Trip Report--Thailand and Singapore
Mar 25th, 2007, 04:31 PM
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Trip Report--Thailand and Singapore
First, let me thank the many people who helped me plan this trip. Your advice was invaluable and so helpful.
Flight on Singapore Airlines (LAX-SIN):
Great flight, fairly good food and fantastic service. The movie selection was amazing. All new releases and wide selection. We looked on SeatGuru.com to select seats and found the first row of two seats (after they are three the whole ways back on the side). There was a huge space between the seat and window. So, my parents sat behind us and we used the space on the floor between the seta and window to make a bed for my 4 year old. We bought a lightweight compact mat from REI before the trip. It worked like a charm. Then that left more room for either person sitting in the seats to have more room to sleep.
We flew into Singapore, went through immigration, collected our bags and got a taxi service to take us to the Newton Circus hawker area. It seemed like a reputable place with these nice Mercedes sedans...We got to the Newton Circus and learned a big lesson...make sure you know the ACTUAL price before you order. We got the crab and didn't think to ask what the TOTAL price would be (because they charge by weight) it is a good thing that my BBQ crab was good, because it turned into 36 dollar meal. We pretty much got "taken to the cleaners"...but we learned.
Second lesson came when we got out of the taxi at Terminal one and realized that we were missing two bags (rolling bag and computer bag). We saw the bags go in the car one by one...so this was very fishy. My husband and father left with them in search of the bags while we all checked in at Jet Star Asia counter. After looking for the bags everywhere, they got a radio message that the bags had been found along the road in the airport by the police. Fishy.... They also tried to change the quote price last minute. Many lessons learned.
After all the bag hassle, we lacked time to use the airport lounge facilities. It turned out ok though. Jet Star Asia flight was great. Would use them again. Lines at immigration in Phuket were extremely long. Took about 1 hour to get through. Normally we there at night when it is dead.
Marriott shuttle picked us up. We checked in, went swimming, got pedicures with sisters and mom, and ate at the Siam Café. About 8:00 pm we all crashed. We tried to stay awake to go the Weekend Market in Phuket Town, but there was no chance.
Great first day in Phuket.
Flight on Singapore Airlines (LAX-SIN):
Great flight, fairly good food and fantastic service. The movie selection was amazing. All new releases and wide selection. We looked on SeatGuru.com to select seats and found the first row of two seats (after they are three the whole ways back on the side). There was a huge space between the seat and window. So, my parents sat behind us and we used the space on the floor between the seta and window to make a bed for my 4 year old. We bought a lightweight compact mat from REI before the trip. It worked like a charm. Then that left more room for either person sitting in the seats to have more room to sleep.
We flew into Singapore, went through immigration, collected our bags and got a taxi service to take us to the Newton Circus hawker area. It seemed like a reputable place with these nice Mercedes sedans...We got to the Newton Circus and learned a big lesson...make sure you know the ACTUAL price before you order. We got the crab and didn't think to ask what the TOTAL price would be (because they charge by weight) it is a good thing that my BBQ crab was good, because it turned into 36 dollar meal. We pretty much got "taken to the cleaners"...but we learned.
Second lesson came when we got out of the taxi at Terminal one and realized that we were missing two bags (rolling bag and computer bag). We saw the bags go in the car one by one...so this was very fishy. My husband and father left with them in search of the bags while we all checked in at Jet Star Asia counter. After looking for the bags everywhere, they got a radio message that the bags had been found along the road in the airport by the police. Fishy.... They also tried to change the quote price last minute. Many lessons learned.
After all the bag hassle, we lacked time to use the airport lounge facilities. It turned out ok though. Jet Star Asia flight was great. Would use them again. Lines at immigration in Phuket were extremely long. Took about 1 hour to get through. Normally we there at night when it is dead.
Marriott shuttle picked us up. We checked in, went swimming, got pedicures with sisters and mom, and ate at the Siam Café. About 8:00 pm we all crashed. We tried to stay awake to go the Weekend Market in Phuket Town, but there was no chance.
Great first day in Phuket.
Mar 25th, 2007, 04:45 PM
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Day 2 in Phuket
Got up and had breakfast at Siam Café. Rented a van for our large group for 400 baht per hour. Went to church in Phuket town. Fun to meet locals there. Left and went to a Wat south of Phuket Town. Climbed to the top for a BEATIFUL view, reclining Buddha and offering to Buddha. Great experience for all epically the kids. Always good to expose them to new cultures and religions.
Went to Tesco Lotus and went bananas. (Tip for women…I recently bought a nice bra at Nordstrom’s under the brand Wacoal. IT cost me $65 but it loved it. Happened to notice that they are made in Thailand. I found them at Tesco Lotus for $13. Same brand/style etc. Needless to say I stocked up! )
Drove to Kata and went to Mom’s Tri Boathouse. First off the setting in that restaurant is AMAZING!! The food was quite good too. Sitting right on the water with the open air view is a wonderful way to eat. They gave us the lunch menu even though it was past lunch. My daughter was sleeping and they made a little bed for her with chairs and tablecloths. The Thai people have been so sweet to my daughter. We did a little shopping in Kata and then drove back to the Marriott.
All the girls did spa treatments that evening. My mom and younger sister did the Mandara Sunrise package. They thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait for our next treatments. My older sister (who is pregnant) did the aromatic massage. They had a special masseuse trained to work with pre-natal women. She liked it very much. I did the Green Tea Body Wrap. Once they wrapped me up and place the warm blanket on me… I was OUT! That spa has the most wonderful ambiance and service. They really have it down to a science there. This was a wonderful way to end the day.
Got up and had breakfast at Siam Café. Rented a van for our large group for 400 baht per hour. Went to church in Phuket town. Fun to meet locals there. Left and went to a Wat south of Phuket Town. Climbed to the top for a BEATIFUL view, reclining Buddha and offering to Buddha. Great experience for all epically the kids. Always good to expose them to new cultures and religions.
Went to Tesco Lotus and went bananas. (Tip for women…I recently bought a nice bra at Nordstrom’s under the brand Wacoal. IT cost me $65 but it loved it. Happened to notice that they are made in Thailand. I found them at Tesco Lotus for $13. Same brand/style etc. Needless to say I stocked up! )
Drove to Kata and went to Mom’s Tri Boathouse. First off the setting in that restaurant is AMAZING!! The food was quite good too. Sitting right on the water with the open air view is a wonderful way to eat. They gave us the lunch menu even though it was past lunch. My daughter was sleeping and they made a little bed for her with chairs and tablecloths. The Thai people have been so sweet to my daughter. We did a little shopping in Kata and then drove back to the Marriott.
All the girls did spa treatments that evening. My mom and younger sister did the Mandara Sunrise package. They thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait for our next treatments. My older sister (who is pregnant) did the aromatic massage. They had a special masseuse trained to work with pre-natal women. She liked it very much. I did the Green Tea Body Wrap. Once they wrapped me up and place the warm blanket on me… I was OUT! That spa has the most wonderful ambiance and service. They really have it down to a science there. This was a wonderful way to end the day.
Mar 25th, 2007, 05:31 PM
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So glad it all worked well !!, very strange about the bags !
Yes the lines at Phuket can be very long, there was a big article in Phuketgazette about it recently.
So what's the weather like ? I may be flying down tomorrow for a day.
Yes the lines at Phuket can be very long, there was a big article in Phuketgazette about it recently.
So what's the weather like ? I may be flying down tomorrow for a day.
Mar 26th, 2007, 05:55 PM
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James--The weather has been good. Rainned a bit here and there, but it was nice becasue it cooled down a bit. It's hot and humid...that is Phuket at this time of the year.
We are loving it!!
We are loving it!!
Mar 26th, 2007, 06:08 PM
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Day 3: John Grey Hongs By Starlight Tour
We woke up a bit early and decided to use the health spa facilities. It was very nice and made my workout seem a bit less daunting. Headed over to the pool afterword to swim and eat lunch before we were picked up by John Grey’s company to do our Hongs by Starlight tour. I personally have done this tour two times before this and seem to never tire of it. The first time I did it, we did his overnight tour and stayed on a deserted island somewhere between Phuket and Krabi. That was an experience!! The second time I brought my parents and enjoyed seeing them enthralled by the scenery and hongs. This time I booked a private tour for my family (sisters, parents, nephew, husband and daughter) and friends (with their family) for a total of 16 people. Because I had done the tour so many times before and have referred many people. John Gray gave me a discount on the private tour. He also came out to the boat dock to see us off. (p.s. New boat dock is beautiful!) He has the flu and wasn’t able to go, but wanted to make sure everything went smoothly. The tour was AWESOME! As usual, the guides were amazing. This is truly a tour done to perfection. The Thai guides were so sweet to my daughter. They let her paddle, brought her extra treats, gave her flowers…they just went above and beyond. We were lucky enough to see about 8 monkeys and 1 baby monkey that was about 2 weeks old in one of the hongs. Watching the mother monkey teacher the baby how to climb etc. was priceless. It was like seeing a National Geographic show live. We got home late and all crashed.
We woke up a bit early and decided to use the health spa facilities. It was very nice and made my workout seem a bit less daunting. Headed over to the pool afterword to swim and eat lunch before we were picked up by John Grey’s company to do our Hongs by Starlight tour. I personally have done this tour two times before this and seem to never tire of it. The first time I did it, we did his overnight tour and stayed on a deserted island somewhere between Phuket and Krabi. That was an experience!! The second time I brought my parents and enjoyed seeing them enthralled by the scenery and hongs. This time I booked a private tour for my family (sisters, parents, nephew, husband and daughter) and friends (with their family) for a total of 16 people. Because I had done the tour so many times before and have referred many people. John Gray gave me a discount on the private tour. He also came out to the boat dock to see us off. (p.s. New boat dock is beautiful!) He has the flu and wasn’t able to go, but wanted to make sure everything went smoothly. The tour was AWESOME! As usual, the guides were amazing. This is truly a tour done to perfection. The Thai guides were so sweet to my daughter. They let her paddle, brought her extra treats, gave her flowers…they just went above and beyond. We were lucky enough to see about 8 monkeys and 1 baby monkey that was about 2 weeks old in one of the hongs. Watching the mother monkey teacher the baby how to climb etc. was priceless. It was like seeing a National Geographic show live. We got home late and all crashed.
Mar 26th, 2007, 09:06 PM
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mmm this is the second mention of the Hongs by Starlight in a few weeks. It sounds really magical. And, you seem to be very good at spa-ing !!
Enjoying the read. How very strange about the bags -- I would think with penalties what they are in Singapore, that kind of thing just would not happen.
Enjoying the read. How very strange about the bags -- I would think with penalties what they are in Singapore, that kind of thing just would not happen.
Mar 26th, 2007, 09:09 PM
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You don't need to especially go to Tesco to find Wacoal underwear. All departmental stores have this brand and other brands. And it is truly much cheaper in Thailand. Other brands are also cheaper but Wacaol is especially cheap (ok, I have no other vocabulary for cheap apparently!).
Going to Bangkok to buy ladies' bras and stuff is one of the main aims of the various weekend trips for me and my friends!
I've also seen a Wacoal standalone store somewhere in Siam Center a few years ago.
Going to Bangkok to buy ladies' bras and stuff is one of the main aims of the various weekend trips for me and my friends!
I've also seen a Wacoal standalone store somewhere in Siam Center a few years ago.
Mar 27th, 2007, 07:06 AM
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Kathie... I know...Warcoals for $13.00. I have to pay $55. at Macy's. I never thought to look into lingerie in Bangkok. I guess because I figured the sizes/cuts would be very small and not geared to many westerners. Happy Travels!
Mar 28th, 2007, 08:03 PM
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Day 4: Relaxing around the resort
As much as we like to do active things…we really enjoy relaxing at the resort and the pool. Most of the day was spent at the three different pools. My daughter went to the Kids Club (MAZE) center for a few activities. She is four and with proper instructions understands that she cannot just leave the Kids Club unless I sign her out. The security on the kids club is almost non-existent. If you have a child who is prone to leave on his/her own, Kids Club is not for them. The ladies are there to entertain, not babysit. In fact one little girl, who had been playing with my daughter, “escaped “and they had the hotel staff searching for her…kind of scary. My daughter seems to like it a lot, but I don’t want to put her there all day. It really works well when we want to go to a nice dinner on property because they feed her in the kids club, there aren’t many kids there (more supervision), and she gets lots of attention and has fun.
We tried out all four pools and the menus at each. The pool in front of the older timeshares has the old poolside menu, which I like. I prefer that pool for my husband and I, but the main pool obviously for my daughter because of the slide etc.
They brought the baby elephant out and my daughter played with “Jumbo” right in front of the pool on the beach. She probably played with him alone for about 20 minutes. She was in heaven. She fed him bananas and gave him a bottle of milk. The elephants on site have truly been a highlight for my daughter who loves animals.
That night we ate at Kabuki (sushi). Very yummy sushi (had CA rolls, Spider rolls, and miso), but not cheap by any means. Even with our 10% owner discount, it is still not cheap. At least it was goof though…
I always enjoy days like this.
Day 5: Day trip around the islands
Funny how small the world can be. When we were at church on Sunday, I met up with a girlfriend of mine that I went to college with. She and her husband live in Phuket now and she is the Guest relations Manager at the JW Marriott. I hadn’t seen her in years!! She and her husband are quite the Phuket guru’s and set us up on a great private speedboat charter of the islands. For 16 people from 6:30am-6:00pm (gas included) it was 28,000 baht. That included my friend’s husband’s personal assistant who came along to make sure the captain and the driver knew exactly what we wanted to do.
We went to Phi Phi (small stops around the island to our favorite spots), James Bond Island (small stops in area), lunch at floating village, Koh Yao, and Khai Nok. It was a great day full of snorkeling, beach relaxing, shopping on the small islands, and swimming. In fact on the floating village where we stopped for lunch, there were these ladies who brought out these baby monkey’s…not the long tail kind…a different breed that I haven’t seen before. They had them hold on to my daughter and I and we took pictures. Not sure how legal that is to own monkey’s like that though…
We finished the day by eating at the new Thai restaurant at the JW. It was quite expensive…even with my friend’s 50% discount. The appetizers were great (we did both set menus) and the coconut soup was fantastic. However I only liked the main entrée’s so-so. A good experience to eat there (ambiance is BEAUTIFUL!) but probably won’t do the set menu ever again. We seem to really like the Siam Café. The food isn’t too astronomical and is relatively good. We are anxious to go off property to a restraint that our friend recommended to us. I will give a report on that tomorrow once we try it.
As much as we like to do active things…we really enjoy relaxing at the resort and the pool. Most of the day was spent at the three different pools. My daughter went to the Kids Club (MAZE) center for a few activities. She is four and with proper instructions understands that she cannot just leave the Kids Club unless I sign her out. The security on the kids club is almost non-existent. If you have a child who is prone to leave on his/her own, Kids Club is not for them. The ladies are there to entertain, not babysit. In fact one little girl, who had been playing with my daughter, “escaped “and they had the hotel staff searching for her…kind of scary. My daughter seems to like it a lot, but I don’t want to put her there all day. It really works well when we want to go to a nice dinner on property because they feed her in the kids club, there aren’t many kids there (more supervision), and she gets lots of attention and has fun.
We tried out all four pools and the menus at each. The pool in front of the older timeshares has the old poolside menu, which I like. I prefer that pool for my husband and I, but the main pool obviously for my daughter because of the slide etc.
They brought the baby elephant out and my daughter played with “Jumbo” right in front of the pool on the beach. She probably played with him alone for about 20 minutes. She was in heaven. She fed him bananas and gave him a bottle of milk. The elephants on site have truly been a highlight for my daughter who loves animals.
That night we ate at Kabuki (sushi). Very yummy sushi (had CA rolls, Spider rolls, and miso), but not cheap by any means. Even with our 10% owner discount, it is still not cheap. At least it was goof though…
I always enjoy days like this.
Day 5: Day trip around the islands
Funny how small the world can be. When we were at church on Sunday, I met up with a girlfriend of mine that I went to college with. She and her husband live in Phuket now and she is the Guest relations Manager at the JW Marriott. I hadn’t seen her in years!! She and her husband are quite the Phuket guru’s and set us up on a great private speedboat charter of the islands. For 16 people from 6:30am-6:00pm (gas included) it was 28,000 baht. That included my friend’s husband’s personal assistant who came along to make sure the captain and the driver knew exactly what we wanted to do.
We went to Phi Phi (small stops around the island to our favorite spots), James Bond Island (small stops in area), lunch at floating village, Koh Yao, and Khai Nok. It was a great day full of snorkeling, beach relaxing, shopping on the small islands, and swimming. In fact on the floating village where we stopped for lunch, there were these ladies who brought out these baby monkey’s…not the long tail kind…a different breed that I haven’t seen before. They had them hold on to my daughter and I and we took pictures. Not sure how legal that is to own monkey’s like that though…
We finished the day by eating at the new Thai restaurant at the JW. It was quite expensive…even with my friend’s 50% discount. The appetizers were great (we did both set menus) and the coconut soup was fantastic. However I only liked the main entrée’s so-so. A good experience to eat there (ambiance is BEAUTIFUL!) but probably won’t do the set menu ever again. We seem to really like the Siam Café. The food isn’t too astronomical and is relatively good. We are anxious to go off property to a restraint that our friend recommended to us. I will give a report on that tomorrow once we try it.
Mar 29th, 2007, 05:39 AM
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Bob- The Siam Cafe is the one downstairs where you can get other things besides food (i.e. sunscreen, etc.) You can do a breakfast buffet there, about 1/2 the price, but also about 1/2 the food as the Marriott Cafe upstairs.
The Marriott Cafe upstairs is good and with our owner VIP card we get 20% off food...makes it quite reasonable. In fact we just ate at the dinner buffet tonight and the food was great.
They changed Ban Sala Rim (the restaurant by the ocean) to a steakhouse/seafood restaurant. It is now called the Andaman Grill. And the new Thai Restaurant is serving Thai exclusively.
The Marriott Cafe upstairs is good and with our owner VIP card we get 20% off food...makes it quite reasonable. In fact we just ate at the dinner buffet tonight and the food was great.
They changed Ban Sala Rim (the restaurant by the ocean) to a steakhouse/seafood restaurant. It is now called the Andaman Grill. And the new Thai Restaurant is serving Thai exclusively.
Mar 29th, 2007, 06:14 AM
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Day 6: Relaxing around the Resort/Mandara Spa
Today we had a late start due to a late dinner with friends the night before. We relaxed around our room and leisurely made our way to pool. However, at the pool we had quite a scare. In the main hotel pool (for those familiar with it—the side closest to the pool bar) there was a girl who was playing with a vent at the bottom of the pool and the vent came off and sucked her at the bottom of the pool. People were screaming and trying to get her from the bottom of the pool. My husband jumped up to help. Four men tried to pry her from the vent, while others tried to turn the suction off. After about 2-3 minutes they got the suction turned off. My husband said the girl was all purple. I’m hoping she is ok. It was quite a scare because I was there with my daughter and as soon as I heard people screaming I frantically scanned the pool looking for my daughter hoping I would see her. Needless to say, people watched their children at the pool much closer today.
In the afternoon, my husband and I went to the Spa for couples treatments. We started with the steam room. It was in the outdoor area with outdoor rain showers. I had never done a steam room before and had a little trouble being able to breathe. My husband was an old pro and loved it. Next we both did Aromatic oil massages. Now that was HEAVEN! I was enjoying the massage in the state somewhere between being awake and asleep. I have done that massage before and love it every time. Lastly we did a 30 minute soak in a milk and honey bath. I had never done this either and really enjoyed it. Our skin felt like silk afterwards.
After total relaxation, we picked up our daughter at the Kids Club (they made fish and Thai kites) and went to the main pool to play on the slide. After about an hour of swimming (and sleeping…my husband fell asleep on the pool chair) we watched the dancing/fire show and went to the dinner buffet at the Marriott Café. With our Owner discount, it was about 9.50 each and children under 7 are free. The food was quite good. I got my fill of sushi, shrimp and crab. Much more economical than Kabuki’s.
After a totally relaxing day, we all went to sleep early so we could wakeup and enjoy our last ½ day at the resort before we head up to Chiang Rai.
Today we had a late start due to a late dinner with friends the night before. We relaxed around our room and leisurely made our way to pool. However, at the pool we had quite a scare. In the main hotel pool (for those familiar with it—the side closest to the pool bar) there was a girl who was playing with a vent at the bottom of the pool and the vent came off and sucked her at the bottom of the pool. People were screaming and trying to get her from the bottom of the pool. My husband jumped up to help. Four men tried to pry her from the vent, while others tried to turn the suction off. After about 2-3 minutes they got the suction turned off. My husband said the girl was all purple. I’m hoping she is ok. It was quite a scare because I was there with my daughter and as soon as I heard people screaming I frantically scanned the pool looking for my daughter hoping I would see her. Needless to say, people watched their children at the pool much closer today.
In the afternoon, my husband and I went to the Spa for couples treatments. We started with the steam room. It was in the outdoor area with outdoor rain showers. I had never done a steam room before and had a little trouble being able to breathe. My husband was an old pro and loved it. Next we both did Aromatic oil massages. Now that was HEAVEN! I was enjoying the massage in the state somewhere between being awake and asleep. I have done that massage before and love it every time. Lastly we did a 30 minute soak in a milk and honey bath. I had never done this either and really enjoyed it. Our skin felt like silk afterwards.
After total relaxation, we picked up our daughter at the Kids Club (they made fish and Thai kites) and went to the main pool to play on the slide. After about an hour of swimming (and sleeping…my husband fell asleep on the pool chair
) we watched the dancing/fire show and went to the dinner buffet at the Marriott Café. With our Owner discount, it was about 9.50 each and children under 7 are free. The food was quite good. I got my fill of sushi, shrimp and crab. Much more economical than Kabuki’s.After a totally relaxing day, we all went to sleep early so we could wakeup and enjoy our last ½ day at the resort before we head up to Chiang Rai.
