https://www.scmp.com/rss/307831/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com In 1898, a farmer called Xat de Benaiges, in Valls, Catalonia, dug up his white onions five months after they had been sown and replanted them. His experiment gave birth to the calçot - a vegetable that is registered with the European Union's Protected Geographical Indication scheme and can only be produced in four Catalan counties. It's the champagne of onions. To try this sweet-tasting delicacy no longer must you travel all the way to the northeast of Spain, where 31 million calçots are... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1694237/how-eat-calcots-catalan-way-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1694237/how-eat-calcots-catalan-way-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2015 15:35:42 +0000 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a civil servant in the Russian Ministry of Justice before he became one of the world's most famous composers; his Piano Trio in A Minor, Op 50 will be presented in a Gala Concert at Hong Kong's City Hall tomorrow night. When Tchaikovsky's now classic ballet The Nutcracker debuted in St Petersburg, in December 1892, it was decried a failure. One critic called the Sugar Plum Fairy "podgy" while another panned the Columbine doll as being "completely insipid". Last month... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1679877/six-degrees-separation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1679877/six-degrees-separation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jan 2015 14:11:08 +0000 Chiang Kai-shek moved the seat of his government on this day in 1949 from Nanjing, in the newly founded People’s Republic of China, to Taipei, in Taiwan, the Republic of China. Born in Ningbo, in Zhejiang province, Chiang was the son of a salt merchant who died in 1895, leaving his third wife – Chiang’s mother – to bring up the young boy. Chiang was born on October 31, 1887, sharing a birthday with one of Canada’s great ice hockey players, “Newsy” Lalonde … Edouard Cyrille Lalonde was an... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1654647/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1654647/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2014 14:35:40 +0000 The Flaming Lips are scheduled to wrap up the Clockenflap festival tonight in West Kowloon. Fans will doubtlessly be expecting some of the psychedelic rock group's trademark stage antics, which often involve elaborate costumes and copious amounts of confetti. The Oklahoma natives formed the band in 1983 but didn't hit the mainstream until their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. They recently released a cover of the John Lennon yuletide classic Happy Xmas ( War is Over), teaming up with... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1649866/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1649866/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Nov 2014 14:12:45 +0000 Attention Space Invaders fans: reality just got a little closer to the 1970s arcade game thanks to FlashInvaders - an app invented by Invader, the anonymous creator of street art inspired by the characters of old games. Earlier this year, the Frenchman "re-invaded" Hong Kong, adding more than 40 Pac-Mans, Space Invaders and aliens to the 34 murals he had gifted to the city's walls since 2001. The app is a treasure hunt for these creations. Using FlashInvaders is simple: when you find a mosaic,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1649913/something-new-space-odyssey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1649913/something-new-space-odyssey?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Nov 2014 14:12:39 +0000 Wei Jingsheng, the Chinese human rights activist, was released from jail on this day in 1997 and promptly deported to the United States on medical parole, never to return to China. His controversial essay, “Fifth Modernisation”, posted on Beijing’s “Democracy Wall” – a street that became politically significant in 1978 – saw him convicted of counter-revolutionary activities and he subsequently spent 18 years in jail. Just months after he arrived in the US, he suffered chest pains while visiting... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1638791/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1638791/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2014 12:48:36 +0000 Han Suyin, also known by her pen name Elizabeth Comber, was an author, historian, doctor and general overachiever, who died two years ago today. Born in 1917 in Henan province to a Hakka father and Flemish mother, she wrote in English and French on modern China, showing strong support for the communist revolution. In 1949, she began practising at Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital and started the affair that inspired her famous autobiographical novel A Many-Splendoured Thing. Han’s lover was the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1627447/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1627447/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2014 14:27:25 +0000 Ken Kesey (pictured) was a little-known author of a very well-known book – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the play adaptation of which is being staged at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre tonight. Kesey’s novel was inspired by his employment at a hospital where experiments were carried out for the CIA-funded Project MKULTRA, which examined the effects of psychoactive drugs on humans and is now infamous for its insouciant use of unwitting subjects. Rumour has it the Jim Jones People’s Temple in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1611365/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1611365/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Oct 2014 14:09:32 +0000 In Hong Kong - a city where eclairs are flown in from France and sashimi arrives daily from Tokyo - a proper bagel is hard to find. Circular products purporting to be the traditional Jewish staple are generally little more than a bread roll with a hole. As bagel buffs will know, if it's not boiled it's not a bagel. But now two pioneers have burst onto Hong Kong's baked-goods scene, kicking off a "bagelution". Rebecca Schrage, who hails from Hong Kong and New York, is determined to fill the hole... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1607590/something-new-hole-foods?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1607590/something-new-hole-foods?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2014 14:09:35 +0000 Frederick Lugard (right), a British soldier and mercenary famed for his exploration of Africa, also did a stint in Hong Kong, serving as governor in the early 20th century. On this day in 1911, he opened the Chinese stretch of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Construction had been delayed by the Boxer rebellion (1899-1901) on the mainland and the Boer war (1899-1902) in South Africa. In 1949, the newly formed People's Republic of China cancelled the rail service completely. Lugard wasn't around to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1607605/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1607605/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2014 14:09:30 +0000 Margaret Thatcher met with the then paramount leader of the People’s Republic, Deng Xiaoping, in late September 1982, when she is infamously said to have “lost Hong Kong” to China. Perhaps the British prime minister was bound for failure, having described China as a “rather unpleasant place governed by rather unpleasant people” when she first visited, in 1977. In 1989, the Iron Lady gave a powerful anti-smoking speech aimed at convincing adolescents to kick the habit. In 1992, two years after... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1600207/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1600207/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Sep 2014 01:15:18 +0000 As the rugged Eddard Stark so often says in fantasy television show Game of Thrones, "Winter is coming." But unlike the members of House Stark, Hongkongers should not fear the cold spell: our early winter is coming in the form of the achingly cool inaugural Hong Kong Harbin Ice Festival. Inspired by the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival - the largest of its kind in the world and which has been running in that freezing northern extremity of the mainland, Heilongjiang province,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1600114/something-new-winter-wonderland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1600114/something-new-winter-wonderland?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Sep 2014 01:14:52 +0000 Exercise isn't most people's idea of a top night out - how often do you go partying dressed in your sports gear, dripping with sweat, red as a lobster? But the latest craze for social sporting events - fun runs, yoga summits, etc, billed as "parties first, exercise second" - is trying to convince us otherwise … and doing a pretty good job. No Lights, No Lycra is a sober dance party held fortnightly at XXX Gallery, in Sai Wan, where participants can work out without having to worry what they, or... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1595286/something-new-electric-avenues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1595286/something-new-electric-avenues?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Sep 2014 01:09:58 +0000 John Dobson, the inventor of the Dobsonian telescope, would today be celebrating his 99th birthday, were he alive. A self-described "belligerent atheist" in his teens, Dobson - who later became a monk - died in January, in Burbank, California, some 10,000km from his birthplace, Beijing. Cheap to make, Dobson's invention put large telescopes within the sights of amateur astronomers. Dobson came from an academic family; his maternal grandfather founded Peking University, an institu-tion that... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1590227/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1590227/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Sep 2014 02:30:15 +0000 WRITE OF WAY I decided one day, while riding my bicycle in Raleigh, North Carolina, when I was 25. I was riding my bike and I said it out loud to myself, because it's hard to announce an ambition. Even to yourself, right? Because if you say to yourself, "I'm going to be a writer", and then you don't become a writer, then you've failed. But if you've never said it, even to yourself, then there's nothing at stake. When I said, "I'm going to be a writer," I never meant, "I am going to write books",... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1590007/my-life-david-sedaris?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1590007/my-life-david-sedaris?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Sep 2014 02:30:15 +0000 Taxis in Hong Kong are plentiful and cheap (although not always cheerful). So when private car hire app Uber arrived here a few months ago it only launched its premium UberBlack service, which provided luxury rides - Mercedes-Benz S-Class, etc - at a cost of HK$13.98/km (with a base fare of HK$75). Cruising around Lantau in a Merc when you can't hail an elusive blue taxi is fun. But is it really necessary? Perhaps sensing the excess, the American firm - estimated to be worth US$18.2 billion and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1585027/something-new-hail-uber?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1585027/something-new-hail-uber?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2014 14:51:16 +0000 Sir Henry Pottinger (right), whose name has been immortalised by the steep, stone-stepped street in Central, served as the first governor of Hong Kong. It was Pottinger who led the Royal Navy to victory in Humen, Canton, ending the first opium war and prompting the Treaty of Nanking. The agreement was inked 172 years and two days ago, on August 29, 1842. What is less known is that the lieutenant general and baronet hailed from County Down, in Northern Ireland. The coastal county was namechecked... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1581118/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1581118/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Aug 2014 15:32:24 +0000 What do you get when you put a graffiti artist, a photographer, a computer programmer, a graphic designer and a video artist in a room together? No, it's not a joke; the answer is Lichtfaktor: a creative lab and pioneer of an emerging art form called light graffiti. Now, the German art troupe have brought their work to Hong Kong. What is light graffiti? Think back to the joy you experienced as a child playing with sparklers. Now imagine that magical, moving-light effect set on a background of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1578411/something-new-licht-fantastic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1578411/something-new-licht-fantastic?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2014 15:17:39 +0000 Slow and steady may win the proverbial race, but in Hong Kong the turtle is in critical danger of nearing the finish line all too soon. The loggerhead and green turtles, native to Hong Kong's waters, have become endangered thanks to overhunting, egg collection and destruction of their habitat. Does that turn you off your guilinggao? Plastron - the flat underside of a turtle's shell - in powdered form, is the primary ingredient in this popular Chinese jelly, served as both a dessert and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1572112/something-new-shell-preservation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1572112/something-new-shell-preservation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Aug 2014 15:32:15 +0000 Frankenstein, a new play directed by Danny Boyle and based on Mary Shelley's 19th-century thriller, will tonight be beamed to a screen in Tsim Sha Tsui's Broadway cinema from the National Theatre in London. In the play, Benedict Cumberbatch plays Victor Frankenstein, the mad-scientist creator of the grotesque, deformed monster. The scientist's forename is said to have been inspired by Paradise Lost - God in the epic biblical poem was referred as "the Victor" by its author, John Milton … Born in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1572851/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1572851/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Aug 2014 15:32:15 +0000 During typhoons in Hong Kong, winds slam into skyscrapers with such force that buildings sway. Tidal surges turn Victoria Harbour into a cauldron of foaming waves. The roads of Central and Mong Kok become rivers of water. And residents lock themselves inside, listening to the echo of rain hammer on their outdoor air-conditioning units like furious pounding on typewriters. Hong Kong has a protective system of defences to weather tropical cyclones. These defences continue to evolve, which is... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1573086/bracing-worse-come-citys-typhoon-defences-need-evolve-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1573086/bracing-worse-come-citys-typhoon-defences-need-evolve-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Aug 2014 19:30:15 +0000 Special report: In this two-part multimedia feature, we take a look back at Hong Kong's historic typhoon encounters and explore how the territory copes with severe weather events. Click here to access the two-part multimedia series https://www.scmp.com/weather/hong-kong/article/1571405/eye-storm-how-deadly-typhoons-have-changed-face-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/weather/hong-kong/article/1571405/eye-storm-how-deadly-typhoons-have-changed-face-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Aug 2014 11:15:30 +0000 Theatre of Tapas sounds like a euphemism for tapas teppanyaki, but never fear, Spanish chef Pedro Samper, of Zafran restaurant, won't throw eggs at you, nor will he try to make you catch anything in your bowl. What he will do is prepare a succession of sensational Spanish snacks and talk you through each dish's ingredients, history and the way it's prepared. If you're lucky, he'll also throw in personal touches, such as his childhood memories of the pungent smell of salted cod or his favourite... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1568219/something-new-theatre-tapas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1568219/something-new-theatre-tapas?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Aug 2014 15:12:34 +0000 "I'd like a vodka martini, two of your bar stools and the vintage till." No, Ikea hasn't opened a cocktail bar (thankfully) - rather, for one weekend The Pawn restaurant in Wan Chai will revert to the building's original purpose, and pawn off the entire contents of its interior in preparation for its rebirth as a fine-dining restaurant in October. From French boudoir-esque lamps to old-school adding machines, everything must go. And prices are surprisingly reasonable. Remember those beautiful... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1555557/something-new-pawning-pawn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1555557/something-new-pawning-pawn?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:45:45 +0000 What images do the words "island east" bring to mind for you? Glitzy offices, swanky restaurants and floor upon floor of shops in Taikoo's fancy malls? It wasn't always this way. The east of Hong Kong Island has a long, rich history, which a new exhibition seeks to rediscover through tales of love, bygone business and family history. Let's start with Taikoo Shing. Today more than 12,000 apartments compete for harbour views in an unwinnable race to the sky. But before the area was redeveloped in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1545532/something-new-love-stories-and-bygone-business-reveal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1545532/something-new-love-stories-and-bygone-business-reveal?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jul 2014 15:25:11 +0000 Ever heard of Guangdong cancer? If you love Cantonese cuisine, stop reading now. The disease, also known as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, is linked to the tankloads of salted fish and salted vegetables in the Guangdong diet. Yes, salt is terrible. But it's also terribly delicious, and the chefs at Armani/Aqua know it. Their new Salt Discovery Menu is a six-course tasting treat based on seven salts. The mouth-watering minerals include a Persian Blue from Iran (a single crystal of speckled cobalt),... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1521050/something-new-salt-discovery-menu-armaniaqua?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1521050/something-new-salt-discovery-menu-armaniaqua?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:00:30 +0000 Gigantic billboards are so last century. The globe's multinationals, desperate to thrust their logos in our faces, have advertised on roadsides, train tickets and all over our Facebook feeds. But now, it seems, the world is not enough. Japanese beverage company Otsuka, maker of Pocari Sweat (perhaps the world's most unfortunately named soft drink), is sending its advertising to where none has ventured before: the moon. When space aficionados drafted the Outer Space Treaty in 1967 they forgot to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1540853/something-new-one-giant-leap-pocari?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1540853/something-new-one-giant-leap-pocari?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Jun 2014 16:47:34 +0000 Dear Hello Kitty fans, are you sitting down? Because we have big news. Many years after a chain of Hello Kitty-themed cafes in Hong Kong closed their doors, the idea has been revived. But before you make a beeline, consider this - there's likely to be a four-hour queue to dine with the fictional Japanese pussycat. With little fanfare or publicity, the Hello Kitty Secret Garden Cafe sprang up this month on a nondescript backstreet of Tai Hang, following in the footsteps of similar cafes in Seoul,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1536085/something-new-hello-kitty-secret-garden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1536085/something-new-hello-kitty-secret-garden?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jun 2014 15:51:47 +0000 Joan of Arc (below), the French heroine and Catholic saint, tonight plays out her star-crossed story in Cantonese, in a production at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre. Almost 600 years after the 19-year-old was burned at the stake, her legacy lives on in countless plays, films and even computer games. From the Nintendo to the PlayStation, the Maid of Orleans has all the consoles covered. She has been co-opted by advertisers, too. In a 2010 ad for adult nappies, Joan (with a bladder leakage problem)... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1536059/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1536059/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jun 2014 15:51:47 +0000 Hot on the heels of Robocar, Google's driverless automobile, comes Robokeeper, a computerised goalie. Considering the spate of strikes and boycotts that has plagued Brazil in recent days, authorities there might want to consider enlisting a few as backups before the World Cup starts this week. According to its makers, Robokeeper is a "formidable rival" to the world's top footballers, and would give Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo a run for their money. Impossible? Maybe not, when you consider... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1525852/something-new-worlds-best-goalie-robokeeper-arrives-tsuen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1525852/something-new-worlds-best-goalie-robokeeper-arrives-tsuen?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Jun 2014 16:58:08 +0000 Breaking new ground in the app store is hard work these days. It already has several baby-cry translators and fake-fart generators (yes, really). But North Korea Travel is gunning to be the world's one and only cross-platform Democratic People's Republic of Korea travel app, giving you all the information you need to have a blast in one of the world's most oppressive countries. The app includes a GPS map, a rather bland phrasebook ("Going on a date with a North Korean will not happen," it warns)... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1517806/something-new-app-north?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1517806/something-new-app-north?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 May 2014 15:00:15 +0000 Why are art galleries always so quiet? Why must they be air-conditioned to the point of discomfort? Why is there always an odd, slightly sterile smell? Where are the snacks? Someone has finally asked the right questions, and The Popsy Room is the answer. The brainchild of Jennifer Chung May-ling, The Popsy Room is a multi-sensory art gallery. Its inaugural exhibition, "Meditation and Megrim", showcases the work of four Hong Kong-based artists in an environment that appeals to all five senses.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1512653/something-new-feast-senses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1512653/something-new-feast-senses?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 May 2014 15:06:42 +0000 It might be a concrete jungle but Hong Kong is home to more than 500 species of birds. Now, you can keep almost half of them in your pocket … with the help of HKcBirds, the city's first cross-platform avian app. Developed by the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society and the University of Hong Kong's Department of Computer Science, the app is full of information on the many species of birds common in Hong Kong. With more than 600 photographs, 50 bird calls as well as taxonomic and scientific... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1507280/something-new-bird-app-hand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1507280/something-new-bird-app-hand?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 May 2014 14:39:41 +0000 Hayao Miyazaki is the subject of an exhibition that opens on Wednesday at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The Japanese animator, mangaka, film director, producer and screenwriter’s 50- year career has brought him fame, acclaim and controversy. He was pronounced a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 2012. In 1979, he left Nippon Animation, the studio famous for anime adaptations of literary classics, in the middle of its production of the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables … Orphan... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1507275/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1507275/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 May 2014 14:39:41 +0000 Hong Kong's concrete-box apartment blocks are a frequent subject of Daphne Mandel's work. In one painting, elaborate scenes are detailed in miniature inside each apartment window. In another, an orange apartment block sits atop a banyan tree. Mandel grew up in Paris, France, and later studied in the city of Versailles. Leaving the grandiose, 17th-century architecture of Versailles for Hong Kong's modern mash-up of shiny skyscrapers and concrete monstrosities shocked the urban planner and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1495796/something-new-saving-faces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1495796/something-new-saving-faces?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Apr 2014 15:08:10 +0000 It is a city where tailor-made clothes are not unusual, where macaroons are jetted in daily from France and where helicopters take off for Macau - 68 kilometres away - every half an hour. So isn't Hong Kong well overdue a custom blend of coffee all of its own? Yes, say The Coffee Academics. Hong Kong's self-proclaimed coffee pioneer (probably not too bold a claim in a city where Starbucks rules supreme) now offers a custom blend, mixed after a detailed personal consultation and couriered to your... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1485897/something-new-custom-blend-coffee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1485897/something-new-custom-blend-coffee?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Apr 2014 16:36:32 +0000 Every day in Admiralty, next to the United Centre, a large crane lifts and lowers a small metal cage at least 100 times into a deep shaft. Inside, workers, mostly men from Nepal, are transported to and from their workplace some 50 metres underground. The cage can hold no more than six and it's the only available access, save for the precarious-looking stepladder bolted to the granite running down one side of the shaft wall, available to those fit and brave enough to use it. "It gets very busy at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1481072/underground-workers-help-shape-new-mtr-station-admiralty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1481072/underground-workers-help-shape-new-mtr-station-admiralty?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Apr 2014 22:15:30 +0000 In late 2012, two Italian brothers who had made their fortune in the gelato business established what must be, for the sweet-toothed, one of the world's most noble causes - the Carpigiani Foundation. The mission of their august body is "to promote gelato culture throughout the world". The group set up a €1.5 million (HK$16 million) gelato museum and a university that, it is claimed, is an internationally recognised breeding ground of successful gelatieri (makers of gelato). Clearly, Italy is a... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1473307/rant-bad-gelato-thin-ice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1473307/rant-bad-gelato-thin-ice?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Apr 2014 15:18:15 +0000 Once, you could smoke on planes and buses, then that pleasure was denied you. You could also puff away in restaurants and bars, but no longer. Now, I'm going to harry the self-pitying smoker even further; do you not realise that smoking in a doorway of a building or bar is almost as bad as doing it inside? Just because what you're doing is legal doesn't mean you don't have to use your brain. Maybe your brain is suffering from all the tar, cadmium, lead and formaldehyde you've been inhaling, so... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1463706/rant-no-smoke-without-ire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1463706/rant-no-smoke-without-ire?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2014 14:45:27 +0000 Mad for malt? Serious about scotch? Hot on the heels of Beertopia comes Hong Kong's first festival dedicated entirely to the golden liquor, showcasing some of Scotland's superlative single malts. Malt Masters Asia was founded by expats Ian McKerrow and Sam Thawley, both whisky lovers who want to introduce top-class drams to top-class Hong Kong consumers. It's almost as if scotch pulses through McKerrow's veins. His family started two distilleries in Scotland in the 1800s and his father was... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1463704/something-new-malt-your-mouth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1463704/something-new-malt-your-mouth?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2014 14:43:22 +0000 SIBLING RIVALRY (Childhood) was really fun. I was never bored, except when my sisters went abroad. We fought a lot, over anything - a box of tissues, anything. They would do sports inside the house, like kicking a ball, and I would tell on them. I was a little bitch. When they all got sent abroad to the (United) States, to high school, there was only me and my brother left. Then I got bored. There was always somebody to push me around and kick me around and suddenly they were all gone. A DAY AT... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1462513/my-life-josie-ho?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1462513/my-life-josie-ho?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2014 14:43:15 +0000 For transgender Colombian national Eliana Rubashkyn, Hong Kong is "a jail - it's a hell". Just six months ago, Rubashkyn was studying at the Taipei Medical University; now she is a stateless refugee. Her ordeal began last September, when the MBA student visited Hong Kong on what was supposed to be a quick trip to update her passport photograph. A year of hormonal treatment had transformed the male look she was born with to match her female identity, and Hong Kong's Colombian consulate was her... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1457021/transgender-refugee-goes-through-hell-hong-kong-be-recognised-woman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1457021/transgender-refugee-goes-through-hell-hong-kong-be-recognised-woman?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Apr 2014 19:15:15 +0000 Hong Kong's many film festivals offer a handsome variety but, all too often, they're pitched squarely at sophisticated film buffs, meaning the kids must be left at home. But not in this case. Scheduled to take place next month, Jump Cut will be Hong Kong's first all teen-curated film festival. A committee of 13 teenagers (some of whom are pictured below) was selected by the Youth Arts Foundation to choose the films and find unconventional locations in which to screen them. The festival's theme... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1458378/something-new-first-cut-teen-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1458378/something-new-first-cut-teen-film-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Mar 2014 14:12:08 +0000 Sick of the hard-core attitudes that govern many of Hong Kong's post-work workouts? Don't feel like dragging yourself out of bed at dawn, only to be berated by a boot camp boss? Now there's a new way for the city's office workers to get their blood pumping and there are only two rules: no lights, no lycra. NLNL started in Melbourne, Australia, in 2009, the brainchild of two dance students who wanted to let people groove as though no one was watching. Literally. It has since spread around the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1453166/something-new-leaps-dark?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1453166/something-new-leaps-dark?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:20:16 +0000 Iron Maiden, the British band famous for having a No1 single in their homeland called Bring Your Daughter … to the Slaughter are not as well known for their beer. Two years ago, the band teamed up with a British brewer to launch Trooper, which featured at the just-concluded craft beer festival Beertopia. During the 2005 Ozzfest tour, lead singer Bruce Dickinson fell out with Ozzy Osbourne after making disparaging remarks about the Black Sabbath frontman. That Ozzfest turned into an eggfest when... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1447680/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1447680/six-degrees?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:31:02 +0000 "A very odd mapp of China" was the description given to the Selden Map some 300 years ago. Britain's Bodleian Library (the map's home) calls it "an interesting curiosity". Neither description does justice to what is arguably one of the most exciting discoveries of the 21st century, and one that Post Magazine devoted a cover story (Selden seen)  to in November 2011. "To be able to show this game-changing - and stunning - map in [the Hong Kong Maritime Museum] would be the stuff of dreams,"... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1447670/something-new-thee-mapp?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1447670/something-new-thee-mapp?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:30:00 +0000 "A mix of black-tie class, charm, wit and impeccable musicality" sounds like a recipe for a good night out. And that is what's promised by the Oxford Gargoyles, a jazz a cappella ensemble from the world's second-oldest (surviving) university. Hailing from Britain's Oxford University, the Gargoyles have been described as "charm personified" and certainly their outfits ooze jazz pizzaz (think sleek tuxedos and little black cocktail dresses). Coupled with broad smiles and contagious enthusiasm for... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1441799/something-new-gargoyles-cometh?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1441799/something-new-gargoyles-cometh?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Mar 2014 15:30:30 +0000 Lady Gaga in blood red or Kate Moss in hot pink? Pick your favourite celebrity and shade of lipstick, and local multimedia artist May Sum will carve out an exquisite mini sculpture for you. Calling herself Asia's first lipstick sculptor, Sum says her aim is to push the boundaries between art, fashion and make-up. Sum uses lipsticks by Chanel, Nars, MAC, Estée Lauder, YSL and Max Factor and her subjects range from fashion icons to items of haute couture to the occasional cat. Last year, an... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1436207/something-new-lip-service?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1436207/something-new-lip-service?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Mar 2014 15:13:36 +0000 Geoffrey Robertson, Queen’s Counsel, UN war crimes judge and legal representative for Julian Assange, has called on the Hong Kong government to protect freedom of the press, which he says is “a most important sinew of a free society”. He condemned the recent attack on former Ming Pao editor Kevin Lau Chun-to. “Killing the messenger, or maiming the messenger in this case, is something that a free society simply cannot tolerate”, said Robertson, and urged decisive action. “The government must... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1437178/world-renowned-lawyer-geoffrey-robertson-calls-hong-kong-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1437178/world-renowned-lawyer-geoffrey-robertson-calls-hong-kong-government?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:57:21 +0000 It's not a new concept in the United States, Australia, Denmark and Canada, where books such as The Green Bride Guide help couples plan low-carbon nuptials. Even the mainland was ahead of Hong Kong; last year in Wuhan, 25 models showed off wedding dresses made entirely of toilet paper to promote environmental awareness. But green nuptials have finally arrived in the city. Management company ZCB and the Construction Industry Council (CIC), which developed the city's first zero-carbon building... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1431743/something-new-big-green-leap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1431743/something-new-big-green-leap?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Feb 2014 15:38:39 +0000