Phuket

Day 1

Get woken up at 4am by Shannon. Turns out that Stella has woke up too.
Haha, looks like the kids are more excited about the trip than us.
Got a cab at 6 and reaches the Budget Terminal way ahead of our flight at 8.15am.
This is our first flight since our honeymoon and our first budget flight too.

Budget Terminal is a simple setup, but it has all the necessities, including a children play area which the larger terminus lacked.

Customs is a breeze, but a mobile boarding station looks like a giant step backwards.

Allocated seats is great and the lack of meals and entertainment does not bother me at all.
Budget airlines are here to stay. :D
My two princesses keep me occupied during the whole flight and trip to the hotel.

Karon is a much quieter beach as compared to Patong, where all the buzz is.
I will recommend Andaman Seaview to all honeymoon couples.
It is a simple but wonderful getaway resort.
The hotel is kind enough to allocate connecting bedrooms with the kid's pool in our backyard for us.
Some of the other rooms has steps that lead directly into the adult's swimming pool.

First order of the day is to fill our stomachs after a long trip.
Contemplated getting room service but end up lunching out.
It is a good choice as food are aplenty out on the streets.

Twice within an hour, we almost get caught in sudden thunderstorms.
Decided to hit the sack after lunch.
Woke up for dinner and did some supermarketing and that is end of Day 1.

Day 2

2nd day on, eating and sleeping becomes a norm.
Brought my running gear, but the gym is not free, so that is a good reason to slack. :p
Had brekkie at the hotel. Their large spread of international selection is good.
Their honey was served directly dripping from a large slab of honey cob, which sua-ku me did not figure it out, till my worldly-wise sister pointed it out to me.

Given the good weather, we hit the beach right after brekkie.
Slapped on large amounts of SunPlay, but still feels the skin burning.

Giant waves from the South China Sea are fun, but you risk getting swept off your feet by the undercurrent, which combined by the oncoming wave could be a deadly combination for those caught unaware.

After the kids had enough of sun and sand, we adjourned to the swimming pool where there is a kid's water slide for the kids to play.
Beach and swimming pool proves to be our main activity in Phuket.
The rest of the day is occupied by makan and sleep.

Day 3

Had Ice-Cream for every breakfast and dinner.

In the morning, we hit the beach again.
The waves are fiercer today and we got swept into the sea a couple of times.
The morning activity was cut short when a sudden thunderstorm rolls in and we were hit hard by the sandstorm that develops.

Retreats to the swimming pool and played for a while before I went to buy lunch.
Take an afternoon nap and it was time for dinner again.

For the third straight day, we went to the Sunset Restaurant for our dinner.
The guys must be darn surprised to see us.

Watched cycling every night.
Tonight, it is Giro d'Italia.
Was looking out for Cervelo and Felt, but there were none. Guess they are mostly confined to triathlons and Ironmans.
The theme for the race is pink, so you get to see pink everywhere.
There was a fall during a hill climb and you see 20 to 30 cyclists falling into a heap of men and machines.
Water bottles were everywhere.
Some cyclists recovered quickly and were on their way again where others waited for the support vehicles to get their wheels replaced.
These cyclists are superhuman, averging 50km/h while hill climbs is around 44km/h.
The races are all about strategy, where the lead changes hands numerous times till the last km, where team cyclists starts to block other team cyclists so that their star cyclists has a chance of a podium finish.

Day 4

Work up early and catches ITU Richards Bay Triathlon 2008.
The lead swimmerleads the bike chase pack by 30 seconds with chase pack 2 a full minute behind.
But by the fifth lap, all the triathletes are clustered together in one single pack.
It is pretty obvious during the bike leg what drafting can do.
Any lead are reduced to zero in a matter of seconds.
The deciding factor proves to be the run.
Once the runners finds their rhythm, you hardly see any overtaking.
The finishing order is pretty obvious by the 5km mark.

Finish the women's race and pack up for home.