Encore at Angkor

Unbelievable! That was the consensus of the thousand tuxedo’d gentlemen and long-gowned ladies about the Jose Carreras concert held amidst the ruins of the more-than-a-thousand-year-old Angkor Wat temple complex. The rare occasion drew people from all over the world to a splendid mixture of antiquity and artistry.

To reach the venue though, guests had to walk from the main bridge way across a 200-meter-wide moat surrounding the outer walls of the temple. The cobble-stoned path was strewn with flower petals shimmering amidst the torches that lighted the way.

Then the fun began–up stone steps, inside arched corridors leading inwards to bare chambers with massive carved walls and still other chambers with gigantic statues, then onto extremely narrow pathways guests had to negotiate in single file, then up some uneven steps again. The seemingly endless 40-minute walk did not bother us too much since my friend Elizabeth Gokongwei and I were adviced to wear really comfortable shoes. So out peeped our dusty zapatillas from our long-beaded gowns. Besides, the vision of mystic Angkor more than made up for any inconvenience.

The dark sky loomed over three brilliantly lit spires which made a beautiful background to the vast temple’s facade, and in the center was the huge stage. What a solemn sight it was, for in the midst of each lighted stone arch was a saffron-robed monk, immobile for the entire duration of the 20-minute Lakhaan Khaol performance by the Royal Cambodian Dance Troupe. There must have been no less than 30 monks, each in a different pose. No wonder when Somerset Maugham saw the Royal Cambodian Ballet perform at Angkor in the 1920s, he said: "The beauty of these dances against the dark mystery of the temple made it the most beautiful sight imaginable. It was certainly more than worthwhile to have traveled thousands of miles for this."

As it was for most of us, too, especially after the hassle of staying overnight in Singapore just to get a connecting flight to Siem Reap (where Angkor is) and returning back to Manila via Phnom Penh and Bangkok, since straight routes were fully booked weeks in advance.

During the trip, we bumped into Filipino yuppie Tristan Choa who works in Bangkok and Maripi Jalandoni who flew in from Hong Kong for this grand event.They gallantly escorted us all throughout the event and even solicitously collected us from our table at evening’s end. Other Pinoys who also attended the affair were Tessie Sy Coson and sister Elizabeth, Arnold Co and Jerome Velasco and their wives.

The whole affair was so well-organized. All hotels provided bus transportation for their guests who had to be at the site at 6:15 pm. The minute the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his party arrived, an opening prayer was offered, followed by speeches from the Senior Minister of Tourism Venz Sereyvuth, Chairman of Raffles International Richard Helfer and His Excellency Hun Sen himself.

Raffles International Hotels and Resorts spearheaded the fund-raising project for the benefit of the Cambodian Red Cross, Veterans International for Victims of Landmines, Wild Aid and the SOS Children’s Village. Such a lifetime experience was eagerly sought by ticket-holders, who each paid US$500, US$1,000 and US$1,500, depending on their table’s location. The event was also sponsored by Caltex, MasterCard and co-sponsored by Bangkok Airways, Cathay Pacific and Robert Mondavi Winery, whose participation ensured the supply of different wines all throughout the evening.

Round tables covered in Cambodian rust silk and adorned with silver elephant salt and pepper sets, sweet-smelling flowers and crystal wine glasses were spread throughout the gardens.

Dinner was elegantly served by Raffles Hotel. That night, we had smoked Mekong River fish terrine with fresh water prawns, chicken soup with starfruit Khmer-style, baked cod with Ma’om cream and Makak oil, passion fruit and raspberry coulis.

Indefatigable Jennie Chua, president and COO of Raffles International, hopped from table to table to ask how we were all faring.

After another exotic dance number, Jose Carreras appeared and the endless clapping reverberated throughout the temple grounds. Accompanied by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, he started with several Italian popular songs: "L ’ultima canzone" by Paolo Tosti (a Neopolitan singing teacher greatly admired by Verdi), "Era di Maggio" by Pasquale Mario Costa and leading poet Salvatore di Giacomo, "Un ombra", a spin-off from the Warsaw Concerto theme by Richard Addinsell and "Musica Proibita", a favorite of tenors like Enrico Caruso and Mario Lanza.

The rapt audience clamored for more when he finished his repertoire of nine songs, although there was one moment when we felt he knew he could not hit the high final note and thus lowered his pitch a bit. It was sheer magic once again, though, when he sang a couple of English hits, with "Some Enchanted Evening" transporting us way up to the heavens.

Kudos to the Raffles International management and staff who devoted months of hard work for this unique lifestyle experience.

We can’t help but wonder though if Raffles was able to keep track of their silver elephant salt and pepper sets since we spied some tuxedo’d gents surreptitiously putting them into their pockets just before leaving and some ladies hiding them in their sequinned gossamer shawls?