Finally, the much talked about trip is happening...the Krabi trip for Gwendolyn...happened between 8-11 September 2007! Both Lyn Lyn and Summer couldn't wait to go on their first overseas trip together!
Day 1: Depart Singapore
Flight schedule was 18:05 in the evening, departing from the Budget Terminal (coz we're taking Tiger Airways), we met up with Uncle Don, Auntie Lena and Summer at around 16:15 to check-in and have a quick snack before boarding the flight.
Lyn Lyn is all ready to go
Bye Singapore, I'm boarding my flight now
This was the aeroplane that I took to Krabi
Arrival at the Krabi International Airport
After clearing the Thai Immigration, we proceeded to the exit and look for our airport transfer transportation arranged by the hotel...they have prepared 2 separate cars for our 2 families. The journey took around 35 minutes from the airport to the resort. Upon arrival, we're given a welcome drink and a cold towel...
Registering at the hotel, with welcome drinks and cold towel!
So cold...
After checking in, we went to the hotel coffee shop, Mangosteen, to settle our dinner. Since Krabi is one hour behind, by the time we had dinner, it was almost 8:30pm Singapore time!
Mama ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce for Lyn Lyn from the kid's menu - yum!
After dinner, we went back to our respective hotel rooms, which ours was room 134 and Summer's was 133...
Wow...the bed is sooooooo big!
Brushing teeth before going to bed...
Enjoying her milk before going to bed!
Night night...a lot of activities ahead in the next few days!
Day 2: Elephant Ride and Swimming in the Pool
Good morning! All of us woke up bright and fresh and went for breakfast at Mangosteen (again) at 8am and Lyn Lyn asked for porridge as her breakfast!
Uncle Don checked out at the activity desk that there was a "Meet Baby Elephant" session at 8:30am and both kids were excited about it and finished their breakfasts as fast as they could before rushing off to the main lobby to wait for the baby elephant! Initially, both were scared to go near and Summer refused to walk by herself. When Mama told Lyn Lyn that she can try feeding the elephant, she actively approached the hotel staff to ask for bananas and started walking nearer and nearer to the baby elephant, in order to feed it! She loved it so much, she kept "haunting" the hotel staff for more bananas!
After meeting the baby elephant, the adults went to the activity desk to look for activities for the next few days...Mama spotted an Elephant ride trip, which is available few times a day and then another half-day island hopping trip to the nearby islands. We adults concluded that we would head for the elephant riding trip at 10am in the morning and island hopping trip for tomorrow. Both Mamas did the bookings, whilst the Papas took care of the 2 kids.
Getting ready for the elephant ride...
The van for the elephant ride trip arrived at 10am sharp to bring us to the "elephant jungle", which is only 10 minutes away from our resort. When seen the big elephants that we're about to board, both kids started to worry and wonder how are we going to get onto the high backs??? Then later found out that there was actually a platform to do so!
At the beginning when the elephant first started to move, Lyn Lyn was a bit scared, Papa was hugging her tight in order to give her some assurance. However, as we ride along, she started to let her guards down and started making sounds, touching leaves along the way and enjoying herself! Papa Mama said that this elephant ride was much better than the one they had in Phuket, as this was less commercialised and the "elephant man" helped us to take many pictures without extra charge!
After the ride, we were given long beans to feed the elephants and Lyn Lyn kept feeing and feeding until her hands were all dirty! She enjoyed it sooooooooooooooooo much!
Can I have more please? I like to feed...
After the fun elephant ride, we went back to the hotel and prepared the kids for a swim in the pool! Both kids couldn't wait, but jumped into the pool immediately after arriving and both Papas quickly ran in with them!
Since both were so happy in the waters...the adults have decided to have lunch at the poolside and let them have fun and tire them out to prepare them for a nap in the afternoon!
Not forgetting her sunblock under the strong hot sun!
Activities at the pool did the trick and soon, both dozed off for a nap before washing up again for dinner at night!
Photo outside the lobby whilst waiting for our cab to Krabi town (which turned out to be a seriously dead town with only ONE restaurant - FLOATING RESTAURANT)
This was the FLOATING RESTAURANT the we had our dinner...
After dinner, we all went back to sleep to prepare for the early island hopping trip tomorrow morning! Good night!
Day 3: Island Hopping - The Hong Islands
Good morning! We had a good night's sleep and woke up fresh in the morning for breakfast at 7:15am, as the pick-up for the island hopping trip was at 8:15am! We had a big breakfast before setting off to the ferry pier to board the speedboat! The adults have asked for extra towels, so as to keep some for laying on the beach for resting...Lyn Lyn was enthusiastic in helping with the TEN towels that we've requisited and setoff happily for the trip!
The weather was great for the trip...hence we put many layers of sunblock for the kids to protect their delicate skin and Lyn Lyn, showing her vain character, didn't want her skin to become "dark dark", kept rubbing sunblock on her face and body and ensuring that everyone did the same as well!
The speedboat ride was fun and Lyn Lyn was not scared at all!
The speedboat ride wasn't very long before we reach our first destination...somewhere just for us to test water before heading to the Hong Island!
Walking on the sand strip that split the sea into 2 sectors...Lyn Lyn wasn't afrain in the open sea!
After a 10 minute stop at this "test water" place, we headed for the Paradise Island for a bit of snorkelling and feeding of fish before heading for our lunch destination and the actual Hong Island for the next 2 hours! Scarily enough, this was actually a place being hit by the 24 Dec 2004 Tsunami and have a Ranger Station, indicating a Tsunami Escape Route to some highland of 700m high and a memorial for those whose life was lost back then! But it was a beautiful island with lots of fishes!
Since it's lunchtime with very strong sun and we'll be staying her for very long, Mama quickly apply another thick layer of sunblock before allowing Lyn Lyn to submerge into the waters again! She's so brave nowadays that she's confident in the waters as long as she has her armbands on!
One thing that Lyn Lyn loves doing is feeding the fishes! She kept asking for bread and dipped the whole slice of bread into the waters for the fishes to bite, not afraid of the fishes biting her fingers...see how close she was with the fishes!
Lunch was served near to the Ranger Station with proper table and benches and Lyn Lyn ate very quickly, as she wanted to go back into the waters! Whilst Mama finish her lunch, Papa brought Lyn Lyn to pick some seashells as souvenirs (Krabi is really not very commercialised, as it was almost impossible to find souvenir shops!!!)...along the way, Lyn Lyn kept saying: Krabi is so much fun! I'd like to come back again!
Before we depart the island, we noticed that the iguana living on the island has made it's grand entrance from the bushes...Papa brought Lyn Lyn to see and she was afraid...
Did you notice the BIG iguana behind, next to Lyn Lyn's armbands?
It's actually quite long, measuring longer than Lyn Lyn!
Out island hopping trip has come to an end and it was so much fun! The speedboat dropped us at the beach of our hotel and Lyn Lyn fell asleep on the way back...Papa Mama had to wake her up to wash up before laying her down in bed for her afternoon nap...
After a nice long nap, we're ready to head for our dinner just outside of the resort compound! This is the first time that we walk out on foot and be able to take a picture of the entrance of the resort...both kids posing so adorably for the pictures!
We strolled out next door to the "plaza" next door and noticed many massage parlours there, offering very reasonable services. However, both mums were concerned with the hygiene level and dismissed the idea of giving a go...along the way, there were chickens reared by people living around that area and both kids were amazed and started chasing after them!
The "plaza" actually looks very nice, but nothing much was in there!
We settled dinner at the restaurant directly opposite to our hotel and the food offering was amazing! Chicken soup noodles for the kids, with Tom Yam Goong soup (every night), tofu fried with bean sprouts, sweet and sour fish fillet, baked mussels (super tiny in size), green curry fried rice and banana split afterwards! Yum Yum...
We had a satisfying dinner before walking back to our rooms to pack up for our departure tomorrow!
Day 4: Departure
Our 4D3N trip has come to an end, but our flight is only at 19:20 in the evening. We still have some time to hang out in the resort. Initially, the adults thought that they could deposit the kids at Kid's Club, so that both mothers can go for a massage, whilst the fathers can go for sailing. However, as both kids are under the age of 4, parental supervision at the Kid's club us required. Hence, there was a change of plan to have the parents take turns in doing their activities.
Balloon sculpting at the Kid's Club
Dipping in the pool for the last time, whilst the fathers wait for their turn for a sailing trip (unfortunately, there was no wind for the day and they can't proceed with their plan!). In the end, both mothers had their massages at the pavillion quite near to the pool, whilst the fathers took care of the kids and ordered lunch at the poolside again! This final dip in the pool ended our stay at the Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort!
Before we head to the airport, we made a stop at Tesco Lotus, a new shopping centre near to the Krabi International Airport for a walk and buy some dinner, before arriving at the airport. It's proven to be a good move as there was only 1 eating place at the airport, with predominantly spicy food!
After our last Thai dinner at the airport, we boarded our return flight to Singapore...and ended our fun trip!
Bye Krabi...see you next time!
