Up Early And Off To Boy Air And Sound,

it is on the Sukhumvit Pattaya Soi 5, if you are going to Bangkok it is on the other side of the road, the reason for the visit was that my stereo in the truck had ceased to be, over the past 7 years it has had the same problem 3 times, instead of folding up into the dash board it stops half way then will not work again, in the past it has cost 1,200 then 1,200 again, the last time 1,800, each time the repair always took 4 - 6 weeks, well this time it was going to be 2,200 baht, but a new old one instead of being 4,200 could be mine for 3,500 if I did not want the instruction book, well as the controls were the same that was OK for me, I am now looking towards Pattaya coming from Bangkok look for the Toyota sign on the other side of the road as a landmark, if you are coming from Pattaya the Toyota sign will be on your left then take the next 'U' turn and BoyAir will be on your left,

on the other side of the Soi he has workshops, with almost an army of staff, the sign to look out for,

a view of the side of the shop, also there are more workshops behind it, so if you want any in car entertainment I would recommend this shop,

and here is my sorry looking unit, half in and half out, also after 7 years my 10 stack CD player was only playing 3 discs, a new one 6,900, but a second hand one 3,000, total for the new player, 10 stack CD player and a new set of windshield wipers 6,900 baht,

and my new one fitted, although brand new it still takes tapes so it is an old model, but it sounded great, I guess over the years cables may have come loses from the back of the unit so maybe a few of the 6 speakers were not working, well now they all are, what a difference!

also whilst out that way I wanted to call into Nissan to see how much a respray of my truck would be, living out here does have its drawbacks, the sun ruins anything left out in it, in this case the paint work of the truck, it has turned in places to powder, the look of it I am not worried about, but being near to the sea I am more concerned about it rusting, above is the bonnet (hood),

another view,

the roof above the drivers side,

and the rear passengers side, luckily only tall people notice the roof! but as I was at Boy's I asked how much, I already had been quoted 30,000 from the battery shop, but they would out work it as they do not have a spray shop, well the respray would here be a much more reasonable 22,000 plus 1,600 for some of the plastic that has also perished in the sun, I next called in to the main Nissan dealership where I bought the truck 7 years ago,

now this I find strange they said they do not do resprays they out work them as well as all crash damage that needs spraying, oh well, so when Mick and Mass have returned from their jaunt to see the family I will treat the truck to a 40,000 kilometers service and a respray,

this is their card with directions,

and telephone numbers and their web site is here,

just as I was going back indoors I noticed that the mini orange plant that we have has got more flowers on it than ever before, although they are bitter if eaten if you add a couple of crushed ones to a orange cordial drink the flavour of the drink is improved no end,

then off to breakfast, well late lunch, that is just a small problem with BoyAir he or I should say his shop it is always so busy it does mean a bit of waiting, in my case more than a few hours, so take a book, but every so often cold water or hot coffee is brought round, but back to lunch we again went to Dong Tan beach this is the police box in the car park,

a view across the beach,

now walking towards the restaurant, no bikes or cars are allowed here in the day time, we were making our way to the Olala restaurant,

we were going to look at the outside menu, but some clown left his or her bike right in front of the menu, some people seem so dumb, I do not think it was a customer as the bike could not be seen from the inside of the restaurant, which I would have thought would of been the point of leaving it there to keep an eye on it,

in side a nice fountain some how seemed to make the place feel cool although there was no air conditioning,

plenty of places, there were only 3 other people there,

Diana as lovely as ever,

chicken salad for me, spaghetti bolognese for Diana,

which she found delicious!

another view of the restaurant and water feature, the meal for both of us including one water and one soda 245 baht,

the selfish cyclist had by now removed the bike,

Pattaya's answer to the Hells Angels! now time to go out to the market, Jay and Mick are out for a boys night out so I am baby sitting so now we are going to meet Mike and Riza at Theprisit market,

Precil and Diana can not drive motorbikes so I took Diana and Precil was on the back of Mass's,

the round about has now reviled it's secret, it is going to be the base for a spirit house, when buildings in Thailand are erected it is thought that the spirits that lived on the land will have no where to live, so a house is built for them, that way the spirits are not angry at the new house owner,

now into the market to look around a few shops, this one for motorcyclists,

and very colourful shirts and shorts,

second hand clothes stall, only 39 baht each,

fresh mangos, but these are the slightly sour ones you eat with a mixture of sugar and salt,

salted bar-b-q fish, these are all Tilipia's,

now when I am rich I really want one of these, a model helicoptors, but it would have to be an unbreakable one!

then a brief look at the plant section nearby, theses are pitcher plants, a insect falls in and the plant absorbes the incsect,

now this looks quite dangerous, but it is a common sight in any Thai market, boiling oil,

in this case for fried chicken, the tought of some one knocking this lot over and catching fire does not bear thinking about, smelt nice though!

multi couloured purses, all 100 baht each,

then time for a beer, all of that shopping was thirsty work!

Diana and Riza with some food for later tonight,

"Cheers!" from all of them,

we gave Sai Jai her pictures from last week, she was so happy, at least this week it did not rain so her stall did not get wet,

then back to 388 feet up and watch a movie or two, first up Amadeus, his life story as seen through the now mad court mussician Antonio Salieri,

then the girls turn, Ghost Ship, not for the quesy, Diana was nearly sick at one stage, so it must have been good! Mike and Riza left, so at about 2 in the morning we went to bed, the young bloods finaly made it home at 4 in the morning, well I am sure we will hear more about it at the Saturday get together!