Jetsetting with DJ Ferry Corsten

SINGAPORE — Ferry Corsten may be one of the world’s most famous producers of trance and electronic dance music. But when it comes to having a good time in his home city of Rotterdam, the Dutch DJ knows his priorities.

“The funny thing is, I am not (in Rotterdam) during the week. I have no idea what’s hot or not,” said Corsten, who explained that he is on the road at least every weekend for shows all over the world. “(But) there’s a new place that just recently opened — it’s called the Markthal. It’s a huge food court, but a bit more high-end. It’s like the ones you have in Singapore, but more exclusive. There is also one restaurant that I really love, it’s called Zwethheul and it’s a Michelin two-star restaurant — it’s amazing.

“That’s all I do, basically, when I am home! I just go to nice restaurants.”

But the 41-year-old, who was originally supposed to visit Singapore this weekend for Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) before it was cancelled, said he would like to spend some time re-exploring our city.

“Actually, I want to visit Singapore in a really different way, apart from going to Orchard Road and doing all the stuff there,” he said. “I really want to see what else (I can do). The whole Marina Bay. I’ve only been to the top of the hotel. I also really want to go back to Sentosa.”

Q: You travel so frequently. What is the first thing you look for in a hotel?

A: I am really picky about comfort, but I don’t give my hotels a full inspection when I come in. (Laughs) Pretty much what I look for — it sounds pretty funny — are electricity sockets. I’ve got to charge all my batteries for my phone and my laptop. That is the most important thing that I look for. Then I’ve got to check the bed because that is the second most important thing.

Q: Besides your mobile phone, what is one thing you never travel without?

A: Definitely my laptop. Because my laptop, besides my phone, is my connection to the world. It’s also my studio, especially when I have a lot of projects going on at the same time. In my laptop, I also have a virtual version of the studio that I use here back home, so I can just continue producing on the plane.

Q: Where do you go on your vacations?

A: My wife is Filipino, so we always go to Asia — the Philippines, obviously. But also in the winter, I am a big snowboard fan, so I love being in the mountains. We always go to Austria. If time allows, we also go to France.

Q: What is the worst travel experience you’ve had?

A: I was in Sao Paulo. I was going from a radio studio, where I had an interview, back to the hotel when we were stopped in the middle of traffic by this motorcycle. They pulled out a gun and they wanted to rob us of our watches. I was stupid enough not to give it and I took my watch off and kicked it in the seat in front of me. I say stupid enough because I did it out of reflex, but in hindsight, it was the stupidest thing I could have done. I should have just given them the watch and walked away from it. It was very stupid. (But) I still have my watch! Hon Jing Yi