In the Heat of the Night: Fashion Shoot in Hong Kong

Photography: Mike Tao
Hair and Makeup: Karen Yiu
Models: Bethany T and David Oshry (Models International HK)

Producer: P.Ramakrishnan
































Wardrobe Captions:

1
On her: Embroidered green top by Fine'n'Rhine, accessories by Kanchan Couture
On him: Calvin Klein jeans and briefs, Cipher shoes

2
On him: Jeans and leather jacket by Calvin Klein, Cipher shoes
On her: Black embroidered cocktail dress by Fine'n'Rhine

3
On her: Jeans and bustier by Calvin Klein
On him: Calvin Klein briefs, black pants by Burberry

4
On her: Overcoat, shoes and dress by Burberry
On him: Embellished top and jeans by Burberry, shoes by Cipher


5
On her: Silver-grey shirt from Armani Collezioni (from Lane Crawford), boots by Burberry

6
On her: White linen shirt from Armani Collezioni (from Lane Crawford), boots by Burberry
On him: Dior Homme briefs


7
On her: Deep-cut red top from Kanchan Couture, black print pants Burberry
On him: Blue knit T from Armani Collezioni (from Lane Crawford), black denim jeans by Burberry, shoes by Cipher

8
On him: Calvin Klien boxer-briefs

9
On her: T-shirt by Kanchan Couture, jeans by Burberry
On him: White T-shirt from Lane Crawford, jeans and boxer-briefs by Calvin Klein, shoes by Cipher













IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT


Producer: P.Ramakrishnan
Photography: Mike Tao
Retouching: Patt Sham
Hair & Makeup: Karen Yiu
Models: Bethany T and David O (Models International)

Captions:

1
On her: Embroidered green top by Fine'n'Rhine, accessories by Kanchan Couture
On him: Calvin Klein jeans and briefs, Cipher shoes

2
On him: Jeans and leather jacket by Calvin Klein, Cipher shoes
On her: Black embroidered cocktail dress by Fine'n'Rhine

3
On her: Jeans and bustier by Calvin Klein
On him: Calvin Klein briefs, black pants by Burberry

4
On her: Overcoat, shoes and dress by Burberry
On him: Embellished top and jeans by Burberry, shoes by Cipher






5
On her: Silver-grey shirt from Armani Collezioni (from Lane Crawford), boots by Burberry

6
On her: White linen shirt from Armani Collezioni (from Lane Crawford), boots by Burberry
On him: Dior Homme briefs


7
On her: Deep-cut red top from Kanchan Couture, black print pants Burberry
On him: Blue knit T from Armani Collezioni (from Lane Crawford), black denim jeans by Burberry, shoes by Cipher

8
On him: Calvin Klien boxer-briefs


9
On her: T-shirt by Kanchan Couture, jeans by Burberry
On him: White T-shirt from Lane Crawford, jeans and boxer-briefs by Calvin Klein, shoes by Cipher




Not for print. reference shots from shoot. captions and all

OUTTAKES

Images that aren't going to print for... whatever reason.

Q&A: Deborah Simms: A Hong Kong icon of health and fitness

Deborah Simms, 37, body beautician, sculpts some answers for P.Ramakrishnan

Q: Favourite bar/club?
Deborah Simms: I don't go clubbing that much, I love to dance but I'm not going to bars. My regular hang outs in the evening are either the office or my home.

Q: Favourite drink?
DS: Right now, I drink a lot of cranberry juice Alcoholic dink? I like my champagne.

Q: What are you listening to?
DS: I'm into New Age music - Ton O'Connor, Enigma, that sort of stuff. I like pop music and I like tunes I can dance to.

Q: Favourite restaurant?
DS: Right now it's Thai Basil in Pacific Place. It's not just Thai food, it's pan-Asian.

Q: Can you cook?
DS: I'm sure if I tried I'd be able to do it - I just don't have time to cook.

Q: What's your fantasy night out?
DS: Lots of dancing. From the time I go out to the time I get home, loads of dancing.

Q: How much does a night out cost you?
DS: It depends where I go. If I go out for dinner and drinks, it can be anywhere from HK$3000-$5000.

Q: Is Hong Kong a 24-hour city?
DS: Definitely. At 2am, if I feel like dancing, I can head out to Lan Kwai Fong or, if I want to eat, I'd head out to Causeway Bay. There are so many places open in Causeway Bay late at night.

Q: Favourite movie?
DS: Recently, the Mel Gibson movie What Women Want. I thought it was really good. Bascally I don't have time to watch movies, but when I do, it's usually a Hollywood movie. I saw Rush Hour 2 and I thought Jackie Chan did a really good job with Chris whatshisname. [Tucker!].

Q: Favourite movie stars?
DS: I like to watch Richard Gere and Keanu Reeves. They haven't done anything recently that's been good but I like watching them all the same.

Q: Where do you like to shop in Hong Kong?
DS: Pacific Plae - D&G, Dior, Celine... all my favourites are there.

Q: Favourite outfit?
DS: Any of my D&G clothes fit the bill. I don't sully wear jeans but recently I got a pair from D&G and I wear them a lot more than usual.

Q: What can't you say no to?
DS: My kids. Also, I can't say no to Haagen-Dazs.

Q: Who are your heroes?
DS: Mother Teresa and Princess Diana. They believed in what they did and went for it. They didn't hesitate. They didn't let obstacles get in the way of their vision. I follow that philosophy as well. I believe in what I can do and I go for it. My company was launched in 1996 and I'm very happy with my decision. So far, so good.

Creative Steps: Interview with William To: Business of Design Week in Hong Kong: 2010

Business of Design Week gives William To a chance to indulge in his passion for products.

Words: P.Ramakrishnan
Photographer: Jonathan Wong

William To, "I started out as an advisor for the media marketing campaign in 2003 and 2004 of the Business of Design Week (BODW). In 2005, when the project director resigned six weeks before the event, I was asked to jump in on a full-time basis and I've been director ever since.

I'm really not a designer per se, I was in advertising for 18 years. My background is not in design, but advertising is all about design too. The power of advertising was the first influence in design that made me step into this field.

I'm interested in product design, architecture, graphics and, because of my training in advertising, we basically have to be in touch with different industries and all aspects of design.

Creativity prevails in a commercial city like ours. In fact, more businesses will use design as a powerful tool to stay competitive.

Currently, I'm focusing on BODW. For this year's event we have Italy as our partner country (registration and full programme can be found at www.bodw.com). I have just completed this year's final judging of Design for Asia Awards - we have some outstanding winners. The result will be announced on December 12 at the HKDC Annual Award Gala Dinner during BODW 2007. We have a steering committee made up of professors, designers, mostly from the local industry and universities. There's an exciting array of winners this year that will surprise many."

Club Reviews: Halo, Lei Dou and Mink

On Halo-'ed Ground

Words: P.Ramakrishnan

I’m not sure if there’s a point in plugging this hot number. A sister club to the similarly hip Volar, Halo’s got the glow of a minty new hot spot for those who’ve got serious cash to throw at a barkeep. Just last January did this spectacular looking “private club” open at a non-descript street in Central and without having hosted a celebrity and/or supermodel studded party, this hot spot is illuminating the dark pleasure of nocturnal, nefarious, notorious revelry at its finest in the 'Kong.

Just one trouble with this place. You can’t get in. Unless you’re a member. Or know one. Or know the owner or... you get the gist. If you’re not part of the elite “in within”, there’s just no point in standing outside while you see a stream of model-lites saunter in while they tell you – the average philistine with gravity-defying-hair-courtesy-of-a-Toni&Guy-ad-inspired-coiff-and-copious-gel – that the place is booked up.

Fortunately for me, I know a member, and a co-owner, and the night I was permitted entrance was the night I was part of singer/diva Rijan’s entourage. Down a risky flight of stairs, a goth-black underground Chateaux awaits. Whisked off to a private atrium (the theme being a subterranean house of leisure and pleasure; there’s a living room, library, garden room and so on enfolded within the cavernous space), as this is the place that requires a retina scan at the entrance before you’re allowed in (so you can’t even haggle at the door/flash a tit to get in), THEY know you’re coming and a place is reserved for you. FYI, reservations are required. And they don’t kid about that as on weekends, its jam-packed, vacuum-sealed-with the trendy “it” folks.

Seated at the library, we saw Peter Cheung, a marketing mastermind behind the biggest luxury brands in Asia, and his impossibly fashionable shadow walk in.  Upon a quick meet’n’greet, he sends over a complimentary bottle of champagne to our corner (Peter’s also the uncrowned king of social decorum). Again, if you need to double check the price tag of a bottle of Krug on the menu, this is not the place for you.

Filled with dark promises as the creatures of the night come out at their radiant best, its also the place to find your average Asian popstar rush in amongst hushed tones as they set up camp in their private enclaves. You need to be over 25 to enter (but they’re a bit lax on that rule if you're a model citizen) and as the crème de la crème order the entire contents of page three on the menu, sit in the warm glow of the haves, and people watch; its seeing sheaths of your average tabloid come alive.

Oh its good to know someone, who knows someone in a city like Hong Kong.

Halo
Lower Ground Floor, 10-12 Stanley Street, Central
Tel: 2810 1274
Operating Hours: Monday to Friday Doors open at 5pm
Saturday Doors open at 9pm
Sunday Closed
Kitchen last call at 00:30am every night (except Sunday)



Lei Dou

To escape the general irk of Lan Kwai Fong (far too hot, humid and peopled on weekends as every bar strewn street can be), Rebecca Walker, the gorgeous editor of the hip local publication taxi escorted me to Lei Dou last weekend. It’s right in the heart of LKF and for love nor money would you find it unless you were personally taken there on the arm of someone as in-the know as Ms Walker, who collects such invaluable data for her monthly publication.

“I just love this place,” she said while we walked up a slightly creepy and dodgy nameless building, after a poorly lit alleyway sheltered us from ‘Beerfest’ that raged on just a few steps away. “Come on, it's cool, it’s clean and the people are lovely!”

Er... right. 

Getting flashes of my last trip to the seamier side of Mongkok, where my sister wanted to buy a fake Bottega Veneta bag and a cigarette lipped man led us down a blind alley and up a cranky lift to an even dingier apartment, littered with every possible fake-designer dud. "Strangled by a plastic Gucci belt" the headlines would read I envisioned. Similarly, up a flight of stairs with a far more attractive specimen leading the way, we stood in front of a large black door, again, no sign or indication of what’s ahead and that familiar ominous silence followed the knock.

“And the drinks are reasonable,” she concluded while I pictured asphyxiation and bulb-lit mugging.

Wait… rewind that. Reasonable drinks in LKF? You had me at Hello!

Like a large living room with a generous bar, a fake fireplace, little corners with plush sofas and overstuffed chairs, this dimly lit cocoon is clearly a second home to its clientele. Lei Dou is not quiet a private club but it surely feigns to be, as the cloisters of finely feathered folks (there was a birthday bash we seemed to have gate crashed that night with a fedora theme) seemed to acknowledge each other with hearty hellos.

Signature martinis, decent collection of Australian wines, cool and comfortable with a none-too-shabby menu, knowing you’re in the heart of Central, yet away from the vast sweaty crowd below sure has its benefits. If you need me on a Friday after six, you’ll find me at my non-private-club, which is happy to let anyone in.

Lei Dou
D’Aguilar Street
Central
Tel: 2525 8276

Mink

“There’s a talk at Mink about how to pleasure your partner,” said a voice on the mobile. Already I’m groaning. “Its Kamasutra on the rocks babe! Drinks included!”

Well, all right. So my mates and I clop along Hollywood Road, dotted with carpet shops, art galleries, short-lived bars with dozens of people corresponding with antique shops with nary a patron (and yet somehow they last forever), Indian restaurants, and the like, to find the newly renovated Mink left wide open for our grand, albeit hesitant, entrance.

A gaggle of gals listening to a ‘coach’ on what to and not to do in the bedroom…kitchen, living room, or whatever rocks your boat. For $30 happy hour prices, after a few, it was all white noise and laughter, and really what more does one want on a Tuesday after work?

As Mink is between a slew of other bars, to keep its chin up, there’s always some event, promotion, deal, music-DJ-food-talk-cocktail strewn happening, but it really just boils down to atmosphere and service and fortunately for them, the place has got all the right ingredients.

Speaking of which, the house specialty, according to the press release we got, is the Peppered Mink Martini; a blend of pepper infused vodka, seared pineapple, caramel liqueur and lemon - and if that wasn't enough, it's garnished further with cracked pepper. 

As I oft heard that evening, “Nice... if you’re into that sort of thing.”

Mink
UGF, Au’s Building, 19 Hollywood Road, Central
Tel: 3171 1989.


UPDATE: Not sure if any of these mentioned bars survived as I write this sentence in 2014!

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