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No one slept during Hard Rock’s slumber party
Hard Rock Hotel held a slumber party on December 8 at
which staff dressed in nightwear entered a competition amongst themselves to
see who could turn up in the most daring fantasy nightdress. General manager
Andrew Khoo presided.
The Hard
Rockers turned up in colorful nightwear this year.
This was the annual party for Hard Rock employees, held
under a different theme each year. Andrew Khoo said the event is always a
good one for building a team spirit amongst staff and management and that it
is held directly after staff sports day.
The activities divided the employees into colored groups, namely green,
red, bronze and violet. They wore their fantasy nightwear, which made for
lots of fun and applause. A buffet was provided and there was a lucky draw
that had many prizes donated by sponsors. The evening finished with a
rousing set from well-known band Melt who also wore their pajamas.
Birthdays at Yamato
Miss Terry Diner
There were many celebrations at the Yamato Japanese
Restaurant recently. In the restaurant world there would be few venues as well
established as the Yamato, celebrating 25 years in Pattaya, and 25 years at the
one location. In fact this restaurant is so well established that they even
named the street after it. You certainly won’t get lost trying to find the
Yamato, because it is in Soi Yamato!
Ratana
Yothawong and Primprao Somsri (kneeling left & center) celebrated their
respective anniversaries together. Friends and colleagues gather around as they
blow out the candles.
Rattana Yothawong, the owner and manageress, was then
particularly pleased to welcome another birthday group, with Primprao Somsri
(otherwise known as “Poo”, the Pattaya Mail MD’s right hand
“girl”), in celebrating her birthday as well.
The Japanese cuisine, as served in the Yamato, is authentic
with the various styles covering sashimi, sushi, sukiyaki and tempura items,
plus many others such as yaki soba, a favorite of the golfing guru Mike
Franklin.
Although there are alcoves where one can dine in true
Japanese style, with one’s legs curled up under you, Yamato also has other
alcoves where you can sit with your feet and legs in a recessed floor area under
the table. The golfing guru had to be lowered into position, but was so
comfortable that wife Banjob spent the rest of the afternoon bringing him some
of the offerings from the buffet table. After a couple of hours of food and
drink, it only took two people to haul him out, and into a standing position!
For those who are a little afraid of Japanese cuisine, the ever-present
Rattana and her staff are always there to advise the novice diner. If you would
like to add your birthday to the list of celebrating parties in Yamato’s 25 th
year, you can reserve seats on 038 429 685.
Bruno gala dinner for PGF raises quarter million baht
One of the highlights of the year for the Pattaya Gay Festival
is the Gala Dinner on November 30th each year at Bruno’s Restaurant during the
final four days of the festival. This is always a superb meal devised by Fredi
and served with precision by his staff. The atmosphere is always light-hearted
and relaxed with James Lumsden, the events organiser eventually turning into the
extricator in order to raise that extra few thousand baht for the main
beneficiary of the monies raised - HEARTT2000.
 Main
prize winner John (left), with the cabinet donated by Ursula from Ursula’s
antiques, receives congratulations from Jim.
This year’s dinner took the form of “Creations of
resident chef Fredi Schaub” who was on hand to talk with the guests. Guests
were welcomed with a sparkling wine with a dash of cassis, then on to the more
serious matter of the timbale of shrimp Parma ham and vegetables in tuna sauce,
followed by a curry flavoured chicken cream soup, and lemon grass sorbet. All to
prepare the pallet for the Australian beef tenderloin with potato strudel and
grilled vegetables. A vanilla parfait surrounded by forest berries in cinnamon -
red wine sauce was the special dessert to round off the evening with coffee and
friandises and chocolates.
After such a feast it maybe should not have come as a
surprise to everyone this that the collective total for the evening had reached
200,000 baht without any hard sell by Jim. Showing, no doubt, the importance
that is now given to this life-saving charity by which Dr. Philippe is helping
some 1100 patients through his Pattaya clinic to receive the necessary
medication for their HIV/AIDS condition. PGF has promised to support the work by
providing some 250,000 baht a month throughout the year, a major undertaking and
one which requires continued hard work by the committee and the supporters.
The final figure showed a total of 256,500 baht which
represented 120 diners at 300 baht, 170,000 from the raffle, cash donations:
Bruno’s 20,000, Bruno Pringle from View Talay 10,000, Tony from White Night
10,000, Piak from Honest Gems 8,000 and Hugh Spring who bought the various Bruno
dinner certificates for 2,500 which made a total of 50,500.
The committee and winners would like to thank Honest Gems for their donation
of the Dupont diamond and gold pen worth 42,000 baht and Ursula from Ursula’s
antiques for the cabinet worth 48,000 baht. They would also especially like to
thank all those who attended and have attended all the events through the year.
Norway Embassy organizes meeting with Norwegians living in Pattaya
Suchada Tupchai
The Norwegian Embassy organized a get-together for the
Norwegian community in Pattaya on December 9. Consul Lill Vaksdal traveled down
from Bangkok and joined Consul Stig Vagt-Andersen from the consulate in Pattaya,
Hilde Sirnes, pastor from the Norwegian Church in Pattaya, Steinar Moe, consular
officer and Halvard Estensen from the embassy. The gathering, which included
business people, residents and tourists, met at the Jomtien Garden Resort Hotel.
 The
group listened to talks by (from left) Consul Lill Vaksdal, consul from Bangkok,
Consul Stig Vagt-Andersen from the consulate in Pattaya, Hilde Sirnes, the
Norwegian pastor from the Norwegian Church in Pattaya, Steinar Moe, consular
officer and Halvard Estensen from the embassy.
The main objective of the occasion was to allow the Norwegian Embassy
personnel the opportunity to introduce themselves to the local community and
explain the services that are available. After a brief talk and a question and
answer session the informal gathering held a small celebration in a warm and
friendly atmosphere.
French Winemaker’s Yuletide Wine Gala Dinner
Miss Terry Diner
It was a “full house” at the Grand Ballroom of the Royal
Cliff Grand for the start of the French Winemaker’s Yuletide Wine Gala Dinner.
Let me assure you that by the end of the evening, everyone left “full”. Not
just with full stomachs, but full of praise for Executive Chef Walter Thenisch
and his team, who once again produced a superlative dinner for the 160 members
and guests of the Royal Cliff Wine Club who packed the ballroom, which had been
decked out like a European Xmas, complete with butter reindeers on the table.
Executive
Chef Walter Thenisch, Philippe Germain, owner and winemaker of Vignobles
Germain Wines - France, Ranjith Chandrasiri, Dr. Nitti Meyer, Chairman, Nicholas
BC Co. Ltd. and GM Alex Haeusler receive their well-earned commendations after
the gala dinner.
The principal speakers were the president of the Wine Club,
Ranjith Chandrasiri, who welcomed everyone and introduced the 6 th
generation French Winemaker Philippe Germain, who spoke on the five wines from
his winemaking family. He waxed poetic, with much Gallic hand waving, over the
Chateau de Rouleries 2003 from the Loire Valley, as this was one he had made
himself. The other four of his family’s wines came from the Bordeaux region,
and they were all imported by Nicolas B.C. whose MD Dr. Niti Meyer was also in
attendance.
The guests knew they were in for something special when the
dinner began with what was called the “Chef’s amuse bouche surprise” which
was an enhanced cream of potato soup which arrived in a small glass with a
Chinese spoon of vegetable caviar! This was a complete novelty, and did go well
with Monsieur Philippe’s own Chateau de la Roulerie, which was also a very
smooth and delicately balanced wine.
The second wine of the evening, the Chateau Haut Guillon
Bordeaux Blanc 2004, was my favorite, being a bolder white, dry and very easy to
quaff, though the majority at the “Smith’s” table (Richard, Janet,
Felicity, Graham and Peter) preferred the Chateau de la Roulerie. As always,
wine appreciation is a very personal consideration, as Edward Brown, sitting
with Peter Cummins and Boudin Tamthai (who had come down to Pattaya especially
for this wine dinner), so correctly expressed.
As the dinner moved on through duck terrine and foie gras, a
chestnut veloute soup and a pink pepper crusted Australian kingfish medallion on
a star anise scented celeriac mash and Haut Guillon red wine reduction, which
was another of Chef Walter’s supreme examples of attention to detail, we came
to the main course. This was an oven roasted rack of premium Gippsland lamb from
Victoria in Australia and featured the softest lamb which had many diners saying
it was the best lamb they had ever tasted. Graeme Moore’s table, for example,
were still talking about it at the end of the evening, but of course, being an
expatriate Australian, perhaps there was some nationalistic bias.
The wine that was chosen for the cheese platter was a Chateau
Yon Figeac 2003, St. Emillion Grand Cru Classe, Bordeaux, which was a very
strong red, with perhaps a little too much tannin for my palate (though may I
refer you back to Edward Brown’s personal comments).
The dessert was another of those artistic triumphs that
pastry chefs like to produce, complete with flagpoles, ginger ice cream and an
almond and date pudding with Valrhona chocolate sauce. A fitting end to another
tour de force from the Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s Wine Club, and the final
wine dinner for 2005.
Now, while I enjoyed the evening very much, and the company at my table, the
dinner wasn’t without some detractions. The antlers fell off my butter
reindeer by the second course. On a previous dinner, my butter koala fell out of
the tree by the fourth course. I hope Chef Walter Thenisch will have corrected
this breakdown in quality control before the next winemaker’s dinner in 2006!
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