Reality Escapes Her.: Holiday@MAI KHAO, PHUKET (Pt2)

Driving About, Day 2.

It's hot in Phuket, so make sure you stay hydrated!

With untainted liquids, that is ;)
Had nowhere to put my shell stash so I soaked them in the hotels wine glasses and almost drank it.
#improvisationfail

Since Mai Khao is a secluded getaway,
Dimps and I decided to spend our second day driving around other parts of the island.

It was cheaper for us to rent a car with the hotel than book one prior strangely.
1200baht instead of 1600baht (RM120/RM160) for a Toyota Vios/day.

Oh ya! Finally got to take a picture of RENAISSANCE entrance on the way out :)

When it comes to thai textile, I'm a huge Jim Thompson fan
(And not because he disappeared in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.)

And for those of you who don't know, they have 2 factory outlets in Phuket!

Drove to Canal Village just to raid it!
Makes great (and less touristy) souvenier for family and friends plus a good time to stock up on printed day bags and scarves.

Here is a KL picture peek of my entire collection (Minus 1 or 2 still in my family home)
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(Think the cushions are Jim Thompson too. My housemate is such a fan also!)

While there, Dimps got me this to add to it!

LOVE! :)

Anyhow, it was a scenic 40 minute drive to Patong that we enjoyed while listening to Thai pop on the radio.

Found ourselves under Jungceylon, Rat-U-Thit Road at Food Haven for lunch!
I finally deviated from less oily/extra spicy Pad Thai and opted for less oily/extra spicy glass noodles.

Adventurous much?
I just know what I like :)

From there we walked to the infamous Bangla Road but strippers need sleep too.
So we drove to Patong Beach for tea instead.

And in Thailand, tea for me is frozen coconut juice!
So glad we didn't stay near Patong.. The water looks like Milo :(

However, the unswimmable areas furthur down look pretty decent.

And you can park your car by the roadside to sample a bunch of motorbike-makeshift food stalls,
where we found banana pancakes!

..or what I called Thai Roti Canai!
Only 40baht (RM4) for us 'Singaporean Tourists'.
We assumed everyone thought so because we speak good England.
Owh, I mean English :)

On a side note, driving about Phuket was pretty scary because we noticed a lot of trucks tilting from overload.

We were hunting from Premium Mall but their website failed us and we ended up going back and forth around the island. So for the record, the huge outlet mall is further down from Bypass Road.

No pictures because we were so glad to finally find it (After 2 hours) and when we did, Dimps left me alone and lost me. Seriously. I was alone for 40 minutes not knowing how to find him because he changed his sim card and didn't think to leave me the number :'((
HE LOST ME!
*Ok, to be fair, I run around/get distracted a lot*
So when he found me, he didn't let me out of his sight for the rest of the trip:)

All in all, it was a long day and we just wanted to have a quick dinner wherever and head back to Mai Khao.
Made our way to Phuket Town for random restauranting.

It's called Fine Day.

It came off as a youthful Thai filled restaurant that isn't very authentically Thai.
Little did we know..

Phuket Town is NOT for tourists.
SPICIEST THAI FOOD EVER!
And not even by request! SO. GOOD ;')))))
I even ate rice just so the tom yam wouldn't burn a hole through to my kidneys.

It was Saturday night and there were fireworks nearby that we got to watch while eating.
Add to that, the super friendly non english speaking owner gave us free shots!
Highly recommend Fine Day at Chumphon Road to any spicy food lovers who are in Phuket Town who want to migle with young Thai people instead of tourists.

Lux Lounging, Day 3!

Another morning of nipping the buffet spread..

..and their breakfast ice cream :)
It's a holiday right?

Took a walk around RENAISSANCE again to ease the guilt.

Child pool area with slide next to the nursery.

We spotted a grasshopper amongts the lush greenery...

..and I asked Dimps if we should give it to a Thai person to fry.
He said only if I eat it.
-______________________-"

Went back to the pool by the beach...

And decided we should try to counter-photosynthesize the food we ate in the sun :)

Was quite windy so swimming was a no-no as the waves were pretty high..

...but no one said I couldn't dip my toes in it's remnants.

A couple hours and a bath later, we found ourselves peckish so we decided to have a bite...

..with the best view at the hotel lounge of the sun setting.

So nice to nestle under the light warmth of the day :)

Not without something to drink, of course :)
The deli at the hotel had tons of interesting coffee table books..

This was my favourite book, to Dimps horror.
This book was far cuter though.

It made me miss all my champagne sippin' ladies in KL!

Came dinner time, we decided to check out Sala Resort and Spa next door..

Awesome water lobby :)

And unique bling bird cage lights I'm going to try to recreate someday!

Yes, I was still gushing over the deco.

Who wouldn't want this at the side of their garden?

Glad we managed to reach their fine dining fusion

Thai restaurant by sunset...

But unfortunately, the ambience was to make up for the underwhelming food.

Basil chicken and cashew with vegetables.

Chilli and lime fish.

I guess Living in KL where great Thai food is so affordable and having more than decent local food all about Phuket, the hoity toity restaurant seemed somewhat disappointing.

Ah well, the ambience an sitting on their big tree swings in the dark together was well worth the visit to Sala :)

Check Out, Day 4.

Packed our bags by 2 and checked out.