If you’re looking to explore ‘over the border’, three new properties have opened in southern China  Avani has opened properties in China for the first time Guangdong Province, just over the border from Hong Kong, is China’s most populous province.  A diverse area, it was once the starting point of the maritime silk road of ancient China and these days boasts the largest provincial-level economy in modern China. One of its major cities, Shenzhen, faces Hong Kong in the south, while mountain ranges, rivers and bamboo forests abound outside of its vibrant urban areas. What’s more, G ..read more

From cocktails to Kansai cooking, there's a lot happening on Hong Kong's dining scene this month. These are the best new Hong Kong restaurants in May Jimmy’s Kitchen Old classics are back on the menu at Jimmy's Kitchen Grabbing most of the dining headlines this month is one of Hong Kong’s most storied restaurants, Jimmy’s Kitchen.  Jimmy’s shut up shop in 2020 after 92 years of serving ‘colonial classics’ to Hong Kong’s great and good. It’s now back in a new space and with a new-look menu. The old classics - chicken kiev, curry madras, baked alaska - continue to make an appearance, a ..read more

A new Japanese dining spot is always a treat and Sukiyaki Nakagawa is no exception, writes Carolynne Dear Sukiyaki Nakagawa, a Kansai-style sukiyaki dining spot has soft-opened in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, showcasing premium wagyu beef from Matsusaka, Oita and Jinnai. The restaurant is helmed by Chef Kazuyuki Itagaki, recently arrived in Hong Kong from Japan’s Akita Prefecture. Sukiyaki Nakagawa is located in the Cubus building on Causeway Bay’s Hoi Ping Road, a destination that is becoming something of a dining hotspot for Hong Kongers. I paid a visit with The Bloke on a wet weekday even ..read more

Major upgrades are planned for Bangkok airports (photo courtesy Unsplash) Hot on the heels of Dubai’s announcement this week that it is set to build the largest airport in the world, Airports of Thailand (AOT) has revealed plans for a US$4.8bn airport expansion in Thailand. As Thailand looks to cement its position as a regional aviation hub, AOT says it plans to more than double the capacity of Bangkok’s airports by the end of the decade. The Thai capital’s main airport, Suvarnabhumi, will receive two new runways, a new terminal and an expansion of the existing passenger terminal. Capacit ..read more

Experience The Farm at San Benito without leaving Hong Kong Enjoy a wellness stay without leaving Hong Kong this month as The Farm at San Benito ‘pops up’ at the Upper House. The Farm at San Benito is an award-winning, eco-luxury medical wellness resort in the Philippines. It specialises in natural and medically supervised health programmes, addressing conditions such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, chronic pain, hormonal imbalance, anxiety, stress and depression. Custom programmes are planned by medical and alternative-medicine doctors and supported by nurses, spa therapists, nutritio ..read more

The new terminal will be located in Jebel Ali Dubai is set to move its international airport 35km southwest to the Al Maktoum airfield as part of a US$35bn project, according to its ruler. United Arab Emirates’ prime minister and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, approved the project on Sunday, which will transform Dubai’s international airport into the largest in the world.  Al Maktoum international airport at Dubai World Central, a planned logistics, residential and commercial hub in Jebel Ali, opened in 2010 as a cargo handler and in 2011 was certified to rece ..read more

Hong Kong Airlines now flies direct to Vientiane Hong Kong Airlines this week launched a direct service with Vientiane in Laos. The service will operate on weekends using Airbus A320 aircraft. Laos is located in the heart of Southeast Asia and borders China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.  To celebrate the launch, a small ceremony was held at Hong Kong airport attended by Gary Zhan, president of Hong Kong Airlines, Saenchonghack Ammala, consul general of Laos in Hong Kong and air services personnel. “Over the years, we have been operating scheduled flights to destinations ..read more

Siblings Jason Tabalujan and Jasmine Chong spent the pandemic building a luxury yacht. Now it sails some of Indonesia’s most stunning - and remote - islands Exploring remote Indonesian waters on board Celestia As his family locked down in various parts of the world, Jason Tabalujan dreamed of the time when everyone would be able to get together again. And so he came up with the idea of building a yacht, which would represent a place and a reason to finally meet up.  Pandemic over, Celestia, which means heavenly, is now available for private charter, ploughing the seas of Indonesia’s C ..read more

Sunbeds lined up in Phuket; Thailand hopes to boost annual arrivals to 80 million In a bid to boost tourism, Thailand has announced plans for a single visa programme that would include six Southeast Asian countries. In essence, the proposal would imitate the Shenghen visa arrangement currently in place in Europe, with tourist entry streamlined by introducing a single visa for multiple countries. The proposal would include Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar. Collectively, the six ASEAN countries hosted around 70 million visitors last year, with Thailand and Malaysia ac ..read more

Bourgogne boasts more appellations than any other region in France The Burgundy Wine Board was in town this month, showcasing the diversity of its UNESCO World Heritage, terroir-based viticulture and uncorking the 2022 harvest. The wine roadshow hit Hong Kong following its debut in London and then travelled on to Japan. Bourgogne: The Winemakers’ Cut tour took in just two Asian cities, bearing in mind that last year vine-loving Hong Kong was Burgundy’s fourth largest market by value at 1.27 million exported bottles. Burgundy wine accounted for 14% of all French wines exported to Hong Kong ..read more