Puppy Steps, Jumbo Leaps

At This Time Last Month...

Fluffie and i were at The Regent Singapore for a short weekend getaway! The Regent is one of the rare few pet-friendly hotels in Singapore. There was a promotion on, and my sister was away in Bangkok, so on a whim, i booked a one-night stay and whisked my mum and Fluffie there for the weekend!

This is us in the long mirror in our room!

I thought the room was rather clean and comfortable, and there was more than enough room for the three of us :) I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had included a little bed, bowls, water, treats and a free toy for Fluffie too!

 

My mum, on the other hand, loved the L'Occitane En Provence toiletries provided. Before we left, i asked if we could have complimentary bottles of shampoo, conditioner and shower foam, and the hotel sent a complete set of toiletries up to us!

Here's a video of Fluffie sniffing out the room...

She settled in real fast and very quickly claimed one of the beds for herself. I was so proud of her too, because she knew exactly where to pee and poo (on the newspapers we placed in the bathroom), and did not dirty the carpet at all!

This mosaic shows evidence of Fluffie's love for the beds in the room...

After unpacking and registering our satisfaction with the room, i grabbed Fluffie's leash and we set off for The Botanic Gardens! The hotel's proximity to the Botanic Gardens was one of the reasons that helped me to decide that we should book with them. It was Fluffie's first walk down the Tanglin/Orchard area. I was slightly apprehensive before, worried about the busy traffic, but on the way, we met many friendly humans and dogs, which helped put me at ease. Fluffie, on the other hand, behaved like she had lived there all her life!

Some shots taken at the gardens...

 

We'd visited the place a few times before, but it was our first time in this part of the gardens...we ended up having dinner at the open-air food court (before we realised that dogs were not allowed there...) Fortunately, there was barely anyone around!

On our way back to the hotel, we met a golden retriever, Trista who looked exactly like Chloe, except for a little white patch of fur on her forehead. She's as sweet as Chloe too, and i think she liked me, because she lay down beside me for tummy rubs and refused to get up! For some reason, Fluffie took to her as well...see, it's true! Fluffie only befriends dogs that look like Chloe!!! It's a pity i didn't manage to take a photo of Trista because my hands were tied with handling Fluffie and giving out tummy rubs!

At night, i gave Fluffie her very first 'hotel bath' in the tub of the bathroom :)

 

The holiday must have left her in a good mood, because she wasn't as angry with me as she usually is after a bath, hehe. After she was all clean and dry, we ran around till she was tired, then cuddled in bed and watched some television before falling asleep together :)

Check out this video of Fluffie calling for me to get off the bed and play with her!

The next morning, all three of us lazed around in the room for a bit, then i took a stroll to Tanglin Mall to get some breakfast. My mum spent the rest of the time relaxing, while i watched CSI on the AXN channel and chased Fluffie round the room.

Finally, it was time to check out, and we left the hotel happy and satisfied :) Gosh, i wish all weekends could be like that!

Phuket 21.06.09

The last of the Phuket series!

My sister, cousin and i made the effort to wake up especially early on the last day to get
to Kata Noi beach one last time! This was the steep stairway we had to conquer to get
to and from the beach...

The tide was coming in when we arrived, and we stood at the bottom of the stairs for
some moments, enjoying the swishing of the waves before taking turns to jump onto the beach from the platform we were on.

 

It was monsoon season and the red warning flag was up...

  

...as was this signboard!

So, eventually, since my cousin can't swim, my sister is not a strong swimmer, and i'm definitely not strong enough to rescue anyone from the sea, we decided to be good and not attempt to wade out into the waters that morning.

We sat on the beach for a while, taking in the sights and shrieking at the little hairy crabs running from one hole to the other, before making our way back.

After washing up, we made a rushed trip to Jung Ceylon Mall to buy some last-minute
souvenirs for our friends back home...

I managed to get a shot of the cute toilet signs they had! I couldn't figure out why the
mall used blue for the handicapped cubicle sign instead of the men's toilet sign. Can you?

After grabbing some gifts, we rushed back to the apartments to check out, packed our
luggage into the van, and off we went! But we weren't headed for the airport yet as we
had one more venue we had to stop at before flying back to Singapore.

We made a pit-stop for lunch at another seafood restaurant by the beach. They served
really cool coconuts that had Gucci sunshades on them :) :) :)

Phuket beaches (except Patong beach!) always provide a good backdrop for pretty
pictures, so once again, i snapped some shots for my album.

My father and sister really look alike! Gosh...

 

Finally, after lunch, we made our way to the site where The Phuket Big Buddha sat,
overlooking the entire province. The statue was only about 80% complete, and i'd known beforehand that construction would still be ongoing. We had to endure a bumpy ride up
an uneven hill with extremely narrow roads and dangerous terrains to reach the site, but once we arrived, there was no doubt that it was all worth it.

The Big Buddha looked grandly majestic, and even though there was construction taking
place in the area and gigantic cement trucks being driven around, i was awestruck by the aura of peace surrounding the Buddha.

Views of the statue from the side and front...

 

 

The Big Buddha sits atop the highest hill in Phuket, and is entirely constructed with
speckled marble. Work on the statue has been going on for at least two to three years
now, because the builders are (supposedly) depending entirely on donations to complete
it. For 300 baht, anyone can buy a slab of marble to be used to complete the statue.

My dad insisted that it was a touristy gimmick, but i went ahead to buy one anyway and wrote Chloe and Fluffie's names on it, with the wish that they would be blessed with good health and lots of love throughout their lives :)

I walked all the way up to the foot of The Big Buddha and found a smaller structure made entirely of gold (The Small Buddha) behind it...

There were more locals than tourists in the area, many of whom were there simply to
worship or to have their prayers heard...

 

More pictures! Of wind chimes...

...and a signboard with a mantra on achieving enlightenment.

Now, this is what made the climb up all worth it...

The views at the top are to-die-for! I almost didn't want to leave...

On our way down, i tried to find the Singapore symbol amidst the trail of flags leading
from the Buddha, but couldn't :(

After a fulfilling 4 days in The Land Of Smiles, it was finally time to return home to
Fluffie :) Some last parting shots of Phuket before i kept my camera...a Dunkin' Donuts
outlet at the airport...

...and one more shot from the plane...

I always feel a little down at the end of each vacation, because it means it's time to wake up and return to reality. This holiday was extra special because it was the first time in
many years that all of us managed to take time off and go away together, and could well
be the last.

On the other hand, it was a relief to be able to come home to Fluffie because i'd missed
her terribly in Phuket! I wish i could take Fluffie with me to see the world. If only...

Phuket 20.06.09

Everyone woke up late on Day 3 after the day out at sea, and we skipped breakfast and
walked down to the Kata beach area for lunch. We girls did some browsing at the stalls by the road and wound up with the same bikini in four different colours!

From left:
Blue for my sister, Red for me, Green for cousin piggy, Yellow for my youngest cousin!

 

We took a couple of hours to go through all the shops that were of interest to us, then
we had tea at a cute little cafe before hiking back up to our apartments.

After a short rest, we left for an afternoon of pure indulgence! Sukko Spa brands itself
as a cultural destination spa. When i visited it in 2007, i had a great time, so we booked
a variety of packages this time.

However, the experience this time felt rather lacking in terms of service. The staff seemed
more concerned with making sure that we kept to our allocated timeslots for each of the
treatments instead of ensuring that we were comfortable and having a good time. I don't think i will visit them again if i return to Phuket, because for the prices, we would probably get something better elsewhere in the city.

I did manage to get some good shots of the serene environment the spa was set in.
Here, you see the grand entrance of the spa...

 

Some accents in the pre-treatment waiting room where we made our payment...

 

I love the polished teak furniture they had...

 

And the gorgeous multi-tiered pool!

 

My cousins had their nails done as part of their packages, very pretty! The nail-art was
probably the best part of the treatment...

 

No pictures of the treatment rooms because cameras are banned in there, for obvious reasons! All in all, the time there was relaxing, but not amazing. We ended the day with
a visit to Central Festival Mall, where we had cheap but delicious ramen and sushi for
dinner!

Phuket 19.06.09

Day 2 was sail-and-canoe day!

Captain Mark of Phuket Sail Tours took us out on a private charter to the Phang Nga bay for the entire day! I snapped a shot of The Sakai docked at the port where we boarded a larger vessel for our tour.

 

The weather was perfect for a day out at sea, and this was what the picture looked like
as we set off on our voyage...

 

The front of our boat...combined with turquoise waters and clear skies!

 

The captain briefed us on the route we were taking for the day. I loved his huge
vintage-looking map of the islands.

More picturesque shots along the way...

 

 

Limestone rock formations hanging down from the edges of the cliffs...

 

We made our first stop at a tiny strip of beach for some swimming and splashing about.
Loads of seashells and hermit crabs, but no pictures...had to protect my precious camera!

Then, we paddled into a hong (= small lagoon enclosure) in our canoes. Had to paddle
through a low, dark water cave to get to the entrance of the hong...

 

Next stop was the ice-cream caves! Captain Mark docked his dinghy at a corner of the
tiny beach before we proceeded...

Look at the gigantic ice-cream cones below! The formations had actual glitter on them!

 

When we came to the end of the cave, there was a little opening that provided a glance
of the most gorgeous hong!

 

We also visited a mangrove hong. Check out the pretty single-clawed crab!

 

Can you spot the dolphin below? It's the cutest rock formation ever :) :) :)

 

Shot of the sky from within the mangrove hong...

 

All in all, we visited about 2-3 hongs and 4 caves, and the pictures above show some highlights of our day. Other than sightseeing, we also had some awesome snacks and
a delicious lunch :) Yummy!

 

Group photo...i think everyone looks great here!

 

One more shot of the landscape on the way back to the pier...

 

Last of all, one of my favourite pictures for the day...

 

On the way back to our apartments after the sailing tour, we stopped by a marketplace, where my dad and uncle bought tons of fruit! We were all exhausted by the time we got back, so we stayed in, watched television and ate the fruit for dinner.

Tada! That's it for Day 2 :)

Phuket 18.06.09

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!

This Is It!

I have found

THE PERFECT PLACE

for Fluffie and me to stay in London :) :) :)

A Little Dream Of Mine...

...is to bring Fluffie to New Zealand one day.

Since i caught the Lord Of The Rings trilogy years ago, New Zealand has been
on my list of i-have-to-visit-this-country-before-i-die places to go to.
And the best thing is that Fluffie does not have to be quarantined after
both flights if i bring her with me.

I'm giving myself the next 2 to 4 years to turn this little dream into reality.
If any of you out there has useful resources or information about dog-friendly
airlines and accommodation options to share with me, please do!
Fluffie and i will both be very thankful :)