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Might as well start a tr as don't think posting many pics in the what are you doing now thread is a good idea,will be mostly hua hin and any side trips,along the lines of the following pics,scenery,people,ect and anything else I find interesting.

We've all seen them, maybe even met or had a chat with them, but this trip I saw nada, zero, none. (I'm not including the sadder cases of those who've psychosis induced issues due to alcoholic abuse or drug abuse over an extended period of time - these people have hopefully received the care they need). Last year I saw a bloke in Trench Town wearing a kilt, along with fishnet stockings , the following night he was in a multicoloured katftan. Introduced himself as "Steve" and was a great laugh and very nice guy indeed, very articulate and intelligent. This trip though, no one at all. I saw some vloggers (cunts) noteably that "vlogging a dead horse" twat who almost managed to get himself a good hiding from a bloke in Time Bar on LKM, but it was quickly de escalated. I even missed bm @Nightcrawler sporting his safari suit , cravat and cigarette holder. I noticed the pace of things is much faster now. Treetown seems to be very transient in its customer base, guys sit, have a beer then move on. Very little "intimacy" as well - not in the literal sense of the word , but perhaps the open design of the entire place doesn't lend itself to that, the girls don't seem to want to go beyond the normal interrogation routine, it's like they get a drink and then the conversation stalls. Not wanting all BM's to munch on a nostalgia sandwich, but this trip there were a handful of bars where I was made to feel welcome, and numerous bars where I was made to feel like just another faceless farang.

At the end of this morning's bike ride I'd thought I'd relax with a massage. There's an older lady at a massage shop on Klang that waves to me most mornings as I ride by, so as I was looking for a legit massage I thought I'd give her a try. I pull up and while locking up my bike I confirm her shop has a shower I can use to cool down a bit before the massage. She said yes, but then went on to explain something about the big boss of the shop going home for Songkran so we'll have to use a different room, but it's a very nice room with a good shower. She then proceeds to lead me down Klang. As we're walking I ask her how far and she says not far. So we trudge along about 25m, turn up an adjoining soi, go another 25m and make a another turn into an alley which I then cotton on to is the building where she has a room. She then puts her finger to her lips and motions me to follow her quietly up the stairs. So up, up, up we go until finally we end our ascent on the 6th floor. To her credit she wasn't even breathing hard and while I wasn't either, the climb after a bike ride in the hot sun meant I was seriously overheating. It was also at that point I realized there was a good chance her room was a fan only room. Sure enough, we get to the end of the hall, she unlocks her door and while it's a nice corner room with good breeze from the open windows, it lacks A/C. It was also obvious that my hoped for legit massage was not to be and that insead if I stayed I'd probably be treated to the sight of a naked great grandmother. Using my overheated state as an excuse, I explained politely to her that even with her promised very good shower, it will be impossible for me to cool down enough to enjoy a massage. I felt bad for her as she pleaded with me to not go as she has very few customers and very little money, but I quickly left after slipping 100B into her hand for her time.

Well my form continues and we won the whole competition, beating some top guys along the way. Really pleased for my partner as she has never won a big comp before and she stayed on water all evening whilst I drank Beer Lao all night and she played very well when needed.

Lieing on a sunbed on Tien beach,Koh Larn.perspiring profusely 😆

After watching a nice sunset behind the hills,we decided to eat at bann khun paw for a change as not to far,the music wad at a decent volume,busy as usual,still great value.

A walk along the beach before the sun goes down,love this time of year when the tides way out. Trying out the camera phone,it's as good as the Sony point and shoot I've shot similar shots with ,actually think the zooms better !

My latest trip (and apologies for not making the coffee meet up - I had a lot going on) started kind of well. my (comfortable and slept for a solid 9 hours) EVA flight arrived early, de planed and immigration was pretty clear. By way of some miracle my bags were among the first to come off (same happened on my return journey) and I was out, and into the Nams taxi by 16:30, so less than an hour after hitting the tarmac. I then LINE messaged my friend, (who had given the deposit for my room) immediately called me back. "got a problem with your room mate" "oh no, what's the score" "well, I went to the Hotel this morning to drop you off a few beers" (See, he's a good mate)" and they'd given your room away" "what the fucking hell are you on about?". "yeah, so I got an arse on and spoke to the manager, read him his horoscope and told him he's in breach of contract, so they've upgraded your room for the entire stay, oh and you've got breakfast thrown in as well". My mate managed to work a miracle, and it was a great start to a great trip. Upon arriving at the hotel the senor receptionist gave me a sheepish look and told me that my friend had been quite firm in his manner. For those of you who are wondering, it was Cerberus, the former owner of the Devils Den who sorted everything. In addition, I also got a free cocktail voucher. I was pretty tired, and believe it or not on my first night I fell asleep on the bed with a bag of crisps and a beer and woke up 10 hours later picking broken crisps out of my bumcrack. Fast forward a few days, and I was eating my breakfast when there was some commotion going on. The place (Page10 Soi 10) had only gone and caught fire. Worse still, my room was 3 floors above it. As panic was obviously starting to set in, they evacuated the hotel, however, as everyone was running out, I was running upstairs to grab my cash, cards, passport and phone charger (no idea why I grabbed the charger though), and despite the staff telling me otherwise, I was fucking having none of it. Last thing I needed was to be stranded with no money or cards and having to ponce drinks and sleep in abandoned bars. Luckily Pattaya's finest fire service managed to get their 48 year old fire tender to work and extinguish the fire. My room stunk of smoke, so I aired it all day, stayed at my friends for the night and returned the following day. By way of compensation we were given a cup of tea or coffee in the restaurant. I thought that was generous given the fact I could have been looking at losing all my clothes, my passport, airline tickets and the thick end of a few grand in readies. So, lesson learned and the moral of the story, if your hotel catches fire and you're lucky enough to be there at the time, grab everything and ignore any toxic smoke or instructions from the staff.

Finally I found my form, lost my 2nd match to a guy I gave a 3 start to 6 and the 8 as his extra money ball. It's double elimination, so I beat all of the guys on the loosers side until I got to play the same guy again. This time I was playing real well and beat him hill hill. In the final I slaughtered the guy 7 to 2, I had to give him a 2 start, so he didn't win a game. Very very satisfying to finally start to play to my potential. Unfortunately it has taken 5 months and I will be returning home soon to terrorise the fish! At least over the 5 months my flight has been paid for!

About to take off ,lhr to doha ,bkk Back 5 rows were empty, 3 seats to lie down on,happy days.

Braver than me, ambushing and emptying a few Thai Motorbike drivers 😂

Enjoyed some fantastic trail running over the Malvern Hills today, friggin love this place

At 4am this morning the last of our Songkran houseguests left.. Hoooray !!! Initially we had M'lady's son, wife and grandson staying. We had a great time together! BBQs, beer, guitar twanging and singing at night. Brilliant! But they left and "The Whiteadders" moved in !! It was one of M'lady's many sisters with her bunch of fucking self righteous freaks!! Lady Whiteadder spent most of the day at their Mum's house across the road but her husband and three kids barricaded themselves into their rooms with the Aircon on full. They only came out when they could smell food!! Things got to me on Tuesday though. M'lady got up at 4am to cook food to take to the temple as the family representative, then returned to cook food for everybody else for showering her Mum. I get on well with her family and was happy to spend time there. Unfortunately later on tiredness and too many Leos put M'lady in a drunken coma....... That was when The Whiteadders started complaining that they were hungry but I refused to wake up M'lady (not that I could!) and asked them what they wanted to eat. I got everything out for them to cook for themselves. They looked at me as if I belonged in a Victorian Mental Institution! They cooked themselves Mama noodles instead..f**k em! Last night Lady Whiteadder started bollocking M'lady for drinking too much the night before.... That is when I reacted and put her straight ... and that is why they left this morning rather than stay over the weekend as planned!! Unfortunately I didn't have a turnip shaped like a willy to feed them with !!!

After dropping ting tong at work decided to hit the beach and go for a swim,once I get pcx tomorrow hopefully, the routine of dropping her at work will change. A red flag was bobbing around in the water not far from where I was swimming,no idea why,maybe some rocks just underneath the surface,but been many times in this area its never been there before tit. Some pics taken around 8,30am.

Wee walk up both sides of hin lek fai this morning and some beasts i encountered,bailed at 9,30 as just getting to hot,least the drone is still working,tho can't see me using it much this trip

Ready for breakfast on a bright and cheerful day in Manila

apart from the obvious one, I ran into a few headaches this trip. To begin with, the ATM regardless of which bank kept spitting my card back at me. I called my provider who said there's no "failure" or "rejection" code attached to any cancelled transactions, but my card was being "read" (PIN input), then the option of withdrawal and fee attached, then it would return the card. Tried 5 ATM's different banks, so just gave up in the end. Speaking of Money, Indian guys in polyester T shirts and pot bellies arguing with the TT girl for a better rate. He was changing the equivalent of $50 in rupees. She eventually told him to leave after he and his buddies got aggressive. Crossing 2nd road is still not easy. Bolt MC taxis are still a bit sketchy, and if the Police see you on the back of a Bolt without a helmet, the rider gets fined. I was pulled on Beach Rd, but luckily my bolt rider must have had a connection because one call later we were back en route. Beer Hubb charge 10% service. Not really acceptable. Hemmingways still offers good food and A/C at reasonable prices. I had a mexican chilli burger and it was arguably the best burger I had all trip. Exceptional, good service and well organised. Soi boomerang doesn't really get going until 19:00. Could do with opening earlier. Heavens abive the best of the lot, Once open a varying selection of girls, reasonable drink prices but it gets quite busy from 8pm. Chaiyapoon has some great A/C bars on it, Buzzin lounge is good with nice girls, cold towel on entry, no hassle, High rollers is good, again cold towel but slightly pricey, The Den not good, warm Ac and a worn out pool table, but "Gin" a former Crystal GGG works there and is a lovely little package indeed. Dive Bar still very good, cold towel but some girls don't go with customers. Maggie Mays looking very tired but is busy and offers good priced cold beers. The manager is a bit gruff though. Other headaches include poor service at some Treetown beer bars, Basilisk 13 on the corner for example. Town Bar which sits on bukhao has changed format, removing comfy chairs and dispensing of the god awful singer. Staff not as good as before and seems to be set up more as an observation post for leo drinking expats than anything else. Building work on Soi Honey for some new bars opposite the friendly massage places restricted it a bit, but one was open when I left so only a temporary measure. Lastly, getting a normal Thai massage at aht VIP place near Hungy hippo, I'm offered a BJ on top of the massage for....1500 baht, or HJ for 1000. Now, HJ I can do myself, cheers, but 1500 for a BJ is a bit on the very steep side. I declined and it eventually came down to 1200, which I still declined anyway. Good massage though. 250 baht.

Last night for food stalls at the pier,it was pretty dead,sat for a while with 1 drink enjoying the breeze and thai music.A navy boat was tied up at end of pier,they usually have a 1 night stop here when heading further south.

Arrived in Philippines on a PAL flight, will be in and around manila this week.

Just taken a taxi down to Suk soi 4 at 2am, only have to cross the road to soi 3 to be home. Still pissed up wankers trying to wet everyone waiting to cross the road. It's a popular pick up point for the lady boys, a bit of a confrontation between the 2 and the wankers retreat. Thankfully I made it home dry, credit to the cock in a frock brigade!

It looks like some bar owners on Soi Honey are going to try that, according to this Facebook post from Ricky of Lips Lounge: I think it's a great idea and hope it catches on...

Getting someone prepared to participate in their first Songkran. We've kinda shielded her from it before, but now she's raring to go, and it's a lot more civilised round where we are!

First day where I am almost feeling normal. I had 22 hours of flight time and me poor bum paid the price. Altogether I had 30 hours of travel from Bkk hotel to landing at Durango airport. I slept for 2 straight days.

I have had atrial fibrillation for about 18 years and all too frequently my heart rate has been running in the low 40's and I've occasionally had spells of lightheadedness and dizziness. This can lead to fainting, which will likely be at the wrong place and wrong time. So last Monday I had a pacemaker installed. But not the commonly used type with a battery implanted in the chest and leads going to the heart, but instead it's the newer leadless pacemaker. This consists of a metal cylinder smaller than a AAA battery. It's inserted into the femoral vein at the groin and implanted into the right atrium of the heart. The cylinder has a threaded end and this is screwed into the wall of the heart. Battery is supposed to last 15 to 25 years. As I'll be 87 in August battery live is not really a concern for me. However it can be removed or simply left in place and a second cylinder installed. Procedure lasted about 2 hours and I had a (miserable, sleepless) overnight stay. I took the pressure bandage off on Wed morning and could shower. No driving for a few days to protect the incision. Otherwise not much drama post-op.

First breakfast of this trip back at my favourite spot,Cafe Pitini. 2rounds of cheese on toast,3 rashers of back bacon and baked beans.

I still remember the bar in Jomtien years ago where the girls would play naked, for a tip. Unfortunately you would then likely tip them to get dressed again!!

Enjoyed this little adventure story. Those poor massage girls are really hurting now. I know a couple of them and they often ask for money. Sometimes I send them a little bit, sometimes I have to say no (which I hate because I know they are legit and probably hungry). It is so difficult for them to get out of the hole they are in. Relocating takes rent and deposit money, same for retraining for a different job or going to school. Some of them actually have the desire, the intelligence, and in some cases the skills to do something else. But, they don't have the means to break away. They are trapped (especially the older ones). Add on the stigma and discrimination factors... not a good situation to be in.

Hopefully he’ll be out of the country and blackballed from ever coming back. Attacking female staff over a check bin is reason enough to kick him out. 😡

The fact spring finally arrived yesterday and it’s nice and warm. Gonna be bike shopping next week.

Penang gai in Krua Khun puk.

Sweet and sour chicken in one of my favourite places in Bkk. Blueberry shake to wash it down.

Never did any of the places in Pattaya, but this place my buddy Jim and I did a few times when in Bangkok. Just lay back in the leather chair and let the fun begin.

Here our ride to Singapore.

Well, what a surprise. I was told by my Thai friends that Songkran finished yesterday in Bkk and no play today. Of course I didn't believe it, but so far today, not one water gun in sight. My company came down from soi 81 and she said, no play too. Pure bliss has been restored.

3 as a starter!

Marks & Spencer lasagne,really nice

Playing in another pool comp. So far I have won one and lost one hill hill in the group stage. My game is pretty good so far tonight.

Thai food Songkran buffet at King Power for Songkran instead of seafood. 800 Baht a head, so about £20, child half price, and free flow soft drinks and coffee. Wouldn't get a basic Indian meal for £50 in London. Only 4 of the pics have posted, the rest too big 🙄 🤷‍♂️

Yesterdays dinner....I'll be glad when SWMBO gets back,getting bored with cooking & generally looking after myself.