By Scmp

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We have selected seven Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. How Hong Kong’s ‘Fat Mama’ Maria Cordero went from Cantopop to controversy
To generations of Hongkongers, she is Fei Ma, or “Fat Mama” – a beloved singer, actress and television chef whose booming voice and hearty recipes feel like a warm embrace. But in the past decade or so, Maria Cordero has adopted a new, more polarising role through her political expressions, which have complicated her legacy.
2. ‘We’ve been through a lot’: Metropol boss on closing after 35 years

For Mamoru Hayashi, the closure of Metropol – the Cantonese restaurant his family has run for the past 35 years in Hong Kong’s Admiralty area – on September 27 is not something he views with sadness. Unlike many recent restaurant closures – often lacking notice or completely unannounced – the sunsetting of Metropol was sealed months prior, in July, with news of the venue being acquired by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for HK$354.4 million (US$45 million).
3. Where does the word ‘typhoon’ come from? It’s not what you might think

Ragasa – “a surge, a rush, a sudden quickening of motion” in Tagalog – is an apt name for the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, which peaked as a super typhoon, and from which northern Philippines, Taiwan and southern China are just recovering.
4. What is ‘volume eating’? The new weight-loss hack that’s trending online
“Volume eating” is a new weight-loss hack that is trending on social media. A search on Instagram brings up more than 45,000 related posts. The practice is simple: focus on consuming large amounts of low-calorie foods that are high volume or high bulk – that is, high in water, fibre or air content.
5. Why dishes from China’s Yunnan province can taste so much like Thai food
At a Yunnan restaurant, you might expect a feast of mushrooms or a warm bowl of chewy noodles. However, some dishes carry the unmistakable, citrusy perfume of lemongrass, lime and galangal, which combine into the very familiar scent of the classic Thai tom yum soup. This is no coincidence. It is an echo of a shared ancestry, one that makes Thailand and the highlands of Yunnan the equivalent of culinary cousins.
6. ‘A highlight of my life’: the rise of VTubers in Hong Kong and worldwide

On a humid summer day, a long queue of people snakes outside a hotel ballroom turned concert hall in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, light sticks in hand. But they are not waiting for a chart-topping Cantopop star nor a viral K-pop sensation. Instead, this is a concert headlining virtual YouTubers, or “VTubers”.
7. Suffer from stress, anxiety, depression? Why your heart is at risk
Having anxiety or other chronic mental health disorders is now an established independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death globally. The traditional “big five” risks for poor heart health are having high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, a family history of heart disease and smoking.