Justin

Mina’s new Warbirds

We picked up an incomplete set of Callaway Warbirds for Mina at the Tsuruya Golf (Japan’s golf Mecca) main branch in Honmachi. It was exactly the kind of deal I like to find in Japan, because any imperfection in a product can result in huge bargains – we scored the set for less than half off because it was missing the hood (removable top of the golf bag) and a putter. Nam’s good friend ended up gifting Mina a really nice putter anyway, so we packaged the set with bubble wrap and brought it on the plane back to Thailand. Tonight was Mina’s first lesson in nearly a month, so we were peeling the plastic off of the heads before trying each club. It was like golf Christmas.

She’s only had a dozen lessons, and she seems to really like it (which is great now that we are invested in it LOL). This range is currently the only one open in Sarakham, and it’s owned by Mina’s schoolmate’s mom: Non Duea Driving Range Maha Sarakham

Highly recommended.

I rather like smashing balls with a weighted stick (although I have no proper form and employ only brute force – I hope Mina teaches me the form part someday), so I hope we can start actually golfing soon.

Dusit Thani Pattaya

I arranged for my cousin’s company to stay at the Dusit Thani Hotel at the end of Beach Road, and the level of service was excellent.

We stayed in a spacy family room on the 8th floor and were very pleased with the renovations the hotel has completed.

Kalanbatu Reggae Bar at Khao San

Actually on Soi Rambuttri.

We walked by after dinner, Taro knew the owner and the band. He unslung his travel guitar and immediately hopped in. Music ensued. I posted a much longer vid as a livestream on FB: T jamming at Kalanbatu on Khao San Road

Santa Dave

Were we really eating yakiniku together just last week?
Life’s a fuckin’ trip…
Gonna miss you, bro.

Mitsubishi Triton for Sale

I love this truck and it’s actually been my only vehicle with twin 12″ subs, but daddy needs a minivan.

The truck is registered in Bangkok, but is currently in Maha Sarakham, Thailand. It is a 2013 model. The engine is the 2.4 petrol version that runs on 91 gasohol or E20. I bought the car a year and a half ago because my Crown got ruined in the great floods of 2021. The engine is just over 200k and was inspected and overhauled when I bought it. It runs flawlessly. This is a fun car to cruise in and the air conditioning is ice cold. Battery was replaced this week. Headlight assemblies are new; actual headlights are LEDs. Price is 185,000 baht OBO.

TEL / LINE: 0845136254

NOTE: The Hello Kitty air freshener is NOT included in the sale.

Up to Pattaya Code

I can tell you I’m in Thailand without telling you I’m in Thailand.

Raw Liver at ลาบ ลับ ลับ ปรีดี 43

Either Taro or my cousin knew about an awesome Japanese street restaurant in Bangkok that serves raw beef liver – a dish once very popular in Japan that is now very hard to get (where it is available, single portions are apparently given out to customers in a sealed plastic container with origin/tracking information). Everything was excellent, but the liver, served traditionally with rock salt and sesame oil, was outstanding. Taro and I ate too much.

The sashimi was also pretty good:

It was very hot that night, but we had a blast:

Red Rat Offering

Eagle’s Nest

I cannot bear to use the actual spelling of the bar’s name, it just bothers me. There’s no denying they have one of the best views of Wat Arun at night, though. This is in the neighborhood of Wat Po, the famous massage school temple, just across the river.

The Green VIP Party Bus

We just came back from a back-to-back four day trip to Pattaya and 8 day trip to Japan. I will try and document some of it here. The Pattaya trip was a 40-person corporate trip for my cousin’s company in Japan that Nam and I organized; it turned out well. It all started out with a double-decker bus we chartered to pick up the group at BKK. It was a pretty awesome setup and the driver, Noi, was very cool.