The girls arrived home on Thursday from interim trips. Eleri had fun in Xian – the grade 6 trip. She arrived home around 8pm. It is simple and easy to be living 5 minutes from school as Jim hopped on the scooter to get her.

Emersyn called to tell us someone had left their passport on the plane. My response was, “Really, again”. Last year, three kids left their passports and she was delayed about 2 hours. This year, a teacher stayed back with the student as they try to track down the passport. Emersyn arrived home around 10pm excited about her stories of digging trenches for a village to get water.

Emersyn went to school on Friday as it is required for HS students, but optional for MS students. Eleri took the option and slept in to enjoy a slow morning.

We left for the airport at 3:30pm, with a turn around to get Emersyn glasses she does need to see. Traffic was terrible for us to arrive at 4:40pm for our 5:25pm flight. We were checked in just in time for boarding, but it was delayed. Since we were flying a star alliance, we went to the lounge. Jim was told boarding would be at 6:10pm. Everyone relaxed – especially the girls in the massage chairs. At 5:45pm, I went to check the board…the board read, “LAST CALL”. A run through the airport to be the last ones on the plane – we were that family!

It was an easy flight to Bangkok to grab a taxi to our hotel. We stayed at the Sheraton Four Points, our usual stay in Bangkok. Since we were in bed around midnight, we decided we would take our time in the morning.

Saturday, September 26: Temples of Bangkok

Coffee and breakfast at Holly’s coffee. We are staying on points, therefore, breakfast is not included. We walk up to take the sky train to the river, the last stop. At the river, there was a tourist boat for 40bht ($8) per person to the temples. Jim wanted the local boat, but someone offered a long tail boat for 200bht (5.60) for the family. This would be fun for the girls so we took it.

The first temple was Wat Pro, the Reclining Buddha temple.

It is a fun temple to walk around the reclining Bhudda and drop coins in the monk bowls.

The last time we were at the Reclining Buddha, Emersyn was THREE!

We walked around the gardens to get a few photos of the girls.

Next stop was the Grand Palace. It was noon and HOT! We did the short version of the tour due to the heat. I wanted to get this photo of Emersyn I had from when she was 3 years old.

Leaving the temple around 2pm and we needed some lunch. Jim dragged us behind some scary looking buildings to find this place. There was a beautiful deck over the river, but we needed the air con inside. The food was excellent. The mango smoothies were divine.

The monk bowl village was next on our adventure. We grabbed a tuktuk for 100bht ($3) as it was close. We have a black monk bowl from 12 years ago and decided to buy copper one this time.

Then, back to the river to take the public boat back to the sky train. It cost 14bht ($0.40) per person for our journey. We did get on the boat going the wrong way. We got off to see a Starbucks…a quick run to see if they had my mugs and they did! I got Bangkok, Phuket, Chiangmai and Thailand. I am sure I have the Thailand one, but best to be sure! My collection is being discontinued!

It was a beautiful day on the river!

We decided a swim would be a great idea as we were all just hot and sweaty and sticky! We have never been to the pool at this hotel. It was a small pool on the roof…it was refreshing! A quick swim as it was already 7pm.

Tonight for dinner we were going to a recommendation of a friend, Payal. Payal is a “foodie”. She has Indian cooking classes and sells her food through Kate & Kimi. The place she recommended was across the street from our hotel for about a 5 minute walk – perfect. We went to Cabbages & Condoms for dinner. Just as you read it – condoms. The place was started in 1974 as a charity to bring awareness to women. All proceeds from the restaurant go to the Charity. Interesting place. The entry has lights made of condoms. There are condom clothes on the mannequins and other interesting condom things!

The courtyard was really pretty. We sat outside as there were fans blowing. The food was very good and we did take a few photos this time!

The bill comes with a few to go to promote safe sex.

We had made a 9pm reservation for a foot massage so Eleri was keeping us on schedule. My foot massage was ok, but I have had better. To bed again around midnight!

Sunday, September 27: Weekend Market

We have been to the weekend market many times, so our want list is small. We needed a photo of the skytrain stop. It is pronounced “Mo Chi”, but Jim likes to say “More Shit” because that is what we get at the market!

Our first stop was Thai pants. Emersyn bought more than Eleri as Eleri only got one pair. They are too big for her, but she will want them later BUT she doesn’t listen to me. The pants cost about 150bht ($4) and the short are 90bht ($2.50)!

We found a fun shoe place, which we were taking too long. Jim decided it was a good time to get a foot massage! After our shoes, Emersyn wanted a top that we had seen at the boat pier. Of course, we couldn’t find it. We didn’t want to pay the tourist prices and I was sure I could find it at the market as I had one similar from 12 years ago. No luck.

Now, we had to find where we left Jim. The market is the size of the super dome. It took us a bit of time, but we found him! A few more stops before lunch. My Thai ceramics place had gone wood. Only a few ceramic pieces left so I could not replace my broken piece, but I did get a few others.

We always eat at the same place as the Phad Thai is very good. Everyone needed a cold drink!

The Jim, Emersyn & Eleri had 5 ice lollies during the shopping day to cool off from the heat.

Time was ticking away so Jim took Eleri to find some “trinkets” and I went with Emersyn to try on some clothes. Emersyn and I found a fun Thai clothing place so we took Eleri back to get more.

We left the market @3pm as Jim was ready – we had 30 more minutes of shopping time per our schedule! Jim put our buys of pants & shoes in the suitcases and we headed to the airport. It started to rain as we were driving to the airport.

This is how Eleri gets around the airports. This is a cheap suitcase from Metro that is holding up well.

A short flight down to Phuket to arrive @7:30pm. It was raining as we were sorting out our car needs. By the time we reached the resort, it was after 9pm. Everyone wanted to shower and be clean after another day in the heat of Bangkok. Jim and I walked to the store on the resort, but the store doesn’t have much anymore. There were no eggs, no sodas, nothing! We bought some bread from the bakery for breakfast tomorrow. We had toast for dinner!

Eleri loves the elephant made from towels.

Eleri in prior years with the elpephant towel.

Monday, September 28: Dive & Pool

Jim and Eleri left at 7am for the docks to go diving. Emersyn & I slept in. When she got up, we sat around talking and relaxing since it was raining out – no hurry for us this morning. We finally left the villa around noon to get lunch and go to the pool. The rain had stopped, but it was overcast. We enjoyed a slow lunch at the cafe. We finished lunch with a shared hot caramel Sunday, delicious!

We found our spot at the pool and it was NOT at the kids pool for the first time. Emersyn began reading her homework until she fell asleep. She read one whole chapter. Then, she was on her phone since there is wifi at the pool – it may take all week to get her homework done at this rate!

Eleri and Jim had a good day of diving. Eleri can only go 12 meters so it was the two of them and the guide. Jim said the boat was full of Chinese and nice to be in their small group. Tomorrow, Emersyn can go 40 meters as she is certified. Jim is hoping to go deep to get away from the crowds.

We ate at our favorite restaurant at the resort, Gina. Good Thai food! It was a late dinner as Jim had a call. Home for a little relaxing before bed.

Tuesday, September 30: More Dive & Pool

Emersyn and Jim left early for diving. Eleri and I got sunscreen and ready for the pool…then, it poured rain. We waited until the rain finished. It was noon when we went to enjoy the pool time.

Now that Eleri is older and bigger, we don’t need to hang at the kids pool anymore. It is a nice upgrade. We find chairs in the canal pool to enjoy our pool day. It doesn’t take Eleri long to make a new friend and they were off playing.

Eleri still likes to play in the kids pool. The yellow slide is just smaller than she remembers!

We decided to have pizza in as Jim and Emersyn would be home late. I walk to the restaurant to get the pizzas because the room service menu has different pizzas and not the ones we like best. We enjoy a night relaxing, watching tv and eating pizza.

Wednesday, September 30: More dive & pool

Jim had booked a family tour to go to Phi Phi Island for diving and snorkel for me. Both girls said, “NO”, they wanted to hang at the pool. Jim went diving and we hung at the pool.

We started the day with the turtle feeding at 11:00am. The resort has a turtle program to help restore the turtles due to the expanding developments on the island. The JW Marriott beach area is the last beach the turtles will still hatch eggs. The Marriott was built so the turtles cannot see the lights off the buildings. If the turtles see lights, they will not come ashore to lay eggs. The viewing and education of the turtles is new at the resort. A way to educated the public about the turtles.

There has been a program with the government and Marriott to restore the turtle population for many years. In the beginning, the nests were taken in until the turtles hatched. The hatched turtles were released to the sea. The population was not increasing. Now, the nests are taken in and the turtles are kept until one year old before releasing into the sea. The turtles always return to the same beach for nesting. There is now an increase in turtle population.

Currently, there are three turtles to view. Tommy, a blind turtle born with no eyes. He is 2.5 years old. He will never be released to the sea. He is interesting in that his skin tones are black. Turtles pick up the environment for their tones. He sees black, so he is black.

The small turtle, JJ, has a bump in his shell and his lungs are not in the proper place so he has troubles swimming. He is about 1.5 years old.

The last turtle, Kai, is 2.5 years old. He is perfectly fine and has been released to the sea 5 times. He keeps returning. The Marriott will try once more. They joke he is a 5 star turtle as he is perfect. Turtles in the sea are all scrapped up with marks on their shells, fins, etc.

It was very interesting program and nice to see this education to the public.

We went to get lunch at the cafe before hitting the pool. The cafe has different specials each day. All the food at the resort is very good.

By the time we reached the pool, it was 1:30pm. We could only find seats in the kids area, but they were in the back corner. It was another fun day at the pool. We enjoyed happy hour from 4:30-5:30.

Then, back to the room to shower to make the 6:30pm lighting ceremony. The ceremony is more elaborate than it has been in past year.

We went back to the room to wait for Jim. We had 8pm reservations. He was running late so we canceled our reservation and I went to get us pizzas for dinner – good thing everyone likes the pizzas. We all do enjoying relaxing in the room.

Thursday, October 1: More Pool time

I made the girls pose for a photo as the man drawing at the lobby does nice work. They were not too happy, but I was happy!

Morning dawdling and it was 11:30am before we found our way to the pool. We found a place at the canal pool in the back.

We ventured down to the beach for some body surfing. The girls had a great time surfing the waves.

We went back to dinner at our favorite Thai place, Ginja. Everyone is happy with the good Thai food.

Friday, October 2: Surf House

We left the resort at 9:15am which is early for this crew. We were driving about 1.5 hours to the end of the island to Surf House Phuket. What a fun place! We bought the “lifetime” member as it was a better deal if you did a second run. Each run is a 1-hour long time slots. It was 1, 000bht ($28) for the first hour with any other runs would be 800bht ($23). If a you bought the lifetime member, it was 1, 760bht ($50) which included a t-shirt and a towel. With the membership, runs were now 450bht ($13).

The maximum people are 10 per time slot. The more people per run, the longer the wait. When the girls and Jim’s had their morning time slot, there were a total of 5 people. Everyone was new so the line moved quickly.

After the first few runs, the girls and Jim were improving very fast.

After they finished, we ate lunch at the Surf House. After lunch, the girls did a second run. There were 7 people. Two of the guys were surfers so they knew what they were doing and the wait was longer. It is fun to watch the girls as they were improving with each run.

There were two men running the surf. One was excellent, his names was Boy. He would give pointers on how to do it and helped everyone. The other guy, just did his job of holding surfers on the rope…what a difference a person makes.

After surfing, we hit the mall quickly for the jewelry that Emersyn picks up during the dive trip. Then, to the silver place for a little shopping. I have a few pieces missing from my Thai set of silverware to complete.

We had plan to go to a our favorite restaurant on a the beach, Lotus, but it was gone. All the beach front places were gone. We decided to go back to the cafe for dinner and showers after a few sunset photos.

Saturday. October 3: Last Pool Day

Our last day at the resort to relax. We packed a bit before hitting the pool at 10:30. Today, we were hanging at the swim up bar pool. Eleri’s friend had left so it was a perfect place for a change. The swim up bar is really nice. We enjoyed lunch at the pool along with fun in the pool.

Eleri wanted to get her hair braided. We always do this last so she can go home with pretty braids. Eleri had all the ladies working on her hair as we needed to leave for the airport.

I think she is a “10”!

Another fun Holiday in Thailand!