Mai Khao Plaza Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

It was a restless night for K and I knew that K didn’t get enough sleep like he was supposed to. Eventually that translated to him waking up at a much later time. He was also throwing some tantrums and ended up being punished for it. We got out of the room only by 10 for breakfast.

It was again a busy morning at the restaurant and we had our breakfast on the outside this time around. It was the 3rd morning and it was getting boring already. But I can live with egg Benedict everyday.

The weather was exceptional today, no signs of clouds at all! However we didn’t plan anything so we ended up visiting the kids club first.

There were some activities planned for Thailand’s mother’s day but K outright rejected the staff when she offered him to create his own DIY aquarium. He went on to explore the 3 spacious rooms and the toys within. There were some kids there but they weren’t interacting much, 2 of them were on the PC and another one playing with one of the toys.

I thought I like the spaciousness of the area, one of the biggest that I had seen but there just weren’t enough toys. However K could spend more than an hour playing in the kids club was just baffling to me; he even didn’t want to leave initially.

We returned to the room to prepare to get to the Splash Jungle waterpark as K agreed to pay it a visit. Once out, we got a Grabcar which cost about 440baht there. The driver brought us through a shortcut and in 15mins time, we arrived at the waterpark.

Thought I could get tickets on Klook but it wasn’t available for the same day booking, and missed the chance to save on a few dollars. However, we only need to pay for 2 adults for a total of 2900baht, as K who wasn’t 5 yet, got to enter for free.

We weren’t allow to bring any food and my packet of chips was taken away into temporary custody, in exchange for a number card to claim back later. At the entrance, we were given one wrist tag that was used for storing digital money as they didn’t allow cash transaction within the park itself. I topped up 1000baht into it and we entered the park.

Our first stop was the Jungledeli where we had our lunch. There were ongoing pop up stalls that sold cheaper food than the restaurant itself due to the Thailand Mother’s Day promotion and so we got some prawns and chicken on skewers and a bowl of fried rice from these stores while we ordered K spaghetti. All these amounted to less than 500baht in total.

After lunch, we headed to changing room to change into our swimwear. At the lockers room, I couldn’t find a locker with a key and only found out that the lockers had to be rent for a fee of 150baht on the outside. Since mommy was not going into the waters, she would take care of the stuff.

We managed to find a sun bed not taken and left the cheap stuff there before heading to the water play. Mommy headed to the massage area to get some massage at the same time.

There was quite a good section of areas for K even though I thought more information can be shared ahead of time, such as height restrictions. These info was only available on site. We were disappointed to find that the slides tower require a minimum height of 122cm. The wave pool was nothing like the one in Desaru and frankly disappointing as there weren’t much of a wave to speak of. There were a couple of children play area, a kids section where the waters were warm, an area where water jacuzzi was available and a lazy river which we tried all. Fortunately K was easily satisfied just playing over at the kids pool area.

Another kids section but with warm water

We stayed for almost 3hrs before convincing K to leave. Got ourselves changed and went through the store to exit. I have utilized the amount within the digital payment and had to come out with 50baht cash in addition to pay for the icecream. K wanted to get the rubber chicken toy but I disapproved it.

We got the same driver to pick us up (by dialling his number on his name card) for a cheaper deal of 400baht and he sent us to the Turtle village near to our hotel. We explored the area to find some restaurants there but thought we would visit Mai Khao Plaza instead. While walking there, we saw the elephants at a compound (from Mai Khao Elephant home) where there were many visitors also trying to interact with the 2 elephants there. We left when K wanted to use the toilet.

Stacked turtle fountain at Turtle Village

Eventually we ended up at the Living Room restaurant for dinner, where we got ourselves pineapple baked rice, Tom Yum Goong to share and Beef noodles for K. There was mango sticky rice that we bought for desert. The food was not too bad and I liked the Thai Iced tea with coconut milk!

Spent some time at the fountain playing with the plastic balls there and also at a small kids playground while waiting for the resort shuttle bus return. Boarded the tuktuk pickup with a couple of other guests and returned to the hotel just before 9pm.

Balancing balls on the water sprout around the statue

We had our bath in the tub and the usual night preparations and soon K was fast asleep as expected since the exhaustion from the day spent at the waterpark was sure to knock him out. I managed to gather some of the day’s thoughts onto the trusty note on the phone with a struggling battery before getting my rest for the night.

It was a super long weekend we decided that we wanted to spend it away in Phuket. Our flight was in the afternoon of the National Day holiday and thus it was an easy start to a trip without the rush in the morning.

We left home at about 1115 as my dad drove us to Changi. Without any much traffic on the roads, we made it easily to check in at Terminal 2 for our SilkAir flight just before noon. Pretty familiar with the self service machine, we dropped off our one and only big luggage at the automated gate (and K was just intrigued with it) and went through immigration.

The plane took off soon enough and the flight was pretty ok, though there were about 2 short periods of turbulence. Lunch was served for the children first and K had his meal of sweet and sour chicken with rice. This was a simple set without the bun that SQ normally have and mommy was disappointed with the simple affair.

Ours came much later and without a choice so we had the same thing that K had. By then K was already done with his food and was busy with Tom and Jerry cartoon on my hand phone that was linked to the aircraft entertainment system.

Shortly after our lunch, the plane was already descending into a cloudy and misty Phuket. We were forewarned about the bad weather online and true enough, it was dampening sight looking out of the window.

The immigration had a short line but K had to visit the toilet first so mommy went to queue. By the time we returned, mommy was already at the start of the line and we cleared immigrations promptly.

I met a colleague and his family on the same flight at the luggage belt (of all places) and after some quick exchanges and a selfie, we went our separate ways for our holidays.

Tried asking the car rental companies only to find that all of them were fully booked out. So we took the exit on the left and found 2 yellow stands offering taxi. Approached the busier one and was offered 1000baht (SGD50) based on their map with standard rates. Paid and left for a private sedan. While in the car, we thought we might have taken the more expensive option and should have checked around first since the distance didn’t seemed too far off.

Line of car rental companies but no car for rent

We arrived into a Renaissance Phuket after going through a portion of small roads. The reception area was beautifully designed and brightly lit and stood out in the gloomy weather. We were given some drinks and towels to freshen up as mommy went through the check in while K and me chilled. From there we saw a kids pool area with Dino design but we couldn’t really go there currently with the drizzle nor the clubhouse which the staff informed that getting there would need us to cross a path in the open.

We went to the restaurant below to get free ice cream as K was given a wristband that would entitle him to one ice cream every afternoon (from 3pm-5pm) since the room wasn’t ready yet. While at the restaurant, mommy ordered some spring rolls to munch on. It was served soon after an initial bread appetizer with olive oil and peanut crumbs, which we thought tasted pretty good.

At Loca Vore restaurant to get ice cream

While sitting along the outside of the restaurant, we saw tiny frogs hopping around. One girl was shocked to see them and yelped while passing by. I wouldn’t have noticed as well if not for her.

tiny frog! So tiny you can unknowingly squash them

Went back to the reception to collect our keys and proceeded to the room via a buggy. It seemed like a long journey as the buggy went through a tiny curvy road and then travel alongside the building. Got off and took the lift to the top floor (3 floors). Opening the door revealed a big and beautiful room that came with a balcony -I was already liking it.

Chilled in the room for a long time, as much as it took the rain to drizzle. K had quite a bit of screen time while I fell asleep on the comfortable bed.

When I woke up, K was just finishing his cartoons and asked to be bathed in the tub. We spend some time there as well before getting out of the room for dinner.

The rain had stopped and we thought we would walk to the beach. We managed to see the swimming pool and 2 restaurants in a single building but on different floors but didn’t get to the beach as it was dark.

Went to the Takieng on the 2nd floor but was advised that it was fully booked and we had to wait if interested to have their Thai cuisine. However they also adviced us to dine at the Sand box below as they could deliver the food there too. So without much of a choice, we went downstairs and sat at the more casual Sand box, that had a sandy beach floor.

Ordered dinner consisting of nuggets and fries for K, mommy had a curry and duck with rice and I ordered a Margarita pizza to share with K. With the inclusion of one passion fruit drink, the entire dinner was about 1500baht. The food was good, as the nuggets were huge and tasted like they made it by themselves, pizza was baked in a flame kiln and Thai food was spicy.

We took a walk after the filling dinner and found out where the kids club was which was closed for the night, the kids pool which looked pretty fun and came with a slide and the way back to reception which now didn’t seem so far.

Back at the room when we prepared for the night, I came to a shocked realization that I had forgotten to pack K’s diapers! Called the reception and they advised to try find them in the coffee shop next to the gym and thus I went there quickly. There was a mini store inside the coffee shop but I only found medium sizes. The staff there advised that I should take the hotel shuttle to 7-11. I could make the trip at 9pm and still make it back before the last one at 950pm.

Went to the lobby and waited for the shuttle which was a small pickup with the back modified into a passenger seating area. Was dropped off at 7-11 at a building with 2 floors next to Turtle Village and I was glad to find XL sizes there under Mamypoko brand, something that I was familiar with back in Singapore, all for about 330baht.

Bought milk and yoghurt too and proceeded to walk to Mai Khao Plaza just a minute walk away to get on the same transport back. The plaza which was brightly lit seemed to have more restaurants and some shops but I didn’t have any time to explore and the annoying drizzle was back.

Heading towards brightly lit Mai Khao Plaza

Mai Khao Plaza, shuttle pick up point just next to the sign

A short 5mins ride and soon I was back at the hotel. Returned to the room to find mommy reading K some books. Got through the night routine and soon, everyone was in bed. I went for my bath after everyone dozed off and went to bed soon after, ending an uneventful first day in Phuket.

Phuket 2019 Day 4 – Splash Jungle waterpark and Mai Khao village

Phuket 2019 Day 1 – Arrival into Phuket and check into resort