he gets there, I need to call A so that she can speak with him.

The afternoon makes way for early evening and I just sit out front and read my book again tonight. At 20:00, I eat with A and Phill and shortly afterwards, she settles him down for the night. I look forward to a little bit of 'cuddle time', but it seems that A is tired (well she does work all week, so I can understand that) and she's getting an early night as well "For go to sleep!". That puts paid to any ideas I might have had, so I have one small bottle of beer and read another couple of chapters before turning in for myself.

Expenditure :
BigC food supplies : 678.50 baht
Payment for cable TV : 1000 baht

Trip 4 - Day 50

2007-09-28T23:59:00.000+07:00

28th September

I wake up to see A and Phil off in the morning and then simply return to sleep for a few more hours as 06:00 in Pattaya is an 'obscene' time to be waking up especially if you only got to bed sometime after 02:00.

At 14:00, I finally surface and as it's Friday, I need to get into town to hand Kev's condo keys to the estate agent, so I get a scooter taxi to Soi 6/1 and see Steve at Alan Bolton's again. We have a chat and he says that business has just started to pick up, and he's also covering for Alan who is currently back in the UK.

After leaving the office, I decide to pop into TukCom as I need to buy an AV lead as I didn't bring it from the UK with me, so that means getting a baht bus from Beach Road. Being so close, It would be rude not to at least make the walk down Soi 6 to get the bus, so the walk was done and the big grin came so naturally. At least my resolve held out and the temptations were not sufficient to deflect me from my simple task of just walking down a road.

Into TukCom and I find a place selling what I think to be the right lead. I'm simply told that if it doesn't work, to bring it back with the portable DVD player and the right one would be found. At 120 baht, it's not a major expense, but it is good to know that it's not a waste if it's wrong.

As I come out of TukCom, it dawns on me that it's market day, so the deep fried chicken stall will be there. It just has to be done I'm afraid, so I head up Soi Bouakhow and the stall is where it always is at the entrance to the market. A big piece of chicken with sweet sauce and sticky rice comes to 45 baht and I decide to get a scooter back home so that I can eat it hot. I stop the taxi at the end of my Soi and buy a bottle of Coke and a bag of ice in the shop on the corner and a couple of minutes later I'm tucking in.

A arrives home at 17:30 and tells me that tonight we are going to have 'buffet' at home, so she disappears off to get the ingredients. 20 minutes later she returns with Phil and there is also Kye and her two kids as well. The two women start preparing the food and the kids are all playing together. I'm told that I should just go and sit outside and that I can read my book, which seems a damn good idea and is a pleasant way to spend the early evening. The women are being productive; the kids are playing quite nicely and there's a range of music emanating from the houses along the Soi.

Later, Kye goes to collect Robin from work and the four of us eat buffet and drink whisky and soda whilst sitting out in the front of the bungalow. In the darkness the glow of the barbecue coals is quite comforting and peaceful and as night draws on the Soi becomes quieter and quieter. Just before midnight, our guests depart and Phil is already asleep. He's put to bed and we retire for the night.

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxi & Baht Bus : 120 baht
AV Cable : 120 baht
Chicken at Market : 45 baht
Coke & Ice : 35 baht

Trip 4 - Day 49

2007-09-27T23:59:00.000+07:00

27th September

A heads off to work early and I rise at lunchtime. The thought of journeying into town to hand the keys in today doesn't really appeal, so I end up just doing some laundry and cooking a simple meal of sliced 'pig' (instead of bacon) and fried eggs on toast.

A returns home with Phil a little earlier than usual at 17:15 and I'm when A realises that it's Thursday and I'm going out again, she decides to get food from the stalls rather than cook.

We all sit down to eat and Phil watches a few VCDs (we still have no cable TV hooked up yet). At 19:00 I SSS and by 19:40, I'm heading off for the FLB for the monthly GoGo crawl.

I arrive at the bar and the place is heaving. Tonight is the largest turnout in nearly a year and I think that MM is hopeful that this is a sign that the high season is starting. 37 of us are in attendance and that is a lot of guys to suddenly descend on any bar, but at least the GoGo bars should be better prepared than the Bar Beers.

First stop is Catz where I'm recognised by one of the service staff who I haven't seen since February. She remembers what I was drinking then (I've changed now), but I just order a beer instead. It's happy hour so my drinks is only 65 baht, but as service girl has remembered me and complimented me on being slimmer than I was before ( vanity wins out every time), I offer her a drink as well when I order my second beer, so that's a checkbin of 240 baht and a tip of 20 baht in the first stop.

From Catz, it's just a step next door to Club Bousche where it's 110 baht for two beers and I'm afraid that most of the dancers here do look very bored and disinterested, however I suppose it's still early for a GoGo club. Out the door and straight across into Taboo where there are some really lovely girls and a lot more interaction with the members of the group and I think a few barfines were paid in advance here.

The next stop was to have been Sweethearts, but it seems that the leading group arrived to find the place already quite busy (maybe it's true that high season is 'kicking in'?) and there was no way that a larger group could be accomodated, so a quick rethink and the group decapmped to Dollhouse a little earlier than planned.

As BM Rightsaid was on the crawl, a quick chat and it was agreed that 2 for 1 could be done at TQ2, so that became the next stop but once again Avatar girl wasn't there (maybe it's for the best) and another couple of beers were consumed. Out of TQ2 and we turn left then right down a little alley to to come out on Marine Plaza next to Coyotee's which was to be our next stop. The alcohol is kicking in and there's a lot of laughs and chat between the girls and the crawl members (well there was in my case) and I somehow find myself in an 'interesting' situation with eight Coyotee girls all around me posing for photographs. (It's a tough job, but someone has to do it).

The crawl is now officially 'over', but as this is a GoGo crawl and I haven't yet been to the newest GoGo in Walking Street, I head over with a couple of other to Sisterz to see Ricky. To be fair, I was now too drunk to really pass any valid review here, but the place seemed pretty comfortable and there were plenty of girls working, so worth a visit in my opinion.

A scooter taxi home and I collapse into bed as quietly as I can next to A and it's instant sleep.

Expenditure :

Bar Crawl : 1200 baht
Scooter Taxis : 160 baht

Trip 4 - Day 48

2007-09-26T23:59:00.000+07:00

26th September

A goes off as usual in the morning and I remind her that I shall be out tonight at Cherry Bar, but I won't be in when she returns from work either as I am going out with Kevin and Hammer for Kevin's last day in Pattaya this trip.

I head off to meet Kevin at around 13:00 and we drink tea, sort out a few bits and pieces and await the return of Joy who has gone out to get some keys cut for the house. ( For all you cynics out there, the 'maids room' at Kevins place could yet be a 'bolthole' if everything goes to ratshit ).

Joy arrives back at just after 14:00, we check that the keys work and I'm also given the keys to the condo that need to be delivered to Steve at Alan Bolton. Joy then calls for the taxi to collect us and we eventually arrive at Jade at around 15:15 to meet up with MM, Manracer, Kuranda Bagman, Casper UK & Dacah. The food is excellent; the company is good and a few of the girls are looking particularly hot. As it's going to be a very long day, I decide to start with soft drinks only as does Kev, but we both had a good plateful of food.

Hammer then turns up and gets some serious ribbing. It seems that last night he was completely 'out of it' and held discussions with a number of people that he simply has no recollection of. He remembers arriving at the bar around 22:00 and having had a 'few' around Soi 13/1; 13/2; 13/3 and 13/4 (Knowing Hammer, it could well have been a drink at every bar in those Sois) he doesn't remember too much. After a Soda water, he starts to come around, all ready for a new challenge and after about an hour, we settle checkbins and grab a baht bus to Jomtein.

First stop is Las Vegas for the naked pool, but it has to be said that the pickings here were not great and with only a handful of girls working, it really wouldn't be a suitable venue for the crawl to visit next week. Some 'research' was done and a suitable 'replacement' venue was found where the general consensus was a 'thumbs up'.

A little diversion to another bar where the policy was very obviously 'hassle free', but there were some preetty girls in attendance and after a discussion with the management, arrangements were made for its inclusion next Wednesday.

Ever onward, our scouting party moved on to a larger 'open' bar where there are always plenty of girls working and it's a pleasant place to simply sit and let the world just pass by.

No rest though as there are a couple more venues that need to be checked out. The next stop is my favourite venue of the day and arrangements are made to see 'Kim from Surin' next week where I fear that I could well be a 'naughty boy' for the first time this trip.

Our final stop is at a more laid back venue where we wind down and 'compare notes'. I think that it's going to be a good crawl and of the 'recce' trip, there will only be three of us actually attending as three of our 'gang' will be in Cambodia, one in England and one in Iraq.

I then get a bus into town with Kev and we decide on a couple of drinks at TQ2 before he heads back to his place for his last night and I head to Cherry Bar. In TQ2, I am informed that Avatar Girl has now quit from Sisterz and is back working there, but despite waiting until 19:45 (for a supposed 19:30 start), I fail to see her.

I change my top then jump on another baht bus for the journey up to Soi 8.

Tonight is a quiet one at Cherry Bar, however a few BM's do come over to have a chat. Kurunda Bagman & Manracer drop by after the afternoon 'sojourn' and before heading off for the night and ThaiLearner is also at the bar. I have to admit that the afternoon has got the hormones flowing a little and there is a real 'cutie' at the bar next door that I've seen for the past couple of weeks who is looking particularly 'scrumptious' tonight.

I'm joined in my evaluation of the 'girls next door' by BM Geewiz and we try to work out what it is that makes certain girls 'appeal', whereas others just don't seem to hit the spot. I don't think we came up with any concrete theories, but it was a very pleasurable way to kill some time.

By just before 03:00, Nam says that I might as well go home as it is very quiet (not just the bar, but the whole Soi), so I get a scooter taxi home and collapse into bed aside an already sleeping A.

Expenditure :

Drinks, Tips & 1 LD : 400 baht
Telephone Topup : 100 baht
Jade BBQ : 200 baht
Transport (bus & scooter) : 100baht

Trip 4 - Day 47

2007-09-25T20:00:00.000+07:00

25th September

A heads off to work at just after 07:00 and I get some laundry done, but unfortunately there is nowhere to connect the machine to the water supply in the back bathroom (Need to get A to sort that out with the landlord). I then walk to Big C to get some cleaning materials and air fresheners and the little 'rag' mats to place around the place. As well as a bottle of water, a small tub of ice cream, a dozen eggs and a small loaf of bread, my expenditure is 232.50 baht ( however I did forget to get the binbags )

I get a baht bus back along Sukhumvit to save another walk and as I cross the railway line walking back along Soi Khao Noi, I hear my name being called out. It's Kye on her scooter, so she pulls up alongside and I jump onboard for the short journey back to the house.

I spend a while then getting this Blog written as I'm a few days behind and my notes will make little sense if I leave it too long. At 14:08, I get a text from Kev "Off to Noi's later". Before I get a chance to respond, he telephones and says that his 'plan' for his last couple of nights is to go to Noi's and Cherry Bar tonight and then to go to Rockhouse and FLB tomorrow night before heading off on Thursday morning. ( Another Pattaya 'plan' that has absolutely zero chance of success). I agree that I'll see him at Noi's around 20:30, however it's unlikely that I'll see him on Wednesday as I'll be going to Cherry Bar.

At 17:45, A returns home with 'Pheel' and he spends an hour investigating his new surroundings and I think he finds it difficult to understand that he has his own room and that there is a wardrobe with only his clothes in it.

For 'tea', I finish off the curry from the previous night which is apt in many ways, as it's Tuesday and 'Curry Night' at Noi's.

At 19:02, I then get a text from Hammer "You are heartily invited to the pre FLB Bar Crawl scouting trip to Jade + Jomtein tomorrow 3 pm. Can you make it?"

I reply "Not sure, as I am at Cherry Bar tomorrow night"

"Why not afternoon as well? Me, Casper UK, Dacah, Kurunda Bagman, and MM (real names swapped with board names) are going, Up To You as they say. Not worry about drink money.

I have to admit that it's a tempting proposition, however I'm still not sure that I'll go. I tell A that I've been invited out tomorrow and she simply says "Is okay. Up To You, but not get too 'mau'", so I guess that my mind is made up now.

As I approach Noi's it's busy and it seems thet Chef's mango curry has gone down a storm and been one of his best curries yet. I sit at the table with Dacah and Tony who both confirm that they are going tomorrow as does MM, so I tell Kev about it and he says that if I go over to his place at lunchtime tomorrow, we'll get a taxi to Jade and take it from there. So that's another recruit for the crawl and I suspect that as I know Kuranda Bagman will be seeing Manracer tonight, that he'll also be there, so this will be more of a 'dress rehearsal' rather than a scouting trip.

Kev, Casper UK, Dacah & MM all get a taxi to Walking Street as the 'plan' has now changed. It's to be a goodbye to the folks at FLB tonight and a goodbye to Hammer tomorrow now. I stay at Noi's for another couple of beers and chat with Mulphy and Kolobos for a short time before paying checkbin and making the short trip home.

Expenditure :

Noi's Bar : 160 baht

Trip 4 - Day 46

2007-09-24T23:59:00.000+07:00

24th September

The day of the move and we are awake at 06:30. The lorry is due sometime in the morning and looking around, I realise that there's a surprising amount of stuff to be moved.

It's all got to be carried along the balcony, down the stairs and then loaded up.

The lorry arrives at 07:15 and we start the task. The lorry driver is not a removal man it seems and he simply arranges the goods in the lorry, so myself A & Kye make many trips up and down to move 1 Double Bed, 2 Wardrobes, 1 Computer Desk, 1 TV, 1 TV Stand, 1 Washing Machine, 1 Tall Fridge / Freezer, 1 Coffee Table, 1 Shoe Cabinet, 1 Shoe stand, 1 Sofa, 1 Operators Chair, 1 Clothes Drying Rail and sundry bags of bedding items and towels.

After loading up, we head off for the 2 minute drive to the new place where everything is unloaded. It's still only 08:45 and I'm completely knackered I pay the lorry driver the 600 baht charge and before we even have time to make a cup of tea, Mama & 'seeter' arrive with bags of clothes, shoes & toys for 'Pheel'.

One 'casualty' of the move has been a side to the plinth of the double bed which has been snapped in two somehow. It seems that this is no big problem though and Mama disappears off with 'seeter' (and a 1000 baht note) and they return within 15 minutes with a replacement piece, so it would seem that a lot of the bedframes must be made to a standard specification which surprises me somewhat. Mama returns me 600 baht, so the damages for the move have been quite reasonable really.

The bed is assembled and the furniture is put in place. Things are all put away and then it's time to set out the 'Buddha shrine'. I'm sent off to get the 'red Fanta' and a half bottle of Sang Som, whilst A goes for the fruit and cigars.

In the evening, I'm too exhausted to do anything much, so I just sit out the front of the bungalow and listen to the sounds of the Soi whilst reading one of the books that Kev has passed on to me ( Atlantis by David Gibbens ) and have a 'supper' of Green Curry and rice 'al fresco'.

To finish the day off, I have a shower and thoroughly enjoy the experience of feeling hot water for the first time since I left England over a month ago. Even though I am completely exhausted, I find it difficult to sleep, so I just stay up reading for a while before finally going to bed at around midnight.

Expenditure :

Lorry driver : 600 baht
Bed Side Panel : 400 baht
'Buddha stuff' : 170 baht
Mama allowance : 1000 baht
Padlocks for gates & doors : 195 baht
Rubbish Bin : 175 baht

Trip 4 - Day 45

2007-09-23T23:59:00.000+07:00

23rd September

It's the day of Kev's barbecue and I tell A that it starts at 14:00. She nods, but she's still got a sore throat and has the 'snuffles' and her mind is focussed on the impending move rather than a farang food barbecue. When Mama and 'seeter' turn up at the door, I get the idea that A has decided that she's 'on the move' rather than being 'in the pool' today.

A trip to go 'clean house' is made and some peace returns to the room, but of course the 14:00 deadline is simply ignored (TiT) until at 14:15, A returns to take me to Kev's. As anticipated, she says that she cannot stay as she still has to get stuff moved and simply heads back off down the road.

The afternoon is very pleasant just sat around the pool chatting, laughing, drinking and eating with a 'full house'. There's LordFlash and a mate of his; Casper UK, Dacah, Kolobos, Mulphy, Kuranda Bagman, Hammer, Hillbilly and 'Chris' (a regular from Noi's bar) as well as a few girlfriends that have been brought along.

By the end of the 'footie' (Newcastle 3 - West Ham 1), I give A a call and she agrees to come and collect me. We return to the room and it's looking bare with just the main pieces of furniture remaining, but most other items gone. We watch a little TV and then grab an early night as it seems the removal truck is arriving early in the morning.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 44

2007-09-22T23:59:00.000+07:00

22nd September

A is feeling a bit groggy, so she's arranged for 'brudder' to drive from Sri Racha to pick her up and take her to work this morning. She leaves a scooter key with Kye though as it seems that she's going to start taking bits and pieces over to the new place. Pots & pans disappear as do plates and then the racks for the plates go as well. It's unreal seeing quite what can be loaded onto just a single scooter and when all the teddy bears make the journey, I'm annoyed that I cannot locate my camera to capture the event.

In the evening, A calls me to say that she will not be back tonight as 'brudder' is working and cannot bring her to Pattaya. Just after being informed of this, Kev calls to say that he'll be at Noi's Bar tonight if I 'fancy a few'.

At Noi's in the evening everything is very civilised with Kev, Joy & myself playing dominos (English Double 6, none of this weird Thai rules Double 9 stuff) until we're joined by BM Dacah. The conversation is good and Dacah has the Irish gift of being able to tell great stories. Lots of laughing (and a fair bit of drinking) takes place and I settle my meagre checkbin of 280 baht, (however I'm told the next day that I'd forgotten that I'd paid and proceeded to search through the napkin holder for my checkbin). On the walk home, I decide to buy some fruit and buy oranges and bananas from one of those stalls that I've yet to see closed.

Expenditure :

Nois Bar : 280 baht
Fruit : 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 43

2007-09-21T23:59:00.000+07:00

21st September

Another morniing waking up and feeling like death when I'm woken by A. We're off to go and buy 'stuff' today. We need a tabletop cooker it seems and this needs to be connected to a gas bottle using a different regulator than we have on the bottle top burner that we have at present. We also need to top up on basics such as rice and then there is the cleaning 'stuff' as well, but she wants to eat at Big C first, but not the foodhall today. She wants to eat in MK for a change so we do that.

Before heading over to Kev's, I get A to stop at the 'English Bacon & Sausage' shop as Kev wants a couple of kilos of sausages for the barbecue he has planned for the weekend and half a kilo of bacon. A takes me over and it has to be said that neither myself or Kev is really 'with it' today. It seems that we both fell asleep in the taxi home last night, but Joy remembered where I lived, so I'd been dropped of at about 01:45.

A telephones in the late afternoon and asks if I'd eaten. I confirm that I haven't eaten (It really wasn't high on the list of things to do today) and I'm told that we've been invited to eat with Robin & Kye at #2 tonight. Joy gives me a lift back and when I arrive, A and Kye are busy getting barbecue sticks of 'pig' and prawns ready to cook.

We go round to the 'new' place where the paperwork is all signed and the unexpected expense of a deposit is paid (15,000 baht) then back for the barbecue.

A is really in 'the wars' though; thankfully she seems to have fully recovered from the pain in her side, but now she has the 'snuffles'. She's sneezing, coughing and has a headache, so we cry off early from the barbecue (I really didn't need a night on the whisky & soda tonight anyway)

In bed by 23:00

Expenditure :

MK Restaurant : 305 baht
Big C supplies : 2700 Baht
Gas bottle, piping and safety regulator : 1700 baht
Deposit on house : 15,000 baht

Trip 4 - Day 42

2007-09-20T23:59:00.000+07:00

20th September

Nam sees me in the afternoon and asks me how much I spent on the scooter taxi to get home last night. I say that I'm not sure (I haven't checked my wallet). She says that she told me I should only pay 50 baht, but I think I must have paid 100 baht (either that or I went to the toilet an awful lot last night).

I'm still feeling pretty 'iffy', but it's the FLB Bar Crawl tonight and we're all fairly certain that the winning location will be Soi 8 / 9 in 'celebration' of Adam's birthday yesterday. It's no surprise to hear that it wins by a landslide.

The first stop (after the FLB of course) is the beer bar complex at the end of Soi 9 where I soon realise that Kev is in the mood for a drink tonight as he downs 3 Vodka / Coke Light (Diet Coke to the rest of us) in around 30 minutes before we're summoned to pay checkbins and move on to the GoGo at the 2nd Road end of Soi 8.

I've walked past the place many times without actually stepping inside and I am very pleasantly surprised. A few pretty girls dancing (and a few pretty service girls as well) and at 100 baht for a Singha, it's not too bad for a GoGo. Have a couple of drinks there, then it's time to move on once more.

We all troop out and across the Soi to Party Bar. We're met by the host and I suspect a phone call is made, as the scooters suddenly start arriving and the bar is filling up with girls. I'm bought a beer by a BM (whose name I sadly forgot to note down) and we are also given a shot of what looks like a B52 but actually turns out to be an Irish Coffee (and very tasty indeed) by the bar management. For the short time that we were there, they certainly did everything possible to look after us.

Onwards to a bar beer complex in the cut through between Soi 7 & Soi 8 then on to the Prince Hotel complex to what should have been Sam's Bar, however a few of us somehow ended up settling in at Cherry Bar instead.

We were not allowed to stay there though and we went into the new Rolling Stone 3 bar next door which was very 'pleasant' with some good company. Then came the Oasis Coyote GoGo where things started to get 'messy'. For all their talk of not having ANY gay tendencies, Kev & Hillbilly were very close to having their tongues touching. (I'll leave it for one of them to 'explain')

Then it was on to Cherry Bar to finish or was that to 'be finished'. Whatever, I am grateful to Kev's Joy for picking us up in the taxi and getting us to our respective homes. At least we managed to avoid getting a soaking which was the fate suffered by at least one other 'crawler'.

A bloody good bar crawl and thanks to MM / Hammer for organising it and the other BM's for making it so much fun.

Expenditure :

Bar Crawl : 600 baht

Trip 4 - Day 41

2007-09-19T19:41:00.000+07:00

19th September

A heads off to work and says that even if she doesn't work tonight, she'll stay in Sri Racha as she is still hurting and she knows that I will be out tonight.

As I start my cooking my afternoon meal, I realise that the coconut milk is taking a long time to reach the boil. Well, that would be because the gas bottle has run out. Kye from #2 takes the bottle from me and asks for 100 baht for the refill. 5 minutes later, she returns and lunchtime food prep continues.

In the early evening, I'm a bit peckish, so when the barbecue stall comes round at 17:30 I indulge in a furter 30 bahts worth of food.

That night as I'm setting off to the Cherry Bar, Kye in #2 says that she's going to pick up Robin, so she can give a lift into town. She drops me at the corner of Pattaya Klang & 2nd Road, so it's only a short walk to Soi 8 for me tonight.

The night in the Cherry Bar was a good one. Nui started on the spin the bottle again and the first bottle of Sang Som was seen off in less than 30 minutes. Casper UK then decided that it would be good fun to buy another bottle (and another..... and another... ). Needless to say the evening became complete carnage, but for a midweek evening in Low Season, it had been fairly busy. The 5 (large) shots of Sang Som had certainly taken their toll on me though.

Expenditure :

Gas Bottle refill - 100 baht
Barbecue cart : 30 baht
Coke & Ice - 80 baht
Scooter Taxi - 100 baht? (calculated from a process of counting back)

Trip 4 - Day 40

2007-09-18T23:59:00.000+07:00

18th September

I go round to Kev's at lunchtime and the scooter taxi driver doesn't have enough change, so the fare is 52 baht.

I ask Kev whether he's had his appendix removed and he confirms that he has, and from the symptoms and location of the pain A is suffering, I am very concerned. It's not something that I'd ever paid any attention to in the past, as I've never had such a problem. I call A and she confirms that she'll be going to see a doctor later in the day. When I get back (laden with books and DVD's - Thanks Kev!), A is already home.

She's been to see the doctor and it has cost 3500 baht for a consultation and various items of medication, however as the tablets are supplied loose in bags, there is no way of me identifying what it is she's been prescribed.

The doctor has said that if the pain persists for more than 2 days or it gets any worse, then she should go straight to the hospital for an operation. Naturally A is rather worried about this and I feel totally inadequate as there is absolutely nothing that I'm able to do for her with her suffering. I pay her 1000 baht towards her doctors fee which she has partly paid for by pawning her gold bracelet.

We then talk about Phil and she's fairly insistent that he is going to live with her for at least a few months. It seems that this is not open for negotiation and I'm told that he can simply sleep on the floor. I'm also told that there will be no 'nookie' whilst he's sleeping in the room, so we are back to discussing a house move.

In addition, A really wants somewhere to live where she's not eating and sleeping in the same room and if Phil is going to be staying over, then we need to look at 2 bedrooms. I make it very clear that I will not be acting as a baby-sitter for him and I'm told that it will not happen. (Hmmh!)

We then get a call from Kye and it seems that we're off to see a house a house tonight!. Quite why the neighbours get involved, I don't understand, but TiT. The house is a serious upgrade on the current accomodation comprising a lounge area; two bedrooms; 2 bathrooms and a kitchen as well as a space out front to sit and to park the scooter.

In addition to the space, there is also aircon in the master bedroom and lounge and one of the bathrooms has a hot water heater. I'm told the rent is 5000 baht a month and as said before if we move here, then the allowance for Mama will be cut to 500 baht a week so I just 'go with the flow'.

We return to the room via the food stalls and a Mom & Pop store where I buy a few beers.

Expenditure :

Chang - 100 baht
Food - 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 39

2007-09-17T23:59:00.000+07:00

17th September

A quick chat with Nam on the balcony and she asks if I will be at Cherry Bar on Wednesday. I tell her that I shall and laugh that Adam will probably be out getting drunk as it's his birthday that day, She says "I not know why Adam not have party on Birthday. I think everyone come and be good for business Him fucking ting-tong." There's not much that can be said in response to that, so I just laugh and return to the room and the PC.

A returns home from work early and she is obviously in some considerable discomfort. She has a pain low down on her right hand side and she doesn't want to do anything and just curls up on the sofa.

I try to get an Internet connection to research the symptoms for appendicitis as I'm concerned that this may be what the problem is, but I simply cannot get a connection tonight as the name servers are not pingable when I dial up.

I try for a couple of hours and then give up. I ask if she wants to go the pharmacy, but she says that she's now feeling a little better, so she is going to go back to work and if it gets.any worse then she will stop and go to the doctor the next day.

I try to get some sleep, but frankly I'm just too worried and telephone her at 04:30. She's finished work and is at Mama's and promises that she will go to see a doctor tomorrow.

I realise that I'm not going to be able to follow through with a tentative plan that I have for a meeting the next day (sorry, same day), so I send a message explaining that due to an unexpected personal matter, I wouldn''t be making it.

Expenditure :

Mama allowance : 1000 baht

Trip 4 - Day 38

2007-09-16T23:59:00.000+07:00

16th September

We all awake and have a late breakfast before A takes Phil back to sister.

I take the opportunity to update my TR and read my all my messages. My connection today is better than it has been of late, so I'm actually reasonably productive, however I think that the online Microsoft Live Basics website is going to be totally impractical over a dialup connection and will have to wait and be maintained only over a broadband connection.

I shall look at registerng a couple more domains and simply host some sites within my existing space at Demon. I have also been offered some additional hosting space which I will use later if necessary.

At 14:30, A returns and she appears in the doorway looking like the proverbial drowned rat. Her clothing is soaked through and she is not a 'happy bunny'.

She showers (no hot water here though!) and gets dressed in dry clothes but doesn't take kindly to my laughing about her 'misfortune' and I get 'boxed' about a bit. Our planned trip to Big C is postponed because of the rain, so we grab some barbeque from the cart that comes every afternoon and then simply get some meat out of the freezer to 'improvise' an evening meal.

I end up with 'open' toasted sandwiches (toast; sandwich spread; lettuce; tomato topped with thin slices of fried 'pig') and A has a simple rice 'soup' with boiled eggs.

Later in the evening, I do venture out just to the end of the Soi to get Coke & water, however I add 3 bottles of Chang and a bag of ice to the shopping list and return to the room.

A is complaining about a pain in her side (not me!) which is really troubling her, so all discussion regarding Phil is put on hold and she just heads off to bed at around 20:00. I listen to some music; drink my beer and check out the boards and hope that it's nothing too serious.

Four bottles of Chang later (oops!) and I'm certainly ready to crash out as well, so it's lights out and the end of a fairly quiet Sunday. Nothing resolved, but no decisions made either.

Expenditure :

Money for Phil for ice cream & sweets next week : 100 baht
Barbeque : 50 baht
Chang : 100 baht
Coke, Water & Ice : 76

Trip 4 - Day 37

2007-09-15T23:59:00.000+07:00

15th September

I wake at 07:30 fully clothed and on the sofa, so I undress and finally make it to bed, however I'm woken at 11:30 by the 'phone ringing. It's a Thai number and one that isn't in my directory, so I answer with a simple "Hello" and hear a 'northern' voice say "Hi George, I'm at the old airport now and I'm on my way to Udon Thani to see my lady. The 'plan' is that I'll be in Pattaya in about 10 days time so I should see you then." I haven't got the first clue as to who this is and in my half asleep / half awake state I decide that I'll just engage in conversation and hope it becomes clear.

After 5 minutes, I've sussed it! It's BM Manracer, so we chat for a few more minutes and he confirms that he'll be staying in Metro Apartments on Soi LK Metro when he arrives which I already knew as I'd been told this by BM Karunda Bagman last night.

We agree to meet when he gets into town and he asks if there is anything going on from the 25th that I am aware of. I tell him that the only event I can think of from the top of my head is the GoGo Bar Crawl on the last Thursday of the month which is the 27th September.

30 seconds after hanging up, the 'phone starts ringing again. This time it's A and she says that she's on her way home, so that cheers me up somewhat.

Kev sends me a text at 11:47 saying that he's having trouble with his 'net connection with some apps working and others just hanging and timing out, so I look to hook up with him on Messenger (An app he says is working) to try and troubleshoot where he's getting the problem. I try to use the Internet, but my connection is a bit hit and miss as well. It seems that connection to the upstream DNS servers is being lost, so I can access sites using an IP address but nothing that requires any name resolution. Every five minutes or so, connectivity is restored for a couple of minutes, but after 15 minutes, even this limited service fails and all further attempts to make a dial up connection fail.

At this point A arrives home and I am pleased to see her, however I'm not so pleased to see who's with her. It's 'baby me' Phil, so any ideas I'd had of a little 'afternoon delight' are shelved.

A proceeds to cook deep fried chicken in breadcrumbs and we all tuck in to the freshly frieed chicken. It's still only 13:15 and I'm now being invited to join Robin and his visitors downstairs for a drink. I tell A that it's too early for me to start drinking, but once I realise that Phil is staying the night and there will be no 'nookie' tonight, I end up agreeing and head downstairs where we talk, drink and eat whilst the kids are playing outside.

The visitor is the aunt of Kye (lady #2) and she's here to sort out a problem left by another member of the family that I'd met earlier in the trip. (Seems she borrowed money that she couldn't repay and a 'senior' member of the family has been sent in to pay the debts and avoid the family embarrassment.)

The Chang beer and 100 Pipers Whisky is in full flow and as A was one of the people 'let down', it seems that the food and drink is a form of apology (as well as having been repaid the 2000 baht that was due to her.)

By 20:30, everything winds down and the Auntie and her son are driven by A & Kye to their hotel. Tomorrow they are travelling to Bangkok and then onward to their home in South Thailand somewhere near Phuket.

We head back to the room and Phil is settling down on a bed made up on the floor. A asks if it is possible for Phil to live with us during the week and I explain that it is not possible with us only having a single room place.

She makes a few phone calls to Mama, Phil, 'Brudder' and 'Auntie'. The only one that can really manage is 'Seeter', but she has been unreliable of late and has failed to get Phil to school or provide money for his food (even though she's paid by A weekly). In addition, Phil has told A several times that 'Seeter' hits him. (I can sort of understand this happening.)

I explain that we would need at least two rooms and that I didn't have the money to pay for extra rent at the moment and additionally I would not want the responsibility of looking after a child without A being around.

Another round of telephone calls and A then says that if I can pay 5000 baht a month for rent, she can pay utilities and instead of paying Mama 1000 baht a week, I'd only have to pay 500 baht a week. This is a budget 'neutral' move and will provide us with more space, but there will be the addition of Phil. I'm unsure but will accept it as I'd expected something like this happening at some point.

A will investigate the availability of places and the logistics of getting Phil to / from school over the next week, but for now nothing is fully determined.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 36

2007-09-14T23:59:00.000+07:00

14th September

A heads off to work and I suspect that she'll be away tonight as she knows that I'll be out at Cherry Bar. It's a fairly lazy day and as I'm not that hungry, I just fry up some thin slices of pork loin and a couple of eggs which I have with a chunk of the french bread and that's sufficient for me.

I speak with A at 16:00 amd she confirms that she'll be away tonight and then around 18:30 I get a knock on the door and open it to find Nam, Pun & Tai all there. They are just checking that I'm going to be at Cherry Bar tonight. Of course I am (!); they decide that they will be leaving at 20:15, so I should be ready for then.

Before I leave, I get a text message from Adam "Hope you get drunk tonight", so I have a cold bottle of Chang before heading off. I travel to the Bar with Tai and Nam travels with Pun. When we get to Soi 8, it's once again pretty deserted, but I am getting used to this early in the night now.

I'm hoping that a few BM's make it along to the bar tonight as it's been publicised that there is a free glass of Singha draft for those that make themsleves known. I forget to write the names of all the BM's that turn up, but they include Tomski808, Whitespider (and his wife), Dimples (and a guy he did his teaching course with), Progrocker, Pattaya Man (?), Karunda Bagman, Skate (?), Hutch, Big Pete and Cool Kangaroo as well as a few other guys who were not members of any board including Harald, Steve and Eric (apologies to those whose names I have probably missed).

I get around and manage to at least say hello to everyone and have a bit of a chat with a few of the guys. It was good to see that several of them had already met up the previous day on the outing to Ban Chang, so they were getting to know each other a little better tonight.

By around 23:00, most of them have left though, so there was little point in opening the bottle of tequila that Hammer had left to be drunk. One of the BM's has spent the night sitting. chatting and generally looking very happy with Jeeb and I'm convinced that he's going to pay barfine again as he'd paid barfine the previous night and tonight was to be his last night in town this trip. But it appears that he's decided to spend it alone, so he pays checkbin and disappears into the night. He'll be back in June next year and is planning a three month trip then, so good luck to you in that my friend.

As the customer count dwindles, I settle down for a chat with Karunda Bagman and we chit chat about the 'old days' in the computer industry and he generously buys me a few beers once again. He isn't staying too late tonight as he's heading back to Metro apartments to watch the rugby. (It's also shown on the TV's in the Cherry Bar, but to be honest as an Englishman, I wish that it hadn't been)

Down to 4 customers now, so I get them all a drink and when they've finished, two more leave, however it's around 03:45 now, so it's time to head on back to home. The girls arrange my transport and I'm going with a guy that isa friend Pun and Nam says that she'll see mne back at the room.

I'm tired , but not drunk so I sit on the sofa and send a text to Adam "Totally failed to get even merry, let alone drunk. The tequila is intact." and then proceed to fall asleep on the sofa.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 35

2007-09-13T23:59:00.000+07:00

13th September

The day started with me being given a lift to the end of Pattaya Klang by A where I then jumped on a baht bus for the short trip to Carrefour. I was on a mission to find picture hooks for Kevin and after a fruitless search around HW, I actually located some in the Carrefour store.

As we have meat at home, I decide that I'd better stock up on a few vegetables and I decide to buy here where there are labels rather than make a trip to the market. I get all the vegetable ingredients to prepare a green curry using the packet paste bought earlier in the week (basil, kaffir leaves, eggplant & chilli) and I cannot resist buying a french stick (a farang food that I do still enjoy). So lunch is to be a baguette with cold meat, Thai lettuce & Chinese tomatoes (The closest I could get to a BLT).

I also buy pork loin and chicken breast to replenish the stocks that are running down in the fridge as well as a few general household items.

I then notice that my 'phone battery is running low and I know that I have left my USB charging lead at Kev's place, so I call in at one of the 'phone outlets in the store to check the price of a replacement USB cable for my Sony Ericsson. It's 200 baht, so I buy this and a 100 baht phone top up at the same time.

I then make the walk home declining numerous offers from the scooter taxi riders along the way. Just before crossing the railway line, I decide to stop at the D2M English Food Service shop to check out their bacon & sausage produce as this is something that Kevin has been trying hard with little success to source in Pattaya.

I ask the staff in the shop for a card so that Kevin (or Joy) can call them. The staff are extremely helpful and show me the various items and I'm given a pricelist.

I'm told that they provide a free delivery service in the Pattaya area and their telephone number is 038-413702 or 083-2517913

As I'm about to leave the shop, I'm called back and given a 'sample' of two sausages and a pack of 3 or 4 Back Bacon rashers. The 'plan' is that I'll share these with Kevin when I see him next and provide a review, however I may just do a review on my own 'experience' (A 'proper' BLT is calling out to me).

A phones to say that she will be working tonight (as I suspected), so I make myself a green curry which I overdo on the chillis a bit and it's quite 'spicy', but bloody good if I say so myself.

I settle down to a bottle of Chang and a couple of DVD's, then speak to A briefly before switching out the light and drawing a close to yet another day in LoS.

Expenditure :

Baht Bus : 10 baht
Carrefour : 314.50 baht
Telehone Cable : 200 baht
Telephone Top Up : 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 34

2007-09-12T23:59:00.000+07:00

12th September

I get a lift from A to Kevin's place and I spend the morning monitoring his Internet connection and checking the router logfiles. The router and the access point seem to be 'behaving' and the problems are with the ADSL line itself with several entries reporting line state changes from Up to Down.

Also, as I'd installed Office 2007 on the laptop PC the other day, there are now many Mb's of Microsoft patches and updates to be applied and even with the benefit of ADSL, this still takes several hours to download and install. Whilst the download is taking place, I take advantage to use the pool and as I'm laying out on the airbed, I realise that this is the first time I've actually been in a swimming pool in all my time in LoS.

Joy has been away all morning clearing stuff out of the condo and she arrives back in the taxi bus, but she is not alone. She has co-opted a friend to help in the removal of stuff and I can confirm that this woman is a bloody expert when it comes to stripping a condo clear. (It's Ann of Trip 1 / Trip 2 'fame'). I am civil, but just don't talk to her as there is nothing I want to say, however I do choose to stay out by the pool rather than sit inside with her being there.

Later in the afternoon, Joy takes Ann home on the scooter and myself and Kev have a barbecue lunch / tea of steak, hotdogs, sweetcorn & chips which is nice, but I find that I haven't really 'missed' farang food.

I call A to see if she can pick me up from Kevin's, but it seems that she's not going to be back again tonight. She knows that there's a party at the Cherry Bar which I will be going to as I've told her that I'll be meeting BM Alleycat (who she has met before) as he is only in town until Friday morning and this is the only opportunity I'll have to meet him.

(A is often reluctant to go out to the Cherry Bar which is unfortunate as it's a place that I use, but then I don't have an obvious problem with any of the girls being 'bitchy' toward me.)

Joy finally returns at just after 18:00 and she then offers to take me home, so I jump on the back of the scooter and we head off on the new road which I notice has acquired a fresh tarmac surface during the day. We cross the first junction and as we approach Soi Sukhumvit 53, Joy tells me that she remembers where I live and turns left (instead of going straight across). I tell her that it's the next Soi along, but not to worry and to take the next right. We head down the Soi and when it becomes a dirt track, Joy is somewhat sceptical and asks how I know this way. I explain that I walk around everywhere, but I sense that she doesn't believe me until we arrive at the building I live in. She then knows where she is and how to return, so I thank her for the lift and she revs up and off down the Soi.

I get indoors and after the mandatory SSS, I get dressed ready to head back out. A then calls me and asks where I am and tells me that she is on her way back to Pattaya. I say that I'll wait for her and we can both go to the Cherry Bar together. When she arrives she says that she knows that I wanted her to be with me to see my friend and it's okay, because she says "I know you understand; it not matter if lady bar not understand".

We arrive at Cherry Bar and for a midweek party, there's a good turnout with many BM's popping in at some stage during the night; many I know and I suspect a few that I missed. Kev0184, Hillbilly, Mike100, Tomski808, Alleycat, Dimples, Spanky4star, Karunda Bagman, Ned Kelly & Bazzap.

'The Birthday Girl'

I really hope that the cake is going to be edible this week.

A potential caption competition.

A certain caption competition

The 'boys' just love to dance

And sometimes a girl will even join in.

And one of the next door neighbour as she seems to have quite a fan club

The lovely Alleycat wouldn't let me buy a drink whilst he was there and simply kept taking the slips out of my checkbin and adding them to his. (Many thanks kind Sir, you are a true gent!)

At around 00:30, we called time ourselves as A has to work in the morning and after paying my extremely modest checkbin, we set off back along Klang to Sukhumvit and home.

Expenditure :

Birthday money : 100 baht
Cherry Bar : 250 baht

Trip 4 - Day 33

2007-09-11T23:59:00.000+07:00

11th September

I awake at 08:00 and the day is already hot and there's a clear sky, so it's laundry day. I strip the bed and then decide that I will also wash the bedspread as the label says that it's machine washable. I end up with five loads of washing in total, so that keeps me pretty occupied during the day as I need to regularly turn the quilt to ensure that it is dry before the evening.

Kevin sends a text asking if I'm going to the curry night at Noi's bar and I call to say that I will probably go along for a few beers later on, but I wouldn't be eating. He says that he'll be there about 20:00, and I say that I plan on getting there between 20:30 & 21:00.

When A arrives home, I ask her if she wants to join me for a drink, but it seems that she doesn't want to go out. I say that it's okay and I'll stay in with her, but she says that I must go as I have told Kevin that I am going.

Before I go though, she's determined to cook me some 'farang' food. It's a good attempt, but cold vegetables and a 'gravy' made from Tomato ketchup, vinegar and a vegetable stock cube whilst being tangy and tasty isn't really 'authentic'. The patience employed with the mashed potato was almost too much to watch. The potato was sieved through a rice masher and was actually a potato puree rather than a mash, but again very tasty. This was the meal cooked to 'christen' the hotplate bought a couple of weeks ago.

I arrive at Noi's bar at 20:30 and Kevin is nowhere to be seen.

There's a bunch of regulars that have been for the curry, so the place is busy and I end up sitting at one of the barstools overlooking the road. I find myself in conversation with a BM called Ozguy I think it was. Seems that he became fed up with the UK just over 30 years ago and simply upped sticks to Australia where he has lived ever since and with his holidays in Thailand, he is quite happy with his life.

Whilst talking, I find that one of the ladies from the bar has sat behind me and has started giving me a relaxing neck and shoulder massage. (It's a wonderful experience to be sitting in an open bar watching the world go by; having a cold beer and a chat with another guy and be attended to by a pretty girl.) I buy her a drink when I order my next drink (as it would be rude not to) and there's a lovely smile which I think I will never tire of seeing.

The bar slowly starts emptying as the curry eaters depart and Ozguy grabs a lift with BM Mulphy as he's staying in Metro Apartments which is just round the corner in Soi LK Metro from Mulphy's Rockhouse bar. I now turn my attention to the girl that has been looking after me and we sit looking out on the street and getting all the usual Q&A's out of the way. Her name is Na and she's 25; she's the best looker in the bar tonight in my opinion and she speaks pretty good English.

I buy another drink for the two of us and we sit looking out at the passing traffic on the darkened Soi and listen to the music emanating from the bar behind us. My resolve is weakening I fear, but I am still strong enough to hold out tonight. I then realise that I have a text from Kevin. It simply says "Answer Phone".

I check and find that I've had a number of 'missed calls', so I call him. He asks me how my neck feels and I say that it's okay. He says that he knows that, as he's been watching 'on and off' on the webcam for the past couple of hours. He says that Joy has also been watching (so it's just as well that I have been good and kept my hands to myself).

I'm just about to go when the heavens open and the rain comes down, so just one more drink for the two of us before I leave and I'm home at 23:35.

Expenditure :

Noi's Bar : 505 baht (including 3 LD's & tip)

Trip 4 - Day 32

2007-09-10T23:59:00.000+07:00

10th September

A goes off to work and it's a day that I really do very little other than sit on the PC. I've grown somewhat accustomed to the speed now, but trying to create a website on Microsoft Live is proving to be too much and I decide that this will have to be written offline and then uploaded when I am at Kevin's place and have the benefit of ADSL access.

In the afternoon, I decide to have a sandwich and I realise that I'd forgotten to buy any butter the previous day. A trip out is required, so I also plan to buy a half chicken from the stall just past Noi's bar and I can pop into the 7/11 there to get the butter.

As I pass Noi's, Casper UK is sitting out front, so I have a chat with him and it seems that he's off to Bangkok for a few days, so he won't be at the curry night on Tuesday or the Ban Chang visit on Thursday (Ban Chang is a self imposed 'off limits' destination for me this time).

Unfortunately, the chicken stall is not open, so I just get my butter and head back where I buy the 'good ol' fallback' of barbecued chicken and sticky rice from the stall at the end of our Soi for the princely sum of 25 baht.

The night is spent watching a couple of DVD's and I realise that I'm 'nodding off' during the second one that I'm watching, so it's TV off, light out and an early night.

Expenditure :

Butter : 38 baht
Barbecue chicken & rice : 25 baht
Mama allowance : 1000 baht

Trip 4 - Day 31

2007-09-09T23:59:00.000+07:00

9th September

We have to go shopping this morning as there's little in the fridge, so it's off to Big C for breakfast which comes to 85 baht for the two of us and then a trip round the store where we buy some meat and some packets of pre packed Curry pastes (10 baht each), so that I can at least cook for myself when A is not about, whilst also getting such essentials as Strawberry Jam (for my toast in the mornings).

We return home and put everything away and then head off to Kev's place where I need to check his Internet configuration as it seems it has been unstable the past couple of days. A drops me off and says that she's going off to see a friend and will see me later. I ask her where and she says that she is going to Sri Racha to see one of the ladies that she works with.

I get to work on diagnosing the Internet connectivity problem and it seems that somehow the wireless access point has reset and has reverted to its default IP address which is clashing with the existing router. I therefore change the IP address of the router and ensure that only one device is acting as a DHCP server and things seem much more stable. There are still a few 'glitches' when access to the Thai DNS servers seems to be lost, but the service recovers from these fairly quickly usually.

I use the opportunity to apply a few patches to the PC, but in the main, I am just monitoring the service and running checks to ensure that it can recover correctly from a power cut and from the ADSL line dropping.

Everything seems to be okay and Kevin then fires up the gas barbecue that is his latest acquisition and I call A to let her know that Kevin is cooking for us. She arrives before we eat and it seems that she'd made arrangements with 'lady #2' to eat with her tonight, but she sits with us and has a few mouthfuls of food. (I eat most of what she doesn't eat).

I pack up my gear and we return home whereupon A says that she's going to get food ready. I join her downstairs and there's a cauldron of water on the boil and A is making pork wontons. I end up eating even more food and just having a single bottle of beer whilst chatting with Robin and it's an environment that A is clearly more comfortable with.

Expenditure :

Big C provisions : 645 baht
Food for evening cooking : 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 30

2007-09-08T23:59:00.000+07:00

8th September

It's Saturday and my morning is a write off due to the after effects of the Chang last night.

A arrives home at 14:15 and we spend some time just being close. Her nights away have made me realise that I do worry for her and I miss her very much when she's not about, but she earns well from the long hours and she has received a very impressive 22,000 baht this month which has been banked to add to her "I not want be like Mama when I get old" fund.

In the evening, I tell A that we've been invited round to Kevin's so that I can watch the football and/or rugby and she says that she doesn't want to go but it's okay for me to go alone. I decide not to bother, so A goes out to get some food for us as well as food and drink for 'Buddha'.

We spend the night curled up on the sofa watching Thai TV (with channel hopping) as I don't have any sports channels on the TV network in the room. Just another quiet night in which some have called an 'existence' or just 'survival', but it is a life with few of the stresses of living in the West and day to day life can be carried out very cheaply.

Expenditure :

Food : 120 baht

Trip 4 - Day 29

2007-09-07T23:59:00.000+07:00

7th September

An uneventful day and there are no plans for this evening either as A has called to say that she'll be working again tonight. It looks like a night in with the DVD's, however Kev phones and says he just wants a quiet night with a few beers and he he'll be over at Noi's later and that I should join him there.

So I end up having an evening spent chatting and drinking with Kev whilst Joy disappears off with one of the girls from the bar to determine where to get the best food. I don't realise the time slipping by and the beers slipping down (too easily), but when it comes time to pay, Kev has taken all my slips and put them in his bin, so another cheap night for me. ("It's only the same cost as buying you a couple of pints of Guinness in the King's Arms")

Unsure exactly what time I left the bar, but the walk home was definitely a bit 'wobbly'.

Expenditure :

0 baht

Trip 4 - Day 28

2007-09-06T23:59:00.000+07:00

6th September

I awake at just after noon and whilst I don't have a 'full blown' hangover, I have to admit to having felt better.

Everything seems to take longer to do and it's already 13:00 by the time I've managed to get up, showered, dressed and made tea & toast for 'breakfast'.

I call A and she says that she will be finishing work at 14:00, then she is going to see 'Auntie' and should be home between 16:00 & 17:00.

I am several days behind on the TR publishing, so I get started on the task of writing up from my notes and when I check my email, I have finally got my Google Adsense account approved, so I need to start 'knuckling down' to try and start generating some online income as well.

Tonight is the FLB Bar Crawl, but as I haven't seen A for a couple of days I think that I will probably 'pass'. I am unsure if the curry at #2 is still on as there was some confusion as to which day it was being arranged for. I get a call from Kevin and he has a bus picking him up at 19:00, so it's left that if I do decide to go, I should call him before then and he'll pick me up.

By 18:30, there is still no sign of A and she isn't answering her phone which has me a little worried, but she calls me ten minutes later and says that she is late because she fell asleep at "house Auntie". She is nearly home and will see me in five minutes, so I am not going out tonight.

She returns and we sit together quietly just holding each other for half an hour or so before she breaks away and says that she has to get food and then the ironing needs to be done. She comes back with food for us both and I have a meal of pork dumplings and noodles which I wash down with a glass of Chang & ice.

After eating, A gets started on the ironing whilst watching / listening to the TV (It seems that I should have put the washing from yesterday outside this morning as some of the items are not fully dried.) and I settle down to reading a book and finishing the bottle of Chang.
By 23:00, we turn in for the night and sleep comes very easily.

Expenditure :

Food : 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 27

2007-09-05T23:59:00.000+07:00

5th September

Awake at 10:00 and A is not feeling too great which is an indicator that I have been here for 4 weeks. She's off to the shop this morning and is unsure of what she'll be doing tonight, but if there is work available then she says she will do it as tonight it is already known that I will be out late at Cherry Bar.

We leave together on the scooter and I jump off at the junction with Pattaya Klang. I make my way down to the hardware store where I bought the components for the washing machine 'extension' lead as I've been asked if I could do the same for 'lady #2'

First stop though is the computer store, where I need to buy a wireless router for installation at Kevin's place as he only has an Ethernet router installed at present. I get a D-Link DSL-2640T for 2490 baht which is a good price and as I have some experience with installing D-Link hardware, I do not envisage any problems. (My main concern is whether the Username / Password for connection to the ADSL service are provided anywhere.)

Next purchase is the hose and connector for #2 which costs 150 baht and then it's onward to Carrefour to meet Kevin at 11:30.

At 11:25, I send him a text asking where he is and he calls me back to say that he's still at home and the taxi bus still hasn't arrived (running on Thai time). I say that I'll sit out the front of the store and simply wait for him.

When he arrives, I accompany him on his shopping expedition and it has to be said that Joy hasn't got to grips with the mundane shopping for a farang, so her trolley contains a few sweets, some cosmetic products, shampoo and little else whilst Kevin is laden down with steaks, chips, ice, salad, a few vegetables, washing powder, fabric conditioner, cheese, butter, yoghurt, milk a deep fat fryer, an electric kettle and three boxes of Frosties.

He pays for his purchases and we load up the taxi bus to get everything back to his new place. Joy heads off back to the condo to supervise the transfer of more stuff to the new place including her shoe collection (I hear that Imelda has a rival). We unpack and then sit down with a cup of rosie, (Rosie Lee - Tea) before getting the wireless connection hooked up.

I power up the existing router and connect it to my laptop via an Ethernet cable. There is a good connection, but the connection password is 'hidden' in the config and there is no paperwork anywhere to indicate what the logon name is. I determine that the connection is Maxnet supplied by TT&T and look to find a contact number in order to reset the password. Kev then asks if it's possible to just have both devices connected instead.

Yes it is. I can configure the Wireless router to have no WAN connectivity and disable the DHCP server. In addition, I'll need to reassign its static IP address as it has a default setting the same as the Zyxel Ethernet only device.

Within 20 minutes we have a network comprising a Zyxel router providing the Internet connection and DHCP / DNS services with the D-Link device connected via Ethernet and providing Wireless connectivity.

Kevin tests initially with his telephone that he can make a connection and everything works as it should. Next we check his and Joy’s laptops and apart from a problem with actually turning on the Wireless antenna on Joy's Acer laptop, we have success.

I wander around the house with my laptop running as a wireless client and there is a good signal throughout the property and all around the pool area, so my job is done. I then make the most of the available bandwidth and proceed to update virus definitions and download all the latest Microsoft updates as well as checking for updates on a couple of applications that I use.
When Joy returns, the bus is unloaded and Kevin tells me that the driver has been paid for the day and will drop me off back at my place, so I return and as I arrive, Robin from #2 is just opening his door. I say that I'll be with him in 15 minutes to sort out his washing machine as I have the parts in my bag.

I start a load of washing in my own room and then go downstairs and sort out their machine. They are currently doing the laundry and the hosepipe is connected to the tap, so I disconnect it and ten minutes later, their washing machine is now working as an 'automatic' for the first time. (No more shouting at the children to turn the tap on and turn the tap off at each water refill cycle.) This earns me a big hug from the lady of the house and Robin repays me the 150 baht that it has cost me in parts.

Back upstairs and I have a cup of tea before unloading my own washing, but as it has just been raining I decide that it is best if I don't hang the washing outside, so I just hang everything on the clothes rail. I then call A and she says that she will be working tonight so I should prepare food for myself tonight.

A bite to eat and then it's time to get ready to depart for Cherry Bar, but as I leave, Pun calls out from the landing "George; where you going?". I say that I am going to Cherry Bar and she says that she will be going on the scooter in 10 minutes and will give me a lift, so I wait a little longer and have been saved a walk and 10 baht.

At the bar, there are no customers yet, but at this early hour, the same can be said for many of the bars in the area.

After 15 minutes though a guy arrives at the bar and says "Hi George". He then introduces himself as BM Big Pete and I get the opportunity to thank him for the bottle of Tequila that he donated to the party in January by sending money to MM via Paypal. We sit and chat for some time and he tells me a couple of anecdotes from a recent trip to Burma. The funniest was when he was filling out his visa application and when it came to the question "Residence in Burma", he was advised to simply write "Hotel" and this was deemed to be a satisfactory answer.

We are then joined by BM Bazzap who stays for a few drinks and ends up paying BF for one of the ladies but doesn't leave with her. He says he'll return later to see her.

BM Kuranda Bagman is the next to introduce himself to me and we get on very well. We are chatting away and he tells me how even an 'innocent' comment to the girls can cause potential problems. It seems that he's made some comment to Pun about her neighbour and she didn't know how he would have such information, (so guys, be careful what you say when talking to a girl that you have knowledge of through the boards!)

Casper UK then arrives and things start getting a little messy. Both the guys are buying me drinks and in the good company they are going down rather easily. Kuranda Bagman then has a look around the girls to decide which of the ladies he intends to barfine for the evening and he decides it will probably be "K". She's just gone to get a fresh round of drinks so she hasn't heard this and when she returns, Kuranda Bagman has gone off to the toilet. I tell her that I think that he will pay barfine for her tonight, but she simply laughs and shakes her head in disagreement. I say "I bet you 20 baht he will barfine you tonight." This is clearly understood and we shake on the bet (Talk about insider dealing.)

My new neighbour Ryan and his lady then appear at the bar and I get them a drink and they settle down to play the dice game with a couple of the girls and end up staying for a few hours.

Then another BM that I recognisefrom a Bar Crawl arrives. He sits at the bar and proceeds to swear at the girls and makes his demands for a "full cup of fucking coffee" and that he wasn't going to "pay a dollar for a fucking third of a cup of fucking coffee". (This is the BM that had asked me on the GoGo crawl last week why he was having such poor luck with the girls. Well my friend, I can say from having seen you 'in action', that the girls will most definitely avoid you if what I saw is your 'standard' approach.).

Noy returns with a mug of coffee that is full to within a centimetre of the top of the mug and he sends it back saying that he wants "a fucking full cup of coffee". Noy takes it back and returns with the mug now filled to within a few millimetres of the brim and he accepts this. He then proceeds to pour the milk in and the coffee spills over the edge of the brim into the saucer. He then moves round the bar where he plays Connect 4 with one of the girls and I make a note to buy her a drink later.

Kuranda Bagman duly pays barfine for "K" and she comes over to me smiling so I hold my hand out. She laughs and Kuranda Bagman gives her 20 baht which she gives to me. (He makes a comment that it'll be interesting to see her reaction when he leaves a 'tip' of 980 baht in the morning.) (I do offer her the money back later and say that I already knew that he would be paying barfine, but she wouldn't take it).

At 00:30, I get a call from a mate (Glen) in Stansted. He says that he's in the pub; the place is empty and he's bored. Of course all he can hear from my end are the competing sounds of the various bar sound systems and he says that it sounds wild where I am. I tell him that it's just a quiet night tonight and I don't think he believes me. He does say that he is hoping to make it out in December for his 'virgin' visit to LoS which would be good as he deserves a bit of fun.

By now I have lost all track of time and the next face I recognise at the bar is "N". This is the third time that I've seen her during this trip, but it’s the first time she's been alone. She tells me that she still texts BM Manracer and keeps in touch which I knew as he had PM'd me about having seen her last week even though I hadn't mentioned it in the TR.

It seems that she has no credit in her phone though tonight, so she ends up using my phone to send him a text tonight which says "I dang to much". Manracer sends a reply within 5 minutes saying "don't get George too drunk" (A little late for that advice I suspect.)

Pun then tells me that she will not be going back tonight as she is staying at the Bar until morning, so I start getting my stuff together to go home 'alone', when there is another familiar face at the bar. BM Torrenova has arrived, so I sit and talk with him for a while, but do not hang around too long as he has been a 'bad influence' in the past.

I feel that it's been a good night; there have been a number of customers for myself and the girls to talk with; the girls have been bought a few drinks by the customers; a couple of the girls have been barfined and there's been a lot of laughter in the bar. Next Wednesday Hammer will be back in residence as it's a party night in Cherry Bar.

Expenditure :

Toilet : 5 baht
Scooter Taxi home : 100 baht

Trip 4 - Day 26

2007-09-04T23:59:00.000+07:00

4th September

Wake up at just after 09:00 and A says that I need to "Go shower qiuckly" as it seems that the bus to Bangkok leaves on the Sukhumvit highway at 10:00. A is going to work 'in shop' today so she gets ready as well and she drops me off at the bus stop where the bus is ready to depart.

My fare is collected ( 100 baht to Ekkamai) and I settle down for what I suspect to be a long trip. No journey on the highway this time though as we have many stops to make en route. We finally arrive at Ekkamai at 13:05 and as I don't know my way around and am unsure of exactly where the Immigration office is, I simply get a taxi and I am told that Bangkok traffic is very busy, so the fare is 300 baht. I suspect that this is a scam, but I'm not prepared to argue and just want to get everything done and return to Pattaya.

Once at Immigration, I ask at the information desk where I need to go and the guy looks at my passport and says "Desk 519" and directs me around the corner. I find an area full of seats and glass windows with officials behind and it's reminiscent of a Post Office in England with bored officials sat at the counters. I see '519' which is the last window on the right and has a sign saying "Stamp Correction", so I am guessing that this is a fairly common issue.

I approach the counter and before I get the chance to explain, the guy just takes my passport, looks through the various stamps; pulls a piece of paper over (same list as in Jomtein) and looks up my entry date. He takes a red felt pen and crosses out 08 Sep 2007 and stamps underneath 07 Nov 2007. He closes the passport and returns it to me. That's it! I could have done the bloody job myself with a red felt pen and a date stamp borrowed from any bar.

My total time in the Immigration office has been 8 minutes! I decide I'll take a motorcycle taxi back to the bus station and whilst it's cheaper at just 100 baht, the journey makes the ones in Pattaya seem like child's play. I'm convinced that we're going to be involved in an accident at least four times on the journey. The heat and the traffic fumes are also oppressive and I just want to get away from here as quickly as I can.

At the bus station, there is 1st class bus service to Pattaya at 117 baht leaving in 5 minutes at 14:10 or a 2nd class bus service at 91 baht. I'm guessing that I'd been on 2nd (or even 3rd) class coming here, so I opt for the more expensive journey this time. My total time in Bangkok has been just 65 minutes and most of that has been spent in traffic jams.

The coach for this journey is much more comfortable and we head straight to the highway and make good time getting as far as the Sri Racha area. We then turn off towards Ao Udon and we pass within 200 metres of 'my home me'. We continue along to the main road and I recognise the hotel & bar "England Country" which is where myself and A stayed when I spent a weekend with her family back on Trip 2.

We continue on to Pattaya and arrive in the terminal on Pattaya Nua where I then have the trek back to the room with just a quick detour via Sukhumvit Soi 53 to get a bottle of water (10 baht) and a double portion of freshly fried chicken with sticky rice (55 baht).

I get back to the room and grab a quick nap before A arrives home and then I get a call from Kevin telling me to "get my arse" down to Noi's bar to join him for a beer and for him to tell me what he wants sorting out for his Internet connection at the new place.

I tell A that I'll only be gone a short while to which she simply gives me a look and says "You go see Kevin? You go long time for sure"

As it happens I am an extremely 'good boy' and only have three beers tonight (1 bought by Kevin) before returning home. Robin at #2 has been cooking and has made a delectable Thai / Indian mutton curry which is absolutely gorgeous to eat, with the meat simply 'melting' off the bone and washed down with a dilute 'Master Blend' (75 baht for 30cl) and soda water with plenty of ice.

Of the two curries on offer tonight, I'd have to cast my vote with Robin (sorry Chef!)

Expenditure :

Bus fares : 217 baht
Taxi fares : 400 baht
Water & Chicken with rice : 65 baht
Noi's Bar : 120 baht

Trip 4 - Day 25

2007-09-03T23:59:00.000+07:00

3rd September

Any ideas of a morning lie in are disturbed by first the meter reader and secondly the ladies of #2 & #11, so it's time to 'go shower'.

This week I need to get my 'exit date' resolved as if I don't, I'll need to do a 'visa run' at the end of the week.

We journey out to the immigration office on Soi 5 in Jomtein and after making enquiries at the information desk, I'm directed to speak with a lady at a nearby desk. She looks at my passport and asks me how long I want to stay. I say that I am planning to leave in November and then return for a longer stay. She pulls over a poiece of paper with columns of dates written on it and she writes the date 07 Nov in pencil under my exit date stamp, but then says that it is not possible for the office here to change the date and it will be necessary to visit "Head Office" in Bangkok.

I see little benefit in arguing and simply tell A that tomorrow I will be going to Bangkok to get the matter resolved.

As I needed to be 'out' with my passport today, I've also brought some Traveller's Cheques to exchange so that I can repay the rest of my debt to Kevin (The funding of Trip 3), but after stopping at a couple of places and finding them closed, I realise that it's because they don't open until 10:00 and it's still only 09:20.

As we head back towards Pattaya, A takes a detour and we go to the 'Big Buddha' on the hill. I'm asked if I've been here before and when I say that I haven't, A is quite surprised. We say prayers in the covered area on the right hand side after going up the steps, then prayers at the Big Buddha itself, followed by prayers at the statue that represents the day of your birth. (In my case Saturday and in A's case Monday), then prayers and offering of flowers at the shrine next to the stage where a priest is 'in residence'. We sit in front of him and A offers up a 'monk' bucket with an envelope containing her 'offering'. She repeats his mantra and then as she collects a flask of water and small bowl, she says that I have to be touching her when she pours the water. Once this is done, the priest offers what I think is a blessing and sprinkles the two of us with water shaken from a bunch of twigs.

It's now past 10 o'clock, so we head down to the exchange bureaus next to Mountain Beach Hotel as it's near to Kev's condo and I can simply drop the money into him, but this place is closed, so we head into town and I change my money at a bank on Pattaya Tai.

As A isn't working again today, I am not going to be going out with him for the postponed lunchtime assignation from yesterday, but he needs to have the rest of the two months advance rent sorted out before he moves in the next day, so we head up to the offices of Alan Bolton, where I leave the money for him and send him a text saying what's been done.

Back to the room where we eat a late breakfast that A has bought from a stall in Soi Khao Noi and then she heads off to see #2 where it appears that another 'big cook' is underway and I'm summoned to eat at around 15:00.

There's prawns, squid, 'pig', chicken and 'unidentified' seafood (so small it looked initially as though it was pea gravel being cooked in the pan). Along with stir fried vegetables, it's a veritable feast. After eating I remind A that we have been invited to joing Kevin and Joy at the opening of a place on Soi 73 Sukhumvit that is owned by a guy that Kevin knows from just down the Soi from his current condo. She's not that keen to go, but agrees and I remind her that we are expected at 19:00.

At 18:45, she comes up to get ready. She has to wash her hair (as she has managed to get the ends dunked in the cauldron of green curry that was cooked earlier) and then as we are going out, there's the 'warpaint' application to be done as well.

We join a 'fleet' of scooters leaving at the same time as Tai is heading off to Cherry Bar and Ryan and his lady are heading off to town as well. We arrive 'fashionably late' at Jessie's Place at around 20:15 and find that it's a Thai style buffet sat at a long table in the Soi adjoining the place.

There's a bit of chat, but neither A nor myself are particularly hungry as we've already eaten, but I join in the chat with Kevin and a few of the other ex-pats in attendance. Kev and Joy are planning to leave at 21:00 and A and myself are wondering whether to stay on for another drink when there's a 'domestic' between the owner and his Thai wife and our decision is very quickly made.

We are leaving as well!

But where to go? A says that she doesn't want to go to Cherry Bar or FLB Bar, so I say that it is 'up to her', but she's not letting me get away with it that simply. "Is not up to me, is up to you where we go. Is money you" I then suggest Goanna Bar on Soi Dianna as this would be her first visit back there since my return. She agrees and Kev says that himself and Joy will also join us for a couple there, so we all make a hasty escape from the scene of domestic 'non-bliss'

At Goanna Bar, A is made welcome by the few girls there. In fact, the whole complex is pretty quiet and there are very few customers anywhere and the four of us at Goanna actually make it one of the busier places. We play the dice game and Connect 4 with myself and Kevin both getting beat and having to pay our respective girls a few 20 baht notes.

Kevin & Joy leave for Joy to go off to a disco and Kevin to accompany MM on a visit to a couple of GoGo's. He asks if I want to join him, but I decline as I have said that when A is about, I intend to spend time with her. I hadn't realised that it would be a commodity that would be rationed to such a degree, but at least it stops us getting bored with each other I guess.

A then plays dominoes with one of her friends and she's laughing and smiling which is great to see. She 'pushes the boat out' and even has a couple of Malibu's. The pile of 10 baht coins rises and falls as luck favours first A then her friend. By 00:15, A decides that she has had enough to drink and asks if I am ready to go. When I say that I am, we call for checkbin which is 600 baht including a tip.

Expenditure :

Rent for September : 2500 baht
Utils for August : 538 baht (4 water @ 20; 64 electric @ 7; TV (?) @ 10)
Goanna Bar : 600 baht