It Is Time To Make An Announcement,

but more of that later,

 we were thinking of going to the market, then Glenn who we had not seen for a long time called round so we chatted the afternoon away instead, then it was glad rags on as we were out for a evening meal,

 and this is where we were going, the Amari Ocean Pattaya, where Jim and Cher were staying, 

 we made our way to the tower,

 to the main reception area,

 where we had arranged to meet,

 next a stroll past the stairway to heaven, well the swimming pools,

 to the Mantra restaurant, 

 the dining area is almost surrounded by kitchens,

 from 6 different areas around the world, 

you can chose from Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indian, gourmet seafood, the Mediterranean, or the Western cuisine from the seven show kitchens, then back to your table, whether it is the Opium Den, Hedonist Harlem, Sultan’s Table, Opera Seats, or the Main Theatre,

 there is also an impressive pizza oven,

 one of the kitchens,

 we were greeted with a refreshing towel and some savoury's,

 also a complimentary chicken tikka,

 Diana takes a look at the cocktail menu,

 and decides on a strawberry cocktail,

 we were next given a complimentary mini loaf bread,

 then on to the starters,

 for Diana a huge prawn cocktail,

soup for Cher,

 Jim decided on rock lobster kebabs,

 whilst I went with deep fried avocado filed with pomelo salad and topped with Alaskan king crab, 

 'Cheers!',

 then our main courses, 

for Diana a Jacks Creek 150 day Grain-fed MB2 beef sirloin 250g,

 for Cher a Blacken salmon,

120 day Grain-fed Australian beef tenderloin steak 160g for myself and for Jim a Milk-fed Australian veal chop,

 then a surprise and our announcement, we have been making a few trips to The Philippine Embassy and a few other offices over the past few months and have got married, we did not have a ceremony here as we are going to have a big family celebration in the Philippines in January 2016, 

last week we mentioned this to Jim and Cher and that now Diana's passport was now in her married name as were her other details like bank books etc we were going to make a post about it on our blog unknown to us when Jim and Cher booked the table for this evening they mentioned this to the restaurant,

 and had arranged for a cake,

 and flowers to be presented at the table,

what a fabulous surprise, then it was time to cut the cake,

 many, many thanks Cher,

 and Jim for your kindness,

 and it was delicious,

 complimentary scones to go with the coffee,

 we all I think decided on a latte each, which was nicely decorated,

 we made our way to Beach Road and after thanking Jim and Cher we wished them well for the next part of their holiday as they are going to Bangkok and said our farewells,

we made our way to the Tavern on the Sea as that is where the yellow and blue taxis are and made our way home,

 this is the Mantras card,

and map, a really wonderful meal in more than pleasant surroundings, a tad more expensive than we would normally spend but then it was an extra special evening out and I have to admit we were more than tempted by the Sunday brunch, maybe in a month or two we might be back!

the traffic on Beach Road was fairly slow, plus we had spent a long time over our meal so when we arrived home it was quite late, we watched just two from Red Dwarf and we were off to bed.