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A look in brief at other events that took place in Pattaya over the last few weeks
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Graham and Foo’s (Felicity) Wedding Anniversary and Birthday Party.
Our good friends Graham and Foo had a joint celebration earlier this month when they reached their 40th anniversary together coupled with Felicity reaching the grand old age of 60.
Our header picture is their official commemorative photo of them both in traditional costume which they have very kindly given their permission to use.
For the anniversary celebration they held a dinner at the always excellent Casa Pascal restaurant, but due to this clashing with the Hua Hin Jazz Festival, yours truly was not able to attend, however the reports received indicated an excellent evening enjoyed by all.
The following Friday they held the ‘Birthday Bash’ at one of their favourite drinking establishments – ‘Jack Bar’ in  the Naklua area of North Pattaya, and this time The Pattay a Otter was able to be present.
As is sort of traditional with these sorts of events, a ‘pig roast’ was the main feature and an excellent turnout of most of their many friends ensured the beast did not last long.
Shortly after this, Foo was presented with a birthday cake and proceeded to ceremonially cut it for distribution to all.
 Surrounding these events was of course lots of drinking, chatting and generally having a good time, enjoyed by all, not least the bar staff who fully played their part in making this a memorable evening.
We congratulate Graham and Felicity on reaching these not inconsiderable milestones in their lives and wish them every continued happiness together..
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Phra Burin addresses Expats Club.
Following the very successful visit of Phra (monk) Nicolas to the Pattaya City Expats Club a couple of months ago, and subsequent visits by several members to his temple at Wat Dhammakaya (see previous edition) he was invited to return to talk to us some more about his life, and his beliefs.
Unfortunately due to other engagements he was unable to come but he sent another member of his order in his stead.
 This turned out to be Phra Burin, a Thai native monk also attached to Wat Dhammakaya and he in spite of English not being his native tongue, still managed to give a packed attendance another most fascinating talk as well as answering many questions.
He started with a short meditation demonstration in which all took part, and then proceeded to tell us about his life, his reasons for becoming a monk and his life in the order.
The meeting was then turned over to the floor for q uestions of which there were many and varied, all handled most competently and with a fine sense of humour, so many in fact that a short break had to be taken so that Phra Burin could take his midday meal as by his code this is the last time of day he is permitted to eat.
After the meeting closed a group of those present assembled on the steps outside our meeting location for a photograph with Phra Burin..
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Heartt 2000 charity dinner at Mata Hari Restaurant.
One of the highlights of the series of charity events held throughout each year to raise money for the Heartt 2000 aids charity, is the annual dinner at Mata Hari restaurant in Central Pattaya.
Many people including yours truly rate Mata Hari as one of the best if not The best restaurant in Pattaya which given the vast number of establishments competing is no mean achievement.
So it was with great anticipation that our party assembled on the evening of May 10th.
Mata Hari is quite a small restaurant and was fully given over to this event for the evening for which much thanks must be given to its ever ebullient owner Louis.
 We were seated at a table for our group of 4 and proceeded to enjoy a meal of superb cuisine – a picture of the menu will tell the detail but does not do justice to the flavour of the sauces that accompanied each dish. Bottles of the several very reasonably priced wines accompanied this gourmet feast.
Considering the number of guests that had to be served simultaneously, the service was as excellent as the food and an example to other restaurants catering for large parties.
During the meal, as is custom with these events, raffle tickets were sold to guests and the evening culminated with the drawing for the large number of prizes donated by various establishments sponsoring this worthy charity. The Pattaya Otter was not lucky on this occasion, but one of our table, Peewee won the first prize, a gold bracelet, which he very generously handed back to be auctioned to raise even more money.
An evening that fully lived up to expectations; and one that again raised a considerable sum to help those suffering from this terrible illness..
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Maew’s birthday at The Sportsman Inn (sorry - no pics)
Another birthday party, this time for our friend and financial Guru Malcolm’s lovely Thai girlfriend Maew.
The venue for this changed a few times in the planning. The first idea was to have a barbecue round their condo pool but the condo management vetoed this for various reasons, so the next plan was to have it at ‘Jack Bar’ the same place as Graham and Foo’s bash, but they were unable to agree this at short notice, so it was finally decided to hold it at the Sportsman Inn on Soi 13 in Pattaya.
Although being one of the longest established bars in Pattaya this was actually the first time I had crossed their threshold although I had visited their sister place on Soi 6 a few times before.
The Sportsman is a large air-conditioned bar laid out much like an English pub with a long well stocked bar to sit it. Alternative seating can be found round a number of large tables divided into booths around the room. Several television screens are visible at various points and a full size pool table dominates the far end.
On entering the bar I passed by a buffet spread that was laid out in one corner and was greeted by my hosts and shown to a table where several friends were already seated.
One of many glasses of draught beer was placed in my hand and shortly afterwards we were called to help ourselves from the buffet, the highlight of which was definitely the Sportsman Pies which disappeared at high speed but were fortunately replaced with more.
Whilst enjoying an excellent evening of eating drinking and chatting, our cabaret was provided by a bevy of very attractive Thai ladies attempting to play pool on the nearby table and their finding their movement of the pool cue somewhat obstructed by their best features (you work it out).
Thank you Malcolm and of course the ever lovely Maew for an excellent party.
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Expats Club monthly dinner at Paradise Restaurant.
Following a few less than satisfactory recent outings, The Pattaya City Expats club decided to play safe with their monthly dining out in June by returning to the always excellent Paradise Restaurant, just opposite the Royal Garden Plaza on Pattaya 2nd road.
The Paradise Restaurant has a unique attraction here, its ‘Exotic Menu’ featuring such creatures as Ostrich, Emu and Crocodile, but this is no mere gimmick, each of the dishes featuring these meats is cooked to perfection. And for those wishing something more traditional a menu of more conventional fare is also available.
 After the recent disappointments it was an encouraging turnout of members that assembled and after being greeted by our beaming host Hans, we were seated at two adjacent large tables.
Whilst selecting our choices we were supplied with a selection of nibbles and also a choice of some excellent house wines.
I chose one of the Ostrich dishes on offer and found it most tasty, and the comments from all round suggested that whether an ‘exotic item’ or a more traditional dish was chose, each and everyone was well satisfied with what appeared on their plate.
Later in the evening Hans came over and joined us for a chat and a farewell drink before bidding us farewell.
A welcome return to form for our monthly eating out, but given the excellent reputation of Hans and of The Paradise Restaurant, we knew in advance that it would be.
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To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it.
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