Gallery Crawl

So you’ve landed a casual Thursday evening post-work meetup? Tell your date to don sensible shoes and meet at the Sheung Wan end of Hollywood Road, round about the Cat Street Gallery (222 Hollywood Rd., Sheung Wan, 2291-0006). Thursdays are often gallery opening night, and on good weeks you can flit from exhibition to exhibition all the way to Central, helping yourself to free wine along the way. Finish the evening with a romantic bowl of streetside beef brisket noodles ($24) at Leaf Dessert (2 Elgin St., Central, 2544-3795), where instead of critiquing art you can critique all the yuppies walking past.

In the Mood For Love

If you’re dating a film nerd but not working with IMAX bucks, take ‘em down to the Hong Kong Film Archive (50 Lei King Rd., Sai Wan Ho, 2311-5229). The movies here offer a window into some of Hong Kong’s best cinema, for just $40 a show. Next weekend you’ll be able to catch John Woo’s seminal “heroic bloodshed” flick “A Better Tomorrow,” (Apr 12, 2pm) starring Chow Yun-fat in his breakout role. Alternatively, $50 each gets you a day pass into the Film Archive, so you can spend all day catching old-school Hong Kong flicks in the viewing booths. Cue up “Naked Killer” and thank us later.

“Come back to mine tonight and you’ll have A Better Tomorrow”

7-Eleven Ways to Screw Your Lover

So you’ve got the best date of all: one who just wants to hang out and get drunk with you. Hit up Club 7-Eleven and splurge on four cans of Sapporo Premium beer ($21.50 each) to prove that you’re not just a Tsingtao kind of cheapskate. Seduction complete.

$500

So there’s a crisp gold five-hundy burning a hole in your wallet and you need to impress. Here’s how.

99 Problems But a Date Ain’t One

Impress your date with hipster credentials at not-so-secret cool hangout Sense 99 (99 Wellington St., Central). It’s open to members only—but you can join for $200 per person, which gives you a whole year’s access. Once you find yourselves inside the 70-year-old pre-war building, order beers ($50 each), listen to awesome live jam sessions and whisper sweet nothings in each other’s ears on the top-floor terrace.

Laugh You Long Time

Whether you’re on a nervous first date or at that stage in your relationship where you can’t stand speaking to each other, Takeout Comedy (B/F, 34 Elgin St., Central, 6220-4436, www.takeoutcomedy.com) is your answer. The comedy club hosts homegrown funnymen/women and brings in big names on the international circuit, for about $200 per head. Stop by 7-Eleven a few doors down first and grab a bottle of wine to share during the show—just stay out of the front row.

Comedy will bring us together

Heart in Mouth

Trampoline park Ryze (3/F, 321 Java Rd., Quarry Bay, 2337-8191, www.ryze.info) comes with more than 7,000 square feet of trampolines. For $150 per person, you can spend an hour leaping through the sky with reckless abandon. Just don’t wear your screw-me stilettos. Afterwards, head to the nearby East Hotel’s snazzy terrace bar Sugar (32/F, East Hotel, 29 Tai Koo Shing Rd., Quarry Bay, 3968-3738) for a happy hour Lychee Bellini ($60 from 5-7pm). Hope you can keep it down after all that bouncing...

Have I ever told you your eyes are amazing?

Bowled Over

Take your date to the South China Athletic Association (88 Caroline Hill Rd., Causeway Bay) and sign yourselves up for a $120 year-long membership, then hit the bowling alley. It’s $37 per person per game on weekends, and shoe hire is $10 per pair. Afterwards, hit up Inn Side Out (2895-2900) on the second floor for a beer: You’ll have enough left over for two bottles each of SAR-brewed Big Wave Bay IPAs ($47).

I like you from the Inn Side Out

$1,000

You’ve got an orange $1,000 bill and a date worth the dosh? These thousand-dollar thrillers will make your case in no time.

Paradise for Two

If you’re an outdoorsy couple looking to catch some sand, look no further than Island Club on Lantau (Tai Long Wan Village, Lantau, 2989-2315, islandclubhk.weebly.com): a no-frills, private beach perfect for a little (above-board) action, accessible by private ferry from Cheung Chau. It includes a water sports center, private kitchen and organic farm—enough to fill up an afternoon with some healthy fun. Don’t want it all to end? Settle down for an in-tents evening at the on-site campground. Equipment and meals are included for $500 per person.  

I Knead Your Love

There’s nothing more attractive than a date who can cook. Bake up a storm at The Mixing Bowl (5 Shin Hing St., Sheung Wan, 2524-0001, themixingbowlhk.com), which offers cooking classes from around $450 per head. Sweeten things up at the “Mad About Matcha” class ($500 per head) which teaches you to make baked coconut and green tea donuts and matcha swiss rolls. If you’re looking to take things up a notch, you might want to go for the saucy-sounding pizza and chocolate lava cake class ($450 per head). Knead away... 

"Bake for me"

She’s the Chuan

Who says you can’t do a couple’s spa treatment before payday? Indulge yourself and your partner in a champagne, milk, or red wine bath at the Langham Place Hotel’s Chuan Spa (1/F, Langham Place Hotel, Mong Kok, 3552-3510, www.chuanspa.com.hk) for $500 each. Make sure to enjoy every minute of it…it only lasts for 30 of them. Got a little extra to spend? Another $500 gets you and your partner another 30 minutes in the VIP suite with a personal jacuzzi, platter of seasonal fruits and all the “five-element tea” you can drink.

You're the Chuan that I want

$5,000

Got five large to ladle onto your special someone? Splurge away.

Hang Out Like a Horse

Impress your date by picking her up in a sleek Mercedes S-Class, courtesy of Blacklane Limos (from $535 one-way across the island, www.blacklane.com). Of course, you’ve scored Rendez-Vous VIP tickets to equine circus extravaganza Cavalia (through Apr 26, New Central Harbourfront, www.cavalia.hk). At $1,995 each, these are the best tickets in the house, giving you center seats as well as access to the private VIP lounge, where you’ll be able to fill up on free food and booze throughout the show. The highlight of the evening? The exclusive stable visit after the show to meet the four-legged stars.

“I’m not sure I’m ready for a threesome”

$10,000

You could either rent a shoebox in Tuen Mun, or blow it all on a lucky someone. Your choice.

“How did I get a table here? I’m Amber dextrous”

Stuck in Amber

The Landmark Mandarin’s Amber (7/F, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen’s Rd. Central, 2132-0066) has just been voted the sixth-best restaurant in Asia, so wow your date with a private dining room reservation. Amber’s five-course platinum menu is a decadent celebration of black perigord truffle: priced at $2,688 per person, it’s a menu overflowing with fancy ingredients, in the best sense. Highlights include raw Normandy scallop with kelp-cured wagyu beef, and roasted veal sweetbreads with a fondue of P’tit Mosellan cheese, all including delicate truffle shavings. Top it up with a Burgundy and grand cru wine pairing, for $1,588 each. After all that wining and dining, it still looks like you’ve got about $600 spare change—head to Central speakeasy 001 (Shop 1, LG/F, Welley Building, 97 Wellington St., Central, 2810-6969) for an intimate nightcap before inviting your date back to yours.

$100,000

Silly money means silly awesome dates. If you’re reading this and considering it—give us a call, OK? We’re not up to anything Saturday night.

Rock the Boat

Sail off into the sunset with a hand from Riviera Orientale (two-day cruise from $98,000. 2677-7791, www.rivieraorientale.com), a luxury private boat charter which sets up various itineraries for super-rich sweethearts. One classy excursion on an elegant 78-foot-long yacht includes a two-day, one-night sail up to Tai Long Wan, down to Turtle Beach or alternatively you can drop anchor for the night in the very fitting Millionaire’s Bay. The ride includes a homemade breakfast that you can enjoy on the yacht’s sunny deck, as well as an optional upgrade to enjoy a catered dinner from Michelin-starred Alchemy restaurant.

Mackin’ it in Macau

Ever wondered what it costs to chopper to Macau? Oh, who are you kidding—you do it every weekend. Call up your friends at Heliservices ($71,000 one-way on Heliservices, www.heliservices.com.hk) and book in for a private charter. Then whisk your date away into a two-bedroom pool villa at the ultra-luxurious Banyan Tree Macau (pool villa rooms from $15,999 per night. Avenida Marginal Flor De Lotus, Cotai, Macau, (+853) 8883-8833, www.banyantree.com). It comes with your own personal butler and a private pool, in-residence spa suite and a bathtub you’ll want to soak in for days. Tack on a few private spa treatments (from $1,000) and an in-house seafood dinner cooked by your private chef ($1,500) and you still have $10K to drop on the tables. Lost it all? Too bad, you’ll have to ferry back with the plebs.

Next stop: love. Also, Macau

$1 Million

Want to blaze through a cool million on your dream date? Whatever: it’s your money, Li Ka-shing.

Private Parts

Flying first class? That’s so hoi polloi. Book a private trip for two to the southern coast of Cambodia on the 10-seat Gulfstream G200 from Asia Jet (from $380,000 roundtrip depending on length of stay, www.asiajet.com). The charter service is all-inclusive, so you can have your own personal flight attendant fill up your G&Ts one after the next, and dig into a custom catered menu with all your darling’s favorite dishes.

So fly like a G200

For a pauperly $286,952 a night (all-inclusive), rent out all of Song Saa Private Island (min two nights, US$30,000-55,539 per night, www.songsaa.com), which actually comprises two side-by-side islands known as “The Sweethearts.” How fitting. A 35-minute speedboat ride from the Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville, Song Saa is a practically untouched paradise with virgin rainforests, reefs and gleaming white beaches. And for you lovebirds? Expect an over-water villa, infinity pool, jungle spa, water sports, Khmer-inspired cuisine and all the wine you can glug. All for just a hair under $1 million. Romantic and frugal? What a catch.

“Darling, I remortgaged our flat to pay for this”

Make a Date

Nicholas Cheung goes in search of your favorite first dates.

“I would take her to a café. In a cozy and quiet atmosphere I would have
more of a chance to chat and get to know more about her.”

Alvin Fong, Fresh grad, 23

“I am French and have just been in Hong Kong for a month. My perfect first date would
be a meal at the best restaurant in France, enjoying the good food.”

Magali Ports, Housewife, 45

“I would bring my first date to Ocean Park. I like exciting stuff like roller coasters.
If she is scared, she might like the pandas instead."

Colin Tam, Banker, 36

“My perfect first date would be having a daytime bicycle ride in the New Territories.
At night, I would prefer watching a jazz concert in Central.”

Delphine Sellami, Fresh grad, 23

“It can be very simple. Stay at home, cook some pasta together and watch a movie.”

Jeffrey Cheung, Accountant, 27

“It would be on the beach in autumn. The guy would play his guitar and there should be some
candles surrounding us. If he can sing a song, I would be very happy as well.”

Natalie Yeung, Student, 20