atlas2

I've mentioned here and elsewhere ....the wonderful Siamburys....Wonderful for UK expats that is...because you can find such rarities as shipman's fish paste and Yorkshire tea. It's only fair then for me to mention also 'BASDA'.......(again Brits will get the pun). Look for the green and white sign on Soi Watboon in Jomtien. Only a third, to half the size of Siamburys......But with a decent selection that's commensurate with that size. I went there today because it's much closer to the old people's home I live in. Bought some Yorkshire Gold and some proper Cadburys chocolate. Hope both places flourish. BASDA's close proximity certainly makes my life easier. I'll be one of their 'regs'. PS got to mention Tequila Sunrise just off Jomtien Beach Road in Soi Chayaprook. Some of you will know of it Sunday Roast at 70 baht.......But a friend recommended their 'Bacon Rolls' just brought one home and woofed it down. The roll is really a baguette ......(I think form that famous Vietnamese shop on Soi Koh Noi......Mine was stuffed with bacon 50 baht! I'm going to get fatter......(and Moo Sam Chang lel )

Sometimes it's neither......... (Don't waste your time)...... PS I liked Anitta.

if you do Ill check it out but my NY Resolution was not to argue down there.... Much happier not having to deal with circuitous arguments and straw men. So dont be offended if I dont post a reply. On the plus side you can say want you want about me ...5555

getting in the mood........I'm still a sucker for Christmas and sentimentality

Sorry 'Forgot'

'You can take the man out of England but can't take England out of the man' To an extent you and I Cap are sitting on the sidelines watching it disappear. I left to become a foreigner in a foreign land because it was less depressing than watching my land become foreign. Oh well. On the rose coloured side, thanks Tommy Sopworth for the post war wins........Particularly, 'The Beatles.' Sounds trite but my life would have been poorer without 'em and the others. PS. My '50th Anniversary Beatles White Album' arrives in time for Christmas. (Incidentally it was cheaper to order it from Amazon US and have them ship it to Thailand than to ask a friend to get one in England and bring it over with him). Congrats for keeping off ....... the 'vintage Beaujolais nouveau.' PPS. This interview chimes with my thoughts........... Ironic that after all our history......The present British politicians find raising the white flag in Downing Street exactly 100 years later as a fitting tribute to these men.

I reckon you've covered everything Sam.......Well said ...and from the heart......which is the result of straightforward clear thinking from the head too. Economic migrants have invaded the UK and they abuse its hospitable systems. Watch this below, but a warning, your blood will boil. Personal note. My mum born at the end of the Great War and having lived through WWII, moved from Marylebone to Harrow in the 1990s, having after a lifetime's waiting at last been given a council house there. She had a little garden and loved it...... Until the area was swamped with immigrants. The kids thought it fun to pelt old people's doors with eggs while they cowered inside. The police did nothing....... In her 80's, outside a Bank in Hatch End she stumbled on the well-meaning 'brail' pavement placed for the blind at a pedestrian crossing....The result a smashed face and a broken hip. I flew over, and along with my brother, we were her only visitors. When we left her after visiting hours there was no one she could speak with. They were all ladies around her age but none of the other 5 patients spoke English.......They would natter away with each other though, and although pleasant enough, my mom was the outlier.....the odd one out...the stranger in her own country. At weekends and in the evenings the ward would fill with extended Asian Families...... It only added to her loneliness.... When the world you grew up in......The one you laughed in, danced, loved, gossiped, knowing all your neighbours and their business......When you'd known the camaraderie of war, and looking out for each other....... and being English, and being a Londoner......... And then you're confronted with the cold fact that you've lived long enough to become a stranger in another London, another world....?? Well she never said anything. ......but I knew the questioning sadness behind those old frightened eyes. Scared of dying....Scared of living. It wasn't a happy end....I suppose they never are.

If le omelette iz sheeeeet.... is beterrr to let it be.

You know thinking about this a little more......... First thing I do whenever I go back to the UK..within a couple of hours...... is to drags friends out and have a really good curry.......Even before a proper pint.

Siamburys have all the things I used to miss. Even got my poppy there.

Didn't think much of the one in BKK apart from the food hall......Good choice, cheap and delicious. Rest of it you can forget.

Lovely new arrangement of the 'Last Post' just aired on the Andrew Marr show......very moving. When it turns up on youtube I'll post it.

Christmas day just fits in the month before allowance for me......I agree I wouldn't like leaving it to the last day.......Pity could have had a San Miguel lite with you.

Thanks.......I go to renew my Retirement extension on Christmas mornings.......(if it's a week day)......The staff are lovely and dressed as Santas. More interested in selfies than being picky over the paperwork. But reassuring all the same...... thanks again.

I thought that too.

I get the same impression, that if you've lived here a while and own your own condo, a trip to BKK and the hotel reports your stay there but Ive never reported returning. Didn't go out of the country last year .....what are other home owners Jomtien experience when doing so? When my son comes these days rather than muck in together I book a condo for him. I ask the condo owner to get the slip he needs he can have the hassle. With all this in mind, my last hotel break was with a lady so I asked her to use her identity card for check in. 'I was never there your honour'.

Good one.......I must have been to this place.

The new 'Deadwood' will be set in an erectile disfunction clinic adjacent to Soi 6.

Just saw 'Crazy Rich Asians' on my box........Great fun.

Are they standing for the flag again these days?

Well during this extended interlude before the next recommendation ............ Here's some funny ads' and the test is can you guess what it is they are advertising ...........? I got them all wrong.

I'm writing this before watching the ad' above.......expecting to find something in it that will make me swallow hard or tear-up. For the old lady with Alzheimer's ad' it was the kids all letting go of their parent's hands at 'home time' loyally helping their teacher search. Before I go watch it....This week I came across Equaliser 2.......That led to Equaliser 1 the following evening.....Both great movies. Revenge always gets me involved. Also, Netflix drops the 3rd and final season of 'Last Kingdom' this month. I really enjoyed the first two so some binge watching coming up. Now let's see if the ad' above reaches the parts I keep pretty much hidden under the generally cheerful but crankily stubborn mask I set out with each morning? Edit: seen this a long time ago....forgotten it, but it was the kid appearing that still got to me. Thai's are good at this stuff. Okay......mask back on. ........Now let's see if FOX news have cottoned onto the story of the 30 year old, 'so called child asylum seeker' attending an English school pretending he's 16 .......? That's a fucking cynical and dangerous mask he's been wearing.

I always get out of my car and peer at the pump....Can’t usually see much because of the sun but I assume it puts them off. As for the station in question, there I’m very alert. I prefer to make a big show of scrutiny prior to commencement instead of arguing the toss afterwards. Shouldn’t be like this though.

Dont be a snob! The Guardian has much more bias. A fair understanding of the Brexit issues can only be reached by reading both sides of the argument such is the one-eyed reporting standards these days. I only trust Leonard Barden's colum in the Guardian. Anyway it's the sports pages that matter most in bars. Left foot, right foot no one cares.

Time for the adverts Try not to cry........