February | 2019 | Guy Portman's Blog

My Tour of Nong Nooch Botanical Garden

Feb 22 2019

This is the third and final post about my trip to Thailand. While out there I visited the famous Nong Nooch botanical garden, a place billed as one of the world’s most beautiful gardens.

Some of this expansive garden is truly spectacular.

Water features heavily here.

Elephants are a popular mode of transport at Nong Nooch.

There is an abundance of remarkable trees and plants.

The Thais seem to have a predilection for merging the serene and pristine with the gaudy and the ersatz.

The plethora of plastic flamingos were not to my liking, but they were preferable to these random, ill-advised Dalmatians.

So this is where all of London’s telephone boxes have gone.

The French Garden is in my opinion Nong Nook’s most spectacular feature.

My Trip To Thailand

Feb 15 2019

I have decided to devote a couple more posts to my recent trip to Thailand. While this is not a travel blog, these posts are a welcome hiatus from my customary writing/book related theme.

The majestic structure above is the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya.

It has been hand-carved in its entirety out of wood. The ongoing project started 30 years ago. Perhaps the man below is an Atlas-esque figure, destined to bear this weight for eternity.

I arrived at the Sanctuary of Truth jetlagged, hungover and stressed, but left with a feeling of serenity. There is something tranquil and beautiful at the heart of Thai culture, which is far removed from the seething traffic, materialism and ageing, corpulent sex tourists bedecked in fluorescent palm tree emblazoned beach attire.

Pattaya’s Big Buddha.

The below presumably found enlightenment via Burger King.

Everyone is here in Pattaya to party. Age is no barrier.

IMG_1037

The Eiffel Tour at Pattaya’s Terminal 21 shopping centre.

A view of the sea from Koh Lan (Coral Island)

My Thai Culinary Tour

Feb 08 2019

I have just returned from a week long trip to Thailand. Today, I am going to share with you some of the things I ate along the way.

With its long coastline, Thailand boasts some delicious culinary fare. This is the lobster I ate on my first day. Half was served with cheese and the other with something else that I was unable to discern.

I couldn’t resist some dim sum in Bangkok’s China Town.

A post-dinner snack.

This restaurant may have had a peculiar name, but its setting was serene.

And the Tom Yum seafood soup was delicious.

This Karaage (Japanese fried chicken dish) was good, but not a patch on my ex-wife’s.

Sometimes one craves Western fare.

I came across menus in Thailand that make Anna Karenina look like a pamphlet.

Convenience stores were stocked with a range of delights including some of my favourites from my days in Japan – Pocari Sweat, cold green tea and octopus sashimi.

If I’d eaten another maggot larva, I would have burst.

6 Dark Humour Reading Recommendations

Feb 01 2019

Here are five darkly humorous books that I have read and one that I have written. Click on the links to read the reviews.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

Haunted is a series of short stories, in which the author explores a variety of themes, including the media-obsessed nature of society.

My Review: Haunted is about a group of writers, who have been assembled by the conniving Mr Whittier to attend a writers group. The location of the retreat is in an isolated theatre with no access … (more)

The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh

The complex and manipulative protagonist, sordid characters and squalid descriptions will appeal to fans of the Transgressive genre.

My Review: Reformed Scottish ex-con Jim Francis (formerly Franco Begbie) is now a successful sculptor living the dream in sunny California with his former prison art therapist now trophy wife …(more)

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

This satire of the yuppies culture of the 1980s adroitly explores the mind of a psychopath and questions the very essence of capitalist culture.

My Review: American Psycho is a highly controversial novel that brought its author Bret Easton Ellis instant fame. The book is written from the perspective of a young Wall Street financier …(more)

The Butcher by Nathan Burrows

This aptly named book is set in the English county of Norfolk. Topics comprise swine, cannibalism and illegal migrants.

My Review: Frank Pinch is a butcher, his brother Tom a pig farmer. The siblings have a problem. Their dilapidated family farm is struggling financially and under threat of closure due to …(more)

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock

Knockemstiff is a transgressive compilation of short stories. Topics include drugs, drinking, disease and sexual degeneracy.

My Review: These interlinked short stories are set in ‘The Holler’; an impoverished part of Knockemstiff, a real-life Ohioan backwater. ‘The Holler’s’ air is permanently imbued with the stench of …(more)

Tomorrow’s World: Darkly Humorous Tales by Guy Portman

The book’s subjects encompass manic capitalism, extreme celebrity worship, virtual reality and a grotesquely ageing population.

Daily Squib Review: There’s something about the future that scares the shit out of people a lot, maybe it’s simply the thought of the unknown that affects us with such fear. What possible delights await us in …(more)