Tag: Switzerland

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Malaysia Travel Guide

LA CHIVA GANTIVA AND ANA ALCAIDE IN RWMF 2019

June 13, 2019

KUCHING: There is no doubt that Latin and music from the Spanish-speaking world is far outpacing many other genres on the world music stage. There has always been a Latin group thrown in the mix at the Rainforest World Music Festival and at the 22nd edition this year there will be two bands – La Chiva Gantiva from Colombia who will provide an insight into their roots with their sensual, upbeat, danceable and contagious music and Ana Alcaide from Spain who fuses traditional sounds from around Europe and the Mediterranean with the cultural mix of her hometown, Toledo, Spain.

La Chiva Gantiva plays music without borders. Genre bending and adventurous, they’ll make you dance with abandonment with their original combination of rock, funk, hip hop and punk with Colombian rhythms, while preserving a jam mentality and multicultural origins.

Known for their live antics and frontman Rafael Espinel’s empathy towards the audience, La Chiva Gantiva are a treat to see live but also an amazing trip around the world when any of their three studio records play at a Colombian party, at a Belgian bar, or at a Mexican radio station.

At the end of the other musical spectrum is Ana Alcaide, a singer, composer and instrumentalist from Toledo, Spain. Her prime instrument is the nyckelharpa which she came across while studying in Sweden.

Rooted in ancient traditions yet resolutely modern, her compositions deftly blend musical styles from different cultures. From the inspirational backdrop of the city of Toledo, Ana writes and produces her songs, creates new arrangements and adapts the nyckelharpa to ancient melodies that originated in medieval Spain and have travelled throughout the Mediterranean region. But her personal and artistic evolution leads her to conquer new creative fields in the recent years.

In 2016, her fifth album Leyenda reached Top 10 in the WMCE (World Music Charts Europe) as well as on the Transglobal World Music Charts. Leyenda was also on the top of some of the International radios around Australia, Canada, UK, USA and Europe. The album has received reviews from professional critics around the world including Songlines Magazine which awarded Leyenda a 5 Star Review, Top of the World.

Alcaide has presented her music in some of the most important festivals, theatres and venues around Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Morocco, Canada, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Switzerland, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Uruguay, and has performed in more than 500 concerts in 4 continents.

Since 2016 she is the Artistic Director of the ‘Toledo World Music Festival’.

The Rainforest World Music Festival takes place on July 12-14 at the Sarawak Cultural Village and is organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board, endorsed by Tourism Malaysia and is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Youth Sports Sarawak.

LA CHIVA GANTIVA

ANA ALCAIDE - Photo by Ander Olaizola

For further information on tickets, festival activities and logistics, please log on to https://rwmf.net/

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Tourism Malaysia

High price of eating

While the ranking of cities that are more expensive to eat in has changed, prices overall have dipped slightly.

GENEVA in Switzerland has taken over from Paris as the most expensive city in the world in which to order a club sandwich.

Using the classic hotel staple of a chicken, bacon, egg, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich as a barometer of affordability, the Hotels.com Club Sandwich Index (CSI) offers holidaymakers an indication of the cost of living associated with their destination of choice (see graphic).

The CSI average price is calculated from the real prices paid by guests for a club sandwich in 30 hotels in the capital or an important tourist city of each country surveyed, across five, four and three star categories.

In total, 840 hotels globally were canvassed.

As a whole, prices have dipped slightly, as Geneva’s RM95 is still cheaper than last year’s most expensive at RM103!

Rounding up the Top 10 are Rome (5), Tokyo (4), London (10), Sydney (8) and Hong Kong (11) in that order – in brackets are their positions last year.

Other Asian cities that made the list are Singapore – 17, Beijing – 22, Bangkok – 24, and Taipei – 26. But New Delhi, at 28, is the cheapest city in the world for a club sandwich at RM28.32.

And inspired by the CSI, the five-star Hullett House Hotel in Hong Kong has partnered with Hotels.com to create the world’s most luxurious club sandwich. Nestling between the crustless, lightly toasted three slices of bread, hungry travellers will find beluga caviar, A5 Wagyu beef, Balik salmon, sliced black pork bacon, Iberico ham, Belgian figs, sliced Roma tomato, Romaine lettuce, cucumber, French chicken, Italian organic egg, mayonnaise, mesclun salad and green asparagus.

It’s all yours for just RM193.77(!) and will be available till Aug 31 at The Parlour.

Since we’re on the subject of food, Malaysia has bagged the Best Destination for Food Drink (International) Award at Lonely Planet Magazine India (LPMI) Travel Awards 2013.

For the second year running, LPMI invited the country’s increasingly sophisticated travellers to choose their favourite destinations, preferred travel facilitators and most treasured travel experiences.

Nominations for some of the awards were shortlisted by a panel of travel experts and professionals, and LPMI readers voted both online and in the magazine.

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Tourism Malaysia

Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Watch as colourful hot air balloons float the skies of Putrajaya. Themed ‘ 1 World, 1 Malaysia, 1 Fiesta’ this event features 23 balloonists from Belgium, USA, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Malaysia and Japan.

For more information, please visit: http://www.myballoonfiesta.com

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Cuisine in Melaka

MELAKA-SARAWAK DIRECT FLIGHTS

Kuching-Melaka direct flight early next year
by Simon Ingka Crown, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on November 26, 2011, Saturday

KUCHING: A direct flight connecting Kuching and Melaka may commence as early as next month or early next year.

Melaka Chief Minister Dato Sri Mohd Ali Rustam when announcing this yesterday said he was keen to see the flight become a reality, possibly three times a week.

“I am looking forward to see the Sarawak and Melaka state governments collaborate on the direct flight to Melaka in the best interest of both states,” he told a press conference.

Mohd Ali is in the state with the Melaka Foundation (YM) delegation and its board of directors to witness a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Sarawak Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA/Pelita Holdings Sdn Bhd) and YM yesterday.

LCDA was represented by Senior Minister and Land Development Minister Tan Sri James Masing and two Assistant Ministers, Datuk Gramong Juna and Datuk Abdul Wahab Aziz.

Also present was Senior Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who is also mnister of local government and community development, and second finance minister.

Mohd Ali said the route could boost tourism in both states.

“Melaka so far receives a total of 10.4 million tourists in 2010 with 20 per cent of them from overseas: Taiwan, Japan,China, Hong Kong, German, Switzerland and New Zealand.”

He said as of September this year, a total of 8.4 million tourists had visited the historical city, and the number is expected to reach 11 million by yearend. He said the proposed Kuching-Melaka flight could be shortened to one hour, compared to the one-and-a-half hour Kuching-Kuala Lumpur route.

“The flight is shorter than that to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Hence this could be an alternative route.”

At the moment, Melaka is chartering Firefly and Melaka Air flights to Pekan Baru and Medan City on the island of Sumatera in Indonesia. The flight connection had lured many tourists from the neighbouring country to the city.

“Sumatera is a big island and at least 10 per cent of the population are from high income families who choose Melaka as a holiday destination every year,” he said.

Mohd Ali said the Melaka state government was planning to construct a larger theme park to lure tourists.

“We are launching a wildlife park this afternoon (yesterday) and Hang Tuah Village theme park which portrays the era of the Melaka Sultanate.”

The state government would build the largest silat arena next to Hang Tuah theme park. Mohd Ali said the Melaka government would continue to cooperate with the Sarawak government to promote their tourism to the world, especially eco-tourism.

“Sarawak has a lot to offer the world – fantastic natural scenery and many others including the famous Rainforest World Music Festival. Mohd Ali said this was the first time the two governments were working together. I hope this will not be the last but open the way to many more joint ventures between the two states.”

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Tourism Malaysia

European Union Film Festival 2011

November 16, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Lovers of European films, do take note as the European Union Film Festival is just around the corner. Organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, this event is now in its 12th year and is an annual event aimed as showcasing a collection of films which draw on the rich and diverse talents of European film makers. These movies not only display the cultural heritage of European films, they also promote the cultural heritage of Europe’s outstanding film industry.

Some of the films that are scheduled to play include classics like Oliver Twist

The festival is currently going on at several cinemas in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya until the 20th November before moving on to Penang from 24th till 30th November 2011. This year, the festival will feature over 15 of the best international European films from countries like Poland, Denmark, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium and Italy. Some of the films that are scheduled to play include classics like Oliver Twist and Great Expectations; comedies like If I Have To Be Honest and Tandoori Love. The participating cinemas in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya are GSC Mid Valley Megamall, GSC 1 Utama and GSC Pavilion, whereas GSC Gurney Plaza will be the cinema to go to if you would like to catch the movies.

Tickets are priced at RM 5 each except for ‘Cell 211?, which is free. Tickets for ‘Cell 211? can only be redeemed on the same day of screening. All movies will be screened in their original language with English subtitles. For the full schedule of movie listing, please log on here or refer to all GSC cinema listings in major newspapers.

Photo (c) El Bibliomata

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