What's Up Magazine June Issue #22 by Pierre Rabotin

#22 06/14

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Co-Founder & Managing Director Antony Hamon Editor In Chief Pierre Rabotin Editor Eve Watling Designers Tanya Cooper Monika Ang Sales Manager Sarah Belli 0888 197 202 sarah@wuppmag.com Sales Representitive Regina Meyer 097 640 6030 (Siem Reap) Photographers Nick Sells Meas Srey Nich Journalists Ismail Vora jee Anna Mischke Joseph Hincks Marina Shafik Julia White Nicolas C. Grey Project Managers Anais Lamory Klicia Schubert Distribution Manager Ung Rithivan Special Thanks Kip Radt Pagna Serey Sam Jam Cover Portrait of Kim Srieng by Nick Sells at: So Shoot Me Studio ..... WHAT’S UP MAGAZINE contact@wuppmag.com facebook/wupp.magazine www.wuppmag.com 097 958 7338

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Dear Readers, Asia is developing at rapid speed, and although Cambodia may be small, it’s certainly catching up fast. This issue, we examine what this growth means, for the social structures, environment and architectural landscape of the country. You may have noticed the surge in satellite cities springing up around Phnom Penh (you may have even considered living in one!). But does the perfect dreamworld of their promotional brochures match up to the reality behind the construction fences? We investigate Asia’s biggest development fad, and also examine the average day of a construction site worker, whose hard labour is fuelling this seemingly exponential growth. One man’s guerrilla street art project has been celebrating forgotten architectural gems across London. Last month, he brought the project to Cambodia, and we were there to see the last breath of life of a condemned piece of classic Khmer architecture. It’s not just about buildings however. Food gets a big chunk this issue, from a look at the growing popularity of Japanese Izakayas to the perfect Chinese dumping recipe. As always, our Wine and Food feature handles the best recipe pairings so you don’t have to. We’re pretty excited about culture too: see our article on the growth of the Sihanoukville beatboxing scene, and our review of Chea Sereyroth’s latest show in Phnom Penh. Memory! film festival is back for its second year, and we give you our tips for the best screenings. We can’t wait until the arts scene is growing with the same momentum as the building construction: the seeds are definitely being sown... Thanks for reading! The What’s Up Team

photo OF THE MONTH BY Zed Mcking I took this photo last month when I went to a comic convention called Comic Party at CJCC. I love to see how those young people dress up to their favourite anime character and even express themselves to what they like, despite the society norm in Cambodia.

Content Photo Of The Month

Street Culture MOUTHING OFF

New Discoveries

Cover Feature GATED DREAMS

Street Art LAST BREATH

A Day In The Life CONSTRUCTION WORKER

Hypemaker

In Conversation THE FASHION INDUSTRY

Culture stories from the past

5 Reasons why pagoda parties are great

Wine & Food park hyatt

Food MOve over sushi

How To… make a dumpling

Street Style

Beauty mask-uerading around

Health healthy living

Geek world cup fever

Playlist Dj taminic

Cocktail sultry night

Reviews

Cinema MEMORY! film festival

Gurus

Agenda

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Mouthing Off The Unlikely Rise of Cambodian Beatboxing

Hip-hop has always been there for the people that didn’t have a voice. It can be a great tool for Cambodia

  Joseph Hincks

n a wooden stool in a Sihanoukville basement, 17-year-old Chay So Chan bops his capped head to a recorded drum loop. There is a lull while he waits for the rhythm to take hold, and then the kid performs a series of aural contortions: snares click from the corner of his lips, his glottal stops snap the kick drum, and his nasal cavity buzzes a slow synth. This is beat-box – the production of music without instruments, and one of the original elements of hip-hop – and this is Cambodia; but the two are not as incongruous as they seem. Later this month Chan will compete in the final of Khmer MyTV’s Penh Chet Ort, the Cambodian equivalent of America’s Got Talent, propelling him towards national celebrity. “At first people didn’t take me seriously. My mother told me, ‘stop making a noise,’” Chan says, “Now people recognize me on the street.”

Chan is not the first hip-hop artist to make waves in Cambodia. Earlier this year, hip-hop influenced spoken word poet Kosal Khiev – who represented Cambodia as a Cultural Olympiad at London 2012 – was the subject of Masahiro Sugano’s award winning documentary Cambodia Son. Other Cambodian artists, such as KlapYaHandz from 391 Films, have been providing social commentary through rap for years, and in Phnom Penh, the Tiny Toones NGO founded by TKTK has won recognition for its use of breakdance to engage street children in a multi-disciplinary education system. “Hip-hop has always been there for the people that didn’t have a voice. From the beginning it was about guys that were living in impoverished neighbourhoods; hip-hop can be a great tool for Cambodia,” tells Kosal Khiev. “Our history says, ‘don’t express yourself, don’t be the nail that sticks out or you’ll get hammered down,’ but these kids are taking the courageous step of picking up the form and trying it out for themselves.”

street Khiev is one of a number of returning artists from the Cambodian diaspora merging Khmer and overseas cultural influences. However Sihanoukville-based Chan discovered hip-hop from the comfort of his own home when he was captivated by a beat-box video he watched on YouTube three years ago. Can you remember the first song you learned? I ask Chan. He picks up the microphone and his reply is instantly recognizable: the swaggering chorus of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean. Beatbox – which is a recognized sport as well as a musical form – requires serious training and initially Chan practiced three hours per day until he had mastered the basics. “A lot of the older generation only care about studying; they say ‘study and you’ll get money,’ they don’t think about art and music,” he says. “I study but when I’m stressed, hip-hop music helps me to relax.

When I directed energy towards making hip-hop, my life became happier When I directed energy towards making hip-hop, my life became happier.” It was the internet that introduced Chan to Beatbox, but he has also used it as a tool to proliferate his fame. The Cambodia Beatbox Facebook page, where Chan posts photographs and

instructional videos has amassed over 10,000 likes, and Chan mentors some 60 aspiring beatboxers in Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh. Sihanoukville audiences will get the chance to see Chan perform live at the Cambodia Beatbox (CBX) battle– although as undisputed champion, he will host rather than compete in the event. Eight members of the most promising beatboxers from Chan’s crew will face off to establish a regional champion. “Chan is passionate about training Cambodian beatboxers but they don’t have a space to practice or many outlets for their talent,” says Shazia Shah, founder of Sihanoukville-based art cafe Dao of Life, which is co-hosting the event with Chan.

For Chan, who still has one year remaining at his public high school, The Sihanoukville Beatbox competition is the first stage of an ambitious plan to bring Cambodia Beatbox overseas. He hopes to battle artists in Vietnam and Thailand, where the scene is more established, and eventually take on the European beatboxers – such as French king of fast-beat Alem – who originally inspired him. “I want to represent Cambodian arts,” he says. “Everybody knows Thailand overseas, but some people don’t even know where Cambodia is. They don’t know that Cambodia is the Kingdom of Wonder.” }

where?

Cambodia Beatbox (CBX) battle takes place on June 7th at Dao of Life Cafe, 375 Ekareach Street, Sihanoukville Ph: 097 706 1144 i daooflife

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phkar romyool Feeling in need of some Dolce Vita? Caravan’s is Phnom Penh’s fine dining restaurant du jour, serving up fancy Italian fare. The wine list is huge, and there’s a cigar lounge on the 1st floor for some after dinner puffing.

FNo. 68, Sihanouk Blvd, Phnom Penhp www.caravanfinedining.com

In the 1960’s, Phkar Romyool’s building hosted the flickering shadows of Khmer golden age filmstars. Now the old cinema is a new Khmer/Western halal restaurant, part of Le Palais des Anges Boutique Hotel. Diners can choose to sit in the long balconies, or in the spacious, courtyard-like floor of the old cinema. The airy feel is heightened by the greenery; trees sprout from the floor, and vines curl around ornate archways. Tama Hotel is located on the 22nd floor of the Phnom Penh tower, an addition to the already existing chic D22 Restaurant, which serves French-Italian cuisine crafted by an experienced Japanese chef. The hotel – or the H22 – is Phnom Penh’s first ever capsule hotel. Guests slot themselves into the narrow bunks, which are placed right next to the glass windows of the tower, to enjoy a stunning aerial view of the city. Probably the most fun hotel experience in Cambodia as yet – and claustrophobics will be heartened to know there are also larger rooms available.

A mix of Middle Eastern, French and Iranian cuisine, Kaviar Restaurant also features a tea room and lounge bar. If you like it so much you don’t want to leave, there are serviced apartments for short / long stay adjacent to the restaurant.

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Cambodia’s first truly international standard shopping mall is due to open on the 30th of June. Aeon malls have already been popping up across China, Japan and Vietnam, and will now be bringing international brands such as Levis, Valentino and Toni & Guy to Cambodia. And it’s not just about the shops: the $205m mall will also hold an ice-skating rink, a bowling alley, a karaoke bar and a seven-screen cinema. It’s a dead cert to be the next big teenage hangout spot, as it ushers in a new age of superconsumerism for Cambodia.

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cover “New History is Coming” – Camko World City Slogan

ust north of Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork area, a mother and son are weaving across the wetlands gathering leaves under giant flowering water lilies, which cast an umbrella-like shade. These wetlands once stretched out around the city, providing livelihoods and a respite from the concrete-clogged sprawl of Phnom Penh. But now the horizon is being quickly hemmed in by the city’s latest development fad: satellite cities and gated communities.

gateddreams What do satellite cities mean for the future of Phnom Penh?

  eve watling

Satellite cities – so called as they independently ‘orbit’ a larger metropolis – are already popular in many developing countries with a large wealth divide, such as Egypt and Indonesia. Built by independent development companies, the communities are often gated and self-contained, holding offices, shops and even hospitals. The trend was kickstarted in Cambodia by the 2005 launch of South Koreanbacked Camko World City, a 119 hectare gated development project. Since then, many other enclosed satellites have been approved by the government. Until recently, Grand International City Phnom Penh was the most ambitious of these projects. A joint-venture between a Cambodian and an Indonesian company, the 260 hectares are set to hold villas, schools, office buildings and shopping centres. The gated city promises exclusivity: not only do guards protect entry points, but house prices range from $80,000, and lifetime membership to the 18-hole golf course will set you back a cool $49,610. Even though it’s still under construction, the stakes have been raised even higher: April saw ING Holdings release the details of their proposed AZ City, which will cover a whopping 2572 hectares of wetlands south of the city.

“A global leading developers that changes dreams into the reality [sic]” – Camko

website

At the moment, AZ remains a developer’s dream. However, a glimpse of the future can be found at the smaller Grand International City site, currently in midconstruction. The finished suburbs have a stilled and brooding atmosphere, devoid of the smells and bustle of Phnom Penh. A guard at the mouth of each cul-de-sac, it feels somewhere between a university campus and an American suburb. At the whirring, dusty construction sites on the other side of the golf course, it’s a different story. Newly built blue weddingcake villas stand amongst the construction workers wooden shacks, although the worn chequered shirts of the builders can be seen hanging in the windows of the villas. They are the first occupants of these mansions that will one day hold millionaires, before they are spirited away unseen, like the fairytale of the shoemaker’s elves, onto the next job. Wrapped around the rickety development site are advertising images of shiny computer animated housing, glowingly lit from inside, and SUVs parked in the driveway. In this computer generated world, there is no dirt and decay, no unexpected divergences from the planned programming. It doesn’t resemble the site very much at all, which is perhaps why the word ‘dream’ constantly recurs in promo material. But whose dream is this, and what does it mean for the ordinary people of Phnom Penh?

“A Rich Heritage: A city of contrasts, a city where the historic flourishes with he modern, a city enriched with diverse ethnic cultural attractions as well as its foreign community of expatriates – for many, Phnom Penh is a city just too good to leave!” – Grand International

City website

Defenders of satellite cities say that they can provide a better planned alterative to urban sprawl. Property consultant Bruce Haulley has been quoted in the Phnom Penh Post saying that “the development

COVER Now that Asia is going through rapid development, it is turning the tables on the Western trend. In a move surprising to anyone who has experienced the grottyness of English pubs firsthand, the Olde English-themed Tudor Town satellite city in Shanghai features a traditional pub and Tudor beamed houses. Indeed, architectural planners Gotsch and Peterek suggested in a 2003 paper on satellite cities that “the ties among globally connected new towns at different places of our planet seem to be much closer than those with their local neighbours at the other side of the fence.”

[of satellite cities] in general is a good thing, [as] it creates jobs and opportunities...the middle class of Cambodia has an unrecognisable and very powerful effect.” However, a 2012 Society for International Development report conducted on the state of East Africa, also a region with a wide poverty divide and loose urban planning laws, singled out satellite cities as a potential problem for the wellbeing of the region. “The poor and vulnerable populations in the mother cities face an increased risk of further marginalization and impoverishment” it says, citing the drain of skilled workers and their money to the suburbs as having potential to turn original city centres into a poverty stricken slums. The demarcation of public space as the domain of particular socio-political groups is a growing trend in Cambodia. Most high profile of these is the controversial land rights disputes, including the eviction of 4,000 families at Boeung Kak Lake. The rich residents here; the poor residents there - by dividing up the city like this, there is a danger of disconnection and isolation between different social groups, so that the reality of each other’s existence becomes unseen. Hermetically sealed off from Phnom Penh, able to

shop, work, and sleep without passing through their gates, satellite city residents will never have to see the slum areas of the city, which function as the dystopian through-the-looking-glass twins of their own enclaves.

“An International Icon: Recognized asthe global gateway to an exotic land - once known as “The Pearl of Asia” - Phnom Penh is home to the world heritage site, the largest religious complex in the world, the temples of Angkor in the west, the beaches of the southern coast and the ethnic minorities of the northeastern provinces.” – Grand International City Phnom Penh

The language that the dream is sold in speaks volumes. Despite using the ‘diverse ethnic cultural attractions’ of Cambodia to sell homes, an exotic ‘Western’ fantasy is being sold by the developers. GIPP’s villas are named after a vague idea of shiny metropolitan luxury: ‘Tuscany’ or ‘Manhattan’. This exoticism incorporated into extravagant architectural fantasies has been seen before. In booming, industrial revolution-era England, Orientalist names and decor were used to convey a fantasy of foreign indulgence and luxury.

“A strategic investment – GPPIC is one of the most prominent and promising satellite cities in Phnom Penh. This will invariably act as the imputus to increasing its investment viability; and well positioned at its strategically advantageous location to exploit its potential in the years ahead. A surefire investment second to none!” – GPPIC promotional brochure

Before the Khmer Rouge, Phnom Penh’s dream of utopian city planning looked very different. In the 1950s and 1960s, the New Khmer architecture movement, led by architect Vann Molyvann, combined modernist design with traditional Khmer elements, such as an open floor plan and double walls to create natural ventilation. For the most part, these buildings were integrated into the main city and designed for ordinary people. Pagna Serey graduated from the Royal University of Fine Arts before studying urban design, and is an expert on New Khmer Architecture. “Back then, it wasn’t about form, but function – how buildings worked with the environment and people. Molyvann merged modernism and the Khmer lifestyle. He was inspired by Angkor Wat, and used water to cool the buildings naturally. He liked overhanging roofs as they protected the house from the heat of the sun – the sun never touched the walls of the house.”

COVER

The poor and vulnerable populations in the mother cities face an increased risk of further marginalization and impoverishment

Instead of building to the north of Phnom Penh, AZ City will be in the south of the city. Vann Molyvann is quoted in the brochure, saying that the city planners should indeed be moving construction south. However, Pagna doubts that the city, which is to be built over wetlands, would gain the approval of the master of Khmer architecture. “Molyvann did say the city should grow to the south, but it shouldn’t be over the water!” he says, “We need the water for the cities filtration system. It will just cause more flooding in Phnom Penh.” The social credentials of AZ city also seem suspect. Two zones in the city include the Japanese Medical School and Active Aging Village and a Chinese retirement village, complete with Chinese style architecture. Both allow the Asian giants to ship out their elderly relatives to a country with a cheaper cost of living. Zones for factory outlets are to be stocked by China and Japan, as well as Malaysia and Thailand. Is AZ City a dumping ground for the rest of Asia’s undesirable people and produce? Vann Molyvann’s architectural legacy is in physical disrepair. Phnom Penh’s White Building, a famous example of New Khmer architecture, was originally intended as low-cost housing for civil servants. Now greying and flaking plaster, the building is semi-ruined: yet its structural strength and its enduring popularity as a community and art space speak volumes of the success of his design. Looking around Asia, it’s been a different story for the satellite cities. Built using European architectural models, the houses will have to rely heavily on aircon, with no integration with their surrounding landscape or culture. Many newly built cities in China are struggling to reach anywhere near capacity, worsening the country’s property bubble. Here in Cambodia, development is stalling on planned projects. Camko City, the flagship development, has faced difficulties following a fraud scandal and subsequent bankruptcy of the South Korean bank that was originally backing it.

Even if the houses are completed, it is questionable whether they will ever be filled. Over at the Borey Vimean development site, a banner showing the computer animated architects model of a street of villas proclaims the usual satellite city dream. Behind the security guard-less gates however, ragged grass grown between the cracks of the tarmac. It’s houseless, and empty apart from a man grazing his buffalo. At this construction site, the era of ‘new history’ promised by the promotional brochures is ending before it even began, and the wetlands are slowly returning. }

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“If we start regarding constructions as creatures rather than structures, one can almost say demolition is murder. Not only murder of materiality, but also murder of meaning and memory.” - Tom from the Last Breath project

LAST BREATH A sneaky send-off to Cambodia’s forgotten architecture

  eve watling

Alongside videos of cats and people falling over, Youtube and TV clip shows hoard another subgenre of irresistibly watchable footage: buildings being demolished. The slow puff of cement, the melting facade and the tidal wave of crumbling; we’re drawn to the spectacle of something huge and solid being reduced to rubble in a few seconds flat. Tom from the Last Breath project thinks he knows why: “It reminds us of our own death”, he says. A disillusioned ex-ad man now determined to democratise public space rather than brand it, Tom is now examining societies obsession with rapid development and re-development in our big cities, and our obsession with demolition and newness.

Inspired by urban exploration guru Bradley Garret, the Last Breath project started in London, which has one of the highest construction/destruction rates in the world. The project facilitates street artists to decorate the inside of a building due to be demolished – without the permission of the owner. It’s an act of defiance against people’s lack of control over the local urban environment, but also a last hurrah for the building that will soon exist in memory alone. “Buildings have a life,” says Tom, “Sometimes they even have names. Their inhabitants make material imprints into them; nails in the wall, scratches on the floor. Each building has multiple meaning for different people, and it transforms itself between different memories.” Last month, the project went international, and Cambodia was the first port of call. New Khmer Architect Vann Molyvann’s 100 Houses project was commissioned in 1965

street art This was Last Breath’s third abandoned building takeover: check out the previous projects in London.

December 2013: Blackfriars Cafe Graffiti artist Bisser said farewell to this 35 year old cafe by decorating a wall with a signature open mouthed beastie, which was depicted gasping at dingy light that struggled through a window.

by the National Bank of Cambodia to provide housing for its staff. The houses were a stunning example of the adaption of traditional techniques to the modern world: the open planning provided natural ventilation, while the roof tiles mimicked layered grass roofs. Each house had a pond, which ingeniously provided natural cooling. It also meant residents could grow their own herbs and vegetables around it, and keep fish to eat. The buildings were abandoned during the Khmer Rouge regime and never restored. Only a few are still standing, and when Tom heard one in Tuol Kork was due for demolition, he knew it was a perfect space for Last Breath. He enlisted French artists Chifumi and Al Sticking, as well as local artist Kong Vollack to decorate the empty, semi-ruined building. After receiving an email invitation to the temporary exhibition inside the building, we join the small group outside of famous Phnom Penh burger joint Mike’s Burgers, and drive to the as-yet undisclosed location of the project. When we reach the house, we pick our way through a thicket of shrubbery to reach the staircase leading to the upstairs floor of the beautiful, half ruined house.

We all fall under a hush when we reach the exhibition room: lit only by candles and daylight that falls through the closed shutters, the three artworks seem to glow with freshness in the dusty, concrete surroundings. Each artist has stayed true to his own ideas, but adapted them to the surroundings. Chifumi’s signature hands are here, a black hand interlacing a white one to symbolise France and Cambodia’s intertwined histories. Kong Vollack has made a 3D collage of skyscrapers amid monochrome crosshatching, a gesture towards Phnom Penh’s architectural aspirations. Al Sticking’s painted woman floats across a bleeding skyline. The exhibition lasts only half an hour: we leave to avoid the attentions of the curious onlookers that have already gathered outside, and emerge blinking into the brightness of the city. “I feel emotionally attached to the building; I don’t want it to go!” reflects Tom afterwards, “I don’t know when it will be demolished. They don’t have signs or notices like they do in Europe – the company just decides. All I know is that it will be replaced by something expensive and concrete.” Although the building should be celebrated rather than demolished, Last Breath means that at least it got a fond farewell. }

February 2014: Bithehale Medical Centre Phlegm, Run and Christiaan Nagel snuck into what was once one of London’s flagship medical centres, painting faces and sad skeletons across its already crumbling walls.

Read more at lastbreathproject.wordpress.com

extra

A Day in the Life of...

of a construction worker Every month, What’s Up gets the lowdown on the daily life of a cambodian. This month, we speak to a construction worker, kim srieng, 28 years old.

 as told to pierre rabotin

go to the construction site at 6:30am to have breakfast, and start working at 7am. For the hotel we’re building at the moment, I work in the team in charge of the steel structure of the building. Each task is divided into teams lead by a manager. I work until the start of the construction until the building is finished. It’s hard work that requires physical strength, and I work every day. My day officially ends at 4pm and we get $5.50 per day, but I usually stay until 7pm to make an extra 3500 riels per hour. I’ve been working in construction for two years. I come from Kompong Cham and I came to Phnom Penh one year ago to make more money. Before that I was learning Korean because I wanted to find a job in a factory in Korea. My family couldn’t afford the class so I had to stop before graduation. Money reasons also meant I didn’t finish high school; I stopped so my younger siblings could go to school

instead. Now I go back to class when I can afford it, but it’s been a long time since my last course. When I see how much we work I realise that there is a big need of workers like me. Whenever we finish one building, we start right away to work on another one. I didn’t have any training, and I learnt everything on the construction site directly. To be honest, I don’t really enjoy it as it’s always hot and very tiring. I can see that many new buildings are rising in Phnom Penh and I think it’s a good thing because there is more work for us. It shows that we are developing and we will become like other countries. I heard that construction often stops because there is no money to finish, but I never witnessed that on one of the sites I worked on. }

hypemaker events

HYPEMAKER What we’re excited about this june

Beers 4 Bears Free the Bears’ sanctuary at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, which rescues endangered bears from poachers and the illegal pet trade, started in 1997 as a home to six bears. Fifteen years and 177 rescued bears later, the sanctuary is now building its eighth bear house (which includes 4 forest enclosures) which will accommodate a further 20 bears. To celebrate their amazing achievements so far and to help fund the care of their rescued bears, the NGO is holding the charity event of the year, Beers 4 Bears.

 www.jeanfrancoisperigois.com

World Music Day In 1982, France held the first World Music Day. Ever since, the festival has grown, spreading around Europe, and eventually across the world. The first World Music Day in Cambodia happened in 2008, and has returned for the past 2 years with free, open air gigs during the whole day, to spread the love of music. It aims to reach people who may not usually be able to access live music due to financial or time constraints. This year, the collective of the Musicians Of Siem Reap are taking over, organising a mega gig of over 10 bands and musicians, music schools and DJs to play from early afternoon till late night. A massive stage will be put up next to Pub Street to serve as the epicentre of the festival. Enjoy the music!

 32

Saturday, 21st June From around 12PM to 2AM, Siem Reap Cabaret Bar in Phnom Penh are also celebrating.

Ticket price includes two hours of free booze, including a free-flow of Heineken beer and Bruntys cider, a free glass of Hardy’s wine, as well as free soft drinks and canapés. There will be a live band, a huge raffle giveaway with some amazing prizes. Fun games and activities will run throughout the night. Proceeds from all ticket and merchandise sales will go directly to Free the Bears, and there will be some fun ways to donate more throughout the evening. Warning: there will be (p)awful bear related puns in abundance.

Juggling Phnom Penh

Stanton Warriors

Juggling group meets most Tuesdays from around 5:15-5:30pm in front of the Kings monument. Twirlers, other circus skills enthusiasts and people who just want to watch are also welcome. Check with the Facebook group on Mondays to make sure the session is going ahead.

Juggling Phnom Penh

Drink and Draw

The boozy life drawing sessions have returned to Phnom Penh! Every second Sunday, artcoholics meet up at Soul Tea’se Cafe to chat, drink, and draw. Don’t worry if you draw at a pre-school level as all abilities are welcome – it’s all about the fun.

6.30pm, 8th and 2nd June at Soul Tea’se Cafe, No 55e, St. 240, Phnom Penh. $3 entry includes 2 hours with a life model. Beer, wine and other drinks available. Bring your own drawing materials.

With accolades from everyone from MTV to BBC’s Zane Lowe, the power duo Stanton Warriors are bringing the cutting edge of UK electronic music to Phnom Penh. Joining the scene in 2001 with the award winning compilation ‘The Stanton Sessions’, they’ve gone on to remix MIA, Daft Punk and Gorillaz, while selling out huge London venues and smashing it at international festivals. By far the hippest musical visitors we’ve hosted for a while, this night should satisfy our cravings for international quality live music.

 June 14th at Code Red, Phnom Penh

A.lter S.essio & Belle Chumvan Sodhachivy A.lter S.essio invites artists to collaborate in various fields, and is now inviting Cambodian dancer and choreographer Belle Chumvan Sodhachivy (trained by ONG Amrita Performing Arts) to perform a dance, Loss, with Japanese dancer Yum Keiko Takanawa, along with seven other Cambodian dancers.

Saturday June 28th, 7pm to late

The Mansion FCC, Phnom Penh.  -Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for kids, and can by purchased at Cafe Fresco I and FCC Hotels in Phnom Penh and

of Performing Arts (Street 173, be partment hind the “SPARK” club) - 4$, or $2 for under Tickets on sale at Le Bistrot de l’Institut I 25s. Français. Wednesday 4th June at 6.30PM at the De-

Siem Reap. freethebears.org / www. facebook.com/freethebearsfund  film noir studio

society

Don Protasio:

I don’t think there is a fashion

A fashion designer from Iloilo in the Philippines, Don is also the creative director of Fashion Lab magazine.

industry happening here yet

: N O I T A S R E CONV IN The Fashion Industry

 pierre rabotin  nick sells @ so shoot me studio

Although the Cambodian fashion scene isn’t splashed across vogue or seen strutting down international catwalks, designers, photographers and models are slowly seeing Cambodia as a good place to develop. Although challenges remain numerous, great platforms like the Phnom Penh Designers week or the recent Fashion Illumination show increasing interest, but the lack of fashion awareness, lower standards and difficulties in channeling the creative energy highlight the fact that it’s probably too soon to talk about a proper fashion industry. We gathered five figures from different areas of fashion to share their tips on what might become Cambodia’s next top trend.

Fashion industry has been booming over the past two years in Cambodia, but where are we in term of international standards? Paula Kahna: Until we get a few more local designers, I don’t think that we can put ourselves on an international fashion map. I think there are some great foreign designers here but for now Cambodia is mostly known for garment factory industry, like Bengladesh or Laos. People know us because they see “made in Cambodia” on the tag of their clothes. Ryan Drewe Taylor: Early careers are popping up from everywhere. Compared to Paris or London there is still a long way to go. Don Protasio: But I don’t think there is a fashion industry happening here yet. It’s just a lot of creative people doing their own

thing. But we have to think that fashion is also a business. The goal is to have a community here supporting the fashion and then be able to export the products. That’s what happened in Bangkok. And also for us here it’s only now that platforms are developing so that designers can show their creations and for people to appreciate them. It seems also that in Cambodia people get only crazy about famous brands. The entry of new massive shopping malls will give even more access to them. Is it a threat to local designers already struggling to make a name? Don: It’s not only here though. Everywhere in Asia, for example Tokyo, people are very brand conscious, but also they are aware of what is creative and original versus status symbols like Louis Vuitton or Gucci.

Ryan: At the beginning, Cambodia didn’t have all the branded stores, whereas in Seoul they have all these brands like Forever 21, Zara and Mango. But at the same time you have an explosion of the vintage shops which only came about last year. People wanted the brands and got them, but now they’re looking for more creative things and turning to vintage and local designers. So of course when brands are coming in people will go to department stores, but in the end you’ll still be looking for the interesting stuff. Don: It can be a struggle for young designers, but in a way it gives them a chance to be more creative and really push their own voice. That way they’re not just copying what’s out there but creating something unique. Soap, in Fashion Lab you obviously feature a lot of these local designers. Is there a Cambodian style? Soap Ke: I don’t know if there is one. We’re still at this stage where we haven’t fully understood our history. We just went through a few decades of difficult stuff, so we don’t have the culture of fashion that other countries experience. At this point we’re still trying to get everything in and hopefully by the end of the process we can find our own voice. But that is a long process. Young designers don’t have that yet but they’re really driven.

Soap Ke: The man behind Cambodia Fashion week and Phnom Penh Designers week is also the owner of Fashion Lab magazine.

Paula Kahna: Having been involved in the modeling scene for many years working for Sapor’s agency, Paula is now business manager for Tiger Media and Red Dot advertising agency. She also launched and is in charge of the Seduction night.

Ryan Drewe Taylor: Co-owner of Paperdolls, a renowned clothing boutique in Phnom Penh. Ryan is also the director of the avant garde fashion show Glamazon, which will make its third appearance in August this year.

Rakz Montana: A young fashion photographer on the rise.

Rakz Montana: I think we already have our identity. We have also a lot of influences from the past in term of style but

society in a way we got lost. The young generation got really into K pop and is very excited about this trend, and less so about what’s happening in Cambodia. I think it’s the reason we’re not growing quickly. We didn’t wake up and we’re losing what makes us unique. Is there a proper and professional modeling scene in Cambodia? Soap: When it comes to actual fashion modeling and editorial look it’s quite limited because you need to be really tall and skinny. It’s not just about the face, it’s also about personality and what they will bring to the photoshoot. Commercial and editorial are two very different things. Ryan: Models are less conservative though. As a designer, Don for example likes to do the more unusual beauty in shoots rather than pageant stuff. Models and photographers are getting used to that, and they don’t want to do the standard portrait smile. When I first moved here everybody wanted to do glamorous, but it got better and I’ve noticed that more and more models that I’ve worked with are not scared if they show a bit too much body or if the photographer wants a darker and moody kind of vibe. And every now and then I meet a model who surprises me. Everybody here seems to call themselves a model Rakz: It’s very difficult to find the right person. Ryan: So we end up working with the same people all the time! Don: Development of fashion goes hand in hand with the modeling industry also. If the designers know what they want and require certain

standards, something good will come out. In the magazine industry, we go for more unique looks and we tend to use very exotic looking models. It will help to push the awareness that there should be diversity. It will also influence agencies when they look for models. What are the big challenges? Ryan: We need to change the perception of people who often think that with fashion always comes glamour and parties and fashion shows. They don’t realize that it’s only one night in six months and the rest of the time it’s a lot of hard work, sourcing and finding stuff, and lots of other things. Don: And for photo it’s mostly catalog shooting. There is no narrative or concept. We start having outbursts but there is no fashion awareness. At the moment they see creations, they like or they don’t like it, but there is no deeper understanding: we’re not at that level yet. Soap: To make things grow it’s important to act. Don: Somewhere along the way we will get to a

point where it will just explode. But the most important thing if you want to be a model is to be serious about it. You want to be a designer? Learn the craft. Right now what is exciting about this country is that there are no limits. Ryan: Be original and keep doing what you’re doing. And if designers keep pushing and photography gets more creative, kids will be less interested in K-Pop and more in Cambodian fashion and supporting local designers Paula: I’d love to see a more original style, but I’m not sure Khmer youth is aware of what it could be. Fashion is about representing your personality, making a statement without having to say anything. The way you dress is your signature; it says something about who you are. }

culture

jovial granny with a sweet smile and patient eyes, Om Pheap likes simply being called Om [older aunty]. As I enter her house, the first thing that I notice is a huge blackboard filled with mathematical formulas. She is a former professor, and education has always been crucial in her life. “I have four grandchildren. A teacher comes to our house to give them extra lessons: knowledge is the key for a bright future” she says. But let’s take a long step back in time. It’s the 17th of June 1949 and Om Pheap comes into the world within a small, caring family living in Kampong Cham. “When I started studying, only a third of the students were girls and they usually stopped at primary school. However, I continued and went to the Lycée de Sihanouk. I used to go by bicycle, enjoying a new sense of joyful freedom. My neighbours suddenly seemed all very concerned about me... I can still hear them advising my mum: ‘Don’t let her go to school or she will learn how to write and use her skill to write letters to guys,” says Pheap, giggling.

stories from the past  marina shafik  eve watling

We pay a visit to Cambodia’s grandparents, who tell us their stories of the country’s past. This month, Om Pheap tells Marina Shafik about banana cakes, Ta Khen festival, and the importance of education.

Om Pheap’s mother never went to school but she strongly believed in the value of learning. “With her knowledge my daughter won’t end up marrying a remok driver, I can assure you,” she used to reply firmly. “In the afternoon, I went swimming in the river, or played badminton and volleyball with my school friends,” Pheap says. “I was also crazy for the delicious flat banana cakes of Kampong Cham! But the best moment for me was the October festival of Ta Khen.” This was a huge event which lasted 29 days and it involved a big parade to the temples of different villages, which shared out a lot of food. “During Sihanouk’s time, people loved each other a lot; there was a big sense of unity. Nowadays, this harmony is gone and even the festival is no longer the same,” she admits nostalgically.

My neighbours said: ‘Don’t let her go to school or she will learn how to write and use her skill to write letters to guys’ “Then, in 1970 I came to work in Phnom Penh. That was the time of the civil war between General Lon Nol and the Khmer Rouge, so the lifestyle was not so good anymore. I used to work with the Red Cross, helping refugees.” Om Pheap is holding a paper, noting down places and dates to help her narration. She pauses for a moment and then writes “17 April 1975”. “This is a date that every Cambodian remembers. That day Pol Pot gave the order to evacuate Phnom Penh within 3 days, saying that the Americans would have bombed the city. At that time, I had 3 kids,” Om Pheap says. “When the Vietnamese rescue front arrived, many intelligent people had already been killed. I didn’t know what to do because the Red Cross didn’t exist anymore, so I looked at the gaps in society and realised teachers were desperately needed.” Om Pheap started teaching in primary school where, due to the educational gap of the previous years, there were students of all different ages. After specializing in biology, she went to teach in a high school. “I taught biology, anatomy and botanical studies until 2009. After Pol Pot, the attitude of students changed, I noticed more anger and a new sad mentality of revenge. I wished I could take that anger away, but I still don’t know how.” “Sometimes, some of my ex students recognise me and come to greet me. It’s nice to see that they kept a good memory of me,” says Om Pheap, smiling her sweet smile. }

Reasons why...

PagodaParties are Great

 eve watling Most of the time, pagodas are a quiet oasis of reflective monastic life. But on national holidays, full moons, and any slight excuse the speakers are piled up, rice wine is brought out by the barrelful and the locals gather to break loose into a night of dancing, chatting and making merry. Here’s why you should never pass up an opportunity to join in the fun.

#1 The Dancing Shuffle round in a circle, hands twiddling to some traditional Khmer loping offbeats, before the music suddenly cuts out and is replaced by some foul-lyriced EDM last heard at a grotty European warehouse party circa 1998. When you get bored of jumping about, the traditional music will begin again. This is perfect DJing in action.

#2 The Flirting Sorry people, your smooth pickup lines and drunken twerking won’t get you very far here. Pagoda parties are a time for local teens to come together and flirting will inevitably be on the cards. This means girls on one side of the pagoda grounds and boys on the other, eyeing each other and giggling. When the dancing starts, the girls dance aloofly, while the boys sidle up to the girl they like and dance next to them (often sideways, like a crab). Don’t be flirting willy-nilly though: this is how marriages are made.

#3 The Generosity Whether it’s slices of jackfruit, bowls of rice porridge, or (of course) rice wine: it’s not a pagoda party until you’re stuffed full of free food and a warm glow of gratitude. Siem Reap and Phnom Penhites will be shocked that they will be trying to pay for things and having your money refused, rather than having to go through the usual bartering rigmarole.

#4 The Games Everyone knows parties end with lot of stumbling around, shrieking and falling over. Not because you’ve consumed 12 Angkors with only a single spring roll lining your stomach, but because you’re playing sack races and water balloons and duck, duck, goose with the kids. Obviously.

uncool #5 Wholesome, family fun This is the heart of the joy of the pagoda party: no posing, pouting or Foursquare check-ins apply. Instead, it’s time to drink and dance with everyone from the oldest granny to the littlest kid. Absorb the communal vibes, stop caring about what you look like and dance like an idiot.

wine & food

wine & Food “MATCH OF THE MONTH”

Discover our monthly feature on how to pair wine and food. Two wines and two recipes by one chef from an exciting restaurant to make sure you become the best host in the city. This month, enjoy two recipes park hyatt in siem reap

Glazed Brie Cheese with honey, green apple compote, nut cracker, goat cheese and rosemary INGREDIENT 150g Brie de Meaux ● 20g Goat cheese ● 150ml Honey (Stung Treng province) ● 150ml Green apple ● 10g Walnuts ● 5g Walnut bread ● 20g Rosemary ● 50ml Butter

PREPARATION ● Caramelize the brie and goats cheese in the honey ● To prepare the green apple compote, peel the green apples and cut into small cubes. ● Sauté the green apples with butter and add honey and deglazewith the apple juice. ● Grill the walnut bread and serve.

TRIMBACH

Gewurztraminer, Alsace, France

Pan Fried Duck Breast with orange risotto and anise honey sauce INGREDIENT

150g French Duck Breast ● 20g Risotto ● 150ml Orange juice ● 150ml Chicken stock ● 10g Onion ● 5g Garlic ● 20g Honey (Ratanakiri province) ● 50ml Honey Vinegar ● 2g Star Anise ● 5g Lettuce

PREPARATION

● Season the duck breast with salt and pepper. Panfry the duck breast, glaze with honey, and finish in the oven at 180C for 8 mins. ● Allow the duck breast to rest for 5 mins. Remove the duck breast from the pan and deglaze with honey vinegar and chicken stock. ● Sauté the onions with butter in a saucepan and add the risotto rice. Stir it and deglaze with white wine. Add the duck.

WHY THEY MATCH PERFECTLY Who said you need to drink red wine with cheese? The dry personality of Trimbach Gewurztraminer, along with its fruity and spicy character will match perfectly with this flavourful recipe.

The Chefs : Martin Robl and Pisith Theam The Dining Room’s menu is the creative output of two young passionate chefs- Executive Sous Chef, Martin Robl and Chef de Cuisine, Pisith Theam. Born in Riesa, Germany, Chef Martin has 13 years culinary experience. He brings to the Dining Room the key flavours of French ‘au Provencal’ cuisine, presented in a fresh and appetising way. Chef Pisith was born in Siem Reap. His love for all things culinary started from watching his grandmother and mother prepare sumptuous meals for the family. He adds to the Dining Room his authentic renditions of classic Khmer fare.

clos henri ‘Petit Clos’ Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand

WHY THEY MATCH PERFECTLY The bright fruit flavours (wild strawberry, cherry and red currant) will pair elegantly with this sweet and savoury dish, while the subtle oak characters complement the duck breast. The smooth and fine tannins of this Pinot Noir will create harmony and balance.

The Place: The Dining Room Stylish and residential, The Dining Room offers a selection of French ‘au Provencal’ and Cambodian dishes made from traditional recipes. Ingredients are carefully sourced, drawing on the seasonal products freshly available in the market and selected premium import items. The Dining Room is located on the ground floor of the Park Hyatt, Siem Reap. Sivutha Boulevard, Siem Reap 063 211 234 - siemreap.park.hyatt.com

These wines are exclsively distributed by celliers d’Asie and available everywhere in Cambodia Siem Reap Sihanouk, Kep & Kampot Battambang (855) 63 964 409 (855) 34 934 155 (855) 53 953 855

Phnom Penh (855) 23 986 350

food

n any given night, Japanese restaurant Ninja sees a mix of customers all looking for something different but comforting to eat.

Their Western customers often arrive at dinner to order one of their favourite dishes: katsukare, a Japanese curry over a deep-fried pork cutlet, shaved cabbage and rice with a bottle of Sapporo. They fill up, satisfied by the rich, brown gravy and crunchy pork, and promptly leave.

MOVEOVERSUSHI The growing popularity of Izakayas

  julia white

Meanwhile, their Japanese clients arrive late after a long day of work with a group of colleagues and spend the evening sharing a variety of dishes including silky cold tofu, grilled fish, and yakitori. They then drink beer and sake late into the night. “Japanese people like to end the evening with noodles or rice after we finish drinking at 11 or 12 at night”, said manager Tatsuya Hasebe. “After we get drunk we still eat.” Ninja is one of the half dozen Japanese-owned and operated Izakayas that opened across the city over the last year offering more than the standard fare of maki rolls and tempura. Today, they can be easily spotted by their glowing red and white Japanese lanterns adorning the entranceways, and the smell of skewered meat grilling over charcoal that wafts onto the street. That’s exactly the smell that invites you across the street from Ninja to Yakitori Jidaiya, where their specialties are skewers of chicken, beef, and even mushroom, with an extensive drink list to match. The Izakaya chain serves only their namesake Yakitori in their Kyoto restaurants. But when they opened their two locations in Phnom Penh they decided to offer more to the city’s diverse customers. “If you only have yakitori, foreigners might not understand it,” said manager Daisuke Kamachi. “So just in our Phnom Penh restaurants we put sushi and tempura on the menu. These things are familiar to people as Japanese food. “ Kamachi said if their Phnom Penh restaurants do well the company hopes to expand to Sihanoukville and Siem Reap in the future. That’s because Cambodia is still a low-risk market, according to

What is an Izakaya? In Japan, Izakayas serve as a casual dining place where colleagues and friends meet to drink beer, shochu and plum wine while sharing small plates of food, often for over several hours. “At an Izakaya, we just need a place to chill and drink and talk,” says Ninja’s Hasebe. “We expect affordable food and a good atmosphere.”

Ninja’s Hasebe. “In Japan we have the idea that opening or doing business in Japan is risky right now because of the economy. Investing money in Asia’s developing countries is better than investing money in Japan.” And they’re not the only ones eyeing Cambodia. Watami is the most synonymous with the word

food YAKITORI CHICKEN BALLS

Izakaya, operating more than 600 restaurants across Japan and 50 across the world. They are one of two Izakayas set to open in Aeon Mall at the end of June, offering everything from chicken karaage (or fried chicken) to takoyaki, a ball-shaped snack made with flour and diced octopus. Watami is eyeing the city’s burgeoning middle class to fill their 140-seat restaurant. “Cambodia’s economy has been growing steadily over recent years,” said Hamada Toshihiko, the General Manager of Delis-Watami Cambodia, over email. “We believe people in Cambodia are looking to enjoy a better quality of life.” Toshihiko said their Aeon Mall restaurant is only the first of at least three locations the company plans to open over the next ten years, adding “for sure Cambodia is an attractive market for us.” But that has some of the city’s smaller players worried that the market is becoming oversaturated. Currently only ten percent of Ninja’s customers are Cambodian. Hasebe said the price point is still above what middle-income Cambodians can afford, so he relies predominantly on Japanese and Western customers. “The population of Japanese in Cambodia is growing,” said Hasebe. “With Aeon Mall opening,

OKONOMIYAKI

Forget bento-boxes and tempura. The next time you find yourself at an Izakaya try these mouthwatering dishes that are made to share: YAKITORI CHICKEN BALLS Yakitori literally translates to “grilled chicken”, but at Jidaiya they refer to all their skewers as Yakitori including beef, mushrooms or onion grilled over charcoal with sprinkled salt or soy sauce. Try their chicken balls – ground chicken wrapped around sugar cane and grilled over charcoal. It’s surprisingly addictive, hitting both salty and sweet cravings. OKONOMIYAKI A Japanese pancake made of flour that contains egg and shredded cabbage. It’s then grilled and topped with a sweet and salty okonomi sauce, mayonnaise, dried bonito flakes and dried green seaweed. At Ninja, it’s grilled with a thin piece of pork at the bottom making it satisfyingly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

everyone thinks that there will be more Japanese staying here. But I think it’s too much. There are too many Izakayas open in Phnom Penh.” Jidaiya’s manager Kamachi is more positive about the future of the city’s Izakayas, hoping an expanded menu will bring more Cambodians through the door. “You cannot have an Izakaya that is centred only on Japanese clientele because there are still a limited number of Japanese people who will come. You have to make sure your clientele includes not only Japanese people to be successful.”! }

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: 010 879 950 ( English & French ) 023 963 141 ( Khmer ) business.forums@eurocham-cambodia.org www.eurocham-cambodia.org THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS AND PARTNERS Successful People Read The Post

THANKS TO OUR PLATINUM EXHIBITORS

how to

HOW TO MAKE...

Pork and Chinese Cabbage Dumplings Want to know the secret of perfectly steaming, fragrant dumplings? The folks at Mama Wongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show us how to reach pastry perfection with their simple recipe.

how to make the Skin

how to make the Filling

Mix 1 cup of plain flour with just enough water and a pinch of salt and yeast to mix. Allow at least 1 hour to proof or until the mixture has risen. Make small balls of dough the size of golf balls. Use a small rolling pin and roll the dough out into circles approx. 3mm thick and 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10mm in diameter.

Finely dice 300gs pork belly (ensure not to include too much fat). Fine slice and quickly blanch half a large Chinese white cabbage, squeeze out water and mix half cabbage to half pork mince. In a saucepan heat up 1 cup oil, add 5 star anise, and 1 teaspoon szechuan pepper corns. Pour the boiling oil over 1 whole diced garlic and 4 small shallots. After 5 minutes of frying the spices, pour over garlic and shallots. Brown to good colour, strain and add garlic shallot mix to the cabbage and pork.

Season and mix well. Chill. Add approx. 1 heaped teaspoon filling into middle of dough, bring 2 sides together and pinch the dough to glue the sides together until approx. 12 pinches cover the half round. Dust with flour and refrigerate until ready to cook. Boil dumplings until they float. Serve immediately. For postickers [fried dumplings], place in non stick pan after boiling with thin layer of oil, then place 2 tablespoons of water and 10ml of vinegar into pan. Place lid on pan and wait until the bottoms of the dumplings are brown and crispy. Serve with soy and Chinese vinegar dipping sauce. }

inspired by the winds...

No. 41 St. 308, Phnom Penh 097 850 8383 - mamawongs.com

EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTED BY

Phnom Penh (855) 23 986 350

Siem Reap Sihanouk, Kep & Kampot Battambang (855) 34 934 155 (855) 63 964 409 (855) 53 953 855

maka

STREET

is a fashion design student from phnom penh

STYLE

I love fashion an d styling, and I wa nt to make everyo ne look good in wh at I designed for th em!

î&#x20AC;&#x2020; Meas Srey Nich

pich is a business manager from phnom penh I love swimming. It helps me relax.

heng kaun is a student from phnom penh I like shopping at the Olympic Market and the places behind the Royal Palace

srey lark

linde

is a student from Phnom Penh

is from holland and is on a gap year

I like going to see movies. I just saw Make Me Shudder 2, and loved it!

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve only been in Cambodia two da ys but I already love it. The people are awesome.

highlight & gloss

Mask-uerading Around

 anna mischke

would love it if all of my masks peeled off like Patrick Bateman’s herb mint facial routine in his iconic monologue at the beginning of American Psycho, but after dozens of attempts at the gel variety all I got was a messy, stringy disappointed moment in front of the mirror. I had given up on at home masks without quite a bit of leftover mess for ages... While I truly do appreciate the benefits of a quality professional facial treatment with lactic acid, microbeads, lasers and all - there

are days when sometimes just there’s just not enough time to visit my favorite spa for a toning mask or exfoliating facial. Or it’s just one of those weekends I’d rather spend my cash on a bottle of champagne. The new trend of sheet masks have been popular in Korea for years keeping skin looking poreless and feeling moisturized and smooth, but has recently caught on worldwide. Celebrities like Rita Ora and Demi Moore have been posting Instagram selfies with these Jason-like slasher masks and they’re flying off the shelves at jaw dropping prices. Luckily for us in Phnom Penh, they’re a pharmacy and drugstore staple. The varieties are endless, but I’ve found Purita brand to be my favorite. Made of cotton or similar fiber, sheet masks are cut to fit and contour the face with holes for the mouth, nostrils, and eyes. Prepackaged and travel-friendly, they’re ideal for those on the go with a need for some post-flight brightness and restoration. Recently I tried the Aqua Propolis Essence, propolis a product that bees produce that maintain

 jack malipan

the hive with antibacterial properties with antioxidants, emollients, and antimicrobial elements. It left my skin feeling plump, moisturized, and fresh all while watching an episode of Mad Men and sipping water from a straw. Purita also carries different masks for all types of skin ailments and needs: Avocado, COQ10, Pearl, Aloe, and Cucumber to name a few. The papery cloth masks are drenched in aqua “essences” that soak into the skin, with each type targeting specific problems. Avocado contains tons of antioxidants and the COQ10 aids in anti-aging. If I’m in a lot of air conditioning, sometimes I’ll use the nutrient rich masks once or twice a week - but depending on your skin type could be a once a week or month treat, and considering they’re usually less than a dollar it’s not a luxury you have to pay up for. Simply wash your face beforehand with your regular cleanser, wiggle the mask around in the package to evenly mix the concentrate on the max, then slap that weird looking thing on your face for fifteen to twenty minutes: your skin then soaks up the nutrients, rather than drying out or evaporating into thin air as the sheet traps the formula on the skin allowing it to seep into your skin. The ease of cleanup is another plus, meaning that there isn’t any other than tossing the used sheet into the trash. You’re not left with muddy towels, sticky hands, or flaky peeling and some masks don’t even require washing off! Some even recommend leaving them on overnight for optimal moisturization.

You’ll see instant results without the need for extra tools, after use clean up, or having to shell out more than a few dollars for one of these magical masks. Next time you see one of those strange packets with the creepy looking face accompanied with an image of a glittering diamond. }

HEALTH

HEALTHY living tr

this

street snack assessed

Duck Foetus Looking like an innocent boiled egg from the outside, duck foetuses (pong tia koon in Khmer, known internationally as Balut) can be found steaming gently on street stands across the Kingdom. Fertilized duck eggs normally incubate for 28 days, but Balut eggs have incubated for a total of 18 days, meaning the duckling is still squishy, tender and half-formed. Crack it open to scoop out the half-egg half-duck hybrid inside, removing (or eating) the veins, bones and baby feathers as desired. Best consumed at night, when you can’t really see what you’re eating. It’s kind of gross, but is it healthy?

Auriculotherapy

f you’re curious about acupuncture but not keen on needles, Navutu Dreams Resort’s Auriotherapy sessions may just be for you. The ancient technique stimulates pressure points in the ears in order to regulate the body’s internal organs and can help treat addictions, mood disorders, stress and allergies, as well as other conditions. Navutu’s resident expert, Francois Chaillou, trained for 10 years with a Thai doctor after completing his diploma in France. “The ear is a map of the whole body. I press on certain points and then listen to the pulse rate to identify what needs to be worked on”, he says. “I rebalance the 12 energy channels by working with the body’s chi energy”. For longer stimulation of the pressure points, tiny beads made from Vaccaria seeds can be taped on the ears – Penelope Cruz is a noted celebrity auriculotherapy fan, and has been spotted sporting the tiny tapes. Navutu Dreams Resort & Spa, Siem Reap – navutudreams.com

The breakdown: Calories: 188 per egg Duck foetus is indeed a nutritious snack, high in protein and calcium. A serving includes 14 grams each of protein and fat, 2 milligrams of iron and 116 milligrams of calcium. It’s also surprisingly tasty.

The verdict: We declare this officially healthy. It gets extra points for adding a new dimension to the classic ‘what came first; the chicken or the egg?’ question.

try this

Candle Massage

aya Spa in Siem Reap are taking hot oil massages to the next level with their Amazing Candle Massage. Unique to Cambodia, the candles are handmade by Senteurs d’Angkor in the Siem Reap Workshop. The 100% natural Massage Candles are burnt during the spa session, releasing warm pure essential oils. These oils are then applied all over the body, using stretching, long stroke, palm and thumb pressure techniques for a sensual pampering session. The oil of the candle leaves the skin soft and supple while the heat helps to improve blood circulation and ease stress. It doesn’t get much more relaxing than this. Kaya Cafe and Spa, Siem Reap - kaya-angkor.com

geek

eginning on June 12th and spanning 31 days, teams replete with their nation’s finest talents will be pitted against one another in a series of 64 games, all in the hope of contesting the final of an event watched by billions around the globe. Although the Cambodian National team failed to progress from the preliminary qualification stages, Asia will however be well represented by four of its strongest sides, and like previous World Cup Finals, can hopefully give the continent much to celebrate in the coming tournament.

world cup

fever b Ismail Vorajee Brace yourselves! The greatest sporting spectacle in the history of the world is looming. As I write this, 123,724,800 seconds or 2,062,080 minutes or 34,368 hours or 1432 days or 204 weeks have elapsed since the FIFA World Cup Final of 2010 (not that I’ve been counting). Thirty-two nations are set to converge on one location to battle for the right to be crowned footy champions of the world.

Japan, or the ‘Samurai Blue’ as they are affectionately named, are widely regarded as being able to boast the continents most gifted players and will be placing their faith in international stars like Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa, both of whom ply their trade for two of Europe’s top clubs. Meanwhile, South Korea will still have shades of their memorable, yet controversial, run of 2002 to call on if their performances show signs of flagging. They will also be hopeful that their enigmatic Striker Park Chu-Young will be able to show some signs of the talent which brought him a much lauded move to Arsenal FC. Whilst the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa was a resounding success, the 2014 tournament is set to take place in the South American nation of Brazil, a place which many would regard as the sports’ spiritual home. Unfortunately for those outside of the Americas, this will result in problematic schedules, particularly for us poor souls in Asia where, due to the time difference, most games will be kicking off in the depths of the night. Those most dedicated of fans may be forced to ditch the beers for shots of very strong coffee if they are to have any hope of catching the 3:00am starts. For those not used to late nights and early mornings, fear not, as there are a host of apps available on both Apple and Google Stores promising to keep you in the loop with all things World Cup related. FIFA has you covered with its very own

official World Cup app allowing you to catch up on highlights and ensure you don’t miss out on those crucial breaking news stories throughout the tournament. Renowned American Sports giant ESPN have also released an app which will provide a running commentary on all the happenings in Brazil with the aid of the networks acclaimed football writers and pundits – search ESPN FC Soccer & World Cup to find it. Fotmob is a personal favourite of mine, an app which can notify you of kick-off, goal and full-time score alerts, as they happen, all on the comfort of your handset or tablet. With footballing luminaries like Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s newly recruited Diego Costa eager to make a dent on the world stage, it promises to be an unforgettable event, one which may well be worth the late nights and resulting lack of sleep.

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T OF PLAYLISN TH O M THE

DJ Taminic 1// Armin van Buuren feat. Trevor Guthrie This Is What It Feels Like (Original Mix)

4// Armin van Buuren feat. Fiora - Waiting For the Night (Original Mix)

“It’s the first official single of the album that the dance world has been waiting for: ‘Intense’, the fifth album of the world’s number one DJ, Armin van Buuren. It’s a feelgood song that opens the album.”

“One of my favourite tunes to get the party started.”

2// ATB with Dash Berlin - Apollo Road (Original Mix) “What do you get when two of the world’s biggest trance DJ’s team up? A magical moment in trance history and a huge, mesmerizing anthem that is taking the global dance floors by storm. ‘Apollo Road’ combines the best of both DJ worlds into a future classic of epic proportions.”

is from Vietnam, and came to Cambodia a year ago to expand his style. He is resident DJ at Riverhouse Cambodia, where he plays every night. He wishes one day to spin trance music at a festival.

5// W&W - Bigfoot (Original Mix) “W&W is one of the most exciting acts in dance music today.”

6// Armin van Buuren feat. Ana Criado - I’ll Listen (Original Mix) “When the world needs a new anthem to adore, it’s exactly what Armin van Buuren provides. ‘I’ll Listen’ lights the listener’s soul with warm melody, deep and proggy bass and spellbinding vocals by one of EDM’s favourite singers.”

3// Hardwell ft. Mitch Crown - Call Me A Spaceman (Original Mix)

7// Hardwell & Dyro feat. Bright Lights - Never Say Goodbye (Original Mix)

“Mitch has provided the vocals for this track now going by the name ‘Call Me a Spaceman’. The music video is a combination of 3D animation with the high energized live footage editing that Hardwell’s videos are famous for. This music video also has some stunning sound effects added for that special space ride experience.“

“This powerful anthem matches Bright Lights’ unique vocals with the essential energy that both artists have exemplified across the global club scene. “

cocktail of the month

Sultry Night

As Cambodia’s thirst for cocktails grows, bars are popping up everywhere selling everything from buckets of e-numbers to crisply mouth-watering elixirs. WUPP lends a hand to help you serve up a slice of the latter, for a fun cocktail-slurping night that tastes great, but doesn’t break the bank.

sultry night

by tama hotel's D22 bar ingredients: COCONUT PANNA COTTA Coconut panna cotta ● 500ml cream ● 250ml milk ● 100g sugar ● 2cm of vanilla ● 50ml Malibu ● 5g gelatin seat MOJITO SHAKE 2oz rum ● 2oz passion fruit syrup

●

1 mint ● 1 lime ● 7 ice cubes

method: 1. Pour cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan and set over a high heat. Once it starts boiling, stop the heat and quickly add the gelatin seat. After it cools down, add the Malibu and stir. 2. Pour 100ml of the liquid into a glass and then leave it in a chiller for 3 hours. 3. Put rum, passion fruit syrup, mint, and lime into a cocktail shaker and mash them. 4. Strain the ingredients and mix it with the ice cubes in a blender. 5. Pour it on the coconut panna cotta. 6. Add some fresh passion fruit, mint and a slice of lime at the end.

 the d22/h22 Tama Hotel, 22nd floor. Phnom Penh Tower. No.445, Monivong Bld, Phnom Penh

` Facebook.com/tama cambodia.kh

악 음 IK Z U

ουσική μ ី � к а ы ត � з му

MUSIC

«FAîTES DE LA MUSIQUE»

World Music

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Day

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#159, street 154,

musica

near central market, Phnom Penh facebook.com/cabaretrestaurant

092 650 980

21st June 2014

reviews

music >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  i never learn [lykke li]

The third album from the Swedish chanteuse, I Never Learn was inspired by Lykke Li’s worst breakup of her life. But even if you find her mopey ultra-sensitive persona slightly grating, it’s hard not to be seduced by the expansive, dark echoing spaces in her songs. The girlishness of her debut Youth Novels has matured and deepened: her voice is still high and soft, but articulated at full power against booming drums and souring synths it’s no longer cutesy in the slightest. Like the black and white album cover which shows Li in a witchy black vale, the theme is monochrome; but the rich, shimmering textures in the music means it’s always far from boring.

new releases

art >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

mo hun tak ray / disaster  (by Chea Sereyrath) In the light airy space of Romeet gallery, rusty blood coloured paint overlays scenes of muddy destruction. Buses lay half submerged in the apocalyptic tide of sludge, while two cow corpses lie rotting on the earth, the smaller seemingly evaporating amongst the scorching hues. One picture, simply showing black stalks sticking out of layers of brown tones, simultaneously recalls a razed and burnt forest and a close up of human flesh, suggesting a close kinship between the disease of the body and of the earth.

Kuwaiti musician Fatima Al Quadiri isn’t into music for the sake of it. Each of her albums is a mini-thesis: her first, Genre-Specific Xperiance, drew parallels between jails and spas, melding gangsta beats with bland relaxing Jacuzzi muzak. Asiatisch, her third offering, focuses on an ‘imagined China’, as seen from the West via Disney and Kung Fu movies, and ads for sweet and sour sauces. Opener Shanzhai features a Chinese cover version of Nothing Compares 2 U, creating a kind of cross-cultural Lynch-y spookiness, as disorientating as jet lag. An exercise in warped Chinese rhythms and chilly post-dubstep, the rest of the album doesn’t have quite enough hooks to completely draw the album out of art school smartypantness and into proper listenability, but it’s an interesting, if flawed, experiment.

The relentlessness of the sludgy earthtones and the swirling hurricane of paint strokes convey a sense of arid suffocation. Disaster is direct and emotional appeal to Cambodia to look at the impact of bad environmental planning and climate change, but in doing so creates a dystopian world of its very own.

 where ? Exhibition open until 15th June at Romeet Gallery, ( Street 178, Phnom Pen, Cambodia )

Chea Sereyroth is based in Battambang, and graduated from Phare Ponleu Selpak arts centre in 2010. He currently teaches illustration, visual arts and graphics. We spoke to him about his latest work. What’s your exhibition about? I’m talking about the environment and climate change. I went overseas and saw the other beautiful clean environments. Back in Cambodia there’s rubbish everywhere and bad waste management. Also, the radio news is always about climate change and earthquakes and storms.

Tell me about your process of making paintings. Each work is based on one disaster from real life, so before I start, I research the history and events to make sure it’s based on truth. If I don’t know the facts clearly, the work isn’t clear either. Then I make a small mock up to check that it will work, before starting the big work. I paint with my hands so there’s a connection between me and my artwork without any mediation. It’s more comfortable for me. Do you take on this sickness and disaster when you paint it? Yes, I feel connected. I get sad about everything, but I don’t want people to feel sad when they look at my work. I want to inspire them to think and find a solution.

 sheezus[lily allen]

 asiatisch [fatima al quadiri]

Lily Allen was never the queen of sensitivity and nuance, butsadly, Sheezus is totally missing the counterbalance of sparkling wit of her Alright, Still days. Gone are snappy observational rhymes, and instead fans are treated to everything from the un-thought out to the completely bizarre (see Sheezus’ line, delivered with a dead-eyed seriousness: “periods/ we all get periods/ that’s the theory, yeah”). She veers between complaining about the tabloid’s bitchy comments about women and making her own bitchy comments, laughing at Lady Gaga and telling ‘the ladies’ to keep their hands off her perfect husband. “I don’t need to shake my arse for you/ cos I got a brain” she sings on Hard Out Here (infamously in the video, the line is sung in front of scantily clad backup dancers, shaking their arses). Sheezus tries to convey a message of female strength, but accidently perpetuates the insecurity and confusion that the mainstream media feeds to women – sadly, Allen’s brain is nowhere to be seen.

hypemaker events cinema

Adventures of Tobisuke

MEMORY!

Japanese black and white comedy following a puppeteers journey through a valley of death, filled with magically dangerous creatures. Chaktomuk • 01/06 • 6PM

Confidentially YourS French film legend François Truffaut’s 1983 tribute to film noir, stylishly balancing comedy and mystery. Chaktomuk • 03/06 • 6PM

Our favourite film festival returns for its second year – and this time it’s in it for the laughs...  eve watling  bobhana centre/ jessica bordeau

ast year, Memory! International Film Heritage Festival saw cinema screens across Phnom Penh ignite with fingersnapping, hip-swinging, nimble-footed performers for its dance-themed debut in Cambodia. This year, it returns with the equally raucous theme of laughter, and has upped the ante with some very special guests, events and workshops. Focused on preserving the remains of Cambodia’s lost cinema heritage, which flourished in the 1960s until the Khmer Rouge regime, the festival emphasises older, underappreciated gems from both here and abroad. During the festival, the Institut Français will be holding conferences on everything from film restoration to the protection of the rights of films, to raise awareness on the vulnerability of old cinemas across the globe. The next generation is encouraged to discover the timelessness of old cinemas through laughter, with special child-friendly screenings of classic comedy films every morning at 9am. Last year, hundreds of kids were introduced with great success to slapstick stars Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, who will return again to our screens, proving

that true comedy never ages. The Circus, a Chaplin classic, kicked off the festival on the 31st May.

Donkey Skin A fairytale comedy in which Memory! guest of honour Catherine Deneuve attempts to escape an incestuous marriage with her father by donning the skin of a donkey. Deneuve will provide an introduction at the screening. Chaktomuk • 04/06 • 11AM

Local and international stars are getting involved. Iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve will be in attendance, providing an introduction for a selection of her own films, as well as the Billy Wilder classic Some Like It Hot. The leading light of Cambodian classical music, Him Sophy, has curated a workshop with nine young Cambodian musicians, who will be performing a live accompaniment to the 1924 Russian movie The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr West in the Land of the Bolsheviks; the program also includes a live score from Chinese pianist Christine Zhou. Most incredibly, everything in this festival from the dozens of screenings to the cineconcerts and conferences are entirely free of charge. We have a lot of love for Memory!, and can’t wait to giggle, snort and guffaw at Cambodia’s leading cinematic celebration. } Memory! Film Festival takes place from 31st May to 8th June across Phnom Penh. Visit memoryfilmfestival.org for more information and the full schedule.

PlayTime A daringly experimental 60s French film follows a group of American tourists as they try to navigate the Paris of the future. Chaktomuk • 04/06 • 8PM

OUR PICKS What we’re excited to see this Memory! festival

Khmers after Angkor A classic from the Cambodian Golden Age of cinema, the film follows the romantic mishaps of two childhood friends. Presented by the director, Li Bun Yim. Chaktomuk • 08/06 • 2PM

Battambang-based artist Nicolas C. Grey has teamed up with frequent collaborator James Farley to tell the stories of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most (in)famous gurus.

JUNE AGENDA 2

Sultry, Soulful,Sublime. Michelle Flemming, former finalist on TV show ‘The Voice of Holland’, visits Doors Music & Tapas for a special acoustic set.

Bingo’s Still Bangin’ @ Showbox, 6pm

1st of Penh’s Quarterly feast of lyrical self expression. Feat: Bong G, Kosal Khiev, Kaztet Dee, Myley Rattle plus more.

Funk Elastik & Shaman

@Pontoon Pulse, 11pm - 5am

Secrets on a Saturday @ SoulTea’se Cafe, 6pm

Dance World Cambodia presents JUST DANCE @

@ Showbox,

@Pontoon Club, 11pm-5am

The collection of secrets are revealed to a live music performance. Cheap booze available.

Flemming

Club

7.30pm

DJ Rob Bianche & DJ Gang

Doors, 8.30pm

Comedy

Un-Box Your Poetry

Adobo Conspiracy

An educational dance performance & workshop that raises awareness of child sexual abuse in Cambodia. Performed by Epic Encounters, an inclusive contemporary dance company from Epic Arts in Kampot. Entry $3 / Dinner deal $5.

Cambodia

@Equinox

@DAO of LIFE, Sihanoukville, 6pm

Michelle

Comedy Night

Touch dance performance

@ International Institute of the Arts in Phnom Penh, 6pm

Classical Concert Series 6 Meta

House,

21- 22

8pm

Cicilia Yudha, a prominent, world-touring concert pianist, returns to Meta House after her hugely impressive debut in Cambodia 2 years ago. Renown for her extraordinary technical ability, Cicilia possess the rare combination of technical prowess and musical intelligence. This is an opportunity to hear an A-list concert pianist in Phnom Penh.

Eurocham Career Forum @ Koh Pich

An event linking up businesses and young people at the start of their careers. Companies present their services and run workshops for young people to attract young talent to their business. Prizes to be won.

The end of term concert.

Roxane, Robin, Sonny, & Joshua @ Equinox 4 fantastic singer-songwiters perform.

Mi Casa

Drink and Draw life drawing

@SoulTea’se Cafe, 6.30pm

@ Nomads, Phnom Penh 10pm – 5am DJ Jack Malipan plays an all night set.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Drink and Draw life drawing

010 879 950 ( English & French ) 023 963 141 ( Khmer ) @SoulTea’se Cafe, 6.30pm business.forums@eurocham-cambodia.org www.eurocham-cambodia.org THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS AND PARTNERS Successful People Read The Post

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Happy!

50% off cocktails from 4PM to 9 PM @ Raffles le Royal, Phnom Penh

Dear Anonymous,

Buy one get one free on local beers and cocktails from 5PM to 7PM @ Sailing Club, Kep FREE BEER from 6:30 to 7PM @ Showbox

Got a funny What’s Up story, a question, a problem, or a dire emergency that for some reason can wait until the next issue comes out? Email eve@wuppmag.com and we’ll sort you right out!

My husband sometimes talks dirty to me when we have sex. Really dirty. I feel kind of gross and violated afterwards, but I feel too awkward to tell him to stop. What should I do? Anonymous, Phnom Penh

Buy one get one free cocktail from 6PM to 7:30PM @ Mezze Bar, Siem Reap

Fire station 666 or 118 Ambulance 119 (from 023 phones) Police Hotline 117 (from 023 phones) ChildSafe Hotline 012 311 112

Dear What’s Up,

Happy Hours in Cambodia Buy one get one free (cocktails + non alcoholic drinks) including tapas from 5PM to 7PM @ Palate Angkor, Siem Reap

phnom penh

It’s a well-known platitude that good communication leads to good sex; yet your husband seems to be communicating a little bit too clearly what is on his mind. Perhaps its time to gently verbalise how you feel about his foul mouthed bedroom habits? If you feel too awkward, it’s time to asses why: perhaps you lack the intimacy that is requisite for a really strong, long lasting marriage, and this is a sign that you should try to build this into your relationship. If you really can’t face this, perhaps you could up the ante and introduce gags into the bedroom... Love, What’s Up

wuppmag .com

You can call the hotline 24 hours / 7 days a week if you see a child in a risk situation. Whenever possible they ask the caller to stay near the child until the team arrives to take appropriate action to protect the child.

Transparancy International Corruption Reportage Hotline 1292 (MOBITEL, METFONE,BEELINE, QB) 7777 (SMART and HELLO)

SIEM REAP

Tourist Police 012 402 424 Ambulance 063 761 119 Fire Station 012 784 464

Sihanoukville

Livfeer! Sa

Police 097 778 0008 Ambulance 081 886 666 Fire Station 016 606 342

Battambang

Tourist Police 092 999 995 Fire Station 053 953 222

kampot

Tourist Police 097 778 0010

Ambulance 033 932 289

kep

Tourist Police 012 414 118

 daniel Hoshizaki

S O S ge]

s Up ’ t a h W e Advic

next month in What’s up

ast month, we interviewed Cambodian pop superstar Meas Soksophea, who told us about her goal of planting 20,000 trees in order to replenish the receding forests of Cambodia. We travelled to Phnom Aural in the Cardamom Mountains, to meet the monk growing the trees from seedlings for Soksophea to plant in the surrounding forests, which are under threat from loggers. To get to Areng Village’s Mettadhamma jat pagoda, visitors have to wind thought the ancient dappled forests which surround it. As we approach banners start appearing, showing Meas Soksophea smiling beatifically at a seedling cupped in her palms hang from trees. The banners show support for the pagoda, a stronghold against illegal loggers and large agricultural companies who are rapidly encroaching onto community land. Amongst the green beans and cucumbers of the pagoda gardens, Abbot Dhamma jad is also tending tree seedlings in small plastic wrappers. They’ve been donated by Soksophea, who plans to come up and help plant them when they reach knee-height. “We want to plant 500 hectors worth of trees around the community land to protect it”, Abbot Dhamma jad says. “This is our land. People shouldn’t be allowed to take it from us”.

Read the full story of Aural Village’s fight to save its forest from land encroachment in the next issue of What’s Up. Sustainable hikes and tours of the area can be arranged through jonasdeschrijver@gmail.com

PAN - PLATE - PALATE

Enjoy an enticing variety of themed buffet’s including live cooking stations, appetizers, salads and desserts showcasing flavors from around the globe. ~ Mondays and Tuesdays – Flavours of Indochina ~ Wednesdays and Thursdays – Masakan Indonesia ~ Fridays – Art Dinner ~ Saturdays and Sundays – Mongolian Recipes (Pork free buffet) CAFÉ MONIVONG WEEKLY - FROM 6.00PM TO 10.00PM - USD 30 PER PERSON Price is subject to service charge and applicable government taxes For reservations, please call 023 981 888 or email, dining.leroyal@raffles.com Visit our website: www.raffles.com/phnompenh