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.
The resident salamander
The underwater slug
The poolside access rooms
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.
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