Vertical gardens for a vertical city

Embrace nature at Hotel ICON! 🌱

🌿 Did you know that @‌hoteliconhk boasts Asia’s largest indoor vertical garden? With over 8,603 plants of 71 species, hotel’s vertical green wall, designed by Botanist Patrick Blanc, greets guests in a stunning display of biodiversity. 🌺🌱

“A Hotel Unlike Any Other” – At Hotel ICON, the team redefines hospitality with innovative initiatives like the vertical garden, showcasing a commitment to sustainability and guest experience. 🌍💚

“We Love to Care” – Hotel ICON goes the extra mile for the environment by converting food waste into water. Being the first in Asia to implement ORCA technology, 135,000 liters of water are recycled annually, leading eco-friendly practices in Asia and reducing landfill waste and CO2 emissions. 🌏💧 Hotel ICON has been awarded the CarbonCare® Label by Carbon Care Asia, recognising achievements in carbon footprint reduction.

Sharing this story as a @‌hknevernormal, an initiative dedicated to celebrating the extraordinary nature of our city. Follow @‌hoteliconhk and @‌hknevernormal for similar stories.

Events Beyond Ordinary: Hong Kong’s Vibrant Events Scene

According to Razlan Manjaji from SCMP Live, “Hong Kong is an events capital.” With a wide array of events taking place, people are increasingly seeking experiences that genuinely captivate them – the demand motivates event organisers to continually elevate their standards. 

For Razlan and SCMP Live, this means incorporating unique and thoughtful elements into every event. These elements include high sustainability standards, inclusive panels, quiet spaces for neurodiverse attendees, and accommodations for nursing mothers, among other features. 

Razlan has executed more than 30 events this year alone, proving that Hong Kong remains a vibrant cultural hub where diverse individuals gather, connect, and share ideas. 

The spirit of Halloween

🎃 Halloween in Hong Kong is far from just trick-or-treat. It’s an iconic week-long event that brings together locals and visitors alike. It has grown into one of the biggest Halloween festivities in the world, with around 60,000 people coming together to enjoy the spookiest night of the year on October 31st.

At the heart of this transformation is Allan Zeman, the chairman of the Lan Kwai Fong Group, who introduced Halloween in LKF about 25 years ago. What began as a small gathering has evolved into a talk-of-the-town celebration that blends Eastern and Western traditions, featuring everything from costume parties to family-friendly activities. He recalls, “The first year it was all the gweilos who dressed up. Then slowly, I started to see more locals getting involved. Today, it has become almost a national holiday in Hong Kong.” 

We’re sharing this story as a proud partner of @hknevernormal, an initiative dedicated to celebrating the extraordinary nature of our city. Follow @hknevernormal for more inspiring stories.

Black Kite: The Pub at the Heart of News

High above the bustling city, precisely 18 floors up, lies the heart of the South China Morning Post. 

With over 265 journalists from 24 countries, the SCMP has reported on Hong Kong, Greater China, and Asia for more than 120 years, ensuring that it informs and provides perspective and insights to readers in our city, across the region, and around the world. 

Founded in Hong Kong in 1903, the SCMP has transformed into a state-of-the-art newsroom and an award-winning global news media company. Despite its advancements, some traditions persist, even from 18 floors up in Times Square. 

One of these cherished traditions is the English-style pub located in the middle of the newsroom. It features a special brew called “Post Hop,” which pays homage to the long-standing tradition of journalists gathering in bars to exchange their latest scoops and stories.

So, the next time you read an SCMP article, remember that it may have been given the finishing touches over some lively conversation at Black Kite!

SCMP

「大火」

喺茶餐廳,聽到人講「大火」唔駛怕,唔係火燭,只係講煮嘢嘅程度:煮燶啲、色水重啲、香味濃啲,總之就係要有啲「火氣」同「鑊氣」!

A COLOURFUL NOSTALGIA: Introducing Kitty Wong

Kitty Wong is an award winning illustrator based in Hong Kong. Having spent her formative years in Canada, Kitty has been capturing the memories she has of her childhood city Hong Kong for over a decade. She is best known for her fashion sketches, which celebrate the bold, vibrant and colourful world of haute couture.

Her recent works resonate as a love letter to her childhood city, caricaturising its famed landmarks, cuisine and heritage with a dash of whimsy, sass, and vibrancy. Through whimsical portrayals of Hong Kong’s iconic Hong Kong Cha Chaan Teng dishes, street food, bustling traffic, and even fun Cantonese expressions, she has captured the hearts of many locals and Asian diasporas.

Time travel back to the Hong Kong of your childhood memories with Kitty.

Young Soy is sharing this story as a proud partner of @hknevernormal, an initiative dedicated to celebrating the extraordinary nature of our city. Follow @hknevernormal for more inspiring stories.

Young Soy