Take-5: Gifting Hong Kong
Looking for uniquely “hong Kong” gifts for the next few months? We have thoughts.
No shade to the likes of GOD, Hong Kong’s OG “local” gift idea (seriously, where else do you get cool housing estate imagery on an umbrella?) or Shanghai Tang if you have rich friends you can’t embarrass yourself around, but this is a retail city so there’s more out there to explore. Two of the year’s biggest holidays – Jesus Born Day (©Michael K) and Lunar New Year – are relatively close together in 2024/25, so that means eating, drinking and gifting items of various sizes and with diverse shelf-lives is going to be concentrated in a robust, starchy, buttery, boxy 60 days (that sounds like forever, but we’re including pre-order times). Amazon doesn’t need your help. Tao Bao doesn’t need your help. But the dudes down the street could probably use some love, so when you need a cake, some liquid courage for family meals or dad’s annual socks, check these out. Shop early, shop often.
N.I.P GIN
| What it is: Gin
Think about it. Not Important People are the ones that could use a gin & tonic at the end of the day most. And why should gin be so elite? Founded at “the best time ever” by buddies Jeremy Li and Nic Law, N.I.P (uh huh, that’s right) threw its hat into Hong Kong’s budding boutique gin ring in 2019 with a Rare Dry, Catnip and rotating limited editions (like the 800M LNY gin), zeroing in on non-traditional botanicals like osmanthus, rare Chinese teas and local citrus. “As long as you’re willing to take a leap of faith you can do something extraordinary,” says Li from the Quarry Bay still. Bonus: super cool labels on special bottles by Hong Kong artists. Look for N.I.P in the spots you’d normally find craft liquors: Hong Kong Liquor Store, Marketplace, city’super and the like, or shop online.
Baking Maniac
| What it is: Baked goods
Ankrish Gidwani has been pottering around the kitchen since he was a kid, and now Baking Maniac – the mother-son team along with Renuka – has become Hong Kong’s go-to baker for edible art. Baking Maniac’s Christmas range this year includes peppermint pretzels, hot cocoa bombs (don’t put these in the bath), s’mores bites, mulled wine chocolate cake and cookie decorating kits for some DIY action. Pick up a few treats for $40-$50 (we like the reindeer cake pops) or splash out on a $3,000 designer cake built for Christmas. Shop online (there’s more than just Xmas sweets) or at city’super’s pop-up in Harbour City (to January 2). The Maniac offers vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free options, and the Gidwanis also make dog treats – and don’t you even try for a minute to deny the damn dog gets a present. And yes, the dog. Cats DGAF. Stay tuned for CNY.
Mood Lab
| What it is: Socks and stuff
Technically this is Mood Lab by Lorraine, which now does much more than just socks, but that’s how we came across them one Sunday afternoon at a TST pop-up. Yet another COVID project, this one by founder and designer Lorraine Tam, Mood Lab is all about genderless, seasonless and experimental colours, patterns and fabrics. Mood Lab’s socks tell local stories – the infrared temperature scanner pattern is either clever or triggering depending on your POV – and Tam & Co. have spread them out to go onto hats, shirts, bags and housewares (!). New stuff is added regularly and none of it will break the bank.
A Spark of Madness
| What it is: Spreads and condiments
’Tis the season for cooking, and so ’tis also the season we run the risk of going to a friend or relative’s place and having to choke down some bland-ass food. It is the thought that counts but A Spark of Madness can still come to the rescue with cookbook author/chef Simran Savlani’s spin-off sauces, condiments and jams – which as a bonus come in handy, understated gift sets. Made in Hong Kong and inspired by Cordon Bleu grad Savlani’s regional nomadism, Spark stand-outs are its carmelised spring onion sauce, boozy jams, a pan-Asian flavoured honey and the brand new Crack mayonnaise. Look at it! It’s seasoned with soy, sesame and Sichuan peppercorns as a start and puts Hellmann’s to shame. Find Spark at spots like Feather & Bone, city’super and Spice Box, or online. No reason to eat dull now.
Liebling Pet Bed
| What it is: Pet supplies
Okay, we know. Bananas. But hear us out. Why settle for some dog treats when you can get Snowball or Rover a luxury bed that wouldn’t be out of place in the Four Seaons Hotel? Few are as indulgent and whipped as pet owners, and so B2 Design founder Britta Butler is answering the call with Hong Kong’s first custom made pet bed, one guaranteed to fit your home aesthetics. Sized to hold… sorry accommodate pets up to 45kg, the most tricked out Liebling would be the one in leather with a brushed gold base. Order it now and you’ll have an even more insufferable cat by CNY, but treating your fur baby will run a month’s rent; the Liebling is priced from $14,000 to $23,000. Hope and pray your animal actually uses the damn bed and doesn’t just nestle into the box it came it.