Well ... its hard to know where to start, so I'll try and keep it short but sweet! As any of you know who read the forum, I had been quite sick the week before we went with a throat infection and was just getting over that, well ... that was just the start of everything.

The "good" - everything about the trip, the people, the food, the weather, the shopping, the sightseeing, the culture, the places we stayed at - we loved every minute of it.

The "bad" - all 6 of us were sick at some stage during the 2 weeks, which kinda put a halt to a lot of our plans and we therefore did not get to do and see everything we wanted to.

The "ugly" - no other way to describe it!!! My friend Nicole and I are well (only way to say it is) not quite your perfect body shapes - not too large but not too thin either. After seeing some of the bods in bikinis (who shouldnt have been) we thought "what the heck" so we went out and bought ourselves a little bikini!!! It was soooooo funny cos we were looking at them and going there's no way these are gonna fit (if you've every seen asian sizing then you'll know why!) and we had to get the largest size available which was an XXL. I cant remember ever having to buy a size XXL for myself and I also cant remember the last time I ever wore a bikini!! Anyway, thats the "ugly" side of my story!!!

Day 1 - Wednesday
Early morning alarm went off at 5.30am - much too early and pitch dark outside but eager to get going! Stretch limo arrived at 6.40am, that was a highlight for me - never ridden in a stretch limo before, complete with bottle of champagne which no-one (except me!) was keen for at 6am! Got to the airport at about 8am, checkin and hanging around until plane left at 11am. I was fine until about 2 hrs into the flight when I got a headache which worsened and worsened and worsened and then progressed to a vomitting migraine ... anyone who has ever had one of these wd know that being on a plane is not the best way to experience one. I spend most of the trip to Bangkok heaving in the toilet bowl and thinking "great start". Two hour wait in Bangkok, still feeling bad, then board plane to Phuket and once again I introduced myself to a new toilet bowl! Anyway, arrived in Phuket about 7.45pm (really 11.45pm) waited ages for luggage then cdnt find out pick-up guy, so it ended up being about 10pm before we actually got to our room - very tired and not well. Oh ... I forget to mention that my friends 8yo boy also vomitted into the champage bucket on the limo ride to the airport!!! Not such a great start to a gr8 holiday ... but it does get better!

Day 2 - Thursday
Awoke feeling a bit better but nowhere near 100% so planned a low activity day. Bummin around the pool and a little bit of shopping at Otop Mkts which were just across the road. Weather was fantastic, very hot about 35 and not a cloud in the sky. The Patong Merlin was lovely, 3 big beautiful pool areas, huge buffet breakfast. The rooms were rather small and a little bit old, but overall they had everything we needed (except that our a/c didnt work for the first 2 days!)
I was meant to meet some Wollongong friends for tea that nite before they flew home, but then about an hour before we were meant to meet, I started throwing up again, so had to cancel, which was a bit of a bummer.

Day 3 - Friday
Spend most of this day trying to familiarise ourselves with where we were and what we wanted to do. I went and saw my friends before they flew out that day. They were staying at Millenium Lakeside which is a brand new place adjacent to the Jungceylon. Their room (they had been upgraded) was like a palace compared to ours, it was huge and awesome, very modern decor. They had booked this through Wotif only a few weeks before they flew out, got cheap Jetstar flights and they only paid I think $127 a nite double and then a little bit more to upgrade. So ... I wd highly recommend this place to anyone wanting a quiet luxury getaway in Patong, probably not really the place you would take (screaming!) kids though!
Anyway ... we decided to book our Phi Phi Island trip today to go tomorrow and (thanx to the gr8 info from forumites!) I did exactly wot you guys said and went to 3 different places on the street and got the price down from 2800bt (at Merlin) per adult to 1200 bt per adult - I was quite proud of myself!!! It worked out to $42 for me and $30 for my daughter which was 900bt. The lady we went to (her name was Apple, which I thought was a funny name for a Thai lady!) was really nice and helpful, so we ended up going to her for all our trips, she had a little ticket booth just opposite Merlin near Otop.
After we visited our friends at Millenium, my daughter and I had a facial in at the Jungceylon, it was only 299bt and it was heaven - I was finally in Paradise - getting pampered and starting to once again feel human! I bought most of my dvd's that day from a place in the "Hello Kitty" shop. I ended up buying about 110 of them and my boys have already watched many - seeing as its raining here! Its funny when you go to look at the dvds in most shops you go into like a secret little back room, you kinda feel like your doing a drug deal or something!
Went to the Banana Leaf for tea, which friends highly recommended and it was beautiful and only about 2 min walk from Merlin. Cant complain when I can order a meal for 2 with drinks and it comes to less than $10 - amazing, and the food was beautiful, cheap and quick and I would highly recommend the Banana Leaf. Was in bed at 9pm that nite - exhausted!

Day 4 - Saturday - our Phi Phi Island trip
We had a great day - it was very very hot tho, but no rain until just after we got back. Pickup at 8.10am and to Chalong Bay. Trip out was very rough and we were all handed seasick tablets to take, then after we took them, my friend and I kinda went, well they could have just given us drugs, we dont know what they were! Anyway ... first stop Maya Bay, which was just idealic (apart from the hundreds of other tourists that were there!) We only had about half hour here, would have liked longer as it was so nice. This is the spot where they say part of the movie "the Beach" was filmed - absolutely picturesque! Then onto PP Ley to feed monkeys and snorkel off the back of the boat, both fun but weird feeling knowing you are surrounded by fish and the boat people are throwing bread at you so the fish have a feeding frenzy on your tummy!!! Lunch on PP Don, that is when my friends daughter started to get sick, with sore throat and headache so she was a right-off for the rest of the trip. We then went to a tiny island called Khai Nok for snorkel and swim which was nice and relaxing (if you go here remember to take fins and your life jacket so you can go out further and see much nicer fish than right at shoreline as it is a sharp coral beach and hard to walk on bare foot) And then it was back on the boat, back to Chalong and home by about 5pm.
As Riley was sick, they all stayed in and I treated my daughter Georgia to Maccas on Beach Road! Amazingly the food was good, maybe even better than Maccas here (my son wd kill me for saying that cos he works there!) And then of course the mandatory shopping on the walk back to the Merlin! Prices were gr8 and by this stage of the hol, my bartering skills were in full force and I had got the "walking away" part perfect, that is usually the thing that ensures you get the price you want! Although overall, as I have said, I dont mind paying a higher price, just as long as it is a price I am happy to pay. I know for a fact that a dollar means much more to the Thai people than it does to me, so most of the time I did not barter as hard as some people do, I wd just feel too bad doing that to them.
This was our latest nite so far - in bed by 10pm! No party scene for us thats for sure. I was managing to sleep in till about 7-8am as the curtains were very dark, then take our time getting ready, a long and filling breakfast and then we usually ventured out about 9.30-10am. Some shops are open at 9.30am but as mentioned, yes most of them only open at 10am.

Day 5 - Sunday
Oh, I forgot to mention our exchange rate so far had been about 28 started out and it gradually got higher. It was always higher for T/Cheques, but they had I think a 33bt fee per cheque to cash them. Rates we got started at 28.33, then 28.48, then 28.74, then 29.19 (T/C), and then 29.24 (T/C). These were from the little exchange booths on the street, as at the Merlin cashier it was only about 26 I think. So ... overall I was very happy with the exchange rates we got which ultimately meant more spending for me!
Riley was worse so went to the Doc and on antibiotics. However ... now my daughter Georgia said she was getting a sore throat!
Today involved some shopping (shock!), lunch by the pool (which was nice and well priced) and generally not much else. My friends stayed in for tea again, so G and I ventured out looking for the renowned restaurant called "Sabai Sabai" as so many people had recommended it. We found it but it was closed so we then ate at S & G Restaurant, just opposite it. A good choice, it was soooo cheap, quick and delicious. Def not 5 star restaurant, we had fried rice, pad thai and 2 drinks for only 340 bt, only about $12!!! I was suitably impressed with S & G. In bed at 10pm again.
The "Merlin" so far ... very central and well situated, in amongst everything but you dont notice the outside hustle and bustle when you are in by the pools. Our rooms were right outside the first pool on ground floor, which was good cos the kids cd jump the balcony to get to the pools. Overall, we are very impressed and wd def stay there again. Pools are gr8, b'fast is gr8, location is gr8> Although we did eat at one of their restaurants called Cafe del Mar (on beach road) the first nite and it was rather expensive and food not that nice, so wd not recommend that one.

Anyway ... thats all for now (sorry if I bored you or waffled on!) I will continue with my "Juicy Big Read" tomorrow!

Kitty