SHADES OF MERLOT

RECIPE FOR WINTER

Take a generous dollop of sheer feather vests and cosy wide-brimmed hats.

Garnish with chunky knuckledusters and clunky platforms.

Swirl with your favourite snuggly sweater dress.

Fold carefully into the softest of burgundy leather.

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SHANGHAI TANG x MONGOLIAN YURTS

SHANGHAI TANG

Shanghai Tang's former flagship location in Pedder Building has always been a lasting childhood memory for me: Waiting for my mum to browse the beautiful silks and traditional clothing designs with a modern flair whilst I played hide and seek in the colonial-influenced art deco interior, old fashioned bathrooms and breathed in the ever-present scent of their signature home fragrance. It saddened me greatly to hear that Abercrombie and Fitch outbid them for the rent and the landlord threw them out without so much as a farewell. That's what Hong Kong is about - business, business, business!

(In case you're interested, Abercrombie & Fitch will be paying HK$7million per month, 2.5 times more than what Shanghai Tang was paying. That's US$900,000 per month, for the 12,500 square feet location.)

Shanghai Tang is a legendary shop set up by Hong Kong businessman David Tang in 1994 with an investment of HK$120 million that recruited 12 of Shanghai’s best tailors, successfully selling China’s handmade cheongsams and Tang suits to foreigners, they were acquired in 2000 by the world’s second-largest luxury group, the Swiss Richemont group, which owns Cartier, Dunhill, Piaget and other top brands.

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"MONGOLIAN VILLAGE"

In order to maintain their presence in Central whilst they search for a new flagship location, Shanghai Tang has opened temporary 2 pop-up stores: on the 5th floor of Pedder Building and atop of Central Pier 4.

I visited Shanghai Tang's unique pop-up store on Central Pier 4 (the pier for Lamma Island) which is themed "Mongolian Village". It is definitely worth a visit for a refreshing shopping experience just a stone's throw away from the bustle of Central. This pop-up location will be open until 31st December.

There are different yurts for Women's, Men's and Home and I thoroughly enjoyed browsing each one. The products are carefully presented and every tent was playing traditional Christmas music! (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, anyone?)

I walked away with a lovely Christmas gift for mum and a spring in my step.

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INNER MONGOLIA

I actually visited Inner Mongolia earlier this year with a great group of friends and made some unforgettable memories. It was amazing to see the traditional Mongolian yurts again, especially as they didn't house a pile of scratchy blankets and a variety of dead insects this time! I've included a few photos from my trip :)

What unforgettable holiday locations have you visited?

xxx

STORE LAUNCH: TUDOR (Hong Kong)

My lovely friend N invited me to the launch of the first Tudor store in Hong Kong.

Tudor is a subsidiary branch of Rolex and sells selected Rolex models under the "Tudor" brand in most countries around the world outside of the US, including Australia, Canada, most of Europe, India, Mexico, and in South Asia, the Middle East, South Africa and most countries in South America.

The location was Cova, the nibbles were afternoon tea canapes and the drink was champagne!

Perfect way to spend the afternoon.

x

SNAPSHOTS

A few photos giving a peek into my life in Hong Kong

1. The swan-lake themed display at the IFC Repetto store.

2. A kooky art gallery above an antiques store.

3. The slightly irrelevant and OTT Barbie display in Times Square shopping mall.

4. The new Jack Wills store in Causeway Bay - just in time for Christmas!

5. Crabtree & Evelyn x Hello Kitty. I am a traitor to my kin and am not a fan of Hello Kitty at all but I LOVE this.

6. Nothing says CHRISTMAS SPIRIT like...

Christmas is coming :)

Are you excited?

#shaytards

MAKEUP HAUL & DAY IN THE LIFE HONG KONG v2

The PIMPED OUT interior of the 1010 phone shop in Hong Kong.

All of them are done up like this:

wooden and marble flooring,

black leather seats,

vintage mirrored trunks as tables,

every new gadget on the market on display,

expensive air fresheners,

iPads for every shop assistant to use with customers,

stylish shelf decor, e.g. fashion & architecture coffee table books,

AND

a guy who stands at the door to ask you what service you need before discreetly broadcasting it to his colleagues so that by the time you get up the stairs, you can be served correctly and immediately.

To put this into perspective, this is an equivalent to the Vodafone or 02 stores in the UK, or the AT&T or T-Mobile stores in the States - you go in to pay bills, get help with your account, start up new phone contracts, etc.

Things are a little glitzier over here, huh?

Some recent purchases:

L'Oreal Superliner in Black

L'Oreal OpenEyesPro in 08 Smoky Brown

Chanel Vitalumiere in Clair 20

Sunglasses from Cotton On

Bobbi Brown Facial Oil samples

Can I skip the yadda yadda and just say that everything pictured = favourite. Cheapo sunglasses that I won't cry over if I sit on them (regular occurence) and my new favourite foundation/eye palette/waterproof gel liner/facial oil for winter.

Hong Kong is full of very blingin' Christmas lights.

What makeup have you been loving for Winter?

DO YOU WAGYU?

Wagyu beef pizza & spicy Wagyu salad at one of my favourite Sunday brunch joints on Wyndham Street in Central. When I used to walk around this area as a child, it was rather dodgy and you would not have predicted that 15 years later, a melange of sleek clubs and bars, amazing restaurants and laid back cafes would be lining its streets.

Have you tried Wagyu beef? Isn't it the bomb dot com?