Off For Sunday Lunch Again,

the weeks just seem to fly by,

 the night before the rain came down as it does most nights now, the good news is that there is a daily show of hibiscus in the raised garden,

 it is just a pity, 

 that the blooms last for only one day,

 and this was where we were off to today, the Punch & Judy, it is almost opposite the Eden Hotel on Thepprasit Soi 8,

 Diana chose the trio of meats Sunday roast, Mr. Tony the cheese topped cottage pie,

 I decided on the beef and stout pie,

 then it was eyes down and tuck in!

we all decided against a desserts today, whilst we were there Jay called in with his new girlfriend, but I forgot to take a picture of the happy couple, after our meal we bade them farewell and made a move for home, in the late afternoon we watched a couple of shows that we all enjoy so much, a double helping of The Chase, after saying goodbye to Mr. Tony there were another few shows that we watched, Ade in Britain being our favourite, we finished the evening by watching a bumper crop of Cheers, then for us we were of to bed.

Over The Years I Have Often Heard The Phrase,

'do not bring a knife to a gun fight',

sound advice I am sure, but here is one knife you could bring along,

it does in fact have a .22-caliber five-shot pinfire revolver, this is a multi-tool created by John S. Holler in Germany around 1880, the knife actually predates the Swiss Army Knife, which started production about a decade later in 1890,


the knife has 100 functions, including every types of blades imaginable, it has a serrated blade, dagger blades, shears and scissors, an auger, a corkscrew, saws, a lancet, button hook, cigar cutter, pens and pencils, mirror, and straight razor, you can even use this tool to tune a piano, as it has a piano tuner built in, hungry? it's got a butter knife so you can butter your toast,

the flip side of the knife opens up to reveal ... a small crucifix knife, perfect for killing vampires! what a great knife, but before you rush out to order one it has one absolutely essential function missing, sadly for me, it does not have a bottle opener, that's because the bottle cap wasn't invented until 1892, D'Oh!

In The Afternoon We Were Off To The Market,

we needed a few things for the evenings bar-b-q,

 we parked behind the market,

 you would think by now,

 I would know the names of most things in the market, but other than potatoes, onions, ginger and peppers it is all pretty much of a mystery to me,

 but I do know these, we bought some prawns to make kebabs later,

 we see these fish prepared  like this in most markets,

 but we are more familiar with these,

 we had a quick chat about the fish he sells, tilapia and a type of barb,

 then his friend from the vegetable store next door wanted to be in the picture as well,

we made our way back to the bike and noticed the Ripley's balloon in the distance,

 no customers today, but there is still a 30% off offer for early flyer's,

on the way out we noticed the durian seller, although Diana likes the fruit the three times I have tried it I found it to be not very nice, all a question of taste I guess,

 then home and the bar-b-q was all systems go,

 Steve thought my idea of letting the fan do the work a winning one,

 soon the flames took hold and the smoke died down,

 the charcoal was glowing nicely,

so potatoes on as they need the longest time,

 and after some garlic bread on go the prawn kebabs,

for our main course Diana had prepared some pork belly with some salt rubbed in to make the crackling really crisp,

 along with a salad and baked potato our meal was complete, 

and here we are after our meal, this picture was taken by Diana using my Galaxy Note 3, I have to say considering it was quite dark it came out looking really good, we said or goodbyes to Steve as he made his way home, for us we watched a few more from Cheers, then for us we were off to bed.

I Just Can Not Believe My Eyes!

no matter how many times I try,

OK lets start at the beginning, take a good look at the above picture, nothing to much out of place, but what if I told you all three cars are exactly the same size, would you believe me? hopefully you said yes, all of the cars are in fact exactly the same size, take a ruler and measure them if you like,


you are looking at a great example of the Ponzo Illusion, which was first demonstrated by Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo in 1911, Ponzo suggested that the way we judge an object's size is highly dependent on its background, but this is the thing that makes the Ponzo illusion so neat, I know the three cars are exactly the same size but my brain simply refuses to see it that way.

We Had A Few Things To Do Today,

so we started early going to a restaurant that we had forgotten about,

 here is how to get there, if you go to the far end of Walking Street or come down from the flyover on Third Road look for the motorboat park,

 it is easy to find as it has lots of boats parked there, also there are these huge new condos being built, Diana took this picture of them looking back towards them,

 naturally on busy days there are just trailers in the park,

 just follow the dolphin lights that are on the right hand side,

 a view looking towards the far side of Pattaya bay,

 in the distance the new marina is nearing completion,

 if you are in a car or on a bike be careful as work is still ongoing on the roads, the rubble left after this backhoes operation was uneven to say the least,

 the good news was that we nearly had clear blue skies,

 further along the road there were more speedboats parked in the road,

 we were by now just passing the start of the marina,

 the far side in the distance,

 we were making our way towards the lighthouse, it is there that the road swings to the left and starts to go uphill,

 and as soon as that happens turn right into the restaurants car park,

 almost next to this water feature there is a set of steps that leads to the tables on the breach,

 and that is where we sat,

 Koh Larn in the distance,

 'Cheers!' with a ice coffee,

 in the far distance speedboats are making their way to the island,

 our breakfast arrived, tom yum goong soup with deep fried prawns,

 with some chicken fried rice,

it all looked and tasted so nice, now here is a bit of a problem, nowhere did we see the name of the restaurant, all we can say is that it is next to the lighthouse, but for a relaxing meal by the sea it is very pleasant indeed,

 after our meal we drove along Second Road, the Ripley's balloon in the distance,

 we then turned left towards the sea,

 we were on a mission, 

 turning left we headed for the bank,

 then to our next stop, the Central Festival motorbike park,

 we were going on a shopping spree, Christmas had come early, as Diana is going to the Philippines soon she just had to have a new handbag, so off to Charles & Keith we went,

then the next floor up, to the Samsung shop, yes the new Galaxy Note 3 was in, I had already made the decision to buy one some time ago and the day had arrived, even better the staff said that as a special offer if I bought one they would give me a free 32 GB card, it appears it remembers a lot, the other bit of good news was that of course I can change the card for a bigger 64 GB card if I wish to, what sensible idea,


but there was a slight problem the spare batteries had not arrived yet, well only a fool would travel to the coral islands without a spare battery, I have lots of audio books and music that I want to load onto the telephone, the good news is that as I already own the CDs I do not have to pay for them again, unlike the daylight robbery that some other more dubious company practises, where even though you own the CD you have to buy the product again from their on line store, at least when Dick Turpin robbed you he had the decency to wear a mask!

there was one other slight problem, the new telephone would only take a mini SIM card, so Diana popped downstairs to the AIS shop, all of my telephone numbers were transferred to a new mini card that AIS gave us for free! but whilst I waited about 15 minutes or so the store sold two more Galaxy Note 3s, one Note 2 as it was on special offer, one S3 telephone and one S4, the money was just rolling in, but here is something I found so amusing, in all of that time the Bad Apple outlet next door did not have a single customer!

 soon we were home for the pictures, 

 Diana's handbag and matching purse,

 and of course my new toy,

 ta-da!

 and very pretty it looked too,

 the complete picture, having spent a fortune today we have stocked up on bread and water for the next few months!

 we were told to put the battery in the telephone on charge for 8 hours, so that is where it stayed over night, but for now we were off to the weekend night market on Thepprasit Road, the view looking towards Jomtien,

 and inland,

 a secondhand stall opposite the bar this evening,

 the food aisles really crowded tonight,

 not quiet the same quality as the handbag that Diana bought, but not bad for just 100 baht,

 a few shoppers in the pet section,

 one thing we have noticed over the past few years is the number of tour groups that now arrive at the market, it is one of the 'must do' items on the tours itinerary,

 sunset over the market,

 it appears that great British flag the Union Jack has become a fashion accessory out here, we have seen so many items from bags to mini cars with the flag on them,

 not too many clouds in the sky looking inland, after saying our goodbyes to Brian and his family,

 we decided on a meal at the Punch & Judy,

 a few onion rings,

 for Diana spaghetti bolognaise, the Friday special, fish & chips for myself,

'Cheers!', arriving home we watched a couple from Cheers, then dreaming about my Note 3 we were off to bed.