grityorteef

I was living in Bangkok in those years. It was fantastic to see your pictures and read your commentary. Made me feel homesick. Wish I could take 25 years off and be back there. grit

At the top of Pratamnak Hill, the intersection has a police Box on the corner. This is the intersection you turn into to go down the hill to the Cosy Beach Hotel and Mountain View Hotel. Wonder if this is the same one mentioned above? Beside the police box is an open air gym of some sort. It has rubber tyres for bouncing on and weights made from large food cans filled with concrete and steel bars and a couple of pretty well used punching bags. It seems to have 10 to 12 users in the mornings, before it gets too hot. later in the afternoon it looks to be unused. grit.

Would be my suggestion too. All the way down the end of Pratumnak Soi4. grit

Thanks Tallguy...I must walk past it at least once a day when I am in town, but have never been in. Am focused on other things when in Soi LK Metro! Next time when I am in town will go in for a look and to watch a Super 15 Game. Am a Blues supporter (woe) and a closet Chiefs supporter. grit

As a keen Kiwi rugby follower I know about the jack Tar to watch the games. But this is the first time I have heard about the Metro apartments bar. Can anyone tell me how to find it? Grit

My favourite place for breakfast is O'Garas on Pratamnak Hill. 95B for their small breakfast but was all I needed. Included unlimited coffee refills. grit

I will make this one of the things to do on my next visit. Hi speed ferry to Hua Hin, several days R&R & sight seeing around Hua Hin, then back to Pattaya. Sounds like a great plan to me. Going this way will avoid the crazy driving and traffic if the journey was done by road trip. The Catamaran ferry leaves from Ocean Marina, about 10 min south of Pattaya. grit

Singha. If not that Sangsom & Coke. grit

brush my teeth using bottled water, then rinse and gargle and spit afterwards with a slug of Sangsom straight from the bottle. Really clears the nostrils! grit.

I stay at the Hillside Resort often when I am in Pattaya. My main reason for coming to Pattaya is the sailing club and it is within walking distance of that. The HS is run by an English couple Roy & Terri and I found that they are very approachable if there are any issues with the room etc that need to be sorted out. One time I was staying there the aircon in my room died. I mentioned it to Roy the next morning. To my surprise in the evening when I came in, a brand new aircon was installed. I considered this to be marvellous and very unthailand in response and turnaround to fix. I stay in either the garden View or deluxe rooms. The rooms are good sized, but very sparsely furnished.All the rooms I stay in have cable TV's and DVD players. The sparseness is not a problem for me as I only sleep there anyway. Bathrooms are small with electric showers over the bath. Bit cramped if you wish the TGF to shower with you! The Garden Hutt restaurant attached is OK. For breakfast I often walk along to O'Gara's (5 min walk) for their 95Baht special. http://www.taracourt.net/ogaras-bar-grill/ I always stay there on the monthly package and consider this good value. On this package they only change the sheets twice a week. Occasionally I had a need for a bed linen change out of cycle (no need to ask why!) and I found that if I had a chat with housekeeping and tipped them nicely they would change them out of cycle for you. If you are staying on the monthly package they will collect the Baht in total upfront. For whatever reason they do not spell out to you that there are additional charges for electricity and water if paying the monthly rate, make sure that you get this listed out when making reservations. One little thing that caught me by surprise my last visit. My stay was for 33 days. The monthly rate covers 30 days. They asked me to pay the full list rate for the 3 additional days. It would have been best to spell this out up front when booking and then rolled to total price into one account. If you are in this situation make sure you ask. If I am having a night out downtown I usually catch a mcycle down to Soi Marine (40Baht) and then late at night a Baht bus from the corner line up back up the hill (100Baht). It is quiet and off the main drag. This may not be for you, but it suits me fine. My wingman stayed in the suite - bedroom, and lounge area with kitchenette. He was very impressed and will stay there again. He hired a 125cc Motor bike to get round. As for me...the Hillside is my home away from home when I am in Pattaya. grit.

Hi Pete, I like your choice of music at PBG too. Here's an idea. Do you have a jack in your sound system that will let someone plug in an MP3 player? If you have then next time I am in town I will bring in my MP3 player and you can copy my music playlist. I am 60. My taste covers rock, blues, jazz and fusion from the late 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. Similar to what you play now but different. You never know you and the PBG clients might like it. grit.

Stainless Steel Screws. Another place for Stainless Steel screws is to go down to Ocean Marina. The boat chandlers shops there have lots of stuff in Stainless- screws of all sizes and styles amongst them. Ocean Marina is past Jomtein, approx 10mins south of Pattaya on Sukhumvit heading towards Sattahip. Easy to find, most local taxi drivers know where it is, or you can ride your own Motorbike there. grit.