Life Style

South Korean actor Simon Lee was stunned when he saw his likeness – at times as a gynaecologist or a surgeon – being used to promote questionable health cures on TikTok and Instagram.He is one of scores of people who licensed their image to AI marketing companies and then ended up with the unpleasant surprise of seeing themselves featured in deepfakes, dubious adverts or even political propaganda.“If it was a nice advertisement, it would’ve been fine to me. But obviously it is such a scam,” he says, adding that the terms of his contract prevented him from getting the videos removed.The result left him with his digital clone advocating lemon balm tea to lose weight or ice baths to fight acne.The method for making avatars involves actors displaying a range of emotions in front of a green scr...

This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.Australian cinema has never been the most outward-looking. Its greatest films tend to lean into national stereotypes, and its greatest stars tend to leave for Hollywood.In 2008, however, the government signed a co-production treaty with China, which was fast becoming one of the biggest film markets in the world. This resulted in underperforming efforts such as the 2008 drama The Children of Huang Shi and the 2011 family film The Dragon Pearl, both of which were set in China.But 2012’s Bait 3D – about sharks attacking shoppers in a flooded Queensland supermarket – proved an unlikely success, making US$24 million in China compared with US$800,000 bac...

This article contains spoilers.4/5 starsLead cast: Kim Min-ha, Gong Myung“Saving yourself is saving me.”These are the words spoken by Kim Ram-woo, a Grim Reaper played by Gong Myung (Extreme Job), near the end of the magnetic Way Back Love, a vivid and emotional mix of mirthful high school romance and tragic fantasy drama.He is talking to Jung Hee-wan, played by Pachinko sensation Kim Min-ha, who he appeared in front of one week earlier to inform her that she had a week left to live.

In a city where people will happily queue up for a soft toy launch, this Easter weekend might prove a busy one – as a toy festival is just one of five fun things that you can do in Hong Kong this weekend.1. PMQ Play Stuff Fest 2025The “PMQ Play Stuff Fest 2025” festival is themed like a toy convenience store and runs from April 18 to 21 at PMQ in Central, on Hong Kong Island.It features more than 30 toy brands and platforms from Hong Kong, Macau, Seoul, Shenzhen and Singapore.Check out a wide range of playful designs, including exclusive toys and event merchandise launched by local designers Club Babo, Don’t Cry In The Morning, LeeeeeeToy and Mr. Giraffe.Join sharing sessions with toy designers to hear their inspiring stories and take part in workshops led by the masters.Do not forget to c...

Also called anise seed, the spice has an intense, licorice-y flavour. An aid to digestion, it goes well with seafood and in biscotti.

There was a time when gourmet European cheese was an uncommon ingredient in Hong Kong restaurants. The assumption was that local diners did not like cheese, finding it unappealing, expensive and stinky – and certainly not the preferred post-dinner alternative to dessert. Plus, it was presumed that Asians were mostly lactose intolerant.Jeremy Evrard set out to change that. As the general manager of fine dining restaurant Caprice when the Four Seasons Hong Kong opened in 2005, the Frenchman defied convention and introduced artisan cheeses rarely – if ever – tasted in the city.“When I arrived five years ago, everybody told me, ‘Forget about cheese, nobody eats cheese in Hong Kong,’” he told the Post in 2010.His curation of prized fromages and high service standard soon earned loyal admirers. ...

If you still haven’t recovered from the hectic flurry of activities that swept Hong Kong in March, the long Easter weekend is your chance. While traditional celebrations like painting eggs and eating hot cross buns are all well and good, Easter is also historically tied to a theme of revival.On Hong Kong’s ever-changing dining scene, new names continually pop up, bringing novel flavours and bold concepts. Exciting as each new restaurant or bar is, it’s hard not to feel a sense of nostalgia for those restaurants and bars that have left a mark on this city – places that brought something truly special and left behind unforgettable memories – but that have since disappeared.Because some stories are just too good to end, however, 100 Top Tables has tapped into the Easter spirit of revival and ...

The gleaming black-and-gold dining room at Coqodaq is rowdy, and it is not even open for dinner yet. A table of “rappers and podcast hosts” are lingering over a late US$4,000 caviar-and-champagne lunch, executive chef Seung-kyu Kim says.He does not mind – he wants his Manhattan restaurant, notorious for its caviar-topped chicken nuggets (US$28 per nugget), to be a place people visit to celebrate.As bird flu forces stores in the United States to ration US$10-a-dozen chicken eggs, salt-cured fish eggs have become inescapable at high-end restaurants.The slimy, briny spheres can now be found atop US$68 sour cream and onion dips in Nashville and US$73 egg salads in San Francisco.The interior of Coqodaq in New York. Photo: Instagram/coqodaqBut while customer perception of caviar as a luxury wort...

Hankering for a chiselled jawline, a male TikTok influencer strikes his face with a hammer – highlighting the rise of “looksmaxxing”, an online trend pushing unproven and sometimes dangerous techniques to boost sexual appeal.Looksmaxxing influencers – part of an online ecosystem dubbed the “manosphere” – have surged in popularity across social media, capitalising on the insecurities of young men eager to boost their physical attractiveness.In posts across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, they promote pseudoscientific methods to achieve everything from pouty lips to chin extensions and almond-shaped “hunter eyes”, often while monetising their popularity by endorsing a range of consumer products.In more extreme cases, these influencers advocate taking steroids, undergoing plastic surgery and e...

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.]You know how it gets during peak summer in Hong Kong – sticky, sweaty and just plain hot. That kind of heat makes you dream of a refreshing swim. Sure, lots of housing complexes here have access to swimming pools and maybe a sauna hidden behind the gym, but let's be real – you’re really after those poolside cocktails, towel service, a comfy cabana for you and your friends to chill in, and maybe even a live DJ dropping beats by the water. It's that full-on summer vibe you'd usually find at a fancy resort.Great news: you don’t have to fly all the way to Bali or Phuket for those holiday vibes. Just hop over to Macau, where Galaxy Macau’s Grand Resort Deck is returning on April 18. It’s packed with sunny vibes, luxury t...