Pattaya 7/6/18 - 10/6/18

Day 1

Off we go! 

Early morning, not much hiccup, arrived at Bangkok, collected cars (really a minibus) after a very slow start which sets the pace for the trip vos is not easy moving around with 8 adults and 4 kiddos. 

Doesn’t help that we’re driving an elephant around (almost the size of the caravan!). Checked into our humongous (but slightly ulu) villa: 6 bedrooms, 5 toilets and it even comes with a private pool - just the parking space is kinda small and we had to unload before moving the car fully into the lot, else we can’t open the boot! 

Settled and off we go: grocery shopping! But first, lunch at Big C. If moving 12 pax is tough, finding space and feeding the company was even harder. Or going grocery shopping. Done with the biz and we’re off to the beach! Slightly too early for walking street so we walked through it, dragging the young and the old along, before hitting the Pattaya beach on a mission: to book our tour package for the next day. And before we know it, it’s sunset! So dinner - good recommendation for cheap and good seafood! Repeated some orders cos they were just too good. And then finally, we’re back to rest for the night, except there was one more monster to fight: the guard Bull Terrier. Thought it was a random stray so I went down the van to unlock the gate but this dog decided I was too suspicious a human to be in the alleyway and decided to charge at me despite me holding my ground! No choice but to jump back into the van (albeit failing on my first attempt and earning myself a badge of shame through the abrasion scars - one downside of having a van that is too damn high!) Finally the owner from the corner unit thought his guard’s job was done (and did good job while he’s at it) and called the dog back... what a way to end the night! 

Day 2

It’s beach day! Transfer was by Song Theaw - and the wait at Pattaya beach (together with busloads of impatient Chinese tourists) for our speedboat was another one hour, no wonder the simple itinerary lasts 6 hours. 

In any case, we reached Koh Larn safely (to everyone’s relieve) after a very turbulent ride, with babies crying and me constantly getting ready to jump towards dad (who has a hole in his throat and is the opposite of waterproof) if the boat capsized. And then it’s finally beach time for some beach fun! More fun for the kids really, we’re just there to chase after the small ones and entertain the older ones.

Lunch and more chilling in the sudden downpour later, it’s snorkelling time! We first had the opportunity for dad (who requested for this activity actually) to look into the underwater world through the glass bottom boat before the rest of us jumps into the blue waters to check out the corals and fishes up close. Bryan was fully confident and enjoyed it; Oliver took awhile to finally don on the mask and snorkel, and even took some bread to feed the fishes; Lemon took some convincing to even get off the boat, but once she’s in and freely swimming, it took another round of convincing to get her back into the boat. Headed back to the beach for more swim time before the much calmer journey back to mainland - even Lemon managed to fall asleep on the boat! Transferred back to our villa and it’s more grocery shopping! This time to buy BBQ stuff and packet some light dinner before some of the gang goes for their Cabaret show (I opted out naturally, doesn’t appeal to me, nor the boys as well). Experienced the mad Thailand jam once again at this part of the country (mainly caused by the long red lights but the road works didn’t help), and that translated to a mad rush for the Cabaret gang - they made it only to be stuck in another jam on their way back. The rest of us took our time to set up the BBQ pit and started on our dinner while we cook. The Cabaret gang only got back at 10pm, famished and tired (not less because half of them were half-sick to begin with). Quick dinner later we all knocked out early. 

Day 3

Wanted to wake up early for the floating market, but the usual culprit for us being late in the morning was at work. But they did woke up to inform that the floating market, unlike the real markets serving locals, is a tourist one (read: tourist traps) that caters for tourists (read: opens late). So we strolled to the market after a long breakfast, and arrived one of the earliest. Decided against falling into the tourist trap of paying 4 times the entrance fee for the boat ride to walk the whole 2kn circuit instead (like a local, of sort. In any case, the staff mistook our driver (aka my Brother) as a local because, who in the right mind would drive this monster of a vehicle in this land of crazy traffic?!) - was a good decision tho.

Walk, shop, photo opps and, of course, lunch stop (boat noodles!) - the usual things to do, and we’re off.

More photo opps 

And one more! 

Short stop to the Big Buddha and we are back to the villa to rest / chill. Some of us went back to - you guessed it, Big C for groceries, again - for more BBQ stuff. Came back for a swimming sess with the kiddos and then it’s time for the activity I most looked forward to - massage! Healthland was super posh, and crowded, in the sense that we lost our slot after being late (thanks, Thailand traffic) for a mere 15 minutes. Still, all was well and good - including the 120min massage! Well worth the 200 Baht tips. Rushed back to start fire for the BBQ cos it was already 8pm by then, while we split up to buy dad’s all-time-favourite pork knuckle rice as light dinner (heavy on the heart, literally, though). BBQ was super sumptuous but we still manage to finish a good portion before leaving the rest for the next morning. 

Day 4

The last morning was a late one cos there’s basically just one thing on the itinerary: pack up! Do not underestimate the lethargy after nuaing for three days straight and the inefficiency to settle a group of 12 - it really took the whole morning. At least we managed to finish most of our food and still packed up in time! (Even manage to squeeze in a quick dip!) 

Check out and our two hour journey back to Bangkok airport begins - lengthened by the Bangkok jam and the desperate need to find a petrol kiosk as we near the airport.

Managed everything in time and even checked in more than two hours before flight! Took the risk to clear immigration before lunch and it was a mistake - the amount of people (Chinese tourists, especially) surprised us. We gave up on a restaurant lunch and took out food to the benches instead - couldn’t have made it to the plane if we persisted with the long queues at the restaurants. Good thing about the large number of people: bumping into familiar faces! Third trip in a row to coincidentally bump into friends, Siying and Eugene Lee this time round, caught in a couple wear! Haha. Even taking the same flight back... 

Peaceful trip back was disrupted by yet another jam! This time round in the air - landing was delayed but it wasn’t too long before we touch down and ended this one massive trip. Exercise All Out, Mission Accomplished!