13wives

that sure caught my attention! the first thing that came to mind was, 'ohmyword! what harem is this?!' and then i read a little into the back story about how the boss man mixes 13 drinks, named after 13 women. aside: maybe women isn't the right term. girls? chickies? females? can never get the nomenclature right but 'ladies' might be a stretch because being elegantly wasted is such an art, isn't it. anyhoos, my favourite couple is moving to beijing (or "BJ" as they cheekily refer to it) and we met to drink to their imminent adventure. suggested 13wives because i'd been to loysel's toy for coffee one lazy sunday and learnt that the loysel's toy kitchen doubles up as a bar after hours. however, because aforementioned favourite couple got there first, they promptly went up to floor kitchen instead.

so there we were on the spartan second floor, bopping away like it was a house party, drinking G&Ts out of titchy plastic cups and eyeing the eclectic crowd it seemed to attract. hey, there was even a guy in a gladiator outfit but no costume party in sight! when it all got too much, we decided to graduate to more grown up fun. thus it was only when we left that i realised floor kitchen wasn't in any way connected to 13wives! we'd been punked :( 

however on the way out, i did manage to surreptitiously snap these shots to make it look like we'd been there, done that at 13wives. teehee :)

next time!

emirates palace abu dhabi

 

had people to meet and things to do in abu dhabi and there was no better place to meet at than the emirates palace hotel. had a lovely lunch on the balcony, perfectly cool winter day with shade and breeze from the otherwise punishing desert sun. didn't hurt that we were overlooking the arabian sea ;) and there were camels to watch! fun! 

also, is it just me or are you equally gobsmacked by the marble driveway? i mean, most people drive on tar / gravel right? WHO DRIVES ON MARBLE?!! ohmyword. excessive opulence at its most obvious. possibly only surpass-able by streets of gold...

omotesando tokyo

i like the commes des garcons store because they were kind enough to lend me their landline to make some calls. even though i didn't buy anything, they were helpful to a fault and when i have a stash of cash this is where i'm going to come to blow some of it :)

and i concede that cafe anniversaire, in all its overpriced glory, sells the best swiss rolls i've ever tasted. the cake is spongy and fresh, the cream like it was just milked and the fruit oh so yummy. the texture of the sponge was like nothing before and even though they have the audacity to charge 1000yen for coffee (???! even un cafe at quadri in st mark's square venice is cheaper!) i will return for this cake. and shamelessly request for omizu kudasai ("plain water, please") in protest.