Hong Kong - The mother of a Hong Kong brother and sister who climbed down drainpipes from their 34th-floor apartment was Tuesday put on probation for child neglect.

The girl, 7, and her brother, 5, were nicknamed "spider-kids" by the Hong Kong media after clambering down drainpipes on a Saturday morning in June while their mother was sleeping.

The girl was eventually pulled to safety by residents in a 28th-floor flat while the boy managed to get three floors further down before being rescued. Both children have since been put in care.

The children's 27-year-old mother pleaded guilty to two counts of neglect at an earlier court hearing. At a sentencing Tuesday, she was given a one-year probation term.

Hong Kong - Actor Brad Pitt and Fantastic Four star Jessica Alba are the celebrities Asians would most like to kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Jessica Alba was voted the number one mistletoe choice by men in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia while men in Hong Kong opted for Nicole Kidman in the survey by LG Electronics.

Hong Kong - The people of Hong Kong are cutting travel costs but not abandoning their holidays as they economize on luxuries during the global economic slump, a survey released Tuesday found.

A survey of people in the wealthy city of 6.9 million found they were looking at making their winter breaks cheaper rather than staying at home.

Forty-eight per cent of people interviewed said they would be more flexible on travel dates, 40 per cent said they would consider taking shorter trips and 35 per cent said they would cut holiday budgets.

A surprisingly large 78 per cent of respondents in the survey by the online travel firm Zuji said they still planned to go on holiday in early 2009 despite the economic downturn.

Hong Kong - "It's a buyers market," Malcolm O'Brien said. "There's bargains out there if you have the money to spend - at least in the short-term."

O'Brien is not talking about property, or stocks - but holidays and particularly holidays in Thailand and Vietnam.

With occupancy rates falling as hard-hit travellers ditch their holiday plans, hotels are slashing their rates to fill rooms rather than see them go empty, said O'Brien, head of traveller feedback with Lonely Planet Asia-Pacific.

Hong Kong  - A restaurant chef ended up in hospital as a turtle bit his foot to escape the cooking pot in a Hong Kong restaurant, a news report said Tuesday.

The 60-centimetre wattle-necked, soft-shelled turtle sank its teeth into the chef's foot, during a dash for freedom as it was about to be put in boiling water on Monday, the South China Morning Post reported.