Collection of photos around Sebana

Well, I was planning to clean the insides of Eleanor this AM, but we were hit by a Sumatra which makes cleaning a little more tedious. Stuck indoors onboard Calliste, and just letting the RC run itself for the next 30mins..

Pretty shells, but nobody home.

Looking thru my collection of photos.. thot I might share some of the sights around here.

Starting with my walk on the beach at low tide in Sungai Rengit. I confess. I was looking for a clamming beach.. This is a muddy sand beach and it stinks. Littered with garbage at the high tide mark, and with vacant shells at the low tide flats.

stinky, sucking, sinking mud ..

I guess this beach would be interesting if you were a collector and not a clammer… the oysters harvesters were having a field day out. There is a bed of small oysters all over the lowest tide zones that are only exposed once a month. I tried to go a little closer to them, but I wasnt prepared to get really dirty, muddy and stinky… Notice how the muddy cracks around my feet? They were sinking slowly, and if I stood long enough it will suck me right in! Yucks!

Home robber!

Back to firmer ground on the low tide mark. There were some live snails.. but not my fav Gong gong. Most of the pretty shells were taken over by hermits. Hermit are everywhere on this beach…

Mobile home moving.

These littles things remind me of the bankers foreclosing on the home owners who have fallen on hard times. And they are always on the lookout for bigger and prettier shells to move into. If you love watching hermits fight, there is plenty of action right here. Venue: downtown Sungai Rengit beach. Time: low tides only. Admission free, squatting room only, unless you like to go back with a muddy bottom. 

No swimming, this pool is seriously off limits

Back to Sebana. Whats new around here? Once a year, we are visited by a squadron of cuttlefishes. They are always a welcomed sight. They sorta look like slow moving light bulbs and very colorful. Mostly bluish… yes, they are poisonous. Try not to go swimming with them around.

Green nuts. Great drink.. but.. doug woulnt crack one for me.

Another regular sight, coconut clearing around Sebana compound. Here is 1 pile of the clearing. There are at least 3 piles of them waiting to be collected.

What is Doug doing in the bush?

We dont usually drive into the wilderness on Sebana, but this week we needed to check out the power supply box . Power at the hardstand/dry storage is giving us some problems.

This is a fun picture.. is Doug peeing in the bush… 🙂

The revelation!

Hee hee hee… well, no.. The truth is not so fun.. Doug is just setting up for the power testing. Using our heaviest load, the 3HP air compressor to test the current directly from the power box. Trio, is really a tool wagon around here. Poor girl.

Dark clouds right

And finally, the Sumatra! Wikipedia has a very good description of the Sumatra phenomenon, go look it up.

Quite interesting really. I was actually enjoying the strong cool winds blowing through this morning, standing on Eleanors deck and soaking in the atmosphere of impending rain, dreaming about the time when I was sailing in a condition similar to this. Cant believe that I think it might be fun going out right then…

New development on Restaurant City! Planting!?

Barely 24hrs from the time that I stumbled upon these new features, I am so excited about the new fun that is to be had on the new Restaurant City features, that I am writing this post with the limited information that I have. I suppose if I joined the fan club, consult with people close to the developers, I would know more about these exciting new features… but then I think it will spoil the fun of discovering it as I go along.. 

My plots, 3 planted, 4 waiting to be planted and 2 unavailable till I get to level 32.

On my 1st login to RC this morning, SG time 8am, I was given my free ingredient and a popup informing me of my level up to 28 ( :O I thot it all ended at 27! ) and my new plot. What new plot? Then moving around and found that I have some planting soil plots outside the restaurant, on the right side.

Watering the plots...

Now, being level 28, I have 7 plantable plots and 2 to be discovered at level 32.. Intuitively I click on the plot, and it ask if I would like to plant a seed for 2000 coins. Sure I would, new feature right, how else could I discover more about the new planting features of this game?

So what else to do after seeding? When the mouse hovers on the plot, there is a display of some sort.. which I could figure out what it meant at 1st. .. but later, I learn that the top number is the time to watering again and I guess the bottom is time to harvesting. I dont know that for sure, cos 48hrs is not yet up. I will update this post again as soon as I have the answers. 

Later in the day, I check back in, to find that my plots were completely dried up and cracked ground, in which case the growth pauses … Click on the plot and that will watered it.. then the counter resumes and the seedling continues to grow… Also found that multiple watering can happen too, I just dont know if it will drown the seeds if I watered it too much at 1 go.. more to discover.. later.

4 plots ready to harvest

Updates! 31Aug. My plants have grown up! Finally! There is no way to know ahead of time, what crop is planted. It seems to be completely ramdon. Here I have 2 parsley, 1 bayleaf (bottom left) and 1 wasabi (topleft) .

Harvest at last!

Click on the ready to harvest crop and viola! A new ingredient. What a great way to get more ingredients! But need to pay 2000 for the seed.. hmm… oh well. Planting is fun and anticipation of your crop is a interesting feeling.. 😉

What is “Low My Guy”?

Doug have a new favorite dish. I didnt know that he would like it at all, but to my surprise.. So what the name of this  dish? ?? LoL, it “Low My Guy!”

Doug lifting the lid off "Low My Guy"

Actually, its probably better known as “Lor Mai Gai” around here.. but Doug’s way of spelling it is more fun.. isnt it 🙂

Literally, “Lor Mai Gai” is Cantonese for Glutanuos Rice Chicken. Usually served for breakfast or with Dim Sum meals. Here we are at Kak Kak’s and having our 6am breakfast Dim Sum. The big white bun is “Da Pau”, have been a long favourite of Doug. The meat dish with the black looking stuff on top is “steamed Century Egg Pork”, that is my fav. The other dish is Siew Mai, also a recent fav on his list. And finally a pot of tradittional Chinese tea to wash it down. A hearty breakfast at Kak Kak’s, only RM$10.80 (S$4.50) (US$3.00).

PS, you can find directions to Kak Kaks’ on my platial link on the right.

My special little yacht.. S/V Eleanor

I arrived at Sebana this weekend pretty determined to do a little maintenance on Eleanor. Hate to admit, but I have neglected her quite abit… she hasnt been cleaned for a long time. Anyway, we find ourselves having a little time on a very hot Sat afternoon, but instead of cleaning her, we decided to go for a little sail before sunset. Just a short sailing around the lagoon before getting down to the washing..

Foredeck scrubed, sides to follow. Note the difference.

We had a nice little outing and still had 1hr of low heat daylight. Great for exterior washing. I managed to scrub her sailcovers and foredeck.

It always gets really black dirty at corners of the seat.

The little bristle brush works great on the anti-skid surface, but it wont work on the smooth gelcoat. The little dishwashing light scouring pad works just fine on the smooth.. it takes both to do the decks.

Green around the cockpit floor.

And also used them both on the canvas. Seems like the combined cleaning effect of both brush and pad produce the best mold removing effect on the canvas.

Black mold and green Algae

Sunday was another great day for cleaning Eleanor. It was a cool day, and the clouds took most of the over-brightness away. Some pictures showing the task at hand..

While I was doing this, I thought that it might be nice to show some of the things we have done to Eleanor. .. 

Fixed cleat and yellow epoxy patches

Eleanor is a cute little boat with a cute little dodger. .. she looks less barebone after we installed this maroon sunbrella dodger. Since I was not competitive by nature, I decided to remove the jibsheet track and use a fixed eye and cleat system. Seems like my removing the track has left many unsightly yellow epoxy patches … Well.. thats just cosmetic.. 😛 .. One day I will paint it…

Halyard cleats inline with sheaves

I didnt quite like how the original halyard cleats were off to the sides of the cabin. Since I was installing thrawt ship board across the front of the hatch, I decided to mount the new harken cleats on it. Seems like a much better location and much easier for my single handing adventures that are coming up.

Tiller and extension.

My most practical addition to Eleanor is this homemade tiller extension. Its a $10 project that Doug made for me with easy to get materials. It work so well. I just couldnt imagine sailing without 1. The board across the seats has a hole in the centre, which I use to lock the tiller in position while in port. When sailing, I might also need to lock the tiller while I attend to other things. .. but only just afew minutes. I find that Eleanor go into irons too easily if left unattended for 5 minutes.  The yellow bag under the board is a 25l fuel tank. Surprisingly, this yellow bag has lasted pretty well for 4yrs now. It was a cheap local fabric that we were experimenting with. Most of the nylon fibre has frayed away, but the PVC underneath is holding out very well indeed.

Boot hatch instead of main traveller

Oh yes, and I remove the main sheet traveller. Like I said, it wasnt necessary for me since I wasnt going to sail competitively. Instead, a opening boot hatch for access to storage in the stern is more useful to me. See the space that is in there! Its where I store the sailcovers when I sail. On longer trips, fenders will be in there too.

FarmTown, my other facebook addiction.

At this present moment, I am addicted to 4 facebook games. Restaurant City, Scramble, Word Twist and FarmTown… Its tough having to split my time among the 4 games… and wait a minute.. arent I suppose to be working on something else… like new sticker decals..

Everyday, I tell myself that I need to work on something productive and meaningful.. and so I fail everyday, to remove myself from the clutches of these social interactive games.. sigh… 

Thats me trying out a checker field..

So anyway, this post is about FarmTown. Here I am, level 30. Only 4 levels to reach the peak. It does take some determination to really do it till the end. It is a bit tedious and like real farming… gets a little boring.. but I want to buy the mansion and have a trophy farm .. 🙂

There have been some new crops and new farming features that are great. I like growing pineapples and the peppers field are pretty. Raspberry and Blueberries are nice crops too. I have been trying out patterns on my fields.. dont seem to work out for me.. havent got any pattern that I am happy with..

Its a maze!

Sometimes, there are surprises. Like I was at the marketplace, looking to hire some harvesters and got hired myself.. turns out that this very nice gal had a really cute farm!

This other side of her farm.. it took awhile to finish harvesting.

Its so refreshing to see another gamer that is out to have fun! Just like me… its not about winning. I keep telling people that.

Yes, .. I almost couldnt finish the harvesting and plowing… I got dizzy.. but seeing this field really made my day!

Restaurant City, level 27 and beyond

Look, I reached the highest level in Restaurant City afew weeks ago, so one may wonder why am I still playing it? Is it that fun after getting to level 27?

I may not be as actively playing this game as I use to when I was eagerly gaining points to up my levels. Nowadays, I am slowly working towards getting some of the awards. Like the super cook award, the socialite title.. and even the trash picker queen award! What good is that to anybody? dunno… but why not?

There had been afew new game features added just recently. Instead of serving only 1 dish per category, now we get to serve 3. Meaning, 9 golden dishes needed. Now that we can serve drinks at our restaurant, that is yet another set of dishes to work on. Which is to say 9 golden dishes and 3 golden drinks. And new ingredients for drink making are added too. Ice, water, tea leaves, coffee and peach.

My very successful layout

I am pretty happy with my new layout which now serves drinks. I find that my restaurant popularity is always between 48 to 50, even when my guys are down to 75% energy level. Personally, I find no reason to clean the loo… 🙂 4 cooks and 4 waiters work perfectly for me in this setup. I used to have 5 cooks and 3 waiters, but now that people are ordering drinks too, I could cut down 1 stove and put in 2 drinks dispenser. The waiters are now busier 🙂 Not a moment of idling, unlike the 5 cooks who couldnt cook fast enough.. 😀

And BTW, my cats are still running their little ingredients swap business… I am happy to see them “gainfully” employed in anyway.. 🙂 Pls support them and their cause. Visit blackmama blog to learn more. http://www.blackmama.wordpress.com ! They run a promo sometimes.. 🙂

Driving around Phuket Island

This is my final post on my travel in Phuket 2009. I dont think I want to, but I never know if I might be back in Phuket again.. Hope not.
Anyway, I just wanted to post information that might be helpful to those who are planning a trip there. I will add my my personall recommendatio on what to do.. or what not to do. Take it with a pinch of salt ok.. everybodys different, so you might enjoy what I dont…
#1 tip, avoiding looking like a rich arrogant white male, and avoid going with one..  I must say that I enjoyed Phuket alot more without the company of Doug, even tho he dont look anything like a rich nor arrogant…

Google driving map: From David's to Karon Princess

#2 tip, David car rental is a pretty nicely run business across the street from the airport. They will have a driver pick you from the airport arrival to their doorstep, or walk over like we did… just a little comment, I have not yet confirm this, but my credit card that was used as a garantee at David is now unusable… why? have there been fraud charges during this time.. I have yet to find out.. hope its not. Anyway, try not to use credit anywhere in Phuket. My room at Karon was prebooked and paid using AsiaRooms. Have used AsiaRooms several times before and found them to be reliable. The reviews at AsiaRooms influenced me on the hotel choices… but why nobody mention about the frequent electric disruption!? 

Google Maps: Karon to Rolly Tasker

#3 tip, if you were going to drive, prepare for it. Get driving instructions from Google! I found it very useful indeed. The local directions were good also, but .. try driving in a new place and try to remember all the things that lady said about turning right at that pink building…  And the girl at David didnt know exactly where Karon Princess hotel was.. what do you expect when there are a dozen large hotels and numerous little ones along Karon beach.

I have update my Platial page (which you can find on the right widgets column) to show my favorite places in Phuket.

#4 tip, I havent need to pay for parking yet. Parking at the mega malls are free. Parking on the outside of Karon is free. I was lucky to find free parking near to the central of Patong, the alternative would be to pay for parking at some strange looking spots. .. Anyway, its okay to assume that the white boxes on the side of the streets are legal parking spots and are free. Do not pay anybody who claim to be collecting the fee unless official, government receipt is given.. then again, how can you tell if its official or not if its all in Thai ?

#5 tip, avoid tutuks and touts! The asking price per pax per ride on a tutuk is 100 or 150 baht, even for a very short distance. Its just crazy! Rent a car and drive around is a much cheaper and less stressful way to see Phuket. I have gotten to the point where if I have to bargain again for anything, I would rather not buy it. It is stressful dealing with overly aggressive touts and knowing that they are out to rip you off even chance they get.

#6 tip, there is quite a fair bit of uphill/downhill winding roads across the island. Dont drive too fast, look out for the motobikes and pedestrains and animals! I bought extra travel insurance coverage just to be sure this trip dont turn out to be a long lasting nightmare of liablities and claims.

Okay.. quite a long list.. have I forgotten anything? Hmm.. drop me a note, let me know.. especially if you have something to share with me and readers of my blog.

Phuket in 48hrs.

0730, Monique gone jogging. I refused to go, rather laze around some… 0915, all packed and ready to go. Checked out, finished breakfast rather quickly.. We kinda have a target for getting to Tesco at 1000. We just have to get local foods to bring home for family and friends. Using the last 2 hrs to gather what we can.

Midway thru shopping at Tesco..

1020, .. a little late.. Tesco is really the right place to go for getting these local snacks and cheap stuff. Monique went in and grabbed … I got just a bit..

Chili parade

Tesco, a UK chain supermarket, is one store that adapts itself to the market it is in. This is the Thai flavor Tesco! Chili galore! I wish Tesco in JB had this counter. 2nd tray on the lower shelf is not available in SG and JB. Have had it in Langkawi. This is my fav chili specie. Very spicy, great for making mildly flavored, wildly hot dips. Not so good for soup. Red chili padis are good for making TomYam soup as they are more flavourful.. I am very particular about the chilis that I use.

Our bags at the airport.

1200, packing in our new purchases took quite abit of time at the carpark.. Monique bought too much stuff. I had to help her take stuff out of the boxes, to save space. Most stuff have boxes over airtight foil packing.

1230, long drive to the airport. Return car in perfect condition, no extra charge 🙂 . Checked in and got tax rebate for the spreaders.

Flying out. Byebye Phuket.

1500, Yay! Finally we are out. This has been a very successful trip. I got everything on my list, including a large bag of fried pork skins… Think I am abit sick with the place and now looking forward to the comfort of home. Looking forward to climbing into a big soft bed and enjoying the aircon that works through the night.

1740, arrived at Changi, checked back into SG, bought duty-free.. as usual..

1830, home! Finally! Kitti cats were mighty glad to see me.. ..

Day 2 in Phuket

0500, I woke up.. that is after Monique has been shuffling around the room for quite a while.. The electric has been cut, with only the diesel generator going for the toilet lights and mini fridge. Front desk guy told us that electric from the mainland was cutoff!? Would be up in about 1hrs time..? Room was stuffy and no TV. Sure enuf, it was up again, but our sleep was interupted. Just our luck.

Breakfast with a view of the Andaman sea

0800, up and going for the complimentary breakfast, sitting outdoors and great view of the sea. What a great way to start the day… (trying to forget about the electric incident) …

I was robbed. My missing sausage.

Thats my breakfast! Pancakes werenot so good, buy the rice was ok. Hey, I am missing a sausage! I been robbed!

The matron at our breakfast was very nice. She made our eggs and brouhgt it to us. This level of service to Asian travellers is new to me…

beach dog patrol

0830, off to the beach. Just a little walk this AM, a little feet soaking.. 🙂 We negotiated with the dog. Okay no swimming, just soaking feets.. 🙂

Feet soaking 1

A big smile on Monique on getting feet wet. The sound of rolling crashing waves, the feel of water rushing around your ankles, looking out into open space and seeing just 2 fishing boats out in the distance… 

Lang hitchiking a ride over to Nicholas Bar Islands..

Somewhere out in the Andaman seas is the Nicholas Bar Islands… maybe 1 day I will get there..

This is not happening to me!

Opps, did I go out too far!? I have my phone in the pocket! Running as fast as I can! Just a little damp around the phone cover…phew.  Lucky me, didnt fall into the soup(which could easily have happeded)!

Pool at Karon.

930, a little tour around the hotel. Pool, wish we have time to use it… but I seriously doubt it. Looks inviting.

Kinda close.. too close actually.

Thing that I dont like, too close to the neighbouring hotel. This pink building is so new, they are still installing the lights and furnishing the place. Quite noisy, drilling and hammering!

Rolly Tasker from across the street

1015, after a little wash up and rest, it was time to take care of business. This is Monday, have appointment with JP of Rolly Tasker on that spreader business.

Inside Rolly. Waiting area.

This is my 2nd visit to Rollys’ and I enjoyed it as much as I did in 2006. On the inside, the whole building is a very big “open” space. There is no walls and hardly any pillars. The lobby area is as aways, colourful and showcase the rich history of sailing and racing.

Open space.. and sails bagged and ready to go.

Rolly’s is well established in Phuket and I hear its getting bigger. This is one of the few honest business outfit that is really good for the locals. The jobs that it creates, the skills of high tech sail making, the way of conducting business with  global sales and international clients, will truly benefit the keen learning young Thai workers. I am very impress with the level of energy that is in the air. Most of the girls (Rolly hires 95% females) that I met are “working with a purpose”.

Mast rigging workshop

Thats JP working on a mast section. A very nice work space below the sail loft, set aside for storage and mast rigging. I like that triangle base stand he’s got.

Checking my purchase. Spreaders, looks good. Straight and no major scratches.

JP was very busy running about his business. His office girl was very efficient and spoke relatively good English. She knew the business and learnt afew rope tricks… this is after all a rigging shop eh.

Exotic cold drinks?

1145, we are headed to lunch at Ao Chalong. Lunch at the Lighthouse was okay. Sandwich and cold soda with a great view of the bay. Being at Chalong is quite nice. I have fond memories of this area. Rustic, slow, sailor/cruiser type of area.

A very special roundabout.. marked by cones!

After lunch, I needed some internet time and Monique needed spa time.. I went into the same old internet cafe that was on the corner of the Chalong roundabout! I should have gotten a picture of the shop, but I was just too happy being online and forgot everything else for 2 hrs.. anyway the shop has a POS sign on the door. It is also a postal service shop and serves drinks to the surfing customers.

4 years later, the Chalong roundabout is still marked by cones.. In the 48 hrs that we were in Phuket, we went around it 10 times at least! I have finally gotten the hang of going around it.. 🙂

2230hrs at Patong.

1600, we are back at Karon. Preparing for the evening wonder around the touristy areas of Karon and Patong. 1700, drove over to Patong. Driving around Patong is almost too crazy for me. After 2 big rounds, managed to find a pretty good parking spot.. Phew. Our objective tonight, food and local stuff for gifts.

Interesting, but no thanks.

Many interesting sights around here. This lady is walking around with a stove and all that food. She walks among the crowds, where this man with the foodcart stay on the roadside.

Grill corn and pancakes available

I hate it that they do not put up a price for what they sell. You know for sure its triple what it normally is, in less touristy areas! 70B for this man’s pancake, and we got some for 30B nearer to our hotel. We got so sick of asking the price and bargaining till its less than half.

The pedals turn on this bicycle!

Finally, a honest man in Patong. He made all this stuff himself and he post his prices. Price was so reasonable that I just bought a bunch of his stuff happily. Who likes bargaining, really!?

Check out the bikes and Tutus.

All these created by this artistic fella. I like his shop! There are galleries and artist at work around patong. Guess there must be a demand for Thai arts and crafts. Oh BTW, there was a street vendor walking around with fried critters…

Pina Colada x 2

1100, looking for supper and a refreshing drink! How about Pina Colada and nuts.. ? Also got the banana pancake that I was so craving for. I had them from my 2 trip and always wanted more. Sorry, no picture.. it got eaten too fast.

Was looking for more food, even tho we really didnt need it.. Didnt see anything that appealing..

1140, back at hotel. Was taking a shower when power got cut again! It was a warm night and stuffy in the room. No fans. We know for sure, that the electric was not cut from mainland. The hotel cut its line to save money! .. 0130, diesel generator died.. out of fuel I think. Total darkness for 5 mins, then everything was back on.. aircon and TV! .. hmm.. somebody didnt buy fuel.. hee hee. Left TV on all night.. Hmmpphh! Nice hotel, what a pity!

Phuket again – part 1

My 3rd trip to Phuket, but this time with Monique. My previous experience in Phuket were not so great. 1st trip to Patong was not fun. 2nd trip was onboard S/V Calliste to Ao Chalong and we stayed for about a month in the area. Right side of Phuket is nicer to me, then the overly popular Patong area. The snobbish people who work around that area and the aggressive TuTu drivers put me off.

We are needing new mast spreaders for S/V Calliste since a long time ago and the cheapest place we could get some is Phuket. This is our conclusion after 5years of internet search, emails and phone calls. Expiring Krisflyer miles is quite a motivation for making this trip at this time and add to that, cheap 4-star hotel @ S$40/night breakfast included, cheap car rental @ S$35/day.

I have hope that this trip would be more fun as my travelling partner is not “white man”. I dont really wish to go into the details on “why is that” on this blog… So my slightly crazy friend and I were at Phuket to shop, eat and relax.. .. how relax can we get with a tight shopping schedule in 48hrs?

Picture of rental car before we drive it out.

Oh well, my travelling starts from Sebana. 0910, left Sebana on ferry to TMFT. 1045, on bus 35, TMFT to TM-MRT. 1100, on train ride to Changi T2. 1110, waiting for Monique while eating a puff at T2. 1200, checked in, and shopping begins at T2. 1320, Silkair MI754 took off. 1450, arrived Phuket.

check out dings, bumps, cracks

1500, we have a rental car reserved for us.. but where to get it? Dave’s rental car email says that they were across the street from the airport. So we walk out of the building, pulling our little travel trolley boxes, across the big parking lot, getting out through the vehicle exit gates, cross a busy road and finally walk down the aisle of rental car businesses. The staff at Daves’ were great. Very polite, smiling all the time, spoke some English and very efficient. They were surprised that we walked over in the hot heat when we had someone to meet us at the airport. .. opps, I didnt know that.. it was not in the email from them..? Thats ok, for us, we dont mind. The old Nissan LV that I booked was not available, so we were upgraded to a Toyota Vios and no additional charge. Great! who woulda thot you can get all this with S$35/day.

Winding roads, steep up and downs.

1530, getting used to the -1hr difference in time. Driving to Karon Princess via Patong. Not for the faint hearted who has never driven in Asia. Rather heavy traffic until we hit the bypass road into Patong. Bypass road was very winding and lots of steep uphills and downhills, not fun but you get glimpse of the Andaman seas and its really refreshing.. I should be really tired by this time, after all day of travelling, but there is energy in the air and expectation of fun is pushing me on. 1600, driving through the complicated and very cramp Patong area. This place is crazy, too many people around and too many Tutus!

The sign of Karon Princess

1620, the sign that we were looking for. Checking in was easy. Staff were very welcoming and helpful. A refreshing cool drink right there at the lobby while we get keys and sign the paperwork. Great service.

Leading the way to our room

………..And we get a cute bellboy to carry our stuff. Hotel seems pretty new and nice. Long narrow frontage. Every where in Karon is the same.

Abit of the seaview only.. and a crane

Guess you have to pay for the prime view, and the cheap guest gets only whats left.. which is not much.. I think the other view is better..

garden view

……We have a nice little balcony too. It is typical resort hotels to have a little private outdoor space.

Happy Monique

……….View from the balcony.. why so close to the neighbour..? 

View from the balcony

…………4-star hotel.. really? I think tile flooring small hard beds wont make it. Room is clean and space is okay. Good size bathtub and new shower makes all the difference in the WC. In room safe box is sized just right for putting in a laptop! Great! I wouldnt trust it totally but I dont want to carry it around all day either. Plus, I got  insurance so…

simple room.. S$40.. whatdya expect..

1700, we are going to Central Festival market, the biggest mall in Phuket. Small dinner with Tom Yam soup in the food court. Followed by lots of shopping until mall close at 2200.. still didnt finish the mall entirely.. Hope we be back again in next few days.. sorry no pictures in mall, too busy shopping..

Hawker stand. Not many stalls open at 1020.

1030, looking for supper. Late night snacks is a Asian thing and anywhere in Asia you can get great food all night long. We checked out these guys near to Ao Chalong. Clean and friendly. Very local and not touristy pushy. We like places like that. Real down to earth kinda feeling… but I was really looking forward to some seafood, hopefully the exotic kind..

squid rings and mussels in tamarind.

1100, We were at the road side restaurant between Karon and Kata beach, they served big prawns, crabs and shells.. and was almost closing for the night. Most tourist dont eat supper I guess? There was this guy that was trying to get us to buy from his shop.. a little pestering and 50% off he says, only for Monique.. ? hmm..? Okay, so we ordered for take out. While we waited, he pestered Monique all this time, to go disco or clubbing or anything.. his treat..? Wow.. ? Somehow she managed to politely accept the flatterings and turn down those activities.. I could care less, I only want to eat.. Anyway, this is what we bought from the seafood place near our hotel.. It was GooD!