A trip to Phuket: Day 2

The next day, I was awake early at 7am, because the sun was already up and shining. It was so bright that I thought it was past 8am! Or maybe I woke up early due to the time difference between Phuket and Malaysia. 7am in Phuket was actually 8am Malaysian time. Anyway, it was a good time to start the day with the buffet breakfast provided by the hotel. Again, we had our breakfast just by the beach, with the sound of waves in the background.

Our table no. 38

Even though the variety wasn't great, the quality was actually pretty good. We had the following dishes:

Breakfast: Fried rice, egg, grilled tomatoes, bacon and hash brown

Saucer's plate: Fried rice, noodles, pancake, sausages and baked beans

Breakfast wouldn't be complete without the hot and crispy toasts!

Freshy toasted bread

Customized omelette and ham

Fruits were sweeter in Thailand, I wonder why...

Fresh and sweet fruits

A cup of tea to wash it all down

At about 9am, we took a walk at the beach before proceeding to the Kamala Village to rent the bike. Needless to say, we're definitely not going to sign up for the day tour with the driver at the taxi counter, after what happened yesterday. The beach was still deserted at the early hours, so I camwhored a little bit. Look at the magnificent clouds in the background! So fluffy and picturesque.

Kamala beach in the morning

On the way to Kamala Village, I noticed that there was a pretty park with many coconut trees. We must not have noticed this park when we walked past yesterday night.

Park at Kamala Village

This was how Kamala Village looked like in the daytime. I know, nothing fancy but at least it had the basic necessities for human survival. ;)

Kamala Village 7-11

I guess the shops in Phuket don't open until later in the afternoon. It was a very quiet walk towards the motorcycle rental shop. Notice the Phuket tuk-tuks resting at the shoulder of the road.

Quiet streets in the morning

Saw this modern-looking hotel along the way, couldn't resist but to take a picture of it. Perhaps the choice for our next trip?

The Palms, Kamala

Renting a motorcycle was really simple. All you need is a valid driving license from your home country. Thank goodness Saucer is a legitimate licensee. :) Before long, we were speeding against the direction of the wind, looking for the first petrol station to fill up the tank first. Petrol price in Phuket was not cheap at all! Almost RM3/litre!! Anyway, our destination was to go to Patong town. I was the navigator, obviously, and the genius me led us to the huge shopping complex called Jungceylon Mall at about 10am. :) It was really hot, so staying indoors was a good idea for us. (Where's the rain?)

Jungceylon Mall, Patong


Empty mall in the morning

There's also a huge Robinson in the mall.

Robinson


Pizza Hut poster in the background

At the early hours, all the shops were not open yet. According to the guard, the mall only opened at 10.30am so we walked out to visit the area surrounding it. We came upon the first hawker stall in Patong, selling a weird-looking type of fish. Didn't look appetizing at all, I know, but smelled wonderful! There were about 3 or 4 persons queueing to buy those fish, but I didn't. I read from the blogs that it's better to avoid roadside stalls in Phuket, to prevent unnecessary discomfort.

BBQ fish

However, I could not resist the coconut water from the fruit stall just nearby. In the hot scorching weather, the refreshing coconut water was a blessing from heaven. Bliss!

Coconut water at fruit stall

After getting refreshed, we continued walking to other parts of the Patong town.

We came across this bazaar just opposite Jungceylon, selling mostly clothes and shoes. It was from here that I bought a nice summer dress (which I would show you later ;) ) and Saucer bought some good quality t-shirts.

Bazaar at Patong

Patong town

Then we came across a large market, housing fresh seafood, meat, vegetables, fruits and even clothes! Best of all, the market was extremely clean and well-maintained without the fishy or meaty smell. Oh, did I mention it was air-conditioned too?

Market in Patong


Interior of fresh market

Fruits and meat

Look at the gigantic fresh oysters sold there!

Seafood - huge oysters in the middle

The market had 2 storeys, with an escalator connecting them together. While the ground floor was filled with raw food, the first floor of the market was selling mostly clothes, accessories and shoes.

First floor of market


Shoes, anyone?

Soon, it was past 11am, and we made our way back to Jungceylon. By then, the mall was already bustling with visitors, foreigners and local alike, and shops were all open for business. We visited the Carrefour inside Jungceylon and was enticed by the glorious smell coming from the bakery. The choice of bread and pastry available there was definitely more than what I'd seen before in Malaysia. Probably to cater to Westerners who formed a large part of the Phuket community.

Fresh breads

There was another section which sold just herbs and spices, note: HOT spices, judging from the bright red colours. These were meant for cooking, perhaps the delicious tom yam soup? *slurps*

Variety of spices

Oh look! More cheap beer! *grabs them*

Drinks at Carrefour

Walking towards a connecting mall

We saw the huge yacht outside of Jungceylon, which was also the signature symbol of this mall.

Yacht outside Jungceylon

Pretty water fountain

By this time, we had walked for about 3 hours non-stop in Patong, and our feet exclaimed happily when we saw the comfortable chairs for foot massage! Massage was one of the most popular services provided by the Thais, so we decided to give it a try. We paid for a 30 minute massage at RM16 per pax. Not too bad, considering the amount of relief it provided. :)

Comfortable massage chairs

My tired legs

After massaging, we felt like we were walking on clouds! *LOL* Well, if only for a few minutes. :P

This post is getting a little too long! I shall continue with Day 2 in the next entry. Stay tuned! :)

A trip to Phuket: Day 1

About 3 weeks after my final examination (no more exams, yay!), Saucer and I went for a trip to Phuket, Thailand. It was really an impromptu trip, chanced upon at the Firefly website. I was reading The Star online news as usual when I noticed the bright orange ad flashing on the top banner, a signature colour of the Firefly. Being curious, I clicked on the ad and came upon many discounted travel packages to places in South East Asia. After narrowing down my choices to Phuket and Koh Samui, I decided to choose Phuket because the hotels there were cheaper. When Saucer agreed, we both booked our air tickets and hotels for 3 days 2 nights at RM1020 only. That's about RM500 per person for the flight from Penang to Phuket and 3D/2N stay in a 4 star hotel. Isn't that a bargain? Later only did I find out that they were giving discounts because it was during the off-peak season in Thailand. Apparently, during these times (April - September), there would be rain most of the time. Anyway, since we're from Malaysia, what harm could a little rain do to us? :)

On the day itself, we reached the airport about 45 minutes before departure to find out that the Firefly had delayed their flight for 40 minutes. *frown*

Waiting at the airport

If you remember, there was a case in September where the Phuket airport was closed due to the protestors there. The event evetually led to a state of emergency declared in Thailand as well. Probably because of that, by the time we boarded the plane, there were only, guess how many? SEVEN passengers! I've never been in a plane with only so few passengers before! Well the good thing was we didn't even have to wait for long to take off. Right after we sat down, the plane was ready to go. After more than 1 hour later, we reached the deserted airport of Phuket. I suppose the chaos happening in Bangkok really affected the tourism industry around Thailand.

Empty airport

We saw many pamphlets and flyers placed at one side of the airport and I started collecting them for the maps.

Free maps

witch with Phuket maps

It was really weird to be in such an empty airport at 12pm. Needless to say, our luggage came out within minutes and we were on our way to meet our hotel pickup. One thing to take note when visiting Phuket is to make sure hotel transfers are prearranged. I read from other blogs before that if you were to take the cabs at the airport, most likely the drivers would fetch you to some touristy places along the way to ask you to buy things from there (so that the drivers would get commission). Worse still, some drivers would insist that the hotel that you're going to is not good, and scare you, so that you would give in and go to a 'recommended' hotel by the driver (again, for them to gain commission). In order to avoid all these hassle and inconvenience, it would be wise to arrnage your pickup beforehand.

We reached our resort, situated at Kamala beach, called the Kamala Beach Hotel and Resort.

Kamala Beach hotel and resort entry point

Since it was during the off-peak season, the resort looked rather quiet, which was actually a good thing if you're going there to rest and relax. Under the hot scorching sun (rain? what rain?), I couldn't imagine anyone sitting outdoors by the pool or by the seaside. However, I was so wrong! There were many Caucausians who were outside by the seaside sunbathing. Ah, the thought of that made me cringe.

Gorgeous swimming pools at the hotel

Our room was situated on the ground floor facing this beautiful garden below.

Rooms in Kamala beach resort

The room was rather huge, with all the basic amenities provided: toiletries, fridge (very important, as you would soon know), TV, towels, aircon, heater and the usuals. Best of all, it was very clean and well-maintained.

Cute shampoo bottles

It was already 2+pm when we finally settled down, and only then did we realize that we did not have lunch yet. So we walked out the road from where we came in and saw a few shops in the nearby town which were open. But they were all rather shabby looking and the prices were not exactly cheap! Eventually, we ended up going back to the resort and eat there instead. The restaurant manager was really friendly and even willingly changed our tomyam soup when we told them it wasn't spicy enough. *LOL*

Pineapple juice with orchid!

As expected, the restaurant, called Sea Breeze Cafe, was empty but for one table.

Restaurant at Kamala Beach Resort

The restaurant was just by the seaside, so we could actually enjoy our meals while listening to the calm ocean waves. :)

witch and Saucer

The dishes we ordered:
1) Thai tom yam seafood soup
Initially, they asked us what level of spiciness we wanted. Since we just reached Phuket, and being a little cautious, we chose 'moderate'. Then, it turned out that moderate was actually more like 'non-existent'. :P So we told the manager about it and he gladly changed and added in more spice. Still, Saucer and I thought that we tasted better ones in Malaysia before.

Authentic Thai tom yam seafood soup

2) Sweet and sour prawns
I guess you could not really go wrong with this dish, as Bamboo always said. The prawns were fresh and rather huge, so I wouldn't complain about this dish. A safe choice, I must say.

Sweet and sour prawns

3) Stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts
This was highly recommended by the waiter there, and he was so enthusiastic about this dish that we had no choice but to give it a try. The taste was not unlike those Cantonese style stir-fried chicken, except with the additional cashew nuts. Not too bad though. All I can say is the Thais' taste buds and ours are pretty closely matched. :)

Stir fried chicken with cashew nuts

The meal above cost RM51. I guess rather expensive for the types of dishes we chose, but since it's from a hotel, we should expect premium price.

One of the good things about this hotel was the location, just by the seaside. Whenever we felt like it, even when it was at midnight, we could just walk out to the sea in less than 5 minutes. It was surreal. We took a brief stroll to the beach after lunch, to take some pictures. As you can see, it was really hot under the sun. It was not like off peak season at all.

Sea by the hotel

witch at the beach

There were just a handful of people swimming in the sea. Most of them opted to sun bathe on the sunbeds provided by the hotel. After just 10 minutes, (or was it 5?) it was too much for me to handle. *LOL*

People enjoying the sea

We ended up going back to our room to freshen up and watch TV. But before that, we passed by this taxi counter just outside the hotel, which provided day tours as well. We had a rather unpleasant experience with the person who was also the tour guide cum taxi driver.

Since it was quiet business for him, he tried to persuade us to sign up with a day tour around Phuket for the next day. I think he wanted to charge something like RM120 for a tour from 9am to 4pm. We were already rather keen to sign up the tour, and you know being Malaysians, we tried to haggle for something more. :P You see, Kamala was really just a small town next to a beach, with nothing much to do. The real party place in Phuket would be Patong, which was about 15 minutes away. The hotel provided shuttle to Patong town at RM15 return trip. Since we planned to visit Patong that night, we tried to haggle with the same taxi driver cum tour guide to add in a free return trip to Patong on that night, in addition to the day tour the next day. Eventually he agreed and we planned to meet up again at 6pm.

So we went back to our room, and after watching enough TV, I went to the swimming pool for a dip. I still remember I had a bad case of cramp on my BOTH my hamstrings after swimming just one lap! It showed how little exercise that I had had prior to that. *gasp* I had to come up to rest for about 10 minutes to stretch away the cramp before I continued swimming again for another 15 minutes. Note to self: Exercise more!

After swimming, we got ready and went to the taxi counter at precisely 6pm. To our horror, the taxi driver was not there! There was another guy who was also a taxi driver, who tried to take advantage of the situation and asked us to follow him instead. Of course, when we told him that we're supposed to go to Patong for free, he just kept quiet. After waiting for about 20 minutes, we got angry and went to the hotel to ask for the shuttle instead. Unfortunately, the shuttle had left! *sob* In our desperation, we asked for car rentals from the hotel, to which the concierge said that since it was late, high chances we wouldn't be able to get any car at that time. *double sob* I could actually see my plans for the night go down the drain. Then he told us that we could probably rent motorbikes instead from the nearby Kamala Village, which was actually a small town. Since we had no other choice and we didn't want to stay in the hotel again, we decided to walk to Kamala Village just 10 minutes away.

Thankfully, when we reached Kamala Village, we found out that the town was not too bad at all! The town itself had several rows of shops, littered with restaurants, bars, grocery stores, pubs and live bands. I lighted up when I saw the glint of hope that my night did not have to go to waste after all. Saucer consoled me that we would go to Patong the next night, and that the Kamala Village seemed like a nice place to have dinner, too. I happily agreed, considering the fact that I was already starving. :P Anyway, the people in Phuket were really friendly. We walked past many restaurants and looked at their menus, and each time, there would be a waitress standing by to persuade us to go in. Even if we did not enter, they would still smile their warm smiles and waved us goodbye.

After surveying several restaurants, we ended up at a restaurant called H20, simply because they were having promotions and each of us would get a free drink of either cocktail, beer or soft drink. :) Also, the owner of the place was extremely warm. She even said that she liked the Esprit bag that I was using when I was there. *LOL* Such was the power of flattery. Or maybe the power of free drinks. :P

H20 restaurant

Us at H20, Kamala Village

The bartender came over to get our drinks order first and he recommended a Cosmopolitan for me and a Mai Tai for Saucer. Oh Cosmo! I'd always heard about it but never had the chance to try it. It was a slightly sweet with the slightly bitter alcohol taste. Pretty nice. But I'd really not recommend drinking alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach though. It made me feel drowsy for a little while.

Cosmopolitan and Mai Tai

Luckily food arrived soon after to rescue me from falling asleep. We ordered the pineapple fried rice for one. The fried rice at this restaurant beat all the other Thai fried rice that I tasted before in Malaysia, hands down. As you could see from the picture, the rice was fried until each morsel was evenly coated, unlike some fried rice where you would see a clump of white rice here and there. In addition, the rice was so very fragrant! I'd give this dish a 9/10.

Pineapple fried rice

Next, it was green curry chicken, another Thai specialty. As expected, the green curry was also aromatic, with strong smells of pandan and coconut milk with lemongrass as well. I remember mixing the curry with the fried rice... Ah... the combination!

Green curry chicken

Finally, we did not miss ordering tom yam again, because Saucer loved it. The tom yam here was clearly better than the one in the hotel. But I still felt the one from Prontip was better. Maybe I was accustomed to Malaysian tom yam instead of Thai?

Seafood tom yam soup

Oh I almost forgot! When we were surveying for restaurants in Kamala Village before dinner, we saw a 7-11 there and went inside to have a look. To our amazement, the alcoholic drinks there were really CHEAP! You couldn't imagine how cheap. Let me give you an idea, a small bottle of Heineken here would cost maybe RM6 or more from the supermarket. Over there, it's only RM3! We couldn't believe it at first. In the end, we bought six bottles of various alcoholic drinks to bring back to the hotel.

Variety of drinks at 7-11

Guess how much was the total of these drinks?

Bottles that we bought

Less than RM20! OMG. In Malaysia, RM20 could probably get me 1 glass of wine. Speaking of wine, I just found my true love. The Wine Cooler by Spy. I simply LOVE Wine Cooler especially in Red. It was the only bottle that I drank without getting tired of it. Throughout the next few days, our supply of wine coolers and beers never ran short. Hence, the fridge was a very important item in our room, as I mentioned earlier. ;)

After buying enough beers for the night, we came across a place called Benjamin with motorcycles for rent. The rental for 24 hours was only RM20! We were ecstatic to find such a great deal here. Back in the hotel, the taxi counter also rented motorbikes at RM30 for the similar duration. Anyway, since it was already late that night, we wouldn't have any use for the bike and decided to only rent it the next morning. Of course, we swore never to go near the taxi counter again, for his dishonesty and almost spoiling my night.

Motorbikes for rent at Benjamin, Kamala Village

Feeling satisfied with our plan for the next day, we walked back to our room to retire for the night. But not before having a cold bottle of wine cooler by the seaside with Saucer, talking and admiring the stars at night, with the waves lapping in the background. So romantic! :))