HAIR SPA DAY

HAIR SPA DAY

“Great hair doesn’t happen by chance, it happens by appointment”
                                                                                                -L’Oreal Professionnel

Last month spent a great hair spa day at Nadia Hussain's new salon hosted by L’Oreal Professionnel. I was one of the select few editors, bloggers and socialites that had been invited to try the L’Oreal Professionnel range of products that are exclusively available at salons and needless to say was impressed by the treatment Nadia gave me after examing my hair texture, and by her spacious custom-made salon. 

The Lotus team was present to make us feel at home. Nadia, looking like she  was ready to deliver any day, was at her active best and graciously took me around the the three-storey salon where she also house a boutique in the basement and plans to open a dentist's clinic on the top floor. 

 Two of L’Oreal Professionnel Hair Care lines were highlighted at the event: Serie Expert and Mythic Oil. Nadia recommended the former for me and used their Pro-Keratin Refil from the line, which acts on hair to repair strands from the centre to the surface making it much more manageable. All I know is that by the end of the treatment and the blow-dry I was looking ready to go to the Oscars!Too bad I had to rush off for a dentist's appointment instead!! Now, once Nadia has her clinic running, that should also not be a problem. Thanks guys for a great evening!

Chinese menu for Pakistani palate

Chinese menu for Pakistani palate

PC Hotel’s marketing and PR departments seem to be keeping themselves busy as every few days there is some promotional activity or the other taking place.  If it is not a regional week they are celebrating, then it is an international one, and each is accompanied by great fanfare that includes inviting dignitaries and the media at their inception.

A case in point is the recently concluded Chinese Food Festival.  With all the Chinese consulate representatives present including their CG, not to mention the Consul Generals of Switzerland and Russia, and the cream of the media industry, the Festival opened with a bang. Tai Pan, PC’s Chinese restaurant where buffets are served regularly, had undergone a transformation of sorts with an LCD TV playing images of Chinese, cultural, architectural and historical importance. Special spices and vegetables had been flown in to facilitate the chef in preparing mouth-watering dishes that had been given a Pakistani twist to appeal to our palate.

The meal, comprising around 30 dishes or so, was delectable to say the least and boasted a vast variety of starters, entrees and desserts. Beginning with Chinese Gruel, the only soup on the menu that day, and an unusual offering in a country where Chinese soup normally spells ‘chicken corn’ or ‘hot and sour’, there were the usual array of tantalizing starters like freshly fried jumbo prawns, chicken and egg rolls and dim sum. The entrees included chicken string with spicy Schezwan sauce, Hong Kong fried noodles, fried rice, fried crab with garlic, prawns with orange sauce, dry beef with chillies, and pancakes stuffed with marinated mutton, all of which were delicious.

As for the desserts – not all of them were Chinese which was just as well, as we still have to develop a taste for authentic Chinese sweet meats. Among the non-Chinese array on offer were the most delectable leechy and cherry tarts, red velvet cake, chocolate cake, banana fritters and ice cream among many other items. 

It would perhaps be a good idea to extend these festivals over longer periods so that more and more people get the chance to avail of them.  Having them for a few days or at the max one week doesn’t give enough time to foodies in Karachi, who normally have their social calendars brimming anyways, to experiment at such festivals.  Maybe the next one could go on for a fortnight?

   Translation to appear in next month's issue of Masala TV Food Mag