Phuket, Thailand

After living in SE for a year and a half I had heard my fair share about Phuket. Some people love it and others weren't so keen on it. It was on my bucket list of places that I wanted to visit so I asked my friend Anna if she wanted to go with me for a girls weekend. Of course she was excited to have a weekend away from Singapore so we looked up resorts and booked our airfare with in a day. Anna had been to Phuket numerous times so I was glad to be going with her. I really just wanted a relaxing weekend on the beach and Phuket seemed perfect for that. 

Anna had wanted to stay at The Twin Palms Resort but since we planned the trip so last minute it was completely booked. We looked at the other resorts near by and decided to book a villa at The Surin. Arriving at the resort I couldn't have been happier. The resort was right on the beach with private access and the villa was nice. It was perfect for a quick girls weekend! 

Quickly we unpacked and set out to get some lunch. It was a nice day so we opted to walk in to the center of town and just stop at anything that looked good along the way. Making our way down the main road we stumbled upon a quaint little restaurant that looked promising. Anna ordered a glass of cab sauv and I ordered a glass of sauv blanc - with how humid it was it felt good to drink a cold glass of wine! The food was delicious and Anna and I were very happy and very full!

After all that great food we had to walk some of it off! The main road ended and we looped around to the beach and wanted to explore what the beach front bars and shops had to offer. We walked by Catch, a beach front bar that is a part of the Twin Palms Resort and noted it to come back to. It looked like it would be a chill spot at night with good music. We stopped to next door for a quick drink and finally started to relax. I was determinded to have my long sought after Tom Yum martini and asked the bartender if he could make it for me. He politely nodded and when he set the drink in front of me, all I could do was smile. Anna was laughing at how happy I was and she knows that I had been waiting to return to Thailand to have this drink made properly. I took one big swig and it was all I could to to not spit it back out. This drink was AWFUL! It looked so right, but tasted so wrong. FAIL. Disgruntled by the taste of what I can only describe as rubbing alcohol with a chili and cucumber, I downed some water and set about ordering my usual - champagne. No messing this drink up :) 

We headed back to the resort just in time to not get caught in a massive downpour! Thank goodness we had just reached the villa when the huge drops of rain started to shower down. Once inside we snacked on some fruit and started to research what we wanted to do that evening. I was fine with having a low key night since I was a bit exhausted from the long week I had just had. Anna was on the exact same page as I was. She found a restaurant called Opus One which looked like it had a very sleek interior and the menu had so many things that I wanted to try. Snatching up my phone I called to make a reservation and we were all set for 8pm! 

Confusion is never a good look when the taxi driver delivers you to the restaurant that you made dinner reservations at. He didn't speak much English but was emphatic on the fact that this is the address that we gave him. It was a small parking lot with a few shops in a row and two more stories above. Anna spotted a sign that said Opus One up above so we paid and got out of the sedan. The taxi sped off along with our hopes of leaving in case we wanted to go elsewhere. We climbed up three flights of stairs and once we rounded the last corner we were facing big glass doors with dark wood paneling. As we stood there unsure if they were open, a women pushed the door open from the inside and greeted us warmly. She asked if we had a reservation, and once she knew the name it was under showed us to a table on the outside patio. The night wasn't too warm so it was lovely to be seated outside instead of indoors. She brought us menus and left us to discuss amongst ourselves. I perused the wine menu and Anna and I wanted different varietals (I, a cab franc and her a shiraz) so we opted to go by the glass instead of a bottle. We ordered our starters and mains and commented on how this turned out to be a nice surprise from when we first pulled up. The food, wine, and service was very good and I was very glad that we chose to have dinner here. The bar inside was pretty impressive - all dark wood and blood red paint with fiber optic lights illuminating it. Opus One is definitely a restaurant that I would return to. 

Saturday morning I woke up early as I really wanted to work out in. It looked as if it was going to rain so a run on the beach was out of the question. The clouds were rolling past pretty quickly so I padded down to the main restaurant and ordered breakfast hoping they would burn off and I could run outside instead of on the tredmill. After finishing a light breakfast, I realized I didn't want to risk it and headed to the gym. The bright side was that I had a view of the beach to entertain me as I ran. 

By the time I got done working out the clouds had passed and it was sunny! I spotted Anna on a sun lounger and headed over to her. I told her I was going to shower and change in to my bikini and come right back down. I was so excited to lay out and read in the sun! That is precisely what I did with a cocktail in hand for the next 2 hours with some ocean time inter-mixed :) 

We had to leave the resort by 1pm because Anna had signed us up for a cooking class to learn how to properly cook Thai food. Although I love to cook, I have never attempted to cook Thai food - mainly because it seems daunting with all those spices. The Blue Elephant is a where our class was and it was about a 30 minute car ride out. The restaurant and cooking school is set in the old governor's mansion and it was a lovely setting for a Saturday afternoon of cooking. Upon arriving I started to not feel so well but thought that I was just hungry and told myself to push past it. Our cooking instructor was named Charles and he was a riot! He was so flamboyant and animated and this instantly helped me feel a bit better. We made 5 courses in total and at the end we got to sit down and enjoy our meal. 

Through out the cooking class I was increasingly feeling ill and could tell that I had a fever. On the car ride home I was full blown sick. My entire body ached and I had a definite high fever and a raspy cough to match. Once we got back to the resort I showered and quickly climbed in to bed. I told Anna I was going to sleep for awhile and she set off to the main part of the resort with her iPad to do some work. I woke just around dinner time and although I felt a bit better I still had a fever. Reaching for my phone I texted Anna to see if she wanted to get dinner somewhere and she responded that she was on her way back to the villa. We made reservations at the restaurant in the Twin Palms which is supposed to be know for their tasty Thai dishes. It was close to our resort and honestly I wasn't up for traveling far away for dinner since I didn't feel that well. 

When we got to the restaurant it was surprisingly quiet. That was no indication on how great the food was. Everything that we ordered was so delish! I asked Anna if she was okay calling it an early night and she was totally fine with it. 

When we got back to the villa both of us were in the mood for something sweet so we ordered desserts from the room service menu. I reverted to comfort food since I wasn't feeling 100% and ordered mint chocolate chip ice cream. It reminds me of being a little girl and eating it when I would stay home sick from school. Anna opted for a mango sticky rice. Soon after eating my ice cream I was fast asleep hoping for my fever to go far away!

Sunday morning I felt better but still not great. It was a beautiful day so I went for a run to try to sweat some of this sickness out and then began to pack (since we were leaving that night). After I was somewhat organized, I headed down to the beach to catch some sun. It was the perfect Sunday, lazing on the beach, ordering a light lunch, and reading. 

Our flight to Singapore didn't leave Phuket until 10pm so we headed down to Catch to watch the sunset and have a quick snack before heading to the airport. Aside from me getting sick and the realization that I had a 6:30am flight to Hong Kong for work the next morning, it was a perfect, much needed, relaxing weekend away! 

Jamie Visits Singapore and Bali

The first of my best friends was going to visit me after my move abroad and I couldn't be more excited. Jamie had gone back and forth about booking her ticket to Singapore in the hopes that the price would go down. I had to break it to her that they wouldn't and she finally acted on my advice and booked! She was coming for a week and a half and as soon as I got the confirmation of her flight details I started planning on where to take her. Yaaaaaaaay!!! Vacation in SE Asia with one of my closest friends. What could go wrong? 

I spoke too soon. A month before Jamie was to arrive in Singapore my company told me they wanted me to go to Hong Kong for two to three months to work on a project. While this was an amazing opportunity and I wanted nothing more than to say yes, I had a commitment to Jamie that I was not willing to break. I would be a pretty awful friend if I had to tell her that she need to adjust dates/flights after she had booked her travel plan. I worked it out with my company that I would still take vacation in the middle of the project and return back as soon as my holiday was over. Things were falling in to place perfectly; living in Hong Kong for a short while and an Asian holiday with one of my best friends! 

Jamie's flight arrived late on Thursday evening/early Friday morning which was perfect since I returned back from Hong Kong at 7pm and had a date planned for that night. I planned the time perfectly to allow me to unpack before heading out to the airport to meet Jamie. It was a strange feeling since I was just there a mere six hours before. I got there just as her flight should have been de-planing and excitedly waited for my friend. 45 minutes went by and still no Jamie. I started to get worried and finally she answered my phone call. She was waiting on the level below where travelers are picked up by cars - force of habit being from the states. Obviously there is no real need for a car in big cities where you take cabs or the train everywhere. We got a taxi and headed back to my condo. She was finally here! When we got to my place I quickly showed her around and we got straight to catching up. She wasn't tired because of the jetlag and I was too excited to be sleepy even though I had just had a very long day. We stayed up for a few hours talking and finally went to bed around 6am. 

The next morning we headed out to Haji Lane to do some shopping after grabbing lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Piedra Negra. It was just around noon and before we even had a chance to look at the menu I had ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. This was her vacation and we were going to start it off right! 

We talked all the way through lunch without pausing for one beat and decided it was time to start shopping. Jamie wanted to get some small presents for family and friends back home. We mulled around for a few hours buying things that we liked and then walked over to Arab Street so that she could see the Muslim Temple. After being in the heat all afternoon, we decided to go back to my place to hang out for a bit before getting ready to go out. 

It was Friday night and Jamie's first real night in Singapore, so I wanted to show her the usual spots my friends and I go to. We started on Club Street in Chinatown at one of my favorite Italian restaurants Cugini. She loved the food as I knew she would! 

After that we walked over to Ying Yang - a rooftop bar on top of the Club Hotel. The girls and I frequently get drinks here so I wanted to show Jamie and my friend Val was meeting us there. Shortly after Val's arrival at YY we set off for Ku dé Ta on top of the Marina Bay Sands. I don't frequently come to Ku dé Ta but it was a must to take Jamie there for the view alone. The night was hot and humid and Val, Jamie, and I quickly found a fan that was positioned aptly in front of a high top table. 

We ordered drinks and it wasn't long before a group of guys came over to us. The youngest one took a liking to Jamie and offered to buy a round of shots. I politely declined as it was still pretty early. Jamie looked surprised and asked why. I stated, the bars and clubs don't close here until past 6am so you have to be smart about pacing yourself or you'll pass out early. It's not like back home where everything closes at 2am. I told her I'd take one soon enough and that she should take it if she wanted to! We stayed at Ku dé Ta for a while longer and when the night was well on it's way we made our way to Pangaea. 

My friend Anna was running late from a work conference call and met us straight at Pangaea. It was close to 1am when we all arrived and immediately started to order drinks. I introduced Jamie to Lev and he immediately stated he could see that we were good friends. The club was starting to get packed and we settled down at a table and started our usual shenanigans of dancing and meeting new people. 

4 o'clock struck and we decided it would be a good idea to call it a night as we still had Saturday night to contend with. 

Saturday morning we slept in and woke up famished. I suggested we go grab brunch in Dempsey Hill at The White Rabbit. I knew Jamie would like the place... what's not to like about an old church turned in to a restaurant with good food and drinks? 

From brunch we walked around Dempsey for a bit and grabbed drinks at House. 

We then headed back near my condo for massages. There is the best foot massage place on my street and we needed one from the night before. After we headed to my place to relax for a bit before getting ready for the night. 

I had organized a huge dinner with all of my friends at my friend Kathleen's restaurant Catalunya. Kat had set a table aside for our group of 15 and slowly everyone started to arrive. Jet lag was starting to set in and Jamie was so sleepy. By the time dinner finished it was late and we decided to head to Pangaea. The whole club was doing a theme night of "How the West Was Won" or something along those lines - basically a western theme with hay, cowboy boots/hats, and leather chaps. I told Lev when we arrived the hay and cowboy boots/hats I could have done without; the leather chaps were okay :) Nonetheless it was fun. 

We had a blast and by the time 5am crept up it was just Jamie, Adrian, and me. What was next? A McDonald's run :)

Sunday we went to Tanjong Beach Club to recover from our hangovers with some beer pong. It was a very hot day and Anna and Val met us for the afternoon. We had an amazing time meeting people and conversing over the course of the previous nights events.  

Leaving Tanjong we decided that we were starving and headed to Robertson Quay for dinner. I took Jamie to Wine Connection and we ordered a ton of food and of course wine. 

As we were ordering another round my friend Tim sent me a text wondering if I was out and about. As I was texting him where I was he wrote that he was at Wine Connection! I started to scan the near by tables but no Tim sightings. He was on the other side of the restaurant and walked over and had a glass with us. It was nice for him and I to catch up and for Jamie to meet him. The sun and drinking of the day was beginning to take its toll and we decided to head home. 

Monday was all about lounging. We went for a 3.5 mile run around the Quays, got fresh fruit and salads from the market, and lazed out by the pool to catch some sun. I wanted to take Jamie to 1-Altitude so she could see the whole city from all 360 degrees but the clouds had begun to roll in. We still went for a pre-dinner cocktail and snapped some photos. 

Dinner was to be had at Chijmes - and old convent turned in to restaurants. Fandango is a tapas bar that has one of my favorite wines by the glass so we settled ourselves at an outside table and each ordered a glass. 

Dinner went by quickly through our constant chit chat and soon both of us were craving something sweet. P.S. Cafe is know for their desserts and it made sense to head there since it was just a few blocks away from my place. After a big slice of dessert, and our tummies full we were ready to head home. 

Tuesday was set for "touristy sight seeing". There isn't much to see in Singapore in terms of ruins or old architecture so I took Jamie on a tour of the known landmarks. We started in Marina Bay and headed towards Clarke Quay. I had never done one of the boat tours but figured now was as good of a times as ever. It was actually a great way to see all the quays and for Jamie to get some great photos of the city. 

We docked in Boat Quay and headed to BQ bar for happy hour. As we were snacking on some small bites, my friend Carrie walked up to say hello. She was working in the area and headed to a meeting. We talked for a bit and set dinner plans for the next night. Soon after Carrie left we asked for our bill and I suggested that we walk along Boat Quay so Jamie could see all the live seafood and restaurants that align the bay. 77 Wine Bar is at the very end of the strip and we stopped for a glass before heading out to the Night Safari.

I had been to the night safari once before and knew that Jamie would love it. We watched the fire dancers and took the tram all through the grounds. It was definitely a good way to spend the night. 

Wednesday was Jamie's last full day in Singapore. Wild Honey has delicious food (especially brunch) so we started our day off there after a morning gym session. I didn't feel guilty ordering my big meal since I had just burned so many calories! 

I insisted that we go to the Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling after eating. Up until this point I had escaped having a SS but thought it was appropriate since Jamie was visiting and it was on her bucket list of things to check off. I must say it is rather disgusting... sweet and pink for crying out loud! 

While we were ordering drinks the rain started and rapidly turned in to a down pour! It was official - we were stuck at Long Bar until the rain let up. Once it did we headed back to my place to get ready for dinner with Carrie and Val. 

We arrived at the Exchange under  the impression that we were going to call it an early night. Our flight to Bali left at 6am and we sill needed to pack. Dinner was great and I realized that Jamie had yet to experience Ladies Night in Singapore. Wednesdays at Royal Room and Mink are always fun so I suggested we go for one drink so she could see the lounge/club and then head home. This was a BAD plan. One drink turned in to two, which turned in to a bottle of vodka from new friends that we made. Somehow Pangaea came up and left RR/Mink and headed there to dance. 

Lev was shocked to see us because he knew that I had booked an early flight to Bali. I said we were stopping by for one drink and he just smiled at me and nodded. Before I knew it we were leaving at 3am and we still had to pack! Getting home Jamie and I made the massive mistake of sitting down while packing. We both fell asleep and the only reason I woke up was because I heard my alarm that I had set earlier that night. We had exactly 30 minutes before we needed to leave for the airport. Clothes were flying everywhere, and it came down to dumping things in a suitcase and figuring that if we were missing anything we would just buy it in Bali. 

The ride to the airport and getting through security was sheer comedy. I dropped my passport a total of three times on the way to the gate. Thank god for my ability to fall asleep on flights! 

Arriving in Bali it was all we could do to get to our villa in one piece. We both wanted a hot shower and to change in to fresh clothes. Our dreams of a nice villa and fluffy white towels was severely dashed when we arrived at Puri Puri Kacil. This place was awful! 

We had checked in, set our bags down, and left immediately to get a bite to eat. After lunch we abruptly started to look at other villas. I found one that looked great and booked it on the spot. Checking out of Puri Puri Kacil was not easy. The manager wanted to charge us for the entire stay and I got in to a huge argument with him. I threw the equivalent of one night's stay at him and told the driver to take us to the new place. 

Arriving at our new villa felt like a sheer oasis. Private pool, al fresco dining, no bugs, and a marvelous staff. Finally, we could relax. After each of us showered and unpacked we got in to our bikinis and laid out in the sun. It felt so tranquil to lay in the sun next to the water and recount all the events that had happened in the last 18 hours! 

That night we went to Hu'u. We started a conversation with a guy at the bar and both of our jaws dropped when he stated where he went to college. It was the exact same small private university that Jamie went to! Things got more ironic when we both realized that our fathers were born in the same city (Dar Es Salaam). The world really is a small place! 

The next day we shopped a bit and hung out around town. That night we were figuring out where to go and stumbled across Sky Garden. This place is insane. If you are looking for a classy club, this is NOT the place to go to! This club is set in to multiple levels of complete chaos. Each floor has a different DJ spinning (house, hip hop, trance, drum and base, etc.) and a different energy to match. The drink specials are out of control and at one point they were handing out free drinks. How is this possible? There are employees stationed on each floor to help direct club goers and to ensure that people can find their way out. Many times through the night I though how this place would be a death trap if there was fire! So many levels to navigate through with no rhyme or reason! Regardless, we had a good time and danced most of the evening. 

Sunday we took it easy and relaxed pool side for most of the day. There was some last minute shopping that we accomplished and settled on dinner at Ku de Ta. We watched the sunset, ate, and toasted to a great weekend in Bali!

Monday morning it was time to head back to Singapore. I had made plans for us to meet my friends Owen and Gina in Boat Quay for dinner. Jamie was flying home the next morning and had yet to experience Singapore chili crab. I couldn't let her leave without having some! All of us had a great dinner and it was a good way to end vacation!