Phuket Island in 3 Days (Day 1)

PHUKET, THAILAND 20 – 23 June 2009

At last, it has been so long since the trip. Finally I've got time to blog about this trip and here goes.

DAY 1
We boarded AirAsia from Singapore Changi T1 air terminal towards Phuket International Airport. There is only one minor hiccup for the flight. One Caucasian jumped our queue and act like nothing wrong about that. My wife was fuming mad and was like mumbling throughout the check in time. Apart from that, all’s well.

We reached Phuket airport around +1400hr and proceeded to meet up with Jeff and Jane (We have earlier made arrangement to meet at Burger Kings).

[Tips 01: There are Burger Kings, Subway, Dunkin’ doughnuts and some other stuffs at the airport but their prices are not cheap cheap… if you know what I mean]

[Tips 02: There are moneychangers both inside and outside the airport but the one inside is not accessible once you have stepped out of the main entrance. No sweat, the one outside offers pretty good rates too]

Next, we looked for David Car Rental people as the sent someone to meet us with those classic but ever useful placards with my name on it. The guy brought us to the car rental office which is just opposite the airport and that is where you are required to pay. They will need your foreign driving license and credit card. Then we proceeded outside to check the car to make sure that all dents and liable areas are covered in the invoice so that when we returned the car, we are not forced to pay for it. Anyway, the car only came with half-tank so we are required to return it half tanked too. Off we go to Marriott!!!

The Marriott Mai Khao is only 5mins+ away from the airport. Don’t drive too fast or else you might miss the hotel entrance (Yours truly did).

[Tips 03: The reason it is so close is due to us taking the narrow short cut, otherwise it should be around 10mins+. Advice? Try not to take the narrow shortcut and I mean na~~~rrow!]

When we reached the resort, we are greeted with the usual Marriott hospitality, which is great i.e. garlands, drinks, cold tower, smiles and great service. The resort comes with a swimming pool, gym, kids room where you also get to rent some DVDs, free Yoga, Spa and other stuffs at JW Marriott that we didn’t get to explore as the focus on this trip is more external.

[Tips 04: One complain that I have on this resort is that you can see Cable towers in the resort itself. Was it only me when I heard crackling electric sound early in the morning when walking pass these towers?]

After checking in, we are offered to go for the 90mins MVCI presentation and this time William and Jeannie are attending together with us and we will be able to choose a gift from either 4,000THB shopping voucher, free Marriot Mandara Spa package for 2, 2 free tickets to FantaSea and others that I don’t bother to remember. We arranged for the presentation to be on the final day we are there in Phuket. ;-)

To the room we go! The villa comes with 2 bedrooms, full kitchen, laundry room, huge bathroom, living room and balcony! It IS spacious! All of us are very excited and remarks like “Its more than worth it!”, “So big~!”, “Oh my God!”, “Wow!, “Whoa!”, “Gees!”, “Aaarrrhhhhh~!”, “#%#$^” and the likes are heard throughout the unit exploration. Oh, there are untis at the ground floor that comes with a private pool, so if that’s your thing, request for them by all means as we opt for the top floor.

Masterbedroom comes with a spacious super King size bed.

Oversized bath tub.

View from the balcony.

[Tips 05: The kitchen comes with all utensils except for bowls]

[Tips 06: We brought some food from Singapore i.e. bread, ham, spread, etc.]

[Tips 07: You can travel light as the laundry room comes complete with washing machine and dryer]

[Tips 08: Many people complaint that there is no grocery place nearby, which is NOT true. There is one local run grocery stall nearby which is opposite the main road where the resort is. You can get some basic stuffs over there such as instant noodle, canned food, drinks, sanitary items, etc. there and did I mentioned that their prices is CHEAP?]

[Tips 09: The ‘pulut’ (Rice dumpling) sold at ‘tips 08’ grocery stall is a MUST TRY! It is made with black glutinous rice and again, it is CHEAP!]

[Tips 10: The power socket is the usual 3-pins that we have in Singapore & Malaysia]

[Tips 11: The sofa bed is kinda uncomfortable for sleeping so to have maximum comfort, 6 persons will be best]

[Tips 12: The Turtle Village, which is a combination of pubs, boutiques, restaurants and stuffs is located at the Marriott Mai Khao main entrance and they have Swensons!]

Once we settled down, we headed out to have a dip in the pool and also to explore the resort’s facilities and nearby geography. It was overall quite good except for their failure to acquire the land where Anantara build their resort. After a dip, we headed to Mai Khao beach and gosh the waves are really strong! No wonder it is the low season… The red flag is up so no one is allowed to swim but we did saw one brave (Or rather crazy) fella swim in it as we held out breath. Anyway, we stroll along the beach and also to breath the fresh air thanks to the crashing waves on the shore. The water is really clean but too bad we can’t (Dare not, really) swim with that kinda condition.

After the stroll, we proceeded to JW Marriot Phuket hotel to take a look at the hotel. It was a lot more beautiful that the one we stayed in. It has a very long swimming pool, awesome water feauture, lots of restaurants + shopping area and the lobby is so much more impressive. Anyway, I am still happy with the one I am staying in so no complaints.

As we still have a member (Pooi See) joining us from Singapore arriving in Phuket airport around 2030hr, we headed back to our room and have a quick wash-up. In the room, I called my tour agent and she said that her colleague could not find me when he arrived at our resort (I am supposed to pass her the tour money), so she asked me to head to Patong, which I am quite reluctant to. So I asked her to send her guy down again, which she agreed only if I were to pay THB800 for that. It is ridiculous, so I just told her to fly kite.

Once we picked Pooi See up, we headed to the famous Patong beach area for dinner and man, the journey is quite long with plenty of up/down slopes and not to mention winding road too (Now I know my tour agent intended to charge me THB800 for the journey). The location we are heading to is Bangla Road and by the time we reached there, it was like 2200hr plus. We searched around for food and do some exploring. I managed to get another tour operator to provide us the tour at a slightly cheaper rate. Once that is done, we headed for dinner in a local seafood restaurant, which is regrettable.
[Tips 13: Bangla Road is sleazy with its abundance of pubs and pole dancing girls + “girls” (I can barely tell the difference), so if you are not one that enjoyed these, then avoid this place altogether, otherwise, this is paradise] (DISCLAIMER: I personally felt very uncomfortable in this place)

[Tips 14: Food is expensive and don’t bother to try the seafood alley. Nothing much to rave about the seafood and it is also very stressful with all the touting from the seafood operators/peddlers]

[Tips 15: 7-eleven stores are everywhere so this is one place where you can get some supplies e.g. eggs, bread and stuffs. There is one along the way to the airport from the Marriott Mai Khao]

By the time we return to the resort, it was already 0000hr+, so after a quick shower, we all turned in for the event tomorrow, PHI PHI ISLAND!!!! And that will be the next post. :p

Click here for earlier postings:

Phuket Island trip Pt 02
Phuket Island trip Pt 03 

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