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Our weekends are pretty precious to us.  We don't have much time together during the week; even when Tim is home, he is usually working.  So we enjoy getting out.  The big mall on beach road has many necessities all in one place: a bank to manage our finances, a haircutting place, a grocery store, movie theater and several restaurants.  One restaurants we've come back to a few times is the Hippopotamus.  It's an Australian outfit with a nice view and good beef, imported from "Franch," as it says on the sign.  (Perhaps this isn't "France," as we assumed, but some iffy supplier with a convenient mispelling...)

New haircut and a parfait
"Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say,
"Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait."?
Parfaits are delicious!"

Another weekend, we decided at the last minute to go find some dinner, so without a driver, we walked just up the road to the resort that people constantly mistake for our condo, the Garden Cliff Resort and Spa.  We didn't even know if they served dinner, but we took a chance.  The entrance to the hotel is pretty magnificient, a fountain with huge, dragon/horses (?)  We asked for a "lahn-ah-hahn" (restaurant), and were swiftly led around corners and down stairways to a buffet overlooking the bay.  We said "two," and noticed several large, round tables of perhaps ten people each, mostly Chinese tour guests, we assumed.  The waiter said to follow him, and he walked to the end of the eating area and set up a small table for just the two of us, facing the water and the Sanctuary of Truth - lovely!   (We did feel a bit out of place, the only westerners off to the side of the crowd.)  We had no idea the cost, but gamely approached the buffet tables.  Seafood featured prominently, with crabs an apparent highlight.  Neither of us are big seafood eaters, but we found plenty of food to enjoy - soups, salads, stir fry, etc.  Turned out to be a bit pricey, but the scenery was worth it.  The fountain was even more impressive once it got dark and the lights were turned on...

Finally got hold of a newspaper (I can only get one if I make it to the Saturday evening mass, as they are always gone by Sunday's services), and found two concerts happening at the same time on the following Sunday.  A classical chamber orchestra from Sweden was performing at one hotel, and the Pattaya Classical Guitar Festival and Competition, sponsored by the Thailand Guitar Society (who knew?) was happening at another.  Since I'd not been to a classical guitar concert since the one given in college by my guitar professor, Charles Postlewate, that won my vote.  The event was taking place at the Siam Bayshore hotel, where I'd gone for my first classical concert in Pattaya.

The first time we came to this hotel, we drove up to what looked like the back door of the hotel, so we circled way around to the front.  Well, it turned out the concert was just inside that first door we'd come upon.  So this time, Mick let me out at the back door.  Only now, the event was near the main lobby at the front.  No matter, I knew my way around this place from the last time... Finally found the place in the lower level, and bought my ticket.  I was informed that the ticket was good for one San Miguel beer, too.  Kind of an odd combination, classical music and beer, but who am I to complain?

This was actually an all-day event, including a performance competition.  I arrived after the competitions to enjoy some very talented musicians, each performing for approximately 30-40 minutes.  The very soft-spoken emcee for the event practically whispered the introductions without first waiting for the audiences' attention - Thai politeness.  The first performer was the winner of last year's competition, a twenty-year-old Thai gentleman named Worrapat Yansupap.  He had the classic look of a passionate artist with the requisite messy crop of hair, and played some incredibly complicated pieces, including a sonata by Rodrigo and a prelude by Bach.

sorry, the video wouldn't load

He was followed by a duet, Pongpat Pongpradit and Chuah Yeong Chin...

At the break, I scooted up to the Sunrise, Sunset Cafe for a quick bite to eat.  They always serve their dishes beautifully here, a feast for the eyes as well as the tongue!

Just made it back in time for the next part of the program.  The first part of the program had only perhaps thirty or forty people in the audience, but as you can see in the pictures below, the room was now full, and I was lucky to find a seat.  A pushy American (imagine that!) appointed himself the camera police and berated a Thai woman for raising her phone to take a photo before the musicians started playing - so ridiculous and embarrassing.

But back to the music... Next up was Waratep Rattana-umpawan, one of the founders of the Thailand Guitar Society.  He was followed by my favorite performers of the night, a trio from Japan, Tomonori Arai (teacher), and his adult students Eisei Tanigawa and Takashi Endo.  They were brilliant, very entertaining and engaging.  They played every part of the guitar in ways I'd never seen before.

Next was a technically complex performance with very little emotion by European Leon Koudelak, artistic director for the Thailand Guitar Society. The final act was a female duet from Japan, Maria Duo.  Their schtick is eccentric outfits and lighthearted repartee between pieces.  "Maria Duo" comes from three Japanese words meaning "kindness," "an ideal," and "love."  They are all about spreading the joy, a bit of a throwback to the flower children of the sixties; a stark contrast to the European before them.

I had to sneak out at this point as the driver would be waiting, but it was just the right amount of culture fix - a most-enjoyable evening.

In other entertainment news, I thought you might enjoy seeing the Thai versions of these American game shows:

Move over, Drew Carey!

Carey on!