Phuket Aquarium.

We know Phuket is famous for beaches, spas and good seafood. How many of us have been to the Aquarium in Phuket? I decided to visit the Aquarium on my last trip there. I booked a taxi for a round trip from Patong Beach. It cost me 900 Baht and the journey, one way, took about 40 minutes.

I paid 100 Baht to gain entrance. I thought it was pretty reasonable; in fact, it was really inexpensive compared to Singapore's Underwater World. Later, I found out that the locals pay 20 Baht only. If only I had spoken some Thai, I could have passed off as a local!

The main entrance:

Exhibits at the main entrance (including skeletons of a dugong and a small whale):

I had to show my entrance ticket to this guy to get into the Aquarium proper:

Oh yes, there was a touch pool too. Nothing dangerous. Full of sea cucumbers and starfish:

OK, I forgot the name of this shrimp. I know it is not a Mantis Shrimp or a Boxer Shrimp. Harlequin Shrimp? No. Anyone knows?

Piranha! First time I got to see a few of this up close. I didn't know they had gold flakes on their bodies. Menacing looking creatures:

Beautiful but poisonous Lion Fish:

Cute Hermit Crab:

The travellator was not working but it was a short walk through this walk through aquarium compared to the  one in Singapore's Underwater World.

This was the highlight of the visit! A turtle hatchery. I have never seen a turtle hatchery in real life. This was located outside the Aquarium and I had to take a long walk to see it. Most visitors didn't bother to take the walk. There were many of these pools, each pool was home to turtles of the same age from weeks old to months old. I think the Thais are doing a good thing for Nature here:

Souvenir shop. Singaporean me must do a bit of shopping to feel complete after an educational trip:

A day at the beach in Phuket.

I rented a deck chair on Patong Beach for ThaiBaht100 which allowed me to lounge there under a beach umbrella for hours:

I ordered a young coconut from a vendor for ThaiBaht50. Really good!

After I was done with it:

I also ordered pineapple! A pack of 3 slices for only ThaiBaht30! So sweet and juicy! I had one slice before remembering to take a photo here:

All gone:

There are so many different types of vendors plying the beach, trying to sell stuff to tourists. Some were selling sarongs, sunglasses and even luggage bags! This guy was trying to sell some hats:

Not easy trying to make a living on the beach!

Oh yes, don't forget to apply lots of sunblock. Ouch.

Good Thai restaurant in Jung Ceylon, Phuket.

This was at the same Thai restaurant I went to with my parents in January in Jung Ceylon, Phuket. They had a new drink on offer at ThaiBaht90:

But I still preferred the dessert in a young coconut for ThaiBaht85. I know it is fattening but so yummy!

Green curry and I could choose chicken or pork. I chose pork. In Singapore, it is usually chicken. I can't remember the price for this but it was probably ThaiBaht100+.

Interesting: white rice, brown rice and barley! Healthier than just white rice! ThaiBaht30 or so.

The sweet and sour fish was for about Thaibaht385! Really good value for money. It was really good too.

A similar dish in Singapore would have cost almost twice as much!

Related post:
Scenes from Phuket.

Good and cheap Japanese food in Phuket!

In January, I blogged about how I went on a cruise with my parents on the Star Virgo. I said there is very good and cheap food in Phuket and we can find it in Jung Ceylon, the air conditioned mall there. Well, I went back to Phuket on a vacation last month and I went back to Jung Ceylon for good and cheap Japanese food! ($100 = ThaiBaht 2,350)

The display:

 The real stuff:

  

The display:

The real stuff:

This Tonkatsu set was the real stuff and was only ThaiBaht120 in price! That's less than S$6.00! That's a real bargain!

All these at FUJI Japanese restaurant in Jung Ceylon, Phuket:

Enjoy beautiful Jung Ceylon by night after dinner:

I overheard a European lady saying that she saved for 3 years before being able to afford her holiday in Phuket. Singaporeans are so lucky that Phuket as a holiday destination is inexpensive due to its proximity and the availability of budget airlines.

Scenes from Phuket.

We saved some money on land tour in Phuket this time because I was just there early last year on a 4D3N holiday with a friend and know of the big mall, Jung Ceylon (which is the old name for Phuket). The mall is at least as big as Bugis Junction here in Singapore.

So, we went ashore, free and easy, not having to worry about waking up very early to join loads of fellow tourists packed into tour buses. We got into a Tuk Tuk to bring us to Jung Ceylon for 200 baht (maximum of 4 passengers). This is a picture of the Tuk Tuk that later took us back from Jung Ceylon to the Patong Beach Jetty for another 200 baht:

I told my mom that Jung Ceylon has good and cheap facial treatments and the photo below was of an offer that caught our eyes. Amazing and true! 359 baht is something like S$16! I don't think my dad was thrilled about getting a facial treatment but even he was impressed. Truly value for money! We tipped our therapists 100 baht each at the end of the session. They deserved it.

 My parents getting their facial treatment:

 This was the restaurant in Jung Ceylon we had lunch at:

 Thai poh piah (spring rolls):

 Kai lan, stir fried with oyster sauce:

 Pineapple rice:

 Glass noodles (tong fen in Chinese) with King Prawns:

 Prawn pancakes (yummy!):

Dessert! Heavenly coconut milk, red bean, water chestnut, jackfruit and sea coconut all in a young coconut! For only 85 baht (roughly S$3.50):

 My mom demonstrating how to get the flesh carved out from the young coconut:

 Round and round with the spoon:

 Succulent coconut flesh:

 Wow! That's kung fu!

I miss Phuket already. I am definitely going back again soon. :)

Star Cruise to Penang and Phuket.

I was just sorting through my SD cards when I found one which has some travel photos and videos taken while I was on holiday on the Super Star Virgo some time ago. Nice memories and I would like to share some of these. I could just plonk these in my investment blog, ASSI, but since I am trying to declutter that blog, I started a new blog for these:

This is the ship's pool deck with their new water slide:

Penang's Cruise Centre which was still under construction on this trip:

 

A spanking new mall, Queensbay Mall:

 

A must whenever I visit Penang is a visit to this shop to buy Nutmeg Oil, which is good for muscle aches, headaches and stomach aches. Apparently, Penang makes the best Nutmeg Oil, being home to vast nutmeg plantations. My Malaysian friends tell me to only buy Nutmeg Oil from Penang and not Melaka:

These were the tenders which ferried us between the ship and Penang. Now, it's no longer necessary as the cruise centre in Penang has been completed and cruise ships could dock next to the cruise centre. So, passengers could just walk down a ramp from the ship to go on land. My parents and I used the new cruise centre when we took the same ship to Penang earlier this year.

Our ship, Super Star Virgo, as taken through the window of a tender on our way back to the ship:

A beautiful sunrise as we got into Phuket, which was a lot more fun than Penang:

Plenty of these wooden boats with propellars on very long shafts in Patong Beach:

 Taxis or "tut-tuts" in Phuket:

Lunch in Phuket Town, authentic "Pat Tai":

Nothing like a cool glass of coconut juice topped with succulent coconut flesh in the sweltering afternoon heat.  Guess what? It was only 60c a glass! I had 4 glasses!

Patong Beach in the late afternoon:

Very reassuring. The Thais are ready if a tsunami ever hits again:

Beautiful, isn't it?

Makes me wanna pack my bags and go off on a holiday again.
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