Food, Beach Bum & Mercedes Shopping

{Oh no I didn't make these two but I happlily ate one of them!!}

I know it has been a while since my last post so be prepared for a super long post here. After spending much needed time offline, I started to enjoy the life outside the blog a little too much thus less frequency on posts and interactions with all my bloggy fellows. Gotta miss blogging!! Recently, I occupied myself with super fun activities around my kitchen and refrigerator (okay being super sarcastic here) as some of you knew from my previous post that I start doing a weekly menu planning/cooking to help free sometime during weekdays. Not very fun but I know I appreciate all the hard work during the week when two hungry people (me and my little one) are starving by the time we get home. What a wonderful world when all I do is opening a fridge and find my treasures right there, ready to be heated and enjoyed!

{Clockwise: Korean Food at the restaurant, Homemade Italian Wedding Soup, Homemade Chicken and Pasta with Creamy Sauch and Homemade Blueberry Scones < not too impressed with the taste of this one though}

You probably saw a beach post previously and that may give you a hint. We are also planning our great getaways. On a more exciting note, it looks like I will certainly become an official beach bum because we have two AWESOME destinations on our travel map. One is kind of planned and another one is a total surprise. What?? Do you want to know where? Really? You do? Okay..okay.....we are going to..................................Phuket, Thaialnd and possibly Hawaii!!!!! Woooo Hoooooo!!!!!!!! Yippeeeeee!!!!! . This year already starts off with some exciting news. It is going to get better and better as the year progresses I am telling ya.


Beach Bum’s Destination – Paradise Found!


{Image from www.theracha.com}

Since the Hawaii trip will pretty much be planned and arranged for us, shall I start with a tropical destination far far away in Thailand? This past week I lost count as how many hours I spent searching and reading hotel / resort reviews on Tripadvisor. I am glued to Tripadvisor and Agoda as of late. If you are looking for a 4 or 5 star getaway in Phuket, ask Nelah because by this minute this girl pretty much knows the ins and outs of those 50+ hotels around Phuket.



Firstly Phuket was not on my map because I didn’t feel like hopping on another plane after a 24 hours flight. C’mon - after spending your life on a plane that long, the last thing you want is to hop on a plane - AGAIN. Knowing that it only takes an hour from BKK to Phuket is a bit comforting, but I would rather stick with the ground transportation and go with the traffic flow. The destination I originally looked at was “Hua Hin” which is a beach town about 2-3 hours away from Bangkok. Of course, the beach is far from perfect. Don’t expect anything glamorous..neither white sandy beach nor turquoise water to be seen in sight but you still can get an ambience. My plan was to take things easy and spend a few nights at a 5 star resort in a private pool villa to make up for the lack of beautiful beach, then drive back to spend the rest of time with family in Bangkok and of course go shopping..wahaha.


{Image from www.theracha.com} >> I am dying to go there even though I can't swim!!

However after hearing my husband’s much needed request (a.k.a. complaint) that he has always wanted to experience the famous Phuket beach for the 100th times and how I always spent every trip shopping my life away and blowing money on clothes, I felt guilty. I know my husband is so tired of following and carrying those 100 shopping bags around town. So upon his 101th request, dream came true. Phuket popped up on my map! Perhaps, he will be more willing to go shopping and carrying more bags after. With that said, my search started ALL OVER AGAIN!



Thanks to Tripadvisor and Agoda, you made my life MUCH easier. Can you believe how much information you could get just by reading those hopeful reviews of places you haven’t visited! Even though I was born and grew up in Thailand for 24 years, I must admit that I am not keen on traveling. I am a 100% pure bred city girl and do not have much adventurous experience exploring and traveling around the country so you are not going to hear a story of me trekking or anything like that. Doing an extensive research can be time consuming but it is so worth the hard work. I want to make sure our hard earned money is well spent especially when you are looking at a place that costs an arm and leg per night. Lord, have you checked out the prices of some of places? They are quite outrageous! I remember when I still lived in Thailand, I could not afford to go to one of these places because they were so darn expensive. Now that I make money in USD instead of THB currency, what a difference! Phuket is not really a destination for average/middle class Thais due to its hefty price tags on accommodations and such. It is sometimes cheaper to fly overseas! It is sad to know that some of the resorts / hotels are partially owned/operated by foreign investors who can afford to buy some remote and underdeveloped islands and transform them into 5 star facilities. I guess it is good that local people have jobs but the sad part is a big chuck of money goes directly to investors who are not Thais. That also left me wondering how many islands out there that that have not been exploited by tourism.


{Image from www.theracha.com}

It is so obvious that I will have to significantly trim down on my shopping budget in order to stay at one of these paradises on earth (can you hear a big “sigh” from this shopaholic?). We have finally found a few potential hot spots for our getaway with breathtaking view. Paradise found~



The Racha (means the king in Thai language): this MUST be a paradise on earth. I have always..always..and always wanted to experience The Racha resort because the beach is breathtaking and stunning. Look at the powdery white sand and crystal clear turquoise water. Oh..heaven. You know how some photos have been heavily modified by Photoshop to the point that the real place looks nothing like photos. This place seems like a real deal. I looked at photos posted by travelers on Tripadvisor.com and they are equally stunning. LOVE!! Can’t wait to see with my own eyes.




{Images from www.theracha.com}

Villa Zolitude: this place is so ideal for someone with Tsunami phobia like myself. Why? Because it is up on a mountain and GORGEOUS!! The best of both worlds for beach and mountain lovers. My husband is giddy and so excited because he is more into mountain/jungle while I am a total beach bum. This place is just stunning in every direction you turn. I don’t mind that it is far away from the beaches because you can easily get to ones in about 15-20 minutes with local transportations right outside the resort gate. I love the fact that it is so secluded, peaceful and far away from hustle and bustle of busy nightlife hot spots. This is a spot where you really get to connect with nature and inhale full breath of fresh air. It seems like a pure relaxation. Look at a stunning scenery of greenery and mountain view, it is an ideal place for bird watching / sunset and sunrise viewing. What’s more? There is a private pool in each villa! Visit their website to see more stunning photos of each villa {here}. View additional amazing photos and floor plans of all Villas from this Thai traveler {here}.





Enough for a beach bum's life. I don't think I have ever shown you all what's in my garage so here is a one time chance to take a peek. Ready?



YEAH RIGHT!!! Wouldn't that be nice to have one of these babies in my garage?!? Thanks to my husband who is a car geek. He LOVES and never misses an annual Auto Show so this year he managed to go alone without me. So much for just looking, he brought home a few brochures from Mercedes and that was where the trouble began. He knows Mercedes is my dream car and kindly did some research for me on a particular model - how thoughtful. So we went on for a somewhat car browsing and testdrove "it" and we just loved "it" more and more. It seems like we have found a potential new hot ride but we gotta wait. Now I am weighting my option, 4-5 birkin bags for the price of one mercedes..wahaha. I would pick a hot ride in heartbeat though. Who knows Santa may deliver one for me at Christmas this year or nothing at all. Sniff..sniff. Life is full of surprises, isn't it?