Polka Dots Love & Bright Shorts

 Sunny blue sky and hot summer weather brought out a colorful diva in me. I wanted to choose nothing but bright and fun colored outfits, accessories and shoes. A little confession here, I was in awe by the time I unpacked the suitcases by the end of our trip just to discover an array of colored clothings, especially shorts I bought as if Thailand was the only country in the world you could shop for shorts.    Shorts are not something I normally wear but heck the weather there was freaking hot to the point that if I could go naked - I would! April is the hottest month over there so be prepare (to sweat) to pack light colored / airy clothings if you ever plan on visiting Thailand.    

Location: Villa Zolitude, Phuket

Nelah@Villa Zolitude, Phuket - Thailand

Can't believe there were 3 incidents of earthquake in a span of one week in Phuket after we left. What a close call -my goodness gracious!! I am telling you if only I scheduled this tripis a week later, we would certainly experience the shock of our lifetime running up the mountain for lives and had a set of exciting/unexpected memories to share with you all. Not the kind of experience anyone want. Imagine the chaotic scene once a Tsunami warning had been issued!!



If you remember from one of my posts before the trip, you knew I was terrified as you can refer my condition as a Tsunami phobia. Much to my relief and fear, the resort I picked was not the beach front facility. It is up on the mountain far away from any beaches yet still in Phuket and is easily accessible to the beach with a car. I chose this place for the very obvious reason. The closer to the mountain, the better..wahaha.Villa Zolitude was my safe, peaceful haven during our stays in Phuket.


[Part of the resort from a distance view]


[Reception area]




[More photos from a reception area - the view is just gorgeous since this is on a higer level]

First off, most resorts in Phuket are designed with honeymoon couples in mind, thus this resort is ideal for love birds out there. I went with it anyway even though we traveled as a family because we all fell in love with the serene and lush green setting of the resort. It was so different from all front beach facilities out there in Phuket. It is actually the best of both worlds where you take a relaxing stroll in a tropical jungle paradise-like setting while enjoying the luxuries of Phuket beaches within 20 mins drive.





[Main pool across from the restaurant

]

If you are nature lovers and do not want the hustle bustle of night life, you are in for a real deal. The resort doesnt have "no children" policy but i can tell you that it is quite rare to spot families with small children here (per the ladies at the reception). So if you dont like the noisy kids while on vacation, Villa Zolitude is a good option. For family with small child, try to stick with a one story villa like what we did for safety reason.

Overall, the resort is serene and gorgeous all around. You will constantly hear the sound of nature (bugs/insects) pretty much all day long but I dont' mind that. When reading reviews on Agoda and Tripadvisor, I just couldn't believe how some people could be such idiots. The resort is in the mountain and they complain about the insects' noise. To me that is just ridiculous. They should have booked a hotel in a concrete jungle. Once you shut the door, you don't really hear a thing. We didn't experience any mosquitoes or bug bites though, we were lucky I guess.


[Lovely seating area in front of a library]


[Restaurant]



A private villa exceeded our expectations in person in terms of beautiful design, functionality and did i mention "size"?? Boy, it was spacious and HUGE with two seperate areas divided by a huge divider which allows the person in a bedroom to sleep or rest without being interrupted by a person in a living room but I shall talk more about that in a seperate post and show you more photos of the villa later.

On another note, this resort is very popular among Chinese-speaking tourists so there is a Chinese speaking staff onsite for your convenience. It is also particularly popular among Korean tourists as well. Not many Europeans nor Americans from my observation during that time.

Now the price tag, Phuket's high season is between November - March and we happened to be there during the high season thus more expensive. The best deal my younger brother and I could find was on Agoda.com. The price listed on Villa Zolitude was over $400/night/villa for a one story private pool villa but Agoda offered a little over $300+/night/villa so it was a better deal. When booking with Agoda, make sure you call the hotel/resort about two weeks in advance to confirm the booking because I have heard many unpleasant stories of people who had the surprise of their lives when arriving at the hotel/resort just to find out the hotel/resort didn't receive the booking from Agoda. For us, it was a good first experience both with Agoda and Villa Zolitude.

Our day at the Floating Market~*

My husband and I were on an important mission to gobble down the local food when back home in Thailand. A floating market was my number one place to visit on my very long wish list. Talking about floating markets, there are several locations both nearby Bangkok and some are further away. The original floating market is the famous Dumnern Saduak in Rajchaburi province but I knew that was not where I wanted to visit. To me, it is way too touristic. Thus everything is more expensive and there are too many tourists so I would rather go where the locals go.


[The gang]









Klong Lad Mayom Floating Market is not very far in distance from where my parents'house is located, plus I had never been to this particular market before so we decided to pay this place a visit on Sunday. This market offers a good mix of goodies and merchandise ranging from countless choice of local food, food, more food (okay enough for food), accessories, clothes, shoes, artworks, handcrafts and outdoor home decorating items. However I must say that the star of the market is food, of course. The price point is very reasonable (as this is where the locals go, I didn't spot any tourists like some places). My husband must have been the only white person in that whole market to be exact.









We came home with several bags of local delights that afternoon and had a bit of everything (okay..not a big..a lot of everything). I highly recommend this market if you want to experience the local Thai delicacies and the lives by the river while in Thailand. it is not too far (well it depends where you stay in Bangkok) but comparing to other markets, this one is pretty awesome. I don't beieve it is open on weekdays though.















Pretty rings - I picked up two of these.








{Fresh made-to-order potato chips: tasted pretty darn good, you can choose your desired flavor as well - 20 baht (approximately 80 cents) per stick. My husband was totally in love!}



You can find more information about the Floating Markets in Bangkok area {here}

Chilling out by the Pool~*

So the five of us (my dad, my brother, my husband, our little one and I) went all the waaaaaaaaaaaay to Phuket last month for the first time in our lives.



All my little one and I got to see was a lovely private pool in our villa. No Tachai Island…no turquoise water…no white powdery sand…no bikini on the beach for me.



How could that be?!?!?






Here is a story……..



From my previous post, my little one was sick on her 3rd day in Bangkok so she was still sick by the time we were flying to Phuket. A poor little girl could only handle so much of the happenings, she threw a tantrum a few times so I decided I would NOT want to take a risk by taking her on an adventure. I knew it would be a long day for a sick little one so I sent my dad, my brother and my husband off with a slightly sad look on my face at 5:45am the next morning.



A day trip to Tachai Island had a pretty intensive schedule, it sure started bright and very early, like 5:45am!! A van picked up the tourists from each resort before heading to the pier in Phangna province which is about an hour drive from Phuket, from there tourists gathered together and had a light breakfast before getting on a boat. A boat ride took between 1 – 1:45 hour to the paradise Island. That evening, my guys didn’t return to the resort until after 7pm. I was so glad I stayed at the resort with a little one, there was no way my little one could tolerate this long day. She would definitely have an ultimate meltdown. Scary!






Staying at a resort was not bad at all. We paid $300++ per night/villa so I was somewhat happy that my little one and I had a bonding time while spending all day at the facility. It made me feel like we got our money worth (sort of). The guys were jealous because they didn’t get to spend much time at the resort, our trip was fairly short only 3 days two nights. We had delicious breakfast buffet, explored the beautiful resort (and sweated from head to toe by the time we returned to our villa), took pictures, played in a pool before my little crashed and had her mid-day nap on a comfy bed.



Hip…hip…hooray, it was time for mama to relax and chill out by the pool. Pure relaxation and peace……(until a monkey is awake)


[Time for junk food feast!!]

Since a wee one was still asleep, mama had to order an in-room service. Radna-gai or stir fried flat noodle with chicken in thick gravy sauce – YUM!!!…


[In-room delivery]





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On a related note, a reader asked what to pack to Phuket. Let me tell you that there is no winter in Phuket so bring lightweighted and breathable clothings. It is REALLY hot out there rain or shine (worse in the summer) all year round in the mid to uppper 90F. Shorts, T-shirt, Tank top or whatever your heart desires and of course a pair of lovely sandals. I got tanned by the second day despite the fact that I bathed in sunscreen from head to toe. Sunscreen is a must-have no matter where you go in Thailand or you risk getting sun burn.

In the upcoming posts, I will share with guys my personal thoughts on two low-cost airlines we used for the Phuket trip (Nok Air and Air Asia) for those who plan to visit Phuket in the near future. Plus more photos of the resort.