Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Phuket Trip - Part 1

Hi folks, I am back!

Tired… Very tired… Although I slept early and woke up not so early, I still felt tired. I suspect it is the sun. I woke up this morning feeling not very good. I was sure something nor very pleasant would happen today. Anyway... Lets talk about my trip.

Once again, it has been proven that I am just not a very ‘Nature’ person. Evidences will be shown below in this post. Photos may not appear in chronological order, as muddleheaded me left one of my SD card at home. So this is only part of the photos I took. And some, of course, are meant for my, and my friends’ eyes only ;p.

My mum, my brother, and I woke up at 4.30am on Saturday, to prepare for our flight at 7am. My brother very kindly sent us there. My sis met us there. We checked in, and proceeded to have breakfast. We knew that Tiger Air has no seat allocation, so we thought that as long as we go to the gate a little earlier, we should be able to get seats next to, or near to one another. WRONG. By the time we reached there, there was already a looooooooong queue forming. In fact, we were one of the last few in the queue.

As usual, those with children and elderly has the priority to go first. It was more orderly in Singapore, as there was a separate queue/entrance for them. No one complained.

After we entered the gate, we have to walk about 100metres to the plane, climb up a flight of stairs to board the plane. My mum had some difficulty, because her legs were not very strong. But she got up alright. Lucky me and her got aisle seats next to each other. Sis went further to the back.

The plane was quite alright, though I thought the leg space was really small. I wonder how the ang mohs could stand it, if they were not sitting right in front, or at the emergency exit, where the leg space was much bigger. Ok for a short flight, but not for longer flights. I think I will stick to non-budget airlines when I go for my Hong Kong or Taiwan trips.

We touched down in Phuket at about 8.45am. I almost missed the person who was supposed to pick us up. He was hiding in a corner and was not holding my name up properly. Luckily I went to search for him. If not, we would have wasted some money on the transport to the hotel.

The person who picked us up was called Phayon. He was a chatty fellow. Talked non-stop from the moment we boarded the van to the hotel. But he was a friendly fella. He told us that we were not able to check in so early, so he would take us for the city tour first, then go back to the hotel to check in. But we told him that my eldest sis was already there, and we wanted to meet them first. I asked if they could join the city tour too. He discussed with the driver, then turned to tell yes ok. I asked him ‘Free?’. He smiled (Oh he is very smiley too) and said ‘Yes, free of charge’, since they would have to bring the 3 of us anyway. But they would have to pay for any incidentals themselves, which was reasonable.

The hotel was about half an hour’s drive from the airport. We did not stay at the famous Patong beach, but a quieter, not so rowdy beach called Bang Tao Beach. The hotel we were staying at, The Allamanda, was a 5-star hotel (according to Phayon). He told us that everything quoted to us by locals would definitely be more expensive if they found out we were from Allamanda hotel.

We found out that we could check in afterall. Just that they were still cleaning up the room. So we left our luggage there, went to meet my sis and her family at the restaurant where they were having breakfast. My niece and nephews were (or pretended to be) surprised to see us. My baby nephew, Matt, asked us how come we were there too. Hahaha… Like it was such a ‘coincidence’.

My sis arrived one day before us. They had a little hiccup, because the hotel did not have their reservation! They were downgraded to a junior suite (they were supposed to get a 1-bedroom suite like us). Of course my sis was not happy! I think I would have made more noise if it were to happen to me. But they were promised to be moved next to us that afternoon.

The start of the city tour.

Phayon brought us for elephant trekking. It was a very long ride to the place. Marc kept asking ‘are we there yet?’. When at long last we arrived, the children were so restless already.

Evidence that I am not a very nature person1: I hated the smell. It smells like there is dung all over the place. Maybe it was the elephants' droppings.. but... But the children were excited about getting to ride on elephants. My mum wasnt too keen. Neither was my 2nd sis and I. So we just watched them. I took a few photos of them on elephants, but those are in the card that I did not bring, so tomorrow ok.

There was a baby elephant performing some tricks at another corner. My mum wanted to take a picture with him, but the baby elephant was very active and kept moving its trunk. My mum shrieked and moved away everytime the trunk came within 50cm of her. So her photo turned out to be one of her ‘scared’ look. Hahaha.

My mum sat at the bench while wiating for the kids to come back from elephant trekking. Eviedence that I am not a very nature person 2: I did not sit because I suspected there were ants and other unknown creatures on the bench. I told my mum and 2nd sis, but they did not care. *Shrug*
After elephant trekking, Phayon brought us to this famous temple in Phuket, The Chalon temple. We were all not very keen on visiting the temple, so we agreed to stop by, take some photos for momeries’ sake, and left the place.

Then we stopped by a shop for souvenirs. We bought a lot of food stuff for mum to distribute, and for self consumption. I remembered to buy some for my brother’s gf too, for she kindly sacrificed her weekend to take care of my dog for me. She is really a nice sweet girl. We get along well too, so I hope she will be the one :p

After that, we went for lunch. It was because I was weak due to extreme hunger. Phayon brought us to this place that sells birds nest soup for 200baht. So we went. BUT, there was only Birds nest soup. And sharks fin soup. Nothing else. HOW M I SUPPOSED TO GET FULL WITH BIRDSNEST SOUP? But since it was birds nest soup. Good for my complexion and throat, I wouldnt reject it. It was nice. But Marc and Kim hated it. WHY??? They shared a bowl, and I had to feed Kim to make her finish it.

After birds nest, I couldnt take it anymore. I wanted proper lunch! So Phayon brought us to this place where mostly locals go. The food was nice. We had Tom Yam soup (of course), shrimp cake, steamed fish, some vegetables, some meat.

*Sian.. boss just called and ‘lectured’ me… So now no mood to blog… if it sounds boring.. sorry ok…*

By the time we finished lunch, it was about 3pm. We headed back to the hotel. Oh this is how the hotel looks like. Sorry my camera failed me this time. it is not very good with orange lights and night shoots, so please bear with it.
The kitchen with a fridge and toaster and boiler.
Lots of utensils in the cupboards below.

The dining area

The living room. The couch is so comfortable

my mum could fall sleep there.

The other end of the living room where the TV is.

The bedroom

The dressing table

The Wardrobe

The bathroom

The scenary from the living room


My 8 yr old nephew Marc drew this,

which i thought was very good.

Ok... really no mood to blog now. Blog later or tomorrow ok. Stay tuned...

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