Offering their take on grunge and punk are Madman, The Layers, Jimmy Revolt, Nirvalung and Pretty Punks. Tickets are Bt250 with one drink (pre-show) and Bt300 at the door. The Rock Pub is adjacent to Ratchathewi BTS Station

Find out more or book a table at (099) 191 5666, email therockpub1987@gmail.com, or check out LINE: @therockpub.

Suds sensations

Where Is My Beer?, Bangkok’s first dedicated beer cocktails & crafts bar, holds its grand opening party in Sukhumvit Soi 89 next Friday. Come early to enjoy free beer as well as Bt50 off all beer cocktails.

Find out more by calling (083) 089 8720.

Splendours of Panama

TK Park continues its contemporary world film series on April 28 starting at 3 with the screening of “Donaire Y Esplendor” (“Grace & Splendour”), a film from Panama that portrays the beauty, energy, and variety of this unique country, with its lush beaches, mountains, lively cityscapes, passionate people and stunning Carnival spirit. Directed by Arturo Montenegro, it blends a large and assorted range of colorful characters, plenty of fun, action, melodrama, ribald humour in a film that is both a social comedy and a sumptuous entertainer. Entry fee is Bt20 at https://goo.gl/forms/GdZmHeYIqp6ys5HR2, http://www.tkpark.or.th, or by emailing: yuttinai@tkpark.or.th and filmforum17@gmail.com.

Playing by the pool

Liquid Pool Bar of Compass SkyView Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 24 brings back the old party crew featuring DJs Fred Jungo, Tom Funkygangster, Mizz G and KC to an infinity pool party on May 26 from 1 until 9pm.

Entry is Bt400 including one drink. For more information and special VIP table packages, call (096) 945 8255.

Insanity gets the ‘trap’

South Korea’s Reverse Prime and China’s Casper Yu join up for a night of high energy EDM and bass-heavy trap music tomorrow from 10 until late at Insanity Nightclub on Sukhumvit Soi 11.

Reserve your table at (087) 804 9542.

Organised by sportswear label Under Armour, the event sets out to celebrate human performance through intense functional training challenges for the most determined athletes, goalgetters and fitness aspirants.

Under Armour’s ultimate fitness challenge will be championing the will and vigour of Thais. The highlight of this year’s challenge includes the introduction of age categories to level the playing field (18-34 years, 35-44 years, and 45+ years). Most significant is that the minimum age to qualify is now 18, extending opportunities for more young fitness enthusiasts to put their will to the test.

Dialling up the intensity from last year, 2018 participants will compete in an all-new fourminute circuit challenge – Over and Under (Hurdle), Deadball Squats, Kettlebell Farmer Walks and Bear Crawls – that will test their strength, endurance and power. Each competitor will be scored based on the maximum number of correct repetitions they can achieve within 60 seconds.

The Top 3 male and female athletes in each category will receive a limitededition Test of Will 2018 medal. This year’s Thailand Test of Will champions (male and female) who achieve the highest overall score will walk away with a cash prize of Bt50,000 each.

Participants are encouraged to study the training guide for specific movement standards and tips to maximise their performance.

Registrations are available on line at http://www.testofwill.com and the fee is Bt500. Participants will automatically receive a Test of Will 2018 exclusive “Willbreaker” T-shirt valued at Bt1,250. Registrations are limited to Thai residents only.

For more information, visit http://www.UnderArmour.co.th or UnderArmourThailand at Facebook.

The photos reflect the lifestyles of a new generation of professionals who have found a good work-life balance and understand the sustainable relationship between human and nature. This exhibition aims to encourage everyone to get out, explore and discover their own style.

Chalisa, a former social editor of Vogue Thailand and the owner of Taste of Nowhere website, said: “Taste of Nowhere serves as a channel to tell my stories. It used to present fashion stories to promote Thai designers. After working in the fashion industry for a while, I felt I had enough. So I decided to leave it behind and started travelling again, becoming an explorer, which I had always dreamed about. When taking trips, I come to understand people, culture and nature. When standing in front of huge icebergs, I feel awed and so small because of the power of nature. These experiences not only make me humbler, but also happier in myself. The stories on Taste of Nowhere have changed to the connection between man and nature. My aim is to enhance the environmental awareness and build self-esteem.”

Napat remains a fashion icon although he no longer holds the position of fashion editor at Elle Men. To inspire fashionistas, he presents outstanding styles on his own social media pages.

“I discovered style thanks to my trips. I spend most of my time travelling the world and observing the local way of life and dressing style. When visiting New York, I like watching people in subway. That is because the way people dress says a lot about the nature of that city. It is great to find people outside the fashion industry in chic outfits because it confirms my belief that it is not what you wear or how expensively you dress; it is about how you wear it.”

Disaya, a singer with Kidnappers band, loves diving with her friends off remote islands. She set up the Sun Tan Tour facebook page to host freediving activities. Freediving relies on holding the breath until resurfacing rather than using any form of breathing apparatus.

“Freediving has helped me discover freedom because I don’t have to carry any equipment. When I’m in the sea, I feel light because the water wraps around me. Seeing the underwater world is amazing. I leave everything behind and free myself. Nature has given me so much joy and happiness. It’s given me a sense of ownership and now I would like to protect nature,” said Disaya.

Chayanee, known as “Pedduck”, is a well-known freelance photographer with many Instagram followers. She said, “I like travelling and always take photos of what I like. Most of my photos reflect nature, the mountains, forests and the sea, which can tell stories. Instead of easy and comfortable trips, I prefer adventure and going off course on roads less travelled to find new perspectives.”

Siam Discovery is also collaborating with global photo app EyeEm, in holding an activity for globetrotters and photo enthusiasts. The activity invites everyone to post memorable trip photos under the “Summer Exploratorium” concept on Instagram, hashtagging #godiscoversummer #siamdiscovery and setting them to public. EyeEm will select the photos that match the concept and keep them in its gallery. The most beautiful photo will win free flights from Air Asia for a whole year. Ten runners-up will receive a two-day-one-night accommodation package from Goo Glamper. You can post photos from today through April 30.

Customers, who register, book and fly by June 30 can collect 4,000 bonus Avios when taking two or more British Airways return flights and 16,000 bonus points for four or more return flights.

Flights to Europe connecting through London are also included, meaning a customer taking two return trips from Hong Kong to Paris, Amsterdam or Rome would earn 4,000 bonus Avios, thanks to the connection through London.

You can register at http://www.BA.com/executive-club/offers/bonus-avios or https://www.BritishAirways.com/en-hk/executive-club/offers/bonus-avios.

Riverside bliss

The luxury X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Resort continues the Thai New Year celebration by offering a Summer Lovin’ package that invites guests to book by April 30 for any stay between now and June 30.

The room rates start at Bt5,098 and special benefits include 20-per-cent discount from Best Available Rates and a daily Bt500 cash voucher to redeem for food and beverages at all the resort’s outlets.

Guests booking a room directly via its official website will also get VIP check-in with welcome drink, coffee or tea upon arrival, 15-per-cent off food and beverage and spa, free use of Handy mobile phone with internet, early check-in and late check-out.

Make your booking online at https://X2Resorts.com/offers/summer-lovin.

Soulful at the Shilla

The Shilla Seoul Hotel in South Korea marks the beginning of spring with the Urban Island package that’s available until the end of the month.

Starting KRW 310,000 (Bt9,035), the package offers an overnight stay in a Business Deluxe Room or Executive Business Deluxe Room, breakfast at the Parkview, complimentary all-day access to Urban Island, indoor pool, fitness centre and executive lounge.

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

Tropical treat

Phi Phi Island Beach Resort welcomes vacationers with a special package for Thai and expatriate residents that continues through the end of April.

Starting from Bt21,200 for a three-night stay in a Superior Bungalow, the promotion also includes sea transfers between Phuket and the resort based on a regular boat schedule, daily breakfast for two, a one-time set dinner for two (food only) and a one-time 60-minute Thai massage for two.

Make a reservation by calling (075 628 900 or email reservations@phiphiislandvillage.com.

Spectacular Sendai

Japan’s spectacular Sendai Aoba Festival returns on May 19 and 20 with a full calendar of activities rooted in its 350-year tradition.

Known locally as Yoi Matsuri, the event features the Yamahoko procession, the Sendai Suzume Odori (sparrow dance) by local residents and the wheeled tall Yamaboko parade (festive floats with gorgeous ornaments) and a procession of samurai wearing traditional armours.

Find out more at http://www.Aoba-Matsuri.com/ (in Japanese and English).

What a mother and father eat, and whether they are seriously overweight, in other words, can have “profound implications for the growth, development and long-term health of their children before conception,” they warned in a trio of studies.

The findings, reported in The Lancet, a leading medical journal, should heighten awareness of “preconception risk factors,” the researchers said.

“Evidence for preconceptional effect on lifetime health is now so compelling that it calls for new guidance on parental preparation for pregnancy, beginning before conception,” they concluded.

The studies — combining a review of earlier literature and new research — showed that the lifestyle habits of fathers, not just mothers, can have a direct impact on the wellbeing of offspring.

“The preconception period is a critical time when parental health — including weight, metabolism and diet — can influence the risk of future chronic diseases in children,” said Judith Stephenson, a professor and University College London and lead author of the series.

“While the current focus on risk factors such as smoking and excess alcohol intake is important, we also need new drives to prepare nutritionally for pregnancy in both parents.”

Obesity in either or both parents, for example, increases the chances of heart attacks, stroke, immune disease and diabetes in offspring.

Maternal obesity is thought to enhance levels of inflammation and hormones, which can directly alter the development of the egg and embryo. This, in turn, boosts the odds of chronic disease later in life.

In men, being obese leads to deficiencies in sperm associated with many of the same conditions.

– Consequences across generations –

Malnutrition in mothers can also lead to developmental problems in their children, the review found.

“Consequences can extend across generations, but awareness of these links is not widespread,” the authors noted.

“Poor nutrition and obesity are rife among women of reproductive age, and differences between high-income and low-income countries have become less distinct, with typical diets falling far short of nutritional recommendations, especially among adolescents.”

The conclusions were based in part on two new analyses of women of reproductive age — 18 to 42 — in Britain and Australia.

These studies showed that women are often not “nutritionally prepared” for pregnancy, the researchers said.

Some 96 percent of the women, for example, had iron and folate intakes below the recommended levels, 14.8 milligrams and 400 micrograms per day, respectively.

Adjusting diet after a pregnancy has begun is often not good enough.

“Micronutrient supplementation started in pregnancy can correct important maternal nutrient deficiencies, but it is not sufficient to fundamentally improve child health,” they concluded.

Schools should prepare young adults — boys and girls — for future parenthood, the studies recommended, pointing out that some 40 percent of pregnancies worldwide are unplanned.

“Efforts to improve nutrition and health behaviour at a population level are needed to support individual efforts among those planning ahead of e pregnancy,” the authors concluded.

For most Americans, the answer is likely — at most — 20 percent. But how about 260 percent?

For one patron at a Chicago restaurant, a normal tip was not enough to show his appreciation after a meal Sunday night.

Identified only as “Mike, who was visiting from Seattle,” Boka restaurant announced Monday that the delighted customer left a $2,000 tip on a $759 bill.

Boka describes itself as an upscale restaurant serving seasonal American fare. It boasts one Michelin star.

After initially tipping $300 on his bill, he then went to the kitchen to give each of the 17 staffers there $100, the restaurant said.

The company posted an Instagram photo of the man giving a thumbs-up sign while posing with smiling kitchen staff.

“It was amazing to have that happen unexpectedly and randomly, and for someone to show that amount of appreciation,” Jon Leopold, the restaurant’s general manager, told the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

“It’s not just about the money but spending time with people in the kitchen and telling them how wonderful of a meal it was and how important it was for the cooks to be doing what they’re doing.”

The timing was fortuitous for the restaurant. It has been nominated for a prestigious James Beard Award for service.

The winner will be revealed May 7 during an award ceremony in Chicago.

THAT MOST venerable of art museums, the Louvre in Paris, had 8.1 million visitors last year. Given the turmoil surrounding just two of its exhibits, though, one has to wonder how many of those visitors were interested in anything other than “Mona Lisa” and “Venus de Milo”.

A lot of them do indeed ask museum officials where they can find the glorious statues of Canova and the Napoleon III apartments, but topping those queries on the list of most frequently asked questions are “Where is the Mona Lisa?” and “Is the Venus de Milo in this room?”

Always the main draw at the Louvre, Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa” in the Denon Wing is never lonely.

Any requests for directions are understandable – the Louvre is a massive place – and to save time searching, everyone who wants to see the most famous Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is constantly surrounded. Gawkers push in, trying to glimpse her mysterious smile. Meanwhile they’re ignoring such magnificent displays as the Pavillon de l’Horloge (the Clock Pavilion) in the Sully Wing.

That’s a shame, because it’s really the perfect place to begin a visit to the Louvre. It tells the story, after all, of how the museum arose from a palace that was originally a medieval fortress.

The remains of a medieval city wall, left, and castle wall, right, line an empty moat on the lower level of the museum’s Sully Wing.

In about 1190, Philippe Auguste, then king of France, departed for the Middle East on the Third Crusade. Fretting that the English might invade Paris in his absence, he ordered the construction of a wall ringing the city to protect his treasures and his archives within a nearly square compound surrounded by a moat that was fed by the waters of the Seine.

There were four corner towers and, in the middle, La Grosse Tour (the cylindrical Big Tower), the central keep that became the Louvre. The fortress had two gates – the main one to the south overlooking the Seine and a smaller one facing east.

In the Pavillon de l’Horloge, visitors can view a virtual map and vestiges of the old structure that have been preserved. They are in fact walking above the old moat. To their left is the city wall, to the right the castle wall.

Le Donjon du Louvre (Louvre Keep) evokes medieval times.

A wooden path circles the cylindrical vestige on the right, the Louvre Keep, symbolising monarchical power. The wall soared 31 metres and was more than four metres thick at the base. What remains today are a portion of the foundation, resembling a buttress, and Le Grande Vis, a spiral staircase.

Charles V, who reigned from 1364 to 1380, turned the defensive edifice into a luxurious royal residence, building a new enclosure and bringing more light into the interior by adding many windows.

Turrets, statuary and gardens helped make the palace a more habitable place than it had been. The central keep was lit with eight huge windows on each floor. Gone was the defensive intention of the fortress, but the palace was still safe and secure.

La Salle SaintLouis (the SaintLouis Room) has lasted into the present day.

To complete the picture of the Louvre as it was in the Middle Ages, visit la Salle Saint-Louis (the Saint-Louis Room), which contains hundreds of artefacts and more glimpses of the original structure.

Louis IX (1226-1270) had this room covered with a ribbed vault, gone today apart from supportive pilasters and the beginning of the arch that framed the vault.

While the carvings and crowns of the stone arches have been lost, you can still see vegetable patterns adorning the capitals of the pilasters and wry faces around the bases.

The current exhibition in the Saint-Louis Room is “Les Vies du Louvre: Du palais au mus?e” (“The Lives of the Louvre: From Palace to Museum)”. It’s explained – through artefacts including items of daily use such as jewellery, fine apparel, musical instruments and children’s playthings – that the building’s other “lives” were spent as a prison, a royal treasury and a studio for artists toiling for the court.

A scale model of the Louvre as it appeared during the reign of Philippe August appears in a digital display in the Pavillon de l’Horloge.

All of this yielded to its present incarnation as a museum in the wake of the French Revolution. Visitors later should go back to their track in an exhibition room. Accompanying the virtual Louvre display are exhibits about the architecture. A vast glass box occupying half the room contains an intricately detailed scale model of the Louvre and the adjacent Tuileries, Paris’ most famous gardens.

Around this huge box are decorated facades and layouts of the Louvre as seen during the Renaissance and tracing 800 years of its architectural evolution. As a narrator tells the tale, moving from section to section, each wing is illuminated in turn.

Beginning in 1564, Queen Catherine de’ Medici, widow of Henry II, had the south wing refurbished as her residence and pressed construction of the Tuileries Palace, which Henry had initiated, with a vast garden.

The Napoleon III Apartments are in the Richelieu Wing.

Henry IV envisioned a Grand Dessein (Great Design), combining the Tuileries Palace and Louvre in one complex. Napoleon III finally got it finished, only for a fire in 1871 to burn the Tuileries to the ground.

While serving as a royal residence, the palace that became the Louvre was the scene of unending work. It was a of celebration and a symbol of royal power. When Louis XIV chose instead to live chiefly at Versailles after 1682, the Louvre’s rooms, galleries and apartments were turned over to the burgeoning arts community. Academies held their salons there, the annual grand exhibitions where careers were born and ruined.

Capitalising on renovations to the welcoming areas under the Pyramid, the Pavillon de l’Horloge introduces visitors to the Louvre, sparking interest in fresh routes through the museum. /AFP

The revolutionary government announced the establishment of le Museum central des Arts de la Republique on August 10, 1793, but it wasn’t until 1848 that the appellation Le Musee du Louvre first appeared. A royal preserve now open to the public, it charged no admission. The art on view, largely seized from aristocrats, were divided into three “departments” – paintings, ancient sculptures and drawings.

The Louvre and its three wings – Richelieu, Sully and Denon – took on its modern form in 1981, at the urging of then-president Francois Mitterrand. The large glass-and-metal pyramid outside the main entrance was unveiled on March 30, 1989. Go there first and place yourself squarely in the midst of history.

MS MONA IS WAITING

The Louvre is open daily except Tuesday from 9am to 6pm (on Wednesdays and Fridays until 9.45pm).

Visitors can download the mobile application “My Visit to the Louvre” for free.

Plan your visit at http://www.Louvre.fr/en.

Chang Chui, which bills itself as “a hip space offering new-generation artists and designers the opportunity to can unleash their artistic ability without restraint”, is aiming to draw the water-fighting crowds away from such traditional Songkran spots as Royal City Avenue, Silom and and Khao San roads with a festival dubbed “Isaan Spirit, that runs from today through May 6.

“Chang Chui is the first creative park in Thailand, and is located on 21 rai of land here in Thon Buri,” says Chanokporn Thinphangnga, the site’s general manager.

“We’ve been open for nine months and have already become a tourist destination. This month, which incorporates the Thai New Year, we want to preserve and promote the arts, culture and traditions of Isaan and to do this, we have invited three artists born in the Kingdom’s Northeast to display their work. Also joining us is Thai makeup artist Amata “Pearypie” Chittasenee who is not an Isaan native but loves the Northeast. The four will showcase art, photographs, ready-to-wear fashion clothing, and mor lam music.

“Though the Isaan Spirit Festival, we will turn Songkran in Bangkok into an enjoyable, creative and safe holiday. The space is being decorated with several icons symbolising Isaan culture and traditions, and will feature demonstrations of rice farming complete with scarecrows and buffaloes and a giant bamboo chedi next to a sand pit where parents and children can have fun creating sand pagodas. We are hoping to welcome lots of foreign tourists and introduce them to the Isaan culture and have them join with Thai visitors in celebrating Songkran,” she adds.

The festival, which will be open daily from 11 to 9, also supports the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s campaign to promote the Northeast under the slogan “Isaan Saeb Nua” or “Cool Isaan.”

“I personally love the Northeast, which boasts plenty of natural wonders and some of the friendliest people in Thailand. Chang Chui is setting out to bring the mood and tone of Isaan to this tiny part of Bangkok, so we think that it will be a good chance for both Thais and foreigners to experience the Isaan culture and traditions before travelling to the region,” says Noppadon Pakprot, deputy governor for TAT’s tourism products and business.

Live shows will be held throughout the event, with Thai makeup artist Amata showing off her skills on April 21, painter Maitree Siriboon on April 28, morlam singer Rasmee Wayrana on April 29, and designer Apichet “Madaew’” Atirattana on May 5. Other displays include a folk fabric art fair from four Isaan provinces, Maha Sarakham’s Kratib Puppet Show, which is performed with puppets made of bamboo sticky rice containers, as well as Isaan food, buffalo husbandry and traditional plays.

“I’d describe my work as a kind of pop art because I paint buffaloes, changing their identity from black-skinned animals to beasts decorated in bright colours. The paint is non-toxic and makes them look cute, which gives them added value. I will paint three buffaloes as part of a live performance and estimate that will take about three hours. This will be the first time I’ll do it in front of an audience,” says Ubon Ratchathani-born artist Maitree, who will also be putting on his “Save Thai Buffalo” photo exhibition, which debuted back in 2015.

“I would like to encourage Thais to build a brand. My brand is ‘Isaan Boy Dream’. When I was very young, I used to sit on the edge of the paddy field and look up at the sky. The first time I saw a plane, I told myself that one day I would go around the world. When I grew up, I graduated from Silpakorn University and my art led me to see the world,” he continues.

“Branding is important. Now I am looking to build a brand for Nong Bo, the village where I grew up, because I really want to put it on the tourist map and in so doing, generate income for the residents. I hope it will also be an inspiration for the kids attending my academy, encouraging them to speak English and learning how to use social media to their benefit.”

Khon Kaen-born fashion designer Madaew, who rose to fame on YouTube, also likes to decorate buffaloes though he does it with fabric rather than paint.

“When I was young, I picked up a fashion magazine at a barber and couldn’t tear my eyes away from the model’s beautiful clothes. When I went home, I asked my mother to get me a Barbie doll and started sewing clothes for it. We were a poor family and my parents couldn’t afford to pay for good fabrics, so I dressed the doll in materials I found around the house. These days, I enjoy creating fashion to mix and match with the buffalo. We have a saying in Thai that a person is as stupid as a buffalo, but buffaloes are not stupid. I’ve been around them since I was a kid – my parents used to raise them – and now I am creating fashion shows that mix human’s DNA with the buffalo,” says the Madaew, who will stage a fashion show appropriately titled “Human or Buffalo? Which Human? Which Buffalo?”

Bangkok-born chef Thitiwat “Mai” Tantragarn, who runs the insect-oriented restaurant Insects in the Backyard at Chang Chui, will present two new dishes – “Ravioli Kung Chom” (ravioli with fermented shrimp) and “Larb Maeng Sading” (spicy minced house cricket).

“I’m giving the Isaan delicacy kung chom (fermented shrimp) an Italian twist by wrapping it in ravioli pockets, I hoping it will be eaten by both Thai and foreign visitors,” says Thitiwat, who is better known as Chef Mai, and whose restaurant has become internationally known through the BBC and The New York Times.

“We are like a model for the restaurant of the future.”

Nostalgic for the Northeast

– The “Isaan Spirit Festival” runs from today through May 6. It’s open daily from 11am to 9pm.

– Find out more by calling the TAT Call Centre at 1672, Chang Chui at (081) 817 2888, or visit http://www.ChangChuiBangkok.com and Facebook/changchuibangkok.

The campaign celebrates Songkran and cultural heritage and offers a chance to pay respect to Buddha images, taste classic Thai dishes and book exciting travel experience.

“Thais and foreign tourists can enjoy the traditional Thai atmosphere and culture,” says Siam Piwat senior executive vice president Mayuree Chaipromprasith.

Siam Paragon will have a “Wonderful Songkran” in its Hall of Fame with nine sacred ancient Buddha statues borrowed from the National Museum.

They are a Standing Buddha in Double Preaching, Phra Buddha Ratta Mahamuni, Medicine Buddha, Buddha Subduing Mara, Buddha Holding a Talapatta, Reclining Buddha, Buddha Calming the Ocean, Buddha Stopping the Relatives from Fighting and Surrounding Buddha (Phra Lom, Phra Haroi).

There’ll be demonstrations on how to make the perfume nam ob and bai toey flowers, an exhibition Thai history and traditions and a food festival in Parc Paragon.

The Songkran Food Fest: Taste of Thai Tradition will have more than 50 famous dishes – rice, noodles, desserts, appetisers and beverages. You can try khao chae Petchaburi, prang nara pork balls, chao wang fried pork, grilled chicken and beef baan kanom thai chao wang, pork sago and much more.

Sea Life Bangkok will present the animated show “Amazing Story from the Deep Sea” on a 10-metre screen, while Paragon Cineplex is encouraging everyone to wear period costumes.

Siam Center’s Ideaopolis has the “Summer Journey Exhibition” of new travel experiences promoted through simulations and hip bistros such Chiang Mai’s RK Cafe by Omnia will be setting up shop.

Siam Discovery’s “Summer Exploratorium” will feature digital art installations where your favourite travel photos posted on Instagram with the hashtags #godiscoversummer and #siamdiscovery can vie for prizes capped by a year’s free travel with AirAsia.

Ten second-place winners will receive Bt5,000 gift vouchers.

Siam Discovery will also be hosting temporary food stalls set up by the likes of Chao Le Crispy Mussel Pancake, Nai Aun Yen Ta Fo Noodle, and Steamed Chives Dumpling Khun Mae.

Find out more at (02) 610 8000.

From Friday to April 17, the bakery run by chef Pongthawat “Ian” Chalermkittichai will serve Muffin with a mango financier from France sprinkled with mango and coconut, Choux Cream Mango with sweet mango, Pandan Chiffon Cake soaked in mango sauce, and Lemon Poppy Seed Cake topped with sesame and lemon glaze. They’ll be available on domestic and international flights, except for WE177, WE333/334, WE335/336, WE343/344, WE426, WE420 WE696/697 and WE288.

Online booking can be made at http://www.ThaiSmileAir.com.

In full bloom

South Korea’s Goryeosan Mountain is laying out a carpet of flowers to welcome tourists to its annual Azalea Festival running from Saturday to April 22.

This is the biggest floral festival in Ganghwado and a popular picnic spot for lovers and families during spring, while the flowers are in full bloom. Fans of Korean TV series should pay special attention to the mountain, which is said to be the birthplace of General Yeongaesomun.

Find out more at the KTO Thailand page on Facebook.

An offer you can’t refuse

Onyx Hospitality Group will beat the summer heat with a special deal that is limited to a 48-hour booking period on April 28 and 29.

Based on local time of each destination, guests can simply visit http://www.Onyx-hospitality.com/super-sale” and use the promotional code “SuperSale” to get up to 50-per-cent discounts at more than 30 properties under Amari, Ozo and Shama brands.

Valid for stays from April 28 to November 30, the packages include a minimum of two-night stay with breakfast for two.

Lighting up a velvet night

Travellers looking for a holiday escape can check out the Stars & Sky package at Anantara Kihavah, Maldives that’s available from now until December 22.

Starting at Bt49,860 for a minimum of three-night stay, the promotion offers private stargazing with the Sky guru, the Slumber Guru Massage experience, cinema under the stars, daily breakfast for two, dinner at Salt or Manzaru and round-trip seaplane transfers.

Make a reservation at http://www.SkyKihavahMaldives.com or email reservations.maldives@anantara.com.

Designer destination

Families spending the long holidays in Milan can take advantage of the Stay with Your Family package being offered by the Armani Hotel Milano.

Starting at 1,138 euros (Bt43,700) for an Armani Deluxe Room, families will be rewarded with American breakfast at the Armani/Ristorante, 25-per-cent discount on a second room with American breakfast, kids welcome gift upon arrival, special in-room amenities, cocktail in the panoramic Armani/Bamboo Bar for all family members, complimentary room upgrade to a superior room and complimentary late check-out subject to availability.

Make your plans by emailing reservations.milan@armanihotels.com.