Outside In, Inside Out
Now that the rainy season has started many of us just want to curl up on the sofa and read a good book or watch a movie. Erna Eiríksdóttir takes a look at the options for spending your days inside, outside of your home.
If bowling catches your fancy, head over to SuperBowl in Parkway Square at 113 Mao Tse Tung Boulevard. It is the only 10-pin bowling alley in town, and with 12 lanes it tends to get crowded, especially at weekends. Advanced reservations unfortunately cannot be made as SuperBowl doesn't have a phone, so be prepared for a wait.
Rainforest World Music Festival entering a new decade
This year's RWMF will be held from July 11 to 13 at the foot of Mount Santubong within the Sarawak Cultural Village, a 45-minute drive from the State's capital, Kuching.
A total of 16 groups, including local bands, will perform at this year's festival. And, as in previous years they will be from all over the world. The full list of the bands will be announce in the next few weeks and at the moment, STB is in the process of finalizing the band selection. It was a tough act for STB as it had received more than 450 applications from bands that are keen to perform at RMWF.
Stranger Than Fiction
Peng Phan is a survivor. Somehow, throughout a life riddled with uncertainty and doubt, this extraordinary women has managed to find her dream out of the darkness and claim it for herself.
Born in 1953 in the remote province of Kandal, Peng Phan developed a larger-than-life passion for drama and the arts. After graduating from high school she sought higher education to help further her theatrical studies.
Troubled Writing: The Rebirth of Khmer Literature
If reading, writing, literature and publishing can be taken as a reliable indicator of the cultural wellbeing of a country, Cambodia is clearly a country in transition.
Few opportunities for writers, a shortage of publishable manuscripts, a lack of professional editors at publishing houses and a relatively small market for Khmer publications due to low literacy rates and weak purchasing power all stack up on the negative side of the ledger.
Culture Shock in the Digital World
In the early stages of your transition, the Internet and cell phones can be a lifesaver for parents. An American spouse living in Korea with young children told me she was grateful when, soon after arrival, her new caregiver, using her own cell phone, connected her with a local play group. A local chatroom helped this spouse discover the next meeting of a women's club as well as find information on much-needed goods and services. When used locally, digital connections can be immensely helpful.
Gimme Shelter
Not one hundred metres from the popular backpacker scene of Phnom Penh's Lakeside district guesthouses, poor Khmer families live in an impoverished and extremely polluted environment. Lining the shores of the Boeng Kak lake are stilted houses perched overtop the water; the water itself covered with a layer of garbage and waste thick enough for a chicken to walk across without falling through. Bare-chested and barefoot children playfully crowd the streets while the adults gamble good-heartedly on a neighbours front stoop and women barbeque fish in aluminium troughs.
Hello Kitty Named Japan's Tourism Ambassador
Japan will appoint its ubiquitous feline cartoon character Hello Kitty as a goodwill tourism ambassador in China and Hong Kong, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said Saturday. Hello Kitty is wildly popular in China and Hong Kong .
It will mark the first time a cartoon character has become a goodwill ambassador for Japan under the government's campaign launched in 2003 to promote visits to the country. Last year the number of tourists travelling to Japan hit a record of 8.35 million, up 60% since the government began marketing efforts in 2003.
History In The Making for Gay Tourism Industry
Many of the world's largest brands were represented at the convention such as Accor Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Marriott, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and the Intercontinental Hotels Group.
The aim of the convention was to better train travel industry staff how to understand the key travel concerns of gay and lesbian consumers -- if they want to maximize their returns from targeting the gay market consumer segment.
Lakeside Culture Fusion No Problem
The Lakeside has become the backpacker's quarters of Phnom Penh. With thousands of tourists passing through every year, it's undoubtedly one of the most Western influenced areas in the city.
However, there are still plenty of traditional Khmer families living their Cambodian lives amongst all of the craziness of the barang travellers and their party scene. It's quite a unique place. Cultures from all over the world live in such close proximity with each other, interacting on a daily basis. But what do the locals think of all this?
In Transition at Reyum
After almost a year of waiting and wondering, Reyum Gallery has at last opened its doors to the public again. And with this new exhibition titled "In Transition", Reyum's well earned reputation has been vindicated.
I must admit I had been sniffing around trying to get a glimpse of what might be in store at Reyum Gallery and through my "connections" I had the privilege of a sneak peek behind the scenes and what I found was ...... THE CREATIVE LAB! (Nyah ha ha, think nutty professor).