We tried our darndest to stay up to watch the live broadcast of the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony in London on TV. Epic fail…we dozed off at 2am and instead, woke up at 7:30am.
Seeing as the live broadcast started at 4am, we initially missed the entire thing but thankfully, China still has vestiges of an Olympics hang-over after hosting it in 2008 so CCTV (state-owned national TV) is currently providing wall-to-wall coverage. They replayed the entire Opening Ceremony which made for a convenient and fun Saturday morning while I simultaneously stayed in bed and ordered a room service breakfast (Herr Hubby and I are still making the Four Seasons Guangzhou our temporary home).
The Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was a tough act to follow…I still remember getting goosebumps from that show, a truly amazing feat by Chinese film director Zhang Yimou. Well, in opening this London Olympics, I think British film director Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”, “The Beach”, “Trainspotting”) did a stupendous job; to quote the BBC’s most over-used words this morning, the Opening Ceremony was indeed “remarkable” and “extraordinary”. Although, personally, I would have been happy with a little bit more of David Beckham. I mean, this is the Olympics – we love seeing successful, stylish, impeccably groomed godlike athletes in tight, shiny suits, don’t we?
One thing which has become sort of a delicious Bamboo Stiletto ritual during the Games’ opening is watching the Parade of Athletes to check out the various teams’ outfits. For us, this segment of the Opening is like an international fashion show of multi-cultural style, modeled by a global assortment of eye candy, all in glistening peak physical condition. What’s not to “heart”? So….let the Games begin!
Here’s our Top 5 Picks for Most Stylish Teams (in no particular order or ranking):
1.) Denmark
One of the few teams that did separate but beautifully coordinating outfits for ladies and gentlemen, I especially loved how Team Denmark made their female athletes look so feminine. Beside the ladies, the gentlemen looked even more dashing and masculine in their navy blue-grey suits.
2.) Serbia
Team Serbia also had separate yet coordinating his and hers outfits, which they kept casual chic and cool. Dontcha love the girls’ perky blazer & shorts combo???Tennis champ and Serbian flag bearer, Novak Djokovic, wore his shirt carelessly untucked underneath his red pullover and, coupled with a rebellious stubble, was a statement in studied nonchalance.
3.) Netherlands
oh, how the Dutch and I swear only the Dutch can pull off wearing orange trousers. Not only does Team Netherlands pull off the orange pants but when paired with their cobalt blue trench-style blazers and preppy white tennis cardigans, they looked downright poppin’! As an aside, I remember that this team was also on my most stylish list during the 2008 Olympics. Pale dove grey blazers and trousers paired with the most adorable orange ties, again which only the Dutch can pull off…
Get a load of the Dutch when they unveiled their Olympic uniforms a few weeks ago – won’t you love a bite of that orange trench? This is stuff that we actually do want to wear!
Dutch treat!
4.) Sweden
Team Sweden’s ebullient candy-striped sweaters just spelled adorable. Especially when paired with the ladies’ pleated minis. Very United Colours of Benetton. Note the colour coordinated kicks & laces…how Scandi-cute is that?
5.) South Korea
Natty nautical-inspired outfits from sportswear giant FILA who was responsible for South Korea’s look (four on the left were Opening Ceremony ensembles). Too bad we have no actual photo during the Opening Ceremony…Team SK looked so dang cute!!!
Special Mentions – for looking extra-stylin’ and/or festive as befitting the Olympics (again, in no particular order or ranking):
1.) France
aah, the French never fail to live up to our style expectations. I mean, how GOOD do these athletes look? We especially have a weakness for their tennis players. And spot the cute little red ballet flats on the ladies? We HEART!
Btw, Team France really set the bar high for Olympic uniforms, unveiling these minimally stylish threads by Adidas a few weeks ago:
Voulez vous…?
2.) USA
I thought Team USA worked it! Yes, yes, I know we’re not quite sure if the beret works…the French can carry a beret with requisite elan but Americans seem a bit ambivalent about it. Also, yes, we’re aware of the huge hoo-ha in the US upon realizing that these Ralph Lauren outfits were actually made in China. But hey, weren’t the Ralph Lauren uniforms back in Olympics 2008 – which also looked super stylin’, btw – also made in China? Where was the hoo-ha back then??? oh Americans & the drama 🙂
When Team USA unveiled their uniforms, the Ralph Lauren/”Gossip Girl” Manhattan Upper East prep chic look is pitch perfect:
Team USA’s controversial Olympics uniforms, by Ralph Lauren. Regardless of where it’s produced, in my mind, what makes it look vaguely non-American are the French-style berets, with the red, white & blue stripe on the side. I have a Lacoste beret exactly like this, with the little alligator on the side in red, white & blue stripes! Perhaps a “newsie” cap would have been more American, more New York anyhow…Bass. Chuck Bass.
3.) Germany
What a delightful festive surprise, Team Germany! Keeping flag colours to a minimum (accents only on trilbys) & instead rocking pastel pinks and cornflower blues, with darling matching scarves, was so un-German & so unexpected…we LOVED it. Btw, this team seemed to be one of the rowdiest & most boisterous (one girl clambered on top of a guy’s shoulders) that for a second I thought the Australians had paraded again! haha!
4.) Brazil
There’s something about the Brazilians that just make us smile and chortle. They’re just yummy-delicious! Team Brazil wore their colours in exuberant combinations, with ladies in mini-skirts showing off tanned athletic legs (and why NOT?), matching scarves loose around their necks…meowrrrr! What is it about these people, they just look so friggin’ SEKSI?!?!
5.) Paraguay
and speaking of SEKSI…like the Netherlands, Team Paraguay also came up with outfits that we would love to get our Stilettos in. Check out this va-va-voom wrap & tie fire engine-red dress! The gentlemen in their bright blue blazers, snowy white trousers & crimson ties looked natty too.
Expected More Stylin’ From:
Italy
Admittedly, my expectations for Team Italy were MASSIVE, to begin with…I mean, their uniforms are designed by The Master himself, Giorgio Armani. Even the lowly deckhand staff working on this guy’s personal yacht are nattily attired, as featured once in Vogue (or was that Vanity Fair?). Anyway, these were the uniforms he unveiled for Team Italy a few weeks ago…ok, very Armani. Very understated. But what are they wearing for the Opening?…and here’s Team Italy during the Opening Ceremony. Again, very understated. Stylish, yes. But VERY subdued. It’s not terrible, of course not, you can see even from just a TV screen’s perspective, these are exceptionally cut, extremely well-tailored suits. Just slightly underwhelming in terms of overall presentation. These are Italians, for goodness sakes, they’re supposed to rule with cool! I just expected a bit more Lapo Elkann dash and flair, not the constipated investment banker look. Fashion critics everywhere are raving about Team Italy’s look though.
Biggest “Huh?” Moment:
Great Britain
We expected a LOT from the host; Great Britain after all is the home of great,innovative, edgy designers, e.g. Stella McCartney, Christopher Bailey, Sarah Burton, to name a few. So when Team GB strolled out, we were like: “Huh?” Stella McCartney’s PR people were quick to tweet during the Opening Ceremony that these white & gold tracksuits are NOT hers – she only designed the athletes’ performance kits & village wear. Ouch! Apparently, these were done by British apparel retailer Next. Why in the world didn’t they get Christopher Bailey to do the Opening Ceremony outfits? What’s more cool Britannia than Burberry???
So, Stiletto-istas, that’s a wrap for our coverage of Olympics Opening Ceremony fashion. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! In closing, we leave you with a parting shot of the Olympic torch as carried by the tall cool drink of water that’s David Beckham, who we think was woefully under-utilized by Danny Boyle:
THIS is how Team GB should have rocked, y’all!
Did YOU watch the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in YOUR corner of the world? Which teams landed in YOUR Best Dressed and Worst Dressed List? Just some lighthearted fun this weekend, Stiletto-istas, let’s hear it from YOU!!!
Lately at The Bamboo Stiletto, our home decorating has been so focused on our walls, framing prints, paintings and photos and preoccupied with the business of hanging them, that we’ve almost forgotten about our floors. Isn’t it easy for all of us to forget about our floors? We seldom let our gaze linger downwards when we’re home…
Yet, a lot of us may not realize that it is what we put (or do not put) on our floors that anchor and define the spaces we call our own, for living, dining, sleeping, playing, relaxing.
And speaking of floors – I’ve just been jonesing for jute rugs. Such a tropical touch! And a perfect accessory for bringing summer right into our homes – without breaking the bank. The golden brown colour and rough-hewn texture would be ideal with the smooth wooden floors of our living room at home as well as with the dark brown slatted wood floors of our balcony. For the living room, I’d layer a massive jute rug underneath our smaller soft, shaggy, grey-brown carpet (so that the carpet is framed by the rug) while letting the rug go solo to define a dining space in the balcony.
I played around with muzy.com this morning to create this photo collage to show how jute rugs can work in just about every room in your home! Isn’t it fun???
gorgeous limited edition long scarves on 100% silk chiffon, personally designed by VAL…perfect for inflight travel style or for just spicing up that summer outfit!
The Bamboo Stiletto was in a state of excitement when we received a personal note from a multi-talented good friend and former “rat race” colleague, VAL, about the recent launch of “Celebration”, an original collection of gorgeous long scarves on 100% silk chiffon personally designed by VAL herself. The scarves’ launch coincided with the debut of VAL’s own blog about the creativity and inspirations behind her designs – check out Expressions by VAL (including how to order her scarves) here!
You must know that The Bamboo Stiletto is infatuated with accessories; we believe that it completely makes or breaks an outfit. For the lucky ducks out there who are travelling to fabulous summer destinations, these “art to wear” scarves would make the perfect stylish inflight travel accessory. Think about it, won’t you love snuggling up in the cozy warmth of your own soft long VAL scarf instead of those scratchy airline blankets on long flights? Or, if you’re not travelling and simply staying put, a colourful VAL scarf is just perfect for jazzing up any summer outfit. Scarves & stilettos…what’s not to love?
Of course we are now absolutely besotted with getting our hands on a VAL scarf of our own. For our Shanghai Stiletto-istas, did you know that you can buy a VAL scarf at Simply Life – our fave lifestyle store in trendy Xintiandi, The Bamboo Stiletto’s old neighborhood? As for the rest of us, thank goodness for the internet because now we can all buy a VAL scarf without travelling to Shanghai! We’re debating between these 2 designs: “A Fishy Tale” or “Summer Sun”?
Hmmm…why don’t you check out VAL’s designs for yourself and tell us which one is your favourite???
filled with hope, ideas & energy, with which to start our week
Happy Monday, Guangzhou!
We hope that all of you managed to escape from the unrelenting heat and had a restful summer weekend.
It’s another day, another week for us here at The Bamboo Stiletto and we are besotted with this simple quote from Sparkpeople.com which perfectly encapsulates how we feel right now:
Full of gratitude (our site has reached a milestone, at over 1,200+ views & counting…)
Full of hope, ideas & energy to do more and BE MORE
What else can we say? Put it like this: we’re inspired by YOU.
Buenos dias, Stiletto-istas! I absolutely love lazy summer weekend mornings, waking up to the sound of birds chirping, soft breeze and gentle morning sunlight caressing the trees outside, cup of coffee in hand and having all the time in the world to browse through the latest on my blog’s Reader (which aggregates posts from blogs that I follow). This morning, this is what caught my eye…
Herr Hubby and I have been dreaming of having our own pet chocolate labrador ever since since we saw our neighbour’s choco labs being walked in our subdivision in Cebu, the Philippines. Those melting, puppy-dog eyes and the smoothest, chocolatiest-chocolate brown coats had us hooked. We were living in Shanghai back then, in a high-rise apartment located in a busy high-density neighborhood, not exactly pet-friendly. But we kept the dream alive and from time to time, would talk fondly about our Cebu neighbour’s dogs.
Now that we’re in Guangzhou and living in a lovely neighborhood, very centrally located in the city yet surrounded by large, green parks, in a low-rise, pet-friendly residential compound, our hopes started to rise for a choco lab pup to join our little family. I started doing the research. Unless one is fluent in Chinese, it is very challenging to find good dog breeders in China, so I did my search in the Philippines.
And we were in luck! One breeder in Manila had three month old choco lab pups. They came from excellent chocolate labrador pedigrees, were receiving the necessary type of vaccines as they grew and in a few weeks, would be old enough and ready to join loving families and households. We had our eye on one particular cute fella – a boy whom we were going to call Milka, after a famous German chocolate brand that Herr Hubby and I like (we always have a few of these yummy chocolate bars in the fridge).
The pup had the most adorable light blue eyes, just like Herr Hubby’s. Very striking, with his mocha brown coat (the pup, not Herr Hubby). We were already joking that he had mama’s skin (me) and papa’s eyes.
I also did research on the documents required for the pup to become an expat pup. The breeder was kind of taken aback when I mentioned that it was our intention to bring the pup out of the Philippines and bring him to China with us to live. Yes, a bit of an unusual situation for a dog, I guess…
Anyway, I’m sharing the requirements here, for the benefit of those expats who may be moving to China and would like to bring their pets:
1.) Your pet’s vaccination record, especially for rabies, during the past year. China requires that pet vaccinations must have taken place during the last 30 days before travel to China.
2.) Your pet’s international health certificate from your vet, after an all-around medical exam, clearing your pet as disease-free and eligible for international travel.
3.) Endorsement of your pet’s health certificate by your country’s government body regulating the welfare of live animals. In the US, this would be your local office of the Dept of Agriculture. In the Philippines, I found that this would have been the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Animal Health Division. This office also issues the export permit required by the Philippine authorities for your pet to leave the country. It is important to note that both the health certificate and the endorsement have to be obtained within 10 days of travel to China; in other words, you might have trouble getting your pet through upon arrival in China if your certificates and endorsements are more than 10 days old.
4.) For arrival at the airport in China, it is also good to have a photo of your pet ready and to have a photocopy of your passport and China resident’s visa.
Keep in mind that only foreigners with valid Chinese work permits and residents’ visas are allowed to bring pets. Also, contrary to rumours – it is not true that there is a “one pet policy” (akin to the “one-child policy” ) in China. What is true, however, is that you are allowed to bring in up to two pets only per family.
Pet quarantine regulations vary per city in China. In Beijing, pets have to undergo a 30-day quarantine. In Shanghai, the quarantine is 7 days. In Guangzhou, as long as your pet has all the documents as mentioned above, the airport authorities will allow you to quarantine your pet in your own home for a period of three days.
I also checked with Philippine Airlines which type of airline-approved dog kennel crate would be suitable. Friends in Manila assured me that I could buy the kennel crate there. PAL, like most international airlines, will not allow pets in passengers’ cabins but has a pressurized, temperarure-controlled area in the checked baggage section for pets. Just inform the airline in advance that you are planning to bring a pet for international travel.
Armed with my background research and ready to book my flight and pick up our pup, Herr Hubby then thought the courteous thing to do would be to give our very nice landlady a heads up that we were planning our new addition to the family. He gave her a quick call.
ALAS! Our nice landlady very sweetly refused to have a pet in her beautiful apartment. She wasn’t budging, very kindly but very firmly telling us, very sorry but no. And since we had only moved in a month ago…AIYAAAAAA!
Deflated, I saw our dream of the adorable choco lab puppy with his mournful baby-blue eyes start to fade. Poor little Milka wouldn’t be able to join his papa and mama in China after all.
– Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher, student of Plato, teacher of Alexander The Great.
Happy Monday, Guangzhou! We’re a little bleary-eyed this morning after staying up last night to watch the Wimbledon gentlemen’s championship final between Roger Federer (#3) and Andy Murray (#4) live on TV.
Here in Asia, the match didn’t finish until nearly 2am and of course, we were so wired from all the excitement that it took us a while to calm down enough to actually go to bed and sleep. Such an intensely compelling nail-biter of a match, with a historically significant win for either player hanging in the balance…with all the action and drama that accompanies such a showdown.
Murray was all gangbusters in the first set, buoyed by a highly supportive and extremely vocal home crowd, while Federer was out of sorts, struggling to control a wayward forehand. That 40-minute rain delay early in the third set – which had us scurrying to Facebook at midnight while we waited for play to resume – ultimately benefited Federer who emerged to play again like his old self, the Federer we’ve come to know and love all these years. The cool, calm, collected champion playing masterful tennis seemingly effortlessly (while making his poor opponent run around the court, falling and stumbling, and desperately fight until the bitter end for every last point). In the end, it was Federer’s persistence and experience that prevailed.
It could have gone the other way so easily. Great Britain was already getting ready for a national celebration, with Murray poised to become a British athletic icon to surpass David Beckham. During a year when their queen is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee and just two weeks before the Olympic Games opens in London… what a party it could have been for Murray indeed. No wonder he broke down during the post-match interviews, poor guy – we couldn’t help but feel for him, especially when we saw his mother and his girlfriend were in tears too.
Today’s quote reminds me of something that Federer mentioned during his post-match interview. He talked about “challenges” and “changes” in his life during the past couple of years, hinting of his two-year Grand Slam title drought, but that, he “never stopped dreaming”. And that even though he is now married with a family of his own, he just “played even more tennis than before.”
7-time Wimbledon champion and back to being world #1…to get there, Roger Federer just “played even more tennis than before”
You are what you repeatedly do, indeed. In Federer’s case, he has now claimed a historic 7th Wimbledon title and reclaimed the title of being the world’s #1 tennis player. Congratulations, Roger, well played!!!
today’s Aristotle quote with this great motivational “can-do” image is from one of our favourite websites, Sparkpeople! what an awesome way to start our week 🙂
Did you watch the Federer-Murray final in your corner of the world? Who were you rooting for? Were you happy or broken-hearted with the outcome???
This is what we woke up to this morning – the astoundingly beautiful view from our 75th floor room at the Four Seasons Hotel, Guangzhou (opening 1st August!) located within the IFC tower…Guangzhou putting on her best face for us and basking in the morning sunshine. How can you not get excited about the coming week when starting the day with this inspiring view?
This is what we woke up to this morning – the astoundingly beautiful view from our 75th floor room at the Four Seasons Hotel, Guangzhou (opening 1st August!) located within the IFC tower…Guangzhou putting on her best face for us and basking in the morning sunshine. How can you not get excited about the coming week when starting the day with this inspiring view?
The Bamboo Stiletto 