Phuket, Thailand -- Part 2

It's been nearly a month since our Thailand trip, and I still wish I had stayed there (with the entire family, of course).  It was just so fabulously relaxing and mellow.  While I do not mind the severe cold of the Korean winter (hasn't gone above freezing in almost two weeks), I also did not mind the perversely perfect weather of the Andaman winter.  I mean, you can't wear this in Korea in December.

Yes, I know.  Even James Bond can't make a Speedo look this good!

(Editor's note: that photo was posted for Torry in the hopes that it will be the brain bleach that erases Alec Baldwin from her memory.)

To be honest, the trip to Thailand was not much of a cultural tour, and it was never intended to be.  We only really ventured away from the resort once, and that was to ride elephants.  Little did we know, the trip would involve gigantic man-eating snakes as well.

 Jacob made a special friend.

 Rush hour in Phuket.

 Ethan takes the lead.

Jacob takes his turn.

 Native beauty.

 The kids carry a light load.

Jacob and Ethan wrapped up.

It took nearly a week for us to realize that the trip would be much less expensive if we bought bread, peanut butter and jelly from the little mini-mart in the town than if we went out to eat for lunch every day.  The food would also be more predictable.  You see, aside from classic Thai dishes, the local restaurants have no clue how to make Western staples such as grilled cheese sandwiches.  On one day the grilled cheese might include a slice of ham.  The next day, at the same restaurant, there will be no ham, and the sandwich may or may not be grilled which means the cheese may or may not be melted.  For Lorri and Kevin this was not a problem.  We would just settle for "quesadillas."  This is an inside joke that is being taken outside for a walk.  At a restaurant, a "quesadilla" is some safe choice about which you know precisely what to expect.  The term originates from multiple visits to the world's worst Mexican restaurant in Havelock, NC, where, after pondering long and hard over the menu Lorri would inevitably order a quesadilla.  Food choices and quality aside, you could not beat the view.

During low tide you could walk along the beach to get to the restaurant that was right next to the resort.  During high tide, not only do you have to walk along the muddy path behind the shanty hut, but you have to be very careful not to get splashed by the waves if you have rock-star seats like we always had.

In Phuket, the glass is always half full.

Phuket, Thailand -- Part 1

How best to tell the tale of Thailand is a format that eludes me.  I think the best way is just to make several posts with remembrances and pictures to match as the memories come back.  The entire trip is a blur to me anyway, so the method seems to fit the concept.

I'll start as close to the beginning as possible, which in this case would be at 0600 on a brisk Osan morning when we boarded the bus to the airport.  Glitch one came at the ticket counter where we discovered the kids names on their tickets did not perfectly match their passports.  Seems out intrepid travel agent decided to add a "CHD" to each name to indicate that they were children.  That only took 40 minutes to correct.  The nice part about traveling with large numbers of small children is you pretty much get front of line privileges.  We went right through security at Incheon, and pre-boarded at both Incheon and at Hong Kong where we transferred to Bangkok.  Bangkok is, in my opinion, the most ridiculously poorly designed airport I have ever been to, or at least the international side of it is.  It felt like we were going in circles before we finally got to what ended up being our gate.  (Side-note: when it is possible to become separated from your 8 year old son at midnight within 30 seconds of stepping off a plane because he got caught in the crowd and got on the wrong shuttle bus, things have been poorly designed.)  Nevertheless, we finally arrived in Phuket at about 2030 Phuket time (2230 our time) and found the shuttle driver holding a sign that said, "LIPSKI."  I felt like a rock star, albeit one with four very tired kids.  After a brief but hair-raising drive through crowded, rainy streets, we arrived at Laguna Beach Resort.  You could feel the relaxation seeping into your pores the moment we arrived.

Hanging out at Incheon Int'l on the way out.

ICN is by far my favorite civilian airport, anywhere.

The entry to Laguna Beach Resort.

 Our rooms--244 and 246.

 244

246

Thus we spent our first night in Thailand.  We woke the next morning to cloudy skies but comfortably warm weather.  We dragged ourselves from our slumber and crawled to breakfast.

 The entry to the breakfast buffet (which was free!)

Our table.

Breakfast on most days was Kevin and the kids.  Kevin would go for a run from 0600-0700, and Lorri would work out from 0700-0830.  Kevin would shower and get the kids dressed, then head to breakfast while Lorri was out.  We had it down to a science.  We'd walk into the restaurant and Jacob and Ethan would head off to their favorite food areas.  There was a pastry station, cereal station, fruit station, meat and potatoes station, Asian station, and egg station.  We would get Owen a bowl of Choco Chex and set him at the table.  Then we'd get Anna Grace a pastry and set her at the table.  I'd go back to get them both some juice or chocolate milk, then get my own breakfast.  Usually, by the time I made it back to the table Owen was ready for more, so we'd go get him one pancake and two pieces of bacon.  It was all like clockwork.  We'd stay until 0900 when we'd head to the kids club to drop the kids off for a few hours (if we were going to drop them off).  We put the kids in on the first day, but on day two the skies were a clear blue so we went straight from breakfast to the beach.  It was awesome!

 Owen and Anna Grace enjoying the sand.

A perfect view.

Jacob mingles with a local.

To be continued...