Birthday with Big Buddha

As you may or may not know, this past Wednesday I celebrated my 23rd birthday. How does one celebrate a birthday in Thailand you may ask? 

Well honestly, about 9 hours of the day were spent in my TESOL class, but I still managed to fit something fun in. After class, we grabbed a group of people and took a trip up to Big Buddha to watch the sunset. 

Phuket's Big Buddha is one of the island's most well known and revered landmarks, known among Thais as the Phra Puttamingmongkol Akenakkiri Buddha in full. When we were driving up the mountain, we could spot Big Buddha perfectly resting on the very top the mountain. When we finally made it up there, we realized that unfortunately, Big Buddha itself is currently under a construction project and had scaffolding all around it. Nonetheless, it was still awesome. 

I think that without a doubt, Big Buddha has the best view of Phuket. Essentially, you have a 360-degree view of the island. Since we decided to go for sunset, we had the neat experience of watching the view turn from day to night within a matter or minutes. 

While we were sitting and enjoying the view, Colin (one of my classmates) suddenly pulled out a Styrofoam takeout container. I remember thinking to myself that it was kinda odd he would bring his dinner up here. But he opened it up to reveal a piece of cheesecake with a candle on top and everyone started to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. I was so surprised! Because of the wind, it took about five minutes and five people to light the candle but we eventually got it and I was able to make my wish.

However, the surprises were not over for the day. When I got back to my hotel room, a staff member from the hotel knocked on my door. When I opened it up, he was was holding a mini birthday cake and said "for you!" When I asked who it was from he responded "Happy Birthday!" and just walked away. How they knew it was my birthday or that coffee flavored cake is my absolute favorite is still a mystery.

I think my 23rd birthday came with perfect timing as I start fresh with a new life in Thailand. This was my second birthday spent abroad and I'm sure it won't be the last.