Champagne Christmas Quiz

[Guest fountainhall]

To only get 5 out of 8 continents with my 3 guesses isn't up to scratch (even though some of the photos were devilishly tricky).

They were tricky - deliberately so - and I really never thought anyone would get more than five unless they happened to have visited some of the more obscure places. So don't underestimate the achievement!!

 

As to the rules, I had intended that this element of the Competition would be the same as the other - i.e. the one to get closest to 8 points. I hope that thinking that it had to be 8 correct answers did not put anyone off, but as my decision is binding, you definitely WIN!

 

I would be happy to add my prize of 1,000 baht to the sum being given to charity

That's entirely your call. I suggest I hand over the cash (or champagne) and then you can decide what to do with it as I think it should be donated in your name.

 

It would be great if you decide to have another similar photo teaser next year.

I'll be delighted to do so - and make it a little easier next time

[ceejay]

Congratulations to Kokopelli and Rogie - I always thought my best chance was if no-one else entered!

Thank you to Fountainhall for putting this together-and for you generosity in putting up the prizes.

And even a booby prize! I'll try to take you up on that - but I'll not be in Thailand until early May.

[Guest fountainhall]

I'll be here in early May, and so will look forward to our champagne cocktails!

[Guest fountainhall]

A sad postscript to the Christmas Quiz. One of the destinations - the Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile - has been hit by six forest fires with 32,000 acres destroyed. There are photos on this BBC web page.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16378132

 

I have one photo similar to one of the BBC pics showing the same location with the vegetation pre-fire.

 

[Rogie]

I had the pleasure of meeting Fountainhall on the final evening of my recent holiday as I was passing through Bangkok prior to my flight back to the UK.

 

What a gentleman! I was asked how I would prefer my prize, "baht or sterling?"

 

I chose sterling (UK pounds) and will be saving it for an evening at my local Thai restaurant where I shall toast the good Fountainhall:

 

Here is a good one, a bit selfish perhaps, I can hardly expect him to toast me, but it has a nice ring to it:

I drink to the health of another,

And the other I drink to is he

In the hope that he drinks to another,

And the other he drinks to is me

 

If it's wine I'm drinking, how about this?

 

Fill to him, to the brim!

Round the table let it roll.

The divine says that wine

Cheers the body and the soul

 

I'm not sure what I'll be drinking but if it's a vintage champagne:

 

Here's to champagne, the drink divine,

That makes us forget all our troubles;

It's made of a dollar's worth of wine

And three dollars' worth of bubbles

 

And if good 'ol English ale, maybe I'll recite this one (attributed to Edgar Allen Poe)

 

Fill with mingled cream and amber,

I will drain that glass again.

Such hilarious visions clamber

Through the chambers of my brain.

Quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies

Come to life and fade away;

What care I how time advances?

I am drinking ale today

_________________________________

 

I thought I'd turn the tables and post a mystery photo - here is one I took on a walkabout during my recent visit to Bangkok. Anyone recognise the location? Clue: It's in a small soi off Sathorn (the Babylon side of that huge artery). The building pictured is just one of about 8 - 10 similar properties.

[Rogie]

Many of you will know the vicinity of Bangkok around the Babylon sauna. The soi Babylon's situated used to be called soi Nantha. It's name was changed recently, as per the attached photo. The wording on the plaque is copied below.

 

This soi was renamed on 1 January 2012 to celebrate 100 years of the Embassy of Austria in Bangkok. Soi Nantha-Mozart was named in honour of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). This enduring Austrian is amongst the most influential composers of the Classical Era with more than 600 masterpieces to his name. His music continues to inspire the people of Thailand.

[Guest fountainhall]

Anyone recognise the location? Clue: It's in a small soi off Sathorn (the Babylon side of that huge artery).

 

This is my patch - and I haven't the faintest clue!

 

It's name was changed recently, as per the attached photo.

 

So within just a few meters in Sathorn Soi 1, there's Soi Goethe on one side and now Soi Nantha-Mozart on the other! Quite a little Central European artistic enclave! With the Danish and French Embassies also in the vicinity, I wonder when we'll have Soi Hans Christian Anderson and Soi Claude Monet

[Rogie]

This is my patch - and I haven't the faintest clue!

 

That rather ugly-looking tower block in the background (top left hand corner of the pic) might help with orientation, if you approach from the right direction! If you go past Babylon and through the gate of the soon-to-be-completed mammoth Sukothai Residences (I think it's called) you'll be in the vicinity.

 

If and when you find it, I'd be interested to know a bit more about the properties in the soi. Why that particular architecture? There is a name in Thai over the entrance gate but when I showed it to the long-serving male receptionist at the Malaysia he said it was just the name of some condos.

[Guest fountainhall]

A row of church-like condos with rose windows? Strange!

[Rogie]

A row of church-like condos with rose windows? Strange!

 

Yes, but sadly no incense or organ music . . .

[ceejay]

A row of church-like condos with rose windows? Strange!

And why not? This is a Buddhist Wat:

[Rogie]

And why not? This is a Buddhist Wat:

 

Interesting, I've not seen that before. May I ask where? Or perhaps we should see if anyone else knows before you tell us Ceejay.

[ceejay]

I'll leave it a day or so to see if anyone gets it. I'll be surprised if they don't - it's not exactly part of, but is certainly very close to, a well known tourist spot in Thailand.

[ceejay]

Hi Rogie - no takers for this, I see. It's Wat Niwet Thamaprawat. It's on a small island, near the Bang Pa In palace, which is often a stop on day tours to Ayattuyah. It was built by Rama V, at the same time as Bang Pa In, when he was adopting European styles for many things - including building a Wat that looks like a small Gothic church.

If you want to visit it, there is a car park at the main entrance to Bang Pa In. Walk through to the back, and on the right there is acess to a cable car that crosses the river to the island. Just go and sit in it and wait - it will be operated by a monk after a minute or two.

[Rogie]

It's Wat Niwet Thamaprawat. It's on a small island, near the Bang Pa In palace, which is often a stop on day tours to Ayattuyah.

 

Thanks for filling us in with the background Ceejay. I've had a quick look in my Lonely Planet guidebook which confirms everything you say! I wonder if the fact that Bang Pa-In is 20 km south of Ayuthaya might make it easily overlooked, but as you say it is a stop on a day tour. Depends how much time you have I guess.

 

Let us hope Ayuthaya recovers from the terrible devastation following the floods.

[ChristianPFC]

Anyone recognise the location? Clue: It's in a small soi off Sathorn (the Babylon side of that huge artery). The building pictured is just one of about 8 - 10 similar properties.

 

Yes, I noticed it on my hibernation Dezember 2010 - February 2011. Absolutely amazing, neo-gothic architecture in the middle of Bangkok, in a quiet (no traffic passing through) area with trees! Here is a picture from inside the area:

 

 

And this is the entry on Suan Phlu (= Sathorn Soi 3, on the eastern side, about 200 m (from memory, confirmed by map) from Sathorn Road.):

 

 

The Thai script on the arch simply says: Suan Plu Garden. I had the same thing in mind: to use it for "Where was this picture taken" one day.

 

I know of the wat that looks like a gothic church as well.

 

Stickmanbangkok has a weekly quizz: Where (or sometimes when) was this picture taken?

 

If you go past Babylon and through the gate of the soon-to-be-completed mammoth Sukothai Residences (I think it's called) you'll be in the vicinity.

 

I hope there is a law that allows trespassing the condominium. (Edit: I am still that naive to beliefe that there is a law, it will be followed.) When it was under construction, you couldn't pass from Babylon to Suan Phlu, now you can, but there are gates, and they might close them during nighttime. On a recent holiday I walked from Suan Phlu to Si Bam Phen with a friend, and the gates were open (for people, but not wide enough for cars). If they had been closed, we would have had to take a large detour or even better a taxi.

[Rogie]

Well done to Christian for identifying the mystery soi, and thanks for the additional photos.

 

You are right, Stickman does have a similar photographic quiz. I have commented before that as well as the quiz he often has some good general captioned photos on his site, which is based in Bangkok.

 

All being well, I will look out for another mystery location next time I am in Bangkok. In the meantime, if anyone else has any (anywhere in Thailand) why not post it and set us guessing?

 

I understand your concern about the gate through the new residential block next to Babylon, and I would guess it will remain open to pedestrians to get from Suan Phlu to soi Nantha-Mozart. In my experience it has been possible to do that for many years previously, if as you say the occasion you refer to was during construction it must have been closed for safety reasons.

[kokopelli]

As promised, Fountainhall did deliver a bottle of Champagne, Veueve Clicquot (The Widow of Clicquot), to me via a friend in Bangkok. I will surely enjoy this treat on my birthday next month at Au Bon Coin in Pattaya. A million thanks to Fountainhall for sponsoring the Champage Quiz and offering such a generous prize.

 

Here is a picture of Madame Clicquot who, it appears, is a bit of a gourmand as well as a wine mistress.

[Guest fountainhall]

As explained earlier to kokopelli, I couldn't get a bottle of the promised Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque and so got the Veuve Cliquot Grande Dame vintage instead. It was allegedly Winston Churchill's favourite champagne (although why Pol Roget has a Cuvee Winston Churchill as its top of the line champagne, goodness only knows).

 

Enjoy it, koko - and have a great birthday! I enjoyed setting the quiz. I realise it was perhaps a little too difficult and am already working on the next one! You have been warned!!