Phuket 2007 Day 2

Woke up early because today we were going to Ko Racha Yai and Coral Island! We had breakfast at our hotel’s cafeteria, which still served the same food as last year’s: Omelette with sausage or bacon or cheese, and toast. I ordered the omelette with cheese, thinking that the omelette would have chewy mozzarella cheese in it. I was speechless when I was served a plain omelette with a squarish piece of cheese as its blanket.

A minibus came to pick us up at 8am, which then went on to pick up 4 Korean girls and 2 farang men. We were brought to Chalong Pier, where we boarded a speedboat bound for Racha Yai. It was about an hour’s ride.

On the minibus

At Chalong pier

On the speedboat

The speedboat stopped at a cove so that we can plunge into the waters, snorkel and look at the corals. However, remembering my unpleasant experience with snorkeling masks, I decided to stay on the boat and feed the fishes instead.

At a cove near Racha Yai

Hungry fishes

I started to detest the Korean girls who were in the same minibus and speedboat with us. Korean Girl A really had no sense of propriety. When her friend was in the water and called for her to bring her her loaf of bread (to feed the fishes), Girl A did not know where she kept the bread and actually took a random loaf of bread that was lying around on the speedboat. I was sure she knew that loaf of bread wasn’t her friend’s. Shortly after, the owner (a farang woman) asked aloud where her bread was, and she gave Slug and I a suspicious look, thinking that we pinched her bread because we were the only ones on the boat.

After the snorkeling session, we were taken to the beach to sunbathe. The waters were aquamarine and the sands were white and soft. I enjoyed a fruity ice-cream while feeding the fishes bread. The fishes that inhabit Racha Yai are mainly silvery ones that look like pomfrets, and also an occasional parrotfish.

The beach at Racha Yai

Me sunbathing

After that, we were taken to Coral Island for lunch. Lunch was a buffet with dishes that included fried rice, chicken with cashew nuts and onions, fried fish fillets in tomato sauce, mixed vegetables, fried baby corn and long beans in batter, and fishball soup.

We were told that we would have some free time on the island after lunch till 3pm, meaning that we could choose to explore the island or sunbathe on the beach. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Korean Girl B rushing to reserve 4 beach chairs that were placed in good locations while the rest of us were just starting to eat our lunch. And I thought Singaporeans were supposed to be the most kiasu!

Slug and I certainly had fun feeding the schools of pomfret-like fishes and alligator fishes, because they were all crowding around us and we were literally swimming with the fishes. There was a distinctively big alligator fish as long as an arm that kept swimming near us furtively hoping for some bread morsels. Cute!


I hated it when our guide rounded us back to the speedboat to return to Phuket. We were so reluctant to leave the island. Sand and sea salt were sticking onto our skins and our hair was wet and messy. It was a short ride back to the mainland.

When the guide called for us to return our snorkeling masks, Korean Girl A, who was sitting beside me, could not find her own mask and anyhow grabbed one that was lying at my feet. I said in a deadpan manner, “That is MINE.” and she quickly dropped it back. Hasn’t someone taught her about NOT taking things that do not belong to her? When the guide gave each of us a souvenir (a handmade-rose out of straws), Korean Girl C secretly left it behind when we disembarked from the speedboat. It was so mean of her, because if she disliked it, she should have at least discarded it somewhere and not leave it behind disdainfully for our kind Thai guide to see. She really has an EQ of a pigeon.

When we returned to our room, we washed up and ventured out to seek a new dinner venue. On the way, we passed by a beautiful aquarium and we stopped to ooh-and-aah at the many sea creatures in it.

Lionfish

Lobster

Moray eel and stonefish

We decided to have dinner at this PS hotel, where we ordered fried rice and squid fried with garlic and pepper. Prices were reasonable and the squid was yummy!

After dinner, we walked along Bangla Road which was already bustling with night activity. We played a few rounds of pool at our favourite pool shop, before moving on to the most happening spot along Bangla Road: Soi Crocodile. Every night, the trannies will dance provocatively on a tiny platform in this tiny alley lined with pubs, and it never fails to attract the curious crowd.

Bangla Road

Playing pool

Dancing trannies

I caught sight of our favourite tranny! She is a short, fat, and ugly-but-adorable tranny who loves attention and is brazen enough to offer sneak previews of her boobs and cleany-shaven you-know-where. She is definitely different from the rest who just dance monotonously to the chill-out songs (which are not even from the original artistes).

We ordered two beers and sat down at one of the bars to watch them dance. We just love our favourite tranny’s (we called her Joker) crazy antics. She would reveal her prized boob whenever she posed for pictures with farangs, and halfway through her dance, she actually took off her thong and flung it into the crowd!

Our favourite tranny

Slug and I chilling out at the bar

When we finally decided to call it a night, we stopped by Ocean Shopping Centre to get more water supplies. This time, we bought a huge bottle (that looked like the bottles used to store cooking oil) of water which could last us for quite some time. And we could see that it was quite a hit with the farangs too.

Ocean Shopping Centre actually opens till 1am!