May 2010

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Shanghai • Family Travel • United States • Taipei • Macau • Bali • Germany • Vietnam

Secret Shanghai

Beyond the Expo: Where to go right now

MAY 2010

40 Beach Hideaways

From Asia to Africa, all for under US$250

Lordly Living Great estates! British castles you can rent

+

BANGKOK SINGAPORE MONGOLIA HONG KONG

Macau

T+L’s insider peek at the Cirque du Soleil

25

AUTHENTIC MUST-VISITS IN AMERICA

BALI’S BEST BOUTIQUES YOUR ESSENTIAL ADDRESSES MAY 2010

Tra v e l a n d L e i s u r e A s i a . c o m

Plus: 17-page family travel section

SINGAPORE SG$7.90 ● HONG KONG HK$43 THAILAND THB175 ● INDONESIA IDR50,000 MALAYSIA MYR17● VIETNAM VND85,000 MACAU MOP44 ● PHILIPPINES PHP240 BURMA MMK35 ● CAMBODIA KHR22,000 BRUNEI BND7.90 ● LAOS LAK52,000

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By invitation only.

9p `em`kXk`fe fecp% For expression of interest, please call =fi \ogi\jj`fe f] `ek\i\jk Singapore: + (65) 6295 6293 ZXcc -)0, -)0*% Hong Kong: + (852) 2277 2233 Thailand: + (66) 2273 5445

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T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M | V O L 0 4 | I S S U E 0 5

(Contents)05.10 >124 A Pan-Asian plate in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

104 City of Tomorrow Move over post-Olympic Beijing, it’s Shanghai’s moment of glory.

JENNIFER CHEN glimpses the city’s future in its arty enclaves and emerging neighborhoods.

Photographed by DARREN SOH GUIDE 113 4

114 40 Secret Beach Hideaways There’s nothing like a little sand between your toes. Whether it’s along a Thai shoreline or at a villa on the Amalfi Coast, these resorts— all US$250 or less per day—promise sun and the simple life.

124 Taste of the Nation From inventive restaurants to chic hotels, BRUCE SCHOENFELD chronicles a burgeoning of homegrown innovation across the

M AY 2 0 1 0 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M

heart of America and beyond. Read to discover 25 reasons to see the U.S. right now.

GUIDE 132 134 German Crush Straw wine. Sauerbraten. Oompah bands. MATT LEE and TED LEE head to the source to taste the wines of Germany’s Mosel River Valley.

Photographed by CHRISTIAN KERBER GUIDE AND MAP 141

P E T E R F RA N K E DWA R DS

103-134 Features

(Contents)05.10

SOUTHEAST ASIA

MAY 2010

From Asia to Africa, all for under US$250

Lordly Living

T+L’s insider peek at the Cirque du Soleil

Beyond the Expo: Where to go right now

Great estates! British castles you can rent

+

BANGKOK SINGAPORE MONGOLIA HONG KONG

12 Editor’s Note 14 Contributors 16 Letters 18 Best Deals 142 My Favorite Place

ASIA FOR KIDS (PARENTS CAN COME TOO)

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TOKYO FOR TOTS, TWEENS AND TEENS SPAS FOR KIDS? YOU BETCHA! KID-FRIENDLY RESORTS TAKE A BOW ECO-CAMP ADVENTURES FOR CHILDREN T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

.

C O M

|MARCH 2009

00

Strategies Special ● Asia for Kids... > 41 ...and the parents can come too.

With the lowdown on child-friendly resorts, learning vacations, designer clothes for the young set, Tokyo from an insider and—yes, believe it or not—spa treatments to soothe your children.

23-38 Insider 24 Newsflash Spas and wine finally mix, the latest art news around Asia, walking tours with your hotel and more.

28 Shopping Going chic in Bali. BY LILI TAN 30 Drink European wine bars worth a visit.

BY ANYA VON BREMZEN 34 Eat Café culture in Buenos Aires.

BY ANYA VON BREMZEN 38 Adventure Heading outdoors around Taipei.

BY LAURA MILLER 6

61-70 Stylish Traveler 61 Fashion Things heat up in Bangkok’s Chinatown, but sharp fashions cool it all down. PHOTOGRAPHED BY TOM HOOPS 68 Packing Food guru Gail Simmons shares her travel advice. BY CHRISTINA AJUDUA 70 Beauty Airline pros offer up their high-flying tips. BY LILI TAN

Macau

25

AUTHENTIC MUST-VISITS IN AMERICA

BALI’S BEST BOUTIQUES YOUR ESSENTIAL ADDRESSES Tra v e l a n d L e i s u r e A s i a . c o m

Plus: 17-page family travel section

SINGAPORE SG$7.90 ● HONG KONG HK$43 THAILAND THB175 ● INDONESIA IDR50,000 MALAYSIA MYR17● VIETNAM VND85,000 MACAU MOP44 ● PHILIPPINES PHP240 BURMA MMK35 ● CAMBODIA KHR22,000 BRUNEI BND7.90 ● LAOS LAK52,000

Cover C At Shanghai Mansion, Bangkok.

Photographed by Tom Hoops.

Styled by Mac Vatcharapon. Model: Sarah B. Hair and makeup: Kittiya Anjimakorn. Silk jumpsuit by ASAVA. Crystal jacket by CODE 10.

> 82

73-90 T+L Journal 73 The Arts If your childhood dream of running away to join the circus remains unfulfilled, maybe it’s time to see one live in Macau. NAOMI LINDT does just that as she heads backstage at Cirque du Soleil.

78 Hotels The British aristocracy is increasingly opening its estates to overnight guests. > 34

BRUNO MADDOX takes up residence at Crom Castle in Northern Ireland for a perfectly charming weekend.

82 Books Looking past the revelers on Key West’s main drag, TOM AUSTIN explores a literary culture that is alive and thriving.

86 Food Ever heard of Stichelton? If not, then you’d better follow PAUL LEVY on his quest to find the British artisans who are working to bring the classic cheese, formerly known as Stilton, back to life.

90 Portfolio Even after five trips to Mongolia, photographer MATTHIEU PALEY says the country and its wide open spaces continue to affect him in ways he doesn’t entirely fathom. Still, he’s managed to capture a culture influenced by its environment.

F R O M B O T T O M : G R A C I E L A C AT TA R O S S I ; B R O O K E S L E Z A K

Departments

40 Beach Hideaways

Secret Shanghai

(Destinations)05.10 Mongolia 46, 90

Germany 134

Key West, Florida 82

Shanghai 104

Bali 18, 26, 28, 50, 56, 58 Buenos Aires 34

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

0 oF

20oF

-25oC

-10oC

40oF 0 oC

5oC

50oF

65oF

10oC

15oC

75oF 20oC

90oF 30oC

40o+C

Issue Index ASIA China 18, 27, 44 India 52 Maldives 18, 56 Mongolia 46, 90 Gyeongju, South Korea 44 Shanghai 104 Tokyo 27, 44, 48

Macau 54, 73 Malacca 24 Penang 20 Singapore 24, 44, 54 Siem Reap 46 Taipei 38 Thailand 18, 26, 46, 54 Vietnam 52

EUROPE Germany 134 United Kingdom 78, 86 THE AMERICAS Buenos Aires 34 Key West, Florida 82 United States 124

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

(SGD)

(HKD)

(BT)

(RP)

(RM)

(VND)

1.40

7.77

32.4

9,057

3.23

19,055

(MOP)

(P)

(MMK)

(KHR)

(BND)

(LAK)

8.00

45.0

6.41

4,185

1.40

8,420

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

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M AY 2 0 1 0 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M

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

SOUTHEAST ASIA Bali 18, 26, 28, 50, 56, 58 Bangkok 18, 24, 27, 46, 61, 142 Borneo 46 Hong Kong 24, 26, 56 Kuala Lumpur 24, 44 Langkawi 18, 56 Manila 44

(Editor’s Note) 05.10 PUTTING TOGETHER A TRULY READER-ORIENTED MAGAZINE CAN BE A CHALLENGING TASK . H ERE AT TR AVEL + L EISURE S OUTHEAST A SIA, WE DON’T SLING TOGETHER A BUNCH OF GENERIC PHOTOS, award-winning French snapper Matthieu Paley (“The Edge of Asia,” page 90), and we reveal 40 secret beach hideaways you most likely haven’t heard of, but really should have (page 114). However, this month’s editor’s pick has to be the article in which T+L (U.S.) contributing editor Bruno Maddox takes up residence with the British aristocracy at Crom Castle in Northern Ireland (“The Royal Treatment,” page 78). Of course, it comes with a princely price tag: around US$6,000 for 12 people for three nights—but at least you and 11 of your friends could honestly say you lived like royalty (at least for a few days). In the article, we also list three other rentable castles in the United Kingdom, so you can take your choice if you have the money. Finally, as we did around this time last year, we are devoting some 17 pages to our family travel special this month (page 41). There’s been an explosion in family-friendly travel offerings throughout Asia in the past few years, and here we round them up with plenty of hints, tips and activities to do once you arrive. That does, of course, beg my final question: Are we there yet?—M A T T L E P P A R D

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. 10

M AY

2 0 1 0 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M

TOM HOOPS

press releases, commercially driven features and second-rate articles, and pack them behind a bland “could be anyone, anywhere” cover, which I do hope you’ve noticed over the years. Instead, each issue is lovingly conceived, gently led through a few months of relatively painless labor, and then birthed magically at the printers. This month’s cover and content package is one that I’m especially proud of, since it captures the sophisticated style and verve of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, with a Chinese look and feel that fits well with our in-depth Shanghai feature (“City of Tomorrow,” page 104), and, indeed, our fashion shoot (“Chinatown Spice,” page 61), which was taken in and around the hurly-burly hustle of Bangkok’s Chinatown. We also present you with a backstage pass to the Cirque du Soleil in Macau (“The Buzz of the Big Top,” page 73), so don’t squander this unique chance to look beyond the smoke and mirrors... Of course, there’s much, much more. This issue is packed with so much cool stuff and information, I imagine it’s bursting at the seams as you hold it. We have an eyepopping and evocative photo essay of Mongolia by

BANGKOK + DIM SUM + ARCHITECTURE + NIGHTLIFE + BLOGS + ISLANDS + BOUTIQUES NOODLES + STYLE + WINE + SPAS + HONG KONG + DESIGN + GALLERIES + SINGAPORE + HUA HIN + DRIVING + ONLINE BOOKING + LAKSA + FASHION + REVIEWS + GOLF + KHAO SOI BEER + DIVING + CLUBBING + HOT DEALS + TRAVEL NEWS + CRUISING + LAOS + BARS MUSIC + ART + ECOTOURISM + MALAYSIA + TREKKING + SAIGON + SHOPPING + DEALS + BANGKOK

www.TravelandLeisureAsia.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CREATIVE CONSULTANT DEPUTY EDITOR FEATURES EDITOR SENIOR DESIGNER DESIGNER ASSISTANT EDITOR/ILLUSTRATOR ASSISTANT EDITOR

Matt Leppard Fah Sakharet Christopher Kucway Lara Day Wannapha Nawayon Sirirat Prajakthip Wasinee Chantakorn Liang Xinyi

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS / PHOTOGRAPHERS Jennifer Chen (editor-at-large), Jen Lin-Liu, Robyn Eckhardt, Naomi Lindt, Adam Skolnick, Cedric Arnold, Darren Soh, Lauryn Ishak, Nat Prakobsantisuk, Christopher Wise, Brent Madison, Tom Hoops

CHAIRMAN PRESIDENT PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

PUBLISHER DIRECTOR SINGAPORE / ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER 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 Pichayanee Kitsanayothin Michael K. Hirsch 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 DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER

Ed Kelly Mark V. Stanich Paul B. Francis Nancy Novogrod Jean-Paul Kyrillos Cara S. David Mark Orwoll Thomas D. Storms Madelyn A. Roberts Marc Abdeldaim

TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA VOL. 4, ISSUE 5 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). While the editors do their utmost to verify information published, they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy.

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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(Contributors) 05.10 JENNIFER CHEN | CONTRIBUTING EDITOR THE ASSIGNMENT Wrote this month’s Shanghai feature (“City of Tomorrow,” page 104). SHANGHAI IN THREE WORDS Grit, glamor and ambition. CHINESE FOOD TO GO BACK FOR I’d get on the first train to

Hangzhou and eat a four-hour meal at Dragon Well Manor. One of the best Chinese meals I’ve ever had. FAVORITE SHANGHAI STAY The Park Hyatt, with the Peninsula Shanghai a close second. Next time, I’m planning to barricade myself in a room at the Park Hyatt. SHANGHAI OR NEW YORK Tough call, but New York—specifically Brooklyn—still rules my heart.

DARREN SOH | PHOTOGRAPHER THE ASSIGNMENT Photographed our Shanghai feature in a snow storm.

SHANGHAI PHOTO TIP The weather changes rapidly, so always have your camera ready even if it looks terrible when you’re stepping out. FAVORITE SHANGHAI DIVERSION Personally, it’s the “Camera City” on Lupan Lu, a huge photographic equipment mall where I get a lot of my gear. FAVORITE CITY I would have to say New York, which incidentally Shanghai seems to be becoming very much like. WHEN IT SNOWS... I grit my teeth and

DAVID HARTUNG | PHOTOGRAPHER THE ASSIGNMENT Shooting our behind-the-scenes look at Cirque du Soleil (“The Buzz of the Big Top,” page 73). YOU NEVER RAN AWAY TO THE CIRCUS BECAUSE… As a child, I always found clowns more frightening than amusing. Actually, I still feel that way. IF YOU DID JOIN THE CIRCUS… Of course, I’d have to go with being a clown! THE MACAU PERFORMANCE

There are several aspects to any Cirque du Soleil show that make it a must see. Among these is the outstanding live music along with the stunning visuals and great acrobatic performances.

LAURA MILLER | WRITER THE ASSIGNMENT Wrote our outdoor story on Taiwan (“Taipei Thrills,” page 38). TAIPEI FAVORITE The magnificent natural scenery on the city’s

doorstep: think riverine gorges, mountain passes and jungle-clad ravines.

WHEN OUTDOORS I usually hike, trail run or do a yoga pose if a camera’s nearby. ROCK CLIMBING OR DIM SUM? Dim sum. I simply can’t resist xiao long bao. TAIWAN IS… It’s a friendly destination that will always exceed your

expectations, whether you’re going for outdoor activities or cultural pursuits.

YOUR NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE Having a baby in June.

BRUCE SCHOENFELD | WRITER THE ASSIGNMENT Wrote about what’s innovative and up-and-coming in 18

of America’s heartland cities, like Minneapolis and Louisville (“Taste of the Nation,” page 124). UNEXPECTED U.S.A. Everywhere I go today, I’m surprised by something new, in a positive sense. MIDDLE AMERICA MYTH People think Oklahoma City is a cow town, but some of the most interesting, sophisticated people I know live there. TRAVEL WEBSITE YOU LOVE For food, foodnewsjournal.com—it aggregates reviews from magazines, blogs, local papers and more. YOUR NEXT TRIP Northern England.

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M AY 2 0 1 0 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M

L E F T T O R I G H T, F R O M T O P : D A R R E N S O H ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F D A R R E N S O H ; D A R R E N S O H ; D AV I D H A R T U N G ; C O U R T E S Y O F D AV I D H A R T U N G ; CO U RT ESY O F L AU RA M I L L E R ; L AU RA M I L L E R ; P E T E R F RA N K E DWA R DS ; CO U RT ESY O F B RU C E S C H O E N F E L D

continue shooting, hoping that it’ll go away and not turn into slush.

(Letters)05.10 LETTER OF THE MONTH

Bangkok Dangerous?

Is it safe to travel to Bangkok now?

The media here are full of reports of blood-throwing, protests, grenades and apparently no end to the situation. I noticed last weekend, for example, that the streets of Bangkok were paralyzed.

Should I cancel now for my holiday in May or hold out for more news? Is it safe, even if the protests continue?

—DEBBIE

When in Laos…

You raise some very relevant points about tourism in your Laos story [“Living History,” March 2010] and they’re much appreciated. I particularly enjoyed reading about the reaction of the local people in Luang Prabang since, too often, we only hear an outsider’s point of view. I think that reviewing how we travel to popular—some might say overrun—destinations, what we take and what we leave behind are ideas we should apply to all our trips abroad. That’s why the separate column you included, “The Right Way,” is even more relevant than your story. I’m an avid amateur photographer, and on my next trip I’m going to heed the advice of putting down my camera for a while to really appreciate my surroundings.

— DA N N Y

✉

W H I T I N G , H O N G KO N G

WILLIAMS, MANCHESTER

EDITOR’S REPLY At press time, there are no reports of the political situation affecting tourists other than minor disruptions to transport. The protests have been largely peaceful, and as someone who has lived and worked in Thailand for 10 years, it has not affected me to any great extent. Of course, I would advise you to check all news and advisories before you plan any trip.

Jump the Shark I was appalled to see that you started an online debate about eating shark-fin soup on your T+L blog. Surely, there is no debate: Shark populations are in decline, the practice is cruel and inhumane, and only serves to titillate the tastebuds of those with the money to buy it, or those who accept it as a symbol of status. I accept that other methods of farming and hunting are also questionable, but to open this to debate is, in some ways, validating any “pro” arguments.

— S U N E E NA RT

E K K AC H O M , PAT TAYA

EDITOR’S REPLY It’s certainly an emotive topic, but one we believe is valid considering the ongoing popularity of shark-fin soup in Asia.

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.

(Best Deals) 05.10 DEAL OF THE MONTH

Villa Getaway at the Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa (60-4/960-8888; westin.com/langkawi).

What’s Included

From city breaks to island escapes, these deals are pure indulgence ■ CHINA Experience the Spectacular package at the RitzCarlton, Sanya (86-898/8898-8888; ritzcarlton. com). What’s Included Villa accommodation; daily buffet breakfast; a one-hour spa treatment at ESPA; a dinner for two; round-trip airport transfers (advance booking required); and a Segway ride. Cost From RMB4,500, through October 31. Savings 44 percent.

■ INDONESIA Four-nights-for-three package at the Gangsa Sanur (62-361/270-260; thegangsa.com) in Bali.

What’s Included A four-night stay in a onebedroom villa; daily breakfast; a welcome drink; daily fresh fruit, refreshments and homemade cookies; and local limousine service. Cost US$990, through June 30. Savings 25 percent.

■ MALAYSIA Spa Sensation package at the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa (60-4/888-8888; shangri-la.com) in Penang. What’s Included A four-night stay in a deluxe sea-facing room; daily buffet breakfast; a signature Rasa Asmaradana treatment and a head-and-shoulder massage at the CHI spa; 10 percent off all additional spa treatments; and free broadband Internet. Cost RM2,956, through June 22. Savings 31 percent.

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■ MALDIVES Gives You Wings! package at the W Retreat & Spa Maldives (960/665-0222; whotels.com/ maldives). What’s Included Accommodation in an Ocean Oasis Lagoon View Retreat or higher; complimentary seaplane transfers to and from Male International Airport; and daily breakfast. Cost US$2,100 per night per retreat, seven-night minimum, through July 31.

Savings 20 percent.

■ THAILAND Tote to Toe Shopping Experience package at the Metropolitan Bangkok (66-2/625-3333; metropolitan.como.bz). What’s Included A twonight stay in a Met room; daily breakfast; a 30-minute reflexology treatment; a welcome martini at the Met Bar; a Metropolitan tote bag; and five hours of personal limousine service. Cost Bt15,000 per couple, through December 31. Savings 20 percent.

Limitless Discovery package at Le Méridien Chiang Mai (66/5325-3666; lemeridien.com/ chiangmai). What’s Included A two-night stay in a deluxe room; daily breakfast; one-way airport transfer; in-room Internet access; and 4 P.M. late check-out. Cost Bt10,600, through December 15. Savings 51 percent.

M AY 2 0 1 0 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M

Accommodation in a one-bedroom Ocean View pool villa; daily breakfast; welcome fruit platter; bottle of wine; 30-minute massage for one; Villa Host services for 24 hours; free Internet; and Ocean Front upgrade for RM200 per night. Cost RM2,000, two-night minimum, through June 30. Savings 66 percent.

Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa.

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F R I T Z - C A R LT O N , S A N YA ; C O U R T E S Y O F W E S T I N L A N G K A W I R E S O R T & S P A

At the RitzCarlton, Sanya.

From Paris to New York, from Beijing to Cairo, from Amsterdam to Rio de Janeiro, live a magnifique life around the world www.sofitel.com

The Perfect Travel Buddy

Capture beautiful High Definition videos, take fantastic photos and explore the creative genius in you with the NEW & POWERFUL Canon PowerShot SX210 IS!

Planning a holiday overseas? Need a versatile digital camera that also doubles up as a High Definition (HD) camcorder?

Then look no further than the allpowerful Canon PowerShot SX210 IS. Handy and great for taking highresolution photos anytime, anywhere, the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS is also a capable HD video recorder.

With a 14.1-megapixel sensor and its DIGIC 4 digital processor, the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS lets you take breathtaking shots with its 28mm wideangle lens. You can then preview them on a 3.0-inch widescreen PureColor LCD. Follow one of our intrepid travellers on a journey of new discoveries with the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS in this travelogue.

Travelogue

01

Travel Smart with Advanced Smart AUTO

The Canon PowerShot SX210 IS comes with a feature called Advanced Smart AUTO. With it, the camera can intelligently determine the best settings from 22 preset scenes (18 modes for video) for any situation!

Being adventurous myself, I've found the Advanced Smart AUTO feature giving me dynamic on-the-go results. Modes

like shutter priority, aperture priority and full manual controls allow me to achieve remarkable depth of field, and contrast.

Smart Auto is also available for movie recording. Why settle for lower resolution videos when I can now capture HD videos at 1280 x 720 resolution (30 frames per second) complete with zooming and stereo sound?

Even better, I can watch my holiday videos on my big-screen HDTV without any hassle and loss of video quality, with a HDMI connection*.

* Cable sold separately.

Travelogue

02

14x Optical Zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer 14X OPTICAL ZOOM

With the 14x optical zoom, great shots of the skyline is effortless. I was standing above street level and was able to zoom in on the streets below and buildings opposite me.

Whether I'm shooting videos or photographs, my images appeared strikingly sharp and free from camera shake.

C A N O N

Travelogue

03

S P E C I A L

WITH FISH-EYE EFFECT

Instant HD Video with One-Touch Rec Button

There are bound to be moments when I travel and see something interesting I just have to ďŹ lm or photograph. Often the opportunity is missed because by the time I'm all set, the moment's gone.

The Canon PowerShot SX210 IS' OneTouch Rec Button gives me instant access to movie recording. This will ensure that I'll always catch the action as it unfolds.

Travelogue

04

Get Creative with Fish-eye and Miniature Effects!

As I walk around the city, I never fail to use the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS' two new features to fully realise my vision.

With them, I am able to experiment with the Fish-eye and Miniature effects to accentuate my subjects. I am certain these effects will bring out the creative genius in all of us, and amaze our friends and families.

WITH MINIATURE EFFECT

05

Travelogue

Take Great, Natural Photos with Smart Shutter!

There are times when I'm alone with no one around to help me take a photo.

The camera's Smart Shutter presents 3 intuitive ways to get a self-portrait â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all I have to do is wink or smile. Alternatively I can also activate its face detection self-timer. It's that easy plus I get my desired composition.

Explore Your Creative Genius!

The Canon PowerShot SX210 IS is available in black, purple and gold.

Take it with you on your next holiday. Be impressed with its features, be mesmerized by the results!

Modern Purple

Vintage Gold

Blue Black

Special Promotion

I

n a country already world-renowned for its fascinating culture, timeless traditions and exquisite beauty, could there be any other reason to visit Thailand? Would the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale, running from June 15-August 15, which offers discounts of up to a staggering 80 percent, suit your palate? In Bangkok this year, it’s even easier to bag that bargain when you visit the unique “shopping streets,” packed to the brim with authentic and unique products ranging from delicate craftsmanship to gorgeous decorative designs. Furthermore, leading retail outlets and major department stores are joining in, as well as airlines, hotels, spas, golf courses—the list just goes on and on!—are joining force to offer the absolute best value during this special period, not only in Bangkok, but also in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Hat Yai, as well as other key destinations.

The “Thailand Grand Sale” sticker, applied on outlets countrywide, shouts for even more tempting promotions, i.e. freebies, vouchers and lucky draw prizes, so don’t miss them! As always in Thailand, you’ll be greeted by smiles when you arrive, and you’ll certainly leave with many smiles—one of which will be yours! So come visit Thailand now and discover what you’ve been missing!

Best for value Best for you!

For more information, visit www.tourismthailand.org

Taiwan’s Outdoors.

Bike, climb or hike in and around Taipei and its great natural settings <(page 38)

Island Lines.

Contemporary takes on traditional designs in Bali <(page 28)

Top Tipples.

Sipping your way around Europe’s tastiest wine bars (page 30) >

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• One fashionable Hong Kong family • Travel-size fashion products online • Where to eat now around the world

(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 : G R A C I E L A C AT TA R O S S I ; L A U R A M I L L E R ; C H R I S T O P H E R W I S E ; C O U R T E S Y O F B R O T H E R & S I S T E R ; D AV I D C I C C O N I

Café Culture.

Snack like a local at the best stops for food and drink in Buenos Aires <(page 34)

Where to GoWhat to EatWhere to StayWhat to Buy

F E B 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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| newsflash HOTEL HIKES

On Singapore's Arab Street.

TRENDS

FOOD

BANGKOK HYDE AND SEEK The Location 65/1 Athenee Residence, Soi Ruamrudee, Wireless Rd.; 66-2/168-5152; dinner for two Bt2,000.

The Scene Swish gastro-bar by chef Ian Kittichai of the eponymous New York City eatery.

The Dish Chocolate-andchili-glazed baby-back ribs; Gruyère macaroni and cheese with truffle-smoked lardons. ardons The Steal Pair an expertly mixed cocktail, Bt280 each, with a starter like the ginger-ale–marinated calamari, Bt180.— L A R A D AY

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Wine Press Wi

S PA S

If you’re on the wagon, maybe it’s time to jump onto the massage table: Bali’s Ayana Resort & Spa (Jln. Karang Mas Sejahtera, Jimbaran; 62-361/702-222) is now offering vinotherapy. First developed by a sommelier in Hokkaido, wine-based therapies benefit skin through the natural antioxidant proanthocyanidin, as well as a handful of other winemaking byproducts. A 75-minute body treatment (US$90) includes a cleansing grape-skin massage and a grape-masque wrap. A wine facial (US$80) lasts 45 minutes and uses grapeseed to eliminate toxins. There’s also a US$700 couple’s package that includes a French-wine bath. Of course, if you skip the soak, you can always relax with a bottle of your preferred pour.

Where to Eat Now

HONG KONG CAFÉ GRAY DELUXE The Location 88 Queensway, Admiralty; 852/2918-1838; dinner for two HK$1,800.

The Scene Amazing harbor views at the ultra-glam dining room atop the Upper House hotel.

The Dish Steak tartare and a side of chef Gray Kunz’s signature house-made ketchup; sea bass in ginger bouillon.

The Steal The HK$340 lunch prix fixe, which changes seasonally.—S A L M A A B D E L N O U R

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SAN FRANCISCO FRANCES The Location 3870 17th St.; 1-415/621-3870; dinner for two US$72.

The Scene Nouveau California dishes served in a Zen-chic neighborhood bistro.

The Dish Star chef Melissa Perello’s applewood-smoked bacon beignets topped with crème fraîche and chives.

The Steal “Market shots,” mini cocktails at US$3 for three ounces, made of fruit from a farmers’ market; or the US$1an-ounce wines.—S . A .

VANCOUVER MAENAM The Location 1938 W. Fourth Ave., Vancouver; 1-604/730-5579; dinner for two C$42.

The Scene Chef Angus An’s Thai restaurant with stylish bamboo walls and granite counters.

The Dish The khao soi gai soup has house-made curry and egg noodles.

The Steal At lunch and late night, pair the special pad thai—the noodles are fresh—with a Singha beer for C$15.—S . A .

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T : © I J A N S E M P O I / D R E A M S T I M E . C O M : C O U R T E S Y O F AYA N A R E S O R T & S P A ( 2 ) .

B O T T O M H A L F, F R O M L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F H Y D E A N D S E E K ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F M I C H A E L W E B E R P H O T O G R A P H Y ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F F R A N C E S ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F M A E N A M ( 2 )

Tired of your hotel gym? Spice up your workout with a dash of local culture on a walking tour. At the Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa (66-32/538-999; www1.hilton.com), a guide will lead you through the historic Thai town’s sights, including the teakwood Maruekatayawan Palace and Khao Luang Cave, home to more than 170 images of Buddha. The Majestic Malacca (60-6/289-8000; majesticmalacca.com) takes guests into the Malaysian state’s narrow alleyways on foot, highlighting shophouses, mosques, churches, and Hindu and Buddhist temples. In Singapore, Village Hotels & Residences (stayvillage.com) has three hotels, each offering jaunts to their respective neighborhoods: you can explore Little India, Arab Street and Changi, and even witness culinary demonstrations.

| newsflash Heavy Metal

When the young pewtersmith Yong Koon arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Shantou, China, in 1885, he couldn’t have imagined that 125 years later, his family-run pewter shop would still be going strong. This year, Royal Selangor (royalselangor.com) celebrates five generations in the business with a limited-edition handmade tea set alongside ongoing collaborations with Erik Magnussen, Nick Munro and Zuii. Says creative director Low Seow Yee: “Our design direction is to achieve beauty through simplicity and with much less fuss.” That explains the tactile pleasure of not just the anniversary set, but also the lustrous Island collection of vases inspired by corals and the sea.— DAV E N W U

T R AV E L GEAR

Plane Perfect The most recent Web launch to get the T+L stamp of approval? 3floz.com, an online source with beauty products for men and women in travel sizes. On offer: face, body and hair treatments, as well as travel kits by the likes of Dr. Hauschka, Ole Henriksen, Anthony for Men, the Art of Shaving and Air Repair—all in three ounces or less (just under 100 ml, or 3.4 oz., the standard airport restriction). So carry on your favorite items and leave the big bottles behind—without an ounce of regret.—N O R A Z E L E VA N S K Y

Sibling Chic FA S H I O N

STYLE

Gilbert Yeung, founder of Hong Kong nightspot dragon-i, has once again raised the style stakes in his home city — but this time it’s a family affair. His latest venture, the aptly named brother & sister (Shop B-02, 2A Canton Road, 1881 Heritage, Tsim ue cum bar café created Sha Tsui, Kowloon; 852/2369-1991), is a luxe boutique bar-café with the help of sibling Cindy Yeung. Hidden in the basement of 1881 Heritage, the former Marine Police headquarters turned mall, this slick 260-square-meter space was designed by New York City’s Mark Zeff and features whitewashed walls, sleek black furnishings, comfy leather couches and an avant-garde cocktail bar nestled in front of a wall of artfully arranged speakers. Naturally you can order food, but we’re more excited by what’s on the fashion menu: look out for limited-edition sneakers by Android Homme and Hong Kong label Cipher, crossover brands like Alexander McQueen for Puma, designer sunglasses from L.A.’s Dita Eyewear, and jewelry by cult creators Rock Candy. When you’re all shopped out, head upstairs to buzzing robatayaki joint busy suzie, another Yeung enterprise.

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C L O C K W I S E 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 B R O T H E R & S I S T E R ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F R O YA L S E L A N G O R

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C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P : C O U R T E SY O F K AT H M A N D U P H O T O G A L L E R Y; CO U RT ESY O F M O R I A RT M U S E U M ; CO U RT ESY O F U L L E N S C E N T E R FO R CO N T E M P O RA RY A RT

Brave Crossings Bold, boundary-shifting art is worth seeing regardless of where it’s from, though where you see it can make all the difference. Here, three outstanding Asian art exhibitions you’ll want to travel to this month.

ART

■ Danish-Icelandic conceptual artist Olafur Eliasson and Chinese starchitect Ma Yansong join forces in BEIJING with “Feelings Are Facts,” showing at the ULLENS CENTER FOR Clockwise from top: A hand-printed image by Olivier Pin-Fat; work by Teruya Yuken CONTEMPORARY ART (798 Art District, No.4 at the Mori Art Museum; Olafur Eliasson and Ma Yansong's installation at the UCCA. Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District; 86-10/8459-9269; ucca.org.cn; admission RMB15) until June 20. Created ■ Every three years, TOKYO group show “Roppongi especially for the UCCA’s expansive exhibition hall, the Crossing” gauges the pulse of contemporary Japan within duo’s large-scale fog installation forces viewers to negotiate the MORI ART MUSEUM’s lofty perch (53rd floor perception through color, light and space.

Roppongi Hills, Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku; ■ In BANGKOK, “In-Land Out-Cast” at the 81-3/5777-8600; mori.art.museum; admission ¥1,500). This KATHMANDU PHOTO GALLERY (87 Pan Rd., off year’s genre-bending display is curated around the Silom Rd., Bangrak; 66-2/234-6700; kathmandu-bkk.com; rhetorical question “Can There Be Art?,” with 20 admission free) assembles the chaotic, eerily phantasmal emerging and established Japanese artists working across imagery of French-British art photographer Olivier media, from graffiti, photography and video to sculpture, Pin-Fat in its quirky shophouse space, through May 30. performance and installation. On show till July 30.— L . D .

Special Promotion

LUXE SHOPPING IN EUROPE Shopping villages provide perfect retail therapy

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Locations include London, Dublin and County Kildare, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Brussels, Frankfurt and the vibrant city of Munich. These locations, carefully selected, are culturally rich destinations where fashion, the arts, gastronomy, and history make for a truly enriching European experience.

So get ready to jet set and shop: and luckily, booking a unique Chic Outlet Shopping® experience in Europe is simple. Visit www.chicoutletshopping.com for more details.

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| shopping

Bali Modern. Weaving traditional Balinese techniques with chic, contemporary silhouettes, a handful of the island’s boutiques are bursting with designs you’ll want to take home. By LILI TAN

Stylish finds at Pusaka.

INDONESIA

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Photographed by CHRISTOPHER WISE

Weave of the Island Clockwise from left: Off the rack at Pusaka; local color at Threads of Life; sewing with a manual machine at Uluwatu; a modern take on white lace at the shop; Uluwatu has also expanded its line to include shoes.

PUSAKA Mango, mahogany and Seri leaves are just a few of the natural materials used to tint the yarns at Pusaka’s airy boutique, where clothing hangs on rustic wooden racks and shelves. The shop’s dyeing process requires nine steps: a series of washing, drying and tying to create the desired motif and color variation. This is before the seven weaving steps, which include winding and looming until the preferred patterns emerge. Fabrics tend to be uniform in color and slightly rough in texture, yet they’re cut into modern bias camisoles and wrap skirts. We loved the sage-colored Neo Mao dress with front slit and mandarin collar, and the cross-front empire-waist dress with blue, green and white zigzags reminiscent of Missoni. No. 71 Jln. Monkey Forest, Ubud; 62-361/978-619; pusaka-bali.blogspot.com.

ULUWATU A single lace item at this lightly stocked, minimalist store may take five or more days to create. Shirking volume for

quality, Uluwatu’s founder Made Jati, who grew up in a fishing village, commissions local craftswomen to take techniques from temple-ceremony and dance-costume designs and translate them into modern wears. The intricate lace, stretched on bamboo hoops and hand-sewn using foot-powered rather than computerized machines, is tastefully woven into stylish threads that would turn heads in fashion capitals like New York City or Paris. Look out for the standout Rosita, a black jersey racer-back dress with white lace overlay, and the simple Selma, a plain wrap dress with subtle lace detail on the flutter sleeves. Jln. Monkey Forest, Ubud; 62-361/977-557; uluwatu.co.id.

THREADS OF LIFE Off the main shopping streets in Ubud, this quaint boutique has museumquality tapestries lining the walls.

Except it isn’t just any shop: it’s actually a front for a nonprofit foundation allied with Indonesia’s weavers to sustain the archipelago’s traditional weaving arts.

Threads of Life commissions weavers

to recover their ancestors’ skills and arranges advance payments for pieces that often take years to complete, which allows for ongoing work and decreases dependence from commercial sellers. A friendly salesperson can tell you the story behind each tapestry. Intricate ikats make for beautiful home décor, while shorter pieces can double as scarves, shawls and wraps. No. 24 Jln. Kajeng, Ubud; 62-361/972-187; threadsoflife.com.

BANANAS BATIK Don’t let the dim lighting and dull floors deter you. The muted interior here actually creates the perfect setting for Bananas Batik’s neutral- colored wears. Dangling on fabric-wrapped hangers, the light, vegetable-dyed cotton dresses, tank tops and loungewear are ideal for hotter climes or for layering during cold winter days.

Top finds include a dusty-rose racer-back dress with a sage-and-gray brushstroke pattern, and über-comfy drawstring pants. Jln. Monkey Forest, Ubud; 62-361/808-0225. ✚

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| drink In Vino Veritas Clockwise from left: House-made gnocchi with mushrooms at Vienna’s Wein & Co.; at Racines, a cave à manger in Paris’s 11th Arrondissement; Garrafeira Alfaia, in Lisbon.

Europe’s Best Wine Bars. Whether

■ GARRAFEIRA ALFAIA, LISBON Snag one of the 18 wooden stools at this diminutive Bairro Alto boîte, where you can savor a singular Chardonnay from the emerging Alentejo region and be wowed by Barca Velha—a mythical Upper Douro red released only in exceptional years. The food is just as artisanal: black-pig charcuterie; unctuous Azeitão, a sheep’s-milk cheese coagulated with cardoon thistle; and sericaia, an airy, eggy soufflé served with famed Elvas sugarplums. 125 Rua do Diário de Notícias; 351/213-433-079; light meal for two €34.

■ LOS ASTURIANOS, MADRID This no-frills taberna in the Chamberí district is the unofficial clubhouse for the capital’s food and art crowds, and chef, journalist and TV personality Alberto Fernández Bombín is your ultimate hipster host. That delicious fabada? The casserole of white beans and handmade chorizo and blood sausage is the work of his shy mom, Doña Julia. 94 Calle Vallerhermoso; 34/91-533-5947; dinner for two €65.

■ LE BAR À VIN DU CIVB, BORDEAUX Bordeaux fusty and overpriced? Not at this bar run by the region’s wine council. Architect Françoise Bousquet has appointed the soaring Neoclassical space with whimsical pebble-shaped chairs and original artwork, including a grape-themed Aubusson tapestry. And who could complain 30

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C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T : D AV I D C I C C O N I ; L I S A L I N D E R ; M I G U E L G O N Z A L E Z / L A I F/ R E D U X

you’re sipping in Spain or tippling in Turin, ANYA VON BREMZEN has the spot for you

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| drink

about prices when €2 buys you a glass of cherry-nosed Château des Fougères La Folie de Montesquieu? 3 Cours du XXX Juillet; 33-5/56-00-43-47; wines by the glass from €2.

■ RACINES, PARIS The concise wine list here is a paean to France’s vin naturel gurus, such as the Jura region’s anti-sulfur crusader Pierre Overnoy and Beaujolais renegade Philippe Jambon. The same ethos rules in the kitchen, where the gifted Arpège veteran Sven Chartier roasts chicken from the poultry prince Pierre du Plantier and assembles beautiful salads with heirloom vegetables from the biodynamic potager he shares with his mentor, Alain Passard. 8 Passage des Panoramas, 11th Arr.; 33-1/40-13-06-41; dinner for two €80.

■ TERROIRS, LONDON “Bloody brilliant!” proclaimed Londoners when Terroirs opened near the Strand. The bi-level space faithfully evokes cozy Parisian bistros, the prices are fairly recession-proof and the Franco-Italian 42-page wine list captures the eco-zeitgeist with such ultra-natural offerings as Sicilian amphora-aged Frappato from Cos or a range of Jean Foillard’s funky, cloudy Morgons. Praise goes, too, to the earthy menu: gutsy pot-roasted quail with pancetta or wicked salted-caramel crêpes. 5 William IV St.; 44-07/036-0660; dinner for two £60.

■ TRE GALLI, TURIN Fashionable Turinese dig into a fabulous bagna cauda or a velvety parmesan-and-zucchini flan under the vaulted ceiling of this vineria in the happening Quadrilatero Romano neighborhood. Although heavy on pedigreed Piedmontese Barolos and Barbarescos, the 2,000-label list is global in reach. Arrive around six, when the counter is a bonanza of complimentary antipasti. 25 Via Sant’Agostino; 39-011/5216027; dinner for two €72.

gemütlich-plus menu at the bar downstairs. Anyone for puffy sliced bread dumplings served beside grandma-style beef roulade? Or a burger of Saumagen (a hog-maw sausage from Pfalz) gilded with foie gras and paired with Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling from the same region? 8 Chausseestrasse; 49-30/2462-8760; dinner for two €71.

■ WEIN & CO., VIENNA The most central and handsome location of this designcentric mini-chain combines a bar, hectares of retail space and a restaurant where delicious Mediterranean fare— Burrata cheese with arugula and 20-year-old vinegar from Austria’s Styria region—is complemented by up to 50 wines by the glass. Not enough? Grab any bottle from the store’s selection of 2,000 and have it opened for a mere €5 corkage fee. 3–5 Jasomirgottstrasse; 43-1/535-091-612; lunch for two €20.

■ VINOTEKA MOVIA, LJUBLJANA Slovenia’s intriguingly minerally whites—especially those produced by iconoclastic vintner Ales Kristancic—are a cult favorite among grape geeks. If you can’t make it to Movia, his winery on the Italian border, visit his wood-paneled wine bar in Ljubljana. Movia’s Lunar, a satiny, amber-colored white from the unpressed Ribolla Gialla grape, is the ultimate biodynamic experiment. To eat: sweet, dusky pršut that puts prosciutto di Parma to shame. 2 Mestni Trg; 386-1/232-0990; snacks for two €18. ✚ At Le Bar à Vin du CIVB, in Bordeaux, France.

M I G U E L G O N Z A L E Z / L A I F/ R E D U X

■ LE VOLPI E L’UVA, FLORENCE When Florence’s top sommeliers want to learn about wine trends, they claim a stool behind the horseshoe-shaped counter at this enoteca between the Ponte Vecchio and the Pitti Palace. That’s because the wine bar’s passionate owners keep ahead of the curve by crisscrossing Italy in search of emerging producers. Their chalkboard list of some 40 mostly Italian wines by the glass changes weekly and features such discoveries as the intensely fragrant, bone-dry Kuenhof Sylvaner from Alto Adige. 1 Piazza dei Rossi; 39-055/2398132; dinner for two €24.

■ WEINBAR RUTZ, BERLIN A wine store, bar and Michelin-starred restaurant under one roof, this softly lit Mitte spot has a 900-bottle list that will transport a Riesling fanatic straight to Valhalla. Let the city swells ascend to the main restaurant; we prefer the 32

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Only in Argentina From left: Meat-filled empanadas at La Cupertina, in Palermo Viejo; Chef Jerome Mathe at Café des Arts, in Buenos Aires’s MALBA museum.

ARGENTINA

Café Culture, Buenos Aires Style. In a sprawling city such as Buenos Aires, where do you begin to look for the best food specialties?

ANYA VON BREMZEN uncovers the top spots where locals get their fill

B

AIRES MIGHT BE SYNONYMOUS WITH BEEF, but Porteños don’t live by steak alone. In a metropolis defined by the character of its neighborhoods, the best way to navigate the city— and soak up authentic barrio spirit—is through its cafés, bakeries, ice-cream parlors and pizzerias. Whether you crave juicy empanadas, flaky medialunas or decadent dulce de leche gelato, here’s where to snack like an Argentine.

UENOS

■ CAFÉ DES ARTS To whet your appetite, start your visit with a stroll through the contemporary Latin American art collection at the MALBA before ordering nibbles and perfect espressos at its white-marbled, glassed-in café. Then again, the Franco-Latino mini-brioche embellished with sculptural dots of dulce de leche is a work of art itself, albeit not one by Frida Kahlo. In warm weather, sit outside under a huge jacaranda tree. DON’T MISS The “Argentino”: tender lomito (beefsteak) wedged between plancha-crisped flatbread with 34

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red peppers and a tangy zap of chimichurri sauce. 3415 Avda.

Figueroa Alcorta; 54-11/4808-0754; lunch for two US$25.

■ EL SAN JUANINO Tucked away in Recoleta, this nook with red leatherette booths boasts the town’s best empanadas.

Flash-baked to order, the pastries arrive blistered and plump with creamed corn, mozzarella and basil, or hand-chopped beef sweetened with onions. You’ll eat surrounded by Porteño matrons impatiently waiting by the tiled takeout counter, ravenous tourists and jovial old-timers into their umpteenth carafe of coarse wine. DON’T MISS Empanadas fritas with a beef relleno so succulent it squirts juices down your chin. 1515 Calle Posadas; 54-11/4805-2683; light lunch for two US$15.

■ FILO A city of Italian immigrants, Buenos Aires is pizza-mad. But while old faithfuls like El Cuartito offer bland, doughy pies in atmospheric surroundings, the oak-fueled ovens at Filo churn out wispy, chewy marvels in a 90’s-kitsch » Photographed by GRACIELA CATTAROSSI

ArRIVED

WITH THe WEIGhT OF

WORK oN OUR SHoULDERS.

DEPARTed oF tHE WORLD. ON TOp

It’s true what they say; to find yourself sometimes you need to lose yourself. In Australia they call this going ‘walkabout’ And with their magnificent national galleries and museums and some of the world’s greatest wineries to discover, it’s no wonder people are finding themselves here every single day.

Visit Australia.com to find out how you can go walkabout.

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| eat Bites of Buenos Aires From left: The airy La Cupertina and several of its regulars at lunch; coffee service at Las Violetas; meringues, alfajores, palmeritas and dulce de leche mille-feuilles on display at Las Violetas.

space steps from Calle Florida. Long-haired diners nibble on elegant arugula-and-Parmesan salads while trying to decide among some three dozen toppings. Should it be palm hearts and bacon or something more classic, say the “Mediterraneo,” zesty with oregano, anchovies and capers? DON’T MISS The potato-and-smoked-mozzarella pizza alla patate. 975 Calle San Martin; 54-11/4311-0312; pizza for two US$12.

■ FLORIDA GARDEN Stuck in a late-Modernist time warp amid the Microcentro bustle, this 1960’s café is for certain media and politico types an office, living room and caffeine-emergency ward. Behind the 13-meter-long vintage wood-trimmed marble counter, bow-tied baristas reverentially tend the copper coffee machine while snappy-suited customers check fútbol scores on their iPhones.

Who cares if the pastries can be a bit leaden when the Brutalist interior is so fetching—and when you can have an excellent coffee, ground from two types of beans, at the window table once favored by Borges? DON’T MISS The house signature “chips de pavito,” turkey on a brioche-like bun served with mayo and—oddly—no chips. 899 Calle Florida; 54-11/4312-7902; snacks for two US$14.

■ LA CUPERTINA This tall, airy storefront in Palermo Viejo is presided over by the colorful Cecilia Hermann, who could have stepped out of a magical-realist novel. Guardian of Argentina’s culinary traditions—with a penchant for angel figurines—she presents a nearly anthropological display of sweets. She also makes sure that the humitas (corn tamales) and guisos (stews) on the small savory menu deliver the flavors of home. DON’T MISS Empanadota de acelga, an 36

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extra-thin sugar-dusted pastry collapsing into a mass of delicious chard and hard-boiled eggs. Follow with a dense, orange-glazed chocolate cheesecake. 5300 Calle Cabrera; 54-11/4777-3711; lunch for two US$25.

■ LAS VIOLETAS Bronze Corinthian columns, stained glass galore, marble tables set on terrazzo floors—this ballroom-scale 1884 institution would give any Parisian grand café a run for its petits fours. Calorie-unconscious Porteños throng the pastry case festooned with ribbons and toys. And though the thick menu reads like something from a 1930’s cruise ship, connoisseurs come for the simple facturas (breakfast pastries) such as the flaky medialunas de grasa (slender croissants). And isn’t it nice that even a US$2 coffee order is delivered by white-jacketed waiters with a glass of mineral water and cookies alongside? DON’T MISS Tarta de membrillo, crumbly shortbread beneath a shiny cap of quince jam. 3899 Avda. Rivadavia; 54-11/4958-7387; breakfast for two US$15.

■ UN ALTRA VOLTA Evoking the laboratory-style new wave Italian gelateria, this high-design mini-chain keeps it cool with 65 intensely flavored creations under gleaming stainless-steel lids.

Try several scoops: aromatic maracuyá (passion fruit), studded with crunchy seeds, and rich, silky cremas in flavors like nougat or marrón glacé. The snazziest branch is on Avenida Santa Fé, in Recoleta, replete with loungy armchairs and a pretty garden where couples nuzzle, girlfriends gossip and perfectly coiffed ladies decorously attack orange cream truffles and lemon meringues. DON’T MISS Dulce de leche gelato, wickedly caramely with candied almonds and hazelnuts. 1826 Avda. Sante Fé; 54-11/4783-4048; ice cream for two US$12. ✚

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| adventure

Taipei Thrills. From mountain biking to rock climbing, the city is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream. By LAURA MILLER

weekends if you’re looking for peace and quiet. Other trails in Taipei include the Four Beasts Mountains (Sishou Shan) in the Xinyi district where hikers can enjoy spectacular night views of the city and Taipei 101. (Some of the trails are even lit at night.)

TAIWAN

Adventure Time Clockwise from top left: Rock climbing in Longdong Bay; Villa 32; Taiwan is paradise for mountain bikers.

■ GET WET Don a hard hat, gloves and non-slip booties and go river tracing, a sport that involves scaling waterfalls, navigating rapids and swimming upstream.

Adventure outfit In Motion Asia (inmotionasia.com; trips from NT$6,000 per person) leads groups through forgotten streams and narrow gorges in the mountainous Wulai Scenic Area, just 25 kilometers south of Taipei.

For more ideas on adventure travel in Southeast Asia, visit www.TravelandLeisureAsia.com 38

■ HIT THE TRAILS Popular with hikers, campers, bird watchers and flower enthusiasts, the 11,455-hectare Yangmingshan National Park is located in Taipei’s north and has more than 15 peaks, including the 1,120-meter Mount Qixing, an extinct volcano. The main trails are paved in stone and feature steep staircases, though hardy hikers can opt for less-traveled dirt paths. Log onto ymsnp.gov.tw for maps. Avoid the

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■ HEAD FOR HEIGHTS Sheer sandstone cliffs over the sea make Longdong Bay, about an hour away from Taipei, Taiwan’s best rock-climbing spot. Beginners can test their skills at Dapaoyan, or Big Cannon Cliff, in Yangmingshan. XHZ Adventure (xhz.com.tw) organizes regular climbs as well as indoor training sessions.

■ SPA BREAK Soothe your muscles in one of Taipei’s many hot springs. Our pick is the Zen-like Villa 32 in Beitou (No. 32 Zhongshan Rd.; 886-2/6611-8888; villa32.com; use of hot spring from NT$1,500 per person; suites from NT$16,000), built alongside Beitou’s Di-re Gu, or Hell Valley, geothermal hot spring. After a soak, stay for dinner at the award-winning Italian restaurant, which has an unrivalled wine cellar. ✚

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: L AU RA M I L L E R ; CO U RT ESY O F V I L L A 32 ; L AU RA M I L L E R

■ TICKET TO RIDE With its shady forest trails and mountain passes, Taiwan is an off-road paradise for mountain bikers, and you don’t even have to leave Taipei. Local establishment Alan’s Mountain Bike (No. 38 Roosevelt Rd., Section 5; 886-2/ 2933-4319; alansmountainbike.com.tw) near National Taiwan University has rentals (from NT$800 a day), while the friendly owners happily dole out advice on local trails. Call ahead to make sure your bike of choice is available.

One destination

a world of distinction

Bali’s most breath-taking sanctuary with 78 private villas and a 290-room hotel

on 77 hectares of cliff-top land over Jimbaran Bay. Escape

to a world of rich cultural heritage, omnipresent in the architecture, decor, and most of all, the warm hospitality and daily rituals of your hosts.

Explore

the 1.3 kilometer coastline with secluded white-sand beach, ocean-front pools, golf-putting course, and secret gardens.

Savor

a different dining experience every day, at 13 venues including the new Rock Bar perched on rocks directly over the ocean.

Rejuvenate

in Thalasso healing and Balinese therapies at Thermes Marins Bali Spa, Aquatonic Pool and Spa on the Rocks.

Each day offers new discovery.

Don’t take our word for it; take theirs. # 1 Spa in the World  Conde Nast Traveller 2010 Readers’ Spa Awards ASIA’S LEADING LUXURY RESORT - 2009 World Travel Awards ONLY HOTEL IN INDONESIA VOTED AMONGST ASIA’S TOP 15 and THE WORLD‘S TOP 100 - 2009 Travel + Leisure Readers’ awards

AYANA Resort and Spa Bali Jl. Karang Mas Sejahtera Jimbaran 80364 | T.+62 361 702222 | F.+62 361 701555 www.ayanaresort.com

ASIA FOR KIDS

© AJPHOTOS / DREAMSTIME.COM

(PARENTS CAN COME TOO)

+

TOKYO FOR TOTS, TWEENS AND TEENS SPAS FOR KIDS? YOU BETCHA! KID-FRIENDLY RESORTS TAKE A BOW ECO-CAMP ADVENTURES FOR CHILDREN T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E S E A

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T+ L P I C K S

Great Deals

GRAB YOUR KIDS, GET SET AND GO! THESE FOUR FAMILYFRIENDLY DEALS ARE SURE TO MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY

Family package at the Napasai Koh Samui (66-88/429-200; napasai. com). What’s Included Accommodation in a Private Pool Residence by the sea; round-trip airport transfers; daily breakfast buffet for four; a full-day island safari including lunch; a private in-residence barbecue; a Thai dinner for four; daily in-room bottled water; and free Wi-Fi. Cost From Bt32,560, five-night minimum, through December 31. Savings 50 percent. ✚

Seven-nights-for-five Family package at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa (960/665-0224; sheraton.com/maldivesfullmoon).

What’s Included Accommodation in an Island Cottage; and free meals, airport transfers and extra bed for two children. Cost From US$410 to December 23. Savings 40 percent.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Music Lists

Catchy enough for the kids, these albums were made for the road PLEASE PLEASE ME by

the Beatles

(Capitol/EMI, 1963)

Brett Dennen (Dualtone, 2008)

GRACELAND by Paul Simon (Warner Bros., 1986)

TRANSFERENCE

THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL by Lauryn

GOSSIP IN THE GRAIN by

Hill

(Sony, 1998)

by Spoon

(Merge, 2010) Ray LaMontagne (RCA, 2008)

Bros., 1991)

Taylor Swift (Big Machine Records, 2008)

SINGLES—45’S AND UNDER by

CONTRA

OUT OF TIME by

FEARLESS by

R.E.M. (Warner

Squeeze (A&M, 1982)

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HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS by

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by Vampire Weekend (XL Recordings, 2010)

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Beach Reads Books to savor, from childhood classics to guilty pleasures KIDS 8 AND UNDER THE FALLING RAINDROP

by Neil Johnson and Joel Chin (Tricycle)

by David Wiesner (Clarion)

FLOTSAM

LADYBUG GIRL AT THE BEACH by David Soman

and Jacky Davis (Dial) ONE MORNING IN MAINE

by Robert McCloskey (Viking) PRETEENS AND TEENS BRAND-NEW EMILY

by

Ginger Rue (Ten Speed) THE DARK IS RISING SEQUENCE by Susan

Cooper (Margaret K. McEdleny, boxed set of five) LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic)

ADULTS HOUSE RULES

by Jodi Picoult (Atria) THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC

by Richard Russo (Knopf) by Pat Conroy (Bantam)

THE PRINCE OF TIDES

T O P : I S T O C K P H O T O ; B E R N A R D S T E I N H I L B E R / L A I F/ R E D U X

Family package at Four Points by the Sheraton Kuching (60-82/280-888; fourpoints.com/kuching). What’s Included Accommodation in a standard room; breakfast for two adults and two children; 4 P.M. late check-out; a 20 percent discount on a buffet; half off a second room or second night; and priority booking for a connecting room. Cost From RM250, weekends only, two-night minimum, to December 31. Savings 50 percent.

White Elephant package at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok (662/659-9000; mandarinoriental.com).

What’s Included A two-night stay in two Superior River Wing rooms; guided tours to sights mentioned in the children’s book The Mystery of Bangkok’s Golden Treasure, including Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Arun and the Golden Chedi; afternoon tea for four followed by catfish feeding; two set dinners for four; a 60-minute spa treatment for two adults; a kids’ treasure hunt; a khlong river tour; and an elephant ride. Cost From Bt45,165, through October 15.

Savings 50 percent.

FAMILY ADVENTURES START HERE

Just 90 minutes from Bangkok is another world. A Lost World of adventure and surprise.

A world with something for the whole family, including a water park, rock climbing, watersports, tennis, and a kids’ club. A world with a sumptuous spa village where you can relax body, mind and spirit.

This is a world where you will enjoy wonderful food, including BBQ and grill, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese and Italian dishes.

Welcome to our world.

For more information and to book on-line visit www.centararesorts.com/cmbr

T. +66 (0)38 301 234 F. +66(0) 38 714 999 E: cmbr@chr.co.th

Here for you

Bangkok • Hua Hin • Pattaya • Rayong • Krabi • Samui • Koh Pha-Ngan • Koh Kood • Phuket • Trat • Hat Yai • Chiang Mai • Mae Sot • Udon Thani • The Maldives • India • Egypt

D E TO U R

Learning Curve FROM EPIC HORSEBACK BATTLES TO A NIGHTTIME ZOO, ASIA OFFERS A TREASURE TROVE OF FUN-FILLED EXPERIENCES TO TEACH KIDS A THING OR TWO

BY NICOLAI HARTVIG ILLUSTR ATED BY WASINEE CHANTAKORN

» Singapore Night Safari The world’s first nocturnal zoo reveals wild animals at their most active time, bathed in artificial moonlight.

Here, biodiversity rules: lions and tigers, elephants and giraffes, fruit bats and giant flying squirrels are among the 1,000 or so creatures from 120 species that kids can spot on an overnight stay or a shorter visit.

Eschewing conventional zoo cages, the park uses less intrusive barriers—moats, dense vegetation and hillocks, as well as the occasional glass enclosure—to keep the experience authentic.

Visitors can stroll along the grounds’ walkways or trails at their leisure, though there’s also a tram tour available—a blessing for tired little ones. 80 Mandai Lake Road, Singapore; 65/6269-3411; nightsafari.com.sg; admission S$22 for adults, S$15 for children.

» Shilla Millennium Park Majestic horseback battles and martial-arts demonstrations recall South Korea’s famed 10thcentury Hwarang, or Flower Knights, at this purpose-built

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historical theme park of islands and ponds outside the coastal city of Gyeongju, about four hours south of Seoul. Its village of painstakingly restored hanok, or traditional houses, gives

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visitors a glimpse of old Korea, while an arts-and-crafts island offers workshops in carpentry, pottery, fabric-dyeing and even soy-sauce–making. Gyeongju was once the seat of the Shilla

dynasty and is rich with historical sights, from towering green-grass burial mounds to serene Buddhist temples on the mountainside. 791-70 Shinpyeong-dong, Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea; 82-54/778-2051; smpark. co.kr; admission KRW18,000 for adults, KRW11,000 for children.

» Fukagawa Edo Museum Modern Tokyo is neon-buzzed and towering, which makes this life-size reconstruction of the old city a must-visit. The Fukagawa Edo Museum’s 11 traditional Japanese houses, authentically rendered in wood and paper, replicate a 19th-century district on the Sumida River, complete with greengrocers and rice shops, which kids are free to explore. The museum’s fire watchtower is a sight to behold— not to mention Mamesuke, the museum’s incongruous but wonderful robot cat, who can sometimes be spotted sleeping on a rooftop. Wait till July to visit, since the museum is currently closed for repairs.

1-3-28 Shirakawa, Koto, Tokyo; 81-3/3630-8625; kcf.or.jp/ fukagawa; admission ¥300 for adults, ¥50 for children.

» Museo Pambata Hands-on children’s museums are many, but Manila’s Museo Pambata is one of a kind.

Co-founded by the Philippines’ first female cabinet minister and former UN ambassador Estefania Aldaba-Lim, the Pambata has a mandate to spread the word about children’s rights, literacy and health, and provide educational

» Petrosains Discovery Centre Singing dinosaurs, smoking volcanoes, a roughweather helicopter simulation and a cavernous oil-drop ride are just some of the ways Kuala Lumpur’s Petrosains Discovery Centre teaches kids about petroleum. Set within the iconic Petronas towers, the center has no shortage of creative displays, from historical dioramas depicting earthquakes and fossil creation, to a Formula One racing area equipped with dizzying speed simulators. It also conducts outreach programs about science and road safety at local schools. Petronas Twin Towers, Level 4 Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur; 60-3/2331 8181; petrosains.com.my; admission RM12 for adults, RM4 for children, family package RM24.

opportunities for the capital’s youth.

Its eight exhibition rooms span nature and recycling, science and the human body, and even offer advice on how kids can manage their pocket money. Keep an eye on its Facebook group for any scheduled performances—think shadow plays, folk dances and storytelling—most of which take place on Saturdays.

Roxas Boulevard corner South Drive, Ermita, Manila; 63-2/5231797; museopambata.org; admission P100.

» China Science and Technology Museum Asia’s science museums tend to feature standard

fare such as crowd-pleasing robots, but Beijing’s throws in eclectic attractions like air cycling—which involves riding a bike on a wire above ground—dinosaur fossils and, believe it or not, mock rifle-shooting.

With plenty of room for exhibits since reopening last September near the Beijing 2008 Olympics site, the museum holds the capsule from China’s Shenzhou 1 spaceship, and also traces progress back to old Chinese inventions that have stood the test of time, from the compass to groundbreaking printing methods. 5 Bei Chendong Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing; 8610/5904-1000; cstm.org.cn; admission RMB30 for adults, RMB15 for children. ✚

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VO LU N TO U R I S M

Helping Hands an Elephant 1 Help Lampang, Thailand

WHY GO Elephants never forget, or so the saying goes.

Sadly, many of Thailand’s gentle giants are likely to have painful memories. Caught in the wild, they’re often mistreated by their caretakers, who put them to work with adventure-trekking companies or performance troupes, or remove their tusks to sell as ivory on the black market.

THE TRIP The Thai Elephant Conservation Center (changthai.com; from Bt3,500 per person, plus tip for mahout) in Lampang province welcomes volunteers.

Activities depend on your choice of program: you may find yourself bathing a baby elephant, learning the skills of a mahout—a fully fledged elephant handler—or, if you stay overnight, guiding your elephant into the wilderness and leaving him at his favorite spot for the night while you retire to one of three wood-and-thatch houses. The center cares for around 50 elephants and has an on-site hospital, which program fees subsidize. T+L Tip: For your own relaxing soak, try the nearby San Kamphaeng hot springs.

2

Build Wheelchairs Siem Reap, Cambodia

WHY GO Cambodia’s tourism industry may be flourishing

thanks to the draws of the Angkor era, but the vast majority of locals still live in poverty following years of civil war and repression under the Khmer Rouge. A week of volunteering will go a long way toward helping people in need, including children and adults injured by landmines.

THE TRIP Week-long programs from Globe Aware (globeaware.org; US$1,200 per person excluding airfare) run in Siem Reap once or twice a month, from Saturday to Saturday. Itineraries are flexible, but volunteers can expect a plethora of activities: think putting together wheelchairs

Traveling the Mongolian steppes

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and hand-delivering them to landmine victims, working with local street children and teaching English to Buddhist novice monks. Cultural-awareness and cookery classes are also on offer, as well as built-in downtime—essential for checking out Siem Reap’s unmissable attractions, from the ruins at Angkor Wat to the stylish boutiques that have sprung up in the city center.

English 3 Teach Bangkok, Thailand

WHY GO Thailand’s dynamic capital is one of Asia’s most popular tourist hubs, yet it’s not without problems of its own. Young people from around the country arrive looking for big-city opportunities, but are often greeted with harsh realities, like poverty and overcrowding. Teaching English to underprivileged communities is one way to help.

THE TRIP Staying in family-sized rooms provided by Cross Cultural Solutions (crossculturalsolutions.org; from US$2,784 for two weeks, excluding flights), volunteers work in local schools, community hubs and day-care centers. Children can help out as teacher’s aides—or simply play with and inspire confidence in other kids, especially those with disabilities who tend to be stigmatized in Thai society. After school, volunteers can soak up the local color, exploring Bangkok’s myriad temples, bazaars and food markets. They can also take their turn at being students, with Thai–cooking and language classes.

on a Rhino 4Spy Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Borneo

WHY GO The Sumatran rhino is one of the world’s most

endangered species, with only 200 or so left. Not only are their habitats imperiled by deforestation and climate change, but poachers hunt their horns, prized in traditional

Wheelchair building

Rhino research

F R O M FA R L E F T : C O U R T E S Y O F P R O J E C T S A B R O A D ( 2 ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F G L O B E A W A R E ; C O U R T E S Y O F H A N D S U P H O L I D AY S ; C O U R T E S Y O F C R O S S C U LT U R A L S O L U T I O N S ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H A I E L E P H A N T C O N S E R VAT I O N C E N T E R

GIVING BACK ISN’T JUST FOR GROWNUPS. HERE, T+L’S PICK OF FEEL-GOOD VOLUNTEER VACATIONS TO SHARE WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY. BY NICOLAI HARTVIG

Chinese medicine. Understanding these shy, solitary creatures, and their threatened environments, is the key to helping them survive.

THE TRIP On-the-ground info gathered on a trip with Hands Up Holidays (handsupholidays.com; from US$3,750, excluding flights) will help protect these animals from extinction. An all-inclusive 15-day package has you and your family collecting invaluable survey data in Borneo’s Tabin Wildlife Reserve, home to an estimated 50 Sumatran rhinos, over three days. The rest of the time is spent on an action-packed jungle adventure, from white-water rafting in Kiulu to proboscis-monkey spotting in Sukau to a trek to the Lipad mud volcano. Jungle training and water sports also figure on the itinerary.

At night, you’ll be staying in three-star hotels, a jungle lodge and an island chalet. You’ll even get a chance to sleep under the stars, in open-air hammocks at a rainforest camp.

with Nomads 5 Journey Terelj National Park, Mongolia

WHY GO Mongolian nomads travel the steppes their entire lives, herding livestock across sweeping grasslands and setting up gers, or yurts, their unique itinerant homes; the fireplace at their heart symbolizes the link to their ancestors. Following them on their journey offers an insight into a dying way of life, steeped in tradition and a reverence for nature. Meantime, hosts are happy to learn a little English—or a new ball game—on the way.

THE TRIP Projects Abroad (projects-abroad.co.uk; US$3,045 for two weeks, discounts for children aged 15 or under) organizes tailored two-week–minimum trips in Mongolia’s Terelj National Park. Between travels on horse- or camel-back, volunteers may find themselves tending to animals, cooking Mongolian food from scratch, drinking traditional airaag, or fermented mare’s milk (kids can try the non-alcoholic kind), and even engaging in the odd bout of local wrestling. The remote locations and range of physical tasks on this trip make it better for smaller families with older children. Be prepared to soak in the silence and beauty of the vast, empty landscapes—

and to receive your own Mongolian name. ✚

Teaching English

Guiding an elephant

CITY GUIDE

k (geeky fan) culture Otaku mingles with tasty eats at Robota (1-28-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku; 813/3370-4322; snacks for two ¥2,700), an evenings-only pub with dozens of colorful robot figurines along the walls and oddball Japanese munchies like “taco rice”—rice topped with tacoflavored ground beef and lettuce—

Eat The curved 15-story Hotel Nikko Tokyo (1-9-1 Daiba, Minato-ku; 81-3/5500-5500; hnt.co.jp; doubles from ¥22,000) gives striking strik city views from the th bayside of Odaiba, a reclaimed isle just a monorail m ride from the c city center that boasts plenty p of kid-pleasing attractions. at Be sure to check chec out Sega’s rideladen l d amusement park Joypolis (1-6-1 Daiba, Minato-ku; 81-3/5500-1801; admission ¥500 for adults, ¥300 for children) and Oedo Onsen Monogatari (2-57 Omi, Koto-ku; 81-3/5500-1126; ooedoonsen.jp; admission ¥2,900 for adults, ¥1,600 for children), a hot-springs resort where you

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brought to you by gals dressed in kitsch manga-inspired uniforms.

Ostensibly a theme park, Namjatown’s (2nd Fl., Sunshine City o, Bldg., 3 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku; 81-3/59500765; namja.jp; snacks and admissions vary) biggest draw is food— here you’ll find Tokyo Dessert Republic,

Ikebukuro Gyoza City and Ice Cream City (offering dozens of flavors, including wasabi) all under one roof. Also on the premises is the spook-worthy Mononoke Bangaichi, v where visitors are dared to explore ha a haunted inn. T+L Tip: For pa parents, the Healing Forest s spa offers treatments from a around the world. Try the v vigorous Philippine hilotst style massage.

Tokyo at Play JAPAN’S ANIME-OBSESSED CAPITAL IS PERFECT FOR KIDS, WITH ROBOTS, QUIRKY THEME PARKS AND CUTESY CHARACTERS GALORE. BY TIM HORNYAK

Stay don a yukata and stroll through a re-created medieval town before getting wet.

National Children’s Castle Hotel (5-53-1 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku; kodomono-shiro.or.jp; 81-3/37975677; Western-style doubles from ¥16,170, Japanese-style rooms from ¥7,175 per person) isn’t a real castle, but it doubles as a mini-kingdom for kids, offering three- and fourwheeled bikes, a giant jungle gym, music and puppetry events, ents, and an indoor pool to splash in.

With only three rooms, the meticulously kept Tokyo Ryokan (2-4-8 Nishi-Asakusa, Taito-ku;

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81-90/8879-3599; tokyoryokan.com; Japanese-style rooms ¥3,000 per person) is a genuine e wooden ryokan, or traditional inn, complete plete with tatami-mat floors, futons and shared bathrooms. It’s a few blocks from Hanayashiki (2-28-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku; 81-3/3842-8780; hanayashiki.net; admission ¥900 for adults, ¥400 for children; free for und under-4s), Japan’s oldest amusement park, as well as the amu must-see Sensoji Temple, mu fronted by kiosks selling fr everything from tacky wigs e to scrumptious age-manju, or deep-fried bean buns, in historic Asakusa. hist

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: I S T O C K P H O T O ; C O U R T E SY O F N A M J AT O W N ; I S T O C K P H O T O ; I S T O C K P H O T O ; C O U R T E SY O F H O T E L N I K KO . S U S H I I M A G E : I S T O C K

Black-clad warrior–waiters at Ninja Akasaka (2-14-3 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku; 81-3/5157-3936; multicourse me menus from ¥5,555) surpr surprise patrons with ma magic tricks and se serve up menu ite items like “ninjast style tempura,” w worth trying for the nam alone. name

On Sundays and holidays, roll down to the cycling center at Meiji Outer Gardens (10-2 Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku-ku; 81-3/3405-8753), where you can rent one of 400 bicycles and explore a leafy, car-free track. Right next to it is Niko-Niko Park, an open-air expanse equipped with slides, a trampoline and waterfalls for smaller kids to frolic to their hearts’ content. T+L Tip: Parents can keep an eye on the kids from one of the adjacent cafés.

Fans of Tokyo’s erstwhile giant Gundam robot, now sadly disassembled, can head to the Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama showroom (2-1-1 MinamiAoyama, Minato-ku; 81-

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: CO U RT E SY O F TO KYO S E A L I F E PA R K ; I STO C K P H OTO ( 2 )

Excursion Don’t miss a visit to the Ghibli Museum (1-1-83 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi; 81-570/055777; ghibli-museum.jp), a 15-minute stroll from Mitaka Station, itself a 20-minute train ride from Shinjuku Station. Showcasing the art of Hayao Miyazaki, creator of such anime classics as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, the museum hosts a giant, plush-toy Cat Bus where kids can jump and down, as well as a zoetrope and a mockup of Miyazaki’s atelier.

English-speaking guides are on hand for those who don’t speak Japanese. T+L Tip: Purchase tickets before your visit, or they won’t let you in. See the website for details.

3/3423-4118) for their dose of robot fun. The carmaker’s awesome talking, walking robot ambassador, Asimo, comes to life for short daily demonstrations at 11 A.M., 1:30 P.M. and 3 P.M. You can pose for photos with the humanoid machine after his performance.

If your kids like animals, they’ll love Tokyo Sea Life Park (6-2-3 Rinkaicho, Edogawa-ku; 81-3/3869-5152; tokyo-zoo.net) on the shores of Tokyo Bay. Less crowded than the betterbetter-known Ueno Zoo, the park has an aquarium featuring bluefin tuna, fe sharks, penguins and sh puffins. From Tokyo p Station, take the JR S Keiyo line to Kaisai Rinkai Ke Koen Station.

Koe

Play

At Meiji Outer Gardens you can rent one of 400 bicycles and explore a leafy, car-free track

Shop

Rising out of the word’s busiest train station, the flagship Odakyu Department Store (1-1-3 NishiShinjuku, Shinjuku-ku; 813/3342-1111; odakyu-dept. co.jp) has a floor of kids’ clothing that leads out onto a rooftop playground, as well as a food basement with over 100 stalls selling everything g from traditional Japanese sweets and bento boxes to imported Belgian chocolates.

The hobby shops in Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronics mecca, are a toy collector’s paradise. Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby (4th Fl., Radio Kaikan Bldg., 1-15-16 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku; 81-3/3253-1951) proffers a

cornucopia of exquisitely made sci-fi action figures, robots and doe-eyed maidens. Their craftsmanship craftsma is matched by the model m trains at nearby Imon I Im Models (3rd Fl., F Uchida Bldg, 1-9-9 1SotoK Kanda, Ch Chiyoda-ku; 81-3/529681-3 1900), 1900) though think twice before you decide to take one home: strictly for fanatics, these flawless reproductions of vintage steam engines go for hundreds of thousands of yen. ✚

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A DV ENT U R E

Eco Escapade BALI OFFERS KIDS CAMPING ADVENTURES DESIGNED TO SAVE, NOT STAIN, THE ENVIRONMENT. BY ROBYN ECKHARDT ILLUSTRATED BY WASINEE CHANTAKORN

W

hat’s the best way to inspire environmental awareness in the next generation? Try sending kids to Green Camp Bali (Jln. Raya Sibang Kaja, Abiansemal, Badung; 62-36/1469-875; greencampbali.com; from U$75 per day or US$110 overnight). Its green and holistic—not to mention fabulously fun—camping experiences are bound to give them a learning-filled vacation they won’t forget.

In the heart of a pristine jungle, Green Camp is just 20 minutes away from downtown Ubud and mere steps from the Agung River. Its eight-hectare campus boasts a small cacao plantation, vegetable and herb gardens, and a teaching center occupying the world’s largest bamboo building. Campers

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lodge in comfy thatch-roofed yurts with attached baths (day camping is also an option) and fuel up on healthy meals prepared with ingredients harvested on site.

Five- to eleven-year-olds can discover Balinese culture by making chareng (offering trays) and staging their own wayang kulit (shadow puppet) shows, or try river tubing and mud-pit wrestling for high-energy fun. Older kids can watch the sun rise after a challenging night hike up Mt. Batur, race rafts built by their own hands from nothing but bamboo and string, and learn about the life cycle of rice via a hike and treasure hunt around local paddies. Programs vary, but a five-night stay guarantees the full Green Camp experience. ✚

RESORTS

4 Rivers

Opened last November, this secluded resort comprises a string of floating pavilions along Cambodia’s Tatai River in the southwestern province of Koh Kong. Its 12 spacious tented villas, all blessed with private decks and four-poster beds, are perfect for taking in vistas of the water and the Cardamom Mountains beyond. Naturally, activities are riverrelated—think swimming or canoeing, or visiting the nearby Tatai Falls. The lodge’s aquatic theme extends to its Khmer restaurant, whose menu features an abundance of freshly caught fish.

Fun Factor: The 20,000-square-kilometer Cardamom Mountain range and rainforest are a biodiversity hotspot, with several species of monkeys, Asian elephants, crocodiles and Javan rhinos, and an abundance of birdlife. Your kids will be convinced they’re appearing on Animal Planet.

Tatai River, Koh Kong, Cambodia; 855/35-6900650; ecolodges.asia; villas from US$120.

Dune

Out of the Ordinary FROM INDIA TO VIETNAM, THESE KID-FRIENDLY LODGES AND BEACH RESORTS ARE ANYTHING BUT COOKIE-CUTTER. YOUR KIDS WILL AGREE. BY TANVI CHHEDA

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CO U RT ESY O F 4 R I V E R S ( 2 )

A bird’s-eye view of 4 Rivers.

Top right: Villas at the resort.

A three-hour drive from Chennai, this beach hideaway walks the talk when it comes to ecofriendliness. Along with organic cotton linens and plant-based toiletries, it boasts on-site composting, solar panels and even wastewater treatment.

(Skeptical of the milk available in town, Dune is also home to 14 happy cows.) The area was originally an artists’ colony, and the resort stays true to its roots: not only does it host a handful of artists in residence,

but local and international artists are behind the resort’s room designs and light fixtures—look out for the chandelier made from colorful soda bottles. The multi-cuisine restaurant serves everything from steamed idlis and sambhar to Thai green curry.

Fun Factor: Send kids off to milk a cow, play in the sandbox or learn about organic plants and herbs in the on-site garden, while you relax with an authentic Ayurvedic massage.

Eco Beach Village, Pudhukuppam (via Pondicherry University), Tamil Nadu, India; 91-413/265-5751; thedunehotel.com; doubles from Rs5,500.

about indigenous plants and looking after the environment.

Fun Factor: Tigers are the attraction at Kanha, and the lodge’s experts will teach you to identify their pugmarks (that’s naturalist-speak for paw prints).

Kanha, Village Kohka, District Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, India; 91-76-36/256-806; singinawa.in; doubles from Rs15,000.

F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F S I N G I N AWA J U N G L E LO D G E ( 2 ) ; CO U RT ESY O F D U N E ( 2 )

Ki-em Art House Hon Khoi’s picturesque hills, rice paddies and salt fields provide the backdrop to this so-called art house, actually a beachside resort tucked away in Van Phong Bay. Named after the contemporary Vietnamese artist who founded it, the property hosts guests in nine elegant and rustic bungalows outfitted with reclaimed materials and roofs held up by wooden columns, in keeping with traditional Vietnamese building style. Its restaurant fosters a communal atmosphere with a rotating daily menu of vegetarian and seafood dishes like fried tofu with lemongrass, Vietnamese pancakes and braised fish with tamarind sauce. After lunch, take a nap in the hammock outside your room.

Fun Factor: The surrounding fishing villages are perfect for exploring by bike, while the aquamarine bay is great for diving.

Doc Let Beach, Van Phong Bay, Ninh Hoa, Hon Khoi, Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam; 84-58/3-670-952; ki-em.com; doubles from US$180.

Family Stays From Top: At Singinawa Jungle Lodge; the lodge’s laid-back living area; a bathtub at Dune; artful touches at the hotel.

Singinawa Jungle Lodge

This two-year-old lodge on the fringe of India’s Kanha National Park was opened by a husband–andwife team, Latika and Nanda Rana, both passionate conservationists whom guests might recognize from TV—the couple are regular fixtures on the National Geographic and Discovery channels. Set on 23 hectares, the 12 stone cottages here were built in natural clearings, which means not a single tree was cut down in their construction. From teakwood beds to terracotta tiger lamps, work by local artisans adorns every corner. To deepen their communityminded efforts, the Ranas recently established the Singinawa Foundation, which teaches local villages

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DIVERSIONS

HAIR-RAISING ROLLERCOASTER RIDES? HIGHTECH PLAYSTATION PLAYROOMS? THESE BRAND-NEW ASIAN OPENINGS ARE CATERING DIRECTLY TO KIDS.

BY LIANG XINYI

» Universal Studios, Singapore Don’t be fooled by its compact size: at just 20 hectares and a breezy 10-minute walk from end to end, Universal Studios’ (8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island; 65/6577-8899; rwsentosa.com; admission from S$32) first Southeast Asian outpost is jampacked with drawcards for kids, not to mention kids at heart. Part of Singapore’s Resorts World mega-development, this movieinspired theme park opened in March with 24 attractions set around a cute, albeit modestly proportioned, lagoon. Classic rides like Steven Spielberg’s Lights, Camera, Action! specialeffects show, the Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster and the Jurassic Park raft plunge will

appease Universal Studios aficionados, but the park also boasts novelties like the soon-tobe-opened Madagascar flume ride and the towering Battlestar Galactica, a pair of duelling rollercoasters that speed up to 90 kilometers per hour. For less thrill and more chill, amble down Mel’s Drive-In with burger and soda in hand, or sport special-vision glasses for a fairytale adventure in Shrek’s Far Far Away Castle.

TO P : CO U RT ESY O F C I T Y O F D R E A M S ; U N I V E R SA L ST U D I OS S I N GA P O R E ( 2 )

Where Kids Rule!

At the City of Dreams. Below left: Universal Studios’ “Marilyn” poses with a visitor. Below right: Shrek’s Far Far Away Castle.

Opposite: At the Bel Air in Phuket.

CO U RT E SY O F B E L A I R R E S O RT & S PA , P H U K E T

» Kids’ City at City of Dreams, Macau While grownups try their hand at Baccarat and roulette, the younger set can amuse themselves within the sprawling 1,000-square-meter premises of Kids’ City at City of Dreams (Estrada do Istmo, Cotai; 853/8868-3000; cityofdreams macau.com; admission HK$45), the newest addition to Macau’s glitzy Cotai strip. Tots can enjoy hours of tumbling fun thanks to slides, rope bridges and even a bouncy air castle, or get their creative juices flowing with brightly colored crayons and a glass graffiti wall for doodling. A pink walk-in closet, complete with fluffy princess dresses, gaudy accessories and faux hair dryers, is perfect for playing dress-up, while arcade and console games,

as well as an interactive PlayMotion video wall, will appeal to older kids. Don’t worry about little ones running amok: professionally trained staff are on hand to keep an eye on them.

What’s more, for the truly timedeprived, they can even take the hassle out of planning kids’ birthday parties.

» Kids’ World at Bel Air Resort & Spa, Phuket Situated on Phuket’s laid-back Cape Panwa, Kids’ World at Bel Air Resort & Spa (89/9 Moo 7, Sakdidet Rd., Phuket; 66-76/393620; belairpanwa.com; family suites from Bt4,950) gives kids plenty of room to roam about, with a 170-square-meter indoor space divided into three zones.

Smaller kids can frolic in a

playroom equipped with colorful balls, a playhouse and slide, and a big drawing table; they can also make their own T-shirts, dabble in face painting or indulge in the odd pillow fight—all without parents kicking up a fuss. Teens can chill out with video games.

And parents can snuggle with their kids on plush bean bags in a movie room which features a 48inch HD flatscreen TV. ✚

At One World Hotel, we’ll make room for hundreds of unique experiences.

Located within the thriving Bandar Utama township in the city of Petaling Jaya, the exterior of One World Hotel teases with the promise of a 5-star urban experience. The interior, on the other hand, takes the promise even further.

Award-winning restaurants, top-notch business and meeting facilities, a ballroom big enough to fit a jumbo jet, 438 beautifully lavish rooms available in 6 unique categories, numerous sporting and spa facilities and an adjacent 5 million sq ft shopping centre; there’s always something around the corner to quench your thirst for adventure or pamper your yearning for relaxation.

Rest assured, One World Hotel is a medley of engaging experiences, ready to unfold the moment you step in.

The BrandLaureate SMEs Chapter Awards 2009 Corporate Branding Best Brands in Hotel – Business

Cinnamon Coffee C ff House Malaysia Tourism Award 2008 - 2009 Innovative Restaurant Premier Award - International Restaurant

first avenue, bandar utama city centre, 47800 petaling jaya, selangor, malaysia. toll free domestic: 1300 88 7888 toll free international: 1800 88 7888 tel: 603 7681 1111 fax: 603 7681 1188 email: sales@oneworldhotel.com.my website: www.oneworldhotel.com.my

S PA S

Young & Pampered WHAT TO DO WITH THE KIDS WHEN YOU NEED TO ESCAPE TO THE SPA? JUST TAKE THEM WITH YOU! HERE, E HERE T+L’S PICK OF CREATIVE SPA TREATMENTS FOR KIDS AND T+ PARENTS ALIKE. BY CHAMI JOTISALIKORN PA ILLU ILLUSTRATED BY WASINEE CHANTAKORN

» Victorian Spa, Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel By teatime, they’ve run circles around Cinderella’s Castle, danced with Mickey Mouse and frolicked with the seven dwarfs.

It’s enough to make you scream like one of your kids: “Now it’s my turn!” Exhausted parents can thank the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel (Lantau Island; 852/3510-6388; victorianspa.com.hk; kids’ treatments from HK$100) for its palatial Victorian Spa, which offers lavish body and beauty treatments. While the Kids’ Fun Spa Menu keeps tots entertained with face painting, nail art and hair braiding, the real cosseting is reserved for grownups: mums are catered to with a hair salon, nail studio and makeup studio, while dads are pampered with barbering, men’s facials and massages. There’s even teeth-whitening for those who want that perfect Hollywood smile. » Ice Cream Spa, Conrad Maldives Think Maldives and most people think honeymoon, but the Spa Retreat at the Conrad Maldives (Rangali Island; 960/668-0629; conradhotels1.hilton.com; kids’ treatments from US$25) thoughtfully caters to family holidays with its awardwinning Ice Cream Spa, specially created for the next generation. While parents escape for shiatsu massages, hot-stone treatments or lymphatic drainage in stilt villas set over a turquoise lagoon, their offspring can enjoy body scrubs and massage oils soaked in fun flavors like Chocoholic Chocolate, Vanilla Velvet, Peaches ’n’ Cream, and Lavender Lullaby—all subtly concocted to lull hyperactive kids into tranquil submission. Cherry on Top facials tend to the needs of young complexions, with treatments like the Calm Me Down, perfect for sunburnt noses, the Clean Me Up, tailored to troubled teenage skin, and the I’m a Boy, designed to groom mini-men.

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» Four Seasons Langkawi Spa Family spa treatments at Four Seasons Lang4/950kawi (Jln. Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi; 604/950ids’ treat8888; fourseasons.com/langkawi; kids’ d kids ments from RM80) bring parents and elaxing together by letting them share their relaxing an enjoy experiences. Mothers and daughters can ments like mani-pedis, with customized kids’ treatments er Jasmine’s Jewels, Princess Pedicure or Her nd Majesty’s Manicure; there’s also henna hand y painting for little hands and feet. The family massage class is another great way for the family to bond; kids and parents can learn s simple Malaysian and Thai massage techniques to be practiced and shared after the holiday.

When the kids get restless, a complimentary kids’ yoga class helps them focus and calm down. And at day’s end, mom and dad can snag some private downtime while the little ones splash in ths the In-Villa Tutti Fruity Bath, with scented bubble baths ber. from the spa to help induce a night of peaceful slumber.

T+L Tip: Expectant mothers, take note: the Pre-Natal Massage relieves leg and back pain, while the soothing Nurturing Touch massage addresses the physical and emotional changes of pregnancy.

» Jiwa Spa, Conrad Bali Set above a spectacular 350-meter beach, the Conrad Bali’s (Tanjung Benoa, Bali; 62-36/177-8788; conrad hotels1.hilton.com; kids’ treatments from RP150) meandering, palm-fringed lagoon pool features a delightful kid’s island where youngsters can relish Island Spa kiddie treatments like massages, nail art, hair braiding and tempo-iwa rary tattoos. Parents can retreat to the cool depths of the Jiwa Spa or the garden spa pavilions for women’s and men’s facials, three-hour massage packages that come with champagne and fruit, or holistic treatments like chakra balancing or crystal therapy. For together time, the Mum & Me treatment offers mothers a Moisture Radiance facial or Inner Radiance massage, while little ones get to play in a chocolate-milk bath supervised by a therapist, and even take home a bath toy at the end of the day. ✚

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STYLE

Just for Kids From below: Clara Mia’s footwear; wrapping up at Dandelion; fresh, clean styles from Kidsagogo.

Island Chic

WITH BALI’S DESIGN TALENT BURSTING AT THE SEAMS, KIDS’ FASHIONS HAVE NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD. BY SAMANTHA BROWN PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER WISE

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ake Bali’s fledgling textiles industry, stir in a smattering of creative expatriates and local artisans, sprinkle with oodles of inspiration from palm-fringed beaches and smoldering volcanoes, and you’ve got yourself a one-stop island shop for beautiful kids’ designer clothes. Better still, designs are sold at a fraction of the price you’ll pay after export. Here, T+L’s top five children’s labels.

KIDSAGOGO At Kidsagogo (Jln. Kayu Aya No 29; 62-36/1736651), think crisp blues and greens for boys, and hot pinks and oranges for girls, swirled with lots of cooling white, geometric batik and bold handstitching. Owner Sue Hadinata opened her first store in 1989, after dresses she’d made for her own two girls drew encouraging comments. “From the moment I opened the shop I haven’t stopped,” she

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says. Indeed, she now employs more than 100 tailors for her custom-dyed Balinese fabrics and augments them with trimmings picked up on her travels. “I want a clean, fresh look for children,” she explains, and “to keep children looking like children.” Don’t miss her homewares and accessories too.

LITTLEHORN CLOTHING COMPANY Bold graphics and fresh colors define the creations at Littlehorn Clothing Company (The Corner Store, Jln. Laksmana 10a; 62-36/173-0276; littlehornclothing company.com), a boutique label that rolls out two reliably imaginative and offbeat collections a year for girls, boys and infants. Focusing on lightweight cottons, the brand is the perfect go-to for that unusual blankie for a special bub or a tee for a sixyear-old with a rocker attitude. Designer Sean Cosgrove says Littlehorn’s signature look is “very

●

The Corner Store stocks kidswear by Littlehorn Clothing Company.

Clockwise from top left: Vibrant textiles at Coco and Ginger; Dandelion’s designs; at Clara Mia.

pop-orientated.” Small fabric runs make for a plethora of distinct prints.

COCO AND GINGER It doesn’t have its own shopfront yet, but new entrant Coco and Ginger (cocoandginger.com) is a label worth hunting down. Ceramicist turned designer Saffron Pugh-Blaby draws inspiration for her girls’ collection both from Balinese textiles and the color that infuses life on the island, from the grandest of ceremonies to the smallest of daily offerings. “My heart lies in color,” she says. “I find that inspiring, to go into a shop and to be able to pick from a rainbow of beautiful silk batik.” Dreamy, floaty design elements are balanced with bolder hand-embroidered pieces, which work just as well on their own in Bali as they do with black tights and Mary Janes in cooler climes.

●

DANDELION Dandelion (Jln. Raya Basangkasa No. 28; 62-36/1730375; dandelionkid.com) opened to great acclaim among Bali’s expatriates in mid-2008. Its collections for boys and girls have a clean, smart European look with plenty of mix-and-match items, so you may find yourself walking out with a whole lot more than you

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initially intended. “We have to go fresh because we are in a summer country, so it’s a really bright range, but with French styling,” says owner Gabrielle Morabia, who used to work in the rag trade for grownups. “My design has always been very fresh and contemporary, and more on the feminine, girly side, so the look has just translated into kidswear.”

CLARA MIA The interior at Clara Mia (Jln. Laksmana 43; 6236/173-3893) is as tiny and carefully curated as the shop’s fabrics are delicate and divine. Designer Anne Jegou takes French vintage clothes as her inspiration, drawing from sundresses unearthed from her grandmother’s cupboard, which she used to don as a child, as well as some of the clothes her grandfather wore as a boy. “I’m trying to re-create that classic collection, but with materials that are a little bit more modern,” says French-born Jegou, who was raised in North Africa and did a stint in Shanghai before setting up in Bali. Her brand’s allnatural fabrics are nearly all sourced overseas, with linens from China, silks from Thailand and cottons from France. T+L Tip: If you fall in love with a particular item, buy as many as you can, since designs run in very limited editions. ✚

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StylishTraveler

Chinatown Spice Bangkokâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bustling merchant district heats up with these sensuous, sleek designer looks.

Photographed by TOM HOOPS Styled by MAC VATCHARAPON

Chinese silk dress, Asava.

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Chinese silk dress, Asava; scarf, Hermès; sunglasses, Gucci.

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ANGKOK’S

CHINATOWN MIGHT NOT BE AN OBVIOUS choice to showcase the latest in high fashion, but then little in the Thai capital is ever predictable. Even at the height of the country’s hot season when 40 degrees isn’t out of the question, shops spill their wares onto the crowded streets, the cacophony common to any Chinese city is never ending and treasures abound if you’re willing to search them out. Among them, at least for an afternoon, are these offerings from designers, both of local reknown and global recognition. Striking for their modern styles and traffic-stopping patterns, these distinctly Asian-flavored ensembles are as suitable for a five-star cocktail party as they are on the streets of Bangkok’s oldest neighborhoods. In either locale, the only warning is to expect some extra attention. ✚

Printed silk top and printed shoes, Prada; printed cotton skirt, Boss Black; bag and cuff, Chanel; sunglasses, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own.

Cotton top, skirt and silk coat, Asava.

Opposite: Silk dress, Kenzo; sandals, Fendi; Opposite: Chinesebracelet silk and pants, ring, stylistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s jump Asava. own.

STOCKISTS Asava asava.co.th Code 10 991 Siam Paragon Shopping Center, Rama 1 Rd., Pathumwan, Bangkok Gucci gucci.com Hermès hermes.com Beazie Roberts Fine Jewellery beazieroberts.com Model: Sarah B Make-up & hair: Kittiya Anjimakorn Jewelry: Courtesy of Beazie Roberts Fine Jewellery Photographed in and around Shanghai Mansion (479–481 Yaowaraj Rd.; Bangkok; 662/221-2121; shanghaimansion.com)

Gold dress, Code 10; scarf, Hermès.

Opposite: Chinese silk dress, Code 10.

A

| packing

T TIMES I’M TRAVELING MORE

than two weeks per month, and I always hit the ground running,” says Gail Simmons, who just wrapped up her sixth season as a judge on hit reality cooking show Top Chef.

Simmons is also the special projects director at T+L’s sister magazine Food & Wine in the U.S. Whether she’s on the set in Las Vegas or at F&W’s annual Classic in Aspen food festival, what are Simmons’s main priorities? “To be comfortable, practical and ready for anything.” Sweater “I travel with a silkcashmere wrap cardigan (DKNY )— even in the summer, because I’m always freezing on the plane. It’s like a blanket, and it’s also a nice cover-up if, God forbid, I spill on myself. Sometimes I have to eat on the run.” Top “I’m a T-shirt girl, but my perfect tee is made of a slightly finer fabric”—like this cottontissue crew neck (Monrow). Pants “I fly in skinny jeans with a bit of stretch ( J Brand). They’re chic and flattering.”

Shoes Simmons is partial to patentleather flats (Belle by Sigerson Morrison).

“If my flight’s delayed and I’m late to a restaurant reservation, I can head straight there.” Jewelry “Usually I just wear gold earrings (Me&Ro); if I’m going somewhere nice, I’ll also take a necklace (carnelian pendant, Susan Hanover Designs) or a gold bracelet (Me&Ro).” Bag “I love my Longchamp tote. It expands into the perfect carry-on.” — C H R I S T I N E A J U D U A ✚

TRAVEL UNIFORM

Food guru GAIL SIMMONS shares her recipe for on-the-go chic.

Styled by MIMI LOMBARDO Photographed by DAN HALLMAN 68

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WHAT’S IN HER BAG? (Hint: she doesn’t just “pack her knives and go.”)

SUNGLASSES “These Chloé sunglasses are stylish and sturdy — and they don’t get crushed in my carry-on.”

TOILETRY CASE “My Swoop bag has pullout compartments; I bring the small one on board with beauty essentials.”

ALL-PURPOSE BALM “Moisturizing in the air is vital. I like C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve, especially for my lips.”

TRAVEL WALLET “Whenever I go abroad, I steal my husband’s Paul Smith passport holder.”

SNACKS “I never get on a plane without dried bananas or dark chocolate.”

S T I L L L I F E S : D AV I E S + S TA R R ; H A I R & M A K E U P : M A R I N A A N D E R S S O N / K R A M E R + K R A M E R ; A S S I S TA N T S T Y L I S T : S A R A H S T O R M S

stylish traveler

| beauty 1 GIGI GOMES FLIGHT ATTENDANT, FORMERLY WITH VIVA MACAU

2

HIGH-FLYING

SECRETS

What’s the best way to step off a plane looking fresh? Five airline professionals reveal their tried-and-tested tips to T+L. By LILI TAN

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“I take the supplements daily. My skin used to be really dry, but now it feels moisturized. The eye roller helps depuff my under-eye circles, especially when there’s a big time difference.”

2 IRIS LIM CATHAY PACIFIC, GROOMING COUNSELOR • Sisley Express Flower Gel Mask

“I put this on underneath my makeup, and can leave it on for up to 24 hours. It makes my skin glow and look firm and tight. I also avoid coffee, tea and sodas, which make me look bloated. Instead, I drink lukewarm water.”

3 AKIKO YAMADA JAPAN AIRLINES, FLIGHT ATTENDANT

• Etude House Moistfull • Dior Capture Totale Haute Nutrition Multi-Perfection Body Concentrate

3

4

• Fancl HTC Collagen Tablets • Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller

“I find these two products help keep my skin hydrated. But before an overseas flight, I also use a facial mask with propolis, a natural ingredient made from beehives.”

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4 MONEY CHENG ASIA JET, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO CEO

• Shu Uemura Depsea Water Facial Mist • Ultima II Extraodinaire Supreme Pure Collagen Treatment “I refresh my face with the mist during the flight. After disembarking, I massage the treatment into my skin, and instantly, my face is revived.”

5 MONRAT KUKIATTISAK BANGKOK AIRWAYS, FLIGHT ATTENDANT • SK-II Aqua Physics

“It keeps my face perfectly hydrated all working day. It also relieves dryness and leaves my skin dewy smooth.” ✚

L E F T C O L U M N ( 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 SY O F G A R N I E R ; C O U R T E SY O F S I S L E Y; C O U R T E SY O F E T U D E ; C O U R T E SY O F S K- I I ; C O U R T E SY O F S H U U E M U R A .

R I G H T C O L U M N ( F R O M T O P ) : C O U R T E S Y O F G I G I G O M E S ; C O U R T E S Y O F I R I S L I M ; C O U R T E S Y O F A K I K O YA M A D A ; C O U R T E S Y O F M O N E Y C H E N G ; C O U R T E S Y O F M O N R AT K U K I AT T I S A K

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MACAU

The Buzz of the

Big Top If your childhood dream of running away to join the circus remains unfulfilled, perhaps itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to see one live in Macau.

NAOMI LINDT heads backstage at the Cirque du Soleil.

Photographed by DAVID HARTUNG

The space-age stage. Inset: Performer Miako Klein prepares for the show.

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t+l journal

| the arts

Backstage Pass Clockwise from below: Costume changes; limbering up before a show; the custom-built theater; a fine balancing act.

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WO ABSURDLY MUSCULAR MEN TOSS

long, heavy poles to each another. A young blonde woman clad in black Lycra settles into a perfect split on the floor. Another, secured in a suspended harness, effortlessly executes flips on a trampoline.

In the corner, a man in a tight tank top and short shorts—requisite muscles rippling—lifts weights, his face made-up in exquisitely detailed design that every one of these performers will don before long.

It’s 5 P.M. at the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, and the casino floor—the largest in the world, equal to seven football pitches—is buzzing with activity.

As players intently study their hands, submerged in the sea of Baccarat tables, and middle-aged women steadfastly insert their patacas into legions of flashing slot machines, there’s also a hum behind the scenes as a 200-large crew of acrobats, light technicians, clowns, cobblers, dancers, seamstresses, physiotherapists, welders, musicians and weight lifters—to name but a few—prepares for a performance of a different sort. In three hours, they’ll pull off the most impressive feat of the night: Zaia, Cirque du Soleil’s quirky-cool circus drama.

In a cavernous maze of rooms underneath the 1,800-seat, US$150 million custom-built theater, 74

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everyone’s gearing up for that night’s curtain call.

Several performers are warming up and perfecting their routines in the training room, which is draped in 22 colorful flags representing the 75 artists’ nationalities: from Brazil to China, the United States to Uzbekistan.

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PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING AERIALISTS hang from the ceiling. They’re working out new moves for a routine—a series of sensual, highly choreographed movements— that’s considered one of Zaia’s most physically demanding acts.

Down the hall, in the dance studio, circus prep morphs into ballet: a row of long, lean women in ballet shoes, some in traditional leotards and tights, others wearing tiny, form-fitting tops and baggy pants, stretch and turn and plié. It’s precisely this experimentation with opposites—acrobatics and dance, classical and contemporary—that defines Cirque du Soleil’s magical formula.

These heart-stopping aerial acrobatic routines, interspersed with infectious dancing, tell the tale of a young girl named Zaia and her journey into a dream-like world in space. Set against a backdrop that recreates Macau’s nighttime sky with 3,000 fiber-optic “stars,” she encounters a twinkling, vibrant universe that’s inhabited by dozens of friendly, fantastic-yet-human-like creatures who love

An experimentation with opposites—acrobatics and dance classical and contemporary —DEFINE the show’s formula

HREE

to juggle, balance on huge spheres, jig, roller skate, break-dance and perform hair-raising criss-crossing leaps on an “X-Board,” an apparatus that combines a trampoline and a teeter board, which resembles a seesaw. The story, which was written and directed by Gilles Maheu, who runs Carbone 14, one of Canada’s most famous theater companies, was inspired by a postcard of a little girl building a sandcastle on the moon.

Like all Cirque du Soleil artists, Zaia’s cast members undergo rigorous training at the Montreal headquarters before relocating to Macau. “For every new show that’s created, we train artists anywhere from nine months to a year to discover a routine that’s worthy of the stage,” says Zaia head coach Warren Conley, who has worked with Cirque du Soleil since it launched in 1989. “For the X-Board and aerial frames, both brand-new » T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A

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Airbrush-painting Airbrush-painting shoes shoes forfor a spin a spin in the in the spotlight. spotlight.

Below: Below: Busts Busts of performers of performers areare kept kept on on hand hand forfor sizing sizing up up costumes. costumes.

Opposite: Opposite: TheThe stage stage is prepped is prepped forfor a show. a show.

apparatuses apparatuses designed designed exclusively exclusively forfor Zaia, Zaia, wewe ranran morning morning and and afternoon afternoon sessions. sessions.

We’re We’re talking talking 2020 to to 2525 hours hours a week a week of of acrobatic acrobatic training, training, excluding excluding thethe acting acting and and choreography choreography classes classes and and weight weight training training that’s that’s required.” required.”

Jennifer Jennifer Wilson, Wilson, a 32-year-old a 32-year-old from from Florida, Florida, is is one one of of thethe eight eight dancers dancers in in thethe show. show.

AsAs a “human” a “human” character, character, sheshe spends spends much much of of thethe 90-minute 90-minute performance performance onon stage stage interacting interacting with with Zaia, Zaia, that that is, is, when when she’s she’s notnot leaping leaping from from illuminated illuminated buildings buildings oror dancing dancing with with fire. fire.

Wilson Wilson is ais classically a classically trained trained ballet ballet dancer, dancer, butbut some some of of herher colleagues colleagues specialize specialize in in gypsy gypsy dancing, dancing, jigjig oror hip-hop, hip-hop, each each style style contributing contributing to to thethe show’s show’s space-age, space-age, global-village global-village atmosphere. atmosphere.

“In“In Montreal, Montreal, wewe learned learned each each other’s other’s specialties,” specialties,” sheshe recalls. recalls.

“It“It was was diffi diffi cult, cult, because because it it was was about about exploration exploration and and learning learning about about one one another, another, rather rather than than studying studying something something specifi specifi c. c.

The The trainers trainers wanted wanted us us to to relate relate to to each each other, other, to to learn learn to to collaborate. collaborate.

AsAs dancers, dancers, we’re we’re allall new new to to thethe circus circus and and wewe bring bring what what wewe grew grew upup with, with, whether whether we’re we’re from from thethe Philippines Philippines oror Canada.”

Canada.”

The The dancing, dancing, acrobatics acrobatics and and singing— singing— Zaia Zaia hashas two two female female vocalists vocalists performing performing throughout throughout thethe evening—are evening—are a large a large part part of of what’s what’s thrilling thrilling about about Cirque.

Cirque.

ForFor some some in in thethe audience, audience, even even more more memorable memorable areare thethe out-of-this-world out-of-this-world costumes costumes and and makeup, makeup, each each of of which which is is a one-of-a-kind a one-of-a-kind ensemble. ensemble.

When When creating creating thethe clothes clothes forfor Zaia’s Zaia’s cosmopolitan cosmopolitan cosmos, cosmos, costume costume designer designer Dominique Dominique Lemieux Lemieux was was inflinfl uenced uenced byby urban urban fashion fashion trends. trends.

“A“A new new culture culture hashas emerged emerged from from thethe ethnic ethnic mix mix that that characterizes characterizes thethe modern modern city. city.

There’s There’s a a spontaneous spontaneous variety variety that’s that’s reflrefl ected ected in in thethe way way today’s today’s young young people people dress. dress.

The The Zaia Zaia costumes costumes refer refer to to this this eclectic eclectic merging merging of of genres.” genres.”

AA zany zany spectrum spectrum of of looks looks fillsfills thethe stage stage throughout throughout thethe evening. evening.

Every Every character character is ais riot a riot of of color color and and personality, personality, whether whether wearing wearing second-skin second-skin garments garments patterned patterned likelike tattoos tattoos oror flowing flowing velvet velvet robes robes studded studded with with bright bright LED LED lights. lights.

Other Other costumes costumes evoke evoke animals animals likelike coyotes coyotes oror hyenas; hyenas; some some areare decorated decorated with with recycled recycled objects— objects— newsprint, newsprint, a rotary a rotary phone, phone, a compass, a compass, a trumpet. a trumpet.

The The show’s show’s 1,500 1,500 costumes costumes were were allall handmade handmade in in Macau.

Macau.

The The theater’s theater’s wardrobe wardrobe room, room, which which is is filled filled with with sewing sewing machines machines and and spools spools of of thread thread in in allall thethe colors colors of of thethe rainbow, rainbow, helps helps outout with with fittings fittings and and repairs. repairs.

But But to to getget a real a real idea idea of of thethe scale scale of of this this production, production, consider consider that that thethe eight eight washing washing

Every Everycharacter characterisisaa riot riotofofcolor, color,whether whether wearing wearingsecond-skin second-skin patterned patternedtattoos tattoosoror flflowing owingvelvet velvetrobes robes with withLED LEDlights lights

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machines consume nine liters of detergent every week to keep the cast sparkling for every show.

Makeup is another key component in Cirque’s sensory appeal. Surprisingly, all the artists apply their own for every show. Even that goes all the way back to training in Montreal. Performers study their character’s special features, which might entail any combination of swirls, stars, streaks, dots, crystals, outlines, celestial bodies, glitter and fake eyelashes.

A backstage secret: some, like the Flyers who pirouette in the air, wear three pairs of huge lashes.

Sarah Schmitz, who’s in charge of the theater’s makeup room, says it takes artists anywhere from one to two hours to create their look. In a compact space—lined with mirrors, black swivel chairs, and pots of Ben Nye theatrical makeup and powder rouges—a photo wall features each of the 75 performers in their fully applied makeup. It’s a testament to the detail that goes into Zaia.

Schmitz explains just how it’s possible that despite all the hard work involved, faces don’t smudge or drip away. “First, the entire composition is done in a crème-based makeup, after which a clear setting powder is applied,” she says.

“This drops the color intensity down, but sets the design.” Ramping the brights back up to where they belong means putting on an entire second application of powder. “The makeup stays on through sweating and just about anything else,” she says. “And it’s a very nice finish—almost as if the artist’s faces were airbrushed.” Best of all? It only takes five minutes to remove.

Of course, it takes far more than beautiful costumes and makeup for Zaia to captivate audiences every night. A legion of stage managers, prop designers, carpenters, metal workers, and sound and lighting technicians make sure everything looks, feels, sounds and, most importantly, works just right. Some 50 backstage crew members are required to operate the set alone, which includes four automated tracks and a 2,300-kilogram, 7.5-meter-diameter sphere that projects images like lanterns and hot-air balloons in a 360-degree radius.

“For such a big show, we rely on everyone pulling together as a team,” says stage manager Terri Baker, who oversees the backstage operations.

“Total teamwork, that’s what gets us through. The technicians are fantastic and a joy to work with, and though no one sees them, the show wouldn’t happen without them.”

With much of the cast and crew aged between 25 and 30, it’s only natural that once the work day

comes to a close around 11 P.M., everyone’s ready to unwind and hang out—just not 15 meters in the air. And even though the artists might seem otherworldly on stage, they still relax like everyone else: with a beer and a burger “across the carpet” at McSorley’s Ale House, an Irish-style sports bar.

On days when she doesn’t work out after the show—incredibly, the performance is just a warm-up for many of these power athletes— dancer Jennifer Wilson might head across the carpet, too. “I’ve heard that we’re the only Cirque group where the artists are very involved with the technicians,” she says. “We all like to hang out; it’s a tightly knit community. Working on Zaia is like being part of a huge family.” ✚

GUIDE TO CIRQUE DU SOLEIL Zaia is performed at the Venetian Macao Hotel Resort every day of the week except Wednesdays, with two shows, at 5 P.M. and 8 P.M., on Saturdays and Sundays. Cirque du Soleil Theatre Macau; 852/6333-6660 or 853/2882-8818; cirquedusoleil.com; tickets from MOP$388.

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The Royal Treatment

The British aristocracy is increasingly opening its estates to overnight guestsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; BRUNO MADDOX takes up residence at Crom Castle, in Northern Ireland, for a perfectly charming weekend. Illustrated by JULIETTE BORDA 78

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H, AND ONE MORE THONG.”

“Yes?” I’m standing in a narrow, far-flung hallway in Crom Castle, which is a rambling 19th-century pile rising castellically from the shores of Upper Lough Erne, in the misty and melancholic Northern Ireland county of Fermanagh, a two-hour drive from Belfast. Crom is pronounced crum, like one of the particles that falls from a baked good when you shake it, and I’ve just been handed the keys to its entire West Wing—which, in a sign of the times, is now for rent—by one Noel Johnston, its thickly accented manager, who pronounces his first name nole.

Noel lowers his voice. “Lord Erne’ll be by in an ’r or so to say hello,” he whispers, face glowing with magic and wonder all of a sudden, as if he’s about to grant me three wishes.

After the briefest of hesitations, I express delight at this news.

“Aye,” Noel agrees, nodding a tad vigorously. “ ’E’s a narstle chup.”

And look, I don’t doubt it. People are quite nice, in my experience, both upon first meeting them and later on as well. Let me go further and admit that many years have passed, decades even, since I harbored a shadow of an objection to the concept of aristocrats owning castles and of their wandering around in them at will. Crom Castle, I understand, is the historical seat of the Crichtons, a.k.a. the Ernes, a.k.a. the Lords of Fermanagh: one of dozens of English families granted dominion over soggy patches of Ireland back in the day by the British Crown. Seven generations of Ernes have lived and loved and laughed in these corridors, never feeling the need to knock, and with their portraits gazing down coolly from every available space on the wall, I can entirely appreciate why his current Lordship, on a purely psychological level, might feel entitled to keep doing so.

But what of the small matter of my having just rented the place? Well, not the whole castle, but its entire, huge West Wing. Call me a Bolshevik, but surely when Man A accepts money from Man B and appoints him the tenant of a piece of property—be it a hotel room or an apartment or a wing of an Irish castle—then doesn’t Man A forfeit the right to go barging into said property on a whim and saying “Hello” to people, even if the place has been in his family since we were all Cro-Magnons?

For the fact is that the Ernes have been struggling to keep the place up in recent years. The cost of roof repair has soared. Heating expenses even more so. Factor in the working classes’ newfangled insistence on being paid for their labors in “money” rather than a thin gruel of gristle and turnip peelings and you have a crisis that has many of Britain’s stately homes looking for ways to generate income.

And so the Crichtons have decided to rent out their West Wing to holidaymakers, wedding parties, corporate team-building people and even meditation groups.

But as I savor the clomp and vroom of Noel getting into his car and going away, the news that His Lordship is planning to stop by at some unannounced moment and say hello to his guests does cause me to wonder whether it’s yet sunk in to the Ernes what that sacrifice will entail, or if they aren’t, as it were, trying to rent out the west wing of their cake and eat it too.

My anxiety on this issue subsides considerably as the afternoon wears on. Crom is a very beautiful and very peaceful place. After beating my companion at tennis, I find myself uncharacteristically magnanimous in victory, and then we go take a nap in one of the West Wing’s six bedrooms, and after that we saunter out into the garden, all 770 hectares of it, comprising vast stretches of woodland, grazing meadow and water—namely, Lough Erne itself. At the point that we’ve wandered and frolicked through the grounds for some 50-plus minutes without seeing another person, I do start to feel sheepish for having minded about Lord Erne stopping by and indeed become so relaxed about the prospect that I don’t even get around to mentioning it to my companion, leaving her with the blissful impression that we have the place entirely to ourselves, and that if she hears anyone approaching down the hallway, it is—almost by definition—me.

At dusk I come to regret this oversight. While my companion draws a bath, I repair to the drawing room, pour a glass of wine and find some old Nina Simone in the CD collection. I put it on softly, quietly enough that when I sink into a faded old overstuffed armchair to read a little Audacity of Hope, I can still hear the sounds of evening dropping slow over the vast estate. A large-sounding fish plops out on Lough Erne. A linnet cries on high, inconsolable, as he seeks his roost for the night. And from far away, deep within the wing itself, comes a sound for all the world like that of my companion, wearing who knows what, if anything, jumping out from somewhere and screaming the word boo. I feel a certain despair, right then, despair that is instantly compounded by the sound of an old man gasping and staggering, and given a serrated edge of panic by the yapping of a tiny, frightened dog. I take a deep sip of wine and reflect that what I’m hearing are nothing less than the creaks of History’s wheel as it turns, and that this new symbiosis of aristocracy and proletariat may not yet have achieved its final equilibrium.

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ORD ERNE—WHO NOT ONLY SURVIVES HIS encounter with my companion but claims to have “rather enjoyed it”—would probably agree. He is, for the record, the nicest chap in the world, an expansive, solicitous, barrel-chested man with an adorably befuddledseeming air and his befuddledness thickens to anxiety on the question of whether, and how much, he should be interacting with the guests. “One doesn’t want to be rude,” » T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A

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weeks later in London. In true aristocratic fashion, the younger Crichton is the spitting image of his father, down to the last cuff link, only younger, and has a keen, almost Shakespearean sense of responsibility to his ancestors. The decision to rent out the West Wing was a difficult one, he tells me, but he is facing financial realities that are unique to his generation.

On the more abstract issue, however, of what I would think would be the humiliation, even the pain, of having to throw open the doors of one’s private home to the eyes and fingers of paying customers, the young viscount is sanguine to the point of obliviousness. Growing up in a home like Crom, he tells me, you never really have a chance to get possessive about it. With the faces of previous occupants lining many of the walls and the silent weight of their generational expectations on your shoulders as you pass by, one almost feels more like a tenant oneself than an owner.

“It is my home,” he confesses of Crom, “but first and foremost it’s a home and that’s rather what I wanted to share with people.”

Which is an attitude, of course, that more of us would do well to entertain, in this fleeting world. What we think we own, we rent at best and the doors we close behind us are actually closed before us, blocking our path. And while after a blissful sojourn at Crom I would stop short of urging mankind to return once and for all to the days of the feudal society, I can certainly—without a peep from my conscience—recommend it for a weekend. ✚

GUIDE TO CASTLES FOR RENT Castles throughout Great Britain can be rented by the room or, in many cases, in their entirety.

The West Wing, Crom Castle

Duns Castle

Amberly Castle

NORTHERN IRELAND The West Wing, Crom Castle Newton Butler, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland; 44-2867/738-004; cromcastle. com; summer weekend rates (three nights) from £4,500 for up to 12 people.

SCOTLAND Duns Castle A 12-room estate on 690 hectares of landscaped gardens that also includes a nature reserve. Berwickshire; 44-1361/883-211; dunscastle.co.uk; doubles from £300 .

ENGLAND Amberley Castle A 12th-century walled castle on 5 hectares. Rooms have four-poster beds, arched windows and antique furnishings. Amberley, West Sussex; 44-1798/831-992; amberleycastle.co.uk; doubles from£230.

F RO M TO P : CO U RT ESY O F C RO M CAST L E ; CO U RT ESY O F D U N S CAST L E ; CO U RT ESY O F A M B E R L EY CAST L E

he frets, aphoristically, as he gives us a tour of his, much larger part of the castle, “nor does one want to intrude.”

Certainly, His Lordship is very keen that guests not go wandering into the rooms he shares with his wife; he recalls the time it happened with wounded consternation. But his greater anxiety is that, with the West Wing sealed off so hermetically, his tenants might feel they’re being snubbed, hence his practice of “popping by to say hello.”

It is, in short, a delicate, difficult thing trying to make a commodity out of a lifestyle the whole point of which, historically, was that it wasn’t for sale. This awkwardness is painfully apparent in Crom’s complicated pricing structure.

For the (really rather low) cost of renting the West Wing for a week or a long weekend one gets unlimited use of “the Earl of Erne’s private tennis court,” but not the use of his tennis balls. The management will generously lay and light a fire in the West Wing’s downstairs reception rooms, but only “the first supply of logs [is] complimentary.”

These lines have to be drawn somewhere, I suppose, but they serve as constant reminders that for all its sprawling, faded comfort, the West Wing is, in effect, a series of hotel rooms—whereupon one can easily start to fixate on the relative lack of hotelish amenities. There are, as mentioned, six bedrooms, including a Blue room, a Rose room and even—for stationery enthusiasts—a Buff room, but not one of them contains a television, let alone a mini-bar. All linens and mattresses are up to five-star quality, as are the rooms themselves, but does every bed have a phone beside it with a dedicated button for the concierge? No, it does not. And there isn’t a concierge, anyway, unless you count Noel, whom you’ll occasionally spot climbing a distant ladder or zooming purposefully along in an all-terrain vehicle, hardly close enough to bring you a bucket of ice even if he could hear that you wanted one.

And yet, as one day melts into the next, you come to appreciate that, while this may in effect be a hotel, it isn’t actually one. The layout and décor of Crom’s innumerable rooms and features owe themselves not to the brilliant mind of some designer, flown in for a weekend to trick the place out with trademark sconces and nooks, but to generation after generation of actual people who called this place home and lived in it accordingly. Everything is where it is, one gets the sense, because it was originally somewhere else, and then was moved, perhaps a couple of centimeters at a time over centuries, to more harmoniously coexist with human form and desire. Want to set down your drink? Why, there’s a coaster, right there. Want to put up your feet? There’s a pouf.

If the urge to read ever strikes, one simply reaches out one’s hand and feels it fall, as naturally as snow falls upon a landscape, onto the spindled spine of an old Maeve Binchy.

The West Wing is, in a word, a home. To be prosaic for a second, it’s the home of Lord Erne’s son, Viscount Crichton, with whom I enjoy a tear-jerkingly expensive lunch some

t+l journal | books

U.S.A.

Riding through the Old Town section of Key West.

Literary Key West

Looking past the revelers on this Florida getaway’s main drag, TOM AUSTIN explores a literary culture that is alive and thriving. Photographed by BROOKE SLEZAK

B

LOCK FOR BLOCK, KEY WEST HAS TO BE THE smartest town in America. Despite the slap of vulgarity that is the circa-1829 Duval Street, which attracts an eternal honky-tonk herd of cruise-ship gawkers, wayward sorority girls and tipsy conventioneers, the community has always embraced the subtler realm of Ralph Ellison, John Dos Passos, Elizabeth Bishop, Wallace Stevens and Ann Beattie. Today’s literary

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locals cling to the everyday wonders of the town: browsing at Voltaire Books; picnics at Nancy’s Secret Garden, a tropical wonderland in Old Town created by artist Nancy Forrester; bike rides past landmarks like the former home of novelist James L. Herlihy (Midnight Cowboy), now owned by writer Brian Antoni. In the evenings, it’s theater at the Waterfront Playhouse, an art film at the nonprofit Tropic Cinema (founded, in part, by writer Jean Carper and George Cooper,

a retired law professor and author) or a show at the improbably first-rate Red Barn Theatre on Duval Street, where local boy Richard Wilbur once helped out with Molière translations.

As it happens, Wilbur, a former U.S. poet laureate, was back on Duval in January at the San Carlos Institute, a beautifully faded former Cuban consulate. He was honored there during the Key West Literary Seminar, an open-to-thepublic symposium that encapsulates the town’s steadfast cultivation. Sixty years of American poetry was celebrated, with seven U.S. poets laureate in attendance—Rita Dove, Billy Collins, Robert Pinsky, Maxine Kumin et al.—and events scheduled all over town. For one, Kumin also kicked off a lecture series at the Studios of Key West, an arts complex with gallery exhibitions and workshops.

This season’s guest speakers include Robert Stone, author of A Flag for Sunrise and Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties.

Stone came to Key West in the 1970’s during the post “grouper and grits” era, when the town was dirt cheap and Tom McGuane and Jim Harrison were young bohemians.

Not many are all that young or bohemian anymore, and the literary crowd now includes a new crop of luminaries: Michael Mewshaw, Harry Mathews, Meg Cabot. Popular destinations, as with great lines in literature, become clichés

Key West’s Old Town is a true neighborhood, not a theme park, more Caribbean than American in its aesthetic CLASHES

because they are great and to Stone, lingering over a beer in his unpretentious house, Key West is still a remarkable place with “less tolerance for McMansions and the general crappiness of American life.”

Architecture is destiny, and Key West’s Old Town—a dizzying array of Queen Anne, American Foursquare and Classical Revival work—is a true neighborhood, not a theme park, more Caribbean than American in its aesthetic clashes.

A US$5 million mansion might sit next to beat-up Bahamian Conch shacks, an evangelical church or a drag queen’s front yard with a dozen pairs of high-heel pumps jammed into the trunk of a cabbage palm tree. Feral chickens frequent even »

Key Elements Clockwise from above: Higgs Beach; the late-19th-century Richard Peacon House, in Old Town; part of Sculpture Key West, an annual citywide exhibition; locals Mark Slater, Jean Carper and George Cooper, who have all been involved in running the Tropic Cinema.

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The San Carlos Institute, a former Cuban consulate that hosts the Key West Literary Seminar, above left. Right: The veranda at the Gardens Hotel.

Right behind the strip is a compound with piles of old bottles, withered magazines and BATTALIONS of cats

the better addresses and, bright and early, crowing roosters rouse all classes of society.

Across the street from the clothing-optional Garden of Eden bar is the Caribbean colonial grace of the Key West Heritage House Museum, which dates to 1834. Since the 1930’s, the property has been owned by the Porter family, one of the founding clans of Key West: Robert Frost wintered in a garden cottage here between 1945 and 1960, with his hostess, Miss Jessie Porter, entertaining such legends of wit as Tallulah Bankhead. A few blocks away, the circa-1891 Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House features a dripping-with-malice portrait of Truman Capote, waving a 1976 American Bicentennial flag 84

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and pistol, a VOTE FOR THE MAN sign and a bloody young couple in the foreground: it was done by Capote’s fellow all-star of writing, Tennessee Williams.

To the remaining old guard of Key West, gentrification has brought better food—the restaurants Antonia’s and Michaels; conch salad at Eaton Street Seafood Market; mango bread at Cole’s Peace Artisan Bakery—and mixed blessings. William Wright, who goes back to the era of poet James Merrill, thinks that bohemia has changed forever.

“One holiday weekend,” he says, “I counted 25 private jets at the airport.” Alison Lurie, author of the set-in-Key West novel The Last Resort, worries that “only rich writers can afford it here now.” Memoirist Edmund White has been renting Lurie’s guest cottage most winters since 1979. He finds that Key West has become “fancier than Provincetown” and crossed the tipping point. “Gays are always the worker ants of society,” he says, “pioneering places and eventually pricing themselves out of the towns they build.”

Beauty still unfurls in the most unlikely places. On Duval, tourists feed the multinational beast that is Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and futilely prowl for something real. But right behind the strip is a ramshackle compound with piles of old bottles, withered magazines and battalions of cats.

This is the studio of Suzie DePoo, a character out of Grey

Gardens who hails from one of the town’s most august families. Her wonderful work, which is carried by the local Gallery on Greene, is all angels, unicorns, Garden of Eden scenes and hope. She has spent 50 years in this house and is an artist given to the local Conch philosophy: “I guess Key West is like life,” she says, “and all the things that happen to you without you even knowing.”

New Town, largely rooster-free and more suburban in tone than Old Town, is also about the life of thinking people.

Susan Henshaw Jones, president and director of the Museum of the City of New York, shares a perfectly calibrated Modernist spread with her husband, Richard K. Eaton, a federal judge, and enjoys the “mini-Manhattan” conversational gene pool. Phyllis Rose, author of The Year of Reading Proust: A Memoir in Real Time, lives nearby with her artist husband, Laurent de Brunhoff, son of the creator of the Babar series. Inside his studio, de Brunhoff unveils a drawing for Babar’s USA, taken from a gathering at the couple’s house with the real-life literary models of Annie Dillard, of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and The Maytrees, and her husband, Robert D. Richardson, the author of acclaimed biographies of such subjects as William James.

Every writer in town knows David Wolkowsky, “Mr. Key West,” the Conch equivalent of Gerald and Sara Murphy.

(On Wolkowsky’s private island, Ballast Key, Tennessee Williams would write while listening to Billie Holiday records.) After an oceanfront lunch at the writer’s hangout Saluté Ristorante Sul Mare, Wolkowsky points out the site of the old Sands Beach Club, his bar-and-restaurant complex that once served as an iconic pit stop for the chic. Standing by the ocean and looking out over the last remaining legacy of the Sands, an ornate wooden dock that now adorns the Reach Resort, Wolkowsky contemplates the horizon of memory: “We had real people here then,” he says. “People like Rudolf Nureyev and Leonard Bernstein, not tourists.”

The notion of the real Key West is a dreamscape that slips out of your grasp the tighter you try to hold on, and the echoes of the past are everywhere. But at this moment, new possibilities in the life of a remarkably thoughtful American resort island are created every day. At a recent fund-raiser for the Florida Keys SPCA, Claudia Miller—whose Old Town house includes an art studio and her own portrait of the Buddha, painted on the exterior wall of her meditation room—talks about Key West’s offering a learning curve for America. “The rest of the country could take something from the creative spirit here, the way it expands your sensibilities,” she says. “This place is about the mind and what the mind wants to do.” ✚

GUIDE TO KEY WEST

Heritage House Museum Tropic Cinema

St. ite Wh

Mallory Square

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Red Barn Theatre Nancy’s Secret Garden

San Carlos Institute

Key West International Airport

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M A P BY M A R I A E B B E TS

GETTING THERE Key West, which is a three-hour drive from Miami, has its own airport; most flights connect through Atlanta or other Florida cities. Bicycles are the best way to get around.

WHERE TO STAY Casa Marina Resort Now part of the Waldorf Astoria Collection, this is the grande dame of the area. 1500 Reynolds St.; 1-305/296-3535; casamarinaresort.com; doubles from US$279.

Gardens Hotel Five buildings spread over half a hectare, with some rooms in a circa-1870 plantation-style mansion. 526 Angela St.; 1-305/294-2661; gardenshotel.com; doubles from US$275, including breakfast.

Reach Resort Sister property to the Casa Marina, featuring an outpost of the Strip House. 1435 Simonton St.; 1-305/296-5000; reachresort. com; doubles from US$229.

GREAT VALUE

WHERE TO EAT Antonia’s Specializes in modern

O

Saluté Ristorante Sul Mare 1000 Atlantic Blvd.; 1-305/292-1117; dinner for two US$75.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO Key West Heritage House Museum 410 Caroline St.; 1-305/296-3573; heritagehousemuseum.org.

Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House 281 Front St.; 1-305/295-6616; kwahs.com.

n cea 1.2 km

Mediterranean dishes. 615 Duval St.; 1-305/294-6565; dinner for two US$75.

Eaton Street Seafood Market 930 Eaton St.; 1-305/295-3474; lunch for two US$25.

Hogfish Bar & Grill Tables overlooking a dock crowded with shrimp boats. 6810 Front St., Stock Island; 1-305/293-4041; dinner for two US$50.

Michaels Steaks and seafood in the key’s Old Town. 532 Margaret St.; 1-305/295-1300; dinner for two US$65.

Nancy’s Secret Garden 1 Free School Lane; 1-305/294-0015; nancyforrester.com.

Red Barn Theatre 319 Duval St.; 1-305/296-9911; redbarntheatre.com.

Sculpture Key West Locations throughout the city.

1-305/295-3800; sculpturekeywest.com.

Studios of Key West The place to be during Walk on White, a monthly evening of galleryhopping. 600 White St.; 1-305/296-0458; tskw.org.

Tropic Cinema 416 Eaton St.; 1-305/295-9493; keywestfilm.org.

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t+l journal | food Stichelton Dairy partners Joe Schneider (left) and Randolph Hodgson at Collingthwaite Farm.

U.K.

English Revival

Ever heard of Stichelton? If not, then follow PAUL LEVY on his quest to find the artisans who are bringing the classic cheese, formerly known as Stilton, back to life. Photographed by ANDREW MONTGOMERY

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Stichelton, a British raw cow’s-milk cheese made on Collingthwaite Farm, above left. Right: A herd of Holstein-Friesian cows grazing on the farm.

W

HY AM I HERE IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, wearing blue plastic overshoes, a matching plastic raincoat and a hairnet? I am standing in a near-sterile dairy, on a mission to find one of Britain’s greatest delicacies, a cheese that I thought had become extinct. This is a tale of loss and rebirth involving an expatriate American, a stubborn Brit and a cheese filled with history.

In Britain, holidays used to include a course of creamy, blue-veined Stilton, a raw cow’s-milk cheese with a whispered tang of acidity. But in 1989 there was a food-poisoning scare, and what all the victims had in common was that they’d eaten Stilton.

It turned out the cheese wasn’t the culprit. But it was too late—the quasi-governmental Milk Marketing Board persuaded farmers of Colston Bassett, a farm cooperative that had become the sole producer of raw-milk Stilton, to buy expensive pasteurization equipment, and the Minister of Agriculture threatened to prohibit the sale of all unpasteurized cheese. So the last true unpasteurized Stilton was sold in 1990. After that, genuine Stilton disappeared; my tastings of “artisanal” renditions such as Colston Bassett and Cropwell Bishop confirmed it. The cheese had become dry and crumbly in the center, not moistly unctuous and buttery, and the subtle, fruity flavors that marked the aftertaste of old

Stilton were gone, replaced by a one-dimensional salty note.

As if this weren’t bad enough, thanks to lobbying by the Stilton Cheesemakers’ Association, the genuine article could never be made and marketed again under the name Stilton because only pasteurized milk could be used.

Three years ago at a birthday party given by a friend in London, dinner finished with a cheese that not only looked like Stilton but was also buttery and fruity. And, goodness, the fragrance. It reeked of Old England.

Our host said it was an experimental new cheese named Stichelton (pronounced stitch-el-ton). My curiosity was provoked. I had written a story in 1990 mourning the death of true Stilton, and now it appeared to have been resurrected. I had to find out how this triumph had come about.

I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that Britain’s most renowned cheese monger, Randolph Hodgson, owner of Neal’s Yard Dairy, had a hand in the renaissance. In 1989, he had fought the government’s proposed ban of unpasteurized cheese and won. Then in 2004 Hodgson ran into someone he thought could help him revive his cherished Stilton. Joe Schneider, a charming American with a Cornell degree in agricultural engineering—and who had grown up on processed cheese, like most Americans of his generation—was intrigued by cheese making. He had moved to Holland, where his Ohio-born wife, Audre, had a » T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A

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t+l journal | food job, and there he found work that allowed him to learn from local artisans who were making some excellent small-batch cheeses. The couple drifted to Sussex, where Joe worked on a biodynamic farm in East Grinstead before moving on to the Cotswolds to create the wildly successful Daylesford cheddar, a sharp and nutty cheese with a cult following.

One more piece was missing from the puzzle. To make organic cheese you need a steady supply of organic milk, which in turn requires that you have a farm with a closed and regularly tested herd of cows. Serendipity struck: Hodgson met William and Alison Parente, the owners of the stately pile Welbeck Abbey and its 6,900-hectare estate, near Nottingham in the Dukeries.

That’s how my wife, Penelope, and I ended up on a three-hour journey from our Oxfordshire house to Sherwood Forest (yes, the one from Robin Hood), a part of the English Midlands completely unknown to us. Here we checked in to Browns Bed & Breakfast, where the gregarious Joan Brown

runs three one-bedroom lodges, each with a four-poster bed, views of the manicured garden and fresh flowers every day.

The next morning, a huge breakfast of local eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms fortified us for the cheese adventure ahead.

After breakfast, we drove a couple of kilometers along a rural, single-lane road to the dairy and toured the estate with Alison Parente. Looking for uses for their many vacant buildings (they already had an art gallery, garden center and a café), the Parentes offered Schneider a tenancy on Collingthwaite Farm, with its existing organic herd of 150 Holstein-Friesian cows, and the challenge of converting a 250-year-old L-shaped barn into a modern dairy.

Schneider’s family now lives in a large Victorian house on the Welbeck Estate, not far from the vast stable block where the Parentes built the School of Artisan Food, which teaches baking, brewing, butchery, preserving and cheese making to amateurs as well as students of the University of Derby.

On the Farm Clockwise from below right: A bread-making class at the School of Artisan Food, on the Welbeck Estate, in Nottinghamshire; the Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate’s art museum; Isaac Howett holds fresh curds in the cheese-making room of the Stichelton Dairy.

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English Midlands From left: Alison Parente and Randolph Hodgson at Welbeck Abbey, in Nottinghamshire; Browns Bed & Breakfast is home to three one-bedroom lodges; at Welbeck Estate, the Limehouse Café’s menu has a variety of dishes made with Stichelton cheese.

Over the course of two days, Schneider showed us how Stichelton, said to be a historic name for Stilton, is made using the original raw-milk method of Colston Bassett.

In the first room, with its titanium-clad fire door, were two stainless-steel vats bought secondhand from Colston Bassett, which was also generous about sharing its know-how. In the first vat a minimal amount of coagulating rennet and a bit of blue mold culture starter are added to the milk and stirred in with an oarlike paddle. “The curd is very fragile,” Schneider explains. “We ladle it by hand into the second shallow vat.” This is only part of the skilled handwork that distinguishes Stichelton from the larger makers of Stilton.

The curds are then milled, salted and scooped into cylindrical molds. Never pressed, the cheese’s buttery texture is achieved purely by the force of gravity. Five days later its outside is smoothed to make the distinctive rind—this is achieved with nothing more high-tech, Schneider shows us with a small grin, than the blade of a Sheffield kitchen knife.

During our visit, builders were just putting the finishing touches on a second maturing room to accommodate the 36 tons Schneider hopes to produce. Though worldwide demand for artisanal blue cheeses such as Stichelton is increasing, no one is ever going to get rich from making it.

The revival of this old British cheese is restoring a vital part of food culture in the British Isles, giving them something to be swaggeringly proud of, as even some French people adopt the tradition and put Stichelton on their tables at Christmas. After all, as the gastronome Brillat-Savarin once said, “The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star.”

How much greater the contribution to human happiness, then, to have rescued this fabulous cheese from extinction. ✚

GUIDE TO NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

HOW TO GET THERE Most of Asia’s major airlines fly to London, from where it’s a three-hour drive north to Nottinghamshire.

WHERE TO STAY Browns Bed & Breakfast Holbeck Lane, Holbeck, Worksop. 44-1909/720-659; brownsholbeck.co.uk; doubles from £74.

GREAT VALUE

WHERE TO EAT Limehouse Café The menu is full of dishes with Stichelton.

Welbeck Estate; 44-1909/ 542-704; lunch for two £16.

WHAT TO DO Creswell Crags Museum & Education Center Learn about the area’s rich prehistoric legacy through guided visits to nearby sites, such as a network of

13,000-year-old cave paintings discovered in 2002. Crags Rd., Creswell; 44-1909/720-378; creswell-crags.org.uk.

Harley Gallery The Portland collection, including Van Dyck, is displayed here. Welbeck Estate, Worksop; 44-1909/501-700; harleygallery.co.uk.

School of Artisan Food Lower Motor Yard, Welbeck Estate; 44-845/520-1111; schoolofartisanfood.org.

Stichelton Dairy Collingthwaite Farm, Welbeck Estate, Mansfield; 44-1623/844-883; stichelton. co.uk.

Welbeck Farm Shop Buy Stichelton and other local products, such as sourdough bread and pork pies. Welbeck Estate, Worksop; 44-1909/478-725; thewelbeckfarmshop.co.uk.

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t+l journal | portfolio

THE EDGE OF

A berkuchi, or eagle hunter, with his pride and joy.

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ASIA

Even after five trips to the country, photographer MATTHIEU PALEY says Mongolia continues to affect him in ways he doesn’t entirely fathom. Still, he’s captured a culture that is definitely influenced by its environment

O

N HIS FIRST VISIT TO

Mongolia back in 1998, Matthieu Paley says he immediately sensed he was in a country like no other. As Paley knew it, his notions of space were about to change. “It’s incredibly free to roam around,” says the photographer.

“Nobody owns land, they only lease it, so you can set up camp anywhere in this vast expanse. Nature there is incredible.” These distant horizons, Paley adds, play on your mind, particularly if you’re trying to capture them on fi lm. There are also more immediate, more personal concerns.

“Unlike a lot of Southeast Asia, you can still go to places where they haven’t seen Westerners. These are a proud people, who aren’t afraid to look you in the eye.” Playful kids will try to wrestle you; knocking on doors is frowned upon. It’s opposite to the behavior not only in his native France, but also around the rest of Asia. That lack of control has led to some of Paley’s more memorable photos. One of his favorites is a from-the-hip shot of a teenager milking her yaks—one in that sequence is on page 98. The most noticeable change is the number of cars—“Now there are Hummers,” Paley says in disbelief—particularly in Ulan Bator. Yet Mongolia still has two sides. “You can go to a hip-hop concert in Ulan Bator, get in your car and in 20 minutes you’re in a landscape dotted with yurts,” he says. “If I want to get lost in Mongolia and experience the beautiful expanse, I will.”

Matthieu Paley’s work is exhibited this month, from May 6 to June 12, at Picture This (picturethiscollection.com) in Hong Kong. His Mongolia photography will appear in a book being released this September (Éditions de la Martinière). ✚ 91

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A Kazakh horseman traveling in the west of the country.

Above Western Mongolia in the province of Bayan ﾃ僕gii.

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The Mongol wrestling dance is a warm-up to an actual ďŹ ght.

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Trekking across Mongoliaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s open plains.

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Two eagle hunters return home, a two-day journey on horseback.

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Eagle hunter Rus Bosara, with his wife Rus Alda, in their yurt.

Yurts are the most common form of housing outside of Ulan Bator.

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Nogoon, a 14-year-old Mongolian, takes a break from yak milking.

Around the vast sweep of countryside, travel is mostly on horseback.

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A hunter in search of marmots. Their fur is sold in China and Russia.

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OF THE WORLD ’ S SECRET BEACHES .

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This is SHANGHAI’s moment in time Uncovering the world’s SECRET beaches 25 innovative REASONS to visit America TOURING Germany’s best wine region 103

City of Tomorrow Move over post-Olympic M Ol i Beijing, B iji it’s i ’ Shanghai’s Sh h i’ moment off glory. l JENNIFER CHEN glimpses the city’s future in its arty and emerging neighborhoods. Photographed by DARREN SOH

Can-do Shanghai canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t control the weather.

Opposite: An everchanging skyline, from a work-in-progress, The Waterhouse.

Changing China From top: A Peninsula welcome; cafés are part of the city’s new complexion; stylish menswear at Capital Joy. Opposite: Bridge 8 melds old Shanghai with new.

P

SHANGHAI IN FRONT OF ANY SELF-RESPECTING China scholar, and you’re likely to get a curt “I prefer Beijing” response. There’s a long-standing myth that Shanghai doesn’t represent the real China. It’s too cosmopolitan, its past too sullied by grasping Europeans eager to plunder China when it was at its weakest. “Shanghai is not China,” declared the author of All About Shanghai and Environs, a guidebook published way back in 1934.

“It is everything else under the sun, and, in population at least, is mostly Chinese, but it is not the real China.”

Hardcore China hands, you’re welcome to Beijing. Me, I’d take Shanghai any day. Beijing is of course more overtly Chinese—old men gathered around a game of xiangqi, or chess, and siheyuan courtyard houses along ancient hutong, not to mention the greatest hits of China’s historic monuments. Excepting the fast-disappearing longtang neighborhoods and remaining shikumen houses, Shanghai’s historic architecture is decidedly Western and its pleasures worldly.

And like New York City, an increasing number of Shanghai’s 19 million residents are from other parts of the country as well as far-flung corners of the Chinese diaspora. When I open my mouth in Beijing, there’s the immediate snort of disdain, and “Ni cong na’er lai de?” (“Where are you from?” Translation: You’re obviously not from here.) The Shanghainese just get on with it, having been immersed in accents from across China and beyond. For, besides the many Chinese-from-elsewhere who’ve arrived in the past two decades, planeloads of foreigners—German car executives and young American college grads replacing the White Russian aristocrats and British trade barons of yore—have decamped here, all in pursuit of that familiar dream of making the big time.

Don’t get me wrong, native Shanghainese are a haughty bunch, proud of their peculiar dialect and cosmopolitan roots. They’re proud, too, of their shape-shifter city. Whenever I’m in Shanghai, I feel like I’ve arrived two years too early. On my most recent trip, construction cranes loomed everywhere, while crews of migrant workers were rushing to complete the RMB5 million face-lift of the Bund in time for the opening of the World Expo this month.

Whole blocks on the western side of the Huangpu River, known as Puxi, were being readied for demolition, hidden beneath billboards plastered with the Expo’s “Better City, Better Life” slogan. On the opposite side of the river is the perpetual motion machine known as Pudong. “Every month I take a picture of the Pudong skyline, and every month it changes,” a Hong Kong businessman and six-year Shanghai resident told me.

Top-down redevelopment has been Shanghai’s forte since the 1980’s. After all, the city elders erected a whole museum devoted to it—the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre, where visitors can survey a vast scale model of the city as it’s scheduled to appear in 2020 that makes other master plans look like Legoland. Using the Expo as an excuse, officials have kicked Shanghai’s transformation into high gear, revamping its two airports, extending the subway » RAISE

Shanghai, at least on the Puxi side, also still

feels human in scale

system, and building a futuristic cruise terminal and an entertainment and sports arena that seats 80,000. The sum total of these efforts can feel like a D. W. Griffiths production. The New York Times reported that the city relocated 18,000 families and around 270 factories in order to clear the Expo site along the Huangpu River, due south of the Bund. When the dust settles, the city is expected to have lavished RMB400 billion on Expo preparations.

This being China, redevelopment comes at a high price, with the government riding roughshod over residents, tearing down old neighborhoods and replacing them with sterile high-rises. Aesthetic crimes, too, have been committed: the blue LED lighting that illuminates the Ya’an elevated highway in the heart of the city has more in common with the pimped-up office towers of modern Asia than, say, Bladerunner.

But only a crank would decry the move to pedestrianize the most historic stretch of the Bund by rerouting traffic—except tour buses and taxis—into an underground tunnel, replacing the multi-lane road with a handsome new boardwalk, green space and pavilions. Shanghai, at least on the Puxi side, also still feels human in scale, from the tree-lined streets of the French Concession to Jing An’s bustling commercial thoroughfares. Distances are always farther than they seem in Beijing, whereas a 100-meter walk in Shanghai doesn’t usually entail a pedestrian bridge over an intersection of two six-lane roads.

Something, too, about the air of optimism—of a city claiming its rightful place in the world—has trickled down to the street level. From creative districts to quaint lanes, change is afoot that isn’t being dictated from on high. Just see the examples below for a taste of Shanghai’s new spirit.

696 Weihai Lu

At the derelict Around Space. Above: Artful women’s wear at Mayumi Sato. Opposite from top: Cameras galore at Lomo Embassy; fashionable once more at a vintage clothing shop.

Jeff Zou has one of the most revealing perspectives on the city. “Come, come look at the view, it tells you everything about Shanghai,” the expansive owner of Around Space gallery urges me one soggy afternoon. From the rooftop of a derelict factory stretch the red-brick houses of the 1920’s Jing An Villa settlement, framed by distant skyscrapers.

Welcome to 696 Weihai Lu, an agreeably scruffy art community built around a warren of abandoned warehouses and factories that has miraculously escaped the wrecking ball. Its location in the heart of the city has led many to predict its imminent demise. Its origins—the home and warehouse of a shipping magnate who dealt in opium and was summarily executed, according to Zou, when the Communists took control of the city—doesn’t endear it to officialdom. When I ask Zou and his fellow gallerist Susanne Junker, a German photographer who runs the photo space Stageback, about their futures, they smile and shrug. Then they joke nervously about their leases.

It’s a long way from the commercialization of Beijing’s 798 and Shanghai’s original art district, Moganshan. The air » 109

In some of the French Concession, funky cafés of bohemian shabbiness—peeling paint, unreliable lighting, sagging staircases—smacks of New York’s SoHo in the early 80’s and the long, sad list of artistic neighborhoods turned luxury postal codes. Junker says the soul has been renovated out of many places. “This is the only place that is really organic.” Despite its uncertain future, more than 40 artists have studios in the compound.

Communal in spirit as they are, most of 696’s residents might look askance if tourists stumbled into their studios.

Better to start with Around Space, which operates two exhibition spaces: one in the former home of the doomed shipping tycoon, an elegant edifice with walls covered in rice paper and molded ceilings; and the factory, whose dilapidation perfectly sets off contemporary art. Junker’s Stageback—a shoebox with a generous terrace for opening parties—is one of the few galleries in town that focuses on foreign artists.

Others are starting to colonize 696. Rising fashion star Qiu Hao has kept a studio here for the past year, while two 110

enterprising locals run a cooking school filled with expats seeking to master dim sum. In January, stylist and makeup artist Lolo opened a secondhand store—eponymously and ungrammatically named Lolo Love Vintage—crammed with finds culled from European flea markets: Victorian undergarments, 1960’s mod shifts, costume jewelry and the occasional rarity, like a saddle bag by Aigner from the 70’s.

Some tenants sniff at retail’s encroachment, but Lolo Love Vintage hits the right notes: off-kilter, slightly ramshackle and unabashedly arty.

The French Concession, Redux

Located on the outer edges of the French Concession, Jinxian Lu is bookended by two quintessential but wildly different Shanghai establishments. On the western end, near Shanxi Nan Lu, is the dimly lit Citizen Café, where slinky young expats and locals nibble on the humdrum Western fare and sip cappuccinos.

Behind the buzz at Mr. Willis.

Right: Wine news at Globus.

Opposite from left: A shoe display like no other at Mary Chin; Shanghai’s youth are altering the face of the city.

so far coexist with old-school businesses Down the road is Chun, a nondescript-looking 20-year-old restaurant that’s only open at dinner. With only four tables and the reputation of serving some of the best Shanghainese food in the world, it’s also one of the most elusive reservations in town. Arrive 15 minutes late, and you’ll be in temperamental owner Qu Minglan’s bad books. Arrive without a booking, and you can forget about dinner.

In recent years, a mishmash of clothing boutiques, pricey restaurants, down-home eateries and a cheerfully retro, multistory Lomography store has popped up between Chun and Citizen Café. And yet, metal poles covered in laundry still adorn the street. Stroll down a few blocks and you’ll glimpse old lane houses—bicycles and shoes propped up against the walls—tucked behind sleek façades.

In some of the French Concession’s lovelier streets, such as Jinxian, funky cafés have so far proved they can coexist with old-school businesses and born-and-bred Shanghainese, probably because they haven’t been taken over wholesale,

vacated and then handed over to developers. “It’s changing, but not in the Xintiandi kind of way,” says Craig Willis, an Australian chef whose buzzing restaurant, Mr. Willis, is part of the revival of Anfu Lu, another appealing mix of quirky clothing boutiques, casual-cool eateries and long-timers. A few paces away is the pocket-sized Everything But the Café, run by Shanghai native Rick Shi, who says he wanted to create a hangout for his friends. Friends in his case include not only twentysomethings clad in uniforms of stovepipe jeans and Converses such as himself, but also septuagenarian retirees from the ’hood.

Ask any Shanghainese about Xintiandi, the entertainment zone of rebuilt lane houses, and expect eyes to roll. What was once path-breaking is now synonymous with jiade, or fake.

These days, developers are turning their attention to the real thing. Along Sinan Lu, a collection of historic villas near Zhou Enlai’s former residence is slated to become a retail and restaurant destination. Another example, Ferguson Lane, a » 111

A refurbished side of Shanghai at Bridge 8.

short stretch tucked behind Wukang Lu, comprises a 1930’s bungalow and a pair of buildings that house an art gallery, a café, a wine shop and cult shoe designer’s Mary Ching purple-and-black boutique. Jane Jacobs disciples might bemoan the makeover, but in a country where the impulse has been to demolish, this zeal for preservation isn’t to be scoffed at.

The Bund and beyond

You can’t talk about Shanghai’s transformation without mentioning its most emblematic street. The Bund once symbolized the city’s banking and trading prowess; now, it represents its consumer power, with European fashion houses touting flagship stores along the famed riverfront. Over breakfast at the Peninsula Shanghai, a group of well-groomed and equally well-tanned men gather. European hedge-fund managers? Millionaires on a group holiday? Later, they clamor to attention when a diminutive character with a distinctive shock of white hair appears—Ralph Lauren, in town to oversee the launch of a new store in the hotel’s shopping arcade.

Opened last October, the Peninsula—a sublime ode to the city’s Art Deco heyday—is leading the charge in the redevelopment of the North Bund. By this summer, the city’s most

historic hotel, the glorious Peace Hotel, will be unveiled after a painstaking restoration while its adjacent sister property, the Palace Hotel, will re-emerge as the Swatch Art Hotel.

But it’s at the so-called South Bund where things are getting interesting in a ground-up sort of way. Next to the Cool Docks, an unfortunate Xintiandi copycat, Singaporean hotelier Loh Lik Peng is turning a 1930’s-era building into The Waterhouse, another boutique property in his growing roster.

Conceptualized by cutting-edge Shanghai design firm Neri & Hu, it’s meant to mimic life inside a local lane.

More to the point: Loh has a proven track record of setting up shop in overlooked neighborhoods that later blossom. He also deftly mixes old with new, leaving layers of unvarnished history intact while adding his own contemporary touch—an approach Shanghai’s just getting the hang of.

On a clear day, two architects from Neri & Hu—C. C. Yan and Andrew Roman—guide us through the hotel, which, though unfinished, rivets the imagination. From one of the guest rooms, we gaze below at an adjacent row of ruined lane houses, which I’m told Loh tried to save. “We should see if we can salvage the wood and the bricks,” Roman muses. “Look at those tiles. We could use them in the future.” ✚

GUIDE TO SHANGHAI WHERE TO STAY @ Gallery Suites Spacious rooms in the former residence of an exiled Russian princess. 525 HengShan Lu; 86-21/5179-5000; suites from RMB1,500.

Peninsula Shanghai 32 Zhongshan Dongyi Lu, The Bund; 86-21/2327-8888; peninsula.com; doubles from RMB3,200.

The PuLi Hotel and Spa Zen-like ambience in the heart of the city. Make sure to indulge in chef Dane Clouston’s refined fare. 1 Changde Lu, Jing An district; 86-21/3203-9999; thepuli. com; RMB1,880.

The Waterhouse at South Bund Maojiayuan Lu 1-3, Huangpu district; 86-21/6080-2988; waterhouseshanghai.com; doubles from RMB1,500.

696 WEIHAI LU Around Space Room 108, Building No. 11, 696 Weihai Lu; 86/1380-174-3061; open from Wednesday to Sunday or by appointment.

Chinese Cooking Workshop Room 307, Building No. 11, 696

Weihai Lu; 86-21/5404-3181; chinesecookingworkshop.com.

Lolo Love Vintage Room 288, Building No. 11, 696 Weihai Lu; 86/1500-074-4302.

Stageback Room 310, Building No. 11, 696 Weihai Lu; 86/1350171-7590; stage-back.org; open Thursday to Friday or by appointment.

JINXIAN LU Capital Joy Sophisticated men’s wear at affordable prices. 158 Jinxian Lu; 86-21/6256-0134.

Citizen Café 222 Jinxian Lu; 86-21/6258-1620; lunch for two RMB200.

Chun 124 Jinxian Lu; 86-21/62560301; dinner for four RMB300.

Pier 39 Healthy and hearty soups, salads and sandwiches.

172 Jinxian Lu; 86-21/6258-1939; lunch for two RMB180.

Ripple Fit Gorgeous frocks by two local designers. 169A Jinxian Lu; 86-21/5157-5507.

ANFU LU Baker and Spice Sleek European-

style bakery. First floor, 195 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5404-2733; treats for two RMB40.

Tong Tiny space with children’s clothing in muted tones. 284 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5403-6837.

Everything But the Café 161 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5403-6590.

Torana Handmade carpet from Tibet. Look out for antique textiles from Tibet and Central Asia.

164 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5404-4886.

Heyan’er Traditional clothes in funky fabrics. First floor, 83 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5404-8818.

La Strada Chef Craig Willis serves up thin-crust pizzas and a relaxed vibe. 195 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5404-0100.

Kava Kava Customizable Chinese furniture in unexpected colors.

167 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5404-3873.

Mayumi Sato Artful women’s wear by a Shanghai-based Japanese designer. 169 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5403-3903.

Mia’s Homestyle Chinese and Western fare amid vintage furniture. 45–47 Anfu Lu; 86-21/54035266; lunch for two RMB120.

FERGUSON LANE Coffee Tree Buzzing café with fabulous cakes. Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu; 86-21/6466-0361.

D.I.S. Contemporary European labels for women. Ferguson Lane, Room 111, 376 Wukang Lu; 86-21/6126-7661.

Globus Wine-tasting room as well as retail shop. Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu; 86-21/6466-8969.

Franck French bistro with a good wine list. Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu; 86-21/ 6437-6465; lunch for two RMB230.

Mr. Willis Third floor, 195 Anfu Lu; 86-21/5404-0200; dinner for two RMB250.

Leo Gallery Two-level space devoted to contemporary Chinese art. Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu; 86-21/5465-8785.

T Elegant cashmeres from Inner Mongolia in a minimalist setting.

163A Anfu Lu; 86-21/5404-2695.

Mary Ching Ferguson Lane, Room 209, 374 Wukang Lu; 86-21/6090-4599.

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THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE SAND BETWEEN YOUR TOES. WHETHER IT’S ALONG A THAI SHORELINE ALIVE WITH FISHING BOATS OR AT A VILLA ON THE AMALFI COAST, THESE SEASIDE RESORTS — ALL US$250 OR LESS PER DAY — PROMISE SUN AND THE SIMPLE LIFE

This spread photographed by ROLAND BELLO Styled by MIMI LOMBARDO

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 . M O D E L : S H A N N O N S H U LT Z / W I L H E L M I N A

Exploring San Pedro, the only town on Ambergris Cay, off the coast of Belize. Dress by Thakoon; bag, Anya Hindmarch; sunglasses, D&G; earrings, Susan Hanover Designs. Opposite: Ambergris Cay’s Xanadu Island Resort.

Edited by Clark Mitchell, with Jennifer Flowers and Bree Sposato. Reported by Katie Arnold, Alexander Basek, Laura Begley, Sylvie Bigar, Alice Bruneaux, Karen Burshtein, Christine Ciarmello, Jennifer Coogan, Anthony Dennis, Mark Ellwood, Kristina Ensminger, David Kaufman, Josh Krist, Carolina A. Miranda, Clark Mitchell, Shane Mitchell, Shira Nanus, Kathryn O’Shea-Evans, Karen Schaler, Rima Suqi, Meeghan Truelove, Bonnie Tsui, Valerie Waterhouse, Sarah Wildman and Zoe Wolff.

TRAVELANDLEISURE.COM FEBRUARY 2010

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Asian Beaches Clockwise from left: A Chinese-style bedroom, Temple Tree at Bon Ton Resort; in Phuket, a pool suite at the Outrigger Serenity Terraces Resort; sunrise in Vietnam at the Furama Resort; enjoying an outdoor massage at the Furama.

INDIA

$139

The delicate ecosystem of the Andaman Islands is carefully guarded at the eco-sensitive Barefoot at Havelock. The 19 cottages are filled with teak furniture sourced from renewable forests, and the showers have skylights and are open to the elements. A short path through the mahua trees leads to Beach No. 7, where you can stroll along the white sand or swim with Rajan, the resort’s resident elephant. Radhanagar Beach, Havelock Island; 91-44/24341001; barefootindia.com.

uninhabited islands nearby. Pentai Cenang, Kedah; 60-4/9553937; bontonresort.com.

THAILAND

$122

Phuket’s Rawai Beach is alive with fishing boats, catamarans and seafood vendors, and the 78-suite Outrigger Serenity Terraces Resort is the ideal place to watch the bustling scene. Rooms at the 11-month-old property have floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies (six with private plunge pools). On the roof, check out the umbrella-studded lounge overlooking the Andaman Sea. 14 Moo 5 Viset Rd., Phuket; 66-76/371-900; outrigger.com.

VIETNAM

M A L AY S I A

$143

Chinese tin miners, Arab goldsmiths and durian farmers once lived in the 100-year-old villas at Temple Tree at Bon Ton Resort, on Malaysia’s Langkawi Island. Each one is named after an indigenous flower—white frangipani; yellow orchid—and most are appointed with Turkish rugs and deep wooden tubs. The golden beaches of Pantai Cenang are only a 10-minute walk away; take a small boat out to Daya Bunting, one of the 99

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$215

The Furama Resort is located on China Beach, the famous 29-kilometer stretch of coastline in central Vietnam. A combination of colonial-era and traditional Asian design defines this 198-room beachfront property. The resort offers everything from tai chi classes on the beach and tours of the four nearby UNESCO World Heritage sites to serene night dives with sea turtles in the South China Sea. 68 Ho Xuan Huong St., Bac My An, Da Nang; 84-511/3847-888; furamavietnam.com.

C L O C K W I S E F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E SY O F T E M P L E T R E E AT B O N T O N R E S O R T; C O U R T E SY O F O U T R I G G E R S E R E N I T Y T E R RAC ES R ES O RT; CO U RT ESY O F F U RA M A R ES O RT ( 2 )

~A S I A~

Boardwalks connect the treatment rooms at Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa, in Aruba. The Hotel Erwin, in Venice Beach, California, left. Top left: Barefoot at Havelock on the Andaman Islands.

NEW ZEALAND

~AU S T R A L I A A N D N E W Z E A L A N D ~

AUSTRALIA

C LO C KW I S E F RO M TO P L E F T: CO U RT ESY O F B A R E F O O T AT H AV E L O C K ; W H I T N E Y L A W S O N ; C H R I S T I A N H O R A N

$155

You’d never expect that the charming and secluded Q Station, at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, was once a quarantine base for ship passengers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Sydneysiders now flock to the seaside resort, just 11 kilometers away in the suburb of Manly.

The 71 rooms and six three-bedroom cottages are outfitted with oversize beds and balconies. N. Head Scenic Dr., Manly; 61-2/9466-1500; qstation.com.au.

$217

On the west coast of the North Island, along the black volcanic sands of Whale Bay in Raglan, the new three-suite Waoku Lodge is making a name among Aucklanders looking to get away from it all. Innkeepers Sharon and Rob Southern know a thing or two about making guests feel coddled—they will bring meals right to your room (an insider tip is to order the smoked local salmon on crispy Rösti). After a long afternoon on the beach, you may crave a change of pace: don’t miss a quick trip to Bridal Veil Falls, a 55-meter waterfall in the nearby jungle. 51A Whaanga Rd.; 64-7/825-7072; waokulodge.co.nz.

$176

Even the most intrepid travelers feel like they’ve gotten away from it all with a stay at Eco Beach Wilderness Retreat, located an hour from Broome in the vast state of Western Australia. The resort has 25 beachside villas and 30 tents powered with solar panels and furnished with bamboo floors and private verandas. Not far from the comforts of your bed, the empty beach extends for almost 13 kilometers, and from October to January native sea turtles nest in nearby dunes. Great Northern Hwy.; 61-8/91938015; ecobeach.com.au.

~ U N I T E D S TAT E S ~

CALIFORNIA

$179

Channel your inner Gidget at the 165-room Santa Cruz Dream Inn, a new retro-chic beachfront hotel. Light-flooded rooms have sliding green shutters, bright yellow 1960’s Panton chairs and balconies with great views of Monterey Bay. Try the fish-and-chips made with local Seabright Brewery beer at the hotel’s » 117

Great Outdoors Clockwise from top left: Colombiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Playa Koralia, with its thatched-roof bungalows; a tent at Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eco Beach Wilderness Retreat; in Vietnam, a sweep of beach at the Furama Resort; some Chinese style at Temple Tree at Bon Ton Resort; inside a tent at Eco Beach.

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Aquarius restaurant. 175 W. Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz; 1-831/4264330; dreaminnsantacruz.com.

$169

Overlooking Venice’s Muscle Beach, the Hotel Erwin’s 119 rooms were revamped last year to incorporate the area’s urban aesthetic, with electric yellow mesh screens, bursts of seafoam green and aqua paint on the walls, and artful graffiti on guest-room doors. The Pacific Ocean is just 60 meters from your doorstep. For 360-degree views of Los Angeles, head up to High, the rooftop restaurant.

1697 Pacific Ave., Los Angeles; 1-310/452-1111; jdvhotels.com.

FLORIDA

$189

A 1940’s fishing camp has been transformed into Coconut Palm Inn, a tranquil retreat with just the right amenities (Wi-Fi; alfresco breakfasts; mangrove-ready kayaks) and an authentic old Florida Keys feel.

The 20 rooms—spread across two low-slung, bay-facing structures—have hand-carved wooden furniture from Bali, sisal rugs and sage-green walls. Outside, a palm-shaded swath of sand has Adirondack chairs for lounging. 198 Harborview Dr., Key Largo; 1-305/852-3017; coconutpalminn.com.

$129

O P P O S I T E P A G E 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 H O T E L P L AYA K O R A L I A ; C O U R T E SY O F E C O B E A C H W I L D E R N E S S R E T R E AT; C O U R T E SY O F F U R A M A R E S O R T; C O U R T E SY O F T E M P L E T R E E AT B O N T O N R E S O R T; C O U R T E SY O F E C O B E A C H W I L D E R N E S S R E T R E AT

The 54 rooms at South Beach’s Riviera Hotel are spacious (at least 65 square meters), given the prime location a couple of blocks from the ocean and near the Bass Museum of Art. Each suite comes with a separate bedroom, lounge and kitchen, plus two flat-screen TV’s and an iPod docking station. It’s a quick stroll to the shore and some of the best people-watching around. 2000 Liberty Ave., Miami Beach; 1-305/538-7444; rivierahotelsouthbeach.com.

H AWAI I

$125

Each of the five stylish rooms at Ka’awa Loa Plantation & Guesthouse—a tiny B&B run by gregarious owners Michael Martinage and Gregory Nunn—comes with panoramic views of Kealakekua Bay. A breakfast of eggs, fresh star fruit and coffee grown on site is served on the 186-square-meter wraparound porch. The nearby lava-rock beaches, Kealakekua and Puuhonua O Honaunau, are known for the best snorkeling on the Big Island. 82-5990 Napoopoo Rd., Kealakekua; 1-808/323-2686; kaawaloaplantation.com.

MASSACHUSETTS

$139

Cape Cod is a land of vintage cottage communities, collections of tiny bungalows rented by the same families year in and year out. In Wellfleet, a lovely enclave known for its briny namesake oysters and tidy town center, the Surfside Cottages make travelers feel like residents. Sprinkled throughout the dunes and neighboring woods, the one- to three-bedroom accommodations aren’t much to look at—straight out of the 1950’s, they have knotty

pine walls, bamboo furniture, outdoor showers and screenedin porches—but the price can’t be beat, with rock-bottom weekly rates, even in summer. Ocean View Dr., South Wellfleet; 1-508/349-3959; surfsidecottages.com.

NEW JERSEY

$69

Owners George Miller and Carolyn Emigh saved the Caribbean Motel, a Midcentury gem, from the developers’ wrecking ball five years ago. The Caribbean— near the superwide sandspit and lively boardwalk—is one of the best examples of Wildwood’s signature doo-wop style. Its swooping 30-unit low-rise exterior is painted in shades of lime green and egg-yolk yellow and surrounded by clusters of the plastic palm trees for which the motel (and later the town) has become known. 5600 Ocean Ave., Wildwood Crest; 1-609/5228292; caribbeanmotel.com.

$135

Half a block from the Atlantic, the Daddy O Restaurant & Boutique Hotel is a 22-room Rat Pack throwback. Think high-gloss mahogany walls, red faux-suede banquettes and wallpaper embedded with Murano glass. Chill out on one of the chaise longues or order a classic martini from the hotel’s hopping bar. 4401 Long Beach Blvd., Brant Beach; 1-609/361- 5100; daddyohotel.com.

NEW YORK

$90

Surfers and New York City media types flock to the shingled, L-shaped East Deck Motel for its retro look and unbeatable location along Ditch Plains beach, on Long Island’s South Fork. With wood paneling, floral bedspreads and not a flat-screen TV in sight, the 28 unassuming rooms are the perfect antidote to the Hamptons. Take a morning yoga class, amble along the coastal path or settle in on the oceanfront deck, fringed by bayberry bushes. 40 Deforest Rd., Ditch Plains; 1-631/668-2334; eastdeckmotel.com.

OREGON

$169

Just 122 meters from the sand, the 35-room Inn at Cape Kiwanda is the perfect base for a weekend at the shore. Suites are cozy—gas fireplaces; down comforters—and offer amazing views of the surf crashing into Haystack Rock, a 100-meter-tall basalt monolith jutting out of the bay. Owners and beer aficionados Mary Jones and Jeff Schons make you feel right at home: on Friday nights they host a tasting of their brewery’s dark ale, made with hops grown near Mount Hood. 33105 Cape Kiwanda Dr., Pacific City; 1-503/9665-7001; innatcapekiwanda.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA

$129

At Beachside Bed & Breakfast, the four quirky rooms and a tiny backyard garden are only three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. There’s a 1970’s crash pad with tie-dye décor and a tree-house room with a » 119

The pool at Villa Scarpariello, on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Clockwise from above: The villa is set above the Mediterranean; a Temple Tree at Bon Ton Resorts room; deluxe sea view studio at Ammos Hotel, on Crete; above the Waoku Lodge in New Zealand; an ocean view at Villa Scarpariello.

~EU ROPE~

C R O AT I A

$221

The glass-and-steel Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Dubrovnik is as bold as the yachts that cruise the Dalmatian Coast. With a 3,400-square-meter Anne Sémonin spa, 13 restaurants, three swimming pools and its own market selling local fruit, the Radisson feels more like a small village than a resort. The 408 rooms overlook a sandy beach. Na Moru 1, Dubrovnik; 385-20/361-500; radissonblu.com.

FRANCE

$100

Set on Cap Ferrat, between Nice and Monte Carlo, Hôtel l’Oursin is a petite, 14-room charmer with Provencal flair (embroidered toile bedspreads; carved walnut headboards). Two of the largest rooms face the 120

harbor, with its bobbing sailboats. Walk along the sunny waterfront promenade and stop at one of the numerous outdoor cafés for bouillabaisse or stroll through the village down to the pebbled Mediterranean beaches. St.-Jean Cap Ferrat; 33-4/93-76-04-65; hoteloursin.com.

$85

In the tiny fishing town of Guéthary, in the southwestern corner of France, Le Madrid’s six rooms have an old-fashioned vibe—wrought-iron beds and claw-foot tubs. The Basque-inflected French food draws vacationing Parisians to the restaurant, which serves local fish, of course, but the côte de boeuf in bearnaise sauce and housemade foie gras are just as enticing. Place P. J. Toulet; 33-5/5926-52-12; lemadrid.com.

GREECE

$140

A short walk from the Venetian harbor in western Crete, Ammos Hotel is a sanctuary of cool. Owner Nikos Tsepetis personalized the 33 minimalist rooms with Marimekko fabrics, hand-painted pottery, unvarnished woods and smooth concrete floors. And he puts just as much thought into his custom day trips to see ancient Knossos or the Hellenistic and Roman ruins at Aptera. At night, settle

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canopied twig bed. But the best digs are in a private bungalow that has tongue-and-groove paneling and vintage mahogany furnishings. Bikes are provided for pedaling around the island—to buy kites or to snack on ribs in one of the local bars.

Folly Beach; 1-843/633-0184; follybeachsidebb.com.

into the seaside taverna for traditional Greek specialties, such as zucchini pie with goat cheese. Glaros Beach, Chania; 30-2821/0330-0325; ammoshotel.com.

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 SY O F T E M P L E T R E E AT B O N T O N R E S O R T; CO U RT ESY O F A M M OS H OT E L ; CO U RT ESY O F WAO KU LO D G E

I TA LY

$186

On a cliff 800 meters from Amalfi, the whitewashed Villa Scarpariello could be your wealthy Italian friend’s private retreat. All five rooms are filled with family heirlooms and artisan handiwork—antique-writing desks, pink-and-turquoise Vietri tiles—and have wooden shutters that open onto the Mediterranean. If you’re looking for a stretch of powdery sand, head to Baia di Castiglione, a 10-minute walk away, though the villa’s pool and waterfront deck are just as inviting. 32 Via Carusiello, Castiglione di Ravello; 39-089/872-237; amalfi.it/scarpariello.

$172

In Sicily’s capital of Baroque, the portside Musciara Siracusa Resort combines rustic luxury with old-world charm. Inside the refurbished 19thcentury palazzo, the 12 spacious bedrooms are painted in rich ochres and light blues. You can swim in the warm waters off the hotel’s private beach, or take a 15-minute walk to Ortygia, the ancient city center, with its many gelaterias. After sun-

down, linger over an aperitivo on the hotel’s seaside terrace and watch fishermen hunt squid by the light of lanterns. 42 Riviera Dionisio il Grande, Siracusa; 39-0931/465-258; siracusaresort.it.

S PA I N

$160

Situated right where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, 6.5 kilometers from the town of Tarifa, the Hotel Hurricane Tarifa draws its name from the area’s powerful winds. The property pays homage to the region’s Moorish heritage in some of the 33 guest rooms, which are Moroccan-themed; many look out on the crescentshaped beach, which is dotted with colorful sails thanks to the wind- and kite-surfing school that the hotel runs. Km 78, Crta.

Nacional 340; 34/95-668-4919; hotelhurricane.com.

$107

It isn’t easy to locate the Hostal Sa Rascassa, and that’s exactly the point—the hotel is hidden above Aiguafreda, a tiny seaside cove on Spain’s Costa Brava.

The quiet, tree-shaded haven has five bright rooms with tiled floors and wood-framed beds. Steps away is a small and secluded cove, though a 10-minute walk leads to a large sandy strand in the village of Sa Tuna. For dinner, your best bet is the fresh fish at the hotel’s open-air restaurant (try the » 121

Sandy Days Clockwise from left: On the pier in San Pedro, Belize, near Xanadu Island Resort (dress by Louis Vuitton; cap, Hat Attack); one of Hotel Le Caméléon’s 23 modern guest rooms, in Costa Rica; at the Furama Resort, an ocean studio suite; wicker lounges line the pool at Eco Beach Wilderness Retreat, in Western Australia.

~CAR IBBEAN~

ANTIGUA

$110

Judging by the multimillion-dollar yachts moored in English Harbour, you wouldn’t exactly expect to find an affordable hotel for kilometers. But that’s not the case in Antigua: the intimate Ocean Inn, whose wooden walkways connect 12 bright rooms, is a steal.

Try No. 3, which goes for the same price as a standard room but has a balcony thrown in for free, or one of the two suites in the master cottage, perfect for privacy seekers. Hospital Hill; 268/463-7950; theoceaninn.com.

ARUBA

$169

The Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa—a spiffed-up former Best Western on the western coast of the island—has 71 simple rooms, most of which open right onto one of the Caribbean’s most beautiful stretches of sand. If you’re in search of palapas, azure water and a cocktail,

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what more could you need? Maybe a shiatsu massage at the beachfront spa, set in a tropical garden. 55 J. E. Irausquin Blvd.; 011-297/582-3444; manchebo.com.

BEQUIA

$75

Built by a sea captain for his family more than 100 years ago, the 15-room Frangipani Hotel stands at the head of Admiralty Bay. Behind the main house, with its pitched roof, gingerbread fretwork and five simple rooms, are 10 suites shaded by the hotel’s eponymous trees. The open-air bar draws a local crowd for the gentle waves that lap up under your table. No address; 784/458-3255; frangipanibequia.com.

DOMINICA

$148

The diminutive Calibishie Cove—on the mountainous island’s beach-studded northeastern corner—is a colonial-style hotel with just four rooms, each with platform beds, large shutters and a private patio overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Snorkel with sea horses and turtles off the near-empty Hodges Beach; or arrange for a picnic lunch of spiny lobster, borrow a kayak and head to Treasure Island, a nearby uninhabited islet. Point Dubique, Calibishie; 443/987-6742; calibishiecove.com.

C LO C KW I S E F RO M L E F T: RO L A N D B E L LO ; CO U RT ESY O F L E CA M É L É O N ; C O U R T E SY O F F U R A M A R E S O R T; C O U R T E SY O F E C O B E A C H W I L D E R N E S S R E T R E AT

grilled dorade drizzled with olive oil and lemon). 3 Cala d’Aiguafreda, Begur; 34/97-262-2845; hostalsarascassa.com.

JAMAICA

$195

The restaurant at Hotel Mocking Bird Hill has become a destination unto itself, thanks to chef Melvin Laidlaw, who gets most of his produce from an on-site garden (try the coconut-and-garlic soup followed by the orange custard with wild-orange liqueur). The 10-room ecohotel is nestled in 2.4 hectares of tropical gardens. A fiveminute drive away is the pristine Frenchman’s Cove, where warm salt water mixes with cold fresh water that flows from a spring in the hills, causing a natural phenomenon—vivid layers of color. Port Antonio; 876/993-7267; hotelmockingbirdhill.com.

TORTOLA

$205

Guests hardly need to leave the 21-hectare, plantation-style Long Bay Resort, which has two restaurants, a spa, three bars, as well as tennis, snorkeling and diving, except for a day sail to the cave-filled Norman Island, the backdrop for the 1950 film Treasure Island.

The 157 rooms here—some are rustic cabanas on stilts—have wicker furniture and views of the remote 1.6-kilometer-long beach. At the on-site restaurant, housed in a centuries-old converted sugar mill, the catch of the day is grilled to perfection. Road Town, Long Bay; 284/495-4252; longbay.com.

~M E X IC O A N D C E N T R A L A N D S OU T H A M E R IC A~

BELIZE

$190

Near the tip of Ambergris Cay, a 40-kilometer long island off the northeastern coast of Belize, Xanadu Island Resort is set along a gorgeous stretch of white sand. The hotel’s six thatched-roof casitas—surrounding a coconut palm–flanked pool—hold 19 one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites, each decked out with plush sofas, full kitchens and private balconies that look out on the Caribbean Sea or the resort’s verdant gardens. Ask the staff to arrange a snorkeling excursion to the second-largest barrier reef in the world, which is teeming with rainbow parrot fish, loggerhead turtles and octopuses. San Pedro; 011-501/226-2814; xanaduresort-belize.com.

COLOMBIA

$106

The privacy at Playa Koralia—a complex of 19 brightly painted bungalows fronting a secluded stretch of Colombia’s Caribbean Riviera—has made it popular among Latin American celebrities. Oversize rooms are minimalist (white walls and floors; beds draped with sheer netting; pink hammocks), and a tiny spa offers spice-infused massages and mud scrubs. Ask the front-desk staff to arrange a guided trek to mountaintop waterfalls in nearby Tayrona National Park. After-hours, head for Koralia’s open-air bar, where rum and salsa music flow freely. Km. 47 desde Santa Marta, Crta. Troncal del Caribe; 57-310/6422-574; koralia.com.

C O S TA R I C A

$69

The Hotel Banana Azul, a 14-room retreat on a black-sand strand, embodies the area’s laid-back feeling. Bright rooms feature such tropical touches as dangling bromeliad plants and locally made easy chairs. Hammocks are strung under coconut palms—an ideal spot for piña coladas. Puerto Viejo; 506/2750-2035; bananaazul.com.

$200

In a part of the country once known mainly by intrepid surfers for its waves, the splashy new boutique hotel Le Caméléon is changing the scene. All 23 sleek rooms are dressed in white and set around a manicured rain-forest garden. At the open-air restaurant, Numu, the menu is Central American fusion (try the roasted sea bass with mashed yuca and leeks). Playa Cocles, Puerto Viejo; 506/2750-0501; lecameleon hotel.com.

MEXICO

$150

In the town of Puerto Escondido, on the Pacific coast, the 12 cliff-top bungalows at Villas Carrizalillo overlook a cove with the area’s prettiest beach, Playa Carrizalillo. Villas have curved Spanish-style roofs, but each is unique: some have exposed stone walls, others come with dark, polished cement floors. Sip tequila añejo at sunset at the red-tiled terrace bar. 125 Avda. Carrizalillo, Puerto Escondido; 52-954/582-1735; villascarrizalillo.com.

$230

“Serenity now” should be the mantra at Present Moment Retreat, on a sleepy, five-kilometer strand in Troncones, well out of sight of Ixtapa’s high-rises. The nine palapa-style bungalows have ocean views, rocking chairs and enormous rain-forest showerheads in the bathrooms. The qigong classes in the oceanfront pavilion are a big draw, as are the Thai massages by the water. Playa Troncones, Zihuatanejo; 52-755/103-0011; presentmomentretreat.com.

~A F R I C A A N D T H E M I D D L E E A S T~

ISRAEL

$250

The 55-room Savoy Hotel is a stone’s throw from Tel Aviv’s white-sand strands, as well as the city’s bustling markets, cafés and nightclubs. A renovation has added 10 rooms (seven with Jacuzzi baths), balconies and hardwood floors. 5 Geula St.; 972-3/514-0500; inisrael.com.

MOZAMBIQUE

$250

The tiny island of Inhaca, a 15-minute flight from Maputo or a 90-minute boat ride, is home to palm-shrouded Pestana Inhaca Lodge. Its thatched-roof restaurant faces the aquamarine Indian Ocean.

Here local kids watch their dads head out to fish from wooden dhows. Ilha de Inhaca; 258/2130-5000; pestana.com. ✚ 123

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MONT H 2 0 0 8| T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M

From inventive restaurants to chic hotels, Bruce Schoenfeld chronicles a burgeoning of homegrown innovation across the heart of America and beyond. Read on for 25 reasons to see the country now.

S P R E A D : P E T E R F RA N K E DWA R DS

A Pan-Asian pickle plate at Lantern restaurant, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Opposite: Chef Andrea Reusing in Lanternâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dining room.

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Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street, between souvenir shops decorated with sky blue North Carolina T-shirts and bars advertising US$1 beer specials, I stumbled across some of the most creative—yet authentic—Chinese food I’ve found in America: Pan-seared squid with house-made XO sauce, local asparagus with poached duck eggs, even handrolled rice noodles that cast me back to a meal I once enjoyed on a mountaintop above Taipei. I’ve eaten on Franklin Street dozens of times over the years, including several dinners at Crook’s Corner, which helped pioneer New Southern cuisine back in the 1980’s. But never have I felt transported like I did eating tea-smoked duck at Lantern, where the unlikely chef-owner is a former New York political operative by the name of Andrea Reusing.

When we talked between courses, I learned that Reusing had emigrated to the south of the U.S. to join her musician boyfriend in the mid-1990’s, pined for the Chinatown noodle houses that had sustained her in Manhattan, and— with no evidence that the area would support genuine Chinese food and absolutely no experience running a kitchen—figured she’d push the envelope and open her own. It all seemed so improbable, yet I shouldn’t have been surprised. For some time now, I’ve been reveling in similarly unexpected achievements by visionaries, entrepreneurs and assorted talents in towns and cities across America.

Taken together, they’ve helped to validate my conviction that this is by far the most rewarding time in memory to travel around the U.S. There’s something afoot in America today, a creative burgeoning from one side of the country on through to the other. Manifestations of this phenomenon include (but are hardly limited to) new and innovative restaurants, hotels, museums, boutiques and spas, all of which are making my trips to those places where I have to go—but didn’t ever particularly want to—a whole lot better.

Just a few years ago, my primary objective when visiting smaller American cities was to emerge unscathed.

That meant a good steak, a predictable hotel room, maybe a movie. Now I look to Salt Lake City for sushi; shop for my wife in Charlotte, North Carolina; gape at architecture in places as diverse as Milwaukee, Fort Worth and Cincinnati; and sip remarkable wines in rural Tennessee. I still »

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JOE SCHMELZER. J E S S I C A S C H W A R T Z B E R G ( 2 ) ; K E N N E T H H AY D E N ; P E T E R F RA N K E DWA R DS ( 2 ) .

N THE COLLEGE-TOWN SURROUNDINGS OF

Linguine with sea urchin at Bresca, in Portland, Maine. Clockwise from below: A design-heavy guest room at the 21c Museum Hotel, in Louisville, Kentucky; radicchiowrapped lump crab salad at Dali Wine Bar & Cellar; co-owners Liz Thompson (left) and Elizabeth Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mahony with Daphne, their Cavalier King Charles spaniel, at V.O.D., in Dallas; the indoor pool at the Grand America Hotel, in Salt Lake City; local Tim Findelan on Portland, Maine's Middle Street.

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OW HAS THIS HAPPENED? THE SIMPLIFIED VERSION IS:

two waves, one in and one out. Into the heart of the country came Iron Chef and Andrea Immer, TripAdvisor and Twitter, trendsetters and bright lights who packed up their ideas and laptops and moved to where they really wanted to live. And out into the world went the native sons and daughters of all those cities formerly known as second-tier, using frequent-flier miles and cheap fares to get almost anywhere they wanted to go (we take that for granted, but we’re the first generation to do it), then returning with the sensibilities, tastes and standards they’d discovered along the way. After that, it was hard to go back to egg foo yong.

It helps that today’s like-minded enthusiasts share affinities across time zones, for even virtual neighborhoods have neighborhood shops and restaurants. Planning a trip to Portland, Maine, earlier this year, I turned to the food fanatics at chowhound.com and came across Hugo’s, which has a menu that reads like a Top Chef episode. Unfortunately, I already had dinner plans, so I stopped in for appetizers that were far more daring than anything I’d ever experienced in Portland, including panko-crusted lamb’s tongue cooked sous-vide and Asian tripe stew with sour cream.

Talking with Vinroot Poole helped me understand how the American landscape. So did Blake Richardson, 128

LEFT: JOE SCHMELZER. CENTER: ALAN KARCHMER/ESTOSTOCK P E T E R F RA N K E DWA R DS

love my trips to the coasts—Manhattan and Manhattan Beach, Back Bay and Half Moon Bay. But I no longer need them the way I once did.

Don’t misunderstand: I continue to appreciate those aspects of American culture that remain regional and local, the thrillingly diverse heritage of 50 multifarious states. The last thing I desire is sameness, coast to coast. But as a traveler, I also want the comforts—and the occasional vanguardist, mind-expanding experiences—that I’ve come to expect around the world. These days, even despite a darkened economy, I’m getting them nearly everywhere I go in the U.S. An awakening that began with enlightened college towns, such as Boulder and Chapel Hill, has spread to Middle America, a non-geographic designation that also includes long swaths of coastline as well as the Rust Belt, the Corn Belt, the Bible Belt and the rest of what some like to label the Flyover States. “To assume that because we’re in the middle of the country we just don’t get it is not right anymore,” says Jackie Bolin, one of the owners of V.O.D., a Dallas clothing boutique that has opened eyes in what was already a sophisticated fashion scene. “The world is much smaller than even 10 years ago. Our customers travel.

They know the difference. They do get it.”

LEFT: JOE SCHMELZER. CENTER: ALAN KARCHMER/ESTOSTOCK P E T E R F RA N K E DWA R DS

The Milwaukee Art Museum's Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion.

Left: Salt Lake City’s Takashi sushi restaurant.

Right: At Empire Baking Company, in Dallas.

Then I headed down the block to Bresca, where a former pastry chef named Krista Kern has created a storefront trattoria that feels like an Italian family’s living room. Kern came to Maine for the slower pace of life, but the food she sends out from her kitchen has a sense of aspiration and urgency—taste me now!—that makes it world-class. I thrilled to her linguine with sea urchin, a dish I’d longed for since I’d first experienced its pungent, unctuous texture on the Gulf of Palermo years ago.

It astonished me that two restaurants of such achievement and ambition sat just a block apart in a city of 64,000. Then I asked some questions and learned that a huge percentage of their business comes from out-of-staters who discovered them the way I did, trolling the Web, unwilling to waste a meal on something short of memorable. This isn’t quite e-commerce but something more subtle: e-inspired commerce. At V.O.D., in Dallas, for example, customers now walk in asking for pieces from the likes of French designer Isabel Marant. “We get shoppers from New York and San Francisco learning on the Internet that we carry her and calling us, which is amazing,” says Liz Thompson, one of Bolin’s business partners. “But local people also come in now and know exactly what they’re looking for. In a way, that’s even more amazing.”

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URING THE PAST FEW YEARS, MY INSTINCT THAT travels around Middle America were getting noticeably more compelling took on the complexion of a quest. I can’t pretend to be an expert on high fashion, but when I learned that designer Isaac Mizrahi thought the finest boutique in America was located in a shopping center in Charlotte, I had to see it for myself.

Capitol is the vision of Laura Vinroot Poole, who grew up with one foot in Charlotte and one foot beyond. She attended Andover in Massachusetts for high school and bristled at the ignorance that her classmates showed about the South. By the time she’d finished college, she wondered why so many of the smart, tasteful Charlotteans she knew regularly left town to shop. Her response was Capitol. It has one of only a handful of Patrick Blanc vertical gardens outside Paris, and stocks some of America’s most interesting fashion and accessories, including antique Chantilly-lace lingerie and US$200,000 Indian sapphires. “Capitol has things that literally no other shop in America has,” says Laura Mulleavy, half of the avant-garde design duo Rodarte, which is based in Pasadena, California.

Vinroot Poole and her staff go so far as to curate their customers’ wardrobes. “I’m literally in their closets,” she says, »

hometown boosterism, in the best possible sense, is altering who migrated to Japan, returning to open Moto-i 129

Manager Patrick Armstrong at Dallasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dali Wine Bar & Cellar.

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“organizing their clothes for the week according to the weather. We type it up for them. We’ve Southernized the experience of shopping.” Clearly, she could have made it anywhere. “But I’m from Charlotte,” she says. “My doctor is the guy who delivered me. My house has a really big closet. I like it here. I feel like I can do something of value and importance.”

Talking with Vinroot Poole helped me understand how hometown boosterism, in the best possible sense, is altering the American landscape. So did Blake Richardson, who migrated to Japan, then returned to Minneapolis to open Moto-i in October 2008. A brewpub featuring sake as well as local beer, it has a pool-hall atmosphere and Nirvana blaring, but with long wooden tables and framed photos of sumo wrestlers above the sawdust shuffleboard. The novelty of hanging out in a sake brewpub—who ever heard of that?—was what drew me there, but the food and drink will bring me back. Richardson’s junmainama sake is extraordinary and his Asian bar snacks (pork buns with sweet chilies and pickled carrots; ramen with silken tofu and egg) made me wonder why there isn’t a Moto-i in every city. “This town has been hungry for someone to stick a flag in and say, ‘We’re just as good as New York or L.A.,’ ” he says. “I wanted to be that guy. If sake brewpubs become a trend, it started here.”

Pride of place isn’t confined to entrepreneurs. In 1991, the City of San Antonio, Texas, reached across the border and hired the innovative architect Ricardo Legorreta to design a dramatic new library. Since then, municipalities around America have cast their nets ever wider in their quest for iconic landmarks that can alter outside perception of their cities. In rapid succession, Cincinnati chose the Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid for its Contemporary Art Center, Fort Worth commissioned a light-filled Modern Art Museum from Japan’s Tadao Ando and Milwaukee picked Spain’s Santiago Calatrava for its own art museum on the Lake Michigan waterfront. I flew to Milwaukee recently to watch the giant wings of Calatrava’s remarkable creation flap, as they’re meant to do three times daily, but excessive wind canceled the show. Still, even seeing it in such straitened circumstances, I can understand how that building is affecting Milwaukee the way Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim did Bilbao. “The committee said to put Milwaukee on the map for arts and culture,” says Elysia Borowy-Reeder, a curator and marketer for the museum. “Well, we did. The people who want to see this have to come here.” Last year, when Milwaukee’s symphony orchestra landed a top conductor (Edo de Waart, who has guided such ensembles in San Francisco and Hong Kong), the museum received much of the credit.

W

I’M HOME IN BOULDER, I MAKE WEEKLY visits to Sushi Tora, which overnights fish from Tokyo’s Tsukiji market. They serve tuna and mackerel, but also rarities such as kochi (flathead), kinmedai (golden-eye snapper) and kamasu (barracuda), and the occasional cod milt, sea cucumber and firefly squid.

HEN

Friends who pass through are amazed at the range and freshness of the selection. “The miracle of FedEx,” I tell them.

So I should have been prepared for Salt Lake City’s Takashi when I visited earlier this year. I’d checked in to the Grand America Hotel, which looks like the parliament of a small European nation. Its unflappable employees, stationed at every corner, are outnumbered only by its chandeliers. I’d never had a memorable meal in the city, and probably held the same patronizing attitude that some friends and colleagues have about the entire time zone. But seated under a 10-meter steel fish that arcs over Takashi’s bar, I enjoyed some of the finest sushi of my life. Not extravagantly architected maki rolls leaking mayonnaise, but the real stuff, tai and kohada and mirugai, paired with seasonal namazake sakes that are usually found only in Japan. “Little by little, they understand,” said Takashi Gibo, the owner, who was sitting at a nearby table with his wife. “We teach, they learn.”

I’ve also come to appreciate food from over the next hill. An exceptional meal once meant caviar and truffles shipped in from distant lands. But now that every Safeway is crammed with foodstuffs from Chile to China, the new extravagance is produce that hasn’t ever felt the numbing chill of refrigeration, let alone traversed an ocean. That’s where American towns and cities of almost any size can really shine. “Twenty years ago, you couldn’t get anything from here except potatoes and cabbage,” says chef Lisa Carlson of Minneapolis’s Spoonriver, which relies almost entirely on a network of local growers. “Now we get almost everything.” Recently, I had an astonishing meal at Blu, outside Traverse City, Michigan. The feel was oldschool: plates of food that resembled the Battle of the Marne, with the vegetables and potatoes entrenched on one side and a slab of meat holding down the other. But the ingredients were all gathered within 48 kilometers of where I sat, from the Norconk Farms asparagus in the soup to the Deer Tracks venison.

I tasted terroir as surely as in any wine.

Carry this concept to the extreme and you’ve got Blackberry Farm, in remote Walland, Tennessee. This 63-room hideaway is not merely a working farm, but practically selfsufficient. Its meals are augmented by a 180,000-bottle wine cellar, the comfort of cottages costing as much as US$4,800 nightly, and a stream of top chefs and vintners imported for weekend blowouts. The resort, which began as a farmstead in 1939, was transformed in incremental fashion to its current state by Sam Beall with family money earned from Ruby Tuesday eateries, which is a nice irony. It also speaks to Americans’ increasing willingness to wander off the beaten path if the experience is rewarding enough. “Five years ago, I don’t think the market was ready for us at this scale, certainly not in this location,” Beall says. “Now it is.”

All of this came together for me not long ago at Louisville’s 21c Museum Hotel, a daring, evolving art collection with 90 postmodern guest rooms wrapped around it. Heading to my room, I almost stumbled over a one-meter-high red plastic » 131

penguin, one of several dozen in the hotel. “They move around,” the bellhop told me. “You never know where they’ll turn up.” The penguins annoyed me at first, but I began to see them as witty, unexpected, memorable and accessible.

21c is a creation of Steve Wilson, a businessman and philanthropist whose ideas—skyscrapers, land conservancy, bison farms—have often seemed outlandish to conservative Louisville. But his wife is an heiress to a liquor fortune, and the two of them can mostly do what they like. “Art drives commerce” is their off-center motto. Wilson had long considered the city’s dilapidated Whiskey Row an underutilized resource. He proposed building a branch of the local art museum amid the blight. When the museum didn’t oblige, he did it himself, add-

ing a hotel and restaurant to pay the bills. Between the hotel, the restaurant and bar, and the art, 200,000 people passed through 21c in 2008. “People say we’ve redefined the city,” Wilson says. “Whenever some local corporation is trying to recruit someone, they bring them here.”

More than that, Wilson and others like him have helped to redefine American sophistication, at least for me. When I was in Louisville, I ate a dinner at 21c that included bison carpaccio, braised goat and other evidence of a quirky but highly evolved food culture. I drank good wine and bourbon. I spotted celebrities at the bar and chatted deep into the night. And when I stepped in the elevator and found a red penguin waiting, I couldn’t have been anywhere else. ✚

>> NEVER BETTER: 25 REASONS TO SEE AMERICA NOW

Sushi Tora 2014 10th St., Boulder; 1-303/444-2280; lunch for two US$100. Seldom-seen (on these shores, at least) varieties of nigiri sushi, augmented by perfectly composed Japanese appetizers.

KENTUCKY GREAT 21c Museum Hotel 700 VALUE W. Main St., Louisville; 1-502/217-6300; 21cmuseumhotel.com; doubles from US$249. Envelopepushing yet comfortable hotel with a rotating collection of contemporary art installations.

MAINE Bresca 111 Middle St., Portland; 1207/772-1004; dinner for two US$100.

Authentic storefront trattoria in Portland’s brick-sidewalked downtown.

Hugo’s 88 Middle St., Portland; 1-207/774-8538; dinner for two US$100. Rob Evans delights in taking vaguely discomfiting ingredients (tripe, tongue, whelks, seaweed, fried pickles) and transforming them into unpretentious, gloriously delicious dishes.

MICHIGAN Blu 5705 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor; 1-231/334-2530; dinner for two US$120. French and American classics from locally sourced ingredients, plus a panoramic view of Lake Michigan.

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MINNESOTA Hotel Ivy 201 S. 11th St., Minneapolis; 1-612/746-4600; luxurycollection. com; doubles from US$249. Starwood amenities, but with a boutique sensibility.

Moto-i 2940 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 1-612/821-6262; lunch for two US$50. The first sake brewpub outside Japan, complete with an impressive izakaya menu.

Spoonriver 750 S. Second St., Minneapolis; 1-612/436-2236; dinner for two US$75. Imaginative, ingredientdriven food in a bustling space in the Warehouse District.

NORTH CAROLINA Capitol 4010 Sharon Rd., Charlotte; 1-704/366-0388; capitolcharlotte.com.

Superbly curated emporium of women’s designer clothing and accessories.

Lantern 423 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill; 1-919/969-8846; dinner for two US$80. A modern take on a traditional Chinese noodle house.

Umstead Hotel & Spa 100 Woodland Pond, Cary; 1-919/447-4000; theumstead.com; doubles from US$299.

The multi-billionaire Goodnight family offered two prominent luxury chains a tract of land near Raleigh to build a hotel. When both declined, the Goodnights built their own. The outdoor pool backed by pin oaks and a 1.2-hectare lake resembles an Alpine spa.

OHIO Contemporary Arts Center 44 E. Sixth St., Cincinnati; 1-513/3458400; contemporaryartscenter.org. Zaha Hadid’s floating galleries alone are worth a visit.

Fire Food & Drink 13220 Shaker

Square, Cleveland; 1-216/921-3473; brunch for two US$25. Eclectic food by chef-owner Douglas Katz, who also presides over one of America’s best Sunday brunches.

OKLAHOMA Skirvin Hilton One Park Ave., GREAT Oklahoma City; 1-405/272VALUE 3040; skirvinhilton.com; doubles from US$143. The trend of retrofitting landmark hotels in struggling Midwestern cities may have reached its apex with this three-towered, 14-story hunk of Americana, restored to its previous grandeur in 2007, down to the historically accurate windowpanes and bordello-red color scheme.

Spa Lux 8922 S. Memorial Dr., Suite B, Tulsa; 1-918/615-3339; spalux.org; treatments from US$40. Tulsans, too, are surprised to come across a world-class day spa beside a Panera sandwich shop in a strip mall south of downtown. The year-old spa has handcrafted shoji doors, white marble steam rooms and a hydrotherapy capsule.

TENNESSEE Blackberry Farm 1471 W. Millers Cove Rd., Walland; 1-865/984- 8166; blackberryfarm.com; doubles from US$995, including all meals. Outrageously good food is the centerpiece of this luxurious Smoky Mountain retreat.

TEXAS Dali Wine Bar & Restaurant 1722 Routh St., Dallas; 1-469/3859360; wine and snacks for two US$35.

Instead of loading up on multiple vintages of classified-growth Bordeaux and Napa Valley trophy wines, the adventurous wine director here features more challenging bottlings from obscure locations and made from indigenous grapes.

Empire Baking Company 5450 W. Lovers Lane, Dallas; 1-214/350-0007; box lunches US$10.95. A financial-services job brought New Yorker Robert Ozarow to Dallas in 1992, but he soon left Bear Stearns to open Empire bakery.

Today, its chewy, yeasty loaves just might qualify as America’s best.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth 3200 Darnell St., Fort Worth; 1-817/738-9215; mamfw.org. Tadao Ando’s five glass pavilions form a Modernist trilogy with Louis Kahn’s Kimball Art Museum across the street and Philip Johnson’s Amon Carter Museum nearby.

San Antonio Central Library 600 Soledad St., San Antonio; 1-210/207-2500; mysapl.org. A controversial enchilada-red design by Ricardo Legorreta. The library also holds a Botero sculpture and a mural

by New Realist Jesse Treviño.

V.O.D. 2418 Victory Park Lane, Dallas; 1-214/754-0644; vodboutique.com.

Tiny, fashionable couture collection in an emerging Dallas neighborhood.

UTAH Grand America Hotel 555 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 1-801/258-6000; grandamerica.com; doubles from US$259. Like a supersize Ritz-Carlton, but even more opulent.

Takashi 18 W. Market St., Salt Lake City; 1-801/519-9595; dinner for two US$120. Tokyo-quality sushi in Utah.

WISCONSIN Milwaukee Art Museum 700 N. Art Museum Dr., Milwaukee; 1-414/224-3200; mam.org. The Santiago Calatrava design is unforgettable.

P E T E R F RA N K E DWA R DS

COLORADO Frasca Food & Wine 1738 Pearl St., Boulder; 1-303/442-6966; dinner for two US$132. Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson’s Friulian menu features hand-cut pasta and pork in half a dozen forms, while the wine list of co-owner (and Master Sommelier) Bobby Stuckey glitters with northern Italian gems.

Boutique owner Laura Vinroot Poole at Capitol, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

GERMAN CRUSH STRAW WINE. SAUERBRATEN. OOMPAH BANDS. MATT LEE AND TED LEE HEAD TO THE SOURCE TO TASTE THE WINES OF GERMANY’S MOSEL RIVER VALLEY. PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHRISTIAN KERBER

Small-Town Charms From top left: The town of Ürzig, surrounded by Riesling vineyards; Susanne Weber, a waitress at Weinromantik Richtershof, in Mülheim; a wine list outside Weingut Günther Steinmetz, in Brauneberg.

Opposite: The Trittenheimer Apotheke vineyards and the river beyond.

UNDOWN AT THE MAIN MARKET IN TRIER.

As the light faded behind the roofs of the half-timbered houses that border the main market square, the produce vendors folded their tables, stacking crates of endives and carrots. But in a small tent at the square’s eastern edge, a strand of lights flickered to life: the Weinstand was open. A kiosk, really—no chairs, just an open-air wine-bar-in-the-round, and in its center, a young man and woman pouring wine. We ordered glasses and turned back around to watch the flower vendor amble across the cobblestones, her lilies quivering in their pails. She ducked down an alley between the ranks of row houses—this one pink stucco, the next yellow. And then, in an instant, she was gone.

Fortunately, our wine arrived before the mood departed, and the first cool sips of the pale, straw-colored liquid—the elixir that had sparked our journey—delivered us back to our senses.

Riesling?

Yes, Riesling. Tarnished, inscrutable, misunderstood—these are the adjectives you’d use if you felt there was a glimmer of hope for a wine like this. Many, ourselves included, gave up on Riesling years ago. Even if you weren’t intimidated by those Third Reich fonts on the labels or the unpronounceable place-names (Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, anyone?), you’d have a hard time cozying up to a wine so cloyingly sweet and hollow. Recently, though, we’d come under the spell of Paul Grieco, sommelier and co-owner of the New York City restaurant Hearth and the de facto leader of a crew of whip-smart wine professionals with a passion for the Riesling grape. They were among the first stateside to proclaim the good news out of the Mosel River Valley (also known as the Moselle), that something fundamental had changed: a new generation of growers and winemakers were bottling wines of quality and nuance. It didn’t hurt their cause that the grape yields such a range of expressions—steely to fruity, bone-dry to Sauternes-sweet—that it makes the beverage a dynamite pairing for notorious wine-challengers such as egg dishes and fiery foods. Grieco & Co. made good sport of their advocacy, organizing confabs devoted to the underdog. One guy’s forearm flashed a lettered tattoo: RIESLING. But for all their fervency for Mosel wines, the cultists were maddeningly vague about the actual place and when we asked what it was like to travel to the region, the mystery only deepened: “Drink the juice, know the land. Enough said,” Grieco wrote us. Another was equally terse, if a tad less cryptic: “Elderhostelers on cycle tours.”

None of this squared with the reports of a youthful wine-making scene, not to » 136

Vineland Vineland Revelry Revelry Clockwise Clockwise fromfrom top top left:left: Wiener Wiener schnitzel schnitzel at Zur at Zur Glocke, Glocke, in Trier; in Trier; winemaker winemaker Stefan Stefan Steinmetz’s Steinmetz’s winewine cave, cave, in Brauneberg; in Brauneberg; raising raising a glass a glass at the at the Wine Wine & & Street Street Festival, Festival, in Brauneberg; in Brauneberg; Trier’s Trier’s Porta Porta Nigra, Nigra, a second-century a second-century Roman Roman gate; gate; the the dining dining room room at Zur at Zur Glocke Glocke restaurant; restaurant; the the oversize oversize signsign at the at the Ürziger Ürziger Würzgarten Würzgarten vineyard; vineyard; a tractor a tractor filled filled withwith Riesling Riesling grapes grapes in Mehring; in Mehring; a guest a guest room room at Becker’s, at Becker’s, in Trier. in Trier.

Driving through Bernkastel-Kues, in the Mosel River Valley.

mention the electricity soaring out of our stemware, so we decided to see for ourselves, mapping a route through the “middle Mosel”—site of the region’s most famous vineyards—starting in Trier, a commercial center just 10 minutes from the Luxembourg border, and lazily tasting our way downriver.

Had the Riesling-heads ever visited the Weinstand—a cityowned bar hosting a different winemaker every night? The kid pouring that evening wasn’t just the bartender; he was the owner (and grower, and winemaker) of a winery south of town. A couple in suits toasted the end of the day; a fräulein walking a dog settled in for a glass and then launched into a spontaneous aria. We hadn’t anticipated Trier to be much more than a launching pad for the journey (Germans often dismiss it as deadly dull), but even here things seemed to be looking up.

By our second glass, we were making connections. A doctoral student of medieval wine-making to our right put us in touch with Lars Carlberg, a wiry German American raised in the U.S. who’d done time in the wine department at Christie’s in New York City.

Carlberg checked out of the rat race a few years back to commune with his German roots and pick grapes at the Mosel winery Knebel, and ended up as an exporter of under-the-radar bottlings, working from a laptop in a rented garret.

He invited us to meet him at a party at a client’s winery, and so later that night we motored through a downpour to a mountaintop in a village called Alf. We arrived to find Wolfgang Niedecken of BAP, Germany’s biggest pop band— essentially the country’s Bruce Springsteen—rocking out to a standing-roomonly crowd of stylishly shaggy German boomers in a large parlor.

Carlberg introduced us to the owner of the winery, the longhaired iconoclast Ulli Stein—by no means a youngster but a revolutionary in his fiery advocacy of sustainable, back-to-basics wine making—who was celebrating his victory in a nine-year battle with German authorities to legalize “straw wine,” a sweet wine made by sun-drying grapes on straw mats. His niece Dana, who had completed internships at wineries and is next in line to make wine at the property, sat on the terrace nursing a glass and nuzzling a terrier, slightly aloof from the older crowd partying in the living room.

The following day, we drove south of Trier to the valley of the Saar River, a tributary of the Mosel, where Florian Lauer, the Puma-shod twentysomething winemaker at Weingut Peter Lauer, led us through a tasting of his family’s wares and gave us our first insight into the Riesling renaissance from a local’s perspective. After years of living in denial about the merits of their culture—“There are more Italian restaurants here than German ones!” he grumbled—Germans have recently begun to see their own food and wine as valid, and to take pride in them. It took non-Germans loving Riesling to make the grape hip here again.

“The good news out of the U.S., the points from Robert Parker, winning international wine awards—that’s when Germans realized other countries were drinking more of our wine than we were, and were better educated about it,” Lauer said.

It took years of hard work by family-owned wineries, Lauer noted, to overcome the stigma that bulk Riesling producers (who make plonk using shortcuts and additives) had wrought. “At those wineries, nobody is responsible because the owner’s name is nowhere on the bottle,” he said. “My name is on my label, so if my wine is bad, I’m definitely not happy.”

We found a similar pride—not to mention spectacular oldschool German food—on display that evening back in Trier, just beyond the Kookai and Esprit outlets, at Zur Glocke, our dream Wursthaus and this city’s answer to a famous local eatery. Under a heavy timbered ceiling, tables of smartly dressed locals toasted important occasions with rounds of schnapps and we had the crispest and best schnitzel of our lives, smothered in creamed chanterelles. The sauerbraten—beef braised in vinegar, wine and super-rich beef stock—the waiter told us, we wouldn’t find anywhere else. We followed the example of the Germans around us and drank not wine, but rather steins of König Pilsener.

The next morning we left Trier behind, heading out of town on a hectic, traffic-choked autobahn. Just a half-hour outside the city, however, we dropped south and almost instantly were tracing the broad river as it bent, in lazy Scurves, through the vineyards. The slopes rose precipitously from the riverbank and stone walls braced the hillsides in some spots. Tending vines in this landscape is difficult, timeconsuming and done entirely by hand, and yet these sites are by far the most coveted in the Mosel because the steepest, southfacing rows of vines closest to the river soak up direct sun throughout the day, as well as an additional dose from the rays reflecting off the river. At this latitude, every sunbeam counts.

But you don’t have to be wine geeks like us, blissed-out on sunshine and slate, to commune with the surroundings here. The vineyards, fragmented as they are, seem less like private fiefdoms and more like public parks, their names written in large white letters across the landscape, Hollywood-style. The only obstacle we found to entering vineyards in the Mosel was the heart-pumping climbs. We hiked a footpath above a vineyard called the Trittenheimer Apotheke, which offers perhaps the best panoramic vista of the valley. The river loops tightly around the village of Trittenheim, and as it turns, the vineyard opposite the village rises to form an arena in the earth. Hiking along the übernosebleed section of this bowl, the land rippling out in all directions below, the Mosel appeared as smooth as glass. We’d been told that water-skiing was an entertainment option, if we were so inclined, and winced as we imagined the buzz of an outboard »

You don’t have to be a wine geek, blissed out on sunshine and slate, to commune with the surroundings here. The vineyards seem less like private fiefdoms and more like public parks

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motor cutting through the serenity. Just then we heard a clicking sound at our feet, and looked down to find a very large, very tasty-looking snail inching its way across the gravelly slate.

The visual scale of the Mosel is undeniably vast, but we continued to encounter its endearing, small-town intimacy. That night at Rüssel’s, an ambitious restaurant in a pine forest not far from the Trittenheim overlook, we took a wild stab at the wine list and wound up with a stunning Riesling by A. J. Adam, who almost overnight gained a reputation for his small-production wines, which are maddeningly difficult to find elsewhere.

“You like the wine?” our waitress asked.

Did we ever, we said.

“Oh, good,” she replied, “my brother’s the winemaker.”

Adam’s winery—one of the smallest producers in the Mosel, with only three hectares of vines—came into existence only a decade ago, and his presence in the marketplace, limited as it may be, is one harbinger of change here.

Another change, and one the Riesling cult might be keeping under wraps: the area is starting to turn out some seriously delicious red wines. The same global warming that threatens to rob the Mosel of its excellent ice wine has added precious degrees of temperature, which has lifted the quality of the Pinot Noirs.

So, to sate our hankering for red wine, though a party of German corporate guys at a neighboring table ordered oceans of French Burgundy, we did something we never thought we’d do in Riesling country. We ordered a local Pinot Noir, or Spätburgunder. Our waitress brought it with body language that practically apologized for what was about to unfold.

She needn’t have worried. The wine’s name was, yes, difficult to wrap the brain around—Weingut Robert Schroeder 2007 Mehringer Goldkupp Spätburgunder Rotwein “S” Trocken— but the liquid itself was ridiculously easy to love, a ripe, elegant wine that held nothing in reserve.

Such changes—new wineries, new wines—create a thrilling and very real tension between old and new. Driving downriver from Trittenheim, we passed through town after town, each adorable and ancient, with a workaday bakery, a mom-and-pop grocery, and a clutch of grand manors huddled around them: Neumagen, Wittlich, Piesport. We took great delight in spotting houses made entirely of thin blue-and-red slate, tightly stacked as wads of cash, that would be the envy of any American stonemason. At the town hall in Piesport, we browsed a flea market with vintage signage, loads of antique kitchen tools and cork pulls from every era. In Neumagen, we nearly missed what some archaeologists have called the region’s second most important Roman artifact next to Trier’s Black Gate: an A.D. 205 stone memorial sculpture of a merchant vessel loaded with wine barrels.

While we were driving through Brauneburg searching for Günther Steinmetz, a winery we’d heard about from a shopkeeper in New York City, a cat darted across the street and we

screeched to a halt. Fortunately, we hadn’t hit “Ramses,” because when we ultimately found the villa-winery-gasthaus, there he was, lounging on the stoop. And when Stefan Steinmetz opened the door, the cat trotted in, promptly curled up on a chair in the parlor and went to sleep.

Steinmetz is another of the valley’s young stars. Though he’s 31 now, he bottled his first vintage at 20. His father had a heart attack while Steinmetz was at viticultural school in Trier, and he assumed complete operation of the winery. He made some swift changes: he sold his father’s machines; acquired a new pneumatic press, pump and crusher that’s gentler on the fruit; reduced yields to concentrate ripeness in fewer, better grapes; and also did away with manufactured yeasts for Pinots and red wine grapes, so fermentation would be spontaneous, more natural.

Steinmetz led us through a tasting with thrill-upon-thrill: our first Pinot Blanc of the trip was but one of these. We also tasted two Rieslings from the same vintage, made in the same style, but from parcels just 100 meters from one another, that had such astonishing differences in structure and flavor that they might have been from different continents.

After the tasting, we ducked through a trapdoor in the kitchen and descended to the medieval stone basement where a season’s wine sat in barrels.

The stillness of the cellar put us in a contemplative mood—the thought of all that wine resting—as we drove out of Brauneburg, but we were instantly jolted from our reverie upon arriving in Zeltingen. A street festival was in full throng, brass bands belting out oompahs that reverberated throughout the town. Vendors sold grilled sausage and Weinstands were everywhere, shoehorned into the medieval streetscape. Families were out enjoying the evening, toddlers dropping their hot dogs on the cobblestones.

Our final morning in the Mosel, the sun shone brightly, the paved paths that follow the river were alive with runners and cyclists. We decided to rent bikes of our own and rode up into the vineyards behind the town, pedaling across the Himmelreich vineyard and stopping every so often when the wind whipped up to launch a kite. On a bicycle, you experience the vines close enough to discern plots that are tiny—only one row wide—and plots whose owners felt the need to plant pumpkins between the rows. Hand-lettered wooden signs (in the case of smaller owners) and plastic logos (the corporate behemoths) mark the boundaries, which are otherwise invisible to the naked eye. We got the sense that growers here know each vine personally, and that had an effect on us. Anytime we’d felt rain or a chill, it was as if those were our grapes getting cold and wet. Now that the sun was out, we felt that, too—the joy, the warmth, more fully than before.

We rode across the river and up into the vineyards, for a look back at Zeltingen. But as the grade got steeper, we became winded and began to walk. Just then, a pack of cyclists sped noisily by.

It was a group of septuagenarians pedaling their way past us. ✚

Our final morning in the Mosel, the sun shone brightly, the paths that follow the river were alive with runners and cyclists

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Biking in the vineyards near Trittenheim.

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GETTING THERE Cathay Pacific (cathaypacific. com), Malaysia Airlines (malay siaairlines.com), Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com) and Thai Airways (thaiairways.com) all fly from their hubs to Frankfurt, Germany. From there, the Mosel River Valley is an easy two-hour drive away.

WHERE TO STAY Becker’s 206 Olewiger Str., Trier; 49-651/938-080; beckers-trier. de; doubles from ¤140; dinner for two ¤174.

GREAT VALUE

Domizil Schiffmann For the IKEA-and-iPod set, this hotel has a sophisticated restaurant with a deep wine list. 52 Hauptstrasse, Mülheim; 496534/947-690; domizil-schiffmann.de; doubles from ¤86; dinner for two ¤40.

GREAT VALUE

Landhaus St.-Urban 1 Büdlicherbrück, Naurath; 49-6509/91400; landhaus-st-urban.de; doubles from ¤120.

GREAT VALUE

S.A. Prüm Gästehaus Wellappointed riverside accommodations located right on the grounds of the S.A. Prüm winery.

25-26 Uferallee, Wehlen; 496531/3110; sapruem.com; doubles from ¤69.

GREAT VALUE

extensive, fairly priced wine selection. 7 Brückenstrasse, Trier; 49-651/170-4924.

Ratsschänke Zeltingen A cozy tapas bar in what may just be the tallest and most fanciful half-timbered house in the Mosel. 9 St.Stephanstrasse, Zeltingen; 49-6532/ 954-273; dinner for two ¤43.

Zur Glocke 12 Glockenstrasse, Trier; 49-651/73109; dinner for two ¤46.

WHERE TO TASTE Ansgar Clüsserath Rieslings produced from the Trittenheimer Apotheke vineyards are available here. 4 Spielestrasse, Trittenheim; 49-6507/ 2290; ansgar cluesserath.de.

Weinromantikhotel Richtershof 81-83 Hauptstrasse, Mülheim; 496534/9480; weinromantikhotel. com; doubles from ¤159, dinner for two ¤149.

Günther Steinmetz 154 Moselweinstrasse, Brauneberg; 49-6534/751; weingutguenther-steinmetz.de.

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK Das Weinhaus Tasty plates of cured meats and cheeses and an

Jakoby-Mathy When he’s not working at Selbach-Oster, twentysomething Stefan Jakoby,

GREAT VALUE

Heribert Boch 62 Moselweinstrasse, Trittenheim; 496507/2713; weingut-boch.de.

along with his brother, Peter, run this precocious young winery. 4 Königstrasse, Kinheim; 496532/3819; jakobypur.de.

Markus Molitor Embedded into a wooded hillside, and notable for its Pinot Noir. Haus Klosterberg, Bernkastel-Wehlen; 496532/3939; markusmolitor.com.

Matthias Dostert A stone’s throw from Luxembourg; pear brandy and grappa are their other great sips. 5 Weinstrasse, Nittel; 49-6584/91450; weingutdostert.de.

Peter Lauer 49 Trierstrasse, Ayl; 49-6581/3031; lauer-ayl.de.

Selbach-Oster Boutique estate-grown Riesling producer.

23 Uferallee, Zeltingen; 496532/2081; selbach-oster.de; by appointment only.

Stein 40 Brautrockstrasse, Bullay; 49-6542/901-9119; steinweine.de.

St. Urbans-Hof 16 Urbanusstrasse, Leiwen; 49-6507/93770; urbans-hof.de.

Weinstand Market Square, Trier; no phone.

141

(My Favorite Place)

Tash Aw in Bangkok.

Right: Dining along Sukhumvit Soi 38.

THAILAND

F

OR MOST OF MY CHILDHOOD, MY FAMILY WOULD

visit Bangkok from Kuala Lumpur. We’d end up going to temples, eating outside along the street.

Those trips were always low-key and quiet. As an adult, I’ve gotten used to Bangkok as an entry point for Asia.

It’s convenient no matter which way you’re going: after roughing it on a trip through Indonesia, Nepal or rural China, or coming from London, where I live now.

This place is built to pamper you. To me, Bangkok is like a decompression chamber. Stepping off the plane after a winter of writing in London, I know I’m in Asia as soon as I feel the heat. Europe is ordered, at least on the surface, so when you land in Bangkok, you just have to reconfigure.

The city is also geographically very convenient, being close to so many other interesting places. If I want to go to Malaysia or southern China, I come here first. Tomorrow, I’m going to Nepal for a week.

Bangkok really is one of the best places in the world for street food. Taipei and Penang also spring to mind, but this 142

M AY 2 0 1 0 | T R A V E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M

city is better. When friends question whether the street food is safe, I always say, “If it’s good enough for the locals, it’s good enough for you.” I have this theory that the food is perfectly fine to eat because of the quick turnover—there’s always something fresh being cooked. The stalls along Thanon Convent are my favorites, but the whole city can seem like an outdoor restaurant.

After a rough trip somewhere in Asia, I might check into a really nice hotel for a night. The service is very good in Thailand, and it reflects the local ability to modernize in an organic way. Traditions seem to coexist with the modern world here in ways they don’t in other cities. Thais are respectful of their traditions but also want to enjoy the modern side of life. One day I could see myself writing about Bangkok, but not at the moment. Right now, I’m working on a book set in Shanghai. ✚ Tash Aw’s second novel, Map of the Invisible World, is available in bookstores now.

C H R I S K U C W AY ( I N S E T ) ; C E D R I C A R N O L D

Malaysian novelist Tash Aw says that Bangkok is always on his radar and tells CHRIS KUCWAY why he thinks Thai street food is the best in the world