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Life has not been good ever since I returned from Phuket. Have been down with chronic post-vacation depression, as I (and even Slug) kept reminiscing our happy days in that lovely empyrean and pining for the opportunities to get away from Singapore again.

Work added on to my depression. Handling rambunctious kids, marking essays with poor grammar and sentence structure (which I absolutely cannot tolerate), forgoing lunch and toilet breaks to clear the pile of work that grows exponentially, dealing with office bitches ... Many a time have I thought of resigning with immediate effect (yes, I am even willing to throw that one month's pay at them), but when I think about my poor students (who have been experiencing a change of 3 teachers ever since school started and are weary about this), I was kind of pulled back, especially now that I have established some good rapport with them.

Then my grandmother passed away and I could not get any sadder than that. Was busy for the past few days helping out at the wake. When Slug reminded me that I drew a temple lot 2 months ago that said that someone in my family would die, I was stupefied. I could not believe that that prediction, though revolting, was for real.

Sad but helpless.

Phuket 2007 Day 6

Woke up super early at 5.30am again, to gather up our clothes strewn all over the place and pack our luggage. We checked out at 6.30am, and just as we were about to proceed to the cafeteria to have breakfast, the minibus came. We were so shocked because we thought we could have at least 5 minutes to eat something. So, without having a hearty buffet breakfast, we were whisked off to our destination: Ko Similan.

Haha, the name of these beautiful islands may sound vulgar, but this word is actually derived from the word ‘sembilan’ (Malay for nine), because there are nine islands in this group of Similan Islands. And it has actually been touted as one of the 1001 must-visit-before-you-die places on Earth … so here I am going to take a look!

The bus contained 4 Thai girls when it picked us up, and then proceeded to pick up another farang man along Beach Road. It left Patong for Nai Thon (another beach which is 45 mins away) to pick up 2 Thai Chinese guys. After that, it headed for the Sarasin Bridge.

Glorious sunrise

Speaking of the Sarasin Bridge, do you know Phuket is actually an island? It is not part of the mainland of Thailand, although it appears to be. It is separated from the mainland by a small stretch of the sea, just like how Singapore is separated from Malaysia and stands alone as an island. And so, Sarasin Bridge connects Phuket to the mainland like how the Causeway connects Singapore to Malaysia.

After we passed the Sarasin Bridge, we reached Phang-nga, a relatively quieter and less developed province as compared to Phuket. From the checkpoint, the bus took about an hour to reach the Thaplamu pier. Along the way, people dozed off while I watched the scenery and enjoyed a cup of nata de coco yoghurt.

Finally, we reached the pier at about 8.20am. That was a freaking 2-hour ride and Slug was complaining about his burning ass. The guide sat us down at a small shop where they served us Milo and pineapple cookies. We then were given our snorkeling masks, and ushered up the speedboat.

Thaplamu pier

The Similan islands, set in the Andaman Sea, is about 75 km from the mainland, and the speedboat took 1.5 hours to reach there. As the speedboat darted through the waves and the view of the mainland slowly faded into the horizon, it started to get creepy because should anything happen to the boat, we would be stranded in the vast waters. The long journey was painfully boring and I was amazed to see some people actually being able to fall asleep during this bumpy ride.

Bored Slug in his life jacket

We felt relieved and got up to do some stretching when the speedboat finally slowed down as it approached a stony island. The guide told us that the stony island that we were seeing was Island #9 (Ba-ngu), and that we would be given some time to snorkel and explore the coral life. The boat could not take us to the shore of the island so as not to damage the corals growing in the shallow waters. The landscape really appealed to my Geography senses: I soon paid homage to my wonderful Geography teachers in JC by correctly identifying the geographic landforms and the processes that sculpted them!

Island #9

Massive granitic boulders

Two rock outcrops (which used to be parts of a bigger one)

A big boulder perched precariously ...

I did not join the rest for snorkeling so Slug and I stayed on the boat. Unfortunately, the boat kept bobbing up and down the water and I started to feel nauseous. After a while, enough was enough and I dashed to the claustrophobically small toilet on the boat for some self-induced puking. Apparently, some African guy could not master the usage of the snorkeling mask like me, and ended up gulping down some healthy seawater. He looked more seasick than me.

The snorkelers were rounded up and off we went to Island #8 (Similan) for lunch. This island is like the hub among the other islands, because accomodation and sources of food are available on only this island. Our lunch consisted of tom yum soup, fried fish, mixed vegetables and chicken fried with cashew nuts. Was not too palatable though.

Island #8

Lunch

After lunch, we were only given an hour to explore the island, and Slug and I could not decide what to do: swim and snorkel in the sea, climb up Sail Rock or go on the Nature Trail. We wanted to snorkel but the sea was full of frolicking farangs. We wanted to go on the Nature Trail and look at the plant and insect species but Slug was afraid of snakes. So we decided to climb up Sail Rock.

Sail Rock

When viewed from a distance, this stack of granite boulders looks like a sail, hence its namesake. This rock formation is due to wind erosion, according to a signboard, but I could not fathom how this could be possible.

Massive boulders on the beach

Holding a baked crab

Slug at the starting point of the path up Sail Rock

Lovely view of the sea

This trail is not for the faint-hearted. After getting on the rickety wooden planks, we had to manoeuvre around a huge boulder clinging onto a rope, and then hike our way up forested slopes. We did this bare-footed because our rubbery slippers were a potential slipping hazard. Fear started to grip me as we climbed higher, and finally we emerged from the dark woods into the blazing sunlight.

More boulders and creaky wooden planks awaited us before we could get to the top. And were we in a surprise when we set our delicate pink feet on the coarse-grained surface of the boulders! The scorching rock surface would have been kind enough to leave blisters on the soles of our feet, but no! Our feet would start to sizzle if they were in contact with the rock for more than three seconds. This left me gasping "Ssss ... ooh ... haa ... sss" while leaping around fantically.

At last, we reached the top of Sail Rock, but actually it was not really considered the top because to get to the peak would be very dangerous. We were rewarded with bouts of cooling sea breezes and a bird's eye view of the sea.

View of the beach

View of the sea

The peak of Sail Rock

Slug ventured further from where we were by climbing up that wooden ladder and burrowing through the boulders.

According to him, there was not anything much behind the tall stack of rocks except for a cliff (eeks!)!

We finally had enough of the heat and we realised our one hour was up! We quickly clambered down Sail Rock and as you know it, getting down is more difficult than climbing up. So I, fearful of slipping and falling dramatically down the rocks and slopes, wanted to proceed down slowly but as I turned and looked behind, a pack of farangs suddenly appeared and were behind Slug and me. I was the first in the line and I could not possibly walk slowly and hold them back. I was whimpering as I tried to proceed hastily but carefully. When I finally touched ground, I let out a relieved whoop, much to the amusement of the farangs behind us.

While waiting for our boat, Slug and I picked some beautiful seashells along the shore, awashed with fragments of shell and dead coral.

A scampering hermit crab!

Cute!

We left Island #8 and proceeded to Island #4 (Ko Miang). The speedboat anchored itself near the beach and we were given time for some snorkelling.

Island #4

Slug and I stayed back on the speedboat and we were lucky enough to spot a huge titan triggerfish and a school of little ones! We should have plunged into the waters and have an upclose encounter with them!

After half an hour, the speedboat took us to the beach of the island and let us off to enjoy some free time there. We wasted no time and plunged into the crystal clear waters for a refreshing swim with the fishes.

After that, we were gathered back to the speedboat and it was now heading towards the mainland. Sigh, time to go home.

Weary after a long day's activities

The horizon

Again, it was an hour and a half's boat ride back to the Thaplamu pier, and then an hour's ride from the pier to Sarasin Bridge. Everyone was dozing off during the ride in the minibus. Slug and I were feeling sticky because of sand pasted onto our legs and our hair wet with seawater.

Passing by the airport runway

We finally reached the airport at about 6.30pm, and we quickly rushed to the toilets for a shower. To our horror, there were no shower rooms (and we even confirmed that fact with the customer service counter)! We felt so gloomy but at least we could wash our faces.

We then had a cheap dinner at Chester's Grill, and proceeded to check in after that.

We boarded our plane at 9pm, and as I looked out of the window at the pitch-black mountain ranges and orange street lighting of Phuket, I felt heavy-hearted.

We entertained ourselves with playing cards on the 1.5 hour flight back to Singapore.

Did some DFS shopping and headed home after that. I hate to be back!

Phuket 2007 Day 5

Woke up super early at 5.30am today, because we were going to Ko Similan! We quickly packed and rushed to the hotel’s cafeteria to have breakfast, because the minibus would be coming to pick us up anytime from 6.30am to 7am. Unfortunately the breakfast only started at 6.30am, so we had to eat hurriedly. It was an American buffet breakfast and I got to custom-make my omelette: with ham, mushrooms, onions and cheese!

We waited for a long time but our bus never appeared. At 7.30am, we made a call to the tour agency and enquired about the bus, and about half an hour later, we were told that the driver had an accident and that our excursion would be postponed to tomorrow. But tomorrow we would be leaving for Singapore! I was so pissed and disappointed with the sudden change of events, but unfortunately we had to accept it.

We decided not to waste the morning sun by going swimming, and that meant jumping straight from our balcony into the pool! Slug swam around while I laid on the pool chair for some soaking up the sun.

Ready to dive into the pool!

The resident salamander

The underwater slug

The poolside access rooms

The visiting butterfly at our balcony

After the swim, we washed up and had a mini brunch at our balcony, snacking on the Thai version of Lay’s potato chips and drinking coffee. It felt really comfortable.

We took a mid-afternoon nap till 4pm, before venturing out of our hotel. We had lunch at a small and slightly filthy roadside stall which sells noodles and rice. We ordered duck kway teow, chicken noodles and quail eggs wrapped in wonton skins on skewers. As this was roadside fare, it was very cheap, and better yet, delicious!

As I was eating, I noticed that once the stallholder had served us our orders, he went to a corner and sat down with his wife and daughter. The three of them started playing happily until he had to get up to serve a new customer. I must say I was deeply affected by this image, because this is my ideal image of family life. This guy could work and at the same time, enjoy some quality time with his family! Although they operate such a small business which probably earns enough just to get by, apparently they are contented and do not seem to have the intention to enter the market and compete with major F&B establishments that serve us tourists. I believe he is happy, because if I were him, I would be contented. Thinking about how quality family time is practically submerged under the hecticness and complexities of life in Singapore, I suddenly did not feel like going home.

After lunch, we made our way to Jungceylon, the swanky new shopping centre near Soi Bangla. Construction had just been completed and only some shops and Carrefour had opened, but I would say it is really a mega mall with 4 big towers of shopping goodness. Nevertheless, we had a great time browsing through the Thai antiques and souvenir shops and Carrefour.

Antique shop

Thai figurine

Terrorised by robot a la Alien

Slug in front of a musical fountain

Food square at Jungceylon

We then went back to Loppy’s booth to complain about the unpleasant incident that happened in the morning. He apologized (even though it was not his fault), and helped us cancel our booking for the minibus trip to the airport (because the minibus would take us directly to the airport after returning to Phuket from Ko Similian) and refunded us our money. We were really satisfied with Loppy’s service and dedication. Stupid Slug told him that I was so disappointed in the morning that I bursted into tears at the lobby, and to which he apologized again and grinned, “Don’t cry”. Thai people are so nice.

With the extra money, Slug and I decided to splurge on the seafood basket (at a small but posh restaurant called Patong Restaurant and Bakery) that he had been lusting after for a few days. The waiter actually recognized us because we promised we would come back for the seafood basket a few days ago, and of course, he was happy to see us fulfilling that promise.

The seafood basket consisted of a small lobster, 2 crayfishes (the Thais call them ‘rock lobsters’), a flower crab, 2 medium squids, a huge fish, 4 banana prawns, 2 oysters, 6 mussels and some cockles. The lobster and crayfishes were baked with cheese, the flower crab cooked in chilli paste, the squids cooked in garlic, the fish steamed in soy sauce, the prawns were fried in batter (they were the BEST), and the shellfish were barbequed. We were also served fried rice and salad.

Seafood bonanza

Slug's favourite: lobster

My favourite: prawns

We felt bloated but highly satisfied after that delicious seafood dinner. We walked to the beach (which is just across the road) and enjoyed the cooling night breeze before heading to Ocean Shopping Centre to grab a beer. We visited the trannies at Soi Crocodile for the last time while chugging on our beer bottles.

We were sad to have to return home tomorrow. Goodbye trannies. Goodbye Bangla. Goodbye farangs. Goodbye Patong. It was back to our room to pack up our bags and enjoy a bubble bath before retiring for the night.