Trip to Phuket Sept.7~Sept.15 2010
About this book Jon, Yuka and Noah went to Club Med, Phuket Island, Thailand from September 7 to 15, 2010.
Phuket Island, Thailand (Thai: ภูเก็ต, IPA: [pʰ!ːkɛ ̀t]; formerly known as Tha-Laang or Talang, or Junk Ceylon in Western sources, a distortion of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. "Cape Salang")[1] is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries. Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. Since the 1980s, the sandy beaches on the western coast of the island have been heavily developed into tourist centers, with Patong, Karon and Kata being the most popular ones. Since the 2004 Tsunami, all damaged buildings and attractions have been restored. Phuket is currently going through an intensive period of leisure urbanization with many new hotels, apartments and houses under construction. Phuket was voted one of the World’s Top 5 retirement destinations. There are thousands of expatriates living in Phuket, many of them retirees. A favourite spot for them is Phuket Beach, as it is very convenient. Costs in Phuket have shot up over the past decade, making it one of Thailand's more expensive retirement destinations.
Outbound We flew directly from Narita to Phuket. It was a 7 hour flight.
Some views from the airplane.
We saw Mt. Fuji and islands from our airplane .
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Noah was leashed for most of the trip, as he likes to take walks and meet people.
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Noah loved to spot the planes. We attracted many kids on the plane with our “Baby Einstein� DVD and notebook PC.
We were picked up at the airport by Club Med and driven about 1 hour to the resort.
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Our first views of the resort and room. Noah continued to greet this elephant every time we passed it.
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Bocce ball and the start of a chess game with Noah (the king!).
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The resort was covered with beautiful flowers and plants.
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Yuka saw a beautiful blue bird one day. She hopes it brings her good luck!
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Kata Beach The beach was just across the road from the resort. The sea was choppy the first couple of days but it settled down and many people went swimming.
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Yuka and Noah enjoy a drink after a walk on the beach. Noah chats excitedly with Jon.
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Ocean View Dining
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We participated in a Family Sand Castle Building contest. It was Noah’s first time to play on sand. Yuka thought that Jon enjoyed the contest more than Noah did. 38
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We won the prize for the “Most Wonderful Sand Castle.”
One of the other families we met at the resort took our picture.
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Jon and Yuka had a snorkeling lesson in the pool, then went out with a group to go snorkeling near Coral Island. We took a bus, then a trolley and then a boat to get to the snorkeling spot. 44
We were only in the water for about 45 minutes, but we saw several types of fish. We were given loaves of bread to attract the fish. Luckily, we weren’t stung by the foot-wide jellyfish swimming all around the group. Yuka got a little sea-sick there and back.
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Coral Island. It is very popular for water sports (diving, water skiing, para-sailing...).
Noah was in day-care from 9am to 5pm each day. He loved all the mini cars and the stuffed elephant. 50
Learning the poses.
We did Baby Yoga one afternoon.
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Noah doesn’t have the patience
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for yoga.
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Some of the Baby Club Med staff who took care of Noah for the week. He was pretty sad to have to say goodbye. The staff gave us a collection of his artwork for the week, and wrote Noah a very nice note. Hopefully they will meet again!
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Noah loved all the elephants. We bought him an outfit with stitched elephants on it. Thai boy!
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We went with a group from Club Med to see Phuket FantaSea one night. The theater and show were pretty incredible (elephants walked right in front of us, the shadow puppets were amazing, and the costumes and battle re-enactments were spectacular).
But the best part was having our photo taken with baby elephants from the show! Yuka got to touch one (Jon was too busy trying to get Noah to look at the camera). 63
Very “at home!�
We shopped in the afternoons in Patong Beach, Phuket Town and the streets around the resort. We took many Tuk Tuks. 64
The area around the resort. We got lost and found a market and little streets.
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Sunset 1
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Sunset 2
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Proud recognition
We had a 4 hour layover in Bangkok on the way back. Noah was not a very quiet or continent traveller. 20 hours door to door. Phuket was an incredible trip. We wish it were closer! 72