HomeGrown

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Alicia Beale, the 38 year old owner of The Aftermath and another example of someone coming to the city for a few months and staying for many years. 

Alicia shares her 16 year experience in Hong Kong after coming to the city at 23 from the US to visit her best friend. We get into how easy it is to get lost in the HK sauce initially, and how it takes some time...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Celina Fairbairn, founder of CGDLondon who (eventually) moved to Hong Kong from London by way of Rotterdam.  Celina shares with us her experience moving to HK in the midst of the pandemic and Hong Kongs frequently changing travel restrictions.....the things we do for love ! 

We discuss the entrepreneurial culture in HK vs London, they differences Celina foun...

In this week's episode we speak to the wonderful Janelle Mimms who joins us again and shares her Hong Kong experience over the last 2 years.  Last week we re-released her first episode where we talked about all the excitement and newness of moving to Hong Kong, and this week we catch up on how the struggles of the last 2 years have affected that experience, our mental health, and our outlook.

As you can tell straight ...

The Fantastic Fo is the Infirm Fo this week, so in a plot twist, we're bringing you one from the vault...

In this episode, your hosts Louisa and The Fantastic Fo talk to Janelle Mims, a New Yorker living in Hong Kong since early 2019. Dive straight in to find out why people are throwing babies at her and what is so problematic about the word "chocolate".

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We love putting the show together for you, ...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Akinsola Jeje a 50 year old Teacher , amateur historian and poet who moved to Hong Kong 16 years ago from Canada. 

Akin brought his wealth of knowledge and experience to the podcast, taking us on a journey back in time and giving us his observations of culture in Hong Kong and Japan where he spent a few years before arriving in the city he now calls home. 

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Alexander Woodburn, the 28 year old director of The Motiv Company and ex-professional rugby player. Alexander shares with us the harrowing story of how he went from signing his first professional contract to arriving in Hong Kong at 23 after an elite rugby upbringing and a life changing injury. 

We talk about so much in this action-packed episode, and the to...

In this week's episode, and our first video podcast, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo have a really good catch up, if we do say so ourselves. We talk about the current COVID situation in Hong Kong and what if any strategies we have for dealing with prolonged uncertainty.  This leads us to a great chat about the books, tv shows and podcast that help deal and distract.

Louisa's love affair with Brené Brown continues an...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Gabriel Fagbenro, a 26 year old Nigerian NGO coordinator who moved to Hong Kong from London 6 years ago after a year studying in Hong Kong.

Gabriel tells us about his sandwich year studying in HKU, going back to London, and then immediately feeling the urge to return to Hong Kong. We talk about what feeling like a foreigner even means...if that is a thing, ...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Deji Odunlami, a Nigerian mathematics teacher who moved to Hong Kong via Shanghai from London 11 years ago.  

Deji talks to us about how he moved to China for adventure, what it was like moving there , and how he found it to be a place of ample opportunities if you were interested. We talk about his move to Hong Kong, how feeling at home was central to the d...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Melanie Bell, a real expat OG who moved to Hong Kong 25 years ago for the most unique reason we've had on the podcast so far (no spoilers)....and I don't think we can top this one. 

Melanie tells us about how she came to the city just before handover, what HK and the black community was like at that time, and how she finds the city now as an older ...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Ebele Onyeabo a Lawyer and Legal research who moved to Hong Kong to pursue a PhD at Chinese University Hong Kong (CUHK). 

We talk about the highs and lows of doing a PhD in Hong Kong, and what that was like during the protests. We also touch on what it's like living far from central and how that plays in to socialising and dating. 

A hilarious ...

In the first interview of the new season, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Fo's favourite guest ever! 

There were some bold claims about this guest in the last episode and so far we're keeping that same energy. We kick off the new season with a fresh perspective on Hong Kong and a guest that has come to the city for love of all things.

Can't think of what else to say without giving too much awa...

In this first episode of of the new season, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo  catch up on the Christmas break, and how weird it has become in the COVID era. We also go through some New Years resolutions for the two co-hosts as well as some resolutions for the podcast.

We have our first guests starting next week and in the meantime if you haven't already, please checkout or super quick questionnaire if you want to share som...

In this final episode of Season 3, Louisa and The Fantastic Fo have a heart to heart on what has been going on over the last few months. We talk about Lou's return to the city to be a TEDx Speaker, how it feels being back in Hong Kong, and Fo shares his experience with burnout and mindless productivity. We also share when to expect us back!

In the meantime, we'd really appreciate it if you took 2 minutes to fill...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Dr Keisha A Brown, Assistant Professor of History at Tennessee State. Keisha gives us a unique insight into the life of one of the first Black expats to China and a general idea of what being black in China meant on 1955.

A strong penultimate episode to the season, in this episode Keisha fields our sprawling (and sometimes basic) questions about what early e...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Oliver Christopher Kaigwa Haas, a 32 year old designer, engineer and entrepreneur. Ollie moved to Hong Kong 7 years ago from Vienna to take on a dream job with Cathay Pacific after sending a personal letter to their then CTO.

A huge aviation and sustainability advocate, Ollie shares his passion for aviation and technology, how he balances his time in the ci...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Mareika Chirikure, the African Literatures and editorial manager at the Africa Center in Hong Kong.  Mareika is here in Hong Kong for a year before going back to Germany for a Masters, and she talks to us about her experiences here in Hong Kong as well as her mixed heritage upbringing. 

Unfortunately Louisa was recovering from a cold so she had lost her voic...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to Keril  Victor a 28 year old singer , songwriter, producer and finalist of one of Taiwan’s most popular TV singing competitions, Jungle Voice. Keril takes us on a journey from sunny St Lucia, to a stage in Taiwan performing for an audience of over 20 million people across Asia.

We of course talk about music, fame and what is next for the young star, but also...

In this week's episode, Louisa and the Fantastic Fo speak to the wonderful Chrissy Zemura, a 31 year old Hair stylist who is working in Hong Kong on an international TV show. Chrissy moved to Hong Kong from Sydney where she  juggles being a mother with running her salon, and working on tv and film sets. 

An epic story about chasing your dreams and putting in the work, Chrissy tells us the story of how she went from st...