August

There's not a weekend in August that I am free. Each week, something is bound to happen and hence occupied my weekends. So much so that I've, or rather we have dropped our regular routine for time being.


Not only that, This month itself I've attended THREE Convocations alone. And this had really cost me a bomb! My wallet is stretched beyond limit just by buying flowers and soft toys for graduands.



Let's see what I've busied myself with.


On the auspicious date of 08/08/2009 marks the day of MY convocation!


Thanks guys for coming and making it one of my most memorable day. Love you guys, muackss! Thanks for the flowers and gifts. Most of all, thanks for being there and let me share my happiness with you guys^^




The date 8th August is so auspicious that it is also the day of my friends' convocation in MMU (Multimedia University). So the sad part is, many people cannot attend my convo because they certainly can't be split into half isn't it? Crucial time like this and Doraemon is nowhere to be seen so he's no helper, sigh!


However, on an unsual request by Mr. Simon Wong, I've tried my best to salvage the bleak situation. And I sure hope he'll like it.

TADAAA~~~~~

haha, how, Mr S.W? satisfied bo? ;p

Next, on 12/08/2009 marks the memorable date for my friend, Leroy as it was HIS convocation!

photo credit to Rachel

ON 15/08/2009, it was my darling's Convocation. It was a truly grand moment thanks to everyone who was present to share his happiness. On behalf of Dr. Lim, I convey my thanks to you guys for coming and not forgetting those flowers, presents and most of all, the SNOOPY gifts that he'll cherished for life. THANK YOU!!!! It was really generous and he loved each and every gifts he received to bits ^^




Apart from attending convos, there's also those luncheons and dinners to attend. Thanks to all the bosses who generously treat me to meals after meals of delicious food. I have those extra kgs to prove how sumptious the food was^^



Currently, I'm in a midst of organising a trip to somewhere cooler, preferably hill side for the coming weekends. If everything goes well, I'll be off on another roadtrip this coming saturday, YAYYYYY!!!!! *finger cross*




All in all, the month of August is a busy month for me. ESPECIALLY weekends^^

What I did in Phuket

What have I done in Phuket? Let's see... I went on a cruise ship to Phi Phi Island






And the deck is full of tourists who can't get enough of the glorious sun...






This is the closest I can get to Maya Bay...sigh cruise ship is too big to dock there...






Unlike smaller speed boat, can go up close to practically any beach they want.






It would definitely helps too if you owns a private yacht... Then you can dock anywhere, anytime you want ^^





We passed by beautiful Viking Cave...the water there is so smooth so clear that you'll wish you could dip into it...





Souvenir that we getbuy at the cruise ship






The scenery at Phi Phi Island is totally breathtaking. It was absolutely enthralling with the clear blue sky and clear greenish-blue water.








Hmm.. what do you think they were doing? Scooping up wet sand?;p






Tadaa!!!! they were actually hunting some sea creatures that lived in wet sand...Kinda like crab, but it is not. Actually, they saw the locals bending down and scooping up sand once the tide rushes back to the sea. So they were extremely intrigued by it hence they tried it themselves.

Hands on experience is very important don't you think?

I watched beautiful sunset by the beach..





Followed by dinner at Sabai-Sabai, near the Patong Beach there...

It boast the best Thai dish where all locals knew. The signboard create a feeling that this shop is like a well-kept secret amongst the locals and regular tourists. THE price was good though, not cutthroat like some other restaurants and the food tasted delicious as well. A good recommendation for tourists on a budget or those who do not wish to be charge an arm and a leg for a meal.



SOMEHOW, soft drinks in Phuket just have to be bottle served. And I mean, everywhere. The brand that always appear on the menu would be, FANTA!






After dinner, the boys prowled around the infamous Soi Bangla (Bangla Road) where it is famous for its nightlife activitites.





And they found this! Pork hamburger. Haha it was called Samurai Burger or something. The thing is, we don't always encountered pork anything that sell so blatantly in Malaysia, so we were....erm not used to it? haha anyway, it tasted delicious though^^

Sun rise view from our hotel balcony...

The next day, I also went on a long boat trip to... *drum roll*






JAMES BOND ISLAND!!!





This is our first stop, at the Canoe ship...





And I go canoeing. woohoo!






We went through many low rock formation, kinda like a water cave entrance like that haha..pretty fun and exhilarating.






And finally, we reached our designation destination, James Bond Island! Tadaa~~~




Ok, it wasn't much of an island actually, it was just the special rock formation that were made famous by a certain James Bond movie.


Yeah, you guessed it right. I did not watch that movie, hence I have no idea about how "special" the rock was. However, the place was indeed beautiful and a good tourists attraction spot, eversince James Bond went there long long time ago^^








I also went to the Island Safari, where I saw clever elephants do stunts. They are a clever lot, and a hungry lot too. They never have enough of food.

acrobatic elephant

Oh, and they are also good at smooching ppl ^^

Ever seen a Slam Dunk Monkey? I have!





And an elephant ride follows after that...





Dinner's at S&G Restaurant, which is just opposite Sabai-Sabai.






This is what we had for our dinner. The food was excellent!!! In term of price, it was good as well. Good food for a good price? A bargain, I would say.







A drink at Starbucks?

Optional^^

Phuket Day 2

Complimentary breakfast at Hotel coffee shop before we depart for our city tour of Phuket Town.

Coconut Coffee Shop

Can someone please tell me how to cook a delicious half-boiled egg to perfection? We've tried it a couple times and we either undercooked it, or overcooked it. Now i really appreciate those perfect half-boiled eggs I get from kopitiams...

two eggs that did not get the chance to hatch into chicks!

This street that practically adjacent to our hotel is actually a heaven for boys! At night, it came alive with Marilyn Monroe, feathered "girls" and all sort of extravagant dressings that shout for attention. Their attraction are boys or s-he, also known as "shim" actually. For those who have, or prefer different type of entertainment (read: a penchant for boys) , this is it.

See how Mama San specifically listed "boys" in their signboard?

Our first stop is Kathu Waterfall! Initially, I wanted to go Tonsai Waterfall, but it was too far and we are racing with time, so we settled for Kathu Waterfall instead.

Oh, Kathu Waterfall has something against dog it seems. Because the drawing certainly cannot be pass off as cat, can it?






It was a beautiful place all right. Nice scenery. But yet, I was slightly dissappointed.



I mean, how can a waterfall be this "high"? Pictures of Tonsai Waterfall seems so magnificent and if compared to Kathu Waterfall, this seems like a baby waterfall instead...so if there's a chance in future, I shall like to go Tonsai Waterfall and see for myself^^




Next stop, a famous Thai Temple; Wat Chalong. A beautiful temple, excuisite architectural design and simply very Thai.

Wat (temple) Chalong

At Wat Chalong, they have this tradition of buring firecrackers (those red firecrackers we have during Chinese New Year) in that big erm..thing over there?


So the silent peace at Wat Chalong was constantly being broken by the thundering sound of firecrackers.

That's our taxi cum tour guide at the back there, smiling

We were rather intrigue with this local delicacy, a bamboo sticky rice which cost us 10-20 baht a stick.


Comes in original flavour and a red/black beans flavour. Tasted a bit bland, but the fragrant of the bamboo made up for it. It's a pretty good combination. From the looks of it, I guessed it gotta be boiled or steamed.




How many holy places in the world you know that has an ATM machine smacked right in the middle of the place?

I only knew Wat Chalong has. And I am surprise.





This Elephants were being worshipped by the locals. That board over there says: Temple Elephant Couple.


I don't know what it means. Can it be that the Elephants (can it be considered deity?) is like Cupid? or Aphrodite? Or Venus, God of Love? You know, give love, getting help for finding the "other halves" etc?




Another tradition they have is they prayed with lotus flower bud in their hand. I don't know what it means, but a unique Thai culture to me^^





After praying, they will paste the "golden leaf" (really, it seems like a golden patch of foil paper to me) onto either one of the three monks there, any part they like. Of course not any monks can sit there. There's a history to it but I didn't bother to find out haha paiseh!

And their donation box was no box. It's a safe, that turned into a donation "box"

This is almost like a shrine, where there's many Buddha statues and sleeping Buddhas statues. Then at the top of it, there's a holy place where all the precious "stones" were kept in beautiful containers.





According to what I've been told, this rare "jewel-like stones" were actually remnants of the monks who have been deseased, and I assumed cremated. Not everytime we can find it, but only those really pious monks who have done good deeds and have reached a higher level/status/enlightening that will have these "shiny jewel-like stones".




By lunch time, we went to Rang Hill to have a view of Phuket from higher ground. There's also an affordable cafe called Tun-Kha Cafe there, but we didn't get a chance to sampled any.





Instead, our tour guide bought us to this place. It's called Khon Thai 2 (if I spelled correctly that's it)

This place was awesome too. Too bad, the water receeded and we can only see patches of water here and there. I can imagined this place would look absolutely breath taking during dusk, where the tide is high and sun is dipping low on the horizon.




The price is slightly steeped though, but it's big in portion and it tasted wonderful so we didn't mind a bit. This meal cost us about 1300 bahts if I'm not wrong. By the end of the meal, our tummy was so stuffed that we left smiling.

That's the car that chauffeur us all day...

Ta-daa! FantaSea! A place that enables everyone to be kids once more. That place was colourful and everything was so grand! From their ticket counter to the show hall, everything was exquiste! No wonder the tickets don't come cheap. I can definitely imagined the maintenance cost of that place will not be low. Not to mentioned the workforce? There's almighty people working there itself!





This is our buffet dinner destination. Isn't it grand? It made us feel like we are royalties at once. They have successfully created a charming, grand kingdom of it's own in Kamala Beach. Aptly named FantaSea, because it is a fantasy come live!

Food Food FOOD!!!

Oklar, seriously, I think the food is not really that wonderful. In fact, the choice of selection is not as much as I've expected. In fact, my advice is, forgo the dinner buffet. Just eat a hefty portion of food right before you depart to FantaSea and go inside FantaSea to spend your time snapping photos instead! At 730pm, there'll be a White Tiger Show, which we missed, because we were eating dinner just then... Can't split into wto person, can we?


This is out seat. If we looked afront, we can see a few traditional Thai dancers outside, dancing away to the traditional music to entertain the guests.



Seriously, take my advice, eat before you go FantaSea, then spend all your time there to take photos. It's really beautiful (man-made beauty, of course) and you'll can't have enough of it. You can even shop there as they have lovely stuffs that cannot be found elsewhere.


According to the billboard I saw, it says; Miss FantaSea and You Miss Phuket!


Haha so how can I not succumbed to it? But it was worth it. Really.



More pictures can be found here