VALE EMMETT McHENRY

One of Siem Reap’s more unusual characters, the colourful Emmett McHenry, former general manager of Sokha Angkor Resort, died of natural causes at 11.10am on Wednesday morning and was cremated yesterday morning at Wat Damnak.

All who knew Emmett will remember him ebulliently arriving at the Angkor Golf Resort in a stretch limo and decked out in a hotel dressing gown, al la Hugh Hefner, dragging his golf clubs behind him.

Emmett was devastated when his contract at Sokha wasn’t renewed last year, and even more devastated when he learnt that a medical condition meant that he probably would never play golf again.

But his spirits were revived last week, when he told Man About that he had a good chance of becoming gm of a swank new hotel in town.

MISSING LITTLE WHITE DOG FOUND

On April 25 Man About reported that the little white street dog that had its home base in the Royal Independence Gardens had attracted a growing group of human followers since it gave birth to a large litter of puppies. Various people provided food and water for the dog and wriggling pups, which were holed up in a burrow under a shrub in the gardens.

There was drama during a rain deluge when mum and kids were forced to abandon the burrow and hole up in construction rubble next to the Victoria hotel. But all turned out well and mum and brood moved back into the burrow under the shrub.

However, shortly after that item ran in print, mum and the puppies simply disappeared, sparking an intense ongoing investigation, and finally Man About tracked down an Indonesian woman residing in Siem Reap, a dog lover who said that the mother dog had been taken into care by a woman tourist. But the tourist was staying in a guesthouse and having the mother dog there became problematic. The Indonesian woman said she had a house that was empty and would let the tourist rent it short term so she could continue looking after the dog.

Then Insider received this message via the Post’s webmaster: “Please, could you publish a few lines in the newspaper concerning a dog in Siem Reap. I am looking for somebody to adopt a she-dog – foreigners, preferably French-speaking people because obviously the dog has grown up with French people. I need urgently to find somebody; I cannot look after her, as I am tourist myself. She deserves a home, and she has gone through a lot of trouble in the last months that I know her. Please, please people, give a hand.”

The caring tourist turned out to be Ms Nural Karadeniz who said someone had taken all the puppies and the mother dog, her teats swollen with milk meant for her pups, became feverish and required urgent vet attention.

The dog is now well, but Nural must return home and hence wants a haven for the pooch. Man About, on behalf of the Siem Reap Bureau – which has French-speaking staff – has volunteered to make the dog an official Post news hound, on the proviso that Nural has it spayed so it can’t have more pups.

GREAT CHEF DINNER

Sala Bai will kick off a monthly evening dinner called, “Great Chef meets Great Students,’ at 7.30 pm on May 28 with guest host chefs, the famous Kimsan duet from the Angkor W group of restaurants. The $30 menu includes amuse bouche, appetiser, main course, dessert and a selection of fine wines. According to the publicity screed, the menu is to remain secret – but Kimsan Duet’s forte is fusion: Khmer with western influences.