Dungheap

With one eye on next Sunday's Capital One Cup final against Bradford City, Michael Laudrup made seven changes from his side that humbled Queen's Park Rangers 4-1. Top scorer Michu was left on the bench, along with regular starters Ashley Williams, Angel Rangel, Routledge and Nathan Dyer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21438902

Against the reserves of Swansea ...

No complaints against the top three but Korean and Thai Airways ahead of ANA or JAL??? Puuuleaze!!! Last time I flew with Thai, the fookers parked the bird halfway to the hanger and we bused it to Swampy. They're the national carrier FFS!

No you are not! Liverpool will be "rebuilding" for a long time. Man U have a great attacking team this year. Defense was a concern but getting better. I reckon Begovic will be with yas next season.

At least for entertainment value! He's certainly not shy to spend others' money! A mere 100,000 quid a week for Samba??? Fookin ludicrous wages for a team in last spot!

Apart from those few special moments that make it all worthwhile!

+1 Tom. Liverpool are so inconsistent, bully the minnows but rarely show up for the full 90 minutes against the big guns. They were talking lately of top four for the Kop ... dreaming! Tottenham playing some attractive footy at the moment, a pleasure to watch. If only Stoke could do the same.

The Bella Villa Prima was guest friendly last time I was there a few years back. Nice enough hotel but certainly not "high end," more like 3-star.

Sorry, they weren't too spirited in the first half from what I saw. Looked like men vs boys. Sagna had a howler at right back, or did he think he was playing right wing? Giroud missed a good chance, Mata didn't. Arsenal can really turn it on at times and are still gelling as a team but they need to have more physical presence on the pitch against the top clubs. Too many finesse players that become invisible at key moments, IMHO.

Apologies! Tiger, Rory, Callaghan ... it's hard to keep up!

Sam, I suggest you send a PM to board member "Solar." Callum organizes various golf outings including the RideHer Cup. Just make sure you're paired with his girlfriend Wii, and not the great man himself for reasons that will soon become obvious ...

Nice one Firth. The video was a good laugh. The racer did pretty well with the hand-held camera.

Atlas, no problems with rentals. A shop called Rhythm tends to dominate (Think it's an Oz company) Firth, "Rathaus" is the town hall? Figures! :)

Awesome skiing in northern Japan mate but bloody cold. Here's a few pics for ya. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/60177-the-snow-a-go-go-tour/page__hl__niseko Nice pics Firth. "Is the Rathaus" a bordello?"

Agreed Wacmedia, Gutsy fightback by Liverpool as before their goal it was looking like men vs boys. Sturridge and Suarez combo has potential. Sturridge brings some spark but like Wellback for Man U seems to miss the easy ones or chooses the wrong option.

Trouble is Chelsea's "day" doesn't come often enough. Best thing they could do is cut their losses with Torres. How many chances has he squandered this season? Did ya see the game against Stoke? Hardly dominance. Penalty to Stoke reversed, 2 OGs, soft penalty to Chelsea, Stoke's late pen hits the woodwork. Just one of those days ... As for today's big games, I don't think Liverpool or Arsenal have the physical presence to hang with Man U or City, though I have been wrong before.

The end-of-year trip to Pattaya was all set. ANA flight from Haneda in Tokyo booked, Residence Garden reserved for two weeks, many boardies in town … plenty of parties planned. What could possibly go wrong? After a smooth flight, the first signs of trouble emerged from the window. Hmmm, the farmers must be expanding their salt fields … Touchdown! Certainly doesn't look like Thailand … "Welcome to Hokkaido" read the sign. Ok time to come clean, a last minute change of plans meant that instead of tanning on the beaches and admiring the Go-Go "peaches," we were "chilling" on the slopes of Hirafu in Niseko, with the temperature sometimes reaching minus FIFTEEN Celsius. The weather gods served us up a bit of everything -- soft snow, blizzards, superb sunshine ... even some rain on one day as the temperature "surged" to seven degrees. Foreigners have been flocking to the Niseko area over the last 10 years, so much so that at times it's easy to forget you're in Japan. But scratch beneath the surface and the town still has plenty of traditional local charm -- from outdoor hot springs to free sake on New Year's day. Accommodation ranges from 4-star hotels, to rental condos to a room in a ski lodge. We opted for the Red Ski House, which was decent value (for that time of year) at 7,000 yen a night each (about US$80) with a hearty, cooked breakfast. Shuttle buses get you to the base at Hirafu in 10 minutes, where you can choose an all-mountain pass that connects four resorts or a cheaper ticket that covers Hirafu and Hanazono. The latter option included enough of the mountain for us. Lift tickets will set you back 3,000 yen to 4,000 yen a day, depending on options -- rather cheap compared to the A$120 Aussie resorts have the cheek to charge. When the sun sets -- usually around 4 p.m.at this time of year -- technology takes over from nature and lights up the mountain to 8 p.m. Despite the extra chill in the air, many enthusiasts favor pounding the slopes at night due to the better visibility. Once you've had enough of tackling the terrain, a range of bars and restaurants awaits. Popular Western-style bars with pub grub and pool tables include Tamashi and Big Foot, with its toasty log fire. Dining options vary from cozy Japanese-style pubs like Mina Mina and Raku to the ever-popular Niseko Pizza. Top-end gourmet options peak at Kamimura, rated a one-star experience in the Michelin guide. If you're heading to Niseko in search of a Japanese snow bunny you may want to consider a BYO option or risk going to bed empty-handed. A serious shortage of local lasses was evident during our recent tour, though that could be explained by the New Year holidays and family commitments. Winter in Hokkaido is long, very long, with the ski season running from December through April. In summer the slopes reveal some excellent golf courses at bargain prices -- by Japanese standards anyhow. Happy New Year!

You mean second in the league this season?

The lounge bar "Drift" is a great place to take in the sunset. Maybe it was happy hour and company but thought the prices were all right for that type of joint. http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/thailand/hilton-pattaya-hotel-BKKHPHI/dining/index.html

True, but the best bird I had last trip I met at the PBG.

Great win for Lambert and Villa, a fast-improving team that is underrated, IMHO. My Liverpool loving mate wrote it off as "just one of those days", but Lambert has got his young squad firing. Benteke and Michu vying for buys of the season ... oh, along with Stoke's Michael Owen ...

One idea as a drugging prevention method is to get your hotel guards to call your room before they give the girl back her ID to check if you are OK. Sure, it's not fool proof as if the girl handed over some fake ID she could just hoof it out the back. But if you let the gal know about cameras and your ID check system it may, MAY, save you from this shit.

Me too! Glad I didn't make the gallery! Excuse the thread fook but an interesting read ... http://www.balloonchasers.com/thai-wives-and-girlfriends/

One system that seems to work well at some venues is the food is free as long as you spend XXX in the bar. A food chit for XXX goes into diner's tabs and removed once the total goes over XXX. Good luck.

LMAO! From a sloth nursing their glass of draft for 2 hours to Usain Bolt in the blink of an eye! Always amusing to see some punters pile there plates up like it's the Last Supper. Utterly shameless about it, too. Some bars introduced a "seeding" system giving food preference to those on the top table just to piss off the balloon chasers. You could imagine the looks from the Cheap Charlies knowing they had missed the jump at the the start of the "race."