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Well Read, Well Fed
Book smarts
 A hotel that panders to
your aesthetic and cerebral sensibilities? That’s The
Library.
Found on the premise that travelers enjoy a spot of good reading while
on holiday, the stylish, six-month-old Ko Samui resort features 26
duplex-style units, each equipped with 42’’ Plasma TV, DVD Player and
online PC.
But the real highlight of the property is its eponymous reading space,
which consists of three box-style units housing a huge library, a mini
café and a tech fiend’s dream –- an entertainment corner packed with
CDs, DVDs, and iMacs with internet access.
Bathed in white and blessed with plenty of natural light, the
by-the-beach unit boasts floor to ceiling shelves stacked with
international design and art tomes. The property features enough quiet
spots – by the sleek swimming pool, at the private beach, among lush
garden grounds – to dig into your choice reads.
So while foolhardy party types are nursing hangovers from chugging one
beer too many elsewhere in Samui, you can take pleasure in knowing
you’re relaxed, well-rested and even managed to chalk up a few good
books on your holiday.
Hot Tables
Prestigious
UK magazine Restaurant unveiled its World’s 100 Best
Restaurants list and you’ll be pleased to know, there are a couple
near you:
*
India’s
Bukhara is Asia’s
best at #37 on the list. It is where Bill Clinton, so bowled over by
its fine Indian fare, famously declared he wished he had two
stomachs.
*
Hong Kong
makes the list with Caprice (#82) and its flair
for French food.
*
Singapore
scores big with three names on the list: modern European resto
Iggy’s (#60), Chinese restaurant My Humble House (#94)
and chi-chi French establishment Les Amis (#83).
With this drink, I thee wed
Planning the perfect wedding proposal’s a pain, we know. But the
Ritz-Carlton Tokyo thinks it’s got it all figured out with the
“Diamond-tini”, an alcoholic beverage with chilled Belvedere vodka, a
hint of lime, and oh, a 1.06 carat rock thrown in for good measure.
With a hefty price tag of 1.8million yen (US$15,000), the drink
includes table side drink preparations, a ring mounting by a local
jeweler and an extra large serving of cheese – in the form of a
serenade of Diamonds are Forever.
First in Line
Beat airport immigration lines and tedious check-ins when you become a
privileged member of the Saphire program at the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Launched in December last year,
the exclusive airport service programme entitles members (the annual
membership fee is Rp 1,975,000) to privileges such as
preferred parking,
preferred security lane and preferred airline check-in with
participating airlines.
The part we like best? You get to trump all the other pedestrian
passengers at immigration (both departure and arrival) by making use
of an exclusive Automatic Border Passage which operates via a James
Bond-esque state-of-the-art iris recognition technology. Now how cool
is that.
+ Chan Hse May
www.saphire.co.id
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