BeerBelly

John Cleese

I tried this place called Amporn Seafood on third road. https://www.wongnai.com/articles/amporn-seafood-buffet? Heading from Pattaya Klang, it's on the right, not too far before the traffic light at the road that goes to Hollywood Disco. It's a 399 buffet including soft drinks and draft Heineken for 90 minutes. Each table has a grill where you cook your own food, but it's a grill, not the moo krata style pan. And even though it is a seafood place, they do have some regular meat options. I only tried it once, but I enjoyed it and would return.

Not sure I'd want to eat anything off of that shovel. You can see how it is covered in paint for the most part and has been worn through. So I ask myself, "Where did the rest of the paint go" and the answer is "in the stomachs of a bunch of diners" It's interesting that even the English think their food is like horse shit and deserves to be treated the same way.

Based on your recommendation of Pizza Italy, I decided to give it a shot. Sadly, it was not great, not bad. I wouldn't make a special effort to go there, but since it's near where I live, I'd return.

I think it's hard to judge if the sentence is light or not given they don't actually say what offenses he committed. When someone hears "sexual assault" or "sexual attack", one thinks of forcible vaginal, anal, or oral (unless you are President) sex. The cynic in me has come to expect the media to sensationalize these stories in the interest of getting reader numbers. Since he was a riding instructor, I suspect he was grabbing the asses of the kids while "helping" them get on the horse. That is except for the one "sexual act", which still might not have been sex as we consider it.

Yes, you are right about that. I always pause in front of stopped cars and poke my head out to make sure there is no one coming when crossing even in Western countries. Being on the right side of the law wouldn't be much consolation while laying in the hospital because some driver wasn't paying attention. Here it is easily ten times more likely that such drivers would pass stopped vehicles. Where I worked in California, my company had quite a few buildings close together in a city. They referred to it as a campus. And many of the employees were fairly fresh graduates. And every week someone would get hit by a car while crossing the road. It got so bad that they put out orange flags at the crosswalks pedestrians could wave in an attempt to get drivers' attention. They also had the police come to monitor the crosswalks and ticket drivers who didn't obey the laws. The extremely pedestrian friendly college campuses encouraged a behavior that doesn't work in the real world. I'm sure most of the accidents could have been avoided if the pedestrians were paying attention. Another issue that's come up in California are cyclists who use the sidewalks instead of the roads. They seem to have the attitude of a pedestrian but the speed of a vehicle. So when they fly out into the intersection in a crosswalk, they are going much much faster than a pedestrian giving less time for the drivers to react. The police who were called out also ticketed cyclists for riding on the sidewalk as well.

Everyone hit in the video (except maybe the one with the big truck) could have avoided getting hit by looking before crossing. I remember when they installed the crossing lights in Pattaya. It didn't seem to make any difference if the light was red or not, and cars and especially motorcycles went right through the crosswalk. I don't even know if they are used any more. In the end, they may have caused more accidents and injuries than if they were not placed there at all because in Thailand and Pattaya in particular, it gives the pedestrian a false sense of security. Everyone should follow their mother's instruction and look both ways before crossing the street.

Thanks for posting EP. Your opinion mimics my own. When I first saw Bronx Pizza, I went in an had a chat with the owner. I had high hopes, but knew it wouldn't be great because as you mentioned, twice cooking pizza by the slice is never great, without exception. Also, I find that if they have pizza names on the menu, like margherita, then I won't like it. The pizza places I find best in the States you order which toppings you like with some simply named pizzas like "meat" and "everything". So even with my misgivings, I decided to give it a try. One plain, and one pepperoni slice. And I wasn't too happy with the results. Your description of the crust was spot on. I still find the best pizzas in Pattaya are those I make myself at home. 100% control of the dough, sauce, and toppings.

After upgrading my SIM card earlier this year, they didn't bother to register the new SIM card with my passport even though they DID take my passport when they gave me the new SIM card at the AIS shop in Central Festival. I've been putting off upgrading for a while, but finally decided to get it done. Instead of going to AIS in Central Festival, I went to the Telewiz shop at the Big-C Extra on Pattaya Klang road. It took me all of one minute to do. When I went to the counter, she pointed me to a person sitting at a small table. I assume that is the sole purpose of that job. She took a picture of my passport with her phone, fiddled with her phone a big, then had me write my name and number on a sheet of paper on a clip board. Much much better than waiting an hour at the AIS shop for the English speaking person.

They've always had the requirement that the passport have a validity of six months before departing to Thailand. This is true when going to most countries, though there are a few where it is only three months depending on passport. There was a big deal years ago (just looked it up, it was in 2007. My how time flies), when Gordon Ramsey's son's passport didn't have the proper validity, yet BA let him fly, while denying another passenger. The whole idea is to cover the airlines' asses. If they fly someone to a country that is then denied entry, they have to then pay to fly them back. In the Ramsey case, BA determined that since it was a family holiday, the likelihood of the child being denied entry was low, so they let him fly. With respect to return tickets...this is fairly new it seems. Though, in 2003, I was required to show I had a visa (not visa waiver) before I could purchase a one way ticket to Thailand on EVA.

That is interesting. At BHP, she told me that I had to wait for the bone to heal before they could install the stump, then another three months after that before the crown. I didn't even think to ask the dentist today about that. I do know the clinic does do implants as well.

Over the last few months, I've been getting a recurring infection in one of my teeth. Usually some antibiotics clears it right up, but last week, they just were not cutting it. On Friday I was in an immense amount of pain. I would say that on the universal pain scale, it rated an 7 or 8 between "moderate pain interfering with concentration and sever pain interfering with basic needs", so off to the dentist I went. (And by the way, I tried Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Vicodin, and Oxycontin, and nothing helped). The first dentist I went to was Smile Dentist on Pattaya Tai. She took an X-ray and determined that it was a tooth in which I'd already had a root canal and recommended I go to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya to a root canal specialist. Her fee for the X-ray was only 150 baht, and the consultation was free. The clinic seemed okay, though maybe the slightest bit run down...but only slightly. Next, I went to BHP and saw the root canal specialist and told her my story. I was told redoing the root canal would be 15,000 for the root canal plus 1,000 baht to remove the existing crown, then another 15,000-21,000 baht to put a new crown on. After she drilled out the old root canal, she put some dye in the tooth and discovered that the tooth have a large (she said "obvious") crack and a minor crack. And as such didn't recommend continuing with the root canal as more than likely the infection would return in a few months. She recommended having the tooth extracted. Though she said her colleague could do it right then, I wanted to think it over first. She patched up the hole she made in the tooth and sent me on my way with stronger antibiotics than I was taking. This cost me 2,986 baht. The next day, I decided to do the extraction, but BHP didn't have a slot open for another week. I looked around and decided to try Dental Smile http://www.dentalsmilepattaya.com/ on 3rd Road near Pattaya Tai. From their website, it looked to be a modern top of the line dental clinic and they can do everythign including root canals and implants. They recommended I wait a little for the swelling to go down as it will reduce the amount of pain. At BHP, the dentist there didn't do a good job at pain management while injecting the numbing agent. That injection was quite painful. Today, I went to Dental Smile to have the tooth removed. I told the doctor I was worried about the pain and she said she would be gentle. Her injections were orders of magnitude better than at BHP. First off, she applied a topical agent before doing the injection. Then she really was careful while doing the main injections. Didn't feel much pain at all, mostly just pressure. She warned me that this tooth could be problematic as the roots flared out making it more difficult to extract and she might end up having to cut it out. However that was not the case. She got the tooth out in about 15 minutes. In the end, I paid 900 for the extraction and another 100 for some ibuprofen and Tylenol. At this point, I'm satisfied with the procedure, though it's too early to know if there are any complications. She didn't put any stitches in as she didn't feel they were needed, but some cases do require that. So if I need any more dental work, I will return to Dental Smile and would recommend them to anyone else as well.

FYI: Alcohol can be consumed with most antibiotics. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/antibiotics-and-alcohol/faq-20057946 http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/871.aspx?CategoryID=73 This suggest the real reason why this advice is given: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/06/02/1380836.htm "The VD Clinics of the 1950s and 1960s gave the somber and serious advice that alcohol should absolutely not be used while taking penicillin. But there were no significant chemical interactions between penicillin and alcohol. The real reason that this advice was given was for moral reasons, not pharmacological reasons. The medicos of the day were worried that alcohol would reduce the inhibitions of the sufferers, and that, while under the influence, they might get a little "frisky" and pass on their infection to another person, before the penicillin had a chance to cure the sexually transmitted diseases."

They have a Facebok page, https://www.facebook.com/spankys.pattaya But the lack of girl's photos speaks volumes.

I'd like to read a TR.

I think there are people who get food poison and don't realize that's what it is. They might call it "stomach flu", which doesn't exist, or they might get the runs and not attribute it to the food they ate. The last time I had serious food poisoning was on Phi Phi Island last year from what I think was dodgy chicken kebab. I was vomiting and had diarrhea for nearly 24 hours straight. It was so bad that I was considering going to the hospital for an IV because I was getting so dehydrated. But nearly as soon as I was able to keep my first glass of water down, I started feeling better and could drink more.

When you are ready to bin it, I'd imagine that some tailor would be able to duplicate it using the original as a pattern after removing the stitching.

I was mistaken. I was thinking Pattaya Tai. I see the police at the Pattaya Klang/third road intersection all the time. But I cut left at the previous intersection and haven't seen the left turn waiting light sign. Though once on the small soi going back to third there was a police check point checking everyone, cars and motorcycles.

Don't get me wrong though, I think POR sandwiches are worth the price. I certainly don't think they are gouging customers at all. Another factor in the price is the portion size.

Are you sure many ingredients are imported? Other than possibly the beef and maybe the wood chips for smoking, I can't think of anything they use that would be imported. Sean's a smart guy, if he can find a local ingredient for a much cheaper cost, he'll use it as long as the quality is there. I think what makes POR expensive is the scale of operation. In the States, there are giant food wholesalers that can sell food for much less than you can buy in Makro here in Thailand.

I got caught at that light once as well. He took my license while I went to the police station to pay the 400 baht fine. The on Beach Road just after the police station, another cop pulled me over and asked to see my license. I started to pull out my fine receipt as I was telling him another cop had my license, and without looking at the receipt, he just let me go. Now at that intersection, I make the left turn prior to the light, then turn right at the next intersection and it brings me back to third road.

I prefer my steak medium rare as that's what I think tastes best. I'm surprised so many people have found steaks overcooked to shoe leather status in the States. I suspect they simply order a steak well done and the cooks don't have experience cooking it that way as very very few people in the States would order it that way. I have a Thai friend who moved to the States and loves a different chain steakhouse restaurant because they can do well done without over cooking it. It seems most Thai's order their steak that way, that is until they live with a Westerner who serves a steak that tastes much better cooked medium rare. I've been using the oven-sear-sear method lately as well with very good results. More accurately, it is oven-rest-sear-sear-serve compared to the traditional sear-sear-oven-rest-serve method most high end restaurants use. The key to success with the oven-sear-sear is the use of a meat thermometer with an alarm or a watchful eye. The theory behind it is that since the meat is warm out of the oven, the sear does not have to be as long. While searing cold meat, it takes longer to sear the outside, and the heat will end up over cooking the a lot of the interior. I used to pan fry my steaks in cast iron, but never have I gotten great results for the same reason the sear-sear-oven method doesn't work (for me). That is, to get the interior of a thick steak cooked right, the meat closest to the exterior will simply be overcooked. I tried "The Steak" at Kitchen Bistro recently and they only pan fry their steaks, no oven at all. They could not get the cook right at all. The interior was well below medium rare. I think I'll have steak and potatoes tonight.

I found Drinking Street, http://goo.gl/maps/ZzuFb . It looks to be opposite a ladyboy show. The airport doesn't appear on Google Maps. Don't know why it would be in Google Earth.

A link to what you are talking about would be helpful. I don't know drinking street, and I assume second street is second road.

I've thought about this as well. One thing I can think of is that digital photos are likely to end up on the internet, and once it's on the internet, it's forever. Some guys might want to retain some memories without having to worry that it will get back home to their wives. Imagine some poor guy with damning photos on his Android phone who decided to check his wife's email account not realizing when he adds her account to his phone, all his photos will be synced to her account. Not that anyone I know would do such a thing.