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The breath taking villa at Andara Resort: Our home for the week of our Phuket Wedding

Posted by  | Categories: Accommodation, Beach, Featured, Hotels, Luxury, Thai, Thailand, Wedding

Part Two: Our Phuket Wedding Villa at Andara Resort

After a few short and very hectic days staying at the stunning Andara Resort in one of their Pool Residences we finished off our last-minute Phuket wedding planning just in time for our wedding guests to start to arrive. This moment signalled our “moving day” where we were to move into the villa of our dreams. This would be the place where we would say our vows, become husband and wife and spend our first days as Mr and Mrs together. Eeeeek! So exciting!

Andara’s villas are situated up high on the mountain side overlooking the Andaman Sea.  Each villa has its own full-time staff including a private chef. The villas are kept in an immaculate state and no matter where I took photos from various points around our enormous lodgings; I could never completely capture its incredible emotion and beauty. After an initial scare where our original choice of villa was alleged to have water damage, we managed with some persuasion to negotiate getting a larger but just as beautiful villa replacement.

"Perth Restaurant Reviews" "food photos" "Perth food blog" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "Gluten free" "Fructose malabsorption" "Phuket Food blog" "Phuket restaurant reviews" "travel blog" "Thailand" "Thailand travel blog" "Phuket restaurants" "Phuket food blog" "Phuket restaurant reviews" "Wedding blog" "phuket wedding" "andara wedding" "kamala wedding" "destination wedding" "thailand wedding" "luxury thailand wedding" "Andara resort" "andara residences" "andara villa" "phuket villa" "villa wedding" "phuket villa wedding" "buffet breakfast" "gluten free thailand" "Julian Wainwright" "Bella figura" "Wedding invitations" "annie P paperie" "luxury accommodation thailand" "luxury accommodation phuket" "luxury accommodation wedding"

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Our master bedroom opened out onto our private balcony with expansive views of the Andaman sea and angled to afford glimpses of the sun setting into the sea. Our bathroom was as big as our living room at home with a massive spa once again with those incredible sea views. Our bath was filled with rose petals both on our arrival and also for our wedding night. We each had our own separate walk in robes meaning all my wedding attire could be hidden away from prying groom’s eyes until our big day.

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Master bedroom (Photo courtesy of Andara)

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So cheesy but so adorable

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The master bedroom spa…if only we had time to relax in it!

The villa was an enormous building set over three levels allowing each of our guests their own private areas. There are two separate indoor living areas; a living room with a ten seater dining table and a separate family room. Both are equipped with large flat screen TVs and entertainment systems.

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Dining and living room

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No matter where you were in the villa there was a view

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Family room

Despite the opulence and spaciousness for indoor relaxing; most of us spent the week outdoors basking around the infinity pool and eating under the sala. I couldn’t understand why you would want to dine indoors when there was such a beautiful view to gaze upon outdoors.

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The view never stopped being awesome.

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Ok. Maybe I had a little time to relax…

Our villa’s chef Su proved to be one of the biggest assets to this breath-taking villa and we would have all loved for her to return home with us to Australia! Every time we chose to eat out in Phuket we were reminded how much better Su’s food was and we should have just stayed at the villa and let her look after us.

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Prawn and mushroom soup

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Papaya salad

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Tom yum goong

She would approach us each morning after we finished eating our cooked breakfast in order to plan our menu for the day so she could head down to the markets and buy all the produce fresh. Nothing was too much trouble for her and she never complained about all the “blow-in” guests we repeatedly invited up to the villa to join us.

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Red duck curry

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Duck larb

For our first night we invited all wedding guests up to the villa for a “casual” BBQ to welcome them all to Thailand.  Expecting something simple, we were in no way prepared for the half a dozen or so staff that came up hours in advance to set up for the party.

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Photo courtesy of Andara

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Just a casual BBQ at our villa

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Pool Sala: Photo courtesy of Andara

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This is where I wish I had a better camera lens!

Tables were set with white linen, flower centrepieces placed on the tables, bamboo flame torches embedded in the garden around the pool and a bar was set up complete with a bartender. This was to be the standard of attention and care we received throughout the duration of our stay making us really feel like we were kings and queens. This could be a lifestyle I could easily get used to if I had the money for it to be sustainable!

The only downside of Andara’s villas is their price tag. This level of luxury and opulence doesn’t come cheap. In the lead up to our stay I cannot deny I was cringing at the cost, but in all honesty our week staying at our villa was truly the best week of my life and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

For all my Phuket Wedding related posts click here

Andara Resort and Villas 
15 Moo 6, Kamala Beach, Kathu, Phuket 83150, Thailand

Our Phuket Wedding Preparation & Accommodation at Andara Residences, Kamala, Phuket

Posted by  | Categories: Accommodation, Featured, Hotels, Restaurants, Thai, Thailand, Travel, Wedding

Part One: Finalising our Phuket Wedding Preparations!

Prior to getting engaged I often toyed around in my head with the idea of eloping off to somewhere exotic.  Like many people I have a divided family with my real parents and my respective step parents not exactly being the best of friends.  Having to brave getting all these loved ones in the same room sounded like a daunting feat and one that could prove best to avoid. Our engagement party at The George provided me with a safe way to test the waters and despite all the anxiety and tension in the build-up to the evening along with very disappointing customer service from the George’s staff;  everyone managed to get along wonderfully. In fact we all had an absolute ball. It dawned upon me that I should give my family much more credit.

As with all brides, the last few months before our big day flew past at the speed of light. No day seemed long enough and I forgot what it was like to relax. Some may say I got a bit pedantic about details however I prefer to see it as purely just ensuring everything was done properly and thoroughly. Consequently, despite previously being so paranoid that I wouldn’t be elegantly slim enough, in the last few weeks before the big day I could barely keep weight on for all the running around I did.

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Photo by Julian Wainwright Photography

Our wedding invitations were designed by Jessica, one of the lovely designers at Annie P Paperie.  My theme if you can call it that was “simple elegance”.  I didn’t want any froo-froo, lace, feathers or glitter and opted for letter pressed stationary instead.  Following with the Thai theme they designed me a simple “logo” of orchids intertwining gracefully around the edge of the page.  I used this design throughout our wedding; on our invites, personalised canvas tote bags used for the welcome gifts, small gift note pads, menus and name place cards. The orchid design was sent to the Bella Figura in New York where they used antique cast iron presses to make the invitations the old-fashioned way.

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Our beautiful Bella Figura invites

After visiting many different resorts in Phuket during our previous trip in November 2011, we both agreed unanimously that Andara was the place of our dreams. Andara has two accommodation options in its expansive resort; they have massive privately owned villas perched up high on the mountains and then they also offer smaller, apartment style residences lower down the scarp by the beach.

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The master bedroom

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We never got to try out the spa :(

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There were his and hers bathroom areas

Both are managed by the hotel and ooze luxury and attention to detail. We arrived about five days prior to all our wedding guests and initially stayed in one of their residences for a few days before moving into the opulent villa with our bridal party. Although the residences do not quite have the wow factor of the villa, each is still appointed with great care and attention. We were lucky enough to get upgraded to a pool residence for these few days and on arrival received a bottle of champagne on ice.

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The perfect place to unwind before our guest arrived

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The view from the residences is still pretty good!

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Some decent coffee to fuel our late night dancing

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The full sized (and stocked) fridge

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The spacious living area

Each residence has its own fully equipped kitchen, full sized fridge and all the utensils you would ever need while on holiday.  Not that we did any cooking. For four days we busied ourselves organising welcome packs, choosing wedding music, practising our dance and finishing off all the important little wedding details whilst the hotel’s room service kept us well fed. The kitchen went above and beyond to diligently ensure all my allergies were strictly catered for without sacrificing on taste.

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Smoked eggplant (room service)

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Ginger fish (room service)

Breakfast for the residence guests is served at the hotel’s only restaurant Silk.  They provide a combination of a continental style buffet coupled with a freshly cooked hot meal off their al la carte menu.  Every morning the food and beverage manager would come over to our table and reassure me that my gluten free bread and muffins along with my hot meal was on its way.  The gluten free muffins were sweet, coconutty and fluffy light and I had to stop myself from eating them all each morning. They were served warm and spread generously with Lescure butter they were close to heaven.

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Eggs benedict

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The gluten free muffins served hot

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The Main Pool

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Three egg omelette

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The Boy’s protein packed breakfast

If I hadn’t already had my socks knocked off by the impressiveness of our wedding villa then the Andara residences would have had the same effect. However I knew we were soon to move into even bigger and better lodgings and the beauty of our suite was somewhat lost on me. Looking back now on our stay there I can appreciate what stunning accommodation it was and for a couple travelling on their own the suites are a more affordable way to stay at Andara.

In my next Wedding blog post I will take you through our breath taking Villa where overlooking the Andaman Sea the Boy and I declared our vows to the world and became husband and wife!

For all my Phuket Wedding related posts click here

Andara Resort and Villas 
15 Moo 6, Kamala Beach, Kathu, Phuket 83150, Thailand

Phuket Night Markets and Tung Ka Cafe

Posted by  | Categories: Attractions, Desserts, Featured, Markets, Restaurants, Thai, Thailand, Travel

One of the best ways to get a taste of the local street food in Thailand is to head to one of their night markets. Most towns in Phuket have their own markets held on specific days once or twice a week but the biggest night markets are the Phuket Town Night Markets (Talad Tai Rot to the locals). These markets are open on the weekends from 4pm until around 9pm. Unlike a lot of the smaller markets in Phuket, most of the ground surface at these markets is cemented meaning you don’t have to pick your way through the mud. My advice is to get there fairly early as it gets very busy from around 5pm as the sun sets and the weather cools.

I arranged two minibuses to transport our wedding party of over 30 people to the markets. The trip took around 45 minutes one way from Kamala Beach. Once we arrived we set a time and meeting point and then split off into groups. As the Boy and I entered into the markets with Dad and my Stepmum, he had to duck down under the tarpaulin roof as he was too tall! Thai markets are not designed for 6 foot 3 Dutchmen!

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Outside the Night Markets

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Not so sure of health and safety here: warm sushi served in the open air markets in the tropics…

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Khanom Chan (“snack with tiers”). I love Thai desserts. All gluten free. All delicious.

The Phuket night markets have a vast array of new and second-hand clothes, wood carvings, toys, DVDs, souvenirs and more. There even is a “petshop” section selling live little rabbits and kittens; this was an area my step mum and I trotted past as quickly as possible.  Despite trying not to look I couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of rows of small cages stacked on top of each other all jammed packed with poor little creatures. If only I could save them all!

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Khanom Buang: a Thai “taco” made from rice flour and topped with fried egg and coconut. Also gluten free btw.

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Deep fried greens. I could have eaten several bags of this stuff

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Dried fish

The best part of these markets is the local street food. The four of us purposely bypassed all the trinkets, clothing and electronics to follow our noses to the heart of the aromas.  The Boy was once again attracted to the fried insect stall. I cannot understand why he likes these snacks so much, I think part of his enjoyment is seeing the shock value he creates when everyone sees him munching on a big bug. However even when no one is watching I noticed he continued to happily crunch away whilst picking legs and wings out from between his teeth.

Meanwhile my attention was directed at the plethora of Thai desserts on offer. It was like an Eastern version of a candy store. I found it hard to decide what to try so I ended up trying a little of most things on offer provided I knew they were gluten free. Fortunately the vast majority of Thai dessert are made with gluten free flours such as mung bean flour and rice flour so I was spoilt for choice.  Just a little tip, make sure you bring your Thai eating card with you to the markets so you can check with the vendors before purchasing anything.

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The water beetles that basically looked like cockroaches. Ugh

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The Boy preferred the worms to the water beetles.

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Tunk Ka Cafe

After a few hours at the markets, we all regrouped and made the short journey up the scarp to Tunk Ka Cafe; a Thai restaurant recommended to me by a friend that lives in Phuket. The restaurant is located on top of Khao Rang Hill and gives practically 180 degree panoramic views across the city from their terraced open styled dining room. Although it is worth visiting just for the views, the food at Tunk Ka can hold its own. The menu is all Thai and is very extensive offering over 100 dishes.

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Boiled fish ball served with sour and spicy sauce (not gluten free)

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My bridesmaid’s 12 year old son is a budding young artist

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Green curry chicken

Now seeing as I was on my wedding holiday I have to confess my usual dogged determination to photograph and review all the dishes on show was taken down a number of notches.  It was the first night that we were lucky enough to be joined by all our wedding guests and my attention was much more focused on enjoying these precious moments with those I love dearly.

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Whole baked ginger fish

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Adapted tamarind prawns (gluten free)

Thanks to my Thai eating card and some very obliging staff, a number of special order dishes were brought out for me specifically made gluten free and onion free. I was touched by the care and attention they gave me to ensure I had enough to eat.  I highly recommend the soft shelled crab and the tamarind prawns. All our dishes contained ultra-fresh ingredients with all the elements of Thai food sweet, sour, salty and bitter balanced elegantly.  A big thank you to my dear friend Carole for such a fabulous recommendation.

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Rang hill view photo courtesy of Willy Thuan @ http://www.phuket101.net

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Tunk-Ka photo courtesy of Willy Thuan @ http://www.phuket101.net

Phuket Town Night Market (Talad Tai Rot)
 
Opening Hours: Saturday & Sunday from 16:00 til 21:00
Location: Talad Tai Rot is located along Chao Fa West Road, Phuket’s main thoroughfare, one kilometre south of Central Festival shopping mall and is opposite Wat Naka, a Buddhist temple. Take a left at the first set of traffic lights.
 
Tunk Ka Café
 
Opening Hours: 10:30 – 22:30
Location: At the top of Rang Hill, Phuket Town
Tel: 076-211-500

 

Sukishi Charcoal Grill & Japanese Restaurant, Central Festival Phuket

Posted by  | Categories: Fast Food, Japanese, Korean, Restaurants, Seafood, Thailand, Travel

After nearly two years of preparations and a lot of blood, sweat and tears here we are……finally in Thailand for our wedding week extravaganza! With my insane desire for attention to detail, we had arrived 4 days prior to our wedding guests to finish off all our last minute preparations.  There were welcome presents to arrange for each of our guests, gifts for the parents, cake testing, hair and make-up trials and so much more! For the final touches to our wedding welcome gifts we headed into Phuket’s largest shopping centre Central Festival.

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Strawberry daiquiri AKA “The Boy’s Pink Drink!”

I was trying so hard to be super adherent to my dietary requirements as I didn’t want any last minute facial eczema to ruin my bridal beauty preparations. Sushi is always a good option for me in these circumstances provided I stick to simple options. With this in mind we stopped at Sukishi Japanese Restaurant for a bite to eat.  I didn’t have any gluten free soy with me and hoped the sashimi would be fresh enough not to need any.

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Japanese Green Tea

After weeks and week of being subjective to Slim Pasta, the Boy was rebelling against any form of weight loss and got back in to the Thai rhythm of things ordering himself a strawberry daiquiri. Despite not having a girlie bone in his body he certainly loves his pink drinks! I opted for some Japanese Green tea knowing that coffee in this place would be bound to disappoint. The tea was refreshing and uplifting and perfectly calorie free.

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Sashimi set

The menu was more like an encyclopaedia and it took us some time to look through all of its pages.  It contained a combination of Japanese sushi and sashimi with more Korean style BBQ meats.  Normally when we eat out we love ordering unusual things but with only a few days to go I didn’t want to risk any sort of reaction.  I stuck with a simple, but enormous serve of sashimi. The prices were dirt cheap compared to Perth with the whole “boat” costing us about 350 Baht (about $11 Aussie dollars). Bear in mind that this restaurant was in the middle of a touristy shopping centre so I’m sure it was considered pricey by Phuket standards meaning you could get such a meal even cheaper elsewhere.

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Viking Maki

To fill the Boy up we ordered a couple of plates of sushi rolls in the hope that there wouldn’t be any gluten. To increase my chances of this I showed our waitress my Thai eating card with information regarding my allergies written in their language.  She nodded her head at our menu choices assuring me they were suitable.  Unfortunately however for both dishes the rolls contained seafood extender sticks in them and I didn’t want to take any chances as these are generally not gluten free.

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Norway maki

After a few annoying attempts at poking the offending ingredient out with a chopstick I eventually gave up and left them for the Boy to eat for himself. Not such a bad thing as it stopped me stuffing me face right before the wedding anyway! The rolls were freshly made and the fish was delicate and soft.  Next visit I will be more prepared and bring my own gluten free soy which by the way, I suggest you bring with you from Australia as it is hard to find in Thailand. I usually bring a bottle with me whenever I travel in Asian countries.

My apologies for the poorer quality iPhone photos in this review.  Lugging dear “Gordon” (my Nikon SLR) with me shopping all day was not my cup of tea. 

Sukishi
3rd Floor, Central Festival Phuket, 74-75 Moo 5 Vichitsongkram Rd., Amphur Muang, Phuket 83000
 
Price:                     $
Food:                    6.5/10 (not bad for a shopping centre sushi joint!)
Service:                2.5/5 (meals were slow to come out but were made fresh to order)
Ambience:          2.5/5 (tables are set up like booths so although big and busy you still have privacy)
Total:                     11.5/20

 

Virgin Australia flight to Phuket

Posted by  | Categories: Airlines, Perth, Thailand, Travel

I have been a loyal Qantas girl for most of my life and I try to book the majority of our flights in Australia and around the world flying with my favourite airline. However late last year when I was booking our flights to Phuket in Thailand for our wedding, the need for a direct flight with no stopovers became much more important than any airline loyalties. The logical preference was to fly with Virgin Australia. Virgin operate direct flights to Phuket from Perth arriving on the sunny island in less than 7 hours.

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See ya later Perth!

My experiences with Virgin airlines have always been very positive and for an allegedly budget airline they run circles around their competitors. Last month I was on a flight from Melbourne to Perth escorting THE dress from Luci Di Bella back home and the pure sight of a dress in a white suit bag brought an air of delight among all the cabin crew. Unbeknownst to me I had purchased a Flexifare ticket which includes a cooked meal in the fare. Being totally unaware of this beforehand I had failed to notify them of my gluten free meal requirement. Amazingly our flight attendant proceeded to go to great lengths to try find me something to eat culminating in her raiding fellow staff members meals for some fresh fruit. I was astonished at this level of customer service.

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The menu. GF means gluten free….but there isn’t anything GF!?

Fast forward to the present and as we board our flight to Phuket the air hostesses all grin excitedly upon seeing my white dress bag.  They kindly made a point of ensuring to treat this very special cargo with the utmost of care. This flight didn’t include any meals and unfortunately there were very limited gluten free options available on the menu. After my previous experience of minimal in flight food, I planned ahead and had purchased a couple of very sad looking items from the cafeteria inside the departure lounge back in Perth.

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One of the very few gluten free snacks available

As I sat munching my tired looking salad our flight attendant came round with the service cart. The Boy and I were obviously both very keen to kick off our celebrations and ordered ourselves some drinks.  The Boy also ordered a gourmet beef pie with tomato relish. To our complete surprise, our lovely air hostess told us drinks and food are “on the house”. I love how some people get so excited about weddings even if they are for people they don’t even know! It shows such a beautiful side to a person’s character.

After all the stress and running around in the lead up to our departure I found myself agreeing with the Boy that one drink most certainly wasn’t enough. We were both in a slight state of disbelief that this was really happening! Years of dreaming, planning and organising ….. and now this is it! As we placed our order for more drinks, we reached for some money presuming that this second round would have to be paid for like the rest of the passengers on the flight.  Once again, our hostess with the mostess beamed back to us with pure joy and refused to take any money. What an absolute sweetie! I guess this is a once in a lifetime celebration; you only get married once! Well, at least you hope so!

Virgin Australia airlines fly four times a week from Perth to Phuket direct.

Ku De Ta, Seminyak, Bali

Posted by  | Categories: Bali, European, Featured, Restaurants, Travel

It was our first night in Bali and our refreshing welcome drink served at our villa was a much needed treat.  It had taken us no less than an hour and a half to travel a mere twelve kilometres through bumper to bumper traffic from the airport to Seminyak. Once we had checked into our villa and discovered the free minibar wasn’t very well stocked, we decided to head out into the town in search of something to eat and drink. I had been given a long list of eating venues from friends back home so I started at the top of the list and chose Ku De Ta.

I tried to not to compare my first impressions of Bali with our recent times in Thailand but this was a difficult task to do.  Having been to a few locations on a couple of trips to Thailand, there is definitely something about the people and their country that makes me smile.  I guess that is why they call it the “Land of Smiles”! Bali just didn’t give me that same overwhelming feeling of happiness but at this early stage of the trip I hadn’t recognised this fully nor even now do I completely understand why.

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Ku De Ta is an impressive venue day or night and I regret not going back there during the day to get a better look at their beach club in the sunlight.  The venue is spacious with several different areas to either relax for drinks or sit down for something a bit more formal.  The bar opens directly out onto the beach with sun beds and parasols all set up for those who want to enjoy a sun downer.  The crowd was predominately Australian and had an air of pretention about it, which I think was the first distinct difference to equivalent venues in Thailand. I started to feel like I may as well have come to a beach club in my own country.  In contrast to the patrons, the service was very welcoming and they were more than happy to take my eating card back to the kitchen to determine what I could have off their menu.  The waiter returned with two entrée options and four main dish options that would be possible.

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Eagle Rock and Otter Cove oysters

As you may know, I love my oysters.  More specifically, I like trying new types of oysters that we haven’t tried before.  Sydney Rock Oysters are a particular favourite of mine – they are smaller and have a more intense and distinct flavour than Pacific Oysters and they take apparently take 2-3 times longer to reach maturity.  Ku De Ta offered two types of oyster but unfortunately they were not Sydney Rock.  One type was from Eagle Rock and the other was from Otter Cove and both are Pacific oysters grown in Washington’s Puget Sound in the US.  We ordered half a dozen of each type.  The Eagle Rock were delicately flavoured, sweet and very creamy.  The Otter Cove oysters were also quite sweet but were a little brinier than the Eagle Rock.  Both were very fresh and left me with that lingering salty aftertaste of the sea.

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Tuna and lobster tartare, wasabi, flying fish roe, crème fraiche, sesame seeds

My entrée of tuna and lobster tartare was visually very appealing and almost looked too pretty to eat.  It was served on paper thin slices of cucumber placed crisscrossed against each other to make a decorative pattern on my plate.  There was just enough wasabi to give the dish a kick making every mouthful a burst of freshness and the dressing had just a hint of sweetness ending the orchestra of flavours perfectly.

The Boy had crispy soft-shelled crab salad which was served with pork belly. He let me have a little taste of the pork belly and it was cooked perfectly with a succulent layer of meat covered with a very crunchy and crispy layer of crackling.  The soft-shelled crab was battered so I didn’t get to try any but according to him it was again cooked to perfection although it wasn’t very meaty.  He said the salad was an explosion of flavour with the sweet Borneo honey, tangy citrusy pomelo, cucumber and salty cashews.

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Sweet Alaskan black “miso” cod, picked daikon, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, shiso dressing, flying fish roe

My main dish was similarly mind blowing. The cod was the texture of butter and fell apart under my fork purely melting in mouth.  It was marinated in a shiso dressing which has a similar taste to basil but much more subtle.  The salad contained mushrooms which you may know are pretty much my favourite vegetable of all time and this was also dressed with the syrupy shiso.

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Grilled seafood a la plancha, barramundi, scallop, scampi, soffrito, fregola, aioli, almond picada

The Boy ordered the grilled seafood a la plancha.  It was served on a bed of fregola (small ball shaped pasta resembling Israeli couscous) and a soffrito sauce (basically tomato, onion and garlic).  His fish was not as delicate and buttery as mine as they used barramundi which is a slightly more firm fish.  The remainder of his seafood was juicy and tender particularly the scallops.

Pleasantly impressed with the quality of the food and the service, we both were too full for dessert and decided to get the bill before returning to our villa.  To our complete surprise the bill came to nearly $300 Australian dollars! In Bali! The Boy was in shock! When you consider the local’s average income this meal was extremely overpriced from what it was.  It was however the best one we had in our whole time in Bali and I will return next time I’m in Seminyak.

 Travelling to Bali?  Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go! 

Ku De Ta
Jalan Laksmana, 9, Seminyak, Bali 80361, Indonesia | +62 361 736969 | www.kudeta.net
 
Price:                    $$$$ (142K-220K Rp/ $15-23 AUD entrée, 300K-370K Rp / $32-40 AUD mains)
Food:                    4.5/5 (wonderful layers of flavours)
Service:               4.5/5 (accommodating and friendly)
Ambience:          3.5/5 (gorgeous setting but lots of pretentious Australian tourists)
Drinks:                4.5/5 (cocktails were delicio!)
Total:                  17/20

 

Andara Resort & Villas, Phuket & choosing our Wedding Venue

Posted by  | Categories: Accommodation, Featured, Hotels, Luxury, Resorts, Restaurants, Thai, Thailand, Travel, Wedding

I cannot believe we are back in Thailand already!  It was only about three months ago we arrived in Phuket for the first time to celebrate our dear friend’s wedding and yet here we are again.  But better still this time we are here to start planning our own wedding!  So exciting!  We were both so amped to start the hunt for our venue and after our interesting culinary experiences at the Patong night markets last night we were also pretty keen to enjoy some more traditional Thai food!

I am a bit of an organisational freak – I gain great pleasure in planning things down to the finite detail. So in my preparation for our wedding venue search I had spent hour upon hour back home in Perth trawling over the internet to ensuring we would to check out every perceivable suitable wedding location in Phuket.  After numerous emails I managed to whittle my ridiculously long list down to a much more manageable eight resorts.

Our first stop was Andara Resort in Kamala.  I was really attracted to the idea of staying in Kamala as there are a lot of little restaurants and bars all within walking distance from each other.  A full spectrum of accommodation options can be found ranging from the exquisite Andara Resort and Villas to the much more economical and family orientated Courtyard Marriott Resort that we were staying in this time round.  In addition to this it is much more family friendly than the madness of Patong and a fair bit cleaner as well!

Andara Resort sits up on the hillside towards the southern end of Kamala beach overlooking the blue expanse of the Andaman Sea.  Immediately upon entering their luxurious lobby we both felt a really good vibe and looking about the place it just felt very “us” which was very good start. We were promptly greeted by the resort wedding planner Mod.  She initially sat us down to show us some photos of a few weddings set up around the resort pool and also in their spectacular villas. Having seen many of these stunning photos previously in her emails I was impatient to view the property and was hoping that it wasn’t going to disappoint.

In some ways, it was kind of shame that we both fell in love with the very first venue that we looked at as over the course of the next week we found the majority of other locations we visited just simply didn’t compare.  Not even close!  There were only two other locations we saw that could begin to match up to Andara’s beauty – Trisara in the far north of the island, and the very expensive Amanpuri.

Andata Resort and Villas – photo courtesy of Mod at Andara

The villa that Mod recommended as her favourite for us to have our wedding ceremony sits high on the edge of the cliff and is built over three levels giving every room incredible views of the sea. No detail is left untouched throughout the villa with exquisitely appointed interior design using natural dark wood and warm Thai silks to create a beautiful wow factor throughout. She said they could arrange a platform to be placed in the infinity pool allowing us to say our vows with uninterrupted views of the bay as our backdrop!  Imagine that!  Saying our vows with views like this will be breathtaking!

Mod’s beaming pride as she watched us appreciate the beauty of the resort shone through as she took us on a detailed tour of the whole resort, showing us their world class, icy cool air-conditioned gym (which rivals my university gym back at home) and the enormous and elegantly appointed spa which included a whole level of rooms for the bridal party to beautify.  We then ended the tour in their popular restaurant Silk overlooking their spacious pool deck.

Tasting plate: fish cakes, prawns in noodle, chicken in pandanus leaves and fresh spring roll

After our detailed tour, we were then treated to a complimentary four course Thai lunch where the chef’s had carefully prepared Thai dishes taking into consideration both my fructose malabsorption and gluten intolerance. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of this lovely meal as Mod, the boy and I were busy engaged in lengthy conversation talking about further details in which Andara could provide us with an amazing wedding. Highlights of our lunch included Goong cinnamon (Cinnamon prawn – to die for!), Tom yam soup and absolutely huge Tiger prawns cooked in garlic and pepper and presented gorgeously.

To help us to make our decision we headed back to Andara for dinner on one of our final nights in Phuket. I thought seeing as I’m actually able to punish myself with gluten while on the prescribed gluten challenge I wouldn’t be quite so restrictive and let loose a little on the menu. For entrée we ordered a started platter which had some fish cakes, chicken wrapped Pandanus leaves and prawns. The chicken was soft and fell apart in the mouth and was sweetly scented with the Pandanus. The prawns were wrapped in noodles – similar to what we ate at Old Cathay, but less oily and easier to eat. After memories of our enjoyable meal at Old Cathay returning to my mind, I also ordered some satay tofu. This was not silky smooth this time round and definitely didn’t excite either of us.

Tamarind duck, soft shelled crab and stir-fried morning glory

To keep the boy happy for mains we ordered some soft shelled crab, one of his favourites, which were deliciously meaty and crispy, some tamarind duck and stir fried Morning Glory. Morning Glory is considered a weed in Australia however is very popular in a lot of parts of South-east Asia where it is often called “water spinach”. It is quite sweet in flavour, not bitter at all, and was cooked very simply with oyster sauce and garlic.

After all this delicious Thai food, I can’t help but wonder….I do hope all our wedding guests are happy to eat Thai at our reception? I just don’t feel right going to a country that has such wonderful culinary culture and eating “Western food”.

For more about our trips to Thailand click here

Patong night markets, Phuket

Posted by  | Categories: Markets, Thai, Thailand, Travel, Wedding

We were so lucky to be part of a friend’s wedding in Phuket earlier this year as it has sparked the beginning of our love affair with Thailand. After a week of wedding celebrations in Phuket, we then flew over to the Eastern coast of Thailand to stay for another week on the island of Koh Samui. It was during this memorable and fun filled holiday that my love proposed to me. He dropped the question during the most amazing private dining experience at Six Sense’s Dining on the Rocks which he had all pre-arranged before we left Australia. A single stunning table was decorated lavishly with roses and orchids and placed romantically isolated on a wide expanse of wooden decking on the cliff face overlooking the distant neighbouring islands and fishing boats. We had our own two butlers serve us a seven course degustation while we sipped our way through bottles of Verve. It was an experience I will never forget.

Subsequently it was a bit of a no-brainer that we both envisioned returning to Thailand for our wedding vows. Choosing a venue for such an occasion wasn’t really a decision we wanted to make via photos and email so this provided us with a great excuse for an impromptu holiday. I planned a busy week for us sashaying around Phuket touring resorts and dining on their food.

To get ourselves in the mood, our first night we decided to brave it into the bedlam of Patong to go the night markets. The boy has a strange and burning desire to eat unusual foods; this is actually something we used to share in common before all my allergies came to light and I starting being more wary of ingredients. Uninhibited and giddy on the street vendors rocket fuelled cocktails (80 Baht/$2.50) AUD), we dived into one of the many night markets and found ourselves surrounded by interesting smells. There was a lot of familiar fare, such as roast pork, chicken and duck but lo and behold we found the piece de la resistance……intestines?? Now you must be thinking we have gone a little mad, but there it was all snake like and coiled neatly in its mesenteric fat like a distorted grotesque fan.

 

Before I knew it the boy had ordered us a dish and was eagerly watching them dice it up for us into smaller more bite size pieces. I cautiously ate one, and to be honest with all the soy and chargrilling it didn’t taste too bad. There was none of the unpleasant smells you would have expected. However after a few morsels I began to remember my public health lectures at University and stopped myself before I worked myself into a nauseous state. I fell asleep that night dreaming of hydatid cysts in my brain and vowed not to be swayed to such a dark side again!

For more about our trips to Thailand click here

Travelling to Thailand?  Be sure to checkout the Lonely Planet Thailand Travel Guide before you go!