Last Friday I paid RM3.80 to stand all the way from Serdang to Nilai in a stinky Komuter. Another RM4 was to sit from Nilai to LCCT on a shuttle bus that took forever to get there. Furthermore, they asked us to get down and get on another coach at KLIA because the one I was in had terminated its service. So I did and the bus conductor had the nerve to ask me to pay the fare again or to show him my ticket. Whichever, I could not tell from his gestures. I was tired so I also pointed him my previous coach and then he left me be (sigh).Why dear country, why? I am not saying that our neighbor’s public transportation service is that superb. There are countless standing-in-the-packed-MRT moments but it compensates by having good ventilation system and moving quite fast. And there are many times I thought the interchange bus will not show up but when it does, the driver always has the courtesy to greet you good day.
Unfortunately, I totally totally forgot how the public transportation system was like back here. I should have known better when I found myself spending one hour on the Komuter, two hours on the shuttle buses and another hour on the flight to visit my husband. The four hours taken is equal to a nonstop KL-Singapore bus ride! Yes Abi, I admit to taking the convenience of traveling in your car for granted now. I will treat it with extra care from this very instant (kiss).
On Saturday, I planned to sleep in but my husband was all excited to cook his famous mee hoon for breakfast. So I had to get up and keep him company in the kitchen. My eyes were wide opened when the poor baby dropped a glass bowl onto the floor. It slipped off of his hands while he was washing it. The bowl shattered into thousand pieces and one landed on my calf! Thank God it did not stick right into my flesh and it was a close call, that one. The moral from this incident is never prepare breakfast if you are sleepy (grin).
Anyway the commotion did not affect Abi’s frying skill at all. I ate perhaps the best fried mee hoon, in a long while. On a full stomach, we spent the rest of the day watching two and a quarter movies and continued my initial plan for the day: sleeping in.
We woke up early Sunday morning, put on our sport attire and began jogging to the nearest wet market. I needed to buy some ingredients for cooking lunch, though. So we already killed two birds before breakfast and masala thosai was a darn delicious morning catch!
We walked home to drop the grocery and took out my husband’s GT bicycle for a ride along the beach behind our apartment. I finally got to test the bike around Pasir Ris Park. It was different kind of fun feeling but for workout purpose, I still prefer cycling at the gym in KL (tongue).Abi had invited his cousin over from JB. I prepared my renowned gulai lemak, and my husband’s first-time bilis sambal was not bad at all! Our honorable guest had his second and third helping that afternoon, enough said. Then three of us went out for coffee and chilled out for the rest of the evening.
The boys sent me to the airport for a flight back to KL. The cousin’s brother fetched me from LCCT and we stopped for supper on the way to my house. Finally, I hit the bed at one in the morning hoping I would not miss the 9.30am clock-in (wink).
We chartered a pickup-truck passenger vehicle (PPV) to take us for hotel check-in. Well, it was not actually hotel hotel, more like an inn but it was enough for the six of us as the location was strategic for our activities in Patong. After a so-so lunch and rest, we checked out the beach just across the road. And we were glad to have discovered a stall selling hawker food with a Malay speaking waitress. Their delicious soup noodles and pancakes had compensated our lunch. Enough said.
Basically, the first day was spent exploring the area until night fall. We took our time adjusting to the different local time from but similar prayer time with KL; the sweeter drinks but came with thoughtful plain water jug; the spoken English where using grammatically correct language sounded insulting; the spoken Thai (with us) assuming we are locals; to list a few.
We spent that last night on the island by having a really good Malay-Thai style dinner. The driver dropped us at a roadside stall whose owner is Malaysian residing and running a good food business in Phuket. The nice heavy meal had forced us walk along Bangla Road (tongue). The clubbing scene was different from any other places I had been to so far. Visitors should come for a look-see or the experience of it because the night life here is happening, man! Live bands were playing in numerous premises here, not restricted to clubs only. Plus, people watching had never been this amusing (wink). Oh you need to come see for yourself to even comprehend what I was saying.
We checked-out on the fourth day after dipping in the morning seawater of Patong Beach and doing a bit of shopping just outside the inn (yes, it was that convenient). The driver took us to Karon beach, Kata lookout point, cashew nut factory, souvenir store and Premium Outlet before finally sending us to the airport. Funny how we gathered all our Thai baht left because we still want to have our last drinks before departure. It was total chaos at the café (grin). Although the flight was an hour delayed we killed the time by playing cards and striking poses near the departure gate. Talk about fun and enjoying it to the very last minute!
There you have it, another beach getaway that we hope to go over again and make it an annual event. Credits must be given to my investor husband, although your “losing” our accommodation fund did give us a little scare. How ironic but you managed to gain it back at low cost in given time like a respectful fund manager (kiss).
