Thai Travel Diary P.2

And the second week begins ... With a hotel change!

Sad to say goodbye to the Merlin Beach Resort, with its 3 pools, 5 restaurants, waterfall etc etc, but its time to get closer to Patong City Centre!

I checked into the Sira Grande Hotel which was conveniently located 2 minutes from Banzaan Fresh Market and Bangle Boxing Stadium and 5 minutes from Jungceylon Mall. Perfect Location.

Silly me, forgot to take photos of the hotel and room, however it was just a standard 3 star hotel with rooftop pool. Have a look if you like. http://www.siragrandhotel.com

Check in was smooth and quick, no strawberry juice though!

I spent my first day at the hotel pool lounging and walking around the local area to get my bearings. There was just too much to see. So as I'd moved to a bed a breakfast hotel, I was inclined to find my own dinner. I walked along the main road and stopped to have a pad thai... classic tourist!

The next day provided some of the best weather i'd experienced during my travels. I spent the entire day by the pool drinking cocktails and tanning.

Wonderful views, intoxicating beverages, sun, and a fab bikini ... what more could a girl ask for?

After blazing day in the sun, I went to Banzaan Fresh Market, which turn into a night market around 6pm. Vendors selling everything from food to souvenirs, it was a great experience. I sat outside at one  of the stalls and ordered dinner; garlic prawns with steamed rice.

This meal was amazing. The prawns were huge and fresh, the veg (mushrooms, spring onions, onion and carrots) were crunchy and flavoursome and the rice was cooked to perfection.

I could've eaten the meal 10 times over ... well if the prawns were shelled anyway.

The next day I'd booked to visit Tiger Kingdom. I mean Cats and Dogs aren't my thing so this one was a bit of a challenge for me, It took me way out of my comfort zone. For those who don't know, Tiger Kingdom is an amazing place where you get to play and pose with trained Tigers!

I only visited the 'Smallest' of the Tigers, as honestly I was terrified! They turned out to be such amazing animals. I spent about 20/30 minutes stroking, playing and being used as a climbing frame by the baby tigers.

 Guys, I was soon proud when I left the enclosure! Other than a naughty Tiger biting my arm, I came out in one piece. The Tigers were so friendly and well trained. They were also well kept and seemed really happy which was great to see.

And just so you can see the sheer size of the biggest cats, heres a photo I took!

Now, I was a bit ambitious thinking I would get this whole trip into 2 posts!

I hope you're prepared to read about my last day! Its packed with sightseeing and photos!

Enjoy the suspense ...

Paige x

Thai Travel Diary P.1.

Here I sit in chilly, gloomy London ... After 2 weeks of relaxing Thailand I must admit, I'm terribly sad to be home.

I began my solo journey to Thailand on the 14th Sept, with a late flight. This was my first time travelling alone... first time travelling to Asia even so you can imagine how excited and nervous I was. However I had booked my trip through the very profession Virgin Holidays, and was travelling with Luxurious Emirates Airlines, which put my mind at ease

I arrived at my first Hotel, the Merlin Beach Resort on Tri Trang Beach. It was about 10/11pm when I arrived and uber dark. After a speedy check in a glass of refreshing strawberry juice, I was escorted to my room.

Due to decorating works I had been upgraded to a superior room on the opposite end of the resort which was amazing. 

This room was the epitome of comfort. The bathroom (which I somehow forgot to take a photo of) was well lit, spacious and best of all, CLEAN!

Breakfast was always well sktocked and had a great deal of variety, both continental and locally sourced foods. The fruit, was to die for.

I spent most of my 7 days here glued to my pool chair at one of 3 pools. Heres a photo of the pool thats was right outside my room.

Bliss...

As a given, travelling in monsoon season, I did embark on many days of rain but it was still hot as hell on those Thai streets. And when it did rain, I either went shopping or treated myself to an array of spa treatments.

On my first night, I went to see the Simon Cabaret Show, better known as the Ladyboys. My oh my was I blown away! These performers are absolutely stunning. I know they're Ladyboys but I promise, you would never be able to tell! The make-up is flawless, the bodies are snatched, the hair is laid. I actually had to ask myself 'are they Ladyboys ... or just ladies?'

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in the theatre, however you did get an opportunity to snap a few photos with the performers after the show. There was 0 Organisation to this and found myself battling with many Asian tourists. I had to exit immediately which is a shame.

Part way through my first week I also went on a boat trip to a few of the nearby Islands. This included Ko Phi Phi and Khai Island. Travelling by speedboat, in around 40 minutes we arrived at one of the many Phi Phi Islands. We jumped of the back of the boat for about 30 minutes of snorkelling. The sea life was amazing, I found the fishes very inquisitive and loved swimming along side them. We travelled on to the ever popular Maya Bay, where 'The Beach' was filmed for photos and water time.

We stopped for lunch at the Island of Phi Phi Don, a predominantly Muslim area and one of the few Islands down here which are habitable. 

After lunch we visited Monkey Bay, luckily there was a high tide so we couldn't get onto the little beach area, however that made me a happy lady because I'm so scared of Monkeys lol. We got to see them climbing in the trees and swimming along the boat which was cute I guess...

Our last stop of the day was Khai Nui and Khai Nok, where we had snacks, snorkelled and fed some very peculiar fish bread. 

Now, My las trip of week one was the one I'd been looking forward to before even arriving in Thailand. Elephant trekking and bathing! I love Elephants, ever since watching Dumbo they became my favourite animals.

I of course had to find a company who treated the Elephants well and with dignity. Although the elephant were chained up, they weren't completely restricted which made me feel a lot better. I done a 30 minute Jungle trek and stopped to see the amazing view of Karon/Patong bay from the hills. 

I don't want to overload you with Elephant photos and make you super jealous, but this was the best part of my entire trip. Even thinking back to it now has me giddy.

If I wasn't day tripping, I spent my time relaxing by the pool, having massages on the beach at the back of the hotel or eating amazing Thai food.

Typing this up and reminiscing has me so upset that the trip is long done, but hey, at least I've got some great photos to remember it!

I'll be back next week with part 2 of my Thai Travels. Stay tuned :)

Paige xx

BooTea - 7 Day update.

Hey guys,

Heres a quick update. I have now completed 7/28 days of BooTea, yay!

My week began well, I  actually enjoy drinking the morning tea, as it gives me a good burst of energy and surpasses my appetite during the day. This means less snacking.

I've been using the My Fitness Pal app to keep track of my eating, drinking and exercise. Its a great all in one app.

In terms of food, as mentioned in my previous post BooTea do have a meal plan on their website, which looks really good, however it cuts out meat completely. Me being the great carnivore that I am, just cannot handle this. So instead of cutting out meat completely, I have limited myself to turkey, and skinless chicken. I've also upped my fish intake.

Breakfast generally consists of 2 boiled eggs, yolk out (yuck), and 2 slices of Wholewheat & Oat bread. Occasionally, Ill have yoghurt and fruit or porridge.

Lunch is varied, usually consists of meat and a wholemeal pitta or a variation or potato.

Dinner is fish or meat with either salad or vegetables. Alternatively, Ill have a mall handful of Gnocchi with vegetables and 1 teaspoon of pesto.

I'm not a very active person, however the last week or two I've been going to the gym, playing Zumba on my Wii or going for a walk.

In terms of the effect BooTea has had on me, I'm not sure I've seen much difference. I must say, the days that I do drink the night tea, bloating is dramatically reduced. I did have to take 1 night/2 mornings off boo tea as one of the glands on my neck become very painful. Once it had clammed down, I jumped back on the tea. I can't say if they are linked, but I've had no problems since.

Looking ahead, I will need to drink more water, as Im currently only drinking about 1L, when I should be drink 3!! I'm so proud of the amount of exercise that I've been doing, I usually hate it, but I am beginning to enjoy it.

I'l be back in another week to update :)

Paige x

Time to become Bootea-ful

Hey guys,

I've been looking at doing a detox for a while now, to help kick start and motivate me to lose a bit of weight. I'm not into juice diets, I mean the thought of not being able to physically eat food makes me breakout in goosebumps alone. I'd heard a lot about teatox's, I love tea and I could still eat, onto a winner.

I decided to go with bootea as I'd seen it pop up on instagram and twitter, also they are UK based and use 100% natural ingredients.

I was going to order online, however I saw that Holland & Barrats stock the product. Being the eager beaver that I am, I dropped everything and went out to purchase. There are 2 options, a 14 or 28 day teatox. 14 days will set you back £19.99 and 28 days is £37.99. However H&B had a fab offer on, 28 day teatox for £27.99. Being all for the cost effective, I plunged in at the deep end with 28 days.

This includes a 28 day supply of daytime tea and  14 day supply of night time tea, to be taken every other day. Here are the ingrediants of both teas:

Ingredients:

Daytime Detox:

Chinese Oolong tea, Maté leaves, Ginger root, Fennel seeds, Lemongrass, Dandelion leaf, Ginseng root, Gotu Kola leaves, Nettle leaves.

NOTE: The Daytime Detox does NOT produce a laxative effect (only the Bedtime Cleansewill operate in this manner). The Daytime Tea contains a small amount of caffeine.

Bedtime Cleanse:

Senna leaves, Peppermint leaves, Fenugreek seeds, Liquorice root, Burdock root, Hawthorn leaves, Valerian root, Psyllium seeds.

As you may have seen above, a laxative effect is present in the night time tea, this is to cleanse your system of any toxins and generally bad stuff.

I decided to take my first night tea on the day of purchase, around 11pm. 10 minutes after waking up, I could feel it coming. Needless to say ... it works, Nothing dreadful or uncontrollable!

Bootea also have a eating plan which you can follow, this can be found here. I will be taking ideas from this plan and adapting them to my preference. I will also be trying to cut out/only eat complex carbs. A dreadful challenge in itself! I am not an active person, however I will be trying to walk more and do a bit  of Zumba on the Wii.

I will not be weighing myself, I will be going on how my body looks, feels and how my clothes fit. 

I'll be back in 7 days with an update :)

Paige xxx

Unavailable

I'm Hey all, 

So Tuesday night, I decided to upgrade my MacBook to OS X YOESEMITE ... Worst decision ever!!!

Essentially my MacBook is now dead. Apple online couldn't help, and there and no genius appointments until early Decemebr!!!

So for now guys, I'm out of action.

I am writing this from the blogger app which is pants by the way lol.

If I manage to fix my boo boo before then I'll definitely get posting!

Sorry :(