Pattaya, Saturday, October 10, 2009

I got up about 8am, got ready, and walked down to Pattaya Beach, taking the wrong, right, fork on the way and finding a locked gate at the property on the beach. I crossed over a vacant lot and walked a few blocks to the left fork, which turned left at the entrance to the beach. The brown sandy beach is nearly covered with umbrellas and lounge chairs and large shade trees above the water line. The chairs appear to be attended by someone, who probably charges to use the chairs, although many of them may be owned by the hotels or condos just back of the beach. A brick walk extends along the back of the beach sand, although the wet sand at the water line is firm enough for walking.

I walked a mile or so south to Jomtien Beach and obtained maps at a tourist office on the beach. I left the beach and found Mask and Finns. The price for a day trip, in a boat, to snorkel is 1600B, as listed on the website. The only one in the place was a young woman whose accent made it difficult for me to understand everything she told me. I walked on back toward Roger's and found a tour office along the sidewalk near a large hotel. The young woman there was easy to understand and the cost of a day trip to snorkel was 1500B. I walked on and found a sign for the Mermaids Divers. Two caucasian guys there said the price for the same trip was 1000B and they went out every day at 8am and would pick me up at my hotel or house. One of the guys, Dave, used to live in San Francisco, but hadn't been there in 6 years.

After I got back to Roger's I tested my 30 year olf prescription mask in Roger's community pool. It works fine, so I decided the Mermaid's trip would be a good idea. I called to make a reservation. The woman was hard to understand and she couldn't understand my pronunciation either, so Roger spoke loud and gave her my name and address and phone no.
Roger wanted to go to the computer store, part of 4 level shopping center. We left about 7 and had dinner at the S&P restaurant. The waiter and staff know Roger and know what dish he wants. They didn't had any cashews and couldn't make his favorite, so he had a fried sea bass. I ordered a steamed vegetable and shitake mushroom dish, with steamed white rice and Roger's favorite drink a Thai Iced Tea frappe. The vegetables were in a bowl and immersed in a mild flavored broth. Very good. My portion came to 160B, my outlay for the day.

One of the techs at the computer store knows Roger and has an offer from Roger for a cut if he can find someone to buy Roger's condo for 20M Baht. He showed an interest in my camera and asked if I could take photos of Roger's house for him to advertise, probably on the internet. He will call Roger when he can get over to the house. Roger looked at lots of things but didn't buy.
We got back by 9 and Roger made tea for both of us, then went into his computer room, so I turned in early to get rested for the snorkel trip.