Straight On To Today's Post,

as we are going fishing first thing in this morning,

 

 

we started today with some good news, BUPA, who we pay every year for health insurance, sent their annual cheque, if you do not make a claim 10% of last years premium is refund, so off to the bank and as we were out we thought we would also pop into immigration to apply for our re-entry visas for when we visit the Philippines later this year, so on the way to immigration a quick picture of the coliseum still no signs advertising shows yet, but I guess any time now it will be up and running,

first stop immigration on Soi 5 Jomtien, it took longer to fill the forms in that have the visa issued, there was hardly anyone there,

next stop the bank to deposit the BUPA cheque,

then it was home to pick up a letter we wanted to post to the Philippine's, so off to the FedEx office in Naklua, good news the fountains were working,

as we had not had breakfast we headed down to one of the beach resorts nearby,

this one looked quite nice, it also had a balcony looking over the sea,

the beach here had changed a lot since my last visit some 30 years ago,

so we chose this view from our table,

the upstairs area is very large,

with a fully stocked bar,

for a few moments we were entertained by a local squirrel, a bit difficult to see in the picture but it was fun to watch,

looking further along the beach construction of new hotels was in full swing,

 

in the distance a couple of anglers,

were trying for a fish or two,

 

but so far no luck,

Diana ordered a coke, for myself an ice coffee,

 

I had to strike the pose!

we both thought this was a neat touch, a press for service button, 

 

 

our food arrived,

mixed fried rice for Diana with chicken spring rolls,

baked salmon salad for myself,

then it was eyes down and tuck in,

just as we started eating the wind picked up, it looked like a storm was coming in,

the food looked and was delicious, the trouble was there was almost too much of it!

the side view of Rim Talay Beach Front restaurant and bar,

and the sign to look out for as you approach it,

the restaurants brochure and map,

this is only a guess, but in the evening I would say this place will be the most popular spot on the beach so if you fancy a night out in Naklua this is the place to go, the Rim Talay seafood restaurant, for more details click this link to their web site,

 

as we were in Naklua and we had run out of coffee beans we just had to call into BonCafe to buy some more,

at the end of the month Steve and Kai are popping over from the UK to stay, knowing Steve loves coffee there was only one thing for it, a 5 kilogram box of coffee beans, which took some getting home on the back of the bike, but that's another story!

we spent afternoon at home, then some more good news, Cherry's restaurant had reopened a couple of months early! so glad rags on and off we went,

we were joined by Mr. Tony who very kindly gave us a lift there,

the centre food station with salad bar, starters and ice cream freezer were in the same place,

but at the far side the wall where the main courses were had been moved over to make room for another row of tables,

the other piece of good news was that all of the original staff were here,

and as happy as ever,

so on to our starters,

'Ah!' so romantic!

a selection of starters for Mr. Tony, note the custom made button-on serviette,

 

spaghetti and pizza for Diana,

then on to our main courses,

a quick picture,

then some fish and lamb for myself,

for our dessert Diana went to the ice cream freezer for Mr. Tony and myself,

ice cream and fresh fruit dessert what could be better?

a small selection of desserts for Diana,

and some ice cream for me,

so Cherry's is open and as good as ever, we then made a move back home,

 

where we put on a DVD from Cirque du Soleil, this show entitled Varekai, its title means 'wherever' in the Romani language, a stunning display of skill, strength and timing, at the end of the show it was nearly midnight, so saying our goodbyes to Mr. Tony we were off to bed.

We Had A Quiet Day,

although a couple of friends called round,

 but first we noticed another one of the cactus was flowering,

it seems such a shame that they flower for just one day,

 I guess it is to preserve water, flowering uses a lot of it, so there it is,

then for some reason my mobile has decided to have a nervous breakdown, the clock gained just over 3 hours, every time I try to change it I receive this message,

the same if I try to change the date or the wake up alarm, it is starting to behave like an unfunny hysterical tortoise, a new phone in the pipeline I guess, the good news is that both Jay and Mr. Tony called round in the afternoon, so we chatted the afternoon away,

after we said our goodbyes and our evening meal we watched a couple of shows on satellite television, then it was feet up for Poirot, for tonight's viewing,

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Hastings renews his friendship with Poirot and involves him in the mysterious poisoning of the mistress of a manor house married to a man twenty years her junior.

 How Does Your Garden Grow?

At a flower show, an older woman in a wheelchair approaches Poirot, gives him an empty seed packet, and asks him to visit her the next day. When Poirot arrives the next day, the woman is dead, murdered with poison.

 

by now it was well past midnight, so for us we were off to bed.

 

At First Glance,

these seem to be drawings,

 

 

 of birds,

 but looking closer there are in fact 3 dimensional,

crafted from paper by paper artist Diana Beltran Herrera whose skill in crafting the fine details of birds using paper has continued to evolve, Herrera’s work has begun appearing in several galleries and exhibitions around the world and is now shortly to be exhibited at The Cornell Fine Arts Museum in Florida starting September 17th until December 8, 2013, the picture above do not really do justice to the actual birds, if you have time click here for a closer look.

    

Do You Remember Years Ago,

when there were black shinny things called vinyl records were sold?

I certainly do, but with modern day music on the move I guess not many people use them now, but here is a way you can still enjoy them, make them into a lamp, well that is what the people at Genanvendt in Denmark have done, for just kr.775,00 this little beauty can be yours, for these and lots of other ideas check out their web site.

We Had A Day In Today,

well we do most Mondays and Tuesdays,

but we did play a few games, like Monopoly, which by a lucky throw of the dice I won,

we were also treated to a few interesting programmes, this one in particular we liked, Monty Don's Italian Gardens, we have in fact the complete series on DVD, but as this was on the HD channel we watched it, Monty Don is another great wordsmith by the way, the time just flew past,

I also have to admit we both like his choice of hand luggage, like us he has two Billingham bags, great choice,

after our evening meal we watched Dorian Gray, the new version, we had watched it before, I have to say on the second viewing it fared a bit better than its first time round, before I compared unfavourably with the original version,

to finish the evening what better that another couple from Poirot? tonight,
 
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat    

When U.S. Navy plans for a new submarine are stolen and the thief tracked to London, the FBI sends an agent to work with Inspector Japp to recover them.

 

The Kidnapped Prime Minister

When the prime minister is kidnapped right before an important international arms summit, Poirot has just 32-and a quarter-hours to find the prime minister.

The Adventure of the Western Star    

After receiving threatening letters, an aristocrat is robbed of her famed diamond in front of Poirot's eyes.

then for us we were off to bed.

Something Just Did Not Seem Right About Theses Pictures,

to us it seemed like the diver had been Photoshoped in,

but no these pictures and many more taken by photographs by Anatoly Beloshchin tell the story of a hidden underwater river in in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula called Cenote Angelita or 'Little Angel', the river itself is actually a sort of illusion due to a phenomenon called a halocline, where waters with different levels of salinity form into layers because of a variation in density,

according to Beloshchin, Cenote Angelita is comprised of fresh water until about 29 meters when it switches to a 1-meter layer of hydrogen sulfide, after which the entire cave bottom is filled with saltwater from 30 to 60 meters deep, so in reality the 'river' is actually just a dense layer of saltwater resting at the bottom of a cave, but apart from all of that what great out of world almost photographs, as an aside if you are into underwater caves have a look here at some more here.