Boys in Hong Kong are especially finicky when it comes to their appearance. You know it’s no accident that the hottie across the street looks so put together and it’s no surprise that an investment has been to been made to enhance his appearance. The Clarisonic Mia, created by the same person that made the Sonicare toothbrush, is a new motorized facial brush developed specifically for the beauty conscious man. It utilizes sonic vibrations to clear the skin of all impurities, leaving a face that’s smoother than a baby’s bottom or the bottom giving you a glance from the other side of the bar.

Available at：Joyce Grooming, B26 The Landmark, Central
Tel：2522 2886

Usually known for their coffee making products, Bodum is extending their innovation to include charcoal grills? A bit random and confusing how a company goes from coffee machines to grills, but somewhere along the line someone must have been craving some grilled barbeque pork ribs. The European aesthetics and funky coloured grills give the Bodum grill a unique festive feel unlike any other grill on the market. Pop into the Jervis Bay Barbecue to check out the different styles and coloured grills that Bodum has to offer.

Available at： Jervisbay Barbecue World, 12/F, 1212 Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong
Tel：2792 7268
Website: www.jervisbaybarbecues.com

The rest of this article is available to login users only.
Login or Become a member

[Guarded by Membership Site Software: Wordpress Membership Site Plugin - MemberWing - membership site plugin]
[Supported by: VGA Capture Cards and VGA Capture Solutions]

Words: James Soo

The last great unexplored wilderness in Asia, Mongolia is the adventurer’s destination. With only 3 million people in a country about a quarter the size of the whole of Europe, you could travel for days without seeing another soul. And unlike the rest of Asia where traditions and customs have become Disneyfied for tourists, in Mongolia nomads still live in much the same way as they have for thousands of years. Which means it’s not for the faint-hearted. But if you’re brave, and willing to learn to speak a few words of the fiendishly difficult language, you’ll be invited into the homes of these fiercely proud, but also passionately warm people.

GETTING THERE
MIAT now flies direct between Hong Kong and Ulaan Baatur three times a week. Alternatively, you can fly Air China via Beijing, and you can also take the train from Beijing – the last section of the Trans-Mongolian railway. Don’t forget though that for much of the year, the country is comatose under metres of snow with temperatures around −30C, so summer is probably the best time to visit.

SLEEP
In Ulaan Baatur (UB to locals), your best bet is to stay in one of the numerous guesthouses that cluster around the center of town. There are a few business hotels as well, but the guesthouses are the main meeting points for travellers, where you can find out about tours or meet a few like-minded people for an independent Gobi adventure. Outside of UB, you’re pretty much reliant on either tourist ger camps (traditional felt tents), that tend to have a few more mod-cons than true gers. There will be a few hotels in the major aimag (region) capitals, but you shouldn’t expect their facilities to be much beyond what you could find at a ger camp (i.e. hot running water is definitely a luxury).

Zaya’s Hostel
www.zayahostel.com
Probably the best bet in town, Zaya’s Hostel is always full, and usually full of interesting people as well – if you’re after a bunch of 20 year old partiers though head to the Golden Gobi. Owner Zaya is a wealth of knowledge about Mongolia, and will happily chat to you for hours about it.

Golden Gobi
www.goldengobi.com
The hostel that everyone else seems to be staying at. It always gets full about half an hour after the train from Beijing arrives, so make sure you book or get there early. Very helpful, and if you can get a room in their annexe round the corner, you can avoid the crowds of dirty backpackers.

Corporate Hotel
www.corporatehotel.com
Just south of the main square, this is probably the best of the business hotels in town. While the others are usually crumbling relics of the Soviet era, this feels relatively modern and has good facilities.

EAT
Mongolian food boils down to preserved dairy (yoghurt, dried cheese, curds) and preserved meat. Vegans need not apply. However, UB has a number of decent eateries, including a few vegetarian restaurants which will be a god-send if you spend any time in the countryside where vegetables are limited to the odd green potato. Korean restaurants abound, as many Mongolians go to Korea as guest workers and many Koreans have invested in Mongolia. But you can also find traditional Mongolian food, the best of which have to be the buuz, or Mongolian dumplings. The rest is definitely an acquired taste for the hardy traveller. Few memories have been so indelibly burned into my brain as when the father of my host family dragged a goat to my ger and slaughtered it in front of me by slitting a hole in its belly, reaching in and stopping its heart. It was then stripped and boiled inside a metal bucket, from which we’d grab a piece to cut off with a flick-knife.

If you’re dying for some Western food, the supermarkets are a good choice, especially the one at the State Department Store in the centre of UB. Michele’s French Bakery is a godsend in the mornings with beautifully baked croissants, and the Grand Khaan Irish Pub seems to be a popular choice for locals and visitors alike.

SEE
UB has a couple of interesting sites. My favourites are the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, which has been relatively well-preserved amid the concrete towers. A highlight is the daily tsam-mask dance (traditional Tibetan/Mongolian Buddhist/Shamanic fusion ceremony) at 5pm. Gandan Khiid is the main functioning Buddhist monastery and temple, and is well worth a visit, although the attendants are a bit rude. A number of interesting museums are also worth a visit – best are the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, which holds a superb collection of Buddhist thangkas, and the National Museum of Mongolia.

However, UB is, and should be, just the start of your Mongolian adventure. Either through your guesthouse, through one of the many independent tour organisers, or if you’re feeling very brave, by yourself, UB is the gateway to the rest of the country. Be warned that there’s really only one functioning road outside UB – between the capital and Kharkhorin. The other arterial roads tend to peter out 50km outside of the city, leaving only dirt tracks that dwindle into dusty paths through the countryside.

It probably isn’t fair to say that there are particular destinations in the country that have to be seen. Certainly the ruins of the ancient capital of Kharkhorin (Karakorum), built by Genghis and Kubilai Khan, are a poignant reminder of the demise of ancient empires. But the real joy is setting out from UB in a battered Russian jeep with no suspension and taking off into the distance. If you can, try to stay with a nomad family for at least one night. Most tours will include a cook (who is usually also the driver), which will be much appreciated after the first couple of days of Mongolian food. But it’s by living with the rhythms of this ancient people – getting up at dawn to milk the goats, helping to churn the milk down to make yoghurt and the dozen other dairy products that are a staple during the rest of the year, riding across the steppes on the small but tough Mongolian horses – that you really get to the heart of this country.

One event that is unmissable is Naadam, a huge Mongolian festival every August (the dates vary each year from district to district) where for three days people flock to their district capital for Mongolian wrestling, horse-races (the riders are all children between the ages of 6 and 9) and archery. The Naadam in UB is televised, and is held in a large stadium, so if you want a slice of real Mongolian life, head out to the provincial capitals where the Naadam is just an excuse for a huge party, where nomads who have barely seen each other in the past year can catch up, gossip and get drunk.

NIGHTLIFE
UB has plenty of bars, nightclubs and karaoke spots – the Mongolians certainly aren’t averse to drinking. So much so that once a month there is a national dry day where no establishment can sell any alcohol. While airag (fermented mare’s milk) is well known outside the country, arkhi is the killer. Distilled from milk, this vodka-type drink goes down surprisingly smoothly, but is hard to get except as homebrewed moonshine.

Mongolia is one of the world’s greatest unexplored countries, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. But if your body has the courage to live without some of your modern comforts, your soul will be richly rewarded with memories and experiences that will last a lifetime.

Words: James Soo

Tucked into the stairs under the LKF Hotel where Sushi Qube used to be, Robata Zawazawa is a tiny 20-something seat Japanese robata grill restaurant. Most of the seats cluster round the bar, and a few tables fill the rest of the compact space. Of course, Zuma and Roka are probably the most well-known robata restaurants in town, but Zawazawa is a welcome addition (especially since they’re open most nights till 2am).

We went there for lunch and tried out their well-priced sets – I had the black cod while my companion had the chicken. We also tried their seasonal vegetable hot-pot. The sets all came with soup, rice, salad and we were offered a beautiful appetizer of 6 different types of Japanese pickle elegantly presented on artfully chosen ceramic dishes arranged in a special six-compartment laquer box. Of course everything was excellent, although we felt that the chicken was probably the better choice in the end, even though the hot-pot was perfect for that unusually chilly December day. We weren’t drinking, but I couldn’t help but notice the wide variety of Japanese malt whiskies, sakes and the large cocktail menu.

I imagine at night with the robata grill on full force, the spot will be toasty and cosy in the cold winter months ahead. And despite its location right on the stairwell up to Wyndham Street, it’s a space that manages to avoid the scrum of both LKF and the bars above it, a perfect sanctuary of Japanese barbecued goodness right in the thick of it all.

Address: LG/F, 41 Wyndham Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central
Tel: 2536 9898

Words: James Soo

It’s always struck me as odd that Hong Kong doesn’t have more dim sum bars. For something so quintessentially Hong Kong, why is it that whenever I ask people for a good dim sum place, people mutter something about Maxim’s at City Hall or there’s that one in Mongkok with a Michelin star, but you have to wait all day etc. etc. So I was pretty pleased to hear about dim sum bar, a new no frills, but modern-look dim sum restaurant in Harbour City – perfect for some char siu bao action during a frenetic last minute Christmas shopping frenzy.

The decor is fresh and clean – a far cry from traditional dim sum houses – and you don’t have belligerent waitresses screaming at you as they wheel their trolleys round the bustle. Instead, you have a full range of classical dim sum (some with flavours quite unexpected from their more conventional counterparts) as well as a selection of modern approaches with interesting flavour fusions. Our steaming baskets of goodies arrived quickly and we were impressed by the taste. I can’t claim to know what Michelin-starred dim sum tastes like, but this place really isn’t bad. Their signature dishes include the luxuriantly rich King Prawn Dumplings in Lobster Bisque as well as the Baked Abalone and Chicken Pastry. Modern takes on traditional fare are Steamed Siu Mai with Truffles.

If you’re a dim sum fan, you’ll be excited to know you can get your fix from 11am till 11pm every day. And best of all, you won’t have to wait for hours outside till you can get your gnashers round a perfect char siu bao.

Address: Shop G103, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, Canton Road., Tsim Sha Tsu
Tel: 2175 3100

Shop 119, 1/F, Nina Tower Shopping Mall, 8 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan, New Territories
Tel: 2400 9038

Words: Dai Man

These guys have notched up thirty years of brilliant ambient through to mad techno electronica. Their remixed cuts are some of the biggest of the last 15 to 20 years. They have many fans, some of whom are probably purists. Purists are people who always like things to be the same. The first time they heard the long mix it would always have to be like that every time. Well purist is just another name for wanker. Because one of the joys of following music is to see which bits get picked up and reinterpreted by new generations who have to make music relevant to their time and place. Underworld themselves have just released this mix called A Collection. 16 great tracks, all of which started life much longer, have been edited down to about three and a half minutes each. It’s kind of fast and furious. It contains loads of great songs. Underworld purists will probably hate this. I really like it. But never forget the originals, for longer days they are still ace!

Words: Dai Man

The ninth studio album from the great musical talent is a superb concept album about intolerance in modern Britain. There are 19 tracks on Last Days Of Meaning. Eleven are regular, albeit pretty, songs about hope, sung by an impressive cast of singers including Yolanda Quartey, Nicki Wells and NATTY. The music is luscious and carries hints, some stronger than others, of blues and Indian and folk, woven together with an electronic heart. This is if these songs were simply in the same running order. But they are actually punctuated throughout by the spoken reflections of British actor John Hurt, who plays the part of Donald Meaning, a bitter, old and lonely man, hiding from life in his apartment. A cassette recorder given him by his ex wife plays the eleven songs and throughout he gradually unwinds his angst. It’s conceptually compelling but, if as I suspect, many of us will end up listening to the actual tracks without Hurt’s ramblings, in this instance Last Days Of Meaning still works as a beautiful, contemporary record.

Words: Dai Man

One of the best albums of 2010 was easily The Black Key’s album Brothers. It was dirty, working man’s rock and blues and very cool. El Camino, the Nashville-based duo’s seventh album, is a different animal and happily for us new fans it’s also a real stomper. In fact, most reviews of this are about just how much of a stomper it is. Across 35 blistering minutes the Keys race through an energetic eleven tracks that reference so much of the proud history of old blues and bluegrass, and rock and roll and funnily enough it ends up being a great dance album. In anyone else’s hands these songs might come off as a bit of a parody for they sound so genuinely of the moment they’re referencing. But the point with this pair of musicians who hail from Ohio, America’s rust belt, is that this IS who they are. In the best traditions associated with American rock El Camino is a great road trip of an album, expertly produced by long time cohort Danger Mouse. Excellent.

Words: James Soo

or all its flaws, the Descendants is a nuanced portrayal of a family that is coming apart. George Clooney plays Matt King, the staid attorney and trustee of a large piece of land in Hawaii that is due to be sold for a great deal of money to developers. At the start of the film, his wife suffers a horrific accident while waterskiing and you next see her in hospital, in a coma, with a grieving Clooney by her side. Their two daughters are next introduced: the younger daughter is at an age where reality and fantasy merge easily, the older is in her late teens, and is already jaded and bitter. King thinks his job is to manage his two daughters and the sale of the land. But it all changes when he discovers that the origin of his elder daughter’s anger is that his comatose wife was in fact having an affair and was planning to leave him.

Director Alexander Payne does a good job of inculcating a Wes Andersen quirkiness, with King’s bizarre family and the cruel drama of grieving for someone who doesn’t love you. But the film suffers from a bit too much cool. King and his daughters don’t ever strike you as people whose wife and mother is dying – while King has to maintain an aura of decorum, the resulting lack of emotion is too stylized to allow the audience to sympathise.

That is not to say the film doesn’t have some fine performances: Clooney does well as the much put-upon King, and Shailene Woodley in particular shines as the fractious elder daughter. The screenplay is wry and witty and the entire film feels modishly low-key. But it is perhaps this desire to be modish that stops the film from really tackling its subject matter and making the leap from an exercise in style to something more emotionally affecting.