Starbucks Pattaya every morning is a perfect start to my day. Not just the excellent coffee, the friendly smiling staff always put me in a positive mood. Above is the branch at The Bay on Beach Road Pattaya between Soi 5 & Soi 6.
The Bay Beach Road
Let’s go to Starbucks & stare at our phones. 🙂
Opening day at the Bay
September 22 2015.
My breakfast of choice.
Ham & cheese croissant with a tall latte. B240 or $7.8 USD
There are two Starbucks at Central Festival
That makes 4 within 10 minutes walk from my condo.
Inside Central Festival branch
Quite an attractive fit out.
A birthday candle for me. 🙂
As I mentioned earlier the smiles on girls are a really nice start for the day.
Sometimes they run out of croissants.
So I settle for a sandwich. 🙂
Starbucks Pattaya every morning
Every 12 coffee is free if you have a Starbucks card so I often take one home for later. Also they often have a two for one offer.
Almond croissant
A nice alternative to the ham & cheese.
Mr Donuts
Starbucks change B115 for a latte, here at Mr Donuts I paid B93 for what you see.
Xmas day 2021
Two of the lovely girls who look after me every day. 🙂
Thanks for visiting my Starbucks Pattaya every morning photo blog.
Songkran celebration Vientiane 2019 was certainly more subdued compared to the madness in Pattaya. Songkran is the Lao & Thai New Year’s national holiday. Throwing water has become a huge part of the annual celebrations. If you’re visiting Thailand during this period, prepare to get splashed! In Laos you are able to dodge the soaking if you are careful. 🙂
Look out here they come. 🙂
Lots of pickups prowl the streets with barrels of water to throw at other vehicles & pedestrians.
Our hotel staff
The day we arrived all the staff were having fun soaking each other for Songkran celebration Vientiane. I would happily recommend the Bloom Boutique Hotel, excellent rooms, friendly staff & a great breakfast. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good discount.
Lunch before the water fight
We were invited to join them for lunch however we didn’t want to intrude.
Tuk Tuk
Not all the Tuk Tuks are as flash as this one, in fact many of them are very old indeed.
Father & son.
Age is no barrier when having fun at Songkran.
Songkran celebration Vientiane
The folks relax while the kids play in the pool. As I said earlier Songkran is so much more subdued in Laos than Thailand, in fact each year around 450 Thais lose their life on the roads over what Thailand call the seven deadly days.
Let the games begin
Setting up on the footpath for another day of mayhem. 🙂
Thanks for visiting my Songkran celebration Vientiane 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.
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.
Heartbreak Sadness Songkran Road Toll, the Thai new year celebration is forever tarnished by hundreds of road deaths throughout the country which has the 2nd worst road toll in the world. Only war torn Libya is worse than Thailand.
The accumulated death toll from the first five of the so-called seven dangerous days of Songkran has risen to 323, with 3,140 people hospitalized in over 3,000 road accidents across the country, the Road Safety Centre announced on Monday. On Sunday alone, sixty-nine people were killed and 589 hospitalized in 552 road accidents nationwide.
Credit to Bangkok Post.
Songkran is supposed to be fun.
Children having fun & adults acting like children while the road carnage is totally out of control.
Road toll after 5 days
Worse than last year despite government calls to take care on the roads.
The carnage continues
Commonly known in Thailand as the seven deadly days.
This really shows the Heartbreak Sadness Songkran brings to thousands of families.
No chance on a bike.
I believe about 75% of deaths are young motorbike riders.
Tree versus truck
Tree wins every time.
Heartbreak Sadness Songkran day 6.
According to the Bangkok Post police have impounded a total of 13,964 vehicles (10,139 motorcycles and 3,825 cars) from April 11 to 16 for violating the alcohol ban. Police have taken legal action against 147,971 motorcyclists and 86,674 drivers of private vehicles and public transport.
The sad figures.
A total of 176,415 traffic offenders were arrested at 2,013 road checkpoints. Of that number, 49,866 people were not wearing crash helmets and 46,067 people were not carrying a driving licence. Credit BKK Post.
Were they playing chicken?
My guess is someone either went to sleep or was checking his phone.
Two killed 3 injured.
Most of these photos show motor vehicles however 78% of deaths come from motorbikes.
The final count
As horrific as it is sadly it will be repeated same time next year.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposite the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Thailand Beach Cam Pattaya is the number one webcam in South East Asia, perhaps even the Universe. 🙂
You can zoom, & e-mail the link to your friends, I hope you enjoy the view.
Pattaya is a city in Thailand, a beach resort popular with tourists and expatriates. It is located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of Bangkok. Back in the 60s it was a sleepy fishing village before it was discovered by the U.S. military personal on leave from the Vietnam war. Then through out the 1970s it really took off when Europeans, Australians & Americans started pouring in for their annual holidays.
Bookmark Thailand Beach Cam Pattaya so you can check out the view, traffic or weather anytime you wish.
In partnership with EarthCam
I am extremely happy to be associated with EarthCam who hold the #1 Google organic-search placing for “Live Webcam”. There are around 9 Million Visits to the EarthCam site over an average 90 day period.
Thailand Beach Cam Pattaya
Thanks for visiting my Five Star Vagabond Thailand Beach Cam Pattaya site, please come back soon.
Sabai Wing Soi 1, 3 swimming pools and nice rooms, 100 meters from BigC, great value at only $23 usd per night as of August 15. I live in the high-rise in the background, Markland. For a great room rate book here.
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
Ayutthaya Historical Park Thailand is about 80 kms north of Bangkok, however we were travelling from Pattaya so it was a 2.5 hour drive. The first thing we saw was this little dancing elephant.
I don’t like to see them trained like this.
They are treated cruelly in the training process which is very sad.
Enjoying the ride
This activity is fine, but I wish they would stop the cruel training.
These ruins are all over the city.
It seems 90% was destroyed by people from Myanmar. It was capital of the Kingdom of Siam, and a prosperous international trading port, from 1350 until razed by the Burmese in 1767.
My travelling companions
The 3 Amigos, Bill, Paul & Ron.
The local transport
These little Tuk Tuks are very cute.
Hotel ext door to Temple
For an excellent room rate just book through THIS LINK.
Very impressive
I was surprised to see how many ruined temples there were.
Quite spectacular
Certainly exceeded my expectations.
Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon
We struck a beautiful day with a light breeze.
Very popular with tourists
Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya Lots of tourists everywhere.
Lots of cameras here. 🙂
I prefer my Canon Ixus however I also use my phone or some.
There is a lot to enjoy here.
We were too lazy to go up the stairs.
Too may Buddhas are never enough. 🙂
I do like the yellow scarves. 🙂
Here we are at Wat Phra Sri Sanphet
Wat Phra Si Sanphet was the holiest temple on the site of the old Royal Palace in Thailand’s ancient capital of Ayutthaya until the city was completely destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. Wikipedia
Ayutthaya Historical Park Thailand
Not may tourists here.
Why did the elephant cross the road?
Because anything the chicken can do he can do better. 🙂
Temple flooded October 3 2021
A section of the wall on the southern side of Wat Chula Manee in Bang Ban district collapsed at about 5.30am after the Chao Phraya river overflowed, inundating communities around the temple. The grounds of the ancient temple were left 2 metres under water, damaging about 20 pagodas containing ashes of local residents’ ancestors.
Finally lunch then back home.
Col One Love Restaurant was a bit of a tourist trap, we didn’t do our research & took our drivers advice. (kickbacks would apply here) Food was ok but not good value.
Thanks for visiting my Ayutthaya Historical Park Thailand photo blog.
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
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.
