Yesterday Was A Quite Day For Us,

but the evening was busy!

the market at Bali Hai was busy,

well I just had to strike the pose as well!

this is the view from our table where we were going to watch the fireworks, this time though I was going to use the table as a support, I was hoping that the light shining towards us would be switched off when the display began, I was hoping that the fireworks would then be seen through the leaves of the palm tree,

the view towards the beer tent, Diana ordered me a small beer, I was a bit surprised when this one arrived,

but quite happy as well!

the dispenser is quite neat, the central column is filled with ice keeping the beer surrounding it cool, better than having ice cubes in the glass as it does not water down the beer as they melt,

then the fireworks began,

unfortunately the light facing us was not turned off,

so I did not get the effect I was hoping for,

but never the less it was a great show,

sitting this close the noise could be felt as well as heard,

all of these shots were taken with exactly the same camera settings as the night before,

except I was using the table as a support rather than holding the camera with both hands,

all to soon it was over,

just near to where we were sitting a group again starting a demonstration of a new take on pogo sticks as we used to call them,

a bit difficult to see, but roughly in the center of the picture one of the performers is really high in the air, one of them also performed a backward mid-air flip, courage indeed!

by now the show had started with a few singing groups first,

and dance routines,

the artists were interviewed, the good news was that you could also see all that was happening on the big screen behind the stage,

then time for Diana to eat, these are boiled and I think pickled eggs,

I had a quick walk to the restroom, on the way back I paused by the bottle stall, yesterday we saw a lucky lady win a cuddly toy, you have a 'fishing' rod with a ring on it, you have to return the bottle to an upright position, easy! not so, look at the base of the stand, they are sloping, so it is not as easy as it first appears, good fun though,

the back of one of the cocktail vans, they cruise around complete with a mini bar, chairs and sound system, then set up where the next happening will be, great idea,

I know one should not laugh at the misfortune of others, but just in front of our table the ground went down a little, it looks worse in the picture, it was just an inch, two at the most, I guess where a coconut tree had been many years ago, well dispite trying not to look when people walked by and watching the surprise on their faces as the ground was just that bit lower than they had imagined, it was almost impossible not to, it caught many unwary travellers, it was so hard not to smile, but all was lost when a couple of tourist stubbled into it once, turned around and then did exactly the same thing again!

by now the groups had started their performances, people were flooding into the arena, strange thing was that nobody was waving or jumping up and down, from what I could see not even tapping their toes, when I was in my teens we used to go to the Justin Halls in West Wickham or perhaps Hang Your Hat Under The Olive Tree in South Croydon, we used to jump and shout, join in with the group etc, in other words crowd participation, or making a complete fool of yourself, depending on your perspective, I mentioned this to Diana, who said, 'perhaps the crowd will clap when they finish', well they did (finish) and they did not (clap), even after the second group finished we could not hear a single person clapping or cheering, strange,

by now I had a new best friend, I wanted to take it home! it was hell trying to get the last drop out, the things I do for a beer!

Diana then wanted to try to win a prize as we started to walk back to the motorcycle taxi's, but was not lucky,

past a few of the food stalls,

Diana was tempted,

to buy a wig! 199 baht, any color you like,

and of course we could not go past a shoe shop with out stopping,

we slowly made our way towards Walking Street about midnight,

we had seen Captain Jack Sparrow setting up his singing glasses (glasses with water in them, each one with a little more than the previous one, to produce different notes), as we went to see the fireworks a few hours earlier, try as I might I could not produce a single note, he on the other hand made it look so easy, he was playing Handel's Water Music which is often paired with the Music for the Royal fireworks, (water in the glasses, fireworks), which was also written for outdoor performances, no I am kidding! what ever it was he was playing he was more than a little skilled,

by now Walking Street was full, then for us home to bed.