A HONG KONG KIND OF APRIL

Happy Hong Kong Sevens month! Plus: bars, restaurants and hikes

香港4月

香港國際七人欖球賽再度來臨！還有特色酒吧、餐廳與遠足好去處

HERE’S THE SHORT version of this column: Sevens, Sevens, booze, Sevens, food, Sevens, food, booze, Sevens, films.

Here’s the long version. The Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, the world’s most raucous rugby tournament (see page 28 for the others) lands at Hong Kong Stadium over the weekend of 6-8 April. The rugby fun actually started at the end of March: in the streets around Causeway Bay’s

Lee Gardens area, there’s the Esports Arena (3-8 April) and a Wolfpack Ninja Championship (6-8 April), as well as a live broadcast of the tournament and all sorts of exciting street performances. The StreetMAZE – giant artworks dotted around Lee Gardens – and the Cathay Pacific scrum challenge are also still running until 8 April.

If you prefer your drink not in a plastic cup and as far away from the stadium as possible, here’s where to go: Mad Men Happy Hour at Central’s

Foxglove (1) (try Don’s Old Fashioned and Joan’s vanilla martini); the new Tsim Sha Tsui outpost of La Vache (2) (new location, same steak frites deal); or Wan Chai’s Back Bar (3) for new cocktails inspired by Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs (local cafes). Dear Lilly (4) in Central’s IFC is design maestro Ashley Sutton’s newest outpost, blending a dreamy Parisian atmosphere with cocktails and views of Victoria Harbour.

But if you need to channel your inner warrior, head to

Zuma (5) where Arkadiusz Rybak has created a cocktail menu based on Japanese samurai: try the Honda negroni (includes mancino rosso, shiso and, er, clay).

Or catch the last few days of the Hong Kong Film Festival

– guests this year include German director Werner Herzog and filmmaker Bridget Lin; or gorge on the winners of the

37th Hong Kong Film Awards, announced on 15 April. (And turn to page 78 to read about the Best Picture nominees.)

It’s finally warm: so it’s choose-your-beach time. We’re hiking from Chai Wan and heading for spicy noodles and cheap surfer gear at

Big Wave Bay’s Ho Luk Store. 本專欄的濃縮精華版如下：七人欖球賽、七人欖球賽、美酒、七人欖球賽、佳餚、七人欖球賽、佳餚、美酒、七人欖球賽、電影。

現在足本呈獻：國泰航空滙豐香港國際七人欖球賽堪稱全球最喧鬧的欖球賽（參看28頁各地的欖球賽盛況），4月68至 日周末於香港大球場舉行。不過早於3月底，就可以率先盡情享受欖球帶來的樂趣。位於銅鑼灣利園區附近的街道設有電競中心Espor ts Arena（ 4月3至8日）和舉行Wolfpack Ninja Championship障礙賽（ 4月6至8日），並會現場轉播比賽的激烈戰況，當然還有各種精采的街頭表演。利園區附近陳列了多件巨型藝術品，組成StreetMAZE；至於國泰航空scrum challenge挑戰亦同時舉行直至48月 日為止。

如果你想好好坐下來享受一杯飲品，同時離開球場愈遠愈好的話，以下是一些好去處：中環Foxglove（1）餐廳的Mad Men Happy Hour歡樂時光（一嚐即席調製的Don’s Old Fashioned與Joan’s Vanilla Martini）； La

Vache（2）餐廳的全新尖沙咀分店（新地點，但牛扒與炸薯條如常美味）；或者到灣仔的Back

Bar（3）酒吧來一杯帶香港茶餐廳風味的雞尾酒。設計大師Ashley Sutton於中環的國際金融中心開設全新餐廳Dear Lilly（4），將夢幻的花都式浪漫、美味雞尾酒與維港美景共冶一爐，令人耳目一新。

Zuma（5）餐廳的Arkadiusz Rybak以日本著名武士為靈感，創製一系列風味獨特的雞尾酒，可以喚起你內心的戰士精神。其中一款名為Honda Negroni，以苦艾酒、紫蘇葉以及黏土來調製，一杯下肚，定能令你精神抖擻。

香港國際電影節即將結束，今年焦點影人括德國導演Werner Herzog以及香港演員林青霞。或者欣賞於4月15日揭曉的

第37屆香港電影金像獎的得獎影片。參看( 78頁有關最佳電影提名影片的詳情。)

天氣終於回暖，趁著風和日麗之際，最宜到海灘漫步徜徉。我們則從柴灣遠足，前往大浪灣的可樂士多吃香辣湯麵和搜尋廉宜的滑浪裝備。