Fireworks and Kong Ming Lantern in Patong

After our sumptuous dinner at Patong Seafood Restaurant, we walked across the road to Patong beach. I bought 2 fireworks for 50Baht. In seconds, it shoot high up to the sky and poooppp.... Wow... very nice and fast. Didn't manage to take any picture of my fireworks because it was really too fast. I also bought a Kong Ming Lantern. I was told that you can write your wishes on the lantern hence i asked for a marker from the lady who sold us this lantern but she don't have one. No choice, we just have to think of the wishes in our heart. One lantern is about 150baht but i guessed it can be cheaper. Anyway i was too tired to bargain the price.

You have to hold the paper lantern until the fuel heat the air inside the lantern and enough to float the lantern rise up to the sky. After that you let go and make a wish.

During Tsunami time, many people actually began lighting the paper lanterns and release it to the sky for remembrance. It symbolise a wish for the soul departed, a wish for a peaceful and beautiful journey and a release of the pain and sorrow of their families and friends.

Patong Seafood Restaurant

Patong Seafood Restaurant is one of the oldest and finest restaurant. This restaurant serves fresh and nice seafood. You can get to choose the fish, prawns and lobsters that you like and have it cooked by the chef. It is centrally located on Patong Beachfront. If you are sitting outside, you can get to view the fireworks and Lanterns all the time because just across the road is the patong beach where most tourist would play fireworks and Lantern at night. After the dinner, you can either shop around their pasar malam (night bazaar) or chill out at some nice pubs. Foot Reflexology and massage are all around that area.

Address: 98/2 Taweevong Road, Patong Beach, Phuket 83150 Thailand
Telephone: (66-76) 341 244-5

Fax: (66-76) 341 243

Open daily from: 7 am - 11.30pm ( Last order around 11pm).

Recommended Dishes:

1) Lobster with the cheese ( I love this, 600gram is about $50 sgd)

2) Mussels with Herbed Soup

3) Steamed Crab with Glass Noodle

4) Fresh Oyster ( 40 Baht for 1)

The price of the seafood is around SGD price. If you are visiting phuket next time, do pop by this seafood restaurant. It is worth going.

Overall, i would give patong seafood a 3.5 stars.

Baan Rim Pa Restaurant in Phuket

To all who are visiting phuket, i would like to suggest visiting this restaurant, Baan Rim Pa in phuket. The food is really fantastic and it features complete fine dining experience in spectacular setting. One thing I like the best about this restaurant is the paranomic view of Patong and Kalim bay when you sit at the balcony area.

I would think price wise is reasonable for the kind of atmosphere & food given. To some, it may cost abit higher than those you find at other places, but it is really worth going.

Address: 223 Prabaramee Road (Kalim Beach Road), Kalim Beach, just north of Patong Beach and the Novotel Resort. (15 -20 Minutes walk from Bangla Road)

Website: http://www.baanrimpa.com/

Tel. : (+66 76)340789

Fax: (+66 76)342460

Here are some recommendation on the MUST TRY DISHES.

1) Tom Yaam Goong ( Tomyum Soup)

2) Herbed Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup - Southern style (Unique taste)

3) Pineapple Rice

4) Steamed Rice (sounds weird, but it taste a bit different from those that i eat everyday.)

Baan Rim Pa is awarded the best restaurant in TIME OUT Magazine and also many other magazines.

I am giving them 4.5stars out of 5. (MUST TRY!!!)

Patong Beach

Patong Beach is one of the most popular tourist attraction in Phuket. I would say this place is very commercialise and overcrowded during the peak period.

If you want to play watersports and suntanning. Patong Beach would be an ideal place. Deck Chairs and Umbrellas are provided. Reading a book or taking a stroll on the beach would be great. However if your intention is to settle down at a quiet and crystal clear water beach, I am sorry to say patong is not a good choice. It was because watersports such as parasailing and jet skiing have already polluted the sea.

Water Sports Charges During Peak Season
Parasailing (1 Round): 750 Baht - 800Baht
Banana Boat: Around 300Baht
Jet Ski: Around 1200Baht

**You can try your luck by negotiating the price with them if there are more people playing.

Kindly also take note that the Deck chairs in Phuket are NOT FREE for lying down. Once you sit on their chair, the people will come and collect the money from you. Haha... 130 Baht for 2 chairs with Umbrella.

Overall, I would give Patong Beach 2.5 stars out 5.

Beautiful Islands in Phuket

We are all setting out to Phi Phi Island

Monkey See, Monkey Do (At Monkey Bay Island)

Phi Phi Island

Viking Cave SightSeeing

Crystal Clear Water in Khai Island

The Fishes in Loh Sama Bay

We bought a tour package a day before the departure to the islands. Each of us pay 1300 baht(about 58sgd) to Phi Phi Island, Maya Bay and Khai Island. I never regretted paying this amount of money because the whole day I only spent 1300baht and it includes lunch which is CHEAP.
Tour Includes:
1) 2 way transfer by minibus
2) Mask, Snorkelling Equipment and Life Jacket
3) Speed boat fare with full insurance
4) Soft Drinks, fruits, biscuits
5) Lunch
6) Tour Guide
7) National Park Fee

Itinerary
8:00 am - Pick up from your hotel and transfer to the pier at Chalong Bay

9:00am- Departure from the pier to "Phi Phi Ley Island" for swimming and sightseeing at "Maya Bay" where the movie "The Beach" was partially filmed.

Enjoy snorkelling and feeding colourful fishes at "Loh Samah Bay". Sightseeing at "Pileh Cove" and "Viking Cave"

- Enjoy feeding monkeys with a piece of banana. (Please note that the monkeys are not friendly at all)

- Enjoy swimming with crystal clear water and snorkelling with plentiful coral reefs.
12:00pm- 2:30pm - Arrive at " Phi Phi Don Island" for lunch and shopping

- 2:30pm - Arrive at " Khai Nok Island". Enjoy swimming, snorkelling, sunbathing and feeding fishes.

- 4.30pm - Depart from " Khai Nok Island" to "Chalong Bay" and transfer to your hotel.

In conclusion, if you are visiting the Phuket for the first time, I think you should go for this suggested package. The next time when i go again, i will join another snorkelling tour to the 3 islands at Khai. I heard from the operators there, you can get to see Dolphins in one of the Khai Islands if your day is lucky. ;)

Phuket- Central Festival Phuket

Central Festival is about 30 minutes away from Patong Beach. It is another nice shopping mall located at Wai-Rat-Hong-Yuk Road. This mall is smaller than Jungceylon and things were quite similar. More than 300 shops can be found here, whether its brand name jeans or local souvenirs or Phuket's native food, they are all here for the picking. Brands such as Levis, Nautica, Esprit, Bebe, Lacoste, Guess and Warner Bros were all here.

Website: http://www.centralfestivalphuket.com/

Taxi from Patong to Central Festival - 400baht
They have free shuttle link service from 10.30am-10pm. Round Trips from your hotel to Central Festival.

A.Route 1:City
Drop off at

• Robinson Phuket
• Royal Phuket City Hotel
• Metropole Hotel
• Twinn Inn Hotel
• Phuket Island Pavilion Hotel

B.Route 2: Patong

Drop off at

• Phuket Graceland Hotel
• Andatel Hotel
• Patong City Hotel
• Patong Palace Hotel
• Salathai Hotel

For more information, please call 076 291 111.

Phuket- Jungceylon Shopping Mall

A picture of me resting near one of the jungceylon entrance.

From Singapore to Phuket was about 1 hour and 40 minutes. We sat a Limousine from the airport to Letong Beach Hotel was about 600baht. The journey was about 40 minutes or lesser. We decided to go shopping at Jungceylon but because none of us know how to go there, we took a Tuk Tuk for 150 baht(about 7 sgd) to reach there. The transport in Phuket isn't that cheap as compared to Bangkok.

Jungceylon is a major and the newest shopping mall in Phuket. It is located right on the most livliest spot of Patong Beach, corner of Bangla Road and Rad-u-tit Road.

Website: http://www.jungceylon.com/

Operating Hours: Morning - 11pm ( their carrefour closed at 10pm)

Basically, Jungceylon have 4 sections namely the Silang Boulevard, Phuket Square, That's siam and The Port. If you think Jungceylon provide cheap stuffs like Bangkok, I have to say "sorry", it is not cheap at all. My friend bought a belt for 56sgd. The price of the clothes over there is about Singapore price and i can say Singapore has better and nicer things to buy but again it depends on individual taste. The best thing that caught my eyes are Women's Inner Wear. Hahaha! It is CHEAP and there are a lot of choices. Boots were also found there and managed to grab a few cheap and nice body lotions and scrubs. After that, we proceed to a nice restaurant opposite Jungceylon. I could not remember the name but they serve pretty reasonable and nice food. If you would like to watch Thai Boxing after shopping, it would be a great idea because it is just directly opposite jungceylon. Great Massage can also be found in that area.

Overall, with Jungceylon Shopping Mall, it will definitely make your trip more worthwhile because visiting beaches during the day time, shopping in the evening and drinking in the night would be PERFECT.

Perhaps that is the reason why i fall in love with Phuket. Not too boring, not too hectic but just nice for a short get away.

My stay at Phuket-Letong Beach Hotel

I just came back yesterday and my stay at Letong Beach Hotel Room 205 was a disappointment but anyway i was well prepared. My friend's room 204 was 10 times much more better than mine. Maybe we were not lucky enough. It wasn't comfortable staying there because the rooms are old and dirty. I saw few ants crawling around the bed and even saw 2 earthworms crawling in my room on my last night. The bed was hard and they do not have hot flask, iron, hair dryer and safe deposit box. Worse still, Letong Beach Hotel was beside the nice and well built Novotel. It is not near to popular places like bangla road and shopping mall, Jungceylon. We walked about 20 mins to Jungceylon but on the way you can see a lot of pubs and discos. However there are few plus points about this hotel, it is near a very nice restaurant called Baan Rim Pa. This restaurant has unsurpassed view and excellent food. It is near patong beach and it is about 5-7 minutes from the seasports area not the one directly infront of the hotel. Every rooms has a balcony. I guessed this hotel is quite safe from tsunami because everything seems unspoilt but judging from the furniture and the building. If you are someone who is on budget and wants somewhere not near the crowd, maybe this hotel could be the right choice.

Rating: (5- best 1-worst)
Services: 4
Location: 2
Food: 2
Facilities: 1
Overall: 2


Will I go back to this hotel again?: NO....

Phuket

I am going to Phuket tomorrow and will be coming back on the 28th. At this moment, I am feeling excited and worried. Thinking of the tsunami 3 years back, it brings chills down to my neck but i told myself not too worry. Will there still be colourful corals under the sea after tsunami? Mmm... I hope so because i can't wait to see. It was a last minute idea of spending my christmas day at Phuket because i saw Tiger Airways coming back flight was only 9.98 and so I decided to go for it. Haha. I was also having a hard time in booking the hotels. After going through much hassles and rejections, we finally settled it down at LeTong Hotel. I am praying hard that hotel will not be as bad as what the reviews mentioned but because of budget and a lot of hotels are fully booked, we had no choice but to go for Letong Beach Resort. I shall come back with great photos and reviews in my next post. Merry Christmas! :)