Come
rain or shine, or as the case may be, amber storm warning, nothing
stops the bright sparks of the social circuit from hitting a much
ballyhooed event. The scene; Tazmania Ballroom, the event; launch of yet
another brand, the weather; abysmal. But, the crème de la crème turned
up in full force while it drizzled incessantly for Absolut's big splash,
the launch of their new, premium line of vodka, Absolut Elyx.
Attendees such as Ana R, Charlotte Chen, Elaine Lee, Karena Ng,
Sabrina Ho, Gilbert Yeung, Kennis Tai, model turned actors Carl Ng and
Ankie Beilke, Shirley Hiranand and her awesome motley crew of kids, the
Chellarams (Manolo, Chitra, Manoj) were seen among a sea of faces. We
didn't find any Swedish models in the mix, but we did find the Russian
vodka-luvin' contingency, the ridiculously attractive coupling of Aziz
Rakhimov and fiancé Ekaterina Bogaevskaya (better known as supermodel
Katya) at the event. Popular models-about-town David Oshry and Lenka Korbova tried their own mix of Elyx infused cocktails as the party raged on, oblivious to the spluttering rains.
Elizabeth Forsmen and Richard Webb
Last seen in the action romp “The Viral Factor”, we grabbed actor
Carl Ng for a quote, "I've had the Absolut Elyx before. It's smooth and
easy to drink," he said, while he played with a dry ice holding
contraption that fogged all the drinks on the table. “It’s a great drink
to have neat or as a mixer as its smooth like most grain-based vodka
drinks are. The potato based vodka drinks are different, bit more rough.
Elyx is good stuff.”
The ever-popular man about town, Gordon Lam took to the stage as
emcee for the night as he introduced Xavier Beysecker, Managing Director
of Pernod-Ricard Hong Kong. While we thought 'elyx' was an abbreviation
of some sort for an “elixir”, Beysecker said the ‘Lyx’ derives from the
word “luxury” in Swedish. "Oh you can definitely say its an elixir
too”, he said with a laugh.
For
those in the know, the arrival of Matt Pomeroy from Sweden created a
buzz, the vodka brand's global ambassador took the stage and highlighted
the features of Elyx, all lost in the cacophony of the well-peopled
room.
The evening wrapped up with a pool tournament open to all guests, as
custom-designed Absolut Elyx copper pool ball sets were laid out on all
the pool tables across the room. Beysecker presented the winner with a
1.5 litre bottle and a brand new copper pool set.
Not before long, glasses were raised, toasts were led by Beysecker
and Pomeroy as an acrobatic, aerial dancer took to the floor and cleared
out an area. Between heaven and earth, in perpetual limbo she did her
little routine and at the end, as the waiting staff handed her the newly
designed bottle, she pretzeled herself into different positions and
served shots of the vodka.
Just as any posh bar, sometimes you do have to bend over backwards to get a decent drink.
