Innholdsfortegnelse for Oct/Nov 2019 i DestinAsian

For the past five years or so, I’ve kept hearing the same doom-and-gloom message: that print media is on its way out. Scarcely a month passes by without another magazine being consolidated or ceasing publication altogether. But this, our 18th-anniversary issue, is a reminder that there is still room for print-based companies that are willing to adapt, find new markets, and carve out a specific niche in our increasingly wired world. As in years past, DestinAsian’s anniversary coincides with our annual Luxe List, which covers the most notable new hotels and resorts in the Asia-Pacific region. They’re an astonishingly diverse bunch: jungly hideaways in Cambodia and Myanmar highlight exactly why our natural world is worth protecting, contemporary high-rise digs in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur come inspired by the local history,…

Located amid the high-rises of the Lujiazui financial district, Shanghai’s riverside Mandarin Oriental now provides even more reason to splurge, thanks to its Suite Temptations offer. Two consecutive paid nights are matched with one extra night per stay, and other perks range from a spa credit of RMB 300 to daily breakfast and Club Lounge access. You could take things one step further by opting for the Shanghai Dream package, which adds an hour-long sunset cruise on the Huangpu River aboard a private yacht, and tickets for two to the Aurora Museum, a private art institution a short drive from the hotel (mandarinoriental.com). Maldives SIX SENSES LAAMU Travelers seeking a Maldivian escapade before the end of this year should look to Six Senses’ private-island property in the southern Laamu Atoll.…

Every evening in eastern Indonesia’s Komodo National Park, a motley group of vessels drops anchor off thickly forested Kalong Island to wait for sundown, when thousands of flying foxes leave their roosts in the mangroves in search of food. I watch the spectacle from the roof deck of the Ayana Lako Di’a (ayana.com; from US$600 per person, all inclusive), a ninecabin phinisi schooner operated by the Ayana Komodo Resort in Labuan Bajo on nearby Flores. Behind me, crew members are illuminating the mizzen mast in changing colors and arranging fairy lights ahead of an alfresco dinner I’ll be enjoying with five other guests on this overnight cruise. The 54-meter Lako Di’a is by no means the first recreational phinisi to ply these waters, but it’s among the most sumptuous. The…

Three distinctive properties — all managed by the celebrated homegrown brand Far East Hospitality — now make up a vibrant precinct above Sentosa’s southern shoreline, located just a three-minute walk from Imbiah Monorail and Cable Car Station. The lesser-known history of the island is ever-present at Far East Hospitality’s newest luxury lodgings, The Barracks Hotel Sentosa. Positioned on higher ground above the soft, palm-fringed sands of Palawan Beach, the ultra-exclusive boutique property occupies what was once Blakang Mati Artillery Barracks, a British colonial–era heritage structure built in 1904. It has now been carefully restored and updated to become a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), and is open for bookings from October 1. Each of its 40 rooms and suites are adorned with an eclectic yet stylish…

Morning: Wake up early at Candeo Hotels Kobe Tor Road (81-78/958-6755; candeohotels.com; doubles from US$98) to enjoy a soak in the rooftop spa’s open-air bathing pool. After breakfast, take a 20-minute walk uphill to the district of Kitano-cho, which is home to the largest collection of ijinkan, or historic Westernstyle mansions, of any Japanese city. Highlights include Weathercock House, dating to 1909, and Moegi House (kobeijinkan.com), built for Kobe’s American consul general a few years earlier. Heading back down Kitanozaka street, stop at the ivy-covered brick building that houses Nishimura Coffee (kobe-nishimura.jp) for a cup of Viennese coffee served in clubby, old-world surroundings—it’s a local institution. Right across the road, Farmstand (eatlocalkobe.org) is a café and grocer’s that spotlights fresh produce grown in and around Kobe. It’s just the place…

With the inaugural Art Macao well underway, Macau has cemented its place in the global art scene. But the five-month international arts and cultural extravaganza is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Special Administrative Region’s world-class attractions and facilities. Home to a host of Michelinstarred restaurants, top-rated hotels, and must-try activities, Macau is a destination like no other.…

ALTIRA MACAU From walk-in wardrobes to circular stone tubs, no expense was spared fitting out the 216 rooms in this tower. There are seven restaurants and bars, and a top of the range spa with crystal steam rooms and an ice fountain (altiramacau.com). BANYAN TREE MACAU Billed as an urban high-rise resort within the Galaxy complex, Banyan Tree’s 256 rooms each feature private pools—villas also come with butlers. Don’t miss the spa, with a focus on holistic wellness (banyantree.com). CONRAD MACAO COTAI CENTRAL This 636-room hotel has direct access to the Shoppes at Cotai Central mall, although you’d be hard-pressed to drag yourself away from the pools, of which there are five (conradhotels3.hilton.com). ENCORE TOWER Part of the Wynn Macau resort, Encore’s 410 suites are as exclusive as they come.…

The light is exceptional in Rovinj. The golden midday sun has ripened to a mellow glow that bounces off the shimmering sea, casting a spotlight on the tumble of red-tiled rooftops in the Old Town. After a day spent paddling in the clear emerald waters that gently lap against the rocky shore of Monte Beach, my skin is a salty, happy blush as I meander back to my hotel through the steep tangle of cobbled alleys, beneath colorful lines of drying laundry. Set just beyond a timber-beamed archway, in a sturdy stone building brightened with blue-painted shutters, The Melegran is a bijou 12-room property that is a delightful base from which to explore this charming fishing port— the star attraction on Croatia’s Istrian coast—and, beyond that, the vast sweep of…

A member property of Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ Legend collection, The Siam offers a tranquil riverside respite from Bangkok’s hustle and bustle. This art deco–inspired urban resort by acclaimed designer Bill Bensley harks back to the turn of the 20th century with 39 suites and four traditional teak villas, all individually decorated with artworks and artifacts from the antique collection of owner Krissada Sukosol Clapp, a famous Thai rock singer and film actor. Elsewhere on the verdant grounds, fine-dining restaurant Chon Thai draws the city’s elite for its timeless fare made with the freshest local produce, while guests can also book muay thai training sessions led by an expert coach at the gym or enjoy muscle-melting treatments at Opium Spa. The prize is for a three-night stay in a Siam…

GLINDING UNDER BANGKOK’S RAMA VII BRIDGE gives me a huge thrill. I’m giddy, elated. Which seems to surprise Noom, my guide aboard the Manohra Dream: we’ve seen a number of more impressive bridges since the boat pushed off from its jetty an hour ago. Compared to the Taksin Bridge downriver near where I live, or the elegant, gilt-cabled span of the Rama VIII, the Rama VII is an ugly duckling—concrete, low hanging, utterly utilitarian. Hardly worthy, I suspect Noom thinks, of Thailand’s mighty River of Kings, the Chao Phraya. But it’s not the bridge that has me excited. Rather, it’s the otherwise invisible transition it marks: the end of Bangkok and the beginning of Nonthaburi Province. Sixty kilometers upriver from Bang Pu, where the Chao Phraya empties into the Gulf…

IT’S THURSDAY NIGHT IN MUMBAI, AND The Bombay Canteen is packed. The crowd is young. The conversation is loud. The cocktails are flowing. And—here’s the surprise—the food is Indian: the remixed, rebooted, and regional form dubbed “contemporary” or “modern” or “nouvelle” (but never “fusion”!) by the country’s hottest chefs. A few years have passed since I last visited Mumbai (“Say Bombay!” my Indian wife, Shailaja, admonishes), and a lot has changed. The last time we were here, we scoured the city for a good Maharashtrian restaurant and found only Trishna, a stuffy old favorite that specializes in seafood dishes from the state’s Arabian Sea coast. Just as in Delhi (where we live) or Bangalore or Kolkata or any other Indian metropolis, the city’s top tables were serving Italian or Mediterranean…

“My husband and I carry our painting gear around with us each day on our holidays,” says Hong Kong–based Singaporean artist, printmaker, and designer Lisa Huang, whose training in interior architecture lends her art a heightened sense of perspective and texture. “It’s a commitment to painting en plein air, to painting the moment, which assuages an inward call to somehow capture the mesh of emotions arising from the atmosphere of places that inspire me.” Huang found ample inspiration on a recent trip to the Kathmandu Valley, where she created numerous watercolors including this depiction of a busy lane leading to Bhaktapur’s Dattatreya Square. “Still rebuilding in the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the places we visited had an air of organized determination, as well as a constant shroud of…

RON GLUCKMAN Wrote “Where Runs the River,”p. 106 During his three decades living in Asia, Gluckman has traveled to the far reaches of Mongolia, Myanmar, and Tibet; ridden the rails into North Korea; and crossed the Pacific by cargo ship. For this story, he didn’t need to stray far from his home in Bangkok. Yet the assignment was a perfect fit. Born by the beach in San Francisco, Gluckman says he has always felt the tidal pull of water. He lived along the Pacific Northwest coast, right up to Alaska, before moving to Asia in 1991. Here, he made his home in Hong Kong on Lamma Island, surrounded by the sea, and later lived in Phnom Penh, along the Tonle Sap River. For the last six years, he’s been watching…

Derived from sossegado, a Portuguese word for “quiet,” the Goan notion of susegad refers to a laidback, unhurried attitude toward life. Until recently, though, the nightlife scene in India’s smallest state was anything but. During the 2000s, tourists flocked to hilltop neon-lit raves featuring trance and techno music. Then the party scene moved indoors to clubs and bars where people danced to commercial tunes until the wee hours of the morning. But things are changing now with a bevy of new bars and chic restaurants offering travelers other options such as live music, jazz nights, and an easygoing atmosphere. Goa is growing up. Case in point: Mahé (fb.com/mahegoa), a finedining venue that occupies a handsomely restored 19th-century Indo-Portuguese house in Anjuna village. Aside from indoor and alfresco seating, there’s an…

1 / Sichuan INKSTONE HOUSE OCT LINPAN CULTURAL CENTER Shanghai-based studio Archi-Union Architects looked to Chinese calligraphy for inspiration when it came to designing this venue outside the ancient town of Anren, roughly an hour’s drive from Chengdu. The dynamic form of the brick structure was derived from a traditional inkstone, whose water cavity is mirrored in a central courtyard where the overhanging eaves of the slate roof sweep down to a series of reflecting ponds. 2 / Zhejiang HANGZHOU YUHANG OPERA On the shores of a smaller man-made counterpart to Hangzhou’s famed West Lake, Danish design practice Henning Larsen has created a focal point for the up- and coming Yuhang district. The building’s concrete-and-glass facade recalls the cracked-ice (binglei) pattern often seen on traditional latticework in this part of…

The Pyramids of Giza may rule the roost when it comes to Ancient Egyptian marvels, but none possess the exquisite bas-reliefs, murals, and colossi that adorn the temples of Abu Simbel, built 3,200 years ago in the Nubia region (just 40 kilometers from the present-day border with Sudan) for Pharaoh Ramesses II and his first and favorite wife, Nefertari. The larger of the two rock-cut structures is not just a monument to egotism but also to Ancient Egypt’s knack for solar alignment: twice a year, on the 22nd of October and February, the rising sun sends a stream of light deep into the inner sanctum of the otherwise dark temple, illuminating seated statues of Ramesses II and the gods Ra and Amun. Thousands flock here to witness the phenomenon as…

MANGO MANIA It’s not just market-fresh specimens that mango fans can look forward to on a visit to the Thai capital later this year. Through December, the 25th-floor spa of The Okura Prestige Bangkok (okurabangkok.com) is offering the Absolute Mango Revival package, which capitalizes on the aromatic fruit’s documented health benefits. Rich in collagen-building vitamin C and armed with powerful antioxidants, mangoes also harbor anti-aging phytosterols known to improve the skin’s natural protective barrier. The experience begins with a pampering 30-minute body scrub made of mango extract, rice bran, and apricot seeds to exfoliate and moisturize the skin. For the second part of the treatment, spa-goers can choose either an hour-long or 90-minute aromatherapy massage, using a special oil containing extracts of grapefruit, ginger, lime, and almond. JAPAN UNPLUGGED Digital…

Blooming Lotus Yoga Retreats Ideal for both beginner and intermediate students, these four- to seven-day retreats focus on developing a strong foundation in the practice of yoga asana, pranayama, and meditation. Affordable, all-inclusive retreat packages are available year-round and are held at Ubud Corner 88, a hillside villa complex set in the forests of Lodtunduh village, on the outskirts of Ubud (blooming-lotus-yoga.com). Anti-Aging & Longevity Retreat This four-night-minimum package at Nusa Dua’s Revīvō Wellness Resort offers a wide range of holistic daily activities including yoga, meditation, and circuit training. Consultations with a wellness coach will result in a program of fitness activities, healthy eating, and skincare treatments ranging from firming coffee-bean body wraps to collagen facials, all designed to slow down the signs of ageing and leave you feeling and…

Back in 1961, the apparatchiks of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) could not have imagined that the guarded concrete barrier they were building—to keep East Germans in and Western “fascists” out—would one day be a major tourist attraction. Yet today, three decades after the Peaceful Revolution brought down the Berlin Wall, the surviving portions of this once-potent Cold War symbol remain high on visitors’ agendas; many walk or bike the 160-kilometer-long Berliner Mauerweg, a signposted path that traces the course of the former GDR border fortifications encircling West Berlin. You can expect interest to be particularly keen in November, when the German capital celebrates the 30th anniversary of the wall’s fall (and the city’s reunification) with a weeklong festival of concerts, lectures, accounts by contemporary witnesses, poetry slams, and film…

WHEN THE HEAVENS BURST OVER VIENNA I AM MID-HIKE among the noble vines of Nussberg Hill, looking down on a darkened Danube and the rain-smeared skyline of the Austrian capital. Minutes earlier, the afternoon had been bright, hot, and scented with elderflower as I wandered, spellbound, among the vineyards that are stitched across Vienna’s suburban hillsides. These are not conventional vine plantings, mind you, but flourishing gardens where the grapes grow surrounded by dozens of plant species—grasses, flowers, herbs—and a buzzing ecosystem of bees, bugs, and birds The look of it nicely reflects the novel approach to winemaking in Vienna, where some 400 working wine estates cover 640 hectares of the city outskirts. It’s quite relaxed. Often, the vignerons here aren’t sure precisely which grapes they’re tending. They prefer to…

WOOBAR AT W SINGAPORE – SENTOSA COVE The hustle and bustle of downtown Singapore feels a million miles away when you’re socializing over drinks at WOOBAR, which occupies an inviting first-floor space filled with natural daylight. Plush banquettes, smooth grooves, inventive cocktails, the pool view through floor-to-ceiling windows, and colorful lighting — all these elements combine to create the perfect backdrop for catching up with friends. A must-try here is the decadent high tea set for two, available each day from 3 to 5 p.m. and served in a tiered silver bird cage. A wide selection of Champagnes, premium spirits, and wines from around the world beckon as well, and if you linger into the evenings, you’ll see DJs take charge of the playlist at sundown. Make sure you try…

NEW WORLD ORDER The recent opening of K11 Musea (k11musea.com) completed a trifecta by New World Development on Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui harborfront, following the Rosewood hotel next door and the K11 Artus serviced residences upstairs. The 10-story, 110,000-square-meter “cultural-retail” development is an ultra-luxe, eco-futuristic shopping mall created by a constellation of architecture and design heavyweights led by Kohn Pederson Fox, James Corner Field Operations, and Ronald Lu & Partners. It features vertical and rooftop gardens, and metal and timber interiors that spiral toward a cosmic atrium. Here, the usual designer brand-names share the floor with cult boutiques such as Gentle Monster, Kapok, and Asia’s largest MoMA Design Store—the latter attracts queues on weekends. A bevy of artisan coffee and tea outlets keeps the millennial buzz going, and a…

ATAS With a name that means “above” in Malay, this casual-chic restaurant at The RuMa hotel (see page 95 for a review) offers elevated takes on the local fare that are as refined as its setting. Inside an open kitchen backed by a wall of Royal Selangor pewter tiles, young Canadian chef Tyson Gee uses seasonal produce gathered from around the Malay Peninsula in his modern creations. A gourmet version of the Peranakan pai tee pastry features crème fraiche and Malaysian caviar; the jasmine rice salad dressed in crispy chicken skin, spring onion, sesame, and homemade XO sauce is a Chinese riff on the Malay herbed rice dish nasi ulam. Pungent buah keluak (a prized black nut) lends its characteristic depth and earthiness to corn-fed chicken with okra and fermented…

YOU WERE ONCE A JOURNALIST. HAS THAT INFORMED YOUR LATER CAREER AT ALL? I always liked to ask questions and journalism was an easy way to get paid for doing that. This trait of asking “why?” of everything has been the source of all the problems in my youth, my moderate success in later life, and Banyan Tree’s innovations over the past 25 years. WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE WITH YOUR FIRST PROPERTY, BANYAN TREE PHUKET? We literally stumbled onto what is now the 300-hectare Laguna Phuket. While looking for a place to build a summer house in 1984, [my wife] Claire, my brother, and I came across a desolate, strangely romantic moonscape; it was an abandoned tin mine. Only after we bought it did we discover that the entire…

For a city of its size, Macau punches well above its weight when it comes to Michelin stars. In 2019, the culinary guide awarded accolades to 19 restaurants, including three stars for Cantonese eatery Jade Dragon, putting it in good company alongside Robuchon au Dôme and The Eight. This year also saw Alain Ducasse at Morpheus elevated to two Michelin stars, a category it now shares with four other Macau restaurants. Three of our favorites are highlighted below. THE EIGHT Macau’s first Chinese restaurant to be awarded three Michelin stars, The Eight is the sparkling culinary jewel in the Grand Lisboa’s crown. While many come here for the impeccable dim sum—there are 40 dishes to choose from—many more linger over banquets, highlighting chef Joseph Tse’s kitchen prowess through delicacies like…

There are some things you should know about Shigeru Ban. As a boy, he wanted to become a carpenter. In 1985, just a year after graduating from the School of Architecture at Cooper Union in New York, he opened his own practice in Tokyo. He has an affinity for the works of Alvar Aalto, the great Finnish modernist and a pioneer of sustainable architecture. Ban’s now famous use of paper and cardboard tubing to create quick and effective housing for disaster victims in places like India, Rwanda, and New Zealand began with his design for an Aalto exhibition in Tokyo in 1986. He was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2014, at the age of 56. He doesn’t like waste. He only wears black. Also, he considers the pencil to be…

Twenty minutes into my tour of what is regularly billed as one of Seoul’s most promising new attractions, after navigating a bewildering network of elevators and stairwells, I have come to just one conclusion: This can’t be right. I’ve been wandering the desolate corridors of a market that, it seems, has yet to open for the day—or perhaps hasn’t opened in years. Weaving between piles of boxes and past rows of shops with their shutters locked tight, I begin to wonder if I’m inadvertently trespassing. The only thing to do is head for a doorway in the distance that looks like it might be an exit. When I emerge, blinking, into the daylight, it’s with a sigh of relief: this must be the place so many people are talking about.…

HIT THE GYM One of the more unexpected tenants at Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in New York is the Face Gym studio. In a cool, openair space, patrons are seated in reclining chairs and consulted by a “trainer” who guides them through a menu of 30- to 75-minute workouts. Each program targets the face’s underused muscles by following the physical arc of a typical gym session with a warmup, cardio, strength training, and subsequent cooldown. Extra upgrades include cryo-oxygen hydration and radiofrequency treatments to counter sagging skin (facegym.com). JAPANESE TOUCH Recently introduced at Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris, the Japanese Kobido facial is remarkable for both its age (the procedure dates as far back as the mid-15th century) and the decades of work required to master its…

The Philippines might be known for its white-sand beaches, glorious tropical climate, and equally warm Filipino hospitality, but it also beckons with unique traditions shaped by 300 years of Spanish rule and abundant wildlife both above and below the waves. Here’s a quick guide on what to do and where to go on six must-visit islands. PALAWAN Considered the Philippines’ last frontier, Palawan is the westernmost of its major islands, and is about as far as you can get from the traffic-choked cities. Even Puerto Princesa, the capital and gateway to the rest of the province, maintains a laid-back appeal. About 60 kilometers away lies the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where visitors embark on a 45-minute canoe ride to explore a portion of…

INDEX AUSTRALIA Elysian Retreat, Whitsundays The Calile Hotel, Brisbane Mt. Mulligan Lodge, Queensland Prospect House, Tasmania Zagame’s House, Melbourne BHUTAN Six Senses Bhutan CAMBODIA Alila Villas Koh Russey Shinta Mani Wild, Kirirom Six Senses Krabey Island CHINA Alila Wuzhen Capella Sanya, Hainan Island Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, Beijing The PuXuan, Beijing Rosewood Hong Kong The Shanghai Edition The St. Regis Hong Kong INDONESIA The Apurva Kempinski Bali INDIA Soho House Mumbai Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru Glenburn Penthouse, Kolkata The Roseate Ganges, Rishikesh Andhra Art & Craft Hotel, Visakhapatna JAPAN Trunk (House), Tokyo MALDIVES Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, South Male Atoll Joali, Raa Atoll LUX* North Male Atoll Kudadoo Maldives Private Island, Lhaviyani Atoll MALAYSIA 88 Armenian, Penang The Datai Langkawi The RuMa, Kuala Lumpur MYANMAR Wa Ale, Mergui Archipelago NEW ZEALAND…

NESTLED IN THE FOOTHILLS OF YANGMINGSHAN, the northernmost of Taiwan’s nine national parks, Beitou offers a languid antidote to downtown Taipei, a 20-minute metro ride away. The heart of the district is the hot spring resort area around Beitou Park, a narrow belt of greenery that stretches uphill on either side of a bubbling creek. On weekends, tourists flock here to soak away their troubles and take in the sites, which range from Japanese colonial relics to the timber-clad Beitou Public Library, one of the country’s most eco-friendly buildings. Or you could, as I regularly do, eschew the crowds and delve into the delightful web of pathways farther up the valley. I’ve lived in Beitou for 13 years and still unearth surprises when familiar lanes, staircases, and trails diverge from…