Jetsetter Magazine- Spring 2020

CALL OF THE WILD:

ON SAFARI IN BOTSWANA AND ZIMBABWE

MOROCCAN MYSTIQUE:

FINDING PEACE IN THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS

TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS INSPIRATIONAL JOURNEY IDEAS

SAN FRAN CITY GUIDE

BELMOND NAPASAI

LUXURY YACHT ROUNDUP

constancehotels.com MAURITIUS

• SEYCHELLES • MALDIVES • MADAGASCAR

(Puer)

(Dahongpao)

2/F, The Tea House, Building No.6, Fortune Plaza, 7 DongSanHuan Middle Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, P.R.China

北京市朝阳区东三环中路七号院六号楼二层，茗滙天下

年的光辉

PREMIERE CHOICE OVER YEARS

Building No.6, Fortune Plaza, 7 DongSanHuan Middle Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, P.R.China Tel: +86-10-8588-2888 Fax: +86-10-8588-2889 Email: leasing@millenniumresidencesbeijing.com www.millenniumhotels.com

EDITOR'S NOTE

T

hese are strange times for the travel industry, as much of the world has come to a standstill for the moment with a host of restrictions on flights and travelling due to the spread of the coronavirus. My trips to Geneva and Galway were understandably cancelled in March, and I’m sure many readers experienced the same cancellations and delays to their journeys.

With many airlines grounding virtually all of their flights and anything but essential travel on hold, we wondered what to put on our cover. With so much uncertainty in the air, we decided to encourage readers to do some forward planning instead, and nail down every last detail of that dream future trip. See our cover story Ten Future Travel Plans (p46) to get some ideas, whether that’s safari-ing in Sri Lanka or boosting your immune system at one of Aman’s beautifully blissed-out hotels.

Before the travel bans came into place, writer Lisa Kjellsson made a magical trip to Morocco’s Atlas Mountains (p72) while Nick Walton visited Zimbabwe (p36) and Koh Samui, checking into Belmond Napasai for our hotel review (p60).

Elsewhere, Robyn Tucker-Peck rounds up the best options for luxury yachting, whether you’re in the market to charter or purchase. Find out more on p80.

It may be tough to see your suitcase gathering dust as we all wonder when we’ll next be headed to a different destination. But we can but stay patient and positive. As Jenny Lo, managing director of branding agency Catchon asserts in her Insider profile (p72), “One thing I can say for sure is that the reluctance to travel is only temporary.”

Denis Fahy

denis@jetsetter-magazine.com Publisher

Helen Dalley

helen.dalley@jetsetter-magazine.com Managing Editor

Nick Walton

Contributing Editor

Jean Sicard

jean.sicard@jetsetter-magazine.com Reporter

Don Pierre Riosa

don@jetsetter-magazine.com Art Director

Paul Lo

paul.lo@jetsetter-magazine.com General Manager (Shanghai)

Tammy Fong

tammy@jetsetter-magazine.com Travel Industry Relationship Director

Fatima Cameira

fatima@jetsetter-magazine.com Marketing Director

Laurence James

laurence.james@jetsetter-magazine.com Chief Representative Europe

Darryl Scott

d.scott@jetsetter-magazine.com Advertising Director

Take care and stay safe

JETSETTER is registered as a newspaper & periodical.

Helen Dalley Managing Editor

JETSETTER is published by Jetsetter Ltd JETSETTER is printed by Jetsetter Ltd Suite A:14/F Bangkok Bank Building, 28 Des Voeux Rd, Central, Hong Kong

Robyn-Tucker Peck brings more than 30 years’ magazine experience working in London, Chicago, Hong Kong and Vancouver for magazines including Cosmopolitan, Tatler and Homes and Gardens.

Her experience in the luxury industry worldwide has given her an expansive story telling capability, working with companies in the aviation, yachts and fashion industry. Read Robyn’s luxury yachting round-up on p80.

Lisa Kjellsson

writes about travel and wellness with a focus on indigenous cultures for publications including

The Sunday Times, Robb Report and Condé Nast Traveller. Her adventures

take her to some of the world’s most remote places, from the Arctic Circle to the Empty Quarter desert.

For this issue she explored Morocco’s Atlas Mountains: turn to pages 72 to read about the region’s inspiring wilderness and traditional Berber culture, and follow Lisa on Instagram @ thelkedit for more travel inspiration.

Level 20 HKRI Centre Tower 2 288 Shimen 1st Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, China 200041 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-5706 Valley Cottage, NY 10989 USA Tel +852 28557885

jetsetter.hk

Jetsetter Magazine

Jetsetter.hk

All rights Reserved: Copyright and distribution rights are reserved exclusively for Jetsetter Ltd, their partners, associates and affiliates. All materials published remain the property of the publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission. All information contained in this publication is from a reliable source. Jetsetter Ltd does not make any guarantees to the accuracy of the information contained.

MOVEBEYOND FIRST CLASS

World-class service and an unwavering attention to detail ensure Cathay Pacific’s enhanced first class experience soars above and beyond

T

hanks to a holistic approach and focus on wellness, Cathay Pacific’s new first class experience ushers in a new era for air travel that’s designed to delight even the most discerning of travellers. The minute you step onboard, a rarefied journey begins, with a welcoming ambience created by soft lighting, fragrant scents and soothing music. Passengers can immediately make themselves comfortable by reclining into their seat and leaning back against a 600-thread count cotton pillowcase. Taking its cues from the leading hotels of the world, a welcome reception

tray with jasmine silver needle tea – or vintage champagne if you prefer – plus hot towel and personalised welcome note set the scene for a remarkable journey.

Should passengers need to freshen once they have settled into their seat, a gender-specific amenity kit by Bamford, a luxury amenities brand from the UK, is supplied, containing toothpaste, mouthwash and grooming products as well as earplugs for passengers keen to take a nap.

Dining is an integral part of the first-class inflight

experience, and brand-new recipes focus on wholesome and comforting dishes, with wellness menus made up of recommendations of lighter options from the main meal and breakfast menus. Contemporary service ware –porcelain noodle bowls and plates from Noritake, cutlery from Robert Welch and glasses from Riedel – all serve to enhance this exceptional dining experience, where menu options include everything from energising smoothie bowls topped with nuts and berries to Cantonese classics.

Once passengers have savoured the onboard dining offerings, they can turn their attentions to catching up on emails from the office, or simply kick back and relax. To ensure first class customers can stay connected for business and leisure while in the air, all those travelling on Boeing 777’s and Airbus A330’s can log on for free courtesy of Gogo Wi-Fi. When it’s time to drift away, passengers can enjoy the upgraded onboard sleep experience, with a new range of bedding, plush pillows and a turn-down service featuring JING wellness teas and Bamford’s award-winning Botanical Pillow Mist. Passengers’ sleep needs are taken care of by Hong Kong label PYE, with an organic cotton premium knit

sleep suit supplied alongside slippers and an eye mask so they can slumber in luxurious comfort.

To ensure passengers can get the best possible rest, cabin crew establish wake-up preferences before they retire. Once they stir, they are presented with a hot towel and wake-up beverage of their choice, and can order eggs cooked to their liking to set them up for the day.

As the flight draws to an end, the crew deliver a heartfelt thankyou to all passengers before advising them of their connecting gate, lounge location or even offering a personal tip on a favourite restaurant in the new destination so passengers can continue their journey with confidence.

Embracing a thoughtful, progressive and can-do attitude, travelling first-class with Cathay Pacific is everything you’d expect from one of the world’s most celebrated airlines. Why not step onboard and savour this extraordinary inflight experience for yourself? cathaypacific.com

CONTENTS SPRING 2020

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46

70

72

34

66

78, 90, 92

San Francisco

Bright Hopes for the Travel Industry

A trio of flight services reviewed

CITY GUIDE

Discover the best cycle routes, markets and chilled-out accommodation options in San Fran

36

FEATURE

An Inimitable Safari

Nick Walton is on safari again… follow his journey around four distinct camps in Botswana and Zimbabwe

INSIDER

Jenny Lo, branding expert at Catchon, says there are many reasons to be positive in these uncertain times

70

INSIDER

A Sustainable Future

Architect Bill Bensley discusses his white paper, Sensible Sustainable Solutions

46

72

Ten Future Travel Plans

Moroccan Mystique

FEATURE

Get inspired and indulge in some forward planning with these ten ideas, including epic walks around Australia and underwater villas in the Maldives

FEATURE

Lisa Kjellsson explore the unique neighbourhoods and luxe accommodation surrounding the Atlas Mountains

TURNING LEFT

Reviews of Etihad (p79) Vietnam Airlines (p90) and Air Astana (p92) flights

96

IN THE KITCHEN

A Singular Approach

Chef Ricardo Chaneton talks about opening his first restaurant, Mono, in Hong Kong

102

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Waterside Dining

Nick Walton samples the modern Australian cuisine on offer at Hong Kong's Hue

CALL OF THE WILD:

ON SAFARI IN BOTSWANA AND ZIMBABWE

60

80

A Slice of Thai Paradise

Plain Sailing

HOTEL REVIEW

Nick Walton kicks back at Belmond Napasai in beautiful Koh Samui

MOROCCAN MYSTIQUE:

FINDING PEACE IN THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS

FEATURE

Find the right luxury yacht for you with Robyn Tucker-Peck’s decisive round-up

INSPIRATIONAL JOURNEY IDEAS SAN FRAN CITY GUIDE

BELMOND NAPASAI

LUXURY YACHT ROUNDUP

Photo of Pullman Maldives Maamutaa courtesy of Accor

ROOM WITH A VIEW

A NIGHT WITH THESTARS Go glamping, LA style, at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire’s Verandah Suite

I

n a city where glitzy suites are de rigueur, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd, which is perhaps why the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire offers a luxe glamping experience from what’s possibly the most impressive private terrace in all of Beverly Hills.

Passing through a hidden entrance, you’ll ascend the wrought-iron and marble stairway to reach this exclusive indoor-outdoor space that occupies an entire floor high above Rodeo Drive. Measuring in at 199 sqm, the Verandah Suite’s outdoor terrace delivers the ultimate camping trip with its plush heated 10-foot tall tent decked out with a queen-size bed, crystal chandelier, marble lamps, fur rugs and antique nightstands.

Make sure you’re on the terrace for 5pm to witness the city’s golden hour, where the light shifts and sneaks behind the skyline as the fire pit and bistro lights cast shadows.

If the weather turns cool, staff can turn on heat lamps as you soak up the views of the Hollywood Hills in the distance. A party for a few select friends on this terrace is guaranteed to give you bragging rights – but it might just help you win over that new beau, too. fourseasons.com

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ROOM WITH A VIEW

Live it up in LA at the Verandah Suite, Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire

JETSETTER-MAGAZINE.COM

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INTRODUCING

Luxe boutique hotel the Celino South Beach was converted from three art deco buildings

SOUTH BEACH SANCTUARY

The Celino South Beach brings a dash of art deco cool to Palm Springs

M

iami has welcomed a new luxury boutique hotel in the heart of the city’s Ocean Drive, The Celino South Beach. Comprising three art deco buildings, including the landmark Park Central Hotel, the hotel features eclectic custom-made furniture and a rooftop pool with a peekaboo glass bottom visible from the atrium below.

A member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group, this hip bolthole has 132 art deco-inspired guestrooms, with suites featuring floor to ceiling ocean views, and

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balconies where you can gaze out over Miami Beach. After a splash in the pool, pull up a chair at Dalia for Mediterranean fare (there’s an adjoining bar when cocktail time approaches) or head over to Mia Cucina Italiana for authentic Italian cuisine.

A favourite of silver screen stars like Humphrey Bogart and Rita Hayworth, the Park Central Hotel was allegedly the birthplace of the conga line. The hotel pays tribute to this cool piece of history with conga line kits containing how-to guides – alongside drums and cigars – in rooms. thecelinohotel.com

INTRODUCING

SPANISH

ROMANCE Stay in rustic Spanish style at converted 15th century farmhouse Torre Del Marques

S

ituated in the southwestern Spain bordering Catalonia and Valencia, Matarraña is reminiscent of Tuscany’s countryside with its sun-baked hill towns, olive groves and terraced vineyards. Unlike its Italian counterpart, this remote corner of Aragon is blissfully tucked away from the tourist crowds and remains one of Spain’s undiscovered regions. Want to stay in rustic style? Then book into Torre Del Marques, a 18th-century farmhouse turned exclusive boutique hideaway that will debut this June.

Decked out in soothing taupes and greys, the 18-room hotel features rooms with outdoor terraces overlooking the surrounding olive groves and vineyards. With floorto-ceiling windows overlooking the green slopes of the valley, the light-filled restaurant takes a sustainable approach to dining, serving only food that is produced in the immediate local area including olive oil, black truffles and honey as well as food from its own orchard.

Looking for some R&R? Lounge by the heated outdoor pool or hit the sauna and jacuzzi. Get a flavour of the local culture by signing up for activities in the region include olive oil tasting, truffle hunting and horse riding. torredelmarques.com

Go off the beaten track in Matarraña, southwestern Spain, with a stay at Torre Del Marques

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INTRODUCING

Check into the new overwater villas at Atmosphere Kanifushi

ATOLL AMBIENCE Atmosphere Kanifushi debuts new overwater villas

W

ith a white sand beach that stretches almost 2km, Atmosphere Kanifushi is beachfront bliss at its best. Situated on the Lhaviyani atoll just 30 minutes by sea plane from Male International airport, the resort recently debuted 40 new overwater villas, 28 of which have their own private pool.

Kanifushi was one of the first premium all-inclusive resorts in the Maldives, and once guests have finished exploring the vast lagoon, they can don their training shoes and hit the jogging trails across the island, or chill with some yoga by the shore. There’s a kids club to keep little ones entertained – drop them off and head to the Akiri Spa by Mandara, where six double treatment rooms await, or head to The Sunset fine dining restaurant for a pre-splash about in the adults-only pool as the sun goes down.

This being the Maldives there are of course plenty of stellar snorkelling opportunities, with daily excursions leaving the resort 9.30am and 2.30pm. There are several popular dive sites within close proximity to the resort, including The Shipyard, Anenome Thila and Fushivaru Thila, a protected marine park renowned for its manta rays, blue stripe snappers and collared butterfly fish. atmosphere-kanifushi.com

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INTRODUCING

NOMADIC LUXE

Six Senses Shaharut showcases the rich heritage of Israel’s Arava Valley

D

furniture and fittings have been sourced from local artisans to complement the weathered rock formations, utilising natural stone, wood and copper. For a rustic luxe feel, the interior doors are custom made from reclaimed teak rescued from disused boats, houses, and footbridges.

A modern reinterpretation of the Nabataean community’s nomadic structures, which occupied the area more than 2,000 years ago, the resort comprises 60 suites and villas. Designed to integrate into the desert topography, the villas are built from, and inspired by, local rocks and pigments, with the landscaping utilising regional cacti and indigenous desert blooms. Inside, the

With an indoor pool and outdoor lap pool plus yoga studio with desert views, the Six Senses spa features single and double treatment rooms alongside a sauna and hammam. An open-air amphitheatre offering a Bedouin dining experience sits at the heart of the resort, with a fire pit for late night desert feasting. Want to get acquainted with the local area? Then sign up for overnight camel camping, mountain climbing, jeep safaris and Kibbutz tours. sixsenses.com

ramatically nestled into a cliff in the Arava Valley in the south of the Negev Desert, Six Senses Shaharut will make its stylish debut this June. A 50-minute domestic flight from Tel Aviv to the new Ramon International Airport near Eliat, it takes 45 minutes to reach the resort from the airport.

Suites and villas at the Six Senses Shaharut are built from, and inspired by, local rocks and pigments

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INSPIRE

Got US$1 million? Then you can take over the 21-villa Raffles Maldives Meradhoo for five nights

PRIVATE ISLAND BUYOUT

Savour the exclusive vibe of your own private island at Raffles Maldives Meradhoo

P

rivate islands are usually reserved for only the wealthiest of billionaires – but Raffles Maldives Meradhoo is offering an US$1 million all-inclusive island buyout, providing a rare opportunity to experience this resort on your own terms.

Situated on the Gaafu Alifu Atoll, Raffles Maldives Meradhoo lies in one of the most remote corners of the Maldives, an 80-minute boat ride from the equator. Available for fournight, five-day stays, You Run Raffles Maldives provides the opportunity to treat up to 70 loved ones. The group will have full access to the resort’s two islands, a white-sand idyll with 21 villas and another with overwater residences.

Guests additionally have access to a nearby deserted island to enact whatever castaway fantasy they may wish, be that a sunset concert with celebrity DJ, or romantic champagneand-stargazing session guided by a personal astronomer.

Guests can wine and dine whenever and wherever they wish, while Raffles Spa will treat guests to Biologique Recherche facials and Aromatherapy Associates massages.

Snorkelling excursions to the resort’s two house reefs under the tutelage of the Raffles Marine Butler can also be arranged, where blacktip sharks and hawksbill turtles await. raffles.com

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INSPIRE

COOL CRUISIN’

P

Boutique operator U River Cruises has debuted hip new European itineraries

art boutique hotel, part yacht, part local hotspot, U River Cruises offers contemporary river trips for travellers looking for a cool cruising experience. Offering everything from mixology classes and silent discos to yoga and rooftop camping onboard one of two sleek ships, U eschews the groaning buffet tables for farm-to-table cuisine inspired by the culinary style of the places you’ll visit.

The new Eastern Europe Escape itinerary sails between Vienna and Belgrade with stops in Bratislava, Budapest, Mohacs and Novi Sad over eight days. In Vienna, guests visit a bespoke coffee shop to fuel up before exploring the boutiques and eateries in the trendy 7th district. In Bratislava, a local expert will take guests off the beaten path to top Soviet monuments and viewing points.

Another new eight-day itinerary, Amsterdam & Brussels Bound, takes in Rotterdam, Middelburg, Ghent and Antwerp along the way. In Brussels, guests can master traditional Belgian chocolate making, while in Antwerp, U’s local guide will show guests the best local hot spots.

Vienna Vibe also makes its debut in 2020, an eight-day cruise that sails between Nuremberg and Vienna, stopping in Regensburg, Passau, Linz, Melk and Krems.

Travellers can do a street art tour of Linz and board a nine-seater Bulli for a hipster tour of Munich.

U’s itineraries include three daily meals, select shore excursions, onboard local U hosts, onboard gratuities and activities. Rates start at US$2,799 per person. ubyuniworld.com

U River Cruises offer hip stopoffs along the most renowned European rivers

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CITY GUIDE

Photo By: Amogh Manjunath

HELLO, SAN FRANCISCO Explore gorgeous San Fran on two wheels while taking in some of the city’s best markets before resting your head in a chilled-out bolthole away that captures the city’s natural beauty

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CITY GUIDE Cycle to the Palace of Fine Arts

The Lodge at the Presidio

Markets galore

MAGICAL MARKETS

RUSTIC RETREATS

Get in the saddle and don your helmet to cover more miles and see more of the city

Shop ‘til you drop, for everything from sustainable Cali produce to hip, vintage curios

Rest your weary head in comfort away from the high-octane vibe of the city

Want to get around faster? Then hire a bike from one of the city’s many rental businesses, like Bay City Bike & Parkwide City Rentals (baycitybike.com), which offers hybrid, electric and mountain bikes as well as child seats and trailers. Guided bike tours are available, including the Golden Gate Park Tour, which takes in the botanical gardens, conservatory of flowers and circles round Stow Lake for a view of Strawberry Hill.

Held at the former US Army West Coast headquarters, the Fort Mason Center Farmer’s Market (cafarmersmkts.com) attracts more than 30 farmers and vendors every Sunday from 9.30-1.30pm. Pick up fruit and vegetables picked just hours before the market opens, and you’ll have the ingredients for a picnic brunch or lunch.

San Francisco’s closest lodging to the Golden Gate Bridge, The Lodge at the Presidio (presidiolodging.com) is a historic boutique hotel dating back to the 1890s. Here, you’re well-placed to explore the 24-mile network of trails at the Presidio National Park… or simply enjoy the daily cheese and wine reception (5pm-7pm) from your rocking chair on the porch, or next to the warmth of the fire pit.

TWO-WHEELED TOURING

Blazing Saddles (blazingsaddles.com) offers a diverse range of two-wheeled tours, from the self-guided Angel Island, which takes in the five mile perimeter road encircling this isle reachable by the Blue and Gold Fleet Ferry.

This is a great one if you’re travelling with kids, as no public vehicles are permitted. Make a day of it by taking a biodiesel minivan to Yosemite, home to the magnificent El Capitan and the mighty sequoias.

Looking for a whistle stop tour of San Fran in four hours? Then book the Classic Streets of San Francisco Bike Tours (sosfbiketours. com), which takes in the city’s most famed districts and attractions, including groovy Haight-Ashbury, vibrant Castro, the Latinoesque Mission and Alamo Square’s painted ladies among other destinations. If you don’t see a tour you like, a bespoke journey can be arranged.

Dandyhorse SF Bike Tours (dandysftours.com) prides itself on its small groups of eight or less and its custom-built adventure bikes. It offers the city’s only night tour by bike, the Essential SF Night Bike Tour, with waterfront views of the city skyline. The route cruises under the Bay Bridge, which is illuminated with LED lights, while also taking cyclists along back roads and bike paths.

Packed with vintage clothes, jewellery and independent designers, the next Treasurefest (treasurefest.com) is to be confirmed. Top-rated local eats served from food trucks, interactive art installations and live music from established local brands provide a hip backdrop to the monthly market, which is ticketed (US$10 per day).

Held every second Sunday from April to November, the Inner Sunset Flea Market (isflea.com) is a grassroots affair that’s held in the city’s Inner Sunset neighbourhood.

The Flea features more than 30 artisan, nonprofit, and local business vendors, plus food and activities including comedy days.

Organised by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market (cuesa.org) is held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and acts as a showcase for California’s planetconscious growers, with more than 100 vendors serving up fresh produce alongside breakfast and lunch options.

The largest antique market in Northern California, the Alemeda Point Antiques Fair (alamedapointantiquesfaire.com) is held on the first Sunday of every month and is the place to pick up pottery, collectibles, art, vintage homeware and clothing.

At Cavallo Point Lodge (cavallopoint.com) at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, guests can opt for historic or contemporary lodging, the former within Fort Baker, which dates from 1866. Two-story residence the Frank House can accommodate up to six guests, and there’s a glass-enclosed sun porch where you can enjoy cocktails or coffee.

Sample some line-caught Pacific swordfish at Murray Circle, and check into the spa for the Cavallo Point Signature Massage, which blends Swedish and Thai styles.

Looking to venture off the beaten track a little further? Then consider catching the ferry over to Sausalito, just four miles north of San Francisco. The 33-room boutique hotel, The Inn Above Tide (innabovetide.com) is sited directly on SF Bay, and standout rooms include the City Lights Suite, with generous outdoor seating space and zen garden, plus binoculars so you can enjoy the dancing lights of the city and Bay Bridge up close.

Situated along the scenic coast of the Pacific Ocean, with Rockaway Beach and Linda Mar Beach nearby, the Pacifica Lighthouse Hotel (pacificalighthouse.com) is just 12 miles from San Francisco. There’s 77 guest rooms and 20 suites, with Beachfront Junior Suites located on the top floor of the hotel.

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BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE

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BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE

WAITING FOR THE

RAINS

Nick Walton explores the spectacular landscapes of Botswana and Zimbabwe as he visits four of the region’s leading safari camps

“A lioness is living under the bridge at the moment,” says our guide as he slowly manoeuvres the grumbling four-wheel drive onto an expanse of interconnected logs designed to span a sizeable lagoon. At first, I think he’s joking and notions of a lion replacing the proverbial troll come to mind. However, a moment later, there’s a flash of golden fur in the early morning light and a huge lioness elegantly leaps through a gap in the logs onto the bridge. She pauses for a moment to survey our vehicle, the light catching her yellow eyes and white teeth, before leaping down the other side and quickly returning to the shadows beneath us.

Not only is this a pretty amazing way to start a day here in Okavango Delta, but it’s also an especially rare one. The lioness and her cubs usually make temporary dens in deep, expansive lagoons, but today, as Botswana eagerly waits for the rainy season, it’s gently swaying grasslands.

Clockwise from top:

Elephant spotting by boat; a lion pauses at a watering hole; baby elephants lumber in clay mud

The Okavango is best known for its complex network of pools, lakes, lagoons, streams and canals, replenished each year by seasonal rains, which make their way to the expansive delta via the Cuito and Cubango Rivers. However, the rains are late this year, very late, and the sun beats down relentlessly on a landscape that is rarely revealed.

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There’s a flash of golden fur in the early morning light and a huge lioness elegantly leaps through a gap in the logs onto the bridge

EVENING GAME DRIVES My visit to four vastly different Wilderness Safari camps in Botswana and neighbouring Zimbabwe as the guest of Lightfoot Travel, a global specialist in experiential travel, started the day before at Chitabe, a beautiful little retreat set on a forested private island concession in the southeast of the delta. Here, around a roaring fire on our first night, the sky a breathtaking kaleidoscope of purples, pinks and reds, game guide “OD” Modikwa, a Wilderness Safaris veteran, tells us about the importance of the seasonal rains on the delta’s landscape and its residents.

“The delta is very different when it’s dry,” he says, adding a log to the fire pit. “Without the rain it can be a hard place for the animals.” He had promised that with low water levels I would see more wildlife, as the herds of elephants, antelope and zebra were able to navigate the grasslands easier, and he was right. Our evening game drive revealed unusual ground hornbills; a pride of three female lions and six incorrigible cubs; shy elephants mingling in corpses of leadwood trees; young giraffes already encrusted with oxpeckers; and a hyena den where curious cubs sniffed the air as they approached.

Chitabe offers travellers access to a cross section of landscapes, ranging from woodlands and wetlands to grassy savannahs popular with resident lions and leopards. Home to just eight spacious Meru-styled tents, each raised on wooden decks and linked by an elevated walkway that weaves through the tree line, the camp is a brilliant first stop on my African adventure.

The next day I journey further into the delta and by mid-morning I’ve arrived at Jao Camp, a feat of luxury and architecture set against riverine forests and vast floodplains. Here, we follow the sassy lioness across

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BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE

what can only be described as “her bridge” to reach the camp.

LUXURY ON THE SAVANNAH Jao is home to five spacious tented suites with private plunge pools and outdoor showers, but for a real eye-opener, I’m presented with one of two ultra-luxe villas, each of which boasts two bedrooms, cavernous living spaces, and a private jacuzzi on a sprawling deck overlooking the savannah that’s great for beating the mind-dizzying heat. The camp also boasts outdoor boma fire pits and its own spectacular library, which winds around a full-sized giraffe skeleton.

The lack of water is far more obvious at Jao, which is usually an island amid the floodplains. A pier that’s usually an embarkation point for boat and mokoro canoe excursions now juts out over emerald and gold grass which dances in the mid-day breeze. There is water of course, but it needs to be discovered first, and MT, Victoria Troskie, one of Lightfoot’s ultra-experienced Africa specialists, and I set off in one of the camp’s game vehicles,

Clockwise from bottom left:

a lone elephant stops to drink; jeep at dusk; a lion bares its teeth; leaping over the waterhole, a young leopard on a marula tree

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racing great swirls of dust as we cross plains of young green grass shoots, bound for one of the watering holes supplemented by Wilderness Safari bore wells.

DINNER UNDER A CANOPY OF STARS At the pool, the members of a multi-generational elephant herd take turns to lumber into the clay mud, cooling themselves with great showers of water from their trunks while giraffe, antelope, and wart hogs wreath the edge and sip away the relentless afternoon heat. Beyond, a baby baboon sits defiantly atop a termite mound before it spots a circling African fish eagle and scurries for the safety of shady Amarula trees with blood red scars from where elephants have rubbed their tusks.

That afternoon, after creeping up on a young leopard who held court from the bough of a marula tree, we returned to Jao in time to enjoy dinner under a canopy of stars, within the camp’s traditional bomba, a fortified enclosure designed to keep livestock safe from predators. The wine flows, the music echoes off the beaten earth walls, and the camp staff dance and pray for the rains, hands raised to the heavens, feet pounding in the dirt.

The next afternoon I take to the skies with South African pilot Michael Drager on a helicopter game flight over the 15,000 sqkm Okavango Delta. He races the Bell 207 helicopter low over great plains that are usually only navigable by boat and from the air it’s easier to see how the waterways that have survived the drought link together like great silver snakes.

Clouds drift across the mirrored surfaces of tranquil streams and swampy pools and from above we can spy elephants trudging through the mud, flocks of southern pochards skimming above the surface, Nile crocodiles snoozing among thick reedbeds, and, at one pool, we surprise a trio of rare sitatunga, an antelope that has made watery landscapes its home.

BEATING THE POACHERS From Botswana’s Okavango Delta I journey north to Zimbabwe’s acclaimed Hwange National Park, in the country’s west. The largest natural reserve in Zimbabwe, Hwange, with its mopane woodlands, desert dunes and sparse forests, was founded in 1928 and has had a colourful past, both as a crucial sanctuary for wildlife and as the scene of controversial poaching, including the 2015 killing of Cecil the lion, the reports of which went viral. Companies like Wilderness Safaris have

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The lions’ visit to the watering hole is interrupted by a family of elephants and a tense stand-off ensues, with the lions being chased off long campaigned to end Zimbabwe’s trophy killing quotas, advocating instead the far-reaching impacts of sustainable tourism through camps like Linkwasha.

Located in a 500 sqkm private concession on the edge of the famed Ngamo Plains, Linkwasha Camp offers spectacular year-round game viewing, both from its nine tented suites and on regular walking and game drives that reach far across the undulating landscape in search of wildlife, including an abundance of bird species from mighty tawny eagles to Dickinson’s kestrels.

Hwange is no stranger to drought, with the vast, bonedry plains of the Kalahari Desert edging up against the park, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a mecca for elephant lovers. Our guide Peter, the camp grandfather with 36 years on the job, pauses en route to the camp to watch dozens of elephants arrive and depart one of 14 solar-powered Wilderness Safarisfunded boreholes. There are thought to be 46,000 elephants in Hwange and watching the interactions between the various family units is thrilling.

A TENSE STAND-OFF Of course, at 14,000 sqkm, Hwange is also home to a huge cross section of wildlife, from rare African wild dogs (some of the biggest packs in the continent) to lions, leopards, spotted hyena, cheetah, rare gemsbok and brown hyena. During an evening game drive, we trail a pride of lions, including offspring of the great Cecil, whom Peter speaks of fondly, as it makes for another local water source. The lions’ visit to the watering hole, a trickle of bore water at the bottom of a usually deep pool, is interrupted by a family of at least 20 elephants and a tense stand-off ensues, with the lions clinging to their waterside perch for as long as they can before being chased off. As night settles

BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE

Clockwise from top left:

camp staff dance and pray for rain at Jao; lounge at Linkwasha Camp; a toast as dusk approaches; bedroom at Jao Camp

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BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE

Left to right:

visiting Ngamo primary school; a pack of hyenas; helicopter rides over the Okavago Delta; alfresco bathing at Ruckomechi

over Hwange, the mournful roars of thirsty lions fill the air.

At Linkshawa, each night sees elephants pass through the middle of the camp, bound for another shallow pool nearby, and in the warm night air, we gather around the firepit, sipping gin and tonics and listening to Wilderness Safaris’ elephant whisperer Arnold Tshipa talk of the importance of wildlife corridors as huge shadows pass silently beyond on their way to the only water within miles. A couple of intrepid bulls emerge from the inky darkness and sip from the camp’s swimming pool, just feet from where we’re sitting.

It’s important to remember that this parched, wild landscape is also home to people, and I take the opportunity to visit Ngamo Primary, a nearby village school funded in part by Wilderness Safari’s Children in the Wilderness initiative. With principle Moyo and village headman Mr Johnson and his wife Dorothy we visit classrooms, learn about village customs, and see how funding from sustainable tourism companies has helped the school expand from an open-air classroom under a camel thorn tree to 320 students (some of whom walk for miles to reach school) and a dozen teachers.

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My final stop on this adventure is northeast of Hwange, where Zimbabwe’s Manu Pool National Park reaches the mighty Zambezi River and the country’s border with Zambia. Our ancient Cessna soars in over the broad, steadily moving water before touching down on a dirt strip a short drive from camp. The heat here in northwest Zimbabwe is tremendous; the temperature hovers around 40 degrees during the day and as evening settles, the air becomes alive with frantic, unreleased energy. Great curtains of brooding clouds form on the distant horizon, flashes of lightning streaking the skies, yet there is no reprieve, and no rain to cool the earth below.

Like the other Wilderness Safari camps, Ruckomenchi is a breathtaking remote retreat set beside the great river and looking out to the purple peaks of Zambia’s Rift Valley escarpment. Located in a large private concession in the heart of the Zambezi Valley, the camp boasts just ten spacious tented suites, a blissful plunge pool, an elegantly-appointed lounge, and a popular firepit where guests congregate to share encounters from their game drives and boat safaris on the Zambezi.

BOTSWANA & ZIMBABWE

During game drives at Ruckomenchi Camp, we explore dried riverbeds, fields of yellow vetiveria grass, vast desert plains naked of vegetation, and lines of yellow fever trees in which shy elephants retreat from the blazing sun. We encounter greater kudu, Burchell’s zebra, impala, warthog and common waterbuck as well as lions and elephants. Taking to the Zambezi in a camp boat, we approach hippos and crocodiles on the riverbanks and magnificent bird life, including herons, African fish eagles, and beautiful Carmine bee-eaters, which nest in the high earthen banks.

After an afternoon spent (unsuccessfully) fishing for tiger fish in the fast flowing river, we let the current take us downstream, and watch as a pair of elephants gingerly cross the waterway as squadrons of Egyptian geese and solo black backed kites swoop across the shimmering water.

By the time we arrive back at the camp, the brooding storm clouds have returned, feeding off the tremendous heat and boiling in the blackened skies above. Finally, with an audible sigh, the heavens open and fat raindrops plummet towards the hot earth, marking the end of the dry season. The rains have finally arrived, and sheltering on the patio of my suite, all I can think of is the hyena cubs, the lumbering

The heat in northwest Zimbabwe hovers around 40 degrees during the day and as evening settles, the air becomes alive with frantic, unreleased energy young elephants, the prides of thirsty lions and the children of Ngamo, and the relief the rain will bring to this mesmerising destination.

For more information on Wilderness Safari’s camps in Southern Africa go to wilderness-safaris.com Lightfoot Travel offers an eight-night luxury tailor made Itinerary to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe from US$20,000 per person. This is on a shared basis and includes all safari accommodation on a fully inclusive basis, safari activities, park fees and all light aircraft transfers. For more information visit lightfoottravel.com or call +852 2815 0068

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS Clockwise from top left:

New Zealand, Chicago, Angkor Wat, the Maldives, Ireland and Singapore

Plan your perfect trip prior to travel bans being lifted with some ideas from Helen Dalley 46

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

SEE OZ IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT WITH AN EPIC WALK AROUND QUEENSLAND

Once travel restrictions are lifted, it might just be time to dust off those hiking boots and embrace your inner hiker, as Great Walks of Australia’s Scenic Rim Trail has been expanded.

The newly-bolstered 50km Scenic Rim Trail is one of Queensland’s region’s biggest ever ecotourism projects, and the five-day guided walking experience enables hikers to experience more of the region’s World Heritage listed Gondwana rainforest and volcanic plateaus.

BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AT AMANERA

The healing power of nature is what it’s all about at Amanera, which is located in the Dominican Republic’s pristine north coast above the golden sands of the legendary Playa Grande beach.

Feeling in need of a boost? Then treat yourself to the three-night Holistic Immune Support Retreat, which includes four herbal medicinal remedies, a 60-minute yoga session, hour-long Pranayama and meditation session, 90-minute balancing facial and feet reflexology treatment and a 60-minute HIIT workout as well as a nature walk, immunesupporting herbal teas and juices and menus cooked up with local ingredients selected for their nutritional benefits.

During the retreat, guests can also embrace their bohemian side with the two-hour Waning Moon Ritual. The waning moon signifies the releasing of emotional imbalances to achieve strengthened immunity.

Starting with a guanábana and limoncillo tea to help absorb toxins and stimulate the digestive system, a mint oceansalt exfoliation follows during which guests are cocooned in a marine wrap and pressure points on the lymphatic and emunctory systems are massaged.

Warm medicinal herbal poultices are placed on the abdomen and a gentle drainage massage on the face uses cool Larimar stone. Once the treatments have finished, strike a pose with some beachfront yoga, or go on an expedition into the protected tropical jungle with a naturalist. aman.com

Located one-and-a-half hours from Brisbane, the Scenic Rim Trail runs from Spicers Thornton View Nature Refuge to Spicers Peak Nature Refuge, and through the Main Range National Park. Highlights include ascending Mistake Mountain to watch the sunrise and visiting an onsite koala monitoring centre. Guests stay in deluxe accommodation, including brand new eco-cabins, and enjoy gourmet food and wine. Love to hike? Challenge yourself by combining the new five-day and the existing two-day walk for a 70km/seven-day experience. greatwalksofaustralia.com.au

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO SAFARI IN SRI LANKA

Boasting the highest concentration of leopards in the world, Sri Lanka offers a unique yet still relatively unknown safari experience, with idyllic beaches like Nilaveli and Kalkudah another reason to make the trip.

Jetwing Hotels’ luxe getaways act as gateways to the island’s most famous national parks, Yala and Kumana. Jetwing Safari Camp’s luxury tented villas and Jetwing Yala are both located by Yala National Park, the former of which has a viewing deck where you can spot samburs and wild boars. The more secluded Kottukal Beach House by Jetwing and Jetwing Surf on the lesser-known east coast are situated in close proximity to the Lahugala, Gal Oya and Kumana national parks.

Located at Sri Lanka’s southern tip, Yala is one of the world's best places to spot leopards, elephants and sloth bears. Guests staying at Yala are also within striking distance of Bundala National Park, whose vast estuaries, salt marshes and dunes are home to around 200 different bird species.

Kumana National Park in the southeast is another good spot for twitchers, as its vast mangrove swamp lake attracts the rare black-necked stork, alongside pelicans, spoonbills, white ibis, herons, egrets and little cormorants. Kumana is also home to elephants and leopards, while flora fans can admire kumbuk trees and the karan fern. jetwinghotels.com

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

SUPPORT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AT SHINTA MANI ANGKOR

Keen to make a difference to a community on your next future trip?

Then consider booking Shinta Mani Angkor’s Open Doors, Open Hearts community outreach package. The Shinta Mani Foundation, which opened a hospitality school on the grounds of the hotel, received international recognition for its efforts, training underprivileged Cambodians in aspects of world-class hotel operations for free and providing them with the skills to secure employment. It supports locals to overcome the constraints of poverty by offering education, healthcare and direct assistance. Guests will meet some of the graduates of the school who are employed at Shinta Mani Angkor, a 39-room Bill Bensley-designed resort located in the French quarter of the city just 15 minutes from the UNESCO World Heritage temples of Angkor Wat. Those booking the package will also have a water well donated in their name.

The package includes private round trip airport transfers, three nights’ accommodation in a superior room, daily breakfast, day trip to the Angkor complex and visit to a local village led by Shinta Mani Foundation team members. It will be a trip to remember and one that makes an on-going difference. shintamani.com

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

GET SOCIAL IN SINGAPORE

After months of social distancing and travel restrictions, we’ll all be clamouring to get and out and mix and mingle – when the time is right of course. What better place to do so than Singapore, which continues to up the ante in the cool bar stakes.

If you haven’t yet visited the skybar at Ce La Vi on the 57th floor of Marina Bay Sands, then we suggest you get yourself up there pronto for breathtaking views of the skyline as you sip a Singapore Sling, Mai Tai or Berry Bellini and nibble on some Korean beef burger sliders.

Another cool joint to raise a glass is destination rooftop cocktail bar Smoke & Mirrors, whose newest cocktails include the Turmeric & Spritzer, a tipple made with select Venezian Aperitivo, topped with sparkling wine and married with turmeric, and the Cacao & Negroni which sees the classic Negroni made with prohibition Shiraz barrel-aged gin, Campari, Cocchi di Torino and cacao.

Catch some live music with pals at Timbre X at the Substation, which serves thin crust pizzas ‘til late, or perhaps head over to Ann Siang Hill in Chinatown and soak up the authentic British pub vibe (there’s a curated G&T menu) at Oxwell & Co before heading over to the Screening Room directly opposite to catch a film or a drink at its rooftop bar. celavi.com; smokeandmirrors.com.sg; timbregroup.asia; oxwellandco.com; screeningroom.com.sg

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

EMBRACE HERITAGE IN IRELAND AT FAIRMONT CARTON HOUSE

Always fancied a high-end holiday in the Emerald Isle? The first Fairmont hotel in Ireland is set to debut later this year after a multi-million euro refurbishment with the signing of Carton House.

Located just 20 minutes from Dublin in Maynooth, County Kildare, Carton House is one of Ireland's most historic country houses.

The Carton estate dates back to 1176, then part of the Maynooth estate belonging to the Fitzgerald family, one of the most influential families in Irish history. The house itself was built in 1739, making it the oldest Fairmont property globally.

Fairmont Carton House will offer 170 bedrooms and suites, two 18hole championship golf courses and expansive wellness facilities.

Food and beverage offerings comprise a lobby bar and three restaurants including The Carriage House golf club restaurant and a specialty restaurant within the Manor House. Once you’ve lived out your period drama fantasies strolling through the gardens, see the sights and do some shopping in Dublin. fairmont.com

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

HOLIDAY WITH YOUR ENTOURAGE AT A MEGA VILLA IN NEW ZEALAND

Kickstart your social life again and make spending more time with friends and family a priority by booking the Somewhere mega villa in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands archipelago. With space to sleep 14 across six spacious en suite bedrooms, it offers the ultimate home away from home experience for the multi-generational family or group of besties keen to reconnect. The private island estate has three private beaches, a swimming pool, helicopter landing capabilities and a private dock. It may be privacy personified but it’s far from difficult to access, being 15 minutes' drive from Kerikeri airport, which is just a 50-minute flight from Auckland International Airport.

Don’t worry about cooking, as a private chef is on hand to cater to your every culinary whim, including breakfast, lunch, pre-dinner drinks and canapes, morning and afternoon tea, picnics and BBQs. Burn off some calories by hopping on a stand-up-paddleboard or into a kayak, or keep it more chilled with some fishing and dolphin watching.

The Somewhere villa is owned by Touch of Spice, which has a portfolio of other luxury lodges, hotels and private residences across New Zealand. touchofspice.co.nz

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

DISCOVER AN ANCIENT LOST CITY IN COLOMBIA WITH VISTAJET

If you can afford it, private jet travel remains one of the safest and stress-free ways to explore. Travel plans may be on hold but you can always daydream of boarding a chartered private jet with Vistajet World, which has launched 15 one-of-a kind journeys to mark its 15th anniversary. Fancy exploring South America?

Be the first to discover an ancient city in Colombia, lost deep in the Amazonian rainforest, and take part in a pioneering research expedition joined by an expert team of archaeologists, explorers and conservationists, before flying over the jungle to unveil the secrets of this once-inhabited settlement hidden in the canopy below. The itinerary also takes in trips to secret waterfalls and lagoons where you might just catch a glimpse of a pink river dolphin or two.

Back on the mainland, members can get acquainted with the fairytale city of Cartagena, whose attractions include a walled old town that dates back to the 16th century, before unwinding on a Caribbean isle. vistajet.com

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

STAY IN A SUBTERRANEAN VILLA AT PULLMAN MALDIVES MAAMUTAA

As we daydream about future trips, the Maldives will undoubtedly be uppermost in many of our minds thanks to its unparalleled tranquillity and the endless opportunities to mingle with marine life. Be one of the few people in the world to experience an underwater berdoom by checking into the Pullman Maldives Maamutaa resort on the Gaafu Alifu Atoll, which has two new Aqua Villas.

Sized at 1,216 square feet, each of the villas have two bedrooms, one of which is dramatically submerged beneath the turquoise waters and encased in glass so guests can gaze out on the island’s vibrant marine life and endless coral reef. Once you’ve finished watching the turtles and mantas glide past, take a dip in the private infinity pool, step into the second bedroom to look out across the ocean, or chill in the villa’s open-air bathroom.

Want to turn up the romance? The villas are in a prime position to watch the sunrise and are only a short walk away from Sol Rising, the resort’s sunrise bar. pullmanmaldivesmaamutaa.com

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TEN FUTURE TRAVEL PLANS

IMMERSE YOURSELF IN ART AT 21C MUSEUM HOTEL CHICAGO

Located blocks from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Design Museum of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago, 21c Museum Hotel Chicago is North America’s only multivenue museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the art of the 21st century. The exhibition space features rotating solo and group exhibitions, site-specific installations and a full roster of cultural programming. The museum's Elevate Art programme, meanwhile, sees the work of local artists displayed on every floor.

Contemporary art is integrated throughout the public areas, while floor-to-ceiling windows offer passersby a view into the art experience inside the hotel. The 297 guest rooms include two signature 21c suites for those travelling en masse, which feature stellar vistas of downtown Chicago, an open concept floorplan and dining table for six.

If you love a bit of contemporary art and find yourself stateside frequently, you’ll be pleased to note that two more 21c properties are under development in St. Louis and Des Moines. 21cmuseumhotels.com

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WELLNESS

SWING INTO SPRING Get mind and body in shape this Spring and Summer with these wellness offers

ANCIENT WISDOM OF JAVA RETREAT AT AMANJIWO Inspired by the heritage of Javanese healing traditions and ceremonies, Amanjiwo, which is located 2km from the UNESCO site of ninth century Buddhist temple Borobudur in Central Java, has introduced the Ancient Wisdom of Java Retreat. Available year-round, the three-night itinerary will include sessions with Javanese healers, lectures on Javanese spirituality led by the resort’s resident anthropologist and a visit to the historical site of Borobudur at sunrise.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL BOSTON INTRODUCES FOREST THERAPY JOURNEY Having just undergone a US$15 million renovation project of all guest rooms and event spaces, the Mandarin Oriental Boston is now looking super swanky. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Boston, the only Forbes Five-Star Spa in Massachusetts, has also become the first spa in the US to offer Aromatherapy Associates’ new Forest Therapy journey. It’s inspired by the Japanese art of Shinrin-Yoku, or forest bathing, which involves spending time in nature to improve overall well-being.

The treatment incorporates Forest Therapy, Aromatherapy Associate’s new essential oil blend, a nurturing mix of evergreen pink pepper, calming cypress, cleansing ho wood and uplifting juniper berry that’s designed to soothe body and soul. mandarinoriental.com

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Guests will also enjoy one Semedi meditation session, which includes a series of ancient exercises to calm and focus the mind, and one 90-minute traditional Javanese Pijat deep-tissue massage. Guests additionally experience a Purnama Purification ritual on full-moon dates. An ancient Javanese ritual held under a full-moon night sky, the Purnama cleanse is intended to return a balance of energy to body, mind and spirit. aman.com

WELLNESS

KAGI MALDIVES SPA ISLAND SET TO DEBUT THIS SUMMER

BOLSTER YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AT THE FARM SAN BENITO An advocate of preventive health care, holistic medical wellness resort The Farm at San Benito is located in Lipa, Batangas, a 90-minute drive south of Manila.

Among the resort’s treatments is its repair and strengthening programme, which helps protect the cells and fight viral infections. The Farm’s Detox Cleanse Programme, meanwhile, can be tailored to each guest, and utilises cleansing juices, guided fasts, nutritional enrichment and fitness sessions.

Other therapies include the human microbiome skin care treatment to revitalise the body by enhancing natural good bacteria to better fight viruses and bacteria.

European Wellness, one of The Farm’s medical partners offers RASHA treatment to boost the immune system, utilising vibrational medicine to help shift organisms resistant to anti-virals, microbials and fungals. Other immune-boosting treatments offered at The Farm are Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), acupuncture and energy healing techniques. thefarmatsanbenito.com

The Kagi Maldives Spa Island will launch in the Maldives’ North Male Atoll this July. A 15-minute seaplane or 60-minute speedboat ride from Velana International Airport, the boutique 50-villa property is targeting parties of friends and solo travellers in addition to loved-up couples.

Kagi has partnered with esteemed architect Yuji Yamazaki on the design of the resort. At the heart of the island will sit Kagi’s 1,500 sqm spa and wellness hub, complete with an openair, teardrop-shaped floating yoga pavilion at its centre. Kagi will also house a gym, two restaurants, three bars, a wine cellar, dive centre and house reef.

The resort’s fusion cuisine will take inspiration from the geographical ‘ring of fire’ that surrounds the Maldives, from the highly spiced and fragranced cuisine of Southeast Asia to the bold, fiery flavours of South America and Oceania. kagimaldives.com

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HOTEL REVIEW

SAMUI Sublime

Nick Walton escapes from the world at one of Thailand’s most esteemed beachfront resorts, Belmond Napasai

W

ith the dawn comes the silence. In the darkness of night in the expansive Gulf of Thailand, winds had whipped the northern coast of Koh Samui, sending waves crashing into the seawall beneath my room while tall, slender palm trees swayed rhythmically behind closed curtains. But with first light the tempest has been replaced by vibrantly blue skies, mellow golden sunshine and the tranquility that comes with being alone in the world.

If there’s any place on Samui that lets the imagination stretch its legs, it has to be Belmond Napasai, a breathtaking estate hidden away down a meandering lane on the island’s northern cusp.

Just 30 minutes from the airport and boasting

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panoramic views towards Koh Phangan and Angthong Marine Park, Belmond Napasai has the timeless refinement of a grand dame hotel, where solitude is encouraged, and where serenity rules supreme. This is a place where travellers can collect themselves, rediscover themselves and then lose themselves all over again.

The first thing you’ll notice about Belmond Napasai is the scale. At almost nine hectares, the resort is expansive, and in many ways the size allows for two different resort personas. At one end is a pristine beach wreathed by sun loungers shaded by driftwood salas dressed in brilliantly white linen that flutters in the breeze. Beyond, an infinity pool captures the reflection of palm trees that march up towards the Thai-styled resort building. Ranks of

HOTEL REVIEW

bicycles wait for the actively inclined while beyond, a pair of sun-baked tennis courts probably inspire more than they motivate. There’s a yoga sala, a Thai boxing ring and a modern fitness centre, plus cooking classes and spa treatments to keep guests as busy as they please.

From the resort’s colonial-styled lobby, two lines of villas extend down the length of the coastline. Belmond Napasai is home to 45 Villas, 10 One-Bedroom Villas and 13 Oceanfront Private Pool Residences, the latter each a little larger as you trace the narrow garden path along the cliff face.

My three-bedroom Oceanfront Pool Residence clings to a steep incline that tumbles down to the lagoon; stairs descend past a pair of stand-alone cottages to a master suite and separate living room & kitchen with an expansive terrace. More stairs lead down to a garden and ocean-fronted swimming pool, backed by a shaded sala and another living room and kitchen located below the main building. The villa has a welcoming, residential vibe and instantly becomes home, a simple rope on the door high above all that’s needed to keep the modern world at bay.

Despite showing signs of the weathering that comes with tropical living (and with whispered rumours of a refresh in the near future), Belmond Napasai still retains her grandeur. Residences range from one to five bedrooms and are dressed in dark polished timber, with cavernous stone bathrooms, vaulted rooves, teak ceiling fans and Clockwise from

top left: palm shadows in the pool; Oceanfront Pool Residences; the perfect place to relax with a book

staggering views over turquoise seas from almost every angle. While there are flatscreen TVs, modern appliances in the lower kitchen, and wifi that seems to come and go like monsoon sunshine, the Napasai doesn’t try to compete with the newer resorts of Samui.

Instead she gives an undeniable sense of place, of respite and seclusion.

I fling open French doors (plural) and let the warm sea air engulf the living room with its ornate writing desk, intricately embroidered couch pillows in faded pink silk, and lingering perfume of fresh fruit and frangipanis. If I was a novelist, the Belmond Napasai is where I would maroon myself, crafting turns of phrase while soaking in the oversized circular bathtub, musing over plot twists in the shade of coconut palms and bougainvillea bushes, and conjuring up colourful characters as my heels cooled in the ocean. I’d wave to fellow guests as they sailed past on resort hobbie cats and paddle boards, and smile over my paperback when they passed my al fresco breakfast table at the beautiful little Lai Thai restaurant, but would ultimately retreat to my spacious, isolated villa, perfectly content with my own company.

Yes, there are as many activities as you could possibly want at the Napasai, and travellers from around the world with whom to share them. However, the resort’s true beauty is in its timeless elegance, its unhurried nature, and ability to embosom travellers looking to reacquaint themselves with the simplicity of tranquility. In a world where serenity is a rarity, Belmond Napasai offers the ultimate escape, where afternoon naps are de rigueur, and procrastination is the new religion. belmond.com

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SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

CANTON COOL Jumeirah Guangzhou has bought a new level of elegance and luxury to the city

O

ne of the city’s most esteemed addresses, Jumeirah Guangzhou offers an unparalleled guest experience that takes luxury hospitality to new heights in the Southern China city.

Rising from the buzzing metropolis as its new statement address, the property is located in the heart of the Zhujiang New Town conveniently located near the Mall of the World and GT Land Winter Plaza shopping centre.

With 117 rooms and suites loftily located from the 50th floor to command stunning views over the city, the luxurious ambience of this extraordinary

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

hotel is immediately apparent. The opulent interiors by KCA International, which also designed Burj Al Arab Jumeirah in Dubai, were inspired by the Tang dynasty. Accommodation highlights include the Signature Loft Suites which extend over two floors and showcase breathtaking city views over the central business district.

The Lounge is the social epicentre of Jumeirah Guangzhou, where guests can savour sumptuous homemade desserts created by executive pastry chef Moo Chun Hoe, whose work is a sublime, minimalist fusion of art and food. A tapas counter and barista corner can also be found in the hotel’s lounge area.

A French brasserie with an elegant twist, Chinserie Restaurant features interior design inspired from Shamian Islands, and serves breakfast in the morning before transforming into a stylish eatery for lunch and dinner.

One of the city’s most glamorous hangouts, Bar On Six offers an outdoor terrace with stellar city views, where revellers can enjoy an evening of music, fine vintages and creative cocktails. A discreet sanctuary from the bustling city, guests catch up on emails from the quiet comfort of the executive lounge, while spirits aficionados are advised to pull up a stool at the whisky bar to sample a rare dram or two.

Check into Jumeirah Guangzhou and experience the city as you’ve never imagined it before. jumeirah.com

INSIDER

FORWARD PLANNING

IN A COVID-19 WORLD

The travel industry is facing challenging times, but it can and will recover, says Jenny Lo, general manager of branding & marketing consultancy CatchOn in China, She discusses how destinations and travel companies can initiate a speedy, sustained recovery with Helen Dalley What are the biggest challenges the Chinese travel industry is facing right now?

It is bracing the magnitude of the impact and making sense of the uncertainties ahead that may impair recovery. The outbreak started in China during one of the country’s peak travel seasons, resulting in millions of cancelled trips. While an end to China’s epidemic might be in sight, Europe and the US are in lockdown. The situation is fastchanging and the effects have now become multi-fold, making the road to recovery even harder and longer.

What suggestions do you have to recapture Chinese inbound travellers and how can destinations & travel companies implement these successfully?

Businesses may leverage on the power of technology to stay relevant to consumers by strengthening brand equity and preparing to move forward after the crisis. People may not be travelling now, but they will soon – and when they do, brands that remain uppermost in their mind stand to gain the most.

Destinations and brands may need to quickly reposition, review their offerings and develop strategic partnerships to meet the changes in consumer demand for their newfound interests. Chinese tourists’ travel tastes are likely to change, inspired by a desire for a healthy lifestyle, a sense of purpose and family-first priorities.

How long do you think will it take before the travel industry can settle back to normal?

The current situation demands everyone to adapt to a new normal every day, and such uncertainty comes with an unprecedented challenge. We are hopeful that people will start travelling short-haul again in the summer subject to changes in travel restrictions.

It has been a testing few months since the virus outbreak.

Why should destinations and travel companies in the region now be upbeat?

To survive and thrive in turbulent times, we need responsive and timely strategies. The travel industry is not going to settle back to normal overnight but likely in phases, so it makes sense for the industry to start planning ahead to recapture the markets and explore new

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opportunities, starting with countries that have (almost) recovered from the epidemic.

The good news for everyone is that travel is cited as one of the top things consumers currently crave the most. It delivers a promising message to the industry that people will start travelling again, as panic subsides. The SARS outbreak in 2003 gives us some level of assurance and confidence – businesses bounced back, and hotels recorded an immediate, sharp increase in occupancy as soon as the World Health Organisation (WHO) lifted travel advisories. Losses were succeeded by nearly instant gains, bringing minimal impact to annual profit margins.

What lessons can be learnt from the experience of living through the coronavirus?

Travellers will now be more concerned about health and hygiene and more alert to other potential health issues like seasonal flu. This is prompting travel companies to consider services that address these concerns, from providing disinfectant kits on flights to serving immuneboosting juices at hotel check points. Demand for wellness travel may rise too, as people develop a growing interest in holistic programmes and experiences that address not only physical health, but also mental and emotional wellbeing, opening up more opportunities for wellness hospitality pioneers.

With some parts of China on lockdown for the earliest part of the year, do you expect business to pick up as people make up for lost time?

This is the expectation. The desire is always there, and growing. While cautious about the exact travel schedule, a survey released last week indicates that close to 90 per cent of the respondents plan to travel this year, one-third of which are looking at a summer holiday in July and August. We expect to see the pick-up to start with domestic travels and short-haul trips (subject to changes in travel restrictions) in the next peak travel seasons.

What are your predictions for the travel industry in the region over the next 12 months?

It will be focused on recovery and developing new strategies for the upcoming decade. One thing I can say for sure is that, on the consumer side, the reluctance to travel is only temporary. catchonco.com

MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY INTO THE LAND OF THE THUNDER DRAGON

I'm a Six Senses devotee.

From Portugal to the Maldives, Thailand to Turkey, each vacation with Six Senses has opened my heart

to a deeper understanding of me and the people I love. It may sound contrived, but Six Senses has helped me reconnect with myself, others and the world around. This is their brand mantra.

Next on our list is Six Senses Bhutan. We're in love with the design of the five lodges, their dreamy locations and are excited to join in the colorful festivals and traditions, meet the people and see the concept

of Gross National Happiness in action.

I do not know how Six Senses will top this location, but I cannot wait to see where this exciting journey takes us.

Allison Gates New Y ork City, New Y ork Six Senses Bhutan will move you – to pause and think.

The best way to discover the heritage and hospitality of this colorful Himalayan Kingdom is to journey through it.

That’s why our guest suites are distributed between five lodges: Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey, Bumthang and Paro. Visit any combination, happiness is a place. For information, visit www.sixsenses.com and to make a reservation, please call +975 2 350 773 or email reservations-bhutan@sixsenses.com.

#OUTOFTHEORDINARY

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

GUATEMALA A RESILIENT CULTURE Home to volcanoes, rainforests and ancient Mayan sites, Guatemala is also a great place for business, says award-winning Asia-based global experience company Everise

Guatemala at a Glance Population: 17,812,677 Currency: Quetzal Exchange rate: .13 USD Official language: Spanish Labour force 2020: 724,6495 (2019, reported March 2020) GDP: US$85.3B (expected in 2020), US$81.3B in 2019

G

uatemala is best known for its coffee, fascinating Mayan culture, volcanic landscape and the beautiful, colonial city of Antigua. But most people are just learning about how this small country is loaded with homegrown produce and talent.

Being the largest and youngest active labour force in Central America, Guatemala has nearly 18 million inhabitants and has a median age of 22.9 years, dubbing this country a vibrant young human resource for Fortune 500 companies and fast-growth unicorns. Paired with its proximity to many travel hubs (it's less than three hours from Miami), Guatemala is an ideal location to deliver cost effective customer experiences for the growing Spanish language market.

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

In the last five years, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has matured due to unified efforts across private, governmental and academic sectors with a vision to support growth and sustainability for the country. Some of the largest tech firms such as Oracle, SAP, Cisco and Dell are outsourcing to this prime destination because of its strong affinity with American culture, avoiding steep learning curves and cultural barriers that often affect impact the Customer Experience (CX).

Hispanic and Latino Americans account for 18 percent of the US population, and given this proximity, North American based companies are looking at near-shore outsourcing solutions.

BPO’s strategically pick locations such as Guatemala because it can usually offer between a 25 to 40 percent cut from domestic US rates, significantly improving the price-to-value ratio and cost.

Resilience in Action Guatemala has been ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world, and one of this country’s greatest assets is its people who often take great pride in their work, treating their jobs as an opportunity to carve out a career. This passion brings tremendous value to the relationship between an agent and customer, translating to a higher-quality experience, enthusiastic employee engagement and higher retention rates.

Amid the spread of COVID-19, customer and employee loyalty are more important than ever.

During the uncertainty, Everise’s Guatemalan team pulled together to setup over 85 per cent of its champions in a secure, work-at-home solution in less than two weeks. And when one of its clients became stranded in Guatemala due to travel restrictions, it drove them over 400 miles to the nearest airport in Mexico to get them safely home to their family.

The world has seen the news and felt the effects of this virus. It’s surprising how little it takes to severely disrupt even the strongest companies and economies. Next-gen BPO Everise is assisting the world’s top brands to migrate its bricks and mortar support into a home-based solution.

This leading global experience company offers a crisis-resilient partnership that is as proven as its outsourced work-at-home CX, made doubly resilient by being widely dispersed globally.

Find out more about engineering a homebased CX solution to get you through this crisis and the next one as well. Visit weareeverise. com or email sales@weareeverise.com

INSIDER

A GREENER FUTURE

Architect Bill Bensley has just released a white paper, Sensible Sustainability Solutions that argues all hotels should have a purpose, says Helen Dalley Your paper asks the industry to be done with the greenwashing and do something real. What feedback have you received on this so far?

Well in just a few weeks, hotel companies like Accor Thailand, Shinta Mani and Hilton added the white paper to their building standards.

Some hospitality schools have made the paper mandatory reading.

What inspired you to write the paper?

As an architect that has built more than 200 sensibly sustainable hotels, I’ve had to work with dozens of hotel building standards.

These documents, produced individually by all 325 major hotel companies can be hundreds of pages long. It only occurred to me recently that, collectively, these hotel building standards have the potential to influence a new way of thinking about how hotels are designed, operated, and what place they have in today’s society.

I reread the dozens of building standards stacked in my office and realised that none had anything to do with sustainability. So I feverishly wrote Sensible Sustainability Solutions, which covers topics such as cross ventilation and utilising natural light. It speaks to how to operate a more sustainable hotel without costing more money. It addresses my belief that no new hotel should be built without having a social purpose.

Have you had any commissions from hotels following the launch of your paper?

Yes – the start of this year has been huge. We are working on an Orient Express in Danang on a charming beach site bordered by train tracks that connects the country north to south. We are also designing a magnificent

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Capella hotel in a forest valley in Chiang Mai crisscrossed by streams and waterfalls.

My WorldWild initiative, in which trains will take day trippers through a series of youthfocused Broadway shows about nature, is also happening: Hyatt, Hilton, Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria and Shinta Mani Wild are all signed up to manage hotels. We are expecting 10 million guests per year to Asia’s first animal sanctuary where the animals run free and the guests are in the zoo. Teaching, on this scale, of 10 million guests per year just may ease the pressures on what little rainforests we have in Southeast Asia.

How would you describe approach to architecture?

your

My approach to architecture is that it is a necessary evil. When we are given a virgin site or a site of great natural beauty, as we often are, I approach the project with the understanding that mother nature will always be 10 times more magnificent than anything I could ever build. So my modus operandi is to mitigate the damage we will inevitably cause by way of what I call minimal intervention.

I understand the natural environment and I design to work with mother nature, not dominate her.

In your report, you say luxury is dead.

Do you think that many people feel the same?

I started to speak about this issue a couple of years ago, and now I think the hospitality industry understands entirely the idea that we need to provide more than just a good bed of Frette sheets. Guests are looking for experiences and some want to help. We get a huge helping hand from guests at [Bensley-designed hotel] Shinta Mani in

Cambodia with our many community hand up programmes. Many want to learn something new. This is a great way for hotels to make an impression and be more marketable.

How can governments globally support the hospitality industry’s quest for sustainability?

Enact new laws! Create a new law that 20 per cent of the food consumed in hotels must be grown on property and the remaining 80 per cent can be imported but not farther than 100 kilometres away, for example. No hotel should be given a license to operate unless they can prove they have a positive purpose in our society, or improve the environment as now is the age of the Negative Carbon Footprint.

What should planet-conscious consumers consider before booking into a hotel?

Ask questions, like do your building standards address sustainability? If they don’t, then do not stay there. If you want to make a difference, get my Sensible Sustainable Solutions into the hands of the hospitality leaders worldwide and ask: what are you waiting for?

What initiatives would you like to see put in place in the hospitality industry to bring about a real sustainability revolution?

We know hotels are where many people gather, to socialise, work, and learn. All hotels have the potential to be the community centres, village pubs, or the wats/temples of today but too few do so. No new hotel should be built unless it can prove a meaningful purpose, big or small, that can add positively to society. billbensley.com

ATLAS MOUNTAINS

MOROCCAN Mystique High up in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, the untamed wilderness and traditional Berber culture make for an inspiring escape, finds Lisa Kjellsson

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O

nly an hour ago I was pushing through the bustle of Marrakech airport, and now, standing at the edge of a hilltop garden gazing out over a deep-red canyon in the Atlas Mountains, my early-morning flight from London is already a distant memory. The sun is bright and the air is pure. A peregrine falcon sweeps the cloudless sky.

Relaxing into the stillness, I take in my surroundings: a seemingly endless landscape of rugged hillsides covered in juniper, pine and cypress trees, cacti and aloe vera.

The idyllic setting for my newfound serenity is fortresslike Kasbah Bab Ourika, perched high up on a hill with panoramic views of the Ourika Valley’s fruit orchards and olive groves. The building is traditionally designed with peach-coloured limestone and mud walls and palm trunk ceilings, while the cosy and eclectic interiors fuse Berber pompom blankets in natural colours with antique painted doorframes from India and carefully curated quirky artefacts including vintage radios. Each of the 26 rooms have views of the wilderness, and in the evening I watch the sunset from my private terrace as the call to prayer from a nearby village mosque echoes through the valley.

Above:

Kasbah Bab Ourika.

Right:

calls to prayer echo through the valley

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MOROCCAN HOSPITALITY The villages in the Atlas Mountains, which span some 2,500km across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and separate the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastline from the Sahara desert, are home to the Amazigh people, commonly known as Berbers. I catch a glimpse of their customs the next day, on a guided hike during which we pass the village of Tagadirt, a few hours’ walk east of the kasbah. Life in this remote part of Morocco revolves around farming – the first thing I spot is a large herd of goats roaming the hillside – and most families seem to keep donkeys and chickens in their yards.

Wandering through the little community I am welcomed into the traditional mudbrick home of a friendly woman and her grown-up daughters and offered mint tea and biscuits.

As one of them pours me a glass of the sweet brew I notice her hands, covered in swirling, blood-red henna tattoos. Did she have them done for a special occasion, I ask, but she says not. I learn that tattooing has been a rite of passage for Amazigh girls since pre-Islamic times and historically allowed different nomadic tribes to identify each other by the designs.

I am also shown their hammam, a small wood-fired sauna used for a twice-weekly wash with savon beldi, olive and eucalyptus soap, followed by ghassoul, a body mask made with mineral-rich clay from the Atlas Mountains that purifies and softens the skin.

Inspired by this insight into an age-old selfcare ritual, on my return to the kasbah I head straight to the hammam to refresh myself the traditional way after my trek. Following a relaxing stint in the steam room, I am soaped up and scrubbed clean by a spa therapist, and then enjoy an al fresco massage as the sun begins to set.

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ATLAS MOUNTAINS

Tattooing has been a rite of passage for Amazigh girls since pre-Islamic times and historically allowed different nomadic tribes to identify each other by the designs

GLAMPING HEAVEN

Clockwise from bottom left:

henna tattoos symbolise rites of passage for Amazigh girls; swimming pool at Kasbah Bab Ourika; the writer admires the views

My foray into Berber beauty rites continues at the next stop on my adventure in the High Atlas – Kasbah Tamadot, Richard Branson’s Moroccan retreat overlooking the Asni Valley. Originally built in the 1920s and previously owned by an antiques dealer, it is filled with decorative items from all over the world, including ornate Chinese trunks and Balinese wall tapestries. Branson spent five years renovating the property before launching it as a hotel, and as part of the revamp added luxury tents in the gardens – the kind that include a comfortable lounge, spacious bathroom, and sun terrace with a Jacuzzi. Having checked into my little corner of glamping heaven, I pop down to the spa where I’m pampered from head to toe with a body wrap and facial that drench my skin in locally sourced damask rose, renowned for its hydrating and healing effect.

Day trip: Exploring the High Atlas The highest village in North Africa, Armed, is full of rustic charm A guided hike around the Imlil Valley, 14km from Kasbah Tamadot, is a chance to explore the rugged beauty of the High Atlas and visit the little communities dotted around it. Here you’ll find shops selling traditional Berber handicrafts including silver jewellery and carpets, and in the village of Armed, the highest in North Africa, you can stop for lunch and enjoy views of Mount Toubkal, which at 4,167m high is the tallest peak in the region. Arranged through Kasbah Tamadot, the four-hour excursion, which includes a moderate 3km trek, costs HK$2,104 for two people.

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The treatment, Eve’s Rose Delight, is named after Sir Richard’s mother and later I discover another of her legacies as I visit the Eve Branson Foundation Craft Centres, where local young men train in carpentry and women practise hand embroidery and weaving on traditional looms.

Their handicrafts, including plush carpets, are found throughout the hotel, and I’m intrigued to learn that there is more to Berber rugs than meets the eye.

Clockwise from top left:

interiors, tents and Moroccan spices at Kasbah Tamadot; a Berber carpet seller displays his wares

Even the most basic pattern tends to have hidden meanings, a carpet seller in the nearby village of Imlil tells me. Holding up a sheep-wool and camel hair creation dyed with saffron, cherry and indigo as an example, he explains that the colourful geometric shapes convey messages about the weaver’s life – how many children she has, whether she’s happy with her husband – sometimes even advice for her daughter, as carpets would traditionally form part of a woman’s dowry.

I think back to the women I met in Tagadirt, and wonder what they would express in a carpet design. Like countless generations before them,

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ATLAS MOUNTAINS

they are devoted to their family and local community, a simple but meaningful existence, and they seemed happy. In some respects, life may be changing for the people of the Atlas Mountains – I spotted mobile phones and satellite dishes attached to mudbrick houses – but what I noticed everywhere I went in the region was its deeply rooted cultural identity.

Proudly celebrated at both Kasbah Bab Ourika and Kasbah Tamadot, whether with tea-making and bread-baking classes or in the efforts to preserve traditional crafts, it made for an unforgettable stay. The Atlas Mountains and Berber people made their way into my heart, and I know I’ll return.

Rooms at Kasbah Bab Ourika are priced from HK$1,387; kasbahbabourika.com Rooms at Kasbah Tamadot are priced from HK$5,000, tents from HK$8,275; kasbahtamadot.virgin.com

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TURNING LEFT

EASTERN PROMISE Etihad offers passengers world-class service and one of the best business class products in the region on its flights between Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi, says

Nick Walton

BACKGROUND

One of the most pioneering airlines to come out of the Middle East, Etihad not only has a modern fleet and extensive network, but its dedication to infight service have ensured it remains a byword for refined air travel globally.

CHECK-IN/THE LOUNGE

I checked in online using Etihad’s very userfriendly app but had to deposit my bags at Hong Kong International. A rather surly third-party staff member checked me in, forgot my lounge pass, and neglected to ask if I had recently travelled to China in light of the Coronavirus outbreak, although I could hear her colleagues asking other passengers.

However, boarding pass in hand, I quickly passed through security, bound for the Hong Kong Airlines Club Bauhinia lounge, located near gate 25.

At the gate, the stated boarding time of 5.30 pm came and went without comment and it wasn’t until 6pm that the boarding process began, with passengers quickly boarding the two-class Boeing 787-9.

Once on board, crew served glasses of Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Brut champagne.

Impressive levels of service were evident as soon as I sat down; there was a professional efficiency about the crew as we prepared for take-off, and afterwards, this turned into the genuine warmth.

THE SEAT

My window seat, 8A, on the port side of the aircraft, was one of 28 lie-flat business class seats, set in a 2-4-2 configuration that sees some seats facing aft and others facing forward. The “business studio” seat on the 787 is similar to those found on the airline’s A380 and is a symphony of curves and surfaces

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that at first look a little ungainly but quickly reveal themselves as intuitive.

The first thing you’ll notice is that there is plenty of surface area, which sets this 22-inchwide seat apart from many others and makes it very functional for people looking to work or keep essentials close at hand. The next thing the curious will find is a great storage space under one of these surfaces – the cubby hole at elbow level has a pair of Etihad’s headphones and a bottle of water inside but there’s also room for the stylish Acqua Di Parma amenity kit and a case for my headphones.

When you lift the hatch lid, you’ll also be able to easily access the headphone jack, which is located below the armrest. Located beside this jack is a space for an additional water bottle.

The seat itself is extremely comfortable and when combined with the small ottoman located beneath the 18-5-inch touchscreen monitor, makes for a very comfortable bed in the skies, especially when coupled with a nice, firm pillow and comfortable duvet.

There’s also room for one’s shoes beneath the ottoman which is great when you have size 14 loafers like me.

DINING

The dinner service began with a well-mixed bourbon and soda and a bowl of warm nuts. What impressed me was how the crew replenished both when required, without being asked. The meal began with the choice of an Arabic mezze platter or char siu chicken. For mains, I went for beef with gratin potatoes, French beans, caramelised onions and a garlic and rosemary jus. The beef was perfectly cooked and tender, and with the silky potatoes and onions was the perfect comfort dish for an evening flight. I opted to match my steak with a glass of Yabby Lake Red Claw Shiraz from Australia.

Afterwards we were offered a choice of artisan cheeses, and desserts including a warm chocolate fondant with vanilla sauce and a strawberry and rhubarb tart with vanilla ice cream. I decided to skip dessert in order to get some sleep and as we cruised over Thailand, I converted the seat into a bed and was quickly sound asleep.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Etihad IFE system offers a comprehensive range of new release and classic flicks, as well as some great television shows, and through this and my subsequent three flights with the airline, I consistently found films to enjoy on the large personal monitor.

Navigating the system is also easy thanks to the separate remote.

SERVICE

Etihad’s world-class service levels were evident very early on in the flight and remained throughout. In the business class cabin, a young Serb named Milosh made wine selections and topped up drinks throughout the meal service and also ensured guests wanted for nothing throughout the evening.

While having a nice seat and a new plane is great, it’s Etihad’s consistently excellent and intuitive service that really stands the airline apart from its Middle East competitors, and many of its Asian rivals for that matter.

SUMMARY

We have flown with Etihad before and on those flights, the service levels were impeccable, even when the hardware was a little dated. Now, with the airline flying the 787 Dreamliner on the Hong Kong-Abu Dhabi route, business travellers are ensured worldclass comfort.

A business class return flight from Hong Kong to Abu Dhabi costs from US$2,060 per person

JET FEATURE YACHTS

The Palmer Johnson Khalilah is the first all-carbon superyacht

THE SUPERYACHT LIFE Take to the Pacific Ocean in style on one of these magnificent superyachts recommended by passionate seafarer Robyn Tucker-Peck

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JET FEATURE YACHTS

“Water is life. All life comes from the ocean. Water sustains us, divides us and connects us. Water love leads to a deeper understanding of who we are and how we are shaped by our interaction with the most prevalent substance on our planet,” Andrew Ciccone recently wrote in his renowned blog watercheck.biz, adding, “instinctively we realise that being by water makes us healthier, happier and brings us peace.”

What is water to you? Water to me is where I find peace, and happiness. Whether it is the ocean, a stream, a lake, a pool or a waterfall, once I am immersed in it, I feel freedom and pure joy.

It is not surprising, then, that I love any floating object that can exist on the water, whether it be yachts, boats, lie-lows, canoes, houseboats, floating restaurants, float planes, piers or any other structure. Combine the ocean with civilised living on the water for a yacht, or even better, superyacht, and I’m in heaven.

SAILING THE PACIFIC The Asia Pacific is strategically suited for yachting with exotic volcanic islands, natural reefs, white sand beaches, stunning coastlines and abundant seas. Experiencing coves and inlets at different locations up and down the coast and mooring at different harbours gives you an opportunity to enjoy the unique settings offered by that country. Traveling by yacht gives you the best of both worlds, the ability to be outside surrounded by the ocean with the fresh air blowing on your face while lying on the sunny deck, or to be inside with a cold drink being lulled by the slow rock of the ocean waves and the hum of the engines. Sleeping on a yacht is cosy and adventurous with a distinct feeling of being alone in the middle of the ocean, far away from the constraints of land, people, the bustle of the city and the routine of day to day life. Viewing the land from the sea gives you a completely different perspective. For me, it instills serenity and silence like nothing else.

Modern yachts are like floating condos, a personalised cruise with no one else to interact with. You can buy your own yacht, charter one or build your own customised version.

They come in different lengths and widths, so depending on your budget, size is totally your choice.

For charters there are many companies who offer this fabulous service, which usually comes with a captain and full crew. All your meals are cooked and served, the cabins are cleaned, and the yacht is operated and maintained by the captain and crew. It’s a hotel on water.

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CHARTER THE

PALMER JOHNSON DB9

T

he Palmer Johnson DB9 can accommodate 12 guests and has five cabins (three doubles and two twins) with a bed configuration of three king size beds and four singles. The length of the yacht is 52.36 metres, the draft is 2.44 metres and beam is 9.50 metres. With an onboard crew of 11, three separate pool areas include an 8m swimming pool with loungers for soaking up the sunshine. A fabulous open-air cinema on the sundeck, meanwhile, provides entertainment in the evening.

Air conditioning, a must in the tropics, along with a jacuzzi, a gym and onboard wifi give passengers their perfect personal space while being connected to the outside world. The DB9 can cruise at 24 knots or at its maximum 32.5 knots, which is approximately 37 miles per hour or 60 kilometres per hour.

This sleek luxurious yacht with sweeping curves and champagne exterior was designed by Italian studio Nuvolari & Lenard. The DB9 exterior and interior sets a highly styled exterior and an elegant modern interior with spacious contemporary living space pairing neutral furnishings with polished wood panelling plus metal accents for a touch of modern chic. superyachtsmonaco.com

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GO LARGE WITH

S

SUNSEEKER

unseeker is one of the world’s leading brands for luxury performance motor yachts. From its manufacturing base in Poole in Dorset on the south coast of England, Sunseeker’s dedicated design & technology centre integrates every detail of the yachts from the initial concept designs through to the finishing details including furniture, complex electrical systems, helm consoles and soft furnishings.

Demand for the company’s larger models continues to grow year-on-year with more than 130 yachts over 100 feet in length already delivered. Looking for something highly personalised? Then check out the company’s bespoke customisation service.

Based on the classic Sunseeker deep V hull, the 131 is a large tri-deck yacht equally comfortable operating at 10 knots for an extended cruising range of 1,500 nautical miles or at 23 knots for ultimate performance.

At 131 feet (40 metres) this is one of their largest models. Sean Robertson, sales director at Sunseeker International says: “The 131 Yacht really builds on the success of our proven superyacht platform, adding more technical innovation, more advanced features and contemporary layouts that can be tailored in every way to meet the needs of our most discerning customers. The first five of these stunning yachts have already been sold to clients from all over the world, underlining the strong demand and global appeal we’re seeing for this exciting new evolution in design.” sunseeker.com

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EMBRACE BENETTI’S CHIC EUROPEAN STYLE

I

taly’s oldest shipyard, Benetti, was established in 1873 and specialises in luxury yachts. Each is unique, created according to the desires of the owner, with the quality, expertise and reliability of a shipyard that has built more than 400 vessels. Benetti designs, builds and markets composite, steel and aluminium yachts from 29 to 45 metres in length, and steel and aluminium yachts from 45 to over 100 metres in length.

One of its many yachts is Seasense, a 67-metre custom yacht, whose elegant, original exteriors were created by Dutch designer Cor D. Rover. On the main deck is a surprising 10 x 4m swimming pool with a large sunbathing area, which can be covered to form a free deck space for use as a basketball court. A standout detail is the teak planking, which is laid sideways rather that lengthways as is usually the case.

Like the layout of the outdoor areas, the interiors comfortably accommodate 12 guests in six suites.

The interior layout on the main deck is a truly original solution. The salon, which is accessed directly from the indoor-outdoor area, is a fullyfledged living/screening room with armchairs and a large L-shaped sofa, commissioned by the owner for his family. It also has access to the lobby and grey Antartide marble spiral staircase, featuring under-step lighting and a blue wooden structure with steel inserts that flow with the dynamic progression of the stairway.

Seasense adopts a classic approach, with a displacement hull powered by two Caterpillar engines delivering 1,380 kW each, ensuring performance in line with this type of boat and maximum comfort. In this configuration, Seasense has a top speed of 15.5 knots, with a range of 5,000 nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots. benettiyachts.it

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YACHTS

CUSTOMISE WITH THE STORMBREAKER

T

he Stormbreaker is the sort of superyacht you can build with custom everything. A trailblazing design from acclaimed yacht designer Theodoros Fotiadis, Project Stormbreaker is the next level of go-anywhere explorer yacht.

Ready to build at 90m or 115m with longrange cruising capability, this new project from the Berlin-based shipyard is a level above her peers and the first of a new breed of hybrid superyacht.

Powerful and muscular with razor-sharp lines, it will boast the range, luxurious space and immense technical ability to ensure that owners and guests enjoy an epic adventure, being primed for optimal cruising in all climates.

A hybrid superyacht powered by a dieselelectric engine, Project Stormbreaker features an efficient propulsion system plus highbandwidth capable internet connectivity, even at the polar extremes of navigation.

Its modern interior is centred around a structural glass atrium at the heart of the yacht.

Designed to flood the open-plan interior with

natural light, this atmospheric enables guests to feel at one with the elements.

Project Stormbreaker features a fully integrated and interactive audio-visual experience from Icon Connect plus an interactive infotainment system for real-time environment and voyage awareness. Interior highlights include a spa/gym complex, cigar lounge, dining lounge, private office, art gallery, library and beach club. She also comes with a large tender garage to house smaller boats or a submarine plus an observation deck, open-air pool and a hangar for full helicopter operations. Project Stormbreaker is additionally equipped with a panoramic 360-degree imaging system to record and broadcast live footage of your destination ensuring you never miss a whale breach or icefall while cruising. The superyacht is exclusively for sale with Super Yachts Monaco. superyachtsmonaco.com

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LUXE IT UP WITH THE

PALMER JOHNSON KHALILAH birch wood panelling and feature full-length picture windows offering panoramic views.

Located on the lower deck, Khalilah’s stylish and modern guest accommodation includes two VIP staterooms plus a twin cabin with a Pullman bed.

Decorated in soft tones and featuring individual accent colours, each of the guest staterooms enjoys ensuite bathroom facilities. Khalilah also has a generously sized crew mess with accommodation for a nine-person crew on the lower deck.

Styled by the inhouse team, Khalilah’s interior blends contemporary chic with a distinct Asian influence. Huge windows flood the living space with light while a mix of simple and sculpted interior lines creates a rich palette of textures throughout.

F

ounded in 1918, Palmer Johnson Yachts is a brand focused on vision and innovation. From its humble beginnings as a wooden boat builder to its revolutionary SuperSport series, its brand values of design, performance and emotional appeal have been a constant reinforcement in building beautiful yachts.

The Khalilah is one of the brand’s most striking superyachts, The first hull in the yards’ new Supersports series and the first all-carbon superyacht ever. She was designed to offer optimal fuel consumption when cruising at high speeds with no need for zero-speed stabilisers thanks to her 10.8m beam.

Powered by twin 16V MTU diesel M94 engines, she has an impressive top speed of 25 knots and boasts a transatlantic range when cruising at 18 knots.

Offering a uniquely versatile interior layout, Khalilah can accommodate 11 guests across her five staterooms, which include two master suites. Light and open, the master staterooms are finished with bleached

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Combining a pared-down superstructure with bold lines and a state-of-the-art wave-penetrating bow, the Khalilah has an instantly recognisable profile finished in custom cordova gold for a dash of luxe. superyachtsmonaco.com

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VIETNAM VA VA VOOM

Vietnam Airlines is working hard to secure Skytrax’s five-star status, says Helen Dalley, who recently strapped in for a flight from Hanoi to Heathrow

BACKGROUND

THE SEAT

Part of the Skyteam Alliance family, Vietnam Airlines is recognised as a four-star airline and is working hard to earn that coveted five star certificate, and is well on its way, being recognised as one of the world’s most improved airlines in 2016. The previous year, it became the first airline globally to successfully operate both next-generation aircraft Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A350-900 XWB at the same time.

Overwhelmed with fatigue, I couldn’t be happier to flop into my seat and pull a warm, soft blanket over my knees. Vietnam Airline’s business class seats aboard the Boeing 787 have a seat pitch of 42 inches and reclining seats of up to 180 degrees so there’s plenty of room to stretch out. After a glass of Champagne and some orange juice, I’m nodding off. I turn my seat into a flat bed and get a solid seven hours sleep, grateful that cabin crew haven’t woken me for supper, even if the menu of Vietnamese-style chicken noodle soup, grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce or rolled prawn with pork and tomato sauce all sounded like solid options.

CHECK-IN/THE LOUNGE Having arrived from Hong Kong into Hanoi on VN93 at 15.45, and my connecting flight to Heathrow not due to leave until 01.35am, I’m in the lounge for the long haul. After next to no sleep and a week of meetings, I feel this is perhaps no bad thing. I’m exhausted and head straight to the massage chairs, discreetly hidden behind a row of plants, in a bid to help alleviate the tension of the last week. Feeling somewhat refreshed after 20 minutes or so, I stop by the buffet to pick up some pho, leaning in to inhale the fragrant basil and lemongrass, before positioning myself at one of the lounge seats by the runway with my laptop. Come evening time, the lounge has a pleasant buzz about it; I’m sitting next to a couple of architects poring over plans with a Hanoi beer in my hand.

Check in is swift, smooth and friendly, and we’re quickly onboard in good time for the scheduled take-off.

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DINING I wake up just in time for breakfast, and there’s Vietnamese beef noodle soup, or pho bo on the menu, along with vegetable omelette, grilled sausage and potato or a cold dish of ham, cheese and sausage. I opt for the omelette, which is firm and flavourful, and grab a couple of items from the bread selection, which includes mini peach and coconut Danish pastries and soft rolls sprinkled with almonds. There’s also muesli and cornflakes should you be particularly peckish.

ENTERTAINMENT The Lotustar inflight entertainment system is showing several blockbusters, but given the

late hour, I’m more interested in sleep than TV. Like most Asian airlines, the entertainment is the usual mix of international & Asian film releases and shows, along with chart-topping audio, interactive games and a kids’ section to keep the little ones entertained. There’s the option to stream inflight entertainment onto your laptop, tablet or phone if you’re travelling on the A321-neo.

SERVICE Asian heavyweights like Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, which are renowned for their show-stopping service worldwide, can make it difficult for other airlines based in the region to get noticed. But there was much to applaud staff for on the flight, who were warm, pleasant and courteous, female cabin crew stylish and graceful in their traditional ao dai dress.

SUMMARY With so many award-winning airlines to compete against in the region, Vietnam Airlines must continue its fight for recognition. But if the overall experience continues to be this impressive, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be awarded that much longed-for five star status from Skytrax very soon. vietnamairlines.com A business class return flight from Hanoi to Heathrow with Vietnam Airlines costs from US$3,183 per person

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KAZAKHSTAN’S

BOUTIQUE BEAUTY

Flying Hong Kong to Almaty with Air Astana convinced Nick Walton it has the style to compete with the big-name carriers

CHECK-IN/THE LOUNGE After checking in at Hong Kong International at a dedicated business class counter I made my way to the Plaza Premium First lounge located near gate 5. Here the experience is a little hit and miss: a revolution in pay-in independent lounges, Plaza Premium First at HKIA is the first of a new brand of luxury lounges operated by Plaza Premium Group.

After a lengthy wait to get in, I’m greeted at the lounge’s 40-seat a la carte restaurant Primo, where cheerful staff serve breakfast, in my case scrambled eggs and avocado on toast and a glass of champagne.

The lounge also has intimate relaxation areas, workstations, a self-service space with fresh salads and fruit, a cocktail bar that serves an impressive array of beverages ranging from Old and New World wines and tea-laced mocktails to barrel-aged cocktails and boutique whiskey. There’s also a small spa offering complimentary massages.

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We board at gate 41 onto an Air Astana 757-200 and are welcomed into the 16seat business class cabin. As we prepare for departure, crew offer glasses of juice and water, and a stylish amenity kit that includes moisturiser, hand cream and lip balm from La Mer, all housed in a sleek leather case by Italian brand Bric’s. Before long we’re taxiing to the eastern end of the southern runway at HKIA, taking off on time on the six-hour 50-minute journey across China to Almaty.

For the mains, we’re offered a choice of Chinese five-spiced duck, char-grilled beef tenderloin; Parmesan arancini; tiger prawns with sweet and sour sauce; and sweet and spicy braised tofu. While the beef, which I pair with a Royal Reserve Saperavi Chelti from Georgia, is quite tough and refuses to yield to my little airline knife, the dessert, a vanilla mousse with passionfruit coulis is enough to bring a tear to the eye. Lunch also comes with a small box of bite-sized candy bars, which comes in handy during the transit in Almaty.

THE SEAT

ENTERTAINMENT

As soon as you walk into the business class cabin on the Air Astana 757, you know you’re in for something a little different. With minimalist seats in white leather and cabin lighting in soothing indigo, the vibe is that of a private jet rather than a commercial plane.

The cabin’s business class seats are well spaced apart (especially those closest to the bulkhead) and what they lack in amenities they make up for in style. Ideally suited for mid-range journeys, especially during the day, the 21-inch wide seats are angled lieflat when in bed mode, making them better suited for naps than longer sleeps, and feature AC ports, individual air nozzles, and plenty of storage.

DINING The crew quickly began the meal service after we reached cruising altitude. I opted for a Bloody Mary made with Kazakhstan’s own Snow Queen vodka to pair with the appetiser of sweet chili marinated prawns with smoked Norwegian salmon, and dory fish mousseline with lime. This is complemented by a mixed salad and, something few airlines do any more, a heart-warming butternut squash soup with paprika-garlic croutons. The prawns were delicate and flavourful and the soup was hearty and rich.

The seats on the 757 don’t have a built-in entertainment system so after takeoff crew handed out headphones and tablets preloaded with a host of movies and television shows. However, if you’re looking for the latest shows or blockbusters, it might be wise to bring your own tablet or laptop, as I did, as well as your own noise reduction headphones if sound quality is something you take seriously.

SERVICE

Air Astana has always impressed us with its world-class and consistent service levels and this flight was no different. The attentive crew were not only warm and welcoming but also efficient and professional and anticipated requests. Throughout the flight, cabin crew checked in on passengers, refilled drinks, and even offered suggestions for dining hotspots in Almaty.

SUMMARY

We land in snowy Almaty, on time, sated and thoroughly relaxed after yet another impressive flight from the airline every frequent flyer should be keeping their eye on. airastana.com

A business class return flight from Hong Kong to Alamaty costs from US$2,700 per person

LIFESTYLE

SUNSET DINNERS

HUE’S MODERN AUSTRALIAN CUISINE IS PAIRED WITH STELLAR HARBOUR VIEWS

WRITTEN IN THE STARS OMEGA LAUNCHES FIFTH GENERATION OF CONSTELLATION GENTS

CBD-INFUSED FOOD & DRINK

MASERATI LEVANTE ROYALE SPECIAL EDITION

MONO RESTAURANT

IN THE KITCHEN

SINGULARLYGOOD Hong Kong-based hospitality firm JIA Group’s latest venture, Mono, is helmed

by Argentinian Ricardo Chaneton, formerly head chef of three Michelinstarred Restaurant Mirazur, voted #1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants last year.

Serving a contemporary take on French cuisine, it discards the traditional a la carte menu format for a Mono (single) tasting menu, says Helen Dalley

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IN THE KITCHEN How did the partnership with JIA Group come about and what do you like about working with them?

I love working with a company where the people are so passionate about food. And I appreciate the chance to add to my professional experience in a place that is still keen to grow.

The restaurant respects sustainability and responsible sourcing. Can you give some examples?

Ninety per cent of our fish are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the rest are sourced by small boats and line caught. In the kitchen we use as little plastic as we can, and have our own containers that we can give to suppliers to refill. We also partner with the Zero Foodprint, which supports regenerative farming projects, and charge a 3 per cent carbon tax, which is passed onto organisations directly battling the carbon footprint to offset ours.

How do diners in Hong Kong differ to those in France and Spain, where you have worked in kitchens?

Hong Kong is very different to Spain – the Spanish eat very late! Local guests are very knowledgeable and welltravelled. They know how things should be, are appreciative, and open to new experiences.

Tell us about some of the ingredients you’re most excited about working with right now?

Veal sweet breads and monkfish are two of my many favourite ingredients. With those I make my signature dish, Monkbread, which is basically a statement to serve two very different ingredients yet so similar in terms of cooking method.

Your background includes a stint at three-Michelin starred restaurant Mirazur. What were some of the highlights of that experience, and how did you cope with the pressure of working at a threeMichelin starred restaurant?

I loved being in Spain, and the feeling of becoming part of something great in such a short time. Mirazur took me back to contact with gardens, farms and fishermen and the starting point of the best produce in the world. It also taught me about seasonality and respect for the soil.

Where do you like to eat in Hong Kong and what are some of your favourite Chinese dishes?

I love the suckling crispy pig stuffed with sticky rice at the Kimberly hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui and also the snake soup in Sheung Wan at the local snake shop. In Prince Edward, you can find very good cuttlefish ball soup and great seafood restaurants too. I also love the fried rice at Four Seasons Lung King Heen and the amazing dim sum at Duddells.

You left your position of executive chef at Petrus, Island Shangri-La, to open your own restaurant. What were some of the highlights of your time there and why?

It was an honour to be part of such historical restaurant at just 28 years old. I learned from a giant of the hospitality industry a lot about matters of management, administration, finance and corporate relationships. This background helped when it came opening my own restaurant.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a chef in Hong Kong?

The major advantage is that I have access to products from almost everywhere in the world. But I wish I had a garden in my backyard.

Do you know many other chefs in Hong Kong? Is there a sense of community and networking?

Yes I do, although not so well as everybody is very busy. Hong Kong is a very competitive place but I’m happy to see healthy competition where everyone supports each other.

How will the menu continue to evolve at Mono?

Mono is a French contemporary restaurant – I lived in France for seven years, and French culture is still around me. As I’m Venezuelan, our objective will be to keep pushing for a more refined south American cuisine where the authentic flavours from my DNA are present in a structured French menu that incorporates French, Spanish and Italian seasonal products. mono.hk

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FOOD ADVENTURES

Afternoon tea at Farmacy London includes CBD-infused chocolates

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FOOD ADVENTURES

MOOD

ENHANCING FOOD Beat stress and enhance your mood by sampling cannabidiol (CBD) and hempinfused food and drink menus at one of these four global locations

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ooking for a CBD-infused beer to sample in Hong Kong? Then check out Oh CBD Beer HK (facebook.com/ohcbdbeerhk), which has produced a 3.5 per cent IPA-style ale in partnership with local brewery One Kick. Containing 20mg of mood-enhancing CBD, the beer is available in bars across the city including local ale champion The Globe, but you can take it away from alcohol retail stores including Alien Bottle if you prefer to sample it at home.

Owned by Camila Fayed, daughter of Harrod’s owner Dodi, Farmacy (farmacylondon.com) puts a high-end spin on CBDinfused food and drink from its stylish spot in Notting Hill.

Swing by in the afternoon for the high tea, which includes a pot of hemp leaf tea, a CBD-infused cocktail and three tiers of sumptuous, delicacies, including smoked tofu and truffle sandwiches, scones with coconut clotted cream and CBDinfused chocolates.

Next time you’re in San Francisco, find out when monthly underground pop-up Cannaisseur Series (cannaiseurseries. com) is being held, unique food and cannabis flower, edibles and extracts from California’s finest purveyors. Small infused bites are served as hors d’oeuvres and non-infused meals are paired with flowers provided by local cultivators.

Located in Melbourne’s St Kilda, Hemp Kitchen (hempkitchen. com.au) is Australia’s first restaurant with a hemp-based menu, which includes hemp cannoli shells and hemp bread made on the premises. Try the garlic focaccia with garlicinfused hemp oil, and the gnocchi with homemade hemp pesto. If you’re gluten-intolerant but have a hankering for pizza, then this joint is also worth checking out, as all dishes on the menu are gluten-free, while vegans may enjoy the panna cotta made from hemp milk.

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TOP TABLES

WHAT’S COOKING? Innovative eateries in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Dubai and Phuket open their doors

FEATHER & BONE MAKES KOWLOON DEBUT

Hong Kong’s favourite butcher, Feather & Bone, has opened in the OP Mall, a slick waterfront affair that sits atop MTR Tsuen Wan West Station that opened at the end of 2019.

Boasting a 1,400 square foot shop, 2,000 square foot restaurant and 2,900 square foot waterfront terrace, customers can hand pick steak, carved cuts and Feather & Bone’s homemade sausages to enjoy at home or in-house at the butchers counter, while a walk-in wine cellar offers stellar vintages to accompany your prime cuts.

Want to linger? There are 70 seats on the terrace overlooking the water, including two sofa swings for those coffee and paperback moments. featherandbone.com.hk

MARINA BAY SANDS DEBUTS MOTT 32

Marina Bay Sands is now home to a branch of awardwinning Chinese restaurant Mott 32, joining locations in Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Seoul, and Vancouver. Since opening six years ago in Hong Kong, Mott 32 has become renowned for its signature approach to regional Chinese cuisine, which is characterised by recipes handed down from generation prepared using progressive cooking techniques and premium ingredients.

Helming the kitchens of Mott 32 Singapore is Hong Kong-born executive chef Chan Wai Keung, a veteran chef is known for his mastery in seafood, dim sum and soups. Items exclusive to Mott 32 Singapore are the signature crispy sugar coated Peking duck bun, crispy prawns with salty egg yolk and oatmeal, and the wokfried live whole crab in black pepper.

CHEF DANIEL HUMM OPENS DAVIES AND BROOK AT CLARIDGE’S

Davies and Brook at Claridge’s is the first London restaurant from renowned chef Daniel Humm, of Eleven Madison Park in New York, whose accolades have included three Michelin stars, and making it to the top of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

Regarded a sibling of Eleven Madison Park, Davies and Brook offer contemporary dishes influenced by London’s eclectic food and cultural scene and reflect Daniel’s upbringing in Europe, including a stint at Claridge’s as a 15-year old commis chef, and his time in NYC.

Dishes include crispy rice salad with citrus-marinated yellowtail with pickled white carrots, jicama and a herb pesto, and short rib with mint, poached endive and a mojo vinaigrette. The famed roasted duck dish from Eleven Madison Park will also cross the pond, which is dry aged in-house for 14 days, then glazed with lavender and honey.

There will be a seasonally changing lunch and dinner menu, a tasting menu, and a daily lunch menu. claridges.co.uk

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Mott 32 is also renowned for its gastronomic Cantonese dim sum items, such as black truffle siu mai, garoupa, caviar & gold leaf and signature crispy sugar coated BBQ Iberico pork bun. marinabaysands.com

TOP TABLES

HOTEL INDIGO DUBAI DOWNTOWN DEBUTS SEVERAL DINING CONCEPTS

Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown, the brand's first ever hotel in the Middle East, has opened its doors along the banks of the Dubai Creek, minutes away from Burj Khalifa. It brings several new dining options to the area. For a social dining experience, check out the Neighborhood Café, which has a sharing style menu showcasing Levant flavours. Fancy a coffee? The café also brews Dubai's finest locally roasted specialty coffee with partner Café Rider Custom Roastery.

Those looking for more virtuous options can pick up a smoothie from the Juice Bar/Concept Store, Bakala Jooos.

Alternatively, if you're in search of fun night out, swing by the Pop Art/Satwa-inspired signature cocktail bar for uniquely crafted cocktails. Looking to unwind poolside? Then chill with beats and shisha at the Pool Deck. hotelindigo.com

DIG INTO WAGYU AT TWIN PALMS PHUKET

A new restaurant, Wagyu Steakhouse, has made its debut at Twin Palms Phuket. Featuring a choice of prime Wagyu beef from the award-winning Australian region Darling Downs, a beech oven grill meticulously cooks in-house dry-aged steaks according to diners’ preference. Designed by Nao Taniyama, the interior showcases a mix of metals that coolly contrast with rich fabrics, while a textured wall is another visual highlight. A vertical garden wall, meanwhile, delivers a tranquil natural backdrop as you tuck into your steak.

To further enhance the restaurant journey, diners may choose their knife from a selection of five brands: Laguiole, Opinel, Anarchy, KAI Wasabi and Dalstrong Gladiator. In addition to steak, snow fish, tuna tartare and lobster bisque are also on the menu, alongside desserts and cheeses. twinpalmsphuket.com

JIA LAUNCHES MONO IN HONG KONG

Hong Kong’s JIA Group has teamed up with Ricardo Chaneton, formerly head chef of three-Michelin-starred restaurant Mirazur in France, on Mono, a restaurant that showcases a singular, ingredients-driven tasting menu.

Signature dishes include the Ocean Crudo, a seafood appetiser that comprises Hokkaido scallops, Hokkaido sea urchin, Spanish Carabinero prawn and Brittany oysters, seasoned with Irish moss, Chinese celery, ginger and a vinaigrette of lime juice, Arbequina olive oil and crème of shallots.

Another signature, Monkbread, fuses monkfish from Brittany with French sweetbread, and is served with sweetbread crumbles, monkfish skin, monkfish jus and Jerusalem artichoke puree finished with vanilla. A dish where chef Ricardo’s solid French culinary skills meet his Latin American origin, Mieral pigeon, or Mole, sees a Bresse bird first aged in-house for five days, then roasted on the bone and served mid-rare with its liver mousse ‘bonbon.’ The modern Mexican-style mole sauce is created with 26 spices, and served in front of guests at the chef’s counter for a rustic showcase. mono.hk

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RESTAURANT REVIEW

SHADES OF

EXCELLENCE Hue delivers inspired modern Australian cuisine, crisp, attentive service and jawdropping views to Hong Kong’s harbourfront, says Nick Walton

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ou could be forgiven for rarely venturing over to Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong’s often-chaotic tourist hotspot. Home to some of the city’s leading hotels, the TST harbourfront is famed for its crowds of saucer-eyed visitors. However, the arrival of Hue and its more casual grab-n-go sibling Ink at the newly reopened Museum of Modern Art might be about to change your perceptions.

Dressed in deep forest green and honeyhued birch with touches of Art Decoesque copper and cool ceramic by Australian designer Samantha Eades, the restaurant’s 130-seat dining room pays homage to its artistic locale with captivating wallpaper designs – Oh La La by renowned American abstract artist Kiki Slaughter, Mystic by Jen Merli, and Infinite Path by Stacy Solodkin.

We arrive early to make the most of a dramatic sunset, with a couple of cold Gweilo beers and a table just steps from the water’s edge at Ink. As the last of the light finally drains from the sky, we make our way up one level to Hue, where guests are greeted by an intimate lounge with floor-toceiling views of the harbour, and the first of two private dining rooms, which caters to 26 diners. Restaurant manager Elliott leads us past the restaurant’s cocktail bar and into a long, slender space that’s as much a theatre as it is a dining room, thanks to tiered seating that squarely places the emphasis – until dinner is served at least – on the dramatic views of Victoria Harbour.

The fact that Hue isn’t just another harbourfront tourist trap is apparent as soon as house-made sourdough with smoked New Zealand butter, a round of beautifully made martinis, and our selection of entrees arrive. Hue Caesar takes the classic salad and recreates it as four bite-sized beauties, with cos lettuce leaves cradling applewood smoked egg spiked with bacon-cooked breadcrumbs and thyme, and topped with a single, silvery Spanish white anchovy. As appealing to the eye as it is to the palate, the mini salad is dusted with Vadouvan, a classic spice blend with South Indian and French influence, for a touch of heat. It’s an elegant take on the loose-leaf staple that’s nothing short of brilliant.

The newest creation of hospitality couple Chris Woodyard and Bronwyn Cheung, whose Woolly Pig HK is behind notable establishments Big Sur, Bathers and Madam S’ate, Hue is the culinary domain of Australian chef Anthony Hammel, who takes diners on a journey of inventive and unashamedly modern cuisine, inspired by the country’s rich cultural diversity and paired with an extensive and very reasonably priced list of old and new world wines, the vast majority of which are available by the glass.

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Next up is kombu-cured ocean trout with taramasalata-styled whipped cod roe, salmon eggs and fried potato cakes, with the silky roe and fish the perfect juxtaposition to the hearty potato cakes.

Mayura Wagyu carpaccio from South Australia’s Limestone Coast is seasoned with yuzu kosho (chili peppers, yuzu peel and salt) cream and topped with a large nori cracker.

Our final entrée is grilled octopus on a bed of risoni, a short-cut pasta that offers an interesting alternative to traditional risotto rice. The octopus is smoky and succulent, while the pasta is seasoned with saffron and orange and given earthy depth with some fennel.

The mains arrive just as the Symphony of Lights commences, with the Hong Kong Island cityscape lit up with spotlights and lasers and looking close enough to touch through the restaurant’s towering picture windows.

For the main event we kick off with aged duck breast served with pan-roasted quince and sweet Chinese black garlic, with touches of sweetness and an earthy gaminess from the proud bird. Another star of the evening is the ‘7 Bone’ Wagyu 8-score, which is cooked perfectly (medium rare thank you very much) and paired with a heart-thumping smoked bone marrow sauce, roasted onion leaves that are almost candied, and the mellow warmth of horseradish cream.

Fully sated, we decline Elliott’s offer of dessert. However, diners with a sweet tooth will find the likes of crème fraiche mousse with fresh raspberry and a 72 per cent bitter chocolate tart served with vanilla cream and hazelnut ganache.

This is harbourfront dining so expect a price tag to match, but Hue’s seamless blend of intelligent, intuitive service, fare that’s both inspiring and satisfying, and views you won’t be able to stop snapping with your phone, is a sure winner. huedining.com.hk

SPIRITS

COGNAC WITH

CHARACTER Courvoisier’s Avant-Garde series has added a Bourbon Cask Edition to its range

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inished in Kentucky Bourbon casks to offer a smooth yet bold taste, Courvoisier Avant-Garde Bourbon Cask Edition is the first expression within the Avant-Garde series to be released for a limited time only. The spirit drink begins with the brand’s award-winning VS blend that is then aged to taste in Kentucky Bourbon barrels. Courvoisier’s master blender Patrice Pinet and master distiller Benoît DeSutter collaborated to bring this first-of-itskind blend for the brand to market, and their signatures are displayed on each bottle. "With the help of our local artisans and winegrowers in our hometown of Jarnac, we have developed an innovation that is sure to appeal to cognac and bourbon drinkers alike,” says senior marketing director Stephanie Kang.

With an amber to golden colour, the cognac has vanlla, honey and sweet marmalade notes along with soft, smoky leather. With warming expressions of vanille creme and caramel, the cognac leaves an elegant, soft and velvety finish. courvoisier.com

Courvoisier’s Avant-Garde Bourbon Cask Edition is aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels

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WATCHES

AQUANAUT

GOES GREEN Have you admired Patek Philippe’s Ref 5168G-010 yet?

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The epitome of contemporary sporty chic, the men’s Aquanaut, introduced in 1997, made its debut in steel or rose-gold on a composite strap. To celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2017, Patek Philippe presented the first version in white gold. With a diameter of 42.2mm, this model also claimed the title of largest Aquanaut.

The manufacture has now debuted this white-gold “jumbo” Aquanaut with a khaki green dial and strap.

The dial’s finely embossed checkerboard pattern provides a distinctive backdrop for the applied Arabic numerals, applied five-minute markers and baton-style hour and minute hands, all in white-gold with a luminescent coating. A sweep seconds hand and a date aperture at 3 o’clock complete the time indications.

The sapphire-crystal case back reveals the elegant self-winding manufacture movement while the octagonal case is enhanced by a polished finish on the flat and a satin finish on the caseband, and the bezel alternates between vertically satin-finished flats and polished flanks.

The water-resistant strap features the new patented Aquanaut fold-over clasp, whose four independent catches optimise the security of the opening and closing action. The new Ref. 5168G-010 in khaki green joins the existing model with a blue dial and strap. patek.com

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The khaki green dial has a finely embossed checkerboard pattern

WOLF HK office telephone number +852 2742 3444 Hong Kong: Elegant Watch & Jewellery +852 2117 0000 & 2111 9128 - Masterpiece by King Fook +852 2530 0550 Oriental Watch Company +852 3470 0009 - Right Watch +852 2893 5290 - Yes Watch +852 2366 3288 - Macau: Luck Hock Watch - +853 2838 1429

WATCHES

TOUGH STREET

STYLE

New G-Shocks commemorate the 25th anniversary of the popular DW6900

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ynonymous with toughness, Casio’s G-Shock watch was born from the developer Kikuo Ibe’s dream of creating a watch that would never break, with more than 200 handmade samples created and tested to breaking point prior to the timepiece’s launch in 1983. It quickly established itself as the toughest watch around, thanks to internal components protected with urethane and suspended timekeeping modules inside the watch structure.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of the DW6900 in 1995, the brand has added three new models to the range: the GM6900-1, GM6900G-9 (pictured) and GM6900B-4, each of which bring an edgy, luxe street style look to a classic G-Shock silhouette with their forged metal bezels.

The GM6900G-9 exudes luxe street style

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Inspired by popular music icons and created for today's street fashion enthusiasts, the new timepieces come in stylish chromatic colourways for a look that’s distinctly fashion forward. Taking inspiration from the popular GM-5600, these models feature an eye-catching accent buckle in addition to their cool metal bezels. The GM6900-1 features a silver bezel with a matching silver metal button while the GM6900G-9 stands out with a gold IP bezel and button. The GM6900B-4 has a black IP and metal bezel, metallic red dial and transparent red band. Each are water resistant to 200m and feature a 1/100-second stopwatch, countdown timer and EL backlight. gshock.com

WATCHES

The popular Constellation Gents collection is now in its fifth generation

STARRY

ADDITIONS The fith generation of the Constellation Gents welcomes more than 20 new models to the collection

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ollowing a similar makeover for its Constellation Ladies models in 2018, Omega has ushered in its fifth generation of Constellation

Gents, with 26 models to choose from.

Each of the new models, all sized at 39mm, feature polished and bevelled edges along the case, claws and bracelet, slimmer bezels with redesigned Roman numerals and slimmer claws that fit snugly around the case. A conical crown has also been added, while redesigned hands and hour-markers take inspiration from the triangular facets of the Freedom Tower in New York. Metal bracelets, meanwhile, feature new mid-bar links and a comfort-release function, or leather straps in various colours.

The new updates are available in as 18K yellow gold, 18K Sedna gold and stainless steel, and have been upgraded to Master Chronometer status, achieving the Swiss industry’s highest certification for precision, performance and magnetic resistance. omegawatches.com

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WATCHES

The limited edition FB 1.3.1 Sapphire Blue chronometre is coolly contemporary

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ooking for something exclusive? Only five of Ferdinand Berthoud’s FB 1.3.1 Sapphire Blue chromometre have been released. A new version of the manufacture’s inaugural FB 1 chronometre, the timepiece is structured around a translucent blue dial, platinum case and mounted grey ceramic lugs. Drawing inspiration from marine chronometers, the timepiece has been fitted with the FB-T.FC-2 calibre, which features chamfered sapphire crystal half bridges.

The blue-tinted arrow-shaped tourbillon bridge is finished by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) to preserve the details of the finishes. It is decorated with fine lines echoing the blue-tinted hours and minutes hands and the indicator hand for the 53-hour power reserve, located at 9 o’clock.

Ferdinand Berthoud is producing new variations to all its collections, including its iconic FB 1 Chronometer

The FB-T.FC-2 calibre is regulated by a centre seconds tourbillon and a fusee and chain constant force mechanism. The barrel is fitted with a Maltese Cross stop system, to limit the number of winding turns of the mainspring to half a dozen or so, and increase the timepiece’s accuracy.

The watch has been fitted with a handstitched, rolled-edged alligator leather strap, made from a single piece of leather, together with a two-strand adjustablelength platinum folding safety clasp for a final luxe flourish. ferdinandberthoud.ch

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WISHLIST

TRULY

Electrifying

Steer your way to some fun with the Super73’s R-series range of electric bikes

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nspired by the small vintage motorcycles made popular by fabricators in Southern California in the 1970s, Super73’s range of electric bikes gained momentum when fashion icon Coco Rocha rode a custom-made rose gold model at New York Fashion Week a few years back.

The Super 73 electric motorbike: Will Smith is a fan

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The bike brand is ushering in 2020 with the launch of the R-Series, the base R model and the premium RX model, each of which is programmed with a Class-2 riding mode that allows for pedal assist riding up to 20mph. The Unlimited mode enables riders to each speeds in excess of 28mph (if you’re on private property of course). The bikes also have an electronics suite that pairs with iOS and Android devices through its new mobile app, and receive over-the-air updates to ensure they operate at peak performance.

An optional IoT module enables additional features such as remote anti-theft security, geolocation tracking and crash detection. The bikes are powered by a 960 watt-hour battery, the largest in its segment, which provides an estimated 40-plus miles of range at 20mph when using throttle only operation, and around 75 or more miles of range using the Eco pedal assist mode. super73.com

TECH

I

LOOK

SMART Smart glasses Solos AirGo offer personal assistant & fitness tracking functions plus detachable frames

ntegrating digital health tracking, audio entertainment and personal assistance into one via an in-house developed mobile app, the Solos AirGo are poised to take smart glasses to the mass market. Featuring detachable smart temples, these smart specs motivate users to achieve their fitness goals and feature patented Whisper audio technology for noise cancellation. With Lego-like temples, users can snap on different frames according to their shape, size, colour and material preference, and incorporate the latest season’s trends into their eyewear. In addition to tracking fitness activities including step count and heart rate, the glasses can help users maintain the correct posture and remind you to drink more water.

A Hong Kong-based tech start-up spin off from Kopin Corporation, which has developed smart glasses for the US military and also worked with Google Glass, Solos was established to focus on developing smart glasses for the mainstream market. It debuted its first smart glasses, the US Olympian-approved smart cycling glasses Solos Sports, in 2019.

The startup has recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign and is about to make its official debut: expect to see Solos AirGo for sale on the brand’s website or in select retailers soon for around US$299. solos.com.hk

With the Solos AirGo, you can listen to music, make phone calls and achieve fitness goals

JETSETTER-MAGAZINE.COM

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LUGGAGE

Simplify life on the move with a case from Tumi’s Spring 2020 collection

A CASE FOR EVERY

OCCASION

Tumi debuts its Spring 2020 collection, including its first-ever range made from recycled materials

T

his Spring, Tumi’s design journey incorporates new lightweight materials, sustainable fabrics and this season’s most covetable palettes, including lime and blush.

Season highlights include the 19 Degree Polycarbonate relaunched as an exclusive only available in Asia-Pacific. Taking inspiration from the renowned 19 Degree Aluminum, it delivers the collection’s contoured angles and intuitive case design in its lightest iteration with added expansion capabilities, a USB power port, and integrated TSA lock system.

Each expandable piece in the polycarbonate assortment is wrapped in a special film to reflect light as the bag moves and is available in new colourways of hairline blackberry, hairline navy, and hairline black.

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Elsewhere, the 19 Degree Aluminum collection features contoured angles that balance fashion with function. The reinforced frame case design, snap closures and die-cast corner caps are all designed for durability. The interior features a lightweight lining with embossed diamond pattern, while blush and bright lime debut as seasonal colourways.

Tumi is continuing its sustainability journey with the brand’s first-ever travel collection made with recycled materials, Tumi Merge, which reflects how boundaries between work and life have become less defined. Featuring body fabric made from post-industrial recycled nylon and interior fabric lining made from post-consumer recycled PET materials, the season’s core colour is black, with grey/bright lime and grey/bright red as seasonal colour pops. tumi.com

STYLE

SNEAKER

STYLE Coach expands its footwear offering with the CitySole range

Celebrity sneakers: the CitySole is available in three distinctive styles: Court, Runner and Lowline

C

oach’s CitySole debuted in Coach's Spring 2020 collection in a cool campaign led by the global faces of the house Jennifer

Lopez and Michael B. Jordan.

The collection comprises three styles that fuse the codes of American sportswear with Coach's proprietary CitySole technology. The CitySole Court references classic basketball sneakers with a triangular toe box, pivot point on the outsole, and distinctive 3M seam taping. The CitySole Runner draws from the silhouettes of running shoes, with a robust heel and grooved details for added traction. The CitySole Lowline is Coach's updated take on a classic low-top – a versatile, minimalist sneaker that can be worn in any context.

“When you grow up in New York, sneakers are such a big part of your lifestyle because you have to pound the pavement,” says Lopez. “Coach CitySole is perfect for my lifestyle – I'm a dancer, and I'm always on the go and they're very versatile. They can be dressed up and dressed down, and can be functional but also super fashionable.” coach.com

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BEAUTY TRAVEL Embrace the trend for clean beauty with Korean brand Aromatica

CLEAN BEAUTY K

Make an ethical, sustainable choice next time you’re on the look-out for skincare

orean beauty brand Aromatica, which prides itself on its clean, ethical beauty philosophy, has debuted a newly-refreshed reviving rose infusion toner, serum and cream with richer moisturising formulas.

toner is powered by rose vitamins to replenish hydration and balance skin tone. Rosa damascena, known to have antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, makes for a great first step to prep skin.

Comprised of damask rose infusion water and essential oil, the reviving rose infusion serum helps revitalise and brighten, while the reviving rose infusion cream features the same essence as the serum plus organic argan oil, shea butter, and babassu oil. With a softer texture and richer formula, the cream is formulated to fully absorb the damask rose water to help lock in moisture.

To demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, the reviving rose infusion uses up to 90 per cent A highly concentrated two-layer blend of organic rose recycled glass and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) water and essential oil, the reviving rose infusion certified paper. thearomatica.com This latest skincare collection encapsulates essential products in their purest form, including damask rose flower extract, an anti-oxidant superberry complex, and superfood protein formulas to help revive skin.

The cruelty-free, vegan-approved brand steers clear of animal-derived ingredients, artificial fragrance, and dyes, and its products are suitable for both sensitive and irritated skin.

JETSETTER-MAGAZINE.COM

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TEE OFF

Acheive the most satisfying ball striking of your life with the Tour Striker PlaneMate

Tour Striker’s PlaneMate promises to help golfers of any ability perfect their swing

T

he Tour Striker PlaneMate, a belt featuring interchangeable resistance bands, is designed to help players of all levels improve their swing. The first product of its kind, it assists players to develop muscle memory of the key positions common to most high-level swings and builds muscle and muscle memory faster to help you develop a long smooth backswing that shallows coming into contact.

By adopting the sense of resisting the tension band early in the backswing you’ll train your body to take the club back properly, say Tour Striker. Then, by relaxing your arms and wrists when the tension starts to build, the club will shallow onto a powerful plane inspiring a body rotation for an inside out strike.

The Standard Green Pitch-Motion Band provides moderate resistance designed for less than full swings and works best for developing discipline and skill in takeaway and follow through. The Standard Green Full Swing Band, meanwhile, also offers moderate resistance designed for full swings. Offering intense resistance designed for avid and professional golfers looking for that next level of resistance and development, is the Pro Red Full Swing Band. The brand’s seven-day protocol video series will help you master the bands, which are reversible for right and left-handed golfers. tourstriker.com

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www.silavadeeresort.com

AUTO

THE ROYALE

TREATMENT

The Levante Royal Special Edition pays tribute to a 1986 special edition of the Quattroporte

F

ancy getting your hands on a limited edition Maserati? Then consider the Levante Royale Special Edition, which will see just 100 Maserati Levante, Quattroporte and Ghibli Royales produced respectively on cars fitted with 3.0-litre V6 engines only – that's the 275hp diesel and 350hp or 430hp petrol units.

The limited edition model pays tribute to a 1986 special edition of the Quattroporte, a machine which featured a blue and green colour scheme, luxury leather upholstery and extensive use of wood.

The limited edition series is available in two colours, Blu Royale and Verde Royale, and features 21-inch bespoke Anteo Staggered Anthracite wheels and silver brake calipers. Based on the GranLusso version, interiors are available in Cuoio (tan) leather by Ermenegildo Zegna or twotone Pieno Fiore leather in black/tan. The series’ distinctive “One of 100" number plate will ensure you stand out from the crowd, while the Bowers & Wilkins sound system, electric sunroof and tinted windows all keep things suitably upscale once you close the door. maserati.com

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CULTURE

ART IN GUANGDONG

F

Guangdong’s He Art Museum is set to become a hub for private art in China

ounded by Chinese art collector He Jianfeng, the He Art Museum (HEM) was set to open its doors last month with an inaugural exhibition, From The Mundane World, curated

by Feng Boyi. It will now open later in the year.

Designed by architect Tadao Ando, it is the first art museum dedicated to celebrating southern China’s regional Lingnan culture. Home to the He family’s extensive art collection, it features more than 400 art works and commissions by renowned international and Chinese artists that showcase the indigenous style of painting by artists from Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.

In HEM’s design, Ando draws inspiration from ancient Chinese cosmology, philosophy, western use of light and Lingnan’s terrain. The central

skywell floods each floor of exhibition spaces with natural light, creating spaciousness, clarity and a symbol of hope. The circular form gives a nod to the traditional Chinese architectural principles and creates a modern interpretation that aims to reinvigorate architectural heritage from both the east and west.

The first exhibition in the rotating programme, From the Mundane World, will examine the ecology between humans and their environment, patterns of civilisation and mass consumption, and reflect on the fast-paced urban transformation that China is experiencing. Other temporary exhibitions will display archives of rare Lingnan art alongside major works by contemporary masters such as Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst and Yayoi Kusama. hem.org

Architect Tadao Ando, who designed the museum. At HEM, rare Lingnan art will line up against major works by Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst and Yayoi Kusama

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“I must confess

that I like your book as it encourages more international co-operation in various forms!”

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has received considerable critical attention from the infrastructure, political and media worlds. Most reports and articles on the subject are confused at best, when they are not completely misinformed or contradictory. To date there has been little agreement on the number of BRI projects, amounts spent, dates, and geographical distribution. A global information warfare campaign of mis-information, dis-information, and intoxication is currently at play about the BRI, which direct result is to confuse the situation even more...

This book critically examines what China’s BRI is about, clarifies the confusion, and answers many questions.

It includes a first-time-ever-published list and statistical tables of all the BRI projects up to December 31st, 2018. This work also demonstrates how instrumental the BRI is to globalization, which in itself is conducive to humanity’s evolution.

It describes humanity’s five key choke points, and apprehends how China and the BRI are addressing them.

“It is an excellent, comprehensive and detailed treatment of the Belt and Road Initiative. This book is far more useful than almost anything written on the topic.” Parag Khanna, Author of Connectography, New York, USA “I trust this book would provide a good road map for policy makers and infrastructure developers in any developing countries amidst complex geo-political circumstances.” Dr. D. J. Pandian, Vice President and Chief

Investment Officer, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Beijing, China