phuket: best transportation around

if you'll walk along kata road, you will notice a lot of boards displaying taxi fares on corresponding places you want to visit.

on our third day, we wanted to visit the big buddha and wat chalong. the taxi fare going there is 800 to 1000 baht. but one thing that catched my eyes were some tourist driving motorbikes with their helmets on. we've learned that the hotel were staying have motorbikes for rent ;)

they don't require any driver's license, well of course at your own risk, as long as your a guest. and guess what?!? it's only 250 baht for the whole day rental, that is 12 hours, plus the fuel.

ride of the day

so, if you could just drive and brave enough to go along with the traffic around phuket, rent a bike and save some for shopping or yummy thai food... 

thailand drives on the left side of the road, so if you come from a place that drives on the other side, be reminded! you could be driving on the wrong side, but don't worry locals understand...

phuket: beautiful sea phi phi island tour (p2)

not far from the viking cave is an amazingly nice and wonderful cove. it would feel like your swimming in a pool. our tour guide even said, "welcome to your pool..." i wish we could have stayed longer than we did... me and brad were the last to be backed on board...

clear sea water, just amazing...

we had so much fun in here... brad jumped from the head of the speedboat twice and of course me, too but only once... one tour guide, a french-speaking lady also had a few jump from the boat... yah, we were the only three who bravely jumped...

jump shot! yey! i was able to capture it...

after enjoying the natural pool we headed to the famous maya bay. it is where the movie 'the beach' by leonardo dicaprio was shoot... there were alot of parked boats and a lot of tourists as well. i think no matter what time of the day it'll still be crowded... but still i was so happy that this time i was able to set my foot on the sand... coz last time i was in phuket, we only saw maya bay from afar...

entry to maya bay

we walked for like ten minutes to be on the other side of the island. there was a small platform to view some other islands around.

view from the platform

dipped feet at maya bay

and it's time to leave maya bay and head back to phuket boat lagoon marina...

maya bay, view from the shore

it was a wonderful hot sunny day... would love to be back again anytime...

phuket: beautiful sea phi phi island tour (p1)

upon arrival at phuket international airport we were picked up by a van courtesy of jc tour. it comes with one day trip that we booked on them, beautiful sea day: phi phi island discovery. there were only me and brad inside the big van. the driver was nice that he even stopped along the way to let us buy some mangoes, rambutan and santol :)

phuket boat lagoon marina

we were picked up on time, that is 7:45am, at the hotel on our second day at phuket for the trip. after more or less an hour drive from kata beach we arrived at phuket boat lagoon marina. it took the group for awhile to leave as we waited for few other tourists. while waiting we fitted our snorkeling gears...

there were 16 tourists on board the speedboat and all of them were white (caucasians) except for me ;) and all of them, sitted inside the boat with a nice shade of the roof but me, brad and two other couple comfortably enjoyed the wind and the heat of the sun infront...

the island where we snorkel...

first stop: snorkeling… with our snorkeling gears on we all jumped into the water and enjoy the life underwater. it's amazing to see different color and size of fishes. we were given by the tour guide some ripe bananas to feed the fishes. it's a lot of fun to let them swim on different direction even in front your face with the food by your hand. i wish we had a waterproof camera...

next stop: swimming… we stopped on an island for a swim. the water is just crystal clear you'd love to swim even if it's very hot.

camera pose before swimming

lunch time… we had a buffet for lunch. there were good choices of food... also, there were a lot of tourists on tour on that restaurant...

after lunch we headed to stop by and say hello to the monkeys. brad had a chance to feed one of them as it jumped on the boat...

monkeys everywhere... they're harmless

we also passed by along the viking cave... there were ladders inside the cave, and we were told that there are some few people that stay there to collect bird's nest...

viking cave from afar

to be continued...

phuket: kata beach

the last time i was in phuket with laurence, we stayed at clubmed along kata beach... this time, i chose to stay nearby kata beach again as it is a quiet area, not so much of a night life compared to patong beach...

after checking-in we headed to kata beach with our beach towels. it's only around ten minutes walk from where we stayed. and yes, it's just behind clubmed...

kata beach

kata beach

it was a very hot, hot day... there are chairs with umbrellas lined up along the long stretch of kata beach. we picked one and enjoy the shade of the umbrella until one thai guy approached us and asked if we would like to rent it... i said no and instead found a shade at one spot while my baby is enjoying the sun and the waves of the sea... 

this is us, not knowing we have to rent the chair lol

we enjoyed our first day in phuket, walking barefoot on the long stretch of kata beach... i'm still amazed how white people could last the heat of the sun laying on the sand having a tan... that includes my baby ;)

brad with crab island behind

spoiled summer surprise

all the while, brad thought we will be at bintan, indonesia for few days on his last visit... well, that's what i told him, hehehe... but then, i already arranged everything for our summer getaway to phuket :D yes! to phuket... it was my second time and i would still love to go back ;)

i wanted to surprise him until upon check-in at the airport... i didn't make it, i spoiled my own surprise three days before our departure... it was the best way to cheer him up that time. no regrets though...

we were there for 4 days and 3 nights and we both had a great time... 

pepper lunch madness

on brad's first visit our first and last meal were at pepper lunch...

just recently, we had our first meal together on the same place ;) i like their beef pepper rice and he came to love it as well... 

for two weeks, we had lunch and or dinner at pepper lunch for at least five or seven times... when we don't seem to know where to eat, pepper lunch was the answer.

his favorite, curry beef pepper rice with cheese... 

focused much ;) he's hungry...

chinatown

on brad's first three days here in singapore, i was working and so he had to go around the city by himself...

but the only place he kept visiting was chinatown. he was there everyday for the first three days. he wanted to buy some stuff he liked but then he listened to me ;) ... i asked him not to buy anything until i am with him, hehehe... 

on the last few remaining days, we were back for few times there and were able to buy some stuff he liked for himself and for his family back home...

he also shopped for me :D i was so grateful for his gesture... it is something i haven't experienced in the past... 

a surprise from the mom

along the way, brad told me that he has another surprise for me but this time it's not from him... i was in awe, when he said his mom has something for me...

when he finally hand it to me i was out of words... it's a silver necklace with 14k palm tree pendant. i tried it on and it looks so nice ;) though i never really wear any jewelry... 

but she didn't know that the price tag was left inside the box hidden... another speechless moment for me when i saw how much it is...

i feel so happy and so special to experience such gesture from brad's mom...

gorgeous :))

happy(iest) days again

yey...! after months of waiting my baby is here again :))
it's his second visit after he's been here last christmas and new year's...

this will be a fun, fun, fun summer...

we were both paranoid few days before his departure from his place because of bad weather... there had been storm and flood in chicago. but we're glad that on the day of his flight the weather is just fine...

the next two weeks will be happy(iest) days again...

valentines day

every day is a day of love...

but today is full of love and lots of love :)) today, i'm surprised by a bouquet of roses from my baby, a hug me heart-shaped pillow and a sweet valentine card...

baby ko, you never fail to make me feel so special, you never fail to shower me with so much love... and i'm always left speechless by your surprises...

happy valentines baby ko :)) iLoveyou...

roller coaster ride(s)

i was back at universal studios here in singapore but this time i'm with brad. 

our first stop was one of the newest attraction of the park, transformers the ride: the ultimate 3d battle. it took us maybe an hour to finally have our amazing ride, that we went back there late in the afternoon to have our second ride :) 

of course, we did not miss battlestar galactica: human vs cyclon. it is the world's tallest dueling roller coasters. on my first time here i never had the chance to ride cyclon but with brad i was able to :) and not only once but twice :D and twice with human as well. 

we also had an indoor roller coaster ride in the revenge of the mummy... an exciting ride as it's dark and you would not know where the ride's heading...

after a long day of fun and laughter

if only we did not feel a little bit hungry we could have ride a few times more. we both enjoyed the roller coaster rides and that was one amazing experience i would love to do again...

balut moment

balut is a common street food in the philippines. it is  a 16-day or 18-day old unhatched duck egg… 

i've been telling brad to try one when he get to pinas but he's been saying no to it… when we were in tupi, i was still persistent to let him try and he would still say no... i was surprised when he said he's ready to eat, "just to make you happy" ;) so we went out that night only to find out there's no more balut :(( 

on our last night in tupi, we went out after dinner and yey!!! there's balut... we took our balut back home as we were still full... 

it took a while for brad to start eating his share of balut and a little courage maybe, hehehe... he didn't even want to look at me having my first balut. he didn't want to see the 'sisiw' (chick)... until we got him to eat his share, he had two... and the water was ready for him. you're the man, babe :))

brad having his first balut

i asked him if he would like to have balut again, the answer was "no"... but who knows, he would still have next time ;)

nevertheless, 'twas an accomplished mission ;)

surprise(d)!!!

i love surprises but i never really experienced it until i am with brad ;)

he kindly asked me to open his luggage and get something for him, and i obediently did it... after opening the pocket of his luggage i was so surprised to see a nicely wrapped gift with a ribbon on it...

i immediately gave him a hug and thanked him a lot :)

but i was so speechless when i torn the wrapper and saw what's inside... i never thought i could have this kind of purse, a coach leather duffle bag... another wish fulfilled... i can tick off #13 from my bucketlist :D thank you so much baby ko...

all i want for xmas is you but you gave me more than that...

classy

the first time

brad's plane landed on time at 1:30am last 20 december, 2012... 'twas the first meeting we have. i was kind of hopeful that he will show up and he did :)) 

'twas his first time to be out of his country... his first time to be on the plane and that he had to travel a total of 22 hours from chicago to singapore, to be with me on the holidays.

'twas our first time to see each other... we've been in constant communication as boyfriend and girlfriend for almost five months before our meeting but we never had the chance, not once to talk online via video call. it has always been chatting and audio call...

my heart skipped the first time i saw him on his way to collect his luggage. when he saw me he ran towards me. he throw his bags, give me a kiss and hugged me tightly. that was one unforgettable moment i had...