Frebuary 2009

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Singapore • Hong Kong • Thailand • Indonesia • Malaysia • Vietnam • Macau • Philippines • Burma • Cambodia • Brunei • Laos

MACAU

This year’s glitzy gaming guide BEST SPAS IN SAIGON

FEBRUARY 2009

20 Dream

* escapes

Shanghai

Where to bag the latest looks

Thailand

Lazy days on Ko Lanta TRAVEL FOR LESS: INSIDER SECRETS

FEBRUARY 20 09

travelandleisuresea.com

17 ASIAN

VACATION DEALS YOU’LL LOVE

SINGAPORE SG$6.90 ● HONG KONG HK$39 THAILAND THB160 ● INDONESIA IDR45,000 MALAYSIA MYR15 ● VIETNAM VND80,000 MACAU MOP40 ● PHILIPPINES PHP220 BURMA MMK32 ● CAMBODIA KHR20,000 BRUNEI BND6.90 ● LAOS LAK48,000

*

BALI FRANCE NEW YORK ITALY TURKEY

Privilege knows no boundaries.

Carried by the Global Elite, the world over.

By invitation only.

For expression of interest call Singapore: + (65) 6295 6293 Hong Kong: + (852) 2277 2233 Thailand: + (66) 2273 5445

MORE THAN JUST A CARD™

EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR AMERICAN EXPRESS® PLATINUM CARD MEMBERS VISITING HONG KONG Take advantage of your status with these ultimate travel experiences Introducing two partners with exclusive offers: Cathay Pacific and The InterContinental Hong Kong

CATHAY PACIFIC

INTERCONTINENTAL HONG KONG

Enjoy great deals when traveling from Bangkok or Singapore to Hong Kong

Stay four nights and pay for three* at InterContinental Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific Airways, winner of “Best Business Class” by TTG Travel awards, is the only airline with the most frequency from Singapore and Bangkok to Hong Kong. For a limited period only, Cathay Pacific Airways is offering exclusive deals on business class travel to Hong Kong, for American Express Platinum Card Members in Singapore and Thailand.

For card members departing out of Bangkok, you will enjoy an exclusive business class fare on Cathay Pacific as much as 50% off from published fare!

For card members departing out of Singapore, your companion travels for free when you purchase a special business class fare!

Don’t miss this golden opportunity to enjoy the Cathay experience!

The InterContinenal Hong Kong has always been prized for its spectacular views of Victoria Harbour and the Hong Kong skyline, as well as quality of service and innate style. And with SPOON by Alain Ducasse, Nobu InterContinental Hong Kong and the feng shui-designed I-Spa, it is also Hong Kong’s most desirable hotel.

Now, the InterContinental is proud to provide an exclusive offer for American Express Platinum cardholders. The hotel is offering an exclusive stay for four nights for the price of three* for American Express Platinum card members.

Terms and Conditions: Bookings and payment must be made with the American Express Platinum Card. Flights can only be booked through American Express Membership Travel Services. Taxes and fuel charges are excluded. Fares subject to availability. Mixed class is not permitted. Singapore offer: Fare is based on two people traveling together for the entire journey. Fares are valid for sales and ticketing between January 1, 2009, and May 31, 2009, and for travel between January 1, 2009, and June 30, 2009. Outbound journey must commence on or before June 30, 2009. Thailand offer: Fares are valid for sale and travel between January 4, 2009 and April 30, 2009. Blackout periods apply between April 4-6, 2009, and April 9-15, 2009. Outbound journey must commence on/before April 30, 2009.

*Applicable to Contemporary Superior Plazaview and Contemporary Deluxe Plazaview rooms only

Inclusions: Daily Breakfast for up to two people • Club InterContinental access for up to two people • Complimentary formal afternoon tea service for up to two people per room, once during your stay • Room upgrade subject to availability upon check-in • Late checkout until 4pm (subject to availability)

Terms and Conditions: Bookings/payment must be made with the American Express Platinum Card. Package can only be booked through American Express Membership Travel Services. Hotel cancellation policy applies. Subject to availability and blackout periods. The offer cannot be used with any other promotional offers. Valid for stay from Feb 1, 2009, to April 13, 2009, inclusive. Extra person charge (3+ years old) for Club Intercontinental access is HK$450 + 10% per night. Other conditions may apply.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS EXCLUSIVE OFFER OR TO MAKE A BOOKING, CALL THE PLATINUM CARD® SERVICE: SINGAPORE: +(65) 6392 1177 HONG KONG: +(852) 2277 2233 THAILAND: +(66) 2 273 5599

(Destinations)02.09 Copenhagen 50 New York City 62, 82, 98

Shanghai 59 Macau 110

Ko Lanta 130 Rangoon 120

World Weather This Month -40oF -20oF -40oC

0 oF

20oF

-25oC

-10oC

40oF 0 oC

5oC

50oF 10oC

65oF 15oC

75oF 20oC

90oF 30oC

40o +C

Issue Index Thailand 34, 90, 130 Vietnam 38, 90

U.S. 101, 102, 109

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA Botswana 109 Istanbul 98 Morocco 109

ASIA China 30, 31, 34, 59 India 69, 105, 142

EUROPE Copenhagen 50 France 106 Greece 105 Italy 106 Paris 57 St. Petersburg 99

THE AMERICAS Chile 101 Grenada 106 New York City 62, 82, 98

THE PACIFIC Bora Bora 102

Currency Converter Singapore Hong Kong Thailand Indonesia Malaysia Vietnam Macau Philippines Burma Cambodia Brunei Laos US ($1)

(SGD)

(HKD)

(BT)

(RP)

(RM)

(VND)

(MOP)

1.48

7.75

34.8

10,897

3.53

17,474

7.98

(P)

46.9

(MMK)

(KHR)

(BND)

(LAK)

6.44

4,136

1.48

8,497

Source: www.xe.com (exchange rates at press time).

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M A P BY E T H A N CO R N E L L

SOUTHEAST ASIA Burma 90, 120 Cambodia 90 Hong Kong 36 Indonesia 32, 48, 105 Luang Prabang 46 Macau 110 Phnom Penh 42 Singapore 30, 31, 86, 90

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(Contents)02.09 >130 Another day comes to an end on Ko Lanta.

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20 Dream Escapes What’s your idea of romance?

Exploring the sexy streets of Manhattan or the seclusion of Bora Bora? We’ve spanned the globe for trips to put you in the mood.

110 Macau’s Best Bet While growth has slowed in the past year thanks to the fortunes of the 8

global economy and new restrictions from China, the enclave’s glittering casinos have their money down on better days ahead, writes STUART LAWRENCE. Photographed by GRAHAM UDEN. GUIDE AND MAP 119 120 Stranded in Time Rangoon’s most famous hotel has a century-old guest list full of authors, royalty and rock stars. It’s managed to survive both good times and bad, remaining one of Asia’s best places

F E B RUA RY 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

to stay. By PAUL EHRLICH. Photographed by PETER STEINHAUER. GUIDE AND MAP 128 130 Island Idyll Thailand’s Ko Lanta offers a serene take on tropical islands, despite its increasing popularity. Visit the island, just don’t expect it to turn into the next Phuket. By RON GLUCKMAN. Photographed by CEDRIC ARNOLD. GUIDE AND MAP 141

CEDRIC ARNOLD

95-130 Features

Technology that keeps your camera steady and lets your photos come alive.

Sony has expanded your creative options by meeting the challenge of camera shake with advanced technology.

At Sony, the goal was to eliminate camera shake that undermines visual

more compact bodies. And

excellence. That meant retaining the expressive flow of each subject,

built into their bodies instead of their lenses, so you can freely change

while curbing excessive hand movement to raise image impact.

lenses according to your needs.

Sony introduced image stabilization technology with the Handycam®

Though not always readily apparent, the results live on in your works.

camcorder in 1992 and since then has achieved remarkable advances

That, simply stated, is the true and lasting legacy of SteadyShot.

digital SLR cameras have SteadyShot

with unique technologies built on a deep understanding of CCDs. The image sensor in a Sony camera is the other creator behind your photography, helping you to express your feelings about what you see in the world. By reducing the size of these sophisticated mechanisms, Sony was able to give its Cyber-shot digital still cameras slimmer, “Sony”, “like.no.other”, “Handycam”, “Cyber-shot”, and respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Corporation.

All other products, brand names and feature names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

www.sony-asia.com/di/creatordna

(Contents)02.09 Departments 12 16 18 20 22 25 142

SOUTHEAST ASIA

MACAU

This year’s glitzy gaming guide BEST SPAS IN SAIGON

FEBRUARY 2009

20 Dream

escapes*

Shanghai

Where to bag the latest looks

Thailand

Lazy days on Ko Lanta

17

TRAVEL FOR LESS: INSIDER SECRETS

travelandleisuresea.com

ASIAN VACATION DEALS YOU’LL LOVE

SINGAPORE SG$6.90 ● HONG KONG HK$39 THAILAND THB160 ● INDONESIA IDR45,000 MALAYSIA MYR15 ● VIETNAM VND80,000 MACAU MOP40 ● PHILIPPINES PHP220 BURMA MMK32 ● CAMBODIA KHR20,000 BRUNEI BND6.90 ● LAOS LAK48,000

*

BALI FRANCE NEW YORK ITALY TURKEY

Cover

Editor’s Note Contributors Letters Best Deals Ask T+L Strategies My Favorite Place

> 66 48 Neighborhood Jakarta’s most happening ‘hood.

BY ROBYN ECKHARDT 50 Street Corner Bicycle-friendly Copenhagen.

Lounging in one of our 20 romantic escapes: the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel, in New York City.

Photographed by Max Kim-Bee. Styled by Catherine Crate. Model: Lily Becker. Dress by Lanvin.

Shoes by Dolce & Gabbana.

> 69

> 36

29-50 Insider 30 Newsflash Easing taxi traumas, Collyer Quay in Singapore, Beijing menus and more.

36 Shopping Hong Kong’s new take on Chinese design. BY CARMEN TING 38 On The Map Spas in Saigon. BY NANA CHEN 40 Cruises Setting new standards on the seas.

BY LUKE BARR 42 Check-in Three stylish stays in Phnom Penh.

BY ANDREW BURKE 44 Preservation Resurrecting Malacca’s colonial history. BY CHRISTOPHER R. COX 46 Room Report High above the Mekong in Laos.

BY ANTHONY MECIR 10

57 Icon Going the distance with the Goyard Saint Louis handbag. BY TINA ISAAC 59 Shopping Designers remake Shanghai’s fashion scene. BY JENNIFER CHEN 62 Spotlight Phoebe Cates’s New York City boutique. BY PATRICIA MARX 65 Beauty Travel-ready beauty products.

66 Packing List Nine easy pieces for a travel uniform. > 59

69-90 T+L Journal 69 Hotels A 242-year-old fortress in India is re-imagined as an all-inclusive retreat. BY GUY TREBAY 74 Portfolio Intimate portraits in black and white that will shed a new light on Asia. BY MARTIN REEVES 82 The Arts A new museum with an expanding cultural vision takes on Manhattan. BY LESLIE CAMHI 86 Asian Scene Visiting Singapore’s Sentosa, PAUL CHAI finds the island isn’t merely a tacky cousin to the city.

90 Obsessions So planes are passé and cars claustrophobic. Why not take the train? BY CHRISTOPHER R. COX

C L O C K W I S E F R O M FA R L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F T E Q U I L A K O L A ; D AV I E S + S TA R R ; M A X K I M - B E E ; D A R R E N S O H

57-66 Stylish Traveler

PARADISE PERFECTED. THE ST. REGIS BALI RESORT.

(Editor’s Note) 02.09

S

OME YEARS AGO NOW, I VISITED K RABI IN THAILAND for a

three-day break. It was the first time I had visited southern Thailand, and I immediately fell in love with both the area and the culture. This beautiful part of the country is home to some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever seen and amazing wildlife (nothing really beats a kayak trip into the eerily silent mangroves, with tree-leaping macaques as company), as well as delicious and diverse cuisine.

But the main thing that struck me was the people; this part of Thailand is home to a largely Muslim Thai population that peacefully coexists with Buddhist Thais, and which welcomes tourists of all nationalities with smiles, warm words and open arms. As writer Ron Gluckman points out in his feature about the nearby island of Ko Lanta (“Island Life,” page 130), this is largely because people in that area simply regard themselves as Thai, and while religious convictions run deep, there is an over-riding sense of tolerance and unity. I’ve never visited Ko Lanta before, but I’m due a summer break soon, so maybe I’ll see you down there.

Thailand is, of course, always a safe place to visit and it remains perhaps the most popular destination among readers both of T+L Southeast Asia and of our parent edition in the U.S. Would you agree? If so—and, of course, if not—then see the opposite page for instructions on how to enter this year’s Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, the most prestigious reader-driven awards in the industry. (Bangkok was voted No. 1 in the Top 10 cities category in 2008.) You can also vote for your favorite hotels, cruise lines, airlines and more, with 2009 the first year that readers of all eight global editions of T+L can enter—so your vote really does count. Lastly, as February is traditionally the month of love, I do hope our “20 Dream Escapes” of traveling together, wherever you may go.—MATT LEPPARD TRAVEL + L EISURE EDITORS, WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE THE INDUSTRY’S MOST RELIABLE SOURCES. WHILE ON ASSIGNMENT, THEY TRAVEL INCOGNITO WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND DO NOT TAKE PRESS TRIPS OR ACCEPT FREE TRAVEL OF ANY KIND.

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C H E N P O VA N O N T

feature (page 96) inspires devoted couples everywhere to enjoy the simple pleasure

Slug:Location (T+L Journal)

2009 World’s Best Awards VOTE NOW AT www.travelandleisure.com/intl/ For your favorite hotels, spas, airlines, cruise lines, travel companies and the destinations you love—in the only truly GLOBAL travel survey that matters!

Dear Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia readers, We trust you. We trust your judgment. That’s why we want you to rate your global travel experiences for us, in the 2009 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards. These awards are recognized as travel’s highest honor, so it’s time to give back to those hotels, spas, airlines, cruise lines, travel companies and destinations you loved in 2008. And this year is a very special year, with readers of all eight global editions of Travel + Leisure now able to participate in the awards.

So visit www.travelandleisure.com/intl/ and tell us exactly what you think. The full global results will be published in our August edition.

Matt Leppard Editor-in-Chief Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia

PHOTO CREDIT TK

HOW TO ENTER: Log onto www.travelandleisure.com/intl/ and fill in a few simple details, then vote! No purchase is necessary. Closing date: March 20, 2009.

T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E

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C O M| M O N T H

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EDITOR-AT-LARGE ART DIRECTOR FEATURES EDITORS SENIOR DESIGNER DESIGNER EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Matt Leppard Paul Ehrlich Fah Sakharet Jennifer Chen Chris Kucway Ellie Brannan Wannapha Nawayon Wasinee Chantakorn

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS / PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Wong, Joe Yogerst, Adam Skolnick, Robyn Eckhardt, Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Lara Day, Cedric Arnold, Steve McCurry, Peter Steinhauer, Nat Prakobsantisuk, Graham Uden, Darren Soh

CHAIRMAN PRESIDENT PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

PUBLISHER VICE PRESIDENT / ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS CONSULTANT, HONG KONG/MACAU CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION GROUP CIRCULATION MANAGER

J.S. Uberoi Egasith Chotpakditrakul Rasina Uberoi-Bajaj

Robert Fernhout Lucas W. Krump Michael K. Hirsch Kin Kamarulzaman Shea Stanley Gaurav Kumar Kanda Thanakornwongskul Supalak Krewsasaen Porames Chinwongs

AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING CORPORATION PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC INSIGHTS, MARKETING & SALES EXECUTIVE EDITOR, INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE, INTERNATIONAL

Ed Kelly Mark V. Stanich Paul B. Francis Nancy Novogrod Jean-Paul Kyrillos Cara S. David Mark Orwoll Thomas D. Storms Aneesa T. Waheed

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA VOL. 3, ISSUE 2 Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia is published monthly by Media Transasia Limited, Room 1205-06, 12/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2851-6963; Fax: +852 2851-1933; under license from American Express Publishing Corporation, 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Produced and distributed by Media Transasia Thailand Ltd., 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, 75/8 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoeynue, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel: +66 2 204-2370.

Printed by Comform Co., Ltd. (+66 2 368-2942–7). Color separation by Classic Scan Co., Ltd. (+66 2 291-7575).

This edition is published by permission of AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING CORPORATION 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, United States of America.

Reproduction in whole or in part without the consent of the copyright owner is prohibited. © Media Transasia Thailand Ltd. in respect of the published edition.

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ADVERTISING Advertising enquiries: e-mail advertising@mediatransasia.com

NOW IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

(Contributors) 02.09 edric Arnold, who photographed this month’s feature story on Ko Lanta (“Island Idyll,” page 130), is sold on the island. “This was my first time on Lanta and it definitely won’t be my last.” The well-traveled photographer says he loves getting out to meet the locals on his journeys. “One 73-year-old rubber farmer offered me coffee and said I could come back any time. These are the kinds of encounters that give you the travel bug.” Arnold has also shot for WSJ, the Wall Street Journal’s magazine, and German GQ.

C

IEKJ>;7IJ 7I?7

Left: Cedric Arnold. Below: The charms of Ko Lanta.

THE WORLD’S LEADING TRAVEL MAGAZINE www.travelandleisuresea.com/subscribe

Darren Soh Based in Singapore, Soh did double duty this month, shooting stories both on shopping in Shanghai (“Revolution by Design,” page 59) and Singapore’s Sentosa Island (“A Clean Escape,” page 86).

“Shopping off the beaten track in Shanghai throws up its fair share of surprises. Many of the shops are tucked away in unlikely corners,” says Soh. “Fortunately, what we found was always worth the trek.”

Leslie Camhi In “Museum with a Mission” (page 82), Camhi, a New Yorker, explores the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan, after a six-year redesign.

“It’s the anti-MOMA,” she says of both the building and its collections. “It’s the aesthetic underdog in terms of what’s on display—challenging works by emerging artists who focus on the process of creation and deconstruction.”

Andrew Burke “Phnom Penh has always had a certain counter-intuitive sophistication, so it’s not surprising that it’s emerging as a destination in it’s own right,” says Burke who wrote this month’s story on the city (“Phnom Penh’s Stylish Stays,” page 42). Born in Sydney, he enjoys travel that goes beyond the standard sights and sounds, and that sheds light on what makes a place, and the people who live there, tick.

A BOV E , F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F C E D R I C A R N O L D ; C E D R I C A R N O L D B E L O W, F R O M FA R L E F T : C O U R T E SY O F D A R R E N S O H ; C O U R T E SY O F L E S L I E C A M H I ; C O U R T E SY O F A N D R E W B U R K E

INDULGE YOURSELF

(Letters)02.09 Sea ice below the Antarctic Circle.

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LETTER OF THE MONTH The Chill Factor

I’ve always thought the point of reading a travel magazine is to pick up tips on places where you will actually go in the future. But since I started reading T+L Southeast Asia a few months ago, I’ve found myself enjoying stories about places that I will probably never visit, as well as loading up on good travel tips.

Case in point about somewhere I will never go to: Andrew Solomon’s article on Antarctica [“Adventures in Antarctica,” December 2008], which was utterly compelling—from the warm climes of Malaysia, I could almost feel the chill in his bones as he and his shipmates made their way across the ocean towards the bottom of the world.

That’s not to overlook the photographs, which were also terrific. Come to think of it, he didn’t even make it to Antarctica either, proving that the telling of the tale alone was worth the cover price of your magazine.

—STEPHEN

RO S S , K UA L A LU M P U R

Anniversary Wishes As an American Express cardholder, I’ve been receiving your magazine for the past year and it’s become my favorite leisure reading. My job requires a lot of travel in Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia, and I find that your magazine has become a great tool in planning. I also personally like discovering new, unique destinations and hotels, and you’ve done a great job in providing that—you’ve made travel much easier for me. Congratulations on your first anniversary, and I trust that I will continue to enjoy your magazine for many more years to come.

—KAMPHOL

S R I S A M U T N G A M , BA N G KO K

Trouble at the Terminal Great issue in December, but I was amazed that you didn’t talk about the troubles in Thailand. Here in Singapore, I watched with disbelief as protesters invaded and occupied Suvarnabhumi airport—a major transportation hub in the region—for a week, with hardly any effort by the police or army to clear them out.

Surely such news merits some sort of comment from a magazine such as yours? Is it safe to visit? And will this ever happen again?

— QU E N T I N

CHAN, SINGAPORE

EDITOR’S REPLY

Unfortunately, our December 2008 issue went to press some time before the airport occupation

✉

and other problems really started, but please also see my Editor’s Note this issue. As I write this, Thailand is calm and stable and there’s never been a better time to visit. However, as with all travel, you should check for any latest updates in advance.

Questioning Theroux I thoroughly enjoyed your anniversary issue, but I must say I was a bit disappointed by the interview with Paul Theroux [“Finding Your Place,” December 2008]. I’ve enjoyed reading his travelogues, especially Riding the Iron Rooster, which is full of sharply drawn observations. But I found his comments in the interview churlish and condescending at worst and puzzling at best. He seems to be saying there’s no point in travel—that it doesn’t expand your horizons or change the way you look at things—and even if you were to embark on a journey, you can never do it half as well as he’s already done. If that’s the case, why be interviewed by a travel magazine?

—ANJELICA

ROY , H O N G KO N G

Correction In our December 2008 issue’s “87 Essential Southeast Asian Experiences,” the photograph that accompanied the entry for Bed Supperclub in Bangkok was, in fact, a photograph of Supperclub in Singapore. We would also like to point out that the correct telephone number for for Supperclub in Singapore is 65/6334-4080. We regret the error.

E-MAIL T+L SEND YOUR LETTERS TO EDITOR @ TRAVELANDLEISURESEA.COM AND LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON RECENT STORIES OR NEW PLACES TO VISIT. LETTERS CHOSEN MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY AND SPACE. THE LETTER OF THE MONTH RECEIVES A FREE ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO TRAVEL + LEISURE ( SOUTHEAST ASIA ONLY).

READER OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN LETTERS DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF TRAVEL + LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA, MEDIA TRANSASIA LTD., OR AMERICAN EXPRESS PUBLISHING.

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(Best Deals) 02.09

Rasananda on Ko Phang-an.

■ THAILAND Experience More package at the Rasananda (66-77/239-555; rasananda. com) on Ko Phang-an. What’s Included One free night for a three-night stay; two free nights for a six-night stay; and daily breakfast on paid nights. Cost From Bt18,375 per night, through April 30.

Savings Up to 33 percent.

Introductory rate at the Katiliya Mountain Resort & Spa (66-53/918-336; katiliya. com) in Chiang Rai. What’s Included Accommodation in a deluxe suite; daily breakfast; complimentary Internet; 25 percent discount on spa services; and 25 percent discount on food. Cost Bt7,000 per night, through March 31. Savings Up to 35 percent.

20

Exclusive package for T+L Southeast Asia readers at the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket (66-2/636-3333; dusit.com). What’s Included A free upgrade; a free set dinner; and a 15 percent F&B discount. Cost Bt6,800 per night, through July 31 (must book before March 31). Savings 35 percent.

The Barai, Hua Hin.

F E B RUA RY 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

Introductory offer at the Anantara Si Kao Resort & Spa (66-7/520-5888; sikao. anantara.com) in Trang. What’s Included Three nights for the price of two; daily breakfast; and guests in the suites also receive daily fruit baskets; their choice of an international paper; and a complimentary drink at the Café Lounge. Cost From Bt6,000, through April 30. Savings Up to 33 percent.

The Barai Journey package at The Barai (66-2/254-6200 or 66-3/251-1234; thebarai.com) in Hua Hin. What’s Included Three-night stay in a spa suite; daily spa treatments and daily classes or activities; daily breakfast; a lunch and dinner; and free refreshments. Cost Bt84,900, through March 31. Savings 40 percent.

F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F RASA N A N DA ; CO U RT ESY O F T H E BA RA I

From Bangkok to Ko Chang, Thailand is seeing some great deals. Here, 15 perfect packages from the Land of Smiles, plus offers in Malaysia and Manila

Spa Romance Delight package at the Le Méridien Chiang Rai (66-53/603-333; lemeridien.com). What’s Included Daily breakfast; spa package for two; and late check-out until 4 P.M. Cost From Bt6,999 per night, two-night minimum stay, through February 28. Savings Up to 40 percent.

Le Méridien Chiang Rai.

Zpa package at Zeavola Resort (66-7/5627000; zeavola.com) on Ko Phi Phi. What’s Included Daily breakfast; free Wi-Fi; and a 60-minute spa treatment for two every day. Cost From Bt8,800 per night, through October 31. Savings Up to 37 percent.

■ MALAYSIA Introductory promotion at the Four Points Kuching (60-82/466-666; starwood.com).

What’s Included Accommodation in the comfort suite and daily breakfast. Cost RM250 per night, through March 31.

Savings 50 percent.

C LO C KW I S E F RO M R I G H T: CO U RT ESY O F CO N RA D BA N G KO K ; CO U RT ESY O F L E M É R I D I E N C H I A N G RA I ; CO U RT ESY O F G RA N D M I L L E N N I U M S U K H U M V I T

Escape Away package at Le Méridien Chiang Mai (66-53/253-666; lemeridien. com). What’s Included Accommodation in a deluxe room; daily breakfast; and a complimentary 60-minute foot massage.

Cost Bt5,000 per night, through April 30.

Savings 43 percent.

Bed & Breakfast package at The Sukhothai (66-2/344-8888; sukhothai.com) in Bangkok.

What’s Included Free Wi-Fi and broadband Internet; and daily breakfast.

Cost From Bt9,500 per night, through March 31. Savings Up to 30 percent.

Conrad Asia sale at the Conrad Bangkok (66-2/690-9999; conradhotels1.hilton.com).

Cost From Bt4,500, through December 31 (must book before February 28). Savings Up to 25 percent.

Conrad Bangkok.

Special rate at The Peninsula Bangkok (66-2/861-2888; peninsula.com). What’s Included Accommodation in a deluxe room and daily breakfast. Cost Bt8,200 per night, through March 31. Savings 32 percent.

Simply Relaxing promotion at the Indigo Pearl (66-76/327-006; indigo-pearl.com) in Phuket. What’s Included Daily breakfast.

Cost From Bt9,900, two-night minimum stay, through April 30. Savings Up to 30 percent.

Holiday Is Mine packages at the Langham Place Eco Resort + Spa (66-7/5607499; krabi.langhamplacehotels.com) on Ko Lanta. What’s Included Three-night stay; daily breakfast and daily fruit basket; and, depending on the package you choose: round-trip airport transfer; one dinner; one tour of the island; and/or a complimentary 60-minute massage. Cost From Bt19,000, through March 31. Savings Up to 30 percent.

Double the R&R package at the Dusit Princess Koh Chang (66-2/636-3333; dusit. com). What’s Included A massage for two; cocktails and canapés; and daily laundry.

Cost From Bt4,485 per night, three-night minimum stay, through October 31.

Savings Up to 35 percent.

Valentine’s Day package at the Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort (6083/584-388; hilton.com) in Kuching. What’s Included Accommodation in a longhousestyle room; daily breakfast; welcome drinks; complimentary walk; and a nature talk.

Cost RM189 per night, through March 31.

Savings 50 percent.

■ PHILIPPINES Of Champagne and Strawberries package at the Dusit Thani Manila (632/867-3333; dusit.com). What’s Included Accommodation in a grand room; daily breakfast; round-trip airport transfer; a dinner; champagne and strawberries; a 15 percent discount on food and drink; and a 15 percent discount at the spa. Cost US$260 per night, two-night minimum stay, through February 28. Savings 32 percent.

Grand Millennium Sukhumvit.

Rest & Relax package at the Grand Millennium Sukhumvit (66-2/204-4111; millenniumhotels.com) in Bangkok. What’s Included Two-night stay in a deluxe room; daily breakfast; and a one-hour massage.

Cost Bt7,000, through March 31. Savings 20 percent.

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Can you recommend some easy and relaxing weekend getaways from

I’M INTERESTED IN TAKING A MASSAGE COURSE IN BANGKOK—WHICH ONES ARE THE BEST? —KATHLEEN KENNEY, SYDNEY

A:

Run by one of the city’s most revered temples, Wat

Po Thai Traditional Medical and Massage School (2 Sanamchai Rd.;

66-2/221-2974; watpomassage.com; courses from Bt6,500) is the best known place to learn traditional Thai massage. Beginner courses take up five days, starting at 9 A.M. and ending at 4 P.M. Another place with a good reputation is the Phussapa Thai Massage School

(25/8 Soi 26, Sukhumvit Rd.; 662/204-2922; thaimassage-bangkok.com; courses from Bt8,000), which lists a variety of courses, including Chinese reflexology.

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Kuala Lumpur that don’t require plane travel?

golf courses. Located some two hours by car from the Malaysian capital, visitors are best advised to make their own transportation plans.

—SATOKO CHIJU, FUKUOKA

The Malaysian capital is well within reach of some easy breaks, either for a day or two. Just 16 kilometers northwest of the city, the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (frim.gov.my) promotes sustainable use of forests and is a training ground for local scientists, but also permits more casual visitors a peek at its 600-hectare preserve. It’s not the most typical weekend getaway, but a magnet for nature lovers, joggers, walkers and cyclists. There’s also a Malay Tea House that dates to 1929 and serves traditional herbal teas and food. For the more adventurous are several easy walking trails through forests and plantations. Birdwatching, jungle tours and nature photography are other diversions. About an hour north of Kuala Lumpur is Sekeping Serendah Retreat (60-12/324-6552; serendah.com; sheds from RM400) has glass, timber or mud sheds—their term, not ours—set in a forest where the stars and nocturnal sounds replace the usual cable television and Internet connections. Nature trails, waterfalls and plunge pools are all close at hand.

Finally, Fraser’s Hill is located at more than 1,500 meters and is a cool retreat from the tropical capital with an array of accommodation, though it’s best to book ahead at weekends when prices are often double the weekday rate.

Aside from hiking trails, there are two

✉

I’m heading to Taipei for a business trip. Can you suggest any interesting boutique hotels?

—FRANCES KWON, SINGAPORE

As with most major Asian cities, Taipei has seen a spate of new boutique hotels in recent years. Among our favorites are a few veterans: Les Suites, which has two locations (12 Qingcheng St.; 8862/8712-7688; doubles from NT$5,399 and 135 Da An Rd., Sec. 1; 886-2/87733799; suitetpe.com; doubles from NT$4,850) and the United Hotel (200 Guangfu Rd.; 886-2/2772-2121; unitedhotel.com.tw; doubles from NT$4,000). Tango Hotels (tango-hotels.com) has three locations in the city; for its proximity to Taipei 101 and the flagship Eslite bookstore, we prefer the Xinyi branch (297 Zhongxiao East Rd., Sec. 5; 886-2/2528-8000; doubles from NT$3,900). For a homier stay, consider VVG B+BB (18–20, Alley 40, Lane 181, Zhongxiao East Rd., Sec. 4; 886-2/2775-4386; vvgbbb.com.tw; doubles from NT$6,800), the bed and breakfast of a popular bistro. Other properties worth checking out include: Ambience (64 Chang-an East Rd., Sec. 1; 886-2/25410077; ambiencehotel.com. tw; doubles from NT$2,530); Hotel Eight Zone (8 Jinshan South Rd., Sec. 1; 8862/2358-2799; hotel8zone.com; doubles from NT$3,400); and the Dandy Hotel (33 Sinyi Rd., Sec. 3; 886-2/2707-6899; dandyhotel.com.tw; NT$3,200).

E-MAIL T+L SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO EDITOR @ TRAVELANDLEISURESEA.COM. QUESTIONS CHOSEN FOR PUBLICATION MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY AND SPACE .

F E B RUA RY 2 0 0 9| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A . C O M

I L L U S T R AT E D BY WA S I N E E C H A N TA KO R N

Q:

(Ask T+L)02.09

I L L U S T R AT E D BY G U Y B I L L O U T

(Strategies) 02.09

9 Ways to Improve Your Next Trip (and Save Money) This may be a year of tightening belts and minding budgets. But there’s a silver lining: For travelers, it’s a buyer’s market. Hotels, airlines and destinations around the globe are taking measures to ensure your money goes far, offering never-before-seen deals and values. Here, T+L’s tip sheet for navigating the new travel landscape. By ELIZABETH BAILEY, GERALDINE CAMPBELL, JENNIFER CHEN and YOLANDA CROUS T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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strategies | travel

solutions

1

SCORE HOTEL PERKS AND DEALS In an effort to increase their bookings, hotels worldwide are offering travelers significant deals. Fairmont Hotels (fairmont.com), for example, has cut rates by as much as 20 percent at all 56 of its properties through April 15.

Other brands, instead of dropping prices, are offering free nights and savings packages; some are even upping the ante by tossing in room upgrades, meals and resort credits.

Through March, at select Starwood Hotels (starwood.com), every second night is half off, even at Luxury Collection, W and Le Méridien. Hyatt (hyatt.com), meanwhile, is running a Time for Family deal at more than 90 hotels worldwide, offering travelers 50 percent off a second room for children.

Throughout Asia, destinations are seeing fewer guests—and posting better deals—because of the sour economic climate.

Keep your eye on current events: last year’s temporary closure of Bangkok’s main airports has hotels and resorts in Thailand slashing their rates or offering special packages (see this month’s Best Deals, page 20). Bangkok’s Metropolitan Hotel (metropolitan.como.bz) and Centara Grand at CentralWorld (centarahotelsresorts.com), and the Veranda resorts in Chiang Mai and Hua Hin are offering packages with free bonus nights. The Aleenta (aleenta.com) properties in Pranburi and Phuket are offering discounts of up to 35 percent on their rates and packages until the end of March.

2

TAKE TO THE WATERS Cruises—already known as a great value option thanks to their all-inclusive pricing—are adding even more enticements. “Every cruise line is trying to make it easier and more cost-effective for people,” says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of cruisecritic.com. Crystal Cruises (crystalcruises.com) is offering some of the best perks, such as stateroom upgrades and US$2,000 discounts on penthouse rooms on some Asian sailings. Silverseas Cruises’ Silver Sailings program lists fares that provide savings of up to 50 percent; previous passengers qualify for an additional 5–10 percent off. Booking early for a seven-day Mediterranean voyage on the Yachts of Seabourn (seabourn.

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com) can get you up to 45 percent off, plus a US$500-perperson discount. Companies are also becoming increasingly flexible with purchase policies. Late last year, Disney (disneycruise.com), Windstar (windstarcruises.com), Norwegian (ncl. com) and Crystal extended cancellation periods and reduced deposit amounts by as much as 50 percent. SeaDream Yacht Club (seadreamyachtclub.com) introduced a Cancel For Any Reason program, which lets you change your plans up to 48 hours before departure (for US$50 per person), with the balance credited toward a future cruise.

3

BE LOYAL Hotels are looking for your allegiance—and extending extra incentives to gain it. Most loyalty programs, including those of Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Starwood and Wyndham, have eliminated blackout dates for points redemption, so you can get free nights even during peak season. Taking it a step further, the Starwood Preferred Guests club’s new SPG Flights program lets you use points to purchase plane tickets for any day of the year—even during holidays such as New Year’s. And with Hilton Honors Point Stretcher Rewards, you can check in to participating hotels for 40 percent fewer points. To make earning rewards easier, this spring Marriott Rewards is giving out 2,500 extra points per visit, starting with your second stay.

4

GO ALL-INCLUSIVE To avoid sticker shock at the end of a trip, try turning to all-inclusive resorts, where meals, drinks and activities are included in the rate. Luxurylink.com, which auctions and sells hotel packages to high-end travelers, has recently launched an entire section devoted to highend all-inclusives. And no, high-end all-inclusive is not an oxymoron: upscale versions of traditional beachfront allinclusive resorts have cropped up across Mexico and the Caribbean, from the modern Paradisus Palma Real Resort (paradisuspalmareal.travel; five nights from US$2,380, all-inclusive) in the Dominican Republic to the new Secrets Maroma Beach (secretsresorts.com; five nights from US$1,835, all-inclusive) on Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Asia is behind that trend, and frankly, in food-oriented countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, you don’t want to be locked into the hotel restaurant. But some wellness-oriented properties such as the Como Shambhala Estate in Bali (cse.como.bz; three nights from US$1,290, all-inclusive) and the Six Senses Destination Phuket (sixsenses.com; three nights from Bt92,400, twin-sharing, allinclusive) offer full-board packages. You can also experience all-inclusive style at à la carte resorts: guests on Fairmont Gold and Ritz-Carlton Club floors have access to spreads of food and drinks several times a day.

5

SLEEP LIKE A LOCAL For significant savings— and more square meters for your money—consider staying in a privately owned apartment or house on your next trip. An increasing number of second-home owners are turning to vacation rental companies like the Austin-based HomeAway (homeaway. com) and sites like vrbo.com, which lists more than 100,000 houses worldwide. “We’re seeing a lot more inventory this year, and fewer people traveling, so you’re going to get good value,” says Brian Sharples, cofounder and CEO of HomeAway. We recently found a listing on homeaway.com for a one-bedroom villa on Bali’s northern coast for US$127 a night. Meanwhile, the newly launched roomorama.com, a New York–based peer-to-peer rental agency, lists more than 300 apartments in New York, Boston, Chicago and Toronto. (Users can vet accommodations using feedback from previous visitors.) At press time, a penthouse loft near Union Square with floor-to-ceiling windows was available for US$189 a night. House-swapping is also gaining in popularity thanks to the proliferation of sites such as homeexchange.com, intervac.com and ihen.com, which charge annual membership fees in exchange for access to their extensive databases. The one caveat: you have to live in a desirable location yourself.

6

FOLLOW THE MONEY Travelers looking to make the most of their money should keep an eye on global exchange rates. While the Thai baht, Hong Kong dollar and Singapore dollar have fallen against the U.S. dollar and the yen, they have made headway against the euro and British pound over the past six months. Meanwhile, the rupiah has held steady against the major currencies. What’s the outlook for your currency?

That’s unclear, especially as East Asia’s biggest economies, Japan and China, slow down, affecting most of their neighbors. So if you have the option, prebook and prepay as much as possible to ensure you lock in a good exchange rate.

7

STOP HOARDING YOUR MILES This is the year to use all those frequent-flier miles you’ve been accumulating. With fewer people taking to the skies, your chances for redeeming miles could potentially increase. Flexibility is key, however. “If you’re committed to a particular destination, go in the off-season instead, and book either early or late,” says Tim Winship, editor-at-large of smartertravel.com. Most airlines start selling flights 330 days out, so using your miles as far in advance as possible increases the likelihood of getting an award seat. And if a flight isn’t full approximately two weeks before departure, the carrier will turn to frequent-flier customers to help fill the plane. A few other tips to keep in mind: when traveling to business destinations, it’s easier to book with miles on

weekend flights; the opposite is true for vacation hotspots.

If you still can’t find a seat, consider using miles to upgrade your ticket on longer flights: as business-travel bookings shrink in 2009, this should be easier than ever.

8

FLY BUSINESS CLASS If you like to fly business class on international routes, there’s never been a better time to book your ticket. Airlines are expected to slash these fares by as much as 70 percent this year, according to Rick Seaney, CEO of farecompare.com, a Dallas-based air-travel research website.

A quick survey of business class fares on Asia’s top airlines on zuji.com turned up a round-trip ticket from Hong Kong to Bangkok on Thai Airways for HK$3,933 and one from Singapore to Bali on Singapore Airlines for S$1,631.36. To get the best business-class fares, sign up for airline mailing lists and check travel industry websites such as farecompare. com and firstclassflyer.com.

9

CHOOSE A PACKAGE Buying hotel and airfare together from a third-party travel site such as travelocity.com, expedia.com or orbitz. com delivers big savings. “Any time you opt for a package, you’re going to save money,” says Heather Leisman, senior director of merchandising for Orbitz. It’s the luxury properties that offer the biggest discounts through these packages. “They don’t want to publicly announce price drops, so this is their way of hiding them,” Leisman says. At press time, we found an air/hotel package on Expedia for five nights in a deluxe room at the Alila Manggis (alilahotels. com) for US$978 per person—a savings of around US$500.

Today’s packages are also more customizable, with online booking sites now giving you the ability to bundle as many elements together as you’d like, including extras like spa treatments, theater tickets and sightseeing tours. As a rule of thumb, the more you bundle, the more you save. ✚

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27

IEKJ>;7IJ 7I?7

INDULGE YOURSELF

SOUTHEAST ASIA

MACAU

This year’s glitzy gaming guide BEST SPAS IN SAIGON

FEBRUARY 2009

20

Dream escapes*

Shanghai

Where to bag the latest looks

Thailand

Lazy days on Ko Lanta TRAVEL FOR LESS: INSIDER SECRETS

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China Redux.

Hong Kong’s latest Chinese designs with a style twist <(page 36)

Just say “ahhh.”

Get pampered in the lastest spiffy spas in Saigon <(page 38)

Eat, drink, shop.

Where to go in a hip ‘hood in Jakarta (page 48) >

+

• Cool cruising in celebrity style • Unique boutique hotels in Phnom Penh • Remembrance of Malacca’s past

(Insider) Photo credit by tktktk

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F L A R É S I D E N C E P H O U VA O ; C O U R T E S Y O F T E Q U I L A K O L A ; N A N A C H E N ; C H R I S T I A N K E R B E R ; C O U R T E S Y O F C A S A C A F É

Tropical bliss.

A colonial chic hotel above the Mekong in Luang Prabang <(page 46)

Where to GoWhat to EatWhere to StayWhat to Buy

FEB MROUNATRHY 2 0 0 7 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M

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insider

| newsflash TECH

Tech Update

Taxi Traumas Eased

BOOKS

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The latest feature for digital cameras: built-in GPS. Nikon’s new Coolpix P6000 (nikon.com) records the exact location of every picture, so you can post and geo-tag your snapshots on Google Earth. Also taking photo-sharing to the next level, Microsoft’s cutting-edge Photosynth (photosynth.net) can stitch together photo collections — every shot of Notre Dame found on flickr.com, for example — to create navigable virtual realities. Imagine: your travel pics can be part of the collective memory.

—JENNIFER FLOWERS

SHOP

Intimate Ideas Looking for something special for Valentine’s Day? Drop by Singapore’s recently opened Chai (01-36 Liang Court Shopping Centre, 177 River Valley Rd., Clarke Quay; 65/6338-0330), an 890-square-meter mini-department store that’s devoted to the good things in life, including a wide selection of high-end intimate wear.

Designed as a boudoir, the lingerie department stocks hard-to-find European and American labels such as Blush!, Princess Tam Tam, DIM and White Laundry. Just round the corner are risqué extras like diamante bow ties and lace garters. Also on the racks is an eclectic mix of high street and urban fashion, sophisticated beauty products by the likes of L’Erbolario and Rouge Bunny Rouge, and quirky décor items.

And making sure that gents don’t feel left out, the shop also stocks organic cotton underwear by Giulio from Spain.—HUI FANG

F R O M T O P R I G H T : D AV I E S + S TA R R ; C O U R T E S Y O F C H A I

It’s a scenario that’s all too familiar.

You’re trying to tell a cab driver in a foreign city where you want to go, and he just stares at you in utter incomprehension. In China, the problem is compounded by written Chinese and the fact that the English and Chinese names of buildings often don’t match up (for instance, the Forbidden City is known colloquially as gugong, or the old palace). That’s where Taxi Lingo Guides (taxilingo.com; HK$60) come to the rescue. Lightweight and pocket-sized, this series lists offices, hotels, restaurants and other landmarks in English and Chinese in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau, and Guangzhou. Other information such as emergency numbers and train maps are included; the Hong Kong and Macau guide even offers basic phrases in Cantonese. We’re hoping for a Bangkok edition soon.

RAIL

Fast Tracks With convenience and affordability paramount among travelers’ needs, high-speed rail is expanding: more than 25,000 kilometers of new service are currently in the works. Here, a look at what’s happening around the globe.

Europe A 5,600-kilometer network already exists, and an additional 8,500 kilometers are to be added by 2025, including a Lisbon-toMadrid route (two hours).

Asia China launched a high-speed train last summer between Beijing and Tianjin, the first segment of a path that will cut the 20-hour journey between Beijing and Hong Kong in half.

United States A new line in California running from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just two hours is in the planning stages for 2020.— J . F .

ON THE RADAR

Collyer Quay This strip is becoming Singapore’s newest playground for the well-heeled. By SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP

B O T T O M , F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E SY O F J I N G R E S TA U R A N T; C O U R T E SY O F A S H L E Y I S H A M ; C O U R T E SY O F S A I N T J U L I E N ; C O U R T E SY O F I P R E C I AT I O N ; C O U R T E SY O F F O R L I N O ; C O U R T E SY O F M O U AWA D

DINING JING RESTAURANT Opened by hip hotelier–restaurateur of The New Majestic Hotel, Loh Lik Peng, this spot offers contemporary Chinese cuisine in an elegant setting composed of a pallette of brown, gold and taupe. On the walls are pieces by local artists Terence Lin and Joshua Yang. Try the crispy duck served on a bed of greens and the egg noodles with a generous portion of stewed Boston lobster.

01-02/03, One Fullerton, 1 Fullerton Rd.; 65/6224-0088; dinner for two S$160.

SHOPPING

DINING

ART

DINING

SHOPPING

ASHLEY ISHAM This eponymous boutique by the London-based Singaporean designer stocks his limited-edition pieces and readyto-wear collection.

Also on the shelves are accessories by up-and-coming designers that are handpicked by Isham. Look out for Nicole Brundage’s shoes, and leather and snakeskin bags

by Jane August. 0104, The Fullerton Hotel, 1 Fullerton Sq.; 65/6536-4036.

SAINT JULIEN This well-regarded establishment attracts regulars with its impressive wine list and wellexecuted, elaborate offerings. Expect classic dishes from a bygone era, such as seared duck liver with grapes and champagne, lobster bisque soup with sea scallops, and pan-seared beef tenderloin with sautéed Lyonnaise potatoes and Bordelaise sauce.

Make sure to order the terrific cheese plate. 3 Fullerton Rd.; 65/65345947; dinner for two S$300.

IPRECIATION A 149-square-meter contemporary art gallery showcases work by established Asian artists such as Ju Ming, Ye Jian Qing and Budi Ubrux. 01-08, The Fullerton Hotel, 1 Fullerton Sq.; 65/6339-0678; ipreciation.com.

FORLINO Don’t be fooled by this restaurant’s narrow, old-world entrance. The dining room is dramatic, with pieces by Antonio Citterio, Philippe Starck and Marcel Wanders. The emphasis is on chef–proprietor Osvaldo Forlino’s home of Piedmont, northern Italy. Try the veal ravioli with truffle and finish with the chocolate and hazelnut mousse. 02-06, One Fullerton, 1 Fullerton Rd.; 65/6536-9965; dinner for two S$200.

MOUAWAD Famed for its work with Victoria’s Secret in making the world’s most expensive bra, the jeweler is a veritable Aladdin’s cave of diamonds and precious gems. There’s also a collection by Victoria’s Secret catalog alum, Heidi Klum. 01-07, The Fullerton Hotel, 1 Fullerton Sq.; 65/6536-0020; mouawad.com.

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| newsflash TOUR

MIRACLE WORKER

BEAUTY

Jakarta’s Art Scene The contemporary art bubble might be fast deflating amid the global economic slowdown, but Indonesia—relatively under-the-radar compared to India and China—stills offers plenty of good bargains for budding collectors. Even if you’re not looking to buy, it’s worth checking out the country’s vibrant art scene. The Four Seasons Jakarta (Jln. H.R. Rasuna Said; 62-21/252-3456; fourseasons. com; tours from US$1,000, all-inclusive) is now offering packages for curious culture vultures. Itineraries range from a three-day jaunt through Jakarta’s galleries and museums, with a day-trip to the nearby hill station of Bogor, to an exploration of Jakarta and Yogyakarta, including stops at artists’ studios and the Borobudur temple complex, plus talks by well-known curators and collectors.

Make Your Own Guidebook WEB When it comes to planning a trip, the Internet is probably the handiest tool travelers have. But trawling the Web for tips can be time consuming. Enter Offbeat Guides (offbeatguides.com), a recently launched U.S.-based website that helps you build customized travel guides. Just go to the website, answer five basic questions (name, destination, hometown, trip dates and where you’re staying), and press enter. The site—which has 30,000 destinations—then collates information from a range of sources, and in a less than a minute, produces a guide, including maps, events while you’re there, up-to-date exchange rates and weather forecasts.

You can tweak the guide to suit your needs by adding or taking out sections. For US$24.95, you get a portable printed version of your guide and a PDF download.

The eco-conscious can opt for just the PDF, which costs a mere US$9.95.

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An up-to-da te travel guid e prepared for

ER IC WI LL IS

Los Angele

LOS ANGE L E S,

MA PS WE ATH ER WH AT TO DO WH ERE TO GO LOD GIN G DIN ING

AU G 1 3 –AU G 2 0, 2 0 0 8

s

F R O M T O P R I G H T: C O U R T E SY O F F O U R S E A S O N S J A K A R TA ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E SY O F O F F B E AT G U I D E S ; C O U R T E SY O F K E N Z O K I

Beauty brands are a savvy lot.

They know that the “miracle in a bottle” promise is no longer enough for customers long inured to such claims. But Kenzoki, a beauty line by the Japanese fashion house, vows to “do what they say and never say more than they do.” In fact, one of its products exceeds expectations: Belle De Jour (kenzoki.com; available at Takashimaya in Singapore).

Using white lotus flowers from the Chinese province of Zhejiang, this light, velvet-textured cream relaxes your skin and tightens your pores at the same time.

Sounds contradictory, but Kenzoki claims that studies it has done have shown that applying Belle De Jour actually reduces the levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone, by 25 percent.—H . F .

insider

| newsflash AROUND THE WORLD

E AT

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SHOP

Treasure Trove Jewelry designer Matina Sukhahuta, one-third of the trio behind Thai fashion label Sretsis, has opened her first boutique in Bangkok. In keeping with her retro sensibilities, Matina Amanita (Lobby level, Gaysorn Shopping Center, 999 Ploenchit Rd.; 66-2/656-1319; matinaamanita. com) looks like an exceptionally well-appointed vintage store, with black wooden doors carved into the line’s Art Deco-esque owl logo, dark floors and a stainedglass clock. But the main draw is her whimsical creations—cocktail rings inspired by architectural icons, pendants of miniature Trojan horses, rings in the shape of Ionic columns. If nothing strikes your fancy, the shop can customize a piece for you.

F R O M T O P R I G H T: C O U R T E SY O F M AT I N A A M A N I TA ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E SY O F T H E L E G AT I O N Q U A R T E R ( 2 )

Having trouble deciding what food you’re in the mood for? At The Legation Quarter (No. 23, Qianmen Dong Da Jie, Dong Cheng District; 86-10/6559-6266; legationquarter. com) — a dining, retail and entertainment playground located in the former U.S. Embassy in Beijing — diners can now span the globe, from Ginza to Marakkech. The complex’s newest 1,580-square-meter addition offers a Japanese restaurant, Shiro Matsu; a tapas bar–restaurant, Agua; a late-night lounge, Hex; and Fez, a rooftop, Morocco-inspired bar, complete with private tents and a courtyard-style fountain.

Discerning gourmands can also choose to sup at Maison Boulud, the first Asian eatery by the French superstar chef.

Dining 55 floors above Bangkok is just the icing on the cake

Visit us and book online at www.centarahotelsresorts.com

Soaring above the skyline of the central business district, the 505 bedroom and suites, with their stunning and unrestricted views of Bangkok, truly reflect the luxurious standards of Bangkokâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest 5 star hotel.

Eight restaurants, lounges and bars provide a world of dining pleasure and entertainment. Connected to the hundreds of shopping and entertainment opportunities of CentralWorld, 5 star luxury has never been so convenient.

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insider | shopping

Nouveau Chinois. Hong Kong is witnessing a revival of interest in traditional Chinese design, radically updated. Here, we pick some of the best boutiques where you can indulge in the look. By CARMEN TING

HONG KONG

Design Revolution From top: Inside Good Laque, a modern lacquerware store; Hong Kong designer Ranee Kok; a display at Tequila Kola.

■ MELAINE LIVING ARTS All too often, contemporary Chinese design veers into kitsch (just how many images of Chairman Mao does one need?). But this tranquil, two-story lifestyle boutique sets out to prove there are other ways of bringing traditional design into the 21st century. Under the direction of chief designer Elaine Chan, the shop features playful pieces including lamps fashioned from birdcages adorned with silk tassels, cheongsam-shaped vases and candy-colored drumshaped garden stools. Also on offer are rough-hewn jade coasters and place settings with ornate carvings and chunky statement necklaces made out of onyx and jade.

T+L TIP Don’t forget to venture upstairs for discounted items from past seasons. 15 Lyndhurst Terr., Central; 852/2815-7873; melaine.com.hk.

■ TEQUILA KOLA Occupying 1,800 square meters on the ground floor of Horizon Plaza, this shop stocks a huge array of furniture and home wares, all designed in-house. Among the Chinese-inflected items are chairs upholstered in silk brocade; porcelain tea sets sporting ancient Chinese robes against colorful backgrounds as well as sloe-eyed beauties from retro Shanghainese calendars; jade chopsticks, napkin rings and coasters; and candlesticks decorated with Chinese brass locks. Best of

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■ GOOD LAQUE Tucked away on the 16th floor of Horizon Plaza—Hong Kong’s best-kept secret for home décor—this unassuming, decade-old shop specializes in fine, handmade lacquerware, most of it done in a red, black and gold color scheme. Eye-catching items include photo albums with inlaid, eggshell covers and auspicious dragonfly, longevity and double happiness motifs, and hand-painted decorative plates featuring Chinese calligraphy and modern Vietnamese portrayals of tranquil rural life. The shop also displays colorful silk lanterns; and rosewood and ebony chopstick sets with Chinese calligraphy engravings, and silver, horn and shell fittings. T+L TIP Apart from beautiful lacquer home wares, they also make finely crafted mahjong kits, complete with English instructions. 1607-09, 16th floor, Horizon Plaza, 2 Kee Wing St., Ap Lei Chau; 852/31060163; goodlaque.com.

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E SY O F R A N E E K ; C O U R T E SY O F A L A N C H A N C R E AT I O N S ; C O U R T E SY O F B L A N C D E C H I N E ; C O U R T E SY O F T E Q U I L A KO L A

all, international shipping is available. T+L Tip Visit their outlet on the 17th floor where discontinued items are sold at heavily discounted prices. 1st floor, Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing St., Ap Lei Chau; 852/2877-3295; tequilakola.com.

■ RANEE K Nestled on Gough Street—which is quickly becoming one of Hong Kong’s funkiest stretches—is this lovely little space owned by Ranee Kok, a local fashion designer whose flirtatious interpretations of Chinese design have made her a darling among local celebrities like actress Gigi Leung. This cozy den is filled with racks displaying Kok’s unabashedly girly creations, including slinky, one-of-a-kind cheongsams in non-traditional fabrics such as denim. Other Chineseinspired looks include mandarin-collared jackets, cocktail dresses cut from bold Chinese silks, and rings and bags bearing an artistic rendering of the Chinese character of “longevity” in metal. T+L TIP If you’re looking for something special, the shop can oblige with bespoke evening wear in two to six weeks and ship overseas. Also keep an eye out for vintage bags, earrings and necklaces from Paris, London and New York. 16 Gough St., Central; 852/2108-4068; raneek.com.

Off the Racks From top: Inside Ranee Kok’s flagship boutique on Gough Street; wall clocks from Alan Chan Creations; jackets by Blanc de Chine; an Asia-inspired display at Tequila Kola.

■ ALAN CHAN CREATIONS One of the territory’s best-known graphic designers, Alan Chan was perhaps among the first to mine China’s past for inspiration. In fact, a browse through his store gives you a quick lesson on the history of graphic arts in China. Among the motifs Chan employs for his home wares, stationery, umbrellas, playing cards and tins of tea are calligraphy, newspaper classifieds, historic photos from the Qing dynasty in China and old Hong Kong street scenes, Communist propaganda art, feng shui symbols and even ancient erotica. T+L TIP Look out for their 12-piece pu-er mini dragon–ball tea for a special tea-drinking experience—use one piece per cup and see it bloom in hot water. Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong; 8 Finance St., Central; 852/3190-8690; alanchancreations.com.

■ BLANC DE CHINE Looking for a more understated look? Then head over to Blanc de Chine for a Zen take on Chinese design. Over the past two decades, this elegant boutique has earned a serious following among homegrown and international celebrities; Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Andy Lau and Juliette Binoche are among the shop’s devotees who keep going back for its well-tailored signature mandarin-collared jackets, loosefitting cheongsams, Chinese robes and quilted jackets, all in subdued hues. T+L TIP Don’t miss their gorgeous silk bedding. 218–221, The Landmark, Central; 852/21047934; blancdechine.com. ✚ T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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VIETNAM

Urban Retreats. Pampering yourself in Saigon is easier than ever, with a new wave of high-end spas opening in the city. Story and photographs by NANA CHEN 2 GLOW

Most spas in town hew closely to the French colonial aesthetic. Not so at this establishment situated on the mezzanine level of the Eden Mall. Owner Thuy Do deliberately sought to make this space “more energetic and young” by painting the walls bright colors, decorating with space-age furniture and piping in lounge music. The youthful crowd tends towards the spa’s various hair treatments, such as the popular yoghurt hydrating hair spa (US$25) or the rice protein nourishing hair spa (US$35).

Mezzanine, Eden Mall, 106 Nguyen Hue Blvd., District 1; 84-8/3823-8368; glowsaigon.com.

1 XUAN

The Park Hyatt Saigon is one of the city’s most exclusive addresses, so it only stands to reason that it has Saigon’s most luxurious spa. Each of its seven treatment rooms has a private terrace, where a massage table can be set up. The treatment menu spans the globe: Vichy shower water massage (US$45), traditional Thai massage (US$75) and Indian head massage (US$30). Or choose one of the favorites: the express facial (US$45) or foot reflexology (US$30). 3rd floor, Park Hyatt Saigon, 2 Lam Son Sq., District 1; 84-8/3824-1234; saigon.park.hyatt.com.

3 JASMINE

Once the site of a Toni&Guy outlet, this mid-price spa is patronized by Japanese and European expatriates. It’s best known for its cellulitetargeting treatments, which employ seaweed extracts, essential oils and herbs. Looking for a splurge? Try the caviar firming treatment (US$100), which purportedly reverses wrinkles.

There’s also plenty on offer for men; check out the men’s vitality facial (US$35) or the men’s Suisse desensitizing treatment (US$40) for those with easily irritated skin. 45 Ton That Thiep St., District 1; 84-8/3827-2737; appointments recommended.

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An outpost for the Thai beauty and spa firm, this establishment occupies two floors inside a flashy serviced apartment complex. Just stepping inside puts you instantly at ease; the air is scented with peppermint oil. All seven tastefully decorated treatment rooms are stocked up with Harnn & Thann goodies. Popular therapies include the healing stones body massage (US$75) and the foot scrub and foot massage (US$25). Stop by Thann’s downtown shop and stock up on their fabulous toiletries. Nguyen Du Park Villas, 111 Nguyen Du St., District 1; 84-8/822-0788; downtown location: 23 Dong Du St., District 1; no telephone number; thann.info.

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As befits its name, this spa housed in a century-old colonial building brims with luxury à la Française, with painted tile floors and pretty treatment rooms.

Day packages include a four-hour special for couples that features foot massages, facials, body treatments and a threecourse meal (US$175). On the ground floor, spa goers can peruse the recently opened L’Erbario Toscana, where handmade beauty products are sold.

L’Apothiquaire also has a larger branch located 10 minutes from downtown. Set in a restored 1950’s villa, this branch boasts a swimming pool, restaurant, gym and yoga studio. Both locations sell the in-house line of spa products. 63 Le Thanh Ton St., District 1; 84-8/3822-1218 or 848/3827-9824; 64A Truong Dinh St., District 3; 84-8/3932-5181 or 84-8/3932-5082; lapothiquaire.com; appointments required.

insider

| cruises

High Style at Sea. The Celebrity Solstice sets a new standard for both energy efficiency and inspired, almost theatrical, design. By LUKE BARR

Classy Cruise Clockwise from top: The ship’s grand theater; its 2,000-bottle wine tower; the comfortable Sunset suite; a fashionable entryway; the ship itself at sea.

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is an exercise in hard-nosed engineering and starry-eyed romanticism: space is tight, safety is paramount, and yet somehow or other, the epic glamour of ocean liners past must come to life in the present—and without a whiff of nostalgia, either. That’s the trick, and Celebrity Cruises has achieved it with the Celebrity Solstice, the first of five in a new class of ships.

Take the main restaurant, the Grand Epernay, a shimmering, monochromatic room designed by architect Adam Tihany to be the social center of the ship—it has 1,400 seats and a circular descendingstaircase entrance. The theme is bubbles, as in champagne, evident in the carpet pattern and in the grand oblong chandelier overhead. There are a number of such theatrical gestures (the enormous 2,000-bottle wine tower, for example, is a showstopper), but it’s done in a modern fashion, with tapered, angular buttresses and minor-key recessed lighting. The overall effect is pleasantly retrofuturistic—a restaurant with a sense of humor and fun, but a grown-up sense of style.

The same can be said for the ship as a whole, from the dreamy, blue-and-white–tiled steam and sauna rooms in the spa to the clubby, dark-wood–paneled Ensemble Lounge and the proliferation of smaller restaurants (a sign of the times—passengers want choices), including the bright, 1960’s-pop Blu. The specter of Las Vegas–style silliness lurks around every corner, but is vanquished in most cases by the exigencies of shipbuilding. Sure, a “water feature” can be found next to one of the pools, synced to music and tricked out with fiber-optic lights, but it’s small—amusing rather than over-the-top.

Finally, there’s the Lawn Club, in some ways the crown jewel of the ship: more than 2,000 square meters of grass growing on the top deck. The lawnat-sea is a technological feat, but is most remarkable for the unspectacular, quiet pleasure it affords—a combination of casual, old-school elegance (croquet, picnics, the putting green) and avant-garde eco-design (the green roof helps absorb heat and moisture). The lawn, like the ship, has the feel of the future. (The Celebrity Solstice sails the Caribbean in winter and the Mediterranean in summer. celebritycruises.com; 1-800/4373111; seven-night itineraries for two from US$1,758). ✚

CO U RT ESY O F C E L E B R I T Y C RU I S ES T H A I L A N D ( 5 )

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REATING A STATE-OF-THE-ART CRUISE SHIP

insider

| check-in

CAMBODIA

The Mod Squad Below: The rooftop bar at The Quay in Phnom Penh. Right: The minimalist façade of The Quay.

Phnom Penh’s Stylish Stays. They might be small, but three boutique hotels in the Cambodian capital manage to pack plenty of character.

By ANDREW BURKE

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THE ROOMS The slick styling in the

public areas extends to the 16 so-called suites (they’re actually just rooms). The ambitious design includes more whiteleather Jacobsen chairs (this time the Egg), dimly lit, nightclub-esque bathrooms and asymmetrical overhead fans. Go for the more spacious panoramic rooms, which boast balconies and river views; standard rooms are half the size and don’t have windows. All the rooms have Wi-Fi and obligatory flat-screen TV’s.

SORE SPOTS The size and location make a pool impossible and the rooftop plunge pool makes a respectable

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compromise. Unfortunately, it’s cheekby-jowl with the hotel’s terrace bar.

TRUMP CARDS Chow’s scrumptious modernized takes on Khmer cuisine, with a thoughtful wine list (ask manager Patrick Uong for wine recommendations). 277 Sisowath Quay; 855-23/224-894; thequayhotel.com; doubles from US$89.

■ THE PAVILION LOCATION A short walk south of the Royal Palace and trendy Street 240.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS Hidden behind a wooden door and a high wall, the pool and garden feel like an oasis of

CEDRIC ARNOLD (2)

■ THE QUAY LOCATION The Quay overlooks its namesake, Sisowath Quay, a nonstop parade of people, motorbikes and cars, and the more languid boat traffic along the Tonle Sap River.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS From the outside, the hotel—a white wedge of Modernism—provides a striking contrast to the drab building from which it was hewn. Inside, Chow restaurant is all urbane curves: round black tables, white-leather Arne Jacobsen–inspired Swan chairs, cylindrical pillars and circular cut-outs in the high ceiling.

F R O M L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F T H E PAV I L I O N ; C O U R T E S Y O F V I L L A L A N G K A ; C E D R I C A R N O L D

calm. The hotel is housed in a tastefully restored 1920’s-era villa, thought to have been built by former King Sihanouk’s mother. Through the undergrowth is a second, more recently built villa.

THE ROOMS The 20 rooms all differ, with those in the older villa featuring high ceilings, original floral-motif tiled floors and a scattering of antique furnishings, photographs and fi xtures like Bakelite switches that will appeal to frustrated colonialists. The four ground-floor rooms in the newer building boast four-poster beds, splashes of silk and, best of all, private 6-meter pools. Bathrooms are disappointingly underwhelming but perfectly functional.

SORE SPOTS The pool is open to nonguests, and consequently, overrun with expatriates on the weekends. The staff is generally friendly, but the management can be combative. Guests under 16 are not welcome.

TRUMP CARDS Weekday afternoons can easily evaporate while lazing on the daybeds nestled in the garden, between cooling dips in the pool—the perfect respite after an enervating

morning of sightseeing. No. 227 Street 19; 855-23/222-280; thepavilion.asia; doubles from US$50.

■ VILLA LANGKA LOCATION On a quiet, leafy street opposite Wat Langka and just around the corner from the Independence Monument, this hotel is 1.5 kilometers south of the Royal Palace.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS The open-air reception, two sprawling old Khmer houses and inviting pool surrounded by wooden decking and mature trees contribute to a refreshingly unpretentious ambience.

THE ROOMS Set in the two restored houses, each of the 27 rooms is a variation on the Indochine theme.

Most have original tile floors, high ceilings and colonial-style furnishings (think four-poster beds draped with mosquito nets; antique desks, cupboards and sideboards; and the odd slender Buddha image thrown in).

Be careful when choosing a room: the suites are the pick, especially the vast, airy Room 4, which overlooks the pool.

The better rooms have spacious bathrooms with black terrazzo tubs.

SORE SPOTS Several of the standard doubles have doors that connect to the neighboring room. That’s useful if you’re a family, but not if you’re a light sleeper and the guest next door fancies late-night TV on full volume.

TRUMP CARDS We would happily go back for the seductively relaxed, downto-earth atmosphere and an imaginative international menu prepared by a French chef. No. 14 Street 282; 855-23/726-771; villalangka.com; doubles from US$66. ✚

Sunny Days From left: A guest room at The Pavilion hotel; Villa Langka’s invitingly shady pool and deck; one of the panoramic rooms at The Quay.

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insider | preservation

MALAYSIA

Dutch Colonial Relic Right: The remnants of the 17th-century Middelburg Bastion. Below: Replica cannons along the wall.

Fortress of Memory. In historic Malacca, a forgotten piece of the town’s colonial history is resurrected. By CHRISTOPHER R. COX UILDING A DAGGER-TOPPED, 110-meter-tall tower beside Malacca’s charming Dutch Square might have seemed like an aesthetic disaster, but there was no stopping officials intent on realizing it. Until, that is, workers literally hit the wall in late 2006. The roadblock? The stout stone remains of Middelburg Bastion, a long-forgotten 17thcentury Dutch fortification.

In an earlier age, Malacca was a world-famous spice emporium that attracted traders from across Asia as well as European explorers. The Portuguese conquered the sultanate in 1511 and built A Famosa fortress on a hill overlooking Malacca River. But the citadel fell after a Dutch siege in 1641; the new rulers reinforced its walls with bastions, or angled projections, to improve defenses.

Rechristened the Middelburg Bastion, it was completed in 1660. But Malacca changed hands again, and the new British rulers razed the fortress’s imposing ramparts in 1808, saving only A Famosa’s beautiful, baroque-style gate. The stones of Middelburg’s 6-meter-high walls were reused in building foundations and seawalls.

The demolished fort faded from memory, except among a handful of historians. “We knew where the wall was buried,” says Rosli Haji Nor, conservation director for the National

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Heritage Department, “but we didn’t have enough money to start excavation.”

After the tower project uncovered the hidden treasure, Nor and other preservationists found ammunition for their cause. Given the discovery, they argued that the planned kris-crowned column with a revolving observation deck would dent the town’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Fortunately, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage convinced state authorities to relocate the US$7-million Menara Taming Sari lookout 1 kilometer away, near a busy shopping mall.

Meanwhile archaeologists have carefully excavated the bastion site, uncovering Dutch-era coins, clayware and the red-laterite stone foundation. Now, exactly 200 years after its demolition, the wall has risen again. The Dutch kept meticulous records; a 1678 report lists eight brass cannon atop Middelburg, allowing historians to accurately re-arm the fort. Nor hopes the detailed US$1-million restoration gives visitors a glimpse of Malacca’s old glory, and serves as an inspiration for the town to protect its heritage. “Malacca became a completely walled city similar to Medieval Europe by 1548,” he says. “The whole area, not just the Middelburg site, is very important. It’s where Malacca began.” ✚ Photographed by PABLO ANDREOLOTTI

insider

| room report Tropical Charms Clockwise from left: The view from the pool at La Résidence Phou Vao; the resort’s design reflects the town’s heritage; the French colonial– inspired architecture.

LAOS

THE OVERVIEW Perched on Phou Vao, the Hill of Kites, and ringed by 3.5 hectares of its own lush greenery, La Résidence prides itself on being a quiet sanctuary.

The style is refined, understated and in sync with Luang Prabang, the onetime royal capital and UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the infinity pool fronting the main building is a view to kill for: over a canopy of coconut palms rises the golden-spired shrine atop Phou Si backed by a range of mountains. When the hilltop temple’s electrical system gave out, the hotel footed the bill for a replacement so diners could savor the shrine’s twinkling lights after sunset.

Phou Vao, Luang Prabang; 856-71/212530; residencephouvao.com; doubles from US$310.

high above the Mekong River, La Résidence Phou Vao lures globetrotting celebrities.

ANTHONY MECIR checks in to find out why

THE DESIGN François Greck, a French architect who lives in Laos, miraculously transformed five Soviet-era, bunkerstyle buildings into airy, low-slung residences in the French colonial style—whitewashed stucco walls, extensive use of hardwood and internal corridors for cool air circulation. The 46

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C O U R T E S Y O F L A R É S I D E N C E P H O U VA O ( 3 )

A Room with a View. An elegant spot

THE AREA Once the domain of backpackers, Luang Prabang is seeing the advent of more luxury hotels as Laos takes on hotspot status. So far, properties like Maison Souvannaphoum, The Grand, Villa Santi, The 3 Nagas and the soonto-open Amantaka are appropriately scaled and culturally sensitive—but Chinese and Korean mass marketeers are knocking at the door, making La Résidence’s splendid isolation even more of a plus. And it’s still only a five-minute drive to the old city.

C O U R T E S Y O F L A R É S I D E N C E P H O U VA O ( 3 )

spa takes on the ambience of a Lao village—four bungalows set around a water lily pond. Hanging fabrics, pottery, low couches and woodcarvings give public spaces a similarly local feel.

It all has the stamp of approval by UNESCO, the town’s cultural watchdog, and attains the high bar set by OrientExpress Hotels, the luxury travel company which took over the property in 2006.

upholstered in local cotton and fourposter beds draped with mosquito nets.

THE SERVICE With 130 staff for 34 rooms, you’re guaranteed to be pampered, but not smothered. General manager Jérémie de Fombelle, a young Indochina hand, rates Lao service highly; the natural hospitality and warmth haven’t been strained by excessive training.

THE AMENITIES At turndown service, a new printed recipe is tucked under your pillow each night. If you want to try your hand at them, popular evening cooking classes are held around the pool. Outside, the hotel organizes well-planned excursions including rides on the Mekong aboard a well-appointed boat with bar. Hotel tuk-tuks stand by for free rides into town.

The first full-service luxury spa in Laos is the hotel’s pride and joy, and deserves special recognition. La Résidence delved into the Lao massage tradition, and it now offers remedies using ingredients from local organic farms. How about a “poultice of rice and black sesame seeds soaked in warm coconut milk?” ✚

THE ROOMS Knowing guests, like King Sihamoni of Cambodia, always check into a room with the mountain and temple view. Rates here are based on views, the size, layout and décor of the 32 rooms being similar. The hotel’s two suites are not substantially larger (60– 65 square meters). All come with private balconies and bright décor featuring rosewood floors, sofas

THE BATHROOM Roomy and pleasingly simple. A bathtub of smooth green marble is nicely sculpted for the body—the shape inspired by traditional Lao forms. In most of the guest rooms, a large sliding window overlooks the mountains or garden.

Easy Living From top: La Résidence’s elegant guest rooms evoke yesteryear; a tranquil view of the Mekong River.

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| neighborhood

Kampong Glamorous. Our pick of restaurants, hotels and bars in Jakarta’s most happening ‘hood.

By ROBYN ECKHARDT

KEMANG WAS A LEAFY, sleepy neighborhood of expatriates and affluent Indonesians. Today, it’s South Jakarta’s go-to spot for style-conscious shoppers, diners and revelers. The district is especially lively on weekends, when young Jakartans descend en masse to eat and party after shopping for a spell. Warning: Kemang’s often frustrating traffic can come to a complete standstill on Fridays and Saturdays—a good reason to book a hotel close to the area when you want to join the crowds.

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Think of 5 Casa Café (8B Jln. Kemang Raya; 62-21/7199289; drinks for two Rp145,000), a relaxed bar–café furnished with vintage 1950’s chairs and sofas, as a home away from home. Linger over a sandwich and a cup of coffee by day or, after dark, relax with something stiffer from the bar menu of beers, wines by the glass and delectable cocktails. Bestsellers include the sweet, sour and spicy Roojak and Tie Me Up, a refreshing white rum, Cointreau and lime concoction. On your way up to Casa’s second-floor perch check out architecture and design-oriented bookstore and contemporary house-wares emporium Aksara.

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Indonesian hipsters replenish their wardrobes at distros (short for “distribution outlet”)—alternative clothing stores that stock up on emerging local designers. See what the buzz is all about at 3 Snorkels (14A Jln. Kemang Raya; 62-21/7183320), a diminutive distro wedged into a row of quirky boutiques. On the racks are one-off and special-edition T-shirts, hoodies and dresses, eyecatching shoes, and colorful printed cloth bags—all by homegrown designers. Priced to appeal to university students, they offer excellent fashion bang for the buck.

STAY

With 47 staff and just 12 suites, 4 Kemang Icon (1 Jln. Kemang Raya; 62-21/719-7989; alilahotels. com; suites from US$160) boasts unbeatable service. Designed by Sardjono Sani, one of Indonesia’s premier modernist architects, the hotel features plush fabrics, spacious sitting areas, open bathrooms and butler’s pantries; no two suites are alike.

So well equipped (a rooftop pool, spa, private screening room and an intimate bistro–bar) is this property that you may not want to leave.

Illustrated by WASINEE CHANTAKORN

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F S H Y; CO U RT ESY O F S N O R K E L S ; CO U RT ESY O F K E M A N G I CO N ; CO U RT ESY O F CASA CA F É

EAT

Traditional touches—clay floor tiles, thick wooden pillars, swatches of batik, gently whirring ceiling fans—make 1 Payon (17 Jln Kemang Raya; 62-21/719-4826; dinner for two Rp157,000) an agreeable change of pace from Kemang’s other, ultraurbane venues. Tuck into delectable Javanese specialties like sambel udang (prawns fried in chili sauce) and sup pindang (spicy beef soup soured with baby star fruit), or just drop in for coconut ice cream accompanied by ginger tea. Afterwards, peruse the crafts sold from small shops in the restaurant’s tranquil garden.

Sited atop The Papillion, a glass cube of designer boutiques and a branch of Dutch patisserie Huize Van Wely, 2 Shy (Level 4, The Papillion, 45AA Jln. Kemang Raya; 62-21/719-9244; shyrestaurant.com; degustation menus from Rp495,000) dazzles with its floor-to-ceiling windows and dramatic black-andwhite décor. In addition to an à la carte menu, the restaurant’s Dutch chef presents daily seven- and four-course degustations.

Expect creations like foie gras with pickled beetroot and chanterelles in a cabernet reduction and passion-fruit tart with raspberries and cardamom.

The tented roof bar serves up tapas, live music and a DJ on Wednesday and weekend nights.

insider

| street corner

DENMARK

TILDE WOLFFBRANDT TV PRODUCER ”Independence and flexibility come with using a bike.

It’s always easy to meet my husband, wherever we may be. One of my favorite places to visit is the Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket [7 Dantes Plads; 45-33/418-141], a museum with a beautiful winter garden. It’s best on Sundays, when admission is free. Right now I’m headed to the shop Sneaky Fox [25A Studiestræde; 45-33/912-520], in the Latin Quarter; it’s famous for colorful hosiery.”

SPINCITY

T+L takes a ride around bike-friendly Copenhagen and asks 11 stylish cyclists what gets them in gear in their town. By SWAZI CLARITY. Photographed by CHRISTIAN KERBER

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JACQUES MORILD INVESTMENT BANKER “I have a Centurion [centurion.dk], a really well-made Danish bike.

In Copenhagen, you can get some exercise and enjoy the surroundings while going about your business.

I would miss that if I lived in another city. I’m coming from Filippa K [various locations; filippa-k.com], where I just bought my hat. On the weekends, I ride to Mindelunden [Ryvangen, north of Copenhagen], a memorial park for the Danish World War II freedom fighters, in a suburb called Hellerup. It’s very peaceful.”

DENMARK’S ENVIRONMENTALLY MINDED CAPITAL, the bicycle is king. A system of free rentals and dedicated lanes has more than a third of Copenhagen’s residents commuting daily on two wheels—all part of the city’s goal to reduce carbon emissions and become the world’s eco-capital by 2015. New York City’s Department of Transportation recently tapped Jan Gehl—the Danish architect who paved Copenhagen’s bike-centric way (and has advised London, Melbourne and Dubai on how to “copenhagenize”)—to help with its own 2,900-kilometer master plan, set for completion in 2030. Last fall, we took in the scene at Højbro Plads, a 19th-century marketplace turned cosmopolitan crossroads at the center of Strøget, which became the city’s first car-free zone in 1962. Lycra-clad, muscle-bound cyclists they are not—these are ordinary (if extraordinarily beautiful) people riding in suits, skirts, even high heels; some on trendy three-wheelers with baby pods, others steering classic upright Pedersen domestic models with polished wooden fenders and sprung-leather seats. We asked some of them to stop and tell us where they were going, what not to miss and what it is that makes their city so appealing.

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EVA SKOV HANSEN DOCTOR “I visit my patients on a bike. It’s the easiest way to reach

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VINCENT BYAKIKA JOURNALIST

them, and I don’t have to worry about parking a car. I also like walking around the Botanical Garden & Museum [130 Gothersgade; 45-35/322-222]. The greenhouses there were built in the 1800’s by Carl Jacobsen, the father of Carlsberg beer. The newest trend in Copenhagen is microbreweries.

My favorites are Nørrebro Bryghus [3 Ryesgade; 45-35/ 300-530] and BrewPub [29 Vestergade; 45-33/320-060].”

”When the sun shines, everyone hops on their bikes and heads to the green spaces, like Fælledparken in Østerport, next to the National Stadium. If it snows, the city clears the paths very quickly, so you can ride all year. Today I visited the organic dairy at Nimb [5 Bernstorffsgade; 45-88/700-000; nimb.dk; doubles from 3,900 Danish kroner], a new boutique hotel facing Tivoli. At the moment, I’m off to do some work at Rayuela [5 Fælledvej; 4535/356-674], a Spanish café and bookshop in Nørrebro.”

LIS STAHL GREAT-GRANDMOTHER

MICHAELA KRIGSAGER VISUAL CULTURE STUDENT

“I have always used a bicycle. I got my first one when I was five.

My husband and I raised four children, and we never bought a car.

During the war, the Germans took our gas, but they didn’t take our bikes — we could still ride. I’m 85, and I still cycle to the shops every day. I buy books at Arnold Busck [49 Købmagergade; 4533/733-500] and CD’s at Merlin [various locations; merlin.dk] for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

”The bicycles affect the whole urban environment and create a unique ambience. There are three powerful visual velocities here: cars, pedestrians and cyclists; most cities only have two. I like to go to the new beach park at Amager Strand [amager-strand. dk]; you can see the windmills and the Oresund Bridge in addition to the coast, so it has an industrial look. You have to take the train there, but I usually bring my bike on board.”

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VIBEKE AND GIULIO CASTELLI INTERIOR DECORATOR AND AUTHOR

LARS DANIELSSON MUSICIAN

Vibeke: “Copenhagen has an amazing quality of life. I normally ride from the center of Copenhagen to Hellerup, past the Funkis houses; they are functionalist–minimalist, à la Arne Jacobsen.” Giulio: “I spend a lot of time in the Black Diamond building at the Royal Library [1 Søren Kierkegaards; 45-33/ 474-747]. It has concerts, exhibitions and an excellent restaurant called Søren K [45-33/474-949; dinner for two 1,000 Danish kroner], with seasonal cuisine.”

”When I’m playing somewhere, I carry my bass guitar on my bike. That way I don’t have to worry about the impossibility of parking. I’d say that the city’s best live-music venue is Vega [40 Enghavevej; 45-33/257-011], in Vesterbro. It was designed

by Vilhelm Lauritzen, a renowned Danish architect. I also recommend Copenhagen Jazzhouse [10 Niels Hemmingsens Gade; 45-33/152-600] downtown; and in Nørrebro, there’s Rust [8 Guldbergsgade; 45-35/245-200], for up-and-coming bands.”

SIMON GRŒNLUND ART STUDENT

MILLE DINESEN ACTRESS “Most Danish actors commute on bikes — even the famous ones. I’m

“I live outside of Copenhagen and ride out there as well. It’s easier in the country, but there’s a great bike culture in the city. My favorite museum is Arken [100 Skovvej; 45-43/540-222; arken.dk], which has modern art. It’s a 25-minute train ride from downtown, but the architecture alone — it looks like a stranded ship — is worth the trip. I also spend time around Studiestræde, a street with lots of cafés and secondhand shops.”

in a TV series, Nynne, which opens with a shot of my character cycling through town. Sometimes my fans yell ‘hi!’ as I ride by. I’d suggest seeing a show at the newly opened Royal Playhouse, Skuespilhuset [36 Sankt Annæ Plads; 45-33/693-931]. After work, theater people traditionally go to Viva [570 Langebrogade Kaj; 45-27/250-505], a restaurant and bar on a houseboat in Christianshavn.”

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Promotional Feature

THREE ON THE BUND Location, heritage and sumptuous living in Shanghai

A

historic building on Shanghai’s most famous and elegant thoroughfare, The Bund has been totally transformed into a groundbreaking celebration of contemporary living, where art, culture, food, fashion and wellness converge to inspire a richer life—a sophisticated gathering place for vibrant people and stimulating ideas.

Commanding a superb location on the famous waterfront—a place that was once the hub of an extraordinary international society in the 1920’s and 30’s— Three on the Bund has breathed new life and energy back into this incredible location. Everything to stimulate the senses can be found in this stunningly renovated neoclassical building.

The seven oors in the 12,000-square-meter space include four unique restaurants, as well as Space by Three, a 1,000-square-meter function space, and an elegant day spa—all of which are physically connected to the heart of the building, the Shanghai Gallery of Art, on the third oor.

Situated at the core of the structure, the Gallery features a towering atrium that extends from the third oor to the roof, allowing visitors on upper oors to look down into the Gallery below. Also on this oor is fashion store Hugo Boss.

FABULOUS DINING O Upstairs, on the fourth oor, is JEAN GEORGES, SHANGHAI—Jean Georges Vongerichten’s rst signature restaurant outside of New York, which brings the groundbreaking, innovative cuisine of renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten to China. Inspirational contemporary French cuisine is served in chic, elegant surroundings. Enhanced by seamless service, the restaurant promises to offer guests a truly memorable experience.

O WHAMPOA CLUB is located on the fth oor. Here, world-renowned and critically acclaimed master chef Jereme Leung creates modern interpretations of classic, Shanghainese-inspired cuisine.

Taking dining to a new level of taste, style and sophistication, Whampoa Club guarantees to surprise and delight even the most discerning of palates.

O On the sixth oor is LARIS, a truly cosmopolitan concept restaurant

offering outstanding New World cuisine by chef–restaurateur David Laris. An internationally renowned chef who has received culinary recognition at prestigious restaurants in several continents, Laris says his food re ects his experiences, passions and travels.

His signature style and unique concept restaurant offers guests a truly distinctive experience.

O NEW HEIGHTS, which, from its position on the top oor, enjoys perhaps the best location in all of Shanghai, offers a colorful and appealing all-day dining and drinking destination, with 180-degree views of the historic Bund, Pudong and the curving Huangpu River.

With its casual atmosphere and warm, approachable service, New Heights welcomes people throughout the day for meals, snacks, coffee and drinks.

Guests can also enjoy the outdoor rooftop terrace—an idyllic location for a cocktail or two, or for a meal under the star-studded sky.

O THE CUPOLA, sitting atop the Bund, offers the ultimate in private dining. Two very special dining rooms are available—one on the lower oor, for eight people, and one on the upper oor, for just two guests—making the upper oor probably the most romantic restaurant anywhere. A private butler ensures the utmost privacy and guests can choose from any of the restaurants within the building to ensure an unforgettable culinary experience.

SENSUAL SPA O On the second oor, at the rear, is the EVIAN SPA BY THREE, the ultimate sanctuary for women in Shanghai looking for relaxation, rejuvenation, serenity, holistic healing and the nest beauty care. With its stunning 35meter-high atrium entrance, Evian Spa offers the most advanced therapy and beauty care, administered by professional, highly trained therapists in 14 individually designed rooms. Evian Spa by Three is the rst Evian Spa outside of France and China’s rst Clarins partner spa.

O Next to Evian Spa by Three is BARBERS BY THREE, a luxurious salon for men and women, in which guests can relax and enjoy superb service and personalized pampering.

Treatments are taken in ultra-private cubicles, each equipped with a chic black leather barber’s chair, a TV and a CD/DVD player, and include shaves, haircuts and coloring, facials, ear candling, manicures and traditional Shanghainese pedicures, as well as neck and shoulder rubs.

For more information, visit www.threeonthebund.com

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StylishTraveler Calfskin Goyard tote bags with removable wallets.

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HAUTE TOTE

Whether on the town or at cruising altitude, the Goyard Saint Louis bag goes the distance. Photographed by NIGEL COX

N THE ERA OF THE “IT”

bag, owning a Goyard is like joining an elite old-world society. The malletier (trunk maker) has not budged from its original Paris address on Rue St.Honoré or altered its famed monogramming technique since 1853, and its signature hand-stenciled motif—the Goyard family crest—has not changed since 1892. Over the years the company has customized luggage for the jet set and their well-traveled pets (it started making stylish kennels and leashes in the early 20th century, and last June opened a boutique across the street from its flagship store devoted entirely to furry travel companions). Goyard’s client roster includes everyone from the maharajah of Kapurthala to the Duchess of Windsor, who once commissioned a trunk to accommodate 150 pairs of shoes. For those who prefer to travel light, the calfskin Saint Louis tote, a re-release of a custom-made bag from the 1960’s, has a removable clutch and is perfect as a carry-on or for a day of city strolling.

Better yet, with Goyardtrained artisans at Barneys and Bergdorf these days, you can get it embossed on both sides of the Atlantic.—T I N A I S A A C

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Promotional Feature

Impiana KLCC Hotel & Spa Where dreams and reality become a symphony of delights

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From top: A junior suite at Impiana KLCC; the infinity pool at Impiana KLCC; a superior deluxe room at Impiana Cherating.

ocated in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the Impiana KLCC Hotel & Spa is the ideal address for business and a favorite for visitors, conveniently situated near prominent landmarks such as the majestic Petronas Twin Towers and the modern Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. Also within easy access of the city’s premier shopping facilities and exciting entertainment areas, the Impiana KLCC Hotel & Spa is an ideal venue to host seminars, conferences, private functions, and parties.

Stylishly furnished in elegance, the five-story, fourstar deluxe hotel provides modern, technologically advanced conveniences, including first-class amenities and Internet access in every room. With a total of 335 rooms, guests have a choice of Superior, Deluxe and Junior Suites ranging from 30 square meters to 60 square meters.

The Impiana KLCC Hotel & Spa offers a diversity of cuisine and snacks at its 24-hour Tonka Bean Café, and an area for laptop users who want to stay connected. There is also a cigar and wine bar, both offering an impressive selection of fine cigars, wines and champagnes.

Designed for the comfort of the modern business and holiday traveler, the Impiana KLCC Hotel & Spa offers a variety of traditional Asian body massage treatments, an infinity swimming pool and gymnasium. A beautifully designed banquet hall accommodates up to 250 guests for dinner or 420 for a reception, product launch or wedding. The hotel’s facilities and high standard of personal service creates a unique sense of warmth and comfort that will meet the expectations of the most discerning visitor to Kuala Lumpur.

For a more tranquil vacation just two-and-a-half hours’ drive from KL, try Impiana Cherating Resort. Situated on one of Malaysia’s finest beaches and home to exotic sea turtles, the 104 newly refurbished rooms are well equipped with up-todate amenities and all with a view of the sea and lush tropical gardens.

For more information, visit www.impiana.com

shopping | stylish traveler A display of eco-friendly bamboo tableware at Nest Shanghai.

REVOLUTION

BY DESIGN

A new crop of designers is remaking Shanghai’s fashion scene. To get the city’s fresh look, check out these boutiques, located in two emerging neighborhoods.

By JENNIFER CHEN. Photographed by DARREN SOH

CHINA

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CHANGLE LU

R Shanghai Surprise Clockwise from below: Qipaos for girls at L’Atelier Mandarine; along fashion-centric Changle Lu; tea accessories at Urban Tribe; rolls of wrapping paper at eco-minded Nest Shanghai; Estune’s shop window.

IGHT ON THE EDGE of the picturesque French Concession, Changle Lu is chockablock with stores stuffed with designer knockoffs or embroidered silk qipaos. But between Ruijin Lu and Chengdu Nan Lu, a cluster of independent-minded boutiques has sprung up in recent years, offering forward-looking clothes that wouldn’t look out of place in Tokyo or Berlin. Leading the pack is Estune (No. 19, 139 Changle Lu; 86-21/5306-9973), which first staked out the neighborhood four years ago. Housed in a lofty, post-industrial space (polished concrete and lighting courtesy of strings of exposed lightbulbs), the shop sells elegant but edgy women’s wear by designer Yin Jianxia. Yin is a Yohji Yamamoto acolyte and it shows. Among the standouts during a visit last fall was a shawl-collared, loose-sleeved coat made from a light, basketweave cotton fabric. A few storefronts down, By (No. 11, 139 Changle Lu; 86-21/5382-8366) stocks cult Japanese streetwear labels, including Diet Butcher Slim and Lad Musician, while ACU (No. 15, 139 Changle Lu; 86-21/3308-0888), co-owned by Hong Kong actor–musician Edison Chen, deals solely in sneakers, retro and otherwise, artfully displayed on antique cabinets. One of the most interesting young designers in Shanghai today is Gao Xin, whose clothes for men and women are on sale at Even Penniless (No. 3, 139 Changle Lu; 86-21/5306-0466). Mainly in a neutral palette, Gao’s youthful, romantic designs recall Romeo Gigli’s work in the late 1980’s. Two pieces caught our eye: a doublebreasted swallowtail coat in black wool and a drop-waist shift dress in black watered silk with a neckline trimmed with ribbon. A sliver of a shop, the eponymous He Yan’s Store (No. 16, 141 Changle Lu; 86/136-7196-7749; heyan. org) squeezes in her tailored, ladylike dresses and coats

along with quirky accessories and stationery. The monochromatic styles at Liu2 (230 Changle Lu; 86/138-17021637) feature soft draping and luxuriously thick knits.

TAIKANG LU

S

HANGHAI’S ANSWER TO

Beijing’s newly fashionable hutongs, the warren of lanes behind Taikang Lu have become a crossroads for commerce and creativity, with boutiques, galleries and cafés appearing in recent years.

Visitors can still catch a glimpse of ordinary life; lines of laundry crisscross the alleys and old wizened women sit on plastic stools and watch the stream of Hong Kong tourists go by. Danish designer Trine Targett first set up her studio in the neighborhood seven years ago, lured by a 130-squaremeter space in a 1950’s candy factory that a developer wanted to convert into artist workshops. Last year, she opened it to the public as Shanghai’s first store devoted to sustainable and socially responsible design. Nest Shanghai (2nd floor, Studio 201, International Artist Factory, Lane 210, Taikang

Lu; 86-21/6466-9524; nestshanghai.com) displays Targett’s line of leather, suede and silk bags as well as clothing and home accessories by other designers. Our favorite finds: colorful, lacquered bamboo bowls by bambu and Torana’s rugs with geometric designs, handwoven by Tibetan craftsmen.

Upstairs, owner Caroline Stavonhagen fills L’Atelier Mandarine (3rd floor, Studio 318, International Artist Factory, Lane 210, Taikang Lu; 86-21/6473-5381) with cashmere attire; adorable, Asian-influenced children’s clothing; and children’s duvets and sleep bags. Keep an eye out for Parisian designer Claudine Khiet’s gorgeous, deceptively simple separates. Just down the road, in Lane 248, Jasmine Mu and Gao Ping— two born-and-bred Shanghainese—have brought their bohemian sensibilities to the neighborhood with the third outlet of Urban Tribe (No. 14, Lane 248, Taikang Lu; 8621/5465-1668; urbantribe.cn). On the racks are cotton, wool and silk clothes inspired by traditional Asian garb. Don’t expect hippie ethnic wear, though—the shop’s clothes are sophisticated and finely crafted. ✚

SHOPS BY NEIGHBORHOOD

Changle Lu

CHANGLE LU 1 Estune 2 By 3 ACU 4 Even Penniless 5 He Yan’s Store 6 Lui2

Even Penniless

TAIKANG LU 7 Nest Shanghai 8 L’Atelier Mandarine 9 Urban Tribe

Estune

Below: Trine Targett, the owner of Nest Shanghai.

Nest Shanghai

Taikang Lu

Urban Tribe L’Atelier Mandarine

M A P BY WA S I N E E C H A N TA KO R N

ai

Nest Shangh

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U.S.A.

BLUE TREE Actor Phoebe Cates’s singularly chic boutique in New York City, Blue Tree, inspires major love.

PATRICIA MARX happily counts the ways

HEN I WAS A KID, I was crazy lucky to live within walking distance of a luncheonette that, according to a handpainted sign in the window, served the World’s Best Coffee! Never mind that I despised coffee. I understood that someday I’d be a grown-up and imbibe it all day.

I’ve hit the jackpot again. Nowadays I live steps away from the World’s Best Boutique. And nobody needs a sign outside to know it. I am not saying this because Blue Tree belongs to my friend Phoebe Cates. No, this spot wins the best-boutique award the honest way, with the highest CS/SI (covetable stuff per square inch) quotient of any shop around. It also speaks to the collector’s urge awakened by visits to the Metropolitan and Guggenheim museums, around the corner on Fifth Avenue.

Here’s what I found at Blue Tree today that I truly cannot live without: exquisitely etched, pastel-tinted Lucite boxes; a black T-shirt with an appliquéd fork and spoon on its front and, around back, a slab of meat with the words juicy steak; hand-painted stockings with beaded seams; a lamp that looks like a really cool wire sculpture; all the shop’s pocketbooks … whoa, I am making myself sick with greed.

Blue Tree is a mom-and-pop store without the pop, though Phoebe does credit her husband, the actor Kevin Kline, with the name—a reference to the blue trees in Fauvist paintings. (We knew that, right?)

After your spree, you and your purchases can check out Yura, across the street. They have pretty good coffee. ✚

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Q+A ●

What books would you take to a desert island? Remembrance of Things Past, Don Quixote, and, of course, the take-out menu from Sachi [1350 Madison Ave.; 1-212/5345600], because I’m going to want some sushi delivered. ● Which make-up item? Only one allowed.

Eight Hour Cream, by Elizabeth Arden. I don’t plan to stay long. ● Your favorite junk food for the plane ride? Twizzlers. ● Would you be willing to lose a little toe if, in exchange, those Twizzlers had no calories? Hmm ... No. ● So you’re back from eight hours on the island. What’s the first thing on your todo list? Make an appointment with David Evangelista for a haircut. Cornelia Day Resort [663 Fifth Ave.; 1-212/871-3050] is the first number on my speed dial. ● Where will you celebrate your homecoming? Pepolino [281 W. Broadway; 1212/966-9983]. It’s so cozy, and there can’t be better Tuscan food anywhere else, even in Tuscany. ● Do you like gardening? I like it when other people do, especially the people at the New York Conservatory Garden [Fifth Ave. at 105th St.]. ● It’s impossible to find a present for someone who owns a store. Any suggestions? Twizzlers.—P . M .

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: D E A N K AU F M A N ( 2 ) ; CO U RT ESY O F B LU E T R E E

Made for Manhattan Clockwise from left: Inside Blue Tree; owner Phoebe Cates; the storefront on Madison Avenue.

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beauty | stylish traveler

TAKE AWAY

Here, travel-ready beauty products that are perfect for your next getaway. Photographed by SITTIPUN CHAITERDSIRI. Styled by ATINAN NITISUNTHONKUL

3 2

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1 Moisturizing cream, Crème de La Mer, cremedelamer.com; 2 Oil-blotting sheets, Boots, boots.com; 3 Eye Oasis Replenishing Treatment, H2O+, h2oplus.com; 4 Total Energy Pulse Point Balm, The Body Shop, thebodyshop.com; 5 Mini eyelash curler, Shu Uemura, shuuemura.com; 6 Face brush, Muji, muji.com; 7 Maintain Balance Introductory set, including Replenishing Foaming Cleanser, Lavender Hydrating Mist, Daily Exfoliating Cream, Herbal Recovery Gel and Moisture Replenishing Day Cream, Jurlique, jurlique.com; 8 Verbenas of Provence Cologne, Jo Malone, jomalone.com; 9 Lip gloss, RMK, rmkrmk.com; 10 Aquasource Protective Lip Care SPF8, Biotherm, biotherm.com; 11 Moisture Surge Refreshing Eye Mask, Clinique, clinique.com; 12 Multi-action Skin Defense capsules, Pro Skin, boots.com; 13 UV Plus HP Day Screen High Protection SPF40, Clarins, clarins.com.

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stylish traveler

| packing list

1

LESS

IS MORE Build your travel uniform with these nine easy pieces.

Photographed by

2

RICHARD BALLARD.

Styled by MIMI LOMBARDO

2 NECKLACE With a suede cord and natural stones, this Club Monaco (clubmonaco. com) piece works long or as a choker.

3 TOP The cotton mariner T-shirt from A.P.C. (apc.fr) adds a graphic touch.

4 CLUTCH Take a simple outfit from day to night with this calf’s hair Boden (boden. co.uk) clutch.

4 5

5 COAT An all-weather twill jacket from Tory Burch (toryburch.com) does double duty as a blazer and outerwear.

6 SHOES A pair of patent Roger Vivier (rogervivier. com) flats will polish off your look — and last a lifetime.

7 BELT To change your look, accessorize with a Nicole Miller (nicolemiller.com) double-wrap leather belt.

8 BAG The removable shoulder strap on this roomy leather Calvin Klein (calvinklein.com) tote makes it more versatile.

9 PANTS These stretch-knit trousers from Tag+Jeans (tagjeans.com) can be worn on the plane or on the town.

—MIMI LOMBARDO 66

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S T I L L L I F E : D AV I E S + S TA R R ; A S S O C I AT E FA S H I O N E D I T O R : C AT H E R I N E C R AT E ; H A I R / M A K E- U P : E L S A F O R T R E S S E M É / M A K E- U P F O R E V E R ; M O D E L : U L L A VA N Z E L L E R / F O R D

1 DRESS A silk-and-spandex shift by Vince (vince.com) can also be worn over pants as a tunic.

3

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ai Shantogh bag

Where the latest looks

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Lazy day

TRAVEL FOR LESS: INSIDER SECRETS

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T+L Journal Ahilya Fort, in central India, as seen from the Narmada River.

PORTFOLIO 74 THE ARTS 82 ASIAN SCENE 86 OBSESSIONS 90

INDIA

Citadel Hotel

From the ruins of a 242-year-old fortress on a sacred river in the town of Maheshwar, India, the remote 14-room Ahilya Fort is reimagined as a quiet, all-inclusive retreat. GUY TREBAY kicks back. Photographed by MAX KIM-BEE T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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| hotels QUEEN, AN ANCHOVY CAN passed off as a bus, has rear-ended a rickety truck whose bumper carries the jaunty legend REMOVER OF OBSTACLES. Now the guts of both lie scattered across a two-lane mountaintop switchback. We are in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, and traffic to and from our rural destination in the town of Maheshwar is temporarily at a standstill. With nothing else to do, we prop open the doors of our hired car and let a warm wind powder us with dust, yielding to the Indian inevitable.

Travel snafus may be less common than they once were in the booming and increasingly efficient subcontinent, yet as the host of our hotel remarks merrily when I limp in with my partner nearly five hours after departing by air from New Delhi, much has changed about this astounding country— and much has not. “India strikes!” Richard Holkar says, with the same mordant fatalism of “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown!” that Jack Nicholson hears at the end of the 1974 Oscar-winning movie.

Had India not abolished the monarchies after independence, Holkar would still be known as the prince of Indore; he would have succeeded as maharajah of that large state had he not been born outside caste, to his father’s American third wife. Like so many of India’s “erstwhile” nobles, the civilian Mr. Holkar, now his sixties, has spent a good part of his life observing the piecemeal dismantling of his family’s heritage.

First, in the 1970’s, the International Style palace designed for his maharajah father by the German architect Eckart Muthesius was sold to the government. Then Christie’s auctioned off the famous fittings by Émile Jacques Ruhlmann and Eileen Gray. Three of Brancusi’s legendary Bird in Space sculptures, two of them commissioned by the family, were long ago spirited out of the country, landing in major museums. Inquire what became of the jewels that once barnacled Holkar’s ancestors, rulers from one of the three great Maratha dynasties of central India, and you will be met with silence. Only the famed Indore Pears, two flawless 44- and 46-carat diamonds, are traceable, and then only vaguely, following an arc that led from Indore to Harry Winston and from the jeweler’s hands into what are referred to as “other” royal houses—most likely in the Persian Gulf.

In the era when portraitist Boutet de Monvel depicted Yeshwant Rao II, Holkar’s father, as the consummate Indian elegant, few could have predicted that the family would one day be innkeepers. And although Holkar still employs his princely title, life since he began transforming Ahilya Fort eight years ago has looked less than regal—and as beleaguered as that of any white-elephant owner.

When Holkar arrived in Maheshwar, the structure that became a finely appointed 14-room hotel was a partial ruin within the battlements of the 18th-century fort built by the Rani Ahilyabai, his ancestor. There was no running water

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Stylish Serenity From top: The hotel’s host Richard Holkar; breakfast awaits in the garden.

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Days after our arrival, I have settled into a rhythm, wandering SLEEPY lanes

and no electricity. Roof tiles lay shattered in the dust. White ants had rotted the teak pillars surrounding the interior courtyards. The battlements were bulging. Still, the prospect was gorgeous from the two-hectare redoubt high above the sacred Narmada River, at the edge of a town of just 19,000 people, in an agrarian landscape remarkably untouched by industrial modernity.

Unlike many of India’s crumbling havelis and retrofitted palaces, Ahilya rewards the long hike to the back of beyond, and Holkar neatly provides a reason why.

“This is an antique landscape, and you won’t find that in many places anymore,” he tells me some days after our arrival, by which time my partner and I have settled into a rhythm of well-accommodated indolence, a pattern of days spent wandering the sleepy lanes of Maheshwar; visiting local weavers whose gossamer saris are an essential part of many an Indian bride’s trousseau; stopping into shrines blessedly free of temple touts and the extortionist priests who can turn temple tours into obstacle courses; plying the river in flat-bottomed boats propelled mostly by the current; and gorging on home-cooked meals fully in line with the precepts of Slow Food.

As we will learn during four days at Ahilya, the oak »

Antique Retreat From top: Girls gather at the fort; a shrine on the Narmada River; a pilgrim takes to the Narmada.

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Princely Abode From top right: A bed-cumhammock in Richard Holkar’s apartment; one of Ahilya Fort’s corridors, where scattered daybeds encourage lounging; a tinted photo of the former maharajah of Indore.

leaf lettuce, and rocket and romaine and sweet red carrots that turn up in our salads are grown in raised beds laid out by the prince himself. Both the breakfast eggs and the sliced chicken in our lunch travel not food miles, but food feet. The henhouse stands near a fort wall not far from a path to the azure swimming pool. Some nights the dinner table is set up there, amid the crenellated palisades, outlined by the light of a thousand oil candles. Sometimes it is placed in an interior courtyard near a small temple to the jolly god Ganesha, or ferried by boat to an island mid-river. Like shadows, the staff move in and out of a light cast by torches set into the mud. we join the prince and some guests for drinks on a terrace in the ramparts, taking in a view of the wine-dark river and the Shiva temples along the shoreside ghats. Twenty-four meters below us clumps of worshippers chant aarti and launch oil lamps into the water. With nothing man-made to illuminate it, the far shore is obscure.

By daylight the view clears and on the opposite bank can be seen a modest stucco temple, a village and checkerboard farm fields stretching along the river and away in the distance toward haze-covered hills. At this point in its journey and also its seasonal arc, the Narmada is slow moving, placid and flat. People bathe and beat their clothes clean in it, and local kids launch cannonballs off the stone steps of the ghats, then swim to the center of the stream.

One hears a lot of birdsong in Maheshwar and, for once in contemporary India, only that. It takes a while to register the near total absence of the ubiquitous amplified din that a friend here terms Hindi Headache Music; that this is so owes

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T DUSK ON OUR FIRST NIGHT,

largely to the remoteness of Maheshwar and its location on a river known as one of the seven most sacred in India.

The Rani Ahilyabai was fabled as a shrewd administrator and ruler and no less as a prolific builder. Whether strategically or out of piety, the queen threw up Hindu shrines all across India, among them the Vishwanath on the Ganges in Varanasi, arguably that city’s most important holy site. She built a more intimate temple within Ahilya Fort. It is to the smaller one that locals come to revere an idol of Ahilyabai, who was elevated to quasi-deity status somewhere along the line.

In so many ways an unusual river, the Narmada originates not from mountain runoff, as does the Ganges, but instead rises from the red laterite flats of a place called Amarkantak; flowing east to west, it gains strength as it crosses the agricultural state of Madhya Pradesh, until finally the volume of water it carries is larger than that of the three great northern rivers—the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej—combined. A longtime controversy over plans to dam it has tended to focus equally on the destruction of the landscapes it traverses and on the river’s status as a sacred entity.

As it does so often in India, the lure of mythology trumps science, and the Narmada has a creation tale of considerable poetry. Ancient Vedic texts lyrically ascribe its origin to a postcoital moment enjoyed by two of Hinduism’s key divinities; after having made love to his consort Parvati for a thousand years, the great god Shiva was aroused again by the sight of his beloved at rest and, in that state, let an errant drop of semen fall to the ground. Thus arose a daughter, Narmada, a “virgin” river considered holy by worshippers of Shiva, not least because it is here that the stone lingams important to Hindu worship are still found, rolled over eons into smooth phallic forms.

Lingams are placed along the riverbank at large temples and in the many domestic shrines at Ahilya Fort. Every morning a small barefoot woman makes her way through the fort’s six linked courtyards, stopping briefly at each to anoint the idols with a paste of powdered vermilion and sandalwood. A fellow staff member arranges flower petals concentrically in an old bronze basin. Kunta Bai, one of the hotel’s housekeepers, stout and efficient, with a dark oiled braid down her back and a Shiva tattoo on her forearm, seems constantly in motion—an American friend drolly refers to her as the Indian Mrs. Danvers—attending to the most minute needs of the guests.

By saying that Ahilya feels more like a private house than a hotel, I do not mean to suggest that it induces the

claustrophobia one associates with a bed-and-breakfast or a home stay. “You’ll see that the pace of life is quite authentic,” Holkar had said over dinner in New York several years back. “It’s easy to do nothing,” he’d added, not mentioning that there is blessedly little to do.

And now, as one day fades into the next, we find ourselves trying and failing to work up some Puritan guilt about our unusual lack of initiative. We make ambitious plans to visit the Muslim ghost city of Mandu, and then think better of the 1½-hour drive over bone-rattling roads. We debate a river trip to Shiva’s island shrine at Omkareshwar long enough for the days to slip away and the plan to dissolve.

New ideas form as we slump on upholstered charpoys in the shade of blowsy bougainvillea, drinking fresh lime sodas.

Tomorrow, we keep telling ourselves. Then, without our having really noticed, tomorrow has come and gone.

One of the housekeepers, with a Shiva tattoo on her forearm, seems constantly in MOTION attending to the needs of guests

Guy Trebay is a reporter for The New York Times.

GUIDE TO AHILYA FORT WHEN TO GO From October through March, Maheshwar is pleasantly warm and dry.

GETTING THERE Fly Jet Airways to Indore from Delhi (1.5 hours) or Mumbai (1.25 hours). From there, it is a 2.5-hour taxi ride to Maheshwar.

WHERE TO STAY AND EAT Ahilya Fort Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh; 91-11/4155-1575; ahilyafort.com; doubles from US$520, including meals, beverages, and excursions; twonight minimum.

WHAT TO DO Mandu Set on a high plateau 40 bumpy kilometers from Ahilya Fort is the abandoned sixth-century city of Mandu, built by the Muslim ruler Hoshang Shah and famed for the fine state of preservation of its many structures (said, as so many things are, to have provided inspiration for Shah Jahan in the building of the Taj Mahal).

Omkareshwar This sacred island in the Narmada River 55 kilometers upstream from Ahilya Fort is the site of an important Shiva temple, the Mandhatta Jyotirling, and is close to a center of Shiva lingam manufacturing. It is also a gathering place for the wandering mendicants known as sadhus. The best way to reach Omkareshwar is by boat, but be forewarned: it’s a slow boat — eight hours one way.

Rehwa Society Considered prized additions to an Indian bride’s trousseau for centuries, the intricately woven gossamer saris of Maheshwar were saved from disappearing when Richard Holkar and his then-wife Shalini Devi (known as Sally) first came to rural Maheshwar in the late 1960’s and set about reviving the local craft and improving the lives of weavers. The Rehwa Society sells its gorgeous handloomed saris, scarves, shawls and yard goods — at startlingly reasonable prices — from a small shop at Ahilya Fort. It also provides free tours of the adjacent weaving workshops.

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Novice monks on horseback from a remote monastery in northern Thailand.

Hidden Worlds For more than 20 years, British-born photographer MARTIN REEVES has sought to capture the magical moments and mysteries of Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;places that continue to dilate his imagination. A patient observer, his intimate pictures turn even familiar scenes into a new way of seeing

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A 14.7-meter-high Buddha image at Wat Sri Chum in Sukhothai, Thailand.

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Portrait of an Akha girl from a village in northern Laos.

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Wat Phu mountain near Pakse, in southern Laos.

INCE A 1986 TRIP TO INDIA, Bangkok-based photographer Martin Reeves has focused on capturing the spirit and visual narrative of Asia.

In that pursuit, he’s become somewhat like the infrared film he uses: sensitive to things most of us cannot see.

The film picks up infrared light invisible to the human eye, turning Reeves’s images into works of beauty most of us would never have imagined. Says Reeves: “Its dream-like look seems to uncover a hidden realm, a dimension that really does exist but is beyond the confines of our visual spectrum.”

The results can transform Asia’s most famous sites into something seen entirely new. Yet the viewer is also left with the curious sense that the photo may date to the dawn of

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photography. Cambodia’s Angkor Thom and the landscape around it is bereft of anything indicating present day. Even portraits carefully skirt dating. Hill-tribe women going about their daily life in northern Thailand or novice monks pausing on horseback refuse to surrender the date from their soft black-and-white images.

The infrared film Reeves uses has become a victim of the digital revolution. But he was able to purchase a large stock of the film to continue his long-term project of capturing a personal and deeply insightful vision of Asia.

More of Martin Reeves’ work on Cambodia is contained in Angkor — Into the Hidden Realm (Mark Standen Publishing).

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Known as the Golden Mount, this temple was once the highest point on Bangkokâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skyline.

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A Buddha image at Wat Phu, in southern Laos.

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An Akha woman carries water to her hilltop village in northern Laos.

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The Gateway of the Dead at Angkor Thom in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

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| the arts

Museum with a Mission With the move to a boldlyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and controversiallyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;re-imagined building in the heart of Manhattan, the Museum of Arts and Design arrives on the scene with a new name and an expanding cultural vision. By LESLIE CAMHI. Photographed by THOMAS LOOF

U.S.A.

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), at Columbus Circle in New York City.

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OCCUPYING A TRAPEZOIDAL island diagonally across from Central Park, the 12-story, whitemarble building by Edward Durrell Stone stood for close to half a century at 2 Columbus Circle, near the geographic center of Manhattan; but around it lay a cultural wasteland. Today, it is the new home of the Museum of Arts and Design (also known as MAD), which, with the Time Warner Center and a revitalized Central Park, completes the rebirth of Columbus Circle as a major destination.

The building has been many things to many people: “a die-cut Venetian palazzo on lollipops,” according to former New York Times critic Ada Louise Huxtable; a wealthy dilettante’s cultural folly; later, an empty shell; and, lastly, an object of extreme nostalgia. Stone designed the 1964 building for supermarket heir Huntington Hartford’s Gallery of Modern Art, the institution he created to display his collection and promote the cause of figurative art. It was a swank, frilly rejoinder to the high Modernist impulse in art and design, then enshrined as doctrine by New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

But times change. Supermarket fortunes are frittered away, institutions conceived as vanity projects close, and buildings are handed to the city then abandoned for 10 years while someone decides what to do with them.

So it was that I found myself seated in a mahogany-paneled redand-gold auditorium, whose ceiling, a vaulted web of circular brass tiles, pays tribute to Manhattan’s only traffic circle, just outside. In this meticulous re-creation of the room Stone designed, we were gathered to celebrate the Museum of Arts and Design, reopening with a new name and an expanded mandate after an intense preservation battle and a six-year redesign.

MAD’s predecessor was inaugurated in 1956 as the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, and craft—as distinct from folk art—has evolved over the past 50 years, carrying on extended flirtations with the fields of art and design, while the museum itself has expanded its global reach.

In a controversial redesign, Brad Cloepfil, founder of Allied Works Architecture, based in Portland, Oregon, has remade the building from top to bottom. He preserved its quirky, curving shape, restored its auditorium and kept its signature ground-floor arcade of lollipop-shaped arches, enclosing them in glass. (They now offer street views into the lobby and the museum’s gift shop, which sells mostly one-ofa-kind, artisan-produced objects.) But he also removed 300 tons of concrete from the structure, sheathing its exterior in iridescent ceramic tile and perforating it with strategic cuts

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that flood the once-windowless galleries with natural light.

Graceful light- and art-filled stairwells allow visitors to spiral between four gallery floors up to the ninth-floor restaurant, which will feature panoramic city and park views when it opens early this year. The result is a rarity, post-Bilbao—an art institution conceived from the inside out. The emphasis is not on the museum as spectacle, but on people’s encounters with its art—punctuated by stunning views of Columbus Circle and Central Park—as they move through it.

“It’s the interior that really generated everything you see on the outside,” Cloepfil says on the morning of the opening.

“The primary focus is engagement with the art,” but the views out on all four sides “also reconnect you with the city.”

It was tempting to draw a parallel with the mission of design itself, as bridging the gap between art’s ivory tower and real-world needs. Was that what philanthropist Aileen Osborn Webb had in mind when, responding to an increasingly technology-driven society, she established the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in a refurbished Victorian brownstone on West 53rd Street, steps away from MOMA? Craft, for her, had always had a social dimension. A decade earlier she had funded educational programs for combat veterans returning from the traumas of World War II, in the belief that they might find solace in metalworking.

Meanwhile, under Paul J. Smith, who led the museum from 1963 to 1987, the institution continued to hack away at traditional aesthetic hierarchies—between high and popular culture presenting innovative shows devoted to the likes of sound installations, the art of baking and the like.

“Whirligigs and spinning wheels” are what Holly Hotchner says most people in the mid 1990’s, when she took over as director, mistakenly assumed the museum showcased.

And that was if they had heard of it at all. By then, it had outgrown its second home on West 53rd Street, but membership and attendance were stagnating.

In the search for a new name, she says, “We realized that what was meant by craft at the time of the museum’s founding—with architects, designers, artists and craftspeople discussing how art and industry could come together— actually gave a very sound direction to our future. We’ve chosen arts, plural, meaning the arts and crafts movement, decorative arts, applied arts—the coming together of many arts and design.”

Hotchner hopes museumgoers will begin their visit on the sixth floor, with the new open-studio program, where a rotating roster of artists-in-residence will offer the public a window onto the creative process. There, on a morning in »

A ROSTER of artists-in-residence will offer the public a window onto the CREATIVE process

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| the arts Multiple Impressions From left: Sonya Clark’s Madam C.J. Walker (2008); Quarter Lounge, (2008) by Johnny Swing; Jill Townsley, Spoons, (2008) from the exhibition “Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary” on view at MAD.

September, the conceptual potter and performance artist Zack Davis was throwing tiny pots on a wheel, then cramming the still-wet forms into an attaché case. “I tried to stick with something that was true to midtown,” he said, explaining that this “dirt in a briefcase” was his response to that day’s market turmoil.

One flight below him, Hew Locke stood next to a trio of model ships he’d fastened together from dime-store baubles —plastic swords and shields, metal chains, artificial flowers, toy guns. Titled Golden Horde in honor of Genghis Khan’s marauding troops, the work deals with “fears of immigrants,” he explained. “But the work is also about immigrants’ dreams of streets paved with gold, and then too about my love for Baroque saltcellars and Mexican Madonnas, and my interest in a broken kind of beauty.”

Locke’s work is featured in the inaugural exhibition, “Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary,” which runs through mid-February. It spreads out over two floors, and showcases 51 artists who transform common objects—from disposable chopsticks and telephone books to toothpaste tubes—into materials for creation. “For the most part, the museum’s focus has been on ceramics, glass, metal, fiber, wood—all of the standard craft mediums,” says curator David Revere McFadden, who organized the show with his co-curator, Lowery Stokes Sims. “One of the reasons to do ‘Second Lives,’” he continues, “was to rethink the entire idea of what material means.”

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prescription eyeglasses (Stuart Haygarth) or hypodermic needles ominously mingling among Swarovski crystals (Laurel Roth and Andy Diaz Hope), hang from the ceiling.

Michael Rakowitz’s re-creations of plundered and lost antiquities from the National Museum of Iraq, in Baghdad, made from Arabic newspapers and Middle Eastern food packaging, are uncannily moving.

“Increasing numbers of artists in the fine-arts world are very process- and materials-oriented,” says Sims, who came to MAD after tenures at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “They don’t necessarily think of themselves as craftspeople,” she explains. “They exist in the space between what we traditionally call art and craft, while craft artists are becoming increasingly theoretical and conceptual.” Take Johnny Swing’s Quarter Lounge, for example. The craft-intensive labor of soldering together some 5,250 coins renders the quarters worthless as money, but endows them with the values of art instead.

Art, craft and design also rub shoulders in the third-floor display dedicated to the permanent collection, which benefits from its own gallery for the first time in the museum’s history.

Take just the ceramics, for example. The works on view range from a large blue-green bowl made in 1946 by Viennese exiles and West Coast husband-and-wife potters Gertrud and Otto Natzler, whose signature crater glaze gives it the appearance of some volcanic artifact; to contemporary avant-gardist Eva Hild’s undulating abstractions in stoneware. There are pieces by fine artists—dabblers in the

New Perspectives From left: Ron Arad and Ingo Maurer’s TU-BE Lüster (2007); the grand staircase, connecting the lobby to one of four exhibition floors and the renovated theater on the lower level; Devorah Sperber’s After the Mona Lisa 7 (2008), made of spools of thread.

medium such as Cindy Sherman, whose image, disguised as Madame de Pompadour, appears on a Nymphenburg porcelain soup tureen—and lifelong potters like Betty Woodman, whose classically puffy Pillow Pitcher seems endowed with a quirky, Etruscan grace.

In the jewelry gallery below, the works of 1940’s Greenwich Village bohemians like Sam Kramer—a silver bird pendant, for example, set with a taxidermied eye and betraying the twin influences of biomorphism and surrealism—share space with a distinguished collection of ethnographic jewels and pieces by contemporary conceptualists such as Otto Künzli, whose ironic commentary on our fixation with precious metals takes the form of a gold bracelet entirely encased in black rubber.

With its unique mandate and location, Hotchner fully expects MAD to become a major tourist draw. The museum’s consistent focus on process sets it apart, she says.

“We probably wouldn’t have a basic toaster in our collection,” Hotchner explains, “but if we did, we’d have the prototypes and the drawings, and perhaps a film of the artist talking about how it came to be and what forces at the time moved the piece in that direction—whereas MOMA’s design department would put it on a pedestal and declare, ‘this is an important toaster.’”

Still a fly in MOMA’s eye, then? That alone might reassure Huntington Hartford that his building, in MAD’s daring adaptive reuse, had not strayed too far from its original mission. And don’t underestimate the childlike fascination

that the process of making things still arouses in people. “In the old days, on 53rd Street,” Hotchner recalled, “the museum used to have a weaver working at a loom in the window. And people would pile up outside to watch her.”

Today, visitors to MAD can watch a contemporary woodworker on film or stand right next to the spinning potter’s wheel. Location is everything.

GUIDE TO NEW YORK’S COLUMBUS CIRCLE WHERE TO STAY 6 Columbus 6 Columbus Circle; 1-877/626-5862; sixcolumbus. com; doubles from US$625.

Empire Hotel 44 W. 63rd St.; 1-212/265-7400; empirehotelnyc. com; doubles from US$399.

Mandarin Oriental 80 Columbus Circle; 1-866/801-8880; mandarinoriental.com; doubles from US$955.

WHERE TO EAT Bar Boulud 1900 Broadway; 1-212/595-0303; dinner for two US$200.

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill 308 W. 58th St.; 1-212/397-0404; dinner for two US$120.

Bouchon Bakery T+L Tip: Reservations are not accepted.

Time Warner Center; 1-212/8239366; lunch for two US$26.

Jean Georges 1 Central Park West; 1-212/299-3900; dinner for two US$196.

Landmarc Time Warner Center; 1-212/823-6123; dinner for two US$90.

WHAT TO DO Museum of Arts and Design 2 Columbus Circle; 1-212/299-7777; madmuseum.org.

ON VIEW “Permanently MAD: Revealing the Collection,” through February 15; “Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary,” through February 15; “Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry,” through May 31.

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| asian scene

A Clean Escape

Sentosa has long been seen as the tacky cousin to the Lion City, but a building frenzy is turning up some hip new destinations designed to change the smaller island’s fortunes. By PAUL CHAI. Photographed by DARREN SOH

DAY ONE Singapore locals joke that Sentosa is an acronym for “So Expensive and Nothing To See Actually,” quite a slight when you consider that it is only recently that the main island has started to cast aside its own “boring” label, attached for so long. But this namecalling may be a thing of the past thanks to a range of new hotels and facilities.

Sentosa, just a 10-minute train or taxi ride from Orchard Road, is being repositioned as a “luxury lifestyle destination” for the region’s savvy travelers.

Naffness has not been entirely banished—a trip to the beach takes in a show where cocktatoos pretend to drive remote-controlled cars and one of the muchtouted tourism innovations is a light and water extravaganza where people break into song—but increasingly there is a lot to recommend Sentosa.

Make Amara Sanctuary Resort your base on the island. Designed by Japanese architect Masaki Miyake, Amara is the clearest indication that Sentosa wants a new sort of visitor. Its clean lines, flowing wall of water and welcoming staff seem a calm-inducing world away from the fun-park-style entrance to Sentosa and its gaudy mascot, a towering concrete Merlion—one of five you can visit in Singapore.

Amara’s Veranda and Courtyard suites, which won Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Heritage Award for 2007, is situated in a renovated two-story 1930’s barracks that was the sergeant’s quarters when the British army was based in Singapore. The building is in the Singapore colonial style and still has the original World War II bomb shelters used by the Allies. »

Fantasy Island Clockwise from left: Strolling the boardwalk at VivoCity; some island art near VivoCity. Opposite: Urbanstyle beach life at Café del Mar.

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| asian scene

While the BEACH is not stunning, Sentosa has a nice line in beachside bars

Night falls on Sentosa. Above: The beach bar at Km8. Opposite from top: Resorts World Sentosa; what’s Singapore without shopping?; St James Power Station.

Amara, surrounded by verdant tropical foliage, has three swimming options, including a rooftop infinity pool, and a spa and wellness center. Check in, take in the view from your veranda towards the crowded skyline of Singapore and head to nearby Palawan Beach. While the beach itself is not stunning—there is something not quite right about swimming so close to a dozen container ships—Sentosa has a nice line in beachside bars, most notably the only Café Del Mar to pop up outside its home in Ibiza.

The famous chill-out haunt draws a mainly local clientele but we saw at least one group of northern Europeans who appeared to have stepped straight off a plane from the Spanish parent bar with skin as red as a London bus. Let the beats glide over you like the nearby waves—and, in our case, do your best to ignore the nearby angle grinder—and imbibe from the Sunset Cocktails list; a Sin City Cosmopolitan should make a nice end to the day.

Walk back up the hill for dinner at Amara’s 13-seat boutique Japanese restaurant Si Bon, which showcases kushikatsu, a Japanese cuisine that is almost entirely deep-fried and served on skewers. In the exposed brick surrounds of the old barracks chapel, diners sit around a central bar while each of the 14 or so courses is lightly fried in an ornate central copper deep-fryer. The chef presents each morsel and recommends a matching dipping sauce. What could be a repetitive, oily dining experience is lifted by expert skills and flavor combinations, such as snow crab with salt and lime, shiitake mushroom and minced prawn, and kisu with mitsuba herb. Just when you think you’re all deep-fried out, a sumptuous, sticky ball of cherry blossom makes a richly sweet finale. Repair to Amara’s indoor/outdoor bar, Mint, which boasts its own herb garden and a range of cocktails ideal for a nightcap.

DAY TWO Rise early to Danish pastries and papaya in bed, grab an in-room Nespresso and catch a cab (Singapore has a world’s-best-practice taxi fleet) to the nearby Sentosa Spa and Resort, which houses Singapore’s first destination spa, Spa Botanica for an East–West blend treatment. This fusion technique sees a 88

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deceptively slight (and elderly) masseuse use her body weight to refresh your entire body. Those with three hours to spare can try the signature Singapore flower ritual, which teams a deep-pressure massage in one of the garden pavilions with a soak in a frangipani-filled tub and a cup of soothing floral tea.

For lunch, head off-island to one of Singapore’s newest developments, the VivoCity shopping center, which sits at the gateway to Sentosa. The center, which was designed by another Japanese architect, Toyo Ito, takes its visual cues from the harbor and uses two-story-high fluid sculptures in an attempt to bring a little nature into the retail hub. It also makes use of the views across to Sentosa with a range of outdoor eateries.

Next to VivoCity is the city’s newest nightclub hotspot in the converted St James Power Station, the first coal-fired station on the island. Several clubs cluster in this building that dates from 1927 but it is a ghost town by day.

After you lug your shopping bags back to the hotel it should be sunset cocktail time. This time, head to Km8, whose motto of “Sun, Sand, Sounds” pretty much says it all. A competitor to Café Del Mar, this vast beachside club is from the team behind the trendy Singapore nightspot The Liquid Room in Robertson Quay. Pull up a bar stool to the designerdistressed wooden bar and let day give way to candlelit night as the relaxing music from any number of international acts merges with the lapping waves of the South China Sea.

GUIDE TO SENTOSA WHAT TO KNOW There is still a lot of building left to do on Sentosa with the US$4 billion Resorts World development scheduled to open in 2010.

Check with your hotel as to whether incessant building noise will affect your stay.

GETTING AROUND Most places are accessible on foot; alternatively, taxis are affordable and easy to book. There are trams to Palawan and Siloso beaches but they are really just slow family fun–style transport.

WHERE TO STAY Amara Sanctuary Resort 1 Larkhill Rd.; 65/6825-3888; amarasanctuary.com; doubles from S$350.

WHAT TO EAT Café Del Mar 40 Siloso Beach Walk; 65/6235-1296; cafedelmarmusic.com; dinner for two from S$90.

Si Bon 1 Larkhill Rd.; 65/6276-9896; dinner for two from S$300.

WHAT TO DO Spa Botanica 2 Bukit Manis Rd.; 65/6371-1318; spabotanica.com; treatments from S$75.

VivoCity 1 HarbourFront Walk; 65/6377-6860; vivocity.com.sg.

St James Power Station 3 Sentosa Gateway; 65/62707676; stjamespowerstation. com.

Km8 120 Tanjong Beach Walk; 65/6274-2288; km8.com.sg.

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| obsessions ORGET THE ARGUMENTS of speed or leg space when debating the relative merits of planes versus trains. When I fly, I don’t consider my holiday to have started until I land at my destination. With trains, however, the vacation begins the moment I board a coach. And it’s as true on a third-class Thai local as it is aboard a TGV racing through the French countryside.

While I’m no trainspotter—there’s no journal filled with sightings of steam-powered locomotives—I love rail journeys. For me, they conjure a more civilized, even elegant, age of travel. That sumptuous standard still exists in Southeast Asia, on the Eastern & Orient Express running between Bangkok and Singapore, and on the executive-class service from Hanoi to Lao Cai, near the Chinese border.

Much of the remaining rolling stock left the station years ago and rattles along colonial-era routes. But trains remain safer than most intercity buses and more environmentally friendly than airplanes. And ask yourself: which sounds more romantic, Yangon Airways Flight 733 or the night train to Mandalay?

If the reality is a careworn coach with intermittent

F

air-conditioning, just remember: if this is the condition of the national railway, could the domestic airline be any better? I’ve flown my share of dodgy carriers when there was no alternative except even sketchier buses or boats. When there’s a choice, however, it’s clear. Book me a train, and hold the planes and automobiles.

A web of rail lines laces Southeast Asia—Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Rangoon to Mandalay, Bangkok to Chiang Mai—though, with the exception of two routes out of Bangkok, none crosses international borders. But this very insularity makes trains an authentic, not to mention affordable, way to travel.

THAILAND The country’s Northeastern Line stretches from Bangkok’s grand old Hualamphong Station, completed in 1916, all the way to and Ubon Ratchathani and Nong Khai, two provincial capitals in the far corners of the rural Isaan region. It’s a poor place, so many young people flock to Bangkok

Station to Station

If you think planes have become passé and cars claustrophobic, the best way to travel around Southeast Asia could well be rattling through bucolic countryside by train, writes CHRISTOPHER R. COX. Illustrated by WASINEE CHANTAKORN

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to find work as maids and taxi drivers, construction workers and bar staff. But on the dawn of a long holiday weekend, the Italian Renaissance–styled Hualamphong swarms with homeward-bound Isaan residents. Soon, a crowded second-class train eases from the platform; every passenger seems to carry several suitcases and parcels stuffed with clothing, toys and electronics for their country cousins.

The local pauses at Ayutthaya, seat of a powerful Thai kingdom from the 14th through 18th centuries, scatters troops of macaques in downtown Lopburi, and then arcs east and climbs onto the semi-arid Korat Plateau. Along the way, the coach takes on a festive mood, with accordion-powered mor lam music chugging from radios and hawkers selling skewers of sai grog sausage and small plastic bags of som tam, the fiery green-papaya salad. Overhead fans stir the sultry, scented air, while the scenery—rice fields, fishponds and the occasional Angkor-era temple— spools beyond the open windows.

A second rail excursion in Thailand offers an impressive mix of engineering, history and scenery.

The State Railways of Thailand operates two daily trains from Thonburi, a Bangkok suburb, along a line built by World War II prisoners. The so-called “Death Railway,” which cost the lives of 12,000 Allied soldiers and an estimated 72,000 Asian conscripts, crosses the famed bridge on the River Kwai at Kanchanaburi, and then snakes along the river on teakwood trestles and through hand-hewn cuttings to Nam Tok, four hours and 180 kilometers west of the capital.

BURMA Even an unpleasant passage can hold a revelation. In the mid 1990’s, I rambled around Burma in the runup to “Visit Myanmar Year.” Rangoon felt like a sour old dowager, its broad streets fouled by giant banners with hectoring slogans of the State Law and Order Restoration Council. The “up” train for Mandalay left Rangoon Station precisely on schedule; like Mussolini in Italy, the junta made the trains run on time—and rattled through the backsides of shabby suburbs where women wrung out laundry in fetid creeks. Aboard the teeming train, roving vendors sold tepid sodas and fried sparrows. It was a steaming, uncomfortable night. Then, as dawn swept over fallow rice fields, the train slowed to walking pace and passengers besieged the vendors for food and drink.

Breakfast? No, these purchases were quickly handed out the windows to scores of men and women—a forced-labor, track-repair crew. Neither prisoners nor passengers said a word. Then the train gave a long, mournful whistle and resumed speed on the final leg into Mandalay, while I pondered the Buddhist compassion I had just witnessed.

Less than a week later, I experienced the Gokteik Viaduct, a remote trestle bridge that makes every serious train buff ’s to-do list. Almost 700 meters long, this 108-year-old steel span across a deep gorge is a triumph of Victorian-era engineering. Completed in less than a year, the viaduct’s combination of length, height and natural setting are unparalleled. »

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Having read about this “monster of silver geometry” in Paul Theroux’s book, The Great Railway Bazaar, my inner gear head compelled me to Maymyo, an old British hill station east of Mandalay, where I caught an “up” train headed for the Chinese border. The tracks, which followed an ancient trading route once trod by Marco Polo, undulated through the teak-clad mountains of Shan State. At every whistle-stop, old women materialized with bamboo baskets filled with bananaleaf packets of steamed stick rice and bouquets of flowers.

After two hours, the train began a descent toward the wild gorge and its incongruous man-made viaduct.

We passed an army camp and then eased onto the bridge, which bristled with machine guns against possible attack by ethnic-minority guerrillas. The view from the train cried out for a camera—a steep-sided canyon cleaved by a jadecolored river—yet the conductor forbade photographs. The viaduct, he said, was a military installation. When I returned to Maymyo that evening, I paid a few dollars for a pinup Myanmar Railways calendar displayed on the station’s walls.

The photograph was of a passenger train crossing the same viaduct. So much, I thought, for national security.

VIETNAM It took the French took nearly 40 years to complete the majestically named Transindochinois, a 1,700-kilometer route linking Hanoi and Saigon. Opened in 1936, the line barely got up to speed before a succession of wars derailed it.

Restored in 1976, the so-called “Reunification Express” is a far saner way to tour Vietnam than the death-wish buses weaving along Highway 1, a traffic-choked obstacle course.

The pace of Vietnamese trains can be leisurely and their squat toilets a challenge, but the lack of speed and style are trumped by the vistas and value. The route through southern Vietnam transects a landscape of verdant rice paddies and wooded mountains—none more memorable than the 103kilometer leg from Danang to the old imperial capital of Hue. From the busy port, the train climbs into the coastal mountains and through Hai Van Pass, creeps along the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, and then sweeps down through a series of tunnels to a sweeping plain. At 40,000 Vietnamese dong, about US$2.50, the two-hour trip is an unbeatable sightseeing option. Alighting in Hue, a bit of old Indochina is still visible on the cotton candy–pink walls outside the 92

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stationmaster’s office, where an ancient sign indicates direction and distance to “Tourane,” the colonial name for Danang.

SINGAPORE For sheer anachronism, however, nothing approaches Singapore’s railway station, which opened in 1932. A quartet of heroic sculptures—representing commerce, shipping, industry and agriculture— dominates the classical-style stone façade, topped by four shields that spell out “FMSR” for the long-gone Federated Malay States Railways. Inside the vaulted main hall, enormous triptych panels illustrate typical Malayan scenes of colonial-era rubber tapping and tin mining.

But since Singapore’s acrimonious departure from the Malay Federation in 1965, this once-grand civic monument has languished in a bizarre international dispute. Though situated in Singapore, the Keppel station and tracks are actually owned by Malaysia. The two nations signed an agreement in 1990 to relocate the terminus and jointly develop the valuable site, which stands in the shadows of Tanjong Pagar’s gleaming high-rises. Singapore opened a new immigration checkpoint at Woodlands, just across the strait from Johor Bahru, but Malaysia has balked at moving operations from its downtown foothold. And so outbound passengers experience a highly irregular departure: they pass Malaysian immigration at Keppel station before clearing Singaporean immigration a further 20 minutes up the line.

CAMBODIA Decades of conflict ravaged the railways in Cambodia; Khmer Rouge attacks and passenger abductions lasted into the mid 1990’s. Somehow the system crept along. Barely.

Five years ago, the railway offered an “up” train from the port of Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh three days a week, with a “down” train the following day. Conditions were beyond primitive: unbolted seats, goats in the coaches and backpackers riding on the roof.

“There is no timetable for the train,” a French hotelier told me in coastal Kampot, as we watched a dilapidated local lurch towards Phnom Penh. “There is just a day. You sit at the railway station and you just wait. It’s a random thing. It’s not a Swiss train.’’

See you in goat class.

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Exploring the sexy streets of Manhattan?

Staying in a secluded overwater bungalow in Bora-Bora? Sampling local seafood on Italy’s Sorrento Coast? We’ve spanned the globe for unique and transporting experiences that will put you in the mood Edited by CLARK MITCHELL & CLARA SEDLAK Photographed by MAX KIM-BEE 96

Salon de Ning, the rooftop terrace at The Peninsula New York.

City Life Above: Taking a break at Café Cluny, in Manhattan’s West Village (jacket by Tory Burch; jeans, Citizens of Humanity; shoes, Coach). Right: The Plaza Hotel’s Assouline Books.

Opposite: A view of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

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NEW YORK CITY From uptown’s bustling avenues to the quiet, cobblestoned streets of downtown, New York is a study in contrasts. The greatest challenge is deciding where to stay.

With its fireplace suites, Lafayette House (38 E. Fourth St.; 1212/505-8100; doubles from US$395) feels like your own piedà-terre. Uptown, On the Ave (2178 Broadway; 1-800/5097598; ontheave-nyc.com; doubles from US$199) has a modern flair, including Italian black marble bathrooms. Pay a visit to the restored Plaza Hotel (Fifth Ave. at Central Park S.; 1-212/7587777), where you can browse for art books at Assouline or try on vintage-inspired baubles at Kenneth Jay Lane, in the newly expanded shopping area. At the spruced-up Oak Bar, the wood paneling still glows warmly and the Central Park views are as stirring as always. Three blocks south, check out the skyline from the Peninsula New York’s new rooftop bar, Salon de Ning (700 Fifth Ave.; 1-212/247-2200). The vibe: 1930’s Shanghai, with daybeds and mandarin orange–flavored cocktails. For dinner, Café Cluny (284 W. 12th St.; 1-212/255-6900; dinner for two US$90) is a portal to a Gallic village, where waitresses wear Audrey Tautou pigtails. End the evening at Smith & Mills (71 N. Moore St.; no phone), a tiny TriBeCa boîte in a former carriage house. The cozy banquettes can accommodate only a dozen odd patrons. Bright lights, big city? From this vantage point, New York feels like a small town.

ISTANBUL Open-air restaurants, crowded bazaars and a swoon-inducing location on the Bosporus—this is a city made for wandering. You’ll find Istanbul at its most alluring in the quaint neighborhoods on the European side of the strait.

For lunch, try the sea-bass sandwiches at Mangerie (69 Cevdetpasa Cad.; 90-212/263-5199; lunch for two US$55), a rooftop spot in the Bebek district. In the waterside Arnavutköy area, Dilara Erbay dishes up grilled fish at Abracadabra (50/1 Arnavutköy Cad.; 90-212/358-6087; dinner for two US$75), housed in a wooden mansion. The nearby Rumeli Hisari fortress has panoramic views of the strait, making for a picturesque detour. After dark, there’s Anjelique (5 Salhane Sk.; 90-212/3272844), a sultry waterside club set against the glowing Baroque Ortaköy Mosque. Take your pick of the new hotels: the Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus (28 Çiragan Cad.; 90-212/381-4000; doubles from US$550), in a 19th-century

S T Y L E D B Y M I M I L O M B A R D O . H A I R A N D M A K E - U P B Y M A S H A G V O Z D O V/ F O R D A R T I S T S USING MAKEUP FOREVER AND BUMBLE + BUMBLE. MODEL: JENNA SAUERS / NEXT

URBAN RETREATS

palace; W Istanbul (22 Suleyman Seba Cad.; 90-212/381-2121; doubles from US$350), an edgy blend of contemporary design and Ottoman influences; or the Park Hyatt Maçka Palas (35 Bronz Sk.; 90-212/368-1234; doubles from US$550), where several spa suites come with mini-hammams.

ST. PETERSBURG This former seat of imperial Russia has a surreal beauty, especially in the colder months when its fairy-tale architecture—the mint-green Winter Palace, the multi-striped onion domes of the Church on Spilled Blood— stands in sharp relief to the crystalline snow. The landmarks are worth a visit: the Mariinsky Theater (1 Teatralnaya Ploshchad; 7-812/326-4141; mariinsky.ru) opened a US$40 million concert hall in 2007. But save time to discover some local favorites. At the pan-Asian restaurant Terrassa (3 Kazanskaya Ul.; 7-812/337-6837; dinner for two US$85), ask for a seat on the glass-enclosed balcony overlooking Nevsky Prospekt. The

less-discovered Vasilievsky Island, west of the city center, is home to the low-lit Restoran (2 Tamozhenny Per.; 7-812/3278979; dinner for two US$80), known for its house-infused vodkas and pelmeni, Siberian dumplings filled with ground elk meat.

Spend the night in one of the 60 new suites at the Taleon Imperial Hotel (59 Nab. Recki Nevy; 7-812/324-9911; eliseevpalacehotel.com; doubles from US$375), a favorite of Russian high rollers. Or book a room at the recently restored Art Nouveau Grand Hotel Europe (1/7 Mikhailovskaya Ul.; 7-812/329-6000; grandhoteleurope.com; doubles from US$315).

BUENOS AIRES Though its grand boulevards and Belle Époque–style palaces give Buenos Aires a genteel air, underneath lies an unmistakably bohemian heart. Nowhere is this more apparent than in up-and-coming San Telmo, famous for its Sunday antiques market. Along the narrow cobblestoned streets, faded mansions have been transformed into hotels, »

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Food for Thought Above: Hamachi sashimi with ruby grapefruit and Meyer lemon vinaigrette at the Auberge du Soleil. Right: A dining room at Angèle restaurant.

Opposite: The main pool at the Auberge du Soleil hotel, in Napa Valley (Cover-up and swimsuit by Milly).

such as the sweet Cocker (458 Juan de Garay; 54-11/4362-8451; thecocker.com; doubles from US$100, including breakfast) and the loftstyle Moreno Buenos Aires (376 Moreno; 54-11/6091-2000; morenobuenosaires.com; doubles from US$160, including breakfast).

Restaurants run the gamut from the innovative La Vinería de Gualterio Bolívar (865 Bolívar; 54-11/4361-4709; tapas for two US$80), where chef Alejandro Digilio plays with foams and candied lacquering in his pint-size space, to old-school parrillas (grills) like Desnivel (858 Defensa; 54-11/4300-9081; dinner for two US$25). This is prime tango territory, and if you can’t make a show at the sultry Bar Sur (299 Estados Unidos; 54-11/43626086), catch a mini-performance in the windows of one of San Telmo’s many dance schools. End the night at the atmospheric El Federal (599 Carlos Calvo; 54-11/4300-4313), a watering hole open since 1864.

Yountville. The menu is Italian, with dishes such as roast pork and honey-sage–roasted apples. Just a half-hour drive north, in Angwin, the new Cade Winery (360 Howell Mountain Rd.; 707/945-1220) produces vintages in a solar-powered steeland-wood space. The classics are still a draw, including Angèle (540 Main St., Napa; 1-707/252-8115; dinner for two US$100), a wood-beamed bistro on the Napa River, and Round Pond Estate (886 Rutherford Rd., Rutherford; 1-888/302-2575), known for its robust Cabernets. Check in to the light-filled Auberge du Soleil (180 Rutherford Hill Rd., Rutherford; 1-800/ 348-5406; aubergedusoleil.com; doubles from US$550), where the rooms—large stone fireplaces, private hot tubs—are made for couples. Or consider the intimate Poetry Inn (6380 Silverado Trail, Napa; 1-707/944-0646; doubles from US$495, including breakfast), set on a pastoral hillside.

WINE COUNTRY

COLCHAGUA VALLEY, CHILE A 2½-hour drive north of Santiago leads to the heart of Chilean wine culture, Colchagua Valley. More than 30 wineries are scattered among the region’s towns and haciendas, including Emiliana Orgánico (Camino Lo Moscoso, Placilla; 56-72/856-060; emiliano.cl) and Viña Montes (15 Parcela, Santa Cruz; 56-72/825-417). The most stunning of all is Clos Apalta (Km 4, Camino Apalta, Santa Cruz; 56-72/953-355; lapostolle.com), a new winery in »

NAPA VALLEY A pitch-perfect mix of wineries, restaurants and decidedly sybaritic hotels makes this the ultimate winelover’s escape. But the best part: there’s always something new to discover in the valley. This past fall, celebrity chef Michael Chiarello launched Bottega Napa Valley (6525 Washington St.; 1-707/945-1050; dinner for two US$76) in the town of

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the micro-valley of Apalta. With its rounded wood exterior and spiraling staircase, the structure resembles a deconstructed wine barrel. Clos Apalta shares a woody hillside with the Lapostolle Residence (56-72/321-803; lapostolle.com; doubles from US$650, including meals and tour), just four 93-square-meter casitas with exposed beams and Cambodian silk curtains. For dinner, head to Asador del Valle (Los Boldos, Camino Isla Yaquil, Santa Cruz; 56-72/930-488; dinner for two US$40), a rustic restaurant serving roast Patagonian lamb.

ON THE WATERFRONT WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON Though it’s only a 20-minute ferry ride from Seattle, Whidbey Island feels like the Pacific Northwest’s last frontier—a lost-in-time place of towering redwoods and sparkling coves overlooking Puget Sound. Take refuge at the 28-room Inn at Langley (1-360/2213033; innatlangley.com; doubles from US$195), in Langley, a pint-size town on the island. Each suite has a Jacuzzi with views of the evergreen-lined Saratoga Passage waterway (and the gray whales that swim through in spring). In the historic center, Lowry-James Rare Prints & Books (101 Anthes; 1-360/2210477) sells vintage maps and Audubon lithographs; the Clyde Theatre (217 First St.; 1-360/221-5525), a 1937 movie house, screens the classics. Drive 48 kilometers north to Ebey’s Landing to walk the coastal bluffs, or make your way to Coupeville, known for its Penn Cove mussels, which no-frills Toby’s Tavern (8 Front St.; 1-360/678-4222; lunch for two US$22) serves on the waterfront.

Fruits of the Vine Above: Napa Valley’s Round Pond Winery (jacket by Moschino Cheap & Chic; button-down, Thomas Pink; jeans, Goldsign; shoes, Anya Hindmarch). Right: The spa courtyard at the Auberge du Soleil. Opposite: Hillside guest rooms viewed from the hotel’s spa.

SAVANNAH If only every city planner had the foresight of Savannah’s 18th-century founder, James Oglethorpe. His legacy—21 garden-filled public squares ringed by antebellum town houses—is a model of Southern grace. At the Ballastone Inn (14 E. Oglethorpe Ave.; 1-800/822-4553; ballastone.com; doubles from US$235), an Italianate mansion three blocks from the waterfront, rooms have canopied poster beds and mahogany armoires. Or base yourself at the newly opened Avia (14 Barnard St.; 1-866/644-2842; aviahotels.com; doubles from US$189), on landmark Ellis Square. Browse for jewelry and handbags by up-and-coming artists at ShopSCAD (340 Bull St.; 1-912/5255180; shopscadonline.com), the Savannah College of Art and Design’s boutique, and don’t miss the Jepson Center for the Arts (207 W. York St.; 1-912/790-8800; telfair.org), a contemporary-art space by Moshe Safdie. There are dozens of laidback restaurants in town, but one of the best remains Desposito’s (187 Old Tybee Rd.; 1-912/897-9963; dinner for two US$40), where the steamed oysters and Low Country basket—shrimp, potatoes, corn—are ideal for two.

BORA-BORA For the quintessential farflung escape, there’s nothing like this South Pacific idyll, where barrier reefs meet cobalt lagoons, and volcanic peaks rise above the »

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At the Auberge du Soleil, the rooms—with large stone fireplaces and private hot tubs—are made for couples

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On Bora-Bora, volcanic peaks rise above the tropical rain forest and powder-soft beaches

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Pacific Paradise Above: A view of the waters around Bora-Bora. Right: Waterside at the Four Seasons hotel.

Opposite: The white-sand beach at the resort.

ST E WA RT F E R E B E E ( 3 )

tropical rain forest and powder-soft beaches. On an isolated islet, the recently opened Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora (Motu Tehotu; 1-800/332-3442 or 1-689/603-130; fourseasons. com; bungalows from US$964) has 121 thatched-roof bungalows set on piers over the shallows, many with individual plunge pools and views of the lagoon and Mount Otemanu. The resort is all about bliss: a half-day sail to hidden snorkeling sites; a trip to a pearl farm; an afternoon lounging on the deck of a catamaran. For a more affordable stay, try the 80-room Novotel Bora Bora Beach Resort (1-800/515-5679; accorhotels. com; doubles from US$147), a Polynesian-style retreat set above Matira Point. Nearby, you’ll find the five-table restaurant Villa Mahana (689/675-063; dinner for two US$140), where Corsican-born chef Damian Rinaldi Dovio reinvents native ingredients (Tahitian vanilla oil, curry, coconut milk) with classic Mediterranean techniques.

KERALA, INDIA This lush South Indian state—the birthplace of ayurveda—is an intricate web of calm backwaters.

Here you’ll find the Kumarakom Lake Resort (Kumarakom North Post, Kottayam; 91-481/252-4900; thepaul.in; doubles from US$437), set on 10 hectares alongside Lake Vembanad. A world unto itself, the resort features 49 villas that were created with materials sourced from century-old ancestral homes and

are full of traditional details: wooden gables, carved doors, massive brass locks. Sample the spicy curries (okra-andtomato bindi masala) and exotic ice creams (pepper, nutmeg) at the restaurant Ettukettu (dinner for two US$60). A five-minute ride away is the 5-hectare Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, filled with storks, herons, egrets and parrots. You can also rent one of the property’s thatched-roof houseboats for a tour of the area’s palm-lined fields and Hindu temples.

PATMOS, GREECE Just 36 square kilometers, this tiny island is only accessible by boat. The rewards, however, are well worth the trip. From the port of Skala, head to Chora, a walled hilltop village that’s a maze of interlinked courtyards, chapels and whitewashed mansions—one of which serves as the town’s only hotel. At the 17th-century Archontariki (3022470/29368; archontariki-patmos.gr; doubles from US$254) you’ll find six modern-rustic suites with stone archways, teak furniture and private rooftop terraces overlooking the Aegean Sea. Patmos has countless hidden coves and deserted beaches along its jigsaw coastline. Don’t miss a stroll on secluded Diakofti Beach. At dusk, make your way to Benetos (Sapsila; 3022470/33089; dinner for two US$50), on the edge of Sapsila Bay, for dishes such as grouper with caramelized onions, and herb-crusted seared tuna with wasabi and seaweed. » 105

GRENADA Some 200 years ago, the writer Henry Nelson Coleridge called Grenada a “poet’s Arcadia.” And for decades to come, the tiny Caribbean island, with its powerful waterfalls that flow into the sea and fragrant nutmeg trees, remained an insiders’ secret. The opening of the Bali-inspired

A pool villa at Anantara Seminyak.

Opposite: A Balinese temple.

Laluna Resort (Morne Rouge, St. George’s; 473/439-0001; laluna. com; cottages from US$730) and the more recent Mount Cinnamon Beach Resort (Morne Rouge, St. George’s; 473/439-9900; mountcinnamongrenada.com; doubles from US$500), on a white-sand beach, heralded a new level of sophistication. But Grenada’s authenticity and natural appeal remain. One-sixth of the land is protected wilderness, including Grand Étang, a crater lake set atop an extinct volcano. Farmers still sell fresh fruit and spices at the market, and in the French-colonial capital, St. George’s, the winding roads are lined with boutiques like Tikal (473/440-2310), which carries local crafts. On Friday nights, listen to steel drums at the fish fry that takes over the small village of Gouyave. End your day at the beachside Aquarium (Magazine Beach; 473/444-1410; dinner for two US$60), for West Indian barbecue served beneath the stars.

SECRET VILLAGES CHASSIGNOLLES, FRANCE Lost at a head-clearing elevation of 914 meters in the Livradois-Forez, France’s largest national park, 161 kilometers southwest of Lyons, Chassignolles invites long, extravagantly lazy days spent communing with cows, admiring the accidental land art created by a farmer with some hay bales and stopping to smell the rockroses. There is only one place to stay: Auberge de Chassignolles (Le Bourg; 33-4/71-76-32-36; aubergedechassignolles. com; doubles from US$58; dinner for two US$44). The eight rooms are basic, but the views are ravishing, whether of the village’s 12th-century church or the surrounding wildflower meadows.

Chef–owner Harry Lester, an early and important crusader in the gastropub campaign, chalks his menu board with dandelion-and-marigold salad dressed in sunflower oil, a citrusy fresh goat cheese, and a cherry-and-almond tart.

VICO EQUENSE, ITALY A crenellated castle, pink-washed clifftop church, and pebbled beach make Vico Equense perhaps the most dramatic—though surprisingly undiscovered—village on the Sorrento Coast. On the main coastal road, Annamaria Cuomo and Salvatore De Gennaro serve cured meats and cheeses at their epicurean market La Tradizione (969 Via R. Bosco; 39-081/802-8437; lunch for two US$40). At Torre del Saracino (9 Via Torretta, Località Marina d’Equa; 39-081/802-8555; lunch for two US$190), chef Gennaro Esposito creates innovative dishes, such as risotto with cod and figs, in a seventh-century tower. Stay just outside the village at the Hotel Capo La Gala (8 Via Luigi Serio; 39081/801-5757; hotelcapolagala.com; doubles from US$260), a stone-studded cliffside lodge. The hotel has a nautical theme: porthole windows and hurricane lamps in the lobby, blue-and-white guest rooms accented with miniature model boats. Book one of the nine Classic rooms, and take your cappuccino and croissants on the roomy balcony overlooking the Bay of Naples. »

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C O U R T E SY O F A N A N TA R A R E S O R T S A N D S PA S . O P P O S I T E : PA B L O A N D R E O L O T T I

BALI This is a land of impossible beauty: wide beaches, elaborate Hindu temples and terraced rice paddies unfolding in a checkerboard against the mountains. The resorts here are tailor-made for escaping into the landscape; among them is the five-month-old St. Regis Bali Resort (Kawasan Pariwisata, Nusa Dua; 1-877/787-3447; stregis.com; doubles from US$450), where polished villas open onto private pools, a blue-tinged lagoon, and Nusa Dua’s white-sand beach. The Anantara Seminyak (Jl. Dhyana Pura, Seminyak; 62-361/737-773; anantara. com; doubles from US$530) attracts couples looking for more of a scene. At its rooftop club, sip cocktails on daybeds and watch the sun set. On nearby Jimbaran Beach, order lobster, shrimp or squid grilled over coconut husks at Jimbaran Fish Grills (no phone; lunch for two US$20). Then continue to the tip of Bukit Peninsula for views from one of Bali’s most sacred temples, Pura Luhur Uluwatu, which commands a cliff above the surf.

Bali is a land of temples and terraced rice paddies unfolding in a checkerboard against the mountains

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The middle of nowhere: San Camp, Botswana.

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DESERT GETAWAYS FEZ, MOROCCO Though often overshadowed by Marrakesh, this medieval city is the real soul of Morocco. And with new boutique hotels opening in restored riads and dars, Fez is quietly coming into its own. Housed in a 17th-century palace, Riad Laaroussa (3 Derb Bechara; 212-74/187-639; riad-laaroussa.com; doubles from US$194, including breakfast) has seven suites with mosaic floors and antique Fassi furniture, all looking out on an orange tree-shaded courtyard. At Dar Roumana (30 Derb el Amer, Zkak Roumane; 212-35/741-637; darroumana.com; doubles from US$109), a century-old manse on a hillside, you can take Moroccan cooking lessons. The restaurant at Riad Ibn Battouta (9 Derb Lalla Mina, Ave. Allal el Fassi; 212-35/637191; riadibnbattouta.com; dinner for two US$88) serves traditional dishes, such as lamb tagine, on a glass-roofed marble patio.

Within the city’s crumbling walls, 30,000 artisans brandish everything from exquisite tiles to handworked leather goods.

For a traditional Berber rug, head to Coin Berbère (67 Talaa Kebira, corner of Derb el Horra; 212-35/636-946). At Arganza (9 Rue de la Poste; no phone), you’ll find shelves of argan oil—derived from a native tree—that is known as “Moroccan liquid gold” for its ability to diminish dry skin and wrinkles.

C O U R T E S Y O F U A S C S A N C A M P, B O T S W A N A

SAN CAMP, BOTSWANA The middle of nowhere, recast as one of the sexiest places on earth? Only in Africa—the stark Makgadikgadi Pans in northeastern Botswana, to be precise. The Uncharted Africa Safari Company’s legendary San Camp (27-11/447-1605; unchartedafrica.co.za; doubles from US$1,960) is a favorite of safari enthusiasts such as photographer Peter Beard. After an updating, the tented main lodge is now far more roomy and luxurious, without sacrificing a shred of the original San’s sensual charms: extra-long chaise longues in buttery leather; swing beds big enough for two. On the perimeter, six private tents are appointed with tall four-poster beds and handwoven textiles; the glass showers open to the deep-blue skies. If you want to see more of Botswana, there are safaris in the Okavango Delta and the Western Kalahari.

PALM SPRINGS Two hours east of Los Angeles, Palm Springs has long attracted Hollywood power couples. The newest draw for A-listers? The eight casitas at the year-old, Moroccan-inspired Colony Palms Hotel (572 N. Indian Canyon Dr.; 1-800/557- 2187; colonypalmshotel.com; doubles from US$339; casitas from US$419), with private patios, outdoor bathtubs and quick access to the Purple Palm restaurant, for a poolside meal of Mediterranean-inspired dishes. There’s more to do in Palm Springs than lounge by the pool: in an afternoon you can hike through canyons and, after a tram ride up Mount San Jacinto (1 Tramway Rd.; 1-888/515-8726; pstramway.com), toss snowballs in an alpine forest. Head downtown to browse the Midcentury Modern furniture shops along North Palm Canyon Drive. One of the best is the new Trina Turk Residen-

tial (895 N. Palm Canyon Dr.; 1-760/416-2856), stocked with vintage pieces and pillows upholstered in Turk’s signature graphic prints.

MOUNTAINSIDE HIDEAWAYS TELLURIDE, COLORADO Snowcapped mountains surround this mining village turned ski resort, where the scent of pine fills the air. Its streets are lined with 19th-century gingerbread houses and family-run shops such as the Between the Covers Bookstore (224 W. Colorado Ave.; 1-970/728-4504), a cozy bookshop with a café; and at Coffee Cowboy (123 E. Colorado Ave.; 1-970/369-4946) locals fuel up on fair-trade espresso before taking on the slopes. At Honga’s Lotus Petal (133 E. Colorado St.; 1-970/728-5134), home to the town’s best après-ski scene, bartender Sean Garatt mixes potent mojitos.

For an intimate dinner, reserve a table at La Marmotte (150 W. San Juan Ave.; 1-970/728-6232; dinner for two US$85), a 125year-old former icehouse. Book a hotel in nearby Mountain Village; the easiest way to get there is by gondola, especially atmospheric at dusk, when the valley lights up from the glow of streetlights. At Lumière (118 Lost Creek Lane; 1-866/5309466; lumierehotels.com; doubles from US$319), all residences and penthouses come with a fireplace and oversize soaking tub.

Or consider the 100-room Capella Telluride (568 Mountain Village Blvd.; 1-877/247-6688; capellatelluride.com; doubles from US$295). With a butler catering to your every need, you’ll be more than ready to hit the trails in the morning.

WOODSTOCK, VERMONT The town of Woodstock is a slice of classic Americana: steepled churches, white picket fences and covered bridges, all in the shadow of Vermont’s expansive Green Mountains. At the Woodstock Inn & Resort (14 The Green; 1-800/448-7900; woodstockinn.com; doubles from US$175)—recently updated by designer Alexandra Champalimaud—the 142 rooms have red wool throws on the maple four-poster beds, perfect to curl up in while sipping the hot chocolate delivered at turndown. F.H. Gillingham & Sons Country Store (16 Elm St.; 1-802/457-2100; gillinghams.com) stocks snowshoes and mittens. Down the road in a former woolen mill, Shackleton Thomas (Rte. 4, Bridgewater; 1802/672-5175; shackletonthomas.com) sells handmade wooden bowls and ceramics. Before heading to the slopes of Suicide Six (Pomfret; 1-802/457-6661; lift tickets from US$36)—Vermont’s oldest ski area—warm up with scrambled eggs and a housemade English muffin at the Farmer’s Diner (Rte. 4, Quechee; 1-802/295-4600; breakfast for two US$20).

Reported by Bree Sposato, with Tom Austin, Anya von Bremzen, Aric Chen, Jaime Gross, Darrell Hartman, David Kaufman, Stirling Kelso, Peter Jon Lindberg, Connie McCabe, Julie Mehta, Shane Mitchell, Christopher Petkanas, Josh Sens, Maria Shollenbarger, Hannah Wallace and Valerie Waterhouse.

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The Chinese take on all things Las Vegas.

MACAU’S BEST BET

WHILE GROWTH HAS SLOWED THANKS TO THE FORTUNES OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY AND NEW RESTRICTIONS FROM CHINA, THE ENCLAVE’S GLITTERING CASINOS HAVE THEIR MONEY DOWN ON BETTER DAYS AHEAD.

BY STUART LAWRENCE. PHOTOGRAPHED BY GRAHAM UDEN

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last year that authorities in Macau were considering digging up part of the city’s oldest public gardens and turning it into a car park, it seemed to sum up the problems success had brought to one of Asia’s fastest-growing and most overcrowded stretches of real estate. Six months on and the scheme has been shelved. There are fewer cars on the road and tourists in hotels, and the constant roar of jackhammers and pile drivers has eased. Six years of tumultuous growth that saw apartment blocks, luxury hotels and cavernous casinos spring up seemingly overnight stopped in its tracks. What a difference a credit crunch makes.

When Macau returned to the Chinese fold in 1999, it was still seen as a sleepy subtropical city largely untroubled by world events, an optional add-on to a Hong Kong visit. Both Chinese and Westerners living in the former British colony used it as a quick getaway from the pressure cooker of their own city. CerHEN IT EMERGED

tainly, Macau was crowded—the territory “boasts” the highest population density in the world, three times that of Hong Kong—but the pace of life was noticeably slacker.

Westerners came in search of the historic and familiar, yet somewhat rakish ambience, a result of 442 years of Portuguese rule. They strolled the narrow, winding lanes; stayed at the crumbling Bela Vista hotel; visited ancient monuments; and ate piles of garlicky prawns and grilled sardines by the beach at Fernando’s. All of that was washed down with copious amounts of cheap but fine vinho verde, with port to follow. The more pragmatic Chinese came to seek blessings from the temple of A-Ma, the goddess of the sea who gave the city its name. And for the egg tarts, shrimp, abalone and pork chop buns, not to mention the gambling. Here was horse racing and Asia’s only greyhound track at the grandly named but incongruous “canidrome,” but more importantly there were casinos, though none as huge and imposing as today’s cathedrals to chance.

Gambling was initially legalized in Macau to provide a muchneeded source of revenue after the British settled Hong Kong in 1841, reducing the Portuguese territory to a trading back-

REAL CHANGE BEGAN WHEN MACAU ENDED 112 200

A posh take on a noodle and congee restaurant at the Grand Lisboa Hotel.

Opposite: A statue on Travessa de Sao Paulo.

water. For more than a century, gamblers could try their luck at fan tan, a game based on guessing the number of buttons on a table, and dai siu, literally “large and small,” played with three dice, in raffish surroundings amid tales of piracy, smuggling and derring-do.

By 1962 the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau, or “the syndicate,” a group of local businessmen—including one Stanley Ho, then a 41-year-old entrepreneur with both Chinese and Portuguese lineage—was awarded a gambling monopoly. They were contracted to build international standard hotels and casinos. Ho’s flagship operation was the Casino Lisboa—rendered in Mandarin Chinese as Pujing or “capital of Portugal”—a curious confection of architectural whimsy, midway between Mediterranean mansion and concrete wedding cake. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it tempted thousands of Chinese punters to try their luck at blackjack and baccarat, as well as fan tan and dai siu, and to feed the slot machines they called “hungry tigers.” Today, it appears positively quaint alongside the grander, glitzier Grand Lisboa Casino, yet it still houses Macau’s finest French restaurant, Robuchon à

Galera, awarded three stars in the first Michelin Guide to Hong Kong and Macau.

For the next three decades things pottered along, give or take the odd shooting, until matters came to a head in 1999 as triads jockeyed for power in the run-up to the territory’s return to Chinese rule. But the real changes began three years later when Macau ended its monopoly on the city’s casino business and opened up operations to outsiders. Building at breakneck speed on reclaimed land transformed this sleep Portuguese outpost into an all-day, all-night opportunity to gamble without a care in the world for the actual time. The enclave was reborn.

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HE SANDS MACAU, owned by Sheldon Adelson’s Las

Vegas Sands company, opened for business in 2004.

It was an instant success repaying its capital costs inside a year. In 2006, Adelson’s bitter rival Steve Wynn opened Wynn Macau, with rooms on an American scale.

Within its first year, Wynn Resorts was making more money in Macau than in Las Vegas. Other casinos followed.

Now at dusk, Macau’s brash, slightly odd neon skyline »

ITS MONOPOLY ON THE CITY’S CASINOS 113

Café Deco restaurant at The Venetian; setting up at the Wynn Macau; chef Anthony Alaimo prepares some of his family recipes at Il Teatro.

MACAU’S BRASH, SLIGHTLY ODD NEON SKYLINE LIGHTS UP LIKE AN OVERSIZED TIGER AND A RAINBOW OF NEON BURNS UP THE NIGHT SKY

lights up like an oversized hungry tiger, while a rainbow of neon burns up the night sky on the South China Sea. Where fluorescent casino lights don’t hold sway, faux European structures like the Grand Canal and St. Mark’s Square at The Venetian do.

Gondolas at the resort are equipped with small motors, the gondolier, like so much else here, showing up for appearances only. All six major casinos are keen to stress that they offer more than mere gaming (note: those in the industry never refer to the activity as gambling, at least not in public). Top of the pile is the massive Venetian complex at the heart of the Cotai Strip.

As well as housing the Sands Macau casino, the territory’s largest with a gaming hall of 93,000 square meters able to welcome 20,000 “customers,” it is also home to The Venetian Macao, with 3,000 suites, the spectacular Cirque du Soleil theater company, and what seems like endless expanse of designer shopping, from Armani to Versace and all points in between.

There is also the Cotai Arena, a 15,000-seat indoor stadium.

They give you a map when you check in. You’ll need it.

Inside, Macau’s casinos are all business. There’s little of the glamour and sparkle seen in Las Vegas. The message is clear: punters here come to win. Strolling these giant gaming halls, the first thing I notice is how unusually quiet they are, possibly because of the absence of noisy, coin-spewing slot machines.

Those that are present pay out in credits or vouchers. Cups of tea, fruit juice or hot water only add to the Chinese belief that placing bets requires full concentration; gamblers don’t wish to dull their senses or their skills. The downside is that few people seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves, although admittedly it can be hard to tell, and a heavy pall of cigarette smoke hangs over the tables (there are designated no-smoking areas as well).

The upside is that there is little of the rowdy behavior sometimes seen in Western casinos. » A fountain and flames form the backdrop for Il Teatro; a trio of big names line up in Macau; Wynn’s popular “Tree of Prosperity.”

The Venetian lives up to its name.

IN A BAR A BLACK AMERICAN R&B SINGER 116

Over a drink in the bar of the Sands casino, I listen as a black American R&B singer wows mixed groups of mainland visitors, faultlessly performing Canto-pop classics and Mandarin love ballads. The Galaxy group’s StarWorld hotel and casino, on the other hand, positions itself as a more Chinese option, parking stunning Chinese models, each about 2 meters tall, at the ferry pier and in its feng shui–appointed lobby to greet punters, and a Rolls-Royce on the forecourt for the ubiquitous photo op. And the new Four Seasons on the Cotai Strip artfully combines the old and new Macau with designs inspired from Portuguese history and the enclave’s predominant Chinese culture.

Later, I’m dining at signature Italian restaurant Il Teatro at Wynn’s Casino. Award-winning Italian chef Anthony Alaimo, who once worked with TV’s Anthony Bourdain, serves up a delectable tasting menu that reflects his southern Italian roots: roasted quail with prosciutto, black angel hair pasta with Sicilian red prawn and baby squid, herb-crusted rack of lamb and desserts to die for. The talk at the table is how owner Steve Wynn took a personal interest in the design of the hotel. He designed something called the “Tree of Prosperity” in the hotel atrium.

Every half-hour, a seven-minute show mixes Chinese and Western astrology, music light and “kinetic sculptures” drawing crowds of mainland tourists in the hope some of that prosperity will rub off on them.

Instead, like a bad roll of the dice, came the credit crunch.

Last November, Las Vegas Sands announced it was suspending development of its massive Cotai Strip extension across the road from The Venetian. Some 10,000 workers were laid off as all work was halted, ostensibly for six months, on four major hotel projects: the Sheraton, Shangri-La, Traders and St. Regis hotels.

News that the company would continue its Singapore project, for which it had been able to raise US$2.14 billion, led to speculation that there was more behind the decision than cash flow.

Within days, the Sands president William Weidner laid blame at the door of the Macanese and Chinese governments.

Earlier, China had begun to restrict the ease and frequency with which mainland passport holders could visit Macau, while those visiting Hong Kong were required to apply for a separate visa for Macau. This effectively closed a loophole that had allowed Guangdong residents to continue making monthly or weekly trips to the territory, despite restrictions designed to cut the number individual visits from twice a month to once every two months. By October, travel was further limited to once every six months. The restrictions, which do not affect foreigners, followed alleged reports of large losses by mainland businessmen and fears of rising crime. Armed police now patrol the lobbies of all casinos and signs in Chinese, English, Portuguese and Russian warn of pickpockets and cash scams. Considering »

WOWS A GROUP OF MAINLAND VISITORS 117

Looking south towards the Macau Tower; on guard at a clean Emperor Hotel & Casino; a touch of Portugal in Leal Senado Square.

the amount of money around, street crime is rare. The biggest battle then was a war of words between the Sands and rival Wynn, with Steve Wynn supporting the government. He confirmed his own US$700 million expansion, the 400-suite Encore Macau, would open on time later this year.

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that have fueled the territory’s property boom ring Macau like gaudy baubles around the neck of a faded yet still glamorous duchess. Scratch the surface and the old Macau still exists, much of it now protected by UNESCO World Heritage status. As one seasoned tourism professional put it, “It’s all here. We haven’t knocked anything down.” Indeed, the cobblestone streets and lanes around Leal Senado leave a distinct Iberian feel in the mind, capped by the instantly recognizable façade of St. Paul’s nearby. And even MacauSoul, a new bar and restaurant with a basement jazz room, seems more in tune with a Macau I knew from long ago visits.

During my first trip to Macau, on a Christmas Eve some two decades ago, I’d sped around the old town in a hired mini-moke, a cross between a jeep and a go-kart; drank cocktails on Bela Vista’s balcony; eaten African chicken at Fernando’s; and attended Midnight Mass at the city’s hilltop cathedral, leaving me a bit worse for wear in the morning. The mini-mokes may be no more, and the Bela Vista—after a brief sojourn under the aegis of The Mandarin Oriental Group—is now home to the Portuguese Consular General, but otherwise little has changed.

My Macau still exists; the Mandarin even has a MacanesePortuguese restaurant named for the fabled Bela Vista.

OST OF THE CASINOS

There’s a growing feeling that, with some attention inevitably drifting away from the casinos, older hotels and attractions could win back a greater share of the pie. Echoing others, the Mandarin Oriental’s general manager Michael Ziemer says the current economic situation could last for three years. “It may look like doom and gloom just now, but in the longer term I see it as a much-needed period of correction; things just couldn’t have gone on the way they were. Everything had become so expensive.”

Macau had upwards of 45,000 rooms planned, with 17,500 due to open this year. Most, but not all, of that is now on hold.

Mandarin Oriental is slated to open a boutique hotel in November. “We are a non-gaming property so I don’t think we will be as badly affected as others. We see ourselves tapping into the regional short-haul markets of Asia,” says Ziemer. “We are ideally placed for that.”

Despite the downturn there are plans for further expansion and reclamation. Macau is seeking permission from the government to reclaim more land, adding an extra five square kilometers to its territory. Some 60 percent of this would be used for park areas and transport, including a new light railway. The City of Dreams complex at Cotai, which includes a new Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with themed rooms, and two Hyatt properties are still on schedule to open this year. Mal OsborneSmith, who oversaw construction of The Venetian, said, “We’re in it for the long haul. The vision is well beyond 2009, it’s a 10or 15-year vision and we’re only a part of the way through it.”

Maybe when the dust from the credit crunch crisis finally settles, both sides of Macau will re-emerge the stronger. Only a fool would bet against it.

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GUIDE TO MACAU WHERE TO STAY Mandarin Oriental Considered “old Macau,” there are renovation rumors yet the hotel still exudes charm and friendliness, from the Bela Vista restaurant to Vasco lounge to the spa.

956-1110 Avenida da Amizade, Macau; 853/2856-7888; mandarinoriental.com/ macau; doubles from US$186.

Pousada de Sao Tiago The rooms have undergone a refit, though not to everyone’s taste: think London boutique meets New York loft. But the terrace and the view remain the same. Avenida da Republica, Fortaleza de Sao Tiago da Barra, Macau; 853/2837-8111; saotiago.com.mo; suites from US$725.

WHEN TO GO Macau has humid summers and short, dry winters. The best time to visit is from October to December when the weather is sunny and warm with clear blue skies and low humidity. The temperature remains constant in the casino’s gaming halls.

GETTING THERE There are direct flights from China, Korea and Southeast Asia into Macau International Airport on Taipa, but most visitors arrive by bus or ferry from China or Hong Kong.

The Venetian Macao A destination in itself, so bring your walking shoes. Cotai Strip, Taipa; 853/2882-8877; venetianmacao.com; doubles from US$173.

Wynn Macau Great guest rooms, fine dining, exquisite shops and gaming too makes this the face of new Macau. Rua Cidade de Sintra, Nape, Macau; 853/986-9966; wynnmacau. com; doubles from US$223.

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK A Lorcha Long the stop for those in search of traditional Portuguese dishes. Rua do Almirante Sergio 289, Macau; 853/2831-3193; dinner for two from US$50.

Belancao Traditional Portuguese food on a menu enhanced by a variety of authentic Asian and international dishes. Four Seasons, Cotai Strip, Taipa; 853/8112-8832; dinner for two from US$80.

Café Tai Lei Loi Kei A 40-year-old institution, this tiny eatery in Taipa sells arguably the best pork chop buns in Macau.

Largo Governador Tamagnini 18, Taipa; 853/2882-7150.

Clube Militar de Macau Now a private club open for lunch and dinner, but call for reservations. Avenida da Praia Grande 795, Macau; 853/2871-4009; dinner for two US$70.

Fernando’s A Macau institution, this is the perfect place for a leisurely lunch over some vinho verde. No reservations taken so arrive early, or late. Praia de Hac Sa, Coloane; 853/2888-2264; dinner for two from US$30.

Il Teatro New Yorker Anthony Alaimo cooks Italian food inspired by his family. Wynn Macau, Rua Cidade de Sintra, Nape, Macau; 853/886-3648; dinner for two from US$150.

MacauSoul Relaxed and welcoming wine and jazz serving fine Portuguese wines and top cheeses. Travessa de Paixao 31, Macau; 853/2836-5182; dinner for two from US$28.

Robuchon à Galera Lisboa Hotel, 2-4 Avenida de Lisboa, Macau; 853/2888-3888; dinner for two from US$180.

SENADO LEAVE A DISTINCT IBERIAN FEEL 119

Outside the instantly recognizable hotel.

STRANDED IN TIME With actors, authors, royalty and rock stars on its centuryold guest list, The Strand, Rangoonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s venerable hotel, has stood the test of time through good days and bad. By PAUL EHRLICH. Photographed by PETER STEINHAUER 121

The Strand’s staff provides 24-hour personal service.

In the late 1890’s, after a string of hotel hits that included Raffles in Singapore and the E&O in Penang, Armenian brothers Arshak and Martin Sarkies began scouting the region for new projects. Rangoon caught their attention. The capital of British-ruled Burma was prospering under the Union Jack, but lacked a single hotel. It was the perfect opportunity to create this port city’s first and finest.

When The Strand opened with 60 rooms in 1901, it really was in a class of its own, regarded as “the finest hostelry east of Suez.” Rangoon had truly arrived—and so did the royalty and the rich, the great and the glamorous, mostly after long voyages on British steamers that docked at a jetty on the Irrawaddy River, across from The Strand. And for most of its erratic history—one of riches to rags to struggle and back to riches—it has remained a Rangoon icon: the place to stay in the city. Throughout the years, this lady with Old World manners and Far East elegance has been home to a gallery of VIP’s: George Orwell, Nöel Coward, Rudyard Kipling, Lord Mountbatten, Indira Gandhi, Somerset Maugham, the Prince of Wales, David Rockefeller, Peter Ustinov, the King 122

of Tonga, Oliver Stone, Mick Jagger. Not a bad roll call for a place that lacks a gym, spa or swimming pool. But like much of Rangoon itself, it’s The Strand’s colonial charm that attracts the rich and famous.

Set among fading pastel-colored 19th-century buildings, the three-story Strand, with its grand red-carpeted staircase and 32 suites, is more like an elegant mansion than a hotel.

Arriving guests are welcomed in the lobby lounge—with its upholstered cane furniture, marble floors inlaid with teak, potted palms and black lacquered fans twirling from the high ceiling—and might feel like they have been invited to a friend’s home rather than checking into a hotel. This feeling is reinforced with personal butlers for each room, at the ready to cater to every whim: Sukhdeep Singh, the hotel’s general manager from June 2005 to January 2008, tells me about having to search for a fortune-teller for a guest with a sudden urge to know her future; staff talk about a recent couple requiring their mattress angled at an exact three-inch incline, so a board was quickly measured and cut. More bizarre is the »

Room Service Clockwise from above left: Guests at The Strand are meant to feel like they are in someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home; a four-poster bed in The Strand suite; tea time in the lobby lounge; modern furnishings complement the historical setting of the hotel.

We’re sitting in the café, a comfortable room with winged bamboo

armchairs and teak tables. The tropical sunshine is filtering through

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“I really like this place,” says Mary’s guest who, on repeated visits, pays the lobby Fine Details Opposite, American friend, Nina Bataller. “The staff is musicians to stop playing when they see him, clockwise from top wonderful and the food is delicious.” That’s and opens the café window at his breakfast left: Teak bedroom furnishings; making thanks to Sandro Zimmermann and his table because “he likes insects.” up a guest room; team. The tall chef—who jokes as well as he And then there was the tale of Mick mouthwatering cheesecake with gold cooks—has been with the hotel for nearly Jagger’s sausage. leaf; ingenuity keeps the two years, and finds this kitchen challenge Ye Min, one of the senior butlers, was faucets flowing; every room in the hotel exudes different than his stints in Bali, Kuala showing me The Strand Suite. At 200 square century-old comfort; Lumpur and his German homeland. “You meters, it’s the largest—the others average cooling off in the tropics. don’t just walk outside and find a gourmet 60 square meters—and features much of the supermarket,” he explains. “It takes time to colonial character that flows through other rooms: wall paneling, polished teak floors the color of dark get certain things from suppliers. It could be a week or more, rum, vases of fresh-cut white orchids, emerald-green rugs, when in other places you make the call in the morning and cream-colored silk brocade armchairs and sofa, Burmese have it by night.”

But for Zimmermann, who is just 23, that’s where the real antiques and artifacts, and large bathrooms boasting deep tubs and marble sink counters. This suite also includes a four- art of cooking kicks in. “You have to be creative. Many chefs poster canopy bed, dining room, kitchenette and the hotel’s get the food packaged and prepared. You throw it on the grill and the only challenge is making it medium or well done. only balcony, which overlooks the river.

“He [Jagger] was very quiet and stayed in this suite,” says Here, I return to classical cooking.” With a twist, however, Ye Min. “He asked for an espresso machine and ordered all like going one-on-one with a pig. With pork dishes sometimes his meals by room service. We’re not sure what he did at planned for the week, Zimmermann drives to a local farm to night, but he slept during the day. So we had to keep the check out the hogs. He personally picks out the animal and room very dark.” That’s when Ye Min startled me. “Would even does the butchering, making a “first-class menu” out of you like to see the Mick Jagger sausage?” he asked. “We still a suckling pig.

Despite the difficulties, Zimmermann says a number of have it.”

They kept leftovers from Jagger’s breakfast? No. Ye Min is local gourmet suppliers have cropped up, like the Burmese referring to a long piece of black silk filled with sand and man who makes goat, Brie, Camembert and other high-qualsewed into a tube. One morning during his stay in June 2003, ity cheeses. There are several farmers with “beautiful” sunshine from a bathroom window was creeping under the organically grown vegetables, and the fish markets have lots door. When he complained—“politely”—the sausage was of sea- and fresh-water selections, including “sweet, plump” quickly conceived to seal up the crack, making room 201 “as lobsters for a signature dish The Strand has been serving for more than a century: lobster thermidor. The Strand Grill black as night/black as coal.” specializes in classic cuisine using lots of natural ingredients.

And the restaurant’s décor matches the menu: a white-andOO BAD JAGGER SLEPT through breakfast. “Isn’t this just a lovely way to start a day?” asks guest black marble floor, cream-colored silk brocade teak armMary Compton, in an English accent. “I just chairs, chandeliers, orchids and, from the ancient capital love coming here when I can. It’s a glimpse of Pagan, lacquered gold panels depicting Burmese scenes of what I imagine it was like in colonial days. The atmosphere is religious, royal and daily life.

Across the laneway from the hotel—upstairs in the lovely. It’s so peaceful and gracious.”

It’s mid-morning and we’re sitting in the hotel’s café, a machine-rumbling, oil-smelling, water-filtering room—chief comfortable room off the lobby with winged bamboo arm- engineer Than Tin runs the show. He’s a bespectacled man chairs and teak tables. The day’s tropical sunshine is filtering and, at 71, he still has the physique of a bear. He took my through tall teak-framed rectangular windows. Unlike many extended hand with both of his, like a wrap-around sandhotels that provide sprawling buffets, this is a more civilized wich, and his face relaxed into a big smile.

Known affectionately by staff as Uncle TT, he’s skilled at affair: a menu offering a few delightful dishes. Today, I resist eggs Benedict with truffles and ask the waitresses for the tra- making do. He’s been responsible for keeping faucets flowing, ditional Burmese breakfast: monhingha. It’s a delicious, hearty air conditioners cooling and electricity running for more than soup made with rice noodles, ginger, lemongrass, fermented 15 years. A hydroelectric project manager by trade—he studfish sauce and bean powder. Here, it’s also served with a quail ied in the United States in the late 1960’s—Than Tin overegg, coriander, spiced vegetable tempura and boiled shallots. sees the brains of the hotel. “Replacement parts are hard »

T

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An icon for Rangoon. Opposite page: Even the hotel’s shop has a timeless style.

to get. So we have to look wherever we can and adapt.”

Import licenses are often difficult to obtain, so this means frequently scouring metal shops, even junkyards, to keep the hotel humming. And it works. During my stay the showerhead sprayed water with monsoon force. “We are always working on the equipment. Things go very well because we are very creative,” Than Tin says.

To keeps things going, ingenuity and innovation are everyday necessities in Burma. Gasoline and power are rationed.

The Internet is severely restricted, and if and when you can get a connection, it crawls—even in The Strand’s Wi-Fi lobby, where it’s best to log on in the early morning or late evening.

Despite being the world’s largest exporter of teak, a principal source of jade, pearls, rubies and sapphires, plus huge oil and gas reserves—enough resources to make it one of Southeast Asia’s richest countries—an estimated 32 percent of Burma’s 55 million people live below the poverty line, struggling to live on less than a US$1 a day. Forty-six years of repression and injustice by the governing military junta— which has no problem lavishing itself—has ground the country down, keeping it isolated and sanctioned from the world 126

economy. So it’s surprising to see how well this attractive city manages under such adverse conditions—all credit due to the resilience and spirit of the Burmese.

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by Rangoon’s fading beauty. Its charm is its time-warped cityscape: huge, leafy mango, banyan and teak trees shade streets lined with magnificent colonial buildings dating back to the early 20th century. Rangoon reportedly has the largest number of colonial buildings of any Southeast Asian city. Yet this is no architectural museum; some of the buildings continue to function as originally intended. One hopes that if any future investment floods in, it does so without washing away these architectural gems.

A half-century ago, Burma was one of the region’s wealthiest nations. But that ended in 1962, when the leaders of a military coup launched the economically disastrous Burmese Way to Socialism. Property was nationalized and the economy, along with the government-owned Strand, went downhill. “Nothing much worked back then. There weren’t even any taxis because there were no spare parts,” recalls Robert » ISITORS ARE IMPRESSED

Taylor, a retired professor of politics, who is as steamy as a laundry dryer from February Tropical Elegance updating his 1987 book, The State in Burma. to May. Guest numbers drop to single digOpposite, clockwise from top left: Smiling By the 1970’s, The Strand was dilapidated. its—sometimes to none at all. This is a seristaff await; it’s the small ous swipe to the hotel’s earnings, but it uses There was no money for maintenance or details that make the hotel memorable; when repairs and tourism all but dried up. The the time to its advantage: major cleaning, quiet, hotel upkeep keeps once-elegant hotel was rat-infested and shabrepair work and training staff. staff busy; the famous façade; a lobby from a by; at night bats swooped down from the The second is the political situation. Since different era; monhingha, high ceiling in the hotel’s lobbies.

September 2007’s crackdown on street proa hearty bowl of soup.

“It was really rundown back then,” recalls tests, tourism is again down to a trickle. In a Fenton Holland, who has a medical-supply good year, Burma gets about 300,000 visibusiness in Rangoon. “Many times the elevator would get tors. There is a continued debate whether tourism helps or stuck and it could take hours before a maintenance crew hinders change. Some call for a tourist boycott, others say arrived and got it working again.” responsible travel provides money and jobs—even if it’s for a Holland was sitting nearby on one of the Nile-green uphol- small percentage of the population—and foreign presence stered barstools in The Strand’s bar. It was happy hour on a shows the Burmese they are not forgotten.

Friday night, our cold US$2 draught beers were on the black “The situation is difficult, but, of course, we hope people marble bar top, and we were discussing old times. The place come,” says Eduard Hoogeweegen, The Strand’s transitional was beginning to fill up with guests, expats and UN staff. general manager, who also oversees the nearby Inya Lake Like Holland, I too visited Burma in the early 1980’s. Back Resort. “This is not just because I am in the hotel business. then only seven-day visas were granted and tourists, mainly Places like this hotel can provide staff with excellent skills and shoestring travelers looking for another place off the beaten experience, and a good environment to work in. Guests here track, would fund the trip by trading a bottle of Johnny tend to tip well, which adds considerably to their income.”

Walker Red Label and a carton of 555 State Express cigaThant Myint-U, author of The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories rettes on Burma’s black market. “It gave you more than of Burma, is cautious about a better future. The best strategy enough money for your trip,” recalls Holland. Backpackers is increased trade and engagement, especially more tourism, would sometimes splurge and get a double room at The coupled with greater government reforms, he says. Isolation, Strand—including a broken air conditioner and brown run- he argues, would create an even worse situation. ning water—for about US$16 a night, and dine on the hotel’s With a sense of confidence in the progress of human hisfamous lobster dishes for US$2.50. tory, one looks ahead to a Burma prevailing over adversity, In 1989, with the military still in power, Burma’s doors creating an optimism for a better future much like the Sarkies began opening wider to investment. Bernard Pe-Win, the brothers had when they opened their hotel 107 years ago. manager of American Express in Rangoon, heard The Strand was up for sale. Intrigued, he found a financing partner, Adrian Zecha, of Amanresorts fame. A joint venture with the government aimed to return The Strand to its glory days. GUIDE TO THE STRAND On May 20, 1990, the hotel closed for renovations. When it Rangoon in 2006, the country’s re-opened its double glass doors in November 1993, a total of largest city is best visited from US$15 million had been spent on the work. The hotel November to January. March to retained its Burmese style, the lobby’s antique elevator and the May is extremely hot. Rains come overhanging front entrance replicating the original 1901 in June and last until September, which offers cool respites and a design. Inside the hotel, modernization sat well with original dreamy, watercolor-like features and The Strand became a contemporary version of atmosphere to the city. its original self.

GETTING THERE “This was a meticulous restoration and, keeping in mind Thai Airways and Singapore the expectations of our guests, we did not add a pool or gym,” Airlines both fly to Rangoon from explained Sukhdeep Singh, the former general manager and their hubs. now a vice president at General Hotel Management, which WHERE TO STAY WHEN TO GO manages the property.

The Strand 92 Strand Rd.; 95Capital until Burma’s military Meanwhile, The Strand faces two major challenges, ones it junta moved the government 1/243-377; ghmhotels.com; doubles from US$550. can’t really do much about. One is the weather. Rangoon gets 600 kilometers north of 128

The hotel retained its Burmese style, the lobbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s antique elevator and

the overhanging front entrance replicating the original 1901 design

ISLAND IDYLL

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a new road on Ko Lanta in Thailand, one that leads to a slice of paradise but also to a changing way of life. By Ron Gluckman. Photographed by Cedric Arnold

Another day at Relax Bay.

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a hill, heading south on Ko Lanta, I hold my breath. There’s a dramatic drop ahead, one I remember painfully well from my last visit to this island, but there’s also change, big change.

Five years ago, the pavement ended here. Afterwards, the road was dirt or, worse, during the rainy season, a winding path of mud. Only the fearless, astride motorbikes or in four-wheel drives, dared to continue.

The good news is that this kept the island’s beaches and remote resorts blissfully deserted. Anyone seeking solitude, as EARING THE CREST OF

my wife and I were five years ago, could bless the bumps in the road, even as we cursed and nursed our bruises. We soaked up sunsets unmarred by the rickety beach bars or the thumping electronic beat typical on Thailand’s island circuit.

In the remote resorts of southern Ko Lanta, we found scant comfort, or electricity, yet hardly a worry—until, that is, we had to face this treacherous road again on our reluctant journey back to the real world.

Returning to the scene of previous idyll is always a risky bet. Progress dictates that paradise never remains so. There are parallel forces at work here: destinations develop and our memories of good times grow grander over time. Rarely do repeat visits match the original thrill.

We zip along palm-lined coves, spotting only

Lazy Hideaways Clockwise from opposite top: Relax Bay Resort on Phra-ae Beach; idling on the beach with nothing but time and a decent novel; everywhere a sign along Khlong Hin Beach; an intense beach yoga class; an infinity pool with a view; headed to the beach for another tropical afternoon; Pimalai prides itself on its food as well as its facilities; the final dip of the day on Phra-ae Beach.

So, it’s with some trepidation today that we climb the hill.

At the top is a shock: asphalt as far as we can see. While the smooth road is easier on the body, we worry it will be a bad omen for the languid Ko Lanta that we fondly remembered.

That sense of shock eases into smiles as we zip along scenic palm-lined coves, spotting only a few small resorts tucked tidily into the trees on the way to our first stop at Pimalai Resort & Spa. “Lanta is growing, but the essence of this place really hasn’t changed,” says Franck de Lestapis, general manager at the resort.

When de Lestapis arrived in 2001 to open Pimalai, most thought he was crazy. Back then, Lanta was off the map, an isolated clump of jungle on an inaccessible island. Tourists swarmed nearby Phuket and explored Ko Samui, but Lanta was largely left alone. “Hardly anyone came to Lanta, or even knew where it was, but that was the appeal, and really it still is,” he says. “Everyone these days wants something different, a hideaway. People seek a secret place—and that’s Lanta.”

Actually, the secret slipped out years ago. Just look at Pimalai. The original rooms, clustered four per two-story »

a few small resorts tucked tidily into the trees

Unconventional Isle Right: Ko Lanta’s claim to fame, a new road. Opposite: “Ali Baba,” a beach bar–owner hard at work.

pavilion that dot the lush tropical foliage on the 45-hectare property, still feel luxurious, with balconies overlooking Pimalai’s private beach on a long, quiet cove. But the spacious rooms now naturally pale compared to the 39 villas on the hill above, added in a major expansion three years ago.

Each of these one- to three-bedroom villas has a private pool and the million-dollar views standard at top resorts elsewhere in Thailand. When it opened, Pimalai’s pool villas represented a new era for an isle only wired for electricity a decade before. Dining at Baan Pimalai Restaurant, we marvel at how much Lanta has evolved since our stay five years earlier in those rustic, lantern-lit bungalows.

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RITICS NO LONGER question Pimalai’s plan.

Around Lanta, we spot several trendy inns, like Thanya Resort, with a dozen cozy rooms nestled in a tranquil cove on Khlong Toab Beach. Ko Lanta’s emergence has also appeared at stylish restaurants run by entrepreneurs with a renegade streak, typical of this unconventional isle. Red Snapper, hidden in a jungle, sports a menu reflecting the whims of the Dutch cooks—everything from tapas and Turkish dips to mojitos, pesto mussels and homemade mango pie. Time for Lime, a lime-green fusion restaurant and cooking school, also seems set to better its competition when it comes to Scandinavian design. All those menus featuring mango salad and meatballs, underscoring the large Nordic presence on the expat scene.

Some of Lanta also embraces the well-worn Thai model, with spas sprouting alongside the best beaches and the first villa developments beginning to root in the green hills. Rawi Warin, Lanta’s largest resort, was refurbished and reopened under previous owners and is now a lavish 185-room resort and spa that wouldn’t look out of place on Phuket.

Still, Lanta is largely as we remember, lazy and carefree, with vast lengths of sand where you can slip off your sandals, spread a sarong and plunge into a thick book or the clear sea or both, never seeing another tourist or tout. Inland, new roads roll past rubber plantations, sheets of latex drying on lines between the etched trees, to Old Lanta, the original port town, with hundred-year-old wooden homes and lilting songbirds in cages denoting a vibrant Chinese community.

The island’s undeveloped east side seems little changed »

Slip on your sandals, spread a sarong and 184

plunge into a thick book or the clear sea

Tropical Routines Clockwise from top left: A cooking class at Time for Lime; Pimalai’s fancy take on a fish dish; not following orders at Relax Bay; taking the beach dogs for a walk; staying in comfort at Pimalai; the tranquil Phra-ae Beach.

from a century ago, when Old Lanta thrived as a stopover for Chinese and Arabic ships plying the Phuket–Penang– Singapore circuit. Locals still sit on porches, gossiping with neighbors, framed by dazzling views of the same stupendous rock outcroppings common to Ko Phangan Bay. Renting a motorbike, we putter past throwback Thai settlements to a big, jungle-shaded river where locals offer long-tail boat rides through a thick tangle of mangroves.

But the western shore, with all the beaches, is clearly in play. Among the alluring five-star palaces that typifies Lanta’s new look is Layana, an adults-only boutique resort with 50 rooms set in royal Thai-style pavilions around a lagoon pool that snakes down to a white-sand beach. “The island is still filled with backpackers,” says resident manager Michael Vogt. This is part of Lanta’s charm; even the most upscale resorts offer barefoot luxury with few airs. “We still cannot compare with Phuket or Samui,” he concedes, “but we don’t want to. You come to Lanta to relax, stay on the beach and really do nothing.”

That was our agenda, both at the new generation of Lanta luxury lodges and at a series of small, affordable resorts, renting beachside bungalows for US$100 per night, or often much less. One of our favorite discoveries is Relax Bay, a cluster of cabins on a serene section of Phra-ae Beach that lives up to its name.

“We keep it very relaxed,” says co-owner Alain Van Geeteruyen, showing off simple bungalows, all the better for what they lack—no TV’s and no beach bar within reach. The soundtrack to the resort is the sea crashing onto the beach.

“Most guests are ex-backpackers in their thirties or forties,” Van Geeteruyen adds. “Now, they are coming back with their kids. They want to experience what they remember, this idyllic Asia of thatched bungalows and simplicity.”

A secluded gem, Relax Bay offers a spacious setting along a wide expanse of coastline. Yoga is popular at a seafront pavilion; meditate and feel the calm wash over you. There’s a definite sense of keeping things as they are, of keeping Ko Lanta a special place to visit. It’s a refrain I constantly hear, from the top of Lanta, where ferries sail to the mainland, to the serene national park at the southern tip, and at every resort along the way, whether five-star spectacular or basic beach bungalow. » 136

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lanta is still a special place. You get to know

Island Life Opposite: In time for another lazy sunset. Left: Hillside villas at Pimalai.

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EVEN YEARS AGO, this was all different,” recalls Pattama Pongsukapat, as she serves me a frothy cappuccino and fresh croissants baked by her French husband at Faim de Loup Boulangerie.

Originally from Bangkok, after a stretch running a café in France she ached to return home, back to a more tranquil part of the country. “We went to Phuket and Ko Samui by motorbike.” You can guess how this story ends: Landing on Ko Lanta, they fell in love with the solitude.

She had heard of the island from Survivor, a TV show partially filmed here. Her café fit into the show’s jungle setting. “It was basically nothing at all,” she says, eyes sparkling at the memory. “The road didn’t really exist. It was just a path. This was all bamboo and forest.” Now, the café sits roadside in a neighborhood packed with restaurants and guesthouses. “I never thought I’d see this. It has all happened pretty quickly in the last two years.” Most changes, she says, have been positive, with visitors coming earlier and staying longer, easing the trauma of the annual down season. She says the island’s allure remains the same. “Lanta is still a special place. You get to know people here, and it’s really different from Thailand.”

Around the island are dozens of mosques, each designed by villagers. One day, as the sun casts an orange glow over Phraae Beach, I arrive in time to catch the rhythmic chant of morning prayers. Wispy-bearded men refuse to let me stay outside snapping pictures. “Come, come,” insisted one, waving me inside. That is the extent of his English, but in cheerful gestures, he introduces me to the congregation, who happily pose for photos. This large Muslim population, which flavors cuisine with rich curries and the landscape with colorful domed mosques, is a key component of the Ko Lanta.

Visitors are invariably astonished by the juxtaposition of headscarves and bikinis.

About 90 percent of Lanta’s population is Muslim, making it the most Islamic part of the country, more so even than troubled areas of the south. Yet, turmoil has never beset the island’s population, which includes Thai Buddhists and ethnic Chinese, whose island roots extend back more than a century, along with even earlier arrivals the Chao-Le, or indigenous sea gypsies, living on stilt houses perched off the eastern shore. »

people here, and it’s different from Thailand’

A few hours later, in the lobby of nearby Lanta Palm Beach Resort, I marvel at staff chatting online with boyfriends by video camera, in full headscarves. “Why so surprised?” asks a pretty Lanta girl. “We are Thais, like anyone in Thailand.”

Nearby, a Muslim prayer room sits next to an Internet café and a dive shop all run by Muslims.

“Maybe Muslim culture will help keep Ko Lanta different,” says a hopeful Junie Kovacs, who first came to the island in 2001, and opened Time For Lime two years later. Now, thousands arrive each year to study Thai cooking with Kovacs, an American chef raised in Norway who espouses the virtues of organic ingredients—while chain-smoking.

Originally, Time For Lime was at the top end of Lanta, near where ferries dock. That has become the busiest part of the island, filled with gift shops and tourist stalls, so she moved further down Klong Dao Beach. Like many unconventional businesspeople on this unconventional island, she doesn’t cheer the boom. “I thought Ko Lanta was different. I never

thought it would become like Phuket,” she explains. “I just hope because of the Muslim culture, it will never become like other islands, with all the partying and bars.”

Next door, at Slow Down, manager Nui provided an upbeat perspective. Guests here sit inside a mock wooden boat, sipping sundowners, served by Muslims, Buddhists and Thais from the Northeast. “We’re all together here,” says Nui. At sunset, customers and staff spill out to the sand to play volleyball. “We like the changes on Lanta. Now there are more people, but there’s also more fun.”

For some reason, it made me think of som tam, the zesty Thai salad. Once a simple getaway, Lanta is growing into a more complex, complete destination. The challenge will be to maintain balance, but all the right ingredients—beaches, mountains, diving and cultural diversity—are in place. Like on the old road around Lanta, there are bound to be bumps and bruises. But five years on, I find, there is plenty of flavor left in this island.

GUIDE TO

WHEN TO GO There are really only two seasons on Ko Lanta — hot (January to April) and rainy (May to December). The temperature stays a consistent 25–32 degrees year round, but tourism tapers off in the wet months, especially May to October. Many resorts shut down or renovate during this period, but more have remained open in recent years; expect steep discounts during this period. Most resorts sneak in a third season, for the peak around Christmas and New Year, when prices double, even triple over low season.

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GETTING THERE While Ko Lanta officially refers to a cluster of islands about 70 kilometers from Krabi, it’s the biggest — Ko Lanta Yai — that most are referring to. From Krabi, count on a four-hour trip, although the wait for two ferries can add hours more. The Pimalai Resort operates its own speedboats from a private jetty, cutting the time by 1–2 hours. Other high-end resorts plan to follow suit, but service is seasonal and can be suspended in bad weather. Most resorts pick up from Krabi airport, but it’s much cheaper to book directly with Krabi-based travel agents. Most resorts offer complimentary dock pick-up and transfer service on the island.

WHERE TO STAY Chada Beach Resort This 196suite resort offers a beachfront location. 279 Moo 1, Tambol Saladan; 66-75/668-124; chadabeach-lanta.com; threenight packages from US$664.

Layana Resort & Spa An exquisite boutique resort with dazzling sunset views. 272 Moo 3 Saladan, Phra-ae Beach; 6675/607-100; layanaresort.com; doubles from US$260.

Pimalai Resort & Spa A premier resort with 80 rooms in lush gardens and 39 pool villas. 99 Moo

5, Ba Kan Tiang Beach; 6675/607-999; pimalai.com; doubles from US$235.

Rawi Warin Resort & Spa The largest resort on Lanta with an enormous selection of rooms and cottages, including 100square-meter pool villas. 139 Moo 8; 66-75/607-400; rawiwarin. com; doubles from US$180.

Relax Bay An eclectic collection of cabins sprawling across a park-like setting, right alongside the island’s best surf. Great value and a fabulous café. 111 Moo 2; Phra-ae Beach; relaxbay.com; 66-75/684-194; doubles with aircon from US$40.

Thanya A lovely, 12-room boutique resort all alone in a tranquil cove beside a khlong in the center of the island. 158 Khlong Toab Beach; 66-75/662529; thanyabeachresort.com; doubles from US$55.

WHERE TO EAT Faim de Loup A French bakery with superb coffee and freshbaked breads, great for breakfast and packed lunches for day trips.

255 Moo 2; 66-75/684-525; lunch for two US$12.

Red Snapper Lit by red lanterns, tucked into the jungle, this restaurant offers an extensive cocktail selection and the most eclectic menu on the island (lamb and mango chutney, fish dumplings

in salsa verde, tandoori fish, duck breast topped with herbal redberry mouse). Phra-ae Beach; 667/885-6965; redsnapperlanta. com; dinner for two US$30.

Retro Restaurant A sprawling Thai and western restaurant with knockout cocktails like Lanta Delight or Lanta Paradise, and an equally vast menu — everything from pizza and pasta to pad thai, fresh fish and southern Thai soups. 305 Moo 2, Phra-ae Beach; 66-75/684-838; dinner for two US$35.

Time For Lime Bright green open-air restaurant (and cooking school) offers a limited menu, but fabulous fusion dishes (don’t miss the barracuda fish cakes with red-curry mayonnaise). A fine beach café, with surfside seating or on the panoramic rooftop. Southern end of Khlong Dao Beach; 66-75/684590; timeforlime.net; dinner for two US$25.

Slow Down With dark wood and smart Scandinavian design, this bistro boasts a brilliant minimalist menu. For Thai, choose from a list of meats and vegetables, sauces (red, yellow, green or Penang curry), extras and heat (spicy, not, little or Thai). Great coffee, breakfast and sandwiches.

Khlong Dao Beach; 66-75/141-413; slowdownlanta.se; lunch for two US$20.

Enjoying a bite at Time for Lime.

(My Favorite Place) INDIA

One of Australia’s best-known fashion designers, Collette Dinnigan, tells PAUL EHRLICH why India always captures her imagination India’s absolutely magical, a completely different world. You can’t help but immerse yourself in the traditions and culture of the country. It is a becalming place, even though, ironically, it’s buzzing with life and spirit. I go there to take time out to relax—to force myself away from my hectic life—and to work. Its atmosphere also appeals to my adventurous nature, making it a great place to play as well.

The Oberoi Rajvilas in the Pink City (Jaipur) is a favorite.

Resting here is effortless. It is definitely charming. The staff there is superb; I have great respect for when attention is given to detail. Although there are other resorts that have recently opened up over the last few years, I still love going back to the Rajvilas, which is set among beautiful gardens and is near ancient forts and palaces.

Having loved India since my first visit, I now enjoy

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sharing adventures with my daughter Estella. She seems to be as open and as excited about the magic of India as I am.

The elephant processions are especially exciting, a time when the country’s majestic traditions come to life.

My travels to India almost always take me westward—for the food, the people and the shopping. So many treasures are hidden in and around the big cities, which bustle and thrive on energy and romanticism. There are some really great antique markets and small bazaars, selling beautiful items—from silks to furniture to crystal—as well as fresh produce and shiny bric-a-brac. Battling through Chari Bazaar market in Mumbai during peak time is exhausting, but definitely worth the effort.

Mumbai has some great restaurants. A local vegetarian which is one of my favorites is called Swati Snacks, near Grant Road Market. It’s very authentic. You need to get in the queue early for lunch—you have to try the bel puri. ✚

C L O C K W I S E F R O M FA R L E F T : C O U R T E SY O F C O L L E T T E D I N N I G A N ; © T O L G A K O L C A K / I S T O C K P H O T O . C O M ; © L E B E D I N S K I / D R E A M S T I M E . C O M

Dinnigan with her young daughter.

Right: Indian textiles.

Bottom right: The Palace of the Maharajah in Jaipur.