Billions

....and,with the basic loyalty club membership....Orchid Club,which Thai give out for free,on application....passengers in Economy get a further 10 kilo allowance.....so,that's 40 kilos,not bad,not bad at all! Probably explains why I got away with 35 kilos on my last couple of flights. I thought the check-in staff were turning a blind eye when in fact they were just respecting the new limits.

Excellente!

Here's another ten....still practising,will get more intricate soon!

If looks could kill....(photo #2)! Heres another set of three components,pre-merge but all slightly processed.

Thanx Patna. Here are more sets of components which made up two of the montages in the opening post..... These three.....

March? I spent all my time and money in Bangkok last week getting my jaw drilled and a forest of titanium posts implanted,then returned to the UK as my time was up! I forgot about the pencils! Sorry!!! There must be others out there wanting them.......? Hopefully!

Here are three more components,which made up another of the blended images above. You can see how much information is shared in the final layer....different blend modes and opacity values between each layer combine to produce the output image. Again,the images were pre-processed before being melted together. The first image is the Playgirls sign on Walking Street. I distressed it a bit with dirt and scratches to make it grungy. The second photo is a transexual hooker being taken into custody for some infraction,again on Walking Street. This one went through a programme called "Retrographer" which makes everything look dated. The third photo is the Whats Up neon on Walking Street...but its never illuminated. It used to be outside their club in Soi 15 but moved when the big metal question mark replaced it. Again,it went through the Retrographer filter before being merged.

Sabaidii2...my working days are over.....happily retired and hope never to have to work again. Yorta2,Maik....thanx for the comments! Short....post #6 was meant for you....the quote box went missing,didnt attach to my reply.If you want big files,not a problem...I'd be happy to send you them,no charge.

The fat mamasan? I suppose you mean the heavy beast in the first photo below? Here's the three photos which when merged together make the image used above. I could replace any of them with any others,no worries. If you want some as high pixel JPEGs I could email you a handful. I'll bang a few more out next weekend. I pre-processed these ones with light leaks,but could leave them with original colouring to make the output image brighter.

Thanks. The software for this effect,and so many stunning others,is a programme called Tonality Pro from a company called Macphun. It's only available for Mac computers....after seeing what it could do,I bought a MacBook just to have these effects on hand.It's mainly a black and white programme,but has loads of filters which use bleached colours and other variations too. There are several reviews on YouTube which put the software through it's paces.

The ones with a creamy colour have been through an antiqued filter too,to make them look a bit more aged. I like using a retro look where I can.

I have a filter programme which,as a preset,destautrates (converts to black and white) the photo but leaves anything red intact. Heres a few photos,all taken in Patts,showing this effect. Again,I havent chosen any amazing photos to show this outcome in all its glory,but just a few random ones to practise on. I actually now look for red elements in a scene,hoping to maximize this filter,but havent got round to processing them yet. So,here are a few black,white and red photos :

Here are a few photo merges,knocked out as I wanted to experiment a bit with the blending modes in Photoshop. Nothing serious or thought out,but some of the results are nice. There are three or four photos blended in each concoction. Theres a lot going on in some of them,take a few seconds to look into the depths. All from Walking Street or nearby. I would have spaced them out better,but having trouble as always with seeing a preview. Anyway,here they are :

Yay! I tried Boots earlier,but they looked at me like I had three heads,so bringing one over would be fabulous. I'll send you a PM next week then! Thanks.

I thought they stopped making these decades ago,but in a conversation last night I was told they are still available. So,to prevent me bleeding on my clothes after a careless shave,does anyone know for sure a pharmacy or supermarket in Pattaya that definitely sells them? I take a daily aspirin for medical reasons,and if I nick myself shaving I bleed like a good 'un. My dad used to put tiny pieces of newspaper on his cuts,but it's not a look I want to replicate.

Just visited the Istanbul,so here's a mini report. I would have preferred to sit outside,but all seats were occupied....I think it's a gathering point for Pattayas Turks....so inside it was to be. I also had the two skewers of lamb,which to be honest I thought were small cutlets,a little fatty and probably overcooked a bit. The meal came with two small but thick bread pieces,no rice,an undercooked tomato,and a bit of salad. A little canoe of dips appeared,which helped with the flavoring. The inside section has an open kitchen,so all the calls between servers and cooks are audible to anyone dining,and the fact that there's no music means the atmosphere in there was as flat as a pancake. So,not massively impressed. Food was reasonable,but nothing special. Price a bit high for the neighborhood too. Probably ok if you want a lamb fix but can't think of recommending it otherwise.

...and yet just seen the TB website..... http://www.tropicalberts.com/ .....and it looks like he is moving,but not until January.

Not so......I just popped by as I was in the area....ha ha....and had a tasty plate of fried vegetables in there. The parrot is still chirping away in it's cage out back,the BBC news is playing the television screens,the walls are festooned in military bits and pieces and life seems to be going on as before. The only thing missing was Tropical Bert himself.

I thought this little signage on the front door was quite cool too!

It was a Top Charoen shop which told me they would have to send both pairs away to the technical repairers. Anyway,MM was spot on...Pattaya Optical,near the Best Supermarket at the Klang-Second Road junction sorted me out. They actually fixed three pairs for me,one of which needed a fair bit of endeavor on their part. A brilliant,while-you-wait service. There's quite a sizable cluster of opticians at that junction....Pattaya Optical is the one with the orange signage. There's a sign on the window that says "Full Service Workshop" which I only noticed on the way out. Good place to know! Thanks again MM.

That was quick! I'm on my way and will report back. Thanks MM.

Hi I have suddenly lost the locating screw which holds the spectacle arm to the front frame on one pair of glasses,and another screw which holds a lens to the frame in another. How this happened with two pairs almost simultaneously is bizarre,but I now need to get them fixed. All parts are intact,just two different screw types needed,one for each pair. I popped into a shop yesterday,to be told they had to be sent away to a technician for repair! No way..it's two tiny screws needed. So,anyone know a optical repair shop in Pattaya where they would or should have the screws in stock and could fix them in a minute or two? Thanks in advance.

I was in Walking Street at six o'clock this morning,and saw lots of furious decorating going on....pickup vans with enormous leaves and branches on board where unloading at a few bars,a few trees were being tied to doorways and at Marine,ten trillion balloons were being blown up and attached to all available surfaces. Not sure what it's all about,but when so many workers are hard at it even before the sun has cleared the horizon,then something substantial will be happening in Walking Street tonight for sure.

Cracking stuff! One component of Walking Street that fascinates me is the height of the shoes the Russian girls wear whilst trying to reel in the passers by at XO and Galaxy. Huge heels and then some.

If you can get the name or product code of this device,please post it here! Thanks!!