my shoes, my journey

Day 1: Departing from KLIA
It is Tuesday 21st Feb, and we were all packed and ready for our first family vacation oversea. I'm writing this entry using my T5. The first time I went for a long trip abroad, I brought my T5, but that particular T5 died on me. The good people from Palm was kind enough to send me a replacement.

Anyway, preparation for this trip began last Sunday with cooking 'rendang'. We foresee the difficulties of finding 'halal' food in Phuket. So among our clothes, we packed some food. I did, however, found a list of 'halal' restaurant in the Net (www.zabihah.com).

Beside food, there's also communication channel. You know, calling home. I've called the good people at Celcom Callcentre. According to the call-agent, no problem in making and receiving phone calls as long as you have minimum RM15. GPRS also should work. We'll find out later when we reach Phuket.

10.30am
We left Shah Alam at 10.30 am. and reached KLIA an hour later. We checked our bags in and wandered at the air port. Uncle Jeq changed RM100 into THB.

12.15pm
1st boarding call for flight AK 872. We walked leisurely towards our boarding gate G6. When we finally reach the gate, we discovered that everyone already boarded the plane. There went our chance of choosing our seats. Pity Uncle Jeq for not being able to sit at the window. The plane took off at 12.45pm. Very punctual!

12.55pm (Thai Time)
Arrived at airport. At the imigration counter, they have this cute camera - looked very much like a webcam. They took our photo as they process our passport. We were driven to Phuket town for lunch. The journey took about 50mins. Didn't get the name of the 'halal' restaurant because they only use the Thai letters.

2.40pm.
Lunched. Then we were taken to a travel operator to book for trips. Sadly the operator wasn't exactly helpful. We left for Patong at 3.10pm. We reached the hotel that we booked around 4pm. The hotel is actually at a foot of a hill and far from town. The driver - Narin - was kind enough to find us an agent who not only managed to book two rooms, but also all the trips.

5.00pm
Checked in hotel - Tony Resort. At THB 1900 / night, I have no complaint about the room. Our room is at the ground floor, facing the swimming pool.

6.30pm
Went for a stroll at Patong. Didn't go near the beach. Walked about the shops and bazars. There's a lot of massage and tattoo parlour.

8.15pm
Already back in the room. Had dinner which consisted of bread and the 'rendang'. Wanted to go out to survey for souvenirs, but decided to chill out in the room. After all, tomorrow will be a busy day. Uncle Jeq went out and hasn't return yet.