brunch club’s fantastical book club!

in Causeway Bay where we have oodles of space, we have two antique cupboards filled with donated books….”brunch club’s fantastical book club!”

It is fantastical because:

• All the books are donated by our customers
• Free reading and browsing in brunch club
• Feel free to take any home, provided you donate some in exchange
• No joining fees, membership fees or hassle
• You’d be surprised, for donated books, we do have quite a few interesting titles…Looks like lots of you out there are quite into sci-fi, novels, self-help, etc.
• People have donated games too! (no taking games home though)
• Wonderful way to spend a lazy afternoon…

A very big googly-eye THANK YOU to all who so generously donated. So for those of you who are not yet on board, come join our book club – give some and take some – and be part of the brunchclubber community exchange!

diet, cupcakes & bookazine novels

So I’m now on day 3 of my diet which was supposed to start after my eating binge over Easter, which of course I postponed up till now because of various very imaginative reasons. Today while walking to the bus from brunch club I happened to pass by Sift, a very yummylicious dessert shop. They had started selling cupcakes and boy am I a suh-KER for cupcakes! So I walked in and ordered the only flavour they had, which was Oreo. Needless to say it was yummylicious, really soft & moist with a topping that’s really sweet.

Then I proceeded to Lyndhurst Terrace towards my bus stop, passing by Antique Patisserie and guess what, they had started selling cupcakes too! Something with peanuts, and so I went in and got a takeaway. After all, really, a person on a diet shouldn’t be eating cupcakes, let alone gorge on 2 within a space of 5 mins of each other. Feeling a little full from the first cupcake I decided to take a taxi (another imaginative reason to be lazy). On the cab, on Arbuthnot Road, the cupcake actually spoke to me. It said “hey, why not just eat me now. The traffic is bad, the taxi’s going to be stationary for a while, and I’m a cupcake, I’m not going to spill all over the car, come on, JUST DO IT!” Wow, the cupcake’s been seeing too many Nike billboards…

And so I ate it, it was done even before we reached Robinson Road. It was good. Buttercream peanut icing on top. And that was how my diet ended. And I’m not even the least bit embarrassed about it, yet – I suppose the horror of my gluttony hasn’t quite sunk in. I’m actually in bliss, barely wanting to move, dreaming of a cigarette (if you do smoke, you’ve got to have one after a cupcake, or two). Funny how one vice can lead to another and another – I’m also considering taking a nap, but I shall refrain from being so decadent on a Wednesday afternoon…

And on to the other thing I want to let you know about, books, yes BOOKS! Bookazine has very kindly supplied brunch club SOHO with 10 of their bestselling novels, perfect brunch club reading, and of course, if you are a Bookazine VIP card holder, get a 15% discount on them!!! Here are the titles listed below:

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Ruins by Scott Smith

The Black Swan by Nasim Nicholas Taleb

Mr. Wong Goes West by Nury Vittachi

Step On A Crack by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (good movie by the way)

King Hui The Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong by Jonathan Chamberlain

Great picks, aren’t they?!

Yes, you are right, and I admit it: two random topics put together in one post, but why shouldn’t you grab a cupcake and read a novel? I should have taken a picture of the cupcakes to put on this blog but as I had already explained earlier, I had eaten them before I had the chance. Hopefully next time the cupcakes would stand a better chance of having their eulogy on this blog complete with colour photographs before being chowed down.

So HAPPY READING folks, do come in and grab a copy of your fav title. Also please do participate and submit your book reviews to me and any of your personal recommendations for more books.

Moral of the story: If you are ever on a diet and have a mental disability for cupcakes like me, don’t walk by Graham Street (Sift) or Lyndhurst Terrace, the Upper part (Antique Patisserie).

which magazines do you want?

Dear brunch clubbers,

Alot of you may not know but all our magazines are also for sale, so next time you want to grab a magazine, do consider picking them up here at brunch club.

We’ve actually got a really wide range, from gossip to art, interior design to sports, from surfing to psycology, business to religion…

I also subscribe to Sports Illustrated and so for all those guys who are into American Sports, all the latest copies are at brunch club!

Next time you are here and want to buy something interesting and different to read, do check out these titles:

Donna Hay: One of the most beautiful cooking magazines on the market. The ideas and food are so wonderfully presented you’ll just want to look at them even if you are not into cooking.

Hiker’s Guide to Hong Kong: This is a brilliant book for all who live in Hong Kong. You need to get out there and explore the many wonderful trails on the island, from nature to museums, cultural, beach and even interesting cemetery hikes! This is the bible for hikes that are relatively moderate and have lots of fun factor. It has all you need from what you’ll see during the hike, historical background of the places you’ll visit, the length of the hike, estimate time, and how to get there and back. For the more serious hikers, we also stock the “Serious Hiker’s Guide to Hong Kong”. Also by the same publisher is “Hong Kong: What’s in What’s Out”.

Psychologies: You’ll be surprised how many articles in here you’ll actually find interesting and be able to associate with. Very often we are so busy trying to improve our careers & romance we can leave our own feelings, emotions and psychological needs neglected. They have great articles on some of the emotions we feel but sometimes sweep aside like shyness, embarrassment, the blues, how to entertain, low self esteem, mood swings and the like. A good read!

Culture Hong Kong: Another gorgeous publication that is packed full with beautiful pictures of art, culture and natural landscape. They feature a great column on antiques by the proprietor of Oi Ling Antiques who is definitely an authority on the subject of old Chinese artifacts. They’ve also got a wonderful Good Grape Review which focuses on wine & cuisine and a travel page that shows you the other side of China, one that is still filled with raw, natural beauty & little touched by development.

Do let us know if there are any magazines you want to see at the brunch club and we’ll try our best to stock up for you!

a Bohemian chic party is ON

I’m walking into the brunch club in a hope-tee, holding a really funky, Bohemian Dialog clutch, complete with tassels, and everyone turns to look. I’m not sure why, it could be that the hope-tee shirt made me look like I just stepped in from Cafe del Mar in Ibiza after having a salad and a martini….yes, its one of those tees that’s just made to be worn on top of a bikini, just drapes lovingly on your body, like a Greek Toga, you’ve got to see it & try it to know what I mean. (Btw, they do have Hope-tees for guys too) Or it could be the really unusual Boho clutch I was carrying, with pinks, reds, browns, flowers, stars, polka dots and stripes. It looked like I was carrying a bag made out of assorted candy & was definitely an eye-catcher with a lovely tassel at the bottom reminiscent of a Native American dream catcher. I love it, its fun, colourful and exotic! Yes, I must’ve been dreaming, transported to the party paradise isle of the Mediterranean on the wings of my dream catcher handbag.. In fact, for those of you who have been to the brunch club in SOHO recently, you’ll notice that we’ve got a really cool design on our wall, courtesy of Dialog, the people responsible for my fabulous new wardrobe at the moment. And what’s more, Dialog is having a party at “brunch club & supper” on Wednesday next week (9th April, 7.30pm) and of course, all brunch clubbers are most definitely invited! Have wines, cocktails and finger food, meet the creative geniuses of Dialog & Hope-tee shirts (Cassandra & Dong), get your hands on some of their latest designs, and lets have a blast!

See you there…

this is the mural at brunch club in SOHO by Dong & Cassandra

meet Jeffrey Archer!!

For those of you who know him and have read his books, need I say more?!

It seems his new novel, A Prisoner of Birth, is his most powerful since Kane & Abel. Now he’s actually here in HK and if you are a fan, don’t miss this opportunity to have lunch with him. Details below: