LeaveHomeSafe App Required for Restaurants and Bars

From 9 December usage of the ‘LeaveHomeSafe‘ mobile app will be strictly enforced for entering all restaurants.

The Government has announced the updated arrangements for using the “LeaveHomeSafe” (LHS) mobile application that will take effect on 9 December 2021.

Scanning of the venue QR code will be required for entry to all premises regulated under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F). The modes of operation of catering business will also be adjusted accordingly…

Cap 599F covers all catering business premises that offer dine-in services, bars or pubs, bathhouses, party rooms, clubs or nightclubs, karaoke establishments, mahjong-tin kau premises, cruise ships, amusement game centres, fitness centres, places of amusement, places of public entertainment, beauty parlours and massage establishments, clubhouses, sports premises, swimming pools, hotel and guesthouses, and event premises.

If you are not sure there is more information www.coronavirus.gov.hk

Consumption Vouchers Registration Closes 14 August

Registration for the Consumption Voucher Scheme will close this Saturday, 14 August.

Each eligible person can only register once and duplicate registrations will not be processed.

Octopus Card users will first receive HK$2,000, another HK$2,000 two months later, and then HK$1,000 several weeks after that.

People who receive the vouchers via their AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK digital wallets will first get HK$2,000 and then HK$3,000 two months later.

People who completed their registration on or after 18 July, and those who submitted paper registration forms, will receive the first $2,000 tranche of consumption vouchers on 1 September.

If you have not applied, registration closes on 14 August www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk

Consumption Vouchers Redeemable From Today

The first $2,000 tranche of consumption vouchers were distributed today to the roughly 5.5 million people who had completed the electronic registration by 17 July. Notifications of disbursement were sent by SMS or mobile app push.

For people who used AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK, the $2,000 vouchers have been directly injected into your account, separate from your existing e-wallet. When making a payment, just choose whether to use the vouchers or other payment.

People using Octopus cards can collect the $2,000 voucher by tapping the card at the Subsidy Collection Points of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme at MTR stations; Light Rail Customer Service Centres; piers; public transport interchanges; convenience stores; supermarkets; Octopus Service Points; or via Octopus app within three months from today.

  • Vouchers can be used at retail shops, market stalls, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, fast food shops, coffee shops, recreational facilities, beauty salons and public transport, etc. However, vouchers could not be used for the following items:
  • payments to the Government (e.g. tax, fines, licence fees, tunnel fees, parking meters)
  • payments to public utilities (i.e. water, electricity and gas)
  • payments to public organisations (e.g. Hospital Authority, Hong Kong Housing Authority, Hong Kong Housing Society)
  • education expenses (i.e. payments to primary and secondary schools providing local and non-local curriculum, and UGC-funded universities)
  • purchase of financial products or services (e.g. insurance)
  • donation (including charitable, religious and political organisations)
  • direct purchases from merchants located outside Hong Kong (including online purchases through non-local online platforms made locally)
  • person to person payments
  • encashment

Octopus Card users will first receive HK$2,000, another HK$2,000 two months later, and then HK$1,000 several weeks after that.

People who receive the vouchers via their AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK digital wallets will first get HK$2,000 and then HK$3,000 two months later.

People who completed their registration on or after 18 July, and those who submitted paper registration forms, will receive the first $2,000 tranche of consumption vouchers on 1 September.

If you have not applied, registration closes on 14 August www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk

$5,000 Covid Vouchers – Registration Open

Registration for the first tranche of $5,000 Covid ‘vouchers’ is now open until 17 July. Sign up online or via the government’s iAM Smart app. Paper registration is also available, but you’ll have to wait until 1 September for your first payment.

Only adult permanent SAR residents and ‘new arrivals’ will be eligible and applicants will have to make a declaration that they are currently living in Hong Kong.

Octopus Card users will first receive HK$2,000, another HK$2,000 two months later, and then HK$1,000 several weeks after that. The vouchers can be collected by using Octopus card readers at MTR stations or in shops, or via the card’s app.

People who receive the vouchers via their AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK digital wallets will first get HK$2,000 and then HK$3,000 two months later.

www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk

$5,000 Covid Vouchers

The government has announced that the first tranche of $5,000 Covid vouchers will be distributed from 1 August, 2021.

Registration for the ‘vouchers ‘will open on 4 July with people able to sign up online or via the government’s iAM Smart app. Paper registration is available, but you’ll have to wait until 1 September for your first payment.

Only adult permanent SAR residents and ‘new arrivals’ will be eligible and applicants will have to make a declaration that they are currently living in Hong Kong.

Octopus Card users will first receive HK$2,000, another HK$2,000 two months later, and then HK$1,000 several weeks after that. The vouchers can be collected by using Octopus card readers at MTR stations or in shops, or via the card’s app.

People who receive the vouchers via their AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK digital wallets will first get HK$2,000 and then HK$3,000 two months later.

www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk

India by the Bay: A Digital Series

The Sixth India by the Bay, postponed from February, has become a slimmed-down online festival entitled India by the Bay: A Digital Series running from 15-18 October, 2020

The virtual festival features four free events and offers HongKongers an insight into Indian culture and history through film, food, yoga and conversation. The events are:

Yoga as a Way of Life | 15 October, 7pm
Yoga philosopher Daniel Simpson will present a specially designed session on the benefits of Yoga in these difficult times

Zaika: Food, Creativity and Lockdown | 16 October, 7pm
Romy Gill and Rahul Gomes Pereira in conversation with Vir Sanghvi

East West – A Legacy | 17 October, 7pm
Shubhendra Rao, disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar celebrates the centenary of his Guru’s birth.

Churchill: Hero or Anti Hero | 18 October, 7pm
Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee on the life and legacy of Winston Churchill, one of history’s most complex figures.

India by the Bay 2020
Date: 15-18 October, 2020
Venue: Asia Society Hong Kong Center
Tickets: free

Belgium Beer House Frites Opens in Kwun Tong

Frites recently opened a fifth location at Quayside, Kwun Tong. The interior retains the 1920’s Belgian Beer Halls look found in the chain’s other restaurants.

The European-influenced menu includes  Frites, Mussel Pots and Roasted Pork Knuckle.

At all five restaurants Frites are offering Christmas and New Year’s Eve three-course menus – see their website for full details.

FRITES Kwun Tong: Shop 3, 1/F, The Quayside, 77 Hoi Bun Road, Kwun Tong.
Tel: 2781 0262
Opening Hours: Monday – Sunday, 12pm – late
Happy Hour: Monday – Friday from 3-8pm

Great American Texas BBQ @ Kowloon Cricket Club – 5 December, 2019

The annual Great American Texas BBQ is a feast of beef, where Hong Kong’s US beef importers showcase their favourite cuts cooked in a truly mouthwatering range of styles.

For over twenty years the BBQ has been hosted and sponsored by the Texas Beef Council, USMEF and USDA with Taiwanese band Whisky River returning to soundtrack the evening. Among those attending were the new US Consul General Hanscom Smith and USMEF CEO Dan Halstrom.

World Champion BBQ-master Timothy Broderick of Pit Ventures was back showcasing his smoked brisket and short ribs.

The mutual shared appreciation and enjoyment of good food stimulates conversation and the creation of new friendships and business opportunities.

While good food engenders conversation, strangely great food often silences it. The flavours and textures creating a sensory overload in the brain such that all you can do is luxuriate in the moment, before joyfully taking another bite…

Click on any photo or here for the full gallery of images

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Great-American-Texas-BBQ-KCC-5-December-2019/n-mktJXP/i-VkHRFZR

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https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Great-American-Texas-BBQ-KCC-5-December-2019/n-mktJXP/i-653rKcJ

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Great-American-Texas-BBQ-KCC-5-December-2019/n-mktJXP/i-WHsS68j