I Remember A Similar Thing Like This In London,

called DuckTours,

but these are completely new, the brainchild of Scotsman George Smith, the aluminum 50-seater vehicle can glide on fresh or seawater, built in Malta, the metal has a corrosion barrier and the company claims the bus can withstand 3,500 hours of constant use without any adverse effects,

after a six-year development period, the AmphiCoaches are now on their way across the world, with the first boats already shipping out to Belfast and Budapest, managing director Steve Smith said: 'Since the first pictures of the AmphiCoach showed up on the Internet, interest has gone through the roof - out website visitors have gone up from 700 a month to more than two million, and we're getting inquiries for orders from companies wanting to 20 or more across the globe,

each of the vehicles costs £280,000 and Amphicoach say they can build 12 ship-shape roadsters every year, but if you want to take a second world war DUK in London, here is one,

from London Duck Tours, London Duck Tours offer more than just a sightseeing tour; it's an exciting road and river adventure appealing to visitors of all ages! The amphibious craft, originally known as 'DUKWS', were first used for the D-Day landings when more than 21,000 were built to take the troops ashore, to reflect their amphibious nature they have been renamed 'Ducks' for the London adventure, departing from Chicheley St. Waterloo (behind the London Eye), the amphibious vehicles drive past famous London landmarks such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square before a dramatic launch into the River Thames from their slipway at Vauxhall for the waterborne part of the 75 minute tour of London,

I wonder if they will ever catch on over here? drive up to the Chao Phraya have a cruise round the canals and drive back to Pattaya anyone?

Up Early And Down To Soi 5 Jomtien,

I have a retirement visa, so I have to check in every 90 days,

there are lots of coffee shops come food shops near the immigration center,

but I like this one which is nearest the road, the ice coffee for me and ice chocolate for Diana is always very good, this is the view from inside looking towards the entrance to immigration if you want to give it a try, from walking in to my turn took about 15 minutes as there were 12 or so people in front of me, but doing the notification took just a minuet or so, there were lots of new faces there, the staff had been rotated I guess,

we were joined by Barry Kenyon who is the Honorable British Consul here in Pattaya, he is normally always on hand at Soi 5 from about 8.30 - 9.30 most mornings and also has a office nearby, he has always been very helpful to all nationality's in the reception there and was honoured last year in the Queen's list,

then in the afternoon to the market in Thepprisit Road,

Diana and myself split up as I am sure when we shop together the price is always a bit higher if I am there,

although there are lots of food stalls there you can still buy snacks like these hard boiled or heated eggs to eat as you go,

and so many clothes stalls,

and belts,

I am guessing but the red and white trousers in this shot are for some one who is from Japan and wants to make a statement!

I am sure some of the prices are actually coming down, but as the baht is so strong against the pound they would have to fall by 30% just to stay the same,

now at the far end of the market so time to turn around and go back to the livestock end,

on the way back there are some jewelry shops,

and more dresses, why do I keep bring Diana here? I know it is going to cost a fortune!

and shirts for 100 baht each, but in real terms that is two pounds, I guess about the same in the UK?

I am now opposite the Friday afternoon motorcycle auctions, a fairly noisy affair, with the auctioneer shouting but interesting if you have not been to one before,

and this is why I am opposite the auctions - the bar!

but first a quick walk around, the sushi stall where Diana will be buying my supper 11 pieces for 70 baht,

a few new white and blue speckled orchids at the orchid stall,

last Saturday Richard and Beth brought their son James along to the barby, well with no toys to play with at 388, I bought a small radio controlled car for this week if they are here,

no not as big as these, but the bad news is that when we got home to try it, OK I wanted one as well! it did not work, so at 5 this afternoon back to change it, isn't it just the way?

on my way back to the bar to wait for Diana I just took a few shots as I was walking,

then Diana arrives loaded down with food and clothes,

"Cheers!" from both of us,

whilst at the bar we bumped into Paul and had a long chat about Thailand, visa's etc,

and a surprise for me, Diana had noticed the first of the new crop of lychee's, a bit expensive at 85 baht a kilo,

but last night chilled they went down so well after the sushi! oh well now to drop two pairs of jeans off for Diana to be made a little shorter, then to Friendship for the food for today's bar-b-q in the afternoon and later to change Jame's car, busy, busy, busy!

Football In School Playgrounds Ban For Kids,

yes you read it correctly, last night, one dad — who did not want to be named — called the decision by Wood End Primary School in Harpenden, Herts, “namby-pamby”, He said: “What is the world coming to when children are not allowed to be children? When I was growing up a bit of rough and tumble was a normal part of life, “Now it seems as though all our little darlings have to be wrapped in cotton wool and treated like bone china, this is a knee-jerk over-reaction.” Governors’ chairman Gareth Huxtable made the controversial decision with head Diane John, the playground ban was brought in for health and safety reasons after several pupils were hit in the face by flying balls, but in a rare outbreak of common sense safety campaigners questioned the ban last night, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said playground rough and tumble was “an important part of growing up”, I guess Governors’ chairman Gareth Huxtable and head Diane John will now ban school sports days in case one of the kids falls over and hurts himself - what do you mean they have!

The Bin Police Strike Again!

after a day's hard graft in the garden Karen Kelly tidied away, it seemed easy enough, after all, she had been given a bin specifically for her garden waste, on top of the discarded shrubs she placed two tiny squares of turf she'd removed from the lawn and closed the lid, but what appeared to be the simplest of tasks ended in farce after local bin police refused to take it away - because it contained soil from the turf, in a statement I can only say I find incredulous the bin police said that any grass or plants have to have the soil washed away, I wonder if this will apply in the summer when there is a hose pipe ban? the 46-year-old divorced secretary from Yeovil, Somerset, pays £25 a year for the special fortnightly collection, run on behalf of her local council, the mother-of-two and keen gardener thought it was a good idea at first, but when Somerset Waste Partnership refused to take her bin because of the 'contamination' she was appalled, She said the Waste Partnership told her plants, shrubs, grass cuttings, weeds, leaves, bark, hedge pruning, and small tree branches and even saw dust was allowed - but not soil, or flowers or turf with soil attached and there was me thinking that eventually the waste turned into soil, so what is a little extra going to do? a spokesman for the Partnership - which has a contract with South Somerset District Council and collects the garden waste every two weeks - said the soil in the bin would have affected the compost.

I Thought It Was Going To Be A Quite Day,

but it started out with a huge flash and one of those horrible electric bangs! the transformer out side 388 has over the past 11 years I have lived there had a few hic-cups and today it was going to be another one of them, the last time this happened the electric company arrived wrapped a large amount of tape over a cable to cure the shorting out problem, about 3 months ago, well I went outside to take a look along with the lady that lives next door only to have the cable short out three more times in a huge shower of sparks, after retreating to a safe distance she shouted that she would call the electric company, so the quite day got off to a loud start!

for our evening meal we went to the Gossip Cafe, it is by that funny little round about thing behind the Dot Com Center,

a nice touch is that with out being asked the staff put some of those lighted mosquito things under each table, not that there were any mosquitoes but it was a nice gesture,

I had the farmers schnitzel, Diana had the same but with two eggs on top,

the meal was huge, on top of the schnitzel was two rashers of bacon, fried onion and mushrooms, all served with fresh and fried tomatoes, coleslaw, cucumber, fresh onion, garlic bread and chips! do not eat here unless you are very hungry! and all for 139 baht,

view from the street, with the roundabout on my right,

prices for the schnitzel start at 119 baht, at the moment a full liter of beer is 99 baht,

and this is the sign from the street, as an aside if you get there about 7.15 in the evening there is a non-stop parade of eastern European ladies that stay in the rooms above going to work, it was quite a fashion show!

there is plenty of outside seating, also they have a singer/guitar player that is mercifully good and quite, Beatles ballads and a few from Eric Clapton whilst we were there, for the two of us with my ice coffee and a water for Diana 366 baht, huge amounts of delicious food, thoroughly recommended, give it a try next time you are hungry.

A Few Months Ago I Did Two Posts Of Where Bentleys Had Their Wheels Stolen,

well it appears the same gang have struck again, the £120,000 "Baby" Bentley supercar was targeted by thieves after it was left parked in London's Chelsea, replacing a full set of wheels would have cost anything up to £5,000, so the unidentified owner may have been relieved - if rather baffled - to find that the other two wheels had been left behind, with top speeds of 198mph and capable of hitting 60mph in 4.8 seconds, the 'Baby Bentley' is one of the fastest cars on the road and a favourite of wealthier footballers and pop stars, Wayne Rooney was photographed last year talking his way out of a ticket after parking his £200,000 Continental GT Speed - and also bought a similar one for wife Coleen, now where was I when football skills were being handed out? Oh! I remember, at the back of the queue!

Do Not Mess With Fish 59!

and you thought fish were fun! well Shaun Brown, 14, did not when he managed to hook and land this ugly-looking creature from the less than exotic surroundings of the Grand Union Canal in Leicestershire, it is called a pleco after their Latin name Hypostomus plecostomus, a native of South America, I am guessing it got to big for an aquarist's tank and was deposited in the canal, it is a warm water fish and could not survive a UK winter so it must have been placed there very recently or this is a made up story where the fish has died in captivity and has been "caught" for a story.