The Mandarin Oriental trying to re-invent the sandwich, why?

Finger sandwiches form an integral part of an English afternoon tea (together with scones and clotted cream, cakes and of course tea). Most hotels in Hong Kong would do a half decent afternoon tea. The Clipper Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental has been offering afternoon tea for decades.

I was meeting up with some out of town friends in Hong Kong and I thought tea at the Mandarin would be lovely. We sat down. We ordered afternoon tea. The food, as usual, came in a multi-tier contraption as well as a basket of piping hot scones. What intrigued me first were the boxy objects on the top tier (see picture below) - what were they?

Then I realised they were sandwiches! Except the Mandarin has done a "california maki roll" job by wrapping the bread with the filling: so the oily smoked salmon covered the bread, the Parma ham wrapped around the bread, not to mention thin cucumber slices went around buttered white bread. The whole point of a sandwich is that the bread forms a barrier to the oily, wet and pungent fillings (made popular by the Fourth Earl of Sandwich). So by inverting the layout, one gets greasy, fishy, smelly fingers! Please, can we go back to good old finger sandwiches?

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Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Opera

Michael Levine's set design for Dialogues des Carmélites was minimalist. Actually, was there any set design? I suppose the director Robert Carsen was clever at introducing formation of human figures in many different ways to suggest the context of the opera. It kind of worked. Blanche, sung by Sally Matthews, was pretty good. Though I did find the whole work quite tedious - I think the intimate nature of the dialogues needed a small and intimate performing space i.e. not the Royal Opera House. The ending was worth waiting for. Dramatic. Poignant.

Xuan Spa, Park Hyatt Saigon

After a long day on my feet travelling from frantic Bangkok to Saigon, I very much looked forward to a relaxing massage before going to bed. The Xuan Spa was a very pleasant surprise. The staff was very friendly and the atmosphere of the spa was tranquil - a world away from the screaming mopeds on the streets outside. The therapy room was big, with an en suite shower and lovely foot bath. The massage was good - classical Swedish - and at a leisurely pace. Subsequently I had a very good night's sleep.

Aqua Nueva serving up some hot Spanish snacks in London

It's just about a month old when Aqua opened in London. And yes, it's the same Aqua as the one on No 1 Peking Road. Well, the entrance on Argyll Street makes a bit of a statement - crimson velvet decor with a sleekly dressed receptionist guiding you to the lift. When you get to the top floor, it opens out into a series of bar and dining areas. My destination was Aqua Nueva - the Spanish part of this drinking-dining complex. That meant I was guided along an atmospherically lit corridor before I got to the the restaurant. It's well lit with a terrace looking out to a roof top terrace. Unlike Aqua in Hong Kong where it has the spectacular harbour view, the London one only looks out to a roof-top view. Rather than wading through the tapas and a la carte menus, I just asked the maitre d' to bring a selection of their tapas. I was pleasant surprised by the delicate croquette of mushrooms, lightly cooked octopus, braised pork, San Pietro fillets, Manchengo topped tortilla a...

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