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Just arrived at our hotel, The Patong Resort in Patong Beach to find nothing much has changed apart from some slight alterations around the pool in the Garden Wing and also a new block within the garden wing has been built where our room is. We got our room for a very good price at a travel agents office in Chaweng Beach on Ko Samui prior to us coming here, where the room rates were cheaper than booking online with the hotel directly. Anyway, our room is lovely and this hotel rarely seems to disappoint.
Just outside The Patong Resort Hotel is The Islander restaurant where we used to come for breakfast almost every day. This too has rarely changed and the food still has its great reputation it has seemed to maintain. Our trip to Patong is from Thursday to Saturday and was just to see how the island is following the devastating Tsunami that ripped through here a couple of years ago. We had been warned by tourists back on Ko Samui that it has ALL changed since then and that we won't like it. Sure, its got slightly bigger, but there aren't all the large department stores
that they said were here. In fact, since the 10 years we were last here, its been rebuilt, but still appears more or less to be the same that it was back in 1999/2000. The KFC restaurant that was along the seafront by the LaiMai restaurant has gone and moved elsewhere in Patong, and the building is now used as a hotel and looks rather decrepid and dirty from what it once used to be. We also came across the supermarket at The Ocean Plaza where many people perished on the morning of the Tsunami where the steps lead to a basement for the supermarket. Many people were trapped inside and drowned.
On a positive note, we searched up the beach to where 'Kit' the massage lady once used to work on the beach offering massage and pedicures/manicures. Fortunately, Daniel had emailed a photo we had of her from our last visit 10 years ago, so we printed it off and asked a few people on the beach if she too had perished. Fortunately, they knew of her and pointed us to go further up the beach to where she is often seen. Again, it didn't take long before we
found her sister-in-law who works here now and she explained Kit now was a Grandma and stayed at home looking after her three Grandchildren. After a couple of frantic telephone calls, Kit arrived an hour or so later and, while she didn't remember us as such, she found it fascinating that we remembered her, and her name and that where she used to work on the beach. We chatted for a while and she asked if we would mail her a copy of our photo from 10 years ago. We took some more photos of her and promised we'd post those to her too.
The weather here is a little gloomy, but still very hot. Tailors, tuk-tuk drivers and other hawkers are plying their trade to try to part you with your cash as best as they can and one local tailor here tells us this month is the worst month in the 20 years he has known they have ever experienced for loss of trade. Yet another example of the Global Recession taking a bite.
Saturday 16th May 2009
Having had a busy day and then evening shopping in Patong, time was getting on and so
it was 10pm before we knew it. We finished our shopping with yet more fake t-shirts, which from many years experience, last many years and do not fade in the wash. We were averaging buying them for around £5 each, compared with £.50 we paid 10 years ago, so still a good deal. By now we had worked up some hunger so we opted to eat at an Indian restaurant called 'Kwality Indian' along the seafront at Patong Beach. It is almost next door to the jewellers 'World Gems' and you have to go upstairs to enter the restaurant...a task in itself. Anyway, upon entering it, we discovered we were the only couple there...not a good sign, but still, we were hungry so we quickly ordered. Tracey wanted a chicken tikka massala, but after much discussion/persuasion with the waiter/owner, he said that massala would be made with onions, even though Tracey doesn't like them. Instead, she opted for tomato soup and chips! I opted for a chicken jalfrezi and was surprised to find large peas mixed in with the curry. After eating a bit more, it was obvious that there were also carrots, runner beans and broccoli mixed in with
it, which seems that they used frozen vegetables to make up the curry...disgusting. It also appeared that they could have used frozen slices of cooked chicken too....thats our suspicion. Service is dire as the waitress speaks no English, its lacking atmosphere and we wonder as to why we were the only ones eating there! So basically, avoid the place if you're planning on eating Indian food here. Steak houses along the front of Patong Beach have now become expensive which is a shame and they are now trying to cater for the more discerning toursist to how it was 10 years ago, which is the same in Samui. There are still plenty of places however, that if you're on a budget you can affordably eat, one of them being a branch of 'The Islander' just off Soi Bangla for English breakfasts and hearty meals at affordable prices. We ate here many years ago and the food is still the same 10 years later. Happy hour from 3pm til about 6pm for cheap beers (40 Baht for a small draft Chang beer as an example).
A full English breakfast is 200 Baht (£4) for eggs, real English bacon, sausage, tomato, sauteed
potatoes, beans, toast, mug of tea/coffee AND a glass of chilled juice. Or you can opt for a smaller brekkie for less money.
Out trip to Phuket is now over and so we are flying back to Ko Samui this evening, so check our other blog(s) for updates for our final week there where we continue our holiday at The Amari at Chaweng Beach. If you see us around, feel free to say hello, we're usually at the quiet pool across the road from reception or by the beach at the hotel.
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