The Party Line: My Column

 

TBT: October 2017, I attended 36 events in and around Hong Kong. This year (not month - this year of our lord 2020), I attended two. Protests slowed down events, covid killed it altogether. Obviously 

But sure had fun back in the day writing about the fabulous lives of local and international celebrities, socialites, the new fangled KOLS - key opinion leaders - bloggers, Instagramers and other social media mavens. It was the The Party Line and had the distinct pleasure of calling out badly done events. Which rarely happened TBH. 

https://www.prestigeonline.com/hk?s=The+Party+Line%3A&type=&category=&sort=

TBT: Indians invited to the Met Gala: Isha Ambani, Natasha Poonawala, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra

The Indian Glamazons at the Met Gala are either Bollywood Stars or Heiresses: Meet the million - and billion - dollar babes. 

Check out the full feature at SCMP/Style here. 

The leading ladies of Bollywood get all the press when they land on the red carpet of The Met Gala – but the cynosure of media pundits are often on billion-heiresses; the mega wealthy who fly down on their own private jets for one night only from New Delhi to New York, from Mumbai to the Met.  

The “first Monday of May” is usually reserved in New York as stars of all stripes from around the globe land to walk the biggest red carpet. Earlier this year, rumblings of the pandemic delayed the celebrity studded soiree – on May 19, 2020 the museum released a statement that the gala had been canceled “due to the global health crisis.” Every mononymosly famous jet-setting star had their assistants put their passport and gilded invite away. 

Ostensibly of course, the purpose for the night is to raise funds for The Metropolitan – in 2019 a whopping US$15 million was raised within hours - $3 million more than the year before. At US$35,000 per plate (or full sponsored table ranging from US$200,000 to US$300,000) and a charity performance and auction, each manicured hand in sight is expected to bid not just wave, the invited double as donors (and yes, albeit a tax write-off). 

The gilded invites (with the tacit approval and auspices of Vogue editor Anna Wintour) are regularly couriered from 350 Madison Avenue to Mumbai; to four of its most glittering denizens;  Isha Ambani, Natasha Poonawala, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra. 

 

Health and diet in the Covid era; My feature with holistic dietician Mayuri Punjabi in SCMP: myeurekalife

My feature on Mayuri Punjabi is out this morning in South China Morning Post; 

Why clients rave about weight-loss coach who takes mind-and-body approach to shedding the kilos, with fasting at its core. Read it all here.

You can follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/myeurekalife/ 

The paper didn't have enough room for the addendum; here are a few healthy, easy tips she had

• Stop snacking - you don’t need to eat eight times a day, and should allow your digestive system a rest in between meals. 
• Do not drink liquids during your meals as it causes the digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid in your stomach to dilute, which makes it weaker and slows down the digestion process. This can lead to bloating and general discomfort. Therefore, drink liquids 30 minutes before and after a meal, not during.   
• Never compromise on your sleep. Seven to nine hours of sleep is required Those that say, “sleep is for the weak”, are seriously mistaken.   
• Learn to read labels and pay close attention to the ingredients list. The ingredient that is listed first is the most present, in terms of quantity. It is important to look out for ways in which sugar can sneak its way into ingredients lists, especially when masked under scientific terminology.  
• Trust your body to communicate and tell you what works and what doesn’t. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon of the next fad, as it may not be right for you. We are an evolved species and have done so without any fad diets or supplements. 
• AVOID:  
• Vegetable Oils: sounds healthy but deceptively so, they contain very high levels of polyunsaturated fats that slow down your metabolism, disrupt your hormones, impair digestion and accelerate ageing. Instead try to replace them with traditional fats like Ghee, Lard, Duck Fat, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil and Coconut Oil.  
• Sugar: try and avoid sugar, both natural and artificial, as when it is added to make a product taste sweeter, you should be wary!    
• Processed food; any ingredient list that is a page long, esp junk and fast foods: avoid eating anything in a bottle, jar with more chemicals than food.  
• Don’t use the phrase “cheat days”, I try to steer clear of that term because it sounds like we are doing something wrong that should result in some sort of punishment. Balance is key! 

The Internet: Cat pics

Three weeks to write a cover feature and get nominal clicks. One post of the cat - suddenly its clickbait bonanza. 

The wild wild west of the world wide web. 

Why Netflix’s Paava Kadhaigal – a shocking anthology about honour killings starring Anjali and part-directed by Gautham Menon – is set to be a game changer in Indian cinema

Often reduced to gory headlines, the reality of honour killings is not a traditional topic for Indian movie-makers – Paava Kadhaigal sees four accomplished directors address the tricky topic

Read my entire feature here at SCMP. com 

TBT: A glamorous shoot with Hong Kong KOL Utah Lee: Diamonds, gowns.... and a pool!

 Loved working with Utah Lee. 

Shot by Ruby Law.

Outfit from S Nine by Susanna Soo and diamonds by Butani... 

Interior Designer Ilse Crawford: A Mall Story

 

How well do you know Ilse Crawford? The interior designer tells us about her pet peeves, takes us through her latest project in Shanghai’s Plaza 66 mall and her favourite city.

More in Prestige magazine. 

#InteriorDesigner #Interior #Designer

Postscript: One of my favourite interviews, felt I learned so much while talking to this brilliant lady.