Many thanks to Changi Recommends for the free SilkAir ticket to Phuket, an amazing island I somehow never make my presence despite it being mere 2 hours flight away.
Changi Recommends is a portal specialises in 'connecting' Singapore, mainly in offering travel data SIM card, routers, as well as airport transfer in Singapore, selling stored value transport card (FlashPay) etc.
Transportation
First, a little introduction about the island's transportation to the city and main beach, Patong.
Phuket International Airport is located some 32km away from their main town or about 40km to their most famous beach, Patong. The town and Patong beach are 14km apart, and most visitors prefer to stay at Phuket's beaches, Patong is the most popular one.
Airport Transfer
Firstly, the information I gathered here was done on outdated research (I can't help it, most website are not updated), it's purely for your information only. And knowing the local drivers, they don't stick to schedule strictly anyway, not to mention some territorial dispute time and again affected their services.
Take note that Phuket town is 14km away from Patong beach, most tourists prefer staying in Patong, but the local buses (song taew) plying in-between are antiques and are frustratingly slow, they make regular stops too. And do take note local buses cease operation around 6pm in Phuket.
'Officially',
Airport Bus Phuket ply between Phuket International Airport (HKT) and Phuket town, terminating at Phuket Bus Terminal 1 (
or Bus Station One) at Phang Nga Road (Do
NOT confuse with Bus Terminal 2,
or Bus Station Two, which is much further north from the town on Thepkasattri Road, some 5 km away and a 13 mins drive, and mainly serves long distance coaches). Passengers can board and alight anywhere in-between. Beware of the information on their website though, as I found out they don't really stop at Indigo Pearl Hotel, I'm not sure what else had they changed. Depending on which vehicle you are boarding, the trip last from 45 ~ 90 minutes. Cost 30 ~ 100 THB. Their website is at least updated, so I will not input their route or timetable here.
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| Phuket Airport Bus Express schedule from Sabaisabai-Thailand (may be outdated) |
'Unofficially' (at least during my visit), there's a 'new' Phuket Airport Express bus plying between Phuket International Airport and Patong Beach (Jungceylon Shopping Mall to be exact). Their official website has gone for sometime, and their existence was once skeptical due to 'politics', because the route between Phuket airport and Patong beach is such a hot business, their existence and price directly threaten those taxi and mini-van drivers' livelihood, I read that their buses were vandalised overnight at the airport. As such, they withdrew their early morning service and adopt a low profile, until the extent I almost thought they became a myth. Nevertheless, they still exist as of 2016, just that
their schedule is absolute haywire. Cost 50 ~ 150 THB. Anyway, those who are keen can reference the following links:
Phuket Airport Express main office is near the Bangkok Bank branch on Phang Muang Sai Kor Rd in Patong, near Nanai Soi 8.
To take the public transport, take a left turn after getting out of Phuket International Airport (International Terminal), you will see the 'bus stop' underneath a bridge. You will find two placards, the blue one on the left is for Patong Beach, the orange one on the right is for Phuket town (Phang Nga Road). They are different operators, and strictly speaking, no prize guessing who will eventually become the more popular one.
Alternatively, you can take a shared mini-van, which cost 180 THB (per head) to Patong Beach, 150 THB to Phuket town, or 200 THB to Karon Beach / Kata Beach. The selling point of shared mini-van is, they depart as soon as the van is full, no need to wait for an hour or so if you miss the public transport. And that mini-van will drop you right in front of your hotel, so even for first timer to Phuket, you won't need to ponder where to alight. However, you will have to stopover at their agent office, where they will take down your hotel, and arrange for your return trip. Depending on how long they take to process all the passengers at their agent office (some joker will also book side trip to nearby islands via them, which delay the whole process), you may actually end up taking longer to reach your destination.
Then of course, there are the usual suspect... taxis, going to Patong beach for 800 THB, or Phuket town for 500 THB.
Alright, I think that's about the most important information visitors need to know getting to Phuket. Following is a documentation of my stay in Phuket!
Foreword
Lawrence has been pressing me for a short holiday in the region for some time. So when the opportunity arise that I have won SilkAir air ticket to Phuket, I suggested it's Phuket or nothing. As a matter of fact, I had just came back from Kyushu in January, and would be going Hakone in June. I do not want to spend heavily, not on air ticket at least. However, I only won 1 return air ticket, so he would have to fork out for his own ticket. He didn't want to join me on SilkAir, not when he could save around S$150 by taking AirAsia, also a direct flight, and our outbound flight schedules are just a few minutes apart, nevermind departing from different terminals in Changi Airport.
Basically, I call shot over accommodation. Being a seasoned traveler myself, I know how to research on the location and quality of the accommodation within optimum price. As for itinerary, I have been far more flexible than if I would have traveled alone. So, this trip is all about what happened, not what I would have planned exactly, a truly free & easy holiday.
Day 1: 25 Apr 2015, Sat
My flight departs Singapore for Phuket at 1.20pm today. I aimed to reach airport around 10am and join Lawrence for a breakfast, because I anticipated reaching Patong around evening, and I ain't sure there would be proper meal onboard MI754, better to eat something before reaching Phuket. I took the MRT route, because otherwise, leaving home at 8.10am in the morning might get me stuck in the morning traffic. Alas, I reached Changi Airport T3 at 9.40am.
We had breakfast at McDonald's, then proceeded to our respective terminal for check-in.
I checked-in at Terminal 2 around 11.10am, and then shop around the 3 terminals before making my way to gate E12 at 12.15pm. My boarding time is 12.30pm, I would have more than enough buffer to clear final custom. But to my horror, after walking a long way to the end of the passage, I found out my boarding gate had been changed to Gate F56, the extreme end of Terminal 2! Although I somewhat expecting the flight to wait for me anyway, I began to hasten my pace towards F56, it took me a good 15 minutes, and a further 10 minutes to pass final clearance.
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| SilkAir MI754 (B737-800, 9V-MGI) |
Boarded flight MI754 (B737-800) at 1.10pm, seated 28A.
Flight MI754 took off from Changi Airport at 1.30pm.
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| MI754, Seat 28A |
I have never taken a SilkAir flight until last December (2014) despite it being my home country carrier, and then out of sudden, I am taking it twice within half a year! But the last time I took was an A320 to Hangzhou, a service they had since discontinued, now I am taking their newer B737-800, which, although reasonably better equipped, still lack the inflight entertainment I so crave! Nevertheless, these days most travelers would have carried a tablet on their journey anyway, and after all, Phuket flight takes mere 2 hours, hardly any entertainment is required. As such, you will find all those volume control buttons on the arm rest pretty much redundant.
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| central-controlled retractable LCD |
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| A concert with no sound? C'mon, gimme a break! |
Over at the top, that's where you will find the LCD, one for every few rows on both sides of the aisle. Although playing some common entertainment program throughout the journey, passengers were not given any headset and there's hardly any sound apart from when it's broadcasting inflight announcement. Better stick to my iPad.
Onboard general Singapore Airlines flights, passengers will normally be served a warm towel. Over at SilkAir, only wet tissue are given.
So, given the same price over a common destination, you know what to do?...
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| MI754 Fried Seafood Vermicelli |
45 minutes after take-off, lunch was served. To be honest, I was expecting a snack such as crackers or sandwich, but was decently surprised with a full lunch instead! I badly needed this, I would be lying if I said the Fillet-O-Fish I had at McDonald's is enough. And, it's truly delicious, a stark contrast with certain other airlines. It comprised of fillet, prawns, pea bean, omelette, carrots, along with watermelon and pineapple served in a separate tray.
Strictly speaking, for a 2 hours flight, taking away the time for taking off and landing, I won't have much need for entertainment after this meal.
Flight MI754 landed in Phuket at 1.55pm local time.
I proceeded to clear custom, and there Lawrence was, his flight was mere 5 minutes before me. I made him wait for me at the luggage belt, and before getting out from the restricted zone, I brought him over to a TrueMove counter beside the luggage belt, and got ourselves a free tourist 3G SIM card each by showing our passport. Now, don't expect total free phone call or data connection, there is only an insignificant balance credited in the SIM card, enough to make a very short local call. Those who wish to make extensive phone call or data usage can follow the instruction and pay the required amount according to your desired price plan. Granted, we have no intention to pay for phone call or data connection in Phuket, but I thought the meagre stored value inside at least allow us to make short emergency call if necessary. As a matter of fact, my SIM package was left unopened until now, and of course, by now it should already have expired. I notice Thailand has such service in Chiang Mai too!
Soon as we got out of the restricted zone, Lawrence didn't want to take the public transport. Unlike me, he hadn't had any food on flight and was eager to get to Patong. We went straight away for the mini vans. We paid 180 THB each, and were soon led to a mini van a short distance away. As mentioned above, the mini van doesn't go straight to our destination, but stopover at their agent's office. We were offered mineral water, and then the agent took their time to take down our destination and arranging for our return trip. We turned down the return trip because we had arranged to stay at Nai Yang Beach the day before our flight home (I shall elaborate why later). On hind sight, I probably should have asked whether they could drop us outside Nai Yang Beach junction, but I thought at that time we could have taken the Airport Bus Phuket and alight outside Indigo Pearl Hotel.
Come back to the mini van, if your destination is Patong (or Karon or Kata beach), then maybe it's worthwhile taking the mini van. Because Phuket Airport Express cost 150 THB, and one has to factor in the wait, as well as the hassle to locate your accommodation. While Airport Bus Phuket needs a transfer at Phuket Town, though cheaper no doubt, we would end up reaching the beach very much longer, and of course, we would have to look out for our hotel location too.
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| Tony Resort is just opposite Lamai Hotel, on the right hand side of this picture |
The mini van pulled up at a number of locations before dropping us off. Our hotel,
Tony Resort, is located near the end of Patong, after the mega Jungceylon Shopping Mall. Hence, we were about the last few to alight.
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| Tony Resort entrance |
Tony Resort is partially hidden inside an alleyway, but do not be deceived by its humble entrance, inside is a big compound which includes not one, but two pools! We checked in and were allocated room 121. The attitude of the reception was mediocre, but miserable for Thai standard. I understand I don't speak the same language as he does, but at least he ought to put on a smile for this post.
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| Reception and restaurant |
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| The reception area is spacious, well maintained, though has certainly seen better days |
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| A peep into their restaurant |
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| Behind the coconut tree is a small pool, our room is on the ground floor at the right corner |
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| Tony Resort's smaller pool |
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| We were allocated room 121, ground floor |
Notice the WiFi router on the corner of the window, this enable strong WiFi connection throughout our stay. However, I noted that some guests complained of poor connection online though.
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| Room 121 |
Our allocated room is surprisingly spacious, though it can be observed that it has seen better time, it is neatly maintained. For the price we paid, I can't complain about the antique CRT TV (local TV programs only), but the fridge is a welcome addition. We are also given two bottles of mineral water. The mattress is rather hard for me, but I didn't have problem sleeping. The flooring has no carpet, fortunately there's no winter in Thailand, my feet doesn't feel the chill off the ceramic floor.
The bathroom is roomy, and for S$35 per night (inclusive S$2 per head for breakfast), I didn't anticipate a bathtub, but I'm certainly please to see one.
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| shower amenities |
About 4.25pm, we briefly settled down and decided to waste no time to begin our Phuket exploration.
Phuket's fruits are quite eye-catching, the way the vendors packed it with foil and styrofoam and with such proportion are quite fascinating. I'm no fruit lover, but Lawrence did buy a pack for his own consumption, evidently hungry.
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| Jungceylon |
Our immediate itinerary was
Jungceylon Shopping Mall, in fact, Jungceylon is the primary reason why I chose to stay at Tony Resort apart from the price. I prefer staying near Jungceylon rather than the beach, and deliberately chose a hotel a short distance away rather than one in the thick of the action for quality sleep at night. Located at the corner of Thanon Bangla, notably Phuket's most happening street, Jungceylon is Patong Beach's largest shopping mall. Besides restaurants and novelties shops, there are anchor tenants such as Robinson Department Store and Big C Extra Supermarket. Unlike the messy streets surrounding it, Jungceylon looks like a big oasis amidst the chaos, there's even hotels embedded inside, not one, but two! And it'll take a good 20 minutes to briskly walk one round along Jungceylon's perimeter.
We mostly window shop within Jungceylon, but did buy some groceries from Big C Extra, and decided to put them back in hotel before venturing out again. We wanted to have Thai massage before having dinner, and that's when we learned even for those masseurs who stand
outside a seemingly legitimate massage parlour, if you find those masseurs too pretty, their main competence are likely
not massage.
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| Pineapple Fried Rice |
After the disappointing sub-standard 'massage' (if that could be considered massage in the first place), we had dinner at one of the alleys nearby. We saw from a placard outside a restaurant with price clearly listed, found the price reasonable, and decided to try some local cuisine.
The look of their Pineapple Fried Rice was captivating. Although the pineapple seems a little small, but the quantity of its content was surprisingly sufficient for two. Prawns and squids are fresh and generous, somehow I wish there could be pork floss too, or at least chicken floss, that would really have kicked up the flavour somewhat.
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| Tom Yam Goong |
The outlook of their Tom Yam Goong is deceivingly plain, but the broth offers a good mix of spiciness and sourness which suggest an appetising flavour.
The night was still young after our dinner, we decided to walk around in the vicinity.
We passed by a few tour agencies, and Lawrence was apparently drawn by the idea of island escapade the next day. Actually, I had wanted to visit Phuket town & Premium Outlet Phuket tomorrow for more sightseeing and shopping, but we eventually booked a trip to Racha & Coral island instead. Like I said, that's why I didn't want to plan ahead too much for this trip, I knew Lawrence always has other ideas.
The price for the tour is 2400 THB per person, according to renowned Hong Kong travel writer Pace Cheng, who penned a book on Phuket, the price from all travel agent are more or less the same, the main difference being the time of departure as well as the duration on respective islands (However, I later found out it can be very much cheaper booking from
internet though). Anyway, a mini van will pick us from our hotel between 8.10am ~ 8.20am next morning.
We proceeded further down the road, and reached Hard Rock Cafe. Pardon me for the poor pictures, my camera (Sony DSC-W810 is only decent enough to use in bright daylight, but strictly nothing else) I used to fancy Hard Rock Cafe very much, and have a good collection of their City Tees. This time round, I didn't buy any City Tee, saving up the money for my coming Japan holiday.
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| OTOP |
One Tambon One Product (OTOP) is a local entrepreneurship stimulus program designed by Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during his 2001-2006 Thai Rak Thai government. The program aimed to support locally made and marketed products of each Thai tambon (subdistrict). His alleged 'corruption' apart, Thaksin's vision for Thailand was exemplary. This concept to me, was a clever attempt trying to emulate Japan. However today, in Patong at least, it has somewhat turned into another pasar malam that sells anything cheap but of obviously poor quality, such as T-shirts, handphone accessories etc, their variety is also a far cry from Bangkok's Chatuchak market. Lawrence bought some singlets, in spite of my hints to lure him away for better bargains.
We went on for some coffee at DusitD2 Phuket Resort lobby before getting back to our hotel.
Slept late.
Day 2: 26 Apr 2015, Sun
I woke up at 5.40am, we had our breakfast at 6.30am.
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| Tony Resort larger pool |
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| restaurant |
The restaurant is located between the two pools, and right in front of hotel reception. On the right side, one can find coffee and tea, milk, juices, toast, cereals. On the left side are the cooked food, including noodle, sausages, ham, bacon etc. And beyond the left corner on the above picture, there's a small booth offering fried omelette too.
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| toast |
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| noodle & meat |
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| omelette & pancake |
The buffet breakfast doesn't offer half as much varieties as I had seen elsewhere, neither was the taste worth mentioning, but at the end of the day, let's be reminded it's only S$2 per person, I seriously don't know why other guests were complaining about its quality for such price in tripadvisor.
After breakfast, we returned to our room to rest for a while and get ready for the day excursion. Returned to the lobby at 8am to wait for the pick up, but the mini van didn't turn up until after 8.25am. It was followed by a roughly half hour drive to Chalong Pier.
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| Chalong Pier holding area |
We reached Chalong Pier around 9.10am, we were told by the mini van driver we belong to a certain group, and wait for our group number to be called inside a room for briefing. There were two groups before us, so our briefing could take a while. But there were free coffee available inside the briefing room, and I roamed around the vicinity before coming back in about 20 minutes time.
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| Briefing. Free coffee available from the right corner |
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| Over the briefing, we were assigned to group Yellow |
The content over the briefing were quite straight-forward, basically to stick with your group and don't wander too far off, otherwise you may be stranded on the island blah.. blah..
You may also be influenced to rent a pair of fin, you will be warned the sea bed may have sea urchin, but
in actual fact, you will be wearing life jacket and aren't likely getting to the sea bed during snorkeling, and I didn't see a single sea urchin near shore, apart from the occasional stones. Many of my group mates ended up leaving their fins on the boat.
Alright, we are set to go!
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| Soi Jaofa 39 |
We were led by our group in-charge, a young lady by the name of Icy, along Soi Jaofa 39 towards the beach.
We took a right turn at the beach, and came upon this lighthouse. Adjacent to it is the agent office for Racha Hotel, the only hotel on Racha Island, which we would be heading shortly.
Right in front of the agent office for Racha Hotel, there are one row of boats ready for sea excursion. I believe they might be heading towards different islands, and in staggered schedule to avoid congestion.
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| The lady holding a placard is Icy |
I was pleased we had Icy as our guide. In the same boat as us, were a group led by someone who sounded like a local Chinese by the name Ah Hock, taking charge of a group of Mainlanders who booked their tour via Taobao.com. I don't like Ah Hock's attitude, although it might be because he had some prior harsh time from other Mainlanders I suppose. But he didn't behave like a tour guide, more like a schoolmaster to a group of naughty primary school children. Having said that, his group seems to have certain privilege, using his own set of snorkeling equipment and were given some shopping discount coupons which I was certain I would have no use of anyway. But given a choice, I would never ever want to engage such tour guide. However, I have to admit this group of Mainlander tourists behaved themselves well throughout the whole trip, didn't see them causing any nuisance. OK, I drifted too far, let's get back to our adventures!
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| Koh Hae (Coral Island) |
Contrary to the program menu we were given upon booking, we arrived at Coral Island's Long Beach as our first destination (instead of Racha Island), after a 25 minutes speed boat ride.
There are plenty of activities on Coral Island, ranging from parasailing, banana boat ride, scuba diving etc.
Saw the arrays of white plastic chairs behind the beach (there were a few more rows behind)? No, there weren't wedding going on. But that tells you a rough idea how many tourist could come at any one time. These chairs are free to sit, you may leave your belongings there while going for the swim. However, those beach chairs with umbrella on the sand are chargeable.
The sand are almost powdery, and the sea is of aquamarine blue! It's really hard to resist jumping into the almost crystal clear sea once you see it with your own eyes. We gathered at the free seating area, Ah Hock was about to conduct briefing for all of us, but his Mainlander troop was busy chatting within themselves. Ah Hock was apparently annoyed, and demonstrated his frustration by giving up on the briefing altogether. Seriously, he's treating his clients like primary school students? LOL! I'm not defending the Mainlanders, I do believe they should have shown some respect too, but really, I have seen other tour guides handling such situation in more appropriate manner.
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| Durian stall |
There were a few stalls selling food and drink near the beach, including fruit such as durian too! However, I'm not a fan of Thai durians, I fancy the Malaysian species more. Oh, and that's Icy holding her placard. I was quite surprise she wore jeans. Personally, I discourage fellow tourists from wearing jeans if you know you are going into the sea, even merely stepping in and out of the boat (there's no proper jetty throughout), but of course, ultimately the choice is yours. Anyway, Icy was indicating the time that we ought to gather for our next agenda.
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| For those desperate for food... |
There are plenty of activities. We didn't join any though, those are chargeable. I only brought 200 THB, Lawrence nothing. We were simply playing with water at a quiet corner of the beach. Around 11.45am, time for Racha Island!
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| Given muffin & mineral water onboard (some got Pepsi too!) |
We reached Racha Island's Siam Bay, those who do not want to snorkel alighted at the pier, but most of us stayed on the speed boat, which ferry us to a spot around 250m away from the shore, and were distributed snorkeling gear. For some reason, Ah Hock's group was given a separate set, I don't know why, though I didn't bother much. Initially, I was a little scared going into the sea. My previous snorkeling experience in Mauritius was terrible, it was post typhoon, the water was greenish, I had problem breathing and hardly saw any marine creature then, save for one tortoise. But over here, it's marvelous, there's plenty of fishes gathering around us! I then looked up, and realised it was because the boat crew were throwing bread crumbs into the sea. LOL!
Didn't take any picture here though, because my camera was not waterproof.
We began snorkeling around 12pm, had a little more than an hour of fun before returning to the shore, via speed boat of course.
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| Returning from snorkeling |
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| The Racha Resort, on the other side of the floating pier |
Racha Islands collectively comprise of two islands, namely Koh Racha Yai and Koh Racha Noi (Yai and Noi means Big and Small in Thai respectively, oh, Racha actually means Emperor, and Koh means island). Koh Racha Noi is uninhibited, and tour groups usually come to Koh Racha Yai, on where there's a hotel resort, some shops and restaurants.
We were led pass the shops towards Coco Bar & Restaurant for our lunch. Gosh, I didn't realise it wasn't near, some 20 minutes walk away to the other side of the island, and there ain't much to see along the way. Lucky though, some of us managed to squeeze onto a trailer near the end of these shops, the bumpy ride took us just 5 minutes.
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| Coco Bar & Restaurant trailer |
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| Coco Bar & Restaurant |
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| Closer look of the restaurant layout |
Don't expect any poshy restaurant that you can find in Phuket mainland, that's Coco Bar for you. Our lunch is buffet style, then again, don't expect plenty of variety at your disposal, that's about all you see, save for perhaps fruits and water.
Basically, rice, noodle, vegetables, chicken drumstick, Tom Yam Goong. I notice the Mainlanders took a lot, but at least they finished them, unlike some terrible ones I read from the press. But these bunch are quite young, not those disgraceful middle age troop.
The quality of the food was mediocre though. Free flow ice water was available, but if you want beer, you will have to pay for it at the counter.
The restaurant is actually located within a village by the sea, but this side of the island is not as charming as Siam Bay.
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| Seriously? Scuba diving at the seaside? |
We were told those who keen on scuba diving could try it here. I didn't see any of my group mate keen though, nevertheless, we spent some time roaming around.
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| Coco Restaurant & Bar viewing from the beach |
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| Lots of pebbles and stones here, you really need fins over here?! |
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| Wanna make a guess on what's these? Tiny crabs! |
So much on the seaside, let's get over to the village!
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| Washroom and shower |
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| The chicks of Racha Yai |
Around 2.10pm, the whole group of us were ready to make our way back to Siam Bay. Lucky for us, we got onto the trailer again. Along the way, I saw a group of diners seemingly walking onto the wrong track!
Upon returning to Siam Bay, we continue to swim for a while, sun-taning for more than an hour before getting back to Phuket mainland. Eventually, we left Racha Yai around 3.35pm.
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| Arriving Chalong Pier around 4.20pm |
Upon arriving Phuket mainland, we walked back to the holding area, waiting for the mini van to ferry us back to our hotel.
To be honest, I didn't expect this excursion to be so interesting. Many first time visitors will probably visit Phi Phi Island, Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island instead, we somehow unorthodoxly chose otherwise and were thoroughly fascinated.
Back at Patong, we left our belongings in our hotel room, showered, and began exploring the vicinity again. We would be leaving Patong for Nai Yang Beach the following day, so my priority is to find out the boarding point for Phuket Airport Bus Express. I thought we could board this bus for Phuket airport, and from there take a cab or transfer to Airport Bus Phuket to Indigo Pearl Hotel in Nai Yang Beach. However, I had to drop this idea after failing to find the boarding point despite walking one big perimeter around Jungceylon. I asked a local police officer about this bus service, but he had no idea of this bus service at all. Nevertheless, I changed plan, decided to take Airport Bus Phuket from Phuket town the next day instead. It was some months later that I heard Phuket Airport Bus Express has unreliable schedule and it's advisable to pre-book before hand. Alright, let's get back on Patong.
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| Thanon Bangla (Bangla Street) |
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| Thanon Bangla |
This is Thanon Bangla, or otherwise known as Bangla Street, Phuket's most happening street, although actually it's relatively short. Comes night, a few shopping malls and souvenir shops along this road will fade away to the infiltrating neon lights and loud music from the many bars around here. And please, don't tell people you have traveled to Phuket without seeing Thanon Bangla, let alone visiting it. You don't have to immerse yourself in one of the bars here to feel it, for us, we just walked through towards the beach, around where we found many more shops, mostly selling T-shirts or other clothing accessories. There are a few accommodation around here, but if you think you cannot stand the loud music, stay some distance away, which is the reason why I chose Tony Resort, a short walk away, and I can get all the peace at night.
It's about time for dinner. Notably, food prices around Thanon Bangla won't be practically cheap, even for the food court. Luckily we found a small alley of hawker food, selling reasonably priced cuisines.
These two stalls, looks to be unrelated, but I noted while we ordered food from one stall, our food was interestingly prepared by the other.
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| Phad Thai |
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| Tom Yam Goong |
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| Tofu & Prawns |
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| Clams |
I grown to like Phad Thai ever since my last trip to Chiang Mai, and I'd love to tempt Lawrence to try. And this is one of the best Phad Thai I ever tried. The rich flavour of egg with adequate amount of oil as well as generous portion of seafood, the taste blended absolutely marvelous. Their Tom Yam Goong tasted much better than that we tried yesterday too, I find the presence of coriander infused a greater taste in the soup. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner tonight.
After meal, we walked along Thawewong Road following traffic direction. This was the area I also considered staying but eventually settled for Tony Resort. I had to determined between staying near the beach or near the shopping arcade (Jungceylon), I'm not sure about Lawrence though, but I'm glad I made the decision to stay near Jungceylon. For me, there are certainly more things to buy over there (ie. Big C Extra Supermarket). The shops along Thawewong Road mostly sell clothings and accessories, most of them counterfeit of course. We walked until we reached a massage parlour, saw the price relatively cheap (200 THB per hour), and had 2 hours massage each. The masseurs here were middle age ladies, but their skill was at least genuine, I had a long overdue stretch of my tired body ever since my last visit to Chiang Mai.
After massage, we had coffee at one of the cafe along the way back to our hotel.
We reached hotel almost midnight, literally tired, slept 1am.
Day 3: 27 Apr 2015, Mon
Despite sleeping late, still woke up at 6.24am. Packed up our stuff and had breakfast at 6.40am.
We returned to our room at 7.44am, R&R until 10am, we walked over to Jungceylon for some last minute shopping.
We checked out of Tony Resort at 11.30am.
The main street outside Tony Resort, Thanon Ratuthit Songroipi, is a one-way road. I have seen local buses plying this road, that means for Phuket town, we need to proceed to the main road along Patong Beach, Thawewong Road (the main road in the return direction), for the local bus heading in the reverse direction. Patong beach is about 10 minutes walk from Tony Resort, we walked through Soi Kep Sab towards Patong beach, once we reached Thawewong Road, we could flag the local bus anywhere, there is no physical bus stop whatsoever.
I'm sharing some pictures of Patong beach here, it's about mid noon, but the beach doesn't seem populated on a Monday. There are some water sport activities here, however in comparison to Coral island, the variety appears mediocre.
I didn't venture too far from the main road, because I left my luggage under Lawrence's 'watchful' eyes, and intending to make a dash should the local bus approaches any moment. My research shows their interval is 30 mins, and if we missed one, it's another half an hour under the hot mid day sun. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long. We eventually boarded the blue-colour local bus (otherwise known as songtaew)
at 11.50am.
Because of my luggage, I didn't have the opportunity to take a picture of the local bus, this is what I found from
www.Phuket.com, most of the vehicle is constructed of wood, except the mechanism in relation to moving parts.
There are 3 benches inside the local bus, and fortunately my cabin size luggage was not that space consuming to carry onboard. Soon as we boarded the bus, I then understood why it takes so long to traverse between Patong and Phuket town. Granted, the vehicle appeared to have certain age and short on power (especially on slope), but the main reason is, the driver was keen to drive slowly and pick up more passengers along the way, he even honked at potential passengers by the roadside! Anyway, it's an experience, the Thais love everything done casually after all.
We reached Phuket town around 1.04pm, the trip cost us 30 THB each.
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| Ranong Road, Suriyadej Traffic Circle |
We alighted at the Suriyadej Traffic Circle along Bangkok Road, and walked over to Ranong Road. There are a number of bus stops here and it can be quite confusing. However, we decided to have our lunch nearby before proceeding to the Phang Nga Road Bus Station. We tried the market along Ranong Road, however, most stalls apparently had ended their business for the day. So we crossed the road towards Soi Phisai Sapphakit, and found a dining place by the name Downtown Khao Keang (ดาวนทาวนขาวแกง) around the corner.
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| Downtown Khao Keang |
Oh, and I must stress, if you know what to order, the taste is great from this eating spot. I ordered this Shrimp Phad Thai (if I remember the name correctly..), which taste mediocre, but I noted someone at the other table had a meal that looks tantalising!
After lunch, here comes another irony. I intended to walk over to Phang Nga Road for Airport Bus Phuket to Nai Yang beach, but Lawrence was engaged in a conversation with a taxi driver. He influenced us that no bus goes to Nai Yang beach, and from airport, it would be a far walk. I wasn't very keen at first, but Lawrence (as always) was persuaded. I thought about it, the fares for two of us on Airport Bus Phuket would amount to 200 THB, and if we would to transfer another taxi from the airport, it would come out close to the same price. Very well then, we managed to bargain the price to 500 THB, which was about the market rate to airport (from Phuket town) anyway.
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| Nai Yang Beach Resort & Spa entrance |
Now let me explain why we are staying at Nai Yang Beach for a night.
Lawrence's flight home would be departing Phuket International Airport at 9.55am the next morning. Considering a trip from Patong takes about an hour, or more if factoring in traffic condition, and the 3 hours check-in time for international flights, that means we would have to leave Patong around 6am! But before arriving Phuket we had no idea whether there would be any transport apart from taxi at such early hour, so I book a night in Nai Yang beach, which I understand is only 30 mins walk from the airport, he could leave Nai Yang beach at 7am and make it for his flight. There are also cheap accommodation along the main road nearer to Phuket airport, but there aren't much things to see in that vicinity.
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| Nai Yang Beach Resort & Spa |
Anyway, we reached Nai Yang Beach Resort & Spa at 2.30pm, after a 40 mins drive. I don't know why the name 'Resort & Spa', it's a resort alright, but where's the spa? Outside?
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| Reception |
We checked in and were allocated room 4014. Don't be mistaken, there's no level 40 here, I believe it means block 40.
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| Sofas beside the reception, fully occupied by mainlanders at night |
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| English, Mandarin, Russian books for the guests |
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| I wanted to laugh when I read this from the reception area toilet! |
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| The long pavement leading to our room |
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| Room 4014 |
Nai Yang Beach Resort & Spa has a very large compound, from their reception walk to the end of their perimeter fence can take around 10 minutes. Imagine within their vicinity, they have 3 medium size swimming pools! Let me briefly introduce my room before going into the vicinity. Our room was about 5 minutes walk from the reception by the way.
The interior is quite roomy, no bed frame, they simply put two mattresses on top of a stone platform. Clever, they can easily changed the bed option to a king size mattress anytime. There ain't carpet, but the bare bone setting illustrates a minimalist concept that is popular in household these days.
The room has an old fashion CRT TV, a very large fridge, complimentary mineral water,
no complimentary wifi, and an air-conditioner that we found leaking only later in the evening! By then, we were too lazy to bother about complaining since we would be checking out the following day. But there were worse to come...
The cabinet by the bedside deserves a mentioning. The knob comes with a hanging token with Chinese fonts which means attracting fortune. I guess Mainlander tourists must be aplenty here.
Outside the large window panes can see the swimming pool, and right in front is a couch where I laid all my belongings and purchases.
The toilet is outrageously spacious, but pity no bath tub though. As for the toilet, which I certainly have to mention, was a disaster, it choked and overflown all over when my dear friend did his business later in the evening. Again, it was too late and troublesome to feedback, we kept quiet over it. I went to the reception and use the toilet over there later on.
In addition, come night, the mosquitoes armies descend, it's near nature reserve after all, good thing I came prepared with mosquitoes coil. But my joker friend loves opening the door so much until I told him off. And that's when we on the air-con and found it leaking. %*$&#@
Right, let's get over to the vicinity.
Outside our room, there's a pool, simple and nice. When we later came for a swim, those around the pools were mainly Russians (Surprisingly, Russians are aplenty in Phuket, there's lots of places here with Russian signboards). However, come evening, the Mainlanders took over, making lots of noises like crows, disregarding the resort's notice to refrain from swimming at night. Fortunately, I was too engrossed to my iPad to bother about these nuisances.
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| This is another pool a short distance away |
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| and a third... |
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| They even kept some tortoises |
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| There were many gardeners tending to the garden while we were there, but I ain't sure whether the dog belongs to the resort |
We decided to take a walk around Nai Yang beach, it was too hot for a swim anyway!
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| Shops right outside Nai Yang Beach Resort & Spa |
Nai Yang beach lies adjacent to Sirinat National Park, although it's 15 minutes walk from the main road, come evening, this road turns into a hippy spot with flourishing restaurants, bars, and massage parlours. But it ain't that loud or populated as Thailand's more notable streets (But some bars havoc past midnight, especially over weekends, and that's when it's better not to stay too close to the main road). Pity, I only found out after checking out, that if you walk towards the main road in the evening, you will pass by a night market.
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| Nai Yang Beach |
There aren't much sea sport over here, but if you fond of a quiet beach without crowd infiltration, I guess you will like it here. We found Indigo Pearl Hotel further down the road, I walked into their pool at the back gate and one staff approached me. I chatted with him casually, asking him about the Airport Bus Phuket. He told me he never seen any bus comes here, anyway, this is only a small road, difficult for buses to manoeuvre. He claimed that the airport is only 20 minutes walk away, they usually walk (Take that with a pinch of salt, I eventually took more than 40 minutes! He must have run). I thanked him, and returned to Nai Yang Beach Resort for my afternoon swim.
As a foot note, I later discovered Airport Bus Phuket perhaps do stopover 'nearby', what they meant by 'Indigo Pearl Hotel' was the junction intersecting Sol Bangmalauw 2 & Thep Krasat Tri-Nai Yang Road. From where, there's still a 7 mins walk or 600 meters distance, not directly in front of the resort itself. However, if you are not a guest of Indigo Pearl Hotel, it's unlikely you can cut across their property to get to Nai Yang Beach. Try asking the driver to drop you off at the junction between Soi Naiyang 3 and Thep Krasat Tri-Nai Yang Road instead.
Around 6pm, we came out again, time for dinner.
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| Peony Cafe & Restaurant |
We followed our instinct and settled for Peony. Lawrence love its atmosphere at level 2, we can look at the sea from a short distance. Turns out, their food are pretty nice too!
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| Peony, level 2 |
Notice the building behind the restaurant? That's Rimlay Bungalow. I learnt that actually, the restaurant and bungalow belong to the same owner. And if you really want to stay close to the sea, this is a good choice. But I'm not saying it's comfortable. Looks too simple nevertheless. Be warned, if you stayed over the weekend, it can get quite noisy even after midnight.
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| I ordered this one |
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| Bristolian Burger, 250 THB |
OK, you can read the details from their menu above. At then, I was quite puzzled what kind of organisation was S/Y Bristolian. I only found out when penning this blog post, it's a yacht. That said, let's get back to the food!
The burger was really nice, I love its nicely toasted sesame bun, along with juicy chicken patty and bacon, the taste was exquisite. I don't usually find such tasty burger back home!
Lawrence also ordered some chicken wings and grilled meat, the highlight here are the sauces, which really bring up the taste to another level!
We finished dinner close to 8pm, after that, we went for Thai massage. For 300 THB, we had a final pampering until next trip. And at least the skill of the massage parlour near Peony was genuine.
Returned to room 4014 at 9.15pm, but not before buying some food for next morning's breakfast from a minimart near the massage parlour.
Slept early.
Day 4: 28 Apr 2015, Tue
Woke up at 5.45am.
I didn't really needed to wake up so early, but Lawrence needed to, he has an early flight to catch.
Alas, I sent him off at the reception around 7.30am and then returned to my room. He booked the hotel's transport for 200 THB (per head). Actually, metered taxi charges around 190 THB (per trip), but those drivers are reluctant to turn on meter and usually asking for 300 THB ~ 400 THB. On the other hand, along Nai Yang beach, there are a few shops with taxi sign outside, I don't know about the price though.
Lawrence left me a big bag of items to bring home, because he did not purchase extra luggage on his budget flight, while mine comes free with SilkAir. Gosh, my luggage was really jam packed!
My flight was departing Phuket at 2.55pm, literally I could laze about until check-out time before going over.
I spent the morning watching movie from my iPad, plus last minute packing, and my brunch... instant noodle I bought from the mini mart yesterday evening. Call me stingy, but I don't usually pay for hotel breakfast. The hotel breakfast was 300 THB.
Checked out at 11.30am.
While waiting for the usual procedure, I witnessed a bunch of mainland tourists been fined for smoking in the room. Initially, they denied it, but the cleaner was able to smell a strong cigarette presence. The reception wanted to fine them 2000 THB (if I remember correctly), then one of the mainlanders pleaded for leniency, attempting to bargain down the price. The reception told them they were warned before staying, and that the resort had to down the room for a few days' disinfection before making the room available again, but eventually giving them a discount anyway. Such disgrace, never respect their host anywhere they go. No wonder they are despised everywhere.
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| Sirinat National Park. I could have walked through here, but chose to walk along the main road |
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| This is where I suspect to be night market |
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| Entrance to Nai Yang beach from the airport |
This is the spot I suggest you drop off if you are taking Airport Bus Phuket, then walk the 10 minutes to the beach. I'm not sure whether the driver allows, but you can always try!
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| main road to airport |
Unlike Lawrence, I didn't want to take the hotel shuttle, I wanted to save the 200 THB, so I dragged my luggage and walked the supposingly 3km to airport. Under normal circumstances, I could reach the airport in less than an hour, and still have more than two and half hour for the flight. But I didn't factor in the tormenting heat, then lost my way upon reaching the perimeter of Phuket airport. Actually, I won't have lost my way if not for a confusing road sign. I saw a direction to turn left into X Terminal Building (Phuket International Airport). I didn't know there's a X Terminal, I thought there's only one Phuket airport, so I turned left and walked inward. Along the way, I asked some friendly locals, and they pointed me towards the direction of X Terminal. My directional sense seldom betrays me, I still followed their direction despite smelling something fishy.
Reaching X Terminal at 12.10pm, the security stopped me. I showed him my passport and air ticket. Upon realising I was going to the main terminal, he pointed me to go back on the main road. Gosh! That's another 10 minutes to backtrack, all in all I would have lost 30 minutes! I saw a shuttle bus inside showing the sign Phuket Internation Airport <=> X Terminal, so I asked him whether I could hop on for a ride. He initially rejected, but called me back a few seconds later and asked some officer inside. Thankfully, I was allowed to board! It was only after my return that I found out Terminal X is mainly meant for chartered flight, no wonder the officers were rather rigid to let me in. The bus was full of mainland tourists, but for once, I appreciate their presence, or I won't even had a bus to board in the first place!
So, in another 5 minutes, the shuttle bus brought me to Phuket International Airport's domestic terminal, which is just beside the international building and just a short walk away. It was already 12.20pm. Phew, still early. I would really have reached the airport within 35 minutes had I not followed the wrong sign board (and asked the wrong local).
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| Airport Bus Phuket |
On the short walk over to the international terminal, I spotted this Airport Bus Phuket. So, this one here is a mini van. Its counter is just at the right end of this picture, underneath the bridge.
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| Phuket Airport International Terminal |
Phuket airport is not short of meal options, and if you want something more conventional, Burger King and McDonald's are over the other side of the international terminal. For me, I was actually sweating profusely and needed to clean up in the toilet first.
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| A better projection on how big is Phuket airport's international terminal |
I didn't spend too long before checking in for my flight, promptly proceeded inside the restricted zone for more (window) shopping.
There are many shops inside airport restricted zone, with prices naturally much higher than downtown shops. But it was obvious the airport facilities struggle to cope with the passengers volume, which almost surpass the number of seats available. And you can see people sleeping on the seats, occupying several seats at a time, many of them mainlanders.
As my boarding time was approaching, I suddenly notice once again, my boarding gate was changed, from gate 6 to gate 66A. That means I would not be using the aerobridge, would need to take a shuttle bus and board the plane from far. Wait a minute, was I really taking SilkAir? For a moment, I thought I was taking budget airline!
Alas, boarded flight MI743 at 2.22pm, it's another B737-800. It subsequently took off from Phuket at 2.57pm.
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| My long-awaited lunch onboard! |
I had my late lunch served 4.44pm (GMT +8) onboard. It was some vermicelli, perfectly steamed, served with sambal chicken and curry vegetables. The chicken was very delicious!
Reached Singapore Changi Airport at 5.35pm.
And my loots??
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| Peanuts, candies, honey, ling zhi（灵芝） |
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| Seaweed, coffee cookies |
Thai honey are cheap, here one of sunflower, and one of longan. They are the heaviest items inside my luggage which I mostly carry on my way to the airport (I don't drag my luggage on muddy ground). The peanut wasn't the Tom Yam peanut I was looking for, but is the closest to what I want. As for the seaweed, it's individually wrapped, and taste as good as Tao Kae Noi's, but somewhat cheaper. Apart from the peanut, which was purchased from Phuket Town market, all others were bought from Jungceylon's Big C Extra.
Hope you enjoy my adventures~
~ End ~
Woke up at 5.45am.
