Life Style

Sebastien Lagree would like to make one thing clear: “This. Is. Not. Pilates.”The global fitness entrepreneur is talking about the Lagree Method, his patented workout. About 50 studios in Southern California currently license rights to use Lagree equipment, many of which are in Los Angeles.Peer into their windows and you will see machines that look like hulking, extra-large Pilates Reformers – so-called Megaformers – atop which clients are moving between platforms on a modular, sliding carriage, positioning their body parts to execute slow but extra-strenuous squats, rows and lunges.So, like, harder Pilates, yes? No.They didn’t feel like they got a workout doing PilatesSebastien Lagree explains why he began modifying the Pilates method“It’s totally different,” Lagree says on the phone from...

2.5/5 starsThe inspiring true story behind the founding of an iconic Hong Kong food brand receives a largely uninspired retelling in The Dumpling Queen, a glossy if unabashedly melodramatic and run-of-the-mill biopic set primarily in the city in the late 1970s and 80s.The Dumpling Queen tells the rags-to-riches story of Wanchai Ferry founder Zang Jianhe (or Chong Kin-wo), played by Chinese comic actress Ma Li without even a hint of humour.It begins in 1977 in Qingdao, Shandong province, where the mother of two young daughters bids farewell to her own mother and sister before travelling to Hong Kong to meet her husband (Kenny Wong Tak-bun) after four years apart.However, upon arriving at the border railway station, Lo Wu, she learns that, under the influence of his wicked mother (Nina Paw H...

France’s beloved comic book heroes Asterix and Obelix have their latest incarnation in a Netflix miniseries that could win over new fans, notably in the United States and Asia.The plucky Gauls, created by illustrator Albert Uderzo and writer René Goscinny in 1959, have a vast following thanks to the original comic books that have sold around 400 million copies.A series of big-budget French films – the latest took them to China in Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, in 2023 – has also helped expand their reach.However, warrior Asterix and his powerful but dim-witted sidekick Obelix are yet to win over viewers in the United States and Britain, which have their own comic-book and animated hero characters from Marvel, Disney and other stables.Director Alain Chabat (white hair and glasses...

It is no easy feat for a fitness studio to have survived years of Hong Kong’s high rents, the 2019 anti-government protests and a pandemic, but that is exactly what Heather Thomas’ Flex Studio has done.Flex Studio opened in 2005 in Stanley, in the south of Hong Kong Island. Today the Pilates studio has two Hong Kong branches, in Wong Chuk Hang and Central, and one in Singapore. Around 900 clients visit one of the three studios two to three times a week.When Flex Studio first launched, Pilates was virtually unheard of in Hong Kong.“I had to constantly explain to people that it is not yoga,” Thomas says. Back then, there were only three other centres in the city offering Pilates classes.Heather Thomas is the founder of Flex Studio in Hong Kong. Thomas earned her Pilates certification in 2002...

Hong Kong restaurants are pulling out all the stops for Mother’s Day on May 11, 2025, crafting lavish menus to celebrate the occasion.From elegant spreads at Salisterra, in Admiralty to Chiu Chow tasting menus at Pak Loh Chiu Chow – various locations – this year’s offerings blend tradition with creativity.Expect delectable desserts, premium seafood dishes, and fabulous free-flow options. There are also mother-child cooking classes with a fantastic lunch afterwards.Whether it’s a premium brunch or a nostalgic traditional Cantonese feast, Hong Kong’s chefs are ensuring every mum feels cherished. Here’s where to book for a meal as extraordinary as she is.1. SalisterraTreat mum to one of the best views in Hong Kong at Salisterra alongside refreshing Mediterranean cuisine.The three-course shari...

First they drop the onions into the pot. Then in go the chickpeas and garlic cloves, all under the watchful eyes of chef Luis Montoya.For a group of women in Miami, Florida, mostly mothers and grandmothers, this one-pot meal can solve a challenge: how do you prepare easy and affordable healthy meals in a community considered a food desert?Inside the Overtown Youth Centre in the US city, the women slice and dice and squeeze their way through a recipe for chickpea soup with lemon and herbs, a recipe inspired by the Mediterranean, a region known for populations that can live to 100 and more.“The most difficult part is hitting the pressure button on the pressure cooker,” says Montoya, the South Florida chef leading the class, as the women prepare ingredients near the electric pots.Chickpeas in...

Where other concept menus often lead with esoteric ideas or atmospheres that contextualise their signatures, the front cover of Socio’s new menu hits us with just facts: it introduces their community-driven bent, which focuses on reusing waste ingredients from other restaurants and bars in SoHo.Upcycling spare/waste ingredients – usually by way of centrifuging, redistilling, using sous-vide or other means of processing – is not a new concept. The question is always whether a waste ingredient still yields enough flavour to produce a delicious drink. This is what we immediately wondered with Socio’s Oyster Shell, which reuses about 4.4kg of oyster shells monthly from Caine Road fish eatery and market Hooked.The exterior of Socio at 17 Staunton Street, Central. Photo: Jocelyn Tam“The shells d...

Dubai residents can now have 24-carat gold coins delivered to their homes in less than an hour as super app Careem targets millions of Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Dubai-based Careem Technologies, a spin-out from Uber Technologies’ Middle Eastern subsidiary, has launched a campaign that allows users to buy up to 10,000 dirhams (US$2,700) of physical gold in a single order.The gold is supplied and certified by Tanishq, the flagship brand of India’s biggest jeweller, Titan Co.The roll-out of the new feature coincides with Akshaya Tritiya, a Hindu festival in which buying gold is considered auspicious.Indians make up about a third of the UAE’s population of over 10 million people, and the country continues to attract expats with the promise of jobs and low tax rates.

May in Hong Kong is all about relaxed and casual restaurants serving comfort food and traditional fare, from Thai soup noodles and Japanese udon to marinated goose from a famed Taiwanese brand, as well as Singaporean-style chicken rice from a Lion City stalwart.Over in Macau, there is an exciting new food hall presenting trending names and restaurants. Read on to see which new places are set to tickle your palate this May.1. Yakiniku ShoThe latest addition to Central’s line-up of yakiniku, or Japanese grilled meat restaurants, specialises in tender Kuroge Wagyu beef. The restaurant features only two set menus priced at HK$790 (US$102) and HK$490 and offers full service – the staff help with the grilling. Highlights include thick-cut prime beef tongue and other selected rare cuts of beef.Sh...

During World War II, within the walls of the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, a Jewish prisoner secretly penned a short note and hid it inside a violin he had crafted under harrowing circumstances – a message to the future that would remain undiscovered for more than 80 years.“Trial instrument, made under difficult conditions with no tools and materials,” the worn note read. “Dachau. Anno 1941, Franciszek Kempa.”The origins of the violin, built in 1941 by Franciszek “Franz” Kempa while imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau, near Munich in southwest Germany, remained unnoticed for decades.It was not until art dealers in Hungary sent the instrument out for repairs – after having stored it for years among a set of bought furniture – that its history came to light.Art collector couple Tamas Talo...