Phuket Seafood, The Big Buddha and Sunset

Sunset at Kamala Beach

On the 3rd day of our beachy trip, we decided to do some exploration and rented 2 motorbikes to go about the island. Motorbike rental was about RM30 for whole day usage. It was quite amusing that my travel buddies have no experience in riding motorbikes but they managed to manouvere the machine well (U-turns were the hardest) for one whole day on a foreign land- and we didn't even use the map!


Hilltop view- spectacular!

We managed to travel to a few places such as Karon, Kata, Rawai, Surin and Kamala. Since Patong is the most popular and overcrowded beach, other beaches have a more quiet and serene surrounding with definitely much less beach chairs and umbrellas and also shorter beachside. However, it is not near to get from one beach to the other.


The Big Buddha of Phuket

Our exploration brought us to The Big Buddha which was situated on a hill top, hence it's spottable from far away and with big signs in the vicinity. The Big Buddha is still under construction and yes, it is BIG!


Sunsets and silhouettes

The 1 day motorbike excursion really burnt us- we were too smart not to put any sun block ha haha! The air was humid and the sun was scorching hot coupled with the burning wind... on the last day, we became charcoals but it was a bold and brave experience nonetheless- it was a great experience to see things on a two-wheel instead of four.


Of Tom Yum and cooling Coconut juice


Left to Right: Butter fried prawns, Fried Fish and Stir fried curry pork


Last meal before we bid our beach holiday a farewell....

Food in Phuket is not awesome and not cheap too, with the exception of McD Samurai Pork Burger. I would suggest those who have never been to Phuket not to have high expectations when it comes to food (and 6 packs hot bodies).

Will I return to Phuket? Hmmmm, maybe not.

I'm now excitingly waiting for my next holiday trips- Bandung in August and Bali in September! Meanwhile, I'm still looking out for affordable holidays before August arrives- any recommendation, guys?

Phuket's Red Light District

Do you wan a piccha Sirrrrrr? 300 baht onleee!

Thailand is probably one of the rare Asian countries where SHims are as common as the beer bellied guys you'll find along Patong Beach. Similar to Bangkok, where there is a whole road dedicated to these guys and/or girls, Phuket has one too and it's at the infamous Soi Bangla. Erm, contrary to the street name, you don't find much 'aBangs' here. There are a row of A-Go-Go bars (aka Tiger show) which I learnt from a friend to be wary of such shows as they're all out to con you by promoting very cheap show package, ie. buy 2 bottles of beer and watch show for XXX baht but you'll be charged XXXX baht later on.

Scantily clad 'girls' are everywhere in every club/pub doing their publicity thigamajig with the poles, as celebrity impersonators, cosplay etc and a picture with them will set you back 300 baht (RM30). Erm, thanks but no thanks!


Phuket in its eccentricity
Clockwise from Top Left: Massage, no SEX!, Kangaroo bar- kangaroo show??, Oooh they sell 'boys' too??, Creative publicity stunt to promote kickboxing match


JungCeylon- The New Shopping Mall in Phuket

JungCeylon is the new shopping place in Phuket, also my fav place to hideaway from the scorching heat outside! It's known to have a very cool water feature which we checked it out and confirmed. I think it's quite cool to have a sail ship in the middle of a shopping mall and water fountains surrounding it.


Patong Pearl Resortel Restaurant
Clockwise from Top Left: From the Thai Set Menu- Stir Fried Assorted Vege and Coconut Chicken Soup (300 baht- RM30), Menu, Fried Thai Curry with Pork on Rice (80 baht- RM8)

The food scene is not very happening (for me) in Phuket. Desperate for food, we settled at Patong Pearl Resortel's restaurant.


Clockwise from Top: Chinese Spring Rolls (80 baht- RM8), Baked Rice in Pineapple (120 baht- RM12), Assorted Tempura from Thai Set Menu, Spicy Soup with Seafood (120 baht- RM12)

While they actually look good in pictures, reality is it was only to line our stomach for the cheap cheers.

Patong Pearl Resortel
13, Sawasdeeruk Rd.,
Patong Beach.
www.patongpearl.com

Phuket- Sun, Swim, Sea and Beer Bellies

Where are the 6 packs..........????

I was in Phuket for a ho-ho-holiday in January, expecting to look for some jolly good relaxing time ogling at hot 6 packs surfer dudes, sipping on inexpensive alcohol and taking in the cool sea breeze. The inexpensive alcohol was the only thing I got :(

Phuket is packed, OVERCROWDED and congested with too many beer bellies (most old and wrinkly) and the number of decently hot guys (and girls) are countable by the fingers (doesn't even include toes). My travel buddies and I were utterly disappointed that after an hour or so of doing some human scans, we gave up and turned to our alcohol instead.


I like the colourful umbrellas

The sun was scorching hot. So hot that any white chickens to get under the sun for 5 mins would be roasted. We stayed at Patong, the most overcrowded beach in Phuket (oh yessss, we contributed to the overcrowded-ness). The beachside was lined with thousands and millions of beach chairs, which to be honest the colourful umbrellas make a pretty sight :) Each beach chair is up for rent for approximately 100 baht (RM10) a day.


Patong Downtown

Patong Downtown is just like any other beach town... touristy stuff, tour agents, plenty of 7-11 for convenient alcohol purchase, eatery outlets, bike/car rental, massage parlours, dodgy bars etc.


Club Andaman Resort at Patong

We stayed at Club Andaman Resort where we got a pretty decent deal from AirAsia Flight + Hotel package. The resort is pretty nice and comfortable, I love the buffet breakfast especially due to the pork sausages and bacon, and the poolside is a more relaxing spot than the beachside as it's less crowded and shady.


Patong Seafood
Clockwise from Top Left: Lipton Ice Tea in a bottle- classic!, Tom Yum Goong, Stir Fried Pork with Garlic, Seafood Glass Noodles, Shrimp Cakes

On the first night, we headed to Patong Seafood for our dinner which turned out to be a disappointment as the food weren't great. I especially remember that the Tom Yum was too salty! The rest were just edible to fill our stomach :/


I see....... Cheap Alcohol

The alcohol were really cheap. A bottle of Smirnoff pre-mixed cost about 500 baht (RM5) while the Bacardi Breezer was about 420 baht (RM4.20).

Cheap cheers!


Patong Seafood
Beach Road,
200m North of Soi Bangla,
Patong, Phuket.