These are the names of some of the most legendary and sought-after whiskies in the world. They are also whiskies that are (or were) available at some point at The Auld Alliance in Singapore, arguably THE best whisky bar in South East Asia, and some say, the whole of Asia.

Founded by Emmanuel Dron in 2011 (it recently celebrated its fifth anniversary), Auld Alliance boasts over 1,500 bottles of whisky available for tasting, and a menu that is more than 50 pages long. And the best part is, it doesn’t matter how rare or how expensive a bottle is – if they have it, you can probably try it (provided you can afford it, of course).

“The idea (for the bar) was quite basic – I wanted to have a place where you can drink the best and the most rare bottles,” said Dron, who named the bar “Auld Alliance” because, being French, he wanted to acknowledge the centuries-old friendship France has had with Scotland.

“We have, every month, people flying from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and China just to visit our bar. The main reason is that those people come for all those great museum bottles that we are crazy enough to open by the glass! It became our trademark!”

This truly is a whisky heaven – as you walk into the bar, the first thing that greets you is the rows and rows of whiskies that line the walls. From entry level drams to ultra-rare independent bottlings, Scotch and bourbon to world whiskies from Japan, Australia, and so on, the number of whiskies at Auld Alliance is just staggering. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a connoisseur – chances are you’ll find a whisky that suits your palate at Auld Alliance.

Besides whisky, Auld Alliance also has a fantastic selection of single cask and vintage Cognac from 1991 to 1848, an extensive list of Champagne, over 30 different absinths, and a great rum selection.

“Many people think we are just a whisky bar but we are not. We propose many other drinks that we choose the same way we selected our whisky. There is a lot of work behind each type of product we have here,” said Dron. “We also buy casks that we bottle under The Auld Alliance brand that we sell in our bar, but that are also distributed in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Europe.”

With so many whiskies and spirits on the menu, how does one make a choice at the bar?

Well, according to Dron, it depends on your level of expertise towards whisky. “If you are a beginner, we have ‘The Easy Whisky Menu’ with some recommendations by country of production or by style of whisky,” he said. “We also have tasting sets, which are very popular. We have over 40 flights that follow themes like ‘Taste of Scotland’, ‘Whiskies around the World’, ‘Five Islay Malts’, ‘Japanese Whiskies’ and so on.”

In the end, however, he advises potential customers not to be too shy to ask for advice on what to drink.

“We have a great team at Auld alliance. Natasha, my manager and Arun, my Whisky Specialist, have a huge knowledge of whiskies, and are there to guide you.”

Auld Alliance’s current location at Rendezvous Hotel Singapore is also suitably unique, and convenient to boot. Located in the heart of Singapore’s museum district along Bras Basah, the hotel was recently rebranded to reflect an art-inspired character, and has various art installations on display inside throughout the year.

As anyone who has ever tasted a truly good Karuizawa whisky will tell you, whisky-making is also an art, so seems apt that one of the finest whisky bars in South-East Asia would set up shop at a hotel that also doubles as an art gallery.

Getting there isn’t a problem either – the hotel is a 10 minute walk away from Orchard Road, and just five minutes away from the nearest MRT station.

To Dron, the hallmark of a good whisky bar is not how many bottles it has.

“Any whisky bar driven by passion is a good whisky bar. It is not about the quantity of bottles but about the experience you can get, what you can learn. This is the most important,” he said.

One of the rarest bottles of whisky at Auld Alliance is a bottle of Jameson Irish whiskey from 1866. “This is a true piece of history from a great source. The vintage is faded but still visible on the label. It is one of the oldest whiskies in the world for sure,” said Dron.

Still, it is probably not the most expensive whisky in Auld Alliance. “Our most expensive is probably the Karuizawa 1960 52 years old. A few months ago, it was auctioned for a ridiculous world record price of SG$165,000!”

While Dron says that everything the bar stocks is available for sale, he will only sell the rarest of the rarest whiskies to those who will appreciate it.

“Some of our rarest bottles, we only sell them if we know that in front of us the person has enough background to understand what he will drink. It is no longer a question of money, more about the attitude and respect towards the bottle,” he said.

There IS one whisky that he will definitely not sell again, however, if he can get his hands on it.

“I can sell everything because I tried most of the legendary bottles. But I think if I had one bottle left of Laphroaig 1970 Samaroli, I will definitively not sell it. It is my favourite whisky and I would prefer to drink it if I knew I will never get it again!” he concluded.

The concert will take place on January 31 at Benchasiri Park on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, and will feature an array of artists from Asean countries.

Alexandra said she felt privileged and happy to be the onl y Lao artist to be selected to perform at the event.

She plans to perform to the best of her ability and is hoping to bring happiness and an entertaining atmosphere to the audience.

Alexandra will leave Laos on Saturday to join the otherAsean artists who are also performing. She will bring various styles of songs to her performance, such as her track “My Radio”, as well as songs that she has sung at previous Asean events.

The public can enjoy a violin performance and other music and song experiences at the concert, which is to be held in a centrally located park in Bangkok.

Alexandra said she has a large fan club in Thailand after she was invited to sing on many entertainment television programmes. She also acted in a Thai drama that was well received by Thai audiences.

This concert will be a good opportunity for her to meet her Thai fan club again, and it is sure to spread happiness and promote Lao songs and culture to her fans.

She said she still loves her Thai fans and expects them to attend the concert.

Alexandra has not yet planned to release a new track. Currently, she is focussing on going to events and concerts as well as preparing to perform on a television programme.

She urges fans following her work to keep an eye out for images from the Asean concert.

Alexandra said she loves working in the industry and will continue to create colourful Lao entertainment.

Alexandra also owns the IT Infrastructure Development Office in Nongbone village, Xaysettha distict, Vientiane, which opened this year.

She is hoping to start the Alexandra Foundation, a charity to help people with Down syndrome, but is still looking for sponsors to provide donations towards the foundation’s management.

So how does a new player wanting to make a splash in Pattaya break into the market?

By looking for something new and cool – and which warrants a ticket price of Bt2,000 for an 80-minute show. “Kaan – A Spectacular Cinematic Live Experience”, which is scheduled to open at the brand new D’Luck Cinematic Theatre in the seaside resort next December, aims to answer all those criteria with a combination of computer graphics imagery, animation and impressively tall animatronic puppets.

Panjaluck Pasuk’s chairman Siriwat Vongjarukorn, says his company MFEC, has partnered with entertainment company Scenario, Baan Rig, which handles safety rigging for stunts and special effects in films, Xtreme Plus, a provider of interactive-multimedia and projection-mapping, and creative house Sanookdee Thaweesuk, which is the business unit of the former GTH film studio. Run by filmmakers Yongyooth Thongkongtoon and Paween Purijitpanya, Sanookdee Thaweesuk’s past projects have included the “Spooktacular Halloween” events in Sentosa Island, Singapore.

For their Pattaya show, Yongyooth and Paween have put together a story that’s told through the eyes of Kaan, a boy who inherits a book from his grandfather and is plunged into different mythical worlds. As he struggles to find his way home, he experiences adventures from such well-known Thai stories as the Ramayana, “Phra Aphai Manee,” “Krai Thong” and “Sang Thong”.

The adventures unfold on a high-tech stage measuring 1,000 square metres and boasting a screen larger than three IMAX theatre screens.

Yongyooth, who is a partner in Panjaluck, is artistic director and producer while Paween sits in the director’s chair.

Yoongyooth has spent a lot of time over the last two years travelling overseas, watching shows and visiting theatres to get some idea of what’s going down in the entertainment world.

“For us, it was the first phase of the project because even though we all agreed to create the show, we are all new to this field. We come from different backgrounds – filmmaking and business. So we figured the best thing was to watch shows together and make sure that we were all on the same page,” says Yongyooth, adding that the preliminary investment for the first stage was Bt50 million.

“That went up to Bt300 million and I think we have spent Bt500 million so far.”

The development, he says, is much more influenced by film than theatre, especially in the way technology is blended into the spectacle. The technical aspects of the production will be supervised by Takonkiet Viravan’s Scenario, and the score is being written by film-score composer Chatchai Pongprapapan.

“Thai literature is full of fantasy and monsters like the West’s ’Lord of the Rings’, but we’ve chosen to make it more fun to watch by turning the stories into one boy’s adventure” says Paween.

Thai audiences, says Yongyooth, need a story to tie them into a show rather than just enjoying the fantastic acrobatics of troupes like Cirque du Soleil.

Ancient fantasy and characters, such as Thotsakan from the Ramayana or the Chalawan crocodile king in “Krai Thong” will be transformed into a modern spectacular show through animatronic characters – Thotsakan will be portrayed through a gigantic eight-metre-tall animatronic puppet.

Equally as dramatic will be the story of Mekhala, the Goddess of Lightning, and Ramasoon, the God of Thunder. In one scene, Ramasoon is chasing Mekhala while they are flying in the sky and as she tries to escape, she uses a flash from a crystal ball to blind Ramasoon as he throws his axe. That flash will be spectacularly produced through the use of Tesla coil lighting. The axe misses its mark and rattles harmlessly across the heavens as Mekhala makes her escape.

Right now the team is busy searching for performers with acrobatics skills.

“All performances need acrobatic skills,” Paween says, “Up to now, we have only managed to find 60 per cent of our cast from six auditions.

“We’re lucky to have the world champions of the ’B-Boy’ contests as well as aerial performers,” Paween adds.

Auditions are continuing. All performers will be asked to sign two- or three-year contracts and will be trained, put on salary and have living quarters provided near the theatre.

They will also be recruiting a complete team of understudies to ensure coverage in case of illness or injuries.

Rehearsals have already started and in May will move to the newly completed theatre in Nong Prue in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district.

The 10-rai site will be surrounded by a commercial area and feature a 1,400-seat theatre called the D’Luck Cinematic.

Current plans call for two shows daily except Monday. Ticket prices have been provisionally set at Bt2,000, Bt2,500 and Bt3,000.

On the Web:

http://www.facebook.com/kaanshow

Ha Quang Long, director of Quang Ninh Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: “The film staff will spend three days shooting in Ha Long Bay in mid-March.”

“Many moviegoers around the world are waiting to see Kong: Skull Island in cinemas. We think the filming in Ha Long Bay and other destinations is a good chance to introduce the beauty of Vietnam to the world,” he said.

According to unofficial sources, around 10 per cent of the film’s total expense, US$160 million, will be spent on filming in Vietnam.

According to Hollywood Reporter magazine, Kong: Skull Island will star actors Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, John C. Reily, Samuel L. Jackson and Toby Kebbell.

The film is expected to hit theatres in 2017.

Last year, Vogt-Roberts and his staff of 23 conducted research for the film by travelling around Quang Binh and Ninh Binh.

They visited the mountainous areas of Bo Trach, Thuong Hoa, Trung Hoa and Tan Hoa, all of which are famous tourist destinations.

In his mid-30s, Vogt-Roberts made his directorial debut with the film The Kings of Summer at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. It was also screened at the 2013 Cleveland International Film Festival.

It won the Narrative Feature Audience Award at the 2013 Dallas International Film Festival.

Vogt-Roberts also co-wrote and directed the TV series Mash Up.