THE NATION ASIANEWS March 1-7, 2009

THE NATION ASIANEWS March 1-7, 2009

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

Manga roars to life Hot!

Get a move on

Full of beans

South bound!

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

March 1-7, 2009

COVER

WICKER NOUVEAU

Fire-breathing manga

P8

GLOBE TROTTING

P12

THE THREEROOM HOTEL

P16

p9-11 Around Asia

SENSUOUS SEMARANG

P32 MALAYSIA IN 3D

P26

team

MISS SAIGON SINGS CHOPIN

P31

Editor: Phatarawadee Phataranawik | Deputy Editor: Khetsirin Pholdhampalit | Photo Editor: Kriangsak Tangjerdjarad | Photographers: Ekkarat Sukpetch, Thanis Sudto, Nuttapone Tiprateeamorn | Writers: Manta Klangboonklong, Pattarawadee Saengmanee | Contributor: Pawit Mahasarinand, JC Eversole | 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 That’s one Smart cow... I mean car

p h o t o c o ur t e s y o f luis vui t t o n

H

ermés is steering past fashion to automobiles. To celebrate the 10th birthday of the Smart car, the Como group is producing 10 varieties of Smart Fortwo with interior décor by Hermés.

Borrowing its look from Hermés’ signature natty leather items, the cute little car’s interior has been buffed up with a whole lotta hide. Leather covers the door panels, dashboard and seats, and even beefs up the handbrake.

The interiors come in 10 different shades, and plain “cow” most certainly isn’t among them.

Choose from eye-watering orange, fuchsia pink, Hermés red, bright red, indigo, lime, gold and sky blue or go tasteful with ebony or charcoal.

You might have a cow over the price, though. The Coupe costs ¤38,000 (Bt1.733 million), the Cabrio ¤39,500.

Call (02) 610 9851-2.

Open your eyes to Red China

O

ne of Hong Kong’s most celebrated shutterbugs opens his lens on the colour that pulses through Chinese culture. So Hing Keung’s show “Red” is on until the end of April at the Louis Vuitton Gallery in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui.

As with his previous work, So’s photographs here burrow beneath the

Chinese architecture and ornamental carp — and in a crimson wall dappled with the shadows of flowers.

Visit www.LouisVuitton.com.

Guggenheim and Louvre move to the desert

Frank Gehry’s conceptual design for Guggenheim Museum

W

P h o t o / e pa

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city glitter to get to the currents that power Chinese life. Red takes on a mystical tinge, appearing in different shades in more than 60 images, some realistic, some abstract. It glows in Buddha statues, traditional

ith the rest of us in economic meltdown, the United Arab Emirates is obviously still swimming in oil money. Abu Dhabi is planning to splash out $400 million (Bt14.25 billion) on its Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum and has handed some of it to architect Frank Gehry for his 30,000-square-metre vision.

The museum will be part of the ambitious Saadiyat Island cultural district which will help attract business tourism to the city. Joining the Guggenheim brand will be a Louvre Museum designed by Jean Nouvel and the Sheikh Zayed National museum.

The island is expected to be completed in 2018.

M a r c h 1 - 7, 2 0 0 9

P h o t o / T hanis S udt o

Trends

DANCE OF THE MIND B-Floor Theatre’s Dao Vadhanapakorn choreographs mental health

Pawit Mahasarinand

D

ujdao “Dao” Vadhanapakorn is a Thammasat journalism grad, a former TV host and a veteran of Dreambox stage productions and the physical theatre of B-Floor, which currently has her rehearsing for next month’s “Something Else” at the Crescent Moon Space.

But in the meantime she also spent two years earning a master’s degree in dance-movement therapy at the University of London’s Goldsmiths College.

“I came across the concept by chance while searching for graduate programmes,” Dao says.

“I did a minor in psychology in college, and while I was with B-Floor I noticed that different movements had different effects on my mind. When I googled ‘movement psychology MA M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

course’, the program at Goldsmiths was on top of the list.

“Dance movement therapy can be useful to almost anyone who has a mental problem they can’t solve themselves. Basically, it’s psychotherapy using movement.”

In her first year Dao was a trainee therapist at London’s Goose Green Primary School.

“Some of the students had emotional and behavioural problems,” she says.

“There was a nine-year-old whose confidence level was so low that you could barely hear her when she spoke.

We put her in a group of kids with different problems.

“Given the chance to move freely in a space where her presence was recognised, her confidence rose significantly.

In the end she seemed to dominate our record player, requesting certain songs

— she became somewhat of a group leader!”

Things were tougher in Dao’s second year as a trainee at the forensic unit at Springfield Hospital, a mental-health institution where murderers were among the patients.

In December she held her first dancemovement therapy workshop at Democrazy Theatre Studio.

“I was very happy with it,” she says.

“There were nine participants from diverse backgrounds — stage actors, a heart surgeon, an editor and a student.

“You don’t actually need dance for dance-movement therapist. It’s called that because one of its pioneers was a dancer who used dance techniques with mental patients.

“In the therapy process a patient can simply remain seated and move her head left and right — that’s all the movement you need.”

Dujdao Dao says the work has made her a better and more professional actress.

“I understand my mental state better and recheck it more often, both in rehearsal and performance, whereas most performers only focus only on their physical condition.

“These days I arrive at the studio ahead of rehearsal time, and use some movements to adjust my mind and body so they’re both ready for the task.”

We’ll doubtless be hearing more about the techniques Dao employs.

“I’m currently researching Thai attitudes toward this new field, which is very European. I think I have to adapt it first to better fit our society, and find the right channels to reach the patients I can help.” |5|

Trends

The future

The future arr AFP PHOTO/ADRIAN DENNIS

A P P h o t o / A lastair G rant

Young tigers with claws out for glory seize the catwalk at London Fashion Week

The future arrives

|6|

hristopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Louise Goldin and Danielle Scutt, some just a few years out of graduate school, more than held their own during the just-finished London Fashion Week.

The Central Saint Martins graduate show hosted a playful and experimental display of 18 young lions who played with shapes, volumes and a wide variety of fabrics.

But it was those who are on the verge of making it on the global stage who caused the most excitement.

Christopher Kane delivered a clean-cut collection that used strips of velvet to create geometrical lines in organza dresses.

Louise Goldin created a stunning line of clothes using leather patches in strong shapes against soft fabrics.

Marios Schwab, named best new designer at the British Fashion Awards in 2006, also played with shape with sculpted dresses in hot pink

A P P h o t o / A lastair G rant

EPA/ANDY RAIN

Christopher Kane

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

EPA/JONATHAN BRADY

rives

Nicole Farhi

Vivienne Westwood

EPA/JONATHAN BRADY

Edgy fashion classics

arrives

Edgy fashion classics

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

A F P P H O T O / B en S tansall

Betty Jackson

A P P h o t o / A lastair G rant

EPA/JONATHAN BRADY

and in white, cocooned inside voluminous garments.

Erdem, the label set up by Erdem Moralioglu in 2005, fused sharp tailoring with romanticism for a luxurious collection dominated by florals.

Danielle Scutt espoused traditional elegance for sexy, rock ‘n’ roll look with skin-tight dresses and trousers slit with lines of zips to reveal bare flesh.

Across town, Modernist, who formed in 2005, decided this year to keep off the runway in favour of an exotic-themed exhibition just off Carnaby Street.

The collection was all black, but the design duo explored contrasts with crocodile skin mixed with cashmere, silk and elastic.

Kumiko Watari’s migh-T collection of brightly printed oversized T-shirt dresses was part of the Vauxhall Fashion Scout “One to Watch” show on Friday night.

— Alice Ritchie, Agence France-Presse

AFP PHOTO/BEN STANSALL

Marios Schwab EPA/ANDY RAIN

etty Jackson and Nicole Farhi kept to the classics with a modern edge on Sunday under the soaring rafters of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

Farhi created 1940s silhouettes in modern, sheer-metallic printed chiffon and wove classic tweeds with a rainbow of colours.

Jackson produced a mix of elegant tweeds, angora knits, wool and velvet in classic shapes in a varied palette.

On Saturday night Vivienne Westwood delivered a characteristically playful collection, taking her inspiration from naughty schoolgirls and their teachers.

She even cast Jo Wood, the estranged wife of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, as the headmistress.

John Rocha also produced a classic Vivienne collection in his usual Westwood black but offset with the odd flash of geranium red, bulging collars encrusted with black crystal and tweed ruffles.

- Agence FrancePresse

Nicole Farhi

|7|

Go SHOPPING

With skill and imagination, Corner 43 DÉcor makes rattan cool again

The Nok ceiling lamp was inspired by a bird’s nest. It costs Bt3,800.

The Winyu console has smooth wood on top and the appealing texture of rattan beneath, Bt11,500.

Wicker’s

NEW WORLD Phatarawadee Phataranawik

T

Paloch is a collection of stools in beautiful curves.

The Memoir of the Maritimes, priced at Bt 15,300, owes a debt to the bamboo fish traps called ‘sai’.

In the Yuwakaew bed, a U-shaped sofa tucks into the square bed, Bt 44,300.

P h o t o / N u t t a p o n e Tipv a t e e a m o rn

The Chayakom lounge chair gets a modern touch with stainless-steel legs, Bt 13,900.

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The Shell bench can double as a vase for flowers.

(Price not fix)

he notion that rattan furniture is “old-fashioned” comes unwoven at Corner 43 Décor, where wicker takes on a whole new chic.

This great old house turned into a furniture boutique is like an artist’s loft with its abstract paintings and minimalist — yet functional!

— sculptures, all made of rattan.

Take a bow, traditional Thai craftsman, because this is where your skills now culminate, in beautiful earth-tone furnishings.

Now on Soi 53 — 10 hops up Sukhumvit Road from its former location — Corner 43 has rattan sofas and coffee tables in the garden out front and shell-shaped rattan vases at the entrance.

The living room is a series of invitations to have a seat, with Lshape couches, armchairs and oversize stools.

There are consoles, daybeds, lights for the ceiling made of bamboo and lamps for the floor made of rattan. Upstairs is the bedroom and dining-room décor and, out on a terrace, a sunbathing corner

with lounges.

Co-owner Minta Bunyaketu works closely with a production team led by award-winning designer Jitrin Jintaprecha.

His notions are more about art than furniture, refining curves and weaving techniques, which the gifted craftsman then turn into a reality of astonishing shapes.

“Our rattan furniture is a marriage of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary living design,” is how Minta, 28, puts it.

There are six themes to the décor, which is now being exported to Europe, America and Japan: Asian contemporary living, clean dynamism, minimalist luxury, sculpture art, slim motion and traditional motion.

The prices range widely, from Bt2,000 for small baskets to Bt70,000 for sofa sets.

The 2009 collection including the Shell will debut at TIFF from March 11-15 at Impact Arena.

Weave on over Corner 43 Décor is at 81/2 Sukhumvit Soi 53 and open daily except Sunday from 10 to 6. Call (02) 260 1124 or (02) 261 2528 or check out www.Corner43.com.

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P h o t o c o urtesy o f T wentieth C entury F o x

Cover

This Dragon’s got Balls Manga fans might be fighting made when ‘Dragonball Evolution’ hits theatres next week M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

Justin Chatwin as Goku

|9|

COVER Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

T

he filmmakers who had the audacity to turn the deliriously popular manga “Dragon Ball” into live-action cinema are braced for howls of protest when the movie hits screens on March 12.

The actors in “Dragonball Evolution” look nothing like the characters that have populated Akira Toriyama’s comics, and that goes for veteran star Chow Yun-fat too, who plays Roshi, the “dirty, old” mentor to the series’ hero, Goku.

But director James Wong, who previously helmed the “X-Files” movie, saw the comic series as “a kind of multicultural world” and that’s how he cast his film.

Quizzed at a Bangkok press conference last Friday about using non-Asian stars, he insisted, “It didn’t

matter in ‘Dragon Ball’ what ethnicity we were.”

All eyes are on Justin Chatwin, who appeared with Tom Cruise in “War of the Worlds” and now plays Goku, the youngster trying to save the world by finding six Dragon Balls that grant wishes.

Chatwin was forced to admit to the press that he’s not a fighter – unless there’s a darned good reason. But becoming Goku required fivehour-a-day training in martial arts.

James Marsters plays evil Lord Piccolo and attests that Chatwin knows how to fight, having taken a lightning-bolt hammering from him in a scene when Goku uses the alienkung-fu-psychic discipline called Kame-Hame-Ha. “By learning how to focus, anyone can learn how to shoot bolts from their hands,” Chatwin promised.

Joon Park as Yamcha

He and Marsters are seen leaping six metres from a temple floor and battling in mid-air.

Vying for eye-candy bragging rights are Emmy Rossum, who plays scienceminded Bulma, and Jamie Chung from the “Samurai Girl” series as Chi Chi, Goku’s girlfriend.

“Phantom of the Opera” star Rossum, a rookie in action movies,

Jame Marsters as Lord Piccolo

Jamie Chung as Chi Chi

| 10 |

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

Director James Wong

said this was her toughest role so far.

Everyone had to learn tai chi and various martial arts, and she had lessons in shooting a gun and riding a motorcycle as well. This last skill she was taught in downtown Los Angeles – without a permit.

Joining Marsters in the axis of evil is South Korean heartthrob Joon Park as Yamcha, who’s tough on the outside but actually a kitten within.

Chow Yun-fat was the cast’s father

figure on the set, and fretted as they underwent their rigorous training with stunt company 87Eleven, a crew involved in “The Matrix”, “The Bourne Supremacy” and “Mr & Mrs Smith”.

Chow already knew KameHame-Ha, but the main reason he signed up for the film, he said, was because Roshi is “a dirty, old man” and “a funny guy, just like me”.

He declined to appear as

beefy in the movie as the manga Roshi, however, fearing it would be just too much of a turn-off for viewers.

Location filming took place in Mexico City and in the desert and hills around Durango, where more than 200 martial-arts sluggers were airlifted for the big fights.

Chow learned something on this shoot: Nature is always in control.

“Nature can destroy everything,” he said. “If we’d made the movie in Bangkok, it would have been very different!”

Emmy Rossum as Bulma

Chow Yun-fat as mentor of Goku

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

| 11 |

Hip Hangout

Spice is nice,

even with wine JC Eversole

T Going ‘Global’ Cuddle up in Mother Earth’s cocoon at Centara’s latest bar K he t sirin Pholdhampalit

photos/Ekkarat Sukpetch

S

tep into the Globe, Centara at CentralWorld’s newest bar, and allow yourself to be cradled in an interior that’s rich in purplish red and beige tones.

Lay siege to whatever style of furniture suits your mood - a stool at the main bar dedicated to vodka and martini, a beige sofa in the lounge for more laid-back lounging, or a comfy chair-andtable combo at the outdoor terrace.

The Globe, which is themed to feel just like Mother Earth, is a totally relaxing place to chill after dinner or a long day at the office.

Those wanting to have fun can check into one of the five private comfortable karaoke rooms on offer. These range in size from small (for up to five people), medium (comfortably accommodating parties of up to 10 pals), and large, for groups of 30 guests. A communal karaoke room with 10 seats is also provided for those who come alone or with a friend.

Non-alcohol drinkers should try the Globe’s mocktail Banana Frost, which blends banana with orange juice and | 12 |

lime, or opt for Red Grape Mojito, which mixes grapes with mint, brown sugar and a splash of club soda. The two go for Bt150 each and go down a treat with a light snack.

The signature drinks are Passion Fruit Martini, which comes with lots of fresh fruit, vodka and a lime wedge as well as Kiwi Collins – a kiwi speciality with vodka, Grand Marnier liqueur, lime and a whole kiwi muddled, shaken and poured. Don’t let the bubble-gum pastel of Oasis cocktail overwhelm the senses. It’s a blend of tropical pineapple and orange but with a big shot of tequila. Each glass costs Bt290.

You can get unchallenged access to selected wines with the Globe’s “all-youcan-drink wine buffet” for Bt990++ every Friday and Saturday night from 5 to 8.

The Globe is on the 23rd floor of Centara at CentralWorld and is open daily from 5 to 1. Call (02) 100 1234.

hinking “spicy” is second nature for all of us living in Thailand, whether in behaviour, fashion or, of course, food. Spicy in reference to sensory perception usually generates two quite different interpretations.

One is the degree of heat on the palate caused by varying amounts or types of herbs and vegetables, such as chilli peppers.

The other is of aromatics associated with spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Credit should be lavish for the chef who can integrate both senses of spice in his cuisine, and for the sommelier who can select wines appropriate to that food.

You can experience both accomplishments today at the Conrad Bangkok’s elegant Liu Chinese restaurant as guest chef Xie Zheng Jie applies his culinary magic before returning tomorrow to his awardwinning Sichuan Court restaurant at the Shanghai Hilton.

The Conrad has hosted chef Xie for the past two weeks to demonstrate the quality and diversity of the menu of its exquisitely designed premises.

Local food-and-wine writers got to experience several of these wonderfully spicy Sichuan dishes last week with a global selection of wines from Fin – Fabulous is Needed.

Common pork belly dons a new image when filled with cucumber and spring onion, and then braised with spicy soy sauce and garlic.

An equally common trebbiano by Zenato adopts a regal bearing when paired with this zesty dish.

A light-bodied ’05 Beaujolais Villages by Trenel played a perfect supporting role with a sensational tea-smoked duck, deep-fried foie gras and herbal-roasted duck soup.

The star of the evening was sirloin of beef sauted on a hot stone with thyme and chilli sauce, complemented by a superb ’06 Chilean Babor cabernet from Odfjell winery – a delicious marriage.

Fortunately, if you can’t make it to the Conrad today, several of chef Xie’s signature dishes will remain on the Liu menu.

He also promised to leave the special suitcase of Sichuan herbs and spices he brought for the occasion.

For reservations at Liu, call (02) 690 9999, and for wines from Fin (02) 653 0154.

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RUSTIC GOOD TASTE A renovated shophouse on Samsen is an ideal place to chill and enjoy a range of organic dishes

K he t sirin Pholdhampalit is rustic but stylish, with retro ceiling fans and lamps, and walls of unfinished red brick.

Among the appetisers are crispy mushroom balls with mustard yoghurt sauce for Bt95 and spicy barley salad in a tofu pocket for Bt80. A variety of salads are also offered, with a choice between sesame, mustard yoghurt or balsamic vinegar dressing.

For a main course, Supan combines papaya salad with germinated brown rice in seaweed and serves it with

mushroom stems and fresh vegetables for Bt100. Other signature dishes include shitake mushroom kebab with pita bread and couscous salad for Bt110, and tender and aromatic grilled abalone wrapped in cha-poo leaves for Bt90.

Curry lovers should try the kaeng kee lek – cassia-leaf curry – served with brown rice, vegetables and sweet-andsalty minced mushrooms for Bt95.

The restaurant is also open for breakfast and offers a delicious mushroom rice soup with tofu for Bt95, as well as fresh fruits with yoghurt and whole wheat toast.

A range of organic products are on sale including olive oil, washing liquid and shampoo and soap, and a couple of rooms are also available for both short and long stays, complete with free Internet.

Tham-na is on Samsen Road between Sois 3 and 5 and is open daily except Sunday from 8am to 9pm. Call (02) 282 4979.

M a r c h 1 - 7, 2 0 0 9

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p h o t o s / Wa n c h a i K r a i s o r n k h a j i t a nd E k k a r a t S u k p e t c h

W

hether you’re a vegetarian or a carnivore who simply fancies a break from meat, Tham-na is a small, friendly and healthy restaurant that serves modern veggie dishes based on organic dairy products.

Olive oil is used for the stir-fries while deep-frying is done in rice-bran oil. Eggs come from a free-range farm, coconut cream is shunned in curries in favour of soymilk and meals are served with germinated brown rice. Organic rules, right down to the dishwashing liquid.

Writer Suphan Tham-na and his wife, Palika Limpichart, a daughter of noted writer Maitree, have converted the first floor of a shophouse on Samsen Road into a homey, 20-seat eatery. The interior

Laid-back

Train Trek

Ride the rails to Trang and Satun to find clown fish, coral, caves and captivating islands Ekkarat Sukpe tch

Koh Rawee | 14 |

Ban Da Ya on Koh Lipe

Koh Khai M a r c h 1 - 7, 2 0 0 9

The Phraya Rasadanupradit Mahisaraphadi Museum

built 96 years ago and originally the last noted jailhouse for pirates who stop on the line for those travelling terrorised the Andaman Sea. Today, the national park is a popular from the south. Back then, the Panyastyle wooden building served both as tourist spot, with 51 beautiful islands passenger terminal and warehouse for and white sandy beaches as well as many products imported from Singapore, soaring caves and a vast mangrove forest.

Nearby is the famous Lipe Island, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Our next stop is Tambon Bo Nam part of the Tourism Authority of Rawn, a natural hot spring in the Thailand’s “unseen Thailand” project. middle of Kantang Forest Park and a We go snorkelling and are thrilled to see schools of clown popular spa spot for fish, as well as tourists to Trang. colourful sea After lunch we anemones and move to Huay Yot urchins. district and take a Our last day is boat trip to explore spent on Koh Hinthe large gallery of Ngam, an island sculpture-like covered with stalagmites and glittering stones in stalactites at Le various shapes.

Khao Kob cave.

Koh Lipe The guide tells us if This natural wonder is home to many towering we manage to place 12 stones in a pile caverns including Tham Rak Sai, Tham without them falling, our wishes will Khon Than, Hin Ta Hin Yai and Tham become true.

We finish the day exploring the Jaosao, which are all adorned with colourful lights and surrounded by a underwater world at Koh Adang Rawi, where we marvel at a wide circuitous four-kilometre canal.

The next morning finds us at Pak range of colourful corals and schools Barah Pier in the quiet town of Satun of tropical fish before stopping to take for a trip to Tarutao National Park, photos against the stone archway at Koh Khai with the which was declared an Asean heritage park >>> The Phraya Rasadanupradit w h i t e s a n d a n d emerald Andaman and reserve in 1982, Mahisaraphakdi Museum is on Sea glistening in the Sixty years ago, the Khai Pitak Road in Trang’s island was the most Kantang district and is open daily background. except Monday from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Call (075) 251 100.

>>> Bo Nam Rawn Kantang Forest Park is located in Baan Khuan Khaeng sub-district. Call (086) 470 4425, (089) 724 6247 or visit www.DNP.go.th/Kantang. >>> For information on Tarutao National Park, call (074) 783 485, (074) 783 597 or visit www.

SatunProvince.net.

Koh Rawee M a r c h 1 - 7, 2 0 0 9

Koh Tarutao

Le Khao Kob Cave

>>> State Railway of Thailand, call (02) 222 0175, (02) 621 8701 or visit www.Railway.co.th

Koh Hin-Ngam | 15 |

Photos/Ekkarat Sukpetch

T

he guard waves his green flag and our train pulls slowly o u t o f B a n g ko k ’s Hu a Lamphong station on an overnight journey that will see us waking early tomorrow morning in the southern seaside destination of Trang, home to lofty mountains, caves, quiet beaches, historical sites and small fishing communities.

As night falls, we gaze out the window and soak up the simple beauty of the Thai countryside before heading to the dining car and joining our fellow travellers for a very reasonably priced meal of chicken curry and fried rice.

We pull into Trang station shortly before 8 the next morning and start our day with a traditional breakfast in the market, selecting grilled pork and dimsum, along with hot coffee and tea from the shophouses that line the street.

Our stomachs full, we walk to the Phraya Rasadanupradit Mahisaraphakdi museum on Khai Pitak Road, a two-storey wooden house that served as the residence of provincial governor Korsimbee Na Ranong during the reign of King Rama V. The museum’s four rooms are filled with rare artefacts and several black and white photographs of the old town.

Students from Kantangpittayakorn School act as our guides and explain the history of the old city.

We also visit Kantang train station,

Kan Tang train station

Laid-back

You little

charmer!

With three rooms, the Samsen 5 Lodge defines cosy, and it’s green as can be

K he t sirin Pholdhampalit

P h o t o / W a nc h a i K r a is o rnk h a ji t

N

ewly “in” among Bangkok inns, the Samsen 5 L odge goes straight for the “tiny but perfect” title with a mere three rooms.

Descriptive words form into teams, like homey-cosy and stylish-classic, as Asian charm meets modern comfort.

Architect Worapan Klampaiboon of the Super Green Studio built this workshop-cum-lodge on a vacant 80 square metres with an eye to natural ventilation and cultural identity, the trademarks of his professional creations.

Tall windows flood every room with daylight, expanding their size, and in the centre of things is a little shady courtyard where guests peace out in the softened glow.

Most of the wood furniture and decor pieces are adapted antiques, like the wheel of a buffalo cart hanging on a wall, watching people use its erstwhile hub as a chair.

“As in my architecture, this place emphasises the green concept, letting in more natural light and breeze so we | 16 |

don’t need to use the air-conditioners and electric lights so much,” says Worapan, the younger brother of Democrat MP Ong-art Klampaiboon.

There is an air-conditioner (and lights, of course) in every room, along with ceiling fans, a small fridge, an LCD TV and free Internet access. The bathrooms are en suite.

The 32-square-metre Chinese Suite, yours for Bt2,000 a night, is decked out in Chinese antiques and primitive Thai art, including a painting illustrating a scene from “Sam Kok” – the classic “Three Kingdoms”.

There’s a king-size bed, a living area and a reading corner, so this is where you’ll be staying with the family.

The 20-square-metre Courtyard Room, priced at Bt1,500 and adjacent to the central breezeway, is pictured in dictionary definitions of “cosy”.

This is where you really feel the air from outside freshening things up. As well as the queen-sized bed, couples will get a kick out of the old threshing

tray on the wall and the school desk in their midst.

Then there’s the 15-square-metre Lover’s Room for Bt1,200, but lovers would have to be very, very close to want to squeeze in here.

Single travellers are apt to be more comfortable with the compact bed, though it’s four feet wide. The reading table faces the courtyard, and a carved-wood, primitive-Indonesianstyle panel and an old window frame from Bali complete the decor.

Continental breakfast is included in the room rates. Stay for four nights and you get a free lesson in Thai boxing; stay six nights and they’ll take you on an hour’s canal cruise.

Guess the address The Samsen 5 Lodge is on Samsen Soi 5 off Samsen Road, opposite Wat Sampraya. Call (02) 628 9799 or visit http:// Samsen5LodgeBangkok.multiply.com.

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Wellness

Near-private Pilates The Pilates Studio on Ploenchit Road has a pair of interesting workshops coming up. On Tuesday at 2pm it’s “Advanced Foam Roller and Magic Circle”, and on Saturday at 3 “Release Your Neck and Shoulders”.

The sessions cost Bt800 each and are limited to four participants, so call (02) 650 7797 or visit www.Pilates.co.th in advance.

Both workshops will be led by Claudia Fischer, a Bangkok resident and long-time practitioner of “conscious living”.

A skinful

of coffee

Ask them to make you a cappuccino at Le Meridien Spa – YOU CAN BE THE CUP

Airborne jazz-dance?

K he t sirin Pholdhampalit

M a r c h 1 - 7, 2 0 0 9

hour-long mummification is supposed to detoxify the body, improve blood circulation and immunity, reduce inflammation and get more minerals into the skin.

Finally, it was my aching muscles’ turn: they had the choice of a gentle Swedish massage or Le Sport Touch, a mix of compression, friction and deeptissue massage designed to put the spring back into active individuals and athletes.

I tried Le Sport with a warm oil blend called Earth Element – essence of ylang ylang, lemongrass, lavender and orange.

Applying gentle but firm pressure with her hands and forearms, the therapist spent 60 minutes searching out the stress points in my body. True to its name, a cup of Illy coffee was served up post-treatment.

Guests signing in for any spa treatment can tone up some more free of charge at the fitness centre and swimming pool located on the same floor.

Work up a froth The 150-minute “Illy Touch” costs Bt4,900. The spa is open daily from 9am to 11pm (last booking is 9.30pm).

Call (02) 232 8888 or visit www.

LeMeridienHotelBangkok.com.

P h o t o / K h e t sirin P h o ld h a mp a li t a nd An a n t C h a a n t a r a s o o t

O

n a lift ride to the sixth floor of Le Meridien Bangkok, my afternoon was suddenly “elevated” to a new level: springing from all sides was a soundscape by contemporary French musician/composer Henri Scars Struck.

The cramped space was bursting with the chatter of a busy market – which would turn to crickets and campfires at midnight then birdsong by the next morning. The sounds of the bustling street faded behind me as I stepped out into the hushed, white surroundings of Le Meridien’s spa.

Behind walls studded with white stones are the spa’s seven warmly lit circular treatment rooms, “manned” by an all female-only crew of therapists. I’d picked one of its signature treatments, the “Illy Touch”, for its promise to purify the skin before hammering out my muscle dents.

The two-and-a-half-hour treatment began with a 30-minute coffee-mousse scrub. The blend of java and peachstone grounds whipped up a cappuccino froth of dead skin cells that was washed off with warm water to open the pores. Next up and even more aromatic was the moor mud, a nourishing sludge of bio-minerals that the therapist lathered over my whole body. This

Aero-jazz classes - mixing aerobics, jazz and funky moves - are being held this month and next at the Olympic Club at the Pathumwan Princess Hotel.

You’ll have loads of fun bouncing around to the rhythm of the music and getting very fit very fast.

Long-term memberships come with sizeable discounts.

Call (02) 216 3700, extension 20805, or pop round www.

TheOlympic-Club.com.

Throw Mario a bone Central’s Chang Wattana branch is hosting “Living With Pets: Season 3” on March 8 from noon to 9. Get a free rabies injection for your pet, watch a “fantasy fashion” show and hear your fellow pet lovers, including heartthrob actor Mario Maurer, talk about their feathered or four-legged pals. | 17 |

EKKARAT SUKPETCH/THE NATION (THAILAND)

EKK ARAT SUKPETCH/THE NATION (THAILAND)

JOFELLE P TESORIO/A NN

EKKARAT S U KP ETC H /T H E NAT ION (T H A ILA ND)

PHOTO ESSAY

| 18 |

EKKARAT SUKPETCH/THE NATION (THAILAND)

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

EKKARAT S U KP ETC H /T H E NAT ION (T H A ILA ND)

EKKARAT S U KP ETC H /T H E NAT ION (T H A ILA ND)

T-Shirt Nation P h otos by Th e N at i o n ( Th a i l a n d ) a n d A s i a N ews N e two r k Tex t by A s i a N ews N e two r k

F

or the past months, Thailand has been besieged by two opposing factions—the red-shirted and the yellow shirted. But the T-shirt craze does not end there. Thailand’s capital Bangkok is haven for T-shirts bearing creative lines, often lampooning a famous brand, mocking love or simply making statements. Getting one of these is a must for tourists who want to be reminded that “they went to Thailand and all they got was this lousy shirt”.

NGUYEN THUY HA /AN N

CH AROON THO NGNUAL/THE NATI ON ( TH AIL AND )

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

| 19 |

LIFESTYLE T H E NAT ION (T H AILAND)

REWARDS: Credit card holders like HSBC’s enjoy additional reward points for online shopping.

Thus, encouraging more people to purchase stuff online.

Shopaholics

Online

When they get the urge to ‘shop-till-you-drop’, virtual malls are right at home | 20 |

JAKARTA

Dian Kuswandini The Jakarta Post

Y

ou are after a ‘shop-till-youdrop’ experience, but all you get is hours trapped in thick traffic and fatigue from queuing and walking around the malls.

Savvy shopaholics are finding a solution by just staying home and shopping online.

Many ‘virtual malls’ offer much the same as what you might find outside, but accessible from the comfort of your home, without no need for dressing up or braving the traffic.

So when shopaholic Ayu Martha, who finds it hard to fit a visit to the mall into her tight schedule, needs a fix, it is her laptop that she turns to.

“Online stores allow me to shop for many things in one go. Ten stores at a time—isn’t that time saving?” said Ayu, a secretary at a foreign company in Jakarta.

A self-described fashionista, Ayu has found herself right at home in the virtual malls.

“No more of the same old styles of clothing; I have more access to the latest fashion trends like those from Japan and Korea and at reasonable prices. And you can still make some bargains without the sellers know your identity,” she added with a smile.

Online shopping also offers a kind of guilt-free window-shopping or browsing. Because it does not require face-toface contact, buyers don’t need to feel apologetic for their “just looking thanks” failure to make a purchase.

“With online shopping, I can do window-shopping without any limitations, and compare prices from one shop to another along with getting detailed information,” said Imada Sagita, an employee at the foreign affairs ministry.

The experiences of shoppers like Ayu and Imada show how shopping is undergoing a face-lift in mall-mad Indonesia. Sailing on the winds of the ‘dotcom’ revolution, Indonesian businesses are using Internet portals as a new net to capture customers.

Consider designer Rahmani Endrawati, usually known as Endi. She has M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

boutiques in Kuta and Nusa Dua in Bali, as well as in Jakarta, but has customers all over the world, thanks to her online shop nilakandibyendi.com.

Under the label Nila Kandi (Blue Sky), Endi has been able to make her designs, with their modern twist on Indonesian batik, popular on the international market.

“I created an online shop because of requests from many people. I met them in exhibitions and they often asked, ‘Do you have a website?’,” said Endi, whose customers come from as far away as Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Thailand.

“For me, the website is just one way to promote my pieces even though sometimes people visit it just to out check prices.”

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Endi, who started her business two years ago, offers her Pekalongan batik clothes in modern and sexy styles. She also offers sandals, bags and other accessories, with prices ranging from 65,000 rupiah (US$6) to around 500,000 rupiah ($42).

Customers contact her by phone and email, and pay for their orders by transferring money directly into one of her bank accounts.

The opportunity to attract a wider range of customers is one of the reasons Jakob Deli opened an online shop, unicktoys.com, which offers imported collectible urban vinyl and designer toys.

“An online shop penetrates a wider market,” Jakob said.

“Surprisingly, my customers come from all walks of life, including celebrities and public figures.”

Jakob offers limited-edition toys and accessories created by artists and designers, with prices ranging from 10,000 rupiah (84 US cents) to around 1.4 million rupiah (US$118).

His shop only accepts direct bank transfers as the method of payment and customers must wait up to seven business days for their ordered items to arrive.

Jakob and Endi are just a few of the many shop owners who are benefiting from the growing popularity of online shopping.

Thanks to cheaper rates for Internet access, the increased number of Internet users and the availability of more cost-effective and user-friendly tools to create a site, online businesses are multiplying madly. Even sites such as Friendster, Multiply, personal blogs and forums have turned into shopping plazas.

Just take a look at sites such as cheaplyfashion.multiply.com, balibubushop.multiply.com o r dianstuff.multiply.com, which have lovers of fashion and beauty queuing to get their hands on some of the affordable items.

This shows considerable change from the situation a few years ago,

when the country’s pioneering online businesses failed to attract customers because of the slow adoption of technology and ingrained habits in Indonesian culture.

At that time, Indonesians tended to think of shopping—or walking around the malls—as a recreational activity.

Moreover, touching and trying on potential purchases was a must in the shopping ritual.

The first online bookstore sanur. com ( 1 9 9 6 ) a n d h y p e r m a r k e t lipposhop.com (2000), for example, eventually folded because of the low rate of personal Internet use in Indonesia. The Lippo Shop was able to survive for only one year despite its huge investment of some 100 billion rupiah ($8.4 million).

But now, more and more Indonesians are embracing the Internet. Data from the information and communications ministry reveal that the number of Internet users has swollen dramatically from about 230,000 in 2000 to 28 million in May 2008.

A Nielsen survey published in 2008 revealed that more than half of all Indonesian Internet users polled said they had made a purchase online. The survey on Internet shopping habits showed that the most popular items purchased are plane tickets or reservations (40 per cent), books (37 per cent), clothing; accessories and shoes (21 per cent) and electronic equipment (21 per cent).

The study also found that, unlike most global shoppers who generally prefer to pay by credit card, 45 per cent of Indonesian online shoppers prefer bank transfers. Credit card came in second, as the choice of 43 per cent of users.

According to the Nielsen survey, online shoppers tend to stick to the shopping sites they are familiar with, with 60 per cent saying they buy mostly from the same sites.

“This shows the importance of capturing the tens of millions of new online shoppers as they make their first purchases on the Internet,” said Catherine Eddy, Nielsen Indonesia’s executive director for client solutions. “If shopping sites can capture them early, and create a positive shopping experience, they will likely capture their loyalty and their money.” | 21 |

LIFESTYLE

Blogshop Boon

For Young Mothers Net-savvy women are running online ventures to earn money without missing kids’ best years

SINGAPORE

Elizabeth Soh The Straits Times

T

his time last year, Daisy Low, 23, a mother of two, was torn between staying at home and returning to work.

Slotting back into her old job as a coffee shop assistant would help pay for the growing expenses involved in bringing up her two sons, aged five and seven. Her husband, Ah Seng, 40, is a part-time chef.

“But if I went back to work, who would look after my children? Even with the extra income, I would not be able to afford a helper. Yet I needed to find a way to earn more for my family.”

The young mum hit upon the idea of setting up an online business with a friend. In January last year, they opened Cheappo, a blogshop which sells baby clothes and contact lenses imported from Taiwan and South Korea.

Today, she makes about S$300 (US$196) a month in profits. “It’s not a lot, but a little bit goes a long way in my family and it’s most important that I’m there for my boys,” she said.

Low is part of a fast-growing online support group of young mothers— many of whom gave birth and married in their teens—who are turning to the Internet for extra cash in these tough times.

The group has seen membership | 22 |

soar from 50 to 100 within the past year. At first, they started hanging out together online for emotional support and cathartic reasons. But as the economy worsened, many have banded together to sell items from baby clothes and slimming products, to cosmetic contact lenses.

These young mums now link up their blogs, forming a comprehensive network of about 50 mum-run blogshops, which advertise for one another.

In their blog postings, a common topic is their struggles to make ends meet. They document the struggles of leaving secondary school midway to care for newborns. They also often lament how their husbands work as odd-job labourers or contract workers, and are vulnerable to job losses.

These days though, business is very much on their minds too. Their postings are often advertorials for other blogshops. They also carry animated advertisements from blog advertising communities like Nuffnang and Advertlets.

Daw Chew, a 22-year-old mother of a 10-month-old girl, started selling cosmetic contact lenses from Korea on Narak Lenses six months ago.

She said: “This year has been very tough on us. Without the blogshop, I would be at home with my daughter worrying about money.

With this business, I feel like I am also contributing.”

She now makes about S$400 (US$261) a month. But she says

NET-SAVVY: Low (centre), with her two sons (from left) Dovan and Dosen, and Chew (right), with her daughter Niya, juggle their time between running their blogshops and taking care of their children.

juggling a toddler and a fledgling business has been an uphill task. Plus, profits have been getting leaner because of the dismal economy and tougher competition.

“When I first started, I could make a few dollars from each pair of lenses.

Now, it’s reduced to only 90 cents because of the competition. I have to sell nearly thrice the number of lenses to make the same profit.”

Low estimates that she spends up to 20 hours a day online, dealing with e-mail inquiries, sourcing for new products and handling nasty customers. In between, she does some household chores and monitors her sons.

As with all businesses, there are also frequent hitches.

Low recalls: ‘There was one month when one of my clothes shipments ran into problems, and I had to deal with angry customers. My phone bill, which is normally S$18 (US$11), shot up to M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

S hahriya Yahaya /T he Straits T imes

S$70 (US$45). I’ve gone for an entire day without sleep, just handling accounts and e-mail.’

Despite the uncertain future, most of the mothers in the group intend to stick with their blogshops.

Rykiel Goh, 23, who runs Leetleones, which sells baby clothes and accessories, said: “Despite all the sleepless nights, I have found a good balance. My blogshop has allowed me both financial independence and time to be there to witness all of my son’s special moments.”

What she earns each month is enough for her to pay for her threeyear-old son Xavier’s clothes and toys and her own shopping.

Her online business has become such a big part of her family’s life that she once walked into her living room to see her son opening up her boxes of goods and repackaging them.

“He wanted to do his bit for my business too,” she said with a laugh.

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

Growing Trend Abroad E

ntrepreneurial mums may be rare in Singapore, but they are part of a growing trend in countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia.

Bizmums.co.uk, a British site founded by international directory Yellow Pages, estimated that there are 167,400 Mum-run businesses in the UK, which contributed ¤4.4 billion to the economy last year.

Likewise, oztion.com, an Australian online micro-business site, found that 58 per cent of its businesses were owned by women, of which at least 2,000 were run by stay-at-home mothers.

Australian site youngmumson

line.com, an online social network, even links mothers who want to set up businesses with suppliers and trainers.

Dr Michael Netzley, a practice assistant professor at the Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business, thinks that this trend is here to stay.

“Blogshops, entrepreneurship and online communities engaging each other in transactions will not go away as long as there is an Internet.”

However, he also warns that online mums have to work especially hard to build a reputation as they are viewed with a strong sense of “buyer beware”. | 23 |

LIFESTYLE

Mother Of A Tradition has it in China that postnatal support is the mother-in-law’s duty, but today’s young mothers are turning to their own mothers for help BEIJING

Xiao Changyan China Daily

Z

hang Fan is expecting her first child in May and it should be the happiest time of her life. Sadly, though, she has also had to cope with an inordinate amount of stress.

Both her parents-in-law and her own mother have offered to take care of her and her newborn baby but squeezing so many people into her small two-bedroom apartment in Beijing is clearly not an option.

Her dilemma is who to accept and who to risk offending. According to Chinese tradition, new mothers have to zuoyuezi, that is, rest at home for a whole month and avoid doing any housework. It is the mother-in-law’s duty to cook, clean and look after the baby during that time. But this can often strain good relations between the two generations—or make bad ones worse. | 24 |

Zhang has heard many such unhappy stories from her good friends and is afraid of suffering the same fate.

If she opts for her own mother, she is likely to feel more relaxed—after all, mother always knows what daughter wants.

But Zhang still can’t get herself to tell her mother-in-law. Chinese tradition is clear on this: Postnatal support is the duty of the mother-inlaw and it is rude, even humiliating, if the daughter-in-law chooses her own mother instead.

It is a dilemma shared by young couples all over China.

According to a recent study by Horizon Research Consultancy Group, although nearly half the women interviewed would prefer to be helped by their own mothers, only 16.1 per cent of those in villages and towns had their wish fulfilled.

But things are different in Chinese cities. Almost half of city women now turn to their own moms for help during the special period.

According to Horizon’s analysis, this M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

All Dilemmas

is due to changing lifestyles and the one-child policy.

In the past, when a daughter married she was no longer considered part of her birth family and had to live with her husband’s parents. Blood relatives, like her own mom, could only visit as guests.

Such tradition is still strong in rural areas. But in cities, as more and more couples live independently and get their own apartments, the wife’s relatives no longer need the permission of the husband’s family to visit. The M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

wife’s mom can therefore stay as long as the couple like.

For the well-off, there is a new way out of the dilemma.

Although recovering at home is generally considered to be the best option for new mothers, many young couples now turn to yuezi, or postnatal nursing care, centres. Such facilities are usually private and resemble hotels, charging from 10,000 to 30,000 yuan (US$1,471-4,412) for a one-month stay.

Apart from providing five meals a day, such centres offer aerobics

instructors in the women’s rooms, a secure environment and the service of nurses with invaluable experience.

Such centres also offer new mothers classes in how to care for their babies and how to get in shape again. They can even hire fortune-teller who can help the young parent choose an auspicious name for their child.

While the cost might seem prohibitive to many couples, there is no shortage of willing clients. Two of Beijing’s best-known postnatal centres—New Mom Centre and Love Baby Home Centre—have a fourmonth waiting list so early bookings are essential.

“I preferred my independent living space, without too much interference from others,” says Zhao Yun of her time at New Mom Centre. She was pleased to avoid the potential problem of choosing between her and her husband’s parents, the only negative being that she has to take care of the baby alone since leaving the centre.

Zhang Fan’s limited budget, however, means she can’t afford such an option. Instead, she has decided to use a yue-sao, a new profession for middle-aged women who have much knowledge of postnatal matters and are professionally trained. Unlike an ayi, a yue-sao is only responsible for the mother and baby, not for other jobs, like cleaning and cooking for the father. She will stay with the family until the baby’s first full moon.

Happily, both Zhang’s family and her husband’s family backed her decision. “My parents and my husband’s parents have only raised one child by themselves and don’t have extensive experience in taking care of babies,” she says. “They hope a yue-sao can give us professional help.”

Yue-sao companies are now booming in China—Horizon says that more than 5 per cent of expectant families admit they are considering employing a yue-sao instead of either set of parents during the first month. | 25 |

Entertainment

THRILLING ADVENTURE: Upin, Rajoo and Ipin (from left) go on a thrilling adventure in the woods in Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula.

Geng, was established three years ago when Multimedia University graduates Mohd Nizam Abd Razak, Muhammad Usamah Zaid and Mohd Safwan Ab Karim were introduced to an investor by a friend.

This person was Burhanuddin Md Radzi, 53, now managing director of Les’ Copaque, who had at that time just quit from his job as managing director of an oil and gas maintenance company. Burhanuddin did not initially plan on producing an animation film but so convincing was the trio’s pitch that he agreed to the idea.

“It was hard to digest. Someone we don’t know came in and put all the money there. It was a huge leap of faith,” says Zaid, 26.

The trio then left their jobs to work on Geng. Along the way, the initial story of Geng evolved. From a story about rubber tappers fighting for their survival, the movie became about the adventures of a bunch of friends in Kampung (village) Durian Runtuh, where a mysterious case of disappearing durian unfolds.

In the movie, city kids Badrol and Lim, twin boys Upin and Ipin, their pretty sister Ros as well as Rajoo—the boy who communicates with animals— befriend a cute creature named Oopet and are chased by kuala lumpur menacing monsters and giant glow-inYam Phui Yee the-dark leeches.

The Star “We went into the jungle to do research h e n e w l y reon the kind of trees in leased local movour forest, record the ie Geng: sounds of forest and Pengembaraan rain,” says Safwan, Bermula ap26, who is responsible pears to have all the ingrefor creating the chardients for success: the stoacters Upin and Ipin, ryline is completely among others.

Malaysian, was created Soon, they discovWORK LIKE A FAMILY: Composer Mohd Faiz Mohd Hanafiah (right) and creative director Muhammad Anas Abdul Aziz. solely by local talent and is ered that there was the country’s first 3D animuch more work to mated feature film.

Add to the creative talent a strong be done, and as such, the company Granted, the movie is no Pixar film— marketing strategy that goes back as far hired more people, all of whom are loGeng’s 4.7 million ringgit (US$1.27 as two years before the premier of the cal graduates. million) budget is a far cry from Pixar’s movie last month, and you have a show The company was of the opinion that regular 90 million ringgit ($24.4 mil- that is destined for success. they should mould and train fresh gradlion)—but the passion, effort and creauates instead of importing talents from tivity that went into it is something to Dreaming big overseas or hiring experienced people.

Les’ Copaque, the company behind be proud of.

Then there was also the fact that the

Daring

Adventures Things are going to get busy for a group of young adults, now that they have released Malaysia’s first 3D animated feature film

T | 26 |

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

people at Les’ Copaque had their own way of doing things, which were not always in sync with conventional filmmaking methods.

“We do things our own way and when we hired experienced people, it was hard for them to cope with the way we work,” Zaid explains.

While there were some detractors who didn’t like the idea of a 3D animation film set in a kampung, others like young graduates Kee Yong Pin, were fascinated.

“I’ve dreamt of being an animator since Form One. I didn’t want to take the typical route to work in foreign countries.

“If I can, I want something made by Malaysians for Malaysians, it can be in any language,” the 25-yearold Yong Ping, who was Nizam’s junior at university, says.

“I was chatting with Nizam online one night and he told me about the film. I had many offers at that time but I asked him immediately, ‘Can I come for interview tomorrow?’.”

they have pirated our merchandise as well we don’t know what to do next,” he says, breaking into a hearty laugh.

All this could only mean one thing: by the time Geng was to be released, the cheeky Upin and Ipin were already well-loved characters for some children and their parents. Its earlier fiveminute episodes are witty, entertaining, educational and reveals the background and personality of each character which you don’t see in the film.

“We chose a local image and it creates an alternative to Disney. If you want to sell internationally, you need something that the moment you show it,

workflow for the production.

“We didn’t know how to do things like audio for cinema release. We outsourced sound effects to Thailand but they didn’t meet our expectations. Mr Burhan asked if we could do it ourselves so we said ‘okay’.”

“We researched on the Internet, set up a studio, recorded them and got advice from the Thais,” says creative director Muhammad Anas Abdul Aziz, 25.

Things weren’t all that bad, however.

The movie was also made with the assistance of a 1 million ringgit ($272,090) eContent grant from the science, technology and innovation

Strategic moves

Just a few months into the making of Geng, managing director Burhanuddin came up with the idea to use a ‘spin-off’ TV mini series to set the stage for its JUNGLE RESEARCH: Makers of Geng went into the jungle to conduct research on the type of plants cinematic release. Using and sounds in the Malaysian forest to make the 3D animated film more realistic. the five-year-old identical twins as heroes, Upin & Ipin debuted on TV9 in 2007. The people take notice,” says Burhanuddin. ministry. They also had access to the move was a success. rendering facilities on supercomputers When the show returned for a second Improvisations at Mimos for free. But it was still not Not everything was smooth sailing enough. Some things had to be sacriseason about the boys’ experience during fasting month in 2008, it received a rat- however. The company also struggled ficed, including effects. Watching the ing of 1.5 million viewers and was with having limited resources, forcing the movie, one thing that stood out was the screened in Indonesia and Turkey as well. team to maximise whatever they had. stiff hair and clothing on the characThere were other challenges in terms ters. In reality, these effects require a This year, season three comes with longer air time, more universal themes of technical skills and storyline. Six longer time to be computed and the months before the release date of the Autodesk Maya Unlimited software and 42 episodes.

In fact, the TV show has been so pop- film, Geng had been revised numer- costs four to five times more than the ular that it has been pirated, although ous times, cut down and tweaked to limited version that was used to make improve the storytelling. They also the movie. not with totally negative effects.

“It (the piracy) has helped us made had to experiment and improvise ways “Maybe after one or two more movthe series very successful. Our mer- to create the desired effects and fi- ies, we can do that if we have the monchandise are very popular but now that nally came up with a ‘pipeline’, a ey,” says Zaid.

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

| 27 |

Entertainment

Where Are The Lover Boys?

Even among the current heroes, chances are we might never again see the Shah Rukh in the movies that showed the softness in their characterisation, sensitivity and tenderness of feelings. They have now been totally replaced by a display of raw machismo, physicality and brute force KOLKATA

Derek Bose The Statesman

A

n incredibly kitschy but brave film on doomed love is creating quite a stir in Bollywood since Valentine’s Week.

Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D is about an emotionally dysfunctional guy who has to deal with two strong, sharp-tongued and liberated women—a childhood sweetheart and a sex worker—in what is being viewed as a post-modernist cinematic interpretation of the by now | 28 |

popular catch phrase, ‘immosunul atyachar’—emotional tyranny.

Whether the high-pitched romanticism of Devender Singh Dhillon could have worked with audiences even five years back (when Shah Rukh Khan played Devdas in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film) is of course, a debatable point. All the 12 versions of the film made so far have remained faithful to the tone and tenor of the Sarat Chandra classic written almost a century ago.

Kashyap retains the template, but reinterprets the idea of self-destructive love in the light of attitudes and the sensibilities of present-day youth. The wastrel of Dev D is someone we all

know of and perhaps, could have even met in real life.

And yet, this is not the lover boy who can be said to be truly representative of today’s generation. He is as much an aberration as Shah Rukh Khan’s character in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi who would go to absurd lengths to save his marriage.

Today’s lover boy is the Aamir Khan we see in Ghajini, who goes berserk on losing his lady love and turns into an unruly killing machine after shaving his head. He is John Abraham of an indeterminate sexual orientation flaunting biceps and butt cleavage in Dostana. He could be the Saif M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

RAW MACHISMO: They are the new lover boys of Indian cinema—(From left) Saif Ali Khan in Race, Aamir Khan in Ghajini and John Abraham in Dostana.

Ali Khan character of Race with more shades of black than white. He is also the prodigal son of Yuvvraaj who is all brawn and has to cross continents to fall in love with a cellist. Or he could be a star-struck fan in Om Shanti Om who avenges the death of the woman he desires on being reborn and more importantly, after displaying a set of six-pack abs.

These are some easily identifiable examples of lover boys from recent films which are a clear departure from the chocolate heroes we knew from the past. The Rajendra Kumar of Arzoo, Rajesh Khanna of Aradhana, Shashi Kapoor of Jab Jab Phool Khile, Rishi Kapoor of Bobby... are all history.

Even among the current heroes, chances are we might never again see the Aamir Khan, the Shah Rukh in the movies that showed the softness in their characterisation, sensitivity, tenderness of feelings, the pain of separation and the joys of meeting.

They have now been totally replaced by a display of raw machismo, physicality and brute force.

That nobody has either the time or patience for the finer nuances of romance shows up in other ways also.

Dishonesty and betrayal have become recurrent themes, whether it is Saif Ali M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

Khan in Ek Haseena Thi, Akshay Kumar in Heyy Baby or Emraan Hashmi in Jannat. Even Sanjay Dutt, as the endearing crook in both the Munnabhai films, actually bluffs the girls he courts till he gets caught. And among married couples, nobody seems to have the heart in the right place, as everybody seems to be desperately bed-hopping and having affairs on the sly. Is it any wonder that we hear the female striking back with venom as Bipasha Basu does in Jism, “This body does not know love—it knows hunger, the hunger of the body”?

In hindsight, it would appear that this was coming and indications of the irrelevance of love and romance on screen were there for all to see.

From the time light-hearted romantic comedies (or romcoms) had become a rage with multiplex audiences, love was getting trivialised. The good old Romeo-Juliet format—re-jigged variously with all its intriguing permutations of parental opposition, economic disparity and caste conflict was being discarded. Yash Chopra, Bollywood’s self-crowned ‘king of romance’ could have his last say on the subject way back in 2004 with a cross-border love story, Veer Zaara. And when ‘Juliet’ herself went missing, the lov-

er-boy was left completely confused.

However, the most devastating turn of events came when some films like Ramgopal Varma’s Bhoot and Company, Sagar Bellary’s Bheja Fry, Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par and Dibakar Banerjee’s Khosla Ka Ghosla became runaway hits.

Many initially felt that that these were mere flashes in the pan because conventional star-driven films with songs and dances and predictable plots were also turning out to be huge box office grossers. But when a film like Sooraj Barjatya’s Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon bombed, followed by other big-budget love stories like Saawariya and Love 2050 in rapid succession, it became eminently clear that Bollywood filmmaking was being guided by new aesthetic—one that promotes songless, non-heroine films.

So where does this leave the romantic hero?

Well, he hasn’t become extinct. But he surely belongs to that endangered species of the vamps, villains and comedians of yore. Like them, he will be making one-off appearances in different guises, if only to remind us of his existence. He has already been reinventing himself as the trickster in Jannat, the demented beast in Ghajini, the shy and geeky Suri of Rab De. Most importantly, he is sure to pick up girls half his age as romantic foils, rather than old tried-and-tested heroines like Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherji and Preity Zinta.

Upcoming starlets like Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma hold the key to his survival. After all, there is one inescapable fact nobody can remain blind to: All our lover boys are grown-up men today. | 29 |

People

Starting From Zero

It is winter in New York but Malaysian model and actress Amber Chia is opening a hot, new chapter in her career NEW YORK

Foo Yee Ping The Star

RAYMON D OOI /THE STAR

L

| 30 |

ooks like everything’s coming up roses for Amber Chia. The Malaysian model and actress made her big debut at the New York runway, appearing at the Fashion Week for the Victoria Beckham collection and Parisbased designer Farah Angsana.

“This will be such good exposure for me. It is a big job and I am so excited to get it,” said Chia, 27, who will also be working on brochure shots for L’oreal.

Since arriving in the Big Apple in January to attend an acting course, Chia has been taking the opportunity to attend castings as well.

“There have been castings in which almost 400 models tried out but only about 15 to 20 of them were selected,” she said. Queues were long so she was elated to be part of the lucky few selected.

For the Beckham fashion campaign, Chia was one of the eight shortlisted models. She kept thanking her lucky stars because the New York scene was so competitive.

It also worked in her favour that they were looking for models with a height of 175cm. Chia is about 173cm.

However, she said that her acting classes had often clashed with some of the castings. “Modelling is just a parttime thing for me here now,” she said.

The good news is that her New York agency has asked her to be back again for Fashion Week next year. “They told me many cli-

ents liked me.”

She found New York casting quite different from Asia where most of the time, the model would be wearing her own clothes.

“In Taiwan, for example, they want you to be all dressed up with lots of make-up, long lashes and big eyes. Here, they want you to put on their clothes and wear little or no make-up at all.

They go for the Oriental look,” she said.

These days, Chia isn’t just a model.

She’s also an actress and author of a book on her life story, Amber Chia, Supermodel’s Secrets of Success.

This Ipoh-born, Tawau-raised girl is also going back to basics.

“I’m starting from zero,” said Chia, who began a two-and-a-half month acting course at the New York Film Academy last month.

A professional model for the past nine years, she is seeking to expand her acting career as “my fans won’t want to see me walking the runway all the time”.

Her acting resume so far includes six movies and countless TV series made in Malaysia, China, Singapore and Taiwan.

“It has always been focused around Southeast Asia. I hope to explore other horizons,” added Chia.

She picked up on monologues and Shakespeare during the acting course.

Watching her previous movies made her realise that she would do things differently now.

“I can get into the emotion easily now. For example, I can cry at the snap of a finger if the scene requires it.”

Still, it’s like starting from scratch for Chia who’s re-learning things all over again. “I can’t think like a celebrity. Nobody knows me here.”

The acting course, she said, was also a way for her to take a break.

“I have been working hard the past nine years. It feels good to be a student again. In Malaysia, I’m busy all the time,” said Chia.

This is her third visit to New York, which she loves because “I like big cities”. Her first visit was in 2003 for an Elle shoot for Guess and she was here again three years ago.

As for acting roles, Chia said she would not limit herself too much. She could play sexy or passionate parts but a dirty image was strictly no-no because she’s always mindful about her parents’ feelings. “I’m also Asian. I represent Malaysia,” she said.

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

‘Miss Saigon’ Star Sings To Chopin Musical singer Lee So-jung is one of the few native Koreans to achieve success in the American musical industry SEOUL

Koh Young-aah The Korea Herald

L

ee So-jung is the first Korean musical actress to take the leading role in a Broadway musical. Lee played Kim in Miss Saigon, one of the world’s most popular Broadway musicals, in the late ‘90s.

Although Miss Saigon made her a star, musical actress was not exactly what Lee had thought of as her dream job.

Lee’s new album, Chopin and the Girl, is one of the fruits of her efforts to pursue her own music. The album consists of songs based on Frederic Chopin’s works, most of which were written by Lee. Growing up playing the piano, Lee has been a longtime classical music fan.

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

Despite the relatively little melody changes, the songs sound contemporary, almost jazzy, with Lee’s rich and low sounds. One will find the melodies familiar but be surprised to find out that the songs were based on Chopin’s works, the singer added.

Notable among the songs is Chopin and the Girl, a song that Lee dedicated to the late composer.

The lyrics tell Lee’s story of admiring Chopin as a girl and are set to Chopin’s piano etudes.

Evocation, meanwhile, sets legendary Korean poet Kim So-wal’s work Chohon (evocation) to Chopin’s piano sonata Funeral March.

Lee, who struggled with setting words to the work, thought of Chohon and found out that the two pieces went so well together, not to mention their themes.

“It was as if they had been waiting to be put together by me,” Lee said.

Lee is multi-talented. Apart from her performing career, she has worked as a radio DJ as well as published a book called The Sound Dream (2007), which depicted Lee’s success story on Broadway.

COURTESY F RO M CHEHO photography

“I tried out for the part of Kim and got the role right away. It was the first audition I went to in the States,” said Lee in a recent interview.

Some of Lee’s career highlights in the past 10 years include being the voice of Mulan in Korean-dubbed Disney animation, which led to her starring as Jasmine in the Broadway musical Aladdin. At home, Lee has appeared in such musicals as Dracula and Sword of Fire.

Yet Lee has been also steadily holding solo concerts because she prefers being herself, rather than a fictional character in a show.

And this is why the singer has been making moves to shift her focus to becoming a vocalist.

“I found out that only through letting go of musicals can I concentrate more on holding larger-scale concerts,” said Lee, adding she no longer plans to do musicals.

“Chopin has been my favourite classical composer since I was a kid. And I think we have a lot in common since we both spent a lot of time outside our native countries missing home,” said Lee. “My primary goal was to change the original pieces as little as possible,” said Lee.

| 31 |

JP/Si mon Marcus G ow er

Explore

A slice of heaven: The temples sit at a great height, from where the views are spectacular.

Peace And Inspiration T Among The Clouds

Semarang, Central Java

Simon Marcus Gower Jakarta Post

It’s a picturesque journey into the hills and mountain of Semarang through terraced rice fields, waterfalls, streams and markets till the simply stunning temples | 32 |

he narrow roads wind their way through the surrounding hills, lined by small villas for rent and modest hotels.

It appears these hills of Semarang are alive with the sound of music - or whatever other sounds issue from the surfeit of karaoke clubs in these parts, which seem out of place in the rustic hilly setting.

But as the journey continues, onward and upward, higher and higher into the hills, sights more expected of the bucolic setting come into view: Terraced rice fields, waterfalls and mountain streams, and markets selling locally grown produce.

This picturesque journey into the hills is to a group of temples known collectively as the Gedong Songo (Nine Buildings) Complex. Although the temples themselves are quite modest, there is nothing modest about their location - from Mount Ungaran at around 1,300m above sea level, the views are, quite simply, stunning.

The name of the temple complex is a little misleading - only five temples M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

are still standing in reasonable Reaching each temple condition. The others have been requires a trek of three to reduced to mere collections of the four kilometers - most of stones of buildings that did once stand which is up. The climb is here. made easier by the numerous That great, and seemingly ubiquisellers of refreshments, but tous, explorer of Java in the early 19th those that lack the necessary century, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, stamina can opt to go the was a “discoverer” of the ruined distance on horseback, with temples here, although at the time he plenty of horses and their “discovered” it only seven buildings wranglers waiting at the start were found - the others presumably in of the temple trail. forest-covered ruins; the complex was It’s made more fun by the then known as Gedong Pitoe. ancients’ choice of building Considerable changes have taken site: All the temples seem to place here since Raffles dropped by, perch almost precariously on not least the uncovering of the other the hillsides. two buildings.

Access to Gedong I, II and In the 1920s and 30s, the temples III is via a steep climb, and referred to as Gedong I and Gedong II then you have to negotiate were restored; in the 1970s and 80s something of a ravine, from Gedong III, IV and V were restored. which issues the foul stench Now, these beautiful hills are dotted by of sulfur. the series of structures.

Steam blasts from this hot Hissing heat: Steam and sulfur blast from a gash in It is believed these temples date sulfur spring, killing any the hillside, creating a hot spring. back to the 8th and 9th centuries AD, built as Hindu temples of these temples devotion to Shiva and suggest the Vishnu. The centuries complex must have not been kind to have once, long them, with much of ago, been far their andesite stone more extensive. worn down by the Never mind the elements, the carvings rubble though whittled away by the it is from here wind, rain and sun. that the stunning The temple’s niches scenery comes are home to various into its own. figures, still surviving, There is no though small and basic. question why the Of particular note is the temple builders chubby figure of the chose this site for elephant-headed their devotional Ganesha, as well as that complex. The of Agastya, the Shivaite Riding high: For the less energetic, the temple trail can be crossed on horseback. spot at this great teacher. Many of the height looks onto niches are now empty, the finer surrounding vegetation and turning Mounts Merbabu, Merapi, Sumbing carvings perhaps long since carried the water white or yellowish. A small and Sundoro, and Lake Rawa Pening away by collectors or even museums. bathing pool has been made here, shimmers in a haze, resembling an In some ways, then, the actual allowing one to ease into the hot ocean. Here, peacefulness prevails, the temple buildings of Gedong Songo spring for relaxation or therapeutic calm broken only by the whistling of appear rather forlorn, being reduced to reasons, although this seems to be the wind and the hissing of the little more than rubble, and subject to discouraged by the nearby blasting sulfurous stream. years of plunder. But perhaps the steam.

If anything, the view from this temples are just an excuse to enjoy a Back out of the ravine and it is not intriguing, inspiring temple site makes refreshing climb through the remarkfar to the remaining two standing you feel like a god looking out across a able setting. temples. The large piles of rubble near vast and diverse creation.

M a r c h 1 -7 , 2 0 0 9

| 33 |

DATE BOOK V-Day Bangkok

U TO

Awashima Jinja Grand Festival

A

t only 30cm tall, the three torii gates of this shrine are the smallest in Japan. It is said that women who are able to pass through the gate will deliver children safely and not suffer women’s illnesses.

When: March 1-3 Where: Kumamoto Prefecture

C H A N G N Y EO N G

Yeongsan Samil Cultural Festival The cast of The Vagina Monologues in Bangkok

I

BANGKOK

The Vagina Monologues

I

t’s V-Day in Bangkok. Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues will be presented both in English and Thai for three nights as part of the campaign to end the global violence against women and girls. The monologues will be staged by V-Day Bangkok to raise funds for Emergency Home for Women and Children, part of the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women under the Royal Patron-

age of Thai Princess Soamsawali.

When: February 27-March 1, 8pm Where: Patravadi Theatre, 69/1 Soi Wat Rakhang, Arun Amarin Rd Info: patravaditheatre.com, totalreservation.com, +66 2 833 5555 Tickets: 350-600 baht (US$10-$16); students 200-300 baht ($6-$9)

t commemorates the brave stand of Samil peasants who rose up against the Japanese occupation forces on March 1, 1919. The highlight of the festival is the ‘Battle of the Bulls’ (Yongsan Soemori-daegi), derived from the days when real bulls used to be put to fight to the bitter end.

Nowadays, two teams line up opposite each other carrying wooden bulls’ heads in a mock-fight, to the accompaniment of traditional folk music.

When: March 2009

PHIMAI

Sound and Light Show

T

he Wimaya Nattakan sound and light show in Thailand’s Phimai Historical Park depicts the past glory of ancient Phimai and the Khmer empire. It takes place on the last Saturday of every month.

The first half of the performance features choreographic creations inspired by the bas-relief of the Phimai Sanctuary itself.

Vignettes depicted include Buddhist religious processions, the ancient ritual dance of the boxers and the Phimaipura or Vimayapura dance.

When: February 28 Where: Phimai Historical Park

KUALA LUMPUR

Citrawarna

C

itrawarna (Colours of Malaysia) celebrates the country’s unique spectrum of cultures throughout March. Expect spectacular traditional performances, colourful parades and magnificent arts and crafts.

When: March 8 Where: Dataran Merdeka

DA T RAC H

Chu Dong Tu Festival

T

his is a folk festival in the Vietnamese fishing village of Da Trach in Hai Hung Province held in honour of a heroic 16th century fisherman named Chu Dong Tu. Once a year, villagers in traditional ao dais and sarongs make their way to the temple of Chu Dong Tu to make offerings of incense, flowers

and candles.

They say prayers for the soul of the famous fisherman and for their friends and family who risk their lives by fishing out at sea.

When: March 10-12

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