Phuket, I'm in Love

I'm back. Finally. I was lost in time but never mind, at least I know I survived. And to celebrate my survival, I went on a trip. This time, I chose Phuket, Thailand.

Thailand - u name it! It's the place with affordable hotels and transportation. The food heaven for people like me....A shopping paradise for some people too. On top of that, their beaches, islands, mountains and tourist spots are awesome. I ALWAYS LOVE THAILAND.

...and so, for my first oversea trip of the year, Phuket is my choice.

Oh, actually it's not my first trip coz I went on a working trip to Korea in April. So, this is actually my second oversea trip but my first personal trip.

But why Phuket....?

1 - I need beach and sea but I don't want any island hopping activities.

2- I thought of going to Langkawi or Sabah at first but....it seems like local tourism are more expensive to compare to regional.

3 - I want to eat, eat, eat and sleep.

4 - I managed to get myself a good deal from Maxis & Expedia. Flight and Hotels for 4 days 3 Nights for 2 of us cost us around RM940 ++


So, that's why.

Our flight was at 4.05 pm so we had a quick lunch at KLIA 2. Waktu pergi, tak ambil pun luggage extra walaupun dah boleh agak beg tu lebih 7kg. We were quite lucky actually because our bag didn't looked heavy (or maybe we acted like it's so light)...so, during check-in kat International Departure tu senang je lepas. Alhamdulillah. I just booked for the extra luggage untuk balik from Phuket je. Jimat sikit around RM50 plus.

Touched down in Phuket International Airport at around 5.35 pm (Malaysia time). Sebab tak ada luggage, cepat sikit proses dia. Even the immigration process is not that long. Overall process are quite smooth. Keluar je, terus beli Simkad. Murah! Kebetulan pulak line True Move H kat sana sama dengan line Maxis.. so, terus ambil pakej 4 hari for THB 150. 4G unlimited internet, okay.. puas update segalanya kat IG Story.

Lepas beli simkad, beli pula tiket Minibus dekat kaunter sebelah. Minibus ni actually van besar.. ala.. van siam yang putih tu. They called it Minibus. One way trip to Patong Beach will cost THB 180 per pax and the journey will be around 1 hour and a half. On the way to our destination, the minibus stopped by a Tour Agent shop.... the agents will try to promote their package but it is not wrong not to buy. So, keep calm and just give 'em a smile.

Dah senja and almost gelap, baru sampai Palmyra Patong Resort. Sebenarnya hotel ni ke dalam sikit. Bas akan berhenti tepi jalan dan kita kena jalan lebih kurang 3 ke 5 minit untuk ke hotel. It is quite a nice 4 Star Hotel (or resort). The service, especially at the front line were awesome. Upon check-in, dapat welcome drink...and together with this booking, dapat lagi THB100 voucher to redeem for foods or drinks at their cafe. Kalau tengok review dekat Expedia, Booking.com & Agoda pun...mostly yang positive feedback.

Palmyra Patong Resort

The location of this hotel is very strategic. It is a walking distance to Bangla Walking Street, Patong Beach, most of the food outlets, Family Mart, shops, massage parlor, money changer and even small tourism booth where you can bargain for Island Hopping or other Tourist Package. Dekat dengan semua benda best. Depan hotel ada lebih kurang 3 tempat massage.

Our menu on the first night

Lepas mandi dan berehat ala kadar, terus keluar cari dinner. Disebabkan belum sewa motor, we chose the nearest halal restaurant which is Kusuma Seafood Restaurant, which is around 10 minutes walking distance from the hotel. Ini yang paling dekat. Yang lain kena lajak sikit berjalan dalam 20 minit keatas. 

Tak ramai pun orang... ada few local people. Tahu tempat ni pun sebab banyak blogger yang recommend. My comment, okay la. Nasi Goreng Seafood dia sedap, Hehe.

Lepas dinner, jalan-jalan cuci mata dalam Family Mart & 7 Eleven. Banyak giler Family Mart kat situ. Banyak giler benda best-best dalam Family Mart dia. Hahahaa. I is rambang mata, seriously! So, nak tak nak, I bought 1 CC cream & 1 foundation in cute mini pack. So geram..! Alasan is, CC Cream dah nak habis. Risau nanti tak cukup nak pakai sepanjang kat sini (padahal 4 hari je). I'm good at that, anyway. 

Then, we just walked until we reached Bangla Walking Street. Sangat ramai manusia..! They were like partying, dancing, enjoying the entertainment in every inch of the pub, night club, bar...name it. There's pole dance, coyote, lady boy show and 'other' shows as well. That's the place full of entertainment. A place for pleasure, I could say. We were not enjoying 'em that much... so we just walked by browsing the street and clubs...end to end. An hour past midnight, we were already back. 

Day 2 started with a good healthy breakfast. This resort is not a certified Halal Hotel because they served pork. So we were selective and of course there are still some edible foods like fruits, eggs, bread, croissant, salad.... I mean as long you are confident, right? The view is a nice pool view. 

Our plan is to go to the beach as early as the bird chirping but unfortunately I was down with menstrual pain. It was a bad moody day for me. Nasib baik la encik suami sangat penyabar. So, he let me rest on the bed while he went out to hunt for the scooter. No beach activity that day. 

But....once dah dapat skuter...horey! My mood pun dah okay and perut dah start lapar for real food. So the hunting begin...

First, we went for a lunch at Banzaan Fresh Market. It's just nearby, dalam 15 minit dah sampai naik skuter. Market dia ni, even though it sells fresh products,it is still clean and not smelly. I don't understand how do they keep such cleanliness. Their roads are clean. Their street are clean..and now their fresh market are clean. How civilized! (Well, compared to us here).

One of the Entrance 

So, we had our lunch there. Will share more about the foodies in other post. Overall, it is highly recommended to pay a visit here for a lunch or dinner. If you wanna cook yourself a meal, this is a place to buy all the materials. Fresh seafood, vegetables and fruits. Our meal was as simple as Tom Yam Campur, Crab Masak Sambal and Sotong Goreng Tepung. It was sooo good and I was so full. Happy tummy, happy me.

Karon/Kata View Point

Our next activity was the View Point. There are so many beautiful view points in Phuket because it has many mountains and hills. Most of the view points served you a great scenery of sea and beaches. The first one was Karon or Kata View Point. Tremendously beautiful. The view point was about 30 minutes from Patong, by car. It took us more or less 30 to 40 minutes. Waze and signboards were very useful as our only guides. 

It was named Kata view point previously but I guess right now they are using Karon as the official name of the place. We passed by a few beaches to include Karon Beach. There are also small beaches with many tourists. 

After a sightseeing and a toilet break for like 20 minutes there, we decided to make a move to another famous view point which is Promthep Carpe.

This one is like 15 minutes from the Karon. I love spending time on the bike...I'm usually scared of riding bike but knowing I'll be safe with Mr Hubby around... I made it. Yeay. Sambil layan angin yang sepoi-sepoi and sometimes mengganas.... Best rupanya. 

Promthep Carpe View Point is bigger and more exquisite. There's even bigger parking lot and a lot of shops by the road. This place is the hot spot. Mata I nampak kedai dan jadi tak keruan. Actually I was planning to shop for a dress, hat and some souvenirs. So, I can't wait to visit those shop. But first, we went to see what the view looked like. 

Photo op at Promthep Carpe

See...! Cantik, kan? 

The blue and green that mixed together to form a real living painting. Look at the clouds and hills. Look how they blend.... I'm blending too. Haha. I truly love that place but the weather was so bright and sunny so we were unable to spend more times up there. Lepas window shopping dekat kedai-kedai di bawah, we went back. I got myself a beautiful long dress for THB 330 which is about RM30 plus. Dalam banyak-banyak kedai, satu baju tu je yang I tengok dan terus jatuh cinta. Orang kedai pun peramah and jenis melayan.... I memang suka servis yang bagus so, terus beli. 

On the way turun from the view points, singgah minum dekat kedai tepi bukit - After Beach Bar, just for the view. Niat nak layan sunset tapi risau gelap sangat nak balik sebab tak biasa jalan tu. Tak dapat sunset pun takpe, the view is stunning. Sambil layan angin, duduk dekat situ lama-lama pun boleh. 

Ala-ala Romantika gitu

We reached Patong when the sun said goodbye. Pusing-pusing area Patong beach sambil cari dinner. Sampai dekat area masjid Patong, ada satu kedai tepi jalan yang nampak best. This time dah tak google kedai makan sebab memang tahu area masjid tu banyak kedai makan muslim & halal. So, our dinner that night was at Core Cafe. Dari jauh nampak grilled beef dia...sedapnya! Tapi sebelum tu, dah pergi tapau Banana Nutella Pancake dekat satu stall nearby Family Mart. Muslim owner and halal. Lepak makan situ sampailah kedai tutup. Our journey bersambung di Bangla Walking Street because I was looking to buy a bag. My bag dah rosak. Langsung tak boleh pakai. So sad... Unfortunately, malam tu tak jumpa pun beg di sekitar Patong area. Balik dengan hampa. Sambung pencarian esok.

Day 3, awal sikit bangun dan breakfast. Coffee is a must. Black, 1 sugar. This time layan banana. Semalam layan betik dia, kemain sedap. It was raining on our way to the cafe... so, awal-awal tu pool view kena tutup. My plan to go to the beach as early in the morning tak berjaya due to raining. A bit heavy but alhamdulillah... habis je makan, hujan pun stop. 

We were happily riding the scooter to the beach. We started with Karon Beach. Sepanjang perjalanan semalam, nampak Karon Beach la yang paling menawan mata dan hati. And you know what...? It's true.

Memang cantik. Like awesome. The color of the beach is so green and blue. Like emerald blue...and the wave is high and a bit outrageous. Memang tengah monsoon season sekarang. Lucky I wasn't planning of any Island Hopping activities there. Encik suami dah teruja nak main laut sambil lawan ombak-ombak ganas tu. The environment is calm walaupun ramai tourist. We rent a set of beach chair and stayed there as long as we want for THB 200. Harga ni standard. Dekat Langkawi pun, 2 kerusi RM20. Lebih kurang la.

Somebody tengah syok sendiri layan ombak

I think we spent quite few hours there. Sempat beli mangga kat makcik yang datang solicit... sedap mangga dia. Puas beli and makan. Sempat singgah toilet dia THB 10 tapi bersih sangat. Tak pakai kasut pun tak rasa jijik. How clean... I mean, come back to think, compared to my beloved country, I could honestly say jauh panggang dari api. Everything here is clean. I'm impressed. I'm not sure whether it's their people or it's the so called tourism place that they keep the cleanliness very well. I'm sure it has to come from the people too. It's really a good exposure for me. Even sampah pun tak nampak bersepah-sepah dekat tepi or tengah jalan.... dan kalau ada pun, I'm sure it's not their people yang buat. You know who lah kalau bab-bab kotor, bersepah, potong queue dan bising ni kan....

Okay, done Karon Beach. Next, we visited Patong Beach. Selalu lalu je tak singgah pun. So, nak tengok pula pantai dia macamana. Is it as blue as the Karon beach is..? Sebab Patong beach ni ramai manusia. Terlalu ramai....

Sampai je kat sana...crowded sangat!

Very happening dengan beach activities macam sky diving, banana boat, jet ski dan banyak lagi lah. Orang yang mandi laut pun ramai but sadly, the beach is not as blue as the Karon Beach is. Kelabu asap je... I mean still bersih but not as pretty. So, we just took some photos and went back. Besides, it's about lunch time and we plan to go somewhere quite far to hunt for our sinful seafood lunch.

Patong Beach

At about 12 plus in the afternoon, we took a ride to one fisherman village nearby Coconut Island. I read about the place from multiple blogs but this blogger jamiesphuketblog.com here convinced me more about the place 

Beyond words...

It was a long journey I must say. Less than an hour but it felt so far-far away. Hahaha. Thanks to google map and waze, we managed to reach the kampung nelayan. But somehow we were a bit lost so we stopped by a small chalet or resort there to ask for assistance. Got it! A 10 minutes boat ride, and finally we were there at Bang Mud Seafood Floating Restaurant. It's the only Halal Restaurant over there if I'm not mistaken. Ada lagi few floting restaurants next to it kalau tak silap.

The place's cool...! It's floating macam dekat Pulau Aman, Penang and the foods are awesome. Rambang mata nak order. Itupun control je time order takut lari bajet. We ended up so full sampai tak boleh nak bangun dan teruskan perjalanan. Dapat tidur kat situ pun best bila fikir semula nak balik Patong kemain jauh.

Since the place is near to the city of Phuket, we went to it's famous Old Town. Phuket Old Town is a must visit place. It's nothing much there but you have to at least step a foot there to see and compare the old town with our Melaka, Georgetown and Ipoh. They are almost similar. Kebetulan pula ada weekends flea market dekat tengah-tengah town macam Jonker Walk. Rupanya banyak halal food streets kat situ. Banyak juga barang-barang craft, rare and unique been sold. I bought myself a VW Combi Miniature for THB 100. Lepas tu beli fish cracker and Miang Kham.

After almost an hour there, it's getting dark. Lagha juga duk situ lama-lama sebab most of the buskers kat situ best. Layan betul. To complete the visit there, we went for a Tea break at Eleven Two & Co. No coffee this time. Since it's in Thailand, we should try their Thai Tea and Thai Green Tea. The interior of this cafe is nice. It's attached with a small shop selling bags and souvenirs. We ordered teas and enjoyed the end of dusk - relaxing.

It doesn't seem that far on the journey back to Patong. Maybe it's no longer hot and sunny or maybe we were taking our sweet time. That night, no more heavy dinner. We redeemed the complimentary voucher for 2 glass of fruit juices and a prawn salad. We had them by the pool before our final to-do-list activity which is... massage!

There are so many (I mean a lot..!) of massage parlors over there at Patong area but we chose the nearest to the resort because we need to sleep early and pack the bags. Since we are almost out of budget, we just did manicure and foot massage. The foot massage was so good and I can't get enuf of it. It's an hour of foot massage for THB 200. Puas! I even felt asleep.

Well, our to-do-list was completed, except one. I still didn't find a handbag for myself. A bit disappointing but never mind...I'll survive. Before headed back to the room, we booked a taxi for our Airport pick-up early in the morning at the reception counter. The guy was very helpful. I asked him to pack us our breakfast because we couldn't make it tomorrow and guess what.... our breakfast pack was great..! It's full of foods and drinks. I really love the hotel and its service. 5 star for a 4 star hotel.

Day 4 - it's 5 am and it was raining heavily. We were quite late, the taxi was waiting downstairs. Checked-out, we took our breakfast pack and we said goodbye to the front-liners and of course, the hotel. Goodbye Palmyra Patong Resort. Am gonna missed the security guards, the staffs, and the front-liners..ohh and even the cats.

We managed to reach Airport as early as 6 am. We had our breakfast after checking-in our bags. It's more than 7 kg each. If they are strict, sure tak lepas masuk cabin.

It's a bit sad to finally say goodbye to Phuket. I had my last cup of coffee for my breakfast.... and then we just killed the time dekat kedai-kedai di airport and finally I bought a handbag. A cute one. Not my type but I just bought it to easily place my phone, wallet and all. Balik Malaysia, I'll hand over the bag to my mom. It's a local handmade bag that suits her well. Pandai, kan?

When we were in the plane, the rain started to stop. I felt better. The plane was not full and I felt better too. Haha. I just wanna sleep and I need the journey to be as silent and peace. A big crowd won't help.

I'll be back, Phuket. Next time, am gonna spend more time in Karon beach and maybe a day in the city. Tak puas... I need more of Phuket. The foods...the beaches... I was so much in love. I'll be back, okay?

I'll be doing another post on the foodies we enjoyed in Phuket, but before that, here's the compilation of my Itinerary :

Day 1 (Friday) – 6 July 2018

- Flight KUL - PHU 

- Touched down Phuket International Airport. 

- Took Minibus to the Hotel

- Check-in Palmyra Patong Resort

- Dinner at Kusuma Seafood (Halal) 

- Bangla Walking Street

Day 2 (Sat) – 7 July 2018

- Breakfast at the Hotel

- Sewa Skuter (THB 250/day. Sewa 2 hari = THB 500)

- Lunch at Banzaan Fresh Market

- Karon View Point 

- Promthep Carpe View Point

- Minum petang at After Beach Bar

- Dinner at Core Cafe

- Bangla Walking Street (again) 

Day 3 (Sunday) - 8 July 2018

- Breakfast at the Hotel

- Karon Beach

- Patong Beach

- Lunch at Bang Mud Seafood Restaurant

- Phuket Old Town

- Massage

Day 4 (Monday) - 9 July 2018

- Taxi to Airport (THB 800)

- Breakfast at the Airport

- PHU - KUL 

- Shuttle Bus at KLIA 2 to Bandar Utama (RM12/pax)

Till then. 

Love,

NKay

...with a cup of coffee

26 July 2018