Return from Koh Samet & Sparkydaves party
I think the understatement would be to say that the start of the day has been somewhat frosty. I am still annoyed and have not left any tip this morning. If things go well tonight, I may pay 2500 - 3000 tomorrow morning for the two nights. Tonight is the last night that I have paid BF, so it's a sort of make or break night in many ways.
I feel that a tip to a BG is for providing a time, attention and any agreed additional 'service'. Sometimes the service may not be up to your expectation, but there is still an obligation to tip in my opinion, albeit at a lowel rate than originally agreed. Yesterday, there was no personal time, no attention and no service, so no tip! If I had been unable to perform, but she had still tried, then that would have been my problem not hers, and I would leave tip in this situation.
Before continuing, I have to warn you all that this is a 'no pictures from me' day for reasons to be described later. (Kevin has supplied a couple for me to use.)
We all meet up for breakfast and the speedboat appears right at the side of us. We have already checked out and the bags are at reception. At 8:55, our bags are collected and placed in the boat; we join them and set off for Ban Phe. 10 minutes later we are mooring up. We look at the map afterwards and realise that the ferry journey and subsequent cab ride to get us here had taken us half way round the island and the speedboat just had to cross the channel to return us. Oh well, we are very early now and have to hang around in the open shop for the bus back to Pattaya. Nobody is talking much, but then the girls do not appreciate getting up at 07:30 in the morning. (Even if the only thing they've done for the past 24 hours is sleep)
To compensate for this, Nok sleeps most of the way back. We are deposited at the RG and we go and grab a familiar table by the pool and order up some cold drinks. We then check the room situation with Reception and they are full.
Okay it's still quite early, so we can grab a baht bus as a private hire and find ourselves alternative accommodation. Joy is in charge of this operation and she instructs the driver to take us to Soi Diana. We arrive at Areca Lodge, but they are also full. Okay, no problem; on to the next place. We arrive at Twin Palms Resort and after checking at reception, they do have rooms available. We go and check in. Kevin books for two nights and I decide that it would be a good idea to go home on Wednesday.
I have a plan to go shopping in Soi Buakhao on Tuesday and get some things for the kids etc. as well as a few more nice tops for myself. (What do we say about plans? DON'T MAKE PLANS! (This one failed as well))
Anyhow, Kevin pays 1400 baht for two nights and I pay 2800 baht for 4 nights. We then get given the keys to our rooms and it's time to lug our belongings up the stairs. Kevin is on the 1st floor and I am on the second. The rooms are spartan to put it mildly, but it's only for a short while. Actually I decide that I am not going to stay here for the full four nights, but only two and I will stay somewhere nicer for my last two nights when I will be on my own.
Nok then tells me that she is going to take her bag to her room. (I was not to know at this stage, but this is the last time that I was to see Nok during this trip)
I manage to get all my dirty clothes bagged up and deposited with the maid in order that everything can be laundered before the next night, but I am out of shirts now, so I tell Kevin that I am going to the market place at Made In Thailand to get a couple of shirts and a pair of trousers. He needs to go to the dentist and also to the optician to pick up his glasses, so we arrange to meet at Anna Jet for a beer when we are both done sorting stuff out.
I get my new clothes and then decide to go and investigate alternative accommodation for my last two nights. I remember seeing somewhere that LK Metropole was just past Areca Lodge and it had good reports from SexyBeast and also Martin from FLB lived there, so it must be okay. As I pass the end of one of the Sois leading from 2nd Road to 3rd Road, i see a sign TMD Travel, so I decide that I'd better go and buy my ticket home. I go into the shop and they check the cheapest one way ticket and it's Gulf Air. It's the same flight that I was supposed to get last Monday. I book the ticket and pay for it using my Debit Card. I am told to return in half an hour to collect the e-ticket. That's okay, I now have time to find my hotel room. I ask at the reception of LK Metropole if they have a room.
"We full" I am told.
Hang on, I haven't even told her what dates I want.
"I want a room for 13 Nov and 14 Nov. Just two nights"
"I check. We have standard room. Is 2500 baht"
"Okay, thanks, I will let you know later"
Then it's back to the travel agent to pick up the e-ticket for my flight home. As I come out of the travel agent, I get a call from Kevin
"I'm at Anna Jet now. Where are you?"
"I'm just crossing 2nd Road now and can see the end of Soi 7. Mine's a Heineken"
I'm at the bar within a minute and Kevin asks why it took so long to get a couple of shirts. I showed him the ticket and he just smiled. Then I told him that I was moving out for the last two nights and he told me that he was thinking of moving out now, but Joy had convinced him that it was only for two nights and that it was easier to stay put.
We have a couple in Anna Jet and I realise that I have now got a ticket and will be leaving this city soon.
The place is quite friendly, but it seems very different in daylight and without the girls on parade.
(Ah, Tain! I remember the 2nd November crawl and I have her mobile number in my wallet. Maybe in January)
Then we wander further down the Soi to the smartest beer bar that I have encountered in Pattaya - Amazing Paradise (If you are in this area of Pattaya, you really should check this place out.) Nuch I think her name was. I have her photo and she was another real cutie.
We have a couple here then we decide we'd better get some food as we haven't eaten since breakfast on Koh Samet. We take a road that leads north of Soi 7 and find the Oliver Cromwell English Bar. That'll do nicely. Kevin has a breakfast and I have an omelette. It's good fayre and 'hits the spot'.
We wander back to the hotel and go off to do the standard SSS before embarking on Kevin’s last full night on the town. (Sunday is planned to be more subdued as he has a very early departure). We agree to leave the hotel at 6 and go for food at Kilkenny's, then an hour or so at the FLB followed by Sparkydave’s party at Cherry Bar from 8.
I send a text to Nok saying that we are leaving the hotel at 6 and will be going to Kilkenny's. I do not get a response to the text, but this has happened before, so I am not too concerned. Kevin and Joy arrive at my room as they couldn't work out how to use the intercom facility on the phone.
The three of us walk down to Beach Road and get a baht bus to the end of Walking Street. A quick meal in Kilkenny's then I try sending another text to Nok but get no reply. I then try to call her, but the phone is routed to some answering / messaging service. I think I manage to leave a voice massage. On to FLB, except it's not yet 7pm and the place isn't open. No problem, we go and sit in a bar on the junction of Walking Street and the entrance to Shark GoGo. After about 30 minutes, I remember that I was supposed to go and sort out my room reservation at LK Metropole, so I leave Kevin and Joy and make my way to 2nd Road and get a baht bus to Mikes Shopping Mall. I walk down Soi Dianna and into reception.
"Sorry we full"
"I came in earlier today to make reservation for 13 Nov and 14 Nov"
"Okay, I check. Here. You pay deposit 2500 baht okay?"
"Okay"
Deal is done. Now it's over to Cherry Bar. I send another text to Nok saying that I will be in Cherry Bar at 8. Again, there is no response. I try telephoning the number, but it is still routing to the messaging service. This is not good.
I am real lazy and get a baht bus from Mikes to Soi 8. As I approach the bar, there are lots of greetings from the girls as though I'm some long lost friend. (I've just checked back, and I haven't been here since Day 12. All the shit with Am sort of buggered everything up) I am surprised at this and would have only guessed that I'd been away from the place for 4 or 5 days at most.
I am pounced on by Joy who comes over and shows me a picture of Talen on her mobile phone.
"Your friend?" "Yes" I reply "He good man" she says waving her new gold bracelet and ring at me. (Since this episode, Talen sort of admits to the bracelet but claims the ring has nothing to do with him. If truth be told, I really don't want to know about Talen and Joy's ring. ‘Too mut information’)
She sits next to me while I order a beer and check my mobile to see if I have any texts or missing calls. Next I am accosted from behind by Pun. She lets me know that she is with a customer tonight and tomorrow, but she is free on 13 Nov.
This is all getting a bit weird. Joy is sort of shoved out of the way and I am moved down one stool to the right so that Riam (I hadn't a clue what her name was until Day 22, but I knew it began with the letter R) can sit in the stool I'd just vacated and Pun sits on my right. I order a Heineken for myself and drinks for Riam & Pun. Before I get the opportunity to pick up my Heineken, Riam has taken it and taken a great gulp of beer. She then grabs my head in two hands and snogs me passionately while squirting the beer into my mouth. It looks like this could develop into an interesting evening. I try contacting Nok again, but I still get the messaging service. It's gone past 9 now, so it would appear that I've been blown out. I am fed my Heineken at regular intervals and am really getting used to this way of drinking beer. Guys you really should try it!
I am aware that Pun has now gone to see her 'customer' and the vacant seat is taken by the gay guy that works behind the bar on party nights. He's really camp and a good laugh. We'd chatted and played silly games with the girls and Nui at one of the previous parties. Next thing I know, my beer is being fed by him to Riam and then to me. I've already swallowed it before I realise what's happened but it's too late to do anything about it now. As I haven't objected, the situation degenerates into some sort of Bacchanalian orgy. Kevin turned up with Joy at some point during the proceedings, however I was too far busy to acknowledge his presence. Food and drink were being shared between several mouths both male and female.
As it was a party night, I am not even going to attempt to lie and cover up my behaviour. Hammer is always armed with his camera at these events and I am sure that he must have some highly incriminating photographic evidence.
My checkbin became full up with slips, so it was settled and then started afresh. I vaguely remember playing that electronic timed shooter challenge several times and Riam kept winning. (HEALTH WARNING - This innocent looking 'toy' is Evil!)
Some of the girls kept trying to pronounce my name, but as they couldn't even spell it, they weren't going to get very far. No problem, my driving licence is in my wallet and that has my name on it. I take the licence out and put my wallet down on the bar. The girls inspect the name on the licence and keep trying to pronounce George. They really have difficulty and to be honest, I am having difficulty with my nether regions being fondled through my trousers. Is it a guy or a girl doing this to me? I am not going to look. As they say 'just go with the flow'. I know that I need to go to the loo for a 'pee pee' though, so it's off to the classy bogs armed with my 5 baht.
I return to my stool and realise that it's getting very late now. I'd better think about making a move back to the hotel. It appears that I have agreed to BF Riam for tonight, well why not? These decisions seem to just be made for me in this bar, but hell, why not? Riam may not be the prettiest girl in Pattaya, but she is extremely fit, has a really great permanent smile, she laughs incessantly and is great fun.
I go to settle my checkbin and discover that my wallet, my phone and Kevin’s camera (sorry mate) have all gone. I let Hammer know, because I am not in a position to settle my checkbin now. That's not a problem for him, I can pay tomorrow. Okay, that's cool. I think about trying to contact Barclays to stop my debit card, but even though this episode has sobered me up a bit, I really don't think that I can manage International Directory enquiries and all the subsequent 'on hold' and 'press the star button' stuff from my hotel telephone which has no direct dial facility. It'll have to wait until the morning.
I check the contents of all my pockets and discover that I have about 1300 baht in odd notes in all the different pockets of my cargoes. (A sure fire sign of a pissed up night). Riam is still 'buzzing' so I ask Hammer if there are any bars open where Riam could just dance for a while. He tells us of a place up Beach Road I think it was. We head up there and I collapse onto a big sofa and Riam struts her stuff in front of me. I eventually pass out due to a combination of fatigue and alcohol. Riam wakes me up and leads me outside where a blast of ‘freshish’ air manages to wake me up.
Okay, it's off to the hotel. No problem I've got a card in ............. my wallet. Fuck it! Now what's it called? Twin peaks or something like that. Where is it located? 2nd Road. Which Soi is it near? Between Soi 6 and Soi 7. Oh I remember it's near the Hard Rock place. We walked along 2nd Road and thankfully find the place. At reception they give me my key, which is just as well as I have no idea what my room number is.
My performance that night was a big fat zero. Even the sight of a naked Riam coyote dancing down on to my face couldn't raise anything. After a couple of hours sleep though......
Another night in the crazy city of Pattaya just about survived, but the city very nearly won tonight
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