Matchy Matchy

18 Wednesday Aug 2010

Posted by in Fashion, Travel

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Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve  had a thing for matchy matchy pajamas. During college, when everyone else was walking around the dorm in oversized t-shirts and shorts, I was wandering around in matching “Chicks Rule” pjs from Target. So imagine my delight when I came across Peter Alexander, at Center Point in Sydney. A whole store devoted to girly matchy matchy pjs!

Not so much an animal lover myself, I immediately gravitated towards these two pajama sets, with the multitude of bows and pink stripes. Oh the choices! In the end, I settled for the bow prints, since I thought they were more special and unique than stripes. Though I’m mighty tempted to stop by Peter Alexander before I leave and pick up the pink stripe set as well. The bows on either side of the pockets are too cute!

I am also loving these pants full of charms. Though I’m not too hot about the t shirt. I think it’ll look better with this super soft pink waffle Henley I also picked up from PA.

They are quite creative when it comes to their night dresses as well. I really like this daisy print over sized shirt dress. Unfortunately, they ran out of the waffle leggings that are supposed to go with it, and I’m all about matchy matchy. I also think that this drape printed t shirt is quite interesting, because it made me take a second glance. From the thumbnail, I thought it was actually draped!

If there is one store in Sydney that I would like to empty out, I think Peter Alexander is it!

Image Source: Peter Alexander

Hello from Down Under

16 Monday Aug 2010

Posted by in Australia, Travel

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Clearly I’ve been caught with the travel bug this month because I’m in Sydney right now!

Even though it is winter here, the weather has been pleasantly mild with sunshine and blue skies (fingers crossed this will continue on the week). I have actually lost count of the number of times I’ve been to Sydney, since I frequently came here as a teenager. Deprived of Abercrombie in Hong Kong, I used to think I was in shopping heaven and I’d happily whiz back and forth around Center Point stocking up. Dotti, General Pants and SDS were my favourites.

But things have definitely changed since then. Now that I’ve met Abercrombie and made the acquaintance of a host of other international designers, it no longer seems that exciting to be whizzing around Center Point. In fact, Dotti at Center Point has disappeared (though my friend assures me that it still exists in a more sophisticated version of its former self. I just checked, their site still exists!). Come to think of it, a lot of Center Point has disappeared due to a (much needed imo) renovation.

Now I feel a bit at loss for where to go! Maybe it’s time I did some more exploring of Sydney.

I’m a Bridesmaid!

13 Friday Aug 2010

Posted by in bridal, Fashion, Random Musings

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Update: Thanks for all the comments! In the end, I put forth the cream Alberta Ferretti dress and the blue Carmen Marc Valvo dress for the vote. Rest assure, we are going to get the one we choose made in a champagne color that will not clash with the bride’s.

We haven’t done the vote yet, but the competition looks tough. There are some pretty strong competitions from styles that the other bridesmaid’s have posted. I shall keep you updated on the progress!

*****

Marriage has always been something I’ve thought of in the distant future. But maybe it isn’t so distant after all. Recently, people I know just keep on getting engaged! The first one to tie the knot, is my high school friend C, whom I’ve known since we were 12. HG and I are going to be part of her bridal party in October. One of our first tasks, is to come up with bridesmaid dresses.

After doing some preliminary window shopping, we’ve narrowed it down to 2 things:

  1. The length of our dresses should be the same. We agreed that for this wedding, floor length would be most elegant
  2. We will go with a creamish brown color to compliment all the different colors of the bride’s dresses and to go with the chocolate theme

For the rest, we decided to each do some research to find a suitable style and reconvene later to do a vote on which one to get made. Here is my research:

To compliment all body shapes, I thought that maybe this very simple and demure dress by Alberta Ferretti might be a good option. Though I do worry that it might turn out matronly.

Ok, this red Armani is a bit va va voom. But I was thinking maybe something similar, (in our color of course) with a less v neckline?

Being quite flat-chested myself, I’m not a fan of strapless dresses (I worry that it might fall off and I won’t even notice!). Thinking outside of the box, I thought, why not one shoulder gowns? They are trendy right now, and they won’t fall off! I’m loving this elegant one shoulder dress from Carmen Marc Valvo.

But then this one by Theia is so pretty too- especially the flower!

And what about this one from Aidan Mattox? The neckline is like a half halter and the sleeves is kind of interesting.

I can only recommend 2 of these dresses above to the bridal party as my choices. The question is, which one? Let’s do a preliminary round of votes here first!

Image Sources: Net a Porter and Saks

One Fancy Meal

07 Saturday Aug 2010

Posted by in Dining, Travel

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They may have lost a few stars in the past few years, but dinner at La Tour d’Argent in Paris has to be one of the fanciest dining experiences of my life. Granted I’m not much of a foodie and haven’t been to that many fine dining places, it is still quite difficult these days to impress my jaded city girl eyes.

Located along the river Seine, we were quickly greeted by the doorman as soon as our cab arrived and shown into a luxuriously appointed waiting area. The maitre d’ led us into the bar while we waited for the rest of our party. I was struck by the air of sophistication. Was it ok to order a glass of orange juice? Then they showed us through the mini “hall of fame” where we waited for the liveried driven elevator to take us to the dining area.  I noted the presence of JFK and the Empress of Japan.

The main dining room on the top floor of the building had a beautiful view of the river Seine and Notre Dame. As the sun set outside, I envied the couples dining by the window seats. How extremely romantic! I must come back some day with my loved one! And of course, everyone was dressed beautifully. If there was ever a time and place to dress up, this was definitely it!

My eyes widened as we were presented with a wine list the size of an encyclopedia- now that is impressive! Since we don’t exactly frequent such establishments, we decided to go for the full tasting menu to ensure that we gave it a good try.  I’m not exactly a foodie, so I won’t go into excruciating detail of every dish and how everything tasted, but here is the menu. They are definitely good at is making it a night to remember. Towards the end of the meal, they presented us with a custom made menu of our meal that night, complete with the date, which wine we chose and who our chef was (above).

The main theme of the restaurant was definitely the duck. They were everywhere. The home grown ducks are so famous here that we even got  postcards with the reference number (since 1890) of the duck we ate that night on it. I ate duck number 1090196!

In particular, the pressed duck is most popular. You can see them making it right in the middle of the dining room. First they cut away the breast and thighs. Then they put the remainder of the duck into the presser (the thingy on the left), to squeeze out all the blood, which they then use to make a sauce to pour over the breast and thigh meat. Juicy.

One thing I do feel qualified to comment on is the dessert. This feuillete aux fraises de bois is the most exquisite thing ever. The slices of strawberry on top are actually sweet and crunchy. You’d thing that the tiny strawberries lined below are sour, but they were surprisingly sweet. Combined with the cream and crust, they were little bites of heaven! Definitely one of the best of its kind that I’ve tried!

It was definitely one fancy meal to remember.

Temple of Balenciaga

02 Monday Aug 2010

Posted by in Fashion, Travel

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The other day I mentioned that I was going to visit the temple of Balenciaga aka the flagship store in Paris on 10, avenue George V. Well, it was a good thing I copied down the address properly, because I nearly missed it.

I nearly thought it was renovating and left, because all I saw was the huge Balenciaga ad next door from a distance. It turns out that the flagship store is indeed opened. It’s just that the only sign that indicates the flagship store is the many Balenciaga bags sitting by the window. Talk about discrete!

On a mission I headed straight for the clutches and with the help of the SA went over and over again the drawers that hold the envelop clutches (they don’t like it when you try to go through the drawers yourself!). I’d had my heart set on a beige or grey colored one, but sadly they really didn’t have that many colors. Instead of a battle between which one to get, it was more of a process of elimination and I quickly picked out the color that I liked most out of the lot. This blue storm color is probably the closest to grey I’m going to get. Luckily, I have a lot of blue clothes so I am currently loving it!
Determined for something beige, I took a look at the rest of the bags. But alas, the closest it came was a huge beige part time or a chestnut colored covered city. I hear that there are more choices in NYC. The only good thing about getting it in its motherland is that it truly is cheaper than it is anywhere else. With the tax refund, it is at least 13% cheaper. Who knows how much more it will be with the falling euro!
But Balenciaga fans beware. You are only allowed 2 bags per person per season. This applies to all Balenciaga stores in Paris (I checked with the counter at Lafayette too). Clearly they are not desperate for business and frankly, you can tell. Even though they were perfectly polite, I’ve never encountered such snobby and condescending SAs before. Not even at Louis Vuitton, Chanel or Hermes, where they have reason to be with the great flood of tourists there all the time. As much as I love my bags, I don’t think I’ll be visiting this flagship store again the next time I come back. It is totally not worth the cab fare. I can get my seasonal dosage of Balenciaga at the Lafayette counter with a lot less attitude.

In Case You’re Wondering

22 Thursday Jul 2010

Posted by in Blogging, Travel

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I know I’m usually remise in my blog posts anyway. But in case you’re wondering, it is because I’m out of the country until the end of next week, with only a super slow mini laptop as my only mode of communication with the rest of the world. It’s been a painful adjustment.

Paris so far has been fun. I must say, it is actually a lot more fun coming as a tourist vs a student. I love a good hotel breakfast. Lafayette is a tourist zoo, I much prefer Le Bon Marche. It is also a good idea to get in through the SIDE entrance at the Louvre when the line to the main entrance is a mile long. Oh and the Lido show was a bit disappointing. Do NOT go for the full meal, because the food sucks. The show itself was a bit like Cirque de Soleil, except with more scimpily clad performers. There was water, ice skating, a real horse, juggling and lots of synchronized dancing. Ironically though this is the FOURTH time in my life there and I’m only in my early twenties.

Going to visit the temple of Balenciaga tomorrow. Can’t wait!

Starstruck Again

17 Saturday Jul 2010

Posted by in Blogging, Dining, Hong Kong

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Yesterday my girlfriends and I met THE Jason Bonvivant, at Riquiqui Dessert Bar and were completely starstruck!

We were just sitting at the bar, enjoying ourselves and chatting with Andrea and Amanda (the lovely hostess and chef of the establishment) when he and his friends walked in. Andrea greeted them and called him Jason. They started talking, and my friend M suddenly whispered to me that he kind of looks like the Jason from Jason Bonvivant, the famous Hong Kong food blog that we both love to stalk. Since I never studied the tiny picture he has on the corner of his blog, I scoffed at the idea and reasoned that it couldn’t be. What are the chances?

But then Andrea started telling us that Jason knows all about food and that he even has a blog. . . and we couldn’t help but ask, “Wait, are you THE Jason from the Jason Bonvivant blog???” When he confirmed, we were all starstruck and started crowding around him and bombarding him with questions. Luckily, he was super cool about it and didn’t seem to mind even after we kept him from his raspberry sorbet for well over 15 minutes. We didn’t even realize how embarrassing we were being until we excitedly recalled this experience to our friend and she observed that we sounded like a gaggle of crazy teenage fans. Whoops 😛

He mentioned this really awesome sounding low profile Italian restaurant in some basement in TST, that I’m real excited to try. But sadly I didn’t catch the name. Anyone got an idea?

Ps. The Riquiqui dessert bar is a GREAT place to hang out, chat and have some yummy sweets. The atmosphere is super friendly. It almost feels like visiting a friend’s home!

Cruisin’

11 Sunday Jul 2010

Posted by in Hong Kong, Lifestyle

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Boat trips are a huge pain to organize. Finding enough people to commit, making sure that everyone is fed and hydrated- all within budget- and hoping that the weather will be clear, is no easy feat.

But when you’re lounging on the deck, staring up at the clear blue sky and drifting in and out of a nap, it makes it all worth it. There is just something so soothing about the open space of nature, especially when you’ve been cooped up in the city for the last many months. Just remember to slather on loads of sunscreen and reapply frequently.

Have a good weekend everyone!