Trip 4 - Day 23

1st September

I awake at just after 09:00 after having a fairly disturbed nights sleep. I still have a headache, my back aches and I've got a sore throat, so I'm going to pop out to the pharmacy to get some paracetamol and something for the sore throat.

First off though, I do the laundry as the basket is getting full and it won't get done itself. I know that this is something that the female neighbours regard as being a womans job and not that of a man, but as A isn't here and it's not exactly an arduous task, I just get it done.

I then speak with Kevin. He's been told by MM that it's possible to get beefburgers, English sausages and 'proper' bacon from a food place somewhere near me. We determine that he's talking about Foodland, so I agree to give the place a 'recce' on my way to Carrefour.

I'm sorry to report that the only burgers I found on offer were frozen chicken burgers; the sausages are mainly German smoked meat varieties and the bacon isn't 'proper' bacon, but more like an anemic thinly sliced pork rasher. For reference, I made a note of some of the prices of products in Foodland and compared them to the prices in Carrefour and they were without exception more expensive, however the selection of 'farang' imported food is greater (but at a price).

Into Carrefour and the first stop is the pharmacy counter where I get 100 x 500mg paracetamol for 27 baht (No 'nanny state' rationing in force here) and I then explain that I have a sore throat which is making it uncomfortable to swallow and instantly 10 x 500mg Amoxicillin appear on the counter (No checking whether you are allergic to penicillin). Total bill for meds is 67 baht.

Then it's the mundane stuff such as washing powder and fabric conditioner that comprise the bulk of the shopping bill. Some meat and some fruit bring the total up to 580 baht.
I return home and am grateful that I'm not spotted by 'the coven' as I would no doubt be chastised for not asking one of them for a lift or borrowing a scooter.

I then get a call from BM Volsfan enquiring as to whether I can meet up to sort out the PC. Of course I can, so we arrange to meet at KFC in Carrefour, so off I set once again. We meet up and drive to his condo which is nearby. The laptop is great. Considerably more 'oomph' than my own machine and it will have no problem running more 'heavyweight' apps. He says that I can simply borrow the machine on a long term basis for which I am extremely grateful.
He then drives me back home and it dawns on me that there are no power points near to the location of the desk. Some creative work with extension leads is called for, but as this is Thailand and a morass of electricity cables is the norm, this shouldn't pose any major problems.

I talk with Kevin on the phone and he says that he's planning a Sunday roast dinner outing on Soi 'half a dozen' and the meal and any subsequent 'dessert' are to be his treat. I remember my last couple of trips down that Soi and there is 'unfinished business' in TG Bar with a fun girl who was called 'Kangaroo'! I was in her company when there with Kev & Talen back in May (the night we 'bailed out' of the Beach Road FLB Bar Crawl) and again when on a crawl with Don Dadda (the afternoon he went with the big mamasan), Talen & Dirty Sanchez.

I send her a text and we exchange a couple more before she ends up calling me. She verifies that I do know her by asking me what her name was at TG Bar and we then chat for nearly 10 minutes. In summary, she says that she no longer 'works bar', has returned home and is now looking for 'job with company'.

I then prepare myself my evening meal (a pre-cooked bag of green curry that I'd bought in Carrefour earlier for 19 baht) along with some freshly cooked rice and afterwards I get the washing in; iron a T-shirt; SSS and it's time to go to Cherry Bar.

Yet another crossing of the Sukhumvit highway (which doesn't get any easier with experience) is as hair raising as ever, but I survive and head to Pattaya Klang. Jump on board the waiting baht bus and 5 minutes later we're off. As we approach 2nd Road, it's a lottery as to whether we'll turn right to head up to Big C or carry straight on to Beach Road. We turn right, so it's a speedy bell ring and just a short walk back down 2nd Road to Soi 8. I get 'accosted' by a couple of girls as I head down to Cherry Bar which is all good fun and just part of the everyday Pattaya 'experience'

The party is a fairly 'low key' affair, but it has to be said that everywhere is looking fairly quiet tonight. At just 40 baht a time, the Singha draft is fine and it's a pleasant way to spend the evening and I get to meet a couple of new BM's. Dode was one and I'm afraid that I didn't really catch the name of the other guy.

At the end of the night (03:45) I pay checkbin which is all of 400 baht and that includes a couple of drinks for Aoy (well I had to buy her a drink after she'd bought me one.) and at 04:10 I'm on a scooter with Tai & Pun as they take me back home.

Expenditure :

Carrefour shopping : 580 baht
Pharmacy : 67 baht
Baht bus : 20 baht
Cherry Bar : 420 baht (inc. tip)