It’s a mid-week afternoon, and a couple of patrons are scattered around the chic, dimly lit UNION Bar and Grille at IFC mall, enjoying their late lunches when The PEAK sits down in a corner booth with Mike Nardozza for a chat about his bustling restaurant businesses and whatever else he will divulge.

Nardozza is the chief executive officer of Windy City International, a privately-held group that established the all-American Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill at Pacific Place in Hong Kong in 1989 before expanding to a host of other American-inspired concepts including Union, Metropolitan Cafe, and the popular Amaroni's Italian-American at Festival Walk – not to mention a Dan Ryan's in Singapore and Taiwan, and another Union Bar and Grille in Beijing.

The Italian-American, who first planted his feet in Asia some 20 years ago, starts straight away with plans for expansion. “In the next two to three years we’re talking about doubling the size in Hong Kong in terms of sales volume and number of units,

Kevin Yeung is keeping himself busy exploring his connections to achieve the seemingly unachievable for good causes. “I like problems,” the chairman of UNICEF Special Fundraising Committee says, as he shows us the new apparel and accessories created by Champion Systems for the organisation. “By solving them I would gain new thoughts. Seriously, I am one of those who always looks forward.”

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Yeung, 36, says he was a happy child who studied n the United States from the age of 13. “My father was a policeman and my mother was a teacher. They provided me a good foundation.”

Yeung is a partner at an Asian financial advisory firm LXL Capital Advisors, managing director for TPG Paper as well as a partner and shareholder of a social media website www.Gluub.com, which operates as three standalone entities with more than 1,000 full time staff in Hong Kong, China, New York, California and London. He also has experience in executive search as the youngest principal and practice head at Heidrick and Struggles.

Gymnast Liu Xuan has experienced her share of tumbles and yet got back on her feet as any Olympian would. In 1996, she faced her most challenging moment in her maiden Olympics. It was the Atlanta Games, memorable for the exploits of sprinters Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson, and most of all, the dramatic entry of Muhammad Ali bearing the flame. Liu just could not pull it off in Atlanta. Four years later, she was back on the balance beam, her forte, and clinched Olympic gold, a first for China. Her team won bronze, but that was not meant to be. We met Liu just days after the International Olympic Committee had withdrawn the 2000 Games bronze medal, as recommended by the International Gymnastics Federation, which determined that competitor Dong Fangxiao (now in New Zealand) had been underage. Liu is circumspect, and hopes that the team’s sacrifices will be remembered. And she takes pride in the women’s team gold won at the Beijing Games. Since leaving competition, Liu has balanced many different interests, ranging from entertainment and advertising to broadcasting and singing, and as is characteristic of her, she has resolved to do well in every undertaking.