Shopping Fever by Karl Lagerfeld

I had no idea that Karl Lagerfeld's short films were so horrific. I didn't know that he was German either. I didn't know a piece from his collection that is tailored to fit you costs 25,000 to 100,000 pounds. Nontheless, watch this short film and feel the urge to buy CHANEL. He's quite a crazy man when you read all that he's done.

Window house by MUJI

Did you know that MUJI does houses? This is one of my favorite, which concept is windows as the main theme of the house. I always love gigantic windows that cut through a wall in an unexpected way, and connect the inside and outside of the house. Some windows can really make people walking on the street want to enter the house, and others can really bring the beautiful open air outside, to the inside.

Traditional houses in Kyoto don't have paintings on the wall but beautiful windows that can "borrow" and frame outside views. I also felt the houses outside of London have a very inviting window that openly show their beautiful living room. MUJI says they actually had Cotswolds where Peter Rabbit was born, in mind, when they designed the house. Interessante.

Rambutan for breakfast

This fruit reminds me of the nice hotel in Ubud where the hotel person picked up a few of these from their garden, and my friend Suiko and I ate by the pool. It's very nice looking and tastes like lyche.

Water pipes for Barbie

Yayoi Kusama

Today I went to the HK International Art Fair at the Convention Center. Honestly, I've never walked around so fast, because the place was enormous. It was nice that there was no pressure to worry that you missed anything, because there was no way you can cover the entire place. So I strolled around, going in whichever direction my eyes took me. In the end, I really just wanted to get the 4 panel painting of Kusama Yayoi, which I was too afraid to ask the price. I really liked the simple dots (but not just round dots like her usual) of green, blue, and hot pink. Bravo to this polka dot lady who is now 83!

Photo credit: Yayoi Kusama (black and white photos)

Mushroom art

Mushroom from all dimensions.

Reina Maruyama

My perfumer friend is holding a party in collaboration with Diptyque in London. Super exciting! Reina is my super friend from college who was in charge of fragrance at Lancome Japan. She then went to study perfumery at ISIPCA and worked in Givaudan until last year. Now she's freelancing and holding perfume making sessions in London, Tokyo, and Cologne. You should go if you live in London! I will try to invite her to HK soon.

Beach baby

Photo credit: Elvi Nasution

Miss you beach weekends

Today was a holiday in Indonesia, and many friends sent me minutely updates of their island trips. I was reminiscing over the nice beach weekends I used to have, all day... But I'm happy that I will go to a HK beach this weekend with friends I met in Indonesia!

Lunch time shopping #2 - orange Kate Spade bag

This is the one that my colleague picked up. The nice shop keeper gave us a VIP card for being so excited about these fun purchases.

Lunch time shopping - white Kate Spade bag, yay

Today, for our accumulated stress, my colleague and I decided to have a nice sushi lunch at Nadaman at the Shangrila HK, followed by a fantastic buy at Kate Spade. I actually only intended to accompany her, but when you see a bag this nice and the shop keeper is super nice too, one must BUY.

Blue Chair

I want to go to Le Grotte Della Civita

Ever since I saw about this little town in Italy Matela that has converted the old world heritage cave houses into hotel rooms, I always wanted to go. It is said that there are 4,000 of these cave houses in Matela. Hard to believe that it was a really run down village that has redeveloped very recently.



The world's most ideal picnic spot...



Photo credit: Viral Blender

Afternoon Tea with Song Fang tea

Late breakfast with the tea cup that my sister gave me from Afternoon Tea, and the most recently purchased aromatic tea Shanghai Dreams. Divine moment.

I like that the tea cup looks a little Japanese imperial family-esque.

Yellow shoes!

I just got these shoes, in crazy yellow. I decided to wear them to the office, but maybe inappropriate? I am getting a lot of shoe comments today.

Sunny Fuxing Road

This was my favorite place in Shanghai during this trip. It's Fuxing Road. They have some very nice cafes and small shops, and gives you a really nice rest from the Shanghai city life and the typical food. It is where many of the ambassadors' residences are located. The green trees planted on both sides of the street and the slow pace of the shops was very nice.

Next time we will try the cafe called Ginger (299 Fuxing West Road, +86 21 3406 0599) that our friend had recommended. This area also has a chocolate place called Whisk that we should also try next time (they were closed on Mondays: 1250 Huaihai Zhong Lu, +86 21 5404 7700). This time we stopped by an organic looking cafe, which was surprisingly nice (sorry I forgot its name).

Beautiful indigenous costumes at the Shanghai Museum

Lovely mask.

Ni Youyu's A Brief History

I thought this exhibit had a different and very interesting touch at the Shanghai Art Museum. The visitors and security guards blended in very well with many of the work of this young artist.



Furniture art



This lady looked like she was part of the exhibit as an elegant grocery shopper...

Lovely Song Fang fragrance tea from Shanghai

Near the Bund, I randomly went into a tea shop called Song Fang and picked up a tea called Shanghai Dreams, which smelled wonderfully. The super simple decor and concept of this store is really romantic.



Interestingly, the French woman Song Fang who started this company sounds like a combined image of my closest friends. She worked at LVMH and DIOR, graduated from Hitotsubashi and HBS, and loves tea and fragrance. Ring a bell?

Cute pants!

Beautiful day in Xin Tian Di Shanghai

I went to Xin Tian Di today. It feels a little like Ebisu or Omotesando in Tokyo, very clean and expensive. It was a beautiful sunny day, and everything and everyone looked very happy. We had dim sum at Crystal Jade, which had the best dan dan noodles (even better than the one in Hong Kong!). We also picked up tea cups from Afternoon Tea, a tea place I used to like going in Roppongi Hills. It was very fitting for the day to buy this pretty pair of light green tea cups, which I will definitely post sometime later.

Langham Hotel in Shanghai

My sister and I stayed at the Langham Hotel in Shanghai for a wedding. It was a really cute and simple hotel, and probably very new. There was an adjacent cafe to the hotel that we really liked too.



The Langham Hotel
99 Madang Road, Xintiandi, Shanghai 200021, China
+86 (21) 2330 2288

I am in Shanghai!

I am in Shanghai for my sister's friend's wedding! The girl to wed gave us a lot of tips on what to do in Shanghai. The first morning, my sister went to buy these fried dumplings, and they were truly DELICIOUS. We look forward to checking off the list one by one!



Have Yang's Fried Dumplings (小杨生煎) for breakfast on Day 1 and Jia Jia Tang Bao (小籠包) on Day 2. Both are typical breakfast food. Be aware of the soup and bring an extra pack of tissue paper with you. It's about 10-15 minutes walk from the hotel.

Yang's Fried Dumplings, on Huanghe Lu right across the street from Jia Jia Tang Bao.

Jia Jia Tang Bao, soup dumplings

Have an egg custard tart at Lillian's Cake Shop - there is one in the basement of the Raffles mall (来福士广场) across the hotel

Go to 国际饭店 lobby. It has the original sign that marks it the center of Shanghai.

Sample snacks and desserts on Wujiang Lu. If you like durian, don't miss Man Ji (满记甜品). I am a big fan of their durian desserts. "Awfully Chocolate" has good cakes.

Sir Elly bar on 14F of Peninsula Hotel. Happy hour is between 5pm and 8pm (buy 1 drink and get 1 free). The bar has the best outdoor view. Their mini hamburgers are delicious!

Jade Restaurant in Xin Tian Di 6385 8752 翡翠酒家(新天地店), 卢湾区自忠路338号新天地南里6-7号2楼(近马当 路) Excellent dim sum. Suckling pork roast is delicious.

Glamour Bar, 6329 3751 Five on the Bund, 6/F, 20 Guangdong Lu, near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu 广东路20号, 外滩五号6楼, 近中山东一路

Kaiba (Kangding Lu), 6288 9676 528 Kangding Lu, near Xikang Lu 康定路528号，近西康路 Imported Belgian and international beers. Beer drinkers won't be disappointed here.

Whisk, 5404 7770 1250 Huaihai Lu, near Huating Lu 淮海路1250号，近华亭路 METRO: Changshu Rd HOURS: Tue-Sun, 10.30am-11.30pm Hot chocolate and chocolate cakes. Reservations recommended on weekends

Hof, 6093 2058 30 Sinan Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu 思南路30号， 近淮海中路 Chocolate dessert and cocktail lounge

Shanghainese restaurants: 1. 新吉士酒楼 in XinTianDi 2. 鹭鹭 3. 小南国 4. 苏浙汇 (food may vary from branch to branch)

Sichuan restaurants: 1. 渝信

My favorite massage place is called Da Ban (大班). They are reasonably priced and you get all the food and drinks for free while receiving your massage. 1. 大班休闲SPA(大沽路店) 63400366, 大沽路370号，成都北路以西 2. 大班休闲SPA(大同花园店) 63023466, 斜徐路595号地下一层，丽园路口

Another good massage place is called Kongen (康骏). They don't serve food, but the service is good.