I had planned to leave the house a little earlier on Friday morning but only managed to do so after 8 am. Took public transportation to Subang Airport for my 10 am flight and reached there a quarter past 9. RI was already waiting and we immediately checked in – not to worry as Firefly closes its counter 30 minutes before departure. I still managed to browse around the shops before walking to the gate – yes, I can shop very quickly. Earmarked something to purchase on my return.
Our take-off was slightly delayed (by 15 minutes perhaps) but we still landed at Koh Samui at 11 am local time (Thailand being an hour behind). We wanted to take the minibus but the service is only provided if there are a minimum of five passengers and as our fellow passengers either had made their own transfer arrangement or were happy to take the cab (I thought the cab fare was too expensive at THB600), we waited patiently for the next flight to arrive; we did contemplate renting a car but as gasoline is so much more expensive than back home, it remained only a possibility. Thankfully for us, the next flight was from Bangkok and it landed only 30 minutes after ours did and this time, there were a lot more passengers opting to take the minibus. After paying for the fare (THB150 each), we made our way to the minibus. Different bus serviced different areas of the island and the further you go, the higher you have to pay for the service of course.
We arrived at our resort at Mae Nam shortly after and immediately checked in. After freshening up, we ventured out and hailed a songthaew to Lamai, changing songthaew in Chaweng, to check out Hin Ta Hin Yai at Lamai Beach (Grandfather Grandmother Rocks). However, we only found the Grandfather Rock and the rocky beach and big boulders didn’t help us to find the other rock.
We returned back to Chaweng and wandered around in the hot and humid late afternoon. A Muslim pancake seller told us there was a halal stall at Laemdin Market ‘about ten minutes away’ so we set off to find dinner. The walk turned out to be closer to 20 minutes but finally we found a stall (unfortunately not so clean but we were too tired from the walk and heat to bother). We then walked back to Chaweng beachfront and after learning that songthaew service for the day had ended, took a cab back to the hotel after bargaining for the fare. As there was no resort transportation to Chaweng that evening (due to maintenance), our fellow guests were partying around the pool instead, blaring out loud music for the whole Mae Nam area to hear.
After breakfast on Saturday, we decided to walk around Mae Nam to locate a spa centre. As it only opened at 11 am, we went to the beach instead. The beauty about Mae Nam is that the beach is not crowded and you can have a whole stretch of beach all to yourself – fantastic! There was a massage service by the sea too by Wat Po certified masseurs but it was done in the open. We spent close to an hour at the beach before returning to Mae Nam Bamboo Forest Sauna for our foot and body massages. We spent two blissful hours in the cool comfort of the air-conditioned room, such a relief from the hot, hot, sun!
We had sighted a halal road-side restaurant earlier and headed there for lunch. The owners spoke little English though and could not speak Malay either, unlike the stall owner where we had dinner the evening before. After lunch, we decided to take the songthaew to Big C, a hypermarket just before Chaweng. I was happy to see Boots Pharmacy there and spent some time browsing. Unfortunately, RI lost her credit card – it must have dropped off her purse – and that put a damper on our mood. We took the songthaew to Bophut Market where I bought some crabs and RI some sticky rice with mango before returning to the hotel.
We went back to the halal road-side restaurant for dinner and asked the cook to prepare a crab dish for us. I was craving for a crab dish when I recalled the tasty one I had in Krabi just twelve months ago. The evening was a peaceful one in comparison to the one before as our fellow guests availed of the resort transportation to party in Chaweng instead.
I woke up after midnight to watch the Arsenal-West Ham match but alas, it was not shown on TV (the resort provides limited TV channels for viewing to begin with). I had to console myself with irregular updates on BBC News instead. Found out in the morning that 10-man Arsenal survived a TV5 first-half sending off to climb to the summit of the league... ;’) if only for 24 hours.
We checked out at 10 am and hailed a cab to the airport (again, after bargaining the fare. The cabs all displayed ‘Meter Fare’ but the cabbies there hardly ever used the metre!). We checked in and walked along the resort-like area to the departure gate, passing airport shops which were built factory outlet-style. Very charming indeed. Unfortunately the flight was delayed by 30 minutes due to the delay in Subang but fortunately, there was a big huge screen at the departure gate showing the repeat of the Arsenal-West Ham match where I enjoyed the last quarter of an hour of the match. Oh and light refreshment was provided too.
The flight took off at 1150 am and we reached Subang at 1445. I performed prayers first before leaving the airport and reached micasa at 1630, just before the skies opened up and it poured heavy, torrential rain complete with thunders.
~~~~~~~~
We will meet Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League *gulp* but as Wenger put it, in footie, ‘the next game makes your life.’ I love that my baby is unfazed about it. We hosted West Ham on Saturday – not easy opponents seeing they were fighting for their PL lives and have a good record against us. Denilson (surprise, surprise) scored one after five minutes but there was drama right before half-time when TV5 was shown the red card (our first in 68 games – shows how clean we are). TV5 was the epitome of a professional footballer, leaving the pitch without drama. We somehow found the strength, maintained the discipline and displayed the spirit of champions to focus on the title challenge (Champions League take a back seat for now) to win the match and top the league, even though the current team is far from The Invincibles, and more The Unbelievables or The Improbables. Next game and next focus: Birmingham away which TV5 will miss with the red card (strewth), unfortunately.
Our take-off was slightly delayed (by 15 minutes perhaps) but we still landed at Koh Samui at 11 am local time (Thailand being an hour behind). We wanted to take the minibus but the service is only provided if there are a minimum of five passengers and as our fellow passengers either had made their own transfer arrangement or were happy to take the cab (I thought the cab fare was too expensive at THB600), we waited patiently for the next flight to arrive; we did contemplate renting a car but as gasoline is so much more expensive than back home, it remained only a possibility. Thankfully for us, the next flight was from Bangkok and it landed only 30 minutes after ours did and this time, there were a lot more passengers opting to take the minibus. After paying for the fare (THB150 each), we made our way to the minibus. Different bus serviced different areas of the island and the further you go, the higher you have to pay for the service of course.
We arrived at our resort at Mae Nam shortly after and immediately checked in. After freshening up, we ventured out and hailed a songthaew to Lamai, changing songthaew in Chaweng, to check out Hin Ta Hin Yai at Lamai Beach (Grandfather Grandmother Rocks). However, we only found the Grandfather Rock and the rocky beach and big boulders didn’t help us to find the other rock.
We returned back to Chaweng and wandered around in the hot and humid late afternoon. A Muslim pancake seller told us there was a halal stall at Laemdin Market ‘about ten minutes away’ so we set off to find dinner. The walk turned out to be closer to 20 minutes but finally we found a stall (unfortunately not so clean but we were too tired from the walk and heat to bother). We then walked back to Chaweng beachfront and after learning that songthaew service for the day had ended, took a cab back to the hotel after bargaining for the fare. As there was no resort transportation to Chaweng that evening (due to maintenance), our fellow guests were partying around the pool instead, blaring out loud music for the whole Mae Nam area to hear.
After breakfast on Saturday, we decided to walk around Mae Nam to locate a spa centre. As it only opened at 11 am, we went to the beach instead. The beauty about Mae Nam is that the beach is not crowded and you can have a whole stretch of beach all to yourself – fantastic! There was a massage service by the sea too by Wat Po certified masseurs but it was done in the open. We spent close to an hour at the beach before returning to Mae Nam Bamboo Forest Sauna for our foot and body massages. We spent two blissful hours in the cool comfort of the air-conditioned room, such a relief from the hot, hot, sun!
We had sighted a halal road-side restaurant earlier and headed there for lunch. The owners spoke little English though and could not speak Malay either, unlike the stall owner where we had dinner the evening before. After lunch, we decided to take the songthaew to Big C, a hypermarket just before Chaweng. I was happy to see Boots Pharmacy there and spent some time browsing. Unfortunately, RI lost her credit card – it must have dropped off her purse – and that put a damper on our mood. We took the songthaew to Bophut Market where I bought some crabs and RI some sticky rice with mango before returning to the hotel.
We went back to the halal road-side restaurant for dinner and asked the cook to prepare a crab dish for us. I was craving for a crab dish when I recalled the tasty one I had in Krabi just twelve months ago. The evening was a peaceful one in comparison to the one before as our fellow guests availed of the resort transportation to party in Chaweng instead.
I woke up after midnight to watch the Arsenal-West Ham match but alas, it was not shown on TV (the resort provides limited TV channels for viewing to begin with). I had to console myself with irregular updates on BBC News instead. Found out in the morning that 10-man Arsenal survived a TV5 first-half sending off to climb to the summit of the league... ;’) if only for 24 hours.
We checked out at 10 am and hailed a cab to the airport (again, after bargaining the fare. The cabs all displayed ‘Meter Fare’ but the cabbies there hardly ever used the metre!). We checked in and walked along the resort-like area to the departure gate, passing airport shops which were built factory outlet-style. Very charming indeed. Unfortunately the flight was delayed by 30 minutes due to the delay in Subang but fortunately, there was a big huge screen at the departure gate showing the repeat of the Arsenal-West Ham match where I enjoyed the last quarter of an hour of the match. Oh and light refreshment was provided too.
The flight took off at 1150 am and we reached Subang at 1445. I performed prayers first before leaving the airport and reached micasa at 1630, just before the skies opened up and it poured heavy, torrential rain complete with thunders.
~~~~~~~~
We will meet Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League *gulp* but as Wenger put it, in footie, ‘the next game makes your life.’ I love that my baby is unfazed about it. We hosted West Ham on Saturday – not easy opponents seeing they were fighting for their PL lives and have a good record against us. Denilson (surprise, surprise) scored one after five minutes but there was drama right before half-time when TV5 was shown the red card (our first in 68 games – shows how clean we are). TV5 was the epitome of a professional footballer, leaving the pitch without drama. We somehow found the strength, maintained the discipline and displayed the spirit of champions to focus on the title challenge (Champions League take a back seat for now) to win the match and top the league, even though the current team is far from The Invincibles, and more The Unbelievables or The Improbables. Next game and next focus: Birmingham away which TV5 will miss with the red card (strewth), unfortunately.
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