Chow Yun Fat: Forever Tequila

John Woo’s Hardboiled character immortalized as a videogame.

More Hong Kong-related E3 news here. 15 years after Hard Boiled (辣手神探) hit Hong Kong movie theatres - the sequel is out in August as a video game, called Stranglehold. Here is a video interview with John Woo about the game:

Online Booking for your USA Holiday

A few key sites if you are heading to the US this Summer.

When planning a trip from Hong Kong to the USA you can try out the Hong Kong version of Priceline here. But for a more controlled trip we found a group of sites that can help you get great deals on airfare, hotels and car rentals as well as show you what to do.

Our online travel planning starts at none other than Yahoo! Travel; where you can plan your trip from every piece you would need to book online. Then comes Yahoo! Farechaser a site that stays outside the ticket sellers and aggregates the best deal for you.

We can then easily doublecheck on the other sites we like, like Travelocity and Expedia for full packages. We found them all to be near the price we found via Farechaser. We still like to buy air tickets through local agents like Travel Expert, ZujiLastminute and for package deals around South East Asia - but we were pretty impressed with Yahoo’s travel tools if you are going Stateside this Summer.

Review: Nobu

This Japanese restaurant is all hype.

So we finally got around to visiting Nobu at the Intercontinental hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui for lunch recently. Nobu is quite the proud tradition in Japan, and its got a beautiful view via the Intercontinental but the decor and food were just pretty average offerings especially since we had Japanese recently at Zuma.

We had a sushi and sashimi set which was ok, but the presentation wasn’t there like it was at Zuma and there wasn’t enough wasabi and it wasn’t potent enough. The seared cod set on the other hand was amazing. Extremely tasty and definitely worth a try but the whole meal was just kind of ordinary as we were made to believe it was beyond normal Japanese food.

The decor was also a bit of a shock and maybe because we went on a sunny day it didn’t look right but the harsh black walls made it look pretty old-fashioned. I’m sure that in the evening it changes into a more intimate setting with its mix of restaurant and bar lounge area, it just wasn’t really worth the trip from HKI to TST to see, but if you need a reason to hang at the Intercon for Japanese this is the place, but we’ve always been fond of the Harbourside Cafe.

Final Reductions at Lane Crawford

Up to 70% off now at all Lane Crawford shops.

This is your last call for sale items at Lane Crawford. You have been warned. Let this also mark, the end of the sale season.

Discover Water Margin in DB

Here’s a good excuse to head to Discover Bay.

Where to go and what to eat this weekend? Go to Central and hop on the ferry to Discovery Bay at the new dining “destination” Water Margin (check out their spiffy site) and not to be confused with the Water Margin in Times Square - that is a restaurant, this is a group of restaurants. Choose from French, Mexican, Caribbean (no pirates) and more - as well as enjoy the dazzling view of the ocean.

Enticing alfresco dining in a peaceful and serene environment just 45 minutes away from Central by ferry, just far enough that you might think you are in a different country but close enough to spend the night in your own bed.

And if you go now and spend $100 at any of the restaurants you’ll get a voucher for a free ferry ride back to Central or participate in a lucky draw. Fun in the sun, and fun for the whole family, except Uncle Don, he’s a mean drunk.

Harry Potter and the Mountains of Cash

The Boy Wizard makes money appear like magic.

With just about everyone in Hong Kong going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this weekend (and apparently for the next 3 weeks minimum as the IMAX showing is booked solid right till the end of July) someone has tallied up just how much money Harry will be making for his creator through the movie, books and all the licensed products.

Amazon.com +80% reports that more than 1.07 million Potter books have already been pre-ordered in the U.S. and it has taken in 1.6 million pre-orders worldwide.

Electronic Arts Inc. +0%. EA is the software developer that has the license to make Harry Potter video games.

IMAX Corp. +15%. IMAX will show a big screen 3D version of the latest movie. IMAX lost money last year and is expected to do the same next year as well.

Mattel Inc. +12%. Mattel makes Harry Potter action figures, games and puzzles.

Time Warner Inc. -4%. Time Warner owns Warner Bros., which is releasing the film. Time Warner is also the parent company of this blog. The film is expected to be a huge blockbuster, following in the footsteps of its four predecessors, which have combined to gross more than $3.5 billion worldwide.

See the other companies that stand to gain the most from the success of Harry Potter here.

Playstation Portable Gets Slimmer

Sony puts PSP on diet to compete against Nintendo

We’ve always wanted a PSP but its a bit too clunky for us, but looks like Sony has been listening to us again:

Those rumors about a PSP redesign turned out to be true–sorta. Demoed onstage at the Santa Monica E3 show by Sony’s Kaz Hirai, the new PSP doesn’t look all that different on the outside, but it’s said to be 33 percent lighter, 19 percent slimmer, offer better battery life, faster game load times, and video output to TVs.

Separately, the company will also bow PSPs in two new colors: “ice silver” and a Star Wars-themed white PSP emblazoned with Darth Vader’s visage. Both the colored PSPs will be available in “Entertainment Pack” versions for US$200 each–the silver model will include Daxter, a Family Guy “Freakin’ Sweet” UMD video collection, and a 1GB Memory Stick Duo, while the Star Wars version will include the new Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron game.

If you’re a gamer this is a great thing, but we still have to see it to make sure its a better product than now. We are really crazy about our Nintendo DS, but the graphics are sweet on the PSP - what we need is a big belt that can carry both of them around like an Old West gunfighter.

It’s Friday the 13th

Just a reason for us to post this photo.

Here are 13 ways to embrace the unexplained, the mysterious, the offbeat, the kooky, the curious the downright bizarre.