Sawadika Krabi!

KRABI WITH ARI’S FAMILY!

 “There are years that ask questions, and years that answers”.

Hello. This year, many of my prayers got answered. I prayed for strength to go through the difficult time, HE granted me with great examiners that gave me A for my thesis. 

Oh My. Alhamdulillah. (Pergh,intro.)

It’s been more than 6 months that I worked for/with ARI in UiTM Shah Alam. My lecturers are the best ever. So does my RA colleagues! We’re like one big family. Even though I’m a little bit afraid of getting all close and affectionate with them, I just couldn’t help it. I love being loved and returning it. Love is all we need, isn’t it?

So back to the title, Dr Lia asked the lovely Zyzie to organize a short vacation to anywhere, just anywhere. This is because, her son, Imad and Dr Zu's Ijud are back on semester break from the USA and she wanted to go on a vacation together. To add more fun, of course she needs (MUST) to invite us. Considering the exchange rate, cost and the paxs that are interested to join our trip, we chose Krabi, Thailand.

Sawadekaa,first thing first. Zyzie booked the flight tickets plus insurances. But the ticket prices varied as the guest list keep getting longer, until we reach 23 paxs. Yes, we travel in group of 23 people and the Oscar Villa that we’re staying at had a great amount of headache entertaining us on arrival. 6 villas and 3 shuttle vans to cater us. Phew. Thank you so much Oscar Villa!

Day 1.

We decided to park & ride at ERL Putrajaya since it’s convenient and cheaper! We managed to catch the first train to KLIA 2 at 4.51am and arrived at the airport 20 minutes later. Everybody was at the airport by 5.30am since our flight was at 7am. Krabi, here we go!

Upon arrival, 3 shuttle vans were waiting for us. Our accommodation is near Ao Nang beach. Not THAT close, it’s 15minutes by tuk-tuk or 10minutes by van. We opted for Oscar Villa due to our big group. Initially we wanted to go for packages bargain at Ao Nang’s as per suggested by many. However, Oscar Villa offered us their service & packages at much discounted price, we figured, no need to bargain at Ao Nang anymore.

Right away we booked for elephant trekking and night market activity.

At 11 am, our shuttle vans came to pick us up to Safari Elephant Trekking. We had so much fun out in the scorching hot, riding elephant, trekking hills nearby for 1 hour. Then we’re back to our villa, enjoying the villa and refreshing ourselves before the vans came again at 5pm. To Krabi Town night market!

 

Day 2.

Today is reserved for island hopping and snorkeling. Even though Krabi is well-known for Phi-Phi Island and many more famous islands, we opted for less famous ones in our hope to avoid more people. Well, our group alone is already 23 paxs without our guides. We chose Hong Islands. An old school bus pick us up at the villa! 

We’re supposed to start our tour at 8am, but due to bad weather, we only get to depart from the shore by 11am. I must say, Krabi is for relaxing, sightseeing and island hopping, not snorkeling. There are literally no coral but beautiful emerald colored water so it kinda set it off.

 

Back from our island hopping, we went to Ao Nang town searching for more great food! Yummy! Hooray for the many halal eateries! Dr Lia and Dr Bell, went searching for massage parlor and found a great place that offer tip top service at super great price! We booked for a session the next day.

 

Day 3

Our activity for day 3 was just Emerald Pool & Hot Spring tour.As usual, vans pick us up at 8am after we had our breakfast. First stop is the Hot Spring. Wow. 

 

After that we went to the Emerald Pool. My oh my, it wasn’t just name! The color is no joke, insane! We had great time playing in the water. The almost 1km walk to the pool was worth it. 

 

We also visited the Blue Pool. And we kept on clapping and making sounds so that the pool produces air bubbles. Wow amazing!

It was my birthday on the 4th August, so the youngster group decided to go out for a FEAST dinner and they also treated me with cake from Ao Nang's starbucks. I was touched when they sang me happy birthday outside the shop. Thank a million guys!

Day 4.

It was free and easy day. Everyone could just go wherever they want. Us 5 girls decided to go for Full-body coffee scrub, 2 hours Thai massage and 30 minutes facial, all for less than 1000 bhat. My gosh. I love it. 

Until then, bye bye Krabi!

(2-5 August 2015)