If there’s one ‘national’ cuisine that you may not have thought of trying in Bangkok, it’s perhaps that of Taiwan. But there is a restaurant here serving up authentic Taiwanese food that’s definitely worth checking out. Samphan Assawakittiwanich, manager of Water 1999, says he believes the restaurant is the only one of its kind in…
Read moreGetting a foot in the door
While soccer fans in Thailand have their eyes glued to their televisions watching Euro2000, former professional soccer player Darren Jackson is focusing on soccer a little closer to home. If he has his way, 15 potential soccer stars from Thailand will be heading to the UK for youth matches to be played against local teams…
Read moreTeeing off for success
They’re quirky bronze sculptures, they’re artistically creative and they have a distinctly golf theme – but golfers hardly ever buy them. "Dedicated golfers don’t like to spend the money," says Charoen Ngoenchan, the sculptor who designs the limited-edition creations with titles such as "I Am The Winner", "There Goes The Ball" and "It Has Been…
Read moreScaling new heights
When we were kids, we believed there was a guest book hidden at the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to sign your name in if you managed to make the illegal climb up. Also known as the Coathanger, the world’s largest single span bridge was there in the background as we kids threw up…
Read moreSecluded rendezvous
You can choose the restaurant, but you can’t choose who sits at the table next to you. We were squeezed between a table with a blonde Australian woman in pink, who announced to the restaurant – and her subdued companions – her reasons for becoming a vegetarian, and a table of Americans who were screeching…
Read moreA star is born: ML Piyapas Bhirom Bhakdi
ML Piyapas Bhirom Bhakdi never dreamed about becoming an actress. She did not harbour any ambitions, ever, to be a star of the big screen. And it certainly never crossed her mind, not even for a fleeting instant, that she might one day take the leading role in the most expensive film in the history…
Read moreLush and lovely spot in Penang
Quiet, lush and teeming with plant varieties from around the globe – and monkeys – Penang’s 29-hectare Botanical Gardens are worth going out of your way to visit; no other such well-stocked public gardens exist in Malaysia. The gardens lie in a valley about eight kms outside Georgetown, Penang’s capital. They were established in 1884…
Read moreAn Equal Music
By Vikram SethMichael is a violinist in a string quartet in London. He lives a quiet life with music being his greatest joy – he simply can’t forget the woman he loved and abandoned while he was a student in Vienna ten years ago. A chance sighting of Julia on a distant London bus brings…
Read moreSpiritual moves
Yoga has been around for longer than any archaeological records; by its very nature, it leaves nothing behind to point to its existence except for tales of the amazing powers possessed by some of the best yogis. In Bangkok, yoga has been taught formally for only around 40 years – which is rather surprising if…
Read moreWalking tall
Around the globe there are a whole lot of fitness-freaks slowly coming to their senses. These are the people who maybe started aerobics in the ‘80s but have now had it with jumping around interminably on carpets stinking of sweat; or they’re the joggers of the ‘90s who are tired of being injured or just…
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