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Thumper does his walking stateside in a Rocky Mountain High elevation of around 5,000 feet in Colorado so with his lung build up from the much thinner air, a jovial jaunt at sea level from WS to Soi 6 is mere child's play for him. What I can't figure out is how his feet don't bother him from wearing those high heels the whole way! 😜

lack of a kitchen is a major drawback for the hotel

Dinner time now at Miyazaki in Central Festival.

I have no involvement with the bar however I am 100% certain that is untrue. The decision to close the bar for a period is an internal matter. And "Yes" Secrets Hotel is open as normal being a quite separate entity.

I bought a rowing machine to, I took the oars off and just drifted around the front room

I'm quite proud of myself after going down six trouser sizes in the past 12 months. I've dropped eight sizes and 70 pounds in total over the past 18 months. At my most recent check-up, the doctor said my weight is now at the upper end of the range that is considered normal for my height and age. I could go down another 10 or 15 pounds, but that would be largely for cosmetic reasons and not on medical grounds. He urged me to exercise more to replace fat with muscle, which should put me at the lower end of the normal range. No radical weight-loss regime was involved. I followed some simple rules and the pounds fell away. Millions, perhaps even billions, of words have been written in books, magazines and newspapers as well as on Websites about dieting and shedding excess weight. I can sum them all up in one six-word sentence: Burn more calories than you consume. Of course, that's a lot easier said than done for many of us. But by obeying the prime directive to eat less and exercise more, I was able to get rid of most of the fat I'd been lugging about. I'll give some pointers than helped me over the past year and a half. They aren't revolutionary and you can read similar pointers in just about any book or magazine article on weight loss. However, they are Pattaya-specific, i.e., losing weight while living as a retired farang in Pattaya. They may or may not work for others. And the standard disclaimer: if you have any serious medical conditions, you should definitely consult a doctor before attempting to lose weight. Also, if you are morbidly obese in the clinical sense of the term, then diet and exercise may not be enough. In fact, exercise could even be harmful. An invasive procedure like bariatric surgery (gastric band or gastric bypass) may be the only answer. If you want to reduce your weight, think a moment about how you gained the extra pounds. Have you been carrying them all your life or did you gradually increase from a normal weight over a period of 10 or 20 years? Or did you experience a sudden jump in weight in a couple of years? This is important, because a life-long weight problem or a sudden jump could indicate faulty metabolism, whereas a gradual weight gain is probably not more than too much food and too little exercise. My first step was taken during a trip to the U.S. I visited a doctor who specialized in weight loss and he gave me a battery of tests. He discovered I did have a problem with my metabolism, which helped explain the weight gain I'd had while living in Pattaya. My sluggish metabolism was rectified rather easily, but that still left me with close to 80 pounds I needed to drop. The doctor said I should limit my intake of calories to less than 2,000 a day while getting more exercise. He advised me to take vitamin and fiber supplements and to drink three liters of water a day. He also added the standard admonitions to avoid junk food, sweet stuff and beer. That's pretty standard advice you can read anywhere, but it's still the right way to go. The odd thing is I have always eaten a more healthy diet in Thailand than in the U.S. In the seven years I've been here full-time, I've eaten at fast-food restaurants maybe 10 times. I rarely have Western breakfasts and the baked sweets that tempted me in the U.S. - pies, cookies, dough nuts and the like- aren't readily available in Pattaya in a form I like. I've never been one for chocolate and other candies, nor ice cream. The calorie-rich deli sandwiches I loved in NYC are rare in Pattaya, too. If I have a soft drink, it's almost always Coke Zero. I eat more vegetables and fruit here than I did in the U.S. I eat far less beef and more chicken, fish and pork than before, but that's mainly because it's hard to get good beef in Thailand. A steak has been a once-a-moth treat for a long time now. The one "bad thing" I consumed more of in Thailand was beer. I drank between 30 and 40 bottles of San Miguel Light a week, which at 100 calories per bottle means 3,00 to 4,000 extra calories every seven days. Since 3,500 calories is equivalent to one pound of body fat, I could have picked up an extra 70 pounds in 18 months just from beer. I also wasn't getting much exercise in Pattaya beyond light walking and heavy f*cking. Given my metabolism also went wonky at some point, it's not surprising I'd packed on the pounds. My immediate change in lifestyle was to exercise more and cut way back on the beer. I also stopped eating bread and processed meats except on rare occasions. I figured I got enough carbs through rice and noodles. Otherwise I didn't make any huge changes to my diet. Since I was in poor physical condition, I started easy with the exercise. I swam and used an exercycle for the most part. I have a bad knee and it rules out jogging and even long walks. Once I'd lost about 30 pounds and had less burden on my knees, I started walking vigorously, but for short distances. Swimming and the exercycle were perfect forms of exercise as they don't put any pressure on the knees but burn a lot of calories. I hate, hate, hate lifting weights or working out in a gym other than the exercycle, but I am now doing more traditional gym workouts as my goal has shifted to building muscle. And that's basically how I lost 70 pounds in 18 months. I burned more calories than I consumed. A few practical tips: I can't emphasize enough the importance of drinking plenty of water. As the body burns fat, the metabolic process produces waste chemicals that need to be flushed out ASAP. You also need to keep yourself well hydrated if you're exercising in the heat and humidity of Pattaya. Dehydration is a big health risk, especially the older you are. An added benefit of drinking a lot of water is that it curbs your appetite. A glass or two of water before each meal reduces the amount space in your stomach for food. Soup is a great diet food. Not only does it help with hydration, it fills you up with less calories. Luckily Thai cuisine includes plenty of nutritious and healthy soups. Fruit is without doubt the best snack when dieting. Buy a bag of watermelon chunks instead of a bag of potato chips or French fries. If your cholesterol levels allow it, a hard-boiled egg is a protein-rich snack. I'm lucky in that I've always had low levels of bad cholesterol and high levels of the good, so I kept a few hard-boiled eggs in my fridge to quell any sudden hunger pangs. If you're not doing physical labor during the day, you don't need a big breakfast. Fruit and yogurt are a good start for people who don't usually do anything more strenuous than sit at a computer. Try to get at least 25% of your daily intake of calories from lean protein like chicken or fish. Salmon, while expensive, is a top diet food. Beef and pork are also good if the fat is trimmed away and they aren't fried. You don't have to shun fried foods entirely, but keep them to a minimum, maybe as a once-a-week treat. Exercise can cause some unwanted side effects, at least in the beginning. Muscles that are forced to work harder or in a different way than usual can get stiff and sore. This is temporary and actually a sign exercise is having a long-term positive effect. As long as you don't overdue things and cause yourself a injury, an over-the-counter pain reliever should be enough to take care of any discomfort. Even if you exercise at a measured pace, you may experience muscle cramps which are a lot more of a hassle than muscle pain. Cramps are also a natural consequence of weight loss. As fat melts away between and around muscles, the muscle tissue has to adjust to its bigger "living space" and this can cause cramps in the legs, abdomen and arms. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but a Google search for "muscle cramps exercise" will turn up a lot of information about how to deal with them. I didn't become a teetotaler while dieting, but cut back significantly on my alcohol consumption, from 30-40 bottles of beer a week to five at the max. There were several stretches when I didn't drink beer or anything else alcoholic for a month or so. In a sense, I was lucky because I have an allergy to wine, so I never drank it. I gave up on strong spirits about 20 years ago because they irritated my stomach too much. I was- and remain- a big fan of beer. I think it's one of the most refreshing beverages there is in hot weather. But to reduce my intake of calories, I stopped drinking beer with most meals and saved my "beer allowance" for nights out in bars. That basically meant drinking much more slowly than had been my custom and switching to Coke Zero or water when I had polished off five bottles. That was perhaps the most difficult part of the whole weight-loss campaign. It wasn't a physical craving for alcohol, but bars just aren't that much fun if you're not a little tipsy. Evil

Lunchtime Haddock, Chips & Peas.

Doing it this morning... "Parkies Degenerate Filthy Scum United"

He should listen to this while rowing.😀

I took ride out to check on the progress of the new Mabprachan Bike Path. I was happy to see it's about 90% complete. Starting at the north entrance to the reservoir dam road, asphalt and lane markings are in. The only bit that remains is at the northwest end that connects with the Bang Lamung Exercise Park Bike Path. There are two remaining bridges that need to be constructed. Pilings are in. And one of the bridge support beams is almost finished. Work is also underway for the northwest extension of the Bang Lamung Exercise Park. This is the last of the two bridges that need to be completed, which will connect the bike path to Bang Lamung Exercise Park. On the other side of the park, the final touches on the new bike path connection are almost done. The north side of the park also is the start of a walk/jogging path that is separate from the bike path. One thing I noticed on my ride is the new asphalt seemed to be of lower quality than what I've seen on western projects. As proof to my thoughts I soon came across areas where they have already had to patch the bike path. There's a good chance the heavy equipment they're driving over the bike path is the main reason for the needed repairs. For the most part the bike path is separated from road traffic by steep, concrete lined storm water culverts. The few places where vehicles could enter they have a couple of low barricades, which is good b/c otherwise the Thais would soon be using the bike path as a parking lot. There were a few places where there was sand and gravel on the path, but I think once construction is finished that will be swept off and the storm water culverts will probably do a good job of keeping storm debris off the path. Not that it really matters, but the smaller culvert that separates the paths, someone didn't plan the fall correctly so the rain water won't make it all the way to the outlet hole. Nice sweeping curves on the bike path across from the Soi Siam Country Club arch. Looks like they ran out of shoreline, so the walk/jogging path ends about 800m short of the south end of the reservoir dam road. The bike path might eventually extend farther west, but for now you can continue your ride through the bike gap in the south end reservoir dam entrance. It's a 2.7 km ride, straight shot across the reservoir dam. The view from the north side entrance to the reservoir dam road. The green line in the map below marks the existing Bang Lamung Exercise Park Bike Path. The area to the west of the reservoir dam road has quite a few single track paths in the woods that make for an enjoyable ride in the shade on a mtn or hybrid bike. The ride around the reservoir is 10.3 km.

Just back from the supermarket. Aussie picked up a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. 1,760,000 IDR = 110 euro = 3,800 Thb = 100 GBP ... Out of my league..... Spirits are crazy prices here.

I know my shower drain has a slow leak to the unit underneath me they've got to pull up six of the ceramic tiles replace the drain flange and retile the six tiles they were supposed to do it today but they stopped by to tell me they would be here at 9 in the morning tomorrow. Happy they gave me some advance notice Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

Summertime here 2 times per week, they have these farmer guys come in from Central Calif and sell fresh fruit....Peaches are always good for me.

i'm back home now and it was the lack of tablets which I needed.. I felt like someone had put a bang over my head to breath... Currently on two lots of Steroids and anti sickness tablets which add up to about 12 tablets a day and they told me to just stop taking the and it was a train crash mate... I called them told them what is wrong and they had me in within a flash...

Hahaha I remember being hunted on Shhh forum after commenting on Secrets being a "restaurant" .... FFS, a brothel serving pub food. 😂😂😂

Need to drop 3-4 KG so......

Post of distinction. Agree menu always way too large and poor young James who I loved to death when he took over with his sea bass ceviche. Oy vey ........ no chance. Jambo struggles to spell haddock let alone ceviche. It's raw fish young man .......... Them 100 baht bar snacks awesome move as were the 100 Baht vouchers. For me Secrets died many deaths .......... letting the bitch from Detroit go and running down daytime dancers etc ....... still think it should be a gold mine ......... as it was back in the day!! But maybe the Western tourists are gone forever so ...... Bangra Beat and Chinese House Mafia music, Gingham Style and naked women .......... make a fortune in no time.

Yes. I went mid March, under the old people, and we waited an hour only for them to deliver an s+k pie for the gf, who had ordered a fish pie and who doesn't eat beef. No problems correcting the mistake, but another wait at past midnight and we changed the order to a take away. Was hesitant to try it again, but the new people have improved it immensely

Fine. Fast and friendly, but it wasn't busy. Portions were huge, and tasty.

I thought most of the food I had at Secrets was good, but I was reluctant to eat there as it seemed someone would light up just as my food arrived.

In reality, it makes little if any difference whatsoever to the Hotel. Everybody says how great the food is in Secrets but historically less than 10% of Hotel customers ever eat food in Secrets. Last month, which was very busy, every customer received a 100 Baht voucher each day to spend in the Bar/restaurant on food. That meant they could, for instance, have enjoyed an excellent freshly cooked breakfast for 39 baht. A grand total of 12 vouchers were used. In 13 years the kitchen never made a profit mostly because the menu was always rediculously too large and the margins far too small. You go to a gourmet restaurant for a gourmet meal not a bar. A bar should offer appropriate bar food of a good quality. There is a big difference between the two alternatives and Secrets paid the cost of one individuals delusions of grandure. There is only one reason for offering food in a Bar. To stop the buying (drinking) customers wandering off when the carbohydrate debt kicks in sometime during the evening and it always does. That is whySecrets introduced a 100 baht Bar Snacks menu that proved to be very popular only for Ben to scrap it and introduce an even larger extended menu. Having to stock every item on that menu simply ensured the best fed kitchen staff ( and their family) in Pattaya from the items falling out of their sell by date. My understanding is that when the Bar re-opens it will be offering quality Bar Food and in the evenings only.

First off, Durango is at 6512 and the cabin is at 9000 feet. And secondly, the feet never really bother me..... plus the money's good.

I just returned from having a drink and bite to eat at the R-Con Bar and noticed the Y pipe was in pieces now. Can't say I'm surprised as I thought when I snapped the pic below yesterday that it was doubtful the Y pipe was going to line up with the holes in the concrete.

Taken this afternoon. I have lost the plot and can not work out what they are doing.

A great read....

Well, with those prices it works ! 18 months here and yet to buy a bottle of whisky ! Whereas in HKG it was 1 or 2 a week.....

I think they've done a fantastic job on the landscaping in the Bang Lamung Exercise Park, and I expect the northwest extension will be equally nice. They've made a lot of improvements on the northeast side of the reservoir. If I was so inclined to move from the brightside to the darkside, that would be the area I'd look to buy or rent in. Bang Lamung Exercise Park pic from post #2

Signs of the time - no Russian, and very little English.

Blocked up the bog again? For f**k's sake don't send me the video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pal of mine bought one, he can't run anymore so was looking for alternatives. Similar to Yesitsdakids post he'll watch a 30 minute quiz show and row away. Hard work!

packing a bag as I fly to Thailand tomorrow

Top Man! Hopefully we'll get a good few joining! @misteregg will maybe sponsor it for a free drink and slice of cake for the winner

I thought it was the brown behind the pink 555

Classic Colesman balls..."for those of you watching in black and white the blue is behind the pink"

Famous Radio broadcast from the BBC 60s...... think plummy Oxbridge English accent: "As they go under Hammersmith Bridge I can't quite see who is in the lead through this fog ....... it's either Oxford or Cambridge '......... '

I still do a bit of walking but now most of the exercise comes from a pedal machine that I bought from Lazada I really love this thing I use it between 1 and 3 hours every day I get more exercise than I would walking. If it's raining outside it doesn't stop me from getting my exercise and I put a movie on or watch a baseball game and 30 or 40 minutes or an hour ago by and it's like you haven't even been exercising. I recommend these things highly

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 Pro using Tapatalk

I think the problem goes back a little further than the Scooters merger. It was pretty obvious that most the regulars and locals had already stopped going into Secrets 1 to 2 years before. The reasons vary from BM to BM but there was no doubt that people were losing interest in Secrets as a bar of choice. It went from not being able to get a seat in the intire house to being amazed if there were 3 customers in the whole place. I think it safe to say that politics and the changing of the guard was its downfall. It would take a real promoter / salesman to get the numbers back up. Many of the familiar faces from 5 to 10 years ago are no longer around and their seats were never filled by new blood. Sad to see a once great bar die a death of empathy but the magic just isn't there anymore.

Going to have to do that soon. Bought some liver a few weeks back. Thawed it, but left it too long so it never got cooked. I haven't had it in years. BTW - If you like liver chicken livers can be real good. Fired up with some garlic and butter, some hummus on the side with some pita. Lovely

Good post. As I understood things Ben had no interest in Secrets anymore. Wouldn't class myself as a mate of his, but I've never had the urge to pally up to business owners. Chatting to him in Nov 2018 in Secrets PP, his comments whilst not in the forensic detail that some on here would seem to need to was Pattaya was declining low margin market that he was happy to be out of. His target market in the main was moneyed-up Asian customers. Who starting a bar now would aim for dying demographic (of which I'm painfully aware I belong to☹️) I took that to mean he no longer had any business interest in the old bar. or the hotel, or Pattaya full stop- that seemed a reasonable inference based on 5 minute chat I really liked Secrets in PP when I was in, (visited again Feb this year) very attractive line up and a cracking band.

new owners have to cop that one,,,if they had done due dilligence they would have known the pro and cons of the bar.Pehaps they underestimated the effect of the "loss" of the forum .However they opened just before low season,one would have thought they would have anticipated cash flow issues Its very confusing wrt the forum...does Ben still own this? in which case the switch to Tapatalk did Scooters at Secrets no favors at all In any case not paying the staff for the 2 months they have worked (deep throat 2 ) would seem at face value to be an absolute disgrace...but then Im only getting one side of the story

All historical.