Well, we had only one more day left, we were leaving the next day. There was only one more thing left to do- diving. Phuket is well known for diving, in case you didn’t know.

Not me. I swim as well as a rock. Hubby of course. But I tagged along as well though by then I had developed the worse possible cold and cough. So it wasn’t as enjoyable as it should be.

We went to Ko Raya Yai/Noi, which hubby went some years before…when he was free and single (I did quized him about any holiday romance then but he has adamantly denied having had any. Hmm..)

They did 2 dives- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Again, all drinks and food provided. But simple meals lor. And oh yes, I discovered some basic dos and don’ts on a diving trip:

1) Do not go to the toilet when you are near the diving site, especially if you’re going to be doing some ‘major’ business. Why? Because, it’s straight from the toilet into the sea. So imagine if you’re a diver beneath the boat and you suddenly see a piece of brown bit floating down… not very nice.

2) No throwing of paper or any none edible stuff down the toilet or anywhere into the sea. And in case you’re wondering, there’s a basket inside the toilet.

3) If you are going to throw up, do it stern (back) side of the ship. Nobody wants to see what you’ve eating for breakfast or lunch.

Hehe! Am I making you all lose your apptite? Again, not so bad lah. It’s all quite logical.

Actually, you can also snorkle and swim..if you can’t dive. But I’m afraid I can’t do those either. 🙁

This dive company is quite good. They have a dive master with each group, which is normally a pair. Now that’s another job you can consider if you’re free and single and want to travel. Get a dive master’s cert and then get a job as a dive master as you travel the world. Many of these diving companies hire freelance help.

Hubby getting ready for his dive. There’s this big piece of oxygen tank you have strap to your back and also weights to bring you down. Oh, another piece of information. If you’re fat, you will need more weights coz it will be harder for you to sink. Hmm.. wonder how much weights I would have needed.

Each dive takes about 45mns to 60 mins- depending on how good you are,ie. how fast you use up the oxygen. The first dive is always the scariest I would imagine.

Initially I thought I would take a nap whilst he was diving but how to sleep with views like this?

And yet, what made the whole trip memorable for me was this:

These fishes and many others were swimming close to the boat. The water was crystal clear and it seems I could see the bottom of the sea. The joy and thrill I felt when I saw them was unimaginable..I know, I know, they’re just fishes but it’s really quite something to see a school of fishes swimming so close that you could almost touch them. If I could swim, I would have been down in a second. Oh well. This is a case of if I can’t go to the fishes, then the fishes will come to me. hahaha!

Another photo with more fishes.. and no, we didn’t have them for dinner. ^^

Nice hor… : )

Suddenly, the cold and cough didn’t matter any more.

I had a very pleasant surprise when I got back to the hotel room after the island hopping…. ^^

It was a cake, courtesy of the hotel management…

And no, I did not put 40 candles on it. Don’t think there’s space on the cake. But it was such a nice gesture from them even though the cake wasn’t err…very nice. hehe!

That night, we dressed up, booked a cab and had dinner at a very nice and posh restuarant. The Boathouse This restaurant has won many awards and I can only agree with they deserve to win. The food was superb. The service was just right. I only wish I could post a nice photo of the place but unfortunately, the camera doesn’t work too well at night. So…don’t have.

Yes, yes, I’ve kept the photo small deliberately coz I look very fat. hehehe!

When I first started this blog at the beginning of this year, the title was THE BIG 4ZERO.

I did not know what to expect when I actually turned 40, afterall it is supposed to be an important milestone. But when I actually reached 40, I hardly thought about it.

There was no sudden enlightenment, no dramatic changes with flashing thunder and lightening. Whatever changes that occured, they did over the years gradually.

And I realised that most things aren’t as important as I think they are. At this point, my good friend, Yee Lee would probably have given me some insights or quotes on zen. Me? I’ve not reached the nirvana stage yet.

But I’ve seen my fair share of marriages and divorces, births and deaths and had my fair share of heartaches and happiness.

Life can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be or as sad or as happy as you want it to be. If I’m going to be have to live another 40 years, then I would rather expand my energy on things that make me happy…

I think my baby niece has the right idea, don’t you think?

And on this note, I would like to wish Singapore a very happy birthday and may it enjoy peace and stability forever.

Happy 41st Birthday, Singapore.

Special occasions with hubby are normally ‘out-of-the ordinary’.
Our first holiday together was in Vietnam. We were climbing hill on an island off Sarawak on Christmas Day some years ago. Our honeymoon was in Cambodia and 2 years ago, I spent my birthday climbing yet another hill in Wales.

Comparatively, my birthday this year was rather mild really. We went island hopping.

Island hopping is a great actitvity to do and it can occupy you for just a day or more.. depending on what you want to do. And the views on these island are just breathtaking. We took up the Phang Nga Bay tour, which is at the northern part of Phuket.

You have to walk out to board the boat… and no.. this is not the boat… (Thank goodness). It’s a medium size boat and fairly comfortable. All meals and drinks are provided for on the boat. Hubby’s only regret- No beer lah.

Phang Nga Bay is well known for the limestone fomation…just like the Halong Bay in Vietnam and Guilin in China.

As always, when I see the vastness of nature…I realised just how small we humans are….really…

Our first stop was Lawa Island. It’s supposed to be a sandy white beach for us to relax and swim. Unfortunately it was rather crowded. You can do some canoeing though which was quite fun…especially when you don’t have to do the rowing. hahaha!

And then we visited the James Bond Island. Why is it called the James Bond Island? Because the movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ was filmed there. We arrive on the island on a sea canoe and was immedtiately struck with the commercialism of it. There were rows and rows of stalls selling touristy stuff. But I guess that’s normal. By the way, most of the sellers were Muslims, wearing their tudong. I read later that a good 35% of the residents in this region are Muslims.

Arriving on the island on a sea canoe…….

and inside a cave on the island….. (Below)

Presenting the James Bond Island….

Frankly speaking, I think it would have been a better experience if we had a little more time to explore but I guess that’s one of the drawback of joining a tour. Still the view was good and it was quite fun.

This was followed by lunch on board. Yummy…and believe me… sea air does make you hungry so the the food was simply delicious.

After lunch, we visited the highlight of the trip…visiting the ‘hong islands’ or ‘room island’.

You have to depend on the tide to visit these ‘hongs’. It has to be high enough to float a sea canoe to go in but low enough for us to go through the ‘doors’. At times, we have to lie flat on the sea canoe.

Entering the ‘hongs’……..

It does get rather crowded at times and this was considered as low season. Can you imagine what it will be like in high season? Nevertheless, it is well worth the trip because you are rewarded with these sights upon entering the ‘hongs’.

During low tide, it is completely dry inside the ‘hongs’ but during high tide..this is what you get.

Our tour guide told us that during the tsunami 2 years ago, he was trapped inside one of these ‘hong’ for over an hour. He didn’t know what happened and couldn’t understand why the water kept rising and rising. I supposed in a way, it was lucky for him as he escaped the calamity.

It was really, really, really beautiful inside these ‘hongs’ and makes you marvel at the wonders of nature.

The tour guide (Alan) and his colleagues were all great and very considerate. I think they’re called the James Bond tour or it might be the Sea Cave Canoe, I’m not too sure. He kept telling us to please spread the word to our friends if we find their service good.

Actually, the Thais are very easy-going and proud people. Unlike some of our trips in other countries, we have not encountered pestering, asking for tips or hassling etc (except for the tailors). They are quite happy to work to earn their keeps. So if you really want to help Phuket and its residents who were affected by the tsunami, then go visit the island. Contributing to the economy as a tourist is a much more sensible and sustainble way of helping them back on their feet.

At the end of the trip, we still had a little time left, so the tour guide said we could swim around for awhile… which a few did. Hubby of course, was one of them. How could he miss such an opportunity? If I could swim, I would too because the water was really clear.

Now in case all of you think we were just lazing out by the beach the whole week (tempting as it was)…we did make an attempt to ‘see’ some parts of Phuket.

Our hotel has a sister hotel called Peach Hill on Karon beach. Got free shuttle bus.

The free ‘shuttle bus’ from the hotel. Of course it wasn’t really a bus per se. But this type of vehicle is very common in Phuket, together with the tuk-tuk and the regular taxi. Not very fast but all very colouful.

Peach Hill Hotel had just undergone a renovation but we felt it was too ‘hotel-like’ for our taste. But I did like their pool bar..

And then on another day, we rented a jeep. Very cheap jeep = 1,000Bht only for a full 24 hours. But the jeep hor…

– had shift gears that groan and groan
– had a hole on the floor. I could see the road as we drove along
– had an air-con that barely works. It fact it was cooler with the windows down

But, it does work. Oh, you can rent motobikes there. Very cheap too but I wouldn’t recommend it. Phuket has a high rate of accidents involving motorbikes.

Anyway, on the trusty jeep, we went-a travelling.

Central Karon Village
This was the hotel we would have stayed in if it wasn’t full. Very nice and their restaurant The Cliff is very well known- both for the food and the panoramic view of The Andaman Sea.

The entrance to The Cliff
One of the room.

We had a very nice lunch here. (Come to think of it, our own Sentosa Hotel also have a restaurant called The Cliff. Wonder how is it like)

Kathu Waterfall
Phuket has a few waterfalls. We didn’t have much time, so we went to the nearest one-Kathu Waterful. Wasn’t much of a waterfall though, more like Kathu Tricklefall.

But what made it interesting was the dog that followed us all the way up to the waterfall, waited for us whilst we look-see-look-see and then followed us all the way down again. It was really sweet as he would stop and wait for us to catch up and then sat beneath our seat as we rested up at the waterfall. It even followed hubby to the toilet…. hmmm…

And oh…we almost became this spider’s lunch. Kidding.. but it was BIG. I’m not joking. It was one mean looking spider.

The dog, the hubby and the cheap jeep.

Patong Beach
Now in case most of you didn’t know…the action is actually at Patong Beach. So we went there for a look and stayed for a full 2 hours, of which 1 hour was spent inside Starbucks. To escape from the heat and the tailors.

What I didn’t tell you guys about the famous tailors of Phuket? Well, you can’t miss them coz they’re everywhere and they make sure you see and hear them.

“Suit sir?” “Shirt?” “Where are you from? You want to make a suit?” “Good day sir, come on in and have a look. I give you very good price.”

At the risk of being rude, the only way was to ignore them. BUT we had absolutely no problem from the others…just the tailors.

So the only photo I took of Patong Beach was this. See the many, many motorbikes?

We must be getting old… Ok, ok, we are getting old. We actually had no desire to stay on at Patong Beach to see the night life. Instead, we drove to Laem Phromthep. This is the southernmost point of Phuket. It is popular with the tourists as well as the local Thais for views of the sunset.

Laem Phromthep
After Patong Beach, this seems almost civilized.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy that day so we didn’t get a good, glorious sunset. This was the best shot..Still, it’s rather peacful, isn’t it?

Well, after such an exciting start to our holiday, we felt the need to replenish our energy…with breakfast (got no food during the journey) and then we were off…. to bed! Hahaha! Hey, it’s a holiday and the beauty of it is that we can sleep as and when we want to, without feeling guilty. Which was pretty much our pattern for the whole week. Wake up– Swim (Hubby, not me)- Breakfast– Nap– Out.

Good right? Remember my blog about Time No Enough? Well, I actually managed to actually do nothing much for a whole week, which was a real pleasure.

But really, that’s what most of the tourists do on the beach…
including hubby dearest. Bascially you rent a deck chair for 50Bht (about S$2), buy a bottle of beer (50Bht) and just chill out. You can sit on the deck chairs for the whole day if you like. It was very relaxing, just starring out to the sea, with a drink and book in hand.

Of course, if you get bored, you can always do some people watching. From the young to the old, from Europeans to Asians. In fact, you can even catch a few women’s assets which were ‘hanging loose and free’. Actually it’s something that was explicitly mentioned as a ‘No-No’ in many of the brochures. Hmmm…

And without fail, every evening, no matter which part of the beach you were at, this scene comes on. Asia’s favourite game- Football

And oh… there are lots and lots of dogs around, all having a good time. Not many cats though.

The Dogs of Phuket
Having a drink.
Having fun in the sea.

But this dog really captured our attention…especially its ears. hehe! ^^ Btw, that’s it’s owners having a snooze in the background. What do they do? Rent out deck chairs. Good job hor? Hubby was tempted to go and ask for an application.

What more can you ask in a job? Sun, sea, fresh air, flexi-hours and a beautiful sunset…

Well, my holiday got off to an exciting start, I must say. It almost became a holiday that never was..as we nearly missed our plane.

I had gone to bed that night (or morning), expecting my trusty alarm clock (hubby) to wake me up in time. Unfortunately this time, the alarm failed.

Hubby woke me up and said calmly: “It’s 5.50am”, like it was perfectly normal.

But of course it wasn’t. Our flight was at 7.05am!!!!!

Up to today, I still couldn’t understand why and how he could have been so calm about it (His reason was that it was no point panicking me). But surely this is major panic time…NO???? But people who know my husband know this this is him. Now me? I would have gone screaming around the house:”Arggghhh!!!!” But therein lies the difference between hubby and me.

Anyway, back to my story.

So, there we were, hurrying as much as we could in record time.

I put on my jeans. %$#@*&^% I forgot about my bloated tummy after my operation and could not zip up my jeans! I grab a pair of pants (making sure it was a drawstring pants) and stuffed everything into my bag. By now, I was looking like a mad woman- no make-up, uncombed hair, mismtached clothes, panicky look.

Made it into the taxi at 6.10am. “Can you hurry Uncle? We’ve got a plane to catch!”

No way were we going to make it in time. Tried calling all the available Jetstar numbers.

“Our office hours are from 9am to 5.30pm, from Monday to Friday etc…..” ARgghhh!!!!! I know that!!! I need to speak to the counter staff. Of course, that most important number was nowhere to be found. After 10 minutes, I gave up.

As we neared the airport, hubby and I got into a slight argument.

Hubby:”You run to the counter and check in.”
Me:”I can’t run at my present stage. I think you should run to the counter and stop them.”
Hubby:”But I can’t check in without the lugguage anyway. I think you should go and I’ll come with the luggguage.”
Me:”But you’ll be faster.”

It sounds funny now but we were dead serious then.

By some miracle, we reached the airport at 6.30am and managed to get to the counter quickly. Thank goodness for budget airline.. their check-in and boarding time is sooo…. much later than international airline. We couldn’t believed it when they actually let us check in!

Still in a dream, we walked towards the boarding gate. Or rather, hubby walked whereas I waddled (as fast as I could).

We got into the boarding gate and then….. waited for the next 10 minutes in a queue to board the plane. Sheesh… I could have waddled a little slower.

Hehe! I shouldn’t complain though. We were just so relieved and thoroughly shocked that we didn’t missed our plane. I think we remained in shock for the rest of the journey.

After all this drama, it was such a joy to reach our hotel. And these greeted us from our room and the hotel. Sure made up for everything.

From our room

From the lobby

The lobby

Our holiday has started. ^^

Wish I was there now….. Sigh…..

Ah- chooo!

Cough! Cough!