The fair Leelawadee at Cape Panwa Hotel

One of my daily rituals when I stay at Kantary Bay in Phuket is to pop over to Cape Panwa Hotel for an early morning stroll on its beautiful private beach.

Cape Panwa Beach on instagram

Before 7 a.m the beach is usually very quiet and deserted – apart from the crabs that is. 

However, I did spot a guest sitting in a crossed-legged Yoga position on the sand last week though – it made me briefly think about taking up Yoga… but that’s not what I wanted to share with you.

I wanted to tell you that the walk through Cape Panwa hotel’s garden is just as pleasant and refreshing. The flowers in the early morning are beautiful – of the many types you find there, my favourite is the Frangipani, which is known in Thai  as “Leelawadee” or  ลีลาวดี.

Thais once believed that the flower gave you protection from the demons and evil spirits – me I just like the colour and think that they look lovely.

              

Useful Apps for your holiday to Thailand

Ever since friends persuaded me to buy an iPad, my family has had enough of me going on about apps that I discover, which means that I am left with only you, my Otter's Tales’ followers, to share my findings.

I have already tried out all the apps that Tim recommended here previously (post one and post two), and though I am not quite ready for iCloud I have found some wonderful apps of my own.

One of the questions that I hear repeatedly around Cape Panwa Hotel lobby is:

“What time is the Sunset?”

‘Sunset Countdown’ tells you the exact timing of this beautiful natural occurrence wherever in the world you may be – when in Phuket consult the app and then head to Cape Phromthep to experience a glorious sunset.

A question I hear all the time from touts at the Grand Palace in Bangkok when I stay at Cape House is:

“Would you like a guided tour at a special price?”

‘Grand Palace’ is an audio guide that surpasses all others – the detail of the description is superb – walk around the Grand Palace plugged into this one for an educational and entertaining tour.

My last recommendation is for the many of you who have fallen in love with Thailand. 

There are a number of apps to help you to learn to speak and read Thai but I found this – ‘Learn To Write Thai’ is for those of you who are serious about learning Thai – for whatever reason it may be!?! 

(Ed – does Tim know how to read and write Thai yet?) 

              

I am Mayor of Cape Panwa

I was having dinner in Panwa House at Cape Panwa Hotel, watching and listening, to a group of young people as they sat at their table and ate their dinner, whilst tapping on their phones.  

One loudly exclaimed (which is why I noticed): “I am the Mayor of Panwa House.” I immediately thought that something was odd.

I spoke to Chaovirit, the Assistant Front Office Manager, and social IT media expert , and he explained to me that foursquare was a social media tool where the user checks-in to locations they visit. 

The user who ‘checks-in’ the most often is the Mayor of that place: it’s simple really.

I am not the Mayor of anywhere yet, but I do have some badges. I have since read that Tim and Chaovarit are both Mayors of different places. Download the App and have a look. 

(Editor’s Note: I am the Mayor of 5 places and have 11 badges. Beat that!) 

              

Before you go on Holiday, iCloud

As I spend much of my time waiting for taxis at airports I see a great number of things. 

When I was waiting for a taxi to Cape House in Bangkok I recently witnessed a family who lost their iPad at Bangkok Airport.

They had unpacked and as they were getting in a taxi, their daughter wanted to finish her game of ‘Angry Birds,’ but her iPad was missing. Whilst the parents searched through their (once neatly packed) luggage the son took out his Mac and casually started tapping away, much to the annoyance of the parents.

The son then stood up and waved his arms in the air: a porter pushing a trolley and holding an iPad then approached him. The son calmly turned to Dad and asked for some money, which Dad gave him, and the iPad was returned.  

So next time you leave on holiday register with iCloud before leaving.

              

What will the weather be like tomorrow?

image courtesy of Mr Diday

I was brought up in a small town and I was told that you were able to tell the weather by the way the birds and animals reacted.



(Ed – my dad told me the same thing, there must be some truth in it!)





As I sat in the lobby of Cape Panwa Hotel, waiting for my car to take me to Khao Lak I was reminded of this when I heard a guest asking the staff  what the weather was going to be like the next day.



The staff was very helpful – after providing the local weather bureau’s forecast, he continued to explained that there was no firm way to confirm these forecasts and that the weather might be different over different parts of Phuket Island and across the sea.



The staff even suggested that if the guest had access to the Internet he could try weather.com or download their app because it was a pretty good forecaster for sun.



Kiteboarding at Cape Panwa

The guest, however, surprised me by saying that it was not the sun he was looking for but the wind! He wanted to go kiteboarding and needed windy conditions! The staff then calmly told the guest to visit a website called “Wind Guru” for wind conditions.



Fabulous – but I do wonder whether the predictions were correct?


              

Makruk – fancy a game of Thai chess?

Along the streets of Phuket and its West coast beaches you can often see pairs of men (note to the Ed – do women play Makruk because I have never seen any? - I'm sure they do but you probably don't see them around as they are the more hard-working gender ;D) carefully studying a wooden board of Cocoa-Cola tops.  They may be playing draughts BUT not always.

The board game is usually "Makruk" or Asian Chess, formerly known as Siamese Chess. The pieces used to play Makruk are very similar to that of regular Western chess, so are the moves and the opening set-up.

There is also a king in Makruk that looks similar to the other pieces (so be careful), because if captured it loses the game!! There are also other rules to learn in order to play. We have a Makruk set in our Games Room – ask our staff if they know how to play.

If you are not at Cape Panwa Tim did tell me that you could always download the app.