It helps to know what the street signs look like to navigate by.
Daddy planned to spend the next day at the beach with the kids and give Mummy some time to relax - how nice that was. Mummy couldn't resist seeing them off to the beach first as they were going to take a ferry to an island. She decided that she'd just catch the next ferry back. The plan was to leave on the first ferry over, enjoy the beach before it got too hot and then go home. Mummy would get back to the hotel in time to let Daddy go off for some time running with the HHH and probably going out on the town with them. The walk to the ferry led us through the touristy nightclub areas of town that were only just winding down for the night (?) as it was so early - those were the days...
Here is Daddy "hurrying" with both children.
Then we enjoyed a quick trip over on a full ferry - passengers and goods - seeing a few examples of thai ladies enjoying foreign men's company. Having done a little reading on the internet about Pattaya before travelling, I had seen a lot of posts of the ilk "how to get a thai girlfriend" etc but it was still strange to see it "in the flesh" so to speak. 
Here is the jetty next to where we pulled in - the dip between the two hills is where we walked to get to the other side of the island, and the beach.
There were rooms for rent right out over the water.
Then it was a somewhat strenuous walk to the beach, down an unpaved road and a mad scramble down the hillside. Mummy stopped halfway down to wait for Daddy to make sure it actually was the way to the beach as it looked like it was a track to some houses. Alex kindly waited with her next to a little shrine. Then Daddy told us to come on down. Here we are walking through the village - it may be a tourist destination but there had been no effort to clean up the rubbish on the side of the road (and in the brush) once out of the village.
On the way we passed these cool snail shell planters hanging on a fence.
After walking along a paved road, that I wouldn't want to walk on at night as none of the lamps had bulbs,
it abruptly ended and we headed onto a heavily rutted dirt track. Thankfully this was downhill - although that just meant it'd be uphill coming back.
You can just see the ocean in the background and where we took off down some stone steps was just where the bikes are. Here is the little shrine and Alex waiting with Mummy halfway down the steps.
We made it down to the beach (Daddy was somewhat confused as it was Mummy's time off and he wasn't expecting her to come all this way) to see the tide going out. We were very early - the first there - and no chairs were out on the beach. 
After some negotiation (in thai) with a lady responsible for renting deck chairs, Daddy unloaded and the kids started to play (amazing what your breakfast bowls and spoons are good for).
Here's Daddy sending Mummy on her way:
Mummy walked all the way back - it was hot and she didn't really enjoy it. When she got back to the village she found a shop that sold cool drinks. She bought a cool water but this did catch her eye.
There was an hour wait until the ferry ride back which gave Mummy some time to look at the temple that was being built. There was noone around except for a couple of locals. The temple had some excellent sculptures.
On the way to the jetty, Mummy came across a public bulletin board set up in a square. It looked as though children had done some work and Mummy was very interested to see that the topics covered were drugs and sex (click on the photo to enlarge in a new window).
Then Mummy caught the ferry back and encountered many tourists getting the second trip out to the island. Mummy spent a lovely time checking out the local shops and bought Alex a book about Snow White called "My side of the story" which is two stories in one book, back to back - from the Queen's perspective and Snow White's. It will be great in a few years!Mummy had lunch at the McDonalds and was interested to see the differences in the menu to cater to the Thai taste. Standing out was the tuna pie as a change to the apple pie. What has been convenient has been a "point to order" sheet that is behind the registers where someone such as Mummy who doesn't speak enough of the language to order what they want, is able to point to seperate (or grouped) items to place their order - they have this in China too.
In many fast food places in china and now thailand, there is a sink out in the restaurant area for customers to wash their hands before or after eating - or Mummy has also seen antibacterial handwash dispensers.
You could also ring up and get your meal delivered on a motorbike.
Before she knew it, it was time to grab a celebrated foot massage 
to use up our thai money
and then head back to the motel to relieve Daddy. Mummy caught a local bus.
Daddy can add his adventures on to this post later. Let Mummy just say that we were blessed that Alex was oblivious to insinuations. It was time to pack up again and prepare for the ride to the airport early the next morning - hoping that our driver would show up.The next morning we were up and out very early - and our driver was there. Mummy thinks that he had driven down after his shift finished the night before and had slept in the car in the carpark, but she isn't sure.
But the driver did stop to brush his teeth at a communal bathroom just before heading out of town. This sign on the bathroom caught Mummy's eye.
Daddy had Alex and Sebastien in the back seat - soon they both realised that this was not going to be a regular taxi ride (short and sweet) but a longer one of not quite two hours.
We made it back to the airport in time to check in and do a quick bathroom run before jumping on the plane. We even managed to mail some postcards in the mailbox at the airport. Before long we were back in our apartment in Xiamen. What was the first thing Alex and Sebastien did when they got home?
Of course!
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