Thailand Part I: Phuket

You know good times are ahead when the first glimpse of your destination looks like this:

PHUKET THAILAND

Just for reference, the map below shows where Phuket is related to Bangkok.  It is a large island on the west coast of Thailand, just a 90 minute flight from Bangkok.  We flew Air Asia, and it was inexpensive and efficient. 

We were using our American Express points and we had 3 Starwood hotels to choose from on the island.  I am confident that I picked the most beautiful.  The Westin Siray Bay Resort is on the southeast coast and has only been open since December 2010.  As you can imagine, everything is brand new, and when I say the hotel was luxurious.......I mean luxuuurious!

{the view from our balcony}

Perfect as it was, we did have a couple complaints about the location.  #1 the beach was private and very small and #2 the resort was very secluded from "Thai life".  We could have been in the Caribbean.   The prices of the hotel food made me really feel like I was in the Caribbean too...$30 for the breakfast buffet?  Uh...no thanks!  Hello?  We are in Thailand!!  When we wanted to leave the hotel, the taxi drivers would charge and exorbitant amount just because they knew they could.  That was very irritating to me.  I just don't like being ripped off.  We did enjoy one [spicy as hell green curry] lunch at the hotel, during which I checked out our options in Phuket Town (3 miles away) for alternate eating options.

The next day we ventured into [Phuket] town for some thai priced food!  We had read about a place called Natural.  This open aired restaurant was 4 levels built into the trees and so freakin' cool! The walls were lush green plants and covered with rustic artifacts.

{Natura

The food was beautiful too!  Served up like a gourmet restaurant but at $2-$3 a plate!  We went a bit overboard because there were so many things we wanted to try on the menu: minced duck with crispy basil, spicy papaya pork salad,  lime-lemongrass blue crab legs, and garlic shrimp.  All of these dishes were ordered "thai hot" ...and boy were they!  Delish!

Other than the food, there was not much to see in Phuket Town.  We covered it in a couple hours.  Like most of Thailand, it was crowded with scooters and motos.

There is a deep Chinese heritage in Phuket (and all of Thailand) and according to a Chinese legend, Phuket is a golden sea dragon emerging from the Indian Ocean. 

Tradition holds that this dragon, Hai Leng Ong, is duty-bound to protect Phuket and its visitors, sustaining life and prosperity in business.  Here Ernesto walks down [the historic street] Th Thalang which shows typical architecture of some residential properties.

 I liked this one a lot!  A pink house!

We decided that we would stay at the Westin for a couple nights and then move to the northwest side of the island, just so we could see a different area [and not be so secluded]. But first, there were a couple things that we wanted to do on the south side.  Near the laid back surfing town Hat Kata is Kok Chang Safari.  Lonely Planet recommended them as "best elephant trekking in Phuket" saying that the elephants are very well taken care of, and this is what we found to be the case when we arrived.
Our guide lead us up through lush foliage until we had a view of the Andaman Sea, and boy was it beautiful! We paid 800 bahts, about $25.

Some stretches of the trail were steep with large rocks and this graceful animal barely bounced us at all.  Her name was Champu.  She is almost 40 years old, not even half of her life expectancy.

Since Phuket is such a large island, we wanted to check out a smaller island...something a bit more intimate.  A 90 minute ferry ride from the Phuket Town dock will get you to Ko Phi Phi island. 

We bought a one day package at the Phuket dock for $25 each. (there are many companies to choose from)  This included the ferry both ways, buffet lunch, and snorkeling.  Quite a deal, right?

In the past, whenever I thought of traveling to Thailand, I imagined those beautiful beach pictures with the huge limestone rocks and cliffs shooting out of the crystal blue water.  Well, guess what?  It is really like that!

Before the ferry reached the dock at Phi Phi, a few of us transferred to this small 'longtail' boat which delivered us to paradise..... Hat Yo (Long Beach)

We did a bit of snorkeling ...

...and a lot of relaxing on the beach.

Our trip was over around 5p.  We then moved to another Starwood hotel on the west coast of the island. The Sheraton Grande Laguna on Bang Tao Beach.  Although the Westin was much much nicer than the Sheraton, I am glad we switched.  The white sand beach of Bang Tao was gorgeous....and 8K long.  Also, we were able to take the free hotel shuttle and walk to some local restaurants.  I just couldn't be trapped in a [all-inclusive type] resort while in Thailand.  That being said, the resort was gorgeous!  I read that their pool is the biggest in Asia!

Another cool thing about the resort was that every morning, two, four month old elephants came to visit with the hotel guests.  They were so cute and soooooo smart.  They could wave, bow, kiss and they will take your tip and put it in the trainers pocket for you!

They upgraded us to a suite on the beach and we had our own balcony.

And since we moved to the west coast of the island, we caught beautiful sunsets! With a view like this, how could we complain?

Next stop....Bangkok, oriental city!!!

24 HOURS IN JAPAN

Our trip to Thailand started a bit rough.  We were seated in coach class from Atlanta to [Narita] Japan.  The moment we got situated in our middle seats [not together obviously], we actually debated getting off the plane and going the next day.  This is one good example of why I do not like having set plans/reservations.  Because I had bought a plane ticket from Bangkok to Phuket for the next day and booked a hotel using our Starwood points, we decided it was too much hassle to reschedule and suffered through the 12 hour plane ride.  To add insult to injury, when we arrived in Japan the [once a day] flight to Bangkok had been canceled! Ugh...so I had to reschedule everything anyway!

One the bright side, we were able to get a hotel close to the airport and with in walking distance to the Park.  Our room at the Kikusui Hotel was small but cozy and had a cute little restaurant in the lobby where I enjoyed a big bowl of noodles for dinner.  Waiting for us on the bed were two soft cotton kimono robes.  We made some tea and looked into what we could explore the next day (our flight was not until 6pm).  

The day came very early too.  It was we woke up to bright light and were shocked to find out it was only 4:30am!!  I rearanged our flights/hotel, we checkout out (and left our bags at the counter) and were off by foot.  The Naritasan Park was just 15 minutes away and was the perfect place to give us a taste of Japan.  The park has trails winding though beautiful Japanese gardens, koi ponds and is home to the huge Buddhist temple Naritasan Shinshoj and several pagodas.  Here are a few photos:

We had to have sushi in Japan, right?  While walking around we stopped at this little street side shop and ordered a few rolls.  With the language barrier, we weren't sure what we were ordering, but I was able to convey that I wanted vegetarian. 

Back at the airport, we were excited to get on our first 747 airplane.  That thing is a BEAST!  Business class was great and we enjoyed dinner and a good nap during the 6 hour flight to Bangkok. 

We arrived at 11pm, but even then the journey was not complete.  We had another flight in the morning to Phuket.  Luckily we found two leather couches to sleep on in the Royal Silk check-in at the airport:)

Next stop? Phuket!!!

BACK FROM THAILAND!

AMAZING THAILAND!  

We are back!! Our trip to Thailand was unbelievable and so worth the time spent sitting on an airplane.  We arrived in Atlanta yesterday at 3pm like zombies;  the 24 hour trip had done us in.  After stuffing ourselves with some delish pizza we were in bed and slept soundly.....until 330am today when we were both wide awake.  Ha!  Oh the jet lag!

Thailand was a perfect way to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  It was modern, old, extravagant, rustic, adventurous, relaxing, romantic and exotic.  It was all we expected and so much more.  The beaches were beautiful.  The food was extraordinary.  The sights were awesome.  The people warm and friendly.  The massages- devine. 

Im sure I have said this before, but Ernesto is the BEST.  TRAVEL PARTNER.  EVER!  Inevitably,  there are unexpected changes that pop up when traveling and the last thing I want is to be with someone who stresses out about it.  I needed a partner that could travel like I did...and I found him 12 years ago!  I love how he stays positive and rolls with the punches.  Flexibility = good trip!

This trip didn't pass without a few bumps in the road...but we tried to focus on the bright side!

*  Flight canceled from Japan to Thailand on outbound... but we got to explore Japan for 24 hours.
*  Spent 3 hours on the phone rescheduling flights and hotel reservations....but it all worked out!
*  2 out of 4 Delta flights sitting in coach (ugh!)... but the flights were CHEAP!
*  Lost my point and shoot camera... but this forced me to carry my big camera (ie: better pictures)
*  Swollen feet from so much walking... but this gave me reason to get wonderful Thai massages. 
*  Left our [one and only] souvenir on a bus...but we have a funny story about how we retrieved it. 

I can't wait to tell/show you all about our trip!  I have over 700 photos to sort through.  Picking the best ones will take me a while, but I will be posting to Viva Cindy soon!   

WEEK 23

WEEK 22

Thailand Here We Come!

Ten years is a long time, and in my book, being married ten years is an accomplishment these days and deserves something really special.  A special celebratory trip!  We were debating a few locations, but we finally decided on Thailand...and we leave tomorrow!

Thailand has been on my list of places to go for a long time.  After finding out we are going to be parents this coming September, we knew we had better go now or we may not get there for a while.

This trip will be a little different than our usual trips: #1 because I actually made reservations (I know, I know, call me a planner!) and #2 because we will be staying in really nice hotels.

 We have been using our Starwood American Express to build hotel points.  After charging all our lighting supplies last year [and everything else we buy], we have enough points for our whole vacation.

At first I overwhelmed at the thought of this trip across the globe!  But then I snapped back into [Cindy] reality and thought, what is the big deal?  My doctor gave me her blessing and some sample Electro-mix packets to add to my water to keep me hydrated and reminded me not to eat anything raw while over there.   (Its really hot in Thailand now and it is sure to be a culinary extravaganza)
Must. Be. Careful

We fly Atlanta to Tokyo [Japan], a 14 hour flight, then Tokyo to Bangkok, another 6 hours.  I know this sounds horrible, but Im really looking forward to it.  The flights are wide open and we will be sitting in Delta's Business Elite lie flat seats.




I love the longer flights.  On flights to europe you never have enough time to get a good night sleep.  After dinner, you sleep for a few hours then you arrive feeling like crap. The flights to Asia are long enough to get 8-10 hours of sleep and still enjoy a movie or two.  I will not have a problem sleeping, eating, reading, watching movies, and surfing the internet.

After arriving in Bangkok a day and a half later (there is a +11 hour time change) we are taking another flight to the south of Thailand to an island called Phuket.
We will be staying at the Westin Siray Bay Resort and Spa, Phuket, which does not look like it will suck.

After 5 days in Phuket, we will take a quick flight back to Bangkok, where we will be staying at the Four Points Sheraton, Sukhumvit and exploring this crazy city.  (Oh, the stories I have heard.) This hotel opened less than one year ago and looks like it will be great.  Who doesn't love Sheraton's heavenly beds?  I also read that this location is perfectly situated for getting around the city.

I am so excited, I think this is going to be a trip of a lifetime!  Armed with the Lonely Planet Guidebook, we are ready for an adventure.

A few things Im looking forward to: 

- Thai food and more Thai food

- Riding on an elephant

- Inexpensive massages

- Collecting new sand from a couple beaches 

- Snorkeling in the crystal clear water

- More Thai food

- Taking a boat to Ko Phi Phi where the movie The Beach was filmed (Leo DiCaprio) 

- Visiting the many temples

- Checking out the huge budda carved out of emerald

- Floating markets in the canals of Bangkok

- Thai food and more Thai food

** we will be taking our ipaddy pad and will be accessible by email.

Garage Sale Queens?

I don't think I will ever be able to top my mom or sister as garage sale queens, but I sure as heck tried this past Friday at the annual town garage sales in Navarre, Ohio. 

It seems everyone in this cute, beautifully landscaped little town is involved with the sales and the churches open and offer lunches with home made bakes goods to "sale-ers."

It is an all around great time [if you are into thrifting].  I LOVE the thrill of "the hunt" and the rush that comes with finding a diamond in the rough (with furniture) or quality clothing pieces for pennies on the dollar of the original cost.  You never know what you may find, but one thing is guaranteed, I always have a great time hanging out with my sister and mom.

I have to say that if I was not pregnant, this years' sales may have been a bit disappointing.  The only thing that I bought for myself was a beautiful vintage Italian leather purse ($2).  So nice, right?

Ok, I also bought a dress... out of pure necessity.  It was hot as Haiti that day and I had made the mistake of wearing black leggings. ugh!.  The dress was definitely worth the $3 that I paid for it.  I was MUCH cooler walking around the rest of the day and my belly looked so cute in it, I think it will be a summer favorite!

{** Please forgive me for the HORRIBLE pictures that follow}

 Luckily, I am pregnant and I hit the jackpot at these sales!  No, I do not know the sex of our baby, but who cares with prices like this?  It was so fun buying anything you want and not worry about prices.  I just bought cute little outfits for boys and girls.  All of the outfits look brand new or close to it (one criteria I have for buying used clothes) and they are cutie-cute!!  My mom and sister also bought for the little mexi-mouth, and when we got home the whole kitchen table was covered with itty bitty clothes!  Too fun!

 I have always been more of a thrifter/Craigslister in Atlanta than a garage "sale-er," but I think I will start looking them up.  So many deals, so little time.  Once we find a house, I will really be able to start raking in the deals! 

Before flying back to Atlanta, I visited with my family and had a cookout.   Barbie and I got to compare bellies again and we were both surprised to see how much our bellies had grown in the few weeks since we had seen each other for Easter.

{Cindy - 21 weeks and Barbie 15}

Oh the difference 6 weeks can make!

WEEK 21