At Miam, a collaboration of tastes

At Miam, a collaboration of tastes



The Duck Magret, a classic French dish with a Hoisin glaze. Hong Menea

At Miam, there’s more to the logo – an intertwined knife, spoon and fork – than meets the eye. It represents the three French friends behind the new restaurant – Sov Men (spoon), Sorya Sao (fork) and chef Arthur P (knife) – and their collaborative approach.

The three met while working together in Maison Kayser before deciding to strike out on their own. Sorya brings her experience working in bars and restaurants in France to the mixology side of Miam, while Sov has expertise in managing the floor from his time in France and Australia.

Arthur, meanwhile, has worked as a chef in Holland and South Africa, before coming to Phnom Penh. The result is an innovative blend of cuisine and drinks in a friendly and warm environment.

“Here we wanted to mix our knowledge,” Sov said. “She’s on the bar, I’m on the floor, he’s in the kitchen, so we can do everything from breakfast to dinner.”

A ubiquitous and often meaningless description, “fusion” is taken very literally at Miam – with good results. Sorya and Sov each have Cambodian heritage, and that influence is apparent on the largely French menu.

The Duck Magret ($9.5) is a grilled duck breast, finished in the oven, with a Hoisin glaze, with a medley of beans and peas on top of a carrot puree. The Khmer Risotto ($7), meanwhile, is a twist on the classic Italian dish. With Arborio rice, lemongrass, coconut milk, parmesan and a range of Khmer spices, the dish is aromatic and truly unique.

The standout, though, may be the pannacotta ($3.9), which is spiced with chai and cinnamon, with lime zest on top. “We always try to mix new things,” Sov said.

“You’ll never see just a pasta Bolognese, or Carbonara. It’s only original stuff.”



From left: Sov Men, Sorya Sao and Arthur P in the dining room at Miam. Hong Menea

That rings true for the bar as well, which fits the overall vibe of Miam as a kind of laboratory of recipes. Sorya makes homemade syrups for cocktails and, using a dehydrator, has jars filled with garnishes like dried oranges. Most of the drinks are either gin-, vodka- or rum-based, often macerated with other ingredients.

The Very Berry Collins ($5.5) has vodka, basil, fresh berries, lemon and cranberry, while the Very Old Cambodian features rum, palm sugar, bitters, lime, palm spirits and soda. Like the food menu, Sorya insists, nothing is fixed at the bar, which is a constant work in progress.

“We really exchange in the kitchen and the room,” she said. “It’s nice to have an alchemy between us.”

While Miam is a bit pricier than your average Phnom Penh restaurant, it is reasonable given the quality of ingredients and of the cooking. A $12 lunch set menu features a starter and main dish, plus a drink and coffee, while a menu with a starter, main and dessert goes for $15.

This week’s mains included a Dory Meuniere, Homemade Gnocchi and Chicken Fricassee. In all, it’s a place to indulge casually, or simply enjoy a cup of coffee or cocktail in a bright atmosphere.

“I like to think about us like we don’t have so much pretension,” Sorya said. “We are affordable. We are casual. Come as you are, and that’s it.”

Miam is located on Street 278, just east of Street 57. It is open every day from 8am-10pm. Tel: 092 237 550.

~News courtesy of Phnom Penh Post~

Government plans one of world’s biggest airports in Kandal

Government plans one of world’s biggest airports in Kandal

The Cambodian government has approved plans to build one of the world’s largest airports in Kandal province, though key actors have yet to work out the details and one economist noted yesterday that the current proposal may be short-sighted.

A document from the Council of Ministers, dated December 21, approves an investment proposal from Cambodia Airport Investment Co Ltd to build a $1.5 billion, 2,600-hectare airport in Kandal province’s Kandal Steung district, about 30 kilometres south of Phnom Penh.

Cambodia Airport Investment is a joint venture between local conglomerate Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) and the Cambodian government’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), according to the document. Last Thursday, OCIC signed a “cooperation framework agreement” for a new Phnom Penh airport with the state-run China Development Bank.

A 2,600-hectare airport would be the ninth-largest airport in the world, putting it just below the US’s Chicago O’Hare (2,610 hectares) and well above China’s Beijing Capital International (2,330 hectares). The current Phnom Penh International Airport is about 400 hectares.

According to the document, OCIC will invest $280 million, while unspecified “foreign banks” will provide $1.1 billion in funding. OCIC will own 90 percent of the shares in the completed airport, with the rest going to SSCA.

But the project is just getting off the ground, according to OCIC and government officials. Sin Chansereyvutha, a spokesman for the SSCA, said yesterday that there was no detailed plan or agreement, and the aviation authority had not even met with OCIC to discuss the project yet.

“The project will need a long time [to materialise] because we need to negotiate on many criteria, on the frameworks of the agreement,” Chansereyvutha said, adding that the government would also have to find a way to deal with Cambodia Airports, the company that currently holds a concession to operate Phnom Penh International Airport until 2040.

Cambodia Airports, which is majority-owned by France’s Vinci Group, submitted plans to the government last year to expand both the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports to accommodate future growth in traffic, according to Khek Norinda, the company’s PR and communications director.

But expansion plans have been halted in the past by government officials, who have opted instead to build new airports, financed by Chinese banks, in both towns.

Norinda declined to answer questions yesterday about Cambodia Airports’s concession agreement or about whether negotiations were ongoing between the company and the Cambodian government, instead replying with a statement that said “dialogue through a mutual respect of the agreement made between both parties is critical for the future development of the airports, their successes and the country’s development. Our teams are always ready to engage with Cambodian authorities.”

Another potential roadblock to the new airport project is its questionable long-term viability, according to Nget Chou, a senior consultant at Emerging Markets Consulting.

Chou said yesterday that he was suspicious a project requiring so much capital would materialise, and even if it did, its proximity to Phnom Penh would not accommodate the long-term trend of rapid urban expansion.

“The suggested location seems like it does not reflect long-term planning, because in the next 10 years, that place could become [as crowded] as the current existing airport,” he said, adding that an airport further away, connected with an expressway, would be a better option.

Brendan Sobie, Southeast Asia analyst at the Centre for Aviation, said that the size of the airport was less important than other factors, such as the number of runways and terminals.

“A lot of the details are not yet known but it seems there is movement to meeting the long term growth needs of Cambodia’s aviation market,” Sobie said in an email yesterday. “Cambodia has been one of the fastest growing markets in Asia – and the world – over the last several years and there is potential for more rapid growth which can only be fully realised with a new airport.”

OCIC is owned by Pung Khiev Se, the powerful tycoon whose company also developed the capital’s Koh Pich. Contacted yesterday, Khiev Se’s assistant, who declined to give her name, said that the project is still in the preliminary stages, and said she could not give out the exact location of the new airport.

“Regarding the actual location, I cannot confirm yet,” she said, declining to verify the location listed on the Council of Ministers document. “It could change and is flexible based on actual circumstances,” she said.

Despite that, the assistant was confident that construction on the new airport would begin sometime in the next five years.

~News courtesy of Phnom Penh Post~

South East Asia in the grip of chilly weather

South East Asia in the grip of chilly weather

Temperatures across South-east Asia have dipped beyond the norm in recent days, with non-stop rain and strong winds contributing to chillier tropics.

The thermostat has dropped to as low as 22°C in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and 17ºC in Bangkok, cold bouts have been reported in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, and ice slabs have even been found in parts of Myanmar.

The weather has become so chilly that Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tweeted on Friday (Jan 12): "Wow, Malaysia's weather is really cold today, just like in Jeddah!" He had just returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department attributed the chill to the north-east monsoon, but did not expect temperatures to dip further. The agency forecasts all-day rain to last until Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.

Thailand has been experiencing a cold snap since last month, with fog blanketing its northern regions and frost forming on mountains.

In Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, the temperature fell to as low as 8ºC, the lowest this winter for the city.

Though Cambodia was also struck by the cold weather this week, it was not as bad as last month, when the temperature plunge caused a sweater-shopping frenzy, and baby elephants had to wear hand-knitted coats.

The Philippines has been experiencing generally colder weather too, a result of the El Nino-La Nina weather dynamics, and the chilling Arctic air called the polar vortex. "We have seen a cold blast in the Pacific and Atlantic regions," said the local weather bureau's forecaster Nikkos Penaranda. The lowest temperature recorded recently was 12.2ºC in the northern city of Baguio on Jan 1.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said it recorded moderately lower-than-usual temperatures in the Riau Islands, an Indonesian province closest to Singapore, and in Nusa Tenggara Timur, east of the country's main tourist island of Bali. On Friday, the two locations registered temperatures of 23ºC to 25ºC.

All other provinces are seeing relatively normal temperatures, state weather forecaster Risda Novikarani told The Straits Times.

Over in South Asia, the northern parts of India were also in the midst of a cold spell, but meteorological officials said this was well within the range for winter months. "Temperatures have fallen and the cold wave condition is more severe in January than December," said Mahesh Palawat, director of private weather forecaster Skymet. "It is a normal winter."

According to India's Meteorological Department, minimum temperatures in most parts of northern India this week continued to be between 5ºC and 10ºC, and would remain so until Monday (Jan 15).

~The Straits Times/Asia News Network~

Cambodia negotiates reopening of informal Vietnam border crossings

Cambodia negotiates reopening of informal Vietnam border crossings

Ratanakiri provincial authorities are trying to resolve a border dispute with Vietnam, urging the Vietnamese to reopen four recently blocked border crossings, according to National Police spokesman Kirth Chantharith.

The conflict originated when Cambodia rejected Vietnam’s proposal to build four new, formal border checkpoints, only accepting one. In response, Vietnam blocked off four heavily travelled, informal crossings.

Speaking to reporters following a year-end meeting of police officials, Chantharith downplayed the severity of the dispute. “We are having a special negotiation. The Ratanakkiri provincial governor is solving the problem without any huge challenge,” he said.

But Governor Nguon Keoun and his deputy, Yem Sam Oeun, said the closures have been an inconvenience to Cambodian border units, and a resolution is not imminent.

“Vietnam asked to open four more checkpoints and we thought that three of them were not important because they access the forest . . . not the paved road,” said Sam Oeun.

“On 12 December, Vietnam dug and cut up the road, but later on, they filled it up and then they built the fence to separate it,” he added.

Sam Oeun said the one agreed-upon border checkpoint has not been opened either, because it requires approval at the “national level”.

He condemned Vietnam’s response, saying it is an inconvenience to the border troops who often crossed into Vietnam to buy goods.

Sam Oeun also said the move unfairly impacts ethnic minority communities that cross the border daily to visit relatives.

“Our province and Kon Tum province have ethnic people. In fact, they are siblings and relatives, and they cross back and forth as normal,” he explained.

He said both sides would meet to discuss the issue, but a date has not yet been set.

San Chey, country director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability, said Vietnam may want more efficient paths for smuggling illegal timber.

“Vietnam controls many economic [land] concessions in the northeast and most of the economic concessions were accused of involvement with smuggling timber,” he said

Regional analyst Paul Chambers, with Naresuan University in Thailand, said the move was a signal that Vietnam was willing to flex its strength.

“It could signal a more aggressive stance by Vietnam amidst its perception of too strong a tilt by Cambodia toward China,” he said.

~News courtesy of Phnom Penh Post~

吴哥窟彩虹桥‧修復工程顺利

吴哥窟彩虹桥‧修復工程顺利



吴哥窟彩虹桥的修復工作进展顺利，预计2020年按时完成。

2016年5月9日开工以来，吴哥窟彩虹桥的修復工作进展顺利，预计2020年按时完成。

仙女机构保护吴哥窟专家安速彼表示，吴哥窟彩虹桥的修復工程是由日本上智大学（Sophia）和仙女机构专家共同负责，自2016年开工以来，修復工程进展顺利，预计在未来4年竣工通行。

他说，在修復工作上，日方提供了技术人员和先进设备援助，而仙女机构承担修復经费和劳工。目前，仙女机构已安排4名工程师和54名技工，与日方技术专家参与修復工作。

据瞭解，通往吴哥窟的彩虹桥，全长190米，宽12米，高4米。依据歷史记载，彩虹桥是通往天堂的通道，因彩虹桥严重损坏，而被关闭修復。

根据初步考古发现，彩虹桥曾经在吴哥王朝后进行至少4次修復。第一次是在吴哥王朝之后修復，第二次是在法国殖民时期的50世纪初修復，第三次也是由法国在60世纪初修復，第四次是在1996年至2007年间，由仙女机构和日本上智大学共同修復。

（柬埔寨星洲日报）

2017全年接待国际游客560万人次

2017全年接待国际游客560万人次

2017年柬埔寨共接待国际游客560万人次，其中中国游客120万人次，增加46%。

根据政府公开的最新报告，目前共有15家航空公司提供柬埔寨和中国各大城市直飞航线，每週共155趟班次，另有包机服务每周则共50趟。

15家航空公司中，12家为中国航空公司，另3家为柬埔寨公司。

由於前来柬埔寨旅游的国际游客不断增加，柬政府决定在暹粒省兴建新机场，有关项目估计耗资9亿美元，地点是位于暹粒省速尼贡县，佔地700公顷土地。

该项目计划于今年动工兴建。

（柬埔寨星洲日报）