Hello dear readers! It's me again, still here (as in still in my home, then office, then back home again). Many thanks for those who read The Krabi - Phuket Adventure (Part I & II), though Part I still received the highest hit (EVER). To have actual people reading this blog made my day! So I will try my level best in this post to break the record. This post had nothing to do with the ride but what we did in Krabi. Do read until the end, this one is INTERESTING (for my standard it really is)!
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| The Brotherhood: These were the men I traveled with. This bunch of people are simply the best and I really hoped we'll ride again soon, to somewhere even further. Let's go BROS! |
So after we checked in at the chalet (I somehow managed to forget the name, I'll look for it later), we took a dip in the swimming pool and then planned for a late dinner. Before I venture any deeper into the food domain, let me explain a thing about our Krabi - Phuket Ride. Our fearless leader (Mr. Nizam Sandi) PROMISED us that by joining this ride, the members WILL loose at least a few kilos of weight due to the stress of the ride. Well my dear readers, THAT turns out to be a LIE. While the ride was hard to say the least, the food here was heavenly (bloody delicious Halal food) and dear Allah, CHEAP as hell (I'm very sorry to actually use the word hell, but this is the simplest way to convey what I felt). It's not entirely Mr. Nizam Sandi's fault, his first ride proved his point of loosing weight (but he rode with his wife, who is a professional dietitian thus making eating not so healthy food is a big NO hence the weight lost).
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| The Nasi Kerabu: A delightful feast, traditionally made just for us. And the veggies were fresh! |
Now, back to the late dinner. We were ushered by our newly made friend to his wife's small restaurant near the chalet. It served 'Nasi Kerabu' and burgers among other things, though seems not much, it was really delicious. On top of that, the restaurant was really clean (We wondered if we should take off our shoes before going in). The 'Nasi Kerabu' was fantastic, so was the burger. We ate, we smiled and had this ideas of wanting more, but of course we didn't, hoping to loose some weight (It's true, especially for me. I was in a bad place in my life where weight is a problem). The restaurant owner (an evil person who don't seems to support the idea of us getting thin) then served us with a jug of hot coffee that was so sweet that we thought of cutting off our legs in advance.
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| The Beef Burger: Even the simplest of menu was so delicious . |
We're lucky back then as there was a small night market, which was held only once a year. We were there at that particular night and it was the last day of the yearly night market. So we strolled along the lines of hawkers (not hookers), and watched Siamese bands entertaining a small crowd (not really sure of the genre, but the crowd seems to be enjoying it) and I'd almost ate fried grasshopper of which I always wanted to try (Our 'out of the blue' tour guide stopped me just in time telling me it was non-Halal, as it was prepared by non-Muslim). Thanked Allah for that. Phew...
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| The Insect Feast: I always wanted to try this, but not here, not yet. Maybe next time. |
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The Tour Guide: The women in the left was our newly discovered Tour Guide. She helped us a lot during our stay in Krabi. The man on the right was Mr. Rashdan Hafizi, smiling brightly after hearing the word
massage parlor being mentioned. |
We ended the night happily as we retired for bed. The next day, we went for an island hopping tour. Our other tour guide (the same guy that introduced us to his wife's restaurant) arranged the tour to the four islands which were the Penis Island (yes, penis as in men's genitalia), Poda Beach and two other islands (yup, did it again, I forgot the names). The tour was basically fun (boys + boat + water + girls in bikini = FUN) and we really enjoyed it. We took our sweet time basking in the sun, snorkeling and had quite a nice pre prepared lunch. We also took a lot of photos but Mr. Rusihan Arifin was reluctant to take a dip (he got his own reasons). Nonetheless, even he had fun laughing at Mr. Rashdan Hafizi 'manly' scream as the fishes nibbled his feet while snorkeling.
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| Happy Faces: The boys on a boat ride to the four islands. Mr. Rahdan Hafizi (on the left) and Mr. Rusihan Ariffin (on the right) were laughing about a joke I shared (that's me in the middle). |
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| To Penis Island!: We were pumped to see the Penis Island, not that we haven't see one of those (penis) as all of us got one, but the name of the island was too intriguing and mysterious ; ) |
The experience was out of the world. The deep sea views (for those who snorkeled) was heavenly, almost as beautiful as the ones in Redang Island. The beaches (yes, beaches, not bitches) was also beautiful though once was struck by tsunami that devastated much in its path and killed so many lives. But once there, that tragedy seems so far away as if it never happened. But then again, a moment of silence was in place while we were there, as a reminder of mother natures' power. We spent almost the whole day enjoying the tour and head back to Ao Nang Beach later that day. On the way back to the chalet, we stopped for a quick snack (snack meening another round of unhealthy greasy food), which were deep fried 'everything'. There were fish cakes, fish balls, squid, fishes etc. We pick our poison and the hawker re fried it, again (adding more oil to the already oily food). The snacks were great as we ate it just by the stall as the hawker also provide us with a small mat.
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| Men of Penis Island: A group photo of us, in front of a small cavern that contains lots and lots of penises. |
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| Tsunami Hazard Zone: A reminder of what'd hit Poda Beach years back. The images of the Tsunami still send shivers down my spine. |
Afterward we retired for the day, preparing for the trip to Phuket the next day. That night we had another fantastic feast consists of green curry, Tom Yam Gong, stir fried veggies and other Thai food at one of the many restaurants that served Halal food in Krabi. Then we went for a massage (don't get any wrong ideas. We got a real massage) to rejuvenate ourselves after such a tiring day. We then spent the rest of the night strolling the street of Ao Nang and then to bed.
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| Time to Relax: After a tiring day of touring, sightseeing and eating vigorously, a massage therapy was in place to rejuvenate the body. |
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| The Great Breakfast: The part I liked most about Krabi was the food. It's Halal, super cheap and delicious! What more can a chubby man like me ask? |
I'll be writing on the ride to Phuket (or maybe not. As they said, what happened in Phuket stays in Phuket) in my next post. I'll leave you guys with something to ponder.
"It's best to travel with your love ones or those closest to you. Create great memories together as you might not be able to do it again" - in memory of Wira's little sister. Al Fatihah...
Yours truly,
Kaz
28 February 2014
Please note that all the photos were taken by Mr. Haneef Ahmad Ibrahim, an old friend who is now working in Dubai, UAE.
