Trip 4 - Day 21

30th August

A surprisingly early start to the day ( 09:30 ) considering the late finish last night. I have 6 'man drink' vouchers from last night and it appears that I have acquired a three letter 'Thai' name of JOD.

I trade a few text messages with A and it seems that she will not be returning tonight either, but as it's the Thursday Bar Crawl, it's not really a great problem.

In the middle of the afternoon, Tai (Cherry Bar and resident of #13) suddenly appears at the door with a plate of KFC food for me and later on the lady from #2 calls to me and says that she's going to the market and asks if I want anything buying.

It seems that the women folk have decided that I am incapable of looking after myself, so I have become some sort of 'project'.

Later on, Nam returns to her room and we stand out on the landing and we chat about the previous night and she says that it had been quite busy for a Wednesday as "often there are only 3 or 4 custonmers all night". She has been out today buying 30 glasses for the Singha 'draft beer' that is being introduced on Saturday night at Gae's birthday party. (Only 40 baht a time)
She tells me that Adam is a bit worried about the beer not being cold enough, so in addition to the chiller for the beer, he is looking to keep the glasses cold as well. To this end, Nam has been researching fridge units and she proceeds to show me the brochures of the units that she's been looking at.

She also tells me that DiscoCol has paid for a party for Pim later in the year, but it seems that she wants an extra 2000 baht as she wants live music as well. (Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news mate)

The rest of the day simply passes me by and when I realise that it's starting to get dark, I SSS in readiness to get over to the FLB for the crawl (and free curry!). As I'm walking down the Soi, there are flashes of lightning and it starts to rain, so I abandon the idea of walking to Pattaya Klang to get a bus and simply jump on the first available motorcycle taxi. At the intersection with Soi Buakhow, we are nearly mown down by a bus just pulling out in front of us. I get a good view of the passengers in the back and BM Scumbag is sitting there. I call out but he is oblivious to my call and we shoot off weaving in and out of the traffic in front of us.

I'm dropped off in Soi 14 and it costs me 50 baht for the privilege, but at least I haven't got too wet. As I enter Walking Street, it's the quietest I think I've ever seen it in the evening.

I walk down to the FLB and Kevin is there with MM. We have a quick chat and then Scumbag arrives and shortly afterwards Volsfan turns up with a mate in tow. I'm asked if I've had any joy in sorting out a new PC and I say that I haven't as yet. Volsfan then tells me that he's got a laptop at home that he no longer uses as he finds it too heavy to carry about. He says that he'll check that it's still in working order and I can check it out and if it's okay, then I can make him an offer. (Cheers!)

MM announces that the free food is ready (Curry this week rather than pizza) and it's not bad. At around 20:40, we settle up and the crawl is underway. First stop is TQ2 and as it's before 21:00, Avatar girl is still on duty, so that's a lady drink and a small tip straight away. She says that she's not feeling too well as she is 'red', but the big smile is ever present.

Next on the agenda is LD1, where I am interested to see what 'improvements' have been made during their recent 2 month 'refurbishment'

Then Windmill in Soi Diamond where the girls have few inhibitions until the lights suddenly flash once and all the girls suddenly cover up. This is a valid reason to settle checkbin and make a departure which I'm glad I did as a couple of BM's were delayed when the place was raided just a few minutes later.

Onwards again and this time we troop into Dollhouse where I chat with BM Treacle and he tells me of some of the issues he has to deal with on a regular basis.

I am just settling in when it's announced that we are on the move again and the next venue is Living Dolls Showcase. I end up sitting right next to the stage, but I actually pay more attention to a couple of cute service girls that look after me very well. So a couple more LD's and the budget is in tatters now.

Once we leave LDS, the last stop on the crawl is to be Club Bouche, but as it's not a great favourite of mine, I decide to join Kevin in bailing out and having a 'nightcap' in the FLB and buy a couple of drinks for Da the bartender.

I finally collect the bag of DVD's that Kevin has given to me and head off to Marine Plaza to get a scooter taxi home. I am charged 100 baht for this journey which is over the odds I suspect, but I doubt I'd have got home any other way.

It's been a good night and I've met a few new people including BM's Golucky, Ned_Kelly, Treacle & Cecco as well as the 'usual suspects'; Hammer, MM, Volsfan, Kev0184 & Casper UK

Expenditure :

Scooter Taxis : 150 baht
Drinks; LD's & Tips : 2010 baht

Trip 4 - Day 20

29th August

A doesn't have such an early start today, so we have a couple of hours to ourselves and as I have food in the fridge, she hasn't got to feel the need to prepare anything for me. But at 09:30, she's off and I won't see her until tomorrow afternoon. I accept that it is me fitting in with her life and whilst it can be frustrating with her being away so much, it's just the way it is.

I check my phone and I've had a text from DiscoCol (or whatever his latest board name is.) wishing me luck for tonight and asking if I could check that Pim is okay. (She is mate. She's just been 'busy' for a few days)

For lunch I have my Pad Thai from yesterday and in the afternoon I grab a couple of hours nap as I know it's going to be a late night tonight.
I awake around 17:00 and I'm not feeling too bright. I have some tea & toast, but it doesn't stay down too long. After an hour or so, I feel somewhat better, so it's SSS and at 19:15, I head off to Cherry Bar on Soi 8.

I realise that I'm still 'not 100%', so I get a motorcycle taxi rather than walking to Pattaya Klang to catch a bus. As we head down Pattaya Tai, the smells of the food stalls make me feel very queasy and by the time I get to Soi 8, I need to visit the loo as a matter of some urgency, but I really do feel much better afterwards.

So, back to the bar and a I realise just how quiet the complexes are at this hour. Having lots of girls about hides the fact that there are very few customers. A few guys do turn up however and I get to chat with a few of them including a fleeting (or should that be fleeing) visit from Casper UK.

The first BM to arrive is Scumbag along with Mrs. Scumbag. Chatting is difficult as there is music blasting at us from both the adjacent bars as well as a live band playing in what was Midnight bar back in May. (Midnight has now moved yet again to take over the bar left vacant when Hansa closed down).

BM's Mike100 and his wife, Elvis30 and a mate of his, Luvtomuff with his fiance and Carbine all appear during the night as well, so I've got to meet a few new BM faces which is good and also a couple of guys that are not members on the forums (John & Eric)

Next thing I know, the girls have started playing 'spin the bottle' and the forfeit is a shot of Sangsom. I watching the antics and joining in the laughing, when I'm dragged in to form part of the circle. Despite blatant cheating (who'd have thought it of a BG?), I get away lightly with only two shots consumed, but some of the others got 'caught' several times and the effects started to show.

Time passes by quickly and before I know it, it's 03:00 and the customers have all but dispapeared. We're sitting chatting at the bar and I get chastised for walking everywhere. I'm told that if I want to go shopping, I should simply knock on the door of one of the girls and borrow a scooter.

At 04:00, I'm given a lift home by Tai and it's quite strange seeing the building so busy with Nam, Tai, Pun and myself all going into our respective rooms.

Expenditure :

Motorcycle Taxi : 50 baht
Toilet Fee : 5 baht

Trip 4 - Day 19

28th August

A heads off to work and she thinks that she's going to be working tonight, so I 'plan' to have a quiet night in.

I logon to download my emails and I have a message from my ISP, but the issue of my webspace has still not been resolved.

Regrettably, I am unable to provide you with a timescale for resolution as our
diagnostics require further investigation. On your behalf I will contact our
faults team to request we raise the priority on this matter.

This mail is a response to one that I'd sent 4 days ago though, so I send a fairly sarcastic email to the helpdesk and cc it to the directors of the parent company and any other support email address that I can find.

This message was simply a response to my email of 24th August, so it just proves
that your internal systems are not working as they should. It took three days
from me sending you a mail explaining the problem for it to be logged and so far
it has taken three days for it not to be fixed despite assurances from everybody
that the priority is being raised and that it would be resolved in 24 – 48 hours.

I checked my access to homepages and the problem still has not been fixed, so the email from the Helpdesk was yet another false promise or downright lie.

Welcome to the absurd world of Demon non-Support

Will somebody please have the decency to explain to me why this problem has taken so long to resolve? I cannot believe that it is really that difficult to create an account
on the homepages server.

At 16:30, I realise that I haven't eaten since breakfast, so I decide to go and get a half chicken from the stall just past Noi's bar, but when I get there, it's closed so I cross the road and end up having a green curry and rice at one of the roadside stalls. It's very tasty, but I know that I'll want something else to eat later, so as I head back home, I buy a chicken & rice meal from a stall I've used before.

I get back and find that I have received a very apologetic email from Tech Support explaining what the problem was and advising me that the matter had now been resolved.

I upload my files to the server and then start the process of checking how the update of pages and features works.

Whilst doing this I get a text from BM Casper UK asking "Anyone up for the curry night tonight?". I send a reply saying that I've eaten, but if he does go to give me a call and I'll join him for a beer. He texts straight back that he'll be there at 19:30 and Kevin will also be there.

I break off from the computer to SSS and get ready. As I go to leave, A is just arriving home (?). It seems that there is going to be work Tuesday & Wednesday, so as she knows I'm out tomorrow, she's changed shift. She's brought Pad Thai for me, but says that it's okay and "You can eat tomorrow. You go see Kevin now." As I leave, I send a text to Kevin "C U in 5"
I arrive at Noi's and say "Hi" to Kevin, Casper UK, Scumbag & Lord Flash. Kolobos, Mulphy & Helicopter are other BM's that I recognise and of course Chef is busy collecting money from those that have already partaken of the curry (Jalfrezi was on the menu tonight and was once again very tasty I'm informed).

I grab a seat at the table when the girls go off to play on the Wii in the lounge and it's a very relaxing way to spend a few hours just drinking beer; chatting with a few mates and generally just letting the world go by. Kolobos is an extremely generous host and buys several rounds for the table as well as a bell ring for the whole bar, and with Kevin also buying, my checkbin at the end of the night was pretty small considering that I was fairly well gone.

Expenditure :

Green curry at food stall : 20 baht
Chicken & rice to take to room : 25 baht
Checkbin at Noi's : 225 baht

Trip 4 - Day 18

27th August

It's Monday and it's 'Buddha Day'. A says that she will only work a half day today and as there is no work tonight, she will 'do cooking'. I spend the morning writing ever more aggresive emails to my ISP who have still failed to even acknowledge the emails that I have sent them, but as it's only 05:00 in the UK, I guess that nobody in Customer 'Service?' or Technical 'Support?' has started work yet.

Lunch is simple; just a ham salad baguette (same as yesterday) with a mug of tea and a DVD playing on the TV, however any idea of lasting peace and quiet (and possibly a short snooze) is shattered when the little girl from #2 arrives and wants to play Pinball on the PC again. I log off everything and leave her to get on with it whilst I then busy myself doing domestic duties cleaning the room.

A returns back from work and says that she has to go and buy food and asks for 500 baht, so I assume that she's off to buy food for the week. No; she's off to buy duck and chicken and various other 'items' and when she returns, there's a repeat performance of the 'big cook' that took place last night.

Plates of food are washed down with beer, spy or whiskey once again however the night isn't so late and we retire at around 23:00.


Expenditure :

Food : 500 baht
Allowance for Mama : 1000 baht

Trip 4 - Day 17

26th August

A is off to work again this morning, so I grab a lift with her to the junction of Pattaya Nua (North Pattaya Road) in order to have a morning constitutional in a different part of town and to find the shop where my neighbour 'Robin' works.

He works for a tailors called Jame's Fashion which I find, but at 09:15 on a Sunday, the place isn't open yet. (The owner also has an outlet in Bangkok and many of the reports seem quite favourable, so I may take up Robin on his offer to 'check the product'. I've already told him that I am not interested in buying as I have no need for a suit or shirts at the moment, however being the ever optinmistic salesman, he says that I should just come along one day and have a look because if I have friends in Pattaya, maybe I could introduce them to the shop.)

There is little else of interest for me along this road as I am not interested in buying ceramics or specialist housewares. There is also the "largest jewellery shop in the world" which is somewhere that I hope never to need to report on.

At the junction with 3rd Road, I turn left back towards Pattaya Klang and again there is little of interest to see or do along this stretch of road. There is a very good Thai buffet on the left that I've been to with A a couple of times and is where I was planning to go with her tonight before other arrangements were made. There are also several car wash outlets and a plethora of finance company offices, so it's not an area catering for the tourist population.

I reach Pattaya Klang and turn left again to go to Carrefour for the shopping. It's now 10:15, so I need to spend at least 45 minutes in the store as alcohol cannot be bought before 11:00.

As I am looking at the selection of beers, I am stopped by an American who tells me that in his opinion Chang is no longer any good as Thai beer and that some of the alternatives are better. I don't know if he is right, so I end up getting 3 x Leo; 3 x Cheers; 3 x Red Horse; 1 case (12 bottles) of Chang (to hell with the extra 4 baht :D) as well as 15 small bottles of Singha Lite (A's tipple); 6 Spy Classic & 6 Spy Red (lady #2 and lady #11's tipple), 2 x 30cl bottles of 'Master Blend' Scotch (Robin's tipple) (Once again it's cheaper to buy in smaller quantities, as a 30cl bottle is 75 baht yet a 70 cl bottle is 195 baht.) a case of soda water and 2 bottles of Coke.

Whilst I'm here, I also go to check the prices for a small computer desk for home as I know that I will be getting a desktop and it will not be practical to just use the coffee table as I can with the laptop. There is a 'flat pack' budget desk available for 299 baht (reduced until 28th August), so I decide that I might as well get this bought at the same time.

Then a visit to the fresh food area where I get 1kg of chicken breast; 1 kg of pork shoulder and .5 kg of minced pork. (Whilst there, I am a little lavish and spend 23 baht on a french stick; 35 baht on ham; 9 baht on tomatoes and 22 baht on lettuce.

The resultant ham salad baguette was just lovely though and did last for two meals.)
My 'checkbin' is 2354.85 baht (I've never seen satang apart from in a supermarket), however this is not too bad as it's to be offset against the 'birthday' budget.

I wheel my booze laden trolley to the Customer Service desk to find out about the home delivery service as this will save me at least 100 baht on a taxi and all is well until they ask me for my address.

I have no idea and saying "Room 10; The pink building; the end of Soi 5 off Soi Khao Noi" really isn't going to help I suspect.

I telephone A and ask her to speak with them. I then hear them say in a questioning voice "Sri Racha?". A has given them the address that she's at obviously. It gets sorted though, so I leave the trolley and head back home.

Around an hoiur and a half later, there's a guy at the door with the Computer Desk pack, I help him bring up all the bags containing the bottles and give him a tip of 20 baht.

The Carrefour delivery has got the interest of a couple of the kids and they come to investigate what has been delivered. After filling the fridge with alcoholic beverages and the freezer with meat, I start to open the flatpack and find that I have assistance in passing me the right pieces and hammering the dowels in as required. It doesn't take long to get the desk assembled and it will do for what I need.

When A arrives home, she checks everything and says that she wanted me to get two 'big' bottles of whiskey (there will ALWAYS be something that hasn't been done right), so I need to get extra. In addition, we talk about getting her gold 'upgrade' and she tells me that she would like the necklace changed and for it to be a little longer'. She takes it off and gives me the guarantee with the instruction to "buy for me beauty". She is off to the food market with lady #2 to get the non meat supplies for tonight, so I walk down to Sukhumvit and spend 10 baht for a bus trip to Big C.

First stop is the Aurora gold store, where I get a new necklace and part with 3300 baht (an extra half half baht) which brings the necklace up to half baht. (No budget for future 'upgrades' until Christmas)

Then it's a quick trip round the store for the other present that A has said that she wanted which is a cooking hotplate (1145 baht) as well as getting an additional two bottles of whiskey.

I get a baht bus back and as I walk past the furniture shop that we've bought many items from, I decide to check out the costs of a chair to use at the new desk and they have something suitable for 850 baht which is cheaper than those on offer at the big stores.

I make the purchase and am given a lift home in the delivery truck.

I return to a scene of fervent activity. There is cooking taking place on the gas bottle burner as well as the charcoal burner. Prawns and kebabs are being skewered; chicken is being coated in breadcrumbs; hotdog sausages are being cut into smaller pieces and the rice cooker is belching out steam.

I'm simply told "you go shower and I tell you when ready". Around 45 minutes later there's a call from downstairs and it's time for me (and the booze) to join the gathering. There's a veritable mountain of food and I am not surprised that we fail to finish it all.







I then get a 'phone call from BM Hammer to check if I'm still okay to spend Wednesday night at the Cherry Bar. I let him know that I'm looking forward to it and he says that he'll post an announcement on the boards.

We stay outside talking and drinking until the rain forces us 'inside' and we all pile into #2 where we continue even though the kids are asleep on the matress in the room with us.

At just after midnight, we wend our way back upstairs and just crash out.

Expenditure :
Carrefour : 2354 baht
Tip : 20 baht
Baht Bus : 20 baht
Big C : 4595 baht
Chair : 850 baht

(The budget for A's birthday was 10000 and actual expenditure came to 160 + (2354-225) + 4595 = 6884, so things are still on track and the desk / chair are effectively covered )

Trip 4 - Day 16

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Trip 4 - Day 9

18th August

A goes out to get breakfast and returns with pork and rice (Kao Kamu?) as well as a selection of meat and vegetables that she's bought from the market. We then spend what remains of the morning rearranging the furniture in the room, but at the end of the exercise, there is very little difference in my opinion, but I'm told that it's much better. (???)

Then there's a trip down to the local 'Mom & Pop' shop (not 7/11 or Family Mart!) where we top up on bottled water, Coke and some eggs. (125 baht) as well as looking at the furniture shops for wardrobes as I still have a lot of stuff in my suitcase and A is not happy about this. (I guess it's a 'female' thing.)

Back to the room and now it's cleaning time. A starts on the laundry and gets quite angry when I laugh about still filling the machine with a hose! I say that I will get a longer hose so that the machine can be fixed to the tap in the bathroom, but she says that it is a waste of money and is "No ploblem; I can do." I do my 'bit' and she laughs telling me that "Man not do cleaning in Thailand".

After cleaning the room, it's time to clean the scooter and when I look out, there's a communal bike clean going on with three bikes being cleaned and whenever you get a few Thai girls together you can be assured that plates of food will soon arrive. Five minutes later I'm called to join the impromptu picnic that's taking place and it's home made fish balls with sweet dipping sauce. I'm not a great lover of fish normally, but I have resolved to try harder to fit in with A's diet rather than impose my own, so I partake and am pleasantly surprised to find that they are quite acceptable.

A then tells me that she's taking the lady from #2 off to the bus station as she is going home today in order to vote in the referendum tomorrow. She's cathing a VIP bus service (food, water & toilet on board) from the local bus station on Sukhumvit to Phitsanulok which is costing 428 baht for her and her baby. The journey will be around 9 hours and she'll be arriving at 01:00. She will then go to vote tomorrow and get a bus back to Pattaya arriving at around midnight. (Can anyone imagine this dedication to voting taking place in our own countries?).

Tonight is home cooking night rather than food being bought in from the food stalls. There's a fish that A has bought and she's insistent that I at least try to eat some of it, but I am mainly looking forward to the chicken panang that she is making. The curry paste is bought ready made at the market rather than being made at 'home', but is still made from fresh ingredients so is 'authentic'. (The main ingredients of the paste are chilli, galangal, shallot and garlic)

Heat coconut milk in a pot and just as it approaches the boil, add the curry paste and stir until the paste has integrated with the coconut milk to form a sauce. Add chicken, chopped eggplant (Makua), and kaffir leaves (Bai Makrut) and stir for 2 - 3 minutes.Add 300ml of water and a handful of sweet basil leaves (Bai Horopah) along with a tablespoon of sugar, a chicken stock cube and 3 tablespoon of fish sauce.Simmer for 20 minutes until chicken is fully cooked and serve with Thai Rice (Kao)

The food is really great and I enjoy it with a cold bottle of Chang and then we just settle down and watch some TV. (I find it surprising that most films can be worked out without any dialogue.)

Later in the evening, I send a text message to a few of the BM's that are meeting up in London tonight (Alleycat, Bryan, Deadman & Murgatroyd) and then get a call from Deadman saying that he hopes to back in Pattaya for New Year and then I'm talking with Alleycat who says that he's due in town next month and looks forward to meeting up. I also get texts from Bryan & Murgatroyd, so it's quite a strange feeling when I retire knowing that the night in London is just starting out. A asks who I've been talking to and as these are all people that she's met, there's no issue.

Spend for the day is

Supplies at shop : 125 baht
2 x Cornettos from ice cream bike : 50 baht

Trip 4 - Day 8

17th August

I awake and A I look across and see A fast asleep. She stirs and asks what the time is. I tell her that it's 10:15 and she tells me that she got home at 04:00 and has to be back at work for 12:00, so we have a little time to ourselves which is most welcome.

My stomach is feeling a little queasy this morning; I don't think it's the drink from last night, but I soon realise that I'm not going to be wandering about today as I need to be able to get to the loo quickly. I'm not overly concerned at this stage as I have had similar experiences in previous trips and I've usually been okay after a few hours.

I then realise that I've received a text message on my phone from Nok.
"What are you doing now"
So I replied :
"I am 'in room'. I will try to get to see you some time. Do you remember lady from Australia? She has a party at FLB on number 21."
Followed by an almost immediate response :
"Can you come to see me tonight?"

Rather than battling with texts, I called her and she asked if I'd gone to her bar last night. When I said that I had, she asked why as she had told me that she wouldn't be there. I said that many of us went and it was good fun and that the lady from Australia was there. She said that she remembered her and then asked me if I would take her to the party. I explained that I couldn't barfine or take her to the party as I was with someone, but that I would like to see her to say hello and see how she is.

Maybe I'm actually learning?

The rest of the day is spent doing nothing other than commuting between the sofa and the loo but at least things have settled down somewhat. I think it was a case of 'chilli overload', so maybe I'll back off on the overly spicy dips for now.

A returns home with the meal for tonight which is Pad Thai. This goes down well with a bottle of iced water.

Total expense for the day : 0 baht!!!

Trip 4 - Day 7

16th August

The early morning discussion today is to let me know that there should be a ship in today and so there may be the opportunity of late work for A tonight. She says that she won't take it as I'm here, but I tell her that she should do whatever she would have done if I weren't here. The extra money is useful for her and it's not a great problem as tonight is Thursday and it's the FLB Bar Crawl.

I'd decided before I arrived in Pattaya that this was to be my 'out alone' night each week, however I have made a slight revision to this 'plan' and have decided that for now I'll miss any Soi 6 / Ban Chang outings.

So it's left that A will call me later and if she is going to be working late, she'll phone and let me know. There's no cooked breakfast for me this morning, but to be honest I'd prefer not to have a big meal first thing. A mug of lemon tea is sufficient and then A is off to work.

I catch up on reading my e-mails and send a few back to England, but I need to reconfigure my outbound SMTP server and I cannot locate the setting for AIS. I find that I can use the Vodafone mail server to my surprise, however I'm getting a number of DNS timeouts and it takes an age to get the mails sent. Also it is impossible to use Messenger as it keeps disconnecting after just a few seconds.

Instead of battling against this problem, I set off on todays constitutional which is to Carrefour on Pattaya Klang for a spot of lunch.

The walk to Pattaya Klang is shorter than that to Pattaya Tai, so tonight I shall walk to the intersection of Klang & Sukhumvit and get a baht bus heading in the direction of the town centre. I have no idea what route they take from there, but as long as I use less than 5 buses to get to Walking Street, it'll be cheaper than using a scooter.

Once in Carrefour, first I buy a copy of Pattaya Today to look through the classifieds and see if there are any secondhand PC's or bicycles for sale. (There aren't!) Then I make my way to the food hall where I buy a 100 baht voucher and eventually choose to have grilled pork and rice along with a large Coke to wash it down. A grand total of 45 spent against my card and the food is good if basic.

After eating, I come out of Carrefour and realise that the humidity has risen and the sky is beginning to darken, so it's a quick march back to the room and I get back about 10 minutes before the wind picks up and the heaven's open.

I manage to get connected on the PC and send out the last of the mails before the connection simply 'dies' again which is somewhat frustrating but I have to accept that TiT.

My plan is to get some chicken from the stall at the end of the road and bring that back to the room to have with some rice 'washed down' with a bottle of Chang. I get to the end of the Soi, but the only chicken remaining is wings. She points me off in the direction of Noi's, so I set off to find another vendor. There's a place just before Noi's where I get chicken, rice and chilli sauce for 30 baht. On the walk back, I also stop to get some fruit. A pineapple and a hand of bananas sets me back another 40 baht.

At 19:20, I set out on my trek to FLB. As I start walking down Pattaya Klang, I keep an eye out for a bus, but there are none to be found until I reach the intersection with 2nd Road. A 10 baht bus ride later and I'm at the top of Walking Street. A short walk later, I'm in the FLB and signing my boardname on the whiteboard at just turned 20:00.

I order a draught beer and say hello to several of the BM's in attendance. Aussiechic, BadBoy, Bruiser, Scumbag, Casper UK & Hairloss. The voting takes place and it's a landslide victory for Soi 3,4,5 as I suspected.

There's a decision made to pay a visit to NLD1 first as it's the reopening night and there are free drinks on offer, but when we enter, the place is packed so that idea is forgotten about. We head off to Marine Plaza and get a couple of taxi buses to take us to our first stop which is the bar complex on the corner of Soi 5 & 2nd Road. Before setting off, I had sent a text to Nok (of Trip 1 'fame') asking if she still worked at Lucky Bar on Soi 3 and whilst en-route I get a text "Who are you tell me" and then a call where I'm asked what my name is and who I am. I explain and I'm not convinced that she remembers me, but it turns out that she does indeed still work at Lucky Bar, but she's not at work tonight.

We then arrive at our destination and we spread out through the various bars in the complex. Adam has the task of visiting each bar to get pictures taken. There are several good looking girls about and it's a pleasant way to start the crawl.

Next stop is a bar that I rate as one of the smartest in Pattaya. U Too ( http://www.u-too-bar.com/ ) is an open fronted beer bar which has been furnished to a high standard and the girls are extremely well presented. As myself and BM Scumbag make our way to the bar, we pass another bar where we see BM Dimples sitting having a drink and he tells us that he's off to the party at Heaven's Above tonight.

We enter U Too and head to the seating at the front of the bar and we are shown to seats by a service girl I remember from a crawl in February, however I still find it amusing seeing her name badge. "Oil Service"

I get chatting with a couple of BM's that shall not be named as their ftriends and families do not know that they are in Pattaya. The girls here are not pushy and it is necessary to make the first move if you wish to spend some time with one, but there is some very beautiful eye candy on display and with drinks prices similar to the local bar beers, this place really takes some beating.

It's soon time to move on again and this time it's another bar complex with five or six bars for the crawl members to spread out in. I end up with MM, Aussiechic & Badboy in the Sanuk Bar at the far end of the complex where I play the dice game with one of bar ladies. She wins twice during the time that we are playing and I've bought her a couple of LD's, so my checkbin here is 290 baht including the tip.

Time to move on yet again and this time it's to the bar complex situated at the 2nd Road end of Soi 3. We start in Atlantic Bar which I'm told used to be one of the busiest bars in Pattaya, but my last couple of visits suggest that its time may have passed and although there are a few pretty girls working, there is little 'atmosphere'.

After a short stay, we move to the other end of the complex and have a drink in The Cherry Bar (not the Soi 8 Cherry Bar). At this point the two 'anonymous BM's' come over and say their goodbyes as they have decided to return to U Too bar (and I can fully understand why :D). Hammer then announces that we are to visit one more bar complex and it's to be the one at the other end of Soi 3 containing Lucky Bar.

As we arrive, the owner recognises me and tells me that Nok is not working today and I tell her that I know as I have spoken to her on the phone She treats myself and Hammer to a tequila and the remaining members of the crawl have disbursed through the bar complex and from the looks of things, I strongly suspect that a few barfines were negotiated. There is all sorts going on and I am at a loss to understand the rules in operation during a pool game that I think involved BM hairloss at the bar next to Lucky Bar.

The crawl is now over and myself and Casper UK make our way to the end of the Soi to catch a bus back to town. As he has his motorbike parked just off Walking Street and he also lives on 'the Darkside', he kindly offers me a lift home and at just after 01:00 I am home. I call A to see how she is doing and she says that she will be home in a few hours. It's too long for me to wait and I just grab a quick shower and check the cost of the night before heading off for some much needed sleep.

Costs for the past two days have been :

Mains adapter from Big C : 99 baht
Can of Coke from Big C : 12 baht
Transcend USB stick : 250 baht
Newspaper : 25 baht
Carrefour Food Hall : 100 baht (only 45 baht used)
Evening meal : 70 baht
Baht Bus : 10 baht
Bar crawl costs : 790 baht

Trip 4 - Day 6

15th August

07:40 and A gets up. She showers and starts cooking, so I just assume that she eats before she leaves in the morning, but I am wrong and she's cooked for me. Fried chicken in a sweet oyster sauce with carrots and brocolli (At 08:00?!). At 08:30, she's off and I'm alone. I reflect on the discussion of last night and know that things really can't work if I am cheating on A, so that's one resolution that I shall have to remember when I am out 'alone'.

Another discussion from last night was about guys that had 'cocked up' when doing visa runs or getting new visas arranged; such as doing a visa run after the current visa has already expired or trying to obtain a 1 year visa renewal when there's less than 1 year remaining on the life of the current passport, so I decide to check that my papers are all in order and it's just as well I do, because immigration at the airport have made a mistake. My 'valid until' date is stamped as 8 September which is just 30 days and it should be for 90 days, yet in the 'Visa Class' entry the entry is correctly written as 'Non O'.

From what was said last night, I should be able to get this sorted out at the Immigration Office in Jomtein, however I was told that their English skills are not great, so I'll may need to go with A in attendance to get this matter resolved. If all else fails, it will simply mean having to do a 'visa run' at 30 days instead of 90 days.

The task for today is to obtain details for Kevin on prices and finance terms from the Toyota dealership on a new Vigo. Kevin has told me on Messenger that I need to turn left on Sukhumvit and it's somewhere around Tesco Lotus. It's a fairly long trek, but the exercise will do me good and I'm going to need to start walking a lot more rather than using scooter taxis as 110 baht return for a trip into town is going to start mounting up.

I decide that as I'm going past Big C and near to Tesco, I'll also investigate the prices of pushbikes in each store, as this may be more practical albeit more dangerous.

When I enter Big C, I meet BM Whitespider who's just heading into KFC for a spot of lunch. I decline the offer to join him, but agree to pop round and see him later in the week. As well as lunching, he's also been out hat buying in readiness for the Ska party at The Rockhouse http://www.rockhousepattaya.com tonight. He asks if I'll be going along and I let him know that it's one I'll be missing.

Both stores have a selection of 24" wheeled bikes for aroiund 2000 baht, but I'll need to check the length of the seatpost as I'll need it extended more than the average Thai I'd guess.

As for the Toyota dealer, I simply cannot find it even after continuing a further 200 yards or so past the Tesco store, so I reluctantly make the return journey and log on to Messenger to let Kevin know that I've not had any success. It turns out that the information I'd been provided was not correct and the dealer is actually located North of me (turn right on Sukhumvit) and it's a fair distance into the bargain. A few kilometres north of Naklua, so there is no way that I'm going to walk that.

In the evening, A returns from work and she's bought me a 1Gb USB Flash drive as I need a simple way to transfer files between machines. She's been given a good deal at work and has a 1Gb Transcend device which she has been charged 'staff rate' for of only 250 baht.

After eating, we simply settle down for a quiet night of watching TV and me reading for a couple of hours before turning in at a time that most Pattaya Addicts would be ashamed to admit to.

Trip 4 - Day 5

14th August

Off to the Tuesday market at Soi Buakaow to buy some new reading glasses and a couple of pairs of shorts for A No 'splashing out' with food at S&P this trip, we eat at one of the cafe places in the market and I have a fried pork dish with rice and a bottle of Coke. The cost for the two of us is 80 baht and then after wandering all round the market, A finds some shorts that she likes and two pairs cost 150 baht. I also get my new reading glasses and that's another 95 baht spent. We also fiill the scooter with fuel for 90 baht.

Later in the afternoon, BM CasperUK and his lady Wan come round and the girls disappear off to sit and chat with some of the neighbours, whilst I discuss the housing requirements for Kevin with him. It appears that he's also looking for new accomodation, so he's been looking for Kevin as well. He says that he found one really stunning place, but at 60k baht a month it was out of the price range for either him or Kevin. For those that might be interested it was at a development called C'est Palais ( http://www.thaithani.co.th/ ). We continue chatting and the time just flies by. It's now past 18:00, so we go and find the girls who are all sitting round eating and chatting.

CasperUK says that he'll go straight to Noi's for the curry night, however I'd decided not to go as A had said that she was going to cook tonight. It seems that this has slipped her mind though as she's eaten with the other girls and is now "Im". CasperUK says that it's no problem and the curry will be his treat, so we head off up the Soi .

The bar is already quite busy when we arrive, but we find seats and order up our first drinks. Several other BM's arrive for the curry including Mulphy, MM, Scumbag & Helicopter. After eating, we're sitting chatting when the girls suddenly arrive, so they grab a drink and then go inside to play pool.

Myself and CasperUK go to watch and it's actually quite entertaining as they are both lousy pool players. A few games pass and then we move to the lounge bar where the Nintendo Wii is hooked up to the projector big screen. The four of us play 10 pin bowling and I must admit that it's quite addictive and my competitive nature takes over, however I am gutted to lose to the girls in all three games that we played.

We finally settle up at around 01:00 and head back home. My checkbin is only 240 baht as CasperUK has paid for the curry (which included 1 free drink).

As we are getting ready for bed, A then says to me 'Why your friend think I no good for you?'. This has me somewhat confused and it takes some considerable effort to get at least part of the story out of her. It seems that when the girls have been talking, a few comments made by some of the Cherry Bar girls to CasperUK & Wan have been relayed to A. One story is that the gold bracelet (bought on Trip 3) that she is currently wearing is not the one I bought, but simply a trinket bought in the market as the original has been sold off.

Other stories are that she hasn't gone to work in a shop, but is simply working at another bar somewhere and that she has been seeing other 'customers', otherwise why would they be giving money as tip to her? (I'm pretty sure that it's not the case and I do know of a couple of the BM's that have given her money). I try my best to convince her that it's only jealousy on the part of the girls spreading the rumours, but she's not convinced that I believe her I think. She is also convinced that Adam (Hammer) also thinks she's like that as I know he's joked with her that the scooter and the gold would be sold as soon as I got on the plane.

It is quite scary how insecure the girls can be and also how bitchy they can be to one another behind the scenes. Other stories are told and I find it surprising the lies that they tell one another for what would appear to be no other reason than a simple 'my falang is better than your falang' scoring game.

We finally settle down and in the quiet dark night, I reflect on some of the things that we've talked about. A is back to work in the morning and I really need to snap out of 'holiday mode'. I've been out too much already and whilst I haven't been going mad on the spending, I haven't had a night in yet. This is party town and there's always something going on, but I need to be selective and decide which events I'm going to attend.

For me, the weekly Thursday night bar crawls have always been fun, so this will be my primary night out for the week, however I shall need to call time on the trips to Ban Chang & Soi 6 as I know that my resolve will weaken. I will also need to be honest with Avatar Girl and make it clear that I will only be able to see her to buy a few drinks and nothing more for now.

Trip 4 - Day 4

13th August

The morning is spent doing the laundry. The washing machine is an automatic, but because there is no tap within close distance, it is filled manually with a hosepipe. (WTF?) I say that I will get a longer hose, but am told that it's not necessary as "I can do. Is no ploblem". It really is bizarre the way that simple things are sometimes made deliberately difficult (TiT!).

Lunch is half a chicken which costs 49 baht (paid for by A), but the stall didn't have any cooked rice, so we prepare that at home. A then speaks with her boss and it seems that there is some paperwork that she needs to sign off, but if that is done, then she can have a days holiday tomorrow, so off she goes again.

Later I get a call from BM tlo asking if I fancy a beer, so of course I agree. It's arranged that I meet him at the bar that his GF works at (Pokemon Bar just off Soi 7) between 19:00 and 20:00, so I make the journey alone as A doesn't want to go out tonight. I walk down to Sukhumvit and catch a scooter taxi which costs 60 baht. The bar is deserted apart from the two of us and about 10 girls. I repay him the money that I borrowed from him in June and we chat and drink for a while. He has completed the probationary period for his job in Bangkok and now has a five year contract (and a pay rise), so everything is working out for him. He lives and works Monday to Friday in Bangkok and makes the trip down to Pattaya at weekends where he spends his time with his lady (Odet). He seems happy with his life and he looks very good on it.

Next stop on the agenda tonight is to go and say hello to BM Kolobos at his bar which is my 'local'; Noi's Bar on Soi Khao Noi. The reurn scooter taxi costs just 50 baht this time and I arrive to find the bar fairly busy. I'm invited to join the group sitting at the table outside which can be viewed on the online at http://noisbar.camstreams.com . The 'plan' was to just have a couple of beers and then make my way back home, but I'm bought a couple of beers and it's very comfortable just sitting outside, chatting and enjoying a few cold beers. I finally get home around 02:00 a little bit 'mau'.


Expenditure for the day

Sambuca for tlo, Odet & myself = 290
Beers at Noi's = 700
Scooter Taxi's = 110

Trip 4 - Day 3

12th August

We are awoken by A's phone ringing and it's Mama. She wants A to go and see her, but the invite is for family only it seems. A tells me that she isn't sure if she will go as I will be left on my own and she feels a little guilty about going off when she knows that I won't see much of her during the week as she will be working.

I tell her that it's Mothers Day and Mama will be upset and only Yak Yak her if she doesn't go. I also tell her that Phil will want to see his Mama as well, so not to worry about me and she must go.

Before leaving, she cooks up some rice and tells me that there is still food left from last night in the fridge, so I've got breakfast / lunch sorted out.
Once she has left I work on ensuring that I have the settings correct for my Internet connection. After reconfiguring the dial up properties, I make a connection and am pleased to find that it's more stable than yesterday.

At 12:30, I'm interrupted by Nam arriving home next door. She says that she has just finished work and has been working since 8 pm last night. (16.5 hours!)

Next I check whether I can now run Messenger and it is working, so I have a chat with Kevin online and I'm informed that there are a couple of potential rental places that he wants me to check out for him as he will be signing up for a new place when he comes over next month.

It's then time to start an investigation of the neighbourhood, so I set off on foot to see what's about. I head off deep into East Pattaya past Noi's bar and there's not much to see. A few 7/11 stores, a couple of restaurants and a variety of shops providing such things as curtain making, air con supply and a variety of light industrial metal fabrication outlets.

There are many housing estates as well. Rows and rows of identical houses which appear somewhat clinical, and advertised as being supplied with 'European Kitchen'. By the time I reach the Red Lion pub, I have determined that there is little of interest and I'm unlikely to use any of the outlets along here, so I return back to the room and continue on the dirt track that carries on past the entrance.

I eventually come out on a populated Soi which leads on to Sukhumvit 53. This is a main thoroughfare with market stalls and many business outlets and will warrant further investigation.

I then get a telephone call from BM LordFlash inviting us to his home for the evening. A barbecue; a few beers and watching the footie. BM Casper UK is there as well, so we watch Arsenal, Chelsea and Man U do their stuff and it's a pleasant way to spend the night.

Expenditure for the day

Weekly allowance for Mama = 1000 baht
Coke at 7/11 = 22 baht

Trip 4 - Day 2

11th August

To wake up in LoS with A still sleeping at my side is just great. The timing of my arrival was not the best though as this is the 'wrong' week for A, so I shall have to wait a while for the more intimate pleasures that I have been waiting for. It's not a real problem though, as I will have plenty of time this trip.

A is suffering a little this morning with a hangover and I realise that using the scooter last night was probably not such a good idea. In addition, the headlight 'blew' last night on the way back, so it was full beam only which drew attention to us as well.

There's no food in, so after showering and dressing, it's off to Big C where we splash out in the food hall and spend a total of 65 baht for food for the two of us. Chicken Panang and rice for breakfast? It's just great.

This is now the time for me to make good on my promise from the last trip that I would buy a gold ring for A and as I didn't purchase anything for her from duty free, I feel that I also owe her a present. (I had set aside a budget of 7000 baht (£100) for this), so we visit the gold shop and a ring is bought as well as a quarter baht gold chain (half half). A discount is negotiated for buying two items and it costs me 5000 baht.

We then go to the store to buy some basics including a couple of big bottles of Beer Chang at 35 baht each. A asks if I want to buy milk and I say that I will not bother. I'm planning to cut out on most dairy product during this trip in a bid to live a healthier lifestyle and keep cholesterol levels down.

Back to the room and I'm left on my own whilst A goes off to get the bike light sorted out. This gave me the opportunity to write up the TR, however I encounter communications problems and the link is not particularly stable. I finally manage to get an upload done and then have a quick chat with BM Shuggy on the Addicts shoutbox and he lets me know that he'll be in the FLB from around 21:30 with Gan. He kindly offers to buy me a few beers, so that's the plan for tonight then. A also met both of them back in February, so it should be okay with her.

Once A returns, I'm returned 500 baht from the 1000 baht that I'd given her to get the bike sotred, then it's a quick trip down the road for a haircut for me as I had decided that paying £8 (550 baht) in Stansted was just a waste compared to the price in LoS. 50 baht later, I'm feeling much cooler and looking more presentable. We return to the room and A cooks up a great meal and I decide that I'm going to have to learn how to cook some of these meals myself so that I can prepare the food sometimes.

After eating, A says that she's not feeling too well and doesn't really want to go out tonight, so I'm told that it's okay for me to go out 'alone' tonight. After SSS and A giving me a manicure, she drives me into town and drops me off at Tukcom so that I can withdraw some money to repay a debt to BM t.l.o. (Jim). as he has sent me a text saying that he'll meet me later at FLB.
As I wander along Pattaya Tai, the sounds and smells of the market assult the senses and the place just feels so familiar and friendly. I cross the road and walk past Secrets and on to Walking Street. I then remember that BM Rightsaid is having his birthday party at TQ2 tonight. It's just past 21:00, so I've got time to spend a little time there before seeing Shuggy and as I am not with A, there is no 'problem' if I see 'Avatar Girl'.

As I enter TQ2, the place is packed and it's a battle to get round to see Alf. As I say hello and wish him a great birthday, I am gently 'assualted' from behind. As I turn around, I given a big kiss by #30 and I realise that this is going to be a complication, but I fear that I may succumb at some point. I make my way round to the bar where it's a drink for me and a drink for Ann. We are chatting away for 15 - 20 minutes and she tells me that she has had people coming to the bar saying that they know who she is and asking if she knows George. I explain that I put the picture that I took of her on Walking Street on the Internet and check that she doesn't mind. It seems that all is okay, but it goes to show that even avatar pics are mentioned by BM's to the girls.

Ann goes off to change and returns in streetwear. I explain to her that I am living with a girlfriend, so seeing her might be somewhat difficult and she then drops the bombshell that she's currently working 14:00 - 21:00, so if I want, I could come and see her during the daytime, so I fear that my resolve will weaken and in the not too distant future.

I have a second drink (courtesy of the TQ2 privilege card) and buy a second drink for Ann. I am feeling far too comfortable and realise that I am playing with fire, so I spend some time chatting with other BM's (Father Mojo, Scumbag, Aussiechic, Badboy & Bruiser) before paying checkbin and saying my goodbyes to Rightsaid (and Ann).

Entering the FLB, I see Alice sitting at the bar and after a quick hello to her and Da from behind the bar, I make my way to the table to joing Shuggy & Gan. Whilst we're chatting, we're joined by the 'gang' from TQ2 and also BM Blacknight comes over to say hello. Shuggy is very generous and buys me a couple of beers before I start my own checkbin. We chat about his trip and some of the things he'd done including the purchase of an iPod from a BM that had 'overdone' it and had to sell stuff to pay for the rest of his trip.

We are then joined by the new 'green badger' and she looks just great in a long clingy red dress. It turns out that her mother is in hospital and she needs to make more money than working as service girl, so she has become a hostess. She'd told A the previous night that she's a little worried about the dancing competitions and she doesn't want to 'show' anything, so I guess we shall see what happens at Aussiechics party on the 21st.

Next thing I know, three girls arrive with a guy and sit at the next table. "Hello George" is called out and when I look, it's three girls that I know from Goanna Bar. I'm asked where A is and how is she, so I simply call her from my phone and hand it over to them to chat with her. Ten minutes later, I'm given my phone back and informed that she's feeling tired and has already gone to bed, however I am also told that she is very happy that I have returned.

After having another beer, it seems that a few are heading off to Covent Garden complex and others to Peppermint. I'm tempted to go along as well, but decide that a more sensible move is a return home. As we are all settling checkbins, Shuggy then informs the service girl that he is paying for me, so thanks again Shuggy; it's much appreciated my friend.

I get a scooter taxi home and that costs me a further 60 baht.


Spending for the day

Breakfast at Big C = 65 baht
Provisions at Big C = 450 baht
Gold = 5000 baht
Bike repair = 500 baht
Telephone card for A = 100 baht
Petrol = 100 baht
Haircut = 50 baht
Apple from Pattaya Tai market = 10 baht
TQ2 = 350 baht
FLB = 0 baht
Scooter Taxi = 60 baht
Total 6685 baht against a budget of 7000 + 1000 = 8000 baht

Trip 4 - Journey & Day 1

August 9 & 10 2007

An 04:00 departure on Thursday morning from the bed-sit in Stansted in order to catch the 04:40 coach to Heathrow where I had to make my way to the Diamond lounge in Terminal 3 arrivals in order to collect my ticket (£673 for a 1 year return on Air India, booked through Southall Travel).

Then it's a trek back to the departures hall to join the queue for check in. An hour later, I'm finally checked in and I've got rid of the 31.5kg of checked luggage which contains all the clothes that I own as well as other personal effects.(Southall Travel have a deal where their customers have a 32kg baggage allowance instead of the standard 20kg). Terminal 3 is a nightmare place with queues snaking around each other and many of the staff trying to direct passengers having English as their second or even third language.

Then it's time to join the queue for airport security. This is another nightmare and takes another hour to get to the x-ray machine where my shaving cream is confiscated and my nail clippers are deemed to be a weapon (WTF?). Having negotiated all this, there's then the queue for having your shoes scanned which takes anther 15 minutes before I'm finally 'airside'.

Off to the American Express counter to change my cash into Travellers Cheques as these can be replaced in the event of any problem during the trip. This takes another half an hour and by the time I'm finished, it's time to get straight to the gate for the flight.

The aircraft is late arriving from New York, so misses its departure slot at Heathrow and we're finally 'wheels up' at 10:20. I'm travelling this leg on a Boeing 747 which is certainly looking somewhat 'tired', however the cabin crew are very polite and quite efficient (unlike my Aeroflot experience on the last trip).

I'm not interested in watching the films on offer, so settle down to read the latest Harry Potter and manage to grab a few cat naps en route to our first stop at Delhi where there is a crew change and what passes for a cleaning of the aircraft. We are delayed waiting for two passengers to turn up and this stopover ends up taking just over two hours before we are on our way again. Next stop is Mumbai where I've got an hour and a half stopover before making the final leg of the journey to Bangkok. It has to be said that Mumbai airport is the pits. It's in the process of being redeveloped apparently, but there is nothing there and even the duty free shop has virtually nothing to sell and there are no bars either, so it's just a case of more sitting around and waiting for the next flight.

This leg is completed on an Airbus operated by Czech Airways on behalf of Air India. Once again, Air India are not particularly organised and we are kept waiting for 30 minutes beyond the stated departure time for no apparent reason. The flight is full and conditions are somewhat cramped for a 4 hour flight, but we eventually touchdown at Bangkok at 10:45 (40 minutes late) where I find that we have landed just behind a 747 from China along with a couple of other flights, so the queues to get through Passport Control are the worst I've encountered at Bangkok. It takes over an hour to get through, however eventually I make it to the head of the queue and I'm photographed and have my passport stamped.

I've finally made it into Thailand!

I collect my case and make my way into the arrivals hall. There's no Mr. Toom for me this time, as I've decided that 1200 baht is an unnecessary expense, so I make my way straight ahead out of the terminal and just in front of all the 'limousines' is the bus stop marked 'Shuttle Bus'. This is a free service to the airport bus terminal and the transfer takes about ten minutes. It's now 12:15 and I buy a ticket for the 13:00 bus to Pattaya which costs the grand total of 106 baht.

The bus is a comfortable air conditioned 40 seater and does the journey as quickly as a car with a journey time of 2 hours (heavy traffic on the highway through Sri Racha & Laem Chabang).

I alight at Pattaya Klang and there's a baht bus pulling up straight away when the driver spots me with the case. He wants 200 baht to take me to 'loom' which is over the top, but I am now far too tired to hassle over the rate and just want to get the journey finished, have a shower and get some fresh clothes on.

Ten minutes later, I've made it. It's 15:30, and I've been travelling for 29.5 hours. As I get into the room, I'm presented with a cup of coffee by my next door neighbour (Nam from Cherry Bar). It seems A has to go and do a couple of hours work, so she says she'll be back around 7 pm and then sets off on the scooter. I have a shower and a shave and get into some fresh clothes and feel much better. I then meet another neighbour; Pun (also from Cherry Bar and a previous LT barfine to boot) and we just chat about nothing in particular for 15 minutes or so.

I then sort out my laptop and get the AIS GPRS package working ( 100 hours access for 350 baht + 7% VAT ) and log on to the boards to see what's happening and where everyone is going to be later. Seems that there's an Addicts meet at Shooters at 21:30 for a couple of hours, so the plan is to eat, go to Cherry Bar to see Adam and the neighbours, then a trip to Shooters and end the night going to the FLB to see MM.

At 18:45, Pun knocks on the door and I'm handed Nam's little dog to look after until she returns home, so when A arrives 25 minutes later, I'm on the PC with a yappy dog jumping all over me. She goes to shower and change; Nam returns and takes her dog back and we set off to the buffet at Big C on Pattaya Tai. As we get there it starts to rain and all the covered tables are in use, so we make an adjustment to the 'plan' and decide to eat at MK instead. It's a little more expensive at 450 baht for the two of us, but it is my first night. After eating, we're off up 2nd Road to Soi 8 and Cherry Bar. We chat with Adam for a while and say hello to all the regular Cherry girls as well as meeting up and some big hugs for BMs Aussiechic & BadBoy.

The smile has returned and life feels good. Adam buys us a drink in to the bargain, so checkbin is a massive 150 baht!!!

Then it's back on the scooter and we're heading down Beach Road and on to Shooters in Soi Diamond. As we enter, the place is very quiet, so it would seem that the meet up has finished a little early. We sit at the bar for a drink where we are joined by BM Bruiser who also buys us both a drink. It's another 150 baht checkbin and then the three of us head off to my first Walking Street visit of this trip.

As we enter the FLB, there's a "Hello George" from one of the hostesses working at the door. I don't recognise her at first, but then realise who it is. Another red badger has gone green.

We walk through the bar and say hello to MM. At the same time, BM's Scumbag & TheDeportedOne arrive at the bar, so we all grab a table and settle down to chat and drink. I buy a couple of LDs for our new green badger as well as beers for A and myself. BM LordFlash arrives and there are more big hello celebrations. He also buys me a beer which is great. Checkbin at the end of the night is 715 baht when we settle up at 02:20 and then we head back to 'home'.

My first night in Pattaya has cost 1585 baht inclusive of tips and a couple of LD's. (Lady Drinks)As Monday is a holiday in Thailand because of the Queen's birthday tomorrow, A isn't working, so we are treating this first long weekend as a bit of a holiday and a settling in time, so there will be a few expenses that will not be regular events, but there is no room for major 'blowouts' this time.

All in All, it feels bloody great to be back and next week I need to get started on making sure that I can continue a little more comfortably!