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Wednesday 28th March 2000
No update last night as I went out almost straight after work for my tea. There were some visitors at work yesterday and they were "entertained" last night and I was invited (Anything for free food) We went to a place called The Sugar Hut, it's close to Jomtein beach and is a resort hotel with a beautiful restaurant. I was going to take my camera but changed my mind, that was a mistake, it was a really nice setting, next time... I got my first home leave flight tickets confirmed today. I will be back in Blighty on Wednesday next week, I'm not sure for how long yet, probably 10 days or so. Therefore after the middle of next week there will be not update for sometime. So I have one more weekend left before my flight home. I am working on Saturday so that limits my possibilities, but I will do some thing different and post a few pictures on this page after the weekend. One more thing, Andy/Jayne where is the picture you promised to send me so I could put you on my web page???
Monday 26th March 2000
Sick today. I didn't go to work today as I am not confident enough to venture further than 2 minutes run from a toilet!! I spent most of last night staring at the back of the toilet door (see pic) I woke up at the normal time thinking I was going to be OK for work but then my bowels told me I wouldn't be.
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My base for most of Sunday night. |
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The beautiful view of the back of my toilet door. |
Saturday 25th March 2000
Another Beach Day. I won't go into lots of detail about the trip today as I have made a new page to cover it. Tomorrow will be another lazy day. Going to islands and beaches is great but it means an early start so I'm always knackered at the weekend. I will get my rest tomorrow by the pool. My computer has become a little unreliable as the hard disk is nearly full of pictures so I will have to have a clear out and make some space. Have a look at the island pictures, I hope you like them.
Ian
Friday 24th March 2000
Laundry day today, but regular readers will know that as it is part of my weekly routine. Thursday at work was good. It rained beyond belief. I got some pictures but they don't show the scale of it. The pictures look like "A rainy day" but this was incredible, a huge thunderstorm, fork lightning and torrential rain. The local electrical sub station was hit by lightning and we had no power at work for one and a half hours. There was no electricity anywhere in the whole region, even the hotel, which is 40 minutes drive away, was powerless.
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Like I said it looks like a rainy day but that huge concrete moat in the picture is the factory drain pipe. |
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Another rainy picture. |
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I waited to see if Leonardo DiCaprio would jump off this Thai waterfall. Unfortunately he didn't. If he had he would have landed on top of an air conditioning unit instead of a hidden lagoon. |
Saturday is another beach day. It's an early start so I will finish my diary for today.
Ian
Wednesday 22nd March 2000
A "Quiet Day" today. Just to prove that I don't strap myself to a bar stool EVERY night. I got in from work and lay on my bed and listened to some music. Like I said, A quiet day. I will probably go downstairs and get some thing to eat (Not in the bar)
Ian
Tuesday 21st March 2000
No update yesterday, I must be slacking off. I drank for England on Sunday but couldn't get drunk. It happens sometimes. I took advantage of "Happy Hour" to fill my boots with cocktails and beer but....... nothing. Monday night I went to the bar as soon as I got back from work. (It's happy hour 18:00 till 20:00) and got bladdered on less than I drank the night before. It's Tuesday evening now and I have just got back from the bar, there is a theme here I think. A few people from work were in the bar and we were talking about our day and whatever. We all share the same opinions about being here. Thailand is great but work is terrible! We can't all be wrong. OK enough about work. Mario, one of my German colleagues is arranging a boat trip to a deserted island this weekend and asked if I fancied going. I thought about it (for a nanosecond) and said "Yep" so a new island this weekend. That's it for my update today. Bye.
Ian
Sunday 19th March 2000
I had another lazy day today. Just sitting by the pool, listening to CD's and reading "Loaded" magazine. This afternoon I went to pick up my laundry and had my tea in a bar called "Palmers" It's run by an English bloke and was recommended to my by a fella at the pool today. I had roast beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, carrots, peas and cabbage. Best of all it was smothered in REAL gravy. That and 2 beers came to less than a fiver. Now I will go down to the bar and take advantage of Happy Hour to have a few cocktails. So far I've only tried two different ones: Coconut Connection and New Wave. So I will expand on that now and probably drink myself into a coma. If I don't manage a coma I'll stay up and watch English Premier League Football on telly later.
Ian
Saturday 18th March 2000
"Island Day" I went to my first island today and did absolutely nothing. I just lay on a sun lounger and listened to music, read the paper, that sort of stuff. I have another page showing the pictures I took today so have a look. Koh Lahn was the name of the island which means Coral island.
Friday 17th March 2000 (2543)
The reason I have written 2543 in brackets is because I
found out today that the Thai calendar is 543 years ahead of the rest of the world. I
don't know why and I didn't ask. But the bottom line is in Thailand it is currently the
year 2543.
Yesterday travelling home from work the bus broke down (No brakes) We
had travelled no more than 500 metres when the driver stopped and got on his mobile phone.
One of the other buses eventually stopped and we clambered aboard. Today our normal bus
came to collect us with a mechanic on board. He got out and looked under each wheel before
we set off. You can imagine how that really filled us with confidence. The driver was very
nervous and kept his distance from vehicles ahead. But there's not a lot you can do when
other vehicles pull out in front of you, which happened a couple of times. I was really
tired and had some thoughts about sleeping on the bus on the way home. I couldn't relax, I
spent most of the journey looking at the pressure gauge for the air brake system. We got
back in one piece and I am about to go to the laundry and have something to eat. Tomorrow
is island day so check out my update tomorrow and expect to see some paradise pictures!!
Ian
Wednesday 15th March 2000
No diary yesterday (Not a lot to say) Today I had to go to
see the doctor. My legs are still giving me problems. It's 10 days since they got burnt
and there is little or no improvement. The doctor asked me a few things, took a look and
then said, "It is an allergic reaction to the sun" Now it must be 18 months
since I last sunbathed so I could accept that my legs might be a bit sensitive, but an
allergic reaction!! Come on that can't be right. I have attached another picture of the
latest status of my legs. They hurt and and are very itchy. He gave me 3 different type of
tablet and some cream to rub on. If it's no better in a few days I have to go back.
I booked a trip for Saturday. I am picked up at the hotel in the
morning taken to a ferry and then a 1 hour sailing later I arrive at "Coral
Island" My time is my own, para sailing, jet skis, swimming/snorkelling,
sunbathing,whatever I like. Then they feed me and bring me back. Total cost £5.00 ($7.50,
Zl30.00, RMB60.00, Dm15.00) Call it what you like, it's excellent value. So look out for
island pics on Saturday.
Ian
Monday 13th March 2000
Today was National Elephant Day in Thailand. I'm not sure what that entailed but I read it in the paper. Apparently elephants helped to save the kingdom of Thailand many years ago. Nowadays they are seen as a bit of a menace and have recently been banned from the streets of Bangkok. The Mahouts are being offered work in the north of Thailand with a minimum wage to encourage them to keep away from the city. Someone told me a motorcyclist was killed at the weekend near Pattaya. He collided with an elephant!!! I don't know if the elephant was OK or not. I hope he didn't run into the back of it. that would be a terrible way to die, with your head stuffed up the backside of an elephant!!
Ian
Sunday 12th March 2000
Well, a bit of a quiet day today. Sunbathing, swimming and resting. I got up too late for a hotel breakfast so I took a walk to a little bar/restaurant close to the hotel. I had bacon and eggs, toast and marmalade and a coffee, not bad for £1.50 Then, like I said, I got "sun blocked" and did nothing. We went into town last night. There is a huge place called "Hollywood". They have massive video screens all over the place so I watched Spurs against Southampton. There was a transvestite cabaret on stage. That was a bit weird!! After copious amounts of ale we went back to the hotel but I can't remember what time it was. I didn't take any pics so no pic updates on the other pages today. OK time to go and collect my clean laundry and have a bite to eat.
Ian
Saturday 11th March 2000
Today was "Elephant Day"
check out the link to a few pictures. Last night we went out to drop the laundry off, have
a bite to eat, a few beers then back to the hotel. We eat in a Belgian bar which is not
surprising as I was with three Belgians and a Portugese bloke. The food was excellent. I
had fillet steak with chips and chocolate mousse for afters (Yum Yum) When we got back to
the hotel the resident band was inviting people to get up and sing. Like I said I'd had a
few beers so I got up and did "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton.
The particular elephant we were on did a massive fart. Do you know what
and elephant fart sounds like? If not click here to listen: Fart
You may need Windows Media Player to hear it therefore I have made it the background music
too.
And here's another picture form the elephant ride:
Friday 10th March 2000
We had a bit of a scare on the bus on the way home today. The driver cut across a road junction and knocked a poor soul off his motorbike. Fortunately he didn't look hurt, only angry. I could sympathise with him having been knocked off my motorbike at home a couple of years ago. So it's Friday (T.G.I.F.) I was going to hire a motorbike myself this weekend but I may reconsider now. Tonight a group of us will take a trip into town drop the washing off at a local laundry then go for a bite to eat and a few beers. Tomorrow Luc and I are going to The Elephant Park so expect some Elephant pics on my page over the weekend. Then it will be a night out in Pattaya followed by a day of "limited, protected sun-bathing"
Ian
Thursday 9th March 2000
So, another day in paradise (not!) It's not so bad, I am adjusting to it now. Today was by far the most humid day I have ever experienced. The afternoon was awful. Some clever so and so decided to switch off the factory ventilation system to save money!! Can you believe it? No, nor can I. The evening was good though. The hotel called a long term residents meeting to talk about problems and proposals to improve the service. The best part was the food and beer was free, not just beer, spirits too. I reacquainted myself with my old friend "Jack" (Jack Daniel's that is) I wasn't greedy but made sure I got a few in. The sunburn was a bit better today, I could walk OK at last. Tomorrow is Friday, thank God. Time to forget about work for 2 days and see the place. I will probably hire a motorbike and go for a ride around. Luc wants to go to the Elephant Park on Sunday. Sounds like fun, you get to go on an elephant safari. That means you ride an elephant!!
Ian
Wednesday 8th March 2000
Not a lot different to write about today. I took my camera with me to work but the rain was not so heavy today, I still took a few pictures but the rain was 5 times heavier yesterday. I got a few more pictures on my Family Pics page so check them out. Below is a picture of my lobstered legs, you can see why I was in so much pain!!!
Tuesday 7th March 2000
"Same shit different day" springs to mind. Another
huge downpour at exactly the same time as yesterday. I have to take my camera to work
tomorrow to put a picture on this site. I cannot describe it in words, a picture will
definitely help. I was supposed to play football after work tonight but my sunburnt legs
put a stop to that!! They are killing me, I hope they will improve soon, next time out in
the sun I will put on Factor 99 cream or just wrap myself up in a blanket. So I had a
quiet night in and got the bar staff to play Black Grape CD's for me while I eat various
satay dishes (Yummy)
I didn't mention it before but Chester City won at Exeter on Saturday
2-0. The last two games I have been to we have lost 7-1 and 5-1 respectively and I got
involved in a fight at one of them (Who said hooliganism was dead?) I didn't start it but
I wasn't going to stand there and let some southern shandy drinking bast*rd have a go at
me, was I? So that's it for today, hopefully I will have some "Monsoon" pics
tomorrow so keep checking.
Ian
Monday 6th March 2000
First day at work: Well that was a bit of an eye opener!! I certainly have my work cut out here. We start building cars here in a couple of weeks and a lot of things need to be done before then. I have seen quite a few car plants in my time but never one like this one in Thailand. It is "open plan" i.e. there are few walls! But you don't need walls in this climate. All of the buildings have a type of moat around them and I found out why today. It was plus 30 degrees C all day and then it rained. "Rained" does not do it justice, it absolutely pissed down, more rain than I have ever seen in 25 minutes. The "moats" were like rivers within seconds of the start of the downpour. As soon as it stopped the ground was steaming as it all evaporated. I got back from work and went straight to the bar, which is where I will return after up-loading this page. Keep looking, I will try to update this page regularly.
Ian