THE RIGHT MUSICAL NOTE

Siem Reap’s newest live venue, The Mouy at Prince D’Angkor Hotel, has changed the format of its musical night, ditching the notion of a full-blown band to concentrate on a soloist, veteran musoe Mike Mahalo who will play on Wednesday nights only, together with the hotel’s house singer.

But this coming Wednesday, Mahalo promises a treat for music lovers at The Mouy – he will be joined on stage by special guest Alan Breen.

Mike has this to say about Breen: “Alan is one of the most experienced jazz saxophonists in Asia, and he moved from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh recently to be part of the newest jazz scene in Asia. As you know, I played the Jazz in The City for nearly a year, and Alan joined us there a few times, where we became friends. He is a great musician, and possibly it is news that he travels specially to do these gigs with us.”

On the following night, Thursday, Breen will also appear as special guests at the Heritage Suites ‘Jazz in the City’ night, where the Beats per Minute trio plays regularly.

Obviously, local music lovers who want live music will need to support the scene by turning up to the venues.

FREE BUSINESS WORKSHOPS

Siem Reap’s Black Sheep Consultancy will this month be presenting ‘Business Blitz’, a series of free 90 minute workshops for NGO’s and businesses. Each workshop will have two sessions: 8.30-10am and 10.30-midday.

The first workshop is on Saturday July 13 and the topic is ‘Effective Advertising.’ This will explore exactly what constitutes effective advertising, tips on how to get a message across, and how to use social media.

A second workshop, on Saturday July 20, explores finance for non-accountants and will provide an introduction to finance, and look at cash flow management and budgeting.

The third and final workshop takes place on Saturday July 27, featuring an introduction of project management.

The session looks at what project management is, and explores how to create a project plan and how to track and report on the project.

Places are limited to 15 people per session. As mentioned earlier, all workshop sessions are free, but only one attendee from each organisation will be permitted to attend each workshop. Places must also be reserved in advance. For more info, contact [email protected].

GOOD NEWS FOR HIGH FLIERS

On Monday, Vietnam Airlines began direct flights from Danang to Siem Reap and return, which will be a boon for sea-loving Siem Reapers. The flights apparently resulted from the formation last January of the Central Coast Vietnam Destination Marketing Organisation. According to TTG Asia, the purpose of this organisation is to promote the coastal region as “a competitor against established beach destinations such as Bali.”

Meanwhile, as reported in the Phnom Penh Post on June 25, Cambodia Angkor Air plans to launch chartered flights between Siem Reap and the southeastern coastal Chinese city of Xiamen, starting next Thursday.

CAA chairman, Tek Reth Samrach, said the airline plans to start services to Xiamen first, and then follow through with a new service to Fuzhou two days later.

There will be two flights weekly to Xiamen, on Thursdays and Sundays. The first flight to Fuzhou is scheduled July 13, with two flights weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

SHORT CUTS

Vietnam company FPT Telecom has launched an Opennet branch in Siem Reap, on High School Road in Wat Bo, becoming the company’s fifth branch in Cambodia. Opennet is FPT’s internet service provider brand.

The Jay Pritzker Academy has issued another press release, claiming that in Siem Reap it uses “an advanced and modern curriculum in its efforts to educate and prepare young Cambodians for a successful career and acceptance into the world's best universities.”