My Unforgettable Travel/Summer Story: Phuket Part 2!

In conjunction with the “Asian on Air Program” organized by “Korean Air” and “Korean Tourism Board“, I decided to blog about the highlight of my Phuket Trip during my summer vacation with my BFF! :)

If you missed out Part 1 of my trip, head on HERE to find out more! :)

Previously, I mentioned that we booked a day tour to Phi Phi Island! The day started as early at 730am since the tour will take up the whole day!

Rise and shine!!!!!!

It was definitely rough start for both Clarinda & I! The car ride to the pier was super rocky and both of us felt car sick even before the boat ride!! But….we just got to bear with it since Phi Phi Island is listed as one of the few places to visit before one dies!

BUCKET LIST, CHECKED!

Journey to the pier took about 45 minutes and shortly after we arrived, our tour guide was there to welcome us! Our friendly guide briefed us with the itinerary and we also had the option to rent flippers since we would be doing some snorkeling!!! Priced at 100THB, they are absolutely NOT necessary/worth it because we did not use them at all! Save the trouble and snorkel with your bare feet, it’s cooler that way.

A rocky ride aheaddddd!

Sea sick pills were also given since the journey to Phi Phi would be pretty long and rocky! How thoughtful!! But the problem is, those pills made us really drowsy…. Find out more below! I would also recommend those who get sea sick easily to sit outside because it’s less stuffy and you get to check out the amazing view on the way! Just make sure you put on LOTS AND LOTS of sunblock or be prepared to get burnt really badly (like me T_T!)

Ready to board and go! We opted for the speedboat since it’s much faster than the big boat!

We were pretty taken back by the view to our first stop, Maya Bay! Blue skies, clear waters, awesome scenery. It felt …..peaceful!!

Urmmm, not exactly peaceful since there were this funny group of dudes who sang throughout the boat ride!

Super windy too!

Our friendly tour guide aka photographer suggested this pose!

That’s about it -_-. I got pretty seasick halfway through the journey so I had to calm my nerves down while Clarinda had the time of her life heading up to the top of the boat and checking out the view! ARGH. The ride took us about an hour.. Oh, the seasick horrors..

WE ARE FINALLY REACHING MAYA BAY!!!

This is also the place where Leonardo DiCaprio filmed his movie, The Beach! Ah, now I get why it’s SO popular.

And true enough to many online reviews, Maya Bay was mad crowded…… It was so difficult for us to get a decent photo without anybody “photo-bombing” it!! A tad disappointing for both of us because it was wayyyy too noisy! I thought a beach is supposed to be quiet and peaceful?

But we decided to heck the crowd and just chillax since we were already here!

After 45 minutes of free and easy time, it’s time to get on the boat for some more island hopping!! I wasn’t sea sick anymore so YAY, more pictures!

Passed by Monkey Beach and Viking Beach but our tour guide decided to give it a miss since there weren’t any monkeys and as for Viking Cave, it’s a protected area where swallow produced their bird nest! Our guide even said that you might get shot if you trespass that area!?!? O_O

Viking Cave! Looks pretty creepy?!

On the way to our next destination, we went past the Pileh Lagoon! BESTEST (I created this word lololol) view from the trip!!!

Couldn’t really believe our eyes because the actual thing looks exactly the same as what we seen on the Internet!!!!!! I could live here forever…

Next stop was snorkeling!! The concept was so cool because our boat just stopped in the middle of the nowhere and we were told to get down to snorkel!! There were also lots of fishes in the sea!! No pictures sadly since we went down to the waters and our friendly tour guide aka photographer was so busy helping the other so we didn’t passed our camera to him! :(

At first, we were also a bit skeptical about leaving our valuables on the boat… I guess Singaporeans are cautious like that?! But we went ahead with our activities anyway since everybody else also left their bags on the boat!! Nothing was lost so don’t worry too much about it!

Proceeded to Phi Phi Island for lunch after that. This is a centralized location where all the tourists goes to a restaurant assigned by the travel agency. Lunch was buffet style. Food was so-so but since we were famished, we just gotta eat it.. But the chicken wings were so yummmmmmyy :D

Lots of carbo!

We were given time to roam around Phi Phi Island after lunch and it’s a good place to relax since it was so quaint and quiet!

Shops in Phi Phi Island! Stuffs are crazily expensive :O

And we gotta do what the tourist gotta do, scenery + self shots.

After touring PhiPhi, it was time for our last stop, Khai Island!

Our tour guide gave us the option to snorkel or just relax and we choose the latter since we were terribly burnt! Plus, the seasick pills were starting to take effect!! And the funny thing was that those who took the pills also started to feel the effect and everybody actually fell asleep on the way to Khai Island!

Soft drinks and fruits were served at Khai Island! Shiiiiioooook! Beach chairs were also up for rent! Yup, they are not free! You gotta pay 150THB before you can relax!

Khai Island was so much quieter! I kinda like this place! :)

Clarinda decided to be a supermodel while the lazy me took a cat nap before heading back!

And that concluded our one day island-hopping tour!! Too fast too furious! Bided farewell with our friendly tour guide and the bus got us back to our hotel…..

Washed up and we were up to look for good seafood in Phuket! Tough one because there are just TOO MANY seafood restaurants in Phuket so it’s hard to decide which one is the best!

Sooo.. we decided on “Da No. 1”. HAHAHA.

My daily drink in Phuket, BEER!

Clarinda and her coconut, again!

We paid about 23 bucks each for a 4 course meal. The food wasn’t DA best but it wasn’t DA bad either! We actually got to choose our own prawns and crabs so the quality is kinda assured.. by ourselves haha. In Singapore, we have chili crab and in Thailand, they have green curry crab! Pretty unique huh?

And this concludes my Part 2 Phuket adventure! If you are going to Phuket, remember to do some island hopping! Although most of the islands/beaches have became very commercialized, but it’s always good to take a breather from all the crazy partying in Patong! :D

AHHH!1!11 This post made me want to go back to Phuket so badly! Yummy food, cheap alcohol and pretty beaches….. What else could anyone ask for?

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Are you a blogger? Want to win a free trip to Korea? Well, it’s still not too late to submit your entry! You just need to pen down your unforgettable travel story (like mine heh!) and who knows, you might be the lucky one!

Visit the Asian On Air Program 2013 event page for more details! Good luck guys! *FINGERS CROSSED* :)

Great Bintan Sale: A short getaway! (Part 2)

Visiting Bintan soon and not sure what to do? Head on to Great Bintan Sale: A short getaway! (Part 1) and check out some of the activities I did during my Bintan trip!

Before our food coma mentioned in Part 1, Clarinda was repeatedly telling me how excited she was about the breakfast the next morning! Yup, she can go on and on if she gets really happy and excited! So we woke up super early, 730 Bintan time just for breakfast! To be honest, I have never ever woke up so early specially for.. BREAKFAST. But I guess there’s always a first time for everything right?

Clarinda’s excitement was legit. I was also happy to see the breakfast spread! It was pretty sumptuous and there’s something for everyone!

Yummy pastries and condiments, our weakness!

I name this the kids corner because lots of Japanese kids were having this!

The healthy corner, salad.

Cooked food! Nasi lemak was good!

Fruits, my worst fear. 

And EGGS!!!

A must have for breakfast buffet. And it was definitely the most popular station! But sadly, there was only one poor guy handling all the orders. We waited for about 30 minutes before our first order was ready but the cook got my order wrongly.. Had to reorder and thankfully the second order only took 10 minutes.

After the super filling breakfast, we took a chill walk on the beach before our massage session. I think you could tell that we really liked the beach a lot! And it’s a session of camwhoring before our driver came to pick us up for our massage.

It was super gloomy that morning!

Mandatory jump shot!

Clarinda did hers too!

A quote I live by :)

Our full body massage was arranged at Martha Tilaar Salon Day Spa. This is apparently the best massage in town! I can definitely vouch for their service because this is the 2nd time I visited this spa. They also arrange complimentary transport back and fro your hotel so if you’re looking for a decent massage place in Bintan, this is the place to go!

Clean & nice room!

If I’m not wrong, there are a couple of staff stationed at Bintan Ferry Terminal so you just can liaise with them directly. Otherwise, you can always get the hotel staff to make the necessary booking for you!

We were given some time to roam around the nearby shops before heading back to our hotel! Took the time to grab my lunch although I was damn full. And remember to get a mangum when you’re in Bintan because they only cost two bucks each! Super worth it!

Went back to our hotel for another 15 minutes chillax session by the beach before checking out! The shuttle bus picked us up punctually from our resort and the hotel staff even got our ferry tickets ready so there’s no need for us to queue and collect our tickets at the ferry terminal! Thumbs up for the awesome service!

Upon reaching the ferry terminal, we saw Sam Son again!!! It must be fate! And his mom also told us that he was really in love with us! *laughs*

Aww, we could see that in his eyes too!

Bid farewell to Sam Son and it was time for us to head back to the sunny island! Till we meet again, Sam Son.. And Bintan! :D

Lastly, thank you OMY.sg and Bintan Resorts for making this happen! It was truly a relaxing getaway for me and my best friend! :)

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Want to take a short getaway without bursting your wallet? The ‘Great Bintan Sale’ is what you need to look out for this season! With up to 60% off your next Bintan vacation, you get to enjoy an all-in experience fares, which includes accommodation, ferry, land transfer and selection of activities! Booking starts from August 15th to September 15th and they can be used for travel every day of the week till December 15th, 2013.

Remember to ‘LIKE’ Bintan Resorts on their Facebook page or visit bintan-resorts.com to check out the list of activities and participating resorts on the island!

Great Bintan Sale: A short getaway! (Part 1)

Right after the week I got back from Phuket, I was invited by Bintan Resorts for a short getaway!

And guess who’s my travel buddy this time? No prize for the right answer though!

…………

Yes, it was Clarinda again!! Same buddy but different destination ^^. Thanks to the Great Bintan Sale, we were offered the 2D1N BEST FRIENDS FOREVER package! How appropriate since we have been best friends since we were 13!

The BEST FRIENDS FOREVER package includes:
Return Ferry
Welcome Drink
1 Night Stay with Daily Breakfast (Twin-share basis)
Bintan Mangrove Discovery Tour (Day / Night)
60 mins Body Massage
Set Dinner for 2
Land Transfers

Who says travelling needs to be expensive? Well.. not anymore with the Great Bintan Sale! You can now plan a getaway from as low as $140+ with an all-in experience fares, including accommodation, ferry, land transfer and selection of activities!

The trip from Singapore to Bintan was only about 50 minutes by ferry. We collected our ferry tickets at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and off we go! ^^

Probably the weirdest place to take an OOTD shot!

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the staff from Angsana Bintan – the place we would be staying! The staffs were really friendly and even initiated a conversation with us since we have to wait for the other guests before hoping on the shuttle bus! What a great start unlike my last year’s trip where my friends and I got really lost at ferry terminal!

The journey from the ferry terminal to Angsana Bintan took us about 10~15 minutes. We were surprised by how welcoming the staffs were! They even hit a gong once we got down the bus! Surprise surprise~!

The front desk staff quickly attended to us and we proceeded with check-in. 

And what’s a welcome without a welcome drink?

Refreshing lemongrass drink I loved ^^

But Clarinda found it weird…

After we got our room key, we hurriedly scattered to our room! *excited*

And this was our room for the night! Once we stepped into the room, there’s an alluring scent that Clarinda & I really love! It smelt like an… “atas” spa! Guess Angsana Bintan really lived up to it’s name of a spa resort!

The room also comes with a balcony where you get to overlook the swimming pool and beach, nice sofa where you could just relax and watch telly and a bathroom with an attached bath tub.

Wash up a little and we were ready to explore!

We spotted the small yet cozy pool with nice pool lounge chairs!

A restaurant by the beach! 

And a private beach!

This wass the first time I stayed in a resort with a private beach so I was absolutely thrilled! There were beach chairs for you to just relax, do nothing and enjoy the sound of the sea. THAT’S THE LIFE I WANT!

We saw a nice bridge with some lots of rocks so we decided to explore further.

And I conquered the rocks… Just a little!

Almost slipped and fell to our death because our shoes have got NO FRICTION.
NEW BALANCE = NO BALANCE?!!

Clarinda was also saying that the bridge was the perfect place for a proposal. Just imagine the guy standing at the end of the bridge and the girl walking down aisle… And when she says yes, fireworks will burst in the sky! HAHAHA. Too much Korean drama I guess.

The sight was so calm and relaxing! We didn’t want to head for dinner at all! So we took a few more shots……

And we have to leave anyway! Our driver came to pick us up for dinner at the Kampung Kelong Seafood Restaurant! The journey to the restaurant was rather interesting- we need to take boat to get to the seafood restaurant!

The entrance to the Mangrove River

Spot the pink boat!

Life vests were provided too!

A peaceful quick ride through the Mangrove River….

And we’re here!

Kampong Kelong Seafood Restaurant

We were served a 3 course set meal + hot tea. The fish was pretty good (thanks to the tomato sauce), sambal kang kong was alright but the soup was wayyyyy too salty! I’m a fan of salty food but the soup was just too much to handle!

We ate our meals REALLY fast since we were famished! Wrong move, wrong move. That left us with about an hour plus to waste before heading for the Mangrove Night Tour!!

So we mingled with this cute Hong Kong kid named Sam Son!

Such an outspoken and cute kid! He kept talking to us in Cantonese but since Clarinda & I couldn’t speak Cantonese, we could only go “Huh??” and laughed it off. And before we even knew it, our tour guide came in a speed boat and picked us up for the Mangrove Discovery Tour! Clarinda & I were pretty freaked out initially because the thoughts of riding a boat at night was just.. daunting!

But our worry was uncalled for! The tour was absolutely safe and the tour guide also constantly made sure that everybody on the boat was okay! The Mangrove Discovery Tour was a pretty cool experience because we finally got to see fireflies after living for 22 years! They looked like falling stars (oh, so pretty!) and it’s definitely something you can see in Singapore! We even had the chance to try catching the fireflies!

And don’t worry, we were told to released the fireflies before we headed further so no fireflies were harmed or killed in this Mangrove Discovery Tour!

After the tour, we headed back to our hotel for … Supper. Yup, I was hungry….

Every order came with a complimentary Keropok +  Belacan Chilli! Yum!

Our super chewy dry ramen & french fries. Love the texture of the ramen!

And it was food comma right after supper! :P

That’s all for the Part 1 of my Bintan trip! School starts LATER so… watch out for Part 2 later this week!

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Want to take a short getaway without bursting your wallet? The ‘Great Bintan Sale’ is what you need to look out for this season! With up to 60% off your next Bintan vacation, you get to enjoy an all-in experience fares, which includes accommodation, ferry, land transfer and selection of activities! Booking starts from August 15th to September 15th and they can be used for travel every day of the week till December 15th, 2013.

Remember to ‘LIKE’ Bintan Resorts on their Facebook page or visit bintan-resorts.com to check out the list of activities and participating resorts on the island!

Travel: Phuket Day 1 & Day 2!

Summer’s almost ending and here I am, reminiscing my Phuket trip before the long weekend!

*sings* WHY DO ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END? 

Anyway my girlfriend, Clarinda and I decided to take a needed getaway at the very last minute after my internship! We were thinking of some “beachy” place to calm our souls (yes, that’s totally the right words since there had been too much going on here). And we booked our trip 5 days prior to our departure!!!!! That’s something new for us since we usually plan our trips months before we set off.

Threw away some of my commitments and we flew to Phuket on Saturday evening!

Flight only cost us $254/pax after taxes! I thought it was pretty affordable since we will be there for 5 days. We flew to Phuket via Jetstar and return via Tiger.

Airport fashion. My “GO RIDE” came just in time for this trip!

Yup, we are camwhores ^^

And we were ready to fly!

The flight only took us 1 hour 40 minutes. Super chop chop!

Upon arrival, we took our baggage and went to get our Phuket sim card. Think Singaporeans really cannot live without their mobile phones! There were quite a lot of different packages available. If I’m not wrong: 200mb, 500mb, 7 days unlimited package and many more. Each package comes with about 10 minutes of talk time. And guess what? We stupidly took the 7 days unlimited one since we were worried that our data might exceed. My advice is to stick with the 200mb or 500mb package for a 5 day trip! It’s definitely more than enough since there’s free wifi in most hotel and you would be spending the time exploring the city. The only time you would be using your phones is when you’re doing your massages or having meals!

The 7 days unlimited plan cost 600THB and the 500mb cost only 300 THB? Argh. Felt so stupid!

Once we’re done with our sim card, headed out to the airport and our driver was already waiting for us! He was super smiley when he saw us! Probably because he have waited for a really long time……. We requested for hotel pickup since we were arriving late and it only cost us 1300 THB for 2 ways! It was pretty decent amount for airport pickup but I do have a cheaper driver service to recommend! Read on to find out!

Journey from the airport to Patong take about 45 minutes!

Rayaburi Patong was our “home” for the next 4 nights!

Look really grand huh? Location is super good as well. Just about 5 minutes walk to Patong beach and 10 minutes walk to Blangla Road!

The room was decent and the bathroom was huge!! And it’s super affordable too! We each paid about $25/night! Although some furnitures were a bit “old”, but the room was really clean and neat so I would definitely recommend this hotel if you’re on a budget!

Chill a little and we are ready to head out for more adventure! And we decided to settle for supper at Number 6 Restaurant.

Grabbed this photo off Google

Apparently, this restaurant is pretty famous among foreigners! We saw mad long queues on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th day of our trip. Yes, that’s how popular it was. But we were lucky that we didn’t have to queue before getting a seat!

AND WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING I HAVE TO EAT IN THAILAND??

PAD THAI!!!!!

No pictures of our food since we were too excited with our first thai meal!! Also ordered a noodle soup to share and since beer was as cheap as another normal drink, I definitely had to get it! Clarinda hates beer so I had to cheers with her coconut. :(

The food was pretty decent and affordable! Only cost us about $4 each for 2 dish + drinks. Okay that’s actually the standard price for a meal in Thailand but the food was pretty yummy so I would say give it a try when you are in Phuket!! It also has good ratings on Tripadvisor!

And we headed down to Blangla Road to check out Phuket’s night life!

So happening!!!

Blangla Road is the most happening place in Patong. The whole street was filled with clubs, bars and lots of locals trying to get you to watch the famous “Ping Pong Show”, buy random stuff and even take a polaroid with a squirrel??! It did get a bit overwhelming for us at first but after the 2nd day, we got used to it!

Not exactly in the party mood so we left after a good short tour around Blangla Road!

Day 2:

Today is shopping day!

DAY 2 OOTD!

But before proceeding, we went to a local tour agent to book our Phi Phi Island Day Tour for the next day! Remember I said that there’s an even more affordable driver service?

Yup! This is it! This guy over here is Tom and he runs Tom Phuket Travel. After much research, I realized that they have one of the most affordable driver service and day tours!

You can contact him at tom-phuket-travel@hotmail.co.th and probably show him my face so that he could give you a better price! I don’t think he remembered my name but he gave my friends who went 1 week after us got a special price for Phi Phi Island Day Tour too! We only pay 1000 THB/person! That’s a bargain since most people pay about 1200 ~ 1500 THB? Tom is super reliable and replies his email very promptly! Besides, he also knows how to speaks Chinese! That’s definitely a plus point!

After booking our tour, we decided to check Banzaan Market out since we were too early. Banzaan is a wet market, something similar to those you see in Singapore. Nothing much for us since we would not be cooking our meals but it’s interesting to see how the locals live their daily life!

I heard that you can also purchase seafood in the market and get the restaurants there to cook for you for a fee! Reminds me of Noryangjin Fish Market in Korea.

Everybody had been talking about the must try pork burger in Thailand. Tried and tested and I can say that it’s yummylicious! Clarinda changed her drinks to Ice Milk Tea while I changed mine to Ice Tea and I think we both almost died of diabetes. It was WAY TOO SWEET (sugar level was definitely 200% or more) so I suggest you to stick to your usual Coke!

And some selfie before checking out Jungceylon Shopping Mall, the largest shopping mall in Patong.

Walked around Jungceylon. We easily finish walking through the malls within 3 hours or something.. . There were 2-3 different buildings? so you could take your time to explore. But most of the stuff were expensive/out of trend/can be easily found in Singapore so it was m.eh….

But at least there was a huge supermarket!

Got bored of Jungceylon so we decided to check out Blangla Road. Well, they were right when they say Phuket only comes alive when the sky falls. It was pretty quiet and you can see some locals doing their business..

WHICH MEANS FOOOOOOOOOOD.

If you happened to visit Phuket, please do yourself a favor and get some Banana Pancake & grilled chicken!!! There were also some noodle soup and pad thai store but we were still full from lunch to continue eating! :(

Spotted a pink cute van!

Tom got his driver to pick us up at around 545 and off we went to the Phuket Weekend Market! Like the name suggested, Phuket Weekend Market is only open during the weekends from 4pm to 1030pm. Located at Phuket Town, it’s a 30 to 45 minutes drive from Patong so I would definitely recommend you to hire a driver! Our 2 way trip only cost 800 THB in total! If you were to take taxi, the price you should be paying is about 350 ~ 400 THB / trip! Keep that in mind so as to prevent the drivers from ripping you off.

Phuket Weekend Market was pretty similar to Chatuchak Market in Bangkok!! But of course, it’s much smaller (about 1 to 2 times?) and the clothes sold there were not as trendy as what you seen in Chatuchak! But still, Clarinda had the time of her life combing the market. Clothings were pretty much the standard “Bangkok price” and there were also a wide selection of food!! Had the best tom yum soup and thai milk tea there! So damn good!

The stall with the awesome tom yum soup!

Must try Thai Milk/Green Tea!!!

Grilled Squid

There’s even a bakery!

After a whole lot of shopping, we called it a day and went back to our hotel for…. 2ND ROUND OF SUPPER.

Okay I admit. I was the one who wanted to eat!! Saw a stall near our hotel and we settled for a quick supper!

The lady boss was super friendly and smiley!

Basil pork Rice + Beer = HEAVEN. It was super salty.. But I’m a fan of salty food so that’s okay!

And her helper was so friendly too! He even posed for the camera! ^^

And we ended our night with a trip to the Family Mart! There are just so many things in their convenience store! Clarinda was looking for the Meiji Yogurt Drink but gave up!

Shall end off Part 1 with some tips for your Phuket travel! Have fun and stay safe! X

Tips & Tricks for your Phuket Travel:
1. If you’re on budget, try the minibus airport transfer. Only cost you 180THB for 1 way! However, you might have to wait a little since there need to be 10 people on board before they proceed to your hotel and they stop by the hotels one by one so it might take slightly longer than an hour to reach your destination.

2. If you prefer taking the taxi, head straight out to the airport, and turn right to the legit taxi counter! I’m not really sure how it works but I heard that you need to go to the taxi counter to get a piece of paper (similar to Bangkok) before hoping on. Taxi to Patong will cost about 600 THB.

3. Do not book your day trip at the airport! There are LOTS and LOTS of tour agents at Patong and they are just so much affordable than those in airport! And I believe those at Patong are friendlier and more flexible with the prices!

4. We avoided the tuk-tuk at all cost since we didn’t want to get ripped off but if you really want to have experience how sitting on a tuk-tuk is like, I was told by Clarinda that you should choose a tuk-tuk with the open back! In that way, you can just PAY and GO! The driver will not have any chance to do anything funny!