I'm back as promised :) This will be a photo-intensive post!
It's been a whole 12 years since we (my maternal aunt's family and mine) have gone
for an overseas vacation together, and everyone was really looking forward to it.
This time round, there were 13 of us, and we were on SilkAir's afternoon flight to Phuket.
Some snapshots outside the departure lounge...i couldn't resist the SIA logos! Can you believe that i've never been onboard an SIA plane in my life? One of my many goals is to
be on an SIA business-class flight to London!
A view of the skies from my window seat...
Approximately 3.5 hours later, we arrived at our holiday accommodation - Kata Gardens Serviced Apartments :) :) :) The apartments were strategically located within the Kata
area in Phuket, within walking distance from both the shopping areas and the Kata and
Kata Noi beaches.
We booked a total of 4 apartments for an estimated cost of S$50 per person per night.
The environment was peaceful and rather conducive, most of the time it felt like we were the only ones there.
There were 2 pools within the premises. Pity i didn't get to use them as we opted for
the beaches instead most of the time!
The next few shots show the interior of the apartment i stayed in with my sister and cousins. Painting at the hallway leading from the entrance to the living room...
Cosy living room where we hung out for breakfast and snacks...
A small dining area tucked away in a corner of the living room...
My favourite part of the master bedroom...the bath-tub! It looks tiny in the photograph,
but the truth is that it was large enough to fit three of us in it!
Every apartment also had a lounging area in the balcony...
And because ours was a penthouse unit, we had our very own roof-top plunge pool!
The view of the beach we got from the roof-top...
Once everyone was done gushing over the apartments and king-sized beds, we left to
do some sight-seeing. Our first stop was the Karon View Point, and this was what we saw from there...
...Karon beach (at the top), Kata beach (middle) and Kata Noi beach (bottom).
Then we moved on to Cape Phromthep. The Phromthep viewpoint is supposedly one of the best (viewpoints) in Phuket. It was so breezy that we spent a good half-an-hour there, just strolling, taking pictures and taking in the scenery.
My father and sister below...i was a little nervous about them being on the ledge because there was an extremely steep cliff behind them, so all i was thinking when i snapped this
was to get it over and done with so that they could get down from there!
My piggy cousin and cousin-in-law basking in the moment...
Elephant mascots guarding the four-faced Buddha altar on the cape...
I spent about 15 minutes walking around the monument shown in this next photograph,
trying to find some English transcriptions that would provide some indication of its significance to Phuket as well as Cape Phromthep, to no avail...
Next stop...Wat Chalong!
'Wat' means 'temple', and Wat Chalong is the biggest and most-visited place of worship
in Phuket. I visited the temple once with my mum and sis in 2007, and was looking
forward to doing so again this time round. However, when we arrived, only one of the buildings was still open, so all i could do was to photograph the exteriors.
Guess what the structure below is used for!
Each of the temples in the area has a unique roof, yet each design is equally intricate
and shows tremendous attention to detail. Nice!
Dinner was at an open-air seafood restaurant off Rawai Beach. I managed to catch
a glimpse of the sunset before it went dark...
After dinner, we headed to the busiest area in Phuket - Patong. I am not a fan of Patong because of the fact that numerous sleazy bars span the area, and the stench from the sewer is unbearable at best.
Was not inspired to take any pictures at all initially, then i noticed an interesting phenomenon...
...that the Thais have a weird obsession with Bangla! Seriously! Haha :)
And that's Day 1 for you. Will be back with more!
That thingy is used to burn dead bodies??
Posted by: flix | June 28, 2009 at 20:06