maipenrai

Oddly enough, the DG is cheaper these days if you book through Agoda, and they seem to prefer it this way - I booked through their site for years but now just use Agoda - I am here at the DG now.

It's usually not too hard getting from Pattaya to Jomtien by baht bus if you get on them at the school where they line up, but getting back can be a hassle sometimes - mind you, I haven't been over there since they made Jomtien Beach Rd one way although somehow I don't think this will change the congestion on the busses coming back...

Now this is more like a proper eggs benedict - Harry's in PP, and about the same price as I paid in BKK but a real meal this time:

In the summer of 1972 I was 16 years old and having a fun time hanging around town with no job, until my Mother suggested that I go fire fighting; in those days they'd grab anybody who was hanging around and could not show proof of employment, usually from the pubs - if you refused to go, they could actually send you to jail. I was dumb enough to volunteer, and it was quite an adventure - out in the middle of nowhere, no bath or shower for two weeks, and pay of $1.75 CDN an hour. I ended up working 197 hours in the two weeks and brought home my first paycheque ever for the grand sum of $272 after taxes.

Just finishing this one off now, very enjoyable like all of Connelly's books - hard to put down once you start:

I got into Ludlum back in the '70s and read several of his books - they're all of the "paranoid thriller" genre and I did enjoy them but eventually the themes became repetitive and I lost interest. They do seem to translate well into successful movies, though.

Good - now I know your schedule, I may bring my copy back in as well.

Well, again - yours looks somewhat better than mine but I still think it needs something else to fill the plate a little....

I thought I'd try something a little bit different for breakfast yesterday morning on Soi Nana so I ordered eggs benedict, and I should have known better; why is it in Thailand that if you order this dish, or an omelet, that is all you get? No hash browns, or toast, or just anything else to fill the plate a little. This small plateful, and I wish I had placed something in the photo for scale, cost me 220b and the muffins are only about 3" in diameter and the ham just a thin slice. I told the waitress when I left "big guy like me pays big money for this small food and goes away hungry."

Sometimes people don't have a clue about proper grammar...

Finally got around to trying the barbecued crocodile they are always flogging in front of Central Festival - usually the stand is so mobbed by Russkies that you can't get near it but late last night saw a respite so I thought I'd give it a try - at 200b for the small sample you see here it isn't cheap, and frankly it just reminded me of pork with a somewhat coarser texture so I don't think I'll repeat the experience at that price:

Is this the Dusit Grand Park? Doesn't even look that far away from Rompho; how long will you stay there?

I was enjoying a cold beverage in the adjacent Wonderful 2 bar the other day when they started cutting the road surface - what a racket, didn't take long to clear out the bar: Looks to be the other way around to me - down Beach Rd and returning through several of the streets connecting Beach with 2nd Rd.

The only short flight I eat on is that of my favourite home regional airline, Air North, which flies me to Vancouver - they have great sandwiches and big, hot cookies as well with no charge. As for the overseas flights, I've never had any problems with the food on EVA or Cathay Pacific in PE and all I ever have to drink is a couple of glasses of wine with my meal.

No, I think the traffic congestion was caused by weekend visitors from BKK leaving town - that's what the cab driver told me and I believe him.

Got a Grab taxi from Central Pattaya this afternoon to Jomtien to drop some stuff off - took three tries with Grab, I think because 2nd Rd has been absolutely rammed with traffic all afternoon - guy finally picked me up in a brand new MG Extender pickup, of all things...never even heard of this model before. I hopped on a baht bus for the trip back, and with two of us left on the bus I think the driver finally just said piss on it and turned off at Soi 13/1, leaving us to walk to our final destinations but I didn't mind too much.

They're both good and I have stayed at them many times - no gyms that I am aware of but definitely swimming pools.

Booking is easy - try to cancel an existing booking if you really want to be upset, 555...

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, 555.....

Say what?? Surely you jest - I wouldn't go near the damned place if it wasn't to meet up with you and the others - I don't think Hooters belongs on Soi 4 and would never go there to drink or eat; and I can't remember the last time I paid an overpriced barfine on Soi 4, lol...

I spent a day at Duxford in 2011 and really enjoyed it, although a day is not enough to really see it in depth and I had to hurry through parts of it; they also have a hangar full of war vehicles that is well worth seeing. I think the highlights for me were the Concorde and the Lockheed SR-71. As a historical footnote, my father spent six months during the war with the Canadian Army building Dunsford Aerodrome, where the BBC series "Top Gear" was filmed. His unit of the Royal Canadian Engineers controlled and operated all of the construction equipment in that theatre and went all over England and Scotland doing all kinds of civic and military works - they were assigned to different units for lodging and rations but were otherwise autonomous and had passes that enabled them to go anywhere at any time. The entire unit was sent over to Europe shortly after D-Day and fought their way right into Germany by the end of the war. My father was on leave in Birmingham one day when he met my mother, who emigrated to Canada in 1949 to marry him.