Phuket

We just returned from 4 great days in Phuket, Thailand. We flew 4 hours to Bangkok on Thai Airways, had a 2 hour layover and then another hour flight to Phuket. Sydney did great on the flight except the one to Phuket because by then she had been up since 4:30am and had only a 45 minute nap on the flight to Bangkok. (By the way, she usually doesn't get up until 6 or so but as usual, she can sense that I needed to get things done and woke up early to thwart me). She had a breakdown for about 15 minutes and then fell asleep but it was such an awful 15 minutes that I felt like I should start handing out large quantities of cash to the other passengers on the flight. But they were all gracious enough to tell me that it wasn't that bad, even though their noses were growing. There were alot of parents on the flight.

We stayed at the JW Marriott hotel, which was fantastic. The facility was beautiful, the service was impeccable, and the food was great. (Thanks, Brian, for the hotel recommendation and the useful info about the facility and the transportation. I wish that I had taken your advice about the wine). There are 5 restaurants at the hotel and a deli that's opened all day. This is where we made our ice cream runs in the afternoon. One of the restaurants is a sushi place. I haven't had sushi since I moved to Shanghai (actually, Sam took me to one but it didn't count. Trust me). I ordered so much food that the waitress felt compelled to ask me if someone else was joining me. Here are some pictures of the facility:

When we checked into the hotel room, the first thing I did was put Sydney down for a nap. But once I laid her down on the King size bed, she started giggling uncontrollably. I have no idea what was going on in her head then. She's probably just glad to be out of Shanghai for a while. She was delirious from the clean air, and excited that she will get to eat fruit that doesn't need to be peeled and vegetables that doesn't have to be cooked. Anyway, so much for the nap. We took a walk around the property and stopped to get a snack. Here are some pictures of our room:

For such an elegant hotel, it was very kid friendly. There's a Kid's Pavilion which is basically a playroom with toys, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, tvs, computers for video games, etc. We were at the Paviolion 2-3 times a day because it was such a great place for Sydney to play with abandon and a great place for me to relax since there is nothing that she could break or choke on. The restaurants had great kids' menus that went beyond burgers and chicken nuggets.

We didn't do anything exciting. We slept, ate, swam, walked about, and played in the Pavilion. And yet the time just flew by. We did meet many really nice families at the hotel. Sydney had a great time --- she was happy and friendly the whole time we were there. She waved at everyone and the people that made a big deal about it also received a kiss blown at them. She's such a ham.

As an added bonus to our trip, the grocery store at the hotel had things that I can't get in Shanghai (or at least I haven't been able to find them) so I was able to stock up on those things. And (get ready to roll your eyes) I had packed a suitcase of dirty clothes to bring with me to have them washed at the hotel. I bet it only took one cycle to wash and dry them all. All I know is that they were delivered to our room yesterday, clean, soft, ironed and perfectly folded.