A Shanghai Showdown

A Showdown it certainly was when Miu Miu decided to host a big party in Shanghai in one of the world's tallest hotels and create an entire Miu Miu world out of it.

Sebastian Suhl invited me to go along for one night in Shanghai, literally. I got on the red-eye arrived in Shanghai at 5 am and was escorted by a Miu Miu girl to my car. I was deposited at the Park Hyatt, where there was construction taking place. I wish I wasn't so groggy and took a picture as it was not any normal construction but Prada construction, a huge backdrop where the 1940's was starting to appear in the form of smoky facades, mirror cut silhouettes and big lights just for the night. No one had told me this, well, Seb certainly did not, that Hotel was actually closed to the public for Miu Miu.

It is without doubt one of the best hotels in the world, my 84th floor room with a Bund view was spectacular. The fact that I was greeted by a big pink Goody bag which contained a next season Miu Miu purse, the invitation and a letter from Sebastian AND breakfast would prove that!

View from my room

breakfast, bed and prezzie

As I was in Shanghai, I was adamant on getting myself out of the Park Hyatt to do a little bit of exploring and eat Shanghainese dumplings. One absolutely cannot go to Shanghai without having Xiao Long Bao, true there this now a din tai fung in most capitals including Bangkok but there is nothing like having them in Shanghai. I thought I would find the perfect ones at at Jia Jian Tang Bao, however when I got there, it was closed. I was saved by the other dumpling I read about, Yang's friend dumplings across the street.

CLOSED!

saved by Yang's Fried Dumplings

The cheap fatty neighbour Yang's was a good fix and after devouring them understood the queue for them. I popped along to Xin Tian Di as it is so pleasant and there is a branch of Din Tai Fung there.

dumpling perfection

When I was last in Shanghai it was freezing and hailing, so I missed the Bund walk, touristy as it is, it is very cool. I also managed to squeeze in a little visit to 18 Gallery where there was a street art show, beautiful restored building 18 on the Bund.

JonOne at 18 Gallery

The Park Hyatt is in Pudong, it is on the other side of the water . . . not the most convenient for site-seeing but I suppose the new buildings on Pudong side justify it, they too are spectacular.

The Park Hyatt, notice window cleaner on left

Topped off my exploration day with a swim in the pool at what has got to be the highest indoor pool I have ever swum in. Then at 7 pm on the dot, my Sebastian friend arrived and we went straight down to the lobby of a spectacular 1940's NY hotel that just happens to be in 2011 Shanghai on the 87th floor of the Park Hyatt overlooking the Bund. I met the Thai contingency, P'Ann is absolutely lovely, she's Prada Thailand. And also P'Aaew and P'Vicky who are the Prada landlords as they own the malls Prada are in (Miu Miu will open in October). The drinks in the "lobby" was only the beginning.

before in Sorada and Miu Miu

lobby of skycrapers and mirror palms

The party was to take place over 4 floors in different room with different themes and different activities. Dinner at the very private Supper Club was wonderful, I felt like I was sitting in a pod in the clouds, the idea was to see the view but that did not happen but it gave it a certain mystery being literally high in the clouds.

supper club

I was on the table with Sebastian, my date for the night (and also the Host), HK actress Cecilia Cheung and Taiwanese actress Terry across from me and on my right Tanny Kea, an amazing lady from Singapore.

The AW 11 Miu Miu show took place literally, next to us. The shoes were definitely the high lights, I have three different pairs on my wishlist and also the backless black dresses with the fur shoulders. Please excuse the blurry pics, Seb did keep saying I was incapable of taking a clear pic, well, I would agree in this instance as we sat so very close it was impossible to focus! The backdrop was Metropolis with a dash of Jetsons

Cecilia Cheung and I

Miu Miu AW 2011 in Shanghai

Next up was the dash to lifts to get to the next activity . .we went to a quiet "Sparkle Club" to realise that it was too early and we needed to be on the top top floor for the Cabaret. The Park Hyatt's highest view point was turned into a dimly lit, 40's style cabaret, totally risque, totally fun. We sat on super low velvet seats and so close I thought the lasso guy would hit us. I was next to beautiful actress and MTV vj Zhu Zhu. We loved the lasso guy and also the funny looking hula hoop guy. Let's not forget the super hot hostess.

Me, Tanny and Sebastian

Next was a performance by Florrie in the Sparkle Club. Perfect for Miu Miu in the Sparkle Club. . .cheeky girly, totally a pretty doll but full of surprises. I mean, no one expected her to starting banging on the drums like she did. The club was filled with porcelain versions of all the things that girls love and like floating from the ceiling with a sculpture in front.

Sparkle sculpture

Mimi Xu (aka DJ Misty Rabbit)

Florrie

Next we back down the freight elevator (the fastest way) to see Dan Lywood play and hang in the lounge, by this time I had lost track of what floor we were on and where we were going. I just know that it was fun and Nadia, Seb's friend from HK who manages the Gagosian HK was awesome.

Next, I found myself in the Moonshine Room, made myself some new friends and met the set designer Karl Sprague who did the ridiculously amazing sets, no surprise that he works in film and on Wes Anderson's Royal Tenenbaums. Definitely cinematic. Then back it was to the Sparkle Club where Mimi Xu was rocking the dancefloor so hard with her final set that non one wanted to leave.

What FUN! If there is anyone hows knows how to throw a big fat bash and still make it feel like it's a big family party, it's gotta be Prada. It was so intimate and fun that I really did not want it to end, it was like one minute it was 7 pm, the next 2 am and the lights were coming on. Intimate 1940's everyting in a roaring metropolis set way above the clouds - how's that for a contradiction? I am sure I will soon find myself in a Miu Miu store swooning over the shoes I mentally noted and buying them, just to remind myself of the magic of Miu Miu in Shanghai. Thank you Sebastian for inviting me, it was amazing. Until the next Prada memory . . . xx

Miu Miu girl the morning after waiting to put me in the car

Big Number

30 is a big number, well, I have always thought of it as a rather big number, age-wise that is. The pressure of throwing a big 30 bday bash was rather large but in the end I opted for dinner and a little street party RMA* style where I celebrated turning 30 with good friends and loads of food and alco. It was definitely the combination of P Ing's sweet and addictive pineapple mojito, P'Oun's porksticks, Bo of Bo.lan's salads, noodles from P'Oh's fave noodle spot, Sai Oua northern sausage that P'Joei and Teem hooked me up with that made for such an enjoyable night.

Bday portraits. . . .

Other highlights were homemade cupcakes by Jelly Jan, all 31 of them with separate candles (extra one for good luck), my second cake which was Pette's victoria sponge and third which was Pim's peanut butter cheesecake! 3 cakes, that really should last a whole month.

As the month of March draws to a close, I look back and think, maybe it is just a number but a really great excuse to celebrate (and on a more serious note, grow up).

*RMA Institute is Piyatat Hemmatat's (P'Oh) space, it is sort of like my second home. It is here that P'Oh has an office - secluded and calm oasis of dim light, great sound system and a wonderful record collection that he passionately adds to with the help of Amazon. It is also home to a wonderful free space where artists can show work, performance artists can perform and filmmakers can screen movies with the wonderful projector. Outside is the garden cafe where Bo and Dylan of Bo.lan throw together fresh ingredients for brunch and lunch everyday except Mondays. I am addicted to their truffled poached eggs and their mega creative salads. Bo made this amazing fennel and orange salad for my bday. Last but not least, let's not forget Dukdik, the resident Princess, a true Cinderella of a Thai pup. Love her.

Hong Kong Hero

Uncle Boonmee (though he is no longer with us) was the first person Apichatpong Weerasethakul thanked as he accepted the Best Film Award for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, at the 5th Annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong last Monday night.

P'Joei has been globetrotting around the world with very little time to rest for the success of Uncle Boonmee has been just phenomenal and as he said on Monday night, for such a small film, it has come so far and he is very proud. A hero in HK with his small film against big budget Chinese ones, this should give us some hope. I believe that it does.

There were some especially memorable moments that night with the speeches made for Japan, in the light of earthquake, tsunami,and nuclear catastrophe. It is always seen as somewhat decadent when a natural disaster hits or political turmoil is rife for entertainment awards to go on, in this case, the Japanese contingency showed their resilience and strength by being there. I found the speech by Thomas Yoda, the director of the Tokyo International Film Festival to be sincere and most touching. The Chinese blockbuster Aftershock which was about the aftershock of a huge earthquake in China was a tale about the human spirit and the human will to survive, this was somewhat appropriate and relevant that night.

I went along to the Award Ceremony and was very lucky to have been taken care of by Norman Wang and his friend Helen so I had a pretty good seat and could see all the action pretty up close. Apart from P'Joei's win which was certainly the best monment of the night for me there was an awesome performance by an Indian band called Indian Ocean, sensational, so fun and a bit of exoticism to what would otherwise have been a rather grand, quite formal Chinese affair . The band won best score for an Indian film called Peepli Live. I did like how these big blockbusters sat alongside small indie productions and both were recognised. Rather refreshing. It was nice to have a brief catch up with Harvey Weinstein, in a rather jolly mood, I would be too though if I had the victories he had for his recent films, The King's Speech and not to mention The Fighter and the reception Blue Valentine has had. I will forever agree with VF that Harvey is probably one of the last cinema impresarios, love or hate him, I find him rather inspiring.

The AFA after party was quite fun, especially as dinner was served (the award ceremony took HOURS and we were famished)and in true Asian style, the big sponsor, Audi was in full display with a vehicle placed in the centre of the room. Nonetheless, I did enjoy seeing P'Joei congratulated and applauded as he did the rounds at the party:)

Me and P'Joei

Lee and I

The AFA was a highlight though I was actually in HK for Filmart which is this humongous film market that is part of Hong Kong's annual entertainment expo. It was my first time, not so different from Art Fairs and I suppose Fashion Salons but this was a whole different ball game, films were being bought and sold. I saw a brilliant documentary about Sir Norman Foster called "How Much Does Your Building Weigh Mr Foster?" and the short films commissioned by the HKIFF Society. The Malaysian short was great, cheeky, funny but still quite dark and I liked Apichatpong's M Hotel for its imagery and mood, again, dreamy but this time a bit grittier. At first I was a little confused and after some time it just sort of sucks you in.

It is customary to have a press junket for the best film winner the next day and I had the chance to sit in to watch P'Joei answer many questions in the most fluent and thought provoking way. In the background was a poster of Ananda Everingham, this too was part of what was being unveiled that morning. His new project, a film that he will be producing, Lee Chatametikool's film, the name has been changed from Past Love to Concrete Clouds and will be starring Ananda and Jane, the film will also be produced by iconic filmmaker Sylvia Chang, Thai producer Soros Sukhum and Electric Eel. Lee is P'Joei's frequent editor (also award winning editor having won best editor at the AFA twice) but this will be his directorial debut. I am bit excited (an understatement really, very excited). The movie will be set in 1985 and 1997, the earlier years as flashbacks and the present in 1997, the height of the economic meltdown in Thailand where a tragedy brings back the hero from NYC to deal with "home", and what he left. Lee is particularly poignant when speaking about monuments which are what these characters search for, monuments of their youth which might or might not be there anymore. All the while he searches and goes back to find that the monuments are faded and like the big empty abandonded skeletons of bangkok, they are empty. This echoes the writer/director's own experience as he returned home to these stark lonely buildings resembling concrete clouds. The hero's story is mimicked by his younger brother, 18 years old and discovering things for himself, building his own monuments. I do like the title, it captures the slow heart break as well as the physical and economic reality of that time, these concrete clouds.

P'Joei and Lee with legendarly filmmaker Yonfan

Film festivals, fashion weeks and art fairs have in common many elements, hard work being one but there are also the parties to lok forward to. The Japan party was sweet but my favourite was the Hollywood Reporter dinner at a stall on the street just off Stanley. Street food a la Hollywood. So cute.

Kay, P'Juke, Yuni and friend

It was also fun that Jane decided to join us (she will be co-starring in Concrete Clouds), straight off the plane with her giant silver Rimowa case that the lucky chap she was with wheeled up and down the hill. It was HK after all.

Jane and I

Jane, Lee and I

We went to Lily and Bloom for Penicillen cocktails and corn bread and a surprise meeting with Ivan Pun whom I seem to bump into everywhere. HK works well like that, surprise encounters, all very transient, always fun. My last night was about intoxication vs my first, a catch up with Dee Poon who took me to Kiku where I had a special Kiku roll that knocked the socks off Honmono in Bkk (and tripled my cholesterol leval for sure, it was all uni, toro and egg) and then to get my ears candled. Strange strange way to spend a Sunday night but after all it is HK and for such a straight place, it always has its way of surprising, in a good way.