Final feast Mantra Pattaya Sunday brunch with friends, I have so many memories of great moments in the last 12 years at this wonderful restaurant. This photo blog features many of the long lunches dating back to 2007.
We are going to miss the fabulous food.
Alaskan crab & oysters from France have always been my favourite at the Mantra Sunday brunch. Having said that I must admit the quality has been going down slightly in the last 2 or 3 years. I apologize for this criticism just their standards were always so high I guess they were hard to maintain.
The seafood section.
I would always ask to be seated near the seafood & sushi. 🙂
Final feast Mantra Pattaya, lets not forget the cold Sake. 🙂
Included in the price of the buffet, so I would always take full advantage of this special.
My friend from Sydney Roland Bonnici.
Roland loves dining out & the Mantra was his favourite Pattaya restaurant. This visit was a week before it closed on February 10 2019.
From the Chinese kitchen.
Pork Belly, roast pork & duck, delicious.
A favourite dish
From the Chinese wok the beef & onion creation just melts in your mouth.
Wonderful decor
The Mantra featured 7 different kitchens.
Lets look at previous years, 2007 Trevor & Nui.
Trevor hails from Western Australia & spends lots of time in Pattaya.
This was 2008.
Nick Partridge from the Gold Coast & his lovely lady Sharron have been Mantra fans since the beginning.
Big group in 2010
At the back is Trevor & his son Cameron + xxx, then myself, my brother Warren, Nok & Phil Avalon, & at the front we have Greg Johnston & Herbie Pastor.
Big birthday with lots of friends.
No better place to celebrate than the Mantra.
Beautiful Benjamas Sitthi
Ben now works at the Avani Hotel adjacent to Royal Gardens.
Before Ben there was Amy
Amy really knew how to make you feel welcome.
Another birthday in 2009.
I remember this one very well, my great Phil Thomson from Australia bought his 21 yo son Michael to Pattaya as part of his introduction to life in the fast lane. 🙂
March 2012.
Another super Sunday.
February 2010
On the left is my brother Warren & Bill Austin & Joan Baptiste from Wiltshire in England.
Xmas with Yaowaluck Bumrungthum aka Kartoon
For Xmas day lunch the Mantra was always our choice.
How could we forget Pothole aka John Martin.
We call him Pothole Bin Ladin the mouse of Markland. A flashback to Potholes birthday, aka John David Martin, at the Mantra in 2013 when love was sweet.
Allan & Vicki Chiswick from Sydney.
Laem Chabang Their cruise ship spent 24 hours at Laem Chabang so they hightailed to the Mantra. 🙂
Putting on the Ritz
Finally here are some of the glamorous Mantra girls putting on the Ritz.
Check out three previous Mantra photo blogs here. Number one,
& link number 2,
Many thanks for visiting my Final feast Mantra Pattaya photo blog.
LadyBoys Nana Plaza Bangkok seem to be increasing in numbers each year. In Thailand a Kathoey or katoey is a transgender woman or an effeminate gay male. Many Thai people perceive that a kathoey actually belongs to a third gender.
Sit near the entrance at 6 pm.
They usually start to arrive from 6 pm on, it’s rather entertaining seeing them arrive with an exaggerated walk & almost always stroking their hair.
Would you know the difference?
LadyBoys often look and act more ladylike than the ladies! Everything is exaggerated, particularly walking, where they look like they are on a constant catwalk. There is a more pronounced swaying of the hips, more elegant posture (particularly when seated), excessively flicking and fidgeting with their hair and over-applied make-up.
This was actually in Phuket.
However he is a well known face around Nana Plaza, let’s just call him “Secrets”. 🙂
LadyBoys Nana Plaza Bangkok
Most LadyBoys are much taller than the girls & after living in Thailand for many years they are easy to spot. Ladyboys do not just exaggerate their femininity; they exaggerate everything! Every word and action is excessively flamboyant. This makes them stand out from the crowd because Thai culture is such that women (even those working in beer bars and go-gos) are usually quite reserved.
Definitely NOT LadyBoys.
Gary & Brad are from Townsville & I’m in the middle & have lived in Pattaya for 10 years. However my first visit to Nana Plaza was 24 years ago in 1996.
What a knockout..
By far the best looking LadyBoy I have ever seen was in Pattaya. My two Aussie friends Dennis & Nick were absolutely stunned. 🙂
All the action is here in Nana Plaza.
Without a doubt this is the best adult entertainment precinct in Bangkok.
Hello boys…..
Wow! what nice group of lads. 🙂
The boys from Bangkok
A couple of fine feathered friends. 🙂
Call me old fashioned….
However I prefer the real thing, someone like this gorgeous lady who is looking for a late night snack.
Thanks for visiting my LadyBoys Nana Plaza Bangkok photo blog.
Italian food Beach Rd Pattaya at Trattoria Pizzeria Toscana is a delightful experience. TripAdvisor obviously agree with a rating of 45 out of 1,111 Restaurants in Pattaya. Owner & chef Luca Marchetti is originally from Pracchiola, a tiny village in the mountains to the north of Tuscany.
Flashback to 2006
The original restaurant was on the block where the Holiday Inn is now situated.
Here’s to old times in 2006
The restaurant was much smaller & more intimate, in fact I preferred the atmosphere to the current location which seats over 700 people.
Pizza with parma ham.
Definitely one of my favourites.
Fettuccine is absolutely delicious.
Of course they serve every kind of pasta & pizza imaginable.
Memories of 2012
Dinner & red wine with Irina from Ukraine.
Take your pick
It all looks so good, Toscana’s menu is huge.
There are several sections of the restaurant
This is my preferred area to dine.
What a fearsome sight this is.
The big fellow Luca with a knife in his hand should be avoided at all cost. 🙂
Lots of stock in the cold room.
Luca operates his own organic and sustainable farm not far from Pattaya where he grows his own vegetables, rears free-range chickens, rabbits, ducks, pigeons, guinea fowl, wild boar, goats, sheep, pigs and cows. No processed food, no growth hormones, no chemicals, no problem. 🙂
Another pizza
Notice the anchovies on the side, delicious.
The boys from Oz in 2014
Lenny, yours truly & my brother Warren. Sadly we lost Lenny early 2016 after losing a battle with cancer, RIP.
Seafood anyone?
Toscana has recently opened a new seafood section in the front garden.
Lots of wine, mainly ITALIAN.
Quite a few wines available y the glass.
A very friendly waitress in 2014.
As you can see I’m not a person who misses a photo opportunity. 🙂
Dinner with friends January 2019
From the left we have May, Alex, Hamish & Gary.
Hamish’s favourite
Beef carpaccio tasted as good as it looked.
May chose the Baby Clams aka Pippies.
This is the same dish she had on New Years Eve.
Quail for dinner December 2021
Quite tasty but very fiddly to eat.
Thanks for visiting my Italian food Beach Rd Pattaya photo blog.
Coffee with Luca
February 6th I met Luca for coffee during my morning walk.
Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok is Thailand’s tallest building featuring a glass floor 314 metres above the busy streets of Bangkok. A two-tiered observation tower is part of the complex that also hosts Bangkok’s highest rooftop bar and a 63-square metre glass tray floor. I visited with Brad Robbins, my friend from Townsville Australia, his girlfriend Por & her daughter Pang.
WOW! What an amazing building.
Quite breathtaking as you can clearly see.
Let’s buy our tickets.
The price is rather high, B850 or $26 USD for adults & B250 or $7.80 USD for children & seniors, & guess what? I’m a senior, YIPPEE!
How about this view?
The golden dome is the State tower with the famous Sirocco sky bar.
Which is a large shopping mall, which opened to the public on 10 November 2018, as well as hotels and residences.
Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok
The terrible haze covering Bangkok really effects the photo quality. I’ll visit again when the sky is blue.
The view is still spectactular
Imagine what it will be like on a beautiful fine day.
Elevator or the final 3 floors.
Going up was very fast, 74 floors in 50 seconds. Going down King Power set a trap for you, they force you to walk through 4 or 5 floors of shops, to make matters worse the exit on each floor is not clearly marked, so it is very difficult to get out of the building.
Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok famous glass floor.
You must take off your shoes & wear soft covers.
Not for the faint hearted.
If you suffer from vertigo the glass floor is not for you. 🙂
The highest point.
Refreshments are available from the shop.
Finally we escape the King Power maze.
You feel like quoting Martin Luther King “Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
That’s all folks
Thanks for visiting my Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok photo blog.
Patrick’s Belgian Steakhouse Pattaya is certainly one of my favourite restaurants. TripAdvisor rating is #22 of 1,025 Restaurants in Pattaya, however in my opinion it is in the top 10.
Perhaps a salad to start with.
Lots of choices at Patrick’s Belgian Steakhouse Pattaya.
The photo does not do it justice.
The Oxtail soup is fantastic, I often drop in and have it for lunch, followed by a waffle of course. 🙂
Of course I sometime have the pancake instead of the waffle. 🙂
They are both delicious.
Patrick’s Belgian Steakhouse Pattaya
Dining with my friend Hamish & my brother Warren in May 2018 just after the renovation was completed.
The Tuesday night special.
Without a doubt they serve the best lamb shank in Pattaya, perhaps even the northern hemisphere.
Patrick’s Belgian Steakhouse Pattaya
The new decor is attractive & modern. This was at 6.30 pm & I was the only customer. 🙂
In case you were wondering, here’s Patrick.
He used to be a parachuter, now he is a biker. 🙂
Early May 2018 they gutted the restaurant.
The finished product is excellent.
Here we are at the old restaurant.
I’m with Greg Clee & Hamish Elton celebrating Hamish’s birthday in 2015. Notice the old fashioned decor?
Can you believe the size of this Tomahawk? 🙂
A whopping 1.5 kilo, I think Hamish could handle it. 🙂
A terrific dinner with friends.
August 31st 2018, 3 Aussies, a Belgium & a Yankee.
Good food & nice people.
From the left we have Dan Escamilla, Hamish Elton, David Herd, Sally Schmidt & Wayne Schmidt.
Another Tuesday night dinner
Half the table ordered the lamb shank. 🙂 From the right we have David Rose, Brendan Tate, Jessica, Hamish Elton, David Herd, Dan Escamilla & last but not least Possum. 🙂
That is a great looking slab of beef.
You would need a huge appetite to get through that. 🙂
Irish stew was exceptional on October 21 2020
Great value at B250 or $8 USD.
Location
Opposite Mike shopping mall in an arcade opposite the Beefeater.
One final look at the Tuesday special.
Lamb shank (French style) & potato au gratin. I only have one criticism of this fine restaurant, the house wine is far too expensive. Everything else is excellent, many thanks for visiting my Patrick’s Belgian Steakhouse Pattaya photo blog.
July 31 st 2020
Belgian waffles & red wine.
For more Pattaya steak restaurants just CLICK HERE.
Patrick discovers El Mercado
Here is what Patrick had to say about El Mercado; “Didn’t know where to eat tonight in Bangkok so I asked my good friend David Herd who is an expert in Bangkok restaurants. He suggested El Mercado. Wow, what a surprise. Never saw anything like that in Thailand. All those choices of cheeses, cold cuts, seafood and fish. Many wines as well, but a bit on the expensive side. I enjoyed a mixed platter with cheeses and cold cuts, my wife went for the oysters and seafood dish. All in all a success and very enjoyable. Book in advance, packed all the time. Worth a visit when in Bangkok.”
Pattaya Seafood Festival 2018 was a noisy affair as usual. There is a bandstand on the beach which blasts very ordinary music until the early hours of the morning. My condo is on the 20th floor 400 meters away & the sound hits me full blast even with the door closed. 🙂
Beach Road Pattaya
One of the bigger kitchens along Beach Road.
Prawns, crab & shell fish
A good variety & freshly cooked.
Big variety of meat including crocodile. 🙂
I’m surprised there is no snake or buffalo. 🙂
Pattaya Seafood Festival 2018
One of the many stalls lined along Beach Road.
Here is my favourite shot
A typical spontaneous Thai smile, no wonder we love living here.
Time for a mango shake
Another huge benefit of living in Thailand, the mangoes are wonderful.
OK, I’m confused…..
I have no idea what these bamboo tubes are for.
Busy ladies here on Beach Road
The festival runs for 5 nights and really draws the crowds.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Big Changes Nana Plaza Plus Soi 4 are taking place right now in March 2018. A huge roof is being built over the Plaza & the bars in the centre are being built again.
Lucky Lukes is still the same
First bar on the right as you enter.
VW bar at the back
Quite a nice addition to the plaza, apparently it has been here 3 years yet I rarely venture to the back of Nana.
Playschool is an old favourite revamped
You gotta love the pink. 🙂
Big Changes Nana Plaza Plus Soi 4
Lollipop makes a comeback. It was Suckers & before that Lollipop again.
Here it is in 2017.
This to me is the quintessential Nana Plaza photo, sums up many of the customers. 🙂
Re-building the bars, again.
This is at least the 3rd time the bars in the centre courtyard have been re-built, I have a feeling the current owners will do it right this time.
My first visit was 1997 which was the start of a long and happy connection, not necessarily because of the Thai girls who are there basically to relieve you of your hard earned cash, more because of the great times I have enjoyed with friends from all over the world. Check out this photo blogwhich showcases them and many of the gorgeous babes we got tangled up with over these decades of decadence. 🙂
Another longtime Nana Plaza bar.
Rainbow 1 has been at Nana Plaza for as long as I can remember.
Let’s wander down Soi 4
This is one of about 4 Hillary bars.
New kid on the block
Just a short stroll down Soi 4 on the opposite side of the road.
Located in front of the old Rajah hotel.
The bars offer a nice alternative to the rowdy Nana Plaza.
Semi open beer garden
At the front of Broadway in Soi 4.
Opposite Broadway is the Red Zone
Apart from the new bars there are a couple of high rise buildings under construction, hotels or condos, not sure which.
Used to be Bangkok & before that Spellbound
The more things change the more they stay the same. I first came to Nana Plaza in 1996, & here I am again in October 2018 drinking ice cold Tiger beer & listening to the Eagles sing Hotel California, the perfect song for this incredible venue. “You can check out anytime you want but you can never leave.”
Big Dogs has also changed a little.
Still a great spot to watch the arrivals.
Hello sailor.
Girls will often be boys.
Lots of improvements at Nana
The best I have ever seen it look.
Always busy here
The action never stops.
Thanks for visiting my Big Changes Nana Plaza Plus Soi 4 photo blog.
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Wine Connection Central World Bangkok is called the Grill at the Groove, & is ideally located in the best location in Ratchaprasong district, this central business district is easily accessible via three different Skywalk links between BTS Siam station and BTS Chitlom Station.
Each Wine Connection restaurant has a liquor store where you can purchase wines from all over the world at very reasonable prices.
Shakariki 432 Japanese restaurants which are so authentic you will think you are in Osaka. There are several branches in Bangkok & one in Pattaya, the Asoke branch is ranked by TripAdvisor # 866 of 10,352 restaurants in Bangkok.
Pattaya branch
I prefer to sit upstairs.
Location
Opposite the Mike Hotel in 2nd road, +66 33 036 369.
Now for the food
On my first visit in 2017 I ordered two of my favourite dishes, salmon caviar & Unagi or Japanese eel.
Shakariki 432 great Japanese restaurants
Hard to fault the food at this noisy authentic Japanese restaurant.
How good is this?
Is it any wonder this is now one of my favourite restaurants along with Genki in Soi 4North Pattaya.
Is there a better beer than Asahi?
I don’t think so, the Belgium beers are great but my pick is Asahi. 🙂
Fabulous colour combination
And what a taste, perfect.
Salmon Caviar washed down with Asahi.
As good as it gets. Plus they have a special on liquor, all you can drink in 90 minutes for B299.
Home delivery is a great idea.
The restaurant is two floors, upstairs is better.
Shakariki 432 great Japanese restaurants
Dinner with friends February 21 2018. Hamish, Jonathon & Anne.
How good do these oysters look? Photo credit Nick & Sharon. 🙂
Absolutely mouth watering.
Have I convinced you?
Just trust me & try out this great little hole in the wall & you will feel like you have been transported to Osaka. In fact follow THE LINK for one of my Osaka photo blogs.
Meanwhile thanks for visiting my Shakariki 432 Japanese restaurants photo blog. I will be back in Japan in May 2018, here is my agenda.
Pattaya Life Absolutely Perfect place to live for a guy like me. Good friends & great restaurants, what more could I want? Plus a reasonably short plane ride to many outstanding locations. Above is the incredible view from my Markland apartment on the 20th floor.
We went to Chiang Mai for 4 days which was excellent then 8 days in Cambodiawhich was not so good. Reason being we all caught a dose of the flu which really took the shine off our holiday.
A terrific beach side restaurant with very good food.
Surf & Turf hamburger
Guaranteed to fix your appetite.
Geriatrics are us. 🙂
I think the combined ages were 272 years, from the right we have David Herd, Richard (Stingy) Blair, John Hunjadi & David Robertson who is even more Stingy than Stingy. 🙂
Bali Hai wharf.
This was supposed to be completed by October 2017, however given the fact that this is Thailand it will more likely be Xmas 2018.
And so this is Xmas….
Light show at the A-One hotel.
One last Mantra dinner on December 28
Hamish & I had a 20% discount voucher. 🙂
Fabulous food as usual.
Finally on the subject of food which is very dear to my hear.
Fresh prawns & Aussie lamb chops & cutlets from Big C.
Now you can understand why I make the following claim “Pattaya Life Absolutely Perfect.”
Newport peninsular Sydney is my personal photo history not part of my travel blog.
Newport peninsular Sydney
Newport peninsular Sydney was my home for three years from 1984 to 1987. After becoming engaged to a beautiful Melbourne lady Karen Smith, I purchased a timber home perched on a hill above the Royal Motor Yacht Club. The cost was $128k, and I sold it after our engagement fizzled out 4 years later for $360K. I guess it would be worth nearly 2 million dollars today.
Absolutely gorgeous.
As you can see Karen was a beautiful lady, it took me anther 10 years before I realised I was just not cut out for marriage or long term relationships. There is probably a multitude of reasons why, fear of commitment, too independent etc etc.
Dinner party at Herbert Avenue
We were very happy at Newport 80% of the time, I tried hard to settle down and enjoy life as a couple, every now and then however the “call of the wild” would interrupt our utopia.
Wolf Wottke (with the beard) had been my best friend for a number of years, I left him renting my Drummoyne apartment for a year or so until I got fed up chasing the rent. Consequently I sold it which in hindsight was probably a mistake.
Lots of birds & wildlife
These beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets would visit every day for their snack on the balcony.
Life was very good
I had all the toys, a beautiful Mercedes Sports, a cabin cruiser moored at the yacht club, a liquor store in Sydenham which I was in the process of selling and a good sales job with Canon Australia.
Lion Island
This great photo (excuse the quality) was taken on Lion Island in the Hawksbury River, from left to right we have Graham La Roche aka “Biff”, his girlfriend at the time Mona,Ross Ansell from Melbourne and Karen Smith & I.
Me Tarzan
Ross doing his Tarzan impersonation on Lion Island.
31 Herbert Avenue Newport
About 25 years later around 2012 I paid a visit to Herbert Avenue to see if things had changed. Apart from the colour scheme and far less vegetation nothing much had changed.
Another day on Pittwater
My good friend Tony Murphy and his beautiful wife Inge join Karen & I on my 26 foot cabin cruiser. After 29 years I caught up with Inge in Melbourne in 2014.
My back veranda overlooked Bayview
Here is my good friend Paul Slaughter with two gorgeous girls, on the left is Trish and on the right an old girlfriend of mine Shirley.
Big Tim Bristow, dinner at Herbert Avenue.
Tim Bristow was a friend of mine dating back from the time we met in 1971 when he was on my tail to give me a hiding, but that’s another story just follow THIS LINK. In the 70s just the name Tim Bristow struck fear into the heart of all those who knew him, an enforcer with a reputation of being one of the most brutal street fighters in Australia. Put simply he was legend, a bouncer at the Newport Arms hotel, would be contenders for his crown would travel from all over Sydney to try their luck, many came and all of them were sent packing battered and bruised.
Sydenham Cellars
I sold my liquor store in late 1984 which took the pressure off me. I had been working with Canon for a few months and travelling to Sydenham (a one hour drive each way) at weekends to work in the liquor store. Meanwhile I dug a wine cellar underneath my Newport home and stored a huge amount of wine that I took home from the shop.
Unwins Bridge Road
That’s Madison my beautiful 4 year old German Shepherd who used to diligently guard the store overnight.
Brian Millard on Newport peninsular Sydney
Brian was a boat broker at Newport and a regular drinker at the Newport Arms hotel. He lived just up the road at Bungan Beach before moving to Noosa where I believe he still resides.
Richard on the left and Rob Carnahan
Two very nice guys who were customers of mine when I was with Canon. Their office was opposites the Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay so more often than not we would meet in the pub.
A bunch of my nephews & nieces come to visit.
Amazing seeing these old photos, all of these cute kids now have children of their own.
Sue and John Heatherington
A lovely couple who lived in the next street from us, John also worked at Canon in the computer division.
Malaysia 1985
John & Sue, Karen & I went on a Canon conference to Penang, here we are driving from Penang to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur.
Singapore Xmas 1985
Here we are in Singapore, notice the cigarette. I smoke on and off for most of my life until 2003. Usually 2 or 3 years then I would quit for a similar time before returning to the grip of the nicotine.
Newport peninsular Sydney with Phil Parkinson
Phil has lived most of his life on the Newport peninsular Sydney and I believe still does in 2016. He is the brother of my ex girlfriend Di Parkinson.
Melbourne Cup 1985
Karen & I at the cup with friends including another ex girlfriend Helen Burkewho is on the left of the photo. Helen has a vineyard at Dromana on the Mornington Peninsular, I spent a few day there in October 2014 drinking wine with her and her partner Jack.
Oscars Coolangatta 1985
I can’t remember the name of the beautiful dark haired princess, she was the girlfriend of my crazy chiropractor from North Sydney.
Newport peninsular Sydney
Prior to buying my cabin cruiser I had this little run-about, it was a lot of fun, do you like the name?
Another guy from my rogues gallery.
Danny Rose one of Adelaide’s true characters, we had a day of the water, you can see “Stamped Urgent” in the background.
Beautiful Karen Smith
Certainly my life on the Newport peninsular Sydney revolved around lots of good friends and my beautiful fiancee Karen. My thanks to her for being the most important part of my life for those great years.
Thanks also to you for visiting my Newport peninsular Sydney photo blog.
Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book through these links below. Book now & pay later.Free Cancellation. Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels
Alaskan crab & oysters from France have always been my favourite at the Mantra Sunday brunch. Having said that I must admit the quality has been going down slightly in the last 2 or 3 years. I apologize for this criticism just their standards were always so high I guess they were hard to maintain.
I would always ask to be seated near the seafood & sushi. 🙂
Included in the price of the buffet, so I would always take full advantage of this special. 
Roland loves dining out & the Mantra was his favourite Pattaya restaurant. This visit was a week before it closed on February 10 2019.
Pork Belly, roast pork & duck, delicious.
Another super Sunday.
On the left is my brother Warren & Bill Austin & Joan Baptiste from Wiltshire in England.
For Xmas day lunch the Mantra was always our choice.
We call him Pothole Bin Ladin the mouse of Markland. A flashback to Potholes birthday, aka John David Martin, at the Mantra in 2013 when love was sweet.
Finally here are some of the glamorous Mantra girls putting on the Ritz. 
