Tag Archives: review

War Horse @ Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts review

Posted on May 20, 2019 | Leave a comment

Whilst it sometimes seems that the only major touring theatrical productions we get in Hong Kong are big-budget musicals and kids’ shows, War Horse makes a winning case for why great live drama deserves to be brought here and celebrated too.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Culture, Theatre

Tagged best play, best stage design, best theatre drama, best theatre show, Christopher Shutt, Handspring Puppet Company, HKAPA, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Joey, Khalid Daley, Lunchbox Productions, National Theatre, Paule Constable, Rae Smith, review, Scott Miller, theatre, Toby Sedgwick, War Horse, War Horse HK, War Horse Hong Kong, War Horse touring production

Mamma Mia! @ Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts review

Posted on January 20, 2019 | Leave a comment

Dust off those dungarees, folks – Mamma Mia! is back in town.

I have to admit, my views on Mamma Mia have softened over the years. Whilst I have always wholeheartedly adored ABBA’s music (and if you cannot bring yourself to recognise its genius, we need to have words), I used to find the musical too thin, too cheesy, too ridiculous to be worthy of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’ gold-plated songbook. But then I got over myself, the world went to hell in a handcart, and I suddenly found myself loving Mamma Mia for exactly all the reasons that I side-eyed it in the first place.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Culture, Theatre

Tagged ABBA, best musical, Helen Anker, HKAPA, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, jukebox musical, Lucy May Barker, Lunchbox Productions, Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia HK, Mamma Mia Hong Kong, Mamma Mia tour, Mamma Mia UK, Matthew Rutherford, musical, Phillip Ryan, review, Shona White, theatre

Priscilla Queen of the Desert @ Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts review

Posted on October 12, 2017 | Leave a comment

The second that three divas descended from the ceiling belting out It’s Raining Men, I knew that Priscilla Queen of the Desert was going to be my kind of show.

Adapted from the 90s Aussie film starring Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving and Terrence Stamp into a jukebox stage musical, Priscilla tells the story of two drag queens and a transgender woman’s journey across the Australian outback, and all the adventures (i.e. excuses for massive song-and-dance numbers) they encounter along the way.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Culture, Theatre

Tagged best musical, best musical costumes, best musicals, best theatre costumes, Candida Mosoma, Daniel Buys, David Dennis, HKAPA, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Lizzy Gardiner, Londiwe Dhlomo-Dlamini, Lunchbox Productions, musical, Phillip Schnetler, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Priscilla Queen of the Desert HK, Priscilla Queen of the Desert Hong Kong, Priscilla Queen of the Desert South Africa, Priscilla Queen of the Desert tour, review, theatre, Thembeka Mnguni, Tim Chappel

Plateau Spa’s Rose Indulgence package – spa day at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

Posted on February 13, 2017 | 2 comments

I’m no fan of Valentine’s Day – an arbitrary date that is most definitely the least special of all special occasions. But Valentine’s Day spa deals? Sign me up with a trite poem, ugly teddy and bunch of wilting roses… I’m in!

And before you start complaining that your partner hates all things pampering –so does mine. In fact, so do lots of people’s partners, meaning there are plenty of us spa spinsters ready and waiting to be paired up precisely for the purpose of taking advantage of couple’s pampering packages. Which is exactly how my blogger BFF Kate and I came to be at the Rose Indulgence treatment at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong’s Plateau Spa.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Beauty, Hong Kong

Tagged best outdoor swimming pools Hong Kong, best pool packages Hong Kong, best spa in Hong Kong, best spa package Hong Kong, best spas in Hong Kong, best swimming pools HK, best swimming pools Hong Kong, couple's massage Hong Kong, couple's spa Hong Kong, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, massage, Plateau Spa Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Plateau Spa HK, Plateau Spa Hong Kong, review, Rose Indulgence, Rose Indulgence massage, spa, spa day Hong Kong, spa package Hong Kong, Valentine's Day spa package Hong Kong, Wan Chai

Wicked @ Hong Kong Academy Of Performing Arts review

Posted on December 22, 2016 | 2 comments

It’s been a while since I got goosebumps in the theatre… So enter Jacqueline Hughes as Elphaba in Wicked to deliver a whole year’s worth of them in one night.

It’s over a decade since Wicked, the smash hit musical based on a novel reimagining the events of The Wizard of Oz, first debuted on Broadway – which of course, means it’s only now arriving in Hong Kong for the first time. It tells the story of how Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West became well, wicked and it’s probably not much of a spoiler to say she wasn’t really that wicked at all… just you know, misunderstood, except with green skin (actually created using MAC eyeshadow, fact fans).

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Culture, Theatre

Tagged Carly Anderson, Defying Gravity, HKAPA, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Jacqueline Hughes, Lunchbox Productions, musical, musical theatre, review, Stephen Schwartz, theatre, Wicked, Wicked HK, Wicked Hong Kong, Wicked Manila, Wicked Philippines, Wicked Touring Production, Wicked UK Touring Production

ENVIRON Optimal Skin Facial at The Mandarin Spa, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong review

Posted on November 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

Another new day, another new spa treatment to review – it’s a tough job but someone has to do it, right? Provided anyone is still reading having not boiled over with beauty blogger hatred (#sorrynotsorry), the latest treatment on my pampering dance card was the ENVIRON Optimal Skin Facial at The Mandarin Spa in the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

These days, a simple cleanse, tone and moisturise just doesn’t cut it; in the quest for the final frontier of pampering perfection, facials are jumping aboard the high-tech space-shuttle, with more futuristic gadgets on show than the average episode of Star Trek. The Optimal Skin Facial is a case in point, utilising a fancy DF II Machine that helps ENVIRON’s supercharged serums penetrate deeper into your skin, with suitably rejuvenating results.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Beauty, Hong Kong

Tagged best luxury spas in Hong Kong, best spas Central, best spas in Hong Kong, DF II Machine, ENVIRON, Environ facial, facial, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong Spa, Mandarin Spa, Mandarin Spa Hong Kong, MO Hong Kong, Optimal Skin Facial, review, spa

Deborah Lippman – Weird Science nail polish review

Posted on October 27, 2016 | Leave a comment

Something wicked this way comes – wickedly good, that is.

I’m normally of the opinion that Halloween is a bit of a waste of time… unless it gives me an excuse to break out a brand new nail polish of course – and Deborah Lippmann’s Weird Science is exactly the kind of special sauce that spooky season screams out for!

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Beauty

Tagged best glitter nail polishes, best green nail polishes, best metallic nail polishes, Deborah Lippmann, Deborah Lippmann nail polish, Fantastical Holiday Collection, glitter, gold, green, Halloween manicure, Halloween nail polish, Holiday 2014 Collection, manicure, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, review, swatch, Weird Science, where to buy Deborah Lippmann in Hong Kong

MiraSpa’s Splunch package – spa day at The Mira Hong Kong

Posted on September 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

Freelance life has many perks, but chief among them has to be the ability to take a spa day whenever I want (all in the name of “research”, of course) – especially when you have a business partner who loves spa days every bit as much as you do! So when the invite to The Mira Hong Kong’s Splunch package arrived in the Editors’ Ink inbox, my business partner and blogger bestie Kate aka Accidental Tai Tai and I were in there like a flash.

Running until the end of March 2017, the somewhat cringily-titled Splunch – which sounds like something Jay off The Inbetweeners might say – equates to a full day of pampering goodness for only $1388 per person, including:

A 60-minute Mira Massage
A 60-minute Aromatherapy Associates Rose Aromatic Facial
A buffet lunch at Yamm
Full use of MiraSpa’s heat facilities, swimming pool and fitness centre

Let’s dive in! Well, apart from the fitness centre…. Kate and I ignored that obviously.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Beauty, Hong Kong

Tagged Aromatherapy Associates, best indoor swimming pools Hong Kong, best pool packages Hong Kong, best spa package Hong Kong, best spas in Tsim Sha Tsui, best swimming pools HK, best swimming pools Hong Kong, facial, massage, Mira Massage, MiraSpa, review, Rose Aromatic Facial, spa, spa day Hong Kong, spa Mira Hong Kong, spa package Hong Kong, Splunch Mira Hong Kong, Splunch MiraSpa Hong Kong, The Mira HK, The Mira Hong Kong, The Mira Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui

Christian Louboutin Jazz Doll nail polish review

Posted on September 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

Autumn is coming! OK, that doesn’t sound quite as epic as Game Of Thrones had led me to believe it would, but the sentiment is still the same… which means it’s probably about time I brought you my review of the final polish from Christian Louboutin’s Red Nail Extensions Collection – Jazz Doll.

Jazz Doll is actually the most unique of the scarlet trio (which totally sounds like it should be the name of a jazz band… or potentially a criminal gang from the 1940s), a cool-leaning cherry red with an underlying seam of pink shimmer. This is definite Snow White enchanted apple territory – except if Snow White met her fate via a bunch of poisoned cherries, or perhaps some enticingly shiny boiled sweets. Yes, all my references are edible!

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Beauty

Tagged Beaute Louboutin, Beauty, Christian Louboutin, Christian Louboutin Hong Kong, Christian Louboutin Jazz Doll, Christian Louboutin Nail Colour, Christian Louboutin nail polish, Christian Louboutin Red Nail Extensions Collection, Jazz Doll, Louboutin nail lacquer, Louboutin nail polish, Louboutin nail varnish, manicure, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, photos, red, Red Nail Extensions Collection, review, swatch, where to buy Christian Louboutin in Hong Kong, where to buy Louboutin nail polish in Hong Kong

Natura Bissé Diamond Brilliant Facial at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Oriental Spa review

Posted on September 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

This summer has to be one of the wettest, greyest, most miserable on record – and I’ve been feeling rather dull and deflated as a result. So thank heavens (when torrential storms aren’t pouring out of them, that is) for lovely spa treatments that act as the perfect rainy day pick-me-up, like the Natura Bissé Diamond Brilliant Facial at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s Oriental Spa.

This facial isn’t just a pick-me-up for your rain-soaked soul though; it’s designed to be a real pick-me-up for dull skin, brightening your complexion and reducing uneven pigmentation… And with sun-deprived, sallow skin in desperate need of a rapid shot of radiance, I couldn’t reply to my trial invite quick enough!

Continue reading →