Kermit in Krabi

After yet another satisfying rice porridge and tropical fruits brekkie by the pool, F yelled to me from the backyard toilet "there's a frog here! come quick!" and I found her in the midst of 'her business' pointing to a still Kermit in our little patch of garden. It was light brown, skinny and unblinking on all fours (and remained there dead until we checked out; poor guy had to put up with our shit literally).

For first-timers, Krabi offers a lot of diverse sights including its 80-odd islands, limestone caves, cascading waterfalls, whitewater-rafting, elephant treks, temples, even a fossil-shell cemetery. With Saturday as our remaining full day, we were tossing between options A) day trip to Klong Thom hot springs & Sa Morakot emerald pool, B) more island-hopping at the Hong isles or C) slacking at the nearby Poda island. As you'd guessed it, the latter won hands down.

The longtail boatride to Poda isle (300baht for 2-way), along with 3 other Irish tourists, was a bit choppy so we got splashed for a good 25mins and all I could think of was a second breakfast. Poda was a tad non-descript but at least it was tranquil and the beach was decent. We spent an hour tanning, swimming and fooling with the camera till the storm came and chased us to seek refuge at the only eatery there.

Yipee, I had my second breakfast of soup noodle while F had a tea to keep warm. I never really had a bad meal in Thailand but to my disappointment, the noodle was quite tasteless so I spiced it up with heaps of chilli flakes and fish sauce! The kampong joint was a laidback rustic hut and I hoped they keep it that way, no bigarse hotel or fast food per favore. Another hour of suntanning and shell-picking ensued and we were equally bored as the Irish so thus decided to head back to our favourite Aonang Cuisine restaurant for lunch.

After a freakin' piccante squid salad which set my tongue on fire, we lay our mats out on Aonang beach intent on more sun-soaking and laughed at the two hilarious sand mannequins that someone crafted. A teenage came up to me and asked 'wher u from?' I squinted at him: 'Spore' Him: 'rain here' and pointed at the dark clouds fast approaching. Before I could say 'kor-poon-ka', he was gone and we followed his cue, camping out at The Last Fishermen bar, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Fashioned from part of a boat, the open bar was totally chilled with sand as our carpet and the curtain of drizzle a few feet away. All I needed now was my smelly bolster and I could nap there for hours. Instead we flipped thro' the Thai ELLE mag, while ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the litter of cute newborn pups held hostage by a Kirsten-Dunst lookalike Finnish girl. She kindly laid the fleas-infested pups on her 101 Dalmatians towel and couldn't bear to leave them behind when the rain stopped.

Anyway the best bit about The Last Fishermen was the mojito cocktails - a tall glass of crushed ice, generous rum, brown sugar, muddled mint and lime for only 150baht each (S$6 only) - where to find?? Wah, this was serious good shit. F asked me if I was sunburnt but it was the mojito making me blushed. If you had the chance to visit Krabi, you must track down the bar on the left side of Aonang (if you're facing the sea) past the Milano tailorshop.

At 5plus, the storm finally retreated and everyone was out at play again, including the stray dogs who were getting a lot of action, humping freely away on the shore. Busybodies as usual, we walked the entire length to the new Krabi Bay Central hotel while peeping at the aunties and their baskets of 'hoi' clams, wondering if we'd ever get to try them.

The sunset today was particularly spectacular as the low rays filtered thro' the thick clouds and lit the shoreline. You could follow the fishermen and walk for miles as far as the low tide receded. Instead, we walked back to The Cliff and worked up a ravenous appetito for a splendid dinner at its Rimpa restaurant.

Correct me but did I just said I never had a bad meal in Thailand? Which luckily was a statement I could swallow becos the food was excellent here - very refined and authentic to a 'T'. The sweet-spicy-salty flavours of the somtam salad were perfectly balanced (not wincing on my part, just purring) while the grilled seafood was dignified and the steamed crabmeat curry robust yet smooth (650baht only for meal!). See what kind of words good food could inspire!