My shiny rafe bag

When my dress is not standing out, I carry this rafe bag with me. It's called the Morgan Frame Clutch, and it is made of hand-woven mini sequins.

In Jakarta, I used to have lots of occasions to flash this. But now in HK, I have very little chance... so I'm flaunting it here. I brought it to Tokyo the other weekend for a wedding. I hope this bag sees more daylight/night out soon... where are the socialites to take me out?

Hiroko Ohyama, as a model

At an event for Uniqlo last year.

This is my friend Hiroko. She looks like a model here, but she is more of a creator/designer. I posted her work once before, which was a very cool collage. If you're interested in using her photos, images or any of her past work, please contact me or her (her or me). She currently lives in NYC and is preparing her book, which should soon be coming out and which I look forward to posting here!

Alice in Wonderland, Vogue 2003

Where was I when this came out? I stumbled across the Alice in Wonderland series of Vogue 2003, just as I was looking at Christian Larcroix's past and present work. I thought of Lacroix's furniture as Alice in Wonderland meets a Spanish queen, so it was such a happy surprise that he had really contributed to such a great series, and more fortunately that it was a whole series with a mapping of all the beautiful designs and iconic designers of today.

Which one is your favorite?


Tom Ford

Nicolas Ghesquere

John Galliano

Olivier Theyskens

Marc Jacob

Karl Lagerfeld

Jean Paul Gaultier

Viktor & Rolf

Christian Lacroix

Donatella Versace


Photo credit: Vogue, Trendland

Christian Lacroix

I had no idea that Christian Lacroix was going through the same path as Jimmy Choo whereby you are not part of your own label anymore. The latest Elle Decor features him to be leading a second life after this happened in December 2009, and that he is now valiently designing furniture and interior designs for various high-end houses (Sofitel Hotel et al), in addition to costumes for the opera and ballet theatres (amazing).

Him being an haute couture designer, I am happy to hear that he is moving onto very classical and new terrioty that should greatly benefit his beauty. Even in the new territory of designing chairs, Christian Lacroix's original mix and match style seems essential to interior design thus makes the look very classical.

Looking at his beautiful work, I believe as long as he keeps on working on his style even if in another field, someday he will be able to revive haute couture again... perhaps sometime after this global crisis.

Photo credit: Elle Decor

Personal restaurant week in HK

My goodness, this week was tough! I went out almost EVERYDAY with my favorite friends and clients from outside of HK, because there was a big conference in HK and they were all here. It was like my very own restaurnat week. The 7-8 drinks on Monday night was probably unnecessary (although it was such a fun night!)...

Monday, I went to Lily & Bloom at the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel (photo below), followed by Dragon Eye. Bloom was really comfortable and the crowd was very nice. They have a nice terrace too. I really liked the pork dish I had.

Tuesday, I went to Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant (竹園海鮮飯店) in Happy Valley, super popular among the Japanese. It was a night of crustacian.

Wednesday was Chinese class and a quick dining at Din Tai Fung, followed by my lovely friend Jane visiting my apartmnet later on.

Thursday was a day off from restaurants (pfew).

Friday, I went to Peking Garden (北京楼) in Alexandra House, followed by Seva. Peking Garden had very good food, and I especially liked the appetizers.

Saturday (today), I went to La Parole, a French restaurant in Sheung Wan. The chef is from a Michelin Star restaurant in France. My favorite was scrambled eggs with truffles, which I stole from my friend's plate.

Lily & Bloom
5-6/F LKF Hotel, 33 Wyndham Street, Central
+852-2810-6166

La Parole
3/F, The Pembertion, 22-26 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan
+852-2436-4099

Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant (竹園海鮮飯店)
G/F., Nos.7-9 Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley
+852-2893-1197

Peking Garden (北京楼)
16-20 Chater Road, B1/F & B2/F Alexandra House, Central
+852-2526-6456

Turkish turban flower

I bought Turkish Kikyo last weekend, and it's still in full bloom.

This flower has such a funny name in Japanese... Turkish because (most likely) it looks like a Turkish turban, and Kikyo because it looks like a completely different flower named kikyo which is bellflowers in English.

So the name is completely wrong.

Turkish Kikyo comes from the U.S. and in the U.S., it is called Texas Bluebell or Tulip Gentian, and has Eustoma as its scientific name. But to the Japanese, this will eternally be Turkish Kikyo.