Dates for your dairy… General Public Holidays for 2024
Add Hong Kong’s public holidays to your e-calendar at 1823 Hong Kong Public Holidays iCal Calendar.
Note: As the second day of Lunar New Year in 2024 falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of Lunar New Year will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.
Italian Christmas Village
Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong
Date: 8-10 December, 2023
Venue: Central Market
Tickets: Free Free,
Dates for your dairy…
Labour Day and the Birthday of the Buddha in 2022 both fall on a Sunday, the day following them will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.
In addition, since the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in 2022 falls on a Sunday, the second day following that Festival will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.
As Christmas Day in 2022 falls on a Sunday, the second weekday after Christmas Day will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.
Add Hong Kong’s public holidays to your e-calendar at 1823 Hong Kong Public Holidays iCal Calendar.
It seems a hard place for businesses to survive but the new Lee Tung Avenue has consistently offered creative and instagramable decorations. The latest for Christmas is ‘Butterflies of Hope’ and bc’s Christie Liu and Munchie took a look…
Created by award-winning Hong Kong visual effects director Victor Wong. The display which stretches along the whole street features a 7-meter stained glass butterfly surrounded by 350 LED butterflies. The kaleidoscope of butterflies includes a range of lighting effects during the day and night. At around lunchtime, the butterflies will reflect and refract the sun’s natural light to paint the street. At night artificial intelligence synced to music will create another instagram moment.
And while you are there check out Pizza Express‘s turkey pizza.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2020/Butterflies-of-Hope/i-JjxvxZN
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2020/Butterflies-of-Hope/i-NzB5nBW
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2020/Butterflies-of-Hope/i-ZLpxSJQ/A
The temperature has finally fallen, the shops are packed high with everything Christmas related from decorations to gifts to food. New food production and flavouring techniques have allowed companies to be ever more creative with their seasonal offerings.
As usual Marks and Spencer’s has a massive range of Christmas themed food products and biscuits all nicely packaged to make nice gifts. There are new flavours of crisps: Gluten Free Pigs In Blankets; Glazed Gammon & Whisky; Gluten Free Winter Berries & Sparkling Prosecco Crisps and Port & Stilton which are novel and flavourful, but at $35/150g insanely expensive.
Where Marks & Spencer does shine is with the traditional English favourites, which we found hard to find anywhere else. There’s a range of proper Christmas puddings and a real fruit Christmas cake ($279) topped with marzipan and icing (sadly not royal icing). The fruit cake is heavy moist and delicious. While the cake is a little stingy on the marzipan, short of making your own it’s the best we found.
And last but by no means least Marks has several packages of premixed herbs and spices to create your own mulled wine. They also work very well with spirits to create some tasty homemade cocktails.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Marks-Spencer-Christmas-2018/i-mZ9pcr2
SantaCon
Date: 8 December, 2018
Venue: tbc
Tickets: Free
Looking for something different this festive season? Perhaps Pizza Express’ Christmas menu which includes two festive pizzas and a range of themed dishes might interest you.
The seasonal a la carte menu features a baked cheese melt starter ($65), a turkey Caesar salad ($128), Farfalle con Tacchino ($133, turkey pasta with a white cream sauce) and Pumpkin Cannelloni ($138) – this is ok, the pureed pumpkin, spinach and cheese filling is tasty but it perhaps could have been delicious if the pumpkin had been in chunks to give the filling some texture and substance.
There are two festive pizza: Tacchinao Rosmarino ($153) – a thin crust pizza topped with turkey, cranberry and sweet peppadew sauce, pancetta, mozzarella, tomato sauce, a sprinkle of rosemary and pine nuts. The Cicciolo e Fontina ($153) features pork, pork shin, fontina, mozzarella, Parmesan with caramelized onions, garlic oil, béchamel sauce and thyme served on a thin crust pizza.
Strange sounding combinations they may seem, but they’re both not bad. The turkey one, perhaps a little sweet to eat a full pizza yourself. But Pizza Express allows mixing and matching so we sampled a half/half combination which was delicious.
Dessert options are Apple Tortino ($88, a baked apple, cinnamon and puff pasty combination topped with vanilla gelato) and a Snowy Date Pudding ($88) which is rather nice. The warm pudding in a sauce of honey yoghurt and raspberry coulis topped with vanilla gelato.
The festive menu is available at all Pizza Express outlets until 1 January, 2018
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Christmas-Menu-Tasting-Pizza-Express-Wanchai-9-December-2017/i-cx5Ntpc
SantaCon
Date: 2 December, 2017
Venue: tbc
Tickets: Free
