Monday, June 15, 2009

Phuket with Princess: Day 1

I'm in Phuket!

Ok here's the story. PYOTravel.com is one of our more recent clients who has been running some campaigns on Nuffnang , trying out blog advertising. I've never heard of the site before but when I eventually did check it out I was really surprised on how cheap some of the packages were.

I'm was lucky to meet the boss of PYOTravel.com in a meeting one day (a very nice man named Francis) and I think he could see it in my eyes then that I was overworked and very badly needed a break. So... Francis decided to send me away to Phuket... with Princess on one of these packages :).

Here's how the trip went.

1) Arrived in Phuket on Saturday night. PYOTravel.com arranged for a car to pick us up from the airport to the hotel. First time I actually arrived somewhere and get to see a man in the arrival hall holding up a sign with our names on it.

I know I know... it's fairly common but I've never had that before :(

2) I was very anxious about the hotel because the package I was going for was relatively affordable and it included a lot of things like pick up from the airport, or even a tour to Phi Phi Island the next day... everything paid for.

So thinking like a Kiasu person I started to reverse calculate the package and I figured the only way it could be that cheap is if they saved on the hotels.

I was pleasantly surprised though.

I was expecting Nipa Resort (the hotel I'm staying in) to be a normal kind of hotel but I found myself coming back to this.

My room even had a balcony that overlooked the beautiful pool area.

Oh and the room is really nice too.

This is the pic we took when we arrived that night.


I don't know how PYOTravel.com manage to make these things so cheap... but they do.

3) Our tour the next day was going to start at 7.00AM. If only you guys could've seen the look on Princess' face when she heard that she had to wake up at around 6.00AM tomorrow to make it for the tour.

She looked so angry... it was almost as if she thought the world was going to end.

And this is how she looked the next morning at 6.45AM.

She wasn't happy.

4) The tour van took us to a pier where we boarded a boat to take the 90 minute journey to Phi Phi Island.

Fortunately for me I brought a book to read during the whole journey.


I took some pictures but Princess was still so sleepy she could barely open her other eye for hte picture.

That was at least... until I opened the window... then Princess had BOTH eyes closed.


5) The boat then finally stopped nearby one of the islands for everyone to get off and do some snorkeling... or to just camwhore outside the boat.

In 10 minutes, many of the fellow tourists on the boat started jumping off the back in their snorkels. The good swimmers went with snorkels and fins.

The not-so-good swimmers weren't excluded though. They were all given a life vest so they could still go snorkeling. If they didn't swim, all they needed to do was flip.

Soon it was my turn.... 

And this is me snorkeling while Princess stayed on the boat and took a picture of me.

There was a lot of fish down there.

For the first few minutes that I was down there... I thought for a moment that all of us down there would be in so much trouble if the fish suddenly decided that it felt like trying men for breakfast.

6) After snorkeling for an hour the boat took us for a tour around the other Phi Phi Islands.

The view was beautiful.





They even took us to this cave where they harvest Bird's Nest.



7) Then it was time for lunch. They dropped us off at a part of Phi Phi Island where we could all sit by the beach and have a nice buffet lunch.

I grabbed the opportunity to take this really nice picture of Princess.

And I asked her to take one back of me but this was what we got.

I think she tried to make up for it by taking this candid shot of me later on from below... 

She laughed
"HAHA You look like a giant!"

FEE FAI FO FUM

We eventually got a good picture together though.

8) We spent the rest of the lunch watching a man we referred to as "Ugly naked guy" (Remember Ugly Naked Guy from Friends?).
Ugly naked guy was with some friends of his having some drinks on the table next to us when he suddenly took off all his clothing except for his underwear. When he stood up straight you could actually even see his ding dong fighting for air through his underwear.

Being naked and all, I think after a while ugly naked guy started to feel a little bit overexposed.. or maybe even.. a little cold. So he decided to put another item of clothing on.... A HAT.

Then off he went to the beach to lie down. He even got one of his friends to take pictures of him while he made poses to make himself look sexy.


We later on made friends with his friends though.

Look we even took a picture with them!

They were nice.

9) Princess and I spent some time after lunch just sitting on a swing by the beach overlooking this view and just talking.
I don't know how to describe that moment once again but just sitting there and hearing the sound of waves... just made all the stress and work stuff from home so far away. It really helped my mind really escape everything.

If you're really stressed up at work with deadlines and all... I would really recommend just hopping on to one of these trips to get away from it all even just for a few days.

That moment of escape... made the whole trip worth it.

10) Well that... and having an ice-cold beer by the beach.


And you know what's better than having an ice-cold Heineken in the cool beach breeze on Phi Phi Island?

Having an ice-cold Heineken in the cool beach breeze on Phi Phi Island and having an adorable Princess sayang you at the same time.

I could almost see little angels flying around us.

11) We left that island after the beer and headed to the more commercial side of Phi Phi Island. Phi Phi Island Don.

Did a bit of shopping there and taking some pictures but that was about it.


We were so tired we just couldn't wait to go back to the hotel to rest.

12) We got back safely to the hotel a couple of hours later... then took a shower and went out again for dinner. I was so hungry I could eat a hippo for dinner so we headed to this restaurant called Buffalo Steak.

They had good steak.
After that we walked around some streets near Patong Beach and took some pictures.

This is a picture of me that screams "I'M A TOURIST!!!" 

And if my skin colour and my dressing doesn't tell you that I'm tourist... maybe that map on my hand will.

The only thing about being a tourist is that just like everywhere else in the world... you get a little harassed by touts or people trying to sell you something.

It's not as bad as the damn touts in Shanghai's Nan Jing Lu but over here you just had people constantly asking you if you want a new suit, or a Thai Massage... or even a ride on these Tuk Tuks then tend to overcharge tourists.

Last night we were caught in a rain and this Tuk Tuk wanted to charge us RM30 just to take us to our hotel which was just 5 minutes down the road.

While shopping last night, I found a solution to all these touts though... and my solution came in the form of a shirt I just bought.


Which was probably an idea by a frustrated tourist.. or a local Thai with a good sense of humour.

Nah.. it's not that bad... they're quite polite here... (unlike Shanghai where they're just plain annoying).

Okay now I gotta get started with my 2nd day in Phuket guys.

Update soon :)

28 comments:

Huai Bin said...

PYOTravel sounds good. I'm surfing through their site now, planning a vacation too.

LOL @ the topless dude at the beach with the hat. That was unexpected.

Shooting range! That totally sold me...

...and nice t-shirt. ;)

Huai Bin said...

PYOTravel sounds good. I'm surfing through their site now, planning a vacation too.

LOL @ the topless dude at the beach with the hat. That was unexpected.

Shooting range! That totally sold me...

...and nice t-shirt. ;)

~Elaine Tam~ said...

So sweeet..i like the picture of you and Audrey...Audrey kissing you..So swettttttttttt...

Genova said...

happy escaping boss.

Boss Stewie said...

huai bin: hahah yeah they got some really cool deals there... can't imagine why i never tried to look at them before

elaine: hahaha thank u :) she says thank u too :)

genova:thank you :) may you have your escape soon too

Boss Stewie said...

huai bin: hahah yeah they got some really cool deals there... can't imagine why i never tried to look at them before

elaine: hahaha thank u :) she says thank u too :)

genova:thank you :) may you have your escape soon too

jeanchristie said...

awesome shirt!

Francis Chin said...

hey tim !

Really cool T-shirt you got there ! can u get one for me ?!!

If you came across la !!! pay u back when u return !

ahaha
Francis Chin

KY said...

Hahaha awesome shirt, I saw it at Patong beach too and almost bought it!

JD said...

That's a great t-shirt, because while you are walking along Patong beach, there are endless people asking you for one of those things listed. And the shirt will almost be a repellent for all this.

Melanie said...

nice long update! and you look really happy and relax! =D

Cindy Khor said...

the hotel looks lovely. oh, the sea, very clear and blue, i wish i were there... this is certainly like a romantic getaway for you and princess... but umm, i don't think that t-shirt is suitable for malaysia though (no tuk tuk)

Jessying said...

Ohhh.......i miss Phuket badly!!!!!!

Mellissa said...

The beaches look so much nicer than at Krabi, I think I need to consider this for our next holiday destination!

§oŁЇtǺ®ÿ ®o§ě said...

To complete the tourist look, wear a big big hat with big big sunglasses holding on to big big map with big big DSLR. and WAAALAAA!

You have just transformed into a tourist! Niceeeee~* =P

I'm going to get me a t-shirt like that too and wear it around Bangkok! That will show them! *fist*

PremierYou said...

PYOTravel is good for travel packages. For backpackers who prefer free and easy try www.CompareHotel.com.my

pinkpau said...

phi phi island don? is that phi phi island with rice? :D

why princess' bowl so big your one so small !

Unknown said...

Hello Tim!

I'm a regular reader of your blog.. and im sorry to spoil the happy holidaying mood a little bit here.

Me and my friends actually planned our trip to Phuket for months before our studies ended in May. We are due to travel there this Friday (19 June). But I received news that Phuket is one of the infected area of Swine flu and things in Thailand is not getting any better.. which has prompted my friends to plan to delay the trip.

Since you are there now, how do you find the things going on there? Is the situation like normal or are things probably exaggerated a little?

Hope this comment doesn't spoil your holiday.. And oh, Phi phi island looks awesome from your photos.. Hope we can be there this weekend as well. Stupid flu, ish.

Take care, and looking foward to your next post. ;)

Ryan

~~haha~~ said...

LOL at Ugly Naked Guy, ROFLMAO at the t-shirt! Princess looked super duper pissed at the fifth pic!

Ken Wooi said...

1) hotel is cozy!

2) princess looks very fierce!

3) snorkeling is damn fun! i snorkeled at redang in april 09!

4) LOL-ed at your first picture taken by princess!

5) you stalked ugly naked man!

6) great dinner!

7) cool t-shirt!

Ken Wooi said...

great first day! =)

Jia Hui said...

I know that feeling of escaping from everything! It brought back memories of my travelling :) Nice T-shirt! A little weird that it's on the back of it though. Does it say anything in the front?

vvens said...

hhaha i cannot stop laughing at the picture of the naked man lying down and posing for the camera on the beach!! haha

TianChad田七摄影 said...

1. Funny pict of Princess
2. Happy couple
3. Sweet couple with heineken
and
4. The weird showoff uncle with super high confidence

vialentino said...

nice phuket trip...wish i am there now.

btw, soon my co. will give u business to promote a new portal...

enjoy ur day.

Kang Wei said...

hey boss stewie...

i am going to ask the same question posted by Ryan (above) who asked abt the situation in Phuket as my trip to phuket may also be cancelled due to the seriousness of the reported swine flu cases there...do reply k...in a great dilemma now...

thx a lot...

Unknown said...

Real.nice.shirt. XD

Alex said...

Hey Boss Stewie,

When is the exact date you went to Phuket ? We went to the exactly same resort. I was there from 16th till 19th. Hahaha. Anyway, the people from Nipa are really nice rite?