Happy New Year in Pattaya

New Year's Eve is a big deal in Bangkok, but with a six year old and an almost one year old, we don't have a lot of party options.  I was reading different vacation recommendations, and read one about New Years at the beach in Pattaya watching fireworks from the hotel room.  That seemed like a perfect solution.  The kids could go to sleep at a reasonable hour (and so could we, if we wanted to), and then we could all wake up to watch fireworks from the comfort of our hotel balcony.  Plus, Pattaya is a quick two hour drive away on a major highway, so it's easy to get to with a car full of baby gear.

The trick was finding a hotel where we were certain of a good view from the hotel room, and we weren't being charged an arm and a leg for the privilege.  With some travel agent help, we settled on the Royal Cliff Resort, and we were very happy with our view.  Google can combine these into a big panorama shot.  Here is our view in chunks from right to left.

And here's the combo.

On New Year's Eve there were all kinds of fireworks and floating lanterns coming from the far right, which is where the town is.

Our hotel shot fireworks from the area of the middle picture, which was almost alarmingly close, and there was a big Mardi Gras themed party with a live band near the infinity pool on the left.

So the New Years part of the plan worked out great.  The best part though was that the rest of the vacation (the other 47 hours and 59 minutes) was equally successful.

One of the draws for this resort was their kids' club called Funtasea.  We had shown Vivian pictures, and she was so excited, she wanted to go and play as soon as we checked in.

It was a really fun set up, with slides, climbing areas, toys, bean bag chairs, movies, and iPads.  The best part was that there were other kids there who were up for all kinds of games.  We did have to pay a little extra (200 baht or $6.50 for four hours), but it was well worth it.  While Vivi enjoyed the kids' club, Jeff, Elena, and I enjoyed the view and the breeze from one of the restaurants and then went up to the room to enjoy the balcony.  

Eventually we ordered Vivian spaghetti with tomato sauce from room service for dinner, and then extricated her from the kids' club, fed her, and headed off to the infinity pool for a sunset swim.

It was fabulous.

The next day, Vivian wanted to go right back to the kids' club, but we convinced her to have some family time first.  We went for a walk and explored the resort a bit.

On our walk, we found another pool that looked like a lot of fun, but when we came back in swim gear, we were told that only people staying at one of the fancier hotels could use that pool.  We were a bit irked, but decided to let it go, and go back to our own big pool.  

Jeff and Vivian had a great time swimming around and playing games of their own invention.  Elena was all suited up and ready for her first pool adventure.

Unfortunately, the water was quite chilly, and she didn't like it, so we spent most of our pool time sitting on the loungers, playing with the towels and smiling and waving and Jeff and Vivi.  

We'll try again when it's hot outside instead of just warm.

Once Vivian was cleaned up from pool time, she went straight back to the kids' club.  Right next to the kids' club were a couple displays from a 3D art show called Art in Paradise.  It's set up so that you can put yourself in the painting.

 We had some fun with it :-)

After dropping Vivi off,  Jeff and I took Elena exploring and found another beach.

We also found a perfect lunch spot.

The view was great, there was a cool breeze, and Elena fell asleep, so we stayed there for two hours.  Eventually we retrieved Vivian and fed her too.  She admired the para-sailors and decided that she wanted to try it when she got bigger.

Then we all went back to the room for what was supposed to be quiet rest time, but instead of napping, Elena decided to make friends with the lamp.

Eventually it got dark, and Vivian insisted on putting on her fancy New Year's dress.  Luckily, it's comfortable, because she ended up sleeping in it too.

Around 8pm, the live band started up.  They actually had good song selections, but the singers they had were not quite up for it.  For example, one of the most painful was their version of Fun.'s "We Are Young".  The singer just couldn't do it, not that most of us can, but most of us also know better than to try in public.  We decided to give them A for effort and C for execution.

Everyone else fell asleep by 9pm, but I stayed up reading, and at about 11pm Jeff woke back up.  He and I sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the show.  Just before midnight, I woke Vivian up.  She was definitely out of it, but made her way to the balcony.  The fireworks started up the coast before midnight.  Our hotel did a countdown from the stage, and then fire works shot off almost right in front of our room.  It was beautiful, but LOUD.  Vivian stayed on the balcony for a while with her hands over her ears, and then she went back inside to watch from behind the sound barrier of the sliding glass door.  The fireworks were so loud, they woke Elena up too, so I bounced between the balcony and checking on the girls.  

It was a bit crazy, but I think everyone except for Elena really enjoyed it.

We slept in the next morning, and slowly made our way downstairs to eat breakfast outside on the terrace near the pool.  After breakfast, we walked down to the infinity pool for one last lounge.

After soaking up some sun, we packed everything back in the car and got on the road.  Luckily, we knew how to get home, because this is is a typical highway sign.  

That summarizes the driving experience in Thailand.

Our final verdict on Pattaya: the town is crummy, the beach is meh, but the resort was fun and relaxing, and it was easy to get to.  If we want a quick beach getaway, we could go there again.  We have several other beach destinations to try out first though.  It's a tough life ;-)