Ponytail Journal

Most people have their own personal rituals when it comes to tea and coffee, be it milk and two sugars, or black without cream. These almost mechanical exercises help shape our days, and for the late-risers, a cup of coffee might come from the cheerful beeping of a Nespresso machine, while for early birds might have the time and energy to carefully draw circles upon circles of steaming water on a V60 drip. There’s a psychological benefit too, especially on cold, dark winter mornings when you need that transitory experience to transport your mind far away from the comfort of warm sheets.

The increasingly expensive rent and labour cost in Hong Kong has forced many companies over the last two decades to vacate their corrugated iron gates and reestablish factories further north in Mainland China. Anne Berry shows us some exciting eating and drinking experiences that prove a more grassroots approach to Hong Kong’s cutthroat food scene, all of which are taking advantage of the new abundance of industrial space.

If you ever find yourself in the central region of France in an area called Creuse, named after its mighty river that permeates...