Golfing in Phuket

Positioned as a (belated) anniversary trip, I thought it would be a great idea to combine golfing, sightseeing as well as eating all in one holiday! Frankly, Ed couldn't care less where he went as long as there was golf while Ee was glad that Phuket was at least an island (versus another island which I shall talk about in a much later post) that offered a variety of activities beyond golf. *yippee*

Phuket is a great city to traverse and with the outlet mall shopping as well as delightful Thai cuisine, there was just enough to occupy us for 3 activity-packed days. I personally preferred the hustle and bustle of Patong Beach and it was nice to just stroll along the streets with pit stops along the way.

Golf wise, rusty old me was resigned to a very painful game with more misses than hits. Hence, it was no surprise that I was less than spectacular on the course. In fact, I was too busy battling the sand dunes and struggling with getting my ball across the water traps to properly admire the surrounding scenery especially since we were playing by the sea. Nevertheless, the golfing moments were better than expected and I could honestly say that I had fun.

Guess it helped that the friendly caddies were a great ego booster with their sunny dispositions and encouraging words. In fact, they never failed to clap and declare, "Good shot!" whenever I managed to hit the ball notwithstanding its minuscle distance. Admittedly, they usually sounded more excited at Ed's shots than mine but by the end of the 2 days, I could almost believe I was Michelle Wie in training. *lalala*

Food highlights, Phuket had a good variety of International cuisine besides the expected Thai and seafood offerings. Our best dining moments were found at Patong Beach at the Fuji Japanese restaurant and Le Siam, both located at Jungceylon. My one regret was that there was not enough stomach space or days for us to try Baan Rim Pa, an award winning Thai restaurant with a fabulous view. *sigh*

For all future visitors to Phuket, would highly recommend that one stays nearer town (my preference would be Patong Beach) as it does take quite awhile to get to where the sights and sounds are. On average, it took us 45 minutes by cab/mini bus just to get to town and while this was an inconvenience we could work around, the cost of cabbing was way too expensive - S$40 one way!!! After the first night of paying such cut throat prices, we decided to rely on our hotel's shuttle bus services which limited the time that we had within each town. Aside from the distance, we didn't have much to complain about Mission Hills.

Mission Hills golf resort: Check out the cute elephants that greeted us in our room and the nice pool we never got to use...

Scenic golf course where I battered death defying sand dunes and water hazards. It was definitely a sweet moment for me when I finally managed to get my ball over a 20m (fine, I could have exaggerated slightly) sand bunk successfully.

Value for money Italian restaurant we uncovered at Patong Beach: perhaps we were just starving but the carbonara and parma ham pizza were really good!

Outlet mall pitstop along the way to Phuket town: in addition to the abundant sportswear we bought, the signature iced coffee at the retro-themed cafe was also really addictive and I was buzzing with caffeine at the end of the day.

The crowds at the Fuji Japanese restaurant at Patong Beach shopping centre stopped us in our tracks [from top left, anti-clockwise]: a refreshing dish which required me to pour in the soup and eat it cha soba style with the tempura, chirashi, some cheese filled starter and grilled squid.

Loving Le Siam: beef brisket soup, omelette, grilled prawns with garlic supplemented with loads of chilli *YUM*

Other sights and sounds in Phuket: Sawadeeka-ing alongside Ronald MacDonald

We'll be back for the highly recommended thai cuisine at Baan Rim Pa!

Although Phuket is quite a touristy (some might say overly commercialized) destination, it is a pleasant place to visit and I would rank it a close second after Bali. Perhaps I'm a sucker for commercialism but I have come to realise that rustic holidays and me don't quite go hand in hand. In addition, it helped that this vacation was a suitable combination of His and Her activities and we returned re-charged and all set for our next golfing holiday. More photos can be found here.