Ground handling assessed in Siem Reap

Friday, 26 March 2010 15:01 Peter Olszewski

Siem Reap

GROUND-HANDLING mon-opolies at major Asian airports continue to hurt growth in the industry, though Cambodia’s own operations still may not warrant extra companies, an industry expert told the Post at an international conference in Siem Reap this week.

About 140 senior aviation ground handling specialists from around the world attended the third annual Asian Ground Handling International Conference, a three-day event held at the Angkor Palace Resort and Spa that finished Thursday.

“Asia is still monopolistic compared to Europe, with both open-skies policies and use of ground handlers,” conference chairman Tim Ornellas said on the sidelines of the conference. “Liberalisation is the key word: the freeing up of the ground-handling market in Asia. There has to be freedom of choice but within reason because if there are too many handlers a price war could break out.

“The growth of the independent ground-handling business in Asia is being restricted in many Asia countries by governments who seek to control handling operations,” Ornellas said in a statement ahead of the conference.

The EU broke European monopolies in 1996 “by setting certain benchmarks in regards to the number of passengers and the volume of cargo”, Ornellas, who is also the owner and publisher of the UK-based Ground Handling International magazine, told the Post.

Ornellas declined to name the major monopolistic airports in the region, but he said Cambodia’s volumes might not warrant extra companies.

Link reference: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010032634301/Business/ground-handling-assessed-in-siem-reap.html

Angkor Palace Resort & Spa Featured by one of the Taiwan ‘leading television – TVBS

National Flower of Cambodia

Romduol, a small yellowish-white flower, is the national flower of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Since ancient times, Cambodian women have often been compared to the Romduol flower because of its attractive fragrance; a unique scent that is prominent in the late afternoon and can travel over long distances with the wind. With its sturdy stems that measure up to 30cm, the Romduol plant can grow to a height of 12 meters. These plants are being planted to enhance public parks.

*** Text by: Cambodia’ Ministry of Tourism - The 2010 Official Handbook of the Ministry of Tourism “A Journey to an exotic destination Asia”. Page: 03/04 . Photo courtesy of “asean citizens” JC Jonh Sese Cuneta, link

Kainnora Spa @ Angkor Palace Resort & Spa Launched Special Discount

A visit by 2004 Nobel Laureate for Physics to The Palace

Angkor Palace Resort & Spa is pleased to welcome Prof. David Jonathan Gross, a 2004 Nobel Laureate for Physics and his wife Mrs. Jacqueline Savani to our 'Palace' during his trip to South East Asia to address the “BRIDGES” – Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace facilitated by The International Peace Foundation (05-15 January 2010).

Prof. David Jonathan Gross is a 2004 Nobel Laureate for Physics, the director and holder of the Frederick W. Gluck Chair in Theoretical Physics at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of California in Santa Barbara and a Member of the Advisory Board of the International Peace Foundation.Born in Washington, D.C., David J. Gross received his undergraduate degree from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1962 and then returned to the United States to continue his education at the University of California, Berkeley, from where he received his Ph.D. in physics in 1966. He left Berkeley later that year to serve as a junior fellow at Harvard University.David J. Gross began his professional teaching career at Princeton University in 1969 and was appointed professor of physics in 1972. During that same period, between 1970 and 1975, he also became a fellow at the Sloan Foundation. David J. Gross remained at Princeton until 1996, where he was named Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics (1986-1995) and Thomas Jones Professor of Mathematical Physics (1995-1997). In 1997 he was appointed director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a position he holds until this day.

Pictured: Prof. Gross was received a warmly welcomed by our General Manager, Weng AOW (left; photo with jacket) upon his arrival in our lobby.

Working with the Children of Cambodia

Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) is running a new exhibition of ‘Working with the Children of Cambodia’ for two months starting from January 8, 2010 at the Angkor Palace Resort & Spa (locate on Highway No. 6 toward Poi Pet). Our aim is to provide you a flavor of the essential life saving work that AHC does both in the hospital and in the wider community through our many outreach programs.

Please come and tell your friends, colleagues, family, and visitors to see it!

For more information about this event and the hospital, please contact Ms. Sinketh Arun at (855) 12 725 745 or arun@angkorhospital.org . Information regarding the Angkor Palace Resort & Spa is available at http://www.angkorpalaceresort.com/ .

The Angkor Hospital for Children, founded by renowned Japanese photographer Kenro Izu in 1999, supported by Friends Without A Border, provides comprehensive medical care to children in the Siem Reap area. On average, 400 children and their families arrive at the hospital each day. Recognized by Cambodia's Ministry of Health as an official teaching hospital, it serves as a training site for health professionals throughout Cambodia through its Medical Education Center. The Capacity Building and Health Education Program works to both strengthen the capacity and improves the quality of local health centers and works with community members to teach good public health practices.

Charity Navigator, America's leading independent charity evaluator, endorses Friends Without A Border with four stars.
http://www.angkorhospital.org/ http://www.fwab.org/

Wish You Were Here – Adventure In The East

Issue: 269
Article by: Today’s Golfer magazine in the UK
www.TodaysGolfer.Co.Uk
Page: 119

Sir Nick Faldo building a golf course in Cambodia? Sounds unlikely, but it’s true.

The six-time Major winner has created a challenging 7,279-yard, par-72 track at the Angkor Golf Resort, Siem Reap. “It has all my favourite design elements – visibility, strategy, challenge, variety, balance, playability and, last but not least, enjoyment, “says Faldo of the first USGA international-rated course in Cambodia.

The course is five minutes drive from the five-star Angkor Palace Resort & Spa –the perfect base to explore the legendary Angkor temples and the National Museum, one of the Asia’s premier attractions and home to 1,000 Buddas.

Happy New Year 2010

Khmer cuisine for the 21st century

By Peter Olszewski

Cambodian chefs are beginning to make their mark in the local hospitality industry, and in Siem Reap they are emerging as masters of both Khmer and Western cuisine.

A typical example in Ving San, executive chef at Angkor Palace Resort & Spa. A veteran of upscale hotel kitchens, Ving San has worked in two of Phnom Penh’s premier hostelries: the former Hotel Sofitel Cambodiana, from 1992 until 1997, and then at Raffles Hotel Le Royal until 2003.

He moved to Siem Reap for a brief stint at Sofitel Royal Angkor, and joined Angkor Palace Resort & Spa in November 2003, where, as well as currently being a dab hand at international cuisine, he also lovingly creates Cambodian food in all its former glory.

“Many people don’t really know what Khmer food is,” Ving San lamented. “So I create dishes today in the hope that my own country’s food will become world renowned”.

He has taken his first steps toward achieving this with his culinary tour de force dubbed Royal Khmer Cuisine. A special introductory taste of gourmet Cambodian food, it is a request only feast, available at the Angkor Palace Resort’s Soriya Restaurant for USD 42 per person.

This superb sampler menu kicks off with a mise en bouche of fish amok, before moving on to a combination salad comprising mango, scallops and crispy purses, and rounding off part one of the experience with a Cambodian pumpkin soup.

Next comes a pair of main fare tasters, starting with a visually dramatic, grilled Tonle Sap prawn dish served with sticky ice, kale, and black bean sauce. This is followed by a grilled beef on lemongrass skewer served with delectable Cambodian pickles. Dessert is dubbed ”Pumpkin Custard” but is actually sweet banana and coconut milk in sago.

Many degustation-style menus are big on taste and miserly in quantity, but the Royal Khmer Cuisine fare borders on an endurance test as servings are generous and, with six courses on offer, the food keeps on a-coming.

This special menu was also devised following Hun Sen’s relatively recent decree the Khmer food must replace French cuisine at state and government functions, which prompted chefs to further explore the gourmet qualities of Khmer cuisine.

One of the standouts on Ving San’s Royal Khmer Cuisine menu is the fist amok. Many gustatory crimes are committed on a daily basis in Siem Reap in the name of amok, which is often rendered as a cheap bog-backpacker variant of a vegetable stew laced with sad smidgeons of seemingly boiled fish or chicken.

But Ving San’s fish amok is an art form in itself; a delicious, creamy taste-bomb that literally melts in the mouth. Ving San wryly comments, “Everywhere in Siem Reap they have amok, but our amok is not the same as they do it in Pub Street.

“Here we use many special ingredients, such as Khmer herbs. We make the amok as a delicacy, and that is what makes it different form outside. On the street here they make it with many vegetables, but we do only the fist.”

Ving San’s fish amok has the consistency of a piscatorial crème caramel, and he beams when the texture is complimented.

“Yes, we do it every creamy,” he acknowledges. “We simply add coconut cream.”

Text obtained from 7Days The Phnom Penh Post Newspaper

Issue no. 16, Nov 13 to 19, 2009. Page: 13

DINE LIKE ROYALTY

Experience a Royal Khmer feast at the Angkor Palace Resort from now until March 2010. For a visit into the rich historical of Cambodian city of Siem Reap, the five-star Angkor Palace Resort & Spa is strategically positioned 20 minutes away from the magnificent Angkor Wat temples, providing the perfect setting for travelers seeking an enriching cultural experience.

Located 35 minutes away by flight from the capital of Phnom Penh, an hour from Bangkok and two hours from Singapore / Kuala Lumpur, Siem Reap offers a tremendous heritage with its legendary sites erected in various time periods from the 9th century onwards.

Besides taking in the sights of the temples and markets, visitors can also indulge in the authentic Royal Khmer cuisine showcased holds a fascinating appeal for many travelers.

The Royal recipes have been carefully prepared by The Royal Palace’ Chefs in the 1960s and only served for the Royal family, dignitaries and guest of the King. At Soriya Restaurant, Executive Chef Ving San has recreated the recipes from the Royal household into a gastronomical feast expounding the use of fresh produce sourced in the country complimented by locally grown fragrant herbs and spices, making this cuisine unique in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

The Gourmet Experience Package includes a two-way airport transfer by hotel car, buffet breakfast at Sunset Café Restaurant, one Royal Khmer Cuisine dinner for two at the Soriya Restaurant and other amenities to pamper you and your travel companion.

Text originally obtained from Wine & Dine Magazine, Singapore.
Issue: November 2009, Page: 34 (Destination Dining).