Chhavi, my daughter is writing a series of posts on our recent Phuket trip. You can read the part 1 here. She uses ChatGPT to write!
Finally… Avista Grande Phuket Karon! 🌴
After the long journey, the endless airport queues, immigration drama, freezing flight, and my brain temporarily forgetting that I was going to Phuket, we finally reached our hotel—Avista Grande Phuket Karon. Our car stopped right in front of the hotel lobby. Finally! We were here. We entered the lobby, and the hotel staff greeted us with a welcome drink and a cold towel.
My mom took her drink. I took mine. My dad? Of course not. The drink was cold. And my dad has a very simple philosophy: Cold drink = possible cold = absolutely not. He refused to drink it. I took a small sip of mine.
Then another. And honestly… I didn’t like it that much either. So I quietly abandoned my drink. But then I noticed something else. There was a small banana candy—or maybe a banana toffee. Now, I don’t particularly love bananas. But this little banana toffee? THIS WAS GOOD. I ate it and immediately changed my opinion about bananas. “Okay… maybe bananas aren’t that bad.” Even my dad had one. I also used the cold towel. My dad refused that too. Apparently, even the towel was suspicious because it was cold!
Then we went to the reception counter. We gave them our passports, signed some papers, and had a few discussions with the staff. But there was one VERY important matter. The bed. My dad asked mom to write a message to the hotel before we arrived, because mom is Accor member and always books the hotels wherever we travel! They had specifically requested: “I want a hard bed. Not a soft bed.” And now, at the reception counter, he repeated it. “Hard bed.” Not soft. HARD. At this point, I don’t think the hotel staff understood exactly what my father was asking. But they assured him nonetheless! After all the formalities were finished, one of the staff members took us towards our room.
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The Hotel Tour Begins
On the side of the lobby, there was another area with a staircase going upstairs! We went up, and when we reached the upper level, I saw a restaurant on the left. And then- THE POOL. A huge swimming pool with a bar attached to it. The pool went around in a sort of rounded shape, and there were rooms surrounding the area. We walked towards the staircase and went up. There were stairs and a lift. Obviously, after travelling for hours with luggage, we chose the lift.
Our room was on the fourth floor. We went up. One of the staff members opened the door. And then…
ROOM REVEAL! I immediately started exploring. The first thing I noticed was the bathroom. And OH MY GOD. There was a huge bathtub! A huge one. This is something I absolutely love in hotels. Give me a bathtub and I am already happy. The bathroom also had a huge mirror, two stylish wash basins, a shower, and a separate toilet.
The room had one king-size bed and one queen-size bed. I had secretly hoped that maybe the hotel would upgrade us to a suite because of mom’s status with Accor. But… No upgrade, apparently the hotel was sold out. No private swimming pool behind the balcony. Just a balcony. Was I disappointed? Yes. Was I going to let that ruin my holiday? Absolutely not. I still had a giant bathtub. So I was recovering.
—
And Then My Dad Saw the Bed… 😭
Everything was going perfectly. Until my dad saw his queen-size bed. He looked at it. The bed looked at him. And I think they both knew immediately that they were not going to get along. My dad said, “I don’t want this thick soft mattress.” I looked at him. “What?” When two staff members arrived to help with the bed, He said, “Please remove the thick mattress.”
The hotel staff members looked at my dad. Then they looked at the mattress. Then looked back at my dad. They were clearly trying to understand whether they had heard correctly.
My dad repeated: “I want the hard surface underneath the mattress and the thin covering mattress.” The staff member’s face basically said: Sir… you travelled all the way to Thailand to sleep on a wooden plank?
My dad wasn’t joking. He wanted the hard surface. The staff member was probably thinking: “We have a perfectly good bed here, and this gentleman wants to remove it.” My dad continued explaining.
“I want the thin mattress, the covering.” The staff member finally understood. Then my dad asked for two blankets. One blanket would go on the hard surface so that he could sleep on it. The second blanket would be for himself. Pillows were already there.
And then… THE BIG MATTRESS WAS REMOVED. My dad finally got his dream bed. A luxury hotel room… with a beautiful bed… and my dad chose to sleep almost on the hard board underneath it.
😂😂😂
I looked at him like: “Papa, you paid to stay in the hotel.” He basically replied: “I paid to sleep comfortably.” And apparently, according to him, comfort = no fancy mattress. Once everything was arranged, my dad was happy. He lay down. He tested it. And finally said, in his own way: “Yes. This is fine.” Mission accomplished.
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The Balcony Was Actually Beautiful
The room had a really nice view. We had a balcony that wasn’t tiny at all There was a good-sized sofa and a table. It was actually quite spacious. So despite not getting the private pool I had imagined, I was still happy. At least I had somewhere to sit, look outside, and pretend I was living in a luxury travel vlog.
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Lunch: Where I Discovered the Hotel Had a Refrigerator for a Restaurant 😂
After settling in, we went towards the restaurant. I changed into shorts and a T-shirt, after all I was in Thailand! And I quickly regretted it. Because when we went to the restaurant, we had to cross the pool area, go towards the lift, climb the stairs, and finally reach the restaurant. And the moment I entered… FREEZING. The restaurant was SO cold. I was practically shivering. I looked at my clothes. Shorts. T-shirt. I looked at the restaurant. Freezing. I looked at my clothes again. And thought: “Excellent clothing decision, Chhavi.”
We sat near the window. The staff gave us the menu. I ordered vegetarian Pad Thai and lemongrass iced tea. My dad ordered some vegetable sauté and rice. We ate our lunch. For dessert, I ordered coconut ice cream. I ate half. Then I gave the rest to my mom. She finished it. Meanwhile, I sat there shivering. Shiver. Shiver. Shiver. Teeth chattering shiver! Moms theory is we were finding it cold because we were tired from our journey!
At this point, I wasn’t eating lunch. I was slowly becoming an ice cube again (remember my plane ride from Part 1). Finally, my mom finished the ice cream. We signed the bill and left. Outside my clothes made perfect sense!
—
Bathtub Time! 🛁
We went back to our room. And finally… THE MOMENT I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR. The bathtub. I went in. Relaxed. Enjoyed it. And came out feeling like a completely new person. After all that travelling, everyone was exhausted.
So we took a nap. And then… We woke up at around 7:00 PM Thailand time. Thailand is 1 hour 30 minutes ahead of India, so our bodies were already trying to figure out what time it actually was. But we didn’t care. We had a plan.
THE BEACH.
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The Great Bioluminescent Beach Disaster 🌊😂
I was extremely excited. I had heard about bioluminescent water in some parts of Phuket, and I thought: “Tonight, I am going to see glowing water!” In my imagination, the ocean was going to look like something from a fantasy movie. Glowing blue waves. Sparkling water. Magical beach. Basically, I expected the ocean to turn on its own night lights. We reached the beach.
I looked at the ocean. Nothing. I waited. Nothing. I looked again. Still nothing. Just… water. Normal water. A huge amount of normal water. The beach was white. The ocean was dark. And the bioluminescence? On vacation somewhere else, apparently.
I stood there thinking: “Where is the glow?” The ocean basically said: “Not today.” I waited a little longer. Maybe the glow was late. No. Nothing. I had travelled all the way to Phuket, mentally prepared for a magical glowing ocean, and the ocean gave me: Standard Ocean™.
I was disappointed. Very disappointed. But what could I do? I couldn’t stand there and yell at the ocean: “WHERE IS MY BIOLUMINESCENCE?” So we left, in search for dinner.
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Dinner: Round Two of the Freezing Restaurant Challenge 🥶
We walked around the streets for a while. Then we decided to find somewhere for dinner. While walking, I suddenly saw an ice cream shop. I immediately went towards it. They were giving out little sample scoops. And I thought: “Well, I must investigate.” So I tasted one. Then another. Then another. Basically, I conducted a full scientific experiment on the ice cream. Finally, I decided: “Yes. I want ice cream.” My parents said, “We’ll have it later, after dinner.” Fine. We walked on.
And then, right in front of us, there was an Indian restaurant. So we went inside. And guess what? IT WAS FREEZING TOO.
Why? WHY? Why were all the restaurants in Phuket secretly trying to turn me into a frozen vegetable? Again, I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Again, I was shivering. Again, I regretted my clothing choices. At this point, my clothes had become my biggest enemy.
—
The Fish That Looked Directly Into My Soul 🐟😭
I ordered coconut water and fish for dinner. My parents don’t eat meat or fish. I thought: “I am in Thailand. I want fish.” My coconut water arrived first. And honestly, Thai coconut water is amazing. I started drinking it happily.
My mom ordered some kind of beer. My dad? Obviously, he wasn’t going to drink anything cold. So he ordered hot water. Because of course he did.
Then my food arrived. And I looked at it. Then I looked again. And slowly… my happiness disappeared. Because this wasn’t a nice little piece of fish. No.
This was the whole fish. With bones. With the head. And… THE EYES. The fish was looking directly at me. I was looking directly at the fish. We had made eye contact. And I thought: “This was NOT part of my plan.”
For a few minutes, I just stared at it in disgust. The fish stared back. I swear there was a moment where I thought it was judging me. I finally decided: “Okay. we paid for you. I am going to eat you.” Then I removed the head. Because I didn’t want those eyes looking at me anymore. I put the head aside. No way was I eating the head. I had boundaries. And then I started opening the fish and carefully removing the bones. Bone by bone. Piece by piece. Meanwhile, my expression was basically saying: “Why am I doing this to myself?” I somehow managed to eat about half of it. Not the whole fish. Just half. Meanwhile my parents happily shared hot rotis and sabzi! Truth be told I could have switched but they don’t eat fish!
—
And Then Dad Wanted… Jeera?!
While we were eating, my dad suddenly said he wanted something. And guess what? He wanted saunf (fennel) and Jeera (cumin). I looked at him. “Papa… we’re in Thailand.” He wanted fennel. He wanted Jeera. I said, “You’re not going to find these things here. This isn’t India.” And then came the surprise. The restaurant actually had them. I was shocked. I was like: “WAIT. WHAT?” So even in Thailand, my dad’s beloved fennel and Jeera had somehow found him. Apparently, he could travel internationally… but his fennel and jeera had to come too.
😂
Before paying the bill, we ordered mango sticky rice. It was really good. I ate a little and then passed it to my mom. She finished it, you get the drift? I like to order but not to finish! Then we paid the bill. And finally… ICE CREAM TIME.
—
The Coconut-Raspberry Experiment 🍨
We went back to the ice cream shop. I chose coconut and raspberry. The coconut was good. The raspberry was good. But together? NO. Absolutely not. It was like two perfectly good people being forced to work together when they clearly did not get along.
My mom had coconut ice cream too. Just coconut, how delicious! So we stood outside and finished our ice cream. My dad said, “I’ll meet you in the room.” And off he went. We finished our ice cream and walked back towards the hotel. Outside the hotel, there was a little area where we could wash our feet and hands because of the proximity to the beach. I washed my hands. Then we entered the lobby.
From there, we went towards the left side, climbed the stairs towards the pool area, walked around the pool, climbed the smaller stairs, and finally reached the lift. We went up to our room. We rang the bell. My dad opened the door. And finally… HOME. Well, hotel-home.
—
Tea, Kindle and Midnight Packing Up
My mom went to use the bathtub. I sat on the bed and started reading my book on my Kindle. After some time, my mom came out and asked: “Do you want tea?” My dad and I both said: “Yes.” My mom made English breakfast tea for herself and my dad, and jasmine tea for me. We drank our tea while I continued reading.
Then… 12:00 AM. Midnight. My dad suddenly announced: “Let’s pack up.” Now, when my dad says “pack up,” he doesn’t mean pack the suitcases. He means: TURN OFF EVERYTHING. All the lights. Bathroom light? OFF. Curtains? CLOSED. Room lights? OFF. Everything? OFF.
There were a couple of tiny lights that couldn’t be switched off, including the AC light. My dad looked at them and basically accepted defeat. “Okay. If I can’t close them, I can’t close them.” The entire room became dark. My mom and I went to sleep. And my dad… entered his nighttime era.
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The Great Thailand AC War: Dad vs. The Temperature 🥶
Now, this is where things became interesting. My dad woke up during the night. And he had a problem. A BIG problem. He doesn’t like sleeping in a completely closed room. Even if the air conditioning is running, he feels suffocated when all the doors and windows are closed. And now we were in a hotel room with everything closed. So at around midnight, my dad’s sleep mission became: Find the perfect AC temperature before sunrise.
He tried sleeping. No. Too cold. He changed the AC temperature. Too hot. He changed it again. Too cold. While he was doing this he told us in our sleep we would either throw the blanked or snuggle in if the AC was too cold! So AC hot we removed the blanket. Then Ac too cold we put the blanket back. Went on repeat for a while, while we were still fast asleep! Blanket off. Blanket on. AC up. AC down. At this point, the blanket was probably thinking: “Dear Sir, please make a decision, all of us want a peaceful night!”
My dad eventually opened the balcony door. He went outside onto the veranda. He lay down on the sofa. Maybe he thought: “Fresh air. Finally. I can sleep.” He tried. Still couldn’t sleep. So he came back inside. Changed the AC temperature again. Then he lay down. Then he got hot. Then he got cold. Then the blanket came off. Then the blanket came back. Then the AC temperature changed again. This continued… and continued… and continued.
Meanwhile, my mom and I were sleeping peacefully. We had no idea that The Great AC War was happening just a few feet away. My dad was basically fighting for survival against the thermostat. At one point, I imagine the AC itself was thinking: “Sir, I have already done everything I can.”
My dad kept tossing and turning until around 3:00 AM. Finally, after changing the temperature settings approximately a thousand times, opening the balcony door, closing it, removing blankets, pulling them back on, and conducting what can only be described as a full scientific experiment… he finally found an AC setting that worked for him. PEACE. At last. The thermostat surrendered. The blanket surrendered. My dad surrendered.
And, finally… everyone could sleep, peacefully. 😴
When I learned about all the drama in the morning, I was already wondering what the day in Phuket was going to bring. And knowing our trip so far… I had a feeling Phuket wasn’t finished with us yet. 😂🇹🇭
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