Life Style

A rat-a-tat percussion and keyboard riff, and Youssou N’Dour’s voice tore through the dark Dakar sky, as the world music legend geared up to do what he does best: rock through the night.With a new album out and a world tour starting this week, the Senegalese icon and Grammy Award winner – who confesses he “couldn’t live without music” – shows no signs of slowing down despite his 45 years in show business.“Let’s rock,” he barked to his 12-piece band Super Etoile an hour before midnight, before the strains of one of their last pre-tour rehearsals rang out well into the small hours.Five years after his last album, N’Dour’s latest record, Eclairer Le Monde – Light The World, voices his commitment to human rights and gives a place of honour to traditional African instruments.“It’s been nothing ...

Strawberries are the newest Seoul souvenir – as proven by the crowds of tourists lining up for them at western Seoul’s Mangwon Market.Once a hidden gem for street food lovers craving tteokbokki rice cakes and hotteok, a type of Korean sweet pancake, the market is now having a berry sweet moment as travellers scoop up bright-red boxes of Korea’s juiciest spring treat.“The love for strawberries is a recent phenomenon,” said a fruit seller. “And most of [the customers] are Asian tourists.”In Korea, strawberries have long been the most coveted fruit in winter and spring, known for their juicy sweetness and delicate texture. In recent years, however, their fame has ripened beyond borders.Strawberry-flavoured Gadeuk Sand biscuits from the South Korean shop Xocosilok are popular gifts. Photo: Ins...

I had minor surgery last week to remove a lipoma, which had quietly made a home for itself on my right shoulder several years ago. Embedded just beneath the skin like one half of a ping pong ball, the benign lump of fat tissue had not affected my well-being in any discernible way.But I decided that I had seen enough of that offending growth in the mirror and I wanted it removed.A couple of medical scans and consultations later, I lay supine in a cavernous, blindingly lit operating theatre, while a team of doctors and nurses cut into me.Having opted for local anaesthesia, I was conscious throughout the 30-minute procedure. Though the surgeons kept assuring me that I was “doing very well”, I was in a silent state of panic.Lipomas are slow-growing fatty lumps that typically form between a per...

Weight-loss stories often begin with a moment of epiphany, which is then followed by an intense period of discipline and perseverance – sometimes measured in months, sometimes in years.For Singaporean chef Han Li-guang, who has lost more than 30kg (66 pounds) since 2022, it has been a slow, steady race to the finish line. Even now, he continues to work out for two hours at a time, six days a week, to set himself up for the day.“Going to the gym helps me clear my mind, to start fresh. It sets my mood in the right direction as well,” Han says.Han wants to manage his physical health to help support his mental health. Photo: Instagram/han_lgHan, who is mostly self-taught but who has worked in classical French kitchens, was driven by a desire to elevate his heritage.He deconstructs hawker stall...

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. ...