Kuay Jap Noodles - A new restaurant in Phuket Town

Last weekend, after a little drive around Sirey Island to the east of Phuket town - where I finally got to see the reclining Buddha (the other times I have been there the temple had been closed) - we were heading home and I had half a mind to cook some pasta, but we passed a new looking noodle shop which looked interesting. Most noodle shops look the same, rather basic and cheap with plastic chairs and questionable hygiene (don't look too close - a good motto for Thailand!).



The Kuay Jap Champ Suphan noodle shop is in the Sam Kong area in the north of Phuket Town, just half a kilometer east of the Tesco Lotus store on the way into town. It has been open about 6 months they told us, somehow we'd not noticed before. Or maybe we were in the mood for Kuay Jap which is a kind of noodle soup made with rolled up thick noodles, crispy pork, "moo daeng" (roast red pork) and (unless you ask them NOT to include it) things like liver, heart, intestines, congealed blood.. aka "offal". If you are an ex vegetarian like me, some meaty things are still considered inedible - so if you don't want all the bits, just say "Mai Sai Kruang Nai".





This noodle shop makes an effort. The place has a little style, the tables are wood, not plastic, there are decorations, and it is clean! This is no local backstreet noodle stall, it's much nicer and yet.. it's still cheap. We paid 210 Baht for 4 dishes and 5 drinks. I had a delicious Kuay Jap with the Moo Grob ("crispy pork") and the Moo Daeng plus some egg; my wife had the full monty with all the bits, and our kids had Khao Moo Daeng - red pork on rice with a kind of sauce/gravy. Very tasty.





I do love a bit of moo grob! Crispy pork.. like porky scratchings/hog lumps in a soup. I think we will go again tomorrow!

Update 2011 - they have opened a 2nd branch in Kathu, opposite the entrance road to the Prince of Songkhla University, we have tried this one too - just as tasty.. and it's close to our house. Bonus!







(above) Kuay Jap Champsuphan noodle shop in Kathu near the Prince of Songkhla University (PSU) - it's just a couple of hundred meters from another favourite local restaurant of ours called The Big Chicken. It's much easier to find good local food when you are not in a tourist area!

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Phuket Thai Hua Museum

I have said it before and will say it again - I like Phuket Town, especially the old part of town which comprises a few blocks around Phang Nga Road, Thalang Road, Krabi Road and Dibuk Road. The narrow roads and turn of the century architecture combined with the old Chinese shops make a welcome break from the busier parts of town, and if you come from the tourist beaches it's like another world. Yes, you are in the real Phuket, which is what this blog tries to show!

The Phuket Thai Hua Museum is found on Krabi road, a block North and half a block west of the traffic circle near the market. Krabi road is pretty quiet, most of the buildings are of the "Sino-Portugese" style and life itself seems slightly old fashioned in this part of town.





The museum has been open a couple of years, and still has a museum-in-progress feeling. It has been used for art exhibitions too. The building dates back to 1934 when it was established as the Phuket Thai Hua School, a Thai-Chinese language school mostly for the families of local families of Chinese origin (there are many due to the arrival of many Chinese in the 19th century in the tin mining boom years). The Thai Hua School moved to a new larger home on the edge of town in the 1990's. We know people whose kids study there and the Chinese language is still part of the curriculum.





Inside the front gates, the car park is decorated with photos of the old school.



When my daughter and I arrived, there were loads of guys with fancy cameras all over the place. With my little Canon Powershot I felt quite inadequate! I asked a guy what was going on. Turns out to be a photo assignment for Canon. I looked closer, yep they all had Canon cameras. A model was posing for photos inside the museum. Well, even with a Powershot you can snap a nice photo!



My daughter and I then wandered around the rooms of the old school. Some still with old school desks, lots of photos on the walls of past students. I did feel a sense of history, and we even met a former student sitting in her old classroom. She told us she had been at the school in the 1970's, and her mother had been to the same school before her.





One room was full of old school books. The Chinese connection is clear! There was a wall full of little reading books ranging from Snoopy to what looked like "Why China is the best country in the world" type books! There were also old Chinese dictionaries and such. We did consider the Thai Hua school for our daughter some years ago, thinking Chinese would be a useful skill if they decide to take over the world, but in the end we opted for a school that teaches more in English.





As I say, the museum is still growing, but it's certainly worth a visit. Phuket has plenty of history and culture, but you are not going to find it in Patong Beach! The brochure I picked up says it's open every day except Monday. If you are in Phuket Town, have a look. If you are a backpacker and stay at the Old Town Hostel, no excuses, it's about 1 minute down the road!

(update 2010) - the museum has been renovated and there is more to see now, but there is also an entry fee of 200 Baht per person :)

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Loy Krathong 2013 - 17th November 2013

The date for Loy Krathong 2013 will be November 17th.

Loy Krathong is a very old festival which takes place on the full moon of the 12th lunar month (so the date is different every year). Loy Krathong is largely about giving thanks to the goddess of water, though may be based on an old Hindu festival. There are many links between Buddhism and Hinduism, being that the Buddha was born in India. The festival is not huge in Phuket compared to Chiang Mai for example, but nevertheless it seems that everyone does it!

Does what? Well, aside from a bit of a party, you have to "Loy" (float) your Krathong - a few years ago I wrote about Making a Krathong. There are also beauty contests and who-can-make-the-best-krathong contests. The story below is based on our Loy Krathong evening in 2008.

Despite the weather, we headed out in the evening to Bang Wad Reservoir which is only a few kilometers from our home. The reservoir is Phuket's largest fresh water supply, so a good place to give thanks. The evening has been wet. Yes, we had been "blessed" with plenty of water. Of course, everyone waited until the rain had stopped, so it was rather crowded and also muddy underfoot. We had several Krathongs to float - one made by my wife, one made by her sister and one made by my daughter at school. There were hundreds of Krathongs in the water and hundreds more people wanting to float away all their bad luck.





Near the water were some food stalls. We did not hang around. It was crowded and muddy... and getting late. I think next year we'll go somewhere quiet for Loy Krathong.





At the reservoir we bought some "kom fai". These are lanterns made of paper with a lump of solid fuel built into the base. Simple design. All you need to do is light the fuel, let the hot air rise and watch them go. People were doing it at the reservoir.





At home we found that lighting the fuel was not so easy with a bit of a breeze. One of the lanterns took off and then landed again in the garden next door.. then took off again and got stuck in their TV aerial. I thought the burning fuel would burn their TV cable, but the lantern blew off to safety in the end. We sent 4 lanterns off into the night sky to become stars (so I told the kids!)


(above) burning fuel heating the air in the Kom Fai


(above) Once the fuel really starts to burn, the air heats up and you can slowly release your lantern...

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Thai Street Food - Fruit Stalls

I seem to recall growing up in England that a pineapple was regarded as a valuable item... wow, tropical fruit! And things like mangos and papayas were just words. Even the humble banana was a special treat. Maybe my memories are hazy, but fruit in England meant apples and pears, plums and maybe peaches. Oranges were not uncommon, and there were always satsumas at Christmas time! There were raspberries in season, and we often went blackberry picking.

The words "tropical fruit" brought to mind jungles, far away places, unreachable lands. This was 30 years ago. Holidays to a place like Thailand were all but unheard of. A few brave backpackers maybe, when backpacking was still an adventure!



What is "Street food"? Well, I mean anything that is not a restaurant really - simple roadside stalls, sometimes with wheels or built onto the side of motorbikes. Temporary noodle joints that open in the evening outside shops that have closed for the day. Hawkers carrying baskets of snacks, grilled chicken by the roadside, motorbikes with kitchens as the sidecar.

And fruit stalls are everywhere, even in the main beach areas of Phuket. Mostly they are mobile. Honda Wave mopeds retrofitted with ice filled glass displays full of fruity goodness. On the photos on this page you can see watermelon, mango, papaya, pineapple, guava, canteloupe, coconuts, pomelo, rose apple... missing are things like mangosteen, durian, rambutan - all of which are pretty common.



Feeling fruity? A portion of whichever fruit you want is normally about 10 Baht. Great at breakfast time, or any time. I am a fan of rose apples (called cham-poo in Thai). I don't think I ever saw them before coming here. I also like a bit of papaya now and then. If you never had mangosteen before.. try it. If you never had durian before, you can feel thankful! Ah, go on, try it... try it all!

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Some Videos at Phuket Aquarium

We do like Phuket Aquarium. I have totally lost count of how many times we have been. I love taking the kids there and watching their reactions to the fish. As a baby they are amazed, then they start to look more closely, then they start to learn names, then they get older and ask questions about the fish. As a diver, most of the species in the aquarium are familiar to me so I am very happy to pass on some knowledge... and you know you can't fool a kid.

After our last visit, my 3 year old boy was looking at one of the aquarium brochures I had picked up. There was a picture of a small orange and white fish. He asked me "what's this fish, daddy?". I relied "It's Nemo". He came right back with "No! It's an anemone fish!". Proud dad.

So here's a few little video clips of the aquarium. It's well worth a visit I reckon.

Bannerfish and Moorish Idols



Moray Eels



Leopard Shark in the big tank (you can walk through a little tunnel).



Big Groupers have their own tank, or they'd eat the sharks :)



Leopard shark and Blacktip shark in the big tank.



Eagle Ray in the big tank.

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