Life Style

There is something for everyone in Hong Kong this weekend – including your pet dog. Here are our five recommendations.1. Help your dogs live their best livesJoin fellow dog lovers at Joint Dynamics Pedigree on Saturday afternoon, April 12, from 3 to 5pm to learn the secrets to having a happy, healthy pet.A panel of experts will answer questions. Veterinary physiotherapist Charlotte Davies from Joint Dynamics Pedigree, behavioural veterinarian and founder of Paws for Thought Dr Isabella Luk, and veterinarian Dr Joanne Harries, co-founder of The Pet Vet, will share their expertise on how best to ensure our dogs’ welfare.Find out how to care better for your dog from three experts in Hong Kong on Saturday. Photo: EventbritePick up tips on protecting their physical and mental health and gain in...

The Genius knows all. It knows my height, my weight, my hydration, my cardio stamina – even, regrettably, my body’s visceral fat percentage.I am standing on a bioelectrical impedance device – which looks a lot like a scale but with metal handles and metal foot pads – and it is sending low-grade, painless electrical signals through my hands and feet to measure my muscle, fat and water content. The percentages of each are then fed into an AI program.Welcome to Fred Fitness, which touts itself as Los Angeles’ “first full-scale AI-powered gym”.You might be wondering: what does that even mean? Mostly that its AI-powered software, referred to as Genius, is integrated into every piece of cardio and strength equipment at the gym.Throughout your workout, it functions as an ever-present force with a...

Chinatowns are often portrayed as gritty underworlds riddled with prostitution, gambling and drug trafficking. Some of this is rooted in truth, but that unfair depiction is largely the result of rampant xenophobia and cultural ignorance, especially in the West.   Updated: 11 Apr, 2025

Japanese actress-singer Ryoko Hirosue – once dubbed “the last beautiful girl at the end of the 20th century” by Japanese media – is making headlines again after she was arrested for assault.The 44-year-old was detained by police this week on suspicion of kicking a nurse. She had been admitted to a hospital in the Japanese city of Shimada in Shizuoka prefecture after sustaining minor injuries in a car accident.Hirosue was reportedly agitated and in distress during police questioning, raising her voice and walking around.This is not the first time she has come under intense media scrutiny – the former pop idol was embroiled in scandal in 2023 after admitting to having an extramarital affair.We recall the many ups and downs of Hirosue’s decades-long career.Debut at a young age

In a studio tucked inside a Shanghai mall, Shirley Chen is living out her K-pop-idol dreams.The 28-year-old is at Chen Go, a K-pop-inspired “idol experience centre”, where customers get a chance to live like their favourite stars, if only for a day.Opened in 2024 by entrepreneur Chen Rong, the centre attracts about 40 customers daily who dance choreographed routines and sign autographs for imagined fans at a mock meet-and-greet.Guests can choose from more than 200 outfits – some imported from South Korea, others custom-made – and step onto sets carefully designed to resemble backstage dressing rooms and South Korean music programmes.Visitors to Chen Go apply make-up in front of a mirror. Photo: ReutersVisitors prepare to take photos in costumes at Chen Go. Photo: ReutersA full package, inc...

Makers of the post-apocalyptic television series The Last of Us say fans are in for extra action and scarier zombies when the show returns for a much-awaited second season, two years after the first season finale aired.The series is based on the video game franchise of the same name and follows survivors Joel Miller, played by Pedro Pascal, and his young protégé Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who fight mutated creatures and other people.The show’s second season takes place five years after the events of the first season, and sees Ellie, who is now 19, and Joel settled in Jackson, in the US state of Wyoming, and at odds with each other.“There’s a lot more action in this season, or more like physical fighting. It was more intense, more emotionally complex,” Ramsey said, premiering the new season in L...

From New Legend of Madam White Snake (1992) to Meteor Garden (2001), Taiwanese dramas have long held a place in mainland Chinese entertainment. The often strained cross-strait relations over the years have done little to dampen the appeal and love for the genre.Their popularity may have something to do with the fact that some Taiwanese productions have not been afraid to delve into contemporary issues such as gender equality and LGBTQ lifestyles.Fang Kecheng, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says the appeal of Taiwanese dramas for mainland Chinese audiences lies in their uncensored coverage of societal issues.“Despite the political tensions and the halt to cultural exchanges, mainland Chinese and Taiwanese people s...

Ian Leslie’s John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs, takes a long look – 426 pages – at how John Lennon and Paul McCartney worked together from their meeting as teenagers until John’s death.Had McCartney not decided at age 15 to go to hear Lennon’s band playing in a Liverpool suburb, the world may have been denied the multitude of Beatle songs that brightened a generation and brought escalating musical innovation to rock music.As Leslie affirms in the book, Lennon and McCartney early on developed a personal and creative chemistry that allowed them to elevate each other’s work to the timeless classics still heard around the world.And into that relationship dives Leslie, analysing the mountain of articles and books written about the Beatles and interpreting messages the two men were sending ...

Train travel in the United States is an unforgettable experience.You can travel for days, even weeks, through the world’s third-largest country with Amtrak, the US national passenger rail company, witnessing a wealth of spectacular scenery across nearly 34,500km of track.Amtrak offers more than 30 train routes to over 500 destinations in 46 of the 48 contiguous US states – not South Dakota or Wyoming – and three Canadian provinces.We are taking one of the most breathtaking journeys of all: from Seattle, in the US state of Washington, all the way across the country to New York on the east coast.The California Zephyr, which runs between the San Francisco Bay Area and Chicago, is Amtrak’s longest daily route. Photo: AmtrakOur journey does not get off to the best start. An announcement sounds ...

Over the last several months, visitors to Quinary may have noticed that the bar’s threshold now reads, “The origin of Earl Grey Caviar Martini.” Pundits and professionals alike in Hong Kong can trace much of the city’s modern and diverse bar scene to the cocktail, which according to co-owner and executive mixologist Antonio Lai, has been on the menu since day one.The Quinary bar threshold in 2025. Photo: Handout“When we first opened Quinary, our mission was to introduce what we term Multisensory Mixology – a concept that was uncommon in Hong Kong at the time,” he says. “We anticipated it would be well received upon launch, but the fact that it remains a Quinary staple today? Not quite to that extent!” In practice, Lai refers to the now-ubiquitous use of laboratory equipment in modern kitch...