..:: 708. Maiden trip to Phuket ::..

perhaps i will share some interesting stuff and pointers to note for those first-timers like myself, and for those who went there countless times can advise for my next trip.

wanted to take a meter-taxi which we were told would cost us about 450 baht to reach patong beach. the taxi queue was not what i would expect.

the lady displayed a "no taxi" sign. so unlike singapore where streams of taxis would be waiting. we were told we have to wait for 20-30 mins. seeing that we came out of the airport about 8 plus in the evening with no time to waste, we decided to go for the non-meter taxi which we got a slightly better quote 550 baht compared to the standard rate of 600 baht.

somehow the taxi driver knows the singaporean flavour. we were singing to the songs he played through a cd in his car. we were shocked to hear he even had songs by jay chow. then ky and I started whispering, "shit, did he understand what we have been bitching about in chinese?"

first night, ky's couchsurfing friend brought us around the clubbing area, bangla road. OMG, never seen so many clubs in an area before. totally trashed clarke quay + MS road. top 2 favourite must-go clubs: seduction and hollywood (both R&B)

seduction- music mix is interesting, though the fillers he used can be quite irritating, esp when the dj himself starts speaking into the mic to ra-ra the crowd. first floor R&B, second floor house (yucks). enough space to dance, has podiums/platforms for those who need a little more attention. 100 baht for entrance. didnt drink while i was inside though, busy dancing.

hollywood. free entry. 2 sections. both play similar R&B songs. think for one of the section, they repeated the song playlist cos i remember hearing them the night before. wondered how the dj is being paid. drinks quite cheap, wine 100 baht, beer 120-150 baht. liquor about 120 baht.

the tanning was great. laying on the deck chairs feasting on people is definitely an experience. eyes were kept busy for hot bods. finally we got to try para-sailing. damn awesome. ky went first while i was at the boat taking video and pics for her. it really looked scary from the boat, probably due to the high speed. could see her running and taking off with the parachute and flying so high i could hardly see her. just heard her take-off scream. the exhilarating part would have to be when you dropped in height, the feeling of your heart sinking... priceless. as i was rather light, i was going so much higher and the wind certainly helped.

we went in the morning and got a good bargain. 800 instead of 1000 baht. in the words of the operators, its the "cannot-tell-others" deal.

surprisingly my first trip that i did not buy anything back cos the stuff can almost be found in bkk. oh, i love the seafood. the two of us had 5 dishes (same amount as a family of 5 beside us) and we finished everything! ordered squid, tuna, tom yam soup, vegetables and meat.

when i reached the airport for my flight back to singapore, i had interesting encounters. i saw on the board, tiger airways @ terminal 2. however, i was not sure whether i should go to the main entrance which had tons of tourists today. all the tour buses seemed to alight them at the main entrance and the queue was incredulously long. then there were 2 chinese ladies shouting "please queue up, you have to queue up. it is unfair. unfair to the people behind." this went on for 5 mins, really agonising. all the tourists were looking at them.

they continued on their rampage/part-time law enforcer roles.

"if you dont queue up, i am going to call the police. hey you, queue up. people, dont let them cut queue, they should queue behind us, it's unfair"

damn. should have recorded it as my ring tone/alarm, sure wake up. strangely i have to say, the accent really sounded like they were from hong kong. poor ladies. they literally ran to the place where the ang-mos tried to cut queue. in the end, they had to rebutt "we are just standing here, not going anywhere". i stood there, cant help being embarrassed, especially i am the only asian at that area besides them.

after the ordeal, i went to terminal 2 and saw that i could actually entered from there -_- just had to walk down the slope.

then met a group of chinese students from NTU at the queue to collect our boarding passes. recognised them cos one of the girls was holding to a library book from NTU. When it was their turn to check in, one of the girls had a stack of money inside her passport -_-. the staff had to pass her back the money. eh, how blur can one get?

then on board the plane, one of the couple was sitting beside me. he loaded everything up the cabin and then he just have to realise to reach on top to get his water bottle. after a few minutes, reached up again to take his earpieces. so much for lack of forward planning. should have taken them out in the first place. was trying to sleep and when he tried to reach for the cabin, i was hit by his ass.

growls.

anyway hope bkk trip would be more fun!