Two plus two: Kate goes to Phuket

It's too tedious (ok, I'm lazy) to write too much about the holiday so I'll let the pics do the talking. But some key points:

The husband and I went to Phuket without Kate when she was 4 months old. And this time, we went to Phuket again with Kate, without Jake when he's 2 months old. Both trips to Phuket I was milking myself and dumping the milk.
The husband says it's not much of a holiday because we had to tend to Kate and her needs. But I guess that's what being a parent is about.
Kate had fun and I think she must surely have enjoyed having both her parents all to herself with no interruption (I hope!)
Thanks to the husband who kept to his word of doing most of the child-care this trip - he promised that I could rest since I had initially requested a holiday without any children - and truly, having Kate gave the holiday a different slant and it's something that we'd always cherish. Afterall, time spent together is time spent together and no one can take that away from us.

There are quite many pics, so here goes!

5 May - we made it to the airport. No, like really. We.Made.It. It was really hard for me to get on a plane the past year+ and I honestly was holding my breath and was nearly dizzy with muting my excitement that this was really, really happening.

The princess and her Papa - though we didn't pack that much, this huge luggage was full of things from three of us. There was plenty of toiletries (Kate and I) and also toys (Kate).

Giving nainai a goodbye call. I swear Kate didn't know that this was a telephone since she's never encountered one that's stuck to the wall before!

Kate and I on the airplane (the husband took a lousy shot as you can't make out where we are, really!)

Papa and Kate, on the plane

By the time we arrived in Phuket, all we had time for was dinner and Kate had some water playtime in the bath-tub. Luckily, she took well to the hotel and managed to go to sleep after her usual bedtime milk and we all had an early night.

6 May - look who was the last to wake up! What a refreshing change from her waking us up from slumber

After breakfast, we headed to the indoor playground.

It was raining so we spent the rest of the morning in the room. Kate played with her toys, we read, she ran amok in the space there was (it was rather big)... there was no wifi (we didn't want to pay for it) so there was no YouTube for her. Instead, we discovered that this little girl knows how to operate the camera! Here's a shot she took - pretty good huh!

Thank you, yiyi for the expensive, yummy biscuit!

This is what happens when the father is in-charge of packing and Kate only has one pair of socks. There is a need to wash it and find a way to dry it - quick. Hee hee. I love the husband and the things he does!

The rain finally slows to a trickle after Kate's nap and we head out for a late lunch. We were wary of introducing her tummy to local fare (so much oil and MSG!) but PHEW - her tummy held the food well!

Our first meal of oily, tasty local food was pretty good - maan, the MSG kick was so awful but!! Haha

After lunch, we bumped into this roadside cart selling fried bananas and sweet potato. The banana goreng wasn't great but the sweet potato was not bad. It was so cheap - we had a whole bag for only 20baht (less than S$1)!

Walking on, we went in search of a taxi

While waiting for the transport arrangements, the husband and Kate entertained themselves. This may be as much the husband allows Kate to be on an automated two-wheeler.

We made it into Phuket Town (about 20+mins drive away from our hotel) & I spent the next few hours pampering myself (thank you, husband!). I had an hour's Thai massage followed by a manicure & pedicure. My pedi lasted all of 1minute before I destroyed my big toe while putting on my slipper. And because I had to carry things/Kate/move about the nails didn't dry properly and they were all blotchy and bubbly. Haha! But at least they were neat and clean after months of me ill-treating them! It was a very wet day so while I was pampering myself, the husband and Kate were just idling waiting for me to finish. Oops.

Our dinner - yummy local noodle soup.

Kate, with her signature silly face look (of the moment)

The husband's favourite local food - noodle soup (beef preferred please)

7 May - the day started with the generous buffet spread. Kate enjoyed baked beans the most!

Post-breakfast family shot

We visited the indoor playground again - the resort wasn't very full but there were enough families with children, most from Australia.

The sun is up! So off we went to the beach!

Father and daughter venture into the cold waters. We had to take a free shuttle bus to this beach hut and honestly, the sand area was really tiny. But I think what was important was that Kate had fun (she doesn't know any better) so that was alright.

My baby and I

It took Kate a while to get used to the sand - here, she was yelling "my leg! my leg!" She didn't like it feeling grimey haha

Getting used to it

And while the husband and Kate went out to sea, I planted myself comfortably and read my book

I looked pasty and I still look pasty (not much sun! Hah!)

Kate, sharing her sand toys with her new friend

It started to drizzle and we decided that Kate had had enough. We cleaned her up and had lunch. Here, you see her delirious from having some ice-cream.

After the morning's buzz, the husband and Kate crashed for a nap. I had the luxury of time all to myself and this was what I did for more than an hour - a coffee (no need to BF so I could drink it!), a donut, a great book and music in the background (MTV from the TV). I really enjoyed the luxury of such simple things.

After their nap, we washed up and here, we were waiting for our transport to head back to Phuket Town - you can see our hotel behind the husband and Kate. I think one of those balconies you see is of our room. We spent the next few hours walking about (we tried to shop but didn't get much).

Dinner at a little coffeeshop. Food was not that great.

Here's a series of funny faces - Kate played camera-woman and directed us "Mommy, funny face!"

"Papa, angry face!"

Kate's silly face :P

The three of us

Of course we had to have a silly one

8 May - we had a very early start as our flight was at 10am. After the late night yesterday, Kate was the last one out of bed (again!)

Packing - you can see a good part of our suite. There's the mini kitchen on the left, the main living area and couch and the un-used bedroom door to the left of the pic hanging on that wall.