Thai Dyed: Risen

March 13 - 27, 2016

With our house guests gone, we returned to our routines, such as they were. One Sunday, I met my friend, Mika, and her young neighbor for a concert of popular opera music at the Siam Bayshore Hotel. Definitely not in Tim's realm of interest, I am fortunate to have a friend who enjoys the occasional dose of culture. Three singers from the Grand Opera Thailand traveled to Pattaya with their accompanist to share their talents with the classical music fans of the area. Classical music offerings are fairly sparse in these parts, and the Siam Bayshore is not far from our place, so I couldn't resist.

We met in the outer lounge and enjoyed a beverage with the mostly-farang patrons before the concert. I recently learned that the term "farang" doesn't just refer to foreigners, but specifically white people. Asians or Africans are not considered farangs. Amazing, I'd been here for over a year before I realized that!

Over two hundred people enjoyed music from Grieg, Gluck and Mozart to Verdi, Donizetti and Lloyd Weber, finishing with a rousing trio of Funiculi, Funicula. The performers were young and didn't display a lot of depth in their performances, but made for an entertaining evening even so. Mika's friend was attending her first opera performance, and it was fun to share that experience with her.

Tim met me for dinner at the hotel afterward, where we were surrounded by loud-talking farangs who'd attended the concert. The Sunrise, Sunset Restaurant offered a discount to concertgoers, and served a pleasant meal, which we enjoyed amid the din.

Mika's little one has a shorter school day in what is now Thai summer, so they came over for an afternoon of swimming. Bathing beauties!

One of our favorite chefs in town opened a new tapas place we were excited to try. 23 Pattaya Hill
is located on the twenty-third floor of an apartment building just minutes from our place. It's in an odd location, and the entrance to the building does not give one high expectations. The elevator, the only one of three that was working, only went to the 22nd floor. We rode the glass-walled elevator and looked out through the dirty windows on the city below. From the 22nd floor, a dingy staircase lead to the restaurant on the 23rd floor.

The decor suggested this was not a brand-new restaurant, but an existing restaurant that was taken over by new management. It was huge, encompassing the entire floor with a lovely rooftop terrace that looked out over Jomtien, Pratamnak Hill, Koh Larn and the gulf. We were the only guests when we arrived around 6 p.m. on a Friday evening.

waitress lighting candles outside on the terrace

The service was lovely and attentive, but the food was disappointingly average. The very limited menu offered only two pages of small-plate dishes. We did enjoy a lovely view as the sun set, and hope they will work out some of the issues as time goes on.

It was our first Easter weekend in Thailand; we were back in the states for Easter last year. Not a single jelly bean or chocolate bunny to be found, but some cute and amusing Easter eggs displayed in the mall courtyard. We particularly enjoyed the egg with the Star of David on it!

The Easter Vigil at St. Nikolaus was simple and uplifting. It began with a small wood fire in the back. The ceiling fans had to be turned off when everyone lit their candles - a hazard of an open-air church. Eggs and small plastic bottles of Holy water were handed out after mass.

Easter morning Tim and I walked next door to the Sheraton for brunch. They offer a nice buffet with lots of choices, and their one nod to Easter was to offer hard-boiled eggs. The rest of our day was a quiet one.