.: Day 2 : Phuket :.

Day 2 at Phuket greeted us with the sounds of waves gently lapping on the shores of beautiful Tri Trang beach. Our room, which we paid at a discounted rate, much thanks to Agoda, had a lovely beach view which the both of us appreciated.

Our feet were tired from yesterday's exploring around Patong town, but we were up and about early to have the hotel's complimentary buffet breakfast. The spread was reasonable good - had pad thai (can't get enough of it!), fried rice, ham, sausages, pancakes & french toast. Skipped the varied fresh fruit spread to spare from overstuffing the stomach. We were, afterall, excited with our very first island hopping trip & the last thing we wanna do is get all sea-sick & puky on the speedboat.

The Sea Angel Speedboat that we took! (Well, our's was No.5)

We were greeted by the driver who picked us up on time in his van. We arrived at Reseda Harbour an hour-drive later. Our tour guide, who introduced himself as Darling, was such a hilarious & entertaining fella. On board, he joked and teased especially with a group of young Pakistani men whom didn't mind (in fact encouraged) the teasing.

Beautiful lagoon!

Beautiful blue skies that day, thank God!

We made a couple of stops to the the highlighted placed - Monkey Beach, Loh Samah Bay, Pileh Bay, Viking Cave (which are cluster of places in Phi Phi Leh Island). We skipped Maya beach, given the rough waves. I must admit, it was a fun first-time experience snorkeling on my part at Coral Bay, but I wasn't impressed with the (lack-of) variety of fishes and corals. Tho the water is relatively clean & clear, as seen from the boat, it was a little murky & being over-crowded with tourist (from other boats) there is relatively little maneuvering spaces for us. Kept bumping into other fellow snorkelers. I really can't imagine what it would be like during peak-season!

The water here is so clear that it reflects the colour of the greens!

After a short snorkeling session, a quick pit-stop at a beach and a couple of snapshoot-and-go attractions, we headed to Ton Sai Bay for lunch. The buffet lunch is not exactly of high-standards, but it was palatable. Don't expect any Thai food. In fact, we just had some fried chicken, some sweet-sour fish dish, watered-down bolognese sauce with pasta, and others which I don't even bother remembering.

Boats at Ton Sai Bay

After our lunch, we had a quick walk around the area. As all tourist areas - full of street food : crepes, fruits, pizza, etc. And of course, beach wears vendors aplenty trying to sell their bikinis, T-shirts, sarongs, beach hat, etc.

Koh Khai Island with the famous colourful beach umbrellas!

We boarded our boat "Number 5" (private joke), and headed to Koh Khai Island. I must admit, it's the first time I ever sat on a beach chair to just do nothing but rest and relax, and I was indeed enjoying myself. Of course, the cold refreshments and complimentary fresh fruits of watermelon & pineapples served by our very own Darling was the icing to the cake!

On the way back, we were exhausted, so we slept the whole journey in the van.

When we arrived at our hotel, we took a quick shower and was ready for our next itenary : Simon Cabaret Show!

One of the many colourful costumes the ladyboys (yes, they are men, not women) wear!

I have read many positive reviews of this show, but I was still impressed with the overall show. The costumes, the choreographing, the music & lighting, they were just done so well! If you have not watched a cabaret (which we haven't) you must not give this a miss! Be careful tho, you may be tempted to take pics of them / with them, but it you will have to tip them. They can be ruthlessly unhappy if you try to take pics of them for free. I manage to steal this one, but dare not proceed further after seeing a bunch of tourist harressed by them for not paying!

After the show, we went back to our hotel; made ourselves some instant noodles (local instant noodles, of course!) for dinner (since we are still full from lunch) and went straight to bed.

That was our second day at Phuket, and were we exhausted from the day's adventure!