Life Style

This is the 49th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.Hong Kong users of the social media platform Threads recently might have encountered a certain Choi San-keung, a sleep-deprived, middle-aged taxi driver who regularly engages with other internet users and shares his nightmares with them.Choi, who has been active since March, has also been spotted on in the Hong Kong subway on an MTR train, on the streets and in cinemas.This eccentric influencer is the alter ego of veteran actor and filmmaker Nick Cheung Ka-fai, who plays Choi in new horror thriller film Peg O’ My Heart, which he directed and co-wrote. It is the fourth movie Cheung has directed.Nick Cheung as Choi San-keung in a still from the film Peg O’ My Heart, which he also ...

The hotel that inspired Stephen King to write his bestseller The Shining is getting a sweeping overhaul in a bid to cement its status in the film industry, particularly among horror-movie aficionados.The new owners of the Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, Colorado, roughly 64km (40 miles) from Boulder, plan to borrow nearly US$300 million to expand its facilities.The project, which includes a new events centre, is the result of a decade of planning by the US state and the hotel owner along with cultural and film organisations around how to attract more regional tourism. Part of the goal is to tap into the Sundance Film Festival’s planned move to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027 from Utah.The Stanley is a 196-room independent hotel that opened in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Histori...

Among the five best things we have found to do in Hong Kong this weekend is sampling Japanese ice cream and getting a taste of the city’s underground music scene.1. Japan’s Harlow Ice Cream and Beyond Coffee Roasters at Snack BabyWith the warmer weather this week, there is no better time to treat yourself to a scoop or two of ice cream. While Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood has an abundance of ice cream parlours, this weekend you’ll want to head to Snack Baby on Hollywood Road to sample Japan’s Harlow Ice Cream and Beyond Coffee Roasters.Launched in 2017 and inspired by American ice cream shops, Harlow Ice Cream has a following in the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Kobe thanks to its high-quality ice cream, made with cream from Hokkaido served in freshly made cones, and its baked goods. It...

Star anise is a striking spice, both in appearance and taste. In Cantonese, it is called bat gok (eight angles, or corners), although it sometimes has more or fewer than eight points making up the “star”.Its flavour is similar to that of aniseed, but star anise is much stronger; often, recipes will call for a certain number of star anise points, rather than a whole one, because too much will overwhelm the other ingredients.Each of the points contains a shiny seed, which I usually discard when using whole pieces of the spice. People may know to avoid biting into a star anise point, but they might overlook the seed and eat it. It is not harmful to consume, but the flavour is extremely strong.Ground star anise is one of the ingredients in five-spice powder. It is also an essential ingredient ...

3.5/5 starsLead cast: Park Ji-hoon, Ryeoun, Bae Na-ra, Lee Jun-youngThe exploits of reluctant school brawler Yeon Si-eun continue in Weak Hero Class 2, in which the troubled student transfers to a new school, where he tries and once again fails to stay out of trouble as new friends and foes gather around him.The formula remains the same as in Weak Hero Class 1, as do the eight-episode structure and the lead actor, Park Ji-hoon. Other than that, the show returns with an exciting roster of all-new faces and a significantly bigger production budget following a move to Netflix.

By Jun Ji-hyeAn increasing number of Japanese tourists are visiting South Korea to buy rice, as prices continue to soar in Japan, retail industry officials say.Japanese visitors have increasingly been spotted filling their carts with rice at supermarkets in Seoul in recent weeks.This growing trend was highlighted in a viral post on X, formerly Twitter, where a Japanese tourist shared her experience of buying rice during a trip to Korea and bringing it back home.The Japanese tourist, who identified herself as a middle-aged housewife, shared earlier this month that she bought 4 kilograms (8.8lbs) of white rice and 5 kilograms of brown rice in Korea during a layover in Seoul, after travelling from Cebu, the Philippines.“My mission in Seoul was to buy rice, as prices in Japan have become too h...

What is the first thing you buy to eat after arriving in Thailand? A bowl of tom yum soup or some street-side noodles, perhaps?For most visitors, Latin American cuisine will not be top of mind, but it is certainly having its moment in Bangkok.“There’s been a global wave of appreciation for Mexican food, and Thailand is no exception,” says Alonso Luna Zarate, executive sous chef at The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon hotel.“People are beginning to recognise that Mexican cuisine is just as diverse and complex as French, Italian or Chinese. What I’ve seen here in Bangkok is a growing curiosity – not just for tacos or guacamole, but for the depth and regional variety that Mexico has to offer.”Alonso Luna Zarate is the executive sous chef at Ojo Bangkok at The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon hotel. P...

Originally from Montpellier, France, Romain Loriot is the founder of Hong Kong bar and online wine retailer ThinkWine. He spoke to Andrew Sun.I grew up in Montpellier, in the south of France, next to the sea. I am from a family of classical musicians. My mother taught me to cook not for the love of food, but to get me to be independent. In the beginning, I wanted to be a pastry chef, but I decided to go into wine.My culinary adventure started with French chef-restaurateur Alain Ducasse. I worked for him for eight years, and had the amazing opportunity to come to Hong Kong to open Rech by Alain Ducasse. After two years, I decided to open my own business.My wife is Shanghainese, so we regularly go to Dynasty, Hong Kong (3/F, Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai....

I’ve been enjoying a travel show called Adam & Poh’s Great Australian Bites, which follows celebrity chefs Adam Liaw and Poh Ling Yeow as they eat their way around Australia.A recurring question they pose to themselves and guests on the show is whether the humble meat pie could be considered Australia’s national dish.With this topic in mind, my partner recently told me she had just found one of the best chicken pies in Hong Kong, and that I needed to try it for myself. I immediately imagined a hearty Aussie or English-style savoury pot pie with flaky pastry, large enough to be a meal.I was taken to a new cha chaan teng, or traditional Hong Kong-style cafe, where the chicken “pie” was in the display counter next to pineapple buns, Swiss rolls and other pastries.A Hong Kong chicken pie a...

Popular Filipino influencer Pinky Tobiano recognised that, after years of struggling with Sjogren’s syndrome, she needed help to reset her mind and body.At the age of 40, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She beat the disease, but the prolonged radiation therapy to treat the cancer led to her developing Sjogren’s, a little-known chronic autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the moisture-producing glands, primarily in the eyes and mouth.“Living with Sjogren’s syndrome is difficult,” shares Tobiano, now 55 and in Manila in the Philippines. She is a chemist by training and an entrepreneur with more than 4.3 million followers on her Instagram account, @pinkytobiano.“I have no saliva or tears, so I have trouble swallowing food,” she says. “Just eating is painful an...