nkped

Sounds interesting as a change of pace.

Going definitely. It's a longer flight going west, sometimes by a couple of hours. You'll be in despair coming back so no point wasting the good seat.

I don't know where the turn around point for the baht bus is in Jomtien but getting back is generally a matter of crossing the street. I say generally because once I got on a baht bus in Jomtien that started up the hill and somewhere near the crest, it turned left in the direction of the water. Had to get off, walk back to the main road and catch another once past the turn-off. Haven't used traveler's checks in a while, but the street side currency exchange windows affiliated with banks all post rates for traveler's checks as well as for currency. It's basically a silent transaction. I

Yes, it goes on to Jomtien. Can't tell you much useful about the other questions.

I like Korean food in general but the heat and humidity of LOS generally puts me off of the idea of eating dishes which were created to warm you up on a sub-freezing day in Seoul.

Rick, please, the exchange rate isn't that bad (yet).

Listening to a baseball game on the radio today and the announcers mentioned a couple of players from Australia. There have been a number of Australian born players in the U.S. major leagues in recent years suggesting the sport is somewhat widespread and developed in Australia. Is Australian amateur baseball something that would get any coverage on national sports TV programming in Oz even in passing?

Objectively, I have to agree about the breakfast menu, but the American breakfast at the RG, scrambled eggs, bacon, is a kind of Pattaya comfort food for me. One of those markers that I am really there.

To divert the thread only a little bit, do the good experiences with Air Asia include flights within Thailand?

Having been in both the Philippines and Korea in the days of midnight curfews, there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting an earlier start and being happily tucked in bed at a reasonable hour.

If they pay me 50 Bht, that might be enough to get me to drink Heineken.

Canucks looked like they actually want to win this against the Sharks rather than avoid losing. In the east, Tampa Bay looked good in the first game. If I was a betting man (I'm not) my money would be on Tampa Bay to win the cup.

It was a great third period. Wings couldn't quite get the one they needed. The good new is that there will be a west coast team in the finals so some of the games won't start in the middle of the afternoon on weekdays.

One of the benefits of living in Washington state (and there aren't many) is being able to watch CBC hockey coverage on cable.

Gentlemen, may I recommend the shark fin soup. It goes well with octopus.

I think the Wings have just tossed the scuba tank in the shark's mouth. Remains to be seen whether it will explode. Does anyone recall whether the Eastern Conference is participating in the playoffs this year?

Tampa Bay just went up 5-2 with 3 minutes to go. Well, at least Steve Yzermin is their GM.

Canucks win it in OT 2-1! One of the better games I have seen in a long time. The Blackhawks goalie, Crawford, was unbelievable. Without him, it would have been a blow-out. My rooting interest (keeping another West Coast team in the play-offs and the Red Wings NOT having to play Chicago) was with Vancouver, but, damn, the Blackhawks were impressive.

Blackhawks/Canucks, a great game going to overtime. Before it started, the line I heard on CBC was "Hawks lead 2 to 3" Our neighbors up I-5 have been holding their breath for 3 hours.

The Canucks appear to have decided to choke early and avoid the rush. Pulling for the Red Wings, but living on the left coast I prefer to see the Pacific coast teams hang in there for a while so that some of the games aren't at the end of the second period before I get home.

I gather you prefer the black wingtips and black socks with shorts look we sometimes see in LOS.

Quick Joe, get the flit gun.

Encouraging factions

E-mail at work (not precisely the same thing as the internet but close enough) is a very mixed blessing. It's convenient, but it's continually interrupting my train of thought and has destroyed by attention span. And the BlackBerry has to be the spawn of Satan.