Nothing spells 'perfect' like a holiday trip when a public holiday is happening or vice versa. Lydia's mom had planned a trip to Phuket, Thailand about the same time Lydia planned for Laos, and I like it how her mom put the dates when the Raya holidays are effective.
I really didn't know what to expect for Phuket. I've never been to Thailand before. Well, I did but I was 2 years old, the only evidence is a photo of tiny little me standing like a blur case by Patong beach. I was busy at work (and too unbothered) to look up at stuff to do in Phuket, I took it for granted that the Chin family would have done it but about a week before the holiday, Lydia's mom asked Kayla and me to do some research. Lydia also mentioned to me a few days before about James Bond Island. So I had to do my research and boy, I sure was glad I did. There were so many things to know about Phuket. For the first time, I made an itinerary.
Our trip this time didn't involve a morning flight so we didn't have to stay overnight in the airport. However, a day before my trip, my family was going back to Penang to visit my grandparents since it was the Raya holidays, it was a perfect time for my sister, who came back for the summer holidays, to visit them. So, I slept over at Kathleen's place. The plan was for me to go to Lydia's place to go to the airport together after lunch but then Lydia messaged me in the morning asking if I could go earlier and join them for lunch instead so I did that. I put down my stuff at their house and then we walked to the restaurant nearby to have chicken rice. The initial plan was to take the public bus to the LRT station and then to KL Sentral but apparently there were no buses passing by so Audrey downloaded the Uber app and we called for a driver to send us to KL Sentral.
There boarded the shuttle bus and headed to KLIA2 where we met up with Kayla and her mom. We then proceeded to head to the boarding gate but we were too early, by an hour. I had brought a card game to play but the situation couldn't call for it so we just sat at the chairs outside our gate and waited for our plane to arrive. We thought we'd just wait out this one hour but little did we know for what was about to come. Our flight got delayed.
It was raining in Thailand and clouds were heavy. As we entered Thailand, the rain had stopped but the sky was already ready to descend into darkness. I was kinda surprised with the Phuket International Airport. With my limited previous experiences with other East Asian countries, Thailand was like an upgrade to the lot but still not quite there yet but maybe that's just Phuket. I haven't been to Bangkok. Maybe Bangkok is like Kuala Lumpur?
Upon exiting the arrival hall, some people speaking in English with heavy Thai accents started promoting tour packages and van services. After a short discussion, we decided to just get a van to our hotel instead of buying any packages at the airport because we thought that maybe the prices there would be a lot pricier than outside. We went outside the airport after paying for our van and we hopped on with a group of other tourists. The journey out of the area took a while. Eventually we reached a tourism outlet where we were offered tour packages to various places of interest in Phuket. The parents (read as two moms) were indecisive and told us to make the final decision. So Lydia and did the math for us and we made sure that the package offered has got transport and food and whatnot. After a long discussion, we all agreed to by the one day James Bond Island tour package (actually more like a small Phang Nga Bay tour). To me it seemed a little pricey but I know little about tour packages and stuff like this, also I'd rather make sure I have a good time experiencing stuff than not at all.
It took about half an hour for our van to head out of wherever we were and into Patong. There were a lot of winding roads up and down steep hills. Lydia and Audrey felt carsick and dizzy. Fortunately for us, the van dropped us at our hotel first, just as it started to rain. Lydia had booked two rooms. A room for two for Kayla and her mom, and a room for four, for the rest of us. We decided that Audrey and her mom share one bed, and Lydia and I share the other. We were afraid that it'd be awkward but lucky for us, the bed was a king sized bed, there's enough space to have a gap in between. Our room has got three sections, one big room like a master bedroom and one small room like really small. The room with the bigger space (let's call it the main room) has got all the stuff there, a television, fridge, snack bar (there were pocky, soft drinks, beer, and condoms *childish snicker*), a ridiculously tall closet, a coffee table and a small balcony. The small room has a bed and a closet built into the wall (one door is jammed), that's it, there wasn't much leg space either, a single luggage bag can block the way but oh well, we're not here to stay in the hotel. Lydia fiercely made a point that she absolutely hates mosquitoes and we must keep the door closed at all times to avoid them from getting in.
After changing and getting ready, we all met back down at the reception/lobby/cafe (it's all joined together) and we went out to have dinner. There's a cafe in our hotel but we decided not to have food here as it seems likely to be more expensive than the food we can find outside. As it was still raining, we didn't want to be too picky about where we eat, so when we saw a Thai restaurant, we made a decision to eat there. Lydia pointed out to me that a Japanese restaurant a few shops away from our hotel serves good Japanese food, it was mentioned in a lot of reviews online, of course, we didn't eat there during our entire trip. The restaurant we were at was sandwiched between rows of souvenir shops. There we ordered some Thai local food. I had pad thai and shared a bowl of tom yam soup with Audrey. The food there wasn't quite there but our clear tom yam soup was good.
After dinner, the rain had stopped so we walked along the street checking out the stalls. There were bags and clothes. It quickly became apparent to us that the stuff in Phuket are pretty pricey. Lydia and Audrey compared the prices of the things sold with that of in Krabi. After walking around we decided to walk up the opposite direction on the other side of the road. There we took the chance to survey other restaurants for places to eat at for the next few days. Soon we came upon a very noisy street, crowded with tourists and locals. It was famous Bangla Road, paved with lots of bars on both sides of the street. There were a few ladyboys clad in revealing showgirl outfits standing around getting people to pay to take photos with them. Also scattered throughout the road were locals trying to sell tourists tickets for sex, ping pong shows and the like. We strolled along the road looking at all the sights until we reached the end of the street where we could see Patong Beach. We turned around to go back to where we came in from. We tried to look for a night market so we went into a street on the opposite side of Bangla Road. Lydia commented about how she had cravings for the Thai green papaya salad (som tum) while we were waiting for Kayla as she was checking out some bikinis. We walked until the end of the block but no night markets so we stopped at one of the convenient stores (this one is Family Mart; there are a lot of convenient stores here, they are everywhere!) to buy some stuff. I got myself a large bottle of Chang beer. Surprisingly Kayla also wanted beer, she bought a Singha Light. After our purchase, we made our way back to our hotel. I didn't drink my beer that night. We went to sleep early as the next day was gonna be a busy day.
I woke up on the dot the moment my alarm rang. Lydia was already awake but lazing around. Everyone got up at about the same time and we all got ready. Kayla and her mom were already at the lobby when we got down. We then walked down the road to go have breakfast. We have had decided to try eating at this restaurant called No.6. The night before we saw a really long queue outside the restaurant, which points to only one logical explanation, "the food is good". The prices on the menu was on the cheaper side too when compared to other restaurants. We were the first to reach the restaurant as it had just only opened for business. Each of us ordered a meal from the breakfast menu, which mostly were different ways of having eggs with toast and a choice of coffee or tea. I had my eggs scrambled with tea. After our breakfast, we walked back to our hotel to wait for our van. The van arrived not too long after we returned to the hotel lobby. After showing our receipt, the van driver let us in and we were on our way, to pick up other tourists. On the way, we saw other shops and restaurants further away from where we explored the night before, notably Hard Rock Cafe and Hooters (Too bad we didn't go). We also went through Bangla Road, which seemed dead and empty, deprived of the night life and all the bars closed during the day. We had to go back out the same winding road up and down the hill. Lydia felt really sick this time, she had to open a bottle of ointment to keep her from vomiting from carsickness.
We finally arrived at our destination and we followed the driver to where we had to be gathered. Lydia wasn't feeling too good so she went to force herself to vomit in case she got seasick on the boat that we'll be taking. After a registering ourselves and a short briefing from our guide, we all got onto our boat out at the pier. The weather was great but it was starting to get a little gloomy. The guide got us to try and sit within our own groups in pairs but Lydia wanted to make sure that she wouldn't puke on the boat so she sat behind. To balance out the weight on the boat, I eventually somehow ended up sitting alone but that was fine, I got the whole seat to myself. We were on a speedboat so it was going pretty fast and that made the wind feel great. I looked back to check on Lydia and she responded by flashing a smile. Audrey wasn't looking too good but that was probably because her mom was gripping her arm so tightly (she's afraid of water? I'm not sure). Kayla and her mom just looked normal.
We arrived at our first location, Hong Island (Koh Hong) where we were to kayak around. Our guide started talking to some other locals on kayaks and then he turned to us and said that the kayaks are all currently occupied so we'll head to the next location before returning. Our boat then continued to speed off towards James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan). The place is dubbed James Bond Island because it was where a scene from The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed at. The sky was already moody at this point so when we got there, we couldn't take really nice photos. The water was at high tide too. Besides the iconic Koh Tapu which can be seen in the James Bond film, there was also the flat limestone cliff that tumbled to see on the island. After taking photos, we headed back to the boat. The sand on the island were mostly seashells of various sizes. The sole of Audrey's foot was pierced by a tiny seashell and we had to help her pull it out. Later on, we got back onto our boat. This time Lydia sat in front with her mom and Audrey sat with Kayla. I sat at the back where Lydia was to enjoy the view from the back of the boat.
Our next location was Koh Panyi, also known as the Floating Muslim Village. It's a fishing village built on stilts by fishermen, connected to a small island. We all gathered at the inner pier after getting off our boat and our guide introduced the place to us as well as about how the village is built in a strategic location, using the massive tsunami incident in 2004 as an example, our guide told us that the village was barely affected as the mangrove trees in the surrounding area protected the whole island. A buffet lunch was prepared for us, which was included in the tour package. There were many other tourist groups around also in for the same buffet lunch. Our guide lead us to a dining area and instructed us the house rules for dinning as well as the dishes that are prepared for us. There was fried rice, a variation of pad thai that was unique to this village, fried chicken, deep fried battered prawns and onions, some vegetables and tom yam soup. On each table was also a plate of pineapples. I secured a table while the girls (and moms) went to get food. After that I went to get my own food and helped Lydia bring bowls of tom yam to the table for each of us. The food was pretty good especially their fried chicken, deep fried battered prawns and onions and tom yam soup. It started to rain while we were eating. After that we had our fill, we went to the souvenir shop section to have a look around before getting on the boat again, which by this time, the rain had stopped but started to drizzle again.
After everyone got back onto the boat, we headed back to Hong Island. The seating this time is the same except I've moved to the front and sat with Audrey because I didn't want to sit at the back already as I was worried the rain will drench me. At Hong Island, we had to go in groups of two (excluding the kayak paddler). Audrey didn't want to sit with her mom because she said her mom would be panicking a lot and ruin the mood for her so Lydia has to sit with their mom (kinda selfish of Audrey but welp). Naturally, this means I sit with Audrey because Kayla will be with her mom. We all got onto our kayaks and the paddler took us along the water in between the towering limestone hills that come out of the sea. While the others were moving together in line close to the hills, our paddler decided to take us around a different route that was longer but that plan failed as the rain started to fall. Our paddler then quickly took us into the shelter under the hills back at the route we were supposed to be in but he didn't want to stop and took us further down to see more things before crossing over to another hill that houses a cave that visitors can go into. However, it was high tide and therefore, the kayaks can't go in, the cave ceiling was too low and hence dangerous. We had to turn out and see other parts of the island. The rain stopped when we were going out and I took the opportunity to try and paddle the kayak but as I never had experience kayaking, I didn't bring us far. We returned to our speedboat and took turns to get back on. Then we started to head out to the next place as the rain fell again but after a short while of speeding off, our guide turned to the driver and they were discussing something. After that, the boat turned around and went back to Hong Island. When the motor stopped, our guide informed us that the tide has gone down. At low tide, we can walk into a cave we missed earlier but not everyone has to go because we're required to walk in the water. A few people agreed and we started to remove our shirts to reveal the swimming attires we've been wearing. Lydia, Audrey and Kayla removed their pants but kept their shirts on, same with some other women. The moms stayed on the boat because they didn't want to go into the water. Our guide told us to move together in a single file and to move fast. We all then made our way into the cave and came out into a beautiful clearing where there were a few mangrove trees (it started to drizzle again). A guy from Hong Kong tripped over a rock and hurt himself. Our guide quickly checked on him and he said he's alright albeit bleeding. I sat in the water because I was shivering from the cold. Our guide then gathered us and told us about the structure of the cave area and the mangrove trees. We then made our way out again and looked at the glistening limestone within the cave. We made it back to the boat and we dried ourselves. I used my towel to cover myself as protection from the cold. After treating the Hong Kong man and another woman for their injuries, we continued our journey into the sea in the rain. Audrey had some cuts in the soles of her foot from some sharp rocks but they were not bleeding so she shrugged it off albeit the stinging pain.
We reached our last island (which name I forgot) and we quickly got down and took shelter just before the heavy rain came in. Soon the rain stopped and we took off down the beach to the sea to swim. The moms again didn't go down. The four of us played around a bit, mostly enjoying the water. We could see the dark clouds in the distance coming again so we took our time. Our guide bought fruits and drinks for the tour group so when the rain started to come again, we went back on shore and under the shelter and helped ourselves to the bananas, watermelon and pineapples. As the rain calmed down a little, our guide ushered us back to the speedboat. We were gonna have to rush back to the tour agency to avoid the oncoming heavy rain.
As it was raining, our ride was bumpy as the waves were rising and our boat driver was skilfully riding over them. It felt like a roller coaster ride. The rain had gotten strong and raindrops were pelting our faces and strong winds were blowing. Lydia's mom can be heard yelping and screaming at every bounce and crash the boat makes. Personally I was enjoying myself but I was also falling asleep because I was tired and getting dizzy from all the bouncing around. I felt my stomach flip numerous times, worse than riding the Cockscrew in Genting Highlands. Eventually we reached back at the agency. The rain has subsided and we went to get changed and dried ourselves up. Our van driver was already waiting for us and we all hopped back on. Lydia and Audrey didn't want to get carsick again so they quickly went to sleep in the car.
The rain started again on our way back. It was early evening when we reached our hotel. We all unanimously agreed to take a shower and rest until it was dinner time. After cleaning up, all of us collapsed in our beds and took a nap. After about an hour or so (I lost track of time), we all woke up and got ready to go for dinner. We went to the seafood restaurant opposite the restaurant we went to the night before. The price there was the standard rate (read as: pretty pricey) around here but the difference was that there were ladyboys working there. We ordered rice and dishes to share. The food was pretty good compared to the other place. The cool thing about this restaurant is the seafood. Their prawns were massive! I've never seen tiger prawns the size of my arm! Their crabs were big too! Unfortunately seafood exceeds our budget so we didn't order any. After dinner we walked to Bangla Road again but we didn't go in this time, we went further ahead and went into the Jungceylon Mall to have a look as well as take shelter from the drizzle. I spotted a McDonald's kiosk and saw that they had this Pinky Choc Pie which was apparently exclusive in Thailand. It caught my interest so I knew what I wanted to have before we leave Phuket. In the mall, we looked at a directory and saw that there's a 100 baht section so we headed there to have a look. After walking around we finally figured out that the 100 baht section was in fact a bazaar section on the lower ground section of the mall. We walked around and looked at the stuff. I couldn't find the things I wanted so I just followed the girls around, mostly sticking to Audrey because she kept checking clothes and getting left behind from the group. Some of the most interesting stuff I've seen in Phuket at the scented soaps in the shape of fruits such as pineapples, watermelons and penises. Wait, penises? Yeah, penises. I don't know why out of all the fruit scented soaps, penises are included in the fray. And no, the soaps don't smell like dicks. After looking around for some time, we headed back out decided to call it the night.
Oh, did I mention that I was feeling woozy from the boat ride? Yes, most of the time when I'm standing still or sitting down my head starts to spin and everyone else felt the same. Anyway back at the hotel, Lydia's mom said that I should drink my Chang beer so I did. Kind of a bad idea. Beer plus wooziness equals me getting tipsy and then almost drunk fast. I had a big bottle so I offered Lydia to try some and she had a sip. Lydia's mom had implied that she wanted some too but she fell asleep rather quickly after bathing so I had the whole bottle to myself. I don't quite remember what happened. I do remember talking to Lydia a lot while falling sleep but I don't remember what it was about. I do remember this, after I finished my beer, I wanted to throw the bottle away and instead of going to the dustbin, I went into the master bed room. Lydia quickly (while laughing) guided me to the dustbin and I almost fell down when putting the bottle in the bin. I forgot about it and only recalled this event the next morning after I brushed my teeth and saw the beer bottle in the dustbin. Lydia told Audrey and Kayla about it but I don't mind. Funny stuff like that are good to share.
The next morning, Lydia's mom wanted to go to the morning market to see what's there to eat. She thought it was like those street markets with food on sale but it wasn't what everyone thought. The morning market was a market complex called Banzaan Fresh Market selling fruits, fresh cuts of meat and seafood. No food that was cooked and ready (there were but they were more like rice with dishes to pick from, not exactly breakfast kind of food). We went upstairs because it looked like a food court. It was but not exactly. The food court upstairs was special in a way that you had to buy the meat downstairs from the market and bring it up where the chefs would cook the meats for you for a price. After seeing the fruits section there, the moms decided to buy some fruits, they got some tiny pineapples and guava. Audrey wanted grapes but her mom didn't want it so she didn't get it. My attention was caught by these massive durians. They were huge! But they didn't look good like the ones we have in Malaysia. I called Lydia over to have a look at them and we decided that it was definitely not worth getting despite its shocking size. We all decided not to buy from the market to eat and so we left to find other places to eat at. To me it was apparent that Audrey and Kayla wanted to go back to No.6 to have breakfast (by this time it's brunch because the market is far from our hotel) but the moms were indecisive and Lydia was getting upset from their indecision because they wanted to try something different but they didn't know what they want to try and there's visibly no good restaurants around the immediate area to try and yet they were without reason reluctant to go to No.6 for some reason. After a short heated discussion, we decided to go to No.6, much to my relief (and Audrey's and Kayla's, I bet). We were pretty far away so we decided to cut through to get back to the street using the back entrance of the Jungceylon (which, after looking at Google Maps, is a weird, long, diagonal, Z-shaped building). The Jungceylon is a lot bigger than I thought. There's like four or five atriums in the building included a huge open air section that housed a model of a ship (that we saw only later at night). The design of the mall is a lot modern compared to it's neighbouring buildings. The mall wasn't open yet but vendors who set up early were already promoting their good to us already. Kayla bought some fridge magnets at one of the stalls at the first bazaar we passed through. At one of the atriums, there was a sale for local candies and snacks. A vendor offered us to try "coconut jelly" which to us was basically dodol. Their dodol had a different texture than ours and Audrey wanted to get some. Lydia was surprised because Audrey didn't like dodol back home but she really liked this one. The vendor offered a pretty high price so she decided not to buy it. We continued on until we got out of the mall and headed to No.6 for brunch. Lydia and I came to the same indecision, we both either wanted the noodles or the rice. Both of us wanted to see either one's decision but because both of us couldn't decided, we came to the same decision and had rice. She ordered rice with a side of pork while I ordered rice in soup with pork. Lydia's mom decided to order their khao niew mamuang (mango sticky rice) to try and some of us shared it. It was surprisingly good! The mango felt really refreshing. It was really different from what I've ever had back in Malaysia. After lunch, we decided to check the prices for the Simon Cabaret show and also walk to the beach to have a look. Earlier that morning, Kayla and her mom had walked to the beach already. Kayla tried to contact Lydia but at that time, everyone was sleeping so she decided to go without us. Lydia told me shortly after we woke up that morning that she felt a little upset with Kayla for going to the beach without us. I thought to myself about how Lydia sometimes does the same to us so I didn't comment. However Lydia is a forgiving person so she had forgotten about it.
Along the rows of stores, we stopped by a few of the little tourist stalls to enquire about the pricing to see the Simon Cabaret show. Eventually we reached the beach and we went down to walk along the shore and let the waves wash against our feet. But not too long after standing around on the beach, rain clouds came rolling in. We thought we can wait it out but the winds started blowing strongly and the rain came down. I almost got blown off my feet from how strong the wind was. We all ran back to the rows of shops and eventually took shelter in an empty restaurant which turned out to be the cafe of a hotel. Luckily there was a washroom and a public shower room so we used it to wash our feet from the sand. After the rain came to a drizzle, we walked back our way to the hotel and stopped at one of the tourism stalls which had the cheapest tickets to Simon Cabaret show. Lydia's mom has seen the show before many years ago and wanted to rest, Kayla's mom doesn't want to spend more money and says that she wants to rest as well as her excuse so only the four of us kids (*cough* young adults *cough*) bought tickets to the show. The price for the tickets got even cheaper because the price that was mentioned was for VIP seats and because the VIP seats were sold out, we were left with the normal seats. The lady at the counter was very friendly and made sure that we got all the details and stuff we need to get to the show. Audrey even got a free pen from her just because she mentioned that the pen was very nice to write with when she was writing down her details for the lady. After that we went back to the hotel to have a rest before dinner.
I don't quite recall why or what time but after cleaning ourselves at the hotel, we left to go to the Jungceylon again to buy souvenirs. Walking around and around, we finally decided to buy some silk scarfs. There was one that seemed cheap but we decided not to buy from there as the colours were not that nice. We walked on and after looking around, we found a vendor who sold some really nice coloured scarfs but her scarfs are 250 baht. We spent quite a long time there deciding and finally bought them. I picked a rainbow coloured one for Kathleen because I know she loves rainbow coloured stuff. After that we headed out where we found an atrium with some clothes sale. I picked out some shorts for myself and Lydia got a pair for her dad. The girls wanted to buy shorts for themselves but the place didn't have a fitting room so they decided not to because they feared that they couldn't wear the shorts after they paid for it. We exited the mall and headed for No.6. We thought we were early but a queue was already formed and the restaurant was packed. The moms queued in line while the rest of us went to a souvenir shop to check out the things on sale. Lydia and Audrey were looking for a specific elephant figure that they wanted to buy for their dad but they just couldn't find it. Later we returned to the restaurant and soon we had our seats. We ordered some dishes to eat with rice. They were sweet and sour clams that we saw every table had ordered for the past few nights, fried battered prawns that also every table seemed to have ordered, chicken cooked with cashew nuts, fried water spinach (the locals call them morning glory), and tom yam goong. I must say, that dinner was the most satisfactory dinner I've had in Phuket. After dinner, I told the others that I wanted to go get that Pinky Choc Pie from McDonald's and asked if anyone wanted to follow. Audrey and her mom wanted to follow me, while Lydia, Kayla and her mom wanted to go back. Audrey instructed Lydia to bath when she got back so we can bath quickly the moment we got back so we won't be late when the van to the Simon Cabaret show arrives. So off we went. I had seen on the standees outside the McDonald's restaurant and the kiosk in Jungceylon have different prices, the kiosk with it at 60 baht and the restaurant with it at 55 baht. I thought maybe it was because you had to pay addition for how the kiosk was a convenience but I was wrong. While Audrey and I went into the restaurant, her mom went to look at some clothes at a vendor's outside. The price I had to pay was 60 baht. Turns out 55 baht was before tax. Because we had to walk a really long way to the restaurant, when Audrey's mom asked about the price, the two of us said it was 55 baht with mischievous smirks on our faces, to avoid her mom from making a fuss. When Lydia asked, we told her the truth. On the way back to the hotel, Audrey and I bought fried chicken from the road side vendor we saw the night before because it smelled really good, and also because Audrey had cravings.
We made it back to the hotel and Lydia was in the bath much to Audrey's annoyance until Lydia came out and explained. Turns out Lydia, Kayla and her mom went to see some other shops that we missed, so she came back later than initially planned. I let the two sisters try the McDonald's pie. Lydia didn't quite like it and Audrey thought it was not bad. I thought it was brilliant. After bathing, we shared the fried chicken, it was pretty good. Immediately after the sisters finished the remaining of the chicken, Kayla came to our room, ready to go down. Lydia's mom came back to the room (I forgot why she went to the lobby) and alerted us that our van was already here. We then quickly made our way down, Lydia and I slower than the other two because we had to grab our jackets, just in time before the van left without us. Lydia handed him our receipt and he quickly did a check, because we were sitting all the way behind, the driver failed to pass us our redemption tickets as he was in the drivers seat. He kept it with him first and took us out to the cabaret.
The journey wasn't too far. According to Google Maps, we could have walked 15 mintues down the street to the cabaret but luckily we got a van because it was raining. Luckily for us again, when we arrived, the rain stopped. We were quickly ushered into the reception queue to get our seating tickets. When we reached the counter, the man there asked us for our redemption ticket and we said that our driver has it. Turns out we had to have our tickets. Lydia and Kayla then quickly rushed out to the drop off and told Audrey and I to stay near the queue to wait for them. After some time, the two girls returned with the usher from earlier. The usher talked to the man at the queue and then proceeded to show a piece of paper to the woman at the counter, before telling us to wait and left. The woman at the counter called for Lydia to go over and after a short exchange of words, Lydia came back and told us that someone else has accidentally taken our tickets. Our driver really did forget to pass us our tickets because of the haste earlier and turns out an usher Lydia was talking to was doubtful that our driver made a mistake which led to Lydia getting pissed. The usher who took guided us out of the van earlier saw them and knew which van to call and so he contacted the driver who in turn provided him with our redemption ticket number. With our tickets mistakenly released, we had to wait for some time before the staff can verify the wrong tickets and give us those instead.
After a long time of waiting, 10 minutes before the show starts, the woman at the counter called Lydia and provided us our tickets. Relieved, we joined the queue that formed and waited but shorty we were redirected to a different entrance because turns out we were queueing up at the VIP entrance. Our normal ticket entrance was empty and we were the first in line, which worked to our favour because the normal ticket seats were of free seating. When they opened the entrance, we quickly moved together and got the front middle seats in the hall. Our normal ticket seats were location above the VIP seating, looking out over the theatre. The cabaret show was very entertaining. It was amazing with their dazzling lights and costumes. Some segments were very funny and some performers (who were all men and ladyboys) went down the stage to interact with the VIP seated men, some kissed them and some even let them motorboat their chest (ladyboys of course). It was entertaining and funny. One guy was even pulled on stage to perform with the ladyboys, doing poses and awkwardly dancing on stage. After the show, the performers stood outside the exit for people to take photos wih them (you have to pay). We went out and got back on our van after the same group of people were gathered together. We were the last to be dropped off, but we didn't get off at our hotel. We were by Patong beach where we hadn't walked at night yet so we asked if the driver and drop us off and he dropped us outside Bangla Road. Audrey informed her mom about our little adventure. We walked over to the beach to enjoy the night wind and watch the waves crash on shore. We also played with our shadows and took photos. Walking along the rows of shops, we bought some snacks as supper. We got a pretty delicious banana and Nutella crepe from a vendor by the side of the road. After walking for a while, we turned and walked back to Bangla Road and stopped by 7-11 before we went back to our hotel. We bought some bread for breakfast and cup noodles as supper because we were hungry. It really is fun when parents are not around.
The next morning we had to wake up really early because we had a morning flight and it takes about an hour to get to the airport. We got to airport and I lost to temptation and ate at Subway. Their BLT has pork in it which our country doesn't have and I definitely did not regret despite the expensive exchange rate. After that we went into the boarding hall and waited for our flight. Lydia, Audrey and I walked around to check out the duty free shops. Our flight was delayed because of the weather conditions and we went back later than planned.
This trip to Phuket is definitely one of the more exciting holiday trips I've been on with the girls. I look forward to more trips with them and I hope next time, no parents.
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