Chef Yuzuo Han: Mumbai's Famed Chinese Chef speaks to South China Morning Post

Grand Hyatt Mumbai chef Han Yuzuo isn't bothered about Bollywood, he just wants to be the best, writes P.Ramakrishnan.
All pictures: Sayan Sur Roy

"For Chinese cuisine in India, walk right up to the Grand Hyatt and ask for the chef," recommends Shobhaa De, prolific Indian author and columnist. "It's wonderful - more importantly, authentic."

Han Yuzuo, 28, is the head chef at China House, the Mumbai hotel's Chinese restaurant, which is a favourite of the Bollywood crowd and Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, when he's in town.

"I really wouldn't know an Indian celebrity if I was meeting them," Han says. "The staff always tell me, so-and-so star is here. It doesn't bother me as I'm working. There's no major difference between serving an actor or anyone else. Perhaps we do a bit more decoration, but the food is the same.

"My concerns are all kitchen related; vegetables and sauces. Indian vegetables are very different from the ones we use in Chinese food, so that's what I worry about the most. I get sauces and fresh vegetables air-cargoed in. I get excited when the items come to the hotel straight from the airport, and sauces from Beijing and Hong Kong are ordered specially. Leafy vegetables, bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, fungus, mushroom, lotus plants - small ones [the Indian ones are too big] - come in, I get excited about the meal plan for the day."

Originally from the Dongbo district of Sichuan province, Han has worked for the Grand Hyatt chain for almost a decade, in several cities around the world, and has been in Mumbai for two years. Having become an apprentice chef at the age of 16, Han attended culinary college and obtained his professional certificate in 2001, then the Chinese Cooking Technician Certificate the following year.

"In China, in my hometown, there are seasons; winter, spring, summer and autumn, so we co-ordinate menus according to what's in season, make meal plans according to the weather. In Mumbai, it's always hot. Or it's very hot," he says, with a laugh. "But I'm getting used to it. The menu changes three times a year and I do that according to what produce is available.

"I have many Chinese and Indian friends here in Mumbai so, even though my wife, sister and family are back in China, I don't get lonely. I get homesick only during the Chinese festivals as they are not celebrated in India.

"It's not difficult living in Mumbai, most people are friendly. I don't speak any Hindi - it's very tough - or English. With my Indian friends, it's a lot of acting and hand movement to make them understand. It works.

"There are many Indians who learn Mandarin, so they come here and ask for me and I talk to them after their meal. Or they request to see me before as they want to order in Mandarin. It is fun for them and me."

What's truly foreign to the tongue, of course, is the taste of India. "Sichuan food is spicy, so is Indian, but it's a different spice," Han says. "Preparation is long, that's the main difference. I see my Indian colleagues preparing dishes and it takes hours and the smells are very strong. Chinese food is made much faster, food is tossed in and out of the wok quickly - but curries have to marinate for a long time. And the temperatures are very high, which I don't understand."

Working six days a week, Han's routine rarely changes.

"My mornings are not very rushed. Around 11am I go to the kitchen; just before the lunch rush hour, I'm here," he says, pointing to a spotless open kitchen that's in a glass bubble in the middle of the restaurant.

"Off-duty, I go out to see Mumbai. Like China, India's a country with a rich history - so that's exciting to see.

"I started as an apprentice chef and learnt from great teachers. I want my cuisine to be known as the best, not just in the restaurant I work in, but in the region."


POSTSCRIPT:

Mumbai is a marvel and especially the people I've met there. Many thanks to the fab photographer Sayan Sur Roy for working around his busy schedule for a portrait shot. Wanted a picture to display a Chinese chef who's working in India. Getting the Natraj in the background for this shot conveyed what I needed in a very simple click. Love it.

Have to also say, the team at Grand Hyatt Mumbai were fantastic, arranging the translator, the chef to come in on a weekend, the pr team following up on emails back and forth... all turned out well, after a few initial hiccups. The hotel's gorgeous too.

Outtakes from the shoot.


Portraits by Sayan Sur Roy.

Drag & I: A look at Hong Kong's hottest club, the famous and infamous dragon I

Words: P Ramakrishnan


It bordered on the tragic. She was a well cropped mop of hair, standing next to, what could have very well been, the stunt double from the Incredible hulk, as she requested the bouncer in the private enclave of Dragon-I to let her in.

Hong Kong’ most notoriously hip Chinese dim-sum restaurant by day, that morphs into an über-club at night, Dragon-I has more star dust and celebrity sightings than your average ream of Hello! mag. The place where both the Brazilian and Manchester footballers partied the day before their match in Hong Kong two years ago (much to the chagrin of the managers when they failed to turn up the following day for practice), where Kanye West dined and jived after his one-night only concert, the guardians behind the velvet ropes of the club are to be feared and loved and, as the case was that night, to be genuflected over.

“Please let me in, I’m the friend of the DJ,” she squeals but it can be debated if her pitch reached the ears of the bouncer, four foot above her. The DJ had a name, but it wasn’t the pseudonym that appeared on the gigantic posters littered across the cavernous room. His “real” name was code to let his “real” friends in.

“You’re not on the list ma’am,” says the bouncer in monotone, clearly having seen this song and dance oft enough to know better.

Having graduated from the first round of velvet ropes where “the door bitch” let her in, she was emboldened enough to believe the VIP room was just a matter of conviction over credit… card.

All that fuss as Dragon-I celebrated its fourth anniversary with a host of the who’s who of Hong Kong (with a good dose of ‘who’s that?’ thrown into the mix). And yes, even I was dragged in on behest of the very able event coordinators, the wily minxes who promised free drinks (um, no!) and models teeming about (ah yes!). As the Centrium, apart from housing the club, two bars (the minty new “Solas” and “Waagu”, a pricey Aussie restaurant/bar with excellent wine) was also an aegis for two modeling agencies and a fashionable hair salon.

Oh and need I mention that Mischa Barton and entourage were there too? The 20-year-old OC starlet was expected under a shower of awaiting flashbulbs. Invited by Christian Dior to attend the charity gala premier of Hong Kong Ballet’s latest production, Barton’s mug had dotted every paper and magazine in town all week. As predictable as the social circuit is, bright sparks had long figured out that the young pout would swish into the club once her Dior duties were over. And lo and behold, with the entourage of the luxury brand, with a new outfit (and we believe new boyfriend) in tow, the princess walked in just after the clock struck midnight. Defrocked from her earlier, middling gown, the outfit she donned was far more paparazzi friendly. Still Dior of course.

Caked in like sardines in a vacuum sealed can, the VIP room already had 500 people (around 1,000 invitations were sent out in total but about triple as much lined up), 1000 others in the outer rim, it was a rare sight when the “haves” who didn’t in fact have invites, had to pay an entrance fee to get in. Wonders never cease.

So who else was there apart from the beauteous Barton? Well, the usual harem of luxury brand PRs, the pseudo-celebrities (models, one-pop wonders…) other club owners (from all the major HK clubs like Finds, Drop, Kee etc) who came to wish Gilbert Yeung, owner and famed playboy/partier, the best for the years of unprecedented success.

Hot clubs are a dime a dozen in the concrete jungle and, like organic milk, curdle within a short period of time. Somehow, every few weeks, with the right event, right personality, hype and hooplah, Dragon-I rises from the ashes of tedium and remains Hong Kong’s only place to be obscene and heard.

Dragon-i
The Centrium 60 Wyndham Street
Hong Kong,
Telephone: + 852 3110 1222
www.dragon-i.com.hk

Zuma

Location, location, location. When you’ve got Gucci on one side, The Mandarin Landmark hotel on the other, as we stepped out of the cab, tailing a navy, chauffer-driven Bentley, I knew that the opening night of Zuma was going to be a hot one.

With Nobu being across the pond (its no secret that Hong Kong islanders HATE to cross the ocean to Tsim Tsa Tsui – even if the tunnel ride is but 20-minutes away), Japanese restaurant/bar Zuma’s going to be the new place to be caught by the paparazzi.

Though having unlocked the doors a few days ago, Zuma’s official mega-bash opening was just somethin’ else! With Pansy Ho, eldest daughter and heir-apparent to Asian billionaire Stanley Ho, leading the way, society staples like Mira Yeh (I’m not sure what exactly she does, apart from “being fabulous” as one of the PRs said that night), Hong Kong’s illustrious Indian family, the Harilelas, and the usual faces that litter Hong Kong Tattler and the Forbes rich list attended in full force. With Oscar nominee-Coco Lee (the ϋber-hot chanteuse best known for singing the tracks of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) sauntering in with her latest beau, everything about the evening was coated with stardust. The drinks flowed freely (Crystaaaal no less) at the open bar, but the canapés pirouetted around the duplex restaurant-cum-bar were difficult to reach; they may be in diamonds and mink but send a penguin suit with a tray full of delectables, and suddenly vultures descend.

No idea what the food’s like, but having seen the skeletal socialites clacking their six-inch Manolos up and down the luminous stair-case, perhaps that’s the general idea.

Zuma
The Landmark Atrium
Level 5 & 6
15 Queens Road
Central
Hong Kong
www.zumarestaurant.com


798 Unit & Co


Food editor at South China Morning Post, Susan Jung, once said to me, “Pasta is really cheap,” in her deliciously crisp voice. “So if you go into a great Italian restaurant but the portions are ridiculously small, then it isn’t that great a restaurant.”

To walk into this “open” restaurant at the 12th floor of Times Square (the one in Hong Kong, not New York! This city manages to make copies of famous monikers too), you might get lost trying to find the place as there’s no billboard or sign indicating the name of the restaurant/bar as you step out of the lift. Encased in a glass case, well, glass walls, I hate to reveal this un-hidden gem to anyone; its just so damn good.

The house red is alarmingly affordable and alarmingly good. The simple menu with its succinct selection is reasonably priced (otherwise a contradiction of terms in this city – you can pay HK$92 for a cup of tea if you’re not careful in this dang place) and its complete lack of pretension – be it in its décor, food, service, style – makes it worthy of a Michelin. A great place to sit and munch after work, the ties are loosened under the soft-glow of this new hangout for some severely designer-clad folks (the main offices of many luxury brands are floors above). Where else can you find a HK$6,000 LV belt-clad babe buying a $60 cup of vino?

798 Unit & Co
12/F
Times Square
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
www.798unit.com
Tel: (852) 2506 0611
Opening Hours: 12-12


Pop Bites


Although I’m deeply suspicious of how long this latest venture will last, Pop Bites, conceived by celebrated Hong Kong restaurateur and designer Calvin Yeung, has a certain buzz going for it, among the esoteric and eccentric folks that trade in urban chic.

In collaboration with dance and music maven Yvonne Siet-Wong and the celebrated spinner/cable TV star DJ Wong Chi Chung, the idea behind the latest eatery/drinkery is to “eat, drink and make merry music” till the cops come home! Which shouldn’t take long, as the old Central Police Station is right across the road from this restaurant/ice-cream parlor/fine wine hub/music & DJ haunt.

A much more sedate alternative to Lan Kwai Fong, which is a sweaty street below, with thematic parties and events (Bjork Nite! Abbey Road evening and so on), this little place is definitely for music lovers, who can chat with the visiting DJs while sipping a fine Merlot from the extensive stock of Yeung’s private collection.

With the lords of folly and follicle (what? You can’t be a DJ with ‘normal’ hair) ambulating about, there’s a vestige of cool (that’s ‘kwl’ for those inclined to text lexicon) in the lair, the air… I just didn’t fit in! Anyhoo…

Its, its… well, for the lack of better word, cute. Ice-creams are labeled Strawberry Fields Forever (a pink berry flavoured dessert), Aloha Paradise (Coconut Almond Fudge Chip) and U2 Rocks (Dublin Mudslide) and so on, there’s soothing mint-tea specially concocted for Pop Bites served on Balinese platters. Stylist Kristin Flanagan once said to me, judge a wine bar by how good their glasses are (apparently they have to be large, voluminous goblet-like crystal and not paper-cups or Ikea samples) so the place got marks immediately for their selection of cutlery and China.

Said Yeung at the opening party, “I wanted a place that was different from others around Central, a place where I myself would like to come and eat – and this is the place where you’ll see me from now on.”

The idea of a harmonious environment – aided with top DJs spinning tunes, a CD station where shoppers can listen to their own selection, a Technicolor video wall, its an entertainment venue as much as it is a restaurant.

Its hard not to be taken in by Yeung’s contagious enthusiasim, “The venue will be a place for creative exchanges”, he says. “We’ll invite pop singers to share their latest work, and we’ll host art-related events. The major difference between Pop Bites and our two previous concepts is that this place offers a channel for people to enjoy creative talents.”

Any place that offers alternatives to the vocal stylings of canto-pop, Aqua (hasn’t the song I’m a Barbie girl died everywhere else? Apparently not in HK clubs) and Bee Gees remix (ok its cool after some… er… herbal electives), gets my hard-earned-dollar.

Pop Bites
Opening Hours: 8:30am till 11pm, daily.
Location: UG/F, No. 3-5 Old Bailey Street, Central, Hong Kong.
Tel: (852) 2525 4141

Family Jewels: Interview with Jonathan Abram: The Peninsula Magazine: 2010

Continuing the family legacy of providing jewels for the famed and fortuned, Hong Kong based Jonathan Abram's role seems like a genetic predisposition. P.Ramakrishnan meets the rising son, who's continuing his illustrious father's footsteps in the business. Picture by Hyvis Tong.


Looking at what's on display at the Ronald Abram boutique in Hong Kong, it's a glimmering array of diamonds, both coloured and white. "It's the stones themselves that are the most exciting part of being in the business," says Jonathan Abram, Ronald's son and director of Ronald Abram. "I've seen some of the most beautiful jewels in the world from the time I was 15; rare jewels, small and precious and huge ones - and combinations of both colour and cut. There was no pressure from my parents to become involved in the family business, but I came back to it after studying at University. When I was younger, I always accompanied my father to work and was constantly intrigued. My brothers and I heard about the business when I was at home and I developed a fascination for it. I guess it was just in my blood."

At stores across Hong Kong brace themselves for the festive and shopping season, sale signs are being displayed around the city as we speak. "It's certainly one of our busiest seasons. The diamond market is cyclical and we're optimistic that this is going to be a good period ahead. Shoppers in this city are sophisticated, and they are a very diverse group. The market is quite mixed when it comes to buying vintage (anything from the 1930s to the 1970s) or antique (over 100 years old) jewellery and there are many who appreciate it and buy it for its artistic value, because the designs can't be replicated. And then there are those who wouldn't buy pre-owned items because they're superstitious about it, as some cultures are."

Though you can't fault any of the pieces for their unequivocal brilliance, canary yellow and pink diamonds do seem to stand out in the smorgasbord of jewels. "When Jennifer Lopez got her pink diamond engagement ring, it got as much publicity as the Taylor-Burton ring. There was a rapid increase in sales in pink diamonds that year and jewelers everywhere credit J Lo for the publicity blitz that shone on the diamond! You would be surprised to know that the most visible celebrity group isn't comprised of Rappers or Hip-Hop stars, who do buy the real thing and then sing about it. The biggest buyers of diamonds in the celebrity circuit over the past few years have been Ellen Barkin and Oprah Winfrey. They are the stars who are the world's biggest buyers - although I don't know what Barkin's been buying since her divorce from Ron Perelman...".

Speaking of celebrities, Marilyn Monroe and Nicole Kidman crooned that "Diamonds are a girl's best friend", but legend has it that both wore fakes - or as in Kidman's case Swarovski crystals. Can you tell if a glistening rock is the genuine article or glass without a monocle? "In a second!" says Abram. "Any jeweler should be able to tell a fake very quickly. Quite simply, the brilliance of a real diamond cannot be replicated."


Picture by Hyvis Tong of model sporting Ronald Abram jewels.

Racing the Planet

The Sahara Desert has been captured on film and photographed like a mysterious and exotic woman; all seductive silhouettes and promising curves, scorching hot by day, icy cool by night. For Martyn Sawyer, a race across its unforgiving terrain seemed like the perfectly logical thing to do. P.Ramakrishnan captures a few moments with the New Age Marathon man and asks the most obvious question, er... why?




The year was 1976. Actor Dustin Hoffman met the legendary Laurence Olivier on the set of the film "Marathon Man", where the model of method acting, Hoffman, decided to go through the physical hardship of extreme training for his role. Found in a state of complete exhaustion and with his body tested to the limit after a race, when Olivier met the gasping shell of the Oscar-winning star at the end, he simply said,"My dear fellow, have you tried acting?"

More than 30 years later, the anecdote swims in my mind while listening to the trials and tribulation of Martyn Sawyer. Last November, at the age of 49, the gung-ho and hearty hotel management senior executive ran across the Sahara Desert in seven days, with 60 other quixotic participants who joined "Racing the Planet", an event that takes place four times a year, when people from around the world congregate to traverse across some of the harshest environments in the world. Sawyer's first race ran the gamut of the Farafra and Bahariya Oases, in the largest desert in Egypt, the finish line being in front of the Sphinx just next to the Pyramids of Giza.

Sitting in his office in Hong Kong, Sawyer recounts the harshest moments of his experience. By day four in the Sahara, he had acquired a second skin of dust and dirt that covered his body almost entirely, a thick patina of fine brown powder that saved him from getting kicked out of the race and from sunburn.

"In the middle of the race, my leg had swollen up incredibly but I didn't have an infection. My legs were very red and when one of the medical staff saw me at the check point, they warned me that if this continued, they would have to pull me from the race," recalls the man who surprisingly, has no tan or debilitating injuries to show after having completed the grueling 250-kilometre journey. "By some miracle the swelling went down the following day, and the fine desert sand was almost the same colour as my skin. It covered my entire leg, so it wasn't red anymore... they let me continue the race."

The damage to Sawyer, for all its skin-peeling horrors, was nominal. "Five people had to be taken out of the race and there were others on intravenous drips at rest stops. I didn't mind the heat, but nothing bothered me as much as getting sand in my shoes - which I know sounds silly - but I had bought this pair of shoes that seemed like the most durable, comfortable and the lightest, but what I didn't count on was how very, very fine the sand was. It seeped through every hole and crevice and I was blistering badly". Had that continued each day, the end was nigh for the enthusiastic competitor. "I had to cut up a running mate's nylon shorts and pin the fabric over the holes to prevent the sand from getting in," he recalls.

For Sawyer, taking on this challenge was a mighty big mission and like any race, it all begins with the first step. "My first challenge was the Sahara and this will be followed by the Gobi Desert on June 17th this year, the Atacama Plains in Chile in March 2008 and then, if I make it through all that, I'll be eligible for the last race, Antarctica in January 2009", states the valiant globe trotter.

In the desert, the temperature can reach up to a searing 46 degrees Celsius in the summer, but the racer admits that it is as much a mental challenge as a physical one.

"I didn't understand it but at one time I was euphoric, ready to take on the world, but the next minute, sheer misery. It was devastating at times, but I never wanted to quit". Though it might seem like a vast monochrome canvas, there is actually much more to the desert Sawyer assures, than physical endurance, referring to the vast beauty in the endless landscape.

"Visually, it's absolutely stunning. I think the most captivating was the night sky," he says, painting a picture that his camera couldn't capture. "I slept out on the sand in a tent, crammed in with the rest of the surviving racers (there were only five casualties this year) and it's not the most comfortable tent in the world. The first night, I just made myself a little sarcophagus in the sand and stared at the sky. It's three dimensional, and so deep with stars. It's completely open to you and you can even see satellites dashing across it."

The race was eventually won by a 21 year-old, but even a 66 year-old man crossed the line to a warm reception of loud cheers from all participants. "That was my target, simply to finish the race. I knew I wouldn't come in first but that wasn't the point. Crossing the line was," admits the man who beyond any measure of doubt, is likely to continue to conquer the world, one step at a time.

Eating Out: TGI Friday's: Restaurant Review:

2.5 out of 5 stars. 

At TGI Friday's there's more to be said about the atmosphere than the food but on a Friday night, perhaps that's just what you're looking for. Music, lights, sports, beer and uncomplicated meals that require no explanation. The formula has worked - ever since opening its first store in New York in 1965, it has expanded to 650 branches in 52 countries. It was launched as a singles' bar for the partying 20-somethings from the swinging 60s, but times have clearly changed, even if the furnshings have not.

With balloons, multicoloured fake Tiffany lamps over red-and-white striped tablecloths, walls festooned with relics (some might view them as varnished trash, others, interesting curios) and brightly attired waiters - with suspenders holding big pins - Friday's screeches "theme restaurant", a humble ode for nostalgic Americans yearning for the golden days. \

The menu is huge, but there's nothing that's not available elsewhere - usually at a fraction of the cost. Grilled steaks, seafood, burgers of all kind, fajitas, pastas... it's the place to go to when you don't want any surprises. 

For our starter, my friend and I chose to share the vegetable fajitas ($88), which turned out to be the best dish of the evening. It might sound healthy, but it really wasn't - the fried, mixed chunky veggies (carrots, zucchini, peppers, onions etc) tasted amazing once in the fresh tortillas and smothered with guacamole, sour cream, cheddar cheese, tomatoes and salsa. 

For the main course, my friend chose the Jack Daniel's salmon steak ($168). The ample steak was surprisingly sweet and seemed to have been dippd in mild sugar water rather than Tennessee bourbon. My chicken alfredo ($128), a tasty, sliced grilled-chicken breast on a bed of creamy pasta, was pretty good - definitely more chicken than pasta, although the massive portion bordered on the ridiculous. 

We bypassed their famed Oreo-cookie delight and decided to share the mocha mud pie ($78) - a decadent serving of coffee ice-ream crusted with chocolate crumbs, almond slices and hot fudge. 

Dinner for two came to $620 (10 per cent service charge included). 

4-5 Floor, Oterprise Square, 26 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 

Tel: 2368 2800 Open: Sunday-Thursday, 11:20am-midnight; friday and Saturday, 11.30am-1am. 

$$$ 

Published in South China Morning Post's short-lived weekly magazine;24/7. This was obviously written when TGIF first opened in Hong Kong. 

All prices in HKD - not to alarm the reader!

Diaspora Diaries: Jeff Hahn: Hong Kong Photographer on the World Stage

Don't be fooled by the baby face. Photographer Jeff Hahn is building a reputation in London, writes P.Ramakrishnan.

Photographer Jeff Hahn's impressive CV belies his youth. At 21, Hahn sometimes finds it hard to be taken seriously as a photographer, especially in a city such as London, which is teeming with talent. Recently, when turning in a shoot of a chief executive for a magazine, the managing editor mistook him for the delivery boy. But Hahn's work has appeared in leading luxury and lifestyle magazines in Asia, including The Peninsula magazine, Maison Mode, Kee, Esquire and WestEast, and he's been hired for corporate photoshoots.

In the past two years he's been published in Britain and had an exhibition on London's fashionable Brick Lane. He's being profiled by cult magazines Idol and i-D, and is preparing for upcoming exhibitions in New York, London and Hong Kong.

"I got into photography when I was about 13," he says. "My brother had one of those amazing and, in retrospect, awful, two-megapixel chunky digital cameras and I used to play around with it. Shortly after that I discovered Lomography which, aside from being a company with ingenious ideas for new cameras, was also more of a concept and a way of photographing. It's all about capturing the moment and not thinking technically."

Hahn's signature look - his eye for finding the aesthetic in the mundane, often saturating images with a 1970s-style hue - was formed as much by default as by deliberation.

"I explored light leaks, blurry pictures and photographing the banal," he says. "It was probably the most liberating entry into such a massive world. I think when I took my first picture, my eyes opened for the first time and, instead of looking, I was finally seeing."

Born in Switzerland to a Swiss father and Chinese mother, Hahn was raised in Taiwan, New Zealand and Hong Kong, but he now lives and works in London. As much as he likes the challenges of working in the British capital, he still has a taste for Hong Kong.

Hahn started his career interning at magazines on the well-beaten paths of Sheung Wan. He was 16 and didn't get paid, but was glad for the opportunity.

"I found working in Hong Kong much easier than in London, probably because it's a smaller city and the media community is so tight knit," he says. "Everyone's supportive and they all love to work with new people. It's a completely different story in London.

"Life isn't always great [in London]," he says. "You don't often feel safe; sometimes it makes you want to give up but it's real and I love it for that. The amount that I've grown and the things I've learned, I probably would never have experienced had I stayed in Hong Kong."

Hahn has a multitude of cameras, ranging from "my faithful Canon 30D, to the medium-format beast that is the Mamiya RB67, to disposable cameras. I think my collection amounts to about 20 that I use.

"My first show in London was called Boy BANG Boy. Curated by artists Stuart Sandford and Sichi, it aimed to celebrate the image of the boy. I was one of eight artists and I did a series of self-portraits based along the lines of narcissism and voyeurism. The feedback was great, more than 2,000 people showed up and i-D published a piece on its website featuring my work."

His star appears to be rising: this year, his work will be displayed in some prestigious London galleries. Hahn's next body of work will involve "challenging the way society views you, with regards to how you present yourself", he says. "It's still in the early stages so no details yet but it's moving in almost a complete opposite direction to the previous show.

"I see myself staying in London for another couple of years," he says. "But I want to give something back to Hong Kong and be part of a bigger movement to push the creative scene."

Postscript:

Jeff's talent annoys me. How dare he be so young and gifted. The hard knocks of life have not hit him... yet. muahahahha.