Chapter 157 - A short trip to Bangkok, Thailand (Nara Thai & After You)

Today, trips are part and parcel of our lives. It is no longer determine by the savings that you have but it becomes a necessity to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city, just to get yourself rejuvenated and refreshed so that you will not burnout one day and at the same time, giving you aplenty of good reason to keep your relationship alive, be it with spouse, family or friends.

A recent trip to Bangkok has made me to come to a realization that trips are not just about exploring the place but it is to build every single moment together. And yes, we know this fact but sometimes, it is not as easy as it is since each and every one of us have our personal interest. 

Visiting one of the busiest cities in the world, Bangkok is all about shopping and eating. Staying there for 4 days and 3 nights are just sufficient enough to add 2 – 3kgs to my body weight. Thankfully, we walked a lot that it managed to shed off some of my fats. Or else, I would be….. 

A selfie at Maeklong Railway Station

Lady luck was not with us as the rain poured heavily on that respective day. We couldn't really walk much and ended up heading back to Bangkok city.

Touching on the food topic, I strongly reckon you to dine in these THREE places – it becomes a mandatory for me to indulge in these places every time I visit Bangkok.

1.     After You

There is always a room for dessert! It was the first time my parents indulged in After You and instantly, they fell in love with it. In this short trip, we visited the place twice and filled our tummy with bowls of shaved ice, pancake and toast.

2.    Nara Thai, Centralworld

Price of the food here can be slightly pricey but I must say it is worth it after all. The taste is so authentic and delicious that we can never say no to them. Can’t remember the name of the dishes but you can show the waiter on the dishes that you wish to have. Last year, I met the Founder in her office and we exchanged conversation for about an hour. A pretty nice lady but she is a very principled person. All I can say is that she prioritizes food quality.

Pad Thai

3.    Pe’Aor Tom Yum Kung Noodle,Ratchathewi

Sister Teo recommended this place; we refused to go initially until the very last day. We were rather surprised that many people flocked into this place. Apparently, they sell the best Tom Yum Noodle in Bangkok hence, people are willing to travel from far. Well, my verdict is that you must try! 

Bonus food:

Mango Sticky Rice - must try when you are in Terminal 21

Convenience Store - Literally, we had sampled most of the food in the convenience store. We just love it that we visited the store at least thrice a day.

All in all, Bangkok is a shopping haven and a food paradise. I was trying to have as much Thai food as possible but the time did not permit to do so since shopping had also consumed much of our time. Four days and three nights certainly not enough and we had to sacrifice a number of places as shopping was the top priority since Mama Teo wants to shop badly.

With the 3 musketeers :)

Stay tuned to my next post! 

Update:
I just created an Instagram account mainly for FoodiesTravel. Do join me in the adventure to discover and indulge in great food in great ambiance.
Search and follow foodiestravelblog today.

Regards,
Foodiestravel

Chapter 91 - 72 hours in Koh Lipe, Thailand

Glad that I had my first ever trip this year recently to Koh Lipe, Thailand. It was not in my plan to visit this island but well, peer pressure won this time. I was joined by another 7 of my friends including my bestie in this trip. 

It is really up to the individual on where they can board the ferry, be it from Langkawi or from Thailand. There is no direct flight to Koh Lipe, considering that it is a small island. Knowing nothing about this place, I leave it to my friends to take lead. We left Kuala Lumpur on Thursday evening and touched down in Langkawi at about 9++pm. Pretty much, Langkawi was just a transit for us to sleep in. When the sun rose, we checked out and headed to Telaga Harbour.

It was very early in the morning that we had to force ourselves to wake up. This is me, bringing my luggage to catch a taxi to drive us to the jetty. My breakfast at that time was just 2 slices of Gardenia bread while bestie had a bottle of Somersby ..Imao

A must wefie shot before we departed to Koh Lipe. Everyone was really excited to feast our eyes with clear blue water.

Pretty much, it took us a few hours from checking in all the way to waiting for the local immigration to open and board on the ferry. We literally wasted half a day to be transited to Koh Lipe. After touching down in Koh Lipe, we were greeted by the unfriendly immigration staff. We were waiting in a clueless state, hoping to collect our passports soon.

By the time we collected our passports, it was already past noon. Dragged ourselves to the hotel and rested a while before we headed for our late lunch. After lunch, we roamed around Koh Lipe and signed up for a snorkeling package the next day. 

The rest, I shall leave it to the photos to tell the story.. 

Upon arrival to Koh Lipe. We boarded a big ferry from Langkawi however, the big ferry couldn't stop us at the island itself. Hence, we were picked up by the famously Thai longboat to chauffeur us to the island itself. After that, we dipped our legs in the cool water and walked to the beach.

While waiting to get my passport, my eyes were also feasting to this beautiful scenic view. A calm and peaceful view despite that it was really really hot on that day.

A must-to-have drink in Koh Lipe. Thanks to the scorching sun, I was fortunate to at least have a coconut drink when I was in Koh Lipe. I still managed to source for a coconut on the first day in Koh Lipe. But after that, I couldn't find any from one restaurant to another. Apparently, it was sold out! So, bestie and I had no choice but to grab coconut drinks in bottle, sold at 7-11 to quench our thirst.

Wefie with bestie upon arrival. Barely able to open my eyes widely

Strolling along the beach while heading to Budhaya for a massage, I spotted some love stones. Pretty interesting and cool hence, I squatted to take a few shots of it. Here is my selfie post with the love stones.

Mandatory shot for a tourist to take photo with Thai longboat

Breakfast in Thailand was really simple. Not sure whether it applies in my hotel, San Pita or this is just the way their life is. It was my second day in Koh Lipe and I ensured that I had enough since we had snorkeling on that day where we were supposed to visit 10 islands.

A mandatory group shot when we visited the first island. All with sunnies, indicating how hot the weather is. In fact, before I left to Koh Lipe, I read NST and saw the news that the temparature in Thailand exceeded 40 degree celcius.

One of the shots that was taken during our island hopping and snorkeling session.

This is a very unique rock! The rock stands strongly albeit the roaring waves and strong wind - bear in mind, the upper rock is not glued to the bottom hence, can you imagine how does the upper rock balance itself?

 

Besides snorkeling, I had a very good massage session there. I literally used up my leisure time to get myself pampered and at the same time, suffered! Each day, I visited the Bundhaya Resort for massage such as foot massage, Thai massage, coconut oil massage and etc. It was not cheap compared to the massage session I had in Krabi and Phuket the last time. All massage rate is the same which is 300 baht and no bargain is allowed. Not sure whether is it because of a peak season.

Another shot with bestie on the final day in Koh Lipe before we bid farewell. In fact, this was actually after our Aloe Vera + Coconut Oil massage.

View from Bundhaya

Weather was freaking hot and it decided to leave a mark on me. It was just a day of snorkeling and look at what I got. Sunburn! The photo does not really show how bad my "burn" is but those who have seen me face-to-face would realize how tan I have been.

So, that pretty much sums up my Koh Lipe trip! Oh ya, not forgetting about the food - well, I still find that Malaysia food, be it Malaysia Thai food is still the best! The taste is more flavorful as compared to the food in Koh Lipe. 

When comes to night time, there is no particular night life here in comparison with Phuket. So, what you can do at night is simply have a bonding and chatting session with your friends at the beach while accompanied by the sound of waves. 

The next island that I would like to visit will be Khao Lak! :) Let's see when....

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 49 – Top 5 things to do in Phuket, Thailand!

Lately, I went to Phuket for a short getaway – it was a last minute planned trip with a few friends of mine and off, we headed to Phuket without exploring the dos and the dons there. Initially, I thought that 3, 000 baht would be sufficient for my 3 days and 2 nights but unfortunately, I was wrong!! I couldn’t even do much shopping since my pocket was quite tight and there was one extent whereby 3 of us had to share a plate of spaghetti..Aiyoyo..what a life man.

Anyway, I was glad that I managed to at least visit some prominent places even though our resort was located at quite an isolated place – what I meant by isolated place was the resort would be more suitable for couples or families who want to have a peace and serene getaway or the best way to put it is a retreat; not for people like us who want to explore the city. Hence, the cab fare totally stripped us off.

Above all, I must say that Phuket is a nice place to visit. Instead, I would reckon one to stay in Patung Beach as that place is more happening. As we went in July, we were told not to do any island hopping, snorkelling or any beach activities due to the high water tides and current.

After my 3 days and 2 nights trip, these are what I have compiled for top 5 things to do in Phuket:

1. Do grocery shopping @ Tesco Lotus Express

I couldn’t help much but grocery store always lured me to step into the place. Following to my Krabi’s experience, I knew that their snacks are sold at a slightly cheaper rate. For instance, I can get a stick of Sugus for only 60 baht (RM 0.60). Looking at the rows of items, my aunti-ness started to take a toll on me; I bought 2 packs of Lays, a bottle of milk, a stick of Ovaltine biscuit, 10 packs of Tomyam Maggi, a Tomyam Maggi Noodle cup and many more. I felt so happy after I did my shopping there.

2. Visit Phuket Night Market @ Phuket Town

Lady luck was with us despite it rained throughout our 3 days there. Phuket Night Market is available on every Saturday and Sunday; apparently, people there associate Phuket Night Market with Chatchuchak market in Bangkok. I have never been to Bangkok before but the Phuket Night Market is really big – I spent about 3 hours there, from shopping to buying my dinner there. We even packed some food back to our resort because they were just irresistable.

3. Visit Patong Beach

It is a happening place where you get to see tourists from all over the places. Of course, you get to see rows of “Tiger-Show” especially at the Bangla Road – I didn’t go in despite that my curiosity hit in. In fact, I couldn’t even go in since I did not have enough money. Aiks! Nevertheless, there are lots of restaurants, massage places, and it is a shopping paradise for shoppers too. What made my day was I got a foot massage session for 180 baht (RM 18.00) only – so cheap la!

4. Eat Thai food

How can you not taste Thai food when you are at Phuket?? Throughout these 3 days, I filled my tummy with lots of yummy food such as Green Curry Chicken, TomYam soup, Spicy Chilli Meat and many more. Some of the dishes were really spicy where it nearly burnt my tongue but it was way too awesome till one wouldn’t say no. I too learnt that pork dishes are rather popular in Thailand – I had Char Siew there too. Yum..

5.Visit Upside Down House

We didn’t come across this place actually but I guess fate wanted us to visit that place. On our way to Phuket Night Market, we saw Upside Down House and quickly reminded our cab driver to bring us there on the very next day. However, there were some hiccups in between and we visited this place on our last day. The name itself has already stated on what one can expect when they go in.

Since most of us were already broke at that time, we visited Upside Down House only and forgo-ed The Garden Maze. Everything in the house is attached to the ceiling and it becomes a challenge for a photographer to take nice photo. One must be creative too, to pose for a certain angle.

A place that is worth to visit actually! Entrance fee is only 200 baht (RM 20.00)

That somehow summarizes my 3 days and 2 nights trip in Phuket. Besides feeding my tummy in the morning, noon and night, these are the places that I visited. Other than that, I was leisurely chilling myself in the resort since we had an indoor poolJ.

Life can never be so amazing when you let your brain, body and your soul to rest. It will be an added bonus if you go with the right group of people as well as a planned itinerary.

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 27 - Krabi Trip (Day 3)

GOODDDD dayyyy...!! 

On the final day of our Krabi trip, we woke up slightly early, hoping to visit few places before we board our plane at 2pm - we went to Sea Shell Cemetery though it rained heavily and soaked ourselves at the famous Hot Spring Pool for about 20 minutes.

After that, we headed to Sa Morakot (Emerald Pool) - a well-known tourist place of Krabi province, situated in Khao Pra - Bangkram Wildlife Sanctuary under jurisdiction of Department of National Park, Wildlife and Planet Conversation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Emerald Pool was originated from Spring Pool which is a mid-forest warm water stream, formed from hot spring in the forest under the earth crust, having the temparature about 31 - 32 degree celsius. The color of the water in the Emerald Pool is green, resulted from some kinds of the seaweed in the species of the bluish green seaweed and some kinds of bacteria living in the hot springs.

Among so many pools, one can only swim in Emerald Pool - it contains hot natural mineral water which is believed ideal for good skin and wellbeing. Nonetheless, that comes with a big sacrifice as the side of the pool is really slippery. Do not ever thought of taking your sweet time to walk into the pool nor using your butt to bring you down because you would slip no matter what!

The number 1 problem came up when we decided to leave. Having said that, we barely able put our legs up. So, we decided to pull the trees root and pushed ourselves up with of course scars on our legs =( As we were chasing for time, we quickly marched our way to Sa Nam Phut (Spring Pool) which is also known as Blue Pool. Apparently, when the tourists clap their hands, the spring will pop up more quickly. Due to the deep water and the sucking mud, swimming is not allowed in this area.

Since we were behind time, we ran from the top hill to our chaffeur - it was real tiring and we were drenched in sweat. Not forgetting we had not even change our clothes yet. Our taxi driver was so kind that he went ahead with more than 100km/h to ensure us, not to miss our flights. And bravos!!! The gate closed at 2.10pm and we managed to sneak in at 2.05pm - fuihhh..that's the biggest sigh in our life actually..

Went to our seat and the air stewardess started to do head count. Once everything settled, I went in to the small cubicle to change my clothes - struggling to change so many pieces within one small area!! Anyway, I managed to take a nap in the plane though my tummy was in hunger.

The next day, I realized that there was a wound on my leg - thought it was not hurt at first but I was wrong. As my leg was battling with the mud on our way up to Blue Pool, the mud decided to "hurt" me and the scar remains till now =(

 Before I end my Krabi post, here is a quick mind-challenge activity for you - can anyone guess what is this?

Chapter 26 - Krabi Trip (Day 2)

Kringggg, Krrinnnggggg!!! Alarm rang and we crawled ourselves out from the bed. Skies were pretty dark at that time, watch showed that it was 7am yet, our smartphones were clocked at 6am...Regardless what, we freshen ourselves up and took a brisk morning walk by the beach - it was so calm and serene in the morning and you could hardly see any vehicles on the road..The flapping waves were waving, welcoming us to their island while the wind assisted in roaring the cool breeze - that was all way awesome to start a fresh new day!!

Kicking the water and soaking our legs for about 20 minutes, we waved our hands to bid goodbye to our natural friends. Upon the time hit 7am, we were the first few to be at the restaurant to have our lovely breakfast - not a vast difference when comes to serving and I enjoyed it pretty much.

By 9am, our adventurous plan kicked start! A van came to our resort and picked us up to our first spot which was all about kayaking and caving!! Since there weren't many people who joined this activity, we pretty much owned the area. Joining us were a couple from Australia, a couple from (don't know what country) and an expat from Canada.

Voila - They are just simply beautiful with mangrove forest, mountains and cave. On the canoeing journey, we went through few caves such as Crocodile Cave, large and small canyons. Unfortunately, we did not get to see any crocodiles but we saw a variety of birds, monkeys, living in their natural habitat. We also stopped at one of the ancient cemetery of "people of the sea" who lived there many years ago - was kinda amazed even when I imagine about their lifestyle.

Once we were done with kayaking, we were served with home-cooked meal consisting of fish, chicken, vegetables, shrimp and a bowl of soup. Upon filling our tummy, bestie and I headed to Nosey Parker's, the first elephant trekking in Krabi to enjoy a one hour elephant ride through lush tropical rainforest. However, we were disappointed with how the people treat their elephants. Instead of taking good care of their animals, I could see there are quite a number of injuries on the elephant head, especially near to their ears. Not only that, the riders use a long, sharp steel to navigate the elephants - I wonder what is the use of their pledge then??

It was a real tiring day and we went back to resort at about 5pm. Once we were ready to explore the places around our resort, it rained again =( sigh. Nonetheless, umbrellas had became our best friends from that day onwards. Had our first Pad Thai under the rain as our temptation couldn't hold us back. As we walked under the rain, we shopped around and had our Samurai Pork Burger in McD.

Since it was the last night we were in Krabi, we pampered ourselves to a great massage - I chose leg massage in fact. Never would I know that the leg massage was so soothing and comfy that I could even sleep there.

About 10pm, we walked all the way to our resort and it was the time to give our body some rest. On the third day which was also the last day of us in Krabi, we had so-called the most exciting moments because we nearly missed our flights! Thanks to our curiosity mind. Haha =)