Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts

September 1, 2010

Hua Hin getaway


So it was decided, Hua hin, a 3-hour drive down South of Bangkok, Thailand.
I threw all doubts on the famous beach destination the moment I saw Alila Resort's arm in Cha-am. In the end, we checked ourselves into AKA resorts, a surreal all-villa resort and spa place that's situated admist the organic farm and infamous golf course just 15-mins away from the city.

We wouldn't deny using El's birthday as an excuse for this well-deserved getaway since we spent mine the month before on a staycay at Amara Santuary that was really really really bad (that was all before we found out that Capella offers us corporate rate at half of what we spent in Amara - oh, and if you are thinking of booking a really good villa stay with Amara, please don't!)

Funny how this has morphed into a travel blog more than being fashion-centric. Hope you don't mine.

Back to Hua-hin.

You really have to be there to soak up the good crisp air. It's a place for you to not think about anything. Not forgetting that Hua Hin is the home to Chiva-som, world's reknown luxury health resort.

Everyday is spent lazing in the well-furnished villa; renting DVDs from the conceirge and ordering room service of ice-cold lemongrass drinks that compliments the sweltering weather, soaking up the sun and watching it tucking into the clouds every evening at the cabana upstairs.

Of course you can bring out your inner Tiger Woods (no, not that) by driving up the range for some golfing action with the well-trained locals or engaged in yoga by the sea. And if you are more adventurous, we would recommend you the extreme ATV (be warned that you will be covered in mud at the end), jungle trek on the friendly elephants, or just ride on the horses along their infamous beach. We rented a bike, Scoopy-O, the locals coined. It brought us places, and helped us steered clear from the restricted timings back to the resort.


It could just be that we ended up in really bad Thai-food places all the time, but frankly, their seafood and western food seemed to taste better. I love Livanto, especially after a 3-hour massage and spa indulgence at White Sands. Elsa loves the fresh seafood and dragon prawns that was surprisingly yummy if you had realised the stall front was just a push cart tuck along the cramped alley of the night market.

And if you are planning a trip there soon, I recommend huahin taxi to you. The owner and his drivers are highly reliable and it's value-for-money. Have Fun!











June 28, 2009

Singaporean Rapper Chic tops Canadian Charts



Masia One is nominted for best rap video award in Canada, yet not many over here knows about her.
She was in Singapore last friday for the hennessy artistry event, which will be featuring our nation's indie darlings, The Great Spy Experiment and personal friend, Freaky Z on 10 July @ Dblo. RSVP here to get your complimentary tickets.




June 27, 2009

Albino from Hong Kong turns supermodel in London

Connie Chiu is a Chinese albino from Hong Kong who was raised in Sweden and eventually paraded off to London to become a supermodel. Oh, and sometimes her eyes look purple. Basically, without her even trying, her personal fairy tale is the backstory for what could be China’s greatest fictional superheroine.









“I wrote my phone number on the back of a photo and sent it off to Jean Paul Gaultier. About four months later, he called my mum and said he wanted me to come do his couture show in Paris.”






April77 cardigan, H&M girdle, Cheap Monday jeans, American Apparel leg warmers, Demonia shoes, Vivienne Westwood jewelry









Via: Vice

April 27, 2009

Star Awards 2009

It was "ajollyaffair" with Joanne Peh walking away with the coveted title of "Best Actress" at last night's annual Star Awards, giving the Walking Nonya Kueh no chance of commenting on her dress.


Unlike in Hong Kong or Taiwan, the tv industry here is so compact and "monopolised" that the faces you see on most programme shows have recurring hosts and actors, probably a reason why there wasn't the grandeur of any typical red carpet shows yesterday. Even if there were, it will probably be quite painful to watch, if what they wore last night were their best.

There was nothing really stunning about the outfits these celebrities were wearing, probably "best-dressed" were Quan Yi Feng in her last outfit and Joanne Peh in her first outfit (why in the world did she change?), and they got into the list just because their dresses were not informally short, like other skanks.




Host of the night, Quan Yi Feng and Guo Liang in forefront.



Best Actress and Best Actor winners



The men were all clad in classic 3-piece suit, and Chen Han Wei shone the brightest with his contrastingly piped shirt and white semi-formal shoes. There was this particular Taiwanese star, Ethan Ruan Jin Tian, who we thought really rocked the outfit in a greyish-blue suit.




Best Actor spotted with Special Award winner, Huang Biren

Over to hairstyles, thick bangs were seen all over the ladies crop, with Queen of Caldecott Hill, Fann Wong, and Hong Kong hottest star, Myoli Wu, both spotted in similar hairdos.



Belinda wins best programme host for info-ed, and worst-dressed Felicia Chin gets into top 10.

As for worst-dressed...


It has got to be Felicia Chin and Gurmit Singh (this is not a joke), it's really atrocious.



Comedians: Patricia Mok and Gurmit Singh


Images via: Mediacorp

July 24, 2008

Du Juan on Vogue by Jaywalk

Global Vogue Of The Oriental Face
by JayWalk
(Note that the author is a Singaporean who is working in China)

(22 Jul 2008) - Shanghai-born Du Juan is a Chinese supermodel and the first Oriental model to grace the front cover of the prestigious French Vogue magazine back in 2006. 2 years later in April 2008, she was again featured by French Vogue magazine as Top Model.

Oriental presence in the Western world started humbly in the early days and was led by the men who forayed into Hollywood. Names ranging from Bruce Lee to John Woo to Jackie Chan are all familiar household names in the west. The women were not far behind with Joan Chen to Gong Li to Zhang Ziyi, just to name a few.

Perhaps the milestone happened in the year 2000 where the hit movie "Crouch Tiger, Hidden Dragon" scored big at the Academy Awards and the walk of the red carpet prior, a fashion event on its own merit, finally put an Oriental face to glamour fashion.

The rest, if I may steal an old cliché, is history.

So the question now is if the Oriental face will be the next fad in the global fashion industry? What would be the impact?

I would have to say in my humble opinion, yes to the short term and no the long term.

Yes, the Oriental face is the current new curiousity of the fashion world. Move aside Naomi Campbell (African). Step away Adriana Lima (Latina). Get lost Kate Moss (Caucasian)!

TAN BEE LIAN'S in DA HOUSE!


It's true that the Western world is slowly becoming intrigued by Asians over the past years as the Chinese began to open up its doors to international trades and events. Not only was the football World Cup held in Korea and Japan back in 2002, we now have the Beijing Olympics due to start only in a matter of days. In the past (and even today), we see only a handful of oriental-looking models on international runway shows, a similar sight for Black models in the seventies (until Iman came along and broke the barrier).

The true pushing force to launch the Oriental face to the global arena is actually MONEY. China's money to be exact.

Over the years, China's economy has grown from strength to strength at such a dizzy pace that it is now merely a matter of time before China surpasses USA as the global leader in the world's economy. We may all end up working for the Chinese "Lao Ban" (meaning "Boss", in Mandarin) one day, like it or not.

The buying power of the Chinese is so great in the modern day that it would be foolish for the fashion houses to ignore this juicy slice of lucrative pie. The proud French have already relented and accepted the Chinese drinking their Bordeaux with 7-UP. So how hard can it be now to put an Oriental face on their latest catwalk?

The Chinese are not only here to stay, they will buy the catwalk too while sipping cognac stirred with green tea.

Long term-wise, it is not that big of a deal as the novelty will eventually die down as human civilisation heads towards homogeneity. By then, the Oriental face will be no more peculiar than a Latino or Caucasian or African.

So no. Not everything will go Oriental at the end of the day, but we will start to see more and more designs with Oriental inspiration.

Man Tou and Camembert, anyone?


JayWalk is a guy who is not stupid enough to ink a refrigeration symbol on his wrist permanently, not rich enough to afford plastic surgery, not popular enough to win an OMY blog nomination, not brave enough to camwhore, not young enough to get away with wRitInG aLtErnAtE cAps, not old enough to get MRT senior citizen discount, not Beng enough to have a pack of Marlboro under the shoulder of his t-shirt nor AngMoh enough to drink tea with the pinkie sticking out. Yet, "All Your XMMs Are Belong To JayWalk" as the Tok Kok King pulls off a literary smoke grenade piece on the fashion world. Go figure.

Image Credit: http://images.nymag.com