30 December 2010

We woke up as early as 6am in order to have an early breakfast at Windjammer Cafe. By 630am, there were quite a number of people anxious and waiting to have their breakfast. Some of the tour started really early, ours on the other hand, began at 845am.

We were asked to be at the Theater to register for the tour at 815am. We were there since 8am and it took at least half an hour before we actually boarded the smaller boat which brought us to shore.

I think most of the passengers decided to take the chance to go to Phuket. You can see it from the photo below.

It was a ten minutes boat ride and I felt tempted to jump into the sea! Andaman sea is really beautiful! Water was cold! Lol.

After we stepped off from the pier, a crowd of locals ambushed us with brochures of car hire, local tour guide, etc It was not scary but overwhelming. They were friendly too, didn’t show any sour face when we said no. Thai people are very good natured.

Our tour was delayed for half an hour because some people decided to take their sweet time walking to the shore. I can’t really blame them anyway as there were quite a lot of people who went on excursions.

The first thing Aslan noticed when we got on shore was the engine that these passenger boats were using…

It was 915am when the tour started and Godi, our tour guide of the day, led us with the magic number, 15.

We walked for about five minutes to get to the bus. It was a comfortable bus, quite big too and thank God for air condition because Phuket can get quite humid at times.

Patong Beach, one of the most popular beaches in Phuket was not crowded yet since it was only 9am in the morning. Most of the deck chairs were quite empty. Usually on public beaches, the locals charge TB100 an hour for them but that rate is not the same throughout the island lah.

We noticed that every beach has a Tsunami evacuation routes and it’s good to know that every year, they do emergency drills twice.

First stop of the tour was Wat Chalong, the temple. Before that, we came across this awesome pink car.

The temple ground is huge and beautiful. Most temples in Thailand is very well taken care of.

After the tour of the temple, we were brought to the Cashew Nut factory. Do you know how a cashew fruit looks like?

Basically this is a sponsored tour, after the small behind the scene tour, you will be brought around the shop area. Apart from cashew nuts, they also sell dried fruits.

We spent 15 minutes here and bought a few things, mostly food items lah.

When I thought there would be no more factory visit, I was wrong. We were brought to this shopping centre. Since I didn’t have much money on me, everything there was expensive when in fact, they’re quite affordable and quality wise, really good.

We spent around half an hour here. Next, we were taken on a drive tour around Phuket town. Most of the shops were closed in the town area, so we only drove through.

Before making our way to the cultural village equivalent of a place, we went to the hill park.

Half an hour later, we reached Thai Village to watch a cultural show.

The people who greeted us were the same people who performed. It seemed like they didn’t have enough staffs for that day. Either that, they might be a small production group. In my opinion, this industry might be affected by the more bigger and modern Thai cultural shows such as Thai Fantasy show.

While watching the show, I had a hard time telling the difference between a girl and a ladyboy.

I intentionally chose to sit far from the stage and as middle as possible to avoid being asked to join in the performance.

And this particular dance looks similar to the one we have back home.

And some of the outfits also looks similar to the local ethnic dresses in Sarawak. Just saying…

The show lasted for an hour, it was entertaining but since I was really hungry, I couldn’t wait for it to finish.

And of course, photo op!

We arrived back at the pier around 230pm. Johan decided to go back to the ship while Aslan and I went around Patong area to look for food and last minute souvenirs. First, we took the Tuk Tuk to go to one of the mall, Jungceylon. It was THB200 to get from the pier to the mall. Quite pricey. Meh. It was our first time on a Tuk Tuk.

Patong Beach is an area meant for youngsters with so many bars and clubs lined up along the street.

 

The journey was interesting. Along the way, we saw a lot of shops selling a variety of things from clothes, dvds, bags, watches, well pretty much everything under the sun, really.

After spending 15 minutes walking around the mall, we decided to walk back to the pier and while we do that, look for a decent place to eat. After 10 minutes of walking and witnessing a small accident on the road, we stumbled upon Patong Seafood. The closest thing we could get to Thai food. The rest? Posh aka expensive restaurants, Burger King or any other American food franchise (Right, we went to Phuket, just to have Burger King, ngek…).

We ordered a few dishes and boy, there were good!

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted the pineapple fried rice but it had pork in it, so we ordered the crabmeat fried rice instead. But it was nice still.

 

Overall, we had a lovely meal and by the time the last dish arrived, which was the Pandan Chicken, Aslan and I were so full, we didn’t even bother with dessert! Total cost was RM80 and honestly, the meal we had could have been for four persons! Lol.

 

After lunch, we walked around the surrounding area to get souvenirs. I wish we could go to Karon Beach and swim. Ah, maybe next time. Here are some photos of Patong Beach.

 

 

 

I’ve had such a  great time inPhuket, I plan to come back here sometimes in the future.

Love,
E.