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Christmas Cake made , now to feed it with Brandy for the next couple of months

Being sober has its benefits.😁 When I was pissed all the time I remembered little, now I remember things clearer.

Baking my Christmas Cake

Just some bike porn from when I was in Weymouth back in late August, this was on the promenade. I have no idea what any of it is as I am not a bike aficionado but thought some may be appreciative here, of course if this is all junk I apologise. I have added a few motorcars etc as well as some looked interesting.

Some heavy rain this late morning but only for about thirty minutes. First two pictures show the road that runs adjacent to the Dusit Thani hotel and joins the Dolphin Circus. Some damage done to the beach. The photographs are pretty self explanatory. These were taken mid afternoon some hours after the rain. It is fairly obvious from the road surface that there was some flooding or water retention on Beach Road. Finally onto the road works which extend from Mike's Mall to Walking Street. A lot of water collecting in the road works; where will such water go once the road has been filled in?

My favourite Secrets shitfest was Chang Fai, versus the pizza takeaway owner (site that now is Brooklyn Pizzas) Chang Fai was a Scottish gent, who divided opinions to put it mildly and could be somewhat picky and abrasive 🤔. He had an argument in the pizza takeaway over his pizza (he did like his food cooked just so) and the owner in colorful language told him to remove himself from the high class diner and not return. Chang recounted the tale on Secrets really laying into the establishment. The pizza owner then signed up and attacked Chang Fai online, having a total meltdown, threatening him with violence. It was spectacular 😀 Terrible publicity for the business, even in Chang Fai was going over-board, the owner attacking him online was over-the-top. The shop eventually stopped trading, don't know how if was harmed by this episode. Most of the shitfests on Secrets, I just found to be tedious and unpleasant. Not having them on here is one of the big attractions of this forum.

I always used to make this one for Christmas with my Mum , still use the same recipe book , although I add a lot more booze to it ...

& I was right🥵

So not from ChangFai productions then?

had simular back in the late 90s at the post poffice in soi Post office, standing nice and peaceful in line maybe hour and ahalf get to the front and this wee local just walks straight up and the shelia behind the counter starts to serve him,i very peacefully hold the back of his jacket and take him to the end of the line,no yelling no anger,just right flucked off.every one, bar him and the shelia cheer, all the thais was laughing their tits off seems he is a repeat offender. must admit I had eyes in the back of me head for week or so. I try my best at all times in LOS to hide my anger,got holes in my tongue from bitting it. regards grayray

Wifey and i had to renew our 10 year driving licences (only 5 years now) a few days ago. We turned up at the DL center at 12.40pm and were virtually immediatley attended to where they checked all our papers were in order, there were approx 20 Thais in our group i was the only farang. Once the papers were ok'd (no problem) we were shown into the room and sat and viewed the approx i hour video on how to drive properly lol. Once the vid had ended it was then on to the two tests one for an emergency stop and the other i don't quite know what is was for or achieved but it was two white posts contained in a box with a viewing aperture and you had to sit approx 10 feet away and using a control box you had to get the two posts aligned together. Now that was where the problem started for me wifey flew the tests but getting these posts aligned was a real problem for me, i just could'nt see them moving, they looked static all the time despite me operating the control box buttons to move them. The adjudicator kept saying fail try again lol and low and behold an army officer and a pretty young lady who both spoke good English proceeded to help me by explaining what i was to do and how to achieve it, wifey was just laughing in the background, i passed but i still don't know how i did it. What impressed me was the efficiency that we were dealt with and the patience shown by the adjudicator and the help provided by the two Thais, it restored my faith in officialdom and the general Thai public after all the ongoing issues surrounding visas/health insurance where i'm feeling somewhat un-necessarily beat up imo. In and out in 1& 3/4 hours job done.

Is this cake for the LePub Christmas Meet?

My missus is in Thailand,my mum for once isn't coming over for dinner & I don't have to get up in the morning.And this lot are playing in my local so that's where I'm headed....

Agreed it shouldn't be used long term. But as you say, 25 y ago things were more "relaxed". And an IDL is difficult to get without a address in your home country. Tried to get the French IDL before coming here, but no way without proof of residency in France.

Officially if you drive in Thailand for more than 3 months you should get a Thai Driving Licence. Now that depends on your Visa status etc. Being a tourist then IDL good but if you are on a Non O etc etc and residing in Thailand there is an expectancy to upgrade to a Thai licence. Possibly when you were in Thailand this was just another law that was not imposed regularly. They have tightened up a lot. I found out back in 2011 after being stopped on my bike and asked for licence and passport that I had being driving in Thailand illegally despite having an IDL. I was warned by my friendly BIB to go and get a Thai Driving Licence. I went to the driving licence office on route 36 the very next day. I got the licence and ironically on the way back I was stopped by a cop and asked for my licence. The look on his face when he saw my shiny new licence which had been issued 20 minutes before. He looked quite shocked and then laughed, I was waved on my way. Ever since I got both my car and motorbike licence I have never had an issue with the police, in fact I have always been dealt with courteously.

Agree that Patts can see the very worst extremes of it, and Pattaya forums by extension of that but no way a phenomenon confined to Patts or Thailand. Have met some tremendously entitled expats in India, HK and Sing. People who can get angry over and entitled over the smallest things, that a normal person would be totally unaffected by.

Thats one of the things about some Pattaya "residents" ..they would get into a fight over a 100B pizza....

didn't have time to think just did it,think he was too shocked plus there was NO bike taxi/doorman around to come to his aid. felt a goose later,was thinking that it could cost me blood or bhat or both. have seen the red mist a few times in my travels,got into bother more than once,never in LOS them blokes play for keeps,NO smiles when they get going. regards grayray

So much to say about Kevin. Bobby Robson has said he’s the best player he ever coached. I know that to be true as I’m still good mates with Bobby’s best mate over the years, Charlie Woods. The stories Charlie tells of Kevin are hilarious. Like him and Allan Hunter disappearing to the groundsmen’s shed at half time during home matches to have a cigarette. Kevin’s debut was at Old Trafford and we won 2-1. A few games later we played Leeds in their heyday. Allan tells the story of Alan (sniffer) Clarke, who while a great finisher was also a nasty piece of work. In the first few minutes he elbowed Kevin in the face. Hunter went over to him and said if you do that again I’ll break your fucking neck. Clarke never went near Kevin again the entire game. Kevin was an absolute colossus. His power was immense, he was so quick and his leap was incredible. One last story, in the mid 70’s they organised a 100 yard race to see who was the fastest pro. Charlie drove Kevin to the venue and they stayed overnight for the race the next morning. Kevin went out with some mates that night and got bladdered. He showed up 2 minutes before the race looking like shit. This was televised btw. Kevin was the favourite, along with Malcolm McDonald. The gun went and Kevin streaked ahead. After 50 yards he was in the lead and yards ahead of McDonald. All of a sudden he started to slow up, “adjusting” himself. He finished 2nd to McDonald. After the race Charlie asked him “WTF was all that about?” Kevin explained that due to being late he forgot to put on his jockstrap. After 50 yards his meat and 2 veg were hanging out the side of his shorts! They played the tv footage, which showed his Crown Jewels slapping all over the place. Due to that it was never shown on tv.

He cant. All of his replies are just for the sake of arguing... Never brings any concrete evidence to the board, never share experience, boast about Moto GP,, but not even 1 pic. I sometimes doubt the guy is real.....

All those who self insure due to pre-existing conditions.

Well what can i say, apologies for my confusing posting on this and other threads. I had a real blast on friday night with a few mates i had'nt seen in ages, no sleep as they left in the morning, christ what a night, it was me ole mate roobob that put me on to it 🤣🤣🤣 There were in fact two other tests one for colour blindness and one for peripheral vision which i passed with flying colours lol

Would it be called "The Farce and The Fatuous"?

If by a miracle we do leave, it will be interesting to watch the stock market and currency rates as we will be in unknown territory. Still can't see the self serving MP's voting to leave.

Sitting in The King and Castle in Windsor with the family. Nice view of castle outside our window. Had a pint of Barn Dancer and just about to have a pint of KingGoblin which is 6 pc. Prices not bad for a pub in Windsor, lovely place. Anymore drink and I might start assaulting any stray corgies....

Assembled a bookshelf... Teaching the Miss remembered me working with some workers in SEA. They know everything better, and no need to follow the sequences of the instruction leaflet.... And she concluded by "no way I could ever work for you, I run away after half day. You're a real pain" .... The thing is assembled by 56 2" woodscrews.... real fun with a screwdriver (even if the holes are partly predrilled) ! On the shopping list : battery powered screwdriver !

burnt chip gate was good

The depth perception test is a bit amateurish but serves a purpose. I passed ok but noticed that when others were taking it the tester just turned her eyes from looking at the box and white posts and stared at the person at the controls. She only did this when the posts were in line so you really only needed to stop when the tester turned to look at you.

Yes, been there, done that and seen it all, for 15 years. I tend to ignore patronising posts, especially when it's clear the whole thread and other threads haven't been read in order to have a full picture. My comments have been about how Pattaya has changed for the worse over the years in respect of how, in general, us farangs are treated. I find it amazing that this is the case, when the vast majority of businesses are suffering due to the lack of farang visitors. You'd think they'd make a better effort to be pleasant to the ones that are here. What I will do in coming weeks is go to Hua Hin for a few days. Hua Hin is where I've been going for 15 years, I've really only spent extensive time in Pattaya for 8. Farangs have always been treated with respect there, so it'll be interesting to see if it's also changed. @john lukeappreciate you tidying up the thread. It seems a few BM's are enjoying it, so I'll happily continue until or unless I run out of things that I feel may be of interest to pass opinion on.

My mum taught the missus to cook fruit cake,she's just done one for her family in Korat.

Not a bike but an electric scooter on sale in Tukcom, this psychotic piece of kit tops out at 70kmh

Frog junior, South of France yesterday. Young boys bringing out their toys for the girls hunt....🙄🙄

Was called Munchies IIRC.Was funny.

Everyone who dose not agree with the decision of an immigration officer has the option to seek assistance from someone further up the food chain, this has always been the case In regards to insurance there is no box to think outside of just yet............ well if you listen to the scaremongers I guess there is but they are basing their dribble on the tooth fairy.

is pattaya-live still alive ?

Jamasans.

Whatever any I.O. says IS the law.... Anywhere in the world. As simple as that.

Good to hear Pulse is busy , was pretty quiet in March and the quality of the girls was poor , along with Touch it was my favourite GoGo in LK on previous trips ... Kink was best for me last time

Well lots has been said now it is just wait and see. In the next 10 days reports will be coming in about guys that have extended their Retirement Visas looking forward to those reports.

Given this remark, I thought I'd give Serenity a second look this evening. My opinion of it hasn't changed, though. Just as it was before the name change from Oasis, the girls were below average looking, and above average covered. There were 4 customers upon my arrival, and 4 (not quite the same ones) on my departure. Several gogos in Soi LK didn't bother to open this evening because of the midnight closure. That included Champagne, The Office, and Dolls LK. I looked into Pulse; I counted about 40 customers there, of which only about half a dozen were Asian - but they were spending heavily. Pulse was doing well for the opposite of the reasons that Serenity was doing badly. On the subject of Asian customers, my default eating place is Robin's Nest, in Soi Diana. Hitherto, I have regarded it as a bastion of the falang. However, the last two evenings there has been a bunch of quite loud Asians (I suspect Korean or, more likely, Chinese) drinking at the bar there. Is nowhere sacrosanct? 😒

My bank girl is 37 and childless. She hasn't put any pressure on or even mentioned kids yet, but being honest, her being without children was one of the attractions as I certainly don''t want any more. Can understand your dilemma and I'll do the same as you if it gets really serious with her as I'll have the conversation. It wouldn't be fair of me to stay with her if she desperately wants to have a kid.

All the guys you mention there are great guys. I know Mick pretty well, played golf with him a few times with his son. Warky I class as a mate. He still lives in Suffolk and comes to all home games as an ambassador in one of the hospitality areas. His front room is a shrine of medals and cups. Pride of place is his PFA Player of the Year award. Clean sweep that year for Ipswich - Warky won it, Mariner 2nd and Frans Thijssen 3rd. Kevin Beattie (the best player I've ever seen at Portman Road) won the young player of the year. Sadly Kevin died a couple of years ago. Our fans raised enough money to create a statue of Kevin - to be placed along Portman Road in between the statues of Alf Ramsay and Bobby Robson. I know Bryan Hamilton well too - he also still lives in Suffolk and involved with the club. Great guy and when you get him and Allan Hunter together it's such a laugh. They have a love/hate relationship, always taking the mick out of each other. But they're great mates. Paul Mariner lived in USA for a good few years, but he's in the process of moving back to Suffolk. I've lost contact with Magic. He's not around the town any more but wish him well.

Well, I recently dug out my old hifi system after 6 years up in the attic /garage. I didn't have much confidence in it working to the quality as previously but a bit of a clean up, new interconnects and speaker cable and bobs your uncle! Still sounds superb so I'm catching up with a lot of music right now. Who says they make shite quality gear these days 🤔

The wife went to renew her driving licence in BKK and I went with her. More fool me! The place was packed and whilst waiting we were shown what the test entailed on the tvs there. Archaic to say the least. The thought of those folks that passed the test then jumping into a 2 litre car or any car for that matter is just plain scary.

I'll pass her on to Grayray for his return ......... randy old Aussie goat will shag anything with a pulse these days .......

I wish you'd stop using big words and sentences, Google is fed up with me 🤣

Now finished , definitely worth a watch , great acting

It's been about 10 days since I last updated, a few things have occurred during that period, which I thought worthwhile mentioning. The really good news is that I'm now the proud owner of a 12-month, multiple entry, retirement visa, so if I choose to I can stay unhindered until end of October 2020. My 90-day business visa was due to expire at the end of this month, the "Agency" I spoke with advised I go in to see them first week of October. So last Wednesday (2nd), I did. Amazingly smooth operation I must say. They even took the necessary pics. Won't go into too much detail here, for obvious reasons, but I was in the Agency for about 15 minutes, a taxi to the bank, where I spent about 30 minutes, then to the Immigration office, where I was in and out in 5 minutes, despite the place being heaving with people. That was it. Including the time in the taxi, it took just over an hour. The following day at lunch time the Agency called me to say my passport is ready, so popped over and picked it up. They said they'd handle the 90 day reporting too, just pop in and leave my passport. There's simply no way could I go and queue in that Immigration Office. What a nightmare. It looked like there were queues to join queues. I don't do queues. Happy to provide more details via PM if anybody would like further details. The most interesting hour I spent over the last 10 days was completely unexpected and quite jaw-dropping. It started off as most of my days do - a quiet breakfast in one of the restaurant's a short walk from the rear of my condo complex. I was the only customer, I'd already finished my breakfast and was sitting quietly with a cappuccino while doing the Bangkok Post sudoku and crossword. In walks a farang (estimate early 70's) with a Thai lady (nothing special, but quite pretty, mid-30's, decent figure). There were maybe 15 empty tables, but to my surprise they sat down on the very next table to me. I'm not a nosey person by nature, but due to this guy being a bit deaf, he over-compensated by speaking very loudly. So I wasn't ear-wigging, I could hear every word clearly with. Not a case of putting a glass against the wall. It was obvious from minute 1 that this was the first time they'd met. This was 10 am, which I thought was an odd time for a first meet. I knew this because the first few minutes of the discussion was around how much prettier she looked than her online profile and it was nice to "finally meet you". The guy was a natural German, ex-military, but had lived in the USA for a long period, so had a US passport too. He proceeded to explain to this lady that he'd spent 40 years in the German air-force, his German wife had left him 5 years earlier, costing him a fortune, he'd had 3 long term Thai ex-bargirl girlfriends from Isaan since then, all of whom had fleeced him. She did very little talking - she didn't get a chance. We had his life story over a 20 minute period. I couldn't concentrate on the crossword, he was so loud. Plus I was waiting to see how this lady reacted. Finally she managed to get a word in. She' didn't come across as a bargirl and said she has a small business in Bangkok and 3 youngish kids. Not a problem, he said, I like you . . . Here we go I thought . . . After most of his life history he got onto the subject of cars - he said he'd got a 2 year old Toyota and is trying to sell it because he doesn't feel safe driving it any more. She then went on to say that she's struggling cos she needs to get around Bangkok to deliver things and her car is so old and keeps breaking down. So he offers her the use of his car. His exact words were "you can use my car, it's better for it to be used than sit in my parking lot". I watched her reaction closely. She didn't jump at it, was quite coy and actually very clever with her words, but basically saying she would be very grateful and would take him up on that offer. She wasn't an educated lady, her English was obviously picked up at school and working. She may possibly have been an ex bargirl. Inside she must have been rubbing her hands together. The more the conversation went on, the more this guy opened up and the culmination was that he offered for her to move in with him. I couldn't believe my ears. So much of me wanted to shake some sense into him. On a first meet offering her his car then offering her to move in with him? No wonder he's got fleeced left. right and centre. It should have been "Run, Forest, Run" or as Iron Maiden would say "run to the hills". After maybe an hour he paid up, they walked the few steps to the path outside and said their goodbyes, saying "see you tonight" and left in opposite directions. On reflection I felt sorry for him. He did say he wanted full-time companionship during the conversation. No problem with that, but I think he should re-assess his interview process. On the personal front, gogo girl has legged it back to Korat for a few weeks, which I'm pleased about. Things were getting tricky as I didn't really want to see her, but she kept pressing. All is good with bank girl - she's come to see me the last 2 weekends, she left this morning. Had a good night Saturday in Le Pub, very enjoyable watching the football unfold with a few guys, all supporting different teams. Bank girl has got into it too - I have a converted Ipswich fan. On Friday she showed up with her nails done . . . . Ipswich Town nails - brilliant. Will report on a restaurant we went for dinner last night - Cabbages and Condoms. I'd heard about it from somewhere and bank girl suggested it, so we went. What a let down. Food was hugely average, they charged 260 baht for a puny 100 ml measure of chateau shite red wine, 150 for a bottle of Singha and you can't get a Grab taxi to pick you up inside the complex because of the "taxi mafia". I had to tip the concierge guy to take us down the road in a buggy to a 7/11, where the Grab driver was comfortable picking us up. Won't be going there again.

I have Blind Faith,Disraeli Gears & Live Cream vol 1 & 2,a brilliant live album. RIP to one of the greatest drummers who ever lived.

Ginger Baker dead at 80. RIP