Thai Spice
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Posts posted by Thai Spice
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As mentioned, had my daughter here from 5th to 12th Jan, done some touristic stuff, more of that later.. After she left the old frog hopped back to the jungle, the Miss having preceded me by a few days.
Have enough of the 7 h car trips, so by plane this time. Denpasar to Banyuwangi should be a 45 min flight BUT there is no direct flight.... So you need to fly to Surabaya first and then head back south east to Banyuwangi (airport name Blimbingsari), near the tip of Bali, and from there it is one hour by car. About a 4 to 5 h trip, but way more confortable than by car.
OK, first a few random pics of statues in Denpasar. As I said they love those big things and you will find them everywhere, each with some connection to history of course.
Even in the airport. Bali airport has just been renovated (the IMF meeting is taking place in Oct 2018) and is very nice, a bit a medium size provincial city airport.
A few pics in the airport .
Noted something very smart in the underground parking. Each parking lot has a light above it, green and red, allowing you to see from a distance where are the available spots. Basic but very helpful ! Note the red lights in the front of the picture and the green ones on the far left.
And of course plenty of the Balinese culture stuff....
Kites are a big thing here, there are a lot of competitions and games on the beach, even in the jungle as soon there is some wind, they come out. To bad they thought it was a nice idea to make them a bit noisy...
And one for our biker members....
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OK, a bit about a "tourist trip" done in January when my daughter was on visit.
Typically the kind of stuff I sont like, but good for her to learn a bit about Bali.
Target of the visit was Pura Besakih, it is the most important temple for Balinese Hindu, located right at the foot of Mont Agung, the now famous volcano.
Unfortunately, as in many Asian countries they can't stop themselves of trying to rip people of BIG time, and it shows BIG time in the Tripadvisor and other reviews. My driver warned me, gave me a few tips, and this old frog being not a newbie, and doesn't have much feelings for locals that try to rip me off, it went all well for the little Miss and me. Nevertheless, if my daughter hadn't been there I would have from the first minute told them to F.O. and left.
Anyway, entrance for locals 40,000 IDR (100
for local, 60,000 IDR for tourist . Clearly indicated on the ticket boot. But it is after you buy that ticket that the shit starts. A dozen of so "official tourist guides" are sitting there and one will approach you, explaining that you are obliged to take a guide etc....
Me : "OK, how much ?" Him : 50 USD.... Me : "I live in Bali, I have only Rupee..." Ok, obviously he saw his dream gone... "OK, in roupie 300,000 (700 Thb) "
Me : "No, two choices, you take 50,000 or i go alone" ... He gave it another try at 100,000 but seeing that I was already starting to walk towards the temple, he gave in.
Next step is "Need take motorbike because it is far away..." Well, I could see that it was about 500 / 700 m away, so not a problem, and scenting another discussion coming I answered "My daughter had a motorbike accident, and now she is too scared, sorry we walk !" Ok, that did it, but my mood already half gone.
We walk up, our 50K guide hopping on his bike to wait for us at the entrance. Over there takes our ticket, shows it to another guide and "hands us over". I simply make clear again in front of the 2 that it is 50k and basta, they seem OK, and off we go with guide #2. #1 is obliviously the "catcher" and goes back down the hill to wait for another prey.
Needless to say that the temple grounds are full of temple merchants, but they did not bothered us much.
So, buyer beware for this visit. A real pity because it is beautiful and very interesting.
A few links :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Besakih
https://www.tripsavvy.com/visiting-pura-besakih-holiest-temple-in-bali-1629099
(plenty errors in fees on that last one....)
A little map , that may be interesting as it shows the different tourist thing to visit in Bali . We live in Sanur, in the S.E. near Denpasar. Temple is up North / East, located right under Mount Agung, the volcano that caused some trouble recently.
Sorry for the quality of the pics, the weather rather bad, and some were taken with my phone, not a good idea...
Pictures displayed of their various ceremonies. If my memory is good there is a yearly one, a bigger every 3 year, and a major every 10 year.
The temple is made of lava rock, cut in the lava flows of the past. Strangely, it seems they are just piled up, without cement or bonding. (I have a similar build decoration wall in bricks on my terrace in Sanur..)
The very ancient part of the temple is made of a different stone, and (according to our guide) bond by clay.
At the end of the visit I gave the guide the 50,000 as "promised" but he was not overly happy or jumping from joy.... They are stupid, because he was good, and had the whole lot of them not tried to pull their B.S. on me he would have got 100,000 without problem.
In global is it a nice place to visit, but visibly in the hands of the local mafia.. our driver told me he can not accompagny us, and please dont speak about the tips and info he gave us, he could be in trouble,
What confirms this is that the temple is INSIDE the 6km exclusion zone, although at the limit, and you pass the "Interdiction Zone" sign to get there, but it is open....
BTW : It had a 2 min heavy smoke eruption the day after we went..... Shit I missed some pictures !
Conclusion : I will not go again, and will warn any potential visitor of what is going on.
Picture of the parking lot, and the (numerous) tourist shops around it. The place is dead now because of the volcano scare, but as far I am concerned it can stay so. I am not a very religious man, but trying to pull some scams in one of their OWN most holly places is absolutely disgusting.
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10 minutes ago, Lanzalad said:
Never mate some of them old post was like reading times magazine ... lol
Mmmmm.....more like Readers Digest..... hahaha
But a bit more indigest..... 🤣🤣🤣
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2 hours ago, Rompho Ray said:
Greetz from the USA.
I'm a pretty experienced hand on the Pattaya scene, first visit was a shade under 25 years ago. I've lived there on and off, well-known customer at the two Tahitian Queen bars. Was a partner in a bar in Soi Diamond, managed a few others. Been around the country, some places I still need to get to. Know my way around pretty well.
Long-time poster on the Pattaya boards, starting with the old and sadly forgotten Misty's board. In at the ground floor on the Secrets board and was at the several opening parties. Long time poster and former mod on Pattaya-Live. Also have a name on Addicts and Talk (is that still around?). Been off all the boards for several years.
Many will know me from my old board name, a combination of an American rocker's name and something Thai chicks love to eat. I've decided to make a clean break from that board name, and to start fresh. If you've guessed who I am, you will know why, and I ask that we leave that board name and all its associated baggage in the past.
I'm looking for a stress-free place I can come to chat with friends old and new about Thailand and anything else I know a little something about. EXCEPT POLITICS. I get enough of that elsewhere on the internet, and it will not advance the purpose of me signing up here.
I'm looking forward to getting back in touch with folks who know me, and making some new friends. So, without further ado...
See ya on the board!
Bienvenue mon ami Ray !
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2 hours ago, thegrogmonster said:
He is a strange critter that one.
Has obviously a boring life, to spend his days doing copy and paste from various news outlets....
Another LOS mental case....
But I would suggest not to mention too much other boards BM here, we have promised to be above that.
Yeah, yeah, I know...I just did that......
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9 minutes ago, Horizondave said:
You are drinking Bintang at 0520, wow. Still you are a pensioner and the world is your oyster.
Yes, but I had only one, and been only drinking water after that. So its not too bad !
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Well, as I said.....
05.07 : in 1 hour
05.24 : ok, I am at the gate, open !
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05.20 am here, waiting for the Miss arriving back from the jungle.
She just txt me "in 1 hour" so it could be anything between 5 min and 2 h....
Too early for tea, so I just cracked a Bintang......
Its Sunday after all !
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Great job T.A. ! And having a technical background and having used loads of machining shops as subcons, I have an idea.
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50 minutes ago, DodgeThis said:
Chiang Mai, Corner Cafe - Old City
Includes a cappucino and a mango shake
200B
You're gonna be blasted for being a rich Swiss banker LDOP....in Pattaya for 99b you would have had half a kilo of beans thrown in as a bonus .....hahaha...
Naaah, joking, for once the eggs looks properly done !
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Lazy day...
1 club sandwich and 3 glasses of Rosé at the beach.
Pensioners life......
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1 minute ago, Krapow said:
At Tony Roma's, wee lunch time number before 50 lengths of the pool.
How long is the pool .... ?
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59 minutes ago, kidkodomo said:
Greetings from an American expat, living in Bangkok for ten years.......First visited Bangkok in 1967! Best wishes to all.....
1967 ! That must have been something ! You wouldn't happen to have some pics from those days ?
Shit, with my 1989 first job in BKK I feel like a newbie now ?
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And a bit on the retirement visa process.
December 2017
Made a quick summary of my expenses for the retirement visa, 1st year.
Conditions and method were mentioned in one of the previous posts, I think no need to list them again.
Why an agent ? Because for any long term visa in Indonesia a "sponsor" is required.
In case of working visa this will be your employer, in case of marriage visa it can be your wife (depending of her filling all the requirements..), in case of "social 6 month visit visa" you need find one, but in case of retirement visa only an officially approved agency can be your sponsor ! Hence it is a gold mine for them, and they will say that it is expensive because they engage their legal responsibility if you do something wrong...
Not really cheap ! Still need to do some further checking about the yearly renewal, as I have some contradictory information on that. It seems that it is the same process and same price as the first one (except for the VOA visa and the SGP trip) ! After 4 renewal you can apply for a 5 year visa, cost seems to be 5 x the annual one, so not sure arriving at a certain age it is really the good choice.... But all this is for later.
Numbers :
The local taxi, it had taken about 4 or 5 from my place to the agency and / or immigration because of the extension of the VOA visa. Renewal should be 1 trip agency to deposit the file, one to immigration for picture and fingerprint, one to agency to retrieve the completed thing.
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Update December 2017
First the gardening / farming aspect :
The fruit revolution (remember orange trees replaced by dragon fruit)
The original orange trees are completely removed, roots included, and new "support" for the future dragon fruit plant are installed.\
The old trees / roots, nothing is lost, to be used for cooking !
Inspection by the boss !
The dragon fruit plants are partially taken from existing fields, or bought and are then planted, attached to the "supports"
Chili plant will be planted besides the dragon tree, to give another bit of income.
Chili plants all bought from a local supplier (can't remember the qty or price..)
Nice little "ECO" truck
fertilizer was used, but heavy rain falls has not really helped.
Here is how it looks 2 days ago....
I am defo not an expert, and don't get involved at all. Enough with the 3 or 4 family experts involved.
Let's see how this all works out.
I noted that in Bali those fruits are going at rather expensive prices, will try to see if she could export from East Java to there directly instead of going through the traditional chain of middle men...
But again, knowing the local "habits" trying to cut out the middle men may not be the best idea. But worth to be looked at.
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Update Nov 2017
OK, still in Bali but meanwhile at the jungle house an agricultural revolution is taking place.....
You may remember me mentioning the Miss and her brothers have a orange plantation behind the house. The Missus part was rented out, as she was in HKG, and not able to take care of it. Now the rental is over and the exploitation of the land is back to her.
OK guys, note that I have absolutely zilch knowledge about agriculture or farming, so accept that I don't necessary understand all the processes.
As any culture, sometimes you have to "refresh" (?) the soil or the trees as it gets tired and exhausted. So it was decided to cut down all the orange trees that were in bad shape, and did not gave enough fruit anymore. And they would use the opportunity to partly replace the orange culture by "dragon fruit" as it pays much more. On top for the dragon fruit you can "cheat" the growth by having lights installed above them (not sure it is the light or the heat that does the trick ?)
Dragon fruit :
Anyway, before :
"Clean up" in progress :
Now before you ask, yes, why they don't tear out the remaining of the tree and the roots ? Seems they plan to use it as support for the dragon fruit plants.
Meanwhile the frog and the Miss still in Bali for a few more days. Exploring the different supermarkets, wholesale stores (Lotte Mart) and DIY (ACE) for anything that could be useful for the Bali house installation.
Continuing our exploration of the area (Thank you Google map !). Found a nice bakery as well, about 1500m from the house.
Lovely french and German bread as well !
Cheers !
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Heading back to the Mercure Hotel beach bar, hoping the same generous barman is on duty !
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Recovering from an afternoon at the Mercure hotel beach bar where the waiter served me JD's by double dose + single shot....
Bit messy...I remember chatting up an Aussie bloke Asian wife.....thats about it. Home 4 pm and crashed in the sofa.....
Yeah, yeah, one day I'll have to stop this stuff..... but not this week !
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Evil, for the Retox case I admire your patience, personally I would have just told the waitress to F.O. and then have the place massacred on social media.
Unprofessional behaviour is unacceptable in F & B .
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Having a beer down the beach.
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Warm up started on the beach for this weekend's reggae festival ... Listening now while having a beer on my terrass.
Will head over there later on to have a look.
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Maybe gonna go to this one this weekend ?
Anyway, considering the location (beach) is 800 m from my place, qnd considering the sound level they play at, I could listen at it from my terrass !
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Just watched the movie Der Untergang, german version with english subtitles. Youtube, in 17 short parts. (Downfall in English) About the end of Hittler.
Way better then the English dubbed version
The German actor playing Hittler is absolutely fantastic.
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Update November 2nd, a little walk near the house :
OK, today we went for a little walk to the closest beach located near our place, called Mertasari Beach, a 10 min walk.
Otherwhile we are about 10 / 12 minutes by taxi from the center. And the area is a nice and quiete.
As this is a long holiday, a bit more locals on the beach. Pics were taken between 09:00 am and 11:am, so not to busy.
Place called Fantasy or Dreamland, can't remember
There is a nice footpath all along the beach, and it makes it a nice and relaxed stroll. No motorcycles use it, only bicycles.
A few nice boats moored there, I think mainly for daily charters. To be investigated.
And yes, there is a portion were they used the giant sandbags "technology"...but nobody swims there or thinks it is a "beach"
First part of the beach is definitively "local", plenty small eateries around, but the Miss got a few looks in her shorts...
In that area, quiete a bit of garbage floating around.
Walk 400 / 500 m more and you arrive in "Bule" country (=farang). Plenty hotels, eateries, jetski and diving schools.
You will bote a nice, relaxed walk way all along the bay. So Pattaya city hall, don't tell us it can't be done !
The activities are not specially cheap ! !
OK, a few pics of "in town", many streets lined with trees, and quite a bit of greenery around.
And for those who speak Dutch, yes you left a few markings here ... any government office or lawyer office is called "KANTOR xxxx" Obviously from the Dutch "kantoor" ! Post office : "Kantor Post"
A fridge is often referred to as "koelkass"
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\
Le Pub soi Diamond Pattaya
in Business Section
Posted
Nice shirt !