Phuket (PheW.KhEt), Thailand.

The week before was an inexorably one of the MOST tiring, both mentally and physically, but quite rewarding weeks in terms of creativity that I've had in a very, VERY long time. Due to the upcoming COSH '09 Safety Exhibition in August at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Center, which we are taking part in, I had to design 6 different buntings for the roll up banners. (crap, I just realized I haven't even designed the banners yet!) Anyways, it was fun learning to navigate the maze that is Photoshop CS4 (yes, FOUR), which I had finally gotten the week before. So ... anyway, it was a week of sleeping at 4am almost everyday and waking up at 7:50am to rush to work. It was a relief to pack up my bags to head to Phuket, my very first jaunt into Thailand. Yes, you read it right. First time in the land of tom yam and ladyboys. :) Oh, by the way, this was a working trip with some older folks from the company, so ... no naughtiness was involved on this trip ;) in case you were wondering.

The entrance to Laguna Beach Resort & Spa - blissfully amazing.

The flight to Thailand was the first flight out with AirAsia (on-time amazingly) went by without incident, although we had to wake up at the unGodly hour at 3:45am to get to the airport in time. Our flight left at 7:15am on the dot. Talk about efficient. But that's more or less where the Malaysian Government efficiency ended. Looking at the the Ministry of Health officials donning the 3M 8210 N95 respirators really made me sick to my stomach. Worn wrongly, worn upside - down etc and when I asked a nurse who taught her to wear it, she said the MoH doctor, who was apparently trained by 3M distributors. I would so sue them for putting these people at risk. Oi! Doctors! Wake up la! :) We do NOT train you to wear it wrongly! Anyhoo, we stayed at the magnificent Laguna Beach Resort & Spa located on the picturesque Bangtao Bay (about 1/2 hour drive from Patong Beach), it's a all-in-one complex with a shopping plaza, restaurants, shops etc.

Room #276 - room with a view. Loved it! ;)

My room ... Oh, the room. Gorgeously done with 2 erm, Thai looking pillow / mattress in 1 kinda thingies on a raised platform overlooking the huge laguna. Oh, I think I died and went to heaven. That tiny, thin little mattress thing by the way - don't let size fool you. It was dead comfortable. Well, for me at least.

Thin, comforting plateau of fabric-ed joy.

I went for what was my first ever, Thai massage. Kosher of course, but as many have asked me since - why didn't you go for the 'happy ending' one? ;) I'm just not that kinda guy. Ha ha. Ooo ... and there was row upon row of the beautifully hand-carved wooden erm ... art? I loved, loved, loved it!

The intricate hand-carved wooden art along the corridors were amazingly delicate.

I totally enjoyed taking the morning / evening strolls (yeah, our rooms were quite far away from the main activity area) partly because I got to exercise and also each corridor had different sorts of carvings. :)

Baby Dumbo hanging out with me. His little trunk was kinda wet but extremely dexterous and flexible.

Thailand has an amazing reverence for elephants. There was this 'cute as a button' Dumbo looking (and I say this as the biggest Disney cartoon fan and I LOVE Dumbo) baby pachyderm that roaming the resort grounds with his loving mahout. I was obviously thrilled that I could interact with this gentle giant without him being surrounded by a man-made jail cell. Oh yeah - one thing that I don't miss about Thailand ... ? The damned humidity. It was like stepping out into a wall of hot, wet air that made me produce copious amounts of man-made water. Not good when you're heading for a formal dinner in a nice dress shirt. Wish I could chill out in a bowl of cold water like these gorgeous flowers.

More dazzling in real-life, these flowers dotted every table in the Resort.

Did I mention that my view every morning and evening was simply ... gloriously breathtaking? ;) Take a look - I kid you not.

Coconut trees never looked so ... sigh.

Coming back to the room after a whole day of mind-numbing data input and body-aching shopping, it was ... amazing to come back to a view like this: the bed turned down with an orchid, the air conditioner turned down to cool the room, lemongrass scented beads around the room and in the bathroom. God, it's great to be pampered! ;)

Coming home to this? Yes please!

Of course, we also did the tourist-y thing going around shopping and stuff. Went apeshit on T-shirts that were so cute and well ... a little naughty ;). Ask Jerry about his "YouTube myspace and I'll Google your Yahoo!" T-shirt. Cute, right? ;) We also went to see some amazing temples - and I loved the statue in this shot.

Buddha statue in Phuket.

I'll be back in Phuket for sure, but this time, I'll be staying in Patong Beach! Woo hoo! :) I'll be writing more soon! :)