Shala (la la la lala lala)A few glorious days in Phuket

We're back!

That is to say, Brian and I have returned to Phuket, Thailand, the scene of our January 2012 post-teaching-in-Korea straight-outta-Guangzhou CELTA-course month long stint for yet another post-teaching-in-Asia straight-outta-Guangzhou (this time having lived there, not just visited) personal improvement month long stint. Because if something works, you should totally do it again two years later; isn't that what they say?

And is Phuket just as we left it?  Are all our favorite restaurants still open? Is the Thai iced coffee as delightsome? Do the birds sing, the pool waters glisten, the smells of curry entice, and the rays of sunshine warm both our faces and our hearts?  No, no, but yes and YES!

We hatched the you-can-go-back-to-Phuket-again plan a few months ago and we have made it happen. I just sat there one day during the Guangzhou rainy season (which lasts about eight months) and thought: when we leave this place, we should totally live in Phuket for a month again. I'm really happy that Brian was on board with this plan, because I pretty much would have done it anyway...but of course he was! Because this place is magical and lovely and perfect and nothing could make it better except maybe if we could have brought Quincy with us...but that's another story.

So far, I have successfully plunged into my swimming/writing/eating/reading/coffee/relaxing/strolling the streets of Old Town regimen, Brian has acquired a bicycle monthly rental for what I believe is properly referred to as his "bike-the-!@#*-out-of-this-island" conquest, and I have even found a pretty nice yoga place. It's down the road a piece, toward Chalong, near the zoo (gross), so it is a bit of an adventure to get there, or rather, to get back after the songthaews have stopped running (hello, bargaining for a moto taxi ride! thanks for the spare helmet!), but it was in such a pleasant location!  Up some wooden steps to an open air shala. What a lovely setting for an hour-and-a-half yoga session, although maybe doing it at dusk is not such a great idea for the mosquito-prone, such as me. Don't feel bad if you don't know what a shala is, because I didn't either, really, before today. You can tell that my ten+ years (I'm so OLD!) of yoga practice have been in gyms and on my own, eh? Because: huh. Shala. What do you know?

I could sit on the terrace gazing at the palm treetops, the clock tower, and the shimmering swimming pool forever, but I must interrupt that a few times a week to go to the beach, of course.

Phuket. Yes, please.