year end in bangkok

we were not really planning to go anywhere for the long holiday break but 2 weeks in manila with no itineraries just seemed so long. fuego and baguio were both out of the question because we had them rented out for the holidays so come christmas eve, i was at the philippine airlines office in makati booking the only available flight to bangkok for a 3 day/ 2 night sojourn with la familia.

ended up getting pretty expensive tickets (understandable) for dec. 27 - 30. gotlucky with the hotel though. i was trying to book amari watergate (our usual) but it was fully booked so i had to go on tripadvisor.com to search for hotels of the same class and quality. came across the bangkok pullman king power hotel and we just loved it.

as mentioned in the reviews, the pullman was not in the shopping district (as amari) but the place was totally divine. really new with modern decors and really nice over-all feel. it was really, really hygienic, clean, neat. food variety and yumminess were great also. we just totally loved it. i think i prefer it over amari. location wise, it's about a 10 minute tuktuk ride to MBK or to Siam Discovery Center or the Paragon so it's no biggie. well, it would be if you're a tiangge freak and you want to be in that pratunam market area. glad there were no tiangge freaks in the group. he he he.

we did not do much sightseeing as we were all returning visitors (except for tristan, but i don't think he cared one way or the other) so we mostly ate and shopped. totally fine. chatuchak weekend market was too much for us. it was like being in camden in london but 50 degrees hotter. i kid you not! i mean, there really were great find but if you'd only be buying a piece or two, you can let go of the savings and just shop in the comfort of mbk.

we went on a dinner cruise on our last evening and that went well (sarcastic). tristan just about threw up everything he ate. not because he was seasick but he had a tummy ache. aargh. embarrassing.

it was a sweet, short vacation. just perfect to recharge and get your senses going for the start of the new year :D[gallery]

week in phuket

the resort was fantastic. as one would expect from a marriott. we had a 2-room villa shared with my parents. edward and marj got the next door villa. we should have invited the whole baranggay. the villas were huge! it's bigger than my old house in the states.

i thought marriott would be expensive based on the reviews i've read but it was surprisingly reasonable. the services, the food -- makati shangri-la's way more pricey! we tried some of the restaurants and the pool side food service but most of the time, we cooked in the villa as we had a blast shopping in tesco's (UK supermarket chain).

did a city tour with super trustworthy and super nice local guy, kom (i found him on tripadvisor). he took us to phuket town and to patong beach and to all those touristy sights i don't remember the names. pretty affordable. THB 2000 for 8 hours! can't beat that! fyi, the resort is FAR from patong beach and phuket town. it's very near the airport, though, and blue canyon golf club so it's the best resort to stay at when playing golf!

had the best thai meal (not spicy) at the phuket airport (thai airways restaurant). the authentic thai place kom took us to was TOO much for me. everything was super spicy! i finished two bottles of pepsi after taking my first bite! hah!