I don't know why

Big 3

Many said life will change tremendously when you move to the 3< box. Well, i have moved and as of now, i feel the same. (fabulous that is!)

~Cheers!

Phuket :: Last Night

After dinner, we went for a walk around the island. I found few interesting stuff:

In the cab!

HUGE!

I think the fish is too pretty to be eaten!

Check out the shirt y'all! No discount!

Thai version of Ronald McDonald!

We walk around for hours! Saw some really funny people. There were celebrations everywhere. For a sec, i felt like i'm at a new year party! Along the way, i couldn't help getting a souvenir for myself:

~Cheers

Phuket :: Phi Phi Island

Day 3 was suppose to be a free & easy. But our tour guide speak highly of the Phi Phi Island tour. Since we didn't have anything planned, we went ahead and book a day trip tour to the island.

The price was THB1000 per person, which include the cruise, tour, snorkeling, lunch and transport. Very reasonable indeed!

Awh, by the way, our tour guide told us that the price is only applicable to Asians. For "European", the price is THB3000. Weird huh? Well that's Thailand!

I must say, Trip to Phi Phi Island is, by far, the best vacation spot i've ever been.

Chilling on the cruise

It was pretty hot. But i loved it!

The view!

The spot over my shoulder was the place where "The Beach" was shot.

A closer look. The cruise stop where i took this picture and let us go for snorkeling for an hour. I almost died of heart attack when i heard that. But it was a good experience.

After lunch, we had about 2hours to swim along the beach. This is when i finally learn how to swim!

Bliss

Chillin on the cruise roof (on the way back)

Check out my shirt!

~Cheers!

Phuket :: Halal Food

Finding a Halal restaurant is not hard if you are staying in Patong area. The muslim community there is quite strong and there are plenty of Muslim eateries. There is a huge Mosque right at the centre of Patong and you could use it as a landmark to search for Halal food.

Our famous tour guide Mr Samphan speaks highly of one particular restaurant.

“I bring you to good Muslim restaurant! Don’t worry! Owner is Malay. He married thai women and now stay here!”, -Samphan.

It was approx 5pm when we got back from Phanga Bay. And Samphan told us he will pick us up for dinner at 6:30pm. To be honest, I wasn’t that happy because it was just way too early for dinner. I could use the swimming pool and chill around the Patong Beach (again!).

But I was in no mood of arguing anyway. So, I went into my room to get ready. By 6:10pm, the reception rang my room and said the pick up is ready to bring me to dinner. (Whats with their timing?)

I jump into the van and off we go. 3 minutes later, the driver stop and Samphan said “Go down.. go down... we are here. We arrive already!”. The restaurant is so bloody near the hotel. Its like 5-mins walking, literally!!!

He introduced us to the owners of the restaurant, ordered and paid for our food. And later he told us to walk around the area before we go back to hotel. By this point of time, I realised he brought us to dinner super early so he can punch out from his responsibility. Sneaky!

Ok, back to the restaurant. Its a small simple restaurant with a wide range of food. Their specialty is of course seafood. The owners are friendly and the place is clean. At one point of time, I felt like i'm back in Malaysia because most of the customers there are Malaysians

It was a pre-ordered set. And I was super happy to know chicken is included! And I must say the food is really good! Authentic Thai cuisine at its best.

Kusuma -The name of the restaurant

Starter?

I counted. There are about 14 different sauce to choose!

Fish

Telur dadar

Vege

Tom Yam

And Chicken!!

The lady told me that the set (all of the food above + drinks + fruits) is THB250. Which is about MYR25! Now that is dirt cheap!

They only do dinners so their operation hours are from 5pm -2am. How to find them? Just walk around the Patong beach. Its somewhere along the road about 5-mins from Ibis Hotel.

~Cheers!

Phuket :: James Bond Island

My 007 moment

Phang Nga is a shallow bay with 42 islands, comprising shallow marine waters and intertidal forested wetlands. A distinctive feature of Phang Nga Bay is the sheer limestone cliffs that extend vertically out of the green water.

I was told that the best means of enjoying the spectacular scenery is to take one of the boat trips (which is included in the tour). I was a little sceptical when I first read the itinerary which says “We are using Long Tail Boat and Life Jacket provided to all passengers”.

I had a flashback of my Vietnam trip where we had to jump into a tiny boat and row it ourselves. Thank god it was not like that.

The long boat

It is next to impossible to visit all 42 islands and James Bond Island and Koh Pannyi are just two of the more famous spots in this bay. So, we head to James Bond Island!

For safety purposes, please wear jacket LIFT! lol

Ready to go!
Near the jetty. Very peaceful

Once we were on the big sea, it was a rough ride throughout the 1-hour journey

We even went into a cave

And we finally arrive at James Bond Island

This famous island, named Koh Ping-gan, was converted into “James Bond Island” through its starring role in the James Bond movie 'The Man With the Golden Gun'. The entire area surrounding this island with its signature rocky pinnacle is indeed spectacular. I was just a tiny bit disappointed to know that I can’t swim there.

The spectacular rock

Another view of the rock

There were plenty of shops selling souvenirs

After an hour of taking pictures and shopping around the tiny island, we proceed to an integral part of that tour, which is lunch at Koh Panyee, a nearby Muslim floating village.

The floating village

Ok, the picture above (of the floating village) is a small tiny part of it. The actual village is huge. Lunch was served there, and i was so happy to see fried chicken! It was a good lunch.

We spent another hour walking around the floating village and then head back to the boat.

Another 1-hour ride back to the jetty

When i got back to the van, i realised my body was covered with salt! Its from the sea water splashing on us during the trip.

***

When i was in Vietnam, i found Halom Bay extremely breathtaking. And i thought it would be difficult for Phanga to beat that. I must say, Phanga is special in its own way. And i truly enjoyed the trip.

~Cheers!

Phuket :: Day Two

According to my itinerary:

Day Two: Visit Phanga Bay on the main land and James Bond Island. Visit Thum Lod, Dog Mountain, Elephant Mountain, Koh Panyee(Muslim Village built on still over the sea). Lunch served at Panyee Island.Return to Phuket on time. We are using Long Tail Boat and Life Jacket provided to all passengers.

Mr Samphan, our tour guide told us to be ready by 8:00am at the hotel lobby. I woke up at 6:30 am to get ready and went for breakfast. At around 7:30am, a hotel staff approaches us saying our pick-up has arrived. (So early!!!!)

I had no choice but to ask them to wait. Breakfast is one important meal for me during vacation because I know I will not be able to eat lunch or dinner that much. Halal food abroad usually means seafood (just like dinner the night before), and I don’t eat seafood.

I quickly finished my breakfast and jump into the van and off we go. It was quite a distance, and I slept all the way!

They woke me up when we arrived at a temple. And I was extremely puzzled. A temple? Where are the islands? Why are we here?

Later on I was told that the Phanga Bay is about 12KM away, and every trip stops at the temple first. (They just never bothered to include it in the itinerary).

In case you don’t know, I do enjoy visiting temples, get to know about culture and check out the intricate architecture of temples and spiritual buildings.

The temple we went was Suwan Kuha Temple or also known as Wat Tam (the cave temple). I have been to the grand palace in Bangkok, and I can go on and on talking about the massive complex. But for Wat Suwan Kuha, all I can say is: Its a temple in a cave!

There were plenty of monkeys at the entrance. The interior of the cave is rather attractive. The main highlight of the temple is a15-metre-long reclining Buddha.

A cute (but very aggressive) monkey!

The monkeys are very well fed. Tourist just love to buy food and see them eat.

The 15M reclining Buddha

Nice natural architecture

All of the little black dots are BATS!

Check out the colors!

The sign says "Don't write anything on the rock, Please"

The entrance

Ok, the visit was nice. Now can we go to the James Bond island please?

~Cheers!