Phuket, Thailand {Ten Year Anniversary Trip}

After a few days in Singapore, we were ready for some relaxation. We had booked 5 nights at the Anantara in Phuket and we were absolutely blown away.

Obviously, the villa itself was fantastic, but everything else was also perfect. The resort includes a breakfast that we took advantage of each morning. Think local dishes, tons of fruit, sushi, and a bloody mary bar. Our routine was to bring back freshly-squeezed juice to our room daily and combine it with some Tito's that we had purchased at the airport.

We spent the vast majority of our 5 days just relaxing in our pool, walking along the beach, eating room service, biking around the area, and just enjoying each other's company. We both agree that this was the nicest hotel we've ever stayed at. 

One day, we did venture out to take a boat tour to the Koh Phi Phi islands. It took about 45 minutes from the pier to arrive at our first destination - that also happened to be my favorite! 

The Pileh Lagoon was pretty empty when we arrived and we got to swim around for a good 30 minutes or so. Take a look at how stunning it was - the water's color was just unreal.

Afterward, we circled the island to go snorkeling in a different spot for a bit and then continued on to see Maya Bay. The bay itself is closed because of over-tourism, but we were able to see it from the boat. 

After a stop on Koh Phi Phi Don (the biggest of the islands) for lunch, we went to Monkey Beach. We were told not to bring anything on to the beach, but some people decided not to listen. We literally saw monkeys going through backpacks to get out food and water. One guy even bitten by a monkey when he tried to get his backpack back. Yikes!

We stayed in the water and stayed safe. The island was Jason's favorite, but the ever-present threat of monkeys made me ready to leave when our time was up. It was definitely a beautiful place though!

Our last stop had us outrunning a storm (we didn't totally succeed), but considering the vast majority of our day was perfect, we didn't mind too much.

We didn't do much in Phuket, which was a change for us! We loved relaxing in our private pool and exploring some of the beautiful islands.

Up Next: After a few days of relaxing, we were ready to head to Chiang Mai to get some authentic food and see some sights!

Singapore & Singapore Business Class {Ten Year Anniversary Trip}

Back in November, we took a MUCH anticipated trip to Singapore and Thailand to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary! We had saved up miles and hotel points and boy were we ready to cash them in!

We started our trip in a fabulous style - at the United Polaris Lounge. This lounge has been voted the best lounge in the US and we definitely agree. We ordered food and a glass of champagne and waited to board our flight.

I can't say enough about how relaxing it was to fly all 17 hours in Singapore business class. We ate WAY too much food, watched some great shows (Fleabag for me!) and slept a good portion of our flight. 

It also worked out nicely that we arrived in the evening, so we basically checked into the JW Marriott, grabbed a quick dinner in the lounge, and went to bed! We never quite acclimated to the time change, so we started each day in the fitness center and a hearty breakfast.

Our first morning, we decided to walk over to the Gardens By The Bay to see both the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. The Flower Dome was all decked out for Christmas, but we LOVED the Cloud Forest. We even happened to be there during a misting, so we got the whole experience!

After this, we took the subway over to Chinatown to see the Buddha Tooth Relic temple and check out a hawker center for lunch. We had been told that we need to try the Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken, but we also grabbed some random things like looked good! The loser was probably the carrot cake (not at all sweet!), but for a few dollars for each dish, we just liked trying a bunch of things.

That evening, we were lucky enough to meet up with a coworker who lives in Singapore! We went to the famous Raffles Hotel, where the Singapore Sling was invented. I actually got a gin sling instead, but was told by my friend that I made the right choice, ha!

That evening, we went to Jumbo's Seafood to try chili crab. It was crazy messy, but also delicious! We definitely were "those tourists" using plastic gloves to get out the crab from the shells. We're good with chopsticks, but not as good as needed apparently!

The next morning, we walked over to Arab Street to see the Sultan Mosque. This was such a unique and special experience! They had lots of informational plaques in the rear of the mosque and we really felt like we left knowing a lot more about Islam than when we walked in.

Haji Lane is a great area that has tons of colorful street art and cute little cafes. We didn't pop into any shops though since we had plans to meet up with Jason's coworker at the Facebook Singapore office. We had lunch there and took in the awesome views!

That evening, we went over to the Marina Bay Sands again for the night show. They had the lights moving in sync with Opera-themed music that evening, but they switch it up pretty often!

We walked to get some satay and char kway teow at "Satay by the Bay" to end our last evening! 

On our last morning, we walked along Emerald Road, which is a series of houses that are still in the traditional Peranakan style. We walked over to Little India next to grab one of the best meals of our trip at Shish Mahal. We had butter chicken, dahl, and tons of sesame naan - YUM!

After this, we had to head to the airport to catch our flight. But we definitely had to stop by the new JEWEL at Chiang airport to see the fabulous waterfall! It's the brand new shopping center connected to the rest of the airport. We didn't do any shopping, but it was pretty tempting to stop at the Shake Shack there!

Singapore was a great extended layover! It's such a foodie city, so definitely a place that's after my own heart. We feel like we got a good glimpse of what the city has to offer in just a few days!

Next up: We headed to Phuket, Thailand for some sun, sand, and relaxation!