Through the robin-blue papered corridor, past the bustling main dining hall, into a private room shadowed in seductive shades of black, and a view of the Singapore river that only the party of 20 well-heeled ladies were privy to.
It was the perfect setting for Harper’s Bazaar’s chic sit-down affair, ‘A Roman Indulgence with Fendi’, at the Forlino.
Warm warm greetings from Harper’s Natalie made for a nice start to the evening. As the sommelier ushered me to the said room, a glass of delicious dry champagne seemingly manifested out of thin air into my hand. I enter, and there is, how do I put it, a hushed elegance. An elegance that came from self-confidence, not crassness of money, nor self-aggrandizement. (No people, don’t read too much into this sentence 
I caught a flash of a sexy patent red leather jacket, a fur dress, a crystal embellished tank, and some very sumptuous Peekaboo bags on display. I was also graciously shown by the SAs some very, very tempting confections…
A gorgeous marble table occupied the length of the room, on which place cards had our names and the evening’s menu. We had the pleasure of a Roman chef who did a first-rate job with the cuttlefish (so amazingly soft, am never a cuttlefish fan, but I polished off the entire plate that night), rack of lamb and the homemade pappardelle.
But what trulywas stunning were the ladies. Some of the ladies didn’t need introductions, the society mags already did that job for me, half of the remaining were doctors, and the remaining handful, well, let’s just say, I make the remaining handful
But I was in absolutely fab company, and I am not just being patronising. Ladies graciously came by to introduce themselves, and I felt at home in no time. We soon fell into tales of holidays, fashion, babies, husbands, world affairs (well, some), volunteer work; conversation was an amiable mix. Peppered with raucous jokes from the really personable Dr. T, who really made my night just great. The Harper’s editor Giselle Go held a rapt audience in me, Miranda and June, recounting for us her interview with Imelda Marcos. The 3-hour long event allowed us time to go beyond niceties, to personal anecdotes. At the end of the night, it was hard to imagine that just hours before, everyone was a stranger to me (save for Ms. J, whom I was grateful to meet!).
The Harper’s team did a beautiful job *pat pat*. It certainly was one of the loveliest events of the year.
P.S. I had so much fun, that I really didn’t take enough pictures. Besides, I don’t think it was appropriate to post those pictures without permission. Check out Harper’s coming October edition for pics.
