MarBon A Decade and More: The Jewel of Andaman, Phuket!

Ten years strong and on our way to making more decades full of love, laughter and memories to cherish! What made our 10th year anniversary extra special is we celebrated it as a family, with Gabby of course to a place beautiful enough to be among the Jewels of the Andaman, Phuket!

It was Marlon's surprise anniversary gift for the family! I had not even the slightest idea that he had planned this trip all along, and I was but one happy happy happy Mama! Thank you Papa, Phuket or anywhere as long as we are together, everyday is an anniversary. :)

 

Kata Beach Resort and Spa

http://www.katagroup.com/kata-beach/home/

If Kata Beach Resort and Spa had another name that would be AMAZING HOTEL with extra rustic feels and classic Thai-style interior. Proudly situated to one of Phuket's most awesome scenery rivaled with grand open lobby, high ceiling and great staff hospitality ( except for language differences, few of the staffs barely speak English fluently).

 

The Pool

Our rooms balcony boast the awesome view of the skyline, the white-sand shore and the pool. Inviting as the view was, the same holds true to the activities that the people below were doing. Getting sun-tanned, lazing around the pool while grabbing nice drinks and dibbles at the poolside bar.

chill are we not, Gabby :)

 

The Beach

Now what is Phuket without the beaches, I mean it is the creme of the crop or the gorgeous to my tan! Kata Beach was simply amazing, the great stretch of the blue ocean gently kissing the white sand while altogether inviting the beach bums for a dip! We were there just this May, the waves were a bit rough and guess what, it became a paradise that every surfer ever dreamt of!

The family lazed the day around, us couples drinking wine and eating dibbles while the little girl was playing catch with the waves, building sand castle and giggled a little bit too much, boy was she having fun!

Parasailing is at THB 1500 

What we love: The Resort

> 2 outdoor pools, 1 with the poolside bar the other with jacuzzi and a pizzeria by the side

> kiddie pool

> nice beach with nice view and nice people! lots of activities to waste your baht's with like parasailing, surf-boarding, banana boat and many more! Local vendors on the beach at the ready in case you need a change of outfits!

> great room and great amenities which includes wifi both in-room and lobby, fitness centre, boutique, taxi, tour services at the counter and friendly staff.

> location is accessible to the tourist spots and outdoor shops including restaurants, souvenir shops, convenience store and great view around the area.

What we love less: 

The breakfast buffet was not delectable at all! Good ol'bacon and egg was what we had for four mornings! The food was redundant and not a bit tasty. It was so ordinary for a great hotel such as KBRS. The dairy section like yogurt was runny, but they provide fruit slices as compliments, cheese and cold cuts were just of two choices. It was pork sausages, grilled tomatoes with cheese and mashed or boiled potatoes every single morning served at the buffet table!

 

Activities we had:

We booked ourselves a taxi/ guide to our mini tour to some of Phuket's famous attractions.

 

off to yet another fun-filled day! 

 

Karon View Point

http://www.phuket.com/attractions/kata-viewpoint.htm

 

A refreshing outlook of the island and the Great Andaman Sea! Bring coins of THB 10 and let your eyes feast on Phuket's great stretched of turquoise water, white sands and awesome rock formations through the telescope provided in the area.

 

ATV Experience

Rough ride but so worth it! Gabby enjoyed every twists and hard-turns, bumps and steep to downhill terrain. While, I was just dealing with it lol but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless. It worries me not for I was driving alone and Gabby was with her Papa so YOLO, go at it!

ATV experience is THB 1000/ adult for 30 mins and THB 600/ passenger;kid

 

Elephant Trekking

 

This was the least of our favourite during the trip, more likely, we DID NOT enjoy it at all. While our guide was polite and knows what he was doing, we just kind of felt pity for the elephant. For sure, the gentle giant can manage the weight but none of the whole thing made sense. Elephants are not meant to carry people on their backs for us  to view some piece of woodlands that were neither breath-taking nor beautiful but rugged and smelly!

Our consolation was that, during the ride, the elephants were not forced to just walk around, they do it at their own pace while feeding in between. After the ride, they were made to bathe and cool down, fed and patted gently.

Elephant Trekking is at THB 900/adult for 30 mins THB 500/kid

A close encounter with the elephant. This one stole a kiss from me before this photo was taken. His trunk gently brushed my shoulders!

 

Big Buddha

What made it different from The Big Buddha in Hong Kong was, of course, the size of it, the one in HK was extra huge and extra miles long for your legs to climb! Big Buddha in Phuket is laziness at your doorstep! Our taxi drove us all the way to the top, few stair-steps and voila, the Big Buddha for you to photograph on!

Inside were praying monks, around it were different golden statues of Buddha, souvenirs and a great view of the island.

 

Temples at Chalong Subdistrict

What more can I say, the temples were just gorgeous! After visiting one temple to the other, a little over the streets were souvenir shops and food stalls. 

 

Bee Farm

Not quite what we expected! When speaking about "bee farm" one might think that you will be seeing live bees making honey in their beehive buzzing all around without a care in the world. Apparently, "bee farm" in Phuket seems to be like a grocery store for packed honey and any other goods that has anything to do with honey!

We ended up shopping from honey wines to honey chocolates and not even one encounter with a live bee and seeing actual honey production/harvesting. Well, at least I get to take home some organic and mature honey with me back to SG.

 

Weekend Night Market

For whatever reason, a market has to be at night and on a weekend was something I did not bother to know. Fret not if you won't be there on weekends, a lot of street vendors any time of the day I may say. The night market was more like a one-stop shop for all this stuff. While it was great being there on a Sunday, packed with people and stuff, night market was one of those I enjoyed most n Phuket. I won't be telling you about shopping, because I hoarded like it was my last day in Phuket where in fact we were there on our very first day!

I will tell you about the food that had us gaga all over. From fish cakes to fried insects and whole bunch of catchy ones! What I recommend most was their chili paste rice and fish cakes! Buy toys for your kids too!

 

The FOOD 

up for grubs we are! the resto behind were we had our lunch! The place interior is a collectors haven and the food was great!

What we love most in Phuket was their selection of gastronomic treats! Be it inside a resto, sidewalk or pretty much around the area, go and just grab a Thai platter! The best was Fried Fish in Chilli Sauce and Shrimp in Chilli Sauce. Desserts won't be a second choice either! You will love it just the same and literally eat it all day!

THB 1000/meal for 3 adults is more than enough! Get a load of Thai platter and satisfy your gluttony. There is no place as cheap and as yummy as what Phuket has to offer! Foodie all the way!

Gabby just can't wait to have her face stuffed with this oreo-mango ice cream made from fresh milk and fruits! This size is at THB 80 and oh so yummy!

Phuket FantaSea and International Buffet

While Gabby was having fun courtesy of the Carnival-like set-up around the area, allow me to say Phuket FantaSea was a little bit overrated! The tickets we paid were for the cultural show and the International Buffet, the fun fair outside was just a bonus spending.

Phuket Fantasea show was all about the cultural experience of Thailand's myth and mystery. The story that was presented to us through stage display and performance was not as catchy and magical. It was rather boring. The dancers were not as great, they can in fact even do more than dancing if I may say. The only thing that was worthy of an hour of the butt-warming boring show was the animals exhibition around the end of the show.

The international buffet at Golden Kinnaree was not as golden as far as experiences are concerned. The place might be great with intricate designs but the food was just average and too few a choices for one to have claimed an international buffet.

Fantasea Cultural Theme Show and the International Buffet at Golden Kinnaree is at THB 2200/adult THB 1800/kid. The price is not worth it, not even worth for half a price of what we paid! I suggest going on an island hopping instead, you will go places with the money being paid here.

 

Phuket, nothing short of amazing!

the city sleeps during the day, everyone's at the beach, it gets crowded and alive during the night!

So how was our Phuket adventure? It was one for the books and the best vacation by far! From beautiful beaches, elegant temples, gastronomic treats, and cheap finds! Phuket has been nothing short of amazing. Chill was it, just like how Gabby is in this photo!

MarBonADecadeAndMore :)

05/14-17/2017

**MarBonGabXPhuket**  **TheTravellingTrioAndTheJewelofAndaman**