Toy Boy

I went back to Lotus looking for some more large bottles of the Carabao dunkel. Typically, they'd completely sold out, but then I noticed a gopher stacking a shelf with packs of half-litre cans of it. A closer look and at just 552 Baht for a dozen half-litre cans that might be the best beer bargain in Pattaya right now. I bought a pack and it's fine, but I wonder how they can turn this stuff out at just 46 Baht for a large can?

This one appeared in my feed on FB, and it's interesting but I find it a bit hard to believe... like the French on 36%, and the Italians on just 47%?

I've been wanting to try the Carabao beers for a while, but my usual sources of booze - Makro, Friendship and Villa - don't seem to stock it. I was in Lotus last week and noticed that they had some so I bought a couple of large bottles, one the lager and the other the dunkel. The price was very reasonable, I think 62 or 64 Baht per bottle, and I wasn't expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. The lager is an easy drink, smooth with a pleasant taste. I'd certainly sooner drink that than Chang or Singha, anyway. It's at least as good as any other Thai lager-style beer I've tried, anyway. And then the more interesting one was the dunkel. Again, an easy drink with a nice, gentle toasty flavour. My only criticism was that the head disappears far too quickly once it's been poured, but I've noticed that with a number of the dark lagers. For 64 Baht you can't go wrong, anyway, if you like a dunkel. It's not going to win any prizes against the German dunkels, but it's less than half the price of those and I think most of us can forgive that for a saving of between 70 and 100 Baht a bottle. (To be totally fair, the German beers tend to be in half-litre bottles, whereas the Carabao bottles are 620 ml, so the price difference isn't quite a much as that.)

I'm not sure if this pair had already enjoyed the experience or were simply savouring what's to come... lol

Map of the London Underground from the sky. To orient you, south is to the right of the photo.

The Beetles crossing Abbey Road...

I flew business with Qatar in August and October, BKK-DOH-LHR-DOH-BKK, and I was, by and large, disappointed for an airline that regularly claims to be the best or second-best in the world. I wrote a trip report for my own records but never finalised it as I had better things to do. My first gripe was that all four legs were scheduled to be in Q-Suites. That’s great, especially as they all have aisle access so there’s no need to worry about reserving a seat. Then, a few weeks after booking I was informed that, due to a change of aircraft, the BKK-DOH and DOH-BKK legs would not longer have Q-Suites but the conventional 2-2-2 business class seating in a 777 instead. As I like to have aisle access, I reluctantly coughed up an extra 6,000 Baht to reserve a seat on both legs (3,000 Baht per flight). All of the first three legs were OK but nothing terribly special. There was nothing in the food or drink or service to write home about, but there was nothing really to complain about either. When I arrived at Doha for the final leg back to Bangkok, I was informed at the gate that the seat reservation I’d paid 3,000 Baht for had been cancelled as they’d changed the plane. I was pretty cheesed off until I saw that it was an A380, which I’ve never flown in before but was keen to do so. That flight was brilliant, one of the best ever, great food, great drink, great service, and a full-size bar behind the business class cabin where I spent the final few hours getting pished with an interesting Chinese guy from Guangzhou. Ten out of ten for that flight with Qatar, anyway. One aside, when I got to Heathrow for the flight back, they weighed my suitcases and informed me that, at 42 kg, they were 2 kg over the allowance and I would either have to move 2 kg into my hand baggage or pay £65 in excess baggage. I would have tried rearranging the stuff in my cases, or even chucking some cheap things away, but they were chocker full of chilled and frozen food, and I didn't want the staff seeing any of that lot so I decided to pay up. I’ve been flying internationally for almost 60 years and this was the first time an airline anywhere had ever made a fuss about 2 measly kg. And in business, as well, that’s just taking the mick when you’ve paid around three grand for the ticket. Are Qatar the only airline now that’s strictly enforcing the luggage allowance, or are they all up to the same trick? One further aside, I realised that the seat reservation had been cancelled by the airline not by myself and, according to their own terms and conditions, I was due a refund. After quite some e-mailing to and fro, they finally agreed to refund me the 3,000 Baht for the DOH-BKK leg. Almost 2 months later, I’m still waiting for it. In terms of price, Qatar still seem to be the best value airline on the LHR-BKK route, unless you really like flying in a crappy little plane all the way to Helsinki. It’s a shame that they’ve become so petty about small extra charges, and the quality of their business class has deteriorated noticeably since my last flight with them before Covid.

Where is your Pattaya bookshop located?

One of the very last steam-powered sheep left in Wales. Nowadays, of course, they've almost all been replaced with electric models.

Skype. Free if the other person also has an internet connection and is on Skype, otherwise they charge the same rate as a local call would cost. Just stick a fiver or tenner on your Skype account and dial away.

Groan...

I was a bit late watching this one as it's meant to be a Christmas film. It's based on the Fredrick Forsyth story and you don't really get what it's all about until the very end, but it's well worth waiting for. John Travolta plays the ghostly Canadian Mosquito pilot, apparently he's long liked the tale. He has, of course, been a qualified pilot since he was 22, loves flying and parks his private 707 outside his house, which is located by a private airfield. Anyway, it's only 39 minutes long and, IMHO, well worth the time.

Adding salt to tea is an age-old practice in parts of Central Asia, as recounted in the story of Genghis Khan. It's also done in parts of Pakistan, Tibet and Afghanistan. Whether that's a recommendation or not I'll leave up to you, lol. Here's Quentin Letts' take on the matter which gave me a few smiles: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-13007749/QUENTIN-LETTS-salt-tea-advice-boffin.html

The Abbot's Tale by Conn Iggulden, historical fiction about the rise and fall of Dunstan of Glastonbury back in the 10th century.