Phuket, I'm back!

I was back in Phuket for a 3-day weekend getaway in August last year. This is what I love about Singapore actually, there are a lot of weekend places you could go to either by bus, boat or a short plane trip. Phuket is definitely one of the choices for a short holiday.

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Yo Yo Restaurant, Phuket, Thailand

It's funny how we found this restaurant. We were walking around trying to find authentic thai food to satisfy our monstrous cravings and when we were cautiously waiting to cross the street (as thai drivers don't give way to pedestrians), this guy came out of nowhere and bravingly gestured the speeding tuktuks to slow down so we could cross.

Lo and behold, he is the waiter for Yo Yo. So even if we still wanted to look around, we settled to eat there because of the guy's nice and clever gesture.

Anxiuosly waiting for our food hehe.

So we started off with a refreshing coconut drink. Pretty well presented for a street restaurant. The coconut meat was tender and fresh. A great way to cleanse your tastebuds to start off a meal.

I'm not sure if its thai custom to always serve these 3 sauces but everytime we ate somewhere they always did. I love the sauce on the right, the one with a lot of green and red chili on top. It was sweet, sour and spicy all rolled into one.

The chicken with ginger was ok. Tasted normal but not bad. The squid in red chilli was ultra spicy!! but the squid was tender and tasted fresh. And the portions were quite big to think it was really cheap (I think around 50baht).

The pineapple fried rice was scrumptous!!! I never knew rice could taste that good haha. There were generous portions of pineapple, chicken and cashew nuts. It was actually a meal on its own.

Finally I got to taste authentic pad thai!! This was the runaway winner! The noodles were very tasty and al dente and the seafood was abundant. This was my favorite of all the dishes. If only I could eat noodles with rice haha. Carbo load.

Overall, my yoyo experience was a rollercoaster ride of flavours. To top it all off, we only paid 500+Baht for all the dishes including the drinks. Can you believe that?! thats like 20 dollars for a thai feast. Of course we didn't get ritz-carlton ambiance but the rustic, slightly-polluted feel (haha) added to the authentic thai experience.

Here is my rating for Yo Yo:

Ambiance - 2.5
Service - 4
Food - 5
Presentation - 3
Value for Money - 5
OVERALL - 3.9

"Live, Love & Eat!"

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Phuket, Thailand

So 6.30 in the morning we already checked-in at the airport so we could get good seats - meaning exit seats hehe. Plus, like I said, I really love Changi Airport. There are so many things you could do. Free Internet, Free Gaming (PS, etc), Shopping, Sleeping, Eating, Gym etc etc.

So let me just blog about the pics rather than every single detail about our trip. I don't think you'd be interested to know the nitty gritty of every minute :-)

I took this shot from the lavatory.

I LOVE airplane food! Though Silkair's food was a little disappointing. PAL would usually serve both bread and dessert but with Silkair, you can only get either of the two but not both. Or is it because of the airline industry crisis around the world?

YES!! you read it right! Those are real worms. Worms that I actually ate! hehehe.

Mmmm, tastes like chicken. Rotten Chicken. hehe. No but seriously, they weren't bad at all. Just tastes like normal fried finger food. We got so excited buying all sorts of Thai snacks in this store only to find out later they sold 2-3 times more than the retail price.

Now this is a very interesting pic. I took this pic during the mandatory "city tour" en route to our hotel from the airport. Another tourist trap - we were taken to a supposedly "famous" honey manufacturer and as soon as we got there we where whisked and LOCKED in this room. Can you imagine that? If she was selling good-find food or souvenirs then it would have been interesting. But she was selling freakin' honey that she claims can cure almost all forms of sickness AND burn your fat. BULLSHIT. Plus the honey was so damn expensive.

It was so funny how it got awkward when everyone was just sitting there with no interest to buy at all, but couldn't go out of the damn room. Sometimes I think Asians are really nice people because in such cases we just keep quiet, act interested and remain courteous. I can just imagine if caucasians or white people were put in the same situation. I bet they would storm out of the room and humiliate the damn lady.

And the reason why the girl looks blurred in the pic is because she quickly moved away when I took this shot and told me "Sorry no pics allowed". I should have said "Then let me out of the f$&!ing room!!"

And yet another tourist trap. Inside a jewelry factory. We were swarmed by the sales ladies as soon as we got inside the jewelry floor. Reminds me of the tour we had in Hongkong years ago. Well, at least they served free flowing juice and softdrinks.

Morale of the story - Never ever take a package tour. If you could buy a "free and easy" tour to avoid all these unnecessary city tours then do it. The only reason why we took this package is to avoid the hassle for the hotel-airport transfers because it was my first time in phuket.

Finally. Welcome drinks at Holiday Inn Resort, Patong Beach.

The hotel room was probably one of the most spacious hotel rooms I have ever seen. That couch beside the bed was as big as a single bed, no kidding.

All that room space and you still get a balcony. Hallelujah! hehe. Too bad our view was the 7-11 downstairs hehe.

I love this snack! Fried whole crablets.

Main Wing Pool

May they rest in peace.

Busakorn Wing Pool

I really hate to sound so bitter but the beach was the biggest disappointment of our phuket trip. I mean all that hype and media about Phuket and this is what I saw. Seriously, it looked like any other regular non-touristy beach in the Philippines. The sand was dark, the water was murky and unclear, and the waves were so damn big it was hard to frolic on the beach. Phuket was just incomparable to Boracay. I don't want to sound unfair and bias, just because I'm from the Philippines, but being as objective as I can, that is the honest truth.

Maybe more than the disappointment, I really felt bad for the beaches in the Philippines. Cebu, Boracay and Palawan would give Phuket or even Phi-Phi a run for their money. But the tourists in Phuket, especially the caucasians, were probably 10 times more than the tourists in Boracay. Seriously, I've never seen so many white people in my life in an asian destination. Even the white people in Raffles City can't compare to the ones I saw in Phuket.

So if anyone knows anyone from the Department of Tourism in the Philippines, I think this is a wake-up call.

Bangla Road. Famous for their notorious go-go shows where ladies play pingpong and pick up bottles with their vajayjay (if you know what I mean).

Have a break, Have Haagen-Dazs. Hehe

I couldn't resist not taking a shot of this. Very Funny hehe.

About to take a dip at the Busakorn Wing Pool.

This water and sounds show was at the Jungceylon Mall near Bangla Road. Like a mini-version of the Bellagio Water show. I'm not sure if I was hearing things but I think they were playing "Don't leave me this way" during the water show - quite a weird choice of song.

I was really impressed with the Phuket International Airport. It's way nicer and more spacious than the Manila International Airport Terminal 1. What a shame. Another wake-up call.

Is Burger King also this expensive in Manila? Thailand Baht has higher value than Philippine Peso, which means if you convert this to pesos it's almost like eating in a restaurant right? 200 Baht is around 8 SGD. I'm surprised people in Thailand can afford this.

My Last Supper. On the plane that is..

If not for the highest of highest of my expectations, I think Phuket would have been a wonderful trip. Nevertheless, shopping and food was amazing. Fresh seafood was cheap and delicious. Shopping was even cheaper. More so, they had sizes up to 4XL. So they fit both my budget and my tummy. haha. But haggling is a skill in Thailand. It is true that you bargain for half the price of what they offer. Especially in touristy areas where some people take advantage. There was even one time the tuktuk was charging us 150 baht for a short trip. Tsk Tsk.

The hotels and resorts were also amazing. It was a blessing that we stayed at the Holiday Inn or else I would have been so pissed. At least we were able to enjoy the pool and amenities of the hotel.

Till the next travel blog..

Sucks to go back to work..

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