February 2019

SOUTHEAST ASIA

SECRET BEACHES AROUND AUSTRALIA

KUALA LUMPUR: BACK IN VOGUE

SINGAPORE S$7.90 / HONG KONG HK$43 THAILAND THB175 / INDONESIA IDR50,000 MALAYSIA MYR18 / VIETNAM VND85,000 MACAU MOP44 / PHILIPPINES PHP240 BURMA MMK35 / CAMBODIA KHR22,000 BRUNEI BND7.90 / LAOS LAK52,000

FEBRUARY 2019

BANGKOK’S MODERN THAI MENUS

MERGUI OFF THE MAP IN BURMA

T+L WORLD’S BEST AWARDS 2019

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February

CONTENTS

features

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The New Era As Malaysia goes through a political shake-up, the capital is rippling with change. Eloise Basuki finds it is now well worth lingering in Kuala Lumpur.

Photographed by Leigh Griffiths

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: L E I G H G R I F F I T H S ; W W W. D AV I D VA N D R I E S S C H E . C O M ; P E T R I N A T I N S L AY; F E L I X O D E L L

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Maritime Frontier Off the south coast of Burma, Joe Cummings explores new ecoresorts in one of the least touristed places in Southeast Asia.

Photographed by David Van Driessche and Scott A. Woodward

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Art at the Edge of the World Sydney is in the midst of a cultural renaissance, writes Tony Perrottet, who explores the creative side of the city. Photographed by Petrina Tinslay

100

Giants of the Deep In the fjords of Norway, a new safari offers guests an experience without parallel: the chance to swim with killer whales. By Flora Stubbs. Photographed

by Felix Odell

ON THE COVER

Exploring the rocky and crystalclear inlets of Burma’s Mergui Archipelago. Photographed by David Van Driessche.

TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM / FEBRUARY 2019

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CONTENTS IN EVERY ISSUE

T+L Digital 6 Contributors 7 The Conversation 8 Editor’s Note 10 Deals 66 Wish You Were Here 106

Reasons To Travel Now Antarctica, Hanoi, Korean restos in Manhattan and more.

20 Sight Unseen in Saigon Dong Khoi Street is Saigon’s most prestigious address. But the historic rue has many inconspicuous charms, too.

22 Spirited Tributes Intrepid

Singaporean distillers are making gins that pay delicious homage to their Asian roots.

26 Behind Closed Doors Peek into

the unmarked entrances of a few hidden eateries worth seeking out in food-heaven Tokyo.

31

Pure Shores Follow our guide to these best-kept seaside secrets in sun-kissed Australia.

34 The Experience A favorite

cocktail has made its way from the bar to the spa menu in Bali.

36 Soaring Above it All A lavish

private-jet tour offers a whole new way to see the world.

Garden is reclaiming its place as one of London’s best shopping destinations.

52 Under a Cold Spell Alaska is

at the top of many a cruise wish list—but how many lines can truly get you up close to the natural wonders?

38 Something in the Water

Embark on a hot spring–hopping road trip from Budapest into the Hungarian countryside.

56 Eight Bangkok Restaurants

Redefining a Genre The city’s dining scene has expanded in the past five years, but the arrival of Michelin in 2017 shifted the focus on nouveau-Thai fare to high gear. Now, next-gen chefs are flexing their creative muscles even more.

44 Where the Spirits Move You

A rare peek inside Patron’s distillery in Mexico proves to be the gateway for a romp across the tequila capital of the world.

49 Jo Malone’s Venetian Vacation The iconic British perfumer shares her art-centric itinerary in Venice.

34

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50 West End Revival Covent

FEBRUARY 2019 / TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM

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F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F S T. R E G I S B A L I ; S H I N S U K E M AT S U K AWA ; A A R O N J O E L S A N T O S ; C O U R T E S Y O F WA L K I N T O L U X U R Y

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J O U R N E Y

T O

THE NEW HOME OF TURKISH AIRLINES THE AIRLINE THAT FLIES TO MORE COUNTRIES THAN ANY OTHER AWAITS YOU IN THE WORLD’S NEW AVIATION CENTER

I S TA N B U L A I R P O RT

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LOOKOUT

SRI LANK A’S UNSPOILED SOUTHERN SHORELINE The rugged beauty of this coastline is undeniably compelling. Take a drive to find its new boutique hotels and hidden holes-in-the-wall.

CYCLING IN YANGSHUO, LONGJI AND GUILIN The striking karsts and winding rivers of rural China are best explored by bicycle.

Don’t worry—there’s amazing sustenance to power you on.

SAIGON’S HOTTEST SUBURB Once a sleepy bedroom neighborhood, Thao Dien has evolved into a favorite drinking, dining and hangout spot of the hipster set.

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FEBRUARY 2019 / TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM

TLEDITOR@ MEDIATRANSASIA.COM

travelandleisureasia.com

F R O M L E F T: C H R I S T O P H E R K U C WAY; L I L L I A N C H O U ; M O R G A N O M M E R

THIS MONTH ON TR AVEL ANDLEISUREASIA.COM

Why Canggu is the it spot in Bali right now; discover some truly awesome street art all over India; Perth is now a culinary capital; how to make the most of your long layover; and much more.

CONTRIBUTORS

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David Van Driessche

Jenny Hewett

“Maritime Frontier” Page 80 — “I first went to the Mergui Archipelago in 2009. I’ve been back 15 times, and I stayed for a month at Boulder Island Eco-Resort, which has a visionary minimal-footprint policy. The Mergui is nearly as undiscovered and pristine as it was 50 years ago. I love to sail for a week without seeing another tourist. But one thing that has changed is the situation of the Moken, the sea nomads—they now live more in villages than on kabang boats. I get so excited when I see a Moken tribal family on a sea expedition, and I try to get close enough to photograph their way of life, which is very rare today.” Instagram: @davidvandriessche.

“Pure Shores” Page 31 — “Australian beach culture is not forced or pretentious, and Aussies are deeply respectful of their environment, so the beaches are immaculate.

Cabarita Beach has it all: a boutique hotel, sleepy shores, quality food and drink. Plus it’s only an hour to Bryon Bay or the Gold Coast. In Sydney, my favorite of the Northern Beaches is Freshwater or ‘Freshy.’ The protected beach is between two headlands and has half the crowds of nearby Manly. There’s also a range of great eats, including hatted Sardinian fine-diner Pilu at Freshwater, where your Aperol spritz comes with million-dollar ocean views.”

Instagram: @jenjusttravels.

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Shinsuke Matsukawa

Veronica Inveen

“Behind Closed Doors” Page 26 — “My three favorite restaurants in Japan: La Tappa Fissa, an Italian place in Motomachi, Yokohama, where chef Wataru and his wife Paola, a patissier and sommelier from Rome, make authentic Roman tastes.

Paola’s special desserts with seasonal fruits surprise me every time. Chef Ko at Tokyo Nikushabuya in Shinjuku makes foie gras sukiyaki with very special beef from Tajima, Hyogo. At Sushi Watanabe in Ginza—there are literally thousands of great restaurants, for every budget—I’m always impressed with the Edomae skills of chef Watanabe. His aburi shimesaba (seared vinegared mackerel) is the best.” Instagram: @shin_suke.

“In the Drink” Page 34 — “When I was told I’d be soaking in a bath of vermouth for the St. Regis Bali’s Bloody Mary spa ritual, I expected a dark pool of Martini Rosso.

Luckily, I was wrong. The bath was subtle and didn’t leave me sticky. Plus, the added rose petals make you forget the context. At the bar, St. Regis Singapore’s Chili Padi Mary was tasty, spicy and zesty. The vast size of the resort makes you feel like you are all alone.

Anyway, there’s barely any reason to leave the apartmentsized villas: I had my own pool and direct access to the resort’s lagoon pool, which leads to the beach. No shoes, no problem.” Instagram: @veronicainveen.

P H O TO GR A P H ER

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F D AV I D VA N D R I E S S C H E ; C O U R T E S Y O F J E N N Y H E W E T T; C O U R T E S Y O F S H I N S U K E M AT S U K AWA ; C O U R T E S Y O F V E R O N I C A I N V E E N

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P H O TO GR A P H ER

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W R I T ER

W R I T ER

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T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N

exotic & idyllic retreat ...where life is a private celebration

Welcome to the Year of the Pig. The chubby animal is said to be a symbol of wealth and good fortune, and this month the Chinese diaspora will celebrate it and the new lunar year with plenty of jam-packed festivals and parades. While lion dances, fireworks and little red envelopes hopefully jammed with cash are some of the more familiar traditions, here are a few festivities you may not know about.

Penang

Sinkawang

Celebrated on the 15th night of the New Year (this year, February 19), Chap Goh Meh will see the single ladies of Penang head to the esplanade where the tradition of throwing oranges into the sea aids their wish to find a husband.

The Chap Goh Meh ritual is more shocking in this town in West Kalimantan, Indonesia: tatung banishes evil spirits with steel spikes piercing dazed participants’ bodies.

Saigon In the first four days of Tet, a book festival in District 1 aims to preserve Vietnam’s ancient reading culture.

Singapore During a communal dish of yu sheng (raw fish salad), family members use chopsticks to lo hei (toss up for good fortune).

The higher you toss, the more fortuitous your year will be.

#TLASIA

Hanoi

Located on the edge of West Lake, the vibrant Quang Ba Flower Market becomes even more colorful in the lead up to Tet, when festive flowers like peach blossoms, orchids and chrysanthemums are in abundance.

DURING THE VALENTINE’S MONTH, THESE SHOTS GIVE US THAT LOVING FEELING.

A pool for two and a view of Phnom Penh. By @lostraveleros.

Elephant love at a sanctuary in Chiang Mai. By @kindredelephantsanctuary.

Finding a slice of paradise on Komodo Island. By @hiking.love.insta.

A secluded spot at the Pahangog Waterfall, in Bohol. By @wanderlikeus.

Sanur I Ubud I Nusa Dua I Jimbaran

P. 62 361 705 777 F. 62 361 705 101 E. experience@kayumanis.com

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Prepare to be entertained.

FROM MY TRAVELS

@CKucway chrisk@mediatransasia.com

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9 / T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A . C O M

F R O M L E F T: I R FA N S A M A R T D E E ; C H R I S T O P H E R K U C WAY

ENTURING BEHIND THE SCENES on any trip is best done, as everyone knows, with the help of a local. Combine this with the goal of uncovering a great place to eat in Tokyo, and you end up with a mouthwatering look at the Japanese capital such as “Behind Closed Doors” (page 26). Through the eyes and lens of photographer Shinsuke Matsukawa, otherwise unknown—at least to gaijin—addresses spring to life along with more than a few unforgettable menus, whether you prefer oden, a traditional seafood hotpot, or a spell in a tempura “speakeasy” with only eight seats. Warning: this humble tale will leave you famished. It’s reminded me to ask Shin about that fresh soba place we went to one night in Tokyo, because I’ll never be able to find it again on my own.

Just as off the map is this month’s take on Burma’s Mergui Archipelago (“Maritime Frontier,” page 80). Travel and politics make strange, if inevitable, bedfellows, which is partly why this is such a fascinating read. Until recently, Burma was the go to destination in Asia, though interest has dropped off given the regrettable spotlight the nation finds itself in. At its southern reaches, Mergui, home to more than 800 islands, is straight out of a different century.

Most recently, because of pristine seas, this seascape has been a magnet for liveaboard dive boats. Yet writer Joe Cummings discovers more than a few environmentally friendly projects in these waters that will stir your curiosity.

In typical Hong Kong, go all in or go home style, I found myself ensconced in the Entertainment Suite at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental (mandarinoriental. com/landmark) for a night.

Given the size of the suite—it includes an Italian marble bathtub; an envy-inducing kitchen; a living room to seat 15 or so of your entertaining friends with a 160-inch television; and a decadent wall with boutique wines on tap, a mixology booth and a popcorn maker—I’m amazed I found my way to the front desk upon check out.

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FEBRUARY 2019

BANGKOK’S MODERN THAI MENUS

MERGUI OFF THE MAP IN BURMA

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REASONS TRAVEL NOW FEBRUARY 2019

TO

T+L’s monthly selection of trip-worthy places, experiences and events.

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There’s smoother sailing in Antarctica on board these new vessels.

ACACIA JOHNSON/COURTESY OF QUARK E XPEDITIONS

Book now on the cutting-edge ships setting sail in 2019 and beyond. Scenic’s Eclipse debuted last month with two helicopters, a submarine and a team of butlers (scenicusa.com; 12 days from US$15,395). This fall, Aurora Expeditions launches the Greg Mortimer, whose conical bow means a calmer ride across the notorious Drake Passage (auroraexpeditions.com.au; 11 days from US$9,100), and Hurtigruten’s MS Roald Amundsen arrives in Antarctica with hybrid engines that can cruise past glaciers in near silence (hurtigruten.com; 15 days from US$10,127). Quark Expeditions christens a new ship in 2020: its Zodiacs rapidlaunch, so you’ll never miss a breaching whale or colony of penguins (quarkexpeditions.com). — JEN SALERNO

Ocean Adventure, a ship from Quark Expeditions, which will debut a new polar expedition vessel in 2020.

TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM / FEBRUARY 2019

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R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W Dive deeper on the Great Barrier Reef. no.

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Japan’s first “dispersed” hotel encourages guests to stroll Kyoto.

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This inspirational underwater tour explores the Indigenous ties to the Great Barrier Reef.

The world’s largest coral reef has a spiritual history of equal reverence, and ocean explorers can now learn its Dreamtime stories—the Indigenous Australian mythology of the origin of the world—on a diving and snorkeling tour.

Adventure group Experience Co’s Indigenous rangers tell the creation stories that were passed down to them from First Nation land and sea owners. Then you’ll embark on two outer-reef site visits, a glass-bottom boat tour, a marine biologist presentation and lunch. Optional certified dives and helicopter tours add extra magic to this tour that celebrates this wonder inside and out. dreamtimedive.com; tours from A$189 per person.

One of the bars in Tomi II.

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A new legend at Hanoi’s grande dame adds extra buzz to the capital.

The Sofitel Legend Metropole has long been the go-to dining hub for high-society Hanoi (not to mention our hangover cure: Bamboo Bar’s croque monsieur is doctor’s-orders cheesy), but the sparkly new two-story Angelina adds a fresh rendezvous to the century-old hotel. Start at the floor-to-ceiling main bar, where cocktails like Angel-In-ABox (Talisker, shiitake tincture and oloroso sherry are served in an applewood smoked glass box) offer speakeasy-style showmanship. Move upstairs to the loft dining space for chef Aurélien Houguet’s European comfort-food menu, or head down the hall, to the curtained-off whisky lounge beckoning with velvet wing chairs, a roaring fireplace, and bottles as classic as Bushmills’ 21-year-old Irish whiskey. Though the hotel is famous for its war-era bunker, this latest den is much more appealing. sofitel-legend-metropolehanoi.com; mains from VND590,000; drinks from VND220,000. — ELOISE BASUKI

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FEBRUARY 2019 / TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM

F R O M TO P : C O U RT ESY O F D R E A M T I M E D I V E ; TO M O O K I K E N GA KU ; L E I G H G R I F F I T H S

no.

A night in a ryokan is already a singular experience, but a new, unconventional accommodation concept in Kyoto provides a stay that’s truly immersive. From new hotel brand Ango, Enso Ango is situated across five separate buildings in the Shimogyo Ward, encouraging guests to walk the city streets and become grounded in everyday culture. From your room in the wooden Fuya I house, head down the street to Fuya II to visit the traditional tea room designed by late designer Shigeru Uchida. Walk around the corner to Tomi I, where the guest kitchen also hosts an Obanzai cooking class, to the restaurant at Tomi II, or the intimate bar at Yamato. With Kyoto’s greatest charms often tucked away in the city’s smallest nooks, we promise the extra steps will be worth it. ensoango. com; doubles from ¥7,800, minimum three-night booking.

FROM TOP : The bar at Cote, an upscale Korean-style steak house in the Flatiron District; sea bream with mustard-leaf kimchi and uni at Atomix, in NoMad.

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These Manhattan restaurants showcase the diversity of modern Korean cooking in the Big Apple.

Korean-American and expat chefs are livening up New York dining with spots that put a deeply personal spin on the culinary trends of the moment.

F R O M L E F T : GA RY H E / C O U RT ESY O F C OT E ; D I A N E K A N G / C O U RT ESY O F ATO M I X

ATOMIX

On the heels of their first restaurant, Atoboy (atoboy nyc.com; prix fixe US$42), J.P. and Ellia Park opened this more intimate, and much more experimental, space in NoMad last year.

In the subterranean dining room, the 10-course tasting menu is a reverent exploration of Korean culture and ingredients, with dishes such as sea bream with mustard-leaf kimchi and uni. Upstairs is a minimalist bar with snacks and Korean-ish cocktails, like the Three Kingdoms, with vermouth, soju and banana liqueur. atomixnyc.com; tasting menu US$175.

NOTED TRIBECA

The casual, all-day restaurant craze goes Korean at this Hudson Street spot, whose menu transitions from coffee and light lunch to a

cocktail-driven dinner spread. Executive chef Steve Song applies his Japanese training to Korean flavors, turning out plates like purple sweet potato toast; bite-size jumeokbap, or rice balls; and a pork belly ssam. notedtribeca.com; mains US$15–$22.

COTE

This carnivore heaven has been among the sexiest tables in the Flatiron District since it opened in 2017, thanks to lavish tableaux with piles of meat, colorful pickles and lush trays of lettuce and shiso. In a way, it’s a quintessential New York steak house—wine flows freely, and you can get caviar with your rib eye—but one with grill tables and waitstaff who ensure a perfect medium rare on the brazier. Snag a seat at basement bar Undercote for Alice in Wonderland–style drinks

in a jungly space. cotenyc. com; mains US$14–$85, tasting menus from US$52.

JEJU NOODLE BAR

On a corner in the West Village, Jeju is one of the hottest (and most affordable) additions to New York’s 2019 Michelin list. The specialty is ramyun, or Korean ramen, with toppings such as pork belly, plankton oil and truffle duxelles. Order the prix fixe to slurp your noodles with soy-butterroasted corn and tuna seaweed wraps. Wash it all down with makgeolli, an unfiltered rice beer. jejunoodlebar.com; mains US$16–$35, prix fixe from US$42.

RECEPTION BAR

Soju is the backbone of this bar, which sits at the convergence of Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

Proprietor Katie Rue explores KoreanAmerican identity through

her cocktails, born from home infusions she first tested on willing friends.

In addition to mixed drinks like the Matcha Meadow (matcha soju, jasmine, Korean-pear shrub), Rue offers five nuanced booze-free options. receptionbar.nyc.

HWABAN

A word that translates, roughly, to “beautiful as a flower” is a fitting sobriquet for this Flatiron fine-dining restaurant. It’s a pleasingly moody space, with light fixtures reminiscent of petals and water droplets. The recipes are traditional, and you can easily build yourself a dinner of bibimbap and fried rice cakes. But the delicate, often surprising treatment is a testament to the possibilities of contemporary Korean cuisine. hwaban.com; tasting menus from US$55.

— HANNAH WALHOUT

TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM / FEBRUARY 2019

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R E A S O N S T O T R AV E L N O W

Lannastyle terrace.

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Dishes at Raya Heritage.

Modern suite design. tnL2019.pdf

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2:06 PM

As ever-popular Chiang Mai expands beyond the old city and the hip Nimman streets, new shops, designers and cafés are making a home in Mae Rim, just a 20-minute drive away on the banks of the lush Ping River. The latest place to stay here is Raya Heritage, a 33-room boutique whose interiors present traditional Lanna craftsmanship with a pared-back, design-led slant—think minimalist rattan furniture with natural, indigo linens; locally made mulberry-paper screens; and handmade ceramics in the dining spaces. The spa also takes a traditional approach, with a bamboo massage and herbal treatments mixed by a 75-year-old master herbalist from a nearby village. With a dining menu influenced from across the region—Lao, Khmer, Shan, Yunnan, Burmese, as well as Northern Thai—this riverside retreat is a modern ode to a rich history. rayaheritage.com; doubles from Bt12,500.

C O U RT ESY O F R AYA H E R I TAG E ( 3 )

A new heritage hotel in Northern Thailand pays tribute to the former Lanna Kingdom.

YO U R P E R F E C T E S C A P E * Step away from your everyday, onto our sun-kissed shores. Breathe in the crisp ocean air and immerse yourself in a green oasis of calm. Times slows down here, washed away by languid waves.

Embark on your journey to tranquillity. *A 55-minute ferry ride from Singapore

W E L C O M E T O T H E R E S I D E N C E B I N TA N

TUNIS | MAURITIUS | ZANZIBAR | MALDIVES | BINTAN

CENIZARO.COM/THERESIDENCE

ON THE MAP

The Art Deco Catinat Building along Dong Khoi Street.

Sight Unseen in Saigon 20

FEBRUARY 2019 / TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM

With its landmark heritage buildings, and now shimmering skyscrapers, Dong Khoi Street is undoubtedly Saigon’s most prestigious address.

But it’s the drag’s more inconspicuous charms, squirrelled away in century-old apartment blocks, that continually coax Connla Stokes to the area.

2. RED DOOR CAFE Duck through the art arcade at 151 Dong Khoi (never mind the cheap knickknacks and ersatz Klimts), head down the hallway and turn right, then walk up to the third floor to find Red Door, where a discerning crowd of coffee lovers confabulates over cold brews and drip pours.

The Saigonese owner —who was formerly a

3. SAKE CENTRAL Wander up the well-lit staircase at 59 Dong Du to find this modern haven of sake and small plates with a sharedtable concept. Like the original Hong Kong flagship, there are no less than 30 varietals of sake on offer, by the glass or a 180-milliliter tokkuri, if you’re not eyeing the whole bottle.

Unsure of navigating the menu? Order omakase and summon sommelier Jesse Selvagn to advise on pairings. fb.com/ sakecentralsaigon; sake flight VND900,000; omakase menu VND1,000,000.

biochemist in the U.S.— curates an ever rotating selection of single-origin roasts from the world over while adorning his walls with the work of contemporary artists.

Back on ground level, you can dig into a bowl of bun thit nuong (vermicelli noodles) at a 60-year-old no-name institution behind the parked bikes. fb.com/ reddoorspace.saigon; coffee from VND65,000.

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4. BANH DA CUA DI LY The interior might be rather sleek and modern but you’re coming for the best of Haiphong’s street-food scene at this family-run restaurant up the stairs at 103 Dong Khoi. The signature dish is banh da cua, a noodle soup with pappardellewide, brown noodles

served with river-crab patties and a plethora of tasty morsels thrown in.

But it’s also worth sharing a serving of banh cuon nhan thit (steamed rice-flour crêpes) and a plate of Haiphong banh mi (crunchy breadsticks filled with pâté). fb.com/banhdacuadily; mains from VND69,000.

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CLOCK WISE FROM TOP: COURTESY OF RED DOOR CAFE; COURTESY OF SAKE CENTR AL; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M Y S T D O N G K H O I ; C O U R T E S Y O F B A N N B A R & C U I S I N E ; C O U R T E S Y O F B A N H D A C U A D I LY. O P P O S I T E : C O N N L A S T O K E S

1. THE CATINAT BUILDING Between Notre Dame Cathedral and the Saigon Opera House, you’ll find the Catinat Building—an evocative, Art-Deco building that once hosted Cochinchina’s leading French entrepreneurs.

In more recent times, a wave of Vietnamese millennials has taken over, room by room, transforming this striking heritage site into a five-floor emporium filled with fashion boutiques and quirky cafés. Wander and browse freely after grabbing lunch at Bong Cai Xanh (fb. com/bongcaixanhcafe) or an iced coffee at the kitschy Công Cà Phê (congcaphe.com), literally, “Communist Café.” Entrance at 26 Ly Tu Trong.

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5. BANN BAR & CUISINE Downtown’s artsiest little cocktail bar is an eclectic affair. You might catch a stand-up comedy act, live band, or simply a DJ playing mellow electronica melodies on the higher, seventh floor—that’s also the ideal spot to enjoy sundowners with a cooling breeze coming off the Saigon river.

Downstairs, things are simpler. Prop up the stylish bar, where the mixologists make a mean Blood and Sand.

Or for a thirst quencher, try the Sacred Fire ale by Heart of Darkness, a local craft brewery. fb.com/ bannbarsaigon; drinks from VND180,000.

6. THE MYST DONG KHOI With its whiter-thanwhite façade, hanging plants and asymmetrical windows, the Myst has been a breath of fresh air for Saigon’s ever-rising, but rather generic, skyline since opening in 2017. There’s an equally singular feel to the eccentric yet elegant interiors that merge a cornucopia of lost artefacts, collectibles and aged handicrafts, all of which pay tribute to the mercurial history of Saigon. Bonus: every room features a balcony with a spa-bath (hence the hanging plants— they’re curtains). themystdong khoihotel.com; doubles from US$195.

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TRENDING

Spirited Tributes Intrepid Singaporean distillers are making gins that pay delicious homage to their Asian roots. BY SHAMILEE VELLU

Setting up a boutique distillery in regulation-heavy Singapore requires no small amount of gumption, as Brass Lion’s founder, Jamie Koh, knows well. But Koh, a Singaporeborn F&B entrepreneur who exited New York’s finance industry post–Lehman Brothers crisis, is not short on derring-do. After stints at various U.S. distilleries, she hand-carried more than 40 ingredients to a master distiller in Germany, determined to create a gin that showcased her heritage.

“I brought a lot of funky ingredients like goji berries, dried longan, pandan leaf— stuff we like here,” says Jamie, who proceeded to distill and taste-test every ingredient over five days. “We knew the flavor profile we were after—

something quite light, soft, floral and citrusy, but still with that juniper backbone.”

The resulting Singapore Dry Gin (S$88) is a crisp New World–style blend of 22 botanicals including torch ginger flower, angelica root, chrysanthemum, lemongrass and calamansi, mostly sourced from nearby Chinese medicine stores, wet markets and Brass Lion’s kitchen garden. A pink Angostura bitters–tinged Gin Pahit (a colonial-era favorite), and azure-blue butterfly pea gin are also available.

A tasting room serves ginbased cocktails (S$15–$18) and light bites. Opt for a distillery tour (and two cocktails) at S$40 or craft your own customized gin using miniature pot stills (S$160), and take it home in personalized bottles. brassliondistillery.com. >>

COURTESY OF BR ASS LION DISTILLERY

MOVE OVER, SINGAPORE SLING —new twists on gin have edged out the tourist go-to as the nation’s de rigueur drink. Local bars such as Native infuse gin with everything from matcha to laksa leaf, while others, like Atlas (with its staggering 1,000-plus labels), build menus around their sizable collections of mother’s ruin. Now, Singaporean distilleries are taking the spirit to the next level, crafting innovative gins that spotlight local flavors.

BRASS LION DISTILLERY

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TRENDING

Started by husband-and-wife duo Rick and Simin Kayhan Ames, the brand Paper Lantern was born when the expat couple—avid homebrewers back in Boston—became dismayed by the dearth of local fruit- and spice-based craft spirits. Their awardwinning Paper Lantern Gin (S$115) was launched following a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2016.

Paper Lantern makes its own base spirit using Asian rice, in what Simin calls “a grain-to-glass experience” and uses fiery Sichuan peppercorns to create a unique botanical mix. The spice, which imparts aromatic hints of pine and clove, combines beautifully with lemongrass and makhwaen (a Thai variety related to the Sichuan pepper) to add a distinctive citrus high

TANGLIN GIN

The team behind the first made-in-Singapore gin is composed of, ironically, a group of expats. Despite this, Tanglin Gin is a paean to their adopted home: it’s named for a former spice plantation and its Tanglin Orchid Gin (S$108) is described as “Singapore in a bottle.”

It deploys the national flower in two forms: the dried, powered stalks of the Dendrobium nobile lindl orchid and whole vanilla beans. Citrus notes come from organic oranges and, intriguingly, Indian amchoor, a punchy spice powder made from unripe mangoes. The result is smooth, creamy and complex, adding layers of flavor.

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“We want our customers to think, ‘Wow, that was unexpected, the flavors aren’t something I’ve tasted before,’” head distiller Tim Whitefield says. Tim and his team are focused on finding botanicals that express their location: Singapore and Southeast Asia—the latest creation headlining mandarin peel and Cambodian kampot pepper. “In 10 years we want to be recognized not only at home but worldwide,” says Whitefield. “Our goal is to be Singapore’s international gin brand.” tanglin-gin.com; the distillery is not open to the public, but the gin is available to buy at retail stores The Standish and DFS at Changi Airport.

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note. Spicy ginger and galangal give an appealing warmth and depth.

While Simin works closely with Rick to design their gin recipes locally, these are then created in what she terms “living distilleries,” where they collaborate with different partners throughout Asia.

The first two batches of Paper Lantern Gin were produced in Thailand, with the current one made in Vietnam.

The couple’s upcoming releases include a new spirit that will have the same unique profile as Paper Lantern, and a gin that Simin says will unite influences from Singapore and Turkey, her native home. “There are so many interesting spices and teas in Turkey. It’d be fun to make a limited-edition gin blending these and Asian spices.” drinkpaperlantern.com.

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F PA P E R L A N T E R N G I N ; C O U R T E S Y O F TA N G L I N G I N

PAPER LANTERN GIN

Noku Maldives

Noku Kyoto

Noku Maldives

Noku Osaka

At home in Noku Attentive service. Friendly faces.

Comfortable experiences. Quiet spaces.

www.nokuhotels.com | Enquiries@nokuhotels.com

E AT I N G O U T

Behind Closed Doors

It’s an understatement to say that some of Tokyo’s most distinguished dining and drinking dens are not so easy to find. In a city where local intel trumps all, photographer Shinsuke Matsukawa peeks into the unmarked doorways of a few hidden eateries worth seeking out.

Sushi Yoshii Inspired by the transient Edo-era yatai food carts, this refined sushi bar changes its address once a year; it is now in an unmarked space in Aoyama. The haunting entrance is recognizable only by a dark, black-walled corridor punctuated by a small water fountain similar to those found at Japanese shrines. The six-seater bar also feels like a private art gallery, currently featuring artworks by Tokyo photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. sushiyoshii.com; 81-3/6459-1343; 3-2-8 Kita-Aoyama, Minato; tasting menu from ¥16,000.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: The shadowy

entrance to Sushi Yoshii; tuna nigiri; Japanese artworks adorn the walls at the six-seater bar.

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CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: The eightseat bar at Tempura Miyashiro; ebinori maki, a prawn tempura handroll; chef Naoaki Miyashiro, who has more than 30 years of experience as a chef.

Tempura Miyashiro This tempura “speakeasy” hides within a 100-year-old building in the hip district of Nakameguro, with just a red postbox hailing the entrance. Making use of traditional Japanese woods, the small space fits just eight perches around the grill and fryer. It’s here that chef Naoaki Miyashiro takes center stage, deftly frying a 19-course omakase tempura menu before guests’ eyes. Dishes change with the season, but can include crispy conger eel, Wagyu fillet and a tempura snapper hot pot, and each dish can be matched with complementary sake or shochu. At lunch, a tiger prawn kakiage-don rice bowl is served. miyashiro. tokyo; GF, 2-18-11 Kami-Meguro; omakase dinner menu ¥18,000.

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E AT I N G O U T

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: Sake and oden at Onikai; a red postbox marks the entrance to the building; the oden at Onikai is made from various types of house-made fishcakes.

Onikai Literally meaning “second floor,” Onikai is located just above Tempura Miyashiro, in the same building.

Opened in August of last year, this cozy 15-seat restaurant serves oden, a traditional seafood hot pot, plus seasonal seafood like abalone sashimi and a kawaii fish-shaped prawn tempura sandwich. Book ahead to reserve the intimate two-person table on the terrace. 81-3/3714-9888; 2F, 2-18-11 Kami-Meguro; dishes from ¥680.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Chicken hot pot

is served on winter evenings at Umebachee; traditional pottery from across Japan makes its way to the bar; this tiny izakaya is located just beside Shibuya River.

Umebachee Just a short stumble from Shibuya station, this riverside izakaya has more than 50 kinds of sake on offer. Drinking snacks include karaage (fried chicken), hot pot and a lauded kelpmarinated chicken sashimi.

Plates and drinking vessels are served in traditional Japanese pottery, including the earthy Karatsu ceramics from Saga prefecture. With no phone (the owner is averse to the sound of the ringtone, apparently), reservations are by e-mail only.

3-22-11 Shibuya; dishes from ÂĽ600; drinks from ÂĽ600; for reservations, e-mail umebachee@gmail.com.

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E AT I N G O U T

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: Bar Cacoi’s logo lights

the way; a matcha gin and tonic; the ambient bar boasts more than 20 bottles of Japanese whisky, and a traditional irori for hot cocktails.

Bar Cacoi A small square light signals the door to a steep staircase, which leads to this subterranean drinking hole: a candlelit, eight-seat bar designed to reflect a traditional Japanese teahouse. This inspiration is also infused in the hand-crafted drinks: Kyoto matcha adds delicate flavor and bright color to a G&T. During winter, the smoking irori (sunken stove) on the bar warms a traditional Nanbu Tekki ironware teapot for hot cocktails like the Dashi Martini. ig.com/barcacoi; Ginza NK Bldg. B1F, 3-14-8 Ginza; cocktails from ¥1,200; cover charge ¥1,000; individual parties limited to a maximum of three people; no reservations.

— ELOISE BASUKI

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BEACH

Pure Shores

Flaunting 60,000 kilometers of sun-kissed coast, Australia is awash in beaches. Those in the know don’t need to share the sand—Jenny Hewett offers a few seaside secrets.

Australians descend on their sparkly shores with an innate sense of purpose. For most, the beach is more than just a destination; it’s a way of life. With ribbons of golden sand unfurling along the hypnotic coastline, the salt, sand and sea have become a cherished place of worship. Australia’s beach culture is now the single most defining part of its identity. But beyond the buzz of iconic Bondi and Byron Bay lies a slew of under-theradar beaches with fewer crowds. In places where camping was once the only way to stay, a trickle of luxury lodgings has opened up lesser-known shores to a new generation.

COURTESY OF HALCYON HOUSE

BRONZED AND BAREFOOT,

Cabarita Beach viewed from Norries Headland.

NEW SOUTH WALES Cabarita Beach, Tweed Coast

Laying low between the Gold Coast and Byron Bay, this laid-back beach straddles a small headland, with two idyllic coves to the north.

On the edge of the fertile “food bowl” region known as the Tweed, the region around Cabarita Beach has tropical fruit and native finger limes in abundance. Once a retro motel, the 21-room Halcyon House (halcyonhouse.com. au; doubles from A$650) is now the jewel in Cabarita’s crown, with Capri-style interiors, a sanctuary-like spa and a hatted (Australia’s answer to the Michelin star) restaurant, Paper Daisy (three-course set menu A$95). Walk to Norries Headland to spot whales, then drive half an hour inland to the acclaimed Margaret Olley Art Centre (artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au) in Murwillumbah, where the entire contents of the late artist’s home are impressively on display. Still hungry? Back on the coast, beachfront, Greek-inspired Taverna (taverna. net.au; mains from A$32) in nearby Kingscliff serves up the best honey-drizzled haloumi this side of the equator.

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CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW: Paper

Daisy at Halcyon House; White Sails overlooks Robe’s Guichen Bay; the upscale camp at Bay of Fires Bush Retreat.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Greens Pool, Denmark

SOUTH AUSTRALIA Long Beach, Robe

A sheltered natural pool fringed by white silky shores, this jeweled paradise in Denmark, named by early European explorers, lies within William Bay National Park. Located in the southern region of Western Australia, a series of giant granite outcrops rise from the shallows here to form a protected swimming and snorkeling area. With perfectly framed panoramas of the Great Southern Ocean and rolling countryside, the self-contained Parry Beach Breaks (parrybeachbreaks. com.au; doubles from A$230) nearby offers a stylish escape immersed in nature. If you want to explore further, Walk Into Luxury (walkintoluxury.com.au; tours from A$3,350) tailors four- and six-day self-guided walking itineraries along the famous 1,000-kilometer Bibbulmun Track, which passes through here.

Gourmet hampers, luxury stays, wine-tasting and a private chef can all be included.

The small fishing town of Robe on South Australia’s idyllic Limestone Coast is in proximity to a handful of beaches, including the 4WD–friendly Long Beach. Stretching for 17 kilometers, this sweeping shoreline attracts surfers and families alike. Sample local craft beers at Robe Town Brewery (robetownbrewery.com.au), then drive an hour inland to the unesco-listed Naracoorte Caves (naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au), one of the world’s richest fossil sites. From here, drive 25 minutes to taste wine at Wynns Coonawarra Estate (wynns.com.au), before heading back to Robe to dine on freshly caught southern rock lobster at Sails (sailsatrobe.com.au; mains from A$28); book the shellfish ahead. With its timber deck pointing directly at Guichen Bay, the cozy White Sails (robelifestyle.com. au; doubles from A$275) holiday rental is the perfect rejuvenation.

QUEENSLAND Rainbow Beach, Sunshine Coast

The 70s called; they want their beach town back. With a population just over 1,000 and a shoreline oozing adventure, this hippy village in the Sunshine Coast is the archetype Aussie throwback. A gateway to the World Heritage– listed Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, Rainbow Beach is better known for its colorful, towering sand cliffs. Shoot them from the Carlo Sand Blow sand mass at sunset and ride horses along the shore with Rainbow Beach Horse Rides (rbhr.com.au; from A$150) the next morning. Chris Hemsworth once dined at the town’s Arcaboleno on the Beach ( fb.com/arco.on.the.beach; mains from A$25), but its wood-fired pizzas don’t need any extra endorsement. In the evenings, stargaze from your ocean-facing penthouse at the Plantation Resort (plantationresortatrainbow.com.au; doubles from A$480), which has a rooftop terrace with a barbecue.

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

BEACH

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Walk Into Luxury explores the coast of Western Australia; Taverna’s haloumi, in Kingscliff, is legendary; inside Naracoorte Caves.

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F WA L K I N T O L U X U R Y; C O U R T E S Y O F TAV E R N A ; M I K E H A I N E S

VICTORIA Squeaky Beach, Gippsland

One of five secluded beaches in Wilsons Promontory National Park, Squeaky Beach does exactly what it says. Three hours south of Melbourne, the porcelain-like sand is so fine it creaks under your feet. With pristine beaches, 25 bushwalks, and emus, kangaroos, echidnas, koalas and wombats roaming wild, this is the closest thing Australia has to Jurassic Park. Andrew from Great Southern Escapes (greatsouthernescapes.com.au; tours from A$230) knows the wildlife like clockwork and runs bespoke tours here, complete with a lunch platter and afternoon tea. Just 15 minutes from the entrance and set in lush farmland, luxe museum-like homestay The Church House (thechurchhouse.com.au; doubles from A$450) makes a cozy base to explore “the Prom.” Expect nightly canapés and champagne, three-course meals cooked with ingredients from the garden, plus Sidney, the giant standard poodle, at your service.

TASMANIA Binalong Bay, Bay of Fires

Boasting one of the most scenic coastal landscapes in the state, Tasmania’s crystalclear Bay of Fires will spark something in you. With its powder-fine stretch of beach and orange-flecked rocks, Binalong Bay lies on the southern end of this conservation area and the water is invigoratingly cool. All the

more reason to snuggle up at the Bay of Fires Bush Retreat (bayoffiresbushretreat.com.au; doubles from A$165) when night falls. Set deep in the natural scrub, this stylish hideaway offers glamping and lodging options as well as dinners and breakfast on request. Lichen (lichenrestaurant.com; mains from A$27) at Binalong Bay showcases local squid and fish in modern platings, or drive 15 minutes to St. Helens to slurp freshly shucked oysters straight from the shell at takeaway-only Lease 65 (61-3/6376-1736; Shed 2, Binalong Bay Rd.; A$18 per dozen).

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THE EXPERIENCE

In the Drink

Brunch’s favorite cocktail has made its way from the bar menu to the spa menu at the St. Regis Bali. Veronica Inveen checks in for a booze-infused treatment that redefines happy hour.

rubbed and scrubbed with the ingredients of a Bloody Mary could make for a relaxing experience. But steeped neck-deep in a bath of tomato, vermouth and mineral salt, I’m beginning to see the appeal. My skin is tight and smooth from the vodka-tomato clay wrap that Ayu, my spa therapist at the St. Regis Bali Remède Spa, slathered all over my body. I’m feeling intoxicated in all the best ways, and, thankfully, with not a shot to show for it.

Though the Nusa Dua resort is inherently relaxing with its vast lush gardens, meandering 3,668-squaremeter saltwater lagoon pool and incessant coo of birds, with the Remède Spa’s 150-minute Signature Bloody Mary-Inspired Ritual, Ayu has convinced me of the restorative powers of the vodka-laden cocktail.

The Bloody Mary has been synonymous with the St. Regis brand since 1934, when bartender Fernand Petiot introduced the “Red Snapper,” which would later be renamed the Bloody Mary, at the King Cole Bar in the St. Regis New York. Since then, they’ve proudly taken on the drink as their signature cocktail, with each outpost boasting its own variation. At St. Regis, Bloody Marys are serious business, so if I’m going to trust anyone to take the drink from bar to bath, it’s these guys.

Despite the reservations I had when Ayu massaged me with an irresistible smelling scrub of tomato, pineapple and wasabi that made me instantly hungry, my resulting buttery soft skin forced me to reconsider. In fact, there’s a whole bevvy of healing benefits in this invigorating cocktail shaker.

Promising to detox (while ironically retoxing), the astringent vodkatomato clay wrap tightens and

FROM TOP: The St. Regis Bali’s Bloody Mary massage is a unique relaxer; the Nusa Dua resort’s Lagoon Villa.

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C O URT ESY OF ST. REG I S BA L I (6 )

IT’S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE that being

cleanses the skin, while the tomato bath chaser, which is rich in antioxidants, seals moisture in.

I walk away from Remède Spa glowing, smelling delectable, and with only one thing on my mind: will I ever think of Bloody Marys the same again? There was only one way to find out, and that is a trip to the King Cole Bar, the St. Regis Bali’s ode to its New York counterpart.

Here, sharply dressed bartenders shake concoctions beyond the Bloody Mary’s classic hair-of-the-dog mix.

There’s the Bora Mary, a recipe from the St. Regis Bora Bora, which adds watermelon or strawberry juice for a more fruity incarnation. Or the chili-, lemongrass- and gingerinfused Chili Padi Mary from the St. Regis Singapore. But I’ll start with the Bali Mary, which is muddled with jicama (a locally found root vegetable), cucumber and brown sugar, then doused with pepper vodka. After a few goes at each version, I’ve come to the conclusion that my love for this spicy cocktail is stronger than ever and not at all tarnished by the fact that earlier I was on my way to becoming one.

The next morning, after a little too much cocktail research the night before, I sprawl out on one of the resort’s bed-like loungers in my glamorous Lagoon Villa and bask in the Balinese sun. If there were ever a perfect spot for a hangover pick-meup, this sofa next to my plunge pool would be it. Last year, the resort underwent major room refurbishments, modernizing design and upping technology integration (hello smart TVs and Bose sound systems). Now, I can connect my phone directly to my villa’s speakers for some tunes with my tonic. Still glowing from my time with Ayu and now on my second drink of the day, I realize I’ve been doing hair-of-thedog wrong all this time: they should be pouring me into the Bloody Mary, not the other way around. stregisbali. com; doubles from Rp7,030,000; Signature Bloody Mary-Inspired Ritual Rp5,500,000.

I WALK AWAY FROM THE SPA GLOWING, SMELLING DELECTABLE

FROM TOP: For a cocktail the conventional way, head to the resort’s King Cole Bar; mood lighting at the Remède Spa garden; St. Regis Bali’s outdoor dining looks out to Nusa Dua beach; the couples’ room at the Remède Spa.

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TEST RUN

Soaring Above It All

THE 757 WAS CRUISING toward the Cape Verde Islands for

a brief refueling stop when my seatmate asked a flight attendant a question I had never heard on a plane before (and likely hadn’t been uttered in the past three decades of aviation history). “May I have seconds? This is delicious.”

The explanation? I was not on just any aircraft, but was one of 50 people on a special around-the-world journey with private-jet operator TCS World Travel. On this US$109,000-per-person trip, passengers were, for the first and only time, joined by TCS president Shelley Cline, who had picked her dream itinerary. The fast-moving, 25-day tour had kicked off in Seattle and woven its way through Kyoto, Hoi An and the Maldives. I joined the group in Kigali, Rwanda, on day nine, en route to a gorillatrekking expedition in Volcanoes National Park.

It was my first time flying by private jet, and friends had warned me to brace myself, saying the experience affords a tantalizing and, frankly, painful glimpse of what air travel feels like in a perfect world. They were correct. The aforementioned dish—a chicken shawarma

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sandwich, made with yogurt-and-cucumber dressing and fresh herbs—was created by onboard chef Kerry Sear, who makes meals from ingredients sourced, often frenetically, at the previous day’s destination. After lunch, my 49 fellow passengers and I stretched out in spacious white leather seats, waited on by eight jolly British flight attendants (“I’ll go get your duvets—all right, my darling?”). Each of them is tasked with six or so clients and given a list of their likes and dislikes (I was plied with oceans of coconut water and cappuccinos frothed by a custom-made Nespresso machine). Guests, threequarters of whom are repeats, can become so attached to crew members that they refuse to book a tour if their favorite isn’t on board; bonds are further strengthened by a night out with the crew on every trip.

Cline told me her clients choose a private, around-theworld journey so they can see as many places on their bucket list as they can, in a short period of time and in comfort. As our plane flew across the Sahara, I snuggled under a lambswool Avoca blanket and queued up my PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY MAX-O-MATIC

I LLU STRATI ON SO UR C E IM AG ES F RO M S H UT T E RSTOC K A N D TC S WORL D TRAV E L

Ever dreamed of being able to check off multiple bucket-list destinations in one seamless, around-the-world trip? Jancee Dunn tries out a lavish private-jet tour and, along the way, discovers a whole new way to see the world.

personalized TCS iPad to watch lectures on Rwandan history streamed live from the front of the plane by a geography professor and a retired U.S. ambassador.

Afterward, passengers flitted around, cocktails in hand—a buzzing party in the air. “Dessert trolley coming through!” “One of each, please. Thank you, Hayley.” Nine hours feels like six on a private-jet flight, say those in the know. I was starting to see why.

The average age of a TCS client is 65; though I’m halfway to retirement myself, I couldn’t help noticing Kindles with fonts as large as those at the top of an eye chart around me on the plane. These travelers, most of whom no longer work, have the means and, perhaps more crucially, the time to embark on a trip of this scale.

“Are they friendly?” my mother had texted, worried that I was surrounded by the sort of monocle-wearing toffs who get a pie in the face in Marx Brothers movies. Yes, I assured her—in fact, the vibe was positively egalitarian.

We were all clad in the same athleisure clothing, having received matching jackets in our complimentary Tumi suitcases.

Everyone followed an unspoken rule to avoid talk of business and politics, with no one-upmanship.

After all, if everyone is in the same 0.001 percent, why bother?

Many meals on the trip were communal, and it was at the dinner table that we got to know one another best. Conversation focused on the day’s events, comparison of photos, and tours past. Only occasionally would someone let slip a remark that hinted at their tax bracket, such as the retired investment director who said, “I’m cutting down on my drinking, which is difficult since we own a vineyard.”

One of my favorite aspects of the TCS experience was the way all quotidian annoyances of travel were smoothly eliminated, from security and customs lines to luggage wrangling. At least 20 smiling TCS staffers materialized at every airport, lifting ropes and waving us through (the total staff on the tour, from start to finish, numbers around 500). Even those annoying customs cards were filled out for us in advance. And wherever we assembled, longtime expedition leader Richard Butler was nearby, on constant alert. If he noticed people starting to fidget, he would step in and change course. Does a presentation need to wrap up more quickly? It’s unseasonably hot on this market trip—should we arrange for ice cream?

Another TCS calling card is engineering moments of “surprise and delight.” So, during cocktails, a local dance troupe might suddenly undulate onto the lawn, or Rwandan pop stars Charly and Nina would serenade a dinner in Kigali. Among the activities offered in Rio was a private breakfast at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue as dawn broke over Corcovado mountain. One guide remarked that the last time he’d witnessed a similar

event, the guest of honor was Barack Obama. (Another TCS tour that included Namibia went further: en route to the hotel, guests were transferred to waiting buggies as camels arrived, bearing baskets of fluted glasses, and a team of skydivers descended with bottles of champagne.)

At every hotel—most of which were Four Seasons properties—staff would offer hot towels for madame, tea for madame, pastries for madame. A local gift awaited us in every room, eliminating the need to shop for souvenirs (in Rio, for example, glossy bowls handcrafted from calabash gourds). The pace of the tour bordered on dizzying—so much so that reboarding the plane was actually a relief. The crew gave us a warm welcome back, my coconut water was waiting, and my bags were still in the overhead bin, just where I’d left them.

After Rwanda, which also included a day in sparkling, vibrant Kigali, a heart-wrenching trip to the Genocide Memorial, and a presentation from Rwanda’s top college for women, we spent one night in Casablanca (Hassan II mosque, quick stroll on the beach, dinner) and from there flew to Rio. We capped the trip with a four-day cruise in the Galápagos Islands, which was a whirlwind of nature walks, boat excursions, and snorkeling with hammerhead sharks.

Our schedule’s velocity made for a killer Instagram feed. (“Are these highlights from the past year?” one friend wondered.) But box-checking is not how I normally choose to travel, and racing from place to place can rob you of the depth of experience that makes a trip fulfilling.

After the Corcovado breakfast wrapped up, we were ushered into waiting helicopters to see Rio’s top sights from the air. Off you go! In Rwanda, I returned from gorilla sighting in my dusty trekking gear, exhilarated and exhausted, and went directly to a dance performance and drinks, followed by dinner and a presentation from a Volcanoes National Park veterinarian. Often, I didn’t make it to my hotel room for the entire day.

As sublime as it was to have a good proportion of my bucket list taken care of in a mere two weeks—and to have every need catered to along the way—when I think back on those heady days, what lingers in my memory most was a night in Rio when I opted out of the hotel dinner and wandered over to a nearby grilled-chicken joint.

Scarfing down a plate of garlicky poultry, I was surrounded by chattering families wearing flip-flops, feet still sandy from the beach. Babies squalled, beers were passed.

Happily chicken-addled, I stepped outside and was pulled into a raucous pre-Carnival street party—a bit of surprise and delight I conjured up all by myself. tcsworldtravel.com; private-jet itineraries from US$51,950 per person for 14 days; around-the-world private-jet expeditions from US$85,950 per person for 24 days.

Nine hours feels like six on a private-jet flight, say those in the know. I was starting to see why

TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM / FEBRUARY 2019

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ROAD TRIP

to Hungary never leave Budapest. After all, it’s one of the most glorious cities in Europe, ablaze with Gothic castles and Belle Époque cafés. Plus, there are the famous bathhouses, fed by more than a hundred thermal springs beneath the city, so you can turn pretty much every day into a spa day. But those same healing mineral waters bubble up all over the country, and many Hungarian hotels offer wellness programs.

In fact, when Hungarians go on vacation, they often choose to wellnessezni—a verb that means to take a weekend vacation to visit a spa hotel and generally focus on health.

Following their lead, I set out on a five-day road trip across northern Hungary, beginning and ending in Budapest, to experience this distinctly Magyar brand of R&R. BUDAPEST Although I felt a cold coming on as my flight landed on a wintry Sunday night, I was comforted by the thought that soothing waters awaited me. I began at the two-year-old Ritz-Carlton, where the blue-and-white décor evokes thermal waters. The spa’s signature treatment, Serenity on the Danube, is designed to help guests recover from their flights. Later, I visited Rudas Thermal Bath, a 16th-century hammam built during the city’s Ottoman occupation. While lounging in the surprisingly hot octagonal pool, beneath an ancient domed roof that let in thin shafts of sunlight, I occasionally drank pure, unfiltered spring water directly from the source. The only thing that rivals its healing powers is a DAY 1

Something in the Water

Natural hot springs are so common in Hungary that spa holidays are something of a national pastime. On a drive from Budapest into the surrounding countryside and back, Adam Leith Gollner goes baths-hopping, with breaks in between to savor the country’s top-notch wines.

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F R O M L E F T: H E M I S /A L A M Y S T O C K P H O T O ; M A U R I T I U S I M A G E S G M B H /A L A M Y S T O C K P H O T O .

O P P O S I T E , F R O M L E F T: L A S Z L O B A L K A N Y I / C O U R T E S Y O F R O S E N S T E I N ; Z O LTA N F U L O P/A L A M Y S T O C K P H O T O

MANY VISITORS

bowl of matzo ball soup at Rosenstein, one of the city’s best Jewish restaurants, which is where I went next. Here, the chefs add freshly grated ginger and goose fat to the matzo balls.

BUDAPEST TO HOLLÓKŐ Located about two hours northeast of Budapest, Hollókő—which means “raven stone”—is an old village stuck in time. A unesco World Heritage site, it is partly a working town and partly an open-air museum that preserves the folkcraft and traditions of the Palóc people (such as spritzing maidens with water on Easter). It’s set within a hilly landscape often called the Tuscany of Hungary, where the winding roads are perfect for a driving adventure—and an afternoon of relaxing in saunas and hot tubs.

I quickly realized that Hungarians have an idiosyncratic concept of wellness. For one thing, their purifying getaways involve drinking copious amounts of pálinka, a traditional fruit brandy. At the Castellum Hotel Hollókő (renowned for its extensive spa), I found a complimentary bottle on my bedside table. When I met Péter Kelecsényi, the director of the heritage site, he asked if I’d tried any yet. “No? See, that’s the problem. It will cure your cold right away.” I declined to DAY 2

follow his prescription, but I did find that this peculiar hamlet had its own uplifting effect.

HOLLÓKŐ TO LILLAFÜRED Driving deeper into northern Hungary, I felt a sense of discovery, like Béla Bartók collecting folk songs there a century ago—an effect only enhanced by an amazing AM radio station playing cimbalom music, a traditional style using a dulcimer-like instrument. I drove through the fields and forests within the Kelet-Cserhát protected area, which were full of game and wild mushrooms, occasionally coming upon small towns where peasant homes stood beside farmland and orchards, their slender chimneys sending plumes of smoke into the hay-scented air.

Hungary’s most famous wine, a blended red known as Bull’s Blood of Eger, is made in this part of the country, which has become renowned for its viticulture. In Heves county, near the city of Eger, the terraced hills are speckled with vineyards, like St. Andrea, where I took a cellar tour and drank several of the distinctive reds made from dark-skinned regional grapes. The region is also home to a natural marvel known as Salt Hill, in the village of Egerszalók, an unruly castle of travertine rising from a mineral hot spring that has been developed into a spa resort called the Saliris. I spent a blissful afternoon soaking in the thermal waters and enjoying the view of the crystal-encrusted hill. At lunchtime, I went to the spa’s cafeteria for kohlrabi soup, which reminded me of my DAY 3

FROM FAR LEFT:

The Rudas Thermal Bath, in Budapest; the quaint St. Martin Church in Hollókő; cholent, a slowcooked beef stew, at Rosenstein, one of Budapest’s most beloved Jewish restaurants; the Salt Hill of Egerszalók, a travertine formation in northern Hungary.

TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM / FEBRUARY 2019

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Hungarian grandmother’s. Afterward, I drove east to the town of Lillafüred, which is dominated by the Cinderella Castle–esque Hunguest Hotel Palota. In the hanging gardens next door, pearls of light sparkled through the deepening dusk.

LILLAFÜRED TO SOMLÓ A sculpture in those same hanging gardens memorializes the Hungarian poet Attila József, who composed some of his finest verses after visiting the region’s caves— which, like the waters, are said to have medicinal properties. The Szent István cave, near the hotel, boasts a near 100 percent humidity level, which is beneficial for those DAY 4

BELOW: The outdoor thermal pool at Budapest's neo-Baroque Széchenyi Baths.

with respiratory conditions. Since my cold was lingering, I wanted to try the cave’s curative “black hall,” named for its lack of light. But because it has been specially designed for long-term patient care, I couldn’t enter without a doctor’s note. Instead, I took one of the hourly guided tours of the cave’s stalagmites, stalactites and a huge flowstone formation known as the frozen waterfall.

That afternoon, I made my way to Lake Balaton, southwest of Budapest. In the summer, Balaton—the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe—is a busy beach destination, but in early winter I found it pleasantly mellow. My first stop was Hévíz, a spa town a few kilometers from Balaton’s western end that is built around Lake Hévíz, the world’s largest thermal lake. In a pool inside Lake Bath, a spa structure that sits on stilts in the center of the lake, Jacuzzi-style jets pummeled me with hot water drawn from deep within the earth.

Another must-visit in the area is the Herend Porcelain Museum and Manufactory, where you can pick up beautiful teacups and tableware of the sort beloved by 19th-century European nobility. I had a classic paprikalaced Hungarian lunch—served on Herend porcelain, of course—at Paletta Étterem, the museum’s cafeteria. Order the goulash.

Another wine region lies a half-hour to the west, on the slopes of the dormant volcano of Somló. The place to stay is Kreinbacher Birtok, a hypermodern new hotel on the estate of the Kreinbacher Winery. Farther up the mountain is the Somló Wine Shop, whose owner, Éva Cartwright, invited me to a lamb roast at the shop that evening with a group of her favorite local winemakers. I sampled white wines made from obscure grape varieties like Juhfark and Olaszrizling, which have the same explosive minerality that bubbles up in the country’s hot springs.

Though little known outside Hungary, they are some of the finest wines in the world.

SOMLÓ TO BUDAPEST The long way back to Budapest took me through another spa town, Sárvár, in the northwestern corner of Hungary. Its name, which translates to “mud castle,” comes from the salubrious silt of the Rába River, on whose banks the town lies. Those looking for an upscale way to experience the medicinal waters can book at one of Sárvár’s many spa resorts, such as the five-star Spirit Hotel. >> DAY 5

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P R I S M A B Y D U K A S P R E S S E A G E N T U R G M B H /A L A M Y S T O C K P H O T O

ROAD TRIP

ROAD TRIP Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace offers views of Buda Castle.

Lillafüred Hollókő DAY 2

DAY 3

Egerszalók

180 kilometers

95 kilometers

DAY 1 Budapest

DAY 5 250 kilometers Sárvár

Somló

DAY 4 Herend

480 kilometers

LAKE BALATON Hévíz Budapest

HUNGARY

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THE PERFECT HUNGARY ROAD TRIP GETTING THERE Polish carrier Lot (lot.com) offers connecting flights via Warsaw to Budapest’s Ferenc Liszt International Airport from Singapore. Emirates (emirates.com) offers connecting flights via Dubai from Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN BUDAPEST Check in to the RitzCarlton Budapest (ritzcarlton.com; doubles from US$287), then head across the Danube to the ancient capital of Buda for a dip at the Rudas Thermal Bath (rudasbaths. com). Then return to Pest for the city’s best Jewish food at Rosenstein (rosenstein.hu; mains US$8–$40).

DAY 2: BUDAPEST → HOLLÓKŐ As a base for exploring the rolling

beech and oak forests of the Kelet-Cserhát protected area, stay at the Castellum Hotel Hollókő (hotelholloko.hu; doubles from US$150), which has an excellent spa.

While touring the unescolisted traditional village of Hollókő (holloko.hu), be sure to sample the offerings at the cheese shop.

DAY 3: HOLLÓKŐ → LILLAFÜRED Head to the Salt Hill, a cathedral of limestone deposits rising from a thermal spring that is part of Saliris Resort (salirisresort.hu; doubles from US$151). Go for a cellar tour at St. Andrea Winery (standrea.com), a great place to discover local varieties like Kékfrankos and Kadarka. Then check in to the Hunguest Hotel Palota (hotel palota.hu; doubles from US$127) for a glimpse of rural Hungarian elegance circa 1930.

DAY 4: LILLAFÜRED → SOMLÓ After a stroll through the nearby Szent István Cave in

Miskolc- Lillafüred, drive west to the Lake Balaton area and check in to Kreinbacher Birtok (kreinbacher. accenthotels.com; doubles from US$127), a sleek hotel at the foot of Somló, a dormant volcano. Take the waters at Hévíz (heviz.hu), the world’s largest thermal lake, then browse the renowned Herend Porcelain Museum (herend.com) before driving up the mountain for a regional tasting at the Somló Wine Shop (somloi.hu).

DAY 5: SOMLÓ → BUDAPEST Try the spa at the Spirit Hotel (spirithotel.hu; doubles from US$241), in the town of Sárvár, before returning to Budapest to stay at the iconic Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace (fourseasons.com; doubles from US$394). Have one more Magyar meal at the classic bistro Café Kör (fb.com/ cafekorrestaurant; mains US$7–$21) and a last dip at the magnificent Széchenyi Baths (szechenyispabaths. com) in City Park.

C O U R T E S Y O F F O U R S E A S O N S H O T E L G R E S H A M PA L A C E

But because I was just passing through, I paid the small entrance fee to visit the Spa & Wellness Center of Sárvár, the town’s public springs. Algae in these soothing waters gives them a dark-green hue that matches the surrounding forests. I also spent a half hour sitting in the spa’s Salt Cave, a magical igloo built from large cubes of salt, with surreal pink salt stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Every breath felt like licking the rim of a margarita.

At lunch, I noticed that in addition to drinking pálinka, Hungarians on wellnessezni trips enjoy eating massive platters of meaty regional food. It’s common at the spa to see someone in a bathrobe bent over a giant plate of cabbage layered with ground pork and butter or a hubcap-sized Wiener schnitzel, and washing it down with a frosty stein of beer.

Back in Budapest, I spent my final night at one of the most august hotels in the world: the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace, an Art Nouveau grand dame with intricate mosaics and ironwork, and original stained glass that survived the wars. The best rooms look out over the Danube and the 1849 Széchenyi Chain Bridge toward Buda Castle. I had one of my favorite meals just around the corner at Café Kör, where the roasted goose leg was paired spectacularly with wines from the regions I’d been exploring. The next morning, I schvitzed in the hot springs at the resplendently neoBaroque Széchenyi Baths, the largest natural hot-spring bathhouse in Europe. My favorite sight was the raisin-skinned gentlemen in bathing caps playing chess on boards built right into the steaming outdoor pools— further proof, as if I needed any more, that in Hungary the baths truly are a way of life.

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DISCOVER

Where the Spirits Move You A rare peek inside Patrón’s distillery in the Mexican state of Jalisco proves to be the gateway for a romp across the tequila capital of the world, fueled by food, culture and (naturally) plenty of imbibing. BY BETSY ANDREWS. PHOTOGR APHS BY LINDSAY L AUCKNER GUNDLOCK

To build Hacienda Patrón, the tequila giant’s home in the Jalisco Highlands, artisans carved local stone in the iconic Spanish colonial style.

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FEW HAVE THE privilege of staying at Hacienda Patrón, just outside Atotonilco el Alto, a town in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. The tequila producer’s Spanishcolonial-style stronghold, which houses its massive distillery, is typically open only to people in the industry (bartenders, distributors, tipsy writers like me). Last summer I was lucky enough to be invited.

My day began in an agave field, where a jimador named Antonio Valencia used a half-moon-shaped blade to shave the spiky leaves off a 45-kilogram piña like he was peeling a carrot. He was harvesting the raw material of tequila, the sugary heart of the blue agave plant that is Jalisco’s lifeblood.

Later, I enjoyed the fruits of his labor—a cool, celery-spiked margarita verde—as hummingbirds flitted among the blossoms and the sun set over the Jalisco highlands. I stayed at the guesthouse beside the hacienda, a luxurious place of airy rooms and artisanmade furnishings. There were meals featuring chicken mole and loads of Mexican-

FEBRUARY 2019 / TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM

style barbecue, cocktail hours with live mariachis, and nightcaps of rich, sherry-caskaged añejo, poured at the copper-topped bar to savor around the fire pit.

After touring the distillery, where I checked out the brick steam ovens that cook the piñas, the volcanic millstone that crushes them, and the copper still that turns them into booze, I wondered what else the region had to offer.

Luckily, the folks at Patrón offered help in mapping out a journey that took me westward, from Guadalajara, past ancient sites and on into tequila country. Here’s how I spent three perfect days in Jalisco.

THURSDAY

The region comes alive midweek, so fly in to Guadalajara no later than Wednesday night, as I did. My advice: book on Volaris. Mexico’s affordable airline will help you save pesos for fun once you’ve landed. At the sleek Casa Fayette (casafayette.com; doubles from US$121), you’ll wake to floor-to-ceiling views of the city. The art and dining scenes of >>

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DISCOVER

FROM TOP: Blue agave plants at the distillery La Fortaleza, in the Jalisco town of Tequila; the restaurant at Casa Fayette, a hotel in Guadalajara.

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Jalisco’s capital, which has become the Silicon Valley of Mexico, bristle with energy, adding new layers to the palimpsest of eras in this centuries-old city. Uber gets you around, but I prefer pedaling. The Mibici system (mibici.net; US$4.25 for a day pass) lets you grab a bike at one of 236 stations.

If you want a true spectacle, head to the more than 40,000-square-meter Mercado San Juan de Díos (sanjuandedios.com.mx), which claims to be Latin America’s largest indoor market. For something less overwhelming, it’s a short ride from the hotel to the quieter Mercado Santa Tere (524 Calle Andrés Terán), home to Fonda Mariquita ( fb.com/ fondamariquita), filmmaker and Guadalajaran native Guillermo del Toro’s go-to for chile rellenos and chilaquiles. Work off breakfast by seeing art. Meander past Centro Histórico sites—the twin-towered Guadalajara Cathedral (10 Avda. Alcalde), the Neoclassical Teatro Degollado (Calle Degollado between Calle Morelos and Avda. Miguel y Costilla), and Plaza de los Mariachis (23 Álvaro Obregón), where musicians stroll nightly, on your way to the 19th-century Hospicio Cabañas (hospiciocabanas.jalisco.gob.mx), which master muralist José Clemente Orozco covered with political psychedelia in 1937.

Guadalajara’s contemporary art scene reflects a similar restlessness. Erasures, rubbings, and “accidents” abound in the work of rising stars like Francisco Ugarte, who shows at Galería Curro (galeriacurro.com). Art has also

FEBRUARY 2019 / TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM

revitalized old warehouses, like the scrappy Tiro Al Blanco (833 Calle Juan Alvarez; 52-22/ 3826-5674), and elegant mansions, like Páramo (paramogaleria.com), both of which have been converted into galleries.

Recharge at the newfangled cantina De La Õ ( fb.com/delaogenovevo; snacks US$3–$7) with dobladitas (stuffed, fried tortillas) and celery-infused pulque (fermented agave sap).

Or book ahead to taste traditional mezcals at its sibling spot, Mezonte (mezonte.com). On your way back, go shopping. I happened into Bolívar 129 (bolivar129.mx), whose collection of artist-made leather goods, housewares and jewelry was full of finds. For dinner, you can go casual or dressy: Guadalajaran chefs are cooking mind-blowing food on both ends of the spectrum. Xokol Antojeria (1392 Calle Herrera y Cairo; mains US$2–$11) serves crave-worthy Mexico City–style street snacks using masa made from indigenous corn. Chef Francisco Ruano turns out gorgeous haute fare at Alcalde (alcalde.com.mx; mains US$16– $20): a salad of dehydrated beets, grapefruit, and plumeria flowers; octopus in yellow lentils with house-cured bacon. Finish the evening with a cocktail at Galgo (fb.com/galgospeakeasy), tucked behind a refrigerator door, or El Gayo Altanero ( fb.com/elgalloaltanero), hidden above Fitzroy Espresso Bar.

FRIDAY

Grab a pork-belly version of a loncha de panceta (drunken sandwich), a classic Jalisco breakfast, at Pal Real (113 Calle Félix Lope de Vega; 52-33/1983-7254; mains US$4–$12). You could easily linger here until cocktail hour, but don’t, because it’s time to get out of town. Rent a car at the airport or book a driver with Andares de Mexico (grupoandares.com), and head west. If bird-watching is your thing, the 30,000-hectare forest Bosque la Primavera (bosquelaprimavera.com), often referred to >>

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DISCOVER

FROM TOP: A guest

room at Hotel Solar de las Ánimas, in the heart of the town of Tequila; the nearby tasting room of the distillery La Fortaleza.

as “Guadalajara’s lungs,” is home to more than 200 species. Save time for a trip through prehistory. Guachimontones (guachimontones oficial.com), above the town of Teuchitlán, was the ceremonial center of the Teuchitlán civilization that thrived here two millennia ago. I hired a guide to lead me around the world’s only circular pyramids, then shopped the museum store for jewelry made with the obsidian mined in these parts. Stay in Ahualuco de Mercado at the atmospheric Hacienda el Carmen Hotel & Spa (haciendadelcarmen.com. mx; doubles from US$129), a 400-year-old former Carmelite monastery dripping with period furnishings. The secluded La Taverna Suite boasts a walk-in Jacuzzi built out of the old agave oven, and the sprawling organic greenhouse supplies the produce for dinner in the courtyard restaurant.

SATURDAY

Eat a hearty breakfast, because today is tequila day. The Tequila Valley, Jalisco’s other main tequila region, is hotter than the highlands, so you’ll find a spicier agave profile in the spirits at distilleries like Cascahuín (fb.com/ cascahuin; Saturday tours 11 a.m.–1 p.m). Its nearby Bar El Cascahuin (fb.com/ rinconcascahuin) pours sips like the smoky, floral Extra Añejo, aged eight years. At La Fortaleza (tequilafortaleza.com), in the town of Tequila, Guillermo Erickson Sauza, a fifthgeneration member of the Sauza family, has a

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tasting room in a cave dug into the hillside beneath the agave plants. For lunch, nosh on tamales at La Cata (lacatatequila.com; snacks US$2–$3), an upstairs bar near the town center with a long list of agave spirits. Owner Clayton Szczech also leads distillery tours through Experience Tequila (experiencetequila.com).

I napped it all off afterward at the grand Hotel Solar de las Ánimas (hotelsolardela sanimas.com; doubles from US$150), whose restaurant serves imaginative, largely organic fare: grilled agave hearts with fresh cheese; sous vide beef with mole negra (mains US$3– $6). Before dinner, I visited the mural inside the Tequila Municipal Building (33 José Cuervo; 52-374/742-0012) to pay homage to the goddess of agave, Mayahuel, who appears framed by a succulent shooting fire. I left time for a sunset dip in the hotel’s fourth-floor pool, which has views of the mountains and the zocalo, dominated by the Parish of Santiago Apostol (16 Sixto Gorjón; 52-374/742-0134). Behind this 17th-century cathedral, I discovered, is an alley filled with stands. Hit it up for a breakfast of delicious, dirt-cheap tacos before you leave town on Sunday.

JALISCO

Tequila Guadalajara

MEXICO Teuchitlán JALISCO

Pacific Ocean

Atotonilco el Alto

NEX T ADVENTURE

C LO C K W I S E F RO M TO P LE F T : TYS ON SA D LO/ C OU RT ESY O F BE L MON D ; T HE MAS O NS/ C O U RT ESY O F J O M A LO N E ; L AU RY N I SH A K / O FFS ET ; ISTOCK PHOTO/ G E T TY I M AG ES; C OU RT ESY O F HOT E L DA NIE LI, A LU XU RY C O LLECT IO N HOTE L

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Tomato bruschetta at Giudecca 10; Jo Malone, who celebrates her 25th anniversary in the beauty business this year; a view of Venice’s Grand Canal from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection museum; a Murano-glass vase; Hotel Danieli’s opulent Bar Dandolo.

Jo Malone’s Venetian Vacation

The iconic British perfumer celebrated the launch of her new scent, Jo by Jo Loves, with a trip to Italy’s floating city. Here, a peek at her art-centric itinerary.

As told to Siobhan Reid A ROOM WITH A VIEW My husband, Gary, and I have been to Venice many times and have stayed in properties all over the city, from cheap B&Bs to high-end properties like Belmond Hotel Cipriani

(belmond.com; doubles from €687). This time around, we spent a few days at Hotel Danieli (marriott.com; doubles from €440), which is steeped in old-world elegance and makes you feel like you’re in an Agatha Christie novel. The rooms have these stunning balconies that overlook the Venetian lagoon.

STUDY ABROAD One of my new goals in life is to take four educational vacations a year. As a fragrance maker, I like adventures that activate my senses and spark my creativity. But the trip to Venice was actually my teenage son’s idea. He loves art and wanted to explore some of the continent’s most important museums like the Peggy Guggenheim Collection

(guggenheim-venice.it) and the landmark of Venetian Gothic architecture, Doge’s Palace (palazzoducale.visitmuve.it).

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS I’m fascinated by other people and what they put in bottles, whether it’s perfume, olive oil or wine. That’s why our holiday included not one, but two glass-centered side adventures. First, we drove to Bibano, a small village an hour north of Venice, to visit the Bottega Spa (bottegaspa.com) winery and learn how they make their world-famous Prosecco in a 17th-century farmhouse. Our second excursion was to the island of Murano, where we watched

the glassblowers and dined at the hole-in-the-wall trattorias.

LOCAL FLAVOR I’m not interested in checking out the newest restaurants.

I like to find out where the Venetians eat and drink. One of my best tips for dining out in Venice is to order an aperitivo at the bar rather than at a table. It’ll be a third of the price. That said, I still loved splurging on a meal at Belmond Hotel Cipriani’s Giudecca 10 (belmond.com; mains from €32). They have the best pizzas and Bellinis.

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SHOPPING

West End Revival

The name Covent Garden may conjure images of My Fair Lady–style cockney flower hawkers, but the market stalls moved across the river in 1974. Touristy chain stores replaced them, but now those too are disappearing, and boutique properties like the glam, 18-room Henrietta Hotel (henrietta hotel.com; doubles from £250) are moving in.

Stylish U.K. companies and cult indie brands have set up flagships in newly refurbished spaces, many of them in protected historic buildings. The result? Covent Garden is reclaiming its place as one of London’s best shopping destinations. Here, our list of the most essential stores to visit.

FROM TOP:

The Petersham’s delicatessen store; The Shop at Bluebird, which occupies a historic carriage house.

apothecary-like emporium, where almost a thousand blends are for sale, some fetching up to £110 per package. mariagefreres.com.

1 THE SHOP AT BLUEBIRD

The original Shop at Bluebird in Chelsea is an institution, having drawn design lovers to its King’s Road concept store for more than a decade. Now Carriage Hall, a historic carriage house in what was once Covent Garden’s labyrinthine market center, is one of the neighborhood’s must-visit addresses. In this dazzling new 1,400-square-meter flagship, you’ll find the eclectic selection of

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apparel (Acne Studios, Marni, Alistair James), beauty (Grown Alchemist, Votary), and homewares (Scandinavian design objects from Hay, Assouline and Phaidon art books) that made the original a London mainstay. theshop atbluebird.com.

2 M A RIAGE FRÈRES

This expansive store from France’s oldest and most prestigious teahouse is a veritable shrine to the U.K.’s national drink.

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Occupying five f loors of a renovated Georgian town house, the Mariage Frères Covent Garden store claims to offer the world’s largest collection of teas, with varieties grown in 36 countries. Book a table at the Salon de Thé for an afternoon brew paired with pastries and petits fours, then visit the second-f loor museum, with its collection of antiques, recipes and paraphernalia from around the world.

Afterward, explore the

F R O M T O P : PA U L C R A I G / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E P E T E R S H A M ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E S H O P AT B L U E B I R D

3 FOR A RT’S SA K E

Founded just two years ago, this London purveyor of handmade, high-design sunglasses has swiftly acquired a committed fan base. Up until now, Londoners had to buy the company’s shades either online or from a booth in Harvey Nichols. But last year, For Art’s Sake opened its first standalone store in Covent Garden’s Market Building.

In keeping with the brand’s fashionable credentials, the space is furnished with on-trend architectural brass and marble shelving, and velvet-covered walls that match the cases that come with every purchase.

Among the bold styles, you’ll find lenses in rose and lavender; bridges set with tiny pearls; nose pads fashioned from jade; and

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Indoor plants and

housewares at Petersham Nurseries; the Covent Garden Morning blend from Mariage Frères; handmade sunglasses

by For Art’s Sake.

Feeney’s monthly Scent School to learn more about the science of perfume— glass of champagne in hand. floralstreet.com.

oversize cat-eye frames made from hand-cut, marbled acetate. fasforartssake.com.

4 PE TERSH A M NURSERIES

5 FLOR A L STREET

— HANNAH WALHOUT

COVENT GARDEN

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

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Beauty-industry veteran Michelle Feeney named her perfume brand after the road on which Covent Garden’s flower sellers once gathered, having been inspired to launch it while strolling its quaint lanes.

Just around the corner on King Street, her small, white-walled shop carries just eight fragrances, all packaged in compostable boxes and sugarcanebased bioplastic bottles.

Each is named after a f lower, such as the zesty, bright London Poppy and the sultry Black Lotus, and deepened by an entourage of complementary notes.

Book an appointment at

the raw denim that earned Edwin its devoted following, you’ll find other staples for men such as streetwear-inspired tees and trousers, overdyed flannels and leather goods. edwin-europe.com.

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Following up on its serene garden-store-cumrestaurant in the residential district of Richmond, Petersham Nurseries has opened a Covent Garden outpost that is three in one: a florist, selling romantic, rambling arrangements of seasonal British flowers; a delicatessen for artisanal preserves, English cheeses, freshly made pastas and Italian wines; and a lifestyle shop stocked with home goods, gardening supplies, antique furniture, imported textiles and indoor plants. Also worth checking out are the two on-site restaurants: the Italian-inspired La Goccia (small plates £5–£15) and the elegant Petersham

(mains £24–£36), which serves fresh Bellinis and egg-yolk ravioli in a plantfilled, almost forested dining room hung with filigreed mirrors and floor-to-ceiling paintings. petershamnurseries.com/ covent-garden.

This Japanese company was the first to import American jeans to Tokyo in the 1940s, but it soon started manufacturing its own—planting the seeds for Japan’s wildly successful denim industry. Edwin is now one of Japan’s premier jeans labels, and its minimalist European f lagship store is, as you might expect, dominated by navy and indigo hues. In addition to

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C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: PA U L C R A I G / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E P E T E R S H A M ; C O U R T E S Y O F M A R I A G E F R È R E S ; C O U R T E S Y O F F O R A R T ’ S S A K E

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CRUISE

Under a Cold Spell

Exploring the South Sawyer Glacier, in Tracy Arm fjord.

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THE DR AW OF AL ASK A is unrivaled. Sure, there are puffins, whales, otters, bears, glaciers and fjords in many places around the world, but what makes this natural winter wonderland unique is that only Alaska feels like Alaska: vast, empty, disconnected and, as you start to realize during your umpteenth hour in the air to Anchorage, farther away than you’d imagined. This is the end of the line.

“Alaska isn’t a reserve. It’s wild,” I was told

by Chris Srigley, the leader of the expedition team aboard my Seabourn Sojourn cruise last July. “Wild” is not quite the same as the pure, still majesty of Antarctica, which fills you with peace. Wild is a charge in the air. It’s the dark, ominous, infinite evergreens. It’s watching everything trying to eat everything else, while keeping a respectful distance from the things that want to eat you. It’s the nagging thought in the back of your mind that the most powerful earthquake recorded in America— an incomprehensible 9.2—occurred where you’re standing. The ground in Anchorage shook for four and a half minutes.

Champagne flowed freely as the 450-passenger Sojourn explored the wild for two leisurely weeks, starting in the southern port city of Seward and then following the Inside Passage to Vancouver. I’d sailed with Seabourn on expedition itineraries before and knew its cosseted take on adventure and the people it would attract. They came from around the world, and they weren’t boring: an Australian TV celebrity; a producer of Sharknado; a lawyer from Liechtenstein, who finally explained Liechtenstein to me. As always, the cabins were spacious and the bathrooms were marble, while the food ranged from country-club solid to stellar. Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry has his own handsome restaurant on board and also creates menus for the main dining room.

Most ships do this itinerary in one rat-a-tat week. Two weeks gave Sojourn the time to linger, to call on obscure ports, and to dig in with 116 shore excursions, many a part of Ventures by Seabourn. Available in Alaska

A C C E N T A L A S K A . C O M /A L A M Y S T O C K P H O T O

Alaska is at the top of many a cruise wish list—but how many lines can truly get you up close to the state’s natural wonders? On an action-packed voyage with Seabourn, Stephen Drucker explores the wilderness by kayak, dogsled and ship.

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

since 2017, Ventures consists of more rigorous outings—the kind you’d traditionally find on an expedition cruise. The program, now more than three years old, has transformed this luxury cruise line in unexpected ways.

Everything has become less formal, more youthful and much more active. There’s not a lot of vegging in a deck chair anymore. You’re in a kayak, alone in silence, or in a Zodiac, racing along with a guide telling stories about bears and avalanches. You’re focused on fishing, ethnography, nature photography, hiking, mindful living or a zipline. You’re always wondering what you’ve missed: I’d go to dinner thrilled about my spin through the Tracy Arm iceberg field and leave envious of a new friend’s 10-kilometer, eight-hour march in cleated boots across Davidson Glacier (after which he moaned in his cabin for a full day).

Each of us really designed a personal cruise.

The birders were attached to their binoculars perpetually, hoping for one more pigeon guillemot. The whale-watchers would spend hours on deck, scanning the water for the tip of a fin. The bear people would lose their minds over every brown speck in the distance. “Look, at two o’clock....” “Sorry, it’s a rock....” “No, I saw it move....” “Too late, you missed it....”

I—a generalist—chose one ice outing, one search for sea and bird life, and one bear trek, though I wasn’t quick enough to book the coveted Ventures Anan Creek bear viewing, which sold out months in advance. And I like dogs, so I signed up for a helicopter jaunt to go sledding. I didn’t fully grasp that I’d be dropped onto a glacier with 200 huskies in training for the Iditarod, the legendary 1,600-kilometer sled race from Anchorage to Nome. These weren’t A bear hunts for salmon at Anan Creek, near Wrangell.

The harbor at Sitka, along the Sitka Channel.

the blue-eyed glamour dogs I was expecting; they were more like mutts, powerful, affectionate, smart and bred solely for endurance. All they want to do is run, and if you make them stop, all they do is bark. Our musher had to spell out their commands— I can still see his breath in the cold air as he mouthed the letters H…A…W…—because if you even whisper the command “Haw,” every dog within earshot will take off like a rocket to the left. Within minutes of landing I was standing on the rails of a sled with 10 ecstatic dogs that thought they were galloping for Nome, ready to bump for kilometers through a valley of snow and ice. And then someone stuck a puppy in my arms. Total goner.

The wild side of Alaska is less apparent when you’re docked in Juneau or Ketchikan along with 14,000 people from other ships. But walk 200 meters beyond the shorefront stores, and you’ll find it. In Ketchikan, I spent an hour over reindeer sausage and eggs at the Pioneer Café, making futile small talk with the locals, who tend to answer in one word. Like most of the state, Wrangell, population 2,369, is

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CRUISE

COLD-CLIMATE CRUISES FOR EVERY TRAVEL WHIM The wonders of winter, in Alaska and beyond.

accessible only by plane or boat, and the boat sometimes appears at 4:30 a.m. I found a café there that made Red Bull smoothies, and then reviewed a supermarket noticeboard where every kind of bullet was for sale.

Every day brought something a cruise brochure can’t quite capture: the distinctly un-touristy cultural demonstration by the First Nations people of Klemtu, British Columbia, where Seabourn is the only cruise line that calls, or the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines, where my heart was stolen by a bird named Arden that had been rescued after an encounter with a power line.

But I always liked knowing what was waiting for me at the end of an exhausting day: the yachtlike Sojourn, its clubby atmosphere, a crew I looked forward to seeing again, and— what every cruise revolves around—dinner.

Months later I’m still thinking about a cut of prime beef Keller called a calotte, wondering if I’ll ever eat anything that good again. Two weeks of living like that goes to your head. At one point I caught myself standing on the deck in my hiking boots and waterproof pants saying, “I have to keep it simple tonight. Caviar and lamb chops.” seabourn.com; 10-, 11- or 13-night Alaska sailings from US$4,699 per person, all-inclusive.

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*If your heart is set on way, way remote Alaska...

A 12-night expedition itinerary from Ponant calls in destinations

that truly feel at the edge of the world: Alaska’s volcanic Aleutian Islands. You can visit Kiska, which was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, before heading to the mainland and wildlife-rich Katmai National Park. ponant.com; from US$10,700 per person, all-inclusive. *If you want to spot the aurora borealis…

Viking now offers voyages above the Arctic Circle in winter—the best time for viewing the phenomenon.

On its 12-night In Search of the Northern Lights itineraries, you’ll stop in the small Norwegian ports of Bodø, Alta, Tromsø and Narvik. Along the way, you can take a reindeerled sleigh ride and get up close to arctic wolves at Polar Park.

vikingcruises.com; from US$4,999 per person. *If you want to splurge and tick every cold-climate destination off your bucket list...

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has one of the most comprehensive, mind-blowing itineraries out there: a 91-night Grand Arctic Discovery voyage. The 496-passenger Seven Seas Navigator will set out from New York City on June 15, 2020, to take passengers up the eastern coast of Canada and on to Greenland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Murmansk, Russia, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. rssc.com; from US$43,999 per person, all-inclusive.

— JACQUELINE GIFFORD

D A N I TA D E L I M O N T/A L A M Y S T O C K P H O T O . I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y G I A C O M O B A G N A R A

A totem pole in Ketchikan.

*If you want to see Alaska and enjoy all the comforts of a big, glamorous ship...

Cunard’s newly refitted, 2,081-passenger Queen Elizabeth will call in Alaska this season—the first time for the brand in more than 20 years.

You’ll have your pick of some 140 excursions: set out in search of sea otters or soar over glaciers in a floatplane, then go back to the grand, Art Deco–style liner for a restorative massage at Mareel, the reimagined spa. cunard.com; 10-night sailings from US$1,899 per person.

BANGKOK RESTAURANTS REDEFINING A GENRE Remember Nahm? If you came to Bangkok five years ago for authentic and fiery but fancy-plated Thai food, you called in favors for a table there. The dining scene has steadily expanded since, but the arrival of Michelin in 2017 shifted the focus on nouveau-Thai fare to high gear. On the following pages, in no particular order, are some fantastic next-gen chefs more deeply flexing their creative muscles. From haute to hip, whether reviving old recipes, ginning up new fusions, smoking, fermenting or sustainably sourcing, one thing is sure: you’ll find joy in every locavore bite.

BY JENINNE LEE-ST. JOHN

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Mixing drinks at Funky Lam; a dessert made of pumpkin from Thong Ampai with Chonburi coconut, at Saawaan; buttery

jowls from organic local pork, at Le Du; fermented noodles with fried pork jowl in spicy pla-ra salad, at 100 Mahaseth; a private dining room at Karmakamet Conveyance; the Chili Roulette opening salvo at 80/20; Surat Thani crab with roe and yellow curry at Sorn Fine Southern Cuisine; egg yolk with mussel sauce and “shells,” at Front Room.

C U L I N A RY J O U R N E YS

FROM TOP: A

L E I G H G R I F F I T H S ( 2 ) . O P P O S I T E F R O M T O P L E F T: A A R O N J O E L S A N T O S ( 2 ) ; L E I G H G R I F F I T H S ; COURTESY OF 100 MAHASE TH; A ARON JOEL SANTOS; LEIGH GRIFFITHS; A ARON JOEL SANTOS (2)

bouquet of seasonal herbs and greens; chefs Joe Jantraget and Saki Hoshino, with a new 80/20 mural by a royal palace painter.

SPINNING STRAW INTO GOLD 80/20 With a fresh revamp and a reorientation to tasting menus, one of the city’s secret faves is stepping out of the shadows.

ramped-up cocktail menu, and a wine list heavy on artisanal, biodynamic bottles. (The soft, pear-tinged Christoph Hoch pét-nat Kalkspritz will transport you to a gauzy afternoon garden.)

The other big change is that they’ve gone tasting-menu-only. Standouts on the 10-course menu they just relaunched with include the goat tartare, and the dry-aged smoked duck breast with duck-offal sausage. Textures are a priority; witness the single-clove garlic sliced razor-thin and fermented in honey for two months, or the “edible sand” made from the dried insides of tiger-prawn heads. I mention surprise at the small size of the grilled oysters in seepweed butter (this is a slightly nutty, crunchy bowl of delight), and Joe says it’s because they’re local, of course. “They might have less intrinsic flavor,” he says. “You just need to find a way to use it.”

This is their overarching philosophy. “I had a guest who said the beef seemed a little tough. I said, ‘Yes, that’s Thai beef,’ and he looked at me like, Oh, I feel sorry for you. But he missed the point. That’s just what it is. It’s my job to learn to enhance it. You can’t expect Thai beef to be Japanese beef.” Lingering at the counter after dinner, I note the line chefs gathering, laughing and rolling what turns out to be the duck sausage; hilarious—it’s a sausage party. “Before we were just playing,” Saki says. “Now it’s working together to build something solid.”

Happily, though, they’re also still playing.

8020bkk.com; tasting menu Bt3,000.

how the sausage gets made, visit 80/20. Executive chef Napol “Joe” Jantraget and pastry chef Saki Hoshino source their ingredients locally and seasonally, in ways that elevate their suppliers, and employ pickling and fermenting to create experimental Thai fare that looks fancy but isn’t daunting, in a relaxed wrought-iron space where you can hang out and watch the chill chefs joshing around in the open kitchen. Quickly after opening in late 2015, they became a darling of Bangkok’s creative trend-set who were remaking the riverlands around old Chinatown. You couldn’t get a walk-in table even on Monday night. Michelin gave them a Plate.

Just before shutting down for renovations last year, Joe and Saki popped off to Japan to get married. Eighty-twenty 2.0, with its expanded kitchen, dining room and staff, represents new unions. A partnership with Choti Leenutaphong and Debby Tang, the couple behind several popular Bangkok restaurants and Vesper, which is on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, brings a

I F YO U WA N T T O S E E

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LEGENDS OF YORE SORN FINE SOUTHERN CUISINE Following the trail of history to old village recipes from soldiers and subsistence farmers made these southern boys an instant hit.

FROM TOP: The Forest Meets the Sea: southern herbs with toasted rice and fish innards dressing; lunch is the lovelier seating in this gardenensconsed restored villa.

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N A K H O N S I T H A M M A R AT faces the Gulf of Thailand, with its back to the hills, making the city militarily defensible, and bequeathing on the region a cuisine that blends seafood, wild animals and herbs. Put another way, says Supaksorn “Ice” Jongsiri, who comes from there: “It’s soldier food. A lot of rice, and small portions, and intense in flavor partly because it needed to be preserved with lots of salt or sugar to be carried for duty.”

It’s rare that an haute Thai eatery can get the society set in a tizzy, but Sorn Fine Southern Cuisine has been booked out months in advance, Noma-style, practically since it opened last June. Exactly no one was surprised when they, serving hyperlocal common-folk food from villages in 14 southern provinces, won a Michelin star just five months in.

Executive chef Ice, head chef Yodkwan “Yod” U-Prumpruk who hails from Surat Thani, and their mostly southern-born team take diners on a spicy, smoky, layered tour through the country’s hottest region.

Pop some deep-fried, garlic-andchili-powdered Phuket sand crabs in your mouth and listen up, because the stories that accompany each dish are worth the price of admission.

“When I was young and my grandma made beef curry, she’d tell me to go to the Muslim village. Halal beef is really good,” Ice says. Sorn buys eight-year-old former milking cows from a Muslim community in Pattalung. “It’s not grass-fed or grain-fed. It’s whatever-they-had-fed.

But when the cow is old its beef has more flavor and a soft texture with a milk taste left over. It’s very Thai, the breed is very mixed, but it sure tastes good, right?” Beyond right. The milkmarinated strips grilled in a datesweetened curry sauce make for the best meat-on-a-stick I’ve ever eaten.

This dish is, on my visit, the last of a parade of majority-seafood small plates (lobster claw and head with coconut cream, turmeric and lemongrass on a rice cracker, for example) that precedes a tabletakeover of shared dishes—curries

A ARON JOEL SANTOS (6)

C U L I N A RY J O U R N E YS

ASIAN VISION KARMAKAMET CONVEYANCE A country-hopping, wine-fueled reverie in a romantic, old-Bangkok time capsule.

C U LT S C E N T P U R V E YO R

FROM TOP: Head

chef Yod U-pumpruk (left) and executive chef Ice Jongsiri; pickled young mangosteen with palm sugar and fish sauce.

and soups and rich meats galore. It’s a pleasant process, moving from the omakaselike individual portions to an avalanche of a family-style feast. You get to ooh and ahh for a bit, then sit back, discuss the flavors, and admire the stunning renovation of this Edenic villa, where there are handcrafted dishware created for each course, claypot stoves in the garden, and Art Deco light fixtures overhead.

It’s a far cry from the backstory of southern staple khua kling, which recurs on the menu. Soldiers packed fermented shrimp paste with them when they went to camp in the forest, Ice says, and stir-fried it with stinky beans they foraged from the woods.

Last month the restaurant shut for 10 days (despite the waiting list) for its own foraging trip: the entire staff went south to source ingredients.

“Everyone takes part in crafting the menu,” Ice says, “with me as leader.”

Or, should we say, general? instagram.com/sornfinesouthern; tasting menu Bt2,700.

Karmakamet knows pretty.

Having built their “diner” in a sun-dappled industrial-chic greenhouse, they’ve opened their second eatery in Lhong 1919, a riverfront restoration project whose walls are adorned by new street art and century-old moss. But it isn’t just the romantic location of Karmakamet Conveyance that’s transportive; the finedining restaurant is a journey throughout Asia via the memories of chef Jutaman “Som” Theantae.

The Thai dishes come in hot, whether it’s the sashimiesque, emotionally titled Humid Morning by Prachuab Khiri Khan Bay that leads off, or the hunka-meaty spicedcoconut crab claw with curried corn patty and yellow rice. Her take on Hainanese chicken rice is a salve for the soul, a rich broth that will cure any hangover, and that is

paired with a shot of an even richer broth made of threedays’ boiled bones and herbs—a delicious update of my Cantonese grandmother’s nose-repelling tonics.

Indeed, Som admits to taking inspiration from some foods she didn’t even like in their original form, making for culinary acrobatics that back up the restaurant’s theme, “allow things to happen the way they are”—an adage you’ll find all the easier to follow powered by the smart winepairing from small-producer specialist-importer Fin. The progression from bubbles to white to red and back to white is a path surely less taken on tasting menus, but one deeply appreciated by the end of a long meal. Who wants a soporific tannins denouement when you can have an uplifting Galician Godello? karmakametconveyance.com; tasting menu Bt2,500.

Hainan braised chicken thigh with tao si lime dip, and a threedays' boiled bone-broth chaser.

TOP: Chef Som Theantae.

C U L I N A RY J O U R N E YS

STAR TURN LE DU Delicately engineered plates starring local, seasonal produce are dreamed up by a celebrity chef who traffics less in “twists” than whiffs—call it, the edge of Thai.

FROM ABOVE:

up a more model brand ambassador for Thai food than a baby-faced, aw-shucks nice guy with an enviably thick mop of tousled hair. Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn—a natural of a judge on Top Chef Thailand—went to Culinary Institute of America and worked in such top New York kitchens as Jean-Georges before bringing that Michelin precision back to Bangkok.

For a while after Le Du (“season” in Thai) opened in 2013, it was frankly a bit polarizing.

Many loved it; others didn’t quite get it. Turned out, Ton was just on the vanguard with his mod, reimagined-Thai innovations. The rest of the city would quickly catch up. Le Du landed on Asia’s 50 Best list a couple of years ago.

And Ton had just launched a new menu (with a divine boutique-vineyard-heavy wine pairing) about 15 minutes before he was awarded his first Michelin star last November, so when I eat there the day after the ceremony, the kitchen is buoyant. As is the menu. It somehow stays light all the way through. I’m usually borderline begging for mercy by the meat course, but Le Du

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is all about subtlety. Example: Chances are you’ve had meang kum—betel leaves filled with coconut, dried shrimp, nuts, lime, garlic, ginger, chili, shallots and fish-sauce palm syrup. They are a rich mouthful. When presented here with what looks like a piece of charred sashimi in a cream sauce, it’s hard to see the resemblance to that common Thai snack that Ton says inspired him. But this cradle of pickled sea bass, coconutand-ginger foam and betel leaves has enough key ingredients to evoke a distant echo of meang kum. Like a hint of a memory. Inception-style.

The hands-down champ on this no-misses menu is the local, free-range pork jowl, sous vided for 24 hours then grilled, served with pickled choi sum, a soft-boiled quail egg and five-spice-infused barley. Ton says he was inspired by the omnipresent street food khao ka moo, or stewed pork leg with rice—but ignore that. You won’t care about its origin story. The flavors on the plate are so complementary and the meat so buttery that, well, this pig stands alone. ledubkk.com; tasting menus from Bt2,290.

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LEIGH GRIFFITHS (2)

Chef Ton Tassanakajohn; local wild mushrooms and smoked pumpkin in a fish broth.

THE GRAND TOUR SAAWAAN Take a hearty trip through Thailand via a tasting menu brimming with delicious dishes we’d like to see a la carte. (The duo of female chefs at the helm is a fab added bonus.)

FROM ABOVE: Chef

A ARON JOEL SANTOS (2)

Aom Pongmorn; she makes koi pla—a cevichelike blend of raw amberjack fish with rice powder and kaffir lime—tableside.

S O M E P E O P L E L I K E to snack on chips and salsa. In an ideal world, I’d keep a bowl of chef Sujira “Aom” Pongmorn’s rice-paddy crab dip in my fridge. She takes adorable little crustaceans from Sing Buri province, renders their fat with Thai herbs, returns the mix to their tiny shells and roasts it on the grill. The result, which you eat with sticky-rice balls, is a complex cream that kind of defines the beauty of Saawaan: it’s fine dining down-to-earth, creative but still decidedly Thai. The Michelin star it garnered last autumn, in its opening year, was heartily earned.

I meet friendly Aom tableside (the whole place is small enough that you’ll get plenty of face time), when she comes by to whip up her koi pla, a raw-fish salad made of local amberjack, Thai herbs, kaffir lime, and roasted stickyrice powder that enhances with a satisfying crunch. Aom

has worked under classicEuropean chefs and nouveauThai inventors, but she grew up on Bangkok’s historic Charoen Krung Road amid a family of traditional cooks, and learned to use a charcoal firepot at age six. So don’t look for any fluff or foam or barely there bites on this woman’s menu. She has concocted substantial fare for a 10-course tasting menu, any five of which would satisfy your hunger (I’m looking at you, squid noodles with holy basil, squid ink, king oyster mushrooms and seven-daycured organic–egg yolk).

You might be tempted to try to get away with the melty, marinated, grilled Iberico Secreto—it’s all you could want in a meal—for dessert, but do save room for pastry chef Arisara “Paper” Chongphanitkul’s concoctions; they include a pumpkincoconut number that tastes like Thanksgiving. saawaan. com; tasting menu Bt1,950.

C U L I N A RY J O U R N E YS

REIGN OF FIRE FUNKY LAM KITCHEN S O M E 3 0 0 Y E A R S ago,

FROM TOP: Saya

Na Champasak (left) and Sanya Souvannaphouma; roast chicken, clams and meatballs, Isan sausage, duck larb, and beef jerky; photogenic interiors.

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Laos was partitioned into the competing Kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak. They were all ruled by descendants of the same king, and through eras of war, annexation, encroachment and colonization by the Siamese, Vietnamese, Chinese and French, their lines endured such that in the two stormy decades after the country’s 1953 independence, the heir to one house, Prince Souvanna Phouma, held the title Prime Minister frequently, trading for a time with the heir to another, his cousin Prince Boun Oum. The chairman of the Pathet Lao, Prince Souphanouvong, was Phouma’s half-brother, and, in a way, thank goodness for that because when the communists took over and he became president, he ensured safe passage out of the country for many of his royal relatives... And that, class, is an important reason why today the Bangkok nightlife scene is so awesome.

Sanya Souvannaphouma, Phouma’s grandson, is one of the city’s winningest impresarios (see: Maggie Choo’s, Sing Sing Theater) and last year, he and his cousin Saya Na Champasak, grandson of Boun Oum (you knew where this was going, right?), opened an homage to

their shared heritage, Funky Lam Kitchen, a Laotian- and Isan-cuisine specialist that’s heavy on the heat, the spices, and the attitude. In what is a motorcycle-themed café by day, they serve a menu that reflects Sanya’s father’s insistence that “Laotian food has its own integrity. In fact, Thai food is based on it.”

Those might be fighting words, but my hit list will prove uncontroversial to any fire-addicted carnivore. Get the spiral of house-made Isan sausage that comes with a doll-sized mini-cleaver; the spicy, lemongrass-y clam broth with meatballs and charred tomatoes that I wish someone would deliver me every Sunday afternoon; and the magical, herbacious fishcake made of trout and pounded prawns.

These delights were derived from the cookbook of court chef and master of ceremonies Phia Sing, who is credited with being the first to write down Laotian recipes.

“All food comes from Phia Sing,” says Sanya. The creative cocktails and the old- and new-world wine list turned out by the sultry, crimson-hued bar, however, are more the work of him and Saya. Royals have to keep relevant, after all. fb.com/ funkylamkitchen; mains Bt350–980. >>

A ARON JOEL SANTOS (3)

Two princes fulfill their culinary destiny with a hipper-than-thou, hotter-than-many, hillcountry restaurant that gives old Laotian and Northern Thai recipes a decidedly modern update.

C U L I N A RY J O U R N E YS

This über-sustainable nose-to-tail proves just how many tasty ways you can skin a cow.

I C O N S I D E R E D making this section just two words: goat ribs. Because I will cross town regularly (which is saying a lot in Bangkok) for chef Chalee Kader’s umami-filled, char-grilled, tender, tasty goat ribs.

Sourced from a halal butcher in Ratchaburi, they are lollipops of perfection.

But giving all the love to the goat ribs wouldn’t be fair to his and co-chef Randy Noprapa’s circus parade of excellent animals that troop into 100 Mahaseth from all over the Kingdom. Their Thai-raised Wagyu comes from Surin, Sakon Nakhon and Korat (get the flank steak). In fact, every item in this meat-eater’s dream, from the plates to the

palm sugar, comes with its D.O.P., making this Michelin Bib Gourmand spot the most accountable locavore, least annoying nose-to-tail eatery I know.

The more adventurous will appreciate “drops of bile” and “pig’s heart and aorta;” your Instagram will adore the bone marrow and the cutie Isan sausages in hot dog buns and boxes. But somehow this funky, deconstructed shophouse with a sexy dry-aging case in front of the kitchen manages to feel less trendy than oldschool barbecue joint-y.

Which is probably why the cool kids love it so much. fb.com/100mahaseth; mains Bt260–2,800, tasting menus from Bt800.

NORTHERN LIGHTS FRONT ROOM For this fresh Thai fare with a Danish accent, little is lost in translation.

I N T H E N E W Waldorf Astoria Bangkok, past an

orderly open kitchen, is an airy atrium whose floorto-high-ceiling windows face fairy-lit greenery. It is a most apropos place to go on a continent-hopping culinary perambulation with spritely and spirited chef Rungthiwa “Fae” Chummongkhon.

Don’t let the “Nordic-Thai” theme throw you. It merely means she applies Scandinavian cooking methods—smoking, curing, fermenting—to mostly Thai ingredients. The upshot is that, despite the rarefied setting, Fae is super on-trend now. The plating is as bright as her personality, the flavors as clean as a fjord, the evocations as melting-pot as the influences from her mom’s Thai homecooking to her dozen years’ training in Denmark.

On her launch menu, paper-thin slices of sea bass are smoked and jigsawed together like a terrine, with coconut, broccoli, guava, green apple, kaffir lime and rosemary. I swoon. Raised in Chiang Rai is a chicken wing reconstituted as a sausage then reconstructed into a wing; with its black rice puree, it feels like a homey Sunday roast. This being Scandi-fusion, salmon is required, and the Atlantic Laks, with carrot, bitter orange and rice mayo, is a springtime sojourn in Europe, without the flight. waldorfastoria3.hilton. com; mains Bt650 –1,200, set menus from 2,700.

Eggplant sorbet with mulberries and caramel. TOP: Chef Fae Chummongkhon finishes a dish.

Bone marrow (center) amid a carnivore's dream. TOP: Chef Chalee Kader.

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L E F T : C OU RT ESY O F 10 0 M AH AS ET H ( 2 ). RIGH T : A A R O N J O E L S A N T O S ( 2 )

FEARLESS 100 MAHASETH

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DEALS

T+L READER SPECIALS

BEACH THAILAND

The Wow Jungle Oasis at W Koh Samui.

Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong This new arrival on Patong Beach is offering a celebratory opening special: stay at least two nights and receive daily breakfast; guaranteed late checkout until 3 p.m.; daily Bt1,000 credit for food and beverage at the hotel; and complimentary cocktails for two at The Cloud Rooftop bar.

The 180 spacious guest rooms evoke Patong’s dynamic personality, combining its forest, village and entertainment surroundings.

The Deal Opening package: two nights in a Neighborhood room, from Bt4,600, through April 31. hotelindigo.com.

SOUTH KOREA

SUPERSAVER Cassia Bintan, Indonesia

Make Bintan your home for a long weekend—book at least three nights in a Cassia Bintan beachside apartment and receive 30 percent off the Best Available Rate. You’ll also get daily breakfast and a return transfer to and from the ferry terminal.

The Deal Stay Longer Save More: a night in a one-bedroom apartment, from S$115, through March 31. cassia.com.

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The Shilla Jeju Set sail for South Korea’s UNESCO –recognized coast, with this special deal from Shilla Jeju. Located on the scenic Jungmun beach, The Shilla Jeju is a haven of Mediterranean-inspired design and offers panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean or

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F W K O H S A M U I ; C O U R T E S Y O F C A S S I A B I N TA N

Escape to paradise with these deals that take you to coastal havens in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

W Koh Samui Check yourself into an immersive island escape with this lavish deal that whisks you away to one of Thailand’s most luxurious isles. Book at least four consecutive nights at W Koh Samui in one of their one-, two- or four-bedroom Wow villas and you’ll be treated to daily breakfast at The Kitchen Table restaurant; round-trip airport transfers; a candle-lit set dinner (food only) at Namu restaurant; a one-hour Well-Travelled Signature Massage at Away Spa per person; a bottle of sparkling wine upon arrival; 24/7 access to the hotel’s Sweet Spot for complimentary ice-creams and soft drinks; and free high-speed Wi-Fi. The Deal Wow offer: a night in a Wow Jungle Oasis, from Bt31,125 per double, through December 31. wkohsamui.com.

surrounding mountains. The deal includes accommodation in a Standard Mountain View room; breakfast for two at The Parkview (free for minors under 37 months); and complimentary access to Soombi Spa Zone, which includes indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Jacuzzis and the Finland Sauna. The Deal Sweet Dream in Jeju: a night in a Standard Mountain View room, from KRW300,000, through December 31. shilla.net.

CITY SINGAPORE

Mandarin Oriental Indulge in a dose of retail therapy next time you’re in the Lion City. This deal from Mandarin Oriental, Singapore offers guests the chance to shop for designer bling. Book at least two nights in an Ocean Grand room, where you can expect spectacular harbor views from your private balcony, and you’ll also get daily buffet breakfast at Melt Café; a cocktail and afternoon tea at MO Bar; a limousine ride to the atelier of one Singapore’s top jewelers, Marilyn Tan, which is housed in the charming neighborhood of Tiong Bahru, for a coveted private consultation with Marilyn and exclusive gift; and a rejuvenating 120-minute Oriental Qi treatment at The Spa. The Deal Sip, Shop and Spa package: a night in an Ocean Grand room, from S$1,380, through May 31. mandarinoriental.com.

elegant European design and convenient Tsim Tsa Shui location, this is the perfect retreat to linger longer by the harbor. The Deal Advance Purchase Room package: a night in a Superior Courtyard View King room, from HK$1,520, through December 31. langhamhotels.com.

checkout until 4 p.m.; private return transfer from Danang or Hue international airports; and a special gift from the resort.

The Deal Sense of Romance: two nights in a Lagoon Pool villa, from US$1,800, through December 31. banyantree.com.

ROMANCE

Aman Tokyo For a soulful stay in Japan’s busiest city, Aman Tokyo is offering a wellness-focused package that will rejuvenate you inside and out. Sitting high in the sky on the top six floors of the Otemachi Tower, look out to expansive views of the city that stretch out all the way to Mount Fuji, and rest easy in the ryokan-style rooms.

Book at least two nights in this serene sanctuary and you’ll also get daily breakfast and a one-hour body massage at the Aman Spa. The Deal Urban Spa Escape: a night in a deluxe room, from ¥136,000, through March 31. aman.com.

VIETNAM

Banyan Tree Lăng Cô There’s still time to book a Valentine’s Day interlude—take advantage of this indulgent escape from Banyan Tree Lăng Cô. The package includes two nights in a Lagoon Pool villa, a 131-square-meter oasis with private timber sundeck and swimming pool; daily breakfast; unlimited spa treatments from an exclusive menu; a romantic dinner for two with a bottle of wine at your choice of a Destination Dining location or in your own villa; a full-day private car service inclusive of a driver and tour guide; complimentary late

WELLNESS JAPAN

OUTDOOR THAILAND

Eastin Thana City Golf Resort Bangkok Head to the Thai capital for a couple of days on the green; this deal is primed for the golf lovers out there. Tee up on the Greg Norman–designed course—included is the greens fee for one round per golfer; one caddie for one round per golfer; and one golf cart for one round per golfer. The package also includes twonight-minimum daily accommodation; daily breakfast; round-trip shuttle from Suvarnabhumi International Airport; a complimentary welcome fruit basket; 10 percent discount on food and beverage at Splash restaurant, Sharkbite and the Pool Bar; complimentary late checkout until 2 p.m.; and more. The Deal Eastin Goes Golf package: a night in a Superior room, from Bt3,300 per person, two night minimum, through March 31. eastinthana citygolfbangkok.com.

Cliffside views at Banyan Tree Lang Co.

C O U R T E S Y O F B A N YA N T R E E L A N G C O

HONG KONG

The Langham Hong Kong Plan your next adventure now; book at least 30 days in advance at The Langham Hong Kong and you’ll receive 20 percent off the Best Available Rate and complimentary Wi-Fi. Book directly on the hotel’s website and you’ll also receive complimentary use of a pocket Wi-Fi device throughout your stay. With the property’s

TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM / FEBRUARY 2019

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FEBRUARY 2019

W I T H A V E R I TA B L E F O R E S T O F N E W H O T E L S A N D S O M A N Y N E X T- L E V E L I N N O VAT I V E B A R S A N D R E S TA U R A N T S OPENING, THINGS ARE LOOKING UP IN

KUALA LUMPUR P. 70

IT’S NOT ALL SURF AND SUN — G R E AT C O N T E M P O R A R Y A R T A N D C U LT U R A L E V E N T S O F F E R E V E N M O R E R E A S O N S T O F LY D O W N T O

SYDNEY P. 90

T H E M I S T I S F I N A L LY L I F T I N G O F F A LONG -SHROUDED CLUSTER OF STORIED BURMESE ISLANDS. TIME TO VISIT THE FIRST EVER RESORTS IN

THE MERGUI P. 80

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P. 100

Wooden Moken canoes afloat in the Mergui Archipelago. page 80.

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THE NEW ERA As Malaysia goes through a political shake-up, the capital is rippling with change. With an influx of luxury hotels and experimental, proudly Malaysian restaurants, plus a community of small bars adding cool spots to spend the night, Eloise Basuki finds it is now worth lingering in Kuala Lumpur.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY LEIGH GRIFFITHS

Endless city skyline from Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur's Signature Sky Retreat suite.

OPPOSITE: Grilled watermelon from Fuego, one of five venues at Troika Sky Dining.

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Head bartender Ashish Sharma at Bar Trigona. OPPOSITE, FROM TOP:

A twist on South Indian at Nadodi; matcha is dusted on the Planter’s Mix cocktail at Beta KL.

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Inside the glittering, mosaic-tiled walls of Bar Trigona, in the heart of the KLCC, head bartender Ashish Sharma hands me a shot.

The glass glows with a liquid gold, but this is not whiskey, nor is it rum.

It’s raw Malaysian honey scooped from the hives of Trigona bees. “This honey will change your life,” Ashish tells me. My mouth tingles as I take a sip. Far from the saccharine gloop I’ve always known honey to be, this amber liquid is lip-puckeringly sour—like a syrupy, sweetened vinegar. Ashish discovered it at a kelutut (Malay for the stingless Trigona bee species) farm in Negeri Sembilan, a few hours south of Kuala Lumpur, on a quest to load his menu with local ingredients. He was so impressed, he named the bar after it.

“The farmers give you a straw to suck the honey directly from the hive,” Ashish says of the runny liquid, pulling out a tub of regular supermarket honey for comparison.

The thick mixture has coagulated into a crystalized clump at the bottom of the jar. “They’ll cook [commercial honey] to kill the natural fermentation, then they’ll add some coloring, and sugar or molasses to thicken it,” he says. “For most people, what they’ve had their whole life has not been real honey.”

This singular, elixir-like shot of realness is the base of five drinks on Trigona’s menu, including Pollen, a creamy sour, with Applejack, yogurt and kaffir lime; and Nectar, spiked with rum and house-made jasmine and torch-ginger cordial. A passionate, experienced bartender

(Ashish earned his stripes at the No. 1 bar on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, Manhattan in Singapore), hyperlocal handpicked ingredients and crafty concoctions all feel familiar in this speakeasy-comeback era, but this is no hidden hipster haunt. Bar Trigona sits on the first floor of the new Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, joining the trend on changing how we perceive hotel lounges. The much anticipated Four Seasons moved into KL with a bunch of other top-end arrivals last year (Banyan Tree, Pavilion Hotel, W Kuala Lumpur, The RuMa, Alila Bangsar), with more five stars in the pipeline—the 440-room EQ hotel is slated to open next month and a Park Hyatt is aiming for 2020.

In step with the fancy new heights of the city’s luxury stays, KL’s drinking and dining scene has upped its game to match. Here to embark on a gluttonous bar crawl around the city, I find that, like Trigona, many new venues are reinterpreting Malaysian ingredients and regional flavors from a next-gen perspective: encompassing the community, adding soul to their recipes and plating with such creativity and

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In the heart of the KLCC, the Petronas Towers light up the night.

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finesse that the city’s F&B industry is finally catching up to Michelinstarred neighbors Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. This new, edgy identity adds a refreshing point of difference to KL’s worn-out businessand-shopping stereotype, which has never attracted me; I’ve flown into Kuala Lumpur more than 10 times, but never left the airport—each time just transiting. Combine this with last year’s euphoric re-election of 93-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who ceremoniously booted out the corrupt ex-PM, Najib Razak, and heralded a new era in Malaysia, and the capital is enticing new travelers. So this trip, I’m finally leaving the terminal. As the epicenter of this cool wind of change, where reinvention seems to be contagious, Kuala Lumpur is no longer just a stopover city.

IF

any destination deserves a rebrand, it’s Kuala Lumpur.

First off, its name, translating to “muddy confluence,” gravely undersells today’s glitz. The title was first bequeathed by a group of Chinese tin prospectors, who stumbled upon this meeting point of the Klang and Gombak rivers in

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1857. The bounty of tin found in the area turned the sleepy village into a boomtown, though a pretty unstable one. Over the next 150 years, the city was overrun by Chinese gangs, burned to the ground during the Malay Civil War, colonized by the British, occupied by Japanese forces during World War II, and ravaged by race riots between the Chinese and Malays in 1969. Although a period of flourishing financial success turned the capital into a business hub, when the stock market crashed in 1997, the economy’s GDP didn’t recover until almost a decade later. Now, as the new Prime Minister weeds out the greed of the former government and aims for a more honest leadership, both the Malaysian economy and the nation’s pride are on the up, boosting the capital’s offerings in tandem.

Kuala Lumpur’s newfound self-confidence is echoing into its modern food and drink, which I find arriving into the city in droves.

Ashish recommends barhopping in the stretch from the Four Seasons (sundowners at the W’s Wet Deck, then on to Mr. Chew’s Chino Latino and Bar Shake, run by Japanese bartender Sam Kinugawa) but I’m headed for dinner at nearby Beta KL, where twin brothers Kelvin and Alex Cheah, along with head chef Raymond Tham, have opened a modern Malaysian alternative to the trio’s popular Euro bistro,

FEBRUARY 2019 / TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM

Skillet@163. “Singapore is famous internationally for its cuisine, and Thai food is known everywhere.

Malaysia is famous for our nasi lemak, but we believe there is a lot more to offer people,” Kelvin says.

For his menu, chef Raymond journeys to the lesser known pockets of the country by sorting his dishes by location: “Malaysia is a melting pot of Chinese, Indian and Malay culture, but I didn’t want to create a menu based on race...I thought we should go regional—north, central, south and east.” The offerings rethink traditional dishes, like the “Inverted Karipap,” which turns the familiar Malaysian curry puff inside-out, with the potato filling becoming the casing. Dinner is served in a curtained dining space, dominated by a giant batik-style wall art and an open kitchen that shows the all-Malaysian team (Raymond was a former culinary lecturer at KDU University College, and takes pride in offering local graduates a space to learn). But it’s also worth stopping by during a barhop—the regional cocktail menu is a lot of fun.

For the Malaya Milk Punch, corn milk, cardamom bitters, gheewashed whisky and Pedro Ximinez sherry are stripped of their color and served confusingly clear in a milk carton–shaped glass.

Balancing a smart menu with an equally smart drinks list seems to be

a common thread here. On my next night out I follow Ashish’s suggestion of cocktails and dinner (though the sharing brunch looks highly worthy) at Asian-Latin fusion eatery Mr. Chew’s Chino Latino, where I order the signature combo, salmon tacos in a crisp nori shell and a pink peppercorn–spiced G&T served in a Chinese takeaway box, and peoplewatch through the window above Bukit Bintang. I find more good views, good times and plenty of good food at Troika Sky Dining, which includes fine-dining Cantaloupe, shareable Mexican at Fuego and wood-fired pizzas from Strato among its five outlets on the 23rd floor.

White tablecloths are not completely out of vogue, though.

Channeling a polished take on the cuisines from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka is fine-dining restaurant Nadodi. Elegant in design, but riotous and playful on the palate and in the team’s kitchen antics, Nadodi aims to “disrupt” traditional South Indian cuisine. Led

by Chennai-born chefs Johnson Ebenezer and Sricharan Venkatesh,

A post-treatment tea at the Four Seasons’ spa.

TOP: Stylish sips at Coley.

OPPOSITE FROM TOP: Dim sum at Yun House, in the Four Seasons; PS150’s craft cocktails.

‘SOUL IS WHAT CHEFS MISS WHEN THEY TRY TO BE ARTSY, SO WE DON’T GO OVERBOARD’

and restaurant manager Kartik Kumar, the trio joke around when talking about their tasting menus that reimagine the food of their childhood (“My grandmother would disown me if she knew,” Sricharan laughs) and the ubiquitous bananaleaf meals and thali found throughout KL. While the aim is molecular, authentic flavor is still the ultimate goal. “Soul is what chefs generally miss when they try to be more artsy, so we don’t go overboard.

Achieving the balance is satisfying,” says Sricharan, who has also spent time training under Gaggan.

Disruption turns to reinvention: street-food favorite egg kalakki becomes an egg mousse served in an eggshell; chicken biryani gets compartmentalized in a ceramic globe; and even the palate cleanser surprises—Sri Lankan beetroot curry transforms into a sorbet, sugared glass, pickles and hot-pink dust. Again, creative drinks are not forgotten; acclaimed head mixologist Akshar Chalwadi’s molecular menu blends South-Indian flavors into unexpected, savory cocktails.

ONE

way to track the rise of a city’s cool-factor is by the growth of its speakeasy scene.

By that metric, KL is off the charts. The influx began around 2016, when a number of secretive small bars sneaked into hidden spots around town. PS150 is the bar all my local friends say is a must-visit, and it lives up to the hype. I swing by on a Monday night, expecting a low-key evening. But when I enter through the disguised shophouse front in Chinatown, through a dark hallway draped with string beads, the bar is heaving. The drinks list shakes up Malaysian flavors, like the coconut, pandan and curry leaf–flavored Rumble in the Jungle, or the charcoal-infused pisco sour, Lady O.

‘WE ARE A SMALL INDUSTRY, SO IT’S BETTER TO WORK TOGETHER—THE MORE HANDS, THE STRONGER WE ARE’

Other drinkeries worth seeking out are Omakase + Appreciate and Junglebird (both have been named to Asia’s 50 Best Bars list), gin-focused Pahit, and hidden burlesque joint Suzie Wong. But Ashish has told me to beeline to Bangsar bar Coley— after iconic female bartender Ada Coleman—which was named KL’s Bar of the Year for the second time at the 2018 The Bar Awards (Trigona won Best New Bar and Best Hotel Bar). Owner C.K. Kho and his team recently have moved out of the cramped space they shared with a café into a new place of their own: a millennial-pink and Scandifurnished dream bar that offers pro-poured drinks including Ada Coleman’s classic Hanky Panky and Malay-inspired “koktels” like a whisky and milk tea combo, and a Sarawak rice wine with ginger and lemongrass. It’s worth ordering multiple dishes from the masterful bar menu—think chicken rendang plated as three-hour confit chicken drumstick, pulut espuma, puffed rice, rendang sauce and kaffir-lime powder—and calling it dinner.

Coley also plays host to some of Southeast Asia’s best mixologists— Agung Prabowo from Hong Kong bar The Old Man, Sophia Kang and Kelvin Saquilayan from Manhattan in Singapore, and Jatupol “Hamit” Somanee and Kenny Thianthong from Vesper Bangkok have all taken over the bar in the last year. “We are a small industry, so it’s better to work

Contemporary elegance at Alila Bangsar. OPPOSITE: Wet Bar, at W Kuala Lumpur, is a new place to party in the KLCC.

together—the more hands, the stronger we are,” bartender Loco says. Ashish, in turn, has welcomed Coley at Bar Trigona as well as the folks from Junglebird, and has begun to organize foraging trips hosted by regional bar stars—Bangkok’s Asia Today, Native in Singapore—taking small groups to nearby farms. “We want to expand the community even further, and push bartenders to work with local ingredients,” Ashish says.

AS

the food and drink scene flourishes, a new breed of five-star hotels is moving in at lightning pace, too.

KL’s Golden Triangle, the commercial, business and shopping district that takes in the KLCC, Bukit Bintang and Pudu, has long had luxury accommodations available— Mandarin Oriental, Grand Hyatt, JW Marriott, InterContinental, St. Regis and Hilton to name a few. But an influx of newcomers has sparked a battle for the skyline. The 65-floor Four Seasons has staked its spot as the second tallest building after the Petronas Towers; the W rises up just around the corner with 55 floors; The RuMa offers a modern Malaysian retreat to the skies of KLCC; Pavilion Hotel tops the Pavilion shopping center; and EQ will set up within the revamped 52-story Equatorial Plaza tower.

From where I’m standing, though, the views from 59-floor Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur can’t be topped. I spend three days in a Signature Sky Retreat suite gazing into the endless cityscape out the floor-to-ceiling windows by my bed and bathtub, as well as the spa, infinity pool, gym and lobby. From the balcony of its rooftop Vertigo bar—the tallest in KL—on the 59th floor, I watch the sun dip across the Petronas Towers, skewer the piked Menara KL Tower and burst into a tangerine sky across the Klang Valley and the distant Titiwangsa mountain range.

There is an equally special sunset view in Bangsar, too. High above the suburban low-rise housing and banana-leaf stalls in Little India is Alila Bangsar; the eco-focused hotel takes up the top five floors of the

THE DETAILS

The developing F&B scene in Kuala Lumpur’s city center makes it easy to venuehop. Be sure to make a stop in Bangsar, where the vibe feels a litle more bohemian.

41-story Establishment building. I’ve been looking forward to checking in here not just for the minimalist, spacious rooms, jungle-filled lobby and open-air atrium pool, but also for lunch. Throughout my time talking to chefs in this city, almost all of them have praised Japanese chef Masashi Horiuchi’s French dining space here, the nose-to-tail Entier. It’s as good as promised. The menu pages read like an animal’s dissection: confit coffee ox tongue; crispy honeycomb tripe; slowcooked oxtail; braised short rib; and Josper-baked bone marrow.

Next door is Alila’s cocktail bar, Pacific Standard, which, like Trigona, reimagines the hotel bar by adding vibrant personality. Fedorawearing head-bartender Ruben pours from a menu that references vintage Americana (the chili-spiced Morgan’s Mule, or citrusy Tricky Mickey), but when I visit it’s Merdeka Day, Malaysia’s national holiday celebrating independence from the British. A special cocktail has been added, fittingly called A New Era. The patriotic drink unites the taste profiles of sweet, salty, spicy and sour with a mix of gin, palm sugar, lemongrass, calamansi, pineapple, firewater tincture, and a salted rim.

The emerging confidence in this new era is everywhere I look, from the scores of Malaysian flags draped on every building this Merdeka Day to the very drink in my hand. For Kuala Lumpur, it’s more than just the sky-rises that are looking up.

HOTELS Alila Bangsar This modern urban retreat is filled with greenery and natural light; sleek, minimalist rooms overlook Brickfields and Little India. alilahotels.com; doubles from RM391.

Banyan Tree The resort brand’s first outpost in Malaysia is an oasis of calm. The views here are phenomenal, everywhere from their signature spa to the rooftop Vertigo bar. banyantree.com; doubles from RM910.

EQ Set in a multi-use 52-story building on Jalan Sultan Ismail, the newest hotel to the city offers 440 rooms, a wellness center and a rooftop sky restaurant. equatorial.com; doubles from RM658.

Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur High-end dining, a fully kitted out twostory spa, and elegant rooms with full marble bathrooms make this one of the chicest stays in town. fourseasons.com; doubles from RM893.

Pavilion Hotel Conveniently located above the Pavilion shopping center, this 325-room hotel has an infinity pool and a whisky bar. banyantree.com; doubles from RM498.

The RuMa Celebrating local design and culture, this hotel offers bespoke check-in and checkout, so you can choose how early you arrive and how late you leave, plus butler service and a free minibar. theruma.com; doubles from RM848.

The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur Spacious rooms, an outdoor pool with an LED screen, and Japanese fine-dining by Michelin-starred chef Taiko Saito. marriott.com; doubles from RM882.

W Kuala Lumpur Catch a perfect view of the Petronas Towers from the

Wet Deck pool bar, and chill out in the glamorous Away spa, complete with thermal baths, anti-aging facials and detoxifying cocktails. marriott.com; doubles from RM829.

EAT & DRINK Bar Trigona Inspired by nature, the menu is divided into fruit, leaf and flower, stem and seed, and root cocktails. Be sure to try one of the Trigona honey–based drinks, and ask Ashish about his foraging club. fourseasons.com.

Bar Shake This hidden Japanese-style cocktail bar brings sophistication to KL’s bar scene—try the famous truffle martini. fb.com/barshakekl.

Beta KL From the guys behind European favorite Skillet@360, Beta KL champions regional Malaysian flavors and offers some of the city’s most logic-defying drinks. fb.com/betakualalumpur.

Coley Pop into their intimate and Instagramworthy spot in Bangsar for award-winning cocktails and Malaysianstyle “koktels,” and leave room for some of their tasty, inspired small plates. fb/longlivecoley.

Entier One of Alila’s best dining spaces, Chef Masashi Horiuchi offers a nose-to-tail French menu with bold flavors and playful plating. entierfrenchdining.com; mains from RM117.

Junglebird This tropicalthemed bar in Damansara Heights claimed a spot on the 2018 Asia’s 50 Best Bar list and is famous for their growing collection of rum. fb/junglebirdkl.

Mr. Chew’s Chino Latino Located in a loft-style space in Bukit Bintang, Mr. Chew's offers a lengthy list of fusion mains and small plates, plus a six-course dessert menu. mr-chew.com; mains from RM75.

Omakase + Appreciate If you manage to find this hidden speakeasy, let the bartenders whip you up a bespoke cocktail, “leave it to you” omakase-style. fb/omakaseappreciate.

Pacific Standard Alila’s bar blends vintage Americana design with classic cocktails and sprawling views of Bangsar. pstbar.com.

Pahit In a rustic 1920s house, this gin-focused bar is also the brainchild of Coley’s C.K. Kho, and famous for its creative G&T menu. fb/barpahit.

PS150 Concealed behind a tiny storefront in Chinatown, PS150 pours experimental cocktails with Southeast Asian flavor. Try to nab a seat in the intimate bead-draped booths. ps150.my.

Pulp by Papa Palheta Housed within an old printing factory that rents redundant work-sheds to modern eateries, this Singapore café serves Australian-standard coffee and indulgent breakfasts. fb.com/ pulpbypapapalheta; mains from RM20.

Suzie Wong Make your way to a door beside a noodle stall off Jalan Raja Chulan to discover this opulent cocktail-andcabaret bar named after the fictionalized Hong Kong concubine. fb.com/ suziewongasia.

Nadodi Named for the Tamil and Malayalam word for “nomad,” Nadodi offers an unconventional take on South-Indian fare. nadodikl.com; tasting menu from RM360.

Troika Sky Dining Take in the views from five different outlets within this dining complex in the sky: sizzling Mexican at Fuego; produce-driven fine-dining at Cantaloupe; quirky cocktails at Coppersmith; wood-fired pizza at Strato; and French wine at Claret. troikaskydining.com. - E.B.

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MARITIME

S C O T T A . W O O D WA R D

Off the south coast of Burma, the barely touched, largely uninhabited Mergui Archipelago beckons the intrepid sailor. Joe Cummings checks his phone at the cabin door for an exploration of the new eco-resorts in one of the least touristed places in Southeast Asia.

FRONTIER

The new Wa Ale Island Resort, in the Mergui, has 11 tented villas on Turtle Beach, a protected hatching site for sea turtles.

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ABOVE, FROM LEFT:

The new MV Sea Gipsy features breezy, open-air berths; book scuba dives with the Sea Gipsy to discover the life aquatic in the Mergui; her face painted with traditional thanaka, the daughter of one of Wa Ale’s employees offers a warm smile.

OPPOSITE: A walk through a tropical rainforest on Boulder Island brings you to postcard-perfect Bamboo Bay.

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myself I’m crossing international borders towards partially uncharted waters rather than taking a casual fishing trip.

Here the Kraburi River tidal estuary widens to nearly six kilometers, with the ThailandBurma marine border running down the middle. Not long after passing that invisible line, we reach Myoma Jetty at Kawthaung, the rough-and-tumble port that was known as Victoria Point under British Burma. A smiling crewmember from the MV Sea Gipsy greets me and grabs my bag, and I follow him to a small immigration office for non-Thais entering Burma. Although the sign outside reads “Warmly Welcome and Take Care of Tourists,” the immigration officers process my e-visa with an overwhelming sense of indifference.

This inauspicious start doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm for my first foray into the Mergui Archipelago, 800-plus isles stretching nearly 400 kilometers between Myeik and Kawthaung. Walking to the boat, David Van Driessche, a jovial Belgian photographer who leads photo tours all over the world, and who has organized this Sea Gipsy voyage, reminds me that Burma is a half hour behind Thailand as far as the clocks go. “But where we’ll be sailing,” he says, “a half century behind.”

In fact, many of the islands, atolls and reefs have scarcely been mapped. Long the domain of smugglers, pirates and pearl divers, the region was opened to very limited tourism— liveaboard dive boats from Thailand—in the

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late 90s. Just 3,000 visitors stayed overnight in the Mergui in 2018, including those on boats.

A mere 200 kilometers south, Phuket hosted 8.4 million visitors last year. The cumbersome Burmese bureaucracy along with the hardships of building infrastructure in such isolated locales have left this one of the few regions in Southeast Asia untouched by mass tourism.

I’ve been wanting to step foot in this nearmythical place since I first visited the Burmese port of Myeik two decades ago, when the islands just offshore were firmly off limits to foreigners. Liveaboards from Thailand spent too much time navigating up from Phuket; I wanted to sleep ashore betwixt deserted beach and untouched forest, a notion unacceptable to the Burmese government until only recently.

You can now comfortably hole up at Boulder Bay Eco-Resort (which opened in 2015) and the brand-new Wa Ale Island Resort and Awei Pila.

Each is its own island, in line with a law that follows the Maldives model; thus far, licenses for 12 resort developments have been issued for 12 islands. Thai-registered commercial boats have been barred since 2011, meaning all cruises depart from Kawthaung (and only from November to April, to avoid monsoon season). As of now, that includes only first-tomarket Burma Boating—who last month grew their fleet to eight with the S55, a luxe threelevel, four-berth catamaran that is the first fully solar-powered yacht in Asia—and Island Safari Mergui, who is running my trip.

F R O M L E F T: W W W. D AV I D VA N D R I E S S C H E . C O M ( 2 ) ; S C O T T A . W O O D WA R D . O P P O S I T E : W W W. D AV I D VA N D R I E S S C H E . C O M

STEPPING FROM THE DOCK AT RANONG, THAILAND, INTO A TARP-ROOFED LONGTAIL BOAT, I HAVE TO REMIND

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W W W. D AV I D VA N D R I E S S C H E . C O M ( 2 )

Based on Boulder Island, the marine biologists of Project Manaia are helping to preserve coral reefs, and are trying to index all living species above and under the water.

OPPOSITE: A small unnamed island near Bo Wei Island.

I am enveloped by soft breezes, hearty sea aromas and the murmuring surf

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F R O M L E F T: W W W. D AV I D VA N D R I E S S C H E . C O M ; S C O T T A . W O O D WA R D ; W W W. D AV I D VA N D R I E S S C H E . C O M .

O P P O S I T E : S C O T T A . W O O D WA R D ( 2 )

So, on a sunny November morning, I walk across a railed plank from the jetty to the Sea Gipsy’s main deck. The converted Burmese junk, with its ochre-painted wood-and-steel hull and curved decks, evokes a bygone era in seafaring history. Open-air sleeping areas fitted with privacy curtains accommodate up to 10 voyagers. I’m given one on the upper deck facing the stern, with a semi-panoramic view.

Hawsers are hauled in and we’re heading northwest. As Kawthaung recedes in the distance, so do our mobile phone signals, until finally there’s no transmission. We’ll remain blissfully free of all Internet and phone contact till we reach Boulder Island in two days.

Within an hour of leaving port, islands pop into view—I’m trading mobile-phone bars for sandbars—one after another and sometimes in clusters. Some display craggy granite and limestone cliffs, topped with layers of thick rainforest, while others are relatively flat and barren. Every now and then a brilliant beach appears, some so beautiful and inviting I want to shout at the captain to stop the boat so that I can swim out and feel the sand under my feet.

In the afternoon, the Sea Gipsy moors in a calm, deserted bay at Taung Labo Island.

Kayaks and a rubber inflatable whisk us to a crescent shore of sand and rock. A carpet of sea urchins near the waterline makes swimming tricky but walking along the beach and in the cool shade is lovely. We return to the Sea Gipsy for cocktails en route to a more sheltered bay at impossibly scenic Island 115. Out come the smaller craft again, and this time we find a sandy point with beaches on either side, built for swimming, snorkeling and kayaking.

Back aboard that evening, everyone gathers on the upper deck for sunset viewing. Every now and then a huge fish leaps out of the sea

and flops back down. A simple meal of Thai and Burmese dishes is served at a communal table amid the chatter of journo war stories—my fellow passengers include two writers and three pro photographers—and drinks from a bottle of bourbon someone brought along.

Intoxicated more by the full moon and carpet of stars gleaming in the sky above than by the whiskey, I walk to my berth and lie down without bothering to draw the curtains.

Enveloped by soft breezes, hearty sea aromas, and the murmuring surf, I drift into what turns out to be one of the best sleeps I can remember in months, if not years.

Day two starts with coffee and eggs on the

deck while the boat sails to Shark Island, named after its shape not the presence of razor-toothed fish, for more swimming, kayaking and snorkeling. The day ends with an even more spectacular sunset and another night of blissed-out open-air sleeping.

The next day our itinerary includes an island inhabited by Moken, tribal nomads who beat us all to the Mergui by centuries.

Nowadays numbering only around 3,000, they are mostly settled in villages throughout the archipelago and further south on Thai and Malaysian islands. Also known as “sea gypsies,” the Moken are expert fishermen and can free-dive deeper and longer than probably any other group native to the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea. The small village has a network of parallel narrow wooden piers where residents moor their paddleboats and motorized skiffs. There is also a relatively new Buddhist monastery cheaply built of concrete.

Later, we arrive at Boulder Island, home to three-year-old Boulder Bay Eco-Resort.

Welcoming us in the open-air dining pavilion

ABOVE, FROM LEFT:

Kayaking before breakfast is the ultimate serenity; a baby python on Boulder Island; the dive instructors at Wa Ale, on the resort’s pier, which was made entirely from recycled wood. OPPOSITE, FROM TOP: Time trickles by at Wa Ale; one of Wa Ale’s beachfront tented villas.

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Chef Ray Wyatt conjures up familystyle lunches at Wa Ale.

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On my return to Myoma Jetty the next day, a young Burmese woman clad in white calls out my name. She leads me to a sleek luxury powerboat. Three couples from France, Spain

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S C O T T A . W O O D WA R D

of the resort is owner Bjorn Burchard, a Norwegian who moved to Burma in 1993 and operates a Rangoon-based furniture business along with the MV Sea Gipsy and Moby Dick Tours. Burchard built his resort as a model for low-impact development in the region. A solar farm powers the lights and Wi-Fi for the 10 spacious wooden bungalows, while water is pumped from a local spring and filtered. Trails radiate out through tangled island forest to five pristine coral-fringed coves, and to a bamboo forest, a freshwater river, and Eagle Rock viewpoint. Simple and nutritious meals, along with boat transfers, are included in the tariff.

“We’re a remote island on the western edge of the archipelago, so everything has to come from the mainland,” says Bjorn. “We brought in recycled wood for the bungalows because we didn’t want to cut down the trees.”

I spend the next two days hiking, pausing to swim, snorkel and watch sea eagles soar overhead. I learn about Project Manaia, a small marine research organization that establishes coral nurseries and is cataloguing wildlife and environmental conditions to understand how to best protect the southern Mergui. Led by Austrian diver Manuel Marinelli, the team includes a marine conservationist from the U.K., a marine biologist from Germany, a marine ecologist from Australia, and an oceanographer from Spain, all residents on the island at different times of year.

After six days away from civilization, our group reboards the Sea Gipsy for a straight sail back to Kawthaung, no beachy layovers, alas.

Everyone else transfers by longtail boat back to Thailand. But lucky me: I’m only halfway through my Mergui expedition.

and Germany are on board, along with the British-American couple who oversee Wa Ale Island Beach Resort: general manager Alyssa Wyatt and her husband, chef Ray Wyatt. After greetings over champagne, we’re at sea, chatting over canapes in the air-conditioned cabin. The powerful craft takes two hours to cover the 65 nautical miles to Wa Ale Island, northwest of Lampi Island, one of the archipelago’s largest landmasses; both are part of Lampi Island National Marine Park.

Opened last October, Wa Ale Island Resort occupies the rugged south shore. It’s the baby of Singapore-based American Christopher Kingsley, who obtained a license from the Myanmar Forestry Department for the entire 3,600-hectare island as a site for his ambitious eco-resort and conservation projects.

The speedboat glides into a cliff-sheltered natural harbor. The resort design was a collaboration between Christopher and architect C.S. Nel. They used as many local materials as possible, Alyssa says, “without disturbing the environment. We built mainly using reclaimed timber from old boats, abandoned houses and monasteries.” As at Boulder Bay, the native trees were left untouched, and all guest amenities, from shampoo to sunscreen, are biodegradable.

Broad-plank flooring with a warm vintage patina, rough stone walls, natural log pillars, and a striking three-tiered thatched roof with vaulted ceilings form the central pavilion. It is on a prime spot atop a sloping, white-powder beach leading down to a cove that cradles calm turquoise waters. It’s a fantasy fulfilled, one in which Swiss Family Robinson wins the California SuperLotto Plus.

Not far away from this restaurant and bar area stand two treetop villas high on wooden pillars amid forest canopy. Built with bamboo and reclaimed wood, the villas’ wide balconies offer the best panoramas available. But life in Wa Ale’s 11 tented villas on adjacent Turtle Beach is no hardship, either. “Every tented villa has an unobstructed view of the beach,” Alyssa says. “At the same time, we preserved forest between the sites to enhance privacy and provide a feeling of having the sea to yourself.”

I settle into villa No. 7 and admire the 140-square-meter state-of-the-art luxury tent, mounted on wood decks with front and back verandas. Double-vaulted ceilings center on the sleeping area, with its king-size canopy bed and custom mosquito net, and a lounge area with sofas that can convert into two single beds. An indoor/outdoor bathroom features a shower in a sizable enclosed garden. Two huge ceiling fans, along with tent walls that unzip to

expose floor-to-ceiling screened panels, provide all the breeze needed. No Internet and no air-con: my definition of natural luxury.

Ray’s culinary mastery, acquired during years of chef work in Denmark, Tanzania and Kenya (he and Alyssa most recently ran acclaimed conservationist safari camp Ol Donyo Lodge in Kenya’s Chyulu Hills), are on display as the evening repast unfolds. Served in the softly lit, open-air dining area, the meal starts with light potato-and-buckwheat gnocchi with prosciutto and brown butter before going splendidly local with a luscious Burmese pork belly curry, Burmese tea-leaf salad, purple rice, and pickled baby cucumbers. Confronted with an eye-catching chocolate-and-chili tart and candied ginger cream, I find dessert impossible to decline.

The kitchen cooks healthily and creatively using produce from the organic garden, as well as produce brought in from Thailand where necessary, and sustainable seafood caught daily in nearby waters. “Since my crew are all Burmese, it isn’t hard to keep the focus local,” Ray says. “But I try to broaden that spectrum to all Southeast Asia, and Korea, China, Japan and India, and then combine all that with Mediterranean influences. We try to mix it up so that we’re never bored in the kitchen, and the guests never see the same thing twice.”

I am awakened at 6 a.m. by the soft

ringing of a bell at my door. Outside on the deck, a villa attendant offers a French press full of fresh hot coffee and reminds me I’ve arranged to go on a nature hike with the resort’s full-time naturalist, Alexander Evans.

Alexander, a young American raised in Singapore, takes me and an older German couple scaling steep hills through primal rainforest along a well-structured trail established by the resort. He identifies birds by their call, even without seeing them. High in the trees, the occasional longtail macaque swings by, coming back to the cool forest after a morning of crab-knocking on the beach. We spot sea eagles and emerald doves, but the most remarkable sighting for me is a giant black squirrel, with a tail reaching almost a meter long.

The following day Alexander and I navigate the entire coast of Wa Ale Island in a dinghy.

On the north shore we pass Honeymoon Beach, a curving kilometer-long strip of sand where owner Christopher plans to establish a branch resort one day. Coming around the east end of Wa Ale, the boat enters a calm and scenic strait between Wa Ale and Lampi islands where dozens of local fishing boats are moored.

Aung Soe, the resort’s friendly sous chef, brings me back there later to buy fresh grouper, snapper and barracuda from the boats. We also visit two villages on the strait, Salet Galet and May Kyone Galet, which supply itinerant fishermen with food, water, fishing gear and minor boat repairs, and offer a place where they can gather to drink beer. It’s an interesting look at Mergui island culture amid an archipelago that’s largely uninhabited.

Lampi Foundation, one of several charitable projects established by the resort, contributes to village cultural preservation with regular donations of supplies, equipment and medicine.

They are also charged with conserving local fauna. One-kilometer Turtle Beach, which is ideal for swimming due to its lack of exposed rock and its wide swathe of deep sand, is also a perfect hatching site for its namesake sea turtles. Lampi Foundation has been able to protect more than 40 nests, saving some 4,000 green and leatherback turtle hatchlings.

But the best conservationists accomplish as much by their inaction as by their action. On our nature hike, Alexander had showed us the then soon-to-open River Café & Bar, a rustic collection of reclaimed wooden planks assembled into a kitchen and deck overlooking a freshwater river and flanked by large shade trees. He pointed out several Burmese pythons sleeping in the trees, coiled on branches so that the leaves hid them from birds of prey.

Just as these powerful creatures blend in with their surroundings for survival’s sake, the sustainability of Mergui’s island resorts depends on how well they integrate with their natural and cultural environment.

THE MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO

It's easiest to fly into Ranong, Thailand, and transfer by sea to Burma, but check your visa requirements before you travel: evisa.moip.gov.mm.

Boulder Bay Eco-Resort The trailblazer first resort in the Mergui has 10 villas. boulderasia.com; from US$240 per person per night allinclusive, two-night minimum.

Wa Ale Island Resort Opened last October; 11 tented villas and two treetop villas. waaleresort.com; doubles from US$500 per night, inclusive of meals, house wine and beer, and transfers from Kawthaung or Ranong on Tuesday and Saturday.

Awei Pila Opened last December, with 24 air-conditioned, yurt-shaped tented villas and a pool. aweipila. com; from US$750, inclusive of meals,

non-alcoholic drinks and transfers from Kawthaung or Ranong.

Island Safari Mergui Sailboat Cruisers and liveaboards; can add on stays at Boulder Bay Eco-Resort and photo tours with David Van Driessche (www.davidvandriessche.com). islandsafarimergui.com; from US$1,110 for five-day sail, inclusive of meals and non-alcoholic drinks.

Burma Boating Luxury yachts, such as a new solar catamaran, for multiday explorations; can add on stays at Awei Pila. burmaboating.com; from US$1,600 for four-day sail, inclusive of meals and non-alcoholic drinks.

A RT AT TH E EDGE

OF TH E

Sydney is in the midst of a cultural renaissance, with a booming contemporary art and festival scene that could rival any on the global stage. Tony Perrottet explores the creative side of Australia’s iconic city by the sea. Plus, where to stay, eat and drink right now.

PHOTOGR APHED BY PETRINA TINSL AY

WOR LD

Ai Weiwei’s Law of the Journey, 2017, a sculpture depicting refugees on a life raft, was installed last spring on Cockatoo Island as part of the Sydney Biennale.

OPPOSITE: A sailboat plies Sydney Harbour.

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BELOW, FROM LEFT: Elinor Wrobel, who runs the John Passmore Museum of Art; Welcome to Redfern, a mural in the Redfern neighborhood by local artist Reko Rennie; The Arrival of Demons, a 2017 mural by Afghan refugee Khadim Ali in the foyer of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

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S IS SO OF T EN the case in Sydney, a whiff of debauchery was in the air. Elinor Wrobel, an Australian art collector in her mideighties whose silver bouffant evokes a 21st-century Marie Antoinette, settled in front of a wall of raunchy nude paintings and fixed me with a mischievous look: “Would you fancy some refreshments?”

“Ice water?” I asked naïvely.

“No-o-o-o-o!” She stared at me, aghast. “I was thinking champagne.”

Elinor’s daughter, Andrea, slipped off to get the bubbly.

“After all, it’s 3 p.m.,” Elinor sang. “Cocktail hour.”

My afternoon was off to a bohemian start. I had stumbled into the John Passmore Museum of Art, Sydney’s most obscure and charming institution, which is housed in a majestic former pub in the harborside neighborhood of Woolloomooloo. Its origins date back some 40 years, to when Elinor befriended the eccentric Modernist painter John Passmore, a bearded hermit who lived in a nearby beach shack. He was a difficult bloke, according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography: “Secretive, self-doubting, contemptuous of commercial success, insular, and given to uttering Delphic maxims.” When Passmore died in 1984, he bequeathed 270 of his paintings to Elinor, who later converted two floors of her Victorian home into a shrine. More than 40 Passmore works are now on rotating display, offering evocative visions of the Sydney waterfront. The museum also has an impressive urn containing the artist’s remains, as well as personal artifacts from his rustic studio, including his bunk bed, easel, ragged old clothes and the wooden fruit boxes he used as furniture.

But the most memorable experience—if Elinor and Andrea take a shine to you—is to be invited into the Wrobels’ antiques-filled topfloor residence, where every bit of wall space is covered “salonstyle” with their personal collection. On my champagne-fueled visit,

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Exercising on Bondi Beach, the Jet-Lag Cure-All Thanks to its natural setting, Sydney is probably the world’s best city in which to get over jet lag. My suggestion, should you wake up before the sun rises: go to Bondi, go to Bondi, go to Bondi. It’s a short cab ride from the city center, and you’ll never be lonely. Here, three great workouts.

Overlooking Bondi Beach, Bondi Icebergs Club, Sydney’s most famous pool, is open year-round.

The spotlit sands of Bondi are crowded from 5 a.m. on with cohorts of sporty Sydneysiders surfing, practicing volleyball, kicking footballs or jogging. There are even workout benches north of the Bondi Pavilion changing rooms.

LA VIE SPORTIF

S I N K I N T O I C E B E R G S Situated on Bondi’s south headland, Icebergs (icebergs.com.au) is a spectacular saltwater swimming pool. Doors open at 6 a.m. and locals are doing laps minutes later.

The most exhilarating seaside walk in Sydney runs from the southern end of Bondi to Bronte Beach, along sandstone sea cliffs high above the crashing waves. It takes only half an hour, although the more energetic can continue on to Coogee Beach—with, of course, ocean dips en route.

TA K E A H I K E

The City’s Wild Side Some first-time visitors still expect to see kangaroos hopping down the sidewalks. They won’t, of course, but the city does have abundant wildlife: kookaburras cackle at dawn, white ibis stroll around outdoor café tables, and ring-tailed possums lounge in the eucalyptus trees. The ultimate nature lover’s experience, however, is the Roar and Snore program at the Taronga Zoo, which takes glamping to a new level. After a guided safari to see tigers and nocturnal animals, among other wildlife, guests bed down in a comfy tent—with a milliondollar harbor view, no less. The next morning, the behind-the-scenes tour continues in the calm before the zoo opens its doors. The dedicated staff will also bring out snakes to pet, if you so desire. taronga.org.au; admission A$42.30; Roar and Snore from A$480.

Travelers can handle snakes as part of the Taronga Zoo’s Roar and Snore program.

Jungle curry with steamed fish and diamond clams at Chin Chin, a popular restaurant in Surry Hills.

Pub-Crawl Like a Local Millers Point, a dockworker enclave that dates from the early 1900s, is a character-filled neighborhood best explored by touring its bars. Start with a crisp James Boag’s Lager at the Hero of Waterloo (heroof waterloo.com.au), then stroll past the old workers’ cottages to the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel (lordnelsonbrewery.com), which brews its own natural ales, such as Nelspresso. A stone’s throw away at the Hotel Palisade (hotelpalisade.com.au), snag an outdoor seat at the rooftop bar attached to the fine-dining restaurant, which has 360-degree harbor views. Finally, follow the lapping waves to Barangaroo House (barangaroohouse.com.au), a mutilevel dining destination that is Sydney’s latest piece of postmodern architecture. (It looks like three flying saucers have crash-landed on one another.) Needless to say, Barangaroo House has its own stunning rooftop bar, Smoke, with delicious cocktails using local fruits and Tasmanian bubbly.

Melting Pot Sydney Cooks Authentic and Nouveau Asian with Aplomb In Australia, immigration, largely from Asia, is a hot-button issue. What isn’t in contention: the Asian culinary culture here flourishes. A beloved weekend ritual is dim sum in the cavernous Golden Century Seafood Restaurant (goldencentury.com.au), a Chinatown spot renowned for its seafood. For more avant-garde adventures, visit the White Rabbit Collection (whiterabbitcollection. org)—one of the Western world’s leading museums devoted to Chinese contemporary art—and its Tea House for dumplings. Reserve in advance at Thai specialists Long Chim (longchimsydney.com; mains A$16– $50) from David Thompson, which boasts one hat from the Good Food Guide, and Longrain (longrain.com; mains A$24–$38) in Surry Hills: think Pacific oysters with red-chili nam jim.

At Chin Chin (chinchinrestaurant. com.au; mains A$17–$38), the flavors draw from multiple countries, so you can sample Balinese roast duck, Indian butter chicken curry, and Vietnamese-iced-coffee panna cotta.

The rooftop bar Smoke, at Barangaroo House, serves everything from a classic gin and tonic to a lavender negroni.

Elinor regaled me for two hours with anecdotes about her Aussie artist friends running amok over the decades. It was a reminder that Sydney has long had a self-contained cultural life that the rest of the world knows very little about. It was also living proof that the arts are thriving in the city better known for its hedonistic seductions of surf, sun, sand and wine, wine, wine.

I

N N E W YOR K , W H ER E

I live, I’ve long struggled to convince friends that an art scene exists at all in my hometown. Many seem to think of Sydney as a place where the happy-go-lucky denizens surf all day before tossing shrimp on the barbie.

“If you peel back a layer, Sydney is a very rich cultural city,” explained Emilya Colliver, founder of Art Pharmacy, an online gallery for Aussie artists. “You just have to know where to go.” As she spoke, I realized how quickly things had changed on the ground in the past couple of years, which have seen Sydney become a cultural hub of the AsiaPacific region. Every time I go home, there seems to be something new and extraordinary. Thanks to decent government funding and a growing sense of confidence, the city is constantly multiplying its plush galleries, thriving theaters, and wacky public art projects, as well as expanding its hectic schedule of art festivals, like the now 10-year-old Vivid Sydney, a nearly monthlong program of art and light installations around key sites, including the Opera House. (The 2019 festival runs from May 24 through June 15.) So I set myself a heroic mission: I would spend a week bouncing around Sydney to explore the scene with fresh eyes, exchanging the wintry avenues of the East Village for an artfilled Indian summer down under.

Shaking off jet lag, I began my cultural crash course with my uncle Brian Turner, who for decades ran

Visitors can camp at Cockatoo Island, the site of a 19th-century prison that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

the bookstore in the Art Gallery of New South Wales (agnsw), one of the city’s oldest and most revered museums. “We’ll start at the beginning,” he declared, taking me to the new APY Art Centre Collective, the city’s first wholly Indigenous-owned gallery, with monumental wood carvings and dot paintings on display in an airy town house. Sydney is now one of the world’s great immigrant cities, Brian explained, but for much of its history, artists have struggled to find an identity—perhaps not surprising for a place that was founded 230 years ago as a dumping ground for British criminals.

We dipped into this history in the agnsw, which is perched among gardens of native succulents on the eastern fringes of the Central Business District (CBD) and has a Neoclassical façade. Its halls show the progression in Australian art from 19th-century colonial paintings, where English artists grappled with the alien landscape, through the 1950s and 60s, when Aussie artists saw the need to TR AV EL ANDLEISURE ASIA .COM / FEBRUARY 2019

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The White Rabbit Collection shows contemporary works by Chinese artists, including The Deluge, Noah’s Ark, by Peng Hung-Chih.

escape to London and New York to feel relevant, although they often returned to their roots. Their works, drawing on the international currents of Modernism and abstraction, yet distinctly Australian, include iconic images like Sidney Nolan’s stylized retelling of the bushranger Ned Kelly—the Aussie equivalent of Jesse James. We ended at The Balcony 2, a lapis blue vision of Sydney Harbour from 1975 by one of Australia’s most important contemporary painters, Brett Whiteley, that was created at a moment when artists had begun to embrace the city’s exotic position at the fringe of the Western world. The charismatic but troubled Whiteley, whose free

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brushstrokes and sense of the lush antipodean light and color are still exhilarating, died of a heroin overdose in 1992. His studio in Surry Hills remains intact, and visiting it is an intimate experience—it’s as if Whiteley had stepped out minutes before your arrival.

By now, I was realizing that a Sydney art tour is inordinately pleasant. We stopped for lunch at the spectacular Chiswick at the Gallery restaurant, whose wraparound glass walls overlook the wooden “finger” wharf of the Woolloomooloo Harbour, once used to store wool shipments.

But I began to feel sorry for Sydney artists when I called in at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia: it has such ravishing views of the Opera House—which qualifies as a site-specific sculpture in itself— that the creations inside struggled to compete. I immersed myself in the challenging artworks (a new video and photo series by Indigenous Australian artist Tracey Moffatt was particularly haunting) before a visit to the rooftop café. There, above the waters of Circular Quay, I savored delicious Sydney rock oysters and a crisp Hunter Valley Sauvignon Blanc.

The café even hosts a monthly afterhours event named, with bracing directness, Artbar, with performances and DJs. I had covered some of the more obvious institutions. To peer behind the scenes, I contacted the radio host, quiz-show champion, and novelist Sunil Badami, who suggested we meet at Carriageworks, an art center in a cavernous former rail yard in Redfern. We went on a Saturday, when the farmers’ market was in full swing. To get there, I first filed along with crowds sampling Greek pastries, Thai soups, and gourmet versions of Aussie staples like meat pies, while Badami expounded on the problems Sydney artists faced with skyrocketing rents and real estate developments. The city’s economic boom, he explained, is threatening to turn it into a sun-dappled version of SoHo in Manhattan, where creative types can no longer afford to live.

“Sydney has never been considered the most ‘cultured’ city,” he added, “but there are all sorts of private collective spaces like Carriageworks that encourage a kind of artistic underground.”

In the cathedral-like industrial space of Carriageworks, the main exhibits were hypnotic. I was particularly dazzled by a series of brilliantly colored light panels that evoked high-tech lava lamps, and a vast labyrinth made from walls of hanging cotton. They were typical of the ambitious contemporary artworks that make full creative use of the raw, Victorian-era environment, with its soaring brick arches, wrought-iron columns, and the scars of former blacksmith workshops. There were also more quirky offerings.

A side gallery was holding a special event: “The Art of Divorce.”

It was actor Russell Crowe’s auction of his property after the breakup of his marriage. Exhibits included his genuinely fine Australian art collection, which includes paintings from the 1960s

by Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd, alongside Crowe’s own whimsical Hollywood memorabilia, like the ancient-Roman breastplate from Gladiator. The mix of high art and irreverence seemed quintessentially Australian.

After our visit to Carriageworks, we set out on foot to explore Redfern, which, together with the neighborhoods of Paddington, Kings Cross and Glebe, forms the heart of the “inner city,” as Sydneysiders call it. These areas, once gritty, are now leafy and charming, filled with restored Edwardian terrace houses. I used to live on Redfern’s fringe as a student, but it has changed so much that the only store I could recognize was an old laundromat.

I asked Sophia de Mestre, the program director at a specialist art company called Culture Scouts, to show me around. De Mestre steered me to sites like the Commercial, a former car-repair shop that had been

A Hotel Scene Where Old Meets New In recent years, developers have been converting a string of historic structures into imaginative lodgings.

The latest is the Paramount House Hotel (paramounthousehotel.com; doubles from A$240), located within the 1940s former offices of Paramount Film Studios. In addition to the 29 industrial-chic rooms, the Surry Hills property has a movie theater screening films six days a week and a buzzy coffee bar (the hotel owners run a group of popular Sydney cafés). In nearby Chippendale, the boutique The Old Clare (theold clarehotel.com.au; doubles from A$299) has rooms inside a renovated brewery, with a busy retro-chic pub called Kensington Street Social attached. In the heart of the city, QT Sydney (qthotelsandresorts.com; doubles from A$260) is in a neoGothic department store dating from the 1930s, while the Ovolo Woolloomooloo (ovolohotels.com.au; doubles from A$350) sits inside a salvaged wooden “finger wharf” warehouse jutting over the harbor, with a vegetarian-friendly restaurant opened by American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney. The dish to order?

Kimchi dumplings with red cabbage and ginger foam.

The newly opened Paramount House Hotel, set in the film studio’s former Aussie headquarters.

converted into a gallery filled with semi-abstract oils. Redfern, de Mestre explained, which not so long ago was known as a veritable dead end for its racial tension, drugs and the occasional street riot, is now part of a global art scene. “Sydney artists can show in Tokyo, New York or Paris,” she explained, “but still live and work around the corner.”

A

The Life Aquatic There are more than 70 beaches bordering both the Pacific and Sydney Harbour, from the world-famous Bondi to the lesser-known Lady Martins. But you’d be remiss if you didn’t actually get out on the water— and take full advantage of the city’s idyllic setting.

The quintessential Sydney experience is to sail around one of the world’s finest harbors with a picnic hamper, sipping iced “chardie” (Chardonnay) and pausing to swim at a secluded cove.

Tour operator Harbour Days Sailing Experience (harbourdays.com.au; from A$308 per adult) offers private sailings that leave from the Aquarium Wharf Darling Harbour.

F T ER A W EEK I thought I’d seen it all, aesthetically speaking. I’d tracked down street art in the neighborhood of Newtown by guerrilla painters with names like Captain Earwax and Ox King. I’d attended a convivial art reception at Gallerie Pompom in Chippendale, on the southern edge of the CBD, where the flamboyant cofounder Ron Adams served craft beer to half of Sydney’s bohemia—a party that spilled into the back alley until midnight. And I’d hopped a ferry to Cockatoo Island, a former convict quarry and shipyard that had been taken over by monumental sculptures for the Sydney Biennale, which started in 1973 and has developed into the largest contemporary art fair in the country. Every stop was combined with Sydney’s gourmet food and drink offerings, from superb cappuccinos in waterfront cafés to delicious ramen on rooftops.

But the most memorable combination of cuisine and art came on my last night, when I watched it snow on Sydney Harbour. For a month every year, the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, a part of the excellent Australian Opera Company performs on a floating open-air stage at Mrs. Macquaries Point, just offshore from the Royal Botanic Garden. It is a site with some of Sydney’s best views.

H I R E A YA C H T A N D S K I P P E R

Break out of Sydney’s notorious traffic jams and hire a water taxi to speed across the harbor. A scenic ride from Darling Harbour to the Rocks is about A$50 per person with Yellow Water Taxis (yellowwatertaxis.com.au), while luxury service Water Taxis (water taxis.com.au) offers rides that start at A$150 per person one-way to Watsons Bay. HOP A MARITIME CAB

PA D D L E T H E H A R B O R Kayak-rental companies are now scattered around the waterfront, but visitors are better off with a guided four-hour tour of the Middle Harbour, a part of Sydney Harbour that still has pockets of pure wilderness, with Sydney Harbour Kayaks (sydneyharbourkayaks.com. au; from A$125 per person).

See another side of Sydney from water taxis and luxury yachts.

North Sydney

Sydney Opera House

AUSTRALIA SYDNEY

Sydney Harbour

Central Business District

Woolloomooloo

Chippendale

Surry Hills

Bondi Beach

Redfern

AN ART LOVER’S GUIDE TO SYDNEY The contemporary art scene in Sydney is flourishing, and visitors can see it up close in the galleries of emerging neighborhoods such as Redfern and Chippendale.

Whether or not you have jet lag, rise and shine for a daybreak jog on Bondi Beach, a truly local diversion in this fitness-fanatic ’burb.

This time around, Puccini’s La Bohème was playing, and the stage set re-created an icebound Paris in the depths of winter—even though it was 26 degrees and the surrounding eucalyptus trees teemed with birds.

The night was nothing if not cosmopolitan. I started with a threecourse French meal at the venue’s pop-up restaurant by the lapping waves. Soon I was being lulled by an Italian love aria sung by a Koreanborn tenor while yachts drifted back and forth in the darkness. Suddenly, flakes of snow began to waft from the stage, created by hidden snow machines. Even the fruit bats seemed to be enchanted, circling happily in the stage lights. As I put out my tongue to taste a speck of ice, fireworks exploded above the stage, to gasps of wonder from the crowd.

Once upon a time, Sydneysiders may have pined for the revered cultural centers of Europe and the U.S., dying to escape to foreign shores. But I would lay good money that not a single member of the audience that night wished they were anywhere else.

VISAS Nationals of countries such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States and Canada may apply online for an Electronic Travel Authority visa.

Nationals of many European countries as well as Taiwan must apply for this visa via their airline or travel agent. Nationals of countries including Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam must apply for a Tourist Stream Visitor visa, which can take a month to process. Check immi. homeaffairs.gov.au for details on your country.

GALLERIES In addition to its robust permanent collection of Asian–Pacific Islander and Western art, future exhibits at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (artgallery.nsw.gov.au) will include a Marcel Duchamp retrospective (April 27–August 11) and a show from Australia’s Balgo Hills school (July 27– November 17). The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (mca.com. au), a short walk away

on the harbor, focuses on the work of living Australian artists, with an emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent.

See the oeuvre of one of New South Wales’s most noted native sons at the John Passmore Museum of Art (fb. com/johnpassmore museum), a quirky tavern turned gallery founded by Elinor Wrobel, a friend of Passmore’s, to whom he left hundreds of his pieces. The Aboriginalowned gallery of the APY Art Centre Collective (apygallery. com) showcases the work of collaboratives in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, in the remote corner of South Australia, such as fresh faces in fields from punu wood carving to audiovisual and new media. In Chippendale, visit Galerie Pompom (galeriepompom.com), a commercial gallery representing artists from Sydney and Melbourne. The Commercial (the commercialgallery. com), a former body shop in Redfern, and Carriageworks (carriageworks.com. au), a multiuse space in an old railroad depot

in nearby Eveleigh, are also worth visits.

EVENTS Music lovers should follow the schedule at Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (opera.org.au), the seasonal outdoor venue of the Australian Opera Company. Its next production, a special run of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, takes place March 22 to April 19.

From May 24 to June 15, the annual Vivid Sydney festival (vivid sydney.com) will fill the city with interactive street art, public talks and large-scale light displays on landmarks like the Opera House.

And in 2020, the Biennale of Sydney (biennaleofsydney.art) will present its 22nd season, this time under the direction of Aussie artist Brook Andrew.

TOURS The art-savvy guides at Culture Scouts (culturescouts.com.au) lead walking tours in various districts around Sydney, including an exploration of the graffiti and street art scene in the Newtown neighborhood and a food tour of Redfern.

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An adult orca catches a herring on the surface of the Norwegian Sea. OPPOSITE: An expedition vessel used on Natural World Safaris’ orca-viewing trip.

Giants

of the Deep

IN THE FJORDS OF NORTHERN NORWAY, A NEW SAFARI OFFERS GUESTS AN EXPERIENCE WITHOUT PARALLEL: THE CHANCE TO SWIM WITH ONE OF THE LARGEST GATHERINGS OF ORCAS, OR KILLER WHALES, ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET.

BY FLORA STUBBS. PHOTOGR APHED BY FELIX ODELL

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A diver films orcas as they hunt for herring. RIGHT: A pod of orcas off the coast of Tromvik, in the fjords of northern Norway. BELOW: Naturalist and marine videographer Patrick Dykstra, who leads Natural World Safaris’ orca-viewing trip.

T HAD JUST TURNED ONE O’CLOCK on a frigid day in January, and already the light was beginning to fade. By 2 p.m., it would be completely dark. From the deck of a trawler out in the Norwegian fjords, the ocean looked deeply forbidding: choppy, black and bone-numbingly cold.

For the divers lined up on the prow, however, the conditions were perfect. Under the surface, a pod of orcas had gathered, drawn by a shoal of herring that had migrated to this stretch of the Norwegian Sea that morning. The divers were about to swim with the orcas in their natural habitat, something few amateurs have experienced.

One of them was Felix Odell, the Swedish photographer who shot the images on these pages.

In an interview after his return from Norway, Odell admitted he’d had some misgivings before setting off.

“My daughter, who’s eight, was really frightened,” he recounted. “ ‘Maybe they’re going to eat you up,’ she said.”

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Standing on the deck in his dry suit, snorkel and mask, the temperature somewhere in the teens, he had hesitated. But once he was in the water, his apprehensions evaporated. “It felt great, completely natural,” Odell said. “And because of the Gulf Stream, the water was actually warmer than the air.”

Odell’s group was led by Patrick Dykstra, a naturalist originally from Colorado who for almost a decade has filmed and studied the orca population that comes to this part of the Norwegian coast each winter. A lifelong whale enthusiast, Dykstra gave up his day job as a corporate lawyer in 2013 to try his hand at underwater video. He has since contributed footage to the BBC’s award-winning Blue Planet II. Guests on his orca safari, which is run by British tour operator Natural World Safaris, must be strong swimmers with a passion for marine life. They should not expect five-star service. As Dykstra put it, “I’m out there filming the orcas because it’s what I love doing.

Sometimes I take guests along.”

Part of the dolphin family, orcas hunt for herring alongside their calves, working in family groups. A typical day aboard Dykstra’s vessel begins by figuring out where these orca pods are headed, which can be an adventure in itself. The morning of Odell’s dive, Dykstra began by consulting online resources, then hitting the phones. “Patrick has connections with fishermen in the area. He calls them to find out where the pods are each day,” Odell explained. Once Dykstra receives a tip, the race is on to reach the orcas’ reported location before they finish hunting and move on. “You have to be quick, because they travel very fast. We got lucky that first day and located a group swimming around a fishing boat,” Odell said.

The northern lights, which appear regularly over the Norwegian coast in winter, above the town of Skjervøy.

‘When you’re underwater, you can hear the orcas communicating, talking to one another.

Their presence is extremely gentle’ But with daylight fading, visibility under the water was low. Only at a distance of around 5 meters could the divers make out the orcas, which can range from 7 to 10 meters long—roughly the equivalent of a London bus. When one did appear through the murky, sedimentfilled water, the experience was transformative. “Seeing these enormous creatures up close was truly fantastic,” Odell said. “When you’re underwater, you can hear them communicating, talking to each other. Their presence is extremely gentle. At the same time they’re very powerful, of course.”

Attacks on humans by orcas in captivity are well documented; in the wild, however, there is little evidence of their harming people.

Still, the trip leaders take safety seriously, giving guests lengthy briefings on how to interact with the creatures underwater. “I’ve been scared before,” Dykstra admitted. “Ultimately these are wild animals, so of course you need to be careful.”

Of greater concern for him is the crisis facing the world’s orca populations. Orcas belong to a class of animals known as apex predators: they sit at the top of the food chain, so they take in massive concentrations of pollutants absorbed by smaller creatures.

According to new research published in the U.K. journal Science, the world’s orca population could be reduced by half in the next 30 to 50 years. “There’s a real danger that these creatures will die out if nothing is done to save them,” Dykstra said. To that end, he works with researchers to collect DNA samples from Norway’s orcas, which are added to a database and matched with samples taken elsewhere to create population studies, monitor the animals’ diets, and more. “It’s a huge help in understanding what’s going on with orcas right now,” he said.

Above all, Dykstra is motivated by his fascination with the species. “Orcas are so incredibly intelligent,” he explained. “They have something called bio sonar, which gives an MRI-type reading of their surroundings. They know right away that you’re not their typical prey. After a while, they begin to recognize you. And of course I recognize individual orcas, having come back year after year.”

The thrill of seeing other orca enthusiasts interact with these sensitive yet extraordinarily powerful creatures for the first time is addictive, Dykstra admitted. “I love seeing people who don’t get to spend their lives out in nature, like I do, get so excited by seeing the orcas close up. I see guests cry all the time.”

Tromsø

Norwegian Sea

NORWAY Oslo

HOW TO PLAN AN ORCA SAFARI IN NORTHERN NORWAY This eight-day trip with Natural World Safaris is not for the fainthearted, but those willing to brave frigid temperatures and choppy seas can be rewarded by remarkable wildlife interactions.

Begin by flying to Tromsø, in northern Norway, on SAS or Norwegian (you’ll transfer in Oslo or Copenhagen). Your base is the Kinfish, a former research vessel with comfortable en suite cabins and 360-degree views from all levels. The ship follows pods of orcas as they hunt for shoals of herring along the Norwegian coast.

Herring migrate to the fjords in late October and usually stay until mid-January. There are about seven weeks during that period when the daylight is too weak to see underwater. Last year Natural World Safaris ran orca-viewing trips in November and January, but for 2019, all trips will take place in November.

Guests must be strong swimmers, though PADI certification is not required.

Groups contain a maximum of 12 guests. All equipment, apart from dry suits, is provided by the outfitter. naturalworldsafaris. com; from US$7,800 per person.

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wish you were here

Known for its intricate art and architecture, Taipei’s Longshan Temple dates back to 1738 when it was founded by immigrants from nearby Fujian province. Over the centuries, it’s been rebuilt several times. Today, incorporating Buddhist elements, the holy place is also home to halls and altars celebrating Chinese deities Mazu and Guan Yu. Come Lunar New Year—February 5 and 6 this year—the temple is simply heaving with worshippers and clouds of incense. — NEIL WADE

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