4D3N Krabi Couple Trip

After much procrastination, I'm finally posting this !! HAHAHA !!

August definitely travelling month for me (YAY !!) Recently me and my boyfriend just went to Penang for our couple trip (read all about it here =)) To be honest, I've visited Krabi before (2 years ago for my birthday trip LOL) so this is my second time visiting Krabi =) It's okay for me since it will be new experience for my boyfriend as his birthday gift.

I'm sure that there are lots of blog about Krabi that you can refer to, however when I search, most of them mentioned about staying at Ao Nang (the top location if you like crowd) and yes, I've stayed there before. Or there are some of the blogs that mentioned about how to travel within specific budget (not that I'm looking down on them since I'm budget traveler as well but I'm willing to stretch a little bit of my budget). But here I am, writing down on my own experience at Krabi for the second time of my life with total spending around SGD 1,000 for two people =)

Since my boyfriend doesn't really like the crowd, I need to do a bit of research where to stay (one of my weakest point, doing research LOL). In the end, I decided to stay at Klong Muang, quiet and further away from town but with accessible restaurant and bar =) But warn you, if you go at the monsoon season, expect not to see much at this beach ~

The distance from the airport to Klong Muang is roughly around 30+km. If you took the shuttle bus that you book from the airport it will take roughly 50mins (since they will stop the other passengers at Ao Nang first). Just a reminder, don't booked the airport transfer from the accommodation if you travel by yourself or with your couple, just because it's super expensive. I try to asked from the accommodation I'm staying and they will charge me at THB 1,200 for one way. Meanwhile if I booked from the airport it will just cost me THB 400 for one way. But again, it depends on the number of people travelling. If you travel with family (5 and above) probably it's best to booked from the accommodation as the one from the airport charged you by per person =)

The airport shuttle bus

One thing that you might not like if you're staying at Klong Muang; you will find quite far to go everywhere. It took us around 30mins to go to the Night Market at Krabi Town 😐 meanwhile if you're staying at Ao Nang, probably shorter time =)

I admitted that going Krabi on August might be a bit of silly decision as it is the monsoon season. The weather forecast was not supporting my mental health too (it showed me thunderstorms weather for the full four days of my trip). BUT !!! We are definitely blessed and lucky as well that the weather extremely awesome !! OK, to be honest we met the rain three times. Once was during our visit to Hong Island, enroute going back to hotel from the night market was before checking out from the hotel to airport =)

Anyway, before I bored you with lots of words, I shall share with you my itinerary. Let's scroll down!!

DAY-1 (Departure from Singapore, HELLO KRABI)

• Depart Singapore at 11.00AM (Scoot Airlines), reached Krabi at 12.00pm+ (note that there's one hour difference timing.) Cleared immigration and left airport at 1pm+ (there are quite long queue)
• Took the shuttle bus from airport (mentioned above) and reached at our hotel at 2pm+ (read about our accommodation The Pelican Krabi by clicking this link 😃)
• Had late lunch / early dinner at Sunset Bar (super recommended !!)
• Went to 7-Eleven, getting some chips and beers 
• Booked our Hong Island, cost us at THB 1,500 (approx. SGD62) and night market trip, which cost us at THB 1,000 (approx. SGD41). We had private van (those 7-seaters van) to the night market !!
• Went back to hotel and totally slacks (I took a dip in the bathtub using my Lush Bubble Bath 😍)

Taken at Krabi Airport =)

Sunset Bar view (totally recommended) you can watch sunset from here while having a boost =)

Nice view eh =)

Mandatory thing to do when you're at the beach as couple? Haha (it was written by him =) thank you for being so sweet as always haha)

DAY-2 (Hong Island Tour and Night Market

• Had breakfast at the hotel, 9am picked up from the hotel to Hong Island (sadly we were picked up at 9.30+). Luckily the distance of our hotel to the pier to go Hong Island is just 10mins time 😊
• We stopped at three islands, took pictures, swimming and snorkeling (swim and snorkel part is only for my boyfriend, I was just playing with water HAHAHA)
• Completed the tour at 3.00pm (they did not extend it longer although in the middle of the trip there in an incident. Someone just took the nap and didn't go back to the boat at the right time, causing delay to  the next destination. SIANZ!). Reached the hotel at 3.20ish and we slacked again
• Picked up at 6.00pm sharp to go night market (you definitely need to visit here if you're on weekend trip).
• Driver sent us back to the hotel and picked us up at 9.00pm (exactly the timing we requested). The previous tour I joined (2 years ago LOL) gave us specific timing hence I couldn't really enjoy myself with all the food and entertainments.

View from the pier. Can you spot the speed boat? =)

The first island stop. We did not go down on this island (not allowed to)

The second stop - Thanboke Khoranee National Park

Next stop - Pakbia Island

Last stop - Koh Lao Ladding

Krabi Walking Street night market (Friday - Sunday night, 6pm to 10pm)

These two stalls must visit !! Awesome food and cheap cheap =)

DAY-3 (Private van booked using Klook.com, cost $90+ for 8 hours)

• Had breakfast at the hotel (the same food items, only one or two differences 😐), picked up at 9AM, but we went out slightly late (thanks to boyfriend who woke up late for breakfast LOL)
• First stop at Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea), climbed up all the way 1,237 steps !! I've climbed before 2 years ago and I noticed that there were few steps of the stairs were closed and changed to other routing (did not manage to take picture of it). If you climbed up and see the gold hand-railing, it is the new steps! Remember to wear decently ! If you happened to wear mini pants or not knee length, donate THB 20 at the entrance and get a slip-over cloth that you can wrap from your waist down.
• Next stop was at Hot Spring Klong Thom. We took almost an hour road trip to go from the temple.We did not spend long time here (around 30mins-45mins). We walked from the entrance to the hot stream around 6mins, soaked in the water around 20mins, and walked out again to the entrance using the other paths, looking at the greenness surrounding the areas. Entrance fee was THB 160 per person and since we have private van, the parking cost THB 30. If you follow tour, I believe all the expenses are covered =)
• Last stop, BIG C !!! SHOPPING BABY !!! HAHAHA !! It was my boyfriend first visit to Big C (he heard the name before, but never really step into it). I told him, it is the snacking paradise LOL !! And indeed, we spent an hour there filling our cart with snack LOL. We spent approx. THB 1,600 just for snacks 😄
• Back to hotel around 5PM+ (due to traffic jam) and then we went for a walk at the beach, trying our luck to see the sunset, but alas, too cloudy 😞
• Had romantic dinner at The Beach House. Oh well not really romantic LOL. If you're using credit card, please be careful. We were told that the terminal was not working after they had swiped our card and the staff asked us if we had another card to be used. After discussion, we went to the resort opposite (might belong to the same owner) to use the credit card machine. Luckily this time it went through.

After climbing the 1237 steps at Tiger Cave Temple, you are rewarded with this awesome view =)

The Hot Spring =)

DAY-4 (Departure from Krabi, back to bitter reality at Singapore LOL)

• Enjoy ourselves for the last breakfast at the hotel (this time they served porridge and surprisingly it was quite good !! I had two bowls LOL) 
• Spent time at the swimming pool
• Went for massage (the trip will not feel complete if you never go for a massage at least once if you're at Thailand HAHA)
• Went for lunch again at Sunset Bar (the owner still recognize us, probably due to low season LOL)
• Back to hotel, packed our stuff, and depart from hotel to airport at 6pm (we requested for late checkout). We booked the shuttle from the airport from the same tourist kiosk where we booked our Day-2 activities =) The private shuttle cost us THB 600.
• Reached airport at 6.50pm, had dinner at the only decent looking cafe (Zurich Bread cafe) in the area we were at, check-in and passed all immigration. Our flight got DELAYED !!! by 1/2 hour (sianz). Reached Singapore at 2AM, looking like zombie 😢

The massage shop that we went

Walking around Pelican Krabi ~

In the middle of the road. Less people, less crowd =)

At Krabi Airport...

Hope this itinerary can be a reference for your future trip 😄
We will be travelling to Australia coming October and hope I don't procrastinate so much on writing about it so I can share our itinerary to you all 😂
Have a great day ahead !!

Keisuke Ramen at Clarke Quay

Finally I have the time to write down about this place HAHAHA. I've been dragging a lot time (probably 2 weeks?) cause my life schedule is kinda hectic =(

WARNING!

This post contains lots of words and only 4 pictures as this is a reminder story for me that there is still awesome restaurant with awesome service out there. So don't complain that it's so wordy. I've warned you. LOL

Here it goes =)

Probably a lot of you have been here and know that this place has legit good ramen, however, I really want to write down this post to remind me how good is the service given to me and my boyfriend when we visited this place.

To be very honest, we did not know this place even existed (sorry not sorry, but both of us really haven't been exploring restaurant HAHA) I know that there are few eateries at Clarke Quay, but did not expect a Japanese ramen place to be there; cause you know Clarke Quay is drinking place and I did not associate drinking with ramen. Anyway, doesn't really matter. What matter most is the food quality and the service as well as the pricing of the food and beverage.

We knew this place thanks to the $10 voucher given to us by doing CapitaLand survey (we got 2 pieces! Woohoo!!) Just because I didn't know what to have for dinner, my boyfriend suggested we tried out the ramen place. It took us around 5 mins to find the place (mind you, it's because both of us kinda lost in this area) 

When we reached to the restaurant, we was taken aback as there was long queue (which we never expect) so we waited around 10 to 15mins. Well at least at the front queue, we managed to grab a seat and also drinks (provided at the entrance area, self-service for the water). After the wait, we were seated inside at the corner where we can see this huge bell in the middle for decoration purpose LOL

Right after seated the below catch my attention (although I know this is common haha). We ordered two ramen (to be honest I really forgotten which one my boyfriend ordered cause it's been too LONG !) and also ordered Sakura Cola. Picture below =)

Complimentary egg 😃

Lovely Sakura Cola =)

I have to be honest, for the Sakura Cola, it tasted just okay for me. I don't really know how to explain the taste, but it just doesn't taste like the normal Cola. It's bit sweeter and I can taste a bit sour plum? which I know is a bit weird HAHAHA. This is just for one time experience, as I was curious to know the taste and there will be no second time of ordering this. I rather just drink water LOL

As for the ramen, I swear I've forgotten what my boyfriend ordered (perhaps when we visit another time, I'll look up the name in the menu and then update it here. IF I remember ! HAHA) Meanwhile for me, I ordered the Miso Lobster ramen with egg (Ajitsuke Tamago, not the normal hard boiled egg). I can tell you it taste so good !! I finish the whole bowl by myself 😆

Meanwhile for my boyfriend, oh dear, so much drama !! Let me start narrating the drama HAHA

So he ordered the ramen and when it was served, I took picture (as usual). Right after that, he taste a spoonful of soup and gave me weird face and said "this is so bland!" I was quite curious so I took a sip (after tasted my ramen soup) and I definitely agree with him. At first we thought that it was like that, however, my boyfriend still doubting. In the end, we called one of the staffs and asked her if its normal.

She asked if we usually have stronger taste buds (meaning if you like more salty/spicy). If yes, we should not choose normal taste (there are three categories; less, normal, more (something like that, can't really remember). Thank God that she is quite understanding, and she took the bowl away.

However, on very next minute, the chef suddenly came out from the kitchen and apologized to us. He mentioned that it was their mistake that the ramen was bland. They eventually changed a new one to us and voila, tasted so much better !! My boyfriend enjoyed the meal to the last drop of the soup 😂 You can see the proof at my Instagram highlight.

The experience is definitely really good as they really care about customer feedback and immediately act on it. I know for someone who is little peanut like me, one complaint will just be another one customer lost, and it won't affect their business profit. I really appreciate the kind gesture of changing the ramen. What even surprised me more is that they actually let us eat it for FREE !! YES FREE !! The restaurant didn't charged us any single cent for the ramen that was being exchanged. I was shocked when I was leaving the restaurant and still could not believe it.

The final receipt ! At the end of the day, they only charged us one ramen and one cola =)

This is another reason why I bother to write so much word (sorry if you're looking for recommendation and I bore you with all these drama HAHAHA) and only 4 (YES 4. You can count it) pictures posted =)

I just want to write this down so I can remember there's this restaurant named Keisuke Ramen at Clarke Quay that still care about their customer although they are busy af !!

The address as per below:
3C River Valley Road,
#01-07 The Cannery, Clarke Quay
Singapore 179022

Opening hour - 6PM to 5AM daily
Nearest MRT - Clarke Quay

Gardens by The Bay - Begonia Brilliance

Last Saturday my boyfriend decided to bring me to Gardens by The Bay for our saturdate. We gotten the ticket at $6 (huge thanks to his colleague!!). See the ticket below that there's difference from the normal ticket. Our ticket has SG Red Cross wording =)

2 tickets at $12.00 for entry to Flower Dome and Cloud Forest

To be honest, I don't really like the crowd LOL hence I always avoid to visit this place (only visited if there's special occasion) Plus I don't really like if the pictures I taken are being spammed by tons of people on the background LOL (I know I'm kinda selfish yea hahaha)

People mountain people sea LOL (taken from the upper level from the entrance of Flower Dome)

This time around, they are showcasing Begonia. This genus of plant contains 1,795 different plant species (Thanks Wikipedia !! 😄) Try to read more information about this plant by googling them but my head is kinda spinning around (thanks to monthly aunt visit) so I don't really understand it. Anyway, since I'm not florist nor gardener, I will just enjoy taking picture and the accompaniment of my boyfriend 😂😂

Scroll below to see more pictures taken using my Huawei P20Pro =)
The effect of the camera is really awesome (I did not use any filter for all the pictures) and I'm still amazed on how the AI works perfectly !!

The Begonia flower will be gone from Garden by The Bay by this week. I believe they are switching to other flowers (don't know what flowers but I'm sure it will be another pretty scenery to be captured). I love flowers hence I really like to attend such exhibition. But again, just like I mentioned above, I don't like to come here because of the overflowing of people 😂😂

To find out more about the exhibition just click here. 
Don't forget, it's until end of this month only. Go now if you haven't go and before you regret =)