Phuket Town

I want to take you to Phuket Town
I want to take you to Phuket Town
I want to take you to Phuket Town
I want to take you to Phuu-ket Town!

I know it's funky town but this post is gonna take you to sights in mainland Phuket. We went to Wat Chalong, Phromthep Cape, and Baan Teelanka. Three different sights in a day.

Wat Chalong is a famous temple in Phuket. We've been to numerous temples and what's different here is that instead of a quiet atmosphere, you'll hear the amplified noise of firecrackers. People buy the Judas Belt and light it inside a brick structure to send away bad elements. You can't imagine the smoke because the ritual was endless, tourist after tourist.

Phromthep Cape was more nature sightseeing, and maybe catching a quick nap. haha. Remember from this post I said my dad doesn't care so much, he just wants to sleep? You'll see in the photos that he really did just that. :)

from the lighthouse museum, i can see my dad resting on a bench

The highlight of our last day in Phuket is our visit at Baan Teelanka, The Upside Down House. We spent half the day here getting lost in the maze, crawling floors,and solving mysteries a la Mystery Manila. It's a 3-in-1 place that's why it's worth going.. :)

This is my mom, getting lost in the maze with me

Amazing?

My dad and I crawled the floor for that previous photo.. :)

It's a fun place to exercise your mind and to practice creativity. When you plan to go to Phuket, you should give this a try.. :)

Bershka cropped top | Anemone trousers | scarf from 999 Mall

Andaman Sea

August in Phuket is also like August in the Philippines - a little rainy. I was imagining a day at the beach with the sun burning my skin. Yes, I actually like the warmth being under the sun..

I usually wake up at seven and Phuket is an hour late from PST which explains why I woke up around 6am. I stayed at our room's balcony and noticed the rain. I was a little worried our island hopping tour would be cancelled. We only had a few days and I want to make the most of it.

One thing I like traveling with my family is that we're early risers. We all agree that we travel because we want to see other places, and not because we want to sleep at a different bed. We usually don't get tour guides anymore but this time we think we have to because some places are just not contactable through the internet. Anyway, we walked along the beach and had already finished breakfast when the van arrived and took us to our boat.

I'm really grateful I was born into a crazy family because even when the tour guide warned that staying at the front of the boat is super bumpy and could be a little dangerous, my mom allowed my sister and I to stay there and my dad stayed with us. We were sitting on the bench when a crazy wave lifted our butts off and I unfortunately landed on the floor and my sister was laughing hard at me. Yeah, I bruised my bum but it was so fun I didn't care.

Also, when we were taken to the caves, my dad couldn't wait for the canoes to get us so he jumped out of the boat into the water! Who wants to go canoeing the Andaman Sea when you can dive into it? So my sister and I followed my dad and enjoyed Phuket a little different from the people around. We sort of panicked when the tour guide told us that there are a lot of jellyfishes in the area. My sister got stung before and her legs got burned leaving scars on her legs. I don't want that to happen to me so I swam to the canoe where my dad was and looked for my sister who was already climbing back to the boat. That was close! The tour guide really wasn't joking because when we were dropped at a beach where swimming is supposedly safe, there was a child who got stung by a jellyfish.

The whole day around Phang Nga Bay was fun but that canoe experience, for me, was the highlight. The cliffside beaches and rocky mountains can also be seen in the Philippines like Palawan, and the caves in Sagada are as amazing as the ones here. You may think I'm a little biased because it's where I'm from but you can go check the place out and tell me about it after. ;)

my crazy family...

...canoeing...

...and getting to know this harmless jellyfish...

...after this crazy swim.

James Bond Island

I agree that where you're going is as important as who you're going with and traveling with my family is really like traveling with friends. We're crazy and I love it!

Swimmies Cebu swimwear | Anemone shorts | Speedo aqua shoes

The Palms Resort

I flew four times during the first two months of August, but I guess that wasn't enough because I had four more coming, and it's for this trip..

Third weekend of the month, I was at a hotel room so much bigger than my condo unit in Manila. A place where people stay for days is bigger than where I lived for years! Sad, right? Well, it's an RCI-related reservation anyway so I shouldn't feel so bad..

If you travel often, you should consider a membership to RCI. I'm not their ambassador or whatever (I wish, though!) but they really offer a lot of hotel deals than would make your eyes twinkle! My parents are members which means we can have a two-bedroom suite for one week in any of their affiliated hotels around the world, for FREE! That's subject to availability, of course, but platinum members have priority access. Also, they give out discounts and half-price deals. The membership is really worth it.

With one-peso fare airline tickets and a membership with RCI, you could have vacations every weekend, and who doesn't want that? That's why, I said in this post, our family sees every long weekend as an opportunity to go explore the world. August is the Kadayawan month in Davao City, my beloved hometown. The fourth monday of the month was declared as a holiday so Davaoenos can rest after the festivities. That was our go signal. A holiday/long weekend + promo tickets + RCI-affiliated hotel = Go.

This time, that green light took us to Phuket! We spent that weekend at The Palms Resort, never ordering room service because we had our own kitchen and Family Mart is just cheaper! haha.

Oh, I remember something. Whenever we stay at a hotel, we always take photos of the rooms because of course we're happy to be out of our house and being at a different place is just fun, and duh, the rooms are nice! I heard someone said that doing that - taking photos inside the hotel room - is so 'cheap' and it's being 'igrnorante'. Sorry, but I don't care what you think, person! Maybe my kind of fun is cheap for you and again, that crazy hotel room is bigger than my studio unit so yes, I'm being ignorante here.

Anyway, enough about that. Haters gonna hate, right? That's what they do. Bad vibes go away! Here are the photos, hope you enjoy them. :)

My mom and my sister

Here they are again

and again!

This happens all the time. I'm back home after a vacation, wondering why I don't have enough photos of myself. haha.

my dad doesn't care so much. he just wants to sleep...

...and drink his morning coffee...

...while his girls are taking a morning dip...

...because we're mermaids. haha.

Naked Sun swimwear

Don't mind what others say, just do you and have fun!