Phuket for Thanksgiving was just what the doctor ordered.  Beautiful beach, sea breeze, swimming, family time and a little break from the hustle and bustle of city life in Bangkok.

We stayed at the Le Meridien.  Everything we needed was right there.  A private beach, baby elephant and some different restaurants to choose from.  Although we could have taken a taxi into town to try a restaurant or explore Phuket, we chose to keep it super low key and never left the resort.  There’s always next time to do some exploring!

Le Meridien coordinated a ride from the airport to the hotel.  When we arrived we were greeted with a seriously delicious fruit juice and the flowers (pictured below).

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort pool in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort pool in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort private beach in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Our first dinner was at Portofino.  The food was delicious and dessert did NOT disappoint.  Yum, chocolate!

Portofino Food at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Portofino Food at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien has a private beach, which is a great perk to this resort.  GAHHH just looking at this picture makes me want to go walk in the sand and dip my toes in the warm ocean.

Beach at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Raise your hand if you aren having a good time!

‘Meeting’ the baby elephant was fun … or really just viewing it from afar since Jellybean was petrified to get close too the elephant despite her initial enthusiasm and saying {or really screaming, because that’s the only volume a toddler knows — wink wink} ‘ellie’ over and over again.

Baby elephant at Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

We went to La Fiamma every day for lunch … if it ain’t broke don’t fit it, right?!!!  The pizza from the wood oven was so yummy and the view wasn’t too shabby either.  Oh, and they have mango-mojitos.  Go ahead and order one.  You can thank me later.  ;)

Wood Oven Pizza on the Beach at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

The food was all amazing, but our favorite was the seafood restaurant next to Portofinos.  Our Thanksgiving dinner, while not traditional, was absolutely the best meal of our whole vacation.

Food at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

On our last day in Phuket the hubs took Jellybean to the beach and gifted me some alone time.  I sat by the pool, had a drink, read The Boston Girl on my kindle and generally just soaked up the beauty {and quiet} around me.

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

The sunset on the last night was particularly beautiful.

Beach sunset | Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

beach sunset | Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

I want to go back!  We had a fabulous time at the Le Meridien in Phuket and would highly recommend it!!

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We are about halfway through our first year in Bangkok!  I no longer have to sit in taxis with my GoogleMaps open.  I can successfully navigate the driver to all of the places we frequent.  We have favorite restaurants, street food vendors, manicure places and so much more.  Bangkok feels more like home with each passing week and it helps that we’ve had family in town visiting.  We’ve done a lot in the past couple of months and yet we still have so much of Bangkok and Thailand to experience.

JJ Market in Chatuchak | Tidbits about living in or traveling to Bangkok, Thailand. Expat in Southeast Asia | Life's TidbitsThis picture was taken at JJ Market in Chatuchak. A must see when in Bangkok!

Some tidbits about Bangkok …

  1. Plastic bags are EVERYWHERE.  If you purchase fruit from a street vendor they will cut up the fruit, put in a plastic bag without handles, and then throw it into another bag that has handles.  We get food delivered sometimes and certain dishes will come in a plastic bag and tupperware.  I find it so strange, why is so much plastic necessary?
  2. One of my favorite things about seeing a movie in Bangkok is that you can reserve a seat when you purchase your ticket.  The need to show up to movies half hour early to ensure you aren’t sitting in the front row of a newly released movie is gone! Woot woo!
  3. As far as I know, in the States if you purchase something like dish soap and it runs out you just chuck the bottle and purchase a new one.  In Thailand, you can purchase a refill bag.  It’s pretty much a ‘plastic bag’ filled with dish soap, Head-to-Toe Johnson & Johnson, etc. and so you can pour into the plastic bottle to refill it.  It’s kind of genius and I don’t know why we don’t do this in the US … and if we do, I am totally behind the times.
  4. When eating at restaurants food comes our whenever it is ready.  It rarely comes out all at the same time and often feels like you are eating in shifts.  Whenever your food comes out you eat it, else it will be cold!
  5. Another interesting thing about restaurants is the waitress/waiter will rarely, if ever, bring you the bill before you as for it.  This is such a huge contrast from dining out in the States where the check is more often than not delivered to the table before being requested.
  6. Walking down the street you can often hear the buzz of ‘live’ wires.  The wires are all tangled together, some hanging down low enough you could grab it and how one would identify a certain wire is beyond my comprehension.
  7. Living in such a heavily populated city one would probably expect to hear sirens, however the noise pollution is more often than not something other than sirens.  In DC I became strangely accustomed to the sound of sirens and eventually hit a point where they didn’t wake me up at night.  I’ve heard possibly only three sirens since arriving in Bangkok, and each time I feel my heart start racing with worry.  Such a stark change from my reaction to the sirens in DC!
  8. You can order pizza by the meter … just go ahead and wrap you head around that!
  9. Despite many services being a lot more affordable in Thailand, manicures are actually more expensive than in DC.  The manicures here are more spa-ish and include an arm scrub/exfoliator so I guess you are getting more, but I still found the price a bit surprising.
  10. Motorbikes will often jump up onto the curb {with no warning} and speed down the sidewalk during rush hour in an effort to avoid sitting in traffic.  Motorbikes would never get away with driving on the sidewalks in the States!

And if you missed it, please check out the first and second installment of Bits of Bangkok.  More of our Bangkok adventures, to date, can be found here or please follow along on Instagram.

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My Kid Doesn't Poop Rainbows
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Happy 2016, friends!! Hope you all had an amazing start to the year.  We kicked off the new year by celebrating Jellybean’s 2nd birthday.  Our child has the ‘dreaded’ birthday that coincides with the holiday season, but seriously, I have a two year old what the what?!

HappyNewYear2016

Being in Bangkok meant a morning filled with FaceTime calls so Jellybean could be serenaded by family and friends with Happy Birthday and open her birthday presents.  She made out like a little bandit this year, no real surprise there.  A few of her favorites were the markers, scooter and kitchen.

The kitchen was a holiday and birthday gift. Yes, I know, she should get two separate gifts.  The hubs and I decided that while she’s young enough not to understand one big gift from us is more than enough for the month of December.

After FaceTime we headed to the park.  On the way Jellybean stopped to break it down in front of the Emporium mall {they have huge speakers playing music}.  Nap time was followed by making brownies, playing and the birthday celebration concluded with watching Frozen.

MakingBrownies

Note: I had to hold onto her arm because she kept jamming her
hand in the brownie mix and smearing it across her face.  LOL. 

The hubs and I couldn’t bare to leave Jellybean on her birthday so we welcomed the new year with a homemade steak dinner and some Walking Dead.  Have you seen Walking Dead?  I didn’t think it was for me, I’m not really into the whole zombie or vampire thing, but I’m totally loving it and in full blown binge watching mode.

I’m not really good at setting or following through with goals/resolutions, but nevertheless I’m giving it a whirl this year …

  • Practice Patience (It is said patience is a virtue.  I never quite understood it until having a toddler!)
  • Take a cooking class or two
  • Continue working out regularly
  • Read more books
  • Improve my photography skills
  • Explore more of Bangkok, and Thailand in general

I would love to hear your resolutions/goals/aspirations are for this year, if you have any! :)

Cheers & here’s to a fabulous 2016!!

Signiture_Nicole

 

 

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