Hun Family Phuket Holiday

This started off as a simple small group holiday for Joanne and our family. When Lydia got to hear of this, she also wanted to come on flight. Another surprise was mum agreeing to join us as well. When we casually mentioned this trip to Nancy (all the way from Shanghai) she also want to join this trip!! So our family of 25 persons got all excited and off we went to Phuket Thailand! We are only short of a flag to gather the group!!
Day 1 - 16 Jun 2010

Our flight was very early at 8.20am on Wed 16 June 2010. But all the kids were so excited and they had no trouble getting up at all but gathering this troop is no joking matter!! Just look at all our faces on board the flight!!
As we arrived at our hotel, Marriott Mai Khao Beach, we are welcomed with garlands, very nice gesture. We hang around the hotel lobby while waiting for our rooms to be ready.
After checking into our rooms, we headed out to a recommended local Thai restaurant, Kin Dee which is built on silts. This rest is owned by 2 sisters and the food is good but it took a while for the dishes to be brought to our table. We easily spent 2-3 hrs at lunch.
After lunch we headed to a local mart to buy all the snacks and breakfast for the next few days. We also stopped by a road stall to stock up on our supply of fruits. NICE!
Next the kids plunged into the swimming pool and had a splashing good time.
It has been a long day and we decided to dine at the restaurant for Iltalian buffet. We were too busy eating which explains the no pictures!! Hahaha but Ezra had his 1st sip of white wine... Now that explains why he was totally knocked out that evening!
Day 2 - 17 Jun 2010

We booked a day trip out to the sea with Phuket Sail Club. We were picked up from our hotel to the jetty and we board the boat and off to our sea adventure. The sea was a little choppy as this is the monsoon season. We set sail to Koh Phanak to explore caves and limestone formations. We were served fruits, some local sweet dessert in banana leaves and the most popular fried chicken wings!
Along the way, we saw beautiful mountains and cliffs. The kids got a little bored until they spotted some giant jelly fish, there were so so many of them!!
Finally we got to the caves!! We were transferred to canoes, each canoe takes about 2-3 of us including the paddlers. The sea was very choppy and the ride was really rough and scary for us especially the younger children. As we rolled into the caves, some portion was really low and we had to lay down to avoid getting our heads bumped. The caves were very dark and the waves were splashing all over. It was quite dangerous and Ron's canoe even capsized with Rene and Healin thrown into the waters.
While most of us went canoeing, dad, mum, Linda, Nan, Nana, Nadine and Ricole were transferred to a dingy and brought to a small shore. It was a horrifying experience cos the waves were very strong and the dingy rocking terribly. At one point, dad almost slipped off his seat and the dingy almost capsized. We were at a distance from the dingy and having to witness this scene was a nightmare for me. I could only pray to God and asking Him for grace, mercy and protection. God was good and we were all safe. After this, we all agreed that such adventures are better kept to teens and adults... not young children and elders.
We sailed to another spot where the sea was much calmer and there the kids had a chance to canoe on their own and even plunged into the waters. We had a simply but yummy Thai lunch on board the boat.
Our final stop is the bat cave which is pitched dark and really smelly. We saw hundreds of bat hanging in the caves!

Day 3 - 18 Jun 2010

More time spent in the hotel room and swimming pool. In the evening, we made our way to another local Thai rest at Sarasin Beach. While the ladies were ordering the food, the kids had a wild time trying to catch crabs on the beach. It was a very quiet beach but with our arrival, thousands of foot prints were left on the beach.
The thai food was so super delicious... tom yum soup, different kind of salads, squid, prawn, morning glory, pork ribs, curry, and a special mention of the curry flower crab which was out of the world... so super fresh and yummy!
After dinner, we gathered and played Taboo. Some classic exchanges were....
Amelia - "you know you know you know" whenever she gives clues.
Aaron - "a name of mattress n pillow" when the word was dollop.
Viv - "not dolphins but .... and only the guys have it" = sperm whale

Nancy cut a plate of super sour pineapples and it was used to forfeit whoever can't get more than 3 guesses!! Poor Andre, he had the most and had to even downed it with beer!! We had so much laughter and FUN!!

Day 4 - 19 Jun 2010

Today, we travelled from Mai Khao to Patong and checked into 2 super small but clean rooms. Most day was spent shopping, eating and doing different massages. NICE & relaxing. At 7pm, off to the airport we go and home sweet home

Family Picture Time