Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Phuket-PhiPhi-Krabi (14th -- 18th June)

Time flies, darling & I have been "dating" for 7 years (did I count it correctly?) This year, darling brought me to Thailand!!


14th June 2009 (Sunday): Singapore to Phuket


We took an early flight and reached Phuket about 10+am (local time). The distance from Phuket airport to our hotel (in Kata) is quite far. Both of us were so hungry when we reached Alpina Nalina Resort. *Their service was so good & we love the environment. As we were super hungry, we had our lunch in the hotel (although we know it will be expensive) as we have no idea the distance to the nearest restaurant and also worried that 11am might be too early for them to serve lunch.
comfy bed & spacious room
pretty flowers in front of the spa
(too expensive for a spa expereince)
not forgetting the gazebo & huge pondhuge swimming pool
Tom Yum is a must!
(yummy)

Stirred fried squids with garlic & black pepper
(the squids are fresh)
Pad Thai
(something like our local char kuey teow)


After lunch we went to Phuket town by cab. We wen Jung Ceylong shopping mall. Nothing special & it was still too early to go to our next destination, we watched UP... First time to watch movie in Thailand & we have learnt somthing new!! After all the trailers & advertisements, the screen written "please pay your respect to our King" *I can't really recall all the exact wordings, but means something like that. Then, video clips of the King with the National Anthem was shown. As no one seated in front of us, we have no idea what was going on. When I turned to darling to ask what must we do, I saw people behind us all stood up straight. I quickly alerted darling & we did the same. So, remember what you must do if you were to watch a movie in any cinema in Thailand.


After movie, we took a tuktuk to the Patong weekends night markets. Something similar to the Chatuchak, Bangkok but not as huge as that. I manage to bought a few cheap t-shirts (range from 60B to 100B). Then we had an early dinner at one of the restaurant nearby.
cheap & nice

After that, we rush to watch the 7pm Simon Cabaret where the pretty lady boys performed in beautiful coustumes and stunning music. They put in lots of efforts for an hour show. The song I like most is Nobody by Wonder Girls, they imitated it so well!!


After the show, we were both too tired to walk around Patong town (wonderful night life - plenty of cheap shopping, delicious food & pubs). We decided to call it a day & return to our hotel.
So sweet of themPrepared my bed for the night
15th June 2009 : Phuket
As we have spent lots of money for our transportation to Patong the day before. We decided to spend our day in our private beach & around Kata town. After breakfast, we took the hotel shuttle to the beautiful beach which located about 5km from our hotel.
soft sand & clear water
private area for hotel guest only
We were playing with sand and sea water whole morning. I drank a few mouthful of sea water as the waves was so strong! I enjoyed playing with the waves:) Then, we stop by at a restaurant for lunch on the way back to our hotel.
super spicy Tom Yum

We spent our afternoon doing nothing but resting in our wonderful hotel room till dinner time. This was our 1st time having such a realxing holiday as our schedule is so free!! For our previous trips, darling fully utilised every single seconds & covered as many activities/places as possible as...
the easy & cheap way to reduce heat loss
Green Curry Pork, Pineapple Seafood Fried Rice, Sweet & Sour Beeff, Stir Fired Kai Lan
16th June 2009 Phuket - Phi Phi

Time to say Goodbye to the lovely hotel as we will take a ferry to Phi Phi. The weather was bad, rainining whole day. The 2 hours ferry trip was horrible due to the rough sea, many people vomitted. We checked into Cabana hotel straight away as both of us need to rest after the unpleasant journey. The hotel is old but overall okay. Darling chose this hotel as this is the only hotel that situated between two beaches. The only complain I have was the salty water from the shower and water tab...
another night of comfy bed
nice view from our balcony
(beach at the back of the hotel)
swimming pool
beach in front of the hotel

We then had a western lunch (not really nice though) before walking around the small island (only need about 10min). As it was raining & the sea water was super cold, only darling dare to dip his whole body into the sea.
Spagetti & jumbo burger
nice beach
too bad, the weather doesn't permit us to 'play' with the sea
We went for a Thai massage for 250B each before we had our dinner. On the way, I saw this bunch of huge & fresh lychee (only 30B) that made my mouth water. We enjoy the sweet & juicy lychee by the beach as desert, so romantic hor?! Then, we also bought ourselves some drinks while enjoying the sea breeze & music at the hotel bar.
Tom Yum, Salad, Squids
to kill time?
17th June 2009 : Phi Phi to Krabi
Thank God!! The weather was good and the 1h 30min ferry trip was alright:) According to the cab driver, Ao Nang Villa is very famous & is a good hotel. Anyway, we can't wait to chance into our swim wears & headed toward the beach as the weather was wondeful.
my opinion: better condition than Cabana, Alpina better service plenty of facilities, they have two big pools
We were so surprise to see so many people sun bathing beside the pool, wondered why they didn't got the beach. We found the answer when we reached the beach - the water is yellowish brown in colour & the beach was full of grass. We still go ahead & challenge the waves even though we were disappointed with the 'quality'. However, we gave up not long after that as the waves was too strong & I was "attacked" by grass which wrapped arpund my legs & body constantly. We then decided to walk along the beach while enjoying the breeze. To my horror, I saw a jelly fish lying on the beach!!
We were approached by a desperate lady which offered us super cheap massage. As we have nothing to do & no harm relaxing by the beach, we go for another session of Thai massage for 100B each. I also had a foot scrub for 100B. Both of us reckon this session was better than the 1st one who had in Phi Phi, really worth for the 100B!
After a refreshing showing (no more salty water & high water pressure), is time for lunch!! Look at the cute bamboo huts...
Tom Yum, BBQ Chicken, Tou Fu, Morning Glory
& mango with sticky rice

After lunch, we walked around Krabi town. Nothing much, nothing special. Suddenly at about 5pm, darling suggested that we should take a long boat to a neighbour island to watch sunset. Yup, we did it, without any prepartion or proper gears!!
We took this to the harbour
Darling hire a 'driver' & paid for the whole boat, so touching hor?!
is quite difficult to leave this crowded "parking lots"

After about 20min, we reached our destination, much prettier beach than Krabi. Although we were both soaked in salty water, we only spent about 1h there, we were so happy:) Worth it!! *highlight of this trip
the nearest my 'driver' can park his boat
not joking, I was really happy nice beach, right?really pretty, agree?
I planted this, hope he can survive
Look!! The sunset:)
18th June 2009 : Krabi to Kuala Lumpur
During the long weekends, beside spending some quality time with parents & younger brother, I visited grandma who is recovering from the surgery. She is a tough girl, she didn't complain even when she was in great pain. I hope & I pray that she will fully recover soon. I love you.
21st June 2009 : Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
Once I switched on my phone after the Singpore custom, I received plenty of smses, mainly from my colleagues. Boarding informed me that Thailand is one of the affected country since 16th June 2009 (MOH list). Thus, I need to stay in my apartment (leave of absense) for 7 days (till tomorrow) and not to have any close contact with students or staffs. We monitor our temperature twice daily & thankfully both of us are fine.
** One of my friend who came back from Bangkok last Saturday was tested H1N1 positive & currently in Sg Buloh Hospital. I wish him all the best & hope he will recover soon.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Pray Hard for Grandma

Saturday -- Grandma felt in the toilet
Sunday -- Ambulance drove her to the A & E in Sunway Medical
Monday (this afternoon) -- She undergo surgery, SUCCESSFULLY!!

Thank GOD for guarding Grandma:)
Thank you aunt Helen for taking good care of Grandma:)

Monday, June 1, 2009

Recruitment Trip

I will be flying to Penang tomorrow morning for my very 1st 'oversea business' trip... Looking forward to the 4 days 3 nights recruitment trip... Surely plenty to learn, great experience!!