Christmas in Phuket

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Left work midafternoon on Dec 20th to catch my 3 1/2 hour flight to Phuket. Phuket has many regions, for this vacation- I just wanted to relax, sit in the sun and enjoy the beach so I stayed in the calmer area away from Patong which is Party Central.

I stayed at the Renaissance Hotel which is about 20 mins from the hotel in the area I have dubbed the " Marriott Chain Compound" when you drive down the street there is the Marriott Vacation club, Anatara, JW Marriott, La Sala and Renaissance. All very nice hotels with their own private strips of a beautiful beach. I arrived late afternoon in Phuket on Friday, so just checked in, chilled, walked around the hotel and found the bar/ restaurant on the beach which is where I had a delicious surf and turf dinner while drinking lychee and pineapple mojitos..

Saturday, hit the SPA- mani and pedi were in order, then parked it on the beach and pool all day... The Thai food is delicious - gives you heat, salt and sugar.. just what everyone craves. The Phad Thai was my favorite dish I tried while there all week. Sunday- decided to relax some more and had a massage and went exploring a bit more around the hotel and the chilled at the beach. Monday- I decided to take a tour of Phuket town which is about 50 to 60 minutes from the hotel. Wanted to see more of the local culture and check out the bigger shopping mall. Unfortunately , was about 2 hours into my tour and the you know what hit the fan at work.. Since it was dealing with real cash movements - I had to head back to the hotel where I could pick up reliable WIFI service to be able to communicate to the client and the 3 rd party vendor and my team- UGH! So much for the back massage- just one day and it stressed me all over again.

Tuesday - Christmas Eve, my friend Nadine joined me from Singapore- we hit the beach to relax and then took in the Christmas Eve buffet- which was a lot of fun- had all to the traditional foods such as turkey, roast beef, ham,etc The the local orphanage came in and sang christmas carols to everyone. Such a fun night.

Christmas Day we went shopping at the local stores in Turtle Village which is just about a 20- 30 min walk from the JW Marriott hotel. Thailand is a Buddha country so they really do not celebrate Christmas so the stores were open. When we got back to the JW Marriott we were in time for a wonderful fire and water show, we then headed to the beach to catch the sunset and then have dinner at the Grill on the Beach.

The last day and half in Phuket was all about relaxing... Beach time, a few drinks,great food,etc. The Thai people are very friendly, warm and nice. Customer service is great but just like all countries in Asia if what you want is not what is detailed on the menu or the plan - they have a hard time comprehending it. For example, today I did not want to eat breakfast- they came over 4x to take my order in which each time I said I am just keeping my friend company- not eating. Then Nadine was special ordering because she only wanted her omelette and decaf coffee. It took 2 servers to figure out what decaf coffee is and then they couldn't understand why Nadine didn't want the potatoes or the toast- I have to say it was very very funny...



It is a beautiful country and it was an incredible experience.. I recommend Phuket to anyone looking for a tropical vacation in Southeast Asia...

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