Category Archives: Hong Kong

Penhaligon’s Fragrance Profiling – a truly scent-sational experience!

Posted on June 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

penhaligon's hk pop-up store

For me, scent is the most evocative of all our senses. It’s amazing how one smell can instantly make certain memories flood back, remind you of a certain something or someone, or make you feel a certain way with just one waft of a fragrance.

For that reason, perfume fascinates me. How do you bottle an emotion? How do you create that intoxicating mix of ingredients that somehow manages to speak to so many different people? And is there a perfect perfume match out there for everyone?

penhaligon's hong kong pop up store harbour city

Don’t worry, I’m not going to throw it all in and become a perfumer just yet! But for those reasons, I was incredibly excited to be invited for a Fragrance Profiling Experience at Penhaligon’s new pop-up shop in Harbour City.

Penhaligon’s is a British fragrance house with a lot of history to its name. Started in 1870 by William Penhaligon (who created their first scent, Hammam’s Bouquet, based on aromas from the Turkish baths next to his original London store), it’s a brand I always associated with heritage, luxury and elegance – despite having never actually tried one of their fragrances!

penhaligon's hk perfumes

penhaligon's hk 1

Their packaging is simply beautiful – heavy old-fashioned glass bottles with beribboned stoppers and vintage-style labels, all topped off with two Royal Warrant badges (from the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales, since you ask!). The pop-up store has tucked itself in a quieter corner of hectic Harbour City and feels like an escape from HK’s hustle and bustle, a mini apothecary filled with exotic aromas and exciting scents.

My fragrance profile was done by Joanna Lloyd, assistant manager of Penhaligon’s Burlington Arcade store in London. Unlike the rent-a-body assistants in most department stores here, it was fabulous to actually speak to someone who really knows her stuff – Joanna can take you through any of Penhaligon’s fragrances at the drop of a hat (and even match fragrances for you based on other brand’s perfumes), the result of months of specialised in-house training that has definitely paid off.

penhaligon's hk 3

After establishing that I was more a light and fresh rather than heavy and woody type of girl (in terms of my fragrances anyway!), Joanna assembled a number of perfumes she thought might float my boat… and I got sniffing away! Even on my whistle-stop tour through Penhaligon’s library, I was still taken aback by quite how evocative many of these scents were. Even before Joanna told me the inspiration behind a fragrance or the notes that made up each perfume, my brain had already started clicking pieces together – Malabah was immediately evocative of rich Indian spices, Douro Eau De Portugal strangely reminded me of rivers (sure enough, the name comes from a river in Portugal), Gardenia was like taking a morning walk through an English country garden, whilst Orange Blossom was more a mellow dusky evening stroll.

Penhaligon's hk pop-up store 1

My all-time favourite perfume is Chanel No. 5, so Joanna quickly found me a Penhaligon’s fragrance reminiscent of that heady rich blend. I loved her pick of Eau Sans Pareil – although the scent clearly wasn’t the same as the Chanel, its blend of exotic sensual fruits somehow evoked the same feeling of classy expensive elegance. As Joanna said, it’s the little black dress of the perfume world!

penhaligon's artemisia

penhaligon's hk artemisia

However, my perfect Penhaligon’s pairing turned out to be Artemisia– a true case of love at first scent! After smelling lots of perfumes, Joanna made me narrow it down to two to actually try on my wrists… but in all honesty, it was always going to be Artemisia. It’s a beautiful, soft, romantically feminine scent; girlie without being twee and sweet without being sickly, Joanna described it as the ‘cashmere jumper’ of Penhaligon’s. It’s a gorgeous caramel-creamy blend of delicious vanilla, light jasmine tea and golden nectarines, that I immediately declared ‘so scrummy that I want to eat it’ (obviously, don’t try that at home!).

penhaligon's packaging coachman's knot

Having found my Penhaligon’s true love, Joanna was kind enough to gift me with a bottle of Artemisia (even the name sounds lovely, right?!) – and even the gift-wrap here is extra special. Every purchase from Penhaligon’s is wrapped by hand without any sort of sticky tape (it’s all about the folding, baby!), with a green and gold ribbon tied in an old-fashioned coachman’s knot (which is how English footmen would carry packages in ye olde days). It’s the little touches that count… and Joanna even stuffed in some beautifully printed drawer liners spritzed lightly over with Artemisia to truly complete the experience!

penhaligon's hk packaging

I also picked up lots of special scent tips from Joanna; maybe I’m just a beauty geek but I found this all super interesting so thought I’d share:

- Spray your perfume a fair distance away from your skin. This gives enough space for the alcohol element to dissipate, meaning you get just the yummy smelling bits left!

- Seen people spritzing scent onto one wrist and then smushing it onto the other? DON’T DO IT! This actually crashes together the volatile top notes of a perfume and confuses the scent.

- Speaking of top notes, let’s deal with some perfume jargon. I hate perfume jargon as let’s face it – I don’t really care about notes, bases or what-not, I just wanna smell good! So here’s an easy breakdown. The top notes are the very first things that hit you when you smell a perfume – these are what initially attract you to a perfume, but they fade very quickly. The heart notes are what come through after the top notes fade – these tend to be more mellow scents that soften those initial volatile top ones. What endure most are the base notes – these bring the depth, richness and longevity to your perfume. The best perfumes have a well-rounded balance of all three elements.

penhaligon's hk fragrance profiling

- Don’t forget that perfumes smell differently on paper scent strips than they do on your skin, so after working out which ones you like the initial whiff of, it’s important to actually try them on your body. Perfumes smell differently on different people because of our body chemistry, diets, our skin chemistry and also just our varying perceptions of scent. Perfume really is a unique and very personal experience – so when Joanna got up close by sniffing my arm, she wasn’t being over-familiar but actually getting a whiff of how Artemisia smelt on my skin rather than how it smelt on a bit of paper!

- Spotted pots of coffee beans in cosmetics shops which are supposed to cleanse your palate (or whatever the nose equivalent is) between sniffing? Actually, coffee beans are such a strong complex scent that they can confuse or cloud your nasal passages further; a cleansing drink of water is probably a better bet.

- I was always a bit unsure as to where to apply perfume – on my clothes? Like a deodorant?! Well, the idea is that a fragrance should exude out. Joanna’s recommended sweet spots are the crook of the elbows, backs of the knees, cleavage, ankles and chest. Never behind the ears, as there’s actually a gland there that squashes perfumes!

penhaligon's hk pop-up store 2

penhaligon's hk elixir

What also stood out for me about Penhaligon’s fragrances is that they are clearly a cut above. We’re currently in an age of get-rich-quick celebrity scents that clearly have very little thought behind them and even my untrained nose can tell they’re usually thin and one-dimensional, often simplistically sweet or cloyingly strong in their composition. All the Penhaligon’s fragrances I smelt were complex, interesting and intriguing, made up of different notes that could catch you suddenly and take you by surprise; for instance, although Gardenia was primarily a classic floral, it had a really unusual bright freshness to it too (thanks to rhubarb and violet apparently!). These are scents that aren’t afraid to be different; Penhaligon’s is all about creative and innovative fragrances that veer from the mainstream. Their amazing heritage (William Penhaligon’s Hammam’s Bouquet is still part of the line-up whilst they now have a whole Anthology collection based on their archive scents) merely adds to their imaginative mix of fragrance creation!

Joanna also encouraged me to have an open mind, trying both male and female scents and letting me smell them without knowing which sex they were intended for. Don’t come to Penhaligon’s expecting wishy-washy mundane scents; the majority (whether male or female) are strong, heady and potent, which means you’ll probably get your fair share of ‘love it or hate it’ moments  (trust me, there were quite a few I immediately balked at!)… but when you do find one you love, that makes your hairs stand on end or causes you to smile dreamily into the distance, it’s all the sweeter.

penhaligon's scent library

penhaligon's hk atomiser

I also found the fragrances really long-lasting – even if it wasn’t a scent you’d in itself define as strong (like Artemisia), it still lingered beautifully throughout the day – so you definitely get more bang for your buck at Penhaligon’s! Their scents are on the pricey side – a 50ml bottle of eau de toilette will set you back around $950-1500 – but let’s not forget, perfumes tend to last forever, and these ones are definitely dressing table worthy. There are also some nice cheaper options, including a nifty little Scent Library containing small phials of ten Penhaligon bestsellers, and an ultra convenient atomiser, for those of you that don’t want to commit to a full-sized bottle of fragrance, or for decanting your perfume into for carrying in your handbag.

penhaligon's hk fragrances

Anyone can drop by Penhaligon’s for a complimentary fragrance profiling session; if it’s anything like mine, I guarantee you’re in for a truly scent-sational experience! I’d recommend it to anyone who fancies taking a little bit of time out their day to go on a fragrance journey and have their senses fired up and sparked off courtesy of Penhaligon’s exotic, unusual and distinctive scents. One minute you’ll be envisaging yourself in a little black dress at a cocktail party… the next, wandering through a dew-soaked garden on an English summer’s day… the next, exploring stalls in an Indian spice market – exactly illustrating the amazing and evocative power scent can have. Here’s hoping you find your Artemisia!

Penhaligon’s Pop-Up Boutique, Kiosk A, 3/F Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong; open 10am until 10pm daily.

A Penhaligon’s flagship boutique will be opening in Central’s ifc mall in August.

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Teakha restaurant review – the perfect blend

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

teakha hk

I just wanted to write a short post about one of my favourite places in Hong Kong – Teakha.

Tucked away on oh-so-trendy Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan, Teakha is the very definition of small but perfectly formed. It’s one of those places where you can just step in and feel the love – the cosy neighbourhood vibe, the jars of homemade scones perched on the counter, the pot of tea brewing on a stove and most importantly, the feeling of genuine heart and passion that has been poured into the place from start to finish.

Even better for non-coffee drinkers like me, there’s not one dreaded cocoa bean to be found inside! Teakha is all about the tea! Well… and some totally scrummy desserts too.

teakha hk ginger scones

One bite of Teakha’s wonderful scones and you’ll be hooked. There seems to be a bit of debate as to whether these are scones in the traditional sense (some folks claim they’re too biscuit-y) – so let me just say as a Brit who lived in a house where scones were consumed on a daily basis for over twenty years, they sure taste like scones to me! Dense, buttery and very, very yummy… I don’t know if you could ask for more.

On my first visit, I tried the ginger scone and it’s just perfect. Served warm, it slips down in just a few happy, homely bites. Not too sweet, not too savoury, with little golden chunks of moreish candied ginger studded in a rich buttery base – a teeny spicy kick finishing off a taste of pure comfort and love. I’m one of those people that, when they love something so much, sees little point in exploring anything else… and I’ve been having the ginger scones ever since. I’ve since managed to get my auntie hooked on the things too; it may well have been the first time someone’s ordered ten to take away!

teakha hong kong

With the scone? A mug of masala chai. Always. As far as teas go, this is really something special – a magic brew of spices and herbs that gives you warm fuzzies that last all day long. I don’t normally like milky teas but this blend totally works for me; it’s a buzzy but mellow kind of spice, rather than being socked over the head with intense flavours (tea is farrrr too lovely to ever be so overbearing). Like the best cups of tea, it soothes the soul.

Tai Ping Shan Street is currently just at the tipping point where it still feels charmingly like old Hong Kong (even dodging the occasional hipster), and hopefully it can cling onto that for a few more years yet – with its lovely homemade feel, Teakha compliments the area rather than detracts from it. Prices are about your average coffee shop fare – around $35 for a drink and $20 for a scone, except I’d much rather support an independent venture built with soul rather than yet another identikit chain store.

teakha hk masala chai tea

I’ve spent many a morning setting the world to rights over my cuppa char here. Teakha is tiny and gets packed quickly so try and visit at non-peak hours, grab a table outside and watch the world go by. Alternately, get a scone to take away and enjoy a little piece of love wherever you desire.

Teakha, Shop B, 18 Tai Ping Shan Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, 2858 9185; closed Mondays

P.S. If you’re interested in finding out more about Teakha’s lovely founder Nana and the inspiring story behind how she started the business (she loves tea even more than I do!), read my interview with her here.

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Dirty Dancing @ Hong Kong Cultural Centre review

Posted on April 24, 2013 | 4 Comments

dirty dancing hong kong

Despite being dragged along to see Chicago, Grease and even High School Musical Live with me, my boyfriend point blank refused to come watch Dirty Dancing. ‘I just don’t think it will be very good,’ he said… and it pains me to say that he might just be right.

Does Dirty Dancing really require any introduction? The film, telling the coming-of-age romance between Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman and dance teacher Johnny Castle, is nothing short of a cult – and now, with its stage adaptation flying high after a successful run in the West End, the cult has come to the Hong Kong’s Cultural Centre.

But does Dirty Dancing successfully transfer from stage to screen? For me, the answer is no. It was originally sold to West End audiences as a musical but honestly, you’ll probably hear more singing eavesdropping on me in the shower. The film is not a musical, just a movie with a killer soundtrack… and the same is disappointingly true of the stage adaptation, which never makes the most of its live theatre setting. What few songs are sung live by characters appear jarringly, with little effort made to merge them into the action. On the day I saw it, there were also pitch problems – with the main female singer, in particular, wavering between wincingly shouty, then vaguely inaudible in the lower end of her range.

dirty dancing hk 1

Choreography is similarly uninspiring. Whilst the dancing is no doubt competent, part of the thrill of stage musicals is seeing a whole chorus of legs and arms executing moves in perfect synchronicity. Most of the dancing here consists of partner-work with each couple performing different routines and as such, it has little real visual impact. I love creative choreography but this never really steps it up – after you’ve seen one lot of lifts, swoons and samba rolls, you’ve seen them all.

There’s a lot of outward flash to the staging – a rotating segment of stage, sets sliding on and off, elements sliding up and down, movie projections at the back fronts and sides, cast and crew playing musical chairs with props at nearly every opportunity. But actually, for all this supposed panache, it amounts to very little. It feels busy, unnecessary and, when actors tread water on the rotating stage, laughably awkward. During one restaurant scene, the lights dim and then come back up – whereupon the characters are in mid-conversation and we’re supposed to believe that time has leapt to the end of the meal. Choppy scenes and all the props in the world do not a great script make.

Without great live singing, great choreography or great staging, all you are left with is the story – which whilst charming, let’s face it, is pretty thin stuff. The stage adaptation is pretty much a scene-by-scene (and even line-by-line) replay of the film but other than Baby and Johnny, the characters are not real flesh-and-blood but flimsy stock figures. Who knows if most of the cast can really act? They don’t really get given much of a chance to. Nor does the script have enough knowing irreverence for them to play it for laughs either, and the result is two and a half hours that just feels a bit like hard work.

dirty dancing hk

Acting-wise, Bryony Whitfield as Baby supplies the necessary naivety – and obligatory Jennifer Grey frizzy perm. Mila De Biaggi as Johnny’s original dance partner Penny briefly impresses with her crisp clean moves, assured sex appeal and legs longer than most of the songs.

Meanwhile, as Johnny, Gareth Bailey’s prominent forehead, lean body, long limbs and flared trousers reminded me more of Gob in Arrested Development (admittedly, I was in the upper circle, so it could well have actually been Will Arnett and I’d have been none the wiser – and once I got that notion in my head, it was all I could do to stop humming The Final Countdown every time he came on stage!). For me, he lacks the brute physicality and raw sensuality that Patrick Swayze brought to the role, and any chemistry between him and Whitfield is negligible. Not that the script, full of short choppy scenes in ever-changing locations, gives them much chance to develop it anyway.

But there is one thing about Dirty Dancing that not even a cold war could kill. THAT lift. I don’t know how it does it, but whenever I see it happen, something inside me bursts with happiness and I start clapping like a performing seal. With the opening bars of (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, you can practically hear little bubbles of euphoria popping around the auditorium. And yes, the lift is still endorphin soaring magical stuff. Sadly, by then, it’s just too little, too late – and even then, Whitfield doesn’t get a big enough run-up to it and Bailey… well, he just isn’t Patrick Swayze. Honestly, Louis Smith doing it on Strictly gave me more chills.

dirty dancing hong kong 1

By the end, I felt like I had sat through two hours of not exactly riveting theatre almost purely for THAT lift – and they couldn’t even be bothered to treat us to it again as an encore? Seriously?! Similarly, the fact that no one seems to have thought to put in a crowd-pleasing final medley like many musicals to capitalise on the ending’s feel-good factor just shows to me how misjudged the whole thing is.

In the right hands and with a little creativity, Dirty Dancing could have been a decent little musical – after all, melding disparate songs into a pre-existing story can and has been done before in musical theatre (think Return To The Forbidden Planet or Saturday Night Fever – another not-really-a-musical film that was made into a proper stage one). As such, this isn’t really a review of this production but actually, the adaptation itself – which, in my opinion, is so perfunctory, dull and lazy that I can’t get past it to try judging anything else. If a show is doing so little radically different from the film, it basically renders putting it on stage rather pointless – and misses out on delivering that unique theatrical magic that only live theatre, and especially musical theatre, can bring.

The first thing I did when I got home was Youtube The Time Of My Life from the film. I don’t think I need to say much else.

Dirty Dancing by Lunchbox Productions is at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre from 19 April-12 May 2013. Tickets cost $395-995, available from www.urbtix.hk.

The show then transfers to Singapore from 24 May-16 June, then Manila from 4-21 July; see the website for further details.

 

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Café Corridor restaurant review – cute and cosy in Causeway

Posted on April 15, 2013 | 3 Comments

cafe corridor hk

Next stop on Mirander & Rach’s cute café tour of Hong Kong – Café Corridor in Causeway Bay.

Tucked away down a… surprise, surprise… corridor opposite Times Square, Café Corridor is a homely little independent joint that’s become surprisingly well-known and loved despite its positively diminutive size. Its owner, Felix Wong, knows his way around a coffee bean (he also founded two other companies, Coffee Assembly and Barista Academy, to promote HK’s coffee culture) and Café Corridor’s reputation quickly grew, meaning the space is always packed with people looking for a quality caffeine fix.

However, if you’re looking for a coffee review, I’m afraid you’ll have to go elsewhere. I don’t drink the stuff (other than in highly diluted, sweetened, milkified and no longer bearing any resemblance to actual coffee, dung ga fe form) so can’t give you my opinion on that… but I’m happy to tell you about everything else!

Café Corridor has an almighty tempting cabinet of homemade pastries and desserts and I had a hard job picking just one… So I picked two, of course! Luckily, Mirander was there to order our second sweet treat, lessening the heavy side order of guilt (calories shared don’t count, right?)! On my second visit, the desserts cabinet was much less well stocked, so I guess it depends on getting lucky on the day!

cafe corridor earl grey chocolate tart

Our first dessert was Earl Grey Chocolate Tart, which managed to look both elegant and sinful, one of the best possible combinations! It tasted great, made with proper rich dark chocolate, not the wishy-washy stuff you find in many places. The Earl Grey was rather too subtle to make much of a difference – more a hint of mellowness that kept the whole thing on the right side of not too sweet. The buttery base was similarly delicious but it was the texture of the chocolate that threw us off – we were expecting a gooey ganache consistency, but it was quite firm and difficult to break into. It got softer, better and more melt-in-mouth towards the wide end of the slice… we just wish the whole thing had been like that.

cafe corridor caramelised apple tart

Our second dessert of Caramelised Apple Tart was pretty flawless, with presentation SO cute that it’s just crying for shedloads of Instagram pics. Thankfully, the adorable presentation was backed up by the taste – soft sticky syrupy caramelised apples, but still with a hint of bite, heaped generously into a moreish flaky buttery pastry shell. It managed to be homely, comforting and cute but done with considerable style.

cafe corridor bacon and scrambled eggs

I also managed to fit in a main dish of bacon and scrambled eggs on toast. I’m generally a sunny side up kind of girl but this was surprisingly scrummy – it had been seasoned and herbed up to perfection, making it taste more than the sum of its parts. But Café Corridor, why so stingy with the bacon?! I admit to loving my bacon more than most (I can tuck away a whole pack in one sitting), but one and a half tiny rashers divided over two pieces of toast is just not enough!

cafe corridor peanut butter and banana toast

Next trip, Mirander went for peanut butter and banana on toast – a combination I’ve clearly not eaten nearly enough of over the years as it was more-ishly addictive. I loved the lashings of syrup and cinnamon on top; I didn’t love the uber-charred crusts that had been left on the toast though.

I washed all this down with a pot of lemongrass and ginger tea, which was so weak that it didn’t taste much different to tap water (which, incidentally, staff are happy to give you free of charge); I’d try a smoothie or hot chocolate next time instead. With desserts costing around $30, mains around $60 and drinks $20-40, prices are reasonable enough given how good the desserts are and the lack of a service charge. Judging by its popularity and quality, Café Corridor could easily open up a larger shop elsewhere or have several other Café Corridors popping up all over town… but that just wouldn’t be the point of the place.

Inside is small and cosy (a euphemism for cramped… the toilet being particularly grim), with wooden tables and chairs packed in tightly like a game of sardines, although there is also a small outdoor space too. A floor-to-ceiling wall-to-wall mirror at the back of the room cleverly gives the illusion of space, so much so I almost wandered directly into it! The décor isn’t much to write home about, but I did like the abundance of personal touches, with one wall covered in Polaroids of staff, customers and other little scribblings.

For such a cosy café, the range of the menu and desserts is truly impressive and there is plenty I want to come back for. With such lovely presentation and homespun local charm, it’s the kind of place that just puts a smile on your face (even if you’re so close to the table next to you that you could join in their conversation) and happily transplants you to a kinder corner of Causeway, a world apart from the rest of its commercial cookie cutter-dom.

In short, the place, just like the food, has been obviously created and filled with love. And for that reason, although it doesn’t benefit my afternoon tea comfort, Café Corridor thoroughly deserves to be packed out every hour of the day.

Café Corridor, G/F, 26A Russel Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, 2892 2927

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One Man, Two Guvnors @ HKAPA review

Posted on February 25, 2013 | 4 Comments

one man two guvnors poster

Much as I love the theatre, I could probably count the number of times a play has made me laugh until I cried on one hand. In fact, I could probably count it on one finger. Until last Sunday, that is.

The National Theatre of Great Britain’s award-winning production of One Man, Two Guvnors rolled into the HKAPA as part of 2013’s Hong Kong Arts Festival – and it is without doubt the most sublimely deliriously happy three hours I have spent in a theatre in my entire life. I laughed until I wept… and then I laughed even more.

But first, the history bit. One Man, Two Guvnors is a modern-day adaptation of Goldoni’s 16th century Commedia dell’Arte play The Servant Of Two Masters (don’t worry, I didn’t know anything about Commedia dell’Arte either.) Directed by theatre powerhouse Nicholas Hytner, it became the smash hit of the last few years, transferring to the West End and Broadway, winning a raft of awards, critical acclaim and completely reversing the fortunes of its star, James Corden, in the eyes of a sceptical British public.

one man two guvnors owain arthur

Having resigned myself to the fact I’d never actually get to see it yet continuing to taunt myself by reading one rave review after another, I was absolutely thrilled that the Arts Festival managed to score the major coup of bringing it over to Hong Kong – with Owain Arthur (above), Corden’s understudy who took over the part to great praise after the original cast transferred to Broadway, reprising the main role. In theatre terms, this is pretty much as good as it gets for the HK arts scene.

one man two guvnors hk

The plot is pure farce – a riot of mistaken identities, comedic misunderstandings, ridiculous situations and lots of falling over. Francis Henshall (Arthur) is the titular one man, his two guvnors local gangster Roscoe Crabbe (Rosie Wyatt) and public schoolboy twit Stanley Stubbers (Edward Bennett). Roscoe wants to collect the fee promised to him for going through a marriage of convenience to ditsy Pauline Clench (Kellie Shirley), yet she’s now in love with someone else. Oh, and Crabbe is actually Roscoe’s twin sister Rachel in disguise, after Roscoe was murdered by her boyfriend… said boyfriend being none other than Stanley Stubbers. Lost track yet?!

As soon as I entered the theatre, I knew we were in for a great night. After all, how many plays bother to entertain their audience for fifteen minutes prior to curtain with a 50s style skiffle band, The Kraze (below), where one member plays the washboard (and the lead singer looks like a hot Simon Bird from The Inbetweeners)?! In fact, the rollicking tunes set you up for the evening, which proudly wears its influences on its sleeve – music hall crossed with panto crossed with Carry On crossed with Restoration comedy crossed with melodrama crossed with vaudeville crossed with whatever else tickles your funny bone – and yet it manages to be not quite like anything else you’ve ever seen.

one man two guvnors the kraze

The star of the show is, without doubt, Owain Arthur. As soon as he makes his first entrance, you can almost feel the stage lighten. With a roly-poly physique made for physical comedy, expressive elastic features, a lilting Welsh accent and an utterly infectious laugh, he makes it all look so very easy. The best moments come from his absolutely hilarious bouts of audience interaction – these crackle with a brilliant electric sense of unpredictability, and Arthur ensures that whatever the audience throws at him, the results are side-achingly funny.

Commedia dell’Arte, it turns out, thrives on improvisation – back in the 16th century, actors would get paid extra if they received a round of applause on their exit line; later, Corden et al would compete against one another to get the most laughs each night. As both cast and audience in Hong Kong start to warm up, you can see them egging each other on, cracking each other up throughout (I loved watching the band, who are on-stage throughout, giggling away with the rest of us) until the whole thing snowballs into an unstoppable avalanche of laughs. Complete with musical interludes from the cast, frequent breaking of the fourth wall and regular asides to the audience, this is a play that thrives on its theatricality, unpredictability and spontaneous crackling energy. That sensation of being in an audience swept away on the crest of a wave is unbeatable. You simply can’t get this from movies or television… and that’s what made me love it even more.

one man two guvnors edward bennett

I also particularly enjoyed Kellie Shirley’s gloriously dumb blonde Pauline Clench, and her ham-tastic actor beau Leon Williams as Harry Dangle (at one point, Williams plays his torso as an instrument – it has to be seen to be believed!). Both throw in performances so big that you could probably see them back in London, yet they still manage to be uproariously funny without feeling forced. Meanwhile, Edward Bennett (above) gets many of the best lines (‘Soggy biscuit!’) as posh boy Stanley (with so many reviews concentrating on physical comedy, I was surprised by quite how much sharp wordplay and quick one-liners Richard Bean’s script packed in), so it’s a shame many get swallowed amongst the fast pace, audience laughter and wobbly acoustics of the HKAPA.

With a bright 1960s Brighton set, colourful period costumes (note Francis Henshall’s checked suit, a neat call-back to the harlequin role in Commedia dell’Arte) and a full song-and-dance number at the end, One Man, Two Guvnors is not a show that does anything by halves. Even when you think it couldn’t take a joke any further, it still goes that one breath more to leave you wheezing for mercy. The play builds up a manic momentum, reaching a crescendo with the final act of its first half (a restaurant scene that’s a master-class in pure farce) that the short-feeling second half just can’t live up to.

ONE MAN TWO GUVNORS by Bean

And so, 900 words later and I still feel I haven’t done justice to quite how hilarious this show is… and it really is hilarious. It’s as simple as that. The only type of pain I enjoy is the kind where you start to physically hurt from laughing so hard – and One Man, Two Guvnors delivers that sensation in spades. It’s a potent reminder of the power of live theatre, and a beautiful bawdy love letter to quite how wonderful comedy can be.

One Man, Two Guvnors by The National Theatre of Great Britain, 15-23 February 2013 (part of the 41st Hong Kong Arts Festival). Tickets cost $200-580.

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Harbour City Chocolate Trail 2013 – going cocoa loco!

Posted on February 13, 2013 | 1 Comment

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 chapon 1

Anyone who knows me should already know about my sweet tooth. Well, it ain’t just the one tooth, I tell you! Dessert queen, pudding princess, sweet treat sucker – call it what you will, but I’m an addict… and top of the (cake) pops is my love for chocolate! So as soon as I heard about Harbour City’s Chocolate Trail, I knew I had to get in on the cocoa action.

Having read and drooled over That Food Cray’s chocoholic tour of the mall, I was lucky enough to be offered a similar whistle-stop walk-through from Harbour City’s awesome PR, Season. On emailing Season, I declared that my 90-minute window should offer us ‘plenty of time’ to look around The Chocolate Trail – turns out that Nicole (That Food Cray) spent three hours there! And having seen and sampled just a few of the dessert delights on offer, I can totally see why!

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 Gerhard Petzl chocolate display

The Chocolate Trail is an annual fixture at Harbour City, featuring displays, demos, exclusive pop-up kiosks from gourmet chocolatiers, and special treats from some of the mall’s existing brands and restaurants. Some of the chocolate themed displays are more cheese than chocolate (boom boom) but the coolest/craziest HAS to be the royal banquet created by Austrian pastry chef Gerhard Petzl. Every single thing – the table, the place settings, the cutlery, crockery and the food itself – had all been hand-crafted from chocolate and the level of detail is insane; we’re talking Heston levels of dedication here!

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 gerhard petzl chocolate banquet

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 chocolate royal banquet

The room smelt absolutely incredible (ever wondered what eau de chocolate might smell like? Get a waft of this!)… although this might be too much chocolate even for me! I asked Season what was happening to this once the Chocolate Trail was over and she wasn’t sure – so maybe you should hang around come closing day to try and grab a bite!

Gallery by the Harbour, Harbour City, First Floor

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 kapok

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 kapok 2

Our first chocolate stop was Kapok, which I knew mainly as a cool style boutique on Star Street in Wan Chai. Turns out that they carry a whole lotta chocolate too! In-keeping with Kapok’s hip and edgy style, many of the brands were beautifully packaged artisanal chocolates that you can’t find anywhere else in HK.

I already wrote about ChocoYOU – a website where you can build your own customisable chocolate bar – for Sassy; Kapok is the only physical retailer to sell some of their pre-packaged varieties, so this time I tried their curry-infused chocolate. It was a whole lot less daunting than I imagined, with a mellow spicy buzz that complemented the chocolate taste well (even if I doubt I’d ever choose curry chocolate of my accord!).

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 kapok rannou metivier

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 kapok rannou metivier pistachio

Kapok has also scored an exclusive partnership with Rannou Metivier, producing these gorgeous selection boxes of assorted chocolates. We tried several – the Ceylon tea one was slightly disappointing without much noticeable tea taste, the salted butter caramel one was more buttery caramel than salt, whilst our favourite was the pistachio with its deliciously nutty yet silky smooth and gooey filling.

Kapok, Gateway Ground Floor

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 thierry mulphart macarons

After seeing so many Instagram photos of Thierry Mulphart’s chocolate sea salt caramel macaron, I had told Season that it was my only definite must-have. Chocolate, sea salt, caramel AND macaron?! I mean seriously, it’s like someone stepped into my wildest chocoholic dreams and made it happen! Alas, I probably set my expectations too high but this was still pretty tasty.

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 thierry mulphart chocolate sea salt caramel macaron

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 thierry mulphart chocolate caramel sea salt macaron

It didn’t really have the trademark airy but chewy texture of a macaron; instead, there was more of a crunch and combined with its unusual hard chocolate shell, this felt more like a biscuit or chocolate bar… a super tasty one, that is! I don’t think you can really go wrong with that marriage of flavours and this macaron-biscuit-yum hybrid was further proof of that.

Thierry Mulphart, Gateway First Floor

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 christophe roussel star ferry chocolates

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 christophe roussel yuzu chocolate

Next was Christophe Roussel, a French pâtissier who allegedly supplies Lauduree with their chocolate – well, with provenance like that, how could I resist?! I loved their super cute Star Ferry chocolates created exclusively for the Chocolate Trail – they’d make for great souvenirs… albeit ones that disappeared into your belly very quickly! Roussel’s signature chocolates are his lip-shaped ones, so we dutifully tried the Yuzu flavour. Normally, I steer clear of fruity chocolates as I usually find the syrup artificially sweet, but these were actually rather lovely and light. Yuzu is a pretty unusual fruit flavour to go for and the sweet but sour citrus cut through the chocolate nicely, making the whole thing sing on the palette.

Christophe Roussel, Gateway First Floor

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 la madeleine de proust display

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 la madeleine de proust florentines

Sugar and spice and all things nice… La Madeleine de Proust definitely wins for prettiest display! This French brand is nothing new in Hong Kong, having hosted many similar pop-up kiosks in malls before – but their set-up is absolutely stunning, reminding me of the sweet shops you thought only existed in fairy tales. We tried their signature Florentine – a gorgeously chewy biscuit featuring chopped nuts set in a caramel base and coated with dark chocolate. Apparently, the name originates from the words for a French kiss (‘baiser florentin’) and the sensation of eating one is supposed to produce a similarly sweet feeling; well, I’m not entirely sure about that, but given some of the ropey kisses I’ve “enjoyed” in my time, I’m pretty sure the Florentine biscuit would be the reliably more pleasurable option! This was so yummy that I was nearly tempted to buy several on the spot – it wasn’t too sweet and the soft but feather-light chewiness was delightful.

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 la madeleine de proust

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 la madeleine de proust turtles

La Madeleine de Proust also sell a variety of sweets, biscuits and other confectionary, so if you’re getting a bit of cocoa overload, stop by here for a breather!

La Madeleine de Proust, Gateway Second Floor

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 chapon 2

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 chapon eiffel towers

The next stop on our tour is a must-visit – French artisan chocolatier Chapon. This stall was buzzing with people – apparently, they were re-stocking from selling out over the past few days and the staff literally could not get the chocolates out fast enough! Chapon is selling exclusively in Hong Kong at Harbour City for the Chocolate Trail and it’s the first time the brand has been here… and with any luck, they’ll be back soon because the chocolates are divine. Patrice Chapon was previously the ice-cream maker at Buckingham Palace, but luckily found his true calling in chocolate, and his Smoked Salt Praline Dome is his signature calling card… and they are SENSATIONAL.

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 chapon smoked praline domes

I can’t quite describe the flavours of this unique chocolate; simultaneously blow-your-socks off stunning but still subtle, refined and sophisticated. The dome has a thin salty smoky outer layer with a satisfying caramel crunch layer inside, followed by the soft smooth nutty centre; the flavours are perfectly balanced and the final lingering taste of mellow smoky chocolate exquisiteness was just beyond. I will definitely be back to grab a few more (if there are any left!) and we should all keep our fingers crossed that Chapon becomes a permanent fixture in HK! In case you hadn’t realised, this is THE must-have chocolate from the Chocolate Trail – miss it at your peril!

Chapon, Gateway Ground Floor

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 lucullus

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 baruzzo display

There was a small pit stop to check out the unbelievably cute animal chocs at Lucullus, before we moved onto Baruzzo, an Italian chocolatier inspired by the handmade precision and bespoke nature of couture dressmaking. Fittingly, their thin square-shaped chocolates are all decorated with beautiful colourful designs; normally, super pretty chocolates look super pretty to hide the fact that they don’t taste too pretty… but I was very pleasantly surprised with Baruzzo’s! They have loads of innovative and interesting flavours just as unusual as their designs.

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 baruzzo

Our personal favourites were Rosemary, with the aromatic savoury herb nicely setting off the chocolate’s richness and complementing rather than overwhelming it (and I managed not to think about roast lamb once!). I have previously tried VERO’s rosemary chocolate with its liquid caramel centre, but Baruzzo’s rosemary element was delivered in the form of a scrummy crunchy middle – one of our favourite chocolates of the day. We also loved the Jasmine chocolate, which really did deliver the clean light and fragrant essence of Jasmine tea but without being too floral.

The Marigold variety was also intriguingly complex, with many different playful flavour notes (none of which I could quite put my finger on!), whilst I also tried their salted caramel soft centre and it was a-ma-zing. Normally, I hate orange-flavoured chocolates (Terry can keep his Chocolate Orange thanks very much!) so the fact that I even enjoyed their Orange Blossom variety (light, fruity and enhanced with some fine crunchy hazelnuts) means that Baruzzo must be onto a good thing!

Baruzzo, Ocean Terminal Ground Floor (by KidsX)

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 prestat

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 prestat truffles

Our final port of call was British brand Prestat, the only chocolatier to hold two Royal Warrants. With over one hundred years of chocolate expertise, their speciality is the truffle so we tried the Banoffee (the banana-caramel filling was luscious but the shell being white chocolate just made the whole thing too sweet) and the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt. I am obsessed with the chocolate salt flavour combo and this hit all my buttons – saltier than most with a rich addictive caramel filling. The packaging is also suitably grand and gorgeous, chocolate truly fit for royalty so you can feast like a queen! P.S. I was clearly in a chocolate coma by this stage, as I forget to take any chocolate photos – sorry!

Prestat, Ocean Terminal Ground Floor (by KidsX)

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 chocolate swag

harbour city chocolate trail 2013 godiva truffles

Season also generously gifted us a swag bag of chocolate goodies, including a few brands I didn’t have time to try. I was surprised by Godiva’s Truffles, which are MUCH better than I gave them credit for. They’re a little on the sweet side but the Crème Brulee and Apple Tart Tatin ones in particular were beautifully nuanced and way more interesting than I thought mainstream chocolate brands were capable of being – it definitely beats Thorntons, that’s for sure!

I’d highly recommend a little jaunt around The Chocolate Trail – it’s a great opportunity to check out tonnes of awesome chocolatiers at once, many of which have only limited availability in Hong Kong… if they’re even available here yet at all. My must-visits? Chapon, Baruzzo and Prestat.

Obviously, given the beautiful presentation of these brands, many of these chocolates would make for amazing presents for others – but it’s just as important to bag a few to treat yourself! I know I will…

The 2013 Chocolate Trail runs at Harbour City until 24 February; Harbour City, 3 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, 2118 8666

Many thanks to the lovely and generous Season for arranging our tour, my friend Mirander for coming along and being my hand model and Nicole for doing such an amazing blog post that inspired me to get off my ass and hit TST!

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St Betty restaurant review – the roast of the town!

Posted on January 17, 2013 | 7 Comments

st betty hk roast beef

Having recently returned to the UK for the first time in over three years, I can safely say that one of the (very) few things I miss about the place is the food. That’s not to say I don’t love eating out in Hong Kong – and trust me, do I LOVE eating out here and would miss it madly if I were ever dragged kicking and screaming somewhere else – but you just can’t get things like fish and chips, kebabs, Magnums, Penguins, sticky toffee puddings, smoky bacon crisps, Domino’s pizza deliveries, great big whacks of gammon, beef Wellington from the supermarket and the little family-run Italian down the road over here.

However, what you now can get over here is a beautiful top-notch Sunday roast – thanks to the wonderful Shane Osborn, head chef at St Betty.

I don’t even want to think about attempting to cook a Sunday roast myself here – the difficulty and expense of finding a good cut of the beef, the many hours it would take to cook in our tiny microwave oven, and the fact that I’d go through all that for a meal that I’d essentially be eating on my own! In the UK, the omnipresent Sunday carvery at your local pub is such a given that we practically take it for granted… but since you can barely find a traditional British pub in Hong Kong these days, it’s hardly surprising that the proper Sunday roast is becoming a bit of a dying breed. True, you can often find some roast beef in most luxury hotel’s buffets (good luck finding any Yorkshire puddings though – I once saw some cake-like bread labelled thus!) and The Globe does a mean and extremely reasonable take on the roast every Sunday (which I reviewed here). However, I’m a beef girl through and through, so The Globe’s rotating approach to its meat and that the place often sells out before I’ve even woken up on a Sunday… let alone the fact that’s it’s a bloody long trek from Central MTR for a lazy arse like me… means it’s not always an option.

st betty hk sunday roast and all the trimmings

So you can imagine the undisguised glee, salivating and little jigs of joys I did on learning about St Betty’s Sunday roast – which is always beef!

St Betty, the creation of Wagamama founder Alan Yau known formerly as the by-all-accounts mediocre Betty’s Kitschen (stupid spelling and all), has been transformed courtesy of the Michelin-starred magic ways of Osbourn – and his Sunday roast may just be the best bit.

st betty hk sunday roast

For just $298 per person, you get a prime cut of beautiful medium-rare Aberdeen Angus sirloin with all the trimmings – and even a dessert each too! The beef, quite rightly, is the star of the show. It’s cooked to perfection, roasted in a Josper grill (fancy chef-y oven thing), heart-poundingly pink, mouth-wateringly juicy and sighingly tender, sliced thinly but not too thin with a little sprinkling of salt on top and that unmistakeable synapse-sparking charred roasted delicious flavour. It tastes like the best beef should – rich, intense and pre-programmed to bring out all of your caveman primal urges. You get roughly three slices per person and I’m not exaggerating (just ask my Mum!) when I say I could easily and happily finish all three people’s portions without breaking a sweat.

It is made even better by the fact it comes with gravy. Yes, gravy! Someone in Hong Kong actually knows what the stuff is! I’m obsessed with gravy (and used to drink it like soup from the gravy boat when I was younger… and totally still do whenever I get the chance) but had lost hope in finding good beef, a good restaurant and good gravy in the same place. I tried asking for gravy in a steakhouse here once – after much debate and explanation, I was eventually served a saucer of pure fat that had come out of the beef as it was cooking. Nice.

Anyway, the gravy at St Betty is intoxicating stuff – a little too thin to be my total gravy nirvana but I’ll take it – and is best lashed over your meal generously. Don’t worry, the waiters will refill your gravy coffers multiple times if needed.

st betty hk roast potatoes

As for the trimmings… there are Yorkshire puddings. They are actual real Yorkshire puddings (miracle!). Majestic puffy mountains of buttery, golden-brown home comfort, perfectly crispy until I transform them into edible little gravy goblets. It’s one per person although I’ve heard a rumour they may be able to replenish supplies of these too – I’ll have to put that to the test one day! There are roasties – glistening nuggets of pure Sunday roast gold that you might know better as roast potatoes. Crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, incredibly moreish… and the ones at St Betty are as good as they get.

st betty hk roast veggies

There are also two other sides; confit of Chinese cabbage and Japanese bacon (the bacon bit always gets my vote though one of my friends found it too salty) and crushed roasted root vegetables (a little too sweet for me and I wasn’t keen on the baby food texture – I’d rather just have whole roasted carrots and parsnips please). There’s also some horseradish cream, but since I don’t like horseradish in the first place, I have no comment. Honestly, I don’t think I even noticed it, I was too busy pouring the gravy down my throat.

st betty rhubarb apple crumble

After all that, you’ll be settling nicely into a food coma, ready to snuggle into your armchair and vegetate in front of a Come Dine With Me marathon on Channel 4. But St Betty instead gives you each a cute little pudding of rhubarb and apple crumble, served with a dainty jug of cream. Honestly, it’s too much – one to share between everyone would be enough. I don’t like rhubarb so I’m hoping St Betty might one day change the fruit because whilst I adore the buttery scrumptious of the crumble, soaked with light fresh cream and stirred into a gooey delicious mess, I’m just not a fan of that distinctive tart tang of rhubarb.

Make no mistake, St Betty is not a pub and the roast is a cut above whatever you’d get at your local – but thankfully, in terms of quality as well as price. However, what I do love about St Betty’s bright and breezy surroundings in the IFC is how unstuffy the place feels given the pedigree of the chef and his dishes.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I LOVE this roast. I loved St Betty’s a la carte menu too (which I reviewed for Sassy here) yet it’s still a tad pricey and fancy for the everyday. The Sunday roast, however, I can see myself coming back for time and time again… and in fact, I already have. If you’ve been having Sunday roast cravings, get yourself down there pronto – and trust me, this Sunday roast is even better than any of the ones you might remember!

rach mirander jake sunday roast

St Betty’s Sunday roast is served from 1-3pm every Sunday and costs $298 per person (for a minimum of two people); you are advised to pre-book at least 24 hours in advance.

St Betty, Shop 2705, Podium Level Two, IFC mall, Central, Hong Kong, 2979 2100

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TWG Tea Salon & Boutique review: Bon appe-tea!

Posted on December 17, 2012 | 2 Comments

TWGs hk tea tasting 5

At afternoon tea, it can be easy to lose focus… cute bite-sized finger sandwiches, scrumptious sweets, and of course, buttery yummy warm fuzzy-inducing scones (with clotted cream, of course). But it is called afternoon TEA for a reason – so who better to bring the focus back on your humble cup of char than TWG Tea!

I was invited for an epic afternoon tea of girlie chats, delicious nibbles, and pot after pot after pot of more tea than you ever thought existed with blogger BFFs Jasmine of Dress Me and Vanessa of All Things Indulgent, plus the lovely Renee from Flare and TWG’s Cathy. And for a truly special afternoon tea, you can’t go far wrong.

TWG started in Singapore and its Hong Kong Tea Salon & Boutique in the IFC mall has a Raffles-esque colonial feel, with rattan furniture, smartly suited and booted staff, and walls lined with iconic vintage-style tins of their signature 1837 blend. Afternoon teas are so ten-a-penny here that it’s lovely to find one that still feels special and a treat, without being in yet another five-star hotel. Time has a habit of standing still in TWG, and in hectic HK, that’s actually kind of a joy.

TWGs HK tea tasting 2

TWG has the largest collection of teas in the world… and I swear to God, we might have tried most of them that afternoon. Black tea, green tea, white tea, iced tea, Christmas tea – you name it, they’ve got it… and in spades! Their tea menu goes into the hundreds and to be honest, is slightly overwhelming, especially when they all have ridiculously pretty names like Silver Moon, Jade Dragon and Weekend in Casablanca (coffee could never get away with such romanticism, right?!).

First tea fact of the day: all these different ‘colours’ of tea in fact come from the same plant, it is the way that the leaves are processed that determine the type of tea created and its level of caffeine. Who knew?! And if you thought it was impossible to get wired off tea… well dozens of cups of tea and one very massive sugar high later, and we beg to differ!

TWGs HK tea tasting 3

The majority of TWG’s food is also tea-infused, and although they are more famous for their afternoon tea and desserts (including tea-infused ice-creams and sorbets – yes, I’ll definitely be back!), they also do a full a la carte tea-ified menu too!

We stuck mainly to their “Fortune Afternoon Tea” offering, which includes three macarons, two freshly baked scones or muffins, and a croque monsieur sandwich. Our smoked salmon croque monsieur with Gruyere cheese apparently boasts a tea infusion but it was pretty subtle, making for a salty smoky comforting start to the meal.

TWGs hk tea teaching 4

The scones were also great – warm, buttery, homely and everything scones should be. They were pretty much the only part of the set that didn’t boast a TEA!!! component in them… but that’s only because it’s found in their accompanying tea jelly instead! And trust me, I was sceptical, but the tea jelly was a total revelation. Smeared on top of a buttery scone with lashings of thick indulgent clotted cream, it was total heaven – a heaven I never even knew existed before! Sweet but not too sweet yet still with a distinct delicious tea flavour and just the perfect amount of wobble, I’m not entirely sure I can even explain why or how they created this tea jelly alchemy – but I’m very grateful they did. Try it to believe, folks!

The addition of muffins to the set was a nice unexpected element; these ones almost tasted more like chocolate chip cookies, so I wholeheartedly approve. I’m not sure I can let go of the idea of needing scones in an afternoon tea though!

However, TWG’s most famous dessert is without a doubt, their tea macarons. Between us, we managed to sample all eight flavours on offer, each infused with a different complimentary tea variety (and were near delirious with the combination of sugar and caffeine by the end), and they were a deserved highlight. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t really taste much of a tea element, but that didn’t make them any less delicious! My absolute favourite was the Napoleon caramel black macaron – there’s just something so wonderful about getting an intense rich lip-smackingly moreish caramel hug from an item so airily daintily prettily delicate as a macaron.

The light brown Chocolate Earl Grey one was another obvious favourite (come on, this is ME you’re dealing with, after all!) but I surprisingly also really enjoyed the white Moroccan Mint macaron too – mint desserts are so hard to get right, and I have eaten my fair share of toothpaste-esque numbers in this city, but this was just the right amount of invigorating refreshing freshness whilst definitely still being a dessert rather than a mouthwash. I also loved the tangy punch of the fruit ones (purple passion fruit, lemon yellow and bright pink blackcurrant), and I was relieved that none were too saccharine sweet. I’m sure macaron snobs will find cause for complaint (is the exterior quite crunchy enough? is the gooey middle to chewy outside ratio right?) but I really enjoyed them. [You get to pick three for the tea set, so just for the record, my choice would be Caramel, Chocolate and Mint or Blackcurrant!]

But really, I have to end on the tea, don’t I? Forget all the tea in China – this was all the tea in the rest of Asia, Europe, Africa and pretty much everywhere else that might have grown a single tea leaf in their time too! Jasmine, Vanessa and I sniffed leaves, sipped char and oohed and ahhed over the different colours of our brews all afternoon – with blends featuring cornflowers, Christmas spices, passion fruits, berries, vanilla, anise and heaven knows what else.

TWG steeps your tea for you, meaning you aren’t left with clumps of leaves swimming in your teapot and a radically different strength of brew at the end from when you started. They also serve it up in the most fantastic metal-encased teapots that keep heat for up to an hour (clearly they realise how long us girls can spend nattering over just one cup – and yes, I’ve already asked for one for Christmas).

My favourite, and the one I left with a tin of, was Silver Moon – a delicate light little number that practically dances over your palette. Aromatic but not overpoweringly so, it’s a green tea blend accented with strawberry and vanilla, and I’d recommend it for those of you who like your teas light, clean and different. The fact that all TWG tea comes beautifully presented, in gorgeous packaging and highly covetable gift sets, is the icing on the cake… or should that be the tea jelly on top of the scone?!

TWG’s Tea Salon & Boutique is a special teatime treat in every sense of the phrase. Leave the coffee addicts with their ice-drips and weird tiny cups; instead, come armed with a couple of girlfriends, a desire for tea and a clear schedule for the long hours you’ll no doubt lose to the TWG time warp. Alice couldn’t have had more fun at The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party!

TWGs tea tasting 1

The Fortune afternoon tea set costs $268 and is served from 3-6pm daily. A Chic afternoon tea set, including finger sandwiches but no macarons, is also available for $228. This tasting was by invitation.

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique, Shop 1022-1023, 1/F, Tower One, IFC Mall, 1 Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong, 2796 2828

Some photos (i.e. the awesome ones!) by the lovely Jasmine Webster of Dress Me!

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Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap @ HKAPA review

Posted on October 22, 2012 | 2 Comments

It has been a long-time dream of mine to go see Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, the longest running play in the world ever, in the West End. Given I have now upped sticks and moved to Hong Kong, this ambition was seeming ever more unlikely… but luckily for me, a production decided to come over here to the HKAPA instead!

I say ‘luckily’ but actually I’m now not too sure. This 60 Year Diamond Anniversary touring show by Lunchbox Productions (the chief stagers of global productions in Hong Kong, including Grease and Chicago) turned out to be rather average with precious little West End sparkle – and now I know ‘whodunit’, if I should ever make it back to the British original in St Martin’s Theatre, it just wouldn’t be quite the same as seeing it for the first time.

The plot is classic Christie – a small cast of characters with dodgy pasts and hidden secrets, locked away in a country house where the phone lines are down, no one can get in or out and a murderer is on the loose… And to say much more than that would spoil the whole thing!

Of the cast of eight, only about half are up to scratch. Matthew Lotter camps it up perfectly as foppish architect Christopher Wren and steals every scene he’s in, whilst Claire Marshall knows exactly how to live up to the pompous grand old dame stereotype in Mrs Boyle. Sarah Richard does a decent job of holding everything together as Mollie Ralston, the owner of the guest house where the action takes place and the anchor of the drama. And Mark Rayment, as the obligatory suspicious foreigner, is the only one to truly have fun with his part and add something new and unexpected to a production that honestly, and even on its opening night here, already came up smelling of mothballs.

The mostly South African cast seem to be concentrating more on maintaining their RP accents as opposed to building characters that either felt real or had fun with the clichés. [They also need to work on their diction and volume, or be fitted with microphones.] Clyde Berning, as Mollie’s husband Giles, is terribly woefully wooden, Ashley Dowd’s Detective Trotter too shouty and the other two… well, I can barely remember them, they left such a great impression.

The set? The lighting? The music? The costumes? All these elements are so standard in this genre of front room play, that they’re barely worth commenting on. The Mousetrap is all plot, plot, plot. Twists, turns, red herrings, clues and cliffhangers… and what it really needs is a cast to sell that to you, so that you’re swept along on the ride. Already restless and vaguely bored by the end of the first act and with an uncertain abrupt end to the second, this cast just didn’t cut it.

I couldn’t help comparing this production to Nottingham Theatre Royal’s yearly Classic Thriller Season of plays – as the title suggests, a season of classic thrillers, murder mysteries… and yes, possibly even a few Agatha Christies. These were always magnificently entertaining – whether the cast played them for laughs, totally straight, or in the best cases, a brilliant mixture of both.

Perhaps the director here was too scared of The Mousetrap’s behemoth status. Perhaps it’s a lack of growing up with that murder mystery culture, which is so seeped into my consciousness. Or perhaps it’s just the fact they couldn’t be bothered to do any more than was strictly necessary to stage a production that only ran for six days and which, come opening night, played to a half-empty auditorium.

Lunchbox Productions’ version of The Mousetrap has an overall feel of ‘Will this do?’ For the most part, it almost does, simply because the play is an indestructible indefatigable and expertly constructed beast, as all the best Christies are. But really, for HK$750 a ticket (about £60, which is definitely more of a West End than Rep price), it should be a lot better. Christie deserves it. And so do we.

5/10

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap by Lunchbox Productions, Hong Kong Academt of Performing Arts’ Lyric Theatre, 9-14 October 2012. Tickets cost $350-950.

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A doggie bag for all seasons!

Posted on October 12, 2012 | 1 Comment

Owning two dogs = a whole new bunch of cute things to spend my money on!

Yes, no longer am I restricted to human mo liu, now I can waste my hard-earned cash on puppy mo liu too!

…I jest. In fact, this stuff is not really mo liu at all because dogs are generally overjoyed at anything you bestow on them (socks, string, dirty underwear) so actual treats – be they practical, edible or playful – always go down in a tail-wagging frenzy of licking, jumping and maniacal excitement!

Having not made my usual trip to see the Mid-Autumn lanterns this year, this was the closest I got – a Mid-Autumn lantern (sort of) for my dog! Grrrrr… how cute is this?! It’s shaped like the traditional rabbit lantern and opens up to reveal some special mid-autumn treats for my pup, namely a rabbit-shaped toy, some doggie mooncakes and some other orange stick-shaped treats.

The company that made this, Pomme, seem to specialise in super-cute seasonal dog treats. Earlier in the year, I compensated for my lack of participation in Dragon Boat Festival by buying a similarly delightful Dragon Boat doggie bag from them.

The package was shaped like a zong zi – the traditional dumpling eaten during Dragon Boat Festival, glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. I don’t imagine many get made with a dog’s face and ears though (thankfully… that would be weird!). Inside were some chicken and rice treats (which my pup Sunny goes absolutely mental for… forget my obsessiveness over bacon, Sunny goes a whole new level of crazy) and a dog toy shaped like the drum that is banged on board the dragon boats to keep them rowing in rhythm.

As you can see, Sunny was very excited to get stuck in.

Anyway, I love the thought that has gone into these adorable little packages and they’re such a fun way to let me pretend that my dogs and I are celebrating these traditional special occasions! I’m already excited about what themed goodies Pomme will have in store for Halloween… Christmas… Chinese New Year…

Available from City’Super

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