Wow, where shall I begin? There is so much I want to write about the trip…
It’s nothing adventurous but it marks many FIRST TIMES for us, like:
- Evans’ 1st overseas trip
- Evans’ 1st plane ride
- Evans' 1st rice meal
- Our 1st trip together as an extended family
- Our 1st villa stay
- Our 1st time with Marriott Vacation Club
Oh and one more, 1st time of all my trips, I did not buy anything!!! How disciplined is that!
Ok, it’s more like because I did not have the luxury of time to shop with a very active and mischievous boy!
Though there wasn't much accomplished (materials wise), I enjoyed this trip as it was really just free and easy, with not much of an agenda. Even though most time was spent in the villa which some of them might feel bored, I loved the time spent together. The villa was big and cosy. I am glad that this trip happens. But on retrospect, I should have brought the little boy for a swim.
Thanks to my cousin Sharon who is a MVC Premier member. She referred us to MVC, that was how we got to travel on this holiday with free and luxurious accommodation.
Day 1 (Sat) 6 Apr – Preparing and Heading to Phuket
Packing for the trip is surely a chore especially packing for the little fellow. His stuff far outweighs ours. You can tell by looking at my checklist, and those were not even all the stuff. But, no regrets, we were well prepared for the trip, at least for Evans.
Could tell Evans was very excited when he was like “exclaiming” when he saw the fan and MRT at the station.
Our flight was 8:30PM on Jetstar. So we went to Terminal One to meet the family. After checking in, we went for our dinner at Peach Garden in the transit area. I realized I did not take any photos of the dinner, I think because I was a little unwell and tired due to all the coughing the night before. I had pork and peanuts porridge. Couldn't finish it because I had no appetite... Really felt bad having to travel in this state. What a bad timing... but really got to bear with it and try to make myself feel better.
A little roaming around before we boarded… Evans couldn’t wait to run around the area.
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| On our way to the plane, excited for me to bring the boy on a plane ride |
Evans was considered well-behaved on the plane. He did not make any fuss during the flight. And amazingly he did not suffer the ears block like what my mom and I felt. My ears felt like they were going to burst from all the pressure! Evans seemed so comfortable with all the snacking and nursery rhymes videos from the handphone. Good distractions for the plane ride!
It was 10:20PM Singapore time when we reached Phuket International Airport, 9:20PM local time. We had free shuttle transport by MVC to the hotel. It was about 20 min ride. We were greeted by smiley staff at the reception. It was late, by right it should be Evans' bedtime. He was still very energetic!
We were all a little tired, so couldn't wait to see how our room looked like.
We were very pleasantly surprised by its size and cosy setup. They must have switched on the air con since morning because it was super freezing cold when we stepped in the villa. Near the entrance was the kitchen (which was very well-equipped), then the dining then the living room. At the sides, there were 2 bedrooms. The master bedroom was huge with a king size (or bigger) bed, its toilet was the biggest I have seen with a big tub and 2 basins. The other bedroom wasn't small, it has 2 beds, each slightly smaller than queen size and it came with a toilet too. Each room came with a tv too. We also had a balcony area with dining table and chairs... this area was way under - utilized. I think my photos did not bring justice to the cosy feel but it was surely above my expectations. And I think my dad loved the house. He was commenting how nice the house was and it would be nice to have a house like this. :) (If only I have the $$$ to give him that.)
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| At the entrance |
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| Kitchen |
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| towards the living room |
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| Guest room |
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| HUGE toilet in the master |
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| Evans feeling and exploring the new house |
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| Dressed in his PJs but not at all tired |
Day 2 (Sun) 7 Apr – Slow, Lazy & Central Festivals Mall
Waking up feeling a little better. Evans, woke up with the widest smile. He was totally used to the new place. When he woke up, he couldn't wait but to run about the villa and then went to disturb Jiu Jiu to wake him up.
Mom, as usual, woke up early. I did not really sleep very well because I wasn't used to the pillow. Hubby felt the same way. I think only my bro liked them. He said it was comfortable to sink into the pillow.
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| at the balcony with his gong gong |
Yesterday at the airport, I bought these packets of cough relief powder from Eu Yan Sang, recommended by Kok. I did not know if mine was "cold" or "heaty" cough, the sales lady advised to get both. "Heaty" cough relief for the day while the other for the night. The powder was super bitter!!!! But I did not care, so long it helped. I think they did help. Just having to eat them for 3 days (till the end of the trip), I did not cough as much as before --> a little digress here. :p
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| Cough relief powder which seems to work |
Once everyone was ready, we took the shuttle buggy/bus to JW Marriott (which was nearby) for breakfast. Our stay did not include free breakfast, so we thought of going to this restaurant called Siam Deli, as recommended by the hotel staff. Actually it was already 11 plus am, so it should be brunch.
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| heading to the shuttle bus stop |
My papa and I took a few shots of Evans on the shuttle bus... I found the photos quite adorable. :)
There were not many choices for me in the menu because I needed to refrain from eating eggs and chicken, 2 of my favourites. :( So in the end, I zoomed down to Pork Kuay Teow (mama ordered the same), which was not bad actually. The guys had 3-egg omelette (*jealous*) and on top of that, papa ordered the mixed fruits muesli. Evans got to eat a little bit of this, a little bit of that...
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| warm but still a little breezy outside |
- the 3-egg omelette
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| Mixed fruits muesli |
We took it very slow and easy today. After breakfast and after strolling a while, we went back to the villa. Lazing the afternoon away... while some of us caught a nap.
After Evans woke up and had his milk, hubby drove us out in a rented 7-seater. Our target was Phuket Town. I recalled going there before we were married. We visited their night market and it was like pasar malam with cheap stuff and food. We chilled at the outdoor bar counter with beers... and I remembered I had a big yellow sweet corn on our way back... so we thought it was a nice place.
But to my horror, 1st it was a looooooooong journey. Thanks to the lousy GPS signal from the phone, we took a wrong turn and had to wait at this traffic light which took super super long to turn green. My mama felt giddy from the ride. And it did not help when Evans was whiny in his car seat.. he was too bored. So my bro and I distracted him by showing him some videos from our mobiles. 2nd, we found the town but the parking was horrible... many cars, narrow driveway and no lots. Even if there was, it was hard to go back there, it was unlike Singapore.
"Luckily" we saw a mall "Central Festivals" nearby, we made an impromptu decision to go there instead. Actually we were left with no other choices. Did not want to make a wasted trip. Fortunately, the rest of it went well. The mall was like Singapore's. It was big with cinemas. There were many familiar restaurants like KFC, BK, Fuji, MK, etc.
We settled at MK Restaurant for steamboat and "shao la". The "shao la" was delicious but I found the steamboat soup too sweet... sweet corn sweet. I preferred something more savory. Evans had instant porridge which we prepared earlier in the villa. Of course, he got to eat some of our steamboat food and rice too.
Interestingly, not too sure if it was a new practice or just unique to this MK branch, it seems like every half hourly, the servers of the restaurants would spread out and start dancing to their theme song. Simple moves but it was interesting and entertaining. We never experienced this in other MK. Ok, a bit corny but at least Evans was entertained for a while. Hah!
We went shopping around and we really needed to keep up with Evans. He was running around and wanting to jump onto the escalators. It was tiring. We went to the supermarket to get some ingredients for preparing lunch the next day. We wanted to make full use of their kitchen. Bro's idea was simple enough so we got some sausages, jap curry and instant mee. And before we headed back,
hubby and bro went to buy KFC for supper!!!!!!! I wished I could join them... ...
I bought croissant sandwiches from a bakery, which were yummy too.
Day 3 (Mon) 8 Apr – Sales Talk, Tesco & "Scary" Ride to Patong
Today was the day... all for the free stay, hubby and I needed to attend the 90 min sales talk (which took about 2 hours in the end). It was nothing new to us but we thought no harm listening to them again. We needed to be at JW Marriott by 10am so decided to call room service for breakfast. Menu was similar to that of Siam Deli. And I ordered Beef Kuay Teow for myself, 3-egg omelette for hubby & bro, chicken porridge for mama, chicken burger for papa. It took quite a while for them to deliver the breakfast. It only gave us 10 min to gush down our breakfast. But I liked my beef kuay teow, just that I wished I could slowly savour it. Think Hubby wasn't too pleased to rush the breakfast like that.
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| Delicious beef kway teow |
Marriott arranged for someone to "buggy" us to JW Marriott for the sales presentation. There, we saw a few couples and were served with some beverages. Our sales person was a Swedish, named Goran (pronounced as Yo Ran). A nice and friendly guy who delivered a good sales talk, without sounding pushy. The challenge was to convince people like us who were not ready to make such commitment yet.
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| on our way to JW Marriott |
While Goran made it attractive and rational to sign up the MVC membership, we were also rational to think that we should not commit ourselves into such holiday membership which we were not even sure if we would travel at least twice per year. I think the membership would make sense if one travelled more than 7 days per year and usually with families. Anyway, we were firm and they were not that pushy... we left the place after 2 hours of talking and sharing. Phew!
While we were at the talk, my parents brought Evans out and strolled around the villa.
After I put Evans down for his nap, hubby and mom helped me prepare my lunch, in house... Japanese Curry Sausage Mee. Smelled good!
After Evans' long nap and milk feed, we headed out for our "road trip" to Patong. When hubby said it would be a longer journey, compared to yesterday's, I got a little worried. Not too sure if mama could take the long ride and if Evans could behave during the one hour plus ride. We went ahead anyway since we had the car rented.
I was relieved when hubby suggested we stopped by at Tesco, the hyper-market building alongside the road. It was about 1/3 journey towards Patong. A stop-over would be good to break the long car ride. And they managed to buy many things at the mart, mainly some local goodies to give away to their friends. I did not get anything because I found the stuff pretty common and would be available in Singapore too. Tried to shop for some casual tees but somehow did not find anything I fancied enough to try on.
The building consisted of Tesco and also some other shops. One of which was a shoe shop which carried several sports brands and Crocs. I was tempted to buy the sneakers-like pumps from Crocs but thought the price wasn't enticing. Papa, on the other hand bought a Nike sports shoes, the last pair of his size. It was a good deal. After all the discount, it only cost about S$60 plus.
Evans was also busy, walking around the mall, touching the chairs and the walls. He was also friendly to people, particularly to some sales girls in the beauty salon.
Bro also got some DVDs back. After the shopping, we continued the car ride on our way to Patong. It was quite a scary ride because the roads were winding and there wasn't dividers. I could not imagine how would the ride be later, going back to the villa, when the sky would be darker.
Anyway, from bright day light to the sun came down, we were still in the car, in search of Patong. We were a little lost. Actually we were at Patong area but not somewhere we were familiar with. We wanted to find the shopping mall, Jungceylon. Hubby stopped the car at Esso and asked a few caucasians. Finally we saw the Big M--> MacDonald's sign, which meant Jungceylon was near!
Could not imagine how relieved I felt. Tired, yes but more relieved than anything else. But hubby should be feeling more tired too, being the driver, having to stay totally alert on the roads.
It was already 7:30PM and Patong was as happening as before. We got to settle down somewhere for dinner, Evans needed his dinner too. So we just entered the nearest possible Chinese restaurant, Mr Good's Seafood Restaurant. We ordered some food and for Evans, we ordered rice with some soup. It was his first time eating rice for his main meal. I thought he liked it but it was a little difficult for him to swallow. So, got to feed him slowly.
The dishes were simple and tasted like home-cooked food. Nothing really Thai though. All we wanted was dinner. One thing we noticed in Phuket's restaurants. most of their baby chairs came without the buckle and table. It was just a tall chair for a baby. Hubby commented it seemed like the babies at Phuket were well-behaved so there was no need for a buckle or a table... haha! I think more like babies in Phuket do not sit in baby chairs. We had to be more aware to make sure Evans sit properly. He loved to fidget and turn around... sigh...
Incidentally I took this photo which meant nothing but it appeared to mean something... HAHAH!
After dinner, we decided to walk along Patong. Busy roads, roaming tourists, little stalls alongside, the same old Patong. But a very different way to walk through Patong, with a 10kg baby. Luckily we could take turns to carry him. The roads were not very conducive for Evans to walk on, narrow and bumpy. What's more there were so many people walking around. They could easily miss the little guy.
We gave up exploring further, decided to go back to Jungceylon. Shopping malls were still more conducive for us.
We went into Robinsons of Jungceylon. It wasn't a wasted trip because papa and mama each got themselves a pair of Scholl slippers. We did not cover Patong the way I wished we could have, like having dinner by the seaside, chilling and people watching along the bars, shopping around Patong night market but I am still thankful for the time spent together. Even more so when my folks were happy finding their comfy shoes at a good price. And it was SCHOLL!
And it came to the time to be on the car ride "home". And surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I thought. It took shorter (around 45min) back and the roads seemed a lot safer and well lit. It turned out that hubby tried to GPS another way back which was less dangerous. It all went well... :)
Evans got a little cranky after his milk milk. It was late and he was not sleeping yet... So after he cried a little, he popped the pacifier and hugged his "bao bao". Without much efforts, he drifted into his dreamland.
Supper for the night was a big sweet corn which I bought just outside Jungceylon. Mama made a cuppa hot milo and we shared... somehow the Milo tasted extra nice that night.
The TV was showing American Pie 2. Funny show. Hubby, Bro and I were watching it until I could not stay awake any longer. So I joined Evans in our dreamland. Bro also couldn't finish the show but hubby did, not because he wanted to but he was waiting for our laundry (in the washing machine) to be done. See, the villa had a washing machine and a dryer!
Tomorrow would be our last day in Phuket... ... :S
Day 4 (Tues) 9 Apr – Last Day, Buffet Breakfast & Turtle Village
Ohhhhhh.... it was the last day. Couldn't help but feel a little sad. And I realised I took many many more photos during the last day. So this segment is going to be photos overload!
What was for breakfast? Buffet breakfast in the hotel! It wasn't provided for in the package but nonetheless, good to have it on the last day. The cafe "Zest" was just minutes away from our unit.
Every 10am and 12.30pm, there would be an elephant walk-about near the pool side. As Zest was just next to the pool, we managed to catch the sight of the little elephant. Papa carried Evans out to get close but Evans was a little fearful of the long-nosed creature. He was curious but still scared. Many ang moh kids were game enough to ride on the elephant.
We enjoyed a slow breakfast till 11am and headed back to the house for a some packing and shower.
We were given a slight extension for check out till 12noon. The usual check out was 10am. Good for us.
But we still had to say goodbye to the lovely house. Not too sure when we would be back again (ever)....
We still had plenty of time till 8pm when our airport transfer coach would bring us to the airport to catch our 10pm flight back to Singapore. After checking in our luggages with the concierge, we brought Evans to the kids room where he met another fellow friend who was 15 months old. They interacted a little. They even hugged each other at one point when we prompted them... so adorable but too bad, no photo.
Since we had time to spare and car to use (till 3pm), we might as well drive out... the nearest possible and most convenient place would be Tesco (again). This was where we had our coffee and snacks break. Evans also had his blast of time there.
We were not very hungry (still full from the breakfast) but we needed to settle down somewhere where Evans could eat his porridge... Oh forgot to mention, we actually took the porridge and steamed vegetables from the morning's buffet spread, heated it up in the villa and brought it out for Evans... less hassle but I think probably not that yummy. Anyway we went into Black Canyon Coffee for a cuppa and appetisers (fried shredded pork and fried prawn cakes-2 plates).... And yah we were not that hungry... HEHE!
Of course Evans would not obediently sit still in his high chair for long. After snacking on our food, he urged por por to bring him out to walk walk. The grandparents brought him for some kiddy rides, which costed only 10 Baht.
On the way back to the villa, or rather to Turtle Village, Evans fell asleep in the car. So it was quite a peaceful ride. But this was short-lived. Once he was out of the car, he got woken up. Turtle Village was a mini village near the villa, 8 mins' walk. You could find The Coffee Club (not the one in Singapore), Swensens (for ice cream only) and Bill Bentley Pub (not just for beer but for food as well!?!). There were also some outlet shops. One of which was Esprit.
Guess what, my mama, papa and bro came out satisfied with their buys. They each got themselves 2 tops each, at a good price too. Too bad, hubby and I could not find anything suitable for us. Evans had a good time going through rows of clothes and hitting the mirrors and fitting room door. Quite a handful until my bro had to bring him out.
After the fruitful shopping, what was next? EAT again!!! Now that I am blogging this, only then I realise we really ate a lot during the trip!!! How come I did not feel that then?!?!
Cousin Sharon told me her sis loved the food at The Coffee Club. Since it was our last day here, I would love to try the food there. Make sense? Actually we also needed a place to sit down and rest a while.
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| Smoked Salmon Crepe |
The food was not bad! I tried both the sandwich and crepe.. really not bad and I wasn't even hungry! :p
Though we had returned our unit, we were entitled to use their "shower facility" for an hour or so. Initially I thought the shower facility could be just a small room for basic use. But it turned out they gave us another unit, similar to that of our previous villa! It was a good arrangement but I wished they had informed us earlier that we would be able to use a similar room for shower, so that I could do some more packing and also charged my mobile. Too bad my stuff was all in my luggage at the concierge. All we could do was to clean Evans up. And some of us took a quick shower. The room orientation was the opposite of ours, ours was better. :) But then again, I was appreciative that we were given the luxury to rest for a while in the villa, at least we were stranded somewhere, trying to pass time.
Oh one funny thing, my mama spotted something on my butt. Ok, on my white shorts. A DEAD FLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She helped me brush it off but its stain was still there, ON MY WHITE SHORTS. Luckily, it wasn't that glaring. My hubby even cracked a joke, he wondered if the fly was killed by my sheer weight or by the sheer smell!!!!????????? @($@$^^@($%*@ He even tried to enact the scene as the fly.. one second, it was landing on some chair, the next second, PIAAAAKKK one giant butt took its life... ... :S
Anyway, coming back... very soon the hour was up. We needed to check out of the villa and planned for dinner. This time, we did not prepare anything for Evans. Got to find a place where it served rice and soup. Going back to Turtle Village, at one glance, you could pretty much see what they had already. Not many choices for food. The next best choice would be Bill Bentley, which initially I thought it was a pub. Interestingly it served Thai food and had kids menu!
This time, I really wasn't hungry so I did not order anything. But hubby gave me half his Phad Thai... which tasted a tad sweet from the tomato sauce. Bro, hubby and papa ordered Thai food here at the pub restaurant because throughout our stay in Phuket, we had yet to savour any Thai cuisine. And to think we ordered that at a pub was a weird idea, like what hubby said "it's like ordering chicken rice at Harry's bar..."
Mom and Evans shared the kids set which consisted of the rice and stir fried vegetables in oyster sauce. Forgot to take the picture, I think it was a little rushed as we waited quite a while for the food. While dining away, there was a "live" band where an uncle singer serenaded the diners with his soothing calm voice in those classic english songs. It wasn't considered a band, more like a karaoke for that singer. Good that he sang well.
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| cheers to the daddies |
We went to this shop called Ferera at Turtle Village. Its products resembled very much like Naraya. Initially I thought it was Naraya. But the variety was limited. Mama managed to get 2 cute little coin pouches, one for an aunty neighbour who always helped us, the other one for herself (which in the end she told me she gave to another neighbour as she forgot to get anything for her). I will try to look out for a similar one in Bangkok this Oct. :D
At the transit area, Evans was super active and kept walking around, then in and out the shops. He loved to weave through the dangerous spots... I think all kids are the same. I really gave up chasing after him but still needed to keep an an eye on this notty boy.
Hubby bumped into an ex-colleague so they had a chat while the rest of us were busy chasing the boy boy.
On the plane, Evans got a little tired. It was already 11 pm (Singapore timing) when we boarded. After making some slight fuss, very soon, he fell asleep in my arms with his pacifier and "bao bao". Everyone else dozed off too while I was wide awake. I tried to carry him in a way which he was comfortable. Once in a while he would whine a bit, probably it was too cramped.
When we finally touched down and checked out at the customs, my arms were nearly numbed... very tired and mucles aching. I just wanna quickly go home and settle Evans in his room.
It was Singapore's time past midnight. After settling Evans, we started to unpack. We felt so comfortable after a shower. Hubby and I had a brief chat about the trip before we hit our dreamland. Baby Evans sure slept well through that night and woke up the next day with a smile too. But somehow I sensed that he was much much more elated when we were at the villa, probably because there were more people around... so now, it was back to "reality".
I certainly would wanna plan for another family trip again. :)
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