APP OF THE WEEK January 26, 2011 ALBUMS – £1.19 Albums is a very smart music controller application, offering a brilliantly tactile alternative to the iPhone or iPod Touch’s normal library system which will appeal to anyone who misses the days of handling real CDs. In the old days, after you bought a new CD it would likely sit around on your [...]
An SUV with a conscience January 25, 2011 Here’s Kia’s new Sportage, an SUV crossover that confirms the massive changes that SUVs have undergone over the last five years. An ugly, boxy, polluting gas guzzler this ain’t. In fact it’s not even a 4×4 (though there is an All-Wheel-Drive version). This one is 2WD and has Kia’s all new 1.7 CRDi 114bhp diesel [...]
CAR TALK January 25, 2011 FERRARI TO LAUNCH FOUR WHEEL DRIVE FOR FIRST TIME Ferrari is launching its first-ever production four-wheel-drive car at March’s Geneva Motor Show. The car, called the Ferrari FF (for now) will replace the 612 coupé and has four seats for four adults, not just two-plus-two, as the 612 has. The car, a front engined V12, [...]
The bliss of bespoke relaxation January 24, 2011 THE cult of the spa has thoroughly invaded the lifestyle landscape. No hotel or holiday experience is complete without a treatment or three, or at the very least, the chance to lounge around a purple-tinted pool and bask in a steam room or multi-coloured (and scented) “experience” shower. Indeed, wellbeing has become so linked to [...]
FIT IN THE CITY January 24, 2011 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT PIERRE Meyer used to be a Marketing Manager at Krispy Kreme, helping the American doughnut giant get more cakes down British throats. Nowadays, however, you’ll find him in his Nordic Balance gym, a club in the heart of Mayfair he set up with partner Jo, preaching balance in all things. While [...]
FOUR WAYS TO BEAT THE WINTER BLUES January 24, 2011 THERAPIST AND ANTI-STRESS COURSE DIRECTOR WWW.MBSRLONDON.COM 1. BREATHE (PROPERLY) Bring your awareness to each in-breath and out-breath as it happens. Breathing in slightly more deeply than usual will stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, energising the body and clearing out some of those mental cobwebs. Focusing on the out-breath stimulates the para-sympathetic nervous system which calms [...]
Thrills, grills and big bills on the Strand January 24, 2011 Savoy Grill The Savoy Hotel, The Strand, WC2R 0EU Tel: 020 7592 1600, www.gordonramsay.com FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £50 THREE years ago, when the Savoy hotel closed for its gazillion pound refurbishment, Gordon Ramsay’s reputation as a cook and restaurateur of true brilliance had yet to be eclipsed by his brutish [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS January 24, 2011 LAST-MINUTE BURNS NIGHT Dust down your kilts: even if you haven’t booked a Burns Supper for tonight, there are still possibilities. Gordon Ramsay’s Limehouse pub, the Narrow (www.gordon ramsay.com), is having its own tartan knees up, with West End theatre actor Cameron Jack reading the poetry while fine whiskies are served with broth, mutton and [...]
Israel’s land of plenty January 23, 2011 “WOW,” says my (non-Jewish) friend. “Whenever you’ve banged on about how gorgeous Israeli men are, I always thought you were just being biased. But you weren’t. They are. This is madness.” Olivia and I are one-and-a-half hours off our brilliantly Israeli El Al flight – think warm bread rolls, smoked salmon, mid-aisle prayer, non-stop gossiping [...]
Boutique chic comes to Jerusalem January 23, 2011 WHO can begin to describe Jerusalem? The religious centre of the Western world and much of the East, it is Tel Aviv’s polar opposite. Tel Aviv has a beach, Jerusalem has mountains. Tel Aviv has a party atmosphere; Jerusalem has a studious one (though you can still stay out to 4AM any night of the [...]