Patong (Phuket) Night Walk

An evening-to-nightcap stroll as I usually do. This time still along the waterfront (Thawewong Road) of Patong Town on Phuket Island. Yes, per plan at least, this should be farther than this afternoon's walk, where from HIE, I went only as far as the Surf House! That's because, my 'must see' place this evening was Bangla Road, which is another 2 blocks more (I think) from the Flowboarding thing of Surf House!

Definitely shorter than my Singapore Night Walk, as this bustling Patong night-time district is probably only 2kms long! Well, as usual, also included on this stroll's "objectives" were: to find something to eat (as needed); to see interestingly worth-watching spots, people or activities; and to bar-hop if possible!

Teka, just FYI, my usual rule in bar-hopping is: not more than 2 bottles of beer in one place!

Off I merrily went, walking from HIE, turning left at the beautiful neo-classical-looking building on the corner. However, next to this building is what they call the Loma Market, now busier, so I dropped by.

The place was just starting to sizzle. The smoke from all the barbecuing at each of the stalls was not yet creating 'clouds'! And I could still be spotted when walking around or taking pictures of the place!

See that jolly group of young tourists at left? They saw me 'aiming' my phone (actually not at them but this whole place 'in general'). But they cheered, so I turned my focus a bit, to put them at "near-center" yet still capturing the entrance over at the end of the 'aisle'. If only all 'crowds' would be like them, 'no?

In contrast, look at the lower-right corner of the same picture. The girl in blue, a waitress at one of the food stalls immediately ducked to hide from my shot! I eventually sat at that table due to her coaxing! Dalawa sila, talagang yumuko; I asked why they hid from my shot, they said "so you get good picture"!

Sabay tawanan ng malakas. Mga bungisngis! Here's proof that they're not against being in my shots:

Sabi ko 'candid, don't look at me'. Pwede na, although parang halata pa ring conscious sila sa camera!

Because of this 'interaction', these girls kept recommending that I eat here, ayun na, "dinner here na"!

I just silently said "goodbye La Flora" - since I intended to catch dinner at their roof deck 'The Surface'.

On hindsight, I was happy to have eaten here (Loma Market) as it is not often that I dare a full meal on 'street food'. Not that I'm picky or 'maarte', it's just that I don't know how to judge spicy versus brutally spicy, fresh versus 'not really', and/or what kind of sour is 'edible sour' versus 'stale sour' and the likes.

Those two girls were very helpful to me by describing the foods, ingredients or condiments. They even went as extreme as instructing their cooks on how to tweak their usual dishes to suit my preferences!

At right, my red-shirted new friend earnestly oversees preparation of my food by the cook, her mother!

"My Pet", a phrase I learned sometime in the early '90s, was very helpful here. That means "Not Spicy" or "hindi maanghang"! Actually, especially with Thai women, it sounds nearer to "mye pet". In any case most Thais understand me when I say "my pet" - at times, coupled with fanning my hand vigorously in front of my open mouth! Those who can speak a little English may even say "oh, okey nowt sapai-see".

Ah, since this is Thailand, I knew (even if bigger) that during this walk, there'd be something like this!

I was surprised the girls (the waitresses, I mean) even call it the way most of us in the Philippines call it... SanMigLight! But like in Bali and Singapore, their bottles here are bigger. This time tiningnan ko na talaga, it's 660ml, sayang I wasn't able to take a photo of that part of the bottle! Sa atin it's only 330ml.

Anyway, I had to wrap this 'dinner' up as Loma Market (more of a food street really) was getting busier with more tourists streaming in, therefore more interesting to watch. But if I didn't get up and out after that bottle of SML, I'd get stuck again, unable to reach my night walk's final destination: Bangla Street!

Hey, one more thing.., on my way out of Loma Market, I looked at the kinds of things cooking up at the many stalls. Comparing them to places I've been to (including Bangkok), I think I might be right to say that Phuket offers the 'mostest' in terms of variety of street food in Asia. Maybe even the whole earth!

Thus, my foodie friends and my blogger/vlogger friends, sugod na sa Phuket! Take note, Loma Market might not even be the biggest (I recall there was a wide place like this at downtown Phuket City years ago). Basta, if you see a "market" that is not busy during the day, it must be a "night and food market"!

A few steps from Loma Market, I heard good music and saw this bar called "Jamin Reggae Patong"..,

Very inviting 'chill' kind of music that I like. It sounds so 'beachy' (not 'bitchy' ha? pero pwede na rin)! I liked the 'eclectic vibe' in that bar, but I said I'd rather not this time, for I might not reach Bangla at all.

However, just before the entrance path to the reggae bar, that tattoo house also attracted passers-by, not so much for the tattoo (I think), but those two Harley Davidson vintage motorbikes! I saw tourists would pose by them for souvenir shots. Oh, maybe I stood admiring them a minute too long, because I was surprised that, a man behind me (wherever he came from) said "nice eh, wanna try it?" and even attempted to toss me the keys! Nge, I don't know if he was real or bogus, but I said "no, not this time"!

Those toys really looked cool. But I dared not. Aba, malay ko kung 'for rent' pala ang mga 'iyon! O kaya libre ngang ipinapa-hiram kaso pag-andar mo eh biglang maghihiwa-hiwalay! O kaya naman, biglang lumipad at wala palang preno, o hindi pala lumiliko at nabangga?! Malaking bayarin! Kaya 'wag na oi!

I proceeded onwards (binilisan na ang lakad), ignoring other interesting distractions, until I reached..,

'Bangla Road' to us foreigners who've visited this place years ago, until commercially sponsored signs (of late) started calling it "street". But it's okay, they're synonyms anyway. Thanon Bangla as they call it in Thai. But "thanon" means a road or a street, so it's just the same, though I am used to 'Bangla Road'.

My first impression? "OMG it has grown denser, the buildings have grown higher, and the 'spectacle', a lot crazier! What 'spectacle'? Well, this is the "red light district" of Phuket. May I say "the original" since there are other places where this kind of 'entertainment' are also sprouting! When 'go-go bars' started displaying their 'wares' at very visible spaces of their premises (e.g., at doors, windows or even out on the sidewalk), tourists got curious and started flocking to the area at night, many just to see or watch!

See or watch - from the street without entering any go-go bar but just standing outside, on the road.

Due to the number of people passing nightly, enterprising locals (even foreign visitors) started putting up shops like restaurants, bars, massage parlors and the likes. There is even Bangla Market. So all the more that visitors added this street to their itineraries, the road thus became like a nightly "spectacle"!

By the way, this is a normal street during the day, but is closed to vehicular traffic at sundown.

Note too: not all who come to this road eh nahahayok at naghahanap ng makamundong kaligayahan.

Many are just curious paano gumiling sina inday sa poste, how sexy are the 'ladyboys' and so on. Just that, BUT, there'd usually be nearby things that attract them, like restaurants, bars (without the sleaze)! There are also bargain shops, and of course, street food! So, visitors are a merry mix of demograhies!

Now now.., if you are the one who really intends to get into those bars but don't want to be seen by the madlang public lounging around with sexy girls in pekpek shorts hovering around you, do not despair! What you see from the street are only the 'tip of the iceberg'! All the bars have their "better appointed" inside or upstairs areas where the dancing is more 'maka-mundo', the lingkisan, sagi-an are 'alams na'!

Sabi nga ng isang kanta sa Samar... tikang ha may pusod, sukla ngan dangawa ngan harapihapa!

As I said above, it's not all about the 'kahayukan sa kalamnan ng kaputahan'. There is a thing like this!

It is a worldclass entertainment complex with even a 100 sqm HD LED wall, ibang klaseng lights and the best sound systems that will have your ribcage vibrating with music curated by international DJs.

Look here.., at 11:20PM, there was such a long queue of people of all kinds waiting to enter Illuzion!

Well, it's a party place that they claim can fit 5,000 thumping writhing swaying waggling party animals!

But I was not ready to sweat it out 'til sunrise this time. I just went by and found myself back at this..,

A hip 'oasis' some hundred meters turning left from the east end of Bangla Road. Yup, that's K-Hotel's restaurant/bar that looks and feels like you're in a beach resort instead of the middle of the city. It's a casual dining place with cozy music, relaxed atmosphere, friendly owners, good food, and affordable!

Especially if you just came from all the ear-exploding sounds of Bangla Road, this is a nice respite..,

Don't be intimidated that most of the clientele here seem to be dressed like they just came from their air-conditioned offices - some even still tapping on their laptops. But if you observe or ask them, most will be going to, or will just have come from that lively loud Bangla Street! This place is like a breather.

Look! Here are some 'permanent-residents' in this calming place..,

Anong sweet-n-sour? 'Wag kang matakam, hindi pagkain yan! Alaga nila yan, in one of their fish tanks.

This one is freely roaming, making the rounds of the restaurant.., a fantastic color, ang pogi 'no?!

Unique. I mean I don't see that kind in the Philippines. I wondered what 'breed' this feline could be, but the witty side of me said "eh di Siamese Cat"! Honga ano?! Siam means Thailand, di ba? So, Siamese!

Anyway, two bottles downed, I needed to move to another bar, perhaps even go back to the hotel! So I started retracing back my walking path. Whoa, Bangla was all the more crowded, and there seemed to be a 'music war'. All that had sound systems were blaring out loudly, as if in an effort to drown others.

Noticeably, there were also more waiters and dancers out in the middle of the road, some with their menus in hand, some without, trying their very best to entice passers-by to visit their establishments.

There were even the "parades" that (I realized) were awaited by many in the crowd. What parade? Ah, a group of ten to twenty to even more dancers and/or entertainers from any of the establishments in the area, walking like in a parade, to showcase their presence (with pictures, pamphlets and banners) to invite people to visit them. Cameras especially awaited the gaybar pretty boys and macho dancers!

And of course, the mugger-looking touts, offering their "pingpong show" by directly and very discreetly approaching foreigners. They do have pics of their shows, taken out only when they're already talking to you. What's a "pingpong show"? Ah, nude dancers who let their pekpek "eat" and disgorge pingpong balls, among others! Hint: the fact that they are so 'illicit' about it easily means, bawal yan. So be wary.

Okay, so I reached the 'entrance', the corner of Thawewong and Bangla Streets. I should have turned right to continue my walk back to HIE - that's still about 1km. But I headed left instead, to visit this..,

Nothing too special there, it's an Irish Pub (halos lahat matatanda ang customers dyan), except that, I remember soemtime ago, when I was staying at Holiday Inn Resort (HIR), I happened on this pub and discovered that there was a Filipino band playing. So I said to my royal self, matingnan nga kung mga Pinoy pa rin ang tumutugtog doon. Ibang band na (years ago na kasi yun!) but yes, mga Pinoy pa rin!

I just stayed at an outdoor table, ordered beer (they have no SML) and listened to the band's music.

Better this way.., the band music isn't so loud to my ears.., and I could watch the outside world go by. They came outside to smoke after one of their sets, that's when I asked them and learned that.., mga Ilonggo gali sila! One of them told me though, this pub is going to change management or ownership soon, so they're not sure if this will still be a restaurant/bar after that, or if at all they'd still be retained.

After two bottles, I started off on my final walk of more than a kilometer back to my hotel. However..,

This McDo branch just beside the door of La Flora, all of a sudden seemed inviting for a quick snack (kasi 'alang Jollibee dito e)! Gosh, they're open 24/7 but at midnight, no more sodas, as in kahit anong softdrinks, wala! Plus, I was startled by that thing looking at me from outside the glass! Okay, I agree, kaya hindi sumisikat ang McDo sa atin, nakakatakot kasi si Ronald McDonald compared kay Jollibee!

Hmm teka.., ano nga ba ang surname ni Jollibee? Baka "Young", kasi 'di tumatanda eh!

Anyway.., I arrived at HIE 1:30AM. So, a total of about 4kms in 5 and a half hours!

Tomorrow, let's talk more about my Phuket roam, okay?!

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