*~*Miss Pammy Tan*~*

Time for some Thailand updates! I know you've been waiting for it and I was just waiting for pictures! (Ok, mix of waiting, busy and lazy =x)

So Friday night we set of across the Jorhor Baru, Malaysia to take a coach to Kuala Lumpur! It was so crazy, Maude's phone died right at the check point and the girls were late. So there was some confusion, but we all met at the passport checkpoint! whew! We then got a cab to the bus center for the last coach bus but when we got there, the last bus had already left!! so we were stuck with the last last coach bus......only 4 out of 5 of us didn't have sufficient cash because we were smart-asses and thought we could draw out monies from ATMs when we reached...NOT. The only ATM at the bus central was broken!! So our taxi driver (who was quite nice, but just a tad sneaky) drove us around the city to find an ATM. The first 3 were broken and another 2 were locked. So we finally found one and caught the last last bus who waited 45 minutes for us. haha.

inside the last last bus

Note: Due to a public holiday in both Singapore and Malaysia, we paid 50RMT for the bus instead of the usual 30RMT.

So, our bus journey took about 4.5/5 hours to reach Kuala Lumpur central at like 6am. On the bus I was sat next to this irritating Malay guy who kept shoving his elbow into me, though the seats were ginormous, but was sleeping so I didn't want to make a fuss.....I merely wish he'd get off. Surprisingly, about 20 minutes later he in fact got off the bus. I guess he wasn't going all the way to KL! LOL. Next, I'm going to wish for a billion dollars and a naked Orlando Bloom frolicking in my house! Anyway, from the central, we took a cab to another coach area and paid about 8RMT for the hour bus ride to the airport. phewww!!!

getting into a cab at KL central

We had about a 5 hour wait till our flight so we did it the backpacker style and slept on the benches in the back! lol (ok, only I think I'm not that trained yet because I couldn't sleep due to noise and flies so I read, walked around, blew my nose and got in about 30 mins of sleep. lol) We checked in and wandered around a bit looking for the gate....and when we finally found it we were quite relaxed going down the escalator until we heard our names called! (Maude and I somehow got separated from the now 4 other girls, (we picked Ruby's friend up on the way) and were just 2 confused girls wandering) So we ran to our gate where the ticket man was like "last call!! Quick run this way!" So we got onto the plane, which was surprisingly quite empty and found our clan. Once again, cutting it close-but we made it!

sleeping-but not really (--,)

in the empty plane where i could stretch across 3 seats to sleep. lol

It was about an hours flight to Phuket and when we landed we were attacked by these van-cab people. We said we needed to get to Donsak Pier to catch the last ferry and they said $1000 baht each. So we haggled to about 700 baht. We pay the guy monies and get into the van where he tells us we're going somewhere else. So we were like what?! we need to get to Donsak Pier!! and he was like "yea yea Donsak Pier". A couple of hours later, we're in the middle of no where, in front of a travel agency and its raining and were asked to get out because we were in a hurry. So we were told "buy ferry ticket here or you miss last ferry to Koh Panyang" We asked what time the last ferry was, they said 6:45.....that's funny...why does it say 6:30 in the guidebooks? So the lady demands we buy tickets, all the while rushing us saying we were late and the tickets were at a non-negotiable 1150bhat or so (Its actually like half the price if we bought the tickets at Donsak Pier-those bastards!). We paid and were driven to the pier by the meanest Thai cab driver I'd ever met in my life! I'd always thought the Thai people were the friendliest people.....

Outside Phuket's airport

chillin' in the cab (those aren't my feet by the way....mine are much much cuter!!)

nothing but green!

Anyway, we get to the pier at about 6:35 and the taxi driver stops around the corner of the building and was like "run!!" (and still has the cheek to ask for a tip) so we all get out and is like "what the hell", and found out why he said "run" because the last ferry was pulling away already. Guess our guidebooks were right! And once again, cheated. So the taxi driver had left, leaving us with no means of refund or argument. There was another last ferry-but to Koh Samui the Island next to Koh Panyang (We can take another boat from Koh Samui to Koh Panyang to get to our full moon party). We showed the ticket controller our tickets, but he said we needed to buy tickets for Koh Samui and ours were for Koh Panyang. So there was more bickering, begging and insisting that after all, we had paid a ton for those tickets and the agency people practically kidnapped and cheated us. So the man was either understanding or pitied us and let us on. Phew!

We were all tired and confused (or at least I was =x) but the ferry ride was amazing. it was just at the sunset. There was even a rainbow in the sky from the rain stopping. Its like Thailand was giving us a little break from all the rushing we'd had. The breeze was good, the gossip was good and we met our future neighbors (these British guys) who were as equally as lost as we were.

gorgeous sunset

rainbow on the other side

Ruby, Noor, Maude, Me, Nina

Ruby, Rosalyn, Maude, Me, Nina

When we reached Koh Samui, we had a cab take us to "the closest beach to the boats to Koh Panyang". It was Mae Nam Village. We decided to find a place to stay there as there were probably no places to stay at Koh Panyang. We found a nice little room with really friendly owners. 6 of us shared a room for 400bhat a night. haha. Our room was small, simple, but right next to the beach. It was a pretty cute place. The owner's brother also ran the agency for the boats to the full moon party so it was another 700Bhat for a round trip ticket to and from the party. It was pretty good because we got VIP-like passes that allowed us to budge the line later (unfortunately for people who didn't buy tickets earlier) and was flexible timing.

first roadside dinner of beef noodles! yummm!

Pre-drinking in the room. lol

On the speed boat to Koh Panyang!

After some rest and freshening up, we headed off to the full moon party at Koh Panyang. It was so much fun! There was a big climb to the beach but the party was wild. There were people everywhere, stalls of "fuck buckets" (buckets with alcohol and mixer that you drink out of-and apparently get fucked lol) Each area had a different type of music and really drunk people. We found a group of little bars at the end of the beach on top of a hill. There they sold "special shroom shakes", normal alcohol and blunts. lol Being Drunk and High is probably the best feeling in the world, I'll never understand why its illegal.

one of the neighbor guys ;)

The biggest scare of the night was when we had a blunt left over and brought it to the beach to enjoy. I was dancing on the platform when I looked down and there were 2 plainclothes policemen who grabbed Ruby's wrist and ankle (she was holding the blunt) and started searching her. They asked where we were from but let us go later. Ruby says they told her "Don't come back to Koh Panyang" but then her hearing might not have been the best at that moment in time. hahahah Anyway, everyone knows its all a conspiracy and they sell the stuff back to the bar. My only thought was how glad I was we only had 1 left and there was nothing else to accuse us of!

dancing! lol i thought the people in the back were funny

group shot at the bar! Shroom shakes!

random guy LOL

flame throwers!

I'm not sure what we're re-enacting, but I'm sure it MUST be something smart!

Anyway there was a lot going on and it was a great night! One of those "You'd have to be there" type things. We waited till sunrise and got our boat back to Koh Samui. I had so much fun! Good times! ;)

we have like a million of these blur pictures LOL
Apparently, they looked a lot better and a lot clearer at the time...........

the loves

and then stuff happens....bachelor parties, dancing, etc LOL

pow wow with weird bearded men?! I think so!

taking the morning boat home

hello sunrise!

goodbye party!

I didn't get to sleep until quite early in the morning due to some guys coming over to talk to me and party that I didn't have any space to sleep with the other 4 hogging the bed and floor. (Noor left after the party, she had to go back to work) So, I slept till about 5-Just in time for dinner after some tanning! LOL

morning swim when theres no place to sleep! lol

view from our room

We found the shadiest "restaurant" on a street nearby. It was adjoined to a tattoo store. The tattoo artist was a very friendly, quite eccentric man with a beard. Very much like Captain Jack Sparrows-for those of you who've seen Pirates of the Caribbean. LOL He was adorable. Turns out, he had moved to Koh Samui a long time ago for his business (tattooing and paintings) and had been next to this food store ran solely by an old woman he called "mama" She was nice to him and made sure he had enough to eat all the time. In return he helped her take care of her store and helped her take orders, dishes etc. Because she was old and had no children to help. I thought it was the sweetest thing everrr! Which shows that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover because even the weirdest looking people have the kindest hearts! I got Thai green curry with shrimp which was amazing! The tattoo guy claims that Mama has been cooking for so long and so well that she knows how much ingredients to add without even sampling a taste. He also gave us sticky rice deserts that Mama had made for him and he couldn't finish by himself. They were sooo good!

tattoo store to the left, restaurant to the right

my dinner

That night, Ruby, Maude and I also made reservations to go to Koh Tao (A small Island behind Koh Panyang) and back to Phuket (Nina and Rosalyn wanted to leave by themselves). All included it was only 1300bhat. (like half the price of what we paid to get to Koh Samui -.-") The agent was also a friendly man with the cutest kid. It started to rain and we called it an early night.

The next day (Monday), we had breakfast at this cute western breakfast store. The eggs were perfect. And headed off for a fun/relaxing day. Had a dip in the water, visited the big Buddha and got the girls's hair done. (I know there was more to see, but we were slacking....I could always go back cuz I wanted to see the mummified monk. The Big Buddha was everything its name said it was! BIG! We had to take off our shoes to go up the steps to its pavilion over looking the sea. It was a great view and we saw someone let of firecrackers as it was soon to be the Buddha's birthday. There were some stores near by, but the prices were quite touristy I must say. We had a quick drink and Hitch hiked half way back to Mae Nam Village.

Big Buddha

some drinks by the ocean

Halfway back, we stopped at the hair dressers where Ruby got the back of her hair shaved and Maude got extensions. The hairdresser had the cutest little daughter. While I sat down to wait, she ran over and asked to be picked up so she could sit on my lap and play with my sunglasses. The day once again ended when it rained heavily and we got a ride back to our village. We had Banana pancakes for dinner from a roadside stall. By that time, it had stopped raining and we went to the only bar left open for drinks. The pub was nice and very western but with the most adorable Thai bar tender girls. There we met our British neighbors (who weren't our neighbors anymore because they were pussies and moved to an air conditioned room) and agreed to go swimming later on! LOL the water was so nice and cool. The tide had risen and everything was dark, but still fun! Ruby got stung on her arm by a jellyfish, so we had to get out. hahaha. poor thing.

hitch hiking

at the salon

really delicious pancakes! (its like prata with fruit and chocolate)
20 baht each (though he charged us 25, but we didn't say anything....they think we're stupider than we are =o)

The next morning, after breakfast (at the same store we were at the day before), a cab came to pick us up and drove us to another part of the island to catch a boat to Koh Tao. The boat was big and nice to sit on. We tanned on the upper front deck, Switched boats at Koh Panyang and got to Koh Tao about 2 hours later! We decided on a more secluded beach, away from the crowd of the main beach.

For 100bhat each, the cab driver took us to this resort halfway up the hill. It seemed like a pleasant place. The landlady didn't speak a word of English, so the cab driver translated for us. She said a room was 250 baht a night. We thought it was a good deal and went up to look at the room. The room was pleasant and clean so we went back down the hill to get our bags. While getting our bags, the taxi driver said the room was now 300Bhat per night. Why the sudden price raise we asked. He asked the lady and turned back to us in a pretty flustered and embarrassed way said "it just is". Well we asked again for a reasonable explanation than just wanting to rip us off, but she gave none. So we left. The taxi driver charged us another 200bhat to go to the next beach a little further away and right next to the water. It wasn't so much the money, it was the principle. If she'd said another mosquito net or a fan or some water I wouldn't have minded as much as "no reason other than the fact that you all speak good English-thus a license to rip you off". Also, the girls felt that the chained monkey was animal cruelty. Before we left, we talked to a truckload (literally) of guys who'd just arrived about the lack of morality and hope that they get out of there ASAP!

up the hill!

Anyway, the next resort place wash much better. The price much steeper, but the people were nicer and it was literally right next to the beach. The moment we stepped out of the bungalow was the beach-which is actually quite a convenient thing for lazy people like us. Hahaha. We met this nice Swedish woman Elin whom I briefly met on the boat and briefly shared a cab with on the way up. We picked her up and she shared a bungalow with us for 600Bhat a night. She was really nice and interesting to hang out with. She was traveling alone for a month!

our resort (behind those trees, its a lot bigger than it looks lol)

Anyway, we did a little bit of tanning, a little swimming and a little snorkeling! It was pretty cool though most of the coral was dead. Sharp still, but dead. There were a lot of sea cucumber just laying around, colorful fish and jelly like things floating about. I got seriously sun-burnt and couldn't sleep on my back later that night. I think its karma for throwing the helpless sea cucumber around and tearing the strange helpless jelly-like things. =x

We had dinner at our resort's restaurant. They had great shakes. I had tom yum chicken soup with rice. Really delicious, a bit sweeter than I'd have liked though. But the ambiance was great on the beach by candle light. We planned to go on a snorkeling trip the next day. Had a couple of drinks at a small beach bar where the man told us the ticket store for snorkeling opened at 8am.

candle-light dinner

snicker shake

tomato salad

the inside of our bungalow

We got to the agency the next morning wanting to catch the taxi out to the snorkel event.....however, we'd missed it!! (only 1 taxi came to our beach per day) The cab left at 8:30 am and when we looked at the clock, it was 8:32 -.-" It started raining, leaving us no choice but to grab a book and chill at the pavilion at our resort. When the rain let up, we did some exploring on our side of the island. It was so beautiful. If I had to imagine paradise, this beach comes close! (except the coral would have color, It'd be a little less hot, a little less mosquitoes and bugs and a lot easier to get sand out of my swimsuit bottoms! hehe)

these things were everywhere after the rain!

Muade and her book!-which basically sounded like vampire porn!!! *runs*

On this night, we had dinner at the neighbor resort (where we booked the snorkeling trip). I ordered the pineapple fried rice that turned out to be veryyy un-Thai like sadly, cuz I really like pineapple fried rice. But had the best chocolate pancakes for dessert.

our friend....he was a big one! and we spent some time discussing if he was real or not....apparently, he is!

The next morning (Thursday), We woke up extra early for the taxi to take us into town. We stopped at the Snorkel store to pick up gear and were brought to the boat. There were about 5 stops around the island. Still, all the coral was pretty dead. There were some with color left, but not many. The only thing with color were the fish and sea slug things. The fish were fun though. Some were really colorful, and the schools of fish were just like in the movies. they stick together in streams making patterns and sometimes you feel like they're swarming around you. Its so great, everyone should try one day! We had lunch on the boat, nothing to hop about and the last stop was at a very small island for 2 hours where they charged 100bhat to enter. he girls and I decided to swim around the boat. These nice Israeli guys stayed on the boat to chat with me while the girls swam to the other boat for beer. haha Good times!

Going to town! (ok, this is not us but we probably looked something similar to this-except tanner-hahaha)

We got back to our beach in the late afternoon and I took a swim and a nap! heehee. Dinner this night was at the other neighbor resort. It was a good atmosphere, but it smelled really bad. Kinda like the sewer. I had Phat Thai, which was still good despite the smells around us. lol. They had a bar upstairs which was fun. It was such a reefer bar! lol It had neon lights and paint with loud reggae music. We had drinks and a guy working there gave us some free weed. we wanted to buy more off of him, but his boss-who was selling had gone home for the night. So he was soo nice and gave us his stash for free! *gasp* You may have already guessed it, but we had fun!

me taking a nap

serious nap

us with Elin

the friendliest dogs everr!!
they came and made friends and sat by anyone. One stepped on my eye though.....I'd like to think he was trying to thank me for giving him a good head massage!

at the roof top bar

Once again, we woke up early to catch the taxi to the pier. We had a quick breakfast and were prepared for the longest journey everrr!!!!

breakfast by the ocean

The boat ride was good. We sat on deck getting darker for 2 hours (by this time I was trying to avoid the sun like the plague, but its not really possible I suppose, on a tropical island) Switched boats at Koh Samui where they played pretty good movies. Underworld! lol. And there was air conditioning too!! finally! We switched to a bus for about an hour at Suratthani and got to a pit-stop where we switched to a tuk tuk at a stop for 45 minutes, another tuk tuk to an agency where we were picked up by a van which brought us to Phuket. The whole journey took about 13+ hours!!!

boat ride back

We took a cab to the backpackers hotel and met Simon!!! Had dinner at a near by place and went back to crash. The reception ladies were very nice. Maude and I had intended to get a shared room for 200 baht each for the night. But for 50 baht more each we could get our own room. Only, they were out of rooms and only left with the air conditioned ones. However that was 600 baht. We told them we only had 500 and after some discussion, they said we could have it if we didn't turn on the air con- which we were totally fine with. But after a bit more discussion between themselves, they said we could turn on the aircon since we were only going to be there for about 5 hours till we had to leave for the airport! I freaking love the inventor of air conditioning!!!!

Maude and I had a cabbie pick us up at about 6:30am and checked in. We landed back in Kuala Lumpur, took a bus to the central where we hung out for 2 hours, had lunch and a bus back to Singapore. We reached Singapore at about 9+pm where daddy picked me up! And I could get a good shower and sleep!

Phuket passing through the window

Lunch in KL

pit stop on the way to Singapore!

dinner at this place in lavender...i forget what its called but it has freaking awesome food!

It was such a great vacation and crazy experience! I love you girls and miss you already! *Loves*

Notes: Backpacking and going out on a shoestring makes you appreciate the small things in life-like a good shower and a clean bed! lol

For the girls: I'm a VAGatarian! lol

A little more happiness: When I got home, there was a package from the boyfriend waiting for me! woo hoo!!! There was Roberto, a dress, earrings and Disney band-aids among other things! heehee! Thanks baby, you're the sweetest! *loves*

*more pics up when Maude uploads them! Make faces at her if you think you're deprived! lol*

<3
Love, your Toxic.