Chi Fan for Charity Launch Party

With a little more than one week before the big date, Chi Fan for Charity is hosting a Media Launch Party at Touch Bar (Westin Chaoyang) this coming Thursday, October 28.

Come enjoy drinks (courtesy of the Westin) and meet the restaurateurs and celebrity hosts making it happen.

Event Details:

• Date: Thursday, October 28
• Time: 5:30PM-7:30PM
• Location: Touch Bar, Westin Chaoyang
• Address:  The Westin Beijing Chaoyang, 7 North Dongsanhuan Road, 金茂北京威斯汀大饭店, 东三环北路7号
• RSVP: tom@bespoke-beijing.com

Background on Chi Fan for Charity:

One of the strongest charity events of the year, Chi Fan for Charity has gathered 33 of the city’s top restaurants to simultaneously host a table of ten people for a minimum three course meal and wine. The restaurants are donating the food and drink for free, so your payment for the meal goes direct to three, genuinely great local charities (Prevention Through Education (HIV/AIDS Awareness), Dandelion School and Rural Women’s Charity, a practical skills training School for Migrant Women). This event is perfect for people who want to enjoy an exceptional meal while contributing to worthwhile causes by “eating for charity”.
Participating restaurants include everyone from Maison Boulud, Capital M, the entire Hatsune Restaurant Group (Hatsune, Kagen, Kagen Teppanyaki and Karaiya Spice House), Bei & Sureno in the Opposite House, Modo, Red Capital Club, The Courtyard, and many many more.  Tickets are available from the website but better hurry as many tables are already sold out and the rest are selling out fast.

Similar to the Hatsune 9 year party, there will be a Chi Fan for Charity After Party at Hatsune Sanlitun Village with free flow drinks from 10PM-1AM, DJ Patrick Yu will be spinning tunes and everyone from the various restaurants all coming together!  For those who don’t have the time or the budget to commit to dinner, the after party is a great way to come out to contribute to these worthwhile causes and show your support.  Tickets are RMB 150 in advance (pay here: www.chifanforcharity.org)  or RMB 200 at the door. However, guests who buy a ticket to a table will gain free entry to the afterparty at Hatsune.   And yes, there will be sumo suits.  :)

Book your seat at a table here: www.chifanforcharity.org.

From GOSSIP to Ghosts: Weekend Breakdown

Here’s the Weekend Breakdown for this week (starts on Wednesday, Oct. 28-Saturday, Oct. 31):

Wednesday, October 28:

GOSSIP @ [Touch] The Westin Beijing Chaoyang:

Every Wednesday GOSSIP continues to make it’s mark in Beijing as the party with beautiful people. (I love that Suzie’s ladies night is finally being replaced!)

Free drinks for ladies between 9pm and midnight, plus special GOSSIP menu and bottle prices for all table bookings.

Gossip’s resident DJs Simon Adams and Azat Sagirov continue to bring a fresh new sound to the capital, dropping a mix of the most up-front soul-drenched house music, with live percussion.

BLING’s Cash Money Dance-Off FINALIST’S Round:

The last Wednesday of every month, BLING brings together the round of the finalists from the previous weeks for a FINALIST dance-off for their chance to win RMB 5,000 cash! A real battle dance-off between the best of the best. Holla.

Scottie Pippen as Bling's Official Dance-Off Judge!

Thursday, October 29, 2009:

Kid Koala @ Yugong Yishan – Since joining UK label Ninja Tune in 1997, Eric San aka KID KOALA has been leading a one-man-and-many-turntables revolution mixing traditional jazz, hip hop, blues, funk and ska with mind-blowing sound collages.  Will be great to check this turntabilist/scratch-artist in action!

Friday, October 30, 2009:

David & Sumeet’s Housewarming Party from 8-11pm @ Peal Harbor Apartments (xinhualianligang)

Chi-jia’s Going Away Party @ d. lounge from 9:30pm-onwards

Saturday, October 31, 2009:

Halloween is just around the corner!  Time to brainstorm and find the perfect costume.  Whether you’re scary or sexy, better be dressed to impress as there are parties galore and hefty entrance fees for those who are not feeling the Halloween spirit.

Clearly my top pick will be BLING’s Cash Money Halloween Bash.  (See details listed here):

Bling’s Second Annual “Cash Money Bash” Halloween Party

Dress to Impress in the most creative, innovative, and exciting Halloween costume for your chance to win 5,000 RMB!

Contestants will be selected to participate in a contest that will be determined by none other than the Halloween revelers who attend the event. So bring out all your friends to increase your chances of winning! Strut your stuff on-stage in front of the crowd and if you can win over the crowd, then you can win the grand prize!

First place will received cold hard cash totaling 5,000 RMB! The runner-up will receive one complimentary bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. So think hard now, get your costume ready, and come out for a night of craziness on Saturday, October 31, 2009, exclusively at Bling.

Time/时间: 9pm-late

NO COVER

Dress: Best Halloween Costume gets 5,000 RMB!!

The Newest GOSSIP in Town – In Case You Haven’t Already Heard

In case you haven’t heard already, the word on the street is…GOSSIP is the new Wednesday hot spot and it’s spreading like wildfire.  

Every Wednesday, GOSSIP Pour Femme is an event hosted at [Touch] bar in the Westin Beijing Chaoyang.

GOSSIP, a new event concept, was created by Alchemy’s founder Sebastien Noat together with his talented DJ crew- DJ Azat, DJ Simon Adams, & DJ Keza have created the event concept that combines soul-drenched house mixes together with a different live instrument every week – this week will be featuring live keyboardist Zheng Zheng.

[Touch] is a beautiful venue that’s easy to fill with tasty drinks easy to match and appease the elegant and eligible ladies who are craving their fill of GOSSIP.

Gentlemen, come accordingly.  :)

Event Details:

The ladies night everyone is talking about in Beijing, is preparing for it’s third session.

Every single Wednesday, GOSSIP and TOUCH Bar (Westin Hotel) offer Beijing’s sexiest ladies free drinks from 9pm til midnight.

Special event and bottle prices for all table bookings.

Gossip’s resident DJs bring a fresh new sound to the capital, dropping a mix of the most up-front soul-drenched house music, recreating the vibe of the Riviera, this week topped off with accompaniment by live keyboardist Zheng Zheng.

You missed out on Mykonos and Ibiza? Join us this and every Wednesday night from 9pm.

For Table bookings contact: Simon: 13816790574 (English) Azat: 13501072027 (English / Chinese)

See you all this Wednesday @ GOSSIP

When: Wednesday, September 23 @ 9pm

Where: [Touch] bar @ the Westin Beijing Chaoyang

25 and None the Wiser

25 is a pretty intimidating number. As a kid, I always associated the number 25 with being an adult – someone with a career, who is financially independent, at a prime age to get married and start a family.  Ok, I’m 2 for 3.  As a kid, I also wanted to be a Disney fairy-tale princess and meet Prince Charming at the age of 16.

I realize age is just a number and age is absolutely relative. But just I don’t feel 25; I feel like I’m still 16.  Maybe that’s because the last time I had a birthday party was when I turned 16.  Due to the awkward timing of having a birthday in early September, my birthday always coincided with the start of a new school year, when everyone is still sorting out their new class schedule and their new circle of friends or in most recent years, my birthdays have coincided with vacation time – which was nice to be celebrating in an entirely new, exotic setting, but also away from my friends, my family, my home.

So for the first time in almost a decade, I have reached the quarter century mark and I was ready to go BIG.

My Birthday Week Break-down:

Monday: Pre-Birthday Home-made Dinner & Movie

Tuesday: Birthday lunch & Birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant Kagen Teppanyaki followed by birthday drinks @ d. lounge

Wednesday: Post Birthday Dinner and Pre-Birthday Party @ GOSSIP Pour Femme at [Touch] The Westin Beijing Chaoyang

Friday: Post-Birthday dinner & drinks @ none other than Hatsune @ the Village

Saturday: Birthday Champagne @ Riviera’s Pool Party

Birthday Make-Over courtesy of the beautiful & talented Meili Autumn (CW’s Fashionista Editor)

Birthday Dinner Party & Drinks @ Karaiya Spice House

‘Bling-isine’ Champagne Limo Ride courtesy of BLING (Can be booked regularly through BLING)

After-Party @ BLING

Sunday: Birthday Recovery @ Capital M’s Opening

By the same people behind M on the Bund in Shanghai and M on the Fringe in HK, Capital M launched its official opening this Sunday, September 13.

Best Part:

• The bright & colorful painted artwork that runs along the walls of the venue
• The pointed roof-top lounge area
• The spectacular view from the spacious rooftop terrace of the Tian An Men Area
• The boxed fireplaces throughout the space really warms and illuminates the venue for a very romantic and intimate lighting in the evening
• Fabian, the restaurant manager, was very welcoming, attentive and a perfect host
• The food was fantastic – I particularly was pleased to be served fresh oysters, and some top picks included the beef bearnaise and smoked salmon with poached egg and spinach. WOW, gave a really great first impression
• Capital M will bring more attention to the Qianmen area
• The location is a great destination for afternoon tea or dinner after a day of sightseeing around heart of Beijing’s history and culture
• They are bringing Danish Smørrebrød to Beijing!!  (world-famous piled-high, open-faced sandwiches from Denmark!)

Comments:

• WARNING for girls with high heels: Taxis can not reach the venue and you must walk quite far to catch one home.
• With a massive space that fills over 400 seats both indoor and the outside terrace, it will be interesting to see who their regular clientele are and their incoming business post-launch period
• It will also be interesting to see how Capital M will compare and compete with the Legation Quarter’s supreme dining outlets.

This past week I have been living in a cloud of BIRTHDAY BLISS – birthday lunches, birthday dinners, birthday e-mails, birthday text messages, birthday FB wall posts…I’ve been down-right spoiled with love, it makes me wish every day was my birthday!  I truly feel blessed to have had such a happy and loving birthday week – Thank you to everyone for making me feel so special, this birthday exceeded all my expectations. It was better than I ever could have imagined or asked for.

Here are some of my favorite birthday shots: