Travel | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Aug

Britain boxes clever in the battle of the drives

VisitBritain’s postbox USB

I thought Melbourne’s tourism gang topped the competition for the cleverest USB drive with its little red rattler trams.

But then I caught up with Visit Britain at Melbourne’s British restaurant, Papa Goose, on the serious eating strip of Flinders Lane.

Take a look at their little marketing number, loaded with press releases for eager journos. How cute is that red postbox?

If you thought 2013 was a bumper year for the UK, with the trifecta of the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation, a Brit (finally!) winning Wimbledon and a baby royal to boot, next year is shaping up well, with a swathe of anniversaries including Shakespeare (400 years), Jane Austen (200 years), poet Dylan Thomas (100 years) and Dr Who, who hit the big five-oh! this year.

Take an icon, turn it into a journalist’s cheat sheet.
What’s not to love?

Restaurants in former
public toilets are so hot right now (well, they’d be convenient, boom-tish) men’s fashion is taking on Paris and Milan and hey, Brits are
loving us Aussies as we spend up big in the shops.

Cashed up Aussies? Who wouldn’t love us? Unfortunately, that’s sure to
be one change in 2014, no matter what government comes in
with the upcoming Australian election. Ha!

Aug

Pony ballet in Melbourne, private islands in Cambodia: travel deals

Song Saa island, Thailand

Pssst, life is full-on, sometimes deals don’t always fall on your desk when you planned. If you’re ready to go, and go now, check these little babies out!

GO NOW: MELBOURNE

Combine a night of horse ballet and a city stay with the
Cavalia show and Fraser Suites Melbourne until August 18. Get Gold tickets and
an overnight stay in a deluxe studio from $429 for two people, saving $60. 1800
800 488, frasershospitality.com.au.

GO SOONER: LORD
HOWE ISLAND

Keen birders and lovers of luxury take note: stay seven
nights at Capella Lodge and get free flights from Sydney and a free night until
September 30. From $3900 a person, seven nights. (02) 9918 4355,
capellalodge.com.au.

GO SOONER: CAMBODIA

Check in to Song Saa Private Island, in the Gulf of
Thailand, for four nights of sustainable luxury. Pay half price until September
30, from US$3298 (A$3637), double, all-inclusive for four nights in a jungle
villa. +855 236 860 360, songsaa.com.

KIDS

Let the kids run away to the circus, take over the kitchen
or create art from beach debris at Club Med Cherating, Malaysia. Save on stays until
September 1, from $1057 for adults, $614 for kids 4-11yrs, seven nights. 1300
855 052, clubmed.com.au.

This article was published in the Sun-Herald newspaper (Australia), Belinda Jackson

Aug

Colour my world: the textiles of Sri Lanka

Barefoot’s design house, Sri Lanka.

I have fondled hemp throws in Morocco, lusted for
Kashmiri embroidered cushions, gone cammo with Arabic scarves, and when
my husband told me not to buy any carpets in Iran I deduced the man was
obviously delusional: I was going to Persia, home of the rug. He’d given
up by the time I announced the Sri Lanka trip.

In my defence,
textiles are surely the ideal souvenir. They usually pack down easily,
they’re not fragile, they are useful and, importantly, they are a direct
link to a country’s culture.

I showed him photographs of women working on traditional handlooms
and waxed lyrical about the colours of the country: peacock blue, russet
red and saffron yellow.

“You
have to use bright colours in Sri Lanka because of the sunshine,” says
British interior designer George Cooper, who has lived in the southern
seaside town of Galle for the past decade and stamped his mark on a
string of villas along the coastline.

“In England and France, muted colours work, but you have to up your palettes here.

Traditional batik.

“The colours are more primary. They’re simpler.”

The country’s
textiles were born in the time of legend, says Sri Lanka-born,
Melbourne-based textiles artist Cresside Collette. She’s talking way
back: as far as the Ramayana, the Indian epic from 3000BC; in Sri
Lanka’s royal chronicle, the ancient Mahavamsa, even the queen is
spinning yarn.

Cresside, who recently led a new textiles tour
through her home country, says the main industries are weaving,
lacemaking, embroidery, dyeing and batik. Don’t expect the massive
factories of Bangladesh or India: Sri Lanka’s textiles industry is
small, secretive and, in some instances, even dying out. You’ll need a
knowing local on hand to help eke them out.

Luckily, I have Cresside’s tips and my friend Andrea, a writer, guide
and friend of the arts, who has a flair for design. Happily, she’s also
an English-speaking Dutch burgher – an exotic, ethnic blur of of Dutch,
Portuguese and indigenous Sri Lankan: the woman is a strolling atlas.

In
Galle, the Portuguese element is obvious in the southern province’s
reputation for its cotton lace. Intrepid Portuguese were blown off
course from the Maldives and landed here in 1505. “There’s a strong
sense of Lisbon through the lacemaking,” Cooper says.

One morning,
as I leave my hotel, the luxurious Amangalla, a quiet man sells me a
beautiful child’s white cotton nightdress. Strips of handmade lace
decorate the chest, hem and armholes, and although a delicate white
dress is a green light to my rambunctious daughter for wildness, I have
to buy it. I’m undertaking a classic transaction that’s been taking
place for centuries: Amangalla’s own history notes recall local
Sinhalese women sitting tatting on its verandah, making lace to sell to
tourists until the 1970s.

Waxing a batik. Photo: Alamy.

Andrea translates for me the story of
Manikku Badathuruge Priyani – or Priyani, for short – an internationally
recognised lacemaker. Now 53, she first sat down to lacemaking when she
was five, the fourth generation in her family to do so. Her work is
stocked in local handcraft stores including Lanka Hands and Laksala, and
each year, in her tropical home, she tats snowflakes that are exported
to Finland as Christmas ornaments.

Priyani has a cabinet full of
awards for entrepreneurship thanks to her own one-woman campaign to
preserve the craft by visiting stay-at-home women and disabled women,
giving them knowledge and small orders. You’ll spy Galle lacemakers’
work on the silver screen in Jane Austen movies Persuasion and Mansfield
Park, yet she’s not optimistic about the future of lacemaking.

“It’s
hard to sustain and is dying out rapidly because of the lack of
resources to preserve this craft that has survived for hundreds of years
and preserves our Portuguese heritage,” she says, echoing the time-old
complaint: “Young people are not interested.”

In contrast,
handloomed fabric is enjoying a renaissance, as we Westerners fall in
love with the seeming simplicity of design and clarity of the colours
employed by Sri Lankan designers. Treadle looms weave bright tableware,
and rolls of fabric are on sale in the country’s high-chic shops.

In
KK Collection, Cooper’s interiors shop in Galle, I unfurl cotton
handloomed fabric from its roll. The cotton is woven in villages near
the capital, Colombo, hand-dyed into smart stripes using vegetable dyes,
which creates variation that is frowned upon by puritans but loved by
those of us who see humanity in its imperfection.

Loom weavers at work. Photo: Cresside Collette.

On her tour,
Cresside visits the cloth weavers of Dumbara Valley, Sri Lanka’s
indigenous weavers, who draw on the countryside for inspiration. In
little Henawela village, the traditional motifs of elephants, deer,
peacocks and snakes gallivant along agave fibre stained with plant dyes
and woven into mats. All cotton used in Sri Lankan fabrics is imported,
mostly from India. Sri Lanka is about the same size as Tasmania but with
a population of about 20 million, and while its rumpled geography is
fine for delicate tea terraces, it defers to India’s vast plains to
produce raw cotton.

The bright interiors of another indigenous
design house, Barefoot, are a celebration of all that’s wild and lovely
on the island. In 1958, Barefoot’s founder, textiles designer Barbara
Sansoni, began teaching village women weaving and needlecraft. Under
principal designer Marie Gnanaraj, they now create vivid, high-quality,
hand-woven and hand-dyed fabric while earning a living wage, and their
beautiful fabric, toys and fashion are exported all over the world,
including to Australia.

While I love a good shop, show me the
creator and I’m sold. You’re bringing that person’s skills into your
home. Cresside ventures in to the village workshops around Kandy that
specialise in mat weaving, silversmithing and wood carving, and on to
Matale Heritage Centre, between Kandy and Matale.

The centre is at
Aluwihare, the ancestral home of batik and embroidery artist Ena de
Silva, dubbed Sri Lanka’s grand dame of batik. Her signature pieces are a
wild batik ceiling in the Bentota Beach Hotel and a set of banners of
heroic proportions, hanging in front of Sri Lanka’s parliament. De Silva
is widely regarded as one of the major catalysts in Sri Lanka’s craft
revival: her women’s co-operative operates out of Aluwihare, where local
villagers balance wax and dye to create traditional batik. Their
embroidered cushions and toys are for sale and lunch is also available.

The
time is right for such tours, as Sri Lanka itself awakens to its own
riches. The Colombo National Museum has just opened a new textile
gallery, and there’s an international appreciation for the social
consciousness that guides much of Sri Lanka’s home-bound textiles
workforce.

When I finally, regretfully, leave Sri Lanka, Andrea
and I exchange gifts: flowers and wine for my friend, while she presses a
handmade paper bag into my hands. Inside is a long scarf, dyed strong
fuchsia, grassy green, blood red and a deep royal purple. It is
hand-block-printed with a black motif of stylised flowers and bordered
with strips of gold.

The scarf encapsulates all that is Sri Lanka:
its blazing palette, ebullient nature and the rich embellishment worthy
of a culture of tradition and vivacity.

The writer was a guest of Banyan Lanka Tours and Sri Lanka Tourism.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION
banyanlanka.com; srilanka.travel

GETTING THERE: Singapore
Airlines has a fare to Colombo for about $1125 low-season return from
Sydney and Melbourne including taxes. Fly to Singapore (about 8hr) and
then to Colombo (3hr 40min); see singaporeair.com. Malaysia Airlines
flies via KL from $975 return including tax; see malaysiaairlines.com.

TOURING THERE: Cresside
Collette will lead Active Travel’s next Sri Lanka Textiles & Crafts
tour July/Aug 2014. From $4842, 15 days. 1300 783 188, see activetravel.com.au.
Her next tour is a 20-day tapestry tour of Europe, from London, September 2, priced from $5950. See tapestrytour.blogspot.com.

FIVE MORE TEXTILES TOURS

Burmese Lun-taya acheik, globetrottinggourmet.com

MYANMAR: Join
textile designer and weaver Morrison Polkinghorne from Yangon to Bagan
and Mandalay, where handloomers create weaves at an inch (2.5
centimetres) a day. The tour coincides with Waterfestival. Departs April
next year, from $4500, 14 days, see globetrottinggourmet.com.

LAOS: The
20th-anniversary Laos Textile & Culture tour is escorted by the
head of textiles at the ANU, Valerie Kirk. From Hanoi into Laos’
mountainous villages, the birthplace of Lao weaving, to Luang Prabang
and Vientiane. Departs January 15, next year, from $4375, 17 days, see activetravel.com.au.

INDIA: Gujarat
Tribals + Textiles is a five-star tour through western India exploring
the clothing, jewellery and fabrics of Gujarat’s indigenous people.
Departs January 26, next year, from $US7250 ($8095), 15 days, see mariekesartofliving.com.

MOROCCO: From
Marrakesh to the imperial cities of Rabat and Fez,through museums and
palaces, experiencing Amazigh (Berber) food and hospitality. Departs
September 28, next year, from $3180, 15 days, see culturaltours morocco.com.

BHUTAN
With
textiles artist Barbara Mullan, travel from Paro to the annual Thimphu
Festival, pausing to admire striking architecture and the view from high
mountain passes. Departs each September, from $4290, nine days, see worldexpeditions.com.

This article was published in the Sydney Morning Herald & The Age newspapers (Australia)
Belinda Jackson

Aug

Do Peru with divas or Prague on a pittance: Travel deals & kids on the road, August 11 2013

African drumming for families at the Darebin
Music Feast, Sept 18-29, musicfeast.com.au

Forget play doh, get the kids to shake it with an African drumming session this school holidays. Otherwise, hit Perth with a budget, Peru with a bunch of divas or find a bargain in Prague’s historic old town in this week’s domestic and international travel deals.

GO NOW: WESTERN
AUSTRALIA, PERTH

Save on stays in a four-star self-contained
studio apartment at All Suites Perth, with midday
checkout and free wifi included on two-night stays Friday to Sunday until early
December. Normally $300, costs $256, two nights, quote “Studio Stay 2
Save 20%”. 1300 88 7979, wotif.com/hotelW4628.

GO SOONER: PERU
& ARGENTINA

Get a five-star stay and half-day city tour of Lima when
you book a 14-night tour of Peru & Argentina by August 30. The group will cover Macchu Pichu, fabulous Buenos Aires and Mendoza.
Departs 10 November, quote ‘SHPERU’, $7699, travellingdivas.com.au.

Staré Město: Prague’s evocative old town.

GO LATER: CZECH
REPUBLIC

Stay four nights, pay for three in a range of Prague
hotels from November 1 until December 28 including the four-star Hotel Leonardo, from $50 a night with breakfast. 1300 363
554, beyondtravel.com.au.

KIDS

Let your little musos get their groove on at the Darebin
Music Feast, in Melbourne’s inner-north in the upcoming school holidays,
18-29 September. Expect pop-up performances spaces, CD launches and shows by
young artists including Miss Eileen and Yorque, African drumming workshops and
family go-go dance classes. Free (some require bookings), musicfeast.com.au

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

Aug

A material whirl: eight great shopping cities

Gorgeously photogenic babouches, leather slippers
from Marrakech, Morocco

Belinda Jackson lists eight favourite destinations at which to arrive
with empty bags.

Busted your luggage allowance lugging home a treasure only to find it in
your local ‘hood? The best shopping is a rejection of globalisation: it’s about
going back to the source or finding something that only that city or country
can provide.

LONDON

Basking in a design
renaissance, London’s smoking-hot fashion and design is being peddled by a
James Bond (Daniel Craig), a welter of celebrated sportsmen and the new baby
Windsor.

Locals love Stylist and personal shopper Rachel Meddowes says London’s
hottest strip is Chiltern Street, in Marylebone, W1. “It’s a return to a
coterie of small, chic, beautifully designed and curated shops including
fabulous Tyler Brule’s the Monocle Cafe, Cire Trudon for the best candles,
uber-cool men’s boutique Trunk, and Atlas Gallery, for its photographs. If I
had to say one shop, it would be Mouki (mouki-london.com)
for its stylish, insider brands of women’s fashion and lifestyle.”

Must-visit Selfridges is home to the world’s largest women’s and
men’s shoe departments. Its new Denim Studio includes a free denim doctor to
help women find their perfect pair of jeans from 60 brands. The Conran Shop
(including the newly refurbished Marylebone store, conranshop.co.uk) and Liberty (liberty.co.uk) are design stalwarts.

Local hero For a catch-all day of browsing, use the cobbled Seven
Dials, north of Covent Garden, as your compass point and branch out (sevendialsco.uk). Check out Cambridge
Satchel Company (cambridgesatchel.com),
Sienna Miller’s Twenty8Twelve (twenty8twelve.com)
or, for a village vibe, Neal’s Yard.

Wild card The flagship Burberry Bespoke (burberry.com) has more than 100 screens
flashing your customised trench on the catwalk or in a movie, in-between
sporadic digital thunderstorms.

STOCKHOLM

The bellwether of
ice-cool design, you can’t visit Stockholm without admiring the masters’ design
ethic.

Locals love “To get to the heart of modern Stockholm, head over
to SoFo – South of Folkungagatan Street (sofo-stockholm.se)
– with a profusion of fashion and interior designers with antique and vintage
clothing shops, trendy bars and restaurants,” says Birgitta Palmer, of the
Stockholm Visitors Board.

Must-visit Get your head into Swedish living space at Svenskt Tenn (svenskttenn.se), your stationery fix at
Ordning&Reda (ordning-reda.com)
and gifts at DesignTorget (designtorget.se).

Local hero Cruise Acne Studios’ flagship store and V Ave Shoe Repair
for the ultimate in Swedish fashion (acnestudios.com;
vave-shoerepair.com). Every
self-respecting Swedish child wears Polarn O. Pyret, designer of unisex,
hard-wearing children’s clothes (polarnopyret.com).
And who can say no to Bjorn Borg-designed knickers (bjornborg.com)?

Wild card Uncover the next big thing or total trash at the weekend
market Street, in Sodermalm. A tip from Sean Naughton, concierge at Benny
Andersson’s Hotel Rival (www.rival.se): if
you can’t afford the heavyweight fashion names of Bibliotekstan, score
discounted fashion at Barkaby outlet centre (qualityoutlet.com/in-english).

BANGKOK

Tap into the Thai
design aesthetic – it’s cheeky and cute, and if you don’t leave Bangkok with a
bag full of silk, you’re just not trying.

Locals love “Post-Nerd [Siam Square] is a favourite for cool
T-shirts with unusual designs,” says Bangkok resident Mark Thomson, of
Anantara hotels. “Also Propaganda, which is home to Mr P, who appears in
anatomically correct cartoon lamps and other … products.” (propagandaonline.com).

Must-visit Siam Discovery, in the cluster of Siam Square malls, has
been recently made-over with an edgy open plan; several floors are given over
to Thailand’s fashion designers. It’s also the home of Madame Tussauds Bangkok.
The massive Chatuchak market is in every guidebook, allegedly the world’s
largest weekend market. Grab a map at the entrance before you dive in (chatuchak.org).

Local hero A perennial favourite is FotoFile, for fantastic new and
second-hand camera gear in the beloved, budget-easy MBK mall. Unlike the rest
of MBK, prices are fixed and labelled.

Wild card Take home the scent of a Thai spa with success story
Thann, whose lush products feature Asian ingredients: think jasmine blossom,
tamarind, rice-bran oil and nutmeg. Find them in all the major malls and a new
Thann cafe at level 3, Gaysorn Plaza.

MANILA

The Philippines has a
special flair that makes it an interior design powerhouse and, of course, shoes
are a hot item.

Locals love Bespoke menswear and womenswear designer Joey Samson loves
three homewares stores. A11 comprises three townhouses that are a furniture and
design gallery (F.B. Harrison Street, Pasay). AC+632 stocks Gallic homewares
with a Philippines twist, including excellent tassels (Greenbelt 5, Makati),
while W17 is a celebration of Asian interiors using local materials (w17home.com).

Must-visit Cram your bags with South Sea pearls in all shapes and
sizes, from just a few dollars each (Greenhills market, San Juan). For upmarket
indigenous design visit revered jeweller Arnel Papa, whose materials may
include buffalo horn and ebony wood (Greenbelt 5, Makati).

Local hero Alice Blue soy candles capture the scent of sampaguita,
the Philippines’ national flower (Glorietta 3, Makati), while the omnipresent
SM (which stands for Shoemart) fits any tastepoint, from ballet flats to
nightclub dagger heels, at great prices (sm-shoemart.com).

Wild card Score a pre-loved, genuine-label handbag from Bagaholic.
Expect Chanel and Gucci with serial numbers if you can bear to carry last
year’s hottest tote (Almeda Arcade Building, Makati, bagaholic.com.ph).

DELHI

For breathtaking
colour and exotic motifs Indian shopping is in a league of its own, from haute
couture to Hindi kitsch.

Locals love Fiona Caulfield, author of India’s definitive shopping
guides including Love Delhi, tips three hot locales: Meharchand Market, Khan
Market and ShapurJat of Hauz Khas. “Snigdha Shekhar has created one of the
best interior and lifestyle stores in Delhi at Artisan Luxe,” she says.
(Meherchand Market, Lodhi Road.)

Must-visit Shop for
contemporary homewares at Khan Market’s Good Earth then take a break in its
excellent rooftop cafe, Latitude 28 (goodearth.in).

Local hero Bring India’s eye-popping colour home with beautiful
textiles: hunt down your wallet-friendly Indian wardrobe of cotton kurtas (long
shirts) and salwars (trousers) in Fabindia (Khan Market) or Anokhi (www.anokhi.com). Stay ahead of the pack at
Alecca Carrano’s Drawing Room for shawls and wraps (aleccacarrano.com).

Wild card “Run by the Crafts Council of India, Kamala is the
new face of craft in India. This beautifully curated collection is sourced
directly from artisans,” Caulfield says. “Superb shopping!” (craftscouncilofindia.org.)

BUENOS AIRES

Though dubbed
“the Paris of the Pampas”, the city maintains its own colourful
character, and those pampas turn out some mighty fine leather to boot. Or rug.
Or bag.

Locals love “Buenos Aires’ hottest spot to shop is jewellery
atelier Celedonio [Uraguay 1223, Recoleta],” trend hunter Lucia Radeljak
says. “Celedonio Lohidoy’s signature pieces are baroque necklaces with
precious stones and pearls. He has collaborated with international fashion
houses Kenzo and Ungaro, and his store is worth visiting for its garden
alone.”

Must-visit Hunters of antiques and atmosphere head to San Telmo
antique fair to scour old vinyls and snap up such must-haves as cobblers’ lasts
and local jewellery (Sundays, Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo).

Local hero The best cowhide rugs are Argentine: try Calma Chicha (calmachicha.com). Too heavy? Beautiful
leather bags are found at tiny Humawaca (humawaca.com).

Wild card Hit Av Suipacha, aka “sweater street”, and shop
for the lightest cashmere or pick up a pair of hand-made tango shoes on Av
Esmerelda, which runs parallel.

MARRAKESH

Breathe deeply and steel
yourself for a shopping extravaganza. Don’t rush at the first shop off the main
square, Djemma el-Fna. You’ll regret it.

Locals love Akbar Delights is pricey, but the fine embroidery and
detailed clothing are well worth it, says Marrakesh-based artist Dawn
Boys-Stone. Warda la Mouche (127 Rue Kennaria) is great for women’s and
children’s clothes in traditional Moroccan style with modern fabrics.

Must-visit Shoe lovers know that Atika crafts hand-made leather shoes
in classical Occidental styles (34 Rue de la Liberte, Gueliz).

Local hero Marrakesh’s antiques scene is fantastic. Try Mustapha
Blaoui (142-4 Rue Bab Doukkala).

Wild card Love leather? Go the ornate local leather slippers,
babouches, found on most street corners, in traditional yellow or every shade
of the rainbow.

JAKARTA

So close to us,
Jakarta remains a mystery for most. Persevere: it throws up seriously desirable
oddities, and its midnight mall sales are legendary.

Locals love “Otoko is a hidden gem of a boutique amongst all the
big malls in Jakarta,” says Susanna Perini, of Biasa.
“It stocks menswear only and presents a unique experience when you visit.
The store has great synergy … a sense of ‘quiet luxury’ with a sleek and
contemporary design.”

Must-visit Locals adore Jakarta’s malls and are serious international
label devotees, though even the biggies, such as Grand Indonesia (grand-indonesia.com), have Indonesian
Fashion Avenues for local designers. Geeks on a budget make for Ambassador
Mall.

Local hero The Bali-based Biasa label (biasabali.com)
serves up soft, deconstructed men’s and women’s fashion on Jalan Kemang,
Jakarta’s boutique strip, where you’ll also find local designers.

Wild card Visit the colourful bird market (Pasar Pramuka) and the
nearby antique market (Pasar Surabaya); you totally need that old map, stuffed
animal and brass betel nut-cracker.

Source: Belinda
Jackson, Sydney Morning Herald/The Age

Aug

Skip to the sun or travel with a conscience: travel deals, August 4, 2013

Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket

If now is the winter of your discontent, get thee to Thailand: to Phuket, to be precise. Or Burma, which is so hot right now – in the tourist sense as well as talking temperatures.

Australia’s Gold Coast is always a favourite escape for us southerners, though this time, it’s with a twist for the kids (because kids appreciate posh labels, don’t they?). But if you want to embrace winter, do it with a conscience, in Melbourne’s only carbon-neutral hotel, in this week’s travel deals.

GO NOW: MELBOURNE

Alto on Bourke is Melbourne’s only carbon-neutral hotel.
Stay in its studio rooms from $158 (normally from $238), and get breakfast,
unlimited organic, fair-trade coffee and free bike hire. Book by August 16 for
travel until October 26. 1800 135 123, altohotel.com.au.

Alto on Bourke, Melbourne

GO SOONER: THAILAND

Dusit hotels
worldwide, including the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, are giving guests 35 percent of their accommodation
costs to spend on dining and spa treatments. Suite upgrades are available for $54.
Costs from $139 a double, room only, until end September. (02) 9410
3405, dusit.com.

GO LATER: BURMA

Meditate with monks on a The Golden Land of Burma tour that includes lunch
with the Intha tribe. Save 15 percent on selected departures until March 11,
2014. Costs from $3630 a person, twin share. 1300 836 764, coxandkings.com.au/au/15off.

Inle lake fishermen, Burma

KIDS: GOLD COAST’S GLAM BABES

Chic children take tea at the Gold Coast’s iconic Palazzo
Versace hotel. Its new Little Fashionistas high teas are served on Versace
china (that’s brave!) overlooking the hotel’s lagoon. The menu, for groups of
eight or more, includes lemonade spiders, toffee apples, cake pops and the
omnipresent macaroons. Costs $12 for children 12 and under, (07) 5509 8000, palazzoversace.com.au.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun-Herald newspaper

Jul

Five Fijian resorts under $450 a night

Who doesn’t love a swim-up bar? The new $2.2m adults-only pools
at Outrigger on the Lagoon,

Sure, Mel Gibson owns an island in Fiji, but if your budget is Homebush than Hollywood, here are a few good options from the old faves of the Coral Coast to mysterious Kadavu, Fiji’s large, southern island.

Most do packages that include flights from Australia, airport transfers and at least breakfast thrown in. Keep an eye out for specials that might snag you a free massage, dinner or kids’ club.

OUTRIGGER ON THE LAGOON
On the Coral Coast, southern Viti Levu (the main island). Costs from $282 a night, room only. Phone +679 650 0044; see outrigger.com.

MATAVA
The Astrolabe Hideaway eco-resort on Kadavu Island. Costs from $389 a night, all-inclusive. See matava.com.

THE UPRISING BEACH RESORT
A 3½-star adventure resort in Pacific Harbour. Costs from $148 a night, B&B (beachfront bure). Phone +679 345 2200, See uprisingbeachresort.com.

RADISSON BLU
Newly refurbished five-star on Denarau Island, 20 minutes from the airport. Costs from $278 a night. Phone 1800 333 333; see http://www.radissonblu.com/resort-fiji .

MATAMANOA ISLAND RESORT
In
the Mamanuca Islands, 1½ hours by boat from Denarau Marina. Costs from
$270 a night, B&B (garden room) or $438 a night (beachfront bure).
Phone +679 672 3620; see matamanoa.com.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sydney Morning Herald/The Age

Jul

Flight test: Drukair, Royal Bhutan Airlines

Drukair’s home base of Paro International Airport is mediocre inside,
but the traditional architecture is beautiful. Photo: Belinda Jackson

THE ROUTE
Paro (Bhutan) to Bangkok via Guwahati (India).

THE PLANE
Airbus A319.

THE LOYALTY SCHEME
None.

UP THE BACK OR POINTY END?
Business class, seat 4F. It costs about $80 to upgrade from economy class.
TIME IN THE AIR
Four
hours, including a 45-minute stop at Guwahati in India. The flight
connects to Melbourne through Thai Airways, with a grinding eight-hour
stopover.

THE SEAT STUFF
38 inches (96
centimetres) pitch in business, 32 inches (81 centimetres) pitch in
economy. It’s a 2-2 layout for business class and 3-3 in economy.

BAGGAGE
One checked bag up to 30 kilograms; economy is one checked bag up to 20 kilograms, with five kilograms hand luggage.

COMFORT FACTOR
A pillow and blanket in business class. The seats recline slightly, with the footrest coming forward.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
There
are no TV screens on the plane. Entertainment is out the window: on a
clear day, the flight down Paro Valley gives spectacular views of the
Himalayas. Paro is at 2225 metres, with “hills” either side of up to
4875 metres and the approach is by visuals only. Some say you can see
Mount Everest when coming inbound on this route, but it’s best seen on
the Paro-Kathmandu (Nepal) flight. When flying into Guwahati, the
captain points out the broad, sacred Brahmaputra River, which flows 3000
kilometres down from the Tibetan Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. For
best views, request a left-hand-side window on the way up from Bangkok
and a right-hand window on the return.

THE SERVICE
Extremely
polite, a little reserved. The women wear Bhutan’s colourful national
uniform, a silk crossover jacket (tego) and a long, straight skirt
(kira). Men usually wear a gho, cut the same as a mid-thigh shave coat
with long socks, but for comfort and practicality, they’re wearing
trousers and tie inflight. The friendly captain likes a good chat on the
intercom.

FEEDING TIME
The Bangkok flight
departs mid-morning, so we get a cup of sugar-sweet orange juice with
roasted peanuts after take-off – the same in both classes. Lunch is
served after our stop in Guwahati. I go the vegetarian option (which I
didn’t pre-book), which is shamu datse, a Bhutanese dish of mushrooms
cooked in a white cheese sauce with rice. There are condiments galore,
including Bhutan’s national dish, ema datse (long green chillies in
cheese sauce) and etsy (smoking-hot fresh chilli relish) with a
lacklustre pasta salad on the side. The wine is Lindeman’s Premier
Selection Shiraz Cabernet 2011 or Semillon Chardonnay 2001.

ONE MORE THING
Paro
International Airport (and Drukair’s business lounge) is extremely
mediocre inside, but its traditional architecture is beautiful. Airport
staff expect you to jump off the plane and start snapping photos on the
tarmac. No security goons here.

THE VERDICT
How
to put this politely: like it or lump it. Drukair has a monopoly on
this route, so there’s no other way to fly in to Bhutan’s only
international airport. It’s a short, pleasant flight.

THE FREQUENCY
Drukair
flies Paro-Bangkok daily with extra flights in Bhutan’s high seasons
(March-May and September-November). All flights are indirect except the
4.45am departure on Monday mornings during high seasons.

Tested by Belinda Jackson, who was a guest of Bhutan & Beyond.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sydney Morning Herald/The Age

Jul

Royal babies and rooftop bars that give royal treatment

There’s been a marked absence of royal baby babble on this blog – oh sorry, everyone but I’m going to break the silence.

Because this (left) is surely the most beautiful baby’s cake, from the makers of the most beautiful cakes.

Ms B’s Cakery is the braincandy of Hong Kong fashion doyenne Bonnae Gokson. Some of you may know Bonnae’s HK hot spot, Sevva, on the 25th floor of the Prince’s Building in Central. If you don’t know, you have no excuse not to go there now.

Last time I was there, late in the afternoon, one of the outside terraces has being guarded by men with earpieces, while fashionistas took elegant high tea.

And as the afternoon deepened into evening, the beautiful aperitifs crowd pranced in for sunset drinks. The dress code is ‘easy glam’ (they request no singlets, tattered t-shirts or sooty runners: that’s right, no sooty runners).

Oh, and Sevva serves MsB’s incredible cakes.

See, you think you’re reading yet another royal baby story, but you also learn one of the best places for sundowners in central Hong Kong. Thanks for persevering.

Sevva: Prince’s Building 25th Floor, 10 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong
Ms B’s Cakery: 39 Gough St, Central, Hong Kong

Jul

Hidden secrets on the Mornington Pen, Barrington Tops and foodie Sicily: travel deals July 21, 2013

Discover the hidden secrets of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, NSW’s Barrington Tops, or a kids’ getaway in Sydney.

GO NOW: Discover
the Big Blue Backyard at the Mornington Peninsula’s secluded St
Andrew’s beach. Until August 31, stay three nights and pay for only two in one
of their three retreats, with Cape Schanck nearby. Costs from $1191, three nights. 1300 896 627, mrandmrssmith.com.


Big Blue Backyard

GO SOONER Enjoy a home amongst the gumtrees near Barrington Tops, three
hours north of Sydney. Stay three nights, pay two in one of Yeranda’s three
bush hideaways with $50 credit at nearby café. Costs from $325, three nights. (02) 4992 1208, yeranda.com.au.

Yeranda’s bush hideaways

GO LATER: Get
a free night’s stay when you book a cooking tour of Sicily with chef
Dominique Rizzo before July 31. The 15-day tour departs May 3, 2014. Costs from
$6095 a person, twin share. (07) 3267 1667, purefoodcookingtours.com.au.

Dominique Rizzo

KIDS

Planning a weekend away in your own backyard? Upgrade the kids
to Swissotel Sydney’s kids’ rooms, chocked full of toys, dvds and kids’ minibar.
The rooms, for kids age two to 12 years, can be a separate room or set up in the
parents’ room. Costs from $229 a room a night (half-half) or $299 for two rooms
(interconnecting available). 1800 334 888, swissotel.com/sydney.

Swissotel Sydney’s kids’ rooms

SOURCE: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

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