GOING LOCAL

As leisure travel bounces back from the pandemic, Christian Tseng, director of The Amala Collective, is gearing up for Bali's reopening by staying firmly connected to the local community.

- KAREN TEE

About five years ago, Christian Tseng took over the running of a property-Amala Villas Ubud as a tribute to his mother's legacy. The late Tseng Ee-Cheng, founder of luxury travel agency Amala Destinations built the villa and he felt compelled to keep the property going.

At the time a student at Nanyang Technological University doing masters in film studies, he had planned to juggle classwork with his property management duties.

"As my travels back and forth became more frequent, I decided I wanted to do something for myself," says Tseng, who is the director of The Amala Collective. "Since I have always been interested in cocktails and bars, I decided to start a cocktail bar at the villa."

Together with a husband and wife team based in Bangkok-Anupas Premanuwat, who founded Ku bar and his wife Elaine Sun, who started wine bar Kang Kao they co-founded Kawi Ubud, which focusses on fresh ingredients grown in the villa's garden or sourced from farmers. Much of the harvest is used to create their own infusions, bitters and tinctures for their cocktails.