LOS ANGELES LONDON
Travel & Entertainment
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LOS ANGELES LONDON |
Travel & Entertainment |
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BEST OF FOUR: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Cambodia remained inaccessible until 1998, due to the political fisticuffs of the Khmer Rouge regime. But now Siem Reap, its capital, has all the ingredients of a typical, faraway exotic place – colonial history and Chinese-style architecture, a flourishing little French Quarter and the requisite old market. Today, everyone's curiosity is piqued as it's become an emerging art venue, burgeoning food scene and an oasis of relaxation.
Sunrise at the Angkor Temple Complex: Built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century as his state temple and capital city, Angkor Wat, is admired for its grandeur and is the epitome of Khmer architecture, with its prominent use of huge sandstone carvings, some three-stories high. The temple-mountain’s extensive complex is a World Heritage Site, with its Hindu-inspired monuments and guardian spirits that make the walled city of Angkor astounding. Located just north of Siem Reap, and connected by quiet, tree-lined roads, the temple-city is best discovered on a rented bicycle or small motorbike. Sunrise allows for a particularly special viewing, sometimes an almost surreal one.
Hôtel de la Paix Siem Reap’s most fashionable hotel with a healthy dose of Khmer architecture fused with modern Art Deco design. Its white modern facade reveals a serene lotus pond and courtyard garden, surrounded by huge stone statues and grand swings where you can eat a romantic dinner. The spacious bedrooms are an oasis of luxury and respite, and the deluxe category has terraces with soaking tubs. Hôtel de la Paix’s art lounge overlooks the colorful urban streetscape and serves as a bar too, taking culture and cuisine to another dimension. The hotel was named as one of the top ten places in the world to make a marriage proposal, but if such a romantic offer is not the intention, the hotel can just as easily become your new home base. For more information, go to http://www.hoteldelapaixangkor.com.
Blue Pumpkin Just steps away from the old market, and looks deceivingly like one of the many other popular restaurants teaming with temple aficionados. After an early morning or a hot afternoon of climbing the endless ruins, many gravitate here for fresh bakery products by Arnaud, the dedicated French pastry chef, and many never make it to the ‘the secret’ upper level. Those who take the extra steps are rewarded with a a cool air-conditioned, all-white Zen lounge equipped with Wi-Fi, and super comfortable couch-beds. Located at 365 Mondol 1 - Svay Dang Kum, Siem Reap.
Shopping to beat temple fatigue: No holiday destination is complete without some shopping opportunities and Siem Reap is no exception. In addition to the local curios and crafts, a few expats have succeeded in creating world-class retail lure. Retail therapy is available at Poetry, Wanderlust, and the Garden of Eden in the old market area.
-- Anjali Mansukhani
SPOTLIGHT KEEPING SCORE Mark Mancina
“I only had six weeks to write Speed,” Mancina recalls. “It was one of those things where I decided to take all the percussions from the orchestra and move it to sampled bus sounds. I had a friend of mine who went out to a metal yard and sample tons of metallic sounds. This was a while ago when they didn’t have sample libraries with metallic sounds so this was a new concept that really worked because that movie was about a bus. But today, that’s become the sound of action movies.”
For the Oscar-winning film, Training Day, Mancina broke the mold again. “I did something nobody was doing – an ambient score against a gritty picture. Instead of doing the predictable hip-hop sound, I did something multi-cultural to reflect Los Angeles, which is full of all sorts of styles of music and people. I started that score with Asian-sounding instruments. At first, the director felt confused about the score but in time, he acknowledged its contribution.”
Mancina, who trained from an early age in classic guitar, piano and composition counts Bach and the Beatles as his influences, and credits composer Hans Zimmer for recognizing his talent and introducing him to the film community. An innovator himself, the versatile composer doesn’t limit himself to just the action and thriller genre and his repertoire boasts some of the most unforgettable dramatic film scores including the late Natasha Richardson masterpiece, Asylum, and the harrowing Vince Vaughn/Joaquin Phoenix feature, Return to Paradise.
Of the Looking at You track from Return to Paradise, Mancina says, “I think it’s one of the best things I’ve written. Not only does it really work with the picture, but also it’s a strong piece of music on it’s own…I sent it to the director and didn’t hear back from him for two days and I’m sweating. And then he calls me up and says ‘it’s genius. There’s nothing I would touch.’ That’s why I do what I do. Once in a while a great director like Joseph Ruben gets it.”
Mancina is currently working on taking scenes from his films and rewriting them for classical guitar to be played by the greatest guitarists in the world.
-- Ghalib Dhalla
PRINCE OF PERSIA WORLD PREMIERE, LONDON Tanned and buff Jake Gyllenhaal and the luminous Gemma Arterton were on hand to celebrate the premiere of the new Disney/Bruckheimer blockbuster, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time at a shopping center in West London along with Director Mike Newell.
GBK OSCAR GIFT LOUNGE The gifting suite popular with A-list celebs held court at W Hollywood where the “precious” likes of Gabby Sidibe, The Blind Side’s Quinton Aaron, and Anna Lynn showed up. The Oscar stars were treated to more than $30,000 in gifted luxury, featuring multiple 5-star vacations, electronics and lifestyle products. In addition, there was a continual focus on helping charity, specifically the Haiti relief efforts. Standouts at this suite included ResVitale (see Precious Cargo section) and the hip and conversation-eliciting clothing line of Love Nail Tree.
JEFFREY SANKER’S WHITE PARTY PALM SPRINGS 2010 It just keeps getting better. This year’s flawlessly executed dance and music extravaganza in the desert attracted over 30,000 gay men to party with top notch, internationally renowned DJs like The Freemasons, Moto Blanco and Chus and Ceballos. The three-day event was further enhanced with live performances by Billboard chart topper, Ke$ha and Swedish pop sensation, Agnes while Britney Spears gave a “shout-out” at this year’s packed, “Under the Circus Big Top” T-dance. Sanker’s talent in delivering current showstoppers and coveted DJs to a whole new generation of White-Partiers and loyal followers continues to make this a premiere event that cannot be missed.
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Film composers like John Barry and Thomas Newman are known for their signature sound. And then there are others like Mark Mancina whose genius comes from successfully eluding such trademark sound recognition. The Grammy award-winning composer who has given pulse to films like Speed, Training Day and The Lion King is passionate about breaking new ground and exposing listeners to what’s fresh and unexpected. By incorporating sample sounds and fusing traditional and exotic instruments from around the world, Mancina has not only enlivened his films, but also changed the scope of film music altogether.
