Friday, December 01, 2023

Celebrity Solstice Day 4 & 5 Pattaya

Day 4

I had contacted PT taxi to arrange to transport to Pattaya. 2500 baht plus 500 baht with port entry. So a total of 6000 baht for the 2 days. You can WhatsApp Nattuwat from PT taxi +66 86 392 1240. I have engaged their service in my previous trips to Pattaya.

Reached Laem Chabang at 6am. Docked at 6.30am . 










Our driver was early and we quickly move down to Michael's club for priority disembarkation but realised there is no need to as the gangway at deck 2 is empty! No queue at all!






Our car is a spacious 7 seater! As mentioned you can WhatsApp Nattuwat from PT taxi +66 86 392 1240 
He charge 2500 Baht for 6 to 8 hours and 500baht for port permit if you want him to pick you up from inside the port.

I paid him 3000 Baht for today as we spent more than 10 hours 

Love the white temple at Wat Nong Yai














Breakfast at a local food court. The Kueh is very nice at 45Baht. Very soft with peanut filling. The noodle soup was too salty at 90baht. Also bought Latte, passion fruit soda and caramel milk from a small shop within the food court.






We changed our mind going to frost city and the sheep farm and decided to revisit Sanctuary of Truth.  I like the ideas by the founder. We are just like dust on Earth. We will die one day and what we can leave behind is the goodness which we built. Many of the sculptures show bad values such as prejudice on the outer columns inside the building and the inner columns show the good values such as treating everyone equally. Take a good look at the carvings and you will realise the many stories it tells. Amazing wood cravings and the structure are all built without the use of nails. 

My last visit was 10 years ago and we could roam freely in the compound. Our tour guide, Ong, was good and helped us to better understand the stories behind the building. However, we wasted more than 20 mins waiting for the right group as different sessions were scheduled according to the language such as Chinese, Thai, Eng, Korean and even Russian. It would be better to let us into the compound and then follow the scheduled tours. We can use the time waiting to look at the buildings. Another challenge was the flight of stairs down to the building and then back up to the entrance. 

I don't remember that in my last visit. That's why we decided to go for a massage.











The photographer is so fast to print out the photos and put it in frame. 2 for 450 baht.




















At heathland spa in Pattaya. Price is doubled that of the one at Ko Samui but this is bigger and healthier. More luxurious and there is even a shower in the room. Shower gel is provided so we took a bath before the body massage. I have chosen angel amethyst and hubby chosen Romeo for the essential oil. Their massage chair for foot massage was super comfortable!

However must remember to prepare some cash for tips😅.








Awesome food at Baan Kaeng homemade Thai food opposite the spa. Crispy soft shell crab, crab and pork in crab shell, egg with crab meat, fried morning glory, squid in salted egg, fried pork with curry spice. Orange day smoothie. 1650 Baht cash as they do not accept credit card.










However the food is very spicy so hubby was not wowed by it.

We went to terminal 21 shopping mall after the massage. I went crazy over the snacks as everything tasted so nice. There are also many stalls outside the mall. The night market is opened at 5pm.








There is a show performed by 2 monkeys in the atrium.















Came back to a very empty ship at 6pm though there were many souvenirs shops opened at the cruise centre. The staff is so nice to prepare some ice water to receive the guests back. We went up to the ocean view cafe to grab some fruits. The ocean view cafe had very few guests too. I think many of the cruise guests went to Bangkok and Pattaya for overnight stay or will be back late as the ship was docked overnight at Laem Chabang port.










I checked out the photo gallery for the photo taken. I have paid for all digital package at US$199.90.






8pm show at the Solstice theatre was Folkloric Show The Heart of Thailand.




We did the Martini flight at the Martini bar. Dirty martini, sunset martini, lychee martini, passion martini, cosmopolitan. 35 for 6 instead of the 17 per glass.











Some nice sculptures at the art gallery.









Grabbed some food from the Ocean view cafe.


Made our own white coffee


Day 5

Going to Pattaya again!



Naklua new market. Paid for the entrance tickets, boat ride with photos, snacks and drink.



























Went over to Pattaya floating market. 
































Bought the ticket with the cultural show with bus ride at 1200 Baht. The seats which we were allocated were right in the middle and no one in front of us for the 11.30am show. Felt like VIP. However I think halfway someone sneaked to the front. 

So impressed by the cultural show at Nongnooch. They even had the elephants in for one of the performances. 


The bus brought us to 2 destinations for photo taking. Thankful there is a bus ride as it was too hot to walk around the park.
























A cocoa plant 

Most of the sculptures are still along the roads similar to what we saw in 2015.



















The Pad Thai smells and taste good.









Took some random photos before we leave. We had to cross many bridges to reach the entrance. My goodness the walk was so tiring and it's super hot.
The branch of this tree actually grew across the bridge.





The garden is huge.

There is a live shooting range!

Our driver brought us to the Big Buddha as it was on our way back to the ship. Revisit the big Buddha painting on the hill and it had become so commercialised. Within 1 min the photo was printed and framed. At only 100 baht.





Return to port by 3pm.



My butler sent me such a  spread for afternoon tea again though I told him to minus off the scones. We asked for coffee instead of tea this time round. The tarts with egg and ham are so nice. The mini buns with prosciutto and melon are nice too. Tuna with prickles too sourish. I melted with the pistachio cream donut. Hubby like the eclair too. chocolate mousse and egg tarts with blueberries were delicious.




Dinner at Blu. Beatiful sunset can be seen from the restaurant.

Hubby  had sweet yellow corn veloute. I love my chick pea tomato soup. I also ordered the escargot from MDR menu (which you can request ) and hubby love his lobster salad with soba noodles which I highly recommended too. Hubby also ordered New York steak which he said is very well done and I ordered braised short ribs. The braised short ribs is so much better than yesterday's . You  don't need a knife as it is so well cooked. Hubby ordered the cocktail Botanical Bliss and I ordered screw driver.











We watched the 7pm Stephen Barry "Ireland's Got Talent" performance at the Solstice theatre. He was awesome. Rich vocal and humourous.








The sky lounge has very unique cocktails named after the stars. Hubby taking Aquarius (Caodores tequila, fresh lime juice, rose petals, orange liquer, Hibiscus and rose salt) and I am taking Pisces (Baileys, coffee liqueur, whipped cream and Espresso Bean) It was very quiet as the show only starts at 10pm. The live orchestra will be performing with the production crew.



Great performance by the live orchestra, singers and dancers.

Gotten some pizza from ocean view cafe and ordered room service. Creme Brulee, grilled chicken breast and coffee. Sea day tomorrow so going to wake up late at 9am.




Day 1 Embarkation and Day 2 Sea Day

Day 3 Ko Samui (Tender)

Day 4 & 5 Pattaya

Day 6 sea day & Day 7 Vung Tau

Day 8 Nha Trang & Day 9 Hue

Day 10 and 11 Halong Bay

Day 12 sea day & 13 HK










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