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The View from Nongkhai |
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Part 27 |
Published 04 December 2005 |
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Comments on Episode 26 |
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from Fred (left) : I enjoy your sense of humour, it is the same as that of Julian at the Mutmee. (Who is Julian? I'm not sure how to take that!) from Kim (right) via email : I loved it and for guys like me - not visiting a lot of different bars - looking at the photos gives me an idea of who the Farangs are that I'm seeing around in Nongkhai. |
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(So what are you saying here Kim? That I spend my life visiting bars? Its true I visit some bars, but purely for research purposes, and only in the interests of journalistic authenticity.) |
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Brendan's or is it Noi's Bar |
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However, I was determined to persevere and took a number of photos of Brendan. I realised that I had to make it easier for him, so left out the confusing instructions, 'close your eyes', followed by 'OK now open your eyes', when I wanted to take the photo. Instead I simply told him 'don't close your eyes till I leave the bar. Brendan had no problem with that one, as the picture of him and Jackie on the left bears testament. I think that it is probably the best photo of Brendan I have taken to date and considering the subject I am quite proud of it. I wonder if Brendan would like to buy a copy to frame and hang in the bar? |
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Purely
for research and only in the interests of journalistic authenticity I
visited said establishment, as I was told that Brendan's
parents were in town. For one thing I have heard people calling
Brendan a b*stard. I suspected that it was just another Nongkhai
rumour, and so it proved to be when I met Brendan's mother
Jackie and father Noel, pictured right with Brendan and Noi.
Inevitably it is not a good photo of Brendan. I told
everyone to close their eyes, then when I was ready to take the
photo, I said 'now open your eyes'. Luckily the rest of the
family managed the manoeuvre.
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Nong's Place |
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Here is Mark enjoying a beer with Tam. Tam
was asking Mark to check out her muscles. With that deep voice,
jaw line and those muscles it seemed to me that a close
relationship with Tam might lead to a big surprise. I am
thinking here of the movie 'The Crying Game'. Dott assured me
that Tam is 100% woman, which must be a relief for Mark, as
later the mysterious photographer caught them in
the romantic pose below. Mark would not be the first to be taken
in by a kathoei, as I related in
Altogether there were 5, yes 5, photos of
Mark and Tam sharing some special moments. I wonder if Tam's
profile is on Thaigirlsingle? Is it just a coincidence, or did
the unknown photographer unwittingly reveal Mark and Tam's
dark secret? I wonder if Mark would like
to buy a copy to frame and hang in the office? Alternatively I
wonder what he would pay me to destroy the negatives? |
Across
the road (soi) from Brendan's (or Noi's) is Nong's Place. I had
never been there before, but solely for KIM's benefit, Dott
and I went there to check it out and identify it's clientele.
Someone grabbed my camera and took most of these photos,
including this one of me. Also there was Mike, Peter from
'Take it easy' bar, and Greg and Mark of 'Thaigirlsingle'. (What
a great website that is!)
Below left I think this
was the only photo that I actually took. I got a good photo of
Greg and Mike (far left) a regular business visitor to Nongkhai. Greg
seems to have recovered from his Halloween date. (episode 26)
but is unwilling to talk about it. Below left my guest
photographer captured Peter about to leave for a fancy dress
party, (I have no idea what Tam was up to), while below right,
Nong the eponymous owner of Nong's Place looks rather
fetching
in white. I wonder if Nong would like etc etc ......... ?|
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Bitterness "You should never be afraid to share your dreams with the world, because there is nothing else the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams." |
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 Thanksgiving at Dr José Ramon's Bar, Cantina, Restaurant, and Surgery As with the picture of Brendan above, I am proud of this photo of the good doctor in contemplative mood. It is totally in keeping with his goal of running for Governor of Texas. If it wasn't for the fact that the state of Texas has disenfranchised me on the slightest of technical grounds, He would get My Vote, for sure!
Last year was the first ever Thanksgiving for Dott and me ( |
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Dott, Virginia, Don and I were were the first to arrive, to find José swabbing the floor. I readied the camera to take a photo and received my first ultimatum of the evening. I spent milliseconds computing our relative strengths, weights and ages, and put the camera away. I do hope that this photo (right) shows that José went to a lot of effort to make it look really good. So once we were allowed inside, the first thing we did when his back was turned, was to rearrange the tables! |
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As a result 'our' table comprised in
a clockwise direction, Colin from Scotland, John from Denmark,
Don, Harry, Barry (hiding) and Virginia from USA, Dott from
Thailand, and me (taking the photo) from England. It was a great
mix, and everyone enjoyed the night. At first we were worried
that José was too mellow this year. When he brought out the
freshly cooked turkeys (below), he just looked too Fortunately, and to our relief, it wasn't to last. After posing for this photo, José went back to the kitchen to complete preparations. When the buffet was ready and in place, he emerged to make the formal announcement, but some of the company were already on their feet heading for the food. This was the point the aficionados were happy to see the 'real' José emerge. What other bar owner in Nongkhai could get away with telling his assembled customers to "shut the f**k up"? As it happened I had my camera in 'movie' mode and have a wonderful clip of José in full flow. I have promised José that I will not use said clip, but that was the extent of my promise. Now, this clip could be the making or the breaking of Governor José Ramon of Texas, so I am open to the highest bidder! |
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Last year I captured Pete with his name and address sewn on his shirt, and commented accordingly. This year he was with his beloved and was happy to pose with the object of his affections. Pete, it was great to see you again this year, especially now that you no longer need your name sewn onto your shirt! While Pete is complete, (we English love that rhyming stuff), Justin isn't. However Dr José stepped in and exclaimed, "One lick of my tongue on that forehead, man, and I can tell everything!" |
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content.
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Doctor/patient confidentiality means that we cannot know the content of that diagnostic lick! But from a personal point of view, I find it interesting that the good doctor licks the top of my head while he licks Justin's forehead. Is it just a question of where you have hair, or is it something deeper? Only Dr José knows the answer to that one. Also enjoying a great night at José's were L to R Columbian Karin, & English Peter, Karen and Nat. |
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Nang's bra or Nang's bar? In the last episode I included a picture of Nang's bar under the heading Nang's bra. Now you might have thought that this was a simple mistake on my part, a transposition of the 'a' and 'r', in the word 'bar'. But the truth is that I included the wrong photo, so here to put matters right is a photo of Nang's bar.
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Kevin and Amorn revisit Nongkhai Dott and I were driving home one evening and spotted Kevin and Amorn on the terrace of the Pantawee. We were surprised, as we hadn't expected to see them for another year, after meeting them in episode 24. But Kevin's annual visa renewal was taking longer than it might, so he had had to come back. This was our gain as we had a very pleasant evening with them . |
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| Heiko's Biker Bar Opens | |
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My thanks to my
wife for posing with a large chopper between her thighs. This is a joke, but you might have to be a native English speaker to
understand it. On the other hand if you know there is a joke
there, you may well have the wit to understand it. If the joke
still eludes you, please write to:-
firquit@nongkhai.co.uk
where our help line personnel are standing by 24/7 for your
call.
I was very pleased
to see my friend Tony 'the Italian stallion' reunited with Heiko
at the formal opening of Heiko's biker bar. Both of them were
replete in traditional motorcycle colours, with Tony wearing
those from 'Easyriders of Phuket' of which Tony and Heiko were
both members.
Heiko provided a
lot of excellent free food for the opening night and was
rewarded with a full house, with a mixed crowd of Thai and
farang bikers. There was one great moment when several high cc
bikes arrived together, making music to the ears. Not perhaps
for Dott, but for all the old
bikers like me, it was music to our ears.
Someone I haven't seen since Christian closed his restaurant is Jacques (right). I am sorry but I forgot to ask the name of his lovely partner. When we used to meet at Christian's, we used to speak in French, but I now have very little opportunity to use it, so it is getting rather rusty, and to my shame, I was forced to use English. You may notice
that many people at Heiko's were wearing jackets or jumpers (or
both) as it is now the cold season, but it is not as cold as it
should be. The thermometer beside my computer currently
registers 28°C or 82°F. Dott and I are off to England tomorrow (5th), which is the King's 78th birthday. Dott and I humbly offer our congratulations to His Majesty. He is the world's longest reigning monarch, beating Queen Elizabeth by some years. He became King of Thailand on 9th June 1946, a few months before I was born, and He is very much loved by His people. In November some parts of England saw snow, so Dott has been busy buying warm clothing, and tried some of it on, posing with this pair of fashion boots she had also bought. I suspect that she will be unpleasantly surprised just how cold it can be, but it would be nice if she sees snow for the first time in her life. While we are in England, I will not be able to write any more episodes, so I am sorry to forecast that the next episode (28) will not be published until late January. |
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I have no idea what I will be writing about in that episode. Probably our trip to England, plus anything else that I think might amuse or interest you. STOP PRESS !! HOT NEWS !! Glen is returning to Nongkhai and will reopen an enlarged Outback Bar at the same spot before Christmas !! Priscilla has retired to a farm life, but one of her offspring is being groomed to take over her rôle. Sadly I won't be here for the jollies, but I look forward to the first of many revisits to the Outback next year. If you want to write to us, but you don't know any of our other email addresses, you can email us at mail@nongkhai.co.uk Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, & Best Wishes to all our readers Tony and Dott P.S. Doughnut says 'Woofs to all readers' and Xmas kisses to Kim. While Tony and Dott are off in England, I am going to stay in Goot Chup. I'll be telling you all about that in the next episode. (Editors Note: Oh no you won't! We're not having any more of your 'shaggy dog' stories!)
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