It has been about 2 months since i came back from Phuket! Took damn long to edit the photos :| Honestly speaking, i have never thought of going Phuket. It was never on my list of places i want to go, i had Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Bangkok, Paris ++ on my list but not Phuket. But after reading phuket/krabi travelogues on a few blogs, i had the urge to visit that place to see how it's like! LOL
Took 2 weeks off from work and booked a 4days 3nights trip to Phuket with BFF Nurul, Chris and his girlfriend! Actually we bought a travel deal from a site but we did not manage to book the trip in time. (Requirement was to book one month in advance, and i still have the 4 tickets with me now -__-) So we had to last minute-ly book another trip! Almost couldn't make the booking in time. Phew.
I would say this trip was a totally different experience. Normally when i go overseas, it would be a shopping trip. But this time, it was a more relaxing and outdoor experience. I snorkeled with the fishes in the sea, ride on elephants,stared at transgenders and many more! Enough said, let's start!
Took 2 weeks off from work and booked a 4days 3nights trip to Phuket with BFF Nurul, Chris and his girlfriend! Actually we bought a travel deal from a site but we did not manage to book the trip in time. (Requirement was to book one month in advance, and i still have the 4 tickets with me now -__-) So we had to last minute-ly book another trip! Almost couldn't make the booking in time. Phew.
I would say this trip was a totally different experience. Normally when i go overseas, it would be a shopping trip. But this time, it was a more relaxing and outdoor experience. I snorkeled with the fishes in the sea, ride on elephants,
Took an afternoon flight over to Phuket!
Managed to settle the flight tickets just the night before flying off. I think the system purposely give lousy seats when booking then expect you to pay extra $3/seat to exchange de lor. Extra $12 lor!
From the left: Me, BFF Nurul, Su Ping and Chris! (:
First time taking Air Asia. I refuse to take Tigers because it doesn't depart from Changi airport, LOL
This is like the 4th time i'm traveling overseas with Nurul! KL, Hong Kong, Batam, now Phuket!
Group photo of us while waiting to board the plane!
Total of about 900 photos combined so i had to sit down and slowly filter them. Delete the blur ones, choose the ones to blog (about 160 of them!) and was thinking of how to edit them. I decided to give EVERY single photo the vignette effect! Some worked really well but some can't really see...
Took a photo of the plane before entering it! I like the "feel" of this photo! ♥
It was drizzling in Singapore and i was praying that it won't rain in Phuket! *cross fingers*
The view from the plain was breath taking! Quite amazed by clouds formation.
Air Asia was not bad, like more spacious! The flight took about 3 hours and we landed in Phuket. We had to get a cab to the hotel which was about 45 mins away but before we could get a cab...
We were approached by this booth which was selling tour packages. The catch was, if we book their package, the cab fare to and fro the hotel to the airport would be FREE! (or should i say included in the package?) We thought it was a rather good deal so we booked the Phi Phi island tour there!
At the airport, they gave out FREE sim cards! Inside the sim card is maybe 4 baht for you to make one or two phone calls or surf the net for awhile. After that if you want to continue using, you can buy the top up card or go to any convenient store. I think they quite smart, can earn from tourist like that. But since i don't make any calls and only uses the mobile broadband to update my twitter, my sim card surprisingly managed to last throughout the 4 days there! I still go and take extra leh :|
After 45 min, we finally reached our hotel - Seeka Boutique Resort!
Photos of our room. The furniture got the "bali" feel. Simple yet elegant. Not bad (:
If we look down from the window, it's the swimming pool. The hotel is nicely decorated! ♥
After we unpacked, Nurul and i decided to take a walk and see what we could get since we were quite hungry. Opposite our hotel, there's this "store" selling chicken rice/ noodles! It's my first attempt at trying out street food in Phuket! It was about to be my last too, talk about it later.
Fried chicken chop with 2 packs of sticky rice! 40 Baht. The exchange rate is $1 = 24 Baht (:
Head over to their "7 eleven" and got drinks too! Love the glass bottles, collected the caps ♥
By the time we unpacked and finish eating, it was about evening already. So we decided to wait for the hotel's shutter bus to bring us to the shopping center to walk walk and have dinner! Nightlife!
JUNGCEYLON SHOPPING CENTER! (I have no idea what does jungceylon means...)
They have this HUGE water fountain at the center of the shopping center. Apparently they have a water and light show every night but we did not bother to stay and watch, food more important, LOL
Went to the supermarket to grab
Had to look for this kind of adapter because the plug in our room does not fit our chargers. After searching for awhile, we found this one on sale at just 4 BAHT. I seriously couldn't believe my eyes. 4 BAHT?! I repeat the exchange rate, $1 = 24 Baht. So this adapter cost 24 cents? Wow.
Took the receipt, wanting to split the cost only to realised we can't understand anything on it. FOL
They have these little booths at the shopping center selling handmade stuffs too!
Time for dinner! Normally the first thing people would go for when they are at Phuket or Thailand would be to try their authentic Tom yum or whatever thai food but we opt for URBAN FOOD instead.
The interior of the restaurant.
Ordered a Mango smoothie to share with BFF. Super delicious, made with REAL mangoes. Not like the one in Singapore where they just use the syrup, add ice and water then ta dah! Mango smoothie -__- This is the kind where if you drink too much, you literally might get a sore throat, LOLOLOLOLOL
The set that i ordered comes with a serving at the Salad bar! Self service, but i don't take veggie.
Chris's rice which comes in a pretty flower shape. Like a cute only ♥
Su ping's Char kuey tiao and Chris's tom yum soup!
I took a photo of BFF taking a photo for the couple! LOL
Here's the stuff i took for my salad! (which none of us eat in the end, waste food...)
My favourite Chicken Cordon Bleu - Ham and cheese stuffed in Chicken! ♥
Ordered their Sticky mango rice for dessert. Overwhelmed by the coconut taste! :(
Photo of me and BFF before tucking in!
The bill was EXACTLY 500 Baht! So zhun.
Took a photo with one of the staff before leaving! She's super friendly ♥
After eating, we decided to leave the mall (there's nothing much in the mall anyway, typical.) Time to hit the streets to checkout phuket's exciting nightlife! I've heard so much about their night life, especially their ping pong show! Anyway, while walking along the streets, we bought 8 singlets! Shouldn't have brought any clothes to phuket, can just buy there lor! Bring already never wear...
Love this group photo of us! ♥ In fact, while taking this photo, the woman on the right of the photo was bugging us to buy something from her! But we heck care her and continue taking photos, LOL!
There's this popular Bangla street which everyone must go when they are at phuket! It's like a long stretch of road selling all sorts of things. From slippers to clothes to DVDs etc. There is one lane which has all the pubs and apparently people are crowding outside the one in the photo above! We didn't know the exact reason until the last night. You will know in the Day 4 post, heehee
Street store selling hot dogs, roasted corns and pancake!
Bought one Chocolate pancake and one Banana pancake! Made right on the spot!
Cost about 40 Baht each, which is less than $2. Taste not bad, cannot find in Singapore.
After walking and shopping for awhile, we came across this store where we can book activities in Phuket! Actually there's alot of these stores which offers different prices for the same package so you have to survey around and find the most worth it one! (Esp with transport to & fro hotel!!!!)
We randomly asked a few stores and this one (opposite Mcdonalds) offers the best price and she bothers to explains every single detail of the activities! So we booked two packages from her to fill up our activities for the 3rd day! "Trekking" in the day and Simon Cabaret show in the night! Settled!
We randomly asked a few stores and this one (opposite Mcdonalds) offers the best price and she bothers to explains every single detail of the activities! So we booked two packages from her to fill up our activities for the 3rd day! "Trekking" in the day and Simon Cabaret show in the night! Settled!
Took a tuk tuk back to the hotel as it was getting late. What an experience ♫
The 2 packages that we booked earlier from the nice lady!
Alright, that's all for Day 1! The next day would be a whole day out at sea on the Phi Phi island tour! My main objective for this Phuket trip was to snorkel! Never thought i would be trying it out one day, out in the crystal clear water among the fishes...
