The sarcastic Foong is back from the short trip outta this depressing country full of even more depressing news. Haih….
Anyway, I had a great time and wished the really, really short holiday could stretch on forever! Okay, some of you took a guess at where I was headed….now, let’s see..
From Choonie:
1. Sabah
Good idea…I’ve never been to East Malaysia, perhaps we should venture there for a holiday someday. Nope. Wrong.
2. Phuket
We went there for our honeymoon years ago, way before the tsunami incident and we hope to go back one day, only thing is that it is kinda expensive nowadays…nope. wrong again.
3. Bali
We absolutely love Bali! We went there a few years back and yes, we will go back there again one of these days! So, nope…wrong again.
Sorry, Choonie. Looks like your guesses are wrong…
From Caravanserai:
Phuket – because of the clusters of islands….
Heheheh…actually the clusters of islands are kinda deceiving and as people like to say, it may look like one place but it is not. So, nope, it’s not Phuket!
Eh, Engineer, can you imagine if my swimsuit were to go transparent? People will probably run screaming from the island!!! Lol. I think even if I were to go to the store to demand for a refund, I don’t need to scream ‘pinch my nipples’ at all. I just need to wear the transparent swimsuit and flash the store owner and he / she would probably dump all the money in the cash register at me and tell me to go away before they lose their eyesight and ALL of their customers! LOL.
Momo, if I were to post pictures of me in my swimsuit (not even the bikini!) I think I’d scare away ANYONE who happen to pass by this blog. Now, you don’t want to have nightmares, do you? But, I hope the following pictures should be good enough…
Here are some pictures of where I went **insert drumroll please**:
- We caught our first sunrise at Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui
- The river leading to the sea behind our hotel, Samui First House Hotel
- That’s our hotel that is shaped like a ship in the background, Samui First House
Samui First House is pretty clean and quite reasonably priced. It is located at almost the end of Chaweng but you could still walk to the busy streets full of shops and restaurants which is nearby. Otherwise, it is also quite easy to travel via toot-toot (the trucks that goes around transporting people). The costs are around 30baht per person (in the day) and 50baht per person at night, to anywhere.
- The local market selling local foods where we pigged out on loads of local delicacies
- They have grilled bananas
- And the compulsory must-try deep-fried insects and worms!
- Deep-fried worms with basil
- Here’s proof that I ate deep-fried crickets
And no, they aren’t nasty tasting or anything. Just crunchy and salty. I especially like the worms, it has a creamy centre, sorta nutty flavour and damn good. No, it does not taste like chicken at all. It tastes much much better than chicken. Only thing is that it is way too salty. They should let up on the salt! It’s 10baht per scoop and I ordered one scoop each of crickets and two types of worms. I finished the whole thing, every single bit, even the cricket legs. Yummmyyyy…
- The cluster of islands is the Ang Thong National Park
The Ang Thong National Park consist of a cluster of 46 islands set in a sparkling turquiose sea.
- A breathtaking view of the island clusters from Mae Koh Island within the national park
- We have to climb up staircases like these for about 20 minutes to reach the viewpoint
- But this view is worth climbing up all that stairs and going through rock crevices
- We even took an elephant ride which is included in our local tour to the national park package
The elephant ride is back in Koh Samui, not in the national park. The tour package to the national park includes snacks and lunch on board the boat, kayaking, snorkelling and sightseeing around the park. The package is RM150 per person. The boat ride to the park from Nathon harbour is about one hour 40 minutes. Luckily, the seas are calm, so no danger of seasickness. We sat outside up front and even manage to catch sight of some dolphins swimming past and flying fishes.
- The Thais are really a creative and patient lot, just look at their handcarved soaps
These pretty and dainty flowers are handcarved from palmolive soaps. I bought a couple of smaller ones as souvenirs. The smallest one is 50 baht each, the medium ones is 80 baht each and the larger ones are between 150baht to 300 baht.
- The busy stretch along Chaweng
There are loads of shops, restaurants, cafes and stalls along the busiest area in Koh Samui, the Chaweng stretch. However, everything is VERY expensive and highly inflated. Do not shop here! Even after bargaining, the prices are way too expensive. If you absolutely must buy something, go to Lamai where it is not as busy, thus it is easier to bargain and get better prices.
What I am especially impressed by Koh Samui is the airport:
- Koh Samui Airport may look plain and boring on the outside
But I have to say that they are smart to build it to look more like a resort with loads of Thai culture influences in the architecture.
- The international waiting area after checking in
It may not be air-conditioned but it has a resort feel to it and makes one feel so darn comfortable. The high ceiling and wonderful architecture ensured great air flow, so it wasn’t all that warm without air cond in the waiting area at all.
- They even have a courtesy corner with free drinks and snacks and computers with internet connection for passengers to use
- What do you think this is?
It’s the airport toilet! It is so clean and with a small landscaped garden inside and….
- an aquarium and the floor is clean and dry
- They have a baby changing room with a cute little children’s toilet too
The toilet is impressively clean, the floors are dry and yes, no smell of any kind at all! I can say the toilet is even cleaner than some of the toilets in the hotels in Penang! And it is not only the airport toilet, almost every restaurant we go to have extremely clean toilets with DRY, CLEAN floors.
Even the tourist places in Koh Samui are clean. We don’t see rubbish and litter everywhere. No wonder their tourism sector is growing and no wonder so many tourists preferred Koh Samui and Phuket than Penang. Heck, I’d prefer Koh Samui and Phuket compared to Penang for a holiday anytime even if it is more expensive simply because it is much, much cleaner and their sea is not filled with unknown floating objects.
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I was toying with Phuket and Koh Samui. But the clusters of islands floored me. I picked Phuket because I thought it could be easy from Penang and the clusters of islands…..Practising fear factor I see! You should try eat live baby rats…..
I thought of Koh Samui too. But I thought with a toddler, you will probably opt for somewhere nearer or safer. Too bad.. I dun get any gift this tme.
Choonies last blog post..Google Ads is back
Insects and worms are not that bad. In fact they are rich and protiens and low in fats. As long as you have the apettite to eat it!
ivys last blog post..Eyeing for anime
caravanserai: Live baby rats
That’s gross.
Choonie: Koh Samui aren’t all that far with Firefly, only about one hour 20 minutes flight. My son is born with wanderlust in his veins (just like his parents), wherever we go, he’s game for it!!
ivy: I know, after eating that three full scoops of insects, it was enough to fill me till dinner time!
I know why you enjoy eating those insects. It is evenge on the moth that ate a hole in your clothes.