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Phuket Adventure!

December 28th, 2006 • Related • Filed Under

Sa-Wa-Dee Kaa! I was very privileged to get a free stay at Phuket, Thailand. It was my dream to go to an exotic island somewhere away from Malaysia. I’ve never been out of the country before, well, except for Singapore, which I personally think was just like being in Malaysia. From what I have heard from friends, Phuket is a wonderful island filled with life and adventure. So, I took the liberty to do some research online to find out more about things I could do and places I could visit. Surprisingly, there were many websites that gave excellent reviews and pictures that I could ogle and drool on. I went to the entire hotel’s websites and I even learnt the language! Filled with excitement, on September 2006, my family and I boarded Air Asia to the Phuket International Airport.

Upon arriving, I was awed by the fact that I’m in Phuket! I was snapping away, taking pictures of everything that I find fascinating. We took the Airport Taxi that costs us 800 Baht to go to the hotel that we were staying at. It was quite a reasonable price for 5 people as I read online that it could really exceed if they know that you are a foreigner. I was quite disappointed that our hotel was located in the city instead of somewhere near the beach. I was looking forward to sleeping under the stars and hearing the waves L . But, I can’t be a baby and sulk about it; I went all out to enjoy my stay there. In the hotel, they gave us a booklets, maps, brochures that explained where to go and how. We stepped out of the hotel to search for food, as it was way past lunch time. Just as we were about to walk to another lane, there was this man who approached us and asked us if we needed a ‘tuktuk’. A ‘tuktuk’ is a taxi in Thai language.

This friendly chap introduced himself as Mr. Alex and he took us to a seaside restaurant a few kilometers away.

Mr. Alex, his wife and his father in law are all ‘tuktuk’ drivers. We hired the ‘tuktuk’ for our whole trip as these drivers were very helpful. They gave us suggestions and places to visit that were affordable. We had a big feast at that restaurant. We had lobsters, crabs, prawns chicken, vegetables and topped of with a coconut each. It was a really delightful meal. After the meal, we headed back to our hotel and rested.

At night, we went to the Simon Cabaret Show. In case you did not know, Thailand is the land of plastic transvestites and transsexuals and they are often called ladyboys. Mind you, some of these drag queens are so much prettier than you and I. It was a really good show put together and there wasn’t any moment where I felt bored throughout the show. I can’t tell you more, just enjoy the pictures! While researching for this article, I found a really nice article about the person who is behind the Simon Cabaret Show. We went back to the hotel to rest as we had a big day ahead.

The next day, we woke up early and had Thai lunch as our breakfast. The daily normal food in Thailand is very much like Malaysian Food. They have rice and dishes for lunch, but the twist is that almost everything there has pork and very spicy. We headed back to our hotel and waited for the van to come get us to our next destination, Phi Phi Islands. We were greeted by this Thai dude who spoke like an Australian. He was our tour guide, Bobby. For 2800Baht per person, we were taken to an island tour by the P.P. Island Tour Company. This tour package includes island hopping to 6 small islands in Phi Phi island area, snorkeling and lunch. It was a great experience snorkeling. The tour guide really did a great job explaining each and every island and its significance. We went to islands like the Monkey Beach, Maya Bay and even the island where “The Beach” (the one with Leo DiCaprio) was shot!

The whole ordeal finished at about 4pm. We adjourned home to rest. At night, we went to the famous Bangla Road, where they have bars, massage parlors, restaurants and a very happening night life. As we walked along the road, there were many souvenir shops and sleazy old men with hot Thai girls hanging around at the bars. I was even asked if I wanted to go watch a strip show by a stranger! Being a really good girl, and of course, my parent were with me, I declined. Ladyboys were aplenty there, all asking you to take picture with them for 100 Baht. We had great food there. We were extremely tired by 12am. Headed home with a ‘tuktuk’.

The third day, all we did was shopping, touring around Phuket and went for Spa. Our very own ‘tuktuk’ driver took us around Phuket for sightseeing. We went elephant trekking, shooting, and hiking on the highest peak in Phuket. In Phuket, the ‘tuktuk’ drivers and many shops rely on tourists to gain income, so both shops and ‘tuktuk’ drivers collaborate and came up with a plan. ‘Tuktuk’ drivers have to get their tourist to as many shops as possible to get stamps and with that stamps, they can redeem a prize from respective shops (it’s like a Bonuslink card system). Therefore, we were taken to a many gem stores so that they get stamps. We did not bother to buy any until we went to the World’s Biggest Gem Gallery. We were awed by the size of the shops and the amount of gems displayed at the store. We burnt a hole in our pockets by buying jewelries. Next stop was a cashew nuts and dried pork products shop. There were many types of cashew nuts that we brought back home. After all that eating, we went to bazaar like place in the city for shopping. All the items there were cheap and “branded”. By that I mean, like the ones you see at Petaling Street. All the fake goodies you can think of and at a very cheap price. The final item of the day was a pampering evening at the Island Herb Spa. We spent the night eating at a pizza restaurant and slept.

Day 4 was our last day at Phuket. We woke up early, packed and had a wonderful brunch before going to the airport. One note of advice is to make sure that you keep some Baht left to pay for the Airport Tax! All in all, it was a fun adventure. I would suggest that next time, stay at a beach resort for the ultimate Phuket experience!