My sleep last night was a bit broken as I tried to keep up with any texts and emails I got, but overall it was fine. I did end up waking up at 3am and unfortunately didn't fall back asleep. Oh well, after breakfast nap maybe!
At 5:25am (October 23, 2023), the sun started peaking out and Hunter and I went on the balcony to watch it come out. It was very peaceful and the ocean sounds were relaxing. We even saw an early morning fisherman!
Sunrise here was incredible!
Ocean sounds
Spotted fisherman!
Gonna be a nice and sunny day
Up close fisherman
More sun
Around 7am we finally decided to get up, get dressed, and find breakfast! As we exited the room and now with the daylight, we saw some of the decor which was quite interesting. They call this building the Department of Anthropology and it sure was a bit strange! Hunter was not a fan of all the weird heads/faces around our room and building as some of them had some vaguely eugenecist vibes. Getting to breakfast was quite the trek, but we made our way along the beach for a nice morning walk. It was surprisingly hot even this early in the morning and I was already worried about getting burned, especially after our early morning experiences last year in Phuket!
Hunter was not thrilled
An art...or an pilot?
Beach with friendly employees cleaning up trash that washes up on shore
A quiet pool
Friendly cat
Once we finally found the entrance to breakfast, after what felt like forever, we were quickly seated and then headed to investigate all the options available! There was a decent amount of food available, but weirdly nothing that jumped out at us that was "special" like other Asian resorts we have gone to in Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. The selection was vast, however, and we both found yummy things to eat.
American breakfast option
Egg station
Fruits
Miso soup station
Sushi station
Korean options including bulgogi
Grilled chicken
BiBiMBap (Korean rice dish)
More fruits!
Salad staion
Cold meats
Bánh Mì
Round 1
Hunter, always capturing my best looks
Eggs Benedict
After eating breakfast, Hunter decided to have a touch of an existential crisis which included researching another Marriott property we wanted to go to in semi nearby Malaysia. We could totally leave and make it there before 10pm if we wanted. We headed back to our hotel room to try and make a choice. Unfortunately, our experience here is just not hitting the typical JW Marriott in Asia level, which is okay, it happens. We did find out recently there's been a ton of changes at this resort, so that's probably impacting their usual operations. Many recent reviews are also complaining about some of the things that disappointed us as well. In the end, we decided to stay here and make the best of our trip and we're looking forward to the two big activity days I planned for tomorrow and Thursday!
Back to the room via the beach
One of the stand alone villas
After the research and decision making we headed again to explore the main street with shops here called Rue de Lamarck. It was a quite cute street setup and very on-theme for the resort's sort of French colonial Harry Potter vibe. Unfortunately, since covid, they don't have many of the shops occupied anymore.
Funny swing
Amazing mural art all around, Hunter appreciated the retro aviation vibes
The main street, decorated with lanterns
Back in the main lobby
Behind the lobby building
As we finally were making our way back to our room to get changed for swimming, Hunter was contacted on the app about another room with an elevator on the 5th floor that would be available to us if we wanted. We decided to check it out and thankfully were right in front of the new building they were proposing since our room was further away and our feet were already tired from the 3 trips so far between breakfast and exploring. So we waited for them to meet us, which did feel like forever, to see the new room. We decided we would change (because Hunter did not like all the weird human heads in the other building) and they drove us back to our old room for packing. Once we were packed up, we called them and they brought us to the new place in the department of agriculture. We dropped off our stuff and finally headed to the pool!
Chocolates delivered to our room
Found a cool friend we think was a skink
The pool we went to is called the Shell Pool and is for ages 18+ which is nice. They have a much larger pool available for everyone too, but we liked that we were the only ones at this shell pool. This pool also has won an award for best pool in Southeast Asia! We aren't sure about that yet, and will have to do some more exploring and get back to you with our research.
Peace and calm
After swimming for a while, we decided to order a seafood pizza for lunch poolside. It took about 30 minutes to arrive and just in time as we got out of the pool because my fingers were very wrinkled. This pool was the perfect temperature and very refreshing, I could have stayed in it forever which is not typical for me! We stayed at the pool from around 12:15 to 3:30 pm and I was like a little fish enjoying every bit of it. We then headed back to our new room and relaxed. They had delivered a nice fruit tray for us which was a great snack after swimming! We watched some YouTube and then decided to take a little nap, which of course turned into a 3-hour nap for us!
Ordering some food!
Enjoying the sun and warm water
Time to eat!
Back to the room for an afternoon nap
We woke up to an employee entering our room for turndown service because we forgot to deadbolt the door. He quickly left when he saw us asleep in bed. We decided to get up eventually and take a shower since we were pretty hot. I also adjusted the thermostat to make it a bit cooler. After showering, we decided to order room service as our tummies were growling! We ordered the prosciutto pizza since our lunch seafood pizza was so tasty! We also got drinking ice for our Coke lights again. It arrived pretty quickly and we brought it to the chaise at the foot of the bed, watching another episode of our favorite travel show jetlagged.
Another solid pizza in Vietnam
Jetlag!
After dinner, we noticed a pretty incredible lighting storm and decided to spend some time outside on our massive balcony watching it. We both love experiencing the crazy weather around the world, so it was a nice end to our day.
Crazy clouds and lightning
Time for bed
Date: October 23, 2023
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