I Dropped Diana Off,

at the back of TukCom as she wanted to do some shopping,

 so I made my way to the weekend plant market, to find the market if you are leaving Pattaya to go to Bangkok as you pass the Bangkok Pattaya hospital on your left take the next 'U' turn and the market will be on the left, there is lots of parking space behind it,

 I entered the market at the side,

 as I parked the bike in the shade by one of the end walls,

 and made my way inside,

  it seems that Cycads,

 are back in fashion as there are lots of them here, 

 past one of the aquatic outlets,

 and to the insectivorous plant stall,

 that also sells miniature garden ornaments,

 new for this week tigers,

 and giraffes,

 not to mention lots of mushrooms,

 or should I say toadstools?

 a tray of Venus fly traps,

 a plant that eats insects, like this one,

 the trap looking so much like a triffid,

in the stall next door was this tribble, as I called them the last time we saw one, but this one is actually growing,

 the waterlilies are still putting on a good show,

 these just two,

 of the many in flower,

 amaryllis putting ours to shame, 

 a quick look at the cactus stall,

 and fruit stall,

 I had made my way to the refreshment section and promised myself an ice coffee when I walked back here,

 so onward, past the garden ornament stall,

 new for this week, ducks,

 and this was the stall I wanted, with a crowd of people buying there,

 and these were what I was after,

 a few orchids for our dinner table tomorrow, strange thing is when Diana buys them they have a couple of bowls of them at 20 baht a bunch, but when ever I buy them they always only have the 35 baht a bunch ones,

 naturally I had a quick look at the cactus,

 past more waterlilies,

 this particular type has huge deep red flowers,

 another aquatic outlet caught my eye,

 it was so hot, water trucks call along each stall to deliver water during the day, the owners then water their plants,

 you can not fail to miss this stall,

 I always call it Tubular Bells as they sell wind chimes, and in case there is no wind, notice the fan!

 the stall where we buy the trays for our cactus also sells bonsai, here the owner is making a few adjustments,

 and here is one he finished earlier,

 more amaryllis putting ours to shame, again, Diana mentioned that these and the ones at Jack's house that were in flower all had their leaves cut off and wonder if because we let ours grow so many leaves that is why they do not flower like these, food for thought,

 I was going to treat myself to an ice coffee, but the stall we normally use had 5 or 6 customers waiting, so I went to this one that we had never used before, for some reason we thought it was expensive, 

 but it was not, 40 baht for a coffee, a smile and a wave and I was on my way,

 to Wattana Computers, just opposite Foodland on Pattaya Central, I had made the decision to buy Office 2013 Publisher, which the Office 2013 does not come with,

 and so I just had to call in to the planet store just down the road,

and I weakened and bought one of the cactus we already have, the one that has had so many flowers and put on such a good show,

next stop Big C Extra,

 I parked at the front and made my way to the entrance,

 past the aquatic store,

 and foot spa, I was a bit early I guess as it had not opened,

 there is also a HomeWorks here if you need household items, but for me I was going to buy a duck, for tomorrows Sunday roast, then I picked Diana up from shopping,

 and so to our next stop the weekend night market on Thepprasit Road,

to pay our 3BB Internet bill,

 I stayed on the bike,

 as Diana paid the bill and watched the car park transformed into the market as the stalls were erected,

 we then called into the food market, we needed some peppers,

 so I had a look around, 

 eggs by the tray or bag,

 all manner of items on sale here, to mix and match I guess,

 and complete dishes here,

 I noticed these that I normally meet at work, Snakeskin Gouramis, (Trichopodus pectoralis), but here in Asia they are an important food source, 

 I have often wondered what is in these banana leaf wrapped packets,

 now I know,

 we also decided on some fresh fruit,

some oranges,

 and grapes,

 shopping over,

 we made our way back past a few more of the stalls,

then it was time for our Saturday evening bar-b-q,

 a starter of garlic bread,

 'Cheers!',

 the fire lit,

 and with the aid of the fan it was soon going well,

 for tonight satay chicken and sausage rolls,

 so on with the chicken,

 which was soon cooked,

 Diana had prepared some peanut dip and some onion, cucumber and pepper salad,

 on with the bangers,

 and into the rolls,

 cover with fried onions and enjoy, delicious!

 in case you missed it last night there was a lunar eclipse, which resulted in a blood moon as it is sometimes called, I should have used the tripod, this is just a hand held shot straight from the camera, but interesting to see how it happens, after listing to music we went indoors a tad early at nearly 11.00, so a couple from Midsomer Murders and we were then off to bed.