Bangkok/Pattaya Part 2

Let's continue.

Day 3

We took a 1.5 hour cab ride to Pattaya's Markland Hotel.

I have heard so much about the gorgeous beaches of Pattaya and the colourful nightlife there. And I was not disappointed. This was the view from my hotel room.

It seemed like a scene right out of Miami Vice. I could not wait to explore the beach.

We had our lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel Pattaya. Great food, great ambience and great service.

After lunch, we walked about the area around our hotel for a while. Along the streets and alleys of the city, you can find many bars, pubs and restaurants. And in each one, you will find at least one Caucasian man sitting there, having a drink or getting friendly with the local girls. Pattaya is swarmed with Caucasian tourists (especially men). And many of these men actually settle down and get married to the local girls. You can at times see them walking down the streets with their Thai wives and lovely mixed children.

The Thai girls love these Caucasian men. I notice each time these guys walks past the pub or bar, the girls would call them to them flirtaciously and actually pull them into the bar aggressively. And these men are not young! They are mostly 45 and over. They simply love the attention the girls give them. The girls can be really young, some look like mere teenagers to me.These guys also hire these girls as escorts and they take the men around town and show them around. Sex is usually included in the package, of course.

People like me and hubby, are not as popular as the Caucasians :) In fact, we keep getting mistaken for being Thai. I guess its the polynesian look, most Thais, Indonesians, Malay Malaysians and Malay Singaporeans look alike. The looks on the faces of the locals upon knowing that we are actually Singaporeans is priceless. And of course, we get good local rates when buying stuff :)

After resting at the hotel, we ventured out at night for dinner and a cultural show at a seafood restaurant called The Thai House. The main street of Pattaya is a one-way street and it follows the coastline. There are no tuk-tuks here, only motor-jeeps for about 20-40THB (S$1-2) per ride. There are many tourists who actually rent motorbikes there, but we dare not to as the users of the roads are not exactly safe riders.

Our seafood dinner (the fish was humongous!)
With the dancers of the show

Hubby posing with the fire performers

Day 4

We booked a tour to Coral Island, a remote getaway about 2 hours from Pattaya City. The tour included a return trip boat ride and seafood lunch at the island.

On the way by boat

We stopped by a parasailing pit stop on the way there. I was so nervous to give it a try! It was only 400THB (S$17) per person, a price which I can never get in Singapore or Malaysia. Hubby persuaded me to give it a go. I am normally quite adventurous but parasailing is something new to me and I was not sure of what to expect.

Hubby went ahead first I took a video of Hubby's 1st parasailing experience.

This photo was taken by the parasailing operator.

He was having the time of his life.

Next up, my turn. Believe me, I was scared shitless.

After the Thai guys strapped me up to the parachute, they keep reminding me to run. Cos when the boat starts to pull you away from the platform, you will need to move your legs and run quick or else your legs will get hurt in the process. Once my parachute went up, I was laughing and screaming at the same time! It was an exhilirating feeling being up in the sky and looking at the open seas around you. It is an experience I can never forget.

That's me looking a little scared :)

After that, we continued our route to Coral Island.

The beaches of Thailand are simply beautiful and the water was so clear that we could even see huge corals on the seabed. Upon arrival, we quickly settled on the deckchairs and proceeded to lay down our lazy butts there :) Can you believe we had to pay to lie down on the deckchairs? About 50THB (S$2.50) per chair.

But with a view like this, who cares, right?

Sorry lah but no bikini pics allowed, strict orders from the husband.

I truly treasured the time we spent there. The island was so remote, we were cut off from civilisation. No computers or internet, just the wind in your hair, and the sea breeze surrounds you. It was such a romantic experience, us cuddling and snuggling up on the deckchairs, with soft kisses exchanged. We enjoyed the tranquility of the island and its beautiful sandy beaches and clear blue waters. Even our seafood lunch was a simple affair. We dined on home-cooked fried rice, mixed vegetables, chicken soup and fried fish fresh from the sea, served with Thai sauce, at the area facing the waters.

Hubby enjoying the meal

Soon, it was time to leave Coral Island. We promised ourselves to come back one day, this time with our children.

We got back to the hotel around 5 pm and I suddenly decided to pamper myself with a spa session. I booked the Skin Treatment Spa whereas hubby booked a massage session for himself, similar to the one we had in Bangkok. I did not want him to go for the spa as I did not like the idea of the Thai ladies touching him everywhere.

My spa treatment last 1.5 hours. The spa therapist was a very young girl who knew little English. Firstly, I was given a warm shower, and then I sat in the sauna room for about 15mins. Later, she rubbed various oils and herbs on my whole body. And I really mean, my whole body. She was very thorough and did not leave out any inch of skin ;) One of the oils she put on me smelled like candy. I was then ushered to a jacuzzi bath filled with milk and rose petals. I truly felt like Cleopatra haha! It was rejuvenating and relaxing. After the session, I met hubby and we were both served coffee cake, green bean soup and jasmine tea.

As it was the last night we will be spending in Thailand, we wanted to make the fullest out of it. We first headed for a nearby restaurant for a romantic candlelight dinner.

Sigh..it's been ages since we dated like this...I felt like a blushing girlfriend all over again. Even the waitress thought we just finished our uni studies and we are dating. She was certainly shocked to learned that how old we were and that we have 2 kids. We really should have more 'dates', right hun?

We then made our way to the famous Walking Street. Here you will find the red-light district of Pattaya.

It is called Walking Street simply because the roads along the street are closed and tourists and people can walk along the open street and enjoy the many interesting sights along the way. As it is the red-light area, the whole street was lined with sex bars, pubs, restaurants and brothels. There were girls taunting tourists to come into their shops and there were dressed in all sorts of costumes, such as the Japanese schoolgirl outfit. We saw girls dancing on table tops and poles. As I have mentioned before, the bulk of the customers are Caucasians. And the market was just not for girls only, there was an alley called 'Boyz Town' ;)

We also saw a pub which had a Muay Thai boxing show as well as buildings with glass windows displaying skimpily-clad girls dancing using poles.

Even though we did not patronize any of the shops there, I enjoyed the walk as we saw many interesting people, such as the transvestites and prostitutes.

Day 5

Final day :(

After a late breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and left our luggage at the concierge. We walked around the shopping district near the Walking Street area. The bazzars there sold a variety of stuff from clothes, to porn vcds to furniture. We were browsing the vcds at a roadside stall, and was disgusted to find a few child pornography vcds. The cover of the vcds show children as young as 8 having sex. I just hope that the people behind this are caught soon and child pornography will be eradicated completely.

After shopping, we had lunch at Pizza Hut before heading back to the hotel for our taxi ride back to the airport in Bangkok.

We flew back to Singapore via Tiger Airways TR 109.

On the whole, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I came to Thailand hoping for relaxation and rejuvenation and I got it. Me and hubby spent very good quality time together and it was certainly the best anniversary gift ever.