Phuket - Last Day in Paradise

Max finally persuaded me to try out the local food stall down the road from the resort. So, as the sky was clear on the 5th day of our stay in Phuket (14 June 2013), we set off for the local food stall - for our breakfast.

And a good choice it was indeed. There was a little shed facing the roadside and people were cooking various things there. Next to the stove/table where a young man was preparing food, there was a big pot (of congee, I later saw as one policeman ordered some for takeaway), and other pots (made of bamboo?) to hold the dim-sums. Inside, there were pink, green and yellow dim-sums.

People were cooking, chatting and sitting at the tables behind the shed and in front of the house. It was a very relaxed atmosphere - I gather very normal too for the locals. We were totally out of place and got a few stares, though not unfriendly.

The food was delicious - although probably not advisable for every-day as it was high on oil and sugar. We had 2 cups of tea, 1 pancake (roti mix made very thin and then cooked with scrambled eggs inside, coated with a generous serving of condensed milk and sugar, and cut into pieces), 2 dumplings and various little dim-sums. After this, we got a bit concerned that maybe we don't have enough bahts for it - Max only had 600baht left in his wallet as we had not been able to find the currency exchange place open (the 'currency exchange place' is a little stall opposite the resort and even the resort staff recommended for us to change money there instead of at the resort, as the resort's rate was low).

However, Max enquired the price of our meal so far and found it was well below the money we still had left. So we ordered another pancake and more tea. All together, we spent 120baht that morning on our delicious meal. Unbelievably cheap!

Finally, Max gets to try out the place he had walked by so many times.

 

The house at the back and seating area at the front - this part of the seating area was uncovered and because of the rain it was quite empty.

 

The owners hard at work preparing the meals. Big pot of congee to the right in the picture.

 

Our extra strong, extra sweet tea - seems the this is the way the Thai like their tea!

 

What is in here? Hmmm...only water, okay.

 

Dumplings for breakfast - much yummer than muesli!

 

Max, waiting to find out how much our meal is

 

One of the customers had a little girl with her and the little girl found a bicycle lying in the back, which she promptly began playing with. No-one seemed to mind. She was very curious about us and was wandering about our table. The bicycle was worn out at the seat was broken, but that did not stop her from enjoying it nonetheless.

 

The 'pancake' - we never did find out what it was called in Thai.

The whole place was set up very casual - with the house at the back, where the owner's lived, clothes hanging from a clothes line to the left of the house, random things scattered about and toys laying about. At the front of the house, there was seating place and a few people eating their breakfast. But most of the customers seem to get takeaway - small its and bits in clear plastic bags. Very very different to a breakfast cafe in Auckland. A welcome change :)

We went for a long walk again during the day - and this time we got lucky with the sun out and no rain! We turned right from the road in front of the hotel and went exploring the streets where locals lived - some were at work and some were sitting around in their house or in their shops. All in all, it was very relaxed, unlike a busy work day back home. I wish we could live here! Such a different way of life - such a different way of living, of being. In the end, is it worth it to rush around, trying to better yourself and your environment, studying, working hard, stressing - is it worth it? I don't know. Of course, living in a western country as its advantages. Clean streets, efficiency, good healthcare, social welfare, education. I guess it is a trade off we have decided to make, and hope it's the better choice.

We were wondering how much our resort does not have a shrine in front of it - as we had seen in Bangkok? Well, we finally found it!

 

It was a bit hidden in the corner, behind the front walls!

 

This is a picture of taken from in front of the hotel lobby - it is the opposite side of the street.

 

A close up of the outside of Curry Night - there were massage parlours right next to it at the botton (Curry Night is upstairs) and each time we passed by the ladies there would ask us: "massage?".

 

We found some cows/bulls grazing

 

 

Lush green all around

 

We also finally found the beach Max had been looking for! It was hidden behind a steep street! It was mostly empty, save for 2 dogs and one man in his boat. There was a restaurant looking out to the sea but no customers there. On the way, we also saw some old women sitting in the sheds cutting some vegetables.

 

Lots of boats were on the sea

 

 

One that looked like a house!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The street, going back from the beach

 

 

On the way there and back, we passed by this incomplete building (this part of Phuket seems to have lots of construction going on) - this particular building could be accessed by a narrow ramp made of 2 thin strips of wood. Dangerous!

 

And roosters in cages

 

A pink house on the side of the street...

 

...next to a blue house.

 

We also found the mosque

 

A local joint :)

 

We found another beach - this one not so pretty!

 

We couldn't figure our whether the black stuff on the beach was oil or black sand? It was sparkling in the sun though, so maybe black sand?

 

 

We ventured onto a side street (which is where we found the second, not so pretty beach) and on the way we got a closer view of the cow/bull.

Back at the main road was this little guy on top of the tallest pole - the Lizard King of the Road.

 

 

He was really not very scared of us giants.

I was feeling a bit tired after our long walk in the sun so we had lunch at the resort - Chicken with basil. I must say, it was not as nice as the other food we had eaten (but was much much better than the ever-so-praised Swasdeee restaurant). I had a yummy coconut, which was ample compensation, and we had a nice view of the sea.

Here's one of these huge centipedes all curled up for his day time sleep. This was in the garden, on the way to our room.

 

We spotted this hunter-cat prowling the balcony at the end of the hallway, next to our room. The cats here look distinctly different to those in New Zealand. Maybe they are a different kind of cat?

 

Lunch at the Edge

 

 

 

 

 

 

As our last dinner, we headed to Curry Night again. Ah, we will miss the good food!

 

 

Am I in the picture?