5D4N Phuket Trip

Finally took the time to sit time and pen this trip that took place about a month ago. For those who have been to Phuket and/or Krabi, you will probably find the same conclusion I am going to give. Krabi is quieter and less crowded than Phuket. Shopping is better in Phuket than Krabi. Main attraction like island-hopping is the same on both Phuket and Krabi, since the popular tours are still Phi Phi Island Tour or 4-Island Tour.

So what is the difference in Phuket as compared to Krabi? I won’t answer that question, because traveling is only fun when you are with the right company. Destination plays a part but the company determines the final outcome. So with my 3 darlings (wife and daughters) along my side, every trip is fun.

We checked in to 2 different Holiday Inn Resorts during this trip – Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao Beach and Holiday Inn Resort Phuket (located along Patong Beach).

The best thing about Holiday Inn Resorts is the Kids Club. The girls love the activities like painting, drawing, exercising, food, watching movies, play with other kids, reading, etc.

 

Jayne learnt about Thai kick-boxing at the Kids Club in Patong. I was so tempted to join in too.

Pool time is a must. You cannot go to Phuket without spending time for a nice suntan or just laze around the pool, it’s almost a sin to not do so. We saw so many foreigners who literally camped near the pool for days, probably only leaving for meals.

Some of the rooms even have their own private pool space, just a step away from the room. Super cool!

Joey and Jayne soaking in the sun and the coolness of the pool.

 

Another reason for choosing Holiday Inn, the rooms we got were the Family Suites and the rooms were huge.

The rooms at Mai Khao Beach.

The girls’ separate room that was linked to ours.

The rooms at Patong.

Kids’ personal TV and playing stations.

 

If you want to read more about the island tours, you can go to my Krabi 4-island tour post to find out more.

This trip to Phuket, we have decided to skip the island tours but instead just spend our time around the resort.

Reading.

 

Cycling. Beware of sunburnt, so put on lots of sunblock.

Play table tennis.

Watch an evening movie with the family.

 

Couple massage. This is not to be missed. Pack the kids to their favourite Kids Club, and parents just book in advance a 90mins full body massage, treat yourself to something nice.

 

If you are more the outdoor type, then go for the water sports.

Beach volleyball.

 

Or just be like us, relax on the beach and enjoy the breeze with a book or drink.

Watch the amazing sunset.

Patong beach just opposite Holiday Inn is crowded with travelers.

What you cannot find in Holiday Inn Mai Khao but at Holiday Inn Patong are the souvenir shops and services.

Personally I prefer Mai Khao, simply because the plan for this trip was to relax and Mai Khao presented a more relaxing environment as compared to Patong. And because of the busyness in Patong, the resort staffs are not as personal. In Mai Khao, the waitresses know us by name and greeted us every time we walked past the dining place with a smile. They will come to our table or suntan beds to ensure that everything is ok. Not to the point of being intrusive but just personal.

One part of this trip at Mai Khao, the four of us had the chance to do batik painting on the beach. It was such nice family time and we enjoyed it totally. With the nice breeze of the evening sun, and the quietness of the surroundings, we completed our task with colorful paintings.

Happy feet happy family.

Parting shots for the relaxing Phuket trip.

4D3N Krabi Trip

Having dreamt about visiting Krabi like 10 years ago, we have finally planned a trip to the island. Never been to Phuket either, many of our friends told us that Krabi is less commercialized and less crowded, which is true. The Krabi International Airport is just a small terminal which is probably like our own Budget Terminal in Singapore.

As told by several websites, we will be expecting the Rain Season in Krabi during Oct-Dec period, or what we usually call the Monsoon Season. However, the fact is during these months, the rain will come to the southern part of Thailand (Krabi, Phuket, Koh Samui, etc) but rain occurs mainly in the evening hours. But just to take note, in the month of November, there were incidents that one could face 2-3 days without sunshine in Krabi. Thankfully, we just encountered probably an hour of rain on the first 2 days, and the remaining 2 days were perfect weather, especially on the day we chose to do the 4-island tour. PTL!

If you are traveling overseas this period, when you stepped into our Changi Airport, you will be pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the Mickey Mouse gang.

Since we arrived quite early into the Transit area, we visited the Butterfly Area too.

 

2 hours of flight and 30mins of taxi ride (600 Baht), we reached our accommodation in Krabi, Holiday Inn Resort.

The place is beautiful and serene. Every place is just so resort feel and the moment we stepped in, we can feel the holiday relaxing mood.

We got a Deluxe Room which was huge, enough to place in another single bed and still much room to walk around.

We have a balcony which faces the sea (or just a glimpse).

More photos of the room.

 

The building we are staying in is the private pool section, where the level 1 guests can just dip into the pool directly from their balcony, how cool!

5 minutes walk from our building, we will reach the main pool area.

Just outside the resort, on both side, you can find the entire stretch of shops with Krabi shopping and food. A few cafes and some nice restaurants. There are stalls that sell cocktails (Tequila Sunrise, Mojito, Screwdriver, etc) for only 100 Baht.

Dinner for all our nights are dined just outside the resort, various Thai food outlets.

Spend the next few evenings to enjoy the amazing sunset just outside the resort along Krabi Island beach. The beach is not one of the most beautiful ones (as compared to the 4-island tour), but the view is spectacular.

 

Take a walk towards the Krabi Town, left of the Holiday Inn Resort. It will be about an hour’s walk all the way to the small town, but you will have lots to look out for to eat and buy along the way.

When you are tired, either go for a nice massage (typically 250-300 Baht for 1 hour full body massage) or just hang out at the bar for a drink and listen to some live music performance. That is the difference I feel between Krabi and Bangkok, Krabi is a more relaxing place, no need to rush around all the time trying to cover as much shopping malls or trying to beat the heavy traffic. Just chill!

On the second day, we sent the girls to the Kids Club in the resort. This is the first time we traveled overseas and left our kids to someone else’s care. Honestly, I was a bit worried about security and others, but the staff were very nice and seeing so many other kids enjoying themselves, I was more assured. And it was one of the best decision we have ever made on an overseas trip. While the girls totally loved the programs lined up for them from 10am to 7pm, Kless and I had the entire day to just laze around, drink coffee, enjoy the peace and rest.

Kless found one of her favourite drink, the Thai Iced Milk Tea. Supercup!

We took a stroll along the beach, so nice to paktor on the beach finally. =)

Looking out for interesting small creatures like the hermit crab.

Or just take photos of the surroundings.

Enjoying a moment of rest when it rained.

Another day another beautiful sunset.

The third day was the 4-island tour and  I will leave this to another post. All in all, this Krabi trip has been one of the most relaxing trip for all of us, we enjoyed the time as a family and also to see some nice things around. 4D3N is just nice, if you are keen to do more than one tour, then you can choose to extend 1-2 days max, more than that would be slightly boring. But if you main purpose is to relax and do nothing, then stay for a week or two, a number of Ang Moh people I spoke to were in Krabi for more than 2 weeks.

All my photos are taken with Canon 5D Mark III, courtesy of Canon Singapore to loan me the set for this trip.