Trip 4 - Day 102

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