Wednesday, June 27, 2007

A Few Grey Strands

To my best friend,
Happy Birthday to you!!
A year older and wiser (i hope - hahah) too. We love you so very much!

Birthday boy and his daughter in a tuk tuk - Phuket, Thailand

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Sexy 40

To Sexy 40,
Happy birthday! Wishing you all the good things in life.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Phuket Revisited - Day 2

We slept like logs. A family of logs. Melodious snoring courtesy of my better half, lulled us all into the night.

Bedtime games. Kakak played sudoku while adik fought for the lives of his power rangers

Woke up as early as 7am - that's pretty early according to my vacation standard. I couldn't believe it myself. I was always among the last to leave the bed.

After several attempts to make the brood open their eyes, we managed to get ready for breakfast with a plan to hit the beach soon after.

Breakfast was great. Wasn't a large spread but there weren't that many people either. Again, we had to explain to the kids about halal and haram when it comes to food. We did a quick round of explaining while having dinner the day before but they were too starving to pay attention.

Adik feasting on eggs and pancakes

This time around, we took our time to explain to them and after several series of questions, they managed to understand the essence of the concept.

So off we went to the beach. It was scorching hot and the sea breeze was alternately warm. I did not jump into the Andaman Sea or I'll attract sharks from far away (get it? Heheh). The beach was just across the road but the hotel did not provide any amenities - which as pretty strange at first coz we saw endless lines of lounge chairs and colorful shades. We learned later on, that the chairs and shades were owned by private individuals. We paid TB200 and were allowed stay as long as we liked.

Lounge chairs and colorful shades by the beach

The kids had fun in the sea with their dad. I napped and napped and napped. There were people coming to you to sell various stuff from wrist watches to Thai silk. They were quite cheap, judging by the amount of watches bought by the Americans not far from where were seated.

Judging by the position of the sun, we were at the beach for quite some time. None of us bothered to look at the watch. Nobody really cared coz we were having so much fun under the sun.

Posing for a tv commercial

The handsome lifeguard

The kids retired to shore and started to build sand castle only to find that they didn't have the right set of 'equipment'. So they resorted to burying Deli instead. While being buried, Deli told me that he saw a topless girl at the beach. Let's just say that he's not happy with what he saw. I couldn't agree more. There's nothing much too see when you don't have your glasses with you now, do you? Hahah.

Trying to build a sand castle

They got bored and buried their dad instead

Made our way back to the hotel when it was too hot to even step on the sand. Freshened up and decided to let the kids nap for a bit before venturing out again.

Had a late lunch at a little restaurant nearby the hotel. Food was good and cheap. Kakak happily ordered seafood pizza. She was amazed to find a squid with tentacles still attached to its body. She spent more time ogling rather than eating it.

Steamed rice made to a shape of either a turtle or a snowman. We couldn't tell.

Seafood pizza

Introducing - the squid.

After lunch, we visited Karma again. Kakak and I had foot massages while Deli braved for a Thai massage. Adik didn't want to get any and ended up playing games on my mobile. One and a half hour later, we're all set for more adventure.

Kakak enjoying the foot massage

First stop - the nearby plaza. By plaza, I meant rows and rows of tents with all sorts of merchandise. Mostly branded clothes, shoes and bags. The kind of stuff that you can get in Petaling Street. Didn't get anything except for a nightgown for kakak and Cars t-shirt for adik.

All set for more adventure after the foot massage

Sunset in Phuket

We walked to Karon town, totally drenched in sweat. It was not that far but it was not a breezy afternoon. There were a lot of tailoring shops in that town, not to mention money changer booths. Walked around and stopped by 7-11 for snacks and anything Thai-ish to stare at. I liked the Marlboro packs and thought they'd make great souvenirs for the 'dragons' back in the office. Deli talked me into buying the packs at the airport instead so we left 7-11 and went in a mini market called Big Ten. They had nice souvenir items and the prices were quite reasonable. We bought some stuff for family and friends. I found a couple of shot glasses that I fancied. They were cheap!

Lays chips - Thai version

Shot glasses bearing a tuk tuk and Phuket Island

We walked to the hotel, again drenched in sweat but this time around, managed to pass through some cool clubs along the way.

One thing I forgot to mention - when we were walking to Karon town, we heard buzzing noises coming from the lamp posts. Imagine our surprise when we looked up and saw endless electrical cables entangled among themselves, looking overloaded and about to snap anytime. It's all over town and what a scary view it was!

By the time we reached our room, we were too tired to move a muscle and resorted to calling room service. Took them less then 20 mins to deliver our orders which was the fastest room service by far (according to my experience). We ordered seafood fried rice, tom yam kung (a must!), steamed rice and fried rice noodle with prawns. We were immediately transported to (food) heaven!

Kakak having supper. The bowl on the right was the heavenly tom yam kung!

Singha drinking water - an instant favourite


Saw a little bit of telly and Deli's melodious snoring lulled us all into the night.

Nighty night, princess.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Phuket Revisited - Day 1

The kids were excited. Deli was anxious. I was dying to tell him where we will be spending the next 4 days. It was hard to contain the excitement.

I was proud to say that I managed to keep it a secret. He knew we're going to a beach but that was just about it. I told him he need not worry about a thing. All he had to do was call for a cab to take us to LCCT and of course, be our walking ATM while we were there.

The cab arrived at 8.50am. We hauled our bags and happily boarded the cab. I switched on my phone to text my sister and mom that we're on our way to the airport. That was when I saw a message from Air Asia.

Our flight was delayed to 3.15pm.

It was a reflexed action - I handed the phone to Deli and he read the text out loud. So we made a deal with the cab driver to send us back to the house and for him to come back at 1pm.

I didn't want to use my O2 for this trip, so I used my old SE K750i instead. When I switched phones, I must have forgotten to switch it on. Otherwise, I would have noticed the message from Air Asia sooner.

Potong stim betul.

When were back in the house, I realized that Deli had officially found out.

He was all smiles though I was not too sure if it's because he finally found out or because he approved of the destination. Heheh. Too late to change practically anything dear!

Finally at 1pm, we hauled our bags and boarded the cab (again). Took us an hour to reach LCCT. It was our first time there so we were walking around trying to figure out where to go and the sort.

Checked in our bags soon after and headed to McDonald's for lunch. It was packed with people. Full to the brim. We stood for a good 20 minutes before finding decent seats.

Hungry monster

Waited for a half hour before boarding the plane. The ride was fully packed with exited and chirpy people. We couldn't help but join the merry atmosphere. It's been a while since we last had a proper vacation.

On the flight, the kids were occupied with books and crayons. Deli was engrossed in killing little people (I think) with his PSP. I did nothing but silently pray for a safe flight and hopefully, a great vacation.

In-flight activities

Adik shared the seat with Leo the Lion

Kakak shared the seat with Ginger the Bear

It was supposed to be an hour and 15 mins flight but we landed at Phuket International Airport 15 mins earlier than expected. Either those people miscalculated the duration or the pilot really know how to fly the craft! Heheh.

We were among the last to leave the plane and ended up at the end of the immigration queue. Fortunately, a kind immigration officer showed us to the express lane for elderly and special cases. One special case coming right up! Heheh.

Standing at the end of the queue before being shown to the express lane.

We were asked to surrender our passports and had our pictures taken for security purposes. The kids actually stood in front of the camera, all smiles and posed appropriately. They did what we told them to do without the usual why, how come, how, etc. Fantastic!

Everything went well at the airport. We took an airport cab to the hotel. It was an hour and 15 mins journey but it was worth the trip. There were no buses but instead people were hauled up at the back of a truck or doorless mini vans. We were too busy admiring the guts of those people that we totally forgot to take their pictures.

Heroine Circle - The first female statues I've ever seen in my life (I'm pretty sure about this)

Phuket to the right and Sarasin Bridge to the left

Reached the hotel almost at 6pm. Checked in, freshen up and we were ready for our first meal in Phuket. We were so hungry, we could eat a cow. So to speak. Heheh.

We ordered a couple of dishes - one of them was tom yam kung. I have never ever tasted a yummier tom yam kung than this. It was simply divine. It made all the tom yam kung i've ever had in my life tasted nothing more than water. Believe me. I never, ever kid about good food.

The kids had vege pizza

I had glass noodle with prawns wrapped in egg

One satisfied customer

We ate and posed for the camera like there's no tomorrow. Somehow, nobody was tired from the journey. Maybe it's the tom yam kung. Hahah.

Kakak and Deli posed for the famous cameraman - Adik

My (sometimes) angelic kids

Where we stayed in Phuket

Since it was too early for bed and everyone was really full, we decided to walk to the rows of shops next to the hotel. I for one, was glad we took that walk. We found a massage parlor that offered cheap massages. As cheap as TB250 per hour for various massages - foot, head & shoulder, Thai and blablabla. That's around RM25. I know - it's cheap! The place was called Karma. We went in and tried the foot massage. The owner of the shop did the session herself. No words could describe the experience. It was just the perfect thing to do before calling it a night.

Enjoying my foot massage. Pict was taken by a jealous photographer. Hahah.



Sunday, June 10, 2007

Sawadeekhap



Hi peeps! I'm blogging from fantastic and beautiful Phuket.

Will be back soon!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

The Mean Me

Three more hours before I can shut off my pc and leave the office.

I hope I could leave it for good because I am about done dealing with idiots and morons.

I received one particular email from a manager that would literally irritate anyone who reads it.

Being a manager does not mean that you have to be mean, arrogant and ^&*%.

Her email was decorated with CAPITAL LETTERS, bold letters and accompanied by it’s-all-your-fault stench.

Little did she know that it was actually her fault and I have every meeting minutes and documents to prove it – yes!!

I am not a mean person by nature.

If she wants to play hard ball, just bring it on coz she will lose this battle.

She forgot that this is a project and she is reporting TO ME. Her managerial post doesn’t mean a thing in this project.

So.

Just for today, I will be mean to her because I fell like it.

The world is a cruel place. Nothing is fair.


p/s: I’m off to ****** tomorrow. Yey!