Let's fly awayyyyyyyyyyy

Checking out the goods at Central Festival. Can I have this please????

Phuket was amazing. I had such an incredible time there... I miss it already! Nothing beats the feeling of walking around a foreign country hand-in-hand with that special someone and taking in all the sights and sounds for the very first time, together. Hopefully, the first of many trips we'll go on. You and me, baby! Woot!

Quick recap of the events of the past few days, before my brain remembers its usual short-term memory...

Early flight out on Saturday. Lionel came by in a cab at 4am. The 'rents were still abed. Dad, as usual, woke up yelling, "Huh? Huh?" Haha. Good thing he didn't do that during the trip; he shared a room with Lionel. Don't worry babe, it's not hereditary. I think.

Got to the airport about 4.30, the terminals weren't open yet so we had a quick breakfast, Mom chiding Dad the whole time and complaining that she forgot her reading glasses. Lionel found this very amusing. Told you my parents were weird, babe. Heh.

Oh we saw one of the ACJC triplets at the airport. I think it was Zaishao. My dad spotted him and got so excited because apparently he knows the triplets' mum - they were ex-colleagues or something and he happened to meet her in hospital the day after the triplets were born, 'cos my mum was in the same hospital having me! So my dad was like, why don't you go wish him happy birthday? Eh, ok, but I don't really know him... Anyway I think he probably recognised me but we didn't say hi to him 'cos he was with his girlfriend, Amanda Ling's sister I think, and we didn't want to disturb them haha.

Anyway so we got on the plane and Tiger Airways isn't too bad, there's virtually zero service but the seats were all right. We tried to nap but it was a pretty short flight anyways. We were met by our tour guide at the airport in Thailand, a very smiley, chatty ex-Muay Tai boxer named Rambo. We found out later he'd been fighting from the time he was 13 and he only stopped at 29... 16 years! Wow. He still looks pretty fit.

Day 1 in Phuket: Rambo brought us to this shop selling cashew nuts and dried seafood where we got to try a bit of everything. Yum! I'm thinking I should have tried more. There were souvenirs too. Bought dollies for the girls. Pretty!

Then on to a jewellery factory where we got to see how precious stones were cut and of course we got to see the final products as well. My birthstone is opal so we checked that out - oh my goodness I love opals! They're so pretty. Especially the milky-white ones with rainbow colours in their depths. Very apt ;) I wonder if my mum subconsciously knew that the opal is the only birthstone with rainbow colours when she chose my chinese name... nah. Haha.

After we checked into the hotel we walked around and had lunch at a nearby restaurant called Pum. Very nice Thai food. When in Thailand, eat Thai! My dad liked the place so much he asked if he could keep his coaster. Heh. Afterwards went down to the beach... oh I love the beach! And it's so nice to see blue skies again! Lionel finally got to try my fins while I just lazed around in the sea contemplating the parasailers and jet-skiers. Nope, didn't get to try those but we will someday!

Then back to the hotel where we swam for a bit in the pool and then - would you believe it? - went to the gym. Needless to say we were the only two crazy ones in the gym... like we don't get enough of that in Singapore. Haha. I did 50 inclined sit-ups and my abs are still hurting. Dinner at an American-style steakhouse - big portions! Lots of meat and potatoes. Good food.

Walked around the area after dinner, the shops are open till pretty late. Mom had a great time bargaining. I'm not very good at that - I was just getting into it. I got a really sweet blouse at a slight discount - Mom was disgusted that I didn't ask for a lower price but I felt kinda bad for the sweet old lady at the shop. Lionel and Mom are a lot more vicious when it comes to haggling. Heh.

Had an early night - snorkelling the next day!

Day 2: My 24th! Started the day with a birthday kiss from my baby. Early breakfast at the hotel (surprising variety of food and pretty tasty too) and then off to Phi Phi Island for some snorkelling. We walked around the island after lunch and bought matching bracelets and necklaces. Sweet ;)

On the cruise ship











Walking around Phi Phi Island


Attachment bracelets!

Napped in the sun on the cruise ship back. I have a tan line where the necklace was. It's very uneven. Haha. We got back to the hotel before the 'rents (they went to James Bond Island and got a Thai massage) so we had another dip in the pool while waiting for them. Had my birthday dinner at an Indian restaurant called Ali Baba. Haha. The restaurant is designed like a cave, with plants growing out of the walls and pretty tea-lights everywhere. We ordered a few dishes to share and they turned out to be all curries. I'm upping my spice threshold! Yum... I love Indian food.

The 'rents headed back after dinner but we wanted to watch Muay Thai, so we made our way down to the Bangla Boxing Stadium and caught 8 fights. Awesome! The fights start off deceptively gentle, like friendly sparring - the fighters lightly tap each other on the legs, they move around gracefully while the music plays in the background. It's like watching a dance. Then the boxers become more aggressive, more brutal. They don't let up, and they're fast. Some of them look like they train 16 hours a day, some look a little soft, but don't let appearances deceive you. Muay Thai isn't about how fit your body is but about how skilled you are - you have to be alert and smart and relentless. I have to say I totally love it. It really gets your blood up! Lionel took some videos. I'll post them soon. Some nice fighting there, including a couple of knock-outs.

Muay Thai

Oh yeah thanks to everyone who remembered my birthday and smsed me ;) Gonna see most of you soon.

Day 3: Lionel and I wanted to go ATV-ing (ATV - All Terrain Vehicle. Took me a while to get it. Heh.) and bungy jumping but we only got to do the first in the end. With bungy, we only actually made it as far as the bungy jumping place - twice! The first time, the guy said they were doing maintenance and he'd give us a discount if we came back later so we went off to a mall for lunch; the second time, he said that day had been declared a King's Day or something and everyone had to go home. Boooooo. Looks like I'm not fated to jump yet, and Lionel will face his fears another time. He was having second thoughts anyway. Mom said, "Lionel, if you back out I won't call you a chicken, I'll call you a rooster." Haha. Mom has a weird sense of humour.

Well anyway we got refunded and went for a Thai oil massage instead and bought a lot of souvenirs that night (getting the hang of bargaining) so it wasn't a dead loss. At least I wasn't responsible for giving Dad more white hairs, haha. I asked him if he'd secretly prayed that we wouldn't be able to go bungy-ing. Heh.

ATV-ing is fun! Although my driving isn't all there. I drove into the vegetation a couple of times and had to be bailed out by the guide. I kept forgetting to accelerate when tackling the uphills and ended up rolling backwards down the slopes. And going down the steep slopes (facing forward this time) was a little daunting - I was remembering my mountain biking accident. Lionel said he was so scared for me the whole time, but he said it with a smile so I guess it was a little funny too. Sorry babe ;)

Me and my ATV

Lionel the hotshot

We also got to try shooting! And if my driving was bad, my shooting was much worse. Lionel hit the target board 9 times out of 10 but I only managed 2, and just barely. Boooooooooooooooooo. Haha oh well it was really fun, and I got a cool video of me firing a pistol! Wheeeee! More shooting when I get to Canada.

We had dinner at a really swanky seafood restaurant, with a live band playing mostly 80's and 90's music. The lead singer had a beautiful voice. Looking forward to Lionel's gigs! Coming up real soon.

Day 4: Mad rush to the airport and back to Singapore. Back to the haze *sigh* and back to work *sighsighsigh*. But not before I spent some time cuddling with my baby and catching up on sleep ;) I had a really great holiday. Thanks babe for sharing it with me.

Anyways... I don't mind being back in Singapore so much, there's a lot to look forward to still. Happiness!




Memories of Phuket... having fun back at the hotel =P