Shopping / Security and smart homes

with parmesan potatoes and asparagus sauce hollandaise

Daily 7am-11pm

Ingredients

• 200 gm cooked chickpeas
• 80 gm tiahni paste
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• salt to taste
• 30 gm lemon juice
• 20 gm olive oil
• 4 gm paprika powder
• 4 gm parsley leaves

Method

Place the coocked chickpeas, tahini paste, garlic, salt and lemon juice in the blender. Blend on high, stopping to stir frequently, until the hummus is smooth; it should be soft and creamy.

To serve, spread the hummus on a medium plate or in a medium-sized mezze bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika, then garnish with parsley leaves.

Phuket’s Thai-Chinese Peranakan community, also popularly known as Phuket Babas, is predominantly of Hokkien ancestry and has long held on to its unique culture and traditions, remaining a stronghold in the Phuket community. Today, it’s estimated that at least 70% of Phuket’s population has Peranakan ancestral roots.

Highly involved in the development of the tin mining industry on the island, Phuket’s Peranakan community evolved to be one of the wealthiest in Southeast Asia.

The heart of Peranakan Phuket is located in the delightful Old Town quarter. Strolling along Thalang, Krabi and Phang Nga roads, and the cozy little lane Soi Romanee, lends an opportunity to observe the many Sino-Portuguese shop-houses and their unique architecture. Many of the fascinating shop-houses and buildings that line these streets were the original homes of the most well-to-do Peranakan families in Phuket.

Oddly enough, in days gone by, Soi Romanee was the town’s red light district but these days it’s lined with local residences, boutique guesthouses and art galleries.

In the evening, the Old Town quarter comes alive as the area’s buildings are lit up with colourful lights, meaning that photographic opportunities abound.

Every Sunday, Thalang Road is blocked off to become a traffic-free zone and hosts one of the island’s most eclectic walking-street markets. Not only is Phuket Old Town aesthetically pleasing, it’s also a tourism hotspot and the locals are more than pleased to share their Peranakan traditions.

Although it’s tempting to boldly walk right into many of these local establishments, it’s equally important to be respectful as many of these shop-houses also double as people’s homes – so do take note of personal space before grabbing your camera and snapping away.

Still, it cannot be denied that these Sino-Portuguese buildings are just as interesting inside as they are on the outside. Many of the local Phuket Baba families who still reside in the Old Town quarter are eager to share the history of their homes and businesses as long as you are polite. Take time to browse the local shops because the chances are that an interesting souvenir awaits.

Whether you confine yourself to a walk along the beach or engage in swimming, snorkelling and scuba-diving, there’s no doubt that marine-related activities are one of the prime attractions for visitors to Phuket. For those who are inclined to do their research in a more leisurely style, or who would like to know more about Phuket’s surrounding waters and its marine life, the Phuket Aquarium is the answer. The aquarium, which is also a marine life research centre, is located right on the tip of Cape Panwa and is a 13-kilometre drive from Phuket City. There’s a local bus service to the aquarium, which leaves Ranong Road daily from 9am to 3pm, every hour.

Throughout Thailand, eating is a joy and an all-day topic of conversation − and Phuket is no exception. When Thais are not busy eating they’re often talking about their last meal . . . or their next one. This is just a theory, but we believe that if people were to learn the vocabulary for Thai food only, they’d be able to follow 80 percent of the chatter here.

From the lively markets to street stalls, to tiny family-run eateries with three or four tables, fresh fare is inexpensive and easy to find in every corner of Phuket. And with so many roving motorbike food carts, lazy gourmets could just stay home or find a shady spot along the road and wait for the food to come to them!

There’s no shame in eating cheaply here. We’ve seen some prominent local businesspeople and politicians happily slurping up 40-baht bowls of noodles at no-name stalls on several occasions. Immaculately dressed office ladies can often be seen at street-side food shops tucking into a plate of khao kha moo (stewed pork leg) or a similarly cheap rice dish, their designer handbags delicately balancing on a plastic stool beside them.

Takeaway is also popular, and most every food vendor here will be able to box up or bag their meal offerings and assorted condiments with great skill and lightning speed. Their ability to cinch a plastic bag airtight with a quick wrap of a rubber band is impressive – we’ve never had a leaky bag of fish sauce yet!

One of the easiest ways to find a tasty variety of cheap eats is to visit a local festival, of which there are many throughout the year in Phuket. Some of the best events for satisfying your local food cravings include the Phuket Old Town Festival in January-February, the Chalong Temple Fair held annually during Chinese New Year and the Patong Beach Carnival in December. In Saphan Hin public park in Phuket City, there’s usually a festival of some sort or another about every month. The festival themes may vary, but they’re always teeming with food vendors.

The most popular weekend market, about 1km south of Central Festival, is officially called ‘Chao Fa Variety’ but is universally referred to by its Thai name ‘Talad Tai Rot’. There you’ll find a bewildering choice – everything from clothes to electronics. If you’re after handicraft items like tooled leather goods, Buddha images or second-hand books, you’ll not be disappointed. And if you’re hungry, there’s a huge selection of Thai snacks – all freshly prepared on the spot. The market opens at 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays − when it's cooler. It’s a good idea to arrive early to avoid the crowds and traffic. Car parking can be a challenge.

Though few undiscovered places remain in Phuket, there are plenty of smaller, more remote beaches offering barefoot travellers some peaceful and picturesque escapes. Here are some of our favourites.

Laemka Beach  [streetsofphuket] 124 H3

Less than one kilometre north of Rawai Beach, Laemka has long been a popular haunt for locals looking for a scenic picnic spot, but it’s often overlooked by tourists. Arriving to Laemka’s main beach at the end of Soi Laemka Yai, there’s a rather spooky sense of dereliction. On the beachfront sits a restaurant long since shut down and there are some empty, decaying bungalows up the hillside. The beach itself, however, is a fine patch of sand and a great family escape. The tiny bay is shallow and safe for swimming. There are some annoyances here (namely speed boats motoring to shore a bit too close to swimmers and uncollected trash in places), but on balance an afternoon spent at Laemka is sure to soothe the senses.

Yanui  [streetsofphuket] 121 C1

Just across Nai Harn Bay from Ao Sane, between Nai Harn and Rawai beaches along the coastal road, sits the tiny Ya Nui bay. Not exactly a hidden spot, it can get crowded through the high season with rows of rental chairs full of sunbathers (although these may soon be gone...). Even on its busiest days, however, the beach is a breathtaking sight with its silken sands and dramatic surrounding landscape, including a rocky cape jutting out from its centre and a lush green hill topped by a wind turbine rising up steeply from one end.

When viewing Ya Nui from the wind turbine lookout point, it looks as perfect as a well-cut emerald gem.

Sea Canoes make a silent exploration of beautiful tidal sea caves and remote tropical coastlines, promoting alternative non-polluting marine leisure activity. Professional guides and attention to safety standards make the whole delightful experience convenient and safe, even for young children.

This project is a joint partnership between the Phuket Community Foundation, Diversey/Sealed Air, AccorHotels Southern Thailand and the Credit Union Phuket Branch.

The programme’s objective is threefold: to save lives by promoting a cleaner and healthier environment through proper hand-washing with soap; to provide a means of livelihood for local communities through learning a new skill; and to help hotels reduce waste by recycling used or discarded soap. Once used soap is collected from the hotels, it is transported to local communities and the local people re-process the soap using a specially customised cold-press method that requires no running water and electricity. The reconstituted soap bars are then distributed to communities that have limited access to basic hygienic amenities.

“A typical 400-room hotel generates 3.5 metric tons of solid soap waste per year,” says Stefan Phang, Sealed Air’s Director of Sustainability and CSR. “Hand-washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrhea and respiratory diseases in developing regions. Soap for Hope addresses waste reduction and hygiene enhancement while also generating livelihoods for local communities.”

Soap for Hope was first launched in Cambodia in 2013. Since then it has been implemented in multiple Asian countries and even expanded beyond the region. Soap for Hope is now in 17 cities across 11 countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, China, United Arab Emirates, Kenya and South Africa. Currently, 120 hotels are supporting the programme and more than 160,000 beneficiaries gain free access to soap every year.