‘We’re quite thick-skinned’: Shane Pow on challenging Li Nanxing, Vivian Lai and others to ‘wave at strangers’ in Hong Kong

From eating roasted pigeons to waving at strangers, this local actor tried something different on his recent getaway.

Shane Pow, currently managed by LNX Global, was recently in Hong Kong with artistes Li Nanxing, Constance Song, Vivian Lai, Julie Tan, Aarah Wong, Luo Kemin and Mino Song and four other staff members to celebrate their agency’s 20th anniversary.

“It’s my first time travelling with everyone so it was kind of fun. We went to a lot of places that I’ve never gone to on my own. When I went on my own, it’s to the usual shopping areas but this time round we went to an island called Tai-O,” said the 33-year-old.

Besides enjoying the scenery and going for a hike, they also tried some local cuisine: “It was my first time trying roast goose and roast pigeon… I expected the pigeon to taste like chicken but it tasted more like duck.”

“Because there were so many of us, we played games, like we challenged each other to wave at strangers. All of us are actors so I think we’re quite thick-skinned,” he laughed.

Bringing up Vivian, he continued: “I didn’t know she is so tech-savvy. She’s really good at finding travel tips on Xiaohongshu. She would say, ‘Eh, we should go here!’ Even I’m not so good at it; I only use Instagram and Facebook.

“We saw this bakery that’s apparently very famous and their egg tarts sell out by around noon. I remember we were walking around the area at 9am, Vivian saw the bakery and said, ‘Oh my god we need to go there!’ She ran over to buy some baked goods for us.”

When it comes to travel habits, Shane admitted that he tends to overpack: “I always plan my outfits but I bring extras. I also have a habit of buying clothes when I’m overseas so I always end up having more clothes than I had initially. My baggage usually goes over the weight limit.”

In his sizable wardrobe, Shane owns outfits made of sustainable materials, which he wore to the inaugural Youth Eco-Arts Festival held at Youth Park on Saturday (Oct 14).

Ah Ge Nanxing, Julie and Mino were also at the event organised by MCC International, in partnership with Somerset Belt, powered by National Youth Council and supported by *Scape.

That day, 14 eco-outfits created by fashion and design students from Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS), Millennial Institute Raffles College of Higher Education and Temasek Polytechnic were showcased.

Also displayed were eco-art installations repurposed from old materials and made from design ideas provided by students from Raffles College of Higher Education and through collated feedback from youths.

“I had friends who were into making stuff during the Covid-19 pandemic and they made some clothes for me. Then I realised I had a lot of clothes that I had either grown out of or were out of trend, so I passed it to them and they decided to make better use of it,” he explained.

“The eco-art installations brought back a lot of memories… Seeing them use CD drives, CPUs and old mice with trackballs… I hadn’t seen those in a while.”

The installations will be displayed at the Youth Park in *Scape until Nov 5, while the outfits will be on display at 111 Somerset till Nov 5.