VORAVEE HOSPITALITY Your Outdoor Selection with Service

PHUKET’S LUXURY BEACH LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE – VOLUME 7 N0 1 / JANUARY-MARCH 2019

1 VORAVEE HOSPITALITY Your Outdoor Selection with Service

Skyline Design has relocated to 108/2 Moo.3 Srisoontorn Rd., Talang District, Phuket 83110. Please visit us and our brand new collection from Influence and Maiori. Email: [email protected], Website: www.skyline.co.th 1 3 16

2 7 15 3 1 9 MAI KHAO BEACH

NAI YANG BEACH 7 7 4

13 NAI THON BEACH

15 18 5

8 9

BANG TAO BEACH SEASIDE

1 4 7 2 12 1213 8 1214 18 15 SURIN BEACH 5 14

KAMALA BEACH 3

1213 121 12 12

KALIM BEACH 11

PATONG BEACH

1211 7 16

KARON BEACH

KATA BEACH

CHALONG BAY

Cover photo by Evgeniya Porechenskaya. ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION Bikinis & Martinis Magazine is created and Lin Prachakrich published by Asia Design Consultants Ltd. 081 892 2419 All rights reserved. All other trademarks are [email protected] NAI HARN BEACH the property of their respective owners. Printed in Thailand.

phuketbikinismartinis phuketbikinismartinis.com

4 5 THE ART OF RELAXATION PERFECTED

Find yourself swept away to a tropical oasis. Walk through our doors and find the art of relaxation perfected. Lounge poolside at a sparkling infinity edge pool surrounded by plush cabanas, daybeds and sun loungers.

Dine seaside on delicious international dishes and sip signature cocktails surrounded by panoramic views of the sparkling Andaman Sea. Soak in the vibrant sunset and watch Catch transform into one of Phuket’s most beautiful nightclubs.

Dance until the early morning to exciting performances

and electric beats by international DJs. A day at Catch Beach Club is like nothing else on the island.

BANGTAO BEACH

.No Entrance Fee. Beach Club: 09:00 – Late. Dining: 11:00 – 23:00 (Last Order 22:00) Book: +66 (0) 65 348 2017 [email protected] catchbeachclub.com #catchbeachclub

MONTAZURE – BLUE SKY LIVING

The rooftop residences, grand units owners of Phuket’s most iconic Beachfront of space and privacy, and each unit has Penthouse stand to make attractive capital access to a private rooftop pool and garden and iconic beachfront penthouse at gains once the resort condominium officially deck with stunning views of the surrounding Twinpalms Residences MontAzure opens its doors to owners and guests at the tropical island scenery. combine comfort, exclusivity and end of the year. “Although all the units at Twinpalms Residences natural beauty with attractive A stylish new entrance from the recently MontAzure offer very generous layouts, returns on investment. expanded west coast highway will offer especially when compared to condos in many convenient access to the beachfront property other locations around Asia, some buyers have With construction on schedule for completion and its sister attractions, InterContinental requested even larger units to accommodate at the end of 2018, the developers of Phuket’s Phuket Resort, HQ Beach Lounge and Café multigenerational families or to share with unique beachfront condominiums, Twinpalms Del Mar Phuket. The beachfront zone is friends,” explains Fiona Nel, Director of Sales Residence MontAzure, are offering buyers a already known as the island’s most stylish at MontAzure. rare opportunity to take advantage of timely and sophisticated oceanside strip and investments ahead of the development’s residents will enjoy great food, drinks, music “To meet the need for more space, we have official opening as a hotel and residence, with and watersports all just a short walk along combined some of the condominiums to a healthy return on investments expected in the beach from their residence. create unique Grand Units that range in 2019. size from 450 to almost 800 square metres. A limited number of Rooftop Residences at This additional space allows for flexibility More than 70% of the units have sold Twinpalms Residences MontAzure are still and customization of the fit out to match out, and buyers that purchase one of the available to investors; the one- and two- personal lifestyle choices with multi-purpose remaining Rooftop Residences, invest in a bedroom properties have been meticulously media and family rooms, home gyms, or spa combined Grand Unit, or become the proud designed to offer an appealing combination facilities,” she added.

10 11 These Grand Residences are either “The most impressive of the Grand Units is appealing communal facilities and services, MontAzure mixed-use development is a and retail offerings, a retirement community, out and finishing options. Foreign freehold positioned on the ground floor of the our Beachfront Penthouse, which directly professionally operated by Twinpalms joint venture between three of the most and a choice of upscale beach clubs. ownership is also available, and the condos low rise building with access to their own overlooks Kamala Beach. It includes a 16-metre Management, which allows investors to notable property and hotel investment offer a secure, compelling opportunity, private gardens or offer larger rooftop private lap pool and spacious sun garden in the combine an unmatched island lifestyle with groups in Asia and spans some 178 acres Entry level units at Twinpalms Residences either as a second or permanent home, or for spaces with generous open-air facilities rooftop, as well as a covered BBQ and dining solid returns on their investment. Completion (72 hectares) of mountainside to beachfront MontAzure start from THB15.8 Million (USD investment purposes. to complement the voluminous interiors. area with an outdoor lounge for entertaining,” of Phase One will see all future developments land, offering permanent and second home 480,000) with one-bedroom units covering All the units feature resort-style ensuite adds Fiona. at MontAzure shift inland, which ensures buyers a unique natural setting that is being 70 to 250sqm and two-bedroom units To find out more call +66 93 624 8800 or bathrooms, open-plan kitchens, separate minimal disruption for residents and guests sensitively developed to include exclusive ranging from 154sqm to 400sqm. Buyers that email [email protected] dining room and living areas, as well as a Owners at Twinpalms Residences MontAzure as they enjoy the breathtaking beachfront beachside condominiums, a luxury hotel, book a Grand Unit before the official opening www.montazure.com private swimming pool and bar. also have access to the development’s surroundings. high-end villas, as well as a range of hotel in December 2018 will enjoy customized fit 12 13 INTERMITTENT FASTING UNWIND IN SOPHISTICATED COMFORT AT HQ BEACH LOUNGE RESTAURANT

Intermittent fasting is an eating By reducing your calorie intake, all of these Here are the main health benefits of intermit- Spend mellow sunny days at a laid- methods should cause weight loss as long as tent fasting: pattern that cycles between periods you don’t compensate by eating much more back beach club, relaxing in comfy of fasting and eating. It doesn’t during the eating periods. Many people find • Weight loss: As mentioned above, cabanas under the shade of casu- specify which foods you should the 16/8 method to be the simplest, most intermittent fasting can help you lose arina trees, in a place that invites sustainable and easiest to stick to. It’s also the weight and belly fat, without having to eat but rather when you should eat most popular. consciously restrict calories you to stay all day, and entices you them. In this respect, it’s not a diet • Insulin resistance: Intermittent fasting to stay on into the night. in the traditional sense but more How It Affects Your Cells and Hormones can reduce insulin resistance, lowering When you fast, several things happen in your blood sugar by 3–6% and fasting insulin Kamala offers a beautiful stretch of sand to accurately described as an eating body on the cellular and molecular level. For levels by 20–31%, which should protect enjoy days on the beach and is found in the pattern. example, your body adjusts hormone levels against type 2 diabetes next bay over from the infamous party town to make stored body fat more accessible. Your • Inflammation: Some studies show re- of Patong. Well-known for its relaxed vibe, it’s cells also initiate important repair processes ductions in markers of inflammation, a also home to HQ Beach Lounge Restaurant, a Most known intermittent fasting methods and change the expression of genes. key driver of many chronic diseases contemporary seaside hangout. involve daily 16-hour fasts or fasting for 24 • Heart health: Intermittent fasting may hours, twice per week. Fasting has been Here are some changes that occur in your reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol, blood tri- Featuring a dining menu with a healthy focus a practice throughout human evolution. body when you fast: glycerides, inflammatory markers, blood and fine flavours, HQ Beach Lounge Restau- Ancient hunter-gatherers didn’t have super- sugar and insulin resistance — all risk rant presents abundant choices including markets, refrigerators or food available year- • Human Growth Hormone: The levels of factors for heart disease colourful salads such as beetroot feta with round. Sometimes they couldn’t find anything growth hormone skyrocket, increasing • Cancer: Animal studies suggest that almonds and pistachios, and a lentil salad to eat for days. As a result, humans evolved to as much as 5-fold. This has benefits for intermittent fasting may prevent cancer with sunflower sprouts and juicy pomegran- be able to function without food for extended fat loss and muscle gain amongst others • Brain health: Intermittent fasting in- ate seeds, both perfect for vegetarians. Other periods of time. In fact, fasting from time to • Gene expression: There are changes in creases the brain hormone BDNF and light and zesty dishes include a refreshingly time is more natural than always eating sever- the function of genes related to longevi- may aid the growth of new nerve cells. chilled green pea summer soup with prawn al meals per day. ty and protection against disease It may also protect against Alzheimer’s and coriander, and a mezze plate with tasty • Cellular repair: When fasted, your cells disease vegetables, chickpeas, and baba ghanoush is Intermittent Fasting Methods initiate cellular repair processes. This • Anti-aging: Intermittent fasting can the perfect dish for sharing. There are several different ways of doing includes autophagy, where cells digest extend lifespan in rats. Studies showed intermittent fasting — all of which involve and remove old and dysfunctional pro- that fasted rats lived 36–83% longer Naturally, you might want to cheat a little, it is splitting the day or week into eating and fast- teins that build up inside cells your holiday after all, with a plate of the crispy ing periods. During the fasting periods, you • Insulin: Insulin sensitivity improves and Makes Your Healthy Lifestyle Simpler fried calamari, perfectly paired with a tartar eat either very little or nothing at all (water, levels of insulin drop dramatically. Lower Eating healthy is simple, but it can be in- sauce dip and a drizzle of lemon. While the coffee, tea allowed). insulin levels make stored body fat more credibly hard to maintain. One of the main signature pizza HQ, topped with parma ham, accessible obstacles is all the work required to plan for red capsicum, rocket and chilli oil, is hard to These are the two most popular methods: and cook healthy meals. Intermittent fasting resist. Sample the excellent seafood, from the Health Benefits can make things easier, as you don’t need to garlic butter tiger prawns to cod fish yellow • The 16/8 method: Also called the Lean- Many studies have been done on intermittent plan, cook or clean up after as many meals as curry, all fresh and sure to satisfy you. To gains protocol which involves skipping fasting, in both animals and humans. These before. For this reason, intermittent fasting is bring your mealtime treats to a close, order a breakfast and restricting your daily eat- studies have shown that it can have powerful very popular among the life-hacking crowd, helping of the banana crème brûlée, a playful ing period to 8 hours, such as 1–9 p.m. benefits for weight control and the health of as it improves your health while simplifying tropical accent on a classic French dessert. Then you fast for 16 hours in between. your body and brain. It may even help you live your life at the same time. • Eat-Stop-Eat: This involves fasting for 24 longer. Snapping at the heels of Catch, but in a low- hours, once or twice a week, for example key way, HQ Lounge Beach Lounge makes for by not eating from dinner one day until the perfect place to unwind in style, soak up dinner the next day. some sun or enjoy the shade, and enjoy the quieter beachside life.

One of the newer beach clubs to open along Phuket’s west coast, it already is regarded as one of the island’s best. A recent visitor from New York had this to say about their visit: “This place is beyond great. Honestly, if you’re planning on going to the beach in Kamala, then you should go here. Myself, my partner and another couple wanted to have a beach day, which to us means laying out, having drinks and eventually some food. I also need some shade, so then I thought why not go somewhere that offers all of that with less hassle?”

“The food was great, the drinks were good, had great local flavours, and some bar classics. It’s a great vibe, it was very luxe but unpretentious, we felt very welcome, and attended to. I will be recommending this place to everyone.”

Located at the north end of Kamala Beach. Open daily 9am until 10pm, kitchen opens 11am and last food orders at 9.30pm hqphuket.com

14 15 PIONEERING PHUKET DEVELOPERS: NEW WAYS OF INVESTMENT

Phuket is a buzzing place that has something for everyone. Blessed with picturesque beaches and the year-long summer season, Thailand’s largest island continually attracts diverse groups of tourists and expats from all over the world.

Perhaps you’ve fallen in love with it and, like so many others, wish to retire here one day. Maybe you are based elsewhere in SE Asia and enjoy escaping to Phuket every now and again, so having a place to come to would make sense. Or maybe this is your first time other than the bank. When you are new to here and you’d love to ensure that you can the very concept of investing, the risk that is keep returning. Ideally – and regardless of a part of any investment process is not only belongs to us. We are ultimately planning to what your motives are – you’re keen to get a scary but often paralyzing. The fear of losing buy all units back, which means not only return on your investment and make money your savings may prevent you from making guaranteed annual returns for our investors from it when you’re not using it. a leap forward, thus keeping you trapped in but also a guaranteed buy-back option. the same cash and work patterns. We’ve opted for this model because it cre- We’ve been in development and property ates a win-win situation for both investors business for over a decade and over time With all this in mind, after 13 successful tra- and developers. we’ve become aware of the needs of the ditional property projects (and more coming people who are finding themselves some- up), we have developed a different model of So if you yourself have been on a lookout for where in this category. They love Phuket property investment, one that addresses this a low-risk, trouble-free investment option in and see the investment potential it has, yet need to “test the waters” first. Phuket, this model enables you to: Have you ever thought about they’re new to the market and often new to Oceana Beachfront is upcoming right on investing altogether. Rather than putting purchasing a property in Phuket Oceana Beachfront is our upcoming devel- • Rest assured that we are vested in the Bangtao Beach, in close proximity to Catch their hard-earned money into something but didn’t know how to approach opment project in which we allow buyers hotel operations; we can guarantee Beach Club. The resort will boast panoram- they don’t fully understand they prefer to and new buyers entering the market to fixed annual returns because a prime ic sea views from all rooms and a range of it? You are not alone – Phuket’s test the waters, to see if investing in Phuket invest in a property that is part of a hotel beachfront location is a unique offering first-rate facilities and amenities. Nestled is the right choice for them. popularity and growth rate make it operation. This opportunity enables them to in Phuket; between Surin and Nai Yang beaches, Bang- both get a steady annual income and use the tao is among the most sought-after areas of a tempting investment destination. In other words, these particular people are unit for their own holidays. The project is a • Use the beachfront unit you have Phuket due to its pristine long beach, 5-star looking for investments that are as short, direct result of our understanding that new invested in for annual holidays, and resorts, upscale restaurants and an array of And while the island brims with opportunity, safe and as manageable as possible. investors embarking to better understand receive a number of additional perks activities for the whole family. We are certain this abundance can be hard to navigate. If the Phuket property market are looking for with it; Oceana Beachfront will be an appealing ad- you’re new to investing or to the local real es- No doubt, investing in a market you don’t low-risk investments. dition to this exciting suburb. tate market, or if you’d like to learn about one know much about is intimidating. Many • Enjoy a hassle-free experience: not only of the alternatives to the standard property first-time investors, moreover, are lost when Out of 196 units at Oceana Beachfront, only are there no additional costs for you to investment options, read on. it comes to putting their money somewhere half is available for investment; the other half absorb (such as tax, utilities, mainte- Interested to learn more about our developments nance, etc.), but we are the ones that and investment opportunities? Don’t hesitate to manage the occupancy when you’re contact us: not using the unit. +66 76 530 503, +66 76 530 504 [email protected] • Whenever the time is right, move on www.oceangroupasia.com to conventional investment options in 72/56 m.3 Choengtalay, Thalang Phuket if you so choose. Phuket 83110, Thailand

16 17 DIAMOND RESORT

Overview The resort will enchant you with its modern and stylish interiors, and an atmosphere of a real coastal lifestyle. It features an elegant combination of chick design, high-end service, lush tropical scenery, and starling amenities.

Diamond Resort Phuket is situated in one of the most popular and magnificent areas of Phuket, which is Bangtao Beach. Anyone can get to this beach with our convenient shuttle bus service or take a 10 minute stroll to the there. Its location also makes it easy to get to all the desired and well-liked destinations, such as busy Boat Avenue, tremendous Lagu- na Phuket, or hip Catch Beach Club.

Accommodation The resort has over 200 suites that are fully furnished and equipped with modern amenities, such as cable TV, kitchen facilities, deposit box, Wi-Fi internet connection, and internal IP telephones. Comfortable furnish-

Restaurant Infuse Restaurant by Diamond Resort pro- [email protected] vides unique culinary experience created by Phone: +66 76 609 548 the talented chef from Belgium. The menu www.restaurantinfuse.com balances modern and traditional cuisines Open to all: 07:00 AM – 00:00 AM that plays on new flavors brought to you Facebook from Europe. The restaurant’s atmosphere Infuse Restaurant by Diamond Resort Phuket is inspired by contemporary loft design and Instagram comfort. @infuse.restaurant

ings include large wardrobes, sofa beds, cozy dining furniture, and queen & king size beds. Every suite has fully equipped kitchen and a convenient dining area.

Facilities and Guest Services Diamond Resort facilities include everything you need to have a relaxing vacation. Enjoy the sun at the pool decks or have a dip in our lap pool, exercise at the fitness center, recharge in the sauna, or indulge in delicious food at Infuse restaurant.

Guests of our resort may enjoy Diamond’s outstanding complimentary services such as shuttle bus service that runs every half an hour to various locations within the Bangtao area, spacious guest parkings, remarkable Food & Beverage and pool services.

[email protected] Phone: +66 76 609 542 www.diamondresortphuket.com Facebook: Diamond Resort Phuket Instagram: @diamondresortphuket Address: 106 Soi Cherngtalay 14, Srisoonthorn Road, Cherngtalay, Thalang, Phuket 83110 18 19 FLUID REFLECTIONS ON KEEPING A SOLID CENTER SPANISH ILLUSTRATOR RAFAEL ALVAREZ

Because I believe that our Rafael Alvarez is a Spanish becoming, like the synthesis of illustrator whose works portray meaning itself, is an ongoing painfully familiar scenarios. Except and dynamic process, I’ve been the artist creates his illustrations in reluctant to stultify it and flatten a way that highlights a completely its ongoing expansiveness in different angle. static opinions and fixed personal tenets of living. But I do find myself The ability to shock seems to be a vital component of the artist’s illustrations - even continually discovering, then required to challenge the minds of content returning to, certain core values. readers whose attention span gets only smaller with each passing day. According to the artist, although it’s difficult, it’s important Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of to tell the difference between sensationalism changing your mind. Cultivate that capacity and truth or else we run a risk of losing our for “negative capability.” We live in a culture critical thinking and ability to care about an- where one of the greatest social disgraces is ything at all. not having an opinion, so we often form our “opinions” based on superficial impressions or the borrowed ideas of others, without investing the time and thought that cultivating true conviction necessitates. We then go around about your sleep as you are about your work. tiful phrase and a beautiful notion. Who are asserting these donned opinions and cling- We tend to wear our ability to get by on little the people, ideas, and books that magnify ing to them as anchors to our own reality. sleep as some sort of badge of honor that your spirit? Find them, hold on to them, and It’s enormously disorienting to simply say, “I validates our work ethic. But what it really is is visit them often. Use them not only as a don’t know.” But it’s infinitely more rewarding a profound failure of self-respect and of prior- remedy once spiritual malaise has already to understand than to be right — even if that ities. What could possibly be more important infected your vitality but as a vaccine admin- means changing your mind about a topic, an than your health and your sanity, from which istered while you are healthy to protect your ideology, or, above all, yourself. all else springs? radiance.

Do nothing for prestige or status or money When people tell you who they are, Maya An- Don’t be afraid to be an idealist. There is much or approval alone. As Paul Graham observed, gelou famously advised, believe them. Just as to be said for our responsibility as creators and “prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps important, however, when people try to tell consumers of that constant dynamic interac- even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It you who you are, don’t believe them. You are tion we call culture — which side of the fault causes you to work not on what you like, but the only custodian of your own integrity, and line between catering and creating are we to what you’d like to like.” Those extrinsic motiva- the assumptions made by those that misun- stand on? The commercial enterprise is condi- tors are fine and can feel life-affirming in the derstand who you are and what you stand for tioning us to believe that the road to success moment, but they ultimately don’t make it reveal a great deal about them and absolutely is paved with catering to existing demands — thrilling to get up in the morning and gratify- nothing about you. give the people cat GIFs, the narrative goes, ing to go to sleep at night — and, in fact, they because cat GIFs are what the people want. can often distract and detract from the things Presence is far more intricate and rewarding But E.B. White, one of our last great idealists, that do offer those deeper rewards. an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that was eternally right when he asserted half a measures our worth as human beings by our century ago that the role of the writer is “to Be generous. Be generous with your time and efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform lift people up, not lower them down” — a role your resources and with giving credit and, es- this or that. The cult of productivity has its each of us is called to with increasing urgency, pecially, with your words. It’s so much easier place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs whatever cog we may be in the machinery of to be a critic than a celebrator. Always remem- us of the very capacity for joy and wonder society. Supply creates its own demand. Only ber there is a human being on the other end that makes life worth living — for, as Annie by consistently supplying it can we hope to of every exchange and behind every cultural Dillard memorably put it, “how we spend our increase the demand for the substantive over artifact being critiqued. To understand and be days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” the superficial — in our individual lives and in understood, those are among life’s greatest the collective dream called culture. gifts, and every interaction is an opportunity “Expect anything worthwhile to take a long to exchange them. time.” This is borrowed from the wise and Don’t just resist cynicism — fight it actively. wonderful Debbie Millman, for it’s hard to Fight it in yourself, for this ungainly beast Build pockets of stillness into your life. Med- better capture something so fundamental yet lays dormant in each of us, and counter it in itate. Go for walks. Ride your bike going so impatiently overlooked in our culture of those you love and engage with, by modeling nowhere in particular. There is a creative pur- immediacy. The myth of the overnight success its opposite. Cynicism often masquerades as pose to daydreaming, even to boredom. The is just that — a myth — as well as a reminder nobler faculties and dispositions, but is cate- best ideas come to us when we stop actively that our present definition of success needs gorically inferior. Like all forms of destruction, trying to coax the muse into manifesting and serious retuning. As I’ve reflected elsewhere, cynicism is infinitely easier and lazier than let the fragments of experience float around the flower doesn’t go from bud to blossom in construction. There is nothing more difficult our unconscious mind in order to click into one spritely burst and yet, as a culture, we’re yet more gratifying in our society than living new combinations. Without this essential disinterested in the tedium of the blossom- with sincerity and acting from a place of stage of unconscious processing, the entire ing. But that’s where all the real magic unfolds largehearted, constructive, rational faith in flow of the creative process is broken. in the making of one’s character and destiny. the human spirit, continually bending toward Most important, sleep. Besides being the growth and betterment. greatest creative aphrodisiac, sleep also af- Seek out what magnifies your spirit. Patti fects our every waking moment, dictates our Smith, in discussing William Blake and her Maria Popova social rhythm, and even mediates our nega- creative influences, talks about writers and tive moods. Be as religious and disciplined artists who magnified her spirit — it’s a beau- 20 21 LOFT BY ORIENTAL LIVING

For nearly 30 years, Oriental Living has paved the way for bespoke, quality home furnishings and accessories, as well as incomparable interior design services in southern Thailand and around the globe.

Having travelled to the Land of Smiles from Amsterdam in 1987, Managing Director and Founder Michael Dietvorst felt an immediate connection here and subsequently moved to Koh Samui in 1990, opening the first branch of Oriental Living, offering high-end furnishings from Thailand and Indonesia.

After many years of experience in design, particularly in the luxury living and refurbishment sector, Michael and his dedicated team have gone on to play an intricate role in award-winning properties on both Samui and Phuket islands.

Nonetheless, it is important to note that one simply cannot thrive in this business without perfecting and keeping up on classic and trending designs. Luckily, for their clients it is all part of the team’s passion to constantly search and source new inspiration, original artists, designs and materials - which brings us to the present and the latest creation of Michael and the Oriental Living team – Loft by Oriental Living.

After a successful launch of the pilot store on Though these designs are unable to be cus- Samui, Michael decided to set up shop, so to tom made, as the case with many of Oriental speak, by renovating and creating a fresher, Living’s furnishings, clients can be sure that more colorful look at the Phuket branch in each piece is created with thought, passion Cherngtalay, though one may not know it and dignity, using recycled wood and certi- from its new, sleek black exterior. fied plantation teak.

Now clients and window shoppers alike can As far as developers and new villa or home- marvel at the latest creations, unique designs owners are concerned, there is no need to and incredibly high quality furnishings and fret. Though the concept of the store and accessories from Loft by Oriental Living, lo- showroom have been given a facelift, the cated just by Tesco Lotus and Taste Bar & Grill. same values, interior design services – from Discerning clients will find their dream source concept to installation – and custom and re- here, where they’ll have the perfect choice furbishing services are still at the very heart of between a myriad of items from various exot- this fine, consistently outstanding operation. ic origins such as Northern Thailand, Bali, In- donesia and Bhutan or western-style furniture www.oriental-living.net and decor from locations such as Singapore and Milan as attractive alternatives.

23 WILL RECEPTIONISTS BE THE KEY FACTORS IN A STOIC’S KEY TO PEACE OF MIND: YOUR HOTEL’S FUTURE TURNOVER? SENECA ON THE ANTIDOTE TO ANXIETY

As the year is starting, I look to the There’s no more need to go down to reception following problem: the hotel was rated 7.2 on “There are more things … likely to What I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy future and ask this crucial question: to ask a question, eat, or find out what there Booking.com (a low score) and had absolutely before the crisis comes; since it may be that the is to do near the hotel. All these advisory ser- no budget for carrying out renovations. frighten us than there are to crush dangers before which you paled as if they were what does the future hold for hotel vices are available online and extremely easy us; we suffer more often in imagi- threatening you, will never come upon you; they receptionists? Does the hyperactive to access. By training the receptionists to be commercial nation than in reality.” certainly have not yet come. concierges, the score quickly rose to 8.6 and digitalisation we are witnessing And if customers want to extend their stay, the hotel’s turnover rose by 12%. Accordingly, some things torment us more mean the end of this profession? they can do so without any hassle, from their “The truth is, we know so little about life, than they ought; some torment us before we don’t really know what the good news Will the role of a receptionist be room using the Booking.com app. It’s so much The human factor is definitely what’s most they ought; and some torment us when they more practical! Especially since Booking.com appreciated in a hotel. This fact has already is and what the bad news is,” Kurt Vonnegut ought not to torment us at all. We are in the reduced to the miserable task of offers “the best price guaranteed”… largely been established in one of my pre- observed in discussing Hamlet during his habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or antic- handing over keys? vious articles, where I analysed the positive influential lecture on the shapes of stories. ipating, sorrow. Is it not easier and more enjoyable to stay in comments given to the 10 best hotels in the “The whole process of nature is an integrated world: 48% of positive comments mentioned process of immense complexity, and it’s really Booking your bed and use your smartphone to satisfy the quality of the staff (compared to 26% that impossible to tell whether anything that hap- An essential part of a receptionist’s responsi- all your needs? mentioned the hotel and 26% that mentioned pens in it is good or bad,” Alan Watts wrote bilities is to manage bookings. Whether taking the geographical location). a generation earlier in his sobering case for bookings directly over the phone or managing First conclusion: no more need for a receptionist learning not to think in terms of gain or loss. them in your PMS, a receptionist plays—or WRONG! It should be understood that a receptionist And yet most of us spend swaths of our days played—a key role in a hotel. Art by Catherine Lepange Not at all: that way of thinking means going trained to be a commercial concierge will help worrying about the prospect of events we your customers not only save time and money, judge to be negative, potential losses driven Today, 88% of travellers say they definitely completely against the greatest added value life is not worth living, and there is no limit to but also choose the best activities depending by what we perceive to be “bad news.” In the prefer online bookings. In recent years, devel- that exists on the market: the human factor. our sorrows, if we indulge our fears to the great- on their tastes. A commercial concierge will be 1930s, one pastor itemized anxiety into five opments in connectivity have been such that est possible extent; in this matter, let prudence a real added value for your hotel. Once they categories of worries, four of which imaginary online bookings no longer entail a lot of work However, when you begin to focus on the next help you, and contemn with a resolute spirit have acquired and demonstrated their exper- and the fifth, “worries that have a real foun- for your receptionists. Often made through two or three years, it is extremely important to even when it is in plain sight. If you cannot do tise, their profitability will become clear as day. dation,” occupying “possibly 8% of the total.” Booking.com, bookings are sent to your chan- carefully consider the points raised above. this, counter one weakness with another, and nel manager, which then automatically enters temper your fear with hope. There is nothing so Conclusion A twenty-four-hour news cycle that preys them into your PMS. If you have invested in Yes, the role of receptionist, as it is usually certain among these objects of fear that it is not The role of receptionist is bound to burn out on this human propensity has undeniably the right IT solutions, almost no processing defined, is destined to die out. But it’s the tradi- more certain still that things we dread sink into tional receptionist who will eventually become and be reduced to ashes. However, this defi- aggravated the problem and swelled the 8% nothing and that things we hope for mock us. time is required to take care of this side of the Illustration by María Sanoja nitely does not mean that there will no longer to appear as 98%, but at the heart of this business. extinct so as to make way for the commercial Accordingly, weigh carefully your hopes as well concierge. be a need for a few people at reception. Their warping of reality is an ancient tendency of as your fears, and whenever all the elements Seneca then offers a critical assessment of functions will simply evolve towards business mind so hard-wired into our psyche that it are in doubt, decide in your own favour; believe It would seem that a significant part of a recep- reasonable and unreasonable worries, using As for me, I think the profession will evolve from and customer services. exists independently of external events. The what you prefer. And if fear wins a majority of tionist’s worth is being stripped away… elegant rhetoric to illuminate the foolishness a position based on receiving to one based on great first-century Roman philosopher Sene- the votes, incline in the other direction any- of squandering our mental and emotional transmitting. The receptionist of tomorrow will The receptionist of 2020 will be someone who ca examined it, and its only real antidote, with how, and cease to harass your soul, reflecting Communication energies on the latter class, which comprises no longer be receiving requests from custom- has a way with words, is an expert in the high- uncommon insight in his correspondence continually that most mortals, even when no “Wait! A receptionist is much more than that” – the vast majority of our anxieties: lights to discover in the area, and knows how with his friend Lucilius Junior, later published you might say. Yes, this is true; and you’re right. ers and then handling them. Instead, he or she troubles are actually at hand or are certainly to will be proactive with your customers to help to make every single one of your customers as Letters from a Stoic — the timeless trove be expected in the future, become excited and Someone must always be present to manage It is likely that some troubles will befall us; but it is them in an intelligent manner during their stay truly happy by making them feel like they are of wisdom that gave us Seneca on true and disquieted. all of your hotel’s incoming and outgoing calls, not a present fact. How often has the unexpect- and thereby promote customer loyalty. unique and important. false friendship and the mental discipline of preferably someone who is kind and engaging. ed happened! How often has the expected never overcoming fear. But the greatest peril of misplaced worry, come to pass! And even though it is ordained to The commercial concierge The receptionist of 2020 will be the corner- Seneca cautions, is that in keeping us con- It would be a grave mistake to think that, just be, what does it avail to run out to meet your I heard the term commercial concierge for the stone of your hotel, a key element among the stantly tensed against an imagined catastro- because a booking has come through Booking. suffering? You will suffer soon enough, when first time during a discussion with one of my most important ones that make your hotel phe, it prevents us from fully living. He ends com and your PMS/Channel Manager connec- it arrives; so look forward meanwhile to better friends, Damien Gouribon, former director of viable. the letter with a quote from Epicurus illustrat- tivity is perfectly set up, there is nothing left things. What shall you gain by doing this? Time. the Hôtel du Robinet d’Or and co-founder of ing this sobering point: to do in terms of managing the booking and There will be many happenings meanwhile the company www.agence-creho.com. Dam- communicating with the customer. Tony Loeb, experience-hotel.com which will serve to postpone, or end, or pass on ien’s words perfectly reflected my own ideas: The fool, with all his other faults, has this also, to another person, the trials which are near or he is always getting ready to live. Your customer will most likely get in touch even in your very presence. A fire has opened “Of course, the commercial part entails pro- with you before and after their stay to ask var- the way to flight. Men have been let down softly moting products offered by the hotel itself (spa, Complement this particular portion of Sene- ious questions and seek help with problems by a catastrophe. Sometimes the sword has restaurant, others), but it is above all the care and ca’s wholly indispensable Letters from a Stoic that can sometimes be highly unpredictable. been checked even at the victim’s throat. Men understanding shown to each customer that will with Alan Watts on the antidote to the age of Who will answer them, and in an intelligent have survived their own executioners. Even bad be the main commercial attribute to possess. anxiety, Italo Calvino on how to lower your manner no less? fortune is fickle. Perhaps it will come, perhaps “worryability,” and Claudia Hammond on what not; in the meantime it is not. So look forward Again, digitalisation seems to be taking over Today, customers spend only 30% of their time the psychology of suicide prevention teaches Seneca to better things. at the moment by offering a wide range of inside the hotel, compared to 70% outside of it. us about controlling our everyday worries, The commercial concierge is the personl respon- then revisit Seneca on making the most of high-quality services to anticipate demands Sixteen centuries before Descartes examined sible for the quality of your customers’ stay. That In his thirteenth letter, titled “On groundless life’s shortness and the key to resilience when and perform functions: pre-stay survey, online the vital relationship between fear and hope, means he or she is responsible for the 30% spent fears,” Seneca writes: loss does strike. concierge services, SMS service, and more. Seneca considers its role in mitigating our inside the hotel and the 70% spent outside of it.” There are more things … likely to frighten us anxiety: Our charming receptionist is struggling to Maria Popova, brainpickings.org A commercial concierge organises the custom- than there are to crush us; we suffer more often compete with these new tools… The mind at times fashions for itself false shapes er’s stay in a proactive way. He or she does not in imagination than in reality. of evil when there are no signs that point to any Customer experience and good advice sit on a chair waiting for the customer to ask a With an eye to the self-defeating and weary- evil; it twists into the worst construction some As technology develops, other new practices question. ing human habit of bracing ourselves for im- word of doubtful meaning; or it fancies some are working against your receptionist. Custom- personal grudge to be more serious than it re- Concrete example aginary disaster, Seneca counsels his young ers can now pre-check-in directly from their ally is, considering not how angry the enemy is, During our conversation, Damien spoke to me friend: home. Soon, all they’ll need to do is pick up but to what lengths he may go if he is angry. But their keys when they arrive. about a hotel he was assisting and that had the 24 25 WHY DO COMPETITORS OPEN THEIR STORES NEXT TO ONE ANOTHER?

Why are all the gas stations cafes and restaurants in one crowded spot? As two competitive cousins vie for ice-cream-selling domination on one small beach, discover how game theory and the Nash Equilibri- um inform these retail hotspots.

Why are gas stations always built right next to other gas stations? Why can I drive for a mile without finding a coffee shop and then stumble across three on the same corner? Why do grocery stores, auto repair shops and restaurants always seem to exist in groups instead of being spread evenly throughout a community?

While there are several factors that might go Teddy still gets all of the customers north in your current strategy. Your original strategy, into deciding where to place your business, Teddy territory, but now you split the 25% of where you were each a quarter mile from the clusters of similar companies can be explained people in between the two carts. middle of the beach, didn’t last, because it by a very simple story called Hotelling’s Model wasn’t a Nash Equilibrium. Either of you could of Spatial Competition. move your cart towards the other to sell more ice cream. With both of you now in the center Imagine that you sell ice cream at the beach. of the beach, you can’t reposition your cart Your beach is one mile long and you have no closer to your furthest customers without competition. Where would you place your making your current customers worse off. cart in order to sell the most product? In the However, you no longer have a socially opti- middle. The one-half-mile walk may be too far mal solution, since customers at either end of for some people at each end of the beach, but the beach have to walk further than necessary your cart serves as many people as possible. to get a sweet treat.

Day three of the ice cream wars, you get to the beach early, and set up right in the center of Teddy territory, assuming you’ll serve the 75% of beachgoers to your south, leaving your cousin to sell to the 25% of customers to the north. When Teddy arrives, he sets up just south of you stealing all of the southerly customers, and leaving you with a small group of people to the north. Not to be outdone, you move 10 paces south Think about all the fast food chains, clothing One day you show up at work just as your of Teddy to regain your customers. When boutiques, or mobile phone kiosks at the cousin Teddy is arriving at the beach with you take a mid-day break, Teddy shuffles 10 mall. Customers may be better served by his own ice cream cart. In fact, he’s selling paces south of you, and again, steals back all distributing services throughout a commu- exactly the same type of ice cream as you the customers to the far end of the beach. nity, but this leaves businesses vulnerable are. You agree that you will split the beach in Throughout the course of the day, both of to aggressive competition. In the real world, half. In order to ensure that customers don’t you continue to periodically move south to- customers come from more than one direc- have to walk too far you set up your cart a wards the bulk of the ice cream buyers, until tion, and businesses are free to compete with quarter mile south of the beach center, right both of you eventually end up at the center marketing strategies, by differentiating their in the middle of your territory. Teddy sets up of the beach, back to back, each serving 50% product line, and with price cuts, but at the a quarter mile north of the center, in the mid- of the ice-cream-hungry beachgoers. heart of their strategy, companies like to keep dle of Teddy territory. With this agreement, their competition as close as possible. Phuket’s most exciting & stylish everyone south of you buys ice cream from you. Everyone north of Teddy buys from him, and the 50% of beachgoers in between walk ted.com to the closest cart. No one walks more than a contemporary beach lounge quarter of a mile, and both vendors sell to half of the beachgoers. Enjoy splendid seaside experiences in chic simplicity and celebrate wonderful company Game theorists consider this a socially op- with light beach side fares, true cocktails, sensuous wines and eclectic soul music at timal solution. It minimizes the maximum HQ Beach Lounge Restaurant. number of steps any visitor must take in order to reach an ice cream cart. The next day, when you arrive at work, Teddy has set up his cart At this point, you and your competitive cousin in the middle of the beach. You return to your have reached what game theorists call a Nash location a quarter mile south of center and Equilibrium - the point where neither of you Open to All, No Entrance Fee 118/17 Moo 3 Kamala get the 25% of customers to the south of you. can improve your position by deviating from Lounge & Bar: 09.00 –22.00 Katu, Phuket Lounge Dining: 11.00 – 22.00 t: +66 (0)91 165 0251 (Last Order 21:30) e: [email protected] 26 w: hqpuket.com SPIRITUAL LAWS AND THE LIFE-PURPOSE SYSTEM DAN MELVILLE’S 3D PRINTED BIONIC ARM

An excerpt from THE LIFE YOU British designer talks 3D printing, WERE BORN TO LIVE — REVISED inspirational journey and video 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION by games. Dan Millman Dan Melville grew up with a prosthetic arm A key element of Dan Millman’s The Life You that did not improve his life, however thanks Were Born to Live — Revised 25th Anniversa- to UK company Open Bionics now boasts a ry Edition, as in the earlier edition, is a major 3D printed bionic arm based on a video game section on the universal spiritual laws that can character. guide us to live wisely and well. Presented in Part Four of the book, the laws are especially Melville, 27, was born without a right hand useful in helping us overcome the hurdles with his childhood marred by having to wear on each of the forty-five individual life paths a prosthetic hand that did nothing to improve described in the book. his life or confidence.

We hope you’ll enjoy this excerpt, in which Dan An avid video game player, Melville was per- shares some background on these laws of Spirit. suaded by his girlfriend Harriet to get in touch with Open Bionics, a fledgling UK company Human laws form a basis of social agreement developing low-cost bionic hands who were and social order, but human laws are only looking for testers. pale reflections of a higher order of laws sewn into the fabric of existence. These laws govern After meeting with founder Joel Gibbard, Mel- The arm can take up to 8kg of weight, which Will esports players with disabilities be able the movement of the Earth, the cycle of sea- ville soon became the first person ever to use is insane for a 3D printed bionic arm. In the to compete at the highest level? sons, the forces of nature, and the structure of a 3D printed bionic arm made from a video future, I hope for individual finger movement When I use my computer to play video games, the atom itself. Nature didn’t make these laws; game character - Adam Jensen, the mechan- too so I can go to a heavy metal concert and I use my bionic arm because I can use the nature only reveals and demonstrates them. ically augmented protagonist of the game Deus Ex. He was the first character Melville do the horns! mouse to click on it and use my left hand to The great laws existed before humanity, be- Jesus, Muhammad, the Buddha, Lao-tzu, and felt he could relate to. use the keyboard. I can’t really use a control- fore nature. Even the cyclone, the tidal wave, other illumined teachers have taught spiritual What does this innovation represent for ler because the thumb isn’t as mobile as an the hurricane, and the raging fire — forces laws and principles through the use of para- The bionic arm is simple and effective, it uses other people going forward? actual thumb, so it is easier to use a PC than that can lay waste to the highest human en- bles and metaphors about the natural world the pulses from when Melville tenses the You are just as good as someone with two a console. It will still take disabled esport terprise — work under the dominion of these that also apply to the human social world. For muscles in his arm to open and close his hand. hands, if not cooler and better. Growing up, players a couple of years to compete against great laws. Whether we call them spiritual example, the laws of harvest teach that seeds He can pick things up with his finger and when I had the prosthetic arms made I had able-bodied players. laws, universal laws, natural laws, or simply only reproduce their own kind; that what we thumb, something he could never do before. to have a casting with plaster of Paris. They higher laws, we can’t alter or deny them. They sow, we reap; and that a seed dies when it would let it set, you would get it cut off and If you are passionate about something, you humble and inspire those who search for stops growing. Any process of growth follows The Guinness World Record holder’s life then they would use the measurements. By always find a way of doing it which is why I am order within chaos, as they point to a greater the way of the seed. In order to grow, the seed changed for the better with his bionic arm the time I got that arm, I would already be always playing video games. This day and age power and mystery at the source of existence. needs good soil; it takes time to grow into ma- allowing him to quit his job and start his own too big for it. Open Bionics use a 3D scanner, we are living in, there are so many more im- Even the galaxies dance to their music. turity; and it bears fruit of the same kind and 3D printing business along with giving work- so the whole process has gone down from a mersive games with so many different things quality as itself. When we gather the harvest, shops to spread his inspirational message. day to a couple of hours and kids can get a that can potentially happen. Technology is Scientists and mystics both strive to under- we’re wise to save at least 10 percent for the bionic arm delivered in a few days now which fascinating to people. stand these universal laws, but use different next planting. We have to end one cycle to Here is an exclusive Q&A with Melville near his is great for kids. methods of exploration. The laws in this book begin another; all seeds grow and change, home in Reading. What are your own hopes for the future? aren’t distilled to mathematical formulas and eventually die, to be plowed under for a Making it lower cost, easier for fitting and less I started to love designing my own stuff after (such as E = mc2), but rather are presented fresh planting. Can you explain how much more confi- troublesome for everyone makes it such a I hooked up with Open Bionics and did it as as axiomatic statements that express a higher dence your bionic arm has given you? positive experience for people plus the arms a fun side hobby alongside my full-time job. order of reality. Their validity doesn’t require Of course, the law of harvest relates to more Growing up I had prosthetic arms that didn’t are really cool to look at. I know Open Bionics One day I thought, ‘I don’t want to do this job or depend on any kind of belief. Like the law than farming; it illuminates our life and the do anything. You wore them because you are working with Disney using properties such anymore’. I quit and moved back in my with of gravity, they apply whether or not we be- laws that govern us. As with seeds and cycles, thought that was the normal thing to do. I as Marvel, Star Wars and Frozen. They will have family to start my own business. I bought a lieve in them. so with human beings and all the beings of only ever got them to get time off school be- Disney inspired arms for kids and that is a mas- new printer and in the last year I have some- creation. sive leap forward. I am a big kid so I was like, ‘I The natural world reveals these universal laws cause I hated school, but I hated the arm too. how collected seven printers. I am backed by It was a catch-22. I felt more disabled wearing want a Spiderman or Venom arm!’ For a kid to The Prince’s Trust too. I have a mentor who to us. The cycles of the seasons, clouds riding Ultimately, all spiritual laws reveal themselves it and for many years I stopped wearing them. have a superhero power of their own is really helps me with my finances and teaching the wind, the currents of the river, and the as needed — not necessarily in words, but I grew up with sci-fi films, though, so I wanted cool. Channel 4’s “We’re The Superhumans” TV me how to network with business. I sell my powers of wind and sea — all teach us how rather through our deepest feelings, through Dan Millman is a former world-champion a bionic arm like the Terminator or Robocop. campaign for the 2012 London Paralympics designs but one person also said to me, ‘Have to live by revealing the natural way of life. In the intuitive wisdom of our heart. Our body, gymnast, coach, martial arts teacher, and There were bionic arms out there, but we are was a massive, awesome statement for every- you thought about holding a workshop for this book, I refer to these overriding laws as when free of external programming and college professor. He is author of seventeen talking £50,000 and I didn’t want to put my one. People didn’t take disability seriously kids and families?’ If the kids do a doodle, I spiritual laws or laws of Spirit. When adapted interference, abides naturally within these books published in twenty-nine languages and Mum and Dad through that with an arm that I before then, but it has broken down bounda- can do a 3D print for them so they have some- and applied to the human realm, these laws of laws, which are communicated through our shared across generations to millions of readers, Spirit become guiding principles that we can including The Life You Were Born to Live. His inter- might grow out of. ries. A lot of people who I have made friends thing memorable that they can take home. instincts and subtle intuitive feelings. All we with in the past few years are being signed use to steer us through the shallows and reefs have to do is to pay attention to and trust our nationally bestselling book Way of the Peaceful Years later, I stumbled across Open Bionics up for campaigns. My friend Tilly Lockey, who What I would like to do as a small business is of life the way the stars and compass guided inner knower. The mind or ego, our isolated Warrior was adapted to film in 2006. Dan speaks and, from day one, what fascinated me was lost both her arms to meningitis, was recently branch out more and do more talks and work- ancient mariners on their course. Constant sense of separate self, resists the flow of the worldwide to people from all walks of life. He lives that I could open and close my hand and pick on an O2 ad with her bionic arms and I have shops along with making new stuff. Funnily as the movement of the planets, they apply current of life. in New York City. www.PeacefulWarrior.com. not only to the mechanics of nature, but to things up like a piece of chalk whereas, when I a couple more friends who did a River Island enough when I was at school we were asked, was growing up, I couldn’t do any of that. The campaign. It is becoming more normal. People ‘What do you want to be doing in 10-years- the human psyche as well. For example, by When we align our lives — our habits of diet, last few years we have worked on changing like Samuka (Red Bull BC One breakdancer time?’ I kid you not I said, ‘I want to start my observing a tree bending in a high wind and exercise, work, and sexuality — with spiritual the grip and making it stronger. I use pulses in with one leg) have shown that there are no own small shop that helps people make observing that only the rigid branches break, laws, challenges remain, but we can approach my arm at the top and bottom of the muscles boundaries anymore. You can do what the hell knick-knacks, arms and stuff’. It was mad that I we learn from the tree and wind the secret of them without struggle, with arms open wide, to open and close it. When I tense my muscles, you want whether you have a disability or not. said this all those years ago and it is now what yielding and the power of flexibility, or non- like peaceful warriors embracing the mo- it changes the grip pattern to certain modes. You have just got to stop saying no. I am doing. resistance. ment, ready to dance. 28 29 FEAST FOR THE SENSES SIMON N. OSTHEIMER N. SIMON

Why the superb dining and drinking options at Rosewood Phuket are all you’ll ever need.

When it comes to fine dining, Phuket’s culinary stock has never been higher. In November 2018, the new edition of the Michelin Guide to Bangkok was launched, and for the first time ever included restaurants on Thailand’s largest island. Altogether, Phuket’s famous eateries achieved one star and 14 listings in the ‘plate’ and ‘bib gourmand’ categories.

In an interview following the announcement, a proud Phuket governor Phakaphong Tav- ipatana said, “The [Michelin] guide should help strengthen the tourism and gastronomy business in Phuket and Phangnga. Both provinces are already world-famous tourist destinations because of their beaches, water activities and local culture. The guide will raise the presence of both provinces as new gastronomic desti- lush natural landscape, while sun-weathered open kitchens and live cooking stations, to nations on the global map,” pointing out that shores and glistening, crystalline waters help allow guests to closely observe delicious, Phuket received more than 10 million inter- celebrate luxury island living. aromatic dishes being freshly prepared just as national tourists last year. “This year’s selection they would be in a local fisherman’s home. Ta highlights the diversity of culinary experiences, The secret to the success of Rosewood Phuket’s Khai, which means “fishing net” in Thai, offers both within and outside of Bangkok,” added four F&B outlets are: simple, classic recipes a menu planned around the local fishermen’s Gwendal Poullennec, international director of with premium ingredients, idyllic beachfront daily catch to ensure that only the freshest the Michelin Guide. surrounds, and warm and welcoming atmos- seafood appears on the tables. pheres. The four distinct venues offer authentic While not in the guide... yet, the food and culinary experiences that create a social center The charming site includes a kitchen-to-table drink offerings found at the luxurious Rose- for the local community and a must-try dining herb and vegetable garden and live fish pond first met over a shared passion for authentic and Stracchino Piadina, Arugula and Pachino remarkable blend of Vermouth Bianco, Vodka wood Phuket—Red Sauce, The Shack, Ta Kai destination for island visitors. inspired by local seafood markets. The au- Southern Thai cooking, they have honed their Tomatoes, and Straciatella Pizza, or savor a and Orange Sorbet; Limoncello Spritzer; and and Mai Bar—are already becoming popular thentic Thai dishes such as Poh Pia Sod (fresh culinary skills over a 30-year union, including dinner of authentic dishes such as Sea Bass the Vintage Negroni with Vermouth Rosso, foodie destinations. Occupying an exquisite Ta Khai Phuket spring rolls with prawns, jicama, bean running popular Thai food stalls to an ac- Crudo Bistecca Fiorentina served for two and Chinato, Gin, Rinomato and Bitters. location along a 600-meter beachfront at Em- At Ta Khai, guests experience a glimpse of the sprouts, chili and tamarind dip), Moo Hong – claimed seafood restaurant. Roasted Free Range Half-Chicken. erald Bay, on the island’s famous west coast, traditional island life still enjoyed in pockets Soy (braised pork with black pepper and gar- The Shack Rosewood Phuket is a tropical beach hidea- of Phuket, in a small rustic fisherman’s village lic) and Khanom Tuay (steamed pandanus and For drinks with a romantic vista, the Andaman Evenings at Red Sauce can begin the tradi- The rustic, laid-back atmosphere of The Shack way akin to an ocean village. The luxury hotel setting of weathered houses and pavilions coconut milk custard), are prepared by the Sea view at Ta Khai, from beneath the shade tional way with the full experience of Italian is inspired by the world’s most memorable features innovative architecture with subtle created from repurposed timber and other restaurant’s Thai chef couple “Nun” Rotkaew of an ancient ficus tree, is the perfect place vermouth, with three varieties—bianco, dry seaside joints, where simple is always best. Thai influences blending organically into a materials. Lounge seating is scattered around and Sangchan “Yai” Suttitummanon. Having to enjoy locally inspired, aged claypot cock- and red—presented on a board and served An array of unpretentious seafood specials tails such as Galangal Negroni Gin, Tom Yum with authentic light bites. The sommelier will chalked up on the blackboard showcases the Moscow Mule Vodka and Sweet Basil Mojito. open a good bottle of wine for tasting with a finest local ocean flavors, including Andaman Each will be a special blend of spirits and Thai quality cheese accompaniment served around Prawn, King Snapper and Grouper. An open herbs pre-mixed into cocktails and kept for an interactive wine counter, providing the kitchen with hot stone oven and charcoal six months in large clay pots to infuse flavors opportunity for guests to converse and enjoy grill features alongside counter seating at this unlike any you’ve savored before. each other’s company over a glass of wine. casual poolside dining experience.

Red Sauce Mai About Rosewood Phuket Red Sauce is fittingly named after the fun- The atmospheric Mai has two distinct person- The 71-room Rosewood Phuket is situated damental mother sauce of Italian cuisine. In alities: by day it is a laid-back pool bar, and af- along a 600-meter secluded beachfront at addition to indoor seating, an open-sided ter dark it morphs into a stylish, sophisticated Emerald Bay. Four dining choices include terrace overlooks the serene swimming pool lounge where the beachfront ambiance and authentic Thai dishes at Ta Khai, Italian cuisine and offers stunning Emerald Bay vistas. At the live DJ music make this one of the island’s hip- at Red Sauce, simply prepared seafood at The large central open kitchen, guests gather with pest night spots. Guests can choose to relax in Shack and a chic poolside lounge ambiance friends and family as is customary in Italian the free-standing timber pavilion with open at Mai. Asaya, Rosewood’s holistic wellness households and interact with the chefs and sides adorned with artisan-styled beaded cur- concept, features bespoke programs of al- their team while enjoying a coffee and cake, tains or on lounge beds and relaxed seating ternative therapies, lifestyle coaching, fitness an early evening aperitif or culinary creation. on the surrounding pool terrace. activities and specialized healing treatments. Italian-born executive chef Luca De Negri Recreation options include a fitness center, expresses his passion for Italian cooking Mai’s handcrafted, signature cocktails were Rosewood Explorers children’s facility and traditions and classical flavors in a menu designed by world famous barman Giancarlo beachside infinity pool. The Pavilion wed- of tantalizing dishes using imported prime Mancino. Under the afternoon sun, guests ding and events space incorporates the cuts and locally sourced and naturally grown can lie back on oversized day beds sipping 243-square-meter Glass House, Courtyard, ingredients. Guests at the Rosewood Phuket light and refreshing cocktails infused with Garden and Beach Lawn. start the day with an energizing breakfast, local ingredients, such as the Mango Mosca- including à la carte items and selections from to Spritzer, Beer Margarita Tequila and Pina Website: rosewoodhotels.com/phuket live cooking stations, enjoy a relaxed lunch Colada Slush. The evening’s libations range Facebook and Instagram @rosewoodphuket with a choice of light and simple flavors such from an impressive selection of aperitifs, as Panzanella Salad with Seared Tuna, Speck spritzers and negronis such as The Unusual, a 30 31 KAANDA BEACH LIFE – SONG OF THE SEA

New season, new bikini, what could be more true?

Our latest collection Song of the Sea is inspired by the musical sounds and alluring calling we feel when close to an ocean or big water. We beach life feel more connected and in balance with ourselves and nature, so we created this new collection to enhance that feeling. Lots of earthy animal prints like tiger stripes and snake prints, deep jungle green and clay coloured pieces of jewels. Of course we cannot deny our tropical beat, so there is the classic floral prints and coral, mint and deep fuchsia to match your best holiday suntan.

This year we have opened a few new boutiques, since August you will find us inside the chic Catch Beach Club as Catch Boutique by KAANDA, and also in Fisherman’s Village in Koh Samui. We are still in our other locations in as KAANDA beach life in Boat Avenue, Surin, Kata and Canal Village, Laguna.

In our boutiques you will find not only bikinis and swimsuits, but also trunks and linen shirts for men, high quality swimwear for children by the UK famous brand SUNUVA, and lots of hats, polarised sunglasses, beach bags, accessories and matching items for your perfect time on your beach holiday.

SHOPS IN BOAT AVENUE, KATA, SURIN, CATCH BEACH CLUB, CANAL VILLAGE, FISHERMANS VILLAGE KOH SAMUI KAANDA BEACH LIFE (next to Villa Market); 49/13 Room No 9-10 Cherngtalay RD., A. Thalang, Phuket 83110, Thailand. OFFICE IN BOAT AVENUE – Villa Katalina Co., Ltd: 21/10 Lagoon Rd., Cherngtalay, A Thalang, Phuket 83110, Thailand Tel: +66 (0)76608 699

kaandabeachlife.com

BOAT AVENUE, SURIN, CANAL VILLAGE, CATCH BEACH CLUB & KATA www.kaandabeachlife.com 32 69SLAM

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French surfers and designers Nic and Bene- dict Barth arrived on the island over 15 years ago, initially attracted by the surf and rich cultural life of the Balinese. Inspired by the carefree island life, the now famous 69SLAM brand was born.

Made for those who live by the ideals of “no regrets”, “fun times” and “good vibes only” and are not scared to “PLAYLOUD” — 69SLAM can now be found in over 51 countries across the world.

Celebrate your uniqueness at one of the local 69SLAM boutiques!

69SLAM Patong shop 1, 69SLAM Patong Shop 2, 69SLAM Karon Beach, 69SLAM Laguna, 69SLAM Phi Phi Island, and 69SLAM Krabi.

35 INFINITY & CO LUXURY BEACH CONCEPT

A new Luxury Beach Concept Store has opened its doors in Boat Avenue. Infinity & Co. - Luxury Beach Concept was established to fill a gap within the swimwear & beach accessory market in Thailand. They offer imported products from a total of 16 different luxury brands never before seen anywhere in Thailand.

Loving Fashion! Their partner brands from USA, Italy, U.K., France and Greece include the likes of Beachbunny, Pin Up Stars, Luli Fama, Sau- vage Swimwear, MC2 St. Barth, Niccolo Fedeli and many more. Together with their associated partners they strive to offer their customers a wealth of styles, trends and the highest quality within the beach wear and beach accessories market. Infinity & Co have top notch products fit for both women and Beauty on the outside becomes beauty men with options for customization and mix from inside! & match solutions for different product lines. When it comes to social responsibility, Infinity & Co. Luxury Beach Concept and it’s associ- It’s all about the outfit! ated partners all share a similar perspective. Infinity & Co., Luxury Beach Concept special- They envision themselves as being a sustain- izes in providing all kinds of exclusive offers able force within the fashion industry based on high class beach products from some of on a fully circular approach towards clean pro- the world’s most premium swimwear- and duction and sustainable production of goods. designer brands. They value their clients and Their collective vision also includes working offer them excellent selections and huge to achieve a fair, equal workplace in their com- product assortments to choose from. In their pany as well as amongst associated suppliers, store every individual will surely find their and contributing to good communities based specially fitted and personalized exclusive on diversity and inclusion. beach outfit. Discover amazing beachwear from a vast selection of different brands infinityandco.club and collections from top designers with premium quality products utilizing the finest European fabrics for production. 37 SHORT STORIES THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY SHORT STORIES THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY

YOU THINK YOU THINK "This is going to be hilarious" -- or so I thought as I finished dribbling "I died here" with anti-fog liquid on Let me distract you for a moment The moral: You can change the world – maybe the shark kept repeating this behavior every “This is going to be hilarious” -- or so I thought the bathroom's mirror. not all at once, but one person, one animal, few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait as I finished dribbling “I died here” with an- and tell you four short stories. and one good deed at a time. Wake up every fish swam around unharmed in the second ti-fog liquid on the bathroom’s mirror. I left the hotel room These are old stories – familiar morning and pretend like what you do makes a partition. Eventually, about an hour into the I left the hotel room for a few minutes while I for a few minutes while I let the stories. The people and the difference. It does. experiment, the shark gave up. let the steam from the hot running water fill the bathroom. steam from the hot running water fill the circumstances differ slightly for The Weight of the Glass This experiment was repeated several dozen When I returned, the mirror read “me too”. bathroom. everyone who tells them, but the Once upon a time a psychology professor times over the next few weeks. Each time, the walked around on a stage while teaching shark got less aggressive and made fewer at- core lessons remain the same. ChiefMemeOfficer When I returned, the stress management principles to an auditori- tempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually mirror read "me too". I hope the twist we’ve put on um filled with students. As she raised a glass the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass them here inspires you to think of water, everyone expected they’d be asked divider and simply stopped attacking alto- the typical “glass half empty or glass half full” gether. differently… question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, “How heavy is this glass The marine biologist then removed the fiber- All the Difference in The World of water I’m holding?” glass divider, but the shark didn’t attack. The Every Sunday morning I take a light jog shark was trained to believe a barrier existed around a park near my home. There’s a lake Students shouted out answers ranging from between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish located in one corner of the park. Each time I eight ounces to a couple pounds. swam wherever they wished, free from harm. jog by this lake, I see the same elderly woman sitting at the water’s edge with a small metal She replied, “From my perspective, the abso- The moral: Many of us, after experiencing set- cage sitting beside her. lute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all backs and failures, emotionally give up and stop depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an that because we were unsuccessful in the past, me, so I stopped jogging and walked over to hour straight, its weight might make my arm we will always be unsuccessful. In other words, her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my we continue to see a barrier in our heads, even cage was in fact a small trap. There were three arm will likely cramp up and feel completely when no ‘real’ barrier exists between where we turtles, unharmed, slowly walking around the numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the are and where we want to go. base of the trap. She had a fourth turtle in her glass to the floor. In each case, the weight lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I Being and Breathing spongy brush. hold it, the heavier it feels to me.” One warm evening many years ago…

“Hello,” I said. “I see you here every Sunday As the class shook their heads in agreement, After spending nearly every waking minute morning. If you don’t mind my nosiness, I’d she continued, “Your stresses and worries with Angel for eight straight days, I knew that love to know what you’re doing with these in life are very much like this glass of water. I had to tell her just one thing. So late at night, turtles.” Think about them for a while and nothing just before she fell asleep, I whispered it in happens. Think about them a bit longer and her ear. She smiled – the kind of smile that She smiled. “I’m cleaning off their shells,” she you begin to ache a little. Think about them all makes me smile back –and she said, “When replied. “Anything on a turtle’s shell, like algae day long, and you will feel completely numb I’m seventy-five and I think about my life and or scum, reduces the turtle’s ability to absorb and paralyzed – incapable of doing anything what it was like to be young, I hope that I can heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can else until you drop them.” remember this very moment.” also corrode and weaken the shell over time.” The moral: It’s important to remember to let go A few seconds later she closed her eyes and “Wow! That’s really nice of you!” I exclaimed. of your stresses and worries. No matter what fell asleep. The room was peaceful – almost happens during the day, as early in the evening silent. All I could hear was the soft purr of her She went on: “I spend a couple of hours each as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t breathing. I stayed awake thinking about the Sunday morning, relaxing by this lake and carry them through the night and into the next time we’d spent together and all the choices helping these little guys out. It’s my own day with you. If you still feel the weight of yester- in our lives that made this moment possible. strange way of making a difference.” day’s stress, it’s a strong sign that it’s time to put And at some point, I realized that it didn’t the glass down. matter what we’d done or where we’d gone. “But don’t most freshwater turtles live their Nor did the future hold any significance. whole lives with algae and scum hanging Shark Bait from their shells?” I asked. During a research experiment a marine biol- All that mattered was the serenity of the mo- ogist placed a shark into a large holding tank ment. “Yep, sadly, they do,” she replied. and then released several small bait fish into the tank. Just being with her and breathing with her. I scratched my head. “Well then, don’t you think your time could be better spent? I As you would expect, the shark quickly swam The moral: We must not allow the clock, the mean, I think your efforts are kind and all, but around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller calendar, and external pressures to rule our lives there are fresh water turtles living in lakes all fish. and blind us to the fact that each individual around the world. And 99% of these turtles moment of our lives is a beautiful mystery and a don’t have kind people like you to help them The marine biologist then inserted a strong miracle – especially those moments we spend in clean off their shells. So, no offense… but how piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creat- the presence of a loved one. exactly are your localized efforts here truly ing two separate partitions. She then put the making a difference?” shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other. Marc Chernoff The woman giggled aloud. She then looked down at the turtle in her lap, scrubbed off Again, the shark quickly attacked. This time, the last piece of algae from its shell, and said, however, the shark slammed into the fiber- “Sweetie, if this little guy could talk, he’d tell glass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, you I just made all the difference in the world.” My Last Prank 38 39 THE FIRST MONTE CARLO YACHTS 96 IN ASIA, A DESIGNER STATEMENT

The Monte Carlo Yachts 96 (MCY 96) takes the second spot on the Monte Carlo Yacht’s size podium. She was first presented at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giogio, Venice, the new 30 metres MCY 96 saw a successful debut.

“The new MCY 96 is here, and we couldn’t be happier of the reaction from the guests at the reveal event we held in Venice.” says Carla Demaria, President of Monte Carlo Yachts. “We are back here where it all started in 2010. We presented then the award-winning MCY 105 here in 2015 - a boat that is in many ways the reason why we developed the MCY 96 - so it’s fitting that we returned here for this special occasion. Grazie Venezia.”

Designer Statement Designed by Nuvolari Lenard, the MCY 96 has been designed and developed for extended ocean voyages according to both Pleasure and Charter Yacht Rules, and may be also registered as a CE-A craft. Design and technical highlights include, bulwarks that are sensibly higher than the current fashion and the wide overhanging side deck that gives good cover- age from the elements.

Upon boarding, an instant sense of spacious- ities with up to six alternative versions already MCY 96 has been assigned the “Best Flybridge ness becomes apparent. The Aft cockpit is engineered, and more to be elaborated upon Yacht” (Above 80 ft) at the 2018 Asia Boating very generous, comparable to those found on specific request. Awards that took place during the Singapore much larger yachts. The new MCY 96 makes Yacht Show. The recognition from one of the the most of the layout concepts currently Recognition on design and quality most renowned yachting awards in Asia and found on larger models in its class: incredible Following its debut award at the World Yacht across the world has strengthens MCY96 im- volumes are obtained positioning the master Trophies in Cannes, the MCY 96 celebrates peccable design “Only a few months after its cabin forward on the main deck, and as many its second international recognition and unveiling, the MCY 96 continues to make us as four guest cabins, all equally sized, located the first one in the Asian market. The MCY very proud” says Carla Demaria, President of on the lower deck. 96 won the “Best International Motor Yacht” Monte Carlo Yachts. “The yacht has been very award in its size category during the premier well received from the Americas to Asia, and The lower deck cabins layout - of which multi- 2018 Christofle Yacht Style Awards organised we’re extremely pleased of this recognition ple versions will be available so as to meet the by industry trend-setter Yacht Style, which from the prestigious Asia Boating Awards, needs of the various international markets on recognises the best of the yachting industry especially considering the very tough compe- which Monte Carlo Yachts is currently present in Asia and internationally. tition in the best flybridge category this year.” - features outstanding customisation possibil- Cruising through Thai waters Simpson Marine has concluded the sale of the first MCY 96 in Asia to a Thailand-based owner prior to her official launch and she is now located in Pattaya. Be in touch with our team to discover more about this award winning model and the full range.

CALL OR VISIT US! Our Simpson Marine Sales and Charter team are located at Ao Po Grand Marina and we welcome you to visit us anytime! Simpson Yacht Charter also offers a comprehensive Yacht Investment Program service for your yachts. Call us at +66 76 317 305 or email at thailand@ simpsonmarine.com to get into the yachting lifestyle with Lagoon Catamarans and [email protected] to get your charter holiday planning.

41 Andaman Cruises Phuket´s Most Exciting & Stylish Contemporary Luxury Yachts

HALF DAY, FULL DAY, OVERNIGHT & SUNSET CRUISES A private charter with Andaman Cruises is the perfect way to discover unique destinations and unspoiled spots around the Phuket archipelago aboard the region’s most stylish motor yachts. The fleet of 10 vessels includes fascinating yachts offering comfort, privacy and exceptional service.

PHANG NGA BAY, KRABI, PHI PHI & SIMILAN ISLANDS Get ready for an amazing voyage to stunning tropical islands around the exquisite sailing waters of Phang Nga Bay, Krabi, Phi Phi and Similan Islands. Its maritime national parks are renowned as some of the best yachting grounds in the world. Fascinating locations are the Floating Gipsy Village, Talay Waek – a sandbank in the heart of the ocean – or James Bond Island and the Monkey Beach in Phi Phi.

SNORKELING, DIVING, KAYAKING & FISHING The Andaman Sea has a huge diversity and offers a range of activities from kayaking, to diving and snorkeling. Guests can enjoy access to exotic and remote private beaches, as well as exciting afternoons of waterskiing, wakeboarding or fishing.

www.andaman-cruises.com Price: Please contact concierge for further information. THE ENERGY VAMPIRE DEZEEN’S TOP HOTELS OF 2018

PUNTA CALIZA, MEXICO, BY ESTUDIO MACIAS ROYAL HOTEL, DENMARK, BY SPACE COPENHAGEN TIERRA CHILOE, CHILE, BY MOBIL ARQUITECTOS PEREDO THIS INTIMATE SANCTUARY ON THE REMOTE SPACE COPENHAGEN RE-INTRODUCED ORIGINAL FEA- THIS BOUTIQUE HOTEL PERCHES ATOP A GRASSY HILL ISLA HOLBOX – DEVOID OF CARS AND ACCESSIBLE TURES AND FURNITURE AS PART OF A COMPREHENSIVE ON THE MAIN ISLAND OF CHILE’S CHILOE ARCHIPELAGO, SOLELY BY FERRY – IS BASED ON THE REGION'S ANCIENT REFURBISHMENT OF ARNE JACOBSEN’S ICONIC ROYAL WITH A GLAZED DINING AND LOUNGE AREA OFFERING MAYAN BUILDINGS. SITUATED RIGHT BY THE GULF OF HOTEL IN THE DANISH CAPITAL. THE PROJECT INVOLVED OCEAN VIEWS, AND A SPA LOCATED UNDERGROUND. MEXICO'S EMERALD WATERS, THE HOTEL'S 12 ROOMS THE RENOVATION OF 259 GUEST ROOMS AND SUITES, THE BUILDING IS CLAD IN WOODEN SHINGLES IN FEATURE THATCHED ROOFS AND CHUKUM-COVERED THE LOBBY AND MEETING ROOMS, AS WELL AS THE REFERENCE TO HISTORIC WOODEN CHURCHES NEARBY, WALLS, AND ARE ARRANGED AROUND A SHALLOW INTRODUCTION OF A NEW RESTAURANT AT THE MODERN- WITH ITS WINGS ARRANGED AT AN OBTUSE ANGLE AND TRIANGULAR POOL. IST HOTEL – ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR SCANDINAVIAN PORTIONS RAISED ON STILTS. AIRLINES SYSTEM (SAS) AND OPENED IN 1960.

As monk-turned-business energy vampire. Temporary energy vampires While the best solution is to avoid these might be going through a difficult time in people altogether, it can be challenging if EMILIANO HOTEL, BRAZIL, BY OPPENHEIM PARADISO IBIZA ART HOTEL, SPAIN, BY ILMIODESIGN JAFFA HOTEL, ISRAEL, BY JOHN PAWSON consultant, Dandapani explains, their life (divorce, loss of family member, job, they are your co-workers, close friends, or ARCHITECTURE AND STUDIO ARTHUR CASAS GUESTS GUESTS STAY IN CANDY-COLOURED ROOMS AT THIS BRITISH DESIGNER JOHN PAWSON WORKED WITH LOCAL etc.). In the short-term, they need to lean on even family members. And when we try to CAN LOOK OUT OVER RIO DE JANEIRO’S FAMOUS ART-DECO-INFLUENCED HOTEL ON IBIZA’S NORTHWEST ARCHITECT RAMY GILL ON THIS OVERHAUL OF AN we all have a finite amount of COPACABANA BEACH WHILE BATHING IN THE ROOFTOP COAST, WHILE ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE ARE OFFERED A ORNATE CONVENT AND HOSPITAL, INTO A HOTEL IN TEL energy to use each day and we’re others and that’s okay, even though it may move away from them, we often feel guilty SWIMMING POOL OF THIS HOTEL, THANKS TO GLAZING TRANSPARENT SUITE IN THE LOBBY. THE PARADISO IBIZA AVIV’S HISTORIC JAFFA NEIGHBOURHOOD. THE VARIETY be draining. about it. ALONG ITS EDGE. TO ALSO MAKE THE MOST OF OCEAN ART HOTEL’S MISSION IS TO OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE OF ARCHITECTURAL STYLES – INCLUDING ARABIC AND exposed to people who either fill us VIEWS FROM THE ROOMS, WHILE MAINTAINING PRIVACY, TO OTHER ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS ON THE NEO-ROMAN – ARE MIXED WITH CONTEMPORARY Conversely, inherent energy vampires are THE TEAM COVERED THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING PARTY ISLAND, BY HOSTING A COMPREHENSIVE ARTS ELEMENTS ACROSS THE 120 HOTEL ROOMS AND SUITES, with energy or drain us of energy. However difficult, it’s essential that you find WITH WHITE SHUTTERS THAT ARE PUNCTURED WITH PROGRAMME FOR GUESTS AND OTHER TOURISTS TO AND AN OUTDOOR POOL SURROUNDED BY ARCHED always this way; and they aren’t looking to a way to break free. What you’re doing is LOZENGE-SHAPED HOLES. ENJOY DURING THEIR STAY. COLONNADES AND GARDENS. People who drain our energy change. The easiest way to identify this type of looking after yourself and protecting your are known as energy vampires. person is to assess how you feel after you walk energy. When you allow an energy vampire These people could be colleagues, away from them. If you feel exhausted, then to drain you, they are depleting your ability chances are that person is an energy vampire. to help and uplift others and be the best friends, family members – even version of yourself. people we encounter while out Here are some common characteristics of energy vampires: It’s not about being confrontational, it’s running errands. about learning to tactfully avoid energy • The Victim or Blamer: They consistently vampires and, if that’s not possible, then talk about how they are always getting learning how to not engage with them. Your the short end of the stick in life. They energy is best used elsewhere. find external blame wherever possible and like to make others feel guilty. • The Center of Attention: They always fridayfwd.com seem to make themselves the center of attention in any room or conversation; they like to stand out. • The Narcissist: They are consumed with THE RETREAT AT BLUE LAGOON, ICELAND, BY BASALT OLEA HOTEL, GREECE, BY BLOCK722 ARCHITECTS ONE ROOM HOTEL, BELGIUM, BY DMVA themselves and their own problems; ARCHITECTS SUITES NESTLED INTO LAVA FORMATIONS SHREDS OF RATTAN, CHUTES OF BAMBOO AND OFFCUTS THIS MIGHT BE ANTWERP’S SMALLEST HOTEL, PACKED they take very little time to think about FACE ONTO THE TURQUOISE WATER OF ICELAND’S OF WOOD FEATURE THROUGHOUT THIS HOTEL, TO INTO A THREE-STOREY, 17TH-CENTURY HOUSE WITH A FAMOUS TOURIST ATTRACTION, AT THIS NEW HOTEL BLEND IN WITH THE GRECIAN LANDSCAPE ON THE FACADE JUST 2.4 METRES WIDE. ONE ROOM HOTEL IS others or how to make their lives better. THAT JOINS THE SPA AND OTHER FACILITIES ON-SITE. ISLAND OF ZANTE. THE RURAL SITE INCLUDES A SPA, DESIGNED AS A CROSS BETWEEN A HOLIDAY HOME FOR Dandapani suggests that one of the first • The Drama Queen/King: They love the THE NEW BUILDING REPRESENTS THE CULMINATION THREE RESTAURANTS AND 93 GUEST SUITES, ALL OF ITS OWNERS, AND A TINY LUXURY HOTEL WITH JUST ONE things to do when dealing with these peo- highs and lows, are surrounded by OF FOUNDER GRÍMUR SÆMUNDSEN’S VISION FOR THE WHICH FEATURE EARTHY TONES AND ARE POSITIONED DOUBLE BEDROOM AND INTERNAL SPACES CONNECTED BLUE LAGOON AS AN EPICENTRE FOR HEALTH AND AROUND A HUGE “LAKE-LIKE” POOL. BY A “PROMENADE” OF STAIRCASES. ple is to figure out if they are a temporary drama constantly, and want to bring WELLBEING, AND IS DESIGNED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF vampire or whether they are inherently an everyone along for the ride. THE NATURAL BEAUTY WHILE MINIMISING IMPACT ON ITS SURROUNDINGS. 44 IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?

Why do villas need marketing? Owning a luxury villa is reasonably straightforward. Making it well known, sought after and able to deliver strong returns — that’s the challenge.

How can a villa fulfill its potential and stand out in a crowded and fragmented marketplace?

Recognized experts Luxury Villas of Asia (LVA) draw on decades of experience with historical pricing, hard market data, deep marketing skills and knowledge of how the villa rental market functions to ensure their clients dis- tinguish themselves.

The experts at LVA are uniquely equipped to tell a villa’s story and tell it well. They ensure a villa makes good on its potential by estab- lishing a distinct brand for the property, with a business model of marketing the client’s brand, not their own.

A brand is a somewhat abstract term which Luxury Villas of Asia have cultivated world- ums. This commitment to quality perfor- not everyone grasps. Think of the brand iden- wide creative talent for over 20 years — pho- mance builds lasting relationships between tities that are part of global life. Coca-Cola tographers, videographers, internet market- the villas, their owners, agents and clients strives to be something other than sugar ers, copywriters and web developers. This supporting the business. water, Mercedes Benz reflects a particular talent base delivers the elements of style lifestyle, and Goldman Sachs is more than just needed to carve out a brand. The superior This is not a static endeavor. LVA constantly a finance company. quality of marketing materials guarantees create and shape new marketing content the best performance for both direct and on the villa’s behalf. Potential clients see a For a business to succeed, standing out from agent bookings. consistently professional and uniquely pre- the crowd is not enough —standing out in a sented public face. distinct fashion is a necessity. When a brand When taking a villa’s story to proven rental is created, when something is given a name, agencies and various networks, LVA adopt a Owing to LVA’s expertise and ongoing com- it comes alive. Then like any new life, it needs customized distribution strategy — one that mitment, their selective portfolio of luxury to be nurtured and given the space and represents the villa’s offerings consistently and villas is continually featured in magazines, sources to grow. professionally to the world across all medi- on social media and popular luxury travel websites.

One of the most important parts of LVA’s mandate is to provide diverse distribution channels for each of the villas they represent, from traditional agents to online market- places while maintaining a level playing field for all inquiries.

As LVA’s Managing Director Ian Macaulay states, “A brand is the implicit promise to deliver certain quality. The key function of our role at Luxury Villas of Asia is to ensure the message matches the product, and the right people hear it.”

Building a beautiful villa is not enough. It needs to be marketed in an informed fashion to the correct audience. Only then will they come.

luxuryvillasofasia.com

46 THE TREEHOUSE VILLAS EXPERIENCE

Opening its doors to guests earlier this year in January, TreeHouse Villas has finally arrived. A quick private speedboat ride from Phuket, find yourself whisked away through some of Phang Nga’s stunning lime stone cliff islands and beautiful turquoise waters to the island of Koh Yao Noi.

Where arriving on the resorts own jetty, you’ll step into one of the region’s largest national parks. Surrounded by lush tropical forests, towering cliff faces, and 400 meters of private beach, you will finally start to unwind and relax in this picturesque natural getaway.

water where it is then treated and reused for Getting to the spa a little early comes with its irrigation and watering of the lush gardens, own benefits like the use of the herbal steam returning it back to the natural cycle. The at- cave and waterfall plunge pool to get the jump tention to water preservation didn’t end there. start on healing your body and mind. With plans to implement their own bottling “ service to replace all plastic bottles with reus- The resort is very remote, even among the able glass ones. We also discovered that the island itself. The more populated areas of the resort hires 85% of its staff directly from the island are located central and south on Koh local community on the island and that they Yao Noi. A short 20 to 30 minute trip can be “Such a stunning location for our honeymoon, regularly participate in community fundraising made either by boat or taxi to the local vil- the villas are beautifully designed and elegant.” for local students and schools. lage. The resort offers a nice range of dining options with plenty of options for gluten free Then there are the villas themselves. First or vegan dietary requirement. Their staff are impression as you step onto your suspension extremely friendly and approachable. If you bridge to your villas, is that it is absolutely would like to alter a dish, you can always ask amazing. Little details like the suspended Edi- the waiting staff or the chef directly. son light bulbs and even going as far to develop their all-natural fragrance, T-Vine, derived from the best of what the surrounding has to offer, make the experience at TreeHouse Villas divine. The grander designs follow suit, such as the airconditioned bedroom with a hammock shaped bath being lofted above the open-air lower floor, with your own pool, minibar, deck chairs and dining area. Other “Very happy to see the resort employing more sustainable small details such as using bamboo and paper products such as bamboo/paper straws.” straws in place of plastic is a welcome change. Sharing some restaurants and facilities with the well-established Paradise KohYao next door allows for a wider range of dining options and activities. Specifically, the Serenity Spa has seen upgrades to welcome in the new guests from TreeHouse Villas. New massage salas overlooking the rice patty fields and water lily pond are the perfect spot to pamper yourself.

“The setting was absolutely beautiful, and the villas have been finished to a fantastic standard.” “Wonderful rooms, stunning location and very friendly staff” It is a breath of fresh air to see the resort’s approach environmental concerns with a thor- ough approach. Speaking with their general www.treehouse-villas.com manager we learned they source most of the resorts water from a fresh water spring just Exceptional facilities and service. Food was amazing, and behind the resort as well as collect all waste the staff went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. We will definitely recommend treehouse villas to everyone.” 49 peasants leaping with hearty abandon to let Several modern historians have argued that that engulfed a region of Tanganyika (mod- THE DANCING PLAGUE OF 1518 off steam. Sebastian Brant, a Strasbourg chan- the dancing plagues of mediaeval Europe ern-day Tanzania) in the fraught postcolonial cellor and author of The Ship of Fools (1494), were caused by ergot, a mind-altering mould year of 1963. When a couple of girls at a local detailed the exception to the ban: “if hon- found on the stalks of damp rye, which can mission school got the giggles, their friends ourable persons wish to dance at weddings cause twitching, jerking, and hallucinations followed suit until two-thirds of the pupils or celebrations of first Mass in their houses, — a condition known as St Anthony’s Fire. were laughing and crying uncontrollably and they may do so using stringed instruments, However, the historian John Waller has de- the whole school had to be shut down. Once but they are on their conscience not to use bunked the ergot hypothesis in his brilliant home, the pupils “infected” their families In the public market, in alleys and streets, zarre disease. They must dance themselves free Five hundred years ago in July, tambourines and drums.” Presumably strings book on the dancing plague, A Time to Dance, and soon whole villages were consumed by Day and night; and many of them ate nothing of it. A sixteenth-century chronicle composed were deemed less likely than percussion to a Time to Die (2009). Yes, ergot can cause hysterics. Doctors recorded several hundred a strange mania seized the city Until at last the sickness left them. by the architect Daniel Specklin records what bring on the mania. convulsions and hallucinations, but it also cases, lasting a week on average. of Strasbourg. Citizens by the This affliction was called St Vitus’ dance. the council did next. Carpenters and tanners restricts blood flow to the extremities. Some- were ordered to transform their guild halls into hundred became compelled to In addition, the council ordered those worst one poisoned by it simply could not dance for Of course, the dancing plagues have another Another chronicle from 1636 relates a less temporary dance floors, and “set up platforms afflicted to be bundled into wagons and several days in a row. parallel — modern rave culture. Though dance, seemingly for no reason — happy ending: in the horse market and in the grain market“ in taken the three-day ride to the shrine of Saint usually without the bloody feet and pleas for full view of the public. To keep the accursed in jigging trance-like for days, until Vitus, where Frau Troffea had been cured. Waller’s explanation of the dancing plague mercy of our sixteenth-century choreoma- In the year 1518 AD … there occurred among motion and so expedite their recovery, dozens Priests placed the choreomaniacs, who were, emerges from his deep knowledge of the niacs, and often with a little chemical help, unconsciousness or, in some cases, men a remarkable and terrible disease called of musicians were paid to play drums, fiddles, presumably, still thrashing about like landed material, cultural, and spiritual environment it is not uncommon for partygoers to dance St Vitus’ dance, in which men in their madness pipes, and horns, with healthy dancers brought death. Ned Pennant-Rea on one of fish, underneath a wooden carving of Vitus. of sixteenth-century Strasbourg. He opens his for days with little break, forgoing sleep and began to dance day and night until finally in for further encouragement. The authorities history’s most bizarre events. They put small crosses in their hands and red book with a quote from H. C. Erik Midelfort’s food, sometimes shifting their feet with poise they fell down unconscious and succumbed hoped to create the optimal conditions for the shoes on their feet. On the soles and tops of A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century and balance, and sometimes leaping with to death. dance to exhaust itself. these shoes, they sprinkled holy water and Germany (1999): none. Should one such reveller — perhaps painted crosses of consecrated oil. This ritual, fuelled by a particularly potent dancefloor The physician and alchemist Paracelsus visited It backfired horribly. Being more inclined to carried out in an atmosphere thick with in- Madnesses of the past are not petrified entities potion — be transplanted onto the horse Strasbourg eight years after the plague and a supernatural than a medical explanation of cense and Latin incantations, had the desired that can be plucked unchanged from their niches market stage of early modern Strasbourg half became fascinated by its causes. According to the dance, most of the onlookers saw in the effect. Word soon reached Strasbourg and and placed under our modern microscopes. They a millennium ago, they might not feel entirely his Opus Paramirum, and various chronicles frenzied movements a demonstration of the more were sent to Saverne to be forgiven by appear, perhaps, more like jellyfish that collapse out of place. agree, it all started with one woman. Frau Tro- magnitude of Saint Vitus’ fury. None being Vitus. Within a week or so the stream of suffer- and dry up when they are removed from the ffea had started dancing on July 14th on the free of sin, many were lured into the mania. ing pilgrims had diminished to a trickle. The ambient sea water. narrow cobbled street outside her half-tim- The Imlin family chronicle records that within dancing plague had lasted for over a month, Ned Pennant-Rea is an editor and writer from bered home. As far as we can tell she had no a month the plague had seized four hundred from mid-July to late August or early Septem- According to Waller, the Strasbourg poor were London. He likes early modern literature and musical accompaniment but simply “began to citizens. ber. At its height, as many as fifteen people primed for an epidemic of hysterical dancing. wrote his Master’s thesis on animals in Mon- dance”. Ignoring her husband’s pleas to cease, were dying each day. The final toll is unknown First of all, there was precedent. Every Eu- taigne’s essays. she continued for hours, until the sky turned but, if such a daily death rate was true, could ropean dancing plague between 1374 and black and she collapsed in a twitching heap have been into the hundreds. 1518 had occurred near Strasbourg, along the of exhaustion. The next morning she was up western edge of the Holy Roman Empire. Then again on her swollen feet and dancing before If not an angry saint or overheated blood then there were the prevailing conditions. In 1518, thirst and hunger could register. By the third what did cause the dancing plague? In the a string of bad harvests, political instability, day, people of a great and growing variety — view of Paracelsus, Fra Troffea’s marathon jig and the arrival of syphilis had induced anguish hawkers, porters, beggars, pilgrims, priests, was a ploy to embarrass Herr Troffea: “In order extreme even by early modern standards. This nuns — were drinking in the ungodly spec- to make the deception as perfect as possible, suffering manifested as hysterical dancing tacle. The mania possessed Frau Troffea for and really give the impression of illness, she because the citizens believed it could. People between four and six days, at which point the Detail from a 1642 engraving by Hendrik Hondius, based on hopped and sang, which was all most dis- can be extraordinarily suggestible and a firm Peter Breughel’s 1564 drawing depicting sufferers of a dance frightened authorities intervened by sending tasteful to her husband.” Upon seeing the suc- conviction in the vengefulness of Saint Vitus epidemic occurring in Molenbeek that year her in a wagon thirty miles away to Saverne. cess of the trick, other women began dancing was enough for it to be visited upon them. There she might be cured at the shrine of Vi- to annoy their husbands too, powered on by “The minds of the choreomaniacs were drawn On a hastily built stage before the busy horse tus, the saint who it was believed had cursed Detail from a copy on blue paper of Peter Breughel’s 1564 “free, lewd and impertinent” thoughts. This inwards,” writes Waller, “tossed about on the market of Strasbourg, scores of people dance her. But some of those who had witnessed her drawing depicting sufferers of a dance epidemic occurring type of dancing mania was classified by Par- violent seas of their deepest fears.” to pipes, drums, and horns. The July sun beats strange performance had begun to mimic her, in Molenbeek that year acelsus as Chorea lasciva (caused by voluptu- down upon them as they hop from leg to and within days more than thirty choreoma- ous desires, “without fear or respect”), which leg, spin in circles and whoop loudly. From niacs were in motion, some so monomania- sat alongside Chorea imaginativa (caused by a distance they might be carnival revellers. cally that only death would have the power the imagination, “from rage and swearing”), But closer inspection reveals a more disqui- to intervene. and Chrorea naturalis (a much milder form, eting scene. Their arms are flailing and their caused by corporal causes) as the three main bodies are convulsing spasmodically. Ragged forms of the condition. While the famously clothes and pinched faces are saturated in iconoclastic Paracelsus does deserve credit sweat. Their eyes are glassy, distant. Blood for placing the cause of the disease in the seeps from swollen feet into leather boots minds of the choreomaniacs rather than in and wooden clogs. These are not revellers but heaven, he was also a misogynist whose diag- “choreomaniacs”, entirely possessed by the nosis looks somewhat ridiculous now. mania of the dance.

In full view of the public, this is the apogee of the choreomania that tormented Strasbourg for a midsummer month in 1518. Also known as the “dancing plague”, it was the most fatal Detail of painting based on Peter Breughel’s 1564 drawing of a dance epidemic occurring in Molenbeek that year and best documented of the more than ten German engraving of hysterical dancing in a churchyard, Detail from a 1642 engraving by Hendrik Hondius, based such contagions which had broken out along ca. 17th century. Note the severed arm brandished by man on Peter Breughel’s 1564 drawing of a dance epidemic the Rhine and Moselle rivers since 1374. Nu- on the left of the circle occurring in Molenbeek that year One way to elucidate the dancing plague is merous accounts of the bizarre events that to consider the trance states people reach The more citizens this unusual plague afflicted, The privy council ordered the stages to be unfolded that summer can be found scattered today. In cultures around the world, includ- the more desperate the privy council became pulled down. If the choreomaniacs must across various contemporary documents and ing in Brazil, Madagascar, and Kenya, people to control it. The clergy held it to be the work continue their disturbing movements then chronicles compiled in the subsequent dec- enter trances deliberately during ceremonies of a vengeful Saint Vitus, but the councillors lis- they now must do so out of sight. The council ades and centuries. One seventeenth-century or involuntarily during periods of extreme tened instead to the guild of physicians, declar- went further, prohibiting almost all dance and chronicle by the Strasbourg jurist Johann stress. Once entranced, their perception of ing the dance to be “a natural disease, which music in the city until September. This was no Schilter quotes a now lost manuscript poem: pain and exhaustion is marginalised. Waller comes from overheated blood.” According to small thing for a culture in which communal describes the spread of the dancing plague humoral theory, the afflicted must therefore be dancing was central — from upright burghers as an example of psychic contagion, and he Many hundreds in Strassburg began bled. But the physicians instead recommended performing their restrained, delicate steps draws a parallel with the laughing epidemic To dance and hop, women and men, Portrait of Paracelsus, after Quentin Matsys, ca. 1530 the treatment given to past victims of this bi- in the so-called bassadanza, to ale-laden 50 51 The most beautiful moments in life are moments when you are Don’t be dead expressing your serious about joy, not when you your life – are seeking it. it’s just a play. 52 53 To live and operate in the world, you may have to identify with something. If you choose, you Play with your can be joyful every identifications, moment of your life. don’t let them It’s time you made rule you. your choice. 54 55 A snake knows more about what is happening around than any No work is other creature, stressful. It is your because it has no inability to manage ears to listen to your body, mind, gossip, only direct and emotions that perception. makes it stressful. 56 57 BangTao Beach, Phuket catchbeachclub.com healthier choices and setting different inten- WHY I LOVE FEMALE SOLO TRAVEL MORE IN tions with my travels, I actually accomplish so MY THRITIES much more! Though the changes have been slow and unconscious — there was never a pivotal “aha!” moment — I’m a different traveler now. Although I don’t have any more stories about Kristin Addis from Be My Travel I found that a lot has changed about how I These connections were fun, but they also felt late nights out or neon paint on the beach, Muse writes a regular column on travel now, but traveling in my thirties is prov- like the movie Groundhog Day. Someone was there’s more purpose to my travels now in- ing to be much more fulfilling than in it was always leaving; someone was always arriving. stead. solo female travel. She is an expert my twenties. Someone was always asking where I was from sharing her advice for other women and where I’d been. I still made deep connec- And I’m ok with that. Why? tions, but now I tend to spend more time with travelers to help cover the topics fewer people because I simply don’t meet as There were many times I had to give a one-of- I feel that the perks of being older and wiser I CAN AFFORD BETTER ACCOMMODATION. many, so I can give more individualized atten- important and specific to them! a-kind dining experience a pass in my twen- keep compounding, and at an even quicker tion to those I do meet. ties due to budget constraints. I think I still rate than they did in my twenties, when I was The first time I went overseas alone, I was could have made it work sparingly back then, less sure of myself and where I wanted to go, These days I use tours and activities as a way 21 years old and terrified. Everything was an but my priorities were different. I preferred a both figuratively and while on the road. The to meet people, like a snorkeling day tour unknown. Would I meet people? Would I be night out partying to eating more expensive confidence that came with more life experi- in Siargao, Philippines, or a cooking course safe? Did I have what it took? food, and I now realize my mistake. Food is ence has translated to even better trips abroad. in Chiang Mai, or a yoga class, a meditation one of the best gateways to understanding retreat, a hiking trail, a diving trip, or a day at I had landed in Taiwan as a language student a culture, and while street food can provide None of this is to say that traveling in one’s the beach. I find that when I’m in a position to and finding a place to live, opening a bank ac- that gateway, it’s only one of many. twenties is somehow inferior or less genuine, count, and setting up a cell phone all seemed meet people with similar interests, it gives us or that this is everyone’s travel progression. a chance to bond over a shared activity we’re like insurmountable obstacles. I spent my first For example, I recently ate at a kaiseki res- We’re all on our own personal journeys. both passionate about. By already having a three days on the road hiding in a hotel room, taurant in Japan, which is a multi-course shared passion, we have a common ground afraid to emerge, and fumbled at a language meal that typically costs a bare minimum of But for me, like a fine kombucha, traveling other than partying and can often have more I barely knew. $150. Weeks later, I’m still thinking about how seems to just get better and better with age. meaningful connections this way. creative the meal was, and how unique of an For most gap yearers and twentysomething But, eventually, I met my new roommate via a experience it was to sit across from the chefs **************** travelers, it’s all about going for as long as I HANG OUT WITH MORE LOCALS. forum online, made friends with her friends, as they made the food and presented it to me. possible on a tight budget. One of the easi- and grew to love everything that traveling That was an experience I’ll probably never est ways to do that is to stay in cheap dorms. solo entailed. forget, and though I love cheap noodles, I They’re great for meeting others, and for two don’t often think about them the same way solid years in my 20s, I adored them. But for That positive experience was the start to a weeks later. journey that had me quitting my job to travel all of the benefits, there’s one big problem with dorms: They’re not so great if you actu- around the world at twenty-six. Sometimes being an (older) adult is awesome ally like sleep. for joys like this. Traveling solo in my twenties was fun and Getting older has meant making a bit more social. Staying in dorms made meeting peo- I’M MORE COMFORTABLE WITH ME. ple easy. All I had to do is walk into the dorm money to spend on accommodation. I’ve room, say hello, and, usually, I had a few built- been in my career for longer, have figured out in friends right off the bat. As anyone who budgeting a bit better, and have shifted my frequents dorms knows, they tend to be party spending priorities. I now prefer staying in an places. Almost every hostel has a bar and a Airbnb or a hotel over sharing a room with common way of experiencing the freedom of five other people and waiting in line for my When I was living the dorm life and hanging being abroad is to do so with a drink in hand. turn to use the bathroom. So my dorm days out in backpacker zones, that’s exactly who My main objective back then was to go for as are behind me. Gone are the days of suffering I was surrounded by — other backpackers. long as I could on the money I’d saved up and through someone snoring or gyrating in the That was what I wanted back then – it was fun to have as much fun as possible. bunk above me. and easy – so I didn’t push myself outside of it.

As I crossed into my 30s I suddenly found that Though this means I have to work harder to But when I returned to some of the same places – without ever really realizing it – my travel meet people than just walking into a dorm in my thirties, I realized that I was more likely to style changed. I stopped wanting to stay in room and asking someone where they’re hang out with actual local residents or expats, from, this has pushed me to meet people since I was going to places like yoga studios or For a complete A-to-Z guide on solo female hostels, I stopped having as much interest in I spent my 20s feeling serious FOMO if I wasn’t in other ways. This leads me to the next big small cafés, or local cultural events I’d seen on travel, check out Kristin’s new book, Conquer- bars, I started to really like sleep and having out enjoying the social aspect of traveling. I change: flyers, and striking up conversations. To find ing Mountains. Besides discussing many of my own room. also spent way too much time worrying about local events, I often look on Facebook for re- the practical tips of preparing and planning what other people thought and I didn’t have a I ESTABLISH DEEPER CONNECTIONS WITH gional groups of activities I enjoy, like Ecstatic your trip, the book addresses the fears, safety, When I geared up to go backpacking again very strong sense of self. Traveling, especially THE PEOPLE I MEET. Dance, or meditation, or even a workout class and emotional concerns women have about this year, I began to worry, am I going to be solo, forced me to spend more time with my- (I’m into pole but there are other activities like traveling alone. It features over 20 interviews a weird girl who is in between, not staying in self than I ever had before, made me realize Soul Cycle, or aerial yoga, or rock climbing, with other female travel writers and travelers. dorms as much anymore but still wanting to how resourceful and capable I am, and set me depending on your pleasure). Click here to learn more about the book and be social? Is traveling solo going to get tough- up for a more confident next decade. er? Will it get harder to meet people? start reading it today! Things like this often give me a better insight Now I relish the time that I spend alone. I’m into the places I’m visiting because I am doing seeing a whole new world that was missing Kristin Addis is a solo female travel expert who what the locals are doing and not just what trav- from my twenties, like the sunrise every day elers are doing. It’s not that this couldn’t happen inspires women to travel the world in an authen- in Thailand, the first surf in Kuta, Indonesia, or tic and adventurous way. A former investment before. It just didn’t as much before because I the cenote in Mexico (a limestone sinkhole or was so comfortable in my little bubble. banker who sold all of her belongings and left cave with crystal clear water at the bottom) California in 2012, Kristin has solo traveled the that doesn’t have anyone else around be- world for over four years, covering every continent I CARE MORE ABOUT HAVING NICER MEALS. cause they’re all sleeping off tequila hango- (except for Antarctica, but it’s on her list). There’s I knew street food was delicious in my twen- vers, because they couldn’t handle the FOMO. almost nothing she won’t try and almost nowhere ties — and it’s still true in my thirties. I still she won’t explore. You can find more of her Traveling in my twenties came with a pretty love having a cheap bowl of soup — but I also I thought that my twenties were the decade musings at Be My Travel Muse or on Instagram standard way of socializing: dorms and bars. love turning around and spending triple that when I was supposed to be super energetic and Facebook. I’d meet people where I was staying and on a latte, or going for a 5-star meal that you and that I would be old and decrepit in my wouldn’t worry about using other avenues. can only get from that chef in this place. thirties, but it turns out that since I am making 60 61 WAGYU STEAKHOUSE – A RARE INDULGENCE THE ART OF RELAXATION PERFECTED: CATCH BEACH CLUB

Having embarked on a tireless Ever since it first opened its doors global voyage of discovery to in 2006, on the chic shores of seek out the finest cuts, the most Surin on the island’s west coast, delicious wines and supreme Catch Beach Club has been the cheeses, the Twinpalms Group are standard-bearer for Phuket beach delighted to announce that we’ve clubs. From the stylish design to successfully brought our collective the cool tunes to the fine dining passion for fine wine, steak and menu, it has set the tone for the cheese to Phuket. All will be rest of the island. unveiled at our newest restaurant A decade later, Catch moved to larger and addition, ‘Wagyu Steakhouse’ from more glamorous surroundings in Cherng- December 22 onwards. talay, and is still leading the way in terms of innovation with the launch of Vibes Phuket, We’ll be presenting a select prime Wagyu Asia’s first beach party season that ran from beef from the award-winning Darling Downs December 2017 through April 2018. in Australia, that assures to bring you an exceptional steakhouse experience. Featuring This spectacular array of events, which in- luscious juiciness, and well-balanced flavours cluded the visit of superstar DJs like Roger our meats will range from slithers of sashimi Sanchez and Erick Morillo, and the unique that gives a melt-in-the-mouth tenderness to entertainment of Le Cirque—which included in-house dry aged steaks that are grilled to acrobats, jugglers, knife throwers, fortune perfection on a Beech grill. tellers, mimes and magicians—was attracting global attention, pushing the island to the If you overlook the importance of knives to forefront of global sophisticated island resort enhance your culinary experience you will destinations. never look back after dining at ‘Wagyu’. To complement your choice, we will be offering As Olivier Gibaud, group general manager of a choice of five exceptional steak knives from Twinpalms, the owners of Catch, says, “People Laguiole, Opinel, Anarchy, KAI Wasabi and are continually attracted to experience a day at For some solid sustenance, feast your eyes on grilled marinated chicken skewers), a range of Dalstrong Gladiator. Catch Beach Club to enjoy excellent drinks, a the outstanding Mediterranean-inspired din- sushi and sashimi, pizzas and pastas, comfort quality environment, and great music, in world- ing menu, from the grilled Spanish-style octo- food mains—from the Catch beef burger on In true steakhouse spirit, we’ve created the class surroundings. As night falls, Catch begins pus served with chill and garlic butter sauce a brioche bun to the lamb chops in red wine perfect Caesar salad, fresh Boston lobster and to welcomes those wanting to “see and be seen”, to the signature Catch salad (crab, asparagus, sauce—and, finishing on a high note, desserts Steak Tartar are also featured on the menu. and groove to the latest tunes.” No time is this avocado, cherry tomatoes, fish roe, with a such as the orange-accented fresh chocolate Fine unique wines will also be served by the more apparent than at Catch’s annual White delicate French dressing). For a special occa- mousse, and the all-time Thailand favorite glass using wine preserving technology from Party, which has become the number one sion (or just pure indulgence), order a plate of treat of mango sticky rice. At Catch, life has Coravin, and an impressive cheese range event on Phuket’s social calendar, drawing the fine de claire oysters—rated the world’s never tasted so sweet. selected by a French Maitre Affineur ensures the famous and fabulous—decked out head best, they are served on ice with your choice satisfaction. to toe in white—for a special evening of of mignonette sauce or spicy seafood sauce. Located on Bang Tao Beach. shared celebration. The tantalizing menu continues with an array catchbeachclub.com After dinner, gather together with friends at of Thai favorites (try the Phuket satay gai, the bar to relish our handcrafted classic cocktails, an extensive range of single malts and Cuban cigars or enjoy privacy in our intimate dining room with a round table that seats a group of eight diners.

Beautifully designed by Nao Taniyama and Martin Palleros, our décor exudes a comfortable sumptuousness where night owls will want to linger on, relax and appreciate the crystalline sound quality brought to you by ‘Devialet Phantom’ music system.

Surin’s newest restaurant, ‘Wagyu’, is brought to you by the Twinpalms Group.

Open daily 6pm – until late, last food order at 11pm. Valet Parking Available. Location: Entrance to Twinpalms Residence twinpalms-phuket.com

62 63 BEACH RESTAURANT BY THE SURIN PHUKET

Amidst coconut palms and gently rolling slopes, The Surin Phuket elegantly punctuates the tropical landscape along the island’s finest white sand beach at Pansea Bay.

Tucked away at the fringe of the resort with a prime beachfront location is the Beach Restaurant. Enjoy a romantic dinner al fresco serenaded by soothing waves.

Savour the classics of Thai cuisine, yet also signature recipes created by Chef Saroch himself.

Open from 17:00 to 23:00 hrs daily. An advanced reservation is recommended.

Find us on: thesurinphuket.com Facebook.com/beachrestaurantbythesurinphuket

The Surin Phuket t: 076-316-400 [email protected], www.thesurinphuket.com 65 FAMILY MATTERS HOW TO STOP SWIPING AND FIND YOUR PERSON ON DATING APPS SADHGURU

Sadhguru looks at why we form Why Do We Form Families? wellbeing, partnership is meaningful. If it is Let’s face it, online dating can Next, I set up a sales funnel, throwing out any wasn’t going to be a thing and I was relieved When a child is born, it is not made to the all about you, either in terms of family or in sense of my type, and instead defining the not to be spending dinner with him. After families, and how when we lose extent that other creatures are made. It needs terms of profession or in terms of spirituality suck. So many potential people, criteria that would qualify a lead. An inbound that, I was a little nervous about going to my sight of these reasons, families nurturing, training and molding. So the need – whichever way – partnership is irrelevant so much time wasted -- is it message had to do three things: had to be next zero date. But we had agreed to meet on turn into bondages rather than for family arose. Family is a very supportive for such a person. If you stay together you will even worth it? Podcaster and written in complete sentences and with good the Brooklyn Heights Promenade with a flask base for a human being to grow. But for many create a big mess for both the people. grammar; it had to reference something in my of whiskey to watch the sunset, and honestly, bonds of love. people, family does not become a support, entrepreneur Christina Wallace profile, so I know it’s not a copy-and-paste sit- it was two blocks from my apartment. Plus, it becomes a hurdle. It does not become an You do not stay in a family because of duty. thinks so, if you do it right. In uation; and it had to avoid all sexual content. this guy had a podcast, I have a podcast, worst Sadhguru: Once, at a family dinner, Shankaran uplifting process, it becomes a way of entan- You stay in a family because there is a bond of I figured this was a pretty low bar, but it turns case scenario, we can talk about our podcasts. Pillai announced that he was going to get glement, not because family is a problem, but love that you have formed. If there is a bond of a funny, practical talk, Wallace out, of my 210 inbound messages, only 14 married. Everyone asked, “What! Whom are because of the way you hold it. love no one needs to tell you what to do and shares how she used her MBA percent cleared that hurdle. Then, Chas set down next to me. And this you going to marry?” what not to do. You will do what is needed. skill set to invent a “zero date” kind and empathetic man told great jokes and Family is an example of how anything that is Next, I wanted to meet in real life as quickly asked even better questions. He was a lawyer Shankaran Pillai said, “I am going to marry created for your wellbeing can be turned into Aspiring for More approach and get off swipe-based as possible, because the things I cared about, and a writer, and his eyes twinkled when Lucy from our neighborhood.” a disadvantage. You see this happening in But just because you formed a bond of love apps -- and how you can, too. I couldn’t see online. But the research, and my he laughed and they squeezed tight when I many different ways. For example, affluence with someone or a group of people does not experience, shows you only need about 30 kissed him and at some point in the evening, The father said, “What? You’re going to marry should have been wellbeing, but most peo- mean you should not aspire for something I first tried online dating my freshman year seconds with someone to tell if you click. our zero date became a first date. And two that lousy Lucy? We don’t even know her ple use it like poison. Education should have more in your life. The best thing that you can of college, which was in 2001, in case you years later, we have a washer, dryer and two parentage.” been wellbeing, but educated people are the do to people around you is, you make yourself can’t see my wrinkle. Now, as you may have So I invented the zero date. The zero date is house plants together. ones who are destroying the planet right now. in the greatest possible way a human being noticed, I’m six-feet tall, and when I arrived one drink, one hour. With the goal of answer- His mother said, “What? You’re going to marry What was given to us for wellbeing could can be. You must pursue that. The more you at my chosen university and realized our ing one question: Would I like to have dinner Now, I can’t promise you’re going to end up that lousy Lucy? She has no inheritance.” have been the greatest blessings, but instead evolve, the more you contribute to people men’s Division III basketball team averaged with this person? Not “are they the one”? Liter- with house plants. But the point of this story is they are threatening the very existence of the around. If people do not understand this, if five-foot-eight, I abandoned the on-campus ally, “Would I like to spend three hours across that online dating doesn’t have to suck. Don’t The uncle said, “What? You’re going to marry human race. they think that the only way they can have scene and went online. Now, back then, the table from this person?” You tell them you treat it like a game, and don’t treat it like a that lousy Lucy? She has such lousy hair.” you is for you to be stuck on the same level online dating was pretty close to the plot have a hard stop -- drinks with girlfriends, a resume review. Instead, use it to source and Similarly, family, which should have been a as them – with the same limitations and the of “You’ve Got Mail.” You’d write long emails conference call with China -- it doesn’t matter, qualify leads and then get offline as quickly as The aunt chipped in and said, “What? You’re support and a means for one’s growth, has same problems and you should not seek free- back and forth for weeks, before you finally they don’t know you. The point is one hour. If possible with the zero date. Because the point going to marry that lousy Lucy? She wears become a process of entanglement and bur- dom beyond that – then that is not a family, met up in real life. Except, in my case, you’d it’s awesome, you schedule a first date. And of this isn’t swiping. It’s finding your person. such terrible make-up.” den for many. Family is beautiful only when that is a mafia. If you are running a mafia of realize you have no chemistry and so now, if it’s not awesome, you downshift into en- it operates in a certain way, otherwise it can how to extract something from each other, you’re back to square one. tertainer mode and you workshop a few new Good luck. The little nephew also did his bit and said become the most terrible thing. that is not a family. How to give the best to stories for your next networking event. “What? You’re going to marry that lousy Lucy? each other, that is a family. So, while online dating has changed a lot in A self-described “human Venn diagram,” Christina She doesn’t know anything about cricket.” Family is Not About Duty Plus, because it’s just an hour, you can squeeze the last 17 years, many of the frustrations Wallace has crafted a career at the intersection of A family does not mean dependence, it is a remain the same. Because here’s what it does up to three in one evening and then you only isha.sadhguru.org business, the arts and technology. Shankaran Pillai stood his ground and said, certain partnership that you formed. Partner- well. It broadens your pool of potential dates have to do your hair and pick out one great “Yes, I am going to marry Lucy because there ships are relevant only when both the people beyond your existing social and professional outfit a week. is one big advantage.” are willing and they are going in a certain circles. And here’s what it doesn’t do well. direction together. If both the partners are Literally everything else. The zero date also gave me a chance to see “What is it?” they all asked. constantly concerned about each other’s how they responded to me asking them out. A few things you should know about me: I’m I figured not everyone would dig my moxie, “She has no family.” an action-oriented overachieving math and and I was right. Of my 29 qualified leads, only theater nerd, who ended up with an MBA. 15 replied to my message, and of those, six So, when things aren’t working out, I tend to scheduled a zero date. take a step back, apply my business toolkit to figure out why, and to fix it. My love life was My first zero date was with a set designer. And no exception. we were both into yoga and preferred our bagels with peanut butter, so it looked pretty The summer before I turned 30, I took myself promising. But two minutes in, I could tell it on a relationship off-site. Which means I went camping solo in Maine for a week, to do a retro on my track record of mediocre relationships. Because the thing was, I knew what I wanted in a partner. Kindness, curiosity, empathy, a sense of purpose. And yet, here’s what I chose for online: Ivy League degree, six feet or taller, lives within 12 subway stops of me. It’s not that I intentionally prioritized those things, it’s just the easiest to vet for online. It kind of is like a résumé review, which is why these guys looked great on paper and never quite fit me.

So when I went back online in the spring of 2016, I decided to reengineer the process through some classic business tools. First, I went to OkCupid, because I wanted to avoid the gamification of swipe-based apps. And also, because I wanted a writing sample.

66 67 ...... Sam Nam See PHOTOS BY LIAM COLLARD ......

LIAM COLLARD IS A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER WHO HAS CAPTURED SUBJECTS ALL OVER THE WORLD, INCLUDING BRAZIL, USA, GREECE, INDONESIA AND MYANMAR. THIS MONTH WE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM TO TALK ABOUT HIS LATEST PROJECT IN THAILAND — PHOTOGRAPHING A TRADITIONAL FISHING COMMUNITY, UNAFFECTED BY MASS TOURISM.

What inspired this project in Thailand?

We have visited Sam Nam See, a stunning area of Phan Nga Bay, a few times before. Having got to know the local community a little bit, it became clear this was a really authentic corner of Southern Thailand that had so far managed to escape being overrun with tourists and development.

This particular village is in a very beautiful area and developers are trying to push the community out to another location nearby. Being really proud of where they come from, the villagers are pushing back against this.

What was the most interesting or unexpected thing about this project?

Being allowed into the mosque during evening prayers was really amazing. Although we had met the village people quite a few times beforehand, it felt really special to have earned their trust.

We will be heading back there soon to deliver some large prints of our favorite images. Just a small thank you for allowing us into their homes over the last year.

A portrait and travel photographer sounds like an amazing job. What makes it so special?

It is a real privilege to do something you love for a living and get to meet so many amazing people from around the world.

I gave up a traditional job six years ago to completely devote myself to photography. When you do something you love and have such passion for it, then it feels like the best job in the world for sure.

What I really love is that it allows me to capture unique moments, experience different cultures and learn so much about other people and the places I visit.

What tips do you have for people who want to become a commercial portrait or travel photographer?

I think being totally immersed in photography is important. It really needs to be your passion rather than just a job.

Respecting people and local cultures is so important, whether it’s a travel or client project, building relationships is just as crucial as your skills with a camera.

Also, learning from other photographers and artists, remaining teachable and creating a unique style is what makes the best photographers stand out. If you are always open to learning and experiencing new things, your work will keep improving.

......

COLLARDSTUDIOS.CO.UK © Liam Collard 68 © Liam Collard © Liam Collard 70 71 © Liam Collard © Liam Collard 72 73 A FEW TIPS FOR INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE HOW TO GET INTO THE HABIT OF DOING IN THAILAND YOGA AT HOME

DUENSING KIPPEN DUENSING

As a general matter, real estate in of you both, or if they refuse to do so, you are legally issued. A current title deed can I’m a casual yoga-er, but when I GIVE YOURSELF PLANS AND STRUCTURE HAVE FUN well advised to find another law firm that will. later be found to be legally invalid; meet people who are serious about Thailand can be an excellent invest- Furthermore, “competent” counsel doesn’t • verification that the property has legal First, start thinking about what you like about If you hate downward dogs, don’t do any. If ment. Unfortunately, however, horror just know the law—competent counsel is access rights; yoga, they’re always talking about the yoga classes you’ve already done. Do you you love attempting tricky balance poses like stories are not rare enough. If you also ethical. By ethical we mean compliance • if you are planning on building on the their “practice.” Basically, if you’re love sun salutation sequences, where you crow, surround yourself with pillows and go with internationally recognized standards for property, a full report on all land use laws start standing up, work your way down to the for it. You’re on your own, and you can decide are thinking of taking this invest- lawyers. and regulations governing construction really into it, you don’t need to wait ground, and rise again (and again)? Or would what works best for you. ment plunge, here are a few tips. on the land; for a convenient class or a new you rather spend time on standing poses or Thus, you should expect that your law firm has • if there is already a building on land, a episode from your favorite YouTube balances, slowly working into the pose and You can play your own music while you work Beware of estate agents a fiduciary duty to you, in other words, that villa perhaps, then a check into the legal giving yourself many chances to get it just out, go as fast or as slow as you like, or even “Real estate agents”, “estate agents”, or (as they will put your interests first, even above validity of the structure’s building per- yoga channel. You work on what right? throw on a yoga video when you don’t feel they are more properly referred to under Thai theirs, including their financial interests. In mit. Just because a building has a build- you want, where you want, on your like planning out your own routine. The time You don’t need to know at the start exactly is yours—enjoy it. law) “brokers” are middlemen who make their this regard, you should expect that your law ing permit does NOT make it legal and own terms. living by being paid a commission for putting firm does not and will never have any conflict if it is not it can be ordered demolished; where your yoga session will take you. It’s a buyer and seller together. Only when the of interest in representing you. They should • if you are planning on purchasing a prop- okay to begin with familiar moves and follow SET A TIME AND PLACE Beth Skwarecki deal completes, the agent gets paid. Thus, not have any interest (including any of their erty that requires special licensing like a your instincts. That said, it can help to think agents have a financial interest in every deal own) the advancement of which would be condominium or a unit in a building that of certain moves or sequences as ideal for As with any habit, knowing the time and place completing. detrimental to yours. will also function as a hotel, then verify warming up (maybe some cat/cow or slow that the project is planned or built to you’ll do a yoga session can help you to make sun salutations) and others as nice for the end it actually happen. Do you have a yoga mat That is the reason why agents are commonly For example, your law firm should never ac- properly qualify for such licensing. This of the session (inversions and corpse pose are and accessories and a perfect place to put regulated in developed countries such as cept commissions from others, like real estate does happen even in very high-end pro- common choices). them? Do you like to do yoga in the morning those in the Europe, the US, and Singapore. agents or developers, to refer you to them. jects were you would not expect it. For when you’re fresh, or in the evening to relax? Such regulation generally imposes a “fiduci- example in Phuket a project was market Yoga Journal has a guide to what poses go ary” duty on the agent to act in the best inter- Nor should you law firm represent both you and sold as a seaside condominium best in each part of the workout. Once you If you want to work yoga into your day (or ests of their clients with significant penalties and the other side in a transaction. There is no development that won awards for “best have a few in mind—and no, it’s not cheating week) consistently, find a place for it to fit. applicable if they do not. This makes sense such a thing as a “non-conflicted transaction”. condominium project”, only later it was to bring a notebook with you to the mat—you Arrange your day so that you always have 20 since such agents (like lawyers and account- Every contract is a give and take and your “discovered” that its access was not wide can build a flow on the fly by choosing your minutes free before breakfast, let’s say. ants) hold your finances in their hands during lawyer should be looking out solely for your enough to qualify for a condominium favorite moves from each section. a deal and they should not be allowed to interest. license. It is now a hotel; and knowingly guide you into making an unwise • if you are planning on “buying” a proper- investment for the sake of their commission. An initial evaluation is easy enough. Ask your ty by buying a company that owns such prospective counsel to show you their formal property (something that is generally In Thailand, however, agents are not regulat- legal credentials. Then ask them what code not recommended) then a check of all ed. We have first hand experience of far too of professional legal ethics they are bound corporate, accounting, and legal records many agents putting the interest in their by and to show them to you. If they do, verify of the company is required. commission above the interest of the buyer. those credentials and review their professional code. If they cannot, or if you find their We should emphasize that we are not saying DUENSING KIPPEN is an international law firm response unsatisfactory (for instance, “I have not to use an agent but rather that you should specializing in business transaction and dispute lived in Thailand a long time, I speak Thai, be aware that it might be the case that your resolution matters, with offices in Bangkok and and I know many government workers”), you interests might not be the top priority of your Phuket, Thailand and affiliated offices in 45 other should find other counsel. agent. Therefore, if you intend to use and countries. Visit them at: duensingkippen.com- agent and you start to feel uncomfortable DUENSING KIPPEN is an international law firm Finally, do not assume you are going to get with too many statements like: “this is how specializing in business transaction and dispute the easy or correct legal advice from Thai gov- its done in Thailand”, “it is standard that the resolution matters, with offices in Bangkok and ernment officials. They are very often wrong agent holds the deposit on the sale”, that do Phuket, Thailand and affiliated offices in 45 other even about the law they are charged with not make sense, trust your instincts and walk countries. Visit them at: duensingkippen.com away, or at the very least get other competent administering. independent/non-interested advice. Do your due diligence Get competent legal counsel Due diligence means checking for any neg- One of the best protections you can find when ative legal issues with the property you are investing in real estate in Thailand is compe- planning to buy. Due diligence is a must tent legal counsel. This should be obtained anywhere in the world, but especially here in rather sooner than later (certainly before you Thailand. Once you’ve bought the property sign any agreement with an agent or seller). you’ve also bought any legal liabilities it might have. However, “competent” is the key. We are often amazed by what people say they were told More than once we have heard a remorseful by law firms in Thailand. Thailand actually purchaser tell us they did have a due diligence does have a well- developed set of laws (most done: “my lawyer got a copy of the deed from mirroring Western law). Thai law for the most the land office and translated it. The deed part fits together logically, just like in most showed that the seller was the owner and fully developed countries. Further, almost all there was no mortgage on the property.” the relevant Thai law is available in its English That, is not due diligence. translation. Thus, if what you hear from a law firm in Thailand about Thai law sounds like it The minimum essential components of a real does not make any sense, if it sounds illogical, estate due diligence should include: there is a good chance you are right. In such case, ask them to show you the law in ques- • a full check of the entire history and tion to read it yourself. If they are unable to validity of the title deed. Just because explain their point then with the text in front the deed is issued does not mean it was 74 75 DEEP RELAX PHUKET – THE PEARLS OF THE ANDAMAN

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Whether it is the freshest seafood simply steamed or barbecued or our Opening Hours Cherngtalay selection of favorite Thai and International dishes, Palm Seaside is a Lounge & Bar: 16.00 - Late Thalang, Phuket Restaurant: 18.00 -23.00 t: +66 (0)94 480 0883 culinary treat. Always exceptional yet never pretentious, our setting, (Last Order 22.00) e: [email protected] service and style celebrate the joy of dining by the sea. w: palmseaside.com A LIFE TRANSFORMED IN THAILAND

DON MANKIN, PH.D. MANKIN, DON WHERE PLAY I stood at the window on the top cepting of other ways of being. Rather than know about myself. For the first time in my life judge, I was ready to accept, even embrace. I wanted to learn about other cultures. In my floor of the skyscraper in the heart personal life this new interest was reflected in of Bangkok looking out at the cha- So, what I saw outside that window was my attitudes toward other cultures in the city vitality. I also saw an exotic culture with in which I lived, Los Angeles, one of the most TIME BEGINS! os on the streets below. It was hot roots, practices and artifacts vastly different diverse cities on earth. I not only became and smoggy, and it had taken us from my own. I was fascinated, rather than more tolerant and accepting of these cultures, about two hours to travel just a few repelled. Fascinated enough to add at least but started to seek them out by exploring the a week or two of vacation in subsequent ethnic neighborhoods of the city, especially miles to get here. visits over the next few years to explore via their food and music. Thailand, then Laos, Cambodia and Viet- I loved it. nam. Even longer visits followed years later These experiences also influenced my travels after I switched careers from academic to further afield. Until that fateful trip to Bang- It was 1995 and I was a university dean visiting travel writer. kok in 1995, most of my travels had been Bangkok for the first time to meet with corpo- domestic, usually backpacking and kayaking rate partners and recruit potential students These trips were not always easy. Wandering trips in North America. Great trips but the for a new international doctoral program. narrow streets in strange cities, trying to fig- cultural range was limited. It wasn’t my first trip to Asia, nor was it the ure out where I was, where to go, where and last. I had traveled to Japan in the summer what to eat. Working hard to incorporate what My explorations of SE Asia impacted my of 1971 to attend an academic conference. It I was experiencing into my existing frames of professional life as well. As an organizational was also hot and smoggy and crowded and reference — not always successfully. But all of psychologist with expertise in work teams, chaotic. It was, I thought, the worst example it captivated me - the pungent back streets my focus expanded to include cross-cultural of creeping Western materialism taking over and markets of Bangkok, unfamiliar Buddhist and international issues in teamwork and the world. rituals in a mountaintop temple in Chiang collaboration. Mai, floating down the Mekong River watch- I hated it. ing children wash their families’ water buffa- But the most profound impact was ultimately loes, eating strange concoctions involving on my career and life style. My world changed What was different between my experiences lots of chile paste in Luang Prabang, dodging - literally — in November 2004 as I was hav- in 1971 and 1995? Me. I was an insufferable motor bikes on the streets of the Old Quarter ing dinner with a close friend. As the drinks boor in 1971. A judgmental know-it-all and of Hanoi, and perhaps most mesmerizing of arrived I handed him a copy of my latest book, hippie college professor, I knew with certain- all, walking among the ruins of ancient Khmer on cross-organizational and international col- ty how people should live their lives - at one temples in the Angkor ruins near Seam Reap laboration. My friend, who is a very successful with nature, in rejection of the material world, (aka Angkor Wat). All of these places were, if consultant and corporate speaker, asked me and most of all, mellow in all things. not off this planet, surely out of my world. if he could give me some career advice. Of course, I agreed, looking forward to encour- In 1995 I still believed most of that (well, not These experiences changed my life. They agement from a person whose opinions I so sure about the mellow part), but maturity heightened my curiosity, sparked new inter- valued highly. had softened my edges, opened me up to ests, and revealed new aspects of my person- other possibilities, and made me more ac- ality at an age I figured I knew all I needed to “Don,” he said, “stop writing this shit.” Not exactly what I expected to hear. He explained by noting that I talked more enthusiastically about my travels than about my work. The metaphorical light bulb went off in my head. He added that I would have a lot more fun writing about my travels (he was right about that) and would make a lot of money speaking about my travels to aging baby boomers (not so correct about that one!).

So here I am several years later, well into my latest career at age 73. I travel, I write, I speak, sometimes even getting decent remuner- ation for my so called “work.” I win awards, I get involved in interesting projects, I receive Visit a place where kids’ dreams come true. Venture into a den of greater rewards of all kinds from my travel writing and speaking than I did as a professor activity where kids will bounce, jump, play, climb, splash, create and dean. If this is retirement, its far more interesting and fun than anything I had ever and make friends with other children from all over the world. imagined. Imagine the fun they will have with unlimited access to amusement activities and I’ve come a long way from that skyscraper window high above Bangkok and that fateful meanwhile, you can sit back, enjoy the sea view and savour the dining menu, whilst dinner with my irreverent friend. I’m not the watching them having the time of their lives. only one whose life has been transformed by SE Asia - a list that includes Anthony Bourdain, Somerset Maugham, and Barak Obama, to Non-stop activity is what Catch Junior is all about, a secure and stylish place set mention just a few. Visit SE Asia and see if it on Bang Tao Beach, with easy access to building sandcastles by the sea and a also transforms yours. place that young ones will call their very own.

80 Open: 09:00 – 19:00 | [email protected] | catchjunior.com | #catchjunior 82 83 SUNSETS AND SOPHISTICATION AT ANDAMAN CRUISES – PHUKET’S MOST EXCITING & PALM SEASIDE RESTAURANT, LOUNGE & BAR STYLISH CONTEMPORARY LUXURY YACHTS

Sitting on the terrace at Palm Phuket has so much to offer, on Seaside, with a pre-dinner land there are stunning beaches, refreshing whole fruit cocktail in vibrant nightlife and colourful hand, taking in the last sunshine cultural attractions to enjoy. At of the day and watching the iconic sea, exploring Phuket and its shapes of the fisherman’s boats surrounding islands promises to morph into silhouettes against make your visit complete. a technicolour background of striking sunset orange and red Take the time to cruise on the emerald waters in Phang Nga Bay and marvel at the sights of hues is, indeed, one of the most the natural topography of the majestic lime- magical, yet simple things you can stone clad vistas and hidden mangrove caves. For marine-life lovers a trip over to the clear do in Phuket. waters near Koh Racha or Koh Phi Phi offer a spectacular array of colourful reef fish to snor- Bringing contemporary style and delicious kel, scuba dive or kayak with. food delights to beautiful Bang Tao Beach, Palm Seaside is an excellent dining destina- Andaman Cruises has a fleet of 10 top-notch tion. Found on the southern tip of Bang Tao yachts and powerboats, all lavishly designed beachfront, found very close to Amanpuri, with comfort, luxury and exclusivity in mind. The Surin, and Twinpalms Resort, Palm Sea- Intimate voyages for just a couple of people side celebrates the riches of the sea by serv- to social gatherings of up to 50 guests can be ing up fresh seafood in imaginative styles enjoyed. The extraordinary 135-foot Ocean and tastes. Emerald is a perfect tri-deck superyacht that accommodates large groups for a daytime voy- The new menu presents the finest selections age or party and can sleep 12 guests. Guests from Thailand and around the world. Try our can enjoy a dip in the upper deck jacuzzi or fresh oysters, sourced both locally and from unwind with a refreshing cocktail on one of France and Australia. Choose from Phuket the comfortable sun loungers. A trove of water lobster, white snapper, blue crab, king toys, tenders, jet skis, kayaks and sports equip- prawns, and more, served grilled, steamed ment complete the guest facilities. or poached with homemade spicy Thai chilli, aioli, tamarind and tartar sauces. The sizzle The vessels that accommodate up to 20 and aroma of your top-quality selections will guests offer unapparelled comfort and whet your appetite as they’re prepared by whether the occasion is pure relaxation and our chefs with finesse on the open grills. sightseeing, or a celebration Andaman Cruis- es can tailor-make each trip specifically. Our Japanese choices include Sashimi, Sushi, Hosomaki, Rolls and Cones, each brimming The stylish MY Olympia, a 76-foot fly-bridge with flavour and freshness. Other tempting motor yacht features four cabins and accom- dishes from the menu: Linguini with Anda- modates a total of eight guests for overnight man prawns, Spaghetti with clams and white cruises and 20 guests for a day charter. Guests wine sauce, Hokkaido scallop skewers, and can enjoy access to remote private coves, as King prawns in red curry paste. and enjoy the view of the exquisite islands. well as exhilarating afternoons of waterskiing Immersing in the spirit of yachting isn’t just Palm Seaside also sprinkles some tasty ‘turf’ and wakeboarding. about basking in the beauty of the boat and dishes into its ‘surf’ mix with New Zealand the delicious cuisine and flowing drinks, it is lamb chops, beef cheeseburger, green chick- Beautiful and comfortable in all conditions, to completely open to the wonder of the scen- en curry, and spicy minced chicken with Thai MY Mayavee, a 60-foot motor yacht from the ery of the destination, the contrast of topog- basil leaves. renowned Princess brand, combines excellent raphy on Phuket’s doorstep is staggering, the cruising abilities, with the space to entertain almighty vertical cliffs rising of Phang Nga Bay Add romance or a sophisticated tipple to up to 16 guests for a day time voyage and to the idyllic castaway islands dotted around your meal with our distinctive drinks, from sleeps six in style. the Andaman Sea, make for picture-perfect Champagne Moet & Chandon Ice imperial memories to be made and cherished. served with fresh mint and berries, to a Cuisine onboard suits all tastes and ranges choice of sparkling, white, rose and red from breakfast menus including tropical fruit, Andaman Cruises offers something special for wines. After your meal, treat yourself to freshly baked croissant and pastries, smoked everyone, but for those who are looking to a delicious dessert, or perhaps a relaxing salmon and fresh coffee, lunch on the yacht join the jet set, you may see a familiar face on cigar session with our choice of top-quality can incorporate a barbeque of seafood, sum- aboard of the yachts. Among the guests are Cubans. ideal spot for groups to gather, while those international stars such as Beyonce and Jay-Z, Palm Seaside mery salads and there are delicious options seeking a bit more peace and exclusivity for everyone. The drinks list is light and cele- football player Cristiano Ronaldo, model Hei- Palm Seaside’s light and open style evoke may dine at one of the tables dotted along Open 4pm till late daily, last food order 11pm di Klum, the Princess of Morocco and Prince of Tel 094 480 0883, 094 480 0937 bratory and features champagne, French rose, the beauty and tranquillity of the sea. Its the restaurant’s central reflecting pool like zesty Sauvignons and cold beers and spirits Saudi Arabia and more. design was created and brought to life by lilies on a pond. Palm Seaside’s setting also Bang Tao Beach palmseaside.com are also available. Martin Palleros of Argentina, designer of the offers a majestic backdrop for weddings and Open all year round (weather allowing) Twinpalms Phuket Resort and several luxury special occasions, both day and night. Con- Overnight adventures can include a visit to +66 (0) 76 316 562 properties around Asia, acclaimed for his tact our team to find out how our sensational the Similan Islands that offer colourful dive [email protected] elegant designs in harmony with nature. The setting and experience can help you create a sites for all levels of diver experience and a andaman-cruises.com extra-long sofa bench under roof cover is an memorable event. stunning location to moor up for the night 84 85 Seara_Advert_Treadmill_W221xH305mm.pdf 1 23/8/2561 BE 11:52

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Bangkok Phuket Pattaya Samui Hua Hin Ho Chi Minh City Hanoi Phnom Penh Yangon Mandalay Dhaka Malé 86 87 PHUKET REAL PROPERTY

BOAT AVENUE LAGUNA (OPPOSITE VILLA MARKET) utility products. Every town also has now at Condominium Villas least one small supermarket like tesco lotus 150m to Bangtao Beach. 10% p.a. Guaranteed for 2/3 Beds Pool Villas. Very close to Laguna. 6% p.a. Guaranteed or big C. –Western style is enjoying the Thai style plus up to 20 years. Up to 50% Financing Free. Return for 5 years. the large shopping centers for western foods FROM THB 3.6 M FROM THB 15.9 M and clothing. Those centers are ever increasing in Phuket. Expats feel they can now find everything in Phuket. Villa Market in boat avenue is very popular.

BEACHES: With 25 beaches you have a unique choice to find your favorite spot. All are so different, the sand, water, natural surroundings change at each beach discovery. Some are 100% sleepy with near to no facilities or traders, some others host some of the most famous beach clubs in the world like Cafe Del Mar or Catch Beach Club.

FOOD: Thai food of course, you can eat from food stalls a meal for the price of a can of coke in Europe. Equally there are some 5 star hotels Condominium Villas or high end restaurants that will happily dent 5 Star Condominium ready to move in . 7% p.a. Guaranteed Full Sea View Cottage. 7% p.a. return for 15 years. Guaranteed your credit card. In Phuket all budgets find a Return for 9 years. Free 30 days stay per year. buy back option. 60m living space. happy place to eat. There are also dozens of FROM THB 4.0 M FROM THB 8.9 M French, Italian, Indian, German, Japanese, American etc etc restaurants.

TO DO: Beaches - shopping - golfing - island hopping - temples - naturals parks and reserves - cooking schools - tennis - yachting - beach clubs Phuket Real Property is a concept Why Phuket? - water parks - elephant trekking - festivals… of true independence. The agency’s CLIMATE: focus is working for clients rather Phuket climate can be described as “tropical”. We have offices in Kamala beach and than just sellers or developers. A dry season from November to April. Warm Boat Avenue Laguna, Phuket and visit us on and dry season with the occasional thunder- www.phuketrealproperty.com Each project or villa is personally storm or rain shower. From May to October, inspected and unique prices and the wetter season will have sunshine and at benefits are negotiated for Phuket times some rain. The climate remains hot all year round. Real Property clients. Above that, POPULATION: every purchase is rewarded with Phuket is in the southern part of Thailand Condominium Villa a Catch Beach Club free annual and has been used to welcoming foreigners 500m to Catch Beach Club. 4 Star Hotel Facilities. Sea View Villa in Kamala. 3Beds, 3Baths. membership. for decades now. Having thousands of west- Freehold Ownership. 24% Guaranteed return. 12% ROI per year 17/18. Rooftop Jacuzzi. erners living in Phuket has led to acceptance and happy co-habitation between natives FROM THB 2.8 M FROM THB 18.75 M Each membership includes over 50,000 and foreigners. The Thai population does not THB of benefits, sun beds and up to 50% on expect or receive free government handouts lunches and dinners. Phuket Real Property is so everyone works or supports a business. a family run business. Husband and Wife. Eric Schooling is of high standards and taken (of French and British nationality) has been most seriously. involved in property and investment since 1985. Eric quit as sales director of a leading WAY OF LIFE: Phuket real estate brand to gain full inde- It can only be described as relaxed, the feel- pendence for his clients. Waeng passed her ing of freedom is overwhelming. In Phuket all Official Real Estate examinations with a 98% Thai people work somehow, and are family exam certification. Waeng is a Thai National orientated in general. The Buddhist culture is and speaks English. Together they have a goal a calming one which encourages self respect for their clients: “We find what you dream”. and respect of others. Thai people love to eat, Help is also at hand for Thai Property laws, shop for food every day, most street corners Located in Boat Avenue Laguna – taxation, succession and visas. have stalls selling fresh dishes and local fruit. Opposite Villa Market

Contact us at Phuket Real Property for invest- SHOPPING: ment, holiday condominium or villas, rentals, and of course relocation to Phuket. We will –Thai style is the local daily markets. Those Free Catch Beach Club Annual Membership for every Purchase! find your property through our own portfolio, markets are colorful and mix all types of food or through a trusted property co-broker. prepared in front of you and some clothing or Eric: +66(0)98-379-0255 Waeng: +66(0)94-982-4947 [email protected] www.phuketrealproperty.com 89 SUPERCHARGE YOUR LIFE!

Written by Simon N. Ostheimer

How to Rediscover Your Inner Needs at AMAYEN Sanctuary – Chiang Mai’s Newest Meditation & Yoga Retreat Resort

CHIANG MAI PROVINCE 90 91 Brilliant Transformational Year “The world is full of noise and distractions,” Round All-Inclusive Retreats for an explains Kirjon, who spent years working on some of Phuket’s most fashionable resorts, AMAYEN is a sanctuary Extraordinary Life featuring and involved in the lifestyle that comes with Accommodation, Yoga, Meditation, them. “Increasingly, people have lost the ability where people go... to listen, to be aware, to live in the now, to make From the busy entrepreneur to the Mindful Breathing, Qigong, Creative personal decisions without approval of others, to find stillness Visualization, Massages and to live life fully without conditions. At the same time people look more and more for answers on to listen to their inner voices Organic Vegan Cuisine how to fill the void within them. longtime employee, people are increasingly to gain a new perspective on life “AMAYEN is many things to many people,” says “Some of them realize that the only way to to set themelves new goals Miguel Kirjon, founder of the new Amayen succeed is to look inward, not outward, which looking for answers and realizing the Sanctuary in remote northern Thailand. “It’s a is why I have created AMAYEN—to provide a to learn to consciously breathe place where people can go for stillness, listen to safe and nurturing environment where all of to loose weight and rejuvenate their inner voice, seek answers, and find a new these issues can be supported, encouraged and perspective on their life’s goals.” Founded in emptiness found in social media and technology helped. A quiet place. A place to be one with to heal physically and emotionally early 2018, Amayen is located 35 kilometres nature, and a place to be in love with all that away from the cultural centre of Chiang Mai, is.” In many respects, this is a personal journey to re-evaluate their wants and needs in a little valley on the way to Chiang Rai, the already embarked on by Kirjon. “I was sitting to meet like-minded people kingdom’s northernmost city. at my desk in Phuket one morning, working on the 10th business idea I had come up with in to have inspirational conversations Thailand’s far north is a picturesque place, a the last six months, and began to feel a sense region full of fertile valleys, misty mountains, to join inspirational workshops of emptiness that made me sit back and pause. and fireflies at night. In amongst this stunning Why was I working so hard?” nature is where you’ll discover AMAYEN, a to simply be serene property featuring an organic garden, “I was desperate to be successful. But I didn’t the source of the healthy vegetables and really realize that in my mind, success as a life- fruits served to guests, charming accommo- long entrepreneur meant never taking a break, dation in traditional Lanna-style cottages, a always burning out, and living a life that I wasn’t swimming pool, and yoga sala that faces onto excited to live. I needed to get a new perspective green rice fields—it’s an ode to stillness. on my situation, and then it gradually became

AMAYEN SANCTUARY

92 93 CHIANG MAI PROVINCE 94 95 clear: rest; that’s what had been missing. I needed to break out of my daily routine and get some clarity. I realised that we all need regular periods of stillness to explore our inner world and recharge if we want to stay healthy, sane and successful.

“Having spent many years in the hospitality industry designing, branding and creating unique guest experiences, as well as being trained in personal development disciplines, I knew that I could create a place of stillness, warmth and safety. A sanctuary where nothing is expected of you, where relaxing and letting time pass are your only priorities. A place where you can discover and learn about your inner world, your desires and way forward.”

It is a mindful way forward that is already attracting visitors of all backgrounds to this rural retreat, ages ranging all the way from people in their 20s to their 60s—anyone who feels that there must be more to life than the one they are currently living. “The one constant is guests tend to be curious in nature, and on the search for fulfilment,” says Kirjon. “Like me, they want to have a smile on their face when they wake up every morning, and have an energy to conquer the world.” From the busy entrepreneur to the longtime employee, people are increasingly looking for answers and realizing the emptiness found in social media and technology. Kirjon says that his guests often just want a heartfelt personal touch, an intimate conversation, somebody who truly listens, and a place that cares.

Much of this comes from the owner himself. “I live in the resort and I eat with the guests. I am simply the host, but guests have access to me for questions and great conversations that usually AMAYEN YOGA/QIGONG TERRACE tend to enter the realms of life coaching.” In this respect, while solitude can be a choice, the guest is not alone—they are supported by a small, friendly and welcoming team. “We don’t sell empty words and beliefs but rather the opposite. We tend to advise towards taking personal responsibility for your life and going that way with bold steps.” Kirjon leads by example, personally guiding the mindful breathing and qigong classes.

Guests learn the process of using their thought Born to German-Finnish parents in Colombia and raised in Central America, Miguel combines his artistic talents and all-sensory power to consciously intuition with decades of experience as a designer, consultant and entrepreneur to bring vitality and innovation to all his projects. Miguel earned his Master Degree of Graphic Design at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland, and served as Art Director at Giger & Partner Design Agency in Zurich. He has applied his creative skills to launch a number of distinctive ventures including restaurants, imagine, create and children’s books and lifestyle magazines. As an independent brand developer for the Twinpalms Group for 13 years, Miguel has helped to build the Twinpalms brand into one of the most stylish and inventive hospitality businesses in Asia. In January 2018 he founded attract to themselves AMAYEN Sanctuary in Chiang Mai. Dedicated to a lifelong pursuit to develop his skills in a holistic way, Miguel has completed the following study and training programmes: that which they intend to • Extrasensory Realm of Reality and Life Coaching, mentored by bestselling German author and healer Harald Wessbecher • Pyramid Technology under the guidance of scientist Dr. Fred Bell (a descendant of Alexander Graham Bell) in USA • Taoist Inner Alchemy with Master Hu Xuezhi on Wudang mountain in China • Meditation practices with Brazilian Medium Thomaz Green Morton in Brazil experience in their lifes • Advanced level BioGeometry®, the Egyptian science of using the energy principles of shape, with Dr. Robert Gilbert in USA • Feng Shui training, the Chinese art of creating harmonious surroundings, under the direction of Master Larry Sang of the American Feng Shui Institute 96 97 It is an approach that is working for the founder himself, now living in the mountains after so many years of island life. “After having lived and worked in Phuket for 22 years as an entrepreneur, certain patterns emerged. Phuket carries an energy that invites visitors to relax in their holiday homes, enjoy the beaches and clubs, and partake in fantastic food and drink. It’s a very chilled vibe. By comparison, up here in the mountains of Thailand’s north you are in a different world—filled with invigorating creative and healing energy.”

The air is much cooler up here, and even 5 degrees less than found in Chiang Mai. The unadulterated night sky is stunning, and almost all vegetables and fruits sold are grown organically without chemicals. The fauna and little river beside Amayen entertains with its endless varying melodies. “The AMAYEN LANNA HOUSE north carries a creative inspiring energy,” explains Kirjon. “Although life is slow and quiet, it instills a calm thrusting energy ideal for personal change and healing.” The nearby natural hot springs of Doi Saket, which Kirjon says have a softer energy compared to the powerful volcanic vibes of Bali, are another important element.

To effect personal change, Kirjon recommends “creative visualization”, the fundamental technique underlying reality creation. “This is the process of using your thought power to consciously imagine, create and attract to yourself that which you intend to experience in your life,” he says. “Mastering creative visualization grants you direct control over your thoughts at the subconscious level. While there are several ways to programme the subconscious mind, visualization is the most effective and its results the most rapid.”

Kirjon intends that after a stay at Amayen you’ll be inspired, calmer, healthier and wiser regard- ing who you are and what you want. Though, as CHIANG MAI PROVINCE he points out: “We don’t provide solutions, we just provide the tools to find your own way of embracing life to the fullest.”

Visit amayen.com if you are interested in a truly transformational wellness experience. You can start your retreat on any day that suits you best.

AMAYEN Sanctuary Doi Saket, Chiang Mai, Thailand +66 (0) 866 863 811 amayen.com

98 CHIANG MAI PROVINCE 99 THE GARDEN COURT, HOME TO BAKE, SUSHI, FLAME & PASTA

Feeding the family can sometimes be a challenge, as can arranging a meal out with friends. Everyone has different tastes, so the question of where to go is made simple at The Garden Court.

Located very close to Laguna Phuket and within walking distance from Boat Avenue, the Garden Court is home to four distinctive eateries; BAKE, serving freshly baked pastries and coffee, SUSHI, offering delicious sashimi and sushi combos, FLAME, specialising in succulent rotisserie chicken, ribs, kebabs and pizza, and PASTA, where hot homemade plates of wholesome Italian comfort food is served with love.

Garden Court is a destination where multiple cuisines are offered and may be enjoyed with any other style of food at any time either in air-conditioned comfort or enjoy the warm weather and opt to dine al fresco. You want to eat croissant for dessert after dinner? Why Coffee is our passion and for the perfect brew not? You feel like a portion of protein-rich ro- we source from northern hill tribes, who’ve tisserie chicken after your morning bike ride? spent more than a century perfecting an Sure, there are no limitations. ecological farming technique to grow one of Southeast Asia’s finest Arabica coffee beans. BAKE We even roast this fine hand-harvested coffee, Bake offers a scrumptious array of baked and bringing you a rich cup of inspiration to savour sweet goodies as well as breakfast dishes sure every day and available to take away and enjoy to give you a good start to any day. Savoury at home or offer as a gift for a coffee lover. sandwiches are prepared to order and may be Open daily 7am until 10pm eaten in or take away and enjoy on the beach.

Perk up your afternoon with a cup of freshly SUSHI brewed coffee with something sweet. Our Fans of Japanese cuisine will be pleased with French macarons are made to perfection, the choices on the menu at SUSHI. Prepara- thin and flavourful. Try our fine European tion and presentation methods are all accord- style patisserie featuring eclairs, diplomate ing to the traditional rituals and this results (puff and cream slices), fruit tarts and ti- in an authentic taste. Mixed combos are our ramisu. Our luxurious chocolate truffles and most popular choice with diners, offering a treats are made with Valrhona chocolate, for mix of Sushi, Sashimi, and Maki, perfect for with fries and salad. Try our baby pork rack of a zesty sensation be sure to go for the coated a light supper washed down with a glass of ribs, barbecued with brown sugar, paprika, candied orange sticks. sake. Our party box is a quick and easy take cumin, maple syrup, and apple juice, or go for out choice to share, including California Rolls, the slow roasted duck for something a little Kappa Maki Cucumber, Sweet Shrimp Sushi, different. For a touch of the Middle East our Shrimp Roe Sushi, and Sashimi (Tuna, Yellow shawarma kebab is thinly sliced and served in Tail, and Salmon). Snacks and side orders, in- pita and is sure to satisfy, enjoy this with tab- cluding edamame beans, seaweed and spicy bouleh salad, tomatoes, gherkins and spicy tuna or salmon salads are also featured on the or yoghurt sauce. Burgers are homemade menu, and to top off your meal, all dishes are and generous, try the Juicy Lucy – it never served with a steaming bowl of homemade disappoints. Miso soup. Open daily 11.30am until 10pm Open daily 5pm until 10pm (closed Mondays) and a primavera with sundried tomato and vegetable. We’ve a small selection of wine PASTA and beer to complement the pasta flavours, FLAME There’s nothing more comforting and filling and desserts and coffee are on hand from FLAME offers a fantastic variety of cuisine and than a plate of pasta. PASTA gives an intimate BAKE. The most discerning diners of all ages is a hit with families and groups wanting to yet interactive dimension to your dining ex- are sure to find just the right flavour to suit order many items and share. Our open grill perience. Diners enjoy a close-up view of their their cravings. gives you a bird’s eye view of our chefs and selected dishes being prepared at the chef’s Open daily 11.30am until 10pm food preparation. Our pizzas are made with station on the end of a 16-seat oval bar. Semolina flour and wood-fired in a classic, Greek-style oven for optimum texture and Pasta’s menu features more than a dozen For more info and menus please visit flavour. Toppings are fresh and our Marinara varieties from spaghetti to ravioli and nearly gardenfoodcourt.com uses the freshest seafood. plenty of homemade sauces. Among the sauces are the rich and classic carbonara with Rotisserie roasted chicken is marinated in bacon, eggs, cream and pecorino, a marinara mouth-watering herbs and spices and served Bianco with seafood, onion, celery and carrot, 100 101 My name is Irina Kiseleva, and I am My name is Ivan and despite my super Russian fortunate enough to call Phuket Island my name, people don’t expect me to be Russian home. especially those like me, for whom English is a second language, but the truth is — I am from I am originally from Moscow, Russia, where Ural, a place with a harsh terrain in Russia. Yes, I started my career in the advertising it is extremely cold there in winter time. Ural is industry, specializing in mass media and known to foreigners as where the mountains non-media communication. separate the European and Asian parts of the country, and even though I lived in the European I grew up in a very beautiful country and part, my life took an entirely Asian direction. used to travel around Russia with my parents as a child so traveling the world, Having finished university with a degree in discovering beautiful destinations and public administration, I spent a couple of years meeting inspirational people along the way working for the regional government office has become one of my favorite activities. in Ekaterinburg; Ural’s central administrative city, at the Ministry of Public Utilities before My first visit to Asia was back in 2008 and I understood that my soul was asking for related to a project for the international something more unpredictable and adventurous. creative agency I was involved with. During When I left my position at the Ministry most of a short business trip to Bangkok, I was my friends and relatives thought I was crazy to amazed by the vibrant and diverse life give the job up when I had been fighting to get a there. My curiosity for discovering Asia job there and invested a lot of time and effort to IAN MELNIKOV IAN more deeply led me to travel to Thailand succeed. But now, five years later, I can say that

again, so a year later I came back to visit KISELEVA IRINA moving to Thailand was one of the best decisions the most beautiful beaches and historical I have ever made in my life, even though I had places of Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia. never been to Thailand or Phuket before. I That trip was a life-changing experience. literally came here with my big travel bag with My holidays became longer and I finally the intention to stay and live here. decided to take up the challenge of residing in beautiful Phuket. For four of my five years here in Phuket, I have been in the real estate business — something Since then I’ve been working in hospitality, I never expected. After initially working for a real estate and the tourism industry, successful developer, I got a proposal to join one focusing on client service, sales and of the most innovative and modern agencies — marketing. FazWaz Real Estate — run by the incomparably smart and handsome founders. I have worked One of my first jobs on the island was in for this company longer than anywhere in my sales for the reputable company, Laguna life. People might think that a broker’s job is Property — where I had chance to learn all quite boring, but the truth is — it allows you to about property development. develop many skills at the same time — you are a psychologist, performer, comedian and the Later, I was given the opportunity to work knowledgeable guy organizing legal formalities as a yacht charter broker and manager and much more. It’s a non-stop show which for the beautiful Princess motor yachts. might drive some people crazy, but in return, I

Exploring the unique scenery around PHUKET LOCALS meet incredible people and stay in touch with Phuket and organizing a bespoke a lot of my clients after the property purchase experience for demanding audiences and has been completed. We become friends and celebrities gave me the chance to meet a PHUKET LOCALS have regular dinners — some of my clients have lot of outstanding people and learn a great got to know my family who have joined me here deal about the yachting industry. Phuket in Phuket. These people give me inspiration gave me a very enjoyable experience! and help to point me in the right direction to grow and develop. It’s actually a pretty unique Phuket is growing fast and it is fascinating opportunity to meet incredible people, whom to see all the changes going on here. I would probably never meet if it were not for Amazing scenery, beautiful beaches, great working for an international real estate company food, famous Thai hospitality and an easy with an accumulation of successful talent. lifestyle create this unique mix that makes it a worldwide travel destination and The lack of free time is a problem for every real attractive to investment and business. estate agent, so when I have some, I try to spend it with those I love. I enjoy cleaning the house During the last two years, my focus has and doing the laundry! I also hug my dogs as they moved toward the property market and I need a lot of attention. Phuket also allows me to am now a real estate agent and look after participate in my favorite sports such as tennis, the overseas clientele, using my skills and rock climbing and badminton, accompanied by knowledge of the island. There are many my friends and colleagues. Reading also takes up outstanding developments for investment a lot of my time so if anyone wants some great or places to live in Phuket. My clients books in Russian — call me, I will be happy to have become friends and I am very happy share them as my library is pretty amazing here in to help them through all the stages of Phuket. And singing — I am a crazy jazz lover and investment and relocation to the island. have been singing on the stage since I was four years old, so it is my big passion for sure. In my free time, I love to participate in different sporting activities, enjoy the The more time I spend in Phuket, the more beach, meet with friends, and learn I feel the importance of sharing — sharing new things. I have a great love for the inspirational ideas, favorite places and life-hacks sea and yachting and always take every with other people. Even though Phuket is a opportunity to go out on a boat. I recently very competitive area, especially in real estate, enjoyed the sailing race days with the I like people who are an inspiration to others Ladies Team at Chalong Yacht Club. It was or professional idols; those who are open to so much fun! cooperation without ego, who always say yes and try to resolve situations in a positive way, because Phuket has a unique community mix of Thai empathy is what everyone in Phuket should feel, people, expats and tourists from all over so why not use it in our profession as well. the world. I never know who I am going to meet in Phuket, and that keeps my day If you like tennis, a good book, board games, interesting. I love it! karaoke for some quality blues, or want to discuss the real estate market in Phuket — knock on my Irina Kiseleva Whatsapp — I will be happy to expand my club of Mobile: +66 806017792 quality, inspirational people in Phuket as I know Email: [email protected] there are a lot of brilliant personalities out there.

Ivan Melnikov [email protected] +66 (0) 9-4646-3784 102 103 From an ambitious girl into a working My name is Thanarat Kityakarn. In Phuket, woman, making my dreams come true people know me as DJ Man as I have been is my goal in life. I was born in Yala and working as a DJ for a long time. Now as I am raised in different places around Thailand getting older they have started calling me as my mother had to relocate for her Ah Man (Uncle Man). I am always in a good government work. mood and laugh out loud most of the time when on radio or television. People can My hometown is Phang Nga, but Phuket recognize my laugh from far away. was my favorite place as a child and where I decided to settle down. I have I was born in Bangkok and have lived in been here for 10 years now. Phuket since November 2001 when I came to Phuket to host a college debate, and I worked at a luxury resort in Phuket never left the island. where I gained memorable work experience as a hotelier in the hospitality Right now, I am doing many things. I industry. Right now, I am developing opened a drink shop named Restart on my own company “Voravee Hospitality” Limelight Avenue in Phuket town. I am with the aim of providing professional still a DJ at 88 Nice Peak FM for Sor Tor learning and development for hoteliers Ror 3 station in Phuket. I am also host of and people involved in the service the Kitchen Secret program on Thai TV industry using the Thai graciousness channel 11, Phuket. I consult for a media concept. PR on Limelight Avenue and also manage Taj Phuket Inn at Patong. Moreover, I am My favorite activities in Phuket are consulting at the CIC Learning Center in water sports and cruising as well as Phuket town, on the board of directors of reading and studying psychology and the Phuket Child Protection Association, self-development. I also love to work on and speak at personality development children’s charity projects. seminars. I am sometimes invited to teach at Phuket Rajabhat University and Prince of

Phuket is a wonderful place to live and KONGREUN VORAVEE Songkla University Phuket Campus.

wherever I go, I long to return to this KITYAKAM THANARAT beautiful island with rich culture and When I have time, I like to visit temples to amazing beaches surrounded by lovely help and sometimes organize children’s people. camps to learn Buddhism at the temple. I like agriculture and animals, so always visit However, Phuket continues to grow, Phang Nga Province to learn more about attracting a large number of people farming. I always exercise four or five times with luxury lifestyles. I hope we can all a week, and badminton is my favorite sport. continue to live happily in an eco- friendly environment. I love life on the island, even though I was not born here, and will always try to create Voravee Kongreun good things for this place. [email protected] I have opened many restaurants in Phuket but they have all now closed as my time is limited. If I had the chance again, I would open a homestay with a restaurant.

Thanarat Kityakarn (DJ Man) [email protected]

PHUKET LOCALS PHUKET LOCALS

104 105 I arrived in Phuket during 2002 when our My name is Danae Barwick and I grew up in family was building a holiday villa up on Melbourne, Australia. the hill above Surin Beach (Ayara). It was one of the first villa developments on the Coming from a family of professional island in the early days. We were at a time athletes and physical education teachers, in our lives when we wanted a change from health and fitness has always been a the UK. Phuket seemed like somewhere passion of mine. I wanted to turn it into a we would enjoy spending time. Who could career and ran my own boot camp business have thought that 16 years later I would still in Melbourne for several years, mainly be here, bringing up a family and involved catering for young females; the clientele to in running a family business. whom I thought I could offer the most.

H3 Digital is our family business. It came I relocated to Phuket over two years ago about as we were building our villa at Ayara. with the sole purpose of finding a job on All of us had a background in IT, so we Soi Ta-ied, a fitness mecca for expats and wanted a smart home with lighting control, travelers alike. I spent three months living multi-room audio and a full home cinema. and training on the soi earlier in the year It was way before it’s time and before we and enjoyed my time there immensely. knew it our neighbors were knocking on Upon returning home to Melbourne I sold our door looking to kit out their villas with everything I owned and booked a flight the latest technology. I’m the systems back to Phuket.

designer, working on the design of smart ROBERT HOBBS home systems for our clients. I’ve got over I started instructing for Unit 27 not long

25 years of computer design experience BARWICK DANAE after my arrival. This gym suited me down and previously designed user interfaces to the ground — it was a place where and worked on graphic design for people wanted to be pushed to improve. I companies such as Yamaha and the Football like nothing more than breaking a person Association — where I worked on England’s down during a workout, only to build them bid to host the World Cup 2006. back up by the end. Unit 27 was the perfect place for me. It’s certainly exciting living and working in Phuket, involved in dream homes and Outside the love for my job, my favorite producing some of the best home cinemas discovery upon moving to Phuket is the and sound systems in Asia — the fact that people. Our fitness community includes we get to do it within a family environment long-term expats, Thai nationals and is important to me. We’re very proud that international travelers. Every day, I meet some of our staff have been with us since incredible characters from all around we set foot on Phuket way back in 2002, the world. Everybody is on the soi for a and indeed, are now part owners of the similar reason, but it’s an eclectic range company. We like to see our customers of personalities. I have managed to happy. After all, these are people we make life-long friends in a very transient bump into on a daily basis and Phuket is a environment, which is pretty special. small island, and we like hearing feedback on how people are enjoying their own Life in Phuket is an experience. I wouldn’t personal home cinema, great sounding trade in my tropical paradise for the white music by the swimming pool or cool mood PHUKET LOCALS picket fence in Australia for a minute. Some

lighting that switches itself on and off. PHUKET LOCALS days it’s tough being so far from family and friends, but I’ve managed to build a Although our company is based in Phuket, new network of people I never would have we work all over Thailand; Chiang Mai, Hua crossed paths with otherwise. I will be Hin and Bangkok mainly and have recently forever grateful that I canceled my ticket even won some major projects in Myanmar. home and extended my stay the very first We’ve just finished building our new time I experienced the soi — this place has offices near the Alan Cooke Cricket Ground certainly changed my life. in Thalang and feel really excited to be moving in soon. We will be showcasing our Danae Barwick custom cinemas (the motorized recliners Tel: +66991569281 are great, I love them), music systems, Instagram @danae.barwick lighting control and automation systems. It’s a pretty big office so we have room to expand but don’t want to get too big — we like to maintain a hands-on customer friendly atmosphere — some of our customers are now on their third or fourth houses featuring our systems, having dealt with us since the early days.

I met my wife Meow nearly a decade ago and we were married in 2011 at Twin Palms and had a great reception on Surin Beach. All of our family and friends were there — it really was pretty special. We now have a son called Boom and island life certainly agrees with us. We enjoy trips to the beach and the weather in Phuket is great — the monsoon rains can get a bit relentless but I still prefer it to the dreary weather we tend to see so much of in the UK. You certainly meet a variety of people here in Phuket — some of our clients are quite famous but there are so many interesting people with fascinating backgrounds and great stories to tell.

Robert Hobbs [email protected]

106 107 TROPICAL SENSUALITY

Paul Ropp’s limited edition designer Color and intricate craftsmanship are his passions, yet a classic collection of black and collections are famous for their white staples for city wear can always be exclusive fabrics and amazing found among the flamboyant array of unique attention to detail with imaginative and outstanding complex hand-printed and embellished pieces. and classic styles that are luscious, colorful and enticing. Both showstoppers and understated connois- seurs of luxury will find it all at Paul Ropp. As Bali’s leading luxury designer for over 20 years, Paul Ropp continues to amaze and Limited edition clothes, shoes and bags inspire, providing diverse hand loomed cot- unlike any other, and sarongs and scarves tons, chiffons and jacquard silks. It’s easy to for any occasion designed in a multitude see why people fall in love with the beautiful, of fabrics continue to mesmerize season luxuriousness designs. after season. Alongside dresses, skirts, pants, shorts and shirts there is a particularly capti- Paul says he makes clothes for “People Who vating assortment of kimonos, kebayas, silk Prefer to be Naked” because luxury and sen- ponchos and kaftans. suality go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.

Entering a Paul Ropp store is like embarking on a magical adventure of the senses. The menswear collections come in classic plain colors and hand-printed patterns, with textures unique to Paul Ropp, offering that distinct edge of style and elitism.

Art lovers will adore Paul Ropp. Those who love to wear something special can join the list of celebrities adorning themselves with Paul Ropp year after year.

Sophistication and tropical sensuality merge into what can only be described as “chic”. Any traveler visiting Paul Ropp will find it a highlight of their trip, but for those of us fortunate enough to live near a Paul Ropp store, we can honestly say they are additive. Join us and find out….

Discover more at www.paulropp.com

Paul Ropp shops:

Surin Gallery – Tel. 080-5381976 Laguna Plaza – Tel. 087-6237988 Paul Ropp Outlet – Tel. 076-621607 Turtle Village – Tel. 089-4701693 Opening hours: 10:00 AM – 07:00 PM

Website: WWW.PAULROPP.COM

Written by Angelik Tranzistar

108 paulropp.com 109 PHUKET CHARITIES PHUKET CHARITIES THOUGHTS BY SETH GODIN Phuket Has Been Good To Us Yaowawit School SETH GODIN

SEEING WHAT’S RIGHT IN FRONT YOU The hard part is showing up in the right way, in the right places, for When the people we serve present themselves, when they offer us enough time that people decide to seek you or your word out in the their attention and their trust, we need to work to see two things: first place. The hard part is in doing the deliberate, slow work of earning permission, building a tiny circle, the smallest viable audience. Over Who they are. What do they fear, what do they believe, what do they time, the tribe embraces you, the word (your word) becomes the short- need? cut to get more of what you offer. Who they can become. Which doors can we open, how can we support them, what will they leave behind? And so, if you’re Acumen, Afya or BuildOn, that’s your word. Or Fuller, Kiva or LongNow. A word that someone who seeks you will use to get to you. SITUATIONAL SPENDING Consider: Yaowawit School was founded in Phang Nga in 2005 for children of FEO–Find Engine Optimization. Because it’s more reliable to seek to be Established after the 2004 Asian Tsunami, Phuket Has Been Good found by people who were looking for you all along. To Us (PHBGTU) is a Thai registered charity. We teach English the poorest of the poor from Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Ranong. You’re on the plane, headed home after a conference. The flight atten- for free to 1,200 children aged 3 to 18 in three Thai Government We believe that a mixture of traditional school and pre-vocational dant says, “This flight is oversold, and we’re paying people $300 to take schools in Phuket. Our qualified and experienced English teachers education will help our children to break out of the vicious circle of the flight that leaves in an hour.” Do you stay in your seat? poverty. We are a home-stay school for today 140 children in the age BETTER ENOUGH teach English classes as part of the Thai school curriculum. We help It’s entirely possible that you’re better. Better by some axis you’ve in- between 3 and 18 and offer Kindergarten and Primary School onsite. Thai children become capable and confident English speakers so You’re at the gate, different city, different flight. The gate agent says, vented, fallen in love with and decided is the most important thing to that they can secure well paid employment. The students visit the local Secondary School. All of our activities and education programs are bilingual Thai/English. “for $300 more, I can put you on a flight that leaves an hour earlier.” Do be better at. We receive no Government funding but rely on the generosity of you pay the money? businesses and kind individuals to pay our teachers’ salaries and The Yaowawit Lodge, our hospitality education center, has 14 guest But if people aren’t choosing you, talking about you, asking you for donations to provide our teaching supplies. rooms and caters to Thai and International Schools and local and in- You’re at the car dealer, about to buy a $50,000 car. The salesperson more… it’s either because you picked the wrong axis, or because you’re www.phukethasbeengoodtous.org ternational guests. Nestled in our 130 Rai farm, our guests enjoy the asks if you want the $300 rustproofing. Do you buy it? not better enough. real and rural Thailand with excursions to local markets, hot springs, Located at Kamala. waterfalls and temples. This social entrepreneurship project and our What’s the difference between a bank that pays you just a little bit less Not better enough to be worth the fear and hassle and stress of switch- soon to be Permaculture Farm are ideal life-skills learning centers www.phukethasbeengoodtous.org interest (costing you $300 a year in lost income) and one that slaps on ing for. Benjamin Breen on the remarkablewhich prepare our children for life after school. www.facebook.com/phukethasbeengoodtous a $300 charge because you didn’t check a box on a form? story of George Psalmanazar,Located in Kapong District, Phang Nga (120 km north of Phuket) Better’s not up to us. It’s up to those we seek to serve. the mysterious Frenchmanwww.yaowawit.org who Money is a story. successfully posed as a native of 1,000 LITTLE STEPS ALL THE GOOD WORDS ARE TAKEN There’s nothing in the dentist’s office that was there fifty years ago. Formosa (now modern Taiwan) A friend is getting ready to publish a video. She worked hard on it, for Every device, every compound, every technique has been changed. and gave birth to a meticulously months and months, and she wants it to be seen by the right people. Bit by bit. Involving thousands of people and organizations. Improve- PHUKET CHARITIES fabricated culture with bizarre PHUKET CHARITIES The traditional SEO strategy is to be sure to title it and describe it with ments large and small (mostly small), in every corner. customs, exotic fashions, and its magic words that will help her get ‘found.’ And so, words like ‘visualize’, The Rotary Club Patongown Beach invented language. Soi Dog ‘learn’ or even ‘transform’ are high on the list, because, after all, that’s And every one of those improvements was met with resistance. Every what a lot of people search for. (‘LOL cats’ is high on the list as well, but change was fought, tooth (!) and nail. Every one had critics and skeptics A handsome youth with shoulder-length gold- irrelevant to the topic at hand). and hold outs. en hair sits in a London garret, pondering. He is composing his first book — a work he believes And the same thing goes for websites. The traditional advice is to make That’s how the world changes. By drips. Persistent, generous, tiny drips. will transform him from a penniless foreigner sure that your keywords reflect what the mass of searches that might be interested in you would line up with. into a literary cause célèbre. But first he must “BUT HE PAID EXTRA” answer a self-imposed question: what do Tai- We come up with lots of reasons to work with jerks. wanese aristocrats eat for breakfast? So, name your plumbing company, “Emergency cheap plumbing”… We take an investment from a jerk investor instead of a kind one. Inspiration hits, and his quill nib glides over Here’s the problem: You’re not going to win that search. linen paper. “All who can live without working, We accept a job from a bully instead of someone who will nurture and eat their Breakfasts about seven of the Clock You’re not even going to come in 1000th place. challenge us with worthwhile work. in the Morning”, the young man scribbles. “First they smoke a Pipe of Tobacco, then they For most of the magic words that nascent marketers seek to do well on, And we take on a customer who denigrates our team and our work drink Bohea, Green or Sage Tea; afterwards there are millions and millions of matches in the search engines. And instead of embracing the good ones… they cut off the Head of a Viper, and suck the many of the folks on top are bending more rules and working harder The Rotary Club of Patong Beach has been helping Bloodprovide out medical of the Body.” His quillSoi pauses, Dog waswait -founded in 2003 by Margot Homburg Park and John on this trick than you’re likely to be able to match. care and education for the many needy children in Phuket and along and Gill Dalley. Phuket was growing rapidly at the time and the stray The most common reason is that they pay us more. A better valuation, ing for the mixture of innocence and archness a better hourly rate. the Andaman Coast for over fourteen years. Their manythat programs comes so easily. “This, indog my population humble was increasing at a fast pace. Witnessing the suffer- The alternative? have provided scholarships for over 300 students, medical care for ing endured by street animals John, Gill and Margot held Soi Dog’s Opinion,” he concludes, “is the most wholsom young kids who would otherwise not have access to needed care, first clinics utilizing volunteer vets from overseas. Nearly 11 years on That’s not a good enough reason. We pay for it many more times than and helped fund a pre-school, a clinic, and clean waterBreakfast for Moken a Man can make.”1 and Soi Dog have sterilized over 66,000 dogs and cats in Phuket and Own your word. we get paid for it. children on a remote island. Thailand which is a huge accomplishment. Roughly a year later, in a cluttered meeting If you search for ‘purple cow’ or ‘seth godin’ or ‘seth’s blog’ you’re way Their current programs include funding a school in Phuketchamber, for chila -crowd presses aroundSoi Dog a hasperi always- been known for sterilization and treatment of an- more likely to find me than if you search for something generic. sethgodin.com dren of Burmese migrant workers who would otherwisewigged be denied physician as he exhibitsimals a “foot but didof ayou know the shelter in Mai Khao has nearly 400 dogs any education at all. 100% of all funds raised by the humanRotary ClubBody go dried in Tenariffe”and alongside dozens of a cats available for adoption? Many of these dogs and That’s intuitive. But it’s not obvious because it flies in the face of what directly to the beneficiaries. Watch for future Rotary pieceClub of of Patong Indian Ocean driftwoodcats carved will live with out the rest of their lives at the shelter unless we help we hope the search engines will do for us, which is to expose us to Beach fundraising events and come along to help themcryptic help letters.the The assembledthem gentlemen, find their forever homes. All our dogs and cats are sterilized, people who didn’t know we existed. needy children of Phuket and the west coast. all fellows of the Royal Society,vaccinated debate theand free to good homes. We adopt locally and overseas so if you are considering a feline or canine to join your family please plausibility of a letter written by a woman Located in Patong Beach. contact [email protected] or on 093 685 1332. Accepting that this is unlikely opens the door to a better strategy. “who pretended to live without food”. They www.rotarypatong.org scrutinize a rare prize from overseas:Located in “the Mai Khao. After all, they’re not called ‘browsing engines.’ forked Penis… of the Male www.soidog.orgOpossum”. A 110 111 MANISH’S ZODIAC PREDICTIONS Spot the Difference 1 JANUARY-31 MARCH 2019 MANISH KUMAR ARORA KUMAR MANISH

Aries 21 MAR–19 APR Leo 23 JUL–22 AUG Sagittarius 22 NOV-21DEC This is a busy period that finds you tending to many This is a good time to make plans for your future, You are trying to go further in your career, but have different details of your daily existence--your work, your goals and your career. Think about how you instead feel more constricted. You may feel more various projects, organization around the home want your life to progress and what you need to do lazy with your goals, not feeling inspired to go after and office, your daily routines, and health matters. to get where you want to go. You may see the results them. From 23rd January, you can begin to expand Your ego may be especially tied up in the work you of a change that you’ve been trying to make in your your career and feel motivated to get the work done do, so that you are proud and more creative than life, or begin a new change and you should have less you need to do. From 15th February, you could settle usual in your job. You tend to take more interest hurdles to be able to make the changes you want. a financial issue, agree to a financial arrangement, in organizing your working environment-- as you This is also good time for your health and you can or acquire something of value. You will also focus on are especially objective when it comes to getting a tackle issues that need to be addressed and have a balancing your personal interests and objectives with handle on your daily affairs. From 23rd February, you better chance of getting things to work. Favorable your social life, or with those of a partner. Favorable can move freely in your relationships, and start to Dates : Jan 6, 9, 15, 18, 24, 27 Feb 3, 7, 12, 16, 21, Dates : Jan 4, 8, 13, 17, 22, 26 Feb 3, 5, 12, 14, 21, feel the uneasiness lift. Favorable Dates : Jan 2, 8, 25 Mar 1, 8, 10, 17 Favorable Colors : Blue & Green 23 Mar 4, 8, 13, 17 Favorable Colors : Red & Purple 11, 17, 20, 26 Feb 3, 8, 12, 17, 21, 26 Mar 4, 5, 13, 14FavorableColors : Red & White Virgo 23 AUG–22 SEP Capricorn 22 DEC–19 JAN Taurus 20 APR–20 MAY This is a good time if you’re a creative and artistic In this period you’re drawn to ideas that are original, person and you’ll be more inspired. This would be innovative and unconventional. and you’ll likely You’ll attract both personal and professional a great time to negotiate a raise or land a lucrative want to break out of the box. You may seem more attention. You’ll have a golden opportunity for career job. Your powers of attraction could be at an all-time intellectually-focused, emotionally distant and open advancement and embarking on a job that offers high. You could get lots of fame and acclaim under to people from all walks of life. Your self-esteem both creative fulfilment and financial security. Don’t this magical influence.You could see an opportunity remains high and you want to acquire something of hesitate to apply for a high-profile job, even if you come up for a partner, or for you through a partner. value. Food and music would make you feel fantastic think you lack critical experience. Your popularity is If single, you could begin a new relationship; if and you feel more grounded as well. You are likely to increasing, and is reinforced by your own ability to attached, you could bring more commitment to your bring more tact and diplomacy to your relations with cooperate and harmonize. Your ego and pride are tied relationship. You will find balance in your life more the people you work with now. Favorable Dates : Jan up in how you relate to others now. Period from 22nd easily, and you see people as equals. Favorable 2, 7, 11, 16, 20, 25 Feb 3, 7, 12, 16, 21, 25 Mar 4, February is ideal for signing a business partnership Dates : Jan 3, 4, 12, 13, 21, 22 Feb 4, 5, 13, 14, 22, 6, 13, 15 Favorable Colors : White & Purple or making travel plans with your romantic partner. 23 Mar 5, 9, 14, 18 Favorable Colors : Red & Grey Favorable Dates : Jan 3, 6, 12, 15, 21, 24 Feb 6, 8, 15, 17, 24, 26 Mar 6, 8, 15, 17 Favorable Colors : 20 JAN–18 FEB OCT Aquarius Yellow & White Libra 23 SEP–22 THERE ARE 10 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO PICTURES. WHERE ARE THEY? You may feel more optimistic during this period You may seem more positive, looking on the bright and want to go out and see the world, experience

Gemini 21 MAY–20 JUN side of matters. You’re now more daring and something new and broaden your horizons with a adventurous, wanting to try things that will lead to little adventure. If you have a creative project to work You would feel more comfortable alone and find other new life experiences that’ll open your mind. Now on, this is a good time for it. It’s a good period also people drain your energy at times and need the alone is the time to realize your own potential through for examining how you have been expressing anger time to recharge till 15th February. You would feel a significant other. You will have a greater need or asserting yourself with your family. If single, you more spiritual, intuitive and emotional in February. than usual to be with a partner. Bouncing ideas off want to be in love and if attached, you want to bring This is a good time to learn something new, so if you someone helps you to better understand yourself. A romance into your relationship. Favorable Dates : Jan feel compelled to go back to college or take a course, partner provides a mirror for your own self-discovery. 5, 8, 14, 17, 23, 26 Feb 3, 7, 12, 16, 21, 25 Mar 1, let yourself. You’re more emotionally connected to Your own thoughts become clearer through dialogue 5, 10, 14 Favorable Colors : White & Blue your beliefs and if anyone questions them, you’ll fight with others. Favorable Dates : Jan 1, 3, 10, 12, them passionately. If you’re dating someone, you 19, 21 Feb 4, 6, 13, 15, 22, 24 Mar 1, 2, 10, 11

could make the decision now whether you should Favorable Colors : White & Yellow Pisces 20 FEB-20 MAR continue dating and bring the relationship to another level, or call it quits. Favorable Dates : Jan 4, 7, 13, You feel heavier, weighed down by life, more serious

16, 22, 25 Feb 2, 8, 11, 17, 20, 26 Mar 2, 6, 11, 15 Scorpio 23 OCT–21 NOV and are deeply affected by the things that happen FavorableColors : Blue & Green to you, whether it’s warranted or not. You may feel Scorpio ( 23 October – 21 November ) - You are like there’s a dark cloud hanging over your head inclined to want to learn new work methods, or to and get stuck in a nasty mood. You may not be as Cancer 21 JUN–22 JUL improve your skills and output in terms of work. productive as usual during this period, as the focus There is likely to be more activity, movement, contact is more on social relationships and pleasure than on You’re more confident, have higher self-esteem and communications with co-workers, Your approach getting the job done. Improving health and vitality and think you’re a person who’s worth a lot. You’re to work during this cycle is pleasant, happy and through pleasurable activities might be in focus now. more indulgent and sensual and you want to eat the logical for the most part, unless you allow worry or Favorable Dates : Jan 2, 3, 11, 12, 20, 21 Feb 2, richest foods, taste the sweetest wines, and wear scattered energy to enter the picture. If single, you 9, 11, 18, 20, 27 Mar 2, 8, 11, 17 Favorable Colors : the most luxurious clothes. You could have an easier may have a stronger desire to be in a relationship Black & Blue time making money, especially if you do something and will do more to find someone. If attached, you that’s creative, but you also have an easier time may want to bring more romance into the relation- blowing money on things you don’t need but want. ship and reconnect. Favorable Dates : Jan 5, 8, 14, You may be more in touch with your emotions during 17, 23, 26 Feb 2, 4, 11, 13, 20, 22 Mar 2, 6, 11, 15 this time, feeling things on a deeper level and may Favorable Colors : Red & Purple be more emotional when you’re with your family than with anyone else. Favorable Dates : Jan 3, 8, 12, 17, 21, 26 Feb 3, 5, 12, 14, 21, 23 Mar 3, 7, 12, 16 Favorable Colors : Red & Purple

112 K.P. Astrologer, Numerologist, Tarot Card Reader & Vastu Consultant, [email protected], facebook.com/manishastroconsultan t 113 THE SPILL ON YOUR CLOTHES local approaches and informs you that the (i.e., a bribe). Caught red-handed, you’ll prob- MAJOR TRAVEL SCAMS TO AVOID There you are, minding your own business, attraction you want to visit is closed for any ably pay the bribe rather than go to jail. and someone spills something on you. Ruins number of reasons (religious ceremony, holi- your day, but accidents happen, right? They day, etc.). Then they’ll guide you to a different Simply put: Don’t buy drugs in other countries! are profusely sorry and offer to clean it up, attraction or shop, where you’re pressured to dabbing the stain, and apologizing. While you purchase something or pay a lot for entry. THE WRONG CHANGE are all flustered, they are picking your pocket. This happens a lot in countries where the By the time you realize what has happened, To avoid this, find the main entrance or ticket bills look similar to each other. People tend to On my first big non-tour trip, I got scammed THE TAXI OVERCHARGE THE SHELL GAME they are long gone. counter and see for yourself. Also keep in look at colors first, so when you get a pile of twice on the same day. My friend Scott and This is one of the most common travel scams I see this one all the time — how people fall for mind that most attractions don’t close for change that is the same color, you think you I had just arrived in Thailand. We were in out there. Either the driver will tell you the it I’ll never know. It’s such an old and obvious This scam is also common in Europe. Beware lunch — they close for the day. Even better, got the right change — but they really gave Bangkok trying to find a boat cruise to take meter is broken and try to charge you a huge scam. It’s in movies, for heaven’s sake! You’ll of people encroaching on your person if it’s look up the open hours before you go, so you you the wrong bills, hoping you won’t notice us up and down the Chao Phraya River. A taxi rate or you’ll see the meter go higher and see people on the street playing a card game not a crowded area already. If this happens, know what to expect — opening and closing until after you rush out. driver suggested this one company; we went faster than Superman! (sometimes known as three-card Monte) or push people away and clean it up yourself. times are almost always available online. there, and found out that an hour-long tour hiding a ball in a cup and someone guessing Don’t be like me! To avoid getting taken, count your change was only $30 USD. Not even thinking about To avoid this scam, first you need to know where it is and winning money. Then you MOTORBIKE SCAM carefully every time. whether that was a deal or not, we agreed. how much a ride should cost. I always ask the decide to play — and you win! Thinking this You rent a bike, and then when you bring it THE “FOUND” RING To us — still thinking about prices back hostel or hotel staff what a ride should be so I is great, you bet more money… and then you back, the owner demands additional pay- An innocent-looking person picks up a ring THE SWITCHEROO home — that offer seemed like a fair price. have a frame of reference. Next, if the cabbie lose — and lose again and again. ment or expensive repairs because there is on the ground and asks if you dropped it. This happens all over the world and mostly It was only as the boat tour ended early that tries to negotiate the rate with me, I offer him some damage you didn’t know about. I see When you say no, the person looks at the ring with shirts, carpets, rugs, and antiques. You’re we realized we might have been ripped off the correct rate. If he refuses, I find someone Don’t get suckered into this con. Remember, this scam a lot in Southeast Asia and other closely, then shows you a mark “proving” that at a store and you see a designer item at a (later on, we found out that we paid double who will put the meter on. If the meter seems the house always wins! developing regions of the world. it’s pure gold. He or she offers to sell it to you bargain price. Maybe they got it wholesale? the price). to be going up too quickly, I have them pull for a better price. They make some money, After some haggling, the owner agrees to sell over and I get out. Many tourism boards let “COME IN FOR TEA AND HELP ME WRITE A To avoid this, take photos of the bike first to and you get some gold you can resell. It’s win- it you. But while you aren’t paying attention, Then, after lunch, we wandered over to the you report bad cab drivers, so be sure to al- LETTER!” document any previous damage. Go around win! You think it’s a good deal, buy it find out he gives you a knockoff. Grand Palace. When we got there, we didn’t ways make a mental note of their ID number While in Morocco, someone tried this one on it with the owner so they know what you are it’s fake when you try to sell it at home! see any crowds. We looked down the left side when you get in the cab. me. I was walking out of a convenience store taking pictures of. Use your own lock, and To avoid this scam, first remember that no of the palace, then over to the right. “Where when a guy struck up a conversation. Finding keep the bike out of sight and off a main This is common in Europe. One of my tour designer anything is going to be that cheap. is everyone?” I asked. An enterprising tuk-tuk And never get in an unlicensed cab — no I was from NYC, he said he had a cousin who street when you park it. Sometimes an owner members almost fell for it when we were in Remember, if it seems too good to be true, driver came over to us and told us the palace matter how amazing the deal is! lived there (the first giveaway) and wanted will send someone to mess with the bike or Paris, but I intervened in time and sent the it’s not true. Second, be sure to always watch was closed for lunch. Scott and I looked at to know if I could come to his shop to write a steal it so you have to pay! person away. The best way to avoid this scam what the seller is actually giving you to be each other. Maybe that was right. After all, YOUR ACCOMMODATION IS “CLOSED” postcard for him (the second giveaway). The is to not buy the ring. If it sounds too good to sure it’s the exact item you wanted. many museums sometimes do that, plus we Another cab driver scam: your driver will try goal here was to get me in the shop, maybe THE FLIRTATIOUS WOMAN be true, it definitely is. didn’t see anyone around. It seemed feasible. to tell you your hotel or hostel is overbooked give me some tea, and then pressure me into You arrive in a new country and head to a bar, ..... He offered to take us to a few that were open. or even closed. It’s not. I mean, you wouldn’t buying something. This uses the psycholog- where a beautiful local comes up to you for THE FAKE PETITION have booked it if it was, right? Just ignore ical principle of reciprocity: he gave me tea, a chat. You can’t believe your luck. You have You’re at a popular sight and a woman or kid To avoid getting scammed, be wary when it “Sure,” we replied — and found ourselves them and insist on going there. If they keep he was nice to me, so soon I’ll feel socially some drinks and amazing conversation, and (often pretending to be deaf or a student) comes to people offering you something in visiting not only a few temples but also a suit trying, continue to insist. They will usually obliged to buy something. go to a new bar or club that she suggested. will try to get you to sign a petition. You don’t a touristy setting. Think of it this way: in your shop, a gem shop, and a souvenir shop. shut up about it. However, after a wild night and lots of drinks, know what they are saying, and to end the day-to-day life back home, would you go for To avoid this, don’t follow people to a second the woman disappears and you’re forced to awkwardness, you sign the petition, hoping it? If the answer is no, then chances are 99% Afterwards, as he took us to the palace (which And while this seems like a scam no one could location or believe they suddenly have a cous- pay an overpriced bill with some really big they will go away. But then petitioner then that it’s a scam. On the road, a little common was unsurprisingly open). It was then we real- possibly fall for, people do. I’ve been in many in who happens to live exactly where you do! guys bearing down on you to make sure you demands a cash donation. At best, anyone sense goes a long way. ized that it had never been closed — we had cabs where they insist my hostel has been do. Or, worse, you get drugged and wake up who falls for this scam is out some money; just been on the wrong side of the building. closed for months. FREE BRACELETS/ROSEMARY/ANYTHING completely robbed of everything on you. at worst, they’re pickpocketed while fighting nomadicmatt.com THEY CAN PUT ON YOU with the petitioner. A few weeks later in Chiang Mai, a taxi driv- A note on taxis: In this smartphone era, we In this scam, common in Europe, a friendly The simple solution to this is to be wary of er tried to charge me extra for a ride to the have our power back. We’re no longer help- person will approach you for a quick chat, attractive women who promise to take you Another one of my tour members fell for this famous Wat Doi Suthep temple. Wise to their less, because we can look on a map and see then place a bracelet around your wrist or hat to the world’s best club, get you drinks, or are scam (even after I warned him specifically ways now, I bargained hard. When he dropped the actual correct route. I like to look on Goog- on your head, or give you a little sprig of rose- overly flirtatious, especially when you stand about it), but I saved him in time. To avoid this me at the actual bus to the temple, I realized le Maps and see what the best route is. If it mary. Once you have it on your person, they out like a sore thumb as a foreigner. Getting scam, just ignore people coming up to you to that I got ripped off once again. looks like they aren’t taking it, I’ll usually point will demand money. When you refuse, they on a plane didn’t increase your attractiveness sign a petition, especially when they are in to the map and insist they go that way. (I left a will begin to cause a scene in the hopes you by a factor of 10. groups and try to surround you. Just keep on My life as a traveler was not off to a good start. taxicab in Bangkok recently because he tried would rather give them some money than be walking. to pull a fast one on me by taking a longer embarrassed. Note: Why didn’t I mention a similar scam for Avoiding scams requires a lot of common route.) If I’m going to a country where I won’t women? Because, let’s be real, we men are THE DRUG DEAL GONE BAD sense and a healthy dose of suspicion. If it have phone access, I preload the map onto Don’t allow anyone to put anything on your dumb and usually thinking with our little This scam is common in many developing seems too good to be true, it probably is! my phone. Your phone’s GPS will work even body, and be extremely wary of accepting an- brain. Women are too smart to fall for this. countries. You’re in a popular tourist area (Additionally, if you are carrying a guidebook, if you don’t have a connection. Additionally, ything for free. If they put something on you, (usually a party place) and someone offers they usually list the most common scams in ride services like Uber place accountability on simply take it off, give it back to them, and be YOUR ATTRACTION IS CLOSED FOR LUNCH you drugs. You say yes, and before you know that country.) Here are some of the more uni- drivers, which greatly reduces the likelihood firm about it. Then walk away and move on As mentioned, this is what happened to me it, a (real) cop is on the scene! They offer to versal ones to avoid: of you being cheated. with your day. They won’t chase you. and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker! A friendly arrest you or you can pay the fine right there

114 115 PHUKET BEACH GUIDE Phang Nga

Beach Photography by STEPHAN AUDIGER www.art-phuket.com

1 2 3 4 21

Ao Sane Beach Ao Yon Beach Banana Beach Panwa Beach Siam Beach rough sand, snorkelling, restaurant shallow waters, oyster rafts, locals insider tip, restaurant, short trek downhill rough sand, shallow water, peaceful, scenic children, snorkeling, restaurant 16

5 6 7 8 22

Emerald Beach Kalim Beach Kamala Beach Karon Beach Surin Beach peaceful, north facing beach good for sun tan rocky, surfing during summer season busy in high season white open beach, no shades celebrities, beach clubs, restaurants 24 Phuket 9 10 11 12 23

22 13

Kata Beach Kata Noi Beach Laem Ka Noi Beach Laem Ka Beach Ya Nui Beach white open beach, surfing in summer season white open beach park on top parking lot and walk down local thai style beach with lots of shadow small, cute, snorkeling, restaurant

13 14 15 16 24 6

18 19 5

Laem Singh Beach Layan Beach Nai Harn Beach Nai Yang Beach Bang Tao Beach hip, young, restaurants, short trek downhill tranquil, peacful local hangout, busy but cute thai locals, shades, calm waters all year 5 star hotels, local seafood restaurants 8 17 18 19 20 25

10 2 4 21

1 15 12 20 Nai Thon Beach Paradise Beach Patong Beach Rawai Beach Mai Khao Beach 23 white sands, peaceful, scenic road to get there shady, peaceful, calm waters all year very busy beach, lots of activities shady, seafood stalls, local boat trips looong quiet beach 116 117 PHUKET – CHIANG MAI Luxury Properties Phuket Patong Hotel for Sale (31 rooms) – THB 69,000,000 Phuket East Coast Villa for Sale (4 bedr.) – THB 75,000,000 Chiang Mai (Center, 6 Town Houses ) – THB 35,000,000 for Sale

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Phuket West Coast Villa for Sale (2 bedr.) – THB 15,000,000 Phuket Laguna Residence Villa (4 bedr.) – THB 29,800,000 Chiang Mai Hotel for Sale (Old Town, 16 bedr.) – THB 65,000,000 普吉清迈房产中介诚信为本，服务为先别墅公寓酒店土地 Ms. Lin Prachakrich

Ping River English, Thai & Mandarin Tel: +66 (0)81 892 2419 [email protected]

Phuket West Coast Bungalows for Sale (1 bedr.) – THB 8.900,000 Phuket East Coast Villa for Sale (4 bedr.) – THB 89,000,000 Chiang Mai Land for Sale (Mae Rim, 15 Rai) – THB 35,000,000

Phuket West Coast Villa for Sale (4 bedr.) – THB 55,000,000 Phuket Luxury Pool Villa for Sale (4 bedr.) – THB 49,000,000 Chiang Mai Villa for Sale (Mae Rim, 4 bedr.) – THB 13,500,000

具有丰富经验的房地产代理人“陈梦琳” 英语泰语和普通话流利）微信号：Linphuket 手提：+66 (0)818 922 419 网络：myhomephuket.com 118 119