Tick tock.
   
     It was Friday, the 18th of September. After 10 years, this was going to be my first trip outside the Philippines. Last time it was with my mom, now it's with Lawrence. In a nutshell, this trip is extra-extra-extra-super-duper special for me as I 've been longing to visit Thailand ever since FOREVER. Whew.

     To kick off this upcoming trip, we bought beer and vodka and merrily drank our sans souci Saturday away. By the way, this was my first real vacation. In the hospital, seniority complex was a common thing that we had to cut vacations short. I've always despised it.

Checklist please:

1. monopod (Now I know why people are raving over this thing. It was so useful!)

2. Swim wear (I ordered one online. Yep, I was THAT excited. LOL )

3. Money (We saved a couple of thousands in exchange for USD. We should have bought some when the exchange rate was low. Lesson learned.)

4. Sunblock

5. An adventurous heart (triple check!)

Weeks prior to this trip we made sure to book for a tour and a room! Airport transfer was already taken care of by us, too. Here's the breakdown of everything:

1. Airport Transfer - 600 BAHT one way from Phuket International Airport to your hotel / guest house (2 people)

2. Phi Phi / Maya / Khai / Monkey bay by Speed boat; inclusive of lunch and snacks; premium service (Royal Phuket Marina) ; no added charges except for the fins for snorkeling which cost around 100 Baht; Life vest and Snorkel included - 1,500 BAHT /person

3. Our guest house which provided great service. Fresh, clean towels, shampoo, bath gel already included, and room was cleaned daily: 4d / 3n - 2,700 BAHT ( booked through Agoda)

4. Pocket Money: *drum roll please* USD 450! And believe it or not, we spent only USD 350 during our entire stay, this includes our meals and other expenses.

5. Elephant Trek , River Rafting package (inclusive of lunch): 1,200 BAHT/ person

6. City tour by private vehicle (they pick you up): 1,200 BAHT/ person

7. Airfare via Cebu Pacific:

    a. CEB- MNL - CEB : P2,500 ++

    b. MNL - PHKT - MNL - P9,500 ++

    c. Travel Tax : P2,300 / person

note: Tipping in Thailand is not necessary. This is customary for us Filipinos, so we gave some extra to the other staff because they really have good service.

Not so bad, right? We made friends with the tour guide and found out that he also does tours at a lesser price. 

Our flight to Manila was early in the morning. Waking up wasn't much of a fuss because vacation mode was officially on. Yay! The flight schedule to Phuket was still in the evening and killing time was the only option we had. Thus, to MOA we went. Putting in mind that Manila has the worst traffic situation in the world, we left the mall at 2:30 pm (our flight was at 7:45 pm) and the traffic was already starting to build up. In Manila, drivers ask for an additional P50.00 - P100.00 on top of your fare. This wasn't surprising since we all know how crappy and corrupt the transportation system is there. We reached NAIA Terminal 3 at 3:30 pm and Lawrence spent the remaining time catching up on some sleep while I was munching on whatever food was in our luggage. I was too psyched to get some snooze.

Boarding call. Take off. Hello Thailand.

     The flight took 3 hours. We safely landed in Thailand at 10:20 PM (9:20 Thailand time since they're an hour behind PHT). The driver patiently waited for us outside and greeted us with a sincere smile despite the time being so late.

     I was left in amazement of this beautiful place. The roads were free from rubbish and everything was just so new to me. They drive on the left - hand side of the roads.;) The roads near Phuket were long and winding, uphill and downhill, and up and down again. It was an hour away but we barely noticed the time! We passed by Patong where the yellow city lights lit up the lonesome roads. Get this, when we reached Phuket, it was the exact opposite. The place was alive at night. There were countless people walking on the streets. This place was festive and sleep was the last thing on people's minds. It's like Sinulog everyday! First hour in Thailand and I was loving it already!

    We eventually got to our cozy guest house, unpacked our bags and recharged our energy for the scheduled city tour the following day.




September 22, 2015: City Tour (Karon View Point, Big Buddha, Wat Chalong Temple, Natural Restaurant, Phuket Trickeye Museum, Banzaan Market)

     I woke up quite early that day and Lawrence was in the middle of a deep slumber, recovering from a bad tummy ache. I pulled the curtains aside and got a view of the plain, narrow road outside. People just went on with their own businesses while I was up there thinking about how awesome that day was going to be. hehehe! At 8:00, the van came and with our sun glasses on, we were on to our first stop, Karon View Point. It was situated at the top of a mountain and there you get to see a grandeur view of the sea. Lovely indeed! The viewpoint actually doesn't only show Karon. It was hard to snap a good photo since we only brought along our digital camera and iphones. Nonetheless, the picture cannot even show how beautiful the scenery was. This spot gave an overlooking view of Kata Noi, Karon and Kata. Sure enough, this would be a good place to visit in the evening.



     We didn't stay long here as we were set to go to Big Buddha. It wasn't far from Karon View Point. The Great Buddha of Thailand, also named as Ming Mongkol Buddha, is the ninth tallest Buddha statue in the world. It was such a pleasure to have witnessed such a stunning sight. The marble-made Buddha stands at 145 meters tall! You can already see part of it at the bottom of Khao Nakkerd Hill. Before you go there, make sure you have a shawl handy to cover yourself as wearing sleeveless, shorts (or something like that) and beach attire are absolutely unacceptable. The first thing to greet you upon getting there are statues of their gods and goddesses, pictures, offerings from the people and the scent of perfumed incense burning. Not far from that are stalls where you can buy souvenirs like miniature wooden elephant figurines and key chains. There's a concrete staircase that leads you to the top and be prepared to be in awe of the view that awaits you! People from different parts of the world gathered to take snapshots of this beauty and the 360-degree view of southern Phuket! The heat of the sun was high up and so were we!:)












     Next on the itinerary is Wat Chalong Temple. Wat, in Thai, means Buddhist temple. In Thailand, there are quite a number of these with Wat Chalong being the most deeply respected. Why you ask? Because within the yellow and golden walls lies a well-kept relic, a part of Buddha's bone. :) This place covers vast grounds. In the temple, you can go up on the second and third floor. Feel free to take a peek of Phuket through the clear glass windows bordered with golden hued frames. From the number of slippers outside, there's no need to ask whether you should take yours off. If you haven't figured it out yet, the answer is, you should. lol People come here to offer flowers (lotus flowers) and stick those gold stuff on the monk statues inside. What better idea to end this stop than to buy refreshments from the friendly vendor. It was uber hot and for only 40 baht, the fresh, ice cold coconut juice was really the ultimate thirst quencher!













     All that sight seeing made our stomachs growl with hunger. It was lunch time at last! One of the most awaited times of the day. Joe brought us to this hole in the wall Thai resto, Natural Restaurant. That was going to be our first time to eat Thai food (which I'm a huge fan of) so I was undoubtedly excited for it!

Joe recommended the following:

1. Pad Thai
2. Tom Yum
3. Sliced Thai Beef
4. Spicy Prawns

Beverage: Green Mango Juice (really good!) 

Scrumptious. Exquisite. I never looked at Pad Thai the same way ever again. Normally, I only finish half a plate but with that, I devoured everything. Both of them surrendered! haha!






     With happy bellies, we left for Phuket Trickeye museum at Phangnga road. We have this in Cebu but Lawrence and I haven't visited it yet. Good thing our first 3D trickeye experience was in Thailand. :) It costs a bit more at 500 baht per head but we thoroughly enjoyed it! True to what the name says, the images seemed almost too real. From Edvard Munch's Scream to this huge waterfall-like image, it made us feel like we were part of some cartoon series or something. You have to see it to get what I mean. That was the last place on the list before going back to the guest house. Lawrence managed to buy a helmet at such a bargain price when we stopped over one of the shops along the road. Stuff being sold here aren't really that expensive. Joe said that clothes are sold cheaper in Bangkok. :)








     Back at PL House, we rested until 6:00 pm. That's the time when Banzaan food market opens. It's a foodie's ultimate paradise. There's a wide array of Thai dishes and fresh sea food to choose from and the aroma of different spices filled the air as we got lost within the numerous stalls. If you don't speak much English, no worries because some of the vendors speak Taiwanese, Mandarin, and even Russian. With four days left, I made sure I gave everything a try, if not, maybe nearly everything for that matter! I had Pad Thai for lunch and dinner. I tell you, it tastes different from the what we have in Cebu. Not to mention it costs cheaper... A serving costs 100 Baht. Add 20 Baht if you want it with egg. That's already good for 1 to 2 people. If you're itching to give the popular fried insects a taste, they also have them up for sale at 20 Baht a pack. Gora!!










   Muay Thai fans can enjoy good fights at Bangla Boxing Stadium, opposite the Banzaan Market. It starts late so we didn't bother watching, although we wanted to. It's a tad bit pricey and out of our budget. :( Instead, we visited Jung Ceylon mall and watched their Water Fountain show while having coffee at Lavazza. Jung Ceylon mall is a world - class mall that houses an array of shops and restaurants...DSquared, Levi's, Monkey See, Dairy Queen, Sushi Box, Starbucks, The Coffee Club, Rip Curl and it just goes on and on. This place reminds me of Alladin because it was so darn huge and looked more like a palace than a mall.

     The coffee couldn't revive our draining caffeine levels. With that being said, we went back to the guest house with skipping heart beats and fulfilled dreams.

     What an incredibly beautiful first day in Phuket. Cheers for the next days to come! In the appreciation of simple joys comes profound happines. :)



Note: Day 2 post is coming next. *dum dum dummm!*
All photos are taken using my iphone. No edits and filters. :/