Phuket Retreat Day 3

29/7/2014

Itinerary of today:

Central Festival
Breakfast @Shabu Shi
Wat Chalong
Big Buddha Phuket
Lunch & tea @local restaurants
Karon Viewpoint
Karon Beach
Dinner @Mali Seafood & Restaurant

Gonna head to the South for a few cultural tourist spots today. Decided to drop by Central Festival first and was trying to look for a casual place for a quick breakfast. Bumping into Shabu Shi was in fact not in my itinerary and obviously an impromptu decision as it was recently having a promotion with 50% off all-you-can-eat hotpot buffet. It was just 366 bahts for 2! How could we resist this temptation?

Couldn't imagine having hotpot in such a hot country but other than that, skewers, fruit, sushi, ice cream and drinks were offered. We were both crammed with food having this big feast early in the morning. (see the receipt eating from 10:25 to 11:47!)

Continued with our journey to Wat Chalong, a famous and terrific temple, which is also the largest temple in Phuket. Spent about an hour here checking the wat complex out and took a lot of pictures here. Was a really impressive wat with many side buildings. 
P.S. need proper dress code inside or else salon will be given to cover your body.

Some hawkers selling coconuts (40 bahts). Good to have one under such hot weather. The hawker helped us to shape the skin of the coconut into a spoon for the raw meat inside.

Some stores closed to the entrance selling postcards. (10 bahts each)

Jumped into our car and headed to the next station, the Big Buddha Phuket right away. Saw some tourists having an elephant rides and we decided not to do it but simply fed the baby elephant. (40 bahts for bananas) Poor little one with locks on its legs... but that's Thailand, right?

Again, needa mind the dress code getting inside the Big Buddha. Salon was provided at the front gate for free. 

Some locals crafting wood for their living.

Tourists being blessed by monks.

Actually the Big Buddha was still under construction due to the lack of donations. So pictures could only be taken form outside. Pretty disappointed only viewing it from the outside.

Wanted to catch the sunset at Karon Viewpoint but were starving and just hopped off for 2 local restaurants for lunch and tea time. One was for western food (150 bahts) and another Vietnamese food (254 bahts). 

We were lucky just be in time for the sunset there. It was a long way to get to Karon Viewpoint. The view was nice and breathtaking but very windy though. Worth it or not? I am sure enjoying the sunset at the beach is more or less the same!

Went all the way back after dusk fell. Was already dark at night when we drove down to the Karon Beach and saw some people doing surfing with a man-made waves machine. 

Walked around the night markets there and settled down at Mali Seafood & Restaurant. Was only 600 bahts for 2 serving unlimited open food. Eating in such a low cost in Thailand is ultimately a heaven.

Total expenses for 2 =1570 bahts

Central Festival                              /
Breakfast @Shabu Shi                     366 bahts (for 2)
Wat Chalong                                  /
Coconut                                        40 bahts
Postcards                                      10 bahts X12 =120 bahts
Bananas for elephants                    40 bahts
Big Buddha Phuket                         /
Lunch & tea @local restaurants        404 bahts for 2
Karon Viewpoint                             /
Karon Beach                                  /
Dinner @Mali Seafood & Restaurant  600 bahts for 2