Life Style

The City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) is no stranger to innovative programmes.Everything from Tango to Latin to original musicals has had its time to shine in concert, as have instruments from the glass harmonica to the theremin – an electronic instrument controlled without physical contact.On June 25, at Hong Kong City Hall, the spotlight fell on Brazilian music, along with an array of percussion instruments such as the marimba, as Brazilian composer and percussionist Ney Rosauro conducted the orchestra in “Brazilian Fantasy”, a programme consisting mainly of his works.Rosauro is one of the most eminent living percussionists and an educator whose etudes and exercises are widely used by music students. Ask any percussionist to name a marimba concerto and most will mention one by ...

Curry leaf is not, unfortunately, the bouillon cube of the plant world – it does not magically turn an ordinary sauce into a curry-flavoured hit.The thin, delicate leaves do, however, smell like Indian curries and, when used in a complex spice mixture, add a strong fragrance and a distinct, slightly bitter flavour.You can buy inexpensive bags of fresh curry leaves in specialist Indian produce shops, while pricier jars of dried specimens can be found in upscale supermarkets.Do not bother with the dried ones – usually they have lost much of their aroma and flavour. And the fresh leaves freeze well.Curry leaves add a wonderful fragrance to this rempeyek with peanuts and ikan bilis dish. Photo: Jonathan WongIn addition to being used in Indian kitchens – primarily in the south of the country – ...

July sees two big new Korean restaurant openings in Hong Kong, with one specialising in pork rice soup and another in Korean beef offal.Meanwhile, Causeway Bay sees a spicy new addition in a Sichuan hotpot restaurant that promises to go beyond fiery mala flavours.Breathing fresh air into the nightlife scene is a bar that promises great beats as well as a mean cocktail.Read on for this month’s newest restaurants.1. Sichuan RougeMapo tofu with whole lobster at Sichuan Rouge. Photo: Sichuan RougeCauseway Bay’s restaurant scene has a hot new addition in Sichuan Rouge, at Soundwill Plaza II – Midtown.

On the lookout for some weekend inspiration?From a new exhibition at the Hong Kong Palace Museum that highlights historic luxurious carpets commissioned by Islamic rulers, to a genre-bending Chinese/Mediterranean feast – think mapo tofu lasagne – and Brad Pitt’s new film, there is plenty to look forward to over the coming few days.1. Wonders of Imperial CarpetsA room at the Wonders of Imperial Carpets exhibition at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. Photo: May TseWhile carpets are indeed the highlight of this special exhibition at the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM), “Wonders of Imperial Carpets: Masterpieces from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha” has much more to offer than that.Also on display are ceramics, metalwork, manuscripts and jade carvings from the three “gunpowder empires”: the Safavid ...

On his left upper arm, Cantonese-American chef Calvin Eng has a tattoo that pays tribute to his upbringing and his identity as a chef.It is a heart with a banner bearing the letters MSG – the abbreviation of flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate – and it shows just how dedicated he is to the ingredient that has drawn controversy for decades.Now, Eng has gone one step further in declaring his love for MSG by including it in the name of his debut cookbook, Salt Sugar MSG: Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home, which he wrote with his fiancée Phoebe Melnick.The book’s title is a nod to what Eng considers to be the trinity of seasonings in Cantonese food ingredients, which are part of what he believes makes the cuisine special.Roasted mushroom lo mai fan (sticky rice) is one of th...

We are halfway through 2025 and despite a few letdowns, like Season 2 of The Last of Us – and who knows what the final season of Squid Game has in store for us on June 27 – there have been a number of great shows that have generated a lot of buzz.From heartfelt family dramas and tales of growing up to a dystopian workplace sci-fi thriller, here are five top shows that have gained global popularity and received critical acclaim across different platforms this year.1. When Life Gives You Tangerines (Netflix)Following the stories of various generations of characters from South Korea’s Jeju Island, this moving drama weaves together coming-of-age experiences and life’s challenges, all grounded in the island and South Korea’s unique culture and setting.But at its heart, it’s a universal story ab...

Lead cast: Cho Yi-hyun, Choo Young-wooLatest Nielsen rating: 4.4 per centA high school girl moonlights as a popular shaman in the supernatural-tinged romantic comedy Head Over Heels, starring Cho Yi-hyun (All of Us Are Dead) and Choo Young-woo (The Tale of Lady Ok).In this adaptation of the webtoon Gyeon-woo and the Fairy – which remains the Korean title of the series – Cho plays the bubbly Park Sung-a, who has managed to keep her school and shamanic worlds separate until Bae Gyeon-woo (Choo), a handsome young man, appears before her at a fortune-telling session.Gyeon-woo has been dragged to session by his grandmother, who fears he is in grave danger.

Like most directors of his generation, Gareth Edwards is a student of Steven Spielberg's films.The unassuming British filmmaker has echoed Spielberg ever since his low-budget 2010 debut Monsters, crafting thoughtful, big-scale spectacles.He followed that in 2016 with the acclaimed Star Wars spin-off tale Rogue One. In 2023, he made The Creator, a beautiful sci-fi film that felt emotionally tied to Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence.Edwards was exhausted after The Creator, but then came the offer of a lifetime: Spielberg and producer Frank Marshall wanted him to continue their beloved Jurassic franchise.Ever since Spielberg’s 1993 classic Jurassic Park, adapted from Michael Crichton’s novel about a billionaire tycoon who plays God by breeding dinosaurs from fossilised DNA, the series ...

Humans are not the only ones who experience heatstroke: our four-legged friends can suffer from it too.And with summers getting more intense around the world, they are at more risk than ever.The data speaks for itself, with the World Meteorological Organization confirming that 2024 was the warmest year on record.Hong Kong, too, sweltered through scorching temperatures in 2024, logging its hottest year since records began in 1884 – and this year is shaping up to be another summer of hot weather warnings.For veterinarians in the city, summers of soaring heat, combined with high levels of humidity and pollution, means that treating dogs for heat-related illnesses has become a frustrating cycle.“Every summer, we see dogs in Hong Kong die from preventable heatstroke,” says Lloyd Kenda of Hong K...

As we enter the height of summer, remember to stay hydrated and out of the sun – and what better way to replenish your energy than with an iced coffee or two at one of these new cafes around town?From Hong Kong Island to the New Territories, coffee lovers have plenty of new spots to discover. Read on to find out more.1. No TitleNo Title is located on Gough Street in Central. Photo: Instagram/tomytongA new independent coffee bar with a unique point of view, No Title has taken over the space that used to be Hakawa Chocolate on Gough Street in Central.One of its menus acts as a kind of mood survey, with questions such as “What’s your ideal state of mind right now?” and “What’s the scene where a cup of coffee awakens you best?” so that the barista can make a bespoke cup of coffee to suit your ...