Software for a simpler digital life April 6, 2011 TECH TALK THE problem with the technology revolution is the hours we now spend simply organising our digital existences and inputting the same information. But there are software programmes and apps designed to give us our lives back. Roboform, for example, tackles those time thieves masquerading as online forms. Since so much of life is [...]
Sensible doesn’t mean not fun April 5, 2011 I’m caning it on eco,” exclaims my excited co-driver, immediately proving that he may not be an ideal customer of Nissan’s new electric Leaf car. That said, in the pursuit of thorough journalistic investigation we were trying to see how much we can deplete the range by hammering the car, rather than driving it normally. [...]
CAR TALK April 5, 2011 KIA’S ELECTRIC CROSSOVER The Seoul Motor Show is underway and Kia has shown this unusual looking all-electric crossover utility vehicle (CUV) concept car called Naimo. The car – which will form part of Kia’s EV test fleet – has no middle B-pillars and has rear-hinged rear doors and a three-way split opening boot-lid. With a [...]
Episode 8: A lunch in Mayfair April 4, 2011 THE ’03 I think Michel.” I sit opposite the oleaginous Rupert Carmichael in an elegantly restrained private dining room at the Bensley Hotel. The sommelier retreats. “We’ll drink the ’59 if I land you” says Rupert. He shoots his cuffs, his signature diamond-encrusted death’s head cufflinks prominent at the sleeves of his handmade Savile Row [...]
Hot skincare for summer April 4, 2011 CRANBERRY GOMMAGE, ARCONA Cranberry and raspberry enzymes unclog pores, while salicylic acid, volcanic minerals and sucrose clean your skin deep-down. £40, glowgetter.co.uk TURNAROUND, CLINIQUE The mask and concentrate offer something like microdermabrasion but without the discomfort. £30, clinique.co.uk COLLAGENERY, SENSAI Kanebo Sensai Collagenergy Wrinkle Repair (whew) helps boost collagen within the skin and energises skin [...]
Taxidermy and Victoriana at the hottest new hotel in town April 4, 2011 IN a candle-lit, antique-filled dining room, by a grand table decked out in gleaming china, fine glass, antique candelabras and an assembly of strange bronze figurines, stands a kangaroo. An old example of the taxidermist’s art, it stares out glassily at the ancient urns and other objets that cram the room. Round the corner, in [...]
Live it up in Melbourne, Australia’s city of plenty April 3, 2011 EARLY morning Melbourne, the sun is rising, and we are drifting over this modern metropolis and its spectacular skyline of skyscrapers and spires in a hot air balloon. Rising high above the city, we gaze down on icons such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the Formula One racetrack, Government House, Melbourne Park, and the [...]
Melbourne and the Yarra Valley: eat, drink, stay, fly April 3, 2011 WHERE TO STAY The Olsen, set in South Yarra, is one of the Art Series Hotel Group (artserieshotels.com.au) along with the Cullen and the Blackman – each of which are named after renowned Australian artists. The Olsen’s 229 five-star suites are adorned with the works of landscape artist Dr John Olsen, while the interior of [...]
TRAVEL NOTES April 3, 2011 BYBLOS’S NEW SEASON PACKAGE To celebrate opening for the 2011 season, Saint Tropez’s most iconic hotel, Byblos, is offering a seductive package to entice early season weekenders. Enticements are indeed numerous, with an Alain Ducasse restaurant, Byni’z for tapas and cocktails by the pool, a luxurious Sisley spa, recently refurbished rooms and suites and the [...]
A unique blend of Swiss refinement April 3, 2011 The well-heeled traveller automatically thinks of the imposing Dolder Grand when staying in Switzerland’s financial centre. He is wrong to do so. Filling nine lovingly restored, historic townhouses in the very heart of Zurich, the Widder Hotel is a deluxe little hotel in a quiet street just off Bahnhoffstrasse, the top class shopping street. The [...]