Sunday, February 13, 2011

Club Med Ria Bintan

Club Med Ria Bintan is a resoirt in Bintan Island, Indonesia, and my first Club Med experience thanks to company away day back in September 2010.

Club Med Bintan Resort, it's great if it's not rainy day
From top view
Comfy bed
In case you have an unexpected guest, there's another bed.

There full board throughout the stay including wine, beer, soft drinks with lunch and dinner was excellent. Open bars and snacks at restaurants at specific times during the day and night.

There were a lot of facilities and activities that Club Med put together to keep the guests occupied for the entire day, the beach activities were particularly delighting despite the lack of sweet & hot bikini ladies. Better luck next time!

I walked the beach the next morning before leaving after staying a night, hell yeah only spending a night at Bintan, that's ashamed.

The horizontal view, where's the hot babe?

Morning joy at the beach

The footsteps

Friday, February 4, 2011

Koh Phuket

The name Phuket is apparently derived from the word "Bukit" which means "Hill" in Malay, as this is what the island appears like from far (Wikipedia).

The island was hit by the infamous Tsunami back in 2004 which claimed more than 200,000 lives in the region, which, by 2005, most of the tourist spot in Phuket was undamaged and rebuilt with little signs of the disastrous incident.

It was a short trip to visit Phuket town, where I spent most of the nights enjoying the peacefulness and the beautiful Chino-Portuguese structures.

The local food was simply awesome, and spicy of course. If I were you, I'd never trust a Thai waiter/waiteress saying "Pet nid noy" which means little spicy, haha. Though, food tasted better with moderate spiciness if you can take it.

Non-spicy noodle

Appetizing "little" spicy salad
Chilis oh pedas!

Stacking bowls that caught my attention

Sadly, I didn't really have much landscaping shots this time around, or rather, spending most of my time lazying around enjoying the Sun and beers.

Blue sky + Sun tan @ Patong beach, sleeping chair would cost 65k Baht

I did rent a bike for 200k Baht a day after realizing that it's only less than 30 minutes away from Phuket town to Patong beach.

Bikes for rent @ 200k Baht/day

I'd ride down to Patong beach on a day to spend most of the day at the beach getting myself tan and walk the busy streets in the evening, and tiger bar at night definitely before I roamed back to my guest house at night.

Travel with bus at 100k Baht or taxi at 400k Baht if you don't like to be on bike under the hot Sun, a piece of advice, bus service ends by 5pm and taking cab at night is rather expensive after midnight.

I wouldn't consider those two services if I'm traveling alone, you might want to find a guest house in Patong if you want easier access to your hotel after the long day activities at Patong.

The budget guest houses at Patong beach are generally between 300k - 800k Baht, cheaper in Phuket town (where I stayed in Phuket Old Town Hotel).

Shower facility is available along the beach at 20k Bath, it's quite relieved especially after the Sun bath to keep myself fresh to stay on for the night life.

I found this little Mexican food stall at the corner at the main beach near Bangla road, the taco and burrito were pleasing, especially the taste!

Michael was such a great Hawaiian entertainer, he could just go on and talk and talk and talk, it was a good moment and decision to dine at his little corner and listen to his story of life and some fatherly advices.


Mexican food

Ingredients & mixer?

I love taco & burrito!


Posing for a picture, the cute Thai girl suddenly appeared from no where
Done some scribblings on the table @ request, written in Chinese, how are you? 你好吗?


Back to Phuket town, there were little wonders that you might find interesting to spend your time, they were restaurants, and hang out places that I spent most of my time doing nothing, literally.

There was this Chinese restaurant that worth noted, you'd need to walk in and the dining area is at the middle and the backyard, the modern decoration at the old structure gave a warm welcoming feelings to anyone who walked in without any expectation.

A girl who didn't want to show her face chilling @ Chinese restaurant at Thalang road

A good place to chill and chit chat, Yim was quite photogenic

Oriental deco

I Spent most of my time crossing the streets and hanging out at the resting places to take some photos.

I'm in love with the wiring wherever I go in South East Asia

Choc pan cake, my favourite! Had this in Laos too and we have this in Malaysia night market!


 
Thai Students on their way home
My next backpack destination on May is Thailand, Taiwan on July this year, can't wait!