Cosy up before your head out this weekend! Temperatures are forecasted to dip this Sunday, just in time for an especially chilly CNY break next week.
If your family subscribes to a “年廿八，洗邋遢” tradition, this pre-CNY weekend might be full of dusting and cleaning and throwing away things you’ve unknowingly hoarded in the past twelve months. In that case, put on Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness on Netflix and get to work. Focus! But for the rest of us who aren’t nearly as industrious, take a load off this weekend. Do some things; eat some food! It’s about to be a brand-new year, yet again! Pick up some fresh flowers at STORiES and Central Market, throw a big, big wish onto a wishing tree and, perhaps, circle back on those New Year resolutions?
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Weekend:
Get bloomin’ at STORiES’ ‘Floral Sea’ pop-up
There are several non-negotiables when it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year here in Hong Kong. You might be one of those people that hike, one of those people that throw wishes on the Lam Tsuen wishing trees. But the 年宵花市 (Lunar New Year Fair) you must squeeze through in Victoria Park, where stalls sell trinkets and toys and spinning fans and, finally, at the very end, pots upon pots of Narcissus blooms and peach blossom branches? It’s a sorely missed communal experience, cancelled yet again for another year.
Through 31 January, STORiES’ LCX brick-and-mortar is transforming into ‘Floral Sea’, their own version of the CNY fair. On sale are garden-variety New Year arrangements, as well as blooms and bouquets curated from six local Hong Kong florists including AILÉ FLEUR, dailyfloret, Hana Florist, INTER NOS FLOWER STUDIO, PIERRE LOVES FLOWER and Sealin’.
STORiES, Shop 38-39, LCX, Level 3, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
TOUCH WOOD (and more) at dtby_BOON
Everything, of course, in moderation, but Chinese New Year is a time for scavenging for new things, be it brand new underwear or brand new blessings. If you’re keen for a touch of newness, dtby_ — a Hong Kong-founded creative collective — is hosting ‘TOUCH WOOD’, a pop-up-cum-exhibition with lucky CNY items like incense, jewellery, interior decor and more for touching and for buying. There will also be a space dedicated to objects made from wood — just in case the event’s name wasn’t literal enough. Get in!
dtby_BOON, G36 & 122A, G/F, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a gigantic strawberry at HOUSE OF MUSEA!
Brooklyn-based Korean artist Stickymonger built her Strawberry Stalker exhibition on a very crucial question: Are strawberries cute? We’re going to go with a resounding, delicious yes. Spanning over two metres in height, Stickymonger’s strawberry — the first time the artist’s two-dimensional work has been rendered in 3D! — lies in repose in the Gold Ball and the Opera Theatre. And if you want a souvenir beyond an adorable IG snap, Stickymonger has created collectable Strawberry Crystal Ball blind boxes for purchase at K11’s e-shop in celebration of this larger than life exhibition.
2/F, Gold Ball & G/F, Opera Theatre, K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Make a wish at Central Market’s ‘Fortune Playground’
Legend has it: if you make a wish, write it down, anchor it to an orange, throw it (with all your might) towards the highest branches of specific trees in Lam Tsuen, your wish will come true. But only if the wish sticks; lodges itself into the branches and never touches the ground. Celebrating its very first Chinese New Year, Central Market brings a 5.5-metres tall Taiping Wishing Tree into the heart of Central, as well as a flower market and Yiu Fung Mart — the traditional preserved fruit brand’s first-ever pop-up — in collaboration with Hong Kong-bred brands like Raw Emotions and Oh CBD Beer. Other seasonal offers are available on-site, including a Winelog x Ming River drinks menu.
Central Market, 93 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, +852 3618 8668
Header and featured images courtesy of Central Market
Joey Wong
Editor
Retired Tumblr girl Joey has written her way through fashion trends, youth culture and luxury retail in New York and Hong Kong. Beyond internet adventures tracking down the perfect vintage find, you can probably catch her tufting rugs, swigging back Bloody Marys — her third, probably — and making fastidious spreadsheets about her Animal Crossing island.
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