Preview of Coming Attractions

Greetings from Abu Dhabi International Airport, where I'm currently slinking through a three hour layover on my way to Cairo! This is the first stop on a long, three week travel extravaganza, meaning I won't be back in Hong Kong until the end of August! If all goes according to plan, the next weeks will see exploration of ancient wonders, witnessing two sets of friends tying the knot and spending time on three continents. So with so much to look forward to over these next weeks, I wanted to give you all a little sneak peak at the coming attractions, in addition to a quick recap of some of the things July 2017 has thrown at me so far. 

First off, there was the Fourth of July, which was celebrated at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, organized by CriCri, who is a member. After some celebratory Prosecco on the outdoor deck overlooking the harbor, we moved inside to the Mariner's Rest for a fantastic surf-and-turf in true American style.

Independence Day from the Yacht Club

I also had a memorable Sichuan lunch recently with a Villanova junior named Henry who is studying abroad in Hong Kong, and it was so much fun to hear about life on campus, all the changes that have taken place since my last visit and, of course, his experience here during his semester overseas. 

But, on the whole, the first twenty-eight days of July 2017 will forever be linked in my mind with precipitation. 

Yes, the timing of this trip couldn't have come at a better moment in my Hong Kong life. In all seriousness, it seems like it hasn't stopped raining for the past eight weeks. We'll get one day of sun, maybe only a morning or afternoon, to be honest, and think that, perhaps, at last, the worst of the wet weather is behind us. And then, a few hours later, the skies darken and the heavens pour down.

Now I've lived in Hong Kong for coming on to eight years, and I know this city gets its fair share of rain. That's not what I'm ranting about here. It's not because of the deluge that descends from the skies during the odd mid-summer black rainstorm. As a one off, that can actually be quite dramatic and awe-inspiring, as long as you treat it with the respect it deserves and don't do anything foolish. No, what makes this stretch of cloudy days so annoying is the sustained nature with which it has lingered. I've experienced torrential downpours many a time. But I've never, ever struggled through nearly two months of constant rain. Obviously, a little desert furlough was in order.

You all know about Sonia and Motez, two of my best friends that I've made over the past eight years in Asia. Well, at long last, they are finally getting hitched, and the nuptials are set to take place on the small island of Kerkennah, in Tunisia, where Sonia's mom Mongia is originally from. I must admit, I've heard not only Mongia and Sonia but also her father Martin and brother Kareem just rave about the charms of Kerkennah so often that I can't wait to experience the place for myself.

But since Tunisia is a bit far to go for a wedding, it also seemed logical to take some extra time off work and combine it with another destination. From my short list of Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, tantalizing images of the iconic Pyramids of Giza and the intricate craftsmanship of the treasures on display in the famous Egyptian Museum kept jumping to the front of my mind. Egypt won out, and I'm so excited to hop on that plane in a little over an hour to finally explore a country that has fascinated me since my earliest childhood.

From Cairo I head straight to Tunis, where I'll spend two nights in the capital before heading down to Sonia's Kerkennah. But it's after the wedding that things really get crazy! 

My friends Ines and Edouard—formerly Hong Kong buddies from France who now live in New York City—are getting married in Bali just three days after Sonia and Motez get married in Tunisia. Luckily, Emirates flies to both Tunis and Bali from its hub in Dubai, so with a single, relatively short connection, I can fly out Thursday, the day after the first wedding, and arrive in Bali on Friday afternoon, just in time to take part in the second round of marital festivities. 

At this point, I'll have been away from Fredric—and my work duties—for two full weeks, and Bali is only a short hop home. But, due to a strange twist of fate, my firm's Spain office is hosting a sort of team-building conference which I'll be attending. So instead of catching a four hour flight from Bali to Hong Kong, I'll be retracing my steps (via Jakarta and Istanbul) to Malaga, in the southern reaches of continental Europe. 

Our conference lasts three days, and hopefully there is also some down time to explore a bit of Andalusia while I'm there. I haven't been to Spain since my first visit during my semester abroad in 2007, so it's been a full decade by now! Here's hoping it's as much fun as it was way back then! 

At long last, on the 19th of August, I'll board a flight from Malaga back to Hong Kong, via Istanbul. And on the evening of the 20th, I'll finally be home and likely take the last ten days of the month to sleep! Just kidding! I will actually be on the move yet again less than a week later, as I have to take a work trip to Shanghai and Beijing, meaning there's even more travel in store for me the last week of the month! So I have a feeling that even after all that rain, the summer of 2017 will contain some of the best memories of my life!

Stay tuned!

The Lost Blog Post!

It's funny to remember this right now, but for a brief spell in the summer of 2014, I (somewhat) seriously attempted to become a professional blogger! At the time, you may recall, I was coming to the end of eleven glorious months of funemployement, though, of course, I had no idea my next job was right around the corner. For all I knew, it might have been another year before I found steady work. All I did know was that money was scarce, I loved writing and, since I was blogging anyway, why shouldn't I make some extra cash doing it if I could?

Someone—I can't quite remember who anymore—mentioned that a popular Hong Kong website, Localiiz, was searching for freelance bloggers to write about various aspects of city life. So I duly sent across a cover letter and some samples of my work from this blog. 

I got an almost immediate reply from their digital content editor, but the catch was that anything they would published had to be new, meaning everything I sent over as a sample was great as an indication of my style but not something they were able to post on their site. 

She asked me for some original material, and I obliged. I spent an afternoon exploring an old Chinese mansion, ancestral halls and local villages in the New Territories, and instead of documenting my findings on my own blog like I normally would, I instead sent the finished product to Localiiz. 

Well, you all know what happened. I e-mailed that across to the editor on 21 July. She wrote back asking for a few revisions. On the 30th, I interviewed with my current firm and was offered a job the next day. And I never followed up with Localiiz. My grand ambitions as a professional blogger fell by the wayside, having lasted a sum total of ten days. 

Anyway, I stumbled across the e-mail chain while searching for something in my inbox the other day and thought it would be fun to post the results at long last. So after three years (and marking my one-hundred-and-fiftieth post!), here's the account of my day exploring the wilds of Sheung Shui. 

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The New Territories is probably the most ignored, most unloved stretch of Hong Kong, at least for the average expat. Sure, as a new transplant to the city, you’ll probably visit Sha Tin to see the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery. You’ll also be invited on a random hike up there every now and then. And Sai Kung is on many people’s radar as a fun-in-the-sun destination for junks, beaches and seafood. But on the whole, the vast expanse of mountains, satellite towns, rocky bays, walled villages and precious bits of old Hong Kong that have miraculously weathered the decades is overlooked by the masses in favor of closer parts of the territory.

I get it. This city is built on convenience. Hong Kong just might be the most convenient metropolis on earth. Anything more than a twenty minute taxi ride is “too long” for many people here, and with plenty of great things to see and do on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the nearby outlying islands, you don’t necessarily feel any motivation to go further afield to discover something new.

But believe me, the treasures hiding in the New Territories are well worth the effort it takes to find them. And the other day, I decided it was time once again to put in that little bit of effort and see what happened.

To start, I took the train to Sheung Shui, which is just one stop shy of the border crossings at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau. From Causeway Bay, I had to change trains not once, not twice, but three times, first at Admiralty, then at Mongkok and finally at Kowloon Tong, where I boarded the KCR towards the Mainland.

As a satellite town, Sheung Shui is a cool little area to explore. In and of itself, I guess it’s not necessarily worth an hour’s MTR ride, but it’s a gateway to a fascinating area, and warrants at least a bit of time to wander its colorful streets and markets, with an intriguing mix of high-rises and old fashioned three-story shophouses. However, my main goal that day was not Sheung Shui but the Man clan mansion of Tai Fu Tai, in the hills of San Tin, a short bus ride to the west.

After an excruciatingly frustrating search for the proper bus, I was finally en route. And from the upper deck of the 76K, I was treated to some pretty stellar views of the lush surrounding mountains piercing blue skies. Every imaginable shade of green seemed to find its place here, augmented, no doubt, by the shadows cast by the billowy clouds.

Tai Fu Tai is located in a neighborhood of San Tin called Wing Ping Tsuen. The mansion is believed to have been built in 1865, and it’s a rare survivor of its era, now immaculately restored and open to visitors. As you approach, you’ll see the simple iron gate left swung open, inviting you to enter and explore.

To my eyes, the building appears much older than it actually is. The reason is probably how startlingly different it looks compared to the opulent mansions built in Hong Kong by the colonial bigwigs around the same time. (Government House, for example, was actually constructed ten years earlier.) There are no windows in the building’s outer walls, so interior light is provided from central courtyards. And instead of sweeping grand staircases, the second level is accessed by narrow, ladder-like steps.

But the wealth and good taste of its owners is confirmed by the details visible in every corner. Embellishing the walls of the mansion are a mixture of Chinese and Western touches: blue and white tiles illustrating scenes of rural life, brightly colored bas-reliefs of flowers, fish and other animals, elegant European painted glass and intricate plaster moldings that would seem right at home in Versailles.

Portraits of some of the original inhabitants hang in the main hall, namely the first master of the house, Man Chung Luen, his two wives, and his eldest and third son. A guide informed me that Man Chung Luen actually had eight sons as well as numerous daughters, but he couldn’t tell me why these particular ones were the only children on display. All the while apologizing for his “poor” English—which was, in reality, quite impressive—he continued to fill me in on the personal and architectural history of the house.

Man Chung Luen was a member of the 21st generation of the Man clan, and he was renowned for his philanthropy as well as for his successful business endeavors. On the second level of his home, he built two big bedrooms, “one for each wife,” the friendly guide explained with an impish smirk. A kitchen and a lavatory are also preserved, and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department feels compelled to post a sign stating that the lavatory is open to the public for historical, not practical, purposes.

The guide asked me to accompany him outside to explain some features of the main façade, and he also offered to take a photo of me in front of the mansion. As the only visitor, I was given true VIP treatment, and it was nice to learn so much about the building from such an enthusiastic, passionate source.

Tai Fu Tai is by no means enormous. In thirty minutes or so, I had thoroughly explored the entirety of the place, and next set out for the Man Lung Fun Ancestral Hall, only a few minutes away.

Wandering the tiny alleys of the neighborhood between the two attractions was fascinating for me. There is an abundance of old residential buildings—running the gamut from decrepit to immaculate—that retain characteristic Chinese touches like red or black roof tiles, barred windows and balconies. It also appears to be pretty common to adorn your outer walls with colorful tiles depicting impressive landscapes, a quirk I haven’t encountered anywhere else in the SAR. The tallest buildings were only three or four stories high, but Shenzen, with its mighty towers, seemed close enough to touch, just sitting there across some weedy, overgrown fields: old China and new, side by side.

Riding back towards Causeway Bay later that afternoon, I kicked myself for having waited almost five years to visit the area. I also made a promise that I’d be back soon to explore some more. Yet at the same time, I felt a strange sense of satisfaction knowing that no matter how long I wind up living here, it will still take at least a lifetime before I uncover all there is to find in this crazy place called Hong Kong.

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Well there you have it. I suppose it's not as exciting as discovering a lost Van Gogh or finding a copy of the Declaration of Independence in your attic, but I'm always endeavoring to keep this blog as thorough as possible, so I'm glad this forgotten moment is now officially a chapter in my adventure of a lifetime!