Thailand 2009

The long and short of it

2009-04-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 15th

I decided to pack before I went to the office and we loaded my bag and clubs into the car. This meant I didn't need to go back to the hotel again.

Another day of bug fixing, a mixture of killing time and being frantically busy. Hopefully all is well although it is unlikely that it is 100% perfect.

We eventually left about 4-30 and headed via Sri Thep rather than back through Wichian Buri. As usual there were goups of kids and young adults out with there buckets, hoses and water pistols. If you were on a scooter you just had to assume you'd get soaked before you got home. It was bright and sunny when we left but within half an hour became overcast and we had a few showers, but not a torrential downpour.

It was the last day of SongKraan so like Easter Monday, everyone who went away for the holidays is heading home. Traffic was slower most of the way to Bangkok. However by aggressively switching lanes my driver was able to pass some slower cars that just stayed in the one lane, several times. (Irony program engaged).

Once we got close to Bangkok, it got really slow. The bypass road to the airport was virtually bumper to bumper the entire way. My driver took to driving along what we would call the emergency stopping lane. I don't like this in principal but we did movce a lot faster than the rest of the traffic so I put my principals to bed and let him do his thing. At one point this lane was blocked off with witches hats and we had to join the regular lanes eventually we cought up and got ahead of the cop car that was moving theses from the side of the road to the middle of the emergency lane. Of course he immediately swung into the emergency lane again.

Eventually we joined the main road to the airport which was 4 lanes wide, sometimes more and he could put his foot down. Normally this is about a 3 hour trip and much closer than Pattaya but it took 4 1/2 hours this time. I'm glad I'd allowed extra time.

The business class check in was brisk as usual but with my golf clubs I had to go to the oversize luggage check in as well. A staff guy met me as I walked through the doors and took over my trolley and guided me to a free check in counter, then he wheel the trolley over to the oversized check in and then back to the Business class express passport station and to the entrance to the lounge. I hadn't had anything since lunch and it was now after 9 so I had some snacks and a couple of drinks and did the cryptic crossword in the Bangkok Post. I have been doing these at WB as well but as they get the papers a day lot had not down Wednesday's.

I was thinking of having the free massage but decide to check my email instead and then it was too late. Business class was less than half full and a guy in the seat near me who'd flown in from Kazakhstan said there were only 4 passengers on his flight. I had the meal, watched "Bedtime Stories" on the personal video and then got a few hours sleep before we were woken up for breakfast. I picked up some duty free and even though my suit case was in the first couple of dozen out, my golf clubs were delivered personally before it. Apart from getting my shoes out for inspection, customs was quick. I'd had them cleaned at Phoenix so they were probably as clean as they've been since they were new. The customs lady was impressed as well.

As usual a pile of mail was waiting to be sorted and I've had to start organising my trip to the US straight away. This will be covered in my next blog.

More High, Lights from Pattaya

2009-04-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 14th

Not much different today from yesterday. Just working through problems and fixing them. Found out that the use of formatting in the excel files such as 12.25% or 23.5hrs was messing up my text to number routine and losing the numbers after the decimal place.

The weather here is bright, sunny and hot during part of the day and then pouring with rain later. It was raining when I left about 7pm so not much water throwing happening. I finally loaded the movie into Monday's blog. I started doing that late on Tuesday and after along time of loading, there was a power outage so the connection was lost. I tried at the hotel and could not even connect there last night but have loaded it at the office.

I have included some photos from Pattaya, taken by one of the guys when they visited one of the tower buildings last week. This has a cable car going up and you can come down on it or take a flying fox. Also some typical night scenes taken by another.

When the chips are down

2009-04-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

Monday 13th

I guess this is the final instalment in the potato saga. The fields I have been photographing since last year have now been replanted with next year's crop. If anybody needs some photos for a school project called - "The life cycle of the Thai potato" - you know where you can get some.

Once again the day was spent in the office, fixing bits and pieces, adding extra features and updating Documentation. Every bug fixed here is one less that will need to be fixed later.

I left a bit earlier today and the light was better for filming the Song Kraan activities in the town. (It also wasn't pouring with rain, so there was some point in throwing water. Yesterday everybody on foot or in an open vehicle or scooter was drenched anyway.)

After dinner I watched most of the telecast of the US Masters. It was spoilt a bit by seeing the results in the sports highlights just before the broadcast started. However it was still enjoyable watching such a high standard of golf. When I started nodding off around 11-30, I decided to go to bed, already knowing who won.

A cock and bull story

2009-04-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday 12th

I woke up this morning with a particularly sore back. Even with my extra mattress these beds are very hard. I also discovered in my rush to get in last night, I left the key in the door.

Another long day at the office. Fixed the plotting problems, added a new excel report and did some other tidying up. Panu is working late to get the new spreadsheets ready and out to the sites. Not sure why these weren't sent out weeks ago so there would be a whole lot of data already available for testing.

I am trying to plan my trip to US since I'll have to get on to that asap. Probably a similar itinerary to last time with a direct flight there and coming back via Hong Kong. I've seen that Cathay have flights to Perth at a more sociable time than the Qantas one I took last time. Leaving at 3pm and getting in late a night, instead of flying over night. They also have flight to Adelaide so perhaps I'll come that way and see family.

Weather was better today but since I'm inside in an air conditioned office it doesn't really affect me much. As we drove back to the hotel tonight, there were lots of kids and teenagers with water pistols, hoses or buckets chucking water at each other and at cars. Only one of them actually wet us. Normally April is the hottest month but the rains seem to have come early this year. There wasn't any point in the kids being out last night as everyone would have got wet from the downpour.

I watched quite a bit of the golf tonight and then the film "Beowulf". The insects were particularly bad tonight.

It seems we all got out of Pattaya at a good time. The Red shirts turned up the next day protesting at the ASEAN conference there. I heard somebody got killed but didn't see anything in the paper.

The photo is of a gate to a farm just out of Wichian Buri on the main road to Bangkok. I'd seen it several times before and finally got a shot of it. Presumably they raise chicken and cattle there.

I get Leied

2009-04-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday 11th

Today was the day I was supposed to go home but here I am again, working in the office at Wichian Buri, even though it is Easter. Can't really complain, I get paid well for it.

There were a number of problems to sort through, some of them trivial and others a bit more complicated but being on the spot with real data makes it easier to duplicate the errors. Once that is done it is not too difficult to fix. One tricky one was the protect/unprotect of excel spreadsheets. I hadn't got the parameters correct and it was using a logical value of true as a password when re-protecting it. This meant they could not unprotect it because they didn't know the password. A quick google bought up some sites that allowed me to unprotect the existing sheets and also returned the password needed. Another site gave me the correct parameters so this won't happen in the future.

It is Songkraan here and one of the girls in the office gave me a floral necklace. Another one squirted me (gently) with water. The sprinkling of water is a tradition for this time but in some places this has degenerated into an excuse for water pistol fights and wholesale drenching of people with buckets of water, garden hoses and so forth. Fun if you are in the right mood but annoying otherwise.

Last time I was here, I plugged the network cable into my laptop and immediately had access to email, the net and Skype. This time it was much more complicated. Eventually the IT girl called me and I got it all sorted. Apparently Thailand has just introduce some sort of internet censorship program, literally the day before I arrived. This requires companies to track sites visited or some such and so everyone requires a login to access the net and so forth. Australia is proposing something similar but let's hope it never gets passed.

It was after 6 before I left and I was still working on some plotting issues. It was raining fairly heavily by then and I was worried that there might be power cuts again. We'd already had a brief outage earlier in the day. Fortunately it didn't happen but there were a couple of times when the satellite signal was lost for the TV. I watched a bit of the masters and then had a relatively early night. Photos are of the room.

Another long drive

2009-04-10T07:43:00.001-07:00

Friday 10th

I think I won another long drive competition today. Not on the golf course but on the road. I was up about 7-30 and had finished my shower when the phone rang. It was a taxi that I'd confirmed for The Rev and TVL and he was 12 hours early. He'd already got the Rev down to reception and with the help of the girl at the desk we got the message through that he was supposed to come at 8 at night. This was not the guy that brought us there but a "friend". Anyway, they said they would still use him and he went off to have a sleep.

I finished my own packing and was surprised that my case wasn't overflowing. I'll give that blender to someone at Wichian Buri, likewise the mattress, so when I leave it will just be the suitcase, golf bag and laptop case.

I got copies of the photos taken by The Rev , TVL and Ed for the composite CD and eventually checked out about 10-30. TVL spent some time at a wat that is being built entirely from teak, including wooden pegs in stead of nails, as for the palace we saw in Bangkok. It has apparently been under construction for 28 years and there is no hurry to finish as there seems to be a belief that the king will die when it is finished. It looks interesting so I have included some photos even though I didn't see it myself.

I have also included some golf shots from the others. The movie was taken on the par 5 at the Navy course where I got my birdie, so the fairway wood shot you see me playing at the end, finished on the green. The green is behind the smaller tree in the middle of the frame and the hole is 520 yardslong from the white tees. The last hole yesterday, which I also hit in 2 was 493 yards long.

I spent some time in Le Katai and Pairot eventually arrived just before 12, at the end of the suggested period. Apparently he'd left home at 7am. We soon had my stuff in the car and after a few quick goodbyes we were on the road. We stopped for lunch at a KFC for about 15 minutes and it was after 5 by the time we got here, so he had a long day. We had some rain soon after leaving Pattaya and drove through another storm North of Bangkok. Traffic was very heavy and slow in some places and yet other road sections were surprisingly empty. It is the start of the Songkraan holidays and like Easter, it seems half the population is going away.

I have a different room again this time - in the "A" group. This has an alcove which has the wardrobe in it but the sleeping area is a bit smaller. It is closer to the canteen and I can actually get a wireless connection from my room, which is a bonus. Its about 1200 speed - about double what I was getting in Pattaya. It is also free-standing although is shares a common roof with the other units, but this means no shared walls so hopefully no noisy neighbours at 5-30.

It is now coming ap to a month since I first arrived so quite a few shift changes have happened in that time. Jim is back and Spencer has gone and the geologists changed about the time I left. Keiran was back tonight with his family, stopping over on the way to his in laws for Songkraan.

Firing on all cylinders

2009-04-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday 9th

Today I played Phoenix again, this time with a golfing group based at the Travellers Rest Hotel. There were about 40 players including 3 other women. I played with 2 of them, who were visiting from Ireland and who would have been in their 50's, I'd guess. There was also a younger Thai girl playing. Originally a Canadian guy was playing with us but since he was walking, the Rev was swapped in so we could share a cart.

I hadn't even thought about other women as there seem to be so few non locals here and when I signed up I gave my Collier handicap and said I'd play of the white tees, as I have done all 2 weeks, even though the oterh ladies played off the reds. A good thing too or they really would have strung me up as a bandit. I had my best score since I've started playing again, 2 1/2 years ago with an 81 off the stick and 42 points. This was equal best for the day and won the middle handicap division. The 800B prize covered my entry fee and transport plus most of the drinks on the course.

I had 7 pars and 2 birdies. One was on the par 3 with the bridge and the other on the last hole, which was a par 5. I hit the green in 2 but had a bad first putt and needed to sink a 12 ft second putt for the birdie. Much was made about being on for 2 at the presentation. They have knocked my handicap for their group down to 13, my lowest ever - anywhere, anytime. The main difference from yesterday was probably in the putting as I dropped a number of long ones and did not have any 3 putts. It was the first course that I've played a second time, which also helps.

Since this is the same course as yesterday there are only a couple of new shots of the course itself plus views towards and from the clubhouse.

The weather was better today in that it didn't rain. It was very hot and humid and the sun was out so we did get quite warm at times. There was a bit of a breeze about from time to time which helped a bit.

We had drinks there after the showers and then gathered back at the Travellers Rest hotel for the presentation. I had a beef stew there for dinner from the "Golfers only" menu. On the way back I picked up my re-zippered purse and TVLs repaired golf bag.

Burning up the course - not quite

2009-04-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 8th

Today was our last game in the competition and Phoenix was arguably the best course of all. The greens were excellent which just gives it the edge over the Navy course.

I played well again but my driving wasn't quite as consistent as yesterday. I did however score on every hole today, although a couple relied on fairly long putts dropping. I went out in 19 and home in 16 to be just one over my handicap. The winner was Peter with a 39 but he'd only palyed 2 games so wasn't in the running. In the end I won the best three games total by 10 points. I also picked up one nearest the pin, but as no one had hit the previous par 3 this was a jackpot hole. I had one birdie to day as well.

This course also had a lot of water but it was mostly alongside the hole rather than across it, which happened a few times yesterday. There was one absolutely gorgeous hole which did have a significant water hazard. there were 2 fairways split by a bridge and a garden. You would need to be a really big hitter to drive the water and I finished up way right with an interesting second shot (which finished in the left hand bunker).

The scene looking back was too wide for a single shot to do justice, so I have included a short movie.

There was a lot of colour on this course, mainly bouganvilleas but other flowering trees as well. We played the Lake and Ocean courses (the third is called Mountain) and on the final hole you look down the fairway to the spectacular view of the sea and an island.

We were almost lucky with the weather. It started to rain lightly with about 3 holes to go and was quite steady as we played the last. Then it bucketed down and we were all quite wet by the time we'd unloaded our bags at the bus and got back to the clubhouse, where we all had showers.
We had one local with us who first suggested we go to the caddie's bar, which was closed, and then to a sea side restaurant, which was open. The catch was still swimming in tanks at the entrance so you knew the food would be fresh. A fishing fleet anchors nearby and there was one lonely boat out trying its luck.

After we returned I decided to play with a different group tomorrow. Several of the others had played with them on this and other trips and they are also playing Phoenix. This will give the extra game and allow me to leave around lunch time on Friday.

I also dropped in my purse, which will be rady tomorrow, and had to take everything out of it. Try doing that and you'll be surprised at just how many cards you are carrying.

One more of our group left tonight and we met at Le Katai to say farewell, before going our separate ways. With a late lunch I wasn't really hungry.

In the Navy...

2009-04-07T03:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7th

Today we played the Navy course at Plutaluang. They have 4 courses of 9 holes and we played the east and west courses. I had an exceptionally good day scoring 83 off the stick for 40 points - 4 under my handicap. This included at least 3 or 4 3-putt greens as well. I was rarely off the fairway with my tee shots and the one time I finished in a dry water hazard, I got out, chipped on and sunk my putt for a par anyway. I also had an eagle putt on a par 5 that gave me a tap-in birdie. In addition, I picked up one nearest the pin and the long drive. This has given me a lead of 8 shots in the comp, replacing the 23 points from the first day in my best 3 scores.

The course was not suffering from the dry as much as some of the others and had a lot of water, elevated tees and trees in the fairway. The latter did not impact me much but a couple of the others got quite frustrated with them. There was even one hole that had some monkeys in the trees and the bushes along side the course. Their signature hole is an island green next to a lighthouse. This was on one of the course we did not play but you can see it in the distance in the shot of the par 3 that we did play.

It was probably the best of the courses we've played this time. There was a special on today and for 1020B we got green fees, a caddy and a cart each. this effectively saved us 700B. With the caddy tip, it wasn't much over $50 today plus transport etc.

After the game we had showers and then ate at the restaurant there. This is the first time we have done this but I'm not really sure why. Apart from the first course, they have all had places to eat. The view from the restaurant is quite spectacular - overlooking the lake, the first and last of the east course as well as the last on the south course and the floral emblem. The club house is circular and built around a central garden and water feature.

There was a brief spell of rain - heavy drops but not too dense for a short time while we were playing. Enough to get the umbrellas up but not really enough to influence the game. ie our grips didn't get wet. However, as we left in the bus, it started to pour and it rained all the way back to Pattaya, with quite a bit of lightning about as well. The scooter riders we passed looked like drowned rats.

Our last official game is tomorrow but Danny has a game organised on Friday at Eastern Star, where we played last Friday. I'm tossing up whether to play that and arrange for my driver to pick me up late on Friday or whether to leave on Thursday instead. I can't see much point in hanging around here on Thursday just to leave early on Friday.

After updating this blog I got some stuff at the 7-11 and then joined Ed and TVL on Ed's balcony for a drink, before we all headed over to Le Katai. TVL and I later went for a walk to get something to eat and decided on Mexican from a stall around the corner. It wasn't too bad but we were both still hungry so we moved further down Soi Dianna to the International food hall where I had a pasty while he had some chicken and a slice of pizza. We then went to the sewing lady who fixed his back pack and she will replace 2 zips in my purse for about $6. Much cheaper than getting a new one.

It's a jolly holiday...

2009-04-07T03:21:00.001-07:00

Monday 6th

Today is a Thai public holiday, although you would never guess it by whether the shops here are open or not. Danny changed our game to tomorrow since, he said, the prices would be higher today and the courses crowded with locals.

I woke up about 9-45 and not long after it started to pour. We would have been soaked if we'd been playing today - good call Danny. I finished my book before I got up and wandered over to Le Katai. A couple of the guys were there and were having lunch or very late breakfasts. I just got some fruit from a street stall.

TVL headed up to Lotus after that. I looked at more tops/dresses but the only one I liked was the same as the one I'd already bought. If they'd had it in my size in a different colour I would have got one but they only had white. I then found the cereals and got some more for breakfast. I then looked for TVL who'd gone his separate ways. I didn't see him so went out, had some noodles for lunch and still didn't see him. After checking the downstairs shops again I went back up to the super market and he was just coming out, having bought some jeans and more tops.

We caught a baht bus to the bowling lanes and had 3 games. My first bowl was a strike but this turned out to be the exception rather than the rule. I managed to break 100 all 3 games and improve slightly each time but nothing fantastic. TVL is much better and in his last and best game got over 200.

It had been several years since I'd last been bowling and my shoulder and back were aching, so I had another massage later, asking them to concentrate on those areas. At the end I was on my back covered in towels and as soon as I got up to get dressed I had an attack of the shivers. I needed a warm cup of tea to get me ready to leave. I had some Pad Thai on the way back. Some guys were in Le Katai but we didn't stay up too late.

A day off, rest.

2009-04-06T03:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday 5th

Despite the late night I was awake at 6-30 so I read my book for a while and when I woke up again it was 11-30. I'd check the program schedule so I turned on the Australia Network to watch the Dockers game - that was a waste of time. It was interesting not having 30 seconds of ads every time a goal was kicked and you actually got to see a replay.

I used half time to have a shower and check out if anyone was watching across the road. None of our guys were there and the ball they were kicking on their TV sets was round so I watched the rest of the game back in my room. (or I did till 3/4 time when I wrote up the previous blog while listening to their dismal performance in the background).

I then went to the pool for a swim and later watched some of the Formula 1 on the big screen in La Katai, having lunch at the same time. When it was called off due to the heavy rain there, I went and had another oil massage. What a lot of wusses those F1 drivers are - a bit of rain didn't stop our guys on Saturday.

We met up at Le Katai for dinner and stayed there till about 10, eating drinking and talking. I didn't get more than 200m from the hotel all day.

The photos are of Le Katai, from the street and from inside. Since it gets a mention quite frequently I thought I'd better show it.

When I came 2 years ago it was just the bit on the right, I latyer of tables outside and some more inside. Now the inside has a big screen projection and lounge chairs and they have bought the left building as well. About double the space out side and inside they have 4 huge screens for game playing and a half dozen internet stations.

Going round and going out

2009-04-04T23:42:00.001-07:00

Saturday 4th

No golf on the weekend but a few of the guys were planning to go Go-kart racing. We met up at Le Katai about 10 but it was after 11 before we were ready to leave. Unfortunately it started to rain about then so we sat back down again. Eventually 5 of us caught a Baht bus to the track, which is over near the pier. TVL, TB and Dane all bought the 4 race package, which included an extra free race and a T-shirt. This cost about $100 and it wasn't some thing I wanted to spend that much money on and neither did Ed, so we just watched.

The boys decided to have 2 races then and save the other 3 for the evening. The setup is quite sophisticated, with multiple overhead screens displaying the field for each race, pictures of drivers and their car numbers showing downstairs at the pits and an electronic timer that gives a print out of lap times for each car in each race as well as fastest lap time tables for the race, the day and the year. They also provide racing suits and helmets for everyone.

It was drizzling a bit for their first race and the track was wet, but they went out anyway. There were a lot of spin outs on corners but they seemed to have a good time. It then just poured down but they still went out for a second race. More spin outs and a couple of times their cars just stalled and had to be restarted. In the end it got so bad they came in early and managed to get an extra race credited for the evening. They were all soaked to the skin at the end and said they could hardly see because of the water coming off the front wheels. I also took a couple of movies. The one below is from the second race when it was pouring and shows a couple of near spin outs and a stalling. (Quicktime format )

We came back via a taxi, after the Baht bus guy upped his fee compared to the cost to get there. They try that all the time and if the customer is smart he'll just refuse and get a cheaper one.

I had lunch at the same place as last night - another Pad Thai. The street alongside was inches deep in water by that time. Then a group of us went to the new Mall. This has been completed since the trip last year and is typical of the modern malls here - lots of "name" brand shops. I didn't see anything I wanted or needed so I walked to Mikes mall thinking to find another dress, again without success. I had nearly run out of local currency so I had another trip to the ATM to replenish the wallet.

The plan was to meet about 8 so after some time in my room, I headed off for an oil massage about 6. This is the sort that people probably think of when you say "I had a massage" although for me that phase usually meant a painful experience trying to fix an injury. The oil massage is quite gentle and relaxing and becuase of the oil you are naked. It was less than $10 for an hour.

I joined the others about 7-30 and worked on a cross word while waiting for the others to arrive. Our plan was to go to Walking street - the entertainment hub and full of bars, restaurants and so forth. Some of them left early to watch the AFL game at the Roo Bar on the way. This is owned by the father of one of our golf club members.

The guys returned from their carting but weren't ready to go, so 3 of us headed down separately. The Blues Factory were celebrating their 8th anniversary and that was our target. WeE arrived a bit early and found the others in the Roo bar. I didn't stay there but went for a wander and picked up some sweet corn. The group eventually headed to the Blues Factory and Dane an Kiky had already arrived an reserved a table right in the centre at the front of the stage. So close in fact the the tops of our heads were at the bottom of the close circuit TV picture. They had a couple fo long sets and had a few guest players join the band. One was a Russian guy, 7ft tall and skinny as a rake who played the blues harp and sang and another had played with the Grateful Dead. Dane also got invited up for one song and there was the inevitable Elvis impersonator, who wasn't too bad.

Because of the celebration they laid on a small smorgasbord, with green curry, noodles and fried race as well as European food like sandwiches, chicken legs and potato salad. Each time you bought a drink you also got a raffle ticket and they drew the prizes after each set. The prizes were all electrical appliances with the big ones a microwave and a DVD player but also irons, blenders, rice cookers and toasters. As it turned out, my number was the very first one drawn and I won a blender. Kiky also won 2 prizes in the second draw.

After midnight and the second draw, the blues band left for a rack band. I probably would have stayed for a bit of that but a guy in the next table lit a cigarette. Apparently the Non smoking rule which we'd enjoyed all evening gets suspended at 12-30. I guess smoking becomes healthy at that time of night. When a second one lit up I could see it would soon be full of smoke and took my leave. None the less it was a fun night.

I walked to the end of the street to catch a baht bus back to the hotel. I asked the driver of an empty bus where he was heading and he wanted 100B to take me back. Instead I jumped on the one in front, which had a couple of guys on it and got to Mike mall for 10B. A short walk from there got me home.

No Stars today

2009-04-03T04:02:00.000-07:00

Friday 3rd

Today's course was Eastern Star. This is not that far from Emerald, where we played on Wednesday - Slightly closer to Ban Chang but on the West rather than the East side and closer to the coast. It was again a much better course and was 1200B for green fees, cart and caddie. With the arrival of Peter, we had 9 players so we split into 3 groups and had one of Danny's players join each group. On the other days we have played 2 groups of 4 and they have followed after us in their own group. Fortunately, Danny is not part of our competition, since his scores of 37 and 32 would have beaten our best by 7 and 4 points the first and last days although his middle round was a shocker.

The start of our route to the course was the same as the last but this time we stopped when we passed the huge image of Buddha on the mountain side. On Wednesday we just drove right past. We could see this from one o9f the courses we played 2 years ago.

The course had a similar feel in that the fairways were quite hilly, and there were lots of lakes and bunkers around. The bunkers had a lot of sand in them and 2 of my shots were buried. The course was also suffering from the dry spell but not as badly as Monday's course. This time there were also houses along some of the holes. As usual there were refreshment stops every 4 or 5 holes.

One unusual feature was the distance markers. These were Blue, yellow and red for 200, 150 and100 yards as usual but instead of just being posts they were bird houses. Several of them even had birds in them although it was tricky to get close enough to photograph them.

I played well enough but did not score as well as Wednesday with 28 points. This was still the best score for the day for our group and again I picked up a nearest to the pin prize. There were quite a few out of bounds on the course and I put 2 out on 1 hole and 1 on another and lost a couple of balls in lakes. One was particularly annoying as it was a dogleg par 5. My caddie said straight over the bunker and assuming she was giving me the line I hit the drive exactly where I wanted. I then realised she was telling me there was a hidden lake behind the bunker. Bye Bye ball.

It wasn't really a difficult course and I feel if we had a chance to play it again there would be a good chance we could play close to our handicap. This is the downside of playing a lot of different courses. Today all the par 3s were around 170 yards. The hole in one prize was a physical check up at the local hospital valued at 15,000B or around $600. I wonder what you get for that? Nobody it won it so we won't find out.

The club house was also very nice and we all had showers. There is a resort at this course with a swimming pool, a water area with slides etc and tennis courts as well as the golf.

One bus was heading for Ban Chang with the idea they'd stay 3 hours. The other was supposed to go long enough for a meal there as well, before heading back but one of the guys wasn't feeling too well so we went straight back.

ASfter checking email and updating blogs I left the room around 6-30. We were supposed to meet up at the bar about 7 for the presentation and no one else had arrived yet. I hadn't eaten other than some apples, since breakfast so wandered down the street and found a street stall selling BBQ corn. That helped. I met TVL on the way abck and he decided he wanted some too. The bus arrived back just after 7 and we did our presentations. My nearest to the pin prize (300B) covered my transport and comp fees.

Kevein had been talking about how Pad Thai was hard to find here although I'd had some at Lotus. Last night he said he'd found a place just around the corner - one of many basic eating places. I went there and had a nice Pad thai for 30B - a bit over a dollar. The exchange rate has jumped slightly in our favour, now around 24.7 compared with just under 24 recently and 22 some thing when I arrived. Unfortunately this reflects a jump against the US so my work payment will drip significantly in return.

I picked up and ice cream and some drinks and so forth and after dropping them in my room rejoined the guys. At one stage I did the cryptic, getting all bar 2 clues out - a big improvement on the last attempt. I headed to my room about 10.

.. and a place of gems

2009-04-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday 2nd

Nothing was organised today so I had a lazy start. I finished off my book, then watched a film - Charlie Wilson's War (or similar) with Tom Hanks. It was after 12 before I emerged.

Our last 2 group members arrived today - Peter and his non-golfing work mate and I had a chat to them round the pool while they were waiting for their rooms to become available. I had some fruit for lunch and then rang the Gems Gallery for a car.

I knew what I wanted but hadn't seen any in Bangkok, so once I arrived I went straight to the silver earrings section. They had no separate Topaz earrings at all on display and only a couple of sets in Topaz. I decided I'd give up. They showed me the white gold and to be honest there wasn't any there either, even if I'd wanted to pay that sort of price. He then took me to the loose stones counter. I couldn't see any point in that but then the supervisor returned.

She had a big tray of earrings with the top 3 or 4 rows in Topaz. There were 2 types of longer ones and I bought the cheaper of these since it had an oval stone rather than 4 smaller round ones. I was pleased since I have bought jewellery every trip so far and it looked like this would break the chain.

I got dropped off at the Outlet Malls/Lotus centre on Sukumvit Road. They have built a second stage for the outlets which now has a dedicated golf shop. There was another golf shop across the road as well. I saw the driver and wedge I'd bought in Australia in the last 6 months and both were around the price I paid or possibly a bit more. I then headed to Lotus and had Pad Thai upstairs in the food hall. I was expecting to take a motor cycle back to the hotel so didn't want anything bulky, so skipped the drinks and so forth in the store itself. I did buy a long tee-shirt or a short dress (50-50 which it is) which I can wear round the pool.

There was suddenly a drumming on the roof and a heavy shower had arrived. The car park quickly collected puddles of an inch or so deep. I decide to have an ice cream while waiting for it to clear. In the end I took a baht bus back to the hotel. I thought a motor bike on wet roads may not be the safest choice.

The guys were at Le Katai so I joined them for a chat and then popped back to my room to fixed up a web page. When I got back several of them had already left for the British pub for dinner, so I joined those that stayed and had a mis-named Chicken Cordon Bleu (menu had Kiev) which was quite nice. I didn't have a very late night.

A gem of a place...

2009-04-02T04:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 1st April

Today we played at Emerald golf course and what a contrast to the one we played on Monday. Admittedly the green fees were 800B instead of 200 but it was more than 4 times better. The fairways were grassy and the greens were much better and more consistent.

A lot of the holes had rolling fairways and the greens also had a lot of slopes. They were, however, more consistent than those from Monday so you could actually start to judge the breaks rather than just guessing. There were also a lot of water hazards and bunkers.

My front 9 was fairly ordinary and I wasn't keeping my drives on the fairway. I lost 4 balls for the round - 2 of them on the same hole which had 2 lakes on it. The back 9 I played very well with 4 pars and a birdie. The birdie was particularly satisfying, as my pitch shot hit the green 15m to the right of the pin, dribbled to the edge of the ridge and then rolled down hill to 6ft past the hole. Just like Tiger, except of course, he means to do those shots rather than just being lucky.

In the end I was 3 over my handicap (13 out and 20 in) but it won the day by a stroke and this puts me 3 shots behind the current leader after 2 rounds. I also won one of the Nearest-to-pins.

The course also had a nice clubhouse and we all had showers afterwards. We then drove to the nearby town, Ban Chang, for a late lunch. It was already after 4pm. We stayed there an hour and then headed back to Pattaya. After dropping off our bags we met at the bar for presentations and so forth. Most of the group were planning to go to the Blue Lagoon to celebrate the owner's birthday. I intended to go but I spent a few hours answering emails and updating web pages. Also my private email account got cancelled because my credit card expired, or at least because I didn't give them a new expiry date in time. I did join the rest if the crew at the bar about 10pm which was a bit late for the BBQ.

I used my free spin on the wheel from the raffle yesterday and won a "free" beer. I'm not usually a beer drinker but I had a San Mig light and then another. Ed then bought me a 3rd but after that I changed back to Iced tea. Dane was singing karaoke, which he does fairly well and Kiky was pole dancing at one stage and everyone was generally carrying on and having a good time. I also caught up with some of the other people from the boat trip and found out that the Norwegian girl was in fact 30. I left about 11-30 but the others were still there.

Messing about

2009-03-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 31st

For the first time in weeks I didn't wake up early. In fact I thought it was still early when I did wake up and was going to try to go back to sleep but decided to check the time - It was 9:20 and I was supposed to be at the bar near the beach at 10. I had a quick shower and no breakfast and headed out. I didn't see the other 2 from the hotel so assumed they must have left and got general instructions from Danny as to its location. I bough a bag on the way - plastic with a zip for towels etc for 100B. Didn't really have the time or inclination to try and barter. Once I got on to the Beach road I called Dane who gave me the signs to look for and was waiting for me.

There was no panic as it was still 15 or 20 minutes before we boarded the buses to go to the boat. They loaded up a heap of slabs for the trip plus some cartons of soft drink and spirits. The boat it self had 3 decks and was a decent size but not the luxury yacht I had envisioned. We headed out from the port past a boat that was clearly partly sunken - a diving wreck for people who can't swim perhaps.

The trip to the island took about 40 minutes and we dropped anchor 2-300m from the beach. The island we visited was next to the larger Kho Laan, which is one of the main tourist islands. The water was fairly clear and a lovely colour and we were soon swimming off the boat. I got some snorkeling gear but the bottom was fairly barren. Just sand with the occasional chicken bone and one old tyre.

Apart from the 4 Aussies and one Guy from San Francisco and an English guy who manages the bar, most of the guests were Norwegian. This tour is run by the Blue Lagoon bar and the owner, Roar, is from there. There were also a number of Thai girlfriends on board. Just my luck that the only other non Thai woman on board was a 30-ish blonde Norwegian in a skimpy bikini and a body to match. Still I wasn't in a beauty contest so I spent most of my time in my not so skimpy bikini anyway.

I started with a few glasses of soft drink but after the swim and as lunch was coming I even had a San Mig light beer. The second can was mixed with lemonade and after that I had weak whisky/cokes. Lunch consisted of Rice, Green curry, another stir fry with mushrooms in it and fried chicken drumsticks, plus fruit. Most of the time was spent chatting with the various people and eating and drinking.

At one stage we could see rain over the mainland but it was still dry and sunny on the boat. I was on the top deck sun baking when a strong wind came up and I looked up to see dark clouds approaching and the water getting dark and choppy. They pulled anchors and went round to the other side of the island to get away from the weather. On the way we passed an actual yellow submarine - so it's not just an imaginary boat in a Beatles song. We still had a short but heavy shower before it cleared. Then the sun came out again and a few people went for another swim. Some of us tried our hand at fishing but only 3 smallish fish were caught (none by me) and these were thrown back.

We got back to shore about 4-30 and went to the bar where we hopped in the Jacuzzi. People started buying rounds of Sambuca shots but after 2 I'd had enough. That stuff tastes like cough medicine anyway. I headed back to the hotel and lay down and fell asleep. It was about 7-30 when I got up and I decided to check the cards from yesterday, discovering 3 of the 8 had errors. I got these checked by a couple of the other guys. TVL had just got in and we headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It has a selection of European dishes and I had Beef stroganoff - not too bad but with no mushrooms or sour cream was not really what one would normally expect. They had a 2 for 1 on Funky elephant cocktails, which I took up - a mixture of triple sec, Havana club and blue curacao.

I had a chat to Danny on the way back who assured me the rest of the courses would be better than the one we played yesterday. He is expecting 4 or 5 of his regulars to be joining us tomorrow.

Game of the Century

2009-03-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Monday 30th

Golf is a cruel game. We start each round with such optimism and hope only to have it dashed upon the shores of inconsistency and incompetency.

We started gathering at Le Katai from 8 or so onwards and like a number of the others, I had breakfast there. I had knocked up a results sheet as an Excel file in the early hours and printed it off back at the hotel. We loaded up the minibuses and headed off to Chonburi Century for the first game. It seemed to be a long drive and is in fact the furthermost from Pattaya that we will travel. The Bar owner, who is also organiser for our golf and 3 of his regulars joined us for the day, sharing the buses but playing together after our groups.

The course was unimpressive and certainly not up to the standards of the ones we played last time. In fairness a lot of this was due to the fact that it is the end of the dry season and this has resulted in a lot of grass being brown and patchy. The greens were watered but the fairways weren't. The sand traps were very coarse and gritty and there was only a thin layer of this "sand" in them anyway. The bare fairways did mean you got a lot of run on your shots. Some others who have played it before said that it was a lovely coarse then, so maybe its just the season.

I started with a good drive but got a phone call from Panu with some problems. I arranged to call him after the game but it did rather throw my concentration. I was driving fairly well nonetheless ( with 2 or 3 exceptions) but my putting was pretty ordinary. I went out in 14, 4 strokes over my handicap and then had a disastrous back nine saved only by parring the last 2 holes. Our best score was only 30 points, 6 over the nominal score for this type of competition. The worst was only 19 with me being in the bottom half of the field of 8. I did pick up the long drive prize at least.

The club house is also rather basic with a very spartan sitting area with plastic tables and chairs and drinks in cans and bottles. The green fees, caddie fees and cart hire were each 200B, less than $10 and to be honest, that was about what they were worth. They had drinks huts every 3 holes so there was a bit spent there and in the "clubhouse" afterwards. A further 200B as a tip still made it a cheap day.

The trip back did not seem nearly as long for some reason but it was hot and humid and I headed for my airconditioned room. I found an email from Pan Orient and responded then rang Panu to get some data to test to find the bugs.

About 6-30 I headed to the Bar and TVL and I went to a restaurant near Mike's for their smorgasbord. We'd been there with Marie last time. At 185B it's great value, with Thai and European hot dishes, soups, a salad bar and desserts and fruit. We also had a couple of iced fruit drinks. From there we went to the new mall which was still under construction last time. There's a supermarket there and I bought some cereal, milk juice and plastic bowls. I really don't need a full English breakfast everyday, even ignoring the cost aspect. Speaking of which, they had actual "made in Australia" Smiths potato chips there at a suitably horrendous price (over $10). Even Doritos were about $5 a bag. I also picked up some sunscreen at Mike's. I had only a bit left in the bottle normally in my golf bag and decided to get one here before I left, but i hadn't got round to it before the first game. Fortunately I was able to borrow some.

I came back to my room and spent some time adding a few extra options to a couple of report and export routines but still didn't have the data to doing any bug testing. I'd only had a couple of files to do the import tests on before I left and some of these issues have come up once a number of days data has been added.

I have watched another film on the TV as well. Boat trip tomorrow.

A phoney insurance claim

2009-03-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday 29th

Still waking up early - yesterday's blog was written about 5 am this morning. Watched some stupid Steven Segal movie, set in Thailand before getting up for breakfast around 9.

Breakfast is not included in the room this time, which is probably good since last time we missed so many with early starts. We would have this time as well by Andy has changed most of the tee times to about 10-30, with the last one, which is a course closer to Pattaya anyway at 9. I has the English breakfast across the road for just over $4. Raced off without paying but the Rev fixed them up before he left.

I headed down to the embroidery place about 11 but it was closed. I called the number but got no answer, so I went to some nearby shops and Mike's mall looking at dresses. I'd mostly brought golf gear with me - ie tops and bottoms but realised a dress would be handy round the pool and on the boat trip. I bought one but decided against a number of others I looked at. One might be enough since we play golf every other day, so it can get washed in time for the next free day.

I then wandered down to the beach for a brief look. The embroidery shop was opened when I called back so I organised the caps and then went back to the hotel. It was quite hot so I headed to the pool as I'd seen a couple of the others there. A few dips, a bit of sun bathing and reading and a couple of drinks and a hamburger later I headed for my room. I seem to have lost my phone or had it stolen. I tired the usual trick of ringing it so it isn't in my room or my bag. I had hoped it would be at the embroidery shop, since I had to rummage through my bag to find the details for the caps but when I called back it wasn't there, nor at the couple of places in the mall that I knew I'd put it down to try on a dress or pay for something. I guess it will be an insurance claim. Have to ring tomorrow to see what is required.

I had a bit of time in my room. where at least it has air can and about 4 headed downstairs and saw TVL. He and Ed had already been to the driving range about 1pm. TVL said that Ed had phoned and not got an answer - surprise. I decided I needed some practice anyway so grab my glove and 4 clubs and caught a motorcycle to the range. They have high nets all around it which is a good thing since I was nearly reaching the end with a 7 iron and my rescue and driver were hitting the net 20 or 30 metres up. It was only 30B for 40 balls, about 1/3 price back home. When I was down to the last 8 I had some chips and then hit those last few off with a wedge. Back to the hotel now and about 6pm.

The guys should be gathering for dinner and drinks shortly and hopefully the caps will be ready soon. I gave them the number for the bar to leave a message since my mobile number is now useless.

I met up with a couple of the guys and Ed tried my number again. This time it was answered and I worked out it was the girl at the swim suit shop between the embroidery and the Mall who had it. I went down and picked it uop and gave her a reward. I checked the caps and they were about half done, so I went back to the bar. Danny the owner shouted us all around and some of the guys ordered food. I held off and about 7-30 the call came that thje caps were ready. Back down to pick them up and then back to the Bar. Its about 1.3 km each time. By then I was hungry and decide on the well known Cornish Past-Thai for dinner.

I gave out the hats to everyone and they came out quite well. All but one of the guys had Navy, with the exception being bottle green. I got 2 - one aqua and one pink. The Navy one I got last time has really faded badly with the sweat and the sun. This time we had also our names put on the back for an extra 50B. Still was only about $15 each.

Some of the guys have headed out to the bars but it is late enough for me so I've come back to my room.

Let the games begin

2009-03-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday 28th

I checked our path from Friday on Google Earth and It looks like we would have walked 15 or 16km that day.

We decided to give the Chatachuk markets a miss this morning, since we'd done enough shopping and they have more or less the same sorts of stalls that we had seen in many of the street markets or even MBK. This turned out to be a good decision as it meant we weren't rushed with our packing and getting organised to go. It was also quite hot and humid and even a short trip down the road was uncomfortable. Our original plan was to leave about 12-30 on the basis of going to the market but we were ready an hour before that. TVL wanted to change some money so I tried to tell the guy at the taxi stand we wanted to change our time. He didn't get it and wanted to charge us 1500B when we'd already agreed on 1200. Eventually, I gave up and even his parting shot as we left was only down to 1300.

Fortunately the original guy was back by the time we'd checked out and called the taxi for us. We left just on 11-45 and it took us 15 minutes to get back to the tollway, although we didn't get on it till further along. I'm not sure whether this was the first chance or whether he only did it when we said we'd pay the tolls. They totalled about $4 or $5. The trip didn't seem to long although it was probably around 90 minutes to 2 hours. I guess travelling with someone distracts you more than when you are on your own.

When we arrived at the hotel 3 of our group were in the dining area, but left soon after saying we'd meet up at the bar across the road for dinner. We checked in and I found my poolside room, which cost me extra was not in fact "pool side" (as in on the ground floor by the pool like last time) but "pool view" on the 2nd floor overlooking it with a small balcony. The rooms are adequate, as expected from the last trip here, not quite as nice as the Honey but still better than in Wichian Buri. They all provide the essentials of a bed, a fridge, an air conditioner and an en suite. Here we are back to the one tap instant heater for the shower with no separate shower area or bath. (At least it is still hot at full pressure)

I didn't have enough money to prepay the room so I handed over 5000B and once I'd unpacked headed down the street. I stopped at the embroidery shop to get info and options for our souvenir caps then withdrew another 20,000B. I figured, I needed 7000 for the hotel and about the same for the golf as well as spending money. Last time we had to pay up front for the golf. However, this time we just pay as we go so I now have a rather large amount of cash that I'm carrying.

Back at the hotel, I met up with Ed , who had organised the tour, and then went to my room. The hotel now has free wireless Internet in the room and in the foyer, where they also have a couple of PCs for guest use. I can download emails OK, but can't seem to send them from Thunderbird, and had to use the web browser interface. This has happened before with connections from the hotels and has to do with the way they set up the SMTP server. It's quite annoying since you can't just hit reply to an email.

This morning there was an email from Conan, the 7 ft actor/Mensa guy I met up with in Bangkok last year. We had missed each other in Bangkok since he was busy moving to Pattaya, so I may catch up with him here. He said it was getting quite unpleasant living in Bangkok because of the political situation, although it's not something you notice as a tourist.

We all met up at La Katai. the bar across the street for dinner. The first 6 of us arrived more or less together around 6-30 or so and the last 2 somewhat later, since they'd been playing golf. There are 8 of us here now with another one arriving later this week. The bar has changed quite a bit since 2 years ago. They have taken over the next door property as well and are renovating the old place, getting more table area and putting in an internet cafe as well. The guys seemed to know everyone there since most of them came on last year's club trip as well, and some had been back here again since on "private" trips. We finally met Dane's girlfriend, Kiky, who seems quite nice. He seemed quite smitten with her when he came back last time. She also had the Rev's washing from November. He'd left too early in the morning to collect it so she'd picked it up from the hotel and kept it for him.

Andy, one of the bar owners and the local organiser for our golf was there and is changing our tee times to later in the morning. Nobody really wants to get up at 6 on holidays.

Dane was getting us organised for a boat trip on Tuesday. This is 1500B for men but only 500B for women and includes all food and drink. I guess they don't think we can drink as much as the guys. Apparently, you can expect everyone to be quite drunk by the end of the trip. I got the decisions made for our caps which I'll get done tomorrow.

So, we are are here, things are getting organised and it's time to relax and have a fun.

Wat, again?

2009-03-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

Friday 27th

We decided to revisit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and Royal Palace today. We left the hotel about 10-30 and stopped at Robinson's where I bought a belt. I must have lost weight since I bought the new pants as they were a bit loose. I found one with pictures of golfers on it and decided to get it even though it was a bit pricier than the plain ones.

We took the underground to the end of the line. We then walked to the palace through Chinatown. The first area seemed to have a lot of hard ware shops but as we walked further the goods in the shops changed. At one stage we must have passed 20 or 30 shoe shops one after the other.

We walked tough a park just before getting there and had trouble finding an exit. When we did we were 90 degrees off where we thought we were. We eventually arrived at the palace wall via the Ministry of Defence. A number of people informed us it wasn't open but we continued anyway and surprise it was open. Makes us think it probably was on Wednesday as well.

The temple and palace are very impressive and there are some photos in my 2006 blog as well.

It was about 1-30 by the time we finished and after a drink in the shop, we headed towards the ferry terminal, where we had lunch. While we were eating, we saw some barges heading down river. These sit much lower in the water than the ones heading up river the other day. From there we took a ferry further up river and then walked back towards Dusit Park, to see the Teak Palace. It was by this time after 3 and we went straight to the palace skipping the other exhibits closer to the entrance. We were in one of the last tour groups and again the building is impressive - 3 stories, 76 rooms, build entirely of wood and held together with wooden pegs and completed in only 19 months. There is a model of the building on display there and that took 18 months to build!

We headed over to look at some of the throne rooms, but they had already closed so we couldn't go inside but could at least photograph the outside. The second of these was the same building we'd seen from the other side the other day, near the statue of the king on the horse, we we passed on our way back to the street out of the area.

We walked to the marble temple which was a little way down that street and then went to catch a bus. We were walking passed the actual Royal residence area and walked most of the way before we even saw a bus stop. By then the traffic was so bad we decided just to keep walking and eventually walked all the way to the Skytrain station.

By the time we got back to the hotel station, we'd been away 7 hours, most of the time spent walking. WE probably did more than 10 km exclusing walking around the various places we visited. TVL needed a coffee and then we went to the hotel taking this shot of the setting sun reflected from a sky scraper.

We were soon out again for dinner. This we had at a restaurant only a 100m or so up the road. After that we walked through Soi Cowboy - a bar area - and then back to the hotel.

It wasn't much after 8pm at that time but we'd had enough and headed back to our rooms.

till we dropped

2009-03-26T20:11:00.001-07:00

Thursday 26th

At breakfast, neither of the guys was wearing long pants, so it was obvious they weren't interesting in going to the Wat. We were a bit worn out from Wednesday's travels.

TVL and I decided to go to the Gems Gallery and The Rev said he'd come too as long as he didn't have to do much walking. The hotel didn't have any idea what I wanted so I jumped on the net and found the web page and tried to call them to send a car to pick us up. It was then I realised that my sim card came without any minutes so I went to the 7-11 for a recharge. It then turned out the number I was trying wasn't working so I had to get back on the web for the other number, which did.

I was looking for some drop earrings to match my Topaz jewellery I bought last trip but they really didn't have anything for me. I saw the perfect style in 14k gold so they do make what I want. Apart from the colour it was 2 or 4 the price. In the end I only bought something from the souvenir shop but the boys made up for it by buying stuff for relatives. The older woman who was our guide was really beaming by the end. The Rev headed back to the hotel and TVL and I went to MBK shopping mall. We had lunch there and as I got my wallet out I realised I still had the Rev's key which I'd put there for sake keeping. Apparently he'd realised before he left the Gems place but couldn't get our attention as we left in the mini bus.

MBK is huge. Its like a galleria with a flea market, department stores, cinema complex attached covering 6 floors and is probably 500 m long. I was particularly interested in some long pants for golf but also on the look out for other clothes. I found the place I bought my light blue top last trip straight away and tried on the Thai style blazers. I wasn't convinced so decided against a purchase. I also found some tops similar to that one later but they were 3 times the price so again no sale. We did buy some DVDs mostly from our lists and TVL found a camera bag. He really knows how to shop - he does seem to know how to buy one thing and picked out 15 DVDs. Yesterday it was 6 golf shirts.

I decided to go back to the golf arcade again and found a pair of Aqua slacks on the first floor. While they were taking them up we went to the next floor and I organised another pair there, this time in black. TVL decided to get some shorts - 3 pairs, which got him a free polo shirt. I looked at the shorts as well and bought 2 which got me a free shirt as well. These were the same Addidas coolaclime as we'd bought the day before. Since I was in the neighbourhood I then got my hair cut at the same place I'd been to last trip and in 2006. WE headed back to the hotel to see the Rev sitting in the foyer. At first he joked he been there all day but he'd got a spare key and had a nap, and a long bath while we were shopping.

We headed to Sukhumvit for dinner and in the end He went to an Indian while we went to a Thai restaurant across the street. We could wave to eat other. By the time we got back it was quite late and I finished up falling asleep with the TV on. This woke me some time early in the morning but I couldn't find the remote and was too tired to get up and look for it so I dozed while hearing the news from BBC for several hours.

Friday

The Rev left for Pattaya this morning, saying he'd done enough site seeing already since he'd been here a couple of times earlier and had aranged a game for Saturday. WE are about to head over to the palace and temple again.

Wat we saw and wat we didn't

2009-03-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 25th

I woke up early this morning, even without noisy neighbours as an excuse, and watched a movie that started at 6am. "Peggy Sue got married" with Kathleen Turner playing a teenager and Nicholas Cage her boyfriend. He had a lot of hair, so it was an old movie.

About 8, after my shower, I knocked on the guys doors and we agreed to meet half an hour later at the cafe for breakfast. I bought some internet time which I can use wirelessly from my room. It was a bit more than the palce I'd found the night before but the convenience is worth a bit extra.

We decide to got to the place and emerald Buddha temple ( Wat Racha phradit) today and by the time breakfast was over it was after 9-30. I figured by the time we got anywhere it'd be after 10 and things would be open. The plan was to take the underground to Silom, then change to the sky train to the river. From there we'd take the ferry to the palace.

I said I'd show them the golf building in Patpong, which is a Soi off Silom, while we were there. We emerged 2 hours later having bought between us, 8 shirts, 63 pairs of socks 2 pairs of shoes, a golf club, some tees, a putting target, a map of Bangkok and some cutlery.

The later were some long handled spoons I wanted in perth but couldn't find for getting My metamucil out of its jar when it gets low. Also I have no spoons in the room so I had to get some any way. TVL was inspired to but some as well. My share of the golf purchase were 2 of the shirts - Addidas coolclime polo shirt in light and dark blue. There was a nice one in black, white and gold - state colours but not in my size. I also bough a pair of Footjoy golf shoes for about $90.

We then got back on plan and caught the sky train to the river. There we were informed by a helpful boat owner that the next ferry was nearly an hour away but he'd be happy to take us on the private boat for 200b each. Since I know the ferry cost is 18b, I declined and surprise, the next boat arrived only 10 minutes later. In addition to the usual sights of temples, boats and so forth on the river there was this tiny boat pulling 4 huge barges behind it. A bit like a mini pulling 4 jumbo jets.

Once we alighted and headed for the Palace, another helpful gentleman told us it wasn't open. We thanked him and walked on to one of the gates where the guard informed us that it really wasn't open because it was a Buddhist holy day. Apparently not all helpful people are trying to rip you off after all.

The guard then drew all over my map showing temples that were open, hailed a tuk-tuk driver and negotiated a 40B trip to 3 of these and what turned out to be a jewellery store and a native craft/souvenir store as one of the stops. As none of us are exactly slender, it was a tight squeeze. We visited the Standing Buddha and its associated temple (Wat Indra wihan).

Next we passed a statue of one of the kings and a horse and one of the palaces, then passed the zoo to those shops where the driver gets a coupon for bringing us.

We didn't buy any jewellery, although I did look for some earrings to match my Topaz set, but the guys bought some souvenirs. We then got taken to another coupon place - a silk tailor shop where he begged us to go in even if we didn't want to buy anything.

Next it was to the temple of the golden mount (Phu Khoa Thong). I hadn't been here before so it was worth the trip. It is on what is possibly the highest hill in Bangkok so it was a bit of a climb but you can see the whole city from up there. It has a golden spire at the top as well.

By then it was after 2 and we were all hungry so I got him to takes us to Banglamphoo, where we had a late lunch. I had green curry and 2 cocktails - a Daiquiri and a Blue Hawaii. We then tried to get a ride to the river taxi pier where we planned to ride to Pan Tip Plaza. After being quoted 200B to go back basically to the Golden Mount by one Tuk Tuk and a taxi driver, another said he'd do it for 100. This is the real price when you don't get taken to these tourist traps where they get coupons. In the end we got taken all the way to Pan Tip for 200. This tuk-tuk was much newer and nippier than the first one. We wandered around a bit but in the end only bought some cards for the guy's cameras. We then walked to the Skytrain - a bit further than I remember and then back to the hotel.

After an hours rest, the Rev and I went to the massage place and had Thai massages while TVL went to Robinson's department store. We then had dinner at the outdoor restaurant I ate at with Conan previously.

I realised I have spent more today than in the entire 12 days previously.

I have just had an email asking me to go to the States again for 2 -3 weeks so Looks like there will be another blog to follow this one.

Let's get this holiday started.

2009-03-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 24th

This morning I packed everything but my trainers which I would change into later before heading to breakfast. On the way to work, I finally saw the farmers pulling up those potatoes I've been watching grow since last June. Work was mainly about finishing off and fixing bugs. I finished the monthly report listings and Panu started testing. We discovered that you can not after all read hidden rows and columns in a spreadsheet so I added hide and close routines at either end of the import routine. Then we found you can hide/unhide if the sheet is protected so added unprotect/protect as well. Also fixed a few lookup screens and so forth.

Spencer wasn't back from Bangkok so about 1-30 I rang him. He said not to wait for him but to leave when I was ready. I started backing up to the web but it was going to take over an hour so I burnt a CD instead. We left about 2-30 and when I got to the hotel I realised that for the only time this week I'd left my key in the room. It took a few minutes to locate it but by 3 pm we were on the road. There was abit of light rain but nothing like the storm Spencer reported driving through coming the other way.

It was under 3 hours to the turn off from the motorway with a delay when we were all pulled over on the elevated tollway so a cavalcade of official vehicles could pass. Not sure if it was the King or some otehr member of the royal family. It was failrly sunny as we neared Bangkok and so I was able to capture some reasonable photos of the fantastic artwork you see on the tourist buses.

As it was nearing 6, the traffic once we left was fairly heavy but eventually we got to the hotel. This is a few hundred meters further up the Soi from the Key hotel where I stayed last trip. It is actually quite reasonable, certainly a bit better than in Wichian Buri and is quite reasonable at 1000B per night. It even has a pool. Several of the other golf guys have stayed here in the last few years. Reviews on the Internet were mixed with some loving it and others not, so there was a bit of concern. It has carpet on the floor, Several movie channels on the TV and a bathroom that has the toilet roll holder inside, a bath and both hot and cold taps.

I unpacked and bought some soft drinks etc from the 7-11 which is practically next door and then wandered down to and then across Sukhumvit to a Mexican restaurant where I had some Nachos for tea. I then had a foot massage on the way back. I went to the Reflex place I'd used on the last trip.

I went back to my room and watched some TV. I was thinking of staying up till the Rev and TVL arrived from Perth, which would have been around midnight but I was too tired and went to sleep instead.

Trees

2009-03-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

Monday 23rd

Spencer was in Bangkok at a meeting today so Panu and I worked through the program and hopefully eliminated most of the bugs. I added a directory tree for finding the files to import and froze some of the columns in some tables that were very wide. We also discovered that you need to unhide, hidden cells in a spreadsheet before you can read them and you have to unprotect the sheet be fore you can do that. It seems to be working well. I also went through the reports just making sure they were updated with the latest changes. Still a few to do tomorrow and also updating of the documentation. It looks like coming back for a few days is a good idea. I'm sure there will be other niggles to sort out.

It was quite warm and sunny today although as usual I spent most of the day inside. I actually left before 6pm tonight and the sun was still up. There was and accident on the road back to town - not a collision but it looked like a truck had lost its load of grain.

There was an article in Sunday's paper (which we got today) about those trees with the yellow flowers, which are called neem or sadao trees depending where you are. The flowers and the beans are used for cooking, and also for dyeing. They also have medicinal uses.

Tonight was soup night, where they keep a vat of soup boiling and then cook chicken or pork pieces, noodles and vegetables that you select in the vat and then pour the broth over it.

There are a lot of contractors and service personnel in the hotel. The standard dress code is coloured overalls, with the different companies having their own colours. It's a bit like tribes or gangs.

Tuesday

I packed before leaving the hotel so it will just be a quick stop to change shoes and load my bags and then off to Bangkok. On the way to the office this morning I finally saw the potatoes in those fields I have been driven past over the time I've been here.

A long weekend

2009-03-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd

It has been a long couple of days. It was after 7:30 yesterday and nearly 7 tonight but the time I got back to the hotel. Still we are making significant progress towards finalising the software. The new spreadsheet to collect data at the sites is more or less finalised after several revisions and my program can now read a days worth of these in a few seconds. A great time saver for Panu (on the left) who would take hours to transfer the data manually. Unfortunately this has lead to yet another revision of the database and consequent rewriting of edit screens reports and calculations. It seems ironic that it takes so long to get things right but I guess the clients generally don't know what they want until they see what they get and whether it works for them.

It was sunny and hot yesterday, so I believe, although I really only had a few minutes here and there outside. As I said, it was late when I got back and I spent most of the evening with Chris and Kieran in the canteen watching soccer and rugby on the TV and having a few drinks.

This morning, as usual I was woken up early. Next door put on their TV and started talking about 5:30 so that was the end of my sleep. I eventually got up around 7 and took advantage of the sunshine to re-photograph the temple being build across the field from the hotel and the nearest river, although that as you can see is now a series of disconnected ponds.

With clearer skies I had another shot at capturing the sunset, although by the time I left, the sun it self was behind the mountains. As we drove past the potato fields near the office, we saw quite a few fires where they were burning off.

A bit more TV tonight, a film with Morgan Freeman but I'm back in my room now, just after 9pm.

No light rain

2009-03-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Friday 20th

This is exciting, its just after 7pm and the power has been of for several hours. The only light in my room is from the laptop screen or if I turned them on, the phone or mp3 player screens.

We had a fairly serious storm earlier today and the power flickered off and back on a handful of times. I have finished most of the reworking of the program and it was ready for testing. Panu and I were starting to put in the first day's data and had put in 6 or so tanks and I decided to save them. Nothing was saved, because the server had gone down. I waited for a while and when the power stayed off, decided it was time to go home.

The power has just come back on while I was typing that last paragraph, so things might be ok after all.

Fortunately they must have gas in the kitchen as they were able to cook dinner - pork chop and chips with salad - and the ice cream hadn't melted so dessert was ok too.

We sat over there talking for a while and the staff put candles about.

With the storm there was no sunset to photograph today but I did take some shots around the office. There are lots of trees similar to this one with the yellow flowers around the area. They are a bit like jacarandas in that they are relatively unspectacular most of the year but at certain times they are very colourful. The other shot is of the road to the office. There was a shot of it in flood on the last blog but since then it has gone from being a dirt track to a gravel track.

We are already talking about me coming back for a few days after the golf is over just in case there's some tidying up or further training required. I guess I may miss Easter at home, but be here for songkraam, which is supposedly a religious based festival but in a lot of places is a prolonged water pistol fight. Could be fun in the right place but at other times just annoying.

Sound affects...

2009-03-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday 19th

The hotel is about 5 km from the town and more or less in a rural setting. Lying in bed in the quiet of the night, you can hear the crickets and frogs calling over the quiet whisper of your air conditioner. Unfortunately these cabins are not sound proofed so you can also hear everything else that happens. I was reminded of that joke about how Indians get their names when I was kept awake by "Two Dogs Barking" last night. One seemed just out side my room. My neighbours also seem to have changed, with a crying baby being heard last nightl.

You also hear every car starting up, the first at 5am and the temple bell tolls at 6. At home I'm usually up past midnight and sleep in till 8 or later. Here, 9-30 seems late but I don't get to sleep in.

A lot of work done yesterday, essentially re-writing the allocation routine. Seems fine until I tried to split each well's production between its separate reservoirs. I had changed the way this was defined and then realised it wouldn't work, but the old way was still valid. Now I have to change that form back to the way it was yesterday. Tedious and annoying but not fatal.

I left the office around 6 last night, just as the sun was setting. The air has been hazy/cloudy/smoggy every day so the sunsets are quite colourful. The sun is like a huge orange ball, but unfortunately I couldn't quite get that colour on my photos. I eventually found a "sunset" setting on my camera but it was too late as it had disappeared behind the mountains by then. Will try again another day. We also had what would probably be described as a brief light shower while driving to work yesterday. Not really enough to even settle the dust.

Thursday, as loyal readers may remember, is BBQ night at the canteen. I started my pig out with a crab, similar to the blue manna crabs back home and then had some prawns and a mud crab. Finished off with a mixed grill - beef strips, pork ribs, chicken drumsticks and kebabs - fried rice and salad. Ice cream and fruit salad for dessert. There was a spy movie with Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley on the TV over dinner which wasn't too bad.

The company has upped their satellite subscription so you get all the channels (except pay per view I guess) including the platinum movie channels. A couple of the guys were talking the other day of getting it in their rooms. Some have already done it and if you get 2 boxes per antenna it works out at 1000 baht each per month for a gold level subscription - $40-$50 - which, given the lack of other entertainment options is probably not a bad investment.

The staff are all very helpful. This afternoon I found someone had, unbidden, put a cover on my mattress and when I made a comment about the cans of coke in the fridge in the canteen not being cold, a cooler with several cans covered in ice appeared at the table a few minutes later.

Ironically, after trying to do some Thai reading every night at home, I haven't got round to doing any since I've been here. Very slack.

Here's an idea whose time has yet to come - Toilet paper only a convenient 2 or 3 steps from where you need it.

A Dry Argument

2009-03-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 18th

I was again woken up by the guy next door around 5:30. I guess he will be getting up that early every day and putting on his TV. It did mean we were on the way to the office before 8 this morning.

I had picked up my washing basket last night and this morning discovered they hadn't been washed. Fortunately it was done tonight so I will have clean clothes for tomorrow.

I also now have some cholesterol tablets. I couldn't really be sure whether my driver was going to Phetchabun anyway (an hour each way) or whether he was making a special trip, but I printed of a page from the net so he could show the chemist what I needed. It turned out to cost about twice as much as at home, which surprised me. I guess those government subsidies really do make our drugs cheaper.

Apart from that it was mostly working through these latest changes today. We are more or less going back to an earlier approach of allocation between wells based on estimated measurements. I changed that some time ago as they thought is was too complicated and not giving the result they needed. I have most of the data changes made and will work on the calculations tomorrow, and possibly the import from Excel.

I have added a number of validation checks as well, cross checking the results from the data sheet with export sales and transfer tickets, so hopefully any data entry errors will be easy to spot.

I had the Thai meal tonight - some chicken and cabbage stir fry and something else with fried eggs in it. It wasn't too bad, despite how it sounds.

One thing I have noticed this trip is how dry everything is so I have included photos from the last few days with photos of the same places taken last year. The river must have dropped 12 meters since the September rains and the rice and potato crops have been harvested leaving empty fields. It is strange since I have previously always thought of Thailand as being wet and green.

One advantage of this is that there aren't many mosquitoes about. They were pretty bad last time.

Site Seeing

2009-03-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 17th

I slept fairly well - really glad to have that extra mattress - and eventually was woken up by the noise from the neighbour about 6-30. I thought it was too soon to get up so I played some more games on my MP3.

Eventually got up about 7-30 and found my shower had a built in random number generator. Both the pressure and temperature of the water were all over the place. Never really hot or cold just varying shades of warm and never a torrent either.

My driver was already waiting when I left the room so I had a quick breakfast and sorted out a laundry basket, then went back to the room to fill it and pick up the laptop. It was a bit after 8 by the time we were on the way.

Spencer had read my note from yesterday and further discussion ensued. In the end we have decided to give up on estimating the stock levels of oil and water together and do everything on combined volumes.

He suggested Panu take me to one of the sites to see how the tanker ticket system works. This was written by someone else but the data collected gets exported to my system.

Before I could do that I had to get some safety boots, overalls and a hard hat. These were all available from the stores but as I'd only worn thongs to work, I had no socks and the boots rubbed me after a while.

We visited two sites with the usual paraphernalia - pumps, tanks, pipes all over the place. It was also pretty hot, especially with long sleeves.

I started on the changes this afternoon and did a few smaller ones before stopping and writing out the plans. I eventually got to discuss them but didn't go any further. It was still nearly 7 before I was back at the hotel.

Dinner was pork steaks and I watched then end of some American film with Christian Slater before heading back to the room.

I have left something at home - my cholesterol tablets. It won't kill me not to take them for a few days but skipping a month probably isn't the best idea. We tried 3 Chemist shops on the way home but nobody had any. Must be the healthy lifestyle, no one here has cholesterol problems.

The log cabin

2009-03-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

Monday 16th

I didn't sleep too badly although I woke up often and didn't really get enough. I had breakfast downstairs in the main restaurant rather than in the lounge on the 22nd floor and then headed out for a walk. This was about 8:15 and turned out to be quite short since the shops don't open until 10. The photo shows a slightly different view from the hotel, taken at the end of the passage way and showing the office block where my client has its office.

I decide to get back on the net and downloaded a new interface for my MP3 player that I'd read about in a magazine. I then finished packing and headed down to the lobby to check out.

My driver was supposed to be there at 9 but I hadn't gotten a message so I just sat in the lobby, reading and waiting. Eventually he walked in, just before 10. Apparently he'd arrived at 9 but the desk didn't put a message through. We loaded up and headed North. We stopped at a Lotus on the outskirts of Bangkok where I bought a prepaid sim card, a slim mattress like last time and some soft drink. The first time I stayed here I had constant back aches from the hard mattresses so I bought a similar item on the second trip and slept much better. It's worth $20 to get a good night's sleep for a week.

It was after 1 by the time we got to the hotel and I was put in one of the wooden cabins. This one is slightly better than last time, where I moved out after one night. At least it has a small amount of hanging space and after a bit of shuffling of furniture it is more or less liveable for the week.

I just dropped my bags at the time and we headed off to the site office. I have the same office as the first 2 times. It appears to be vacant when I'm not there. Also Nico has left the company and been replaced by a local, so his driver is again available to me. He seemed genuinely glad to see me again and, in fact, most of the staff were friendly and welcoming. Jim is off duty this time so it is Spencer that I will be dealing with. I only met him for a few day on the first trip before his shift finished.

I was originally wondering what they wanted me to do while I was here, and whether there would be enough to keep me busy. After talks with Spencer and then later with Panu and Kattavut (the new guy) I'm thinking I might be pretty busy and wondering if I'll finish it all in time.

The problems seem to be partly due to inaccuracies inherent in measuring, partly due to problems fully unloading tankers due the viscous and waxy nature of the oil and partly due to some misunderstandings about how things work. There are some decision required but also I hope to be able to sort out some speed ups for Pranu who seems to spend hours inputting and validating the data everyday. About 2-30 I went to the lunch room and found they had sent a lunch pack for me - rissoles, broccoli and mash potato, plus fruit and soup (which I skipped) There was also a couple of slices from a fench loaf and a small serving of butter (or similar). It turned out to be completely liquified abd I spilt most of it.

It was nearly 7 but the time I got back to the hotel. After a brief look at the local food options, I opted for the pork chop, chips and salad followed by and Icecream cone. A couple of other service guys were at dinner so I joined them. One I'd met on the previous trips and the other in Spencer's office earlier. I watched a few comdedies on the big TV there before heading back to my room to move furniture and unpack.

Its not even 9 pm yet but already I'm thinking of calling it a night.

Actually, I discovered the update to my MP3 menu included a whole lot of games so I wasted a few hours playing some of them.

Puff the Magic Dragon Boat

2009-03-15T16:51:00.001-07:00

Sunday 15th

It used to be that international travel was the privilege of the beautiful people who smoked a particular brand of cigarettes, or was that the other way around? Nowadays, we take it for granted and even complain about how long it takes. There is still a sense of magic about entering what is essentially a cinema where food is served and emerging in a place with different climate, culture, language and for Thailand even a different alphabet.

The 2 trips last year were on Thai run but Star Alliance branded planes. This time it was on a Thai badged aircraft which had been specially painted out with and image of a dragon boat.

IT was essentially the same model as the last ones but it seemed as though there was just that bit more leg room than before. Business class was not much more than half full with many of us with a vacant seat beside us. They cleverly stagger the used seats so in my case there was no-one directly before or behind me.

The food was very good and even included a small lobster tail in the entrée. I was still practicing my reading by translating the menu when the hostess aririved to take my choce for mains. I quickly switched to the English page and picked the Stir fried pork with garlic and Cashews.

In the end I watched the films on the main screen - Madagascar 2 and then Australia. They say the scenery is one of the best bits of that film and we missed out a bit since the image seemd to be a bit washed out. Once that finished I caught the end of the Keanu Reeve film on the personal screen which filled in most of the time till we landed.

I had been talking to a couple in the boarding queue who have several houses here (she is Thai - he is Australian and owns several businesses in Perth). As the bus pulled up at the terminal, we saw another one had just disgorged its load so there was already a crowd ahead of us. When we emerged in to the terminal and everyone turned left for immigration, they went right, so I went with them. Bangkok has several different Immigration/passport control areas and by bucking the herd I was able to walk to a virtually empty area and didn't even have to queue.

After a visit to the ladies, I was soon down the other end of the terminal, passing the busy immigration area which still had a multitude waiting, mostly from our flight. Even though I was through so quickly, my luggage was already on the carousel and I was through customs to the arrivals hall a few minutes later.

The rep from the hotel was right there at the exit and I quickly changed some money and we headed out of the terminal. There was some delay due to traffic control, but after 10 minutes the limo arrived - a Merc - and they loaded my gear. The trip was uneventful and the ride was very smooth. I had to look at the speedo to realise we were doing 130 in an 80 zone. We even passed a motorcycle cop at one stage.

The hotel check in was smooth and I was soon in my room on the 21st floor. There was a welcome plate of fruit and the bed was turned down with a fluffy bathrobe laid out (which I am wearing now). By then it was around midnight. I read a bit of the paper I'd brought from the plane and then went to sleep.

This is a really nice hotel and there are photos of the grounds in my blog from last year so I won't put any more here. Unfortunately I only ever stay here one night on my way to or from the remote site.

Business or Pleasure? - Yes

2009-03-14T04:40:00.000-07:00

I'm back travelling again after 4 months at home.

My (old) golf club has started an annual golf trip to Pattaya, with the first one happening 2 years ago. I was on that one but couldn't go last year because it clashed with my trip to NZ to play hockey in the Australian vets team.

I had organised to go on this year's trip soon after arriving back from the last of many trips, last year (hockey and mensa).

About a month ago I had an email from Pan Orient asking if I could come for a week for further training and to change the software. Due to other commitments here I couldn't have left much earlier so decided to combine the two activities into one trip.

Originally the plan was for myself and 2 of the guys from the golf club to arrive Tuesday night and have 3 1/2 days in Bangkok sightseeing before heading to Pattaya to meet up with the rest of the golf crew on the Saturday. By leaving Sunday night, I plan to have 7 full days in the office at Wichian Buri with 2 days either end travelling to and from Bangkok. I will still get back the same day as the other 2 arrive.

At least with the upgrade to business class and my silver membership with Thai Airways, I shouldn't have to worry about excess baggage charges.

I have also been continuing with my learning to read the Thai language. I had printed out the Thai and English versions of the Rosetta Stone manuals and have been doing one or 2 lessons most nights before going to sleep. I finished these only a few days ago. I wonder how much I'll remember? Still if anybody tells me "Go down the street past the school to the garage, turn right and continue for 2 streets then turn left. The Hospital is on your right" I might even understand them. Similarly, I'll be right if any one tells me "the blue rectangles are larger than the red circles". I wonder which will be the most useful, assuming I don't accidently stagger into a geometry lecture, or possibly a kindergarten.