The Secret Garden Party

SATURDAY 3 |Not the 1910 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett about a ‘disagreeable-looking’ 10-year-old girl born in India to self-obsessed parents, no, no. This ‘Secret Garden’ is the second venture by the geniuses who in February breathed life – for one night only – into Riverside’s famed ‘ghost hotel’. This time, the WILD team will spirit you a full 18km out of the dust bowl that is Phnom Penh and into a lush, oh-so-secret waterside setting that… we’re not at liberty to tell you about, rather obviously. What we can tell you is this: the party starts at 3pm on May 3 and is due to rage until noon the following day. For your delight and delectation, a host of DJs – including Supercosi (Japan) – will entertain your ears; French visual artist Antoine Merger will keep your eyes occupied, and body artist Paul Airbrushing (Malaysia) will make your bits glow in the dark. Which is nice. Don’t forget your bathers, toothbrush and cash, or you’ll have to surf the current back to the city. Tickets are $10.

WHO: DJs, visual artists and body artists
WHAT: The Secret Garden Party
WHERE: Transport departs Riverside Hotel, Sisowath Quay
WHEN: 3:30pm May 3 – noon May 4
WHY: Because you’re WILD

 

Oh my id

FRIDAY 2 |Omid 16B (real name: Omid Nourizadeh) is considered one of the pioneers of tech house, alongside Carl Craig, Vince Watson, Craig Richards, Mr C, Steve Bug and Francois K. “Some DJs and producers have their finger on the pulse. Omid 16B is the pulse. Music runs through his veins,” gushes DJ Mag of this Londoner of Persian extraction. Influences include Jimi Hendrix, The Cure, Depeche Mode, RIDE and The Mission. In 2002 he set up SexOnWax Recordings and has since been signed by Ministry of Sound, among others. Says the man himself: “I love music: how it can make our emotions flow; how it can change the way we think; the way we love; the way we express ourselves.”

WHO: Omid 16B
WHAT: Monster remixing
WHERE: Pontoon, Street 172
WHEN: 11pm May 2
WHY: “Some DJs and producers have their finger on the pulse. Omid 16B is the pulse. Music runs through his veins” – DJ Mag

 

Age of sharing

THURSDAY 1 & 3 |Once upon a time, or 2001 to be exact, the ever-affable Dutchman behind The Flicks Community Movie Houses in Phnom Penh wasn’t known as the godfather of couch surfing. Global media had yet to brand him ‘The world’s biggest freeloader’ (he still prefers ‘economic refugee’) and the concept of social networking hadn’t even been invented. Ramon Stoppelenburg, then a journalism student in his mid-20s, wanted to travel the world. There was only one catch: his wallet was so empty it echoed. Enter the blossoming technology we now know as The Almighty Internet. Letmestayforaday.com was Ramon’s domain. His mission: to boldly go where no man (or woman) had gone before and traverse the globe for free, simply by hopping – based on invitations he received online – from sofa to sofa. By December 2001, the Guardian and Sunday Times newspapers in the UK had declared him Internet Personality of the Year. Two years and 10,000 new friends later, Ramon – who features in the documentary One Couch At A Time – had become the poster boy for what academics and lefties now loftily refer to as the ‘sharing economy’.

WHO: Couch surfers and other open-minded hipster types
WHAT: One Couch At A Time screening
WHERE: Flicks1, Street 95; Flicks2, Street 136
WHEN: 2pm May 1 (Flicks1) and 2pm May 3 (Flicks1 & Flicks2)
WHY: The new ‘age of sharing’ examined

 

Skyward

As Phnom Penh reaches for the sky, the once-novel rooftop sky bar is now common enough to merit competition. Nothing quite says ‘stylish luxury’ like a double-sized, 12th-floor jacuzzi with near-panoramic views of the capital. Such is Frangipani Living Art’s defining top-floor feature. That it’s located in the underserved Russian Market district makes it all the better. Cocktails ($4) come in oversized glasses, the house wine ($5.5) is palatable and the breeze and the views and the sunsets are worth toasting. Drinks are half off during happy hour (5-7:30pm), too.

Frangipani Living Arts Hotel, #15 Street 123.

Age of sharing

SATURDAY 26 |Once upon a time, or 2001 to be exact, the Dutchman behind The Flicks Community Movie Houses in Phnom Penh wasn’t known as the godfather of couch surfing. Global media had yet to brand him ‘The world’s biggest freeloader’ (he still prefers ‘economic refugee’) and the concept of social networking hadn’t even been invented. Ramon Stoppelenburg, then a journalism student in his mid-20s, wanted to travel the world. There was only one catch: his wallet was so empty it echoed. Enter the blossoming technology we now know as The Almighty Internet. Letmestayforaday.com was Ramon’s domain. His mission: to boldly go where no man (or woman) had gone before and traverse the globe for free, simply by hopping – based on invitations he received online – from sofa to sofa. By December 2001, the Guardian and Sunday Times newspapers in the UK had declared him Internet Personality of the Year. Two years and 10,000 new friends later, Ramon – who features in the documentary One Couch At A Time – had become the poster boy for what academics and lefties now loftily refer to as the ‘sharing economy’.

WHO: Couch surfers and other open-minded hipster types
WHAT: One Couch At A Time screeningWHERE: Flicks2, Street 136
WHEN: 2pm April 26
WHY: The new ‘age of sharing’ examined

 

Clash of the titans

SATURDAY 26 |The loudest bands in the country go toe-to-toe tonight in a clash of the post-hardcore titans: Sliten6ix, Cambodia’s first and only deathcore group, take on the male- and-female-fronted screamo band No Forever. Ear defenders optional.

WHO: Sliten6ix and No Forever
WHAT: Deathcore and stuff
WHERE: Slur bar, St. 172
WHEN: 9pm April 26
WHY: Two of Cambodia’s loudest bands go toe-to-toe