Back to Life - Back to Reality

We had such a fantastic time in Singapore and Thailand but we've got to get back home as it will soon be CHRISTMAS!  We've got ONE day in fact before Christmas Eve. 

David do you need to take anything out of your pockets!?

Killing some time in the Phuket airport

Bought a few souvenirs

Singapore Airport

The Singapore airport is nothing short of amazing.  Matt and I have decided that the next vacation we take will be to the Singapore AIRPORT.  Yep.  Just fly to the airport and never leave! :0)  So many fun things to do all within the confines of the airport and nearly everything is FREE!  In fact, they even give you an airport guide which directs you to all of the different options within the airport and depending on how much time you have between your flights - The airport guide will give you suggestions based on your time constraints.  They have taken "efficiency" to a whole new level!  They are ridiculously organised, clean and on top of things!

Like most people when we first looked at our itinerary and realised we had a six hour layover we were less than thrilled.  What to do with four kids in an airport for SIX hours?!  ACK!  Well, as it turns out - It was GREAT!  We caught a movie in the airport cinema (FOR FREE!), played video games (FOR FREE), had we known - We could have even kept our swimming suits in our carry-on baggage and hit the rooftop pool for a couple of hours...and yes, that too would have been FREE ;0)  

  Orchid Garden

Two More Reasons to Never Leave the airport....

MAC

&

SUSHI!!!

David with a bird's eye view of the sushi selection

Oh, Happy Day!!!

Rachel eating her fav....Seaweed Salad

Michael eating his fav....edamame

Squid for the Big Boy

Chilled Milk Tea for Mommy

It was YUMMY!

David was still claiming to feel a bit off - So he's got his puke bag at the ready!  NICE!  :/

After 4 months and not a single Dunkin Donuts to be found....We had four happy and QUIET kids as they were soooo busy eating their donuts!

Oh Joy!  FOUR chair massagers! :0)

All Aboard the Changi Express!

By far the craziest thing we experienced while waiting for our connecting flight in Singapore was the "Fish Spa."  Hundreds of little fish eat (Yes, eat!) the dead skin off your feet creating a wacky, disturbing, unconventional spa experience!  At first, I really didn't think I was going to be able to do it!  The second you put your feet down into the water HUNDREDS of fish ATTACK your feet.

Mommies feet in the fish spa!!

At first Matt and I kept taking turns pulling our feet out of the water because we knew the second that we yanked our feet out of the water that all of the fish would go swarming for the other ones feet.  EWWWW!

Daddies tootsies take a turn!

The Foot Spa Experience!
 In that short video...I am asking Matt if I can PLEASE pull my feet out!!  (Eventually, I got used to it but it was totally skeeving me out!)

 A back massage while the fishies munch on your feet!

Kids experimenting to see if the fish will come after your hands too!?

Yep!  They aren't picky eaters!  They'll take a hand...foot...whatever!

 I was CONVINCED Erica was going to fall in HEAD FIRST!!!

 Hand AND Foot

Waiting...

The koi fish were HUGE!  Even from 2 stories up - You can still see them swimming around!

Daddy vs. David

Video Games are NOT relaxing for Rachel

Erica is TENSE too!

Good Thinkin' Rach - Go Back to your Book....

Ah!  Serenity!

With her Kung Fu Panda eye mask in place -

Thank You Singapore Airlines -

This will be one quiet flight with all of the children...

SLEEPING!  zzzzzzz

We'll be back in Bangalore soon - dodging wild dogs & listening to the "beep-beeping" of the local traffic.  We had a nice vacation but we're already to get back "Home!"  Merry Christmas!

xxooxxxooxxoo

Last Day on the Beach

When you are in a land with gorgeous beaches how do you spend your last day of vacation!?....Why, on the BEACH of course!

Our Little Beach Bookworm!

Erica showing off one of her prized shells

 Mikey has mastered "The Squat!"

The kids spent hours splashing and swimming in this area where the water was rapidly changing with the tide.

 They swam back and forth....back and forth from shore to shore over and over again!

Time to Snorkel!

Cool Man Mike showing off his new pirate necklace

Lovin' The Sand In My Toes & The Sun On My Nose!

Lunchtime View....See what looks like a green tissue box on the table top?  It actually houses a roll of toilet paper & that's what you are given to use as "napkins" during your meal.

My Little Surfer Girls are looking a little
worn & weathered!  Haha!

Beautiful Thailand

BIG Buddha up on the hill

Our last big hurrah in Thailand was Matt and I decided that it just wouldn't be right to go all the way to Thailand and not have a "Thai Massage"....I know, I know!  After our last massage experience I swore we'd never try again....well, a couple months later & the vivid memories aren't quite so vivid anymore....so we decided we'd see what the Thai version was like.  Gotta say!  VERY different!  Very discreet.  We put some comfy pajama things on (in private) & then we both laid down - Side by Side for our massage.  My only complaint was that at points the massage is very intense.  Forget BUNS of Steel these Thai women had HANDS of steel!  WOW!  I think a couple of times I might have whimpered in pain!  Hahahah!  But then there were parts that we sheer relaxing ecstasy....I was drifting in and out of sleep....flying with the pink unicorns in the fields of LaLa-Land...when all of the sudden!  WA-BAM!!!  The front door of the spa went flying open and I could hear the pitter patter of feet running down the hallway & then the little voice of Erica cried out, "MOM!?  DAD!?!"....She swung open the door to our massage room and all the unicorns went flying away & vanished in an instant when she screeched, "David's PUKING!"  Matt and I slowly sat up, lifted the room darkening masks from our eyes and then Matt made the most amazing parenting decision of our lives when he said, "Okay.  Show him where the trash bucket is.  We're almost done.  We'll be up soon" and with that we laid back down and FINISHED our massage!   Nice job, Sparky!  No use spoiling a perfectly good massage by rushing out during the last 15 minutes!  Our sick son will still be sick when we get back up to the room! ;0)  In all actuality, he was fine.  I think the "puke" might have been a bit of an exaggeration from a "sour burp" but with all of the recent stomach issues we had been having...when someone says they are going to puke or goes running for the bathroom - There tends to be a BIG reaction!!!

When we got back up to our room there were all kinds of stories the children wanted to relay.  Everything from how their Room Service "chicken nuggets" were the BEST ever to how Michael was FLIPPING out when David starting puking!!  So extensive was his "flipping out" that initially the girls thought that MICHAEL was the one that was sick in the bathroom.  Hmmm.... Wonder if he learned a bit of that drama from his sisters?!  Just sayin'.   So after the family debriefing of what happened and how it happened and what happened to whom....It's safe to say that the relaxing effects of our massage wore off pretty quickly!  But then again, you can't live in "vacation-mode" forever and to what extent David was puking or not puking well, we all needed a reality check anyhow as tomorrow morning we fly back to Singapore & then get in late, Late, LATE, L A T E to Bangalore.  xo

Bring on the Elephants!!

Up & Att'em

We didn't have to drag anybody out of bed by their toes today!  Why!?  Because it's the day we've all been looking forward to since arriving in Thailand - We are going to go ride elephants!  YAY!!

Reading while we wait for the tuk-tuk (taxi) to come pick us up.

Erica is just a wee-bit nervous!!

OH BOY!  Here we go!!

Starting our climb....up...Up...UP!!!

Jungle Housing

The boys were right behind us on their elephant

Matt, Michael & David were getting a real-life up close and personal Animal Planet encounter riding behind us! Imagine plodding up a mountain on the back of an elephant!  Extraordinary!  However this is not what they found enthralling...OUR elephant had GAS!   Have you ever heard an elephant BREAK WIND!? Well, neither had we and the boys were in stitches.  With every foot step the boys were holding their breath - Not because of the smell - but because they were sitting in hopeful anticipation that the 'ole girl would let just ONE more fly....Sure enough....She was a gassy little lassie and gave them a rib tickling trip with lots of pachyderm pootering!! 

 Absolutely AMAZING sights!

Is it just me or does it look like we leaning slightly to the RIGHT!?  ACK!  Looks like we're gonna FALL OUT!!

 This was the highest point of our climb

 CHEESE!!!

Mommy gets to ride ON TOP of the elephant!

That was one of the craziest experiences of my life.  At first I was really nervous.  First of all, I have discussed my terrible balancing skills & I felt like I could teeter off the top at any moment!  By the end of the ride my thighs were begging for mercy as I had the clutch of death around that elephants poor head!  Once I got over my initial nervousness - IT WAS CRAZY-AMAZING-GOOD-FUN!  The skin felt so cool.  The hair so prickly.  The wrinkles so squishy. 

Easy there, Little Darlin' - Steady as She Goes!!!

When a 6 ton beast decides it's time to stop for a little "shnacky" you let her do as she pleases, am I right!?

 Clearly, I am over my initial jitters (yet still squeezing my thighs together for dear life!)

Not far behind - Here come the boys!

 What an adventure!

Daddy's turn to steer the elephant

Big Man Mikey had to climb down to "help" Daddy!

Davey-Doodle giving it a whirl

The Three Amigos

No Surprise that Rachel didn't hesitate AT ALL when it came time for her to give it a go.

Erica was still overall a bit cautious so she decided she'd rather NOT climb down onto the head of the elephant.

Large & In Charge!

Back at the platform

Thanks for the nice ride!

You My...My Brown-Eyed Girl!

Time to feed the elephants a snack!

Pretty Pachyderms!

Bananas for the elephants

Rachel offering assistance

WHOAAA!

Here's a short video of me feeding one of the elephants a pineapple!

The "rules" posted on the window of our taxi.

Wow!  So some of these images are confusing...I think they were telling me that I will be a VIP when I ride in this tuk-tuk!?  I mean we were definitely "Big Pimpin" in this shagadelic wagon.  Unfortunately, our ride back to the hotel wasn't long enough to fire up the DVD player or to showcase my karaoke "skeels".  And I would never even think about lighting up a butt, bringing along a hairy mutt dog or a dripping  ice cream cone but SERIOUSLY!  Did you really have to take us to the "Dark Side"!?!?!?  I mean, when you put an image like the last one on your car....I hate to tell ya' Dude....isn't that kinda like the cranky old man that puts the "Do Not Walk On The Grass" sign in his yard...what does that make everyone want to do....WALK ON THE GRASS!!  Yep.  Uh hem.  Nuff Said.

Ah.  Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about!

Meanwhile, back at the pool, roles have been reversed.  Matt is drifting around the pool using the children's floatation devices and Michael & David are getting cozy at the poolside bar!  WHAT'S GOING ON HERE PEOPLE!?!?!

Looks like Mikey's about ready to disrupt Matt's moment of serenity by doing a cannonball off the countertop!!!

 Beach Bound for the afternoon

Kata Noi Beach

Erica with a Beach Bum figurine at our ocean side lunch.

Lunch Time!

In the evening we went to a Thai restaurant & Michael kept wanting to sit my lap (very unusual behaviour).  I should have known he was SICK instead of thinking "Aw!  My 6 year old son sure does LUV his Momma!"  Despite him not feeling 100% Michael was DYING to stop at one of the roadside souvenir shops where he had seen a pirate necklace earlier in the day.  We spent some time browsing and picked up some little treasures to give to Claudius, Salome & Shashi & then sure enough with little to no warning....Michael tossed his cookies all over the sidewalk!!!  Ewww!  So he took over David's sleeping location in our room and we moved David in with the girls.  Much to my dismay - I woke up in the middle of the night to toss my cookies.  SHUCKS!  So NOT fun!  Hard to say if it was something we ate or what b/c Matt and the girls never got sick!?  Hmmmm....It still remains a mystery.