Phuket: my pre-birthday vacation

After a long wait, the day finally arrived for our vacation! I sure was delirious, can't wait to board the plane! But then the vacation days passed by so damn fast and it's time to return home, boo hoo!!!

Hubby and I enjoyed and preferred the easy paced Phuket for a short getaway before my birthday. Sun, sea and seafood galore... what more can I asked for?!!! All in all, I've totally enjoyed this relaxing holiday and wished that it could be longer... but then work beckons... sigh!

Anyway, here's a recap of our first day in Phuket...

Early breakfast at Subway KLIA2

TIP 1: Upon arriving at Phuket International Airport, you can buy Tune sim pack after you have exited the customs. Tune network works perfectly for our 4 days trip and we didn't even bother using the hotel's WiFi!

TIP 2: If you can't decide to take either the minibus or taxi to your hotel, just multiply the headcount. For example, it costs THB 800 for a taxi to Patong and THB 180 per pax for minibus. So if you have 2 pax, it's more cost efficient to take the minibus. Either way, you will still have to stop over their mid point sales centre to listen to their 'short sales speech'.

We have checked into the same hotel which we favoured, Forty Winks Hotel, as we liked their customer service and room service... friendly and clean. No photos of the room here as we were too anxious to freshen up and go out! The weather was so sunny and perfect! You can view the photos of the room from my previous post here.

As always without fail, our sumptuous seafood gourmet lunch at Banzaan Market. Unfortunately, the price of live seafood has increased by +- THB500 compared to our last trip in December last year. Apparently, according to the seller, the lobsters are from Australia and not local hence the steep pricing. Well, it looked the same to me so I would not have known if he had lied...

Our lunch was less than THB 2,000 in total

 Some photos of the ground floor wet market...

After lunch, we headed to Jungceylon Mall to jalan jalan for a while... we did noticed this time around there was an influx of foreign workers. I did find them intimidating and not as service oriented as they were more keen on $$$. Even the locals seemed not motivated to work and more lackadaisically unfriendly. In the end, we only frequent those shops with locals who are enthusiastic to do business hence our lesser purchase this time around. Good for our wallets though LOL!!!

Tea time at Food Bazaar!

We decided to head back to the hotel's private pool for a quick dip! Loving the weather then... so sunny yet breezy!

After shower, we headed for dinner at the night market in front of Banzaan Market... there are a variety of local food here ranging from rice to noodle to salad etc. Just be aware that when you reached towards the other end with lots of seafood menu, you would be accosted by the many pedlars promoting their food menu. I hated being here as there are lots of haggling and crowding and pushing! I'll always quicken my pace to avoid them! Anyway, we've already known what we want so we just bought it and looked for a space to stand and eat. So yummy in my tummy!!!

A must: Khao Kang Moo!!! Plus some yummy grilled marinated meat LOL!

Another must: after dinner walk to Bangla Street to cuci mata LOL!!! A definite exercise for the whole body including the eyes!!! I remember we took some photos but it seemed to be missing now...hmmm! All in all, we did not require any public transport as it's all walking distance which we really liked. It's only a 5 mins walk from Forty Winks Hotel to Jungceylon Mall and another 10 mins to Bangla Street. You just need your bearings right and head in the right direction. It was such a relaxing first day for us, enjoying the familiar facades of the hotel, the mall, the street and the food.

Next: day 2 stuck in the mall