CATCH IT
If you’re one of the 10-12 people worldwide who manage to leap out of bed when the alarm goes off in the morning, skip this – it won’t apply to you. The rest of us need something like this alarm clock that gives us one chance before jumping off the table and wheeling around the room bleeping like the child of a banshee. You’ll hate it for sure, but it is guaranteed to do the trick! Clocky comes in four colours and, if you really can’t take the mad, bad puppy behaviour part of it, you can always remove the wheels and it will sit sedately on your bedside table like any normal alarm. Do that, though, and we know you will be late – yet again! You can get one of these cruel but useful devices at www.nandahome.com or at the Homeless Limited store for $498.

IMPRINT IT
Most of us frame photos of our special little people but here is something even more personal. Smallprint, a company in the UK specializes in silver jewellery featuring a child’s actual fingerprint, has expanded its collection for 2008 and is now in Hong Kong. Smallprint rolls out and shapes precious metal clay (pmc) onto which the child’s finger is gently pressed to create a print. Dried, fired and processed, the pmc results in a distinctive silver remembrance to hang around your neck or arm or even dangle on a keyring. Charms and charm bracelets range from $400 to $1,500 and pendants from $900 to $2,100. Find out more at www.smallp.hk. To arrange an appointment for your child’s fingerprint to be taken, contact Rebecca Livesley on 6054 0405.

STYLE IT
The rat has also happily invaded Hong Kong’s small products market, iconic HK brand Shanghai Tang bringing you another New Year collection combining Chinese tradition with Sino chic. Cufflinks, mugs, phone charms, key rings – you name it – are all dedicated to this year’s symbolic beastie. If you’re a collector of small, quirky stuff, it’s a time to go sniffing for your annual hoard. If not, you might just like to pick up one or two pieces to give a trendy turn to the New Year festivities. The prices range between $800 and $250. Pick your favourite ratty (but definitely not tatty) object at www.shanghaitang.com

STAMP IT
Chinese New Year is fast approaching and with it the jubilance of rats – even on our letters. HK Postal Services are due to release a new selection of special stamps featuring the new year’s animal, the rat, and a commemorative sheetlet on both the outgoing pig and the incoming rodent. This collection, the ninth set in the third Lunar New Year animal series, promises to be a gem for collectors. The stamps come in a set of four, the rat portrayed in vivid colours against a background decorated with silver foliage and the commemorative sheetlet is hot-foiled with genuine 22K and 24K gold and 99.9% silver. The new release will be issued in all Hong Kong Post offices from January 26 or can be ordered in advance from Hong Kong Stamps on www.hongkongpoststamps.com. The set of four stamps costs $118, while the commemorative sheetlet comes in a set of two for $100.

ART IT
Issues of identity, sexuality and gender are explored through the works of more than 40 participants of the Tongzhi Creative Workshop in the In/Out Tongzhi Art Exhibition. With individual and collaborative writing, photos, drawings, collages and storytelling, the artists introduce us to the world of sexual minorities in Hong Kong, portraying themselves, their personal lives and society without the coercions of mainstream imagery dominated by heterosexual presumptions and norms. You can view this controversial and powerful exhibition from January 24-31 at the Shatin Town Hall Exhibition Gallery, with three public fora on gender and sexuality with professionals and guests on the first day of the exhibition. Entry is free. leslovestudy.com/creative

SNAP IT
Hong Kong’s architectural heritage is the theme of an upcoming exhibition of photos of the Fragrant Harbour’s old corner houses by German photographer Michael Wolfe. The organizer, HK’s Goethe Institute, has decided to walk us down an unorthodox road with the pictures displayed in the light boxes usually used for advertising purposes in various MTR stations. The show runs through the week of Chinese New Year, from February 2 to 8. However, starting from February 1, you can also catch a different selection of Michael Wolfe snapshots, still on the old side of Hong Kong, at the Goethe Gallery of the Goethe Institute. More details at www.goethe.de/hongkong. You can also open your eyes and look around as you walk down the street.