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102012 ISSUE70

THE HEAT IS ON! CAMBODIAN COOK-OFF

www.asialife.asia

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note from the editor AsiaLIFE Group Group Editor-in-Chief / Director Cambodia: Mark Bibby Jackson mark@asialife.asia

Group Director Sales & Marketing / Director Vietnam: Jonny Edbrooke jonny@asialife.asia

Managing Editor Cambodia: Ellie Dyer ellie@asialife.asia

Director Thailand: Nattamon Limthanachai (Oh) oh@asialife.asia

Editor-at-Large Cambodia: Mai Lynn Miller Nguyen

Group Creative Director: Johnny Murphy johnny@asialife.asia

Siem Reap: Nicky McGavin nicky@asialife.asia Social Media and Marketing: Kate Burbidge kate@asialife.asia

Ellie Dyer Lick your lips and ready your stomachs, because AsiaLIFE is in a food frenzy this month. We even started a kitchen battle to tantalise your taste buds as part of our spectacular culinary edition.

Flip to October’s cover story to find out how we challenged four leading chefs to take part in the magazine’s inaugural Cambodian cook-off. The experts were pitted against each other — using rolling pins, whisks and ladles as weapons — to come up with a creative two-course menu that highlighted local ingredients.

Innovation proved the name of the game with the results featuring sushi, ice cream, the ever divisive prahok and even a whole lobster head.

As for the winner, we’ll leave it in your hands to decide. On behalf of AsiaLIFE I’d like to thank each chef for the time and effort they put into the challenge.

The food was skillfully cooked and downright delicious.

Along with our regular food reviews and interviews, we’ve talked to the team behind the new book Cambodia’s Top Tables. The results make it clear that foodies have a lot to celebrate as the country develops and more youngsters step into the heat of the kitchen.

For those left cold by culinary matters, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten you. This edition has plenty more stories, including an inside look at teenage pop culture written by Cassandra Naji, who searched high and low for the secret to becoming a ‘freshie’.

I also spent an eye-opening day with PPAWS, a small group of pet lovers who have clubbed together in hope of giving some of the capital’s abandoned animals a better life. I’m always pleasantly surprised to see how dedicated people are to their beliefs, and Nicola Scales and her PPAWS counterparts seem to be doing a great job.

When it comes to owning pets in the city, I think it can be a source of great joy. However, I also believe that it’s important to be responsible and commit long-term before buying creatures such as dogs.

In the United Kingdom, we say that “a dog is for life, not just for Christmas”. Though the festive season isn’t such a big deal in snow-less Cambodia, I think the same principle applies to expats, especially if they are only staying for a short time.

4 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

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Art Director Cambodia: Steve Tierney www.teaguesart.com Photo Editor Cambodia: Dylan Walker Photographers: Conor Wall & Rithy Lomor Pich Editorial Assistant: Seth Rinoza Distribution: Sam Ath Ouk 012 319 172

For advertising enquiries call Chantha on 012 576 878 Special thanks to: Darren Gall, Gemma Jones, Trevor Keidan, Mary Kozlovski, Dr Deborah Moore, Cassandra Naji, David Preece, Daniel Riegler, Yeng Sok, Chhay C Sov, Lim Meng Y & The Cambodian Restaurant Association - for their contribution to this issue.

On the Cover Chefs: Steve Van Remoortel, Luu Meng, Gisela Salazar Golding, Sakal Phoeung Photographer: Conor Wall

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Next time you're in Thailand or Vietnam, check out the latest issue of AsiaLIFE or download them from www.asialife.asia

102012 ISSUE70

12 Picks of the Month

front

14 Openings

getaway

40 Destination Hong Kong 42 Farang of the North

17 Dispatches 18 Phnom Penh Calendar

44 Food Talk: La P'tite France

food

20 Photo Essay:

45 Food Review: Aqua

24 Q&A: Kim Fay

46 Connoisseur

on the cover

26 The Heat Is On 32 A New Frontier

style & design

48 Sisters, Siblings, Sawdust

storyboard

34 Freshie 4 Life

back

53 Listings

36 Camera Skills

88 Phnom Penh Map

38 A Dog's Life

98 Pub Quiz

34 6 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

36

40

48

Oct 2012

Cambodian Bronzes to be shown in UK

Three Cambodian bronzes are featuring in a landmark exhibition that opened at the United Kingdom’s Royal Academy of Arts on Sept.

15. Bringing together 150 of the finest bronzes from Asia, Africa and Europe, the show includes works spanning 5,000 years. A religious ceremony was held at the National Museum of Cambodia to bless the bronzes prior to their journey to the UK. British Ambassador Mark Gooding, who attended the blessing, said he was “delighted that these three exquisite Cambodian bronzes will be part of the Bronze exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. [It] will enable thousands of art lovers from around the world to enjoy the magnificent design and history of Cambodian bronzes alongside other great works.” For more information, visit royalacademy.org. uk/exhibitions/bronze.

Futsal Frenzy

Beeline Arena is organising its first corporate futsal tournament, which is set to run until Dec. 6. Part of the funds raised by the five-aside football games will go to Operation Smile Cambodia, an organisation that repairs facial irregularities in children and works toward sustainable healthcare for youngsters and their families. Registration for the tournament costs $1,000 and will be allotted on a firstcome-first-served basis, as the tournament is limited to eight teams. Matches will be held every Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 7.30pm. For more information and registration details email marketing@ banzaicambodia.com.

The Black Wood

As part of the Our City Festival, Romeet gallery on Street 178 will present The Black Wood, an exhibition

by Battambang artist Mao Soviet and American artist Tim Robertson, from Oct. 3 to Oct. 24. The multi-disciplinary

exhibition reflects on ideas of place, shelter, security and how they connect to individuals and communities.

Cambodian artists are also gaining recognition abroad this month. Works by Pen Robit — a previous Romeet exhibitor — are among contemporary Cambodian pieces set to show at The East Gallery in Toronto, Canada, from mid October.

Our City Festival

Phnom Penh and Battambang residents have until Oct. 7 to enjoy the Our City Festival 2012. The arts festival has more participants, exhibition spaces and ways to get involved than ever. It aims to showcase the best of contemporary Cambodian art and architecture, and to bring people together to collaborate, explore and share ideas. The festival office is based at JavaArts and further information can be accessed at ourcityfestival.org, facebook, twitter and on youtube.

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Amrita Accolade

Phnom Penh-based Amrita Performing Arts has gained further international recognition after being given the ZKB-Patronage-Prize as part of last month’s Zurich Theaterspektakel Festival. The prize was awarded for Amrita’s work CRACK, co-created by Arco Renz and performed with the collaboration of

Kobalt Works and Caravan Productions. The judging panel commended the performance for the virtuosity of the dancers, the expression of the tension between tradition and modernity and the way in which the cross-cultural collaboration was handled. Amrita Performing Arts was previously critically and publicly acclaimed for its rock opera Elephants Weep.

Skating to Success

Local NGO Skateistan Cambodia has opened the country’s largest skate park on a quiet Phnom Penh side street near the Russian Market. The non-profit organisation forms partnerships with local agencies to provide skateboarding lessons and other creative activities to children aged between five and 17, with a focus on girls and youngsters from low-income families. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to operate as a public skate park,” says programs coordinator Alix Buck. “But we are expanding our programs among the youth here.” Skateistan Cambodia is a branch of an international NGO that also operates schemes in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Islamabad, Pakistan.

SIEM REAP NEWS

Wine Fanatics

The Station Wine Bar is starting a Tuesday evening special for wine-lovers this month. Three glasses of wine, with a different variety featured each week, accompanied by five snacks are on offer for a mouthwatering $15. The first week will focus on Riesling, with 100ml glasses from Australia, Germany and New Zealand served. The snacks will vary in order to complement the drinks, but will include cheese, olives, cold meats, pâtés, fruit and seafood. The following week will focus on Shiraz.

The wine bar is renowned for its glorious Lady boy Revues — bawdy bonanzas of music and dance — every Wednesday, Friday and

10 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

Saturday evening. Those preferring a quieter night out can go in the early evenings to enjoy one of the largest collections of great wines outside of major Siem Reap hotels.

New Meditation Centre

A new yoga retreat has opened behind Wat Po Lanka, just off Siem Reap’s riverside. The Angkor Boddhi Tree Retreat and Meditation Centre — which is unrelated to the Boddhi Tree in Phnom Penh — is the creation of Aussie husband and wife Bob and Claire Carroll and sisters Lauren and Cassie Gravett. The centre offers traditional yoga classes, as well as a range of other services including a ‘chill

pill’ session created by Bob Carroll — a fitness expert who has developed a series of restorative stretching routines for desk-cramped spines. Aura cleansing, reiki, chakra balancing, massages, facials, pedicures and cooking classes are also offered. Both the Gravett girls are professional hairdressers, but they’re keen to keep the focus on the centre’s healing elements. The centre has sixbed male and female dorms and two private bedrooms.

Sala Baï Re-opening

Sala Baï is re-opening its doors for service on Oct. 22. The well-established hospitality training school took in this year’s selection of 100 students in early September for a one year

training course in the arts of cookery, front of house management, restaurant service and cleaning. The restaurant and associated guesthouse are an integral part of the students’ training process, raising funds to support the project. The restaurant enjoys a firstclass reputation for creating delicious and creative food in a stylish environment.

One of the menus from last year featured roasted pork tenderloin rolled with bacon in ginger gravy, served with mashed potato cake and French green beans. The restaurant will be open for breakfast and lunch, with regularly changing set menus that are good value at $8 for three courses, or $6 for two.

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 11

PICKS OF THE MONTH Try: Yoga Phnom Penh

Surf: Supercook.com

Head to Norodom Boulevard, near Sushi Been restaurant, to try out Yoga Phnom Penh’s new studio space, where a full schedule of yoga classes has been on offer since mid-September. With classes taught by Alison Hawkins and Oskar Nery, who have been teaching and running retreats in Cambodia for three years, the studio — set in a wooden house — offers classical yoga styles with a health and fitness perspective.

For more information, visit yogaphnompenh.com.

Do you ever end up with a random assortment of ingredients with no discernible way of using them up? This is where Supercook comes in. The website has an easy-to-use 'add ingredient' function, allowing you to make a list of every ingredient you have lying around. It then uses them to find recipe options from content on the web. Not only is this website meant to be useful, but is also an attempt to decrease the amount of wasted food. In a time of soaring food prices and famines across the globe, it only makes sense to use everything you have.

Supercook.com offers an easy way to do it.

Make: Cocktails For those whose mojitos are more mush than masterpiece, mixologist Pedro William is coming to Phnom Penh between Oct. 2 and Oct. 6 to teach you how to mix cocktails to perfection. The skilled Brisbane-based bartender will be holding a $30 cocktail making class from 6pm to 7pm at Le Bar at Sofitel Phnom Penh throughout his visit, and will serve his creations each night from 7pm to 10pm. Classes are limited to 12 seats per day, so advance reservation is required. Call 023 999 200 ext. 6609 or email at h6526-fb2@sofitel.com to book.

See: Newspaper Man A man dressed in newspaper print stands amid the sand of Boeung Kak lake, looking like an alien figure transplanted into central Phnom Penh. If you are intrigued by the image, a video installation of the work of artist Khvay Samnang — who became ‘newspaper man’ in March last year — is being shown at Phnom Penh’s Sa Sa Bassac Gallery until Oct. 7. The gallery is open from Wednesday to Friday from 2pm to 6pm, and from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.

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Attend: The Circus Roll up, roll up, the circus is coming to town. Performers from the world-renowned Battambang troupe at Phare Ponleu Selpak will be causing a buzz at the Beeline Arena in Chroy Changvar, Phnom Penh, when they put on a show on Oct. 27.

It costs $3.50 per person to see the high-fliers perform. For more information, email marketing@banzaicambodia.com.

Royals in the Buff What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas for Harry, and neither for Kate’s Provence peekaboo Another Cartoon Controversy What’s sacred? French magazine publishes cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad Racism in Football All is not so beautiful in the beautiful game as racial taunts continue to mar Uefa Phnom Penh Airport #2 Let ‘em in! Plans announced for a second airport to meet the Kingdom’s growing tourist arrivals Cambodian Bond Girl Bong, James Bong. French-Khmer actress Berenice Marlohe to star in Skyfall

GOING UP GOING DOWN Gangsters in Power Put away the guns in public, says PM, calling for punishment of high officials and their families who use weapons unlawfully Endangered Birds Birds threatened by extinction in Stung Treng as land concessions and logging destroy their homes Paris Hilton The blonde heiress’ shocking comments recorded, not nude but more crude than her prior infamous tape Diplomatic Immunity No sanctuary in the American consulate in Libya as ambassador and other staff are killed by protesters Apple The iPhone 5 hits shelves around the world but raises little excitement. Can the brand still innovate without Jobs?

OPENINGS WE WANT YOU!

NEW YORK STEAKHOUSE

This rising restaurant brand is fast becoming an Asian favourite. With a branch already established in Ho Chi Minh and another in the works for Myanmar, New York Steakhouse has arrived in Phnom Penh. Set in a beautiful renovated colonial mansion, a metallic portico leads the way to the front door and gives the eatery a 1950s feel.

Iconic American figures can be spotted in the lobby, as well as bottles of wine priced from $38 to more than $1,000. A plush interior that includes leather seating complements the wooden flooring. Specialising in beef, New York Steakhouse prices their steaks from $17 to $71.

New York Steakhouse, 264 Street 63. Tel: 023 987 500, open daily from 11.30am to 2pm and 5pm to 12am.

JAPANESE MAKEOVER

THIDA SALON Thida Salon is Phnom Penh’s newest pampering destination. Owned and managed by Japan's Takashi Kido, it is located at the far end of Street 63. Amid tall trees and bustling vehicles it’s easy to miss, but the wooden exterior gives it away. Thida offers customers beauty products, Japanese accessories and apparel.

Its beauty service menu includes nail care, facials and massages. Nail services range from $5 to $15, with nail designs for $5 to $20. Special menu options — including hand and foot oil massages — cost from $3 to $40. Drinks are also available, with 50 percent off until the end of October.

Thida Salon, 16 Street 63. Tel: 023 223 270, open daily from 9am to 7pm.

DAINTY DAISY Getting ready for a special occasion but don’t know what to wear? Hop in a tuk tuk and head to Daisy Boutique on Street 240. Featuring collections of embroidered and delicately designed clothes, the Khmer-owned brand makes garments at the shop with prices ranging from $37 to over $100.

Accessories are available to complete the look. Ratanakkiri silk scarves, skirts and shorts can be bought at reasonable prices. With a growing number of customers, the shop is set to launch a range of custom-made bags.

Daisy Boutique, 75Eo Street 240. Tel: 017 522 254, open daily from 9am to 7pm.

14 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

DAISY BOUTIQUE

FOUNTAIN OF LIFE

IRRA SPA

If you’re stressed and need some relief, Irra Spa can help. Located at Street 63 adjacent to Champs Elysees, Irra Spa offers a diverse range of stress-relieving services including facials, special therapies, Chroma White TRX brightening and massages. For those worried about ageing, Irra Spa’s Age Smart Services aim to help regenerate skin cells for a firmer and younger look. With friendly staff and assistants to tend to your every need, stress is non-existent.

Irra Spa, 191 Street 63. Tel: 023 993 373, open daily from 9am to 9pm. For more information, visit irraspa.com.

INNOVATIVE BREAKFAST

in our secluded garden

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fresh fruit smoothies illy coffee concoctions

CREATIVE YET STRAIGHTFORWARD MENU tapas, salads, sandwiches & burgers

FREE WIFI

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HAPPY HOUR 3PM-6:30PM

free tapas w/ round of cocktails, wine, beer

influenced by the mediterranean & south america, w/ asian accents.

located in its own habitat #9b, street 29

facebook.com/gastrobarbotanico AsiaLIFE Cambodia 15

STAY FOR A CHEW

THE CHAT N' CHEW Known for its temples by day, Phnom Penh is a different story at nightfall.

For outgoing city-dwellers, it can be hard to find a place to have a peaceful drink without the presence of flocks of tourists. The Chat N’ Chew on Street 172 might be a solution to such worries. With the venue serving traditional Khmer, Thai, Indonesian and Western food — and any alcoholic drink you can think of —you’re sure to have a good meal. At $3.50, the Mini English (sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, roasted tomatoes, baguette and a choice of drinks) will fill you up, while drinks cost an average of $1.50, guaranteeing that you’re fully-loaded before heading home for a good night’s sleep.

The Chat N’Chew, 53 Street 172.

Tel: 012 865 191, open daily from 7.30am to 12.30am.

PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE HEALTH French national Dr Christophe Savoure has made it his mission to promote health through sustainable dayto-day practices. The International Chiropractic Clinic specialises in treating pains and injuries sustained from sport-related activities, accidents or degeneration, with services and treatments available. With state-ofthe-art equipment imported from the United States and Japan, Dr Savoure can help treat all of your musculoskeletal needs, including back, neck, foot and knee pain.

International Chiropractic Clinic, 67 Street 240. Tel: 023 223 101, open daily from 8am to 12pm and 2pm to 5.30pm.

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INTERNATIONAL CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC

DISPATCHES

Travel news from around the region and beyond

Salute to Sinatra

Recreating some of Frank Sinatra’s world-famous recordings, Louis Hoover captures the essence of Ol’ Blue Eyes, with assistance from the cream of British musicians. His Salute to Sinatra act has toured the United States, Europe, Japan and now Singapore, with shows at the Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands, from Oct. 18 to Oct. 20. You can also catch The Bootleg Beatles at the resort’s Grand Theatre from Nov. 8 to Nov.11. The cover band pays tribute to one of the greatest pop groups in history from top to toe, with four costume changes reflecting The Beatles’ evolution. Tickets are available at sistic.com.sg.

Paintings Demystified

The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah Ubud is lighting a new pathway into Bali’s heritage with an ongoing series of classes on Batuan art and painting. Led by noted art expert and illustrator Bruce Granquist, the art afternoons trace the history and development of the highly regarded Batuan school of art, revealing links between Balinese culture and daily life. The classes aim to demystify Batuan paintings — one of the island’s major art styles — and complement a four-night offer that includes a visit to the Arma Museum, home to a large collection of works from Bali’s three schools of art. For more information visit GHM hotels.com or contact Esther de la Cruz on ecruz@balconymediagroup.com.

Phuket Paradise

If you’re looking for pampering, relaxation and active pursuits, Banyan Tree Phuket Resort is offering an earlybird advantage. Book your stay seven days in advance and enjoy 25 percent off the best available rate. The offer is valid for stays through month’s end, if reserved by Oct. 25. In addition, enjoy complimentary all day in-villa dining when staying in a one- or two-bedroom double pool villa.

Also ask about specials at the spa, an idyllic escape with healthy cuisine and award-winning spa and wellness treatments that are designed to ease your mind.

More at banyantree.com.

240PHNOMPENH.COM

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 17

CALENDAR PHNOM PENH OCT

The Documentation Centre of Cambodia has invited members of the public to a screening of A River Changes Course at the Chenla Theatre from 2pm to 5pm. Filmmaker Kalyanee Mam spent two years following three young Cambodians as they struggled to overcome the effects of deforestation.

11 OCT

02

Mixologist Pedro William is coming to Sofitel Phnom Penh between Oct. 2 and Oct. 6.

The skilled Brisbane-based bartender will be holding a $30 cocktail making class and will serve his creations each night from 7pm to 10pm. Advance reservation is required.

OCT

A joint exhibition by Battambang artist Mao Soviet and American Tim Robertson, The Black Wood is a multi-disciplinary installation featuring elements of sculpture, found objects and photography. The exhibition can be found at the Romeet Gallery, a subsidiary of the Phare Ponleu Selpak association on Street 178.

03 OCT

Innov8 international and sponsors are holding a fundraiser at Ebony Tree Restaurant on Street 29 from 6.30pm until late, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to various Cambodian wildlife projects to support conservation and rescue efforts. There will be a business card raffle, live drum band Afirkana will provide conga beats and DJ Wez T will spin the dance tracks. Dress code: animal and jungle print. Tickets cost $10 and are available at The Dollhouse, Ebony Tree, Jasmine Boutique and Mad Monkey Restaurant, or on the door.

04

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OCT

Phnom Penh Community College is running a Flamenco workshop on Saturday Oct. 6, from 10am to 6pm. The workshop will be lead by Manuel Miguel Vergara CĂŠspedes, a Flamenco practitioner from a young age who is keen to share his love of the dance.

This full-day workshop will teach the basic steps, movements and rhythm as well as some history and cultural heritage of the dance. Cost: $50 per person or $40 each for two. Visit facebook. com/PhnomPenh CommunityCollege for more information.

06

OCT

Videographer Todd Brown takes you on a visual expedition to commemorate the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus on Oct. 12, 1492. Brown will be exhibiting his photographs at Tepui at The Chinese House from Oct. 5 to Nov. 17. The exhibition will open its doors at 6pm on Oct. 5, while South American food, cocktails, music and a tour will be given by Brown on Oct. 12 from 9pm.

12 OCT

Let’s get ready to rumble! Watch fighters engage in battle at the Beeline Arena using an array of knee, elbow, hand, feet, shin and head strikes at the Yuttakhun Khrom Competition. Tickets will be available for $1 by advanced booking, or through marketing@ banzaicambodia.com. The Beeline Arena is located at the Chroy Changvar Peninsula, across the Japanese Friendship Bridge.

19 OCT

27

A circus show will be held at the Beeline Arena at 6pm. Organised by Phare Ponleu Selpak, tickets will be sold at the Beeline Arena or through emailing marketing@banzaicambodia.com.

EVERY DAY

Yoga classes with Alison and Oskar. For more information, please visit yogaphnompenh.com or enquire at 012 739 284.

Every afternoon Sofitel in Phnom Penh will serve a red-themed afternoon tea from 3pm to 5pm. Tickets cost $25 for sparkling rosé wine, abundant fruits and delights.

EVERY MONDAY Mad Monday at The Empire, 6pm.

EVERY TUESDAY

First Edition of the Social Corporate Futsal Tournament 2012 at the Beeline Arena, 7.30pm. A portion of the funds raised will be used to assist children being helped by Operation Smile Cambodia.

EVERY WEDNESDAY

Drink & Draw at ARTillery, 7pm. Get your creative engines going with a live model, a couple of drinks and a whole lot of creative fun.

Latin Fever at The Latin Quarter.

EVERY THURSDAY Open Mic at Paddy Rice Irish Sports Bar.

Steak Night at The Empire. Weekly special at a big discount.

Women’s Night at The Riverhouse.

EVERY FRIDAY

Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga and Beginner Yoga classes at Phnom Penh Yoga. For more information, please visit yogaphnompenh.com or inquire at 012 739 284.

EVERY SATURDAY

Vinayasa Flow Yoga at 10am and Yoga Strength and Tone at 3pm at Phnom Penh Yoga. For more information, please visit yogaphnompenh. com or enquire at 012 739 284.

EVERY SUNDAY

Sunday Escape Wine Buffet at InterContinental Phnom Penh. Price set at $34 per person including free flow of wine.

Morning, nondenominational Meditation and Buddhist Lecture at Phnom Penh Yoga. For more information, please visit yogaphnompenh.com or inquire at 012 739 284.

S M A L L FA K E WO R L D Stationed on her balcony, Cambodian photographer and Limkokwing university student Kim Lahee spent days taking pictures of the street scenes beneath her, from dawn until dark and through rain and shine. She aimed to show familiar neighbourhood scenes from a third-person’s point of view, creating what she calls a “small fake world”.

BY KIM LAHEE l a h h . t i s t o r y. c o m

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Kim Fay Born in Seattle and now living in Los Angeles, author Kim Fay has based her debut novel — about western temple robbers making their way through colonial Shanghai, Cambodia and Saigon — on the years she spent living and travelling in the region. Lien Hoang discovers more about the writer’s inspiration. Portrait photograph by Julie Fay Ashborn.

What’s your relationship with Vietnam and Cambodia?

I was teaching English. It was 1995, Vietnam was coming out of isolation, and everyone wanted to talk. But I quit teaching after six months. So I ended up staying for four years and writing for the local magazines.

When I was in Saigon I read Silk Roads [a book exploring the lives of a French couple who stole a bas relief from Cambodia’s Banteay Srei temple in the 1920s]. That was

24 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

really the spark for writing this book. When I read about Clara and Andre Malraux looting the temples, of course I wanted to see them for myself. Once I saw the temples, I understood how someone could be obsessed. One million people lived in [Angkor Wat] at the height of the civilisation, and to think that just disappeared — that was unbelievable to me.

Why did you set the book in the 1920s?

[From] the late 1800s, with the rise of mass tourism, people would go all over the world, take what they wanted and there were no laws protecting art. You also have the revolutionary time period; communist parties coming into being and ideas about who should be ruling a country.

It’s kind of a free-for-all in the political world and art world.

It’s hard to escape the colonial feel of the novel. Why was that important to you?

I’d always been a reader of Graham Greene, George Orwell, W Somerset Maugham.

They wrote about people who went into these countries and had this sense of entitlement, whether they were colonisers or just westerners. I was in Vietnam in 1995 and I was encountering people who were stuck in a state of mind, that the country was still colonised.

I can honestly say I did not set out to write about that.

But the more I researched and the more my characters did

Temple photographs from Kim's collection of vintage postcards.

Shanghai photo (left), courtesy of Fay's grandfather, Woodrow Ethier.

their own thing, the more the argument just kept coming up.

What is that argument?

‘Racist’ doesn’t do it justice because it’s not a broad enough word. Just this sense that ‘my culture is right and your culture is wrong’. I still feel there’s an aspect of colonialism that informs a lot of western involvement in non-western countries.

Businesses are run on the old colonial standards, despite it being the 21st century. The biggest thing that came across to me is the lack of fairness and the real divide, not just between rich and poor, but between cultures.

I didn’t want my characters to be jerks. They just were.

I was constrained because of the time period. If they all became enlightened, that would be my 21st-century self trying to whack them upside the head. It’s funny.

One woman asked me: why didn’t you include more local characters so they can have these compassionate relationships? And I said because they wouldn’t have had these relationships.

These were people out for themselves. Every time I tried to make my characters more compassionate, they stepped out of their context and everything felt untrue.

How do you present criticism of these colonisers without subjecting yourself to the same criticism?

In a book you can do a lot that you can’t in real life.

What did you enjoy the most?

The biggest thing for me was

that as a writer I get to travel to this time period before it was discovered by the West, [to] go to a building that doesn’t exist anymore. There are not a lot of times an adult gets to play in an imaginary world.

Will there be Vietnamese or Khmer translations?

Let’s say a publisher in Cambodia or Vietnam wanted it but didn’t have the funding, I would be fine with that. My feeling is [that] I want it read. I know the household budgets in these countries, and I would rather people be able to buy it for 50 cents and be able to have conversations about it.

The Map of Lost Memories is now available at Monument Books.

FACTS BEHIND THE FICTION Andre and Clara Malraux were in their early twenties when they lost their small fortune and came up with the idea of looting a Cambodian temple and living off the sale of a few choice artefacts. In 1923, they embarked on their expedition, setting sail from France to Cambodia. With the help of a fellow adventurer and local labourers, they managed to pry a sevenpiece, 1,000-pound bas relief from the abandoned temple of Banteay Srei. They were caught almost immediately and put under house arrest in Phnom Penh. While there they witnessed the injustices of colonialism, and it was this experience that launched their involvement in the revolutionary politics of the region.

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 25

SRTAFEFVLEES

LUU MENG MALIS

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N O S I T A E E H COOK-OFF THCAMBODIAN 26 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

GITSEPEULI A

SAKAL SOFITEL

For our inaugural cook-off, AsiaLIFE Cambodia challenged four leading Phnom Penh-based chefs to showcase their skill and creativity. The rules are simple. Each chef has $10 to spend at local markets to create two dishes — one main course and either an entrée or dessert. The only caveat is that each course must showcase an ingredient associated with Cambodia, in order to celebrate the Kingdom’s prime produce. Our crack team of judges provide comments on each of the dishes, leaving you — our readers — to judge who was the most successful. Words by Ellie Dyer and Daniel Riegler. Photography by Conor Wall and Dylan Walker.

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NAME: STEVE VAN REMOORTEL COUNTRY: BELGIUM RESTAURANT: LE ROYAL AT RAFFLES INGREDIENTS: SEA BASS, KRASANG, PORK BELLY, BOK CHOY DISHES: DECLINATION OF SEA BASS, 30-HOUR COOKED PORK BELLY WITH KHMER SPICES In the pristine kitchen at Raffles Hotel, executive chef Steve Van Remoortel layers one element of his starter — sea bass sashimi rolled in amaranth leaves — carefully onto a small plate. Not quite satisfied with its appearance, he takes the dish apart and starts again, searching for the perfect composition.

Such attention to detail is evident in the finished entrée: sea bass prepared in three ways. A dish of ceviche is a riot of bright colour, with lime and orange zest mixed with the flesh of Cambodia’s sour krasang fruit in order to cook the raw fish.

On another plate, purple and green amaranth-wrapped sushi lies on a bed of white radish, with bright wasabi at the side. One dish further, a precarious tower of potato and sea bass, smoked on site, is topped with a creamy foam. “I really enjoy working with the vegetables here... I went quite heavy on those ingredients,” says the Belgian chef, who moved to Cambodia last year.

When planning his menu, Van Remoortel decided to keep costs low while upping the creativity factor. To attain the desired results, the chef got started on his dishes early. The pork belly main had to be cooked sous vide for 30 hours — spiced with Kaffir lime, Kampot pepper, lemongrass and star anise — before being served.

“Put it all in the bag together with the raw pork, 68 degrees and 30 hours. And is it tender?” he asks, as one of the AsiaLIFE judge slices through the meat and mutters “wow”.

“Pork can be a little bit dead and heavy sometimes or dry. We don’t want to have any of that — so that’s why we used lemongrass, the star anise. Garlic and chilli is just to uplift the flavour, the rest is to smooth it out,” he explains.

The chef also used flavour to maximum effect in the bok choy puree and buttery mushrooms placed underneath the pork.

Van Remoortel strained all the juices from 28 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

the watery bok choy to retain a clear, intense taste, while using more vegetables to create added texture with a bright purple beetroot foam and sweet potato crisps.

“I’ve worked with a lot of spices and herbs to highlight this local produce,” explains Van Remoortel. “The flavours are very Asian I believe, but the dish is completely western.”

THE VERDICT:

Van Remoortel does sea bass three ways without ever touching a stove. The first is smoked, albeit briefly, to give a hint of a bite while maintaining an almost delicate flavour.

The creaminess of the mustardy potato salad on which it is served offsets the mild

intensity of the fish. The chef spikes sashimi with wasabi and wraps it in amaranth leaves, lending the dish a slight nuttiness.

The almost rice paper like amaranth texture contrasts with the paper-thin sliced fish inside. Krasang, the sour citrus fruit, adds to a mellow ceviche, with the included seeds giving a bit of crunch. It is not overly acidic, allowing the flavour of the fish to stand out.

Pork belly is fork tender after the 30 hour sous-vide bath. The cooking process renders most of the fat off, but the flavour remains and star anise comes through for a slightly sweet finish. A puree concentrates the bok choy’s flavour and makes for a much more pleasing form in which to eat the vegetable.

NAME: LUU MENG COUNTRY: CAMBODIA RESTAURANT: MALIS INGREDIENTS: SCALLOPS, PRAHOK, RIVER FISH, GREEN TAMARIND DISHES: SCALLOPS WITH BANANA BLOSSOM AND PRAHOK, FISH WITH TAMARIND SAUCE

Local ingredients are key to chef Luu Meng’s cooking. Nearly every component of his two dishes has been grown or cultivated in Cambodia, with the finished results resembling a master class in the Kingdom’s cuisine.

“The important thing is we use local [produce],” explains Luu, as he sizzles scallops in an open-air kitchen at Malis restaurant in Phnom Penh. “Firstly, it’s to promote the farmers. I think it’s really big for us to have our local agriculture.”

Luu favours Cambodian produce, but going local can mean that ingredients vary from similar products imported from abroad.

Local salt is often wetter than commercially-produced foreign versions, he says, demonstrating the point by crushing crystals with a knife. The Sihanoukville scallops that are the main ingredient in his starter are more fragile, yet more flavourful, than imported counterparts, according to the chef.

“But it’s important not to overcook,” he says, carefully turning the shellfish over after a 30-second fry on one side, before tossing together a zingy banana flower salad with light prahok dressing for his entrée. “Our main ingredient is to get fresh herb flavours, with a bit of lemon, palm sugar, so it is well balanced with the sauce.”

The main course also features Cambodian produce, with sour green tamarind forming a major component of the dish. The bright green tamarind sauce accompanies fried river fish fillets, with red curry sauce carefully layered on one side.

“Fish always likes to have a bit of lemony [flavour], and tamarind comes with sourness,” says Luu Meng. “The tamarind when you eat alone, it’s too sour,

so add palm sugar, garlic, chilli and a bit of fish sauce, pepper.”

For Meng, Cambodian cuisine is constantly evolving. “I’m trying to keep it more a living cuisine,” he says, after carefully cleaning the plate on which his vibrant main dish lies. “That means Cambodian cuisine is not the past, but today. Today means local ingredients plus what is current — technology of equipment.”

THE VERDICT:

Fish on fish is the rule with Luu Meng, with his local scallops lightly seared with fish sauce. They are briny and bold, served on top of a prahok and chilli-dressed banana flower salad. The flavours are intense but not overpowering and the dish is well balanced around an ocean theme. River fish is given a similar treatment with the addition of pepper and red curry. It has a milder flavour with a very subtle kick and is paired with a bright, in your face green tamarind slaw. Luu counters the sourness with a bit of prahok and palm sugar, it hits all taste points and brings an incredible sense of freshness to the dish.

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NAME: GISELA SALAZAR GOLDING COUNTRY: VENEZUELA RESTAURANT: TEPUI AT CHINESE HOUSE INGREDIENTS: MEKONG LOBSTER, TAMARIND, COCONUT MILK DISHES: FRIED LOBSTER HEAD, CAMBODIAN CHUPE

Despite living a long way from her native South America, Tepui chef Gisela Salazar Golding believes that food should make you feel as if you’re at home.

“At least for me, I always like to have dishes that when you eat it you feel you are eating home-made or mum’s food,” the 29-year-old explains, speaking within the distinctly Asian-inspired dining room of The Chinese House on riverside.

For the AsiaLIFE challenge, Golding turned to a familiar Asian favourite, seafood, and gave it a uniquely Venezuelan flavour by preparing it in two different ways. The show-stopping starter is a flash-fried Mekong lobster head accompanied by cress salad and tamarind chutney.

The talented cook first discovered the joys of lobster heads while experimenting with the Central Market-bought crustaceans for a French Chamber of Commerce dinner last year. “Some people say everything in the kitchen is [already] invented. I think it’s not true. For sure, there are new tastes and new things to discover,” she says.

Despite its creativity, the succulent entrée remains in keeping with Golding’s roots. It’s a messy dish that involves diners ripping apart the lobster and slurping the meat and juices inside. “My dad also does this, he takes the shrimp and sucks the head,” she says.

With the majority of her budget used for the expensive lobster, the meaty body is also a core ingredient of her main course, which is a clever take on a traditional South American soup. Chupe — a milky soup produced in Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru — is given an Asian twist with the use of lobster, coconut milk, lemongrass and bok choy.

“My mum made it for lunch as a main course. It’s like a whole meal,” she says, emphasising that the extra ingredients were chosen to highlight, rather than overpower, the lobster for a light meal. “They give it more freshness. It changes a lot — it’s a completely different soup.”

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THE VERDICT:

The lobster head battered in cornmeal and flash-fried is slightly daunting. It takes a fair bit of sucking, shell cracking and nimble fingering to pick out every last edible morsel.

It may be more pleasurable to partake in than witness, but rest assured, no finger will go unlicked. The quick frying process seals in the juices. The meat is sweet and rich and streaked with molten ganglia (the lobster equivalent of brain). The intense saltiness of the cornmeal batter is offset by sweet tamarind chutney,

while the side salad dressed in a kaffir lime concoction provides a subtle sour tang.

For the chupe, Golding created a rich stock from the lobster heads which she then combined with coconut cream. The result is chowder-like, but the coconut does not sit heavy like a traditional chowder or bisque and there is a distinct chilli and Kampot pepper induced heat. The Mekong lobsters may lack the meatiness of their Western cousins but they do not want for flavour.

NAME: SAKAL PHOEUNG COUNTRY: CAMBODIA/FRANCE RESTAURANT: SOFITEL INGREDIENTS: SEA BASS, OCTOPUS, LEMONGRASS, TROPICAL FRUITS DISHES: STEAMED SEA BASS, ROASTED MANGO EXOTICA Tastes and flavours can form memories that last long after a dish is consumed — a phenomenon that Phnom Penh’s Sofitel Hotel executive chef Sakal Phoeung is well aware of. Having left Cambodia as a child, only to return in 2008, the talented French-trained chef has rediscovered some of the flavours of his youth.

“When I try any kind of food in Asia and Cambodia, I can feel and find food that I’ve tasted before. I don’t remember the food, but I remember the taste,” he says, noting that it is especially the case for fruits and vegetables. “It’s important for cooking, but also a pleasure to remember the connection.”

The chef’s cook-off dishes echo his roots. Thanks to his European culinary training, Phoeung utilises the westernstyle techniques he honed in French kitchens but, in keeping with the brief, the core components of his dishes are Asian — local sea bass, river clams, baby octopus and mango.

White fish is steamed with lemongrass and topped with a buttery sauce for the main. Decorated with plump green beans and vegetables, the elegantly presented dish resembles an art work. “For this, I wanted to combine local products with western cuisine techniques. Of course, I could do the same recipe but [put the] steamed fish with prahok sauce,” he says.

As the centrepiece of his dessert, he chose mango — a tropical fruit that he has appreciated since childhood.

It is caramelised in a pan with butter and sugar, before being served with a dollop of coconut ice cream, a medley of tropical fruits, balsamic sauce, mint and a crumble.

With different textures and flavours able to excite the judges’ palates, a factor that according to Phoeung is an important part of cuisine, he calls the fruity extravaganza “100 percent local.”

THE VERDICT:

The local sea bass fillet, steamed with a healthy dollop of butter, has a rich, fleshy texture. Large clams and tender baby octopus are simmered in a briny seafood stock. A butter emulsion, ginger and lemongrass give the sauce a light finish.

The mango, served warm, has the texture

of crème brûlée — burnt sugar outside, almost custard-like within. It contrasts brilliantly against the cool ice cream.

Faint scatterings of breadcrumbs keep the textures interesting. The whole thing is laced with a balsamic reduction for a subtle but noticeable acidic tang.

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32 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

A new frontier

Illustration by Steve Tierney www.teaguesart.com

Food fanatics have much to celebrate as the country’s restaurant scene develops at a break-neck pace. Ellie Dyer sits down with the team behind the soon-to-bereleased restaurant guide Cambodia’s Top Tables to discuss the Kingdom’s culinary future.

With a restaurant on almost every corner, competition in Cambodia’s already crowded food sector is fierce. Eateries can open and close in the blink of an eye as restaurateurs try their hand at cracking the developing market.

“It’s a constantly changing landscape,” says Darren Gall of food and drink supplier AusKhmer. “Only the good ones will survive.”

In fact, finding the good ones has been at the forefront of Gall’s mind for around two years. Together with food writer Clive Graham-Ranger, hotelier Alexis de Suremain, businesswoman Marina Pok Renouf and leading chef Luu Meng, the wine industry veteran is part of an expert panel tasked with selecting subjects for an ambitious examination of the country’s restaurant scene.

“We collectively donated our waistlines,” jokes Gall about the resulting book, entitled Cambodia’s Top Tables. Due for release this month, the publication features in-depth interviews and recipes from 52 of the country’s best chefs.

Though the project involved fine dining as 'research', it was not always plain sailing.

Author Graham-Ranger

contracted dengue fever while on the road — which put him out of action for a month — and at one point fell down a staircase at a hotel. “I didn’t break anything, thank God,” he says.

For the British writer who interviewed each of the featured cooks after the panel whittled down 200 contenders to the final selection, it was an overall positive experience.

“There have been exquisitely difficult times, I savour them,” he says.

The book’s creators hope to introduce the skill and passion of chefs working in the country — including Khmer Rouge survivor Chenda Im of Mike’s Burger House and various doyens of restaurant cuisine — to a new audience.

Given the country’s evolving food scene, it’s a good moment to spotlight Cambodia’s restaurants. Tourism is growing while increasing numbers of professional restaurateurs are coming to Cambodia to tap into the market, joining a new generation of local chefs hungry for success.

“There is this groundswell of wanting to discover and do more by looking at their background and their roots, no pun intended, to produce

better, more interesting food,” says Graham-Ranger, highlighting a Siem Reap chef called Theam Piseth who experiments with fare foraged from the forest.

Another man at the forefront of Cambodian creativity is chef Luu Meng. Known internationally for his talent, the entrepreneur emphasises the importance of passion for newcomers to the industry.

“We need that model,” he says of ambitious young chefs, stressing the importance of cooking for the love of food, rather than calculating profit per dish. “Certain chefs cook food, certain chefs have been told to cook numbers… When cooking food it means we love the food.”

Moving the food market forward is also an important part of tourism, the panel agrees, and de Suremain says surveyed tourists “are surprised that Phnom Penh can offer so much in terms of dining”.

“A lot of people come to Southeast Asia for the temples and markets and the sights and sounds, but they leave talking about the food,” adds Gall.

With such opportunity and talent on show, it is no wonder that each panel member is

enthusiastic about the future of food. Luu hopes a newly formed Cambodian chef federation can help fuel talent by enabling chefs to meet each other and share their experiences. Others point to the next generation of Cambodian chefs as a positive sign.

“There are probably more and more people who want to achieve something,” explains de Suremain, who has seen young ambition first hand, describing The Plantation’s chef as “somebody who wants to break the ceiling". "You say in French, his teeth are out — he’s ready to go,” he says.

As the book demonstrates, he’s not the only one.

Cambodia’s Top Tables ($26), published by AsiaLIFE Media, is due to be released later this month at select locations including Monument Books.

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With big hair, skinny jeans and a love of Korean pop music, trendy Cambodian teens are pushing boundaries. Cassandra Naji and photographer Conor Wall get fresh with Phnom Penh’s cool kids.

It’s Friday afternoon and the air is heavy with hairspray.

Every seat in O'Russey Market’s Cute Boy Salon is occupied by a teenager in various stages of transformation. Korean pop music plays fuzzily from an ancient TV set in the corner.

“I like to look good, look fresh,” says 17-year-old Hourt Samnang, as a stylist backcombs his highlighted hair into a towering quiff.

“All my friends like fashion.”

Boys and girls like Samnang can be found in salons throughout the capital — teenagers with asymmetrical hairdos, attitudes to match and a fever for ‘freshie style’. Even to the untrained eye, the default fashion setting for many Khmer adolescents is not hard to spot.

Highly-styled hair can be simultaneously bleached, bouffanted and crimped, with a trucker cap precariously hair sprayed into position. For boys, skinny jeans, double denim and heavy jewellery are must-haves, while girls may favour hotpants and hair-swishing.

Like any teen trend, being ‘fresh’ mainly mandates listening to the right music, going to the coolest places and referencing the hottest celebrities. But a commercial powerhouse contributing to the phenomenon is a televised talent show called Freshie Girls and Boys, imported from Thailand more than a decade ago.

With its twelfth season set to begin in December, the program has given many local teens a brush with stardom. Organisers estimate around 80 percent of young Khmer television actors started their careers at the popular show.

Every week contestants showcase their talents to the nation. Viewers can vote by text for their favourite, but ultimately it is a panel of judges that decides on the season’s freshie king and queen, who provide instant inspiration for the average TV-watching teen.

The show’s popularity among youths is undeniable.

Last year, production company BKA Entertainment received more than 1,200 applications to appear on the program.

“We ask them about their education and general knowledge,” says Thach Phong, general manager at BKA. “If you don’t study, you can still be the prettiest, [but] we don’t care, you don’t get picked. Secondly, you have to show your talent — Korean dance, Cambodian classical dance, singing or acting.”

Those lucky enough to make it to the televised rounds have the opportunity to achieve fame and fortune, but Thach Phong is keen to explain that the show is about more than promoting celebrity culture.

The contestants are taught traditional performance arts such as Apsara, while also visiting orphanages and Angkor Wat temples to inform them of their heritage. “We try to explain to them what their culture is, that not everyone is as lucky as them,” he explains.

Despite such intentions, some believe the freshie generation is, in many ways, looking away from their Cambodian roots.

As Samnang explains from his salon chair: “Saying someone has ‘Korean style’ is cool.”

Phong reluctantly concedes the point. “We want our freshies to be inspirations for Khmer youth.” He smiles ruefully.

“But we can’t just ask them to be interested in Khmer culture.

K-pop is very influential now — they’re all crazy for it.”

Popular Radio Sarika broadcaster, and self-confessed former freshie, DJ Jolly confirms the trend’s tendency to garner inspiration from abroad.

“It’s a lot to do with K-pop stars, K-pop songs, TV shows from Thailand. Freshie gets inspiration from all over Asia.”

“Young people want something fresh and new and Korean pop and TV is the first thing they come to. And social media, it’s a big part of this,” adds Vorn Sophea, radio producer at Loy9, a popular multimedia initiative that

Like any teen trend, being ‘fresh’ mainly mandates listening to the right music, going to the coolest places and referencing the hottest celebrities.

encourages young Khmers to be socially engaged.

There may be deeper reasons why young Cambodians are intrigued by trends originating from the region. Project director at Loy9 Colin Spurway cites commonalities between Asian cultures — such as traditional familial values — as a possible factor.

“Of course, there are marketing reasons why something like K-pop is so influential. But ultimately I think the base between the two is closer than that of the Cambodian and European cultures,” he explains.

Even so, the results of such pan-Asian trends may be a cause for concern to older or more traditional generations.

Last month, local media said that the Ministry of Tourism had ordered the immediate closure of so-called ‘day discos’ that open from early afternoon, often pumping out Korean pop. Officials were reportedly concerned that venues caused high-school kids to cut school and neglect their studies.

Samnang admits that his grandmother doesn’t ‘get’ it. “She always asks why I want to look like a pop star, why I don’t just go to study and come home,” he says. “But things change. I want to look good, to have money, go to the mall. This happens everywhere, why not Cambodia too?”

While it may be important to be cool on the outside, Spurway says the trend and its foreign influences do not seem to be changing Khmer culture.

“The responsibility still lies with young people to decide what they want Cambodia to be, and where they want it to go.”

Vorn Sophea agrees. From his experience working with young people, the phenomenon is only skin-deep. “Everybody wants to be a freshie, but it just changes things like fashion and cosmetics. It doesn’t change them inside — they still know they are Khmer.”

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CAMERA SKILLS Cambodia’s scenery and people inspire many creative minds to pick up a camera and capture the moment. But if your snaps are more blurry than beautiful, AsiaLIFE’s photographers have put together these guidelines on getting the best from your prints. Photography by Dylan Walker and Conor Wall

Shadow and Light

COMPOSING YOURSELF

by Dylan Walker

It is said that a picture paints a thousand words, but any photographer can push the word-count higher with an understanding of composition, even if you don’t own the latest Canon 5D mkIII or Nikon D4.

GET UP

For better photographic composition, get out of your seat. Whether your subject is a rock group or a playful puppy, look around for the best angle to make your subject stand out.

Getting low down and shooting upwards can make your subject seem bigger or more imposing.

Using a high angle and shooting downwards can give a weak or cute impression of your subject.

The next time you’re at a DVD shop take a look at the movie covers. Strong characters like Batman will always be shot from a low angle. A high angle is usually used for weaker characters.

36 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

FOCAL POINT

To make an image more interesting always choose a focal point. A face will automatically grab attention, but when capturing a landscape try to find something interesting like a boat or a lone building. The human eye is not naturally drawn to the middle of an image, so put the focal point one third of the way into the frame. If your subject is a speeding car or an elderly cyclo driver, the image should show the space the subject is moving into. Finally, focus. Most small consumer cameras do this automatically. Try pushing the shutter button down half way, before pressing all the way for the shot.

FRAME

To draw the viewer further into the image, find something in the environment to frame the picture with. Use an object less interesting than your subject. A

THE BEST TIME TO TAKE GREAT PHOTOS IN THE KINGDOM IS VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING AND FROM AROUND 5PM tree with its branches leading into the top of the frame won’t steal attention, but a giraffe leaning its long neck in just might.

SHADOW AND LIGHT Shadows and highlights build an image. Cambodia has very bright sunlight for most of the day, creating harsh contrasts with heavy dark shadows and over-blown highlights.

I usually try to make sure my subject is in the shade, failing that you can ask them to tilt their head back or use a reflector to bounce light back into the shadows.

TIME IT RIGHT

The best time to take great photos in the Kingdom is very early in the morning and from around 5pm when the light is not too bright. Directional light can make a photograph more atmospheric, as a lightsource coming from the side will naturally cast longer shadows.

So get up early, choose a focal point, select an angle and a frame, focus and click.

You’ll have written more than a thousand words before breakfast.

Focal point

Framing

Low angle

Environmental portrait

Portrait with focal point

TRAVEL PORTRAITURE

by Conor Wall

The young have beautiful eyes and smiles, while each line on elderly faces represents a hardship or triumph in their long lives. Here are some ideas to allow you to get closer to those faces and, with a bit of luck, capture their feelings through the lens.

USE A LOCAL GUIDE

If you are travelling in a new area, a local driver or guide is the key to getting successful photographs. He will know of locations that might provide excellent photographic possibilities. What may seem mundane to him may be gold dust for photographers. Ask if the local area has bustling markets, boat communities, football games or fishermen.

Using a motodop may cost a bit more, but it is well worth it.

ASK PERMISSION

Think about how you would

feel if someone approached you and wanted to take a photograph. Don’t be rude and always ask first, while respecting peoples' feelings and beliefs. Friends are also much easier to photograph than strangers. Any attempt to stutter or mumble Khmer will be matched by peoples' efforts to understand and befriend you. If your Khmer isn’t too hot, learn a few phrases related to photography, such as “May I take a photo?”, “Look at the camera”, “Smile” and, most importantly, “Thank you”.

DRINK BEER

To capture faces, you have to get up close, which can be daunting. Natural inhibitions and anxieties are powerful.

Obvious nervousness can become infectious, causing your subject to become nervous too. Thankfully, inhibitions can be drowned.

Dutch courage can be the key to success for shy photographers. A word of warning — don’t drink so much that you forget to alter camera settings, slur your speech or forget where you live. You need just enough to loosen any nerves.

TAKE TIME

Good portraits require relaxed and comfortable subjects. To avoid creating tense or nervy situations, spend time getting to know the subject before shooting. Usually this can be done in a few minutes. At other times you might have to come back several times before getting the photo you were after. Keep your camera in view and openly take shots at all times. You are a travel photographer, not a paparazzi journalist. You have nothing to hide, and there is no reason to create any suspicion.

SHOW THE RESULTS

After taking portraits, as a goodwill gesture, always show the subject the final photo on the back of the LCD screen. It may make their day, maybe even their week. Sometimes, I get the feeling that I am using the people I photograph. After all, I get wonderful photo opportunities, while the people get nothing. In an attempt to even things out a little, wherever possible, make an effort to print a copy of the photographs and return them to the subjects. Deep down everyone likes to have their photograph taken.

The experience of photographing is more important than the photos you get. Take your time, smile, make friends and share photos. Good images will undoubtedly follow.

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a dog's life From pet rescue efforts to pooch pampering, life for man’s best friend is being made as comfortable as possible. Ellie Dyer and Lim Meng Y speak to Phnom Penh’s pet enthusiasts. Photography by Dylan Walker.

Moving around isn’t a simple affair for Joe, a sandy-coloured puppy with no front legs. The excitable pup has to use his two back paws to wiggle around his temporary home.

Thought to have been born without front limbs, Joe won the hearts of two travellers who were on a trip to Cambodia — so much so that they decided to fly him across the world to live with them in Scotland.

While documentation for the export was being processed prior 38 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

to Joe’s flight last month, he was cared for — together with three dogs and seven cats — by physics teacher Nicola Scales of the Phnom Penh Animal Welfare Society (PPAWS). The fledgling group formed a year ago and aims to improve the lives of Cambodia’s abandoned domestic animals.

Scales explains that in the West many unwanted puppies and kittens are brought to rescue centres, but in Cambodia animals are often abandoned

at Buddhist pagodas. PPAWS puts such abandoned pets up for temporary fostering or adoption, and encourages strays to be neutered, thereby preventing more unwanted puppies or kittens from being dumped.

“I would say that 100 percent of the time they will get a better life if they are adopted,” explains Scales, while walking through a local pagoda where PPAWS works and stopping to pick up a newly-arrived kitten.

Responsible Ownership Adopting or buying a pet is a big decision and especially so for expats whose home countries — such as Australia and New Zealand — have stringent quarantine laws.

Scales says that temporarily fostering an animal can be a middle ground for those worried about the long-term commitment of pet ownership.

“They get something out of it, especially if they don’t know

where they are going or don’t want that responsibility, but would like a pet for comfort.”

For those who take the plunge and adopt an animal long-term, navigating the challenges of pet ownership in a country where canine distemper and rabies are concerns can be complicated.

Chan Dara, the 31-yearold owner of Chan Dara’s veterinary centre, advises owners to have young animals vaccinated at between four to eight weeks old and recommends taking pets to a professional if they refuse to eat or sleep, or experience diarrhoea or vomiting.

Good mental health is also a consideration. “Depression could come up when you are away from them. Moreover, it’s beneficial to always praise and reward them with some snack.

This kind of action can cheer it up,” the clinic owner explains.

“Dogs will love you forever if you treat them correctly.”

Pet Pampering Professionals also emphasise the importance of grooming in keeping animals comfortable, and pet salons are finding an audience in Phnom Penh, with both Cambodian and foreign customers drawn to their services.

One man tapping into the market is 27-year-old Sok Chhay, who opened Happy Dog Pet Shop in 2009. The shop caters for dog and cat owners, selling pet food, offering services such as grooming and vaccination and even organising funerals for family pets.

“A real pet lover surely will stay faithful to their pet even when it dies, so our shop organises an extraordinary service to organise funerals for pets,” he explains. “Clients can choose the price of the coffin, which ranges from $30 to $500, plus the service of burying it at a pagoda.”

Some warn that animal

“I would say that 100 percent of the time they will get a better life if they are adopted,”

lovers can, in some instances, misplace their affections. One expat, speaking from personal experience, warns against the temptation of caring for more exotic animals.

Phnom Penh businesswoman Yulia Khouri took in a baby macaque called Charlie during a trip to Koh Rong and cared

for it until he was re-homed last month in a rescue shelter.

It is hoped that in due course some of the monkeys can be reintegrated into their natural habitat, but due to his humanisation Charlie is unlikely to be released.

Following her experiences, Khouri warns against primates being kept as pets. “From cute babies they become strong wild animals,” she says. “Lots of animals like Charlie die each year, after the owners just cannot handle them anymore.”

When given proper love and attention and placed in the right environment, domestic pets — such as dogs like Joe, who now lives happily at his new home in Edinburgh — can become much-loved family members.

As Happy Dog owner Sok Chhay contends: “The ideal idea to raise a good pet is to treat them as your best friend.”

Please visit ppaws.com for more information about pet adoption.

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 39

Destination Hong Kong Ellie Dyer takes a trip to the Asian mega-city Hong Kong to experience the sights, smells and sounds of one of the world’s biggest metropolises.

The distinctive smell of dried fish permeates Wing Lok Street in old Hong Kong. Dried oysters, sea cucumbers and scallops fill bags outside small shops where elderly traders sit behind large scales to weigh and examine goods.

The narrow road — known for its seafood and bird nest specialties — is alive with shoppers, commuters and the odd tourist, offering an insight into daily life in one of Asia’s mega-cities. But above the streetlevel hubbub lies a reminder of modern Hong Kong. Giant gleaming skyscrapers loom over even the smallest of alleyways.

Rich in history and tradition, Hong Kong is a city of contrasts.

Symbols of the city’s past — including the more than 150 years of British control that 40 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

ended in 1997 — are easily spotted beneath the iconic modern day towers.

In Hong Kong’s central district, located one train stop away from Wing Lok in Sheung Wan district, lies one such remnant — St John’s Cathedral.

Set in a leafy enclave, the building’s foundation stone was laid during the British colonial expansion of the 1840s. Over the next century and a half, its stone walls witnessed the growth of Hong Kong from a small town to today’s financial metropolis, including almost four years of Japanese occupation during the World War Two era.

Another historical remnant is the Peak Tram. Conceived

by Alexander Findlay Smith in 1881 as a way to speed up the city’s development, the funicular

railway winds its way up through Hong Kong’s steep hills to ‘The Peak’. At its conception, the tram provided a replacement for the sedan chairs carried uphill by unlucky 19th century servants.

The tramway opened to great acclaim in 1888. A Daily Press article reported that “the novel means of locomotion excited great interest among the Chinese” when “an opportunity of a free trip was offered to all those who chose to avail themselves of it”.

Nowadays, it is tourists who avail themselves of the transport, braving the steep ride to the top during which skyscrapers appear to balance at a precarious 45-degree angle.

Shopping centres and restaurant complexes are major

attractions of the modern day hilltop, but the stunning view over the harbour more than 400 metres below remains breathtaking. A short hike around the top on a jungle-lined footpath is a great way to make the most of a rare sense of calm in the city. With few other people in sight, birds and butterflies can be spotted along the path, while the din of Hong Kong remains a dull murmur echoing up the hillside.

For tourists who prefer a taste of the future over the past, Hong Kong does not disappoint. Escalators carry city residents up and down the hillside’s mid-levels, allowing some to hop off at the bustling Soho district, where expats can be seen making the most of Happy Hour cocktails in sleek, modern bars. A trip to the party

district of Lan Kawi Fong is a must-do for party-goers and people-watchers alike. A bevy of small bars line winding hillside streets, pumping out music and catering for businessmen and women who want to unwind after a hard day’s work.

Those searching for a less boozy side to the city also have much to experience. A ride on the star ferry from Hong Kong Island to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) — where designer fashion brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton are housed in luxury surrounds — provides an opportunity to examine the iconic skyline from afar, while bobbing up and down on the waves. Near the TST ferry hub, visitors can attend free nightly light-shows where lasers beam from atop buildings

accompanied by music, for a spectacular, if somewhat surreal, sight.

Just a 20-minute walk away lies the tallest building in town, the International Commerce Centre. Visitors can ascend 393 metres in around a minute to see dizzying panoramic views of Hong Kong at the building’s Sky 100 observation deck. By night or day, it offers a spectacular bird’s eye view of the city’s surrounds.

Tranquillity can be found at Hong Kong’s botanical and zoological gardens. Manicured flower beds and refreshing fountains feel a world away from the traffic-dense streets.

Only the whooping call of the Siamang gibbons, one of many animals housed within the grounds, breaks the peace.

Those searching for a less boozy side to the city also have much to experience.

With so much to see and do, a proper exploration of Hong Kong could take a lifetime. Even a few days in the city are enough to get a taste of a metropolis that has a personality all of its own.

How To Get There: From the end of October, Dragon Air will operate 10 direct flights a week between Phnom Penh and Hong Kong, with two flights a day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays. The airline is set to offer promotion fares of $309++ for flights booked before Oct. 15, with travel time until Mar. 31. The airline is also a member of the Cathay Pacific group and offers flight extensions to locations such as Beijing and Tokyo. Stopovers can be booked for as little as $50. For more information, visit dragonair. com/kh.

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Farang of the North When London merchant Ralph Fitch first visited Chiang Mai in 1586, it took him 25 days to travel overland from Burma to the city then called Jamahey.

He described the city as “a very faire and great towne, with faire houses of stone, well peopled, the streets are very large,” recounts traveller and writer Richard Hakluyt.

Now the city is a short flight from Bangkok and has become a must for serious travellers to Thailand. Many of them, unlike Fitch, visit the old British 42 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

consulate, which came to represent the centre for farang [a Thai term for a westerner] activity in the north of Thailand long after the merchant’s first steps into the walled town.

The building known as the old consulate, and now home of the Chedi Chiang Mai hotel, was the second British consulate though little is known of the first building. Built by the consul W A R Wood in 1915 on a plot of land owned by the British government where a statue to Queen Victoria had

stood since 1903, it served as residence for the official, his servants and four of King George V’s polo elephants.

It proved the focal point for expat society, with the King’s or Queen’s birthday party the main event of the social calendar until 1978, when it was sold off by the British government.

While the ground floor was built on a one-metre high rectangular base to protect it from flooding, upstairs spacious verandahs caught the cooling breezes drifting in

from the river. In the absence of air-conditioning, the dining room was cooled by a punkah — a wooden board suspended from the ceiling — pulled by a punkah-wallah.

One of the more remarkable elements of the building, as observed by Alberto Cosi in his article about the old consulate published in 1995 in Vimarn magazine, was that it was precisely 22 yards long, the length of a cricket pitch, although it was croquet rather than cricket that was played on

Main photo: Courtesy of Chedi Chiang Mai Archival photos: Courtesy of Boonserm Satrabhaya

A visit to a hill tribe, an elephant show and traditional dancing — some things are little changed in Chiang Mai, Thailand, since Queen Elizabeth II visited in 1972. With royalty in mind, Mark Bibby Jackson looks at the history of the city’s British consulate, which once housed George V’s polo elephants.

“The Queen was offended by the attention that her husband gave to the dancing girls – so rumour has it.”

the consulate’s green lawn.

Despite the consulate housing George V’s polo elephants, the British king never visited Chiang Mai. It was his granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II who became the first reigning British monarch to come here as part of a six-day tour of the country in 1972, accompanied by her regent Prince Phillip.

According to the Chronicle of Thailand, the couple had an itinerary that would not appear out of place on the brochures of many tour companies now

operating in Chiang Mai. They met “minority Meo, or Hmong, hill tribes who performed a cultural show” before the “rumps of two baby elephants, each painted with the word ‘Bye’ were shown to the royals”.

Clearly the tiger sanctuary was not open then.

John Shaw, who has lived in the city for the last 30 years and was honorary consul from 1990 to 1995, recalls that the trip did not go quite according to Whitehall’s best laid plans.

The royal automobile broke

down on the way back from the McKean Leprosarium, which was the first leprosy centre in Thailand.

The royal couple then stayed at the Bhubing Palace where Shaw states that “the Queen was offended by the attention that her husband gave to the dancing girls — so rumour has it”.

Shaw does not believe the consulate building to be “so very special” in itself, but it was an important meeting place for expat society in Chiang Mai, even after the official sale had gone through. “I remember playing a last game of croquet on the lawn after it had been sold,” he says.

In 2005 the building was converted into the Chedi Chiang Mai, a five-star hotel and spa, now managed by the GHM group. Although the new owners could not have had a worse start with the whole site becoming flooded shortly after it opened, closing it for several months, Shaw says “the conversion to a hotel has been well done”.

Certainly the integrity of the former consulate building has been maintained, although the dress code of those taking breakfast beside the Mae Ping river is something that W A R Wood might have frowned upon.

Architect firm Kerry Hill states that “the design intention of the scheme was to combine a city location with the atmosphere of a resort hotel, together with the integration of the existing colonial house, site and hotel using a contemporary interpretation of traditional Thai materials”.

The strong use of dark woods throughout, together with the space created by an L-shaped courtyard facing the river, has by-and-large achieved the architect’s aim.

For those wishing to seep in the atmosphere of one of the most history-laden buildings in northern Thailand, taking High Tea in the shade of the verandah is an experience not to be missed.

Unfortunately the polo elephants have long since gone and as for a game of croquet you’ll probably have to borrow a set from John Shaw.

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La P’tite France “See, simple,” exclaims Didier Pierrot as he pours another glass of crisp sauvignon blanc. “It doesn’t matter how expensive the bottle is, it’s about choosing the right one.”

The chef and owner of La P’tite France is certainly someone who takes matters into his own hands. Nearly anything that can be is made in house, including a selection of charcuterie and breads. Homemade pork pâté and rillettes are chopped by hand, not ground by machine, and are meaty with herby undertones providing a rich earthy flavour.

Pierrot has been in Cambodia for the last five years and started off in various kitchens and restaurants before opening La P’tite France on Phnom Penh’s riverside three years ago.

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A recent move to a leafy converted villa in the heart of BKK 1 means the restaurant is now a simply, but elegantly, appointed eatery, with outdoor and indoor space as well as two private VIP rooms. “I want it to be about the experience as much as the food,” says Pierrot, who aims to cook the best traditional French cuisine in Cambodia.

Though traditional in his approach, often referring to his grandmother’s recipes, he does not shy away from a little creativity. Pierrot might offer you a canapé of salmon that has been marinated in dill and spices for three days. He pairs it not with crème fraîche but a mild yoghurt, house made of course. A mammoth pork shank is slowly braised in traditional Alsatian style, but the sauerkraut

Writer Daniel Riegler and photographer Dylan Walker get a taste of decadent French cooking during a visit to La P’tite France’s new home.

accompanying it is confited with porcini mushrooms, giving it a bit of sweetness rather than the usual tart flavour.

Pierrot imports products such as higher grade steaks like the Rossini — a filet with foie gras — but uses local beef for his standard steak frites and slow cooked beef cheeks. The bistro steak is cut thin and marinated for several days in vinegar and garlic, making it extremely tender. The beef cheeks are rich and served in a red wine reduction with creamy mashed potatoes.

Pierrot is perhaps most in his element as he describes the process of one of his signature dishes —foie gras mi cuit au torchon, which is partially cooked in a dish towel. The three day cooking process involves

cleaning the foie gras, letting it sit in a closely guarded mix of spices and finally wrapping it in a towel for a 12 minute poach.

The results are divinely rich with creamy discs of concentrated duck liver dotted with bits of homemade gelée.

Pierrot insists on showcasing one more specialty: his chocolate mousse. Made from dark chocolate it is nothing short of decadent — dense but still fluffy in consistency.

“This is the ultimate test for French people. If the chocolate mousse is not good, they don’t come back” he explains. “As long as people are happy with the food and the experience, I am happy.”

La P’tite France, 38 Street 306 (Between 57 and 63). Tel: 016 642 630 or 023 22 314.

Aqua The pool and garden at Aqua offer a sanctuary from one of the city’s busiest areas, and the atmosphere continues through to the light, airy restaurant space decorated with clean lines, neutral colours and simple, solid furniture.

Look closely, however, and in a surreal twist a single birdof-paradise bloom resides in a birdcage. The mix of visuals signifies that at Aqua diners can expect a mélange of east, west and the unexpected.

With a modest lunch menu catering to almost any taste — á la carte options range from $4.50 to $13.50 and a set menu at $10.50 for three courses — chef Sacha Hernaus gives standard western dishes a new lease of life with oriental twists and artistic presentation.

As one of Phnom Penh’s newest eateries, Aqua has a lot to live up to in the capital’s burgeoning gastronomic scene. Kate Burbidge and Dylan Walker find promising fusion cuisine with character, as chef-owner Sacha Hernaus delivers with aplomb.

The meal begins with complimentary warm homebaked bread and pesto made from European garden-grown basil, both of which are replenished if necessary. A tomato carpaccio, an interesting vegetarian spin on the usual beef or tuna version, makes for an entrée that is a riot of flavour and colour. Finely-sliced ripe tomato lines up alongside beetroot crisps, home-made pesto and sharp goats cheese. Garnished with beetroot and balsamic reduction, it’s a slice of Mediterranean heaven on a plate.

As a main course, a grouper fillet is pan-fried to perfection.

Delicately crispy yet succulent, it is seasoned just enough to bring out the subtle flavour of the fish without overwhelming it. The accompanying cassoulet

of haricots blancs is cooked risotto-style with oil, cream and parmesan. The beans take on a creamy richness that lends itself perfectly to their velvety texture. The dish is served with a vibrant yellow curry sauce in its own coconut-wood ramekin.

The sauce can be slathered or drizzled according to taste.

Its gentle warmth ties the two elements together without drowning either.

Though the set-menu portions are easily large enough to share, those with a more robust appetite might choose an extra main course. An unusual treatment of chicken fajitas ($7.50) finds them aromatic rather than spicy. Juicy chunks of chicken, green bell pepper and onion arrive sizzling at the table. A piquant — but not hot — rich red salsa, smooth

guacamole and a silky sour cream help diners assemble a gentler version of the Tex-Mex mainstay.

While most fruit platters are much of a muchness, Hernaus again demonstrates his quirky style by offering a rich caramel sauce on his version. The caramel enlivens the bright mix of fresh tropical fruits, but popping candy provides that extra twist and proves a delightfully unexpected addition as it crackles on the tongue.

With bright flavours and a drinks menu that includes a not-too-sweet range of fresh juices (at $2.50), it is apparent that fresh, high quality ingredients are paramousnt at Aqua.

Aqua, 2 Street 278. Open 11.30am to 2.30pm and 6pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Mondays.

Tel: 012 414 596.

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Connoisseur IT'S OK TO LIKE NICE THINGS

ROLLS ROYCE One of the oldest name brands in the automotive industry, Rolls-Royce produces arguably the most high-end cars on the planet. The name has become a byword for exclusivity and luxury, even to people who know little about cars.

Rolls-Royce Limited, as the company was initially known, was founded by Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce in 1906.

The firm quickly made an impact with the Silver Ghost, which was named the ‘best car in the world’ at the time by a prestigious motoring magazine. The chassis from this vehicle was even used to create Britain’s first armoured car during World War I. Rolls-Royce continued to produces large, luxurious cars in the following years, and the company eventually began building aircraft engines as well. However, in 1971 the British government nationalised the firm after spending on the development of a new jet engine nearly ruined Rolls-Royce. Then, in 1973, the motor car business was spun off from the aircraft wing and re-named Rolls-Royce Motors.

The next few decades were relatively lean for Rolls-Royce and by the end of the 1990s BMW and Volkswagen were both vying to buy the brand after the then-owners made it clear they wanted to sell. In 2003 BMW took full control over Rolls-Royce and immediately began working on new models.

The first car released under BMW management was the Phantom, a large saloon, which has gone on to become one of the brand’s most popular cars ever and returned Rolls-Royce to the pinnacle of the automotive industry. In keeping with the brand’s traditional devotion 46 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

Phantom Drophead Coupe

The chassis from this vehicle was even used to create Britain’s first armoured car during World War I

to hand-made cars, only three robots are used at the factory where Phantoms are produced.

Coats of paint are machinesprayed on each vehicle’s body, but everything else is done by hand, from welding the chassis together to stitching the leather interior. A powerful V12 engine allows the Phantom to hit nearly 200mph, an amazing speed for such a huge car.

The Phantom was designed to

be the ultimate luxury car, and it has been a huge international hit.

Customers run a diverse range from American hip-hop artists to Saudi princes. Spending a base price of roughly $400,000, Phantom owners are part of an exclusive club.

With such a high price tag it comes as no surprise that the Phantom is available with a staggering array of options and luxury amenities. Customers can choose from 44,000 paint colours, and specify any leather colour.

The ‘Bespoke’ program allows buyers to ask for any custom option they may desire, as long as it is a reasonable request. The interior features a 26-speaker sound system, rear-seat tables, a refrigerator, and plenty of leather.

In 2007 Rolls-Royce introduced the Phantom Drophead

Coupe, a convertible twodoor version of the saloon. At $443,000 it is the brand’s most expensive car and features many of the same amenities available on the full-size Phantom, with the additional option of endless headroom once the roof is down.

The most recent addition to the Rolls-Royce lineup is the Ghost, a smaller four-door that begins at $255,000, making this car the ideal Roller for the budget-conscious. Of course, this doesn’t mean the Ghost is lacking in the luxury department, as it comes with a cashmere-lined roof, thermal imaging for driving at night, and radar cruise control.

For more than a century RollsRoyce has been producing some of the most opulent, technically advanced cars in the world. With their current lineup, the brand is more successful than ever.

Sisters, Siblings, Sawdust.

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Photography: Dylan Walker Models: Miss Try Ousa, Miss Try Sopanha, Ms Chhoeun Try Chhorvy, Ms Keo Volen, Mr. Hang Vichedra Hair and makeup: Mr. Rith Sovanseyha Styling & Art Direction: Alan James Flux Location: The Wood Workshop at Watthan Artisans Cambodia All clothing and accessories by A.N.D. 52c, Street 240 artisandesigners@gmail.com

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LISTINGS

hotel & travel Airlines Air Asia 66 Mao Tse Tung Blvd, Tel: 023 356 011.

Air France Phnom Penh Tower, 11th Floor 445, Monivong Blvd, (Cnr of St. 232) Tel: 023 965 500 Angkor Airways 32 Norodom Blvd, Tel: 023 222 056 Asiana Airlines A-16 Domestic Arrival Terminal, Phnom Penh International Airport, Tel: 023 890 440-2 Bangkok Airways 61A Street 214, Tel: 023 722 545 China Airlines 32 Norodom Blvd.

Tel: 023 222 393

Dragon Air 168 Monireth Blvd, Tel: 023 424 300 www.dragonair.com/kh, pnh.res@dragonair.com Eva Air 298 Mao Tse Tung Blvd.

Tel: 023 219 911 Jet Star Asia 333B Monivong Blvd., Tel: 023 220 909 Korean Air F3-R03, 254 Monivong Blvd.

Tel: 023 224 047/8 Lao Airlines 58C Sihanouk Blvd, Tel: 023 216 563 Malaysia Airlines 172 Monivong Blvd, Tel: 023 218 923 Silk Air 313 Sisowath Quay (Himawari Hotel), Tel: 023 426 808 Thai Airways 294 Mao Tse Tung Blvd, Tel: 023 214 359 Vietnam Airlines 41 Street 214, Tel: 023 363 396.

Battambang La Villa 185 Pom Romchek 5,

Tel: 017 411 880 / 053 730 151, lavilla.battambang@gmail.com, www.lavilla-battambang.com Beautifully restored 1930s colonial house with six rooms is the premium hotel in the country’s second city and with an excellent kitchen and bar.

Riverside Balcony Bar & Restaurant West bank of river, Tel: 012 437 421 Traditional wooden house with great views of the river and good food, ideal for a sunset cocktail lounging over the river. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 4pm to 11pm.

Kampot Blissful Guest House Tel: 012 848 390 www.blissfulguesthouse.com Small guest house, with 11 rooms, set in a quiet part of town with downstairs restaurant and bar, and communal TV room upstairs.

Bokor Mountain Lodge Riverfront Tel: 033 932 314, 017 712 062. www.bokorlodge.com Beautiful French colonial building situated on riverfront with well-fitted air-conditioned rooms. Has a good restaurant and bar.

Epic Arts Café Old Market, Employing deaf staff, this café next to

the old market has a good range of bagels, shakes, brownies and coffee. Is also the centre for the community arts programme. Open from 7am to 6pm.

Les Manguiers 2km north of Kampot, Tel: 092 330 050 Small resort with bungalows and rooms set in beautiful gardens overlooking the river with a restaurant which has daily changing, freshly prepared food.

Mea Culpa 44 Sovansokar, Kampot, Tel: 012 504 769 meaculpakampot@gmail.com Accommodation established by the former manager of Bokor Mountain Lodge set in the French Quarter. Six rooms have air con, hot water, DVD and TV. The large garden has a patio pizzeria and bar.

Nataya Coral Bay Resort Prek Ampil, Kampot, Tel: 016 226 471 /012 902 823. natayaresort@yahoo.com Only 16km from Kampot, this top-end hideaway comes complete with eight beachfront bungalows, a 25m infinity pool, a 2km private beach, stilt huts off a 300m pier, and simply oodles of relaxation.

Rikitikitavi Riverfront Tel: 012 274 820 or 012 235 102 www.rikitikitavi-kampot.com

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Western food served in large portions in this river-facing restaurant, bar and three-room guesthouse. A more upmarket venue for Kampot, the upstairs seating affords great sunset views. Restaurant and bar open 7 days a week.

Rusty Keyhole Riverfront This British pub is the place for expats to chew the fat over a pint. Friendly British owner has recreated the atmosphere of a rural pub in outer Kampot, or at least as close as it gets.

The ribs remain as good as ever. Open 8.30am to midnight.

Kep Breezes Route 33, Tel: 097 675 9072 Situated on the main coast road about halfway between Kep Beach and the ferry to Rabbit Island, this stylish restaurant and lounge is located right by the sea in a green, wooded area.

The food is a fusion of Asian and western with a focus on small dishes with plenty of seafood. Free pick-up and return to Kep hotels.

Kep Lodge Tel: 092 435 330, www.keplodge.com Nestled just below the calm Kep National Park, this boutique resort offers only 10 standard and luxury bungalows, all with private balcony, hot water and sea view. The comfortable restaurant pampers you with local and Swiss specialties and the lively bar.

The beautiful infinity salt water pool has one of the best views in Kep and is the perfect place for a sunset.

Knai Bang Chatt Resort Tel: 017 917 452, knaibangchatt.com Exclusive seaside resort just along from the crab stalls, which has opened up its doors to the public. Elegant swimming pool, air-con, gym, library and fantastic gardens, this resort is the ideal place to get away from Phnom Penh. Good restaurant with fantastic views of the sea. Check for special offers. Also has a Sailing Club next door with bar and restaurant, as well as Hoby Cats.

Le Bout du Monde Kep, Tel: 011 964 181 www.leboutdumondekep.com Individual and separate bungalows in traditional Khmer architecture located at a top of a hill with good views and nice gardens. Serves French and Khmer cuisine. Rooms have hot water, mini-bar, fan and safe.

Saravoan Hotel Thmey Village, Kep, Tel: 036 639 3909 / 012 715 588 / 012 357 729, Recently renovated building with 17 rooms has all the modern amenities including an inviting swimming pool and sweeping views of the sea.

Veranda Natural Resort Tel: 033 399 035, 012 888 619, www.veranda-resort.com Traditional wooden bungalows set in the hillside. Settle down for the night and listen to the jungle purr. Has a good restaurant and bar with some quite stunning sweeping views down to the coast.

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Phnom Penh – Deluxe Amanjaya 1 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 214 747 www.amanjaya-pancam-hotel.com Large hotel with a great central location along the riverfront. The rooms are spacious and well-equipped with tasteful Khmer decorations. The downstairs restaurant doubles up as the air-con K West bar.

Cambodiana 313 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 426 288 www.hotelcambodiana.com Great riverside location with spectacular sweeping views of the confluence of three rivers. Large rooms with air-con, in-room safes and good bathrooms. Live band plays nightly (except Mondays) from 8.15pm to late.

The Governor’s House 3 Mao Tse Tung Blvd, near corner of Norodom Blvd, Tel: 023 987 025, www.governorshouse.net Welcome to The Governor’s House Colonial Boutique Hotel in Phnom Penh. The Governor’s house offers an exclusive 10 rooms 5 stars boutique hotel embodied in an original colonialstyle mansion in the heart of BKK I, surrounded by the top residential area in downtown Phnom Penh city, Kingdom of Wonder.

Himawari 313 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 214 555 www.himawarihotel.com The 115 beautifully-designed suites have air-con, cable TV, IDD, Internet, in-room safes and large bathrooms.

Nice swimming pool and good gym facilities as well as two good tennis courts.

Imperial Garden Hotel 315 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 219 991 Large hotel and villa complex next to the Cambodiana. Has a swimming pool, gym and tennis court.

InterContinental 296 Mao Tse Tung, Tel: 023 424 888 www.intercontinental.com One of Phnom Penh’s most luxurious 5-star hotels, the 346 air-con rooms have all the expected facilities including in-room safes and king size beds. Also has a large swimming pool, a fitness centre and a spa.

Raffles Hotel Le Royal Street 92, Tel: 023 981 888 www.phnompenh.raffles.com Emanates the same class as its more famous namesake in Singapore. The Elephant Bar is a popular expat haunt during the 4pm to 8pm happy hour.

Beautiful gardens with a separate swimming pool for kids plus reasonably priced apartments for long stays. The rooms at the front are particularly special.

Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra 28 Old August Site, Sothearos Blvd, Tel: 023 999 200, www.sofitel.com Set riverside amongst landscaped gardens this 12-storey colonial style hotel is close to key attractions, embassies and the central business district. Along with 201 luxurious rooms

and suites with Mekong or Bassac river views, are chic restaurants and bars, an upscale spa, two swimming pools, a sports club and the finest conferencing facilities in Cambodia.

The Plantation Urban Resort and Spa 28 st.184, Tel: 023 215 151 http://theplantatation.asia 70 rooms – including a penthouse suite, two swimming pools, a restaurant, two bars, a gym, a spa and a meeting room. Centrally situated close to most of Phnom Penh’s main attractions.

Phnom Penh – Mid Almond Hotel 128F Sothearos Blvd.

Tel: 023 220 822 www.almondhotel.com.kh 56-room hotel located close to the Royal Palace and the riverfront with spacious rooms with WiFi. Downstairs restaurant serves dim sum and Cantonese food.

AQUA Boutique Hotel 2 Street 278, Tel: 012414596 Reservation at info@aqua-pp.com Modern Indochina villa offers 7 rooms in a stunning Art Deco building, All en-suite with A/C. and on-sight pool, sun bed, wine bar and tapas restaurant.

Asia Club 456 Monivong Blvd, Tel: 023 721 766 An oasis of water and green in the city, the five bungalows and four rooms with air-con and bath, large safe and flatscreen tv. The beautiful swimming pool is tucked around the back of Man Han Lou Restaurant and you can have drinks and food delivered from Man Han Lou Restaurant.

Blue Lime 42 Street 19z (off Street 19), Tel: 023 222 260 www.bluelime.asia Centrally-located mini-hotel with a great swimming pool and contemporary rooms is a good flashpacker option.

FCC Phnom Penh 362 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 012 253 222 www.fcccambodia.com Phnom Penh’s landmark restaurant has seven rooms with balconies offering views of the river. Each is individually designed and meticulously outfitted with highspeed Internet access and the latest mod cons.

Hotel Cara 18 Street 47 & 84, Tel: 023 430 066 / 023 998 422, stay@hotelcara.com, www.hotelcara.com Just north of Wat Phnom, this stylish boutique hotel has well-fitted rooms at very reasonable rates and a great sushi restaurant.

Lebiz Hotel & Library 79F Street 128, Tel: 023 998 608/610, info@lebizhotel.com, www.lebizhotel.com Luxury accommodation with a competitive edge and sleek modern design offers a full range of specialty services tailored to business needs,

and cutting-edge technology to maximise comfort and productivity.

Has unique library.

Paddy Rice 213-217 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 990 321, www.paddyrice.net Former Hope and Anchor has newly refurbished rooms with solar hot water, cable TV, air conditioning, WiFi and great views of the river from its balconies. Downstairs restaurant offers full western and Asian cuisine Splash Inn Hotel 5 Street 244, Tel: 023 986 174 www.splashinncambodia.com The Splash Inn opened in March 2011 after full renovations to two traditional Khmer villas, one block from the Royal Palace. All rooms boast handmade furniture, en-suite bathroom, flat-screen LCD TV, DVD, Wi-fi, fridge and mini-bar.

River 108 2 Street 108, Tel: 023 218 785, www.river108.com Art deco hotel aimed at the flashpacker set, the river view rooms are extremely comfortable with flat screen TV and separate bathroom and toilet. Efficient WiFi, good working space and spacious rooms make this the perfect business option.

The Little Garden 8 Street 398, Tel: 078 217 871 Stylish boutique hotel with a swimming pool. A quiet retreat from the city’s chaos. Rooms feature attractive Cambodian furniture and gorgeous colonial tiles.

The Pavilion 227 Street 19, Tel: 023 222 280 www.pavilion-cambodia.com Beautiful boutique hotel set in a colonial building with large, unique rooms, each with either a small balcony or garden. Outdoor swimming pool, free WiFi and a small poolside restaurant.

The Quay Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 224 894 http://thequayhotel.com Five-storey, 16-room riverside boutique hotel has beautiful contemporary rooms designed by Gary Fell. The stand-out features are the roof-top jacuzzi and the very contemporary ground-floor bar and Chow Restaurant with WiFi. Queen Boutique Hotel 49A Street 214, Tel: 023 211 683, om@queenboutique.asia Boutique hotel located conveniently close to all the major attractions including the Royal Palace and National Museum.

Villa SALT 4 Street 294, Tel: 012 815 066 villasalt@sentosasilk.com villasaslt@sentosasilk.com Whether you are touring Phnom Penh or planning a long vacation, Villa SALT along with SentosaSilk, create an atmosphere that makes you feel at home. Explore 14 artistically decorated rooms, each created to give you that authentic sense of uniqueness.

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Phnom Penh - Budget California 2 79 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 077 503 144 www.cafecaliforniaphnompenh. com New guest house and bar on the river front with well-priced rooms with air con and security box.

Downstairs bar has great Tex-Mex food and pool table.

Feeling Home Cnr. Streets 278 & 63, Tel: 023 221 522, www.feelinghomecambodia.com Stylish nine-room boutique hotel with ample rooms at competitive rates, including flatscreen TV, aircon, security box and great beds.

Also has two apartments, an Asian restaurant and a Café Sentiment coffee house.

L’Imprevu Highway 1, 7km past Monivong Bridge Tel: 024 390 405 Complex with twenty-four bungalows just outside of Phnom Penh. Tennis courts and excellent swimming pool make this a good break from the city.

Le Rit’s 71 Street 240, Tel: 023-213-160, Small & charming 6-room guesthouse with spacious rooms is managed by NYEMO NGO, part of its hospitality training. Rooms equipped with queen sized bed, cable TV, private bathroom. The restaurant has a European set

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lunch menu and serves authentic Khmer food a la carte for diner.

Tonle Sap Guest House 4-6 Street 104, Tel: 023 986 722 www.tonlesapguesthouse.com Clean, well-kept guesthouse upstairs with 15 rooms, with air-con, fans, hot water, cable TV. Downstairs Pickled Parrot bar open 24 hours.

Sihanoukville Independence Hotel Independence Beach, Tel: 012 728 090 www.independencehotel.net Beautifully restored hotel on Independence Beach, originally opened in 1963, reopened in 2007 following a complete refurbishment. Has sweeping ocean views from most rooms.

Also has a gym, conference rooms and circular restaurant.

Reef Resort Road to Serendipity Beach, Tel: 012 315 338, www.reefresort.com.kh Guesthouse set around a beautiful pool with well apportioned air-con rooms, in-room safe and cable TV, family rooms also available. Has a welcoming bar with excellent TV screen, slate pool table and excellent Mexican cuisine.

Scuba Nation Road to Serendipity Beach Tel: 012 604 680, 012 715 785 www.divecambodia.com

Five-star PADI centre offering daily trips to the area’s many islands and reefs including the decent dive sites at Koh Rung Samloem and Koh Kon, also runs a range of PADIcertified courses, and has an office in Phnom Penh.

Sokha Beach Resort Sokha Beach, Tel: 034 935 999 With its own private beach, excellent swimming pool and fine restaurants, Sokha is the most up-market place to stay in Sihanoukville. A live Filipino band plays around the cocktail bar at night.

The Secret Garden Otres Beach, Tel: 0976 495 131, www.secretgardenotres.com Modern beachside air-con bungalows with hot water, jungle showers or baths, TV, WiFi and Otres Beach’s only swimming pool.

Restaurant run by professional Australian chef with draught and imported beers.

Zoco Independence Hotel, Road to Serendipity Beach Two fashion boutiques – one on the way to Serendipity Beach, the other in Independence Hotel – run by the Spanish-born Nuria, sells dresses, skirts, bags and accessories.

Travel Cambodia Uncovered 11B Street 370, Tel: 012 507 097

www.cambodiauncovered.com Offers village and cultural tours in Phnom Penh and surrounds including road trips, Mekong cruises, accommodation, cooking classes and other activities.

Exotissimo Travel No. 66, Norodom Blvd, Tel: 023 218 948 , www.exotissimo.com Excellent French-owned agency specialising in adventure tourism, flight bookings, package holidays and a range of tours of Southeast Asia.

Helicopters Cambodia 10 Street 310, Tel: 012 814 500/ www.helicopterscambodia.com Over 12 years experience operating in the Kingdom offers scenic flights around the Temples of Angkor and beyond. Is a wholly owned subsidiary of Helicopters New Zealand Group.

Intrepid Travel 468 Sivutha Blvd., Tel: 063 966 655 For travellers with a yearning to get off the beaten track, Intrepid opens up a whole new world of adventure travel. With a huge variety of tours available.

Travel Indochina 43-44EO Street 108, Tel: 023 991 978 www.travelindochina.com.au Australian-owned and managed travel company specialising in small group journeys around Asia that can tailor trips for individuals.

LISTINGS

table. Fresh food, including traditional Khmer cuisine, cheese, sandwiches, a generous selection of vegetarian food.

Laundry Bar, Old Market Extremely chilled music bar just off Pub Street with great mellow decor and extremely cool t-shirts. Free drink during the 6pm to 9pm washing hours. Open 6pm to late.

siem reap Siem Reap - Bars AHA The Passage, Tel: 063 965 501 Sophisticated and beautifully designed wine bar selling a wide range of wines from around the world and tapas, as well as great cheese and Lavazza coffee. Open from 10.30am to 10.30pm.

Angkor What?

Pub Street, Tel: 012 181 4001 “Promoting irresponsible drinking since 1998,” this graffiti-laden bar is the mainstay of Pub Street. A healthy mix of loud rock, punk and grunge, buckets of vodka and red bull for US$6.

Fresh at Chilli Si-Dang East River, Tel: 012 723 488 Riverside dining, balcony views, a relaxing lounge downstairs, and a pool

Linga Bar Alley behind Pub Street, Tel: 012 246 912 www.lingabar.com Laid back, gay-friendly bar with extremely chilled Buddha Bar tunes and some amazing light boxes that serves a great range of cocktails. Free WiFi. Open from 5pm to late.

Little Pari The Lane, off Pub Street, The newest and bluest bar in town! Very sweet, very stylish little jewel of a bar, much like the eponymous owner herself, Pari. This jazz/wine bar serves delicious Asianised cocktails, wines and beers.

Open from 7pm until closing.

Miss Wong Lane off Pub Street, Tel: 092 428 332 Imagine yourself in China at the turn of the last century and you won’t go much wrong in Miss Wong with excellent and original cocktails and dim sum. Open late.

Nest Sivutha Blvd. Tel: 017 925 181 A step up for Siem Reap, Nest is high level drinking and dining, serving light Mediterranean and Asian food in a unique, highly stylised setting, with loungers and table settings.

Picasso Alley West A very cosy wine and tapas bar, with artful décor and a curved bar making conversation easy and fun. Good selection of wines and delicious tapas make this a regular haunt for expats.

Open from 5pm to midnight.

The Station Wine Bar Old Market Area, Tel: 097 850 4043 Modern bar serving Illy Coffee, breakfasts, salads, fresh sandwiches, Khmer and Thai food, teas, fruit drinks, ice-cold draft beer, fine wines and more.

High speed WiFi. Live music and DJs at weekends.

The Warehouse Old Market, Tel: 012 530 227 Popular expat bar plays great music with good Asian-Western fusion cuisine. Best stocked bar in town and homemade infused vodkas. Open from 10am to 3am.

Siem Reap - Cafés Blue PumpkinOld Market, Tel: 012 946 227 /063 463 574 www.tbpumpkin.com Popular café with a great range of freshly baked breads and pastries, shakes and coffee. Also at Angkor Wat and the airport. Open daily from 6am to 10pm.

Free WiFi. Café de la Paix Sivutha Bld, Tel: 063 966 000 www.hoteldelapaixangkor.com Like the adjoining Hotel de la Paix, this small café exudes contemporary chic. Excellent Lavazza coffee, bagels, salads and free WiFi dished up in air-con surroundings.

Siem Reap - Galleries Arts Lounge Hotel de la Paix, Sivutha Boulevard Tel: 063 966 000 Large space in the ground floor of the hotel showcases the works of Cambodian and international artists. All pieces focus on Cambodian subjects.

Diwo Galleries One at Vat Svay, Tonle Sap Road and another between Monument Books and Ta Prohm Hotel on the riverside Features a selection of refined Khmer statues and Buddhas. The larger Vat Svay location features a gallery exhibition of Thierry Diwo’s photography, as well as sells home decor and books. Drinks are available in the garden and on the terrace.

McDermott Gallery I & II FCC Complex, Pokambor Avenue, Alley behind Pub Street, Tel: 092 668 181 www.mcdermottgallery.com Two galleries devoted to photographic works. with permanent exhibition of photographs taken by John McDermott.

Open 10am to 10pm.

Siem Reap - Hotels FCC Angkor Pokambor Avenue, Tel: 023 992 284 www.fcccambodia.com Boutique hotel with 31 contemporary Asian-designed rooms spread around the garden and swimming pool. Free WiFi for guests both in rooms and around the pool.

Golden Orange Off East River Road, Tel: 063 965 389

reservations@goldenorangehotel.com www.goldenorangehotel.com Mini-hotel with good sized air-con rooms that tends to have customers when others are empty. Nice outside bar makes for a good place to sit and have a few beers.

Hotel de la Paix Sivutha Boulevard, Tel: 063 966 000 www.hoteldelapaixangkor.com With stoneware bathtubs in the rooms, mini-iPods, flexible reading flashlights above the decadently lavish beds and inset photographic galleries along all the corridors, de la Paix is a modern design classic.

Raffles Grand Hotel D’Angkor 1 Charles de Gaulle, Tel: 063 963 888 www.raffles.com Elegant hotel with opulent gardens and a spectacular swimming pool in its grounds.

Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Siem Reap, Tel: 063 964 600/610, www.sofitel.com Ultimate in comfort and refinement by combining the traditional architecture of Cambodia with elegant

Siem Reap - Leisure Body Tune 293-290 Pokambor Av. (next to the old market along Siemreap River) Tel: 063 764 141 www.bodytune.co.th When you need to re-balance and rejuvenate your body in between daily routines, BODY TUNE is the perfect place to regain your energy. Open daily from 10:00am to 10:30pm.

Helicopters Cambodia 658 Hup Quan Street, Tel: 063 963 316 Professionally run company that has flights over the temples and beyond in modern, safe helicopters.

Khmer Ways Wat Svay Village, Tel: 077 367 790. www.khmerways.com Ride specially adapted motor-scooters to explore parts of Siem Reap nobody else gets to, including villages, temples and waterfalls. No previous experience required. Lunch, water, sunscreen and snacks provided.

Sam Veasna Centre Wat Bo Area, Tel: 063 96 37 10 Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Award winner. Some of the rarest birds in Asia can be seen at Prek Toal and Ang Trapang Thmor, a day-trip from Siem Reap, or combine bird watching with temple trips to Koh Ker and Beng Melea.

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Phokeethra Country Club Sofitel Royal Angkor Resort & Spa, Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Tel: 056 396 4600, golf@sofitel-royal-angkora.com International standard 18-hole, 72-par golf course 16km outside of Siem Reap.

Siem Reap - Restaurants FCC Angkor FCC Complex, Pokambor Avenue , Tel: 063 760 280 Elegant bar and restaurant serves a mix of Asian and international cuisine. The complex includes shops, the McDermott Gallery, Visaya Spa and boutique hotel.

Le Malraux Street No. 7, Tel: 063 966 041 Beautiful French restaurant offering alfresco, café and brasserie style dining with a menu catering to a range of budgets and tastes. Both food and service is consistently good. An attractive wine list rounds out this restaurant’s promise.

L’Oasi East River Road, Tel: 092 418 917 The best Italian restaurant in, or rather just outside of, town. The combination of the beautiful garden and home-cooked Italian pasta and pizza makes the trip well worth it.

Siem Reap - Shops De Silk 18 Oum Khun Blvd., Siem Reap, Tel: 063 761 198 /011 775 168, www desilk.com Boutique offering 24/7 tailoring services using 100% Khmer traditional silk, that has expertise in making clothes and accessories.

Eric Raisina 53 Veal Village, Siem Reap Tel: 012 965 207, 063 963 207 Accessories, decor, textiles and clothing created by Madagascan-born and Frenchtrained designer. Phone in advance for an appointment.

Jasmine Boutique FCC Angkor, Pokambor Avenue Tel: 063 760 610 Same sophisticated, stylish boutique as on Street 240 in Phnom Penh.

Smateria The Alley West, Tel: 063 964 343 www.smateria.com Boutique specialising in accessories made from recycled materials including a range of bags and wallets made from old cartons, plastic bags and mosquito nets.

siem reap

Water Festivities Nicky McGavin The terrible flooding that swept across Cambodia last year resulted in the cancellation of the Water Festival, meaning that this year’s event will be more anticipated than ever.

Cambodia’s annual festival is one of the most dramatic and exciting celebrations of the year and is set to take place around Nov. 27.

Tens of thousands of people will descend on Phnom Penh to witness hard-fought boat races that evoke ancient military traditions and battles won long ago. For the claustrophobic, the massive crowds can be a trial. The festival is a completely different experience in Siem Reap, especially for anyone hoping to enjoy it with family.

The Siem Reap River runs through the leafy part of town adjacent to the French Quarter and Raffles Gardens, in front of the Royal Palace. On the other side of the river, East River Road connects with the Wat Bo area, which is fast developing a lively restaurant and bar scene.

Eateries include El Camino, serving the best Tex-Mex in town, and Barrio, which serves up traditional French home cooking. Fresh at Chilli Si Dang on the East River Road has already confirmed

that it will cook traditional spit-roast pork on all three days of the festival.

The boat races start by the Raffles Gardens Bridge, running down past the FCC Angkor all the way to the finish line in front of a pavilion near the Post Office. Teams sponsored by local businesses fight for dominance, and the tension along the riverbanks is electrifying.

What you don’t have, however, is a crush of people. The riverbanks absorb the cheering crowds easily, leaving plenty of space for wanderers to mingle among the food and souvenir stalls selling everything from spring rolls to toys and mobile phones.

The atmosphere is familial, punctuated with the shouts and groans of enthusiastic race-watchers and the shrieks of kids enjoying the ‘fun-fair’ rides.

In the as-yet-undeveloped areas off the main roads, extraordinary rigs of wire, toy cars and crates slowly spin youngsters around.

In a hundred different ways, Siem Reap is a world apart from the madness and crowds in Phnom Penh.

Water Festival is by far the best way to see the town, and since you’re there you may as well stay around for the Angkor Photo Festival, starting on Dec. 1, too.

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LISTINGS

food & drink Cambodian

Khmer Surin 9 Street 57, Tel 012 887 320 Elegant restaurant featuring wood and silk décor with a tropical garden that serves Cambodian and Thai favourites.

Dishes are well prepsred and large enough to share.

K’NYAY 25K Suramarit Blvd. (Street 268), Tel: 023 225 225 or 092 665 225, www.knyay.com, knyay@hotmail.com Modern Khmer restaurant tucked away down an alley off Sihanouk Blvd, with a menu including a selection of freshly prepared, vegan dishes, along with traditional Cambodian specialities.

Offers a selection of cakes, ice creams and sorbets, using all vegan ingredients. Open 12pm to 9pm (Mon to Fri), 7am to 9pm (Sat), closed Sunday.

Malis 136 Norodom Bvd., Tel: 023 221 022 www.malisrestaurant.com Beautiful modern Khmer restaurant with a courtyard set around narrow water channels and decorated with terracotta floor tiles. Has air-con rooms inside for those who find the midday sun too much. The cuisine is modern Khmer, with no MSG. Restaurant Le Royal Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Tel: 023 981 888 (see also restaurants, French) Romdeng 74 Street 174, Tel: 092 219 565 Come to Romdeng and order some delicious Khmer food for you and also for your children from our new kid’s menu, serving creative and healthy treats for little one! While waiting for your dishes, let you kids enjoy the playroom while you relax by the pool…

And before leaving don’t miss our new gift shop in the first floor. Special lunch set menu everyday. Open 11am to 9pm.

The Local 39C Street 454 Tel: 077 905 522 Café with a courtyard, art deco style mezzanine bar and dining room displaying art from the Apsara gallery with menu established by Khmer chef and cookbook author Sok Chhong.

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 11pm.

Chinese

Emperors of China 19 Street 163, Tel: 097 929 2699 Upmarket Chinese restaurant popular with the capital’s large Chinese community with private dinning rooms that specializes in Peking duck and dim sum.

Fortune Palace NagaWorld, Hun Sen Park

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Chinese restaurant with authentic Greater Chinese cuisine and all-youcan-eat dim sum buffet on Sundays.

Open from 11am to 3pm, 5pm to 10pm.

Fu Lu Zu Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, 26Old August Site, Sothearos Blvd., 023 999 200 x 6613 Elegant Chinese restaurant specialising in contemporary Cantonese delicacies and dim sum with private rooms for intimate ambience. Open from 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6.30pm to 10.30pm. Dim sum weekend from 8am to 2.30pm.

Hua Nam 753 Monivong Bvd., Tel: 023 364 005 Large Chinese restaurant that specialises in seafood and duck and has a good selection of wines, with VIP rooms. Open 11am to 2pm, 5pm to 10pm.

Man Han Lou Restaurant 456 Monivong Blvd., Tel: 023 721 966 Micro-brewery with four types of German-style beer. Has extensive Chinese, Thai, Khmer and Vietnamese menus, as well as dim sum breakfast from 6am to 10am.

Sam Doo 56-58 Kampuchea Krom, Tel: 023 218 773 The place for dim sum in Phnom Penh, baskets of steamed prawn dumplings, pork buns and more go for a pittance.

The wonton soup and other tasty meals are a steal. Open 7am to 2am.

Xiang Palace InterContinental Phnom Penh, 2/F, 296 Mao Tse Toung Blvd, Tel: 023 424 888 ext. 3562 Xiang Palace is locally acclaimed for its authentic Cantonese cuisine and delicious dim sum, all prepared with the finest ingredients. Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Yi Sang Chinese Restaurant 128F Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 023 220 922 www.almondhotel.com.kh Set on the ground floor of the Almond Hotel, this stylish restaurant specialises in Cantonese food and dim sum that fuses the traditional with the contemporary, including excellent dim sum. Open from 6.30am to 10am, 11.30am to 2pm and 5.30pm to 10pm – dim sum not served in the evening.

French

Armand’s 33 Street 108, Tel: 015 548 966 A true bistro experience in a cosy wood-panelled space, despite the informal and relaxed ambience it has the menu to even satisfy high-rollers.

Open 5pm until late. Closed Mondays.

Brasserie du Port 49E Sisowath Quay, corner Street 84, Tel: 012 607 507 Seaside bistro featuring eclectic menu of haute cuisine mixed with pasta and ish specials. French classics including flambéed duck, pork filet mignon and home-made fois gras available at reasonable prices. Open daily for lunch and dinner, Brasserie’s long wooden bar is the perfect spot for enjoying a sea breeze and the restaurant’s comprehensive wine list.

Open daily, 8am – 11pm.

Comme à la Maison 13 Street 57, Tel: 012 951 869, commealamaison-delicatessen.com Sophisticated French restaurant with a beautiful outdoor terrace area at the front, yet secluded from the street. One of the best French kitchens in town.

Small delicatessen at the back of the restaurant. Open daily from 6am to 10.30pm.

K West 1 Street 154 (Cnr. Sisowath Quay), Tel: 023 214 747 Stylish aircon bar and restaurant below the Amanjaya with an excelllent steak menu and good value happy hour from 6pm to 8pm Fridays. Now has a brasserie menu with daily specials.

Also has free WiFi. Open 6.30am to midnight.

La Marmite Cnr Streets 108 & 51, Tel: 012 391 746 This small, reasonably priced French bistro has two adjoining rooms (one non-smoking) creating a relaxed, cosy atmosphere. Serves excellent fish, steaks and offal as well as daily specials, for a taste of real homecooked French cuisine. Open 11am to 2.30pm, 6pm to 10.30pm.

La Residence Restaurant 22/24 Street 214, Tel: 023 224 582 Fine dining on an international scale in this sophisticated restaurant, where French classics meet gourmet, modern cuisine. Open from 11.30am to 2pm, 6.30pm to 10.30pm.

Le Café Mith Samlanh French Institute, Street 184, Tel: 092 471 791, Set in the lush garden of the French Institute (formerly CCF), Le Café offers an extensive à la carte menu with Khmer and French dishes. Happy Hour is from 5pm to 7pm. All proceeds go towards Mith Samlanh’s programmes for marginalised youths. Open 7am to 9pm, closed Sundays.

Le Gourmet NagaWorld Hotel and Casino, Hun Sen Park, Tel: 023 228 822.

Kitsch meets tradition at this up-scale restaurant. Quality ingredients come together in beautiful presentation on the plate, with the luxury of the surroundings complemented by professional and attentive service.

Open daily from 12pm to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm.

Le Jardin 16 Street 360, Tel: 011 723 399 Beautiful shaded restaurant with large garden and spacious outdoor play area for kids with excellent ice cream. Open 8am to 10pm (closed Mondays).

MIRO Restaurant & Lounge 43 Sihanouk Blvd., Tel: 023 217 991 One of Phnom Penh’s recently opened restaurants, Miro is a chic and trendy addition to the city’s dining scene.

Stylishly outfitted in tones of green and black with padded velvet couches and a sweeping granite staircase, this dining spot provides a taste of Basque cuisine with a French influence. Open 12 :00pm until late.

Restaurant Le Royal Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Tel: 023 981 888, www.raffles.com/phnompenh dining.

phompenh@raffles.com Treat yourself to the finest French & Khmer cuisine in one of Indochina’s most elegant restaurants. The Chef’s Degustation menu allows you to try a myriad of dishes in a single meal in a refined atmosphere. Private rooms are available on request. Open from 6.30pm to 10.30pm.

The Wine Restaurant 219 Street 19, Tel: 023 223 527 Excellent fine dining restaurant in the same grounds as Open Wine deli. The fresh food and extensive selection of wines make this one of the exclusive places to dine in town.

Topaz 182 Norodom Bvd., Tel: 012 346 555, 023 221 622 Sophisticated, air-con restaurant with outside dining, upstairs bar, wine shop, cigar room and private rooms. One of Phnom Penh’s finest restaurants. Has a popular piano bar, night club upstairs.

Open 11am to 2pm and 6pm to 11pm.

Van’s Restaurant 5 Street 102, Tel: 023 722 067 French fine-dining in a grand setting awaits at Van’s, located on the second floor of a well preserved colonial era building near the city’s Post Office.

Open every day from 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5pm to 10.30pm.

Indian Sub-Continent

Dosa Corner 15 Street 51, Tel: 012 673 276 This small south Indian restaurant opened in January. True to its name it has a wide range of very good value dosa as well as thali and biryani dishes.

Air-conditioned, it’s open from 7am to 10pm.

East India 9 Street 114, Tel: 023 992 007 South Indian cuisine predominates in this pristine restaurant with excellent breads including nine types of dosa.

Open 11am to 2pm, 5.30pm to 10.30pm.

Flavours of India 158 Street 63, Tel: 012 886 374, Relaxing Indian and Nepalese restaurant with friendly staff and a good range of dishes including good value vegetarian and meat thalis. Open 10am to 11pm.

Mumtaz 162 Street 63, Tel: 023 726 761, Popular Vietnamese chain of Indian restaurants comes to Phnom Penh.

Excellent tandoori and southern Indian delicacies including dosa with chefs from both north and south.

Indochine

Indochine NagaWorld, Hun Sen Park With a focus on Southeast Asian cuisine, Indochine offers tradition dishes from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in a sophisticated space.

Open from 11am to 11pm.

Irrawaddi 24 Street 334, Tel: 012 979 510 Authentic Myanmar food at very reasonable prices in a clean setting with paintings of the Burmese

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countryside decorating the walls. Open 10am to 10pm, closed on Mondays.

Lemongrass 14 Street 130, Tel: 012 996 707 Elegant Thai-managed restaurant with stylish use of heavy wood and artefacts to create a far more luxurious ambience than the reasonable prices would suggest. Open 10am to 10pm.

Le Wok 33 Street 178, Tel: 092 821 857 Light and modern pan-Asian and French eatery with dishes such as prawns with lime and wasabi and Mekong lobster thermidor, and a comprehensive list of wines and cocktails. Open daily from 9am to 11pm.

Ngon 60 Sihanouk Blvd Tel: 023 987 151 www.ngonpnh.com Open air restaurant that features a vast range of Vietnamese food in a garden environment. Meaning delicious, although the food does not live up to its name, the ambience makes up for it.

Pangea Fusion Restaurant NagaWorld Hotel and Casino, Hun Sen Park, Tel: 023 228 822 Pan-Asian fusion restaurant with a western flair that specialises in all-youcan-eat dinner buffets. Open daily from 6am to 10.30pm.

Singapore Kitchen 110 Street 360, Tel: 092 201 304, 017 821 480 Specialising in classic Singapore

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hawker food, try the laksa – full of wholesome ingredients and with a great spicy sauce or those wanting a more subtle flavour could do worse than trying the Hainanese chicken rice.

Open from 11am to 9.30pm, does delivery.

International

AQUA Modern Eatery 2 Street 278, Tel: 012414596 info@aqua-pp.com Asian influenced wine bar with sophisticated tapas & mezze dishes to indulge in at the bar, by the pool or in the Imperial Chinese Bed. A modern veranda restaurant featuring avantgarde globally-inspired fusion dishes with a French focus.

Open From 6:30pm -10:30pm. Closed on Monday.

Aussie XL Café 205A Street 51, Tel: 023 301 301 Aussie style bistro food with quick lunch menu and a good selection of house wines and retail wines. Open 7am to 11pm.

Beirut Resto-Café 117 Sisowath Quay,(after night market) Tel: 023 720 011/092 483 759 The only authentic Lebanese halal cuisine and Sisha Lounge in the town.

Offering middle east flavours including mezze tapas – hummus, shish kebab, baba ganouj, falafel, vegetarian and non-vegetarian kebab wraps. Delivery, takeaway, catering.

Open daily from 10am till late.

Cafe Monivong Raffles Hotel Le Royal,

Tel: 023 981 888 Wicker armchairs and marble tables covered with crisp white tablecloths create the perfect place to relax and linger over a delightful alfresco breakfast, lunch or dinner. Western and Asian cuisines are available buffetstyle or a la carte. Private rooms are available on request. Buffet from 6am to 10am, 12pm to 2.30pm, 6pm to 10pm, a la carte from 11am to 11pm.

Central Food Station Corner of Street 154 & 81 (near Sorya Shopping Mall), Tel: 012 955 038 www.central-food-station.com Based on a food court concept, if you need a quick bite, Central is located 5 minutes walk from Sorya Shopping Mall has everything your hungry heart desires. Your choices will seem endless-hearty deli sandwiches, South East Asian specialties, Italian best recipes. Central has Air-con, outside smoking terrace, kids’ corner, wi-fi.

Open from 6am until 10pm non stop Doors Restaurant 18, Street 47 & 84, Tel : 023 998 114 www.doorspp.com New tapas restaurant, opening October 2012.11am till late eLYXIR 3 Street 466 (near Thai embassy), Tel: 023 211 711 Elyxir is dedicated to wine, luxury and gastronomy. Each course was dreamed up in order to marry perfectly the wines on our menu. Elyxir includes a swimming pool, champagne bar, private rooms & all our wines are

available at our Wine Shop. Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am till late.

FCC Phnom Penh 363 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 724 014 The first stop for newcomers and it’s easy to see why. Set in a beautiful colonial house with sumptuous views across the river on one side and the National Museum to the other, it’s best to come at sunset when the streets below are most crowded, the cocktails are half price and draft beer goes for US$1. Open daily from 7am to midnight.

Fish Sisowath Quay, cnr of Street 108, Tel: 023 222 685, fishphnompenh.com Contemporary, modern restaurant specialising in all things oceanic.

Menu includes everything from lobster through sushi to gourmet fish and chips for upmarket, but reasonable prices.

Open 7am to late.

Flavours Cnr. Street 51 & 282, Tel: 017 765 896 Relaxing restaurant and popular bar run by Quebecois with comfortable chairs that fall out onto the street. The mix of Asian and western cuisine has proved so popular that they have a copycat restaurant opposite. Open 7am to late.

Friends 215 Street 13, Tel: 012 802 072 Non-profit training restaurant where all the proceeds go to the neighbouring street-kid school. Food is a reliable

mix of Mediterranean and Asian with tapas thrown in if you are not feeling too hungry. Great juices. Another one of Phnom Penh’s places designed to take it easy, but this time with a clear conscience. Open 11am to 9pm..

Garden Centre Café 60-61 Street 108, Tel: 023 997 850, 092 429 968. www.gardencentercafe.com Popular expat restaurant with fresh ingredients and lots of healthy options.

Another location is at 4B Street 57.

Open from 7am to 10pm (closed Mondays).

Gasolina 56/58 Street 57, Tel: 012 373 009 The largest garden bar in town has an extensive menu. Crèche facilities make this a popular choice with families at weekends. Has regular events with live music and DJs, even fashion shows.

Open from 8am to 12am.

Gastrobar Botanico #9b, street 29, Tel: 017 873 101 Info@gastrobarbotanico.com Located in its own habitat with over 2,000 plants. Open-air. Offers tapas, salads, sandwich, and straightforward food, yet with character in lush garden setting. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between. Espresso bar. Cocktails, wines, fruit shakes. Open from Mon to Mon 8:00-21:30.

Green Vespa 95 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 012 887 228 Superb daily breakfast selection, varied lunch and dinner specials and the best roast meal in town on the weekends.

Traditional accompaniments to great food include Branston pickle, Colemans mustard, mint and horseradish sauce, HP and Heinz Ketchup. Open 6am till 11pm.

Irina Russian Restaurant 15 Street 352, Tel: 012 833 524, 092 833 524 Russian restaurant of iconic Phnom Penh status. If you can walk out of the restaurant after hitting the vodkas then you are doing well. Open daily from 11am until the vodka runs out.

Java Cafe & Gallery 56 Sihanouk Blvd.

Tel: 023 987 420 Great coffees, salads, mix-and-match sandwiches and juices served in an elegant setting. The upstairs terrace, overlooking the Independence Monument, is a good place to watch the chaos below, while the downstairs space is a great place for coffee and catching up on your emails. Has exhibitions both upstairs and down.

Open 7am to 10pm.

Kandal House 239 Sisowath Quay Tel: 023 986 803 Very friendly riverside established serving good and reasonably priced homemade pasta and a variety of Asian dishes. Open 8am to late.

La Coupole Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, 26 Old August Site, Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 023 999 200 www.sofitel.com Casual and authentic Indochinese and French cuisine with live cooking by chefs in an open kitchen concept.

Offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and the Sunday brunch, all set in a stunning restaurant with high ceilings and natural light.

La Croisette 241 Sisowath Quay Tel: 023 220 554 Riverfront restaurant with an ample outside dining area screened off by trees that serves good, reasonablypriced food, also has a cool, air-con restaurant inside. Often arranges special events. Open 7am to late.

La Plaza Spanish Tapas Bar 22B Street 278 (nr cnr Street 57) Tel: 012 825 443 Phnom Penh’s one and only Spanish tapas bar. It recreates to perfection the best known and most delicious Spanish tapas, making of seafood Paella its signature dish. Tapas are the result of hundreds of years of Spanish culinary history and evolution. Simple, tasty and healthy dishes have become a standard to be enjoyed with friends while drinking large amounts of sangría.

Open 11am to 2pm and 5pm to 10pm.

All day on the weekend.

International Chiropractic Clinic

Latin Quarter Street 178 and Street 19, Tel: 093 319 081.

Latin restaurant and bar that serves excellent tapas and mains with extra salsa. Beautiful courtyard often hosts live music and salsa dancing while the air-con restaurant is available for private hire. Open from breakfast until the music stops.

Le Quay Café Cnr. Sisowath Quay & Street 110, Tel: 023 998 730, www.amaraspa.hotelcara.com Enjoy the menu of sushi, salads, paninis, crepes and Asian specialities, with a wide range of healthy power juices, smoothies, cocktails, coffees, beers and wines, either beside a relaxing water feature or on the riverside terrace. Smoke free environment for lunch and dinner. Open from 10.30am to 10.30pm.

Lime Restaurant + Bar 79F Street 128 Tel: 023 998 608/610, info@lebizhotel.com, www.lebizhotel.com Located in Lebiz Hotel Lime serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, offering a stylish mix of Asian and western favourites with a focus on fresh, healthy and local ingredients, with regular changes to the menu.

Lotus Blanc 152 Street 51 Tel: 017 602 251 Run by local NGO Pour un Sourire d’Enfant, this centrally located training restaurant has a monthly changing lunch menu as well as a la carte Khmer dishes. Serves both Asian and continental breakfast. Open Monday to Saturday 7am to 10 pm.

Metro Café Cnr. Sisowath Quay & Street 148.

Tel: 023 222 275 Metro has much more than a cool décor and changing light boxes, with reasonably priced Tiger and house wines and a great range of Martinis, try the Expresso. Gets very popular late on, while during the day is a good time to enjoy the free WiFi while enjoying a coffee in a smoke free environment.

Open 7:30am to 1am.

Mike’s Burger House Russian Blvd, inside Sokimex Petrol Station.

Tel: 012 633 971 Hugely popular burger bar that serves food with plastic knives and forks and

First and only licensed chiropractic clinic in Cambodia.

We specialise in treating: • Back & neck pain • Foot & knee pain • Shoulder pain & injuries • Elbow injuries • Sport injuries We provide effective treatment without the use of medicine or surgery.

67 Bis Street 240, Sangkat Chaktomok Khan Daun Penh.

Phnom Penh, 12207 Cambodia Tel: (855) 023 223 101 M: (855) 060 809 370 www. cambodiachiropractic.com

recipe

Pineapple Duck with Vegetable Trio Try out this new way to make a delicious duck curry.

INGREDIENTS (to serve four) Duck breast 800g Rock salt 50g Black Kampot pepper 15g For curry sauce Lemongrass 80g Galangal 20g Turmeric 30g Garlic 25g Shallots 25g Lime leaves 15g Dried chilli 50g Red curry paste 20g Palm sugar 45g Fish sauce 15ml Coconut milk 50ml Chilli oil 25ml Pineapple 100g Small round eggplant 100g Onion 100g

For pumpkin purée Pumpkin 400g Coconut milk 50ml Butter 25g For lemongrass purée Potato 500g Lemongrass 50g Cooking cream 75ml Butter 25g For spinach and bacon purée Spinach (leaves only) 400g Bacon 100g Garlic 50g Butter 50g Shallots 50g Cooking cream 125ml

Step 1 : Curry sauce Soak the dried chilli in water for one hour, clean the seeds off and chop. Peel and chop the garlic, shallots, turmeric, and galangal. Mix with thinly sliced lemongrass and lime leaves. Combine the ingredients into a fine paste. Heat the chilli oil and palm sugar in a saucepan until golden brown and add herb mixture, season with fish sauce and add coconut milk. Stir on a slow heat for half an hour. Cool and blend the mix. Add small cubes of pineapple, onion and eggplant and set aside.

Step 2 : Trio of vegetables Boil pieces of pumpkin. Once cooked, strain and pass through masher. Heat it up in a small saucepan with butter, coconut cream, salt and pepper. Boil and mash the potatoes with finely-chopped lemongrass, cooking cream, butter, salt and pepper. Blanch the spinach, and put into ice batch. Sautee chopped bacon, garlic and shallot, add the chopped spinach, cooking cream, salt and pepper.

Set aside.

Step 3 : Duck breast Clean and trim duck breast, then cut cross lines onto the skin. Coat with rock salt and pepper. Heat up a pan and fry skin-side first until golden brown, turn upside down and finish in the oven.

Step 4: To assemble Place the curry sauce in the middle of a dinner plate, slice the duck breast and place on top of the sauce. On the side, scoop the individual trio vegetables and garnish with local salad and fried round eggplant.

The Plantation Restaurant, 28 Street 184, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Recipes provided by members of:

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equally plastic French fries with cheese sauce. Ideal for those who believe that American culture starts with a Mc. New York Steakhouse 264 Street 63 corner of Mao Tse Tung Blvd & Street 63 Tel: 023 987 500 www.steakhouse.com.kh Indulge in a seductive dining experience in the famed Phnom Penh Steak restaurant. The innovative menu features New-York Steakhouse signature prime cuts of beef charred to perfection accompanied by decadent sides and desserts. Open Daily from 11am to 2pm and 15pm to Midnight.

Ocean 11 Street 288 Tel: 017 766 690 European managed Mediterranean restaurant that dishes up some of the best fish and seafood in town. Try the red snapper or the squid with rocket.

Often has exhibitions around the understated walls.

One More Pub 16E Street 294, Tel: 017 327 378 (see bars) Paddy Rice 213-217 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 0239903210 www.paddyrice.net (see bars) Restaurant Tell 13 Street 90, Tel: 023 430 650 Up-market eatery that re-creates the genuine feel of an Alpine chalet, has a spacious indoor restaurant and

outdoor terrace with rotisserie and bar.

European menu with imported steaks, fondue, raclette and an extensive wine list. Open 11.30am to 2pm, 5pm to 11pm.

Rising Sun 20 Street 178, Tel: 012 970 718 (see bars) Riverside Bistro Cnr. Sisowath Quay & Street 148 Tel: 012 277 882, 023 213 898 Popular restaurant with expats and tourists alike mainly due to its large outdoor terrace area to view the river.

Serves a mixture of Asian and western food with an emphasis on German cuisine. Has rock music videos and a pool table in the music bar at the back.

Open from 7am to 2am.

Samba Brazilian Steakhouse 64 Sihanouk Blvd.

(Near Independent Monument) Tel: 023 222 599 Experience the unique Brazilian Churrasco way of cookingwith a large variety of meats skewered and roasted to perfection and served piping hot direct from the skewers to your plate!

Open everyday from 11am to 3pm & 5pm to 10:30pm.

Sonoma Oyster Bar 159 Street 278 (behind Lucky Supermarket on Sihanouk Blvd) Tel: 023 223 617, 077 723 911 Phnom Penh’s first and only independent oyster bar has drawn a crowd of expats and Cambodians seeking high-quality oysters in a cosy setting. Open daily for lunch 10:30am

– 2:00pm and dinner 5:00pm to 11:00pm.

Stella Restaurant 55 Street 75, Tel: 099 574 188, 012 735 002 A cosy restaurant located near Wat Phnom, Stella serves pizzas, grilled food and Asian cuisine in a peaceful garden atmosphere.

Steve’s Steakhouse 8 Street 240 Tel: 023 987 320 Longstanding restaurant specialising in local grain-fed beef as well as a large variety of imported steaks, hamburgers, ribs and Greek cuisine.

Has a terraced lounge with pool tables upstairs as well as a sports bar with large screen TV and happy hour from 12pm to 7pm. Open from 11am to 10.30pm.

Stonegrill 649 Sisovath Quay, Tel: 023 999 950 www.stonegrill.com.kh Stonegrill offers a unique interactive dining experience where diners meals are served cooking at the table on a natural volcanic stones heated to 400C (752F). Open Monday to Sunday, from 11am to midnight.

T-Bone Steak House 392 Monivong Boulevard & Street 360, Tel: 012 900 138 Contemporary restaurant serving a premium selection of both imported and Cambodian beef, in a sophisticated air-conditioned setting – a carnivore’s delight. Open 12pm to 2pm, 5pm to 11pm.

Tepui Restaurant Lounge Chinese House, 45 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 991 514 Located on the second floor of Chinese House, Tepui offers a mix of Mediterranean and South American small plates with Asian accents.The skilled Venezuelan chef is considered one of the city’s best culinary talents.

Open daily from 6pm to 10.30pm, closed Mondays.

The Exchange / The Vault 28 Street 47, Tel: 078 886 889 Large colonial mansion contains The Vault, Phnom Penh’s first private member’s club for thoses who have $1000 to burn. Underneath, the Exchange has elegany exposed brickwork and low lighting as well as an impressive fusion menu. Open daily, from 10am to midnight.

The Quay 277 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 224 894 Rooftop deck with spectacular views of the river is a great place to enjoy a drink during half price 4pm-8pm happy hour. Food is a mix of tapas and more substantial offerings, including an excellent duck confit. Open daily 7am – 11pm.

The Lost Room 43 Street 21Tel: 078 700 001 Eclectic from floor to ceiling, including the food on offer. From the former owners of Talkin’ to A Stranger, The Lost Room offers share size global dishes of fresh, local and imported produce in an urban environment.

Bookings essential. Open from 5pm, kitchen closes at 9.30pm. Closed Sundays. Lunch by appointment only.

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Aria D’Italia 41EO Street 310, Tel: 012 840 705 Cute little Italian pizzeria tucked away between Street 57 and Street 63. Wellpriced lunch set menu and homemade ravioli. Home delivery available. Open 10.30am to 2pm, 5.30pm to 10pm.

Bistro Romano NagaWorld Hotel & Casino, Hun Sen Park, Tel: 023 228 822 Best known for its sumptuous Sunday Prosecco Brunch, this stylised Italian restaurant in the NagaWorld complex specialises in Italian cuisine. Open daily from 11am to 11pm.

Casa Italia Sisowath Quay, Tel: 092 230 207 Samll house with terrace and lounge in front of the Cambodiana Hotel, across the garden. Specialising in fish dishes with a good wine selection, shakes, gelati and frappe. Open from 3pm til late evening, closed Sundays.

Cafe Monivong Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Tel: 023 981 888 Indulge in home made antipasti, fresh prepared pasta and risotto as well as oven-baked, crispy pizzas and pair it all with the finest selection of Italian wines, every Saturday night from 6pm to 10pm.

Do Forni Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, 26 Sothearos Blvd, Tel: 023 999 200.

Sophisticated Italian diner set in the grounds of the Sofitel hotel, dishes up much more than your basic pizza and pasta. Excellent range of wines, dimmed lighting and plush surroundings make this an excellent romantic meal for two option. Open from 6.30pm to 10pm.

Dolce Italia da Giorgio 96 Sothearos Blvd Tel: 012 562 892 For lunch authentic neapolitan pizzeria ristorante. Open from 11:30am till 14:00pmfrom 6:00pm till 10:00pm closed on Sunday.

Genova Italian Restaurant 19Eo Street 154, Tel: 012 390 039 This small restaurant has the feel of an Italian trattoria with food just like mamma made. The spaghetti al pesto Genovese is its signature dish. Good range of meat and fish dishes as well as some Khmer dishes. Open from 10am to midnight.

La Volpaia 20–22 Street 13, Tel: 023 992 739 Part of a global pizzeria chain that includes Florence, Tokyo, Seoul and Phnom Penh, the cuisine is excellent with pizza and pasta cooked fresh in front of your eyes.

Limoncallo 81E0 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 081 800 210/ 081 800 240 Authentic Italian cuisine with pasta, risotto and pizzas prepared in the traditional way and baked in a blazing wood-fired oven. Oopen daily 11:30am- 2:30pm and 6pm- 10:30pm Luna d’Autumno 6C Street 29, Tel: 023 220 895 Beautiful courtyard or stylish interior air-

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con restaurant, whichever you choose, Luna has more classical pizzas, both red and white, to choose from than most restaurants. Also serves excellent pasta and other up-market Italian food. Good wine cellar on view in the restaurant. Open 11am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 10.30pm.

Pasta & Vino 45 Street 28, Tel: 086 314 400 Cosy Italian spaghetteria that specialises in well-priced authentic Italian pasta and wines in a smokeless air-con environment. Open from 12pm to 2pm and 6pm to 10pm.

Pop Café da Giorgio 371 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 012 562 892 Sophisticated, small Italian restaurant located next to the FCC that serves light, contemporary Italian cuisine including fresh pasta and pizzas. Open for lunch from 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6pm to 10pm for dinner.

Japanese & Korean

Fusion Sushi Cnr. Streets 47 & 84, Tel: 023 986 114 Located inside Cara Hotel this beautifully decorated restaurant dishes up excellent Japanese and Korean food.

Hachi Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, 26 Sothearos Blvd.

Tel: 023 999 200 ext.: 6612 A taste of Japan in a Zen atmosphere with tatami rooms and sushi bar. Lunch from 11.30am to 2.30pm and dinner from 6.30pm to 10.30pm.

Le Seoul 62 Monivong Blvd, Tel: 012 971 516 Popular up-market South Korean restaurant specialising in BBQ, each table is equipped with its own charcoal burner, with all beef imported from the U.S. Open from 11am to 2.30pm, 5pm to 10pm.

Origami 88 Sothearos Bvd., Tel: 012 968 095 Up-market, contemporary Japanese restaurant with a spacious air-con area downstairs and four private rooms upstairs. Specialises in sushi and tempura, and has Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo beers. Open from 11.30am to 2pm, 5.30pm to 9.30pm.

Rahu 159 Sisowath Quay Tel 023 215 179 Stunning, upscale atmosphere with a mix of modern Chinese décor, high ceilings, muted colors and rich woods.

Japanese food takes the main stage but there is also Khmer and Western fusion cooking. A good place to go late night for sushi or a bowl of congee.

Open daily from 5pm to 2am.

Yumi Restaurant, Bar and Grill 29a Street 288 Tel: 092 163 903 Elegant but inexpensive English-run Yakitori restaurant nestled in to a quiet street in BKK that serves top-notch Japanese nibbles, hot and cold sake, plum wine, wine and beer. Don’t leave without trying the salt and chilli squid.

Mexican & Tex-Mex

Alley Cat Café Off Street 19 (side street behind Royal Art School), Tel: 012 306 842

street cuisine

Lunch: 11:30 am – 2:00 pm Dinner: 6 pm – 10 pm

Num Tnaot (Palm Cake) Conor Wall Price: 500 riel per cake Ingredients: Though small in size, palm cake or num tnaot is immense in stature. In my humble opinion, it is the tastiest of all the Khmer cakes. It is made from ripe palm fruit, which is peeled and then finely grated. This is mixed with rice flour, sugar, coconut milk and ground coconut flesh.

The concoction is spooned into folded banana-leaf cake holders. The cakes are steamed for approximately 20 minutes. Depending on the seller’s preference, extra coconut gratings can be sprinkled on top. Depending on the stage of steaming, this causes varying degrees of caramelisation.

Served: Num tnaot are unmistakable due to their vibrant white coconut topping and bright yellow core. Even more distinctive, however, is the rectangular cake holder, pinned at both ends with toothpick-sized pegs.

Taste: The cake’s texture is similar to a sponge cake. It has a natural sweetness that is a breath of fresh air in today’s synthetic dessert scene. The cake exterior is slighty moist, whilst the interior is drier. The sprinkled coconut flesh on top adds a nice kick. For its size and simplistic ingredients, this cake is without doubt the king of the Khmer cake empire and just has to be tried. A word of advice before you make your purchase — num tnaot are semi-addictive, so be sure to buy ten at a time to feel truly satisfied. (5/5)

Aircon Restaurant Art Exhibitions Dance Theatre German Classes

Where to get it: Available from a variety of market or roadside sellers scattered throughout the city.

Other Info: Different sellers have different working hours, with some preferring morning trading, and others only doing business in the evenings.

Film School Musical Events Fixed +855 (0)23 224 140 Mobile +855 (0)10 312 333 Homepage: www.meta-house.com Email: mesterharm@gmx.net

Workshop Space Open-Air-Cinema AsiaLIFE Cambodia 67

Small, friendly patio cafĂŠ serving good Mexican food and claiming to have the biggest burgers in town. Hard to find, Alley Cat is tucked down an alley at the back of the National Museum, the first on the right if you are coming from Street 178.

California II 79 Sisowath Quay Tel: 077 503 144 American-style bar with some of the best Mexican food in town, the excellent pool table and great tunes make this a good place to while away a few hours on the riverfront. Open 24/7 with good rooms upstairs.

Cantina 347 Sisowath Quay Tel: 023 222 502 A mainstay of the riverside scene, this is a popular meeting place for local expats with a large selection of Mexican beers and tequilas, and sinfully good margaritas. Serves good Mexican fare, and features photographs that capture the changing face of Cambodia. Kitchen open 3pm to 10:30pm. Closed Saturdays.

Casa Lika 16 Street 136 Tel. 012 429 542 American-run family restaurant serving up good Mexican fare in an authentic setting with rustic brick walls and colourful Mexican artwork, great music and even better tacos make this a good place to share some Coronas with friends. Open 10am to midnight, closed on Mondays.

Freebird 69 Street 240,

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Tel: 023 224 712 Aircon American bar with neon lighting, a variety of memorabilia, comfortable seats and rock music. International menu with good lunch offers, an excellent range of bottled sauces, excellent International, Mexican food and burgers. Be prepared for some good solid R&R. Open 7am to midnight.

La CitĂĄ 13 Street 282 Tel: 092 388 123 or 092 626 123 www.lacita.ox2net.com Get ready to change your tune about what you think Mexican food is! Just one taste of our hand-rolled burritos, tacos and quesadillas will tell you how much effort we put into our mouthwatering products. Open daily, 9am-10pm.

Taqueria Corona 14E Street 51 (between Sihanouk Blvd and Street 242) Tel: 089 281 626 /012 629 986 Enjoy our mexican specialties, barbacoa, cochinita pebil, texas chile, carnitas, pollo and carne asoda in our festive dining room. Open daily from 11:30am till 2pm from 6pm till 10pm (Sunday serves only dinner).

Vegetarian

Fresh Salad Bar 37E0 Street 310 Tel: 081 555 559 or 016 977 790 The first salad bar in Phnom Penh which provides healthy organic salad and other foods to help you maintain you healthy lifestyle. We serve salad coffee and bakery goods. Free Wifi .

imbibe

Fine Wine & Dine

Out of my glass Darren Gall Philosopher Immanuel Kant in his epic Critique of Pure Reason suggested that we can never truly know of a thing in itself, we may only know what we can obtain through our senses.

If both you and I looked at a glass of red wine, the way you see the colour red may be different to the way I see it — certainly if your eyesight is young and healthy, while mine is old and fading. If your taste buds and olfactory receptors are sensitive to certain characters in the wine, whilst mine are not, we will form a different assessment of the wine.

Another philosophic principle that I can make more of the older I become is Werner Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty, and his earlier The Observer Effect.

These say that the more we focus on measuring one aspect of any event, the more we understand that it will affect our measuring of other aspects. Sometimes just the way we look at something will affect what we see.

If I attend a dinner party with live music, for instance, and focus a great deal of my attention on the musical performance, my appreciation of the food, wine and even the company, will almost certainly be diminished. If the same wine is served on two separate occasions, I am almost certain to enjoy the wine more at a friend’s wedding than at his wake.

I am often asked to name my single favourite wine. I have learned that, for me, it is impossible to consider the wine in isolation. When I recall great wines they are as much about great moments. I instantly recall the person or people I was with; the place; the occasion; the food; the waiters; the décor; in short, the whole experience. All of these aspects serve to heighten the experience and my appreciation for the contents of my glass.

By the same token, what is in the glass undoubtedly enhances the occasion. My life has been enriched by wine for the experiences and events it has helped create and the people it has brought into my life.

Darren Gall is a 20-year veteran of the wine industry with experience in all of its facets, from brand ambassador to winemaking and grape growing. For information on any aspects of the industry, contact him at: darren@auskhmer.com

#15-17, Street 240, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia Tel: 855 (0)23 990 951 H.P.: 855 (0)17 588 191 Email: contact@redaproncambodia.com

Free delivery, call Jung on 081 555 559. Open daily from 8am to 10pm.

K’nyay (see restaurants Cambodian) The Vegetarian 158 Street 19.

Tel: 012 905 766 With a lush garden space in the heart of Phnom Penh, The Vegetarian provides a relaxing dining experience. Whether it be amok, curry or tom yam, The Vegetarian, creates vegetarian versions of popular Cambodian, Indian and Thai dishes. Open from 10:30am to 8:30pm, closed Sundays.

Vego’s 3E0 Street 51 Tel: 012 984 596 Salad bar with an emphasis on greens and a menu of healthy western items. Also offering bagels, salads and wraps with a wide array of super fresh toppings. Choose from ready-made or d.i.y options. Also on offer are a vegetarian soup of the day as well as fresh-squeezed juices, yogurt and granola.

Cafés

Art Café 37 Sothearos Blvd Tel: 012 834 517 Elegant bistro in the style of a European coffee house is now transposed to the Meta House with regular classical music performances.

Blue Pumpkin 245 Sisowath Quay and within Monument Books on Norodom Boulevard, Tel: 023 998 153 Siem Reap’s favourite café also offers two locations in Phnom Penh, serving breakfast sets, Asian and Western entrées and an array of ice cream flavours. Open daily from 6am to 11pm.

Botanic Cafe-Art gallery #126 St 1 Tel: 077589458, botaniccafe@yahoo.com, www.botanica-gallerycafe.com Cafe and food inside over 80 year old building, with garden is display art works, pot plants and premium souvenirs. First floor exhibition and event space is for promote local artists. We have special lunch and dinner set for your special times.

Open everyday from 8:00am – 9:00pm.

Brown Coffee & Bakery 17 Street 214 Tel: 023 217 262 Stylish, locally owned café with bakery on the premises serves a variety of coffees and pastries, with the green tea latte a house speciality.

Open 7.30am to 8pm.

Café El Mundo 219 Sisowath Quay Tel: 012 520 775 Affordable and stylish riverside café and restaurant with adjacent apartments for short-term hire.

Seating available on the mezzanine lounge, ground-floor restaurant and on the streetside terrace. Open 6.30am to 10.30pm.

Café Fresco 363 Sisowath Quay Tel: 023 217 041 Cnr. Streets 51 & 306

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Tel: 023 224 891 The FCC’s café chain sells strong Illy coffee and mix-and-match sandwiches. Interiors have a slight retro 70s feel to it and there are pleasant outside seating areas. There are currently four outlets in town Open 6am to pm.

Café Living Room 9 Street 306 Tel: 023 726 139 Set in a stylish villa, Living Room has healthy salads and snack plates, plus a great tea and coffee menu. Has a kid’s playroom and baby changing room and uses organic and fair trade produce. Open everyday from 7am to 8.30pm.

Café Namu 28b Cnr Streets 30 & 57, Tel: 023 220 074 Breakfast, brunch and lunch venue.

Serving pizza, cakes, cookies, desserts, teas, coffees and fresh juices.

Café Yejj 170 Street 450, Tel: 012 543 360 or 092 600 750 Quiet, cosy café serving bistro-style western cuisine, with extensive range of coffees, pasta dishes, pannini and wraps and fabulous cheesecake making this an ideal spot to escape the bustle of the nearby Russian Market. Open every day from 7am to 9pm.

Chill Ice Cream & Coffee Lounge 219D Sisowath Quay Tel: 092 547 534 Pretty, casual lounge on the riverside offering coffee, sandwiches, cocktails, and some of the best homemade ice cream in town, as well as inventive ice cream cocktails.

Open 11am to midnight.

Coffee Room 385 Street 215 Tel: 098 518 888 The first coffee house in Phnom Penh to have an electronic menu, at the Coffee Room you simply tap in your order and wait for your order to arrive. Serves coffees, juices.

Pastries and breakfast. Open daily from 7:30am to 6pm.

Cross Town Café 193 Street 29 Tel: 017665204 Japanese-owned restaurant with welcoming wooden interior. which spreads from floor to bar. A recently opened venue serving traditional Japanese cuisine with an added twist, the restaurant aims to add new dishes to its menu every week. Open daily from 11am to 10pm.

Daughters of Cambodia 65E0 Street 178, Tel: 077 657 678 www.daughtersofcambodia.org The cafe, called Sugar ‘n Spice, serves light lunches (salads, sandwiches), a few main courses, home baked goods, desserts, coffee and some original smoothies. The cafe is a place for vocational training, where trainees will train and then have the opportunity to graduate into working in top end restaurants and hotels. Value for money. Free Wifi.

There’s also a shop selling clothing, accessories and jewellery made on site. Or relax in the spa which offers head, shoulder, face and hand and foot treatments.

Gloria Jean’s Corner of Street 51 & Street 310, Tel : 092 404 365 Sisowath Quay along Phnom Penh Port, Tel: 092 555 973 Canadia Tower Monivong Blvd., Tel: 092 555 937 Popular cafe in three differences area BKK 1, on the riverside and inside the commercial building Canadia Tower. Enjoy various of delicious coffees, teas, smootheis and more.

Java Café & Gallery 56 Sihanouk Blvd, Tel: 023 987 420 Great coffees, salads, mix-andmatch sandwiches and juices served in an elegant setting. The relaxed inside dining area has a small gallery attached to it. Open 7am to 10pm.

Morning Café 32C Street 592, Tel: 023 982 109 Cosy air-conditioned coffee house with relaxed atmosphere, located in Toul Kork district serves Khmer, Thai and European cuisine. Open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 6am to 9pm.

The Deli 13 Street 178 Tel: 012 851 234 Chic delicatessen, bakery and small restaurant serving excellent bread and pastries, with take-away menu.

Open from 7am to 9pm (closed Sundays).

The Shop 39 Street 240, Tel: 092 955 963 or 023 986 964 Stylish café, with a wide range of fresh bread, tempting patisseries and juices, excellent salads and sandwiches. Crowded at lunchtime, but the small, cool courtyard at the back creates a perfect haven from the sun. Has a Chocolate Shop three doors along, and a second outlet in Tuol Kork. Open 7am to 7pm (Mon. to Sat, 7am to 3pm Sun.)

Bars

Aristocrat Cigar Bar NagaWorld Hotel and Casino, Hun Sen Park, Tel: 023 228 822 Club aimed at attracting wealthy expats and Khmers who like a good cigar and glass of wine. Not as stuffy as you might imagine with cigars from US$10. Open daily from noon to midnight.

Cadillac Bar and Grill 219 E0 Sisowath Quay Tel: 011 713 567 Riverfront air-con bar and restaurant.

Has good American cuisine as well as ariverfront vantage to watch the world go by.

California II 79 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 077 503 144 (see Mexican & Tex-Mex restaurants) Cantina 347 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 222 502 (see Mexican & Tex-Mex restaurants) Chow 277 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 224 894 Contemporary and sophisticated riverfront restaurant that serves

Southeast Asian cuisine, a wide range of cocktails, juices and Illy coffee. The rooftop deck with spectacular views of the river is a great place to have a drink during its half-price 4pm to 8pm happy hour.

Open daily from 7am to 11pm.

Do It All Pub & Bistro 61 Street 174, Tel: 023 220 904 Dishes out African, Asian and Western cuisine, with hip hop and reggae played into the early hours of the morning. Open daily 9am to 4am.

Elephant Bar Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Street 92 Tel: 023 981 888 Flamboyant carpet, comfortable wicker chairs and hotel pianist provide a sense of a time gone by, you can imagine Jackie Kennedy drinking here. Its many signature cocktails, including the femme fatale make this a popular place with expats especially during the twofor-one happy hours (4pm to 8pm).

Open 2pm to midnight from Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to midnight.

Equinox 3A Street 278, Tel: 012 586 139 or 092 791 958 (see Restaurants, International) FCC 363 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 724 014 (see Restaurants, International) Freebird 69 Street 240, Tel: 023 224 712 (see Mexican & Tex-Mex restaurants) Green Vespa 95 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 012 887 228 (see Restaurants International) Harem Shisha Lounge 157 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 990 244 Share in an ancient ritual and enjoy the many fruity flavours of the shisha pipe at Harem. With lavish golden surroundings and chilled world house beats, the Penh’s first shisha bar offers signature cocktails and exotic Middle Eastern tapas menu.

Open from 5pm till late.

Howie’s Bar 32 Street 51 Air-conditioned and open until very very late, this is the Heart’s unofficial chill-out bar although the sound system could give its neighbour a run for its money. Tends to be a popular late night hang-out, especially around the ‘mini’ pool table. Open 7pm to 6am.

K West 1 Street 154 (Cnr. Sisowath Quay), Tel: 023 214 747 (see Restaurants, French) Le Bar Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, 26 Sothearos Blvd.

Tel: 023 999 200 A modern colonial style lobby bar with a fine selection of comfort food, tapas, champagnes, wines, premium spirits and large selection of coffees and teas.

Le Moon Cnr of Sisowath Quay and Street 154 Tel: 023 214 747 Rooftop terrace bar at Amanjaya Hotel has arguably the view of the river of any of the city’s rooftop bars. Full bar and small food menu, while the service is slow enough to afford you sufficient time to soak up the view.

Liquid 3B Street 278, Tel: 023 720 157 Welcoming open air bar on golden street run by the same owner as Flavours. Has one of the best pool tables in town with happy hour from 5pm to 8pm.

Lobby Lounge 296 Mao Tse Tung Blvd (InterContinental Hotel) Tel: 023 424 888 An elegant lounge situated in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel.

Reasonable prices and excellent service. Open daily from 10am – 11:30pm. .

Meta House 37 Sothearos Blvd, opposite Phnom Penh centre.

Tel: 012 607 465 / 067 867 305 www.meta-house.com Multi-media arts centre established by German film-maker Nico Mesterham has a very cool bar. Open from 2pm till midnight. Closed Mondays.

Metro Café Cnr. Sisowath Quay & Street 148, Tel: 023 222 275 (see Restaurants International)

One More Pub 16E Street 294, Tel: 017 327 378 English-style bar with comfortable wooden bar stools. No hip hop or techno, only great classic 60s & 70s music. Has terracotta-tiled terrace and 3 guest rooms upstairs. Open from 5pm to late, happy hour from 5pm to 7pm, closed Sundays.

Paddy Rice 213-217 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023990321, www.paddyrice.net Irish sports bar on riverside with big screen live sports, serves home cooked western and Asian favourites alongside a fully stocked bar including Guinness and a fine selection Irish whiskeys with daily happy hour from 4pm to 8pm. Often has live music events and a weekly pub quiz. Open 7.30am to late.

Rising Sun 20 Street 178, Tel: 012 970 718 English-style pub with reliable breakfast, meat pies and hamburgers.

Has a regular following around the bar at night especially on Fridays. Great posters of British films and TV classics adorn the walls. Ideal for that touch of nostalgia and good fish and chips – though not wrapped in a newspaper.

Open daily from 7am till late.

Riverside Bistro Cnr. Sisowath Quay & Street 148, Tel: 012 277 882 or 023 213 898 (see Restaurants International)

Sharky Bar 126 Street 130, Tel: 012 228 045 , www.sharkybar.blogspot.com Countless pool tables and a large balcony to look out over the street.

Guaranteed to be lively – a place where anything can happen, especially if you get a bit too close to the local clientele.

Serves good Mexican food, and has frequent live music. Open 4pm to 2am, take away 5pm til late.

The Bungalows Mekong River, Tel: 077 555 447 Stylish simplicity located within a quick cruise from Sisowath Quay port. The floating bar serves basic drinks and nibbles. Open Saturdays and Sundays from 3pm to 8pm, available for private events if booked at least two days in advance.

The Chinese House 128 Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 023 356 399 Decadent cocktail bar set in beautiful old Chinese house. Has art exhibitions, film nights and parties down stairs and opulence upstairs. Open from 6pm till late, closed on Tuesdays.

The Tap Room Kingdom Breweries 1748 National Road 5, Tel: 023 430 180 www.kingdombreweries.com Sate of the art European brewery specialising in premium pilsner. Tours of the facility are organised on a regular basis, culminating in frothy cold ones at the brewery’s bar overlooking the Tonle Sap.

Zeppelin Bar 109C Street 51, Tel: 012 881 181 Over 1,000 vinyl albums played by stone-faced DJ owner in small bar next to the infamous Walkabout.

Remarkably good food considering the setting, especially late at night. Try the dumplings. Open daily 5pm to 4am.

Wine Bars Bouchon Wine Bar, 3-4 Street 246, Tel: 077 881 103 Sophisticated wine bar with a very French ambience and a wide range of French wines and bar food. Often has music as well as a mellow jazz sound track. Open noon to midnight.

Elyxir 3 Street 466 (near Thai Embassy) Tel: 023 211 711 Elyxir is dedicated to wine, luxury and gastronomy. Each dish was dreamed up to marry perfectly with the wines on our menu. Elyxir boasts a swimming pool, champagne bar and private rooms.

All our wines are available at our Wine Shop. Open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am til late.

Le Sauvignon 6B Street 302, Tel: 092 730 250 Contemporary wine ban ad restaurant serves a variety of wines with a focus on high-end French whites. Open Monday to Saturday, 12pm til late.

Open Wine 219 Street 19, Tel: 023 233 527

Large wine shop and deli with wellpriced wines from around the world.

Has outside dining area. Open daily from 7am to 11pm.

Rubies Cnr Street s 240 & 19, Tel: 015 670 024 Intimate wood-pannelled wine bar that is a mainstay of the female expat population with well-priced wines.

Often has parties at the weekend.

Gay

Blue Chilli 36 Street 178, Tel: 012 566 353, www.bluechillibar.com This welcoming bar run by Thai national Oak is currently the number one gay bar in town. Chic décor makes this one of the coolest bars in town, even if you’re straight. The drag shows on Friday and Saturday are an additional draw. Open from 5pm till late.

K2 25K Suramarit Blvd. (Street 268) Tel: 093 665 225 www.fb.com/K2Bar.PhnomPenh Classy addition to the Phnom Penh scene and it’s first straight-friendly, chill-out bar. Contemporary design and LGBTIQ artwork. Secluded space, attracting a socially conscious, Khmer crowd who mix easily with expats/ visitors. Open 6pm until late.

The Rainbow Bar 73 Street 172, Tel: 097 741 4187 Intimate bar designed to get to know people better has a range of welldesigned cocktails to make the night go with a swing.

Nightclubs

Bouchon Wine Bar 3-4 Street 246, Tel: 077 881 103 Occasional performances by jazz bands Darlin Darlin NagaWorld Hotel and Casino, Hun Sen Park, Tel: 023 228 822 Top-end nightclub with live music popular among the high-flyers of the city. Semi-private booths in a chic environment make for an unrivalled experience. Open daily from 7pm until late.

Equinox 3A Street 278, Tel: 012 586 139 /092 791 958 Has regular live music from expat and cal bands at weekends and swing dancing on Thursdays.

Heart of Darkness 38 Street 51, Tel: 023 222 415 The most famous of the city’s nightspots with a good-sized dance floor make this the in-place in town.

Has well priced spirits and mixers and is totally packed out on Friday and Saturday nights. Open 8:30pm to 4am.

Mao’s Cnr Street 106 & Sisowath Quay Tel: 023 992 726 Chairman Mao has been reconstructed into one of Phnom Penh’s liveliest nightspots with djs and occasional live bands. What would the chairman have said? Open 5pm to 2am.

Memphis 3 Street 118, Tel: 012 871 263 Only permanent rock venue in town with a house band that plays covers from 10pm til 1:30am, later at weekends. Also has open mike sessions on Mondays. Open from 8pm til late, closed Sundays. 2-for-1 cocktails everday from 8pm til 10pm.

Paddy Rice 213-217 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023990321, www.paddyrice.net Often has live music events.

Pontoon Street 172.

Now no longer the Penh’s floating hotspot, Pontoon still manages to pack in the punters, especially when international DJs are in town.

Riverhouse Lounge 6 Street 110, Tel: 023 212 302 The alternative dance venue for both expats and young Khmers with a self-contained air-con dance room and great balcony to chill out. Mon-Wed, Fri is hip hop, Thu is Ladies night, Sat is house and Sun is dance remix.

Open daily 4pm to 2am.

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Saint Tropez 31 Street 174, Tel: 077 212 100, 097 9000 401 Upscale club, complete with fake beach, deck bar, that suggests the French Riviera. Open daily 6pm to 2pm.

Sharky Bar 126 Street 130, Tel: 012 228 045 , www.sharkybar.blogspot.com Has regular live gigs at weekends involving local and expat bands with an emphasis on heavy rock.

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GRAND OPENNING!!

Shigeta Dental Clinic

Special Price for All Treatment / Services Cleaning Package for $20 only!

Extended until December 31,2012.

LISTINGS

$20

High-End Japanese Dental Clinic that cater your dental needs from Monday to Friday 8:00am to 8:00pm Staurday and Sunday also open.

INCLUDES: -full mouth scaling (teeth stone cleaning) -full mouth polishing (shinning teeth) -total examination (free check – up) -free consultation (free consultation by Dr. Shigeta)

023 223 225

info@shigetadental.com www.shigetadental.com #25E, St. 294 & St. 21 Tonlebassac Chamkamon Phnom Penh

TROPICAL & TRAVELLERS MEDICAL CLINIC Dr.Scott BSc.MBChB. DRCOG.DipVen. (U.K.) -20 years of medical experience in Cambodia

Tel: 012 898981 No.88 St.108 Phnom Penh www.travellersmedicalclinic.com

culture Cinemas

The Flicks 39B Street 95, Tel: 078 809 429, theflicks-cambodia.com A festival movie house with a revolving weekly schedule of international films. Also offers possibility for movie parties, with option to hire the movie room for a private session (max 30 people). Screenings generally at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm or 8pm, but check the website for schedule and ticket prices.

The Cineplex 5th Floor Sorya Shopping Centre, Tel: 017 666 210, www.thecineplexs.com International-standard three-screen cineplex featuring the latest Digital 3D technology and the most recent Hollywood and international releases, located in the heart of downtown with ample parking, shopping and eating options. Opening times 9am to 10:30pm.

Le Cinema French Institute 218 Street 184, Tel: 023 213 124 100-seat cinema shows international art house and mainstream movies with occasional films in English. Children’s cinema on Saturday mornings at 10am. cinema on Saturday mornings at 10 am.

Legend Cinema 3rd Floor City Mall, Monireth Blvd., Tel: 088 954 9857, www.legend-cinemas.com International quality cinema showing Hollywood releases in air-conditioned environment including 3D. Screenings from 10am to 9pm, box office from 10am to 9pm.

Meta House 37 Sothearos Blvd., (opposite of Buildbright, Phnom Penh centre), Tel: 012 607 465 Movie shorts and documentaries from Cambodia and the rest of Asia. Movies normally start at 7pm, closed Mondays.

Galleries

Bophana Audiovisual Resource Centre 64 Street 200, Tel: 023 992 174 Preserving much of Cambodia’s audiovisual material, has regular exhibitions. Open from 8am to 6pm (Mon to Fri), 2pm to 6pm (Sat).

Dori Thy Gallery 9 Street 278 Tel: 012 661 552 Features the black and white photographs of German photographer, Doris Boettcher.

Open every Saturday and Sunday from 10am-6pm.

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Penh’s major venues for the arts. Promoting French culture and Khmer Ongoing cultural activities include exhibitions, festivals, and film screenings. Onsite shop Carnets d’Asie offers a selection of French books.

Java Café & Gallery 56 Sihanouk Bvd., Tel: 023 987 420 www.javaarts.org Contemporary art gallery with regular exhibitions of Cambodian and international artists. Has second gallery on the ground floor. Website has details about Cambodia’s contemporary art scene.

Meta House 37 Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 012 607 465 Multimedia arts centre on three floors has regular exhibitions, interviews with filmmakers and short films, contains the Art Café. Open Tues. to Sun. 2pm to 10pm.

Reyum Institute of Arts & Culture 47 Street 178, Tel: 023 217 149 Gallery with regular exhibitions of Cambodian artists. Part of an NGO established to preserve traditional and contemporary Cambodian arts.

Romeet Contemporary Art Space 34e Street 178, Tel: 092 953 567 Gallery space opened by Phare Ponleu Selpak association, displaying both contemporary and classical artworks by current and former students of the Battambang school of art.

Sa Sa Bassac 18 Sothearos Boulevard, Upstairs.

An expansion of the Sa Sa Art Gallery and a merger with Bassac Art Projects, Sa Sa Bassac is an artist-run gallery for contemporary art. Includes a library, reading and workshop room, and a 60-metre gallery space. Ongoing visual literacy programmes.

The 240 83 Street 240, Tel: 023 218 450 Adjacent to its lobby, The 240 Hotel houses a gallery space dedicated to contemporary art. Picking up where The Chinese House left off, the gallery space presents an ongoing programme of local and international artists.

Open daily from 7am to 10pm.

Performing Arts

Amrita Performing Arts 128-G9 Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 023 220 424 www.amritaperformingarts.org Performance art company that puts on contemporary & classical music and theatre.

Apsara Arts Association 71 Street 598,Tel: 011 550 302 Organisation that promotes Cambodian arts & culture. Open from 7.30am to 10.30am Cambodian Living Arts 407 Street 246. Art organisation devoted to the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts that puts on occasional performances.

Chaktomuk Conference Hall Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 725 119 Designed by master Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann, this under-utilised building is worth a visit. Open from 7am to 11.30am and 2pm to 5pm (Mon. to Fri.).

Equinox 3A Street 278, Tel: 012 586 139 / 092 791 958 Cool French-run restaurant and bar has art exhibitions each month. Open 7am to late.

Chenla Theatre Cnr. Mao Tse Tung & Monireth Blvds., Tel: 023 883 050 www.culturalcenter-cambodia.com One of the capital’s major theatres, it has regular performances of theatre, dance and music.

FCC Phnom Penh 363 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 724 014 Phnom Penh’s landmark restaurant has a permanent, rotating exhibition devoted to photography. Open 7am to midnight.

Epic Arts 1DE0 Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 023 998 474, www.epicarts.org.uk Organisation that uses art to empower people with disabilities.

French Institute 218 Street 184, Tel: 023 213 124 Formerly the Alliance Française, the French Culture Centre (CCF) is one of Phnom

Sovanna Phum Khmer Art Association 166 Street 99 corner of 484, Tel: 023 987 564 Theatre with performances of shadow puppetry, classical and masked dances every Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm.

LISTINGS

leisure & wellness Amusement

Cambodian Country Club Street 2004, Group 6 Toeuk Thla, Tel: 012 231 755 A peaceful heaven providing tennis, swimming, badminton, fitness centre and horse riding, 15 minutes away from the city.

Open daily from 6.30am to late.

Parkway Square 113 Mao Tse Tung Blvd.

Ten-pin bowling alley and dodgem track.

Phnom Penh Water Park 50 Street 110, Tel: 023 881 008 Traditional mix of slides and wave pools is open daily from 9.30am to 5.30pm.

Phnom Tamao Wildlife Park Phnom Tamao, 44 kilometres out of the capital along Highway 2.

Cambodia’s top wildlife centre. All animals are either rescued from traders or bred at the centre. Many of the animals are critically endangered. Open daily from 8am to 4pm.

Boat Cruises The Butterfly Cambodia Tel: 012 602 955, thebutterflycambodia@gmail.com Cambodian river adventures, sunset cruises, birthdays and events to floating villages, Silk Island. Plan your trip, per hour, half-day and full-day rates available.

Classes

Cambodian Cooking Class Frizz Restaurant, 67 Street 240, Tel: 012 524 801 First and only Khmer cooking school for travellers & expats in Phnom Penh, includes transport to the market and a colourful 16page recipe booklet. Open 10am to 10pm.

Capoeira Home of English, Building D, 10B Street 57, Tel: 012 242 396 Lessons in this rhythmic Brazilian cross between dance and martial arts are held every Tuesday from 6.30pm to 8pm.

Central School of Ballet Phnom Penh 10 Street 138 (entrance on Street 406 www.centralschoolofballet.com Cambodia’s first purpose-built ballet school offering classical ballet training for children in the afternoons, contemporary dance, ballet and dance conditioning for adults in the evenings Spacious dance studio equipped with large, custom-made mirrors, barres and a professional, sprung dance floor.

Equestrian Centre CCC, Street 2004, Group 6 Toeuk Thla, Tel: 015 231 755, 012 704 759 With 31 ponies and horses, an international sized arena and spacious stables, the only horseriding centre in Phnom Penh Tuesdays to Sundays, 9am to 11am and 2pm to 5.30pm The Flicks Community Movie House 39b, Street 95, @The Empire, 34, Street 130. theflicks-cambodia.com

Daily classes in yoga and pilates, check website for schedule, prices and sign-up form. Stress relief massage therapy sessions by appointment.

Global Art 1 Street 181 & Street 475 (nr Chinese Embassy) Tel: 023 222 084/ 087 222 084 World renowned art and creativity program for young children. Franchisee of Global Art Group. Available in 17 countries with more than 400 centres worldwide.

Human Rights Kickboxing Kim Hour Gym, 635 National Road 5 next to Cambodia-Japanese Bridge, Tel: 017 878 248 A partner-oriented Khmer-boxing class that trains on Tuesdays at 7pm and Sundays at 4pm. Admission costs US$6.

Music Arts School 9A Street 370, Tel: 023 997 290 www.music-arts-school.org New NGO school providing music training for Cambodians and expats - of all ages and levels - at affordable tuition fees. Learn guitar, piano, violin, vocals, and tradtional Khmer instruments. Also has a scholarship fund to provide music education to the less fortunate.

Nataraj Yoga Center 52 Street 302,Tel 855 12 250 817, www.yogacambodia.com Daily classes in yoga and pilates, check website for schedule and prices.

Photography Tours 126 Street 136, Tel: 092 526 706 www.nathanhortonphotography.com Weekend photography tuition and guided tours to Kampong Chnang and Udong, covering technical and creative considerations in the context of travel photography.

Scuba Nation Dive Centre 18 Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 012 715 785 Learn to scuba dive in Phnom Penh. The academic part of the course takes place in the Plaza Hotel pool, while the real diving is in Sihanoukville. Open 12pm to 6pm during rainy season, but 9am to 6pm during dry season.

Simphony Music School No. 243, Street 51, BKKI, Phnom Penh Tel: 023 727 345/ 097 888 8787 www.simphony.com.kh Simphony Music School is the first official music school in Cambodia recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Royal government of Cambodia. The faculty is composed by experienced and qualified music teachers from overseas, speaking fluent English, Chinese, and French. Our curriculum is based on USA curriculum following Orff and Kodály music teaching methods.

The Tennis Club CCC, Street 2004, Group 6 Toeuk Thla, Tel: 017 847 802 The two courts are equipped with specially adapted flooring unique in Cambodia, and with quality lightning allowing play past sunset. Skilled English and Cambodian speaking teachers available for private or group lessons. Open daily.

Yoga for life 126 Street 19, Tel: 077589458 Learn to release stress and tension, find peace and live a healthy life with yoga classes taught by yoga and massage virtuoso, Azmi Samdjaga from Singapore.

Classes every Wednesday from 7:30pm witht more classes starting late June 2012.

Healthy food and Wifi are also available.

Chemists U-Care Pharmacy 26-28 Sothearos Bvd., Tel: 023 222 499 14 Sihanouk Bvd., Tel: 023 224 099 High quality western-style chemist and pharmacy that sells the full range of beauty products, including international brands.

Counselling Services

Alcoholics Anonymous 11 Street 420 Tel: 012 813 731 www.aacambodia.org Meets on Friday, Wednesday & Sunday.

Indigo Psychological Services 28 Street 460, Tel: 023 222 614, indigocambodia@gmail.com Professional counselling services in English, French or Khmer for adults, adolescents, children, couples, and families. Assessment and intervention services for children and adolescents with learning and developmental difficulties.

Narcotics Anonymous 11 Street 420, Monivong Blvd., Tel: 012 813 731 NA meets on Monday, Thursday at 8pm and Saturday at 7pm.

Dance

Central School of Ballet Phnom Penh 10 Street 138 (entrance on Street 406) www.centralschoolofballet.com Cambodia’s first purpose-built ballet school offering classical ballet training for children in the afternoons, contemporary dance, ballet and dance conditioning for adults in the evenings Spacious dance studio equipped with large, custom-made mirrors, barres and a professional, sprung dance floor.

Dance Workshop Camboda The International Dance Connection’ Since 2007, Professional Tuition in R.A.D Ballet, Modern dance and Jazz, Tap, Neo Classical and Contemporary, Classes held after school, 3-6 years, 7-9 years, 10-12 years, 13-16 years, and open adult classes for beginners and intermediate to advanced. Contact Miss Laura – 012634008, danceworkshopcambodia@gmail.com

Gyms

The InterContinental Fitness Center 3/F Mao Tse Toung Boulevard, Tel: 023 424 888 ext. 5000 A sophisticated retreat from the crowds, The InterContinental Fitness Center is the place to attain peak performance and wellbeing. Pump up with a full body workout on state-of-the-art equipment, benefit from the experience and guidance of qualified trainers, and relax all year round in the open-air swimming pool.

Fitness Centre CCC, Street 2004, Group 6 Toeuk Thla, Tel: 015 704 759 Achieve individual targets whether sports specific or to tone, lose weight, build strength or improve cardiovascular fitness for a healthier and fitter lifestyle. Open daily from 6.30am until late.

Raffles Amrita Spa Raffles Le Royal Hotel, Tel: 023 981 888 Modern gym and pool in Phnom Penh’s most elegant hotel. Use of gym, pool, sauna and Jacuzzi is available to non-guests. Open from 6am to 10pm.

Physique Club Hotel Cambodiana, 313 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 012 810 432 Reasonable selection of equipment in the gym and a pool overlooking the river. Open from 6am to 10pm.

The Gym at The Place 90 Sihanouk Blvd, Tel: 023 999 699 Modern establishment featuring a fully equipped gym and weekly classes in dance, yoga and aerobics. Open 6am to 10pm (Mon to Fri) and 8am to 10pm (weekends).

Hairdressers

The Doll House 46AE0 Street 222, Tel: 016 620 907 Salon offers cutting, colouring and various treatments, including the Brazilian Keratin Treatment with Collagen to replenish the condition of your hair. Western hairdresser with international experience. Open Tues – Sat (9am -7pm).

Dental

The French Element Himawari Hotel Unit D, 313 Sisowath Quay Tel: 077 263 332 www.thefrenchelement.com Over-looking the Tonle Sap, wonderful spot to relax and pamper yourself. Offering all hair services such as highlights, colour, cut, Brazilian Keratin Treatment and more.

International hairdresser. Open from 10am to 8pm, closed Sundays.

International Dental Clinic Phnom Penh 193 Street 208, Tel 023 212 909 www.imiclinic.com Siem Reap 545 National Road N6, Banteay Chas, Stor Kram, Tel: 063 767 618 IMI Dental Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry Centre has been successfully creating beautiful smiles in Phnom Penh and throughout Cambodia. Open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 7pm and Sunday from 9am to 12pm.

Hair & Nail Studio 51D Street 214, Tel: 023 992 626 Sleek Cambodian-run beauty salon offers quality nail care using OPI products, and hair, body and facial treatments. Open 9am to 8pm.

European Dental Clinic 160A, Norodom Blvd.

Tel: 023 211 363 www.europeandentalclinic-asia.com Total dental care, Implant, Orthodontist Treatment by expat dentists. Open (Monday to Friday) 8am-12pm and 2pm-7pm. (Sat) 8am-1pm

Shigeta Dental Clinic 25 Street 294 corner of Street21 Tel: 023 223 225 / 010705083 Email: info@shigetadental.com , Faebook: shigetadentalclinic High-end Japanese Dental Clinic that cater your dental open from Monday to Sunday.

8am - 8pm.

SOS Dental Clinic 161 Street 51, Tel: 023 216 911 International standard dental clinic. Full time dentist Dr. Antonia Moa specialises in pediatric dentistry as well as catering for adults’ dental needs. Services range from routine check ups and cleanings to extractions. Open from 9am

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to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm Monday through Friday and 9am to 12pm on Saturday. Open 24/7 for emergencies.

La Reine Salon 57 Sihanouk Boulevard Tel: 023 212 621 / 092 610 111 www.lareinefashion.com http://www.facebook.com/La%20Reine We provide Hair cut, Make-up, Hair style, Hair color, Hair perm, Hands-Feet Spa, Manicure – Pedicure, Nail color using OPI products with excellent services and reasonable price.

Open daily from 8 am – 8 pm.

Medical

American Medical Centre Ground Floor Cambodiana Hotel 313 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 991 863 Led by American surgeon, team of international and Khmer doctors provide general practice services to clients. Can arrange emergency evacuation. 24/7 service.

International Chiropractic Clinic, 67 Bis Street 240, 100m from Monivong Blvd,.

Tel: 023 223 101 www.cambodiachiropractic.com First and only Chiropractic clinic licensed in Cambodia. Our chiropractors are US trained and we provide modern Chiropractic care, physiotherapy modalities and custom made medical grade orthotics. Common conditions treated include neck and back pain, sports injuries, knees pain. Open Monday to Friday 8.30am-6pm and Saturday 8.30am-1pm.

International SOS Medical Clinic 161 Street 51, Tel: 023 216 911 Global provider of medical assistance and international healthcare. Expat and Khmer doctors offer general practice, specialist and emergency medical services. Appointments from 8am to 5.30pm Mon to Fri and 8am to 12pm on Sat. Open 24/7 for emergencies.

Physiotherapy Phnom Penh 45C Street 456, Tel: 023 99 63 44 General physiotherapy practice specialising in manual therapy, sports injuries and acupuncture Royal Rattanak Hospital 11 Street 592, Toul Kork, Tel. 023 991 000, www.royalrattanakhospital.com A Thai owned and run private hospital with extensive services that strives to provide high standard and quality medical care by professional care team.

Grand Optics 11 Norodom Bvd., 337 Monivong Bvd., 150 Sihanouk Blvd., Tel: 023 213 585 Modern opticians with the latest equipment including free computerised eye test. Makes prescription glasses and lenses.

Pools

Asia Club 456 Monivong Bvd., Tel: 023 721 766 Beautiful swimming pool at rear of Man Han Lou Restaurant. Members get a discount at both restaurant and Master Kang Health Care Centre.

Spas

Amara Spa Cnr Sisowath Quay & St.110, Tel: 023 998 730, www.amaraspa.hotelcara.com Comprehensive day spa providing a wide selection of facials, body massages and treatments, arranged in a four-storey modern facility at riverfront. Open from 11am to 11pm.

Aziadee Spa 16 a/b Street 282, Tel: 023 996 921 aziadee1@yahoo.fr 9am-9pm French-run spa offering a good choice of treatments, a range of massages, scrubs, facials, floral baths, manicures, pedicures and waxing in relaxing and tranquil surroundings.

Bliss 29 Street 240, Tel: 023 215 754

Health spa at back and upstairs in this beautiful French colonial building. Open 9am to 9pm, closed Monday.

Bodia Spa 26-28 sothearos blvd 023 226 199 www.bodia-spa.com Using natural, own-brand products Bodia spa offers body wraps, floral baths, scrubs, facials, aromatherapy, massages and mani-pedies, alongdside Jacuzzi and steam. The peaceful atmosphere is enhanced by scented oils and soft music. Open daily 9am – 9pm.

Derma-Care Skin Clinic 161B Norodom, Tel: 023 720 042 / 012 415 552 Two qualified dermatologists, this professional skin clinic offers a range of beauty treatments using American DermaRx products, minor dermatologic surgery, antioxidant boosters, chemical peeling, and lipolysis. Open from 9am to 9pm.

Derma-MK Skin Center 183 Street 63, Tel: 023 452 5626 Focused on Dermalogica products, this care facility offers facial treatments, including anti-aging and brightening, as well as body treatments such as body scrubs and massage.

Dermal Spa 4C Street 57 Tel: 023 720 042/ 012 415 552 Spa offering beauty salon, foot massage and body massage servies, specializes in Dermalogica skin and beauty products.

Open daily 9am – 9pm.

EL Skin and Wellness Centre 115E0 Street 109, Tel: 012 681 948 Using Dermalogica, L’Oréal, Jane Iredale and OPI products for a variety of face and body treatments, spa provides a professional, relaxed ambience for customers to sample products before purchase. Open 0am to 7pm.

Master Kang Health Care Centre 456 Monivong Blvd., Tel: 023 721 765 Health centre next to Man Han Lou Restaurant offers foot massage in public or private rooms, with both Chinese and oil massage. A grand piano is played in the evenings. Open from 10am to 12pm.

Passion Spa & Salon 29 Street 302 Tel: 081 998 227 / 089 998 227 Dedicated to helping you celebrate a happier, healthier lifestyle. Your Day in a healthy, beautiful way. Open daily from 9am – 10pm.

Raffles Amrita Spa Tel: 023 981 888 Raffles Amrita Spa offers relaxation and rejuvenation through a wide selection of services and facilities including treatment rooms, outdoor lap and fun pool, Jacuzzi, fitness centre, sauna and steam room. Open daily from 6am to 10pm.

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The Spa at NagaWorld Hun Sen Park, Tel: 023 228 822 This luxurious spa promises to bring the ancient Cambodian spa therapy to the world, and claims to be the only all-suite unisex spa in Cambodia. Therapy rooms with sauna, steam and flower bath are inviting, and the spa uses Tomichik flowers as part of its treatment. Open from 10am to 3am.

Thida Salon 16 Street 63 between Moa Tse Toung Blvd to Street 466 Tel: 023 223 270 / 012 692 360 www.facebook.com/thidasalon Thida Salon, recently opened in August, 2012.

The staff are trained in the use of Japanese Nail and Esthetics technology. There is also a comfortable café with free Wifi. Japanese sun-care products and jewelry manufactured in Japan by Japanese designer are on sale. Open 9am-7pm closed on Tuesday.

Villa Spa 456 Monivong Blvd., (cnr. Street 466) Tel: 023 721 765, 012 357 561 www.asiagarden.com.kh Aromatherapy massage in private boutique VIP rooms (villa and bungalow style) from professional Chinese and Khmer therapists from Master Kang; women customers only.

Sports General

Ball Hockey Played every Thursday night at City Villa, corner of Streets 360 and 71 at 7pm. To play, contact Mike: michaelwarford@ispp.edu.kh Beeline Arena Sangkat Chroychangva, Phnom Penh Tel: 067 716 565, www.banzaicambodia.com Located on the Chroy Changvar peninsula, facing the city of Phnom Penh, the Beeline Arena is the first multi-purpose sports arena in Cambodia with international standard,

including Multi-surface state of the art FIFA regulation pitch, 2,000 person capacity, VIP lounge and restaurant. Rental for futsal, basketball, volleyball, events and more. Open daily from 8am til late.

Cambodian Federation of Rugby cambodianfederationofrugby.com Proper 15-a-side rugby league with four senior teams as well as kid’s touch and women’s rugby teams. Contact Larry: khmer_ rugby@yahoo.co.uk for more details.

Cambodia Golf & Country Club Route 4, Kompong Speur, Tel: 023 363 666 International standard, 18-hole golf course.

Open everyday from 6am until dark.

Football: The Bayon Wanderers www.bayonwanderers.com Mixed Khmer and western team. Training at the City Villa court on Wednesday and Friday, 8pm to 10pm, Old Stadium on Tuesday from 4.30 pm. Contact Billy Barnaart on 012 803 040 (available from 11am to 10pm). Sunday play at 2pm.

Hash House Harriers 8, Street 360 (cnr. Street 71) Meets at the railway station every Sunday at 2:15pm. An ideal way to see the countryside walking or running. Contact 012 832 509.

Phnom Penh Ultimate Frisbee A fast paced fun game that is open to everyone, regardless of skill set or gender, Phnom Penh Ultimate has weekly games at ISPP and Northbridge. Contact CraigDGerard@gmail.com for details on times and locations.

Touch Rugby Mixed touch rugby is played most Saturday afternoons at 3-5pm at ISPP. Contact pptouchrugby@gmail.com.

sos Dental Trauma Dr Deborah Moore Bumps and scrapes are a part of any kid’s life when growing up. Minor cuts and bruises can usually be dealt with by using a smear of antiseptic cream and a sprinkle of “magic fairy dust” — or was that just my mum’s trick? Sometimes, things can be a little bit more serious, and when teeth get involved that is usually the case.

Between the ages of eight and 12, children often have sticky-out front adult teeth, because they haven’t grown the space for them to line up straight. In dental terms this is rather fetchingly known as the ‘ugly duckling phase’.

Unfortunately, during sporting accidents such sparkling new teeth are sometimes the first things to break the fall.

Injuries to upper incisors can range from a small chip in the enamel to a large fracture involving the dentine and pulp (the living part of the tooth).

Sometimes the whole tooth can be knocked out or ‘avulsed’.

An avulsed tooth needs careful handling. The tooth can be replaced into the socket by a dentist under local anaesthetic, but it will only work long-term if the millions of cells that coat the surface

of the root stay alive.

The best way to keep these cells alive is to not touch the root. It might be tricky to tell which end is the root, but the most obvious way is that it is a darker yellow colour. So try to pick up an avulsed tooth by the whiter end — the enamel.

Studies have shown that the best way to transport these teeth as you travel to the dental office is to keep them in cold milk. The milk provides a similar level of acidity as the body and contains sugars that feed the root cells. The next best thing is the child’s own saliva. Time is of the essence, so contact your dentist ASAP. Minor enamel chips can be smoothed over by your dentist with a polishing disc.

For bigger fragments, look around to see if you can see the fractured part. It is possible to re-bond a broken fragment back in place, which provides a quick and easy solution that looks natural. If a child plays contact sports or games such as cricket or baseball, it is a good idea to get a protective mouth-guard made, which is fabricated from a special mould using a dental impression.

Dr Deborah Moore is general dental surgeon at International SOS Dental Clinic Phnom Penh. If you have any enquiries regarding this or any other medical matter please contact info.cambodia@ internationalsos.com.

78 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

LISTINGS

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR

family Cafés & Restaurants

Café Fresco II Cnr. Streets 51 & 306, Tel: 023 224 891 Let your children play with puzzles and Lego on beanbags, watch films like the Lion King looked after by a trained staff as you enjoy your cappuccino. Open daily 6am to 9pm.

Café Living Room 9 Street 306, Tel: 023 726 139 The playroom is stocked with books, games, a wooden dollhouse and even a rattan crib, while the kid’s menu has bite-sized portions.

Contact Living Room to see what classes they are currently running.

Open daily from 7am to 8.30pm.

Java Café 56 Sihanouk Blvd., Tel: 023 987 420 Kid’s menu includes chicken nuggets and pizza bagels. Colouring pages and crayons to keep the kids amused. High-chair is available on request and baby-changing facilities are in the toilet. Open daily from 7am to 10pm Le Jardin 16 Street 360, Tel: 011 723 399 This garden retreat has a great kids’ area with playhouse and sandbox, specialises in birthday parties, with cake, decorations, toys and drawing materials provided for children of all ages. Open from Tuesday until Sunday 8am to 8pm.

Entertainment

Cambodian Country Club Street 2004, Group 6 Toeuk Thla, Tel: 012 231 755 Sports centre and a peaceful heaven providing tennis, swimming, badminton, fitness centre and horse riding in an amazing landscape 15 minutes away from the city.

Dedicated to leisure, rest and entertainment, CCC is suitable for children. Open daily from 6.30am to late.

Dragon Water Park Diamond Island (Koh Pich) Tel: 023 45 54 023/ 023 224 776 Clean-Safe-Exciting! Wonderful Water World just in the biggest amusement land, fit for all ages.

Have fun with Crystal Blue Clear Water, immense pools, giant slides up to 15m high and water toys.

Open daily from 10:30am til late.

Monkey Business Paragon Department Store, Second Floor, Tel: 023 319 319 Kids can rejoice now that this indoor children’s play centre offers clean, safe facilities. Available for private parties. Open daily from 9am to 8pm.

PHOTO EDITOR

Phnom Tamao Wildlife Park Phnom Tamao Cambodia’s best wildlife centre.

All the animals are either rescued from traders or bred at the centre. Many of the animals are critically endangered. Open from 8am to 4pm.

International Schools

Footprints School 220 Street 430, Tumnub Teuk, Phnom Penh Tel: 077 222084 www.footprintsschool.edu.kh Established in 2007 Footprints School offers nursery (age 2) through grade 6 and has 4 campuses. The curriculum is designed for the dynamic needs and interests of our students and the staff are hired for their experience and love for children.

Giving Tree International Elementary School of Phnom Penh 40 Street 334, Tel: 017 997 112, www.thegivingtreeschool.com Established to provide an exceptional, affordable, and unique learning environment, based on small class sizes and a international curriculum incorporating compassion, communication, conservation, contemplation, creativity, conscience and global citizenship.

PLEASE SEND CV AND PHOTOGRAPHIC SAMPLES TO steve@asialife.asia

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ICan International School 85 Sothearos Blvd, Tel: 023 222 418 www.ican.edu.kh Offers affordable, high quality education to 330 children, aged 2-12, from 31 different nationalities, using British curriculum. iCAN is a contemporary, purposebuilt school and is the first in Cambodia with interactive whiteboards in every classroom.

International School of Phnom Penh 146 Norodom Blvd.

Tel: 023 213 103 www.ispp.edu.kh Founded in 1989, this non-profit, non-sectarian international school currently has over 600 students from Pre-K to Grade 12. The largest international school with over 70 professional teachers, and the only fully authorized IB Programme in the country.

Lycée Français René Descartes Street 96, Tel: 023 722 044 French school offering primary and secondary level education, extra-curricula activities include basketball, football, rugby.

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 79

Northbridge School 1km off National Road 4 on the way to the airport, Tel: 023 886 000 www.nisc.edu.kh Founded in 1997, NISC is an authorized IB World School with a growing enrollment of 410 students age 3 to Grade 12. Spectacular purpose built campus unlike any in Cambodia.

Zaman International School 2843 Street 3, Tel: 023 214 040 www.zamanisc.org International school that teaches a full curriculum to children from four to 18.

Facilities include basketball and volleyball courts, a football field and a science lab.

Pre-Schools

Gecko & Garden Pre-school 3 Street 21 Tel: 092 575 431 This is a not-for-profit preschool, established over ten years ago, which emphasises learning through creative play in a supportive environment for children aged 18 months to 5 years. Open every day from 7:30am to 12pm. An after school program offering a range of fun activities is available everyday from 2:30pm to 5pm.

The Giving Tree Nursery and Preschool House #17, Street 71, Bkk1.

Tel: 017 997 112 www.thegivingtreeschool.com Preschool committed to providing a nurturing and supportive environment that supports and extends the child’s overall development.

With an international, experienced team of teachers the school offers a play-based programme that is fun and motivating.

Sambo’s Tots www.sambostots.com Playhouse and playschool provides fun edutainment experience for babies and toddlers from 3 months to 5

years where imagination comes to life.

Tchou Tchou 13 Street 21, Tel: 023 362 899, www.tchou-tchou.com Kindergarten and pre-school for 18 months to 5-year-olds, open from 7.30am to 12pm (Mon to Fri). French is the main language, although English and Khmer is also practised.

Shops

Monument Toys 111 Norodom Bvd., Tel: 023 217 617 To the rear of Monument Books is a well-stocked toy section.

It features an excellent range of well-known board games and toys including Barbie dolls, Transformers, Magic 8 balls and more. It has to be the best place in the city for brand name toys and games. Open daily from 7.30am to 8pm.

Shade 7 Outdoor Living Co Ltd Showroon; Borey Chamkarmon Tel: 077 962 467 david@shade7.com www.shade7.com www.springfreetrampoline.com Supplier of Shade7 premium aluminium umbrellas and exclusive distributor of original Springfree range. World class products now available in Cambodia! Stock in country for immediate supply.

Toys & Me 159A Mao Tse Toung Blvd., Tel: 023 212 081 016 808 676 www.toysnme.net Established in 2007, Toys & Me is a leading toys shop in Cambodia. A one-stop shop you can trust when it comes to educational needs for your children.

Willi Shop 769 Monivong Blvd., Tel: 023 211 652 All products are imported from France, including bébé brand baby products, the range includes prams, baby care, cots and toys. Open from 8am to 8pm.

Pharmacy & Beauty store Services - International cosmetic brands - Largest selection of medicines with original brand products - Professional advice - Central locations in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

www.ucarepharma.com

80 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

kids corner

Independence Day Gemma Jones What’s that? Your little angel has transformed into a demanding demon and suddenly wants to do everything independently with no help from mummy or daddy? Welcome to Independence Day — the dawn of a new age when everything becomes an exercise in testing patience. Strangely enough, my advice is to encourage this behaviour, even if it seems like your child is at an age when you should still be helping him or her.

From the moment we are born, we strive to become independent adults. Remember that even the actions of babies under one, such as putting their hands in their mouths, are not completely involuntary actions.

They are doing this because they want to.

As they become more independent, toddlers will still need your reassurance. Getting the balance right between overseeing every move and pushing towards independence too quickly is one that I see parents get wrong time and time again. If your child decides to scramble up the climbing frame, then let them try it and perhaps make their own mistakes. Equally, if they get to the top and ask for help getting down, be sure to give them the support they need.

It is almost impossible to give definite guidelines on levels of

independence at certain ages, as it will vary greatly from child to child. It is very important to make sure your home is child friendly from the get-go.

It can be frustrating for a little adventurer to have too many obstacles in the way and to constantly be told “no”.

If a toddler shows signs of making choices for themselves, parents will need to set limits on what they can and cannot do. An effective way to do this is by letting your child make a choice between two options. For example, select two outfits appropriate for the day’s activities, but let your child choose which one to wear.

Doing small jobs is another fun way to gain confidence.

Give them a rag to dust the table, ask them to help put their clothes away — they will find such tasks surprisingly enjoyable. Always show them how to do such jobs first and remember to praise their efforts.

Most important of all is showing patience. As parents and care givers we need to understand how confusing it can be to be a toddler. Expect some defiant and disobedient behaviour, but remember that this is a normal part of a child carving their own identity. Offer them plenty of choices and remain supportive whenever necessary.

Gemma Jones has been working in childcare for over 10 years.

She holds an NNEB diploma in nursery nursing and is currently a principal at Cambridge Child Development Centre.

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 81

services

money matters Learning Costs Trevor Keidan No matter where you are in the world, education is getting more expensive. With British universities charging as much as £18,000 a year in tuition fees for ‘foreign’ students, you would be forgiven for choosing a cheaper option.

Studying in Asia could be a good solution. Lower living costs coupled with scholarships and awards can help your child get their degree more cheaply. After all, if you have been outside of the United Kingdom for three years or more, even if your child is British you will pay foreign student fees, doubling the maximum ‘home’ student cost.

One of the most comprehensive resources for checking out international education awards is IEFA (www. iefa.org), where parents can search for funding depending on where they come from and where the student plans to study.

A quick search for subjects that can be studied by a UK student in Hong Kong reveals 151 awards with topics including accounting, criminal law, biology and life sciences. The same student studying in Thailand would have access to 153 scholarships.

Many awards are not restricted to a specific subject. For example, the Pure Water Scholarships sponsored by The Vital Youniverse Society were founded to “help

inspire actions to bring pure, living water to everyone on the planet”. It is worth between $300 and $500 and not restricted to a specific field of study.

Another option is The Student Grants Program, which awards a €1,000 grant to students enrolled at a “higher educational institution” such as a college, university or business school. Students from all over the world can apply.

Some awards are worth much more but may be restricted by whether you are, for instance, a United States or Australian citizen.

You may also have to divulge details of your family’s financial circumstances to qualify. But every penny counts.

Asia is becoming an increasingly popular destination for foreign students. Around 12 percent of Americans studying abroad choose to go to the Far East, according to the Open Doors data on international students.

While Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong are among the top 10 most expensive places for expats to live in the FinFacts Global/World Cost Of Living Rankings for 2011/2012, other areas such as Shenzen and Guangzhou in China are much lower down the rankings. A lower cost of living will help students make their tight budgets stretch that bit further. Planning ahead is the easiest way to cover the cost of your child’s education, but you should look at any option that can reduce the cost of what is a very expensive time.

Trevor Keidan is Managing Director of Infinity Financial Solutions. This company provides impartial, tailor-made, personal financial advice to clients in Cambodia and Southeast Asia.

Should you wish to contact Trevor, please send an email to info@infinitysolutions.com or visit infinitysolutions.com.

dylan walker Photographer

Dylan Walker Tel: +855 78 809 931 web: www.dylanwalker.co.uk e-mail: dylan@dylanwalker.co.uk 82 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

business & services Architecture, Interior Design & Construction

Beyond Interiors 14e Street 306, Tel: 023 987 840, 012 930 332, www.beyondinteriors.biz Managed by Australian designer Bronwyn Blue, this interior design showroom can provide the ultimate design solution to your interior dilemma.

All products from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia have been treated to withstand any climate. Open from 9am to 6pm Bill Grant Landscape Design Tel: 012 932 225, 012 738 134 The city’s most talented landscape designer.

Green Goal Ltd 10 Street 296, Tel: 023 223 861 Consultancy offers sustainable and creative architectural and construction services to clients taking into account environmental considerations.

Hemisphere Design & Interiors Tel: 012 602 955, william@norbert-munns.com Western managed renovation company

specialising in swimming pools and Jacuzzi construction in fibreglass and concrete.

The Room Design Studio 9AB Street 288, Tel: 023 992 620 Interior design and architectural company that has 12 years’ experience of designing flats, villas, offices, shops, homes and offices in Asia.

Business Groups

Australian Business Association of Cambodia (ABAC) 20 Street 114 (cnr. Street 67) For information, contact Derek Mayes 012 385 157, abacambodia@gmail.com British Business Association of Cambodia (BBAC) 35 Sihanouk Blvd, Tel: 012 803 891 Contact enquiries@bbacambodia.com.

Chambre de Commerce FrancoCambodgienne Office 2nd floor, 33 Street 178, Tel: 023 221 453, www.ccfcambodge.org Canadian Cooperation Office Cambodia Commissioner Service Canadian Embassy, 50 Street 334, Tel: 023 215 496 www.cco-cambodia.org Malaysian Business Council of Cambodia Unit G21, Ground Floor, Parkway Square 113, Mao Tse Tung, mbcc.secretariat@gmail.com

Car Rental

ACC Car Rental Services 43 Street 160z Toul Kork.,

Tel. 012 456 003, 015 456 003.

Professional, prompt and organised rental service that provides vehicles for rent with or without a driver. ACC also rents a range of buses that seat from 12 to 45 people. All vehicles can be delivered to your door.

Asia Vehicle Rental 27 Street 134, Tel: 078 666 557, www.avrcambodia.com With the motto “leave your driving to us”, the rental service offers sedans, pick-ups, SUVs and minibuses in 2WD or 4WD for self-drive or with driver.

Insurance offered.

Larryta Trading & Travel Co. Ltd. 9 Street 310, Tel: 023 994 748, www.larrytacarrental.com.kh Vehicle rental for all types of cars, vans and mini-buses with flexible go-anywhere packages to all areas of Cambodia and neighbouring countries by the day, week or month.

Royal Limousine Services Attwood Business Center, Russian Confederation Blvd., Tel : 023 218 808, www.royallimousine.com.kh Fleet of late model Mercedes that provides transport for hotels, embassies and luxury tour operators as well as foreign delegates.

Commercial Banks

Acleda Bank 61 Monivong Blvd, Tel: 023 998 777 www.acledabank.com.kh Specialises in micro, small and medium loans to people throughout the country.

ANZ Royal Bank Main Branch, 20 Street 114, www.anzroyal.com Cambodia’s major commercial bank

has brought international standards of banking to Cambodia, with a large number of ATM machines around Phnom Penh. Can arrange money transfers.

CIMB Bank PLC 20AB Norodom Blvd., Phnom Penh Tel: 023 988 388 , www.cimbbank.com.kh Full range of commercial and consumer banking products and services for both Cambodian and foreign businesses and individuals. The first Japanese bank in Cambodia.

Maruhan Japan Bank 83 Norodom Blvd., Tel: 023 999 010 First Japanese bank in Phnom Penh.

Bikes & Mechanics

Dara Motorbike 43 Street 136, Tel: 012 335 499 Off-road specialist offers repairs, parts and accessories. Tours can be arranged by appointment.

Emerald Garage 11 Street 456 Mechanics specialising in maintenance and repair of vehicles, including oil changing and body painting.

The Bike Shop 31 Street 302, Tel: 012 851 776 Repairs trusty steeds as well as renting them out in the first place. Also provides dirt bike tours.

Western Service Centre 24 Street 420, Tel: 012 477 831 www.wmg-cambodia.com admin@wmg-cambodia.com

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 83

services

LISTINGS

services

A garage with Western and Khmer staff that emphasises communication and trained, attentive skills. Motto is “We don’t know all, we find out all, then we fix.”

info@agcambodia.com Professional insurance agent offering health, home, car, factory, employee and hotel insurance packages.

IT & Software

Infinity Insurance 126 Norodom Blvd, Tel: 023 999 888 Prfessional insurance company offers motor, property, home, marine cargo, personal accident, healthcare, construction and engineering insurance.

Group policies can be customized.

Cresittel Co., Ltd. Office 705, KT Tower, 23 Street 112, Tel 098 518 888 Company that provides software solutions and systems, point of sales systems for bars and restaurants, website designing and telecoms consulting. Has showroom at 385 Street 215.

We supply best on:

∙ All kind of offset printing ∙ All kind of inkjet printing ∙ All kind of plastic printing ∙ In-outdoor advs production ∙ Graphic design

Netpro Cambodia 11, Street 422, Tel: 855 23 215 141, www.netpro-cambodia.com, IT supports company that delivers high quality and reliable services to home and small to medium size organisations in Cambodia.

Ocean Technology T-20 St Topaz, Sovanna Shopping Centre, Tel: 023 211 700 010 624 001, www.ocean-tech.biz Technology company that offers GPS navigation systems, an online map directory and vehicle tracking system.

Internet Provider

EMAXX 99 Norodom Blvd., Tel: 023 999 818 EMAXX offers fast internet access via WiMAX , Optical Fiber , and Satellite.

Insurance No. 1297B, Street Luo 5, Stoeung Mean Chey, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.

HP: (855)-11/12 939 255 Email: sokheng.printing@gmail.com

SavinG for educaTion

AG Cambodia Hotel Cambodiana, 313 Sovanna Sisowath Quay Tel: 017 360 333,

Legal

BNG Legal 64, Street 111, Tel: (855-23) 212 671 / (855-23) 212 740 www.bnglegal.com BNG Legal is a leading Cambodian law firm providing comprehensive legal services to foreign and local clients.

We differentiate ourselves by coupling a deep understanding of the local business environment with international professionalism and integrity.

DFDL Legal and Tax Advisors 33 Street 294, Tel: 023 210 400, www.dfdlmekong.com Law firm providing tailored international standard legal and tax solutions with extensive local and cross-border experience with offices in neighbouring countries.

Gordon and Associates Asia (Cambodia) 21 Street 214, Tel: 023 218 257 US lawyer works with local Cambodian lawyers to provide international quality advice. Specialises in foreign investment, joint ventures and advising entrepreneurs with an in depth knowledge of the telecoms, agriculture, banking and hospitality sectors.

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Visit infinitysolutions.com Email info@infinitysolutions.com Call Thailand +66 2 261 1571 Cambodia +855 23 997 121 Malaysia +60 3 2164 658 Vietnam +84 8 6255 6914 Hong Kong +852 2855 6961 Shanghai +86 21 6247 5755 An associate of Infinity General Insurance

Infinity_ASIAlife_September 12 Ad_HP.indd 1

The possibilities are endless 8/21/12 4:07 PM

Media & Design

Anon Creative Energy www.anoncambodia@gmail.com Internationally trained advertising talent at your service. Strong, strategic ideas.

Available for freelance art and copy writing projects. Call 089 812 123.

Asia Media Lab Tel: 012 818 917, www.asiamedialab.com Full service video production company specialises in the creation of dynamic visual content to help bring NGO stories to life for fundraising and advocacy.

Post Office

Main Post Office Cnr. Street 102 & Street 13 Open from 6.30am to 9pm.

The place to go if you want to send something overseas or get a PO Box.

Photography

AsiaMotion Tel: 092 806 117, www.asiamotion.net Photographic agency established in November 2008 as a cooperation between local and international photographers.

Nathan Horton Photography Tel: 092 526 706, www.nathanhortonphotography.com Full service professional photographer.

Hotels, bars, restaurants, spas and location work. Call for Travel Photography workshops and tours.

Printing

Sok Heng Printing House 1297B Street Luo 5, Stoeung Mean Chey.

Tel: 011 939 255, 012 939 255 Modern print house providing a full range of printing services. Graphic design available.

Real Estate and Property Services 240PHNOMPENH 50B Street 240, Tel: 023 996 240 www.240phnompenh.com 240 is the home of 42 luxury serviced apartments set in the most stylish area of Phnom Penh with spectacular river and city views. The condominium was designed by leading international architects gfab and represents the most contemporary luxury apartment development currently available in Cambodia.

Bizzy Beez 47B Street 466, Tel: 012 755 913 bizzybeezservices@gmail.com Premier handyman service does renovations, construction work, electrics, plumbing, painting and landscaping.

CB Richard Ellis (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. 9th Floor, Hyundai Phnom Penh Tower, No.445,Monivong Blvd Tel: +855 (0) 23 964 099 www.cbre.com.kh The world’s largest commercial real estate services company offering premier quality real estate, valutions, consultancy, investment and property services.

Property Care Services (PCS) 2A Road 7, Tel: 017 555 203 Solution for property support services,

including waste management, security, pest control and cleaning. Only company to clean high-rise windows with abseilers.

services

Sciaroni & Associates 24 Street 462, Tel: 023 210 225 Law firm with a good reputation.

Just the ticket if you get into a spot of bother.

Relocation, Shipping

Asian Tigers Transpo International (Cambodia ) Ltd 86 Street 160 Toul Kork, Tel. 023 880 951 One of Asia’s leading move management specialists has 1,500 staff as well as the largest fleet of trucks and the most warehouse space in the Far East.

Crown 115-116 Street 335, Tel: 023 881 004. www.crownrelo.com Global transportation and relocation company with over 150 offices in 50 countries, specialising in expat support and household shipment. 8:30am to 5:30pm Mon to Fri, 8:30am to 12pm Sat. Home Connect Cambodia 86 Street 160, Tel: 023 88 56 85 www.homeconnect.asia Home search company, dedicated to making the home search process easy and specializing in finding rental homes for the expatriate community. Best of all for our clients, our services are FREE JVK – NAGA 1157 National Road 2, Tel: 023 216 781 Asian-based relocation company with years of experience operating in most major Asian cities, offers record management and warehouse and distribution services.

Taxi Services

Choice Taxi Tel: 023 888 023 / 090 882 882 Metered taxi service with rates from US$1 for first 2km.

Giant Ibis Transport Phnom Penh 3 Street 106, next to Night Market.

Tel: 023 999 333, www.giantibis.com Siem Reap 64 Street Sivatha, Mondol 1, Svay Dankum.

Travel “Affordable Luxury” to Siem Reap and other destinations in brand new 2012 buses with comforablt reclining seats, spacious leg room, A/C, Wi-fi, complementary snacks and pick-up service.

Global Meter Taxi Tel: 011 311 888, 092 889 962, 016 680 118 Modern metered taxi fleet with rates from less than US$1 for first two km.

Telecoms

Ezecom 7D Russian Blvd., Tel: 023 888 181 www.ezecom.com.kh Internet service provider that promises boundless internet packages suited to everyone’s needs. Good packages for those looking for unlimited downloads.

Mobitel 33 Sihanouk Blvd., Tel: 012 801 801 Largest ISP in the country. Major mobile phone company which issues the 012 SIM card.

Smart Mobile 464A Preah Monivong Blvd.

Tel: 010 201 000, www.smart.com.kh, facebook.com/SmartMobileKH One of the most dynamic and fastest growing mobile telecom service providers in the country. Issues the 010, 069, 070, 086, 093 and 098 prefixes.

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 85

LISTINGS

shopping Art

Happy Painting Gallery FCC, Sisowath Quay, www.happypainting.net Open since 1995, popular air-con art shop sells the extremely colourful and positive works of iconic artist Stef. Accepts all major credit cards. Open from 8am to 10pm.

Beauty Products

Angkor Soap 16C Street 374 Tel: 023 223 720, 015 935 789. www.angkorsoaps.com Specialising in handmade soaps and natural spa products. Open daily from 8am to 5pm Raffles Amrita Spa Raffles Hotel Le Royal Tel: 023 981 888, www.raffles.com/phnompenh, spa.phnompenh@raffles.com Distinctive collection of Raffles Amrita spa private label and international spa products are available for purchase.

Open from 6am to 10pm.

Books & CDS

Carnets d’Asie French Cultural Centre 218 Street 184, Tel: 012 799 959 French-language bookshop has sections on Cambodia and Asia as well as general fiction, with a good range of French magazines and newspapers. Open from 8am to 8pm D’s Books 12E Street 178 & 79 Street 240 Tel: 092 675 629 Second-hand book shop with over 20,000 copies and some originals, with a heavy emphasis on best sellers and travel books. Open from 9am to 9pm.

Le Phnom Shop Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Tel: 023 981 888 www.raffles.com/phnompenh, Small shop offering books and souvenirs including recipes from the hotel’s pastry chef. Open from 7am to 9pm.

86 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

Monument Books 111 Norodom Blvd., Tel: 023 217 617, Extensive range of new English-language books in town including recent releases and sections on Asia, Cambodia, travel, cuisine, design and management. Good children’s section as well as a wide choice of magazines and newspapers.

Open from 7am to 8.30pm.

Crafts & Furniture

Art des Lignes 42B Mao Tse Toung Blvd., Tel: 012 211 520 www.artdeslignes.com This new interior design showroom provides branded products of high-quality like luxury leather sofas and LED lighting, as well as furniture and metal artworks in contemporary style. Upstairs, the architecture and interior design office can offer complete solutions for projects, with a resolutely modern spirit and French Touch. Open from 8:30am to 7:00pm (closed Sundays).

Artisans D’Angkor 12AEo Street 13, Craft Centre, Tel: 063 963 330.

Silk Farm Tel: 063 380 375 Specialising in stone and wood carving, lacquering and silk paintings, all items are hand made by the students at the organisation’s training centre. Open daily from 9am to 9pm.

DeCosy 219 Street 19, Tel: 023 219 276 Stocking charming knick-knacks and furniture,is the place to find the things to make your house a home. Open daily from 9am to 7pm.

I Ching Decor 85 Sothearos Blvd., Tel: 023 220 873, 012 558 000, 092 660 746, www.ichingdecor.com Boutique interior design shop offering advice on architectural work and interior design, as well as providing custommade furniture, home accessories, kitchenware, lighting and bedroom suites. Open from 9am to 6pm, closed Sundays.

NatureWild 10Eo Street 420, Tel: 023 727 407, www.naturewildcambodia.com A sustainable lifestyle store featuring community products made from natural and wild materials from the forests of Cambodia, ideal for gifts.

Pavillon d’Asie 24, 26 Sihanouk Blvd., Tel: 012 497 217 Antique lovers dream, a large array of well-restored furniture and decorative objects. Wooden cabinets jostle

for space with Buddha statues and old wooden boxes. Upstairs are pieces from the French colonial era. Open 10am to 7pm, closed Sundays.

Fashion

A.N.D. 52c Street 240, Phnom Penh Tel: 017 854 726 www.artisandesigners@gmail.com The designers at A.N.D. work with many local artisans, giving a fashion twist to traditional skills: look for generously-sized ikat wraps in pure cotton, innovative up-cycled bags, and covetable jewellery combining hand-carved hardwoods with silver and vintage porcelain.

Ambre 37 Street 178, Tel: 023 217 935, The high-end fashion designs created by Cambodian designer Romyda Keth are popular all over the world, this beautiful colonial building makes the perfect setting for the city’s most glamorous design shop. Also has men’s fashion. Open 10am to 6pm, closed Sunday.

Established in 2001 by Kellianne Karatau and Cassandra McMillan, this boutique creates its own collection of designs twice a year using hand-woven Cambodian silk.

Open 8am to 6pm.

Khmer Attitude Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Tel: 023 981 888 Fashion boutique that offers the finest Khmer silk clothing for men, women and children, including designs by Romyda Keth, and exclusive jewellery that complement the limited edition outfits.

La Clef de Sol A design boutique offering home decor, women’s fashion, kids clothes, bags, accessories and continually updated design surprises. Next to K’nyay restaurant, in the alley across the park from java cafe.

Open 10am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday Lim Keo 9 Street 222, Tel: 012 941 643 Pret a porter by Lim Keo, son of Sylvain Lim, the master of Cambodian fashion.

Luna Boutique 8E1Street 278, Tel: 023 220 176 www.lunaboutiquephnompenh.com Original and stylish fashion designs for men and women, from work suits to evening dresses. The tailor-made creations, designed by modern Cambodian stylist Mengchou Kit, are fit for any occasion.

Luna Boutique is located in the heart of Beautiful Shoes Phnom Penh, in front of Anise Hotel, while 138 Street 143, its sister shop - Luna Shoes - is just Tel: 012 848 438 next door and hosts a large selection of Family-run business measures your feet shoes, bags, and women’s accessories and designs the shoe exactly as you wish. to complement your style.

The shop also caters for men. Open from Open daily from 8am to 9pm.

7am to 6.30pm.

Promesses and Kaprices Bliss 20 Street 282, Tel: 023 993 527 29 Street 240, Tel: 023 215 754 Lingerie shop stocked with exclusive A beautiful colonial building houses this French and Thai undergarments. Chic, exquisite shop with funky patterned cush- new prêt-à-porter shop Kaprices is ions, quilts and an excellent clothing line. located upstairs. Open 9am to 7pm.

The health spa at the back of the shop also sells Spana beauty products. Open SALT from 9am to 9pm (closed Mondays).

2 Street 294, Tel: 023 211 729 SentosaSilk’s younger sibling has just Couleurs D’Asie opened in the comfortable surround33 st240 ings of BKK1. Its stylish wooden interior Tel: 099 499 478 / 023 221 075 complements the products sold, ranging www.couleursdasie.net/ from bags and shoes, clothes and Email: info@couleursdasie.net dresses to accessories. Open daily from Established in Cambodia for more than 9am to 7pm 15 years, Couleurs d´Asie has developed a full range of textile products for home SentosaSilk Uniform decoration, clothing and fashion acces33 Sothearos Blvd, cnr Street 178 sories. Jewellery, essential oils, soaps and Tel: 012 962 911/ 023 222 974 more are on offer. A customizing service sentosa@online.com.kh for existing products is also available.

Well known for its professional management ability, SentosaSilk gives clients efficient and reliable service through quality Jasmine Boutique systems and procedures that consistently 73 Street 240, Tel: 023 223 103 enhance product quality and reliability. www.jasmineboutique.net Bambou Indochine 7 Street 178, Tel: 023 214 720, Facebook: bambouindochine High-quality T-shirts, Polo shirts and comfortable clothes in original designs.

A full-range of sizes for men, women and children. Open daily from 8am to 10pm.

Sobbhana Boutique 23-24 Street 144/49, Tel: 023 219 455 or 023 219 452 www.sobbhana.org, A not for profit organisation founded by Princess Norodom Marie, offering a range of colourful, handwoven silk products.

Profits fund training, medical care and education of weavers.

to many restaurants around town. Open from 7:30 to 6:30, closed Sundays.

Smateria 8Eo Street 57, Tel: 023 211 701 7 Street 178, Tel: 023 214 720 www.smateria.com Boutique specialising in accessories made from recycled materials including a range of bags and wallets made from old fruit juice cartons, plastic bags and mosquito nets.

Open Wine 219 Street 19, Tel: 023 223 527 Aircon wine shop and tasting gallery sells wines, severac, calvados and meat. Open from 7pm to 11pm.

Subtyl 43 Street 240 Up-market boutique selling Cambodian handmade women’s clothes, scarves, shoes, bags and other accessories in contemporary and interesting designs, the Subtyl collection combines class with colour. ChilliKids children’s clothing is also stocked at the shop. Open 9am to 7pm.

Food & Wine

AusKhmer – The Pantry Shop 125 Street 105, 9 Street 306, (The Livingroom) Tel: 023 993 859, 023 214 478 This small deli features a variety of well priced wines, Australian beers, and French delicacies, cheeses, antipasti, and cold cuts. Open 10am to 8pm.

Camory – Premium Cookie Boutique 167 Sisowath Quay, Tel: 023 224 937 Makes cookies using produce from the provinces such as cashews from Kampong Cham and Mondulkiri honey. A portion of the profits fund education for a local orphanage. Open 9am to 8.30pm.

Celliers d’Asie 62B & 98 Street 432, Tel: 023 986 350 Wine supplier with the largest quantity of retail stock in town, has been providing wine to most of the top hotels and restaurants for over ten years. Open 8am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm, closed Sundays.

Kurata Pepper Cnr. Streets 63 & 322, Tel: 023 726 480 Selling organic Koh Kong pepper and associated products, Kurata is one of the more unusual shops in town. Open everyday from 8am to 7pm.

Red Apron 15-17 Eo Street 240, Tel: 023 990 951 Home of wine enthusiasts in Phnom Penh is both a wine boutique and tasting gallery.

With around 300 wines, the boutique has more range than the supermarkets. Open from 9am to 9pm.

Supercheap Cambodia 87 Street 360, Tel: 023 631 3668, www.supercheap.com.kh Budget shop claims to offer the biggest variety of wines and spirits in Cambodia as well as the cheapest prices. Open from 8am to 10pm.

The Deli 13 Street 178, Tel: 012 851 234 Café and bakery with take away breads, sandwiches and pastries. Now has a second outlet on Street 51. Open from 6.30am to 6.30pm, delivery service (within 30 minutes) is only from 7am to 11pm.

Silks & Accessories

Friends ‘n’ Stuff 215 Street 13, Tel: 012 955 722 Colourful shop with unique products designed by Mith Samlahn/Friends students and parents of former street kids. Range includes cclothes, necklaces, purses and second hand goods. Has a nail bar run by students from the beauty class. Open from 11am to 9pm.

Mekong Quilts 49 Street 240, Tel: 023 219 607 www.mekong-quilts.org Outlet for NGO Mekong Plus, stocks a large range of hand-crafted bed covers, home accessories, gifts and decorations.

Benefits Mekong Plus, which promotes health initiatives in Svay Rieng Province.

Open 9am to 7pm.

Comme a la Maison 13 Street 57, Tel: 012 951 869 Decidedly sophisticated French restaurant has a small delicatessen and bakery at the back of the restaurant ideal for that morn- Sentosa Silk ing baguette or croissant with your coffee. 33 Sothearos Blvd, off Street 178, Tel: 023 222 974 Open from 6am to 10.30pm.

Using a colourful range of Asian silks, Sentosa creates men’s and women’s Dan Meats clothing and accessories. Sentosa em51A Street 214, Tel: 012 906 072 ploys disadvantaged people. Open daily Phnom Penh’s man of meat, Lanzi, supfrom 8am to 7pm. plies his strictly non-vegetarian products

#8E0, St. 57, Phnom Penh #7, St. 178, Phnom Penh Phnom Penh Int. Airport The Alley West, Siem Reap

BAGS & ACCESSORIES

e: jennifer@smateria.com m: 012 64 70 61 www.smateria.com

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JukeBox Jam @ Paddy Rice

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Ermine Norodom Birthday @ Villa Salt

Inspiration Fashion Show @ Raffles

Ermine Norodom Birthday @ Villa Salt

Photography by Dylan Walker & Rithy Lomor Pich.

Ermine Norodom Birthday @ Villa Salt

JukeBox Jam @ Paddy Rice

JukeBox Jam @ Paddy Rice

Mexican Independence Day @ Latin Quarter

Mexican Independence Day @ Latin Quarter

Mexican Independence Day @ Latin Quarter

soundfix album review

DIVINE FITS A THING CALLED DIVINE FITS

Britt Daniel and Dan Boeckner are like the two friends you just know would get along. And then, as you predicted, they do hit it off. The first is the force behind Texan indie rock band Spoon and the latter is half of Montreal-based duo Handsome Furs. Their respective sounds draw from similar concepts and rhythms, with Handsome Furs slightly more electronic and Spoon perhaps more emotional. The idea of Daniel and Boeckner collaborating just seems to make sense. Their joint venture, Divine Fits, pairs the two vocalists and songwriters along with a keyboardist and drummer. The result feels like a natural progression of both complementary members’ styles, proof of how healthy a good collaboration can be.

92 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

by Mai Lynn Miller Nguyen

HOW TO DRESS WELL

CAT POWER

THE XX

SUN

COEXIST

Who says alternative folk can’t have synthesisers? Chan Marshall defies expectations yet again with her ninth record.

Performing as Cat Power, Marshall debuted 17 years ago and has built a career upon thoughtful music with a slight edge. Her last album, 2006’s The Greatest, earned critical acclaim for its mastery of simultaneous fragility and strength. Those qualities are also present on Sun, but Marshall focuses on giving new shapes to her work. Auto-Tune even makes a subtle appearance, an unnecessary tool for such a compellingly raw voice, but proof of her willingness to experiment. Highlights in the overall cohesive album include the gorgeous, sombre ‘Manhattan’, the more upbeat ‘Ruin’ and the inspirational 11-minute ‘Nothin But Time’, featuring an Iggy Pop cameo.

One of the most anticipated albums of the year, Coexist is the second record from London scenesters the xx.

Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim provide stunning vocals, but it’s producer Jamie Smith (known in the industry as Jamie xx) who is the group’s creative genius. Coexist follows the same line of the groundbreaking xx debut, with introspective lyrics gently crooned over beats vaguely reminiscent of dubstep. It’s these psychic beats that have made Jamie xx one of the industry’s most desirable producers, particularly after his direction of the Drake and Rihanna hit ‘Take Care’.

Seems he’s worked his magic again with Coexist, producing intimate arrangements that fully capture the human experience of yearning in all its richness.

TOTAL LOSS

2012 continues to be the year of re-constructed R&B. Following on the heels of the Weeknd and Frank Ocean comes How To Dress Well, the stage name for Brooklyn-based artist Tom Krell.

His second album, Total Loss, advances the genre of ethereal R&B pop with his gossamer falsettos layered over minimalist accompaniment. He’s studied up on the torment-heavy moods of classic nineties R&B, but taken pages from ambient music handbooks for production.

Krell knows how to manipulate a lack of sound, interjecting thoughtful pauses into his rhythms. Reverb effects create a spatial quality, enveloping the listener in the delicate rainfall of Krell’s music. It’s a pleasure when a heavier beat kicks in, as on the catchy ‘& It Was U’.

topten

endorsed

Official 97.5 Love FM Phnom Penh Top Ten 01

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together As Long As You Love Me Whistle Both Of Us More Than This Payphone One Thing Scream Good Time This Is Love

Taylor Swift Justin Bieber Flo Rida B.o.b & Taylor Swift One Direction Maroon 5 One Direction Usher Owl City & Carly Rae Jepson Will.i.Am

Beetroot Claire Jowell

UK Top Ten 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Hall of Fame You Bring Me Joy Let Me Love You Wings Blow Me (One Last Kiss) I Cry We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 8. Good Time 9. Bom Bom 10. Some Nights

The Script Amelia Lily Ne-Yo Little Mix P!nk Flo Rida Taylor Swift Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen Sam and The Womp fun.

US Top Ten 1. We Are Never Ever Taylor Swift Getting Back Together 2. One More Night Maroon 5 3. Whistle Flo Rida 4. Some Nights fun.

5. Lights Ellie Goulding 6. Blow Me (One Last Kiss) P!nk 7. As Long As You Love Me Justin Bieber 8. Everybody Talks Neon Trees 9. Good Time Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen 10. Too Close Alex Clare

The beetroot is hands down the most exquisitely coloured vegetable. This root’s rough exterior is deceiving. When halved it reveals the most striking deep pink. As for the taste, you either love it or hate it.

The use of the beetroot dates back to the Ancient Romans, who used the vegetable’s juice as an aphrodisiac. The Greeks would offer beetroot on silver platters to Apollo, the god of music.

Today, many have memories of a pickled jar of beetroot that gathered dust on the shelf, only to be brought out on a Sunday when the fridge was empty.

Others can’t get enough of the stuff, dying many a meal bright pink. This vegetable, though magnificent on its own, does turn everything in its path the same garish colour. Though great in a wine gum, it may not seem appetising on a plate.

No one can dispute the great nutritional value of this root. It is now termed a ‘super food’, by marketers not scientists. Superfoods have substantially high nutritional value, and their consumption is usually recommended as preventative measures or alternative treatment for

cancer. Whether you scoff at this or nod your head, the dietary benefits of beetroot are undeniable. It contains very high levels of iron, magnesium, potassium and folic acid, as well as vitamins A, B6 and C. Research has confirmed that beetroot can reduce blood pressure due to its high nitrate content. It is also an anti-oxidant, blood sugar stabiliser, and can lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Boiled, roasted or raw there are numerous ways to serve beetroot. From the Eastern European soup borscht, to served on top of an Aussie burger, this vegetable can be juiced, grated, julienned or mashed, and all in a scandalous shade of pink.

My personal favourite is a roasted beetroot, feta cheese and pumpkin salad with balsamic reduction and a sprinkling of nuts. Thinly sliced beetroot can also be deep-fried and salted to produce delicious crisps.

There are hundreds of recipes online, and recommendations for the vegetable come from actors to cyclists, who claim its intake increases their speed.

It’s certainly the most trendy root vegetable around, so get on the beetroot train!

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 93

bookshelf Salman Rushdie

Joseph Anton: A Memoir Random House In his latest publication, Salman Rushdie turns away from fiction to recount his years spent in hiding. In 1989, the British-Indian author’s The Satanic Verses drew ire from Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against him. Rushdie spent the following nine years in fear of assassination, living out of public view and constantly on the move. His memoir, John Anton, explores the personal and political meanings of this challenging experience in his powerful writing style.

Written from a third person perspective, the book’s title is the pseudonym Rushdie used during this period.

Zadie Smith NW Penguin Set in Northwest London, NW tells the stories of four childhood friends adjusting to adulthood. Like in White Teeth — her acclaimed year 2000 debut at aged 24 — Zadie Smith focuses on strong, compelling characters and how their lives intersect, within greater social, cultural and philosophical contexts. Identity is at the centre of the story, which ruminates on how we create who we are through the stories we tell ourselves. Each section is told by a different character, offering different perspectives into relationships and the way people see themselves.

94 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

Michael Chabon Telegraph Avenue HarperCollins Publishers Michael Chabon, the author behind The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, returns with Telegraph Avenue, a comic tale set on the border between Oakland and Berkeley in California. The first city has a large African-American population, whereas the latter is a bastion of white privilege. Archy and Nat are two best friends — one black, one white — who live in this intersection of worlds. The two men and their families, entangled together in various ways, confront the challenges of modern life. With prose rich with cultural references, from Barack Obama to Quentin Tarantino, the novel explores themes of race and relationships.

How Music Works David Byrne McSweeney’s Books It’s been a busy year for David Byrne. This month, the Talking Heads frontman released an album collaboration with St Vincent. The singer-turned-author has now published this meditation on music. How Music Works cannot be confined to one category, but encompasses general advice, biography and music history. He recounts the early years of Talking Heads in the 1970s, while also offering a prescriptive for music business veterans in a technological age. As quirky in prose as he is in music, Byrne offers an interesting look into his complicated mind.

boxoffice

PITCH PERFECT

YES OR NO 2

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

TAKEN 2

When Beca (Anna Kendrick) starts at Barden University, she ignores attempts by the school’s all-girls a capella group to recruit her. However, they soon discover her vocal talents and convince her to join the Bellas. With Beca’s influence, the group develop an edge to their otherwise tame repertoire. The Bellas prepare to enter a singing competition, in which they finally stand a chance to win against their male counterparts.

Think Bring It On meets Glee.

This sequel picks up where Thailand’s popular film Yes or No left off. Protagonists Kim and Pie are in love, but the two girls’ relationship is being put to the test. After they graduate from university, the two must head their separate ways. Kim goes to work on a farm in a northern province, whereas Pie heads South for a job with a fishery centre. Can they overcome the trials and temptations of a long distance relationship?

In this computer-animated comedy, Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) owns a luxury resort for monsters, where he lives with his 118-year-old daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez).

Itching to explore the outside world, Mavis longs to leave Hotel Transylvania against her father’s wishes. In order to please his daughter, Dracula invites the world’s most famous monsters to celebrate her birthday. When a human backpacker stumbles into the resort, Dracula tries to stop Mavis from falling in love with him.

Whereas the first Taken portrayed a parent’s worse nightmare, Taken 2 focuses on a child’s. In the first film, retired CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) rescues his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from human traffickers who capture her in Paris. The sequel finds the Mills family on holiday in Istanbul, enjoying an idyllic time together. The holiday soon turns ugly when the parents are taken hostage: an act of vengeance by the father of the man who kidnapped Kim and was killed by Bryan.

COMING SOON OCTOBER MOVIE RELEASES Platinum Cineplex See thecineplexs.com for screening schedule.

Dredd (3D) Still Showing Resident Evil (3D) Still Showing Bait (3D) Still Showing The Possession Still Showing Yes or No 2 Oct. 4 Taken 2 Oct. 10 Hotel Transylvania (3D) Oct. 11

The Raid (Khmer Dub) Pitch Perfect Paranormal Activity 4 Apartment 1303 (3D) Silent Hill: Revelation (3D)

Oct. 11 Oct. 18 Oct. 25 Oct. 25 Oct. 31

Legend Cinema See legend-cinemas.com for screening schedule.

AsiaLIFE Cambodia 95

THE TWO OF US

Chhay C Sov and photographer Conor Wall meet with elders Sok Sovannaret and Landon Gerald Knight, two Phnom Penh-based zone leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Also known as Mormons, members of the church travel the world as missionaries.

Elder Landon Gerald Knight

Elder Sok Sovannaret I was not [born] a Christian.

It’s a kind of miracle. The missionaries came to my house and knocked on the door. My aunt talked to the missionaries and they gave her an invitation to go to church. My aunt told me: “Hey, I have seen two American guys and they want you to go to church”.

When I went for the first time, it felt like this is the place I need to be in, and I need to learn from this church. I kept learning and a missionary came to my house and taught us about Jesus Christ and how we can be able to receive much happiness and change our family’s world.

After that we continued to learn and we were always seeing everything good happening in our life, so we wanted to keep that and not give it up.

When I was a member for 10 years I didn’t have desire to go on my mission at all. I thought I would just go to college or something like that. But I pondered about that — should I go on my mission now or not? I want to change my life and see

96 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

something great, so I decided to go on my mission.

You have knowledge from the gospel and you can share more about these ideas. When you do that, it’s not progressing only the people that you are teaching — it’s progressing yourself because you know that it is true that God is helping them and that this is from God, for sure.

[Landon’s] a good guy. We have weekly planning — talking about our strengths, weaknesses and challenges. And if there is something I don’t like about him, I can tell him. And he can share his ideas about something I can correct. He’s my best friend.

He’s brave at contacting people and talking to people, and this is a huge point of success. Something that I really like is that we work well as companions. If you are not happy or confident with your companion it would stop your progress. I just want all the people in Cambodia to be happy; to have happiness for their family.

I was born a Christian and all together I’ve served for about a year and six months as a missionary. I’ve been in Cambodia for about a year and four months. When you’re a missionary, you get called to one country for a period of two years.

We don’t choose where we get to go. We send a paper to our prophet [a church leader].

Our prophet prays and receives revelation from Our Heavenly Father. I have friends serving countries like Jamaica, Mexico, the United States and Europe.

To be honest, I’d never heard of Cambodia before I got my mission call. When I opened my envelope, I had to have my dad pronounce the name of Phnom Penh. I had been to China before, so I kind of expected it to be like China, but when I got here it was completely different from that.

It was exciting, shocking, crazy — all of the above. When you come to Cambodia as a missionary you have every single emotion running through

you that you can possibly have. At the same time you’re nervous, homesick and miss your family. As missionaries like us, we don’t talk to our families. We can only write to them via email. But as time goes on you start to learn that that’s important, but what you are doing right now is just as important.

I was super excited when I heard I was going to be with Sok. I had been told by other missionaries that he was a fun guy. Sok just made a bunch of jokes, we were laughing together — it was a good time and I was really impressed with his English.

We take our ideas about what we think people need and then we pray about it. Another challenge is getting rejected as a missionary. People reject [the gospel] without ever testing it. It’s very frustrating, as you want them to have the same happiness that you have.

Something that I have learned is to work hard, and pray even harder.

pub quiz

no holds barred

Rain

Leaders

1. Which band released ‘Rain’ as the second single from their album Love? The first single was ‘She Sells Sanctuary’.

2. Which film tells the story of Raymond Babbit, and his brother Charlie?

3. Rainier III was the ruler of which principality for nearly 56 years?

4. In which film did Steve Martin star as Dr Michael Hfuhruhurr?

5. Which Scottish built ship was sunk in New Zealand in 1985?

6. Jim Barnes is the lead vocalist with which Australian band, who aretouring again this year?

7. In the novel, and the film of the same name, what was Ice Cold in Alex?

8. Who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in Cold Mountain?

9. Who is the lead vocalist for Coldplay?

10. Which novel famously starts: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen”?

21. Goodluck Jonathan is the 14th Head of State and current President of which country?

22. Who is the leader of the British Liberal Democrats?

23. Which European has been a head of state since 1975?

24. Which poet and playwright became the first president of the Czech Republic?

25. Lee Kuan Yew is widely recognised as the founding father of which state?

Celebrity Hair Don’ts!

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98 AsiaLIFE Cambodia

4

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Grey 16. Which wild man was the heir to the Earl of Greystoke?

17. Founded in 1914 by Carl Wickman, which American company has morethan 2,400 stations in North America?

18. Who became Queen of England for 9 days in 1553?

19. Which Baron served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834?

20. Agnes Grey was the debut novel of which famous sister?

1

9

1. The Cult, 2. Rain Man, 3. Monaco, 4. The Man with Two Brains, 5. The Rainbow Warrior, 6. Cold Chisel, 7. The beer – or lager, 8.

Renée Zellweger, 9. Chris Martin 10. 1984, 11. Kentucky, 12. 3, 13.

Elvis Presley, 14. Bluetooth (Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson), 15. Blue Monday, 16. Tarzan, 17. Greyhound Lines, 18. Lady Jane Grey, 19.

Earl Grey, 20. Anne Bronte, 21. Nigeria, 22. Nick Clegg, 23. King Juan Carlos of Spain, 24. Vaclav Havel, 25. Singapore, 26. Barack Obama, 27. Will Smith, 28. Brad Pitt, 29. Tom Cruise, 30. Kevin Bacon

11. Which US state is known as the Bluegrass State?

12. In a 12-Bar Blues chord progression, how many different chords are needed?

13. Who played Tulsa McLean in the 1960 film GI Blues?

14. Which piece of technology takes its name from a Danish king, andits logo from his runic initials?

15. At 7 minutes and 23 seconds, which hugely successful single from 1983 starts with a distinctive semiquaver kick drum intro, programmed on an Oberheim DMXdrum machine?