Disclaimer: This post is very long and very rambling. It is a personal indulgence of the wonderful time spent on one of the prettiest and friendliest tropical Asian islands. Those who just want to look at pictures, scroll right to the bottom please.
Alright.. been back in Sg for almost a week now and I'm still wishing to be back in Phuket. Serious withdrawal symptoms. Can someone please fly me back there? Admittedly, the trip did not start out as well was planned but things worked out fantabulously great eventually!!
Let's see, my luggage was lost on the way to Thailand. Yesh. It got left behind in Singapore. It had me sweating like a pig before the airport staff managed to track it down for us. It got in on the next available flight and take this: We got 2000 baht as compensation!!! That's about SGD80. hahaha!
But worries about the luggage dissipated almost as soon as we met our driver. While other tourists had to contend with crowded coaches or vans, H and I were whisked away in a well-kept, gleaming Nissan Cefiro (not exactly a limo but well above our expectations!). The best and most surprising thing was the driver was a quiet man. Usually once you get onto your vehicle, the guide will keep yakking away and ask if you want to sign up for this tour and that but no, not this guy. He gave us a peaceful ride to the resort, thank god.
The day we got there, the weather sucked. It rained the whole day so we had to stay within the hotel/resort which is in my humble opinion the most wonderful place in Phuket to stay in!! Friendly service, beautiful design, clean surroundings, good food, great spa, quiet beach for a good chillout vacation, what more can you ask for?
We loved the room. There was this oversized bed with loads of pillows, a dvd player, a cosy balcony, nice spot lighting, clean walls, dark wood furniture (those zen type), two sinks in the bathroom with huge plush towels, a rain shower and handheld shower (Whichever u prefer) and there was sunlight pouring into the bathroom through the glass walls but we are properly shielded from the outside of course haha and there are his and hers bathroom slippers as well as rubber slippers for the swimming pool or the beach. Really thoughtful.
So anyway since we had to stay in on the first day, we decided to go to the Oriental Spoon, their inhouse restaurant, for lunch but because it was Sunday, there was only the Sunday brunch buffet available and we didn't know it before they sat us down.
"Today we only have the Sunday brunch and it comes with a bottle of house wine, is that ok?"
I mean, we were already at our table so it wouldn't look too nice if we walked out so we said ok and then asked the price.
"900 baht."
Perfect. One baggage lost = one free buffet meal!!!! *guffaws*
Either we were too hungry or the food was so damn good. We ate and ate and drank and drank and talked and laughed (must be the wine). Their roast beef was heavenly and the wine was so sweet I could drown in it. A pity we were too engrossed in eating we didn't think of taking pictures. hahaha.. but it would be so damn ugly and touristy to do that cos the restaurant was quite crowded then.
In the evening, it still looked stormy. We went for a short walk around the neighbourhood. At the 7-11 there, we saw Lay's potato chips (those in Thailand had ridges) in flavours like Grilled Lobster, Mexican Barbecue, Nori Seaweed, etc. Weird stuff. We tried the lobster flavour. Bleah.
Day 2: We woke up bright and cheery at 7am and went for breakfast. At the restaurant, when I was walking around the buffet table, one of the waiters greeted me: "Ah-nyeong haseyo!".
I had a slight startle. No one has ever mistaken me for a Korean before. Wonder if it's a good thing???
Anyway, after eating, we went to chill at the pool. The sun still wasn't good but the pool was heavenly. At the time of the day, we were almost the only ones swimming so we could be as goofy as we wanted to. I was trying to learn how to scoop the water in my palms and then shoot it out as far as possible from below my last finger. Never mind if it sounds like garbage to you, because it pretty much is. haha
After we've had enough of the water, we washed up and headed for Patong and Phuket Town. There are not too many tourists at this time of the year. Most of the deckchairs on the beach were not occupied. Taxi and tuk-tuk drivers at Patong were badgering us every few metres to let them take us on a tour around the island. Tough.
Lunch was settled at MacDonalds where I had my first Samurai PORK burger. Not that it was gourmet food but it tasted pretty good!
At Patong, we signed up for an eco-tour for day 3 and also bought tickets to watch the Simon Cabaret aka the ah gua show. Thereafter, we headed to Phuket Town and did some shopping. But the cab driver HAD take us to TWO gem factories so that he can get his gasoline stamps. Gosh, I hate gem factories. Those sales people are always at your back showing you this and that. I mean, do we look like we are into rubies and sapphires?
Anyways, we headed back to Surin in the late afternoon to try to catch some sun, which unfortunately went away soon after we got back but we did manage to get some chillout time on the Surin beach at the resort's beach club. The area is way quieter than Patong. No one comes to you every 2 minutes to ask if you want to jet-ski, parasail, braid your hair or get a tattoo. And you don't have to pay to use the deck chairs. We also had our cold, juicy, fleshy coconuts. Nice.
The sea is very choppy at this time of the year. The red flag was up almost every day, meaning no swimming or stuff like that.
Dinner is again a highlight. We had our complimentary seafood platter + a bottle of wine (again) as part of the package. When they mentioned seafood platter, we thought maybe it would be calamari but noooo, it was this HUGE plate of fresh crabs (3 of them), oysters, mussels, clams, cockles and gigantic prawns. After finishing the crabs, we didn't have much energy to eat anything else! So imagine our heavy hearts when our fried rice, spaghetti and wedges were served. I must have gained 5 kg from that night alone!
Day 3: Waking up at 630am was a bitch after the alcohol from the night before but the eco-tour was fun. We rode on elephants, watched the elephant and monkey shows, learnt how rice is planted, how rubber is made and we also canoed.
It was the first time I ever touched an elephant, fed it, felt its breath on my hands and rode on its neck. When I got onto its neck, it kept moving and I thought I was going to be thrown off. I mean, getting a leg broken wasn't as much a concern to me as was falling into their dung but nothing of the sort happened fortunately. It was something different and I'm glad we signed up for it though I think my legs look disgustingly fat in the pix.
I must also mention that the jeeps that they drove us around in had non-functional speedometres. The needle remained at 0 all the time. On the way to the Safari park, the damn thing was definitely travelling at 120km/hr. It was weaving in and out of lanes and the breakneck speed was getting sand into my eyes. These drivers make the cabbies in Singapore look like baby tortoises.
After the tour, we returned to the resort to do sun-tanning!!! Finally the sun was here!!! And we got red baking for just 2 hours. Shiok!
The Simon Cabaret show was a hoot. We managed to get front row seats right in the middle. There were beautiful performers and not so beautiful ones haha. One
not-so-beautiful one, in the middle of her stint when she came down from the stage, gave H a big wet kiss at the side of his head! My biggest regret was not getting that picture!! There were also a few wardrobe malfunctions, if you know what I mean.
Day 4: Spa day!! I picked the tamarind body scrub while H took a Surin massage. My advice, don't be as stupid as me to let someone exfoliate your body when you're burnt!! Haha but seriously it wasn't as bad as I feared except when she wanted to scrub the soles of the feet. I nearly kicked the poor girl in the face because it was so ticklish! Overall, it felt quite surreal to have someone slathering honey all over your body. She even gave me a neck and head massage and strangely enough, picked some of my pimples. Hm..
Hais but then again, day 4 is also day to return home. The holiday was way too short. I miss everything, from the view from our balcony to the clean white bedsheets to the stunning pool to the hotel food to the quiet beach to everything else. I'll definitely go back one day, hopefully soon.
In the meantime, I just fell in love with this other
Balinese resort.
