Ibis Patong Beach



We only got one night in Phuket, so we didn’t think that much of where we were going to stay. Our friend Yenni Puspo recommend to stay at Ibis Patong as many of her friends stay there. When we check through Agoda, the rate was approx IDR 450,000 and we utilized our Agoda points. We had their best rate for IDR 250,000 nett per night exclude breakfast! So cheap.


We checked in at 10 pm that night, had no trouble with the check in, and we got a room with swimming pool view as we requested. Great! When we check out, there was one big group from Indonesia who have just arrived. The next morning we realize that lots of tour groups staying at this hotel.




The room is basic, but not very small compared to Ibis in Jakarta that we have stayed so far.The room was ok but need maintenance, there are some spots need to be painted and also water leaks. I might say this is a kind of an “ok hotel”, but didn’t give us the feeling to stay at this hotel on our next visit.



It has a balcony facing the swimming pool.




This is the aisle in front of the hotel.




We can easily find halal food near the hotel, and we ordered a pad thai for our supper.




The hotel is only 5 minutes away from the Patong Beach, this is the road heading to the beach.


We went to the beach after checking out, we just wanted to know how the famous Patong beach looks like. Maybe because we visited early in the morning, we didn’t impress at all, except that it is very clean.




Before visiting Patong, I thought that it would be more “happening” than Bali, but I found out that it was not. If I compare with Kuta area, or Legian area, or Seminyak area..all those places in Bali are more “happening” with the cafés, bars, hotels, restaurants, the shops than those in Patong.


Compare this picture of Patong Hard Rock Café with Bali hard rock café. The Bali hard rock café in Kuta is more sophisticated.




After visiting Phuket, I agree with people saying that Bali is a better place compared to Phuket. The beaches, the temples, the scenes are more beautiful in Bali. Phuket is more old-fashioned than Bali I might say. However I still want to go to Phuket one more time for the islands hopping activities


written on July 10, 2011
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Home Pro Village Phuket


On our way from Big Budha to Promthep Cape, we passed a mall called Home Pro Village, and we saw a Toys R Us inside the mall. So after the sunset at Promthep Cape, we went to this mall. We would like to buy toys for the kiddos:)



This is an open concept mall, with a unique architecture. Inside there are so many cafes and restaurants. The name Home Pro derived from a store selling home equipments just like Ace Hardware. It has also a KFC inside. So after buying some toys at what so called “express Toys R Us” we ended up having dinner at KFC.

I just love this place, this is a modern side of Phuket.

written on July 9, 2011
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Old Town Phuket



When we think about Phuket, first thing cross on our minds will be their sandy beach, the islands hopping, the parties and so on… But don’t ever forget to visit the Old Town Phuket, it offers something real different.

As Old Town Phuket is close to Phuket Bus Terminal, we went there in the morning before going to the airport using the Phuket Airport Bus at 10.30am. We intended to have breakfast at Old Town Phuket, taking pictures and just enjoying the ambience.

The journey from Ibis Patong to Old Town Phuket took approx.one hour with our rented Honda Click. We had to stop at Circle K to ask which way to go:p We were so happy when we found Central Festival shopping mall, yes we were on the right way! Old Town Phuket is a few minutes away from the Central Festival.

When we arrived at Old Town Phuket, we decided to take breakfast before continuing our taking picture session. We stopped at the coffe shop just across a Honda Dealer, just because the place was crowded. We thought that the food must be ok:p We ordered ice milk tea together with roti canai with chicken. The chef could ask us “ayam?” (chicken in indonesian language), so I guess many people coming either from Indonesia or Malaysia to his place.


Our breakfast was delicious, cheap and the most important thing: the food is halal:) No wonder many people come to this place, both tourist and local.



We continue walking and taking pictures. We left our motorcycle near the coffee shop and enjoying the little shops. There are many coffee shops, and most of them are halal. So easy to find halal food at Old Town Phuket.


We went to one street with many shops selling Indonesian Batik.


Don’t forget to take picture of the electricity wire. It is so unique!


At the western end of Rassada Road stands a traffic circle with a fountain which called the Suriyadate Fountain.


The most visited Soi will be the Soi Rommanee, the buildings: coffee shops, guesthouses, souvenir shops are colored beautifully. What I got from mr.google: Soi Rommanee was known as the alley where everyone knew that it was a street brothel. That’s why it was called ‘Rommanee’ (Rommanee in Thai is happiness, and I’m sure what does this happiness mean, don’t you?).


We found one really nice guest house at Soi Rommanee called Phuket346. We stopped there to have a glass of orange juice and also to have a toilet break. Another visit to Phuket, we promise ourselves to stay at Phuket346 guest house.


We didn’t have much time to explore the Old Town Phuket, but from our 2 hours visit, we might say that this place must include in any tourist itinerary when visiting Phuket.

written on July 7, 2011
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Promthep Cape



I might say this is the highlight of our visit in Phuket this time: the Promthep Cape. We were able to see beautiful sunset at the Promthep Cape. We went there after visiting the Big Budha, it was about 45 minutes drive with our Honda Click. We just follow the map and the signs to reach this place. Thanks God we didn't get lost.
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Big Budha

Our first stop with the rented motorcycle is the Central Festival shopping mall which is only 10 minutes away from the Phuket Bus Terminal. It is a huge shopping mall, with a huge parking space for motorcycle :) We didn't explore the entire mall though, we only had a quick lunch, than continued our journey to Promthep Cape. It was really hot at about 2 pm at Phuket, especially when you are riding a motorcycle! hehehe..
On our way to Promthep Cape, we saw the famous Big Budha, so we went there although from what I read, it is still under construction. We head up there with our Honda click, for sure you must be a good motorcycle rider to reach this place.


Yes it was still under construction, but many other tourist visited the place as well. There were so many donation box, the money collected will be used to continue the construction of the big budha.
We found this huge gamelan under the statue, and some tourist were trying to make a beatiful sound from the bell.


We started to climd the steps, and we reached the the top of the steps, we were right underneath the statue, and yes it was HUGE!


The view from the top is stunning, we could see some beaches from the top. For sure the Big Budha is well worth a visit.

written on July 2, 2011
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