Green Forest Restaurant

I first saw the Green Forest restaurant over a year ago, when we took a walk up Monkey Hill (Khao To Sae) which is the big hill on the north side of Phuket Town with all the TV and Radio aerials on it. The restaurant was brand new then, we went in for a drink only and decided to go back "some time". As often happens, plenty of time passed, until a couple of weeks ago when I was driving somewhat randomly in town, thought about lunch and decided to try Green Forest.



You can drive up the hill, although it's very narrow if 2 cars want to pass. Easy on a moped, or hey you can even walk up! I was kind of early for lunch and I was the only customer until about 30 minutes later when a couple of Thai guys arrived for what looked like a business lunch. I believe the place is much busier in the evening. I noticed there is a small stage for live music. But on this day, I had the pick of all the tables, so chose the best one...



Now, I am a little wary when a restaurant like this, which I am sure caters mostly to locals, brings an English menu with only about 20 dishes on it. They did. I ignored it, as they had already brought me a much larger menu with all the food in Thai and the drinks in English and Thai. I do object to restaurants having a different menu for foreigners, and I guess that because I was alone, they assumed I was just some tourist. I ordered from the Thai menu, although my Thai language skills are not perfect, I can read enough. My main choice was crispy fried catfish salad (Yam Pla Duk Foo - ยำปลาดุกฟู) and an extra dish of fried rice with prawns.





(above) Yam Pla Duk Foo comes in 2 parts, though sometimes they are served on the same plate. The crispy fried catfish, and the mango salad. Together = perfect! And this one at Green Forest was very good, only 120 Baht, quite a big plate actually... I had ordered the fried rice because I thought the salad would not be this big!



(above) And the fried rice with prawns - there are some prawns in there somewhere! 100 Baht, a little more than I'd normally pay for fried rice, but it was tasty.

It was a slightly hazy day, quite common in the hot season (March / April) but the views from the restaurant were good. You're facing south and have some view to the west also. Could see the hilltop temple on Sirey Island to the west and a good view over the southwest side of town towards the bay of Phuket and Sapan Hin to the south.





Will go back, probably... the food was good, the view is great, BUT I object to the English menu and my bill was slightly padded. The catfish salad on the menu was 120 Baht, on the bill 150 Baht. There is no great issue with an extra 30 Baht, it's not going to bankrupt me, and I can't be certain that it was not an honest mistake, but the face of the waitress who rewrote the bill told the story. She took about 5 minutes to rewrite it after I kindly pointed out the error. Happy to give Green Forest a second chance. Maybe wait 6 months and the staff will probably be different. I do recommend this place for sure, but hate someone trying to pull a fast one. Thai people always check their bills.

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Phuket Seashell Museum

I had a free day last weekend, with some vague plans to try some new places. After lunch at a restaurant on Monkey Hill in Phuket town, and a little walk in town visiting a Hindu temple and a Sikh temple, I drove down towards Rawai beach on a hot sunny afternoon. On the main road from Chalong to Rawai, not far from the beach, on the right side is a place that I have probably driven past 500 times... the Phuket Seashell Museum. I'd really not given much thought to visiting before, because it's a "tourist attraction" and I'm not a tourist! I had a feeling it might be a complete waste of effort, but on a free day, and the entry fee is only 200 Baht... I thought "what the hell" and went to have a look.



You may see on the sign .. it's a museum and shop. I did not look at the shop, but I am sure people can find something worth buying! I just paid my 200 Baht and headed downstairs into the air conditioned underground display room. It was not a busy afternoon, just one minibus load of tourists (from Singapore, I think) in there. So I started wandering around. There are arrows painted on the floor to guide you on a path around all the displays. Not sure anyone follows the arrows. I only noticed them after about 10 minutes!





It's not a huge place. If you had minimal interest in shells and the natural world you might wander around in 10 minutes. But hey, guess what? This is a museum, and I found all the displays to be well labeled with lots of information. You can actually learn something here! The museum opened way back in 1997, showcasing the collection of Somnuek Patamakanthin and his son Somwang . As a diver, I certainly have an interest in the wonderful world of nature. The variety of shells on display here is quite wonderful. Well done to these guys for getting this together. I can just imagine them starting out on the beach in Rawai picking up shells, finding new ones ... the museum is now looked after by Somnuek's brother Somchai.



The collection has grown well beyond local Phuket shells. There are rare black cowry shells from New Caledonia, shells from Europe and more. Fossils too, I guess that Khun Somchai has spent some serious money to get some of these items here!





So there we go again! I think I'll take the kids to the Phuket seashell museum sometime soon, they enjoy walking along the beach picking up shells. My daughter especially. She's always picking up pretty shells.



I'd like her to find a 140 carat golden pearl! One of the "star" attractions at the Phuket seashell museum is a quite large, I suppose you could call it golden, not orangey/yellow? Pearl. It is apparently worth lots of money like tens of thousands of whatever. I did not see any specific security around it. But if you are the kind of person who appreciates pearls and jewels, then this big golden pearl might be something you'd gladly stare at for hours...



As far as I know, the Phuket seashell museum is open every day from dawn til dusk or something. I mean, you can't visit at 6am or 9pm, but during the day it's open and I think I will be back soon with the kids. Some of the "tourist attractions" in Phuket are worth a visit, even for cynics! I've been here since 1999, and the Phuket seashell museum has been open all that time... only took 12 years to visit!

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Sa Nang Manora Forest Park, Phang Nga

On our little exploratory drive around Phang Nga a couple of weeks ago, as well s visiting the very interesting Wat Thamtapan temple and eating good food with a great view at Tha Sai Seafood, we also stopped for a little walk at Sa Nang Manora Forest Park which had been recommended by friends. Since we were already in Phang Nga town checking out the temple, we thought "well, why not?" and headed out of town on the road north (which incidentally I'd like to follow further one day). Sa Nang Manora is only about 5 kilometers from Phang Nga town, then another couple of km down a side road to the right. Entry appears to be free. On this hot Saturday, there were only a few cars and a couple of local songthaew buses parked at the entrance.





It's very "jungly" with some big trees and lots of vines hanging down. A 2km nature trail is shown on a sign with such features as "Bat Cave" and "Shell Cave" marked. We did not walk 2km.. maybe next time! We just walked a way through the trees to find some pools and waterfalls.



And we will come back for sure, next time with swimming clothes and towels, for the nicest part of this forest park is the series of small waterfalls and pools, ideal for a swim on a hot, hot day. We'd not anticipated a waterfall that day, so did not have any swimming things with us. All we could do was paddle in the cool, cool water.



The waterfalls are nothing spectacular, but combined with the jungle setting, the lack of crowds, the peace and quiet, it's a little slice of paradise. Note to self : next time bring swimming clothes, towels ... and a picnic.





I like to get the kids out and about. They come with us wherever we go, exploring Phuket and the surrounding area. There's more to be learned than can be found in school books. They got plenty on this particular day - caves, waterfalls, a very weird temple, lots of great scenery ... a nice family day out. Here they are, posing on a fallen tree with their Mum's cousin (once removed). He's an army ranger and was having a short break staying with us before being shipped back to the restless south.



And there's more I want to see in the Phang Nga area such as the fishing village at Bang Pat, a temple called Wat Bang Riang, and Raman waterfall park which is close to the temple in a cave at Wat Suwan Kuha. I do love days like this with the family when we just drive off and explore, always seem to find something unexpected.

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Wat Thamtapan, Phang Nga

I know the blog is called "Jamie's Phuket" but the blog is not always limited to only things in Phuket province / on Phuket island. A day trip exploring in Phang Nga is easy enough. Phang Nga province is where you find yourself on the north side of the Sarasin Bridge. And we like Phang Nga, you can find a lot to do here, such as exploring Phang Nga Bay, including James Bond Island and Koh Panyee. A couple of weeks ago, we headed north towards Phang Nga Town. I had never ever stopped in Phang Nga Town because normally we drive towards Krabi and the east coast, and the junction where you turn off is just before the town. I wanted to drive through town and visit Wat Thamtapan, which I'd seen on Cathy and Gary's website (see here). The town is quite small, I was hoping for something like an "old town", but there was not so much to see. We stopped at Phung Chang Cave which was interesting, and then on to Wat Thamtapan, which was easy enough to find on a side street called Soi Thamtapan. This temple is a little different ...





I'm sure there's a Buddha somewhere, but the temple grounds are full of bizarre statues. And this is just the start. Hard to know where to look. We knew that there was a "hell" section to the temple, but first we saw a stairway leading up into the jungle, so we followed that, passing a statue of Lakshmi on a crocodile on the way. Well, why not?



And then we climbed up, and up, and up. A rather steep stairway, I nearly stepped on a snake. We had no idea where the stairs would lead! Well, it must have been built for something. Through the trees we climbed, until we reached a shrine with a great view across the town of Phang Nga.



Heading back down .. it really was steep!



And then, hell. Enter through the dragon's mouth. You then walk about 50 meters through the dragon, descending all the time. To hell.



As you exit from the dragon, statues show people seemingly praying to be spared the punishment. The Buddhist "hell" is called "Narok" in Thai. My kids cottoned on to the meaning pretty fast when we saw some of the statues. They decided quite fast that they should "Be good, for goodness sake". Or end up like these poor folks.







Not really something for kids, but, hey, call me a modern parent! Our daughter (age 10) was interested. Our son (age 7) was traumatised a bit worried. So, be good!

There is also a pretty big cave here, near the hell statues. It reaches back about 100m into the rock, and there is a path. Will investigate further next time, but it's the biggest cave I have seen in the area.





This really is a different kind of temple. Glad to have found it. If you have young kids, the visions of hell might not be such a good idea, and although I object to the use of religion as a form of control. My kids picked up the vibe pretty fast! Well, they are good anyway. One of these days, I have to write a blog post about things to do with kids, but look... I started this blog in 2006 when our daughter was 4, our son was 2. Almost everything here involves them. The whole blog is "Phuket for kids"! And look, there was a Buddha in Wat Thamtapan...



After this temple, we checked out a waterfall "forest park" called Sa Nang Manora, a few km north of Phang Nga Town. There are lots of waterfalls and caves in this area. Phang Nga is sparsely populated and very green. And there is more we want to see in the area. If you rent a car, Phang Nga town is only about 1 ½ - 2 hour drive from Phuket (depends where you start in Phuket!). Explore!

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Tha Sai Seafood, Phang Nga

Sometimes we visit a restaurant for the first time, and we instantly add it to our favourites list. We visited Tha Sai Seafood on March 3rd 2012 for a late lunch - we arrived about 2:30pm feeling hungry and thirsty after spending half a day already exploring in Phang Nga, visiting caves, a very odd temple and a forest park with waterfalls. I remembered hearing about this restaurant before and we have passed the turning before, it's off the road between Phang Nga and Krabi, but only about 15km from Phang Nga town. It was one of those "try something new" days which we ended up enjoying very much, and Tha Sai helped with that!

We parked hesitantly by the restaurant while the local village idiot tried to suggest we park in a different spot. It looked very quiet, and from the road, did not look like anything amazing really.



(above) entrance to Tha Sai Seafood on a quiet side road

But we were pleased to see that they offered Freshy Seafood :)



Well, we were committed to eating lunch, we were already into rumbly-belly time, plus I was dying for a cold beer! Through the entrance, and suddenly.... Wow. It was not obvious from the road, but the restaurant is right next to a wide mangrove river. There are several levels of seating, and we chose a table lower down. Here's the view from our table...



What a beautiful spot. We're coming here again, I said ... so long as the food is good! We had not ordered yet, and a return visit was being planned! A longtail boat chugged it's way past the restaurant. The river leads out into Phang Nga Bay.



Did I mention that I was thirsty? Before any food arrived, let's get the drinks in. Time can change a person. Time and circumstance. I do like a beer. I used to love real ale in England, but that's not so easy to find here. My beer of choice in Thailand is Chang. Hated by some, loved by others. Must be cold. You may see Thai people with ice in their beer. This may be viewed as odd by many visitors. We arrived at Tha Sai Seafood on a hot day, after walking around caves, temples and forests. Ice in my beer. OK!



Being a late lunch, there were only a few tables occupied, though I saw a lot of staff around, which indicates that is is a popular place. And a popular place in the middle of nowhere has to mean that people are willing to drive a bit for good food. And yes, the food was good. We ordered all kind of dishes. This is one of my favourites called "Yam Pla Dook Foo" - fluffy fried catfish salad...



And another one of my current favourites, thanks to my wife who insisted I try it. Never ate crab, but this is great! It's called Poo Nim - Soft shelled crab, and this is fried with garlic. And it goes just perfectly with a cold beer (with ice)...



We had plenty more too! It was one of those happy afternoons - find a new restaurant, great food, great view. Thai Sai Seafood is maybe a bit far to drive just for lunch, would take about 1 1/2 hours. But if we are in the Phang Nga area again, we'll eat here again. The day out we had was great for exploring - we also visited Wat Thamtapan Temple, and Sa Nang Manora forest park on the same day. With an early start to the day, a lot can be accomplished! There are more places I want to visit in the area such as the Raman Waterfall park and a fishing village called Bang Pat which has a restaurant and homestay. Days like this remind me how lucky we are to live here!

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Phuket Old Town Festival

The end of January was a busy time for festivals and fairs in Phuket! We had the Chalong Temple Fair, also a food fair at Sapan Hin (the south end of Phuket Town), it was Chinese New Year on the 23rd (welcome to the year of the Dragon!) AND from 28th - 30th January there was the Phuket Old Town Festival, 3 nights of street fair, food stalls, stage performances in the old part of Phuket Town along Thalang Road and in the Queen Sirikit Park next to the TAT office. There had been a one-night fair for the Chinese New Year on the 23rd at the Sanam Chai park on the north side of Phuket Town. We went along and I took some photos - see Chinese New Year in Phuket but much of the New Year celebrations were saved for the Old Town Festival although there were lots of lanterns on the 23rd....



We headed into town on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th in the evening. A bit late on Saturday actually as there was a street procession with people dressed up in old style Chinese clothing .. and we missed that. Oops! But there were plenty of people dressed up along Thalang Road. Phuket has large Chinese influence, with a lot of Chinese-Thai people due to immigration during the 19th century when Phuket had a big tin-mining boom.



But there's not exactly a "China Town" in Phuket. Thalang Road is very mixed, there are Muslim shops, old Chinese hardware stores and printers, the old herb shop and a Chinese shrine which is right next door to the Christian Assembly!





(above) Thalang Road - Dragons and the Muslim roti shop - he was busy during the festival! I stopped there to get one for my son who was feeling peckish. A little girl at the roti shop thought he was handsome (well, sure, he's my son). He thought she was a bit scary, though. What a sweetie!



Before being invaded by motor vehicles, the main artery into Phuket Town was a canal, called the Bang Yai canal. It starts at the ocean at Sapah Hin, right in the south of the town and heads right through the center. Still there, but does not get used now aside from small fishing boats that moor up at Sapan Hin. On a small stretch of canal next to the Sirikit Park free boat rides were being offered. Well, why not try? We had to clamber down a wooden platform into a small wooden craft powered and steered by 2 offset narrow oars fixed to the side of the boat. I went with the kids for a "new experience" :) The canal is ... how to say ... smelly. The boatman looked like he might have been rowing these boats a few years ago! When he pushed the oar forward I had to lean back to avoid a punch on the nose :)



At the Queen Sirikit Park, there was a lot going on. There is a big dragon statue at the park. Old Chinese legend says that Phuket is a sea dragon called Hai Leng Ong emerging from the ocean. The dragon protects Phuket. And this is the year of the dragon, so it's doubly important for Phuket. The local Chinese-Thai community believe strongly in some of the old ways - and you can see this not just at Chinese New Year, but also for example at the Phuket Vegetarian Festival and the Hungry Ghost Festival.



(above) Dragon dancers next to the dragon statue at Queen Sirikit Park.

A stage was set up in the park, though we couldn't get near it .. lots of people there watching dancing and music which went on each of the 3 evenings. Another area was more commercial with an outdoor motorbike showroom. Kids enjoyed sitting on the bikes (not until you're 18, son) and posing with the Pretties - the name given to the admittedly pretty girls who are there selling bikes (and cars, or beer).



(above) Stage with dragon dance at the old Phuket festival



(above) One of the "pretties" selling mopeds



(above) Fire dancer in the Queen Sirikit Park

Back along Thalang Road we spent some time on the Saturday evening at the Glastnost Cafe on Soi Romanee, a narrow side street that heads off Thalang Road and joins up with Dibuk Road. Romanee has several small cafes and guesthouses. The Glastnost is owned by a jazz loving lawyer called Mr Puchong. He had a friend in the house, who owns the Phuket Beer company. So... we had a few Phuket Beers while the kids entertained with music.





Soi Romanee is not a wide street and was made narrower still by stalls selling clothes, drinks, arty things.. The old town is a place I always like, but it looks especially good at festival time. Good to see quite a lot of tourists in town during the festival too. I keep using the term "the real Phuket", which is hard to define, since Phuket has many sides, but in the old section of Phuket Town there is a lot of interest. I'm not going to knock someone for spending 2 weeks on the beach, but I've been doing this blog for years now, trying to show that Phuket is so much more than beaches. I guess the "real Phuket" is what you make of it.





(above) People walking on Thalang Road and the narrow Soi Romanee

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