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Royal Cliff pulls the Wine Club’s cork
The Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s Wine Club, under the stewardship of Royal Cliff Grand resident manager Ranjith Chandrasiri (who is also the Pattaya Mail
wine columnist), had its first tasting, opened by Pattaya’s mayor Pairat Suthithamrongsawat under the watchful gaze of the Royal Cliff’s MD Panga Vathanakul and GM Andrew
Wood.
 (L to R) Chan Vathanakul, Ranjith
Chandrasiri, Panga Vathanakul, mayor Pairat Suthithamrongsawat, Andrew Wood and Ron Batori.
50 Wine Club members turned out for the inaugural event, with member 001, Fred Wilson of Aungkam Restaurant, obviously relishing the occasion. The tasting of
eight Shiraz style wines was moderated by Ron Batori, the MD of Ambrose Wines, with four French and four Australian vintages.
 The insightful Ron Batori, MD of
Ambrose Wines, moderated the tasting of eight Shiraz style wines and presented a bottle of champagne to the winner of the wine quiz.
One aspect which made the evening even more interesting was the ranking of the wines which was done at the end, whereby you could see how your individual
choice compared to the collective palates of the other wine club members. The most popular was an Australian 1998 Leasingham Shiraz Clare Valley Bin 61, while voted the best
value for money was another Australian wine, a 1999 Banrock Station, South Australian Shiraz.
 The Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s
Wine Club enjoyed a good turnout for its first wine tasting evening.
The next Wine Club meeting will be on the 11th of May and applications to join the select group can be sent to Ranjith Chandrasiri, resident manager of Royal
Cliff Grand, Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Pattaya, Thailand, or e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Ambassador for the “new” Russia come by bicycle
Dmitry Pryadun and Alexey Akishin, two Russian cyclists, came to Pattaya last week after pedalling a mere 35,000 km to get here. Not only do they consider
themselves to be “ambassadors” for the new post communist Russia, but they are also fulfilling a childhood dream of going around the world.
 Dmitry, who is a psychologist, said that it had been his dream since he was seven years old and his childhood friend Alexey, now a survival course
instructor, had begun to share that dream with him when they were both 16 years old in their native town of Arkhangelsk in north-western Russia.
Both of them believe that everyone should have a dream and likewise, everyone should work towards making it happen. So often one hears the excuse of lack
of money, but according to Dmitry that should not stand in the way. To prove his point, the two young (now 27 years old) adventurers left Russia on the 10th of February 1999
with one US dollar and walked and hitchhiked the first leg of their journey through to Nepal.
From there it was by two wheels for the next leg which will eventually get them down to Australia after visiting all of SE Asia, including Hong Kong and
Taiwan. The next leg takes them to Africa and then to the Americas and home to Russia. The grand plan is that it will take five years, in which time they will have spread the
word about the “new” Russia to the entire world. They will also probably have worn out several bicycles and suffer from saddle sores, but they have the determination to
make their dream happen for them. Good luck on the next leg Dmitry and Alexey!
The Chaine’s Culinary Journey Through Italy
Amari’s Presentation with a Capital “P”
by Miss Terry Diner
The Chaine des Rotisseurs held their latest gourmet dinner at the Amari Orchid Resort, allowing their new young “rookie” executive chef Stefan Heller a
chance to show his expertise in front of some the top chefs in Pattaya such as Walter Tenisch (Royal Cliff Beach Resort), Fredi Schaub (Bruno’s), Pascal Schnyder (Casa
Pascal), and Fabian (Benjarong) as well as restaurateurs Murray Hertz (New Orleans), Kim Fletcher (Shenanigans), Bob Lee (O-La-La) and hotelier Rene Pisters (Thai Garden
Resort).
 Kim Fletcher consults his
treasure map
Master of Ceremonies, and GM of the Amari Orchid, Michael Vogt explained that the dinner was designed to be a culinary tour of Italy and the centre-piece
between the tables was in fact a complete map of Italy done as a cornucopia of fruit, vegetables, cheeses and meats - a most novel decor that took the Amari staff two days to
prepare.
The novelty did not end there. As the members of the Chaine went into dinner they were presented with a bottle which had the wine list for the evening
hanging around its neck and the menu itself, complete with charred edges like an old map for buried treasure, rolled up in the neck.
 The Italian dessert.
Seven regions of Italy were selected, with the first being Tuscany, and the members were presented with a saut้ed chicken liver on traditional bread
salad. The wine chosen to accompany this was a Cortivo Orvietto Classico D.O.C. and MC Michael preceded this with a short discourse on Italian wines, whose heritage dates
back some 4,000 years.
Sicily was the next region visited with the offering being an iced cucumber soup. This was the dish of the evening in most of the gourmands’ opinions.
Refreshingly different and presented in a scooped out bell pepper on a bowl of ice, both presentation and taste were simply top class.
 Ranjith and Chitra
Chandrasiri enjoying food and wine.
The other regions included in the evening’s culinary trip were Sardinia, Piedmont, Apulia, Emiglia-Romagna (the birthplace of fettuccine, tortellini and
lasagne) and Southern Tyrol, along with what was considered to be the wine of the evening, a beautifully heady aged 1993 Amarone Valpolicella D.O.C.O. being chosen. The Pattaya
Mail’s wine critic, Ranjith Chandrasiri also gave this wine his recommendation.
 Chef Stefan Heller... rookie no
more.
It was an evening which not only educated the palates, it also educated the mind, and the entire Amari Orchid Team, with GM Michael Vogt, executive chef
(and no longer a rookie) Stefan Heller and the cooking and service teams were congratulated by the Chaine des Rotisseurs members. I will never think of Italy without
remembering that Chaine dinner at the Amari Orchid Resort.
International swissSiam group has the right connections
With Switzerland having been in the top six European countries investing in Thailand for the past few years (USD 50 million last year), it should come as no
surprise that an enterprising Swiss national has teamed up with a top Thai lawyer to form a business advisory group to service both Swiss and Thai companies who are looking
towards profitable investment.
 H.E. Bernard Freymond the Swiss
ambassador makes his address before the opening ceremony
President of the new group, Bruno Keller, a man with considerable business marketing experience in Switzerland (and subject of a “Successfully Yours”
profile in the Pattaya Mail recently) could see the need for a multi-service company in Thailand and in conjunction with noted Thai Lawyer Premprecha Dibbayawan as chairman
the new group was formed.
 Premprecha Dibbayawan Chairman
and CEO of the International Swiss Siam Group
The group has offices and representatives in Switzerland and Bangkok, although the head office is here in Pattaya. The International swissSiam group will
cover legal services, financial services, real estate services, investment and corporate services, information technology, travel services and multimedia and Internet
services.
 At the auspicious moment, H.E.
Bernard Freymond, and Mayor Pairat Suthithamrongsawat cut the red, white and blue ribbon declaring the offices open.
To mark the significance of the launching of the new group for both countries, the Swiss Ambassador to Thailand, H.E. Bernard Freymond cut the ribbon in a
joint ceremony with the mayor of Pattaya Pairat Suthithamrongsawat.
 Honoured guests were on hand to
wish the group all the success. (l-r) Dr. Iain Corness, Khun Sopin Tappajug, Marion and Michael Vogt, Vichien Chavalit, Banglamung district chief and Father Michael Pichan who
was blessed the proceedings.
International swissSiam is described as a group of independent companies utilizing synergies, experience, management and marketing power. With the dynamic
leadership shown by its president and chairman, expect to see further growth in Swiss investment on the Eastern Seaboard, an area of Thailand that has enormous potential,
according to Bruno Keller, a man who has done the sums, and knows with Swiss precision the way forward.
 The Swiss Siam family. (l-r)
Mirjam Steiner, Roland P. Steiner and Christian Jean Jury.
International swissSiam group will be another asset in the changing face of Pattaya as an international business, as well as ‘resort’, city.
Myths and Legends
by Lesley Warner
Do you believe in Dragons? In this column I would like to refresh your imagination. I thought I was alone in my interest in myths and legends but when
talking to friends I realize that there are quite a few of us ‘adults’ that love these stories as much as our children.
 There have been many dragon-sightings in the past decade; you may say “yes by nut cases”, but in China they found a skull with a horn that had been
mistakenly labeled as one of the rare tyrannosaurs with horn. But it was not, so what was it? And other mysterious carcasses have been found over the years and what is really
in Loch Ness?
Here are some recorded Dragon and Sea Serpent sightings over the past 200 years.
As we know throughout history, water dragons have often been sighted, with the most recent incidents dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century.
The most scientifically reliable description is that of Peter Karl van Esling, the director of the Hague Zoo, who gives an account of a water dragon
sighted during a voyage to collect marine species in the Atlantic in 1860:
“We saw a gigantic reptile, bright blue and silver in colour. He swam gracefully around the ship before the sailors’ eyes, and submerged himself
without a splash. His eyes were enormous, with vertical pupils and an intelligent expression. They seemed luminous, but this effect could be due to the reflection from the
setting sun.
“His head was adorned with bright blue and green crests. Even though he disappeared under water and I did not see him again, he appeared to measure some
seven meters in length, and on his back we could make out something resembling crest or fins. I think he was serpent-like, but the sailor beside me thought he saw legs and
claw. We baptized him Megophias”.
On May 15th, 1833, in Mahone Bay, forty miles west of Halifax, three officers and two enlisted men of Her Majesty’s Navy were relaxing on the deck of a
fishing boat when they sighted at a distance of one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards an amazing sight. The five principal witnesses were convinced enough to sign their
names, ranks, and dates on which they received their commissions:
W. SULLIVAN, Captain, Rifle Brigade, June 21, 1831
A. MACLACHLAN, Lieutenant, ditto, August 5, 1824
C. P. MALCOLM, Ensign, ditto, August 13, 1830
B. O’NEAL LYSTER, Lieut. Artillery, June 7, 1816
HENRY INCE, Ordnance Storekeeper at Halifax
They described, “The head and the neck of some denizen of the deep, precisely like those of a common snake, in the act of swimming, the head so far
elevated and thrown forward by the curve of the neck as to enable us to see the water under and beyond it. The creature rapidly passed, leaving a regular wake, from the
commencement of which, to the forepart, which was out of water, we judged its length to be about 80 feet; and this within rather than beyond the mark...
“It is most difficult to give correctly the dimensions of any object in the water. The head of the creature we set down at about six feet in length, and
the portion of the neck which we saw, at the same; the extreme length, as before stated, at between 80 and 100 feet. The neck in thickness equaled the bole of a
moderate-sized tree. The head and the neck of a dark brown or nearly black colour, streaked with white in irregular streaks.”
Updated every Friday
Copyright 2001 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596; e-mail: [email protected]
Updated by
Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
E-Mail: [email protected]
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