Barbali

02-656-6378. Open daily from 9am-2pm.
Bali style bar Barbali has a small garden out front with a waterfall and some exposed brick walls on the inside. In addition to booze, the place offers breakfast, lunch and dinner sets. There’s live acoustic music late on most evenings, and lately, the bar has been exhibiting paintings and photos by local university students.

Jazz Happens Bar

02-282-9934, 084-450-0505. Open daily from 7pm-12:30am.
Previously located on the second floor space of Barbali, the jazz influenced bar owned by a group of lecturers from the Faculty of Jazz at Silapakorn University has now moved next door with a blue theme and wooden decorations. The aim is to create a showcase space for talented young musicians. Apart from live jazz every day, the bar offers classic drinks and a Thai food menu for dinner.

Kin Duem (To-Sit)

02-629-1199. www.tosit.com
This old building is the first branch of the To-Sit pub and restaurant, opened way back in 1994. The bar offers Thai food at dinner time, booze and live pop music similar to the other branches. But this spot has bags of charm thanks to its beautiful space and the architecture of the Banglamphu area.

Popular Society

081-413-7558. Open daily from 7pm-2am.
The two-story retro bar located just opposite Phra Sumen Park gets pretty busy most evenings. The place is run by folks from an indie stage group, and during the Bangkok Theater Festival, some performances take place on the second floor. The music is largely comprised of popular Thai and international hits, with live acoustic sets on Friday and Saturday.

Ruay Rin Klin Sheva

Open Mon-Sat 6pm-2am.
Even more retro than Popular Society, Ruay Rin Klin Sheva takes you back to the 60s. The music here is eclectic—anything from rare Thai hits to the latest pop tunes. This place is also famous for its Lao Pan (Smoothie cocktails) and their bucket cocktails.

Thanks to iStockphoto, a microstock photography provider founded in 2000, your pictures are now worth money—or are they? We went through the process of submitting pictures to the online photography stock agency and all we can say is, it ain’t easy. You have to read through a tutorial that takes hours, pass a test, wait for days to get your first pictures inspected, and there’s a 95% chance your picture won’t even get accepted. And did our beautiful pictures of Thai food ever get downloaded, after weeks on the website? Nope.

iStockphoto is not the only micro stock photo agency, though. And with some patience, originality and yes, some hard work, micro stock photography can be a rewarding hobby. We spoke to Bangkok-based commercial and travel photographer Marc Schultz, 44 (www.marcshultz.com), who is exclusive with iStockphoto, and derives a substantial part of his income from microstock. Schultz also believes in helping his fellow photographer and founded Photographythailand.com, a forum to get advice on the best gear and the best places and tips to shoot in the kingdom. Here, he tells us how amateurs can hope to makes sales through microstock photography.

THIS PICTURE SUCKS: Why iStock Will Reject this photo

1. Chromatic Aberration: Red and blue fringing on the edges.
2. Over-sharpening. Crisp white lines on the contours of the building.
3. Sensor noise, over-compression. Grainy, blotchy colors.
4. Sensor dust. Dark specks, usually appearing on bright skies.
5. Copyright issues. This building is private property, and you may not have rights to its image.
6. Poor composition. The building is off to the side, with a cropped tree in the frame. Not a very strong image.

CAST A WIDE NET

“It’s very difficult to be exclusive with iStockphoto [and get the higher commission that comes with exclusivity]. You now need 500 downloads; it used to be 250. That could take you 2-3 years. So submit photos to at least 4-5 stock agencies at a time. A lot of these other sites don’t have serious inspection criteria like iStock. You’ll have a much better chance of getting your pics accepted. Try www.alamy.com, www.shutterstock.com, www.dreamstime.com, www.fotolia.com, www.bigstockphoto.com and www.123rf.com."

STEP UP YOUR GAME

“It’s not that tough to get a picture into iStock. They give tutorials and when they reject your image there will be some sort of wiki explaining the reasons. Sometimes you can fix it, sometimes you can’t, such as when it’s poorly lit, not sharply focused or if there is too much noisy (too grainy). But things like chromatic aberration and contrast can be improved. You do need some command of Photoshop, though. You can’t be so amateurish as to just dump your pics into the stock website.”

HEAD FOR THE OUTDOORS

“There is some demand for editorial stock: pictures that are not technically perfect or aesthetically beautiful but illustrate a thing or situation. Maybe somebody needs a picture of a crossing guard helping children across the street. Maybe you took that picture on an overcast day and it’s not perfect. The light isn’t great but it illustrates something and there aren’t a lot of pictures like that, so it has a chance of selling. Amateurs might have a better chance of selling those grab shots.”

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

“The bigger demand is for commercial-type images. One of the biggest best-selling image-genres is corporate groups of multi-ethnic people. You could shoot a mix of black, Asian and white men and woman all giving the thumbs up and giving big smiles, all in a row. These are in high demand. Medicine is another popular subject, as is food, senior citizens, lifestyle and boyfriend-girlfriend shots. But once you go into where the real demand is there’s a huge amount of competition of high quality work. Also, you will need model releases and people expect to be paid for this. So the more people you put into a shot, the more expensive it gets.”

BE DIFFERENT

“There are so many images out there; it’s difficult for your photos to stand out of the pack. Try to look for things that haven’t been done before. In the beginning I tried to copy what was successful. But if you do a beautiful picture of an apple, no one will find your new picture of an apple [out of the thousands available]. Now you don’t want to go for things that are too obscure either. If something is obscure, there is less demand, and you won’t get downloads. So shoot that apple in a way that hasn’t been done before. Go online and see how others have done it and come up with a new angle. With stock photography, you can really test your creativity.”

KEEP YOUR DAY JOB

“Every day there are new agencies. The pie will get sliced up thinner and thinner. But there will always be some opportunity as a hobby. It just depends on how much you want to make and what you consider worth your while. For an amateur, just getting a picture downloaded is a validation. For a hobby, you don’t have [high] expectations. When you want to start making some money, that’s when the pressure builds.” 

READ MORE:
Online Seller: Can’t write, can’t take pictures? Be an online seller.
Blogging: Can blogging still generate revenue with a content-saturated world wide web?

No, we’re not talking about those creepy, spam-like ads about making seven thousand dollars online in two days. We’re talking bonafide, tried-and-tested ways in which people are cashing in on the power of the internet. We looked into four different ways you can use your skills to make money, from writing product reviews to submitting stock photos to selling clothes online, and found out what it takes, how long it takes and whether or not we should consider quitting our day jobs.

Mechanical Turk

Launched in 2007 by online retailer Amazon.com, Mechanical Turk (mturk.com) is an online employment marketplace. The idea is that anyone can post a job, for whatever pay, and users can choose to accept these jobs. Typical tasks might include interview transcriptions, product reviews, and random online research tasks—odd time-consuming jobs that can’t be automated by computers, yet. You can accept cash or use your earnings to buy something on the Amazon website. Could I have finally found a way to make a living waking up at noon and working in my underwear while snacking on a bowl of sugary cereal? Here is my blow-by-blow account of a day not at the office.

9:30am-10am

Net gain: US$0.10 (B3.20)
I sign up at 9:30am. You can choose to be an employer and put tasks online, or a worker and take Human Intelligence Tasks, or HITs. In a couple of clicks, I’m a bonafide “Turker.”
Navigation is confusing at first. Many HITs only pay about two cents (60 satang). These menial tasks involved cutting and pasting links to the answer fields and thinking up a technical question for new products.
Lesson learned: Though this type of easy, brainless work demanded very little from me intellectually (great when you’re hungover), after a half hour I figured out that doing these tasks are just not worth the time they take.

10am-10:30am

Net gain: US$2.50 (B75)
Time to up the ante. For US$2.50 (B75), I find a HIT that involves writing a five-part interactive short story. It takes me another half-hour because the task also involves searching for images to go with the stories online.
Lesson learned: If you can write well in English, this task actually paid B150/hour, which would equate to a B26,000 monthly salary for 8 hours a day, five days a week. Not bad and kind of fun.

10:30am-11:30am

Net gain: US$8 (approx. B240)
I’m not going to get rich any time soon at this rate, so I start going for HITs that pay a little more. There were some bigger money tasks that paid US$10-US$20 but those required you to take some qualification tests. I was looking for a quick fix so I skipped those. The ones that were available to me paid up to US$4 and were mostly product reviews and PR writing. I did a product review on an investment book and thought of a technical question for android phones. It actually felt like real work.
Lesson learned: If you can keep this up, you could make B42,240 a month! It’s really, really boring and monotonous, though. Also, the HITs fluctuate and there’s no way to guarantee what sort of jobs are available. Finally, one job was actually rejected a day later, because I had reviewed the wrong type of book—my real net gain here is actually only B120.

11:30am-12pm

Net gain: 0 baht.
I’m getting bored with reviews when I find a task that pays US$6 to identify portraits, but I need to take a qualification quiz first. The problem is all the links are broken—there’s no such thing as easy money.
I’m going through all the posted HITs but not finding anything worthwhile. There are a couple of HITs in the higher paying brackets but you have to take into account how long these tasks would take to complete. Some employers pay B150 to transcribe a 50-minute interview, including editing and cleaning up, which could actually take up to an hour and a half (that’s about B50 an hour).
Lesson learned: Sometimes you have to be picky and be patient. If you don’t see a worthwhile HIT, just keep pushing the refresh button and hope a good one will pop up.

12pm-1:30pm

Net gain: US$8 (B240).
I try another qualification quiz for a company called SpeechInk. They ask you to transcribe small interviews but you need to pass a test first. They ask you to transcribe various 2-minute interviews using their assigned style, and agree to terms of confidentiality. This takes me about a half-hour.
Passing this test opened up a whole new set of simple jobs that pay ok: two-minute interviews pay around US$2 (B60), up to US$20 (B600) for 45-minute interviews. They also give out occasional bonuses. The downside is when you listen to the interviews, a lot of them are inaudible and sometimes in different languages. I manage to bank four.
Lesson Learned: If I really wanted to spend eight hours a day transcribing 3-minute insurance interviews, I could make money out of this. But then again, I’d probably shoot myself by day two.

1:30pm

I take lunch. I flip on some Channel V and fill my bowl of cereal. With no boss around it’s really difficult to find the motivation to keep doing these mindless tasks, so I give myself the afternoon off. Good job, Clae. You rock.

The Verdict

All in all, Mechanical Turk feels like a job. It’s also addictive in the way that your grandma gets addicted to the lottery. You might be able to make a living through it if you were strict with yourself, but with that sort of effort, you might as well just go find a normal job and keep the dollars that you make to buy books on Amazon.
Total gain: In four hours, I made B140 an hour, which could mean 24,640 a month, if I stuck to eight hour days. The other issue is that your tasks have to be cleared by your virtual employers, so while I made B560 in 4 hours, only B170 worth of tasks were accepted and the rest were still pending after two days. Clae Sea

READ MORE:
iStockphoto: Thanks to iStockphoto, a microstock photography provider founded in 2000, your pictures are now worth money—or are they?
Online Seller: Can’t write, can’t take pictures? Be an online seller.
Blogging: Can blogging still generate revenue with a content-saturated world wide web?

Epicurious

Price: Free
The most popular cooking app (and perhaps most popular cooking website) out there, Epicurious was included in Time’s Best iPhone Apps 2011 list. It’s free and straightforward: a search feature lets you choose from their database of 30,000 recipes, organized helpfully by skill level or under categories like “Healthy Lunches” and “Dinner Party Ideas.” The grocery shopping list for each recipe can also be easily accessed while you’re at the supermarket. Other than that, there isn’t much, except the ability to mark favorite recipes, but you don’t really need much else if you’re already a reasonably competent home cook.

Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals

Price: US$7.99 (B240)
We’ll admit it: some people hate him, but BK has a declared Jamie Oliver bias. That aside, his app has been lauded across respectable lists on the web, plus it includes adorable videos of the man making food and imparting knife skills and other techniques. The app only comes with 60 recipes, which isn’t many compared to, say, Epicurious, but on the bright side, the app is already preloaded with them, so you won’t be waiting around trying to catch a signal. Other features that make it worthwhile are the portion adjustments, which expands the recipe depending on how many people are eating, the shopping list feature and even a randomizer, which gives you a random recipe when you shake your phone.

Cook Mate

Price: Free
Ever had a few random things left in your fridge at the end of the week and not known how to combine them to make a delicious dinner? As this is Bangkok and you are Bangkokians, probably not. But let’s say you’re stuck at home and have to cook something from your fridge, well, you tell Cook Mate what you have on hand, and Cook Mate comes up with a recipe for you that includes those ingredients. It even organizes search results into “your pantry is ready for this” and “you have to go buy some food.”

Mixologist: Drink Recipes

Price: Free
A boozy version of Cook Mate, Mixologist lets you enter all the types of booze and mixers you have left in your liquor cabinet and then searches a database of about 8,000 drinks to give you cocktails you can make without stumbling out of the house. A GPS locator gives you liquor stores in the area, but that’s only if you live in the US. The rest can still enjoy other features, like the Random Drink, which gives you cocktail recipes based on your entered choice of liquor, glassware, cocktail-type and more. A paid version of this app forgoes all the banner ads.

Kitchen Pad Timer

Price: US$1.99 (B60)
Pretty simple: this app lets you time up to four things cooking on your stove or in your oven at the same time, assigning different alarm tones to each so you can cook up a simultaneous storm. Too simple to warrant the two dollars? Well, we’re impressed by the cute graphic of an actual stove, which also lets you enter the heat level on each burner. If you have one of those depressing hot plates so common in new condos, it might take you a few tries to figure out the heat levels, but other than that, this is great.

Ask the Butcher

Price: US$1.99 (B60)
Chances are you know little about cuts of meat beyond pork chop and chicken breast. The Ask the Butcher app has several approaches to meat cuts: diagrams of lamb, beef, veal and pork for the browsing foodie, lists of various cuts for those of you scratching your heads over recipes you’d like to cook and recipes for various cuts. What’s also really neat is the timer the app provides. Enter the cut of meat and how well-done you want it, and it will give you a countdown. It also has a feature where you can look up local butchers, but that’s pretty useless in Bangkok. Still, this is a great app for a committed beginner.

Wine Enthusiast Guide

Price: US$4.99 (B150)
A bit pricier than your usual apps, the Wine Enthusiast Guide is so expensive because it has details, prices and reviews of over 100,000 wines. If you know what you’re drinking, just look it up, and if you need suggestions, use the Search feature to enter your taste and price preferences and let the app pull up some options for you. For the advanced user, the Vintage chart gives you a generalized year-by-year overview of 125 wine regions and styles so you know when to drink your bottle, or whether the vintage a restaurant is selling is any good.

Wine Notes

Price: Free
For the more advanced and enthusiastic wine drinker, Wine Notes is really a smartphone version of one of those Moleskine type diaries where you record the details of every wine you drink. The interface allows you to easily enter a picture of the label and details like varietal, vintage and region, along with more involved notes on flavors and aromas. Once you have a collection of wine notes, you can search for them easily with the search function as well as share individual impressions on Facebook and Twitter.

What About My Android?

Epicurious, Jamie Oliver’s 20-MInute Meals, Mixologist and Wine Notes are also available on Android Marketplace.

Essentials

Disaya. Lobby, Gaysorn, 02-656-1388
Greyhound. 3/F, Siam Center, 02-251-4917
Kloset. 2/F, CentralWorld, 02-646-1929
Matina Amanita for Sretsis. 1/F, Siam Paragon, 02-610-7881
Playhound. 1/F, Siam Paragon, 02-610-7894
Sanshai. Code 10, 1/F, Siam Paragon, 02-690-1000
Senada. 3/F, Siam Center, 02-735-1267
Sretsis. 2/F, Gaysorn, 02-656-1125

If you’re a fan of the famous gift festival hosted by Silpakorn University, and charmed by their art space at the Wang Tha Phra campus, V64 Art Studio is a great new alternative that’s taking hold out by Chaeng Wattana, providing another much-needed community art space for the public as well as emerging artists. The three-acre space in the middle of Vibhavadi Soi 64 is comprised of four sections: art studios, an art academy, an art gallery and art souvenirs.

The V64 Art Studio takes up over 70% of the whole space and contains 35 studio rooms housing the work spaces of over 60 artists, mostly from the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Attasit Pokpong, the founder, knows that there is still a need for a place where new artists can create and exhibit. “Nowadays, there are a lot of young emerging artists. They graduate from arts programs, but have to work in the business sector,” he says.

At V64 Art Studio, many artists share their space and work collaboratively to create new pieces. The rooms are filled with paintings, ceramics and sculptures—all of which will be on view for visitors to explore and watch the artists in action. “When we were still in school, we used to have a common room that all of us used to create our artworks. The process of working together gives us a chance to discuss and critique each other to improve our work,” says Attasit.

On the second floor of the studios is the V64 Art Academy, which will offer art courses for children, university entrance portfolio tutorials and art for adults taught by member artists who work downstairs. The Art Academy wil also offer free art activities to children who live in the neighborhood, through a program called Art for Community Program, every Sunday 2pm onwards. Head of the Art Academy Podjanee Chaybondis says, “These kids have no money to take courses, but they live in our neighborhood. Some of them don’t even know what art is, and neither do their parents. We believe that this activity could help foster a better appreciation and understanding of art. We do this on a volunteer basis, from our own unused materials. We keep an eye on them, too.”

Live art and education aside, the front portion of the building houses the V64 Art Gallery where selected pieces from member artists will be on display. Currently on view is a painting exhibition called Lady First, running through Sep 18. Right beside the gallery is the currently-under-construction V64 Art Souvenir shop which, come November, will be filled with t-shirts and other trinkets.

And if all that art and walking around gets you hungry, the last section houses the V64 Restaurant Café &Bar, which is a café by day and turns into a bar in the evening, where you can throw back an espresso or a beer while discussing the art you’ve just seen.

The grand opening of V64 is in November, but everything but the souvenir shop is already up and running.

V64 Art Studio, 143/19 Soi Chaengwattana 1 Yak 6, Laksi, 02-973-2681. www.facebook.com/V64art

Chivit Thamma Da Coffee House

This brand new English-country-style café sits on the banks of the Kok River. Seat yourself in a comfy sofa in the air-con glasshouse room or opt for an outdoor seat in the riverside garden. Apart from selections of coffee and tea, it serves some food, and the menu changes daily. Adjacent to the café is Chivit Thamma Da Day Spa.
Soi Baan Rong Suae Ten 3, 053-166-622. www.chivitthammada.com

Doy Din Daeng Café

Part of this pottery studio is a small café hidden under dense trees. The open air spot blends into the surroundings with old wood furniture and brown decor. Doy Din Daeng serves house brewed coffee and tea in their handmade ceramics, so if customers love the tea cups, they can go buy them from the shop located on the same grounds.
49 Moo 6, Nanglae, 053-705-291. Open Mon-Sat 8am-5pm. www.dddpottery.com

Hohm Homemade

This is a perfect place if you love to watch high-school kids—not that we’re encouraging you to do so. Though this open-air café looks more like a bar on Phra Arthit, Hohm is strickly non-alcoholic—it’s a milk bar. Its raw-cement foyer looks livelier with colorful industrial-style furniture while the cozy backyard is perfect for an evening chill-out.
Opposite Wat Ming Muang, 053-600-204. Open Thu-Tue 10am-11pm, Wed noon-11pm

Yellow Car Coffee

If you stay in Chiang Rai city, you can’t miss having a small breakfast at this place. A yellow pick-up car is parked near the clock tower every day offering local breakfast: pan-fried eggs, pa tong koh and dim sum together with old-style coffee and tea. If you tell him you’re a visitor, the friendly owner will act like a tourism ambassador, recommending highlight attractions. And if he’s not too busy, and in a good mood, he might even play the guitar.
Near Chalermchai’s Clock Tower

K Suites

Undoubtedly the classiest karaoke joint in town (think cushioned doors, velvety couches and lush carpets), K Suites is a must if you’re a bonafide crooner. Its Karaoke-On-Demand system offers thousands of songs at the touch of a screen—you can even record and send them to your phone as a memento. Plus, the place also offers a delectable gourmet selection like Wagyu Beef Tatakis and Cheese Fried Soft Shell Crab—a great way to replenish after a whole night of singing your favorite Lady Gaga or Dean Martin tunes. Don’t forget their $15++ champagnes while you’re here—it doesn’t get any more luxe.

Mono

Fancy taking on a Frank Sinatra classic in the New York, New York room? Or perhaps a little bit of “Lady Marmalade” in the flamboyant Moulin Rouge room is more up your alley. Whatever your musical poison, the abundance of themed rooms on offer here and the huge back catalogue of tunes will surely fit in with at least one of your pop idol fantasies. Should you need some liquid courage to get you up on your feet, stop by between 6-9pm for happy hour where drinks are half price.

HQ

This star-spangled setting might be perfect for discovering that falsetto you never knew you had. Swathed in hot pink set against black sofas and bedecked with huge chandeliers, it has become a fabulous open concept hangout frequented by models and celebrities. Quench your thirst with signature drinks Soju Oolong Tea, Mojitos and Apple Shooters after attacking the microphone. You could also get a drink tailored to your personality by asking the bar staff for a “Surprise Me.”

As the World Gourmet Festival rolls into town once again, we compare how much it would cost to eat at the restaurants of five of the eight visiting chefs with what you’ll be charged to sample their food here. (The annual festival, held at the Four Seasons, flies in world class chefs who each cook on a different night.) We appreciate it’s a little skewed after all, because while eating at these visiting chefs’ restaurants is often much cheaper than the B5,700 fee Four Seasons is charging for dinner, that amount is still much, much cheaper than zipping over to Geneva or New York for the weekend.

Still, there’s the question of whether chefs can really reproduce the food that makes them famous back home without access to their kitchen team and all the local ingredients they usually employ. But that question, in our experience, doesn’t really have an answer either. It depends. Some visiting chefs are wonderful; others really have you scratching your head. Still, here’s who we’re ready to bet our money on.
For reservations, visit www.worldgourmetfestivalbangkok.com, call 02-126-8866 or e-mail [email protected].

Hari Nayak (Sep 5-6)

Where from: Orissa, New York, USA
What: Indian with a twist
What they say: New York Times: “Worth it. These … creative touches make Orissa a restaurant I’ll be happy to return to in the months to come.”
What you’d pay there: Around B750-1,200: apps (US$10-16) + sauces, chutney (US$3) + main (US$14-25). Or eat from 5-6:30pm for US$18.95 (B600).
Verdict: Sounds nice, but it’s a steep markup. We’d rather go back to our own Gaggan (B1,600 for a ten- to twelve-dish degustation) at a fraction of the price.

Ivo Adam (Sep 9-10)

Where from: Seven Asconda, Geneva, Switzerland
What: Swiss haute cuisine
What they say: Michelin gave Adam’s restaurant one star, writing,“The Swiss gourmet dining scene has scaled to new heights.”
What you’d pay there: B7,600 for a 7-course surprise menu or B11,170 with wine.
Verdict: You’re saving B2,000, not to mention the plane tickets to Switzerland. Sign us up!

Anthony Demetre (Sep 5-6)

Where from: Wild Honey, London, UK
What: Produce-centric, Brit and comforting
What they say: Another Michelin star earner. TimeOut London says, “The composition is thoughtful, each main using two to four key ingredients, often with an English bent.”
What you’d pay there: B1,541-B2,247 for dinner: appetizers (B435-B635) + main course (B860-B1223) + dessert (B245-390). There’s also a B1,122 pre-theater 3-course dinner set.
Verdict: Clearly cheaper back in the UK, but we’ve been reading a lot of good things about Anthony. Our plan is to go for lunch, when it’s only B1,500.

David Lee (Sep 9-10)

Where from: Nota Bene, Toronto, Canada
What: Italian and Mediterranean influences with great Canadian seafood
What they say: It ranks four out of five stars on user-generated sites like Yelp or Urban Spoon. The pros are a bit tougher but it still got voted one of Canada’s Top 10 restaurants by Where Magazine.
What you’d pay there: B1,165-B3,390: appetizers (B275) + main course (B820-B2,750) + dessert (B70-B365). Pre-theater menu: B1,050 for two courses or B1,300 for three.
Verdict: The higher-end produce on the menu could set you back over B3,000, but that’s still half what you’ll end up paying here after tax and service. Call us snobs but we’d rather save our pennies for the Michelin chefs.

Adriano Cavagnini (Sep 5-6)

Where from: Amaranto, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane
What: Modern Italian
What they say: TimeOut writes, “The staff is professional and plentiful. Amaranto is high-flying Italian cooking in a luxurious setting.” Decanter adds, “[The Italian cuisine here] is a long way from its origins, but it’s also ingenious, imaginative, and precisely executed.”
What you’d pay there: B833-2,400: Starter (£7-20) + main (£10-29).
Verdict: It sounds like the multi-million pound revamp of the space which lasted two years and was completed this year has a lot to do with Amaranto’s draw. But the chef is getting high marks, too, and inventive Italian food is in short supply here. Sounds good!

Who else?

Sep 7–8: Guido Haverkock, i Portici Restaurant, Bologna, Italy
Sep 7–8: Kazumi Sawada, Kumoi, Guangzhou, China
Sep 9–10: Dolli Irigoyen, Espacio Dolli, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Kitchen Talk

Ivo Adam

“What will I bring? I’m packing a bottle of Bündner Röteli (cherry liquor from the Swiss Mountains), Noccino (liquor made of green walnuts), Maggia Pepper (humid pepper mix from a valley in Ticiono) and rose water essence. For almost a year, I’ve also been very fond of corn: sweet corn, salty corn, corn puree, corn ice-cream. It is a mild flavour on its own, it’s not expensive and it works great with fish. I will integrate lots of [local] ingredients but I think I’m invited to cook whatever I do in Switzerland. So expect refreshing dishes like sweet chili mascarpone with pomelo and a cucumber and kiwi duo. Guests will also taste avocado in a very different style and some beef tartar with brown sugar flavours. And, yes, they will be served corn and fish, too. My creative process is like playing with Lego. You want to build your own house, in your own colours, and you start combining the bricks into something new. But Switzerland has a tradition of top notch gastronomy, and even though my style is regarded as young, fresh and creative, I always go back to our roots.”

Anthony Demetre

“I’m a huge fan of Bangkok; it’s a culinary inspiration. We are flying out of London Heathrow and arriving 12 hours later, at 6am. We will arrive at the hotel for breakfast time, and then head straight to the food markets. There, Alan (my assistant) and I will draw inspiration from what we see on offer and only then will we put the final touches to our menu. My garnish for my main course is still not decided until I see what’s available locally. We will bring a few items with us. I’m using a wonderful Lincolnshire smoked eel as one of my dishes, so that will be sent from England. We also will be using wagyu beef short rib; this will come from Australia. I’m a huge advocate of under-used cuts of meat and fish. I find most chefs shun the lesser known cuts in favour of the prime options: this is a real shame as I find that with expert technique, the flavor you get from the working muscles is unrivalled. It’s a practice we instill at my restaurants and it enables great cooking at very reasonable prices. We scour the London markets daily, and this really inspires us: we really have no idea what we are cooking until we know what’s available. It’s challenging but hugely creative. Changing the bulk of the menu daily helps keep costs down and things exciting for our clientele.”

It’s an exciting time to be a traveler. From popular destinations to lesser-known hideaways, familiar chains are expanding, new boutique hotels are popping up and old favorites are getting makeovers. We’ve got all the information you need about the region’s newest establishments so whether you’re heading to Thailand for a weekend retreat, immersing yourself in the many facets of Chinese culture or searching for a new experience in Laos, we’ve got you covered.

CHINA

Pullman Resort and Spa

Referred to as China’s “Forgotten Kingdom,” Lijiang in the country’s south-west holds an enduring mystique, and Pullman Resort and Spa, with architecture inspired by the Naxi ethnic minority, is making a name for itself as a top spa destination. The hotel is also a great starting point to explore downtown Lijiang and the nearby World Heritage Sites Shuhe and Dayan Ancient Towns. Rooms are available from US$225 a night.

HONG KONG

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong

Soaring 490 meters up into the clouds, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong has claimed (for now at least) the title of “World’s Tallest Hotel,”—and with reception on the 103rd floor, and rooms all the way up from there, it’s a claim that’s hard to argue with. The luxurious rooms each offer remarkable views of Hong Kong Island, Victoria Harbour or the New Territories and the hotel is home to six dining outlets (including The Chocolate Library, which we can testify to being just as sweet as it sounds) and an open-air rooftop bar. Rooms are available from US$577 a night.

INDONESIA

W Retreat & Spa Bali—Seminyak

Showcasing innovative architecture by SCDA Architects, and interior design by Poole Associates and ABConcept (you’d expect no less from über hip W, right?), the newest arrival in Bali features 158 retreats and suites, with the majority offering views of the Indian ocean. Facilities include cocktail bar W Lounge, dance club WooBar, signature restaurants Fire and Starfish Bloo (headed up by acclaimed Chef de Cuisine Jack Yoss) and a wellness spa. Rooms are available from US$270 a night.

LAOS

Kiridara

Just five minutes away from (tiny) Luang Prabang International Airport and two minutes from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Luang Prabang town itself, you’ll find the new boutique hotel Kiridara Luang Prabang. Contemporary in style, with a distinctive stone and timber theme, Kiridara is located on a hillside surrounded by a teak forest. The hotel boasts an infinity pool, a yoga pavilion and the Laotian Spa where you can enjoy local specialty treatments such as the “Royal Champa exotic bath.” You can also sample authentic Lao cuisine at the onsite restaurant Phu Doi. Rooms are available from US$193 a night.

MACAU

Banyan Tree Macau

Located in the heart of Cotai city, the 246 suites at Banyan Tree’s newest each feature a private relaxation pool overlooking the city. Ten pool villas with their own gardens are also available. The resort even offers suites with their own spa treatment area. Relax by the tropical pool, pamper yourself at the Sanctuary Spa and enjoy a meal at the signature Belon Oyster Bar & Grill. Rooms are available from US$271 a night

MALAYSIA

Casa del Rio

However you spell it, Melaka (Malacca) is one of our favorite destinations up north for food, heritage, culture and... more food. Centrally located by the Melaka River, Casa del Rio is close to all of the city’s attractions, including quaint shops of Jonker Street. The hotel’s architecture has distinct Portuguese influences and is also inspired by opulent Sultan’s palaces. Rooms are available from US$146 a night.

PHILIPPINES

Mövenpick Resort & Spa Cebu

While bustling Cebu is a fixture on everyone’s travel bucket list, Mactan Island, site of Swiss hotel chain Mövenpick’s newest property, charms with lesser-known wonders. The resort has its own private beach, restaurants with themed dinners which change nightly, a spa utilizing signature Zen-inspired treatments and watersport facilities. Rooms are available from US$153 a night.

SRI LANKA

Maya

Combining the heritage of a 19th century manor house and new contemporary designs, recently opened Maya, close to Tangalle on the Southern tip of the island, is a great place to soak up Sri Lanka’s culture and natural beauty. Set against a backdrop of coconut trees and paddy fields, Maya exudes colonial charm and offers five suites with private courtyards and four-poster beds. Not to mention that you’ll have access to the Sri Lankan fusion cuisine of chef Darasana. Rooms are available from US$170 a night.

THAILAND

Hilton Pattaya

When it comes to beach hotels, Pattaya, dare we say it, has it down pat. The 5-star hotel occupies the top 34 floors of the Central Festival Pattaya, Asia’s largest beachfront shopping complex with its array of fine dining, nightlife and shopping options. This new address is ultra modern with its sleek-lined design and furnishings. There’s also a stunning rooftop bar that’s just perfect for admiring the glorious sunsets over the infinity pool. Rooms are available from US$207 a night.

VIETNAM

An Lam Ninh Van Bay Villas

Managed by Epikurean, An Lam Ninh Van Bay Villas is exclusive, eco-friendly and traditionally Vietnamese. Located on the virtually untouched Ninh Van Bay, the rainforest, mountains and dramatic beaches around this resort make it truly distinctive. Each of the 35 private villas here comes with its own plunge pool, and all manner of modern embellishments. With a personal butler service and fine Vietnamese cuisine on offer, this slice of luxury in Nha Trang is hard to top. Rooms are available from US$360 a night.