Phuket Random Trip 25-30/05/2019

Here to jot down our itinerary. Since we are just looking for relaxation, it's a random trip that we planned last minute, which we only booked flights and accommodation for first and second night before departure, and the rest we decided right on our journey. The expenses stated here are for two unless stated per pax.

25/05/2019

About 1pm- Arrived at Phuket International Airport.

Took Grab Car to the resort nearby Patong Beach, spent 940 Baht.

We stayed at Tri Trang Beach Resort, booked it from Booking.com, double bed room charged 1296Baht.

Headed to Patong Beach and Bangla Road, took resort shuttle bus, the fee was 100Baht per pax.

Dinner at No.6 Restaurant, spent 590Baht.

Took Tuk Tuk back to resort, two person charged 200Baht.

Suggestion

Travel Spot:

There are activities on Patong Beach such as parasailing and jet skiing. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset scenery here.

Besides, Bangla Road is another spot of Patong famous with nightlife which mostly attracts party goer.

Accommodation:

Tri Trang Beach Resort is located uphill, it is out of the town of Patong Beach and Bangla Road, hence walking from one to another seems impossible. Water cut happened when I was bathing at about 11pm, after half an hour the technician tried to fix it, they had decided to change another room for us. There are choices for their buffet style breakfast, from Asian to Western style. The resort restaurant is just right in front of Tri Trang Beach so almost every foreigner went swimming after finished their breakfast.

Suggesting to find accommodation opposite Patong Beach as we didn't feel the noise from Bangla Road even when we were walking on street.

Transportation:

Is is a quite long distance between Phuket International Airport and Patong Beach, suggesting if you are not in rush, you may take bus, it will be cheaper but of course will take up longer time.

If staying over opposite Patong Beach, you may just walk over to Bangla Road and save up some transportation fees.

Dining:

Strongly recommend No.6 Restaurant, there was a long queue when we arrived. While we were lining up, the waiter was arranging a Tuk Tuk full of customers to be sent to another branch which I heard is located uphill with a beautiful view, there was a China man saying he had tried both and the foods taste equally delicious. We didn't get to go the uphill branch as the Tuk Tuk was full. The restaurant is not spacious but every staff amazed me with their serving attitude and efficiency. We ordered Pad Thai, Seafood Tom Yam, Garlic fried Broccoli, a big bottle and a small bottle of Chang Beer. We were very satisfied with the foods and personally, I like their Pad Thai the most. The meal costed us 590Baht that is considered cheap.
I missed the CP Brand Smoked Chicken Wings in Thailand 7-Eleven, hence I grabbed a pack when I passed by.

Bangla Road in Evening

Beautiful Sunset at Patong Beach

Pad Thai at No.6 Restaurant

Seafood Tom Yam at No.6 Restaurant

26/05/2019

After breakfast, we took resort shuttle bus to Junceylon Mall, charged 100Baht per pax.

From Jungceylon we took Taxi to Rassada Pier, Taxi charge was 500Baht.

We decided to take ferry to Phi Phi Island, two-way ticket charged 1000Baht per pax.

There was a park clean fee of 20Baht per pax when we arrived Phi Phi Island at Ton Sai Pier.

We stayed at Ton Sai Place and booked it from Booking.com, double bed room charged 2025Baht.

Dinner at a corner restaurant (I forgot its name) at one end of Halal food street, spent 650Baht.

Suggestion

Travel Spot:

Jungceylon is a famous shopping mall at Patong, but since we were rushing to Rassada Pier and we planned to shop on last day, hence we didn't go in the mall.

Phi Phi Island is a must to visit, it is one of the iconic travel spots of Phuket.

Accommodation:

Ton Sai Place is at the end of an alley, we were lost for a while finding the place til we spotted the faded signboard. There is no lift at the hotel, upon arrival there was a staff helping to carry our luggage to room. Moreover, receptionists/ staffs here are all friendly and patient, they even told us to self-prepare drinking water because water costs much more expensive compared to beer on the island.

Transportation:

There is a driving distance from Patong to Rassada Pier so do watch the time if ferry/ boat ticket has been purchased earlier.

Since it was the beginning of monsoon season, for our safety, we had decided to take ferry even though it takes half an hour longer time compared to boat.

Dining:

There are a few stalls at Rassada Pier and we bought glasses of mixed juices before boarding, the colourful juices are refreshing, costed 69Baht for a glass which I think is cheap. There are cup noodles, snacks and beers selling in ferry too. We bought some snacks and beers, pretty enjoyable with the breeze and ocean view.

Dinner is okay only to me, we ordered Seafood Green Curry, Stir Fried Veggie and Black Pepper Squid.

Breakfast at Tri Trang Beach Resort

Mixed Fruits Juice at Rassada Pier

27/05/2019

We had breakfast at Mon Cafe, spent 500Baht.

Then started our whole day trip at sea, costed 1600Baht per pax.

Back to island at night and enjoyed dinner at Ton Sai Seafood Restaurant, forgot how much we spent exactly but it was less than 1000Baht.

Suggestion

Travel Spot:

We basically spent our whole day at sea. There are actually many other whole-day and half-day tours we found when walked around the island but we chose the one provided by our hotel Ton Sai Place, because the stops seem more interesting.
There are many monkeys at Monkey Beach where we could just sit beside them and took photos.
If you wanna swim with sharks, you should include Shark Point in your tour.
Bamboo Island is a good place for sunset view and since it was off season, the island was quiet and very calming.
I would recommend watching Plankton at night if you have not experienced it, even though it was just few minutes but seeing stars in the sea is an amazing experience.

Accommodation:

We were satisfied with everything at Ton Sai Place so we stayed here for another night.

Transportation:

We chose speedboat tour and found out that there were some spots we could only see from far because speedboat is not allowed to to stop-by except long-tail boat. So when you are deciding which one to choose, this may be one of the considerations. Otherwise, speedboat may be more comfortable.

Dining:

We saw good reviews on Mon Cafe and the ambience attracted us when we passed by. We ordered banana strawberry smoothie, french toast, scrambled egg and chicken salad. I personally love their french toast the most although it looked simple but it is yummy, while chicken was too dried and hard in the salad so not really recommended.
Lunch was included in the tour but the food was really bad. Fruits, mineral water and coke were provided on boat.
Dinner at Ton Sai Seafood Restaurant is a good choice, we ordered Chilli Paste Crab, Clam with Garlic and Basil Leaves and Stir Fried Kangkung, all dishes were mouth-watering and we finished all.

Monkey Beach, Phi Phi Islands

Clam with Garlic and Basil Leaves at Ton Sai Seafood Restaurant

Chilli Paste Crab at Ton Sai Seafood Restaurant

28/05/2019

We had breakfast at Mango Garden on the island, costed 480Baht.

Back to the land at Rassada Pier, we took taxi to our hotel and it charged us 400Baht.

We stayed at Hotel Baan Suwantawe, booked it from Booking.com, double bed room charged 1200Baht.

Headed to the famous Mee Ton Poe, spent 170Baht on the food.

Then we took a walk around Phuket Old Town and Phuket Walking Street.

At night we took taxi to Chillva Market, taxi charged 300Baht. Way back to hotel we booked Grabtaxi and the charge was 290Baht.

Suggestion

Travel Spot:

Enjoyed walking around Phuket Old Town and Phuket Walking Street. It is not a busy here and a slow walk is just nice to discover the town.

I regret for not bringing enough cash to Chillva Market. It is cool, lively, trendy and stylish where I enjoyed everything here from fashion to food. I even wished to come back here again for the second night in Phuket town.

Accommodation:

Hotel Baan Suwantawe is within walking distance to Phuket Old Town. The accommodation is clean and one of the reasons we were here was for the bathtub. The receptionist is helpful too. 

Transportation:

Basically the options here are taxi and Grabtaxi and I guess the rate is reasonable.

Dining:

The food in Mango Garden on Phi Phi Island is good and filling. We ordered and scrambled egg breakfast set and omelette breakfast set and my favourite here definitely goes to the signature mango smoothie.

In our personal opinion, my friend and I both dislike Mee Ton Poe as we found nothing special about their famous Hokkien Mee, probably because we are Malaysian. It is totally different from Malaysian style of Hokkien Mee, it is actually more to noodles in gravy. The otak-otak recommended by the staff was disappointing too, simply not flavourful.

As we walked by Phuket Old Town, we tried coconut ice-cream with toppings and it is surprisingly good. It is also our first time trying palm seeds topping and we love it much. 

There are wide variety of foods in Chillva Market and every food stall was so crowded. Even though the grilled pork cubes disappointed us but the seafood salad that we ordered was so spicy and grilled lobster was fresh. There are more and more food options here but unfortunately we didn't get to try because our tummies were so full.

Mango Smoothie at Mango Garden, Phi Phi Island

Coconut Ice-cream at Phuket Old Town

Grilled Lobster at Chillva Market

Chillva Market at Phuket Town

29/05/2019

Headed to Central Festival Mall to shop around.

Had our first meal at Shabushi Restaurant in Central Festival Mall, spent 838Baht for the buffet lunch.

Last shopped at Big C to buy snacks.

Suggestion

Travel Spot:

It is like a centre of shopping malls in Phuket around the area of Central Festival Mall, from there we walked to Big C.

Central Festival Mall is a large lifestyle mall and believe or not I spent most of my time at B2S Bookstore and Daiso store here.

While not to mention Big C is snacks heaven and you can find all kind of snacks and instant noodles here.

Accommodation:

We like everything in Hotel Baan Suwantawe so we stayed here for another night.

Transportation:

Taxi or Grabcar is easily available here.

Dining:

Shabushi Restaurant is a kaiten-style steamboat and buffet sushi restaurant, our tummies bloated after eating for 90mins here. Steamboat was so so to me but the Japanese food here was not bad.
And of course I won't skip RumRaisin ice-cream from Swensen's!

Swensen's at Phuket Central Festival Mall

30/05/2019

Extended our check-out time to 5pm, charged 600Baht.

We walked to the famous Restaurant Raya for breakfast, spent less than 1000Baht on the meal.

Enjoyed 90minutes massage at Kim Massage and Spa, it was 550Baht/pax.

Went window shopping at Limelight Avenue.

Took a walk at Indy Market before heading to airport.

Grabtaxi airport transfer charged 700Baht.

We had dinner at the airport costed us RM89.95 for two pax.

Suggestion

Travel Spot:

We chose Kim Massage and Spa because it has gotten high rating from Trip Advisor. Undoubtedly the service and massage were all right and we paid them tips, masseurs welcomed us with friendly greetings, the environment was quiet and comfortable, I would say worthy to seek for relaxation and calmness.

Limelight Avenue is just few steps away from our hotel and it looked like a new mall. You may have a quick stop here for clothings and accessory boutique shops or maybe just enjoy a cuppa coffee here.

Indy Market locates just beside Limelight Avenue and it is an outdoor market, not big but with variety of stalls. We have tried the food here but it wasn't impressing. Anyway reviews said you should pay a visit at night, probably the ambience and feelings will be completely different.

Accommodation:

We extended our check-out time to 5pm at Hotel Baan Suwantawe so that we had some time to last packed our baggage.

Transportation:

All the mentioned travel spots are within walking distance.

Dining:

There were good and bad reviews we saw online about Restaurant Raya, mostly complaining about the staff's attitude and some said the food was not really impressing. We ordered Braised Pork Belly, Fried Thai Veggie with Egg, Pad Thai and Iced Thai Black Tea with Lemon. We both like their Braised Pork Belly and Iced Thai Black Tea, and my friend also likes their Pad Thai. Price here might be a little bit pricy but still affordable and reasonable with the environment.

Dinner at the airport might be a bad choice but we had no choice because we took midnight flight. We had Japanese food (Rice set and Ramen set) at Level 1 food court and luckily the food were not too bad.

While shopping in the airport, we bought Original Flavour Coconut Chips from King Power duty free shop, it is as tasty as the one topped on coconut ice-cream which we had at Phuket Old Town, most importantly, it tastes original without additional sweetness. On a side note, it is a healthy snack.

Braised Pork Belly at Restaurant Raya

Iced Thai Black Tea with Lemon at Restaurant Raya

Coconut Milkshake at Indy Market

Overall, it is really a great experience exploring the country without planning ahead. People here in the country are mostly friendly and helpful. I would definitely recommend Phuket for your next trip but bare in mind to check the weather before going to water activities for your safety. I hope you enjoy reading this long and boring essay! If you have any question, do not hesitate to leave it at the comment box and I will reply a.s.a.p. =)