The three-day fun race is divided into three stages for professional cyclists, running along the mighty Mekong River and putting Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan and Sakon Nakhon on the map as sports tourism destinations in Thailand’s Northeast. Families can also join a one-day, 10km fun ride that is non-competitive fun.

Participants will be rewarded with a cycling jersey, souvenir t-shirt, trophy, medal and e-certificate depending on category and finishing time

Register at http://www.ThailandTriLeague.com before May 10.

Arts on the Macao stage

The 29th Macao Arts Festival, which continues to the end of the month, takes local residents and foreign tourists on a theatrical ride through past, present and future through several spectacular acts.

The highlights are “The Trojan Women”, a play by contemporary Japanese troupe Suzuki Company of Toga and Singaporean group Nine Years Theatre’s “Pissed Julie”, a work inspired by the drama “Miss Julie” by Swedish playwright August Strindberg.

Find out more at En.MacauTourism.gov.mo.

Getting creative in Bangkok

Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers invites everyone to join its online activity campaign “Creative District Discover on Your next Staycation” that runs from May 7 to 21.

All you have to do is like a page RoyalOrchidSheratonHotel Facebook wall then type in “Creative district” on Facebook Messenger and answer two questions. Getting them right could land you a weekend stay in a Club Deluxe River view room plus Sunday Brunch for two persons. The winner will be announced on May 23.

Find out more by calling (02) 02 266 0123 or visit http://www.RoyalOrchidSheraton.com.

Living high at the Murray

The Murray, Hong Kong, a Niccolo Hotel, welcomes business and leisure travellers with The Murray’s Hong Kong Explorer Package that is available until August 31.

Room rates start from HKD 4,655 (Bt18,475) for an 50sqm N2 Grand Room and guests can enjoy daily breakfast for two, private walking tours with local experts, round-trip limousine transfers from the airport or ground transfer within Hong Kong and late checkout at 4pm.

Those booking the N3 Grand Deluxe Room or Signature Suite can enjoy breakfast at Popinjays and a welcome glass of champagne.

Make a reservation at reservations.themurray@niccolohotels.com.

Buy six, get one free

Anantara Vilamoura is celebrating its first birthday by offering complimentary extra nights in the Algarve.

With sun-kissed beaches and superb culinary indulgence, the package includes one complimentary night for five to six extended night stays, two complimentary nights for seven to 13-night stays and four complimentary nights for 14-night stay.

Check out the best rates at http://www.Anantara.com.

FOR A COUNTRY seemingly obsessed by cartoon-like characters – think T-shirts, mobile phone covers and cushions emblazoned with Kumamon, Rilakkuma, Hello Kitty and superheroes like Batman and Spiderman – it comes as something of a surprise to discover that Thais know very little about locally created characters. Yes, these home-grown creations have a strong presence in the Line Stickers shop, so why do we think they are as foreign as well, Bloody Bunny.

Except that Bloody Bunny isn’t foreign at all – he’s Thai. “People are surprised to find out that Bloody Bunny is one of ours,” says Panjarat Areerattanatrakul, marketing manager of 2Spot Communications, which give birth to the knife-wielding rabbit some 14 years ago. 2Spot has introduced more than 100 characters to the market including the well-known Unsleep Shpe, though Bloody Bunny is so charismatic that he’s become the company’s flagship character.

Nine Thai animation characters were chosen for last week’s Style event, a new initiative launched by the Commerce Ministry’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) to support Thai character creators on the international market and add greater commercial value to their work through character licensing. This allows for transferring the popularity of a well-known “personality” to a product/service in order to obtain instant awareness and market positioning.

The animation characters selected are Bloody Bunny, Majory, Yak Rocket, The Mask Collection – a spin-off of the popular singing contest of the same name, Nuts So Mond’Sters, Princess Story, Rudolph the Awesome, Missnight, and Eggy Egg.

Launched a year ago, Eggy Egg is the brainchild of The Monk Studio, a leading animation, visual effects and post-production outfit that’s behind TV commercials and movies including the animation “Khun Tongdaeng The Inspirations”. Eggy’s story begins when six baby chicks emerge from a box of six eggs and start their adventures with first-born Eggy taking charge of his younger siblings.

The Monk Studio is involved in licensing only and describes its creations as prototype merchandise products. “Our creatives came up with some characters and started with a story, then developed it for character licensing. It is not our expertise. The only products we do are Line stickers,” explains Umparin Boonsinsuk, the company’s Licensing & Marketing manager.

Rudolph the Awesome is the offspring of Xhabition, a company behind the visual effects for movies like “Faak Wai Nai Guy Ther” (“The Swimmers”). Its managing director, Nattakitar Satawatthamrong, says Rudolf was created more than a year ago based on the company’s naughty cocker-poodle mutt of the same name.

“He’s independent and mischievous and so our creatives turned him into a character,” she explains, adding that Xhabition has moved from Line stickers to selling products online such as T-shirts, pillows, canvas shoes and umbrellas.

Many factors are involved in making a character successful in terms of impact, artistic value and recognition. “In Japan, using characters to promote anything and even as a city’s mascot is very popular. It’s not like that here,” says Bloody Bunny’s Panjarat.

“But if you don’t have an animation series or a shop to gain more recognition, you can create other kinds of digital content and get better known online through Instagram, Facebook and other sites,” she adds.

Indeed, Thai characters earn fame thanks to the rapid development of online content and today have many platforms on which to appear, including the oh-so-popular Line Stickers, through which hundreds of domestic creations are introduced to the market. And the market is growing: 9.5 per cent in 2017 and 8.1 per cent so far in 2018, a year in which total market value is expected to skyrocket to Bt2 billion.

Yet creating unique Thai characters doesn’t necessarily mean showcasing “Thainess”. Quite the opposite in fact: local creators tend to combine the style of American and Japanese mascots and turn it into one of their own.

“When adapted to the Thai lifestyle, the character will be unique in its own way,” says Panjarat.

The Monk’s Umparin adds that even if the characters doesn’t have anything particularly Thai about them, there is still something that reflects “being Thai”.

“Each country has its own colour palette and that’s kind of its DNA. As you see, all Thai characters are all in rich and cheerful colours, while other countries prefer earth tones or pastels. It comes out naturally,” she adds.

For Prapapat Keeree, the creative director of Yaklek, the newest kid on the creative character block, creating Yak Rocket is a dream come true. The family inkjet printing business has seen a fall off in orders with the advent of more advanced technologies and she decided to create her character so that she could take part in the Top Thai Characters in Style event. She finished the characters in January.

“I know nothing about the character licensing market and wanted to learn more from this event. Coming from a ‘red ocean’ business, I have nothing to fear and above all, it fulfils my childhood dream of character design,” says Prapapat.

And even as the DITP is working to support Thai characters, their creators are also trying to up the ante, with some companies already in discussions about opening a Thai character shop in Platinum Mall Pratunam.

Several Thai characters already have an established international presence, among them Shelldon, Mamuang and Jay the Rabbit, currently appearing in a TV series in Taiwan, but there are many more creators who lack the knowledge, understanding and skills to penetrate the international market or lease their license to overseas clients. Support from the government sector, they say, can only help them become better known internationally, especially in established markets like Japan and USA, and new markets like China and CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam).

Topping them all is that knife-wielding rabbit who has his own shop at Terminal 21 and last year was among the six characters chosen to showcase Thailand at the popular one-stop Tokyu Hands Shops in Japan.

Bloody Bunny has also worked with Japanese singers Ayumi Hamasaki and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and appeared in their music videos. Rudolf has agents in Japan and Taiwan and is a line sticker in Japan too.

There are three categories, among them a three-day long-distance, triple stage road race starting at 7am.

Stage One is the “King of Kong” 127 kilometres of highway cycling along tarmac that snakes alongside the Mekong River from Phaya Sri Satta Nakarat, Nakhon Phanom to Mukdahan Tower, Mukdahan. Stage two challenges entrants along the 150-kilometres “King of Endurance” stage cycling along the main highway inclusive of some hilly climbs into Khong Phing Ngu, Sakon Nakhon, while the “King of Speed” stage three sees cyclists pedal down at maximum speed to Phaya Sri Satta Nakarat, Nakhon Phanom.

Nakhon Phanom, known for the huge Wat Phra That Phanom temple, Wat Maha That, Phaya Sri Satta Nakarat and Wat Si Thep Pradittharam temples, is a Thailand’s northeasternmost province bordering Laos on the Mekong River.

Mukdahan is located on the west bank of the Mekong River. Here visitors can enjoy various attractions including Mukdahan National Park, Mukdahan Tower, Phu Manorom and Wat Si Mongkhon Tai.

Sakon Nakhon is another province located on the great Mekong. It has various attractions including Wat Phra That Choeng Chum Worawihan and Wat Tham Phae Dan temples, Ban Tharae Catholic Community and Phra That Narai Cheng Weng.

Participants are invited to participate in one, two or all three stages or choose to ride in a one-day 10-kilometre fun race that provides non-competitive fun for the whole family.

Rewards for cyclists range from a cycling jersey, souvenir T-shirt, trophy, medal and e-certification depending on category and finishing time.

Register with Thailand Tri-League before May 10 if you want to take part.

Find out more by calling the TAT Nakhon Phanom office at (043) 22 77145 or email: tatphnom@tat.or.th.

“The easiest routine to bring us closer to nature every day is cleansing with Rawganic soap. It contains six organic botanicals from around the world, such as coconut oil from the Thai South.”

The aim is to be completely clean – rid of all traces of dirt and chemicals, Narumon says. Using the soap relaxes the tissues and lets the face breathe.

Sesame oil produced organically in the United States rejuvenates the skin, and extract of fine olive oil from Greece moisturises deeply.

Sunflower oil from the US, a natural source of Vitamin E, helps the soap last longer without preservatives. Shea butter from western Africa is the ultimate moisturiser and is combined with aloe vera from India to safeguard against the sun and high heat.

Rawganic is chemical free and contains no artificial fragrances or additives. It’s certified as organic by the US Department of Agriculture and Dermscan Asia. It can be stored for up to two years.

The packaging features a natural design by Phantipa Thanchookiet of Paper Studio by Likaybindery, illustrated by Suthipa Kamyam.

Brand ambassador Sara Legge, a talented young actress, offers a recommendation for first-time users.

“Rinse with clean water and use the soap to create bubbles,” she says. “Rub it gently over your face. Then rinse with water at room temperature.

Rawganic Soap is available at Tops Supermarkets and Central Food Halls.

Check out http://www.RawganicSoap.com and the brand’s Facebook and Instagram feeds.

Staying in holiday accommodation with great interior design has a positive impact as well, with over two thirds (87 per cent) of Thai travellers saying this helps them feel more relaxed while on holiday, according to research undertaken by the travel website Booking.com.

Five of the top design trends among Thai travellers are as follows:

– Scandinavian simplicity (81 per cent) – This is a movement defined by simplicity, minimalism, utility and beauty. Known for its pared-back style, it has flawless craftsmanship at its core. Blonde woods and clean, streamlined shapes with curved corners recur in both architecture and furniture. Minimal accessories and plenty of natural sunlight also punctuate this style, which has been adopted the world over.

– Japanese zen (64 per cent) – Japanese interiors are renowned for their form and function. Originally governed by the sparse aesthetic of Buddhism, the Japanese are known for their thoughtful use of space, with every object serving a purpose. The “less-is-more” approach is apparent in Japanese interiors, as well as the obvious neutral colour scheme and warm, natural tones punctuated by straight lines and accented by manicured foliage.

– Mediterranean blues (58 per cent) – This timeless style has you daydreaming of sailing on the ocean. The look invokes a feeling of relaxation and is mostly characterised by a cool, minimal but colourful palette. Beautiful, patterned tiles have long been a feature of this trend, as have natural fabrics and textures like white linen, solid timber furniture and terracotta flooring.

– Country farmhouse (58 per cent) – The country farmhouse look is defined by its maximalist aesthetic and is well-known for its use of chunky timbers, hard-wearing woods and rough, natural materials such as stone floors. These all help to evoke feelings of warmth and comfort. Nothing is too delicate to touch in a farmhouse, rather everything is slightly weathered but consciously chosen and placed due to its romantic and nostalgic qualities.

– Bold Indian prints and colours (32 per cent) – bold colours mixing with exotic prints of the east along with brass ornaments add colour that stands out. This style gives a different feeling to the home: it is mood-changing and gives the true feeling of getting away.

Other holiday-inspired interior trends popular amongst global travellers included Parisian vintage (opulently decorated with beautiful antiques) and Middle Eastern elegance (colourful design featuring an array of fabrics and textures). Current popular trends are Bohemian chic (eclectic and unconventional style), city chic and the cool Industrial loft.

Most Thai travellers (83 per cent) say that the design (or look and feel) of their holiday accommodation inspires them to do interior design work to their own homes. More than half (52 per cent) say this inspiration is down to the fact they’re able to stay in accommodation with unusual interior design and the other half (51 per cent) say that experiencing different cultures and ways of life on holiday also acts as a stimulus.

Bringing your holiday back home doesn’t need to involve a huge renovation project. Travellers can easily inject a slice of culture and colour into their daily lives in more simple ways, such as purchasing home furnishing items while on holiday. The top items Thai travellers buy to take back home are local crafts (62 per cent), local artwork (49 per cent), kitchen crockery (36 per cent), small souvenirs such as fridge magnets (31 per cent), soft furnishings (26 per cent) and ornaments (21 per cent).

For those interested in undertaking home redecoration, big or small, Booking.com has worked with creative 3D architectural and interior design rendering boutique, Render Atelier, to create brand new CGI imagery, exclusive to Booking.com, depicting five of the interiors top trends, to provide travellers with inspiration on how to recreate these popular trends in their own homes.

“Apple’s different. She’s not like the other girls.” Spoken about a Bangkok bar girl, with an assurance untainted by decades of shared wisdom to the contrary, the woefully familiar line becomes a springboard into rocky romance, generous mirth and dodgy doings in Matt Carrell’s latest lark, “I Am an Author”.

The Englishman is indeed the author of thrillers and murder mysteries (“Thai Kiss”, “Vortex” and more), but he has perhaps never been as forthrightly funny as in this unceasingly entertaining yarn.

In a cascade of criminality, scams set one within the next like Matryoshka dolls, and surprises that continue all the way to the final page and, in fact, into the author’s note at the end, “I Am an Author” is a tale of relentless gullibility that’s by turns hilarious and excruciating to witness.

It’s about seeking salvation from mundane existence, a sparrow dreaming it’s an eagle. It’s about struggling writers in search of readers and finding instead unhelpful agents and unscrupulous publishers. (Amazon the uber-publisher is portrayed as the high altar and hellish pit it is, though here it’s called Yangtze.)

And Carrell is also extrapolating to some extent on his own experience trying to turn the written word into celluloid. Enter Harvey Weinstein’s less admirable cousin.

Carrell is self-effacing to begin with (and far too modest) as he introduces Michael Kenyon, a bit of a Walter Mitty, a bumbling Everyman who daydreams of wealth and fame when he’s not fantasising about exacting revenge on his bugger of a boss at

the Department of Overseas Development.

Fed up with the civil service, Mike decides he can break free of the dull life by matching Stephen Leather’s feat of compressing anecdotes about Thai nocturnal fun into a best-selling novel.

Producing a rival to “Private Dancer”, though, necessitates more than just studying the banter in expat online chat rooms like Pattaya-Dream. He’s off to Thailand to takes notes first-hand, and is joined in his overseas research by fellow bean-counter Tim.

Mike successfully remains aloof from the ladies, but he’s appalled to see Tim discover his chrome-pole dream girl and begin falling for every age-old trick documented in “Private Dancer” and countless other heart-shredding accounts.

(Interestingly, Stephen Leather isn’t the only real-life writer to get a mention. Talking about his inspirations, Mike says, “For footballers it’s Messi or Ronaldo – for me it was writers of Asian fiction like Hallinan or Burdett.”)

Tim returns home to London an utterly changed man, determined to earn more cash so he can head straight back to Thailand and a temple wedding.

Publishers ignore Mike’s book, “Thailand… the Dark Side” by Tony McDonald (“cool pseudonym”). Briefly, the devastated author-never-meant-to-be considers “Plan B”.

“If I had no luck with my submissions [to publishing houses], I’d sleep with a Premiership footballer. From there the road to reality TV is assured and, after that, a book deal is a dead cert.”

But a Facebook friend agrees to put “Dark Side” out via Porcupine Publishing. Mike has to cough up “a few hundred quid for the editing” and his manuscript comes back packed with suggested changes. “There was no way I was prepared for this carnage,” he groans.

It finally shows up on Yangtze, sells a few copies, and promptly sinks from sight.

Checking to see if anyone’s mentioning it at Pattaya-Dream, Mike realises how many other books there are just like his. “I thought I’d taken the path less travelled. It was a goddamned motorway.” That’s when Tim suggests getting “Dark Side” made into a movie, and he even comes up with a ready film producer, Alex Cartwright. No sooner does Mike meet the enthusiastic Alex than he’s composing his acceptance speech for the Bafta awards.

The balloon soon pops, of course, and many more pops will be heard as the story progresses. Mike’s pockets are emptied again and again, to no avail.

Eventually he finds a kindred

spirit, a gorgeous young woman. She’s a somewhat more successful amateur author but she’s apparently trapped in the same film-development hell. Maybe she can help. Maybe not.

Somehow Carrell manages to keep the reader grinning throughout his characters’ ever-worsening encounters with rotten luck. Only near the very end of the book does the plot get truly dire, and the final eye-popping surprise draws not a grin but a genuine gasp.

“Being a keen reader of detective fiction” (the speaker is Mike, but let’s attribute it to Matt), Carrell the genuinely accomplished author has constructed a clever little lotus bud of a mystery.

It’s also remarkable how he shares out narration duties among all the characters, including the bad guys (admittedly in the majority here). Their revelations as the knot is gradually untied often jostle against one another, like ice floes competing to get through the river rapids first. It’s a tour de force of weaving and unravelling, with the end of the thread always seeming just out of view.

A charming story (and true, as Hemingway would insist), “I Am an Author” is above all funny. “Mike,” goes one line, “had the air of a guy who’d been told to get on with his breakfast because the firing squad was on a tight schedule.”

Another favourite: “I’d developed an infallible capacity to remember in high definition each time I made a dick of myself.”

I Am an Author

By Matt Carrell

Published by Linden Tree and Matt Carrell Books, 2018

Available at Amazon.com, US$12

WHEN PHONGPHAN Chaiyanil was a boy, his grandmother sold the pottery she’d taken a lot of trouble to make for Bt50. He was watching the 200-year-old tradition of his Mon ancestors being peddled for minimal return.

Today he’s selling earthenware objects as high art for up to Bt5,000 apiece.

Grandma earned a living by selling small terracotta caskets on Koh Kret in Nonthaburi, a place long famous for its Mon-style pottery. Phongphan has his own brand, Panchanil, producing exquisite, contemporary home decor that blends Mon techniques, Chinese figures and Thai motifs.

Phongphan Chaiyanil has adapted the 200-year pottery tradition of his Mon forebears to exquisite, contemporary earthenware for decorating the home.

The Support Arts and Crafts International Centre of Thailand (SACICT) last year recognised Phongphan as a “Craftsmanship Descendant”, able to create new pieces by hand based on those his forebears made. The combination of fresh, modern ideas and forms with precious heritage also earned his work a showcase at the recent Craft Fair at Bitec in Bangkok.

Phongphan’s people were among the first migrants to arrive on Koh Kret from Hanthawaddy in Myanmar, 200 years ago. They were potters and set up a factory to make large water jars and flowerpots. When business declined, the family switched to small souvenirs.

“At age 12, I was my grandmother’s right-hand man, and it gave me a passion for art,” says Phongphan, now 46. “I studied at the College of Fine Arts and now I’ve inherited the craft tradition of my Mon ancestors and run the business for my grandmother, who’s in her 90s.”

He had a revelation while working at his grandma’s right hand, noticing that 40 per cent of the pots broke after firing, a tremendous waste.

He found a way to avoid breakage by letting the moulded clay dry for an hour and then placing it in an airtight box for two days so it remains moist. The pieces are fired in a kiln at 900 degrees Celsius and the result, he says, is “nearly zero waste”.

“We were moulding the body and lid separately, but the art of traditional fruit carving gave me the idea for a way to form a piece without separating the components.”

The lid is later carefully separated, using a serrated carving technique.

Thin bamboo sticks with the tips delicately carved with herringbone, pinecone and bodhi tree patterns are used to engrave elaborate details in the clay.

Phongphan Chaiyanil 

“I often apply Thai and Chinese motifs using gold and black acrylic paint so the pieces resemble traditional nielloware. On some pieces I also add gemstones and other jewellery components to the lids. Each piece is unique – no two are the same,” says Phongphan.

One of his gorgeous caskets, engraved with a golden swan, was presented as a gift to the king of Bahrain when he visited Thailand in 2015. Panchanil products are sold at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok’s Oriental Boutique.

The caskets remain popular and Panchanil also has beautiful lamps and vases, and Phongphan’s wife incorporates tiny terracotta pieces he makes in a collection of earrings.

Their home-studio on Koh Kret, Baan Din Mon, is open for the public for sales and workshops. They plan to turn it into a cultural resort with fellow residents pitching in for arty activities.

Tanatchaporn Udomjaroensinchai, who also participated in the Craft Fair, inherited her talent for weaving bamboo from her father, Plaeng Wongsasena, an expert the SACICT recognised as a Master Craftsman in 2016.

Tanatchaporn Udomjaroensinchai weaves thin bamboo strips, a talent learned from her father, into marvellous bags.

In place of household items such as baskets, she weaves bamboo into luxury shoulder bags, clutches and handbags. They’re available at Unii, a shop in the Chatuchak Weekend Market, and aboard Thai Airways flights, among the Otop Prestige items offered to in-flight shoppers.

Tanatchaporn creates her products with the 30-member Thai Loei Weave Work Handicraft Group. Her home in northeastern Loei province is surrounded by bamboo groves and she selects shoots according to diameter and stickiness.

Tanatchaporn Udomjaroensinchai

The culm (stem) is cut into thin strips and soaked in water overnight, left to dry naturally, and then “cured” in the smoke of a corncob fire to enhance the odour, give the surface an attractive sheen and get rid of any fungus or wood borers.

“Smoke from burning corncobs makes it shiny enough that we don’t need to apply any coating agent,” says Tanatchaporn. “You can get different natural shades by keeping in the smoke for different lengths of time.”

The bamboo products, ranging from coin purses and wallets to shoulder bags with removable straps, cost anywhere from Bt250 to Bt2,500. Woodworking techniques and weaving also combine in rustic-looking rice containers and tissue boxes that would do any home proud.

Another certified Master Craftsman, Urai Sajjaphaibul, makes naturally dyed apparel for the 22-year-old brand Hattra that entails complicated weaving.

Urai founded the Baan Na-Ngam Thai Cotton & Silk Group in Baan Phue, Udon Thani, in 1999 to preserve venerable weaving techniques such as khid, ngang chalu and khom hang krarok, and at the same time pursues green design.

Urai Sajjaphaibul combines weaving techniques to turn cotton and silk into modern textiles.

“Repair, reuse and recycle are our three principles,” she says. “We maximise the use of fabric with the least defects and use only natural dyes, such as lac, turmeric, indigo and the bark of ebony, mango and eucalyptus trees. The bark is then reused, as fuel. And clients can send the clothes back to be repaired or re-dyed when they fade.”

Cotton and silk are woven using the group’s main technique, called Benchawithi cotton silk, in which the different threads are mingled into one textile using five different processes.

“We use a two-shaft loom and two-colour twisted silk and cotton threads to create dimension, together with a technique called ngang chalu to make it translucent and perforated. Khid, or continuous supplementary weft, is also applied.”

You can buy her jackets, full suits, dresses, skirts, pants and scarves at Fai Gam Mai, a shop at Central Udon Thani, and the brand’s counters at Siam Paragon, the Emporium and the Mall Bang Kapi in Bangkok.

Urai Sajjaphaibul

Now Urai is passing on her wisdom to her children, who are in turn demonstrating a gift for fresh, contemporary design. Her daughter’s brand Tie Thai specialises in tie-dyed, bohemian-style clothes, while her son has Blue Tale, where the focus is on casual and chic cotton clothing for men.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

Panchanil pottery and Baan Din Mon can be reached at (081) 302 2964 and the “baandinmon” page on Facebook.

For the Thai Loei Weave Work Handicraft Group, call (092) 481 3529 or visit http://www.UniiShop.com.

Learn more about Hattra and the Baan Na-Ngam Thai Cotton & Silk Group at http://www.Hattra.com or call (084) 795 0920.

A GROWING number of companies in Japan are encouraging their employees to wear sneakers during their commute, as part of efforts to address their lack of physical exercise.

Some offices have put up maps indicating the approximate walking distances to nearby stations, while others are holding competitions among their employees for the number of steps they walk. The government is also supporting so-called sneaker commuting as an effort in which anyone can easily participate.

In January, Tokyo-based Asahi Soft Drinks started allowing its employees to come to their offices in sneakers.

Mariko Inomata, 27, of the sales department used to take the bus, but now she walks between her home in Tokyo and the office, wearing sneakers for the 25-minute trip each way.

“I walk while listening to music, which makes me feel great. And I start my job with more energy,” Inomata says.

Mariko Inomata, who works at the Tokyo-based Asahi Soft Drinks Co.commutes in sneakers. (Photo/Japan News/Yomiuri)

The company has a map at the office indicating walking distances and the time it takes to get to nearby stations, calling for employees to get off one station earlier and walk the extra way.

In March, Asahi Soft Drinks started distributing a pedometer app on employees’ smartphones. It has also embarked on a programme through which employees receive points for the number of steps they take, and exchange the points for prizes.

According to the Japan Sports Agency, 51.5 per cent of adults played sports at least once a week in fiscal 2017. By age, 50 per cent of people in their 20s exercise at least once a week, while people in their 30s, 40s and 50s were in the 40 per cent range.

At least 80 per cent of people aged from 20 to 59 said they felt their exercise was very insufficient or somewhat insufficient.

For that reason, the agency embarked on the “Fun plus Walk Project” in March as part of its efforts to have people increase their walking distance in their daily life such as in commuting, under the slogan “Take 1,000 more steps each day than usual”.

The Chiba city government encourages its officials to wear sneakers when commuting, in line with the agency-led project. If the health benefits are confirmed, the city government intends to ask companies in the city to join the project.

Tokyo-based Tokyu Corp has recommended since 2016 that its employees don sneakers while commuting, under its “Walk Biz” project.

The company’s different departments compete with each other over the average number of steps taken and the participation rate in the project, using a smartphone app. The average number of steps the participants walk is about 8,500 per day, according to the firm.

“Sometimes I have to wear leather shoes when I meet with customers. If sneaker commuting gains recognition, more people may accept wearing sneakers as one of the working styles like ‘cool biz’,” says Takeshi Komatsubara, 31, a Tokyu employee in charge of the project.

Ryoko Mori, a lecturer with the Japan Service Manner Association, which provides education on business etiquette, says wearing sneakers helps maintain employees’ health, but it is not common to don sneakers in business settings.

“It’s essential to consider wearing suitable shoes when having a business talk with customers. At first, I suggest you wear sneakers while commuting or working in the office,” Mori says.

Flyer wireless fitness earphones are a perfect match for the fitness-tracking Fitbit Ionic smartphone. They’re sweatproof and held securely and comfortably in place so they don’t fall out when you’re exercising.

The battery life is a generous six hours and there’s inline remote control for handling music and phone calls.

I had no problem connecting the Flyer to the Fitbit Ionic. Switch it on the first time and it immediately goes into pairing mode, with its LED blinking blue.

Since the Flyer is lightweight and secure in the ears, with the strap resting on your neck, you can enjoy listening to music while using the Ionic to record your run or bike trip. The Flyer weighs just 20 grams and has a cord length of 500mm.

The Flyer will pair with up to eight devices. Simply press and hold the power button on the right earbud for four seconds to put it into pairing mode and open the Bluetooth menu on your phone and select “Flyer”.

Once paired, the matching device’s profile is stored in the Flyer’s memory. The Flyer will automatically connect to nearby paired devices. Two devices can be connected at the same time, but only one can play music.

You control music playback on the Ionic or another phone with the Flyer’s Up and Down and Select buttons.

Press Select to play or pause, and Up or Down to alter volume and skip tracks. Press Up and hold for one second or double-press Select to go to the next track. To go back, press Down and hold for one second or triple-press Select.

The Select button is also used to answer, end or reject a phone call.

The Flyer has good sound quality. It uses 8.6mm drivers with a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz and good sensitivity of 110dB.

There are two sound profiles on the Flyer. The default Signature sound is classic and crisp, suitable for most activities. If you want more bass, go for Power Boost, which amplifies the lows and adjusts the equaliser for more power.

You can toggle Power Boost on and off by pressing Up and Down at the same time briefly. You’ll hear an audio notification of its status, as an energy-saving measure.

I found the bass to be ample on the Signature setting and enjoyed using the earphones to listen to rock music, which came through loud and clear. In Power Boost mode, the bass was massive.

The Flyer comes with three sizes of ear tips. Choose the right fit and you’ll be guaranteed of good passive-noise reduction.

To further help with the fit, there are two sizes of large wings and smaller fins. The wings tuck behind the fold in your ears, so pick the size that fits snugly without slipping. If neither the larger nor the smaller wing feels secure, go for the fins.

The fins follow the curve of your ears. You might have to switch between right and left fins to tuck in your ears correctly.

The earphones use a two-microphone system to ensure clear voice exchange during phone conversations.

The Fitbit Flyer has a suggested retail price of Bt5,190.

KEY SPECS

– Type: Inear

– Noise isolation: Passive

– Audio format: 16bit stereo, 44.1/48kHz

– Supported codecs: AAC, SBC

– Driver size: 8.6mm

– Frequency range: 20Hz to 20kHz

– Total harmonic distortion and noise: More than 0.5 per cent at 1kHz/1dBFS, 20Hz20kHz bandpass filter

– Maximum sound pressure: 100dBSPL at 1kHz

– Bluetooth: 4.2 supporting A2DP + AVRCP + HSP + HFP

– Battery: Playtime up to six hours, charging time two hours, charging port microUSB

– Microphone: Two MEMS mics (pickup pattern), dual omni-directional microphone (two-mic beamforming array)

– Dimensions: 25x20x18mm

– Cord length: 500mm

– Weight: 20g

– In the box: Fitbit Flyer Wireless headphones, three sizes of customisable ear tips, two sizes of wings and fins, carrying case, USB charging cable (USBA to USB MicroB

Released last month to critical acclaim, the new Huawei P20 Pro the leads the smartphone pack with its Leica triple camera.

That third camera is an 8MP telepro camera complete with a Leica 3 x telephoto (VarioSummiluxH 1:1.62.4/2780ASPH) lens.

The DxOMark, a trusted industry standard for camera and lens image quality measurements and ratings, has confirmed Huawei’s winning triple design. On March 27, the DxOMark announced that it had helped Huawei P20 Pro become the most capable smartphone camera on the market, awarding it a score of 109, 10 points ahead of its nearest rival.

Having a separate lens and image sensor for a telephotography camera is a great idea because the 3x camera, with an equivalent focal range of 80mm, retains a wide aperture – the aperture would be been narrower had the tele lens been incorporated into the main camera’s lens.

Huawei made the right decision to introduce a dual-camera design with Leica back in 2016 with the release of the P9. The dual-camera was then used in the Mate 9, P10, and Mate 10 series and set a standard for other brands to follow suit.

The dual-camera design allows the main camera to simulate a very wide aperture, achieving the bokeh effect or a professionally blurred background of a quality more expected of a DSlR camera. This smart and popular design helped the P9 sell and spawned the saying “if you want to buy a camera that comes with a smartphone, you must go for Huawei”.

That success apparently prompted Huawei to strive for even better camera performance and it has achieved that with bells on. The P20 Pro’s main camera configuration is comprised of a 40MP RGB QuadBayer sensor, a 20MP monochrome sensor and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens. It also features a temperature sensor for better colour reproduction.

The main sensor uses f/1.8 lens while the monochrome sensor uses f/1.6 lens. These wide aperture lens and highly sensitive image sensor allow the main camera of the P20 Pro to have impressive lowlight performance with a sensitivity of up to ISO 102400.

The main camera of P20 Pro is designed to achieve outstanding quality with Artificial Intelligence powered by the Huawei Kirin 970 processor. The P20 Pro automatically identifies more than 500 scenarios in 19 categories and selects photography modes and camera settings to deliver incredible, professional-looking images – even for novice photographers.

The camera uses Huawei AIS to allow you to achieve impressive night shots without a tripod. It also introduces 4D predictive focus. When this setting is activated, the camera predicts moving objects and focuses on them to capture minute details. In addition, the Huawei P20 Pro features AI-Assisted Composition, providing intelligent suggestions to frame group shots and landscapes. It also features a temperature sensor for better colour reproduction.

During the test, the P20 Pro captured truly beautiful photos with vivid colours. In particular, the P20 Pro achieved beautiful portraits with a professionally blurred background.

Two shooting modes allow you to achieve the bokeh effect – Wide Aperture and Portrait.

The Wide Aperture allows you to adjust the aperture bar. The lower the number, the wider the aperture and the more blurred the background.

The Portrait mode does just achieve the desired bokeh effect but also applies beautification effects to the face of your subject. This mode allows you to select one of 3D lighting effects from the choices of No lighting, Soft lighting, Butterfly lighting, Split lighting, Stage lighting and Classic lighting.

When I used the auto mode, which is called “Photo”, the camera’s AI automatically recognised various scenes accurately, including landscapes and food.

To switch to the telephoto camera, you simply tap on the Zoom button, which is shown as “1x” on the viewfinder screen. The 3X optical zoom is really useful, allowing you to get closer to the subject.

There is also a Pro camera mode that lets you adjust exposure, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focus type and light metering type to give you full control.

The main camera is capable of shooting 960 frames per second super slow motion, which is four times higher than the standard 240fpx, allowing it to capture details and fast actions that may be missed by the naked eye.

The camera boasts an Ultra Snapshot mode, allowing it to capture an image in as little as 0.3 seconds by just double clicking the down volume button, even from an off screen.

The 40MP resolution is huge and seems like overkill, especially as it takes up a lot of internal storage. In most cases, it’s better to switch to the 10MP resolution option.

The P20 Pro also has a 24MP front camera for high quality selfies.

As a smartphone, P20 Pro is sleek and just 7.8mm thick. It comes with beautiful 6.1-inch 18:9 Full-View OLED display with 1080×2240-pixel resolution.

It’s water resistant too, conforming to IP67, and incredibly powerful thanks to the good hardware. The P20 Pro is powered by Huawei Kirin 970 octacore processor with 4x Cortex A73 cores running at 2.36 GHz and 4x A53 cores running at 1.8 GHz. It also has an i7 co-processor and Neural Processing Unit (NPU). The NPU is in charge of handling AI performance of the smartphone including the AI function of the camera.

The P20 Pro comes with a generous 6 gigabytes of working memory or RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. The smartphone has two nano SIM slots but no expansion slot for storage.

It runs on Google Android 8.1 operating system with EMUI 8.1 user interface on top so it comes as no surprise that performance is fast. Measured by AnTuTu Benchmark v7.0.7, the smartphone got a score of 207,599. As of April 13, it was ranked sixth on the evergrowing benchmark database of AnTuTu.

The P20 Pro has fast Internet connection too. I tested it on TrueMove H’s LTE network. Applications were downloaded fast and my snapshots were backed up to my Google Photos cloud storage in seconds.

I used the Ookla Speedtest app to measure the connection speed and found that it achieved the download speed of 128 Mbps and upload speed of 43.7 Mbps.

The P20 Pro also has a fingerprint reader embedded in the hardware home button for fast unlocking of the phone.

It plays good quality music wirelessly and supports LDAC and aptX HD Bluetooth connection. I connected it to Sony MDR1ABT headphones in LDAC mode and was impressed by the sound. The P20 Pro does not provide a 3.5mm stereo jack but instead comes with a USB TypeC to 3.5mm stereo adapter for connecting to wire headphones.

It also has a large battery of 4,000 mAh that allowed me to survive a day of use on just the one charge.

Huawei P20 Pro has a suggested retail price of Bt27,990.

Key specifications:

– OS: Android 8.1 with EMUI 8.1

– Network: LTE TDD / LTE FDD / WCDMA / EDGE / GPRS

– CPU: HUAWEI Kirin 970 octacore CPU (4 x Cortex A73 2.36GHz + 4 x Cortex A53 1.8GHz) + i7 coprocessor

– Memory: 6GB

– Storage: 128GB

– Display: 6.1inch HUAWEI Full-View Display 18:9 OLED with 1080×2240 pixels

– SIM: dual nano SIM

– Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, USB TypeC, Infrared remote control

– Cameras: Front: 24MP, f/2.0; – Rear camera: 40MP RGB (f/1.8) + 20MP monochrome (f/1.6) + 8MP telephoto (f/2.4)

– Dimensions: 155.0 mm x 73.9 mm x 7.8 mm (H x W x D)

– Weight: 180g