I went on vacation for three days in February and didn't bring my laptop

Hi friends.. it's been a while!  Lately, I've been posting mostly on the weekends because that is when I get a chance to catch up on things like blogging and pictures, but this past weekend, I was on vacation!  In the middle of February!  And I didn't take my laptop!  In what universe did I think that would happen??

One thing about Asia is that Chinese New Year basically trumps Christmas.  For those of you who don't know, Chinese New Year is not the same as regular new year, and I'm not going to bother explaining the holiday or any of the traditions to you.  You can Google it if you are curious.  Anyway, Saturday was the first day of CNY, and Monday and Tuesday were public holidays here in Singapore.  Four day weekend!!  Obviously, I was a bit skeptical about this so-called four day weekend, simply because of the time of year.  But I asked basically every single local that I know, and they all swore to me that they are real holidays that everyone (literally everyone) takes off.  So I booked a trip to Phuket!  Very hesitantly.  And only for three out of the four days.

But I have to tell you.. and I know I've mentioned this before.. so far at work, 2013 has been incredibly smooth (relatively, of course).  In fact.. I shut my computer on Friday evening, and I left it at home while I went on vacation in another country.  There is no way I would've believed that I would've been able to do that if you told me that even one month ago.  But I guess life has a way of surprising us huh?

Anyway, the trip to Phuket was great!  Beautiful beaches, lots of time to lounge, and fun times with friends.  Lots of pretty pictures to show you guys!!

We flew out on Saturday morning... it always amazes me how different the Singapore airport is from the other airports I fly to haha..

Our group had two separate flights into Phuket.  Some of us decided that the best way to kill time would be to stand in the arrival hall and drink beers from the mini-mart :)

Once we were all together, we headed to the Tesco to pick up some groceries for our villa..

Dairy Queen!  Small Blizzard for only 29 baht!

We did not buy any of this.

Nor did we buy any of this.  I have seen a lot of weird stuff in supermarkets, but I'm not too sure what this is...

Minced pork?  Minced beef?  Again.. not too sure...

Even though this was recognizable, we still didn't buy any of it!  Something about a free-for-all of meat is just not appealing to the former vegetarian in me..

 We bought (too much) breakfast food and (not enough) lunch stuff and then finally made it to our villa!  (For those who are curious.. FlipKey is a great resource for finding villa rentals.. the Bali villa and the Phuket villa were both FlipKey finds!)

View from our porch

Lounge chairs calling my name

View from the upstairs balcony

Spent a lot of time reading by the pool!

Also spent some time strolling along the beach...

We went and toured the Big Buddha..

They give you a skirt to wear if your shorts don't cover your knees.. its very fashionable

And of course, lots of delicious Thai food!!

Barbecue squid

Chicken satay and spring rolls

Pad Thai!

Banana milkshake

And of course!  A fresh coconut!

We got back to Singapore in the middle of the night Monday/Tuesday.  I did a little detox by going to hot yoga, and then spent the rest of the day catching up on life/work.  Today (Wednesday) was the first day back after the holiday, and I am so happy that it is a three day week!  Hope everyone is having a great week too!