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 !!

Garden by the Bay - Cloud Forest

I'm sure everyone knows about Cloud Forest at Garden by the Bay. It is one of the must visit place for all the tourists. It has easy access as well as the entrance is just located adjacently at the Flower Dome exit (read about my visit to Flower Dome here 😃) 

Usually, people will visit this place the whole day as they can explore the Flower Dome first then straight to Cloud Forest as the ticket purchase will only valid on the purchase date =)

In my case, since we purchased under special occasion (thanks to SG Red Cross for the special price and condition ticket), we managed to visit the dome and conservatory on different day (less tiring too as we need to walk a lot)

To be very honest, I would recommend you to come to this place during odd hour to avoid the massive crowd (if you don't like crowd please don't come on weekend or public holiday. I can assure you, you will be like sardine in a can, trying to squeeze in your way to stand to get good picture angle. Even if it's good, your picture will be bombarded by people's head 😂😂 which personally I don't like. Well unless if you don't mind taking few and then Photoshop every single thing, then please go ahead HAHA)

So, why is it a must visit? I don't know !! But personally, I would say it is because of the scenic scene that makes you go wow and will non-stop taking pictures with your camera or phone =) Another plus point, you get to enjoy the scenery with a cooling atmosphere unlike when you visit the Botanic Garden or the other parks 😄 Another plus point is because they won Certificate of Excellence 2017 from Trip Advisor. 

Refer to below image (which you can find this on Garden by the Bay website) for more information of the different level and things to look at. The Lost World is located at the 7th floor. You will need to take the lift up to level 6 and then walk the stairs to the next level. Else, like us, you may take the stairs from level 1 straight to level 7 😄 Just because we can't wait the lift and also we don't want to be sardine in the lift with all the others.

Okay I know there are so many words now and you will start wondering where the heck are the pictures I took, well, please scroll below and enjoy ! All pictures are taken using my beloved P20 Pro (a gift from my beloved boyfriend 😍)

The three pictures above taken once we went in to Cloud Forest entrance on the right hand side =) Beautiful flowers isn't it. We forgot to take the main photo whereby all the people standing, which is the waterfall that can be seen once you enter 😄 It indeed looks majestic if you are looking at it for the first time. But, if you've been there for few times (like us), well there's nothing special except being splashed by the small splashes of water 😆

 Once you walked passed by the waterfall (slight right and walk all the way straight), you will find this beautiful sculptures =D Please be prepared that people will just sit there and don't even give any damn or care that you are taking picture or not. They see no one standing or seating, then they will just walk over (as if something is being handed out FREE 😐)

 Le beloved boyfriend looking out from the Waterfall View Level HAHAHA 

Reflecting on your mistake or thinking about something else? 😄

To be honest, I kinda forgot where I took all the flower pictures. It might be at the Lost World section. Hence, all the pictures posted will be in all different locations and not as per according how we walked okay =) 

Please enjoy and scroll down for more pictures below ~

At the Lost World. Love this view =) 

Chasing the sunset? Nah, just so happened managed to catch this moment while we walked down the Cloud Walk =)

The picture that becomes the thumbnail of my Instagram post. 

Apparently my boyfriend love this picture too =)

 Managed to snap this picture. Love this setting so much because they had on the lighting and yet the sky is still blue. The combination is just perfect in my eyes 😍

So, that's it! I still have few more pictures but I doubt I will post them as you need to see it by yourself !

Please do note all the pictures purely taken by me and I did not copied from others (if you happen to know the drama at the social media for the past weeks at Singapore, you will know what I'm talking about here 😁) 

If you'd like to use any of the pictures, please do so but please credit it back to the owner (YES ME! 😄)

I'm not sponsored by them to write this post, hence this is honest review from me =)

Garden by the Bay - Cloud Dome

Location     : 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953

(nearest MRT station: Bayfront (Downtown Line))

Time           : 9.00am - 9.00pm (last admission is 8.30pm)

Admission  : please check online for admission fee as there is difference for local and tourist fee 

For more information on the Cloud Forest, head over to their website by clicking here =)

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 =)