LIZA VIRTUAL WORLD

Recently, I went out to Cyberport to support Rock Raiser- an outdoor rock festival featuring local and Beijing-based indie rockers. Rockraiser was supposed to happen last year but sadly it was rained out- even after they had already flown in all the bands. The organizers brought the same exact line-up here again this year but somehow, this time around, the PR for the event didn’t create as big of a buzz as it did last year. Hence when I got to Cyberport, though it was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon, the place seemed fairly quiet. There were however a few music veterans there such as Quan Yeomans of Regurgitator who came not to perform but to enjoy the performances. The crowd became more enthusiastic as the more well known bands came out to play.

Not too long ago, I purchased a fixer upper in SoHo in one of those old walk-up buildings. Actually it’s not one, but two flats side by side, with an external private rooftop as large as the two flats put together. The flats were gutted and the internal walls are about to be demolished creating one big open space of about 800 square feet. The challenge now is to create a modern flat with great space-efficiency where two crappy little antiquated flats previously existed.

The greatest thing about summer in Hong Kong is it lasts way into October. In fact, September and October are the best months to soak up golden rays, sip rose on a terrace and get a deeper shade of brown. South Bay Beach Club, for example, is a perfect spot for sundowners. They have lounge-y DJs at sunset every weekend.

The first time I hiked out to this beautiful beach in the New Territories called Tai Long Wan, I was awed by the verdant scenery and stunned at how crystal clear the ocean looked from afar. However, when we got to the beach, we realized how filthy it actually was. There were bottles, lighters, action figures, condoms, syringes and loads of other waste and debris! How could human beings create such litter in such a pristine setting?

I was really excited last Thursday because pop-star Katy Perry was going to perform in Tsim Sha Tsui at the Mira Hotel grand opening party. The Mira hotel used to be and old school hotel called The Miramar. (When I say old school, I mean Old School- the logo of the Miramar was straight out of the 60’s!) Well- despite it’s awesome location in the heart of the TST shopping and tourist district, The Miramar was getting a bit dusty so recently the place was completely renovated, given a slick new look and a new lease on life!

The Mira Party was a super glam event- TST-style- with crystal chandeliers, curtains made with silver beads and towers of delicious finger food, cheese and desserts! YUMMM! The crowd consisted mostly of Kowloon-side luminaries, local celebrities, the gay elite, some teenagers (huh?), and naturally a corporate element. There seemed to be a smattering of older men in suits -investors no doubt.

As soon as my plane landed from lazy days detoxing in Ko Samui, it was time to recalibrate to the fast pace of Hong Kong life. I sometimes feel like when I’m in Hong Kong it’s like I’m getting into a Porsche, strapping on my seatbelt and kicking it up to the highest gear possible. Pedal to the metal, zero to 200 in 2 seconds flat. It’s EXHAUSTING but luckily, at times, loads of fun.

I got swept up in a social tornado during the Mastercard Luxury fashion week which took place at the ballroom of the Four Seasons hotel. There were fashion shows and the respective cocktails to attend everyday. There was Shanghai Tang, Diane Von Furstenburg, Betsey Johnson, Tod’s.

At the Dorian Ho show, which was sponsored by Miele, well-heeled tai-tais were wearing ball gowns in the middle of the afternoon! Why not? Welcome to Hong Kong! Later on the same evening, the luxury lingerie brand, La Perla, put on a provocative show for an audience comprised mainly of successful men who could afford to buy La Perla for their lovers. Most just came to ogle models in lingerie but hey, who can blame them?!

Sometimes I feel like the only way to deal with life in Hong Kong is to get out at least once every two months. Most expats would agree with me. Hong Kong is so small, sometimes it feels like a suffocating little village where everyone knows everyone and you can’t walk two blocks without seeing your ex on a date with one of your friends.  It’s the same places, the same faces and it can get tiresome.

Great thinkers, writers and speakers don’t come to Hong Kong very often so I recently jumped on the chance to attend a seminar held by Malcolm Gladwell’s, author of The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers. Malcolm takes social phenomena, makes a hypothesis about how these things came to be and illustrates his points brilliantly through historical vignettes which back his thesis.

His Hong Kong talk was based on his bestselling book “The Tipping Point”. This book talks about what kinds of people start trends (mavens, connectors and salespeople) and how one event or a series of small events ‘reframe’ a product or service causing it to catch on like wildfire.

Why does it seem like every time someone throws a big outdoor event in the summer here that’s there’s a typhoon or black rain? Case in point- last weekend, the Hed Kandi pool party in Macau was blasted out by a typhoon 8.

All week long, the weather was forecast to be hot and sunny. It was hazy but dry for the earlier part of the day. The ferry ride over was fine and we started getting happy on beers. When we got there, the pool party had just kicked off. There were people in the pool floating in big inflatable Havaiana sandals and the cabanas were stocked with champagne, belvedere and wine. I never knew there were so many muscle heads in Hong Kong. It almost seemed like all the guys had gone to the gym and pumped up their muscles beforehand.

Last Thursday I woke up bleary-eyed at 6am. I don’t usually rise at the crack of dawn but I was on my way to the BNI breakfast meeting, a business networking and referral group. I'd heard great things about BNI and was curious to see exactly how this referral service worked. Since the new hiphongkong has recently launched, I figured I’d go see how I could expand my network.