Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Bloody Hell


If you could see the temper tantrum I was throwing at my computer on Monday night, when the latest episode of True Blood was downloading at only 50KB/sec, you would be shocked. No small amount of filthy language flowed freely from the mouth of this lady, not unlike the way a dead vampire explodes into a nasty pile of gunk and other grossness. Well, rest assured, once I stepped away from the laptop the download speed increased, and all was saved. It's like I spend 6 days and 23 hours waiting for the next episode, and only one hour watching it, so it's nice when the world around us provides me with other True Blood-iness to keep me satiated in the meantime. In this case, it's my favourite magazine putting my favourite character (and generally, favourite man in the world) on the cover. Read it here.

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Personalized Classic Dining

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

Hugo's at Hyatt Regency Hong Kong is an institution. There aren't many places left in Hong Kong that present traditional European cuisine with all the pomp and circumstance around it. Waiters are smartly dressed and even though the restaurant has moved to K11, decoration from the old place are present here including antique rifles and ceramic jugs. The Christofle silverware is still used and even the silverware trolleys are still around for meatcarvings at the table. This is definitely old school dining at its best.


The restaurant now presents its Chef's Table, where diners can enjoy a personalised menu matched with wines and get to meet Hugo's head chef Richard Sawyer, who can be shy, but is very passionate about his food once you get him talking.

But he had to slip back into the kitchen to prepare our dinner that consisted of six courses -- and look after the regular dining guests as well.
For starters the green crab and avocado salad with citrus and herb dressing was topped with caviar and it was so artistically presented plate I felt bad wrecking it! But it was delicious and refreshing with the fresh crab meat and peeled grapefruit and oranges.

The sommelier was very clever to match two dishes with one wine and in this case it was the Gruner Veltiner Spiegel 2008 from Austria.

It also held up to the clam chowder and sauteed scallops, cauliflower puree and smoked duck ham. The soup was not too rich but still had some creaminess in it, with a perfectly cooked meaty scallop in it and flavoured with a thin slice of duck ham.

Next was the hot and cold foie gras, fresh black truffle, fig and honey. One piece was the panfried foie gras, again prepared just right, and the other was like a pate, each bite richer than the other. I'm sure my arteries appreciated the decadence. The dish was garnished with fresh fig and the Hungarian Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos 2005 was a wonderful match for this dish, the sweetness carrying the foie gras flavour wonderfully.

Things got a bit lighter in the next main, panfried fillet of French turbot that sat on a bed of sliced potatoes, and topped with a poached oyster, again perfectly executed. This was definitely seafood heaven. The seafood dish was paired with Condrieu Terrasses de L'Empire 2007 from Rhone, France.

The final main course was the grilled Charlois beef tenderloin, but this was cooked a tad too tough for me, but towards the centre was very juicy and tender. It was topped with asparagus, and on the side was an open lobster "ravioli" with the skin made of celaric. These meaty ingredients were matched with Malbec 2004.


After we loosened our belts we were treated to a wonderfully sweet finish of white and dark chocolate mille feuille, but actually it was layers of white and dark chocolate that was sinfully delicious with some raspberries. The dessert was paired with Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 2005.

Oh but that wasn't all -- chocolate pops covered in chocolate were served in dry ice that were delectable... if only my stomach could take one more!

So if you're looking to celebrate a special occasion with up to seven of your best friends, check out the Chef's Table for a dinner like no other. It's priced at HK$1,288 per person with wines at an extra cost.

Hugo's
Lobby Level
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong
18 Hanoi Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
3721 7733
www.tsimshatsui.hyatt.com

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Stop Smoking



Short and sweet post. Just saw SLY's latest accessories and am in love with the "I just stop smoking" two-finger ring which awesomely plays on its Japanese heritage with grammatically incorrect sentences. Not sure if it's intentional but I likey! Also cute earrings alert!

Ring arrives in store next Tuesday while earrings available now

SLY shop addresses:
Shop 2513, Level 2, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, TST, Kowloon
T: 852-31019137

Shop A, G/F, 50-56 Paterson Street, Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
T: 852-28951020

Shop G18B-19, G/F, Miramar Shopping Centre, TST, Kowloon
T: 852-23757010

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MAC Daddies


All the good bloggers have written about the MAC Me Over party already, since it took place almost two weeks ago... but I ain't good. I'm a baaad girl. Hopefully that shameless piece of innuendo will be consolation enough.

MAC Me Over is MAC Cosmetics' latest collection, which will be released later this week (Sept 1 I believe). And so to show off how fab the whole this is, they had a party, complete with makeup counters so that everyone could get makeovers. Great idea, even if I was totally unwilling to get in line because I was too busy snapping everyone else's makeovers.


First off, the campaign individuals -- truly, the power of makeup is great. Translation, you can be an ugly bitch and still look hot, if you have makeup. True story. I'm being plagued by the worst acne attack of my life, but life must go on... and makeup is the ONLY reason I am willing to leave the house.


Laura in the best best Prada skirt everrrrr.


Denise, Sha and mommy Susan in what I though were matching white shirts, until I uploaded the photos and realized that Denise ruined it with her blueness. YAH. Admire her steamy glasses. No shoes because they were obscured by the pseudo-velvet rope that separated us commoners from zee queens of zee world!


Makeup! My picks -- the deep red, Rebel, and the more true red, Runaway.


The idea that boys can do makeup is a slippery slope. On the one hand, there are awesome vampirically sexy examples like this whole undead rock star look...


And then there are my odd and useless friends who thought it would be funny to get the smokey eye done after a few drinks. And then promptly realized how stupid they looked and wiped it off. I totally yelled at them for wasting the professional makeup artist's time, don't worry.

Claude: Do not post this on Facebook.
Me: Don't worry I won't. I'll post it on my blog, I'm sure no one will ever see it.
Claude: Okay. Just no Facebook.


Et apres, it was off to Linguini Fini to watch people eat pasta while I detoxed on veggies... self shoe-portraits in the lobby at home... and the best part of the night -- ripping open the goodie-bag! (I know it's shameful to admit, but it's true and you know it.) Inside: a powerpoint eye pencil in super-useful black, a lip conditioner and a Cremesheen Glass lip gloss in Fashion Scoop.

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Dance Dance Revolution


Lanvin's fall campaign video is so delightfully camp, full of awkward grooving and beautiful clothing.

Couldn't NOT post this, after watching it in the office three times in a row. I need to learn me those moves. Don't get bored and stop watching, because the last part is the BEST part!

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Bag Lady: Lancel Daligramme


What do you think of Lancel's Daligramme Collection? Featuring a monogram created by Salvador Dali, this collection is a celebration of Dali's devotion to his muse Gala. Based on this monogram which was created in collaboration with Lancel over forty years ago and based on the initials of Dali and Gala, the Daligramme Collection launches in Sept and comprises of 20 bags, 12 small leather goods items and 10 small accessories.

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Zombie Boy Ate My Neighbours


Are we officially scared yet? Seeing a man like this roaming the streets of Hong Kong is enough to scar you for life, except that if we're going to talk about being scarred for life, it's clearly no competition. Rick Genest, aka Zombie Boy, wins every time. The model and artist who's now the face and muse of Mugler under Nicola Formichetti (and who also starred in Lady Gaga's Born This Way video) is unmistakable whether you are aware of his celebrity affliations or not -- evidenced when I unknowingly spotted him frolicking beneath the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Central. Although "frolicking" maybe a bit too strong a word; I feel like something more sinister and gothic is in order.

So he was lurking underneath the hotel. And when I got back to my desk I messaged the hotel's PR, Caryn, and told her, "Yo, there's some crazy tattoo guy LURKING underneath your hotel." Lurking? Nay, she corrected me. He's a VVIP, okay. He was in town, of course, for the Mugler party and show thrown by Joyce last Thursday at Western Market. Anyway, the whole circus act (and it was a circus act indeed) consisted of a lot of posing for pictures and ogling his brain tattoo and discussing whether it would be cool or gross to sleep with him and whether or not he is tattooed down to the very last inch (or nine inches, whatever...). And it was kind of sad, because no one really cared about him as a human being, only as a modern incarnation of the bearded lady. But then again, in that moment, when the whole room is speculating about the fucked-up-ness of your psyche, you are the centre of it all. And I suppose that's worth something.

Photos from here, here, here, here and here.

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Friday, August 26, 2011

Bougie Po' Boy Burger


If you're going all the way with the idea of the bougie po' boy, then buying pre-peeled shrimp will make this burger a whole lot easier to execute. At my home, it was 10 minutes of cooking and assembling, and another 20 minutes of peeling shrimp, an utterly unsatisfying and annoying experience. For a tutorial on quick shrimp-peeling, try this site (go to the longer video and skip ahead to the 2 min mark)

Ingredients:

A bunch of shrimp
Eggs
Flour
Burger buns
Lettuce
Avocado
Mayo or whatever else you want to put on your burger to dress it
Optional: Thai chilli sauce

I can't even believe I'm posting this as a recipe, it's so damn easy. Peel your shrimp. Devein if shrimp poo bothers you, because it REALLY bothers me. My dog eats poo; we should not. Season is with salt and pepper. Dunk it in egg. Dress it in flour. Deep fry until beautiful and golden, a couple of minutes or so.

Beat egg and fry into a sheet, then remove and fold it up as the bottom layer of your toasted burger bun. You could just as easily do a sunny-side-up fried egg, or a scrambled egg, but I thought this looked prettier. Arrange shrimp over the egg, top with lettuce and thinly sliced avocado (if you fan it out it looks so po'-fessional). Squirt oodles of your favourite mayo, squish it all together and eat.

If, like us, you have lots of shrimp left over, put it all in a basket with a serving of Thai chilli sauce or spicy mayo (Sriracha + Kewpie mayo) as a side dish.


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Have a Ball



We’ve always been fans of fashion-inspired teas from Burberry trench coat cookies to Stella McCartney tea sets and now we hear that the Clipper Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is launching a high jewellery inspired tea from Sept 5 to Oct 2. This afternoon tea offers a series of cakes inspired by Van Cleef & Arpels ‘Bals de Légende’ high jewellery collection which as you can tell from the name is inspired by debutante balls and the like. The drawing boards of the jewellery will be on display at the venue as well. The Bals de Légende afternoon tea is available from 3.00pm to 6.00pm. Available from Monday to Sunday, HKD428 + 10% for two.

Check out the inspiration for the cakes after the cut.


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Thursday, August 25, 2011

SHOErotica: Toms x The Row


It's sort of a rite of passage for every gal to own a pair of Toms, but in my blind passion for stupid heels that hurt your feet, ruin your posture and cause hazards every time a hill or incline is in sight, I bypassed that whole phase. It was very lucky indeed, then, that the girls at Pedder Group gifted me and a colleague with Toms x The Row shoes -- especially as my new office is situated on a hill, and rolling down to Queen's Road Central might actually turn into rolling down to Queen's Road Central, if I keep trying to walk down there in my normal vertiginous shoes.

These are the perfect Grandpa-chic shoes -- and can be bought at On Pedders or Lane Crawfords around town. Now I need to get me a glitzy glittery pair for summer, too!

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Warehouse Sale: Azyra


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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

China Red



I know y'all have major Asian model fever, so we can all ooh and ahh and dieee over the release of Lane Crawford's upcoming advertising campaign shot by Mert and Marcus, featuring not one, not two, not three or four Asian models, but FIVE long, lithe, alien-esque Chinese beauties. The line-up includes FeiFei Sun, Liu Wen, Ming Xi, Shu Pei and Xiao Wen Ju. The concept? Why fight beauty with scenery... when you can just put them all in a box and call it a day. The clothes, as usual, are le awesomeness, and no less than we've come to expect from the Geeks' favourite luxury department store, but I'm more enamoured with that striking red lip. Time to let the photos do the talking -- we have three campaign shots, 20 behind-the-scenes photos and a cute little teaser viddy -- and go experiment in the bathroom mirror while they are uploading. Enjoy! And click the photos to enlarge, we promote small image sizes on the blog for your better loading time.


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