Penfold's South East Asian Odyssey

This weekend, to use some cricketing parlance, I strode to the the batting crease of life and guided a cheeky single down leg-side, off the bowling of the grim reaper, to bring up my 35th year. For those of you who didn't understand a single word of that last sentence......it was my birthday on Friday night. My celebrations were a welcome distraction from the political unrest that has afflicted the country in the last couple of weeks. The atmosphere in Thailand had been extremely poisonous but there appeared to be an easing of the tension as the nation came together, on the 5th of December, to mark the 86th birthday of King Bhumibol. This carried on into the weekend where my wife and I hosted a house party. We were very lucky that my mum and dad were able to be with us and we were joined by a host of friends and acquaintances. Our guests enjoyed a plethora of barbecued food, enough bee...

Loy Krathong this year was held a week later than normal, due to the death of Supreme Patriarch Nyanasamvara Suvaddhanaects and celebrations in some places were slightly scaled back. However, here in Pattaya there were plenty of events to mark the occasion. Om and I decided to attend the festivities at Mabprachan Lake. There was a Miss Noppamas competition, a display of traditional Krathongs, fairground rides, dancing and a plethora of stalls selling food and drink.  Although we arrived there quite early in the evening, it was still extremely busy and parking spaces were at a premium. The event organisers must have made an absolute fortune as they were charging an entry fee of 20 baht per vehicle.  Such was the popularity of this festival that when we started our journey home, at around 8.30 pm, there was a queue of waiting traffic stretching several kilometres.   Overall it was a lovely evening and as you can see from the photos we enjoyed ourselves imm...

The floating market is a well-known and popular attraction, located along the Sukhumvit road, here in Sin City. Almost every time you drive past, the car parks are full and there are busloads of Chinese, Indian, Russian and Korean tourists being herded inside. It has been in operation since late 2008 and I have been there on 5 previous occasions with my wife, parents and family friends. For visitors who were new to Pattaya, it was pleasant experience and in the early days there was no entrance fee and it was nowhere near as busy as it is now. This meant you could walk around and browse in the shops in relative peace and enjoy an ice cold beverage or a relaxing massage, without having to cough-up any cash or navigate your way past hordes of sweaty Indians or pissed-up Russians. But, my opinion of the place has changed drastically since the last time I visited. I was recently invited by a friend to join a tour of Pattaya, taking in several local attractions including ...

Allow me to introduce the newest member of the family........ My sister-in-law gave birth to Panpurid "Nammon" Porntanasit at 8.20am on 31st October and he weighed in at a healthy 6lbs despite arriving a few weeks earlier than anticipated. Although you can't see it in the photos, he has a rather large nose and would give a proboscis monkey a run for it's money!!!! But despite the snout he's an adorable little chap. All the Thai neighbours were swift to point out that he was born at Halloween and that it was a portent of doom which would result in our street being over-run wih ghouls and goblins. This is because they're an extremely superstitious bunch and also of very limited intelligence!! As you can imagine it's been all hands to the pumps in the last week or so trying to help wih the baby and keep the businesses running smoothly!! I'll bring updates on the wee fella, along with any other important developments, in due course.

I absolutely love going to Ban Amphur, it has a very nice beach and in my opinion some of the best seafood restaurants in the local area. It is easy to reach along the Sukhumvit road and the drive from Pattaya is around 20 minutes. Whenever friends or family come to visit I always take them to eat fresh seafood at the restaurants overlooking the ocean. My favourite establishment is called Sri Nuan and I have dined there on numerous occasions. The food is always locally sourced, good quality and well cooked.       Upon entering the restaurant there are a number of large tanks full of live fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other delights. You can choose which of these unsuspecting critters that you would like to eat and how you would like them cooked, or alternatively, you can choose something from their extensive menu. The restaurant is extremely popular and often welcomes large tour groups, so in the evenings it can be very busy and take quite a long t...

Had Sai Kaew is probably one of my favourite beaches within the local area although Bang Saray comes a close second. Sai Kaew is around a 25-35 minute drive from Pattaya, along the Sukhumvit road past Nong Nooch Gardens and the Bang Saray junction. It is located inside the Chumpol Sattahip Naval Ratings College and is cared for and maintained by the recruits. It is the sort of place that would probably not feature in any of the guidebooks and you are most likely to hear about through local people among whom it's incredibly popular. However, it's charms are starting to be discovered by foreign holiday-makers, particularly the Russians and it's not unusual to see minibuses full of tourists these days. It can get quite busy at weekends, so if your considering a trip, I would recommend going during the week. Upon entering the Naval base, you are required to stop and exchange one form of ID, for example, a National ID card or driving licence for a permit which gives yo...

My wife's nephew, who she hadn't seen in more than 5 years, recently spent a week with us. As it was his first visit to Pattaya, we thought it would be nice to take him sightseeing and introduce him to the delights of the city. We decided to visit the Pattaya sheep farm, a relatively new attraction, which opened in June this year. The first plus point was the absence of any double pricing. All visitors whether they're Thai or foreign are charged a nominal 50 baht entrance fee. Visitors are able to feed and pet the sheep, donkeys, cows and deer and I was even able to pick up one of the lambs. The farm also has a steak house, but on this occasion we didn't dine there. I'm sure many of you are also wondering whether the little fella in the picture above will end up as a set of chops. That I can't tell you, but on the day we visited there was lamb on the menu!!!! There are plenty of photo opportunities and also the chance to enjoy a cup of coffee o...