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If you’re a fan of Anthony Bourdain you may have already heard about Bale Dutung (the name means ‘house of wood’), a family-run restaurant in Angeles City where chef Claude Tayag puts a contemporary spin on traditional Filipino dishes.
There’s a choice of set menus, including one inspired by Bourdain’s visit, serving up dishes like fiddlehead fern salad, lechon (roasted suckling pig) tortilla and sushi of crab fat and catfish. Don’t eat a thing before you get there – you’ll be enjoying about 10 courses – and ensure you book ahead.
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The Library: Singapore’s jazzy cocktail den
They say knowledge is power, and this speakeasy delivers in spades, serving up potent potions – if you can find it. Hidden among the cosmopolitan hustle of Keong Saik Road, the Library facade is an ever-changing pop-up shop. Whisper the password to the shop attendant (ask at the Study next door for the magic words) and step through a secret mirrored door into a clandestine wonderland. Let waves of moody blues and jazz wash over you as you take in the wall-to-wall display of liquor.
Here, cocktails aren’t the average fare – wildly imaginative and handcrafted to precision, they’re dazzling and delicious to boot. Get splashin’ with Shrub-A-Dub-Dub, a bubbly concoction of Ford’s gin, Amaro Montenegro, peach puree, lemon, ginger shrub, Moroccan bitters and a dash of Moscato D’Asti, served in a miniature bathtub (rubber ducky included). Drinks are hard on the wallet at around US$15 a pop, but who can say no to a tipple in a tub?
Rooftop Films in Brooklyn
Open-air cinemas pop up like mushrooms in cities around the world, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any cooler than this chilled-out setup that glows over the rooftops of Brooklyn. Situated next to Gowanus Canal, the Old American Can Factory plays host to Rooftop Films, an annual film festival that boasts more than two-dozen outdoor cinemas dotted across NYC.
Catch a feature film or a short flick on the terrace, then explore the exhibitions and performance houses on the factory’s lower levels. With more than two decades of tradition behind it, the festival is a must-do if you’re looking for a different take on the Big Apple.
Rub-A-Dub at Hot Tub Cinema
Most of us go to the movies to relax, but just imagine blending that experience with a dip in a hot tub. A party with a single rub-a-dub tub got its organisers thinking about the possibilities of taking the concept to the people, and in July 2012 the first public Hot Tub Cinema was held in London.
These days you have to book well in advance for the summer screenings, which feature classic flicks (Ghostbusters, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Austin Powers etc.), dressing up and waiters who deliver cold beverages to your hot tub. There’s no permanent home, so the moist movie theatre pops up wherever a spot can be found. The concept has spread to Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester in the UK, as well as abroad to Ibiza and New York City. What could be better than watching Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels here?
Paradise at Cinema Paradiso
I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. And you’ll be feeling it too when you enjoy a classic flick over the lagoon on the idyllic Thai island of Koh Kood. Forget sticky seats and carpet that smells like last year’s popcorn, Cinema Paradiso is just as the name implies – big screen movies in our kind of paradise. Soneva Kiri resort plays Hollywood classics nightly in its open-air, jungle-enshrouded cinema, dubbed mother nature’s amphitheatre.
Sink into a cushioned lounge seat with a cocktail and gourmet snacks and relive the silver screen hits of yesteryear beneath a tropical canopy of stars.
Open-air Cinema in an Ancient Amphitheatre
Located just outside the city walls of Pula, Vespasian’s Amphitheatre – fondly known as ‘the Arena’ – has been drawing people into its crumbling walls for millennia. Built during the first century AD, the great Roman-style landmark was once the bloody battleground of gladiators and knights. Now the Arena is one of the largest open-air cinemas in the world, home to some of Pula’s best summer entertainment.
Hosting up to 5,000 spectators, the annual Pula Film Festival takes place during July, showcasing a program of Croatian cinema and a smattering of films from around the globe. In its 63rd year, the festival is an event not to be missed, so grab a seat and settle in for a cinema experience under the stars.
Free Camping in Oman
Enjoy a special camping experience with your own rooftop tent. Pack your things into a spacious Toyota Prado with your tent already stored on the roof and drive wherever you want, whether it be along the coast, up into the rugged mountains or through the desert. Once you’ve found the perfect spot (in Oman you can free camp anywhere), unfold your tent in a matter of minutes, light a nice fire and watch the sunset. And the best feature is waiting for you; the big, comfy mattress in your spacious tent will ensure you sleep like a baby, waking up to the sound of the waves, the birds or the muezzin’s call from the nearby mosque.
Enjoy a leisurely drive from Muscat, stopping at a wadi (valley) or two, and see the shipyard in Sur, where they’ve been building Omani dhows (traditional boats) for centuries. In the evening, take a guided tour to witness green turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. Of the hundreds of hatchlings, only a handful survive to return to this beach to lay their eggs, so each journey is precious.
Ras Al Khabba stands out as another must-see highlight on your camping adventure. The point marks the edge of a cliff right above the water where the Gulf of Oman meets the Indian Ocean, about about an hour’s drive from Sur and only a couple of kilometres past the Ras Al Jiz Turtle Reserve. Set up your tent for a night under the stars, waking up in the morning to the waves breaking 100 metres below you.
Hit the Surf in Sri Lanka
The sleepy fishing villages of Sri Lanka’s east and south coasts were ravaged by the infamous Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. The damage was extensive, but even in the most hard hit areas, the laidback strip of restaurants and hotels have bounced back, welcoming growing numbers of visitors.
Tourists from around the world are increasingly heading beyond the well-established tourist resorts of the west coast to discover places such as Arugam Bay on the east coast with its mesh of brightly coloured fishing nets and rows of shacks serving up freshly cooked seafood from bubbling metal pots, sourced directly from the fishermen that haul their nets back to the shore on their wooden boats each morning.
But keen surfers are also making up a large number of the visitors to these thanks to the bay’s break, highly regarded during the monsoon season which produces some consistent waves along the east coast between May and September.
Explore the Empty Quarter – The World’s Most Epic Desert.
Today we’re off to the desert! We leave Muscat in comfortable 4WD’s, and head for Nizwa, the old capital of the Sultanate and soon leave the tarmac road to cross Umm As Sameem (“ Mother of Poison”), Oman’s largest salt flat. According to Bedouin legends whole caravans have disappeared in the quick sands of this barren land, where we get an impression of the vastness of the desert. We see mirages before reaching the first giant red dunes of Rub al-Khali (Empty Quarter), entering the world’s largest sand desert. With a camp fire crackling, we spend the night under the stars or in a tent, the choice is yours.
“Ramla” is the Arabic word for sand and this is what we will see and experience in all shapes and colors for a week. After a hearty breakfast, we cross the dunes of Ramlat Abu at Tabul on desert tracks and go further down South. We experience ever changing colors of the sand and find a sinkhole filled with water.
Heavily loaded with water, fuel and food we then cross the Southern part of the Rub al Khali for the next 3 nights / 4 days. Dunes here are even bigger and many times we need to cross these massive sand mountains, it is not always easy to find a good passage and we might have to get off the vehicles occasionally if we are stuck – this is part of the adventure! Via GPS we head for Uruq ibn Humudah in the border area of Oman / Saudi Arabia / Yemen before turning East to Ramlat Al Hashman, where we might be lucky to find some geodes. On our way we pass the artesian wells of Shigag and Burkhana and will surely see camels somewhere. Whoever feels like it, can do some desert walking in the morning while our crew breaks camp and packs the 4×4’s for the day before catching up with the group. We do not have a fixed itinerary and hence have plenty of time to experience and savor the desert, we chose our camp locations at the most beautiful spots, usually higher up in the dunes for a great panoramic view. Our expedition ends right on the white beaches of Salalah.
Te Nunoa Bungalow
This isn’t any ordinary resort. Actually, it’s not a resort at all. This is your own private guesthouse run by Laurel and James Samuela on Moorea Island. You’ll still get all the little mod cons – a barbecue, fully equipped kitchen, iPod dock and the internet – but in a truly local environment. Te Nunoa is Tahitian for ‘red sky’ and that’s exactly what you’ll see every evening from your bungalow, which sleeps up to three adults and two children.
The bungalow is surrounded by a lush garden and just across the road from a gorgeous beach. There are bikes to go exploring, and that’s completely possible on Moorea, one of the bigger islands in French Polynesia. The Samuelas also run a tour company so can organise excursions, including ATV tours, 4WD safaris to the island’s volcanic crater or a snorkel trip where you get to interact with Moorea’s friendly stingrays.