Life Style

Of the more than 3,700 restaurants Michelin has awarded stars, only six are listed on its website as exclusively vegan – and only one of those is in Asia.The success of Légume, which got its first star in the Michelin Guide Seoul and Busan 2025, is remarkable given how uncommon and often misunderstood veganism is in South Korea.Sung Si-woo opened his restaurant in Seoul in 2023 after deciding to bet on his unconventional idea of a vegan fine-dining establishment.Few believed it would work – even Sung had doubts.The interior of Légume, in Seoul, where guests can watch chefs prepare dishes in the restaurant’s open kitchen. Photo: east_people“When I opened Légume, I invested more money than I’d ever earned in my life, so a lot of people tried to talk me out of it,” the chef-owner says at a ca...

Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Italy, unveiled the results of the initial phase of a major renovation led by architect Peter Marino when it reopened for the summer season in May this year., including George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor.The original design of the hotel, which first opened in 1958, paid homage to the history of Venice.Marino, chairman of the non-profit organisation Venetian Heritage, wove three artistic eras into the redesign: the grandeur of Old Venice, the mid-century dolce vita glamour of its early years, and an infusion of contemporary art and design.The hotel first opened in 1958. Photo: Hotel CiprianiAn antique console with custom-designed sculpture is seen in one of the hotel’s redesigned rooms. Photo: Hotel CiprianiThe first phase of renovati...

3/5 starsLouis Koo Tin-lok, the Hong Kong film industry’s most prolific star and arguably its most influential investor too, puts his signature blend of deadpan charisma and dramatic intensity to fine use in Behind the Shadows, the first Malaysian production of his company One Cool Film.A character-driven detective thriller that shows a fascination with cheating wives and jilted husbands, the film sees Koo play a hardbitten private investigator who, while running away from his own marriage, must track down a serial killer who seems to bear a grudge against unfaithful women.Life has not gone the way he would have liked for Au Yeung Wai-yip (Koo), a Hong Kong detective who believes he threw away a successful career when he moved to Malaysia to marry Kuan Weng-sam (Chrissie Chau Sau-na), a Ma...

Yeung Yan-chi knows his way around a crab. In his nearly 30 years as head chef of Bamboo Village restaurant, in Kowloon’s Jordan neighbourhood, he estimates he has prepared about 60,000 of them.These days, the Hong Kong-born 64-year-old works in a front-of-house role at the restaurant, a position that is less demanding on his body. But the vast knowledge he accumulated over the years has stayed with him.That includes the skills needed to prepare typhoon shelter-style spicy fried crab, one of Bamboo Village’s signature dishes and a Hong Kong classic.“I started as a chef at Bamboo Village in 1988 and the spicy crab has always been a favourite dish with diners,” Yeung says when we meet just before the dinner rush.Mud crab expert Yan Chi-yeung has worked at Bamboo Village restaurant in Hong Ko...

A Labubu figurine sold for over a million yuan (US$139,100) at an auction in Beijing this week, as demand for rare and limited editions of the soft toy rises.Created by Hong Kong-born Lung Ka-sing and produced as collectible toys by mainland Chinese company Pop Mart, Labubu figurines are usually priced between US$30 and US$300.The Yongle Auction sale featured 48 lots and recorded proceeds of 3,725,425 yuan. The auction drew a packed crowd at Beijing’s Phoenix Art Centre and was streamed online to hundreds of thousands of viewers.Its hashtag quickly trended on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, garnering over 45 million views.Labubu is closer to art than it is to merchandiseZhao Xu, founder of Yongle AuctionZhao Xu, founder of Yongle Auction, said the sale attracted more than 1,000 bidde...

Whether Dad’s a big meat eater, a man who loves a curry, or prefers a meal with European flair, this weekend has plenty to offer for your Father’s Day celebrations. For those on the hunt for ways to take it up a notch with a fine dining experience, check out our 100 Top Tables Guide 2025 for the perfect family meal.Friday, June 13The dining room at Morton’s Steakhouse, Hong Kong. Photo: HandoutMorton’s The Steakhouse is serving up two special steaks this Father’s Day weekend to show Dad he truly is a cut above the rest. A 16 oz dry-aged rib-eye and 16 oz “proprietary” Cajun rib-eye are each accompanied by thick-cut onion rings with black truffle aioli. The meat is balanced and served with Calabrian Chile butter, black truffle butter, Rémy Martin VSOP au poivre, and more options.Available a...

Chinatowns are often portrayed as gritty underworlds riddled with prostitution, gambling and drug trafficking. Some of this is rooted in truth, but that unfair depiction is largely the result of rampant xenophobia and cultural ignorance, especially in the West.In a series of articles, the Post explores the historical and social significance of major Chinatowns around the world and the communities that shape them.In October 2023, the Tai Thong Cake Shop, a family-owned bakery in Singapore’s Chinatown, closed after 73 years.The bakery, famous for its handmade mooncakes and egg tarts, had a loyal customer base, and news of its closure triggered an outpouring of emotion from regulars.In October 2023, the Tai Thong Cake Shop, a family-owned bakery in Singapore’s Chinatown, closed its doors afte...

Lead cast: Jung Kyung-ho, Seol In-ah, Cha Hak-yeonLatest Nielsen rating: 2.8 per cent.After playing a celebrated surgeon (Hospital Playlist) and a star private academy instructor (Crash Course in Romance), Jung Kyung-ho returns to the small screen as a lawyer, but not the kind that occupies the corner office of a penthouse law firm.In Oh My Ghost Clients, Jung plays Roh Moo-jin, a labour rights lawyer struggling with his own labour woes – he needs money for rent. But, as the title implies, help will soon come from the most unexpected of places.Moo-jin believes he has hit the big time when his friend, played in a cameo by Jung’s Hospital Playlist co-star Kim Dae-myung, gets him to quit his job and invest big in cryptocurrency.

A month after his 35th birthday, Nidhin Valsan received unwelcome news: a diagnosis of late-stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.The senior officer with the Indian Police System was shaken, but he steeled himself for the fight of his life.He would undergo gruelling treatment – and afterwards, train to complete his first triathlon: the Ironman 70.3 Goa.He chronicles his return to wellness in his memoir Cancerman to Ironman: A Police Officer’s Journey of Arresting Illness. It describes his battle with cancer, the support system that sustained him, his struggle with anxiety and depression, and training for the Ironman.Valsan with his wife Remya and two children after finishing the Ironman 70.3 Goa in 2022. Photo: Nidhin ValsanIn 2020, Valsan had been posted to India’s Goa stat...

Lead cast: Park Bo-gum, Kim So-hyun, Lee Sang-yiLatest Nielsen rating: 5.3 per centAs any athlete will tell you, warming up before exercise is essential to avoid injury. Stories need to warm up as well, for a similar reason – let’s call it narrative whiplash.Good Boy, a new action series featuring Park Bo-gum (Record of Youth), Kim So-hyun (Love Alarm) and Lee Sang-yi (Bloodhounds) as a group of sporting medallists who join the police force, is very careful to limber up before getting into the meat of the action.But when the action only kicks in 80 minutes into a meandering 90-minute premiere episode, we have to wonder: what happens when warming up takes precedence over exercise?