I smiled, as old thought came to me.

4 years ago, sitting at the back of the lecture hall with my good friends Wenyan and BoonHui, we were talking about guys while the lecturer taught in front. We spoke on the type of guy we hope to date. All three of us were single back then, so it’s not a surprise that this topic was brought up.

If not mistaken, they mentioned of hoping to meet someone that cares, loves and treats them well. Not forgetting, he must be intelligent too.

As for me, I told them I would like someone who can speak English very well cz I want him to order food for me.

All laughed and said, ‘why? You can’t order on your own is it?’

I replied, ‘can BUT I prefer him to do for me. Gentleman mah’ – and I laughed too.

Little did I know, I truly gotten a man who speaks excellent English. Prolly Cupid passed by and granted my wish by shooting ‘love arrows’ to both of us, lol!

Oh my, my English speaking man had ended his call. Time to hit the mall!

Yesterday, my dear Satkuru brought me to this coffee shop located at Bishop Street. He went there for food review on Sunday and wanted me to try their coffee as the owner is the best barista in Malaysia.

Since we have 2 hours to kill before meeting up with event planner from Cititel, I agreed and off we went to this quaint coffee shop, Lighthouse Cafe.

Upon entering, my nose caught strong whiff of coffee. Mm~

The place is small but cosy. Dim yellow lights are shined on the wall to create warm ambience. Tables and chairs are smartly placed at both sides, giving walkaway in the middle. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a staircase leading up, but I’m not too sure on that. We walked in and headed straight for the counter. That’s when we heard someone called our names.

We turned and to our pleasant surprise it was EMILY!

We laughed, and I walked to her and had a little chat before was asked to place order. I looked at the green board on the wall behind the counter to see if there are any “Must try/Recommendation/Best” icons beside the drink names.

Can’t recall if I see any but I ended up asking the gentleman behind the counter on what are recommended at Lighthouse. He named me 3 – Butterscoth Caramello, White Strawberry Mocha and Coffee Hazelnut Mocha – if my memory doesn’t fail me on the last recommendation.

I chose Butterscotch Caramello while Satkuru took White Strawberry Mocha. There are cakes displayed at the counter too, but we didn’t take any because the cakes didn’t really thrill me much. Hmm.

We sat at a small round table in front of the counter. Few minutes later Satkuru went to get our drinks and we took a sip. My Butterscotch Caramello is heavenly. Just that after few sips, I was telling Satkuru that I should have ordered it hot rather than cold. He agreed.

The White Strawberry Mocha is nice too, but I prefer mine. I took 2 sips and passed back to him whereas he took 2 sips of mine and concluded mine is rather bitter compared to his. And I was telling him that his drink is rather sweet! Haha!

This place is so cosy that when Satkuru kept pestering me to finish up my drink fast or bring my coffee to the car, I didn’t want to leave! Haha. I just like sitting there, talking to him, taking photo around or just enjoying my coffee, glazing into his face. Ah life~

Of course that didn’t happened. So much for enjoying my coffee in the afternoon. T__________T

This place is highly recommendation for coffee lovers. Even if you’re not a coffee lover, you should drop by and try their coffee. Theirs are good. I like!

The reason why I started my post with I’m not a coffee lover is because, I went to two different places and ordered coffee. Well, the second cup came unexpected but still, two cups in one day! Way too much coffee intake for a non-coffee addict. @_@

After meeting up with the lady from Cititel, our tummies growled and we decided to grab something to eat. Satkuru suggested Behind.50, but I told him to go somewhere else because we’ve been there. Out of the blue he took out his phone and looked for China House on the Waze. The house was located and direction to there appeared. 5 minutes later, we found the place.

Located at Beach Street, China House is easily identified from rows of heritage buildings no thanks to the 3 bold signboards bearing the words, Shopping, Art + Theater, and Food + Drinks.

While crossing the road, Satkuru constantly asked me if the place is opened as it looks dim from outside. I told him yes, and dragged him in. Haha.

Unknowingly we walked into a gem. A rather expensive one, lol!

Upon pushing the door, very strong coffee aroma greeted me. Way stronger than Lighthouse Cafe; so strong that I could even ‘smell’ it in my mind. Immediately I thought to myself, wow the coffee here is so good! I must try!

We walked straight to the back of the building. To be frank, we were quite surprised to know that this building is that long! A bar adorned with coffee grinder and machines and alcohols is on the left side of the area while tables for two are on the right. The gap of 3 feet between the bar and the tables allows guests to walk in and out of the cafe and for the host and attendants to serve food and drinks.

Beyond the bar, one can find two long tables at both sides of the walkaway. Many types of cakes, pies and breads are placed on the left table while books and magazines sat on the right table.

Further down, a big antique brown cupboard which stores the belonging of the host and attendants acts as a divider for the vast space. Behind the cupboard, two more tables can be seen there.

We didn’t stop there, we continued walking and we found ourselves at the supposed open-air middle courtyard (the Hokkien people would call this place Am Ceh) which is already covered up with plastic transparent roof sheets.

A long table for 14 pax is smartly positioned in the middle of the courtyard area, decorated with potted plants and framed photographs. A blackboard is nailed to the wall and I can’t help to notice the troll drawing that someone left there. I pointed out to Satkuru and he laughed. Lol.

At the supposedly kitchen area, one could find 2 more tables and roughly 4-5 bookshelves placed against the wall. As much as we wanted to sit at the courtyard and the back area, the tables were all occupied. T________T

We didn’t walk furthermore as we thought that’s the end of the building. But from what I gather, there is a back courtyard which link to another two buildings! Argh! We should have walk out of the building to the courtyard. Huhu.

We walked back to the front of the building and decided to sit at one of the tables placed parallel to the bar. I didn’t realise/notice the mahjong paper which is clipped to the table, but I was very excited when I saw a glass filled with canyons on the table. Then it made me think THIS is the place where my friends posted up photos of them drawing on table with crayons! Haha!

Obviously I grabbed the crayons and drew on the mahjong paper. Wahaha.

Menus are given to us and there isn’t any sign of “Must try/Chef Recommendation” icon on the menu. Satkuru immediately checked Foursquare for tips. Among so many tips, we spotted Vingie which stated overpriced. This tip trembled us a little, but since we had already seated down we thought why not just try the best in the menu.

And we did. We ordered a cup of coffee, a glass of chocolate, 2 slices of cakes and their famous homemade ice cream as they’re highly recommended on Foursquare. He didn’t really see any of the mains mentioned in the tips therefore didn’t go for main course.

My coffee came with a cup of gula melaka. Happily I took a sip. It was bitter like mad! So I quickly add in two spoons of gula melaka and stirred. Took a sip and it was still bitter! I pushed the coffee aside and went for Satkuru’s iced chocolate with chocolate ice-cream. It was heavenly as the chocolate ice-cream is so rich! Yums!

I so wanted to swap my bitter choco with Sat’s choco, but I knew he wouldn’t let me. Grr. In the end I just accepted my bitter coffee, added few more spoons of gula melaka and that’s it. I didn’t want to put much of sugar because I’m afraid I’ll get diabetic out of it, lol!

I can’t help but to think that the person who recommended coffee in Foursquare is either a bitter-lover or plain lazy in mentioning the full name of the coffee. Hello, there are few COFFEES on the menu and your suggestion on ‘coffee’ is killing me. Grr.

I had terrible headache after drinking the bitter coffee. By the end of the meal, I told Satkuru that I have to say NO to coffee and cakes for at least a week. My appetite for these (coffee and cakes) are totally ruined. T__________T

As for the cakes, mine is delicious at first but as I dug on, the bitter coffee spoiled the whole appetite and making my eating experience very torturous. Thus, I ate because I didn’t want to waste food, not because I truly enjoy it. That’s totally not the propose of me entering this place! T__________T

I think Satkuru enjoyed his meal as he didn’t have bitter coffee to go with the cake. Blek!

Immediately after finishing my cake and coffee, I asked for the bill. It took them quite some time to give us our bill because we were told they didn’t have a proper cash machine yet and everything is done manually.

Guess how much our bill amounted to?

- One piece of RM50 note and a piece of RM1 -

Oh well, someone gotta pays for the ambience.

Convocation was one of the milestones in my life. I anticipated THE DAY so much – thinking of what shoes I should wear, what shirt I should wear, deliberating on to either wear a knee-length skirt or black slack, et cetera.

The eve of the convocation day, Satkuru even reminded me to double check all the stuffs I supposed to bring/need for the convocation but I told him I’ve placed them in my bag. He even asked me to double read the convocation letters from university, just in case I missed out any. Like usual, I told him not to worry as I’ve read them (but actually I just skimmed thru, rofl). He also asked me if I’ve wore the robe, just to get the hang of it – but I told him I’ve tried, so should be okay.

Obviously I got a nice music for being so cool-headed. He told me, “You only get to convo once in your lifetime. Or maybe another if you take master. But still, treasure it. Make sure you get everything right.”

I replied ok.

So, my parents and I flew to KL on the morning of THE DAY and reach KL at 9 in the morning. We were picked up by my sister where we were driven to Seri Kembangan for a brunch. After brunch, we immediately went to University of Malaya.

But the journey took slightly longer because my sister’s bf took the wrong turning. I was so anxious, but told myself to calm down and be patience.

Finally, we reach at about 11am. I quickly wore my robe and the mortar and took few photos outside the hall, with dad as my photographer of course. My mum was wondering why did my shawl always dropped sideway while other ppl’s was in placed and tidy. I told mum I didn’t know why, maybe my size is bigger - I told her. Haha!

Gosh, I shouldn’t cut my hair that length. Doesn’t look nice on me. And that shoes! Why I chose to wear that? T_______T

It was then time to get to the Dewan Peperiksaan to be checked on our attendance before entering.

The first person I saw was Lillian! She asked me why my shawl so untidy. I told her I have no idea as I already adjusted. Then she asked me if I’ve pinned my shawl correctly.

I asked her, “What pin?”

It drawn on me that the shawl supposed to be PINNED! *sweat case* No wonder mine kept dropping!

The second question Lillian asked me was if I’ve bring my matrix card and pink paper slip along as I need to pass the slip to the people at the side of the stage for them to call my name.

I looked at her in horror. I told her that slip was in my car!

Panicking, I quickly called up my sister and asked her to bring me that paper slip. But she told me she had left UM to get my convocation flower!

The scene of not able to graduate suddenly flashed in my mind.

I almost had a heart attack moment. I told her to return to UM now as I need that pink paper slip to graduate. She said ok, and told me she’ll reach as soon as possible.

I could only pray.

As for my untidy shawl, I immediately asked around if anyone had extra pins after ending the phone call. Luckily someone brought a lot. Phew. Lillian then quickly helped me to pin my shawl. Until now, I’m thankful for knowing her, for being my close friend. If it wasn’t for her, I would have gone up the stage with dropping shawl. Eh wait, maybe couldn’t have graduated that year because of the pink paper slip. –”

After pinning my shawl, the person in charge of taking our attendance then asked us to queue in lines according to our number. Then I looked around, I saw my friends. I was so happy to see them as I didn’t see them in ages. At the same time, I couldn’t relax myself and enjoy the moment as I was still worried if my sister could make it in time as she told me the jam in UM was terrible.
T______T

That time, I remembered the advice that Satkuru gave me the night before. I regretted not checking it again. Boy, I hate admitting that he’s right. Grr.

While waiting, I looked at the people around me. Most of them were different. They styled their hair, they put makeup so that they looked prettier that day. At that time, I was thinking to myself – why did I put foundation and lip gloss only? Looking back at my graduation photos, I looked so pale without any colour on my face. Darn, I wish I could turn back the time. Grr.

Also, I was thinking why didn’t I bring in my camera? I saw people brought in camera and they took photos in the waiting hall. I ‘kicked’ myself for being so obedient (as stated in the letter). Grr.

Then it was time to move to Dewan Tunku Cansellor for the convocation ceremony. My sister suddenly called. She said she’s arrived. I thanked God for that. I asked her to stand on the left side at the end of the stairs, as I’ll be coming down the stairs. She acknowledged.

When I went down the stairs, I was so happy to see her face. I almost hugged her, but obviously I didn’t as we need to cross the road quickly. She passed me the slip and I said, Thank You. So glad for having a sister by my side too. Else, I couldn’t have graduated.

After that I started to feel calmer. We queued at the side of the dewan awhile, before entering. It’s been awhile since I entered the dewan. I was glad to be back, in fact I was proud to be undergraduate of University Malaya.

I proudly sang the University Malaya song as it might be the last time I sang it. After few speeches, names were being called up and friends walked up the stage to receive scroll. Applause after applause were heard. I too clapped and cheered for my friends.

The ceremony was so formal, full of protocol but felt very glorious. As my surname is Tan, so I had to wait quite some time before being called up.

Finally, it was time for our row to stand up and quietly stand at the side. One by one friends in front of me were called. Soon, I found myself to be standing at the bottom of the stage, just two people shy from receiving the scroll.

My heart began to pound quickly. I passed the pink paper slip and my matrix card to the person-in-charge. He then instructed me to stand at the two ‘X’ marks on the floor, first at the end of the stage and second at the middle of the stage, in front of the pro-chancellor. He also reminded me to say thank and bow after receiving the scroll.

I nodded. At the back of my mind, I prayed that I didn’t trip, else it would be disastrous!

The girl in front of me was called. She then walked to receive her scroll while I went up the stairs and stood on the first X. I took a glimpse of the audience, then focused at the girl in front of me.

The moment I’ve been waiting for came. I heard my name was announced over the speaker and I assumed the front of my matrix card was shown on the big projector screen, so automatically I walked towards the pro-chancellor with a BIG grin on my face. I heard loud applause coming from the ground. My heart beat so fast that I think could have reach 150-160 bpm, lol!

I went to the pro-chancellor, extended both hands out while she placed a scroll on my palms. I said Terima Kasih YABerbahagia and bowed before walking to the other end of the stage.

If given a choice, I would have jumped up in joy and screamed YES! But then since it was full of formality and such act wouldn’t be condoned, I just walked with my head held high.

Even up to now, I could feel the feeling that I had in the dewan two years ago. It was really achievement of self-satisfaction, that I would like to feel it again. Maybe it’s time to go for Master. Haha!

After everyone received their scrolls, the MC announced the end leaving of the pro-chancellors, vice-chancellors, deans and professors. We rised and watched them leave. Then our MC congratulated us on our graduation and all of us cheered loudly!

Most went out of the hall almost immediately, leaving few in hall. The few including me of course. I went to take photo with Lillian, but realising that we have no camera! Luckily my parents were still in the hall and dad helped to take photo of us.

The lights in the hall then went off, ‘forced’ us to leave the hall. I went out and my goodness, it was chaotic! The amount of people there, best be described by the Chinese proverb – human sea, human mountain.

Among the human flood, I saw my bee with a bouquet of pink roses in his arm. I was so happy to see him, almost threw a hug to him but didn’t (in fear of PDA!). He shyly passed me the bouquet and wished me Congrats. Shy cow, he is!

He was my unofficially appointed photographer, so he had to follow me wherever I went. Wahaha! Poor daddy and mummy had to tag along as I went here and there taking photos with my friends. Luckily sister and Jason were there to keep them company. Heehee.

I took photos with my coursemates who graduated the same time as me.

Most of my coursemates who had graduated the year earlier purposely came back to take photos with us.

If you’re wondering why some graduated first and I graduated later, that’s because I didn’t plan my subject well in my first year of study, therefore purposely extended another semester to finish my course in more relaxing manner. Else I would have to take 5-6 subjects (and sometimes 7) per semester to graduate in 3 years time.

Then the sky turned dark and began to drizzle. We left for KL Sentral just before the rain poured down heavily. At KL Sentral, we had a quick dinner at one of the cafe there as we were hungry. We only had brunch at 10 in the morning and nothing after that.

After dinner, we sent parents off at the KLIA Express terminal. They took KLIA Express LRT to KLIA for night flight back to Penang via MAS while I stayed a night in KL before leaving home the next day.

My sister and Jason went back to Seri Kembangan of course, while Satkuru and I headed to Midvalley for a gathering with the KL gang.

My 2nd Valentine with him.

Thanks Bee for the lovely roses~*

Ops.

After showering, I rested for a while as I was very tired before heading out for dinner.

Managed to catch few winks and we were out on the streets again, looking for food. We walked towards the Thaveewong Road with hope to stumble upon cheap street food to fill our stomachs.

There are many motor-stalls along the famous road, but they are mostly selling crepes, fruits and drinks.

Suddenly Kurubee saw a lady holding a bowl of noodles and asked me if I knew where she was walking out from.

I didn’t know where, so I shook my head. Then we saw another person with the same bowl, so we traced it to a darker and quieter alley and found a Muslim lady busying preparing food for her customers.

Actually we didn’t know what is the lady selling or how to order food from the lady as she speaks limited English and we don’t know Thai language. By observing the food that her customers ordered, we noticed that she’s selling chicken rice and chicken noodles. So we pointed to the rice and showed two fingers, and then waited for our food.

And guess how much our kai fan costs?

60 Bahts.

-_____________-

The most expensive kai fan I ever ate.

Luckily the portion is big. She’s very generous with the chicken meats and rice and even gave us a big bowl of soup, but the soup is a bit salty.

Since she didn’t have a proper place for us to sit, we resorted to borrowing chairs from the clothes stalls nearby. The lady is very nice, she asked the stalls’ owners for few stools for us to sit, but we were very paiseh. We determined to finish up our kai fan as soon as possible.

But the thing is… I’m a slow eater, swt.

While eating, I told Kurubee that if the chicken rice costs us 60 bahts, I don’t know how much a dish gonna costs in a fancy restaurant. He nodded, but we were optimistic that they are actually cheap eateries somewhere in Patong, just that we haven’t discovered them yet!

After the filing meal (I was seriously bloated), we walked and feasted our eyes on the goods paraded from the stalls/shops located along the famous Thaveewong road. It was a very long, never-ending walk. I don’t think we could finish covering all shops/stalls. Furthermore they’re repetitive.

One shop really caught my eyes is the HELLO KITTY SHOP! When I saw that, I immediately dragged Kurubee into that shop, tho he was VERY reluctant to enter. Once inside, I started to look at the goods and compared them (the quality) to the authentic Hello Kitty shop I’ve been in Japan.

Quality wise cannot fight la. But the price is much cheaper here in Phuket, hehe.

But we didn’t linger long there as we have a show to catch.

So I made Kurubee to promise me on coming back to this shop the next day.

Out of love, he agreed.

I didn’t leave the shop empty handed. I bought this pouch, which I genuinely thought is a laptop sleeve. *smack head* Probably if I have a Netbook or an iPad, it would fit perfectly well, lol.

So we walked to Millenium Hotel for our minibus to the famous ladyboys show, the Simon Cabaret. We waited for 1-2 minute and a purple minibus with picture of a ladyboy on the body came. Like usual, the driver came down, we showed our voucher to board the minibus.

The place is about 5-10 minute drive down the road. We were driven right to the front of the entrance, where we were then ushered down to the ticket counter to collect our tickets and paid the remaining of the payment since we’ve only paid the deposits at the tour agency.

I was still thirsty from the dinner we had earlier, so I asked the gentleman at the counter where can I buy drink. He pointed to the bar counter outside (which is part of the Simon Cabaret too) and said I can get coffee there.

I looked at the bar and thought to myself that they couldn’t be free. Furthermore, the guy didn’t mention the word free. Seeing there’s still time to kill, I dragged Kurubee to the nearby convenience store to buy mineral water.

We went to Family Mart. Not only we bought water, we bought sweets too cz we’re thinking sweet would be easier to smuggle in, lol.

When we walked back, the entrance of the Simon Cabaret was lighted up and we took the opportunity to take pictures there.

Then it was time for the show. We quickly entered the auditorium and were led to our seats. To our ‘horror’, there’s a complimentary water bottle place at the water handle (think GSC) for the audiences.

Kurubee advised me to add a tip to this place on Foursquare, so that in future, people who are thirsty like me wouldn’t need to run out to the nearby convenience store for water. Lol.

So, if you’re there… and when you check-in to Foursquare, tap the tip bar and you’ll see my tip there!

BUT the thing is… we’re unsure about the normal seat as we gotten ourselves VIP seats.  So, maybe the free water bottle is for the VIP seat only le? Hiak hiak hiak.

If you’we wondering what’s the different between the regular and the VIP seat? The regular/normal seats (700 bahts) are on the upper tier and the VIP seats (900 bahts) are on the lower tier and if you happen to sit on the first row, guys… be prepare for extra surprises!

Like every Broadway/musical show, we weren’t allowed to take any photos/videos there. If you want to know what’s there in Simon Cabaret, you have to get your butt there to see it for yourself. Don’t worry; the show is totally safe for audience of all ages and is very entertaining. You’ll be mesmerized and at awed at the dances, the quality of the performances and not forgetting the charming ladyboys.

Some are so pretty with fair, smooth skin that you’ll be thinking, that couldn’t be a ladyboy!

Also, you’ll be guaranteed to laugh till you drop by some comedic performances.

After the show ended, the audiences were ushered to the exit on the left side of the auditorium where all the ladyboys would stand at the side waiting for the audiences to take pictures with them.

With a fee of 40 baht.

A group of Indians in front of me complained before we went over to take pictures. She was complaining to her friends that about she and another guy (she was pointing to that guy) took picture with 3-4 ladyboys and ended up paying over 2,000 baht.

I related this to Kurubee, and he said don’t get 3-4 ladyboys le, we take with one only.

And since Kurubee had already narrowed down the one that we were be taking picture with, so I thought alright. Afterall it’s just 40 baht for a picture.

Little did we know we had to pay 80 baht. No, we paid 100 baht, because while I was searching for another 40 baht in my purse, Kurubee directly handed him/her 100 baht.

And that fella didn’t even give us change back.

Extra 20 baht.

-_______________-

If I know about this, I would have directed the photographer in Mandarin (the Chinese guy whom Kurubee passed his DSLR to) to include in a half of a random ladyboy who was standing at the side too!

That would worth my 100 baht. Me and Kurubee, One and a half ladyboy.

Lol.

Overall, the show is very good, in fact it’s excellent. I brought my mum there in my 2nd trip to Phuket, and she too likes the show. But if you want to take picture with the ladyboys, either you have the exact amount with you beforehand or be prepare to ‘tip’ extra.

But our minibus didn’t come at that time. We got worried as we thought we might got cheated. So Kurubee immediately called the tour lady for confirmation and we were told to be patient as the minibus might be late as the driver needs to pick up people from other hotels as well.

Hearing that, we went back to our hotel’s lobby and waited there. Somewhere near 7.30am, the minibus driver appeared and asked for our voucher. After confirmation, we quickly boarded it. Then he drove all the way to another 2 resorts to pick up guests, but the last one didn’t show up though he’s already late in picking them up. So we left after waiting for 15 minutes for them.

Ohya, in within the waiting interval of 15 minutes, I forced kurubee to grab few stuffs for breakfast from the convenience store beside the resort, Family Mart as I was super hungry. Gotten all these for about 50 baht.

Poor driver sped his way to Ao Por Pier as we’ve already late for our cruise. In the minibus, Sat and I camho like mad, keke.

The moment we got down from our minibus at some huts opposite the pier, we were led to the entrance of Ao Por Pier where bus ferrying us to our ship waiting for us.

There are many stalls selling big hats for 100 baht but since I’ve already brought my mum’s big hat along with me, I didn’t think of getting one.

And I regretted not getting one! Why? Because Mum’s flown into the sea by the super strong wind when our boat heading towards the first island eventho I was wearing it!

Monkeybananafishballdonkey!

Back to the story, our captain of the boat gave briefing and when he mentioned that all the water and soft drinks onboard are free (except for the beers), kurubee’s eyes lighted up as little plan cooked up in his mind.

Yeah, he planned to drink as much of soft drinks as possible. Rofl.

Soon our boat reached the first destination, Ko Phanak. Canoes were alighted from our boat; the boat crew went to their canoes. One by one, they picking up us in pairs or triple and canoed towards the rock island.

I wore my life jacket as I was afraid that the canoe might topple and unable to float, lol. Furthermore I was carrying my DSLR with me, but I put them in a plastic bag, JUST IN CASE YOU KNOW? Lol.

We were brought to appreciate the greenery around the island.

Not forgetting the monkeys too…

Our rower paddled into a cave, and that’s when I thought, damn, this is when I need flashgun as my flash was too harsh, lol. I took few shots then just sat back and enjoy the ride. He passed torchlight to kurubee and we looked around the cave and when the torchlight shone above our heads, we can’t believe our eyes…

There are bats allllllll above us. Some got irritated by the light and flew away.

Luckily they didn’t attack us I tell you. Rofl.

Then we went back to our boat, where we were brought to our second destination, Ko Hong.

Again we got down (armed with my iphone) and this time the ride was more pleasing than the first one. We got back the same rower as told by the captain and kurubee was far more than happy to get him back as our rower, cz he already befriended him.

Now, the reason why I said canoe-ing around Ko Hong is a pleasing one because we were cruising along the lagoon and it was cloudy that time!

Tho the whole lagoon was jam-packed with CANOES (like wtfish right?) but it was still a relaxing one. Our rower is one funny, friendly guy. He would point to us on what to look and chat and laugh with us. Actually, he talked more to kurubee than me. Kurubee entertained him more while I sitting in front took endless pictures of the lagoon using my iphone, since I got the best view.

We were brought to see a cave.. which has a lagoon at the end of the cave but it can be accessible during low tide only.

The lagoon is also the place where local fisherman fished for fishes and sea creatures. Our rower brought us near a sampan where a horseshoe crab was seen passing among the tourists.

That’s our friendly rower, btw.

When I saw the horseshoe crab, I was checking for the ROE, swt. Cause I was taught that the best part of the horseshoe crab is the roe!

Our friendly rower took us into a very nice lagoon surrounded by high rock, and I felt very serene there. It was so beautiful and peaceful there. Then rower paddled out to the open sea via a smalllllll opening that required us to bend down, lol.

Back to our ship and our captain steered the wheel to the famous island, Ko Ping Khan or famously known as James Bond Island. On the way there, we had our lunch!

And I loveeeee their tomyam! Very appetizing! Slurrrrrps! Because it was so nice, I took two bowls of tomyam loh, haha!

By the time we finished eating, our boat was nearing the James Bond Island. We rested awhile and Kurubee took his 7th or 8th bottle of Fanta? Lol.

Our boat stopped suddenly and we were asked to board the long boat which ferries passengers from the bigger ships to the island. Since there were so many of us, we took the 2nd boat to the island.

When we reached, we walked past the long souvenir stalls and headed towards the back where the famous iconic island can be seen.

In the picture collage above, there’s this straightly slanting rock where everyone rushed to take picture with. Everyone BUT us. I think we were running out of time, that’s why we didn’t picture there.

Like most tourists, we took countless photos with the island; especially the ‘holding island’ poses, lol.

Then we climbed up the rocky stairs to the other side of the island. Actually we didn’t know where to go, and we just followed where the crowd was going to.

Much to our surprise, we came to a beach with fantastic view of the smaller islands around James Bond Island.

We were given only 30 minutes to linger there, so we quickly took photos there and walked back to the port near the souvenir stalls. Our crew came to look for us and we got onto the longboat.

We were given slices of watermelon and pineapple to chill… and I took 2-3 slices each.

Our boat then sped (I don’t know if our boat really speed or not, but I’m assuming it did, lol) all the way to our last stop, Ko Lawa Yai.

At the last island, we were given time to snorkel, swim or canoeing around. Guess what we did?

Canoeing, of course. Seeing the condition of the sea water, I don’t feel like jumping in. Also we didn’t bring towel and extra clothes along so swimming and snorkeling aren’t feasible. Furthermore, Kurubee was keen to get his hand on the paddle oars, so after we were ferried to the island, we hijacked one canoe and went for a little exploration, just two of us.

Barely 10 minutes into canoeing, we were asked to return the canoe, swt. So we walking around the island hand-in-hand before deciding to head back to our boat. Didn’t know why there weren’t pictures taken there, lol.

And I dozed off all the way back to Ao Por pier…

We set our alarm to ring at about 4pm (Thai time, which is an hour later than us) and we snoozed that till 4.30pm, Lol. By the time we woke up, we quickly showered and prepared ourselves for our first and only stop for the day, Phuket Fantasea.

Our package for Phuket Fantasea including return transfers, dinner and VIP Gold Seat for the show. I can’t remember the amount of price we paid but I remembered the lady gave us special price as she said it was the ‘low season’ that time.

Ohya, before napping, kurubee activated the EDGE and 3G package on both of our phones and he took 50MB of EDGE/3G package to last us for 3 days.

At about 5pm, we walked towards Millennium Hotel for our ride as the minibus couldn’t stop at our hotel. Millennium Hotel is situated next to Jungceylon which is like 5 minutes walk away from our hotel, so we gladly made the walk. Furthermore, the area is already packed with stalls and we did few stops just to look at the goods.

Nearby the entrance of Millennium Hotel, we waited for good ol’ 5 minutes before we saw a pink minibus driving towards us and stopped at our side. The driver came out and asked, “Phuket Fantasea, Ricos Hotel?” where we said yeah and ushered us in. We took few pictures with the pink minibus with elephant image before hopping in.

The driver then reversed and picked up a Korean couple at Millennium Hotel. The Korean girl looks rather snobby, and I’m assuming they must be coming from rich families as a cheapest room in Millennium Hotel costs at least RM450 per night. T_T

Then we’re off to pick up a gang of angmohs somewhere in the heart of Patong, before heading up North to Kamala. Along the way, I tried calling Emily and Jess but both of them didn’t answer. Then I called up Aaron and I showed him the street view of Patong when he answered my call.

At about 6pm, we reached the entrance of Phuket Fantasea and the moment we got down from our pink minibus is the foul stench of elephant poo. -.- Apparently an elephant just poo-ed/peed there (How I know?, because there’s a wet mark nearby, lol).

Then I quickly queued behind a long winding line to get our tickets from the ticket counters. Somewhere in the middle of the line, a lady behind a small counter would say, “Hi, welcome to Phuket Fantasea. Where are you from?” and would type in the country name upon hearing your answer before giving you a broad smile and a ‘Thank You’.

I queued about 10-15 minutes before gotten our tickets. kurubee on the other hand was going around snapping pictures of the places. At the ticket counter, I was asked if I would be interested in purchasing books and CDs on their shows, which I politely declined. Hee!

The moment I walked in, I remembered telling kurubee that this place feels like Disneyland to me. Why I said so?, that’s because the buildings are built so extravagant and cartoonish with a pinch of Thais here and there. Walking around Phuket Fantasea with kurubee holding my hand made me feel like a child, Lol.

Since it was still early and the restaurant only opens at 7pm, we took our own sweet time snapping pictures with almost every display, picture, backdrops and mascots available.

There’s even a dance performance on a grand stage in the middle of lighted up ‘town’.

Not forgetting the elephant rides around the fountain, in between the Grand Palace (where the show is shown) and the Golden Kinnaree Restaurant.

Because one needs to pay for the elephant ride, we didn’t do that. We’re the kiamsiap couple, where we only do things that are free or already included in the package, LMAO LMAO.

At about 7pm, we walked to the Golden Kinnaree Restaurant where at the counter before entering the restaurant; a beautiful Thai lady gave us our table number. We walked in and were led by another beautiful Thai lady to our table. She even showed us the food from non-halal and halal sections which we nodded in acknowledgement but have no intention to get from the halal area since we’re looking forward to some pork. Lol.

However, problem rose.

After getting food from the buffet counter, a petite Thai guy came to me in a rather angry tone, telling me that my plate contains pork. I told him yeah, I can take pork and why? But he kept telling me no pork, no pork. Confused I looked at him and tried to decipher what he was trying to say. Seeing the commotion from afar, a Thai lady walked to our table and spoke the Thai guy. Hastily the Thai guy walked away and the Thai lady followed him. Worriedly, kurubee quickly came to me and asked what’s the problem. I told him, I don’t know as this guy keeps pointing to my plate and tells me no pork, no pork.

Finally the Thai lady returned and apologized, before explaining that the table we were sitting at is for the halal eaters only, and that’s why the guy kept saying no pork. Then her explanation only it made sense of the guy’s behavior earlier. Sheasked if both of us are non-halal eaters (and we said yes, quite aloud, lol) and if we’re okay with changing to another table. Since we haven’t started eating and they could prepare us another table, we’re totally cool with the change.

Immediately few ladies helped us with transferring the food and showed us to our new table. Hehe.

We spent about 45 minutes stuffing our tummies full, before leaving the restaurant. A white building with bling bling fascinated our eyes and as though being charmed, we entered the building without second thought.

Inside, there are more blings, shining stuffs that charmed our eyes. Kurubee saw a statue of Lord Ganesh in gold and it’s so beautiful, but the price is way too much to handle. So we just did see and go on the stuffs there, not daring to touch anything for the fear of spoiling the expensive stuffs.

From the back, we walked into another building where the kids would love to enter: the amusement park. There are lots games for the kids to play and throw, and we just took at the side looking at all the games available there.

Then we walked out of the amusement park and lingered around the cartoonish town, before entering the Animal Kingdom.

There are many types of ‘bizarre’ animals there, and one of the highlights is the white Siberia Tigers. Almost everyone was seemed taking picture of and with the tigers, others just looking in bewilderment at the side. Kurubee took few pictures of me with the white creature before leaving the building.

Then it was time for the show. We walked back to the Grand Palace, where we were led to lines and lines of queues.

It was jam-packed with people and there were few counters where we need to show our tickets to the crew before they clipped our tickets. At the final counters, we were asked to handover our cameras, video cameras, and even handphones as these are not prohibited into the show.

Right after we deposited our cameras, we were led to long hallway where one can take picture with the performers, the elephants and baby tigers for 400-650 baht depend on which you chose to take picture with.

Again, we didn’t take picture with any because we couldn’t part with our baht, lol. Actually we didn’t bring much baht there, hence the prudent attitude.

We went up to the stairs before entering the auditorium, and to our surprise, we got a very nice view of the entire stage as we were sitting in the middle of the upper tier, and we were thinking to ourselves, no bad for a last minute booking!

10-15 minutes later, the show started and I wouldn’t reveal the content here, but I think you’ll be amazed with the dancer skills showcased here. The show is all right, you need to listen properly to get the story right, else you’ll be wondering what the hell is happening now.

But don’t say I don’t warn you – the sound effect and the firework MAY not for the faint hearted. I said that because I jumped SO MANY TIMES during the show, lol.

Oh, there’s one part where I love – the hanging in the air part!

After the show, we went to collect our camera from the pick-up counter, walked a little before heading back to the minibus area for our ride to our hotel.

Our verdict: Phuket Fantasea is overall an entertaining place, but don’t think one will want to go back there again (unless exception).

A little note here: after finish watching the show, (if possible) quickly get down to the pick-up counter to get your stuff if you hate waiting in queue to collect your stuff.

So slightly more than a year later on 6th October, this trip initiated back. Yay!

This is my cute travel partner.. kurubee

.. which also happens to be the love of my life too, lol! And we flew in together from Penang to LCCT and boarded the afternoon flight to Phuket.

It was a cloudy day when we arrived in Phuket International Airport (HKT). Couldn’t contain our excitement as it was the first time we flew out of country together. <3 As we were the first few passengers that gotten out of the flight first, we breezed through immigration counter swiftly and gotten ourselves FREE local sim cards at the counter at the side while waiting for our luggage.

From the arrival hall, we walked into another hall where there are like many tour agency counters situated on both sides. One man asked us if we need any ride to our hotel and quickly mentioned about free ride to hotel. Upon hearing the word FREE, our eyes immediately lighted up and we were led to this counter called, Phuket Friendship Tour.

The lady behind the counter is so polite and soft-spoken. She asked us how long was our trip before suggesting the possible activities we could do. Of course we’ve already have few activities in mind, but we just like to hear what’s her plan. So she showed us few packages and we signed up with her after both sides agreed to a certain price, which now I can’t remember, lol. We do have our receipts but it’s all with kurubee, hmm.

After paying the price and gotten our vouchers (and of course her handphone number in case anything goes wrong), we were ushered to the taxi waiting area.

Few minutes later, we found ourselves sitting in a Honda taxi ferrying us to our hotel, Ricos Hotel on Bangla Road. Our taxi damn cool ler, got monitor behind the headrest, promoting Thai tourism.

We even stopped by 7-eleven to buy ‘refill’ (reload credits) for our sim cards. Both of us gotten ourselves 90 baht refills each. Then the journey continued but our taxi driver decided to do another stop somewhere near Patong. We got a shock as he suddenly turned left into a row of shophouses and we were thinking shit, what are we gotten ourselves into?

Then the driver turned to us and told that he had to stop here and he walked into a tour agency. Few minutes later, another guy came out with broad smile and greeted us. Apparently he explained on the reason why the taxi driver made this stop and further asked if we have taken any tour package. If we haven’t, he said we could book one with him.

Unfortunately we have already sealed deal with Phuket Friendship and even showed him our tour package vouchers. Politely he thanked us for listening to him and walked into the agency. Our taxi driver returned and this time he drove us directly to our hotel.

When we reached our hotel, kurubee showed the receptionist the printed hotel voucher from AirAsiaGo website. The checking-in process was fast and smooth. After few minutes we were given keys to our room which is on the 2nd floor.

For the price we paid for the hotel room, we are actually satisfied with the condition and cleanliness of the room. The view from our room’s window isn’t really a nice sight, but it’s alright since we’ll be spending much of our time out of the room. The yellow lights made the room a little dimmer, but it brings out romantic feel in the room. Moreover yellow light saves energy right?

]]> http://phingelicious.com/2010/12/a-little-getaway/feed/ 6 http://phingelicious.com/2010/11/my-3rd-birthday-celebration-with-him/ http://phingelicious.com/2010/11/my-3rd-birthday-celebration-with-him/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:26:57 +0000 angeline http://phingelicious.com/?p=2474 My birthday celebration started with buying a new shirt for Sat.

Interesting right? The cow appeared in faded Hard Rock T-shirt which I deeply disapproved, and thankfully he automatically walked to F.O.S outlet to get a new shirt without me barking much.

A quest for one decent shirt turned out to be two as he looks good in both shirts! So I got him one, since I didn’t really exactly get him a real birthday present on his birthday this year. ^^

Then we went for a movie, Grown Ups – where we both laughed until cry.

And a lunch at Sushi King.

Or was it the other way round? Yeah, I think it started with a sushi lunch first, and then a movie at GSC Gurney Plaza.

After movie, we went for more window-shopping before deciding to have dinner at 7 Bistro. Sat wanted to celebrate at Chilis but the queue is long and I don’t like to wait. Somehow, waiting makes me nauseous.

Sat even thought of driving up to Batu Ferringhi to have dinner there but I stop him since it was getting late and I was getting hungry.

Seeing a new restaurant in Gurney Plaza prompted me to pull him there but Sat was really reluctant to enter, judging from the amount of customers sitting in the bistro.

But since it was for my birthday celebration, I made the end decision. I pulled him in and both of us were led by a waiter to a table at the side. Menu were given and weird enough, there’s no price stated on the menu.

Then I looked around at the small turnable promotion cards. Apparently the bistro charged the food per person basis. Let’s say you order an appetizer and it’s for one pax, then it’ll be charged RM7 (if my memory doesn’t fail me). If the appetizer is bigger potion and it was written at the side for two person, then it’ll cost RM14. As for the main course, it’ll cost a person RM11 unless it is written 2 or 3 pax at the side of the title. Sat and I wanted to order one appetizer and one main course, but doesn’t know which to choose from, so we sought help from the waiter.

The waiter came and explained that the main course we wanted to order is for 3 pax minimum and they can’t make it for 2. Hearing this, we thought we’ll just order their main course and keep the appetizer for some other day.

Our drinks came and Sat started to shoot the drinks. I ordered something minty, which explains the mint leave and the greenness of the drink.

Sat ordered passion fruit drink. I tasted his, and it tasted nice. When Sat drank mine, he complained that it tasted weird, when I find it to taste like mint chewing gum.

We kept ourselves occupied by taking photos of the food, the area, ourselves. Don’t know why we couldn’t be like the decent, proper couple where we’ll look at each other lovingly in the eyes while holding hand. It is somehow not us. We will be doing all things but that. Lol!

Finally the food came. I was sooo hungry that I digged in not long after taking pictures.

Tastewise – it’s not bad. Edible. Sat said he didn’t know how to rate as he never tried paella before. I tried once, but it was long time ago so I can’t really remember the taste.

So, it’s fair to say it tastes okay.

By the time we finished up the whole pan, we already full and couldn’t even order their dessert anymore. We asked for bill and then left the bistro for a little walk before Sat sent me home.

Hmm, this year birthday celebration seemed low-profile right? I also think so. So gonna pressure him to do something different next year. Wakaka!

Went to Phuket with Satkuru last Wednesday. A totally awesome trip. Ever-smiling, top notch service by the Thailanders. Made me went woahhh! with wonder many, many times.

Seriously, I can’t wait to write about it once I finished up my Philippines trip. Meanwhile, do enjoy the video on the trip put together by Sat using his iPhone. ^^