We've all heard the tongue-twister 'She sells seashells by the seashore'. At Phuket's Shell World Museum, she'll sell shells till she's sore on the shore.
The museum was an unexpected find on an afternoon shopping at Jungceylon. It was like strolling along the beach, seeing a huge shell from afar, going towards to pick it up, and discovering that it is complete without chips, the colours still radiant, no barnacles and very pretty. It is very rare to find a big shell that is perfect.
Although the gallery is small (about the floor area of 2 medium-sized shops), I spent over an hour inside because I was just so fascinated by the variety and architecture of the shells. Have you ever wondered why shells are so beautiful when the mollusks, snails and crabs living in them don't rely on looks to attract mates?
Hmm... whilst that's a point to ponder, here're photos of some interesting exhibits in the museum. There are still a lot more very interesting shells to be found in it so it's definitely worth taking a quick educational browse. The interior of the gallery is very simple in order to allow the natural designs of shells to take centrestage as its best decoration.
I didn't bring my DSLR on this trip so the pics are taken with my compact camera. As such, do pardon the pixellations and noise due to the low light condition in the museum. Let's proceed with what I saw and learnt. Shell we? :)
Giant clams, ornate shells, & the pearly nacre of mollusks... a visual harvest beckons. Info panels in front of the glass cases are not cooking instructions but easy to digest facts about the exhibits.
Nestled within Jungceylon, Patong's gem of a shopping establishment, Shell World Museum opens up a world of knowledge about these beautiful gifts from Neptune. Entrance fee : 150bht (S$6).
As concise as a shell is snug, the gallery showcases a large shell collection from different continents. It is open daily from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm & you can expect to spend about half an hour in it.
Fossilised remains of Perisphinctes Ammonites, a prehistoric predatory mollusk much like the squid, octopus & Nautilus seen today. It is estimated that they terrorised the seas for 330 million years, way before the first fish swam in the ocean.
I'm a little confused by the Nautilus explanations. This is a Chambered Nautilus which houses a squid-like creature & believed to have direct prehistoric ancestry (hence the nickname 'living fossil'). Then there's a similar looking shell known as the Paper Nautilus but is actually an egg casing of a species of sea creature(?). I can't be sure I understood the exhibit explanation correctly.
Shell of the horny oysters. Pardon me. I meant Thorny Oysters.
The sea makes art out of our filth. Although the staghorn corals featured here (left pic) grow pretty fast, it is by no means an encouragement for people to start dumping bottles into the sea to get an organic sculpture like this.
FICTION : Giant Clams trap the foot of divers causing them to drown. FACT : They've been hunted almost to extinction as a food source. All species of these Giant Clams are now protected with farms breeding them & then releasing to the wild.
Woo... white conch shells! Called dung-dkar, they are religious symbols of peace and goodness in Tibetan Buddhism. The shells here have a spiral that turns to the left. They are the common conch. It is extremely rare to find a right spiralling conch and is considered to be very sacred. There are only a few in the world.
The gorgeous Australian Staghorn Murex (a.k.a. the Toothed Murex) is home to a species of sea snails found along Northwest Australia & Western Papua New Guinea. Murexes are carnivorous & actually bore holes on the shells of their preys to eat them.
Can you believe this delicate flower-looking thing is actually a shell? It belongs to the family of Star Shells and are very popular with collectors. Imagine stepping on one of these. That would define bittersweet!
I love collecting seashells in my childhood & finding one unusual, perfect shell free of blemishes was always such a thrill. I enjoyed that sense of accomplishment & would cherish that find because it didn't come easy. That's why I never liked buying shells off the shelf. Too easy. Am I masochistic? Or just cheap? 经苦难而争取到，所以特别珍惜。
18 Feb 2011. Our second day in Phuket coincided with a holy day in Thai Buddhism. Like Vesak Day, the major Buddhist festival that celebrates the birth and enlightenment of Buddha, no alcohol is sold and all vices stopped for a day in respectful homage. All the pubs, bars and nightclubs are closed and devout hookers stayed home. I was resigned to having a solemn and early night in the hotel too.
Not a drop of alcohol is sold anywhere during a Buddhist religious day in Thailand. Not at the supermarkets, not at the 24hrs convenience stores, not restaurants, not cafes, and all the nightspots are not open.
Then I received an invitation to a house BBQ party by a friend I've made in Phuket during my first visit. Thank God!! And the house was really a sight to behold. It was just round the corner from my hotel, up a hill, and a total rip-off by the cab to get there (300bht for a 10-minutes ride; that's S$12 for a distance from Orchard Ion to Marina Square) but totally worth it.
Almost as soon as I stepped into the house, I had to bend down and pick up my jaw from the floor. The hillside villa was huge and the view was breathtaking.
The villa sits on the middle of a hill overlooking Patong Beach and costs around S$5 million to build.
This most impressive house I've ever been in has 3 levels - an upper hall that houses the kitchen, 2 dining areas and a generous patio that looks out into the horizon; a middle relaxation hub with a billard table, kick-ass home entertainment system, pool and BBQ pit; and a lower deck plateaued by a small garden carved from the hill.
Trevor invited me to this gorgeous villa he was house-sitting for a friend. He gets to stay there for 6 weeks! I am so jealous!
Initially, I thought Trevor must have struck it rich with his travel agency to afford a dream house like this then he told me he was actually house-sitting. Damn! I was going to ask him to employ me as a live-in butler.
By the way, if you're thinking about booking accomodation, transport or day trips in Phuket, you can look for Trevor. His company is Sby Leisure Travel and Tours. He can really get good rates. Got him to book Le Tong Hotel for me and got about 35% off the internet rates posted on the hotel's website.
Also befriended Gary during the party, the owner of Amethyst Residence in Patong. Didn't get a chance to check out the place or stay there to do a review, but I was told the 1 year-old hotel is pretty popular. It's currently ranked no. 74 out of 186 hotels in Phuket. You could book Amethyst Residence through Trevor too and maybe get a rate better than the internet's.
Imagine sipping wine at the crossroad where the ocean's breath meets the hilly breeze against a backdrop of gentle waves and mountain silhouettes... Feeling a little high and your thoughts sort of leave you... I didn't need to imagine. I was there to experience the divine!
I got to meet quite a few people during that gathering, mostly Caucasian retirees with a huge sense of humour. Amidst laughing at the so many politically incorrect jokes, I found out that to retire in Phuket, you need to be above 60, have 800,000bht (approx. S$33,500) and prove that you have a source of regular monthly income in the form of pension or any other means.
I was told what some Singaporeans do is that they rent out their whole flats for a monthly income and retire this way. Hmm... Maybe I should think about it as an option when my time comes. And hopefully I can own a property like this or get to house-sit it.
Anyway, in the middle of all the chatter and laughter, mostly provided by Ian who should really be a comedian, I lost count of how much wine I drank. I didn't feel tipsy or anything at all but the next morning, I woke up to this...
This is so tragic. It shall be my first and last time sleeping in my own puke!
I had no recollection at all that I puked! Nope. Zero. No idea. I woke up grossed out at the idea of sleeping with my vomit. I think I've been punished for not observing the no-alcohol-on-holy-day rule. Or was I nauseous because I saw this...
There are 2 kinds of R & R one can get at Phuket, Thailand - Rest and Relax on one of its many beaches, or get a load of the Risque and Restricted. More so if you're a farang. The latter R & R comes hunting for you and sex on the beach ceases to be the name of an alcoholic shooter.
Being Chinese, I was mostly spared the hustling by the bar girls and street hookers but I still got my hands filled with boobies, by accident, on the last night of my recent vacation on the island. Had it not been for that tantalising encounter, this fourth trip to Phuket could very well be summarised with a yawn. Then the unexpected following happened...
I'm not a chee koh pek (dirty old man)! I didn't place my hands on her chest, she did it. I swear!
... and this holiday will be remembered as the first time I've ever squeezed fake tits on an ex-man! I like to keep an open mind about life, especially during travels, and I've encountered quite a lot of shockers in my last 30-plus years so very few things actually jolt me, but I was so embarrassed by this 'attack' of the khatoeys (Thai for transsexuals / transvesttites / ladyboys).
The ladyboys can be found near the Blue Lotus pub along Thanon Bangla Road, a popular and busy street lined with open bars & drinking holes.
I was just strolling along the flashy Thanon Bangla Road that starts from the Patong Beach police post and ends at the Jung Ceylon mall... taking photos and videos of the vibrant nightlife where older Caucasian gentlemen are treated like abalones by the flux of Thai women, trying to weave my path in the crowd, minding my own business, doing my own thang... and suddenly a khatoey (the one with the hairband) took my camera, passed it to someone and got that person to take our pictures. The one in glasses quickly joined in.
Respectfully, I placed my hands around their waists when posing for the photos but that's not how they like it. My hands were guided onto their breasts before I know what's happening and it was over before my face had the chance to turn red from the embarrassment.
Throughout the photo-taking, this khatoey kept telling me she has a room available. I think she's hoping I might have the key to open it for her. Like any hot-blooded male, my curiosity was piqued to check out the renovation but I chose not to. If you decide to be a property agent, please always remember to put your key in a holder.
It happened very fast, but I'll not forget how those saline-filled implants felt. I think they were augmented with saline rather than silicone gel because they felt turgid as opposed to the softer and more natural feel of silicone fillings. Not that I've touched silicone ones to compare but this I can be sure... the difference between man-made boobs and natural breasts are like touching hard-boiled eggs and tofu puddings.
But taking photos with these khatoeys on Thanon Blanga is not free. They are like street performers except that they bask their novel sexual deviation and eye-popping costumes for a tip. There is no standard rate but I gave them 100bht (S$4.20) each. I saw 20 and 50bht in their stack too so I guess those amounts will suffice as well.
Is it Lady Gaga? Madonna? Christina Aguilera? Britney Spears?
Transsexualism / transvestism is as well-known a cultural export of Thailand as tom yum, and I think this is where the nation exemplifies the virtue of tolerance and acceptance, ingredients that allow everybody to spice up their soup of life!
If I'm not wrong, Thailand has possibly the most male-to-female transgender people in the world and they've perfected the artistry of drag so don't miss checking them out. In Phuket, apart from the Thanon Bangla ladyboys who pose for photos with you for money, there's the famous Simon Cabaret where the khatoeys impersonate well-known stars in a broadway-like entertainment extravaganza (Ticket price : 600bht).
Some of the clubs, especially those in the gay district of Phuket, have free drag shows nightly.
If you are on a budget, would like to decipher the art of lip-syncing by these female impersonators and adventurous, one alternative is to visit some of the local nightclubs that have these performances. There are some straight clubs that have the shows but your best bet would be the dance clubs at the Phuket gay district. Situated right smack in the middle of Patong town, just look for the prominent Paradise Hotel (it is one of the tallest buildings easily visible); the short street in front of it is where businesses tapping the pink dollar congregate. It's free to watch these shows although you may be approached to purchase a drink. A beer costs between 80 - 100bht.
Wardrobe no malfunction. Some of these drag queens really mimicked the songstress divas they are impersonating with acute precision!
This encounter with the khatoeys of Phuket was my most unforgettable experience during this visit so I'm starting the chronicles of my encounters with this entry. There'll be more posts coming up but I've also yet to complete my backlog of posts about my Cebu trip so I know it'll be a little confusing, but posts about these 2 places will be interspersed.
Hope this entry introduces you to a common sight in Phuket that the tourism authority would rather not focus on and give you an idea of where to go, or avoid, if you want to a 4Rs with 4Ds (Rest & Relax with the Risque & Restricted access to Drag Dolls & Drama Divas) taste of this island resort!
'Sabai' is Thai for the state of being well / good / happy; and repeating the word intensifies the expression to describe a wellness beyond words, to mean "not a care in this world"... a state of super chill euphoria!
And that's the degree of chill-out bliss I've come to associate with Phuket after my two previous trips there. But this time round, instead of chilling, I'll be going on a sea cave canoe adventure. How exciting! The great thing about Phuket is that you can choose to just take it easy and relax, or kick off the sand for some serious aquatic adventures.
8 Dec 10 (Day 3). The cluttered coastline of Phuket's Patong Beach signalled the tourism peak for the island from December to February. We couldn't have been here at a better time.
After the eye-opening tour of KL the day before, it's time to ditch my city garb for breezy beachwear on the third day of our Legend of the Seas Isles of Southeast Asia cruise. The balmy shores of Phuket, Thailand, was our final and last port-of-call before heading back to Singapore. I don't wanna go home!
I find it incredibly exciting to be at a radically different place each day. It's like waking up to a huge present to be unwrapped daily. What's more, getting to these places by cruise means there's never a down moment throughout the journey!
Sawasdee Kaa / Khrup! We're all ready to be tom yum-ed by the tropical flavours in one of Asia's best-loved beach paradise, Phuket!
There isn't a deep port for Legend of the Seas to dock so the big ship was parked some distance away while passengers going for the various shore excursions were ferried to land by smaller boats. I think the ship-to-land transfer takes about 20 minutes and there's no need for immigration clearance. This is also the best time to get a great shot of the entire Legend of the Seas ship.
Unlike our Port Klang arrival in the early morning at 7:00 am, we were docked off Phuket's coastal waters at 1:00 pm, which gave us ample time to catch up on rest and have lunch before embarking on another full day of activities.
For Phuket, I'm signed up for the Sea Cave Canoe Adventure tour which costs US$139. It is a very popular shore excursion so do book early with the onboard shore excursion tour desk or you can book it online. The Sea Cave Canoe Adventure lasts from 1:30 pm to 8:30 pm (approx. 7 hours).
There are eight shore excursions offered onboard Legend of the Seas and there's something to suit every preference be it a leisurely eat-shop-massage tours, cultural explorations of the temples in Phuket, or sea adventures to Phang Nga Bay and its surrounding islets.
As with the land tour in KL, we were issued with a group number and once on land, we just need to look for the respective guide holding our corresponding digits. It can be quite chaotic because there isn't a proper holding area for administration so you basically have to look for your group number and stick close to the guide.
Again, I was almost left behind as I was taking pictures and slow to report to my group's guide. Photography can be such a hazard! Thankfully I located them while they were making their way to the coach bus. It'll be an hour's drive to a small jetty where we'll transfer to a boat and take another hour to reach our canoe site.
To get to the sea caves, we took a 1-hour coach ride from Patong Beach to a jetty and took a 1-hour boat ride to a cluster of islets for the canoe adventure.
Basically, our area of exploration will be around a group of islets located off Phang Nga Bay. There are around 120 islets of various sizes littered in that region of the Andaman Sea. According to the guide, we'll visit three islands (Ko Panak, Ko Hong, and Ko Lawa Yai) and two caves (Ko Hong cave and bat cave).
However, the islands and caves we'll ultimately end up visiting is dependent on the tide conditions on site. At times, the tide would be too high and floods the passages leading through the caves or there's not enough water for paddling. What if we are inside the caves and the tide comes in or resides huh?
The hour-long boat ride was comfortable enough although I would think that those suffering from seasickness may want to medicate before boarding. Biscuits, fruits (tangerines, bananas and longans) and an assortment of drinks (mineral water, fizzy drinks and fresh coconut juice) were provided.
All food onboard is included on the tour package so there's no need to pay anything extra except for tips if you like the services of the staff. Personally, I found the service to be really good and the staff friendly. Then again, it's Thailand we're talking about. They're not called the land of smiles for nothing. So time to just sit back, sip a cold drink and feel the constant wind while the distant islands grow from hazy specks in the horizon to towering cliffs.
I haven't basked under the glazing heat of the burning star in a long time but this day, I'm determined to be a sun stalker!
Along the way, there's lots of time to just let your mind unwind. It is one of those occasions where you don't need to consciously tell your mind to quiet but it just does. Even with the hum of the boat's engine and hoo-ing wind, you sort of stop hearing them as you project your vision far into the horizon, thoughts half-forming and released quickly to the scene before you.
I was half dreaming about what's it like inside the secret lagoons I'm about to visit.
Our first stop is Ko Hong, which is shaped like a donut with a crust of limestone hills circling to form a recluse pool within. This unique feature of the island is also what got it its name. 'Hong' means 'room' in Thai. So Ko Hong literally means 'room island' to reflect the reclusive chamber it hides within.
Ko Hong is shaped like a donut. The inner lagoon is accessible by a few sea tunnels but most are usually flooded or too narrow for canoes to pass through except for the one openning that's commonly used.
Intersection between what is most likely Ko Hong (left) and Ko Panak (right). I can't quite recall because we passed by quite a lot of islet ranges to the point I can't tell where one ends and the other starts.
Apparently, there's another much bigger, developed and inhabited island called Koh Hong nearer to the shores of Phuket. It's easy to get these two islands confused. This Ko Hong is much smaller and uninhabited.
Limestone islets are made of dense layers of calcium bicarbonate compacted together and rose out of the sea due to colliding tectonic plates movements. And depending on the other types of minerals trapped with them, these sea hills may be streaked or coloured a rusty red, grey or black.
All eyes on a whole new world inside Ko Hong. It seemed impossible but the stillness here managed to be of sharp contrast to the calm seas outside.
Our sea canoes were really just inflatable kayaks that looked like three bananas stapled together at the ends. I liked the fact that they're open-faced so there's no restriction in movements but sitting on them require skill.
Because there's no backing like the traditional fibreglass-hulled canoe, I had to constantly straighten my back and hold my core muscles to keep balance and sit upright. A great workout for the abs! But at times, I just gave up holding that stance and just lie all the way down and just admire the passing scenery.
Initially I thought we had to paddle our own canoes but thankfully not. Each canoe comes with a 'boatman' and can sit two. I was fortunate to have the canoe all to myself since I was on the tour alone. This allowed me to move around to take videos and photos of the whole experience. And it's good that they came with a paddling guide too because the wooden paddles were really heavy!
Breaking the silhouette. I'm addicted to photographing the sun that day...
We spent about 10 minutes at Ko Hong's inner lagoon to enjoy the otherwordly silence and take photos of rock formations that resembled a sitting buddha and the head of a dog. Waterproof bags were issued onboard the boat for us to bring our cameras onto the canoes.
I was tempted to jump into the jade green lagoon waters a couple of times to have a feel of what's it like but decided not to for fear that my Nikon D90, Canon Ixus 980IS and LG Optimus One decide to join me too. Always try to trap some air in the waterproof bag before sealing it so that if it drops into the water, it'll float.
As we were leaving Ko Hong, my attention was pointed to this huge boulder that really resembled the head of a piranha or some fierce, prehistoric fish. This gallery of nature is astonishingly stocked with prolific promontories, beautiful cascading cliffs and artful stones. What an eyeful! I felt so small and in constant awe coming sooooo close to the power of Gaia.
Nature imitating nature... Watch out for that monster fish! It is exhilarating to encounter such bizarre likeness of beings especially when they are handcrafted by nature herself.
And that was only our first stop. Next up, we're going to explore the bat cave and its internal lagoon. I wonder if it'll be just as breathtaking... To get to it, we had to board our boat again and take a 30 minutes ride there. We'd actually passed by the bat cave earlier before reaching Ko Hong so we were back-tracing.
This is the entrance to the bat cave. Facing the solitude of the sea for the most part of our journey, it's easy to forget that we weren't the only ones exploring the Phang Nga Bay islets.
On hindsight, tunneling through the bat cave was breathtaking alright. It made me breathless because it stank. I thought the smell was only characteristic of bat dwellings on land where their droppings are trapped on cave grounds but since the sea bats have a natural flushing pool below them, the cave shouldn't smell. But the air was pretty foul.
Not only that, it was pitch dark inside and for a moment I felt panicky not knowing when the darkness was going to end. We were given torches but the black was so dense, I could only see the small halo projected onto the cave's ceiling in trying to spot the bats.
The interior of the cave is like a gallery for mangroves. Here you can find the twisted roots of the swamp-dwelling plants forming massive organic sculptures.
As for the bats, well, they kinda blended with the wall so I didn't find looking at them to be of particular interest and it's somewhat eerie when your torch catches their eyes and they glowed. It's as if there's something sinister above staring at you. Oh, and always keep your mouth closed when looking up unless you want your kisses to smell like the cave.
The best part about this tour was seeing light again. Although the total darkness took some mental adjustments, it was a pretty short paddle through the grotto to reach the internal estuary. It must've been low tide during our visit because the water was murky and muddy.
Scenery-wise, the place had a sea-jungle feel with mangroves spearing out of the water amongst a surrounding wall of greens. Eons ago, these islets together with Phuket and Krabi were supposedly traversable by foot but the land was eventually drowned out, creating these sea hills and mountains instead. Their connected past must explain why this species of monkey was found on this island that seem to spring out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean.
Saw this poor monkey with only one arm. Too bad I don't have any bananas to offer it but thankfully someone else did. You can bring bananas and fruits along to feed the island monkeys. There're quite a lot of them.
Following the canoe around the bat cave, we came back onboard and lunch was waiting for us. Well, they call it lunch but having it at around 4:00 pm, it's more like a very early dinner. Food is served late so have a full meal before coming on this tour. So, what's for our lunchner?
I love, love, llllloooooovvvvvveeeee Thai food. I don't remember ever having had a bad meal in Thailand and I'm the kind who loves it just as much at the streetside foodstalls as it is in the restaurants. Carrying on the tradition of tasty food, the yum yums onboard didn't disappoint either.
We had quite a spread with chicken cubes stir-fried with cashew nut in spicy sauce, deep-fried fish and vegetable fritters, prawns, whole fish, fried rice, stir-fry mixed vegetable and the white version of tom yum soup.
While we were having lunch, the boat drove us to the nearby Ko Lawa Yai. The boat was anchored some distance to shore so that we could leap right off the deck and swim or paddle the floating bananas to shore. This time we do our own paddling.
I wanted to see Ko Lawa Yai so I borrowed one of the canoes. Man, these things are heavy! And the paddle carved from a single wooden block might as well have acted as a dumbell in the gym. I've never felt more strenuous paddling that short distance to shore and I'm an ex-dragonboater! The lactic build-up in my shoulders were so extreme using that paddle, I had to rest mid-way and I would like to emphasize again that the boat to shore distance was very short. At most only about 150m.
Ko Lawa Yai is rather desserted with just one main dwelling in sight. If you enjoy watching grass grow, you will like this place.
On shore, there's really nothing much to see. I don't think the island gets many visitors. The beach was nothing to shout about as the surrounding water was brackish without any signs of marine life. The only indication that it is clean was by comparison to the black drift twig flakes floating the length of the shoreline. It's that kind where once you take a dip, they'll cling on to your body like loose tea leaves in a cup.
Just me and the sea. How strangely the mix of fear in not knowing what lies beneath the waters and awe of the scene before me brings about a deep sense of calm.
So I shelved the idea of swimming in it and decided to paddle around a bit more. It was a very different feeling paddling here as compared to Singapore because back home, everywhere we paddle, we're not far from civilisation.
Here, there were no breakwaters, no skyscrapers, no giant ferries wheel, no expressways... just me, my canoe and the stretch of ocean and islands before me. I felt powerless yet very much in control.
By the time we were heading back to Phuket, the sun I was stalking was beginning to assemble his bodyguard of stars with their moon commander preparing a roll call. Our boat was headed in the direction of the sunset and so I chased it some more down its golden path with some parting shots...
I didn't get their names, but this newlywed Singaporean couple were on their honeymoon. When I was about to take their shot, the husband gave his wife a spontaneous kiss! Aww... so sweet! May their marriage be a smooth long sail into the sunset.
Not just the sights, but the people who made this a memorable excursion... Kup khoon khrup to the crew onboard, my canoe guide, and Stephanie and Suzanna form Singapore!
What a beautiful end to a wonderful day of memorable adventures at the sea caves! I'll definitely come back for more in the very near future. In fact, I'm coming to Phuket again from 17 - 21 Feb 2011... Woohoo!
Thank you Royal Caribbean and Omy.sg for the opportunity to sit here and admire this picturesque sunset.
With this account of my amazing experience to explore the oceanic of nature, I've come to the end of my blog series on my 5D4N adventure onboard Legend of the Seas, Isles of Southeast Asia cruise. I hope you've enjoyed the many chapters that showed you what's it like and what you can expect from a luxury cruise holiday.
Although I've not been on other cruises to compare, I would say that nobody could have done it better than Royal Caribbean. The service is just superb and the ship is simply beautiful.
