Connecting cultures

NEWS Makers

Maria da Piedade de Faria e Maya, wife of the Portuguese ambassador, hardly sees herself as a person with a sweet tooth. Yet there was an exception when she was on a trip to Sukhothai arranged earlier this month by the Ministry of Culture for Bangkok-based diplomatic corps and spouses from 10 countries to promote better understanding of Thailand and her culture.

While most of the ambassadors' wives typically asked for desserts with the least sugar, Piedade de Faria e Maya enjoyed a slice of khanom morgaeng (egg custard) - the Thai take on the Portuguese bolo de maca - and other sweet snacks including roti sai mai, or roti with colourful candyfloss.

She said she immediately recognised the khanom morgaeng, provided by the host during a coffee break, among other traditional desserts.

"I went straight for it," she said heartily, adding, however, there are some slight differences in the ingredients. According to Piedade de Faria e Maya, bolo de maca is topped with slices of apple while khanom morgaeng has deep-fried, scraped red onion.

Of course, she was delighted to see another version of Bolo de Maca on the local menu. The khanom, which was said to have been developed by Thao Thong Keebma (Dona Marie Guimar), a Portuguese lady in the Ayutthaya Court, reflects a long-standing relationship between the two nations.

"There are thong yib and thong yod," she said, meticulously mentioning the names of the gorgeous-looking Thai desserts served to Siamese court some four centuries ago, which, too, were introduced by Thao Thong Keebma.

During the two-day trip with MR Chakrarot Chitrabongs as the honorary guide, the Portuguese ambassador's wife and the rest of the diplomatic corps had a good time visiting historical sites, national museums and other places of interest. They also had a chance to have a little adventure and light air-borne paper floats after a sound and light show.

- Ploenpote Atthakor

Bump and grind challenge

Gaining a lot of fans over the weekend at Centrepoint was Daisuke Fujino, hip hop teacher at Aree World of Dance.

Fujino's classes have been gaining popularity since the school opened its Centrepoint branch a couple of months ago, not only because he's a great dancer, but because he has the kind of looks that young girls go gaga over. Plus, believe it or not, he's only 19!

Hip hop star Daisuke Fujino.

On Saturday, Fujino was one of three judges at the Centrepoint Dancoholic contest, and despite the presence of the veteran dance choreographer and The Star judge Suteesak Pakdeeteva as co-panelist, he won the popularity rating hands down.

Eight teams took part in the first of a series of four contests, with pure hip hop as the first dance style. Team members had attended a workshop with Fujino prior to the contest, and they seemed to have put their training to good use. Teams ranged from three to 10 and had put their heart and soul into the dance movements, choreography, teamwork and music selection. After each team had finished its routine, judges gave their comments, with Fujino adding his words of criticism, praise and encouragement in English with his rather heavy Australian accent.

Australia is where Fujino picked up his dance skills. After moving there as a young boy, he started dancing B-Boy at 15, followed by hip hop at 16, making his mark at different competitions and taking top prizes at dance meets such as Raw VIP 2006, Raw3 2007, Wanted 2007, Freestyle @ Federation Square 2007, Funk It Up 2008 Locking Section (in Australia), as well as 3rd place at Groove 2007.

Since moving to Thailand he has been teaching at Aree World of Dance, just as the hip hop rage seems to be reaching its peak as a result of the recent Step Up movies.

Though the young Thai dancers seemed to have the technical skills to carry off the hip hop styles, Fujno rightly pointed out that they all needed to do more homework and read up on the history of hip hop - how and where did it start, and by whom. That, he remarked, would give them an idea of the heart and spirit of true hip hop, which would then allow them to dance with greater understanding of the style.

The eight teams will meet again on Saturday, only this time in a popping and locking competition, followed by street jazz with a workshop by Cris Horwang the following week. After a two-week rest, they will meet for the last time in a freestyle contest to find out which team collected the highest score from all four meets.

At the end of the first day, Fujino took to the stage himself in a hip hop demonstration to show the audience how it's done. Backed by his own students from Aree World of Dance school, he gave an energetic performance that got the audience screaming for more.

And judging from the endless demands for photo sessions with Fujino at the end of the first contest, there is no doubt that the winner was none other than Daisuke Fujino himself.

- Krissie Na Klongtoey