Phuket, Patong 16 to 18 June 12

On the way to Changi Airport

Waiting for Claire and Phil who were late!

Our resort Deepava Patong Resort and Spa

Rooms were surprisingly big and super clean ;) What's most important when going overseas for leisure will be clean and comfortable accommodation ~ especially the toilet!

Went for an hour massage (Aromatherapy) with Claire. Was quite ex at THB1,200 and the skill was not that good. However, it's expected that hotel service everywhere round the globe will be more expensive. There's a massage place just outside our resort (Oriental) that provides similar massage for like half that price. Didn't try it though, we didn't have enough time.

After massage and a short swim in the (warm) pool, we went out of the resort for our dinner. There's a whole row of seafood dinner places just across the street from our resort. Had originally planned to see whether we can have our dinner at Linda's Seafood however, we were pissed off and turned off by how aggressive the mongers were at getting business. They not only stop you in your tracks, block your way and shout in your ear but they also try to stop you from walking away by touching you! Understand they were trying to make a living. However, it's precisely because they did that, we don't want to eat at their shops.

In the end we walked down Rat-U Thid Road about less than 10 minutes away, near The Royal Paradise. There's a street of mini stalls there much like a night market, selling clothes and souvenirs. Opposite the night market-like street was this: 99 restaurant. Still aggressive but a whole lot less irritating than those we encountered before. This place was like full.... 爆满 and what we noticed was that a lot of the customers were Chinese.

This dish was nice, Chicken with cashew nuts. Love the texture of the chicken meat yumz~ ;) It's harder, less tender than the chicken we often eat with Chicken Rice but it's more chewy and sweet.

Tom Yam Goong, I only drank a little since I can't really take spicy food. Not as sour as the ones found in Singapore, not as spicy too. But they were not stingy with the ingredients as we found lots and lots of prawns and mushrooms in there~  

Stingray X 2

In total we ordered, 4 fried rice (quite big a portion, please share!),1 chicken with cashew, 1 vegetables, 1 tom yam goong, 6 drinks, 2 stingrays totaling up to about THB1800+ converted to SGD will be SGD18.50 per person. To me it's considered as expensive though compared to Singapore's price for the same spread, this will be cheap.

Look! We found treasures at the 7-eleven~ One Piece green tea~ There's Genmai, Goji and some other flavors I've forgotten but Genmai's my favourite~! Cornetto Ice Cream's selling at less than SGD1 per piece! We had a great time pigging ourselves with the Ice Cream after dinner. ;P

Next morning at 7am (8am Singapore Time) we got on to the mini van to take us to the ferry for island hopping.

The cruise ride to Phi Phi Islands will be about 2 hours.The cruise will take you to various parts of Phi Phi Islands to let you view the scenery, take some photos then for an hour snorkeling, then to a buffet lunch at Phi Phi Don/Lay (whatever).

Great scenery, though the corals and fish were not the best I've seen, they were great enough. Probably the tide's too high for a great view. (sorry, no underwater pics)

Really, you really don't have to go Island hopping on the big cruise ships. Instead, spend a bit more and get those speed boats to take you and your friends to go island hopping or snorkeling. 

Going on the big cruise ship was a torture. Yes, torture. You'll face loads of people who have no idea what is courtesy. You'll face vomits from children (and adults) which no one bothered to clean up. You'll face people smoking and blowing the smoke in your face. Time's wasted on the cruise as 2 hours to Phi Phi will mean 2 hours back + an hour snorkeling + 2 hours lunch and shopping, you'll reach your resort at about 7 pm and not much time left to do anything cept for a short swim, dinner and sleep.

We really regretted getting the deal from Deal.com.sg. Spent $58 per pax on a deal that says "speed boat" but did not get what we paid for.

This is what I meant by loads of people: 

Going to Taiwan again~ yes again~

Going to Taiwan, it's my forth trip. This time, we'll be going to 日月潭，清境，合欢山，南方澳，新竹, 薰衣草森林 - places that I've not been before. Of course since we'll be going with my sister in law and cousin in law who have not been to Taiwan before, there will also be several places I've went to, the typical tourists spots like 渔人码头. Contrary to the previous few times, most of this trip we'll be travelling with a private tour guide. Not ex, about NT1000 per day per pax which is only like SGD45 for a whole day or at least 8 hours of play. Hopefully it will be fun this time round~ If everything goes on smoothly, we'll plan another one in February since we've not been there during the winter season and Feb is a good season for Sakura and Strawberries~

Taiwan - Kaohsiung May 2011

Due to some circumstances, Dar and I made a trip to Taiwan by ourselves. We had actually planned the trip with Claire but ... long story....

Took the HSR to Kaoshiung from Taoyuan.

Super~~~~~ clean and spacious~! Comfy trip all the way to Kaohsiung~ There's no need to book the ticket first as not many people will take the HSR since its more expensive than the train.

Weather was damn hot by the way, in Kaohsiung, we knew it will be warm but didn't know it's damn hot! 

Our accommodation in Kaoshiung, Kindness Hotel which is very near to the main station, very near to 爱河and also the night market 六合夜市. Room very small, and only have space as shown in the picture, enough for 2 pax to walk. The other side of the bed is wall. However, the rooms are clean enough, staff friendly and place is very convenient. There's 巴方云集(shop selling 水饺and 锅贴) and 贡茶 just opposite it. Free Wifi too.

This came from the a dessert shop just besides the hotel. Very nice~ green tea with red beans and the serving so much I couldn't finish. 

On our way to 六合...

Our main dinner for the night. 2 鲁肉饭, Meat ball soup, eggs, sausage and vegetables all at only NT160! Which is only NT80 per pax and this is calculated to approximate S$3. Very value for money and delicious too! Different from the 鲁肉饭at Taipei, the 鲁肉饭here has got big pieces of meat and lesser gravy. Preferred the food in Kaohsiung as it's less oily and less salty. 

爆浆水饺from the night market. Was alright didn't really 爆浆but maybe cause we ate when we went back to the hotel, after a roundabout walk. Should have eaten there but we were too full. 

Dream Mall ， 梦广场. Atas shopping mall which we visited by taking a shuttle bus there. A very big mall containing many branded boutiques. 

They have got an amusement park on the room top called the Happy 100 Sky Park. This place has got bungee jump too. Not the falling down kind but the upwards kind which I don't know what it is called. 

Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel~ 

There are 2 kinds of cabin, the one above, with cartoons on the casing and the one we took which is transparent all around. 

This is the one we took. Hello Kitty one with transparent casing. Though I know it should be quite safe but my heart still skipped a beat when we are in and it's moving. 

We are only staying for 2 days in Kaohsiung and though we had planned to visit places like Qijin (旗津) or Kaohsiung Rose Basilica, Kaohsiung Confucius Temple and Xizi Bay（Xiziwan), we didn't really have much time to go. The super warm weather is not conducive for travelling around too. 

Kaohsiung is too big for a 1.5 days stay. Do remember to stay longer if you are going there. 

We do however, have the mood to do some shopping~ New Juejiang Shopping Area. It's easier to shop in Kaoshiung, perhaps due to the lesser number of people filing around, compared to in Taipei, where it's more crowded. Quality and variety seems better too. 

Love River or 爱河.

You can take the tourist boat called 爱之船. Which though named after the river, it can actually also means "Aids Boat".

Professional looking, clean boat with an official tour guide on the boat who will explain to tourists the significance of the river and the building around it. Best to visit in the evening around 5, then you can see the beautiful sight of the river, changing as the sun sets and lighting up with blue lights.

There are dragon boats underneath the bridge. According to the guide, we've missed the training for the dragon boat festival. 

 Soaring Dragon Fish Statue

According to the guide, the bridge is called 高雄之眼. Eye of Kaohsiung due to the reflections on the river after the lights are on, the bridge will form the shape of an eye from above.

Went to 六合again to buy some food, got 牛榨糖as souvenir back for the Office people. Should have bought more cause they are very nice! With green tea, black sesame, original and I think caramel flavor. Love green tea the best. According to the person selling the sweets, they are made from milk produced by the farms in Kaohsiung.  

Walk back to the hotel and came by this shop in one of the lanes. Went in for a late dinner, and ordered original and black pepper Omu rice or 蛋包饭. Very big portion for only NT30! I wonder how the boss survived since it's a big portion and the ingredients used were fresh. 

On the whole, our trip to Kaohsiung was quite wasted as due to the weather and that we are down to 2 pax, there's not really a mood to explore the area +  it's not valued to hire a private cab to take us around. Hopefully we can go for another trip to KaoHsiung and also Kenting as there are many places I would like to go. Coming up, we are travelling to Taipei where I'll be blogging about 三峡which we have not gone before.