I attended the Mandarin Oriental hotel’s 50th ‘birthday’
party this week. Well, to say I attended is stretching it. I was there because
of work (which I shan’t go into due to
my self-imposed rules for the blog). So it’s more appropriate to say I was present.
Nonetheless, it did mean I got to witness one of the biggest
parties in the HK social calendar all year, if not for several years. A place
to see and be seen for the rich and famous, from tycoons to film stars to
star-dust-sprinkled ‘friends of Hong Kong’ who flew in especially. And conversely
a chance for the Mandarin - with its location comparable if it were in London
to flanking one side of Trafalgar Square – to re-stake its claim to being the
most exclusive place to stay in HK.
How to describe, I thought, how the Mandarin went about
doing just that? I could talk about the actual red carpet they rolled out, complete
with snapping paparazzi pack. The limitless champagne, whose price per bottle
when it was whispered to me made my head spin. The gourmet food laid on in
miniaturised style. The stars they got to attend – Helen Mirren was a
highlight. Or perhaps the performers they managed to recruit to play – the headliner
(oddly, but brilliantly) being Brian Ferry.
All of those things were candidates. But the thing that
really hit the high-note for a statement of opulence was actually just a
sideshow, and many people did not even notice it. The fact that is the case
only goes to show how the Mandarin pulled out all the stops. It was a mocked up
garden composed entirely of sweets and desserts [a photo filched from a friend,
as my own was pretty grainy…thanks to Ruth!].
I had passed it a couple of times while going to and fro in
line with my obligations at the do. It was not until later, when the crowd
thinned, that I took in that the display was more than just a quirky arty
garden scene put on for decoration.
Trees made of macaroons, whose trunks and the body of the
tree the macaroons stuck to were edible. Elegant plants complete with dainty
flowers (with macaroons at their centre) – all edible. Piles of what looked at
first glance to be rocks, but on closer inspection were made to look like a
gold-encrusted rockery. Those too, entirely edible.
I stood agog in front of this scene for some time, stupidly
asking a member of staff if I could eat this
part of this display over and over again, when clearly the whole point was that
everything was up for grabs. And so, I had brief burst of Willy Wonka-ish
childlike joy, where I started picking up anything from the display and
recklessly throwing it into my mouth. I doubted myself, though, when I
plunged my hand into the pots of rocky ‘soil’ and plucked up what felt like
small black stones. Even these turned out to be jet black chocolate with a
slither of almond tucked in the middle.
By that point, if a troop of Mandarin-liveried
oompah-loompahs had turned up to provide the next round of entertainment, I
would not have batted an eyelid.
No comments:
Post a Comment