Archive for January 2012

Water World

On a recent Thursday evening, guests of The Peak and Omega were treated to a private launch of the Seamaster Planet Ocean. A smart, sharp crowd of timepiece connoisseurs gathered at the Omega boutique in the Pavilion Shopping Mall in Kuala Lumpur to get up close and personal with Planet Ocean, powered by Omega’s formidable Co-Axial calibre. They were welcomed by Editor-in-Chief of The Peak Malaysia, Diana Khoo and Omega Malaysia’s Vice-President, Joseph Anthony Boudville. Over a delightful cocktail reception accented by inventive canapés and jazzy strains from saxophonist Rashad Othman, guests had the leisure to pour over this stunning new range of horology – a collection which boasts 46 references, every one of them carrying a four-year warranty as a testament to its enduring Co-Axial heart.

Fantasy Island

It was Mark Twain who said: “You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.” Standing ankle-deep in pristine white sand, with a glorious view of the sparkling Indian Ocean before me, I find myself admiring what the great author himself must have seen when he penned those words in his travelogue, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World, over a century ago. Spread out before me is a snapshot right out of a holiday brochure, only the work of art is that of nature’s and not the tricks of a photo-editing software.

Manila Moments

In the Philippines’s capital city, the curious mash of colonialism, local cultures and modernism delivers a flavoursome cultural experience unlike any other in South-East Asia. Kenneth Tan looks at how Manila’s melange can charm the weary soul.

As Time Goes By

It’s a cool morning in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, and a small crowd of people have assembled at the Grand Hyatt’s pool house on the seventh level. The scene is quietly buzzing and, everywhere, people are moving in and out, carrying bottles or even supervising the delivery and movement of crates. It looks as if an auction is about to take place but, no, it is, in fact, a special wine re-corking clinic initiated by Penfolds, one of Australia’s greatest and bestknown wineries. Many might ask just what exactly a re-corking clinic is. Simply put, it is where bottles of old wine are brought in, just like patients to a clinic or hospital, and assessed on their general well-being. “We decided to call it a clinic as it works along the same lines. You come in, have your state of health assessed by the doctor and, if need be, you get escorted to surgery,” laughs Peter Gago, Chief Winemaker at Penfolds for the past eight years and custodian of its iconic Penfolds Grange, a wine listed by the National Trust of South Australia as a Heritage Icon.

Under One Roof

There’s a sense of camaraderie in the room that’s reminiscent of a bunch of old friends at a dinner table. Inside jokes, risqué banter and good-humoured ribbing were the assortment of interactions that took place when the six executive committee members of Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA) Youth were placed in the same room. The six comprised REHDA Youth chairman Chan Kin-Meng, 34, its deputy chairman Sam Tan, 31, and exco members Carrie Fong, 33, James Tan, 32, Ng Choon Keith, 27, and Wong Wen Chet, 29. They, together with Teo Chui Ping, Executive Director of 1 Utama, form the REHDA Youth exco committee – a nascent grouping of property developers who are forging a successful model of industry cooperation.

The Beauty Of Arrangement

In the metropolis that is Shanghai, the night’s iridescence serves as a reminder of why the world’s attention is riveted onto this corner of the globe. There’s a constant throbbing energy (expatriates call it a place to party eight days a week), and its estimated population of 19.2 million indicates the vastness and complexities of this cityscape.

All this, however, was quite easily condensed into three easy pages of information in Vertu’s City Brief of Shanghai. To help the first-time visitor settle quickly into the swing of things, City Brief provides insider tips on how to dress, the dos and don’ts of local culture, places to eat (Wei Jing Ge at Waldorf Astoria with clients, Madison and Alchemist Cocktail Kitchen with locals), meet (M1NT for late nights), shop (Th e Villa on Taojiang Lu), relax (Th e spa at the Puli Hotel) and the essentials (visiting the top of the Shanghai World Financial Centre). And, when in doubt, the Vertu Concierge can very easily step in, with its global network of lifestyle managers who straddle all major time zones and proficient in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese.

In The Valley Of Giants

Silicon Valley came to Malaysia recently with StartupMalaysia.org – an initiative that aims to inspire, catalyse and launch the next generation of high-growth entrepreneurs in Malaysia. During a two-day conference, Malaysian entrepreneurs interacted with the bright minds that pioneered the stratospheric growth of their companies in the fabled valley. Among the names picked to represent more than USD40 billion (RM130 billion) worth of companies from the Silicon Valley were Jawed Karim, who co-founded YouTube, Jeff Hoff man, who co-founded Priceline, and Naval Ravikant, who created investor community AngelList.

A Matter Of Space

In Singapore’s Arts District on Bencoolen Street, a stone’s throw from the Singapore Art Museum, Space’s multiplex comprises a glass building conjoined with two heritage units, unusual and yet entirely necessary as this leading luxury contemporary lifestyle resource (no longer just a furniture retailer) launches its biggest initiative to cater to its growing clientele.

There’s a definite sense of design appreciation the minute one steps foot into the SGD50million (RM122.5 million) Space Asia Hub. At this gallery of furniture design, familiar names and iconic pieces float about in quiet repose: B&B Italia/Maxalto, Carl Hansen & Son, Cassina, Driade, Emeco, Flexform, Flexform Mood, Flos, Fritz Hansen, Giorgetti, Kartell, Moooi, Poliform, Varenna by Poliform and Vitra. If that was a mouthful, imagine now the various products by each brand available in this massively large 40,000 sq ft area.

The Next Chapter

The most enduring stories are those about the connections between friends, tales that talk of shared histories, discoveries and triumphs. In the case of French brand Diptyque, the story is even more compelling; it’s a tale scented with character and style, and flickers of nostalgia. In 1961, three friends – Christiane Montadre-Gautrot, Desmond Knox-Leet and Yves Coueslant – embarked on a project that would shape their lives and launch a lifestyle, beginning modestly with the opening of a shop at 34 Boulevard Saint-Germain, on Paris’s Bohemian Left Bank. The trio decided on the name Diptyque as the twofold windows at their eponymous store resembled a ‘diptych’, better known as a classic two-fold painting.

The Slithering Ring

Egyptian pharaohs adorned their crowns with upright snakes as symbols of sovereignty or royalty. Some of the myths surrounding these elegant but deadly reptiles hint at possible explanations: snakes have been depicted throughout Greek and Indian mythology as fiercely protective guardians, while the Chinese zodiac portrays them as strong, calm and purposeful.

DeGem astutely captures these characteristics in an unusual ring of two entwined snakes, with black and round diamonds giving their coiled lengths an alluring sparkle. The two heads, respectively, hold a 0.81-carat diamond and a 1.46-carat Paraiba tourmaline that dazzle with appropriate majesty. Fluidity in design delivers an animation so realistic that it would come as little surprise should the snakes actually move.