For a nice quiet bite of food in Phuket Town in nice air conditioned surroundings, Siam Bakery is perfect. It has a selection of freshly baked breads, tempting pastries including a great chocolate eclair, good coffee, and some really nice fresh sandwiches.

I now have a new favorite snack every time I go down to Patong. It's important to have a snack place in Patong, because otherwise you get sucked into one of the many mediocre and expensive restaurants. You not only pay a bundle compared to what you would pay in any other part of Phuket, but you generally get the surly tourist oriented service that Patong is famous for.

Bake, by Twin Palms, is the embodiment of the new ultra chic Phuket: sleek design, minimalist furniture, outdoor dining area, and the grand pomposity of such a bakery in a third-world country.

The Breeze is another addition to the ever growing range of nightclub options in Patong. It's a half enclosed space, with some open balcony areas and a long bar against one wall and some informal tables and couches scattered around. This is a nice change from the entirely enclosed dance halls on Soi Bangla, which tend to get really crowded and stuffy midway through the night. Breeze's location halfway toward Kamala also means that it will probably stay a more western type of hangout rather than a gathering place for Patong's night workers after the bars have closed.

Right around the corner form Pizza Lover's is the far more famous, venerable, and expensive Salvatore's. I've been here probably six or seven times and usually switch up the dish. I have never been disappointed with the quality of the food, the service, or the ambiance. The only real hit comes when you pay the bill, which tends toward the two the three thousand mark if there are two of you--more, of course, if you have much wine.

Despite having lived in Asia for eight years, I still miss western food. Having come from Chicago, the thing I miss most is deep dish Chicago Pizza. Although some have blasphemed its good name by calling it a casserole or bastard pizza, we Chicagoans keep the faith.

Kathu Dam is another one of those great walks that you see so few foreigners on. I was here seven years before I heard about it in fact. Most of the foreigners here figure that the only great spot for walking is along one of the many beaches. And the beaches are beautiful enough for most people that they don't need to look any further. However, the beach gets pretty hot and pretty crowded during at least part of the year.