Jungle theme and tribal dance for the new Merc

CitySeen was not surprised to see more blokes than chicks at a party at Isola Bar and Grill at IFC Mall on Friday night. It was, after all, the launch party of the Mercedes-Benz M-class SUV.

The venue was transformed into a jungle for the night to go with the new car's image. To get in, guests had to negotiate a mysterious dark tunnel draped with wild vines. Animal sounds could be heard while we walked gingerly through. A few steps into the party, we realised the jungle theme didn't reach past the entrance. However, we weren't disappointed for long because we spotted the roast-meat-on-skewer and ice cream stand.

As we were downing our third champagne, the long-awaited unveiling finally began. Dancers jumped out of nowhere and began performing a tribal dance around the shiny new car. When the hot and heavy dance ended, guests jumped on stage to pose for photos with the car, which costs $648,000 for an ML350 and $888,000 for an ML500.

After a couple of smoked salmon canapes, we got back to work and began our search for Hong Kong celebrities. We spotted veteran actress Cecilia Yip Tong as well as the omnipresent Kam Kwok-leung, but most of the celebrities left as soon as the open bar turned off its faucets at 1am.