Phuket! (silent H phlease!)

Island Hopping

In the middle of our trip to Bangkok, Thailand, we hopped a flight down to the island of Phuket for a few days. The family of two of Jacob's students graciously and incredibly offered us 3 nights at their time-share villa at the Phuket Marriott, as they were unable to use all their days this year. We immediately jumped at the chance (in fact, our whole Thailand trip sprang out of this offer) and are SO glad we did!

[HUGE thank you to the Bernards, we are so grateful!]

JW Marriott, Phuket

Gosh, this place was gorgeous! We had a two room villa to ourselves, with a porch and a kitchen and short walk to the beach. Heavenly. The one thing we hadn't thought about, though, was that when you're at a really fancy resort, all the restaurants have really fancy prices. We ended up finding a grocery store and made several meals out of eggs, bread, peanut butter, fruit, crackers and yogurt - surprisingly satisfying, actually. Here are some pictures of the place:

Giant bathroom.

Beach party all the time

Kitchen, dining room and living room.
There was also a washer AND dryer!
(We haven't used a dryer since
we moved, so it was exciting)

Don't mind if I do...

Leaving the bay - there is a giant Buddha
statue on top of the hill.

We are for SCUBA

Our main Phuket event was scuba diving. My birthday present last year was to get scuba certified, which I finally completed in January, doing a few dives off the coast of Singapore. Those dives were neat, but there wasn't much to see, so I was incredibly pumped - and a bit nervous - to go diving around islands off the coast of Phuket!

It looks like chaos, but it works!

View into the dining room
and of one slightly pale, native Minnesotan

We got up EARLY in the morning and took an hour taxi ride from the north of the island, where we were staying, to Chalong Pier. The pier was awash with divers and guides getting ready to go, but luckily we found our guide without much trouble. A quick bus ride down the pier and then we boarded the Dive Local Thailand (that was the boat's name). Dive boats are kind of amazing! There were three levels (plus a hold, which we weren't allowed in). The dive equipment was kept at the back of the boat on the first level - a double row of air canisters all the way around the edges and in the middle. Equipment is everywhere (though orderly) - BCDs (bouyancy control devices - the backpack part that holds the tank on your back and inflates to help you ascend), wetsuits in various stages of drying, weight belts and weights (to help you sink), fins, masks, snorkels, and fancy underwater cameras. To the front of the lower deck was an enclosed dining room/dry room with booths and tables. The second  deck had tables and benches, and the top deck was empty - just for sunbathing! You could also hang out at the prow of the ship on any of the decks. Thank goodness we brought and religiously donned sunscreen - you can fry like an egg in 10 minutes! 

Our journey began with a 2.5 hour ride out to Ko Phi Phi, one of the most famous islands off Phuket. The ride was awesome though turbulent - I found myself continuously thankful for Bonine (anti-motion sickness meds). Without it, it would have been a very different - and messy - ride! The weather was fantastic, warm and sunny and gorgeous. Sigh. Just the boat ride alone would have been worth it!

Our first dive site

We went on three dives throughout the course of the day, taking a break in between each dive for snacks, air refills and because when you dive, nitrogen builds up in your body and you need to take time to let it offload before you go down again or you'll get decompression sickness. We had a guide to ourselves - Dome - who was great in helping us get our equipment set and showing us various types of fish and coral we would see. We jumped in the water for the first dive and I think we both experienced a few moments of nerves - the first couple times I started to descend and take breaths underwater, I got that panicky 'I can't breathe' feeling. But Dome was great, let us take a few seconds to get calm and convince ourselves that, yes, we can breathe underwater, and then we were off! Or, rather, down!

Other diving boats out in the area.

The excitement of scuba is not just what you get to see, but also the experience of a) being underwater, b) feeling weightless and c) the physical effort and adventure! On the first dive we saw many fish and cool plants, and also got to swim through a hole in a rock formation. Still new to diving, Jacob and I found ourselves bumping into each other a bunch while trying to follow our guide - and when you're floating around, there are so many more ways to crash! But we got better as the day went on.
The second dive was probably our favorite - we saw huge schools of yellow fish, adorable clown fish in their anemone, 2-3 foot long yellow...somethings (I'm terrible with the names), huge blue starfish, angel fish, rainbow fish, and tiny neon blue fish. And more.

Could imagine spending some quality time on that beach!

Our last dive was at Shark Point, and the location did not disappoint! A few minutes into the dive, we came across a leopard shark resting on the sand. I'm not a good judge but it was probably close to 2 meters long, light brown and spotted with darker brown brown. And even though none of his behavior was threatening, just knowing it was a 'shark' definitely got my pulse racing! The last dive was also the most challenging, as the current was very strong and you had to work hard to swim against it. Jacob, with his trumpet-playing lungs, found that he was going through the air in his tank more quickly than usual (we also think it might have been leaking slightly) so towards the end of our dive he was actually running out of air. Fortunately, this is something you practice and because our guide had been asking us to check our levels often, we all knew the situation. We ascended to about 5m, then had a safety stop (another way to offload nitrogen). A minute or two before we went up, Jacob signaled that his air was completely out and that he needed to use the guide's alternate air source - you always have two regulators in case one malfunctions or your buddy needs help. (When you run out of air, the last few breaths feel like you're having to suck the air out of the regulator - unpleasant!) Jacob was already holding onto the alternate regulator and he calmly made the switch and we ascended with Jacob breathing off the guide's tank. I was so impressed with how cool everyone stayed - and that is why you get training and practice!


The rest of the time on the boat was a blast - we took naps on the benches, watched the islands go by, chatted with other divers, and ate the delicious food that one woman somehow prepared in this tiny kitchen with a single hot plate. The 2 hour ride home allowed us to take in the beautiful Thai sunset and unwind with a Chang Beer. We ended the day exhausted and happy. And by watching Batman & Robin, starring George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger - because, you know, why not?!

Beautiful Thailand

Our post-dive, $3 seafood dinners.
And yet another awkward food photo.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We began our Valentine's Day by going to a spiel about the Anantara Club Membership (like a timeshare, but with points...). It was pretty interesting, but of course we only went to get the incentive gift - $150 in dining vouchers for their fancy restaurant! It was fun to be treated so nicely - because until the moment you say no, they have to treat you as a potential member. Before attending, I was worried that the high-pressure sale would somehow 'get to me,' and be hard to refuse. But it isn't so hard to refuse something you a) don't want and b) can't afford - who knew!?

After the spiel came beach time, where we laid out for about 10 minutes before it was just too hot. We took a sea kayak out for awhile, which was awesome. We then retired to the pool deck (after burning our feet on the hot hot sand!) and relaxed with delicious (overpriced) drinks. My perfect pool situation: comfy deck chair, partial sunshine, fruity & alcoholic drink, and my jamz - a.k.a. NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me podcast. But before you label me a complete nerd, I'd like to point out that Jacob was reading Jim Holt's "Why Does the World Exist: An Existential Detective Story" on his Kindle. So we're even. After pool time we were strolling around the grounds when we spotted A BABY ELEPHANT! The owner was selling bananas to feed the baby, but kisses were free. It was ADORABLE! Maybe the best Valentine I've ever had. I mean, yeah my husband is cute, but is he a BABY ELEPHANT? I don't think so.

Prawns, squid, scallops,
asparagus and beat root polenta.

Towel baby elephant

We topped off the day with a fancy, delicious (deeply discounted) seafood dinner. Excluding dessert, my favorite part was either the pumpkin soup or the giant prawn. Jacob seemed smitten with the scallops. And dessert of course included chocolate and strawberries, so I was totally set. Great day.

REAL BABY ELEPHANT!

Post-kiss. He kind of puts his entire snout over
your mouth and nose.  A little bit forward of him, really!
Jacob got a kiss too, but I was too slow with the camera.

Ah, Phuket! (Tehe)