All consuming desires

Hong Kong is expensive. Here are some tips to help you maximise income and minimise spending

Hong Kong presents many mysteries to the everyday consumer. There is so much variance in prices and so many opportunities to make money. The goal, of course, is to maximise value and one's opportunities. But how to proceed? Here is a guide to navigating some basic, utterly practical issues many Hongkongers face, with advice from people on the inside.


How to buy a suit

As explained by tailors

By P. Ramakrishnan

Raja Daswani of Raja Fashions says people need to be clear what budget they are working with when buying a suit. "For the budget-conscious, I say go for something durable, conservative. I'd suggest buying a quality but non-branded fabric," he says.

"I'd suggest conservative because it's realistic - a suit from 1950 that's well made can be suitable now because it's timeless. But a suit made in the 1970s with its signature trend and fashionable tailoring now collects dust in cupboards."

In case there is any doubt, there is a vast difference in quality among tailored suits out there, and the tailors can clearly spot the good from the bad. After all, they have trained eyes.

"When a man is walking down the street, I can tell [the quality of a suit] by the material, how rough it is, what kind of yarn has been used, what kind of machinery," says Sam Melwani, 63, of Sam's Tailor.

Why does a suit in Shenzhen cost only a few hundred dollars? "When you pay at a noted shop, you're really paying for the artisanship. What the customer is really paying for is the superior quality of the work," Daswani says.

"A fresh graduate who is trying to make a start in the business will not have the same expertise of a cut like a man who's been doing it for 30 years. Then there's the material; fabric can cost anywhere from HK$20 to HK$2,000 per yard."

Daswani says a person should expect to pay HK$4,000 to HK$5,000 for a fine suit.

Fabric counts for a lot. It is a big component of the price, and it will go a long way to determining how comfortable a suit is, and how good it will look over the years. "Some people cannot take heavy suits, as they literally choke in the heat. It may be in fashion, but so what?" Daswani says. "If you're a banker in Hong Kong, in the heat of summer you'll really suffer if you don't make sensible choices with your fabric."

How to buy a good bottle of wine without paying the earth

As explained by wine connoisseurs

By P. Ramakrishnan


Simon Tam, head of wine for China at Christie's Auction House, says there actually are ways of buying wine on a budget.

"A lot of good wine in hotel chain-linked restaurants can be available for HK$500 to HK$700 per bottle - and that's a very good price to work on for the budget-minded." And an insider's tip would be that a lot of Chinese restaurants - not Western - don't charge for corkage, which is a great way to save money by buying retail and doing "BYOB".

When buying at a department store, how can one home in on a good bottle? "In Hong Kong, we're very lucky that something in the vicinity of HK$500 is available to us for any kind of wine, except perhaps a good Bordeaux - which is always a bit more expensive," Tam says.

"There are so many labels on display, and the truth of the matter is, for a lot of people, it's a matter of palate and appreciation. If you've spent HK$1,000 and it doesn't agree with their taste buds, then [your guests will] think it's cheap wine. I strongly suggest, in this scenario, buying a bottle of champagne. People might profess not to like it, but pop open a chilled one and everyone raises a toast. It becomes an occasion."

Picking the right bottle for the uninitiated is luck of the draw. Most people, by habit, simply look at the price to gauge its quality. "The cheaper the wine is, the more the mark-up is," says Kavita Devi Faiella, wine director of the Press Room Group. "Restaurateurs know that the cheap bottles will fly off the shelves. But owners want to move the expensive bottle, too, so they might mark it up by just a fraction."

The price of the wine can depend on whether you head to a chain restaurant or a stand-alone. Chains offer better value than independent restaurants. "Wine is priced more competitively in an independently run restaurant," Devi Faiella adds. "Global restaurants' in-house numbers are unpredictable because they buy in bulk and distribute them.

"If there's a chain run by the same management that has a restaurant here in Hong Kong [which has no tax or luxury tariff] versus in India [which has a great deal of taxation on wine and whisky], they level the prices as they're looking at the overall scale."

Can you get a great wine that's cheap? Tam says no: "If you really want the good stuff, you have to pay for it. I've taught classes on wine tasting, and the two things I promise all my students is you'll end up buying and appreciating expensive wine and you'll never go back to the cheap rubbish. If you appreciate wine, it's nice to pay for quality wines. There are no 1961 Chateau Lafites for HK$200."




Nov 21, 2011

Beyond the treadmill

Fit & Fab: Michal Bucek
Health Post,
The South China Morning Post

By P.Ramakrishnan
(ramakrishnanp@hotmail.com)

Michal Bucek, 30, a personal trainer and a top triathlete, has a list of achievements so long it could take up this whole page. He recently returned from the Holy Grail of triathlons, the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-
Kona, Hawaii. A few weeks later, he finished third amateur overall at the Taiwan 70.3, a half-ironman in Kenting.

He’s in the best shape of his life, but he has worked hard for it. Some people are naturally thin, but Bucek isn’t one of them. Growing up in what is now
Slovakia, he was the odd one out within his active family, who often kayaked, ran and swam together on weekends. “I was very overweight, and I was super lazy,” says Bucek. It’s hard to believe that when you see him stream past the
finishing line, clad in some unforgiving spandex.

The turning point, he says, came at age 17, when he began to look for a girlfriend and become self-aware. He started a triathlon training programme, and has kept fit ever since. He’s following in the footsteps of his 60-year-old father, a member of the International Olympic Committee who still
stays in great shape.

“When I see my father, I’m still inspired. Others tell me I am their
role model. I, in turn, see my father as mine,” Bucek says.

Are age and weight factors in becoming a triathlete?
It doesn’t matter if you are middle-aged or overweight. You can start anytime as long as you train properly. It’s got nothing to do with age; it’s more about self-confidence and commitment to the sport. If you are mentally ready, it can be done.

Why are more people leaving the comforts of a gym to try out adventure sports?
Because it’s a quicker way to lose weight. In fact, the fastest way to
get in shape is probably to train for and do a triathlon. In a big fitness
centre, 99 per cent of the time the focus is on weightlifting and not on endurance. Running on a treadmill is boring; you feel like a hamster going nowhere. When you train outdoors, you burn more calories, especially in Hong Kong, as conditions are tough. So, you can burn 40 to 50 per cent more calories.
The humidity, the temperature, the fact that your body is not very comfortable, unlike in a carpeted gym, makes your heart rate go up.

So you never work indoors?
I do workouts with my clients indoors, in a gym. I work on making their muscles stronger. It’s not about building big muscles, but strengthening them.

Do people lose confidence after the initial burst of excitement that comes from starting training?
I’ve never had to push a client; they come in motivated. They train for results, and you can see results quite quickly. They come by themselves, and they train on their own when I’m away. I’ve never had to babysit a client. I want people to love what they do. If they don’t, it’s self destructive. If they do, even if it’s raining, they’ll get the right gear and still train because they’re passionate about the sport.

How often do you train personally?
Whenever I have some free time. Between work assignments, I work out. Early mornings are great for me. I work late hours, but I’m lucky that if I’m training a client, I can do the sport with them. So I’m training all the time. I ride my bike to see my clients. I don’t take a bus or cab. In Hong Kong, that can be very dangerous, but I have no choice. I wear all my safety equipment and pray my instincts are sharp in traffic.

Are Hongkongers in it for vanity or for health?
Both. It’s 50/50. At first, I trained mostly Westerners. That has
changed. I used to train mostly women, and that has changed. Now more local residents, and more men, are coming in. People realise that the body is a
machine, that must be looked after. More do it for health, and they see quick results, which encourages them to keep training.

Is there a motto you follow?
Anything is difficult if you don’t really want to do it. Everything is easy if you have the commitment.

Money no object

The message is clear, simplicity rules the waves
In an age when new and multifunctional is all the rage, the simple Aesir AE + Y phone seems almost quaintly old-tech. It comes with no unlimited apps, no bags of tricks, no appendages and no cybersonic contraptions. It's a phone. Just a phone. Well, with a slightly more exorbitant price tag than most, but in its simplicity, it harks back to a bygone era when telephones were mainly used to talk to people.

The new, long-lasting, chunky gold phone is the creative offspring of Copenhagen-based Aesir. Designer Yves Behar is on record as saying: "Instead of more, we proposed better and longer lasting. In an age when the industry seems to think that phones aren't for speaking anymore, I wanted to focus on the idea of voice, clarity and simplicity."

Aesir founder Thomas Moller Jensen and his crew enlisted specialists, engineers and craftsmen to create the clear-cut, clear-audio contraption with fully replaceable parts. So should time's wear and tear take effect, you can send it back to be fixed - no muss, no fuss.

The phone boasts metalwork in 18-carat gold (or in surgical-grade stainless steel), a sapphire crystal screen that's exceptionally clear even in bright sunlight, and a durable, high-gloss ceramic casing.

It costs HK$436,000 for the gold incarnation. But if that's a bit rich, the handset comes in stainless steel for HK$80,000. It is available at Lane Crawford in gold in December and in stainless steel now.


Byline: P. Ramakrishnan

Behind the label: Moustache

Who started it? Ellis Kreuger (who originally trained as a tailor) and Alex Daye founded Moustache in September 2009, as a bespoke tailoring house. The American designers had arrived from New York with bags full of attire unsuitable for Hong Kong's balmy humidity. First they launched a bespoke menswear service, and two years later they kick-started the label's ready-to-wear collection, intended as a casual, weekend wardrobe for a Hong Kong lifestyle.

Why we love it: because it pays homage to Hong Kong style of the 1960s and 70s, making us nostalgic for a time when the city wasn't dominated by corporate logos and designer duds. In addition to the little shop's idiosyncratic charms, its styles also display a sense of humour. Its shirts and suits are finely crafted, but stand out with their clever mixture of textures and odd splashes of colour. There are also other stylish essentials, such as bespoke shoes from ODM, Geo. F. Trumper colognes, and a boatload of vintage sunglasses and bags from a recent jaunt to Calcutta.

What we'd pick: we love the feel of the cotton corduroy jeans (bottom; HK$1,600) and the square-cut "Prince of Whales" swimming trunks (HK$100) are good fun, but it's hard to beat the impeccably stitched chambray patchwork jacket (below; HK$3,500).

Where can you get it? Moustache is at 31 Aberdeen Street, Central, tel: 2541 1955.


November 20, 2011
By P. Ramakrishnan

Night of Fashion and Style; PK Fashion in HK

When Shahneela Faruqui and Pakistan’s style icon Aliya Zaidi sent out invites to 230 guests in Hong Kong, to showcase the works of designers Rizwan Beyg, Faiza Samee, Ayesha Farook Hashwani, it was an eye-opening event and an education. A look behind the scenes of a thriving fashion community tucked away in a region that gets little international press on what happens behind the glistering seams. So the aptly titled night, An Evening of Fashion and Style, kicked off an elegant evening.

Of the awesome threesome of designers who flew in from Karachi, Beyg is the face of the establishment as his sartorial creations have donned the likes of Jemima Khan and the late Princess Diana, “I got introduced to Lady Diana by Jemima, who’s an old friend. Diana was an amazing model as had the height and such grace. For her I created a pearl-studded outfit – I knew how much she liked pearls – and it was flattering to her complexion,” said the stage-shy designer, who ran off from the spotlight when it hit him at the end of the show. “I wasn’t a fan of the late Princess before, but after meeting her, you can’t help but love her. She was sheer elegance.”

As the international girls from Vivien Li’s Lotus Models hit the catwalk in a an array of multi-coloured creations, Beyg said, “I wish people knew that there is such a thing as a fashion community in Pakistan and we aren’t just making designer burkhas! The couture work, the hand-crafted, embroidered, rich-fabrics and bejeweled items – there’s a world out there.”

At the Aberdeen Marina Club, we saw a few notable faces in the crowd who got glimpse of that sizzling sartorial world, including, Purviz Shroff, Bhagwanti Mohan, Avisha Harilela, Shirley Hiranand, Reyna Harilela, Divia Harilela, Janana Suleymanli, Radhe Chellaram, Harry Banga and Indra Banga among others, who stayed well into the night as a charity auction culminated the evening.

Without question, the star of the night was Aliya Zaidi, aptly supported by her cheering husband Asghar Ali. Said the statuesque former supermodel, “I wanted to showcase the established and the rising stars of the fashion industry from Pakistan. Each outfit we auctioned was picked up – and all the money goes to The Citizens Foundation, a charity that provides education to underprivileged children. Seeing the response, I hope we can do this event every year. Creating awareness, education and a fun, fashionable night out.”

Beauty with a purpose indeed.

By P. Ramakrishnan
(e-mail: ramakrishnanp@hotmail.com)

Behind the label: Eudon Choi

Who started it? Korean-born Eudon Choi started off designing menswear in Seoul. But when the call from the Royal College of Art in London came, he shifted not only his base but his muse and model, as he began to focus on womenswear. Hired as a senior designer at high-street label All Saints, he quickly graduated to becoming a top designer at Sienna Miller's Twenty8Twelve before leaving to start his eponymous label in 2009. Choi says he's inspired by historical photography and vintage garments. Fans include actress Miller and socialite Jade Jagger.

Why we love it: his years spent designing menswear are reflected in most of his ensembles, resulting in a rather masculine silhouette with a feminine flourish. See the uniform collared Garrett shirt (HK$2,980) matched with an embellished Heidi leather wool skirt (both far left; HK$5,780). The clothes exhibit a fine attention to detail with leather used in unusual ways, which in equal measure restrict and accentuate the female form.

What we'd pick: inspired by equestrian paraphernalia, we're all for the clean and strong silhouette of the purple Kat Merino wool top (HK$2,580) and sculptured Tru Merino wool skirt (both top left; HK$2,780) as well as the brooding Linda jacket (HK$7,800) with matching Casey wool mix trousers (both left; HK$3,280).

Where can you get it? Eudon Choi is available at Russell Street, 2/F, 24 Russell Street, Causeway Bay, tel: 2591 1166; www.russell-street.com.

By P.Ramakrishnan
October 30, 2011

No need for these noted and quoted names to queue for the iPhone 4S – it came to them

On Thursday, the line outside the Apple store in IFC Mall snaked all the way outside the shopping centre, as hundreds waited impatiently to grab the iPhone 4S. Had the queuers had the siri function, they could have asked: how do I escape this long queue?

The answer for some of Hong Kong’s most noted and quoted was to gather around the corner at Sevva, where service provider 3HK offered them the new phone hours in advance, in the cushioned comforts of the restaurant. There, at midnight, the hype and hoopla for the Apple product merged at a celebrity-studded soiree.

Andrew and Yvette Yuen, Fanny Sieh, models Janet Ma, Ankie Beilke and the very stylish Kam Kwok-Leung and Wyman Wong Wai-man were among the sea of socialites. It was great to see actress Carol Cheng (aka Do Do Cheng) after a rather brief absence from the spotlight.

But even for this crème de la crème, it wasn’t easy to pick up the new gadget; they all had to do the paperwork for 3HK.

Miu Miu-clad Mira Yeh, filling in forms and signing off papers, said: “I’ve always had an iPhone and am really looking forward to getting my engraved new one. I heard about the siri function, but honestly, I think I’ll use the photo function the most.”

We saw the lovely Cara Grogan, who recently lost her phone, mull over whether to engrave the name of her beloved pet Roxy on her iPhone case or her own surname, while model couple Anthony and Jocelyn Sandstrom were posing for a phalanx of fans determined to be “i-shot” with the leggy twosome.

“What do you think of getting the word syphilis on the back?” asked model/DJ Anthony to his gorgeous wife Jocelyn: “No, Tony, no!” was the firm answer. Behind every successful man …!

By P. Ramakrishnan
(e-mail: ramakrishnanp@Hotmail.com)
Images Courtesy: Occasions