Every time I would go for a trip, I couldn't sleep the night before probably because I am too excited and this trip is no different. After packing up our things, we went to bed but sleep eluded me. So I was like a zombie the following day. We woke up at around 4am and left the house at 5.30am. I told my husband to teach me how to do the self-service check-in at the airport. It was so simple and I was totally amazed at how fast we were able to check-in at the airport. We were early and we still had time to grab some breakfast before going to the departure area.
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| Ham and cheese plus green tea latte for Dad and Chicken Pot Pie plus caramel macchiato for me |
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After breakfast we went to Gate 31 and got ready for boarding. The trip from Singapore to Phuket was only 1 hour and 25 minutes. As the plane started its descend, we saw the numerous islands from the plane window. The splendid view was such a great sight. My camera did not give justice to what my eyes were seeing!
Because September is a low season, there were not much people and we were able to be cleared from immigration for less than 15 minutes. We immediately went to the tour agencies to book for our island hopping and transport to and from the airport. The island hopping cost 2300 baht per head with one-way free transport from airport to the hotel. The journey from the airport to the hotel was 45 minutes. We reached the hotel at around 12nn and I was terribly hungry. We were supposed to go out for lunch but it rained so hard so we decided to wait for the rain to stop while we stayed at the hotel lobby.
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| View from the balcony of the hotel |
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| Our hotel room |
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The rain stopped after an hour so we were able to explore the place and we had lunch at a restaurant just across the street. The place looked so homey and the owners were very accommodating. We had tom yum, pad thai, pineapple fried rice, spring rolls, mango juice for me and pineapple juice for Daddy.
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| Mango and pineapple juice (both taste good) |
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| Tom yum, pad thai, spring rolls and pineapple fried rice |
After lunch, we headed to the shops across the streets for some shopping. I was able to buy t-shirts for the boys, plus a hat, shirt and swimsuit cover for myself. When you're shopping in Phuket, you have to haggle to get a good price. The vendor was initially selling the hat for 500 baht but I was able to get it for 200. The swimsuit cover was originally selling for 350 but I was able to get it for 150 baht. My husband on the other hand bought 3 shirts for 650 baht. I knew I could have gotten those 3 shirts for 300.
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| Stores that sell souvenir items are everywhere |
We went back to the hotel after shopping, freshen up a bit and rested for a while. After our short nap, we went down to the fourth floor where the swimming pool was located and we decided to have a quick dip into the water. We found out that there was a mini-bar at the pool so we had a few bottles of beer while listening to our favourite music and reminiscing our old times together. Arnold said that he wanted to have a pool bar when he build our own house. I'd be more than happy if we have a pool in our own house! Pool Bar? That's happiness to the nth power!
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| Pool bar (Daddy's dream) |
After that nostalgic session at the pool, we showered and went down to choose a massage parlor, there were plenty of them across the street and we didn't know which one to choose. The prices were also on the same range. We opted for one with a good lighting and looks clean from the outside. We chose Thai Massage with oil and it felt really good after the massage. I wanted to sleep already but I don't want to pass the night without going to Bangla Road.
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| Massage parlors are everywhere too and the service is CHEAP but awesome! |
We rested for a while then when we felt hunger pangs kick in we went to the Coconut Coffee Shop to try their dinner buffet. The selection was an array of international food ranging from Thai, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese cuisine.
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| Dinner Buffet at the hotel |
We went clubbing at Bangla Road after dinner, there was this Filipino band playing at one of the bars and we decided to ditch the original plan of watching an adult show. I really wanted to watch the "strip tease" kind of show but I got scared when we were about to enter the club so we just decided to go wholesome and watched the Filipino band performing on the other side of the street.
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| Filipino band performing in one of the bars along Bangla Road |
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| Lady Boyzzz!!! |
We went back to the hotel at around 11pm. We need to be up early the following day for our island hopping tour.
We woke up at 6am the following day because the driver will be picking us up at 7.30. We went down the hotel lobby at 7.15. But to our dismay, the driver was more than an hour late. He kept on saying sorry when he came making an excuse that there was an accident that happened that's why
he's late. Well, what can we do? We just brushed off our irritation so as not to ruin the day. We set out for the island hopping tour and the rest of the people joining the tour were already waiting for us when we reached the dock. Before we rode the boat, the tour guide briefed us about what to expect on our voyage.
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| The boat is moving to our first stop...The Bamboo Island! |
So our first stop is the Bamboo Island. This island has lots of pine trees, I felt like I was in Baguio but on beach setting. However, there was no activity here so my husband and I just took lots of photos and chit chat until it was time to go to the next island.
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| Picture taking at Bamboo Island |
Next stop was the James Bond Island. This island was so amazing, it's so beautiful! The movies "The Beach", "Jurassic Park" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" were filmed in this location. I love the lagoon so much! However, we did not stay long in this island because it will soon be low tide and the boat cannot stay in the lagoon if the water was too shallow.
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| It's breathtaking! Isn't it? |
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| James Bond Island |
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Up next, we fed the monkeys at the Monkey Island, however, we were not able to go down the boat and be up-close with the monkeys. We were in a hurry coz the water will soon be shallow.
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| Monkeys love to eat peanuts! |
We then headed to Phi phi Island where we had our buffet lunch. Afterwards, we went for a swim/snorkeling and fed the fish at the beach.
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| @Phi phi Island |
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After swimming at Phi phi Island, we set off for Khai Island. We had free fruits and drinks courtesy of Bang-bang, our tour guide. She is a very jolly person. She made the tour really fun and enjoyable with her jokes and stories. She reminded us of the Filipina comedian Tia Pusit. I love the colourful umbrellas at Khai Island. There were also beach chairs were you can relax, however you have to pay 150 baht for two chairs. We rented two chairs because it's difficult to sit down on the shore for a long time.
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| Colourful umbrellas and chairs at Khai Island |
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After seeing and experiencing those wonderful islands, it was time for us to go back to the hotel. We had such a great time. This is such an experience that we will treasure for the rest of our lives.
Back to the hotel, we freshened up then went down to have dinner. We had Thai iced tea and seafood to satisfy our hungry stomachs. We were thinking of having the lobster but we found it too expensive for 2000 baht per kg. Anyway, the seafood selection that we had is great too! We had fish, shrimp, squid, mussels, clams and cockles plus my favourite mango sticky rice for dessert.
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| Seafood Galore! | | | | |
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| Mango sticky rice! (sooo yummy) |
I am very grateful for this experience. I had so much fun and I hope to be back with Angelo and Tristan but with a different itinerary. :-)
