Days 27 and 28 - Phuket
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Saturday 4th September
Sunday 5th September
Up early again - why sleep when you have all of the resort facilities at hand? I started the day with a quick breakfast, where I noticed a number of Aussie lifeguards. They were here to teach Phuket lifeguards and navy men about lifesaving and swimming, utilising the large lagoon pool during the day. Following this I had my first game of squash. I haven't played for several years but it gradually came back to me - lots of fun and much easier than tennis!
After showering I spent an hour lounging by the pool, reading 'New Moon' and trying to get a tan on my stomach and legs. I was interrupted by the lifeguard who pointed at the sky and yelled, "It's coming, it's coming!" I assumed he was talking about the rain and not a tsunami, but quickly packed up my things and scampered to the nearby undercover walkway. Thank goodness for the warning - I swear within 2 seconds of reaching cover, the sky opened up! The Thais all seem to have a knack for knowing when the rain will come down, almost to the minute.
Since I'd had my work-out for the morning and outdoor activities were off for the moment, I took a car down to the nearby Kata beach. Le Meridien is situated on the cusp of Patong and Karon beaches, but it's in a secluded cove and separated from Karon and Kata by rocks and a large hill which makes walking anywhere near impossible. I asked the driver to drop me at the end of Kata - about 10km away - and proceeded to do a loop of the 'town', before walking onto Karon where I had lunch. I also found the hotel that Adam and I stayed at when we were here in 2008 - our 'splurge' for the trip at 800 baht. (I remember meeting a couple in Khao Lak who boasted how they were 'only' spending 2100 baht a night on accommodation - we were only spending 400, staying in dingy bungalows with no air conditioning!)
As I'd already walked from the far end of Kata to Karon, it was only another couple of kilometres back to the hotel, but the tuk-tuk drivers were quoting 200 baht (about $7). I felt like it was a rip-off, so I decided to walk back myself. Obviously no one walks from Karon to Patong - given the road has no footpaths and winds up and around a mountain - motorbikes and cars continually stopped to ask me if I was ok!
I arrived safely back at the hotel - the plan had been to attend the 4pm step class but given I'd just walked 10km or so I figured I'd done enough exercise for the day, so I instead rented a DVD player from the concierge and watched the Sex and the City 2 and Criminal Minds DVDs I'd purchased, intermixed with the footy live from Aus (stupid Collingwood - please someone beat them, I couldn't stand for them to win the premiership!)
As I'd already been out for the day and didn't want to take enough taxi ride out for dinner, I ate at the hotel's Tonsai Bar, overlooking the pool. The resort and pool were beautiful with their lights all lit up, and I could also see the stage show at the nearby Pakarang restaurant, which was having an all-you-can-eat seafood extravaganza.
Following breakfast Sunday morning I headed to the gym, which had a 10am 'Fat Burning Zone' class. Only it turned out not to be a class but more so a personal training session! The trainer worked out the heart rate I needed to sustain to be in the 'fat burning zone', and I did half an hour of cardio before half an hour of abs work.
As it was Father's Day I called home to wish Dad a happy father's day. I'd purchased a new Thai phonecard the previous day which worked similar to a credit card in payphones, but of course the payphone was out of order and I had to use my mobile instead. I'd decided to have a relaxing day in my room before heading out in the late afternoon, so I settled in to cheer on the Swans, who just scraped home against the blues. Given the 3 hour time difference with Aus, the match was finished by 2pm Thai time so I went for a game of squash (I play with the instructors at the squash centre).
At 5pm I headed into Patong. It really comes alive at night, with the fluoro lights and packed bars giving the place a more touristy (and seedier!) feel. When I was at Jungceylon shopping centre the other day I'd noticed an ice-cream store with a menu of sinful ice-cream sundaes, so I decided since I'd been good I would order a death by chocolate sundae (I'll post a picture up of it). Yum!!!
From there I did a loop of the Patong strip and purchased two more of the 'sunnies' shirt - I now have a singlet, round neck t-shirt and oversized v-neck t-shirt of varying colours. Can't go wrong when you're only paying $5! I also treated myself to a shoulder and back massage and hand reflexology at a 'non-seedy' looking massage parlour and savoured the fresh salad at Subway - if only they had beetroot!
Sunday 5th September
Up early again - why sleep when you have all of the resort facilities at hand? I started the day with a quick breakfast, where I noticed a number of Aussie lifeguards. They were here to teach Phuket lifeguards and navy men about lifesaving and swimming, utilising the large lagoon pool during the day. Following this I had my first game of squash. I haven't played for several years but it gradually came back to me - lots of fun and much easier than tennis!
After showering I spent an hour lounging by the pool, reading 'New Moon' and trying to get a tan on my stomach and legs. I was interrupted by the lifeguard who pointed at the sky and yelled, "It's coming, it's coming!" I assumed he was talking about the rain and not a tsunami, but quickly packed up my things and scampered to the nearby undercover walkway. Thank goodness for the warning - I swear within 2 seconds of reaching cover, the sky opened up! The Thais all seem to have a knack for knowing when the rain will come down, almost to the minute.
Since I'd had my work-out for the morning and outdoor activities were off for the moment, I took a car down to the nearby Kata beach. Le Meridien is situated on the cusp of Patong and Karon beaches, but it's in a secluded cove and separated from Karon and Kata by rocks and a large hill which makes walking anywhere near impossible. I asked the driver to drop me at the end of Kata - about 10km away - and proceeded to do a loop of the 'town', before walking onto Karon where I had lunch. I also found the hotel that Adam and I stayed at when we were here in 2008 - our 'splurge' for the trip at 800 baht. (I remember meeting a couple in Khao Lak who boasted how they were 'only' spending 2100 baht a night on accommodation - we were only spending 400, staying in dingy bungalows with no air conditioning!)
As I'd already walked from the far end of Kata to Karon, it was only another couple of kilometres back to the hotel, but the tuk-tuk drivers were quoting 200 baht (about $7). I felt like it was a rip-off, so I decided to walk back myself. Obviously no one walks from Karon to Patong - given the road has no footpaths and winds up and around a mountain - motorbikes and cars continually stopped to ask me if I was ok!
I arrived safely back at the hotel - the plan had been to attend the 4pm step class but given I'd just walked 10km or so I figured I'd done enough exercise for the day, so I instead rented a DVD player from the concierge and watched the Sex and the City 2 and Criminal Minds DVDs I'd purchased, intermixed with the footy live from Aus (stupid Collingwood - please someone beat them, I couldn't stand for them to win the premiership!)
As I'd already been out for the day and didn't want to take enough taxi ride out for dinner, I ate at the hotel's Tonsai Bar, overlooking the pool. The resort and pool were beautiful with their lights all lit up, and I could also see the stage show at the nearby Pakarang restaurant, which was having an all-you-can-eat seafood extravaganza.
Following breakfast Sunday morning I headed to the gym, which had a 10am 'Fat Burning Zone' class. Only it turned out not to be a class but more so a personal training session! The trainer worked out the heart rate I needed to sustain to be in the 'fat burning zone', and I did half an hour of cardio before half an hour of abs work.
As it was Father's Day I called home to wish Dad a happy father's day. I'd purchased a new Thai phonecard the previous day which worked similar to a credit card in payphones, but of course the payphone was out of order and I had to use my mobile instead. I'd decided to have a relaxing day in my room before heading out in the late afternoon, so I settled in to cheer on the Swans, who just scraped home against the blues. Given the 3 hour time difference with Aus, the match was finished by 2pm Thai time so I went for a game of squash (I play with the instructors at the squash centre).
At 5pm I headed into Patong. It really comes alive at night, with the fluoro lights and packed bars giving the place a more touristy (and seedier!) feel. When I was at Jungceylon shopping centre the other day I'd noticed an ice-cream store with a menu of sinful ice-cream sundaes, so I decided since I'd been good I would order a death by chocolate sundae (I'll post a picture up of it). Yum!!!
From there I did a loop of the Patong strip and purchased two more of the 'sunnies' shirt - I now have a singlet, round neck t-shirt and oversized v-neck t-shirt of varying colours. Can't go wrong when you're only paying $5! I also treated myself to a shoulder and back massage and hand reflexology at a 'non-seedy' looking massage parlour and savoured the fresh salad at Subway - if only they had beetroot!
Post a Comment