Butch

Last trip I had a chunk of space in my luggage, so brought home a case of Schweppes Manao Soda. Can't find it in the UK locally.

Nice and cold and about to open, and I have absolutely no idea where the beer mat came from.

22 hours ago, Krapow said:

When it was just myself, and my dates were pretty much nailed on, I used to book via cheapest, ebookers a lot of the time in them days. 

But now as there's 3 of us, and anything can change, I book direct with the airline. 

Happily, that's what I did for our June trip, we would've been in Thailand now. I booked direct with EVA, whom I got a full refund from in 14 days of applying for it. 

Will usually book direct with EVA, and the above experience just validates it for me. 

 

I've been let down by EVA twice now. Once when my flight was delayed for 24 hours, we were lied to by the CS Ground agents (not EVA Staff, but they represented them) . I overheard them say there were 33 seats on the Thai flight and they would bump pax up. When I asked the guy at the counter he denied it, I stood there arguing with him and called him a liar, but they were having none of it. Only pax booked forward onto Taipei would be put on the Thai flight due to an onward being arranged. we were put up in a crap Hotel, given a meal voucher for cold food which had been sat there for ages and basically not treated very well. No apologies, no letters, and a refusal for compensation as it was a "bird strike" which is not covered.

Second time was recently when the office wouldn't answer the phones or emails (no email address provided), or the phone would ring, answer then cut off half way through the recorded standard disclaimer. Understandable in recent times, but this was very very early and pre UK lockdown. I ended up getting a refund via the online portal, fairly quickly, so in some ways they redeemed themselves.

In my experience, nothing compares to the standards set by Cathay CS, they are just excellent, in fact, I'd say the best in the entire business. As an example, when we fly to Manila we usually go LHR-HKG-MNL, the HKG connection is often fairly tight, especially if the flight is a bit late leaving LHR which is occasionally is as it is a late evening departure. Very often , I'll inform the staff at check in and they will put "priority luggage" stickers on it so it gets transited faster. Little things like that, and when you call them, they actually do what they can to solve your issue rather than ping pong you around 20 other departments.

I've also had a situation doing a 3 way call between Cathay HKG ticketing office and my Mrs in the RP at the time, re arranging and rebooking her on a flight due to leave Manila in less than 8 hours. Bless her, the girl on the line was tapping away and rebooking while I passed on the details to the wife, and asking whether she could make it on time. She even pre booked the seats through to London, and that was an economy fare!.

No one , except perhaps the Chinese saw this coming. We've seen that the Airlines have done their best in a bad situation, but ultimately, a sudden stop of cashflow and demands for ticket refunds booked several months back has effectively crippled their finances.

Ever since the Volcanic Ash cloud event, I've always gone direct to the airline for my booking. At the same time I've always booked well in advance, rather than last minute so the financial strain isn't as much (2 - 3 round trips for 3 people a year to the RP is not cheap).  When this all kicked off, we received a refund from PAL very quickly. there was a definite sense of relief when it was refunded !. EVA also refunded my ticket in fairly good time, albeit with a penalty.

Of course I have friends who have booked via TA's, and as such had extra hoops to jump through when asking for a refund, as the Airlines won't deal with them directly. Therefore many offices were closed and the infrastructure for working from home being installed, causing more of a delay. A few have said they will in future go direct with the airlines, in case of this (potentially feasible) event happening again.

I won't change anything, I'll still book fairly long in advance (minimum 5 months) and direct. For a bit of extra expense (although not that much with PAL or Cathay) it gives a peace of mind knowing that, as long as the offices are manned, help is just a phone call and reference number away. The other advantage is that should there be an issue with your ticket in your destination Country, you then don't have to go through your TA in the UK to get anything sorted, you can just call the local airline office. I had this with Cathay back in 03, I needed to change my ticket in order to return to the UK pronto, local Office refused to help, so it was $2 a minute phone call ping pong in the wee hours of the morning to the UK getting it changed.

What do you guys prefer to do?

We holidayed in Rayong back in 2015 and really enjoyed it. Out of interest, the pic of the restaurant , where is that relative to the Ban Phe pier?.

We had some awesome seafood meals there, sitting looking out to the bay with the fishing boats and their bright green lights. The mossie repellent really came in handy as well!

Here's a perspective of the situation:

Many guys, myself included have forgone this years trip and as a result have saved the thick end of 3 grand upwards., plus or minus, but let us not argue over semantics.

That's not the point though, what is the point is that many guys would prefer to keep the money fluid in the uncertainty we have in the private sector of the UK at the moment. I've said it before, the money I've saved by not going to LOS has effectively given me a cushion of 2 months, maybe 3 of I'm very careful should everything go south. That , for some guys could be the difference between being homeless and being solvent. Yes, my wife earns good money and can do "private" work if it all goes tits up but as always everything is based upon worst case scenarios.

Factor in also, the uncertainty of the restrictions being placed upon visitors.

Ok, let us say that joe shmoe arrived in LO, gets the tracking app ,then gets a dose of the Pattaya Flu 3 days into his holiday. The Hotel which temp scans him daily then reports it, he gets a visit and while not being Covid + does give the symptoms which are almost identical, bit TIT so it doesn't matter , his holiday is now f***d and he might well be, like if he was in Cambodia (and I expect Thailand to follow suit) several grand out of pocket because he needs to meet his own quarantine bill, treatment and re arrange his flight home. But Joe Schmoe didn't have Covid+ insurance because it was prohibitively expensive.

Joe now has a problem. A problem which can be avoided by avoiding Thailand until it gets back to normal.

The higher echelons of Thai society have always looked upon the farang with disdain. It's entirely our own fault, the behaviour of some farangs wouldn't exactly endear them to us. They want rid of us, but , like many unconsidered actions, have not fully realised the consequences. They wished us gone, but were not too worried because they felt the Yuan would take up the slack. It has done so , to a point, the Chinese investment into LOS vastly outstrips the tourist £$ EU AUD, but now everything has stopped, some of the people in the higher echelons of Thai society are feeling a very harsh reality biting down.

As the old saying goes:

Be careful what you wish for.

17 hours ago, Shaksey said:

Best car i ever drove, bar none, by a huge margin.

1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Lightweight.

That's a million pound car today.

 

That, and the 1988 911 Turbo in Red are my fave ever porkers, with a small soft spot for the 959. I've only ever seen one 2.7RS, and that was at a car show in Mannheim in 1999. I couldn't afford one then, and I certainly can't afford one now!.

My fave Yank car of the 80's, understated and from what I've read, they had quite cult following.

I took that pic in 2017. It was a small "sari sari" store.

I tend to avoid the p4p areas in the Philippines, for me it just really isn't worth the hassle of getting across town to EDSA or Mabini / Burgos, the traffic does my head in and if I want to get to say, Burgos for 6pm, I have to leave the house at around 2:30 on a weekday or even earlier at a weekend. MOA is 45 min away, and EDSA literally down the road from MOA, but again Thai GGB's are much better than anything that Manila has to offer. I reckon, Pitstop is the only half decent GGB in EDSA.

A little further on from MOA is Del Pilar and the Manila bay cafe (renamed from the LA cafe but exactly the same in all but name only), even then it is smoky, dirty and pretty crap. Del Pilar has a few bars around the area and the old Amazonia was still there in 17, again a bit of a dump. Worth avoiding really.

where we live there are a few local bars with some girls working in them,  I often walk the dogs past them in the evening and have a gawp inside, but they won't let me in with the dogs lol, so I usually grab a take away Red Horse to drink as I walk home, and return the bottle the next day!.

Sorting thru the HDD, found these that I posted elsewhere a while ago.

When it was open it was a one stop shop before heading to Soi 6, Happy memories for many of us I expect....

"The Belgian Embassy". Caught a dose from a girl there in 1995. Happy days.

"Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful".

went to the USA in 2015, saw some epic cars at the local shows.

1 hour ago, coxyhog said:

I was at Seeb airport,working on the air force BAC 1-11's for Airwork.We lived on MAM,maybe you went to the Concorde or Falcon Clubs?

I had a fantastic time there between 1983-92.

I didn't go to the Clubs, the only places I would go to were with Dad, sometimes to the RFO clubhouse  or SAF Beach Club  but I only went there (RFO club) a couple of times so don't remember it too well. I left school in 87 then ..ahem...got "offered" a job out there which involved an inordinate amount of paperwork, mostly vetting guys from UK wanting to work in the Forces plus some other equally tedious stuff.

MAM was great, it had an awesome pool but the shade was a bit lacking!. I've got a funny yarn from when I was there at the age of 8 years old involving MAM HQ and Eric Bennett who was CO of SOAF at the time.

I was given a crappy old toyota corolla that was previously owned by a tramp to do the awe inspiring trip from Diwan Palace offices Muscat to MAM 2 or 3 times a day.

I can remember a couple of Airworks guys from when the  Muscat Naval base was a SON base before they moved up the coast and it transferred to the RYS. Some of them were accommodated in Muscat iirc. It seemed to be a pretty lucrative job for them back then. I know my Dad went from 3k pa in the private sector UK to 12K pa tax free in 1975, so he was pretty chuffed to say the least.

2 hours ago, stuarty said:

That would be me, fuckin horrendous it was.3 weeks sick in house then breathing went so ended up in hospital for 6 week ended up on ventilator machine for a week which ive no doubt saved my life. Lost around 5 stone in the process. Back home now and getting stronger everyday walking unaided now what a diff that makes. Cant praise the docs and nurses enough i doubt if have got through this without them lifting my spirits at down times.

Glad you came through mate, and continue to get stronger. My experience was a picnic compared to yours!. The closest I got to being hospitalised was when the wife thought my kidneys were packing up due to dehydration. I never suffered with any breathing difficulties thankfully, it was the one thing I was always aware of though.

1 hour ago, coxyhog said:

Thanks for the post @Butch very interesting & useful and great to hear that you beat it & didn't give it to your missus.

Who did you work for in Oman & whereabouts?....Did a few years there myself.

Hi,

Lived there from 75 through to 1997, educated initially at the PAN AM school, then a brief spell in the Sultans School, then back to the UK for my secondary education, but spent my hols out there. My Dad worked there for the Military, I later took a job (cheers Dad) working in Muscat, I was initially based at the old SON Naval base round the corner from the Palace and spent my time between there and MAM HQ which was a way up past Seeb. It was a never ending pile of bloody paperwork. I lived with Dad, initially in Medinat Qaboos, then onto Ruwi and finally in a place that was over the road from the Inter Con.

Spent time down in Salalah, fishing off Mugsahyl beach mostly !. I also stayed at Sur when it was a base and populated by me, 12 Omanis and 3 dogs, briefly. Absolutely loved Salalah, we would drive down the coastal road , get half way and camp out somewhere. Awesome stuff.

I've got some great memories from my time there, from being stranded in the Empty Quarter, being taught to Scuba dive at the age of 10,   to watching massive storms at night off Qurm beach with my gf at the time.

I love metal detecting Videos, always a good couple of finds in them.

The "all airlines refund" is a scam,

https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/15/flight_refund_email_scam/

At the very least they will harvest personal details, at worst, get CC or bank details, maybe through social engineering once they have you signed up. It might also be a method of scamming loyalty / FF accounts:

https://skift.com/2020/04/27/an-uptick-in-fraud-is-complicating-airline-refunds-for-canceled-flights/

The Airlines / TA's are the only people able to refund or credit an original purchase, all my refunds came direct although they did take a bit of time, incidentally I always book direct with the Airlines these days, ever since we got stranded in the RP during the Volcanic Ash cloud event.

Not wanting to go off topic too much, but here's a sad reminder of times gone by on Del Pilar.

Sunset from the beach in Rayong,

12 hours ago, Butch said:

Blue Wave just up the road on Coastal from MOA (Mall of Asia) is now open. Numerous Bars, with live bands beginning to schedule after the lockdown.  What remains of Del Pilar is closed along with sevearl bars. Not sure on the current status of Manila Bay Cafe though.

Pasay, Cavite, Bacoor Dasmarinas all still closed for the most part and P4P is non existent unless you have numbers in your phone already. Alabang, Festival Mall Alabang and outlying Malls remain closed along with the FL places for, pickups such as San Mig Pub,  Cowboy Grills and Sitcoms. EDSA remains closed to the best of my knowledge.

Sorry for any confusion to the above, the bars are NOT open in Blue Wave, but they are scheduling shows and events for the future.

My bad on that one, I knew what I meant but didn't make it very clear in the text 555.

5 hours ago, Yesitisdakid said:

There is an old memory. Had a connected bar up by Soi 1 on Second road right ?

Great memory, I'd forgotten about that, it was "The G Spot" run by the guy who "owned" the board - Dave G, and managed by 2 guys, one called "Jacko" and the other, a really nice bloke who went on to manage the Queen Vic on 6 Ex Navy guy, called Raymond , who sadly passed away.  The bar was next to the Weekender Hotel (I think). Quite a spacious bar but if there were a few guys in town, it didn't take long to get out of control.

We had a dirty dancing comp there once, (the same trip as I had my stag night on so things always seemed to get a bit anarchic), the girl who was my "entry" was Nee, ex Lipstick tequila girl who went on to work in HA. She won, but it turned into a full on lesbian show.

There is serious distancing precautions in the SM Malls, but freelancers are noticeable by their ever growing numbers. Starbucks and the coffee shops that are actually open but with measures in place, however, I have it on very good authority that a lot of FL's are heading to open areas of coffee shops, hanging around the entrances to MOA and increasingly using dating apps.

It is also very much a buyers market. Allegedly.

Hi Ray

The Nurses who still lodge with us were redeployed from their current wards , one was in day Surgery and the other an Eye clinic, due to the shortage of staff at the time, they moved in C-19 Wards, but our area of the UK had no shortage of PPE, hence they were fully protected at all times, however, I think I got it from one who was asymptomatic and might have caught it during her redeployment.

No one part from myself showed symptoms, and once I did, everyone quarantined.

I fully understand how it is easy to see the same symptoms during the regular flu, and for many C-19 is less debilitating than the regular flu for some reason. There is a line of thought that the effects change determined upon genetics, but that is way way beyond my scope of knowledge and I can't speculate here.

All I will say is that it is not something a person should face alone. Even at this stage of the game, people need to make preparations by way of regular contacts and hygiene. The supply chains are running at full capacity now, so no need to stock up on anything, however, it does not mean that a supply of dried pasta, tinned beans and tomatoes, UHT Milk, Tea and Sugar are not a bad idea (forget the toilet rolls, we used to have an outside loo, and a load of cut up squares of newspaper on a bulldog clip!)