Le Guin became best known for her “Earthsea” series, which she began in the late 1960s, in which an apprentice sorcerer fights against the powers of evil, decades before Harry Potter did the same.

As well as novels she also wrote children’s books, short stories, poetry and essays.

“The family of Ursula K. Le Guin is deeply saddened to announce her peaceful death yesterday afternoon,” read a short statement on her verified Twitter account.

Best-selling American crime writer Stephen King mourned her as “one of the greats,” in his own tribute on Twitter.

“Not just a science fiction writer; a literary icon. Godspeed into the galaxy,” he wrote.

Educated at Radcliffe College, Massachusetts, and New York’s Columbia University, Le Guin was a Fulbright Fellow in 1953 and an expert in anthropology. Her father Alfred Louis Kroeber was an ethnologist known for his work on Native Americans.

She published her first novel, “Rocannon’s World,” in 1966. But she first found success with the publication in 1969 of “The Left Hand of Darkness,” which won a string of prizes and became a great science fiction classic.

The novel, the beginning of the Hainish Cycle which contains six other titles, broke with the sclerotic patterns of science fiction’s golden age.

The planet on which “The Left Hand of Darkness” is based is little different from the Earth, except for its glacial climate, but the beings who populate it are radically different: they have only one sex and assume in turn masculine and feminine roles.

In the book she posed questions on sexual identity, and questions what social rules, culture and inner life such a world could exude.

“I tend to avoid fiction about dysfunctional urban middle-class people written in the present tense. This makes it hard to find a new novel, sometimes,” she once said.

In her stories of galactic societies, Le Guin — who said she was influenced by anarchist and Taoist thinking — sought to prove there is no total and permanent solution, either in theology, politics or human science past or future.

“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next,” Le Guin said.

She was born on October 21, 1929 in Berkeley, California and later settled in Portland, Oregon in the northwestern United States.

She married historian Charles Le Guin, and the couple had three children.

“The Beach of Love Songs” is the theme for this year’s programme, which is again filled with exciting cultural and musical activities in a relaxing, picturesque and romantic setting.

“The event showcases Krabi’s appeal as a destination that offers nature and beaches, culture and unique local ways of life,” says Yupa Panrod of the Tourism Authority.

“These, of course, are some of the key elements of our new communication concept, ‘Open to the New Shades’, which encourages visitors to experience ‘Amazing Thailand’ in new and different ways.”

The Krabi Naga Fest will feature well-known pop-jazz musicians, street shows, yoga classes, local products on sale, a run-walk to the summit of nearby Mount Ngon Nak (Dragon Crest Mountain) and a beach cleanup.

Fresh seafood and other delicious cuisine four and five-star hotels and resorts will be available every day.

Admission is free. Learn more at (075) 622 163, tatkrai@tat.or.th, call centre 1672, or http://www.TourismThailand.org/thaifest.

The report by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is based on more than 800 peer-reviewed scientific studies on the health effects of electronic cigarettes.

It was compiled at the request of the US Congress, amid a growing international debate over whether e-cigarettes are safe or harmful.

E-cigarettes, which have gained popularity in the last decade, are handheld devices that heat up a nicotine-containing liquid so users can inhale the vapors.

They contain “fewer numbers and lower levels of toxic substances than conventional cigarettes,” said the report.

But they are also addictive.

The amount of nicotine they deliver can vary, but experienced adult e-cigarette users tend to get “a comparable level of nicotine as conventional cigarettes” — leading to “symptoms of dependence” in those who use them.

Reviewed evidence suggests that e-cigarettes are “likely to be far less harmful than tobacco products,” said David Eaton, chair of the committee that wrote the report.

“In some circumstances, such as their use by non-smoking adolescents and young adults, their adverse effects clearly warrant concern,” said Eaton, dean of the graduate school of the University of Washington, Seattle.

Young people are more likely than adults to use e-cigarettes, and the report found “substantial evidence” that vaping increases the risk of smoking conventional cigarettes.

But when adult smokers use e-cigarettes to quit smoking, “they offer an opportunity to reduce smoking-related illness,” said Eaton.

The report found “conclusive evidence” that substituting e-cigarettes for conventional cigarettes “reduces users’ exposure to many toxicants and carcinogens present in conventional cigarettes.”

Switching from regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes also “results in reduced short-term adverse health outcomes in several organ systems.”

But their long term effects remain unknown.

The report found “no available evidence whether or not e-cigarette use” is associated with cancer in people. Animal studies however suggest that long-term e-cigarette use “could increase the risk of cancer.”

Researchers also declined to categorize e-cigarettes as a positive or negative influence on public health.

“More and better research on e-cigarettes’ short- and long-term effects on health and on their relationship to conventional smoking is needed to answer that question with clarity,” said the report.

Eugenie, who is eighth in line to the throne, will marry her nightclub manager boyfriend Jack Brooksbank in late 2018, the palace said.

Eugenie, 27, is the younger daughter of Queen Elizabeth II’s second son Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and his ex-wife Sarah.

“The Duke and Duchess of York are delighted to announce the engagement of Princess Eugenie to Mr Jack Brooksbank,” Buckingham Palace said.

“Her Royal Highness and Mr Brooksbank became engaged in Nicaragua earlier this month.

“The wedding will take place in the autumn of 2018 at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, with further details to be announced in due course.”

The church in the grounds of Windsor Castle, west of London, is where Eugenie’s first cousin Harry is set to marry US actress Meghan Markle on May 19.

Eugenie and her fiance began dating around seven years ago after they met while skiing in the Swiss resort of Verbier. Socialite Brooksbank is the manager of posh central London nightspot Mahiki, known for its celebrity and upper class clientele.

Andrew and Sarah married in 1986 but divorced 10 years later. Their daughters are Princesses Beatrice, 29, and Eugenie.

At the age of 12, Eugenie had back surgery to correct scoliosis and has two titanium rods in her back. She is now patron of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, which carried out the operation.

She went to Newcastle University and graduated with a degree in English literature, art history and politics.

Eugenie rarely carries out public duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth and works for the Hauser and Wirth art gallery in London as an associate director. She is also the patron of several charities.

Brooksbank’s parents Nicola and George said in a brief statement: “We could not be more delighted with the news of the engagement.

“We are completely over the moon and are very excited for them both.”

The more than 60 tiny fragments of parchment bearing encrypted Hebrew writing had previously been thought to come from a variety of different scrolls, a Haifa University spokesman told AFP on Sunday.

But Eshbal Ratson and Jonathan Ben-Dov of the university’s Bible studies department found the pieces all fit together after they started examining them just under a year ago, Ilan Yavelberg said.

“They put it all together and said it was actually one scroll,” he said.

A Haifa University statement said that Ratson and Ben-Dov were now working on deciphering the last remaining scroll.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, date from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD.

Numbering around 900, they were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the Dead Sea.

The parchment and papyrus scrolls contain Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic writing, and include several of the earliest-known texts from the Bible, including the oldest surviving copy of the Ten Commandments.

Many experts believe the manuscripts of the Dead Sea were written by the Essenes, a dissident Jewish sect that had retreated into the Judaean desert around Qumran and its caves.

The latest deciphered scroll contains references to the 364-day calendar used by the sect, as opposed to the lunar calendar used in Jewish religious practice today.

It also refers to annual wine and olive harvest festivals no longer observed in Judaism.

WITH THE world’s population ageing fast and in many countries too few youngsters to fill their shoes, the focus on child development has moved from simply teaching them the basics – reading, writing and maths. Today, greater emphasis is being placed on technology and computer skills as well on what are known as executive functions, EF for short, best described as working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control.

Preparing kids for a successful future starts, the experts say, in early childhood and indeed international research bears this out, with consensus reached that the development of children’s potential is based on the understanding of the brain’s nature and how it works.

Dow Thailand, which has been operating in the Kingdom for more than 50 years, supported the 2017 EF Symposium “Thai Children’s Brain: The Foundation of Thailand’s Future” and took the opportunity to showcase its project “Dow- EF Development for Successful Youth & Rayong Happiness”.

The project was initiated in 2016 by Dow Thailand Group and 19 agencies from Rayong Province including community leaders, teachers, village health volunteers, health promoting hospital officers, public health officers, and nurseries. Its objective is to enhance youth care with Executive Functions (EF) during early childhood and has been designed to complement the Thai government’s infrastructure support to prepare the country for Thailand 4.0.

Several parties have turned their attention to the development of children’s cognitive thinking through EF in recent years. EF is located in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. It governs the thinking process and behaviour of children aged 0-six years to adolescents. These skills are crucial for not only intelligence enhancement but also morale-boosting. EF helps encourage children to express their confidence, initiate ideas, act upon them, ask questions and search for the answers in an appropriate manner. In short, it forms a foundation for positive disciplines.

“Dow Thailand Group recognises the importance of EF for children’s development and aims to achieve it through integrated and sustainable collaboration between among the Ban Chang Strategic Development Team, RLG Group (Rakluke), community leaders, teachers, and volunteers including “Change Agents”,” explains Poranee Kongamornpinyo, the Group’s public affairs director.

“The team has been working to expand and track progress continuously and drive the project to success through individual expertise, contribution, knowledge and technique-sharing within the collaborative network.”

A human brain is categorised by function into three main parts. EF is a mental process in the frontal part that controls cognitive, analysing, inhibiting, and emotional skills. This part of the brain is best developed from birth to 6 years old. It is a set of skills that governs IQ and EQ and is classified into three groups, namely Basic Skills, Self-Regulation Skills, and Practice Skills. These skills enable children to learn, solve problems, socialise, and lead a happy and successful life.

Research conducted by the National Statistical Office of Thailand has shown that the number of cross-generation families in which father, mother, children, and senior relatives are living together has increased by 35.9 per cent. This suggests that all family members play a role and contribute to the process of children’s upbringing.

“EF development in children is directly related to neuroscience and high-level brain processing especially in the frontal part of the brain. It needs to be well developed as it constructively contributes to one’s life,” says Assistant Professor Dr Vorasit Siripornpanich.

The prime period for EF development is between the ages of three and six years old until pre-adult. This indicates that the earlier we develop these skills in children, the better we can enhance their learning process, enabling them to have life immunity.”

On Thai Children’s Day earlier this month, Dow volunteers joined with Change Agents to organise EF activities for parents and children in Ban Chang district. These included the “EF music activity” where each child was responsible for one musical instrument while the instructors assigned a sign for the instrument for the children to play when prompted, which helped with the children’s ability to focus on a specific task.

All the activities were designed to enhance emotional, social, and psychological development in the youngsters, giving them the opportunity to practice self-assessment, problem-solving and decision-making skills, as well as creativity. Most importantly, the children were able to share quality time with their parents and friends to help improve their social skills.

The “DOW – EF Development for Successful Youth & Rayong Happiness” project has now expanded to 65 schools and 11 public health institutions in Rayong and has 240 Change Agents helping drive the project through 60 activities. A total of 60,000 people have benefited from this project.

The World’s Best Obstacle Race, which will be held for the second time on May 19 at Siam Country Club by giving a 10-per-cent discount on the sign-up,To take advantage of the offer, use the promotion code FF10SPARTAN via http://www.SpartanRace.co.th. The promotion is valid through February 28. For more information, call (02) 789 9997 or visit Facebook.com/FitnessFirstThailand.

Cowboys night out

Return to Bubbles kicks off with its first party of 2018 this Friday with “Cowboy Night”, pitching a live band against a talented DJ in a tune-to-tune battle to play the top hits from the 80’s.

Book your night out at (02) 200 9000 ext 2998, 2999 or visit http://www.dusit.com/dtbk.

Love in a cup

Starbucks Coffee (Thailand) welcomes the month of love and Valentine’s Day with a range of new drinkware sets in pastel shades including green, light blue and pink. Pops of darker colours such as dark blue and shiny rose gold give an extra sparkle with hearts adding a touch of romance. No matter if you are in a relationship or happily single, you’ll find a ceramic cup for hot drinks and a tumbler suitable for both hot and cold beverages to refresh your day. The products are now available at Starbucks stores nationwide.

Take a bite of this burger

Enjoy a little luxury in your day at the City Terrace, Conrad Bangkok’s relaxing poolside restaurant with light snacks that range from healthy to a little indulgent. This month and next, the highlight is a savoury Thai River Prawn Burger, with Red Curry Mayo sauce, topped with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, bacons and cheese. It’s priced at Bt420-plus. For more information, please visit please call (02) 690 9999

Go on, share the happiness

THAI invites members of its Royal Orchid Plus Frequent Flyer Programme to participate in the “Donate Miles to Share Happiness” campaign, whereby donated miles will be redeemed for Thai tickets on domestic and international routes and given to the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital. Contributions will be used to fund medical supplies for Siriraj Hospital’s Navamindrapobitr 84th Anniversary Medical Centre. Donations can be made at ThaiAirways.com/rop until July 31.

PERFORMING ARTS festivals are going inter-disciplinary. They’re blurring genre boundaries by bridging their gaps and bringing in new groups of audiences. Some no longer put the category of each work in the brochure, as they choose works which fit the theme of each festival instead of what’s currently popular on the international tour. Opting for inclusivity instead of exclusivity, “There’s something for everyone” has now become the catchprase of many events.

Despite this trend, it’s still a delight to attend a festival that not only focuses on a genre but also the region. Such is the case for the inaugural City Contemporary Dance Festival (CCDF) late November in Hong Kong. Living up to its name, the six-day festival only presented contemporary dance performances from East Asia – namely China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau and Taiwan – at several venues in Kowloon, Hong Kong and the New Territories. It’s organised by the 38-year-old City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC), under the artistic directorship of Willy Tsao, a pioneer of contemporary dance in Asia.

The programme started in early afternoon with “Hotpot: East Asia Dance Platform”, presenting smaller and shorter works by artists from Japan, South Korea, the Pearl River Delta – for this festival, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen– Shanghai and Taiwan. There was also “Hong Kong Focus” which presented works by six local independent choreographers. Co-founded by CCDC with Japan’s Yokohama Dance Collection and South Korea’s Seoul International Dance Festival (SIDance), who selected representative works from their respective countries, this “Hotpot” initiative was inspired by the “Ice Hot: Nordic Dance Platform”, a biannual contemporary dance festival featuring exclusively works by artists from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

“Ice Hot” organisers were also guests here in the SAR after giving useful suggestion in curating this East Asia counterpart.

In the evening, larger-scale works by more established companies, from Japan, South Korea, Beijing, Shanxi and of course Hong Kong, were presented in larger venues. This part of the programme was built on CCDC’s close relationship with their Japanese and Korean counterparts, respectively Noism and Daegu Contemporary Dance Company.

And while the audience for the afternoon programmes was mainly artists from other groups in the festival and international programmers, presenters and producers, who were part of DanceX International Dance Network, the evening counterpart was mainly the Hong Kong dance-going public. A discussion with the choreographers was also organised after every performance.

On the second-to-last morning of the festival, a major issue was raised at a symposium titled “ChatBox: Re-Imagine Dance in Asia”, co-organised by the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) [IATC-HK] and featuring Swedish critic Cecilia Djurberg, Taiwanese multi-disciplinary artist and critic Liu Chun-Liang and myself.

Having observed that tradition was somewhat missing from the works he had already watched at CCDF, a European producer, a member of DanceX International Dance Network, questioned the contemporaneity of East Asian dance and how it differs – or whether it should – from the European counterpart.

Many dance festivals in Europe have been performing the role of gatekeepers selecting certain works while ignoring others, rather than gateways through which works from other regions can naturally flow. This has been continuing for so many years that when it comes to contemporary Asian dance, many European audiences are expecting a certain amount of interaction between modernity and tradition. And without the latter, such as in CCDF, they may deem the work insignificant or old-fashioned. This is despite the fact that most contemporary Asian choreographers, giving their training background, are neither trained nor interested in traditional arts – and most contemporary dance works that Asian audiences are watching have little, or nothing, to do with tradition as well, as evidenced in CCDF. We cannot simply assume that all Asian choreographers think and work like Taiwan’s Lin Hwai Min, Indonesia’s Eko Supriyanto, or our Pichet Klunchun, can we?

It is widely known, and generally agreed, that, as the amount of artistic possibility rises, the scope of contemporary dance, like that of contemporary arts in general, continues to expand – and my Swedish colleague also noted the lack of conceptual dance in CCDF, a comment with which I concurred. With this diversity and possibility in mind though, one has to wonder whether the restricted point of view towards contemporary Asian dance, in this day and age when many Asian countries’ technological advances far exceed those of their European counterparts, can be regarded as a kind of neo-colonialism. That’s not, however, a debate for this page, so back to CCDF.

One of my CCDF favourite works, the image of the opening scene of “Nina—materialize sacrifice”, which was presented at Sibiu Performing Arts Festival in Romania earlier last year, is still fresh in my mind. The discipline instilled in Noism 1’s female dancers’ bodies was so high that it took me many seconds before I realised that they were humans, not mannequins. As obvious as it might sound – and of course contemporary dance does not need to be abstract – the contrast between the manipulating male dancers’ movements and the manipulated female counterparts’ throughout this full-length work was proof of strong dramaturgy which also reflected the technologically advanced and highly patriarchal society.

Works that premiered more than a decade ago like “Cold Arrow–Game of Go (Weiqi)” by China’s Beijing Dance/LDTX’s and “Moon-Looking Dog”, which was at Biennale de la danse a Lyon in 2000, by Korea’s Daegu Contemporary Dance Company did not look dated either. With their firm places in the history of contemporary dance in both countries, if not East Asia or Asia in general, the two works, respectively by choreographers Willy Tsao and Hong Seungyup serve as links, or references, to what and how the younger generations of artists are working today.

It’s also noteworthy that apart from the dancers’ technical prowess and the choreographers’ insights, music and production design play important roles in contemporary dance. Some choreographers take as their inspiration existing music scores, either famous or lesser-known ones, and, accompanied by one complete number after another, their works may sound and look familiar to some audiences, especially those with a European gaze. Meanwhile others, with more resources, have composers or sound designers create the soundscapes that are more specific to their works. Three noteworthy examples are France-born Vietnamese composer An Ton That’s for “Nina”, his Korean counterpart Kim Te-kn’s for “Moon-Looking Dog” and Japanese colleague Chihako Ezawa’s for Co. Un Yamada’s “One Piece”.

The memorable CCDF experience made me look back. I have attended the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) on an annual basis since 2008 and yet scarcely watched contemporary dance and theatre works from Hong Kong and East Asia here. I can also think back to when I visited Hong Kong for the first time–also the first time I was in a foreign country–in the late 1970s when my enthusiasm was for Japanese toys and McDonald’s Fillet-o-Fish, which were not yet available here. Recently, that has changed to made-in-Hong Kong clothes and some new dim sum creations which are not available elsewhere. That is to say: this so-called “Asia’s World City” still has plenty more of the local contemporaneity for me, and any foreign visitor, to discover.

And taking further our inspiration from “Ice Hot” to “Hotpot”, I was talking to Kuik Swee Boon, the founder and artistic director of The Human Expression Dance Company and M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival in Singapore. We both agreed that our region still lacks a regional contemporary dance festival – and the existing two dance festivals namely the biannual Indonesia Dance Festival (IDF) and annual da:ns festival, by the Esplanade—Theatres on the Bay have a much wider scope. And so Kuik and I both proposed a name for a first Southeast Asian counterpart of “Hotpot”: his was chicken rice and mine curry. Does the fact we couldn’t reach an agreement mean that our region is too diverse for the contemporary dance platform to be held? Or, with the current traffic that most frequently passes through the island state, financially and artistically, in addition to all members of the AEC governments who seem to be interested more in tradition than contemporaneity, would our platform be possible only in Singapore?

The writer’s trip to CCDF was fully supported by CCDC and IATC-HK. Special thanks to Bernice Chan, Willy Tsao, Karen Cheung, Carrol Ho and Jacky Fung.

KEEP DANCING

– Visit http://www.ccdc.com .hk to check the next programs by CCDC and http://www.IceHotNordicDance.com for the news about the upcoming dance platform in the Iceland capital this December.

Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok provides every celebrating couple with a complete sense of nobility, gracing every engagement and wedding occasion with a wealth of amazing memories to be treasured for a lifetime.

“We work hard to ensure that every couple receives a genuine royal welcome and that this special feeling is maintained throughout their stay,” explains Director of Groups and Events Lalidapun Chavananand.

“We have an experienced team that specialises in engagement and wedding parties of all sizes and for all religious denominations, ensuring that every celebration is truly unforgettable. They understand the importance of crafting the dream wedding for each couple and this includes ensuring that they appreciate and enjoy the sense of exclusivity and graciousness which is present throughout Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok,” she adds.

The hotel’s majestic entrance ensures a graceful and grand arrival. The lobby, with its dramatically high ceiling, luxury fittings and majestic spiral staircase, enhances the sense of grandeur with delightful European music playing softly in the background to create an elegant feel. The staircase is a popular location for photographs as the bride and groom make their way to the grand setting of the Chadra Ballroom. Every wedding day is an occasion to be remembered by family and friends as well as the bride and groom.

In June 1966, the elegant Siam Intercontinental Hotel was built in the grounds of the Sra Pathum Palace. One side of the Palace shared the same wall as the hotel and, at that time, Siam Intercontinental Hotel was one of the first international hotels in Bangkok. Indeed, Siam Intercontinental Hotel was a major landmark in the city with its beautiful lotus pond filled with purple lotus flowers. The hotel was demolished in 2002.

The Kempinski Hotel Group opened its first property in Bangkok in 2010 –the Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok. Remaining true to the heritage and the history of this royal location, Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok is an impressive reflection and portrayal of Thai regal hospitality and European flair, offering an unrivalled five-star luxury service to local and international guests.

Find out more by calling (02) 162 9000 or email catering.siambangkok@kempinski.com

THE UNDENIABLE appeal of the Zik Zleep Zalon on Bangkok’s Phaholyothin Soi 5 (Soi Ratchakru) is that you can have a snooze while being massaged before getting your hair styled.

The salon is dimly lit – the better to calm the senses – and clients sink onto comfy leather beds for 40 winks while their hair is washed and their head, shoulders and hands are massaged.

Afterwards their hair is blow-dried and then, if they like, cut or styled.

Hairstylist Sikawat “Zik” Lue-sopon has a professional understanding of how relaxing it is to have someone else gently wash your hair, and he decided to extend the creature comforts further.

“Anyone who’s had a poor night’s sleep or just needs some relaxation is going to love this nap salon,” says Zik, who earned his diploma from the Sassoon Academy in London.

“We incorporate neck, head, shoulders and hand massage with hair treatments – washing and applying aromatic spa products. You hop on the bed and relax and we do the rest.”

There are eight of these inviting beds, plus two private rooms, each with two more beds.

The treatments on offer are the one-hour Nap Original Shampoo (Bt1,000), two-hour Nap Original Treatment (Bt2,000), two-hour Nap Sculpt Scrubbing Treatment (Bt2,000) and two-hour Butterfly Pea Latte Shirodhara (Bt2,500).

Zik himself will cut, style or colour clients’ hair later have at prices starting at Bt1,000.

If chronic insomnia or just a lack of sleep is an issue for you, Zik recommends the Butterfly Pea Latte Shirodhara.

It entails an ayurvedic massage with warm milk containing butterfly-pea extract, which promotes healthy hair growth and helps prevent hair loss and greying.

Shirodhara as a healing technique involves gently massaging the head and a slow stream of warm oil being poured on the forehead, where the “third eye” (the anja chakra) is believed positioned.

Once you’re on the comfy bed, the hairdresser-therapist covers your eyes with a warm towel and begins gently massaging your hands. There is the soothing sound of a “singing bowl” to deepen the sense of calmness and serenity.

The warm milk is then applied to the forehead and the scalp and head are massaged.

Next, Bulgarian rose oil is applied to the hair to strength the shafts, add sheen and eliminate itchiness.

Then there’s a nap shampoo, which adds ozone to the hair to stimulate follicles, improve blood circulation and foster hair growth. A Phyto Aromatic Mist is spritzed on the face to refresh and restore skin moisture. Then you wake up, as if from a wonderful dream, and get those locks blow-dried.

“For the Nap Original Treatment formula, I worked with an instructor-researcher at Kasetsart University,” says Zik, whose mum runs the popular Pitsamai salon in Thon Buri.

“It’s an organic shampoo with kaffir lime extracted using the cold-press method that’s considered the best way to extract essential oils. It preserves all of the natural benefits.”

The Nap Sculpt Scrubbing Treatment, Zik says, is designed to soothe the scalp and restore hair to its optimal level of health.

“That formula contains extract of black rice, which is rich in vitamins, and grape-seed oil to add sheen. The massage feels absolutely luxurious.”

There’s no reason to doubt that, but do people really sleep during all this?

“I can say that more than 90 per cent of our clients have a good doze during their treatments,” Zik confirms.

SNIPS AND SNORES

>> Zik Zleep Zalon is on Phaholyothin Soi 5 (Soi Ratchakru) near the Ari BTS station.

>> It’s open daily from 10.30am to 9pm.

>> Call (098) 614 9997 or go to the “Zik Zleep Zalon” page on Facebook.