|
Superb six months ahead
for Chaine members and friends
The Chaine des Rotisseurs, the oldest gourmet group in
the world, has been undergoing some changes in Pattaya. There is a new face
at the helm (or popping into the kitchen?), with the president of the Royal
Cliff Wine Club, Ranjith Chandrasiri, taking over from Mata Hari’s Louis
Noll.
 “A
Truly Royal Evening” on Sunday June 17 will be Ranjith Chandrasiri’s (left)
first event as Bailli, after taking over the Chaine des Rotisseurs helm from
well-known and highly successful Louis Noll (right).
As his first event as Bailli, Ranjith has scheduled a dinner to be held at
the Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s upscale Caprice restaurant in the Royal Wing,
entitled “A Truly Royal Evening”, on Sunday June 17. This has all the
hallmarks of being a superb event, with wines hand-picked by Ranjith, the
‘winemeister’ and the menu chosen and organized by the masterful and amazing
executive chef of the Royal Cliff, Walter Thenisch.
Without wishing to spoil the anticipation, the eight course dinner includes
Norwegian smoked salmon terrine with crab salad, parsley and yellow pepper
juice complemented by a Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2003,
and a whole roasted Australian beef tenderloin on celeriac mash, washed down
with that wonderful Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet Shiraz 2004.
The next Chaine dinner after that will be held on Sunday August 19 at
Bruno’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, when Fredi Schaub will have a guest Italian
chef showing off his creations for us.
However, as the Chaine des Rotisseurs also keeps track of all the other
gourmet events, the Charge de Missions, Hugh Millar, has let us know that
there will be a Wine Dinner on June 13 at the Royal Cliff (contact Ranjith
for details on that event also), and Fredi at Bruno’s will be holding a wine
dinner on July 5 (contact Fredi Schaub direct).
To contact Ranjith Chandrasiri, he is at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Tel
038-250421, Fax 038-250514, Email [email protected].
Old hands and new faces at PCEC meeting
The Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC) meeting on Sunday May
27th at Henry J. Bean’s included speakers with whom regular attendees will be
very familiar, plus some new faces, which is always welcome.
 Roger
Fox tells the PCEC about enzymes.
The week’s MC, Richard Silverberg introduced the main speaker, Roger Fox. Roger
is a PCEC board member and he provided a very informative talk on the subject of
enzymes and how the lack of them in the body can reduce health levels.
He described how enzymes regulate the normal processes of digestion, absorption,
waste removal and are essential to every function that makes human life possible
and are therefore fundamental to good health.
Specifically, enzymes regulate internal functions such as maintaining the proper
balance of beneficial bacteria in the body; purify the blood by cleansing,
fighting infection and provide a bactericide to kill harmful germs; improve
digestion and absorption; improve metabolic cell function, assisting the
replacement of old body cells with new ones.
Don’t give up your day jobs!
Additional enzymes are particularly desirable if you are dieting, love to eat
meat, tend to overeat, have skin conditions, are easily fatigued due to an
acidic system, have poor digestion, drink alcohol, are sick or are recovering
from illness. In general if you are over 50 years of age and eat cooked food
then additional enzymes are important to your health.
As a person becomes older the level of enzymes in the body is approximately
one-thirtieth of the level of that of a young person. Roger explained how a
course of additional enzymes can be obtained. He can be contacted on 08407 31270
for more details.
The Sunday meeting can be unpredictable and this week was no exception. Sig
Sigworth, David Meador and Laurie Mcloughlin formed what could very loosely be
described as a ‘barbershop trio’ for the purposes of providing their good
friend, Bob E’Toile with an impromptu song. The consensus of opinion was that
the singers ‘should not give up their day jobs’!
Details of the club activities, which are becoming increasingly comprehensive
and varied, were then announced. Richard Smith announced that there had been
sufficient interest to hold a two day course led by last week’s speaker, Steve
Bright of Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. This could lead to a certificate in
Emergency First Aid. This certification is comparable to that which is earned by
attending international Red Cross training courses.
The visit to attend the True UBC broadcast studios had been set for June 8th.
This would also include a visit to antique teak palaces followed by a riverside
meal.
The detail of the next club excursion was announced by PCEC Chairman Andre
Machielsen. Andre described the itinerary of the three day trip, June 18th–20th
to Hua Hin. A reason for going to Hua Hin was to distribute dental floss
provided by Stuart Saunders to the children of HM The King’s School located
there.
In keeping with club’s policy to invite the attendees to participate in
announcements, Al Reynolds provided the Forthcoming Events. Adrian Ayres
described the activities of the Special Interest Groups. Terry Garr provided a
first hand detailed account of the regular discussion group, the Touchy Topic
Tinkers Group.
The regular Open Forum, mediated by Bob E’Toile, was then underway and this
proved to be the usual lively and entertaining session. For more information
regarding, not only the PCEC Sunday meetings but also the varied mid week
activities, please see the Community Happenings section of Pattaya Mail or, for
more details, visit the Club’s website at pattayacityexpatsclub.com.
Michael C. Usher takes over TGI-ITS
Phase II began June 1
As of June 1, 2007, Michael C. Usher has taken over as
managing director of the Thai-German
Institute/Innovation-Technology-Services (TGI-ITS). Usher is also deputy
German director of the Thai German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS),
which enables a close cooperation between TGGS and TGI-ITS, thus enabling
the provision of technical training from technician’s level at TGI up to
M.Sc. Engineering qualifications at TGGS.
 Michael
C. Usher
Michael C. Usher was born in London, England where he attended school before
serving a five year apprenticeship as a machine tool design draughtsman and
qualifying as a mechanical engineer. In 1970 Michael moved to south Germany
and worked as a design draughtsman for an earthmoving machinery manufacturer
who, after one and a half years offered. Michael the opportunity to work in
the export sales department, at first providing technical support and later
as a regional sales manager. Some ten years later he moved to another large
German construction machinery manufacturer where he progressed from regional
sales manager to export sales director and was responsible for world-wide
sales as well as several daughter companies overseas.
Later in his career, Michael started his own consulting business in Germany
before moving to Thailand in 1995 where he worked as a consultant for
foreign companies doing business in Thailand. Michael joined TGI-ITS at the
beginning of 2006.
TGI-ITS is a non-profit NGO financed through its earnings and donations from
German industry. Situated in the Thai-German Institute (TGI) complex,
TGI-ITS is near the Bang Na Trad Highway entrance in the Amata Nakorn
Industrial Estate. TGI is already well known in Thailand and was started
some 10 years ago as a joint Thai / German government project offering a
platform for German manufacturing technology with skilled staff to teach
local people how to apply this technology. After the successful completion
of the Thai / German TGI project and its transition into TGI as a Thai
foundation, TGI-ITS was formed to maintain an active link with German
industry.
TGI-ITS Phase II is structured to ensure the continuation of German support
for the TGI foundation and to continue to provide German/European companies
with a technically competent partner when starting or enlarging their
businesses in Thailand. TGI-ITS provides a valuable vehicle for foreign
companies and their technology in Thailand and is the German affairs office
for liaison with TGI and other members in a valuable network of Thailand’s
professionals.
TGI-ITS effectively combines the strengths of three organizations: the
German Thai Chamber of Commerce, under which it operates; the Thai German
Institute, where it is situated; and the Thai German Graduate School of
Engineering (TGGS), a joint venture with RWTH Aachen Germany situated in
King Mongkut University (KMITNB).
For more information, contact: TGI-ITS, Thai-German Institute, 700/1 Moo1,
Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate, km 57 Bang-Na-Trad Road, Amphur Muang,
Chonburi 20000, Thailand, tel: +66 38 743 463, fax: +66 38 743 465, email:
[email protected] - or visit Thai-German Institute’s website at
www.tgi.or.th or German Thai Chamber of Commerce www.gtcc.org or Thai-German
Graduate School of Engineering www.tggs.kmitnb.ac.th
A web-site for TGI-ITS will be available shortly.
Beyond the Beach is back
Will Burroughs
Avid viewers of PMTV, such as myself, appear increasingly inclined to
dedicate just a little slice of every day to taking in a bit of quality
television. Possibly before breakfast, maybe at lunch, most usually for me
it’s after my evening swim and just before I head out. Either way, anyway
and it appears anywhere, five times a day across four cable networks, PMTV
is my daily TV fix.
 Andrew
Watson goes ‘Beyond the Beach’ once more in new series coming soon to PMTV.
For the past couple of weeks it has been my viewing pleasure to witness a
rerun of the last series of “Beyond the Beach” which as far as I am
concerned, was the first of its kind along the Eastern Seaboard. Innovative,
creative, imaginative and often very funny, it set new standards in writing,
presentation and production in regional television. Critics may argue that
there’s still a long way to go but with the progress that PMTV has made over
the past few years, I won’t be the one betting against them getting wherever
they want to get to.
“Beyond the Beach” is a talk show with a difference. It covers local,
regional and global issues in a humorous, informative and dynamic fashion,
focusing on the ‘human’ side of life. Acknowledging current trends in TV
production, there is a sense of ‘hand held’ informality about the show which
is designed to add a contemporary sense of ‘reality TV’ to the piece -
except that with “Beyond the Beach”, it amounts to something more. Maybe
it’s the music? (Much of the music for the next series is original and has
been written by producer Paul Strachan, especially for the programme). Over
the next few weeks, in the run up to the new series, presenter Andrew Watson
travels from Pattaya to New York City, from Rome to Bangkok, to the
Cotswolds and back again to Pattaya, meeting and talking with a range of
people around the world, many of whom are in a position to make real changes
to real people’s lives. All of them have something to say.
The next series promises much. I’m looking forward to seeing the programme
made in Cambodia with John Tucker, a special man who runs a new NGO called
“New Hope for Cambodian Children” (NHCC), an HIV/Aids Charity in and around
Phnom Penh. It is going to be a moving and disturbing piece which highlights
the plight of trafficked children and the extraordinary efforts of a
volunteer work force to bring health, hope and education to an impoverished
population.
There is a more light-hearted programme made in Singapore, which celebrates
the synthesis of Chinese, Indian, Malay and British cultures in the city
state. Tongue in cheek, the film was made at Diwali time and features
exclusive footage from inside Raffles.
Continuing the “Beyond the Beach” tradition of global focus, I am excited to
see the programmes made in Israel last summer, where Watson is genuinely
under fire from Katyusha rockets on the Lebanese border. This mini-series
also includes extensive footage of Jerusalem, where Andrew talks with
Christians, Muslims, Jews, Palestinians and Israelis, in the city of two
great peoples and three great faiths. Exclusive access was afforded to
“Beyond the Beach” in the Israel Museum and to the Shrine of the Book. James
Snyder, the Director, talks with Andrew and shows us some of the world’s
great artefacts and works of art. Later, Andrew meets with Jim Buttery,
Director of the British Council in Israel, about the work that is being done
to bring two disparate communities together.
It’s going to be great fun and tremendous viewing. Bravo PMTV! Beyond the
Beach is back!
|
