Monday, January 31, 2011

Gleek Chic


For some reason the Glee cast has always had strangely appalling red-carpet style. But I can sort of live with what they've thrown together for the SAG awards this year. In particular, kudos to Brittany (I don't remember her real name) who's actually looking relatively refined here. Hair is good, juxtaposition with Kevin McHale -- Artie -- is good.


Her good friend Santana, or Naya Rivera, continues to get it so, so wrong. She had the misfortune of choosing a gown very similar to Lea Michele's, but... the not-so-good version. And the not-so-good boobs. The other thing that continues to baffle me is boob jobs. FASHION LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER WITH SMALL BOOBS.


There was a time when I thought Matthew Morrison was like a cut-rate Justin Timberlake, and that was kind of a cool thing. But JT's stock has dropped and so too has Morrison's, not the least because his character on Glee is starting to truly suck. Things that make Mr Schuester suck: ridiculous and complete lack of understanding of what Glee club should be doing, comebacks that aren't nearly as good as Sue Sylvester's, a continuing belief that he is sexy and that teachers should perform with students, the need for him to gyrate his hips every chance he gets. Things that make this outfit suck: chiefly that open collar, but also the whole "black shirt black suit" thing, that grin, that face. And that HAIR.


On a more positive note, Lea Michele looks lovely in Oscar, as always.


And so does Jayma Mays, who really tends to fly under the radar despite having consistently lovely looks and consistently interesting styling. I feel like she really commits to a look from head to toe, and I for one think the dark shoes with the sweet Jenny Packham dress is awesome. Plus she has a tiny frame and tiny boobs, which to me really contributes to the whole walking hanger thing. And after Emma Stone, all that's needed to endear a dress to me is that coral-salmon shade.


Last one, a shout-out to Amber, who really could be the next Jennifer Hudson or Queen Latifah or Mo'Nique when it comes to the fashion stakes, but somehow always gets stuck in these poufy frilly crazy dresses. I actually think she has good taste, or she would have good taste if she had access to the same designers and sizes that Lea did. She looks alright here.

The other Glee stars are not very worth mentioning. You might think that Diana Agron should be here because she showed up in vintage Chanel and smokey eyes, but it was just so... meh. Disappointing. Girlfriend needs to learn how to strike a pose. Token Asian girl looked typically bad; token gay guy looked like he always looks in a tux, which is boring; token nice guy (slash Chris Klein doppelganger) looked like Mr Schuester called him up and said "dude, black on black is the thing" and then said advice was taken to detriment. Oh and Puck continued to look like my friend Brad, with his funny mohawk thingie.

Images: MTV.com

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Sonic Rush


Being a Geek, I’m constantly on the lookout for new gadgets where it be of the gaming variety to the beauty variety. Past experience however, has told me that often, while beauty gadgets claim all these amazing benefits, rarely do I actually see the results soon enough for me to continue using the product. Not so with the Clarisonic Plus.

My understanding is that the Clarisonic brush uses a gentle sonic micro-massage action to deep cleanse the skin. Apparently, clinical results show that six time more makeup is removed than manual cleansing so I was eager to try out the product when offered a trial.

The Clarisonic Plus comes with a set of cleansing products but for my trial, I decided to use my own cleanser that I’ve been using regularly to see if I can really feel the difference. (The Borghese Creme Extraordinaire Foaming Cleanser for those who are curious.) What you do is remove your eye makeup first with your regular remover since the Clarisonic brush isn’t recommended for your eyes but otherwise just wet your face and lather up the cleanser. Then turn on the Clarisonic and run it over your face in small circular motions for a minute. The Clarisonic comes preset that it beeps at intervals so 20 sec for the forehead then 20 sec for the nose and chin area and 10 sec each for the cheeks.

After using it for the first time, my skin felt noticeably tighter but wary of the placebo effect, I refrained from writing this post. It’s now been two weeks of using the Clarisonic daily (I’ve been using it every evening but now might bump it up to twice a day with morning and night runs.) In terms of results, I’ve noticed that my acne has virtually disappeared. I’m prone to breakouts whenever I’m stressed and for the past few months, acne has been my Voldemort. And it’s not been a particularly stress free two weeks either what with a full time job, planning events for Social Media Week and coming up with posts. But whenever I felt a breakout coming, during the cleansing, I would focus a bit more on that area and the next day, the acne noticeably swells down.

After two full weeks of using the Clarisonic Plus, I must admit I’m a convert. While the gadget doesn’t come cheap, retailing at HK$2,100 and only available at Joyce Beauty, this is an investment worth making.

Clarisonic is a sponsor of Hong Kong Fashion Geek Photo Hunt and included in the grand prize is a Clarisonic Plus. So whip out that Smartphone and get ready to scour Hong Kong boutiques to be the first to win the Photo Hunt if you’d like your very own Clarisonic Plus for free. Register here.

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Friday, January 28, 2011

moussy, SLY and BLACK by moussy Crazy Sale

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Going Green


Jewellery designers like to talk about green jewellery and sustainable materials. Some people like to take things literally.

From Colleen Jordan.

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

SHOErotica: Alexa Wagner Percy Paneled Leather Sandals


Say it's Halloween and you're going as a terracotta soldier. And you're like... damn. What shoes am I supposed to wear wit my stone-mail armour? I'm sure you can now follow this thought to its logical conclusion, which points clearly at these sandals. Although who ever said it had to be Halloween for you to channel a protect-my-country's-leader's-rotting-corpse look anyway? Head to Browns Fashion for this stony accessory.


Soldier Image: Deco Gallery

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All That Jazz



I love it when the offline and online world fuse together, much like our Hong Kong Fashion Geek Photo Hunt (yes, shameless plug. Have you signed up yet? We just got a new sponsor added with another HK$3,000 shopping voucher!) Anyway, Zara has just released a series of men’s t-shirt that pays tribute to renowned jazz artists, namely John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Each T-shirt’s price tag contains an exclusive code to download a song from any of the albums featured in the collection from Zara’s website. Of course, if you are dying for that free download but are too cheap to buy the shirt, I'm sure you can easily access the code by taking a photo of the price tag... but if you are going to go outside to take a photo of a price tag for a free song, why not just go out to take photos for over HK$20,000 worth of prizes? Oh oops, we're talking about the Photo Hunt again. Back to the shirts, they are available starting today online and at Zara stores near you.

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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Sassy Hong Kong Bunny Love Event


Our friends over at Sassy Hong Kong are jointly hosting a Bunny Love Valentine's plus Chinese New Year party for the greater good. Yup, for HK$100 in advance or HK$150 at the door, you can start your new year off with goodwill (having made a contribution to the Make a Wish Foundation) and enjoy all sorts of hunky eye candy and plenty of lucky draw prizes. Tickets on sale now at www.sassyhongkong.com

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Show-stopping Dinner


Food and travel guest blogger hkLifestyleGeek gives us her next scoop on fantastic restaurants around town and travel tips. Contact her at hklifestylegeek@hkfashiongeek.com

If you find yourself hankering for good Japanese in Mongkok, look no further than Tokoro at the Langham Place Hotel. While there are a few seating areas shielded with a kind of cocoon made of wood that the hotel describes as "intriguing designer pods", the best place it sit is right by the sushi bar or the "robotayaki-style theatre" made of granite. There's lots of drama in front of you as flames shoot in the air and a hand-held torch is used to grill meats and vegetables.

Behind that work station is the chef in charge of tempura. He quickly dips the prawns and vegetables in a batter he makes fresh each time and then with an artistic fling he throws them into a golden-coloured metal pot of sizzling oil. In less than a minute they're carefully scooped out and then laid out on the plate.

And while the cooking is theatrical, the food is pretty much a solid execution.

The drinks menu includes Japanese whiskeys, beers, sake and sparkling sake. We couldn't help but try the sparkling sake and took up the manager's suggestion of the Oozeki Hana Awaka.

It came in a small pink bottle, almost like a girlie drink, and it tasted like one too -- deceptively going down really easy with tiny bubbles. And when you're drinking in tiny sake cups, you don't really notice how much you're drinking! Needless to say I looked a bit flush by the end of the meal.

For starters we had a Tokoro sashimi platter that included slices of salmon, tuna, yellowtail and Japanese shrimp. Everything was as expected, fresh and delicious.

Next was fresh Japanese scallop that was cooked with braised onions. The scallop was tender, served in a giant clam shell.

Then came a piece of cod fish fresh from the grill, topped with what looked like a piece of asparagus dyed hot pink. Quite a fashion statement we thought until we bit into it and realized it was fresh young ginger.

For mains we tried the homemade minced chicken, shaped into a lump that was cooked and very delicious on a skewer, as well as two very tender and juicy cubes of Australian wagyu beef.

The last dish was a slice of fat eggplant cooked on the grill with miso sauce and toasted sesame seeds on the side. A bit hard to share, but very delicious.

We had no more room left for noodles or rice, but just enough for a fresh fruit platter that included the largest raspberries I've seen in a long time. These super-sized babies were sweet too, and the platter came with watermelon, blueberries and strawberries.

Tokoro
3/F, Langham Place Hotel
555 Shanghai Street
Mongkok, Kowloon
3552 3330

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Food for Thought

For some reason, I love food masquerading as something else. Perhaps it's the innate Asianess in me where if I see a Hello Kitty dressed up as a panda or a Stitch pretending to be a lion, I automatically label it as cute. And so imagine my delight when I saw the Valentine's creations from Déli Kool at Kowloon Shangri-La. For HK$780, you'll get your very own hand crafted chocolate high heels made from premium Belgium white chocolate, covered in different fine edible food coloring sprays and decorated with candies and chocolates. My only problem with this is that if I received these chocolate heels, I'd never want to eat them!

Available for sale on 1 February 2011. For details, please call Déli Kool at 2733 8757.

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Foodie Flash


It's been very draining to plan an event and work and blog and eat and sleep all in a day's work. I have no mood to shop or surf the net to discover new things to feature. All I want to do is sleep.

In lieu of that, I thought I'd just share some bullet points on things that you should know that are sort of useful if you're looking for new exciting food-related stuff going on in Hong Kong.

- Mesa 15. No time to search for PR firm handling images, suffice to say: unreal. It's Spanish tapas but, like, better and finer and much more imaginative. Or else it wouldn't have opened right next door to Tapeo. The shamelessness of it all! The eggs and mushrooms are ridiculous good. And no, I don't mean a mushroom omelette.
- Sushi Ta-Ke. Omakase restaurant opened by interiors guru Steve Leung in Causeway Bay across from Innside Out and Da Domenico. Didn't get a chance to dine but went to the opening and all I can say is... unlimited toro canapes. I can still feel the endangeredness melting in my mouth. I believe that it probably a politically incorrect thing to say, but ohs wells. I think omakase menus are $1200 or $1500 and I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's worth it. He also has a Tuscan joint in the same building, Bella Vita. Seems promising.
- Hooray Bar & Restaurant in World Trade Centre. Sick terrace, awesome venue, food is okay. Hard to believe it's from the same group that Harlan Goldstein once helmed. Not even in the vicinity of the same level as Gold.
- Bo Innovation. Is not new, but it's better than I remembered it to be. Except that every single couple there on a Friday night was a white dude with an Asian chick.

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On the Road


Aussie designers just really get it in an easy, breezy way that isn' contrived like CoverGirl, it's just... good. Karla Spetic takes a simple photo print and turns it into a beatnik dream, a hazy promise, an adventure. She does other awesome stuff too that you can check out here, but let's not get too academic about how unfathomable right the cuts are or how tasty and tasteful the palette is. Let's just enjoy the ride.


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Wine and Dine


For some reason, organic wines tend to get a rather bad rep. I’m not quite sure why but in an era where organic food gets a lot of applause, whenever organic wine is mentioned, the only reaction I tend to get is a shudder. If you’ve always been curious about organic wines but not quite sure if it’s your thing, be sure to pop over to Café Deco this Saturday for their organic wine tasting luncheon. Part of their monthly Saturday Wine Tasting Lunch series, this organic wine tasting lunch commences at noon and you can drink until 3pm. Priced at HK$288 per person and with eight different French organic and natural wines as the stars of the afternoon, this event is quite a steal. A continental buffet will be on offer so that you don’t drink all the wine on an empty stomach. Check out the wine list after the cut.

Reds
Domaine Foillard Morgon 2008
Domaine du Mortier St Nicolas de Bourgueil 2008
Château Laplace Cote de Bourg 2006
Domaine Pero Longo Equilibre 2008
Domaine Les Chesnaies Chinon Traditions Graves 2008(37,5cl)

Whites
Domaine du Moulin Cheverny La Bodice 2007
Domaine Fay D'Homme, Muscadet Sevres et Maine sur lie 2007(37,5cl)

Rosé
Domaine Pero Longo Harmonie

Address: Cafe Deco, Level 1 & 2, The Peak Galleria, Hong Kong
Reservations: 2849 5111
Email: cafedeco@cafedecogroup.com
Website: www.cafedecogroup.com

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Geek Spy: Cassette-tape Chic


We're kind of weirdly obsessed with iPhone cases over here at Geek Central. I say "weirdly" because we get pretty darn excited when we spot random/ridiculous mobile-phone outerwear, but pretty much since I got my iPhone 4, I've only used a fuschia snake-print hard case, only the most generic-looking accessory known to a Hong Kong girl. My co-worker Jimmy, however, is sporting this retro-fab cassette tape case, which is a bit of a conversation-starter (even if it's not a very interesting conversation. Example: "Nice iPhone case, haha, it's a cassette tape!" "Thanks.")

It reminded me of this tacky but mysteriously cool mirror I saw at Homeless in Causeway Bay... I took a covert picture because I was all like... "I'm not paying for THIS, I can make it myself with a mirror and stack of cassette tapes at home!" Never mind the fact that I haven't owned a cassette tape in over 15 years." It has not happened. Yet.


And then I was on Etsy again because I wasn't inspired to blog about anything and Etsy is the internet's repository for untold stories... and serendipitously, I found these cassette tape necklaces, which aren't really very worth buying for yourself, but are kind of a cute idea if you're into the whole '80s-rapper-kitsch look. From miscii.


More wearable and with the same nostalgia factor are these 8-bit trinkets featuring hearts and little space-invader dudes. They may look daunting or ridiculous in the photos, but notice -- they're small and delicate and perfect for placement right at your collarbone.





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Bag Lady: Jil Sander Market Leather Bag

Perfect for adding a spruce of colour to your dreary Winter outfits. At Net a Porter.

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Warm Flavours

Food and travel guest blogger hkLifestyleGeek gives us her next scoop on fantastic restaurants around town and travel tips. Contact her at hklifestylegeek@hkfashiongeek.com

As the chilly winter evenings continue to persist, may I suggest a way to warm up? Head to the Tiffin Lounge at the Grand Hyatt and try out the Indian and Thai curries for dinner. There you can warm up on as much curry as well as fresh seafood, appetizers and desserts as you want for HK$538 per person.

The Indian curries are from Northern India and include prawn curry cooked with onion and coriander, black lentil stew and lamb curry with dried apricots. Northern curries are known to be fiery hot, but thankfully chef Raghbir Singh has toned them down without sacrificing the full flavours, making them more palatable for delicate Hong Kong tastebuds.
Particularly good are the prawn curry and black lentil stew, and there's also a potato salad, cottage cheese in rectangular slices with onion and pepper, mint sauce, chutney and pickled vegetables.
The Thai curries are good too, including sliced pork in green curry coconut milk and basil, fish cake with cucumber sauce, and spicy beef salad. Don't forget to try the tom yam goong -- again mildly spicy but also has delicate flavours from the lemongrass steeped in the soup with crunchy prawns and mushrooms.

You can wash the spicy dishes down with a refreshing mango lassi (HK$45) that isn't too sweet. If you still have more room in your stomach, there are non-Asian dishes, including Parma ham, fresh seafood like clams, prawns and mussels, and even foie gras freshly pan-fried in front of you. Just don't go for a doctor's check-up the next day.

And to round off the evening, there's a huge array of desserts to choose from, again thankfully in small portions so you can sample more. The fig tart is delicious, and the dark chocolate cake is definitely chocaholic heaven. For something a bit lighter, the sorbets and ice creams are made in-house. Make sure to try the blood orange sorbet which is very good and you can top it off with some fresh fruits like blueberries, cherries and strawberries.

With live jazz music and endless dishes to try, this is a pretty good deal that can't be beat. The curry promotion will run until the end of March with dinner starting at 6:30pm.

Tiffin Lounge
M/F, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
1 Harbour Road
Wan Chai
2584 7722

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Friday, January 21, 2011

About a Boy



A conversation came up last night about how men's style never really changes too much. "You wear khakis now, you wore khakis in 2002 and you'll be wearing khakis in 10 years' time," I alleged, a truth that was accepted by the opposing party with little hesitation and a bit of defeat. But perhaps I was hasty -- hanging out with too many metrosexuals, of the velour-loafer-wearing, diamond-dust-suit-sporting variety, has desensitized me as to what's acceptable manly attire nowadays. A pocket scarf, I think, has now become mainstream cocktail-party fare. Wingtip applications have left the realm of brogues and arrived in sneaker-land. Spectacles are more fashion accessory than visual-enhancer. Blazers have mated with sweaters to form unheard-of hybrids (but I suppose if it's okay to breed a blanket with a sweater to make Snuggies, anything is possible).

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I take it back. You may still be wearing khakis in 10 years time, but your shoes may look different. And you'll have different accessories. It's 2011 and Cole Haan is pumping out denim-and-leather or snowy-snakeskin lace-ups or faded-effect loafers. In 2021, expect footwear forged from the fur of pandas or layered in puff pastry. Or something similarly OUT THERE.

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Camera Ready



Whenever I go out with my DSLR, all I do is throw it inside my usual oversized handbag but I’m sure that can’t be good for the camera. It’s getting to the point where because my camera bag is so unsightly, I’d rather just use my iPhone to take photos. It helps that the iPhone has all these nifty apps so I’m not particularly fussed by it’s lower than spectacular photos. For the girls who want to bring their DSLRs out and boast of a fashionable case, check out Jill-e designs. The designers behind the brand obviously understood the conundrum of the ugly camera bag and as a response created padded camera bags that are targeted for the ladies. While I probably wouldn’t use the bags, more due to laziness than anything else, perhaps some of you would find these appealing? Available at LCX in TST in an assortment of colours and styles. Price ranges from HK$1800-HK$2000.

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Kitty Ride

It’s getting to the point where Hello Kitty's conquering of the world shouldn’t surprise me yet I keep finding myself having to share the latest Hello Kitty merchandise with you even if it’s not Hong Kong relevant. We’ve covered Hello Kitty perfume, Hello Kitty wine and Hello Kitty bottled water that retails at US$100 a pop. Now comes the Hello Kitty Smart car, well technically, options of Hello Kitty wraps for the Smart car but it’s pretty much the same thing. Pricing starts at US$1,700 for full wraps and US$550 for partial wraps (2-door panel). What do you think? Will this catch on? Are we doomed to see Hello Kitty take over the world?

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SHOErotica: Kelsi Dagger Tiffany Platform Pump



What a smart idea. Or, if your man happens to have two bow ties lying around... *ominous music plays as the formalwear stashes of our men are depleted*

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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Gothic Glam

Apologies for the radio silence. FashionGeek has been sick with the flu and the past two days have passed in a blur of taking medicine, falling asleep, waking up, replying work emails, taking medicine, falling asleep etc. I'm not fully back to gear so if I don't sound coherent in the posts, I can only blame it on the coca cola tasting cough syrup that my doctor has given me. Sidenote, it tastes a lot better than the previous cough syrup and I'm pretty sure cough syrup shouldn't taste good for isn't there something about having it taste awful to deter those kids from drinking it?

So check out this awesome ring. I've always been a fan of eye-catching rings and this Gotham City Ring really appeals to the geek as well as fashionista in me. It's a collaboration by nOir and DC Comics, bringing to life Gotham City. Check out the cubic zirconia stones that masquerade as the windows of the building. Definitely a piece to get someone's attention. US$225

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Giveaway Contest: Guerlain Gift Set from The Landmark Mandarin Oriental


On a global level, people rave about the original Mandarin Oriental hotel, and I understand that. If you come to Hong Kong as a visitor it's nice to stay in hotels that fetishize all that's good about local culture. When I go to Thailand, I want to pretend I live in a gilded Thai palace. But for us locals, I do think The Landmark Mandarin Oriental offers something else -- a really good creative team that takes risks and thinks big, in a classy way.

Take MO Bar, for instance. Its private concerts featuring the likes of Alicia Keys, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and Wyclef Jean are legendary. Some are better than others -- a sweaty Wyclef, for example, climbed onto a bar and travelled the room on some other dude's shoulders. A shorter-than-you'd-think John Legend, however, played his new album and kind of bopped in his chair for half an hour before getting down to business.

Less hit-or-miss are MO Bar's afternoon tea delights, which have in the past included brand collaborations with Chloe and Guerlain. (Psst, giveaway coming up!) Starting January 23 and continuing until the end of February there's the Chinese New Year-themed extravaganza, melding together the conventional and the creative, including:

Pan-fried Turnip Cake with Shiitake & Chinese Garlic Chive’, ‘Glass Noodles with Prawn, Squid & Yunnan Ham’ (both symbolizing longevity), Ginger Scones with Devonshire Clothed Cream and Home made Tangerine Jam (tangerine representing good luck), and Home made Lychee, Raspberry & Rose Petal Jam (lychee symbolizing close family ties), Steamed Egg Custard Bun (symbolizing wealth) and Orange, Pumpkin & Pumpkin Seed & Gold Leave Crumble (orange symbolizes wealth). It's pretty reasonable at $200. Call +852 2132 0077 to book.

Now, to get down to business. While the Guerlain tea set is no longer available as of December, we have one of the gift sets left over to give away. This sweet little gold box contains a perfume sample, Abeille Royale youth serum and a mini lipstick in a very flattering shade (which is nice, for once). To win this, all you have to do is email giveaway@hkfashiongeek.com with the subject "MO Bar giveaway". RT the giveaway on twitter (make sure to @hkfashiongeek or @cko01 so we know!), or tag yourself in the Guerlian gift set photo uploaded on our Facebook fan page to get EXTRA entries. The winner will be chosen at random with a number generator and contacted via email two weeks from now. This contest is only open to Hong Kong residents.



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Monday, January 17, 2011