The morning after James Bond Island and l think it is time for an actual day of rest, plus it was time for the Aussie Rules AFL Grand Final!!! With Marty still not feeling very well after his pizza a few nights ago, it meant that it worked in mine and girls favour a sit allowed us to chill. After breakfast Marty headed back to bed for the morning to rest while the girls and l went down to the pool. Was actually really enjoyable just hanging out by the pool, having a swim and play with the girls and a laugh for a change. Following a few hours of pleasure the girls wanted to head back to 'the kids club' for a play, which l reluctantly agreed to after our little mishap the other day. I reassured the staff that l could be contacted either in our room or by the pool! With that, l headed up to the room for some further peace and quiet, watching a movie with Marty.
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| Glorious! |
Seeing Marty was feeling a tad better, in which case he had a little bit of colour returning to his face, we decided to head out to the nearest place that was televising the AFL. We collected the girls on the way and made our way out to the street, finding the Irish pub we had thought about going to was already packed, so instead we stopped off a few metres down the street to an open cafe. It was stifling hot with the cafe only having ceiling fans to circulate the hot air. We grabbed a few sausage rolls, pies (staying in theme for the Aussie ionic day) and slushes and got comfortable for the beginning bounce of the finals. The final ended up being very disappointing with the Hawks flogging Sydney, so we decided to call it quits without even watching it all and head back to the resort.
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| Very fitting for AFL Grand Final Day!!! |
By late afternoon Marty was back to his old self and itching to get back out there to explore some sights so we thought we would head out to the Karon Temple Markets up around the corner. It was a fairly decent size market full of the usual stuff of cheap clothes, jewellery and artifacts. They also showcased alot of Thai food which smelt delicious but for some reason l was a little hesitant of trying due to just getting over my upset tummy yesterday.
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| Girls fascinated in the soap sculpting lady.. |
After walking around the markets we were making our way down to the Red Onion for dinner when l saw this taxi guy parked on the side of the road. After chatting for a bit, we got him down to $1300 Baht for the half day and he would take us to explore Old Phuket Town and the markets. It was a better fee than the $1500 Baht we had quoted earlier by a tuk tuk guy, at least this was going to be in an air conditioned car! His name was Somboon and he seemed really nice, quietly spoken and very pleasant. When we got to the Red Onion for dinner, we saw that Rachel, Brett and the kids from Sydney (Sienna) were having their final dinner out in Thailand, flying home tomorrow. Whilst we waited in the line, we were thanking our lucky stars that we had gotten their early as the line behind us seemed to be going forever! Again, the dinner was delicious and we sort of felt like regulars now, having eaten here at least 2-3 times already.
Seeing we had a full arvo organised already wee ended up hanging by the pool for the morning. So love lounging around under the umbrellas watching the girls play happily (although loudly) and look at the mountains in the background sitting under the blue sky.
Somboon was very punctual and arrived on schedule at the resort to pick us up. It was a very quiet trip as he didn't chat too much, didn't know if this was customary or he just didn't have anything to say. He seemed to speak very good English and answered any questions we had. First stop was the Chinese Temple where the Vegetarian Festival was taking place. This festival is a gruesome way to celebrate the life of animals where in Phuket they abstain from eating meat to promote good health and honor the animals by shoving knives, swords or anything objects really into their faces. I obviously knew nothing about this when we arrived to look at the temple and didn't know how the girls would react, but luckily the festival hadn't gotten too far underway when we arrived. The Chinese Temple itself had alot of locals their attending to their customary celebratory rituals and as we entered l felt very unease and a little fearful as the men gazed in our direction. Next minute we had firecrackers thrown in our direction near our feet, l wasn't feeling too safe or that they wanted us there, so we decided to leave. Out on the streets we passed many food stalls and the road was crowded with celebrations of people and vehicles. It was so hot and after walking up and down the streets, we had to head back up to the meeting point that Somboon was waiting for us. Thankfully we didn't see any gruesome sights of foreign objects sticking out of peoples faces, l think it would have freaked the girls out!
After looking around Somboon pointed out the photo albums which had pictures of people celebrating the Vegetarian Festival from previous years. Even though we didn't see it in the flesh, it still grossed us out, took a bit of explaining to Meg and Boo why people would do this to themselves. Not sure they fully understand....
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| Mind blowing... |
Arriving at the base of the Golden Buddha seemed surreal as l didn't even know that we were going to visit it today. I was so excited as l looked up to see this magnificent huge scaled Thai Buddha impressing the lands below. When we arrived l looked up to see this huge gold Buddha figure sitting with pride, almost making you feel instantly safe that they were watching over the lands below. As we climbed the stairs, what seemed like hundreds, we arrived at the base of the Buddha with sweaty backs and slightly puffing. Everything in Thailand is celebrated with colour and gold and this place was just that. Inside the temple the walls and ceilings were filled with artwork telling a story of the past. It took a long time to try and absorb it all, the girls taking to bowing their heads and practising to pray instead. Outside walking around, l spoke with Somboon who said he had lived here his whole life and never visited this place. I was left dumbfounded and couldn't believe living so close he hadn't been here, not even his children or wife!
Sadly we had to move on and left the Golden Buddha gleaming on top of the hill watching over Phuket and Somboon drove us to the next point of interest, Khoa Rang Hill, the home of the monkeys and an awesome lookout of Phuket Town. When we arrived Somboon went and purchased nuts for the monkeys out of his own money, which he wouldn't let us repay him, and made sure the girls kept close and safe while they fed them. It was so funny as they came out from everywhere, smelling food from far away, suddenly Somboon and the girls were literally surrounded!!! The food run out and as Somboon and the girls walked over to us with their hands in the air, to let the monkeys know they had no more food, we saw a Russian woman hand a monkey a can of coke and an icy pole. As we watched in disgust, Somboom lowered his head stating he hated seeing the monkeys fed that sort of stuff. The Russian tourists all had a chuckle as they watched the monkeys eat their sugary foods but l just felt sick. Totally disgusting, why do people do that? Anyway, we all loved watching the monkeys walk around the rock rails, some carrying their little baby monkeys on their backs.
Somboon led us over to the Phuket Town lookout, which he said was only new being only 3 months old. It gave us awesome panoramic views of Phuket Town below. Pretty spectacular!!!
It was getting late as we continued our journey to the last stop of the day, the Phuket Weekend Markets. Yes, l know, another lot of markets!!! Marty was in his element, were the girls and l were slightly over it. As Somboon dropped us off telling us to take our time, we set off into the huge maze off markets. It was so hot and crowded and to tell you the truth, it was like all the other markets but just on a bigger scale. It didn't off anything new or that we hadn't seen already, but Marty wanted to look around so l tried to keep Meg happy so he could look around in peace. I wasn't very good as she started to whinge half an hour into it, after finding some food along the way, it only quietened her down a little while.
Out on the streets surrounding the markets we got to witness some of the Vegetarian Festival parade, seeing a few people with objects thru their faces. Mostly they were covered in paint and walking around singing. Back inside the maze of the markets we set to finding food, we enjoyed some awesome kebabs and followed it up with caramel popcorn. There were minimal bargains and it was very hard to concentrate on anything trying to keep an eye on the girls, walking in very crowded rows in the markets and having constant loud music in the foreground. This led to everyone getting fed up, Marty cracking it because he couldn't look at all the market and us all calling it quits after a couple of hours being totally over it!! Last stop before heading back to the car was the toilets. Bloody hell, we were definitely shown Thai culture there not even knowing what to do. As l paid to enter the toilet, and paid further for some tissue paper to wipe myself afterwards, l entered the toilet to find l didn't even know which way to face. This was not a toilet to sit on, it was one that you had to squat over and in the end l knew l faced the wrong way as l missed the bowl underneath!!! Whoops, had to have a laugh afterwards, pretty sad that this was my highlight of the markets!!!! Lol
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| Night time festivities of the Chinese Vegetarian Festival... |
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| Heading into the Old Phuket Town Night Markets... |
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| Great was to convert transport to shop! |
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| Always a shrine everywhere you go... |
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| Our delicious kebab meat getting cooked... |
We met Somboon at the car and we drove home in the dark, arriving back at the resort around 8pm. It had been a very jam packed afternoon but we really enjoyed the intimate tour with Somboon who was such a gentleman, quiet and respectful and beautiful with the girls. We ended up tipping him $200 Baht for the day due to it being such a long day, technically it was a full day outing, having set off 7 hours ago....
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| Girls loving there sunnies purchased at the markets! |
Next morning after much deliberation, and Marty not able to make a decision to save himself, l decided we would call in at the ATV riding place up the road. We needed some light fun to entertain us and it would be a great way to get into some of the jungle we had been seeing around the place. For $3600 Baht, which equates to around $120 AUS, we got an hour ride around up in the hills and jungle for an hour. Two blokes took us up the hill and into the jungle, it was a fabulous hour of fun. I rode one with Boo on the back while Marty took Meg with him. Felt like l was back on the farm again, and l think the blokes were a bit surprised that this sheila was keeping up. As we wound up the hill thru the lush bush we arrived at a lookout over Karon. Was absolutely fabulous, you could even see the Big Buddha! Up at the lookout Marty's quad bike conked out in which case he had to take the leaders bike while he got dinked on the other blokes two wheeler. Boo was very surprised, and scared at times too l think, that her mum could ride a quad bike so good. Meg crapped her dakes a few times when Marty went round the corner on two wheels, instead of four!!! We all had a ball, riding fast thru muddy patches and water potholes, totally awesome!! For our efforts, we all sweated like a bitch, but reckon its normal over here! When we arrived back to drop the bikes off we were greeted by a lady who gave us some sanitary wipes to freshen us up, some fruit and some much needed bottled water. While we were refreshing ourselves up the blokes came back with the quad that had conked out, and it sounded rough. Marty went and had a look but had no answers for them, so we bid them farewell and good luck!
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| Time to get wild in the jungle! |
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| Our Thai cowboy leads the way into the dense jungle! |
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| One of the views from a lookout.. |
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| Thumbs up so far!! |
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| Girls think they can drive themselves... |
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| Lush jungle looking down over the ocean below... |
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| Selfie while driving, not recommended probably! |
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| Big Buddha in the distance! |
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| Tinkering to get the bike restarted.. |
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| Ready to go! |
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| Our trusty tour guides.... |
We decided to head back to the resort taking the beach route home, so nice to get our feet in the sand finally. Don't know why but Marty hasn't wanted to have a beach day, but it might be due to having done the WA coast for the last 8 months!!! All beached out....
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| Gorgeous beach.... |
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Thought we'd strike a pose and mimic a bystander we just passed! She wasn't joking though,
she was posing like this for real!!! Can't help but take the piss out of people sometimes! |
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| Life guards life! |
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| Walking back to the resort.... |
Back at Centara Resort it was straight in the pool to cool down and relax for the rest of the afternoon. We even ordered our lunch pool side for a treat with some cocktails for the adults, and mocktails for the girls!!! Was so enjoyable and welcomed by everyone, even Marty had a great time!
That night we set off for another night out, this time to go and see the Thai "lady boys" perform at the Simon Cabaret Show. We were picked up in their bus at the foyer and taken to the show. The process from start to finish was very streamlined and efficient. These Thai people are very smart you know, getting several shows in a night. We had no idea what to expect and l don't know weather Marty was too keen (being a little scared of the "different"). We were shown to our seats in the theatre and even got to order a drink and they brought it out to you! As the show started, Marty and l had our jaws dropped as we couldn't believe how gorgeous these boys, um girls, were! After a while we even forgot and totally just enjoyed the spectacular production. The girls were kept fascinated by the costumes and different sets and stories. The show was a mixture of performances based on different cultures and dancing. We had a little chuckle when it became obvious in parts that we were actually watching men dressed up as gorgeous females when their inflexibility showed at times! The big lady boy was there for comical reasons and totally made the show, his skit having everyone in stitches. In one such time he was looking to pick someone out in the audience, the Asians sitting next to us moved, Marty panicked as the big lady boy made his way up to our area, crapped his pants he was going to be picked, but thankfully it was the Asian bloke next to us who moved!!! Luckily as he had to share a kiss on stage, not sure if Marty would have gone that far for the show!! Lol...
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Boo getting way too accustomed to this resort lifestyle!!!
Getting ready before our night out...
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| Family selfie before we head out for the Simon Cabaret! |
After the show finished we were exited thru the other side of the theatre to were the lady boys were out there to get photos with anyone who wanted them. I didn't know at the time, until l got a pic with one, that there was a set price of $100 Baht per lady boy in the pic!!! I soon found out when l handed them $20 Baht and nearly got pounced on by them for underpaying!!! Soon learnt and rectified the situation, leaving them all happy again. Marty and l could not believe how gorgeous they all were. Totally spectacular in their huge costumes of glitz and glamour. We picked a few out to have pics with, Marty having to have one with the big lady boy, who even gave him a kiss on the cheek!!! Left a huge lip marked with red lipstick on his cheek....at least he laughed about it!
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| $300 Baht!!! |
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| The guy having this pic had to fork over $1200 Baht!!! |
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| Total performers! |
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Funniest moment on the trip...Marty getting a kiss off some
lady boys!!! |
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| Look how good those legs are!!! |
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| This "chick" was absolutely stunning! |
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| Walt Disney bobble heads kept me fascinated on way home..lol |
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| Loved the silhouette! |
On the ride home Meg said she was very scared during the show that 'dad' was going to get picked by the big lady boy to go up on stage with him.....at least the girls know their father. lol. We decided to have ice cream for dinner seeing we had stuffed ourselves for lunch by the pool, the girls loving this idea!!
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