KKT supermarket Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Seychelles 2018 Day 8 – Curieuse island, Giant Tortoise and Anse Lazio beach

Posted on February 16, 2018March 17, 2018 by ziyi

The day started early as we had a boat to catch. Mommy woke up as early as 630am to start meals preparations while I lazed in bed. Closer to 8am, i tried to wake K up as he seemed to be still sound asleep. It took a while before he woke up, fussy. The trip till date must have gotten everyone tired. We changed into new clothes as it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, including new socks.

As it was almost 9 before we left for our boat, K skipped breakfast. Reference to the poster that was sent to my FB messenger, it said that the Sagittarius boat taxis was located next to Paradise Sun. As we drove into Paradise Sun and after checking with the reception, they could be reached via the beach. Since the carpark was full, I was told to park in a corner except for blocking the main entrance so I left the car near the roundabout and we walked through the resort to the beach.

The Sagittarius boat taxis was housed in a hut and there was a short queue already with people requesting different boat trips. The lady actually kept a record of us coming and we paid 50euros for 2 adults to go to Curieuse Island. We were given a kids size life jacket and boarded a speedboat together with another couple. The speedboat needed to be boarded from the beach and so I took off my sneakers and walked barefooted to board.

The couple dropped off at a tiny beautiful island of St. Pierre, surrounded by turquoise waters that seemed like a great place for snorkeling. There were another 2 boats that were there for groups of snorkeling people.

Next the boat zoomed across the calm waters and in 5mins we arrived at the beach front near the tortoise area. The boatman helped us to pay the 200rupees per person island fees and as we informed that we would only take two hours, we were then told to meet at the beach at the Doctor’s house at 1130am.

For the first 1hr, K was quite fussy upon arrival but slowly warmed up to the free roaming giant tortoise walking around. We saw some baby tortoise at a small sheltered area and later went to a group of tortoises under the tree shades to try to feed them. It was fun to see them and to take photos with them and to try to feed them.

Then it was time to walk to the other beach which the boatmen told us would take about an hour. So after washing my feet with the water tap, I put on my socks and sneakers before carrying K and started to trek on the path towards our rendezvous location.

The trek was easy if we were walking without load but this was quite challenging when you have a carry a 12kg boy all the way. The path wasn’t straightforward, as some of the path up and down the hills were rocky and uneven. We took about 45 mins to get through, with some stopping on the wooden path to look at crabs and K doing some slow walking on the bridge coupled with one or two rest points.

Sign showing directions either to tortoise or Doctor’s house.

Tortoise wanting to cross the bridge too?

Immediately upon arrival at the Doctor’s house, we left the barang barang with mommy on a bench while K and I went to look in the Doctor’s house. The 1st floor was an exhibit on the history of the house and island that I didn’t spend any time on as K wasn’t interested while the second floor had some display associated with the wildlife of the island.

The boatman arrived a couple of minutes after 1130 and we all boarded the boat as he pulled it closed enough for us to get onboard (after I signaled for him to come closer as we were not dressed to get wet). Then it was a short 5mins boat ride back to Cote D’Or beach on Praslin.

We thanked the boatman and the lady who helped us off the boat (the boatman also returned the island fees tickets to us which should have been returned earlier) and went to one of the showers to wash off the sand (K had a little bit of fun scooping pool water) and proceeded to drive back to the apartment. I got off to return K’s meals containers and mommy brought back slippers for us to change us and we were then on our way to the best beach of Praslin, Anse Lazio.

The drive there was supposedly about 20mins but there were a couple of curves up and down the hill. We passed through a couple of beaches that looked pretty too but didn’t have time to stop. By the time we arrived, we saw a parking lot and a sign that say that we should park here as the lots near the beachfront would most likely be full. So as an obedient tourist, I did.

As K had fallen asleep, mommy carried him and I took the rest of the barang barang. We walked a short 5mins walk to the Bonbon Plume restaurant, passing by another carpark lot that looked almost full but I would have gotten a lot if I drove in. We also passed by a small fenced area where there were giant tortoises and one was making out so loudly (2nd one I saw this trip) that must have woken K up.

The restaurant was right in front of Anse Lazio beach and therefore the price came with it. We ordered crab curry and catch of the day and these came with a big bowl of rice, basket of bread and a small bowl of lentils. I was out taking some photos and arrived back to find the plates covered with my towel as mommy didn’t have hands to wave the flies (again!) away as she fed K.

The fish was soft and nice as usual and I found the crab quite meaty and soft too, a little different from the crabs we had in Singapore. Mommy found it an issue to deshell and eat the crab but that was the only problem I guessed. The whole meal came up to 1025rupees as we had mango juice, apple juice, a coconut that didn’t taste sweet unlike those in Singapore, and scoop of vanilla ice cream that K loved.

I brought K out to crash into the waves for a couple of times before we went to the toilet to clean up. Was warned by the staff there not to use the sink and was questioned if I was one of the restaurant guest in which I answered in a not so friendly manner. I asked for an alternative in which she brought us to the shower at the back and turned on the water for us to wash up. “Asked and we will show you.” Yup, got it.

Brought K back partially wet and used the beach towel to cover him as we drove all the way back to the apartment. Immediately we washed down all the sand in the bathroom and got ourselves ready for the afternoon nap.

All three of us knocked out soon enough but the evening part was more of the same old same old routine, since there was no real night life in Seychelles. Mommy had cooked her dinner and after all of us took a bath, we proceeded out for dinner. Thought we could get it from the takeaway mobile but it appeared to have closed so we returned to Pirogue Restaurant . This time there was a band singing slow happy beachy songs while we had our meals. I made my way to KKT supermarket to buy a bottle of mineral water so that we had enough to cook K’s meal the next day, before meeting mommy and K at the restaurant.

We ordered pasta for dinner, mine curried flavor with seafood while mommy’s seafood with spinach, but because the cheese turned her off, we had to switch (since curry flavour covered cheese well). She spilled her lime juice and we shifted table so that I could eat better, suggested by one of the kind staff.

While K had fun with the steering wheel there, we finished the dinner in peace (more or less). With the addition of a mineral water for mommy to drink and my pretty nice coconut shake, the meal cost 605rupees.

We returned to the apartment for the routine night stuff with the addition of packing as this was the last night in Praslin. What made the night slightly more exciting was that we saw spiders in the room, not the common small ones that we were used to in Singapore, but those with the legs spread out reaching the size of my 3yr old son’s hand. Not one but 2! Thankfully these crawlies were just as afraid as we were of them, they quickly ran out of sight.

After K’s night cartoons of Messy goes to Okido and Jarmies, I struggled through 2 books of storytelling before we all went to bed.

Seychelles 2018 Day 6 – Valentine’s on Praslin

Posted on February 14, 2018March 13, 2018 by ziyi

It was a moving day with a ferry booked at 1030am to Praslin and as usual, we woke up early to pack and prepare K’s meals. K woke up close to 8 and I had to motivate him to get prepared by bringing him his toothbrush and changing his clothes. After some persuasion, we got out of the room to have breakfast at the same dining area as the day before.

After we spent some time at the fusball machine, the staff served the same drinks we had yesterday. I asked for sunny-side-up this time around and that came soon after the fruit platter of mango, banana and papaya was served. The toast this time came with a small dish of jam and 4 slices of ham.

We finished our meal at 915 and went back up to the room to bring our luggage down. Couldn’t find the landlord initially but she appeared and we handed over the keys. Was informed of transport arrangements when we first checked in but we thought we would just push the luggage to the jetty since it was 935 already.

The short stroll with K seated on top of one of the luggage drew friendly attentions from few of the locals as they rode by on their bicycles. We soon reached the jetty office and learning from the initial boat trip, I brought my printed paper to the Inter Island Boats office at the jetty. After queuing for a bit, the counter staff told me to go direct to the jetty as the company was different – Inter Island Ferries. I knew that the companies were different but that was the closest I could find and I tried my luck.

Walked to the jetty and asked one of the staff there and he informed us to just push our luggage there and wait for the ferry and handover the paper to the staff later on. Much simpler than what we had in Mahe.

Back at the jetty office we sat on the benches while K entertained an Angmo mother and her daughter with his stories of his wooden giant tortoise and roller coasters. It was quite amusing to see the chatty boy going on and on with strangers.

When the ferry pulled in at the jetty, we made our way to lined up behind a short line of passengers while those onboard disembarked and had their luggage unloaded. Then we boarded by handing over our luggage to the staff who loaded into the boat immediately as I handed over the paper. There were passengers who paid on the spot for tickets.

We went on to the second level but under shelter and enjoyed the 15mins transfer to Praslin. K didn’t feel unwell and that was great, compared to the first boat trip to Praslin!

A far away tiny island view from the ferry.

Once we disembarked, we found a lady holding up a name board with my name on it. Immediately we approached her and was welcome with a handshake. She helped with one of the luggage after it was unloaded and we boarded her taxi that took us to the Capricorn car rental 5mins drive from the jetty. In the small office, we were once again welcomed by the staff who proceeded to carry out the paper works and introduction of the island with a map and then charged 180euros for 3days of i10 grand rental (excess 3500euros). A car check later (luggage already loaded in) we were on our way to the apartment 10mins drive away.

We arrived at L’Hirondelle guest house at around noon and went to the reception to check in. The place looked nice and was near the beach just across the road. Although we were early, the room was ready as we waited and sipped on our welcome drinks. We were given a apartment on the ground level with open concept living room and kitchen. The bedroom and bathroom looked nice but didn’t come with a tub.

Opens directly to the living room and kitchen.

We then drove around in search for lunch, first visiting the stretch of road with restaurants and shops along the Cote D’or esplanade. Didn’t see anything striking and proceeded to drive further north but didn’t expect to not find anything after Raffles so we made a Uturn. By this time K had already fallen asleep so we returned to that steet to find a restaurant Les Lauriers, but didn’t realized that they close on Wednesday’s. Since K was sleeping we decided to drive to ISPC supermarket that we had past along the way from the car rental to get some groceries.

Parked in front of the ISPC supermarket, mommy went down to get the food while I looked after K who had by now woken up from the transferring from mommy to me. He became grouchy until mommy came back and we drove back to the apartment to put the supermarket stuff ( there weren’t much choices in the supermarket and they were expensive) in the fridge. We later drove back to an Italian restaurant Da Luca pizzeria to have our lunch.

Ordered an Octopus curry and Penne allo Norma, a beer and mineral water for 610rupees. The octopus curry was really delicious I thought. Although we would like to have ice cream for dessert, there weren’t any ice cream for sale.

We went over to the KKT supermarket nearby to get more foodstuff like milk and water. Then proceeded across the street to get 2 fresh fishes direct from fisherman who should have just returned from the sea, for 75rupees. He then prepared the fish for us while we went to get plastic bags to bring back the fish. Mommy also bought some fruits from the fruit seller nearby.

We returned to the apartment and prepared K for the afternoon nap. This was when we found out that due to the open concept design, it could get really noisy. Our neighbors were talking really loudly and the noise permeate through the vented doors and into the bedroom. Thankfully K managed to fall asleep. I did for a while but the beer was giving me a headache.

Mommy started the meal preparations at 5ish, cooking the fish that she bought which she claimed was really fresh. K woke up at 6, and we all took our baths and prepared ourselves (dress code for man to be in trousers) for a Valentines dinner at the TripAdvisor number 1 restaurant in Praslin.

While we were about to leave, the rain started to drizzle and I couldn’t get an umbrella from the reception because it was closed. So we hurried to the car with just one umbrella.

The drive there was difficult to say the least, the sparsely lighted street coupled with the rain made visibility low. Furthermore, as we had to drive to the other coast, we had to go through the mountainous roads that had bends but no light reflectors so I just took my time to drive. The headache added to the struggle.

After some 30mins of driving, google led me to the middle of nowhere and I had to stopped to recheck the map. Fortunately it was just a few more meters down the road where we arrived at the carpark of a posh (better) looking restaurant.

Les Rochers spacious interior oozed luxury and the staff recommendation for a seat elsewhere to chill first before going to dinner told of an experience unlike other – it was going to be expensive. We were expecting it anyway and were ok with a little splurge especially on Valentine’s night.

There were seats out closer to the beach but because of the drizzle, we just sat at our table and waited for the meals. We ordered a local crab soup to share, a lobster meal and a grilled fish meal. But what came was a lot more, like banana snacks, fried onions, garlic bread, a veggie salad and boiled vegetables. The table was full by the time dinner was served completely.

The soup was quite tasty with real crab bits to eat (with the shell too). Both meals came with 3 portions and for the lobsters were 3 halves. The fish was fresh and soft like most of the fish fillets that I had in Seychelles and I thought the lobster was ok grilled in ginger garlic. The rest of the other dishes were quite nice, no wonder this restaurant maintained its top position on TripAdvisor.

Dinner was at a real relaxed pace, allowing the diners time to enjoy the food and each other company. There was even a no WiFi board that reiterated this point. We left late after 930pm after a nice family photo and a quick look around the restaurant especially near the beach area.

The drive home was taken slowly because of trying to avoid both a road accident and a puke accident. We arrived back at the apartment uneventfully and proceeded to clean up dishes before getting into bed.