WHOOHOO! In mid January, The Chewys went for our first vacation of 2015 and it was also our very first family trip with Little misschewy! We have always wanted to bring Chanelle overseas, especially after our last trip to Taiwan without her. It was a huge mistake back then when we booked our air tickets during my third trimester, thinking that we needed to spend some couple time without the baby immediately after my confinement! Needless to say, we missed Chanelle terribly during the trip and swore to ourselves, never again. Fast forward a few months later, we felt that Chanelle is ready and is quite adaptable, and as parents, we are also pretty confident about bringing her overseas. However, we weren’t sure how she would fare for the first flight so we decided to be safe and chose Phuket as our holiday destination because of its close proximity and also, we wanted a relaxing time at one of the Phuket villas. 🙂

And so, the day came. We were very excited and a little bit nervous. Had to take a photo at the Departure gate before bidding my in-laws goodbye!

We flew with Singapore Airlines for obvious reasons. Didn’t manage to get bassinet seats for the flight to Phuket so the hubs and I took turns to let Chanelle sit on our laps with the infant seat belt securely fastened. A family wefie before take off! 🙂

In no time, we were high high up in the sky! The curious girl peeped out of the window a few times. Chanelle was tired, yet she wasn’t exhausted enough to fall asleep on her own. She fussed and cried a little, but was soon entertained by a Caucasian couple sitting behind us.

Slept as soon as the plane touched down!

Our resort quoted us 1300 Thai Baht (THB) for a one way trip via a Toyoto Camry from the airport, which is about 50 SGD. I found it exorbitant for what is estimated to be a 30 minute car ride and didn’t proceed with the transport reservation. We couldn’t believe what we saw upon stepping out of the airport. Taxi meter! We asked for an estimate and were quoted 700 THB including 100 THB airport surcharge. Hurray!

Little misschewy slept soundly throughout the entire journey and woke up promptly when we reached the resort of our choice – The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa! I joined the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programme late last year and decided to stay at one of the Starwood properties for this trip. Out of the 3 resorts currently available, we decided to stay at The Westin Siray Bay because the private beach appealed to us.

We received a very warm welcome as soon as we got off the taxi. If my memory doesn’t fail me, we were each served a refreshing glass of orange juice topped with crushed ice as a welcome drink. Certainly needed one to cool off in the sweltering heat!

Situated on the exclusive east coast of Phuket, The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket offers a rejuvenating tropical haven overlooking the magnificent Siray Bay with all you need to be at your best. This luxury five star resort boasts contemporary design and the renowned warm Thai culture, welcoming guests into this respite of tropical elegance. The resort is just minutes away from Phuket Town, cultural attractions, local markets, restaurants and shopping.

The Westin Siray Bay Resort is quite big, hence a buggy is required to get around the resort, especially if you room is located a distance away from the reception or restaurants.

Each of the 257 contemporary guestrooms, suites and pool villas offers ocean views of Siray Bay. We were really lucky that our room was upgraded to a Sala Pool Villa!

We were really ecstatic!

Our pool villa was definitely the epitome of comfort and coziness! The hubs and I couldn’t stop gasping at this and that, and behaved like little kids. LOL.

The Westin’s signature Heavenly® Bed.

Here’s a glimpse of our bathroom.

We didn’t use the tub at all because it was impossible with Chanelle around. Haha!

The Westin is very generous with their bath amenities! They have almost everything!

The resort’s mini bar items are chargeable, except for bottled water with tags. They are pretty generous with the bottled water! We found at least 6 bottles in our room and they are stocked daily.

The mini fridge does not have a freezer compartment so I left my freezing panels for my cooler bag with the resort’s kitchen. The drinks inside the fridge are not complimentary.

Sooo.. What did we have planned for our first day in Phuket? Nothing! Just wanted to take a dip in our very own private pool! Chanelle was like.. Mummy can you please hurry up I wanna play with water NAO. Hahaha! Just look at that face.

Chanelle enjoyed the pool so much that we felt bad carrying her out of the water >_<

We were invited to a cocktail reception at one of the restaurants at the resort, EEST, where we enjoyed free flow drinks and canapes! It was very nice of the hotel managers (I think) to mingle with guests and it made us feel right at home. We hung around for about 15 minutes before moving off to our dinner venue within the resort.

Dinner was at Prego by the Beach. SPG members are entitled to 15% off! Here, you will find Italian cuisine served in a fun, lively and lighthearted atmosphere featuring an open kitchen and bar overlooking the beach.

Honestly, I wouldn’t say that the food was fantastic. In fact, my risotto was way too salty. After dinner, we headed back to our pool villa via the buggy and called it a night!

I can’t remember what time it was when I sneaked out in the morning to snap the sunrise. I was too sleepy to linger any longer and crawled back to the comfy bed.

It was the hubs’ turn to take this photo while Chanelle and I were still sound asleep. When the little bub woke up, we went for a casual photoshoot within the compounds of the resort and had to skip breakfast. Will share photos in another post! 🙂

Little misschewy was simply too exhausted after the photoshoot and fell asleep. Both misterchewy and I were feeling ravenous so we didn’t hesitate to call room service to deliver food to us!

Phad Thai and Minced Basil Pork with rice! Sooooo yummy! The food was also surprisingly quite cheap but we didn’t order more stuff to share because we were planning to go to Patong! The resort provides shuttle bus service to Phuket Town and Patong Beach at a small fee of THB100 and THB200 per person per way.

As soon as the little one woke up from her nap, we went around to take some photos by the pool before the shuttle bus came to pick us up.

On the shuttle bus! The journey took almost an hour because of the heavy traffic.

We were dropped off at Jungceylon which is a shopping mall but we were not very keen to shop there even though it was air conditioned and a great respite from the heat. Didn’t know how to walk to Patong Beach so we took a taxi and paid another THB 200 for the short journey.

You know what? It’s actually a pretty bad idea to go to Patong Beach with a baby in tow. Firstly, you cannot enjoy any of the sea sports activities and secondly, the weather is too hot, making it quite ridiculous for you to babywear your child. We had to cool off at the air conditioned food court nearby! Good thing there is free wifi there.

There was nothing for us to buy at Patong, save for a couple of souvenirs. Decided to have dinner around the area before returning to our resort.

I don’t usually drink coconut but when I do, I make sure I take a selfie. LOLLLL.

Yeehah! Chanelle’s first tuk tuk ride! 🙂

Kaab Gluay Restaurant is located further north of Patong beach, along 58/3 Phrabaramee Road. This is one of the places that we had shortlisted from our online research. If we had known that Kaab Gluay doesn’t have a proper high chair for babies, we definitely wouldn’t have come here. It was tough having to take turns to eat!

As I’m writing this, I can’t believe we travelled all the way there just to eat 3 dishes! 🙁

Phad Thai with seafood.

Green Curry with chicken.

Tom Yum Soup with seafood.

Even though we only had three dishes to share, we were really full by the time we were done. Food was exemplary and well worth the visit! Highly recommended! On a side note, the tom yum was fiery hot and I developed a sore throat overnight for wiping the entire bowl clean! The hubs only had a few mouthfuls because he can’t take spicy food.

Our last night in Phuket!

The next morning, I told the hubs that we must let Chanelle have another round of fun in the pool before leaving the resort!

It was a quick one before we prepared ourselves for breakfast!

The breakfast buffet spread was quite sumptuous!

Our check-out was smooth. This time, our journey to the airport cost us THB 1000 which is slightly more than what we paid for to travel from the airport to our resort, inclusive of airport surcharge. The rate was quoted by the resort so we had to go along with it.

Chanelle fell asleep while she was latching, even before the plane took off! #achievementunlocked

Our light sleeper woke up when food was being served. Didn’t have a choice but to place her in the bassinet so that we could eat in peace!

Papa and mummy are so glad that you enjoyed your first overseas trip, darling!

Hope you guys had a good time reading about our holiday experience with a baby in tow! Happy Chinese New Year and HUAT AH! Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂