The following video originally aired on Australia's Channel 7's Weekend Sunrise on January 3, 2010 at 0845
Sarah Cumming looks at the holiday habits of the rich and famous. Travel journalist Justin Wastnage and Bridget Daly from Hollyscoop talk about what money can and can't buy celebrity vacationers.
Click here to go to the Channel 7 Weekend Sunrise website.
Or click here to view the video clip on the Channel 7 website.
Showing posts with label luxury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label luxury. Show all posts
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Friday, November 20, 2009
Seat review: Emirates A380
The following article originally appeared in TravelWeekly Australia
Justin Wastnage travelled on the Emirates A380 from Sydney to Dubai in business class. Here's how he rated it.
LOUNGE: Attempting to leave Sydney during the Great Dust Storm of 09, my flight was always going to be delayed. Whiling away two hours in the Emirates lounge was a pretty painless way of doing so. The food is the stand-out, featuring a hot buffet with comfort food like shepherd's pie alongside Moroccan tajine and poached salmon. There is great Middle Eastern fare to try as well. The décor of gold trims on the wooden partitions may be a little gaudy to many, but all the usual lounge ingredients are there. 8/10
SEAT: The vast real estate available to airlines flying the A380 is used in different ways. Emirates has gone for a pod-like module that has a myriad of compartments and a minibar for each passenger. Couples have two conjoined seats, while singles have window pods. Considering the aircraft only entered into service earlier this year, some of the plastics and materials looks a little scuffed already and the seat was impossible to escape from. The interlocking table also makes it impossible to escape during the lengthy meal service. Once converted into a lie-flat bed and covered with a mattress, the bed is one of the most comfortable I have slept in. As with the lounge, the brass and pastel styling might be more suited to Middle Eastern tastes. 8/10
SERVICE: The multinational cabin crew all seemed to gel together and at times you felt like you were part of their gang as they laughed and joked. Service was very friendly and efficient without being fawning or obsequious. However, the drinks service for all meals was extremely slow; meaning a main meal with no wine and breakfast without coffee. 7/10
EXTRAS:The amenities kit features Bulgari toiletries plus the men's kit has none other than a Taylor's of Old Bond Street razor, raising the bar for others who give away plastic disposables. The biggest extra on the Emirates A380 is the huge bar. Pioneered by Virgin Atlantic, the in-flight bar is now perfected. Rather than standing around or perching on bar stools, the Emirates bar provides two long couches ideal for socialising. 9/10
FOOD:The great start made in the lounge is built upon in the air. Braised beef is a staple of airline cuisine, but the Emirates cut was excellent quality. The dessert was light and there was a good choice of healthier meals too. Once again, the Arabic cuisine such as the hummus and olives with flat bread was excellent. 8/10
ENTERTAINMENT: From the wide screen television to the noise cancelling headphones, Emirates shows its class from the moment you arrive. Add in a wireless remote control tablet and over 600 television channels and you've got one of the best systems going. For me the standout was the quality of the Bose headphones which amplified subtleties in albums I have already listened to hundreds of times. Sadly my wifi remote control malfunctioned and the USB stick did not support iPod format content, but I did manage to view my photos as a slideshow. 9/10
OVERALL RATING: 81%
The seat is big and impressive, the entertainment fantastic and the bar a stand-out. Small problems in service and technology hamper the offering, but the Emirates A380 is still one of the best business classes flying.
Justin Wastnage travelled on the Emirates A380 from Sydney to Dubai in business class. Here's how he rated it.
LOUNGE: Attempting to leave Sydney during the Great Dust Storm of 09, my flight was always going to be delayed. Whiling away two hours in the Emirates lounge was a pretty painless way of doing so. The food is the stand-out, featuring a hot buffet with comfort food like shepherd's pie alongside Moroccan tajine and poached salmon. There is great Middle Eastern fare to try as well. The décor of gold trims on the wooden partitions may be a little gaudy to many, but all the usual lounge ingredients are there. 8/10
SEAT: The vast real estate available to airlines flying the A380 is used in different ways. Emirates has gone for a pod-like module that has a myriad of compartments and a minibar for each passenger. Couples have two conjoined seats, while singles have window pods. Considering the aircraft only entered into service earlier this year, some of the plastics and materials looks a little scuffed already and the seat was impossible to escape from. The interlocking table also makes it impossible to escape during the lengthy meal service. Once converted into a lie-flat bed and covered with a mattress, the bed is one of the most comfortable I have slept in. As with the lounge, the brass and pastel styling might be more suited to Middle Eastern tastes. 8/10
SERVICE: The multinational cabin crew all seemed to gel together and at times you felt like you were part of their gang as they laughed and joked. Service was very friendly and efficient without being fawning or obsequious. However, the drinks service for all meals was extremely slow; meaning a main meal with no wine and breakfast without coffee. 7/10
EXTRAS:The amenities kit features Bulgari toiletries plus the men's kit has none other than a Taylor's of Old Bond Street razor, raising the bar for others who give away plastic disposables. The biggest extra on the Emirates A380 is the huge bar. Pioneered by Virgin Atlantic, the in-flight bar is now perfected. Rather than standing around or perching on bar stools, the Emirates bar provides two long couches ideal for socialising. 9/10
FOOD:The great start made in the lounge is built upon in the air. Braised beef is a staple of airline cuisine, but the Emirates cut was excellent quality. The dessert was light and there was a good choice of healthier meals too. Once again, the Arabic cuisine such as the hummus and olives with flat bread was excellent. 8/10
ENTERTAINMENT: From the wide screen television to the noise cancelling headphones, Emirates shows its class from the moment you arrive. Add in a wireless remote control tablet and over 600 television channels and you've got one of the best systems going. For me the standout was the quality of the Bose headphones which amplified subtleties in albums I have already listened to hundreds of times. Sadly my wifi remote control malfunctioned and the USB stick did not support iPod format content, but I did manage to view my photos as a slideshow. 9/10
OVERALL RATING: 81%
The seat is big and impressive, the entertainment fantastic and the bar a stand-out. Small problems in service and technology hamper the offering, but the Emirates A380 is still one of the best business classes flying.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Hong Kong Made to Measure
This article originally appeared in Luxury Travel & Style Magazine Spring 2009 issueOUR IMPERFECTIONS, IT SEEMS, ARE MERELY DETAILS IN THE HONG KONG BESPOKE PRODUCER'S GOAL OF MADE-TO-MEASURE PERFECTION, WRITES JUSTIN WASTNAGE.
It is not customary to point out physical defects of customers, least of all if you are trying to sell them clothing. But Manu Melwani is a little different.
I am standing before him and he tells me my right arm is five millimetres longer than my left. A common enough problem, he reassures me. Melwani, whose father Sam opened his eponymous tailor shop in the bustling back streets of Kowloon fifty years ago, is not one to stand on ceremony. His rich and famous clientele, most of whom are displayed in photographs on his pokey shop's walls, do not have time to stand around for the endless alterations and fine tuning your Savile Row tailor might wish to make. John Howard and Mark Latham both attest to having had garments made to measure at Sam's, as do Bill Clinton, David Bowie and, inexplicably, Kate Moss.
Instead Melwani has to size you up from the start. “You prefer not to wear a tie, you generally don't button up the jacket,” he asks rhetorically as a seamstress
is measuring my inside step.
There is nothing quite like a made-to-measure suit to flatter unusual body shapes and hide life's excesses. Normally, though, it is price that drags us
back to prêt-à-porter. But Melwani's team of tailors will generally whip up a suit, with an extra pair of pants, and a few hand-tailored shirts for $500.
Hong Kong used to be the capital of copying. The then-British outpost was doing a roaring trade in knock-off bags, watches and t-shirts. But for the more discerning customer, these days Hong Kong's industrious artisans are put to much better use than clumsy counterfeits. Highly skilled jewellers, milliners and shoemakers can make almost anything to measure.
An auspicious event looming in my life, I had investigated the opportunity of having a diamond eternity ring hand made for my wife. Rushing back to Hong Kong Island by metro (far quicker than any other method, but lacking the romance of the Star Ferry), I sidestepped the lunchtime crowds to reach Central. Emailed correspondence ensured that by the time I entered the premises of David Kingsboro, a discreet jeweller upstairs in a nondescript shopping mall, Cynthia Chan had already picked out twelve quarter-carat diamonds and dispatched preliminary sketches to her silversmiths. I was invited to inspect each one for flaws and told to return in two days to pick up the ring and settle up.
Just around the corner, via the Hong Kong franchise of Harvey Nichols, is Admiralty, where inspiration torn from a magazine page can be recreated into a pair of hand-stitched, leather-soled killer heels that fit your feet like a glove at Lii Lii Shoes. A friend tells me to ignore the Russian hooker footwear piled up around the untidy premises and to focus on the sublime experience of having every millimetre of your foot mapped.
A crooked toe, just like a shorter left arm, is no longer the domain of schoolyard freak shows. Our own imperfections, it seems, are merely details in the bespoke producer's goal of made-to-measure perfection.
------------
LUXE LIST
Lii Lii Shoes, set over a few stores in the Admiralty Centre, will
make custom ladies’ footwear from HK$1800 (A$280) per pair. Allow one week.
Shop 75, 1st Floor, tower 2, Admiralty Centre, 18 Harcourt Rd, Central
Sam’s Tailor, a formal wear institution, sits just off Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Beware of numerous touts en route pushing imitators. Suits from HK$2000 (A$310), allow three days.
Ground Floor, Burlington Arcade, 94 Nathan Road, Kowloon www.samstailor.biz
David Kingsboro has a very secure shop right in the heart of the luxury part of Queen’s Road. Jewellery custom made either to order or after consultation. Allow
two weeks from scratch, or one week if pre-arranged via email (davidkingsborojewellery@yahoo.com.hk)
Shops C & D, 2nd Floor, Entertainment Building, 30 Queen’s Road, Central
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