Life Style

In New York’s Long Island City neighbourhood there is a nondescript, white-tiled Taiwanese restaurant named Gulp.Those not in the know might assume that the five counter seats are all there is to this little joint, but open the grey door at the rear, pull back the curtain behind it and you will find yourself in a softly lit cocktail bar imbued with warm, red tones reminiscent of Wong Kar-wai films.This is 929, a bar that pays tribute to 1980s and 1990s Cantonese and Mandarin pop culture and music, so named for its phonetic similarity to “night to night” and because the numbers represent a New York telephone area code.Here the walls are covered in posters of Hong Kong singers – there is one of Faye Wong, another of Sammi Cheng Sau-man – and towards the back is a DJ set-up with dozens of Can...

Forget what is said about old dogs and new tricks – try teaching someone in their eighties how to glide, spin and jump on ice.In Japan, adults young and old are doing exactly that by packing ice skating rinks for classes and recitals in figure skating, inspired by their favourite elite skaters or by anime and manga.On a weekend in mid-March, some 30 people gathered for a figure skating class at the Mao Rink, a facility opened in Tachikawa, western Tokyo, last autumn.The overnight camp was arranged by former figure skating star Aki Sawada, 36, who placed fourth at the 2007 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and now coaches skaters in the Kansai region of western Japan.Participants included housewives, workers and a graduate student, among others.The exterior of Mao Rink in Tachika...

Leading contemporary Chinese ink artist Liu Dan is holding his largest solo show to date, at British auction house Phillips’ space in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District.The selling exhibition, “Liu Dan: Morphogenesis”, is a rare showcase of 26 Chinese ink and watercolour works created by the artist over four decades.They highlight his fascination with rocks, in particular Taihu stone – a kind of perforated limestone from Dongting Mountain in the Chinese city of Suzhou that has inspired Chinese scholars for thousands of years.The most eye-catching piece on display is Taihu Rock aka “Yu Ling Long” (from Yu Garden, Shanghai) (2024), which depicts the “exquisite jade rock” – a large porous boulder – from Yu Garden, a traditional Chinese garden in Shanghai dating back to the Ming dynast...

This is the latest instalment in our From the Vault feature series, in which we reflect on culturally significant movies celebrating notable anniversaries.Thirty years after its release in May 1995, Tony Scott’s submarine thriller feels terrifyingly timely.The film that saw one of the last great roles for Gene Hackman, who died in February, posits a world on the verge of World War III because of a conflict in Eastern Europe. Swap civil unrest in Chechnya for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it could have been plucked from today’s headlines.Scott (1944-2012) was a British filmmaker known for testosterone-fuelled action films such as Top Gun, also produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer.Although Crimson Tide retains the team’s usual trademarks – hyperactive editing, fetishised mili...

Cardamom is a spice I love, even though I do not use it often.I add a small amount of the ground spice when I make Danish pastries and delicate chickpea-flour cookies, and use a pod or two when I am cooking an Indian- or Middle Eastern-inspired dish, but that is about the extent of it.It is a spice that should be used sparingly: with most preparations, a subtle hint of its distinctive flavour is much better than a strong jolt of it. I once accidentally bit into a whole cardamom pod I had used in a biryani, and it was some time before I could get the bitter flavour out of my mouth.Cardamom comes in two main varieties: black and green, with the former being much stronger and the latter used in a wider variety of cuisines.Green cardamom has the stronger flavour of the two varieties, and is us...

Daily exposure to chemicals used for many plastic household items could be linked to more than 356,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease worldwide in 2018, according to a study published this week.It can be ingested after it is broken down into microscopic particles as part of the everyday use of the items that contain it.Exposure to this chemical contributed to 356,238 deaths, or more than 13 per cent of all global mortality from heart disease in 2018 among men and women aged 55 to 64, the study found. About 75 per cent of the deaths occurred in South Asia, East Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East.DEHP is used to make food containers, medical equipment and to soften plastic, and is also found in pipes and in cosmetics, sprays, detergents and solvents. Photo: ShutterstockThe authors sai...

May 5 is Buddha’s birthday, a public holiday in Hong Kong, so the city has another long weekend to enjoy. With temperatures soaring, get into the summer spirit with our pick of five of the best things to do between now and then.1. Mats and MatchaFlow and Friends Hong Kong, a new wellness and social club, presents an outdoor mat Pilates class led by Anastasia Tsiupa, followed by a matcha in Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park in Sai Ying Pun.The session takes place on Saturday, May 3, from 11am to 1pm.Mats and music will be provided for the one-hour Pilates class. Afterwards, network with like-minded individuals over a matcha of your choice.The cost is HK$350. For details, and to book, click here.Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, next to the water fountain, 16 Eastern Street North, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong2....

Marathon swimmer Ryan Leung Chun-hay, who works in the property sector, is the only Hongkonger to ever swim across the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland. He spoke to Andrew Sun.I enjoy simple, traditional Hong Kong comfort food – such as steamed or scrambled eggs with shrimp. When I was in high school, my go-to lunch was wonton noodles.I still remember they only cost HK$18 (those were the days!), and sometimes I would even have two bowls.I love a local spot called Ho Ho Restaurant (Shop E&F, 136-142 Belcher’s Street, Kennedy Town. Tel: 2818 3658). It has been around for at least 20 years. I remember going there back in high school.My favourite late-night order is the rice noodle rolls with eggs, and I always top off the night with a local dessert such as hot walnut so...

By Park UngCars, ships and semiconductors have long dominated Korea’s list of major exports. Then, cultural content such as K-pop, dramas and foods became major attractions for foreigners.But with a surge in medical tourists, a new contender has been rapidly gaining ground: plastic surgery. In 2023, 114,074 foreigners visited Seoul for cosmetic enhancements.Among the diverse international clientele drawn to the city for plastic surgery this year was Nguyen Thi Huyen, a 26-year-old marketer from Vietnam.LED light therapy devices promote skin regeneration, improve elasticity and aid in wound healing. Photo: courtesy of View Plastic Surgery“I had facial contouring surgery to make my jawline slimmer. That included cheekbone reduction, jaw angle reduction and chin reshaping,” she says, adding t...

When chef Son Jong-won of Seoul’s one-Michelin-star Eatanic Garden was asked recently about the one ingredient he felt could be better represented outside Korea, he did not hesitate.“If you go to Italy, you know that olive oil is a staple that represents the country,” he says. The chef, who was speaking about the evolution and expansion of hansik, or Korean cuisine, said: “Perilla oil is something we use [in Korea] that should be known more.”The golden oil, known in Korea as deulgireum, is derived from cold-pressing the seeds of the perilla plant – a fragrant herb better known by its Japanese name, shiso. It has a distinctive nuttiness and herbal quality, with a slight aniseed finish.“You can incorporate perilla oil in salad dressings,” Son says, doubling down on the idea that the ingredie...