Hong Kong: Tigerbombers in Lamma Island

January 7, 2012

Hong Kong’s Tigerbombers is a trio commonly described as 'Surfer-billy' with a vicious kick of riot grrrl and comprised of Arthur Urquiola on guitar, Natalie Belbin on bass, and Jasmine Robertson on drums, with all three sharing vocal duties. The band is heavily involved in the burgeoning indie scene in Hong Kong, especially the lone lucky male, Art, who previously used to be in at least 6 bands, including Six Pack of Wolves. I had only watched, and loved, the band’s two youtube videos (below), before I reached out to them to see if they would be interested in helping me get to know their city and was stoked to find out more about their sound, the music community they are helping to build, and what a typical day in Hong Kong is like for them.

Natalie and Art met me at Central pier no.4 after their Clockenflap set and we made our 25-minute journey via a very bumpy but scenic ferry ride (make sure to pack whatever anti-motion sickness methods work for you or you will definitely not notice even a hint of the beauty) to Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island, where Natalie lives. Lamma Island (population 5000) is home to numerous bands like David Bowie Knives, Transnoodle, and Dark Himaya, and DJ's Songs For Children (a couple who's promoted international acts in Hong Kong such as Asobi Seksu, The Drums, and Deerhoof).

Natalie tells me that Lamma is known in HK as the 'island with all the hippies.' There’s a chill vibe that instantly washes over you here as soon as you touch ground at Yung Shue Wan, which is such a drastic contrast to the hard hustle of Hong Kong. On Lamma Island, you’ll find loads of little organic 'green' cafes, leash-free dogs running about, graffiti, lush jungle, and a beach with a massive power station.

We take a walk through the jungle with Natalie’s dog to Hung Sing Yeh beach to check-out the power station that was built in 1972 and supplies energy to Hong Kong Island. Here, they have BBQs and jam with their instruments into the morning light. Natalie’s friend Makha, an incredible Senegalese djembe drummer, can be found here playing on the beach on any given day.

As we walked to Natalie’s house, I noticed that there weren’t any cars on the island… because there are no cars or even streets for cars. Bicycling is the mode of transportation here, which I can only imagine results in a very interesting scenario when moving house.

By the time I finished my Lamma Island experience, the sun was gone and I full-on entered delirium. I had no idea what I ended up saying at Natalie’s house (was I even speaking in sentences… in comprehendible English?). Jet-lag was proving to be a mega-bitch for me here in Hong Kong but it was only day 2 and I hadn’t vomited yet on any of the choppy boat-rides (it’s the small victories that count), so I was determined to kick the time difference’s ass… tomorrow.

Thank you so much to Natalie and Art for being my Lamma Island guides for the day! xx

MORE HONG KONG POSTS:

EATING AND SHOPPING WITH PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART

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Hong Kong: Pains of Being Pure at Heart Goes to Ladies Market

January 5, 2012

Our first day in Hong Kong was also the first of the two-day Clockenflap music festival. This year, the free festival, now going on its 4th year, set-up at the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade and included a line-up dedicated mainly to local bands mixed in with international artists like Santigold, Bombay Bicycle Club, and Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

After the band’s soundcheck, I met up with Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s Kip Berman and Peggy Wang at the Clockenflap grounds. Since it was both our first time in Hong Kong, we had to experience what the city does best… FOOD. So we headed for lunch at the legendary 24-hour Tsui Wah Restaurant. Tsui Wah is a popular late-night joint for those post-boozing and partying with its signature dishes being the crispy bun with sweet condensed milk, spicy seafood and lemongrass noodle soup (my fave), and sizzling fried noodles with king prawns. We had all that plus about five more dishes with drinks like “Creamy Corn,” which Kip ordered and actually really loved.

I DON'T KNOW WHY KIP HAS CHOPSTICKS, WHILE PEGGY AND I WERE GIVEN FORKS. IRONY?

While stuffing our faces, we talked about life since the release of their second album, Belong, which came out earlier in the year, and our first jet-lagged impressions of Hong Kong. Since I grew up in an area where Asians were the minority and with a family that’s not typical Chinese (my parents are neither Cantonese or Mandarin but rather Hakka from India), I never really connected deeply to popular Chinese culture and was hoping this trip would help me to better understand that side of my identity. It was interesting to also hear Peggy’s perspective on growing up in a predominantly white neighbourhood and what it was like growing up Asian(watch the video at the bottom to see our interview).

After our feast at Tsui Wah, we walked over to Tung Choi Street, better known as Ladies’ Market, in Mong Kok (an area notorious for being a sneaker haven) to shop for some really rad cheap deals. The entire market is about 1km long with hundreds of stalls selling everything from watches, purses, clothes, and trinkets on each side. It's like Canal Street on acid. We found a small stall selling funny custom tees and I got to use my smooth bargaining skills.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart was leaving the next day so it was awesome that we got to hang before their Clockenflap set and get introduced to the best of the city together - eating and shopping, two things that Hong Kong kicks most cities' asses at.

"I PEEPED YOU ON THE PHONE AND EVERYBODY WANNA COME BACK TO THAT BODY"

MORE HONG KONG POSTS:

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Hong Kong: First Impressions

January 5, 2012

After more than 24-hours of transit from Toronto to Hong Kong via a stopover in the always glamorous Newark airport, we arrived in the bright neon lights and crowd-filled streets of Hong Kong - also known as Asia’s world city. What does “Asia’s World City” mean exactly? I had 6 days to find out.

DRIVING FROM THE AIRPORT INTO TSIM SHA TSUI AT NIGHT

At first sight, Hong Kong can be overwhelming but if you're like me and you love big cities and actually get an adrenaline rush over the energy that emanates from crowds and the possibilities that come along with it, then Hong Kong is your spot and 4 million fellow visitors last year also agree. I’m counting on this adrenaline to help me transition to the 13-hour time difference. So far, I was dying to clean away my day-old in-flight grime and dreaming of my hotel room.

An exceptionally spacious and friendly hotel that takes the best of urban modern design, The Mira is located on the Kowloon side of the island in the heart of the action-filled Tsim Sha Tsui district. Walking distance is the Star Ferry, Hong Kong’s beloved subway (the MTR), and Knutsford Terrace (Kowloon’s nightlife epicentre).

First things first - order room service and charge batteries… We’re always charging batteries- laptop, video camera, photo camera, go-pro, cell phone, etc. It’s the bane of our existence on trips, often nearly causing fires in our rooms every time. I was already preparing my apologies to the Mira. Fortunately, the extremely friendly staff at the Mira had the foresight to have a bunch of 20-pound power transformers for our adaptors and happily delivered them to our rooms.

After an amazing much-needed bath and eating my weight in room service, I hit the sack and proceeded to wake up 3 hours later and staying awake until breakfast. Welcome to jetlag, folks. Day 1 is sure gonna be a pretty one, and the pretty one ain't gonna be me.

THE VIEW FROM MY ROOM: THE KOWLOON PARK.

INFO:

The Mira

118 Nathan Road

Telephone: 852 2368 1111

Email: reservations@themirahotel.com

Website: www.themirahotel.com

MORE HONG KONG POSTS:

MILKTEETH IN KWUN TONG

SIMON YIN AT VICTORIA HARBOUR

EATING AND SHOPPING WITH PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART

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Fave Photos of 2011

January 2, 2012

Happy new year, friends! I'm starting to get my shit together (caught the nastiest cold that spanned the entire holiday week... woe is me, it's fiiine) and will be rolling out my tales from Hong Kong soon, promise. To say the least, this trip was beyond any of my expectations and preconceptions that I had about the city and was the perfect jet-lagged way to end a whirlwind year that also included incredible trips to Iceland, Denmark, Portugal, UK, and Thailand.

In the meantime, here are some of my favourite photos of 2011 that I was able to capture in between eating my face off and being blown away by the talent in all pockets around the world.

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS IN LISBON, PORTUGAL

GENERATIONS COLLIDE IN SHAM SHUI PO, HONG KONG

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COOKIN’ WHAT I HAVE

November 20, 2011

You know when you finally get off your ass and go grocery shopping, buy everything in sight, and then most of it goes rotten before you get the chance to cook it? No? Just me? Ok… So, I started to do this thing where I throw my veggies into the freezer before it gets the chance to go bad as a solution (why don’t you just cook them up right away and eat them instead of going out on dinners you shouldn’t be spending money on, you may ask? To which I say, stop asking me so many damn questions).

KALE/BEET/POMEGRANATE/RED QUINOA SALAD

I finally had some time on Sunday night to do some cooking but since I hadn’t gotten any groceries for awhile, I scrounged up everything I had that was still fresh and some stuff I had in my freezer and came up with the following ingredients: 1 beet, kale, 1 pomegranate, 1 lemon, shallots, garlic, some dried up basil and mint, and Ziploc bags of frozen chopped Portobello mushrooms, Japanese eggplant, jalapeno, and Vidalia onion. With that, I came up with the following 3 dishes below. Cook what you got y'all!

DISH #1:
LEMON PENNE WITH MUSHROOMS
I really wanted lemon linguini (I dream of Dominick’s version of this very dish almost on the daily) so my one lonely lemon stepped in and the result? Absolutely delicious, of course.

Ingredients:
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp of butter
- Basil, roughly chopped
- Portobello mushrooms, cubed
- Salt and pepper
- Pasta

Instructions:
Boil whatever pasta you got on hand.
Meanwhile, heat up a pan on medium, throw in the butter and garlic. Once the garlic and butter have melted together nicely, add the zest and squeeze some juice from the lemon in there too. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Let it party together for like 5 minutes.
Your pasta should be al dente by now, so throw it into the garlic/lemon butter sauce. Once all that goodness is mixed up real nice (about 2-5 minutes) transfer to a serving bowl.
In the same pan with the remnants of the garlic/lemon butter still there, add the mushrooms, and fry them up until golden, then mix in the chopped basil, some salt and pepper and pour it on top of the lemon pasta. Add some grated parmesan on top and you're set.

DISH #2
KALE, BEET, POMEGRANATE, RED QUINOA SALAD

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked red quinoa
- Kale, roughly chopped
- 1 beet, grated
- 1 pomegranate
- 2 shallots, diced
- Dried cranberries, handful
- Sunflower seeds, handful
- Pumpkin seeds, handful
- 2 tbsp Cashew butter (you can use any nut butter you have)
- Hot sauce (I had some Portuguese pimento)
- Coconut oil (extra virgin olive is fine too)
- Chipotle
- Henderson's Relish (or Worcestershire)
- Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Heat up a pan on medium-high heat with a tablespoon of the coconut oil and add the diced shallots and the chopped up kale (don't dry after washing, the water on the leaves will help cook it). Cover the pan for 2 minutes or so until the kale just becomes soft. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Add cashew butter, and all your favourite sauces (I like pimento for heat and chipotle and Henderson's for flavour). Then throw in the pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, craisins, grated beets, some pomegranate seeds and salt and pepper for taste, and mix it all up with 1 cup of cooked red quinoa.
The pomegranate seeds add a nice tart kick but I only used like a quarter of what's in the actual pomegranate and saved the rest for a snack on its own. The red colour from the beets and pomegranate seeds look kick ass with the kale but leaves your kitchen looking like a murder scene, so don't wear your vintage YSL for this one.

DISH #3
EGGPLANT AND MUSHROOM CURRY
Ok, so this dish only works if you have a stocked up spice cabinet. Although my fridge may not always be full, I always have a variety of curry powder, paprika, saffron, etc. as well as a tons of different sauces (every hot sauce you could name, soy, chipotle, Worcestershire, mustard, etc.) on hand. If you're like 2% of the single twenty-somethings out there who have insane amounts of exotic spices in their kitchen, then this recipe is for you.

Ingredients:
- 2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 2 tsp Saffron
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1tsp Coriander powder
- 2 tbsp Curry powder
- 2 Japanese eggplants, cubed
- 2 Portobello mushrooms, cubed
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Instructions:
On high heat, drizzle some olive oil on to a pan and sauté the garlic, jalapeno, and onions until golden and then add in the eggplant and mushrooms. Turn heat down to medium, mix in all the spices and add about 2 tbsp of water. Set it simmer for 15-20 minutes on medium-low.
Serve with the quinoa left over from Dish #2.
P.S. skip the jalapeno if you are sensitive to spiciness.

The aftermath.

Clean-up complete. Time to eat.
(Yes, that 2x2 countertop is my cooking space. If I can do it, you can do it)

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Splashlife Interview

November 1, 2011

Recently, splashlife interviewed me on how I got into music reporting and then creating a travel series for MTV as well as my involvement with joinFITE. I'm usually most comfortable being the one asking the questions but splashlife was incredibly awesome and I hope my answers offer some advice for all y'all looking into working in the media. Check out the piece, titled Sharlene Chiu: Entrepreneurship Enabler here.

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SPLASHLIFE: SHARLENE CHIU: ENTREPRENEURSHIP ENABLER

October 31, 2011

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Sharlene VS Portugal: October 17 @ 8:30pm on MTV!

October 15, 2011

This Monday, catch the premiere of Sharlene VS Portugal on MTV at 8:30pmET. Tons of badass bands like Buraka Som Sistema, The Glockenwise, and Orelha Negra help me put together a travel guide to their fine country that you can't find anywhere else. Plus, tons of goodies like this to get your taste buds going:

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Montreal: Luxury for Less

October 3, 2011

Go on over to the travel section on Sympatico.ca to read up on my latest Luxury for Less piece, spotlighting one of my favorite cities in the world, Montreal!

Rooney. One of the many chic shops featured in Luxury for Less.

As Canadians, we’re lucky to have one of the most culturally rich and aesthetically stunning cities in the world- Montreal. Lauded as Canada’s “little Paris”, you cannot deny the European allure of Montreal, without the Euro currency. Once in the bilingual city, and after you’ve indulged in La Banquise poutine and both St-Viateur and Fairmount bagels, grab a Bixi bike and hit the 500-plus kilometers of bike lanes that cover the city. There are over 400 Bixi stations around Montreal where you can rent a bike for 24-hours for only $5. Check out bixi.com for a full map of all the stations. With the best and most inexpensive way to explore Montreal in tow, here are some must hits to live it up in the city of style:

SHOP

LOLA & EMILY

Located on Boulevard Saint Laurent, Lola & Emily has been a stand-by shopping stop for chic labels like Sweden’s Filippa K and Denmark’s Designer’s Remix since it’s inception in 2001. Decorated with antique furniture from India, Lola & Emily carries everything you need from jewelry, bags, and shoes to make your outfit complete.

EDITORIAL

South of the Boulevard Saint Laurent shopping strip, on Stanley, is a boutique that hits all the right stylish notes. Editorial’s MO is to mix high-end street wear labels with affordable fashion and jewelry lines, creating an eclectic look that many celebrity stylists strive for. Brands from all over the world include Vince, One Teaspoon, and Brandy & Melville.

ROONEY

If there’s going to be one men’s clothing store to hit, it’s Rooney. In Old Montreal, near the Old Port, Rooney specializes in emerging designers that provide everyday classics from the perfect button-down to the perfect pair of jeans with the utmost quality in manufacturing.

LITTLE SHOP

For rare finds and big designer names, it is worth the trek to the vintage haven that is known as the Little Shop. Prior to a few months ago, Little Shop operated privately, specifically to set-designers for music videos and huge films like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Now, the public can search this tiny house that’s filled to the brim with antique figurines, Victorian hats and lace, and of course the labels… in one go, don’t be surprised to lay your hands on vintage Pierre Cardin, Sonia Rykiel, Valentino and YSL. For prices as low as $25 a top, it’s no wonder that many high-end shops get their supply here.

EAT

LAWRENCE

Further west of the heart of Boulevard Saint Laurent is a new restaurant that prides itself on fresh farm to table ingredients. Lawrence has a new menu daily that will make it tortuous for you to just select one item when ordering. The brunch is particularly spectacular- watch out for the homemade lemon curd donuts.

LE COMPTOIR

Le Comptoir is a small and vibrant restaurant with an extremely friendly and hip wait-staff. The menu is written on a large wall-to-wall blackboard in French but don’t worry if you don’t know what a Tarte de Homged is, your waiter will be more than happy to translate. A dinner for 2 with drinks, including the stand-out charcuterie board and at least 3 more items from its fresh daily menu, will come to less than $50 each.

LE BREMNER

Off the cobblestone streets in Old Montreal, hidden below street level, is TV chef sensation, Chuck Hughes, newest restaurant, Le Bremner. The beautifully decorated space with dark woods and vintage lighting serves an incredible menu of seafood, including Chef Hughes’ obsession, oysters. The brilliantly concocted cocktails like the Pineapple Mojito and Rhubarb Manhattan are also not to be missed.

DRINK

PHILEMON BAR

For a night out in Old Montreal, Philemon Bar is a fun spot to lounge and people watch as the clientele varies from the business-like to artsy types.

SPARROW

Music lovers can basically live at the Sparrow, a favorite of Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, as on any given night, you will no doubt bump into one of the many talented musicians that live in this fine city. The low-key and friendly vide makes the Sparrow a great spot to relax and catch-up with friends.

DO

BOTA BOTA

This unique spa is anchored right on the water of the St Lawrence River in the Old Port.

Bota Bota’s innovative floating spa offers the relaxing and energizing benefits of a water circuit (two saunas with views of the river, a eucalyptus steam bath, and whirlpool baths) as well as massage therapy, body treatments, facial treatments, and manicures and pedicures. During the weekday, with a treatment booking, the water circuit is free of charge, and on Tuesday’s it’s 2-for-1 pricing.

MUSEE D’ART CONTEMPORAIN

Running at the Musée d’art Contemporain from October 6 until January 3, 2012 is the triennial exhibition, now in its second edition. It is the largest event devoted to Québec contemporary art and features 40 artists. On Wednesday evenings after 6pm, the Musée d’art Contemporain provides free guided tours. Located in Montreal’s Quartier de Spectacles, after hitting the Musée d’art Contemporain, you can visit the Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde, Le Monument-National, and Place des Arts.

SNOW TOURS MONTREAL

For the more athletically inclined, during the winter months, Snow Tours Montréal guides visitors through the city while enjoying activities like ice skating, snow tubing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. Winter clothing and boot rentals are available and each tour includes a delicious Québécois lunch and a trip to the farmer’s market.

STAY

ZERO1

Located in the Quartier de Spectacles, the brand new ZERO1 has 128 rooms with a modern touch that combines top design with incredible comfort. Rooms start at a stunning $140/night.

LE PLACE D’ARMES HOTELS AND SUITES

Right in the heart of Old Montreal is Le Place d’Armes Hôtel & Suites. You can conveniently walk almost anywhere you need from this location- the Palais des Congrès convention centre, Multimedia City and downtown Montreal is only a three to 10-minute walk. The cosy contemporary rooms include free wi-fi so you can stay in the loop.

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Spicy Puffed Tofu with Creamy Enoki Mushrooms to M83

October 2, 2011

Since receiving an advance copy of M83's new double-album (release date: October 18) Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, I haven't been able to stop listening it on the daily - from the first second of Intro, the morning commute becomes much more magical.

On this cold rainy Sunday, I've still got Hurry Up, We're Dreaming on play and since I'm home for a few weeks before I'm off travelling again, I'm getting back to my big Sunday cookouts. First up, Spicy Puffed Tofu with Creamy Enoki Mushrooms (recipe below).

Ingredients for Spicy Puffed Tofu:

1 package of puffed tofu (can be purchased at any Asian food mart)
4 cloves of Garlic
Ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp chili sauce
1 tsp lime juice
Half a bunch of basil
Handful of bean sprouts

Ingredients for Creamy Enoki Mushrooms:

1 package of enoki mushrooms
1 tsp coconut oil
2 cloves of garlic
Ground black pepper
2 tbsp cashew butter
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp chili sauce
Half a bunch of basil

Directions:

For the sauce for the puffed tofu, combine the hoisin sauce, chilli sauce, lime juice, and ground pepper to taste in one bowl. In another bowl, combine the cashew butter, soy sauce, chilli sauce, ground pepper to taste, hot water, and chopped basil for the sauce for the enoki mushrooms.

In a pan, sauté the garlic with the olive oil until golden and add the puffed tofu until crispy. Add this to the spicy sauce made earlier. Now, sauté the rest of the garlic with the coconut oil and the enoki mushrooms until the mushrooms become soft, and add to the creamy sauce.

To serve, scoop some of the spicy tofu first as the base, add the creamy enoki on top, and sprinkle as much chopped basil and bean sprouts as you like.

Enjoy! xx

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Montreal: The Little Shop

September 6, 2011

The Little Shop

1002 Ogilvy, Montreal

For years, The Little Shop operated secretly only to costume-designers for films and music videos, and people in the know (I was told, ring the doorbell and say the name of the person who referred you for entry). Lucky for all of us though, for over a week now, The Little Shop has opened to the public. Prepare to spend a good couple of hours to peel away and scrounge for your new favourite vintage dress, hat, blazer, necklace, blouse... I could go on, and believe me, the amount of stuff The Little Shop holds ain't so little. You will be stunned by the plethora of rare French labels as well as big ticket labels like Sonia Rykiel, YSL, Givenchy, and Valentino (many high-end vintage shops buy from The Little Shop and sell at much higher prices). The owner (who prefers to remain anonymous) is truly the sweetest woman you will ever meet- upon entry, you will be welcomed with a huge enthusiasm and passion for vintage and of course, a lovely cup of tea. I walked away with 6 beautiful items for $120. Unreal. This is a dream for any vintage lover.

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NYC Guide for FASHION

September 6, 2011

If you're going on a quickie trip to NYC, check out my Guide to Shopping and Eating in NYC for FASHION mag, where I break it to you neighbourhood by neighbourhood.

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Montreal Calling

September 6, 2011

For a much-needed long weekend getaway, I met up with my friend Afsaneh in Montreal. Afsaneh was driving in from Pennsylvania, while I flew in from Toronto... in the middle of hurricane Irene. So needless to say once we reached Montreal, we situated ourselves at our comfy hotel (Le Place d'Armes) and more than lovingly (desperately) accepted our welcome cocktails.

In pictures, highlights from our Shop, Eat and Drink Montreal 2011 trip:

The Little Shop

Garde Manger

Le Bremner

Pineapple Mojito and Raspberry Manhattan at Le Bremner

Oysters at Le Bremner

Homemade Donuts and Strawberry Shortcake at Le Bremner

Apple and Brie Crepe at Chez Suzette

Thrifting down Boulevard Saint Laurent

Lawrence

Eggs Royale at Lawrence

Lemon Curd Donuts at Lawrence

Lobster Tarte at Le Comptoir

The Sparrow

Spa day at Bota Bota

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Walking Through Lisbon

September 6, 2011

As we were shooting b-roll around the Bairro Alto and Chiado districts, a lovely woman welcomed my camera person, Vanessa, and I to her home where she allowed us to shoot on her rooftop, capturing the stunning view of the city. While Vanessa was taking in the view, I sat down with the lovely woman and had a full conversation... in Portuguese. Even though I don't speak the language, I somehow understood her heartwarming stories of her grandchildren who live all around the world and how proud she was of them. This was a totally unexpected moment and one that I will remember always when I think back to our trip to Portugal.

FOR MORE ON PORTUGAL:

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A Vida Portuguesa

September 6, 2011

In the heart of the Chiado district in Lisbon is A Vida Portuguesa- my one and only shopping stop in Lisbon. This beautiful shop is a dream for people who love bath products that are locally produced. On top of the toiletries, every notebook, bottle of wine, chocolate bar, etc. in A Vida Portuguesa is exclusively made in Portugal. Brands normally found in boutique shops for ridiculous prices are very reasonably priced here. I recommend picking up the Couto toothpaste, Benamor hand cream, and Lavanda soap... all essentials in continuing to smell like a delicious Portuguese apothecary back home.

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Lisbon: Nightlife with Glockenwise

August 7, 2011

GINJINHA (PORTUGUESE CHERRY LIQUOR) SHOTS WITH RAFAEL AND NUNO FROM GLOCKENWISE.

Glockenwise are four just barely 20 year-old students from Porto. Along with being self-professed scumbags, Glockenwise have a sound that distinctively oozes, their idols, the Black Lips. So who better than a couple of scumbags to help us close out another Sharlene VS. episode. Here's how our last night unfolded in pictures:

FOR MORE ON PORTUGAL:

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Lisbon: x-wife

August 7, 2011

João

and Rui from x-wife at Vertigo

On my last day in Portugal, Porto's

x-wife

trained over to meet us at one of their favorite caf

é

's in Lisbon, Vertigo, which is located in the vibrant shopping area of Chiado (my favorite store in Lisbon,

A Vida Portuguesa

is located here).

Formed in 2002, x-wife are a staple in the Portuguese indie rock scene and were praised by James Murphy and Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand for thier infectious dance beats. In 2009, they were nominated for Best Portuguese Act at the MTV European Music Awards which helped them to expand their fan-base outside of Portugal. Influenced by Suicide and Gang of Four, x-wife's latest album, Infectious Affectional, is currently available on itunes.

Roasted Vegetable Tostada

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Lisbon: Buraka Som Sistema at Optimus Alive

August 2, 2011

While in Lisbon, I paid Buraka Som Sistema a visit during the second night of the Optimus Alive festival. Lil’ John, Riot, Conductor, and MC Kalaf were curating the Enchufada night (their label's namesake as well as Portuguese for "plugged in") on the clubbing stage, which included a supremely hot and fun performance by the group themselves, in addition to sets by Diplo and CarteBlanche. Before their thumping show (also the day of Riot's birthday), we chatted in their dressing room about the follow-up to their critically acclaimed album, Black Diamond.

Formed in 2006, Buraka Som Sistema broke through with a fresh sound called "progressive Angolan Kuduro," that made club kids in their hometown of Lisbon scream and dance like hell. They are just putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming third album (slated for an autumn release) and unsurprisingly, they say the new album takes what you have known them for years up a hundred notches. Bring on the water guns.

PERFORMANCE AT OPTIMUS ALIVE. WATER GUNS INCLUDED.

The next day, I met up with the guys again at LX Factory for an on-set of the first video off their new as of yet titled album. The night before we had joked that the new single/video would be called "Up All Night" since a name still hadn't been decided yet. The concept revolves around Ustream stars and a sweaty club scene in a warehouse.

Here are some photos of our time with BSS:

CELEBRATING RIOT'S BIRTHDAY WITH CAKE NUMBER 3

THE CROWD FOR BURAKA SOM SISTEMA AT OPTIMUS

FOR MORE ON PORTUGAL:

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Lisbon: Come Sail Away with Me

July 29, 2011

I know what you're thinking, "She's on the damn water again? But she can't swim!" I know. Not only that, but the captain of the catamaran actually gave me the reins and I full-on sailed along the Atlantic Ocean for an hour, with the lives of 4 people in my hands. I gotta admit, I loved every second of it.

Of course, I can't talk about sailing and not include this Styx classic:

FOR MORE ON PORTUGAL:

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Lisbon: The Gift

July 22, 2011

The Gift has been a mainstay in the DIY music scene in Portugal since the mid-90’s. For their 5th and latest album, Explode, they enlisted the producing magic of Ken Nelson (of Coldplay fame). The lead single “Made for You” (along with the video featuring Lukas Haas and Isabel Lucas) has become a growing hit in their native land and across Europe.

The Gift are originally from Alcobaça, Portugal and for our cooking session, Miguel, the resident chef in the band, and I set-up shop at a friend's home in Restelo, Lisbon. While recording Explode, Miguel provided home cooked dishes from scratch everyday, including items from today's menu. For our lunch, we made a spinach salmon roll, mango shrimp salad, pan con tomate (Spanish tomato/garlic bread) and a chicken chorizo stew, and enjoyed it all family-style.