Smartbuy issue dated August 10, 2011

Smartbuy Business Line

G A D G E T S

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A U T O |

L U X U R Y

www.blsmartbuy.com

A mighty roar OS X Lion reviewed

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Olympus PEN EP-3 review Toyota Etios Liva tested Fragrance folio

WHAT’S HOT this week

Team Smartbuy Editorial Anushya Mamtora anushya@thehindu.co.in

Archana Achal archana.a@thehindu.co.in

Ketaki Bhojnagarwala ketaki@thehindu.co.in

Mahananda Bohidar mahananda@thehindu.co.in

S.Muralidhar muraliswami@thehindu.co.in

Design Bryan Gaughan aqua@thehindu.co.in

Balakrishnan designkbala@thehindu.co.in

Advertising Contact R.Diwakar ramdiwakar@thehindu.co.in

Web Advertising Contact

‘Enjoy’able tabbing

N. Amarnath amarnath@thehindu.co.in

www.blsmartbuy.com Become a fan of our Facebook page: BL Smartbuy Follow us on Twitter

MSI WindPad Enjoy

Touted as the lightest tablets available, the Enjoy tablets from MSI are available in two variants: Enjoy 7 and Enjoy 10. Running on Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread), the tablets offer full Adobe Flash 10.1 support and feature dual cameras. 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A-8 processor and 512MB RAM provide fast performance. Internal storage is 4GB which can be expanded by 32GB via micro SD card. The tablets also feature a mini-USB and mini-HDMI slot.

Rs 13,999 (7-inch); Rs 14,999 (10-inch)

Hear the high score

Razer Electra

Smart monitor Philips

PowerSensor Monitor

The new gaming headset from Razer seals in the good stuff and keeps noise out with optimally positioned ear cups and premium leatherette ear cushions that adapt perfectly to the shape of your ears. Heavy beats and thrumming basslines are powerfully reproduced with balance and clarity, thanks to finely tuned drivers. $59.99

This monitor from Philips sends out infrared signals to detect the presence of a person in front of it, and automatically reduces energy consumption by up to 80 per cent as soon as they walk away. Available in sizes of 21.5, 23.6 and 27 inches, the monitors feature an optimum resolution of 1920x1080 and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Rs 14,999

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The perfect balance

GOLDVISH Equilibrium

Let there be music

Sony Ericsson W8 The W8 is the first Android Walkman from Sony Ericsson. The handset has a 3-inch touchscreen where you can type on the virtual QWERTY keypad. Connect through 3G or Wi-Fi and watch videos or movies on the screen. With a 3.2-meg camera, 3D games, PlayNow and Timescape, it won’t be too often that you’ll take your eyes or ears off this.

Rs 9,995

GOLDVISH Equilibrium with its dual-SIM card slot makes sure you are reachable on two numbers.

The handset is equipped with a large 2.4-inch ultra-clear LCD screen, covered with an impressive 115 CT grade-A scratch resistant natural Sapphire.

Every product is handcrafted with durable, exclusive materials, such as 316L stainless Steel, titanium, space-grade aluminium, the finest leather, 18K gold and platinum.

The metal parts are finished by hand and with high-tech PVD protective coating which creates an inspiring palette of models. €6,900 onwards

Road trippin’

Kenwood DPX-U6120 The latest line-up of car audio systems from Kenwood includes the U6120, a dual CD receiver with USB interface.

The large LCD screen can display a multilingual interface, and the system can connect to your iPhone or iPod via a USB direct cable. The advanced digital sound processor, ‘Sound Excellent DSP’ creates a dynamic audio environment.

Rs 13,990

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SOFTWARE bytes

The king of the OS jungle O Mahananda Bohidar perating system upgrades have almost always failed to make headlines. With hardcore geeks as the only exception, buffed up OS versions are all but Greek to the layman. It’s all the more striking then, that I’ve had college-going 18-year olds to 40-something jetsetters asking me whether they should be upgrading to OS X Lion. What makes the latest OS from Apple so alluring, yet so approachable?

Meet the Lion Flagging off the OS X Lion experience was easier than it might be with a lot of user interfaces today. A direct download from Apple’s App Store, the OS X Lion will forever save us the trouble of waiting for the deliveryman and looking for that long-lost CD a couple of months later.

Taking up almost 4GB of your Mac device’s memory, the requirements to install the OS include an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3/i5/i7, or Xeon processor and an upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in case you don’t have it already. Once I had this in place, the download was a breeze and I was all set to play around with the Lion.

Let your fingers talk The new OS X Lion isn’t about anything else as much as

it is about gestures. However, there’s a bit of unlearning I had to do when I started using the interface. The most basic feature, scrolling, is done the ‘other way around’ on Lion. I slide my fingers up, like I do on a tablet, to scroll down the page and vice versa. A very low learning curve, this one.

While the trackpad on an Apple laptop would require two fingers to scroll up and down documents and websites, one finger did the trick because I was using the Magic Mouse paired to the iMac on our test bench.

Every window you open on the OS X Lion has a small icon on the top right corner that lets you maximise it to display a full-screen version. Some of the inbuilt iMac applications like Mail, iCal, Photo Booth, Safari and FaceTime also work on the full-screen format. The fullscreen did not seem like a groundbreaking feature on the new OS given the fact that the previous OS already had an unobtrusive menu bar.

Apart from these you have the old pinch-to-zoom for

Autosave No more mini heart attacks when the computer crashes or you close the file without saving it. The OS X Lion makes ‘Command + S’ redundant by automatically saving files as you work on ‘em.

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photos and web pages when you are using a trackpad (This does not work on the Magic Mouse).

Ready to launch

It’s not the tablet-like gestures but the Launchpad that comes closest to emulating an iOS interface on the OS X Lion. Every app I downloaded from the Mac App Store automatically found a place in the Launchpad. Mirroring the iPad user interface, the Launchpad displays multiple home screens you can swipe through. You also have the option of bunching similar apps in a folder. For example, when I dragged GF Golf Lite on to Chess, both got slotted inside an automatically generated ‘Board Games’ folder.

Control freak’s delight: Mission Control What seems like a brighter, better avatar of the Exposé is the new command centre, just a click away. Mission Control brings together Exposé, Dashboard, Spaces, and apps for a single-glance check which is a boon if you tend to clutter your desktop by opening too many apps and windows at the same time.

Mission Control shows you all open apps at a glance.

At the top, it displays a row of windows, called Spaces, starting with the Dashboard and going on to thumbnails of full-screen apps. You can drag an app or a new desktop to this row and add it to Spaces to create a new desktop.

Snail Mail Configuring our e-mail on the iMac after having installed OS X Lion took its own sweet time. Once the server downloaded all the stuff in ‘Mail’, the new layout turned out to be pretty simplistic, very characteristically Apple. Again a ‘déjà vu’-ish feeling, when you see that clicking on a mail gives you a bigger window preview of the text on the right. However, it seemed like the app was trying to cramp in a lot of text in preview, making it slightly difficult to read. You’ll probably have to zoom in to read the contents properly if you happen to be myopic like yours truly.

Surf time You are greeted by the same ol’ Safari when you want to browse the web, but the Lion brings about a couple of changes in the way you now use the browser. Say, I log in to the Facebook home page and then decide to check out my friend’s party pics. All I have to do to get back to my home page is swipe to the left on the Magic Mouse or the trackpad. This amazingly intuitive gesture renders the Back/Forward button on the browser pretty much useless.

Resume This little option on the OS X Lion makes sure your system is exactly the same as you had left it the last time you logged in. All apps that were running reopen, and windows appear exactly as they were, so you can begin working immediately.

Photo Booth Not only does it run on the full-screen mode, Photo Booth now has a face tracking software that makes the effects follow you around the monitor as you pose for a click.

Different strokes Apple has designated slightly different gestures to manipulate OS X Lion on the Magic Mouse and the trackpad. Here’s how we manipulated the Lion differently than we would on an Apple laptop. The three-finger swipe to launch Mission Control does not work with the Magic Mouse, a two-finger double tap does the trick.

However, you can jump to specific windows by just scrolling over them in Mission Control mode with both peripherals.

The pinch-to-zoom feature is rendered useless on the Magic Mouse. You will have to do a one-finger double tap to zoom in to a web page or a photograph.

The way you use your Apple TrackPad or Magic Mouse to work with the OS X Lion can be tweaked to your liking in the System Preferences. Scrolling, secondary click, Smart Zoom, swiping and mission control gestures can be turned on or off from here.

When the Lion doesn’t roar Despite all the apparent awesomeness of the OS X Lion, there were a few grumbles and grunts while trying it out.

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While downloading stuff from the Mac App Store, the iMac froze a couple of times. Also, the process of downloading apps from the App Store seemed unnaturally slow. We had trouble renaming folders on the Launchpad that the system automatically names.

One last word “Mac OS X meets the iPad” is how Steve Jobs describe the OS X Lion and he couldn’t have been more precise.

In an obvious attempt to merge the way we interact with both these modern-day computing devices, the OS X Lion makes for a refreshing operating system. The OS X Lion is a teaser of what could possibly go on to become an OS that we probably wouldn’t be able to do without a couple of years from now.

Love: Hassle-free installation, fluid, intuitive gesture recognition, iOS-like features, affordable price tag.

Hate: A few bugs in the system. $29.99 mahananda@thehindu.co.in

AirDrop Say goodbye to USB drives and storage devices. AirDrop automatically detects computers using this software and lets you drag and drop files on the contact’s icon to share files. Doesn’t get easier than this!

CAMERA review

Small, spiffy and snappy Ketaki Bhojnagarwala lympus has been a pioneer in the Micro-Four Thirds segment, creating a range of its PEN cameras which have considerably smaller bodies than DSLRs, yet give the same, professional results. While Panasonic has been commended on its Lumix cameras which use the technology, Olympus’ first Micro Four Thirds camera, the EPL-1, received mixed reviews. Its latest launch in the category is the new and improved EP-3.

O Overview

Regular readers of Smartbuy might recall a story on the Micro Four Thirds system which was featured in January this year. For those unfamiliar with the system, briefly, a Micro Four Thirds camera is one which uses a 4/3 sensor and eliminates the mirror box completely, resulting in a body which is much more compact than the average DSLR. The unique mirrorless design also means that there are fewer lens options, although now users will get to choose from 8 different m.Zuiko lenses from Olympus, which cover a pretty wide range. The EP-3 ships with

either a single lens (14-42mm) or dual lens (14-42mm and 40-150mm) kit.

Unboxing the EP-3, the size difference really made a big impression. Not only is the body thinner and more compact than the heavy DSLRs I’m used to shuffling around, but the 14-42mm lens also looks quite tiny in comparison to the usual 18-55mm kit lens that ships with most professional DSLR cameras.

The EP-3 comes in a grey, white or black colour option, and the smooth plastic body felt quite sturdy in my hands.

The fact that the camera is light meant that I carried it around in my handbag for the entire time I was reviewing it, but I did find it quite hard to protect it from scratches.

The finger grip, finished in textured leather, is removable via a screw on the edge of the camera body, and can either be replaced with a bigger grip or eliminated completely.

The old style leather effect, along with the smaller size of the camera body, reminded me of the Fujifilm X100 I reviewed a few weeks ago.

Like the EPL-1, the EP-3 has a 12-meg sensor. Unlike its predecessor, it is also capable of Full HD 1080p movie recording, which to be honest is becoming an expected

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addition to most professional cameras nowadays. A nice addition to the EP-3 is a pop-up flash, which fits nicely into the top edge of the body when not in use, so that’s one less protrusion. There’s also an accessory hotshoe beside it.

The controls are fairly simple to decipher – somewhere in between a DSLR and a point and shoot digicam. The circular dial wheel has options for P, S, A, M modes, Intelligent Auto, Scene, Art Filters and a Video mode. The rear panel of the camera has been divided into two, with about two thirds taken up by the 3-inch touch screen LCD, and the remaining area dedicated to controls like the click wheel, Menu, Zoom and Delete buttons. There are two customisable Function buttons as well.

Usability Although the EP-3 may seem fairly simplistic from the outside, it is a full-fledged professional camera, depending on how you use it. Olympus has been really creative in its line up of scene modes – you can choose from 23 preprogrammed modes, which apart from the regular options also include a Fisheye and Panorama effect. I really liked the 10 Art filters as well, which were great for creating

dramatic photos. The ones which I found the most effective were the Pin Hole filter, Grainy film filter (black and white) and Dramatic Tone filter. For both the Scene and Art filters, the camera displays sample images as you scroll through the various options, giving you an idea of what to use where.

Since the camera lacks a physical viewfinder, you’ll have to be content with the LCD monitor. With a pixel density of 614,000 dots, it is almost as good as looking through a viewfinder. Like I mentioned earlier, the LCD is touch sensitive, and I wasn’t too happy about that, since I haven’t really had any good experiences with touch screen LCDs on cameras. The EP-3 however, is different. First off, you don’t have to use the touch functions if you don’t want to – the camera functions perfectly fine with the manual controls. What you can use the touch screen for is to tap to focus, or tap to shoot. There are 35 focus points, which you can bring up by pressing the left button on the click wheel. Tapping on any one of them will focus the camera there, and tapping again will activate the shutter.

In the playback option, you can swipe through your images or zoom in and out of them, using the touch screen. The screen was very responsive, requiring no relentless jabbing, and I was relieved to note that my fingerprints didn’t leave the LCD in a blurry haze.

In the P, S, A and M modes, you can adjust manual functions by pressing the OK button in the centre of the clickpad, which will bring up Live Control. Any changes you make to functions like ISO, exposure, White Balance, etc, will show up on the screen itself, making it easy for you to see changes before you take pictures. This also applies to the Scene modes and Art filters, so you can preview your image before you actually press the shutter button.

Results A major difference which I noticed from the EPL-1 was that the EP-3 was considerably snappier. The camera has been equipped with the latest TruePic VI processor, which makes focussing much faster. The time taken for the image to be processed is also much faster, just about a second, which I was really impressed with.

I tested the macro mode on the camera, mainly trying to focus on tiny flowers on a really windy day. The autofocus worked beautifully, allowing me to capture focussed images in a fraction of a second. I was able to focus less than two inches away from my subject at the widest angle.

The camera does a good job of defocusing the background when required, which was really great for portrait shots and close-ups. The Intelligent Auto mode even has a control where you can adjust background blur.

Although the EP-3 has a good ISO range of up to 12,800, I found that images got quite grainy post ISO 400. Noise is also quite evident even when you use the Scene modes and Art filters in low light. I was really impressed with the colour reproduction, which effectively recreated the neon

Product photos: S.S. Kumar Test photos: Ketaki Bhojnagarwala

blue of a flambéd cake.

Our Verdict Although Micro-Four Third cameras have been around for three years now, there’s still a lot of apprehension surrounding them. Most photography enthusiasts would rather start with a DSLR than a Micro Four Thirds camera, simply because DSLRs hold the ‘pro’ tag. Unfortunately, I think the real takers for Micro Four Thirds cameras will be DSLR users, who’ve felt the burden of lugging around a heavy camera. A DSLR user myself, I’m quite tempted to go the Micro Four Thirds way, and the Olympus Pen EP-3 would be at the top of my list.

Love: Creative Art filters, intuitive controls, touch LCD Hate: Images grainy after ISO 400 Price: Rs 39,999 (single lens kit) Rs 44,999 (dual lens kit) ketaki@thehindu.co.in

Clockwise (from top right): Images are grainy post ISO 400; True to life colour reproduction; Detail is captured even when images are captured in black and white; Macro mode allows you to get as close as 2-inches to your subject

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AUTO

focus

S. Muralidhar hough the question has played over in my mind and slipped out of my mouth during interactions many times over in the past, it still was the first thing that popped up when I first saw the Etios Liva. Why so late?

Surely it is a case of better late than… even later (it was never going to be never). But, with its vast global research capabilities and wide product portfolio, Toyota is one company that could have made a serious dent in the small car market share pie if it could have launched a hatch five years ago.

Now that the Liva is here, Toyota’s plans for riding the wave of demand for premium hatchbacks finally has the right weapon.

T

Design The Etios Liva comes after the fairly successful introduction of the Etios sedan. Toyota has shrewdly chosen to launch the hatch later, in a reversal of what could be called a traditional strategy of launching the small car first and then developing a sedan based on the same platform.

But, one look at the Etios Liva and it is clear that Toyota actually followed just that in the development cycle for the two cars. The Liva looks more complete and less like an afterthought compared to the Etios sedan. Though it doesn’t feature a cab-forward design, the design of the front still has a strong hatchback flavour.

For all of you who complained of the Etios sedan’s backside being bland and dated, and worse, reminding you of another sedan already in the market, the Liva’s rear

won’t give you fodder for such gossip. The Liva’s rear is unique and stands out when compared to other small cars, though it continues to be straight and simplistic.

Viewed head-on at the front, the Liva looks almost identical to the sedan. In fact, if you look at one on the road from your rear view mirror you would mistake it to be the sedan. Except for the small differences in the bonnet grille, the front half (till the B-pillar) of the Liva is a straight lift from the sedan.

At the rear, the Liva gets a fairly flat hatch door with the only interesting bit being the cut and design that has been done to match the boot lid of the sedan. The tail-lamps are large and dominate the rear with a cluster that seems to have been chosen to improve visibility. The rear and side profile of the Liva are the best angles. Despite the overall simplicity, the design of the Liva is clean. It is very evident

in the way all the lines meet and merge – like the rising shoulder line that merges into the tail-lamps and the rear glass.

The flared wheel arches that were lost and weak in the sedan, acquire more prominence in the Liva. In the pictures you see in these pages, the Liva’s design looks even more squat and powerful because I was driving the VX variant which comes fitted with bumper skirts, side skirts and a spoiler. Body coloured bumpers are standard.

Interiors I get into the test car that I was handed over and the Liva’s interior is immediately familiar, with the dashboard layout and colour theme being identical to the Etios sedan. In fact, the Liva VX that I was driving almost has the exact same dash as the sedan. The striking bits of course, are the

centrally mounted instrument cluster, the uniquely positioned air-conditioner vents and their design, the number of storage options offered, including the large, cooled glove box and the cut-away bottom of the chunky steering wheel, which is meant to lend the interior a sporty touch, but I won’t put it past Toyota designers to have thought of that to accommodate expansive Indian paunches.

The seats are also carry forwards, and though the front seats offer some thigh and lumbar support, the rear bench is rather flat. Seat squabs are thin, but firm. But the highlight of the rear seat in the Liva is of course, the amount of legroom and kneeroom that it offers – amongst the best in the class.

Test drive The Liva leverages its design well to maximise space

inside the cabin. However, what is not as convincing at times is some of the ways by which Toyota designers and engineers have chosen to keep its kerb weight down to a low of about 900 kgs. Thin, straight doors are extremely light and close with a weak thud. Being in the hatch segment, weight savings go hand-in-hand in the Etios Liva with cost savings.

Of course, some of the effect of keeping the weight low would translate into better performance on the road, with fuel efficiency being the most tangible, but there is also a sense of uneasy lightness when you are pushing the Liva hard on good roads. There is no lack of confidence or poise on the straights in the Liva, but there is sense of hesitancy I had felt when attempting to take on corners and test the car’s abilities.

Despite the light weight construction, Toyota has

Photos: S. Muralidhar

achieved quite a bit of redemption with its ideal suspension set up, which soaks up every bump and pothole that the road could throw at it. The simple McPherson struts and torsion beam set up also manages to be adequately firm to make sure that the ride is not too ‘wallowy’.

The steering is not perfectly tuned, but for a car in this segment, this is one of the more well weighted units that I have seen. Easy to manage within city traffic, the steering is pretty precise at high speeds too. Electric power steering and tilt adjustment are not available in the base ‘J’ variant.

The quality of the plastic used in the interiors continues to be one irksome bit in the Liva too. Large swathes of plastic on the dashboard can be quite a distraction on a sunny day. Fit and finish are however, of acceptable quality.

Performance The gem in the Etios Liva, just like in the sedan, is the

engine. This one is not a carry forward and the Liva sports a new 1.2-litre petrol engine that is the most powerful (PS per tonne) in its size class.

The 3NR-FE, 1,197cc, four-cylinder petrol engine generates a peak power of 80 PS at 5,600 rpm and a maximum torque of 104 Nm at 3,100 rpm. Driving the Liva can leave quite an impression for buyers upgrading into the premium hatch segment because, with lots of low-end torque the engine doesn’t feel laboured quickly and power is delivered smoothly in the city driving cycle. The engine does get a bit ‘buzzy’ during hard acceleration.

The Liva’s engine is fairly refined and reminded me of the free-revving and enjoyable 1.5-litre unit in the Etios sedan. It will be a blind guess that the Liva’s 1.2-litre engine too will be trouble-free and frugal for years. Mated to the engine is the smooth-shifting five-speed manual transmission.

Toyota’s focus in the selection of the newly developed engine has clearly been ease-of-use in city driving condi-

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tions and frugality in terms of maintenance and fuel efficiency. The Liva gets an ARAI fuel efficiency rating of 18.3 kmpl.

Verdict On the face of it, Toyota’s assumptions about the Indian hatch buyer seems rather simplistic, some of that coming through in the design (like the smiling front side) and ultra practicality (like the seven bottle holders in the cabin) that have been loaded on to the Liva. But, considerable research into the Indian car buyer’s psyche has gone into the design and selection of powertrain and trim for the Liva.

Starting at a price of Rs 3.99 lakh, the Liva is probably the most affordable Toyota in the world. And that makes it already an attractive proposition to many of the brand’s fans, because, despite all the focus on cost cutting, intrinsically, the Liva should turn out to be a Toyota in every department. muraliswami@thehindu.co.in

MELANGE luxury redefined

‘Autumn’atic attraction

Armed and ready William Penn launches bullet pens as part of the Ammo Cartridge Space Pen collection by Fisher Space. The caps of these pens are made of actual .338 H Mag and .375 H&H Mag shells while the bodies are made of brass. Available at all William Penn stores.

Rs 2,250(.338 Bullet pen) and Rs 1,850 (.375 Bullet pen)

Fall in love with Paul Smith’s Autumn Winter 2011 Collection. These boots and brogues in brown, tan and black are sure to add warmth to your feet and wardrobe.

Available at Paul Smith stores in Delhi and Bengaluru.

Price on request

Miracle mimic Schwarzkopf Professional launches its new range of hair repair products using Biomimetics technology. This innovative technology repairs both the inside and outside of your hair by mimicking natural proteins.

Available at select salons.

Rs 540 onwards

Bronze beauty

Rest the tress Treat yourself to spa products for your hair with L’Oreal Professionel Hair Spa. With different treatments for different hair types, you are sure to find your perfect match.

Available at L’Oreal Professionel salons.

Price on request

Add a tint of bronze to your look with The Body Shop’s new Honey Bronze range of makeup.

Enriched with moisturising honey, the products are sure to sweeten your summer.

Available at The Body Shop stores.

Rs 695 onwards

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PERFUME trends

Got the whiff?

Archana Achal Anushya Mamtora sn’t dabbing on the right perfume as crucial as choosing the right clothes? No wonder an aquatic splash falls flat at a cocktail party and a spicy one for an outdoor day picnic invites curled up noses. Striking just the perfect notes is like creating a magic potion, and ingredients are sacrosanct.

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While wood, leather, single and floral bouquets and amber have been traditional fragrant notes to be bottled, modern day scents include bright floral, aquatic, citrus, fruity and fresh notes.

If you thought that an exotic blend of mango and passion fruit or pretty verbenas from a remote village in Europe are as exclusive your perfume can get, the fragrance details of the latest perfumes are sure to intoxicate you in more than one way. Firstly, by their sheer scent and secondly, by their uniqueness to the perfume industry.

Game to introduce some fun, some divine and some totally quirky fragrances into your life? Here are five of our favourite picks.

A tea break Whether it’s the mild waft of green tea or a zesty fresh white tea, the ‘tea’ is one of the most sought after ingredients in fragrances.

While those blended with floral scents like jasmine are popular with women, plain ones are lapped up by men too for a mood-uplifting experience.

Must have pick: Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea fragrance, L’Occitane’s fascinating tea collection that includes The

Smartbuy

Vert perfume with green tea extract as its heart note and the lovely Bergamot tea fragrance.

Sinful cinnamon Love the smell of cinnamon wafting out of your slice of apple pie? Now you can add it to your collection of fragrances too. Cinnamon is usually used as a heart or middle note to add warmth and depth to the fragrance. It is also a favourite today for perfumes for men because of the slightly spicy and woody note it adds to the fragrance.

Must have pick: Paco Rabanne’s Black XS for men goes deep with cinnamon at its heart along with black cardamom and balsam.

The addition of sage, rosewood and patchouli make this a top pick for a woody yet heady fragrance.

Oud la la!

Add some mystery to your evening with an oud-based fragrance. Oud is the resin- embedded heartwood produced when South-East Asian Aquilaria trees are infected by a particular mold. When burnt or distilled, this heartwood produces a complex fragrance. It is therefore highly valued today by top perfumers. Oud is used

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as a base note for its dense, earthy quality that matures with time. It is used mainly in fragrances for men. With oud, a little goes a long way.

Must have pick: The Giorgio Armani Prive Collection Mille et Une Nuits celebrates the intensity of oud with Oud Royal. The woody tones of oud are enriched by amber, myrrh and spices.

>>Beyond the fragrance What comes first, the exotic fragrance or the more exotic bottle? Crystal majors can take a bow. Fragrance lovers are increasingly picking up perfume bottles more for the sake of its exquisite carving than the fragrance they hold. Some absolutely crave-worthy brands include:

Lalique Don’t expect to walk into any luxury perfume store and spot a Lalique. Uber exclusive and ultra luxurious, each of Lalique’s perfumes is a tribute to crystal crafting and intricate carving. This Sans Adieu bottle in rich emerald green is a collector’s prized possession for sure.

Waterford The Waterford Lismore Eau de Parfum is the latest addition to the Waterford brand line. Inspired by the Lismore crystal pattern, this soft floral fragrance comes in a beautiful vase-shaped bottle that can be added to your crystal collection.

The Spice route Pepper will no longer belong to the kitchen closet alone. Wars have been waged over this valuable ingredient, so it is only fit that it finds its place in luxury perfumes today.

Pepper adds a certain spicy note to perfumes, the smell of which depends on the type of pepper used. Black, green and pink pepper notes add different qualities each to the perfume and are usually brought out best as top notes. Perfumes with hints of pepper in them are described as having an oriental, mysterious fragrance.

Must have pick: 7 Loewe for men carries the power of pepper with other strong elements like cedar, vetiver and red apple to create a fragrance filled with magnetism and depth. Love, Chloe for women is the perfect pick with the tang of pink pepper, orange blossom, soft lilac and wistful wisteria blossom.

Swarovski The Swan makes its presence felt in the perfume world too. Among other beauties, this Swarovski Aura, cylindrically shaped and topped with asymmetrical crystals, cases a fragrance with fruity litchi, roses and pink pepper notes.

Swarovski Aura

anushya@thehindu.co.in archana.a@thehindu.co.in

nd e Hi ro e liq u La

Lalique Sans Adieu

As summer gets underway, the perfect perfume for a picnic or trip to the beach should have one essential scent, that of orange. The list of orange varieties used in perfumes is endless but it is the orange blossom that captures everyone’s fancy in summertime. This delicate flower produces a light and fresh fragrance that adds a sweet note to the perfume. Orange blossoms usually form the top note of fragrances.

Must have pick: Lady Million by Paco Rabanne will carry you from day to night with its sweet blend of orange blossom, raspberry, patchouli and amber. Also for women, Lancome’s O de L’Orangerie is filled with the scent of orange blossom, orange zest and jasmine.

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Orange fiesta

GOURMET encounters

A stellar Chinese encounter Michael Swamy his is the first time I’ve encountered a lotus stem wrapped dim sum. The texture and feel of the dish was exotic - the silky smooth rice flour wrapped around a perfectly cooked prawn and flavours that lingered long after they had worn off my tastebuds. At Hakkasan, Mumbai’s newest Chinese finedining restaurant serving Cantonese cuisine, the food seems to be crafted with passion. Hakkasan was first opened in the UK in 2001 and quickly earned a Michelin star for its food and exquisite ambience. Will its Mumbai property replicate the success story?

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Ling lounge is open for lunch and is elegantly designed in Chinoiserie style. The long, luxurious bar area is thoughtfully laid out, and the drinks and cocktails menu very innovative. Along the entrance wall is a creatively designed whisky display. The main dining area is open only for dinner and the restaurant wisely has a ‘no kids’ policy for its second seating after 9 pm, which will be a welcome break for serious diners. There is also a separate dining area for business meetings. The hostesses clad in pink designer cheongsams further add to the spirit of the restaurant.

Gastronomic experience At first sight With 6,600 square feet of space, this would easily be one of Mumbai’s largest restaurants. Every nuance of the restaurant has been carefully created to please the guest. From the elevator to the dining area, one is met with subtle lighting and delicate aromas. The smallest details have been taken care of by an international team of designers from the Paris-based architectural firm, Gilles & Boissier.

Starting from the wood panels to the fish scale design, you can see traditional designs strongly emerging though with a very contemporary feel.

The restaurant is divided into four sections. The Ling

However, it is the presence of expert chefs like master Dim sum maker Chef Soon and Executive Chef Kent Lee and their six specialists that makes the dining experience here a memorable one. A lot of the ingredients designed into the menu are of local origin and a few are international. This has been done to keep the flavours intact; in order to ensure there are fewer ‘air carbon miles’ involved in what one is eating. Eating with chopsticks is the only way through a Chinese meal. Plus, it’s a useful skill to pick up, and I would recommend it to better any Chinese food experience. One of Hakkasan’s specialities is the crispy duck served with slices of mango. The taste and textures

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are inexplicably delicious, with the interesting blend of crisp duck, the flavours of soy and the softness of mango.

One needs to be adventurous to try the pork belly served upon leeks and cucumber. At Hakkasan, it is evident that the deftness of the slicing and portioning is a master’s craft. The chicken was great too, with hints of cinnamon, and other dishes to try out are the silver cod with caviar, or Peking duck which is not only expensive but has to be ordered in advance. Hakkasan has a wide range of options for vegetarians too like stir fried lotus stems, asparagus and a host of exotic vegetables in varied combinations.

With an exhaustive list of 125 wines and an enviable whisky menu, almost every ‘spirited’ whim is catered to at its extensive bar. Drinks like the Ketel (a delicious combination of vodka, sake, coconut and lychee), a pink Mojito made of gold tequila and the Chinese mule are some of the cocktails one must try out.

The meal is worth every bit of its high price tag and the experience, a gastronomic delight.

What: Hakkasan Mumbai Where: Krystal, Waterfield Road, Bandra, Mumbai Cuisine: Cantonese How much: Rs 4,000 for a meal for two without liquor (The author is a Cordon Bleu Chef and Food Stylist)