After planning for many years, finally we had our first family trip to Phuket. We (8 adults and 2 kids) had a great 4 days 3 nights trip with great time bonding and chatting. Everyone in the family went except Xiao Han who is just 1 month plus.. but i am sure she will be joining for the upcoming family trip 🙂
26th November 2014
Our flight is at 8.30am, so we got out of our house at 6am, planning to reach the airport by 6.30am. There are no cars on the road but the cabbie driver exercise extra caution and drove super slow… we reached at 6.40am, and my mum they all already queueing to check-in and had to let a few other passengers to go before them as we haven’t arrive…so check in is fast since we are already first in the queue when we reached. Quickly proceed to boarding gate and after passing the immigration, we had about an hour for breakfast before boarding.
Had a quick breakfast at Bakerzin as there are not so much choices at Terminal 1….Their hot chocolate is good but a bit pricey. Meanwhile, sis, mum, BIL all walked around the airport as they already had breakfast before we arrived.
We boarded the plane at 8am and the plane is delayed for 15 minutes or so as two of their passengers lost their passport. It is quite a drama though cause the couple actually queue in front of my sis and brother in law….and they were blaming one another for misplacing the passport. They went back to look for it but i guess they couldn’t find so the pilot make final decision to unload their checked-in luggage.Â
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| Girl enjoying the company of grandpa… requesting for grandpa to draw pictures for her |
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| Meanwhile, boy boy played with granny |
Flight was uneventful and we reached Phuket at 9.30am (local time, Phuket is one hour slower than Singapore).
I was carrying little boy when i walked into the Thai Custom, looking for the shortest queue and i was approached by one of the custom officer. He asked how many of us are together and was pretty shocked when i told him that there is 10 of us… but he kindly lead us to row which is for Thai Resident and there is no queue here…so we cleared custom within 15 minutes thanks to the little ones…. it is like an express queue for kids.. hehe! Luggage came out pretty soon as we got out and we gotten some free sim card at one of the booth.. just need to top up at 7-11 and activate, then the sim card is good for use…
I had emailed David Car Rental before we arrived to book for car and the staff is already waiting for us outside with  my name board…This car rental place is quite reliable and they don’t even ask for deposit for the car, so just need to email them with the cars that you wanted and they will be waiting outside the airport. It is the second time we booked car with them.They drove us to their office which is just opposite the airport and we collected our car for the trip… One Honda Civic (1300 baht per day) and one Toyota Altis (1200 baht per day).Â
The staff in charge is really friendly and even offer to sell us Phi Phi Island Tour… we got it at a discounted rate with complimentary fetching from our Villa at Rawai. It is 2000 baht per person including pick up from Rawai and a full day tour by speedboat with lunch.
We wanted to lunch at Prantalay Seafood Restaurant as hubby and me enjoyed the food there very much on our previous trip but we can’t find the place so ended up at Luk Lay Seafood Restaurant which is not nice… food is very normal and super pricey, portion is small too.
View is good as we dine next to the sea with view, and although it is outdoor seating but wasnt hot as it is covered by some big trees.
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| Nice outdoor seating |
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| Dine with a view |
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| Pineapple rice.. tasted ok…. |
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| Tom yam is ok, a bit spicy |
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| Fried pork– portion is really small |
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| Kang Kung.. normal |
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| Fried squid…Â |
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| Fish is nice.. a little sourish spicy taste |
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| Pad Thai .. not nice |
Overall food is ok as we are hungry but wouldn’t recommend this restaurant unless had no choice…we spend 3410 baht for this meal and wasnt even very full or satisfied…
After lunch, we drove to our villa.. took us quite sometime to find it as the villa number doesn’t go by sequence… the villa we booked is 86/81 but it is definitely not next to 86/82 or 87/81 or anything like this…. in the end, we had to call the owner who kindly came to the main road to get us…so the trick is to drive to the main road at Soi Saiyuan 9 Road and get the owner to come and get you cause believe, no matter how many times you go in and out looking, where the villa is… there is no way we are going to find that place on our own…
After checking in and chatted with the owner, we know why the number aren’t in sequence. They basically gave out the house number by sequence to the buyer but no one knows which plot of land the buyer is going to build the house, so the house next to you can be build long time ago and therefore the number will be vastly different.Â
The house manager showed us around the house (pool, BBQ on rooftop, 4 bedrooms, 3 toilets, a living room, and kitchen…. while the owner bring my BIL on a motorbike ride to show him around the area.. where to get food, massage etc.
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| Private infinity pool |
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| Bedroom |
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| Bedroom |
We settled in… kids played for a while, then shower as they didnt shower in the morning since we woke up pretty early…. watch Frozen for a while then nap together with daddy. Wanted to make them milk but they fall asleep before my hot water is ready….
Meanwhile, mummy, me, mei and her hubby swim and chill at the pool. After shower, we hang out at the living room and play cards while munching some biscuits.
After the kids woke up at about 7pm, it is time for dinner and we decided to eat at Rawai Seafood Market… it is definitely highly highly recommended… best meal in Phuket! We get to choose seafood at the stalls, and cook them at the restaurant just opposite them…. super fresh!
Do bargain for the seafood price as the price is not fixed!
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| Fresh seafood to pick |
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| Daddy choosing crab for our meal tonight |
We bought 2kg of crab, 1kg prawn, some squid, 6 oyster, 1/2 kg flowered cockles for 1550 baht. One fish at 180 baht…
Brought our seafood to Khun Pha Rawai BBQ to cook and ordered their fruit juices and vegetables… it was a super great meal!!!! Cooking, drinks and vegetable came up to 1850 baht and we really ate a lot… even went and get 2 more bunch of squid…..
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| Special fruit juice |
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| Chang Local Beer |
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| Chap Chay.. nice |
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| Stir fry broccoli |
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| Fresh oyster |
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| Yellow curry crab.. my dad loves this! |
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| Steamed lemon squid!!! This is a must!!! |
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| Fried prawn with garlic.. this is heavenly! |
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| Steamed red crab |
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| Steamed fish |
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| BBQ Cockles… oh… this is super nice! |
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| BBQ prawn in butter and garlic… the other fried prawn version is nicer… |
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| Mummy enjoying |
We had a really great meal… and their fruit juices are nice.. imagine mango juice, watermelon juice.. all freshly squeezed.. very nice!
After meal, we went to Makro (a local supermarket) to buy some snacks, drinks and breakfast for the next 2 days (croissant, bread, sausages, egg tart etc)
Went back to villa to rest….
27th November 2014
The next morning, mum, dad, bao and mei woke up earlier as they need to go for the Phi Phi Island tour… who supposedly pick them up between 7.30-8am…but they got lost finding the place and only came at 8.30pm…
Meanwhile in the morning… we grilled hotdog and salami for breakfast…. and heat up egg tart, croissant … The hot dogs is super nice.. everyone love them!
Qin and me woke up early so we were chilling at the poolside with grandma and grandpa….
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| Chill-laxing by the pool in the morning |
And dear hubby woke up to a breakfast in pool.. so fortunate.. he is having his favourite croissant with hotdog and salami.. what a good life!
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| Breakfast in pool |
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| Applying sunblock before going for island tour |
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| Applying sunblock |
And after breakfast , time for a swim with the kids….
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| Pool time with the kids |
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| Happy…. |
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| So excited |
After swimming and shower, we got ready and leave house by 10am… Ting and Jong went shopping while hubby and me went for elephant ride with the kids.
It took us quite a while to find the place as the GPS kept bringing us to the wrong location… in the end found where we wanted to go.. Kok Chang Safari .. apparently this place is better at treating their elephants though the rates are slightly higher than the other place.. we had a good time here.
Kids less than 4 years old is free… and as the seats are not enough for 4 of us .. we got into 2 elephants…
Boy boy keep wanting to go on elephant rides, kept saying even before we left for Phuket but once got onto elephant.. started crying… i think he is scared.. on the other hand, girl girl loves the ride, kept saying it was super fun!
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| Rates for elephant ride |
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| Posing with elephant |
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| Xin keep wanting to go for rides and once on elephant.. started crying!!! OMG…. |
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| Nice picture |
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| Xin and me |
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| Nice photo |
After the ride, we went for a lunch nearby.. at Baan Chow Restaurant. Great view , food is normal… price is slightly pricey but we were hungry so just settle for the food.
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| Qin posing |
After lunch, we went for coffee and cakes at A Spoonful of Sugar. Â It had great reviews online but were quite disappointed with their cakes…. it says nice homemade cake but very disappointed with the quality of the cake. Coffee is good, i also had Magic Mocha which is nice and special. Instead of using steamed milk for mocha, it used coconut milk so the mocha has a tinge of coconut taste… kinda special.. a bit weird in the beginning but getting nicer as i drank more… yum!
Do opt for the seats inside as there are quite a bit flies around… we had to “shoo” them while eating…
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| Quaint little cafe |
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| Magic Mocha with a tinge of coconut milk.. yummy! |
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| Chocolate cake.. disappointing |
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| Brownie cheese cake… also disappointed |
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| Even the kids can’t finish the cakes |
After tea time, went back to villa to nap.Â
Meanwhile, mummy, daddy, Mei and Bao enjoyed their day at Phi Phi Island Tour….It was quite a good tour, plenty of water and food onboard, nice lunch… and the tour guide is nice and friendly…
They came back at 4 plus and even had another round of swim at our pool….
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| Nice smile |
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| Snorkelling |
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| Maya Bay |
Kids slept till about 7pm and then we went to Patong to walk walk and dinner. Parked at Junceylon … easier to find parking and fees aren’t too expensive (10 baht per hour, and if purchased/eat 100 baht, you will get free parking for 3 hours, not a bad deal)
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| At Junceylon |
We just had a quick and simple dinner at McD then walk around the area… was already very late when we reached home… bout 12 plus… super tired.. quickly go sleep 🙂
We had 2 more days at Phuket and tomorrow we are going to Promthep Cape and more elephants rides for girl girl (as we bring grandpa, grandma for elephant ride)… read more at Part 2…Â
