Phuket: The Land of Decadence Volume 3

Following our "adventures" of snorkeling, soaking in the sea and jacuzzi, enjoying a sumptuous seafood dinner, witnessing a flash flood and relaxing at a massage parlour the day before, we planned for a drive around Phuket Island to explore some well-known landmarks on Day 3.

~*Day 3: Breakfast Time*~

Remember the affable agent, San from when we landed at the airport? He personally called us to make sure that everything was proceeding smoothly as we had wanted. Breakfast on Day 3 was a slightly more relaxed. We had more than half an hour to eat leisurely after arranging for our personal taxi driver to pick us up much later in the morning.

We were dressed really sloppily for breakfast. We literally strolled down to Deli Cafe in our sleep-in T shirts. MY sleep-in T shirts actually coz the one Tiff was wearing belongs to me as well.




By Day 3, we could recognize the usual drill for breakfast:
1. 漏风 KokoKrunch and cornflakes. (漏风 simply means losing crispness due to exposure to moisture in air.)
2. Toast with jam or/and butter
3. Choice of main course

I went with American breakfast.




~*Day 3: A Visit to Karon View Point*~

Our friendly taxi driver, Somyat, who was to drive us around Phuket Island looked like an accomplished business man and that was exactly what we told him.




We had to snap a picture with the iconic sign when we got to Karon View Point.




Why Karon View Point is named as such is due to its breathtaking views from the peak. Other than that, there was nothing much to do there. We were done in 15 minutes after snapping some photos of the scenery.




~*Day 3: Riding on a Gentle Creature*~

With the goal of taking a new piece of experience home from every trip, Tiff and I decided to try riding on an elephant at Phuket. Of course, there were too many new experiences to choose from like riding a horse, a scooter etc but riding on an elephant seemed the safest then. And yes, there are places in Phuket that offer day courses to ride a horse and a scooter.




We did the elephant ride at Pang Chang Sai Yuan. Tiff actually wanted to do the ride at Kok Chang as she read in the guidebook that the elephants there are best cared for. However, Somyat said the one he would be bringing us was along the way and he drove us to Pang Chang Sai Yuan instead. We suspected that either he or the agent could possibly have some business dealing with certain tourist attractions and was obliged to provide them with business. Tiff was really mad that after our ride at PCSY, we passed by Kok Chang just 5 minutes down the road! What to do? People needed to make ends meet. We sort of empathize with some of these locals who depend mainly on tourist business.




We tried to snap a picture with our elephant before riding on her. We also saw a lone baby elephant wandering around. The guy you see at the bottom right of the collage is Brandon our elephant guide. While we sat on the wooden seat, he sat on the elephant's neck and head most of the time. No, it doesn't hurt the elephant and yes, it is cute that he has an English name.




Our elephant's name is "BiBua" and she really loved to eat. I liked the place as the elephants were all treated quite well, as if they were part of the family. I could really tell how much Thais respect elephants. I could not really bear for animals to be mistreated for mass tourism. Our only gripe was that we paid for a 45 min ride but got 30 min inclusive of BiBua eating. Well, I guess we couldn't really control how an elephant walked.





I love this shot. I do not know how to describe why I love it, I just do.




The girl on the elephant behind us got a sweet deal when the guide allowed her to sit on the elephant itself very close to its head. Brandon said we could do that too. Alas we were wearing dresses! If I were wearing shorts, I would definitely try my hand at sitting on the elephant's head. That would be a whole new experience to take home from this trip!




BiBua loved to eat... and shit.




Brandon was kind enough use my camera to snap some photos of us on BiBua. However, he made a request for us to purchase the official photo at the booth later to which we found it reasonable, of course. We sometimes feel for these locals as they do not really earn much at all. Moreover, the funds would be channelled to maintaining the elephant park. I tried snapping a shot of the official touristy photo but it didn't look nice at all.




The photos from my camera looked a lot more vibrant and fun as compared to the official touristy photo.




Here is a video of our elephant ride which some of you might have seen before last year.




~*Day 3: The Big Buddha*~

After the elephant ride, our next stop was to visit the Big Buddha. You could see from the picture that some parts were undergoing renovation and reconstruction.




If you are wondering about the gaudy pink and white polka dot shawl, I have an explanation for that. It was provided by the authority as a sign of respect, and not an indication of our fashion sense




Informative signs were everywhere mainly requesting for tourists to donate for the renovation of facilities for the elderly and disabled as well as to refurbish parts of the statue.




Tiff really loves the Thai King and she was sharing with me how she feels he is the most charming and kind king.




The gong was donated by a Singapore Company and we just had to show our pride by striking the gong. The gong mallet was so heavy, our boom sounded without much resonance.




If only I were strong enough to move the Buddha statues, I would be rejoicing.




The toilet looked so pretty on the outside but it was PRETTY DIRTY and stinky inside!




The many cats at the temple.




We stopped by souvenir and snack shops along the way. Once again, it was most likely some business dealings with the local shops and Somyat or the agent. There really was nothing I could buy from those shops that would not collect dust at home. I do not buy gaudy overpriced souvenirs for friends at home too; I would rather buy something which would not collect dust in their homes. Hence, I only emerged with snacks and a new-found Peking Duck and Chilli Crab flavoured potato chips from Lay's. It seems like only Thailand has these flavours.


~*Day 3: A Quiet Linner-Dunch Before Shopping*~

Well since we had brunch for the day, we only had our next meal at about 5pm. Not quite lunch. Not quite dinner. A little bit of both perhaps? We invited Somyat to eat with us but he politely declined.

It seemed like our staple dishes were Tom Yum soup and omelette with prawns as well as some green vegetables.




Tiff insisted that she should drink Chang to support the elephants (duh!) while I went with my icy watermelon drink.



After lunch, it was close to 6. Somyat was supposed to end his day but he kindly sent us to Phuket Town for some shopping. I could not remember if it was Phuket Town. It was a pretty long drive from where we were and there were shops from international brands all congregated in a modern single level shopping mall. I did not snap any pictures there for we were busy combing the shops. Even though the shops were modern, the clothes were from a few seasons (or even eras) back. I spied an Adidas Tee shirt which was very popular during my schooling days.


~*Day 3: Back to Familiar Grounds*~

By the time we reached Patong, the skies had turned dark. Illuminated by lights from the street stalls, we were like foolish flies lured to the brightness. The fragrant aroma of various fried snacks wafted through the air and tantalized our taste buds.




We could not help but to buy some snacks to munch on even though they do not look very hygienic.




We did not catch a single boxing match in Thailand. I do not like to watch boxing and I can't stand the chilling thumping sounds made by the boxing gloves.




Heading to Jungceylon seemed to be a nightly routine for us.




Such a pretty sight in the middle of the shopping compound.




We had chilled drinks to cool ourselves down.




It also became a routine to walk down Blangla Road as every night, there would be new sights to take in. You could pose with an actual policeman to have your photo taken like the lady below. People would dress up in all kinds of costume and coaxed customers into their bars. Tiff had also taken a liking to one of the pole dancers in one of the bar. She just had to look at her every night. As a disclaimer, Tiff is totally straight.




We had not explored the inner bars before. I was rather intrigued by the sign the man was holding and wondered if there was a missing comma and where it should go.




Hmm... a play school?




Everyone has to love Bob Marley or his songs.
What? You don't?
Just click the x-button at the top right hand corner would you?




We wondered if we should walk back to our hotel once more and realized from the map how much we actually walked on the first night!




See top left:
Our hotel looks like this at night. That is Deli Cafe where we went for breakfast and above it is the public pool area.

See vertical pictures:
That is the long and winding road up to our room. We often sang "The Long and Winding Road" by the Beatles as we trudged up the slope.




A little interesting encounter to share with all of you. That night, I was singing "long and winding road..." when Tiff who was ahead of me ran to me quietly and told me to stop singing so loudly. I was stunned and wondered what had happened. She told me that she saw our naked neighbours through the window doing what they do like on the Discovery Channel (search: Bloodhound Gang). I chided her for peeping and she explained that it was hard not to look as their curtains were not drawn and their bedroom lights were switched on. It was like a show for everyone walking outside their window. Like a curious voyeur, I could not help turning to look once I was nearing their window and I went OMG! They have such hot bodies! What? You don't expect to see a picture here on my blog right? You pornish freaks.


It was really cool to see Hong Kong movies playing on one of the channels. This was a movie that made me cry buckets 18 years ago. You would know why if you watch the MV. I love the song too. It would make me tear. It is  萬芳 - 新不了情. 






Outfit of the day:
♥ Sheer Romance beach dress
♥ Sheer Romance bikini worn inside




The final volume of our decadent adventures in Phuket would most likely take some time as I've yet to edit any photos.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Phuket: The Land of Decadence Volume 2

Continuing from Volume 1, here is Volume 2 which mainly chronicles our loooooong voyage to Phi Phi Island and back, our spanking new room and Tiffy's scrumptious birthday dinner at a seafood haunt.


~*Day 2: On Our Way to Phi Phi Island*~

The day dawned bright and resplendent, just the perfect kind of weather for an island getaway. The picture below was taken at 7:56 am and the minibus was supposed to pick us up at 8:15! According to our schedule, we were to go to Phi Phi Island till the early evening and then have a scrumptious birthday dinner for Tiff.




We needed the energy for the long ferry ride to Phi Phi Island and hence even if the bus was reaching at 8:15, we simply had to have a little food from our complimentary breakfast. The kitchen could not whip up the main course in time and this was all we could chow down before the minibus reached.




It was a short 20-minute ride to Rassada Harbor since our hotel was the last pick up point for the driver.




Here is our itinerary for the day... minus Maya, canoe, colourful tropical fishes, monkeys... you get the drift.




~*Day 2: On the Sea Angel*~

When we reached Rassada Harbor, we were astounded by the many ferries docked there and the sea of people. There was nobody to guide us on where to go. I forgot how we figured out to take the green sticker and also how we hopped from ferry's deck to ferry's deck to get to our Sea Angel.

In Tiff's words:
"We represent the sea angel travel, green team. It's of extreme importance to remember your colour."




It was fortunate that we managed to snag two plastic chairs or we could end up sitting on hard wooden benches for 2 hours.




We braved the sun for this shot. You could see the glare through the reflections on our sunnies.




When we weren't sitting, we were trying to balance on the moving ferry. It was a lot tougher than we thought. We looked stupid just trying to stand up straight.




And we looked even more stupid when we didn't.




The rocky land form in the background served to show how much I remembered from secondary school's Geography. I do not know if those are rock cliffs or what but we do know that it was a sign for photo-taking.










Finally, the anchor was released and we were told that it was the area where we were supposed to snorkel. People of all shapes, sizes and nationalities started to plop one by one into the water.




And if you don't already know, I DO NOT know how to swim. Tiff claimed that she didn't know too but she lied. She was so much better than me! I got a little fearful when I looked down into the water with my mask and saw how deep the water was. It was the first time I snorkeled without my swimmer hubby around. Fortunately, I could just hold tiff's hand and kicked like a cat to drift around on the water surface. Thank god for whoever invented the life jacket! Oh yes, did I tell you that there were many fishes in the water but they weren't really colourful?

We barely snorkeled for 15 minutes before deciding to head back to the deck. It was not really fun looking at silver coloured fishes (and some yellow) from the surface of the water.




There was a group of very ungentlemanly guys who obviously did not know what it meant by "ladies first". Even as a lady myself or any other individual with common sense, I would have enough sense to allow the person climbing up the ferry's steps to reach the deck first before trying to climb down the steps. I don't understand what these guys were thinking when they just rushed as a troop down the steps and knocking tiff down in the process. Tiff was bruised as she slipped, grabbed the metal railing with her arm and swirled around while the brutes pretended she was transparent. She was so mad that she gave them a piece of her mind.




~*Day 2: On Phi Phi Island*~

We finally reached Phi Phi Island.




Not to be confused with James Bond Island (Khao Ping Kan), The Phi Phi Islands comprises a few islands. "The largest island of the group Ko Phi Phi Don ("ko" (Thai: เกาะ) meaning "island" in the Thai language) is the only island with permanent inhabitants, although the beaches of the second largest island, Ko Phi Phi Lee (or "Ko Phi Phi Leh"), are visited by many people as well. The rest of the islands in the group, including Bida Nok, Bida Noi, and Bamboo Island (Ko Mai Phai), are not much more than large limestone rocks jutting out of the sea." -- Wikipedia

The Phi Phi islands, like James Bond Island, has its fair share of fame. The islands came to worldwide prominence when Ko Phi Phi Leh was used as a location for the 2000 British-American film The Beach.


We could not wait to tuck ourselves into the "great lunch" provided (as quoted from the pamphlet). It wasn't too great but alright for two hungry gals.




After lunch, we explored the "streets" of the island.




The weather was so sizzling hot that we had 2 ice cream (ice lollies) each as we walked. That was the only time I had ever eaten 2 ice lollies one after another. If I did that when I was young, my mother would more probably slap me. Grape-flavoured stuff could never go wrong while watermelon is always the most refreshing and thirst-quenching fruit.




We finally reached the beach! The beach looked really lovely in the photos but I was honestly disappointed when I saw it real life. The beach looked eroded (probably due to the tsunami) and the water wasn't as blue as what you see in the pictures. It was actually the colour of milk tea.




Outfit of the day:
♥ FleurFaerie Slouchy Beach Top in Cream
♥ No label black sequin flower flip flops
♥ Coax denim shorts




Beach chairs with umbrellas were available for rent. Being very cheapo, we laid our towels on the sand and sat there.The weather was so scorching that tiff and I decided to just sit around in the water since we were already dirty with sea water and salt from the snorkeling. (Ok, we did rinse ourselves with tap water once we reached the deck but you know how dirty you feel whenever you you dip yourself into sea water.) That was then when I realised the water was the colour of milk tea. I could not even see my legs while tiff suggested getting our snorkel gears to "see our legs". -_-|||


At a quarter past three, we headed back to the ferry for it would be most terrible to miss the boat. This time we explored the upper deck and realized that there weren't many people there. Too much sun exposure is no good so we had to do this even after slapping on sunscreen.




For a 2-hour trip, we had better made ourselves as comfortable as possible. We admired the scenery, psychoed ourselves that the sunlight was good and day-dreamed while drifting off to sleep every now and then.

Look at the collage below.
Look at the only picture with homo sapiens.
That guy in yellow unabashedly shifted his chair and had us in his line of vision for almost the whole journey! He continued looking even as I took a photo of him.
According to our observation and analysis, he and his friend knew the pair of gals only on this trip. I don't think they were friends prior to this.




Through my rose... orange tinted glasses.







~*Day 2: Our new room -- Gaya Studio*~


Remember that the Ocean Studio from Day 1 is just a temporary put up? While it looked good in photos, we very much prefer Gaya Studio. Ocean Studio was way too dark. Even after switching on all the lights at night, we felt like the room was even darker than the roads lighted with white street lamps.


The outside comprised the patio and the jacuzzi. Anyone could just walk into our area and use our jacuzzi! Similar to how we could walk around our area, side step a little into our neighbour's area and catch them doing the do.




The living room and kitchen.




The bedroom, bath and toilet. Oh and I haven't told you that our shower area separates the jacuzzi with a glass (strips of clear and translucent glass as seen in the collage below) wall. Anybody could look in when it was lighted at night! What kinda open-concept design again?




Some of you might have seen this video before last year. We were really ecstatic about this room (upgrade) that a video would portray its beauty a lot more effectively than mere collages. Enjoy the amateurish commentary yet again!




We hopped into the jacuzzi before showering and preparing to head down to Patong for Tiff's birthday dinner.




Such a nice picture of Tiff! Wait for me to get ready also can be so sexy. Can't stand her!




~*Day 2: Tiff's Birthday Dinner*~

I forgot the name of this seafood restaurant and I could kick myself for not snapping a photo of the restaurant's signboard.


After securing seats for us and asking if we were ordering live seafood, we were told to choose our potential victims. We chose the poor crab and lobster as seen below.




While waiting for our food to be served, what could 2 bimbos do but take photos.




Our delicious spread of green curry, baked blue crab with butter, signature cheesy lobster dish, TOM YUM GOONG (yummy!), atas water. As usual, we love Thai food so much that we finished everything! I simply love to hang out with friends who eat a lot.




"A real lady uses her hand to eat crab" was what we uttered and then threw our utensils aside. I don't know why the people around us had to stare at ladies using hands to eat crab.




In the midst of our dinner, it started pouring. The rain was so heavy that it instantly turned the whole restaurant cold. Natural air-con I say.


After dinner, it was still raining and we had not brought out our umbrellas. However fortunately for us, we managed to get on board a tuk tuk a few metres away from the entrance of the restaurant.




We saw the water level in the streets rising steadily as we sat in the comfort of the tuk tuk. Some streets were flooded. We felt sad for the Caucasians in the ambulance behind us. Nobody wanted to give way to the ambulance that the driver had to resort to driving onto the pedestrain pavement. As it went past us, we saw a male causasian on the stretcher with his beau holding his hands wearing a disconcerting expression on her face.




It was really exciting to see Patong being flooded. I know it is rather insensitive to say this but at least we did not stand in the middle of lanes with water level calf deep and posing with a victory sign like what some tourists did.


Instead of heading back to our hotel to avoid the flood, we battled the flood and braved the rain to go for a massage! Indeed a clear indication of how bimbotic some people are. Look at how burnt our faces looked! We should have gone for facial instead.




We love Let's Relax a lot! I love the ambience, the foot massage, the neck and shoulder massage, the masseuse and the biscuit!




We left the place feeling so light and refreshed. All our tensed muscles from the day's activities were well kneaded and relaxed after the massage.


Back in our room, we were trying to take a shot together but there wasn't any proper place to prop the camera up on self-timer.




Outfit of the day:
♥ Forever Orange maxi dress
♥ FleurFaerie Vintage Flower Hair Clip
♥ Diva ethnic beaded necklace



Stay tuned for Volume 3.