MERRY CHRISTMAS!

now back to Christmas Eve,

which being Saturday we started with our usual maintenance routine, roughly half empty the aquarium,

and refill it, 

change the refrigerator magnets for the week, so happy thoughts of our trip, to Paris this year for a couple of days, visiting the Arche de Triomphe,

at the same time as I was filling the aquarium,

Diana was cleaning the kittens pool,

now being watched by Hogue and Cable,

the surprise was Hogue, who normally shows no interest in pool cleaning,

unlike Mariana,

who always wants to be in the thick of things,

Hogue decided on a closer look,

then all three came by,

Mariana as usual fascinated by the pool being refilled,

Hogue decided to do his party trick,

and climb to the top of the mosquito netting,

then all finished and back to normal,

Diana went to meet Riza, so I took the opportunity to buy some last minute presents for Diana, after leaving the Central Festival, 

I parked up in Friendship and crossed a very quiet Pattaya Tai,

to the Kodak shop,

to have the presents wrapped, 

inside the aquarium was it's usual immaculate self,

a couple of Nemos at play,

I decided to wait for the presents, 

so I crossed the road to the Beer and Coffee cafe for a ice latte,

time to pick up the presents, but as I left the cafe I noticed the MGB in the car park,

and nice it was too,

inside the Kodak shop I picked up the presents,

watched by one of the green Chromis, (Chromis viridis),

I put the presents by the tree as a surprise for Diana when she returned,

many thanks for everybody,

sending Christmas cards,

Ah! all lit up for Diana,

we had some time in the afternoon so we watched The Grand Budapest Hotel, a favourite of mine I never get tired of watching, it was so enjoyable, a brilliant story of greed, corruption and restitution, not to every ones taste I am guessing, but it was so well made we were all captivated by it, as an aside the cast includes four Oscar winners: Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Fisher Stevens and F. Murray Abraham and eleven actors that were nominated for an Oscar (not necessarily in the acting category): Bill Murray, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, Harvey Keitel, Bob Balaban, Tom Wilkinson, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan and Ralph Fiennes, we have featured it and a spin off on our blog before, 

now a surprise and a bit of a story, last week Diana said instead of having our usual Saturday evening bar-b-q she would treat me to a meal, then this morning she threw a curved ball by asking what are we going to have for the bar-b-q, so I guessed she had forgotten, but not Diana, she gave me an early Christmas present and to put them on then she told me to hurry as the taxi was waiting, off to what I was told was one of the usual restaurants we go to,

but then a change in direction,

we were off to Central Festival, what a surprise!

a quick pose, then we made our way to the lifts to level 14, but instead of going to the Edge where we eat for a special night out, we went to another lift and was whisked to the 34 the floor, another surprise,

Diana had booked a table in the Horizon restaurant,

a pose by the tree,

then looking at the views,

overlooking Pattaya,

Diana had visited here when she booked all of this and chosen this table for ourselves,

the menu was impressive with ample choices,

naturally a bottle of bubbly,

Diana did mention there was one better inside table that she wanted to book, but it was only available for parties of 6 or 8 people, 

but it was not a worry, as far as we were concerned nothing could have been better,

once we had ordered our food,

Diana took a walk around,

to the outside area,

then back inside, 

to look at some huge bottles of bubbly that were on offer,

the ceiling does not look much using the flash on the camera,

but in reality it looks like hundreds of stars all twinkling in the night sky,

some rolls appeared,

this is the life,

then our starters arrived,

with a top up,

for Diana seared Hokkaido scallops with cauliflower, chorizo and brocollini,

and myself smoked salmon, with pickled cabbage, roe and rye crisps,

we then took a long break and had a look outside,

and took a couple of photographs,

Pattaya bay,

and zooming in looking at the entrance to Walking Street,

one of the waiters kindly took a picture of us, Diana in a new dress,

our side dishes arrived, Rosemary roasted potatoes, roasted mixed mushrooms, potato gratin with gruyere cheese and mushrooms with a sage stuffing,

and Diana's main course, 

turkey regustation: sous vide breast, crispy skin, leg meat ragout, with pickled cranberries, sun choke puree and gravy,

it looked and was delicious,

and for myself, 

grilled lamb chops with prune agriduice, parsnips and truffles,

what more could you ask for?

well no salt, just a little pepper,

'Cheers!', from both of us wishing a Happy Christmas to all,

then guess what? 

I do not know how she arraigned it, but Father Christmas called by with a present for Diana,

a Christmas candle,

a bottle of bubbly,

and a very full and happy Diana, what a wonderful Christmas Eve,

but we were not finished yet,

Christmas pudding for Diana,

but it came in a gift wrapping as Grand Marnier crème anglaise was poured over it the dessert opened,

for myself a woodland scene of mushrooms, with snow a covered yule-time log, Buche de Noel, chestnuts, mascarpone Chantiliy and currents,

we were both so happy,

I hate to say it,

but my dessert looked so good with moss growing over the yule-time logs and the mushrooms with a sprinkling of snow it almost looked too good to eat!

what a wonderful surprise, unknown to me Diana had been to her bank many weeks ago, visited the Hilton and booked the table and then the taxi for this evening, what a wonderful gesture, we bimbled outside,

for a look over the town,

then it was time to go,

but not before a quick picture, 

we took a yellow and blue taxi home, then settled down for a Christmas adventure, or trial as we watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, just a small thing as it is Christmas and everyone will be busy we will only post what we do on each day, so we will leave out the 'bits and pieces' that normally accompany our daily lives, so a very Merry and Happy Christmas to Everyone! and with that we were off to bed.