Phuket, Thailand

A couple of weeks ago I was able to go on a long weekend retreat to Phuket with my coworkers. It was so beautiful--even better than I imagined. Here's the sad part . . . I took about five photos with my older camera (was afraid to bring my regular one), and the battery died--and I didn't bring my charger! I was in luck, though, because I was not the only person who brought a camera:



Yes, I was travelling with some very enthusiastic photographers, so I now have over 700 photos from the trip :) And the 700 are just from two people.

For the record, here are the photos I was able to take . . .

Lunch at Patong Beach:


This is from my beach chair--the fish were swimming right on the water's edge:


We went island hopping on a speed boat the second day:






And then my camera died :(

Here's what we did . . .

The first day consisted mostly of shopping and walking around town. Here we are in front of Starbucks after a shopping spree (I bought some shampoo and a toothbrush):


And this is Patong beach at night:


The second day we went island hopping, snorkeling, parasailing, and we drank straight out of coconuts and pineapples while relaxing on beach chairs. So blissful:





I snorkled in shark-infested waters, far from the shore, off the side of our boat for about ten minutes before I started to think too hard about what I was doing:


I also went parasailing before I had time to think about it. That is also about how long the instructions lasted. A guy strapped me in, told me to just start running, and to pull the red strap when he yelled from the shore. I tried to clarify, "Which strap? This strap? . . . " and then I was involuntarily running and in the air mid sentence:


The softest, whitest sand and the clearest water I have ever seen on a beach.


That night we went for massages ($25 for an hour and a half) at this gorgeous place:


The third day we went on an "island safari." I love elephants--always have. So to be able to walk up to them, touch them, feed them, ride them, was beyond amazing. It was nice that they had so much space to walk around (it was a huge area of jungle--not like a zoo pen) and dozens of fellow elephants to be around. The employees also seemed to really love them.

A mama elephant:


A baby elephant (she is actually posing with her trunk):


They let anyone get a "massage" and kisses from a baby elephant. I opted out, but I love how my friend here still managed to pose for a photo while getting his "massage."


Elephant ride:


We also watched a monkey show:




It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back with Dane sometime soon. Really nice people, delicious food, and beautiful, beautiful islands and jungle.

Ladies' Market

Saturday I went to an outdoor market in Mongkok, Kowloon, that is similar to Silk Street in Beijing--but much larger.

The street after a downpour:


An outdoor fruit and vegetable market nearby:


Snack stand:

Catching Up

As you can see we moved our blog address :) We have been living in Kowloon, Hong Kong, for the past couple of months and absolutely love it. I wish I had more photos to show for the time we've spent here, but we only took the following three photos the past two months (however I took some yesterday that I am going to post in a few minutes):

One of the Olympic countdown clocks at the Central MTR station in Hong Kong:


Dane lookin' good in front of the LDS Hong Kong temple:


The first weekend we were here, we went to Shenzhen, China, and Dane took this gem from a poster in the customs area. Remember not to pack fresh poultry in your luggage!