Hong Kong has been traditionally less entrepreneurial. The pillars of its economy has been finance, service, property and tourism. Science and technology graduates receive much less recognition than abroad, and few youths feel secure enough to risk starting their own business given the exorbitant cost of living.

Once a rocket is shot into the sky - 'tsupinazo,' in Basque dialect - the festival's mascot, Marijaia, makes her grand entrance onto the balcony of the theatre. Already swollen by tourists from around the nation and abroad, the city emanated extra vibrancy.

The parks were lined with palm trees, under which a street performer fashioned giant soap bubbles for the children. As I walked by, feign- ing indifference, a passerby on a nearby bench pointed at the bubbles and asked “¿Quieres probar?” – Would you like to try?

Due to the sensitive nature of his works, Chan uses a professional pseudonym, 'Bai Shui,’ or ‘White water.’ The title of his works, “Boiling Frog”, refers to a metaphorical experiment where a frog fails to notice the danger of hot water he’s sitting in because the temperature is gradually being raised.

Something about the shabby wooden desk and his stack of Feng Shui books attracted me to the old gentleman on the street. Perhaps it was the excruciating humidity and the heat of the night that propelled me to make an impulsive decision to sit down for a fortune reading session.

“Voice is universal,” she said. “We use voice to speak and to communicate every day. Accompanied music can be more rich or colourful, but choral music can touch people’s hearts more directly.”

Photokunst is an art form that maximises the digital possibilities of photography, such as overlay, colour edit and shape distortion. “Sometimes I see people walking up really close to the display or looking at it from the side, trying to figure out whether it is a painting or a photograph. That confusion is exactly the effect I want.”

"We could have had a green jumper or white jumper ... but the red is eye-catching," Van Arkel explains to us as he serves us samples of wines.

You might not remember what your cholesterol level was in 2009, but the National Security Agency might. And you won’t be able to sue your doctor for it.

It has been an unusually cold and long winter in Hong Kong, and our bodies could use a recharge. To balance out your yin and yang, go for these especially nourishing Chinese meals at The Chinese Restaurant of Hyatt Regency, Yat Tung Heen and Seventh Son.

In the early nineties, a young Jamie Oliver met Italian mentor Gennaro Contaldo while working in a London restaurant and from that sparked Jamie’s Italian. With over 44 restaurants all over the world, Oliver has finally decided to bring the passionate and casual Italian experience to Tung Lung Street in Causeway Bay.