Bangkok Week 493 December 7, 2017 All sorts of end-of-year activities! View fullsize My first-grade costume? Or my nun costume? View fullsize A Partner and her EA. View fullsize Everyone's gone back to school. View fullsize Lots of people had similar school uniforms! (Also, doesn't everyone look like they could still be students?) View fullsize Crashing the photo of the support staff. View fullsize Who invited the nun to the party? View fullsize We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, Pattaya. It's only been open for 2 months. View fullsize They've done the property nicely. View fullsize A fun kids area. View fullsize Had no idea these waxy red flowers developed further blooms! View fullsize View from the infinity pool to the sea. View fullsize The sea - from above. View fullsize On with the tourism! This is Khao Chi Chan Buddha - carved by laser into the side of the mountain. View fullsize Some people, for sense of scale. View fullsize Next stop: Wat Phra Yai, or Big Buddha Temple. View fullsize Thankfully, not too many stairs to climb. View fullsize The eponymous Buddha. View fullsize Some wildlife. View fullsize The temple, which sits atop a hill, affords a nice view of Pattaya below. View fullsize He's looking excited by the money. View fullsize Anyone know what plant this is? View fullsize Next stop: famous observation point, from another hilltop. View fullsize So many boats! View fullsize A Japanese man offered to take a photo for us. View fullsize Lunch at Pattaya Vegetarian Restaurant. View fullsize No points for creativity on the name, but points for the food. View fullsize And finally, at our hotel for the night: Pullman G in North Pattaya. Recently renovated. View fullsize Mid-afternoon on the beach. View fullsize We weren't the only ones going for a walk! View fullsize Waiting to greet his friend. View fullsize Also on the alert. View fullsize Visible rays of sun. View fullsize There was an Indian wedding party on the beach. View fullsize Don't get tangled in the jellyfish! View fullsize Fishing boats lined up and ready to go. View fullsize Beach dogs of North Pattaya. View fullsize This guy looked especially comfortable. View fullsize At home in the sand. View fullsize Nice shade from this beach tree. View fullsize Found the fishermen's corner. View fullsize A precarious work of art. View fullsize Enjoying the relatively quiet corner we found. View fullsize It was nice and windy! Can you tell? View fullsize Just like in the movies: a fruit smoothie shack on the beach. View fullsize They offered us some chairs to sit and enjoy our smoothie. View fullsize Sunset! View fullsize Three in a row: tic-tac-toe. View fullsize And one more hiding between the boats. View fullsize Kids riding the waves on the giant lane lines. View fullsize Whoops! Saw that coming! View fullsize An interesting condo overlooking the water. View fullsize Sunset and beach-goers. View fullsize Not too crazy, despite all we'd heard about Pattaya. View fullsize Sunset over the hotel's pool. View fullsize And beach bar. View fullsize Back to our tried-and-tested meal spot. View fullsize Relatively clear skies the next morning, our our window. View fullsize Lots of hubbub already, off downtown Pattaya. View fullsize Enjoying breakfast with a view. View fullsize No trip to the beach is complete without... View fullsize ... a dip in the water! View fullsize Mandatory weekly house update: the bathroom in the second bedroom is almost done. View fullsize New window frame in the master bathroom. View fullsize New wall is up in the master bathroom. View fullsize And the pipe scramble is coming along. View fullsize Plumbing coming down from the master bathroom; will mean the ceiling has to be even lower there. View fullsize Meanwhile in Singapore, the Westin gave me an extravagant upgrade this week. View fullsize Six could have dined comfortably in my suite. View fullsize Christmas in Singapore is in full swing!
