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!