theW+ HK Spring 2013 Shops Guide: Sun Street, St. Francis Yard & Sau Wa Fong

Based on the weather in Hong Kong lately, it seems like the city is not yet ready to give up on Spring (ie. rainy and chilly). So therefore, while it is still Spring out in the city, take your umbrella and go to some of these shops I checked out with friends, MacArthur and Peter (as in SOM, one of the US’s hottest designers today.) 

Peter and Mac getting along just fine!

Not knowing how to spend the Sunday, I decided to meet up with Peter and Mac post-brunch for coffee. Soon after some gossip updates, we all decided that it was best to do some exercise .. and by exercise we mean a walking tour of one of my most favorite neighborhoods… the Sun Street / St. Francis Yard / Sau Wa Fong (triangle?) in Wanchai Admiralty.

+ CARVEN / Moon Street

Our first stop of the tour, straight to Moon Street to check out the latest Spring looks at the newly opened CARVEN boutique.

For those who do not know, CARVEN was founded in 1945 at Rond Point des Champs-Elysees by Madame Carven to house her collection of Haute Couture. The shop has had a few transformations since the 90’s when Mardame CARVEN retired from the label, and since then the brand has been building a collection inspired by CARVEN’s very clean, elegant, and youthfully romantic approach to the “CARVEN” aesthetic.

In 2010 Guillaume Henry joins the CARVEN house as its newest Art Director. His biggest change? Adding the brand’s first men’s collection for the Summer 2012 line.

And by the looks of what’s on offer at the Moon Street CARVEN, this season it’s all about neon tangerines, electric greens, and florals. (A different interpretation of Spring than what we’re all stuck with in HK.)

Im loving the collaborative pieces with PORTER Bags and Zespa Shoes.

The friendly neighborhood CARVEN guy said “Hi”.

+ KAPOK / Sun Street

Next stop, we wanted to show Peter the original KAPOK shops. I know these days there are other locations… but I still think the Sun Street and St. Francis Street shops are the best. KAPOK is where you can go to find labels and goods before they they show up anywhere else in Hong Kong. They’re the true purveyors of fine goods in the city.

This time around we checked out sunglasses by Smith & Norby, the latest wallets by Jack Spade, and card cases by MAKR Carry Goods.

That said, i’m a big fan of these easy to carry Wm.J.Mills&CO. Sailmakers Bags from Greenport NY. (According to the label).

They have KINFOLK!

+ THE MEN’S SHOP by CLUB MONACO / St. Francis Yard

I’m a Club Monaco addict. There I said yet. I think my friend, Whitney and I buy at least one thing from this store every week.

Men in Hong Kong get an an extra special treat with The Men’s Shop concept on St. Francis street because they do ship in some extra special items only found in this store from some independent labels in the states. I’m loving the “needlepoint belts” from Smathers & Branson above.

We we all loved these great pair of loafers from Mark McNairy.

I was also tempted to get this umbrella from London Undercover.

Meanwhile I wore my new Club Monaco blazer for this season. It’s got green and yellow flowers printed all over it like wallpaper… but that’s exactly why I love it. It’s quite quirky.

+ WDSG Art & Craft Department / St. Francis Street

Around the corner we we went to check out the newest goods at the WDSG Shop… which looked more like a General Store from the wild west… That… or Williamsburg today.

Read More

Sun Above, Sin Below. SCARLETT and Maggie Choo’s Makes Nightlife Lush Again

Bangkok is quite good with super “Designed” Wallpaper*-esque nightlife concepts and offerings and has been since the emergence of “IT” joints like Bed Supper Club, FACE Bar, and Fallabella in the last decade.

While those bars are a memory of what they once were, making waves as of late are two new hotspots located high above the city with, SCARLETT, perfect for those wanting a sunset with a scene, and a new “speakeasy” very low underground, at the new/old Maggie Choo’s, for those wanting a bit of naughty privacy.  

If you plan on going to SCARLETT, make sure you get reservations first because patrons come here early to catch the sunset with pre drinks, and then follow-up with delicious Tapaz, cold cuts, and cheese, with wine pairing. In addition, the menu is formulated by 2-star Michelin Chef Manuel Martinez. 

The original SCARLETT is located in Beijing. The Bangkok bar is the sister location.

Designed by friends of mine at P49 DEESIGN, one of Asia’s top hospitality design studios, SCARLETT’s has plenty of greens for that softer touch and nice comfy outdoor lounging areas, plus indoor share tables perfect for big groups or impromptu meet ups. Tables are lit with exposed pendant bulbs to have that floating candle-light effect, and are framed by by colorful black, white, and red graphic tiles on the floor to add a bit of that Spanish fun and color but in a modern and subdued way.

It’s located centrally on the 37th floor of the Pullman Bangkok Hotel G where I stayed earlier this Spring. Its very easy to get to.

The sunset views are really the best part of the Pre-Dining experience here.

That same week, my friends and I were trying to figure out where to go for nightlife. And thinking that I wanted to blog about something new, a friend mentioned to me that a new bar, called Maggie Choo’s, just opened up by the same team which includes “IT” designer and “Nightlife Baron”, Ashley Sutton.

You may know Perth-born Sutton’s work via his other destination bars, Iron Fairies and Fat Gut’z. And recently he’s just opened a family friendly eating establishment at Siam Center, Mr. Jone’s Orphanage, and a bookshop/bar called Bookshop Bar. Funny that.

Just when you thought 1920’s Shanghainese fetishism in design has gone been-there-done-that… well, you can change your mind again with Sutton’s version of the concept… a concubine’s haven run by head-mistress, a character named, Maggie Choo.

What’s great about Maggie Choo’s, is that it’s truly a “speakeasy”, even the theatre of the sense of arrival gives you a feeling of naughy (using the word again) anticipation. 

The door (as all faux-speakeasies tend to be) is a side door on the Ground floor of an old Novotel on Silom Road. You walk in, see a tiled wall with a picture of men eating noodles, then you notice you’ll need to walk down a flight of stairs (hand carved) and enter a what seemingly looks like an old-school dai pai dong Cantonese noodle bar.

“Is this it?”, you ask yourself, “Where are the concubines on a swing I keep hearing about?”. Just when you thought you’d give it all up, a lady tells you to follow her through a door with curtains.

And then just like some magic trick, the space expands… into this…

…A lush cavernous bar lined with vaults clad in steel and brick, a plush central bar that looks like a bank teller… and swings… everywhere. That night I got there too early so there were no concubines on swings, (they were swinging on their own… ghastly), but I got the point.

You’ll be surprised to know that all the bricks, steel, and vaults were actually already there and were just incorporated by Sutton for the design… so no faux “Disneyfication” here.

The site was originally a 1947 East India Company Bank underground vault. The concept works great with the space. Each vault has a VIP sitting area, and i’m sure you can close it up for privacy. Also each vault area connects to the other vaults so you can have one big party.

We ordered yummy “cantonese” snacks of friend dumplings and chicken wings plus fries and fried peanuts with house cocktails which tasted like the 1920’s. 

These two served us.

It’s very well done. Although next time i’ll really want to try the noodles and dumplings at the cafe out front… which you can do before or after drinking!

According to their Facebook Page:

Maggie Choo’s was named after Shanghai cabaret owner who fled her hometown in 1931 following the Japanese invasion that tore the city.

Shortly after arriving in Bangkok, she found a 19th century Thai Chinese shoe box restaurant crammed into a basement 10 meters below Silom road serving authentic Thai chinese shophouse food.

When one day, she discovered behind the walls in the corner of the restaurant an entrance that lead to a derelict 19th century East India company bank built in 1847 used for storing porcelain and spices that the British used to carry back to England for Queen Victoria, her past caught up with her and she converted the old bank into a cabaret, just like when she used to back in Shanghai.

Today the cabaret is yet to be revived again…

Have a great night in Bangkok! We always do!

EAT SCARLETT Wine Bar & Restaurant, 37th Floor, Pullman Bangkok Hotel G, 188 Silom Road +66-2238-1992 / DRINK Maggie Choo’s, Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom Hotel, 320 Silom Road 02-63506055

JJ.

Notes From Phuket, Songkran at Maikhao Dream

Songkran a.k.a. Thai New Year starts so much later in the year relative to Western or Chinese New Year, and this year the Thais celebrated this festive day on April 13th.

I was just so happy that I had the schedule to leave Hong Kong’s cold and wet Spring to bask in the Phuket sun as I was attending my first Songrkan while at the same time staying at the Maikhao Dream Resort & Spa in Natai, Phang Nga, one of Phuket’s newest and most luxurious resort properties.

According to Thai tradition, New Year rituals begin early in the morning when Thais rise to give alms to Buddist monks at the temple. As practice, children and the young are supposed to pour scented water over the hand’s of elders, and are then wished good health, happiness, and prosperity in return. This exchange of water for wishes is called “Rod Nam Dam Hua”. However, these days… it’s like an episode of “Thais Gone Wet & Wild”.

It’s the only time of year when Thais let loose and en masse go to the streets to go all water crazy. Using big water guns, pails, and hoses, locals splash water on themselves, other cars, and unsuspecting tourists who should know better. That said, most foreign visitors go to Thailand during Songkran just so they can party and get dangerously wet on the streets.

While my friends opted for Bangkok for the same weekend, I was looking for Phuket’s more chill environment. That said… with trucks and vehicles blasting dance music, and people with water guns all over the street, the Songkran scene in Phuket is not any less than other parts of the country.

Overall the trip was indeed sunny, fun, wild, and wet.

The Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa played extraordinary hosts to the long Songrkan weekend. They had an amazing festive set up on New Year’s Day which included the freshest Thai Food market-style with the best spices, greens, and seafood available.

I mean seriously. The chef went to town. I think I pretty much had the best Pad-Thai of my life at that resort.

The properties, and there are two… one located in Phuket at Maikhao Beach and another one 15 minutes away at Natai Beach in Phang Nga, are rare in that they’re literally beach side (meaning you can step out of your villa and jump right into the water), and that the beaches are surrounded by National Parks, making them completely private, luxurious, and quiet from “party tourists”. 

You can literally have breakfast, lunch, and dinner quietly while watching the waves go by.

And if the beach is not your thing, every villa and room has immediate access to the central Salt Water swimming pool… while a few, like my suite, has a private pool extending directly from the room.

The resort’s designers, Bangkok based dwp, opted for a simple, lush, and contemporary subdued style which relates strongly with Thailand’s traditional colonial architectural history.  

Read More

There’s Just Never Enough To Wanderlist in Bangkok

While the first part of Easter was spent quietly with family in the Philippines, I actually finished the last weekend of Easter Week in a different country altogether, for a third trip back to Thailand in Bangkok this year alone. The occasion was special, we went to celebrate the marriage of my friend, Jiki (above), with my sister, Bernadette (below), coming along for a chill weekend of sightseeing, shopping, and spa, just us three. And because Jiki never got a proper hen’s night pre-wedding, we thought we’d just do a last minute trip out to celebrate the nuptials.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a proper trip with Jiki, and never with Bernadette since she moved to Hong Kong a couple of years ago. This was a great opportunity to bond and spend some quality time with my real sister, and my adopted sister….especially now that Jiki went from Ms. Jiki Lim to Mrs. Jiki Ford last month.

Good timing too. With proper holidays for easter and the husband being away back in London, well… I guess here we all are. Always eager to relax.

Overall, it was a pleasant couple of days back in a vibrant and creative city I love, which I’ve pretty much established in an epic post about Bangkok a few weeks ago.

Check out the view from our hotel room!

Almost a near perfect trip really, thanks to Pullman Bangkok Hotel G Silom and Medium Asia for hosting all of us for those two nights. I say “almost” because the taxi situation in Bangkok has gone from bad to worse. Good luck getting a cab with a driver willing to drive you with a meter on or to take you anywhere for less than 200 baht!

Speaking of taxis, as per usual, traffic in SIAM SQUARE is horrendous. 

But the shopping in the Square itself… always a treat. Check out my new favorite brand, Common-T which I’ll do a post on soon.

And another #JJStyle kind of place, Headquarter The Fifth… which I think made it to this month’s issue of Monocle Magazine.

Beyond the square, in Siam Center across the street… of course there’s always Level 3 Thai Indendent Designers where everything is just divine. The girls did pretty well at PEDZ.

… and my favorite, Greyhound where Bernadette purchased this skirt.

Staff at Greyhound are just so slick.

I on the other hand, picked up a pair of camo swimmers from TIMO, my favorite brand of the moment at The Selected Boutique on Level 3.

It was a tough choice… especially with this number…

Word on the street is… TIMO is doing a collaboration with Hong Kong’s, Kapok. Now that news is just epic. Don’t believe me? Ask Arnault.

Meanwhile I had to stop by CONTAINER Bags to drool.

And then a quick nibble at Greyhound Cafe. (Much MUCH better in Bangkok than in Hong Kong, FYI. Cheaper too for better quality food.)

Other places we were able to check out on this trip for the first time… the Jim Thompson Outlet! There are two of them in Bangkok, with one location only two blocks from the Pullman Hotel we stayed in. I was so excited I lost my wallet between getting out of the taxi and getting into the shop. Not so “outlet” after all.

We also went to check out a brand spankin’ new, family friendly, Drag Show at the Calypso Theatre at Asiatique, Bangkok’s new version of Marina Bay Sands on the river. Everything was a complete homage to cabaret and Hollywood-esque stage spectacles from the 20’s to 50’s. Very glam. And very talented these women.

The best thing about our hotel is the 24-hour burger joint on the ground floor, called 25 Degrees, a concept imported from the Los Angeles original located within the Roosevelt Hotel.

We ate here very late, and had breakfast here very early a few hours later.

I loved our hotel. It was chic. And the staff was even chicer.

While having sunset drinks at the roof top bar, Scarlett, a wine and cheese tapas bar run by 2 Star Michelin Chef, I bumped into a friend of mine, Pao Patpongpibul, who is the mother of a uni friend. Pao owns a hospitality interior design firm in Bangkok called P49 DEESIGN… the same firm which gave the hotel its fresh look. They designed pretty much all the public areas, ie. all the lobbies and restaurants at the Pullman Bangkok Hotel G. It was great to catch up with Pao over a glass of wine.

Would I return to stay at Pullman Hotel G? Most definitely. From P49 DEESIGN’s amazing interiors, the hotel’s central location, on top of the excellent service, I would definitely return in heartbeat. Main advice… have the American Breakfast at 25 Degrees, and skip the hotel buffet. The buttermilk pancakes at 25 Degrees is really something else. Also make use of the Pullman “Welcomer”. They’ll take care of ALL your Bangkok concierge needs. 

That’s all folks!

STAY Pullman Bangkok Hotel G / DRINK Scarlett Wine Bar & Restaurant / EAT 25 Degrees Burgers, Wine, and Liquor Bar / EAT Greyhound Cafe / WEAR Common-T / WEAR Headquarter The Fifth / WEAR TIMO / WEAR Greyhound / WEAR PEDZ / WATCH Calypso Cabaret / SHOP Jim Thompson Outlet

JJ.

Easter Photobook, Spring 2013

Easter week is now over and for 2013, all roads led me to go back home to the Philippines for my family’s annual Good Friday Procession (or “Semana Santa” in the Latin World*) located in our ancestral town of Panay. While this year I went alone,I usually take a few of my Hong Kong friends back to join me on these intimate holidays to experience “true” Philippines with me.

Panay, is located in the province of Capiz, on the Northern tip of a large island also named Panay. If you’ve been to the Philippines and have visited Boracay, then you’ve been to Panay Island. En route to Boracay, you would have to fly into Caticlan or Kalibo airports, both of which are 2 hours away from our little coastal town.

The Panay Cathedral below, built with help from Mexico.

Most Filipino families display religious statuary in their homes to reflect their devout Catholic culture. And once a year on Easter, these statues get to leave the house to partake in a solemn Good Friday Procession around each town in the Philippines.

Our family’s Virgin Mary statuette is about 200 years old and was made-to-order in Spain and shipped to Panay all those many years ago. My mother had famed Manila couturier, Aureo Alonzo, to design the Mary’s dress.

The Mary has been the parade-ender in Panay every year on Good Friday since it’s arrival to town. That’s about 200 parades and counting!

I’ve had the opportunity to participate in the procession a few times over the years and am very blessed to be able to join again this year. Every time I return, I always see and experience something new while spending a wonderful few days in our quiet coastal home away from Hong Kong.

Enjoy the photographs!

Read More

Take Back The Night, Markets at Sham Shui Po

On March 9th, Artist / Hong Kong Lover / Social Activist / Urban Farmer / Bee Keeper, Michael Leung (interviewed here before on Wanderlister.com) invited Hong Kong’s creative communities including us to help spread the work, donate, and make noise for The Night Market Project 夜好趁墟行動 initiative located in Sham Shui Po, one of Hong Kong’s poorest urban districts.

Apparently an informal night market has been in operation there, and for those of us who live and work closer to Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, we just wouldn’t know about the night markets because no one goes to Sham Shui Po on Saturday nights. In fact Sham Shui Po makes it to guidebooks because of its largely consumer-based IT/Computer parts and products wastelands located in several commercial buildings.

For the most part, with over 1,000 people RSVPing for to The Night Market Project on facebook, either to donate works or buy items, it can be said the test “project” was a success. Leung wanted the creative communities to discover these markets and what they sold and to be generally cognizant of the existence of these urban operations. That said, this is no Bangkok Railway Antiques Market like in my previous posts, the items sold here are 2nd hand household things, clothes, hot goods, fakes, and things we would think of as domestic trash (not actual trash). 

I found it wonderful, scary, intriguing, and full of texture. There was a time when I look back to when I first moved to Hong Kong after grad school, and thinking about what initially drew me here… the textures, the urbanism, the hodge podge madness captured by cinematographer Christopher Doyle for his Wong Kar Wai films. But over the years, this edge has quickly been eaten away by “Urban Renewal” initiatives, and the pure luxe shine of gentrification. Chungking Mansions is a shadow of what is used to be as a case study for example, therefore, I find Sham Shui Po a reflection of a memory of what Hong Kong used to be.

That said no sooner than we arrived and began our exploration, an hour later a Market merchant who was annoyed by the sheer number of new onlookers, gweilo visitors, and hipster creative types called in the Police to step up, step in and do some crowd control.

Read More

Finding Beijing’s WUHAO, And Loving It

I was supposed to blog about this last year during my trip to Beijing with CNNGo CNN Travel, but with everything happening at the end of the year, and with the sheer density of all the other posts I had to do for CNN, this post about Beijing’s most fantastic fashion exhibition space, WUHAO, just kept being pushed back.

Well, Spring 2013 is here, and I was reminded by an email from WUHAO and its founder, Isabelle Pascal-Pons, that they are now open and ready for business in the year of the Water Snake. 

Actually it was Brew&Post pals, Jason and Denise, who introduced me to the studio. Their friend, Vincent, came along to check it out with us as well. If you already read my Beijing post on the Nanluoguxiang Hutong, you can get a sense that Beijing has full of interesting surprises unique to the city in terms of shopping and cultural destination offerings. Amazing bars, cafes, boutiques, and gift shops line this historic commercial corridor, and are preserved within low single story courtyard structures.

It’s within this context that WUHAO is home. No signage. No visible marking. If you go to WUHAO, you are here because you know what they offer and you know exactly what lies behind the red door.

Read More

theWanderlister+ x Affordable Art Fair

Readers of theWanderlister+ will now get a chance get to check out the first Official Affordable Art Fair (AAF) in Hong Kong next week via a Buy 1 Ticket Get 1 Ticket Free Deal. Simply click on the image above or this link to download your own form. Follow by filling out the form and bringing the form with you directly on the day of the fair from March 15th to March 17th. 

+ AAF Presents Arty-Licous Evening, Friday March 15th.

Also on March 15th, the AAF will be hosting their version of a Vernissage with the Arty-Licious Evening, featuring live art talks, great music, and artworks from international galleries. You can speak with fair director, Camilla Hewitson at the Cafe at 6pm, listen to a talk by Will Ramsay, Founder of the AAF at 7pm, attend an art walk by Young Talent Hong Kong’s Leung Shiu Kee Eric at 7:30, and discuss the state of Contemporary Art in Hong Kong with Caroline Ha Thuc at 8:30 PM.

Check out our profile interview with Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong Here.

VISIT Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong, 15-17 March 2014 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Hong Kong

JJ.