Chinese New Year on Phuket Island in Thailand!

After our day in Seoul, we hopped on another airplane to meet our friends, Matt & Keith, on Phuket Island in Thailand! 

We stayed in Karon Beach at a beautiful hotel...

We all rented scooters one day and drove a bit around the island.  I was surprised at how BIG Phuket was!  

We did a lap around the island and on our way to see the Big Budda, we ran into "Nicole Kidman"!

This little bugger was two years old.  We paid $3 and got to feed her a basket of bananas.  Once the bananas were gone, she tried to eat my cell phone!  I LOVED HER!  She was so sweet and playful.  You can see our scooters in the background...when we were mounting up to leave, she started running towards us (that part was sort of scary) and her trainer yelled something at her and called her back.  I think she wanted to hop on the back of my scooter and come along for a ride!

Once we got up to the top, the Big Buddha was waiting! And MY, was Buddha BIG!!

It was a holy place, so I had to borrow a skirt from the bucket of skirts at the entrance.  My legs were just too bare I guess!

A view of Phuket from the top...

 

Down from the mountaintop, Shawn and Matt ate bugs!  They offered to share, but um....no.  

They're eating mealworms, crunchy and salty.  They nearly went back for a bag of fried crickets, but once Shawn found mealworm skin stuck between his teeth, he was pretty much done!Taxis in Phuket are unique, to say the LEAST!  When they zip from the curb, DISCO LIGHTS flash on and the latest in HIP HOP bumps from the 20 speakers crammed into every nook and cranny.

I referred to this little gem as the "Happiness Bus"!  I think I ordered a Blue Hawaii :)

Thanks Matt, Keith and Shawn for heaps of fun!

And next to come...Koh Phi Phi Island!