We Have Just Arrived Back From The Orphanage,

so on with yesterdays post,

 first stop the bank, again, but I needed some extra money this month as you will see later,

 then back to pick up Diana,

 and then to Pattaya Tai, you know that one, it runs between Wat Chai and the school,

near Second Road, with the daily market in it,

 there are lots of clothes shops on it,

 a few selling flowers,

 with a number of stalls selling food,

 with seating areas behind, but it was not any those we came for,

it was for one of the huge number of gold shops that are there, yes Christmas has come early for Diana!

we traded in the bracelet we bought two years ago, paid a little extra to buy her a bigger bracelet for this year Christmas present, sale complete we naturally were given next years calender free of charge,

 Diana was in a tiz so I crossed the road before her,

next stop Walking Street for a beer, I needed one for the shock of how much the price of gold had risen!

it was really blowing today, in fact for the past few days we have not even had a fan going it has been so cold,

I ordered a beer whilst Diana had a coke, there are still no diet drinks available here in Pattaya, due to the floods I guess,

 we watched one of the speed boats on its way to the islands, then decided to make a move,

to the Punch & Judy, Diana wanted to read Dear Dierdre in the Sun newspaper, whilst I like a touch of lime juice in my larger and they have proper lime juice cordial in stock here,

 also Diana was hungry, so a bite to eat for her,

 she also wanted to try on her new Christmas present,

 as Diana said, 'it is a good job you bought it now, it might have gone up by next week!'

 back home then to the market, we had run out of fresh fruit,

a few posts ago I mentioned a bird that Thai people keep, similar to keeping a singing canary in the UK, I did not know what it was called,

 well luckily an anonymous reader did, it is called a Bulbul,

whilst Diana was shopping I took the opportunity to have a closer look at them as the owner cleaned their cages,

 each cage looks like it is hand made from bamboo and rattan,

 this particular type of Bulbul has a red cheek, which I think is that only one in the group that does,

 they like fresh fruit amongst other things, which of course out here is not a problem, as are insects, which it appears they also like,

 still no sign of Diana,

 so another picture of Pycnonotus jocosus,

 meanwhile the cages were being cleaned one by one,

 with a lot of care,

 three cleaned so far,

 Diana came back then realised she had forgotten some thing,

I am not sure of the price of these birds out here, I did not ask as it would of resulted in a lot of haggling for some  thing I did not really want, but I did see an advertisement for some in the UK at £240 for a unrelated pair,

 all five cages cleaned, birds fed and now singing,

 when we arrived home I noticed another flower bud on the stalk that had just flowered,

we started watching a few DVDs with Treasure Quest, this time the team find H.M.S. Victory, which sank in mysterious circumstances in 1744 with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, (this ship preceded Nelsons Victory),

In the Shadow of the Moon, was for both of us enthralling, Diana was totally captivated by the whole story and the interviews with the surviving crew members from NASA's Apollo missions,

next back to medieval times in Black Death, a horror story set in the times of the first great plague of Britain in 1348, when a person becomes infected with the bacteria that cause bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis), the bacteria begin to multiply within the lymph system, if left untreated, symptoms, such as vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea are the norm, then you die, well some did recover, back to the film, a village does not suffer form the plague, so are the dark forces of Satan involved? a quest is mounted to find out, enjoyable film,

The Noble Art from the Midsomer Murders was our last film of the evening, local boy John Kinsella wins the world middle-weight title, but all is not well in the training and managements camps, also a local  magistrate placed a huge bet on the outcome, but it was not the result he was promised, then for us off to bed.