Haute Couture

During our World wide Fashion team meeting, my collegue based in Paris came in to do a presentation on Brands. She explained how difficult it is for a true luxury brand to balance between (1) maintaining the brand's image and heritage, and (2) renewing itself to evolve with modern times so it can always be fresh and set the trend. A brand is always constantly looking for ways to connect to the customers with their own uniqueness which won the hearts and following of these customers in the first place.

She did a case study on Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton. It was a great presentation and intrigued me to further research on what these brands are all about. I ran across a BBC documentary on the internet named "The Secret World of Haute Couture." Haute Couture, according to Wikipedia, is a French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking," and refers to the creative of exclusive custom-fitted fashions. Apparently, there is a group of very very rich women who would make it a seasonal event to attend all the fashion shows by the most famous designers and then purchase that special piece. It will be only one produced in the world, custom-fitted to the buyer, of course. A blouse will normally costs $10,000 and a dress can $300,000 or upwards to $1 Million. Now, this is CRAZY!! Anyways, the BBC documentary is really interesting and worth a view if you have time.

Not branded!

Most often times than not, I feel that I'm working in the wrong industry. My Company is a retailer that only sells high-end products and nothing less. And when I say high-end products, I mean luxury goods that common folks could only aspire to buy but couldn't afford...brand names like Christian Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, and the list goes on and on. I am surrounded by brand names left and right, where a nice handbag costs at least $700, and a really nice one more than $3,000.

We recently sold a diamond-studded Hermes bag for $84,000 to a Black cardmember. Yes, it is crazy. Why would anyone spend so much for a handbag? Or a jacket? A watch for that matter? Well, obviously, someone understands why. They are our customers. They appreciate the brand names. I, on the other extreme end of the spectrum, am just a low-key gal who is (in present tense) never into brand names... I love simplicity and quite frankly, a good deal. I don't understand luxury. I don't understand brand names. To me, the handbags are just an item, a SKU on the selling reports, and nothing more.

In fact, I don't even register what is "expensive" anymore. The other day, my collegue showed me a cute Chloe Lizard Paddington handbag and told me that the bag retails for $2,500. And my first response, "Only? Wow, what a deal!" In real life, I would NEVER imagine myself buying a $2,500 bag. But yet, I think at work, $2,500 seems like nothing. Money is no object. This dual reaction separates the "real me" and the "me at work." I find it odd... It's not reality.

Lowell High School Drama Class

On Sunday, SQ and I went to support Lowell High School's drama class's production of Les Miserables. It was weird stepping foot on my alma mater after so many years. I think I haven't never back to Lowell since I graduated, which is eh-em, 15 years ago! Although I only walked around the auditorium area, much of it was what I last remembered it to be. For example, the murals on the auditorium (aka Carol Channing Theater) were exactly the same. In fact, some of the paintings are still so vivid in my head. I remembered it. It was so odd - a feeling hard to describe. The courtyard is still the same - the same old benches - and same concrete walkway from the cafeteria to the library (where all the performances/events were held). Mann, it brought back a lot of memories...not good nor bad memories -- just the time spent there.

I was actually quite impressed with the Les Mis production! For a non-professional production, the set was nicely done. Majority of the students sang and acted beautifully -- and it was a 3 hour show!!! The orchestra also performed well! There were no shortcuts whatsoever. I thought it was excellent...and really have to give these students a big kudos for a job well done! Sunday was the last show (they did 4 total). The lower section of the auditorium was entirely filled. The upper section was empty. So my initial guess is that there must be more than 1,000 people. Tickets were only $10, so I guess it was worth the money - and a great way to show some support. At least these students are doing something positive.

Thai Massage

I went with my sisters to a Thai massage place this Saturday. We went to Suchada Thai Massage on King St. between 7th and 8th in San Francisco. It's a small, quaint place, but nicely decorated and clean. 1 hour traditional massages were only $60! What a deal! Compared to some of the other massages I've been to, $60 is really a good price.

I had my first Thai massage in Thailand, and I loved it. The good thing about Thai massages is that they don't use oils - but rather, the masseuse concentrates on pressure points and moving your body through the art of Yoga stretches. It is actually very comfortable...I especially like the hand and feet massages! They are the best!!

Lee Kum Kee Sauces

People often assume that because my husband is a better cook than I, he cooks. The truth is that I cook 4 days of the week. Once a week we go back to my parents' place and during the weekends, we go out to eat. In fact, my husband rarely cooks.
I am not a good cook, but I am able to put decent, edible meals on the table. I admit, a lot of times, I cheat. I take short cuts. I only do stir-frys and use prepared sauces. Thank goodness for prepared sauces!! In our world filled with long work days, I have no shame in using prepared sauces! One of my all time favorite is Lee Kum Kee's "Sauce for Fried Cod Fillet." It's a dark, soy-based sweet sauce. It is excellent for a lot of meats, but I like to use it with Sea Bass. It is super-easy!

After cleaning up the sea bass (I like to remove the skin & scales), lightly salt the fillet. Pan-fried in low heat until done. Remove sea bass onto a plate. Heat up the LKK sauce & add in green onions. Pour sauce over sea bass. And OMG! You have the BEST-tasting sea bass ever! It's delicious and the good news is that it NEVER fails! Better news is that you don't have to worry about how much sauce to use. The pouch is enough for 1 meal. No measuring at all!! All that convenience for only 89 cents. Genius!

P.S. I'll share more cheats later on!

Wild Parrots in San Francisco?

Since his new job is near Levi's Plaza, SQ told me that he "finally" saw the parrots today. I said "what are you talking about?" Apparently, even though I considered myself a San Francisco native, I didn't know that there are wild parrots living on Telegraph Hill in SF. I wikipedia'ed it and surely, there is a flock of Red-masked parakeets proved to be living there. They are probably descendants from escaped or released pets as this breed is originally from Peru or Educador. In fact, this homeless failed musician named Mark Bittner who fed and documented the parrots for over 6 years became an overnight hero, writer, and the subject of a documentary called "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005)." Interesting. Very interesting. Everday, I learn something new about this beautiful city I live in.

Macau

SQ and I took the ferry to Macau from Hong Kong China City in Kowloon. We got deluxe seats since the economy class seats were sold out. Upon arriving in Macau, we decided to hire a pedicab (aka a trishaw). The man pedaled to the more famous landmarks of Macau. We stopped by a few of them to take pictures. We visited the new Lisboa Casino, the Macau Tower, A-Ma Temple, and the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral just to name a few. New Lisboa Casino


The facade of St. Paul's Cathedral

There is something about Macau that I don't like. The air is polluted. The City is divided into the rich Stanley Ho family and everyone else. The casinos remind me of a cross between of Reno and Atlantic City. It tries too hard to be like Vegas, but just lacks the grandeur. We didn't get to go to the Venetian in Cotai - there may be our miss since I heard it is very upscale and huge. The gamblers there are very "mainland Chinese" so the atmosphere in these casinos comes with the throat clearing and the constant spitting. That never ceases to exist.


Overall thoughts: not impressed. Been there, done that. Time to move on.

Elements Mall in Hong Kong

My friend/co-worker, Sylvia brought SQ and me to check out Elements Mall when we were in Hong Kong. I was thoroughly impressed! This mall was built in conjunction with the MTR Company. The MTR Kowloon station is connected to the mall. It is, by far, one of the most luxurious malls I have seen. The mall has the most prestiguous brand lineup such as Prada, Gucci, Cartier, you name it. They even have an IWC boutique! Impressive! Of course, SQ, being the Architect he is, even noticed that the building materials were first class. This mall puts our little SF Center to shame. The mall itself is gigantic - separately into 5 wings : Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. They have beautiful sculptures representing these 5 elements. Sorry, I didn't take these pictures... courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Wood
Water
Fire

"Village" as I sound, even the restrooms were impressive! They are all nice, clean, and big! They have a cleaning lady inside to make sure the amenities are well stocked. And as you step outside between the Mens & Womens restrooms, there is a comfy seating area filled with newpapers & magazines AND an automated shoe-shine machine. How great is that?!

My favorite store though is a hip grocery store called ThreeSixty. They have a good selection of everything - including cooked food to go. They even have a booth specialized in selling bottled "leung cha." What a novel idea! Love it, love it, love it! Everything about this mall fascinates me although I must say that it's really meant for rich folks. Everything is the on pricier side, but it's definitely worth the time & the mile of window shopping!