It's a beautiful day in Hong Kong, but...

...air quality sucks. Support the Clean Air Network.

Hong Kong: An Innovative Society?

Last month, when M called to update me on the funding situation for the upcoming Hong Kong Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism \ Architecture, I was stupefied. M and her team of curators had laboured tirelessly for months to put together a world-class event, bringing together international icons such as Shigeru Ban and Diller+Scofidio Renfro with the leading lights of Hong Kong's creative scene to engage the public on issues of architecture and urban development at the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade. With a rich program of interactive, immersive exhibitions, M found that the original government grant was insufficient to fund everything. So she knocked on many a charitable doors for sponsorship, among them was one of Hong Kong's most well-endowed charities. Excitement was high when weeks ago, the charity was about to sign a cheque. And all of us volunteering to help out on various bits of the biennale were elated. But then came M's call -- the government was not going to give her the approval to accept the additional funding. The biennale had to be scaled down. "WTF??!!" was my reaction. I was at a loss to believe that this absurd situation was happening here in Hong Kong, a city that aims to be a breeding ground for innovation and creativity.

I had been reading John W. Gardner's Self Renewal: The Individual and the Innovative Society. Jacqueline Novogratz's article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review had inspired me to order the book from amazon. And at only 127 pages, I was motivated to read it as soon as it arrived. Like Novogratz, I found Gardner's words of wisdom resonating with me. At every opportunity, I have touted Gardner's book as though it were gospel. When in fact, it is simple common sense. His words resonate because they accurately describe the reality of our human condition, and not just at a moment in time but over the course of our development.

amazon

I had told M and E, both curators for the Biennale, about the book and they invited me to write a brief essay on my reflections for the Biennale catalogue. I still had the bitter aftertaste of M's funding news on my mind when I started to write the essay. I wanted to explain why so many Hong Kong people lament its rigid, almost anti-innovation atmosphere, and how it is no fault of those who settle on conformity and convention. Afterall, I would have understood if none of the four curators wanted to organize another government-funded Biennale. Thankfully, I was saved from my pessimism by my students.

I was reminded that renewal is not the result of one heroic creative act or innovative invention, it is the sum of many seemingly inconsequential decisions and actions (and on a societal level, by many people over lifetimes) that have probably, on balance, lead to more failures than successes. But I do believe that, on balance, the trend line points towards evolution and progress, rather than the demise of our species (that is, until the next gigantic meteor hits and we go the way of the dinosaurs). As a teacher, I have come to realize that the most important thing teachers can give students is not our knowledge but our faith in them. In fact, we all need someone to believe in us in our moments of doubt as we navigate our place in an increasingly complex world.

This is the essay I submitted:

What Teaching Has Taught Me About Creativity and Innovation

Creativity and innovation cannot be imported, transplanted nor taught; there is no masterplan or formula, right or wrong way, to being creative and innovative. These fruits are borne only when nurtured by certain values in a warm and open environment. As John W. Gardner explains in his incredibly insightful book, Self Renewal: The Individual and the Innovative Society, the difference between a vibrant, thriving society and a rigid and decaying one is simply whether it “provides for its own continuous renewal.”

And how does a society continually innovate and renew itself? The answer lies in its individuals, whether they themselves are self-renewing. Self-renewing people share certain characteristics – a sustained curiosity about themselves and the world around them (they understand that their knowledge of both is limited and continually strive to expand and break limiting patterns of their understanding), courage to fail and be wrong, capacity for compassion and an internally-derived motivation to persevere at an endeavour out of a belief that it is worthwhile or meaningful.

These past few months, I have had the pleasure of teaching a class at Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. It has been an enlightening and inspiring experience, where the teacher has been the student. My class of 36, final year Higher Diploma Tourism Management students have taught me to consider what we need to provide younger generations if we are to expect them to inherit the task of renewing our society.
The first day of class, by way of introductions, I asked the students to share their dreams. For most, it was to one day become rich. To understand why they wanted to be rich, I asked them to draw a picture of their image of “rich”. Most drew a free-standing house. In this class about creating and marketing innovative travel products, I also learned that most preferred to travel to new destinations with tour groups rather than explore on their own, because they feared the unknown.

Hong Kong has come a long way in its economic development since Gardner’s book was first published nearly half a century ago. In class, I introduced Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – at the bottom of the pyramid are survival and safety, at the top, self-actualization. For people to feel free and daring enough to experiment, they must first feel safe and secure. Can an individual feel safe and secure when the notion of a home of one’s own seems but a fantasy for most young graduates today?

When asked to share what their aspirations were, three students replied: “none”. Why have they lost the hope to aspire? Why are they fearful? And how can I, as a teacher, and we, as a society, create a safe and nurturing environment for the younger generation to freely explore, take risks, fail, discover, gain confidence and learn? While the students have raised these questions in my mind, the most important lesson I have learned from them is faith. Renewal is a process, not an event. This Biennale bears testament to that. BYOB -- Bring Your Own Biennale.

CNNGo.com is Live!

It's always exciting watching new projects come to life. I first met the CNNGo.com team seven months ago during ArtsFest when we when to see a dance performance with Juliet Binoche with a set designed by Anish Kapoor. They had just rolled into town and were building up their regional editorial presence. Initial launch date had been set for May. But as is the norm with start-ups, launch dates get postponed once, twice, even three times as technical kinks get ironed out, editorial vision comes into focus and the website finds its voice.

As a freelance contributor, it's been nothing but fun for me; I get to write about fun stuff that I'm interested in, I can hardly call it work. But for the producers and editors -- Kim, Andrew, Chris and Zoe -- it's been months of 7-day weeks, epoch caffeine-fueled nights and days (i've contributed the odd sugar fix from Saffron Bakery too) as well as many a long conference calls. It's no easy task unifying the tone of a website that presents the local life of six vastly divergent Asian cities -- Bangkok, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.

CNNGo.com's ambition is to speak local, to track the pulse and vibe of each city. The editorial team's job is to manage the platform and facilitate the flow of conversation. But ultimately, it's the people who live in the cities and their contributions that will breathe life into the site, taking it from live to alive. Hope you'll enjoy browsing the site, but more importantly, please join the fun! Comment, critique and contribute.

Check-out this brilliantly produced video:

August Wrap-Up: Vancouver, Hamptons, New York City, Phoenix, Oxford, Geneva, Hong Kong

Summer holidays are great. For the past few years, I've had the luxury of being able to take off from typhoon-riddled Hong Kong in search of blue skies, cooler climes or even snow as I did last year.

This year, my travels took me around the world to see family and friends, as well as giving me the luxury of time to read three books cover-to-cover in three weeks -- Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, Paolo Giordano's The Solitude of Prime Numbers and Kazuo Ishiguro's Nocturnes. Plane rides are great for reading books, and I can often remember when I read them by flipping through and finding the flight ticket stubs that I used as a bookmark (I managed to read Nocturnes on the round-trip London-Geneva flights). In fact, the books themselves are often a reminder of the places I've been. I picked up Rand's tome of a novel at a bookstore in Vancouver's Yaletown. The other two I picked up in Oxford's Blackwell's bookstore. When I wandered into the bookstore, I had no intention of buying any books. I had only wandered in to browse their rare books collection and buy a milk shake from the in-store Caffe Nero. Along the way, after two weeks of travel, I had already picked up seven books. And books are heavy! I also managed to start, but not finish, two other books: Geoff Dyer's Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered To Do It and Karen Armstrong's A Short History of Myth. But back in Hong Kong now, I have yet to finish either.

In between pages, I had time to enjoy wonderful weather, fun conversation and delightful places. Here are some highlights:

Vancouver -- I walked past a hot dog stand on Marinaside Crescent (across the street from Provence) and couldn't resist trying their TexMex hot dog (complete with tortilla chips stuck in the bun along with the jalapeno cheddar cheese hot dog). While waiting for my hot dog to get cooked, I learned from the owner that one cannot just set-up a hot dog stand anywhere one pleases. There's a actually a lottery and he managed to win three locations. Operating a hot dog stand is not an easy job. He's up at 6am in the morning prepping enough food for three stands and doesn't get home till midnight. He enjoys it much better than drilling for oil in Calgary though. I could see why. It was a beautiful, summer day in Vancouver and strollers, roller-bladers, pram-pushing parents would stop by either for a hot dog or an ice cream cone or sandwich and have it served up with a view of the marina in Falls Creek.

From Little Cream Life: Almost a Photo a Day

Hamptons:
1. Wifi-enabled Hamptons Jitney (even if it did mean standing on a street corner at 7:50am by myself in front of a building with signs for "Body by Berle" and "Hooters") followed by lunch at Lobster Roll in Amagansett, building a sand castle at Wainscott beach, shopping in East Hampton and practicing yoga behind Rodney Yee in Colleen Saidman Yee's 8am class at Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbour the following morning. During class, she read out a quote that sticks in my head: "Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." As I write this, Edward Kennedy's funeral has just taken place and his life exemplifies this so well.

From Little Cream Life: Almost a Photo a Day

From Little Cream Life: Almost a Photo a Day

New York City:
Candle 79 -- Surprisingly tasty vegetarian restaurant. I was told that outside of August, when most New Yorkers (or at least Upper Eastsiders) are holidaying in the Hamptons, it is very difficult to get a reservation. I understand why now, because it's not easy to serve a vegetarian menu that doesn't sound or taste like you are depriving yourself of some essential joys in life.
The Standard Hotel -- Andre Balazs' new hotel in Meatpacking. Grab a drink underneath the High Line or enjoy the views of the hotel from the High Line.
The High Line -- I'm impressed that a project like this got funded. An old railway line along the Meatpacking waterfront all the way up to Penn Station got a makeover by landscape architects Field Operations and structural support from architects Diller+Scofidio. I was walking the High Line with PC, who has been asked to consult the Norman Foster team that's working on the West Kowloon Cultural District. I, of course, complained that property developers in Hong Kong don't have the combination of civic-mindedness and foresight to contribute to a city-owned project such as this. Barry Diller and his wife Diane von Furstenberg are co-chairs of the High Line Trust. The building up from The Standard Hotel is being developed by von Furstenberg and Diller's Frank Gehry-designed IAC building is just off the High Line. Contributing to the beautification and preservation of heritage in the neighborhood simply makes good business sense. Be sure to enjoy the view in the mini amphi above 10th Avenue at 16th Street.

Phoenix -- I had dinner at the Wrigley Mansion for the first time, even though I've spent many years living there. Built by Wrigley of chewing gum fame, the mansion is now owned by Hormel of Spam fame. The place is quite a museum: I was intrigued by a telephone switchboard and amused by a very kitschy bathroom with red velvet and gold print wallpaper.

From Little Cream Life: Almost a Photo a Day

Oxford -- I always imagined the hallowed halls of academia to be tranquil, almost monastic, places. But Oxford in summer is a tourist/summer student zoo. Having said that, I managed to escape the hubub by staying at Old Parsonage Hotel and going for a run along Thames Path, where I found the quiet little village of Iffley.

From Little Cream Life: Random photos

From Little Cream Life: Random photos

Geneva -- I was in-and-out of this town within 24 hours. But I left with the sense that I had spent those hours in a sort-of lalaland, a little enclave where everyone seems to live the most charming of lives.

Back in Hong Kong, I've been playing around with my little flip HD video camera. I'd bought it back in April, but only now decided to put it to use. I'm hopeless at shooting, and have no patience for editing. For practice, I took it along to some of the past Luxury Week's fashion shows, but didn't manage to shoot any good footage. I fared a little better last night at Courtney Act's performance at Sevva. Act (or Shane Jenek when not in drag) was a semi-finalist in Australian Idol in 2003.

Hopefully, I'll get the hang of telling stories with moving images and really start to have some fun with it.

First Starbucks x G.O.D. 冰室 (bing sutt)!

I am a pineapple bun nut. It is one of my few credible claims to "being local". And I love Starbucks (not really for their coffee, but for the brand). And my BFFs are the founders of G.O.D. Roll all that into one and this is what I get on 13 Duddell Street (T: +852 2523 5685) -- a crisp, coffee-flavoured pineapple bun served in an ironic take on Hong Kong's old-fashioned coffee shop as interpreted by G.O.D. within an American coffee chain pretending to be local (hmmm...seems to describe me):

The coffee-flavoured pineapple buns and cocktail buns are only sold in this shop.

It's quite an amazing thing that Starbucks in Hong Kong (kudos to Maxim's) has managed to break-free (if only for just one shop for now...) of the cookie-cutter corporate Starbucks image.

I hope this is a sign of things to come for Starbucks (could this be the coffee chain version of HSBC's global-local claim); it's just what they need to bring some buzz back to their brand.

Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournment Tickets Giveaway!

Little Cream Life is giving away a PAIR of tickets to next Friday's Cut & Paste in Hong Kong! For a chance to win, simply email your dream list of the world's 26 coolest travel destinations from A-Z (one destination per alphabet) to editor@littlecreambook.com by NOON on Wednesday, 13 May 2009. We will notify the winner of the lucky draw by e-mail, so make sure you give us the correct e-mail address.

Cut & Paste, the international digital design tournament organized, is happening next Friday, 15 May 2009. The event is like a battle of the DJs, except instead of DJs, spectators get to watch a host of 2D, 3D and Motion designers duke it out live in a party atmosphere. This is the third year that Cut & Paste has been held in Hong Kong. Winners from each of the 16 competition cities around the world will fly to New York City for the Global Championship on 20 June 2009.

Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament 2007 from Cut&Paste on Vimeo.

When: Friday, 15 May 2009, 7-11pm with afterparty following competition
Where: Hong Kong Exhibition Centre, China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
If you don't win, you can still go: $80 for students, $100 in advance from HK Ticketing (T: 31 288 288) or $120 at the door.

Pigeon Feast at Shatin's Lung Wah Hotel

In the four years I lived in Tai Po, I had never visited Lung Wah Hotel; I hadn't even heard of it. I was disappointed when Yucca de Lac was torn down. But the food and service at Yucca de Lac was never worth the visit. Rather, it was the poorly-maintained grounds, it's refusal to change, that gave Yucca de Lac its al fresco dining charm. That and imagining what it must have been like in its glory days when my parents and grandparents frequented the place.


So when I arrived at the Lung Wah Hotel and saw its dated premises and old-school, chaotic service, I was delighted by the kitchiness of the whole place. According to the website, it really used to be a hotel. It would be a dream project to restore the place to its former glory. I think it would make a great boutique retreat, both for locals as well as visitors looking to experience a different side of Hong Kong. The place has so much character that you take the shouting, screaming waiters who don't care that your food still hasn't arrived an hour after you've placed your order as part of the Lung Wah's charm. It was as though the waiters were arguing with each other and guests just to put on a show, like the noodle-making performances at Peking Garden. And then there's the peacock (would be nicer if it were free to wander the grounds as opposed to being locked up in a cage). Where else in Hong Kong can one find a peacock?


The pigeon really is the house specialty; it's the only dish that arrives within 15 minutes of placing the order. Everything else arrives at the kitchen and wait staff's leisure, and the portions are more on the small side (though we were a group of 10). It's places like Lung Wah that distinguish Hong Kong's dining scene, not the safe choices of our Michelin-starred restaurants. There should be more places like this, and not just in the New Territories.

Wyclef Jean @ MO bar

I had been chatting one day with DA and she was telling me about the TOHK launch party preparations. She was telling me that she had spoken to Wyclef Jean's promoter and they had offered to have Wyclef appear at the launch party and play a few songs as a surprise. But Wyclef would only be able to perform on 21 April, so she would have to pass since TOHK's launch was slated for 23 April. "What?" I shouted down the phone. "Move your launch date! Do you have any idea how cool it would be for Wyclef to show up and surprise the crowd with a few songs???" Anyway, to cut a long story short, DA tried to re-jig the gig, but in the end it was not meant to be.

Fortunately for me though, as a result, the TOHK got invites to the invite-only performance at Landmark Mandarin's MO bar last night (MO did a promotion earlier: for every HK$1,000 spent on Veuve Clicquot, they gave away a lucky draw ticket for a chance to win tickets for the night's show). I had only expected Wyclef to play an hour max. That was what he was supposed to do. In the end, he gave an awesome 2-hour performance! I was dancing in the wrong shoes and my feet were killing me, but it was worth it.

Wyclef is a great performer; he had the crowd all worked up and was constantly bringing people to the stage. At one point, he shouted, "I've found my Hong Kong Wyclef!" and dragged a guy up to the stage who then held his own in the rap-along. For all I know, it may have been a Canto-pop star, but I am hopeless at recognising them. The concert started pretty chill, with Wyclef on stage strumming his guitar. But then as he got into Sweetest Girl, he really amped it up and the crowd went crazy. He went from the stage to the top of the bar and, at one point, he was moving through the crowd sitting high on top of the shoulders of one of his crew members. The crowd loved it. He went through a bunch of songs from his latest album, Carnival Volume II: Memoirs of an Immigrant, some Bob Marley, old Fugees tunes, a very crowd-pleasing medley of 80s hits running from A-Ha (Take On Me) to Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun), as well as songs he's done with other artists such as Shakira's Hips Don't Lie and Santana's Maria Maria.

Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone camera, which has no zoom and takes horrible photos in low lighting:

Chat with Desiree Au, TOHK Publisher

Hong Kong finally gets its own Time Out next Wednesday (23 April). Desiree and I go way back. All the way back to her days as a tai-tai journalist covering the arts beat of Hongkong Standard to her evolution into a hard-nosed, whip-cracking editor (typed with a ;-) of course), though never one to compromise on her sense of humour, style or fashions.

I have to blog about TOHK not because I know Desiree, but because, as fate would have it, Little Cream Life has a bit role in the story behind TOHK. Towards the end of 2006, I got an email from AF who had come across Little Cream Life while doing a search for Ingredients (the restaurant). I ended up planning her family's holiday and in the process she mentioned that her husband wanted to bring Time Out to Hong Kong. He was willing to invest, but did I know anyone suitable to get it off the ground, up and running. Basically, he needed a publisher and a team. I sat on it for a little while. At the time, I couldn't think of anyone and I wasn't sure how serious DE really was about the whole thing.

A few months later, AF mentioned it again. By that time, I knew Desiree had left her post as editor of SCMP's Sunday magazine and was finding life as a lady of leisure a bit dull. So I floated the idea to Desiree. While sceptical at first (those who have been in the biz have a healthy scepticism about the profitablity of starting an English-language magazine in a predominantly Chinese-reading city), Desiree agreed to meet DE at a group dinner I had actually organized for an out-of-town guest from Tokyo at China Club last May. DE & DA hit it off and the rest is history. Along the way, I've heard a lot of the birthing stories and am constantly amazed at what ingenuity, tenacity and just plain hard work she and her team have put into this whole endeavour. From the investors to the writers to the ad sales team, there has been no lack of passion driving them to deliver a Time Out magazine for Hong Kong that readers of TO London or New York City would expect. Just a week before TOHK launches with a party at The Pawn, I checked in with Desiree to see whether the office was a circus or war zone:

3:05 PM desiree: actually it's been amazingly calm. we've been pulling 14 hour days but everyone is still joking around'

3:06 PM think of it as gallows' humour, except i don't think anyone is getting executed

3:07 PM me: i think we're all pretty excited about TO finally landing in HK...how long did it take to get here?

desiree: the whole idea started back around May last year, at a small dinner

one thing led to another and we worked with the TO team in London for quite a while.

but the whole basic framework was started around december.

Then the team flew to London to work with the Time Out staff

3:09 PM me: actually, that's pretty lightening speed

desiree: We rented a huge flat and I felt like we were participating in some MTV reality show

well, you know what they say in HK, get this done by "yesterday"

so I guess we've already got the luxury of time

3:10 PM me: what was the funniest reality tv show moment

i.e. trailer moment

desiree: probably me in rollers in the morning

me: no way!!

desiree: i just refused to let any amount of shame get in the way of my hair

me: did the whole team see you in rollers??!!

desiree: hahahahahaahha

3:11 PM probably. but i had no choice

i get up pretty late in the morning and my routine usually encompass putting on my rollers and eating breakfast

let's just say my secret to bouncy hair is out

3:12 PM i have no idea how a conversation with a publisher about to launch a magazine led to hair. this is not good PR

me: who's "the team"?

desiree: well. the "team", and we are also an official football team as of today.......

the guys signed up to play league

me: of course it's good PR...you'll get ads for shampoo, hair salons, etc.

3:13 PM desiree: that wouldn't be half bad!

anyways, going back to the team - Paul Kay is the editor

me: you should post your football team's results in TOHK and open up for betting

hk's fave past time!

desiree: Angie Wong is at the helm of food/lifestyle

Clare Morin is the arts writer (we go way back at the scmp)

3:14 PM Dennis Lai , whom you also know, is art directing

me: yeah, me and Dennis go way back

desiree: and some new faces I've had the pleasure of working with!

me: way back to an obsolete mag

desiree: yeah. remember YA!

me: anyway, have to mention this whole fate/destiny thing

desiree: Actually i wrote two of my best stories for YA

one on Lee Lai Shan

3:15 PM and one on the founder of APC, Jean Touitou

remember?

me: wow, can't believe you remember...i hardly do...but this chat's not about YA

back to fate and destiny

since it's played such an interesting part in the birth of TOHK

desiree: totally amazing

me: what do you think is TOHK's destiny?

3:16 PM desiree: that's a loaded question

can u clarify?

do magazines have a destiny?

most of the time i get asked about "position" or "niche"

so this is a rather interesting question

me: of course! but they may not be immediately apparent...or perhaps your destiny in all this

i bring this up

because there are rumours that Asia City is selling

3:17 PM desiree: well. i don't know what TOHK's destiny is, but I do hope I make some $$ so I can eventually open an animal shelter

whatever I do in publishing, and i usually work pretty hard at stuff, is a means to an end

3:18 PM in the meantime, i hope the magazine will do some interesting features and champion some causes that may not be the most fashionable thing

although i stress that i still aim to do that while remaining fashionable.

i hope that doesn't make me sound too shallow

3:19 PM the fashion reference, i mean!

me: no, not at all...and since we are on fashion

desiree: hahahahaahhah

me: what will you be wearing on launch day?

desiree: oh, funny you ask. i've been thinking

i will attempt to dress in TO colours

red/black/white

i hope i won't look like an extra in High School Musical

3:20 PM me: i don't think you could even if you tried...haha

desiree: thanks for your compliment! it made my day!

me: oops...sorry...just realized that can be taken another way...but i meant it as a compliment on your style

rather than...

3:21 PM desiree: a girl can accomplish anything really, when sh'es got the right wardrobe.

oops typo

me: and hair!

desiree: YEAH, HAIR!

boy, i hope no one reads this.

me: just don't show up in rollers...otherwise, it'll be a bit like hairspray

desiree: i was hoping to engage in some deep conversation about arts and culture

me: this is culture, my dear

desiree: since it's so close to my heart, when i started as an arts reporter in 1994

3:22 PM thanks to YOU!

me: ok, enough...time's ip

up

desiree: ok

see you at the party!

me: it's gonna be a blast!!

desiree: look for the mascot in Red/white/Black

that would be me........

3:23 PM it will be a blast with all our friends and everyone who's been so supportive of TOHK

me: too bad wyclef's not gonna make his special appearance :-(

desiree: i can't thank them enough

yeah, he leaves the day before

but New Pants is cool!

u should watch them on You Tube

punk disco electronic

absolutely a blast to watch

For a special friends & family pre-launch annual subscription rate of HK$128, fill out the subscription form below:

Central's Alluring UFO

The UFO appeared in the distance, a vision of alluring beauty. Its pristine, white skin glistened amidst the pulsating coloured lights that are the life of this city. I walked towards the structure, perplexed and intrigued. What could this sleek, sensuous structure parked atop the old Star Ferry car park be? What lied within?

As I approached, I saw the name on the signboard that inspires in me the kind of delight akin to a teenage groupie finding out that her favourite band is about to roll into town: Zaha Hadid. The UFO in question is the Chanel Contemporary Art Container, containing works by the likes of Daniel Buren, David Levinthal, Michael Lin, Sophie Calle among others. The artists are all interesting, but what I really wanted to see and experience was the space.

The approach to the container, on this particular overcast day, made me think of Chris Marker's La Jetée, the image of the woman standing at the end of the jetty. The memory of the woman that comforts the protagonist through a post-apocalyptic present, we later find out, is actually the moment of himself, as a child, witnessing his own adult death.


Once inside Hadid's container, though, it was a warm and welcoming cocoon, with echoes of Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal. The deep, sultry, accented voice of a woman on the audio guide begins: "I was waiting for you...so impatiently...torn between pleasure and pain...I have such an overwhelming need to open up...to display my fantasies...open up my pack as the French would say...".

And so the show begins, 20 artists and their vision of what desires, insecurities and longings lie within a Chanel quilted bag.

Hong Kong is the first landing site for Mobile Art. From Hong Kong, it heads to Tokyo, New York, London, Moscow and finally Paris. The show runs here until 5 April 2008 and tickets (HK$10) can be booked via HK Ticketing.

Evolution: The Handstand Challenge

"But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever
So I think I'll be Six now for ever and ever."
- Now We Are Six, A.A. Milne

I was green with envy when DT said he had managed an unassisted headstand the other day: "First time since I was 6 or so...Felt like a kid". I've been wanting to do an unassisted inversion (headstand, tripod headstand, handstand, whatever...) since I started yoga, but just not there yet. After one class with Patrick where we were practising the different stages of a headstand, I actually had a dream where I kept trying, and repeatedly failing, to do a handstand. I woke up feeling like Sisyphus, except Sisyphus would actually get to roll his rock all the way up the hill before having it roll back down; I never managed a handstand, even in my dream (I don't even want to think about what Freud would have to say about all this!). It was such an annoying feeling, especially knowing that, even in my dream, the one thing that kept me from doing the handstand was fear -- visions of myself landing on my head and breaking my neck would race through my mind just as I'm about to kick my legs up. I'd love to have that fearlessness of a 6-year-old again.

So yesterday, to help me overcome my fear, I dragged LP, MP & PW to the Evolution: Asia Yoga Conference (none of us actually ever imagined ourselves attending a yoga conference!) to take the "Inversions Demystified" class taught by Jason Nemer and Jenny Sauer-Klein, founders of Acroyoga. When we arrived, we were all just a tad bit intimidated. Most of the people in the class seemed like such serious yogis, many having attended classes since the start of the conference on Friday. Even MP & PW, who could do handstands, were looking a bit weary.

In the end, I didn't quite manage to do a completely unassisted handstand. I used the wall to get my legs up, but there was a split-second when I managed to hold the handstand on my own and that already got me on a thrilling high. I never imagined myself attending a yoga conference full of serious yogis, but there we all were, having such fun. There was one particularly entertaining moment watching MP & PW execute an exercise with one of them in downward dog and the other attempting a handstand off the back of the one in downward dog (I leave it to the reader's imagination to work out the technicalities). LP, who was least enthusiastic to begin with, actually walked out of the 2-hour class saying we should attend next year's conference and sign up for more classes! I walked out of the class with the inspiring realisation that I wasn't going to break my neck doing a handstand. So I'll just keep trying. And one of these days, it will just happen and I might just be able to be 6 for ever and ever.

Hong Kong: Support a Better Central Waterfront!

A message from Designing Hong Kong:

If you care about a quality harbourfront for Hong Kong, please read on...

There have been many public forums and organisations to get community feedback on the new Central waterfront. The response from all these has been very clear. People want:

Less density
More greenery
More diversity
A boulevard instead of a six-lane highway running through the middle

These wishes will require changes to the current Outline Zoning Plan, but the Government refuses to countenance any changes. It is sticking to the current "big block" footprints and a "thundering thoroughfare" (the so-called "P2" passing right through the middle. This does not reflect public's wishes and will result in a sub-optimal harbourfront. Since this is the last reclamation on the Central harbourfront, it is the last chance for us to get it right and create something we can all love and be proud of.

Designing Hong Kong has now taken the initiative to make its own
application to the Town Planning Board to revise the existing Outline Zoning Plan to reflect what people want. THIS APPLICATION NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT.

To support this initiative, go to the link below, click "Express Support" and send the signed Support Form to the Town Planning Board.

Please take the time to do something for our future harbourfront. Please forward this message.

GO HERE: http://www.designinghongkong.com

Designing Hong Kong is an alliance of four individuals:
* Christine Loh, former Legislative Councilor and CEO of the non-profit think-tank Civic Exchange
* Peter H. Y Wong, Chartered Accountant, Past Chairman of the Business and Professionals Federation of Hong Kong, and member of the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council and the Executive Committee of the Commission on Strategic Development
* Markus Shaw, Chairman of WWF Hong Kong and member of the Advisory Council on the Environment
* Paul Zimmerman, Executive Director of Jebsen Travel, Convenor of Designing Hong Kong Harbour District and Vice-Chairman of the Coalition on Sustainable Tourism.

Click here for the English press release.
Click here for the Chinese press release.

Green T House: E-fu noodle surprise

Cyberport is not one of the most exciting malls in Hong Kong. So when I first heard about Green T House (T: +852 29896036) I was not in a hurry to go check it out. But then, Saturday's plans for a outdoor BBQ dinner on Jumbo's Top Deck got nixed due to stormy weather and so our group of 8 ended up at Green T House for dinner.

Cyberport is a very quiet mall. Even on a Saturday night, the mall was practically empty. I was looking for the restaurant and actually walked into the wrong restaurant. Fortunately, one of the waiters pointed me in the right direction: "It's opposite, see the white wall." I saw the white wall, but i didn't really see the restaurant. It was only when I got closer that I saw the very subtle entrance to the restaurant. Inside, the decor was dramatic, like a theatre set. It's a bit Robert Wilson meets The Hempel, very white. There is one very long dining table. For most of the evening, aside from us, there were only 2 other diners.

Green T House is actually quite well-known in Beijing (it's actually even harder to find there), conceived and founded by Zhang Jin Jie, who in addition to being a chef of "modern Chinese" cuisine is also an accomplished classical Chinese musician. It's a combination of tea house/restaurant/art gallery/events space.

We all ordered the 8-course tasting menu at HK$880 per head. The food, while beautifully presented, and competantly prepared was slightly lacking in the Wow factor on the taste buds. There's not much risk-taking nor playfulness with the flavours. Someone in the group mentioned that, for a Chinese meal, we were lacking carbs, so asked the waiters if they could serve us some rice or noodles. The waiter then suggested they prepare some E-fu noodles for us. To which we agreed without any thought to cost. Afterall, how much can E-fu noodles cost? Well, it turns out, that a side serving (it was served with the lobster course) cost HK$140 per head!! To be fair, the truffle-flavoured E-fu noodles were the most memorable of all the dishes served, but HK$140 for a small portion of noodles is just silly. The total bill including wine came out on par with a meal at Pierre or Robuchon. Rents at Cyberport are way lower than Landmark; Green T operating on very healthy margins (but then again, they're not exactly pulling in the crowds. at least not on this particular saturday night).

Green T House is a stunning setting for a party, but be forewarned about the price of a side of E-fu noodles.

Hong Kongers: Please Join the Clean Air Foundation!

I returned to a very grey, gloomy, hazy, rainy Hong Kong after 4 days of blissful blue skies and fresh, clean ocean breeze. We, in Hong Kong, all complain ad nauseum about the poor air quality and visibility, so here's our chance to do just a tad bit more constructive than complain!

Please join the Clean Air Foundation (please see below for brief summary of what they are doing) by taking just 1 minute of your time to click this link and fill in your basic contact details.

The Clean Air Foundation is a recently created not-for-profit Hong Kong company aimed primarily to promote and protect the right of the people of Hong Kong to breathe clean air. The Clean Air Foundation will pay particular attention to local sources of air pollution and to the role of Hong Kong in both causing and solving local environmental problems.

The air in Hong Kong is killing us slowly but surely.

The government of HKSAR is not fulfilling its most basic responsibility to provide clean air for its citizens. The aim of the Clean Air Foundation is to galvanise the support of citizens and concern groups to find appropriate recourse to exhort the HKSAR government to leave behind its empty promises and hollow rhetoric. We must immediately begin to address the many local sources of air pollution for which something can and must be done.

Please join the Clean Air Foundation and be part of promoting and protecting the rights of Hong Kong citizens to breathe clear air. To make your voice heard, please press "reply" and fill in the information below and send to: info@cleanairfoundation.hk or visit our website and fill in the form online at www.cleanairfoundation.hk

Membership Applicant Information

*Last Name:

*Given Name(s):

Organisation:

Address:

Contact Phone:

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Dinner with Filmmakers

It's not every day that I get to have dinner with an Academy Award-winning film director, so I was really excited when TN & FY invited me to a dinner they were hosting for their filmmaker friends in town for last week's Entertainment Expo. Filmmakers at the dinner included: Stanley Kwan, Anne Misawa, Corey Tong and Ruby Yang (still recovering from all the Oscar parties).

I arrived at Ning Po Resident's Association's restaurant pretty much at the same time as LC and SK. The thing with filmmakers is that you often know their work, but you don't really know their face. To my slight embarrassment, I actually didn't know that the guy I was sitting next to was the SK, one of Hong Kong's more respectable directors. He was talking about a project that he had been working on, but has since been passed on to Chen Kaige. He had been pushing for Tony Leung to take on the lead character, a Peking opera star, but to no avail. CT and AM are in town finalizing financing for their upcoming feature film, a triptych of love stories spanning three cities around the Pacific Rim. RY is on her celebratory PR rounds for The Blood of Yingzhou District, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short:



We were all extremely entertained by her photos from the Vanity Fair Oscar party. There were snaps of her with Penelope Cruz, Leonardo di Caprio (who she says only took a picture with her because she had an Oscar in hand!), Forrest Whitaker and a whole host of other Hollywood celebs. She never thought the film would get nominated, let alone win. On the night the nominations were to be announced, she even told her team to go home and not wait for the call (fortunately, they didn't listen). I tried to get her to convey how she felt at that moment at the ceremony where they announced her film as the winning film, but I suppose it's not something that can be reduced to a one-liner; all the blood, sweat and tears of so many people involved in that one ephemeral moment. When you watch the trailer for her film, indeed, the Oscar and all the glamour surrounding it all gets reduced to a mere triviality. The Blood of Yingzhou District is actually part of a larger project to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in China through PSAs produced by their organization, The China Aids Media Project.

For those in Hong Kong interested in screening the film and meeting Ruby Yang, FCC has organized a dinner this Friday, 30 March 2007 at 7:30pm. If you miss this one, there'll be a fundraising screening in May.

Eat Right; Nobu Revisited

People often start businesses out of necessity, because the market isn't addressing their own needs. Years ago, when my friend DH was still living in Hong Kong, we had talked about a nutritional food delivery service. Back then, Atkins and South Beach diets were still all the rage. But we lamented that it was hard to stick with any kind of a healthy diet when we were constatly eating out. The best solution would be for someone to work our the meal plan, cook up delicious food and deliver it straight to your home or office. We never did start the business, of course. And these types of businesses started popping up in NYC and Singapore. Hong Kong, the norm these days, is arriving late to this trend. But better late than never! Eat Right, just across the street from Pure's Kinwick gym offers exactly this service. My fitness bet friends and I were meeting up with Martin Lorentsson, who is also a trainer at Pure, at Eat Right to see what kind of menus he could concoct to help us meet our 3-month fitness targets and win our bet. There's a questionnaire about current health state, daily eating habits and a list of foods to choose from to give them an idea of the kinds of foods you like or dislike. Then you let them know how many meals you want delivered each day and they work out the rest. So far, the fitness gang has tried out the food. We're waiting for the taste factor to improve a little bit before we sign on. But it's a good service in the making!

Thanks for the pics FS (taken with her SonyEriccson phone)!

I am sort of ambivalent about Nobu's restaurants. I've had some great meals at Matsuhisa Aspen, but I also had a truly awful meal at Nobu London in Berkeley Square (we ordered the tasting menu and the cod was over-cooked and tasteless). So when FS suggested we give Nobu in Hong Kong (2/F InterContinental Hotel; T: +852 23132323) a try, I wasn't super enthusiastic. We had an 8:30pm reservation. By 9pm, there was still no table. I kicked up a bit of a fuss and by 9:15pm, they finally offered us the private room with the HK$15,000 minimum charge waived (we were 9 people and our final bill ended up not being far off from that). Fortunately, the meal was much better than the one I had in London. We had the yellow tail with jalapeno, toro tartare with caviar, seared toro salad, seared toro with yuzu miso sauce, monkfish pate, all of which were delicious. We hardly ordered any cooked dishes though, probably for the better since the London meal that I so disliked had mainly been cooked dishes. While the food was good, to be honest, the evening was really more memorable for the entertainment we created for ourselves (good thing they gave us the private room!).

Shop for Little Cream Book at these Christmas Fairs!

Tis' the season to shop, shop, shop! Come visit Little Cream Book at these Christmas Fairs (Bring a copy of this post for a 10% DISCOUNT):

Tomorrow-Thursday, 28-30 November 2006, 10am - 7pm @ the lawns of IFC Mall , Central
3 December 2006 (Sunday), 11am - 5pm @ main lawn of Hong Kong Country Club, Deep Water Bay
5 December 2006 (Tuesday), 10am - 8pm @ ballroom of Conrad Hotel, Admiralty

Read about Little Cream Book in the 25 November issue of mpw (Ming Pao Weekly's lifestyle book), the November issue of Zip and the January 2007 UK edition of Harper's Bazaar!

L'Atelier du Robuchon (they're opening everywhere!) is opening on 3/F Landmark (T: +852 2166 9000) tomorrow night (Tuesday, 28 November). Wonder if it'll be as good as the one in NYC. BL's booked it for his b-day dinner on Wednesday. Since it's only 2nd day of operations, I don't expect it to be in top form yet. But, I'm still hoping to be pleasantly surprised!

ThreeSixty: Starting a health revolution in HK?

Over the weekend, I got some sad news about one of our ski instructors in Cortina. Apparently, M would not be able to join us for CNY skiing since she has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Perhaps BI, who has just completed a course of chemotherapy and is now undergoing radiation therapy and will be joining us in Cortina, can offer her some support. In any case, I wish M a very speedy recovery and return to the slopes!

So over the weekend, health was on my mind. As I was working out in the gym with PT, she mentioned having just checked out ThreeSixty, the new food store on the top two floors of Landmark. At first, I wasn't all that interested, thinking it was just another City'Super, Oliver's, Great or Gourment. But then, she mentioned it was like Whole Foods. Those who have read my post when I was in D.C. will know that I love Whole Foods. So of course, I jumped at the bait and immediately went to check it out after my workout.

ThreeSixty just opened last Tuesday and when I got there, it was bustling with people. In many ways, it does try to be Whole Foods, except ThreeSixty is still a whole lot smaller. And the fact that it's in Landmark makes it a lot less accessible to the masses (so I guess their health revolution is starting from the affluent. For the launch, though, they are partnering with three NGOs: Oxfam, WWF and Changing Young Lives Foundation, but I couldn't quite figure out what the partnership entails, i.e. whether part of proceeds are donated or whether it's free publicity for the organizations etc.)

Like Whole Foods, ThreeSixty has done a lot of work on their labelling. On fresh produce, country of origin and farming style (conventional or organic) as well as brief description of health benefits were marked on the label along with the price. Same with meats. There were lots of educational and informational pamphlets explaining the difference between conventional, organic or naturally-raised livestock. At the moment, though, I would say that the majority of the offerings are marked "conventional" (i.e. no different from what you might find at your local Park'N'Shop). But credit has to be given to ThreeSixty for clearly marking everything and for making consumers more aware of the differences of conventional vs. organic farming methods. It also uses labels to indicate which foods are suitable for certain diets (i.e. low-sodium, low-carb etc.) or when certain allergens are present (XTC's gelatos had milk marked on the allergen labels).

In the non-food area, I was happy to see products such as Seventh Generation toilet paper (free from chlorine bleaching) and non-toxic cleaning products. They also have the Wellness Centre that has a naturopath on hand to guide customers in their choices of health supplements and natural beauty products.

ThreeSixty probably has one of the nicest supermarket shopping environments in Hong Kong. Though, I imagine, they'll be wanting more space very soon. I took a couple of photos with my new HP iPAQ hw6965 (I am still waiting, with baited breath, for Apple's iPhone, but I just got fed up with Nokia's word completion on the cheap, basic Nokia I got in India that I just had to spring for a phone with a full keyboard and wifi) so please excuse the grainy quality of these pics:

25 Nov: Shop at Tod's to Benefit Mother's Choice

FY just forwarded an email invite to a Tod's special day of shopping in Hong Kong to benefit Mother's Choice. For tomorrow only (Saturday, 25 November from 10:30am to 7:30pm), "a special discount can be enjoyed and part of the sales will be donated to Mother's Choice". Participating stores are: Tod's Landmark in Central and Tod's Pacific Place in Admiralty only.

Connie's Private Kitchen: Worth the Wait

EC is a serious foodie. He knows all the nooks and crannies in Hong Kong where good food can be found. He found a great laksa place while wandering Tin Hau the other day. So leave it to him to manage to get a table at Connie's (6/F, 186 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai. T: +852 60548244). I first heard about Connie's a couple years ago from DH, must have been a couple years ago. He told me it was great food, but also told me it would be difficult to book with only one table of 12 per night. So I never bothered to try. So when EC invited me to dinner at Connie's, I jumped at the chance. He had actually booked for last night's Thanksgiving dinner there a year ago! But Connie says it doesn't take a year's wait. She decided not to let people book so far in advance. So currently, she is only taking reservations for the first few months of 2007.

Having dinner at Connie's is like having dinner at a friend's simple home in Wan Chai. The apartment is small. The round table, which seats 12 comfortably, took up the whole living area. One of the walls was covered with framed photographs of Connie and her guests. There was no shortage of celebrities, socialities or political figures. She loves recounting stories of some of her high-profile guests. Like how bodyguards had to stand outside in the un air-conditioned hallway, how paparazzi were hiding out in the stairwell, etc. But the real highlight of the evening was the food. All the dishes were great. The most memorable were: mushroom (bak ling gu) with shrimp served up in a garlic and roe (crab and shrimp) sauce; rice (she uses japanese rice to imitate sticky rice) with all sorts of tasty ingredients (chinese sausages, dried shrimp, dried scallop, etc.) wrapped in turnip cake; an amazing soup made from 3 chickens, 15 pork marrows (we all wondered how she can manage to secure all those marrows!), lots of ginger and papaya and hairy crab cooked in it for a short while. She also served up 5 apetizers. My favourite of those was the fried pork chop, which was amazingly tender (she doesn't use corn starch. Instead, she soaks the meat overnight with the skin of papaya, which acts as a tenderizer). Apparently, one young client requested her pork chops for a birthday party, so the mother had to order 50 pieces! The dessert was also perfect -- pieces of pomelo or strawberry with floss of coconut candy (she bought the machine from Taiwan; it's a bit like a cotton candy machine) and a mint leaf; very refreshing after the big meal!

Connie loves talking about her food, how she came up with the dishes, how she shops for the ingredients and prepares them. She'll tell you everything. After the dinner, she passed out her cards with the date written on the back. It's so guests can remember which date they came. When they re-book, Connie can then make sure not to repeat any previously tasted dishes. Her dishes are really quite distinctive and refreshingly different from anything you could find in a proper restaurant. That's because a restaurant that caters to more than 1 table a night, can't really afford to serve up the labour and ingredient-intensive dishes that she does. And Connie is adamant about not expanding beyond the size of her current space (which at its maximum can host 20 guests, but she does so reluctantly), because of her concern for the quality of what she can serve.

Connie is a self-taught chef. When we asked her what she used to do, she replied, "I'm just a regular housewife". She didn't like any of the food she ate in restaurants -- too much MSG and other artificial preservatives, unsanitary cooking environments, uninspiring dishes that were all too common. So about four years ago, she decided to start her own private kitchen and people have been begging for more of her food ever since.

I have friends who think that I don't like Chinese food, to which I can now respond, "but I like Connie's!"

Connie's -- 6/F, 186 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai. T: +852 60548244

Mandarin Grill

Went to Mandarin Grill for the first time last night since its refurbishment. I like the new look a lot more now, a lot less stuffy with the open kitchen and beige chairs. It must be strange for my grandfather though, to go through one institutional update after another. When I first came to Hong Kong (...dare I say it?) 13 years ago, I never shopped at Lane Crawford; it was my grandfather's store. He would walk into the Queen's Road Central store and the sales ladies would know him. Ever since the Lane Crawford IFC opened though, that's changed. Grandpa stopped shopping at Lane Crawford and I started. For Lane Crawford though, that may or may not be an entirely good thing. An insider commented that a lot of the loyal (i.e. those who spend often and spend the most) customers were turned away by Lane Crawford's image change to appeal to the younger shopper (i.e. myself). Compared to my grandfather, I would definitely be considered a lower value customer. But then again, if they managed to keep me interested, my future shopping flow probably exceeds Grandpa. Such is reality I suppose. Same with Mandarin Grill. My grandfather used to have regular luncheons there. But then, those in the luncheon group slowly faded. My grandfather tells me that one of the regulars is still a regular even though he has to use a walker and is accompanied by a helper. And when we left the restaurant, the staff encouraged Grandpa to come back with his friend. I wonder if he will, it must feel like a totally different restaurant to him now. But I hope he does. As for me, I liked the new look and feel. The food tried hard to stay true to its traditional grillroom roots while offering more contemporary accents. Afterall, curry ice cream (which, incidentally, was delicious in an interesting way) isn't what you'd expect for an accompaniment to a crème brûlé (in this case, mango flavoured). I had turbot in a saffron broth and beetroot with butter and almonds for a side. Both were of a standard one would expect. I had to taste my aunt's lobster risotto with white truffle, which was very tasty indeed! But with that combination of ingredients, it would be hard not to please.

While I have no complaints about Mandarin Grill's food, service or ambiance, it's still not really my kind of restaurant. While no longer stuffy, it's still feels like a business lunch and dinner kind of place. For thrills, I would think that Pierre fits the bill more (although I have yet to go). For comfort food, I much prefer Chinnery or the Hainan Chicken rice in the coffee shop.

SCMP Harper's Bazaar Style Awards 2006

Another email worthy of congratulations today. This one from BL at G.O.D. Douglas Young, who wrote Little Cream Book: Architecture for us, has just been nominated (along with Allan Zeman and filmmaker Wong Kar-wai) for the Stylemaker of the Year award! You can cast your vote online. My vote of course goes to DY! May he with the most style win (Note to the selection committee: why are all the nominees men??). Awards will be presented 19 January 2007.

From Chancery Lane, Hong Kong to Quito, Ecuador

The last time I strolled along Chancery Lane must have been on an Art Walk a few years back when I popped into 10 Chancery Lane, a gallery owned by Katie de Tilly, wife of an INSEAD alum. I've always liked the feel of this little lane, an oasis of quiet in the midst of busy Central in the area between Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo. I had reason to visit again when I found out that Kim Chung (owner of One Thirty One, one of my favourite restaurant retreats in Hong Kong that feels like you've escaped to a house on a European lake. 131 Tseng Tau Village, Sai Kung; T: +852 2791-2684) had just opened up a new gift/home accessories shop called just 2 girls (5 Chancery Lane, T: +852 2810 1488). KC had contacted me because they wanted to stock our books in their shop. It's a charming space and they sell a lot of really cute gifts for dogs and cats (KC even bakes dog biscuits!) as well as fashion and home accessories for their human owners. A great new addition for Christmas gift-shopping season! The best part is that they'll host a happy hour or aftyernoon tea party for you and your friends. It's a way for them to bring in more traffic to the otherwise quiet Chancery Lane and it's a fun way for you to spend some time with your friends drinking, chatting and shopping.

From this side of the world, our books are heading to another side of the world. The power of the internet to help small businesses expand globally never ceases to amaze me. While it's quite ordinary for us to sell our books to a shop in Hong Kong, it's quite exciting to get an order for our books from far-flung Quito! Actually, I guess it all started when we had requested permission from Quito Tourism Office to reproduce a picture of Quito's Church and Convent of San Francisco in our Little Cream Book: Architecture. When the book was published, we sent a complimentary copy to their office as a courtesy. A little over a month later, we got an email saying that the mayor's office wanted to place a bulk order of the book to give as gifts. Needless to say, I was quite excited. We sent off an invoice via paypal.com, the transfer was made and received and we're about to send off the shipment next Monday. The whole transaction was done in cyberspace and with so little fuss! I never even spoke with anyone in Quito; quite amazing really.

The coolest thing...

...happened just now. I was going through today's mail and came across the brochure for this year's Asia Cultural Cooperation Forum (9-12 November 2006). They usually manage to bring in some pretty interesting speakers in the creative industries, even though the format of the whole conference is anything but creative. This year, they've got a 3-hour session on "Measuring Creativity, Happiness and Well-Being", but the session that caught my eye was "Experiencing Architecture", since I'm a bit of an archi-buff. I was going down the list of 10 speakers and stopped abruptly at "Mr Charupan Khak WIRIYAWIATT, Director, Naga Concepts, Thailand" (Naga Concepts, you might remember, is the company I mentioned in an entry back in August that will be working with Andre Balazs, Christian Liagre and John Pawson on a residential/resort project in Anguilla). So I immediately call BL; as we both go skiing with Khak (after one intense day of skiing, Khak spent the morning at breakfast moaning, "paaaiiinnn" every time he moved. BL and I have taken to imitating that each time we go skiing/snowboarding now.). BL had no idea that Khak, who's based in Phuket, would be in town next week. As I was browsing through the brochure to give him the details of the talk, I notice, "hey! your company's sponsoring this; you should know about this!".

Life's full of funny surprises. Unfortunately, I will miss the talk since I will be in Tokyo that day. Major bummer.

New Hollywood Road Haunt: lazy Sunday morning brunch @ Classified

It's been ages since I walked along Hollywood Road beyond Peel Street. When I used to work around the Hollywood Road/Wyndham Street area, I might venture towards Sheung Wan in search of new lunch spots (i.e. Gough 40, Song...yes, it was that long ago). But since setting up shop in Causeway Bay, I've not gone beyond the imaginary boundaries of SoHo. It's a very urban phenomenon that we get stuck in our limited neighborhood mindset. Hong Kong people don't venture to Kowloon (even though it's just a 7-minute Star Ferry ride across the harbour), Upper East Siders get stuck within a 10-block radius, Parisians in the 6th don't really see any reason to head to the 4th, etc. When we live in a city, we all get neighborhood myopia, which is really just laziness. But once in a while, a great shop, restaurant, spa or club opening will jolt us out of our contentment zone and send us trekking to unchartered neighborhoods in search of cool, new experiences.

Such was the case with Classified. Which was how, on this rare, blue-sky Sunday morning, I found myself strolling down Hollywood Road in the Sheung Wan direction hunting for this awesome cheese, wine, ham, coffee shop and its soon-to-open bar-brasserie, The Pressroom. I had received an sms from dy raving about this place opened by one of his friends. He said it was below m1nt, a private club concept ("the world's first shareholder's club") which I find a bit hokey. The location sounded a bit iffy, but if dy (who hardly ever gets excited about food) raves about a food place, it's must be worth checking out. And I was not disappointed.

I spotted Classified's canopy a block away (the name pays homage to the building's former life as a newspaper press). The space was beautifully done. In the ground floor space, coffee, ham (think 33-month aged Joselito ham, absolutely delish!) and cheese platters (mainly U.K. cheeses, but I had a heavenly Brie de Meaux) are served. The also sell luxuriously-packaged jams, teas, honeys and olive oils. On the mezzanine floor, there is a temperature and humidity-controlled cheese room, where customers are encouraged to sample their selection of cheeses. Outside is a wine section (didn't pay much attention to the stock since it was before noon on a Sunday morning, but at a glance, there seemed to be a few Alsatian wines). In the wine room, there's a large wooden table that makes for a perfect venue for private wine and cheese tastings. In fact, I was looking was a fun place for another INSEAD gathering next week and this seemed like the perfect place (just wish they carried more smelly, French cheeses like epoisses though)!

While I waited for dy, bl and py to show up, I finished off 24g of Brie de Meaux (only HK$10!)with bread and samplings of their blueberry and buckwheat honey. I sat at the square wooden tasting table with benches (seats up to 12 people), which kind of reminds me of Le Pain Quotidien's communal tables. On the table were 2 olive oils, 2 honeys, jam and cubes of Comte with bread for passers-by to come in and try. With the doors open, the weather beautiful, it was the perfect leisurely, Sunday brunch experience.

As the Michelin guides put it, Classified is worthy of a detour/special journey. Owners AA&P are on their way to creating a new destination neighborhood, but I am hoping success will also allow them to branch out and open up closer to my neighborhood. I could use a new canteen.

INSEAD Slacker Six mini-reunion at Hong Kong's ingredients

INSEAD was where I was schooled in the art of living the Little Cream Life. It didn't hurt that I found myself sitting in an amphitheatre with 70-odd other like-minded individuals. INSEAD's admissions process prides itself on selecting people from diverse and international backgrounds. Somehow, they also managed to figure out early on who all the slackers in the promotion would be and stuck them in Section Six (our promotion had 3 other sections: 5, 7 and 8. One of these sections prided themselves in having the most people on the Dean's List). Ours was the section that gifted the "Ding" Bell in the Fontainebleau campus bar (Singapore campus, which came later, has a gong), which is rung whenever someone is "dinged" by a potential employer. Someone at the bar would then buy that person a drink as consolation. In fact, I was the one who hauled the bell back to Fountainbleau from a foundry in London after a day of interviews with Morgan Stanley. After more interviews in Hong Kong, I eventually got "dinged". Obviously, they too could tell that I was a slacker!

So by chance, the stars aligned last Thurday and 5 other slackers (that's at least 1/12 of our Slacker Six section) plus guests found ourselves in Hong Kong at the same moment in time and decided to have a mini reunion at ingredients. There was Indian-American AS (whom I was supposed to sit next to in the amphitheatre, but since he hardly showed up to class, I ended up sitting next to CS), on an 8-month transit from Intel's San Francisco through their offices in Hong Kong and Mumbai before eventually settling into his more permanent position in Intel's Dubai office looking out for investment opportunities in the region. From Shanghai, there was French NG, who left INSEAD with the job we all thought we wanted with Quiksilver in the resort town of Biarritz. He eventually moved to Shanghai to establish and expand the brand's presence in China. From NYC, there was Singaporean KF, who's with jumpTV, which just listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and London's AIM Market over the summer. He had invited Canadian TS, his colleague from Singapore, and PT, his friend in Hong Kong to grace our little gathering. Of the more permanent HK-ers, there was American IE, with Corporate Adventures, Korean-American CK with ABN Amro private equity and myself (American-born Chinese) as well as two younger alums, BL (Australian-born Chinese) with CIMB-GK equity research and VH (another American-born Chinese), consulting for Neil Pryde. We were quite a mixed bag, which was what made the evening so much fun.

ingredients (23 Wing Fung Street, T: +852 2544 5133; ingredients@netvigator.com) made for a great venue for this little get-together. originally a private kitchen started by an ex-banker located on NoHo's Gough Street, ingredients re-opened in its swanky, brand-new 3-story glass-facade building on hip Wing Fung Street just off Star Street on 1 September. Also on Wing Fung Street are Xi Yan Sweets, OVO Garden, agnes b.'s library/gallery space and other eateries and small shops. We were 10 people and fit comfortably into one of their private dining rooms on the 1st floor restaurant space. The ground floor is a lounge, 2nd floor is a bar and the rooftop will open sometime in November. The rooftop is sure to be a great space for parties. I was pleasantly surprised that a brand-new building on this street in the trendier part of Wan Chai was built not built higher than the other building. I can't imagine there being any height restrictions, since across the street is the Three Pacific Place office tower. Is it an ultra-rare case of a Hong Kong developer sacrificing some GFA in favour of aesthetics??

At the New, Old Mandarin Oriental: Welcome Back, Chinnery!

It was as if nothing had changed and time had stopped for the new, old Mandarin to undergo its refurbishment. I walked into the Chinnery Bar with a feeling of familiarity and comfort. It looked pretty much the same with the usual crowd of expat Central office bankers smoking and drinking (although the benches and chairs had been reupholstered, carpet changed). The menu still had what I missed: Chicken Tikka and Bread Pudding. I was having dinner with DH, who is helping me write Little Cream Book: Drives. DH ordered the Fish Pie, which came with a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on your perspective) dose of mashed potatoes on top. The food tasted just as comforting as it had before, although service was not as attentive or together as it was before -- dishes weren't cleared from the table, nobody asked if we wanted coffee or tea with our desserts, it took forever me to get someone's attention to ask for the bill, then it took forever to arrive and once paid, they chased us down the stairs into the lobby because they thought they had given us the wrong table's bill (which, it turns out, they hadn't). Hopefully, with a couple months' time, the service will be back to how it was before.

It seems the staff have been trained well to welcome back old guests, to make it appear as if there's a seemless transition from old to new. When I arrived with my grandfather a few days after their opening, the doorman nodded to my grandfather, "Welcome back. Long time no see." The doorman did not look familiar, at least neither my grandfather nor I recognized him. But I'm sure he's been trained to welcome guests of a certain age with that line. And then there's MP, who got his usual pre-birthday call from the Mandarin Grill asking him, "Will you be having your birthday dinner with us again this year?" I can't wait for them to run everything in again. As I was waxing nostalgic with DH last night, I grew up with the old Mandarin. It was the meeting point for my grandfather and me on Saturday afternoons since I was six years old. He would be get off work on Saturday, walk over from his office in the then Swire Building (now Chater House). Sometimes I would meet him in the lobby. Other times, I would already be in the car and his driver would take us to Country Club for lunch and an afternoon of frolicking in the pool. And when I grew up and came back to Hong Kong to work, I would meet my friends in the lounge for afternoon tea. The scones with rose jam (Incidentally, you can't find the rose jam anywhere else in HK. I once made the mistake of asking the bar at Landmark Mandarin Oriental for rose jam and got was told in a sour kind of tone, "That's only at the old Mandarin. We have something different here.") and clotted cream are my favoured afternoon tea treats. When I recounted this to DH, he called me a sybarite, which I took as a compliment since I am in the profession of seeking out and creating experiences of pleasure and luxury for my clients.

An interesting aside that takes us to Bangkok, I came across a new cute, little hotel. With boutique and design hotels looking a bit past their due date these days, it was refreshing to be introduced by EO to The Eugenia. As its website says, "It's not a hotel; it's a home!" Well, will wait for EO's verdict (he's staying there this weekend) on that, but the website certainly looks promising.

7 October: Mid-Autumn Afternoon Tea Party @ WANLILU Travel Lounge

Am procrasting. Trying to delay the inevitable of having to tidy up our ultra-cluttered, ultra-messy office before tomorrow's Mid-Autumn Afternoon Tea Party/Open House. We'll be hosting four other lifestyle companies. Incidentally, all are started by female entrepreneurs. There must be a good story in-the-making for a women's mag, about the trend for more-and-more ex-professionals quitting their high-paying corporate jobs to pursue their dreams of starting lifestyle businesses. It's not just a chance for us to promote our businesses, but we also hope that we can share our experiences, over mooncake and tea, with other would-be entrepreneurs who have yet to take that leap of faith and jump into doing something they love.

If you're in Hong Kong, feel free to drop by tomorrow, 7 October, between 1-6pm at the WANLILU Travel Lounge (Room 1501, One Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay. It's above the Starbucks across Lee Theatre and just around the corner from Krispy Kreme! T: +852 3162 3729). In addition to us, Little Cream Book and WANLILU Play, there will be:

Becky Kong Photography
Chocolate Unlimited
Fontaine Accessories
Seasoning Make-up Workshops

Hope to see you!

le pain grillé: agnes b.'s first café opens in HK next Monday!

The hoarding around the ground floor space below the agnes. b travel concept shop on Leighton Street for agnes b.'s first café, le pain grillé, has been up for a while now. Thus, I've been eagerly anticipating its opening. I had expressed my excitement to WW, their marketing manager. So when I got WW's email inviting friends for a tasting in exchange for feedback, I jumped at the chance.

I just got back from the lunch tasting and had a great time. I don't want to give a full-on review here (since they're still in tweaking mode), but suffice it to say, I'm very excited that I will have a new lunch spot as of next Monday, 1 October, when le pain grillé officially opens to the public. The menu is right up my alley and fills a void in Causeway Bay for a restaurant of high quality, authentic French comfort food at a mid-point price range in a very comfortable environment. A 2-course set with coffee/tea will be HK$130. Considering that the magret de canard, the chicken are all from France (even the floor tiles were air freighted from France!), it is very good value for money. But what I'm most excited about is the appearance of sweet and savoury crèpes (with a choice of buckwheat no less!) on the menu, definitely a rare find in HK. DY, the managing director of agnes b. in the region, was on hand to chat with tasters and it turns out that he is the one behind the conception of agnes b.'s more lifestyle-oriented outlets. That's why Hong Kong has so many of agnes b.'s firsts. Looking ahead, they plan to open another café in Causeway Bay (part of their soon-to-open men's shop) and Festival Walk.

agnes b. le pain grillé -- shop 1, G/F, 111 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay; T: +852 2577 2718. Opens 1 October 2006 for lunch, afternoon tea and dinner (still awaiting alcohol license though).

Pleasant Surprises

I love surprises, especially when they come in boxes. Out of the blue, a box arrived from Pantheon (an imprint of Random House). Had the new titles I sent to SW, an editor I had met last year about Little Cream Book, bounced back? I opened the box, and inside sat copies of Joan Didion's non-fiction collection, We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live, and Feather in the Storm by Emily Wu and Larry Engelmann about Wu's childhood during the Cultural Revolution. Apparently, SW did received the new titles I sent her and had reciprocated. I can't wait to start reading them, especially the Joan Didion collection. Didion's writings were much talked about during my Bryn Mawr days, but to be honest, I didn't actually get around to reading much of them (I had actually read more Susan Sontag). Because I'm an avid reader of Vanity Fair and Dominick Dunne's (Didion's brother-in-law) column, I probably know more about her personal life than about her actual writing.

Speaking of other pleasant surprises, I came across a wonderful write-up on Little Cream Book in the current issue of Four Seasons magazine (as in the luxury hotels and resorts). It was actually written by ST, or better known as Chubby Hubby's S. It was actually an article on creative, lifestyle products coming out of China's metropolitan cities (i.e. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing), which also featured Fort Street Studio, Spin Ceramics, Suzhou Cobblers, Chang & Biorck and Mushi Fashion.

A more local surprise was a visit to a fairly new boutique hotel/serviced apartment right around the corner from my office on 133 Leighton Road. I had heard of Lanson Place mentioned by another friend earlier, but was not intrigued enough to go seek it out. Since EO had just checked-in, I decided to pay him a visit before we went to lunch. Turns out, it's very good value for money. He got upgraded to a Grand Luxe room (around 500 sq. ft.), which has a kitchenette (with microwave and burners), separate sitting area and bedroom with airy views overlooking the stadium. Bathroom is OK in size. Typical of a "boutique hotel", there is no bathtub and offers only one wash basin. At HK$1,400++ (rack rate is HK$3,200++) though, it's a pretty good deal in Causeway Bay. It does run up against competition though; as it's right behind JIA. The more intimate ambiance beats Regal Hotel next door or Excelsior on the harbour front. In Central, there's Hotel LKF, which is very convenient for those who enjoy the Lan Kwai Fong/SoHo nightlife when they're in the city.

And last, but not least, there's the season 3 opener of
Desperate Housewives, which is just out on iTunes. Just 10 more days till LOST!

HK's Krispy Kreme Kraze

Krispy Kreme is a killer kompany. When I realized they were going to open downstairs from my office in Causeway Bay (just around the corner from Starbucks), I told myself and everyone else that I would not take a single bite of their doughnuts, least of all their original glazed doughnut, lest I slide down that slippery slope of sugar-addicted madness (there's 200 calories and 12g of fat in just one, little original glazed doughnut!). I was in the US when KK started their pre-opening launch activities, handing out half-dozen boxes filled with their version of happiness. BL, hailing from Sydney, had never even heard of KK and has never been known to have much of a sweet tooth. But it took only 1 original glazed doughnut to change all that. Now, he is an addict.


When I got back to Hong Kong, I had every intention of avoiding KK. But then, on BL's insistent prodding, I succombed. It started with just one bite from his doughnut. Before I knew it, I was sms-ing him the next day for an afternoon KK break. As soon as we walked in, we were each given a free original glazed doughnut, hot off the doughnut-making machine (which incidentally, is quite fun to watch). Then, Bono Wong, Director of Operations, started chatting with BL (they now each other) and before I could take in all the flavours in the display case, BL was being rung up for 2 dozen assortment of doughnuts and a couple of coffees to wash down our free doughnuts. As the old saying goes, there's no such thing as a free doughnut!

There's nothing new with Krispy Kreme. It's just a fluffy, round bit of fried, puffy dough with a very sugary coating. But there's no denying that KK's selling much more than that, just like Starbucks is not really selling coffee. MV, another American, has been treating her American expat friends to boxes of KK doughnuts and she says the reaction among recipients is the same -- they go krazily happy. A doughnut, like a cupcake from Magnolia, we concurred, is exactly that -- happy food. The simple pleasure of a hot, sugary doughnut with a hot cup of coffee evokes happy thoughts of a simple time circa 1950s, the Cleavers or the Brady Bunch or policemen on a coffee break. Somehow, the American Dream, the white picket fence, security, has come to be embodied in a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

But what about for all of Hong Kong's teenage girls in school uniforms, listening to the latest Canto-pop tunes off their iPod nano, who queue in line for their after-school doughnut while texting more friends to come join their happy gatherings? What is Krispy Kreme to them? Or the mother of two children, who stopped off at Krispy Kreme to pick up a doughnut for the next morning's breakfast before coming to dinner? Somehow, it's really simple -- Krispy Kreme has managed to bring a little joy to people's lives with just a simple, little doughnut. You just need to come down the Central escalator these next few days and witness the morning scene when Krispy Kreme employees pass out those free half-dozen boxes of doughnuts to understand what I'm talking about -- its happiness in a box -- everyone's face just lights up with a friendly smile.

Krispy Kreme = killer marketing. Next mid-Autumn festival...Krispy Kreme Moon-doughnuts?

HK Private Kitchen: Marron

NL & JM celebrated their engagement at Le Marron on Saturday night. Getting there was such drama. I had forgotten to print out the address and my new phone didn't have anyone's contacts. I could only remember the number 12 and Yee Wo Street, so spent a good 10 minutes looking for a no. 12 Yee Wo Street until I finally gave up and went to a gaming shop to get online and check the real address: 12/F, 2-6 Yee Wo Street.

Le Marron is almost worth visiting just for its funky decor. It draws on for inspiration the old Hong Kong flats subdivided by panels to accommodate many families. Wooden panels with glass are used as separators as well as drapery. So you can get a sense of all the activity happening in the restaurant, but still have a certain level of privacy from having your own cordoned-off space. Within each space, the decor and decorations is western flea market chic, a bit of the granny's country home feel.

The menu is quite extensive given that it is a private kitchen. The set consists of 5 courses: choice of 9 starters, 3 seafood starters, 4 soups, 10 main courses and 9 desserts. The food was competent, but I wonder if the quality would benefit from a more well-edited menu. I had a smoked salmon tartar (good), green whelks (sandy), pumpkin and crab soup (good), angel hair with black truffles (a bit heavy on cream, weighing on the truffle) and wild mushrooms and kiwi fruit sorbet (a bit tart and icy).

Next on the list of private kitchens to try: Palace Kitchen on Wong Nai Chung Road. AL called me up and asked me to pick up a chicken for him (since it's close to my office) before meeting for drinks at Ritz Carlton's Chater Lounge (where the popcorn with black truffle oil can ruin one's appetite for dinner if self-restraint is not exercised). The decor at Palace Kitchen is nothing to rave home about. This is my main complaint about most Chinese restaurants (with the notable exception of Xi Yan). Why do most Chinese restaurants not understand the value of pleasant ambiance and aesthetics? The place settings were akin those one finds in cheap Chinese restaurant. The menu, on the other hand, serves up expensive Chinese delicacies such as shark's fin, bird's nest etc. The chicken I picked up smelled mouth-wateringly delicious and I trust AL's taste in Chinese food, so will endeavour to check it out at some point.

Uncle Moustache Private Kitchen

I had a delicious meal at a private kitchen run by Uncle Moustache over the weekend. It was a 10-course meal with 9 wine pairings for HK$600, a real steal. Uncle Moustache also runs a wine distribution business during the day and the wines on the menu are from his stable. Apparently, the chef used to work at the now-defunct Classic Passion. The one on the Peak used to be one of my favourite Chinese restaurants. And their signature strawberry spare ribs (paired with Willow Point Sparkling Shiraz) was the last course before dessert on this menu. Among the other courses, my favourite were a crispy rice with salty egg yolk and seafood broth, crab with glass noodles (paired with Ankena Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004) and deep fried shrimp ball with a Champagne and wasabi sauce (paired with Merryvale Starmont Chardonnay 2004).

Uncle Moustache was definitely one of the few private kitchens I have tried of late that hasn't disappointed. I must say, I was a bit sceptical about going out to Chai Wan for another private kitchen experience, but this one was good value for money. While the decor was not much to write about (during the day, it is an office for a company that does fashion trading as well as the wine biz), the food and wine were great and Uncle Moustache was very hospitable. Our main complaint was that serving size was too small, which meant we all thought the food was good enough to ask for seconds.

Uncle Moustache Private Kitchen
Suite 1801, Chai Wan Industrial City Block 2
70 Wing Tai Road
Chai Wan, Hong Kong
T: +852 2898 9787

Hong Kong Restaurants for a Visiting Chef and His NYC Tips

For some reason, I have a reputation among my friends of not liking Chinese food. This really isn't true. What I don't like about dining out at Chinese restaurants has more to do with ambiance than food -- the noise, the thoughtlessness of the decor, the clutter and hygeine levels (too many stories of cholera found in the fish tanks of Hong Kong's Chinese-style seafood restaurants). But when there are visitors in town, it just makes sense to take them to Chinese restaurants.

I recently got an email from MH introducing me to SP, a chef who would be in town for a week and would like to sample what Chinese cuisine has to offer. So I had a think and came up with the following list with the goal in mind of showing that Chinese food is not just about fried rice, spring rolls, sweet-n-sour dishes or peking duck (even though Hong Kong does have the best Peking Duck):

1. Xi Yan Sweets -- I picked this for dinner, because it was just the two of us so we wouldn't be able to go to Xi Yan. But at least SP would get a taste of Jacky Yu's cooking style. I love the dan dan noodles here; the texture is perfect, nice and chewy.

2. Hutong -- This one's great for out-of-towners, you get the stunning view of Hong Kong island and if you get there around 8pm, you'll catch the Symphony of Lights show, where the Hong Kong Island office buildings perform a laser and light show. I love asking guests to try their shark's lips as well as "Jade" vegetable in ginger oil, crispy de-boned lamb ribs Hutong style and their dumplings.

3. Bistro Manchu in SoHo (lots of great, little restaurants around here as well) serves up great northern-style dumplings at 33 Elgin Street (T: 2536 9128).

4. Victoria City Seafood Restaurant in either 5/F CITIC Tower, 1 Tim Mei Avenue (T: 2877 2211) or the one in Repulse Bay (T: 2803 1882) for dim sum.

5. Bo Innoseki -- For a sort of Ferran Adria meets Chinese food experience.

6. Crystal Jade -- For Shanghainese noodles, dumplings and other dishes. Lots of outlets including Hong Kong Station (T: 2295 3811) and Harbour City Shopping Mall on Canton Road (T: 2622 2699).

7. Happy Valley wet market (top floor) for a great local food stall experience. The chicken with fried garlic at Sheung Kee (T: 2882 2994) is awesome.

8. Moon Garden Tea House -- A great place to sample all sorts of Chinese teas and snacks at 5 Hoi Ping Road, Causeway Bay (T: 2882 6878).

I had a great dinner chatting with SP. I had thought he was in town researching for a new restaurant. Turns out, he's a chef that doesn't like the restaurant biz. Which is why he switched to private chefing. He's the chef for a family in NYC. The way he tells it, he's got an awesome job cooking for 2 adults and creating exciting meals for a baby and dogs that also allows him time to explore other business ideas such as a gourmet, organic baby food shop. I think it's a great idea and hope he gets it going soon!! Part of his job is also to try out different restaurants and learn about different cuisines (which is why he is in Hong Kong, to learn more about Chinese food) so that the family he cooks for don't get bored eating the same dishes. His wife is also a chef who apprenticed as a pastry chef at El Bulli. They both worked together briefly at Lumière in Vancouver. Since I'll be in NYC for 2 weeks this summer, I couldn't resist grilling him on the restaurant scene there. Here are just some of the recommendations I remember:

Chef on the rise: Andrew Carmellini. A Voce, on 41 Madison Avenue (T: +1 212 545 8555), is a laid-back, modern Italian restaurant. Carmellini was awarded the Best Chef in New York last year by the James Beard Foundation.

Chef, whose meal can turn a bad day into a good one: Mario Batali

Other recommendations: Blue Hill, Luarent Tourondel's BLT restaurants (SP likes BLT Fish, but there's also BLT Steak and BLT Prime) and Upstairs at Bouley

Asia On My Mind Worldwide Benefit Dinners: Celebrating 50 Years of Asia Society

Last night kicked off Asia On My Mind, the month-long celebration of Asia Society's 50th anniversary with a series of benefit dinners hosted in US and Asian cities. Being an American-born Chinese who spent a few of my early years of education in Hong Kong, I've always appreciated the need for an organization such as Asia Society, which endeavours to increase understanding among Americans about Asia and vice versa. Incidentally, another Rockefeller-founded cultural exchange organization, Asian Cultural Council, is our very good office neighbor.

Of the eight dinners held in Hong Kong, Reel Occasion appealed to me the most, because I'm interested in film and I had had chance meetings with both of the special guests. The dinner was beautifully and expertly hosted by Stacey & Robert Morse (In the place of menu and place card, there was a make-shift film cannister placed at each place setting. The guest's name was printed on the film cannister. The menu unwound on the film portion of the film reel inside.), and featured special guests Barbara Robinson and Nansun Shi. Barbara is the Managing Director of Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia and Nansun is Executive Director of Film Workshop Ltd. (the film production company she runs with her husband, reknowned film director Tsui Hark). Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia has produced international hits such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kung Fu Hustle, as well as KeKeXiLi, an amazingly moving and stunningly-shot, award-winning film about the true story of a group of volunteer mountain patrols in their quest to stop the poaching of antelopes in Tibet. I had the pleasure of meeting the film's director, Lu Chuan, last summer when I was organizing a corporate retreat in New Zealand where he was invited as the guest speaker. We had had problems getting a film print of KeKeXiLi to New Zealand for the private screening; Chinese authorities would not allow Lu Chuan to bring a print with him. So I emailed Barbara my request (I had her contact from at least 8 years before, having done some film script translation for her, but had had little contact with her since), and both she and Columbia Picture's office in Auckland was amazingly helpful. They sent the film print all the way to a small cinema in Te Anau and then one of their staff met me at the Auckland airport to pick-up the film print on my way back.

I met Nansun when I interviewed with her for a job before I decided to start WANLILU. At the time, I was toying with the idea of going into the film business, so I sent my resume to Barbara, who then forwarded my resume to Nansun! In addition to having met her on that occasion, I also listen to her morning CR1 (Setting off on a Clear, Beautiful Day from 7-9am Mondays-Fridays on FM88.1, in Cantonese only) talk show most mornings on my way to work. I am a also fan of Nansun's tireless efforts to lobby the Hong Kong Government to do more in the realm of creating a better environment for the creative industries. She has great vision and is one of the few influencial people in Hong Kong who can see the big picture beyond the short-term. So when I saw the double billing of two my most admired film baronesses for the Reel Occasion dinner, I could not resist.

Reel Occasion was a hit -- 2 brilliant and entertaining hosts, 2 inspiring and engaging special guests with 20 other interested and interesting guests (on my table were many financiers). There are 40+ dinners remaining for the rest of this month in the US and around Asia. There's an amazing one in Shanghai on 23 June at Jean-Georges Shanghai with Chinese film directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, fashion designer Vivianne Tam among several other special guests.

So if you happen to be in Hong Kong, New York City, Shanghai, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington D.C., Mumbai, Houston/Dallas, Sydney/Melbourne, check out the schedule to see if you can join Asia Society for what will most certainly be a wonderfully engaging and memorable evening! Dinners in Hong Kong run until next Saturday, 10 June. Themes range from a Bollywood Chic Midsummer Night's Celebration hosted by the Harilelas to a discussion on Japanese investment in China hosted at the Consul General of Japan's Residence. Most in Hong Kong are probably already sold out, but it's worth checking for last-minute cancellations (In Hong Kong, call +852 2103 9808).

Disappointing Private Kitchens

Went to Le Mieux Bistro, a private kitchen (unlicensed restaurants) on the 4th floor of an industrial building in Chai Wan (the opposite end of town, a 30-45 minute drive from Central). I had heard a few positive reviews about the place and decided to check it out. The 6-course, HK$700 (not including Champagne and wine which we brought) per head dinner was a disappointment. The dinner left me thinking about all the other places where HK$700 would have gotten me a much more satisfying meal! The 6-course set menu, while not bad, was nothing out of the ordinary. While the ingredients were fresh, the dishes (Tian of lobster, scallop and salmon; tomato consomme; grilled king prawn; pasta with spicy minced pork; mustard seed coated rack of lamb; baked turbot and totally unmemorable desserts) were uninspiring. Definitely not worth the trek all the way out to Chai Wan to dine in an industrial building where the ambiance is also very ordinary (white table cloths, simple place settings), very unimaginative. At HK$300/head, the dinner would have been acceptable, but not at HK$700/head. I could have had an excellent meal at Cipriani with great ambiance in a central location!

A couple weeks ago, I had dinner at Bonheur (same owners of non-defunct Plats), a private kitchen in Sheung Wan. While I was not bowled over by the meal, it is much better value in comparison to Le Mieux Bistro. What I find worrying is that the whole private kitchen concept has evolved into a much more commercialized venture, no different than a normal restaurant, but charging unjustifiably high prices by riding on the "private kitchen" concept. It seems private kitchens have gone the way of boutique/designer hotels. Gone is the passion and soul that differentiated these small ventures and allowed them to create surprising culinary experiences. These new private kitchens deliver stale, hollow dining concepts in low-rent locations.

Fortunately, there's still Xi Yan, Tribute (which is now a proper restaurant) and 131.