Mind you, the other evening when Harry spent some time arranging and posing a couple for a Valentine’s Day shot, he was less than impressed by the “press” photographer who rushed up behind him and took the same shot over Harry’s shoulder. That, says Harry, is real plagiarism!

True insomnia, the inability to get to sleep or maintain sleep is actually fairly rare. By that I mean insomnia without an underlying cause. There is an unfortunate habit of going for the sleeping pills bottle, rather than looking at the real problem. In Thailand, “sleeping pills” (hypnotics) are not available over the counter. This is a good thing, in my medical opinion.

The Dining Out Team ventured down Soi Germany the other evening, otherwise known as Pattaya-Naklua Road. Just before Soi 18 (Wong Amat), and next to the Central Minimart, is Haus Munchen, a friendly looking German restaurant that has been there for only 12 months.

The restaurant is in two sections. There is a covered garden setting area outside and a more formal dining area at the rear with wood and upholstery chairs and wooden tables. The waitresses were outfitted in blue and white uniforms, the colours of Bavaria.

On the evening we visited, it was well patronised, generally the sign of a good eatery. Newspapers are supplied, both German dailies, a Bangkok daily and the best read on the Eastern Seaboard, the Pattaya Mail!

The menu opens with two “sets”. A soup, main and dessert for 165 baht or a salad, soup, main and dessert for 205 baht. These specials are changed daily - a great idea. Haus Munchen serves breakfast from 9.30 in the morning and there is a choice of Continental, American or “Big German” between 65-125 baht. Light meals are next - spaghetti, sausage, noodles and the like starting around 70 baht through to 120 baht. Next up are the French baguettes with schnitzel, ham and cheese, salami or smoked pork spread, 75-105 baht. Starters, generally salads (shrimp, tuna, ham, chicken etc) are 70-140 baht, while there is another dedicated salad section of the German styles from 45-130 baht for large plates with ham and cheese or chicken. Seven soups, generally around 85 baht and then it is into the steaks. Pork, tenderloin and fillet starting at 175 baht and the most expensive 240 baht.

There are also two menu items for couples - one with different fillets in a champignon-cream sauce for 450 baht and a Chateaubriand double fillet steak for 485 baht.

The amazing menu continues with ten choices of pan-fried dishes, all around180 baht, and three fish dishes 170-240 baht. A 25 item Thai menu follows with all the usual dishes items between 65-85 baht in general. This is followed by a standard beverage menu with local beers around 60 baht, plus, for the German market an Erdinger Weissbier. No Singha Gold, however. Spirits and wines are also available by the glass.

By now, having thoroughly perused the menu, it was obvious that Haus Munchen was priced very moderately. So how was the food? Madame chose the bread-crumbed fish fillet with Remoulade sauce and potato salad, while I went for the Parisian pepper steak in cognac cream with potato and mixed salad. Madame judged her fish as excellent and the potato salad was piquant and very tasty. The pepper steak was simply magnificent! No harsh sauce, but a subtle flavour with the peppercorns that left a warm glow on the palate. One of the best pepper steaks I have had in Pattaya - and that is saying something. And at 220 baht is the steak dish of the year!

As usual, I had no room for desserts, but Madame managed a small helping of ice cream with mango. Licked clean! Apparently, the chef changes the ice creams daily as well as the set specials.

The resident German chef was originally at the Holiday Inn in Munich and certainly understands his native cuisine, while the Thai cooks are apparently well known and respected locally for the Thai items. The Thais that were eating there that evening confirmed that.

Haus Munchen is really one of those “sleepers” - a little place you have not heard of but is presenting excellent food at very reasonable prices. Comfortable and “homey” it will certainly gain a good following in the area - and the pepper steak is worth travelling miles for!

by David Garred
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club

G’Day Pattaya, now there is a headline that gets your attention, doesn’t it!

I hate to disappoint but this week’s article is about ensuring that you are getting what you pay for when you sign on for a weight loss program or buy a weight loss product.

If you are over the healthiest weight you can be, The Weight Loss Checklist will help, but remember, healthy people come in many different shapes and sizes. This Checklist comes to you courtesy of Australia’s National Heart Foundation.

There are many weight loss programs and products on the market. Many of these do not work and can sometimes be harmful. However, this doesn’t mean that nothing works – it is possible to achieve a healthy weight that is right for you, without going through quick-fix solutions.

This checklist had been designed to help you become more aware of the potential shortcomings of weight loss programs and products and there are so many of them it is frightening.

The first section will give you the knowledge you need to decide whether a program or product is safe and desirable. It is a good idea to check out a range of approaches to weight management, and having completed the checklist, compare responses. The section ‘If You’re Using a Weight Management Program or Product’ provides you with further guidance to help you manage your weight.

Remember that whatever approach you finally choose, weight loss and weight maintenance are not simple and require life-long changes.

When checking out a Program:

Weight loss programs vary in the range of services they offer and the costs they charge. These questions will help you evaluate the types of services being provided.

1. Does the Consultant check your medical history to ensure it is safe to begin a program?

2. Do staff running the program have qualifications in nutrition, nursing or health sciences?

3. Does the program take an overall approach to weight management?

* focus on improving health and well-being, rather than simply weight loss;

* incorporate nutritional advise, enjoyable physical activity, long-term and realistic lifestyle changes with achievable goals that you can stick with and provide ongoing support;

* be flexible so that you can adapt it to suit your lifestyle.

4. What is the program’s long-term success rate, for example, after 12 months and longer?

* ask for written evidence.

Make sure you fully understand the weight loss program and / or contract you are signing, including time expected to achieve weight loss, full costs, food plan and physical activity plan.

Don’t feel pressured to make a decision on the spot – take some time to think it over and get a second opinion. Also check that there is a five–day cooling off period in case you change your mind.

Weight loss products range from pills and powdered formulas to body wraps and other devices. Many are marketed as proven cures for being over weight, but we are not aware of any that offer a long-term solution for the majority of people. Some weight loss products can also be harmful.

1. Is the product designed to work in combination with enjoyable healthy eating and regular, moderate physical activity?

* No single product is a substitute for the benefits of a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle.

2. What evidence is there to support the product’s claims?

* Ideally there will be a sound scientific basis for the product’s claims, not just anecdotal evidence. Studies should also have been conducted to ensure that the product is safe.

Don’t you wish that it is as simple as this? Unfortunately it is not. There is a whole bunch more of questions that you should be asking.

Yep, I’m going to pass them along to you but I am afraid that you will have to wait until next week.

Carpe’ Diem 

While reincarnation has been an accepted part of many Eastern religions, including Buddhism on the local scene, it is only recently that this concept has been accepted again on the Western shores. However, it is a concept that has claimed many adherents, from many different religions and belief bases.

Prior to 553 AD, reincarnation was accepted by the Christian Church, but after much “soul searching” the powers that be decided against the concept for the followers. It being much easier to bring the believers into line with “Hell” at one end of the tunnel if the good god-fearing life were not followed. Having another crack at it just did not have the same leverage!

So are we just here in a mid-point in our earthly lives, trying to attain that all-elusive state of grace so we can happily nick off to Nirvana, or are we here and now and gone tomorrow? There are firm adherents in both camps, and both sides will produce “evidence” to bolster their cause.

The Asian reincarnation model is generally based on children’s experiences. These include youngsters, who, when taken to another village they have never been to before, saying that they have to see their sons or daughters. They have gone unerringly to a house and greeted adults by their correct names and introduced them as their “children”. This is indeed scary stuff!

Still in the Asian arena, the Dali Lama is believed to be a reincarnation of all the previous ones, and children born under the auspicious sign are “tested” with items owned or used by the previous incarnation of the Dali. The reincarnate being will pick the “correct” items and the rest is history, until next time!

The American experience that produced the reincarnation boom in the early ’50s was that of Bridey Murphy. In 1952, one Morey Bernstein hypnotized a young woman called Virginia Tighe. She began speaking in an Irish brogue and claimed that she was Bridey Murphy, a 19th century woman from Cork, Ireland. Not only that, as Bridey Murphy under hypnosis, she would sing Irish medleys and tell Irish tales. This surely could not just be Blarney?

Bernstein cashed in on his find with a best selling book called “The Search for Bridey Murphy”. Reincarnation was suddenly big business in America. And the concept was popular. Suddenly there was an extinguisher for the fires of hell!

However, there will always be skeptics. Reporters flocked to Ireland to look for records of Bridey Murphy. They did not find one. What they did find was the records of a Bridey Murphy Corkell who lived in the house across the street from where Virginia Tighe grew up. What Virginia reported while hypnotized were not memories of a previous life but memories from her early childhood.

Despite this, the interest in the possibility of reincarnation spawned some research into the subject and some serious researchers began to turn up many interesting cases of children who spoke about previous lives. Since 1961, detailed case histories, cited by many as “evidence”, have been collected by the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in America. Their work appears to show that the prime ages for children to tell of past life experiences are between two and five years. The occurrences seem to become less and almost non existent after the age of seven.

The young subjects of these cases have been found most readily in certain parts of the world, such as South East Asia. They are, however, also found in other areas of the world, and the Health Sciences Center has studied many cases in Europe and North America. They have found that the child’s statements have been shown to correspond accurately to facts in the life and death of someone already deceased. Some of the children have birthmarks or birth defects that correspond to wounds or other marks on the deceased person. In many instances, this has been confirmed by postmortem reports.

With the number of cases which have been investigated, the researchers have found that the children make very similar statements about the prior life. Common phrases are - “I have another mummy/daddy.” “When I was big, I ...(used to have blue eyes/had a car, etc.).” “That happened before I was in mummy’s tummy.” “I have a wife/husband/children.” “I used to...(drive a truck/live in another town, etc.)” “I died ... (in a car accident/after I fell, etc.)”

But of course, as with so many “research” reports, the story gets better with the telling and retelling. Journalistic license is not merely restricted to those who scribble for a living. More than one scientist has been shown to bend a few details to bolster his or her own pet theory!

Perhaps the best “proof” so far comes from the two lovers who vowed that if either died, the remaining one would try to contact the partner in the other world. Unfortunately, the young man died. True to her word, his sweetheart tried to contact him in the spirit world.

At a seance, she called out, “John, this is Martha.” A ghostly voice answered her, “Yes, Martha, this is John; I can hear you.” Martha tearfully asked, “John, what’s it like where you are?” “It’s beautiful. There are azure skies, a soft breeze, sunshine most of the time.” “What do you do all day?” “Well, Martha, we are up before sunrise, eat breakfast, then it’s sex until noon. After lunch, we nap until two and then we have sex again until five. After dinner, we go at it again until we fall asleep around 11 p.m.”

Martha was somewhat taken aback. “Is that what Heaven really is like?” she asked. “Heaven? I’m not in Heaven, Martha.” “Then, where are you?” “I’m a jack rabbit in Arizona!” was the reply!

My picture this week is a reminder of an almost forgotten feature of English railway operation-Slip-Coach working. Latterly used only by the Great Western Railway and its post-war counterpart, it was a means of providing a fast service from a main centre to, possibly, a number of smaller stations, by ‘slipping’ up to four coaches from a fast train at the approach to a station at which it would not call, the portion slipped then usually being brought direct to a platform at which passengers could alight. In the case of the photograph, the Slip portion has just been detached from the back of a London to Birmingham train at Princes Risborough; it will very shortly be attached to a local train thence to Banbury, giving a fast service to seven more stations en route. The picture was taken in 1952, and ‘Slip-Coach working’ was then very much on the wane. At its zenith, over 50 coaches or portions were slipped daily from Great Western trains, and one famous train left London daily with no less than three portions to be slipped at prescribed points on the way.

To understand how it worked we must understand first a little about the continuous vacuum brake which was fitted to all Great Western trains at the time - this was a brake under the control of the driver, which operated on all the vehicles of a passenger train, and, should the train for any reason split into two parts, would be applied automatically to all vehicles on each part, bringing them quickly to a stand.

The brake consists of a ‘train pipe’ all the way down the train from the locomotive to the back of the last coach, stout hose connections being provided, so that the whole is totally air-tight. On each vehicle, and on the engine and the tender, brake cylinders are fitted, with a vertically working piston and with the part below the piston connected to the brake linkage, enabling the brake blocks, of cast iron steel, to press hard against the wheel-rims, thus applying a braking force.

To release the brake, the drive operated an ‘ejector’, steam operated, which withdraws the air from the train pipe and the brake cylinders, creating a partial vacuum in the whole system, allowing each piston to fall to the bottom of its cylinders; a second ejector, smaller, is used to maintain the vacuum while the train is running. To apply the brake, the driver admits air to the train pipe, and consequently to the bottom of the piston in each cylinder, forcing it to rise and apply the brake through the linkage as described. It may be admitted that with the increase in speeds and loads, few railways now use the vacuum brake. A compressed-air brake, giving a stronger brake application, is now preferred, also giving quick application and release. It is more complex and expensive.

Now let us apply all this to the Slip-Coach. The diagram shows to the left the rear of the last coach of the main train, and to the right the front of the Slip-Coach itself. In the front of the latter is a compartment for the ‘Slip-Guard’ to ride in; you can see the train pipe below the two vehicles, and the hoses between them; you can also see the brake cylinder under the Slip-Coach. You will also see a tall lever in the compartment, and this is the key to the operation. If all is well, the Slip Guard will pull this lever to its rearmost position; this will (i) allow the hinged hook of the slip coupling to open, by withdrawing the locking bar that holds it in position and (ii) will make a full brake application on all coaches in the slip portion, ensuring that they are drawn well away from the back of the main train which is continuing on its journey. Air does not enter the train pipe on either portion due to special ‘self-sealing’ valves which close at the moment of parting of the two portions. The Slip Guard can apply and release the brake up to three times as his portion runs on to the stopping point, using reserve vacuum carried in reservoirs carried under the slip coach; these are charged when the train engine creates the vacuum for the train before starting.

It is very simple and normally very reliable; it is essential that the Slip Guard keep a good look out for the signals approaching the slipping point, to ensure that the main train has a clear run through the area; the key to this is the warning signal approaching the signal box, called the ‘distant’ signal; the train will stop for the rear portion to be detached. It all worked well and I did not ever hear of an accident of any kind which could be blamed on the Slip-Coach system. But in passing, I will tell that the one and only time I travelled on a slip portion of a train, there was a fault and the slip portion failed to detach!

However, it was expensive; specially-equipped Slip-Coaches; the employment of a Slip Guard, who was paid an eight-hour shift for doing not very much more than to pull the lever once! Also special arrangement had to be made to run Slip Coaches back to their starting point and be shunted on to the rear of the coaches forming the next working. Moreover, there was no way to attach coaches to a train running at speed, so it was a one-way operation.

From the public point of view there was also the disadvantage that as there was no corridor connection between the Slip-Coach and the rest of the train, those in this slip portion had no access to the restaurant car which was always a feature of British long-distance trains.

The diagram is taken from a remarkable document, the ‘Great Western Railway General Appendix to the Rule Book’; the Rule Book itself fitted easily into a pocket, but the General Appendix was more than 300 pages closely printed, and mine, when issued, came with 63 sets of amendments waiting to be cut out and glued into position.

Many mints around the world produce mint sets for collectors. A set might consist of circulating coins packed in a special holder. The coins can be in un-circulated condition, but nice specimens are hand picked for the sets, or coins in proof condition.

2 ore coin of Norway. The obverse shows the monogram of the late King Olav of Norway, and the reverse shows a wood grouse, the date and the demotion 2 ore and Norge (Norway).

In 1960, the Royal Norwegian Mint started to make these sets; the first year only 200 sets were made. But the demand turned out to be bigger, so in 1961, 475 sets were produced. The demand got even greater so in 1967 as many as 2,490 sets were sold.

One of the coins in the set was a 2 ore coin with the face value of about 9 satang. In 1967 there were 11,993,000 pieces of this coin produced, the highest amount since the coin was produced for the first time in 1876. Since the Mint still had 2 ore coins from 1967 in their vault, the Mint decided not to produce 2 ore coins for 1968. But when they started putting the mint sets together they realized there was an empty space in the set. To save money, by not having to buy new cases for the mint sets, it was decided just to strike up the number of 2 ore coins needed for the mint sets, 3,467 pieces.

Mint set of Norway. If you have one from 1968 you’ve got a small fortune.

At that time the sets were sold as before, only for face value, as a service for the collectors. Some collectors only needed one or two of the coins in the set, broke the packaging and put the rest of the coins into circulation.

Early in 1979 the Royal Norwegian Mint released the figures of their minting production of 1968. Someone noticed the low minting figure and thought it was a printing mistake for 3,467,000 and not 3,467.

Others checked with the Mint and the figure was confirmed.

So in the spring of 1979 one of the largest papers in Norway ran big headlines on the front-page: “2 ORE 1968 WORTH 50 KRONER”. A little later a new headline, now the coin was worth 250 kroner, about 1,100 baht, and later someone even paid 8,500 kroner, about 38,000 baht, for a set mainly because of the 2 ore coin.

Then a whole nation started checking their change. Instead of watching television in the evening, the whole family would check the date of 2 ore coins. They went to the bank and changed whatever they could get of 2 ore coins and the newspapers wrote about the handful of lucky ones that found one. To find one of these 2 ore coins was like winning the big prize in the Thai lottery.

What was the consequence for the Mint? The demand for 2 ore coins grew bigger than ever, and both in 1971 and 1972 they had to produce more than 15,000,000 of this bronze coin, which was hardly used for circulation. The ones buying it were hoping the Mint would do the same again.

And what was the consequence for coin collecting in Norway? About half the nation became coin-collectors - and I became a coin-dealer.