We arrived in the evening, late evening, it was already dark, as we exited the aircraft, better half was still raving about the flight, and how he couldn’t wait for the next one! ‘Hold your horses’, I said, ‘we have 5 days yet’ … so off we go, immigration was quick and efficient, and our hotel transfer car was waiting for us outside.
The drive from the airport to Patong is around 30 minutes with minimum traffic, with some of the steepest roads I have ever driven. An experience in itself.

I had chosen Patong knowing of its ‘lively’ nightlife, and famed Bangla Road but had chosen a hotel a little off the beaten track. The Nap Patong hotel is far enough away that if you do not want the hussle and bussle, then you wont have it, but within walking distance for those who do. The hotel itself is very modern, and relatively new, with everything you could need for a relaxing stay. Friendly staff and complimentary mini bar were just some of the things that made our stay better. The hotel is 5 minutes walk from the beach, and 10 minutes walk to the Jung Ceylon shopping centre, and Bangla Road.

Phuket on the other hand … well, having visited both Bangkok and Pattaya previously, I knew what to expect, the better half on the other hand spent the first couple of days walking around with his jaw trailing the floor. (and that wasn’t just at the ‘specials’ on offer) … Patong for want of a better way of putting it, has what I shall term, its own special charm. It’s smelly, dirty, packed to the gunnels with seedy bars and hotels, but also has some lovely scenery and views if you look hard enough. The Thai people on the other hand are some of the friendliest in the world.

We spent the next 5 days exploring Patong, with one of the days being our 2 year anniversary. We are not yet married, but are engaged, and this was both our 2 year together and one year of engagement anniversary. So we celebrated in the evening with a lovely meal out in a fine dining establishment … Burger King. Yes, you did read right …

I must explain that there was a reason for choosing such a classy place to celebrate. The better half has never been the most ‘conventional’ of folk. When he finally decided to ask for my hand a year ago, he had not thought that particular night would be the one, but it came to pass that indeed it was.

After a night out, we were hungry so decided to pass through the BK drive thru on the way home, after doing so we arrived at his brothers place where better half deemed this to be the time and place for a marriage proposal … So sitting in his brothers apartment, I see a light bulb go on above his head. ‘oh oh’ I thought, what’s going on here? Realising that he did not have the ring on him, he goes ‘’I don’t have your ring on me, but you can have my whopper, will you marry me’, and promptly drops to one knee holding the whopper with both hands out to me. How could I refuse ?! and who says romance is dead eh? It truly was one of the funniest moments of my life, and one I shall not forget.

So the day comes for us to leave Phuket for Jakarta. We had checked out at noon, and our car was coming around 5pm. We had mooched around for a few hours, and at 4pm we had about an hour to spare, so I decided to check facebook. This is where the fun began! I saw news of the Japan Earthquake. I looked at Better Half, he looked at me, and immediately we knew we had some decisions to make. At that time, there was Tsunami warnings out for Japan, Hawaii, The Philipines, and … Jakarta! So my facebook starts going mad, everyone asking if we were ok etc etc … our families live in the UK, so to them, Jakarta and Japan are not that far from each other, obviously that’s not the case, but try explaining that to frantic family with a non-travel backround! Impossible.

After asking a now very pale better half what he wanted to do, he said ‘do what you think is best’ … way to take charge of a situation! After half an hour of indecision, and with smoke coming from my ipad, I made a decision … Now before I continue, could I ask, what would you have done?