Sue Ostler and her fiancée put on their Converse sneakers and backpacks and spend the rest on a spa-rty.

cc. Flickr.com / ppz

Hong Kong is a great city to have a spa-rty in. And it’s an amazing place in which to ignite all the senses – if you have loads of money – which frankly, I didn’t at the time. What I did have was a lovely fiancé in tow, financing a day of beauty treats – but after that, he’d said, shaking his finger in my face – it was back to rice noodles. Roger that!

I love the way we travelled. We bound around with backpacks (mine the deluxe ladies model, cleverly designed to let the bulk of the weight sit on your hips – and ladies, the bigger, the better); and while we zipped about in trains, buses and budget airlines, we resided at 4-star accommodation – the management of which sneeringly looked us up and down from our Converse clad feet.

We didn’t give a toss though: mixing it up, from chowing down at the best restaurants to scoping out the hawker stands made famous by the locals.

I was happy, I was content, I was loved up, but my god I felt fugly. I hadn’t washed my hair for three days knowing that the insane humidity would only make it greasy again. I wore it scraped back into a limp pony-tail with bare-faced chic. The result was that almost nobody paid any attention to me and they sure didn’t flirt with me – not even when I pulled out all the charm stops to get the best bargains, but hey, this was Hong Kong, and everyone was too intent on making money to muck around.

Despite this, the lack of attention was giving me a slight case of the backpacker blues – I really am that shallow – basically, I needed a beauty hit. Confucius say long time, no facial!

We had been travelling across Asia for a few weeks and I’d decided that I would achieve glowing health on the road if it damn well killed me.

For treatments that were good enough to eat, I was advised to head down to Times Square for the Honey Spa: sweet, sticky body wraps and masks which contained vitamins and antimicrobic properties to replenish moisture and repair skin. But it was the Wine Spa that sounded the most intriguing: it used antioxidants to reverse the signs of aging and rejuvenates skin by neutralizing free radicals caused by sun, stress and pollutants – not alcohol of course.

Or I could venture out to Kowloon for the Wasabi Spa: a Japanese mustard wrap which allowed the skin to absorb further treatments. But who could resist the most decadent experience of all? The Chocolate Spa – guaranteed to generate feelings of pleasure boosted by lashings of phenethylamine – the Lurve Chemical. Sure – if I could go past the 24-carat gold facial with its promise of magic and an exquisite glowing complexion in exchange for a several hundred Hong Kong dollars!

Being backpacked out and needing comfort food, I settled on the Chocolate Spa and came out beaming love and happiness and smelling like a choc-dipped strawberry. I suggested a ceremonial dinner of Peking Duck on the 66th floor Revolving Restaurant to soak up the mad symphony of lights which lit up the Kowloon Star Harbour below. As for what happened after that, well, what goes on the road, stays on the road. Needless to say I felt recharged and re-energised and radiant. Hong Kong will do that to a girl.

Photo Attribution:

Louise Hawson shows how to enjoy Hong Kong on next to nix.

If you’re cashed up, Hong Kong is a great place to visit. But should you find yourself in this shopper’s paradise with barely a brass razoo, here are some suggestions to ensure you still enjoy your stay:

Catch a tram from Central heading east all the way to Shau Kei Wan. Aside from it only costing HK$2, it’s a great way to get to know the locals – the tram ride takes more than an hour, plenty of time to strike up a conversation. And you end up far from the tourist traps in “real” Hong Kong.

Eat like the locals. Which doesn’t mean going the whole hog and eating great wads of the glazed red meat you see hanging around everywhere. Stick to noodles, fish balls and the standard rice dishes and you’ll save yourself a packet.

You don’t have to sleep or eat in the grand old hotels (Mandarin, Peninsula) to enjoy their genteel, luxurious atmosphere. Frock up, pack a good book and park yourself somewhere inconspicuous. If you can cough up the dough for a cup of tea, do so – nothing like a little fine china, elegant silverware and well-stuffed upholstery to make a girl feel special.

The flapper era never died in this Shanghai suburb, writes Clare Press.

Shanghai has a reputation as a city that is demolishing its links to the past as fast as it is spewing out products and pollution, but a short stay in the atmospheric French concession proves the opposite. Downtown, in the gorgeous grid of old streets lined with cool boutiques, bars and art deco buildings, Shanghai’s cool heritage is being celebrated. This is where the expat Euro party set lived it up in the 1930s, but anyone still calling that decade the city’s heyday clearly hasn’t flown in recently. The old playgrounds are fast being revamped and pulse with a new energy that makes Shanghai feel like a frontier town where anything can happen – and does.

Where to stay? Book into the Galleries Suites hotel that, since 2009, has occupied a cleverly renovated heritage listed art deco apartment block on the HengShan Road. It’s just a short walk to Taicang Road to browse hip homewares stores and fill up at Paul’s one of the best French patisseries outside Paris – warning: one raspberry tart is never enough. Walk it off shopping for clothes in the eclectic boutiques along Huai Hai Lu road.

Clare Press indulges her aristo fantasies in Hong Kong.

Dim Sum © Matej Pribelsky

I’m a sucker for art deco glamour – the hats, the frocks, the general elegance of all those lovely curved lines. I would have been a fabulous colonialist posh-girl: no qualms whatever about asking the cook to put dinner on; the nanny to deal with the children; the maid to brush my hair and pour me a nice strong G&T.  These days, of course, all that is hopelessly un-P.C.  … and you can forget about lording it over an army of minions. Luckily, there remain pockets of deco decadence in Hong Kong where you can pretend you’re Nancy Cunard – at least for as long as it takes for the tea to be poured. 

Luck Yu Tea House on Central’s Stanley Street is just as it has always been; the spick and span waiters in their smart white coats serving yum cha; the lazy turn of the ceiling fans; the lovely old wooden paneled booths and stained glass fittings. And what food! The Luck Yu pork buns may well be the best in the world. Don’t leave without trying the sticky rice, the Cantonese crispy noodles with braised beef and green peppers, the prawn dumplings and the egg tarts. Weep if you want to. This is the stuff of full-blown foodie emotional outbursts. Decadence itself. 

Luck Yu Tea House, 24-26 Stanley Street, Central District, Hong Kong,
Tel: +852/2523 5464 (no website)

Real fashion beats faux every time, according to Clare Press.

People are forever going on about buying fake goods in Hong Kong, but what happens if you don’t want a wannabe Rolex or a dodgy vinyl Louis Vuitton bag that says “Lois Viton” on the tags? Because I don’t actually; I want a lovely new season Alexander McQueen clutch. Or an Hervé Leger bandage dress like the ones all the celebs are sporting. Call me a snob! I don’t care! I like to save up for my fashion fix and buy the real thing.

When in Hong Kong, I jump in a cab to the Central branch of what is surely the region’s all-time best ever fabulous fashion emporium, Joyce. Actually, the formal name of these extravagant department stores (there are four in Hong Kong and Kowloon and a new one in Taiwan) is World of Joyce, because this is the fashion world according to buyer extraordinaire Joyce Ma.

At the time of writing, new consignments are arriving from McQueen and Leger as well as Givenchy, Lanvin, Oscar de la Renta, Dries Van Noten and Balenciaga, but the mix is always changing. There’s also a must-shop cosmetics hall and an O.T.T. costume jewelry gallery. Upstairs, the hot-off-the catwalks offerings are equally as sumptuous for men. For maximum joy, Joyce-style, ensure there is plenty of room on your credit card. Hey, big spenders … 

World of Joyce, 16 Queen’s Road Central District, Hong Kong,
www.joyce.com

We do not travel, of course, to experience the familiar. That said, there is something comforting about bunking down in a thoroughly modern pied a terre when visiting a city as crazily confusing, polluted and exasperating as Shanghai can be. The Philippe Starck designed JIA Shanghai hotel, housed in a converted downtown art deco building, is just that.

This modernist bolthole is a boutique haven with all the trimmings: the air conditioning always works, the sheets are super-soft cotton and the staff brings you champagne as you check your emails in the dimly lit lounge. Incidentally, said lounge carries W, German Vogue, the US edition of Harper’s Bazaar and Numero for the modern fashionista’s jet-setter magazine needs.

In the suites, the feeling that you could be anywhere intensifies. Manhattan (or a scene from the film Boogie Nights) comes to mind as you sink into the minutely mosaic-ed gold bathtub – there are no windows in the smallest room to tell you otherwise. In the bar fridge lurks champagne from France and chocolates from America – you have to open a cupboard to find evidence of your Asian location. Here, noodle bowls are stacked.

These generously sized rooms are decorated in that distinctly Starkian melange of modern dark wood veneer and witty, talking point furniture – two giant Perspex chess pieces guard the giant entertainment unit (with its draw filled with the latest DVD movies), while the lamps are shaped like space ships. By the telephones (they are all over the joint, along with multiple internet connections) little red notebooks printed with golden Mao graphics await your memos…ah, so this is China after all; you knew it!

But then you’re in the hotel’s swish Italian restaurant, Issimo, munching on wood-fired pizza, and you could be anywhere in the world.

Find JIA Shanghai at 931 West Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 31 200041 China. Telephone +86 21 6217 9000. Visit www.jiashanghai.com.

There seems to be a universal truth that wherever there is a ‘Soho’ you’ll find the cool part of any city. In Hong Kong, SoHo (meaning ‘South of Hollywood Road’) is full of antique shops, galleries, restaurants, cafes and bars. Located in Central, it is bounded by Staunton Street, Hollywood Road and my favourite – Elgin Street. For the most part Elgin is a trendy eat street of predominantly western restaurants. But its best asset is the ability to offer the chance to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail in a groovy bar before ambling across the road for a massage followed by dinner in a funky dining room afterwards. 

Drinking

Bizou Bistro & Wine Bar (#49 Elgin Street) offers an extensive selection of wines by the glass and vintage bottles with a modern menu specialising in rotisserie-cooked poultry, meat and fish dishes. Havana Bar & Grill (#35) offers a Cuban-Caribbean menu with great tapas dishes, cocktails and mocktails.  The ultra-hip BOCA Tapas and Wine Bar (at the lower end of Elgin on Peel Street) offers ‘Asian tapas’ and dim sum with wines from around the world, Spanish sangrias and glam cocktails suit the setting.

Dining*

Behind its big red doors Bistro Manchu dishes up tongue-in-cheek fine dining with authentic Northern Chinese/Manchurian-style cuisine. Rumour has it that the lamb shank and string beans are to die for, the wine list is good and you can also try traditional rice wine and Chinese tea. For lovers of Italian fare and traditional pizzas try the super-stylish Cecconi’s (#43), the trendy Vivo (#41) or Enoteca (#47) which boasts great tapas and salads with a good wine list. Olive (#32) specialises in Greek, Middle Eastern and North African cuisine with a good selection of vegetarian options. For Vietnamese and Thai-style dining drop into Soho Spice (#47B).

*Mains generally range from HK$100-$250.

Pampering

The Healthy Foot (upstairs, opposite Bistro Manchu) offers blissful reflexology (around $153 for 45mins), Shanghai’ pedicures (approximately $160), full body detoxification massage (around $368 for 60mins) and aromatherapy massage (approximately $298 for an hour).

Shopping

There’s not much by way of shopping on Elgin Street, but at Tree (22 Elgin Street, www.tree.com.hk) you’ll discover sleek, contemporary teak furniture and homewares to envy or send back home.

Getting There

Part of the fun of Elgin Street is getting there via Hong Kong’s crazy, but pragmatic pedestrian escalator system. Catch the MTR railway to Central, take the D2 exit and catch the escalator from Queen’s Road.