Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Craft Beer A-One Pattaya

July 19, 2020 by David Herd

Craft Beer A-One Pattaya

Craft Beer A-One Pattaya at the Royal Cruise hotel, which is named because it looks like an actual cruise ship. Malibrew is a rather spectacular bar & an interesting concept, with some good points & some bad which we will discuss below.

Main entrance is on Soi 2.

About 60 meters from Beach Road.

Happy hour is between 5 & 6 pm.

You can get 2 for one Singha for only B120 or $3.80 USD. The bar has only been open for a few days & strangely enough has no craft beer on sale yet.

Price list

Red wine is B290 per glass which is way too expensive in my opinion.

Open plan kitchen

The food is very reasonably priced.

Cold appetizers

good selection here.

Main course

Menu is a computer tablet, my preference is a normal style menu, but I guess I’m a bit of a dinosaur. 🙂

More main course choices

I had the spaghetti & meatballs.

Spaghetti & meatballs

Enjoyable without being exceptional.

Beer taps are not connected yet.

I can’t help wondering why they opened before the craft beer was available.

Another dining area

Lots of places to sit at Malibrew Craft Beer A-One Pattaya.

Here is the entertainment area

I have already admitted to being a dinosaur so please view my comments accordingly. I was 2/3 through my meal at 7.30 & the music started. A guitarist & a drummer decided to pound out around 100 decibels. It was so loud I didn’t finish my meal, I just paid my bill & left.

Many thanks for visiting my Craft Beer A-One Pattaya photo blog.

A-One hotel on Beach Road

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

Check out my Pattaya webcam here.

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Counter only started August 2020.

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Longhorn Steakhouse Pattaya

July 8, 2020 by David Herd

Longhorn Steakhouse Pattaya

Longhorn Steakhouse Pattaya is located in the arcade off 2nd road opposite Mike shopping mall. In the same arcade you will find Patrick’s & the Beefeater.

A table or a booth sir?

Plenty of space between the tables. 🙂

Walking Street

This is dated 1960, however it should show 1980, the reason is I actually took the photo on my first visit to Pattaya.

The original photo

That’s my friend Rob Symonds walking towards the camera. We have visited Manila & Hong Kong on the way to Thailand. Follow THIS LINK for more 1980 photos.

July promotion was exceptional value.

B595 or $19 USD.

Lobster Bisque to begin

It tasted as good as it looks. 🙂

Australian Ribeye

At Longhorn Steakhouse Pattaya this Australian Ribeye was extremely tender & tasty.

Guess who was celebrating his birthday?

Guilty as charged. 🙂

Creme Brulee is a favourite of mine.

It was a toss up between this & the Tiramisu. Creme Brulee is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a texturally contrasting layer of hardened caramelized sugar. It is normally served slightly chilled; the heat from the caramelizing process tends to warm the top of the custard, while leaving the center cool. The custard base is traditionally flavored with vanilla in French cuisine or with cinnamon and lemon in Catalan cuisine, but can have other flavorings. It is sometimes garnished with fruit.

Toast Skagen, one of my all time favorites.

The Beefeater also offers Skagen. Toast Skagen is an appetizer and Swedish food. Consisting of two slices of toast, mayonnaise and many prawns. Sometimes crabs are used instead of shrimp. The name of the dish originated from Skagen in Denmark, but the dish is not very well-known and most popular in Sweden, which was created by the restaurant and chef from Stockholm Tore Wretman. He introduced the Toast Skagen … Wikipedia

Australian Shiraz

Tonight I chose to take my own wine as it was a special occasion, the corkage fee is B300, or $9 USD.

Tiramisu

Very rich, I prefer the Creme Brulee.

Longhorn Steakhouse Pattaya

Thanks for visiting my Longhorn Steakhouse Pattaya photo blog, I highly recommend this excellent restaurant. Don’t forget In the same arcade you will find two other very good restaurants Patrick’s & the Beefeater.

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Check out my Pattaya webcam here.

Counter only started July 8 2020.

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Everybody loves Thailand

June 30, 2020 by David Herd

Everybody loves Thailand

Everybody loves Thailand, the food, the people, the temples, the beach resorts, the tropical islands, it’s all here for you to enjoy. Lets not forget Bangkok, as they say in the song, one night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster. 🙂

We are going to start in the north at Chiang Mai & then head south all the way to Phuket, Krabi & Koh Samui. For each location I will give you links to my fabulous photo blogs. 🙂

A beautiful Chiang Mai Temple.

Good restaurants in Chaing Mai.

River Kwai Bridge Kanchanaburi

River Kwai Bridge Kanchanaburi was of special interest to me due to my late uncle Allan Herd, who spent 2 years as a POW on the Burma Railway. In fact I urge you to read his amazing story, you can find it by following this link which will take you to “One Soldiers Incredible Story”.

River Kwai photo blog.

Ayutthaya Historical Park Thailand

Just an hour north of Bangkok, there are lots of low price day tours you can take.

Ayutthaya Historical Park

Bangkok is known as “The Big Mango.”

What a fabulous city, home to over 10 million people. There are so many things to see you need to spend at least a week here. Here is a LINK for a very nice hotel in a great location, for a good discount just use THIS LINK.

However if you want a low cost hotel where all the action is please use THIS LINK. Rooms start at $25 USD per night.

Sirocco Sky Bar State Tower Bangkok

Bangkok Grand Palace

Bangkok’s number 1 attraction Reclining Buddha Wat Pho.

Soi Cowboy Bangkok playground

Pattaya 2 hours south of Bangkok

Beach side city with hundreds of good restaurants & clubs.

Beach Road Pattaya

Pattaya attractions

World famous Walking Street

Sanctuary of Truth.

Here is a LINK to get an excellent room rate at a very good hotel.

Koh Chang

Close to the Cambodian border this is the 2nd largest island in Thailand. A perfect place to enjoy crystal clear water & sandy beaches. Or just relax in the pool with an ice cold beer. 🙂

The Kacha hotel above is on the beach and close to lots of restaurants, use THIS LINK for a great room rate.

White sands beach Koh Chang.

Fabulous Koh Chang.

Phuket

Phuket, a mountainous island in the Andaman Sea, with some of Thailand’s most popular beaches, mainly situated along the clear waters of the western shore. Patong is the main resort town, it has many nightclubs, bars and discos.

Use THIS LINK for great hotel discounts & pay later.

Let your hair down in Phuket.

Krabi in southern Thailand.

Krabi, on southern Thailand’s west coast, has many craggy, sheer limestone cliffs, dense mangrove forests, and more than a hundred offshore islands. Some of its most popular beach destinations include the Phi Phi Islands.

Follow THIS LINK for more Krabi photos.

Beautiful Koh Samui

One of my favourite places in Thailand, lots of daily flights from Bangkok.

Restaurants on the north coast.

Taxi ride around Koh Samui

20 years of Koh Samui memories.

For a good discount on you hotel room just use THIS LINK.

Farewell folks

Thanks for visiting my Everybody loves Thailand photo blog. If you need any more tips just email to [email protected]

Soi Cowboy

Nana Plaza

Patpong

Everybody loves Thailand & don’t forget it. 🙂 🙂 🙂

https://fivestarvagabond.com/best-pattaya-beach-thailand-webcam/

Counter only started July 1st 2020

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Aussie guys visit Cuba

June 22, 2020 by David Herd

Aussie guys visit Cuba

Aussie guys visit Cuba as part of their Central American adventure, then the Covid-19 virus started spreading around the world. Sadly this caused them to cancel the rest of their trip & fly back to Australia.

La Plaza bar & restaurant

Michael Thornton, my brother Warren Herd, Doug Beattie & Chris Lockwood aka Dr Evil.

Tour Guide

Narrow streets in Havana

One of many forced marches across town with full kit because the streets were too narrow for vans & buses to get to our accomodation.

The boys are bored silly.

Waiting a couple of hours in a busy bus station did not excite us.

Vinales valley

With the pincushion mountains in the background. The thatched roof building is a tobacco leaf drying shed.

A Cuban tractor.

Having a cigar break?

Hey Chris check out the horses arse.

Fuck off Dougie, your getting stranger than that other idiot you brought with you.

One of our tour guides

Making friends with little porkey.

Cuban Schoolgirls

Walking along the sea wall that was built by Americans.

Beautiful old American cars

American cars were imported into Cuba for about 50 years, beginning near the early 20th century. After the Cuban Revolution, the U.S. embargo was erected and Castro banned the importation of American cars and mechanical parts. That’s why Cuba is the way it is today—essentially a living museum for classic cars.

Rickshaw & classic cars

Choose your transport in Havana, taxis, classic cars or rickshaws.

Maybe this is more your style

It’s probably a Uber. 🙂

Our best meal in Havana

Lamb with Cuban sauce with rice & vegetables.

Desperately looking for a signal

Panic is setting in, everyone is frantically trying to get a signal.

Is Warren taking the knee

False alarm, he is also looking for a signal. 🙂

A giant cock

Please give it a rest Kevin, it’s a bit early for your cock jokes.

The tour group

March 2020 in Vinales Valley Cuba.

Looking west from our hotel balcony

Lamparilla St, in English it means night light or small lamp.

Our last night in Cuba

Aussie guys visit Cuba

Hallelujah! Free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last.

Thanks for visiting the Aussie guys visit Cuba photo blog. Here is David Herd’s trip to Cuba in 2001.

Here is my favourite artist, Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of guarachas, earning the nickname “La Guarachera de Cuba”. Wikipedia

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June 10, 2020
by David Herd
Comments Off on Bangkok restaurants shopping 2020

Bangkok restaurants shopping 2020

Bangkok between Nana & Asoke

Bangkok restaurants shopping during the Covid-19 lock-down was still an enjoyable weekend, I really needed to get away from my home in Pattaya for a welcome change of scenery. This photo was taken from my the Ruamchitt Plaza Hotel where I only paid B700 or $22 USD per night, use THIS Link to get a very good discount.

View from my hotel room

Exactly halfway between Nana & Asoke BTS stations.

Landmark Hotel on Sukhumvit

They have an excellent Chinese restaurant.

Viva restaurant Soi 8

Usually very busy here but not tonight due to the virus lockdown.

Crab & Avocado

Avocado & crab meat, delicious.

Starbucks at Thonglor

I visit Starbucks at least once a day, sometimes twice. 🙂

Not another selfie?

Actually I limit myself to one selfie every 6 months. 🙂

Emporium shopping mall

Quite a spectacular display at this upmarket shopping mall.

EmQuartier shopping mall

Dean & DeLuca is an American chain of upscale grocery stores

Harrods at EmQuartier

Upmarket retailer carrying specialty foods, including prepared dishes, plus home & kitchen items.

El Mercado with Mark Yagalla

El Mercado is our favourite restaurant in Thailand. You gotta love oysters from France. For more photos follow THIS LINK.

Great selection

A fabulous selection of cold cuts.

Centre Point Hotel

Centre Point hotel in Soi 55 Thonglor, use THIS LINK for an excellent discount.

Beside Nana BTS station

The building construction in Bangkok never stops.

Bangkok restaurants shopping

Sukhumvit Rd Nana, great name for a bar.

French Oysters at El Mercado

Even though the prices have escalated they are still good value at $50 AUD a dozen.

Before the virus

Nana Plaza before the lock-down, now it’s dark & lonely.

Thanks for visiting my Bangkok restaurants shopping photo blog.

Lots more posts here;

Counter only started June 16 2020.

Italian road trip 2000

May 31, 2020 by David Herd

Italian road trip

Italian road trip in march 2000 commenced after a few days in Florence & San Gimignano with my beautiful Italian friend Barbara Manelli, I left with 2 American friends Paul & Dan on a road trip south through Naples, the Amalfi coast & all the way to Reggio at the toe of the boot.

Spanish Steps in Rome

That’s Paul in the middle & Dan aka Scooter Boy on the right. Can’t remember the name of the guy on the left.

Here we are in Naples

The locals are playing a game on the beach.

Naples harbour

Dan & I checking out the boats.

More boats in Naples.

Getting the boat ready for some fishing.

Next stop Pompeii

Pompeii was buried under meters of ash and pumice after the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Fairly gruesome

I guess they never really stood a chance.

Farewell to the streets of Pompeii

One of the most interesting places I have ever visited.

Sorrento

David, Paul & Dan.

The gorge

The gorge down to Marina Piccola from PiazzaTasso.

Next stop the Isle of Capri

Took a bus trip around the island, had lunch & checked out the Blue Grotto.

Capri

A narrow Capri street.

Capri was very interesting indeed.

Our guide to the Blue Grotto

It was nice without blowing your socks off. 🙂

Positano

The jewel in the crown on the Amalfi coast.

Fruit anyone?

The jewel in the crown on the Amalfi coast. Happy guy with lots of fresh fruit.

Lunch in Positano

A very quaint village clinging onto the side of a mountain, lots of stairs to climb.

Love on the rocks

Can’t be too comfortable. 🙂

Artist in Positano

My favourite shot from Positano.

Hotel Avagi

Credit to Sara Tononi Verlengieri for this delightful photo.

Salerno

A population of around 138,000.

Salerno Boulevarde

A very nice city, certainly worth a visit.

Salerno by the sea.

Salerno is a port city southeast of Naples with a population of 138,000 people.

Reggio

Reggio Calabria is a coastal city in southern Italy, separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina.

Thanks for visiting my Italian road trip photo blog.

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Pattaya Asian Travel Vacation

April 5, 2020 by David Herd

Pattaya Asian Travel Vacation

Pattaya Asian Travel Vacation located on the gulf of Thailand, only a 90 minute drive south of Bangkok. The city is split into three main areas, Naklua, Pattaya Beach and Jomtien, there are lots of great nightlife hotspots including the world famous Walking Street. In this photo blog I’ll endeavor to show you some of the highlights of this tropical seaside city.

Relax beneath a palm tree

A beautiful setting, however the beach is very quiet due to travel restrictions for the Coronvirus.

Sanctury of Truth

The Sanctuary of Truth was initiated by a Thai businessman Lek Viriyaphant in 1981, and is scheduled to be completed in 2050. The sanctuary is an all-wood building filled with sculptures based on traditional Buddhist and Hindu motifs.

Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens

Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens is a nice day out especially if you have children. A 30 minute drive from Pattaya and you can watch elephants play soccer.

Hooters Pattaya

Great place to watch the sunset.

Talking about sunsets

Best sunsets I have ever seen in the world.

A selfie on the beach

If you are very lucky you may stumble across a sexy Russian babe taking selfies on the beach.

Motorbike taxi or Baht bus?

Cheap transport, average B50 for a bike taxi & B10 for the songthaew, aka Baht bus.

Beer bars

Siracha Tiger Zoo

Take a short drive from Pattaya to see plenty of Tigers, elephants & pigs. 🙂

Barbecued crocodile

Not many places in the world you can find the delicasy on the street, in fact Thailand is famous for it’s delicious STREET FOOD.

Pattaya Bay

You can see this view 24/7 on my webcam, just follow THIS LINK.

Laem Chabang Pattaya

There must be 20 world class golf courses within an hours drive of Pattaya.

Alcazar Cabaret

Alcazar is famous for being one of the best transvestite cabaret show in Thailand.

Walking Street Pattaya Asian Travel Vacation

Walking St as an attraction compares favourably to many other infamous world red light areas. Patpong, Nana Plaza & Soi Cowboy in Bangkok, the RLD in Amsterdam, the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Kabukichō in Tokyo, 42 nd St New York, Vila Mimosa in Rio De Janeiro & Kings Cross in Sydney. Sadly all of these areas I have visited at some stage in my life. 🙂

Parasailing on the bay

If you need a little danger in your life this is for you. 🙂

This is more my speed

A one hour foot massage for B250 or $10 AUD, great value.

Songkran is the Thai New Year

Total madness takes over Pattaya for about 9 days in mid April, if you don’t want to be soaked every time you leave your hotel, don’t visit in April. 🙂

Lets check out some local talent

This is Bow, a real wild child who lives with her boyfriend Matt. Matt is an Aussie who runs a factory in the motor accessory industry with about 60 Thai workers. His company pays him a 25% hardship allowance for living in Thailand, can you believe it? 🙂

Occasionally I entertain a visitor on my balcony.

Great smile, great view.

Pattaya Asian Travel Vacation

Thanks for visiting my Pattaya Asian Travel Vacation photo blog, hopefully it will convince you to book a trip here. 🙂

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

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Beefeater Steak House Pattaya

March 21, 2020 by David Herd

Beefeater Steak House Pattaya

Beefeater Steak House Pattaya is ranked by TripAdvisor number 40 of 1340 restaurants in Pattaya. Every Sunday they have a Mexican “all you can eat” buffet. Another excellent feature here is they offer 3 sizes of the steak of your choice.

My friend Larry Krausz

Larry loved his food & really enjoyed visiting the Beefeater, sadly he suffered a major stroke & passed away in 2017.

Toast Skagen

Here is the dish I always have at the Beefeater, the owner/chey is Scandinavian so I guess that’s why Skagen is on the menu.

Toast Skagen – Shrimps in dill mayonnaise served on toast

Ham & salad baguette

The Beefeater Steak House Pattaya offers so much more than just steak, the baguette is excellent as is the Lobster bisque.

Talking about the Lobster Bisque

Very rich as you can imagine.

Prices seem to be creeping up

It’s now 2021 in the middle of the Covid crisis & most venues seem to be lowering prices or offering specials, however not here I’m afraid.

For anyone with a sweet tooth. 🙂

A classic banana split to finish off an excellent meal.

Apple Pie

Homemade apple crumble pie with custard and vanilla ice cream, absolutely delicious.

Beefeater Steak House Pattaya

A well stocked bar for you to choose from.

Beefeater Steak House Pattaya

Located in an arcade on the corner of 2nd Road & Soi Diana. Opposite another well known Pattaya Steak house, Patricks Belgium Restaurant.

Location

If you are coming from Beach Road just walk through Mike shopping mall and cross over 2nd road, the arcade will be right in front of you.

Hours:
Mon – Fri 17:00-24:00
Sat – Sun Lunch 12:00-16:00, 17:00 -24:00
(Kitchen always closed at 23:00) call for reservations (between the hours of 16:00-23:00) at 038-720-926

Thanks for visiting my Beefeater Steak House Pattaya photo blog.

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That’s all folks

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Counter only started June 16 2020.

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Xoho Chinese Cafe Pattaya

March 14, 2020 by David Herd

Xoho Chinese Cafe Pattaya

Xoho Chinese Cafe Pattaya located in Terminal 21 North Pattaya. There are nearly 100 food outlets in this fabulous shopping mall & Xoho is one of my favourites. The high quality food is reasonably priced.

Prawn dumpling soup

This dish is a must have, I order it every time I visit this nice restaurant. I’m usually here at lunch time & it’s normally very quiet. Cost of the soup is B130 or $4.00 USD.

Modern pleasant decor

There is both indoor & outdoor seating here.

Dumplings to die for…

I find it hard to explore the rest of the menu & find myself continually ordering the same favourite dishes.

My brother Warren also likes the Prawn Dumpling Soup.

Always repeating the same dishes must run in the family. Over coming weeks I’ll endeavor to widen my selection. 🙂

BBQ Pork Buns

Certainly as good as I have eaten anywhere in Pattaya, B59 or $1.80 USD.

Xoho Chinese Cafe Pattaya Dim Sum Combo

A small sample for B79, or $2.40 USD.

Xoho Chinese Cafe Pattaya

Located on the 2nd floor right next door to Arnos Steak & Burgers.

There is quite a number of excellent restaurants on the 2nd floor, IO Italian Osteria is another one of my favourites.

XOHO Chinese Cafe, the Hong Kong style Chinese restaurant opened at the beginning of 2020. The shop is on the 7th floor of the MBK Center. In-store menus, in addition to Dim Sum, There are also menus grilled ducks, red pork, crispy pork, porridge, noodles and various fried rice.

Thanks for visiting my Xoho Chinese Cafe Pattaya photo blog.

Temporarily closed due to Covid-19. November 2020.

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Pattaya storm water solution

March 11, 2020 by David Herd

Pattaya storm water solution

Pattaya storm water solution involves digging up part of Beach road and laying a 2 meter pipe underground to stop the storm water flooding the road & footpath.

Huge drain pipe

Lets hope this strategy works, the current system has never been able to handle the huge volume of water from storms in the wet season. It is not just the water that falls on Beach Rd, most of the Soi’s in North Pattaya run down hill from 2nd Road bringing a huge volume of water that runs over the footpath and destroys huge sections of the beach.

Here’s what happens to the beach

This has been the case for many years. For more storm damage just follow THIS LINK.

Here is a video of the flooding

Beach Rd Pattaya flooded, more water than Songkran.

Watch this video on YouTube

That’s a lot of water right there.

They are sparing no expense on equipment

It’s a very noisy disruptive project, let’s hope it works.

No problem on the footpath

All the disruption is on the actual road, traffic of course move very slowing with on one or two lanes to use.

Near Soi one

I must give them credit, they are making good progress.

Pattaya storm water solution

Trucks and excavators all along Beach Road.

This footpath is going to need some work. 🙂

It’s now March 2023 & I think we are in for another 6 months of pain before this project is completed. Having said that I really believe the workers are doing a great job & as fast as possible.