Funny how I didn't even take a single shot of the Phuket town area during the daytime. Guess I was just too engrossed in checking out the shops/stalls. But to be honest, I didn't find Phuket to be haven for shopping purposes. Everything there seems to be the same in almost every stall. Every 'brand' seems to be the same everywhere. And, the need to bargain each time you want to purchase something there was extremely exhaustive. And I hate bargaining, that's for sure. Come to think of it, it was very much like our very own Petaling Street.
Mr Tay wouldn't let me stop to bargain for stuff in the first few shops we visited.
girl: But why?!?! boy: We must secure the parameter first. girl: SECURE THE WHAT?! boy: You never watch war movies ah? We must secure the parameter first. Secure the whole area of Phuket town first to know where has what, where has the cheapest stuff, nicest stuff... etc. Secure the parameter first.
I tell you, he just cracks me up all the time! I was laughing till my sides were aching so much and then, as I regained composure... off we went, just the two of us, 'securing the parameter.'
We walked so so so much. The streets were long and the sun was burning hot. I didn't really need to lie by the beach to get a tan. I got darker by just walking around the town, which I really like actually. No pics la, just don't why we didn't snap any.
***
On the first day, upon arrival, we've already called to book for the Phuket Fantasea *click* show. So after all the walking around Phuket town, we got back to our hotel to shower and rested to get ready for the show.
Transportation to and from hotel to the show was provided plus the lavish dinner buffet spread as well. The cost per person? 1500baht each. Though I heard from Mr Tay this morning that, his colleague who just got back few days ago, went for the show at 1300baht! Now, you see why I hate to bargain. I always get the wrong deals!
The van came at 5.30pm at the hotel doorstep and we got there roughly around 5.50pm.
i was trying to tie my hair up before the shot but mr tay just wouldn't wait!
Iyara - is the Elephant King's name as we found out from the show
The show starts at 9pm and is held inside this palace
Buffet starts at 6pm and a reminder to those who are going for the Phuket Fantasea package - please skip lunch We did exactly that and were very glad that we did as the buffet spread was really good. A fusion between Thai, Western and Italian.
Dinner is served inside this building
That is all for the Phuket Fantasea place. We weren't allowed to bring in cameras and video cams so no pics inside the Elephant Palace. But trust us, THE SHOW WAS MINDBLOWINGLY FANTASTIC! I went in with low expectations and I was thoroughly surprised again and again throughout the whole show. A must see for everyone who is visiting Phuket.
*** : day 4 :
Day 4 was spent mostly at the beach in the morning, massage and more shoppings in the afternoon right up till night. There wasn't a need to 'Secure the Parameter' anymore as we've secured it on the first day at Phuket Am very impressed with Mr Tay's stamina and patience in keeping up with me. I CAN walk a lot. A LOT.
Day 2: Exploring The Waters Around Phi Phi & Dinner
: day 2 :
We woke up early to head to the pier to meet up with the boatman who was supposed to take us out to snorkel and check out the islands around Phi Phi. We stopped at a few spots for snorkeling but sad to say, the corals and fishes were nothing to shout about, so I didn't took any pics of it.
How can you not kiss when there's a Mistletoe?
The last island, was the most gorgeous amongst all. Save the best for last, they say, hehe.
M A Y A * B A Y
For those who don't know this yet, this is same the island that the movie The Beach, made famous by Leonardo Dicaprio, was shot here.
Hehe, couldn't resist this. That was the spot where the shark attacked a man and bit his leg off in The Beach
girl: Where are all the hot Nihon-Jins you said you saw last time? boy: *scans around more* Exactly! Where are they!!! They were flocking this beach the last time I was here!
No Nihon-jin babes around. Baby was very extremely devastated *nihon jin = japanese
I definitely recommend going to Maya Beach. The sand is as white as Redang's, and water as clear as crystal. But you gotta pay though to land on Maya Beach, which sucked. We only found this out from the boatman when we requested to land on Maya Beach. There was a guy at the beach collecting 'entry' fee from people, if I am not mistaken it was 200baht per person.
day 2 : dinner time
The first night, we had dinner at Amico Resto, which served decent Italian food and steaks. They were pretty alright I guess. And Pineapple Malibu!!! Heaven. After dinner, we took a stroll around the island, browsing from shop to shop, and we found this - Matt's Grill Joint.
We were there for dinner on the second night
Rabbits?
Rabbits??? There is a reason for the exclaimation marks on the circled "Spare Ribs"
Remember to load your plates up with Spare Ribs, there were heaven!!! 220baht - 250 baht is pretty cheap for what you can get here. I will definitely come back if I were to go to Phi Phi once more (hint hint bf).
Don't kacau! Because he churns out the best grilled ribs!
So what is with the 'rabbits' part? I asked the waitress, because I just couldn't tahan the curiousity anymore. She replied me as though she was asked this question a million times before, "Vegetarians." I burst out laughing. I asked the boy, "Why not cow?" But then 'cows' wouldn't sound as polite as rabbits I guess. Imagine on the menu - Kids and cows: 125 baht. Pfft.
This is an important tip to everyone who wants to get to Phi Phi island straight from the airport - Be sure to reach the airport by 1.00pm or earlier(Thai time, 1 hr earlier, so it's 2.00pm local time here)
See AirAsia got our flight delayed and we only managed to reach the airport by 1.45pm and the only way to get to Phi Phi was by the ferry which always makes its last trip at 2.30pm and no more trips after that. The airport to the pier was not exactly near either, so we had to scrambled to get a taxi ride and there were many stations there offering taxi rides at cut-throat prices. Bottom line is, if you are asked to pay more than 350baht, be sure to bargain. We knew this beforehand because, yours truly did some research on the Internet earlier. Clever girl.
But we still got ripped off nonetheless because we had no choice as the ferry leaves at 2.30pm. Blame it all on AirAsia
We stayed here for 2 nights
After about 1+ hour of ferry ride, we reached Phi Phi and got ourselves checked into Phi Phi Hotel. There are many other hotels and lodgings available there but through thorough research done by yours truly again (ahem ), this was the best choice. See, when I go for vacation, I hate to spend a bomb on luxurious hotels where most of our time are spent outdoor anyway. However, it need not be too cheap and shabby-looking either. So middle range hotels do best for me and Phi Phi Hotel is one of those hotels. For good hotel rates and reviews in Phi Phi, please go to www.sawadee.com. Booking online is much cheaper too.
***
Thai pancake. They are abundant in the island. So many stalls but this stall was our favorite. We only bought from her See the young girl in the pic, that was the stall should you want to go look for it. It is situated towards the end of the road. The pancakes here are light and crispy and definitely addictive as there were so many flavors to try from! Here in the pic, we shared between ourselves 2 pancakes: Banana + Honey and Chocolate. Banana + Honey was the best as we discovered when we had tried other flavors the next day.
There were like 1 million () of stalls selling accessories, clothes, paintings, but mostly accessories. Then at this quaint little shop, I saw this skirt.
But as you can see, it wouldn't fit so we went searching the whole island for this gorgeous DVB denim skirt in other shops but to no avail! Ok, I am a sucker for anything which has a crown on it. Plus it was a David Victoria Beckham skirt, fake one of course but I couldn't care less because... it has a crown on both pockets
Random shots:
Me
Little buckets of liquor, soft drinks and ice sold for a mere 170baht (about RM16+) The art of consuming these is by just dumping / emptying EVERYTHING into the bucket, stir and drink up!
Hotel slippers which bore the word "Perfect". Perfect, indeed
Slippers
This man handmakes the shoes that are sold in his shop, see last pic
Gecko on baby's shoulders. Fake or real? *heehee*
Bikinis which I've bought. Cheap cheap cheap! I know because I've hunted around the whole island before deciding on these. Originally priced at 450baht, sold to me at 250baht (that's like RM24 each) My rationale: Bikinis sold at The Curve flea market, starts from RM49.90
Walking around the beach at Phi Phi. Loved the colorful shade tops.
Here at Amico Resto, right infront of our hotel was the Best Pineapple Malibu cocktail ever. We had to have another one that night. We're heading to Tesco soon to load up on the pineapple juice since we have a huge bottle of Malibu sitting at home
To be continued...
In the meantime, the below shots were taken on the second day as we were heading out to the sea for some snorkeling action :)
Ok. So I've applied for my vacation leave like eons ago. Got it approved and all is fine until today.
Today, an email came with some very urgent tasks "to be completed by end of this week."
What end of this week??!??!! By Thurs, I'll be gone la! Geez.
Trying to find a way to complete by tomorrow.
p/s: I've already informed these people that I'll be on leave from Thurs - Tues many many times before this task came in. Apparently, it just went in the right ear and straight out from the left ear.
Stresso maximus.
Thank goodness for the 1 1/2 hour date with the Facial Therapist later.
Flames to dust Lovers to friends Why do all good things come to an end Flames to dust Lovers to friends Why do all good things come to an end come to an end come to an Why do all good things come to end? come to an end come to an Why do all good things come to an end? Nelly feat. Chris Martin
*been singing non-stop to this song. love it. love it. love it.
I am rather free today. Did some blog-hopping - laughed, smiled, nodded + shook head, winced, salivated (food blogs) and went "awww" (mommies with babies blogs).
Browsed thestar online and read a couple of articles. And I say to the lady who said, "I was only joking," - you blardy deserved the more than 4 hours of held up and questioning by the police. What were you thinking?! Threatening to hijack a plane, but oh... "I was only joking." Geez. I hope she and everyone else who ever thought that was funny, learnt a lesson from this. Oh by the way, I thought the newly-married Zara is HOT.
I got bored and was listening to some really sentimental songs and suddenly something prompted me to login to yahoomail. Not to check on my account.
But my ex's.
No, not the recent ex, but an ex from long time ago and till today we're still good friends. See, it was not in my intention to invade his privacy or check on him but just out of curiousity, I had just wanted to see whether he was still using The Password for his account.
The Password: loveangie
And it logged me in beautifully. Shook my head, lips formed a silly girly grin and promptly messaged him.
Me: Why isn't it changed? J: Why wasn't what changed? Me: The password in your yahoo mail. J: Ohhhh that... hahaha you tried? ;) Me: I got curious. Ppl that I know, who use my name as passwords, I find that blardy fascinating. Even if it's 'hateangie' or 'dieangie'. J: :) You should know that I hate changes. I love routine. Which is a great opposite from yours ;) Me: Oh well, that's nothing new. So you're gonna STILL use that? J: Been using that 6 yrs ago and will still be using that 6 yrs from now. Just as long my account doesn't die on me.
But that's J anyway. Still with the same ol' haircut he's been sporting for years now. But I have absolutely no reservations whatsoever for that matter. It suits him fine.
So, I put myself in the reversed situation. If I were to be the one who set that password, like "lovej" would I change it the moment we call the relationship off? I have a gf who broke up few months back and all, and I mean ALL her passwords - be it personal emails or work-related stuff - she has them all with her ex's name conjoined with hers. She had difficultly changing the habit, told me she kept entering the old password for several weeks and it frustrated her immensely each time that she couldn't be logged on and be reminded that she was no longer with him anymore and hence the new password. She hated the change. She hated the idea of having a new password so much, she set it as "tohellwithpasswords".
So, does this mean, ladies hate changes because they can't face or accept the ugly truth while men resist changes for normality's sake? Hmm.
But to answer the question on the reversed situation above, in the first place, I would NEVER set a password with my beloved's name in it. I don't know why, but I just wouldn't.
This brings me back to a story once upon a time ago, when my other ex, Andy decided that he was so in love with me, he set up an account with the username: soinluvwithangie
Please don't puke yet. Wait till you hear his 'brilliant' suggestion for a password.
Apparently, he set the password as: andyluvangie
AND
He cheekily (in a serious manner) asked me to set up another account: soinluvwithandy with the password: angieluvandy
I mean seriously, WTF right! I was young back then but I wasn't young and stupid! Stupid sometimes, but not entirely stupid So, obviously I did not succumb to his ridiculous idea. I mean, seriously???
So yes, this thing about Changes. Just how well do you welcome changes in your life?
Oh, and J's right. I love changes. Changes means having the freedom to see, feel and experience new things in life, even if it means having to go through a long period of time to get accustomed to these changes, because only through these changes will you find your true self. John Lilly said, "Our only security is our ability to change and adapt."
Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights - Pauline R. Kezer -
Being a HUGE fan of Neil Gaiman's, I can't wait for his story, Stardust to be told in a movie form.
Me thinks Claire Danes as Yvaine was perfect. The cross-dressing pirate, Captain Shakespeare is played by Robert De Niro, personally I would much prefer Johnny Depp aka Captain Jack Sparrow. Love him but we'll see how De Niro carries it off. And Ian McKellen (Gandalf from LOTR) as the Narrator - brilliant. Love his warm, grandfatherly voice. Another favorite choice of mine, Morgan Freeman. Not too keen on Sienna Miller as Victoria but we'll see. And then we have Michelle Pfeiffer who is finally back taking the role as Lamia, the evil witch! I'm just so excited!
You know I have a feeling Mr Tay won't wanna watch this with me. He hates fantasy / magic / prancing fairies / dark faeries kinda movies. Hence, I didn't get to watch Pan's Labyrinth, waiting for DVD now
Stardust - Coming to cinemas near you ~
Neil Gaiman didn't quite like the tagline they are using, "Stardust. This summer a star falls. The chase begins." Neil said, "My own suggestion, "Stardust. It's not a sequel to anything," was appreciated but, probably wisely, rejected." Personally, I think I prefer the first one. Hmm.
Now, you see why I hate to bargain. I always get the wrong deals! 
We did exactly that and were very glad that we did as the buffet spread was really good. A fusion between Thai, Western and Italian.
See the young girl in the pic, that was the stall should you want to go look for it. It is situated towards the end of the road. The pancakes here are light and crispy and definitely addictive as there were so many flavors to try from! Here in the pic, we shared between ourselves 2 pancakes: Banana + Honey and Chocolate. Banana + Honey was the best as we discovered when we had tried other flavors the next day.
