We consider ourselves pretty lucky when we get the chance to rub elbows with other like-minded people in Hong Kong's F&B scene. Recently, I got the chance to chat with Janice Leung Hayes, founder of Tong Chong Street Markets and writer of the well-read and well-loved e_ting.

We added our favourite snippets here and the rest can be seen on Ponytail Journal - a blog about slow food, slow fashion, passionate people, and most of all – the hidden wonders of our wild universe.

On the relationship between growing produce and taste ...

"So, I started eating out a lot and it got me asking things like, 'why does this tomato salad taste better than that tomato salad?' That’s when you get into growing.

Around that time, I also visited Noma. It was very new and people were really excited about eating locally – it wasn’t such a cliché yet, which got me thinking about Hong Kong.  I wanted to do a story on it and started researching. That’s how I found the farmers for the market and it showed me that people were returning to older ways and, basically, were trying to rebuild an ecosystem"

On starting to write her own restaurant reviews ...

"I got into [reading] restaurant reviews but thought, 'you know … I don’t know if I really believe this guy. I’m going to go to that restaurant and see if I agree!' And I started writing about it. It eventually became what’s on my blog and the blog became what I was eating, what I was cooking, where I was going…"

On Hong Kongers and sustainability ... 

"I think what people forget is that you can change a small habit every day. Like taking public transport, or taking more passengers in your car. It’s actually economical."

On shaping the funnest life possible ... 

"I just feel like if you are heading in a certain direction and if people recognise that, it will just happen."

On the meaning of the word "goodness" ...

"Goodness is selflessness for everyone’s benefit."