over the weekend, i hopped over to Phuket for a 4D3N vacation.
flew there by Silkair. the inflight service was great, the cabin crew were attentive and friendly.
the pilots were highly skilled, we had a smooth landing despite the small size of A320.
however, the inflight breakfast was terrible!!!
they offered scrambled eggs, but it looked and tasted like disgusting baby food! why? coz they made the scrambled eggs out of powdered eggs!
hence it lacked the consistency, texture and aroma of real fresh eggs.
* powdered eggs are good for cakes, pastries and noodles but not to be cooked on its own...
anyway, back to Phuket, it was lovely!
however, we didn't stay on Phuket island itself. instead, we stayed at Khao Lak.
it took us a northward drive for about 40mins form Phuket airport,
crossed the Sarasin Bridge and voila!
welcome to Khao Lak! =)
Khao Lak is a lovely quite resort town, quite small in size, but well equiped.
there are many dive shops, hair - manicure salons, a supermarket well stocked with european products and groceries, thai restaurants and a cafe with fancy coffee beverages. be warned, since this cafe is THE ONLY proper cafe, complete with cakes, pastries and french vanilla latte, they also have complete price monopoly (big hint).
our resort is called the New Khao Lak Green Beach Resort.
it is by the beach (hence the name). they own their stretch of the beach, so it's quite private.
you get all the space you need to sun tan and maximum privacy.
it is a family-run resort, there are approximately 40 rooms, in the forms of chalets,
with attached bathroom, mini-fridge and fully air-conditioned.
the rooms are very clean, though the beds and pillows are a tad too hard for my comfort.
the service is totally personalized, the director and managers know each guest by name.
they are very attentive and helpful. they also provide thai massage by the beach front, day-tours to Similan island, diving, jungle trekking, ATV rides and various activities, taxi service and rental of motorbikes.
the food provided at the Green Beach Restaurant is relatively cheap, as compared to the to the restaurants along the main road.
Plus, the ingredients used were really fresh.
however, they could do better by cutting back on the salt..
how did i spend my 4 days there?
1. slept alot.
i was down with cough... which is currently still bothering me,
despite finishing a bottle of cough syrup and korzen 5 to dissolve phlegm.
my daily routine was waking up at 10am and clocking in to bed again at 10pm.
no, i am not a nightlife person.
no, i do not enjoy swimming in the sea too.
(only exception is scuba diving, coz i will get to enjoydiving freely with the various marine creatures and admire the corals)
i like swimming in a chlorinated pool. does that count?
no, i do not like to sun bath too...
2. went down to Phuket town.
my first destination? Central Festival Shopping Mall!!!
it's big and new. complete with Central dept store, boutiques such as Guess?, Jaspal etc.; plenty of restaurants such as MK steamboat, Fuji Jap Restaurant, Black Canyon Coffee and Starbucks Coffee.
i had a lovely Cappuccino at this iBerry Cafe, in the mall. freshly grinded Lavazza beans, topped with silky steamed milk froth, in a warm cup. ahhh.... to die for. yes, i am a caffe addict.
skipped the Patong Beach etc. Khao Lak has a beautiful beach too, minus the terrible beach crowd.
i mean, if i wanted to enjoy a beach vacation, i seriously do not want to be squashed with other tourists at the beach, haggling over the few deck chairs
Phuket town also has a Peranakan section, with its distinct Peranakan architecture, 5 foot ways, floral motif tiles and old chinese shop fronts. this heritage area is highly recommended and worth an afternoon walk. take in the view of old Perenakan architecture and bustling trade, this is something which you will not be able to find even in Spore's Joo Chiat area. i live in the east, so i know what i am talking about =)
there are a few shops, which sell the Peranakan kebaya, complete with the floral embroidery at the seams and sarong. materials available are sheer, silk and cotton. all these detailed kebayas are all hand-sewn, tailored perfectly to fit your size. some of these peranakan tailors also provide hand-strewn Peranakan beaded slippers and golden button catches. price-wise, it is relatively cheap (about S$80 - 120 for a kebaya), compared to Melaka and Singapore, without losing out on quality of tailorship. however, there are no peranakan restaurants, kaya toast stalls or coffee shops. heehee. but, there are stalls selling roti prata, with banana or cheese filling and mutarbak, complete with a teh tarik! nice...
3. ate alot of seafood.
every meal i had consisted of mainly seafood. we had plenty of fresh fish, crabs (both the small local soft-shelled crabs and flower crabs) and clams (vongole and shellfishes). plus, plenty of local thai vegetables from the jungle, and raw long beans, cucumbers and small thai eggplants with spicy ambal belanchan dip, topped with fresh or roasted shrimps. cool relish from all the seafood during meals. and yes, plenty of fruits too! such as watermelon, sweet tamarind, thai oranges, sweet pineapples etc.
4. spa.
i went to this spa at The Bhandari Resort, which is located right opposite Green Beach.
the Bhandari only reopened in November 06, after recovering from the tsunami.
i started with a sauna and steam... it was.... HOT. okay, i am not a person who enjoys being steamed or boiled basically... even if it's to 'open' all my skin pores. it makes my blood rush too..
followed by an open air jacuzzi. be warned, pls bring your bathing suit. i had to go down that jacuzzi pool, wide open to the prying eyes of the ang mo guests, in nothing but wrapped in a bath robe. dang.
then, they wrapped my hair up in a shower cap and i was treated to a yogurt-tomato-honey scrub, to exfoliate away the dead skin cells and revitalize the skin. after which, i take a quick shower to rinse of the bits of honey comb, tomato and yogurt, in the attched bathroom, which is very new and clean, complete with shower gel, shampoo and conditioner.
a yogurt body wrap soon followed, to nourish and whiten the skin. a body wrap refers to the spreading of the yogurt-honey mixture over your body, then wrapping you in cling wrap. yes, the type which we use to cling wrap our dishes, albeit this time a larger sheet. then, covering you with bath towels to keep warm. no, being a human sushi isn't uncomfrtable or stifflingly hot. there's air con =)
to my disappointment, my swedish massage wasn't what i expected. the masseur was this petite thai lady with little strength, hence, she couldn't massage me as hard as i would like her to. so much for my swedish massage with aromatic oils.
i enjoyed my scrub and wrap but the massage was really... ineffective to sooth my aches. oh well.
lesson learnt: pick a female masseur who is older in age, more experience and bigger in physical size coz she is most likely to be stronger.
conclusion:
it's a lovely vacation destination. highly recommended and yes, can go budget yet live comfortably.
however, in terms of natural scenery, Koh Samui is way prettier, Koh Samui has more pristine beaches, rock outcrops, lagoons and waterfalls. (refer my to previous post).
