Evil Penevil

Andy, Flo and I were the only farang in the restaurant that night, and it was pretty full. As we were leaving, a large group of Asians filled most of the "robot ringside" seats. But it would be a huge hit with a TG. Evil

In non-linear, non-dialectical fashion, I'm going to start this review with the bottom line: Hajime is a great place to take a Thai girl for dinner, mostly because of its Wow! factor. The food is standard teppanyaki fare. It's not cheap (500-600 baht per person, including beer), but it's worth every baht. Hajime Robot Restaurant is a teppanyaki-style restaurant on the 5th floor of Central Festival Mall. As you walk towards the Beach Road side of the mall, it's on the last restaurant on the left before the elevators. Teppanyaki is a Japanese method of cooking in which raw ingredients are

I've noticed that some BMs just don't understand the American sense of humor. Evil

It is equal to the volume of LDOPs needed to drive up prices and ruin the scene for everyone. Evil

I didn't see this thread until now. I also use daily wear contact lenses and the type I use are very much cheaper when ordered online in the U.S. Evil

NongJai 1 is located on 2nd Road in the Tipp Plaza between Sois 10 and 11. It's basically across the street from the Apex Hotel and close to Mike's Mall. It serves good Thai good and some European dishes, but I've only had the Thai dishes there. Friends who have eaten the European dishes say they're good, too, but it's the Thai food that's best. It's basically an outdoor restaurant, but covered seating is available right next to the kitchen area. And if it starts to rain, the huge umbrellas are put up PDQ. I've not sure how effective they be in a real downpour, but they

Pecan pie would be a reason in and of itself for me to take a trip to Bangkok. I haven't seen pecan pie anywhere in Pattaya. Evil

I was referring to certain types who travel on false passports, hence their national backgrounds are dubious. I believe most BMs will have understood what I meant. Evil

"America" has been used as an abbreviation for the United States of America for many years, both in English and other languages. In terms of nationality, American has been used to refer to U.S. citizens since the earliest days of the republic. It's not uncommon to use short forms for countries with long formal names. How many British subjects would answer "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" when asked from which country they come? The United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is the official name of Mexico, but it's virtually never used. There are other such e

Louisiana creole cooking, which is an adaptation of classical French cooking to New World ingredients, has always been highly regarded in the U.S. Cajun cuisine, a rustic adaptation of French provincial cooking, wasn't widely known outside of Louisiana until the 1970's because of the relative isolation of the Cajun people. Any initial resistance among plain vanilla Americans to Cajun cooking was based more on its spiciness and "weird ingredients" than class bias. Both the creole and cajun cuisines were made popular in the 1980s and 1990s by celebrity chefs like Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagass

It's a bad area these days. Many drugged up gays and lady boys alongside dodgy types of dubious national background. Dark streets that don't look any fun to navigate in the wee hours. Horribly run-down condos in which I wouldn't kennel a dog. Don't give it 10 seconds' thought. Evil

One more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGP4L0J4e74

And if you have any illusions about Russian tourist girls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiTlGsJ9Anc

This is certainly becoming an involved discussion about a 20-year-old traffic violation by my ex-wife. I named the incident to illustrate to MM why it's a good idea to have an international license in the U.S., not to defend my ex-wife or decry the inflexibility in the enforcement of Pennsylvania's traffic laws. That part is not accurate. It's true that you're not allowed to drive in the U.S. on an international drivers license (actually, it's called an International Driving Permit) without having a valid national license. However, there is no requirement under Pennsylvania law to pro

...take a look at these videos. You can find dozens more if you do a search on YouTube for "I love Russia." With all its warts, Pattaya is still a paradise compared with where they come from. Evil A photo of a Russian beach. You won't see that in Pattaya! And the vids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD2Dhnu3tP0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_kTdaiv5AQ

She simply forgot to take her IDL with her that day. She had her national driver's license and passport in her purse and just didn't think about the IDL. She had never been stopped by the cops and I don't think she necessarily expected the national license to fly. Her name, license number, passport number and I believe a notation about her IDL were all on the rental car contract that serves as proof of registration and insurance when the cops ask for it in the U.S. I would have thought the magistrate would have accepted that as proof she had a genuine national license, fined her and

My ex-wife (not Thai, but not from the U.S., either) had no problem renting cars from any rental company with her foreign license. Some wanted an IDL, some didn't care. She had one, so never a concern in practice. But an IDL is very good idea, a necessity even, if you are stopped by a cop while driving on a foreign license. There's no cop in the U.S. that knows what a Thai or Swedish driver's license looks like and they consider an IDL to be "proof" the national license is genuine. I imagine they'd be very suspicious of a U.S. citizen who flashed them a foreign license, so an IDL might

Excellent photos, really enjoyed them. It's been over 30 years since I've visited Wat Arun and your photos brought back memories of my very first trip to Bangkok. Evil

The Woraburi has been around for a long time and has a very checkered past. Sometimes it's been OK (never really good), other times a dump, depending on the manager at the time. But as patna and firth say, the Dawin is a much better choice. The Royal Ivory, Majestic Suites and even the granddaddy of them all, the Nana Hotel, are better than the Woraburi. Evil

Some more pics: An open-faced prawn sandwich. About as simple as it gets, but good! And a bowl of Thai soup, really good. Clear broth, minced pork and vegetables. The cook who made that one really knew what he or she was doing. If you approach Olala from Soi 8 on the subsoi that connects Sois 8 and 7, then the P & W is next door. But on Soi 7 itself, Rosie's is between Olala and P & W. The streetside tables are usually occupied, so I sit "inside" most of the time and the wall-mounted fans keep things reasonably cool. I haven't noticed a p

It's been in operation since 1997 and that's longer than most restaurants last. From the conversations I heard in Olala, most of the guests were Scandinavian or Russian. It's been about half-full each time I've gone there, which is pretty good for low season. Evil

She's back in the village for a few weeks. And it's right next door to the Pig and Whistle. Evil

Olala offers European and Thai food, with an emphasis on Norwegian dishes. While the name sounds French in a cartoon-character sort of way, Ola is also a common given name for Norwegian males. As you walk down Soi 7 from 2nd Road, Olala is about a third of the way to Beach Road, on the left at the corner of the subsoi that leads to Soi 8. It seats about 30 guests. Some of the Norwegian dishes (fishballs in white sauce; meatcakes topped with thick pea soup; pureed rutabagas) aren't likely to appeal to anyone but Norwegians, but the smoked salmon is great! I had a light breakfast of sm

You got a bargain, great value for money. Your daughter looks lovely. When she's a few years older, you might want to think about the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort in Naklua. It has a waterpark and many acitivies for kids. The five-year-old daughter of a former TGF cried when we checked out, she never wanted to leave. Evil

That's what I was told. Believe most (all?) of the others are in Big C stores. Evil