End of the year

And there goes a few months since the last post and it is a new year. I hope all of you out there have had your good times and the bad times because hey, you made it past all of it. We often look back into the year and ask ourselves what have we achieved, are we proud or ashamed of something we did, or simply, what exactly have we done because time passed too fast for anyone to remember. Well, I did some looking back and i had my fair bit of overseas trips in year 2012.

So now i am going to embark you with a series of trips over the past 12 months and if you get bored at any point of time..... well that won't happen.

First stop, Phuket, Thailand, 18th March to 20th March 2012.

It was a short three days getaway but i can promise you that it was a good trip to relax your minds and bodies in an instant. Geared and headed to Patong beach after a short plane ride, i suggest you be in your good board-shorts, singlet and a good pair of shades, because your holiday officially starts when you are out of the airport.

Start with checking into the hotel. On your way there, keep your eyes peeled on the street stalls so you can fill bits of your stomach with local delights. You may also want to keep your eyes on the busy road and away from those locals who may be aggressively touting you to take their tuk-tuks. If you are tired and have a little spare cash, sure, take it for the experience. If not, i would suggest you walking because you get to see more things around especially if that is your first time in Phuket. It is a tourism-dependent island so you can definitely see loads of foreigners and with that, you can find many different varieties of bars around. From Irish bar to American dining, you will be amazed how diversified they are. Despite all these people flowing into the area, the locals are still hospitable and showed no biased treatment towards any race or skin color. One thing you must do over there is to tailor-make yourself a few shirts. Trust me, they are really good at what they are doing, all at a low price and good skills. When i was there, they took less than 3 days to complete 5 shirts at approximately less than SGD$30 each, all fitted nicely to the sculpture of your body. What was better? The prices are negotiable.

Once you get used to the surrounding around your hotel, you are all set to go further. Get yourself a good meal and embrace yourself for a buzzing night life. Some roads will be closed to cater to the crowd that will be around. Bangala Street is a must-go location to experience the night life. You have people asking you to visit their bars or clubs to watch performances like the "Ping Pong Girls", "Thai-girls" etc. Girls with mini-skirts dancing on the table against a pole to deafening Thai songs will be a common sight while you roam the street. Explore these places with an open mind and you will garner loads of things then may just blow your mind. If walking gets too tired, you can choose to enter one of many massage parlor to get yourself....well, loosened up. When you walk by a small counter selling tours around the islands, don't hook up with them just yet. To make sure you get the best deals, set a targeted budget you want and when the person quote you the price, push it down to that budget (or even lower). Remember, the lower the budget, the more other things you get to spend on!

During the day, you can choose to take a stroll down the beach or just somewhere nearby to do bits of your shopping. The fun part of these shopping will definitely be the bargaining and minor flirting with the ladies manning the shops. Don't feel embarrassed because the prices of the goods there are racked up by a huge margin. Enjoy the shopping and haul your loots!

Here are some snap shots of Phuket:

This is one of the largest shopping area around the beach. So it's rather hard to give this place a miss. They have everything!

 This dude recommended the best spots for tourists to take pictures at as canoes down to different islands just around the area. Be ready to tip them because they will not be embarrassed to ask for a tip, or even state the amount!

 This kid here practically brought the entire boat to dock by the beach. While this picture was taken, i felt his fragile body and how skinny he was!

Phuket will be a good place for anybody to have a short and affordable trip to relax a person's mind off the busy and stressful work load in Singapore. Keep your eyes on bundle deals during seasonal sales provided by travel agencies. This can be an impromptu trip that you have decided with your friends while walking around shopping for nothing and happen to meet with a travel fair. Well, at least that's for me.

Let's take a break from here because the next one is going to be exciting. We will be going down south to the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia.

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