We Spent A Quiet Day,

what was going to be a quick ride to Friendship, turned out to be almost an afternoon out, the traffic was so bad, but on to the evening, first drinks at 388 then into a baht bus and off,

Geff and Da were with us as we sped along, to see the Tina show at the Malibu show bar, it is on the corner of Second Road and Soi Post Office,

if you have not seen it before it is a bar where people dress as ladies and mime to records,

we have been there before, but if you want a 'different' night out this is one option you could try,

both men and women take part in the shows,

the tricky bit is in deciding who is who,

is it a man dress as a lady?

or lady dressed as a lady?

or are they all ladies?

or all men?

the show was nonstop,

including belly dancers,

and cabaret singers,

the costumes all looked great,

and where would we be without Elvis?

then it was Tina's turn to take the stage,

and she took it by storm!

then a change of dress,

next a modern hip-hop number,

followed by feathers,

then one of the guys dressed and made up for a comedy routine,

as the evening past the ladies dressed in more and more extravagant costumes,

and danced to a Thai song,

then Tina came back on stage for a couple of numbers,

all of the girls dressed up in working clothes,

doctors, office workers, police, etc,

then a display from Cuba, whilst there we had a bite to eat, a tray of roasted cashew nuts, ham and cheese toasted sandwich for Diana and a club sandwich for myself, both came with a few French fries, plus a couple of orange juices for Diana and more than a couple of vodka soda's for me, all for 1,100 baht, a great night out and for the show thrown in I think good value for money,

by now it was nearly midnight, so outside for the picture,

well I had to have one as well!

the view along Soi Post Office looking towards the sea,

we said goodnight to Jeff and Da then feet up for a few more Tales, The Wrong 'Un sees a foreign business man take a lady to his room even though he has been told by the house detective she is not to be trusted, later he is woken but she is found in his room she is dead, now he needs some real help, after watching another three of four we were off to bed.

When Writing The Blog And Mentioning Fish,

I always give the common name followed by the Latin name in italics,

the reason is that one fish can have several common or English names, in say just the UK there could be a number of local names, then when the names that are used in other languages are translated to English there can be even more, so Latin is used, so that where ever you are in the world or what ever your language Poecilia reticulata can only mean one thing, in the fish keeping world, the guppy, well on to plants, today experts from Britain and the U.S have taken a step to resolving the issue by publishing the most comprehensive list of land plant species ever compiled,

the database was created by researchers at Kew Gardens and the Missouri Botanical Garden, it identifies 1.25 million plant names - 300,000 of which are recognised as standard species while 480,000 are regarded as synonyms or alternative names, the bad news is that it still leaves 260,000 names that are 'unresolved', this is where the data is deemed too sketchy to easily determine whether a new plant claim is backed up by facts, this part of the list will be tackled by scientists in the coming decades, hopefully the same will happen in the aquatic world, unfortunately there is no Kew gardens for fish, but research is ongoing at many aquariums, zoos and museums over the world, so who knows maybe in a few years time there will be like plants, the most comprehensive list of fish species ever compiled.

Jeff Called Round To Pick Up His Car,

so after a cup of tea and a chat we were off, we first went to the Stork Bar which is on the way to the Buddha Hill, just outside it a policeman was doing brisk business stopping tourist on motorcycles and fining them, as indeed was the gang of motorcycle taxi drivers, taking the hapless drivers at way over the top prices to the police station to pay their fine if they elected not to pay the on the spot fine, great fun for the tourists, I am sure they will speak about it for years to come! but back to the Stork Bar, it was closed, so over the hill to the Kinaree bar on Pratumnak Road Soi 4, we had a few drinks in there to cool off, next stop to Friendship to buy some wine for the evening, some how we also managed to find our way into the Punch and Judy before arriving home, then a quick shower and change and out for the evening meal, as it was Wednesday where else but to Cherries,

we settled on the buffet,

at just 295 baht a head it is excellent value for money, but from the 6th of January the price will rise to 325 baht a head, still one of the best deals in town,

the trouble for me is that the starters are so nice I never get round to the main course!

'Cheers!' from all of us,

outside for a pose, Da is not here at the moment she is with her family, then home to 388 for a night cap and a few stories, by now it was more than very late so Jeff left and we were off to bed.

I Must Admit I Do Like Harry Potter Movies,

and collecting stamps, so here are the two combined, the Royal Post Office has announced a new range of stamps to be released in the coming year ranging from the legendary tales of King Arthur, the 50th anniversary of the Royal Shakespeare Company - and the man behind the Thunderbirds characters, one of the releases on the 8th of March will be Magical Realms, featuring amongst others some of the characters from Harry Potter,

I also bought another of the Festival of Britain souvenir stamps, this one the Royal Festival Hall, for just £3.99, there were 10 stamps in the set, so I still have a long way to go!

I Do Like Fast Cars,

especially fast ones, like Ferrari's, which by the way should only be sold in one option, Ferrari red, but here is Hugh Grant wishing he had never been sold one at all, his brand new Ferrari California decided to show him that he made a very bad decision to buy a Ferrari, en route to play a round of golf in Kent by leaving him stranded on the road side, with his amount of money I would have thought he would have been a member of a roadside repair service like the AA or the RAC, but no he had to wait for a friend to help him,

but whether the car is cheap or an expensive super car it should not break down whilst still under warranty, shame on you Ferrari.

Jeff Called Round,

so it was out for a bite to eat,

surprisingly we found a parking place just past Soi 5 on Beach Road,

Diana chose a Thai dish, while Jeff and I shared a plate of chicken wings and chips,

it was called Tone Oven on the corner of Soi 6, we whiled away the time there looking at how busy the traffic was, also looking at so many empty baht buses go past,

Jeff had not been to Roiaca before, not sure about the spelling or how to get there but is behind the carting speedway on Thepprisit, we whiled away a few hours there, we missed happy hour which is from 1 to 3 in the afternoon, then back to pick Diana up at 388,

for our evening meal we decamped to the Gossip Cafe behind the Tuk Com Center, meatball sandwich for Jeff, Thai food for Diana and the 199 baht special for myself, 'Cheers!'

we had decided to join in the 2011 Pattaya countdown at Bali Hai pier,

as you walk in from the flyover road there is the Chang beer stall on the left,

and the Yamaha stall on the right, the company has just unveiled its new model, the multi coloured Fiore,

as you walk in there are some clowns and I suspect a Simpson figure making balloon toys for the kids,

looks a bit scary to me!

this ones a bit better - providing you do not have the remarkably common condition of coulrophobia, being scared of clowns,

then behind me I heard a bang, the Chang beer challenge had been started,

like so many fun fairs in the UK hit the spot, ring the bell and win the prize,

the prize being a keyring, there was me thinking it was going to be a beer!

quick pose by the sign,

then the firework display,

it took place over the Pattaya sign,

all very pretty, we sat down for a beer, but in matter of minuets we were on the move, the sound was just way to loud, many like us voted with their feet, last year we had to wait for a table, this year despite there being more people here, of 30 or so tables just 3 had customers, you may not believe this but it was so loud I left the jug of beer I had paid for at least half full!

we then found a quiet place by the jetty so we relaxed there,

with the exception of 4 or 5 policeman we had the place to ourselves, it was nice watching the crowds walk by,

then Joe called by, giving us a blow by blow account of how not to ride a bike, he was on a concrete road that he had not been on before at night when it just ran out and became a bumpy dirt track, luckily no broken bones, Joe get well soon,

one of the statues on the wall of the bar, a floating restaurant in the distance,

we then decided to take a walk along Walking Street, taking a few pictures of stalls on the way, this one for drinks,

the whole place away from the music was packed with people,

then something caught my eye,

strawberries! but the thought of carrying them all night put me off buying any,

the super huge Hollywood sound truck was on display,

luckily with the sound off! I know I go on about how loud things are, but as usual tonight it was just not me, both Jeff and Diana said they could not stand it, I wonder if the sound will ever be turned down to attract more people to sit, listen and watch the show? I doubt it,

then the entrance to the street,

as usual there were street performers but not as many as last year,

not quiet sure who he is supposed to be but great fun,

more people than ever out tonight,

any one fancy a fancy wig?

or perhaps a more conventional one?

we continued pushing our way towards the other end of the street,

when going past Dang's bar I spotted a familar face, none other than Andy who I had not seen for 3 years, before that a regular in the bar for as far back as I can rember, he had an accident 3 years ago braking his leg badly so this his first visit since then, hopefully we will be seeing him again,

whilst sitting in Dang's Jeff got hunger pains,

as did Diana,

for a pizza,

next stop the Zab bar nearly at the end of the strip where it joins the motorized part of Beach Road where at night the traffic has to turn left, we came to watch the twice nightly Elvis show, for reference the show starts at 9.30 and 11.00 we caught the last 15 minuets of the last show,

and there he was, Elvis in all his glory!

with his backing group, I took this shot as we walked in, they were all so happy to have their picture taken, without missing a beat the show went on, I have to say I was realy impressed with the singing and playing, if you have not been before give it a try,

we sat slightly to the side of the stage, this is a shot looking towards the bar,

the ceiling lights were a little different to say the least,

hundreds of silver balls and upside down wine glasses huge from a framework, with the stage lights shining on them they looked different to say the least,

the show finished but the band continued to play, again I have to say how good they were, then home to 388, over the now compleated Second Road, with traffic returned to normal instead of being one way,

next feet up fo another Tales and a proper glass of vodka soda or three, this time one that did not have a twist in the tale, Down Among the Sheltering Palms, it was just, well boring, so after that off to bed.