Patong & Phuket Town : 22 Aug 2013

This is our Day 2 in Phuket, Rocker57 and I. We were staying at Ayara Hilltops Boutique Resort and Spa. For some beach pictures of Surin beach and activities we did on Day 1, check out blog post on Surin Beach, Phuket.

We had free breakfast in the hotel. They serve a combination of Thai, Western & Japanese cuisine.

                           The pastry corner. The pastries were really delectable.

     The melted white and dark chocolate table in foreground on the right, followed by juice & fresh fruits section and way back is the cheese, salads and coldcuts sections.

On the left is the cereal corner, while the middle round table has either Thai or Western spread.

 The cheese on crackers were delightful. The pork sausage was tasty and nice but the bacon was over fried, tough and hard to bite.

The mixed omelet was a dismay as it was overcooked on the outside as well as on the inside. No melting cheese oozing out...all well done. Haiz.

 The miniature Chinese Crullers were nice, fluffy and tasty. Went well with the dark chocolate but not the white chocolate. The white chocolate was too sweet. I ate the same combination two days in a row....finger licking good.

A small sample of almost everything at the round table. Nothing spectacular. That was all I ate, no second helping.

 Freshly blended carrot and apple juice without sugar. It was nice to get fresh juice instead of the norm. A refreshing change.

Care to join me?

We walked across the road from the hotel to the taxi stand. The rates are as follows :

The charges stated here is for 1 cab/taxi. We were thinking of checking out Patong today and then Phuket town tomorrow. Midway, we did our math and realised that there isn't much to see after talking to our taxi driver. So, we renegotiate with him to take us around the island (as we wish between Patong & Phuket town) for 8 hours for 2,000 baht.

Our first must see stop is the Patong Harley Davidson shop. They have bikes for rent as well as apparels for sale. No pictures allowed in the apparel shop. A short chat with the lady owner found out that they moved from Hatyai to Phuket few years ago. She was kinda busy and wasn't very friendly, so we checked out the apparels, bought a T-shirt, a souvenir and left. Next stop???

Hard Rock Cafe :

Below, shopping paradise for bargain hunters. If Malaysians are complaining about foreigners manning the shops in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, they will feel at home here. Because, it is also manned by foreigners from India, Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Check out this purple colored chopper outside Big Mum shop. Cool eh? Big Mum shop tailor make boots, jackets, belts, etc. See below some of the custom made items on display.

 Another few shots of Patong Shopping Paradise. 

Sighted this chopper outside a tattoo shop. Behind the tattoo shop is where we had our lunch. We are eating Italian. Owned by Italian. The head waiter is from Pakistan. Been working there for almost two years. Says life is OK.

The pizza is thin crust. It was cheese, meat and fresh pineapple. How do I know it is fresh and not canned pineapples? Because the pineapple is sour, duh! We liked the pizza. But not the aglio olio pasta. It was too dry, lack of garlic, no chopped parsley nor crushed red pepper flakes. The 'young' coconut was 'older' than me!!! Sigh.

Now, compare Patong Beach and Surin Beach....Patong beach is congested and full of activities. While Surin beach is quiet and more laid back. We much prefer the latter. Hence, we only stopped for photographs (for the blog). Somehow, when people get older, they much prefer quiet, serene and tranquility. Guess our preference clearly indicates we are getting old.

After this, we visited Phuket Old town. It pales in comparison to our historical city Melaka. If you were to ask me....well, it isn't that old, really. I think and know Penang is much older and has better heritage building than in Phuket. Well, that is just my opinion. And yes, I know you don't care what I think. LOL.

If this is considered oldest herb shop in Phuket...well, well, well...they need to come to Malaysia to see what is old. In my hometown, we still have Chinese Medical Halls much older than this.

I strongly believe that the wooden doors and windows are original while the tiles aren't. Well, what say you?

Weather was hot and humid, so our next stopped was a targeted place of visit for Rocker57. Obviously, a place called Rider Cafe.

 Candid shot of Rocker57. SURPRISE!!! Hehehehe....

The coffee was good, so Rocker57 had two. Incidentally, the air-brush helmets on display are for sale. So are the T-shirts.

Rider Cafe
Yaowarad Road 30
Phuket

Tel : +66 7625 8481
Opening hours : 10am - 11pm daily.

If you need a reliable, trustworthy cab driver, call Tham (name card below). He has a college-going son and a young daughter aged 10. He is supporting his nucleus family, his own family and his wife's family. So, give him a call and let him be of service to you when you are in Phuket. He learned to speak English so that he can earn more by bringing tourist around.

 We are pleased with his services and engaged him to fetch us to the airport.

As some roads are in Thai, Tham helped find a few bike shops for us using his contacts in Phuket.








We next visited MCM, not in picture. Then another bike shop somewhere along a highway.

 How cool is this? One mean machine, man! AWESOME!!

 Check out those cool boots!!! These boots are meant for riding, not walking, dude!

 Spoilt for choice, man oh man.

This was our last stop. We headed "home" to shower and dressed for dinner. Onto Surin beach for Italian dinner again??? Hehehe...

 We chose Al fresco instead...so romantic by the sea...the breeze was very strong. And the food was much better than what we had eaten so far, not the best but at least much better.

 Caesar Salad with bacon. This was really good.

 Penne Arrabbiata. It was quite tasty but the pasta wasn't al dante. Sigh.

The strange veggy was slimy and tasteless but the really tasty potato complements the main dish. I think it was pork ribs. Only the potato was nice. Cooked with onions & herbs.
 

Home sweet home - ZZZZzzzz.