Life Style

There are a lot of health warnings telling us what we should cut back on, if not outright avoid.Fat is terrible for our heart and arteries. Salt will give us high blood pressure. Sugar is even worse, making us diabetic. And let’s not forget about ultra-processed foods that are full of chemicals, preservatives and additives. They’ll definitely give you cancer and kill you, they say.Is there anything to enjoy guilt-free?A lot of online health experts and diet gurus, as well as muscle-bound gym bros, insist that what we need is more protein. “The more protein, the better,” they scream in social media videos.Most of them are highly annoying. In their weights room with dumbbells in the background, in a shirt too small for their buff pectorals, they look directly at the camera as they try to sca...

The Rage Virus is, well, all the rage once more, as the much-anticipated 28 Years Later tears its way into cinemas this week.In the 23 years since the release of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, zombies and the infected have invaded pop culture like no one could have predicted.No one should therefore be surprised the series is back. Certainly not George A. Romero, the director of 1968’s Night of the Living Dead, the grandfather of all zombie movies, which set the template by using horror to explore societal tensions in late-’60s America.When Romero released Land of the Dead, his fourth zombie film, in 2005, he was no longer alone. Boyle’s 28 Days Later – in which a virus turns victims into rage-fuelled, fast-paced flesh-eaters – became a surprise hit in 2002. The same year, Paul WS Anderson’s ...

When Argo replaced Blue Bar at the Four Seasons Hong Kong in 2021, it made immediate waves for its radical use of ingredients – both in selection and preparation. Guests who have visited Argo are almost universally enthralled by the attention to detail in its menus, which are revised annually.The interior of Argo at Four Seasons Hong Kong. Photo: HandoutConceptually, the menus have ranged from focusing on local ingredients, such as vinegar and char siu, all the way to the current menu, which offers concoctions that integrate anywhere from a single element to four or more ingredients from a list of 10. Its continued presence on Asia’s 50 Best Bars since 2022 – ranked ninth in 2024 – is a testament to the success of its team, helmed by beverage manager Federico Balzarini, and the strength of...

Lead cast: Park Ju-hyun, Park Yong-woo, Kang HoonAn ace forensics specialist is forced to confront demons from her past while investigating a series of brutal slayings in the new thriller Hunter with a Scalpel. Leading the series is Park Ju-hyun, already a veteran of serial killer dramas thanks to her turn in the hit K-drama Mouse.Based on Choi Yi-do’s novel of the same name, the show introduces us to Seo Se-hyeon (Park) at a crime scene, where she imagines herself as the perpetrator, who stabbed a drugged-up baseball player on a nightclub dance floor.Clad in black and clasping the bloody murder weapon with a distant look in her eyes, Se-hyeon strikes an unnerving tone as she elucidates in a dry monotone on the killer’s slow stabbing motions and the thrill he must have felt while committin...

Bring a rainy, gloomy week to a close at Aer, which has opened on Staunton Street, offering a meticulously designed listening experience. Ella bar is launching its own latest, greatest menu evoking Louisiana, and the Creole sounds and flavours of New Orleans. And close out the weekend with omakase cocktail specialist Ryu Fujii from Osaka’s Craftroom, as he posts up at The Opposites.Friday, June 20Aer opens on Staunton StreetListening room Aer has opened on Staunton Street in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout.What: Hong Kong’s latest music and cultural hub has opened above Staunton Street. Aer – short for Aesthetic Radio – was launched earlier this month by hosting local collectives Yeti Soundsystem and Slimefest. The bar’s five co-founders include Nikita Matveev of Dead Poets and The Old Man, whil...

Another weekend, another opportunity to feast. With two special collaboration menus and two restaurant closures this weekend, there’s enough to eat, celebrate and commiserate over between Friday and Sunday.If you’re still hungry for more, our 2025 100 Top Tables Guide has something to suit every appetite.Friday, June 20The dining room at Uma Nota. Photo: HandoutThis weekend is your last chance to visit Hong Kong institutions Uma Nota and Bedu, both of which are part of Meraki Hospitality’s Hong Kong chapter. After eight years serving Nipo-Brasileiro and modern Middle Eastern cuisine respectively, the SoHo restaurants will close their doors on Saturday.Bid farewell in style with the honey-baked feta at Bedu, or the coxinhas de frango (chicken croquettes) at Uma Nota, as the final send-offs ...

Amanda Kwan Mon-ye is the associate director of international brand marketing for Hong Kong sauce brand Lee Kum Kee. She also co-founded Savour Cinema, a concept combining food and film. She spoke to Andrew Sun.I was born and raised in the US, in a town just outside Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up, it was a balance of home-cooked Chinese and Cantonese food, plus random American cuisine.Once a week, we would get pizza. My mum learned to make meat loaf from some magazine. But we would have also Cantonese macaroni soup for breakfast. So, I do strongly identify as Chinese-American.I live in Wan Chai. It is a special Hong Kong neighbourhood that has heavily influenced my food consumption. A favourite go-to place is Sun King Yuen Curry Restaurant (20 Spring Garden Lane, Wan Chai. Tel: 2574 917...

For Alfred Yu, retirement was the beginning of an active, purposeful life.Growing older had sparked new passions in him and retirement allowed the Hong Kong-based 67-year-old to explore new possibilities, develop different skills and share them freely with others.After a career running his own training centre focused on computer-aided design and graphic design, Yu’s retirement in 2014 marked a turning point.With more free time and no financial pressures, and his only child becoming more independent at age 16, Yu had the opportunity to rediscover his own interests.“Retirement doesn’t mean resting. It means having the freedom to do what you love,” he said.Yu bikes in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, in 2022. Photo: courtesy of Alfred YuHe took up camping, cycling and running – activities he had never p...

3/5 starsWatching F1: The Movie is like being hurled back into 1980s Hollywood, for better and for worse.The film, about a veteran driver and a rookie in a failing F1 team, sees producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Days of Thunder) and director Joseph Kosinski reunited after Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise.But instead of Cruise, this new film stars Brad Pitt.Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a former F1 driver who disappeared from the circuit following a crash at the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix. In the years since, he has scraped by as a New York cabby, developed a gambling habit and had numerous failed marriages.He gets another shot at the big time when his former teammate Ruben (Javier Bardem) invites him to drive for his failing F1 team, APX GP. Sonny, it turns out, has retained his skill and proves to...

2.5/5 starsIn an industry where originality is becoming an increasing rarity, Pixar is one company that prides itself on carving out unique stories. But not every story lands perfectly, a thought that strikes when it comes to the animation giant’s latest feature, Elio.The tale of an orphaned boy who desperately wants to discover life in outer space, it’s maybe the closest we’ve come to seeing Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial rendered in cartoon form – despite having far less of an impact.When we join Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), he is hiding under a canteen table. We never find out what happened to his parents, but he is now the responsibility of his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), who works on a military base.Olga is kindly but unable to connect with her traumatised nephew. Inste...