Raw ingredients

Dr. Cracknell first gave us a lesson in the nature of food; why we eat the way we do, and how to eat healthier. “Look at your teeth. It’s been noted that only 12% of our teeth are meant for meat. Humans are omnivores. We’re meant to eat everything, but meat just isn’t healthy for us.” The 64-year old triathlete told us how he first stopped eating all meat, except for chicken and fish. Then, he took out fish. He then became a full on vegetarian, then a raw vegan. The process spanned about four years.

“Food today is heavily modified. Vegetables and fruits are injected with pesticides, and animals are full of hormones and painkillers. When you eat a steak, you’re also eating everything that cow was poisoned with. An animal in a farm dies in pain and anguish. That energy flows into the food, and you eat it. I think that’s quite harmful.” After spending time doing research, he decided he would take the challenge: going vegan. Four years later, the results of his experiments are in his shop, for everyone’s benefit and enjoyment.

We followed five recipes; pesto sauce, tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, combined them into a lasagna and then made chocolate brownies. We made each sauce from scratch with ingredients that Dr. Cracknell provided. With each step, he asked us for the next ingredient, helping us to remember the recipes. As we finished each sauce, we took a taste test. The verdict was unanimous: we made the best pesto, tomato and ricotta cheese sauces we had ever tasted.

Impressed with our saucy creations, we moved to the lasagna. We peeled strips of raw zucchini and layered them with each of the sauces, as you would with regular lasagna. After the addition of garnish, the finished product was on the plate.

We were all surprised. It was the quickest lunch we had ever made. After eating it, we concluded that it was also the tastiest. We learned that the best part about raw food isn’t just its health benefits, it is also the ease and convenience of preparing it. Our entire view of vegan cooking changed, and the transition started with our taste buds. Oh, and our committed carnivore isn’t so committed anymore.

In addition to the wellness house, Dr. Cracknell runs a shop and restaurant where he sells vegan cookies, power bars and breakfast bars; all made on site using natural ingredients and homemade dehydrators.

As of December 1st, his restaurant will become fully organic, which provides the people of Phuket even more incentive to go and try the food. The class goes from 9:00 A.M. until noon, and costs 2,500 Baht. If you can spare a Thursday morning from the beach to go learn from Dr. Cracknell, you should do it, the experience is worth it.

Living right and raw: a not-so-cooking lesson with Dr. Richard Cracknell is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Avoid! Early tin cutting machine in action

The B180 million Phuket Tin Mining Museum on Kathu-Koh Kaew Road in the Phuket countryside was officially opened in early March after almost five years of building and installation of attractions. (see our previous story about the Tin Mining Museum)

It should be a must see for visitors and locals alike to the island as it substantially showcases, for the first time in one venue, Phuket’s colourful tin mining past.

Indoor and outdoor exhibits in both English and Thai languages, outdoor displays including an abandoned mine with rail cars transporting and other machinery used in tin mining will carry visitors back to the early days when Chinese settlers began the tin mining industry that still survives to this day on a much smaller scale in the south of the island.

The building is designed in the Sino-Portuguese style of early Phuket Town when the Portuguese were early settlers and which gives the old Phuket Town such a distinctive flair. It is built in a square around a large open courtyard and features numerous explanations of the tin mining methods and pictures of early mining.

Step back into Phuket history

The museum is part of an ongoing strategy by the Phuket administration to promote cultural, as well as natural, attractions on Phuket.

The facility covers 400 rai and was completed in mid-2008.

Tin mining well precedes tourism as Phuket’s major income earner. One interesting aspect of the Phuket tin is that it was not associated with arsenic, as many types of tin are, thus making it less dangerous to mine.

The museum is open daily from 9am to 4pm. Entry costs B100 per foreign adult; B50 per foreign child [under 15] B50 per Thai adult and B20 per Thai child. Free entry for students in uniform, Thais over 60 years old and disabled people.

Tin Mining Museum Finally Opens: Get in Touch With Phuket’s Colourful History is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Brush will be an artistic centre on Phuket

John Underwood, an understated, almost 60 Australian, has a vision for Phuket’s art scene: create a centre of excellence where artists of every hue can gather and display their works.

That place is Brush, Underwood’s new restaurant on Kalim Beach with fantastic sunset views, a eclectic tapas menu from an award winning chef and with the potential to become the focal point for the Phuket artist community.

Sculpture, painting and other forms of conventicle art are on the “menu” at Brush. But Underwood also has other, more creative ideas.

“Why not do an exhibition of those crazy mudflaps on Thai trucks with pictures of movies stars, such as Silvester Stallone? Or why not tattoos? They are now universally accepted all over the world by everyone. Why not an exhibition of the best tattoos on Phuket?”

Such creativity is expected from John Underwood by those who know him. After 19 years on Phuket he has developed a reputation for producing works of art out of every conceivable type of material, much of it recycled, at his Underwood factory on Phuket’s by-pass road.

He has worked with most of the large hotels on Phuket, including doing the design for Indigo Pearl, a northern island resort noted for its unusual look and feel.

Brush is his latest project, very much aimed at bringing the island’s highly varied artist community to the public–and together.

The restaurant will stage exhibitions, fashion shows, kinetic art [moving art] shows. In fact, anything that has an artistic bent to it, Underwood is willing to give it a go.

A model might be Bangkok’s now famous Bed Restaurant, where patrons lie back on comfortable “beds” to eat food while watching artists at work.

Patrons at Brush won’t be lying down, but the restaurant is laid out in such a way that a fashion show, or a sculpture beavering away while other eat and drink, could carry on in front of appreciative eyes.

Brush Restaurant To Paint New Art Scene On Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Computer generated image of The Yamu, as envisaged before the arrival of the global financial crisis. The final result may look very different.

Construction has resumed on The Yamu, the five-star-plus resort on the east coast of Phuket, which was stalled by the Global Financial Crisis, after developers Campbell Kane (CK) found a new backer, Singapore’s Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL).

HPL is controlled by Ong Beng Seng, and already has Four Seasons and Hard Rock Hotels in Asia in its portfolio. Ong also owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix and the city-state’s first Ferrari dealership.

Originally, the hotel was to have been run by Adrian Zecha’s GHM (Zecha is the man behind Aman Resorts), but CK and GHM parted ways about a year ago. It has now been announced that a management agreement has been signed with Como Hotels and Resorts, also based in Singapore, which already runs high-end resorts and hotels in London, Bangkok, Bali, Bhutan, the Maldives and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

The hotel, which will be known as The Yamu by Como, is now set to open in September next year.

‘”The addition of this Phuket property is aligned with Como Hotels and Resorts’ expansion plans within the region, supporting our growth strategy to include key destinations within the Como portfolio,” says Harry Apostolides, Vice President of Business Development, Como Hotels and Resorts.

Original design by Philippe Starck for a room at The Yamu. Whether Starck will come back on board under the new ownership is "not yet decided".

“This new Como resort will be our second Thai property, after the Metropolitan in Bangkok. These two properties will, in concert, showcase both the vibrancy and serenity of Thailand. Phuket is one of the top tourist destinations in the region, and we have focused on its east coast— an area of outstanding natural beauty and great biodiversity.”

Peter Hamilton, Managing Director of Campbell Kane, added, “We are pleased to be working with Como Hotels and Resorts on this venture. Como’s range of properties and the experiences they offer continue to redefine luxury travel.”

The hotel may end up looking very different from the original concept. For example, the original plan included an exclusive hotel within the hotel, the Club Villas, with its own dedicated hotel facilities. Hamilton told the Observer that there will be pool villas, but whether they will be run as a separate enclave is “not yet decided”.

Also not yet decided is whether the property will have a state-of-the-art recording studio, as was originally planned.

The earlier concept also included gorgeous design by Philippe Starck, probably the world’s best-known designer. Whether he will be involved now, Hamilton said, is also “not yet decided”.

One facility that has survived the ups and downs, however, is the 100-metre pool, hanging in thin air at one end.

Singapore’s Como to run Yamu hotel on Phuket’s east coast is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Montigne under sail - 100 tons doing nine knots.

Who said the days of the tall ships were over? Granted, there are no more tea clippers, just a sprinkling of square riggers – mostly used for sail training – but if you have the money, you can still sail in real style.

The Observer was recently invited aboard the Montigne (pronounced Mon-tig-nee) when she moored at the outer edge of Yacht Haven marina.

Three masts as tall as the Eiffel Tower, floor to ceiling marble in the bathrooms (it would seem ungracious to refer to them as “heads”), a sundeck with Jacuzzi, a huge aft deck with a table equipped with the biggest lazy susan we’ve ever seen and, in the lounge below, grand dining to the accompaniment of music played on a baby grand piano.

Let’s not forget the house wine (Yacht wine? Boat wine?): Chateauneuf du Pape, one of the most delicious wines ever invented, which – for a good year – will set you back B10,000+ a bottle.

This is definitely the life.

Launched in 2009 from the the Aegean Yachts yard in Turkey, she’s owned by an Asian gent, about whom we are allowed to say no more, though he does use the boat regularly – in fact, more regularly than your average $8-million Phuket villa owner does. But then, villas can’t hoist sail and head off down to Bali or up into Burmese waters.

There’s a crew of 10, including a chef who is genuinely worthy of the title, and headed by skipper Richard Felton, who’s been all at sea since the ’80s. “She’s quite impressive when she’s got all the sails up,” Richard says. With all seven sails set, “we can do nine knots which, for 400-odd tons of what is basically a motor yacht, is not bad.” For all you landlubbers nine knots is just under 17 kmh.

A wicked thought: If you stripped out all the marble and chucked the baby grand overboard, how much faster would she go? We’d keep the wine. We’d need the sustenance.

When the owner’s not on board, the Montigne is available for charter. Usually she spends six months along the cost from Burma to Malaysia, with the other six island hopping along Indonesia or the Philippines or even as far south as Australia. All the gear is on board for fun when Montigne drops the hook – diving kit, kayaks, speedboats.

Tempted to charter? Start here. Just for you, B4.8 million a week – that’s for 10 people.

Here are some more pix, each worth a thousand words.

The owner's cabin. Well, half of it, anyway.

More marble than Lord Elgin could shake a stick at.

Tinkling ivories, anyone? The formal dining table and the baby grand.

The aft deck, says skipper Richard Felton, is everyone's favourite part of the boat. You can see why.

Living the life as the yacht Montigne visits Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

There were plenty of boats on the water - 3 billion baht worth.

The eighth Phuket International Boat Show, still known by its origional initials, PIMEX, opened this morning at the Royal Phuket Marina with 86 exhibitors on the water and in the exhibition hall, a record number for the eight-year-old show. The total value of the boats on display exceeded 3 billion baht, said organisers Informa Yacht Group.

For the first time, the iconic Riva boat company, whose speedboats have appeared in countless movies and have been bought by the likes of George Clooney, Claudia Schiffer, Brigitte Bardot and Elizabeth Taylor, were at the show.

The new Jaguar XJ, the XFR and XKR cars were also on display. No, they don’t float, but they are very sexy and very fast. The XJ was mounted on a pontoon in the middle of the yacht basin, so test drives were out for the time being.

“We’re very happy to see so many exhibitors, marine and lifestyle, taking part in this year’s PIMEX. It’s a good sign for the Show, for Phuket and for the regional economy at large, and expectations are high for a good visitor turnout,” said Show Director, Andy Dowden. He added at the end of the day that 1,500 visitors had been counted through the gates, also a record for the show.

Sorry, no test drives today. Jag XJ on the water.

Sunseeker boats were well represented.

The locally made Andaman Cabriolet catamarans come well equipped.

A final bit of polishing before the show doors open.

Movenpick ice cream for anyone overheated by the weather.

Everything a deck-hand needs.

Pimex boat show breaks records is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Teischa Jones: just 13 but already a big talent.

Australian teenager Teischa Jones is set to be a music star after recording tracks at the Legend Music recording studio in Boat Lagoon. Teischa and her parents have lived in Phuket for seven years, but recently moved back to Australia for the children’s schooling and also, says her mother Deb, “due to Teischa’s desire to more involved in the performing arts”.

Teischa, who is just 13, says she has been singing all her life, “mostly in the shower”. But she got serious about it when she was 10. “I took up guitar about three years ago,” she told the Observer, “and I have learned most of what I know from the Internet. [Song] writing is something that I have just begun doing recently. I had played around with some of my own songs before but never really completed anything.”

The catalyst was meeting Deb and Gary Crause, who own Legend Music, Phuket’s first and so far only high-end recording studio. “Having the opportunity to be able to record made me realise that I didn’t want to record covers. I really wanted to write my own songs. I was really surprised at how quickly I was able to do this. “I started with the song Shooting Stars [click to listen] – I had been talking to my 14-year-old cousin who was struggling with some family issues and I really want to say, ‘Hey, its all going to be OK – you’re going to be great’. The words and the music just came together perfectly.”

Her mother says that the Crauses “were wonderfully supportive and made time for her to record.” Mum, too, is behind Teischa 1,000 percent. “I believe it is important for all kids – adults too – to have a passion and go for it. Regardless of whether you make it or not, there’s so much you gain on the journey.

“I don’t think young people today need to be locked into one profession; education is so easily available and changing directions not really that scary.” Friends, too, have been supportive, Teischa says. “They have all been really positive; I’ve had some really great comments from the songs I put on YouTube. Teischa is a big admirer of American singer-songwriters Colbie Caillat (“I love her style of music and her voice.”) and Tracey Chapman (“Her songs have so much meaning and she really makes you feel what she is singing.)”

There are distinct echoes of the two singers’ styles in her recordings. But that’s only part of her inspiration. “I believe that it is important to go through life being positive so I think many of my songs stem from that. I care about people and the environment so I am inspired by the beautiful moments we experience and the beautiful things we see.

“Growing up in Thailand has opened my eyes to different cultures and ways of life and has also made me realise the importance of our environment s you’ll notice many lines about nature.”
So far, performances have been limited to friends and family but, she says, “this is something I really want to start doing a lot more of. I want to be able to continue to write and hopefully get the opportunity to record a full CD of my original songs. So this is her career? “Absolutely!” she says.

* To listen to Teischa performing two more of her songs, go to the following YouTube links: Little Things; Live Your Life.

A new recording star is born in Phuket is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

The regatta is renowned for the spectacular backdrops to its races. Photo by Capt Marty.

It’s been a strange time in the life of Phuket’s regattas. First, 12 yachts had to be rescued from the beach after being stranded by unexpectedly heavy weather stranded them , forcing the cancellation of racing on the last day of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta (report here).

Now Phuket’s second regatta has had to be rescued in its entirety. The Phang Nga Bay Regatta, which has been a key event in the Southeast Asian yachting calendar, was in danger of collapsing after its founder and main organiser, photographer and publisher John Everingham, declared himself to be unable to help with the 2011 event.

“My publishing company was lost in a take-over, and since then the magazines that were largely responsible for floating the regatta by attracting sponsors have virtually disappeared under their new ownership.  I … no longer have the resources to back this event as before,” Everingham explained.

The regatta – often referred to as the Fun Regatta – is renowned for the scenery it travels through as it moves from one part of Phang Nga Bay to the next, often with yachts rafting up together for the night before racing again the following day. In recent years it has regularly attracted as many as 60 entries, with some of the King’s Cup boats staying on to compete in Phang Nga Bay.

With Everingham backing away from it (though he hopes to have the resources to get involved in the 2012 event), there was a danger that this year there would be no regatta.

Now, however, the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) which has been closely involved in organisation of the regatta for many years, has shouldered the burden, and the regatta will go ahead from February 9 to 13.

There will be a couple of changes. The most significant is a change in the name. It is now known officially as The Bay Regatta and, for this year at least, entries will be limited to 50 boats.

The ACYC have a big hill to climb. Commodore Mick Kealy remarked, ““There is a lot of work to be done quickly.” In particular, he noted that it is now very late in the day to attract the sponsors needed to make the event work.

But, he added, “Events like this, and the images they project of Phuket and the surrounding areas, are of tremendous value in boosting the region’s image, not just as one of the best yachting destinations in the world, but also as a high value tourism destination across the spectrum,” said Kealy.

“We’re hoping that marine leisure businesses – as well as other business in the three provinces targeting high-end clientele whose buying decisions are influenced by the lifestyle dream – will come forward and back the 2011 Bay Regatta.

“It would be great, too, if some ‘interested’ parties for whom the Andaman Sea is something of a ‘second sailing home’, could dip into their pockets for this critical year.”

Anyone interested in backing the event should email bayregatta@acyc-phuket.com. The event website is here.

The island’s third regatta, Phuket Race Week, will take place from July 20 to 24 next year.

Local club rescues Phang Nga Bay regatta is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

A little bit naughty: The LED wall behind the bar in the Famous nightclub.

Sound came. And Sound went. And now it’s Famous. For those who find this statement a little mysterious, Sound was the ritzy nightclub that opened in Jungceylon in July last year with huge fanfare and a bevy of stars and starlets including songbird Tata Young, but closed rather quietly earlier this year.

Now the interior of the club has been stripped out – apart from the flying saucer deejay booth – and it’s been reborn as Famous. Small tables with stools have replaced the plush, sweeping booths, and the curvy ceiling has gone, leaving a fairly stark and functional venue. The bar, however, is a marvel – a 30-metre stretch backed by a wall of LEDs flashing patterns and sexy pictures. Apart from that the lighting is simple but effective, red and blue spots sweeping the floor and occasional bursts of strobe.

Sound levels are high enough for partying, yet still low enough for conversation, which is unusual in Phuket.

Of course, there had to be a big party to mark the occasion. So last night the Lambos, Ferraris and Porsches lined up outside the entrance, stiletto heels and cleavage were de rigeur for the girls while the gents wore… Ah, who cares what they were wearing.

The biggest change, however, is the upper floor, the Famous Beach Club, with its own deejay station looming over all, its long inviting pool with, at the far end, a large raised sala and, along one side, comfortable tents for lounging in.

Connecting the two is a staircase and the glass bottom of the pool, so that swimmers and paddlers are visible from the disco below. The effect is unusual.

Opinions were very positive, so maybe Famous will be more successful than its predecessor. Just to be sure, management has hired 60 hostesses to keep punters drinking and, we are told, is offering bounties to a further 200 pretty faces to decorate the place every night. Definitely an attraction.

We’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Upstairs, the deejay booth in the Famous Beach Club looks across the pool.

Looking the other direction, toward the elevated sala with the Beach Club bar underneath it.

Girls in the pool...

...and what they looked like from below.

Who cares what the men were wearing?

The music in the club is loud, but not too loud for conversation.

Ground zero: A burst of strobe hits the dance floor.

Becoming Famous in Patong’s newest nightclub is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.

Comedian, juggler, monocyclist and balloon artist Jeremy Eaton from Canada. Just check out the faces in the crowd.

It was shuffling room only in some parts of the old town as tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of the old town of the annual Phuket Old Town Festival.

But with six stages dotted around the old town, there was plenty to keep the crowds well amused. At each stage there were three street performances, from Thailand and many other countries – jugglers, comedians, magicians and buskers of all sorts.

And there was food enough to feed the Golden Hordes – just huge amounts of it, all delicious.

The festival runs until Sunday night, with performances starting at around 5pm. Thalang Rd, Krabi Rd, and Thepkrassatri Rd from the Dibuk Rd junction  to the roundabout are off-limits to vehicles of all kinds, with traffic jammed in all the surrounding roads as drivers sought parking spaces.

Best advice: get someone else to do the driving, and be prepared for a long walk from and to where the car is parked. But very well worth the trek. More pictures below to whet your appetite.

Abducted by aliens?

An island of quiet concentration.

Bright lanterns, with the Thalang Rd dragon.

Juice bar, Phuket-style.

Oh won't you satay-ayayayay just a little bit longer?

The rapt crowd watches a performer at Stage 1, next to the TAT offices.

Sweet stuff

Phuket Old Town Festival under way is an article from: Phuket Observer - Phuket lifestyle magazine.