October break is National Holiday or Golden Week in China. School just began, but we have a week off for Golden Week. We have spent many Golden Weeks in Shanghai – the weather is generally nice at this time…but, this year we are spending the week in Thailand.
Thursday, September 26 – From the airport and back to the airport
Emersyn arrived back from her intrim trip to Yangshuo as scheduled at 3:30pm. I picked Emersyn up at school as she had been expressing that I NEVER pick her up from these trips. I tell her that is what our “soccer Mom, Mr. Nie is for”. I gathered Emersyn from the bus in which her comment when she saw me was, “you’re here”! We went to the ES Building to get Eleri and then to Jim’s office to get Jim. When we arrived home, we unpacked Emersyn’s mess. The kids had rain most of the time so she had a muddy mess. I began washing items she wanted to take on our trip with us. Emersyn just came from the airport, but we were going back again at 9:30pm for our 12:35am flight. We used miles for free flights, therefore, we are on night flights for this trip.
Friday, September 27 – Bangkok Shopping
We arrived in Bangkok at 8:30am after a short stop in Singapore. Bangkok traffic makes Shanghai traffic look mild. We had normal traffic to arrive at our hotel around 10:30am. We are using points to stay at the Sheraton on Sukhumvit Road. We were able to get an early check-in to drop our bags in our room before venturing out for the day. The plan was Central Shopping Mall for food and a small shop and then off to a couple temples. We haven been to the temples in Bangkok, but it has been a few years so we thought it would be nice to revisit the reclining Buddha and another temple if we had time.
The best way to travel in Bangkok is the sky train…above the traffic. A sky train station was a short walk from our hotel. We were all hungry by the time we started our journey. One of the food stalls at the sky train station was a waffle stand. It smelled so good we had to try them…they were as good as they smelled!
The girls waiting for the sky train.
We enjoyed lunch at the Central Food court. When it comes to Thai food, it is hard to find bad food. The spices make it all so delicious! After lunch, we went to do “a little” shopping. Jim and Emersyn found the beach/surf wear floor. Emersyn had some Roxy tops she wanted to try on and Jim found a dive bag on sale! We picked up a dive bag in Bali on Spring Break at the outlets, but it was apparent we should of picked up two. When we priced the dive bag on Amazon, it was $230. Jim found a Roxy bag for $100 and it was fun colors that Emersyn liked to make it her dive bag. Now, we had to make a stop at the hotel and the day was getting away from us. When we arrived back to the hotels, the girls voiced their opinions that there was no need to see the reclining Buddha as we have seen it before. Emersyn was very tired from late nights on her Yangshuo trip and the night flight. The girls decided to stay at the hotel room. Eleri was given instructions to wake Emersyn after an hour or she would not sleep tonight. Eleri asked Emersyn “how should I wake you…like Dad with a song or like Mom with a cheerful good morning or like Grandpa by pulling the covers away (which was how he was able to get Terri and I out of bed for our early morning departures as kids) or like Grandma”. I asked Eleri how does Grandma wake you and she replied, “she wouldn’t because she would let you sleep!” You just have to laugh at Eleri sometimes! I do have to add that Grandpa has never woken his delightful grand girls this way…but, I always threaten the girls with it if they don’t get out of bed because it really works. Once you lose your nice warm covers, there is no reason to stay in bed.
Jim and I went to ask about the temples to find out they closed in about 30 minutes AND it was Friday afternoon so traffic would be horrible. We decided to visit the Jim Thompson outlet. Jim needed new boxers as these are his favorites. We had a short time to shop which is good for the wallet. Jim found a few nice shirts and I found a scarf (which I don’t need until my girls began to steal mine) and a few small items.
When we arrived back at the hotel room, Emersyn was still sleeping. Eleri woke her up Grandpa style and Emersyn was not pleased about it. We had dinner reservations at the Blue Elephant a few sky train stops so we needed to get moving. The Blue Elephant is a cooking school with excellent food.
The Blue Elephant Restaurant from the sky train station.
The food presentation is always an art in Thailand with other foods like carrots being presented as a flower. It was as good as it looks!
Enjoying dinner at the Blue Elephant.
By the time we left, Eleri was done and she was ready for bed. She is still small enough for Jim to give her a ride to the train station!
Saturday, September 28 – More Bangkok Shopping
We all slept hard and woke ready for the day’s adventure – the weekend market, Jatujak Market. Eleri loved to help to get the tickets. You can ONLY get tickets from the machines with coins. There is a booth that gives you change, but not tickets. Most locals carry a card similar to the ones we used in Hong Kong.
We have been to the Market many times on the sky train, but Jim was having too much fun with the sky train station name this time. It is pronounced “Mo chi”, but Jim liked to add the “t”. We were going out to the market to get Mo Chit!
We had discussed leaving the market early to see the temples, but again no takers. We took a shopping break to get some Phad Thai (Emersyn’s favorite) and some cold drinks.
Since we have been to the Market, we knew what we wanted and where it was located. We picked up a few silver items, hang bags for the girls, ceramics for the bathroom and a few more small items! We still had a full load with all our small items for our trip back to the hotel.
When we got back to the room, we packed the bags with plenty of room since we acquired a new dive bag! We picked a restaurant close to the hotel as the girls were tried from the day of shopping. Tomorrow we leave early for Phuket.
Sunday, September 29 – Phuket and Wet Season
It was Sunday so we could guess traffic should be good going to the airport, but we left in plenty of time. We planned to find breakfast at the airport. The first place we saw was Krispy Kreme Donuts. We each started the day with a donut – always a nice treat. After the donut, the options were fast food. So we all had lunch food for breakfast at 8:30am. The girls wanted McDonald’s and Jim and I had Burger King. We did the burger and fries comparison. We all agreed the Burger King burger was better and the McDonald fries were better.
We arrived to Phuket on time and gathered our economy car rental. Since Jim had plans to dive, he would need a car to get to the pier. Our economy car was an economy box with a few dents, but it served the purpose. We arrived at our hotel, JW Marriott, to have the tropics rains open up and pour. We waited for the big rains to pass before going to our room. The Marriott calls our room a villa, but it’s more of an apartment with plenty of room. We were on the 4th floor.
The girls have their own room with their own beds.
An extra large bed in our own room.
The living area has plenty of space to be comfortable.
The dining are with a small kitchen for cooking breakfast.
The best part of the accommodations…the washer/dryer. I had dirty clothes from Bangkok to laundry.
In addition, the dryer was the exact same dyer I just purchased in Shanghai…with English. Now, I know what all the buttons are for – bonus!!
I HAD to get photos of the girls with the towel elephant!
The afternoon was a typical wet season in the tropics. The rain would down pour for about 15 minutes, stop and pour again. We spent the afternoon unpacking, getting our pool stuff ready for tomorrow and resting. I read my book and the girls played games on their ipads while Jim worked. When Jim was done working, we drove to the Mall. Emersyn wanted to go to the Mall the dive group visits. She had a glass necklace she purchased in June that she wore everyday until it broke. She wanted to get a new one. The Mall was about an hour drive from the hotel. At one point, the sky open up and our little car was lost in a sea of rain. The windshield wipers couldn’t whisk the water fast enough…but, we were dry in our econo box.
Emersyn and Eleri were picking out necklaces while Jim finished up work on the phone. By the time the shopping had finished, it was after 7pm. We didn’t have lunch and breakfast was at the airport in Bangkok. We were all hungry! No one really want to walk around looking for a restaurant so we went to the food court in the basement – the one the kids visit on the dive trip. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was good Thai food…for cheap! The chicken and cashew Phad Thai was perfect!
Monday, September 30 – Pool Time
The sun came out to shine for a day relaxing at the pool. Concordia friends, Sunny and Bob, were at the JW Marriott. They have two daughters, Sara and Ellie. Sara is a 4th grader, but Eleri and Sara have not been in class together. Ellie is in the 1st grade. The three girls had fun playing in the pool all day.
After lunch at the deli, we took the girls to the swim-up bar for ice cream. However, the bar no longer serves ice cream, but they had non-acholoic drinks for them to enjoy. We had a full day in the sun.
We left the swim up bar after 6pm to go home and shower for our 7pm reservation at my favorite Thai restaurant on the resort, Ginja. We enjoyed the evening with Sunny and family.
Tuesday, October 1 – More Pool Time
Jim and Emersyn left at 7am for their dive adventure. They went diving with Subacat, the same company the school uses for their dive adventure.
Here are a few photos from their dive adventure…
While they were off diving, Eleri and I had a pool day planned. We were down at the pool by 10am to begin our pool day. Eleri and I swam together until the girls arrived. They are more fun than me – which is great so I can enjoy my book poolside!
The evening was a cocktail party for the members of the Marriott timeshare. Sunny and Bob are members, also. The girls had some chips and a soda and they were done…this was boring. They skipped off to kids club!
On the way home, we saw this HUGH snail. Before we reached it, Eleri said, “there’s a snail”. I said, “no, it’s too big to be a snail, it must just be a leaf”. What do I know!
Wednesday, October 2 – And More Pool Time
Jim went off for another dive day, but Emersyn was good with one dive day. She was ready for pool time!
The tubes were a big hit today…
Always slide time…
Emersyn in the pool…
Blown up like a pink balloon…
We had reservations at Ginja for the 8 of us. Kids club was have a movie night – movie and popcorn. The girls asked to go to kids club instead of dinner…no problem. We ordered the girls food to be delivered to kids club. Emersyn decided she would stay in the room alone with room service – she was happy to have the time on her computer. The adults had a lovely meal outside enjoying the food and the view at Ginja. We picked the kids up at kids club at 9pm for an evening sweet treat at the deli.
Emersyn went to bed saying her tummy was upset. At 3am, Eleri very casually came to tell me Emersyn threw up. When I arrived at the girls bathroom, she had vomit all over the bathroom. She was trying to find the light and it didn’t make it. She had tomato soup for dinner and it was now covering the bathroom. It took me over an hour to clean up the mess. I sent Emersyn back to bed with the light on!
Thursday, October 3 – Kids Club Day
Jim and Eleri were up first. Jim asked Eleri what was going on in the night. She reported nothing happened in the night and a bit puzzled why Jim was asking. Jim asked, “did Emersyn throw up or something?”. She relpied, “no”. Eleri slept through it all – even the part of getting me! Emersyn reported she was sick three more times in the night, but felt much better.
It was raining today, but kids club had some fun activities. Yesterday, the kids club had batik painting, but we missed it. However, they said our kids could come and paint at 10:30. Emersyn painted turtles on a sarong and Eleri painted sea horses on a bandana. When we came to get the girls for lunch, Eleri, Sara and Ellie were done painting. Emersyn was still painting and not feeling well. She went back to the room while Jim, Eleri and I finished her background sea. It took the three of us an hour to finish it…it takes more time than you plan to paint.
Emersyn painting her batik.
After lunch at the deli, the three girls went back to kids club for cookie making.
It rain most of the day, but we had other plans. At 3pm, we were going off the resort for a little shopping and dinner at the beach at the Lotus Restaurant. I had called for a reservation – just in case, but have never needed one. Jim dropped us off at the Handmade silver shop while we went to get fitted for his custom made wetsuit. He was to be gone an hour, but two and half hours later he came back for us! He said traffic was terrible as there is one main road around the island. We did a quick shop at the Jim Thompson outlet and then to dinner. Good thing I had made reservations as our little beach restaurant has become fancy…white table clothes and all. Sunny, Bob and Jim were in fish heaven with all sorts of fish dishes for dinner. The three girls had a fun evening together and we left Emersyn home alone, again. She was ordering room service, but feeling better.
Friday, October 4 – Last Day to Play
Our last day at the resort and we had planned to spend the morning at the pool. But, the rains came in again so Eleri kept busy at kids club with activities. After lunch, Eleri and I went for a swim in the rain. Jim went to get his wetsuit and Emersyn chilled in the room. She was feeling better, but had no desire to swim in the rain.
Before we left, we had to get Eleri’s hair braided. I took her down to the ladies on the beach. They started just braiding her hair, but I said no as I like these braids that pull her hair out of her eyes. One lady was braiding very small on one side of her head. On the other side, a lady was braiding very large which was not working. I had them take out the large ones and she ended with 24 braids in her hair. She should get a good two weeks from these braids.
We packed out bags and went to the lighting ceremony at 6pm. We hadn’t seen the ceremony while we were here.
A couple last photos of the girls on our way to dinner at the deli.
After dinner, we loaded the car and headed to the airport at 8pm. We had a 10:30pm flight back to Shanghai with a stop in Korea. We were home on Saturday afternoon by 1pm. Roxi was happy to see us! Another fun holiday spending time together as a family.