Mobi’s - The New Bar on Lake Mabprachan

[boldface]

Singer John is the guy who runs the Karaoke in the Rendezvous. He is very good, not only singer, but host as well. The other farang in the area doing it is a german guy but his system is rubbish. Then you have a load of thai guys who sing thai music all the night, and are irritating beyond belief.

....not singha John of course.

[marstons]

Mobi's

Tales from a Barfly

One thing is for sure – win, lose or draw life is never dull when running bar on the Darkside, and hardly a day goes by when there isn't an incident of one kind or another to get the juices going.

I have written often about a certain ‘resident drunken’ – the German gentleman, the self-styled ‘Mr Ting-Tong.’ As with most continental Europeans, Mr Ting Tong does speak some English – albeit very slowly and very precisely, but with pretty good pronunciation.

His most commonly used English phrase when he is at Mobi's is “You! Mobi! Very good man!” which he repeats loudly, while shaking my hand vigorously.

The problem is that apart from telling me that I am ‘very good man’ the rest of his English never makes the slightest sense to me or anyone else who he is talking to. The only way that either I or the staff can communicate with him is in Thai, with a generous smattering of Issan thrown in for good measure.

Many is the time that I have spoken to him in Thai /Issan and he has responded in the same tongue and the girls have sat around laughing their heads off!

Hopefully using modicum of gentle humour, I have described on a number of occasions about Mr Ting-Tong’s efforts to defy his highly intoxicated condition and drive home on his motorcycle.

I have received a lot of flak from those who protested that we were wrong in allowing the girls to assist him onto his bike.

I tried to explain that whether or not the girls assisted him, he would still succeed in driving away under his own steam, but it might have taken him a little longer.

After due consideration, I have concluded that my critics were right and I was wrong.

While we can do nothing to stop drunks driving home - except to offer to drive them which we do quite often - we should not in any way assist them with their efforts. As someone pointed out, how would we feel if we helped him onto his bike and he had a bad accident?

So a few nights ago, I took matters in hand and told the girls not to help him as he tried to kick-start his bike. I explained to them that their actions may have bad consequences and they all immediately understood and desisted.

It took him quite a while to start his bike – maybe around 10 minutes, but in the end he got it going and off he wobbled on his dangerous way home.

Five minutes later he was back again. Why, I know not. He was very angry and kept swearing obscenities in German and English under his breath.

He wandered in and out of the bar for quite a while before, once more sitting astride his machine and taking another 10 minutes to keep the bike’s engine running, (every time he put it in gear he stalled it), and off he went for a second and final time….

*

Then there was the bar owner who came by late the other night with the utterly convincing story of how he had just been to his bar, (which he jointly owned with his estranged wife), and the wife’s new Thai boyfriend had put a gun to his head, whereupon he beat a hasty retreat…

A few days later he made another attempt to go to his bar and was beaten up by his wife who slashed his head with a broken glass.

I think he is slowly coming to the conclusion that if he continues to try and get his share out of the bar, he might end up on mortuary slab – or more likely, in Mabprachan Lake in a bin bag.

*

Some days we have a good crowd in and other days, we can go an hour or more without a single customer. It seems to be the way of bars on the Darkside, and during the three months we have been trading there is no discernible pattern as to what days are good and what days are bad. It varies widely from day to day, week to week, month to month

Sometimes, I will be sitting tat Mobi's, late in the evening on a day when we have been doing very meagre business and suddenly the bar is packed with late night revellers, who often stay until the small hours.

I have learnt never to write a day off until we are well past midnight, as you never know who might turn up at the last minute and spend a 'bucket load' of money.

There is one valued customer who specialises in late night arrivals and always keeps us going well past the ‘witching hour’ and spends a fair amount of money.

I will call him Frank.

Frank is one of life’s characters, by any standards, and he always is full of fun and life and he soon has us and the girls in fits of laughter with his jokes and zany behaviour.

Luckily for us, he also one of life’s genial drunks, and the drunker he gets, the more genial he becomes.

Frank loves 80’s music, and the first time he came by, he insisted on me downloading a load of 80’s video song tracks from You Tube. As I played them, he would sing along in a loud voice as remarkably, he knew all the words of every single song.

Frank always ‘rings the bell’ several times, and after all the ladies have received their drinks, he refuses to let them come over and '

'clink' glasses with him.

He doesn't want any fuss, and just wants to make everyone happy and put a bit of cash in their pockets.

The next time Frank dropped by I was prepared. I had downloaded all the songs he had requested on his previous visit and had added a few of my own which I thought might appeal to him.

Fortunately I got it spot on and he loved the new ones along with the old ones we had played before.

On two occasions Frank has asked me to play the long version of Michael Jackson’s 'Thriller' which, for those who haven’t seen it, it is a brilliant 15 minute video. It is very, VERY scary, especially when played in almost total darkness on ‘The Darkside’, next to a spooky, ethereal lake…

And were they sacred…. And did they scream….

Frank loves getting the girls involved in dancing and singing and tries to teach them the choruses of the songs so that they can join in with him.

On one particular night, it was very late, and all our lights were off, but the party was still in full swing. I put on a video track that some of you may know called “Matchstalk Cats and Dogs”, which is about the famous Lancashire artist, W.S. Lowrie.

The song has a great marching tempo with a very catchy and rousing chorus. In less than a minute, he had all the girls singing, and for those of you who know the song, he even got them ‘counter-signing’ ‘Ally ally oo, alley all oo’ against the main melody line. Magic.

It was an amazing accomplishment – no doubt fuelled on both sides by copious amounts of alcohol and great time was had by one and all.

Frank always orders a take-away chicken curry with chips, and he always stays for at least an hour after the food has been delivered to his table.

‘Frank, your chips will be cold!’ I would say.

‘Ee lad, don’ you worry abeet that. I’ll just chuck the hot curry over the chips and they will taste jest greeeet!’

Frank – we love you……

*

Last night started quietly, with my ever present and very loyal, daily group of nearby residents, (thank you gentlemen – you know who you are); but as sometimes happens, as the night wore on, the customers kept coming and coming.

There was one gentleman from California who stayed all evening and chalked up a very generous bill. He had heard about Mobi’s from my blog and had decided to drop by and liked what he found.

Then there were a couple from Ireland, who come to holiday in Pattaya every year, and like the Canadian, had read about Mobi’s on my blog and decided to seek us out.

Then there was a third gentleman, who was very complementary about our bar vis a vis nearby bars, and it was very kind of him to say that. He spent the evening working his way through Mobi’s bar list, as he said his favourite activity was having a different drink, every time he ordered….

And so it went on… topped by a couple of long-time residents who I have known for years, and who I rediscovered a few days ago when they popped by for a late late nightcap. Once again we were able to catch up on old times and mutual acquaintances.

Every single customer was a pleasure to talk to and I have to say, whether or not we go broke, running this bar is anything but boring.

*

Finally, very late in the evening, the girls all suddenly rushed out of the bar to the other side of the road near to the lake.

What on earth????

There had been a minor accident – a farang and a Thai girl had fallen off a motorcycle.

Neither of them were hurt and the girl was very angry. As the man tried to get up, the girl kept screaming at him and beating him on his back.

The girls returned to the bar and left the warring couple to it.

The shouting continued for a while, but eventually, the couple got back on the bike and drove away.

Never try to get in between a belligerent Thai woman and her equally angry farang boyfriend.

No good will ever come of it and you will get no thanks…

More ‘Barfly Tales’ soon…..

Having witnessed the whole event the first time the girls did assist him onto his bike and gave him a wobbley push off, as you say he returned and then started with the F Words to the staff, he was then left alone to kick away on on his bike a while before going off. Best option then he maybe have an accident and be unfit to drive for a while.Maybe you missed the first assisted push off.

[Mobi]

Just for the record, as well as offering some of our customers a free ride home, (and have done so on several occasions), when you leave the bar, you will almost - but not quite - hit your head on a sign which advertises our taxi services.

300 Baht to anywhere on the Darkside and 500 Baht to Pattaya City, any time of the day or night, driven by a completely sober and very competent driver.

We also do airport runs.

So there are a number of choices.

But you can take a horse to water......

PS, I appreciate all suggestions - daft or otherwise - so thank you for taking the trouble.

[Mobi]

Mobi’s

Forthcoming Events

‘EPL EVE’ KAREOKE

Friday, 15^th August, Music commences 8 pm

Music is 100%Western, and features the Darkside’s number one karaoke host who is also a brilliant singer.

All the famous (or infamous) Darkside singers will be on hand to participate in the evening’s fun and word already seems to be spreading like wild fire.

So come early to ensure a ‘ringside seat’…

***

THE EPL SEASON FINALLY KICKS OFF

SATURDAY, 16th August

6.45 pm Manu V Swansea

9.00 pm West Ham V Spurs

We will be offering all drinks at 20% discount from the kick-off of the Manu/Swansea match, until the first goal is scored, whereupon, prices will revert to normal. (No stacking of bottles or glasses).

Free popcorn and the full Mobi’s Food menu will be available for those feeling peckish.

It should be a good evening for football fans who like to share their ‘highs and lows’ with a bit of a crowd…..

[Chang_paarp]

Looks like you have had some fun times. Hope the business keeps growing.

Any more sartorial invasions of stray women?

[Mobi]

After a number of pretty quiet days, last night was - with the exception of party night - our best night ever.

It was a night to remember and didn't end until well into the small hours and I will hopefully post a detailed report tomorrow.

In the meantime, for those of you who want more, I have just published my weekly blog on my website:

"Mobi D'Ark: Author, Blogger & Alcoholic", which can be found at:

http://www.mobithailand.com

[Mobi]

Mobi's

Tales From A Barfly

Is There a God out there?

After a string of pretty quiet days last week, I wasn't expecting Saturday to be much different, although I confess that when I awoke on Saturday morning, I had a feeling that the evening may become a little problematic.

The reason for my fears was that Saturday was the start of a long weekend and that two of my regular customers had pre-arranged to take two of Mobi's best girls out for the evening as one of them was celebrating her birthday.

There was nothing wrong with this as that is what bars are all about, and far be it for Mobi’s to put a dampener on our customers’ thoughtful and kind plans - or indeed on the two girls in question having a nice break and an enjoyable night out.

But, as stated, the two ladies in question are without doubt my best workers, and I did have pangs of apprehension on how we might manage without them if we were suddenly deluged with dozens of customers.

‘I should be so lucky,’ I reassured myself.

So, as silly as it might sound, as I drove down to Mobi’s that evening, I was sort of hoping that Saturday might be much like the previous few days and that the customers would be in short supply.

The reason for this?

Well, my worst fears are that we get a large number of men in and no ladies to take care of them. Not only would they be disappointed at the paucity of women, but it might also mean that they might never return – and even worse – pass on the bad message to their fellow drinking friends around the lake.

It is sometimes silly thoughts like these that torment me during this period when we are trying to build up our business and we try to satisfy every customer without exception.

I know it is crazy to think like this and I have to be more philosophical and accept that what will be will be. If I have done my best, then there is little more I can do. In other words, be more like all the Buddhists around me, with whom I have chosen to live.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was a new customer standing up at the bar who looked already well on the way to becoming the worst for wear. He was being well looked after by several of Mobi’s ladies and he introduced himself as Sam, an Englishman from the English Midlands.

Sam was celebrating the advent of his fiftieth birthday, no less, but all attempts to buy him a birthday drink were vigorously rejected.

It transpired that this was the first time Sam had drunk any alcohol in seven years and he was determined to make the most of it. The booze kept coming and he kept buying drinks for all and sundry, finally he deciding to ‘ring the bell’ to make sure that everyone in the bar was able to toast his happy occasion.

As you can imagine, after a seven year dry spell, it wasn't too long before Sam was in no fit state to go anywhere, let alone drive his motor bike. He told me that he had no idea where he was and he had lost his way, when looking for the road to Chachchoengsao – a province north of Chonburi, some 90 minutes car drive away.

I was becoming extremely concerned about his ability to drive, and Sam admitted that it would be very foolhardy to attempt to make the journey that afternoon, and told me that he would return to his friend’s place in Pattaya if we could point him in the right direction.

Yet again we were faced with this moral dilemma. We had a drunk on our hands who was planning to get on his bike and drive away.

I made an ‘executive decision’ not serve Sam any more drinks, and amazingly, he accepted this. But it didn’t stop him climbing on his bike, (unaided by the girls, who I had instructed to leave him alone), and off he drove back towards Pattaya, where I hope and pray he arrived in one piece and didn’t hurt anyone else along the way…

Meanwhile back at Mobi’s…..

Mr Ting Tong had arrived and was greeted like a long lost friend. Upon enquiring about his 3-4 day absence, he informed us that he had ‘many family’ at his home and he couldn’t go out….

On a previous occasion when I asked him why he spent so many hours drinking at Mobi’s he had told me: ‘I have many family at home….’

So, let’s just get this straight. ‘Many family at home’ means he cannot go out too much;

But it also means that he cannot go home too much...

Maybe there are different 'family’ – those who make him stay at home, and those who send him away to get pissed…

The wonders and mysteries of Mr Ting Tong are never ending.

Anyway, on this particular occasion, he went home early, and – for him – relatively sober.

Meanwhile…

My daily ‘threesome’ had arrived and two of the three confirmed their plans to take out two of Mobi’s girls.

I had asked how they planned to get to Pattaya, as the two men only had one motorcycle between them.

‘We were wondering if we could borrow the ‘Bar motorcycle’, said one.

‘Bar motorcycle? No such thing I’m afraid, but we do have a bar bicycle. You are more than welcome to borrow that,’ said I.

One of them explained that he couldn't possibly take his friend plus two girls on the back of his motorbike….

They declined the offer of the pedal bike and the problem was solved when the third gentleman of the threesome (who was not planning to go with them), offered to take one of the girls on the back of his motorcycle.

So off they went, two men and a girl on one machine, and a man and a girl on the other - all the way to North Pattaya in the pitch dark.

Not a journey I would even venture on my own on a motorbike at night, let alone with two passengers sitting behind me.

Brave or foolhardy? I’ll let my readers be the judge.

Meanwhile…

The bar was starting to slowly fill with a mix of single gents and couples. So far so good, as the remaining girls were more or less up to the task of ministering to the ‘restless and lonely.’

I was beginning to breathe a sigh of relief that not only would we get through the evening without any major mishaps when all of a sudden we were ‘invaded ‘by a very large crowd of expats and their girlfriends/wives. They kept coming and coming and completely occupied one of our long tables. We even emptied half the remaining seats from the rest of the bar as they all crammed in together.

Then guess what?

They all wanted food!!

Normally, the most food that has been ordered at one time is around three ‘meals’, and more often than not it is a single order at a time, which is well within Lek’s capabilities (and a single microwave) to do.

Not only were we suddenly faced with multiple food orders, but the good folk were starting to ‘cross order’ - choosing items from different parts of our menu and mixing them together.

Needless to say it sorely tested our girls’ English and it wasn’t long before I realised that nobody understood what was being ordered.

In stepped Mobi, and I have to say that even I was mightily confused by their ordering and the only way to ensure we had it correctly was to write it all down and repeat it back to them.

Then off to the kitchen where poor Lek and one of the girls were struggling to prepare all the food. We only had one microwave, so that made preparing multiple orders a big challenge.

I related all the confusing orders to Lek and after counting the number of orders, I realised that there were more people at the table than the number of meals I had written down.

I rushed back out to ask if anyone was not eating. You can imagine my relief when one gentleman put his hand up to confirm he was not eating…..

Quite how Lek managed to produce all the food in double quick time, I will never know. I had already resigned myself to the meals being completed one by one, and then sent out to the table when each was ready, but Lek would have none of it. She patiently insisted in finishing every last item of the order and then had two of the girls take it out on trays and deliver it all at once to the table.

Must be a first for Thai eating establishments!!

I checked to make sure everyone was happy, and one lady said plaintively,

‘I suppose it’s too much to ask if you have any Branston Pickle?’

‘Branston Pickle? Of course we have, madam.’

I think she is now my friend for life.

I believe we originally enticed the crowd in by our whiteboard signs advertising: ‘Food from Noon to Midnight’, but once they had experienced the special ambience that Mobi’s had to offer, they were well and truly hooked.

One of my regulars told me that I should change the music as the crowd was very young and wouldn't appreciate my somewhat dated selections.

I wasn't too convinced about this, and to prove my point, once the food had satisfied their starving bellies, the ladies started to break out in song.

The first song that got them going was Lighthouse’s ‘Ocean Boulevard’ and once I could see they were indeed into old-ish music, I put on a selection which included James Taylor’s 'You’ve got a Friend', along some of Fleetwood Mac's Hits, and a quite few other sing-able tracks from the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s which all provoked hearty singing for the men as well as the women.

The gang stayed until the small hours – challenging us with their drink orders, although they did make it easier by looking across the side of the bar to see what we had in stock and then ordering accordingly.

Most thoughtful of them.

At around 1 am, one young lady asked us to order a moto-taxi take her to second road, in Pattaya. I asked her if she would be OK, and she assured me she would, but it was with some relief that I had to tell her that all the moto-drivers had gone to bed.

I certainly didn't want a farang lady being attacked by some drugged up motorbike taxi driver on my conscience.

As 2 a.m. approached they started to drift away, and finally, there was a small group of men hanging on grimly with some late, late beers.

Lek and I were exhausted, (her aunt who usually helps with the till, bar-tending and cooking was also away), so I took a chance and informed the last of the drinkers that they were welcome to order more beer and stay as long as they liked but would they mind if they cleared their current bills and started new ones, so that we could close the till and cash up for the night.

This usually has the effect of gently reminding customers that it is way past our closing time, and so it proved on this occasion.

By 2.45 the last customer had paid up and left, and we finally crawled between the sheets at around 4 am.

A late night indeed, but a very productive one. With the exception of our party night, it was the best night ever, and I like to think that every customer went home after an enjoyable and fulfilling evening at Mobi’s.

We had passed our sternest test, even with two of our best girls, and Lek’s Aunt away.

Maybe there is a God out there after all.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Mobi

[harrry]

Mobi...you have me worrying about what happened to the farang lady. No motor taxi....I hope you have not stashed her out the back of the bar. ...I guess all will be revealed in the next exciting episode....or is that only on Mobi's blog. Which reminds me I haven't been there to check the partially revealed scenery out for a while.

Edited August 11, 2014 by harrry

[Mobi]

Mobi...you have me worrying about what happened to the farang lady. No motor taxi....I hope you have not stashed her out the back of the bar. ...I guess all will be revealed in the next exciting episode....or is that only on Mobi's blog. Which reminds me I haven't been there to check the partially revealed scenery out for a while.

No, I'm not too sure what was going on, but she left with some of the others in a car. Maybe she was having fight with her boyfriend and wanted to go off alone. Who knows?

Its always a problem late at night when people can't get home and there are no taxis. But if the worst comes to the worst, we can always drop people home after the bar has closed - or even earlier provide Leks' aunt is there to take care of the till, which she wasn't last night.

[Neeranam]

Good luck at staying on the right side of the bar!

[Mobi]

Good luck at staying on the right side of the bar!

Thanks mate.

It's 3 years and 8 months since I took a drink, and 3 months and 11 days since I opened the bar.

So far, not the slightest temptation.

It quite remarkable how I can sit here sober and converse with all those around me who are intent on getting pissed.

I can also empathise with the solitary drunks who wander in, sometimes very late, and I know that there but for the grace of God....

I have far too many bad memories ever to have a relapse - my life of sobriety is so good!

[Franky Bear]

I've spent about 3 weeks reading most of this thread (i'm bored offshore)

Great read Mobi. I think anyone that opens a bar in Thailand is mental (i mean that in an affectionate way) as like all expats and long termers we appreciate how difficult that trade is for you guys here.

When i come into Pattaya off Highway 36 from down Rayong next time i'll try find your gaff for a quick drink.

Good luck with the bar and staying off the booze

[Mobi]

I've spent about 3 weeks reading most of this thread (i'm bored offshore)

Great read Mobi. I think anyone that opens a bar in Thailand is mental (i mean that in an affectionate way) as like all expats and long termers we appreciate how difficult that trade is for you guys here.

When i come into Pattaya off Highway 36 from down Rayong next time i'll try find your gaff for a quick drink.

Good luck with the bar and staying off the booze

Thanks.

If you are still bored, you can always try reading my blog, which I started in 2009 and covers my life in Thailand (2000 - 2014) as well as my earlier adventures in Thailand (1973-1983) and my working life in other countries around the world, as well as my childhood and growing up in East London in the 1950's.

Just click the various tabs at the top of my blog 'home page'.

The blog can be found at:

http://www.mobithaland.com

While I am on a self-promotion kick, I will also mention my novel, 'A Lust for Life', which is largely autobiographical, and can be bought from Amazon (Kindle) at the give away price of £1.93 (or $ 2.99) , for a whopping 817 'normal print-sized' pages.

Click:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FRL11KU

or:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FRL11KU

Happy reading

Edited August 12, 2014 by Mobi

[Mobi]

As those of you who have been reading the 'bar closure thread' will know, Mobi's is open for business as usual today.

I am also pleased to report that we will have two more females augmenting our current complement of 7 lovely ladies within the next few days.

So why don't you celebrate HM Queen's Birthday by dropping by Mobi's and toasting her good health.

Our new menu additions of Spaghetti Bolognase and Steak Pie and Chips have received the 'thumbs-up' and been in great demand, so if you're feeling hungry, they might just hit the spot. (We also have HP sauce and Baked beans).

We are gearing up for the start of the EPL season, with our 'EPL-Eve' karaoke on Friday night, and will be showing the Manu/Swansea and WHU/Spurs matches on Saturday,16th.

The early kick-off is at 5.45 p.m and we will be offering all customer drinks at 20% discount from the kick-off until the first goal is scored.

Hope to see some of you there soon.....

[Mobi]

I won’t dwell upon it but suffice to say that yesterday was a bit of a mixed bag but was well worth the effort of opening.

I received all kinds of flak on a ‘sister’ thread for having the audacity to ask whether the bars would be allowed to open.

“Why don’t you ask the cops?”

Asked one…

“Why don’t you show some respect?”

Said another…

“Can’t you afford to lose 300 Baht in beer money?”

Demanded another, who obviously had the inside track on Mobi’s accounts…

“So you will all be drinking out of cups in the dark.”

Suggested another..

And so it went on and on.

As it turned out, all bars throughout Thailand were allowed to open, as they have been on August 12^th for the past 5 years, and as far as I can determine, most of them did.

We did however pick up a few ‘strays’ from a nearby bar that decided to close, and I hope that we made them welcome and that they have now returned to their usual drinking haunts, undamaged by their temporary sojourn at Mobi’s.

We are still slowly gearing up for our hectic Friday Karaoke party & Saturday EPL games.

Please make a note in your diaries….

(Unless you happen to hate Karaoke and football, in which case, we’ll see you on Sunday..... )

[jmccarty]

I managed to stop in for a beer last Friday afternoon, it was quiet, just three other patrons. One that sounded eastern european chatting with a falang lady, and a young guy that was playing pool with one of your staff. I could not stay long as I was expected home soon, but found Mobi's a nice enough place to sit and relax. Staff were pleasant.

[Mobi]

I managed to stop in for a beer last Friday afternoon, it was quiet, just three other patrons. One that sounded eastern european chatting with a falang lady, and a young guy that was playing pool with one of your staff. I could not stay long as I was expected home soon, but found Mobi's a nice enough place to sit and relax. Staff were pleasant.

Thank you for your kind words.

We are generally fairly quiet during the day time, but hopefully as the weather cools down, a few more customers will be out and about, to try out our friendly atmosphere,and maybe have a bite or two.

We are still maintaining our 'Happy Hour' on customer drinks which runs from Noon till 4 p.m, when some beers can be bought for as little as 48 Baht!

As for tonight - well despite the rumbles of Thunder around the lake, we are hoping for a big turn out for our Karaoke Party night.

The music will kick off around 8 p.m so please come along and join in the fun.

Hope to see you there.

Mobi

[petermik]

Mobi-What time will the Buffalo races be starting at on Sunday-will you be open?

oops cancel that I see on another post its 8am............apologies

Edited August 15, 2014 by petermik

[Mobi]

Mad cows disease is definitely upon me.

Ive just realised that we will also be able to show two EPL games on Sunday.

Namely

Liverpool/Southhampton at 7.30 pm

Newcastle/Man City at 10 pm.

Sorry for the late advice and hope to see many of you football fans on Sunday as well as Saturday.

Mobi.

[Mobi]

I've just been by Mobi's where we were doing a surprisingly brisk afternoon trade and made sure all was in hand for the Karaoke tonight.

Just in time for party night, and a weekend of EPL football, we now have two more ladies who have joined the growing ranks of 'Mobi's Girls' and we are now overflowing with an abundance of distaff workers.

The music will start at around 8 pm, in the hands of our very capable karaoke master/DJ, and I am sure a great time will be had by one and all.

There will be a few free 'nibbles' out the back on the covered pool table, for those who come early, and Mobi's usual food menu will be available for those wishing to buy something a little more substantial.

Here's a few snaps of Mobi's this afternoon.....

[Mobi]

Mobi-What time will the Buffalo races be starting at on Sunday-will you be open?

oops

cancel that I see on another post its 8am............apologies

No need to apologise.

Mobi's is open from Noon daily, so please drop by a sup a beer or two....

Edited August 15, 2014 by Mobi

[Mobi]

Mad cows disease is definitely upon me.

Ive just realised that we will also be able to show two EPL games on Sunday.

Namely

Liverpool/Southhampton at 7.30 pm

Newcastle/Man City at 10 pm.

Sorry for the late advice and hope to see many of you football fans on Sunday as well as Saturday.

Mobi.

More mad cow's disease, I'm afraid.... yet another faux pas.....

The early game tomorrow - Saturday - (Manu/Swansea) starts at 6.45 pm.... not 5.45 pm as previously advised

So sorry folks..

[Mobi]

The Aftermath of Karaoke....

While the karaoke evening was not the overwhelming success I had hoped for, for those who did come, I think I can say without question, that they had a very enjoyable evening.

It seems that more people dislike karaoke than I had reckoned on and many of the regulars showed their disfavour by staying away.

That is their choice and I fully respect it.

However, if those who had feared the worst had given it a try, I think some might have been surprised at what they would have found.

Namely: the relatively low volume of music (you could still hold a conversation) ; 100% western music; the relatively small number of ‘budding singers’ singing out of tune; and last but not least, the wonderful singing of the karaoke master and two of his warbling ‘followers’ who in all honesty could easily pass muster as professional singers.

My thanks and gratitude to the singers (you know who you are) and indeed to all those who did come to enjoy the fun.

So while not a roaring success, it was by no means a disaster, and although our rented tables and chairs proved superfluous to requirements, we did have a nice little crowd in to boost Mobi’s humble takings to a quite respectable level.

To top it off, for some unaccountable reason we had our best afternoon and early evening crowd ever. Maybe some of the anti-karaoke brigade felt guilty and popped in early to help us out with a few drinks as they did not want to suffer the pains of a karaoke night… (only joking…)

Even as I write this, on mid-afternoon on Saturday, we have had quite a few people drop in, so I hope this is a sign of things to come.

In the meantime…don’t forget…

EPL Live football tonight, (Saturday), kicking off at 6.45 pm, and tomorrow, at 7.30 p.m.

From the start of the first game on each evening, customer drinks will be at Happy Hour prices, (20% discount) until the first goal is scored.

No stacking of bottles or glasses, but you may drink as quickly as you like….

Come and join the fun…

Edited August 16, 2014 by Mobi

[petermik]

The Aftermath of Karaoke....

While the karaoke evening was not the overwhelming success I had hoped for, for those who did come, I think I can say without question, that they had a very enjoyable evening.

It seems that more people dislike karaoke than I had reckoned on and many of the regulars showed their disfavour by staying away.

That is their choice and I fully respect it.

However, if those who had feared the worst had given it a try, I think some might have been surprised at what they would have found.

Namely: the relatively low volume of music (you could still hold a conversation) ; 100% western music; the relatively small number of ‘budding singers’ singing out of tune; and last but not least, the wonderful singing of the karaoke master and two of his warbling ‘followers’ who in all honesty could easily pass muster as professional singers.

My thanks and gratitude to the singers (you know who you are) and indeed to all those who did come to enjoy the fun.

So while not a roaring success, it was by no means a disaster, and although our rented tables and chairs proved superfluous to requirements, we did have a nice little crowd in to boost Mobi’s humble takings to a quite respectable level.

To top it off, for some unaccountable reason we had our best afternoon and early evening crowd ever. Maybe some of the anti-karaoke brigade felt guilty and popped in early to help us out with a few drinks as they did not want to suffer the pains of a karaoke night… (only joking…)

Even as I write this, on mid-afternoon on Saturday, we have had quite a few people drop in, so I hope this is a sign of things to come.

In the meantime…don’t forget…

EPL Live football tonight, (Saturday), kicking off at 6.45 pm, and tomorrow, at 7.30 p.m.

From the start of the first game on each evening, customer drinks will be at Happy Hour prices, (20% discount) until the first goal is scored.

No stacking of bottles or glasses, but you may drink as quickly as you like….

Come and join the fun…

"No stacking of bottles or glasses"

"Come and join the fun"

But Mobi you are already taking away a lot of the fun

[petercool]

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[Mobi]

As with the karaoke night, Mobi’s wasn’t exactly deluged with customers to watch the opening day of the EPL season, but those who did show up enjoyed a surprisingly entertaining game between Manu and Swansea, followed by a rather dour game between West Ham and Spurs.

Neutral supporters were cheered by the underdogs beating Manu and if there were any Manunited supporters there, they kept their thoughts to themselves….

As a 60 years + Spurs supporter, I was cheered by the result of the second match but admit they were lucky to edge it as the Hammers had the best of the game and deserved at least a draw.

But that’s football for you…

Tonight it’s Liverpool/Southampton at 7.30 pm, followed by Newcastle/Man City at 10 pm.

Right now, as I am writing this (12.54 p.m), I can hear the Tannoy wafting over from the buffalo races, taking place on the lakeside, near to my home.

So any of you who are venturing out to watch the annual spectacle can be assured of a friendly welcome and a cold beer just down the road at Mobi’s, whenever you grow too hot or weary to watch any more buffalos being made to perform unnatural exercises.

You can also grab a bite to eat and stay to watch the evening’s football.

Hope to see some of you there….

[Mobi]

For those who follow my blog, you can now find a new post at:

http://www.mobithailand.com

[Pattaya Pat]

As with the karaoke night, Mobi’s wasn’t exactly deluged with customers to watch the opening day of the EPL season, but those who did show up enjoyed a surprisingly entertaining game between Manu and Swansea, followed by a rather dour game between West Ham and Spurs.

Neutral supporters were cheered by the underdogs beating Manu and if there were any Manunited supporters there, they kept their thoughts to themselves….

As a 60 years + Spurs supporter, I was cheered by the result of the second match but admit they were lucky to edge it as the Hammers had the best of the game and deserved at least a draw.

But that’s football for you…

Tonight it’s Liverpool/Southampton at 7.30 pm, followed by Newcastle/Man City at 10 pm.

Right now, as I am writing this (12.54 p.m), I can hear the Tannoy wafting over from the buffalo races, taking place on the lakeside, near to my home.

So any of you who are venturing out to watch the annual spectacle can be assured of a friendly welcome and a cold beer just down the road at Mobi’s, whenever you grow too hot or weary to watch any more buffalos being made to perform unnatural exercises.

You can also grab a bite to eat and stay to watch the evening’s football.

Hope to see some of you there….

I wouldn't build your hopes up about getting too many punters in on football nights, I get the impression that not too many darkside drinkers are really the sporting type and those that are probably go to the bright side at the weekends for their viewing..

[Mobi]

I wouldn't build your hopes up about getting too many punters in on football nights, I get the impression that not too many darkside drinkers are really the sporting type and those that are probably go to the bright side at the weekends for their viewing..

Hmm.. you may be right, but only time will tell.

We did get one or two in yesterday to watch the Sunday matches, but not even as many as on Saturday.

It's early days, and I'll see what happens when all the residents return from their Summer vacations and the season starts to hot up a bit. Right now every bar around the lake is suffering from very low numbers, so all things considered I think Mobi's is doing OK.

We are now well past our break even point for the month - day on day - and every day seems to bring a few surprises that brings some extra cash to Mobi's tills.

Saturday was fairly quiet until a high roller turned up on his bike, close to closing time, and proceeded to spend money like there was no tomorrow.

Last night (Sunday) we had a brief 'invasion' of Lady-boys in a car and they bought a round of drinks before departing to their next destination.

Then last but not least, we had an invasion of late night moderators, plus friends and wives, who had a few rounds of drinks and made a late late order of spring rolls, chicken nuggets and French fries.

I succeeded in keeping Raro & co. on seat by playing a judicious mix of rock music and they finally left at past 1 a.m having boosted Mobi's Sunday sales to respectable levels.

It was a bit of sad departure, as it was the last Hurrah for one of my friends in Thailand. He and his lovely wife are returning home on Wednesday and he assures us that he will not be back.

So a fond farewell - we will miss you - and the very best of luck for your future life.

[petercool]

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