Sin City Madness

Day 1

We arrived in Pattaya after 2 hours (4:30pm), went to get a map at the tourist info booth, grabbed some food and waited for Francois in front of Bangkok Hospital.   I sat by the waiting shed and told Mirko that if he spotted a tanned French-looking guy (now I’m not really sure what’s so distinctive in them.hehe) with unruly hair and a white cute car, he could just give me a nudge. Then after a while, he did. “Is that your friend?” pointing at guy in white polo. Francois saw me and smiled. Yeap, that’s him. Mirko and Francois speak French, I knew they’d eventually get tired talking in English with me and switch to speaking in French. Pfft.

We finally turned up at his place and the view at the balcony was very nice indeed! Just perfect! :D Francois invited his friend Ben to come over and cooked for us – his specialty. I couldn’t remember what it’s called, but it had some ham, sausages and of course, cheese (the key ingredient to most French dishes). We also had some wine with it, that shouldn’t be missed! It was an awesome French cuisine dinner, I tell you! ;) 3 bottles of wine shored up conversations about random things including strange ones which commonly go around male species only – but I wasn’t spared. They couldn’t help but to share the guy talk with me. Hahaha ;) Should I feel honoured? Boo!   Anyway, it was all cool. :D Right after that, Francois had to go to bed because of work as well as Ben. I could have dragged both of them to the streets and be with us, but I won’t pull them to dark side…yet! ;) So Ben just dropped us off at the Walking Street. You perfectly know where this is located, you Sin City drifters! Haha ;) Yeah, this place is worse than Patpong and other known streets in Bangkok for hookers (hint:ladyboys and the likes.lol), in my own opinion or, that’s probably just what I’ve heard from them! Haha! So anyway, we just went to 3 wholesome bars to drink and chat up. It’s still farang infested, but at least it’s lesser evil and my eyes could rest from seeing guys clutching two or more girls at one fell swoop in their arms – yaiks! And I could avoid guys staring at me either wondering what I was doing with a Swiss guy (Mirko) or if I was one of the hookers that’s up for grabs just because I look Asian?!  Sometimes just for fun, I’d return their glance and give them the look that says, “Do I dress like a hooker, you damn perverts?!”

If you think I only get those strange looks at night, no I don’t. In Pattaya, I get it at anytime every time I go out.  Of course, this day was no exception. It seems that uhm, for the lack of a better word, prostitution there is the main tourist attraction, the agogo bars and all that blah. The sights, if there’s anything exceptional to the eye, are only secondary.

Day  2

On my last night in Pattaya, Francois took me to a shocking surprise as a farewell present. He waited til Mirko and I finished our nice Japanese cuisine dinner then suggested that we should meet at the beginning of the Walking Street. I knew what he was up to but I let him go on. So he gave me the directions to the “bar” and when I got there, that’s what I saw. I was the only fully-clothed female there apart from some barmaids. Ahh, it was too uncomfortable. I wanted to back out as soon as the door opened for me. But with Francois and Arnaud (Belgian) waving at me from the corner, I knew there was no way out. Ha! I could still picture that silly grin pasted on their faces! Argh, guys guys guys! Francois got up and yelled, “Welcome to Pattaya! This is Pattaya!” He then proceeded to wrap one arm around me and told me to relax and enjoy the show?! What the hell?! Oh man, I enjoyed laughing with him though. Haha! It was just the craziest night ever! I had to drink a couple of beers to keep me occupied.  Maybe Francois is right, for some, this is exactly what makes this place special. I never saw it as special in that way, but the experience made the whole trip more memorable and I will keep it in my head for as long as I live. Haha! I hear Francois whispering in my ear, “Mirko is gonna get it, you’ll see.” Haha! That devilish one!

So we took a mototaxi on our way back and Francois went with Arnaud. When we missed our stop, we just walked to the building, took different directions and almost convinced ourselves we’re lost until Francois in his motorbike spotted the two of us. Though I felt I was going to be sandwiched between them, I said yes for a hell ride. This guy is really sick! He defines the word extreme, that little daredevil! Wahh! But…I loved it. :D I know he won’t let us ride with him if it wasn’t safe so I just hang onto him, let the rush take me and shrieked along with the motorbike’s tires.  It was “Woohoo!” all the way! When I hopped off, I couldn’t feel my waist. Mirko planted his grip hard on it, that’s why! He was clearly scared to death, he couldn’t even speak. Hahaha!

Before I lost the opportunity to thank Francois for everything, I made sure that I was able to say how grateful I was to him for having us there. Once we have finished transferring the pictures to his laptop and doing some chit chat, we all conked out in bed.
*earlier this day we went to Jomtien beach, looked for a Tamarind for my special recipe, and ate tons of seafood (while drinking beer) at the beach.

Day 3    

I was still able to catch up with Francois before he left for work and then another round of farewell messages before he shut the door behind him. We’re going to vanish after lunch so I’d just leave the keys to his house on the table with a note. Aww, going to miss this good-looking bastard. :D Few minutes after that, Mirko and I decided to go for a morning swim at the pool. I felt like I was swimming in ice water. It was such a struggle, it made me 3x hungrier.

We had our lunch at a Russian restaurant. I think I had something Russian along with my prawns and milkshake. Haha. Good food. ;) Oh didn’t I tell you? Lots of properties/establishments here were owned by Russos, just so you know. Anyway, we walked back to the condominium to get our stuff and left. Adieu!