friday - sunday, october 22 - 24, 2010...

FRIDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22 - 24, 2010

WEEKEND JOURNAL.John

ClarkforTh

eWallS

treetJournal

asia.WSJ.com/lifestyle

Out on a limbAn ultra-green resort lets you sleep halfway up a tree

I am dangling 30 meters in theair. The only thing that keepsme from plummeting to the

forest floor is a braided nylonrope as wide as my finger. It isanchored to the top of a 500-year-old, 75-meter Douglas fir, atree that travelers can scale andspend the night in swinging froma hammock.

The tree—one of the tallest inthe U.S.—is nicknamed Fuzzy forthe moss and lichen that beard itsbranches. Each battered plate ofbark is the size of a dinosaur’sscale, some of them scorched froma long-ago fire. The tree has livedand twisted upward since beforeColumbus spied America with histelescope. The tree rules the forest,the tallest in this river valley, andto climb its branches is to feel likea child perched on his grandfa-ther’s shoulders, at once delightedand a little fearful.

Who climbs trees, my friendsand family wonder, besidesprimates and 12-year-old boys?Plenty of people. These past fewyears, tree-climbing—which bor-rows its techniques and equip-ment from caving and rock-climb-ing—has become a vacationdestination due to some strangecombination of childish nostalgia,eco-awareness and an apprecia-tion of the spider-like thrill ofswinging from ropes.

Located an hour’s drive fromEugene, Oregon, deep in the FallCreek wilderness area, the PacificTree Climbing Institute is theonly outfitter in the U.S. thatlegally climbs with Forest Servicepermits.

The institute is run by RobMiron and Jason Suppa, both ofwhom spend most of their livesup in the air, leading tree climbsand working as arborists.

We hike our way to the tree.High above, branches intersect toform a shifting ceiling that makesthe forest floor busy with shad-ows. Ferns feather the ground.Moss clings to everything—stones,

Please turn to page W6

BY BENJAMIN PERCY

Above, whether you sleep tight or make light a night owl is up to you; top right, treeclimbing has become a vacation destination in the U.S.

CHIC SIMPLEFashion’s ‘new minimalism’ ishammering frothiness W4

‘PERFECT WEDDING’A Hong Kong take on Hollywood-style romantic comedy W9

KOREA GRAND PRIXThe new F1 track in Mokpo isready, but are the fans? W11

W2 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday - Sunday, October 22 - 24, 2010

WEEKEND JOURNAL

Making leggings dressy,flattering and fashionable

Leggings have become increasingly

fashionable in recent years, but right

now they’re particularly essential for

women trying to ease their wardrobes

into winter. Savannah Miller, creative

director of Twenty8Twelve, a clothing

label launched with her sister, the

actress Sienna Miller, sees leggings as

a key autumn accessory that “can

make a look unique.”

Ms. Miller, whose London-based

label is known for a funky, light-

hearted style, likes to pair her leggings

with a short summer dress or a tunic

plus an autumn jacket.

Another autumn look she likes with

leggings is a long, chunky knit sweater

with a lacy T-shirt underneath.

Leggings are more fun than tights

right now, she says, because they

show a peek of skin at the ankle, “the

thinnest part of the leg.”

But Ms. Miller has a few rules

when working leggings into an outfit.

For starters, she says it’s important to

wear a blouse or other top that’s long

enough to cover your bottom, because

leggings are “so tight and unforgiving.”

She also believes it’s best to wear

leggings in a dark color such as black,

dark blue or plum, which will have a

visually slimming effect.

“The paler you go the more unflat-

tering they will become,” she says.

“Steer away from crazy prints and

bright colors or you’ll look like you’re

wearing ’80s gym clothes.”

To give her ensemble some edge,

Ms. Miller seeks out leggings that have

texture or are made of interesting

materials like a tight, stretchy denim or

velvet, which she calls “really key” in

fashion this winter.

With denim leggings, she likes to

wear a long checked shirt, a short

army-style parka and heeled boots or a

long tunic top, a cropped leather jacket

and heels.

For evening events, she sometimes

pairs leggings with a long black blazer

and a white T-shirt that’s made of a

silk jersey material. “It’s got to look

sophisticated,” she says, but if it works,

it looks “rich without being expensive.”

Whether it’s day or night, Ms. Miller

wears her leggings with heels. “I

wouldn’t wear them with a flat shoe

unless you have the most incredible

legs,” she says, because leggings are

basically skintight trousers.

To elongate the leg and add height,

she often chooses sexy pumps for the

evening and a pair of shearling boots

for daytime.

With all legging ensembles, it’s

important to keep the top less form-

fitting. “You need some balance—just

like if you’re wearing a loose trouser

you should wear a more fitted top,”

she says.

Ms. Miller believes that a common

mistake that women make is to wear

leggings that are too small. “When you

get ripples on your legs because

they’re too tight for you, that’s not

flattering,” she says.

“Also, make sure that the elastic on

the waistband isn’t so tight that it digs

into you and creates a bulge on your

hips.”

Savannah Miller, creative director of Twenty8Twelve and sister of actressSienna Miller, likes to wear leggings with heeled shoes.

William

Widmer

forTh

eWallS

treetJournal

The world’s vanishing historyHeritage group finds sites in Asia among those under threat

More than 200 heritage sites arein a state of irreversible disrepairand will be lost unless communities,governments and internationalgroups act to prevent their destruc-tion, said the Global Heritage Fund, anongovernmental organization thatfocuses on historical preservation.

The group, which is unrelated toUnesco’s World Heritage division,said that sites in the developingworld are most at risk.

“Especially in places in Asia,we’ve seen rapid growth destroyingthese sites and government regula-tion hasn’t kept up to protectthem,” said Jeff Morgan, executivedirector of Global Heritage Fund(GHF). War, looting and insufficientmanagement have also contributedto the degradation, GHF said.

This year’s GHF report, releasedearlier this week, included a list ofthe 12 most endangered sites. Two ofthe 12 are in Asia—Fort Santiago inManila, Philippines, and India’searly-18th-century Maluti Temples.

The GHF and Unesco worktoward the same goal of heritagepreservation, but with slightly dif-ferent approaches.

When a site is awarded a UnescoWorld Heritage designation, it re-mains the responsibility of the localand national governments to raisefunds and orchestrate preservationefforts. GHF selects projects, often inthe developing world, and providesfinancial and technical resources toassist with preservation.

For instance, at Pingyao—aChinese city from the Ming and Qingdynasties (1368-1911) that was desig-nated a Unesco World Heritage Sitein 1997—GHF has provided $250,000,and secured a $1.5 million commit-ment from the local government, tohelp restore a major courtyard andstreet using local traditional materi-als.

GHF also set up a training pro-gram for artisans to preserve Ping-yao’s “living heritage”—its centuries-old traditions of arts, crafts, cookingand performing arts.

GHF’s Mr. Morgan said Unesco’sprocess deters some developingnations from applying for recogni-tion.

“There are 45 sites that are rec-

ognized in Italy and yet Peru, whichis home to ancient civilizations, onlyhas 11. Pakistan only has six. Gov-ernments in developing countriescan’t fill out the paperwork,” Mr.Morgan said.

Unesco said it is aware of GHF’sreport and said any form of heri-tage protection is positive. Unescohas 34 sites on its own list of“World Heritage in Danger.”

In these cases, Unesco draws in-

ternational attention to the site,provides technical support andknow-how and in some cases ur-gent funding, said Gina Doubleday,a Unesco spokesperson in Paris.

Fort Santiago in the Philippines is said to be at risk.

John

Hurd(FortSa

ntiago);So

urav

De(M

alutiT

emple)

BY JASON CHOW

Dries Van Noten Square

tassel club scarf

City Currency U.S. $New York $222

Singapore S$310 $237

Hong Kong HK$1,900 $245

Frankfurt €178 $245

London £165 $259

Brussels €190 $262

Tokyo 23,100 yen $284

Prices, including taxes, converted to

U.S. dollar

Arbitrage

Dries Van Noten

TRICKS OF THE TRADE | By Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Global Heritage Fund says India’s Maluti Temples, above, need active management.

WSJ.comONLINE TODAY: See photos of the12 most endangered sites in theworld at WSJ.com/SCENE.

Friday - Sunday, October 22 - 24, 2010 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. W3

PROFILE

Harald Falckenberg’s radical art gestureThe German manufacturer, known for his artistic acumen, opens up his eccentric private collection

M ost people probably haven’tthought much about thenozzles on gasoline pumps,

but if you happen to be interested innozzles, then you know all aboutElaflex, a Hamburg-based worldleader in nozzle production. Andmost people probably don’t have theeye, or the stomach, for radicalworks of contemporary art, whichdo their best to shock, repel or oth-erwise displease.

As it turns out, there is one manin the world who has a passion forboth—Harald Falckenberg, Elaflex’sco-owner and managing director,and one of the world’s most ad-mired, and most critical, contempo-rary-art collectors.

In the mid-1990s, Mr. Falcken-berg, a native Hamburger and anavid golfer, gave up sports for artand within a few years managed toput together the basis for his collec-tion. Since 2001, he has displayed theheart of that collection, which nowcomprises around 2,000 works, in aformer tire factory in Harburg, an in-dustrial district in the south of Ham-burg. Known for inviting other majorart collectors to share his sprawlingfactory building, and for exhibitinghis own collection in vertical storagedrawers that suggest a hardwarestore or a trade show, Mr. Falcken-berg is now about to make a radicalgesture of his own.

In late September, the HamburgSenate officially approved a plan forthe Deichtorhallen Hamburg, a civic-owned gallery space specializing inphotography and contemporary art,to join in a cooperative relationshipwith Mr. Falckenberg. The Deich-torhallen will now mount its ownexhibitions in Harburg, as well asborrow and maintain works fromMr. Falckenberg’s collection. The de-cision amounts to a fusion of two ofGermany’s best-known contempo-rary-art institutions, and to anopening up of Mr. Falckenberg’s col-lection, which until now could onlybe seen by appointment.

Mr. Falckenberg, 67 years old, isknown for his ability to stay severalsteps ahead of the art market. Hewas among the first collectors to ac-quire works by major figures likeGerman mixed-media artist MartinKippenberger, the American painterand photographer Richard Prince andthe German installation and perform-ance artist Jonathan Meese.

“People say I’m very enthusiasticabout art. I am not at all enthusias-tic about art,” Mr. Falckenberg says.Rather, he describes himself as “areporter on art and artists.” Hethinks of the art in his collection,

which often depicts material de-struction or physical suffering, as“socio-critical” not “beautiful orsentimental.” “I try to get awayfrom enthusiasm,” he says, “fromliking or loving” art. Instead hechooses to ask questions like “Whatare the conditions that somehowforces the artist to do this or that?”He believes that “an artwork at theend of the day is an expression of acertain development in society.”

He picks out the emphaticallymessy work of Mr. Meese, who hasseveral large installations on view inthe Harburg complex. “There aremany works of Jonathan Meese thatI don’t like,” he says. “But I thinkthey are very interesting.” He is in-trigued by what he calls Mr. Meese’s“attitude of escapism.”

“If you take [Mr. Meese’s work]seriously, it is the worst work youcan think of. But if you think of hiswork as an escape from the bitterrealities of this life—well, this iswhat many young people do.”

Mr. Meese’s signature contribu-tion to the Falckenberg collection isa pair of related installations, origi-nally created for a gallery space in2000, and later reinstalled in a seriesof dank storage rooms in the Har-burg factory. Featuring a harrowingclutter of defaced images, scrawledslogans and industrial detritus, theinstallations—which are officiallycalled “Ezra Pound’s Shower” andthe nonsensical “Die OrdensburgMishimoend (Toecutter’s Mü-tze)”—are reached by a back stair-case and suggest a kind of madman’slair. These were among the very firstworks of Mr. Meese’s that Mr. Falck-enberg purchased, and they haveevolved and grown in response tothe collection’s relocation over theyears. “He gave me carte blanche,”says Mr. Meese. “That was great.”

Mr. Meese, now 40 years old, be-lieves that the two works in theircurrent state are “the largest andmost concentrated” versions hereto-fore, and that together they amountto “a totally unique” creation in hiscareer. Although Mr. Falckenbergclaims not to like Mr. Meese’s work,or to have a sentimental connectionto art or artists, a different pictureemerges when speaking to Mr. Meesehimself. “I love him dearly,” says Mr.Meese, who divides his time between

Hamburg and Berlin. “We hang outtogether,” he says of Mr. Falcken-berg. “He’s a friend, a comrade and acompanion. He’s very generous andplayful. You can drink with him; youcan have fun with him. We often goout and have good meals and talkabout art.”

Is Mr. Meese surprised that Mr.Falckenberg purports to dislike art?“There are collectors who want tobuy things they understand.” Bycontrast, he says, “Harald Falcken-berg wants to be surprised.”

Mr. Falckenberg believes that hisnew arrangement with the Deich-torhallen, which is set to last until2023, is part of a larger process. “Iwant step by step to give my build-ings and my collection to Hamburg.”

Mr. Falckenberg describes his col-lection, which more or less beginswith art from the 1970s, as historical.“My collection starts with Punk,” hesays. “With young people who don’tbelieve in anything anymore.”

Does his decision to provide forhis collection in the future meanthat he himself believes in poster-ity? Or that he may even be an opti-mist at heart? “I’m not a believer,”he says. “I’m also not a pessimist. Iam convinced of evolution.”

“Most people think that evolu-tion leads to something better,” hesays. “That is not correct—it goesin all directions. There is no moral-ity in evolution.” As for his new ar-rangement with the Deichtorhallen:“We have to see how it works out.”

‘My collection starts withPunk. With young peoplewho don’t believe inanything anymore.’

Isabel

Mahns-Techau

Egbert

Haneke

BY J. S. MARCUS

Jonathan Meese’s installation at the Falckenberg Collection.

C��c�� V��r��( réf. 6639-3431-55B)

www.b��c��.c�mBlanCpain Boutiques aBu DHaBi · BeiJinG · Cannes · DuBai · eKateRinBuRG · GeneVa · HonG KonG

MaCau · MaDRiD · ManaMa · MosCoW · MuMBai · MuniCH · neW YoRK · paRissHanGHai · sinGapoRe · taipei · toKYo · ZuRiCH


FASHION

Chic simple, but costly

What an awful lotof fuss has beenmade about “thenew minimalism.”Perhaps you havenoticed the num-ber of fashion

pages devoted to the new pared-down but luxurious edict ofPhoebe Philo for Céline? In caseyou haven’t or you don’t care,here’s the fashion bulletin. For hersecond collection for Céline, Philosent beautiful, expensive, simple,artifice-free clothes with narrowsilhouettes down the runway forthis autumn/winter. Now, you maythink (and I would agree) thatwe’ve heard this all before—seeearly Helmut Lang, Giorgio Ar-mani and Calvin Klein And youmay also postulate, “but isn’t thatjust the process of paring downone’s wardrobe, and casting off allthat detritus—from ribbons andbows, to necklaces and belts that

have been the stuff of the pastfew years?” To which I wouldhave no rejoinder, except to say inAmerican parlance, “knock your-selves out.”Philo is a huge talent with

proven commercial savvy. It wasshe who created the most desirableof accessories, the Chloé Padding-ton “It” bag. She is nominated forBritish Designer of the Year andshe will probably win. Her clothesare beautiful. But in spite of this,you do not need to cast aboutwildly for an entire new look. Withsome careful thought, you canprobably go minimal using clothingyou already own, with a few addi-tions (and here I’m going to rec-ommend— with the exception ofevening wear—High Street). Infact, there’s an argument to bemade for not thinking about this at

all (and for not buying anythingnew—so fire me). Just strip downthe layers, dump the baggyshirts, et voila.As we know, fashion is

skilled at extremes. There’slittle doubt that “the newminimalist” is a direct re-sponse to the maximalismof the past few years (thinkfur, feathers and sequins). Takingthis argument a step further, theparing down could be said to befashion’s response to the recenteconomic implosion. That argu-ment falters, though, where pric-ing is concerned. A sweater fromCéline will set you back £1,220(US$1,998); a jacket from StellaMcCartney (another minimalistthis season), £800-plus; and somelegwarmers from American “luxesimplist” Michael Kors, around£250. This is cutting back with abig price tag.Has the world gone mad? Well,

yes, since you ask. But only aminiscule section of it. Recent re-ports that the Louis Vuitton storein Paris was closing early becauseit could not keep up with demand(and wanted to save some stockfor Christmas), and that Chanelhad upped the price of their sig-nature bags by 20% to dampenconsumers appetites (and give thecompany time to catch up), givesyou some idea of the scale of theinsanity inside the luxury bubble.So, how to affect the new sil-

houette? First, do no harm. Sur-vey what you already have beforeembarking on a major shoppingspree. This really is a style, thebuilding blocks of which youshould already have—at least inpart. So: fitted pants or jeans(preferably cropped at the ankleor alternatively falling onto thetoe of the shoe itself), below-the-knee skirts (dig way back into thewardrobe), gilets, waistcoats, sim-ple fitted shirts and plain over-sized sweaters and Ts (Marks &Spencer anyone?). No over-wrought jewelry allowed.What’s missing? Philo made

leather look as wearable as woolwith her leather shirts and shells.Try M&S Limited collection forleather tops starting at £125. Thetrouser is a key item and muchhas been written about Gap’s Pre-mium Pant collection. Of course,

one should never trust a journal-ist, but too many “real people” orcivilians, as Liz Hurley calls them,have raved about the fit of the sixstyles of tailored trousers on offerfor me not to encourage you totry them if you haven’t already.Juicy Couture’s tunic-style dressin gray is a key buy, £155 on neta-porter.com. For affordable cash-mere sweaters, try Uniqlo, from

£49.99. But don’t stop there; bythe time of writing, Jil Sander’slatest collaboration with Uniqlowill have hit the stores—the ulti-mate in affordable, pared-downchic. Sander herself recommendsher black long wool Mermaidskirt, £49.99, and black wooljacket, £129.99. Personally, I rec-ommend the whole collection. It’sa peerless manifestation of the

luxury-for-less ethos. And on yourfeet? Well, shoes and boots thisseason merit a whole column ontheir own (see next week), but forcool boots and lace-up shoe-bootswith wedges see Pierre Hardyfrom Gap, from £150; and for flats,go to the source: Church’s for apair of brogues (from £190) whichyou will have forever. Trust me onthis one.

[ Style ]

BY TINA GAUDOIN

Clockwise from above, a runway look by Phoebe Philo for Célinefrom its spring/summer 2011 ready-to-wear collection; camel piped pencil skirtby Whistles; Marks & Spencer’s limited collection leather top.

Clockw

isefrom

topleft,M

arks

&Sp

encer,2010

AFP,W

histles

What to do when minimalist design comes with maxi prices

Q: The pendulum has swung andnow skinny ties are in but you havenone in your wardrobe. Is your tiecollection outdated? Do you go buya dozen to replace the old ones?

A: Before you go imitating JustinTimberlake, who has beenrocking the skinny tie for months,there’s no need to write off yourcloset as a bust—unless your tiesare as wide as a kitchen towel, inwhich case, yes: Ditch them all.The easiest way to slim your

existing tie collection is tomaster the four-in-hand knot. It’sfar lighter than the half-Windsorand a midget compared with the

Windsor. The effect is immediatebecause the math is indisputable:Slimmer knot = slimmer-lookingtie. That said, you have toremember that a tie is just thebassoon section in the granderorchestra that is the your bodyand your outfit.So consider your body type.

Skinny ties tend to work on leanbodies, which is why Hollywoodcelebrities and wiry punk rockersfrom the 1970s can pull them off.It’s also why you never see NFLlinemen wearing them.Think about your shirts too. A

skinny tie calls for a small collar.If you favor shirts with large,

spread collars, a skinny tie (withits skinny knot) isn’t going towork—it’ll look like a VolkswagonBeetle sandwiched between apair of tractor-trailer trucks.And then there’s your jacket. A

suit salesman once told me that atie should match the widest partof your lapel. As recent historyshows, tie fashions follow suitfashions, not the other wayaround. A decade ago, whenlapels were wider, we all worefatter ties with wider knots. Butnow—call it the “Mad Men” effectif you like—as suits have slimmeddown, lapels have, too, so skinnierties have come back in style.

Finally, think about theoccasion. If you have a boardroommeeting, a wider tie and half-Windsor knot, paired with a shirtwith a large spread collar, willgive you presence (“Listen tome”). While we all wish we couldlook like Don Draper, the reality iswe’re more likely dealing with theGordon Geckos of the businessworld. And Gordon would nevergo skinny.But if you’re wearing jeans or

at a party, the slimmer option is adashing way to go. For a Saturdaynight, it brings civility withoutpretension to the gathering, andeveryone loves a gentleman.

THE ANSWER | Jason Chow

Tips on slimmin’ it–how to wear the skinny tie

Minimalism with a hugeprice tag: Has the worldgone mad?Well, yes,since you ask.

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) in ‘Mad Men’

AssociatedPress


FOOD& DRINK

Lemon & Lemon TartAmischievous and witty take on a traditional French

dessert—a tarte au citron—that should be eaten with zeal

Paul Pairet has built his career onbeing a playful chef.

His clever takes on Asian fla-vors at Café Mosaic in Paris madecritics take notice in the 1990s.Then in 2005, he took the fine-dining stage in Shanghai: At Jadeon 36 in the city’s PudongShangri-La hotel, he entertaineddiners with dishes such as his foiegras bonbon—a bite-size morsel ofliver followed by a shot of herbaltea that was topped with cham-pagne foam.

Mr. Pairet, who now runs thecasual Shanghai brasserie Mr &Mrs Bund, has a new project inthe works: A tiny 10-seatrestaurant called Ultraviolet that’sequipped with state-of-the arttechnology allowing him to adjustthe ambience—lighting, sound,projection images and aroma—tofit every dish served. “It’s veryexperimental,” he says, addingthat he expects to open the newrestaurant early next year.

Until then, diners can samplethe best of his “experiments,”such as his Lemon & Lemon Tart,a mischievous and witty take on a

traditional French tarte au citron.It has been in his repertoire forover a decade, but remains a hitbecause of its visual trickery:What appears to be a wholelemon is in fact a hollowed-outfruit stuffed with lemon curd,Chantilly cream and sorbet—thetraditional tart filling.

“I love how this is so complexin preparation,” he says, “for aresult that is so very simple.”

1. The lemonMr. Pairet takes a fresh lemon,

cuts a small hole in one end, andremoves as much of the pulp andpith as he can without damagingthe skin. He then poaches thehollowed lemon in water for 12hours. After it cools, he carefullyremoves more of the pith until“you can see right through thelemon.”

It’s important to use a lemonwhose skin is very thin but verystrong. Meyer lemons—organic, ofcourse—fit the bill for Mr. Pairet.

2. Candied rindThe lemon shell is then

poached for six hours more, thistime in a simple syrup (equal

parts sugar and water).Mr. Pairet then raises the heat

so the syrup begins to thickenand form a glaze around thelemon skin. The end result: A hol-lowed lemon in its original shapewith a candied shell that is bothsoft and sweet.

3. The fillingMr. Pairet’s version of lemon

curd, the main filling of a regulartarte au citron, is a classictextbook version, as are hissorbet and Chantilly cream.

“There is only one idea ineach of my dishes,” he says. “If Iget more esoteric, then it getsconfusing. One idea is enough.”He fills the hollowed, candiedlemon with the three ingredientsto form his dessert.

4. Sablé biscuitA classic lemon tart has a

crumbly crust, which Mr. Pairetreimagines as a biscuit stick thatgently rests on the lemon.

Elegant in presentation, this isa dessert to be eaten with primalzeal, the chef says: “Take a spoonand make your own disaster onthe plate.”

BY JASON CHOW

ArtBe

atStud

io

The Laithwaites story

If you are ever toldthat the best wayto make a smallfortune in the winebusiness is to startwith a large one,pause, smile

briefly, then mention Tony Laith-waite, the man behind Britain’slargest independent wine com-pany: Laithwaites Wine. From atiny warehouse under a railwayarch in Windsor, England, Mr.Laithwaite and his wife, Barbara,have taken the most overusedcliché about the wine trade andturned it on its head, building anempire worth more than £350 mil-lion (US$550 million).

The facts speak for themselves:Laithwaites’s wine list has morethan 2,500 wines, and the firmemploys more than 1,000 people.As well as the U.K., its businessstretches across Europe (throughGermany and Switzerland) toAsia-Pacific (Hong Kong and Aus-tralia), and, after the acquisitionof Illinois’s Lionstone, theU.S.—where it also runs The WallStreet Journal’s wine club.

In February, the firm bolsteredits buying team with the an-nouncement of a new global winedirector, Master of Wine JustinHoward-Sneyd, who joined fromU.K. supermarket chain Waitrose,where he had been busy puttingtogether an enviable wine list.

I admit that such is its ubiquityin the U.K. market—since 1973, ithas run The Sunday Times WineClub as well as a handful of othermail-order clubs—it is hard to es-cape Laithwaites presence. After“What is your favorite wine?” and“What’s a good wine to drink atthe moment?,” the question I ammost frequently asked is “What doyou think of the Sunday TimesWine Club?” To which I invariablymutter something about its level ofservice, which I was frequently toldby a previous editor is very good,along with a recommendation ofone of its wines I happen to favorat the time.

I always stumble on that ques-tion, as my relationship withLaithwaites’s has always been alittle complicated. I grew up nearits headquarters in Theale, Berk-shire, and although it wasn’t like

Charlie Bucket’s relationship withthe Chocolate Factory, I have al-ways associated it with home.

Then there’s Mr. Laithwaite’sback story. He started out as anundergraduate from Durham Uni-versity with nothing more than avan full of wines he discovered inFrance, creating his first com-pany—Bordeaux Direct. How coolis that? When I left university, Ihad similar dreams, but ended updriving a van around London, de-livering wine to my employer’svarious clients. Thirdly, there arethe company’s close ties withHugh Johnson, who may go downin the annals of wine writing asits greatest practitioner.

But this hasn’t shielded Laith-waites from criticism. Over theyears, wine writers have com-plained about the firm’s pricingpolicy, and there has always beena suspicion that most of its cus-tomers enjoy the fact that thewines are chosen and deliveredfor them. A lot of my elderly rela-tives readily admit this.

Mr. Laithwaite himself is an en-thusiast. Recently he told me thatall he really wanted to do wasbring back to Britain a little of thepassion for wine he experienced asa young man in the southwest ofFrance. Well, I think he’s achievedthat, but given that his businesshas grown so far, one suspects hemisses the fun of the early days.

Yet it is in southwest Francewhere I think Laithwaites’sstrength lies, and wine such asMas de Daumas Gassac, Grand Re-serve de Gassac 2009, Vin de Paysde l’Herault (£7.99) is a case inpoint, full of French rustic charm.Australia is also a strength. Thecompany was one of the first toemploy Australian winemakers inFrance; this is now a commonpractice known as “flying wine-makers.” Neil Pike’s Clare HillsRiesling 2009 (£8.49) is a fresh,cool-climate example that showsjust how far Australia has come interms of this noble grape variety.I was also fascinated to taste anAligoté from Russia in their range.It is made by the Fanagoria EstateWinery and is available at £7.99.“Close your eyes and you could bein Burgundy,” says Mr. Laithwaite,in a reference to Aligoté’s origins.I’m not so sure about that, but thenext time I’m asked what I thinkof Laithwaites, I must rememberto mention their Russian wine, ifonly for the reaction.

[ Wine ]

BY WILL LYONS

Baron de Lagrézette 40th-anniversary Cuvée

Cahors, France

Vintage: 2005

Price: £11.99 or $19

Alcohol content: 14%

Tony Laithwaite told me he is still fascinated by

the southwest of France and the bargains one can

find there. This wine is an absolute case in point,

with plenty of spice and pepper, yet an

approachable style, with smooth tannins and a big

finish. The grape variety is Malbec, which has

found fame across the Atlantic in Argentina but, as

this wine shows, can still perform very well in its

native home, Cahors. Laithwaites Wine says the

vineyards can be traced back to the seventh

century. Today, the wine is made by former

Richemont Chief Executive Alain Perrin, who has

caused a number of ripples since he bought into

the province. His wines are forward in style, with

plenty of upfront fruit.

Drinking Now

DISH


TRAVEL

Out on a limb: take tree-hugging to new heightslogs, branches—in varying shades of green.The air is heavy with the smell of earth.Standing at the base of our tree, among ourgear, I peer upward at the dizzying height.

I attach my ascender clips—metal gripsshaped like a smile—one at eye level, theother aligned with my knees. The first fivemeters are the most trying, as my bodyadjusts and finds a new sense of balance.The ascender clips slide up and then lock inplace, anchoring me to the rope as I pull andpush, crunching and extending my body,inchworming through the open air, the low-est branches 45 meters above the ground.

The wind picks up and the forest seemsto breathe all around me. For the first 30minutes, there are no branches, so I sprintupward in bursts, and then rest in my har-ness, panting and spinning in the open air.When I move into the branches, they clusterthickly around me, and I dodge throughthem, knocking into them, snaking an armaround them for leverage. It takes an hourand a half to summit the tree. I loop an armaround the trunk and imagine myself as aneagle in a roost. I linger there and watch thesun set behind a distant hill.

Six hammocks hang between branches,one for each of us, staggered around thetree at varying heights for privacy. They areanchored to the tree by ropes from each oftheir four corners. I descend 30 meters,darting through the branches, to my ham-mock. It looks like a green pupa, made ofcanvas and walled in to keep me from roll-ing out. I throw in my sleeping bag, tap mydescender clip and sink in slowly.

When I lie in the hammock, it hugs mybody. Before the climb we ate pasta andsalad, but now we’re hungry again and Ja-son withdraws from his pack a homemademarionberry pie and we pass it from ham-mock to hammock.

Continued from page W1

Night falls and the bard owls and moun-tain chickadees and nuthatches busily callout to each other, and then go silent, theirnoise replaced by the distant rush of FallCreek and our voices as we bid each othergood night. I hang a Nalgene bottle from anearby branch, in case nature calls, and thenI settle back, still in my harness, as the treesways, rocking me to peace. I do not feelafraid in this ultimate air mattress. I amcompletely at peace, my mind empty exceptfor one lingering thought: How lucky am I?

The next morning I climb again. Fromthe top, I look down on the crowns of trees,new growth that from this height looksmore like shrubbery. I hear the far-off clat-ter of pans and plates—breakfast is waitingfor me on the ground. I unhook my as-cender and switch over to a descender, notreally ready to leave, to drop through thebranches and return to the ground, and inthis moment of readjustment, of poweringmy body down and trying to memorize theview, I recognize the feeling. It’s the giddi-ness of childhood.

WHAT TO WEAR THERE: THE WILDERNESS

THE LOWDOWN

Signing Up A guided day-climb at the PacificTree Climbing Institute costs $200, an

overnight $400 and a combo $600. Meals

and gear are supplied by the outfitter.

pacifictreeclimbing.com

Getting There The climbs take place in the

wilderness about 100 kilometers outside of

Eugene, Oregon.

Diversions A short drive from the

extraordinary wineries of the Willamette

Valley.

TREES BY DEGREES

Treehotel in Harads, SwedenRooms between four and six

meters above ground. from $535 a

night, treehotel.se

Cockatoo Hill Retreat inNorth Queensland, AustraliaTree houses on a ridge

70 meters above the Coral

Sea. from $390 a night,

cockatoohillretreat. com.au

F.MartinRa

min

forTh

eWallS

treetJournal(allp

rices

arein

U.S.d

ollars)

� Jacket, $575, rag-bone.com

Proenza Schouler necklace �

$825, barneys.com

� Cuff, $2,380, bottegaveneta.com

� Hat, $95, and � ax, $195,

bestmadeco.com

Shirt, $168, �

and vest, $298, �

stevenalan.com

� Booties, $450,

toryburch.com

� Boots, $525,

adamkimmel.com

John

ClarkforTh

eWallS

treetJournal(2)

Above, instructor Rob Miron hangs tight; Right,

adventurers slide toward their hammocks.


TRAVEL

Venturing into Catalonia’s remote PrioratAs the region opens up to wine and hiking tourism, preserving traditions and the environment is key

It all began with wine. In 1989, agroup of wine connoisseurs vis-ited the Priorat, an impoverished,

mountainous rural area inland fromTarragona, in the Spanish provinceof Catalonia. They had heard of theregion’s unique conditions for grow-ing grapes, although the wine beingproduced was unrefined and usuallysold in canisters rather than bottles.

The group was led by René Bar-bier, the veteran winemaker from LaRioja. The others were Álvaro Pala-cios, also the son of winemakers inLa Rioja; Carles Pastrana, a Spanishjournalist and wine lover from Tar-ragona; and Daphne Glorian, aSwiss-French lawyer. With them wasJosep Lluis Perez, a local professorof oenology and founder of theOenology School in Falset, the Prio-rat’s capital. They must have likedwhat they saw, for each started buy-ing land, rehabilitating old vine-yards, planting new ones, and mak-ing wine under names such as Closde l’Obac, Clos Erasmus and l’Ermitathat have since elicited praise fromwine pundits all over the world.

“We don’t deserve any merit,”Mr. Palacios says. “The merit is allwith the Priorat. If we went there, itwas because of the quality of thewine. When I first tried it, it waslike a diamond in the rough. Thearea has an exclusive personality.It’s so beautiful and at the sametime so difficult; it requires a lot ofeffort, but it’s worth it.”

Dominated by the impressive,flat-topped mountain range of theMontsant natural reserve, the land-scape is rough and striking. Vine-yards and olive groves cover theterraced slopes that rise fromunblemished valleys. The medievalvillages dotting the hilltops have

escaped the urban atrocities com-mitted on the nearby coast. And thewine is produced in a traditionalmanner, with grapes picked by handand irrigation systems rare. ThePriorat feels like a remnant from an-other age that has been magicallypreserved in these mountains.

“When we first arrived, somepeople wanted to innovate, intro-duce new types of grapes andchange the cultivation system,” Mr.Palacios recalls. “They were disap-pointed. We found centuries’ worthof winegrowing tradition, and peo-ple were doing it this way because itworked. So the traditional methodsare being preserved, even though itsometimes means using horses in-stead of tractors. But the mentalityhere is to preserve.”

Twenty years after the winemak-ers arrived, the Priorat is againmaking the balancing act betweeneconomic development and thepreservation of traditions and theenvironment. The area is opening up

to tourism, with a focus on wine andhiking. One of the people spearhead-ing this effort is Cristina Beltran,the 38-year-old manager of the Fal-set tourism office. A native of thesmall village of Masroig, she wit-nessed the transformation of thePriorat from destitute backwater toflourishing wine country. And she ishappy with the progress they’remaking. “When I started, in 2001,there were a few restaurants but

practically no hotels, no wineriesthat received visitors, and no orga-nized activities,” Ms. Beltran recalls.In 2003, the tourism office per-suaded six wineries to open theirdoors to visitors; today, there are 46that offer tours.

It wasn’t until 2004 that a roadwas built, offering a comfortablejourney from Tarragona to theregion’s two biggest towns, Falsetand Cornudella. The real break-through came in 2006, when the Cat-alan government awarded the regionfunding to promote tourism. Sud-denly, there were five people work-ing in Ms. Beltran’s office, a profes-sional website was launched, and theteam came up with ideas such as therecuperation of the old trails thathad connected the villages beforeroads were built, and their promo-tion as a lighter form of hiking. Thestrategy worked. “Tourism is nowthe second source of income in theregion, after wine,” Ms. Beltran says.

The effect has been felt nowheremore than in Siurana, a tiny villageof 35 inhabitants in the northeast ofthe Priorat. Formerly the seat ofMoorish regents, Siurana was thelast fiefdom in the area to fall intothe hands of Christian conquerors inthe 12th century, after what is be-lieved to have been an arduoussiege. Contemplating its location, itseems surprising that it fell at all:Perched on the edge of a cliff, thevillage is surrounded on three sidesby deep falls and on the fourth, bythe towering rocks of the Montsant.

Andreu Bartolomé, a descendantof one of Siurana’s original familieswho left the village for the coast,recalls the dire situation of the 1970sand ’80s. “At some point, there wereonly three families left. One couldonly get by foot to Cornudella. Therewas no future,” he says. In 1992, aroad was finally built, and a fewyears later Mr. Bartolomé decided toreturn to Siurana to take over the

family’s winery and goat farm—“tobecome a shepherd,” as he puts it.He met his wife and the two tookover the family restaurant, whichserved home cooking to Catalan hik-ers. Then the boom happened, andnow the couple has built a six-roomluxury hotel with gourmet restau-rant, called Mirador de Siurana.

Today there are five families inSiurana, and everybody is living offtourism in one way or another, ac-cording to Mr. Bartolomé, who un-derstands that the charm of the re-gion lies in a focus on small scaleand high quality. “Our visitors arequite demanding. This is a quietregion, and the people who comehere are very different from thosewho go to the coast,” he says.

Martin Kirby, an Englishman whomoved his family a decade ago to afarmhouse in the south of the Prio-rat, concurs. “It’s the reverse of glitzand party,” he says. “The Priorat isfor people who are looking for an ac-tive, mentally stimulating and physi-cally rewarding holiday.”

Mr. Kirby, a journalist and writer,came to the region in search of asimpler life. He doesn’t see thisthreatened by tourism. “Here in thePriorat, families and communitiesare still very closely knit. Of coursethe region has evolved; it’s openingup and tourism is growing. But it’ssensitively done and very well han-dled. There are no ugly hotels; peo-ple are building very beautifulplaces. They want to preserve itsbeauty and its culture.”

Like the region’s traditional wineindustry, the Priorat itself may sur-vive its encounter with the rest ofthe world unscathed. “We were justa circumstance,” Mr. Palacios saysabout the pioneer winemakers. “Themost important factor was the re-gion itself.”

‘The Priorat is for people

looking for a mentally

stimulating and physically

rewarding holiday.’

Alamy(r);Hotel

Heredad

Mas

Collet(b)

BY KATI KRAUSE

Top, the church of Santa Maria in the tiny village of Siurana, which is perched

on the edge of a cliff and surrounded on three sides by deep falls; above, hiking

in the Priorate mountains.


HOME FRONT

A Thai villa on a Phuket beachA seaside shack in a quiet bay is transformed into a luxurious five-bedroom manse

E ight years ago, Fredrik C.Gromer decided to relinquisha lifetime of cold and dark

Swedish winters in favor of thewarmth and sun of Phuket, Thai-land. A secluded beach shackacross from Phuket’s Chalong Bayarea provided the ideal propertyfor Mr. Gromer and his wife, Sue,to transform into an oasis thatthey could call home.

Inspired by the luxury Aman-puri hotel, Mr. Gromer refitted theshack as a traditional Thai villawith clean-cut lines. The Gromersspend a large part of the year here.“I have built out a dedicated homeoffice and meeting area,” says Mr.Gromer, who has a 3-D animationand rendering company called Ren-derworks. “Were it not for businesstravel, I would never leave.”

Ideal for entertaining, thekitchen—by SieMatic, a high-endmaker of kitchen furnishings—isoutfitted with a Thermador cookingrange, a Sub-Zero refrigerator andcountertops of black African gran-ite. “Since the coastal developmentregulation rules changed five yearsago, it is has become very difficultto find houses less than 25 metersfrom the beach,” says Mr. Gromer.“We were very lucky because ourproperty was already grandfatheredbefore the regulations came into ef-fect.”

All five bedrooms have unob-structed sea views. The bathroomsare lined with French limestone.The master bathroom includes a

massive whirlpool bath with a Bang& Olufsen television set.

The outdoor dining area includesa large Thermador grill with seatingfor 16 people and a large bar area.

The sala, open but protectedfrom the heat of the noonday sun, is

one of Mr. Gromer’s favorite rooms.“I especially love looking out at Ch-along Bay and beyond as I eatlunch,” he says. Slide shut the largewooden doors and the sala becomesa fully equipped media room with aBang & Olufsen TV and a surround-sound system.

A 12-meter by 24-meter infinityswimming pool includes a saunawith sliding doors. The family lovestaking a dip after spending the daywith friends on the beach.

The Gromers spend many dayssailing to the different islandsaround Phuket. After harnessingtheir boat to the moorings outsidetheir villa, they enjoy lazing by thepool as the sun sets over ChalongBay. The family is selling the villabecause Mr. Gromer’s business is ex-panding and he will spend moretime in Europe, especially Sweden.It is on sale for $5,026,000 and islisted with Ann Adenius at Signa-ture Residences Worldwide.

Sign

atureRe

sidences

Worldwide

BY REENITA MALHOTRA HORA

A 12-meter by 24-meter infinity swimming pool includes a sauna with sliding doors.

The outdoor dining area includes a large Thermador grill and a large bar area.

The kitchen is outfitted with a Thermador cooking range and black African granite countertops.

Inspired by the Amanpuri hotel, thefamily refitted the shack as atraditional Thai villa.

All the bedrooms haveunobstructed sea views.The bathrooms are linedwith French limestone.

DISTINCTIVE PROPERTIES & ESTATES

�� ! �� " ## ��" $% &��" �� '(� ��"�� " �� " ) �� " �� " �� " �� " �� " ��" �� * �� +�� ,�� &�� " -�� * .�� /�� " �� 0�� '��* 0�� " �� 1�* �� !� ��"�� #��$ �#�� 2��" .�* 3*�*�*%�� "� #�� $ �� "�� & '''�'��$�(��)�� *�� +��$� (��#" +� �,-��.�/�0�1�� $�2 ��

��

Distinctive Properties.

Select Residential Listings Every Friday.

List Your Property Today.

Call (852) 2831-2553,

(65) 6415-4279 or (813) 6269-2701

UNITED STATES


FILM

A Hong Kong romantic comedy with ‘perfect’ Hollywood stylingBarbara Wong’s latest film is based in Asia but borrows heavily from a proven formula

Hong Kong direc-tor Barbara Wonghas never workedin Hollywood, butyou might notknow that fromwatching her new

film. “Perfect Wedding” seemsright at home among Hollywoodromantic comedies like “RunawayBride” and “The Wedding Plan-ner.”“I think it’s partly that I had

the chance to live in New York forso many years meeting differentpeople,” Ms. Wong says, “and it’saffecting my style and my work.”Ms. Wong studied drama at

The Hong Kong Academy forPerforming Arts and later spentsix years in New York, where shestudied filmmaking at the Tisch

School of the Arts.Her early movies are noted for

their funny and frank dialogue. Inthe documentary “Women’s Pri-vate Parts,” her first film after re-turning from New York in 1999,she explored women’s sexualitythrough a series of interviews.That was followed by the comedy“Truth or Dare: 6th Floor RearFlat,” a 2003 feature about agroup of college-age slackers.Another romantic comedy,

“Break Up Club” starring JayceeChan (Jackie Chan’s son), was ahit earlier this year in Hong Kong.“Perfect Wedding” opens

around Asia this week.

Q. How does your training as an ac-tor help you as a director?A. It helps me to communicatewith actors. I need to get the trustfrom them first, so we becomefriends. That happens on all myfilms. Once they trust me, theycan really get into their roles. For

documentaries, I have to focus oninspiring them to open up.

Q. Many of your comedies tap intothe urban mindset.

A. I think that’s my strength. I amvery interested in the psyche ofdifferent people—how they thinkand how they react.When I write a script I hate to

make up something that doesn’texist in reality.

Q. Would you describe your films asuniquely Hong Kong?A. I wouldn’t. Since my films arevery much into the psychology ofthe characters, I feel like evenWesterners understand. Theylaugh and cry the same way as theHong Kong audience.

Q. Are you interested in directingfilms outside of Hong Kong?A. If there is a chance, I wouldlike to make Hollywood films be-cause I think I can bring someChinese elements to it—our sensi-tivity, our culture. If I make filmsin mainland China, I can bringsome Western sensibilities.

Q. Which directors do you admire?A. My idol when I was studyingfilm was Ang Lee—a Chinese di-rector who makes Chinese filmsand Western films. That’s my goal.

[ Talking Movies ]

BY DEAN NAPOLITANO

Miriam Yeung and Raymond Lam star in Hong Kong rom-com ‘Perfect Wedding.’

ConceptLegend

Limited

2010

‘Red’ alert: Old stars fire up thriller‘Hereafter’ examines (and feels like) eternity; ‘Carlos’ is an on-target epic about terrorism

Only in Hollywoodis someone seri-ously old at 55, butthis is the underly-ing thesis of “Red,”and it works like awell-worn charm.

Bruce Willis, still buff andsmirking at that august age, playsFrank Moses, a retiree quietly col-lecting Social Security until his lifeis suddenly threatened by a smallarmy of intruders with enormousguns. Since Frank used to be ablack-ops ace in the CIA, he dis-patches the would-be assassinsforthwith. Then the born-againaction hero rounds up the evenolder members of his old team tohelp him survive.In a stroke of creative casting,

the team includes Morgan Free-man, John Malkovich and HelenMirren: “We’re gettin’ the bandback together,” Mr. Freeman’s Joesays with quiet pleasure. Frankalso enlists the help of an activeCIA functionary played by ErnestBorgnine, who, at the age of 93,has achieved authentic oldness, al-though he doesn’t act like it.If logic applied, Mr. Borgnine’s

Henry, a documents custodian,would have long ago been retiredfrom the job that he performswith the cheerful air of a cashierin a country store. But logicdoesn’t apply to a single tumultu-ous moment of “Red,” which wasdirected with huge exuberance byRobert Schwentke, and freely andfrivolously adapted by Jon Hoeberand Erich Hoeber from a superse-rious and ultraviolent graphicnovel by Warren Ellis and CullyHammer. (The title is an acronymfor “retired, extremely danger-ous.”) Mary-Louise Parker’s SarahRoss, a Social Security clerk, isn’tinterested in logic either. In theenjoyably silly plot, Frank whisks

Sarah out of her office andpresses her into involuntary ser-vice as the team’s junior member,but she soon comes to think thathe isn’t old at all, and she takes tothe wild thrills of his cross-coun-try mission like a salmon takes towhite water.Ms. Parker is a graceful comedi-

enne, and Mr. Willis is a past mas-ter of delicate—yes, delicate—self-irony, so their characters generatewelcome fizz in the course of afraught relationship. This cheerfulbauble of an entertainment startsto lose momentum only when, two-thirds of the way through or there-abouts, the bad guys remove Sarahfrom the romantic equation formuch too long.Every now and then the senior

participants in the proceedingsoffer nuggets of wisdom. “Here’sthe thing,” Frank tells a remorse-less adversary, “with age comes acertain perspective.” That mayeven be true, but what’s obvious

here is that age, in conjunctionwith talent, can sharpen perform-ance. The best part of “Red” is thespectacle of terrific actors beingterrific in novel ways.

‘Hereafter’Matt Damon is George, a spiri-

tualist in spite of himself in“Hereafter,” and one of three peo-ple in the film who have hauntingconnections with the afterlife.Unfortunately, Clint Eastwood’sslow-paced drama has slack con-nections with the here and now.This supernatural thriller,

which was written by Peter Mor-gan, begins impressively when atropical resort is ravaged by atsunami. In the chaos thatensues, Marie, a TV personalityon vacation from France—she’splayed by Cécile de France insubtitled French—has a near-death experience that qualifiesher as another member of thehaunted trio. The third member

is the youngest, and most im-probably affecting—a sweetlybleak-faced English schoolboy,Marcus (Frankie McLaren) whohas recently lost his twin brother.One problem that soon sur-

faces is the movie’s certitude. NoTurn-of-the-Screw-y ambiguities,no mind games about whetherthe three might share some all-too-human delusion. Either youbuy their Vaseline-lensed visionsof the hereafter, or you watch instony silence, as I did, wonderingwhy there’s no one to care about.Mr. Damon brings calm intelli-gence to his role, and he has anagreeable encounter with BryceDallas Howard in a cookingclass—the students take turnswearing masks and spoon-feedingone another in blind tastings. Buteven that scene wears out itswelcome; it isn’t as intimate as itpromises to be, and its pace, inkeeping with the movie as awhole, is insistently slow.

‘Carlos’One of the high points of last

month’s Telluride Film Festivalwas, as I wrote at the time, spend-ing 5½ hours in a darkened the-ater—with one short break—towatch Olivier Assayas’s shockingand edifying epic, which stars theVenezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez ina phenomenal performance as theinternational terrorist of the ’70sand ’80s.Now that “Carlos” has begun a

series of theatrical engagementsaround the U.S.—the release sched-ule can be found at ifcfilms.com—Iurge you to see it in a theater too.

Once you’ve committed to anexperience as intense as this one,hours become much less than thesum total of their minutes.In my own encounter with

“Carlos,” giving up the requiredchunk of my life allowed me to en-ter the life of the film as if allother cares, and clocks, hadceased to exist.

[ Review ]

BY JOE MORGENSTERN

Above, Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren as retired spies back in action in ‘Red.’ Right, Bryce Dallas Howard and Matt Damon in Clint Eastwood’s ‘Hereafter.’

SummitEn

tertainm

ent(above);WarnerBros.P

ictures


BOOKS

The Influence of Sea Power Upon South Asia

We have come to accept thatthe 500-year domination of Asiaby the West is coming to an endand that the balance of power inthe 21st century will rest on thefortunes of China, India and theUnited States. In “Monsoon,” Rob-ert D. Kaplan goes further, sug-gesting that it is in the IndianOcean where history will be madeand where the global struggle fordemocracy, energy, religion and se-curity will be waged.

Mr. Kaplan, whose books in-clude “Balkan Ghosts” and “War-rior Politics,” has a gift for geopo-litical imagination. Maps domatter, he feels, and the right mapcan stimulate thinking about thefuture of the world. To understandthe 20th century, it was importantto understand the map of Europe.When it comes to the 21st century,however, Americans are at a disad-vantage because of an inherentbias in their mapping convention:Since the 16th century, when Flem-ish cartographer Gerardus Merca-tor developed a method of showingthe globe as a flattened surface,Mercator projections have tendedto place the Western Hemispherein the middle of the map, splittingthe Indian Ocean at its far edges.Yet the Indian Ocean encompassesa quarter of the world’s surfaceand is home to half of the world’sshipping-container traffic.

From the Horn of Africa, the In-dian Ocean stretches past thetense arc of Islam—with its tinder-boxes of Somalia, Yemen, Iran andPakistan—past the Indian subcon-tinent all the way to the Indone-sian archipelago. The Indian Oceanwill be the vital geography, saysMr. Kaplan, where the rivalry be-tween China and India will playout, and where America’s future asa great power depends on its abil-ity to command a place on thisnew center stage of history.

Hovering over the book is a fa-miliar question: Will the 21st cen-tury be defined by wars of iden-tity, in particular the clash offundamentalist Islam with others,or will it be a story of a largelypeaceful, economic rise of India,China and other nations in Asiaand Africa? Mr. Kaplan believes inthe more optimistic scenario. Themessage of “Monsoon” is that theeconomic impulse is likely to pre-vail and in the long run even themore extreme Islamic nations willturn middle class. Al-Jazeera, theMiddle Eastern television network,is symbolic of this bourgeois Is-lam.

The best thing that the U.S. cando, Mr. Kaplan says, is to continueto protect the vital trade routes ofthe Indian Ocean for the benefit ofall, in alliance with the navies ofthe new powers of the IndianOcean world. But America willhave to shift its obsession with alQaeda in order to be perceived as“legitimate” by the new, insecuremiddle classes of Asia, and learnto project its soft power.

To this end, according to Mr.Kaplan, the U.S. can learn some-

thing from India, whose softpower is admired around theworld. The country is perceived bymany as a pluralistic, democratic,nonviolent land of the ideals ofBuddha, Gandhi and Tagore, ruledby the righteous principles ofdharma during the best periods ofits history—of the emperor Akbarin the 16th century, for example,and Ashoka in the third centuryB.C. This perception may explainwhy India’s rise does not stir un-easiness in the same way thatChina’s does. America too is a landof ideals, of course, but the worldtends to forget that and needs tobe reminded.

“Monsoon” rests on the prem-ise that the Indian Ocean is “morethan just a geographic feature, it isalso an idea.” I am not persuaded.Just as I am not persuaded thatAsia is an “idea” in the sense thatthe West is. I have trouble imagin-ing what people mean when theysay that the 21st century will be anera of Asian dominance. It makessense to talk about the rise of In-dia and China, but Asia is too di-verse with too many cultures, na-tions and religions—and it is toodisunited. Yes, there have beenrich, historical connections be-tween Asian countries based ontrade, diplomacy and Buddhism,but that is insufficient to supportAsia as an “idea.” This is a land-mass, after all, that stretches fromthe Near East to the Far, acrossseven time zones and half theworld’s latitudes.

For the 21st century to be apeaceful era, Mr. Kaplan suggests,China, India and America shouldlook to history for inspiration. The

Indian Ocean was a trading cos-mopolis before the Portuguese ar-rived in the late 15th century, anoceangoing marketplace where In-dian, Chinese, Arab and Persiantraders were brought close by themonsoon winds to create a grandnetwork of communal ties. Suchcomity will be hard to duplicate asIndia and China grow more power-ful and their interest in dominat-ing the Indian Ocean increases ac-cordingly. It should be noted thatthe navies of China and India willsoon rank second and third in theworld, trailing only the U.S.

India fears encirclement byChina, and India’s other neighborsare increasingly uneasy about Bei-jing’s swelling power and asser-tiveness. Amid these worries,many Asian countries still look toAmerica as the only credible guar-antor of security in the IndianOcean.

Mr. Kaplan offers plenty ofstriking insights in “Monsoon,”

and his analysis generally makessense—but I nonetheless havetrouble believing that the future ofthe 21st century will hinge on na-val power. Military ships thesedays seemed designed more for in-timidation and transport than forall-out naval warfare—they’re sit-ting ducks for sophisticated rock-etry.

When it comes to the contestbetween India and China, I do notbelieve it will be decided either byarms or economic strength. Bothcountries will soon become pros-perous and middle class. The racewill be won by India if it fixes itsgovernance before China fixes itspolitics; or by China if it finds away to give its people liberty be-fore India reforms its institutionsof the state—bureaucracy, police,and judiciary.

—Mr. Das is the author of“The Difficulty of Being Good:On the Subtle Art of Dharma.”

(Oxford University Press).

Where Worlds of Faith Are Colliding

The clash between Christianityand Islam in the Middle East domi-nates Western headlines, but thereal battleground is more scattered.In 2006, after a Danish newspaperpublished cartoons depicting Mu-hammad, riots killed more people inNigeria than in any other country.Indonesia’s radical Islamic fringethreatens the stability of the world’sthird-largest secular democracy. Theoriginal al Qaeda plot to hijackplanes and use them as weaponswas devised in the Philippines.These countries are not a “secondfront” in the war on terror; they arepart of the main event.

Over the last seven years, ElizaGriswold has reported on religiousconflicts in countries lying betweenthe equator and the tenth parallel,including Sudan, Ethiopia, Somaliaand Malaysia. The region is home tonearly 80% of the world’s 1.6 billionMuslims and a quarter of its twobillion Christians.

But it is not just the coexistenceof opposing faiths that makes thiscorridor a cradle of violence. Popu-lations are growing explosively, in-flaming competition for land and re-sources. Colonialism and the ColdWar fractured national and ethnicborders, and corrupt or inept gover-nance has crippled civic life.

Religion supercharges these divi-sions, infusing them with deeper ha-tred. It muddies the lines, makingresolving conflicts a matter not justof politics and economic develop-ment, but also of negotiating thepersonal, deeply elemental nature ofstrong belief.

Ms. Griswold is a poet and jour-nalist, not a historian. Her chosenangle of approach is not aimed atbig theories of religious violence. In-stead, she reports from the level ofthe village holy man and the teen-age tough with the rifle on thestreet corner. Still, the low altitudepositions her to address a crucialquestion that historians, theologiansand political commentators canrarely answer to satisfaction: Whatactually drives someone to take uparms for God?

Ms. Griswold has collected evi-dence from many cultures and ge-ographies. In Nigeria, trouble be-tween Christians and Muslimsbegan during the civil war of the1960s. But it was the end of mili-tary rule in 1999 and the introduc-tion of democracy that marked thebloodshed’s real beginning, as vot-ing in the fledgling republic splitalong religious lines.

Archbishop Peter Akinola, headof Nigeria’s Anglicans, describes hispart in the warfare as a last standfor global Christendom. As the Mus-lim population mushrooms and theWestern church liberalizes its tradi-tions, Africa’s Christians needed tofight for their faith’s very existence.Recalling for Ms. Griswold the mas-sacres on both sides, he declares,“Let no Muslim think they have the

monopoly on violence.”In Somalia, an unending cycle of

civil war and foreign invasion hasgiven the country over to warringclans fueled by sectarian rage.“Only God is strong enough to de-feat both the warlords and Amer-ica,” a Muslim insurgent tells Ms.Griswold. As a child, he beganspending time in mosques not justout of devotion, but also becausethey were safe havens from the vi-olence in the streets. Religion wasa practical solution to a very realdaily problem.

At a refugee camp outside Moga-dishu, she surveys the fruits of ag-gression: shanties of scavengedwood, an understaffed hospital tent,dying babies. The hill on which sheinterviews the camp’s founder turnsout to be a mass grave. “I’m ready

to kick the militia’s asses,” a youngdoctor announces.

Across the Indian Ocean, mod-ernization and secular law have forthe most part cooled tensions be-tween Indonesia’s Christians andMuslims. But amid persistent terror-ist violence and weak government,the future of tolerance and plural-ism is uncertain.

In Jakarta, Ms. Griswold meetsIbnu Ahmad, an ex-militant who,witnessing the country’s shiftingstrategic terrain, has laid down thebanner of jihad. They visit Mr. Ah-mad’s brother in prison, where he isserving time for a car bombing. Thevictims of attacks like his havemostly been Indonesians, not West-erners, but he does not seem tocare. “If there was no justice in thisworld,” Ms. Griswold notes, “hewould wait for the next.”

This is the classic martyr’s men-tality, familiar across faiths, culturesand eras. But in the Philippines,martyrs are sometimes made formuch less. On the oil-rich island ofMindanao, Ms. Griswold visits PakilaDatu Zaid, a Muslim commanderbattling the local Christian authorityfor having confiscated local Muslim-owned land. Surrounded by piles ofhigh-tech weaponry, Ms. Griswoldasks Mr. Zaid’s soldiers who amongthem has personally lost land to thegovernment. Not one raises hishand. The land in question was notthe property of the people who wereliterally dying to get it back; it wasall Mr. Zaid’s. Holy war was his wayof recapturing oil wealth.

It is an especially creepy mo-ment in a book not short on unset-

tling episodes. Ms. Griswold’s out-look is for the most part a jadedone. Both faiths, entangled in secu-lar conflicts and riven with intra-faith disputes, seem doomed to besteered by their violent, extremistwings. These are not always the be-lievers who best represent the ide-als of their faith or of their country;rather, they are the ones who seetheir struggle as a competition forsurvival, and who will fight mostbitterly to win it.

Ms. Griswold’s storytelling isloose and unfocused at times. Butgraceful language marks each page.In Mogadishu, Ms. Griswold watchesa soldier stare down an apparentsuicide bomber as she edges closer.“Fearing he would shoot her, or thatshe would explode, I closed my eyes.The afternoon’s bedlam didn’t re-cede; it flooded my eyelids withgreen.”

And the looseness is, in a way,the point. If through her travels Ms.Griswold does not seem to alightupon a focused explanation for reli-gious conflict, it is because her prin-cipal finding is that faith eludes fo-cus at every turn. “[T]ime and againpeople’s professions of their beliefs. . . baffled me. They were ultimatelymysterious, and could not be ex-plained away by self-interest, oranything else of this world.” This iswhat she calls “the experience oftrue religion, which is dynamic be-cause it is alive.” Belief, in otherwords, is always more powerfulthan it looks.—Mr. Zhong is a Princeton in Asiafellow at The Wall Street Journal

Asia’s editorial page.

BY GURCHARAN DAS

BY RAYMOND ZHONG

Monsoon: The Indian Oceanand the Future of American PowerBy Robert D. KaplanRandom House, 366 pages, $28

The Tenth Parallel:Dispatches From the Fault LineBetween Christianity and IslamBy Eliza GriswoldFarrar, Straus & Giroux; 336 pages; $27

Indian warships patrol the Indian Ocean.

AssociatedPress


SPORTS

Korean Grand Prix is built, but will they come?

SeoulA patch of former farmland

almost four hours from Seoul couldbe the scene for a pivotal moment inthis year’s Formula One champion-ship. But it is likely far fewer F1 fanswill witness the event than its orga-nizers may have hoped for.

The first F1 race to be held in Ko-rea was finally given the go-aheadjust last week when organizers fin-ished building the track. Inspectorsfrom the F1 governing body Fédéra-tion Internationale de l’Automobilecertified the Korean InternationalCircuit on Oct. 9, just nine days be-fore Thursday’s practice runs for theKorean Grand Prix.

Now, one of the biggest concernsis how many fans will show up. Withjust three races left thisyear—events in Brazil and theUnited Arab Emirates follow the Ko-rean Grand Prix—Australian MarkWebber of Red Bull Racing leads thechampionship series with 220points. His German teammateSebastian Vettel and Ferrari’sFernando Alonso of Spain trail byjust 14 points. A first-place finish isworth 25 points.

But the track’s remoteness fromSouth Korea’s population cen-ters—it’s a three-hour train ride toMokpo from Seoul, plus another 30to 60 minutes by bus or car to thetrack—has damped ticket sales.Prices are also high, about $110 forqualifying events and more than$900 for a three-day pass.

About 65,000 tickets have beensold for the three days of qualifyingand championship races this week-end, says Park Bong-sun, spokesmanfor the Korea organizing committee.

The track and its grandstands, whichseat 130,000, were developed by Ko-rea Auto Valley Operation, or KAVO,with about $80 million in govern-ment help. The company is 40%owned by the government of SouthJeolla province. The race course, ini-tially conceived for Seoul, wasmoved to the province three yearsago as part of government efforts tospread economic development proj-ects around the country.

All of it is a bit mystifying forresidents in one of the quietest partsof South Korea. “I heard that F1 isone of the top sports events in theworld, but it feels so foreign and dis-tant,” says Jung Yang-hee, owner ofCeong Pung Young Wol, a Japaneserestaurant in Mokpo. “I was a bit sus-

picious, like, ‘Can we really hold it inthis tiny town in South Jeolla?’”

She said she’s ordering extrafood to be ready for more customersthis weekend. “We will do our bestto serve as many guests as possible,”Ms. Jung said. “That we are going tohold this big international eventhasn’t hit me yet.”

Heavy rains in August and Sep-tember delayed placement of thefinal layer of tarmac on the 5.6-kilo-meter track. For drivers, tarmac thatis relatively fresh can be oily andslippery, adding to the danger in arace. Drivers damaged a newly resur-faced track in Canada two years agoduring practice runs; it had to bepatched for the actual race and com-pletely resurfaced again afterward.

The situation in Korea became soperilous that Formula One GroupCEO Bernie Ecclestone warned lastmonth that the race could be can-celled. “It’s quite dangerous whatwe’ve done,” he said. But construc-tion crews worked 16-hour days tofinish the track ahead of last week’sinspection and saved the event.

By contrast, the other new trackthis year—at Silverstone in Eng-land—was finished seven weeks be-fore its inaugural race in April. Incomments released by FIA earlierthis week, drivers and crews ex-pressed confidence in the inspec-tors’ sign-off on the new facility.

“We will find the right setup overthe weekend and any track issuesare out of our control,” said Mike

Gascoyne, chief technical officer forLotus Racing. “It has been passedby the FIA, so we will just go outthere and do our best.”

“This is the first F1 race thatKorea is hosting and many thingswere new to us,” says organizing-committee spokesman Mr. Park. “Ittook more time for us to finish upbuilding the circuit because we didmeasurements, checks and construc-tion sometimes all at the same time.”

Drivers have been practicing forthe Mokpo track using simulatorsand, based on those virtual condi-tions, have said it appears wide, use-ful for passing each other. But com-puters can teach only the lines of thecourse, not its bumps and conditions,and this weekend’s race is notablebecause it is the first one on thetrack. “For other new tracks on thecalendar, you would have data fromdifferent racing series, but this is notthe case here,” James Key, technicaldirector for BMW Sauber, said incomments released by FIA.

FIA announced earlier this weekthat the projected lap time on thenew track is 1 minute, 44 secondsand that racers will be at full throt-tle 55% of the time and on thebrakes 20%. Average speed will be195 km/h. Top speed will be 315km/h during a 1.1-kilometer straight-way after the main grandstand.

The Korean International Circuitis one of the few on the F1 schedulein which drivers will drive counter-clockwise. The track is also the firstto incorporate two standard F1courses—a 5.6-kilometer course anda three-kilometer course that partlyoverlaps the bigger one for differentF1 series events.

—Jaeyeon Woo contributed tothis article

Ticket prices

� Three-day pass: 198,000 won to

1,012,000 won

� Qualifying events on Friday andSaturday: 128,700 won to 657,000

won

� Final race on Sunday: 148,500

won to 759,000 won

How to get there� KTX express train to Mokpo,

planes to Muan Airport near Mokpo

or Gwangju airport, then bus to

racetrack.

� During race weekend, direct

buses will run to the Korea

International Circuit from Seoul

Express Bus Terminal and from

stations in Gwangju and Mokpo.

AFP

/Getty

Images

APPh

oto

BY EVAN RAMSTAD

Fans must trek a long way from Seoul to see a potentially pivotal Formula One race this weekend

Top and above, the new South Korean track and its grandstands, which seat130,000, are situated in Mokpo, a three-hour train ride and hour drive from Seoul.


AUTOS

A van parents will love—if they don’t look at itUgly exterior styling aside, the new Honda Odyssey may be the best minivan on the market

According toHonda-commis-sioned research byYankelovitch, 89%of Generation Yparents surveyedsaid they “make

sure our family spends time to-gether each day,” as comparedwith 62% of baby boomer respon-dents. Fifty-nine percent of Gen Xrespondents said they “try tospend one-on-one time with kidsevery day,” as compared with arather pathetic 34% of boomers.

Today’s highly motivated nur-turers are the target audience forthe 2011 Honda Odyssey minivan,which Honda expects will—in itsgeneral, rounded excellence—helpease any self-consciousness aboutdriving a minivan, per se.

I think we all know what thestigma here is: To be seen drivinga minivan is to admit to a kind ofshameful domesticity, an existenceof postsexual nullity and parentalslavery. However, as the father oftwin 3-year-olds, I have never suf-fered from minivan embarrass-ment. After all, nothing says“stud” quite like a minivan.Through the lens of evolutionarybiology, females look at men driv-ing minivans as far more likely tocontinue their genetic coding, toinvest in their offspring, thansome dork in a Lamborghini. Yes,the lure of a minivan is primal.

Still, Honda felt it necessary totart up the Odyssey for modelyear 2011, to give it, in the com-pany’s phrase, a “chic new style.”

This effort was a dismalfailure. There’s the very odddown-jog in the side windows atthe “C” pillar—Honda dubs thiselement a “lightning-bolt beltline”by way of selling its awesomeness.And then there’s the strangelygrafted-on look of the side doors,as if lifted from the back of acoroner’s refrigerated truck.

Otherwise, the Odyssey ispretty great, the best minivan onthe market. New for 2011 is aTouring “Elite” package ($44,030,delivered) that includes a 12-speaker stereo system and an ul-tra-wide-screen video player,among a slew of electronic ameni-ties. Navigation-equipped modelshave a 15GB hard drive for songstorage and multiview rear cam-era. Order this thing in CrystalBlack Pearl with black hides andyou’ve created something neverbefore seen: an executive minivan.

At this point, I should probablyrecuse myself. I own an ’08 Odys-sey Touring, which the kids andwife love. I must say, though, I’vebeen disappointed with the WhiteWhale’s fuel economy. Honda re-ports the new Odyssey Touringgets 19/28 mpg, city/highway,which is 2/3 mpg better than theprevious model, while horsepower(248) and torque (250 pound-feet)are both up slightly. The fuel-economy measures include somehighly technical changes, plusHonda managed to whittle off 103pounds—while making the Odys-sey appreciably wider and longer.

Indeed, the product-develop-ment guys seemed to have gotten

a peek at my gripe list. I’ve fre-quently wished the Odyssey werea little bit quieter. Accordingly,the new Touring and Touring Elitemodels are equipped with acousticfront glass and generally bettersealed and silenced than before.

I’ve never been much enam-ored of my car’s second-row cen-ter seat, which is too narrow foran adult but lacks latches for achild seat. Voilà. Honda has in-creased the middle-second-rowseat width, and now the seatslides forward, so anyone in thefront passenger seat can reach achild in the middle seat. Leg roomin the third row has also been in-creased. The Odyssey is the onlyminivan you could take five adultfriends out to dinner in and havethem remain your friends.

The new Odyssey’s door-pullpressure is half that of the previ-ous model. Now the kids can openthe sliding door themselves—asmall thing until you’re staggeringout to the car with arms full ofdry cleaning. Yet another nice fea-ture: The “cool box” drink-storagecompartment under the centralconsole runs off the A/C’s heat ex-changer, independent of cabintemperature setting.

There was certainly never ashortage of storage compartmentsor cupholders in the Odyssey, andthere still isn’t. The Odyssey has11 cupholders and four large bottleholders, for the hockey team witha drinking problem, I suppose.

In most other respects, theOdyssey’s improvements are in-cremental and evolutionary—which isn’t to say easy. The han-dling, steering and braking par-take of current Hondas’ keen sup-pleness and great feel. TheOdyssey has the best accelerationin its class (8.8 seconds to 60mph) and shortest stopping dis-tance, according to company test-ing. The Odyssey I drove felt fa-miliarly agile and confident oncountry lanes. Nicely done, Honda.

So the exterior styling is asweet hot cubist mess. Evaluatinga minivan on looks is like rankingNascar drivers on their knowledgeof Chaucer. The Odyssey makesparenting better, and better par-ents will want one.

[ Rumble Seat ]

BY DAN NEIL

Hon

da(4)

friday - sunday, october 22 - 24, 2010...

Documents