Life Style

Yuen Biao is not as well known today as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung Kam-bo, his “brothers” at their teacher Yu Jim-yuen’s Beijing Opera school, but the Hong Kong martial arts actor certainly has his own style.Biao, the youngest of the trio known as the “Three Dragons”, was lean, flexible and acrobatic in his youth, often mixing somersaults and backflips with his kung fu.The actor, who is still working, was also known for being the best looking of the three – although he has noted that did not help his career, as martial arts audiences were more interested in fighting ability than looks.Yuen entered the film business when he was 14, a little later than Hung and Chan. He worked as a stuntman – notably he doubled for the late Bruce Lee in the star’s posthumous Game of Death.Yuen Biao at an int...

On Busan’s eastern shoreline, past the neon lights of Haeundae Beach and the towers of Songjeong Beach, the coast narrows into quiet fishing villages.Here in Daebyeon-ri, in Gijang county, stands a haenyeo village that has carried its traditions on for half a century, where the ocean’s catch and the divers who harvest it remain at the centre of community life.The village began with nothing more than red plastic basins. Decades ago, haenyeo – female divers who harvest seafood by hand – returning from the sea would place freshly caught abalone, sea cucumbers and sea squirts into tubs while rinsing off by the pier.Passers-by asked to buy the seafood on the spot, and word soon spread. Over time, the basins became makeshift stalls, and the stalls grew into a cluster of seafood restaurants that ...

When it comes to how the Chinese cook duck, most diners around the world may be familiar with two main methods: that of Peking duck, with its theatrical tableside carving, crispy skin, and traditional accoutrements of thin pancakes, hoi sin sauce and vegetables; and Cantonese roast duck, a mainstay of the classic siu mei shop, expertly chopped up and served with a sweet plum sauce.Pipa duck, which employs an altogether more unique preparation method, is not quite as well known. That may soon change with chef Albert Li’s version at Jin Ting Wan, the new crown-jewel restaurant at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands resort.It is a dish that represents both Li’s singular approach to showcasing time-honoured Chinese cooking techniques and his penchant for introducing elements of modernity.Like many Ca...

For Hollywood, the landscape for big-screen comedies has become so grim that you almost have to laugh.Some genres have dominated the cineplex in recent years, including special-effects-heavy blockbusters, family films and scream-in-your-seat horror movies.But comedies? Not so much after the Covid-19 pandemic.A recent spate of theatrical funnies is trying to change that. This month, studios have released one comedy after another, starting with Paramount Pictures’ reboot of The Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, and Walt Disney’s more-than-20-years-later sequel Freakier Friday, which reunited Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.Both received solid reviews from critics – The Naked Gun notched an 87 per cent approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, while Freakier Friday ...

Move over members-only clubs that offer boozy lunches and late-night parties. A new generation of longevity-focused private members’ clubs is catering to individuals who, inspired by American serial entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, aim to defy mortality.Converging on the axes of luxury and wellness, these clubs offer an elite group of members access to advanced diagnostics, genetic testing and anti-ageing biohacking tools, from infrared saunas to cold plunges and much more.Membership comes at a high cost, with some clubs charging more than £50,000 (US$67,000) annually.But for the well heeled, this is a small price to pay for a long and healthy life.Here is a glimpse into members-only clubs from around the world that target extending health spans.1. Hooke LondonIn his mid-forties, Russian-born L...

A popular series gears up for a new season while a hit Korean film and a webtoon both get ready for K-drama remakes in this week’s new small-screen casting announcements.1. SpellboundThe new spin will focus on a hotel heiress who can see ghosts and a prosecutor who works to solve murder cases. Together, they begin to investigate paranormal cases.Yang Se-jong in a still from Low Life. Yang has been offered a lead role in Spellbound. Photo: Disney+Park, who recently starred in the medical thriller Hyper Knife, is looking over the part of Cheon Yeo-ri, the glamorous CEO of a luxury hotel whose nights are haunted by restless spirits. She will first be seen in the Netflix superhero drama The Wonderfools alongside Cha Eun-woo.Yang, who starred opposite Bae Suzy in the Netflix drama Doona!, has b...

One way to be climate-friendly? Shop sustainably. But figuring out which products count as “sustainable” can be hard, especially when buying online.The number of online products labelled “sustainable” is increasing as ordering with a computer or phone becomes more ubiquitous. However, there is no single seal of approval across e-commerce platforms that verifies if something is climate-friendly, partly because there are many ways to define sustainability.Third-party non-profit organisations study manufacturers’ and sellers’ practices and offer certifications that are displayed online.Government programmes in America, such as the US Agriculture Department’s organic certification and the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star efficiency standard, are also often listed. Large e-comme...

Laughter erupts over a board game and coffee at a rural cottage in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, one of a growing number of women-only co-living spaces far from social pressures and male judgment.Women come to share mutual support and “talk freely about intimate stuff”, while others seek companionship or refuge from harassment, participants said after making steamed buns in a bright kitchen overlooking the mountains.“An all-women environment makes me feel safe,” said Zhang Wenjing, 43. “Among women, we talk more easily about certain things.”Chen Fangyan, 28, felt less self-conscious without men around. “Not being forced to wear a bra is already a kind of freedom.”Demand for single-gender spaces – including bars, gyms, hostels and co-working hubs – has grown in China, as women flex ...

Magic mushrooms – fungi that contain naturally occurring psychedelic ingredients – have been used since ancient times.They are depicted in cave paintings in Algeria and Spain, the most famous example dating from 4,700BC, which shows mushrooms merging with a human form.In the 16th century, their use was documented when they were described as the “flesh of the gods”.In 1958, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann isolated and identified the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin.Psilocybin from magic mushrooms is converted in the body to psilocin. This compound – which is also found in magic mushrooms – is similar to serotonin, the neurotransmitter that plays a key role in regulating mood, perception and cognition.Psilocin binds to and activates serotonin receptors in the brain involved in sen...

Several weeks ago, I came across a book in the schoolbag of a kindergarten-age boy – let’s call him “Small B” – who goes to a private school in Kuala Lumpur. He had borrowed the book from the school library.As I turned the pages of the picture book with him, I noticed that the protagonist, how she performed certain tasks, and even the physical setting of the story were not quite reflective of the boy’s lived reality.I remember the English- and Chinese-language books that I read as a child were also divorced from my everyday life in Singapore – houses with gardens and chimneys, farmers feasting on jiaozi dumplings in celebration of festivals I had never heard of.But it was these “exotic” details that fuelled my imagination and piqued my curiosity about the wider world beyond my immediate ke...