Phuket Love Part 1

Phew! Only now I got the chance to blog about Phuket. And it has to be scripted into parts, because I intend to rant long about this trip.

The Hubby and I had been planning for this trip when I was 8 months pregnant, plus the fact that we bought our flight to Phuket with the cheapest deal we could ever grab. RM158 return flight each, what is there not to be excited about?

I am going to break this experience down in points. I lost touch of blogging and it will take a while to be able to blog properly again.

Phuket point #1 : Transportation
 If you had just arrived the airport and are travelling backpackers style, it's best to ditch the taxi and take the van cab instead. It is way cheaper and if you are lucky, you will be able to meet new fun friends sharing the van with you. Pricing is 160Bh(Chalong), 180Bh(Patong) and 200Bh (Kata), which is approximately around RM17 to RM22. The normal cab will charge you around 800++Bh. The van cab is very spacious. They are nothing like our van sewa here, so you don't have to worry about being comfortable. The only setback is that you have to wait for the van to fill up customers which in our case took around half an hour (or more).. The choice is up to you.

Phuket point #2 : Journey from Airport Phuket International Airport is blardy far from the tourist area! If you are thinking of skipping meal because you think it's best to do check- in first, DON'T. It's best to prepare light snacks and drinks before the journey as it will take you more than 1 hour to reach at any 3 tourist places mentioned above. And the traffic jam is almost as horrendous as KL jam, or maybe The Hubby and I were not that lucky. Everyone seemed to be rushing to go to work at 9am thus the congestion. Van or cab that you take from the airport will stop at what seem to be an intermission stop, with driver's excuse want to take something for his van. Do not worry, you are not being held hostage by them. If you notice you are stopping in front of a travelling agency office. The driver will ask for a 10 mins break and you are leave to no choice but to wander around that place hence the office. The agents (mostly girls) will try to promote you their travelling trip agendas. From kayaking at Phan Nga Bay, to James Bond Island snorkelling even Simon Cabaret show, it's the whole deal of promotion. A If you think you want to buy some trips, try to bargain the price as low as possible. The pricing, if you are good at bargaining, will be lower than buying the trips at the place where are staying. We bought only one trip for 1250Bh to Island Hoping which was a very good deal. I cannot remember the place. Hahaha.. silly me.. But will definitely tell you along this rant. We found out we got it for a good price when 2 to 3 promoters at Patong area approached us, giving us a price of 1750Bh. Tawar- tawar pun cuma boleh turun to 1400Bh only.

Ok. Two points as of now, enough? Will continue real soon! While waiting, do enjoy some photos of us.

Los Angeles baby! ( Part 1... and many more parts to go...)

Geez, now only I'm writing about my US trip.. after a month!! i won't be giving any excuses on this, because anything that I had in mind will sound so lame.. let's put it in a way simpler word. PEMALAS.

But, hey.... Who can ever forget that kind of experience, especially for someone like me who have never been abroad in her 27 years of life??( Krabi tidak perlu cerita la. That one is too near to even consider going out of Malaysia). Never in my mind had I thought of ever stepping foot in USA. Honestly? Never! Until 2 years ago when The Hubby( back then) invited me to come holidaying with him in Miami and Los Angeles, for a family reunion. But my Papa, being a protect, objected my request. In a way it's a blessing in disguise, because The Hubby, his sister,L and I agreed that I won't be enjoying much of the trip

, as the group was huge! L said she had

to make 3 trips from her house to Santa Monica Pier or other near store located nearby just to drop The Hubby and his entourage.

Ok! Back to my story..... * Party in the USAAAAAAA*

The Hubby and I started our serious packing the night before we left. Thank God each of us were given by the China Southern Airlines 42kg per person for our bags. Phew!.. we had to bring lots of Christmas gifts from The Hubby's family to my sister in law and her husband. Plus their stuff which they couldn't bring together with them during their Malaysia trip 6 months ago. Our bedroom was like a war of the Bags!!...Both us kept reminding ourselves not to bring any liquid items of more than 100ml in our cabin luggage, knowing it'll be confiscated

, thus be a waste.

Best thing was?.... I brought "Katrina"a.k.a my bantal bucuk, companion since I was 4 years old with me!! Boy was she excited! hehehhee..

December 22,2010....

On the next day, both us left the house at 12 noon, after saying goodbye to Mom. She cried a bit when hugging The Hubby, knowing that he won't be celebrating Christmas with her for the first time and being a mom, she's just being her. The Hubby's sister sent us both to KLIA and we had our last 2010 Malaysia lunch at McD, KLIA... Boarded the Airbus at 2pm and we left to Guangzhou 20 minutes afterward.

Guangzhou was cold, you all!!! I didn't know I had to start using my trench coat straight away when going down the stairways of the plane... Crazy weather!.. Our transit was 3 hours, so we killed our time by playing the iPod la, mp5 la, observing people. The "Guangzhao Asia Games 2010" banners were all over the place, since the game were over few months ago..

Look at the ice at the window pane.. bbbrrrrr..

One thing I gotta say about this airline we boarded to LAX, it sucks!!! The service suck (muka flight attendants, macam sial!.. and sooooo tak peramah okay!), the seats suck, the inflight screen monitor suck...the only good thing about this airline is that it's super punctual. No delay, nothing. If they promise you the flight will take off the runways at 9pm, the plane will be in the air at 9.01pm.

We reached LAX on December 22, 2010 at 6.30pm local time ( Malaysia time: 10am December 23rd).. So many ang moh! and the Latins!... Their airport and customs guard are besar2 and muka garang.. eee...felt so small suddenly..

Both The Hubby and I were stopped by a 6' 5" custom officer before going out the arrival hall. He asked us about the deal with big 4 bags when there's only just the two of us. " It's Christmas, Sir. And I'm bringing all the goodies from home to my sister who's a PR here"... He nodded and let us go.

u'oh.. The Hubby is bringing me out for a yamcha at kedai Cina in KD.. i'll continue soon! :)