Phuket 2019: Phuket Town

Lately, we travelled to Phuket more often as it's affordable and it's near the beach! So I would not post the usual day to day as it's basically Banzaan Market, Jungceylon, Bangla Street and Patong beach, nothing out of the ordinary. This time around, we definitely did not have an itinerary and we just 'play by ear', depending on our mood. However, the ultimate new experience was taking a bus to Phuket Town! We have not done that before nor visited the town so this was a first for us and it was awesome!

We did scout around first for a transport to Phuket Town but lo and behold, taxi's wanted to charge us 500 - 600 Baht! After asking around, a nice chap told us to take the public bus from Patong beach and it will stop at Phuket Town, it's last destination. We found the mini bus terminal and there was a bus waiting so we just hopped on! No air-con, open air with windows down but the breeze was cooling, not stuffy nor humid. It was an exciting experience for us travelling like the locals and the fare was only 50 Baht per pax! So much difference comparing to the taxi!!!  It was definitely a pleasant one hour journey too.

So here are some snippets of the places we have visited at Phuket Town. The star is The Old Phuket Coffee Cafe! It's just a 5 mins walk from where we got down, thankfully as it was so hot that day! I honestly liked the decor of this cafe, so retro filled with so many vintage antiques!

After our cooling drinks, we walked around the vicinity, checking out the quaint locals. I had Pad Thai as I was suddenly hungry LOL! Too much walking I guess.........

Came across this old school clinic!

Huge straw hats!!!

A book cafe........

A wall art......

This is the winner! First time seeing such washing machine with coin insert! In Malaysia, we have many self service laundry using heavy duty machines but I've not seen such washing machines with coin inserts LOL!!! I was so jakun lah!

After walking around much, we decided to head back to Patong as it was getting late. It was already in the evening so we just hitched a bus back, easy peasy. These bus drivers will also shout 'Patong' so you definitely won't missed it. We will definitely explore the town more on our next trip back to Phuket :-)

Phuket 2019: My delayed Air Asia experience

Apologies for the short hiatus. Life got in the way and I've been busy ever since! What with Nyc Nat Nook's move from offline to online and all those stocks to shift and store! Plus health has taken it's toll and all! Even reading has taken a backseat with orders coming in! I've accumulated many thoughts, been wanting to post but I just don't have the time nor mindset to do it...

Anyway, here's my brief thought on our recent flight to Phuket. I think it's the most common - or shall I say - No.1 complaint Air Asia would have received.... nothing new... it's all about flight delayed.

It's so unfortunate that this time around, both our flights to and from Phuket were delayed. It does sound frustrating and definitely wasted our time but it was unavoidable I guess.

During our flight to Phuket, we have boarded the plane but the pilot had detected some anomaly in the water (whichever is that) section and had gotten the engineers to check. Half an hour had passed when they decided that we should switched to another plane. However, we had to go to the other end of the terminal to board!!! So troublesome lugging our hand carry luggage!!! Upon arriving, we still had to wait for awhile before boarding. Finally, we were ready to board and take flight, phew!!!

I know it was so damn frustrating and all but I do applaud the pilot for this. Who knows what could have happened when we were air borne??? I dare not think of a 'final destination' scenario! I'm just glad that the pilot had detected it and decided we should switched planes when it's taking too long for repair. There were quite a number of people complaining loudly but all I could say is, if you can't take such hassle, please don't take budget flights. Please take MAS or other full priced flights and I assumed you won't encounter much hassle. Your entitled self might appreciate the extra service there too.

On our way back, our flight was delayed for more than an hour due to another flight which was late. This definitely was unavoidable too as they have to follow airport protocol. However it was unpleasant to wait as the airport was filled with those 'stranded' passengers who were such rambunctious bunch and the whole place felt like a 'pasar malam' (night market)!!! I can't even concentrate on reading my e-book as they were such a noisy, annoying lot!!! Oh well, once their plane arrived, the whole airport was back to it's quiet, cool pace =.= Unbelievable right?!!!

Oh well, nothing else to share this time around except those 'delayed experience' during this travel. Will definitely post the highlights of our trip when I'm free. In the meantime...

Thank you, Air Asia, for the safe travel thus far!

Phuket: last day...

On this last day, all kinds of melancholic, nostalgic thoughts came to mind. Why all good moments have to end so soon??? Time definitely flew by and it's time to return to reality. Anyway, this will be a very short post just to capture our last day in Phuket.

After breakfast and moping around the room, we headed to Jungceylon Mall again for some last minute buys and lunch. We had Jeffer's again as we didn't know what to go for... and then it's time to leave for the airport with a heavy heart.

Yummy lunch at Jeffer's!

After checking in the luggage, the waiting game begins... this is what I disliked the most when taking a flight as we had to be early at least 3 hours to queue and check in. Honestly, in this digital era, airports could do better right?!!!

Tip: do estimate at least an hour journey to the airport as anything can happen i.e. traffic jam, accident, etc. Also it's best to take up the hotel offer with Airport Transfer from hotel to airport as it'll save you at least THB800 if you were to take the taxi. Of course, the hotel would arrange for the minibus but it's better than forking out so much!

Oh well, that's it for now... until then... adios amigos! Reality beckons!

Phuket: Patong Beach

Finally, a beautiful sunny and bright morning beckoned us to the beach! It's a lackadaisical day of sun and sea... just enjoying the quiet moments by the busy beach... 'people watching' and enjoying the breeze too! Not forgetting walking the eggs in Pokemon Go LOL!

And then I found the Post Office! Posted postcards with these lovely stamps!

Tip: You can buy stamps from any 7 Eleven shops. The only post office we found is along Patong Beach, next to McDonald's. It's facade is hidden by the various roadside stalls as such do look up for the huge signage.

Humbled to see Pakatan Harapan's flag in Phuket!!!

A panoramic view

Lunch and dinner consisted of porky ingredients LOL! Well, we can't find such menu in Malaysia so we indulged it overseas especially for fast food!

Lunch time at Burger King!

Dinner time at Jeffer's Jungceylon Mall

We decided to hang out at this pub near our hotel since it's our last night in Phuket. As mentioned earlier, it's truly a free and easy day without any plans or itinerary aside from the beach. Just a walk in the mall and a beer later, we headed back to the hotel to hit the sack!

Next post: our last day in Phuket

Phuket: Jungceylon Mall with Ant-Man and the Wasp

It was a cloudy morning hence our plan to walk the beach had to be scraped in fear of rain. In the end, we detoured to Jungceylon Mall after breakfast, hoping for the sky to clear up after a couple of hours or so. When it didn't, we decided to shop and watch a movie instead. Well, Ant-Man and the Wasp has just been released so what a good timing!

Here are some of the yummy buffet breakfast provided by Forty Winks Hotel. Everyday, there's something different but alas... I forgot to take a photo of my favourite croissant which I dipped in hot coffee. Honestly, I loved the rich and smooth taste of the coffee here!

While waiting for the weather to change, we had a relaxing yamcha moment at Chicco Cafe.

My fav Thai iced milk tea with bubble!

When the weather still remained cloudy, we decided to have lunch at Food Bazaar, a food court in Jungceylon which served affordable local and foreign food. 

Honestly, cinemas in Thailand are really clean and comfortable plus their patrons are well behaved. I've not encountered any unfortunate incidents yet so I can safely rate SF Cinema 4/5 as of now. Premium seat price is a little steep but it was worth every penny! Though we have to stand up in respect of their king and national anthem, it was an enjoyable experience watching Ant-Man and the Wasp. I was so immersed in the movie from the start to the end! Also, their popcorns were awesome as it comes with 4 different flavours!

We couldn't resist buying this combo set at THB 339!!!

You can read my full review of the movie here. After movie, it was time to head back to the hotel. Since we have to pass by the night market, we also packed some food back for dinner! All in all, it was definitely a lazy day aside from shopping and movie! I've not had such laid back holiday in a while, without itinerary and all!

Yummy street food from the night market!!!

Next: day 3 by the beach finally...

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