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October 2012
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the really useful magazine October 2012 4 Planner 8 People 14
News
16 What’s in... Hysan Place
18 Interview
Douglas Young plays G.O.D.
20 Local
John Batten on ad abuse.
22 Feature
What Hong Kong taught me...
26 Eating
Hot restaurants
32
In My Element
CLOT’s Kevin Poon
34 Motoring
A Ferrari of your own
36 Day trip
Escape to the cape
38 Fitness
Quote of the month
{
“Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge” – p.22 Publisher
Tom Hilditch
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Contributors
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54 Marketplace Hong Kong Island Magazine is published by Fast Media Ltd. This magazine is published on the understanding that the publishers, advertisers, contributors and their employees are not responsible for the results of any actions, errors and omissions taken on the basis of information contained in this publication. The publisher, advertisers, contributors and their employees expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person, whether a reader of this publication or not, in respect of any action or omission by this publication. Hong Kong Island Magazine cannot be held responsible for any errors or inaccuracies provided by advertisers or contributors. The views herein are not necessarily shared by the staff or pubishers. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.
56 Classifieds 58 The Ultimate Guide 60 Distribution 62 Oh snap
Hong Kong on Instagram
Floor LG1, 222 Queens Road Central, Hong Kong
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planner
Oct 11 J.Crew launches Available outside the US for the first time ever, J.Crew launches its women’s wear, menswear and shoes collections in Lane Crawford stores. Time to shop. www.lanecrawford.com.
Oct 17-21 Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett’s iconic play comes to Hong Kong direct from Dublin. Drama Theatre, HKAPA, Wan Chai. Tickets $220-$495 from www. hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.
Oct 5-Dec 15 Beyond Exhibition by artist Zao Wouki. TueSat, noon-7pm, FEAST Projects, 3/F Harbour Industrial Centre, 10 Lee Hing Street, Ap Lei Chau.
Oct 19 Punchline Comedy Club Two Brits and an Aussie walk into a club... Standup comedy at Grappa’s Cellar, 1 Connaught Place, Central. Tickets $290 from www.cityline.com, 2111 5333.
Oct 13 Bella Elektra For something different, Bella Elektra’s blend of hip hop, acoustics and horns might just hit the spot. Beating Heart Studios, 8/F, 7-9 Hill Road, Shek Tong Tsui. 9.30pm-1am. Tickets $175 from www.bellascarborough.eventbrite.com. Oct 14 1st Red Bull Soapbox Race Making its Hong Kong debut after touring the globe for 12 years, the soapbox dream machines compete against the clock in a downhill race. Free admission. 3pm, To Shek Street, Sha Tin, redbullsoapboxrace.hk.
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Oct 17-28 Burn the Floor “Dazzling!” was the New York Times’ verdict on this electric performance that combines Latin and ballroom dancing. Lyric Theatre, HKAPA, Wan Chai. Tickets $350-$850 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.
planner EcoVision Asia Who: Established 12 years ago, EcoVision Asia is an environmental advocacy organization. What: The HK Cleanup Challenge is a citywide event designed to mobilize people around environmental sustainability. Simply register a team online to join the Coastal, City or Country challenges.
Until Nov 4 Hong Kong Cleanup Challenge Join thousands of volunteers at EcoVision Asia’s Coastal, Country and City cleanup challenges. Register online at www.hkcleanup.org
When: Every autumn. How: Teams from three to t hree million can register at www.hkcleanup.org. Fun fact: Coastal Cleanup Challenge volunteers have removed more than 250,000kg of waste from Hong Kong’s shores.
Oct 19 Moon Trekker Now in its fourth year of challenging hearts, minds and limbs, this epic hike begins at Mui Wo and passes through Lantau’s most beautiful scenery – in the dark. The 40km course starts at 9pm, and 26km course at 11.20pm. Participants must raise at least $500. Proceeds to Room to Read. Register at www.barclaysmoontrekker.com. Oct 19-20 Leningrad Symphony The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra performs Shostakovich's Symphony No.7, Leningrad. 8pm, Concert Hall, HK Cultural Centre, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tickets $120-$320 from Urbtix, www.urbtix.hk, 2734 9009. Details at www.hkpo.com. Oct 21 Hong Kong Harbour Race Held every year from 1906 to 1979, the iconic swimming race was resurrected last year. It’s a 1.8km route from Lei Yue Mun Sam Ka Tsuen Public Pier to Sai Wan Ho Harbour Park Public Pier, which sounds a little murky, but it’s apparently safe. It’s too late to enter, but cheer on the swimmers. Details at www. hkharbourrace.com.
Oct 31 Halloween Get dressed up and shimmy down to LKF for Hong Kong’s kookiest, spookiest night of the year. Not recommended for agoraphobics.
Oct 23 Chung Yeung Festival Fetch the broom for the gravesweeping festival, when families across Hong Kong pay their respects to their ancestors.
Pink Walk Putting one foot in front of the other in aid of the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation. Dress code: pink. 8.15am-1pm, The Peak. Enroll by October 21 at www.hkbcf.org.
Nov 1 N.E.R.D Live Bringing their signature sound of rock, funk and hip-hop, N.E.R.D’s Chad Hugo and Shay Haley hit the decks and get the party started. From 10pm. PLAY, 14 Wyndham Street, Central, 2525 1318.
Email your event to editor@hkisland.com
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Oct 27-28 Hong Kong Cricket Sixes What the sevens is to rugby, the sixes is to cricket. Two days of fast and fierce leatheron-willow action with international players from the world’s great cricketing nations. Kowloon Cricket Club, Cox’s Road, Jordan. Details and tickets ($180$800) at www.cricket.com.hk.
people
Fashion’s Night Out In partnership with Vogue China, Lane Crawford brings Fashion’s Night Out to Hong Kong for the first time at its IFC store.
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VelVet Rope } with Francis Cheng
It’s been a busy few weeks. The summer’s hot ticket was Taboo, the ultra-sexy show that (briefly) featured burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese at Cubic, Macau’s must-go nightclub in the City of Dreams. The premiere was a red-carpet event with a stellar guest list including Shu Qi, Andy Hui, Daniel Wu, Anthony Wong, Denise Ho, Timothy Fok and Pansy Ho. Italian fashion fashion house Valentino turned 50 and celebrated with an exhibition at IFC Mall showcasing a capsule collection of animal prints, including leopard, zebra and giraffe. Oliver Yang, CEO of Valentino Asia, greeted guests Fan Bingbing, Lynn Xiong, Lynn Hsieh, Laurinda Ho and twin brother Orlando, Ming Ho, Mira Yeh and Joey Yung. And while we’re talking fashion, Romeo Gigli is back. The Italian designer has produced a special collection for Joyce Boutique, launched at a cocktail evening at the Central store followed by a cosy dinner at The China Club. Paying their respects were Carina Lau, Moses Chan, Zing, Thierry Mandonnaud and Ingrid Chen, Charlotte Chen, Fanny Sieh and her daughter Tess Ma. Francis Cheng is CEO of Occasions PR and Marketing.
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people
Lacoste L!VE
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It's all about being young, fun and full of life at of Lacoste’s secondary brand’s Fall/Winter 2012 collection at SML in Times Square.
L A Loves London It was a pretty in pink international affair at for Juicy Couture's party in Oolaa Petite, Wan Chai.
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people
Festival fever Smile, culture vultures! October is all about the arts. From left Clockenflap • Jimmy Cobb jazz-rock pioneer Larry Coryell, Joey DeFrancesco and Li Gaoyang, said to be China’s “next generation jazz leader”, will all be here. Visit www.hkijf.com for the full run down.
Oct 5-14 Hong Kong Literary Festival Nine days of page-turning, bookwormy goodness. There will be book readings, poetry open-mic nights, discussion groups, lunches, creative–writing classes and more. Visiting authors include Irish novelist Colm Toibin, children’s writer and illustrator Sally Gardner, cookbook author Fuchsia Dunlop (who will be at a lunch featuring her recipes), and slam poet Jeet Thayil, whose book “Narcopolis” is on this year’s Man
Booker shortlist. Full details at www. festival.org.hk.
of Chinese poet Chen Pu-chi. For details, visit www.hkipf.org.hk.
Oct 6-Nov 30 Hong Kong International Photo Festival See the city through fresh eyes at this biennial festival showcasing works by talented local and international photographers in six exhibitions, including World Press Photography, Hong Kong Contemporary, Social Documentation and historic pictures
Oct 7-12 Hong Kong International Jazz Festival This year’s groove fest is themed “Rediscovery – Jazz into the future”. Besides spectacular performances and exhibitions, there will be workshops for a more hands-on experience. Legendary drummer Jimmy Cobbs, 1960s
a glass of pinot grigio and I could judge models and the collections all day long. Heck, I’d enjoy it more than sitting through the lacklustre summer blockbusters limping out of Hollywood. Speaking of fashion, thank God summer is coming to an end. Nothing is worse than showing up sweaty and frizzed to a red-carpet event and facing a photo wall of paparazzi. Keepin’ it classy. Having grown up in the small town that is cosmopolitan Hong Kong, I appreciate the interconnectedness of this city. That said, at least once a month I see pictures from an event that
looks amazing. Where was my invitation to the Japanese sake and denim party? And these rooftops I see on Facebook, where are you? And why am I not on one right now overlooking magnificent Hong Kong? I had a lot of “aha” moments during a recent holiday in the US. I can’t complain about copious festive meals with relatives, but Americans really know how to eat. And when I say eat, I mean eat like there is no bloody tomorrow. I’m all for a well-seasoned, expertly grilled steak, but for the love of God, did I see some American-sized slabs of meat. Seriously, how can anyone go out
Oct 8-14 Joy of Music Festival Celebrate classical music during a week-long festival courtesy of the Chopin Society of Hong Kong. There will be lunchtime and evening concerts by local and international talents, as well as “performing pianos” flown in specially from Japan playing works by Glenn Gould, Rachmaninoff, Albeniz, Granados and Gershwin. Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall, Central. Full details at www.chopinsocietyhk.org. Tickets from Urbtix, www.urbtix.hk. Dec 1-2 Clockenflap The lineup at Clockenflap just gets better and better. This year’s lineup includes international heavy-hitters De La Soul, Sneaky Sound System and Azealia Banks and local acts such as Dan F and Uptown Rockers. West Kowloon Cultural District. Tickets go on sale October 10. Get ’em while they’re hot at www.clockenflap.com.
Trending } with Kiri Sinclair
It’s been hot, really hot, but culture is making things a bit cooler around town. The city is back to its dynamics with big events coming up – Restaurant & Bar, Asia Contemporary Art Show, The Joy of Music Festival, The Jazz Festival, The French Film Festival. It’s exciting! I’m receiving, like, 585 emails a day, but it’s hard to skip any of these events. How can I resist complimentary martinis and beers? I caught some coverage of the New York and London Fashion Weeks, and I have to say – as much as it hurts me to admit it – I will never be a style icon. Don’t get me wrong, give me popcorn and
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after eating a rib-eye the size of a Mini Cooper? Now, I’ve been known to gorge myself sleepy on barbecued pork cheung fan and siu mai at my favourite dim sum joint, but some of the pasta dishes I saw were enough to put me in a full-fledged food coma, much less pep me up for a night out on the town.
Kiri Sinclair is the founder of Sinclair communications and girl about town.
news
NEWS Ripping yarns
Hong Kong’s first Latin American art gallery, Puerta Roja, is hosting a solo exhibition by Mexican artist Hector Velasquez at The Space. The haunting pieces are moulds of himself and loved ones bound in colourful cotton yarn. “It’s a very old Mexican art portrayed in a contemporary and personal way,” explains gallery owner Adrianna AlvarezNichol, a former banker. “Hector knows how to pick from his heritage but translate it to something very modern. When I pick works I always like to pick artists that have a universal discourse, that have something to say beyond their own individual cultures.” The exhibition will also be a celebration of Central and Latin American culture, including talks about art, a family day for children, and a few tequila parties for grown-ups. October 18-27, 11am-7pm, The Space, 210 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, www.puerta-roja.com.
Hola Arola Culinary genius Sergi Arola is opening his first Hong Kong restaurant, Vi Cool, in late October. The Catalan chef, regarded as one of the most creative minds in Spanish haute cuisine, was trained by the likes of Ferran Adrià at el Bulli and Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. Vi Cool will offer tapas and Spanish dishes, including the house speciality, cocas – organic Catalan-style pizza, cooked in a coal-fired oven and topped with smoked tuna, roasted vegetables, octopus, chicken breast, Iberico ham and more. Level 2, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2735 7787. Get the giggles You know the smile. Yue Minjun’s artworks, self portraits of himself frozen in laughter, have become synonymous with contemporary Chinese art. Familiar as they may be, “The Tao of Laughter” is his first solo Hong Kong exhibition. It comprises 12 silkscreened works at Gallery by the Harbour (Level 2, Ocean Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui) and five new sculptures on the Ocean Terminal forecourt until October 23.
City chakra
Salute the city at Urban Yoga in Chater Garden on October 27. The 90-minute session is donation-based with all proceeds going to the Changing Young Lives Foundation. It will be led by Ting-ting Peng of the Karma Collective. For details, contact her at tingting@ironlotusgirl.com or call 9858 8003.
Boujis OPENS
London members-only club Boujis is opening a Hong Kong branch this month, catering to a glamorous, influential crowd, plus assorted royals and visiting Hollywood A-listers. A new international membership will be valid for the Hong Kong and London clubs, with global access to Ignite Group’s venues and international pop-ups. New members must be proposed and seconded in the time-honoured tradition. But the big question is how women in Louboutins will access the Pottinger Street location, with its notorious heel-snapping cobblestones. “We’ve got our ways,” GM Sam Jeveons says. 37 Pottinger Street, 2619 0129, www.boujis.com.
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Remembering Greg There will be a remembrance event for Gregory Derham at Kee Club on Monday October 15. Greg, founder of The House of Siren, died at Queen Mary Hospital of a cardiac arrest on October 4. He was Hong Kong’s most fabulous man and is hugely missed. (Kee Club: 2810 9000.)
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Hysan
• 14/F Amaroni’s Little Italy Classic American-Italian fare. Spaghetti with meat-a-balls and the like.
Place
• 13/F Le Salon Restaurant & Croissanterie A charming French establishment with a cozy 40-seat French restaurant serving classics such as beef tartare with fries and hearty French onion soup with steamed langoustine. Next to the restaurant is a croissanterie – all croissants are baked in house using quality butter and flour imported from France. They come in a variety of flavours including chestnut, chocolate, caramel and tiramisu. 2115 3328. • 12/F The Dining Room A modern Shanghainese dining experience with some traditional twists and favourites thrown in.
• 8-10/F Eslite 24-hour bookstore Taiwanese mega-bookstore Eslite takes up a whopping three-storeys. Chronic bookworms can browse for hours as Eslite is open until 2am on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
• 6/F Garden of Eden A gallery designed exclusively for the ladies, boasting everything from lingerie and shoes to mani-pedi experts. You’ll have fun, trust us.
Image from DLN Architects & Engineers
what’s in...
• 11/F Kitchen 11 Hysan Place takes the traditional food court to new heights. Get your fix of Honeymoon Dessert, Pepper Lunch, Izumi Curry, Ganpachi Ramen, Shiok!, Triple O’s and more.
• 7/F An entire floor dedicated to shoes. ‘Nuff said.
• 2/F Concierge service Hate waiting in line for a seat at your favourite restaurant? Check in with the concierge and keep shopping – display screens on each floor will inform you when your table is ready.
STATS & FACTS 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay Completed in 2012 40,000 square metres of retail space over 15 floors and a further 15 floors of offices with full sea view. The first private initiative to create one of Hong Kong’s most sustainable commercial buildings.
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The first composite retail mall and office building to be Pre-Certified LEED Platinum by the US Green Building Council. Awarded a merit in the new building category in the 2012 Hong Kong Green Building Awards. Designed by Hong Kong-based architects, DLN. www.dln.com.hk.
• Basement Jasons Food & Living The 20,000-square-foot food utopia makes grocery shopping epic with murals by Hong Kong artists, a soundtrack hand picked by music therapists and uniforms by G.O.D.
interview
Douglas
Young
The G.O.D design genius is becoming a worldwide artist with a show in London and an installation in Olympian City. As an artist I am free. But without the money from G.O.D [the chain store Young co-founded in 1996] I’d be in trouble. I’m promoting street-market culture in a shopping centre. Of course, I see the irony. Hong Kong is full of contradictions. I don’t feel bad about it. Street markets give us an extra layer of humanity. You don’t necessarily go there to buy. You go to chat with your favourite fruit-and-vegetable seller. You get a feel for the neighbourhood. Chain stores – including G.O.D – lose personality as they grow bigger, they lose their neighbourhood flavour.
“
The colours and design, the arrangements of Hong Kong, thrill me.
”
Douglas Young's Olympian City installation is a homage to the humble marker lamp.
It’s shameful and tragic that Hong Kong locals don’t see the value of our own heritage. We leave it to outsiders to tell us how great some of our things are. We only see the price in the stuff we have around us. Demolishing Kowloon Walled City was an absolute crime. I am a hybrid. I was born and raised here but went to school and university in Britain. I still count in Chinese and dream in Chinese, but I see Hong Kong’s aesthetic as a Westerner. The colours and design, the arrangements of Hong Kong, thrill me. What makes a Hong Kong icon? It has to be common, almost to the point of being invisible. People look but they don’t see. It’s like the tong lau tenement buildings in Hong Kong. They were ubiquitous. We don’t miss them until they are gone. But when they are gone the sense of loss is huge... My installation in Olympian City is called The Street Market Symphony. [Gigantic red lampshades – some so large they have rooms inside them – are strung around the atrium, like invading alien spaceships.] If one visitor values the street markets more as a result I will be happy.
It began with this dream. It’s dusk. An old lady is minding her market stall. She’s starting to nap. The red plastic lanterns around her stall are vibrating, dancing against the evening sky. One grows bigger and bigger. Perspective shifts. It’s a gigantic red spaceship descending from the sky. The lantern settles on the lady. Then it’s gone with the old market lady inside it. She’s there in the dark in the heart of the spaceship. It rattles through time and space. Finally, the engine stops and a rectangle of light appears. She steps through into a bright shopping centre... I love the tension between the familiar and the unfamiliar. For my exhibition in London (at the Pearl Lam Gallery) I play with the idea of the familiar and unfamiliar. I’m creating a lamp made up of carbonfibre versions of puzzle balls with multiple layers. As a businessman, you take risks with money. The possibility of failure makes you work hard. As an artist, you take risks with your ego. It’s more scary and more motivating. How will it look if I fail? I don’t panic when people pirate my products. I’ve got plenty of ideas. What’s in short supply are people who will put up with me. One of the secrets to doing well in Hong Kong is to keep passing it on. Do favours. Help people connect. Pass the energy on. Tai chi masters know this. In the morning they waft around the energy. Getting the city warmed up. Getting the energy moving. Tai chi is very Hong Kong. Do I want to be the leading artist of Hong Kong? No. I want to be the Douglas Young of Hong Kong. The Street Market Symphony, G/F, Olympian City 2, West Kowloon, runs until October 23.
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local
Ad nauseam John Batten on Hong Kong’s advertising blight.
A
dvertising is everywhere from Hong Kong's tallest buildings to those little stickers on apples. (I remove them with merciless happiness, vigorously washing away all sticky residue.) It's visual pollution from which there's no escape. Amid great fanfare, the city’s bus-stop advertising shelters were introduced 15 years ago and proclaimed as a “colourful” addition to our streets. Over time, these shelters have been “upgraded” with bulky back-lit displays. These increase the further uncomfortable ambient air temperature in summer, restrict standing room under the canopy and on already narrow footpaths, and trap air pollutants around waiting passengers. These advertising shelters have almost no social worth, whereas the older open shelters they replaced, still prevalent in some areas, provide good shelter without the visual blight.
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Advertising’s ideal is the captive audience. But despite Hong Kong’s high tolerance of in-yourface intrusion, the introduction of video screens in taxi headrests tests even the most patient back-seat passengers. Even the drivers are captive, as they cannot turn the videos off. It’s not just cabs. Residents throughout Hong Kong suffer noise and light pollution from advertising. Flashing neon signs in Tsim Sha Tsui and, closer to home, intrusions such as the AIA ad on its own building send interminable messages. This visual harassment is the advertising equivalent of stalking: the imposition of unwanted pestering and an incessant psychological presence. Increasingly, social worth will be used as a measure to balance the legitimate rights of the public with business activities or government infrastructure proposals.
The public has higher expectations for a better lifestyle and demands a more holistic approach to anything that impinges that lifestyle – including such basic needs as a quiet night’s sleep, breathing cleaner air and walking on wider pavements. In a city with great visual clutter, it is easy to miss important statutory notices that advise the public about pending changes to roads, railway lines, land use and applications for liquor licences. Currently on display on a simple wooden board near Wan Chai MTR Station is a notice inviting objections to the construction of a new underground pedestrian subway beneath Southorn Playground to link Wan Chai Station with Lee Tung Street, the old Wedding Card Street. This street saw great public protests in 2003 against the Urban Renewal Authority’s forced land resumption and demolition of the neighbourhood to build high-rise luxury residential towers and shopping centres. The proposed underground pedestrian tunnel is also problematic – it strikes of favouritism towards one developer and restricts future improvements to the Playground. Award-winning British architect Thomas Heatherwick – who designed the British Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo – was invited by Wan Chai District Council in 2003 to design an improved playground, including its underground space. The government is still sitting on this thoughtful design proposal. If you wish to see our government in action, make an objection to the Lee Tung Street underground subway by writing to the Secretary of Transport & Housing at: enquiry@thb.gov.hk (quoting G.N. 5926).
John Batten is a writer, art critic, curator and advocate for Hong Kong's heritage. Find him at batten@netvigator.com.
Picture: Aaron Lai
feature
What Hong Kong taught me Hong Kong is a city of entrepreneurs and innovators. Here’s what they learned.
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Duyen Hackett Founder, Song Vietnamese Restaurant and NoodleMi I arrived in Hong Kong 23 years ago thinking it would be a transient stage of my life. I stumbled across my roots at a Vietnamese refugee camp, where I volunteered. I have learned to move with the city, grown to appreciate genuine friendships, and built my family here. Hong Kong has presented me with great business opportunities and challenges. I no longer think Hong Kong is a transient city. It's home.
Jay Forster
Sir David Tang Founder, Shanghai Tang, The China Club Hong Kong has taught me to treasure Cantonese, traditional Confucian rites and the education of Chinese poetry. But most of all, Hong Kong has taught me that steamed garoupa mousse will be my most preferred last meal.
Clockenflap founder Since arriving in 1997 the biggest lesson, graciously imparted, is how to discern the genuine from the fake. Skills that help navigate the city: rejection of superstition, welcoming chance encounters and opportunities, the preservation of dreams and the energy to implement them. The importance of camping. The importance of making mistakes. That the pursuit of financial achievement without cultural distraction leads to Gollum-like behaviour and appearance. That taxi drivers love their horns but not my eardrums. That it is possible to mix tea and coffee together.
Kevin Ma CEO at 101 Media Lab, founder of Hypebeast website Hong Kong has taught me to survive and adapt. With the constant change of the cityscape, new people coming in and out and immense sense of energy, it has made my journey amazing.
Christoher Doyle Lindsay Jang Co-owner of Yardbird restaurant Hong Kong has taught me the world is a very small place and that your personal contribution to your community can reach far beyond the borders of the country you live in. It provides a constant reminder to try to be the absolute best at whatever you do; to always represent your best self.
Cinematographer (Chungking Express, Days of Being Wild, Rabbit Proof Fence) Noise reduction! The way to noise reduction is to turn it up. Open yourself to the noise and the colour of Hong Kong. From intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge.
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feature Yenn Wong Hotelier and restaurateur, JIA Hotels Hong Kong is the New York of Asia. People crave new concepts. I learned to be innovative, passionate and have perseverance – to convince others to believe in me and my ideas. What I’ve learned most is that you have to work hard and keep one step ahead of your own game. You cannot afford to be complacent even for the shortest time. I love that challenge.
Bonnie Gokson Founder of Sevva and Ms B’s Cakery The mixture of Hong Kong culture, street food, British legacy and wonderful international people makes my imagination run wild. I've learned to respect people from all walks of life.
Martin Allies
Grant Thatcher
CEO, Cafe Deco Group To keep life in perspective, I have learned the key is to travel whenever I can. Enjoying a nice bottle of wine and a good Cuban cigar with friends and family helps too.
Founder, Luxe Guides That hope springs eternal and opportunity lies around every corner. The trick is identifying it, researching it, strategizing it, designing it, packaging it, marketing it, warehousing it, distributing it, retailing it, firefighting it, loving it, hating it, but ultimately, and above all, going for it! And then having six negronis.
Susan & Richard Ng Celebrity hairstylist and comedian The importance of family life and respect for elders – seeing younger people escort their older family members is impressive. People in Hong Kong will grab any opportunity to learn – that’s commendable, don’t you think?
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Lindsey McAlister Founder, Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation If you don’t ask you don’t get, and it’s okay to take a risk.
Alan See, Ethan Newton, Mark Cho Founders, The Armoury, artisanal men’s clothier Alan: The hustle and bustle has taught me to pause and appreciate everything around me. Ethan: Hong Kong reminds me that in life, the greatest assets are human. A business is nothing without people. A man is nothing without the people he values. Mark: Space is limited. Tranquillity is priceless.
Simon Birch Artist Hong Kong has taught me much about what's important (love, honesty, nature, culture, kindness) and what's not (money, property development, pollution, traffic, fast food). I've learned what quality of life really is. Unfortunately, it's not quite as advertised in our crowded shopping malls, on the sides of dirty buses and on billboards squeezed between claustrophobic concrete towers... Learning what you don't want is as important as what you do want.
Kamla L. Hiranand Founder of Kaprice resort wear I have lived in many cities around the world, but it is in Hong Kong where I realised my passion. My father-in-law, Manghanmal Hiranand, recognised my potential as a designer. He taught me to work hard, be passionate and dedicated. Hong Kong is a competitive city where one can learn by embracing challenges and respecting its diverse culture. It inspires me.
Marisa Zeman
Esther Ma Founder & CEO of Prestique PR Hong Kong has taught me to have a work-life balance in a fast-paced world.
Founder of Nude is Rude resort wear Growing up in Hong Kong I had the stability of not moving around, but I felt I had lived in 20 different countries because of all of the international friends I made. When I started working, I realised Hong Kong instilled in me a strong work ethic. This is a land of opportunity and ambition. Dreams are made here – by hard workers.
Nichole Garnaut Event director and Restaurant consultant Hong Kong has taught me to have confidence, trust and a sense of humour.
Danny Zigal Founder and director, Rio Mints Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.
Pino Piano Director, Gaia Group The city has taught me that, no matter how small or big the competition is, it makes you strive to do better. To create novel, groundbreaking ideas. It has also taught me service should come from the heart.
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eating
Hot tables
The buzz on five restaurants everyone is talking about.
Ammo
Why go: Because it’s beautiful, welcoming, the food is simple and delicious, and it’s surprisingly affordable. When chef Tony Cheng came up with the concept along with his mentor, chef Roland Schuller from The Drawing Room, overpriced and pretentious dishes were the last thing on his mind. “I wanted Ammo to have a more casual ambience where people could feel comfortable dining in a large groups or just come alone for pasta and glass of wine. The affordable pricing reflects this,” Cheng says. “People are navigating towards a simpler dining experience. Global culinary trends have exited molecular cuisine, where food tended to be complicated and hard to understand, and people are now focusing on the basics.” The food: Cheng recommends the angel hair with uni, burrata cheese ravioli with Peking duck ragu, and the spaghetti cacio e pepe. Or try
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the slow-cooked egg with toro, uni and Roman zucchini sauce. The decor: Ammo sits pretty in the new Asia Society Hong Kong Center with shiny industrialedged decor softened by the lush greenery outside the six-metre floor-to-ceiling windows. Inspired by Alphaville (a 1965 science-fiction film noir directed by Jean-Luc Godard), it was designed by Wang from Los Angeles. It’s a striking, modern space that respects nature and the building’s heritage as a former military explosives magazine. The furniture and fixtures were customdesigned by Wang, including dramatic chandeliers based on spiral staircases and constructed in copper pipes. Luxurious materials such as velvet, leather and silk add texture and help soften the edges. Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty, 2537 9888, www.ammo.com.hk.
Above Alphaville meets Admiralty at Ammo. Below The flavours of Mexico at Socialito.
socialito
Why go? It’s the little things that count. And at Socialito, which opened in August, a lot of thought has gone into getting the details right. The food: The esquites – roasted corn tossed in anejo cheese, spicy mayo, lime and cilantro – are served off the cob in a little crockpot to keep mess at bay. Date friendly? Check. The taqueria out front is open until 2am, giving late-night diners a substantial meal of pork belly or swordfish tacos, seafood ceviche or pulled-pork tostada, perhaps. No need for the guilt of another late-night McDonald’s or Tsui Wah binge? Check. Gracias, Socialito! The decor: Busy, casual and happening out front; cool and sophisticated in the restaurant-slashnightclub in back. Mexican everywhere. G/F, The Centrium, 60 Wyndham Street, Central, 3167 7380, www.socialito.com.hk. www.hkisland.com
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eating
Above Boqueria brings Barcelona to Central. Below Swine is always flavour of the month at The Salted Pig.
BOQUERIA
Why go: This is the first Asian branch of New York City’s esteemed tapas bar, Boqueria – named after the famed Barcelona market. Diners are in the capable hands of chef David Izquierdo, nominated one of Asia's 20 best chefs by the Miele Guide 2012. He will bring the Barcelona-inspired dishes that earned the original venue a glowing two-star review in the New York Times. The food: Dishes read simple on the menu but
they taste stunning, thanks to the quality of the ingredients and the level of care taken by Izquierdo and his team. Choose tapas from the open kitchen or groups may prefer bigger plates of paella, woodgrilled steaks, whole fish and suckling pig. Platters of Spanish cheeses, including sheep’s-milk cheese Idiazabal, and cured meats carved off the bone to order are perfect for an after-work wind down, with a few jugs of sangria. And don’t miss the churros; a
crunchy exterior that melts into a sweet chocolatey dough in the mouth. The decor: Drawing inspiration from Barcelona, the interior is sophisticated and welcoming with heavy use of woods and Moorish tiles. The main difference between Boqueria Hong Kong and the Catalan original? Here, you get to sit down for a meal. 7/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Central, 2321 8681.
the salted pig
“
Hong Kong people are looking for restaurants with a little more grunge, a little more care and passion. — Jason Black, The Salted Pig
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”
Why go: Reviews of Shore Hospitality’s new restaurant have been mixed, so say the least, but we really liked it – so go and try it for yourself. This is rib-sticking comfort food at its least pretentious, served in portions designed to be shared in a suitably down-home environment. “When I was a child, we were forced to sit and have a family meal. No television, no reading – it was about conversation based around a meal,” says executive chef Jason Black. “I think that’s in short supply in Hong Kong.” The food: Swine is all the rage at The Salted Pig. Think stuffed pork tenderloin for two or the signature shredded pork-knuckle Memphis-style sandwich with sweet, tangy, celeriac apple coleslaw. Take a break from the boar with the signature green bean, broad bean and sweet-pea salad. And for dessert, the pistachio mousse with macerated strawberries is to die for. The decor: The interior is rustic and cosy, based on traditional English-farmhouse decor. “Hong Kong people travel a lot and they’re becoming more and more savvy. They’re looking for restaurants with a little more grunge, a little more care and passion, rather than concept-driven venues,” Black says. 2/F, The L Place, 139 Queen’s Road Central, 2870 2323.
Restoration
Why go: Restoration is a love letter to New Orleans and the famous hospitality of America’s deep south, opened last month by husband-and-wife team Jack and Kathlyn Carson. He works the kitchen while she takes care of front-of-house, introducing diners to southern cuisine, imported ingredients (many of which are making their Hong Kong debut at Restoration) and hosting the occasional toast. “We are both lovers of all things related to the Big Easy,” Kathlyn says. “Creole and Cajun food has
been around since the foundation of New Orleans, drawing on Spanish, French and African influences. The recipes are family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation.” The food: The menu is full of flavourful dishes such as Jack’s fried chicken with watermelon pickles, char-broiled oysters with garlic and cajun butter, blackened catfish, crabmeat cheesecake and, of course, seafood gumbo. “There is a richness to the history of the cuisine
dining trends
that we wanted to present to Hong Kong,” Kathlyn explains. “I find a lot of restaurants in Hong Kong, while very beautiful, feel new and somewhat Chef Jack Carson. manufactured.” The decor: Kathlyn spent three months in New Orleans, digging through co-ops that popped up after Hurricane Katrina for doors, windows, frames and glass to decorate the restaurant – hence its name, Restoration. “There is something interesting to me about re-purposing things and giving them a new life in a new environment,” she says. “I wanted to create a space that was less fabricated, but more unique and homey.” 1/F, 63 Wyndham Street, Central, 2536 0183, www.restoration.hk.
CAFE culture Walter Kei picks places to eat this month. The next big “name” opening is Sergi Arola, a Michelinstarred Catalan chef and disciple of Ferran Adrià. His new tapas and Spanish restaurant, Vi Cool, opens this month. Rémi Van Peteghem is the new chef at Gaddi’s French restaurant – he once trained with gastronomic legend Guy Martin. Spanish is a hot trend: BCN serves simple tapas and seats 12-14. Try kaiseki, Japan’s haute cuisine, at RyuGin, which has a new tasting menu of artful and skilfully produced small dishes that will surprise Hong Kong palates. My number one spot for traditional Cantonese cuisine is Guo Fu Lou. Vi Cool: Level 2, Gateway Arcade, Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2735 7787. BCN: 37 Peel Street, Central, 2811 2851. Gaddi’s: The Peninsula, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2315 3171. RyuGin: 101/F, ICC, 1 Austin Road, West Kowloon, 2302 0222. Guo Fu Luo: 31/F iSquare, Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2487 3788. Walter Kei is a Hong Kong TV chef, food columnist and design consultant, who runs cooking classes in his own studio in Chai Wan.
Coffee Academy New concept coffee store The Coffee Academïcs is set to be a hit with Java junkies. The decor is mostly exposed brick, raw woods and warm textiles, reminiscent of a cozy spot in SoHo, New York. Pride of place goes to the Probat Coffee Roaster from Germany (the “Rolls-Royce of coffee roasters”), which cost a cool half million dollars. And try the ice-drip coffee. 38 Yiu Wah Street, Causeway Bay, 2156 0313, www.the-academics.com. www.hkisland.com
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eating
The dish
dining in
The culinary conquests of a five-foot foodie.
Go organic Hong Kong companies that deliver organic goodness straight to your door. South Stream Seafoods As well as its long list of organic seafood and meats, we love the Woodstock Farms frozen organic produce, including berries, pineapple chunks, broccoli florets, edamame and more. www.south-stream-seafoods.com. Above Capo in Shanghai. Below Freshly squeezed juice in Central. My sadist sister-in-law took us to Sijie, a Sichuan private kitchen in Wan Chai where almost every dish is topped with a mountain of chillies. Oh man, it hurts so good. Don’t miss the frogs’ legs and chilli crab. And summon Sijie herself from the kitchen for a beer-chugging contest – she can chug a can of Tsing Tao in three seconds flat. Call 2802 2250 to book. Linguini Fini took testa fries off the menu. Cue the violins. www.linguinifini.com. I was in Shanghai for the soft opening of Italian restaurant Capo. An artisan from Italy was flown in by the restaurant to hand-build what is claimed to be the city’s first legit wood-and-charcoal-fired pizza oven. It was one of the best meals I’ve had this year. The pizza was phenomenal and the steaks, also cooked in the oven, cut like butter. Details at www.caposhanghai.com. I attempted a juice fast recently. Futile, but I did discover a fantastic hole-in-the-wall fresh juice spot opposite The Centre on Queen’s Road Central. It has a better variety than most momand-pop juice stalls, including pomegranate, blueberry, mandarin, cherries and more. A large juice costs only about $20.
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Why is Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits only at the airport? (Level 7, Departures Check-in Hall, Chek Lap Kok.) If you’re stuck for lunch ideas, check out Chez Meli Melo for perfectly crusty filled baguettes. Owner Joyce imports ingredients from France. I go there religiously – to the point where I no longer have to speak – for a Parma mozzarella baguette. The daily veggie soups are fab; no additives or MSG, just fresh veggies, herbs and spices. Soup with half a baguette is about $50. It also has salads and pastries. 255 Queen’s Road Central, Sheung Wan, www.chezmelimelo.com. Around the corner is NoodleMi, which opened a couple of weeks ago. Run by Duyen Hackett of Hollywood Road restaurant Song, this cosy eatery serves up fast, fresh and delicious Vietnamese favorites such as pho, rice paper rolls and zesty salads, all sans MSG. 2 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan, 2253 1113, www. noodle-mi.com. St Betty, London restaurateur Alan Yau’s struggling venue at IFC Mall, has a new hand on the tiller. Welcome chef Shane Osborn, who held two Michelin stars at London’s Pied à Terre. His new Asian-
influenced menu places emphasis on locally grown ingredients. Can't wait to try. Level 2, IFC Mall, 2979 2100. I watched the Hong Kong episode of Anthony Bourdain's The Layover the other day. Someone took him for a bowl of tomato soup with macaroni, spam and fried eggs – basically everything that's on sale at the supermarket – on Gough Street. Sure, it’s local. But Bourdain, rightly, was not impressed. There’s no excuse – especially with beef-brisket noodle shop Kau Kee (2850 5967) right across the street. A friend who’s allergic to gluten came to visit and we discovered The Four Seasons’ amazing gluten-free menu, which includes gluten-free pizza, pasta and afternoon tea. www.fourseasons. com/hongkong. I would trade my first-born child for the melt-in-your-mouth cha siu from Dynasty at The Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel, Wan Chai, 2802 8888.
Coco Marett is the managing editor of Hong Kong Island Magazine and has a soft spot for all things delicious. Email coco@ fastmedia.com.hk.
Meatmarket Find organic chickens, great cuts of beef and breads baked fresh on Mondays and Thursdays. Plus a wide variety of kosher and gluten-free foods. www.meatmarket.com.hk Providence Family Farm All the veggies grown at Providence Family Farm in Jiangxi are Ecocert-certified organic, in season and delivered weekly to your home. www.providence.hk. Spicebox Organics Like its bricks-and-mortar store in Sai Ying Pun, Spicebox Organics’ online stocks whole grains, seeds, legumes, spices, nuts, oils, herbal supplements, teas and more. www.spiceboxorganics.com. Health Essential One of the city’s first healthfood stores (previously known as Health Gate) has everything you need for an organic pantry, including pasta, spreads, sauces, supplements and home supplies. www.health-essential.net. Kinoa Shop For the real organic enthusiast, Kinoa goes beyond just groceries, stocking everything from organic cosmetics to cleaning supplies, healthconscious cookbooks and more. www.kinoa-shop.com.
in my element
Painting by KAWS "A friend and long-time collaborator. I love his art."
Street smarts
Kevin Poon, co-founder of streetwear brand CLOT, on fashion and other good things.
On making it... The key is to keep working, to stay focused and give your all – day in, day out. We’re lucky to be in Hong Kong at this time when it’s easy to do the things we like to do. CLOT’s ninth anniversary is coming up this month but I don’t sit back and feel, like, “Wow, we’re so successful.” I still feel like it’s the beginning and we have a lot of work to do and a lot to look forward to.
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On streetwear and luxury... I grew up embracing street culture. And part of street culture’s mentality and aesthetic is to hustle. To work hard and to come up. As the purveyors of street culture are getting older, they’re into nicer things – they go to nicer places to eat, live in nicer homes and are more into lifestyle things now they can afford it. Highend brands are looking to street culture and thinking, “Oh wow, this is where all the fun shit is.”
Of course there are fashion shows, but the after-parties are on the street. There’s been this phenomenon of street snaps; looking to everyday people’s street style for inspiration. It used to be celebrities that people looked up to, but now there are pockets of really interesting people setting trends. So brands such as Givenchy are making $500 T-shirts. YSL, Lanvin and Balenciaga, who used to make loafers, are becoming part of our
sneaker culture. The concept of luxury has changed. It’s great that brands like Rick Owens are making products I like and wear. I can now wear a hoodie from Balmain. I like where it’s going. On guests... It depends who’s visiting, but I like to take people to my shop (Juice, 9-11 Cleveland Street, Causeway Bay). I take people in the fashion industry to Joyce and Lane Crawford so they can
KEVIN POON
Pictures: Aaron Lai
Impossible Project/Polaroid "I’ve always been into photography. I’m thrilled and very supportive of the recent revitalization of Polaroid."
Cross painting "I bought this at a charity auction and afterwards found out it was drawn by a 17-year-old cancer patient. There was a small note inside that read, 'I once heard, when one door opens, God opens a window.' I always keep this painting near a window."
Waiola Coconut Water "My favourite drink at the moment: it’s great for sustaining a healthy lifestyle."
get a taste of the scene here. To eat: Yardbird, The China Club or for dim sum in Happy Valley. Sevva’s great for drinks and Fly for after-hours. The Peak and the Big Buddha are both a must-do. On restaurants... I like Sumi in Causeway Bay, Brickhouse, Socialito and Dynasty Club. And Dai Siu Yeh in Happy Valley, which is famous for Hainan chicken rice.
On maintaining balance... I don’t think I’ve mastered it yet. Having a good team is important, people you can lean on to keep things going. My iPhone helps. I’m always on it keeping up with emails, social networking and staying in touch with people. It comes down to time management. I find exercising and eating healthier make life easier. On holiday... I love going to Los Angeles for work or just to visit. I also really like Phuket and Paris.
Eames Chair "I love interior design and cool furniture." www.hkisland.com
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motoring
Design your own
Ferrari Petrol head Kevin Yeung road tests Ferrari’s new bespoke service. Pictures by Graham Uden.
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G
loriously located overlooking Repulse Bay Beach in a stunning colonial-style flagship store, Italian Motors shares its premises with Ferrari and Maserati. I caught up with deputy managing director John Newman and Ferrari’s head of sales, Wilco Ng, to explore the bespoke possibilities when ordering a new Ferrari. But first, let's revisit how the marque’s magic started. Maranello, Italy, 1947: Ferrari's first Grand Tourers (GT) or “road cars" were all bespoke, with Il Commendatore Enzo Ferrari personally liaising with all “his” customers. Starting with a Ferrari engine bolted to a rolling chassis, customers were encouraged to participate on every design detail to create exactly what
they wanted. This was coach building in the traditional sense, Newman says. “Back then, Ferraris were hand-built, tailor made specifically for one owner — each crafted individually without compromise." Ferrari's distinctive design heritage was conceived. Hong Kong, 1997: My personal beloved Ferrari F355 Spider was born. While my Spider’s dark blueon-tan colour combination looks spectacular to me, by the 1990s the level of customization available was largely confined to choices for colour and upholstery. Ferrari introduced standardized body designs in the late 1960s, and by the 1980s, increasingly strict emissions and safety standards made creating bespoke vehicles almost impossible.
Clockwise from left Examining the Ferrari’s inner framework. • The Southside dealership. • Wilco Ng puts Kevin Yeung behind the wheel.
“Ferrari's time-honoured tradition of combining quality with integrity is what that makes our cars so special,” Newman says. “Today, we marry cutting-edge Formula 1-derived technology with beautiful and purposeful design. Our cars are built with extraordinary materials
Repulse Bay, 2012: Ferrari’s proud bespoke tradition is revived with the launch of Ferrari Tailor Made and Special Projects. Powered by Ferrari's design and engineering teams and supported by talented craftsmen and artisans, these new services allow customers to celebrate their individuality. Newman and Ng take time to understand each customer’s taste and lifestyle before they start carefully selecting each detail of the new Ferrari from the Tailor Made programme’s three collections: Scuderia, Classica and Inedita. With an unprecedented selection of paint, materials and treatments to choose from, every decision is deliberate and precise.
— including carbon fibre, leather, aluminium and even denim and cashmere — using the most advanced construction techniques.” Special Projects takes things to another level that evokes Ferrari’s golden years. Just as in the 1940s, the process starts with a Ferrari engine
and chassis, then Special Projects customers are invited to the factory in Maranello to work intimately with Ferrari's team to design and craft a truly bespoke one-off car, experimenting with innovative designs, materials and techniques. British guitar icon Eric Clapton, a lifelong Ferrari tifosi, recently collected his first bespoke Ferrari (SP12 EC; Special Projects 12th car Eric Clapton), which was based on a F458's engine and chassis. Ferrari’s generous spirit of client collaboration is the antithesis of the tedious so-called limited editions that have plagued the auto industry. And the marque's refreshing faith in their customers has been rewarded by creating of some of the world's most distinctive and desirable cars, including that one Newman and Ng helped create for a friend of mine. It’s a special car: the last manual Ferrari.
Automotive addict Kevin Yeung is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a founder of Feeding Hong Kong.
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day tripper
Cape crusade Trade concrete for the rocky coasts of Cape D’Aguilar on the island’s wilder side, writes Pete Spurrier.
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f you look at a map of Hong Kong Island, the far southeastern peninsula has so few details it looks like no-man’s-land. Coloured mostly green, Cape D’Aguilar has few settlements and only a narrow track that runs to its furthest point. It shares its name with D’Aguilar Street in Lan Kwai Fong, but the two places could not be more different: unlike the bar district, Cape D’Aguilar is peaceful, remote and sees only a handful of visitors. Both places are named after Major-General George Charles D’Aguilar, a British soldier who commanded an expedition in 1847 to capture the Chinese forts at Fu Mun in the Pearl River delta. If the post-1997 government had been inclined to change place names after the handover, these two would have been high on the list. Above Looking south. Right Hok Tsui. Opposite and far right Cape D’Aguilar Lighthouse.
This is an easy, level, two-hour walk on a paved track with no traffic. It starts at Windy Gap, a small roundabout off Shek O Road, from where Cape D’Aguilar Road leads directly south. On the right, the slopes of a stone quarry overlook the pleasure boats on wide, shallow Tai Tam Bay, with Stanley and Red Hill on the other side. Far below, a little wartime pillbox on the rocky shore looks out
HOW TO GET THERE How to get there: Take bus no. 9 from Shau Kei Wan MTR station. On Shek O Road, just before the descent to Shek O, the bus veers to the right and makes a detour to a small roundabout at Windy Gap; disembark here.
to sea as it must have done for the past 70 years. Halfway into the outward trek, is Hok Tsui Village, a very sleepy place. (Hok Tsui is the Chinese name for the peninsula.) An unusual landmark to look out for is its square stone watchtower, possibly built long ago to guard against pirates – many villages in the New Territories were walled for similar reasons. The road carries on past 1930s-style telecom installations to the end of the peninsula, which is protected as the Cape D’Aguilar Marine Reserve. The only such reserve in Hong Kong, it is managed by the Swire Institute of Marine Science, which is part of the University of Hong Kong. The water is shallow and the rocky shores, large rock pools and reefs are a great habitat for corals, crabs, jellyfish and other marine life. No fishing, sailing or swimming is allowed, but you are free to walk around and to look at the young whale skeleton mounted on rocks overlooking the water. Arrange a visit to the marine reserve itself in advance by calling 2809 2179. When we were there, the water was calm and the skies clear, but the cape’s exposed position at the southeastern tip of Hong Kong must give it a hard time during typhoons. Just north of the institute is a rare heritage site. The oldest lighthouse in Hong Kong is a squat stone tower, built in 1875 on the cliff top. It’s one of only five surviving pre-war lighthouses in Hong Kong – another
is offshore on tiny Waglan Island to the southeast. There’s a striking (and vertigoinducing) view north up the coast towards Shek O. To the south is a narrow channel to the Po Toi islands, popular with weekend junk trippers. There are no shops or restaurants en route, so take a picnic lunch to enjoy at this rarely visited beauty spot. After you’re done, turn around and walk back to the bus stop.
Pete Spurrier is the author of The Leisurely Hiker’s Guide to Hong Kong and The Serious Hiker’s Guide to Hong Kong (FormAsia).
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fitness
Fight Club Capoeira blends dance, folk chants and kicking ass.
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apoeira is not like other martial arts. It’s as much about music, chants and dance as it is about fighting – and Hong Kong is loving it, according to Laura Lacey of Epic MMA, a fitness centre that offers the discipline. “Some of our students have already elevated to different levels. It’s become their passion, they’ve even learned the capoeira songs and chants in Portuguese,” Lacey says. Capoeira comes from Brazil, where it is as popular as soccer. It dates back to the 16th century when Brazilian slaves, forbidden to practise any form of fighting, developed a martial art that could be masked as a dance. Its songs and chants play a vital part in the sport by telling the history of capoeira, folk lessons and describing moves and manoeuvres used in fighting. Packed with energetic kicks, sweeps, ducks and twists, this unusual martial art combines skills taught in gymnastics and dance for a fun totalbody workout that helps increase agility, flexibility, strength, speed and coordination. Epic MMA has capoeira classes for all levels
from student (aluno) to master (mestre), led by world-class fighters from Brazil and the US, where the discipline has a strong presence. Adult classes consist of 10-20 students but if you haven’t yet found your fighting-dancing feet there are private classes on offer. Children’s classes are available for children as young as five. “They do the dances and the cartwheels – they really enjoy it because it’s so lively,” Lacey says. Classes are held in Epic MMA’s new 15,000 sq ft facility in Central, equipped with everything you would ever need to polish your ass-kicking skills (including a full-sized octagon), a five-star concierge laundry service and to wind down, a juice and refreshment bar with wi-fi access. (1/F, 29 Queen’s Road Central, 2525 2833, www.epicmma.com). Grupo Capoeira Brazil Hong Kong also offers classes at all levels in various locations, including the Harbour Road Sports Centre, Wan Chai. It charges $140 for drop-in sessions or $900 for a package of eight lessons. The Wan Chai location holds only adults classes, with children’s and teens’ classes held in its Sham Shui Po headquarters. For details, visit www.capoeira.hk.
The gist on gyms.
the instructor }
Too many people drift into gyms with vague notions as to why they are there – maybe to lose a little weight or following doctor’s orders. Then they jump on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes, workout every body part using the machines, and to finish, lie on the floor and contract a few stomach muscles before calling it a day. But if you are serious about joining a gym, I would recommend California Fitness (16/F, The L Place, 139 Queen's Road Central, 2522 5229, www.californiafitness. com) for its fantastic free-weight and resistance-training areas. Here are some common mistakes that can affect training and how to avoid them. Vague goals: there is nothing worse than seeing someone in the gym aimlessly moving from one machine to the next with no real purpose or direction. Doing two sets on one and four on the other, and varying the number of reps performed. Go in with a plan and you are more likely to stick to it. Try four-five exercises per body part, two-three sets for each exercise and 10-12 reps each time. Machine love: most gyms have an army of machines, but resist the urge to fill your workout with mechanical movements. Dumbbells are the best weight-training tools you could use and free- or bodyweight exercises should make
with Louis Doctrove
up the majority of your workout. Avoidance: many people (mainly guys) tend to neglect training legs and abs, as they don’t provide the huge pump that comes from performing dumbbell bicep curls or bench press. Make time to train the legs – it may take a few sessions to get used to but strong legs will help you lift heavier weights in other areas. Abs can be worked in between exercises for other body parts. Same routine syndrome: the most common training mistake is sticking to the same routine long after its outlived its usefulness. Avoid this by mixing up your training routine every two or three weeks. Even subtle changes such as going from standing dumbbell curls to seated curls can make a world of difference. Other variables you can change are the number of sets performed, exercise order and the number of reps performed.
Be inspired Weight Watchers fits around your life, not the other way around! Find out how flexible our weight loss plan really is. ®
Join Weight Watchers today! Meeting locations YWCA McDonnell Road Mondays 12pm, 6pm & 8pm Pok Fu Lam Kennedy School Mondays 4:30pm (when school is in session) Repulse Bay/Happy Valley Hong Kong Cricket Club Thursdays (check website for time) Visit www.weightwatchers.com.hk or call 2813 0814 for meeting details and current schedules.
WW2204_LAM035_120x93mm_Hong_Kong_Mag_ad.indd 1
Stick to these tips and your workouts will become more purposeful and beneficial, leading to greater gains in the future.
HONG KONG
20/09/12 12:08 PM
Louis Doctrove (louisdoctrove@hotmail. com) is a NASMcertified personal trainer with a Sports and Exercise Science BSc. He specialises in strength training, weight loss and TRX suspension training.
'Memba him? Eddy Gordo is an Afro-Braziian character featured in Tekken, the iconic video game developed and made popular by Namco in the 90's. His weapon of choice? Capoeira. The motion capture for Eddy's character was Brazilian Capoeira master Marcelo Pereira, who said it was an honor to represent the art of Capoeria in the Tekken series.
www.hkisland.com
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beauty
The mane event When the last thing you want to do is your hair, book a wash and blowdry.
Save Mina Dev’Wil offers possibly the best-value hairdressing in town, charging about $200 for a wash and blow-dry. There are two branches on Hong Kong Island. 28 Cochrane Street, Central, 2121 0375 (ask for Stephen Chow. Seriously). 1/F, 52-54 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay, 2895 3797, www.minadevwil.com. Japanese salon Hair Corner is known for its quirky, edgy cuts. But, man, can they work a blow-dryer. It’s a bargain at $240 for a junior stylist and $400 for a member of the creative team. 1/F, Duke of Wellington House, 14-24 Wellington Street, Central, 2522-3311, www.hair-corner.com.
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Spend Individuality is a philosophy at Paul Gerrard, so you’ll walk out feeling like yourself – but with better hair. A wash and blowdry starts at $250 for a junior stylist, $350-$450 for a senior stylist and $600 for a director. 1/F, Wah Hing House, 35 Pottinger Street, Central, 2869 4408, www.paulgerrard.com. Hipp.Fish Hair has been a firm favourite with the international crowd since it opened in 1999. Most staff are trained outside Hong Kong and know how to work with curls, extrathick hair, cow’s licks and more. A wash and blowdry with a junior stylist is $300, a senior stylist $500. www.hippfish.com. Splurge The world-class stylists at QG Private i never disappoint. We guarantee you’ll strut out of The Four Seasons looking and feeling red-carpet ready. With sweeping views over the harbour, it gets our vote for best view, too. Level 6, Four Seasons, Central, 2521 0070, www.privatei.com.hk.
When only a legend will do, call Kim Robinson. The city’s most sought-after stylist has an appointment book that reads like a who’s who, and includes international A-listers Michelle Yeoh and Cindy Crawford. A wash and blowdry for $650 suddenly doesn’t seem so steep. Chater House, 8 Connaught Road Central, 2121 8484, www.kimrobinson.com. Kim Robinson, A-list hairstylist.
fashion
Style
mapping Amiee Squires-Wills sets Hong Kong’s fashion GPS. Above Central style by Denise Lai (www.superwowomg.com).
I’m fascinated by Hong Kong style. Fashion in this city is so localised it can be mapped by area and used as a GPS. Take the test. Not sure where you are? One look at the style on the street and you’ll be able to place yourself within a few blocks. To help you, here is our street-style guide to Hong Kong. Wong Chuk Hang: Fashionistas “in the industry” (you know who you are). They dress according to fashion season, not the weather outside. When the fall collections arrive, fashion insiders suddenly go into “winter mode”, wearing heavy jackets and tailoring no matter how hot it is – happy to sweat in the latest designer gear. Mong Kok: Peacocks. The first thing that comes to mind is “sneakers street”. The Mongkokers are budding fashionistas in their teen years with a unique sense of local style. They know all the best-kept secret boutiques with amazingly trendy and stylish yet cheap buys.
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Central: Aspiring tai-tais. Hong Kong’s ladies who lunch have their own scene in The Landmark Café. They have a mono-brand designer style, plus a Birkin and big Stella sunglasses, and a driver waiting a step away from LV. Wan Chai & Admiralty: The OLs (office ladies). Easily identifed by their embellished gel nails or eyepopping nail art, bedazzled Hello Kitty iPhones and cutesy twin sets, lace trims, tweeds, shiny ruffles and kitten heels, paired with a sensible (usually monogrammed) mid-size designer handbag. IFC & Elements: The banker boys. These guys stick to their pinstripes. Their style is all about the hair, heavy set eyewear, coloured ties and the musthave item – a gym bag Tsim Sha Tsui: Fish out of water. Found around Canton Road, the fish has the distinct style of the mainlander ready to shop until he drops: very highwaisted khaki pants, designer man-bag and freshly dyed jet-black hair. Smoking is key and cash is king.
Causeway Bay: Too cool for school. This tribe of Japanese- and Korean-influenced youngsters is bang on trend – dramatic hair, ombre dye, skinny jeans, mile-high platforms, limited-edition sneakers, statement accessories. They are fun and fearless and create their own point of difference.
Causeway Bay Cool Above, from left Christing Chang (www.fashionhedonism.com), JJ Acuna (www.wanderlister.com).
Amiee Squires-Wills is the founder and president of Electric Sekki, Asia’s premier fashion showroom. For local fashion news and stylish snippets visit blog.electricsekki.com.
travel
Om
from home Salute the sun at an Asian yoga retreat.
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Left Meditation at The Farm. Above Inner peace at Kamalaya.
Kumara Sakti, Bali Inspired by the Bali chapter in Eat, Pray, Love? Zen Bali offers fiveday “Escape the World” retreats in Kumara Sakti, a pretty resort with two pools overlooking a river gorge and surrounded by rice fields near Ubud, Bali’s artistic hub. Guests leave their ordinary lives behind and rediscover themselves, finding balance through daily meditation and yoga sessions amid beautiful gardens. The package is US$1,638 (US$1,370 if you bring a friend) and includes daily morning and evening yoga classes, a special class overlooking stunning Batur volcano, plus accommodation, meals, two spa treatments, a purification ritual and blessing ceremony and an optional cycling excursion. We can’t promise you’ll meet and marry a handsome Brazilian man, though. Details at www.kumarasakti.com.
Kamalaya, Koh Samui A cave once used by Buddhist monks for meditation and spiritual retreat lies at the heart of the beachside Kamalaya Resort & Retreat, tucked away in Koh Samui’s less-touristy south. These days, the meditation is a little more luxe, with a number of retreats that allow guests to fill their spiritual and wellbeing voids from the comfort of a cozy but stylish room or lush beachfront villa with private pool. Programmes can be tailor-made, or guests can choose from a menu of detox, de-stress, yoga and weight-loss courses. Add to that a pristine private beach and standout food, and it’s not hard to see why Kamalaya Resort & Retreat is a multi-award winner, including the 2012 Destination Spa of the Year Asia and Australasia from the World Spa Awards in London. For details and reservations, visit www. kamalaya.com.
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travel
Ulpotha, Sri Lanka Set in a restored 5,000-year-old village and ancient pilgrimage site, two hours from Kandy in the jungles of central Sri Lanka, Ulpotha is the sort of place that makes visitors wax lyrical yet struggle to describe. TripAdvisor posts rave about paradise, heaven, magic and tranquillity. That’s because this is
a retreat with a difference. Nine adobe cottages serve as bedrooms, with designer sheets and incense sticks but few walls – privacy comes from drop-down bamboo blinds – and a lily-covered water tank acts as a swimming pool. It is open to visitors from November to March and June to August; in between, Ulpotha reverts to village life and
organic farming. In season, it runs two-week yoga courses, with daily sessions under a banyan tree or in an open-sided pavilion, plus steam baths, massages and hot-oil treatments in an ayurvedic centre, all included in the price (US$1,250 a week). For reservations and more information, visit www.ulpotha.com.
Below Sun salutations in Sri Lanka. Opposite Striking a pose at The Farm. The Farm, Philippines The place? Multi award-winning The Farm at San Benito, Philippines. A two-hour drive from Manila, this 48-acre oasis is lush with emerald grass, shady palm trees and turquoise waterfalls. The mission? Lose yourself in the yoga detox and rejuvenation programme from October 9 to 13. In this week of yogic living, rid body and soul of built-up stress and return to perfect balance and optimum health. Practise the healing art of Shat Karma, which has been used for centuries to break patterns of addiction and habitual behaviour, eradicate disease and negative emotions, as well as relieve stress and purify the internal organs. Talks will also be given on the energetics of food, healing strategies in yoga and more. For details on this and other retreats, visit www.asianyogaholidays.com.
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WAY TO GO }
A travel column by Paul Hicks
If you like Swire’s East Hotel in Hong Kong you’ll be pleased to know there’s now an East Hotel in Beijing. It follows the same formula: chic, contemporary business hotel without the five-star faff. It has everything you really want – comfortable bed, decent shower, free wi-fi – for a great rate. The opening rate at East Beijing is RMB 798, a play on its location near the 798 Art District of factories turned galleries, shops and artists’ workshops. Meanwhile, the ever-so-cool W Hotels group has just opened another one in Singapore, on Sentosa island. Besides its achingly hip design, groovy bellboys and lobbies like nightclubs, W is famous for its service tag: “Whatever, whenever – so long as it’s legal.” Can’t wait to see what happens if you ask the concierge to score a packet of Airwaves. It seems to be W’s year. It grabbed two prizes at the recent Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards: Best Business Hotel in Taipei and Best Resort in Asia-Pacific for the W Resort & Spa Bali. I’ve been to the awards for 10 years, listening to Rico Hizon's old jokes, and this is the first year Banyan Tree Phuket didn’t win for best resort. Is this a sign business travellers are getting younger and cooler? Hyatt won nine awards for best hotel in various different categories, and Cathay Pacific made great headway against Singapore Airlines. In the past few years, it has swept the major airline awards, but this year, our Cathay stole away with Best First Class, and Best Airline Frequent-Flyer Programme. Yay! Lamentably, I don’t get to travel first class on Cathay, but I do occasionally travel business class thanks to the Best Frequent-Flyer Programme. On long-haul flights, I take no chances, trading a big dollop of points to upgrade from economy. So I can give a big thumbs-up to Cathay’s new business class. It has taken what we liked (individual private cabins) and done away with what we didn’t (the row of seats like a school dormitory; the narrow, coffin-like girth) to create comfortable, spacious, private cabins. Once in a while there’s a surprise “ping” when my boarding pass goes through the machine at the airport gate – a last-minute cheeky upgrade. It means the airline has overbooked economy class, and as it has to give someone a free ride up the front it might as well be a loyal customer. This time the computer says yes… to me! But more often than not, I shuffle drearily towards the back of the plane amid the randomly disorganized chaos of existence that is economy.
Paul Hicks is CEO of Asia’s leading PR agency for the luxury travel industry and a frequent traveller.
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family
Smart apps for clever kids Turn the family iPad into a force for good with educational apps picked by teachers, writes Carolynne Dear. The iPad has been revolutionary for our family. It has become the entertainment unit du jour for my children and it’s so robust and simple to use even my threeyear-old has managed to teach himself the alphabet watching Sesame Street downloads. However, not all apps are as wholesome. So in a quest to turn our iPad into an educational tool rather than a games console, we canvased local teachers for their recommendations then asked Scarlet, 5, and India, 7, to put them to the test.
Pre-schoolers and early primary Kid Genius ($0.99) An easy-to-navigate app featuring sight words, the alphabet and numbers with a character- and number-tracing facility. We enjoyed this app, Scarlet called it “fun” and enjoyed the number tracing, particularly as she is having difficulty with some of her numbers at school. The vocals are American and there was some confusion over words, such as “Scotch tape” rather than the British “sellotape”.
Mandarin apps Kids Mandarin Great for basic Mandarin words, with a button you can press to repeat the word as many times as you like. It covers subjects such as colours, body parts, weather and food. Easy Chinese Writing A useful app that teaches kids to trace Chinese characters in traditional or simplified characters. Teachers from Woodland Pre-schools also recommended the following for Chinese practice: Mindsnacks Mandarin, Eson Puthonghua, eBay Mandarin flashcards and Love Chinese.
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Word Magic ($0.99) Great for spelling and sounding out simple words. We looked at three-letter word formations. The audio repeats the word and the child has to find the correct letters to make up the gaps in the written version. So for “b _ x”, Scarlet dragged in an “o” to make “box”. She picked it up quickly and was proud of her successes. There is lots of vocal encouragement and she was particularly pleased to be described as “awesome”. ABC Magic Reading (free) This app helps with letter blending and segmenting. Tap the letters individually to listen to the sound, then make up the word – once you’ve completed a word correctly, a picture of the word appears. Scarlet enjoyed it but there was not much verbal encouragement and she was confused by the American accent; for “ram” she heard “whale”. ABC Magic 3 Line Match (free) A simple but enjoyable game matching words that start with the same letter. 123 Number Magic (free) is similar but doesn’t work so well – Scarlet found it easier to “cheat” by clicking on the domino or the string
of beads and being told how many dots or beads there were rather than working it out for herself. The word game was a lot more challenging. Bob Books Reading Magic ($3.99) The most expensive app we tested in this age range, but Scarlet’s favourite with more appealing graphics and audio. The child clicks on an element of the picture, such as the cat or the girl, then drags the letters supplied to spell the word. Once you have clicked and spelled all the elements in the picture, the apps puts them together to make up a sentence. For example, “Sam has a cat”. Scarlet was chuffed to have spelled an entire sentence. Primary schoolers (aged six and up) Spellboard ($4.99) Brilliant for students at all spelling levels. Load the week’s spelling words orally, then the children can test themselves either by unscrambling the letters or listening to the word and typing it back. There’s even a pinboard for each child’s word lists. I use this for five or 10 minutes a night with my sevenand nine-year-old.
Arithmetic ($1.99) Great for a quick brain-stretch – simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division sums. We loved the realistic (but old-fashioned) chalkboard sound effects. This is a straight-forward, no-frills arithmetic test. If your child is not yet studying multiplication or division, you can choose addition and subtraction. Good for a quick blast each evening. BrainPOP (free) A fun memory test – you watch a short movie and are then tested on it. India enjoyed this one, and it’s great for improving memory and recall. Tap Times Tables ($2.99) The Bunny Shooter of times tables, with fantastic graphics and sound. Snow flakes containing numbers float around the snowy screen scene and every time you “pop” the correct number bubble, a squirrel either throws an acorn to burst it or screams its approval: “Yay! You got another one!” Tables run from ones through to fives. To go through to 12s you need to purchase the extended app. India found this fun – and anything that can make times tables enjoyable has got to be good news.
FOUR KIDS & A LIFE with Carolynne Dear
Gossip has been rather thin on the ground this month. This is partly owing to an exodus of families going “home” (the global financial crisis seems to be honing in on Hong Kong), but mainly it’s because of Facebook. In the absence of a garden fence, I enjoy my chats at the school-bus stop. It’s a great way to find out all sorts of useful information – new restaurants, good hairdressers, personal trainers worth investing in, the assignment your daughter should have been working on last week... all the important stuff. But this month everyone seems too busy posting updates to chat. I am hardly one to bemoan the popularity of Facebook – I am regularly to be found posting photos, messaging, checking in and telling everyone I’m enjoying a fabulous meal somewhere in SoHo. But I am also old-fashioned enough to believe that cyber-chat is no substitute for the real thing. While it is brilliant for maintaining friendships in inconvenient geographical
locations, Facebook can be a slippery slope of faux pas. Posting a “like” when someone announces their great aunt has just died? I know, it was meant as an “I’ve seen your status” type of thing, but it was not a good look under that particular update. Hijacking someone else’s page is also a sore point. Once I innocently posted that I thought the Queen looked incredibly well after a flight to Perth, Australia (okay, so Her Maj is well cared for, but so is my nan and she struggles to make it to the local bingo hall once a month.) To my horror, within minutes I was hosting a 45-post verbal punch-up over the republican tendencies of the Australian Prime Minister – among a group of people I had never even heard of. Incredible. Another thing that really gets my goat is posting in the third person about something thrilling, or terrible, then leaving everyone guessing as to the reason for the euphoria/ depression. “Sarah [her name has been changed to avoid a second 45-post punch-up] wishes she’d stayed in bed. What a dreadful morning!” forces someone to ask why. Actually, no, don’t tell us – I’ve lost interest already.
Photography also requires careful consideration, particularly if your children appear as your profile picture. “I was absolutely off my face last night” posted under a picture of cherubic little Charlie is just wrong. Another pet hate is being too lazy to find your own iPhone and borrowing not only your wife’s phone, but also her Facebook account when you can’t be bothered to log out and back in again. I now have 152 friends who think I’m sad enough not only to have accepted the “London pub photo challenge”, but could identify 95 per cent of the pubs featured. That was not me! And don’t get me started on those farm game updates. I don’t want to know that your melons need harvesting. Last year my two oldest offspring managed to lose more electronic gadgets than Apple IFC introduces in a month – two iTouches, a DSi and an iPod Shuffle at the last count. Consequently, Father Christmas has refused to deliver any more electronic gadgets until they can show more respect for their belongings. So at least I’m guaranteed some kind of conversation, even if it is just a grunt and a denial over the matter of homework.
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education
New school ties Harrow International School in Hong Kong is this year’s new bug. We check out the British public school’s latest campus.
O
n the surface, it’s nothing new. Pressed trousers, navy skirts, school ties, book bags, pencil cases, and laughter – business as usual at a place like Harrow International School in Hong Kong. Except that HIS:HK did not exist until a month ago. Its campus is gorgeous – a 400,000 sq ft site nestled between mountain and harbour in a beautiful location near Tuen Mun. Its main building is modelled on the Georgian proportions of the Royal Crescent in Bath, England. It's a grand structure that cradles football fields and tennis courts and is large enough to house facilities for more than 400 boarders, a full teaching staff, and classroom facilities for about 1,500 students.
As Head Master Mel Mrowiec writes in an open letter on the school’s website, “Our aim is for Harrow International to enhance the educational choice available to parents in Hong Kong and to become a leading, prestigious, internationally recognised day and boarding school under the Harrow name.” By all accounts, Harrow in Hong Kong should succeed with flying colours. It has two successful Asian sibling institutions in Bangkok and Beijing. In this year’s A-Level examinations, 20 per cent of Harrow International School Bangkok students scored A* and 50 per cent scored A*-A; at Harrow in Beijing, 16 per cent scored A* and 46 per cent scored A* -A.
It’s a familiar story to Jennifer Chung, general manager at ITS Educational Services. Although this is the school’s first year, she says the Harrow International School system has a powerful reputation for producing inquisitive and intelligent young leaders. “There’s an expectation of high academics because of its strong ties with other international schools in the Harrow system,” she says. “But at the end of the day, [HIS:HK] is a new school and nobody is sure that it’ll be able to deliver 100 per cent of its academic expectations.”
Kellett School Creating a love of learning in Kowloon Bay Kellett School, The British International School in Hong Kong, is an English National Curriculum School. Kellett School is now advertising teaching vacancies for new posts commencing in August 2013 at the new Kowloon Bay Campus. For further information visit www.kellettschool.com (Working at Kellett)
Now recruiting teaching staff for 2013/14 Academic Year
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Playing matters
An artist's impression at the campus in Tuen Mun.
Every educator at the school, including Head Master Mrowiec, has a degree from a respected university – including the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong – and many years’ experience at a similar school. (Mrowiec studied at Oxford University and was deputy head master at 400-year-old Harrow School in London prior to his appointment.) All of the school’s foreign language teachers are native speakers of that language. It is an English-medium school that follows Britain’s National Curriculum. This means students
take IGCSEs and A-Levels. It offers both boarding or day-school attendance. Jennifer Chung says it best: “It’s popular because of its brand name, but it’s all wait and see at this point.”
Research shows younger children are more likely to understand concepts when given the opportunity to play and be actively involved in their own learning. So at ESF international kindergartens, free play is a big part of the curriculum. “Play has a vitally important role in children’s learning,” says Abacus Principal Frances Hurley. “It is the tool children use to make sense of the world, try new things and practise skills they have learned.” Children can choose their own activities, using toys and resources carefully selected to support learning and development through play. “The teacher has an important role during this play time,” Hurley says. “They work with the children at the play activity, notice what the child is able to do already and ask guiding questions, developing the activity to make it appropriate for each child’s needs.” For details of ESF international kindergartens, visit www.esf.org.hk.
Harrow International School in Hong Kong opened on September 3, offering education from reception through sixth form. For details, visit www.harrowschool.hk.
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pets
Dog breath Dr Carmel Taylor gets to the root cause of doggie halitosis.
W
e couldn’t even tempt Baby with filet mignon,” Mr Tam lamented, prizing open his reluctant Yorkie’s mouth. “And he has this smell – in here.” The dog’s breath was overpowering, like something had crawled inside its mouth and died. As I gently lifted his gum, the pint-sized pooch struggled and growled. “Baby, Baby, Baby... NO!” Mr Tam admonished. The dentition was less Justin Bieber than Austin Powers (yeah, Baby). “Mr Tam, Baby has advanced periodontal disease,” I said, pointing out the rotting, tartarencrusted chompers clinging to the inflamed gum. “He urgently needs a dental operation under general anaesthetic so we can remove the rotten teeth, and clean and polish the rest. It really should have been done a long time ago.” “Well, vets are always telling me to have dentals, but I thought his teeth looked okay, so I just gave him harder food to crunch, help to clean them.” “Mr Tam, that’s like you telling your dentist
“
that your teeth don’t need descaling because you eat cookies everyday. And you brush your teeth regularly! It is estimated that up to 80 per cent of pets have dental problems by the age of three. That’s why we recommend regular descaling and polishing. If we remove all the calculus in the early stages, we can prevent irreversible periodontal disease, which can also cause damage to internal organs, as bacteria from the gums can spread through the bloodstream.” “But he’s so old – I’m worried about the anaesthetic.” “We recommend blood tests beforehand to check his internal organs are okay, I/V fluids and we will be carefully monitoring the anaesthetic.” He looked unsure. “I need to discuss this with Mrs Tam – he is her baby too.” “Of course,” I said. “But please don’t delay; this is a painful and serious condition.” Later that day, Mr Tam was on the phone: “Doctor, I know what we can do! A friend told me about ‘anaesthesia-free dentals’. What do you think?”
We couldn’t even tempt Baby with filet mignon.
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”
“I don’t think Baby would sit still for this – it’s not exactly… comfortable,” I advised. “And it can be more dangerous without an endotracheal tube in his throat – all the harmful bacteria could slide down into his lungs and cause pneumonia. Dogs can’t rinse and spit like humans…” “You are just after my money! It would only take a few minutes to pull out the loose teeth with one of those… plier things!” he shouted, slamming down the phone. So I was a little surprised to find the dentally challenged Yorkie waiting for me a few days later with a consent form signed for a full dental. Two hours later Baby had baby breath again, and by the time Mrs Tam arrived to collect him at the end of the day, he was tucking into a bowl of kibble. “Sorry my husband couldn’t come,” she said, smiling. “He has a doctor’s appointment to re-dress the bite wounds.” Guess pliers weren’t the right solution…
Dr Carmel Taylor, a veterinary dermatologist and consults at many different clinics around the territory. For appointments please call 9251 9588 or email taylor.carmel@gmail.com.
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bird at my window } with David Diskin
Common Tailorbird aka Orthotomus sutorius
The common tailorbird is one of Hong Kong's most abundant and widespread resident birds. It is found throughout the territory except for the highest mountain peaks and built-up areas lacking in any greenery. It can be identified by its green mantle and rufous fore crown, but its most distinctive feature is a long tail, often cocked. Although not shy, it tends to keep to the undergrowth where its presence is indicated by its voice – it is a noisy bird for its size and utters a loud, repetitive chip chip. Tailorbirds get their name from their nest-building technique. They stitch two leaves together – making small holes with their beaks and then pulling natural fibres, such as spider’s webs, through the holes to sew them together. Common tailorbirds have been known to use man-made fibres, including cotton thread, in this process. It is the female that sews the leaves together and builds the nest – The male supplies the material. David Diskin is the author of Hong Kong Nature Walks: The New Territories. Visit www.hknaturewalks.com or accipiterpress. com for more information.
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classified LOCAL Property
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the ultimate guide DAILY NECESSITIES
HOME
PETS & VETS
Mannings 2299 3381 www.mannings.com.hk
Life’s A Breeze 2572 4000 www.lifesabreezehk.com
Animal Emergency Centre 2915 7979 trilby@animalemergency.com.hk
Marketplace by Jasons 2299 1133 www.marketplacebyjasons.com
Attic Lifestyle 2580 8552 info@attic-lifestyle.com www.attic-lifestyle.com
Animal Behaviour Vet Practice 9618 2475 cynthia@petbehaviourhk.com www.petbehaviourhk.com
ParknShop www.parknshop.com Wellcome Delivery Ordering Hotline 2870 8888
Calcite Indoor Environment 3428 5441 info@calcitegroup.com www.calcitegroup.com
Three Sixty 2111 4480 www.threesixtyhk.com
LLS Design & Associates Ltd 2117 8983 www.llsdesign.com.hk sales@llsdesign.com.hk
IPHONE REPAIR
Oriental Rugs 2543 4565 rugshop@biznetvigator.com
Apple Store Hotline 800-908-988 Computer Zone 3/f, 298 Hennessy Road (They will replace a broken iPhone screen in one hour. Cost: $450)
Studio Annetta 9849 1216 suzy@studioannetta.com www.studioannetta.com Japan Home Centre www.japanhome.com.hk
DRY CLEANERS Vogue Laundry 3555 4009, www.voguelaundry.com Clean Living 2333 0141 www.cleanliving.com Kleaners 2295 0088 ` Park Avenue www.parkavenuehk.com Jeeves of Belgravia www.jeeves.com.hk
FINANCIAL SERVICES Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited 2553 4165/ 2553 0135 Bank Of Communications 2553 6281 / 2553 8282 Chi Yu Banking Corp 2233 3000
LEARNING Anastassia's Art House 2719 5533 arthouse.hk@gmail.com www.arthouse-hk.com International Academy of Film & Television 5808 3440 info@iaft.hk iaft.hk Montessori for Children 2813 9589 hongkong@montessori.edu.sg www.montessori.edu.sg
Standard Chartered 2886 8868 www.standardchartered.com.hk
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Ferndale Kennels & Cattery 2792 4642 www.ferndalekennels.com Pets Central North Point Hospital 2811-8907 info@pets-central.com Vet2Pet 6999 1003 vet2pet@yahoo.com www.vet2pet.com.hk
TRANSPORT SERVICES Webjet HK
Unit 1706, BEA Tower, Millennium City 5, 418 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kln, Hong Kong 2313 9779 Onlinetravel@webjet.com.hk www.webjet.com.hk
Lee Gardens Showroom: Shop B01 & G01, Lee Gardens Two, 28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay Tel: (852) 2764 6919 | www.zungfu.com
Taxi hire 2574 7311
Orton-Gillingham Centre for Different Learners 2525 8998 eric@msl-orton.com www.msl-orton.com.hk
Van hire Mr Shah 5188 1678
Hong Kong Institute of Languages www.hklanguages.com
Expert Transport & Relocations Warehouse 2566 4799 www.expertmover.hk
African drums Kumi Masunga www.drum-jam.com
Tram party hire www.hktramways.com
Hang Seng Bank 2822 0228 HSBC www.hsbc.com.hk
Dr Carmel Taylor MVB MRCVS DipAiCVD 9251 9588
Get listed call 2776 2772 email marketing@hkisland.com
Island Junks 2877 5222 info@islandjunks.com.hk www.islandjunks.com.hk Saffron Cruises 2857 1311 www.saffron-cruises.com
BARBER SHOPS
WAXING
TOYS, ACCESSORIES & KIDS' PARTIES
The Barber Shop 2537 4292 www.thebarbershop.com.hk
Nude Waxing 2868 9100 www.nudewaxing.com.hk
Bouncy Kids 9228 5772 cs@bouncykids.hk www.bouncykids.hk
Gentlemen’s Tonic 2525 2455 www.gentlemenstonic.com
Nu Waxing Workshop 2869 9680 www.nuwaxingworkshop.com
The Ambassador’s Parlour 2895 5930
Rozali Wax 9835 0284 www.hkwaxing.com
Mandarin Barber 2825 4088 mohkg-barber@mohg.com
YOGA STUDIOS
Spa Beaute Par Zai 2524 1272 www.spabpz.com Strip: Ministry of Waxing 2845 0838 www.strip.com.hk
Anahata Yoga 2905 1822 www.anahatayoga.com.hk Iyengar Yoga 2501 0401 www.iyengaryogahongkong.com Yoga Mala 2116 0894 www.yogamala.com.hk Yoga Central 2982 4308 www.yogacentral.com.hk
FLORISTS Agnes B Fleuriste 2805 0631 www.agnesb-fleuriste.com OVO Garden 2529 2599 www.ovogarden.com.hk Gary Kwok Flowers 8200 9226 www.garykwok.com
Get listed call 2776 2772 email marketing@hkisland.com
The New Age Shop 2810 8694 www.thenewageshop.com.hk
Cosmo Beebies 2905 1188 cosmo-beebies@byinvest.com www.cosmobeebies.com Hong Kong Toy Club 8216 3870 support@HongKongToyClub.com www.HongKongToyClub.com Le Petite Bazaar contact@petit-bazaar.com www.facebook.com/petitbazaar Magician Andycomic@gmail.com 9019 7196
UTILITIES, SERVICES & EMERGENCY
China Light & Power Customer Info Line 2678 2678 Electrical Appliance Repair Hong Kong Mr Ho 9846 8082 St John Ambulance Assn & Brigade Dist Hq 2555 0119
2813 0814 | tpaulsen@weightwatchers.com.hk www.weightwatchers.com.hk Holistic Fitness & Therapy 9667 0940 nareshkumar62@hotmail.com www.holisticnaresh.com
Bumps to Babes 2522 7112 www.bumpstobabes.com
China Light & Power Emergency Services 2728 8333
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Weight Watcher
Bouncing Castles for Hire Kieron 9467 4545
REAL-ESTATE
Tung Wah Group Of Hospitals 2538 5867 Typhoon Emergency Centre 2773 2222
Habitat Property Limited
2869 9069 | info@habitat-property.com www.habitat-property.com
Hong Kong Colon Hydrotherapy Centre 2890 6800 www.naturalhealing.com.hk
Jones Lang LaSalle
Water Fault Reports 2811 0788 Water Supplies Department 2824 5000 Truly Care Pest Control Services 2458 8378 www.trulycare.com.hk
2846 5000 www.joneslanglasalle.com.hk The Telo’s Group LCC www.telosgroupllc.com
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distribution
How we distribute
Sai Wan
Sheung Wan Kennedy Town
Central SOHO
Wan Chai
Admiralty
Mid-Levels
The best way to reach Hong Kong Island’s high net worth residents.
Causeway Bay
Quarry bay
Tai Hang
Sai Wan Ho
Happy Valley Jardine’s Lookout
Residential Admiralty
Happy Valley
Kennedy Road
Sheung Wan
Mid-level
Bamboo Grove 82
23 Fung Fai Terrace
Kennedy Heights
226 Hollywood Road
11 Macdonnell Road
Palatial Crest
Chenyu Court
Bellevue Court
Lexington Hill
Cartwright Gdns
Aigburth
Park Mansions
Casa Bella
Albron Court
Po Garden
CentreStage
Alpine Court
Queen’s Garden
Kennedy Terrace
Beverly Hill
Kenville Building
Billion Terrace
Kennedy Town
Monmouth Villa
Monticello
Broadview Mansion
Luen Gay Apartment
Grand Terrace
Birchwood Place
Regence Royale
The Royal Court
Evergreen Villa
Mount Davis 33
Hollywood Terrace
Bowen Place
Robinson Heights Block
Felix Villa
The Merton
One Pacific Heights
Caineway Mansion
Serene Court
Central
Fortuna Court
The Sail at Victoria
Palatial Crest
Catalina Mansion
South Garden Mansion
Queen’s Terrace
Century Tower I
Suncrest Tower
Bel Mount Garden
Igloo Residence
Rich View Terrace
The Leighton Hill
Quarry Bay
Shiu King Court
Villa Monte Rosa
Braemar Hill Mansions
Clovelly Court
Tavistock
Tai Hang
Donnell Court
The Albany
Taikoo Shing
Flora Garden
Dynasty Court Towers
The Mayfair Tregunter Tower
Conduit Road
Jardine’s Lookout
Fontana Garden
Estoril Court
39 Conduit Road
Butler Tower
Sai Wan Ho
Grand Deco Tower
Greenview Gardens
Victoria Heights
Sceneclife
Cavendish Heights
Grand Promenade
Illumination Terrace
Greenville House
Wealthy Heights
The Legend
Island Resort
Jardine Summit
Grosvenor House
William Mansion
Lei King Wan
Serenade
Kenville Building
Wisdom Court
Les Saisons
Sunrise Court
SOHO
The Colonnade
Swiss Towers Bella Vista
The Legend
Centre Point
The Signature
Wan Chai Kennedy Court One WanChai Star Street 5 The Morrison
The Leighton Hill Price $60 million Price per sq ft $28K Apartment size 2,200 sq ft Recognized as one of Hong Kong’s high-class private housing estates, The Leighton Hill is a collection of eight high-rise buildings looking over Happy Valley racecourse. Its lists of residents includes icons such as actor Adam Cheng and Rafael Hui, former Chief Secretary for Administration.
The Oakhill Warner Building
Price $200 million Price per sq ft $26K Apartment size 3,000 sq ft
York Place Zenith Sai Wan Habour One Kingsfield Towers Magazine Court Ning Yeung Terrace
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The Legend
A fairly new addition to Hong Kong’s list of opulent residential buildings is The Legend. Completed in 2005, this Jardine’s Lookout location is the ultimate urban hideaway for city slickers looking for a bit of peace and quiet.
Serviced apartments 151 and 163 Serviced Apartments 21 Whitefield 338 Apartment Acts Happy Valley Acts Midlevels Acts Wan Chai Atria Green Residencies COMO COMO Causeway Bay COMO COMO Hollywood Convention Plaza Serviced Apartment Domus Queen’s Eaton House (100 Blue Pool Road) Equinox Mercury
The Mayfair Price $100 million Price per sq ft $38K Apartment size 2,600 sq ft Tucked away in a secluded, green and tranquil hideaway in Mid-Levels, The Mayfair is only 10 minutes from Central. Complete with tennis courts, swimming pool, a gym and round-the-clock security — there’s no doubt Hong Kong Island residents at The Mayfair live in the lap of luxury.
The Signature Price $62 million Price per sq ft $30K With apartments averaging about 2,100 square foot each, life at The Signature in Tai Hang is all about comfort, luxury and space to unwind.
Four seasons place Fraser Suites Hong Kong Garden East Hanlun Habitats — Lily Court I & II Hanlun Habitats — Orchid Hanlun Habitats — Peach Blossom Harbour Grand Hong Kong Serviced Suite Island Apartment in Wanchai J Residence Kailash Apartments KAZA @ Sai Ying Pun KAZA @ Wanchai Knight on Wyndham Le Rivage Serviced Apartments Manhattan Heights Serviced Apartment Oakwood Apartments Mid Levels East HK
Ovolo, Arbuthnot Road Central Ovolo, High Street Ovolo, Hollywood Road Pacific Palisades Pacific Place Apartments Presidential Apartments S-Residence Shalom Queen’s Serviced Apartment Shalom SOHO Serviced Apartment Shama Causeway Bay Shama Central Shama Mid-Levels The Archive, Hong Kong The Bauhinia Serviced Apartments The Ellipsis Serviced Apartments The Henry The Jervois The Mood @ LKF The Mood SOHO The Putman Treasure View Broadwood Treasure View Happy Valley Treasure View SOHO V Causeway Bay Serviced Apartments V Happy Valley Serviced Apartments V Wanchai Serviced Apartments Yin Serviced Apartments
Restaurant
Clubs
Agnes B Cafe Cafe O Caffe HABITU Capo’s Espresso Chicken on the Run Classified Cova Ristorante & Caffe Einstein Cafe Gourmet Coffee and Delicatessen Grappa’s Ristorante Harvey Nichols Isola Bar + Grill Jaspas Liberty Exchange Life Cafe Metropolitan Cafe Oolaa Paisano’s Tai Orchard
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club The Foreign Correspondents’ Club The Hong Kong Cricket Club The Hong Kong Football Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Arts Agnes b.’s Librairie Galerie Dymocks Fringe Club
HOTEL Crowne Plaza Hong Kong East Island Shangri-la Mandarin Oriental The Landmark The Upper House
Health, Beauty, Fitness AVEDA Clarins Institut Epic MMA Hair Corner Indulgence La Coupe Hair Avant Garde Pure Yoga Center Seasons Fitness Sense of Touch The Philip George Salon The Spa by Valmont
Join our community!
Tregunter Price $28 million Price per sq ft $14K Apartment size 3,000 sq ft Built in 1981, Tregunter has made its mark as one of Hong Kong Island’s premium living locations. Its three towers have housed a countless number of Hong Kong’s elite and their families. Not surprising given its impressive list of amenities including sporting facilities, private restaurant and function rooms for hire and shuttle buses to Hong Kong’s key business districts.
Want Hong Kong Island Magazine in your reception or clubhouse? Want to distribute Hong Kong Island Magazine in your restaurant or store? It’s easy as pie and best of all, completely free of charge. Send all enquiries to vip@hkisland.com or call (852) 2776 2772.
Subscribe now! Join our free mailing service to have your copy of Hong Kong Island Magazine delivered straight to your mailbox. It’s Free and exclusive. Sign up here www.hkisland.com/subscribe
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