Kluang - TP Alumni Trip

It was raining cats and dogs last Sat morning. I was supposed to meet the rest at 6am in TP. As my house is just a road across the bus stop, i thought i could dash across without having to bring umbrella to Malaysia. But the rain was really heavy. Even though i was under the shelter, the rain splashed inside as though there was no shelter. I was shivering and could not move an inch. In the end, i had to brave myself and dashed across the road so that i won't be late. When i was on the bus, i couldn't stop shivering on my seat. But a group of old ladies boarded the bus and i had no choice but to stand up and offered my seat. So awful.. I had to stand and shiver all the way to Tampines. After i reached Sheena's house bus stop, i had to withstand the cold wind and rain for more than 30 mins before bus no 15 finally arrived. Luckily, the bus we catered was late too so the group was still waiting at TP. What a disaster morning!

As there was jam at the expressway, we thought we will definitely be late for the train. Luckily, we reached just on the dot. We took bus no 160 in Woodland and walked over to the train station at JB to take the 9am train to Kluang. It was RM17 i think. But the train was late and would only reach at 10am. Thus I went over to City Square to buy breakfast with Weilin, Wanting and Eng Chun (the CO gang). I tried the kuan lao mee but totally not nice. But the bee hoon that Weilin bought was totally awesome. I should eat that next time. It was also cheaper than my RM4 noodle.

We have 53 people travelling thus the whole train cabin was our people. It was fun and a lot of them kept taking pics at the train station. We reached Kluang around lunch time thus Yeuan Huei took us to eat at Lau Pa Sat. Mok (Cindy's cousin - a local) said that the coffee there is the nicest coffee in Kluang. I tried Wanton Noodle, Hao Fun and toasted bread there. Everything was cheap but ordinary. I love the toasted bread though. The kaya was yummy and the butter melted in the hot crispy toast. Lovely!

Yeuan Huei took us to the Honeyland to buy nonya kweh, cakes, egg tarts etc. As i went there before, i didnt eat anything there this time. I am not a fan of egg tarts. But Darren gave me his green tea egg tart so i tried it for the first time. It had a strong green tea taste but i still don't like egg tarts.

After the tea break at the Honeyland, we went to purchase the coffee powder and tau sa piah. Both shops were introduced by Channel 8 many years ago. I bought the coffee powder previously and my parents hated it thus i didnt dare to buy this time. It was cheap and many of my colleagues love it. I guess different people have different taste. But the tau sa piah (salty version) was fantastic. It was nice and fresh with super low price of RM2.80 per roll of 5. My parents and colleagues love this.

On our way to the hotel, Sheena bought a very nice and cheap hula hoop at a cane shop for RM12. She was very pleased with it coz it was cheaper than what her sister paid for in Singapore. I was influenced by her so i bought one of a lower quality but of the same price in Kluang Mall when we went shopping on the next day.

We checked into the Ailang Hotel which was opposite Kluang Parade. The room was around RM60 per night. It was clean and comfortable but there was no lift and breakfast provided. Try to ask for lower floor if your luggage is heavy or if you are not the type who love stairs.

We gathered at the lobby after a short rest and headed to the Gunung Lambak. We had to take a bus trip that cost RM1 and walked quite a distance to the entrance of the mountain. There was a lot of monkeys there. The climb was not an easy one thus when i reached the mid-hill, i told Sheena that i rather stayed there to play with the squirrels. But Sheena very keen to climb so i had to climb too. It was frightening as the terrains was high and uneven. We have to keep using ropes and trees. People in front and behind me kept felling down so i was extremely careful when walking. I kept thinking how am i going to climb down after reaching the peak. Scary. When i finally reached the peak, they told me that a local told them there was another easy way down at the other side of the peak. Thus we tried that road. It was really easier than the previous road but it was slippery due to the rain in the morning. As usual, i was extremely slow so as to make sure i won't slip and fall down. Due to my carefulness, i reached the entrance safely without any injury. Btw, i must thank the guys in front and behind me. They were very nice and offered help whenever they saw me struggling. Actually i was lucky, there was 2 groups behind us and we waited quite some time for them especially the last group. The 2nd last group was lost and luckily they met a jogger and led them back to the correct path. Paul was with the last group trying his best to help the girls. The forest was in total darkness when they were walking down. We almost wanted to call the police after an hour of wait. Next time, i think we should ask everyone to bring a torch. Or maybe this should be done in the morning instead of afternoon.

Mok's mum was extremely friendly. She came out to look for us and brought us to the bus stop so that we won't lost our way. I like her. Very nice and friendly lady. By the time, we went back for dinner, it was almost 9pm.

As everyone was hungry, we proceeded to eat our dinner at the food street opposite our hotel in our smelly clothes. I tried the Mee Hoon Kuey and Pig Trotter with Yam Rice. It tasted ordinary but the price was really cheap. Sheena let me tried her dumpling and i didnt like it too. The flour was too thick and the soup had very strong ginger taste. But the satay that Yeuan Huei bought was nice. Not much fats and they were very generous with their satay sauce.

Before we headed to watch midnight show, we went back for a shower and a short nap. I was so sleepy that i even thought of giving up watching the movie. But i have paid for it thus i decided to go even though the movie cost only RM9. The popcorns combo was cheap too. Only RM8 with 2 mineral water and 1 medium popcorns. I love the movie too. The 32 of us watched Inception together. As we were really tired, many fell asleep in the cinema. The CO gang went karaoke and they said it was cheap and good too. Maybe i should try it next time.

By the time we reached the hotel, it was around 3 plus and we had to wake up at 6am to go wet market. Tiring.

The next morning, we took bus to the Kluang Baru area. By the time we reached, Mok told us we were late as many stuff was sold out. I tried the big pao, peanut pancake, peanut muah chee or dumpling at the market. Yeuan Huei bought durians for Sheena and gang to try. They also bought dragon fruits and honey sugar. Sheena, Yeuan Huei and myself went to the hawker stalls to eat breakfast and i tried the fried mee with egg. I like the mee but not the bee hoon. There wasnt any other side dish for me to purchase. Maybe next time i should eat with the yong tau foo with this mee. After breakfast, Mok told us she hasnt had her breakfast yet thus i went to eat the famous Botak Curry Mee opposite the basketball court with her. It was yummy. I love it but a bit too spicy.

Next, Sheena and myself went to Kluang Mall to try and find shoes to replace our damage shoes. But we couldn't find anything there. Luckily Sheena found her favourite organic rice there so one objective was met. We also went to massage at the building opposite Kluang Mall. I did the 1 hour foot massage for RM30. So cheap! We met the others there too and they were doing the body massage. After massage, we went for lunch at the wanton mee coffeeshop near the Bat Town. It was introduced by Mok and i think it was quite nice. But i dunno why all the wanton in Kluang didnt taste as nice as Singapore ones. It was all very small without not much meat inside.

After lunch, Sheena went to pluck her eye brows at Kluang Parade. It was only RM6. Why everything was so cheap in Kluang? When we headed back to the hotel to meet the group, i saw Dominic's girlfriend and she told me the spectacles and contact lens were all half price of Singapore. So i went to the shop beside our hotel to buy contact lens even though i am not short sighted. Heehee.

While waiting for the 4pm 5 Stars tour bus back to Singapore, i went to buy my favourite Marybrown chicken wing. I dunno why this time it didnt taste as nice as the KL one. Regret.

Conclusion, we love this trip and my SAA colleagues want me to bring them there. Planning one soon..

Melaka & Muar

Just came back from our car trip to Melaka & Muar.

Day 1

Coz we needed to avoid the traffic jam, we met at 4.15am to drive to Melaka. We reached there around 8 plus and we had our dim sum breakfast in Chinatown. Not all the shops were opened so we went straight to the first coffeeshop that we saw. We ordered a lot of food such as bee hoon, century egg porridge, dim sum, buns etc and these cost us 41.30 ringgit. We weren't very impressed with the dim sum as it was not the fantastic kind. But it consider very cheap if you are not a fussy person.

As there was a fruit shop beside the coffeeshop, we bought a super sweet pineapple and a bunch of banana for 8.30 ringgit.

After this breakfast, Terence brought us to a 2nd round of breakfast at Baba Low's. We ordered nonya laksa, mee siam, pai tee and popiah to try and these cost 17.10 ringgit. The place was so kampong and we love the feeling of having our meal there.

Next, we drove around and went to shop at supermarket Tesco which was just opposite Jusco shopping mall. Terence told us that the Malaysian Govt subsidized flour, sugar and milo. Thus there was a limit to how many pack each family can buy. Convinced by him, Sheena and myself bought flour and sugar. I even bought maggi cup noodle that cost 1 ringgit each. Very cheap coz the other supermarkets all selling at 1.60 or 1.80 ringgit.

For lunch, we went to a Chinese restaurant that had very attractive rate. We ordered salted egg prawns, 生岛鸡, hotplate beancurds, vege, tapioca leaves fish etc and only cost us 134.30 ringgit. The ambience looked posh but they didn't have many customers. But we definitely enjoyed this meal.

After our satisfying lunch, we finally could check into our Grand Continental Hotel. The rooms cost us 425.50 ringgit. Each room had 2 double beds. But i think the location really not that convenient if you don't drive.

Of course, we were too lazy after we checked in thus we had a short power nap before we headed to see the Melaka beach. The sea was reclaimed thus they only managed to buy some durians at 26 ringgit (around 4 ringgit per kg). We went to a park to eat the durians. Coz i don't eat durian, i took some photos of the lovely scenary there.

Next, we went to the local pasar malam which Terence accidentally found it during his trips to Melaka. The stuff there was cheap and i bought the carrot cake at 3 ringgit. There was a lot of cai po inside so i like it but it was too oily.

After local pasar malam, we headed down to Jonker Walk which was the tourist pasar malam. Rahayu and myself bought the earring holder for only 22 ringgit. So cheap!

Coz i was hungry, they brought me to eat my dinner at Newton Food Centre. I ordered chicken rice (4 ringgit) and hotplate noodles (4.50 ringgit). As they were very full after their durian dinner, i could not order whole table of food. These 2 kinds were what i could take in. Both was ok but i didn't really like the hotplate coz it was a bit bland for me. Though that was clearly the most popular dish in the food centre.

After the dinner, we headed back to Jonker Walk coz the ladies wanted massage. We found one near the Geographic Cafe and it cost 67 ringgit for an hour. Though i was very full but i could not resisted the temptation so i joined them for the massage too. The massage was quite ok except that the lady scared me when she twisted my neck left and right.

Oh ya, i bought my smurfette tee for only 10 ringgit in one of the shops while we waited for our turn to massage. So cheap!

When we were back in our hotel, Sheena and myself were so tired that we skipped the supper at the guys' room and went straight to sleep.

Day 2

Terence gave us a morning call and we rushed down for our free breakfast. It tasted like the normal international breakfast. After we checked out, we went to shop at the shopping mall. I bought some masks (3 for 10 ringgit), nail art deco (3 for 10 ringgit), cards (2 ringgit each) and some shoes at Vincci.

For our lunch, we wanted to try the Nancy's Kitchen which i told them that it was a popular Nonya Restaurant at Jonker Walk. But the lady boss was too "ar-tas" and kept telling us that it was full and ignored us. Thus we went to Donald & Lily's. Terence accidentally found this lovely nonya restaurant during his trips to Melaka. It was very cozy and we love the nonya dishes. They served different dishes everyday. That day was Sunday and we had the Ayam Ponteh, Assam Fish, Tau Kwa, Mee Siam and Nonya Veg was given free to us. Their rice was free too. So kind. It was a family business thus you will be able to see the bosses and their sons serving us. The meal cost us 72.50 ringgit with Chengdol as desserts.

After lunch, we drove to Muar and checked into the Riverview Hotel at 85 ringgit per triple room. Of course, we had our power

nap again before we proceeded to search for the local pasar malam that Terence read in someone's blog. We lost our way for quite some time and even passed by a scenic fishing village. It was so lovely and we saw the sunset there too. I asked a cute girl selling otah and she told us the direction to the pasar malam. It was a super long pasar malam at the roadside. Terence suggested that we bought a lot of food and eat in hotel room. Thus, they spent almost 60 ringgit for the dinner. I like the fried mee and chicken chop.

We went to a supermarket after this to buy my mineral water and i ate wanton noodle on my way back. It only cost 3 ringgit though it didn't tasted very delicious. But we passed by an Otah stall at the street and it offered to give free delivery on the next day. The boss was very nice and charged the Crab Otah at 5 ringgit too. The Crab Otah was supposed to be 7 ringgit which was indicated on the signboard.

Day 3

As the hotel didn't provide breakfast, Terence brought us to eat Satay at this very nice ambience place near the hotel. We ordered Mee Rebus, Lontong, Roti, Satay etc and only cost 42.90

ringgit. But the Otah boss told us that it was not the best one in Muar. He introduced us to the Sai Kee Coffeeshop along that stretch of shops. It was a nice ambience Chinese coffeeshop. They ordered coffee and we tried the whole meal bread (19 ringgit) introduced by the Otah boss. It was really nice thus we bought some coffee powder (3 in 1 for 8.50 ringgit) there as well.

After our 2nd breakfast, we went to check out from the hotel and coincidentally, i met mum's colleagues there too.

We went straight to shopping mall after checking out. The shopping mall was really boring but we spent an hour there coz we needed to wait for Darren and Terence to finish their haircut. Thus i went to eat at the Chicken Rice Shop which cost me 8.90 ringgit for their set meal. The rice was different colour compared to the one at Vivocity but it was cheap and nice.

As the guys saw the hawkers started operating at 贪食街, we went to eat YH's favourite duck rice (30.40 ringgit). It was yummy but i preferred the noodles. The noodles tasted like our hokkien mee. I like! But i was too full after my 3rd breakfast thus i couldn't eat a lot for lunch. Terence also ordered some 五香 for 5.40 ringgit. After our satisfying meal, we headed back to Singapore. On our way back, we tried to avoid the toll fee by taking the side road and saw a lot of durian stalls. Thus they bought a lot of durians for 4 ringgit per kg. I wanted to buy some too but nothing was left after they have selected their share.

We reached Singapore around 5 plus and we didn't meet any jam. So comfortable trip.

Universal Studio Singapore

Coz Andy going army soon so we decided to go USS together last Wednesday.

We tried the breakfast at Superdog in Vivocity. The chocolate chip waffle cost an additional of 50 cents each and the banana walnuts waffle cost an additional of $1.20 each. So expensive but we still topped up the difference as we wanted to try the different flavour. It was nice and we like the sausage. But the blur blur me mistook the maple syrup as honey for my ice tea. Luckily it didn't taste weird.

When we were at the monorail, we realised we could use our ezlink card to tap without having the need to buy ticket. The transport fee was $3. After 1 stop, we reached our destination. The USS ticket cost $66 on weekday. There was a promotion so we got $10 meal voucher and $5 retail voucher each.

Lights, Camera, Action! - hosted by Steven Spielberg

The first stop we went to was New York. Lights, Camera, Action! was the first attraction we saw. We were impressed by the special effects in the room and I have video-ed glimpse of it.

Before we leave New York, we saw the performance by Rockafellas. They did some breaking and popping performances. I think they were quite cool and pro. Badd and Andreas told me that they are probably from Philippines.

Sci-Fi City

The most exciting ride (the Battlestar) was closed for servicing. I heard a chair dropped out. Scary..

But we managed to try the other attraction in Sci-Fi City which was the Accelerator. I had to keep staring at Jean to prevent myself from getting dizzy.

Revenge of the Mummy

After Sci-Fi City, we reached the Ancient Egypt and tried the Revenge of the Mummy. It was something similar to what i took in DisneySea. But this was more scary. We were being pulled back, raised and dropped suddenly in total darkness. So scary! It was so exciting that the dancers went back for another round while Iris and I waited for them outside.

We wanted to try Treasure Hunters after that but the staff told us that the ride was for kids.

The Lost World

Next, we proceeded to The Lost World where we took the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure. It was a river raft ride which the dancers found it too boring except for the ending part where our raft was being dropped from a low waterfall. Some of us were wet entirely and have to change into another set of clothing.

The second ride at The Lost World was Canopy Flyer which we thought would be those slow sightseeing ride. It turned out to be very fast and exciting. But i think need to choose those seats facing front coz only Jean and I thought it was fun. Our legs were hanging in the air and we have nothing to grab on. We kept thinking that our legs would hit into some trees so we didn't even have the time to do our sightseeing views.

After that, we skipped the Dino-soarin which obviously was a kid ride. We started to queue for the WaterWorld. The show was supposed to start at 1.30pm but it didn't open until 1.45pm. The super long queue was worth it. The show was impressive with amazing stunts and awesome explosions. But the local staff had bad attitude. I asked her to take a photo and she didn't even wait for me to walk back. So angry. Took photo for me without me getting into position. I think she just didn't want to help. Anyway check out below for the small part of the show.

Far Far Away

We had our lunch at the Goldilocks in the Far Far Away. The meal cost me $9.20 with 2 pcs fried chicken, hot bun, buttered corn, coleslaw and drink.

After lunch, while waiting for the Shrek 4D Adventure, the guys suggested to try Enchanted Airways. It was supposed to be kiddy roller coaster. But it was so fast and scary that we don't think it was kiddy at all. Of course, the guys went in to have another round while the girls waited for them outside.

Then we proceeded to Shrek 4D Adventure. It was a very interesting show and i think everyone will love it.

After the show, someone suggested to go Donkey LIVE show. We thought it would be a children kind of muppet show but it turned out to be a very entertaining cartoon projected on screen. The donkey really communicated with the audience. So amazing and we were so surprised.

We didn't try the Magic Portion Spin which located in a souvenir shop. It looked really kiddy.

Madagascar

The ship was still building thus basically we only took pics here. But we tried the King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round after some persuasion from the staff there. It was cute but really slow.

Hollywood

The last stop was Hollywood where we watched the Monster Live at Pantages Hollywood Theatre. The show starts at 5.30pm and it was really nice. It featured all the monsters such as the Vampire, the Bride, the Frankenstein, the Mummy etc. They danced and sang pop songs. Even the setting looked like professional musical stage.

We also had our dinner there at China Bistro and shopped for interesting souvenirs. Btw, the food at China Bistro was quite nice.

Hotels

After we left USS around 8.30pm, we went around to explore the hotels there. I love the Hard Rock Hotel. The deco was classy.

Everything with Fries

Read about this cafe in the magazine. It was opened by the owner of Awfully Chocolate. The restaurant was located at Joo Chiat Road opposite Katong Mall.

Actually i find that their signboard is really very small. If my friend didn't bring me there, i might have missed if i passed by. But i love the young look that the cafe gives. The waiters and waitresses all looked very young and the pink tees that they were wearing made them looked even more youthful. The place was white and bright. The concept was raw and simple.

I ordered the one egg soup which Wee How recommended. He told me that it was chicken soup and the chef separated the egg white and egg yolk to cook it in different methods. It was special and maybe i love fried egg. Heehee.

I also ordered the skinny wings which they cut the wings into half and deep fried it. My colleagues found it very salty but i like salty food so i am quite ok with it. Moreover, chicken wings are my favourite food!

For the main dish, i ordered the pork chop. It tasted a bit tough and i didn't really like the sauce. But the overall taste was quite ok.

Since the shop is called Everything with Fries, we tried the fries in all the 5 flavours. The flavours included curry, sour cream & onions, garlic & herbs (with garlic as deco), original and salt & vinegar. The fries also come in 2 shapes - shoestrings (macdonald kind) and straight cut (mos burger kind). My colleagues think that the curry flavour (with curry leaves as deco) tasted the best but i think i like the salt & vinegar. The rest of the flavours tasted quite bland.

For the desserts, we ordered the nutella tarts (tasted better with vanilla ice cream) and hot banana butterscotch pudding with ice cream. The famous nutella tart was hot and yummy. The base tasted like chocolate oreo crust and the hot nutella filling tasted very chocolaty. But my colleagues found them too sweet. Btw, i love the banana butterscotch pudding too. Very banana and the pudding tasted like hot cake. It blended well with the ice cream too.

Ministry of Food in Bugis

This was a place that my colleagues loved and we decided to come here every year to celebrate New Year. You will receive free coffee or tea voucher with every set meal that you order. The voucher indicated that you can even just drink without order anything for your next visit. I tried the fried chicken with unagi set. I also ordered 2 kinds of rice to try. The pork rice and the unagi rice. Both tasted quite nice. I love the dessert here too. Must try the fried sweet potato balls with red bean and ice cream. Hot sweet potato with cold ice cream mixed with red bean just tasted fantastic!

Japanese Food in Ion

Watami

Many magazine recommended this japanese restaurant in Ion. It was a famous franchise restaurant from Japan.

I tried these 4 types of food in the pictures. Ramen tasted quite good but i have a fussy taste over ramen. I love ramen with springy noodles, pork flavour kind of sweet soup with "melt in your mouth" pork thus this ramen could not fulfill all my requirements.

But the skewer chicken tasted just like what the magazine stated. This can be a place for you and your friends to sit down and drink sake, eat snack food to chit chat.

Before i left, i tried their dessert coz my credit card has some discount thus the dessert was like free for us. Quite nice. It was cold crepe with red bean paste and green tea ice cream.

Ginza Bairin

Saw this super long queue at the basement of Ion. Magazines recommended this place too. You have to queue outside to order the food. Fast food restaurant kind of concept but they will try to find table for you.

The only problem here was that the wait for the food was really too long. Those queuing in front of me have all gotten their food. But maybe the set that i ordered was their recommended award-winning special set thus my wait was really double of other customers.

I tried the katsu set and tempura prawns. I like the crispy chicken, sweet rice sauce and melting egg of the special kastu set but i tried better one in Toyko thus i wasn't that impressed by it. Tempura prawn was quite normal though. Moreover, i think the wait was just too long for me.

Food in Kovan

Fish Steamboat

Went to try this fish steamboat at the coffeeshop in front of Kovan interchange after watching 煮炒来了. Also, ordered the prawn roll. The soup tasted sweet and delicious, fish was fresh and they gave us a lot of vegetables and yam. But dunno why i still preferred the one near Potong Pasir highway. The prawn roll there tasted better too. Just that the queue was really too long.

Wanton Mee

This was my favourite wanton mee stall at the Kovan market. I recommended this stall to my friends and they love it too. Do not come on Weds and Thurs coz they rest on these 2 days of the week and they will rest for a long period during CNY. Sometimes, they closed for a long period for holiday. I think they must be earning a lot to close so frequently.

The noodle is springy, wanton is yummy and i like the sauce and soup also. The auntie there is very friendly too. There was one time when she told me that some of the wanton were spoilt so she didn't have enough to sell me just wanton soup (my usual side order). There was another time when she saw me re-queuing to buy back for my family. She asked me to jump the queue. One bad point is that the queue is just too long. I needed to wait for almost an hour most of the times.

Nasi Lemak

This was the Punggol Nasi Lemak opposite Kovan MRT station. The stall only opens at night for dinner and supper. But do not come on Thurs coz it will be closed.

The chicken wings are one of the most yummy food here. My friends like the sambal long beans and curry vegetables. Of course, the rice and chilli are good too. Btw, the queue here is incredibly long too. I think that might be one of the reasons why people like the food here. Singaporeans always like to queue for food. They think that it will definitely be nice if there is a queue.

Fried Hokkien Mee & Oyster Egg

These dishes were sold in one of the old coffeeshop opposite Kovan MRT (somewhere near Punggol Nasi Lemak). I didn't really notice it until I watched the variety show 排排站查查看. The show mentioned that the Hokkien Mee didn't use any pork or pork lard in order to cater to Muslim customers. But it tasted just as nice and fragrance. I like it! But the oyster egg didn't taste as good. I felt that it was just too oily.

Phuket

Went Phuket last month coz there was a Jetstar Asia promotion. The ticket only cost me $60 plus. Wee How and Paul were very 讲义气. They knew that I had some problems and won't be able to able to proceed with my original plan, so they agreed to go with me instead. But they so poor thing. That time, they bought their tickets at non-promotional rate which was around triple of what i paid for.

Day 1

It was really early in the morning. We are supposed to meet at 6 plus in Terminal 1. But i reached around 7am and i suggested to go my favourite staff canteen to eat breakfast.

While on the plane, Paul was quite irritated when Wee How and myself kept talking when he about to fall asleep. Heehee.

When we reached Phuket airport, there was a counter which distributed free SIM card. Wee How took it and called his gf on our way back to Singapore. Phuket tele-company was so nice, gave free calls for 7 mins and you could top up if you needed to make more calls. Oh ya, Wee How really did a lot of homework. When we walked out, he told us that we must take the cab at the right hand side of the airport exit. He told me that the guidebook indicated that it was the cheapest cab to town. But i think it cost around the same price actually. Anyway the cab cost us 540 baht to reach Casa Brazil at Karon Beach. But the hotel was full so we have to walk to other hotels which i have recommended to Wee How before our trip. Wee How is supposed to find the direction of these hotels. But it took us a super long walk, in fact nearly 2 hours (with the help of police) before we reached the hotel that i want to stay. Next time, cannot believe his sense of direction. Heehee.. Luckily, i like to walk. Btw, the guys were really kind. They knew that my bag was heavy so they offered to help me carried it during that long walk. But i told them that I am 新时代独立女性 so i could not accept help from guys. Heehee.

After hours of searching, we finally found the Angus & Arfur O'Tool's at Karon Beach. A very nice guesthouse and only cost me 1000 baht per night. The guys shared their room so they paid even lesser. The guesthouse even had free wifi and also free mineral water.

As we hadn't had any decent meal yet, we went out to makan and this simple lunch cost us 450 baht which was shared by 3 of us. It was a restaurant near our guesthouse.

After that, i suggested to visit the tour agencies so that we could make plans for the rest of our trip. Before this trip, I have done some homework and already knew which were the areas that i wanted to visit. So the job was only to find the cheapest rate. We managed to find one agency with chinese wordings saying that was the cheapest package in town. When we asked for the price, the boss asked me to quote the price i wanted. Surprisingly, he really agreed to the price i quoted. Very cheap compared to other agency. We paid 1500 baht each for the James Bond Island canoeing trip and 1000 baht for the Phi Phi Island trip. We also booked a hotel at Phi Phi Island which cost 1500 baht for triple sharing. Btw, all the sales staff at these agencies were very friendly. They gave us a lot of tips on Phuket's interesting places to go such as the temple market near our guesthouse and the beautiful sunset venue.

After booking all the trips, we went to Karon beach. It was a nice and quiet beach. I love it. Better than Patong Beach which was really too crowded. Oh ya, i realised a lot of people like to do para-sailing here. Maybe i should try it next time if i go Phuket again.

Oh ya, i passed by my favourite pancake stall after our visit to the temple market. Yummy pancake is a must-eat when i go Thailand. Only cost me 35 baht for the banana chocolate flavour.

After a simple and yummy dinner of 550 baht, we went for massage. Wee How was very troublesome in this area. He said massage was a spiritual thing for him. So he must look for somewhere that he could feel the connection. So in the end, we went to one that was really very good. My leg massage was 200 baht and the service was good. Wee How's "massager" even declared her love and offered to go home with him.

Coz we didnt drink a lot of water so the guys suggested that we played poker cards every night and loser would have to drink water. So tiring coz we played till 2 or 3am sometimes.

Day 2

As we had to meet the driver at 7.30am, most of the eateries were not opened yet. We had to settle our breakfast at 7-11. My burger cost me 40 baht but it was very nice. It was real fresh meat and not the frozen patty. After we met the tour guide, we went to Hilton Hotel to wait for other guests. We waited very long for them, almost an hour. But nobody turned up. In the end, we headed to jetty without them.

The cruise was a super fun cruise with free flow of drinks. The guy at the bar counter folded a rose which the tour guide kneeled down to give me. So drama. Heehee. After that, the bar counter guy offered to take us on his canoe. The guys told me that luckily they were with me coz would have people offered to canoe our boat. So funny.

I love this cruise coz the people in this cruise was so fun. The pretty little girl tried to show off her new rose to me after pestering her dad to get one from tour guide. Then some of the couples there were really very pretty and handsome. Looked like Spanish to me though Wee How told me they looked like Australians. The staff on cruise were very entertaining too. They did breakdance and thai dance for us whenever they were free. So funny. I like them!

The cruise brought us to the James Bond Island but there was nothing much to do on the island. We went back to the cruise after taking some pictures at the landmark area. We also tried some stupid cliff climbing photos there though. So funny.

On our way back to the cruise, i took photo in front of the tailboat. Then an ang mo uncle came over to ask me take photo with him. So strange. I felt like an exhibit. After that, he took photos of me whenever he saw me. I think i must have looked like a Thai girl.

After that, we went canoeing at Hong Island and saw very nice scenes. So much like those in the movies. Secluded and pretty. Eagles were flying everywhere. We also went swimming at Lawa Island (muddy clean water) and cave-trekking at the Daimond Cave. The cave was super dark. I wonder whether i have slight night blindness. I really could not see a thing in the cave. Luckily, Paul and the bar counter guy helped me to navigate in the cave. Scary...

The lunch on cruise was quite yummy especially the chicken drumlets. Everything on this cruise was perfect. When we returned, we alighted at Hilton Hotel and attempted to walk to Kata Beach. But it was really too far and we gave up after the sky turned dark.

We passed by a small eatery and ate our dinner there. It was very cheap and only cost me 45 baht. But it was not very nice and the caucasians behind us were smoking all the way. We ate fast and left. Coz our dear Wee How could not massage without cleaning himself thoroughly, we went back to hotel for him to bath before going to find our massage for the night. I did a Thai massage for 200 baht and the guys did their aroma oil massage.

Day 3

This day, we had to leave my favourite Phuket guesthouse and headed for Phi Phi Island (pronounced as pi pi and not phi phi). As we only need to meet the driver at 8am, we walked

out to find interesting Thai breakfast. We managed to find this noodle stall near our guesthouse and only cost us 140 baht for 3 bowls of noodles and 2 cups of drinks.

The cruise that day was a cruise with aircon but very stuffy and crowded. Luckily, we managed to find a table and play poker cards for the whole trip. A caucasian uncle asked me what we were playing and i replied Chinese Poker! Everyone was laughing at my answer coz we didn't know how to explain 大老二 in English.

1st stop, we took longtail boat to Khai Nok Island. It was a pretty little island but too crowded for snorkelling. We tried to look for quieter area but failed.

The lunch on board was not as nice as the James Bond's one. Thus, the guys didn't eat as much as me.

The next stop, we went to Maya Bay for swim. We had the option of taking longtail boat to

Maya Bay for photo taking or stay around the cruise for swimming. Coz Wee How really wanted to swim, we stayed at the cruise. Luckily, the staff objected to us jumping into the sea so i could slowly climb down. The sea was calm so it was pretty easy for me especially with my life jacket on. Paul was fascinated coz it was his first time snorkelling and he think the under water was very pretty. Actually, i should have told him that the water near Monkey Island and Bamboo Island looked even prettier. But i didn't pour cold water at that time. Anyway, i enjoyed snorkelling there too coz it was really easy for me this round.

We were wet and dirty after the swim but I tried to tahan the uncomfortable feeling and continued to kill time by playing poker cards with the guys.

After an hour or so, we finally reached Phi Phi Island and found our guesthouse - kinnaree hotel. The bathroom was rusty and small. The towel was grey and with holes. The floor felt very sandy. The TV was not clear. Though it wasn't as pleasant looking as the one in Phuket, it looked "stayable". Didn't know why the guesthouse in Phi Phi Island was so expensive.

Before dinner, Wee How suggested to go sunset viewing so we climbed all the way up to the hilltop. It was a tiring climb and we had to wait 2 hours for the sun to set. While climbing, we

saw some cashew nut trees. Wee How said that the fruits were poisonous. But i saw a caucasian guy eating it. Wee How asked me to see whether anything happened to him after an hour. Apparently, Wee How's info was totally wrong. The guy was still ok even after we walked down the hill.

Anyway, while waiting for the sun to set, I suggested eating the conetto ice-cream which was more expensive than the ones in Singapore. The guys told me that we had to pay for their effort to bring up the ice-cream. Ok, maybe that was why i was willing to pay 50 baht for it. My hand was so dirty after eating the ice-cream, we had to pay for another 20 baht to buy water to clean my hands. Luckily, we were kind of thirsty too. As the time passed, more people reached the sunset view point. It was very crowded by the time we saw the sunset. Luckily, we reached early and got a good "seat".

After the sunset watch, we went to the beach. It was low tide and we could walk till very very far and it looked like we were floating on the sea. So amazing!

As Wee How wanted to try cliff jumping and shark watching, we tried to source for cheap packages. I kept telling him that we should just booked a boat and go there directly coz all the packages were too expensive. In the end, they chose to listen to my 老人 advise and hired a boat for 600 baht (the package cost 600 baht too but was per pax). But Wee How gave up the cliff jumping idea even though Paul was still quite keen.

After settling this, we ate our dinner at a small eatery. My pad thai dinner and drink cost me 90 baht. Very expensive compared to Bangkok. We went back to hotel after dinner and continue our poker card routine.

Day 4

We woke up very early to meet the boatman at 6.40am but he didn't appear. Luckily, we managed to get another boat at 7.15am for the same price. We couldn't wait too long as the sharks would be gone by 8 or 9am. The sharks point was very near to us and we reached there shortly. We couldn't see any shark at the beginning. But the fishes there were more beautiful. We saw different kinds of fishes with all kinds of colours. Wee How even showed me the sea cucumbers. In the end, we managed to see some small black sharks. But we couldn't take pictures of them coz the guys were too busy saving me from the strong currents. The currents were so strong that i kept sweeping away by them. I think the guys were really very tired after that. They had to save themselves and still had to save me. I felt really bad that they couldn't even wake up in the morning to run. Heehee. Oh ya, I was cut by the rocks while trying my very best to station somewhere to wait for the boat to fetch me. Such a scary incident. But I think i was really brave coz i wasn't as scare as i think i should be. Maybe i knew that i would be saved by the 2 "personal lifeguards". So glad to have them around. :)

When we returned to Phi Phi Island, the boatman dropped his propeller fan. So poor thing. He told us that he had to pay 2000 baht for a new one. Luckily, another boat was nearby so we were dragged back by that boat. The caucasian guy in that boat had more worst cuts than mine.

After we reached Phi Phi Island, we went for breakfast after our bath. The thai stall holder didn't understand my order and gave me the wrong stuff. In the end, i got to eat fried rice for breakfast which cost 60 baht each. We headed straight to the beach after that. The morning beach view of Phi Phi Island was pretty and crowded. I wonder why so many people were sun-tanning. Won't they feel very hot?

As our ferry would only reach at 3.30pm, we went for massage again to kill time after checking out. I left my white Topshop tank top there after washing. So sad. Dunno why so blur.

Anyway, this time round, i chose the massage venue coz i wanted to do body scrub and not every shop did this. I chose one that looked big and nice. The scrub cost 400 baht. It wasn't very nice coz the area was too open for body scrub and i developed rashes right after the scrub. My mood was very bad after that coz i looked super ugly with the rashes. Paul said next time cannot trust my taste in massage shop, better follow Wee How's spiritual connection. Sian. When they went for drinks, i wasn't even in the mood to talk to them. But i could still remember the ice tea cost me 40 baht though.

We went to the ferry around 3pm so that we could get good seats before the crowd came back at 3.30pm. To kill time on ferry back to Phuket, we played Poker cards again. I was really very sad while playing cards. Moreover, Wee How kept pushing the cards to me, acted as if i would be the loser and must do the card shuffling. So i told him that as a 新时代独立女性, i won't lose to a guy. Amazingly, i really didn't lose. In the end, i asked him to let me off and stopped pushing the cards to me. When he stopped pushing, i lost. So Wee How told me that i could only perform under stress. Heehee.

At the ferry terminal, we told the ferry guy to bring us back to Patong Beach this round. In

Patong, we stayed at the Tatum Mansion. This was a place i found online. Nice place with no wifi access and only cost me 1000 baht.

As i wanted to go to the weekend market in Phuket Town, we had to rush to Phuket Town immediately after my thorough wash up to try "eliminating" my rashes. We took a tuk tuk there which cost us 350 baht after a lot of bargaining. The weekend market there was very huge and happening. I bought my "branded" slippers for 170 baht and some pouches for 10 baht each.

The food there was very happening too. We ordered a lot of stuff such as the chicken rice that cost 40 baht, the pork knuckles rice that cost 35 baht, the pig blood that Wee How has been looking for since he reached Phuket, etc...

After our shopping trip at the weekend market, Wee How

brought us back to Patong Beach by taking an illegal cab that cost us 350 baht too. Wee How was very excited over the Patong nightlife. So we went to his Tiger disco to recce. It was quite cheap as customers only needed to order a drink that cost 150 baht. But it would only open after 12am so we were still early when we reached at 10 plus. Thus, we walked down the pub street. It was really happening. Sexy girls dancing on the bar tables and at the balcony to attract customers. When we walked passed them, they even offered to take photos with me. No wonder Wee How like there so much. Heehee.

As I was still very sad over my rashes, I suggested to stay in the hotel after we went back for bath. I think Wee How must be very glad that i made this decision. Heehee. He has been hinting this since the start of the trip.

Day 5

I told the guys that this day was free and easy day so they could wake up at whatever time they like. I waited until 11 plus and the guesthouse was super noisy since the early morning. I wondered why the guys could still sleep so well. As I got impatient waiting, i went to knock at their door. Paul told me in his sleepy face that Wee How got home around 4 plus. So happening.

Paul said he couldn't take it after drinking 1 glass of vodka lime thus he came back without Wee How. I laughed at his low alcohol limit. So funny. But Wee How was really happening to stay so long all by himself. He even told us that the "massager" near our guesthouse kept pestering him for special service. So funny.

Anyway, we went out for brunch but we couldn't find any cheap place thus we ate at the restaurant opposite our guesthouse. I had the pineapple rice for 100 baht and ice lemon tea for 30 baht.

We went to Jungceylon after checking out from the guesthouse. Wee How was very nice. He headed straight to the pharmacy to buy cream for me to apply. When i offered to pay, he refused coz he said i weren't had gotten the rashes if he didn't insist to stay at Phi Phi Island for a night. So touched. Paul said this act must learn. Heehee.

The shopping centre was quite big and Paul found a lot of camping stuff that he wanted to buy. But the guys changed very small amount of Thai baht so they didn't have enough money by then.

The carrefour there was also almost as big as the one in Singapore. I bought a cute tea filter for 70 baht.

After brunch, we went to Patong Beach. Very crowded with a lot of activities. We also bought our dinner at a mobile stall. My omelette rice cost 60 baht. So expensive! Anyway, Wee How seem to be very excited sitting and eating at the roadside. Oh ya, i managed to take photos of the advertising lorry with thai boxers on top to advertise on Thai boxing match.

After makaning, we went to search for my nail art. Though it was common in Karon, i had difficulties finding in Patong. I think Patong massage shop only catered to massage and special service. Sian. Anyway after walking very long, I managed to find 1 hair salon that did nail art. But it was ugly and the nail art cost me 400 baht for feet and hands. When we walked back to Jungceylun, we passed by a noodle stall that sold pig blood. So in the end, we ate another dinner there coz we wanted Wee How to have his pig blood noodle.

After that, i went to buy my lingerie at Robinson while the guys waited for me at the sitting area. We also saw a super cheap facial promotion where a lot of caucasians were queuing for the service. I would have tried it if I didn't get the rashes in Phi Phi Island. I wouldn't want my face to have rashes too. We also saw a property promotion there. So happening. I wanted to buy one of the houses with seaview. So romantic. But i doubt i would ever earn that much to buy it.

After that, we went to the night market behind the shopping centre. Nothing much there. But i tried this super yummy potato rings for 20 baht.

As it was getting late, we walked back to the guesthouse to meet our cab driver around 10.30pm. Wee How got this cab driver for 500 baht. A good bargain coz a lot of them didn't agree to this pricing. The cab driver was very nice too. He waited for us when the guys ran to get flower soap for their girlfriends. I heard the "massager" near our guesthouse even gave Wee How a hug when he walked pass.

During the waiting period, i even went to buy Pad Thai for supper.

Another nice act of the cab driver was that when he was driving to the airport, i asked him to stop when i saw Hard Rock Cafe coz i wanted to buy my shot glass again. He actually stopped without complained. But the shot glass here wasn't as nice and it cost me 399 baht.

We were informed that our plane was delayed and won't take off till 12.45am. So we had quite some time there doing nothing. Luckily, i could eat my pad thai and Wee How could call his gf.

I was so tired after i got onto the plane. When Paul suggested to play cards, i objected to it and carried on with my sleep. But the journey was too short for me to have sufficient sleep. We reached around 4 plus in the morning and we spent quite some time in the duty free shop to buy alcohol. I didn't know what to buy so I bought the limited edition tropical flavour vodka when i saw Wee How taking it.

Wee How suggested going straight back to the office but i really missed my bed so i didnt go back with the guys.

That's the end of the trip's story.

Conclusion - I enjoyed this trip despite the rashes incident ;)