Phuket Trip Part 2 - Patong, Phuket

Our flight is preparing for its landing in Phuket Island. These pictures are taken from my seat’s window:

It was a bit bumpy during the landing. But all is well. We were greeted by our friendly tour guide, Ms Teera upon checking out our luggage.

Phuket is one hour behind Malaysia time. It was almost 4PM (MY time) when we left the Phuket International Airport. We were then whisked away to a seaside restaurant to enjoy some scrumptious lunch (or is it dinner?) :)

It’s a fulfilling meal indeed. And I love Thailand already.

Teera then proceeded to show us (the so-called "City people") the Cashew nuts trees outside the restaurant. The flesh of the fruit is sweet and crunchy. The nut (the protruding part at the bottom of the fruit) is embedded inside a casing which is quite acidic. It’s advisable to wear gloves when you remove the nuts. This is to prevent your skin from being burnt by the hot acid.

After visiting the Cashew nuts factory, we were shown how the pearls are harvested and how the crystals are unearthed.

And of course the purpose of all these visiting and touristy stuff is to encourage tourists like me to SPEND money only. But too bad, I’m a poor tourist. I don’t have money to buy overpriced jewelry and I travel light! *wink wink*

But at least now I know how to distinguish between a real pearl and a fake one!!! When two real pearls are rubbed together, the surface will turn powdery. Plastic pearls won’t. (Ahem, I have just put 1000 Baht into your pocket!!! Thank me now. *Hehe*)

After doing a few rounds of the tourist money-sucking shopping trips in Phuket town, we were finally brought to Patong, the most happening beach in Phuket Island.

And we lodged in the Phuket Grand Tropicana Hotel during our stay in Patong:

It has a very nice swimming pool for the hotel guests:

Thailand is famous for its Thai massage. We asked our tour guide Teera where can we get some good massage and she introduced us to the Oriental Thai Massage parlour. She assured us that the masseuse in there will not pull any dirty tricks on the guests (especially the male guests), then only mom and dad agreed to go.

We chose the 3 hour full body massage package and it costs 450 Baht (RM 45) per person only, which is in my opinion is sibeh the worthwhile as they massage every single inch of your body from your head to your toes.

But if you prefer the dirty tactics one, you can go for this one here:

The girls will stand outside the parlour begging for the MALE tourists to visit them.

Ed note: Stay tuned for tomorrow's Nightlife at Patong Beach (Girls, Ah Kuas and Pubs)!