25th August
Another morning of waking alone which is still a little strange but so be it . I sort myself out tea and toast for breakfast and then set about hooking up the washing machine. This is a fairly straightforward task, so I then proceed to do a couple of loads of washing in order to save A the task later or tomorrow on her birthday.
It's really not difficult to load the machine, put powder in the tray that says 'detergent'; put softener in the hopper that says "softener dispener" and hit the 'Start' button. Machines here tend to provide a basic cold water wash. Why is it that machines in the West have become so over engineered and sophisticated? Does anyone really use anything more than one or two settings on their machine?
Forty five minutes later and the first load is done, so I grab the hangers and take the washing downstairs to hang out on the communal drying rails. This gets me a few comments as it's obviously not a thing that a man does in Thailand, but what the hell? It's something I can do that helps and it's a good use of time.
A returns home from work around 14:30 and rebukes me for having sorted the machine and having done the laundry, but it's not particularly forceful and I suspect that she's pleased that she doesn't have to do the job herself now.
She has a few hours sleep and in the evening says that she doesn't want to cook. That's no problem as we still have food in the fridge, so I have a couple of sandwiches whilst A just has a 'rice soup' with vegetables. We talk about the 'party' for tomorrow and I'm given a shopping list of booze and meat to get. A says that once she gets back from work she will go to the market to get vegetables as they are much cheaper and fresher, whereas meat in the supermarket is often cheaper than the market it seems.
She then gets a shout from 'lady #2' and she's off to go and have a chinwag (and no doubt something else to eat), I wonder about going into town to the party at Catz to see BM's Pieman & Volsfan, but don't really fancy going alone, so I call BM Casper UK to see what he's doing. Seems he's having a night off as well and is out and about taking photos rather than out boozing, so I decide to just stay where I am.
Next thing Wan (Casper UK's lady) is standing at the door to the room and she asks "where A?". I call downstairs, but the door is closed and they obviously cannot hear me, so as ridiculous as it seems, I telephone A (total distance from me to her is probably less than 10 feet!) and tell her Wan is here to see her. She comes up and the girls start chatting in Thai. Every so often I am asked a question about Casper UK and I find that I am reluctant to answer anything or divulge any information. It seems that Wan is concerned that he's seeing another lady on a regular basis and from what I can gather, she's been told that he's been seen with her on Walking Street tonight. I am asked to send him a text messgae from Wan's phone asking him to come home so that they can talk and I see no harm or danger in this, so I do as requested.
Next thing Pun (Cherry Bar and living at #16) arrives in the room and the three of them start chatting away and I do not answer any more questions directly. I do get told that the supposed new lady is "small like A" and I express my doubts that this really would be a long term assignation for Casper UK as his tastes have usually been for ladies with the 'fuller figure'.
Wan & Pun then leave and I am left bemused as to why Wan came to see A and what she thought that she could do. (Maybe it will make some sense later.)
I then just settle down with a bottle of beer and listen to some music whilst catching up with the boards and we have an early night.
Expenditure : 0 baht
Saturday, 25 August 2007
Friday, 24 August 2007
Trip 4 - Day 15
24th August
Friday morning and A is off to work early and doesn't expect to be back tonight, so she cooks me a meal for tonight, as she feels that I am not capable of cooking for myself (?) and she's away.
I spend the day sending slightly more angry e-mails to my ISP (Demon Internet) enquiring as to what they consider to be 'Support' or 'Service' within their company and I also start searching to find somewhere to buy a reasonable spec PC secondhand.
The budget brands in Thailand (SVOA & VZIO) have their machines in the main supermarket chainstores and pricing for a machine is pretty good, but a little more than I'd been led to believe I'd need to pay. The systems are based on either 1.8GHz Sempron or 2.66GHz Celeron processors and all seem to come with 512Mb RAM, 80Gb Hard Drive and 17" CRT monitor as standard for a price of around 13000 - 14000 baht (£200 / $US400). So, I want to find a system like this (but secondhand) for around 10000 baht.
I find a website www.thaisecondhand.com which looks promising, but being in Thai, I am not really able to sort this out myself and will require the assistance of A to translate and make telephone calls.
I'm also determined that I'm going to get the hose for the washing machine sorted today, so after lunch I set off on my constitutional. The local shops all shake their heads when I attempt to explain in sign language that I want a hose like this but longer, but eventually on Pattaya Klang I come across a hardware store that seems to have everything for sale. (It's one of those places that I doubt even the owner is 100% sure of what is stocked.)
The assistant asks me what I want and I'm led in to the depths of the shop where there are reels of hose on the floor and she points and says "We make for you. How long you want?" When I explain that I want just 1m longer, she leads me to the next aisle and gets a hose with a connector and she digs around in a box of fittings to emerge with a brass fitting. I understand now; she's suggesting what is effectively an 'extension lead'. It's a good solution and it costs the grand total of 185 baht, so I am quite pleased with myself.
I'm close to Carrefour, so I decide to get myself a couple of beers for tonight (to add to the two I already have) and I'll have a Friday night watching DVD's; drinking beer and eating curry.
I'll also check out what I can buy A as a gift for her birthday on Sunday. I had a budget of 10000 baht set aside for a party and a gift, but she has said that she doesn't want a party at a bar, and as she doesn't know as yet if she'll be working on Sunday, it's difficult to plan anything.
I 'know' that gold will certainly be an acceptable present, but that will mean an 'upgrade' to an existing piece, so A will need to be with me to hand over either the necklace or the bracelet and the 'guarantee', so I cannot arrange that in advance. I just buy a simple gift of a rose in a bowl as a token gift ( 160 baht) for her to open on Sunday and we can then go out together to get her main present.
I have a chuckle when I see the pricing for Beer Chang, as it is 30 baht a bottle or 364 baht for a case of 12 (WTF?; TiT). I buy two bottles of beer, four bottles of soda, a bottle of Hale's Blue Boy Cream Soda syrup, Coke, Sprite, a bottle of water and a bag of ice as well as a connector lead to hook up the DVD to the speaker system in a 5.1 config instead of just stereo.
I then head back home with my two bags of shopping and en-route I decide that I am not going to carry beer and Coke any great distance ever again. The saving on the beer compared to buying from the local shop at the end of the Soi was a whole 6 baht. It really isn't worth it and the local shop will appreciate the business much more than the likes of Carrefour.
I get back home and the family in #2 (directly below us) are sitting round the table out front along with our neighbour from #11 and they have the barbeque coals burning and the Thai Buffet cooking away. I'm invited to join them and I say that I have food upstairs, so intsead I'm simply offered a chair and invited to have a glass of beer.
It's 19:30 by now and once I'm sat down, the ladies suddenly stick a plate in front of me and start adding tidbits of food and constantly topping up my glass with ice and beer. I spend the night mainly chatting with the husband of 'lady #2' who is of Indian ancestry, but he and his parents are all Thai born and hold Thai passports. His English is excellent, so communication is not a barrier and I'm told that A is a 'good' girl and I agree of course.
I mention that it's her birthday on Sunday, so it's decided that if she's in agreement, I'll provide the supplies and 'Robin' and his wife will provide the space and the cooking facilities for us to have a little birthday party on Sunday. He telephones A to check with her and she's happy about this as she still gets a party but without the 'expense' of a bar party.
The evening finally concludes at around midnight once the rain starts and everyone is full and a little drunk into the bargain.
Expenditure :
Supplies & provisions at Big C : 225 baht
Washing Machine hose : 185 baht
Gift for A : 160 baht
Friday morning and A is off to work early and doesn't expect to be back tonight, so she cooks me a meal for tonight, as she feels that I am not capable of cooking for myself (?) and she's away.
I spend the day sending slightly more angry e-mails to my ISP (Demon Internet) enquiring as to what they consider to be 'Support' or 'Service' within their company and I also start searching to find somewhere to buy a reasonable spec PC secondhand.
The budget brands in Thailand (SVOA & VZIO) have their machines in the main supermarket chainstores and pricing for a machine is pretty good, but a little more than I'd been led to believe I'd need to pay. The systems are based on either 1.8GHz Sempron or 2.66GHz Celeron processors and all seem to come with 512Mb RAM, 80Gb Hard Drive and 17" CRT monitor as standard for a price of around 13000 - 14000 baht (£200 / $US400). So, I want to find a system like this (but secondhand) for around 10000 baht.
I find a website www.thaisecondhand.com which looks promising, but being in Thai, I am not really able to sort this out myself and will require the assistance of A to translate and make telephone calls.
I'm also determined that I'm going to get the hose for the washing machine sorted today, so after lunch I set off on my constitutional. The local shops all shake their heads when I attempt to explain in sign language that I want a hose like this but longer, but eventually on Pattaya Klang I come across a hardware store that seems to have everything for sale. (It's one of those places that I doubt even the owner is 100% sure of what is stocked.)
The assistant asks me what I want and I'm led in to the depths of the shop where there are reels of hose on the floor and she points and says "We make for you. How long you want?" When I explain that I want just 1m longer, she leads me to the next aisle and gets a hose with a connector and she digs around in a box of fittings to emerge with a brass fitting. I understand now; she's suggesting what is effectively an 'extension lead'. It's a good solution and it costs the grand total of 185 baht, so I am quite pleased with myself.
I'm close to Carrefour, so I decide to get myself a couple of beers for tonight (to add to the two I already have) and I'll have a Friday night watching DVD's; drinking beer and eating curry.
I'll also check out what I can buy A as a gift for her birthday on Sunday. I had a budget of 10000 baht set aside for a party and a gift, but she has said that she doesn't want a party at a bar, and as she doesn't know as yet if she'll be working on Sunday, it's difficult to plan anything.
I 'know' that gold will certainly be an acceptable present, but that will mean an 'upgrade' to an existing piece, so A will need to be with me to hand over either the necklace or the bracelet and the 'guarantee', so I cannot arrange that in advance. I just buy a simple gift of a rose in a bowl as a token gift ( 160 baht) for her to open on Sunday and we can then go out together to get her main present.
I have a chuckle when I see the pricing for Beer Chang, as it is 30 baht a bottle or 364 baht for a case of 12 (WTF?; TiT). I buy two bottles of beer, four bottles of soda, a bottle of Hale's Blue Boy Cream Soda syrup, Coke, Sprite, a bottle of water and a bag of ice as well as a connector lead to hook up the DVD to the speaker system in a 5.1 config instead of just stereo.
I then head back home with my two bags of shopping and en-route I decide that I am not going to carry beer and Coke any great distance ever again. The saving on the beer compared to buying from the local shop at the end of the Soi was a whole 6 baht. It really isn't worth it and the local shop will appreciate the business much more than the likes of Carrefour.
I get back home and the family in #2 (directly below us) are sitting round the table out front along with our neighbour from #11 and they have the barbeque coals burning and the Thai Buffet cooking away. I'm invited to join them and I say that I have food upstairs, so intsead I'm simply offered a chair and invited to have a glass of beer.
It's 19:30 by now and once I'm sat down, the ladies suddenly stick a plate in front of me and start adding tidbits of food and constantly topping up my glass with ice and beer. I spend the night mainly chatting with the husband of 'lady #2' who is of Indian ancestry, but he and his parents are all Thai born and hold Thai passports. His English is excellent, so communication is not a barrier and I'm told that A is a 'good' girl and I agree of course.
I mention that it's her birthday on Sunday, so it's decided that if she's in agreement, I'll provide the supplies and 'Robin' and his wife will provide the space and the cooking facilities for us to have a little birthday party on Sunday. He telephones A to check with her and she's happy about this as she still gets a party but without the 'expense' of a bar party.
The evening finally concludes at around midnight once the rain starts and everyone is full and a little drunk into the bargain.
Expenditure :
Supplies & provisions at Big C : 225 baht
Washing Machine hose : 185 baht
Gift for A : 160 baht
Thursday, 23 August 2007
Trip 4 - Day 14
23rd August
I awake at 04:30 and A still hasn't returned home, so I guess that she's working an all nighter again. I get the laptop hooked up and start working through a few tutorials on Website production and fueled by mugs of lemon tea I make good progress.
I start the rebuild of an informational website that I had originally produced back in around 1993. I find a few cached copies of some of the content and use this as a basis for using the new production and publishing tools that I now have.
Progress is quite good and time simply flies by.
At around 09:00, I am disturbed by A coming home. She's shattered and says that she would have been home earlier but the loading of the boat was stopped due to rain at Sri Racha. I had thought that the work on the boats was in some way related to her work 'in shop', but it seems that I've got it wrong and it's basically a second job where she is called on an as demanded basis.
She says that if she doesn't work, then they will call somebody else, but as "I always can work", she gets called quite high on the list. It's something I will have to just learn to live with as it generates a good second income for her.
Within 20 minutes of arriving home, she's curled up on the bed and she's fast asleep, so I simply return to the computer and spend the rest of the day working on my website.
When it's time to publish, I find that my ISP has stuffed up my account and I do not have access to FTP my data to the server. I send an email to Web Support requesting that they get the issue resolved.
By 15:00, A awakes and she says that she needs to go and "get food for do cooking". She opens the fridge and sees my purchases from the previous day and checks that I have everything required (Seems I got it right) and then produces another chicken panang which is definately one of my favourites. (Green curry next time I fancy).
It's now time for a mandatory 3 hours of Thai TV. Films, news & soap operas are all viewed at the same time with channel hoppping taking place avery 5 - 10 minutes. I really don't understand it, but I have to admit I've witnessed this behaviour from other TG's in the past, so I'm guessing that it's commonplace.
Later that night, A asks if I want to go to the night market near Bangkok Pattaya Hospital to see what secondhand computers are available. I agree, so we travel via the unmade road and go past Kevin's new place and then 'hang a left' to get on to Sukhumvit.
The PC's on offer are no great improvement over the laptop that I have and are not really suitable for running what I want as they are 400 / 667 MHz processors and only have 128Mb RAM. A says that we can go and look in Tukcom if I want, so that's our next stop.
To be honest, the fayre available secondhand here isn't a lot better and is relatively expensive when compared to the new budget systems being offered new in Big C and Carrefour so I decide to investigate a little more before deciding what to do.
We stop in at Big C on the way home to get a few items such as washing powder and soap, but when I go to check the PC prices and specs, A notices that they have a TV games console on offer and she tells me that Phil's one at home is broken. She says "Is okay, you buy. I give money back you later"
So the budget got busted
Big C Supplies : 475 baht
Big C games console : 560 baht
I awake at 04:30 and A still hasn't returned home, so I guess that she's working an all nighter again. I get the laptop hooked up and start working through a few tutorials on Website production and fueled by mugs of lemon tea I make good progress.
I start the rebuild of an informational website that I had originally produced back in around 1993. I find a few cached copies of some of the content and use this as a basis for using the new production and publishing tools that I now have.
Progress is quite good and time simply flies by.
At around 09:00, I am disturbed by A coming home. She's shattered and says that she would have been home earlier but the loading of the boat was stopped due to rain at Sri Racha. I had thought that the work on the boats was in some way related to her work 'in shop', but it seems that I've got it wrong and it's basically a second job where she is called on an as demanded basis.
She says that if she doesn't work, then they will call somebody else, but as "I always can work", she gets called quite high on the list. It's something I will have to just learn to live with as it generates a good second income for her.
Within 20 minutes of arriving home, she's curled up on the bed and she's fast asleep, so I simply return to the computer and spend the rest of the day working on my website.
When it's time to publish, I find that my ISP has stuffed up my account and I do not have access to FTP my data to the server. I send an email to Web Support requesting that they get the issue resolved.
By 15:00, A awakes and she says that she needs to go and "get food for do cooking". She opens the fridge and sees my purchases from the previous day and checks that I have everything required (Seems I got it right) and then produces another chicken panang which is definately one of my favourites. (Green curry next time I fancy).
It's now time for a mandatory 3 hours of Thai TV. Films, news & soap operas are all viewed at the same time with channel hoppping taking place avery 5 - 10 minutes. I really don't understand it, but I have to admit I've witnessed this behaviour from other TG's in the past, so I'm guessing that it's commonplace.
Later that night, A asks if I want to go to the night market near Bangkok Pattaya Hospital to see what secondhand computers are available. I agree, so we travel via the unmade road and go past Kevin's new place and then 'hang a left' to get on to Sukhumvit.
The PC's on offer are no great improvement over the laptop that I have and are not really suitable for running what I want as they are 400 / 667 MHz processors and only have 128Mb RAM. A says that we can go and look in Tukcom if I want, so that's our next stop.
To be honest, the fayre available secondhand here isn't a lot better and is relatively expensive when compared to the new budget systems being offered new in Big C and Carrefour so I decide to investigate a little more before deciding what to do.
We stop in at Big C on the way home to get a few items such as washing powder and soap, but when I go to check the PC prices and specs, A notices that they have a TV games console on offer and she tells me that Phil's one at home is broken. She says "Is okay, you buy. I give money back you later"
So the budget got busted
Big C Supplies : 475 baht
Big C games console : 560 baht
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Trip 4 - Day 13
22nd August
Today my morning constitutional has two aims. The first is to investigate the Thai market on Soi 53 Sukhumvit and then to see how far it is to walk to Kevin's new place.
I leave the room and turn right down the dirt road instead of the usual walk back down the Soi.
I follow the track until it opens up on to another Soi
And as is usual in Pattaya. the electrical distribution network never ceases to astound me. How the system continues to work almost defies belief, however in the main it DOES.
At the end of the Soi I see a few stalls for the market and I'm going to investigate. I'm at the edge of the market and as I walk past a few stalls, it all opens into a labyrinth of walkways between a multitude of stalls. This is predominantly a food market and I am pleasantly surprised at the prices compared to Big C or Friendship, but knowing what some of these ingedients are is going to take some time. I emerge from the market alongside the railway line, however I am on the wrong side, so I walk back towards the road and cross to the other side to continue my walk.
Out here the fact that the road is not complete is a matter of little consequence. There's a track that can accept vehicles, so it's used. As I continue, I can see Pattaya station in the distance and realise that it's not quite as far as I had thought.The platform is deserted :
And there's little sign of activity at the ticket office either
However a look at the timetable explains why :
The 'down' train from Bangkok arrives at 10:00 and the 'up' train to Bangkok departs at 14:21. That's it, all other traffic on the line is for freight. The journey to Bangkok takes over 3 hours, so it's not the most efficient way to travel, but at a fare of 31 baht, it's probably the cheapest.
Continuing past the station, the 'road' continues
And there's an entrance to the small estate that Kevin will be living on. (It's the left hand side property)
The gates are all locked, but it's possible to see the pool and the patio area
Kevin had asked me on Messenger yesterday if there were any shops or bars nearby. I said that there was nothing around, however I was mistaken. Right at the entrance to the estate he has a food and drink outlet, however I can't really see him making it his 'local'.
For the return journey, I head towards 'civilisation' and the Sukhumvit Road. The road comes out at the temple and school opposite the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, so I simply head back down to Soi 53 where I manage to buy the ingredients to cook a red 'panang' curry. I decline from buying the meat as I hadn't checked what we actually have in the fridge, but I'm quite pleased with myself when I think I have everything I need. (I check with A when she returns and she says that everything is right.) So in the next couple of days, I'll be embarking on my first attempt to cook an authentic Thai meal with fresh ingredients.
It seems that tonight though A wants to eat her favourite 'farang' food, so we end up with pizza being delivered which is both expensive and not that good in my opinion, but it was what she wanted.
Expenditure for the day
Water - 19 baht
'Big' Coke in 7/11 - 22 baht
Lemons for tea - 10 baht
Curry Paste - 10 baht
Coconut Milk - 30 baht
Eggplant, Kaffir Leaves, Basil Leaves - 15 baht
Phone topup - 100 baht
Pizza - 350 baht
The next couple of days are to be spent learning to use a new software package and attempting to get a couple of websites online and catching up on some administrative tasks that I need to complete, so there may not be much in the way of TR posting. Also, I'm unsure as to what A's schedule is like for the next few days, so I've yet to decide if I'm going to attend the daytime GoGo crawl tomorrow afternoon.
Today my morning constitutional has two aims. The first is to investigate the Thai market on Soi 53 Sukhumvit and then to see how far it is to walk to Kevin's new place.
I leave the room and turn right down the dirt road instead of the usual walk back down the Soi.
I follow the track until it opens up on to another Soi
And as is usual in Pattaya. the electrical distribution network never ceases to astound me. How the system continues to work almost defies belief, however in the main it DOES.
At the end of the Soi I see a few stalls for the market and I'm going to investigate. I'm at the edge of the market and as I walk past a few stalls, it all opens into a labyrinth of walkways between a multitude of stalls. This is predominantly a food market and I am pleasantly surprised at the prices compared to Big C or Friendship, but knowing what some of these ingedients are is going to take some time. I emerge from the market alongside the railway line, however I am on the wrong side, so I walk back towards the road and cross to the other side to continue my walk.
Out here the fact that the road is not complete is a matter of little consequence. There's a track that can accept vehicles, so it's used. As I continue, I can see Pattaya station in the distance and realise that it's not quite as far as I had thought.The platform is deserted :
And there's little sign of activity at the ticket office either
However a look at the timetable explains why :
The 'down' train from Bangkok arrives at 10:00 and the 'up' train to Bangkok departs at 14:21. That's it, all other traffic on the line is for freight. The journey to Bangkok takes over 3 hours, so it's not the most efficient way to travel, but at a fare of 31 baht, it's probably the cheapest.
Continuing past the station, the 'road' continues
And there's an entrance to the small estate that Kevin will be living on. (It's the left hand side property)
The gates are all locked, but it's possible to see the pool and the patio area
Kevin had asked me on Messenger yesterday if there were any shops or bars nearby. I said that there was nothing around, however I was mistaken. Right at the entrance to the estate he has a food and drink outlet, however I can't really see him making it his 'local'.
For the return journey, I head towards 'civilisation' and the Sukhumvit Road. The road comes out at the temple and school opposite the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, so I simply head back down to Soi 53 where I manage to buy the ingredients to cook a red 'panang' curry. I decline from buying the meat as I hadn't checked what we actually have in the fridge, but I'm quite pleased with myself when I think I have everything I need. (I check with A when she returns and she says that everything is right.) So in the next couple of days, I'll be embarking on my first attempt to cook an authentic Thai meal with fresh ingredients.
It seems that tonight though A wants to eat her favourite 'farang' food, so we end up with pizza being delivered which is both expensive and not that good in my opinion, but it was what she wanted.
Expenditure for the day
Water - 19 baht
'Big' Coke in 7/11 - 22 baht
Lemons for tea - 10 baht
Curry Paste - 10 baht
Coconut Milk - 30 baht
Eggplant, Kaffir Leaves, Basil Leaves - 15 baht
Phone topup - 100 baht
Pizza - 350 baht
The next couple of days are to be spent learning to use a new software package and attempting to get a couple of websites online and catching up on some administrative tasks that I need to complete, so there may not be much in the way of TR posting. Also, I'm unsure as to what A's schedule is like for the next few days, so I've yet to decide if I'm going to attend the daytime GoGo crawl tomorrow afternoon.
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Trip 4 - Day 12
21st August
I awake when A does and there is little conversation, so I know that I'm in the 'doghouse'. She says that the boat is in today instead of yesterday, so she will be late tonight. I decide that I'll stay in tonight so that I'm in when (if?) she returns which means I'll miss the party at FLB, but so be it.
After a cup of tea and some toast, I set off to see Steve Carleton at Alan Bolton Estate Agents on 2nd Road. I walk to Pattaya Klang and get a bus to the junction of 2nd Road and then make the walk northward to their offices. I arrive on time and Steve says he has a few properties that he thinks Kevin will be interested in and which he has expressed an interest in during email exchanges.
The brief is quite straightforward. Not too far from town; at least two bedrooms; private pool; air con in bedrooms and european kitchen as he does like his Sunday roast dinners. ADSL as a 'nice to have'.
A list of 4 properties has been prepared and we set off to the first place which is located East of Thappraya and North of Thepprasit (sort of round the back of Jade). The pool is great, but there is no air con in the lounge, the kitchen doesn't have an oven; the bathroom only has a handheld shower attached to the bath taps and the place is cramped, so it's not exactly within the brief (Don't you just love estate agents that follow the customer's brief? Or is it a ploy that they always show something unsuitable as the first place?)
The next property is the other end of town near Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. The place is good and spacious and has the benefit of Hi speed ADSL Internet service already installed, so that will appeal. The only downside is that the place is a little close to the railway line, but to be honest I haven't found that to be a problem where I'm located and the sounds from the railway will probably be heard from most of the places in East Pattaya that meet the criteria of being 'close to town'.
There are two big double bedrooms with en-suite; a great pool; 'maids room & bathroom' and a great open plan lounge, diner, kitchen. I then get a call from an unrecognised Thai number and it turns out that it's Joy (She lost her mobile and therefore has a new number). Steve speaks to her and it's agreed that we return to pick her up and then bring her to look at this house. 45 minutes later, we're back again and it's obvious that Joy also likes the place.
We then go to look at a couple of properties on an estate just off Soi Siam Country Club. The first is again quite small and cramped and the pool is more of a plunge pool than a swimming pool; the second we don't actually get to see because Steve has brought the wrong set of keys with him. (To be honest, the estate woiuld drive me crazy as speed humps have been installed every 50 feet or so. It's a long and uncomfortable drive to reach both the properties that are on offer)
We see the outside of the second place and Steve chats with Joy to determine if she wants to return to the office to get the keys and come back, but it seems she's still keen on the first property that she'd seen, so we simply return to the office to make calls to the owner and see if the terms are acceptable.
The property is being advertised at 45k baht a month, however for a 12 month let, the price is agreed at 40k baht a month inclusive of garden & pool maintenance and provision of ADSL Internet service.
This is within the budget that Kevin had set (just!). We try to contact Kevin both on MSN Messenger and by mobile 'phone but he is incommunicado, so both myself and Steve check with Joy that she is sure that the location is okay and that it's not too far out of town. She says she is sure that it's okay, so it's time to get contracts drawn up and the deposit paid.
Steve drives me round to my room so that I can collect sufficient traveller's cheques to pay the deposit and provide Joy with some spending money until Kev arrives at the end of the month.
After changing the TC's, 80k goes to Alan Bolton and 20k to Joy, so from 4th September, the parties are to be at Kev's place.
Everything is done and Steve then returns me back to Soi Khao Noi at 15:45 when I realise that I'm pretty hungry as I've only had a couple of pieces of toast to eat in about 30 hours. A quick walk to the chicken stall just past Noi's Bar and I get half a chicken and the 'mandatory' sweet chilli sauce and 'sticky' rice. As I return to the room, I also buy a big bottle of Coke and a couple of bottles of Beer Chang to replenish the depleted supplies.
After eating, I feel much better and I settle down to watch a couple of DVDs.
At 21:05, I get a text from Nok asking "Are you come to party tonight?". I cry off with a 'white lie' that I'm not feeling too well and will not make it, but I'll see her some other time.
After showering, I call A and it turns out that she doesn't expect to be back tonight as if she finishes too late she'll just go and stay with Mama. I'm told that she was 'angly' with me last night not so much for being out, but for not letting her know when I'd be back. It seems that she wouldn't eat until she knew whether I was going to eat with her or not, so I was right about being in the 'doghouse'.
I'm certainly finding it difficult to avoid all the parties and holidaying. I guess that I simply have to learn to say "No!"
Spending
Baht Bus - 10 baht
Chicken - 45 baht
Beer Chang & Coke - 109 baht
Oh, I forgot to mention the 1000 baht weekly allowance to Mama yesterday. and there was and additional 50 baht for a beer in the Hideaway Lagoon on Sunday that I'd forgotten aboiut as well.
I awake when A does and there is little conversation, so I know that I'm in the 'doghouse'. She says that the boat is in today instead of yesterday, so she will be late tonight. I decide that I'll stay in tonight so that I'm in when (if?) she returns which means I'll miss the party at FLB, but so be it.
After a cup of tea and some toast, I set off to see Steve Carleton at Alan Bolton Estate Agents on 2nd Road. I walk to Pattaya Klang and get a bus to the junction of 2nd Road and then make the walk northward to their offices. I arrive on time and Steve says he has a few properties that he thinks Kevin will be interested in and which he has expressed an interest in during email exchanges.
The brief is quite straightforward. Not too far from town; at least two bedrooms; private pool; air con in bedrooms and european kitchen as he does like his Sunday roast dinners. ADSL as a 'nice to have'.
A list of 4 properties has been prepared and we set off to the first place which is located East of Thappraya and North of Thepprasit (sort of round the back of Jade). The pool is great, but there is no air con in the lounge, the kitchen doesn't have an oven; the bathroom only has a handheld shower attached to the bath taps and the place is cramped, so it's not exactly within the brief (Don't you just love estate agents that follow the customer's brief? Or is it a ploy that they always show something unsuitable as the first place?)
The next property is the other end of town near Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. The place is good and spacious and has the benefit of Hi speed ADSL Internet service already installed, so that will appeal. The only downside is that the place is a little close to the railway line, but to be honest I haven't found that to be a problem where I'm located and the sounds from the railway will probably be heard from most of the places in East Pattaya that meet the criteria of being 'close to town'.
There are two big double bedrooms with en-suite; a great pool; 'maids room & bathroom' and a great open plan lounge, diner, kitchen. I then get a call from an unrecognised Thai number and it turns out that it's Joy (She lost her mobile and therefore has a new number). Steve speaks to her and it's agreed that we return to pick her up and then bring her to look at this house. 45 minutes later, we're back again and it's obvious that Joy also likes the place.
We then go to look at a couple of properties on an estate just off Soi Siam Country Club. The first is again quite small and cramped and the pool is more of a plunge pool than a swimming pool; the second we don't actually get to see because Steve has brought the wrong set of keys with him. (To be honest, the estate woiuld drive me crazy as speed humps have been installed every 50 feet or so. It's a long and uncomfortable drive to reach both the properties that are on offer)
We see the outside of the second place and Steve chats with Joy to determine if she wants to return to the office to get the keys and come back, but it seems she's still keen on the first property that she'd seen, so we simply return to the office to make calls to the owner and see if the terms are acceptable.
The property is being advertised at 45k baht a month, however for a 12 month let, the price is agreed at 40k baht a month inclusive of garden & pool maintenance and provision of ADSL Internet service.
This is within the budget that Kevin had set (just!). We try to contact Kevin both on MSN Messenger and by mobile 'phone but he is incommunicado, so both myself and Steve check with Joy that she is sure that the location is okay and that it's not too far out of town. She says she is sure that it's okay, so it's time to get contracts drawn up and the deposit paid.
Steve drives me round to my room so that I can collect sufficient traveller's cheques to pay the deposit and provide Joy with some spending money until Kev arrives at the end of the month.
After changing the TC's, 80k goes to Alan Bolton and 20k to Joy, so from 4th September, the parties are to be at Kev's place.
Everything is done and Steve then returns me back to Soi Khao Noi at 15:45 when I realise that I'm pretty hungry as I've only had a couple of pieces of toast to eat in about 30 hours. A quick walk to the chicken stall just past Noi's Bar and I get half a chicken and the 'mandatory' sweet chilli sauce and 'sticky' rice. As I return to the room, I also buy a big bottle of Coke and a couple of bottles of Beer Chang to replenish the depleted supplies.
After eating, I feel much better and I settle down to watch a couple of DVDs.
At 21:05, I get a text from Nok asking "Are you come to party tonight?". I cry off with a 'white lie' that I'm not feeling too well and will not make it, but I'll see her some other time.
After showering, I call A and it turns out that she doesn't expect to be back tonight as if she finishes too late she'll just go and stay with Mama. I'm told that she was 'angly' with me last night not so much for being out, but for not letting her know when I'd be back. It seems that she wouldn't eat until she knew whether I was going to eat with her or not, so I was right about being in the 'doghouse'.
I'm certainly finding it difficult to avoid all the parties and holidaying. I guess that I simply have to learn to say "No!"
Spending
Baht Bus - 10 baht
Chicken - 45 baht
Beer Chang & Coke - 109 baht
Oh, I forgot to mention the 1000 baht weekly allowance to Mama yesterday. and there was and additional 50 baht for a beer in the Hideaway Lagoon on Sunday that I'd forgotten aboiut as well.
Monday, 20 August 2007
Trip 4 - Day 11
20th August
It's Monday morning and today A has an early start, so she's out by 07:00 and she doesn't expect to be back until 22:00. I accept that she has her 'normal' life to live and i am the one who has to fit in, but I am finding it harder than before accepting her long absences. I also realise that in the past it was me that was setting the 'rules' with "I go out alone tonight", so I will have to learn to adapt.
Around 09:30, I head off to go and visit BM Whitespider at his office near Big C and take with me the Harry Potter book for him to add to his booksale to raise money for Pattaya charities.
We chat about a number of issues including potential income streams from websites and it's something that I plan to spend some time working on during the next few weeks to see what I might be able to achieve. I'm very kindly offered the use of a PC, a desk and a fast Internet connection to help, so this is a way to get back into proper 'work mode'.
Later BM Dirty Sanchez arrives to chat with Whitespider and when they leave for lunch I head off myself. I call BM Casper UK as there are a few ideas that we want to discuss. He offers to collect me from Pattaya Tai and when he arrives on his scooter, we head off to Metro on Soi LK Metro where we chat; play pool and have a few (non-alcoholic!) drinks. He then tells me that he's going out for a few drinks later in the afternoon if I wished to join him. I apologise that I can't really afford to do so, but he then makes it his 'treat'. Why am I so weak?
I also call Steve at Alan Bolton to arrange a meeting for 10:00 the next morning to look at potential houses for Kevin to rent when he arrives at the end of the month.
The drinks session is actually with BM Hammer as well and I can't really say where we went as we were 'on a mission' to plan the route of the FLB Bar Crawl of daytime gogos scheduled for Thursday afternoon. As you can guess, there was far too much draft Chang consumed and after concluding the 'research', we ended up in FLB Bar. I receive a call from A saying that she wasn't working late now, and was back at the room, so I say that I'll get back 'soon', (Just how long a timeframe is 'soon'?) but after leaving FLB we're off to Murphy's Law bar in Soi LK Metro and when I get a lift home from Casper, I find that A is fast asleep already.
Expenditure for two days
Wardrobe - 1700
Beer - 100
Food - 35
Drinking - 800
It's Monday morning and today A has an early start, so she's out by 07:00 and she doesn't expect to be back until 22:00. I accept that she has her 'normal' life to live and i am the one who has to fit in, but I am finding it harder than before accepting her long absences. I also realise that in the past it was me that was setting the 'rules' with "I go out alone tonight", so I will have to learn to adapt.
Around 09:30, I head off to go and visit BM Whitespider at his office near Big C and take with me the Harry Potter book for him to add to his booksale to raise money for Pattaya charities.
We chat about a number of issues including potential income streams from websites and it's something that I plan to spend some time working on during the next few weeks to see what I might be able to achieve. I'm very kindly offered the use of a PC, a desk and a fast Internet connection to help, so this is a way to get back into proper 'work mode'.
Later BM Dirty Sanchez arrives to chat with Whitespider and when they leave for lunch I head off myself. I call BM Casper UK as there are a few ideas that we want to discuss. He offers to collect me from Pattaya Tai and when he arrives on his scooter, we head off to Metro on Soi LK Metro where we chat; play pool and have a few (non-alcoholic!) drinks. He then tells me that he's going out for a few drinks later in the afternoon if I wished to join him. I apologise that I can't really afford to do so, but he then makes it his 'treat'. Why am I so weak?
I also call Steve at Alan Bolton to arrange a meeting for 10:00 the next morning to look at potential houses for Kevin to rent when he arrives at the end of the month.
The drinks session is actually with BM Hammer as well and I can't really say where we went as we were 'on a mission' to plan the route of the FLB Bar Crawl of daytime gogos scheduled for Thursday afternoon. As you can guess, there was far too much draft Chang consumed and after concluding the 'research', we ended up in FLB Bar. I receive a call from A saying that she wasn't working late now, and was back at the room, so I say that I'll get back 'soon', (Just how long a timeframe is 'soon'?) but after leaving FLB we're off to Murphy's Law bar in Soi LK Metro and when I get a lift home from Casper, I find that A is fast asleep already.
Expenditure for two days
Wardrobe - 1700
Beer - 100
Food - 35
Drinking - 800
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Trip 4 - Day 10
19th August
First thing today is to go and buy the new wardrobe. A is not keen on the idea of 'flatpack' as the money saved is not great when you take into account the taxi cost, so we head along to the furniture store just down the Soi where we've previously bought the bed; the sofa and the gas burner. The cost is 1700 baht, but delivery is free and there's no need to curse stupid instructions when trying to assemble flatpack.
Today is also referendum day, so A is heading over to Sri Racha to cast her vote. She's also going to be spending time with Mama and Phil as well, so I don't know what time she will be returning. I end up just spending the day lazing about and the only thing that I can really claim to do is getting my suitcase emptied and all my clothes hung up in the new wardrobe. Not eactly a demanding day it has to be said.
I go out to buy some beers for the evening (3 x 66cl bottles of Beer Chang for 100 baht) and as I'm returning home, I get a call that A will be leaving Sri Racha in a couple of hours and did I want her to bring me food? I tell her that I will be okay as I've spotted a barbeque motorbike stall just entering the Soi. I go back to the room with my half a dozen kebabs (meat, chilli pepper & pineapple), beer and sticky rice and settle down for a little email sending and listening to some music from my MP3 collection.
When A arrives home, she's quite tired as the traffic has been heavy and what should only be a 25 minute journey has taken her over an hour. She's also got an early start in the morning, so she simply showers and heads off to bed.
First thing today is to go and buy the new wardrobe. A is not keen on the idea of 'flatpack' as the money saved is not great when you take into account the taxi cost, so we head along to the furniture store just down the Soi where we've previously bought the bed; the sofa and the gas burner. The cost is 1700 baht, but delivery is free and there's no need to curse stupid instructions when trying to assemble flatpack.
Today is also referendum day, so A is heading over to Sri Racha to cast her vote. She's also going to be spending time with Mama and Phil as well, so I don't know what time she will be returning. I end up just spending the day lazing about and the only thing that I can really claim to do is getting my suitcase emptied and all my clothes hung up in the new wardrobe. Not eactly a demanding day it has to be said.
I go out to buy some beers for the evening (3 x 66cl bottles of Beer Chang for 100 baht) and as I'm returning home, I get a call that A will be leaving Sri Racha in a couple of hours and did I want her to bring me food? I tell her that I will be okay as I've spotted a barbeque motorbike stall just entering the Soi. I go back to the room with my half a dozen kebabs (meat, chilli pepper & pineapple), beer and sticky rice and settle down for a little email sending and listening to some music from my MP3 collection.
When A arrives home, she's quite tired as the traffic has been heavy and what should only be a 25 minute journey has taken her over an hour. She's also got an early start in the morning, so she simply showers and heads off to bed.
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