Cocktail Parties and Presents

Lots of little happy tidbits for this post.  Yesterday, I went to the fourth anniversary of Mischa bags held at The Space in Sheung Wan.  I own one of these bags and now that Lane Crawford has picked up the line, I am seeing more and more of these bags on the streets of Hong Kong.  The pattern is very distinct and the designer picks vivid, contrasting colors so they are easy to spot from afar.  The party was also sponsored by Travel & Leisure and had a travel theme, so there were fun little touches in the gallery space.

This read, "Dreaming of traveling the world?"  Um, Yes!  My tag was for Penang and Langkawi.  I'm currently a little bit preoccupied/focused/obsessed with Malaysia.

Australia, Canada and South America get no love on this map.  Ouch.

I also went to a launch party for Melez at the Boom Gallery in Sheung Wan tonight, but did not have a camera so didn't take any snaps.  The space was cool, with lots of mounted pictures of Hong Kong.  They varied in range from dense city-scapes like Mongkok (apparently the most densely populated area in the world by certain measures) to Causeway Bay to old buildings and alleyways throughout Kowloon and Sheung Wan.  Looking at the pictures of dense buildings, neon lights, old tenement houses, vintage Chinese signs and the juxtaposition of old and new and shabby and flashy, I decided that Hong Kong is an urban photographer's dream.  I'm so happy we had a chance to live here.

Michael and I also went out to celebrate my birthday tonight.  We enjoyed two kinds of hotpot soup base and various dishes, including marbled hand cut beef, fresh shrimp (they were still alive!), deep fried taro, tofu, vermicelli, and vegetables.

The shrimp were so fresh they moved their legs every so often.

Before - admittedly a silly picture.  But so much food!

After: completely stuffed.  And happy.

One notable thing about this hotpot place is that they serve Spam!  It is labeled "lunch meat" in Mandarin on the menu.  How fun.

And then, I came home to open my presents!

The cup of green liquid is fresh, cold sugar cane juice - another one of my presents!

Other than this busy social calendar of attending launch and cocktail parties (apparently par for the course in holiday-happy Hong Kong), I also came home yesterday to a lovely bouquet of flowers that made me so happy - because they were bright and cheery (how can flowers not make one happy?), but probably more so because they were for me, for just because!

Yay Michael.

My sister sent me a soft padded package from Thailand, which I opened to discover a colorful, comfortable kaftan-like dress that she bought at a co-op in Ubon.  I immediately tried it on.  It's perfect and I'm already imagining myself sunning in it by the pool in Bali.

Michael got me a cast iron teapot, a just darling little maroon/purple thing, with little flowers (like sakura) carved all over it.  I had mused in passing that for the amount of green tea we had and the amount of loose leaf tea that I drink, it's kind of funny that I don't have a proper teapot.  Well, this addresses the issue, and in a most stylish and authentic way.  It is a Nambu Tekki, handcrafted in Japan, using a technique developed over hundreds of years.  Like with cast iron pans, the iron in this teapot is supposed to be absorbed naturally and gradually into the body through the preparation and steeping of the tea.   The teapot is so cute.  I love it and it is just perfect.

Despite being busier at work this week, I have to say, all of these events have been enough to make a girl feel like she will burst with happiness!