.....times of refreshing.....

I was quite excited when the cruise reached Phuket in the early morning. I woke up around 7am (8am Malaysian time) and while my family and I 'rushing' for the buffet breakfast at one of the restaurants, the sight of land and mountains calms my soul. It's been almost more than 15 hours on the sea and when I saw land, I never felt so good. I felt great!!

This was my first time to Phuket and though it's just a 6 hour excursion, I am looking forward to it. Our cruise ported near Patong beach and we have to take smaller boats to reached ashore. The boats came with the cruise and they called it 'tender boats'.

They also excited taking the 'tender' motor boat

Busy Patong Beach ... lots of 'ang moh' there. Here's a pic of massage services held at the beach.

While on the excursion bus, I was busy snapping pixs around the island.

First stop, the popular Chalang temple in Phuket

Since I am a Christian, I decided to snap pictures around

The wat or temples are so beautiful

Another design here

One of the stalls my kids love ..cos there were lots of tidbits to feed their hungry stomach

Our tour bus

At 'Porntip', a mall selling Thai food products. It also happened to be Loykrathong day!

Taking pics around. The inside of Phuket town is very much like  small towns in Malaysia. Even the traffic lights and roads are similar as well as the traffic.

Back to the vibrant Patong Beach streets. As evening drawn by, hawkers and eateries beginning to open.

It's a bustling place!

Great to walk around there like the crowd and say hi to the thai girls ....:P

Sounds like Jonker walk ?

It seems like they are preparing for the water splashing Loykrathong day at night. Too bad I gotta be on board in the evening!

Back to idyllic Patong beach. There were a few race boats here. I wonder some event taking place soon ?

After the tour, my kids having a good time at the beach before boarding the boats back to the cruise.

Patong Beach

My favourite shot of the day, with the cruise in the background.

It's Sunset ....

Another pix of Patong beach

The jetty ......ready to go back

Turn behind to take one more shot of Patong beach

Since my kids were with us, my wife and I decided not to go for island hopping or water activities at the islands nearby like phi phi and James Bond island. We decided to take the Island tour which brought us around town and sight-seeing, as well as shopping. It was a plesant trip and I fall in love with Phuket girls. The Thai were so friendly to us tourists. I guess I make a longer trip in the future.

I am back from the high sea! Yeah, I was on a cruise over the last weekend from Friday to Tuesday and it was my first time holidaying on a cruise. The experience was great, fun, relaxing and exciting too! I was quite nervous initially and the anxieties heightens when the ship was doing an emergency drill before the journey began. My kid too , was anxious as he keep asking us if we would fall onto the sea!  Anyway, all the anxieties subside after the ship began moving steadily and we were having our supper at 1am! Yeah, it's just eat and eat over there.

The Costa Victoria at Singapore's port. Taken while we were going on board. My kids were so excited that they were running up the steady pathway to the ship.

Her cabin... two double decker beds in our cabin. Initially I wanted a balcony cabin but it's not enough for the four of us as there was only 1 single bed.

Pleasantly looking cabin with a small view of the sea

The party begins.... folks partying on the highest deck in the ship.

The swimming pool on the upper deck.

The pathway leading to our cabin. It was cold inside there.

One of the restaurants there serving breakfast buffet.

One of the bars

One of  the external deck at level 5

Some demonstration show on making food carvings by chefs

The shopping atrium selling luxury stuffs .... all in US dollars.

A view of the cruise in the high sea

Sunset in  the Strait of Malacca

Another cafetaria at the back of the ship. Love having coffee here. The tea time buffet held here.

The planetarium atrium ... there was a performance here at certain hours

Yours truly on Costa Victoria

Another view of the main lobby at deck 5

A replica of the ship

A view of the beautiful swimming pool

Family portrait - bought this photo for US$20 ... sigh....

This is my first post in November and I am glad I finally blogged. It was a busy start to the month but I feel great to have a spent a pleasant weekend with my family. Lazing around in a cafe with good food and spending a long time there was a great idea. At least, it helps to wind down and feel the bliss of a sabbatical Sunday. We were at Lavender bistro this afternoon for a late lunch cum tea. The kids were having a good time snacking on cookies after their meals while I enjoyed their free wifi.

My wifey had a char kway teow ... it tasted good. Cost around RM12.

My two kids shared a teriyaki salmon rice. This cost us RM20 but the portion was quite big. They can't even finished it and I need to come in ..to eat..

I had a simple cheese and ham ciabatta ,, which was my favourite.

And, the meal was not complete without a cuppa of Americano!

 I always love to spend the weekend afternoon in a bistro and wind down and I guess that's how weekend are spent. I had a good coffee and surf the net while my kids shop for their cookies and buns in Lavender, before going around the mall.

Have a great week.