Enjoying the 'View' - Juliaty's Fotopages

Date : 29th July - 2nd August 2008
Hotel : Centara Kata Resort, Phuket.

This trip was a bit last minute planned. I was the one that came out with the suggestion to have this trip on our anniversary and as usual kalau bab jalan2 nie my dear hubby will just agree with me

I must say it is very tiring going on a holiday with a baby & a toddler in tow without the bibik but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Rather than leaving them at home and me thinking of them all the time, it’s better to lug them around with me. Plus Aniq is still breastfeeding and after Shanghai, I kinda ‘serik’ to leave him too long. So what did we do?? Here’s the summary:

Day 1:

Went to the airport in the morning, and waited for our afternoon flight (12.35 PM). After 1 hour 15 minutes flight, we reached Phuket at 1PM Thailand time which is 1 hour slower than Malaysia time. We took a cab to transfer us from Airport to our hotel near the Kata Beach. The cab cost around 650 Baht from airport to our hotel. We rest at the hotel for 2 hours till around 5PM. Just enough time for a bath for everybody, suap budak2 makan and enjoying our pool view balcony facing the pool bar with all the Mat Salleh melepak with their bikinis & thong

At around 5pm++, we took a cab to Patong Beach as our first destination in Phuket because we wanted to survey/buy tour packages during our stay in Phuket. Reaching Patong just before dusk gave us the chance to witness the ‘transformation’ of Patong town..from the ‘quiet & innocent’ look streets (daytime), to a ‘live & loud’ streets (night time).

At Patong Beach

With Irdina at Patong Beach

First we walked around Patong Beach, enjoying the view & sunset while ayah snapping2 a few photos. Then we decided to had our dinner first before we begin our package tour hunting. We had our dinner at one of the Halal Indian Restaurant at Patong Beach where I had Nasik Briyani Ayam & Basya had Nasi Briyani Seafood, Mc’D Happy Meal for Irdina & Mushroom Soup for Aniq. This simple dinner itself cost us around 820Bath (RM82) which we consider too damn expensive just for a plain Nasik Briyani. Tapi nak buat macam mana...dah makan dah punkan. Only after we had our dinner, we started our tour package hunting. We used the package rate that offered by our hotel as benchmark (we managed to ask around while waiting for the cab earlier). Mmg totally jauh lebih murah kalau beli kat sini compare kalau beli kat hotel and they even not charging us anything for Irdina (By rite budak 2 thn ke atas kene amek child pack) We bought Phi Phi Island Cruise Package (1100 Baht @ RM110/adult which includes free flows of coffee, tea & soft drink drinks & fruits on board & a buffet lunch), City Tour (800 Baht @ RM80 / adult) and Fanta Sea Package (1500 Baht @ RM150/ adult together with Buffet Dinner). Then we looked around some of the shops but didn’t buy anything. We took the cab driver advice not to shopping in Patong because regarding to him evertyhing is expensive in Patong compared to Phuket Town but as I'm writing this now, we are totally regret taking his advice. Later I explain why. We took a cab also back to our hotel. This had cost us another 650 Baht so in total return trip from our hotel to Patong Beach has cost us 850 Baht (RM85) eventho Patong is just about 15kms away from Kata Beach.Gila mahalkan transportation in Phuket. Even if we took tuk tuk it will cost us the same also so better amek cab jee for family traveller with small kids & stoller like us.

Here where we bought out tour packages. This lady gave us a very good discount for the packages

On the way back to hotel we passed by this new shopping mall called JungCeylon and we passes by the Bangla Road also where the nightlife is most happening in Patong. I think most of you guys know what I meant…Totally not a place to bring the kids We had an early night because we had to get up early for our cruise to Phi Phi Island the next day.

Day 2 :

Happy anniversary to us We had to be up bright and early, because the van came to pick us up at 7.15am. Then we were brought to the jetty - about 40 minutes away. Boarded the boat not long after. We choose to take a big boat instead of taking the speed boat to Phi Phi Island since it was more suitable for family with small kids like us. Furthermore we could enjoy the free flows of drinks on board & used the wash room when ever we like and it was very clean too.

Our first stop was Phiphi Don Island, apparently we were not supposed to get off, the boat was only unloading the passengers who will be staying for the night in the island. After 10 mins, the boat left to continue with our island hopping or whats more appropriate was island sight seeing. There were 7 other islands within however, the tour was only for 2 islands. We stopped by at Maya Bay where ‘The Beach’ movie was shoot.It was so damn beautiful but of course before the 2004 tsunami, it probably was more beautiful then.

Phi Phi Don Island..Cantekkan

Us with Maya Bay background which was the shooting site for Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie - The Beach

Another beutiful scenery of one of the cave near Maya Bay

Around lunch time, the boat anchored near the Long Beach, another part of Phi Phi island. This time we had the choices to either snorkeling or going to the island via speedboat and have lunch in the island. Off course we choose to landed on the beach because we started to feel a bit sea sick already after spending 1 and half hour time on the boat especially basya We had our buffet lunch at the Island and then we were given a few hours for free activities. Believe it or not, this is the only time that where we stepped our feet on a beach & sea water along our stay in Phuket because we don’t have enough time to go to the other beaches in Phuket even the one that very close to our hotel. Lagipun Irdina & Aniq dua2 takut nak mandi laut. Even in Phi Phi Island nie pun..we just enjoy the scenery & taking photos. Everything here was so serene and gorgeous.Everything an island cruise should be. It was beautiful place afterall & Irdina really did enjoy herself playing with the sand. A very good way to celebrate our anniversary

Ayah first attempt nak bagi Aniq pijak pasir at Long Beach, Phi Phi Island

Aniq kene paksa jalan atas pasir..penggeli rupanya Aniq nie ekk

Ibu & Aniq at Long Beach, PhiPhi Island

After a long fun filled day, we finally made our way back to the hotel around 5pm. Since Irdina pun still in her swimming attire, we took both of the kids to the swimming pool and both of them really had fun sampai susah Ibu & Ayah nak pujuk naik bilik.

Saya skrg dah berani mandi kat tgh2 pool dah..Kalau tak dulu mandi tepi2 pool jee

We had dinner that nite at a nearby restaurant to our hotel. We cannot find any Halal restaurant near to our restaurant so we just ate seafood only. After Dinner we decided to stopped by a massage centre to treat ourselves by taking turns. Kalau tak sapalah pulak nak babysit our kids. I had manicure & pedicure which cost only for 300 Baht @ RM30 while basya had a 1 hour foot massage for 200 Baht @ RM20 only. Nothing special tho with the manicure & pedicure. They just shorten & shaped your nail with a nail file & used the vaseline as cuticle remover cream. They offered colouring also but off course I would say no. I asked for Buffing but they seems not getting what I want. Hmm..No wonderlah murahkan..Better buat kat Nail Parlour, OU lagi eventho kene bayar mahal but puas hati. However, Basya did enjoy the foot massage a lot. Even I feel like having one myself. Esoklah kot.. sbb budak2pun dah start cranky sbb penat & mengantukk sgt2 dah.

Ok..the other part of the story will be continue in Part II