Seven months ago in a West Village apartment, I told my sister I’ll be back in time to celebrate New Year’s Eve with my nieces and The Village (a small group of Malaysian in NYC that is on the verge of extinction) and watch fireworks set off on the Hudson River.
Boy, I was way off. Instead, this is what I did for the first 9 days of 2009.
Krabi
Hotel: Red Ginger
Price: 3000 bath/night
8 other friends and I decided to countdown to 2009 in Krabi. We stayed at a swanky boutique hotel and spent many hours on the balcony drinking whiskey, rum and vodka infused cocktails and smoking tobacco. This place, which to me had a Euro vibe has a diveresed crowd; parents with children but also young people in groups. The nearby white painted beach-side restaurants and hotels reminded me a little of Mykonos.
Krabi
Hotel: Red Ginger
Price: 3000 bath/night
8 other friends and I decided to countdown to 2009 in Krabi. We stayed at a swanky boutique hotel and spent many hours on the balcony drinking whiskey, rum and vodka infused cocktails and smoking tobacco. This place, which to me had a Euro vibe has a diveresed crowd; parents with children but also young people in groups. The nearby white painted beach-side restaurants and hotels reminded me a little of Mykonos.
Tom yum gong
Foot scrub on the beach
Chicken Island
Light a red lanterns (they aren't really red but look it from a far) for good luck. These things may look pretty in the sky but don't think it was too good for the environment. On New Year’s Eve, there were at least 500 of these being set-off on Krabi beach.
Phi Phi Island
Hotel: PP Princess Resort
Price: 1700 bath/night
M and I stayed and took the ferry to Phi Phi while the rest of my friends flew back to Kuala Lumpur to their jobs. Phi Phi Leh is where The Beach movie was shot. The water surrounding Phi Phi Leh is so very clear but there are no hotels here and the only stay-over option is to camp but only for a night. Phi Phi Den, the bigger island is where we stayed and it reminded me a lot of a big frat party because most of the people who visit here are probably fresh grads from Australia or USA. We stayed at PP Princess Resort which resembles a beachfront college dormitory. Our bathroom has no hot water and the toilets are separated and shared with other hotel guests.
Stopover at Phi Phi Leh. Playing soccer (or football) on the beach.
Fire dancer at a beach party.
This little buckets are filled with mixture of 12oz local whiskey + 20oz soda + ice. Taste of the concoction is written all over M's face.
Phi Phi Den, town
Lanta Island
Hotel: Sanctuary Resort
Price: 900 baht/night
This is my most favorite island amongst the three. If you want a vacation to do absolutely nothing, come to Lanta. The island is quite undeveloped but you can get around easily on a motorcycle, which is what M and I did. We saw some of the most gorgeous beaches from hillsides and trekked down to the most remote beaches to drink fresh young coconut juice. We stayed in a hut on Sanctuary Resort which has an open air cold-water-only shower and toilet. I didn’t mind much of the cold water probably because showering under Orion’s Belt and having large big lizards and green-colored beetles around made it so much more interesting. Oh, and the lady who runs the resort teaches yoga (sea view) every morning at 9am.
Open air bathroom at Sanctuary Resort.
Sunset
Sunny
Elephant ride
Lanta Island
More pictures of Krabi, Lanta & Phi Phi
