xylophone

Oh, didn't know that, mainly because I was there exactly 2 weeks ago to do my 90 day report and the queue was from the front entrance, round the side and past the Motorbike Parking almost to the beach?? I did ask and they were queueing for extensions, and I think I was only one of two guys getting my 90 day report in amongst the mass!!

I think that will be a good move for both the club and the player, especially as VDB needs some first team playing time, so I hope he does well at Everton.

'Twas but a quip dear poster! PS. It became a much improved town in the years after the poem, and also had a good football team in the late 60s, played against them a few times!!!

By now the followers of "Patong – The Wake" will be aware that I think this new place on the beach, the Blue Beach, is just fabulous, and I went down today, mid afternoon, to catch up with the owners, and although I'm not a daytime drinker, I did sample a lovely red wine whilst sitting talking to these friends and looking out across the beach to the sea, at the same time being cooled by light and lovely breeze. Reminded me of a song by the Little River Band, called, "Cool Change" and I could see this being part of my regular routine during the daytime, especially as boredom is setting in, and just sitting and watching the world go by, along with the sea the sand and the people was therapeutic.

I always thought Slough was quite a nice place........????

When I need cheering up, this one takes me back a bit................

I look at it from slightly different angle LLF, inasmuch as if some of the bars on Bangla can be full of punters crammed into small spaces, and no "girls for hire", then this place has to be a starter for some of these? Especially as just about every Bangla bar offers the same "business plan" – – crowd them in, blast their eardrums and ask for drinks. This is something different, something classy and is peaceful and relaxing. I think the owners have thought this through, because the fabulous looking wood they have used throughout the bars and tables came from a Thai hardwood tree which was felled some years ago and has just been repurposed for the bar. Not only that the "wooden" decking is in fact a type of compound plastic, supported by stainless steel framework. Hopefully they have got it right, but then again, there is always the opportunity to put a large sail–type cover over the open area, and this will provide shade and won't interfere with the view of the beach and the sea. Well you have gotten right to the crux of the matter Patong2 and this is the challenge which faces just about any new "set-up" – – getting and keeping customers! You mentioned the beach chair customers and to all intents and purposes this place has a potential customer base right on its doorstep, so that should be a start, and the coffee and dessert offer would go down very well, I believe, with these customers, and not only that would also encourage them to visit for dinner once they had seen what the place has to offer. Other ideas could be; publishing the menu in the Phuket News and on Facebook (the area pertaining to Phuket); printing A5 size flyers which would be handed out on Bangla and surrounds by a small group of "pretties" and which would entice customers by an offer of some sort; organising a wine tasting which would be well publicised and at the same time offering these tasters the chance to purchase a meal with a discount or complimentary drink (for example). When Jungceylon opens up again (hopefully) there are bound to be the usual property-selling stalls in the place, so give some flyers to the girls in these places to give out to people who enquire after property, as a gesture to show them a good place to relax and eat whilst they are thinking about their purchase. I remember when the restaurant, "Higher" opened up and if you didn't know it was there, you'd have never visited it, because it wasn't visible and wasn't that highly publicised, but word of mouth and got round because it served very good food, and it did have a couple of girls who would stand outside with a flyer, suggesting to passers-by that it would be a good place to eat, and of course it was. And it would still have been there if it hadn't burnt down!!!!! I spoke about flyers, and there are many guesthouses and small hotels here who don't actually cater for their customers, food wise, so making sure that these places are stocked with flyers advertising the delights of Blue Beach is another avenue.......... and so on

Xylophone, I block GammaGlobulin....... A wise move I believe Simon43, as some of the posts are nonsense and the guy doesn't seem to be "the full quid" as the saying goes. Have always enjoyed your posts and follow your travels and experiences keenly, so keep the posts coming, and stay safe and well.

A very strange post by someone, and completely out of context, but then again this poster has experience at posting strange stuff. The sad part about it is that the so-called "Stilton" in the picture doesn't look like Stilton at all!

If what is said on Twitter about OGS and his friend, is anywhere near the truth, then it stinks to high heaven, but it would explain why OGS signed so many duds!

I can't confirm that Schlog, but I heard the same rumour from someone who used to work for Wine Connection, and they said that along with Jungceylon opening, Wine Connection would also be back, which would be nice.

I agree with what you have been saying, and before I attended the funeral of my ex-girlfriend's mother, I asked a few Thai folk what would be the proper attire for a funeral, and although I didn't wear a tie, I did have long dark blue/black trousers, real shoes and a white open necked shirt, and that was appreciated. Did the same again when I attended a friend's funeral here in Patong. So it's not too much to ask to dress in a "decent" style at a Thai funeral. And even if one didn't have access to such clothes, they are cheap and easy to buy in places like Big C.

What is also good news for me LLF is the fact that last night I went out and Bangla was buzzing, but the really fantastic news was an absolutely amazing new bar/venue which has opened up right on the beach. It is HUGE, has a wonderful bar area, lots of seating and it faces out to the sea, in fact late last night the sea was only about 10 m away from where I was sitting, and being able to sit there in the peace and quiet listening to the waves breaking over the sand was pure magic. It has a fully staffed large kitchen, a new menu and the place is just fantastic, and exactly what I've been longing for here, away from the earsplitting noise in most of the other small bars in Bangla – – it is heaven for those who want a bit of background music, great atmosphere, good food and a well-stocked bar, but you won't find any bar girls pestering you for a drink, and it is well run by a Thai lady and her Farang partner, both of whom I've known for a while, and they are determined to make it work; and why wouldn't it, because not only is it extremely well laid out/designed, it's the only one of its kind I have seen here – – and a talented chef heads up the kitchen. Can't stop waxing lyrical about this venue, and if you want to know where it is, then head towards the bottom of Bangla where the beach is and cross over the road, then walk to the right about 50 m and on the left, almost opposite Savoey restaurant, there is an alleyway which leads to the beach, and you can't miss it because on the corner of that alleyway there is a massage shop which appears to be totally staffed by lady boys? Venture down that alleyway and you are in heaven. It will be called Blue Beach when the sign work is done and the new owner is the same lady who owned Blue Lotus and the Black Horse, and has spent a small fortune on getting it "just right", and I believe she has succeeded in that. I intend to go and eat there and to sample the menu, although from what I could see from a party of about 26 people who were dining there, it seems pretty varied. Anyway, back to Bangla, it was fairly crowded last night and almost seemed to be getting back to its best, but I do believe that is a long way off yet, however the music bars were pretty crowded and a few of the other bars were also the same, and although closing time was supposedly 11 PM, when I was wandering home up Bangla at about 11:15 PM, many bars were still "open" (I say that because some had half closed shutters and others had the lights off, but they were still entertaining punters) and the police were just starting their closing-down-the–bars routine although Bar Funk was still pretty full and had people queueing up to get in, so maybe the owners have "special treatment" and we all know what that entails. I was envisaging going to the bar I have mentioned above with a friend and his girlfriend, before then heading up to Bangla and perhaps visiting Red Hot, however the ambience and beauty of the bar and its location made me want to stay, so I did, even after they shuffled off to noisy bars in Bangla. Fabulous.

A question for you ChipButty, as you seem to be in the know about these things, however I would love to hear from anybody else who has an answer to my question: – why did United sign DVB and never give him a chance?? There were rumours that he was signed without OGS involvement, however that would seem to be unlikely being that the manager would have the last say over what players are signed? Such a shame for the player because he was well fêted by the press when he played for Ajax and of course he was a Dutch international has – so what happened?

I drove the Nissan Maxima V6 in New Zealand for a while and thought it was a lovely car, comfortable, quiet and speedy, and the engine was voted as one of the best engines around at the time, and I think that rating continued for quite a few years. Having said that I have no idea what the later ones are like, so why not get someone who knows about these things to give it the once over and see what they recommend.......good luck.

Have just watched, "Unforgivable" with Sandra Bullock, and although it was a bit of a slow burner, it picked up pace a bit later on, and the ending was.........well if it didn't bring a tear to your eye, then you are not of this planet !!!!!!

I quite liked it!!!!

Good points Tandor, and I would add to that; "education", because no Thai I have ever spoken to here actually realises what these pedestrian crossing marks are for, nor have I seen them in the car or motorbike tests I have taken. There is no education, or at least no meaningful education, as to the rules of the road here, sensible driving, when to/not to overtake and many more which would take pages to explain. Thai society and drivers are setting themselves up to fail and become potential killers.

Well IMO the TR4A was a good looking car (I had one) but unfortunately it cornered like a camel with a broken leg!

Agree with that for me also..............AND if you get on to BBC iPlayer there is a doco/tribute to Meatloaf and it has clips of his live performances even going back to The Rocky Horror Show. And it brought back so many memories. Go take a look.

For folks around my age, his songs, many arranged by Jim Steinman, were almost like anthems and even now I can recite the words of some of his most popular numbers, he was that influential in my musical life anyway. Sad that he has departed this mortal coil, however maybe he will get to ride his "silver-black phantom bike" in heaven or hell. RIP Meatloaf.

That which I mentioned in an earlier post is coming to fruition for you, and I do sympathise with you, because you will always find somebody who insinuates that you are lying or questions your posts to that effect. Finding out how to use the ignore button certainly saved me reading a lot of rubbish from certain posters, so you might want to check that out!! On an entirely different subject, and not that I am knowledgeable in such matters, but don't Nissan and Mazda make pickup trucks? And I seem to recall that the latest Nissan one had a good write up somewhere. Jumping around a bit here, but decades ago the 1300cc engine (a dog of an engine) on my Cortina blew up (or just about) and a friend's older brother said he could replace it with a second hand one, and he went to a local car wrecker and bought a 1500cc Ford engine, stuck it in the car, and it went extremely well over the remaining few years I had it!!!!! Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

Well old chap, you should know by now that things here don't always operate the way one thinks they should, or should I say with any semblance of normality or rationality. Your post puts me in mind of a line in a song by Bruce Hornsby and the Range – – "That's just the way it is........... ". I have long learnt to live with this, even though I still occasionally grumble about things which would seem to be easily fixed/remedied, but aren't – – that's just the way it is!

Had it a couple of times in Oz, and like you, was totally unimpressed as I thought it was tasteless.

I almost wrote exactly that as well.............but doubt he could see the irony of it! What news on changing/choosing a new vehicle? AND IMO you did not fail.......I have had my car for over 10 years now and have never checked the oil, BUT the garage does this when I take it in for a service.