The duo, best known for the track “Dr Who!” which hit the #20 spot on the UK single charts, has played all over the world, including the prestigious Tomorrowland Festival.

Entry is Bt500 for men and Bt400 for ladies with one free drink available at (082) 731 8885, or by emailing info@clubinsanitybangkok.com.

A lady on the deck

Also coming up at Insanity Nightclub is DJ Rozavy. One of the most ambitious female DJ and producers in Asia and a frequent spinner at Japan and China, she’ll be presenting her full spectrum of music ranging from EDM, electro, bass, house and hiphop on Saturday night starting at 10.

Entry is Bt400 for men and Bt300 for ladies with one free drink. Call (082) 731 8885 or email info@clubinsanitybangkok.com.

Beggaring belief

“Mongkhol 108”, an exhibition by Watcharapong Khunart, presents the human belief in sacred objects and oblation, and the traditional beliefs passed on from generation to generation that are not supported by reason and knowledge in his solo show at the People’s Gallery, on the second floor of Bangkok Art & Cultural Centre from now until May 26.

Using his family’s beliefs and his experience, he mixes natural materials to produce paintings and mixed media to express the existence and nonexistence of reality and belief.

The eyes have it

SILMO Bangkok 2019 is all set to bring together more 4,000 professionals to discover the latest products, technologies and solutions in the optical industry. It runs at Impact Arena from June 57 from 10am to 5pm.

The show will focus on three guiding pillars – a business and trade platform, a gathering for professionals to learn and network and a must attend event for the latest eyewear fashion.

For more information, visit http://www.SilmoBangkok.com.

Businessmen make a mark

Puey Talks is back for its sixth year with a new concept, “My Mark on the World” and will take place in the multifunction room of Bangkok Art & Cultural Centre on May 25 from 15pm.

The talk features businessmen and social entrepreneurs including Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, ML Disapanadda Diskul, Dr Chartchai Norasethaporn, Siradej Donavanik, Kanpassorn Suriyasangpetch, Passawee T Kodaka, Saowalak Prathumthong and Patarawut and Pat Techatewan.

Find out more at http://www.Eventpop.me/e/5010.

The 2019 concept is “My Empire. My Own Rule. Because I’m Worth it” and Araya will be boasting the full set of L’Oreal cosmetics including True Match Liquid Foundation SPF 16 PA++, True Match Even Perfecting Powder SPF 32 PA+++, eye shadows from La Petite Palette, Lash Paradise Mascara, Matte Lipstick by Color Riche.

Watch Araya live on the red carpet at Official Facebook FanPage: lorealparisthailand.

A bigger stretch

Panpuri Wellness at Gaysorn Village introduces a special campaign this month inviting office workers to take part in “Therapeutic Yoga for Office Syndrome” every Thursday to Saturday from tomorrow through the end of the month. The classes are led by certified yoga teacher, Varisa Suthikulpanit, and feature Hatha yoga. Each 60-minute session focuses on gentle restorative stretching and deep breathing, which will help to relieve pain on the neck, shoulder and back muscles, and achieve a harmony of the senses.

In full bloom

Inspired by the hidden beauty of flowers, leading South Korean skincare brand Mamonde introduces its new Red Energy Recovery Serum, which claims to strengthen skin cells. Mamonde’s research team discovered the powerful ingredients stored in flowers, called Blossoming Energy, which pushes out the petals into a beautiful flower. This discovery has been extended for the creation of a highly effective skin recovery serum, rich in the extracts from the energy from the blossoms. The serum promises to moisturise, reduce wrinkles and firm up the skin. It can be used for all skin types, even sensitive skin.

A basketball for your wrist

To celebrate Tissot’s prestigious partnership with the NBA, the Swiss brand is presenting a special edition watch, the Tissot Chrono XL NBA Collector Edition. It features a strap made with the official Spalding NBA basketball leather, and a sapphire crystal case back bearing each NBA team’s logo. The quartz chronograph watch is water resistant up to a pressure of 10 bar. It comes in a special box which perfectly captures the spirit of NBA.

Located on Sukhumvit Road between Soi 26 and Soi 28, the bookshop boasts thousands of second-hand books in fiction and non-fiction categories in English and various European languages.

In this, its 15th edition, customers will get a 20-per-cent discount if they have books to exchange and want to purchase additional books. A wide collection of music CDs will also be available, while the only items not on sale are the already discounted books on the “Blowout” sections (found on the table outside the shop and on the third floor).

“We have always tried to make Dasa Books a haven for book lovers, and it’s refreshing to see people of all ages still taking the time to read real books,” the Dasa Book Cafe team said.

“We’re thankful all of you good people that have bought books from us over the years! We would also like to give an additional thanks to the teachers, parents and other kind people who have encouraged students and children to read more books. In these turbulent times we need a new generation of readers and every little bit helps.”

Bookworms can download a complete list of all books in stock (as an Excel spreadsheet) which is updated three times each week at http://www.dasabookcafe.com/16466654/dasabaseFind out more at (02) 661 2993 or http://www.DasaBookCafe.com.

The addition means Grab customers can access and easily compare prices across millions of places to stay, ranging from luxury and budget hotels to apartments, vacation homes, and family-run B&Bs.

“Travellers are an increasingly important client base for Grab. With more Southeast Asians travelling than ever before, the launch of ‘Hotels’ highlights our commitment to provide the most relevant services to our customers as Southeast Asia’s leading everyday super app. Our ‘Hotels’ service adds to the multiple benefits we already offer travellers, including the most comprehensive miles and travel loyalty programme for any O2O platform, discounts at lounges and F&B outlets at major airports in Southeast Asia, and exclusive Grab transport pick-up points at airports in Indonesia and the Philippines,” said Jerald Singh, group head of Grab’s product and design.

More features and benefits will be added to the ‘Hotels’ service throughout the year. Grab customers will get free travel personal accident and flight delay insurance with each hotel booking, as well as special ride offers. In addition, customers will be able to pay with GrabPay, Grab’s cashless payment mode, and earn GrabReward points with each booking, which can be redeemed for more deals and discounts around other travel services, F&B, retail, entertainment and more.

Singh added, “Grab’s ‘Hotels’ service is ideal for young professionals who travel frequently for holidays, or families looking for the best deals. Our partnerships with Agoda and Booking.com allow our customers to easily find the right accommodation – anywhere in the world – for their holiday at the price they want to pay. With the special Grab discounts and free insurance, we’re confident travellers can find the most value-for-money deals when booking hotels with Grab.”

“Agoda is passionate about innovating the way people travel, using technology to help people everywhere to travel anywhere, offering the widest choice, at the best possible price. There are synergies with Grab in our mutual desire to provide our customers with more convenience and new opportunities while making travel even more accessible for Southeast Asian travellers,” added Damien Pfirsch, Agoda’s VP strategic partnerships & programmes.

NESTLING ALONGSIDE Havana’s old town, surrounded by colonial buildings and swept by the exhaust trails of passing 1950s American convertibles, stands a large arch with an ornate roof.

It’s the entrance gate to Havana’s Chinatown, once the biggest in Latin America, whose residents are now dreaming of recovering its past glory.

This, taxi drivers joke, is the only Chinatown in the world without any Chinese, a testament to the assimilation of a migrant community that first arrived in Cuba in the middle of the 19th century.

Districts including Chinatown will be spruced up ready for Havana’s 500th birthday and residents are keen to work with the authorities to restore a sense of former glory./AFP

“Since its creation, it was an open Chinese neighbourhood that produced this mix between the Chinese and the country’s original population,” says Teresa Maria Li, director of the local House of Traditional Chinese Arts.

Li comes from a family with a Chinese grandfather and a Spanish grandmother.

“First of all I feel Cuban, but deep inside I have the Chinese gene and I defend it vigorously, with a sense of belonging.”

After lunch at Lung Kong old people’s association, pensioners sit around a table playing mahjong.

A game of mahjong keeps pensioners amused./AFP

These are some of the last remaining Cuban residents who are 100 per cent Chinese. Their descendants have embraced the local culture, and are more Cuban than Chinese.

The first wave of Cantonese migration arrived in 1847 to work as “coolies” – agricultural labourers who replaced African slaves on the sugar plantations.

The next wave, though, had money and was fleeing discrimination and an economic crisis in California.

They built a thriving neighbourhood with hundreds of thousands of people, as well as restaurants and theatres.

But the migratory flow dried up with Cuba’s 1959 communist revolution. Fidel Castro met those fleeing Mao Zedong. They didn’t hang around.

Dancers put on a show at the House of Chinese Arts and Traditions./AFP

“Calculating the number of descendants is impossible. There are first- to fifth-generation Chinese. Those fully Chinese – there are 121 in the whole island,” says Maria Teresa Montes de Oca Choy, Asian history professor at Havana University.

The influx of rich Chinese migrants from California provided a boost to Cuba’s gross domestic product but in 1959 Castro’s “nationalisation law affected all Chinese. Small businesses had considerable Chinese capital,” says Montes de Oca.

But once the Soviet Union fell and Cuba spiralled into an economic crisis in the 1990s, some old Chinese restaurants reopened, although like most of the city they remain run down.

With Havana celebrating its 500th anniversary, authorities have committed to restoring many parts of the city, including Chinatown.

As well as resurfacing the roads and improving street lighting, there will be traditional Chinese cultural activities too.

On Manrique Street, around 30 children are learning wushu – a traditional Chinese martial art. Next door in what was once a Chinese cinema, wushu master Roberto Vargas Lee wields a nandao (broadsword) as he teaches adults.

The grandson of Chinese citizens, he studied martial arts in China in the 1990s. His wife is from Shanghai and his mother was part of the former Cantonese Opera in Havana.

“Some people tell me I don’t look very Chinese and others ask me when I arrived from China. It’s like the Tao says – ‘Everyone can look at the same thing, but see it differently’.”

While Chinese-Cubans are just as spontaneous as the rest of the population, they are less likely to leave open their door for unexpected visitors.

“It’s true that there are certain cultural differences, but we’ve adapted to that,” says Carlos Alay Jo, a 60-year-old restaurant owner born in Cuba to a family from Guangzhou.

“We reflect a lot about things. We’re more reserved. There’s a mix,” he adds, quoting his father, who taught martial arts to several top-ranking officers in the Cuban army.

The Kwong Wah Po daily newspaper began as a monthly 80 years ago./AFP

Nearby at a printer’s, the next edition of the bilingual Kwong Wah Po daily newspaper, which began as a monthly 80 years ago, is being prepared.

Until recently it was printed on an 1849 American press – one of the oldest in the world – that was equipped with Chinese characters.

Times have changed, though, and the latest edition will be printed with modern methods, while there are no longer any fully Chinese members of the editorial team.

With so few fully Chinese people left in Cuba, Montes de Oca admits that renovating a “Chinatown without Chinese people” could be a fallacy, but she insists that the locals “feel proud of having had a Chinatown and would love to have one again”.

IN A ROOM at a multiuse building in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, women in maid outfits are learning English conversation from a native speaker. They are employees of maid cafe management company Infinia, a company based in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, which requires new employees who dress and talk like maids at the company’s cafes to take 10 English lessons.

With an increasing number of foreign visitors coming to Japan and preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games under way, many more people have recently begun studying English. According to the Yano Research Institute, the domestic market related to learning foreign languages has expanded to reach 866.6 billion yen (Bt251 billion) in fiscal 2017, from 789.2 billion yen in fiscal 2012. It is projected to further increase to 887.3 billion yen in fiscal 2018.

“Welcome home, master and princess.” Women working for a maid cafe learn English in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, which is known as a hub for otaku culture and attracts many foreign tourists. /Yomiuri Shimbun 

Share houses that provide residents with the opportunity to learn English in their daily lives have been built one after another. Irodori Factory, a shared house operating company based in Muko, Kyoto Prefecture, has developed such facilities mainly in urban areas. The company has allocated a certain number of rooms at their share houses for foreign residents, to foster international interactions.

Shoichi Kato, a 27-year-old employee of a trading company, is a resident of one such share house in Ota Ward, Tokyo. “Since I moved in, I have become more relaxed with foreign people,” said Kato.

The city of Yubari, Hokkaido, has introduced online English conversation lessons for public elementary, junior high and high schools./Yomiuri Shimbun 

The school education system has also attached more weight to English-speaking ability. While the number of assistant language teachers (ALTs) is increasing in line with upgrading and expanding English education, alternative efforts are being made in local regions where foreigners rarely live, such as utilising information and communication technology.

A demonstration experiment using a robot for English education has been introduced at Meiji Elementary School in the city of Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture. Although there are 19 elementary schools in the city, just one ALT is in charge of all them. The ALT is able to attend each school only once or twice per term. Masanori Yasuda, head of the city board of education, explained: “Hiring another ALT costs a lot and is financially difficult for us. Instead, we are exploring the possibility of using a robot to teach English pronunciation and conversation,” he added.

RECENTLY, I set out to learn what it is like for a foreigner to look for a spouse in Japan.

I had heard about a speed-dating event in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo and went to check it out. Sixteen foreign men living in Japan and 13 Japanese women were meeting one-on-one this weekend evening, with each pair being given three minutes to introduce themselves before switching partners.

Nick talks with a Japanese woman at a speeddating event in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo./Yomiuri Shimbun

Nick, 33, was born in Hong Kong and now lives in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, working for a real estate-related company. He previously worked for a life insurance company in Hong Kong, but after becoming unwell from the stress at work there, he moved to Japan in 2017. He says that he has long been enamoured with the traditional culture of Japan. An affable smile upon his face, he was engaged in a lively conversation with a woman.

“I go to some sort of event almost every week. I have been thinking about bringing up a child, so I would like to get married soon,” he tells me.

“With a Japanese woman?” I ask.

“My impression is that they are kind and respect their husbands. Hong Kong women are strong-willed. I was surprised when I saw women in Japan riding a bicycle carrying children in both the front and rear child seats. In Hong Kong, it’s common for a maid to handle the household chores and childcare. I want to raise my kids as husband and wife. I think Japanese women are down-to-earth in that respect.”

I had never thought to look at a woman on a bike in that way.

I have a feeling that this view of women might be a bit exaggerated, but Nick speaks Japanese proficiently, so I feel like he is sufficiently able to express his feelings.

Nick didn’t meet the right person that evening. His acquaintances recommended getting someone at his workplace to introduce him to someone, but he felt uncomfortable, worrying about what would happen if things didn’t go well. Dejectedly, he says: “It’s tough. Perhaps I’ll give up on the dating scene for a while.”

A self-introduction card at a marriage-hunting event /Yomiuri Shimbun

However, just two weeks later, he sends me an email, saying, “I am returning to the dating world, and I will not give up that easily.”

Another male participant to the event was a 27-year-old American named Stephan, who is tall and has long red hair. After arriving in Japan in September 2014, he began modelling and has appeared in commercials for Japanese companies and fashion magazines, among others.

He seems to have had plenty of encounters, but in asking how they went, it seems that the relationships didn’t last.

“Small things become massive. And I never know what the small things are because they never communicate them,” Stephan says. He added, “Japanese girls will say: ‘That’s Japanese culture. Cultural difference.’ We didn’t talk about the small things. It’s easy to say ‘cultural difference’ because they never consider the deeper issue.”

He seems to have a little difficulty communicating with Japanese women.

“I ask lots of girls, ‘What is your type?’ and they all say the same things, like ‘gentleman.’ Just kind of vague things, and that could be anybody that can match that description. It’s like everyone should be kind. They don’t really think enough about what they’re looking for. If you don’t know what you looking for, [you] can’t find it,” he laments.

On the other hand, he is very clear about what he wants from a partner. Someone who doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink too much, is moderately active, speaks English fairly well, and is not a party person.

Stephan in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo /Yomiuri Shimbun

I thought there must be a woman who is comfortable with a relationship where she and her partner can explain everything.

Changing venues to the Nishi-Kasai district in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, home to Japan’s largest Indian community, I spoke with Geetu, 27, who came to Japan with her parents in 2017 when they opened an Indian grocery store.

She helps her parents in the shop and goes out with Japanese friends on her days off. Thinking about how common it is in India to have an arranged marriage at an early age, she is comfortable with the single life in Japan, saying, “It’s easy and I can do whatever I please.” She also has a budding dream to try another job.

However, when thinking about her prospects for getting married, which her parents are urging her to do, it seems that she’ll end up in arranged nuptials with an Indian man after all.

“My mother cannot speak Japanese. Marrying a Japanese man would be unthinkable because there are too many differences in religion and culture. I am not able to fundamentally change at this point.”

Her Japanese friends talk about romance, which doesn’t interest her. “I want to find someone to marry, but I do not need a boyfriend.”

However, it’s hard for her to find a suitable partner even in her own community, where many of the men are already married. Geetu says that recently her father, Pradeep, 51, registered her with a smartphone dating app.

Matchmaking services geared toward foreigners are a niche field, but with the enactment of the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, companies in the dating industry are forecasting an increase in users of services catering to foreigners.

The organiser of the speed-dating event is Yokohama-based Exeo Japan. They started such events in Tokyo in 2011 and now have eight locations open around Japan. Approximately 2,500 foreign men in total have participated so far. Events for foreign women have not been organised because they couldn’t get a sufficient number of participants.

Shiho Kitagawa, 31, who is in charge of public relations at Exeo Japan, says: “If the number of international users increases, we can provide an even more diverse array of meeting possibilities.”

According to Tokyo-based eureka, Inc, operator of the matchmaking app Pairs, foreign members currently account for one per cent of users. A spokesperson for the company said: “Many foreign people are less likely to be resistant to meeting up via an app compared to Japanese people. We are expecting to increase users in the future. We believe it is necessary to explore new developments such as localising into multiple languages.”

PERFECT FOR taking notes in meetings or at lectures, the new iPad mini not only supports the Apple Pencil stylus but also comes in a more compact and discreet size.

The display is better too as is the camera, the CPU packs a bigger power punch and battery life is longer lasting. What’s more the 2019 version of the iPad mini features Retina display with True Tone technology and A12 Bionic chip with Neural Engine.

That new A12 Bionic chip with Neural Engine delivers high-end performance and the speed to handle demanding computing tasks. You can experience three times the performance and nine-times-faster graphics versus the A8 chip in iPad mini 4.

And the new iPad Air also gets a 70-per-cent boost in performance and twice the graphics capability.

The A12 Bionic is powerful enough to handle the apps you use every day, like Microsoft Office, as well as apps for video editing, 3D modelling, and photorealistic games.

In short, the A12 Bionic delivers the power of a computer in the portability of an iPad. It has a six-core design with two performance cores to tackle heavy computational tasks and four high-efficiency cores to take on everyday tasks. A custom performance controller manages how the cores are used – including driving all six cores simultaneously.

A four-core graphics engine delivers amazing performance for augmented reality experiences and photorealistic effects in 3D games, while leveraging the latest Metal framework for impressive graphics performance within apps like Adobe Photoshop.

The Apple-designed Neural Engine of the A12 Bionic powers a new generation of iPad workflows and apps using advanced machine learning and Core ML in everything from photography to AR, completing up to 5 trillion operations per second.

The CPU also consumes less battery, allowing the new iPad mini and iPad Air to deliver up to 10 hours of battery life.

During the test, I found that the new iPad mini was really great for handling games and productive apps like Microsoft Office and graphic and photo editing apps like Pixelmator Photo and Procreate.

Pixelmator Photo and Procreate support the use of the first-generation Apple Pencil. The iPad mini and the first-generation Apple Pencil are an especially powerful combination for those wanting a super-portable Moleskin-like notebook, journal, and sketchbook device. It’s also ideal as a compact, yet powerful device for customer service, field support and other situations where hand-written input is more efficient and effective.

The Apple Pencil supports pressure and tilting and provides pixel-perfect precision. It also has low latency, making it useful for professional designers and illustrators who need a portable tool.

Apple Pencil support is integrated throughout iOS, including handwritten notes and sketching in Notes and Mail. And with Markup, you can quickly and naturally annotate photos, PDFs, and screenshots. It is the closest experience to a real pencil on paper.

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote native apps of the iOS also support Apple Pencil and enable new ways for users to create and express themselves, including advanced yet easy-to-use drawing tools. And Smart Annotation in Pages allows you to add comments and notations with the Apple Pencil that dynamically anchor to your text.

The apps that already support Apple Pencil can be used on the new iPad mini. Procreate, Good Notes, Notability, Pixelmator, and Microsoft Office are just some of the those designed to take full advantage of Apple Pencil.

The new iPad mini has a truly beautiful display. It uses 7.9-inch Retina display with 2048×1536 pixel resolution at 326 pixel per inch depth.

It also features Apple’s advanced display innovations including full lamination, high brightness, P3 wide colour, low reflectivity and True Tone technology, meaning it provides outstanding screen performance both indoors and out.

True Tone dynamically adjusts white balance based on the light around you making images look natural and easier on your eyes, whether you’re reading a book in bed or surfing the web by the pool.

The 7.9-inch Retina display on the new iPad mini is 25-per-cent brighter and has a 25-per-cent greater colour gamut than the iPad mini 4 display. It also offers the highest pixel density of any iPad.

The new iPad mini is very portable due to its compact size. It weighs just 456 grammes and is 6.1 mm thin. It’s easy to carry in one hand or take out of a pocket or bag whenever you need it.

And it comes with a good quality camera. The front and back cameras on iPad Air and iPad mini let you take stunning photos and 1080p HD videos. And when combined with apps, they let you do a whole lot more including make a Group FaceTime call, scan a document, sign it, and send it back, or use augmented reality apps to learn, work, or play.

The detail-rich photos and clear, stable 1080p HD video you can shoot with the 8MP camera are assisted by Apple hardware and software integration. Photo modes like panorama, slo-mo video, burst mode and time-lapse video make it easy and fun to capture incredible memories. The portability of iPad also means you can do things like shoot, edit, and share.

The 7MP FaceTime HD camera combined with the 7.9-inch iPad screen makes this new iPad ideal for immersive FaceTime video calls, and especially Group FaceTime. You can also use it for capturing stunning photos and shooting 1080p HD video.

And it’s a perfect device for truly immersive AR experiences with front and back cameras, the A12 Bionic chip with Neural Engine, a vivid Retina display, and sensors for motion tracking, all of them ready for the next generation of AR apps and games like JigSpace, Live Home 3D – Interior Design, Lego AR Playgrounds, and more.

I tested it with a Wi-Fi 802.11ac connection with Wi-Fi speeds up to 866 Mbps and MIMO support plus Bluetooth 5.0. It also features an iPad mini version that supports superfast gigabit-class LTE.

The new iPad mini runs on iOS 12, which is an advanced mobile operating system that puts everything you need within a tap or a swipe.

Apple’s new iPad mini with 64GB storage retails for Bt13,900 for the Wi-Fi version and Bt18,400 for the LTE version while the version with 256GB storage retails for Bt18,900 for the Wi-Fi version and Bt23,400 for the LTE version.

KEY SPECS

OS: iOS 12

Chip: A12 Bionic chip with 64bit desktopclass architecture with Neural Engine and embedded M12 coprocessor

Storage: 64GB, 256GB

Display: 7.9inch (diagonal) LEDbacklit MultiTouch display with IPS technology and 2048by1536 resolution at 326 ppi

Camera: 8megapixel photos with 2.4 aperture lens

FaceTime HD Camera: 7megapixel photos with 2.2 aperture lens

Speakers: Stereo

Microphones: Dual

Secure authentication: Touch ID, Face ID

Sensors: Touch ID , Threeaxis gyro , Accelerometer , Ambient light sensor, Barometer

Connector: Lightning

Battery: Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on WiFi, watching video, or listening to music

Dimensions: 203.2 x 134.8 x 6.1 mm (HxWxD)

Weight: 300.5g