We woke up not-that-early in the morning.  It’s another free & easy day. We planned to walk around the town and go to Patong Beach in the afternoon.  So, the purpose of today is to get to know the city more, like the building, the local market, the really really local food and to know how the famous Patong beach looks like.

The breakfast, as usual.

Phuket dimsum

This is what he ordered from the lady boss. Looks common but it is too salty. I noticed that food in Phuket is much more salty, sweeter, hotter or what-so-ever than Malaysian style.

It was Sunday morning. City was still quiet. A bit cloudy and good for me to walk.

Here I found Teow Chew Association of Phuket. I am Teow Chew by ethnic.

The traditional chinese culture to put meaningful quotes at the door frame.

Common advertising in Phuket

Here, On On Hotel, the oldest hotel in Phuket. We spent the last 2 nights here.

The price for On On Hotel is cheap.

I found this beautiful water lily by the road.

Artistic door carving

Thalang Rd. Sino-Portugese style double stores houses.  Notice that, most of the house here, the ground floor operate as shops.

A shop which is filled with ancient style.

A wat (temple) near by Thalang Rd.  Do you see the hair-wire cable?

being naughty

Phuket town in the noon.

I notice there is a shop selling ‘Hokkien mee’ but it is soupy. For me, Hokkien mee is the black soup thick mee type. But Hup said, Penang style Hokkien mee, is soupy, like below. . .(PS: got a comment from Praew that, Hokkien mee is called Mee Hokkien in Thailand. Thanks Praew.)

It is tasty though . . . especially the coconut drink, I really need a cooling drink in such a hot weather.  We have the noodle twice, and we tried the dry style too. The last day before we left the city, we thought to have it again, but the shop was closed.

Normally, we would share a meal from each shop or stalls. In that way, we can try more choice of food.  Hup was still carving for the ma-muang khao niew Khao niew ma moung (PS: thanks for Praew for correction) (which is mango sticky rice).  My experience was, I had it in a local market.  So, I told him to go forward the local market that we see in the map.  Here it is. . .

Ma-muang khao niew

Fresh mango with soft sticky rice . . .60THB

We finished the tasty mango + sticky rice at the corner of the stall itself before carry on the journey. And then, we moved forward to the really local market at Ranong Rd.  Some taxi driver trying to convience us that, the market is only open in the evening (so that we can go with them for other city view).  But the market open in the afternoon too.

Here, it starts the very local food . . .

The local market

Dried insects . . . should I asked how much for one?

Another one, according to my grandma, this is Siamese food.

A well-maintained cultural building near the market.

If you are aware, there is a Backpacker Hostel in the Phuket City too, located at Ranong Rd.  Yes, it is near by to local bus to beaches and the local market too.  You can view the room before deciding whether to stay or not. We had a visit to the room.  It is cozy and clean. A comfortable and suitable place to interact with other backpackers as there are hall and seats available open to the guest here. So, you know what to do if you are on a budget travel.

Here, we reached the local bus station to the beaches.  Yes, we  have been walking around the city since the morning.  This is the transport we took to Patong Beach.  The charge is 25THB/pax to Patong Beach.

So, you know what to do if you are on a budget travel.

Songthaew to beaches. Some buses has window and some are open like this one.

Someone is showing superhero power.

Da~rang Patong Beach

Here you are, famous Patong Beach. For me, Patong Beach is a commercialized beach which full of people.  If you like place with lots of conveniences, this is a place for you.  But if you prefer peaceful and quiet atmosphere, you may want to opt for some other beaches like Kata Beach and Rawai Beach.

Sunny day

Colorful umbrella

Parachute

Landing . . .

Here we saw a stall crowded with people.  Pad Thai is fried keow teow in Thai.  It looks tasty and we wanna have a try too.

Da~rang. Looks really good right. It taste sweet though as they put a big bunch of sugar into the pad thai.  Besides the ‘extra sweet’, as what the chinese always said ‘it is enough fired’.

And if you know me well, jagung, sweet corn, is my all-time-favourite

Remember the tragedy back in 2004? There is a booth with the tsunami photos. One of the biggest incident in the history of Phuket – Indian Ocean Tsunami.

There is a board with tsunami guidelines too.  I think I have to be extra alert on the ‘all clear’ signal as I would go to beach often.

After the sight-seeing, pad thai and photo taking, we on board the bus back to city.  If not mistaken, it was the last bus from Patong to city at 5:30pm.

Bus runs every 30mins interval, with 25THB/pax/way.  We were early, so there was not many people in the bus yet.  When the bus about to go, all the aunties working at the beach had filled the bus.

The journey from Patong Beach to city bus stop was bumpy. It took around 45mins to reach as it would go around to drop off passengers. I did notice that, for the local, they would charge less, like 20THB.

Now, we were back in town again.  The market has different kind of items at the stalls now.

See this big shell.

And this, prawn?

Fried potato ball. Nice, we had this for 15THB.

Food for the local’s dinner.

yes, it’s getting dark. We walked back to the Mook Anda Place Hotel too. It was tiring but, I am contented.

[Chapters]

Home

Day 1 – Phuket City tour

Day 2 – Phang Nga Bay (marvellous view of Phang Nga Bay!!! James Bond Island at Ao Phang Nga National Park)

Day 3 – Phuket City tour 2 + Patong Beach (by local bus!)

Day 4 – Island hoping 2 (Koh Khai Nui + Maya Bay + Loh Samah Bay + Pileh Cove + Viking Cave + Phi Phi Don Ton Sai Bay + Monkey Beach) + Phuket FantaSea Show

Day 5 –  City tour (Sea Gypsy Village + Abalone Farm + Wat Chalong + Phromthep Cape beautiful sunset!)

Day 6 – Heroine Monument & back to KL

Bonus – location & transport  (Tips on travelling to Phuket!)