Joyful Steps: July 2009

06:30 Morning alarm rang

07:15 Had breakfast at hotel

The hotel provided very basic buffet breakfast with slight changes to the menu everyday. And, the breakfast started early in the 7am, which was good for tourists who signed up island packages.

Upper: The breakfast area was quite spacious
Lower: Breakfast menu were pancake, fried noodles, fried rice, mix vege, stir fried potatoes, eggs, bread, ham and sausages.

Left: Drink, cereal and yogurt counter
Right: Egg omelette from the egg station

07:30 Khai island tour started. Picked up by mini van to Nontbasak Marine Port

The journey took about 45 minutes. The port was at the east of Pa Tong and we had to pass through Phuket town.

08:15 Took speed boat to Koh Khai Nok island

At the port, we got our snorkels and life jackets before boarding. You could also rent a pair of fin at 100B. Guess what, there was a stall selling bread at 20B. Never mind, I guess the fish would know how to differentiate branded and non-branded bread. Speed boat to Khai island was only 15 minutes which meant we had more time for swimming and snorkeling.

Life jacket counter

Snorkel and fin counter

Stall selling tourist stuffs

08:30 Reached Koh Khai Nok island.

Some described Khai island as island with many beach chairs. For the tour I joined, beach chair and toilet fee were included. I learnt to know that some tours do not include beach chair and toilet fee.

Our sweet tour guide for the day.

She has set up a counter to provide us with local fruits, cookies and drinks throughout the tour.

Left: What were the tourists doing in the water?
Right: They were feeding the fish.

11:00 Departed to Koh Khai Nui island for snorkelling

Khai Nui island was very near to Khai Nok, it was so near that you could even see Khai Nui from Khai Nok. Khai Nui is an island with no beach for landing. But surrounding Khai Nui was good spot for snorkeling. When we reached there, the wave was very strong and it was not easy to swim. Our originally 40 minutes snorkeling time was terminated when some of the tourists started to get panic.

snapshot of Khai Nui

12:00 Returned to Koh Khai Nok for buffet lunch

Buffet lunch menu: noodles soup, salad, white rice, fried rice, fried vege, sweet sour fish, curry chicken, french fries, deep fried chicken wings and shrimp crackers.

13:00 Relaxed on the beach

It was normal to feel sleepy after lunch. So, I decided to take an evening nap. Lying on the beach chair, looking at the sandy beach and clear water, listening to the waves lapping, enjoying the sea breeze and sipping a glass of drink, it was a wonderful moment and I fell asleep in no time.

14:30 Returned to Nontbasak Marine Port by speed boat and transferred back to hotel by mini van. Khai island tour ended.

17:15 Had light meal at No.6 Restaurant.

The weather was not hot, but we still felt thirsty and tired after some walks. We passed by No.6 Restaurant and decided to stop for some drinks. The waitress then recommended pineapple juice and watermelon juice to us. At this restaurant, we also tried a popular thai dish called pad thai. It was a plate of stir fry flat noodles with chicken, nuts, bean sprout, spring onion and egg.

No.6 Restaurant

Phad Thai Gai at 50B

Watermelon juice(40B) and pineapple juice(30B)

18:30 Picked up by mini van from hotel to Phuket Fantasea at Kamala.

Phuket fantasea was a award winning cultural theme park in Thailand. Some even called it Thailand Disneyland. Before the cultural illusion show, Fantasy of a Kingdom, we were to spend time at festival village. There were souvenir shops, craft demonstrations, elephant rides, fun fair games, white tiger, stage show and some other tourist attractions.

When it came to the show, no photo taking was allowed and we had to leave our camera or camera phone at the counter. The show was truly amazing and we enjoyed it very much. We got good seats, that might be one of the reason. If possible, ask for a seat at the second half and towards the center. The reason was part of the show happened at both side, behind and even on top of the front seats.

at fantasea entrance

the fish pond

fish food stall beside the pond

Some stupid entertainment shows at Festival Village.

From left: White tiger; sparrows kissing

Carnival village shopping street

banana milkshake

From left: Palace of elephant theater; one of the expensive souvenior shop

Left: dance performance at cafe; last photo before I went for the main show

23:00 Back in Pa Tong. Enjoyed one hour foot massage at 200B. Visited Bangla Road night life. Had banana pancake and Khanom-jeen for supper. Bought a roll of bread(32B) at 7-11 for fish feeding tomorrow.

I have no idea about the location of this pancake stall. However in the next few days, I found that there were many pancake stalls in Pa Tong. Instead, the street food was rather repetitive here, selling pancake and grilled meat. So you would not be able to miss out this one in you happened to be in Pa Tong.

You could have different fillings for your pancake.

Crepe with banana and honey

Not far from the pancake stall was this massage shop where we had our first foot massage. 200B should be the cheapest price I saw in Pa Tong. The shop had no fancy design and the massage was just so so. But it was always good to have some massage, so no complaint from me.

After that, we walked to Bang La Road, the busiest street at night in Pa Tong. It was an ideal place for nightlife, flashy and loud. With the price of a drink, you could sit back in one of the bar and enjoy some sexy dances. We did not stay long as we still remembered that we had to wake up early for Khai island tomorrow.

We passed by a grilled stall on the way back and was attracted by the nicely arranged meat sticks. The grilled chicken, beef and pork(10B each) turned out to be tender, juicy and tasty. But the meat balls(20B) had some weird taste which I dislike. Look out for this stall in front of 196, Rat-U-Thit Songroi Pi Rd.

Before we could reach our hotel, we found another stall selling khanom-jeen. It was just in front of No.6 Restaurant. Judging from the number of locals visiting the stall, we knew that it must be good. We shared a plate of Khanom-jeen with curry chicken at 40B. Choices are curry chicken, curry beef and curry chicken feet. There were plates of raw vegetables and leaves on the table. We followed what the locals did, adding some vegetables, tearing some leaves and mixing them with the noodles. The curry was so delicious and the thin vermicelli had absorbed all the curry flavors. Highly recommended if you are looking for some real local food.