The last time I came to Phuket was with The Boyfriend, about a decade ago. It was great coming back again, with a bunch of friends who truly care about one another and friends who actually stayed in Phuket to know the place well enough.
We planned for it to be a budget trip, with our tickets bought way ahead of time and sharing 20kg of check-in luggage among all EIGHT of us.
My toiletries weighed and took up as much space as Honey's entire luggage. How does a girl travel with such a tiny backpack? HOW???!!!
Out of the 18.4kg, I think I must have chalked up umm... 14kg? I shall explain why in a while. Don't judge me yet! >.<
That's all 8 of us! From the left: BFF, Honey, WS, CY, The Bun, Siew, Andrew, and PY. You'll get the names as we go along. Heh.
Flying budget's not too bad, especially for short haul flights.
We stayed at Clear House for the length of our trip. Affordable, clean, and comfortable. Much better than hotel coz it's more like a home!
But that's maybe coz the girls had the suite which has a living room, dining table, day bed, sofa, 2 refrigerators and 2 TVs.
Oh yeah, I slept in the living room and Honey and Siew shared the bed. Coz I don't like to squeeze.
Toiletries galore!!!
I didn't bring everything for myself okie~ Many were for sharing! Like the sunscreen, moisturizer, shampoo, conditioner... I didn't bring a lot of makeup products this time round either... if that helps... 😛
Oh and I brought hairdryer coz I cannot sleep with wet hair otherwise I will look like Edward Scissorhands in the morning. And the girls used it to dry their hair and clothes. That's why my luggage is heavy! (Am I justifying enough? LOL!)
We had supper at the cafe/restaurant beside our home.
Everyone loved the ambience! I really wanted to go back a second time but we never had a chance. But oh well, we have memories!
Day 2
Tuk Tuk, Mall, Patong Beach, Simon Cabaret Show
Because we came during the monsoon season (which explains the very cheap airfare), the streets were empty. On the otherwise busy streets during summer, we saw no other tourists and only a small group of 5 Caucasians at the breakfast place.
If you're a sunny beach person, don't come during the monsoon season! Haha! Our plan to go frolic in the waters at Kamala Beach were cancelled due to the heavy rain. So we spent some hours at a mall.
LOL! Their minister wave was uncoordinated. Entirely coincidental!!
And when you're far away in a land where nobody will laugh at the silly things you do, you've got to channel your inner DDR queen.
I keed!! We were terrible!!! XD
Someone said 'konichiwa' to me
We had lunch at a random restaurant along Patong Beach.
I love this picture!! The lighting, my pose and the light breeze through my hair.
This is a local delicacy - raw prawn dipped in sauce. An acquired taste, I must say.
This was goooood!! Prawns, beans, chilli... HAHAHA! That's why I'm a beauty blogger and not a food blogger. Lol.
It rained even harder during lunch and outside was cold and gloomy.
But we couldn't stay all day in the restaurant so we got ponchos! I'd probably rather brave the rain or suffer under a trembling umbrella than walk around in a poncho in Singapore , but hey, we're on HOLIDAYYYY!!!
I'd like to say I look diamond-shaped but in all honesty, more like a barrel. XD
The Simon Cabaret Show was at 7pm, and so we walked around a bit, went to buy tickets for our snorkelling trip the next day, and had time to spare for some full body massage. Hmmm... not the best I've had but quite cheap.
And it was time for the show! The last time I was here, The Boyfriend and I came for this show too and I was looking forward to what has changed since then.
But of course, no photography or recording were allowed in the theatre so I have no pictures to show. While it was more Thai-oriented 10 years ago, the show had evolved to become more internationalized, to cater to the different markets now. Every segment showcased the essence of different countries. There were Brazilian, China Chinese, Taiwan Chinese, Cantonese, Korean K-Pop, German, English and Thai numbers. (Don't ask me how I differentiate between China and Taiwan Chinese haha. The accents are just distinguishable.)
After the show all the girls? boys? erm, performers stood outside in a line for phototaking. I took the liberty of mosaic-ing the people, just in case they weren't supposed to be there in the first place. HAHAHA!
This was the hottest girl (I shall just refer to them as females since that's what they would want, right?) of the night. She did nothing but stood there and people queued to have their pictures taken with her. Like a Victoria's Secret Angel, with the diamond-studded costume and OTT feathery wings.
Two other hot ones. Princess in pink's boobs look less natural (too perfectly round, no?) but she had a pretty face - soft features, sharp chin, sweet smile = downfall of men.
On the other hand, the less hot ones had to ask people to 'come, come, come'. The lady in red, on the left, executed a splendid performance in Cantonese and Mandarin. Honey and I felt she was the one with the most natural femininity. Her boobs look the most natural too! Sadly though, people flocked to the young, hot and scantily-clad ones.
The Cher lookalike did a Burlesque number. Pretty good! Oh they all lip-synched and Cher and lady in red mentioned above lip-synched the best.
The show had very few guys but this guy performed so well we felt he was really the highlight of the show. Honey and I thoroughly enjoyed his exaggerated moves and facial expressions. Snatched the show right under the noses of the supposed stars of the show! This is how a performer should be! Every number, he danced his heart out, charmed the audience and you could feel his smile all the way from the back of the theatre.
I must learn from him and be less like my virgin flashmob experience. =.=
After the show we stopped at a random roadside stall for supper.
BEST.BOWL.OF.ROADSIDE.NOODLES.EVER.
Omg totally unexpected! The glass noodles were chewy, the stock was flavorful and the chicken drumstick tender right down to the bones.
I initially wanted to just 'have a taste' and told Honey to share a bowl with me. We ended up getting another bowl, which meant we had a full bowl each. I think sharing (and snatching) made it more DESIRABLE. I cannot count how many times I've swallowed my saliva just thinking back at how insanely delicious this bowl of noodles was.
At a supermarket getting food for tomorrow's snorkelling trip.
Day 3
Snorkelling, Phi Phi Island, Steamboat BBQ Buffet, Laguna Beach
It rained again the next day but we decided to go ahead with our snorkelling trip anyway coz even though they said we could change the date, we didn't really have too many days to spare.
Because it's totally cool to wear shades and bikini and carry an umbrella in the rain
And it was good weather when we were out at sea! YAYYY!!!
So this is me, without a single trace of makeup, zero Photoshop, with all my blemishes saying hello to you. This is probably the closest distance from which you'll ever see my raw face. Heh heh. Thank goodness for good sunlight.
This was the last picture of me smiling (see the strained expression) coz after that the weather changed, the seas turned stormy and I had a splitting headache and seasickness. I was so grateful to have BFF and Siew slather my face with medicated oil until my eyes stung and felt light headed and HIGH. Wheeee~~~!!!
Thankfully, we stopped over at some island for some passengers and the weather changed for the better.
I made sure to move around a lot, look at scenery, take pictures to distract myself from the seasickness.
Awwww... group hug!!
That's why I love you. HAHAHA!
I remember there were a lot more fish when The Boyfriend and I came 10 years ago. Really! I was terribly afraid they would suddenly turn into piranhas and threw the bread far away so they wouldn't come near to me. LOL. And we could jump from the upper deck of the boat, which was scary at first but a great experience! Leap of faith!
You know what, this time, we were shortchanged! We paid for two snorkelling destinations but were only brought to one and that was it! They brought us to Phi Phi Island for lunch and that was the end of it. @_@ Not like we could do anything about it though. Couldn't speak Thai, too troublesome and unnecessary to go back and ask for refund, so we just made the best of the situation by enjoying ourselves at the beach. Never mind la!
= Abrupt end of post here =
Too long already! HAHAHA! I'll continue in the next post! More fun and interesting stories to tell! Check back in a few days okie? 😀
For now, tell me if you've ever been to Phuket! Even been 'cheated' of a tour package? Ever watched a ladyboy show?
