Ho Ho Hong Kong

You don't have to walk far in the city to find street sleepers. Or walk past a McDonald's late at night to see the city's McRefugees. Jeff Rotmeyer founded Impact HK which has grown into a force of nature changing the fate of Hong Kong's abandoned residents.

Happy new year everybody! Cantonese comedian Tim Chan joins us to ring in the bull year and the three of us talk about how we each celebrate the holiday differently.

It's been a tough year for schools, with prolonged lockdowns, homeschooling and the threat of 'sanitised' curricula. We sat down with a teacher on the inside to find out what's up.

Professor Cowling is the Division Head of Epidemiology at HKU and a co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infections Disease Epidemiology and Control. The man knows his stuff. He was brought to HK by the gov in the wake of SARS to enhance the city's infectious disease research, and has become a key resource for the city in the current pandemic. We asked him everything we could think of a...

Tricia was has worn a lot of fitness hats in the city. She was HK's first female professional MMA fighter, CNN referred to her as a fitness guru who helped women break boundaries and she founded the boutique gym Limitless. She's also a core member of the Save HK Fitness movement, trying to rescue the beleaguered industry survive covid.

The Hong Kong police have made mass arrests of politicians, lawyers, media and a whole bunch of people earlier this month. The author of City On Fire Antony Dapiran rejoins the pod to fill us in on all the bits and pieces we didn't understand.

Bobsy Gaia grew up in war-torn Beirut and was enlisted as a child soldier in the civil war. An insane journey led him to open the plant-based restaurant chain MANA! which has pioneered the plant-based fast-casual market in Hong Kong since 2012.

2020 was tough for a range of reasons and Vivek had to take a step back from the pod when his health took a serious turn for the worse. Here's what happened and where he's at now.

What happens in HK on Christmas and western New Year? Why are there so many Christians in the city? What makes the holidays so friggin amazing here? Comedian Garron Chiu answered it all.

Sara Tang's a sexologist and host of the Better in Bed podcast. She's shared sexy lifestyle advice on the major radio station RTHK3, appeared in the global documentary 'Sex and the City', has a raunchy blog and provides coaching for getting your sex back on. Check out Sara's podcast: https://www.sarasense.com/podcast

Author Nury Vittachi has released a new book criticising the 2019 protests, and posing questions about the motives of the protestors. We had a chat about his new release and his broader views about China.

Clockenflap is HK's legendary musical festival that consistently 'punches well above its weight' landing huge acts, and brings in over 75,000 punters in a normal year. Having lost a year to protests and now another to covid, Justin talked about the resilience and commitment to live music from the brains behind the fest. The team also founded and run Ticketflap, and are a force of nature behind the...

Ballroom dancing is super popular with the wives of Hong Kong's tycoons. After the Starlight dance club became the biggest covid super-spreader site in the city to date, viral videos revealed the young toy-boy dance instructors offering more than just salsa instructions.

Shonee's dad came to Hong Kong in the 70s with $50 in his pocket, and built a bookstore empire that gained a monopoly on the city's reading. She talked about his journey, and her own, after taking over the chain with her sister Arti and the SARS epidemic as the backdrop. Check out their new website: https://bookazine.com.hk/

The Wanch aka Hong Kong's #1 Live Music Venue has shut its doors. The live house opened in 1987 and for over thirty years has been an institution in the city's music scene. Owner Keith Goodman is on this week talking about what made it great, their success with the H2 Music Festival, and his hopes for the future of the Wanch. Rock at RIO Live Music Festival details here: https://bit.ly/36FBEUq

Antony Dapiran is a Hong Kong-based writer and lawyer, and wrote two HK books City on Fire and City of Protest . He's appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Quartz, the whole shebang. We talked about the protests, the national security law, the current state of affairs what lays in store for the city. Here's Antony's site: https://www.antonydapiran.com/

We are in the era of virtual reality making leaps and bounds in technology, and HK's own Sandbox VR is leading the charge. With the backing of Alibaba and they have a plan to open a holodeck in every neighbourhood on the planet. Creative director Michael Hampden gave us the inside of scoop on how it all works, what makes games great and why people keep puking. Check out Sandbox here: https://sandb...

Are all comedians depressed? It is possible to be funny without being broken? We take a deep dive into the spirituality of the clowns on stage.

Maitreyi's a standup comedian, actress and an absolute force of nature helping feed the homeless in Hong Kong. She talked about her life from India to China, working in film and helping people out.

Rebecca is the genius behind Schragels, the only place in Hong Kong to get the real-deal NYC-level bagels. The former banker was discovered by a chef after making bagels for a buddy, and is taking the city by storm. Get your bagels right here: https://schragels.com/

A drive by shooting outside Mohammed's apartment took out the windows of a restaurant last week. He also saw machete wielding gangsters running from police in a nearby park, and a little further away a Triad was shot in his car sitting in traffic. The presence of organized crime in the streets is real and can be seen on a weekly basis, we talked about how some of it works.

Fabio's the head chef of Soho Italian fancy restaurant 121BC. He told us about life in the kitchen, how the food & beverage industry is surviving the protests and covid, what is the worst thing to order in a restaurant. Fabio's restaurant 121BC: https://121bc.hk/  

Bars have reopened, restaurants are open late, groups of four can mingle, even yoga studios are open! YOGA STUDIOS PEOPLE!   Has normal returned?  

Katie's a DJ, a pro dancer and part of the city's whacky and wonderful dance scene that is full of insane stories of events here and across the border in mainland China, including working with Christina Aguilera and Kylie Minogue.

Andy and Mohammed were let go from the comedy club last week. They walk through their long history of destroying comedy clubs and scenes and what's in store for them next. Chaotic HK IG:  https://www.instagram.com/chaoshongkong/