The Aesop Neighbourhood Guides

Should you find yourself wandering one of the four neighbourhoods that inspired this year’s collection of Aesop Gift Kits, then the following guide will help satiate all five senses. What follows are local recommendations that were compiled and vouched for by our trusted store consultants in each city.

Hear: Angel’s Flight Cable Railway. The two funicular cars of the Angel’s Flight, named Sinai and Olivet, clang and ring their way up the 33-percent-grade incline to Grand Central Market. An iconic—if noisy—bright-orange sight for sore feet.

Top Station: California Plaza, 350 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071, United States.

Lower Entrance: 351 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013, United States

Taste: Woodspoon. Brazilian street food served in the Parisian apartment of your dreams. This is the place your mind wanders back to when virtual meetings run over. Order the pot pie, and do not offer to share: you would regret it.

107 W 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States

Touch: The Last Bookstore. On the site of a former bank, The Last Bookstore now holds a different and even more valuable kind of paper. As you stroll through the labyrinth of shelves, run your fingers along the spines of tomes old and new, and thumb through the pages of a few.

453 S Spring St Ground Floor, 121 E 5th St Suite 505, Los Angeles, CA 90013, United States

Smell: Quartet. Freshly roasted coffee and baked goods are two of the great aromatic emblems of a new day. Within whiffing distance of Aesop Sounds Hannam, Quartet provides extraordinary renditions of both, and a cosy milieu in which to consume them.

35 Daesagwan-ro, Seoul, South Korea

See: Foundry Seoul. A calm contemporary gallery offering inspired, experimental curation. Come for the eminent global artists, stay for the emerging local talent.

223 Itaewon-ro, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Taste: ALT.a. ALT.a offers varied vegan dishes and drinks to satisfy even the most ravenous—some typically Korean, others more heavily Chinese-inspired, or often a merry fusion of the two. The spicy eggplant alone is worthy of a visit—and perhaps a second plate.

109 Bogwang-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Touch: Royal Botanic Garden. A palate cleanser for the senses and spirit. Take the Gadigal Storyline walk with a bush-tucker guide to discover the history of Warrane (the Gadigal name for the area) and learn how the plants in the Garden are used by its Indigenous population.

Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Taste: Malay-Chinese Takeaway. Bear the queue and be rewarded with aromatic flight to Penang, Malaysia. Take note of the precise ratio of noodle to broth, to bean curds in Sydney’s best bowl of Laksa—prepared to perfection, served sans pretension.

1/50-58 Hunter St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Smell: Circular Quay West. An olfactory kaleidoscope of minerality, seaweed and ocean breeze—always vivifying, if sometimes questionable. Stroll along the promenade for a view of the city and harbour, before alighting at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Circular Quay W, The Rocks NSW 2000

Hear: Shing Mun River. A traffic-free, watery escape from the steady beat of the city towards Tolo Harbour. Leave your noise-cancelling headphones at home, hop on you bike, set your phone to airplane mode and soak up the sound of silence.

Touch: Sha Tin Park. Kicking off one’s shoes and feeling grass underfoot is seldom a bad idea, especially in a city where the horizon is mostly stitched in steel and concrete. Home to some 110,000 plants across 400 species, Sha Tin Park is a leafy oasis amid the urban jungle.

2 Yuen Wo Rd, Sha Tin, Hong Kong

Taste: Shing Kee Noodles. Every month, Shing Kee offers a hundred meal boxes and lucky bags to the elderly. It is not a PR stunt or a marketing tactic, it is just how they do it. This sincerity, kindness and humanity also shines through every bite of the noodles for which the restaurant is known.

Lek Yuen St, Lek Yuen Estate, Hong Kong