25 February, 2014
Health & Wellness

Introducing Sassy’s Man About Town – who detoxes with Pure’s Nood Food juice cleanse and goes rock climbing at Da Verm

25 February, 2014

In a city like Hong Kong, everyone fancies themselves as a “somebody”, don’t they? Although our fragrant harbour has over 7 million inhabitants, somehow you’ll always know someone who knows somebody that can get you into the latest hotspot, buy you the newest smartphone before it hits the shops, or simply have their finger so on the pulse that they know the latest news practically before it’s even happened! So what makes me so special that I get to write about what goes on in our fair city on Sassy Hong Kong?

Maybe it’s that I was born and raised in Hong Kong and know the place like the back of my hand (but if we’re being honest here, I don’t really know the difference between Queen’s Road East and Queen’s Road Central!). Or perhaps it’s because I used to work for one of the world’s leading private members’ clubs, where I was slap-bang amongst all the movers and shakers, throwing down bottles of Cristal like it was water… so I had the inside scoop of what goes on, where, why and a nice little goodie bag attached to it, thank you very much!

Or it might be that my current job in marketing and events for one of the city’s most exciting hospitality and lifestyle groups (i.e. Maximal Concepts, the guys behind Blue Butcher, Brickhouse and Fish & Meat) means that I meet Hong Kong folk from all walks of life and get exposed to the most sublime food, wine and fabulous parties!

… And it definitely has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve been hounding the Sassy girls for a chance to be on their site since foreverand this was probably their solution to get me off their backs!

So here I am, just another man about town. Your “somebody” who will provide you the scoop on all those exclusive hotspots (please post any lavish invites accordingly), that spanking new smartphone (make mine champagne-coloured!) and pretty much everything and anything you need to know that’s worth knowing (well, hopefully).

nood food pure hong kong

I’m starting my first column with the hot topic at the start of every New Year – detoxing. I ate (and drank!) everything I came across over Christmas and CNY so as a new year’s resolution, I decided to go eight weeks without the giggle water. Why? Because I can! Not because it’s a fad… or I feel guilty… or that I have some sort of drinking problem… but because in some weird way, it gives me a smug sense of achievement that for the last 60 days, I’ve been more focused (and less embarrassing) than I am when I’ve enjoyed a night of Margaritas.

So enter Nood Food, Pure’s detox line that offers a variety of organic cold-pressed juices and raw vegan snacks. I eagerly purchased their chia porridge after a particularly gruelling workout, which, if I’m being honest, wasn’t the taste sensation of my life – but it did fill me up.

Continuing with my quest for a healthier lifestyle, I also sampled their Hershe smoothie, which is made of coconut water, banana, cashew nuts, coconut palm sugar, cacao powder, cacao nibs, chia seeds, and pink Himalayan salt (phew!). Again, my initial reaction was that it wasn’t going to win any awards for flavour – but after a little more slurping, I decided that its sweet, salty chocolate thickness was enough for me to try more Nood Food. So I bit the bullet and dived into the world of juice cleansing! I figured that as long as I was cutting alcohol out of the equation, how hard could it be to go without actual food for a few days?!

There were some ups and downs, moments of euphoria and moments of major tetchiness. With six 450ml juices a day including ones called “Turn Me On” and “Recharge”, I started the cleanse on a really positive note… but by about 3pm, my energy levels were down and I experienced a sense of humour failure. Nevertheless, the proteins in the fifth juice helped pick me back up and I found I had surprising amounts of energy for that time of the evening. I then woke up the next morning before my alarm went off and felt refreshed and rejuvenated!

Overall, my juice cleanse was a positive experience – I certainly felt lighter and more alert. The one thing I noticed was that it was more difficult for me to rock my weight training as hard as normal because my energy levels were down, but I did feel like the cleanse recharged my batteries to continue my alcohol detox.

da verm climbing club hong kong

Next, I threw myself into indoor rock climbing at Da Verm Climbing Club. I go to the gym, practice yoga and enjoy long distance endurance races, so I wanted a new physical challenge and thought this would be a unique sport that delivered both physical and mental rewards.

I’ve had about five sessions now and each time, I’ve been a bit uncoordinated, smacked my face against the wall and fallen like a lead balloon! But it’s more about changing my attitude to make myself stronger. What do you do once you fall? You have to think and use strategy to figure out what your next move is. It’s not only a sport – it’s a lifestyle!

All right, I’m off for the weekend. There are places to go, things to do and people to see… someone has to do it!

Nood Food  Pure Yoga, 2/F, Asia Standard Tower, 59-65 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
8178 0000  www.allnood.com

// CLICK HERE

Da Verm Climbing Gym  419G Queen’s Road West, Sai Wan, Hong Kong

// CLICK HERE

Avey is the Marketing & Events Manager at Maximal Concepts

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