So during our trip to Phuket, we also went to a nice spa to enjoy the local massage and foot reflexology session. In Phuket, there are so many local massage establishments to choose from that you will be spoilt for choice. In the end, we went for Let’s Relax Spa which is nearby to Jungceylon Shopping Mall. This is the lobby area which is nicely decorated!
We were asked to sit at the sofa and then served with tea while waiting for our masseuse to arrive. From the sofa, I can see that they do have some spa products for sale too!
A nice water feature behind where we were seated. Love the sound of running water against background spa music!
We were asked to changed into comfortable slippers before ushered to the foot wash area.
The foot wash area where our foot was delicately washed before proceeding to our foot reflexology session first. We had booked for Heavenly Relax package, which is 2 hours 45 mins and cost 1,100 THB. It consists of foot reflexology for 45 mins and Thai massage for 2 Hours.
It was a very nice experience! Too nice in fact! And that’s why my partner decided to continue with Facial Relaxation at 1,200 THB for 1 hour while I roam around Bangla Road…LOL
Our choice of accommodation (Superior Double Room Garden Wing) during our trip to Phuket was Deevana Patong Resort & Spa, which we made the reservations directly through their website at THB 2,500 nett per room per night. There was a promotion package going on and for our 3 nights stay, we are entitled to the following.
3-4 Nights Paid (A&B)
*A) Airport round trip transfer
*B) Choice of ONE Free Selection:
B1) 1 hour Thai Massage.
B2) Afternoon tea & snacks.
B3) Free late check-out till 05:00 p.m.
We chose B3 as our flight departing Phuket is 2205hrs so that we do not need to hang out outside too long. Deevana Patong Resort & Spa do have wireless internet access available for all areas in hotel free of charge but I was told that some rooms in the Garden Wing may have slightly weaker signals.
Hotel Lobby at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa. The resort is conveniently located in Patong and it only takes a 10mins walk to the beach as well as nearby amenities. If you don’t want to walk to Patong Beach (and possibly other places of interests), please do check out the shuttle bus service timings at the lobby. We only knew about it on our last day in Phuket. 🙁
The Balcony at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa to redeem our free welcome drink. During our check-in, we were also given discount voucher for 10% off on food and beverages.
Our welcome drink at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa. It was really nice and refreshing!
View of the pool from The Balcony. Note the rooms with balconies? These are the Spa Wing rooms.
View of the The Garden Restaurant from The Balcony.
If you chose the 1 hour Thai Massage from the promotion package, I believe you will be treated to a relaxing massage here at Deevana Spa.
We booked for a Superior Double Room (Garden Wing) but when we arrived it was already fully occupied. Hence, our room was upgraded to Superior Double Room (Spa Wing)! Yay!
Superior Double Room (Spa Wing) – TV and make-up table area. The small fridge below the TV is for me to keep all my beers! Wahahaha!
Toilet at Superior Double Room (Spa Wing). Do note that you can open the window and look out (watch TV or chat with friends) while you do your big business!
Shower area at Superior Double Room (Spa Wing). It was clean but the water drainage clogs up after a shower!
Our balcony area at Superior Double Room (Spa Wing) – Good for having a cool beer, chit-chatting or just relaxing around! It also a great place to hang out our wet clothes after any water sports or Songkran session.
Pool view from Superior Double Room (Spa Wing). It’s still early and no one is swimming yet!
View of The Garden Restaurant from our room. Our room rates include daily breakfast!
Breakfast time! You can see that’s lots of people during breakfast but not after that. I believe all of them went out to have fun!
View of swimming pool from The Garden Restaurant.
American buffet breakfast. Eat all you can! LOL
We also took a walk around Deevana Patong Resort & Spa and it was pretty huge! I believe the above should be the Superior Double Room Garden Wing that we booked for. 🙂
We think it should be the Garden Wing… because it faces a garden…errm…
There was another pool in the resort too!
Front view of the garden wing rooms.
This the other pool which is nearer to our room, which is always happening with hot music! Check out the pool bar for some cool drinks too!
Yeah, it rained when I was in Phuket but it was short and definitely didn’t dampened anyone’s mood!
Night scene at the resort.
Front view of the resort during the night, just after a rain which made it cooling.
Just outside of Deevana Patong Resort & Spa are some shops catering to the neccessary stuffs for tourists, e.g. Internet, car rental, taxi service, restaurants, pubs, minimarts, etc. Personally, I didn’t visit any as my stay was pretty short and I was always out and about.
Overall, the stay at Deevana Patong Resort & Spa was positive and comes with thumbs-up from my partner. Having said that, we are sure to return again!
We went to a short trip to Phuket recently (12th April to 15th April 2012) and it coincides with the Songkran festival in Thailand. This blog post documents the first day of Songkran (12th April 2012) and the location is along Thanon Ratuthit Songroipi. Going out during Songkran means getting wet but I still have to, as I still need to get lunch!
Along Thanon Ratuthit Songroipi, it’s really packed with vehicles. Do note the water all over the roads and it’s not because of the rain. It’s all man-made! Errm.. splash 🙂
Timing is around 2 pm and the fun is only beginning!
A few young ladies posing for the photos. Warm and friendly folks but that didn’t stop them from shooting me with water!
Walking through, note the guy with the white bucket, he dumped me with all of it! And that’s ice water! Burrr….Hahaha!
Parties, music, booze and water! What more do you want? LOL
Well, that’s the scene at Bangla Road, famous for it’s nightlife and popular spot for nightclubs, go go bars, ice bar and beer bars. Is that a fire engine in the photo? It looks too havoc and I didn’t go in as it wasn’t the direction I’m heading to! Going through Bangla Road will lead you to Patong Beach.
Finally reached Jungceylon and not sure why but I always have the impression that things is going to be milder here….hell no! It’s like a mini-disco and the party’s hot!
Getting a bit more towards the crowd and was bombarded with water guns!
Check out the video for the wild scene at Jungceylon!
Got through the mob and went to the other side of Jungceylon, where things are much quieter but still can hear the distant music!
The scene beyong Jungceylon is not so wild! I guess the action stops at Jungceylon….but might not be the case as I didn’t walk any further.
War time! Busy shooting each other and I’m just waiting for the correct time to pass by without getting caught in the fire!
Walked back to Jungceylon to get lunch and the crowd is as still psych up as before. If you are thinking why that’s so much water around… look below for answer.
Well, they basically use a fire hose! That’s so awesome! LOL
Going back to my mission of buying lunch in Jungceylong shopping mall. Looking for Fuji Japanese Restaurant, one of our favourite food chain in Thailand.
More food and fun in Jungceylon but I’ll come back another day to explore.
Jungceylon Water Fountain Show, happening daily at 7pm and 9pm. The plan is to eat dinner and watch the show! Not today…
Some nice decorations at Jungceylon.
Walking back to resort is slow as I still get shot with water. Plus, this time round I have to protect the food, which I have also asked the restaurant to provide more protection. But basically, what I did was holding the food above my head, of course it comes with stares from some people, which I told them politely “It’s food!”. LOL
If you feel hungry after all the water fight, there are still food stalls around to have a quick bite to regain energy for next battle!
Fried Chicken, anyone? The Songkran celebrants usually leave stall owners alone so that they can still get on with their business.
Crowd at Tiger Inn Phuket = Happening!
Look here to see why!
By the time I got back to the resort, I was already soaked, dried and then soaked again! But at least the food is safe! Hahaha!
If you are curious about the white stuff on the face, that’s talcum powder, flour, or rice powder that is used by Songkran celebrants to smear all over your face, hair, arms and back ! I believe it’s said to protect you from evil!
Awesome! Another photo that I took in Ho Chi Minh City during my travels was used in an article – World’s Most Delicious Street Food by Travel + Leisure. The article also appeared as “Street Food 101: A Global Guide” in T+L Magazine May 2012 issue.
Please do head over and have a look through the whole of World’s Most Delicious Street Food article. It was mentioned that it’s the survivor’s manual to eating the best (and safest) street food! So I’m sure you’ll learn something from it. 🙂
Recently, a photo that I took in Ben Thanh Market (in Ho Chi Minh City) was used in an article – The World’s Best Cities for Street Food by foodandwine.com. Please head over to http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/worlds-best-cities-for-street-food/10 for the photo that is being used. Look through the whole of the slideshow to see the rest of the best cities for street food!
Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I last posted on my blog so will start with something simple and nice – Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali. 😛
Yeah, this time the location is overseas at Bali and I am helping my brother again. We (including my mum) also took the opportunity to sightsee since we are already here. Will work on the blog post soon. 🙂
Introducing the team:
Styling: Winnie Loo
Hair & Makeup: Angel Gwee
Photography Assistant: Ronald Tan
Model: Carmen Solis/ Diva Models
Weather was rather erratic as we went in March 2011 and it was wet season between the months of October to April. Nevertheless, we got lucky and had sunny skies for the morning during the shoot!
It’s that time of the year to be jolly over beers – Beerfest Asia 2011 from 16th to 19th June 2011!
Same as last year, I purchased the “1-Day OCBC Exclusive Pass” for 19th June 2011, which I paid with OCBC credit card for S$15 each. It seems that the prices went up from S$12 last year. For last year coverage, please go to “Beerfest Asia 2010“. The reason that I chose to come on the last day is because there is less crowd and lots of promotions such as 1-for-1, price slash, bulk pricing, etc. Found out that it’s better from Beerfest Asia 2010 experience.
Performance on stage: All Star Beatles Tribute! This gig got lots of people doing the boogie!
Storm Beer – one of our favorite beer! Brewed in Bali but I didn’t managed to drink it during my trip to Bali in 2010.
Food and snacks are available too! But this time round, we didn’t eat any as we had an early dinner before going to Beerfest Asia 2011.
As each ticket comes with 2 free beers, the first one I went to exchange for Kronenbourg 1664. You can’t exchange any beers you want as there are fixed stations where free beers can be redeem. I rather Beerfest Asia give us the choice to redeem whether we want or just shave off the free beers pricing and introduce entrance tickets only.
We hang out at the open area nearer to Marina Bay most of the time as inside the tent was pretty noisy (loud music) and warm!
You can also admire the scenery while having your beer!
Free beer exchange – Jaz Lychee Beer. It’s a new lychee flavored beer which was recently launched only. Seems to be great for beginners or ladies!
Free beer exchange – Archipelago Summer Ale. Wanted to have Archipelago Belgium Wit but was sold out.
Scouting around to redeem for our next free drink… Magner’s
Harry’s at Beerfest Asia 2011.
Free beer exchange – Magner’s Irish Cider.
Singapore Flyer from Beerfest Asia 2011.
Another area where we hang out most of the time, it’s near to the entrance and also not so crowded. Only standing tables available!
Storm Beer Golden Ale – How can we not have this when we’re here? 😛
Schneider Weisse – I saw that it was a wheat beer and decided to have a try. Verdict – it’s definetly one of better wheat beers!
This year, I didn’t drink as much as I was suffering from serious gastric pain since a week ago from Beerfest Asia 2011. I didn’t want any relapse so took it easy on the beers but my impression is that Beerfest Asia 2011 beer makers are not as much as Beerfest Asia 2010. The selection is much lesser (so are the eye candies :P) – I might be wrong as I wasn’t given a handbook probably due to my late arrival (7pm). Seating area in the tentage was also significantly reduced as a large part was taken up by some Singtel bar or whatever – it was sort of fenced up and seems to be just for their customers (which is not many!). There was also a noticeable stink in the tent area, think many people vomited over the last few days. Haha!
Maybe it’s my form (not good), even photos I took this year is not as good!
Anyway, let’s see forward to how Beerfest Asia 2012 will turn out. My attendance is still confirmed!
Recently, my friends were staying at Marina Bay Sands and we were invited to visit Sands Skypark (340m-long and a 150m swimming pool, set on top of the world’s largest public cantilevered platform on 57th floor) since it will be free if we tag along with hotel guests. For members of public who wants to feast their eyes on the panorama view of Singapore, you can purchase tickets at Sands SkyPark ticketing counter located at Basement 1. Tickers holder will be only allowed to visit SkyPark Observation Deck as well as a portion swimming pool deck adjacent to the observation deck. The above photo was taken from the SkyPark Observation Deck.
Such spectacular views of Singapore from Marina Bay Sands swimming pool.
You can swim and have fun while having a breathtaking experience at such high level. I should have brought along my swimming attire to swim… 🙁
The swimming pool is quite a long stretch – naturally, since it’s one of the largest cantilevers in the worlds. Wondering how’s the view is in the day?
Next, we took the lift down to level 55 to visit Banyan Tree Fitness Club Marina Bay Sands.
An area where you can rest after the workout and it is overlooking Gardens by The Bay, which is estimated to be completed by end of 2011.
Time to hit the gymnasium for some weights exercise.
Or you prefer cardio exercise while having great views of Singapore skyline?
To get back down to 1st level, we have to go back to level 57 first to take the lift down. This time we walk along the opposite stretch from the swimming pool.
Passing by one of the several jacuzzi pools, where you can order some drinks while relaxing in the pool and checking out the view. Although it’s a short time, it was an interesting experience and most importantly, it gives me a feeling wanting to come back again in the future to experience it further. Maybe I can come and stay at Marina Bay Sands during a special occasion? That’s a nice plan! 🙂
The following is a guest post by Emma, a 24 year old traveller originally from Nantwich, Chesire. Emma enjoys cycling at weekends and adventuring abroad on a budget. Emma lives with her partner in London.
Cyprus is an enchanting island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Turkey and Syria. Ancient Greece and Great Britain both hold strong cultural influences over the island, making it a great place to absorb the local culture while enjoying some home comforts. I travelled to Cyprus in July 2010 to discover the local culture and traverse the fantastic landscape.
The island is split into two parts, with the Republic of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus under separate control. Northern Cyprus relies upon Turkey economically and politically following the independence of the island, with the Republic of Cyprus proving more popular with tourists. Cyprus is a very popular destination in the summer months, as I shared my trip with throngs of other visitors – all eager to enjoy the scorching temperatures.
I began my holiday in the Southern City of Larnaca which has its own airport. The airport is much more convenient for travelling to the city (its just 5km away) compared to the more popular Paphos which is over 100km! However, I did manage to find flights to Cyprus much cheaper when I selected Paphos as my destination city and so this is something to consider.
Larnaca has some fantastic cultural reference points including the ruins of anchient city: Kitium. The city is said to be the birthplace of the philosopher Zeno although unfortunately the remains of his household have since disappeared. The city also houses the remains of the Biblical figure St. Lazarus in the beautiful Byzantine Church.
From Larnaca I travelled inland, up to the Troodos Mountains to experience the panoramic vistas of the island. Although the mountain rage in popular in the winter months with skiers, the area still had plenty to offer summer travellers like myself and I embarked upon a trail along the Caledonia Falls. The walk included views of a fantastic waterfall and culminated in a trip up to the Kykkos monastery which, we were told, is the richest in Cyprus.
After the excitement of the mountains, I came back down to sea level to visit the coastal city of Paphos. Situated on the west coast, the city enjoys a cooling sea breeze making the temperatures much more mild – somewhat crucial given the peak summer months of my trip! Primarily famous as the supposed birthplace of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, her temple and other shrines can be found there, as well as Paphos Castle and the imaginatively named “Tomb of the Kings”.
The penultimate stop on my holiday was the capital Lefkosia (or Nicosia) which is shared by both halves of Cyprus. Surrounded by an impressive 5km Venetian wall, the historic part of the city is separate from the modern areas, offering two distinctly different experiences. The city is filled with fascinating artifacts from its decorated past, with the Leventis Municipal Museum proving a treasure trove of interesting information.
As my time in Cyprus drew to a close, there was only one place to visit to ensure my trip ended on a high… Travelling back to the Eastern side of the island, to catch my flight back home, I stopped over for a night in Aiya Napa the glamorous hub for nightlife on the island. Aiya Napa stands in stark contrast to all of the culture available across the rest of the island, a shining beacon for a stereotypical Mediterranean beach resort – bright lights, loud sounds and all night dancing!
Cyprus has something to offer everyone whether that’s nightlife, culture, history or fantastic scenery. I found Cheapflights to be a great resource for flights to the area and with deals from as low as £79pp the island is suitable for any budget.
