Thursday, June 25, 2009 - JUST TO RAMBLE A BIT

The rains are more frequent now.  Seems it starts about 4:30PM daily and lasts for 30 minutes or so. It rained so hard two days ago I thought I was in a hurricane.  Very high winds that were causing small trees to sway to one side.  It was so bad that water was coming into the house from under the front door.  Not flood type water but enough to get out some towels down on the floor in front of the door.  That helped a bit.  I hate to think what will happen when the rainy season really does hit up here.  Of course everything is nice and green now :)

Day business at the shop has been slow and Choa hasn't been opening up much. (Wonder why it is slow)  Since one of the rains in the first part of the month when a small glass display case was broken he decided that he couldn't sell noodles.  Since the case was not on the counter for people to see how would they know he had noodles.  That really does not make sense but  I know that arguing the point is useless so I decided we would take the case to town and get the glass replaced. No, he didn't want to do that, business was slow anyway since people were working the fields. So now it sits empty.  After a hard day of work the people in the fields do come by at night for some beer and Thai whiskey.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring

john

Friday, June 19, 2009 - JUST NOT MY DAY

Yesterday started off  just fine and all was going well.  That is till I decided to have a cup of coffee.  I picked up the coffee carafe from the drip coffee pot and just as I started to pour the handle came off. Coffee all over me and the floor.  Not a happy camper mainly because I only got about half a cup poured before it broke.

I finished what coffee I had and decided to head to Pangsilatong which is about 30Km or so away so I could pay my UBC bill which was due the next day.  So far so good.  I get about 20km or so down the main road and I blow a tire on the motorbike..   As some good luck would have it two guys from where I live drove by in their pickup truck.  They stopped and loaded the bike in the back and off we went to town to get it fixed.  I thanked them kindly and sprang for lunch.   While heading back home the bottom decides to fall out of  shy so after getting drenched I pulled over and waited for it to stop.

After getting home I spent the rest of the day doing nothing but watching TV and messing around on the internet.  Choa brought me dinner and a beer about 7:00PM from the shop.  All is good.

Decided to go ahead and take a shower during one the 15 minute breaks between TV shows.  Just as I get out and start to dry off....   PITCH BLACK   The power went out     AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN. This is starting to become real annoying since it happens about once every two weeks..  All the lines here on the street poles aren't worth a damn and they don't seem to have any concerns about repairing them properly.  So I am stuck with it.   Power was off about one hour this time.  Not good because its gets a bit warm without the fan going.  Choa came from the shop to the  house carrying some candles he bought.. We had some light but not much.  We ended up sitting on the patio watching the fireflies flit around and then the geckos pouncing on them for a bit of a snack.

Oh the country life

john

Thursday, June 18, 2009 - MAE SOT - AGAIN

Yesterday it was off to Mae Sot again for my 90 day report.  This is an exhausting trip since it is 220Km from where I live so with a round trip it makes it an all day affair for the most part.  I must admit though that I do like the trip somewhat because of all the beautiful scenery.  The landscape up in that part of the country is just wonderful.

This will probably be my last trip to that area for sometime.  When I was in Pattaya the first of June I rented a small condo, well more like a large doublewide closet, to save some expense. It seems that I can now have an address in Pattaya which is great for Immigration , cheaper than a hotel room for the number of days that I usually stay and I wont have to haul a suitcase or two with me each trip.  Seemed like a win win for me.

john

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - THE TRIP TO PATTAYA

It seems that Pattaya is really suffering from the turn in the tourism numbers.  When I got to Pattaya it was about 5:30PM on a Friday afternoon and the streets were dead.  Usually the motorbike taxi ride to the guesthouse is dangerous at best because of all the madness and impatience of the drivers here but this time the streets were almost empty.  Very little traffic at all..  I have never seen it this light and Ive been here a few years now.

After checking in to my room it was time for a quick shower and then out to dinner with some friends.  This is one of  the main reasons I head to Pattaya at least once every five or six weeks.. I need Farang intervention.  During the entire trip of  six nights not one time did we find the restaurants busy, not even close.  On two of the nights out for dinner I ate at local Thai food shops and they weren't doing any better.  Just not much traffic.  I want to give a little plug here.  I ate for the first time at Balkin Express in Sunee.  The menu is mostly grilled meats along with soups and salads.  I had the Number 5 which was a grilled chopped pork steak stuffed with cheese.  It was very good.  I opted for the Greek salad that came with it and a rice and pepper combination. I was stuffed when I left.  Ohh,  Pita bread is served too..   All this was about 190 Baht I believe.

During the day I did manage to work in a few massages to escape the head of mid-day.  This is another reason I had back to town..  I do have a fondness for massage.  When not doing the massage bit I headed to Jomtien Beach.  Again, no traffic getting there and no crowds when I arrived.  The beach was very slow.  I believe that in part most of it may of been due to the weather always threatening to rain and some days it did.  However when the skies were clear there were many empty beach chairs.  Also I didn't see  the normal amount of vendors around but my favorite was there..  The nice lady that sells all the pastries.  She is hazardous to my health but I just cant resist.

The bars were DEAD DEAD DEAD.  I go mostly to host bars in BTown, Sunee and Jomtien.  No area was exempt.  There were just no customers to speak of.  Come In was dead every night and that is very unusual as this is one of the best bars, in my opinion, in town.  They have a very friendly non pushy staff , good music and a prime location.  Corner Bar across the street seemed to of  had more people or a regular basis.  Again great location for people watching and that combined with comfortable seating makes it one of my favorites also.

I did spend a couple of nights in Krazy Dragon.  I find myself comfortable there and enjoy spending time looking at the sights.  I must say that I am very glad that Mark decide to end the show and that is one of the reasons I keep returning. ( But not the only one :) )  This trip business seemed to be better here than anywhere else I went.  People were coming and going all the time I was there and some , like myself, stayed the night.   I decided to buy a bottle and just share it will all the staff.. They seemed a bit taken back with this because when I asked them to bring me many many glasses I got the puzzled stare.  Once they figured out what I was doing the fun began.  As the dancers made the rounds I asked them all to have a drink.. They would make a drink, have a few sips then put the glass down and continue their rounds. The glass was waiting for them when they returned.  The bottle last a good 3 hours and everyone was happy. You cant beat that.

I went to BTown twice this trip and not much to report.  It was even slower than Jomtien.

I did make to the Venue this trip since there has been a lot of  hype about the place.  When Choa and I got there it was about 9:30 and there were maybe 6 empty tables out of  about 20 or so. As it got closer to the showtime of 10:00 people were having to stand in back and were leaning against the railing.  Place was full..  Show started at 10:00 exactly. Reviews are always a touchy thing because people have different tastes.. Mine don't lean toward drag shows and for the most part this is just what the show was all about.  There were five  numbers in the 10:00 show and four of them was drag ladyboy lipsync.  The final number was all the only one without the drag.  So my impression of the show was great, just not my style.  I will say that the Venue has been remodeled very well and looks nice, friendly staff and good drink prices especially since there is a show.  The costumes were very good and it looked like no expense was spared on them.

Rock Hard had alot of staff sitting outside and from what I can tell they were sitting there most of the time I was there.  They didn't seem to move.  Monty had a few people sitting outside as he normally does so it all looked like business as usual for him.  The other places along that Soi had one or two people from what I could tell and others had none.

That is the quick rundown of my trip.  I hope when I go back in July it will be better for the businesses.

john

Friday, June 5, 2009 - OFF TO PATTAYA

Choa and I are headed off to Pattaya today and will be gone through the 10th.  Maybe something wild and exciting will happen and I will have a story to tell.  Who knows.  Even though it is wonderful up here I am looking for a little change and a bit more excitement..  Been very dull here lately.

Looking forward to the sights , sounds and smell .  Maybe I will run into some of  you while I'm there.