Some Thailand Adventures

Just wanted to share what we've been enjoying here on the other side of the world.
Yesterday was about trying to find our bearings at this large and beautiful resort.  I can not count the number of times Kevin and I have tried to find our room and gotten turned around so we ended up taking a very round about way.
We do always manage to find whatever we are looking for but it's not necessarily the most efficient route!

We noticed a ferry boat service and thought it would be a great way to explore the resort.  We had heard the ferry boat would take us to a little shopping area.
The ferry boat we boarded simply went to another resort and then back to our resort.  That's not exactly what we had expected.  However, I had fun meeting new friends and chatting. (stampin' up demonstrators love to chat.  Husbands are left to fend for themselves and awkwardly introduce themselves to each other)

After I got off the ferry boat ride that did nothing to improve my orientation to the resort, I found a friend Janet.  She is on the team of my dear friend Christi so we had a good chance to catch up.  She came over to my room and we both worked on finishing our swaps.

In a continued attempt to better understand the resort amenities, we hopped onto the resort shuttle bus with friend Jessica and her husband Dave.  We thought for sure that this shuttle bus would take us to a shop where we could buy snacks and bottled water to keep in our room.  We were quite sure of this because that is what other demonstrators told us as well as the hotel staff. When we hopped onto the shuttle the driver came to speak to us and asked us our room number.  We marvelled that it was excellent security to ensure that he was transporting resort guests and not strangers off the street.

Well after lengthy driving, we began to question where the driver was taking us.  Eventually the driver stopped in front of a villa/residential home and looked at us.  I think we looked very confused.  He came out and spoke to us.  We explained that we wanted to go shopping.  He had taken us to one of the villas/timeshares on the resort.  Perhaps the address of the villa was the same as my room number?
The driver said "no shopping.  I take you back".
There was much hysterical laughter from us since this was now the second time we had boarded a mode of transportation and been unsuccessful at actually arriving at a different destination.
I am happy to report that the driver did finally drop us at the little shopping area on the resort which was just 2 minutes away from where we boarded the shuttle.  We figured we got a bonus tour around all the time share units and a nice drive.

Kevin and I capped off the evening by dining at a restaurant on the resort.  The curry and pad thai were delicious!

Today we decided to get off the resort and see some sights in Phuket.

I made the decision on what tourist attraction to see based on what I read on the internet.  The number one attraction mentioned was the Big Buddha. Here is the big Buddha. It was really big!

It was very interesting to see the different customs.

Next on the list of places to visit was Wat Chalong.  It is the largest temple in Phuket and is very ornately decorated.
Interestingly, today was a buddhist holiday so it was much busier visiting the temple compared to another day.

Our driver was very flexible and happy to drive us wherever we wanted.  We were starting to get hungry so we asked him to take us to a restaurant for lunch.  I tried to clearly communicate that we wanted a restaurant for tourists that was clean because we didn't have strong stomachs.
There were many food vendor stands at the temple but I just didn't feel safe eating from the food at those stands.

I especially didn't want to eat grasshoppers and worms.  Look at the vast array of insects and worms that were being sold at this stand.


Our driver Mr. Chan took us to this hole in the wall type place on the side of the road called Bypass Seafood.  I was concerned.  I had been given strict instructions by my doctor to avoid eating at side of the road places due to risk of hepatitis A and gastrointestinal issues.

I wiped down all the cutlery and plates with antiseptic wipes and made sure to order food that would be cooked (as opposed to fresh vegetables) . Everyone in our group settled on pineapple fried rice and spring rolls.

The food was actually very tasty and although there did not appear to be any other tourists eating at this place, there was brisk business from locals.  This reassured us somewhat.  I tried to ignore the tiny ant like bugs that were crawling on the table.
We were on an adventure!!

We returned back to the resort and decided that we would hire Mr. Chan to drive us to the markets tomorrow.
A full and happy sightseeing day with friendly and fun stampin' up friends!