Nevertheless, it was mission accomplished - the run felt great by the end, and I was able to figure out where most of the main streets and places I wanted to go were located.. and most importantly, I made it back to my hotel a few minutes before 11, just in time to receive my complimentary breakfast of eggs made to order along with numerous items in a buffet.. which I will visit again tomorrow as it was quite tasty, plus I simply love dining with an outdoor breeze.
On my way to the beach, I decided I wanted to pick up a few things.. and having just completed a nice run around town with my eyes peeled, I knew exactly where find them. I did notice a few noteworthy things while walking around though. First, there was a foul odor in the air.. we'll call it the Phuket aroma.. and it made breathing through the nose a very unpleasant thing to do in a number of areas. I'm not even completely sure what it was.. maybe it was garbage, since I did see a garbage truck doing pickups.. but I am 100% sure that it was an extremely foul stench - think Tapan's office after Kati Roll, times 1.5.
Second, crossing the street in Phuket is harder and more dangerous than anywhere I've been in recent memory.. and I think it has something to do with the traffic lights being, well.. off. Yep - they're just off.. so if you want to cross, you'll have to just wait until cars and motor bikes stop coming through, which doesn't happen very often. And that reminds me - I might be one of the only people in Phuket who isn't riding a motorcycle. No joke - I'd see local families (including babies! and very young children without helmets!), tourists, regular old weirdos, etc.. all flying around on these bikes with reckless abandon. With no traffic lights to stop vehicles and these bikes, crossing is like mission impossible every time.
Now back to shopping. For starters, I needed a small bag to use at the beach and on my tour - something like a regular backpack, but smaller, that could fit into my luggage just like the great little bag my mother let me borrow, except with straps so it's easy to lug over my shoulder and carry around for a day.. basically something to replace the plastic Food Emporium/Walmart bags I had been using, a la me/Shoeman carrying gear to wiffles.
Most stands didn't have anything that looked like it could work, until I found my new friend with the miniature North Face backpack. For those of you who know me well, now comes the fun part - negotiating time. He started at 700 baht (less than $25?! must be a knockoff), and I countered by saying I only had 500 baht (false).. and he accepted. That tells me I could've gotten it for 400.. but seriously, this bag is perfect.. and for under $20! It's much smaller/thinner than a normal backpack, so it'll fit nicely into my luggage (see photos of it next to the normal-sized pillow).. it has a couple small pockets for knick knacks, and it has nice little padded straps that fit perfectly onto my shoulders.. plus it's dead sexy - look at that thing! It's the perfect beach/tour bag for carrying around just a few things. Score.
Next I wanted to grab a bathing suit since the only two I brought no longer fit me and are falling down thanks to Megs' body fat loss challenge. It's a little disturbing to think where I was before that started, but at least I have to replace all of my bathing suits, shorts and pants now.. so there's that. Thanks Megs! So I found a little place that had a few decent looking bathing suits and I snagged one.. except now I'm thinking it was in children's sizes.. because the XL is what ended up fitting me - and I just believed her when she said sizes run small in Thailand. Her ask = 600 baht. Paid = 300 baht. Less than $10 for a bathing suit.. so not too terrible.
Before leaving the stand with the bathing suits, I noticed a number of Beats (by Dre) Pills sitting up there, so I asked how much they were since I'd been considering getting one of these for the trip anyhow. The initial ask was 1800 baht, or around $55. This thing was $199 on Amazon, so despite how legit they looked, I'm thinking these are knockoffs too - but all the better if it's really cheap and addresses a need. I negotiated down to 1200 baht (less than $40!) and now I'm the proud owner of a sweet Beats Pill knockoff for my trip. Added evidence of a knockoff is that it makes a seriously loud series of startup tones, and I don't see a way to adjust it - but I tested it and it does work. But it started to feel like I was just leaking money after a little while.. until I realized that after everything I'd bought, I still spent less than $70. JB - can they do THAT on your extreme couponing shows?!
When I booked this trip, I had planned on Phuket being the most relaxing couple of days of the three weeks. Then, as I spoke to people and researched the area, I started to feel ambitious and considered taking a day trip to Phi Phi and possibly doing some scuba on the other day. However, after a quick stay in Seoul, and realizing that the stay in Phuket would be just as quick (just two free days plus one travel day), followed immediately by a 14-day tour where we'll be changing locations pretty much every day with a packed itinerary.. I decided to keep Phuket as the lazy destination of the trip, and do little aside from going to the beach each day and relaxing as much as possible - I'll just have to make up for it over the next 14 days.
With that, I went along to Patong Beach to enjoy the beautiful 85 degree weather here in Phuket. The beach was a 3 minute walk from my hotel, and for 150 baht (around $4-5), you get a towel/chair/umbrella for the day. The only issue with the beach is the roaming vendors trying to sell you random stuff every couple of minutes.. but if living and working in NYC over the past few years has taught me anything, it's to quickly dismiss people looking to grab my attention and beg or sell me something. Thanks for making me cold-hearted and dismissive, NYC! Nonetheless, I went out there, got some good sun, listened to some music, and wrote this blog.. so all in all, a swell day.
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