In-Between the US and Japan Part 2- Pattaya

We were there in Pattaya during the Thai New Year which is called Songkran people throw water over you, so if you go to Thailand during new year just be prepared to get wet. I mean get wet, I'm not talking drop of water here, buckets and high pressure water guns are the order of the day. Sounds a bit stupid and it probably is but if you don’t worry about getting wet it’s all good fun and everyone is real friendly.





Songkran apparently was traditionally a time to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends and neighbors. The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by gently pouring a small amount of water on other people’s hands or over a shoulder as a sign of respect, (amazing what you can find out on the web)


Now it’s time for a big party especially in places like Pattaya so just be prepared to get wet if you go at New Year. There we as many westerners throwing water as Thais, the profits of water gun makers must go sky high as well as it seemed like every other Thia wanted to sell one.

Now if i tell you there was a lot of bars that would be an understatement, it must be in the thousands. The main bar area seemed to be in an area called Walking Street, but there was also a lot of places around Soi 7 and 8, i was only there for a a few days so am sure there are lots of other places. Along with all the bars and things there was plenty of good restaurants, the beach which always had water sports.Went to a gym while i was there it was one of the best I've been to this was probably because it had only just opened and was in a brand new shopping mall, it was a bit novel as you could take kick boxing lessons, gave this a miss though even though the guys doing it were only small they were fit, fit a a butchers dog so to speak.

Went into a bar that was actually holding a kick boxing match or Muay Thai as it's called. Found out later there was lots of bars that did this to attract customers. The guys doing it were probably older or had not made it professionally but they were still a lot fitter than almost anybody else there. Was bit like the old boxing tents at places like the Goose Fair in Nottingham used to be but they did not take challengers from the audience.

After the fight the boxers would come round for tips, felt a bit guilty tipped the first one well but didn't realise they came round separately for tips and did not share them so the second one didn't get much, it was early and had to make the money last and I'm a Yorkshire man after all.

Forgot to add it to Part 1 but the photo below is of the outside of the MaMason hotel which was on Soi 13.

Spent about a week in Pattaya then went back up to Bangkok for the last weekend before i flew back to the UK.

Stayed in a hotel called the Dynasty Inn for one night and then the Dynasty Inn Grand for two nights. Dynasty Inn is about 1400Baht/night and its sister the Grand which is a real nice hotel is about 2500Baht/night.

Can recommend them both but the Grand is much nicer as you can tell from the price, if you want to spoil yourself fore a couple of days it's good, lovely pool and good gym.

It's up a bit of a back street and pretty quite not a lot of people get in the bar or restaurant because of this the bar lacks a bit of personality, did not come to go to the bar in the hotel though.

Couple of photos of the street stalls just outside the Dynasty Inn.

Couldn't find the one with the giant deep fried cockroaches on or the ants but they do have them and I'm told they're delicious, but unfortunately not for me.

Anyway that's pretty much It, going back to the UK then to the US and then to Japan which is where the next installments will be from, may even start a new blog, not sure what to call it though.

In-Between the US and Japan Part 1

Haven’t updated this blog for a long time now so will just fill you all in on what’s been going on. I left the US on the 28th March things got a bit hectic but till then and did not have a lot of time to post any updates, this is what been going one since i I left the states.
Was due to go to Japan on the 16th May after leaving but that turned out to be the 2nd June, writing this form Japan right now which where the next installment of the blog will be penned from? or more correctly typed badly from.
Anyway since leaving at the end of March as most of you already know I’ve been back in England over to Thailand back to the US back to England and now I’m in Japan.
Just filling in the gaps really, took a holiday with a mate of mine in Thailand mid April, flew over on Emirates airlines which are pretty good and well priced. Only problem is going through Dubai which makes the trip longer, here’s some pictures of Dubai airport, never seen an airport anywhere where there are so many people sleeping on the floor, all the construction workers I guess for the work going on there, most seem to be from India or some where like the Philippines.

Anyway finally got to Thailand had a night in Bangkok before going to Pattaya the next day, stayed in a hotel called the Fortuna http://www.fortunabangkok.com/ not bad but probably would not use it again, cost about 1400 bhat/night which is about 22 quid. By English standards it's cheap but in Thailand it's probably getting to around mid range as you can get rooms if you want for 600bhat/night but i wouldn't recommend them too much. Went to a supermarket called Foodland which is in the next street (Soi in Thai) to the hotel, this is one of the places i like to eat when I'm in Bangkok, good food, good price and fast service.

Next left for Pattaya, for anyone who’s has ever been there you know what it’s like but for anyone who’s never been before and I was one of those, it’s party central.

I got a taxi there cost me about1400bhat which is a bout 22 pounds, should have got the bus for 200bhat, i knew this but as i'd been been in a bar most of the afternoon playing pool and couldn't be bothered with the extra hassle, i was on holiday after all.
Pattayas on the beech, it’s not a great beach but at least it’s got a one, I’m told the beach's down the coast a mile or so are better.
It’s not exactly a family holiday although there was quite a few there especially Thai’s on holiday, on the other hand if you’re young free and single it could be just what you are looking for, problem is I'm old and single, god did i really say that.

Anyway got to Pattays and stayed in a place called the MaMaison a French style hotel but run by a guy from Switzerland or at least that where i thought he said he came from. http://mamaison-hotel.com/ This hotel i can recommend just over 1000bhat/14 quid/night clean and good, restaurant was great.

Couple of shots of the balcony of the hotel.

View of Pattaya beach and yours truly, am going to write a part two to this bit of the blog as it is a bit long to get it all in one.

Cars The BBC And Politics

Another week gone, a lot was supposed to happen this week at work but things went wrong and the material we were waiting for wasn’t ready, so all in all not a great week as far as progress goes..
Time is getting tight now and I’m booked back to the UK on the 28th March it was originally the 7th and it won’t change again, so maybe the next two weeks here will be hectic, will have to wait and see.
Photo on the left is of the crane we have hanging around at work for three days now waiting, glad it's not my money.
Changed my car last week had to drive to the airport in Charlotte to do this as you can’t do it over the phone if you’ve already had a car out for 28days, need to go bank on and show your face for some reason. New car it's a Pontiac G6, quite stylish but not a lot of power and I'm not mad about the colour it's a sort of off white but I'm going to give it a 7 out of 10 as it looks quite good.
Forgot to take my coat and sweat shirt out of the back when I changed the car, went back the next day car was gone and nothing had been handed in so that peed me off a little. In the grand scheme of things not a lot though when I think about it I’ve got more room in my case for some new things now.
Working all week doesn’t leave much time to do anything else much, for instance been at work six days this week. Typical day for me is getting to work about 7 leaving about 6 going to the gym for an hour or so getting something to eat so not a lot left for anything else, pretty boring, photo on the right is in the parking lot just outside the new gym.
Thought I would get out today and do something as I wasn’t at work but got up late and just watched TV went out for a little went to a couple of shops and a walk around and that was pretty much it. There’s not a lot to do around the immediate area, anyway apart from shopping and going to restaurants, and that gets boring after doing it a few times. The restaurants for instance are all chains, there are a lot of them but they are all the same so you know exactly what you are going to get depending on the chain, shopping’s a bit like that as well in the Mall’s around here.
That leave the TV and the big thing over here is the presidential race, it’s on all the time. Occasionally attention get drawn to something else for a few days, right now it’s a guy called Eliot Spitzer. He’s the governor of New York and got himself into a sex scandal with a prostitute, he’s getting crucified right now, so it’s diverting attention form Clinton and Obama a little bit, or at least it was.
Obamas in trouble right now, the pastor of his church is pretty out spoken about whites America, and that sort of thing so lots of political fall out from that, not good for Obama. I’m sure Hilary Clinton is rubbing her hands and kissing the ground right now, just the kind of thing that may help her out especially as Obama has more delegates right now.
Just an observation but if you think England is PC just move over here for a while you don’t seem to be able to say any thing over here with out a lawyer checking it out first, am sure it won’t be long for us though.
Just watching the Calendar Girls on BBC America at the moment, don’t know what it is but seem to like all things British right now and you can always count on the good old BBC. Most of the US channels I have are either news or weather, then there’s the talk show and Judge Judy or some other drivel.
I’m struggling to find anything much to write about as you’ve probably guessed, that because I haven’t been anywhere or done anything, so will get going now..

Not A Lot Going On

Getting into a bit of a habit of posting every couple of weeks, wish I was as prolific as some people I know, Phil and Claire to be precise. I’m consoling myself that they are either on holiday or doing something along the lines of working on a project for themselves much more interesting than working, that’s my excuse for not posting more frequently anyway and I'm sticking to it.
Congratulation to both of them though, for anyone that doesn’t know they got married this week in Barbados, nice one you two.
Was hoping to be able to catch up with you both in New York next week but that looks a bit doubtful right now as it’s in the middle of the week and don’t think I can get away from work. I’m booked to come back to the UK on the 28th March so will see you after that if I don’t get chance next week.
Haven’t really done a lot again this week or so other than work and i said at the beginning of this blog was not really going to talk about work, it’s pretty boring to me so am sure it will be for you guy’s.
Not been out much other than to go to work, pretty boring really, that’s the problem with working abroad your not there on holiday so you don’t get to see much.
Did go out to a Korean restaurant with a friend of mine the other day and had Sangyupsal which was one of the dishes I liked when I was working over in Korea. Sangyupsal’s a bacon dish and a staple over in Korea, basically small strips of thin bacon that you cook at the table wrap in a lettuce leaf with bits of other side dishes and eat like a little wrap. Also found a bar the other Friday night called the Flying Saucer, nearest thing I’ve seen over here to an English bar, not a traditional one but something like you would find in the center of town.
Went in and ordered a Miller Lite that was before I realized they had beer on draft, over seventy five of them to be precise from all over the world., Boddingtons, Old Speckled Hen and Fullers to name a few from our neck of the woods and I ordered a Miller Lite imagine that.
Not at work right now have to go and change my car again, I’m with Budget rent a car at the moment and not Dollar there’s not much to choose between both rental companies, reasonably cheap and the cars work what can I say.
It’s a bit frustrating that you cant hire a car for more then 28day with either one of them though without going into one of there locations to extend. For some reason they won’t let you over the phone if you’ve had it more than 28day, another Americanism I guess, not sure if it’s all the rental companies or just these two.
Oh did one more thing the other day, got my hair cut which in it's self is not much of an event, but when i asked how much, i don't have much to cut don't forget. $15 it cost was pretty surprised was expecting around $10, pretty much equates to what i pay back in the UK so not everything is cheaper over in the states. Have noticed quite a few food items that are equally as expensive as the UK, especially fruit and vegetables and not as good quality, at least here, meat is real cheap here though in comparison.
The other thing i noticed and i don't usually go round looking at bags of self raising flour as that's pretty sad even for me. The size caught my eye though when i was in WalMart, a 25Lb bag, just cant remember seeing anything that big in a regular supermarket back home, you can tell I'm pretty bored and grasping at straws or bags of flour to write about so got to go now before it get worse, catch you all later.
Will try and find some photos for this blog but as I haven’t done a lot it’s probably going to be difficult and when I did do something did not have my camera with me.
And no I'm not going into WalMart to get a photo of the flour.

Charleston

Well that’s another week gone and I’ve been a bit lazy, haven’t posted in about two weeks, can’t really blame it on work as I haven’t had a lot to do although I did work last Saturday.
Did go out last Friday though to a few bars, went out with Fred who’s here on site and going to Japan with me. The bars over here are mostly restaurants with a bar in them, there are bars that just serve beer but don’t know where they are and I’m am told I probably shouldn’t go in them by myself. Every thing was fine bar wise down in Mississippi though so am sure it is here and I’m not likely to going into anything that looks dodgy.
Like I say haven’t really done much all week and not been out much other than to go to work. Did go back to iHOP to get some more pancakes the other day got the take out this time, all the restaurants here do take out and also do what they call carry out which is when you eat inside and have food left because the portions are so big most people have food left anyway they all the restaurants are prepared for this and have a box’s for you to take the remaining food home with you if you want.. Guess this has been the highlight of my week that’s sad isn’t it going to iHOP or any restaurant for that matter and to be the highlight of the week, but honestly when your working there really isn’t a lot to do here.
Am getting a little list of places I like keep going back to, Applebee’s, Boston Market, iHOP, Popeye’s, Waffle House, TGIF etc, boring I know but you got to eat.

Photo on the left shows the pancakes, can assure you they were better than they look.

Did find a bar the other night Friday called the Flying Saucer, nearest thing I’ve seen over here to an English bar, not a traditional one but something like you would find in the center of town.
Went in and ordered a Miller Lite that was before I realized they had beer on draft, over seventy five of them to be precise from all over the world., Boddingtons, Old Speckled Hen and Fullers to name a few from our neck of the woods and I ordered a Miller Lite imagine that.
Had planned on going on a bit of a trip this Saturday, woke up fairly early but did not really get up until pretty late so just had a lazy day and went around the local area and shops.
Today though got up and got moving decided to go the Charleston in South Carolina, its about 220 miles form here and on the coast about a 3 and a half hour drive.
South Caroline is the state below where I am now, before there was just Carolina but now it’s North and South Carolina.
Arrived in Charleston early afternoon, Charleston was a big player in the Confederacy so there’s plenty of history here in the way of museums and with it being on the coast it also has a lot of naval history as well. Think one of the forts here never actually fell to the North and was only taken after the surrender. Photo on the right is going over a bridge to part of Charleston the view below is looking back at the bridge.

City is really quite nice and reminded me of New Orleans and a European city, lots of small streets in the center with everything close together so you could park and walk around downtown pretty easily, this is probably the way with these old southern city’s
The ones below are of what awaits when you get over the bridge.

Some views of the city below, had to do a double take when i was reading some of these signs and am not sure what Electric American Cuisine is though, guess it must have been a bit shocking and that's why they went out of business.

Now for a little moan, been doing a lot of driving today and get really frustrated with the way people drive over here, they just seem to sit in a lane and drive no one ever pulls over for faster traffic.

You get good three and four lane road with people in each lane going about 1mph faster than each other and all abreast, could be just a Southern thing.
I blame it on cruse control, am sure the cars are just put into cruise and let it go even if they’re only going 1mph faster then the one in front. It seems as if they just get in the other lane point and forget and seem oblivious to what’s behind them either that or just don’t care about holding up other cars.
Like I say this is just a little pet bitch of mine but it seems to be the same no matter when I’ve been and it’s real frustrating.

Pancakes N Guns

Have not been at work this weekend and had planned to do a bit of exploring around the area, so much for plans.
Didn’t go out until after it got dark yesterday and not until about 3pm today, consequentially have not done a lot, I did manage to do a bit of shopping and have a bit of a look round close to where I’m staying.
I’d noticed a IHOP close to where I’m staying (International House of Pancakes) the other day have heard good things about these so though I would go and cheek it out. IHOP have all sorts of food but tried what their signature dish, pancakes.
Had Blueberry pancakes with cream and syrup, very nice four pancakes covered in blueberry and cream far too much for one person, especially someone from the UK. Would have taken a photo of it but when you’re buy yourself you feel a bit self-conscious, it’d just not the same being in some of these place by yourself especially if it’s the first time.
Anyway finished half the pancakes then went for a look round the shops. Check out some of the guns in the photos below it’s all a bit unreal when you see them they almost look like toys behind the glass of the case but are a lot more expensive than I thought.
Anyway some photos below of where I’m staying, can recommend it, the Candlewood Suites, they have place all over the states are pretty comfortable and at a reasonable price. There’s a photo of my new car, changed it a couple of days ago from the on I had when I first got here, what I have now is a lot nicer, typical American car though it’s got a 3.5ltr engine in it and only does about 20 to the gallon, good job I’m not paying.

Photo on the left is of ihop, not a bad place to eat, the photos below are of the guns in the Bass Pro Shop i mentiond before.

Check out the size of some of the hand guns, think some of them are bigger than the one Clint Eastwood had in Dirty Harry

February the 7th and Bored

Well it's Thursday the 7th Feb at around 3pm in the afternoon here, 8pm UK time.
Sitting in my new office or should i say different office and there are two other people in it and I’m new so it’s not really my office but it’s an even older trailer than the one i had down in Mississippi.
I'm pretty board right now, I’m the only one here, we’ve hit some problems which are stopping us from running the fan and doing much so i just have to sit here while the insulators finish and go home.
Julie one of the others here as actually just left site today she is on her way down to Mississippi, to Stennis where I was not to the project that I was on but to another one tomorrow. So it’s just me and Fred now who I know from my days in Korea, looks like I will be going over to Japan next and the guy I will be going with is Fred so that’s good news as I get on well with him.
It was Fred’s apartment that I was staying in while he was in Japan, I’ve moved out now he’s back and I’m back in the long stay rooms I was in before, they are pretty good there’s a little fitness room, free laundry you just have to buy the powder, and they have a DVD library.
Have been trying to get to the gym I joined as often as possible to work off some of the meals you get here, no one in America has heard of medium portions, there all pretty good though so it’s hard to say no, am about done with the fries and coke though. Have actually ordered a few salads but they come dripping in all sorts of dressings so don’t think they’re any better for you then a Big Mac.
One place I quite like though and it’s probably one of the least healthy is Waffle House, only been a couple of times but for some reason it reminds me of Pulp Fiction and just seems to be what I expect an American diner to be from the films I’ve seen.
Haven’t really got a lot to say but shouldn’t be working this weekend so my try to get out and do some exploring, should have a bit more in the next blog, may even get to a Waffle House and get some photos.
Not sure what the weather is like back in the UK at the moment but just to cheer everyone up It’s the low 60s here and bright blue skies, ta tar for now.

The photo above on the left is looking out of our cabin we are next to a small airport, if you look closely you can just see a plane about to take off. The one above on on the right is in the office, the one to the left is a looking out from the balcony of Fred’s apartment out on to the shopping Mall