THE NATION ASIANEWS

THE NATION ASIANEWS

February 8-14, 2009

TRAVEL, FOOD & DRINK, STYLE, ARTS AND TRENDS IN ASIA

Who needs

Cupid?

Hot!

Blythe’s spirit

Tiny drinks

Eat your love

FASTER TRANSFER TIMES We’ve developed a concept where all our member airlines come together at one terminal, under one roof: we call them Co-Location airports. It means much faster connections between flights. For instance, at Terminal One at Narita in Japan, we’ve cut the waiting times by over 50%. There’ll be six more by the end of 2008, in Bangkok, Miami, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and Seoul. That’s one more innovation from the Star Alliance network to make your journey easier.

To find out more, visit www.staralliance.com

www.staralliance.com

Information correct as at 02/2007

TRAVEL, FOOD & DRINK, STYLE, ARTS AND TRENDS IN ASIA THE NATION ASIANEWS

February 8-14, 2009

Around Asia

COVER

CAR-WINDOW SHOPPING

Cupid’s refugees p9-11

P22-23

C o v er p h o t o : E kkarat S u kpetc h

LOVE CHECKS IN

P14-15

CHINA TAKES A PEEK

PAMPERED IN PAIRS BOUTIQUE BOUDOIRS

P24-25

P17

P16

GYEONGSANG GOODIES

P32-33

team

Editor: Phatarawadee Phataranawik | Deputy Editor: Khetsirin Pholdhampalit | Photo Editor: Kriangsak Tangjerdjarad | Photographers: Ekkarat Sukpetch, Anant Chantarasoot, Sukul Kerdmaimongkol | Writers: Pattarawadee Saengmanee, Manta Klangboonkrong | Contributor: Sirin P Wongpanit| Designers: Nibhon Appakarn, Pradit Phulsarikij, Ekkapob Preechasilp | Copy-editors: Luci Standley and Rod Borrowman | Sub-editor: Paul Dorsey | Contact: www.nationmultimedia.com, e-mail: ace@nationgroup.com. (02) 338 3461-2 ACE is published by NMG News Co LTD at 1854 Bangna-Trat Road, Bangkok

What’s Hot

Your pulse is racing!

J

ewellery designer Matina A m a n i t a ’s He a r t b e a t s collection is six gold-plated and cubic-zirconia rings, each created with a specific pulse rate in mind and intricately detailed to match. Worn altogether they tap out a heartbeat! Find them at Matina’s shop on Gaysorn’s ground floor. Call (02) 980 8666 or head to www.MatinaAmanita. com.

Silver as the amorous moon

E

mporio Armani’s Love Ring collection has minimalist rings of sterling silver with the designer logo on the surface and inside, the larger one in three layers.

Call (02) 714 317 or head to www.TimeDeco.co.th.

Hey, lover boy - buy her this!

Y

our lovely lady can keep track of those racing heartbeats with Blancpain’s SaintValentine 2009, a limited-edition flyback chronograph with a Calibre F 185.

The 34mm case is married to a mother-ofpearl dial adorned with a heart of rubies, but it still looks decidedly sporty.

Only 99 of these watches have been made, but see if you can find one at the Blancpain boutique in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Franks Jewellery or Siam Paragon. Call (02) 654 3242. | |

Roiled by romance

S

watch’s lovely Amorito collection boasts a heartshaped pendant, necklace, bracelet, earrings and finger rings. The pendant on a link chain is a stainless-steel-326L heart decorated with a swirling spiral engraved and inlaid with red synthetic resin.

Call (02) 610 0268 or see it at www.Swatch.com.

Fe b r u a r y 8 -14 , 2 0 0 9

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Trends

Dancing through death’s door

Bangkok University Theatre’s ‘Dear Death’ treads tenderly past fear and sorrow at Singapore’s Esplanade

Pawit Mahasarinand

A

P h o t o c o u rtes y o f B angk o k Un i v ers i t y

fter the spirituality of Buddhistthemed dance dramas “Dancing to Nirvana” and “Plueng”, it bared flesh for Broadway musical “The Full Monty”. Now Bangkok University Theatre Company (BU Theatre) is exploring life’s final frontier with “Yern Phra Yom”, or “Dear Death”.

“You’ve probably already noticed that I’m interested in Buddhism,” says veteran director Punnasak Sukee, whose credits include “Mahajanaka”, “La Cage Aux Folles” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. “It teaches that we should never hold on to anything — we should understand death before our death.

“But those of us who haven’t reached that point of enlighten-

Enter here

“Dear Death” is at the Esplanade Theatre Studio from February 13 to 15 8pm, with 2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday Tickets are 35 Singapore dollars (Bt810), and S$30 for students and senior citizens, bookable at www.Sistic. com.

Look out for the Bangkok production at the King Power Duty Free Complex on the last weekend of March.

Recommended for theatregoers age 12 and older

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ment are haunted by different images of death — common for Thais is the frightening spirit of Phaya Yom. “Yet death can be a merciful person or spirit, with its arms wide open, who helps us end our misery.”

On stage, that idea comes to life through the close relationship between a man and his dying grandmother. Realising her fate, the man encourages her to enjoy the last days of her life. However,

when death approaches, it’s him who is weaker and can’t take this simple fact of life.

The relationship reflects elements of Punnasak’s experience: “I’m a modern man yet many parts of my life are still deeply rooted in Thai tradition — I live with my grandmother, a figure who often represents the warmth and tenderness in a traditional Thai family.”

Although BU Theatre will probably lose money with its short run at Singapore’s “Durian”, producer Wankwan Polachan says it’s worth it.

“Contemporary Thai performing arts are still under-represented on the world stage. We’re confident that we can bridge the gap between the traditional and the modern [represented here also by the two main characters] through this production’s acting, dance and music.”

After next Friday’s world premiere at the Esplanade’s 200-seat Theatre Studio, where English surtitles will be projected, “Dear Death” will be restaged at the 600-seat Aksra Theatre at the King Power Duty Free Complex during the last weekend of March.

“The Bangkok production will be larger in scale, with more performers and maybe even live music,” says Punnasak.

February 8-14, 2009

Blythe in bloom

If there is one thing that fans of the Japanese doll are not, it’s blithe. She’s receiving visitors at Siam Paragon all this week Phatarawadee Phataranawik It Happens to be a Closet

Issue

Beauty” and “Nature Fairy”.

Qconceptstore - the official Blythe shop in Thailand - got four professional fashion designers do doll up the doll as well.

Roj Singhakul of Matina Amanita Issue has the blind and bohemian Princess Kumari travelling to Bangkok from the Himalayas, bringing assistance in the form of a donations box.

Siriwan Tharananithikul of the dress label It Happens to Be a Closet has given Blythe a punk hairdo, insect-like wings and the ears of Gollum from “Lord of the Rings”.

Matina Amanita’s Blythe look like an owl in white feathers with bird legs and a beak, and Sretsis’ added long blonde hair and a unicorn’s horn.

CWC founder and president Junko Wong and the Mindtrigger team will be on hand today at 2 for “Blythe Beauty Behind the Scenes”, in which they’ll share their experiences at overseas competitions and show how they customise the dolls.

On Valentine’s Day next Saturday, fans can dress as their favourite Blythe for a photo contest. The winners will be published in Me & My Blythe magazine and could get a limited-edition doll.

And on the 15th at 1.30 Mindtrigger will host a “Dress Me Up with Love” workshop.

Register for that at www.Mindtrigger.com.

All of the custom-made Meet the princess Blythes will be auctioned on eBay The exhibition is in the next month, with Hall of Mirrors on M proceeds going to Floor at Siam Paragon. the HRH Prince Call (02) 610 8086.

Teepangkorn Rasmichoti Fund. |7|

P h o t o c o u rtes y o f S i am P arag o n

February 8-14, 2009

B

lythe, the Japanese doll with the big head and big movable eyes who’s best friend to millions of little girls, is getting the star treatment at Siam Paragon.

There are more than 50 Blythes on display - a dozen of them specially made over by Thai fashion designers.

“Blythe: A Wonder World” - her, her accessories, her look-alikes, how to make her costumes, how to fix her if she’s injured - is part of Paragon’s seventh-anniversary charity exhibition and continues all next week.

Most of the dolls have been imported from Japan by Cross World Connection (CWC), and the rest come courtesy of the Thai fan group Mindtrigger, whose members Anothai na Pattalung and sisters Rinna and Tarin Clanuwat - have been semi-finalists in Japan’s annual Blythe Beauty Contest for two consecutive years.

You can see their Valentinetheme “Princess of Hearts” inspired by “The Wizard of Oz”, and Blythe dressed in Siamese costumes straight out of the classic “Phra Aphai Mani”.

And there are Blythes dressed up for “A Thousand and One Nights”, “Sleeping

Sretsis

Go SHOPPING Pink shirts featuring Superman and Wonder Woman.

Here’s how you take care of your sweetie – grow roses together!

You don’t need

roses!

T-shirt

Wear your heart on your chest or give your love a glass from which to sip romance Pattarawadee Saengmanee

S

hopping for gifts for Valentine’s Day becomes an effortless labour of love at Chatuchak Weekend Market thanks to these two great little shops, bedecked with red and pink for the occasion.

T-shirt: Room 300 on Soi 41/2 in Section 2.

Open 9 to 6.30 on Saturdays and 10 to 6.30 on Sundays.

(083) 785 5552, www.

TrihstTshirt.com

‘You’ve got e-mail’ shirts have Cupid chatting with his girlfriend online.

Simple name, simple idea, loads of great terrific cotton-based tees with cool designs, T-shirt is the brainchild of Narudom “Ple” Takdumrongkul, an architect who now erects innovative graphics for your chest.

And for the day of love, Narudom has no fewer than 28 designs that are selling like hotcakes among local teens and in Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The shirts’ cute Cupid-like cartoon character has fallen in love with an Asian girl and does all he can to take care of her, including taking her biking.

Meanwhile Wonder Women is wrestling with Superman on other shirts, and if that isn’t romantic enough for you, you can customise your own tee.

The shirts cost Bt190 or Bt360 for a pair.

Put a heart in a red basket for Bt170, but a tissue holder for Bt120 or a cosmetics bag for Bt140 or Bt150.

Tell him or her how much you love them with a glass or jar bedecked with hearts.

They’re Bt150 and Bt220.

Stick to your mate with magnets in different shapes on a red-velvet board, just Bt315.

p h o t o / e k k arat s u k p e tch

We Why

We Why: Room 237 on Soi 40/2 in Section 2.

Open 10 to 6.30. (02) 873 3805, (02) 873 2931, www.WeWhy.com | |

Right next door is We Why, which has been selling good-quality decorative items and accessories for the home and office for 11 years.

Designer Wassana Lim Wanichsint keeps the emphasis on the modern to please the younger crowd and office workers. The gear is playful and gimmicky but useful as well.

For Valentine’s Day there’s a new collection of magnets that attach to a velvet board, lamps, cosmetics bags, glasses, jars, photo frames and place mats, all in red and black with heart-shaped icons.

Some of We Why’s products are also available at Siam Paragon, the Emporium, Zen and Central.

Fe b r u a r y 8 -14 , 2 0 0 9

Cover

You khon deow?

If Cupid’s arrow hasn’t found you yet – or if you’ve just pried it loose – here’s how to celebrate Valentine’s solo Manta Klangboonkrong

February 8-14, 2009

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P h o t o / S u k u l K erdna i m o ngk o l

COVER

Amaltery

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atre. Grab a ticket for Bt1,000 at www.Thaiticketmajor.com.

The best escape of all from a soppy date is pure self-indulgence of the sort presented at Ruan Nuad on Soi Convent.

Demand to be massaged while you soak up the garden view. Tell them to smear something icky all over you. Do the pretzel in a yoga session. The prices are decent. The number is (02) 632 2662-3.

Especially if you’re coming off a rancid relationship, getting detoxified at S Medical Spa on Wireless Road is the bomb.

Spend an hour or spend the whole day getting flushed out, purified, reborn. The details are at www.SMedSpa.com.

You must have some friends. Call them up Coyote Restaurant and ferry them down to P hoto / E kkarat S ukpetch

V

alentine’s Day sucks for singles – it takes two to tango, they tell you and tell you. But hey, there’s still plenty of fun to be had with a solo salsa.

Just get out there and get lovin’ life on your own.

Hit the cinema first, but not for any of that sugary romance that’s gooing up the screens at the moment.

I recommend the British indie flick “Happy Go Lucky”, where the message is: As long as you’re happy everything comes your way!

Then there’s the fantasy escape of “Bedtime Stories”, the hilarious conspiracy of “Burn After Reading” and a darn good scare in “Quarantine”. Check out www.MovieSeer.com for the showtimes.

Onstage you’ve got the rollicking musical “Chicago” – murder, mayhem and adultery played out by a top-notch New York cast.

There are 15 shows through Sunday at the Muangthai Ratchadalai The-

February 8-14, 2009

P h o t o c o u rtes y o f B E C T er o E nterta i nment

Salsa Dance P h o t o / E kkarat S u kpetc h

Crepes & Co

Coyote Restaurant on Convent Road or the new Coyote Bar & Grill near Sukhumvit Soi 33.

You can commiserate over a basket of salsa-laced nachos and grilled beef burritos, or any of the other goodies listed at www.CoyoteBangkok.com.

For dessert, laugh in the face of heartshaped chocolates and pop into the jungle at Crepes & Co on Sukhumvit Soi 12 for the flat sweets or some Moroccan treats. They’re at (02) 653 3990 and www.Crepes.co.th.

Alternatively, Amaltery’s cocktail ice cream comes in 40 flavours at the Erawan Hotel’s Urban Kitchen at Central World Plaza. They deliver, too – see www.Amaltery.com.

Chatuchak Weekend Market will be an excellent place to go this weekend – the starry-eyed couples will all be elsewhere.

Now’s your chance to have a leisurely P h o t o / A nant C h antaras o o t

Ruan Nuad February 8-14, 2009

look around and finally prove your passion for that special dress you’ve been avoiding, or those love-at-first-sight shoes you never went back to see again.

Grab the subway to Kampaengpetch well before 6pm.

When night descends, dress up and toast your freedom at the Dream Hotel’s 12 th-floor Pool Salsa Party. The dance grooves come in Latin, house and salsa shapes, and you can even take a dip in the rooftop pool.

The party starts at 9.30, but if you’re new to salsa, see about the free lessons at www.DreamBkk.com.

Meanwhile www.SalsaBangkok.com lists other jumping clubs around town, and you can learn the moves as you meet new people at the Rumpuree World Dance Studio on the fifth floor of the Amarin Plaza on Ploenchit Road.

That’s at www.Rumpuree.com.

For a more docile evening, join the pub mob and watch footie on a massive TV screen at the new Temples Irish Pub on Sukhumvit Soi 11 or next door at the Manchester United Restaurant & Bar. No prizes for guessing who the favourite team is there, but even if you don’t root for the Red Devils it doesn’t matter – the singles team you belong to is a whole lot bigger than that.

Cheers! | 11 |

Love Bites

Hip Hangout

Love at Chakrabongse Villas is hosting just one luxury romantic Valentine package at Bt200,000 for a couple staying in the Chinese Suite. Hidden behind the palace on the banks of the Chao Phya River and surrounded by lush gardens, the private villa is the former home of MR Chulachak, son of owner MR Narisara Chakrabongse.

The price includes a candlelit Italian diner served with champagne and Wat Arun as the backdrop.

Call (087) 086 4666 by tomorrow.

Beachside bliss

Treat yourselves to special threecourse romantic lobster dinner at one of the private dining tables overlooking the Anantara Phuket’s infinity pool at forBt3,800 per person or indulge in a four-course feast at Sea.Fire.Salt overlooking Mai Khao beach for Bt2,800.

Let that loving feeling linger into the next day with breakfast in La Sala followed a spa treatment for two that features chocolate body scrub, floral milk bath, aromatherapy massage and honey and chocolate dipped fruits. The package including dinner, one night in a pool villa, breakfast and spa treatment starts at Bt12,000.

Call (076) 336 1000 or e-mail phuket@anantara.com.

Meetings and greetings

Leaving on a jet plane or just arrived?

Either way, stop off at Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel and enjoy the Set Candlelit Dinner @ the Square. The menu includes flambeed sea scallop with romaine lettuce and balsamico reduction, sea bass steak with lobster bisque served with saffron rice and vegetables tempura, chocolate for lovers and coffee or tea.

All guests receive a free glass of red wine and dinner is served from 7. The cost is Bt900++ per person.

Call (02) 2131 1075. | 12 |

Affectionately carved for your craving, dazzling diamonds and roses of chocolate from the Conrad’s top chef

Phatarawa dee Phataranawik

R

oses are red, and so are some of the chocolates – f o r y o u r Va l e n t i n e delectation – that Conrad Ho t e l e x e c u t i v e c h e f Dietmer Spilzer has created.

But Spilzer’s piece de irresistibility has to be his beautiful roses of dark chocolate, each a work of art fully 50 millimetres long.

“The most difficult part is shaping the leaves,” says Spilzer, labouring with love in a chilly kitchen. “Each rose takes three hours to carve.”

It shows it in the realism, and the taste is divine, from the soft corolla of the bud to the thick stems, all made of Arriba chocolate from Ecuador.

Yes, they’re pricey at Bt1,950 per rose, laid out in a red silk box, but so are real roses these days, and they’re a lot cheaper than diamonds.

Meanwhile, giving your sweetheart a gift from Spilzer’s Diamond Heart Chocolate collection in a red, heartshaped jewellery box might have her looking for a DeBoers label, but even when she finds the “diamond”, she won’t be disappointed.

The gemstone adorning these delights is a dab of iced sugar, resting atop her chocolate rose that’s coated in

red sugar.

From the first bite there’s a burst of flavour, a perfect combination of sweet and sour with strawberry cream inside the slightly bitter dark chocolate.

The diamond chocolate costs Bt220.

Spilzer has also come up with chocolates in forms inspired by classic love stories.

The tale of the Frog Princess is the notion behind his Kiss Me collection of frog-shaped chocolates, and anyone who cuddles teddy bears will love the Share the Love Teddy.

Leaving the love theme aside to see what else is delicious, there’s also: * Raspberry Pod, mingling the fresh berr y tang with gourme t dark chocolate; * Sesame Honey, with dark chocolate infused with crunchy sesame seeds and sweet French lavender honey; * Orangino of white chocolate filled with orange and Italian basil cream; * And Cinnamon Caramel, which has aromatic Saigon cinnamon in milk chocolate.

Can you say ‘yummy’?

The Valentine chocolates are available in the Conrad Hotel’s deli and at Siam Paragon and the Emporium all this week. Call (02) 690 9999 or e-mail info@conradebangkok.com.

Fe b r u a r y 8 -14 , 2 0 0 9

photos/ekkarat sukpetch

Perfect love

first bite

Love bitesfrom

New York Lovers can tease their tongues at a Big Apple-inspired eatery this Valentine’s

I

f New York or Paris is your dream setting for a Valentine’s date, wake up and smell the roses in Bangkok. Couples dining at the Minibar Royale on Sukhumvit Soi 23 get a Parisian atmosphere with a New York bar thrown in.

Peer through the glass-windows covered with hand-written menu specials, and you’ll see a scene like something from a ‘70s French movie: couples sip Cappuccinos on cool red sofas surrounded by books, antique glassware and sepia photographs. Out front, 30 seats beneath the awning offer an al fresco Mediterranean feel.

“While studying in New York about 10 years ago, gangs of my friends would hop around to various bars and restaurants,” recalls Tatchai Nakapan, NYU graduate in finance and a partner in Minibar Royale. “But we loved eating French food in New York bars.”

Six years later, his gang — architec ts, fashion designers and graphic Fe b r u a r y 8 -14 , 2 0 0 9

designers — returned home to start earning a living.

Five months ago their dreaming of opening their own bar came true.

The name of the bar is the brainchild of Sretsis designer Pim Sukhahuta, another partner.

“One night after finishing a show at Melbourne Fashion Week in 2008, we had a great time emptying the mini bar back at our hotel,” Pim recalls.

“We decided to replicate the simple ingredients for a good time: friends, good food and drinks, and a relaxing atmosphere,” says Tatchai who also has pastry and cuisine certificates from the Cordon Blue school at Bangkok’s Dusit Thani.

Served up every day is French-American brunch, lunch and dinner.

Tatchai is also preparing Valentine’s menus. For the ladies he recommends an appetiser of leeks with

truffle vinaigrette served with toasted baguette, (Bt180); a main course of grilled rainbow trout with almondflaked green beans & lemon parsley butter (Bt360); and a glass of Champagne Au Fraise (Bt260) to wash it down with.

For gents, there’s braised lamb shank with garlic mashed potato & zucchini trifolati (Bt650) and sangriatini (merlot/vodka/Cointreau/blackcurrant liqueur/lime — Bt250).

You can finish off the romantic night with the signature baked Alaska with vanilla and chocolate ice cream filling (Bt220).

Put some fire in your heart at the bar, packed with a variety of imported wines, champagne, cocktails and mocktails.

Minibar Royale 37/6 Citadines Bangkok Hotel, Sukhumvit Soi 23 Open daily, 10.30 to midnight (last orders 10.30pm) (02) 261 5533, www.MinibarRoyale.com

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photo/ekkarat sukpetch

Phatarawadee Phataranawik

Laid-back

Destination

love Five great places to share with the people you care for the most Pattarawadee Saengmanee

V

alentine’s Day isn’t just about a romantic rendezvous with your sweetheart. It’s also a time for showing those you love just how much you care. If you’re heading out of town for the weekend, here are five attractive destinations with something to offer the whole family.

High in the hills

photos/Ekkarat Sukpetch

Getting juiced

If you’re going to Nakhon Ratchasima for a weekend of wine tasting, make sure to stop off at Prapatsorn Grape Farm, which boasts 50-rai of land covered with pale green vines and opal berries and has Wat Theppitak in its backyard.

For seven years, the farm has cultivated seedless grapes to produce raisins and grape juice, and a small quantity of shiraz for its red and rose wines.

The owners don’t mind at all if visitors have a little picnic beneath the grapevines. If you want to buy some wines to take home, the farm offers a selection at very reasonable prices. Cheers!

Prapatsorn Grape Farm is open daily from 8 to 6. It’s at 92 Moo 9, Mitrapab Road, Pak Chong. Call (044) 322 311.

| 14 |

A 30-minute drive from Chiang Mai into the foothills of Doi Inthanon, the Karen village of Mae Klang Luang is a great destination for trekking, bird watching or simply communing with nature. Home to the Pha Dok Sieo Falls, the backdrop for romantic drama “Rak Jang”, the slopes offer plenty of beautiful flowers and rare plants plus well-tended fields of organic vegetables and arabica coffee The small cafe in the village serves quality java juice and there’s also a museum showcasing traditional Karen kitchenware, handicrafts and musical instruments.

The village offers a homestay package for Bt200 per person, inclusive of breakfast.

Mae Klang Luang village is in the foothills of Doi Inthanon National Park in Chom Thong district, Chiang Mai province. Call (053) 248 6047, (086) 185 0700 or visit www.EzyTrip. com or www.MeukakeEcotour.com.

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Paddle power

Explore the “lost worlds” of Phang Nga Bay with kayaking explorer John Gray. He’ll take you to visit the caves at Koh Penak and Koh Hong, where you’ll learn about the delicate ecosystem and also see pristine white sand beaches.

You’ll travel by twin-engine boat takes visitors to Koh Penak to meet up with the Seacanoe team.

Once you’re in the canoes, Gray leads the way into Tham Khang Khao, home to hundreds of bats and a gallery of stalagmites, Tham Hoi Teb, where the rock walls are lined with small oysters, razor clams and crabs, while Koh Hong is home to a gallery of stalagmites, shaped into fantastic animal-like forms. The trip ends with a Thai buffet and drinks.

The one-day canoe trip costs Bt3,950 (Bt1,725 for children), inclusive of lunch. Call (076) 254 5057, or visit www.JohnGraySeacanoe.com.

Romantic river

Bid farewell to Bangkok and head to the tranquil town of old Ayutthaya on a three-day trip abroad the luxurious Manohra Song.

The 100-year-old solid teak boat can accommodate up to eight passengers in four air-conditioned staterooms with queen-size beds and en-suite bathroom as well as a gallery, lounge and sundeck. It also includes three meals of delicious Thai and international food as well as guided tours at several attractions.

Cruises on the Manohra Song cost US$1,265 (Bt43,000) for two people sharing one cabin including meals and admission to various attractions along the way. Call (02) 477 0770 or visit ManohraCruises.com.

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Market tales

The humble town of Ratchaburi is home to the 100-year-old Chet Samian market, which serves as the platform for the popular “All About Arts” event, organised

by Patravadi Theatre and Suan Sin Baan Din Art Centre.

It’s a great place to pick up your groceries or chat to Jakkit Santirongyot who has converted his 70-year-old house into a museum, displaying traditional goldsmith’s tools and 40-year-old magazines and novels.

Nearby is the art school showcasing about 100 black-and-white photographs depicting the Chet Samian community going back five decades. Those weary of browsing around can take a break with a plate of delectable local food and desserts.

Patravadi Theatre’s annual Fringe Festival continues at the market from February 20.

Admission to all fringe events is free. Call (032) 397 668 or visit www.PatravadiTheatre.com.

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Laid-back

Bold and arty

COME AWAY with me

If arty decor and roomy rooms are your priorities, head down Soi Ruam Rudee 2 to escape Bangkok hassles without leaving the city. Inspired by the 10faced demon Tosakan from the epic Ramayana, Tenface hotel offers gallery-like rooms decorated with surreal depictions of the Ramayana’s characters along with letters and numbers in Thai. Call (02) 695 4242 or visit www.

TenfaceBangkok.com.

Where to spend this smoochy weekend K he t sirin Pholdhampalit

P

lanning to cuddle up with your lover this weekend? Then let us suggest five getaways that promise freedom and the chance to sweeten your relationship. The travelling won’t eat up too much of your time and the places range from serene to arty, budget chic to old charm plus sexy. Let a change of scenery do wonders for your love!

Elegant old charm

Ph o t o / E k k arat S u k p e tch and c o u rt e s y o f th e h o t e l s

At the end of the bustling Sukhumvit Soi 1, new boutique hotel Ariyasomvilla is hidden among a lush, beautiful garden. Here, guests can step back into more leisurely times, with all things being teak-qual, in the Siamese fashion.

Call (02) 254 8880-3 or visit www.Ariyasom. com.

Budget but chic Tranquil and private Hide away in a luxurious and serene one-storey pool villa surrounded by Khao Yai’s rich rainforest. Total privacy is guaranteed at Muthi Maya though it will cost about Bt17,000 a night.

The highlight is a generous outdoor terrace and a sala that’s perfect for stargazing. Call (044) 426 000, (02) 257 0455-7 or visit www.MuthiMaya.com. | 16 |

With its name translates as “sleep well”, and a couple on a limited budget can enjoy sweet dreams at new hostel Lub d on Decho Road off bustling Silom.

The sleek four-storey hostel has been given a contemporary industrial look and it places emphasis on cheapness, cleanliness and safety.

For Valentine’s Day, opt for a double room with en-suite bathroom.

Call (02) 634 7999 or visit www.LubD.com.

Sexy and naughty Pack the minimum for a night at the new DusitD2 on the bustling Pattaya 2 Road where the bathroom is separated from the bedroom by just a glass screen. Couples will love it – shyer folks can ask for a curtain. Sparkling wine is served during breakfast, in keeping with the “bubbling” hotel theme. Call (038) 769 999 or visit www.

Dusit.com/d2pa.

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Wellness

Eyed with love

Spa sensations Ph o t o / thani s s u dt o

What better way to spend the day of love than enjoying three hours of pampering at Le Spa

They say love is blind. But Enconcept Academy and the Thai Red Cross Eye Bank beg to differ. Last year, the two organisations launched the Visible Love project to campaign for eye donations and to date, the Eye Bank has received 750 pairs of eyes. That may sound a lot but it’s not nearly enough to meet demand.

For more information, visit www.

RedCross.or.th/donation/eye_donation or and www.Enconcept.com/ visiblelove.

K he t sirin Pholdhampalit

Fe b r u a r y 8 -14 , 2 0 0 9

ing ritual. The therapists begin with a cleansing milk and tonic lotion and then follow with a treatment of essential oils, soothing mask and eye makeup remover lotion before finishing with hydrating cream and moisturising balm.

If the spa treatment is not enough to boost your love powers, then stay over and enjoy the hotel’s promotional romantic package. The offer covers one night in a deluxe room including breakfast, dinner at Deja Vu restaurant with two glasses of house champagne and the Bt1,000 voucher for Le Spa. Dinner on the day of love features foie gras terrine, scallop and French oyster tartar, shrimp and truffle raviolis, roasted lamb and macaroon strawberry and chocolate. >>The Valentine’s package at Le Spa is priced at Bt12,960 net per couple and continues until the end of February. >>The romantic package of one-night stay for two is priced at Bt5,000 net and is available until next Sunday. >>The hotel is on Soi Rangnam off Phya Thai Road, near the Victory Monument Skytrain station. Call (02) 680 9999 or visit www.PullmanBangkokKingPower.com

All wined up True Spa welcomes lovers this month with a special True Romance package. The 90-minute treatment starts with a red wine scrub for 30 minutes and proceeds with a wrap in red wine-based products. It ends a relaxing rub with herbal aromatherapy oils and costs just Bt1,990.

Call (02) 663 5999 or (02) 684 8999.

Ph o t o / c o u rt e s y o f P u llman King P o w e r

T

his weekend, take your sweetheart to Le Spa at Pullman Bangkok King Power and wow him or her with a three-hour sensual experience that starts with a 30-minute soak – together of course - in an exotic rose milk bath. Then move hand-in-hand into the treatment room where trained therapists will gently apply jasmine rice scrub to the whole of your bodies for an exfoliation treatment that will leave you feeling revitalised and radiant.

Next it’s time for a one-hour relaxing aroma massage with warm oils of your choice. My partner and I both picked an extraction of geranium and lavender, known from their smoothing properties.

The gentle yet firm pressure on each part of my body worked perfectly in reducing stress and anxiety. I hovered between wakefulness and sleep during the tender treatment and could hear my partner snoring lightly on the adjacent bed, proof that his treatment was having a similarly soporific effect.

With body relaxed and glowing, it’s time to rediscover radiant skin through a one-hour deep-cleansing facial treatment. Le Spa uses Decleor products from France for this purify-

Many faces of love Imperial Spa at Imperial Queen Park Hotel is offering a “facial of love” promotion. Opt for any facial treatment this month and you’ll receive a complimentary cosmetic bag.

Choose the exotic Thai treatment to reduce stress and make your face look totally refreshed.

Call (02) 261 9000 extension 5058-9.

| 17 |

PHOTO ESSAY

The Vegetable Valle Tex t an d Ph otos by Jofel l e P Tes o ri o A s i a News Netwo rk

P

alung is not mentioned in Lonely Planet or in any other travel books. But this vegetable-producing valley, four hours outside Kathmandu in Nepal, is such a fabulous place to spend the day with. The rugged hills, the staircase vegetable plantations and the simple farming life are something to behold. Then, you come across men and women carrying basketful (say 50 kilos!) of vegetables down the valley. Palung is now becoming a favourite getaway during winter when it is covered with snow. On the way here, you also get a glimpse of the Mount Everest.

| 18 |

February 8-14, 2009

ey

February 8-14, 2009

| 19 |

LIFE

Dubious

Unions

When celebrity couples contract second marriages and convert out of their original religion, it is hard to tell whether it is on genuine grounds or just a ploy NEW DELHI

Coomi Kapoor The Star

M

ore than two decades ago, popular India’s Bollywood stars Dharmendra and Hema Malini married secretly. When the news leaked out, it made national headlines. At the peak of their popularity, the star couple’s marriage evoked great public interest.

Fans were delirious at the coming together of film industry’s most successful pairing which had given dozens of box office hits. Besides, Dharmendra had beaten a couple of stars, including Jeetendra and the late Sanjeev Kumar, to win the hand of Hindi cinema’s original Dream Girl.

However, as the euphoria in the film press died down, a group of women activists and social reformers raised a | 20 |

shindy over the Dharmendra-Hema union. After all, he was already married with teenaged children. Bigamy is illegal in India.

Hindus could contract a second marriage only after the death of their first wife or a divorce. Not otherwise. Only followers of Islam were allowed to have more than one wife.

And for the sake of giving their union a legal cover, both Dharmendra and Hema Malini embraced Islam, a fact they hid from the public.

But the law on bigamy was very clear.

It stipulated that only the aggrieved first wife could complain against her husband should the latter marry a second time. Now, Prakash Kaur, Dharmendra’s first wife and mother of his four children, including star-sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, was a traditional, home-bred loyal wife, who would rather suffer quietly than contemplate criminal proceedings against her husband, especially someone who

after their marriage had left behind a dreary low-paid tube-well pump operator’s job in the Punjab countryside to become a film star with all its attendant glory, riches and comforts.

So, the controversy over Dharmendra-Hema Malini matrimony soon died down. A few years later, Bollywood stars Raj Babbar and the late Smita Patil would take a leaf from the Dharmendra-Hema Malini book and get married. Again, it was second marriage for Raj and first for the talented and vivacious actor Smita.

Raj’s wife, Zaheera, was no wilting flower, either. Daughter of a widely-respected Muslim poet-scholar, she was well-educated and knew her rights.

She could have gone to the police against her husband’s second marriage.

But for some undisclosed reasons she did not.

Whether it was the growing tendency of people to exploit the Islamic marriage laws to contract second marriages February 8-14, 2009

Ar i f A li /A F P

Leon N ea l/Tau s eef Mu sta fa /A F P

HANDSOME COUPLE: For the sake of giving their union a legal cover, Indian celebrity couple Dharmendra (far left) and Hema Malini (left) embraced Islam.

DODGer: Actor Raj Babbar eloped with late Smita Patil even when he was married to another woman.

or otherwise, the fact is that the Hindu marriage law was changed to allow close relations of the aggrieved wife to lodge a criminal complaint against her bigamous husband.

However, after conversion to Islam, an already married man can still contract a second marriage. And the aggrieved wife cannot seek relief from the authorities.

This is precisely what Haryana’s deputy chief minister, Chander Mohan, did a few weeks ago. Son of the veteran Haryana politician, Bhajan Lal, he had gone missing from his ministerial office for over a month, causing media speculation about his whereabouts.

One day, as suddenly as he had disappeared, he surfaced, only to announce to the whole world that he had married the state’s high ranking law officer, Anuradha Bali. He had now embraced Islam and his name was Chand Mohammed.

Anuradha Bali had converted to IsFebruary 8-14, 2009

lam as well and her name was Fiza.

They faced the media, proclaiming their love for each other and their genuine conversion to Islam.

Immediately, he was sacked as the state deputy chief minister. And his father was so angry that he publicly disowned him, cutting him off from the family property. In all this drama conducted in full public view with newspapers and television channels reporting every minor detail, not once did his first wife, Seema, nor, for that matter, their two children, ever put in a word edgeways.

Like the long-suffering Hindu wife, Seema stayed confined to the four walls of her matrimonial home with the family patriarch and her father-in-law undertaking to provide for their financial well-being.

However, the second wife, Anuradha Bali alias Fiza, was all over the media, defending aggressively their marriage and countering the charge that conver-

sion to Islam was a ploy to get round the strict anti-bigamy law applicable to non-Muslims.

Asked to recite a few lines from the holy Muslim scriptures, she pounced on the newsman, asking him to prove that he was a Hindu by reciting a few lines from a well-known religious tome.

The feisty 37-year-old additional advocate general of Haryana, who too had been sacked following her marriage to the 43-year-old and since dismissed as deputy chief minister of the state, claimed that genuine love had triumphed over artificial barriers of religion and man-made laws.

They no longer drove around in a Mercedes, settling instead for a cheap small car. He admitted that he had been in a relationship with Anuradha for five years before they decided to marry by converting to Islam.

The controversial marriage yet again focused on the ambiguity in the law regarding second marriage by Hindus after converting to Islam. In a celebrated 1995 order, the Supreme Court had indeed held such marriage illegal, saying that bigamy can attract a sentence of up to seven years in jail.

In the current case, Chander Mohan did not divorce his first wife before converting to Islam and marrying his longtime paramour. Yet, it is hard to establish whether the religious conversion was on genuine grounds or merely a convenient ploy to get round the provisions of the anti-bigamy law. | 21 |

LIFESTYLE

Ticket

To Drive

Tokyo’s flashy auto showrooms offer amenities and entertainment that will appeal even to people who are not necessarily interested in buying a car TOKYO

Tom Baker The Yomiuri Shimbun

O

ne thing that transvestite showgirls, international beauty pageant winners and even cutting-edge robots have in common is that they all gravitate to the automotive business. At least, that’s the impression one could get while making the rounds of some of Tokyo’s flashier auto showrooms, which offer amenities and entertainment that will appeal even to people who are not necessarily interested in buying a car.

With car sales having recently hit a 34-year low, automakers need to do whatever they can to attract people into their showrooms. At the very least, visitors who aren’t in the market for a car right now will be more familiar with a maker’s brand when the economy, and their own personal fortunes, eventually improve.

Fiat is the latest carmaker to lure potential customers with the promise of a | 22 |

good time. The Italian motor company opened its new Fiat Caffe to the public on December 12.

The ground floor of this facility, on Aoyama-dori avenue in Minato Ward, deliberately resembles a small art gallery.

A Fiat Caffe employee said a different car will be put on display each month.

The high ceiling above the car is covered with light fixtures whose reflective silver covers reminded me of hubcaps.

A possible disadvantage for the Fiat Caffe is that it doesn’t look like a restaurant from the outside, so potential dining customers could easily miss it.

One building that is impossible to miss from outside is The Iceberg on Meiji-dori avenue in Shibuya Ward.

This aptly named glass tower, which tapers and bulges and tapers again as it rises high above the street, is the home of Audi Forum Tokyo, the German automaker’s flagship showroom. “People are always shooting (photos of) this building,” Audi Forum operation manager Akira Kajita said, as we looked out onto the street from a cafe on the building’s second floor.

In a pleasant surprise, the cafe serves

its drinks for free—although visitors may be asked to fill out a survey in return for the hospitality.

In addition to standard cafe beverages, there are two original drinks on the menu, one of which is a nut-flavoured coffee named after German engineer August Horch (1868-1951), who founded two of Audi’s four ancestral companies, which were merged in 1932.

The four linked rings of the Audi logo represent these four original companies, Kajita said.

I opted for the flavourful but nottoo-sweet Quattro Squash, a mocktail named after Audi’s four-wheel drive system and consisting of four ingredients: chopped limes, peach syrup, grapefruit juice and ginger ale.

Of course, there are cars to look at in the showroom as well, including Audi’s current lineup and a couple of historical specimens on loan from Audi’s museum in Germany. The vintage cars, which now include a wood-bodied electric model from the 1920s, are changed twice a year.

One of the modern models on display is the Audi TT Coupe, which is February 8-14, 2009

AF P P H OTO

where the international beauty pageant comes in. Audi is a sponsor of the Miss Universe contest, and Japan’s winner gets to drive a TT for free during the year of her reign, Kajita said. Last month, a bevy of hopeful beauties came to the Audi Forum to pose with the car.

Another modern Audi, the R8, may be familiar to viewers of last year’s Iron Man movie, in which the car was driven by gadget-obsessed billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). It looks like something Stark would love: The hood over the engine is made of glass, with spotlights inside to show off the gleaming machinery.

Iron Man may look like a robot, but if you want to meet a real robot you can always visit Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama, next to Exit 5 of Aoyama Itchome subway station. Here, the famous Asimo gives public performances three times a day, at 11am, 1:30pm and 3pm.

Although he is a biped rather than a wheeled vehicle, building Asimo has helped Honda engineers develop various technologies for use in cars. As a video presentation explains a little about how Asimo works, the robot February 8-14, 2009

walks and sometimes runs up and down a stage in front of the screen, often pausing to gesture at the audience and even do an amusing little dance.

The presentation is in Japanese, but there is an English-language pamphlet giving a general overview of the facility, which includes some of the latest Honda cars and motorcycles and a gift shop where you can buy everything from Asimo dolls to tickets for races at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.

But the biggest and most visitorfriendly car showroom of all must be Toyota’s Mega Web facility, adjacent to the Venus Fort shopping mall at Aomi Station on the Yurikamome Line in the Odaiba area. This massive facility is virtually an automotive amusement park, with numerous Toyota vehicles to climb into and out of, a theatre, video games, science exhibits (mainly touting the environmentally friendly Prius hybrid car) and even rides.

One of the rides, for children, involves pedalling a “motor-assisted hybrid cart” around a 150-metre indoor course. Mechanically ambitious kids are encouraged to put together a partially disassembled cart before riding it.

For adults with valid drivers licenses, test drives of real Toyota cars are available on a 1.3km outdoor course for a 300 yen fee.

The most unusual attraction is the Electronic Vehicle Commuter, or Ecom, which is 200 yen per ride. It is meant to demonstrate how a car can be programmed to drive itself, following a trail of electromagnets embedded in a roadway and stopping and starting on its own depending on traffic conditions it senses ahead.

Starting on the second floor of the Mega Web’s main hall, I rode one such car down a curving ramp and left the building at ground level, with the steering wheel spinning on its own as the car drove to the far end of Venus Fort and turned around at an automotive museum called the History Garage.

I could have gotten out—there are four stations on the E-com circuit— but I stayed aboard for one full lap, taking in the evening lights of the nearby Odaiba skyline and passing beneath the even brighter lights of a giant Ferris wheel before returning to my starting point.

The car was in control the whole way, but for people who want to take matters into their own hands there is one more type of showroom to consider: those for radio-controlled cars.

The Kyosho company, which caters to model car builders and racers, has two showrooms in Tokyo equipped with race tracks where people may race their own cars or rent Kyosho radiocontrolled cars to try out.

The Kyosho shop in the Akiba Tolim Building near Akihabara Station has two race tracks, the longer of which is a tightly winding 28 metres. It also has a workshop where serious hobbyists can build or finetune their miniature vehicles.

The shop in the Omotesando Hills shopping mall has a somewhat shorter track, but one that is graced with a very steeply banked curve.

Best of all, both shops have bars— and can be rented out for parties— making it perfectly OK to drink and drive. (Just don’t drive home afterward.)

Not having a radio-controlled car of my own, I rented one at 500 yen for 15 minutes. Because steering left or right can mean different things depending on whether the car is facing toward or away from you, I spent most of my 15 minutes crashing into the walls of the course, but I did have 500 yen worth of fun.

Whether or not you’re seriously in the market for a car, be it real or radiocontrolled, there are plenty of good experiences to be had while just looking. | 23 |

LIFESTYLE

Sexual Revolution Breeds Confusion Greater freedom of choice has led to a wide range of views on sex and morality in China BEIJING

Peh Shing Huei The Straits Times

D

ays before the Chinese New Year, Sichuan artist Li Zhuangping suddenly found himself very famous in China. A newspaper in Chongqing had run a story on the 60-year-old’s latest collection of oil paintings, a series of nude portraits of a young lady in mystical Indiana Jones-like settings.

It would not have been newsworthy but for the fact that the nude model was Li’s 23-year-old daughter Li Qin, who is also an artist.

Li also posted pictures of those nude paintings on his blog, making them widely and easily available, and attracted even more attention to his series of Oriental Goddess paintings.

Is it sick and obscene, as some | 24 |

Chinese netizens believed, or sacred and pure as others argued?

There was no consensus. An online poll showed netizens equally divided.

While one slammed him for “masquerading pornography as art”, another defended him, saying that “nude art is not porn and should not be likened to nude pictures”.

In many ways, the split is symptomatic of a Chinese society which has undergone a rapid sexual revolution in the past three decades.

As the country opened itself to the world after 1978, it also unleashed massive changes in how its people viewed sexuality, creating highly diversified and uneven standards of sexual mores.

“It is an exciting but confusing time for people,” said analyst Arianne Gaetano, who has done extensive research on gender and sexuality in China.

It was much simpler during Mao

Zedong’s time. Under the totalitarian regime, sexuality was totally repressed, with pornography and prostitution virtually unheard of. The official puritanical approach to morality broached no dissent, with even dating frowned upon, let alone premarital sex.

Even the traditional form-fitting cheongsam was seen a symbol of “bourgeois evils”, with the entire populace dressed in drab, unisex Mao pantsuits.

But this top-down, one-size-fits-all practice slowly dissipated in the 1980s.

Couples started holding hands in public, prostitution re-emerged in a big way, and sex shops under the banner of “adult health shops” appeared in big cities.

Casual sex mushroomed as individual choices began to take shape and the Chinese gradually reclaimed the bedroom as their private space.

Coupled with the speed of change, a February 8-14, 2009

Mar k RALSTON/a fp

wide range of views on sex and morality emerged.

“Even just among a small sample of urban single women in their 30s, there is great diversity in regard to social mores of dating, sex, marriage with the opposite sex,” said Gaetano.

“You can still find very prudish, sexually timid people and those who insist on virginity prior to marriage, and then you can find their extreme opposites, those who are very public about their sex lives—even blogging about them—or the freewheeling clients of hair dressing-massage parlours.”

Views on premarital sex, for example, are split down the middle. A 2007 poll of the Chinese in 10 provinces found more than half saying it was acceptable.

Into this mix enters the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which continues to set itself as the arbiter of sexuality and morality. Naturally, it February 8-14, 2009

takes on the conservative voice which once acted as sexual diktat in China.

In the last month, it launched a well-publicised raid against pornography on the Internet, taking down more than 1,500 websites for having ‘vulgar content’.

But the crackdown has confounded website operators, who are left in the dark on what exactly constitutes ‘vulgar content’ and ‘erotic information’.

After all, even the state-run China Central Television’s website continues to carry pictures of scantily-clad Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi—four years after the photos were first published.

Dr James Farrer, author of Opening Up: Youth Sex Culture And Market Reform In Shanghai, said that the ambiguity is partly a result of “rapidly changing and very uneven standards of sexual morality”.

“No, the CCP will never be able to return to its role as sole moral

A LINGERING EMBRACE: A woman views a video on a Shanghai website showing a young Chinese couple embracing at a metro station in Shanghai.

authority and will increasingly be a referee between various conservative and liberal positions articulated in online discussions,” he said.

Instead of policing the sexual choices of the people, he felt that the government should expend its energy towards narrowing the vast gap between the urban rich and rural poor in China, a key factor for the explosion of prostitution in China.

It is “ineffective”, added Gaetano, for the state to be the moral guardian.

“It’s playing catch-up to changing mores.”

So far, the state’s tentacles have not reached artist Li. He said he has not heard from the authorities yet, and the nude paintings on his blog remain.

“I hope to hear from them and get their support,” Li said in a phone interview, stressing that the paintings had his wife’s consent. “I have done nude paintings before and I don’t see why this is a big deal.” | 25 |

T he Sta r

ARTS & CULTURE

Kuala Lumpur

THE PERANAKAN WAY: Cedric Tan has gone all out to make his home ready for the Chinese New Year.

A Hybrid

Chinese New Year

While the Malaysian Chinese ushered in the Year of the Ox, the Peranakan are also beautifying their houses to celebrate Chinese New Year | 26 |

Revathi Murugappan The Star

O

ne may not hear the strains of Gong Xi, Gong Xi (be prosperous) in Peranakan households but Chinese New Year is nevertheless an auspicious occasion for the community.

The Peranakan or Straits Chinese are descendants of Chinese immigrants who intermarried with the locals and settled in Malaya during the early 1400s. Over time, they assimilated Malay language and customs into their lives and created a fusion culture all their own.

Because most Peranakan are of Hokkien ancestry, their language (Baba Malay) is interspersed with many Hokkien words. The men came to be known as Baba, and the women, Nyonya. Malay influence is evident in their clothing and food, but they have also retained their Chinese heritage, especially customs like ancestral worship.

Hence, Chinese New Year is celebrated according to their mixed lineage.

Bachelor Cedric Tan, 43, gets himself in the mood by beautifying his apartment two weeks before the event, even though he only heads back to his Malacca hometown a few days prior to New Year. The curtains have been changed, red cloth is hung at the door, oranges are at the altar, and Tan has even added cherry blossoms to brighten up the place.

And no, he says, he didn’t decorate the place to impress the reporter.

“Our celebrations actually begin on December 22 during the tang chek or Winter Solstice, which signifies renewal and hope. This is the day when all Peranakan are considered a year older. We roll glutinous rice balls in red and white and stick them as markers on door posts to inform the public that we are fortunate enough to celebrate the New Year,” explains Tan, assistant secretary of the Peranakan Baba Nyonya Association of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

A red cloth is then tied around the February 8-14, 2009

February 8-14, 2009

father is Christian, and we never practised it in our house. But otherwise, we try to follow everything from the old days,” says Tan. Instead of wishing “Selamat Taon Baru” (happy New Year), the elders would utter something like “Cepatcepat kahwin” (get married quickly) or “Cepat-cepat beranak” (quicky start a family) while the younger ones would reply by saying, “Panjang-panjang umur” (may you have a long life).

“Our language is dying out because families are preferring to speak in English to their children,” Tan laments.

“They think conversing in our dialect is embarrassing. Unlike the Chinese and Indian diaspora all over the world, the Peranakan community can only be found in Malaysia and Indonesia, so if we don’t hang on to our tradition, it will be lost forever.”

The day continues with relatives and friends dropping in to visit. The celebration culminates on the 15th day (Chap Goh Meh), when all lights and oil lamps at home are doused. The Peranakan will take three huge joss-sticks to the temple, burn them and stick them in a vase. Then they retrieve their joss-sticks, head home and use it to light candles and oil lamps in a ritual called Ambek Api. “We bring home the holy fire for divine blessings and hope we will be endowed with good luck and happiness the whole year,” says Tan. While their ‘authentic’ Chinese counterparts throw oranges into the river or sea during Chap Goh Meh in the hope of finding themselves a spouse, the Malacca Peranakan embark on a fancy dress parade. Everyone, from children to adults, whether men or women, married or otherwise, dress up and go from house to house, sing songs, eat, mingle and make merry.

“It’s a really fun event,” enthuses Tan. “The elders act as judges, and the winners usually get a hamper or something.”

The Star

door for happiness and to signal that community will hang three lanterns spring cleaning activities have begun. with the family name painted on it However, if there is a death in the fam- outside the house and pray to the ily, this practice is suspended until the ancestors. mourning period is over.

In Tan’s household, there is no “The Peranakan have been carrying reunion dinner on the eve; rather, they out quaint practices from yesteryear, have a reunion lunch because one of some of which are non-existent in his two brothers usually goes to his mainland China. We may not know in-laws for dinner. The food cooked for the reason because it was passed down the occasion is the same as what’s through oral traditions so the meaning offered to the ancestors. Peranakan might get lost,” says Tan, who learnt food is tangy, aromatic and spicy — a some of the practices through his late mix of Chinese and Malay ingredients grandmother who lived with them. and recipes.

For example, unlike their Chinese “On the day itself, we open the main ancestors, the Peranakan do not door of the house to greet the New simply place oranges and pineapples Year and follow with prayers. It is not on the altar but tie and decorate the to greet the God of Prosperity. The fruits with serrated-patterned red time to open the main door remains paper before offering it to the gods. the same throughout the year which is “We are lovers of beauty, so the around 6am to 8am.”

Peranakan home always has beautiful Then comes the paying of respect to items. Even if there is a so-called feng the elders, also called sohjah. Back in shui item being used, it is purely for the days when grandma was alive, Tan decorative purposes. Only the mirror is says, the youngsters would stand in hung above the main door of the house line according to seniority while the to repel evil forces.” matriarch sat on her chair and gave Once the cleaning is completed, the out angpow. baking commences. A must in every “The girls would squat without their Peranakan household are kuih bakul knees touching the floor while the boys (sweet, sticky glutinous rice cake), would kneel and clasp their hands. I pineapple tarts, jelly, dodol (toffee-like don’t do this anymore because my delicacy) and wajik (made of sticky rice cooked with sugar and coconut cream). The last two signify perpetuity.

“The Malays have cucu (grandchild), cicit (greatgrandchild) and oneng-oneng (great-great-grandchild) but we go two steps further, and the next in line are called dodol and wajik. We make the kueh (cake) and hope that the human production will continue forever,” says Tan who is also the founder of Baba-Nyonya Culture Promotions, a consultancy firm which organises Peranakan weddings and puts up cultural shows.

A week before New Year, gifts comprising food items are exchanged with relatives so HOME DECOR: that on visiting days, guests do Cedric puts finishing not come bearing gifts touches on a red anymore. On the eve of curtain draped along his doorway.

Chinese New Year, the

| 27 |

Entertainment

Indian Cinema Breaks Through With Slumdog Millionaire up for the Oscars, commercial Indian cinema has made the overseas breakthrough it had been waiting for PARIS

door is locked, jump over the wall,” he said. And jump he did.

Arnab Banerjee After a career spanning many The Statesman decades, a BBC Online poll in 1999 named him the greatest mitabh, I’ve been star of the millennium—ahead following your films of the likes of Robert De Niro, since I was a child. Laurence Olivier and Charlie Please, sign me an Chaplin. “That was a computer a u t o g r a p h ” a error,” Bachchan said deadpan.

JUXTAPOSED: Slumdog Millionaire, Frenchman of North African origin spoke Bachchan’s interview has, with ten Oscar nominations, has to Amitabh Bachchan with a tremulous however, raised a crucial de- touched on poverty in India’s poorest voice at the Salon du Cinema (cinema bate on Bollywood and what slum in the Bollywood city of Mumbai. fair) in Paris two weeks ago. The event, an the term represents in the annual fair for cinema professionals in West. “The word Bollywood is consid- any cultural product from India. Films France, decided this year to host a special ered pejorative by most Indian film- made by the Indian diaspora like Proedition to honour Indian cinema. The makers. I prefer to use the term ‘Indian voked by Jag Mundhra, Monsoon Wedguest of honour—Amitabh Bachchan. film industry’,” Bachchan said. ding by Mira Nair and Bend It Like The Indian maestro’s presence was To understand the pertinence of Bach- Beckham by Gurindher Chadha are indeed impressive, and, despite his chan’s statement, one needs to realise the considered by many in Europe as ‘Bolflashing diamond studded kurta but- extent of Bollywood’s signification in Eu- lywood’ fare. tons. After having been exuberantly rope. To most Indians, Bollywood probThe memory of classic directors like introduced as the ably signifies happy- Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal ‘ambassador of Indiend melodramatic Sen has now fallen into the hands of Euan culture abroad’, films produced in rope’s cinema scholars and academics— Bachchan was quick Mumbai, featuring a small minority that adheres to the difto modestly undersong-and-dance num- ference between Bollywood and Indian mine the complibers, lavish sets and lo- ‘art’ cinema. This difference is crucial for ment. “I represent the cations, and, of course, a fair and just representation of Indian Indian film industry,” a pantheon of stars. cinema abroad. he corrected.

But unfortunately, In the last few years, an awakening Interviewed by InBollywood has a dif- has dawned on the men and women of dian cinema specialist ferent interpretation Mumbai. They have realised that to Martine Armand, in Europe. After Jackie breakthrough to the Western audience, Bachchan recalled how Chan and Bruce Lee a shift in Bollywood production values he started as an execuwith their martial arts is necessary. Further, to improve the tive in a Kolkata office. based genre of films, intellectual stature of Indian cinema, But he felt that cinema Bollywood has been official selections in competitive interwas his calling, and left firmly established as national festivals need to be obtained. his nine to five job to SLAMMED: Indian actor Amitabh Bach- the latest Asian import For example, at the prestigious Cannes try and break into the chan said he has cleared the air with into Western popular Film Festival, though Mumbai producMumbai movie scene. British director Danny Boyle over his culture. To most Eu- ers rent private halls for screenings, perceived attitude to the Oscar nomi“My father used to tell nated film Slumdog Millionaire, which ropeans unacquainted they are completely ignored in the comme—if you want to get he portrayed as the “Third World dirty with India, Bollywood petitive selection. It has been decades into a house where the underbelly developing nation”. has come to refer to since an Indian film has been selected RO HIT JAIN PARAS/AFP

PAL P ILLAI/AFP

“A

| 28 |

February 8-14, 2009

in the official competitive section at Cannes. But a true new cinema can only emerge by intelligently fusing the art of independent cinema with the means of Bollywood.

The most commercially successful phenomenon in the ‘crossover’ category is undoubtedly Slumdog Millionaire by British director Danny Boyle. Boyle invents a most interesting aesthetic—mixing melodrama and music from Bollywood with the pacy editing and digitally treated cinematography that is typical of modern Hollywood.

Slumdog Millionaire may be called a masterpiece in one respect—its attempt to create a new cinema, both in style and production values. The melodrama in the film may be tiresome and the portrayal of Indian street life unrealistic, but no one can deny that the work has set a landmark in the history of Indian cinema. This has angered many Bollywood traditionalists. Placing the action in a Bombay slum? Using unknown actors? Casting a star like Anil Kapoor in a role that mocks the entire Indian entertainment industry? Inadmissible!

In an interview to the BBC, Bachchan accused the film of portraying India as a “Third World dirty underbelly developing nation”. Should filmmakers, then ignore India’s ‘underbelly’? Is the role of Indian cinema to only portray India’s beauty, developing economy and the lives of the more affluent?

Cinema is an ever-evolving medium, both in aesthetics and technical accomplishment. Today, a new Indian cinema is on the rise that challenges Bollywood’s existing star system. It is the duty of rising Indian filmmakers to ride the current wave of Indian cinema abroad and continue to participate in the emergence of a new cinematic trend.

The author, a filmmaker and journalist based in France, teaches film and media at the Sorbonne University, Paris.

February 8-14, 2009

Pornography Of Poverty NEW DELHI

Direk Bose The Statesman

O

nly a cynic would say that it is no big deal winning a Golden Globe—or for that matter, an Oscar. And it would take an equally prejudiced sour puss to argue that Slumdog Millionaire is no great shakes. This is one of those rare films, like Sholay, that has far exceeded the intentions and expectations of the filmmaker. The shot taking of several crucial scenes, the interplay of light and shadow, characters casually flitting in and out the frames, ambient sounds and the spontaneity of performance of a large number of child actors are clearly accidental and could not have been put together by design.

The intention of the filmmaker was evident from the moment he decided upon the title of his film. It was clearly to celebrate the triumph of the underdog.

Using Vikas Swarup’s bestselling novel Q&A as a take-off base, he has spun what by now is a well-known fairytale of a Mumbai slum kid who, by virtue of sheer grit, gumption and good fortune wins a multi-million quiz jackpot. The incredible rags-to-riches story is narrated through a series of flashbacks on his childhood and teenage years—life in the slums where he and his brother grow up as orphans, their adventures on Mumbai’s mean streets, encounters with local gangs and his affair with another orphan, the girl he loved and lost. Each incident reveals the key to an answer to the quiz master’s questions.

But it is not this unique and intelligently layered style of storytelling that the film’s critics are talking about today. They are finding fault in the manner the filmmaker has supposedly exploited Mumbai’s ‘murky underbelly’, turning it into an exportable product for personal fame and fortune. Living in poverty is no sin. And being por-

trayed so on celluloid is even less so.

After all, everybody loves an underdog.

Problems arise when poverty becomes a fetish with the filmmaker and he fails to provide a redeeming moment in the film. He thinks nothing of repeatedly inflicting the viewer with scenes of famished infants crying themselves to sleep, skeletal beggars scrounging for food with dogs at garbage dumps, famine victims queuing up for food tokens, ailing family elders suddenly dropping dead out of hunger, sounds of a woman scraping the bottom of empty utensils in the kitchen while her jobless husband sits outside smoking. These all-too-familiar scenes have become cinematic clichés with nothing ennobling about them. In fact, they are almost as disturbingly vulgar as sexual pornography in their presentation and serve just about the same purpose—to excite voyeurism in those who find themselves in a privileged position. To be insulated from all the suffering they see on screen is supposed to leave them with a feel-good effect.

Boyle could easily have slipped into this miserable claptrap given a script that makes a meal out of Mumbai’s low life.

Slumdog Millionaire has its heartwrenching moments—the luring of children to a life of begging on the streets, the raids of Muslim homes by Hindus in the slums, the unspeakable acts of brutality perpetrated by the cops and gangsters, the gouging out of a young victim’s eyes. But there are also uplifting moments of hope and joy, even comedic escapism—for instance, when the young protagonist falls into an open s*** hole while making a dash for his favourite film star’s autograph, covered completely in human excreta! There are obvious hidden meanings in these scenes but the filmmaker refuses to get fenced-in by the demands of ‘gritty realism’ and instead takes the free-wheeling Bollywoodian route of mindless melodrama, song-anddance and easy predictability. Effectively, the film takes you along on an exhilaratingly realistic fairytale journey. | 29 |

People

She Eats and Sleeps With Scorpions

Thai ‘Scorpion Queen’ Kanchana Ketkaew sets new Guinness World Record PATTAYA

Noel Adlai O. Velasco Asia News Network

P H OTOS BY NOEL ADLAI O VEL ASCO/ANN

I

| 30 |

t all started as a challenge. She wanted to prove to herself that a woman like her could also do tasks traditionally dominated by men.

Little did she know that it would one day be her ticket to fame and fortune.

Kanchana Ketkaew, 39, of Thailand has set a new Guinness World Record by spending 33 days inside a 12sqm glass enclosure in the company of 5,000 scorpions at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum in Pattaya, Thailand.

“I am proud and so overwhelmed to be able to acquire the victory of living with 5,000 scorpions for 33 days and 33 nights,” said Kanchana, who had to endure being stung 13 times by the deadly critters on her way to achieve her latest world record.

In December 2008, she made it to the Guinness Book of World Records by being the first person in the world to hold a 7-inch live scorpion inside her mouth for two minutes and three seconds.

She achieved these amazing feats only 11 years into her unusual career.

At the age of 18, ‘Nong Na’ as Kanchana is fondly called left her home in Chumporn province in southern Thailand and headed to Samui to look for a job.

With no college degree, it was difficult to get a job suited to a woman like her.

While visiting the Samui Snake Farm in Surat Thani province, she became curious why there were only male performers in the snake farm’s show. She believed even a woman could carry out such performance. Her curiosity eventually landed her the job of being the farm’s first female performer.

She found the performances challenging. But it took her only three days to prepare herself for her first live performance before a big crowd.

February 8-14, 2009

Unknown to her parents, Nong Na was performing dangerous shows with live scorpions. During the first three months, she had to be hospitalised after being stung by the poisonous arachnids. She went through a lot of pain since her body was not immune to the scorpions’ poison. But through the years she slowly built immunity against the venom and eventually her body grew stronger with time.

She deliberately kept everything a secret from her family so they would not be worried.

Her family only came to know about her real job when she news reached them that Nong Na had set a new world record for the ‘Longest Stay with 3,400 Scorpions for 32 Days & 32 Nights’ at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in Pattaya.

That was in 2002.

Her record was challenged by a Malaysian woman but it turned out that the Malaysian’s feat was not recognised

by Guinness after certain requirements for validation were not met.

Nong Na broke her own 2002 world record by one day through her latest feat which started at 2:42pm on Dec 22, 2008 and ended at 2:42pm on Jan 24, 2009.

“This second achievement really means even more to me as it breaks my own world record set in 2002. To endure these past 33 days and nights has been very challenging mentally and emotionally for me,” she said.

She thanked the tremendous support she got from visitors who came by to visit her and encourage her, which gave her confidence to complete her quest.

“Each and everyday, I woke up with 5,000 live scorpions. It’s very difficult but I tried because I received a lot of support from Thais and foreign tourists in the past 33 days,” she said.

But she cautioned the public against imitating her stunt as it could be fatal.

Nong Na lived for 33 days inside the 4 x 34 metre glass room with 5,000 scorpions at Royal Garden Plaza. But in the middle of her stay inside the glass room, another 2,000 scorpions were added to compensate for any scorpion fatality. The room was furnished with bed, a toilet, television, refrigerator, electric fan, a cabinet and books.

She vowed to return to the small glass room again if anyone tried to February 8-14, 2009

challenge her new records. “I am always ready to defend my records at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum, Pattaya.”

She expressed hope her feats would help resuscitate Thailand’s tourism sector which has been severely battered following the seizure of Bangkok’s main airports by anti-governmetn protesters in late November.

“This Guinness World Record is not only a key to make myself known for what I can do, but also to put Thailand on the map and make it more popular.

Hopefully, this will bring Thailand more visitors and income,” she said.

For her latest feat, Nong Na received a round-trip ticket from Bangkok Air-

ways, a cash prize of 100,000 baht (US$2,900) from Ripley’s Believe Or Not Museum and household appliances from Samsung.

After emerging from her glass room, Nong Na was presented with a certificate from Guinness World Records for her December 2008 feat of holding a live scorpion in her mouth for the longest time.

Her second Guinness record attempt is expected to be validated in 30 days after video footage, proofs of record and completion signed by the mayor of Pattaya City, director of Tourism Authority of Thailand and three others have been received by Guinness.

odd couple: Nong Na with her husband, ‘Centepede King’ Boonthavee Seangwong (left).

Scorpion Queen marries Centepede King

T

hailand’s ‘Scorpion Queen’ Kanchana Ketkaew met her match in ‘Centepede King’ Boonthavee Seangwong. Both have a soft spot for creepy crawlers.

Kanchana and Boonthavee met while performing their respective stunts at the Samui Snake Farm.

Prior to their wedding in 2006, both were already record holders.

Kanchana, who was then 36, had set a world record in 2002 for spending 32 days in a glass cage with 3,400 scorpions while Bonthavee had a Thai record for enduring 29 days with 1,000 centipedes.

Their wedding held on Valentine’s

Day dubbed ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ took place in an odd setting—a haunted house in Pattaya. Indeed the venue was befitting for a couple with very unusual talents.

Instead of the usual wedding attire, both were wed wearing bloodstained wedding clothes in a traditional Thai ceremony in which elders bless the couple with holy water.

Following the wedding ceremony, the couple did away with the Thai tradition of heading to a ‘wedding room’ after exchanging vows. The pair instead climbed into a coffin where they consummated their marriage vows. | 31 |

Explore

Rough But Delicious

With the clean water along the extensive eastern coast, North Gyeongsang boasts an extensive range of seafood, from herring to crab to abalone

P H OTOS BY LEE JOO-H EE/TH E KORE A H ERALD

NORTH GYEONGSANG

Lee Joo-hee The Korea Herald

S

outh Korea’s North Gyeongsang Province is well-known for its cultural assets and beaches. Delicacies, however, are not one of them.

The province is notorious for having little or no signature dishes. It is perhaps because the province is traditionally a fishing area, where residents are used to whipping up quick and easy dishes using plenty of salt.

But these images may do an injustice to the region, as its food could well become some of many of Korea’s favourite dishes.

Blessed with plenty of grains as a result of the region’s mild climate, North Gyeongsang Province was heavily influenced by the resplendent Buddhist culture of the Silla Dynasty and the Confucian tradition of the Joseon Dynasty, creating a unique style of food.

With the clean water along the extensive eastern coast, the province boasts an extensive range of seafood, from herring to crab to abalone.

In an apparent attempt to distance itself from its lackluster culinary reputation, the province is gearing up to promote many of its special delicacies.

They are mostly those that require the minimum techniques in cooking, and rely mostly on the freshness of the main ingredient, and the power of nature. The food here, indeed, is humble and conservative, reflecting the characteristics of Gyeongsang Province locals. | 32 |

Gwamegi: dried herring or saury

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wamegi is probably the most well-known and popular food originating from Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

Gwamegi was originally made with herrings which were abundantly caught off the coast of the East Sea. Once caught, rows of herrings are lined along bamboo sticks and hung over the opened kitchen window or under the roof.

After several repeats of being frozen by the cold ocean wind and defrosted by the strong sunshine over the course of a week or so, the herrings become solid and jellylike, with a natural salty taste that turns mild and savory as one continues to chew.

Herrings were usually dried whole,

without halving it and taking out the intestines.

These days, manufacturers prefer halving the fish to minimise the fishy taste.

It has been a long time since saury fish replaced herrings as the main inFebruary 8-14, 2009

gredient of gwamegi. Fishermen explain that the herrings that were abundant in the East Sea until 1960s began to rapidly disappear in the 1970s. Saury caught in the northern Pacific consequently took their place.

While it is nearly impossible to find herring gwamegi in Pohang now, they can be spotted in the neighbouring city of Yeongdeok.

Driving along the beautiful coastal road one will see small shacks that house strings of herrings being dried against the strong sea wind.

Park Byeong-ho, owner of a small restaurant Gaepung in Changpo-ri of Yeongdeok, says it takes about a full week for the herring to be dried.

The most mouthwatering and scrumptious part about herring gwamegi are their tightly packed roe.

Indeed, people who stick by the original herring gwamegi say saury gwamegi does not have that genuine fishiness and texture.

But for those who seek to enjoy of gwamegi in a simpler and less daring way, saury gwamegi is a better choice.

In Pohang, saury imported from Japan is more widely used than those caught in Korean waters these days.

Fishermen explain that this is because those that have reached Korean waters have used up most of their fat while swimming through the warm current.

To better meet with the more sophisticated palates of people in Seoul and other metropolitan regions, Pohang manufacturers have invented a new method of drying the saury fish—using green tea.

Score a knife through the stomach of a saury, take out the bones and intestines, and wash them down in cold green tea water. Dry the cleaned up saury under the sun and sprinkle more green tea powder over them three or four times until fully dry.

Lee Ki-bang, 66, who has been making gwamegi for over 30 years at Gampo Port, said, “People tend to think that gwamegi dried by machine are cleaner and tastier but they can never resurrect the sea-taste that one gets eating naturally dried gwamegi.”

February 8-14, 2009

Yeongdeok crabs

Y

eongdeok is famous for their large crabs, an equivalent to king crabs. At around 9am everyday, a scene worth experiencing takes place at Yeongdeok’s Ganggu Port where fishing vessels with their prize from the sea reveal their products to be auctioned off right on the spot.

When the time comes, a whistle is blown, and crabs are speedily lined up according to size.

Then an auctioneer belts out seemingly incomprehensible sounds to gather the attention of the auction brokers. Only those registered with the city’s fisheries association can take part

Haecheon soup

U

ljin, a city north of Yeongdeok, is said to lag behind other North Gyeongsang Province cities in having a signature local dish.

Fighting such prejudice, a restaurant and inn owner Kim Jeong-ae, 44, set

on behalf of ordinary buyers, usually restaurant owners. They are identifiable by their blue caps. After several minutes of auctioneer’s songlike chants and busy finger signs by the auction brokers, the deals are completed in a blink of an eye.

Yeongdeok’s crabs are usually eaten by steaming them. Large lumps of juicy white crab meat and a chug of local soju is indeed a perfect dinner. After finishing off poking, scraping and crunching at the crabs, restaurants usually fry rice with the crab’s tangy intestines and serve them in the crab shell to finish off the meal. One of many Yeongdeok crab restaurants is Daegae Jongga, reachable at (054) 733-3838. out with her invention last year, a deep broth of soup with home-grown chicken, abalone, pine mushrooms, various types of shellfish, sea slugs and eight different types of oriental herbs.

This ambitious soup contains all that is good for the body -and is consequently costly at 55,000 won (US$39) for a four-portion pot.

The taste is somewhat bitter, but unique. After a scoop or two, one feels the sweat already running down the back. The restaurant also offers a refreshing experience, by grilling abalone at a makeshift terrace just by the beautiful emerald sea of Uljin.

The restaurant can be reached at (054) 7830300. | 33 |

DATE BOOK L A N G K AW I

Le Tour de Langkawi

M

alaysia’s Le Tour de Langkawi attracts top international cyclists who traverse the spectacular and treacherous terrain from the idyllic island of Langkawi to Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur.

Le Tour de Langkawi is an endurance test modelled after the Tour de France. More than 1,000 cyclists compete in the 1,374km race, travelling through eight states and two federal territories.

There are 10 stages and from the starting point at Dataran Helang the route encompasses a panoramic view of the paddy fields in Kangar hills, the royal town of Perak, the limestone hills and caves of Gua Musang and the white sandy be aches of Kuala Terengganu, with the finish in Kuala Lumpur.

BAGUIO CITY

Panagbenga

T

he Panagbenga is the biggest flower festival in the Philippines’ mountainous Cordillera region.

The festival lasts for the whole month of February when most of the flowers of the country’s summer capital and neighbouring provinces are in full bloom.

The festival started in 1995 and was originally designed to boost tourism in Baguio af-

When: February 9 - 15 ter it suffered a major devastation by an earthquake in 1990.

It showcases floats decorated with flowers and street dancers clad in flower-inspired costumes.

Thousands of tourists flock to the summer capital to watch the city’s grandest event.

When: February 1 to March 1

B U N G O TA K A DA

Shusho Oni-e

M

en dressed as oni (demons) act wildly and prod people’s backs with burnt out torches at the Tennen-ji Temple in Bungo Takada.

This is said to expel evil spirits and townspeople bend over to receive the demons’ blessing until late at night.

When: February 6 Where: Oita Prefecture T RA N G

Underwater Wedding Ceremony

C

Uthralikavu Pooram

T

his is one of the most important festivals of central Kerala, India and is dedicated to Goddess Kali. This eight-day festival is celebrated at the Sree Ruthira Mahakalikavu Temple in Vadankancherry in the district of Thrissur with colourful elephant processions during the day and night.

There are ritual and folk art performanc-

es, in the glow of the traditional temple torches, that continue until dawn. The highlight of the festival is the spectacular all-night pooram pageant.

When: February 24 Where: Thrissur district

TH E NATION (THAILAND )

K E RA LA

ouples from Thailand and around the world stage a special wedding ceremony underwater off Pak Meng Beach in the Trang district in Southern Thailand. Even non-diver couples can also say their vows here too.

The ceremony keeps to the traditional Thai wedding culture. The brides and grooms are escorted to their honeymoon suites by older, happily-married couples in the hope that some of what they have will rub off on the newly-weds. The bridal couples also get to wear traditional hand-woven Thai wedding costumes.

When: February 13-15 Where: Trang