Browsing through the New York Times (link to article) the other day brought some saddening news, something so potentially life changing, not just for New Yorkers but for any citizen of the world who has fallen in love with New York City at some point in their life, whether because of a favourite movie (You’ve Got Mail and The Devil Wears Prada amongst others) or a favourite tv series (Friends and Sex and the City comes to mind) and have seen these cars trawl the streets of New York in all fabulousness…

Ford is phasing out the Crown Victoria and the Lincoln Town Car. The former has been seen in every single movie and tv series set in New York as that ubiquitous Yellow Cab that the characters are trying to hail (and fail to hail). I have always wondered why they always shout out the word “taxi!” when in all likelihood the taxi driver won’t be able to hear the words shouted.

New York City Cab

If you click on the link on the picture, you will see all the options in taxi cabs you now have when in the city of New York. Most are greener cars than the Crown Victoria and that is the way legislation and public policy are going today, less gas guzzling, more miles per gallon (or kilometres per litre) even if it is at the expense of roomy boot space and legroom. But really when I think about it, the large legroom is really great, just as when you compare the puny Saga taxis you find in Malaysia and the old but roomy Hong Kong taxis (interestingly also a Crown – the Toyota Crown Comfort).

The Town Car on the other hand, is a symbol of luxury, a well known sight nontheless even if not many ever got to sit in one, myself included. Gone are the dreams of ever sitting in one though if it truly gets phased out and the limo companies go in search of other alternatives like the Benzes and BMWs, which are actually popular cars for people rich enough to afford drivers in most of South East Asia.

What will the next New York City icon be? I wonder…

I picked up this book from a fellow Book Club member on our book exchange day, trading books for summer reading. I have to admit that part of the reason I chose this over many other books was the title and if you’re anyone who loved any of Jane Austen’s books, you are going to be attracted by it somehow.

The premise of the book is simple, a single girl in New York, albeit a rather boring and unexciting kind of girl with a career modeled after Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail, after getting hounded by her best friend to go to Mexico for a wild party trip decides on a whim to go to England on a Literature Tour of Jane Austen country. Even the description the bookstore receives makes it remarkably similar to the Shop Around The Corner. Coupled with all the borrowing from Pride and Prejudice, settings, characters, story and all, the remains that are original to Ms Potter and this book is sadly rather lacking.

Continue reading »

The Debutante by Kathleen Tessaro


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was drawn to this book primarily because of the cover and if not for it, I would never have heard of Kathleen Tessaro, period. The pink and black with its bling bling high heels, appealed to the girly side of me immediately.

The book has very interesting setting and a like-able lead, I found the characters a little underdeveloped overall and as such you don’t really grow to root for one or the other. But, the story makes up for it, written in a very light way with a touch of grit with all the dark side of the partying high roller world. I liked her style of writing and it was excellent storytelling.

The story starts in London in the office of Deveraux and Diplock, Valuers and Auctioneers of Quality where the firm’s owner, Rachel Deveraux is sending her long standing employee, Jack Coates off to an English estate in the country on a valuing job with her niece Cate who has recently (and mysteriously) returned from New York. A simple and innocent set up to begin with and the description of this amazing and intriguing old home called Endsleigh thrown in with this opening to the book draws readers in.

Each of the characters has a back story that comes out in time, though I found them a very basic in development, enough to get you interested in them but not quite so much that you wince with them, cry with them or cheer for them. For its purposes, it is sufficient I suppose.

This lack of space for these living characters may be due to the space given to the non-living characters which are included by way of a letter from Baby Blythe to her sister at the beginning of each chapter. Her story begins when Cate finds a shoe box in a locked room and kept it to herself, commencing on a journey of discovery. I found the letters very interesting although a tad disconnected, but their inclusion is what made this book special.

For an almost mystery and light romance, the book did its very best and gave its best turn. I will definitely pick up another of her books if I ever come across them but at the moment, they are not so great that I will go in search for another of her work.

If not for the wonderful invention that is the iPhone, the great app that is Stanza and the great idea that is Project Gutenberg and of course some idle time spent on trains in many a country, I would probably never have ever picked this book off any bookshelf to read. Ever since I found Emma too bold a volume to complete I have been a little wary of anything thicker than Northanger Abbey, but an electronic volume belies no clue as to a book’s thickness and thus I commenced my reading.

Mansfield Park, published in 1814 is considered Austen’s most ambitious work, a work that shows her maturity in place of the gayness of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. For this, the heroine is now the quiet member of the set instead of the most vivacious and outgoing. I found that Fanny Price needs some time for the reader to warm up to due to the nature of her person as described in the story, after all the quiet and timid of a group is seldom the first to gain the notice and friendship of others no matter how well their uprightness and goodness.

Edmund, on the other hand is a well liked character from the beginning of his kindness to Fanny even though he does not reciprocate her love till the end. His good character and strong sense of responsibility stood him in good stead throughout the book even when he was at his most silly and being in love with Mary, deluding himself as to what she really is like.

This story is wonderfully told and I really enjoyed reading it from beginning to end, even staying up late to devour it for two nights in a row. I confess I rather thought the ending might be different until the sudden development as the story took quick turns and twists right at the very end and ended up very differently from what I thought it would be just a few chapters before. The changes are pleasant of course and I do not complain although I rather hoped it could have been developed slower and gave me some time to enjoy the pleasant turn in events.

A recommended read for anyone who liked her other movies or books and do not find the language too tough to understand and the social bits of it too puzzling to grasp.

Advertisement for the opening of Duddell St Store

I recently came across an interesting recruitment advertisement for Starbucks Coffee Asia-Pacific in the 15th May edition of the Classified Post (page 38). Starbucks are seeking design directors and manager to lead their design teams in a bid to…

“ensure that newly opened and renovated outlets reflect the character of their neighbourhoods”.

In a picture printed with the short article, a store with what looks like Chinese looking dark coloured wooden chairs and green sofas are in place instead of their usual light coloured wooden chairs and purplish brown sofas. It doesn’t say where the store is but it could be anywhere from China to Korea to Hong Kong.

Seeing this reminded me of one of their earlier joint venture with Graphic Airlines and G.O.D. for the Duddell Street store in Central, Hong Kong.

I only discovered the innards of this store several months after I first spied it from the street and loved the entrance way. It has got a very European feel to its entrance, a small bridge leading to the door from the middle of a staircase. From which you can see comfortable looking settees and sofas through the large bay window but if you do not look closely, the Bing Sutt setting at the rear part of the store is not obvious from beyond.

The artwork pictured was donated by Graphic Airlines for an auction and is no longer in-store. The theme of the auction was “Life Happens Over Coffee”.

The rest of the store, as designed by G.O.D. is still there and for the location, some reviews and loads of pictures taken by other foodies, Open Rice has a page on the Duddell St Store.

I personally have never tried the specials in the store because the few times I’ve been there so far, they are either out of stock or I am still full from a prior meal. But, it is worth it to note that they are the only Starbucks, even in all of Hong Kong, to serve a special trio that consists of an Egg Tart, a Pineapple Bun, Chicken Bun – all coffee flavoured though reviews suggests that the coffee flavouring is very mild and is nearly undetectable.

Starbucks Bing Sutt Special

Picture courtesy of a fellow food enthusiast called V3F from Open Rice! =D

After the book club meeting last Saturday, some of the girls headed off to the TimeOut Wine Walk. An outing that they have been planning for. I figured that it’d be a good induction outing into what these ladies usually do on a book club meeting day because apparently, their book club brunch always extends till dinner where people come come and go at various times according to their schedule.

On this particular day, I and a few others stayed till just before dinner and some other person showed up for dinner. Kathy and I arrived at Star Street after a trip to a bookstore and a short tram ride in search of the girls who went ahead of us. All we see are loads of people carrying a glass of wine walking about looking like they are already drunk in the middle of the day and no sign of the girls!

Fortunately, we found them after 10 minutes.

We started our journey from the bottom of the hill, Kathy and I bought a full glass of red at $40 while the girls got their taste with the little WineWalk Passport. The two of us agree that the full glass is definitely worth more than the $300 they paid for the passport to taste wines at all the establishments for the taste is like pitifully little, but then, it is for charity so… (in aid of The Women’s Foundation).

With our glasses in tow (sorry Slims!) we went off to the next bar and discovered that – they RAN OUT of wine, and guess what? So did the next bar… What the?!? They are understandably hopping mad, I am chilling out sipping my glass of red.

Our next three stops turned out better and I am definitely going back to 1/5 Nuevo and Cinecitta for dinner or drinks some other day. Especially Cinecitta, which according to one of the girls shows old Italian movies on some days, I just don’t know which days and how often they do so.

View from St Francis St

After coursing our way through that area, we headed down towards St Francis St, where people queued on staircases and on that slope of a road. The places were small, tiny really, so there was no reason to stay on just because there wasn’t any space for us to loiter in!

We push onwards to Ship Street, a quaint little street with a really old card printing company that looks like it belongs in another decade, also the scene where I tested out my brand new iPhone app by taking this picture. Here’s a comparison between normal camera and app results…

Yin Yang, Ship Street, Wan Chai

The last two stops, Ovologue and The Pawn really impressed me. Together with 1/5 Nuevo and Cinecitta, I am by now fully convinced that this was not a wasted venture, for I discovered many amazing places that I would like to visit again!

Anyways, back to the main topic. Ovologue served up sangria, of which I got a free glass from the bartender who wouldn’t accept payment from me, yay! A light sangria later, we headed up to The Pawn, found a couch and stuck our butts in there for a bit. Where I continued on my shooting spree…

Various takes with the iPhone @ The Pawn

The day ended at Tastings, but I shall keep that for another post, for another time… but book club ladies, you guys sure rock!

Posted from Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

David Nicholls' One Day

This is the first time I am reading David Nicholls and probably would never have if not for the Book Club that I have recently joined. So that’s one of the aims of joining a book club fulfilled! (The idea is to join a book club so I would be ‘forced’ to read books that I would otherwise never have thought to read or never even picked up or noticed.)

The first thing that strike me as very unique is the concept behind the book, the one day in a year over a span of 20 years or so is a really amazing idea. The story is woven tightly at the beginning and one doesn’t feel as if one is losing out over what went on in the character’s lives the rest of the year but I feel that it starts to come apart a little at the end, I began to wonder over certain things that weren’t mentioned again a year later or ever again.

Since the story started two decades ago, it gave a good perspective on a London and Edinburgh (and the British life) that I never knew and would never have if not for books and stories. He chronicled the changes in society when he chronicled the changes in Emma and Dexter’s lives, going from protesting young adults to adults wondering why the university students don’t form picket lines and protest anymore.

Interestingly, I found Emma a bit of a paradox, seemingly rebellious yet lacking in self-confidence. I find that I cannot agree with the author’s rendering of her personality as it just feels as if it doesn’t fit. Unless of course, the protesting and grand ideas were just words that was never going to be put into action, then yes, Emma seems like… well, Emma.

Dexter, on the other hand, is such a classic entertainment industry party animal, good looking kid. The partying in England is admittedly, way more out of hand than any I could’ve imagined (probably the same in LA or NYC though) and the drugs and alcohol bit, oh-so-London! The one thing I wished was that he be written as showing just that bit more spine and realisation (with remission) of his own faults in bits earlier in the story instead of miraculously being cured in 3 months in Paris.

As for their lives together, I think that it was way too short and I disliked the way the author ended their time together. I would much rather, as I have said earlier, Dex had some other events that was slowly nudging him towards pulling his life together earlier and have the story end on a note that doesn’t include that ‘ending’.

Chance, and so many missed chances make up the bulk of the story. The ‘what-ifs’ and ‘if-only’ caused me so much heartache and if we really think about it, how many of these same instances happened in our own lives? Could there have been one more great romance? A better career? A friendship we would never have?

That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

I have a rule, a personal rule so to speak, that I will never regret any of the choices that I have made and in so doing, brought me to where I am today. To do so would be akin to saying that I do not wish to have known all the people I have met, the friendships I have made and the relationships I have formed because of that decision. Rather than wishing for the unknown, I want to be grateful for the known but even so, one does wonder sometimes…

Do I have a moment that I have missed that changed the course of my life forever?

I have finally decided to make the jump from the Blogger ship to the WordPress ship. Will I be happy with my decision even after years of using it as I did with Blogger? Honestly I don’t know, but I think it is a nice fresh start with a more writing-centric interface to help boost my efforts in writing.

WordPress is, after all made for writing and I would like to write more, write better and perhaps one day, have my writing be appreciated by some people.

Jappiedoll

April 2010