June 2014 issue

RAJASTHAN ROAD TRIP

JUNE 2014

FORCE

Lieutenant Andy Kendall’s DB Junior Leaders Troop

FROM JAISALMER TO AGRA IN 15 DAYS

d am t er s, s A m orie l .P.S cess punze , O .

M a c Ra ir s W i n s h i o n o s e e a C h o il y f a t s t as s i f am d e n s K tick d the onth’ eryla a n d a m i s c ov an s t o D pas

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LANTAU FILMMAKERS GETTING BUMS ON SEATS Join your community online @ www.arounddb.com

Publishers in DB since 2002

OUR MISSION IS TO MAKE DB THE BEST COFFEE COMMUNITY IN HONG KONG!!

% Arabica Fusion

% Arabica PMQ

% Arabica Kyoto

Our kiosk at Fusion opens this June! We serve espresso, latte, and Americanos brewed by the world famous Slayer espresso machine for take away. Freshly roasted coffee beans are available as well.

Our new cafe opens this June at the heart of SOHO! PMQ is a redesigned hub building with the work of more than one hundred young local and international creators. We roast, brew, and deliver! Find more information about PMQ: www.pmq.org.hk

Our new cafe in Kyoto opens in July! We are located in Higashiyama area, near the world heritage, Kiyomizu Temple. Our baristas, Junichi & Yedidya will be waiting for your visit!

% Arabica Cooking Workshop

% Arabica New Bean Selections

% Arabica Facebook Page

Our June workshop will be Indian food! On Wed, 18 June, Zurath Kamdin, who runs a private kitchen in HK, will share secrets of fantastic Southern Indian dishes from appetizers, marinating fish and meat for BBQ, to a delicious dessert.

"Panama Hartman Typica" and "Ethiopia Yirgacheffe" have arrived! Hartman is a sweet and mild tasting bean with a fantastic floral aroma. Yirgacheffe has a more fruity taste with undertones of berry and orange.

Both are good for espresso and drip coffee.

Visit "% Arabica" on Facebook! Make sure to click "Like" and "Follow" to receive our latest news about upcoming events and new exciting items! www.facebook.com/percentage

JUNE 2014

蘅峯 PENINSULA VILLAGE

$22K

菘山閣 GREENWooD

Gross: 889’ Saleable: 755’ 3 2

$55K

3 2

2

Completely renovated spacious flat with large yard, terrace and balcony. Ideal for families.

寶翠閣 WooDGREEN

$5.98M

$65K/18.5M

3

Bright and airy, balcony with panoramic sea views and modern kitchen.

2

朝暉路 HEADLAND

Gross: 2041’ Saleable: 1587’ 4 2

$120K

Gross: 1904’ Saleable: 1889’

Modern townhouse, full sea views, terrace, balcony and private roof.

靖山閣 GREENERy

$30K

Gross: 1134’ Saleable: 980’

Nicely renovated apartment, great views in good condition, open kitchen & easy access to transport.

尚堤 CHIANtI

Gross: 1519’ Saleable: 1322’ 3

寶峰 PARKVALE

Gross: 1088’ Saleable: 947’

Bright and renovated 3 bedrooms with good layout, modern kitchen and sea views.

碧濤軒 CoAStLINE

$25K

$7M

4

Nicely renovated, modern equipped kitchen. Offers great living space. Near schools and transport.

3

海燕徑 SEAbIRD

$11M

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GE

A LE

SO

Gross: 895’ Saleable: 769’ 2 1

Lovely renovation, open kitchen, balcony with sweeping sea views across to HK side. Vacant Sale.

海澄湖畔二段 SIENA tWo

$11.4M

Gross: 1068’ Saleable: 876’ 2 2

3 2

Spacious layout, bright & airy living & dining room. Below bank valuation. Vacant Sale.

Nicely renovated, balcony with sea views. Close to schools and all transport. Vacant Sale.

倚濤軒 CREStMoNt VILLA

Gross: 1315’ Saleable: 1020’

Gross: 1280’ Saleable: 962’

$17M

3 2

朝暉徑 HEADLAND

Gross: 1707’ Saleable: 1436’ 3 2

Bright and renovated, equipped kitchen, balcony with panoramic sea views. Good investment.

Stylishly renovated. In the most popular location.

Price negotiable. Great investment. Vacant Sale.

$32M

Gross: 1904’ Saleable: 1889’ 3 2

Detached house with gorgeous open kitchen.

Lots of storage and in a tranquil location.

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JUNE 2014 FEATURES 28 PROFILE Meet DB music maestro Bethan Greaves 32 IN FOCUS How Lantau residents are pursuing celluloid dreams 36 FAMILY MATTERS Summer camps you’ll want your kids to attend

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45 MONEY MATTERS Kick-starting your post-divorce finances 52 ESCAPES On the road in Rajasthan 58 ACTION What DB teens get out of army cadet training 65 LIFESTYLE Your guide to back-tobasics bathroom chic

REGULARS 20 COMPETITIONS Win big prizes at www.arounddb.com

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48 TALKING POINTS Youth dragon boating on the up 50 MOMENTS The Aurza girls, reunited in DB after 18 years 72 DB FACES Candid community snaps 84 OUT THERE Thoughts on island life

AGENDA 10 IN&AROUND DB Catch up with the latest community news

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48

22 ACROSS LANTAU What’s happening island wide 69 HK HAPPENINGS Hot stuff from across the harbour 74 CLASSIFIEDS Great deals, employment, businesses and more 78 PROPERTY Choice local and overseas homes to buy or rent 81 LOCAL NUMBERS Your ultimate guide in DB and Lantau

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Y ANT AND LIEUTEN JUNIOR L’S DB KENDAL S TROOP LEADER

TR ROAD JAISALMER FROM TO AGRA S IN 15 DAY

Readers with a feature story idea, please email editor@arounddb.com If you would like to publicise a local event, email hannah@arounddb.com For general enquiries, email info@arounddb.com To advertise, email lissa@arounddb.com AROUND DB, Bay Media Ltd, 7E Glamour Court, Discovery Bay Call 2987 0577 | Fax 2987 0533

For the latest AROUND DB updates, find us on

Facebook,

ON THE COVER

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JUNE

2014

dreams!

FILMM LANTAU Join your

Indie filmmaking in Lantau

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ww online @ community

GETTIN

.com w.arounddb

G BUMS

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2002

Photos courtesy of Lloyd Belcher, Philippe Joly and Harry Oram

Twitter and www.arounddb.com

YOUR ROUNDUP OF RECENT COMMUNITY EVENTS!

Publisher Corinne Jedwood corinne@arounddb.com Editor Rachel Ainsley editor@arounddb.com Editorial coordinator Hannah Ball hannah@arounddb.com Advertising Lissa Morris lissa@arounddb.com Art direction Terry Chow cckterrychow@gmail.com Photography Baljit Gidwani www.photosdb.net Illustration Fred Boot Rift Leschinsky Accounts Rebecca Wong accountant@arounddb.com Contributors this month Beverly Au Jane Clyde Annette M. Houlihan Nina Rossiter (intern) Karmel Schreyer Peter Sherwood

Disclaimer The views expressed in Around DB are not necessarily those of the publisher, editor or contributors.

The publisher and editor cannot be held responsible for differences of opinion or statements published in good faith. The publisher, contributors, their employees and partners are not responsible for the results of any actions, errors or omissions taken on the basis of information contained in this publication and expressly disclaim all and any liability for any such action of any person. The mention of specific companies or products in articles or advertisements does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by this magazine or its publisher in preference to others of a similar nature which are not mentioned or advertised. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without permission.

www.photosdb.net

Challenge FOR COUPLES! On May 17, 24 couples took part in DB’s first Couples Fitness Challenge, a Supplements HK event, sponsored by Hong Kong Yachting and organised by long-term DB resident Andrew Tasker. Kudos to DBers Thorsten and Emma Bruce, who won a two-night stay at The Sarann in Koh Samui. Runners-up, Katherine Nagengast and (DBer) J.P. Nixon won a night’s stay at Auberge Discovery Bay. Funds raised went to the global need serving non-profit, Crossroads Foundation, www.crossroads.org.hk.

The Action Asia Bonaqua Action Sprint, and DB’s first Inline Skating Championships! A Couples Fitness Challenge, and Sportsmanship Friendly Meet! DB Pirates on the red carpet, and Discovery College students’ White Ribbon Day! For more It’s all been event photos happening visit the in DB! photo gallery at

www.arounddb.com

IN&AROUND DB

INLINE SKATING!

Pirates HAVING A BALL!

May 18 saw DB’s first Inline Skating Championships, organised

by Lantau Buffalos and sponsored by Sports World. With 13 kids aged five to 12 taking part, special congratulations go to Yuli Verheijke and Jennifer Anderson, male and female winners of the 250-metre sprint and 1,000-metre marathon. For the full results, visit www.lantaubuffalos.org.

Photos by Sharon McEneff

Photos by Terry Chow

A Night at the Oscars, the annual DB Pirates Ball at Auberge Discovery Bay on May 10, welcomed 270 guests.

Congratulations go to Pirate of the Year Sarah McGill, and to Stephen and Kathy Albutt, who were jointly awarded the Chairman’s Cup. Young players also celebrated a successful season at the DB Pirates Youth Ball on May 23.

June 2014

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IN&AROUND DB

Sportsmanship FRIENDLY MEET! Congratulations to the Sportsmanship gymnasts, aged three to 15, who took part in the ninth Sportsmanship Friendly Meet at Discovery College Sports Hall on May 25. Funds raised went to the non-profit Harmony Home Association, Taiwan, which helps those living with HIV/AIDS. Visit www.harmonyhometaiwan.org.

Bonaqua ACTION SPRINT On April 17, 450 athletes, aged 14 and up, ran, swam, hiked and scrambled through DB in the 13-kilometre Action Asia Bonaqua Action Sprint. Special congratulations go to DB resident Cheung Wai Hung, who was the overall winner of the race, and to Pui O resident Zein Williams, who won the women’s category. For full results, visit www.actionasiaevents.com.

Photos by Around DB and Mark Fairley Photos courtesy of Action Asia Events

WHITE RIBBON DAY AT DC!

Photo courtesy of Discovery College

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June 2014

Along with some 30 schools worldwide, Discovery College (DC) took part in White Ribbon Day on May14 (the campaign to create awareness about the 300 girls kidnapped by a Nigerian terrorist group on April 14).

“It is humbling to see students take such initiatives towards global issues,” says DC Humanities teacher Bruce Taylor. “Education is the first and most powerful tool to help right such injustices, and actions like these go a long way to help spread awareness.” Visit the Campaign to free the girls of Nigeria Facebook page.

The world’s leading shopping cart now available in Hong Kong y nt rra on ls a r w d de ea ide o 3 y rov ing M p ld fo all Exclusively available from our online store FREE delivery to Discovery Bay and Lantau Shop online at www.onthemove.asia for our wide range of Models

YOUR GUIDE TO UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

IN&AROUND DB

Photo by Vincent Ypersiel

DRAGON BOATING GOOD TIME!

2 June 1 to

Don’t miss the Discovery Bay Dragon-Boat Races and Carnival! On June 1, 49 teams are set to compete off Tai Pak Wan from 8am to 4.45pm. And the weekend-long carnival in DB Plaza, 10.30am to 6pm, offers up game booths and stalls, plus a beer drinking competition and performances by the likes of Hong Kong Disneyland’s cheerleaders. Did you know teens take part in the DB dragon-boat races? Read all about it on page 48.

GET SET FOR SUMMER

1 June

to 2

at the Ozzie Cozzie Roadshow at OpenSpace DB in DB North Plaza, from 10am to 6pm.

Island Dance

8 June 6 to

END-OF-TERM SHOW!

Dancespirations, the latest annual show from Island Dance, takes place at 7.30pm on June 6 and 7, and 2.30pm on June 8, at Y-Theatre, Chai Wan. Expect top-notch routines, with the dancers bringing the moves of Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé and Fred Astaire to life. For tickets, starting at HK$150, visit www.urbtix.hk; for more information, visit www.islanddance.com.hk. www.ozziecozzieco.com

www.photosdb.net

Enjoy DB dragon boating weekend, and hours of fun at Discoveryland. Remember Father’s Day! Catch the DBIS Battle of the Bands, the Island Dance end-of-term show, and a Kings of Comedy Night at Club Siena. Find out how to choose the right school (and summer camp) for your child. Book your stall at the next Handmade Hong Kong bazaar, Friend us adopt a pet and on Facebook clean a beach! It’s for event all happening this reminders month in DB! June 7

STOCK UP AT THE PLANT MARKET

across from Haven Court, 2pm to 4.45pm.

Australian and South African

TREATS ONLINE!

Brand-new and online, The Australian Shop and The South African Shop deliver all the best Aussie and South African brands to DB. While The Australian Shop already stocks popular treats like Vegemite, Milo, Tim Tams and Twisties, and The South African Shop stocks Boerewors, Biltong and Ouma Rusks, you can request special (or essential) items to expand the range.

Visit www.theaustralianshop.hk, or for specific requests, email info@theaustralianshop.hk. Visit www.thesouthafricanshop.com, or email info@thesouthafricanshop.com.

June 7 JOIN A BEACH CLEAN-UP

at Sam Pak Wan, 9am to 12pm, with DB Green and Plastic Free Seas.

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June 2014

Photo by Karin Jensen

June

IN&AROUND DB

9 8, 15 and 2

Holiday fun

ADOPT A PET through Protection

FOR KIDS!

of Animals Lantau South (PALS) in DB Plaza, from 2pm until 6pm.

DBIS Battle of the Bands Discovery Bay International School (DBIS) Battle of the Bands, at the DBIS Globe Theatre at 3.30pm, is split into two groups – primary and secondary. Each band performs two contrasting songs, and is judged on originality, musicality, stage presence and the ‘X Factor’. Prizes this year include an opportunity for the winner and runner-up (in each section) to perform at Hemingway’s on June 15. For more information, visit www.dbis.edu.hk.

June 12

Photo courtesy of DBIS

Auberge

anubhaksingh.blogspot.com

FATHER’S DAY DISCOUNTS!

15 June

Spoil your dad at Auberge Discovery Bay, DB North Plaza! Father’s Day buffet at Café bord de Mer starts at HK$398 per person, and a night’s stay, on June 14 or 15, in a Mountain View room (with buffet breakfast for two included), comes in at just HK$1,100. For more information, visit www.aubergediscoverybay.com.

Photo courtesy of Auberge Discovery Bay

June 15 HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the wonderful dads in DB and Lantau!

There are so many activities for kids to get involved with over the summer in DB, Tung Chung and South Lantau.

Now’s the time to get them signed up, before school’s out!

For more information on all the providers listed below, turn to page 36.

• 9 Dragons Fitness, www.9dragonsfitness.com • Acting Antics, www.actingantics.com • Bayview House of Children, www.bayview.hk • Complete Deelite, www.completedeelite.com • DMR School of Ballet, www.dmr-hk.com • Discovery Mind, www.dmk.edu.hk • Early Adventures Playgroup, www.earlyadventures.net • Eye Level, www.myeyelevel.com • Embody, www.embody.hk • Harry Wright International, www.harrywright.com.hk • H K Dragons, www.dragons.hk • Hong Kong School of Capoeira, www.capoeirahk.com • iGym Gymnastics, igymhk@icloud.com • Island Dance, www.islanddance.com.hk • Lantau International School, www.lis.edu.hk • Mandarin for Munchkins, www.mandarinformunchkins.com • Midget Gems Kid’s Club, www.midgetgemskidsclub.com • Movement Improvement, www.movementimprovement.com.hk • Performers Studio, emma.performersstudio@yahoo.com • Playtime Kids DB, www.playtimekidsdb.com • RugBees, www.rugbees.hk • Sport4Kids, www.sport4kids.hk • T he British Studio of Art, www.bsoahk.com • Tinytots Soccer, www.tinytots.com.hk • Treasure Island, www.treasureislandhk.com • W iseowl, www.wiseowl.com.hk June 2014

15

Email hannah@arounddb.com if you’d like to be included in this section

IN&AROUND DB

CLUB SIENA COMEDY!

Big fun at

The adorably irreverent Michael Dorsher, a multiple finalist in The Hong Kong International Comedy Festival, is headlining at the Kings of Comedy Night at Club Siena. You can also catch Andrew Chu, winner of Hong Kong’s Funniest Comedian 2010; Vivek Mahbubani, winner of Hong Kong’s Funniest Comedian 2007 and 2008; and Nick Milnes and Nick Oliver, both Hong Kong’s Funniest Comedian finalists. Showtime is at 8.15pm. For more information, visit www.dbrc.hk.

DISCOVERYLAND!

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2 June

Photos by Around DB

Discoveryland, Hong Kong’s largest indoor family entertainment centre, opens this month in DB North Plaza. It’s been set up by 20-year DB resident Koren Thomas and Hong Kong resident, Karina Aswani, with the help of pediatrics specialist Dr Alfred Tam. “Karina and I partnered together to provide this epic experience,” explains Koren, “the response we have had from parents and kids who’ve visited the centre, has simply been, ‘Wow!’” Offering everything from Hong Kong’s longest slide, to trampolining, mini golf, laser tag and rock climbing, plus the only air trek obstacle course in Hong Kong, Discoveryland equals fun for all the family.

For your chance to win a month’s family pass (worth HK$1,200) to the 14,000-square-foot entertainment centre, turn to page 20.

ITS SCHOOL GUIDE Get clued up on choosing the right school for your child (pre-school and secondary) at a talk by the director of ITS Educational Services, DB resident Anne Murphy, at 9.30am at OpenSpace DB, in DB North Plaza. Anne covers application processes, entry requirements, and school curricula and facilities. She also advises on finding the ‘best fit’ for your child. To sign up, email Annie Liu at Annie.l@itseducation.asia; for more information, visit www.itseducation.asia.

27 June

Photo courtesy of Anne Murphy

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June 2014

Photo courtesy of DBRC

BOOK YOUR SPACE The next flea market in DB Plaza is being held on July 27.

To book a table, go to the Discovery Bay Office Centre (behind Fusion) and fill out a form. If you have goods to sell at the September 14 Handmade Hong Kong bazaar in DB Plaza, you can book your table online (from June 13 to 27) at www.handmadehongkong.com.

Playgroups

in

DB

BRIGHTSPARKS PLAYGROUP, PARKRIDGE VILLAGE

18 months to 3.5 years 9632 4287, brightsparksdb@gmail.com

A fun, safe and interactive environment that nurtures children’s creativity and self-discovery. Afternoon phonics, cooking and art classes for ages 3 years + are also offered.

DUMPER TRUCKS & DAISIES PLAYGROUP, DB PLAzA

6 months to 4.5 years 9667 6921, mandy@dumpertrucksanddaisies.com

Using Montessori methods, the focus is on the growth and development of the whole child in a caring and nurturing environment. Mandarin and yoga are included in the programme.

EARLY ADVENTURES PLAYGROUP, GREENS

20 months to 4 years 9511 2107, 2987 9644, info@earlyadventures.net, www.earlyadventures.net Well-established playgroup with bright and spacious facilities. A warm and caring environment where children are offered exciting and interesting activities, so they can achieve their full potential.

FUNFIT, CLUB SIENA

6 months to 6 years 9380 5771, info@funfit.hk, www.funfit.hk Active learning programme which helps develop children’s balance, coordination, fine and gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination and much more! Caring for children’s future health and fitness!

LITTLE EXPLORERS, PHASE 1

18 months and up 9327 0507, littleexplorers@team-fear.com Well-established DB playgroup: a caring and stimulating learning environment with an emphasis on learning through play and having loads of fun!

MIDGET GEMS KID’S CLUB, DB PLAzA

2 to 4 years 6341 5764, dbmidgetgems@gmail.com Long established and dedicated playgroup. Encouraging friendships and independence through creative play in a caring and stimulating environment.

PLAYTIME KIDS DB, CHERISH COURT

6 months to 4 years 9054 0565, playtimekidsdb@yahoo.com A well-established playgroup, run by a Montessori trained teacher with lots of experience. A great, supporting, stimulating and loving environment for little ones to learn from.

WOODENTOTS, DB PLAzA

2.5 to 5 years 6108 9131, woodentotsdb@gmail.com A caring and nurturing environment, run by a qualified Montessori teacher, children grow and learn through self-discipline and self-discovery.

COMPETITIONS

Here’s your chance to win great prizes!

Win a month’s family pass to Discoveryland!

Around DB competitions are incredibly easy to enter (you’ll even find the answers Discoveryland, Hong Kong’s largest to our questions right here). You have indoor family entertainment centre, until June 10 to submit your answers.

To enter, email info@arounddb.com, opens this month in DB North Plaza. click on the competitions link Expect everything from foam ballistics at www.arounddb.com, or scan the and trampolining, to laser tag, mini golf QR Code below. Don’t forget and rock climbing, plus Hong Kong’s to give us your name and telephone number! longest slide and only air trek obstacle

course! Not only does Discoveryland offer daily, weekly, monthly and yearly passes, you can also book the 14,000-square-foot centre for birthdays and corporate events. For more information, visit www.discoverylandhk.com, or turn to page 16.

How big is Discoveryland?

Photo by Around DB

Discoveryland is offering two readers a month’s family pass (worth HK$1,200 per pass). Note that helpers are included within a family pass.

Take-home fashion accessories

This April, DB resident Bradley Wayburne, 22, launched the online fashion accessory store, M.O.P.S Amsterdam.

The selection of watches, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and rings are inspired by the teams’ global travels. See for yourself at www.mopsamsterdam.com.

Photo by Peter Byrne

Tickets to see Rapunzel!

Who wrote Check out the latest dramatisation Rapunzel, of The Brothers Grimm’s the fairy tale? classic fairy tale, Rapunzel, at the Drama Theatre, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, June 6 to 8. For tickets, starting at HK$195, visit www.hkticketing.com; for more information, visit www.aba-productions.com.

ABA Productions is offering one reader four A-reserve tickets (worth HK$435 per ticket) to see the show on June 6.

See the Kassia Choirs perform!

Katterwall’s Kassia Men’s Chorus and Kassia Women’s Choir are presenting Love Song with Kassia Choirs on June 16, at St John’s Cathedral, Central, and on June 17, at North Point Methodist Church. Featured singersongwriters include Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Adele and Bruno Mars. For tickets, starting at HK$180, visit www.tinyurl.com/LSKassia.

For the lowdown on Katterwall’s musical director, DB resident Bethan Greaves, turn to page 28.

When was M.O.P.S Amsterdam launched?

Name Katterwall’s musical director.

Photo by Thompson Tong

Photo courtesy of Bradley Wayburne

M.O.P.S Amsterdam is offering two readers HK$400 worth of accessories, including a special-edition traveller’s watch.

Katterwall is giving away two pairs of tickets (worth HK$220 per ticket): one pair for the concert on June 16, one for June 17.

Congratulations to last month’s winners Lucy Lee, Sally Manautines and Christie Erasmus for tickets to see Footloose the Musical; Estelle Davies for tickets to see the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir in DB; Suzanne Panons and Nathalie Mauroo for the Soccer Sevens weekend passes; and Alicia Panday and Kelly Crawford for tickets to see Oh, What a Lovely War! Please contact our office on 2987 0577 to collect your prize.

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June 2014

ACROSS LANTAU

Photos courtesy of 9 Dragons Fitness

9 Dragons ROWING COMPETITION Eleven teams of four took part in the CrossFit Indoor Rowing Competition at 9 Dragons Fitness, Tung Chung, on May 18. Congratulations to Elizabeth Papandrea, Sophie Scholz, Anthony Tse and Ian Ross, who came in first overall. The individual 2,000-metre race was won by Cheung Sha resident Dan Stewart. Visit www.9dragonsfitness.com.

SEE WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING ACROSS LANTAU!

Dragon boating from Mui Wo to Deep Water Bay! The Raidlight Stairmaster Lantau race! A rowing competition at 9 Dragons Fitness! And a film to protest the proposed Shek Kwu Chau megaFor more incinerator! event photos visit the It’s all been photo gallery at happening www.arounddb.com in Lantau!

RAIDLIGHT STAIRMASTER! Lantau Base Camp’s Raidlight Stairmaster Lantau Race, the first of the HK Stairmaster Series, attracted 103 runners on May 10. Special congratulations go to the winner, Mui Wo resident Clement Dumont, and to Pui O resident Jeremy Ritcey, who finished third despite twisting his ankle. Pui O resident Zein Williams was the runaway winner of the women’s race. Visit www.lantaubasecamp.com.

Photos courtesy of Lantau Base Camp

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ACROSS LANTAU

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DRAGON-BOAT SEASON! At the Mui Wo Dragon-Boat Festival on May 18, Lantau Boat Club (LBC) took home the Mixed Gold Cup. This was one of a series of recent LBC dragon boating wins, including Mixed Cup Final runners-up at the Lamma International Dragon-Boat Races on May 4, and bronze medallists in the Mixed Cup Final on May 11 at the Deep Water Bay Dragon-Boat Regatta. Visit www.lantauboatclub.com.

Photos courtesy of Lantau Boat Club

CELLULOID INCINERATOR PROTEST On May 18, local eco non-profit The Naked Islands Project and Happy Jellyfish People’s Democratic Language Bureau (headed up by Pui O-based Cecilie Gamst Berg) joined forces to raise awareness about the effect the proposed Shek Kwu Chau mega-incinerator may have on the health of island residents. Some 50 volunteers (children, babies, adults and pets) came together to play pollution-stricken victims in Man on Emission, filmed on Pui O Beach. For more on the short film, directed and released by Happy Jellyfish in Cantonese (with English subtitles), visit www.happyjellyfish.com.

Photos courtesy of Lindsey Price

OFFICE 3483 5003

www.homesolutions.hk

Kelly Merrick Sharon Riley Angie Lindsay Karmen Cheung

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(S-365384) (S-415474) (S-472175) (S-417315)

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18M TUNG CHUNG - CARIBBEAN COAST 2253’ Gross - 1749’ Net

2 flats combined to 1 create this stunning home! 2 Master Beds w/ ensuites, 2 additional Beds & 1 guest Bath. Large living area w/ open plan kitchen & appliances. Sea views from 2 balconies. Car parking space.

10.5M/38K HAM TIN VILLAGE HOUSE 2100’ + 700’ ROOF + GARDEN

Lovely village house in the heart of Ham Tin. 3 Bed, 2 Bath (1 ensuite), 1 study. Open living, dining kitchen area, plenty of kitchen storage.

Patio and landscaped garden!

6.5M MUI WO VILLAGE HOUSE 1400’ + 700 Roof

Unique 2 floor home in a quiet village. 3 Beds, 2 Baths inc 1 ensuite.

Helper room. Open plan kitchen includes dishwasher, stove top, oven, microwave & fridge freezer. Rooftop w/ mountain views.

38K TONG FUk VILLAGE HOUSE 2100’ + 700’

Nicely renovated village house. 4 Beds, 3.5 Baths inc 2 ensuites, extra living area & study. Open plan kitchen w/ all appliances. Separate helpers/ utility room. Large grassed garden & decked area. Sea views from rooftop.

4M/17.5K 2/F PUI O VILLAGE HOUSE 500’ + 500’ Roof

Making you feel at home is our business

Great new renovation! 1 Bed, 1 Bath. Living area w/ large windows & enclosed balcony. Kitchen on rooftop w/ dining area & all appliances.

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Call us any time at 3483 5003 or Email PROPERTY@HOMESOLUTIONS.HK

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ACROSS LANTAU

ISLAND-WIDE EVENTS FOR YOU TO ENJOY!

Photo courtesy of PSP

Keep Lantau BEAUTIFUL!

e 10

Jun

Head to Salon No. 10 in Central, at 7.30pm, for the premier of Keep Lantau Beautiful, the latest film from eco-group Paradigm Shift Project (PSP).

In consultation with Green Lantau Association (GLA) and many other local environmental associations, PSP intends the short film to go viral and encourage islanders to take action to protect Lantau. At the same time, PSP is petitioning the Hong Kong Government to voice people’s concerns over Lantau development plans. For more information, visit www.theparadigmshiftproject.org.

e 15

REGAL Father’s Day fun!

Jun

Photos courtesy of Regal Airport Hotel

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Treat your dad to FIFA World Cup celebrations and Father’s Day gifts at the Regal Airport Hotel! Watch the premier of Keep Lantau Beautiful, and petition to protect our island from overdevelopment! It’s all happening this month Friend us in Lantau! on Facebook for event reminders

www.lantaubasecamp.com June 2014

On their special day, fathers receive a complimentary cigar-shaped duck roll and a glass of red wine at Regal Airport Hotel’s Café Aficionado and The China Coast Bar and Grill. The hotel is also offering special treats, June 12 to July 13, during the FIFA World Cup. Expect themed cocktails, a World Cup Daily Fun Trivia Quiz, and a Brazilian buffet at Café Aficionado. For more information, visit www.regalhotel.com.

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PROFILE

STAR

ATTRACTION

Photos by Terry Chow and Claire Fraser, and courtesy of Bethan Greaves

She’s a singer, pianist, bassoonist and flautist, a conductor, actress, teacher and mother. Hannah Ball catches up with a new DB resident, the multi-talented Bethan Greaves

28

Bethan and her husband Tim at home in DB

June 2014

PROFILE

I

f you asked me to sum up Bethan Greaves’ career in a single paragraph, there’s no way I could do it. The website for her music company, Katterwall, tries in three, but even that doesn’t come close. At just 39, she’s taken part in well over 100 concerts, conducted more than 80 and auditioned just shy of 1,000 performers. She’s acted in 12 musicals, directed one, and even had her own radio show.

Right now, it’s clear she’s hitting all the right notes as Katterwall’s musical director, part-time music teacher at Island School and mother to Stanley, six months. To our gain, a year or so ago, she also became a DB resident.

Now a familiar face around DB, many of you will have found that you knew Bethan, or her work, already. A Hong Konger since 1999, she’s long worked with local theatre companies like Hong Kong Players and Lindsey McAlister Productions. She starred in Lindsey McAlister’s Flesh at the Shouson Theatre, Wanchai, in 2008/9, in a part written especially for her. Another highpoint came in 2009, when she directed Songs for a New World, the no-script musical by Jason Robert Brown, at the Fringe Club in Central. And from 2007 to 2009, Bethan presented the popular Non-stop Classics on weekday mornings for RTHK Radio 4.

“I’ve had opportunities here in Hong Kong I may not have had anywhere else,” she says. “It’s such an accepting, encouraging and supportive place to live.”

Early days Born and raised near Coventry, England, Bethan took to music early.

Aged five she learned the piano, at seven the flute, the bassoon at nine and she began singing lessons at 13. A regular church-goer until the age of 15, it was there that she learned to sight read. “We sang the same hymns over and over,” she says. “I would look at the music and teach myself.”

Westminster Abbey, Coventry Cathedral and York Minster rank among the many prestigious venues Bethan performed in growing up. As a secondary school student she sang on the BBC’s World Service, Radio 4 and on the BBC TV programme Songs of Praise.

A fan of “anything by Chicago or the Dixie Chicks when it comes to pop, and anything by Stephen Sondheim for musical theatre”, Bethan still considers “choral music the very pinnacle of excellence”. She loves Renaissance composers like Thomas Tallis and William Byrd and, from the 20th century, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten.

Interestingly, Bethan enrolled at Manchester University to study Music but changed to History of Art after one year.

“The music theory bored me to tears,” she admits, adding that of course she loves it now. Still passionate about art, she shares a studio in Sheung Wan, where she enjoys print-making and collage.

Hong Kong highlights Bethan first touched down in Hong Kong with the Girl Guides, aged 14, on her way to Japan; a memorable experience, since she recalls sitting in

the cockpit for the Kai Tak landing.

Her expat life began just after university when her then boyfriend asked her to move out here with him. “I was working in a kitchen shop in Surrey at the time,” she recalls. “I couldn’t have placed Hong Kong on a map, but I couldn’t think of a good excuse not to go, so on New Year’s Day, 1999, I was on a plane.”

Starting out, Bethan lived on Lamma teaching English at a language centre in Ap Lei Chau, and working as an artist and life model. “The life modelling first started when I took part in a life drawing class at university and the model didn’t turn up,” Bethan explains with a grin. “When they asked for a volunteer I suddenly felt my arm lifting, and that was that!”

In 1999, Bethan was also singing, first with the mixed chamber choir, The Cecilian Singers (which she came to conduct in 2002 and later became the musical director and chairman for).

In 2000 she formed her first choir, Heavenly Voices, where she met Katterwall’s current general manager, Celia Leung, who came along to audition.

“I can't remember what she sang (and as it turns out, neither can she), but Celia was one of my first ‘trust your gut instinct’ meetings,” Bethan says.

“I had a strong hunch we would do something together eventually. I didn't envisage over 10 years (and counting!) of being together though!”

A part-time lecturer in Musical Theatre at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from 2002 to 2007, Bethan also worked for the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation from 2000 to 2003. During her time as project manager, she organised literature exhibitions for kids, helped design stage costumes and directed the music for performances of Bugsy Malone and Little Shop of Horrors. “Both shows were steep learning curves for me,” she says, “especially when we moved into the theatre and encountered all the technical issues that invariably arise.  June 2014

29

PROFILE

Whenever I’ve been in the theatre (on or off stage) there’s always something new to learn.

“Looking back on it, I can see how my three years there grounded me for everything I do now,” she adds.

“I learned how to manage people, organise large-scale events, plan funding and generally see projects through to completion. I was finally seeing my ideas realised and it felt amazing.”

Katterwalling in DB And so to Katterwall, the music company Bethan founded in October, 2002. How did that come about?

“I distinctly remember a discussion on the future with a best friend from university,” Bethan says. “My friend turned to me and said, ‘Bethan, you're going to run your own company’.

Those words had been playing on my mind, so one evening I sat down, opened up an excel spreadsheet and started planning. I came up with the idea for a women’s choir [Kassia Women’s Choir] running in the evenings, and I had people biting my hand off with enthusiasm.

“It’s funny looking back on it now; I don't think I ever really stopped to think,” she adds. “When you’re in the middle of setting up your own business, all you can think about is the next immediate thing – have I phoned that person back, did I pass on that message. Ignorance and youth – that’s what got me through!”

Katterwall now has seven teachers, offering singing and music theory lessons, workshops and holiday courses. The SoHo Collective, Katterwall’s agency of around 30 singers, performs in a variety of styles, to a variety of audiences, and there’s Kassia Men’s Chorus and the 70-strong Kassia Women’s Choir. “Of the 70

Bethan with her gorgeous baby Stanley

huge supporter of everything I do,” Bethan says, “he even sings in the Kassia Men’s Chorus.”

Conducting Kassia Women’s Choir for a Glee Christmas Concert in December 2011

Conducting a Kassia Women’s Choir Soul Sisters 2 Concert in March 2010

women, at least 15 original members are still singing with us,” says Bethan, with a smile. “Many of my favourite musical moments have been during rehearsals. Some have moved me to tears, just thinking, here are a bunch of great people who actually get it!”

Eighteen months ago, Bethan married her partner of six years, accountant Tim Clark. The pair met in the interval of a production of Macbeth at the Shouson Theatre in 2008. “Tim is a

Find more local heroes

30

June 2014

Six months ago, the couple’s beautiful baby girl, Stanley, was born by IVF. “We were over the moon when the IVF worked first time,” Bethan says. “For three weeks my hormones were all over the place (and I even bought myself a pair of high heels with large flowers on the front, something I wouldn’t normally be seen dead in) but it was all worth it.”

Bethan says she knew after six months in Hong Kong that she was here for the long haul, and what with the birth of Stanley (and four rescue cats to home), it’s no surprise that she now calls DB home. “It’s green, quiet, friendly, well-served, good for prams, and I’m imagining great for exploring when Stanley is older,” she explains.

“I’m excited about being able to give my daughter as much independence and access to nature as I had growing up. DB offers that, whilst being a short hop, skip and ferry from Central.”

Find it • Katterwall, www.katterwall.com

Facebook and at www.arounddb.com

IN FOCUS

y nM am i r O ry Har

ha nyus s Ta i e Nam

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ippe Phil

Photos courtesy of Lloyd Belcher, Philippe Joly and Harry Oram

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A han re T o M g ilmin her f Belc

Joly

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June 2014

IN FOCUS

MAKING MOVIES Hong Kong’s independent filmmaking scene is growing fast, and it’s not unusual to see people shooting a scene or two around town.

Beverly Au talks to three Lantau-based filmmakers, who are passionately pursuing their artistic visions

D

epending on the circles you move in, four-year DB resident Philippe Joly, 38, is probably the best known of the three Lantau filmmakers I sit down with. Last year he starred in From Vegas to Macau with Chow Yun-fat, he has just completed Pound of Flesh where he shared a few scenes with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and is now filming the latest Jackie Chan adventure, Dragon Blade. His first film as producer-director was the 2013 action flick, VOR, and he just directed (and wrote) his second film, a short, Paid in Full.

Harry Oram, 29, a DB resident of two years, produced, starred in and directed the action-adventure movie My Name is Tanyusha last year, with co-writer Philippe. He also produced and starred in VOR. With My Name Is Tanyusha currently in post-production, Harry is currently working on producing a short film, The Gift, and right now he is on location on the mainland for Dragon Blade with Philippe (and Jackie Chan).

Lloyd Belcher, 42, a four-year Tung Chung resident, who like Harry was born in Hong Kong, rounds off the trio. Specialising in sport documentaries rather than action movies, Lloyd has just released More Than A Race, which follows the 100-kilometre journey of top athletes in the 2014 Vibram Hong Kong 100 ultra-trail marathon. His first film,

The Most Beautiful Thing, named for the race it depicts, has been selected for the 2014 Trails in Motion Film Festival World Tour. Right now, Lloyd is filming in Nepal for his PhD, and in January, he’ll be recording Malcolm Law’s attempt to run the length of New Zealand in 50 days.

Lights! Camera! Action The first thing I learn about the Hong Kong Indie filmmaking community is that it is thriving and tightly knit.

“The community is growing fast, and since it’s not very large yet, you are sure to bump into the same people from one set to another,” says Philippe, whose onscreen specialty is the ‘bad gweilo’.

This, and the Hong Kong Government being ‘filmmaker friendly in terms of permits’, makes it relatively easy to make films locally, Harry says. “Hong Kong is a small place and it doesn’t take long before the (English-speaking) community hears about someone seeking to make a film,” he adds. “Most of us want to see each other succeed, as a stronger, more prosperous film community would be to everyone’s benefit.

What’s more, Hong Kong crews are incredibly loyal and hardworking.”

Talking about how Indie films actually get made, Philippe is quick to explain the reliance on friendship (and personal passion) rather than

outside funding. “I focus on finding a dedicated crew, a good cast, and getting everyone involved to trust me as a director and share my passion for the film I want to make,” he says. “I am not saying you shouldn’t pay people of course, but on VOR, we had no money whatsoever and we filmed for four months. Good Indie filmmaking tends to create families rather than just teams.

Everyone gets experience, exposure and meets interesting people that they may work with again on other projects of their own. The money, if any, will come later, from opportunities opened by the films made.”

“It’s like the Wild West here, it’s sort of every filmmaker for himself, no way is the right way and there isn't exactly a path to follow,” Harry adds. “The key, as with anything, is you just gotta do it, and keep getting better at it. Get a track-record and the experience and recognition that will attract investors.”

Certainly this is how it has worked for Lloyd, who was commissioned to film More Than A Race by the Vibram Hong Kong 100 organisers, Steve Brammar and Janet Ng. “They were familiar with my filming and photography work,” Lloyd explains. “They wanted a piece that would capture the race as it unfolded and also give an insight into Hong Kong as a destination for trail enthusiasts.” It helped of course that Lloyd is a keen long-distance runner himself.  June 2014

33

IN FOCUS

Passion projects If an Indie filmmaker is usually working on a shoestring budget, and passion is the only thing that gets a film made, he also tends to be someone who plays many parts, fulfils many roles.

“I love being part of the whole process,” Harry says. “Acting is the most direct way I can do that but if I can’t act it, I will write it; if someone has written it, I will help produce it. I didn’t set out to be a director, but as I gained more experience in film, so I developed my own style and taste. Also, I felt like I had to step up to the top job [director] in order to make sure some projects happened.”

Philippe’s cinematic trek also began in front of the camera, and then expanded.

“After a lot of acting and watching great directors at work, I realised that making a film was accessible, so I started writing screenplays. I became passionate about that too. From there, I decided to make my first film happen, and directed VOR.” Cameraman, director and editor of More Than A Race, Lloyd describes filming, which took four months, as a ‘military operation’. “We started in December, capturing the racers’ preparations, and on race day, we had three cameramen (videographers Romain Riche and Robin Lee and myself) and one person in charge of logistics. I was on the back of a motorbike for some of the filming, and running up mountains to get ahead of the runners at other times to capture them as they passed by.” Lloyd edited all the footage for his film in his Tung Chung flat.

So who gets to see these films? Who are they made for? Clearly, More Than A Race is a niche documentary, targeted at the international running community. To widen his audience, Lloyd had the runners interviewed speak in their native languages, providing subtitles as needed. “The film will include other audiences aside

given the type of bloody action films I like writing, a fair guess is that passing mainland censorship would be out for me anyway.”

On location VOR still

More Than A Race still

“Hong Kong represents a great location for my stories,” Philippe says.

“It allows me to use a rich history, a strategic geography and a tradition of action cinema, resulting in a certain exotic feel and interesting characters.”

Paid in Full still

from the English one. The Vibram Hong Kong 100 is part of a world tour after all,” he explains.

More Than A Race enjoyed a Hong Kong Charity Screening at The Hub in Admiralty on May 23, and you can watch it for free on the video-sharing website Vimeo.

Harry and Philippe’s films are focused on the overseas markets and festival circuits, and most go straight to the foreign buyers, bypassing Hong Kong. Unlike films made locally in Cantonese/ Mandarin, they are not aimed at the mainland audience.

“While the local bilingual crew and cast are often working on both, the foreign directors and writers tend to make films only in English, and for an English-speaking audience,” notes Philippe. “Everyone is trying to break into the vast mainland market but

Find more topical local topics

34

June 2014

Seeking to encourage and expand the independent filmmaking scene, the three moviemakers are also promoting Hong Kong, as a city that looks great on film. “With More Than A Race, I wanted to really show Hong Kong off,” says Lloyd. “I love that juxtaposition between city and trail.” Harry is also very proud of his birth city: “We have so much scenery that is iconic, so many large-scale Hollywood movies have been shot here for that reason: Batman, Transformers, Pacific Rim to name a few.”

Recording runners on some of our most formidable trails, Lloyd has done much to showcase Lantau, but how about Harry and Philippe? “DB has great scenery for filming,” Harry says. “My current project, The Gift, which my film partner Lisa Belcher is directing, has scenes that will be shot on Lantau. We may be working with some students of Discovery College as well.”

“DB offers a lot of nice crowd-free locations that can be used efficiently,” Philippe adds. “I’ve scouted a great DB location for my next project, Bloody River.” Stay tuned!

Find it • Lloyd Belcher, www.lloydbelchervisuals.com • Philippe Joly, www.driftingpictures.com • Harry Oram, www.hkreels.com

at www.arounddb.com

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FAMILY MATTERS

Photos courtesy of 9 Dragons Fitness, Acting Antics, Discovery Mind Kindergarten, Embody, Harry Wright International, Mandarin for Munchkins, Midget Gems, Movement Improvement, RugBees, Sport4Kids and Treasure Island

summer ergarten’s Mind Kind ry ve co is D

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1 camp, 201

2014 rovement, ement Imp ov M t a s id Yoga for k

Acting Antics’

production of I Wanna be a Pirate

, 2013

9 Dragons Fitn ess Circus Show case, 2014

SUMMER CAMPS

FOR KIDS Are you looking to keep your kids entertained (and off their computers) over the holidays? Hannah Ball lists 32 cool summer activities on offer in DB, Tung Chung and South Lantau

A

s much as children look forward to it, the long summer vacation can get boring. Unless that is you give them something constructive to do! Regardless of the type of summer camp you choose, kids will appreciate the opportunity to learn new skills (and perfect old ones), socialise, stay active and have fun.

June 2014

With local clubs covering everything from surfing and Mandarin, to capoeira, soccer and acting, Lantau kids (from pre-walking to teenage) are guaranteed an eventful summer.

Wet ‘n’ wild Water babies are well served at Harry Wright International’s Summer

Holiday Weekly Intensive Swimming Camp, held at Club Siena and the Discovery Bay Recreation Club (DBRC). Sessions are available for kids aged four months to 12 years, June 30 to August 15.

Ocean loving kids, aged five to 18, can get on board at Treasure Island in Pui O. At the centre’s surfing camps,

FAMILY MATTERS

Sport4Kid

s’ Mini-Sp orts

Kids’

dy, 2013 yoga at Embo

4

’s Club, 201

s Kid Midget Gem

running June 23 to August 15, water safety is a priority and children also enjoy games on the beach.

Get sporty Kids, aged three to six, can try out any number of sports, such as basketball, football, rugby, gymnastics and athletics at Sport4Kids’ weeklong Mixed-Sport Summer Camp, at Club Siena, July 21 to August 15.

Classes focus on developing children’s essential gross motor and coordination skills in a secure, non-competitive and fun-filled environment.

At the Tung Chung-based 9 Dragons Fitness Komodo Kids Summer Camp, running June 30 to August 22, kids, aged four to 11, work on their coordination skills, balance and fitness, through gymnastics, aerial arts, acrobatics and games. iGym Gymnastics’ summer camp, at Discovery Bay International School Kindergarten, June 20 to July 4, focuses on gymnastics, and includes

RugBees’ ru gby-play p

activities on an inflatable air track, for kids aged three to 12.

Football fans, aged four to 14, can sign up for HK Dragons’ soccer summer camps held at the DB North Plaza Pitch and in Tung Chung North Park, June 30 to August 15. Young players, aged 18 months to five years, can join any of the weekly soccer camps put on

by Tinytots Soccer in DB Community Hall, throughout July and August.

RugBees is offering a rugby-play summer camp, August 4 to 8, at OpenSpace DB, in DB North Plaza.

Morning sessions are for kids aged ‘walking’ to two years, afternoon sessions cater to kids aged two to four.

The use of stories, music and props helps to hold children’s attention and bring the sessions to life.

For something different again, Hong Kong School of Capoeira’s summer school, running June 30 to August 22, at BMSE in DB North Plaza,

Summer C

rogramme,

amp, 2012

2014

offers the chance for kids, aged three to 17, to learn capoeira. This Brazilian martial art combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and selfdefence and covers many essential developmental steps.

Let’s dance!

Kids who like to dance are spoilt for choice over the summer in DB. Embody’s Zumba for Tweens – the ultimate dance-fit party for kids aged seven to 11 – encourages children to stay fit, while practising being fearless on the dance floor. The DB Plaza studio also holds weekly yoga classes: Yoga for Kiddies (three to six years), Yoga for Tweens (seven to 11), and Yoga for Teens (12 to 18). Movement Improvement (MI) in DB North Plaza is hosting Yogakids summer camps, for kids aged seven to 11, July 7 to 11.

For ballet, jazz and contemporary dance, Island Dance’s summer camps, for kids aged five to eight, run from  June 2014

37

FAMILY MATTERS

Harry Wrigh t

Internationa l’s

swim school

, 2014

, 2013 rm camp s’ mid-te in k ch n u n for M Mandari

Treasure Island Surf Camp, 2012

July 7 to August 14 at Club Siena, with a performance at the end for the children to show what they’ve learned.

Kids, aged three and four, can take part in DMR School of Ballet’s Fun Ballet classes, running until August 23 in DB Plaza.

Island Dance also offers hip-hop workshops at the DBRC for kids aged seven to 10, July 7 to 31. DMR School of Ballet is hosting three choreography camps, for kids aged five to 11, July 7 to August 9.

Creative pursuits Artsy kids, aged six to nine, can sign up for one of Discovery Mind Primary School’s summer camps, running June 23 to July 11 in DB North Plaza.

There are three camps on offer (Time Travellers, Around the World in 80 Days and I am Famous), all involving arts and crafts, and writing games and activities.

Young art lovers, aged three to 16, can join The British Studio of Art’s

38

June 2014

DB summer camp, running from June 23 to August 15. Activities include painting, drawing, t-shirt printing and cake decorating.

Talking of baking, at Complete Deelite in Central, (co-owned by DB resident Agnes Yu), kids, aged 12 to 18, learn all the techniques of cake making and decorating. Complete Deelite’s Junior Cake Chef Summer Camp runs July 7 to August 21.

Acting out At the Acting Antics Kids Theatre Camps kids, aged five to 12, get to put on a fully costumed play in just five days. Programmes run from June 30 to August 8 at the Black Box Theatre, Discovery College, and the plays being performed this year include The Adventures of Red and Ruby Riding Hood and Under the Sea. Kids, aged seven to 11, are trained in singing, dancing and acting by professional performers at the Performers Studio’s week-long

summer camp, August 4 to 8. Daily classes in acting techniques, character development, choreography and vocal training push kids to do their maximum. The DB venue is yet to be decided.

For drama lessons, outdoor activities and arts and crafts, Lantau International School’s Summer Programme in Pui O, running June 30 to July 11 and August 18 to 22, is open to kids aged seven to 12.

Languages and math Kids, aged 15 months to five years, can better their English or Putonghua at the Discovery Mind summer camps held at Discovery Mind Kindergarten in Coastline Villa, and Discovery Mind International Play Centre in DB Plaza, running July 7 to August 1. Mandarin for Munchkins’ summer programmes run June 30 to August 29, in DB North Plaza for kids aged three to eight.

Eye Level, the learning centre in DB 

Wise Owl Homework Club is an after school programme that provides a quiet, supervised environment for your child to complete his or her homework, promptly and efficiently.

CONVENIENTLY LOCATED IN THE PLAZA For availability and pricing information please contact us at:

info@wiseowl.com.hk www.wiseowl.com.hk Present this ad for a homeworkclub trial session

DB COBRAS JUDO CLUB • Offers Judo classes for children of all ages • Increase in physical fitness, strength & flexibility • Boosts self-esteem & confidence • Improves discipline • Self defense • Make new friends & have FUN!

Classes available on Mondays, Wednesdays & Saturdays

Location: Discovery College Email: elliot@cobrasportshk.com

FAMILY MATTERS Plaza and DB North Plaza, is running English and Math classes every weekday throughout the summer, for kids, aged three to 14, who require more than a traditional rote learning environment. Also focused on Math, is Wiseowl’s three-day Become a Number Whizz camp. Sessions are held in DB Plaza, August 18 to 20, for children aged five to 11.

Wiseowl’s creative writing workshop, Published By You, is designed for children who love to create stories, but also for reluctant writers who need a little encouragement. Kids, aged seven to 11, can sign up for the sessions in DB Plaza, June 30 to July 5.

Play centres Little kids can take advantage of a host of special activities being put on

at DB play centres over the summer.

At Playtime Kids DB, from July 2 to August 22 in Cherish Court, kids, aged 15 months to six years, learn from a variety of age-appropriate games, songs and stories. Activities include planting, baking and decorating, beading, clay work and brush painting.

Early Adventures Playgroup offers summer camps in the Greens from June 30 to August 22, for kids aged eight months to four years. This is an ideal drop-in session, with weekly themes like pirates, cookery and outer space.

At Midget Gems Kid’s Club’s themed

weekly programmes, running June 30 to August 20 in DB Plaza, kids, aged two to five, are offered arts and crafts, music, games, stories and phonics.

Bayview House of Children, in DB Plaza, is offering an eco-focused summer holiday programme, June 30 to August 15. There’s the EcoKids Project, for kids aged three to six, and Eco Reporter for kids aged four to six. Children participate in gardening projects and outdoor games, while learning about wildlife, energy, climate change, the ocean, recycling and land use.

Find it • Contact details for all these summer-camp providers are listed on page 15 • You can list your Lantau business for free at www.arounddb.com. Just click on Add your Business, at the bottom of the homepage, and follow the instructions

Find more clubs and activities

at www.arounddb.com

Swimming for Children Harry Wright International - The Premier Swim School Lessons from Parent & Infant through to competitive training • • • •

Club Siena & Discovery Bay Recreation Club Professional instruction Structured & progressive programme Indoor heated pool

Please call 2575 6279 or email swimming@harrywright.com.hk website: www.harrywright.com.hk Accepting Enrollment for Summer Holiday Programme 30 June - 15 August 2014

I am very proud to announce that iGym Gymnastics opened its doors at the Discovery Bay International School Kindergarten on 22 May 2014. iGym Gymnastics would like to welcome any new potential gymnasts onto our team. We are looking for individuals with a desire learn and have as much fun as their busy lives allow for.

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SUMMER CAMPS AT CLUB SIENA July - August 2014

Our Mixed Sports Summer Camps for 3-6 year olds at Club Siena focus on developing children's essential sports, gross motor and coordination skills in secure, supportive and fun-filled environments!

Contact us to enroll your child for a summer of fun! ¥ 2987-7382 ¥ www.sport4kids.hk ¥ dbrc-enquiries@dbrc.hk

Basketball • Soccer • Gymnastics

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Athletics

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MONEY MATTERS

DIVIDING THE PIE Breaking up is never easy, and financial issues can be as difficult to work out as emotional ones. Annette M. Houlihan advises on restarting your finances after divorce

T Illustration courtesy of www.divorceny.com

he divorce rate is low in Hong Kong (27% for expats) compared to that of the UK (47%) or the US (53%), but each year I am amazed by the number of divorces I witness in Discovery Bay. Whether or not there is a break-up bug in the water in DB, or we should all move to the Caribbean where the divorce rate is just 10% max, is one subject, but what we are looking at here is how best to repair your finances after divorce.

People going through a divorce suffer financial as well as emotional trauma.

More often than not, the standard of living of both (ex) spouses drops in the first few years after a divorce.

The primary reason for this is that their cumulative income and pool of assets suddenly has to support two households instead of one.

Unfortunately, most people do not prepare themselves financially or emotionally for this consequence.

So what can you do prior to and during

a divorce to minimise the financial fallout? The answers are simple but not always easy to put into practice.

Reaching a settlement Divorce can cost you an arm and a leg or just a few thousand dollars, depending on the way you go about it. If you involve lawyers, your estate will be depleted by their fees, so it is always best, if possible, to discuss your individual requirements before acquiring legal advice. If you can’t come to an agreement with your spouse, you can contract a mediator (literally a person who mediates between you) for less than HK$5,000.

Lawyers can charge this much an hour.

By ‘doing it yourself ’, i.e. you apply to the Family Court (having satisfied one of its reasons for divorce), you can be divorced within four months for less than HK$3,000. If you prefer, once you have agreed on terms, you can appoint a lawyer simply to represent you in court. This costs

around HK$10,000 to HK$20,000, depending on the legal firm.

On the other hand, a long drawn-out divorce involving lawyers can literally wipe out your estate. Should you get into a really long fight (the two of you can’t agree on who is entitled to what), assets in joint names, such as bank accounts, stock portfolios and savings funds, may be frozen by the court. If liquid funds are misused or misappropriated by either party, the court can intervene.

Note that 39% of divorced people in Hong Kong complain that their settlement, as decided by the court, was not satisfactory. The best, less stressful way forward is always to arrange financial matters yourself.

Budgeting and estate planning You can expect your income to drop after your divorce is final, so the first step is to develop a budget based on needs – not wants – and keep in mind  June 2014

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MONEY MATTERS

that your expenses need to stay within your post-divorce income.

It’s absolutely essential that you know what financial assets you have, and that you can account for them. Account statements have a way of disappearing when divorce proceedings start.

When contemplating divorce, start by collecting statements of all your financial holdings and put together a list of your assets. These include retirement assets (pensions, MPF), liquid assets (bank accounts, stock portfolios), real-estate holdings (title deeds), personal property (jewellery, artwork, antiques), cash-value life insurance (savings plans) and business interests.

Look, too, to your estate planning.

Anything that was in joint names should be separated immediately, if possible, such as bank accounts or stock portfolios. (You need to get legal documentation in place to put a hold or claim on distribution of assets that can’t be separated, such as pensions or maturing savings plans.) Note that lifeinsurance beneficiaries may have to be changed and/ or you may have to apply for more cover. As a divorced spouse, you may not be entitled to previous death-in-service benefits (your exspouses’ company life insurance).

Most importantly, you need to change your will. Marriage revokes any will but a divorce does not. Consider too that your succession planning needs can change: existing trusts may need to be altered, with regard to who inherits and how.

Getting your house in order In the lead-up to a divorce, consider whether you can afford to keep your existing property. If there are children involved, it may be emotionally satisfying and seem practical to keep the house but it may make little or no financial sense. The equity in a house is illiquid, meaning it will not pay the

bills. It may be more practical to sell the family home to create two further homes. Depending on the time that you bought versus the time you want to re-buy, any profit made will help secure your standard of living.

If you have children at the time of your divorce, as so many of us in DB do, it’s essential of course that you and your spouse agree on maintenance payments (and alimony), and that your agreement is legally binding.

Apart from the horrible task of telling your little ones that mum and dad will no longer be living together, you need to consider the huge burden of education costs, especially for college and/ or university level. It is easy to dismiss these from existing financial planning when children are young but time moves fast. Before you know it, they only have a few years to go before leaving school. Have you factored enough in to cover furthereducation costs?

Even if your child opts for university in Hong Kong, you’re looking at paying a basic HK$135,000 per year. For university overseas, additional factors have to be taken into account, such as board and living expenses, special costs relating to advanced study (computers, equipment, insurances), extra-curriculum requirements (study trips, student exchange) and so on.

A year of university study in the US comes in at over HK$600,000.

Moving on If divorce is the end of your old life, it is also the start of a new one, and you need to focus on your financial needs

June 2014

When finalising your new budget, you need to consider how much you can set aside for yourself. This is for the short-term expenses likely to occur within the year of a divorce, but also for the longer term. Consider factors such as where you will live, the cost of living, the income needed to support the cost of living, and how to generate that income not just whilst working but in retirement. How will you cover any shortfall in funds?

Most divorces are not settled nicely (we have fallen out in most circumstances, so what do we expect?) but the moral of the story is to avoid cutting off your nose to spite your face. Bear in mind that the financial decisions you make will affect you, your spouse and your children. Shortsighted activity or even inactivity may have a long-term effect for everyone.

Above all stay positive and begin to create a new empire for yourself.

Global divorce rates • Australia 43% • Caribbean 5% to 10% • France 55% • Germany 49% • Hong Kong 27% expat

22% local • UK 47% • USA 53%

Find it Annette M. Houlihan is managing director of Central-based financial advisory firm Carey, Suen & Associates. You can contact her at annette@careysuen.com for a no-obligation discussion or meeting, or visit www.careysuen.com.

Find more monetary advice

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for the future. Whether you received a good settlement on the end of the payout, you achieved an even distribution, or you faired poorly, you need to work out how best to proceed. You will still want to do what you set out to do financially, and now you have to reevaluate and work out how.

at www.arounddb.com

TALKING POINTS

TEEN SPIRIT

Photos by Martin Shock and Rosanna Sy-Siong, and courtesy of DB Pirates

It’s not just the adult athletes you need to keep your eye on at this year’s DB Dragon-Boat Races, there are some powerful teen paddlers on board too. Around DB reports

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ou’ve probably seen (and heard) the various teams training off Nim Shue Wan for the DB DragonBoat Races, being held this year on June 1. Some 49 teams representing Discovery Bay residents and businesses are competing, and to add to the excitement, the 2014 event sees more opportunities for teen paddlers to get on board.

Teens have long been making a splash at the races, paddling alongside the adults, and this year, HKRI is introducing a dedicated youth category. Teen competitors must be between 14 and 17, and there must be no less than two (and no more than four) adults on a boat. Three youth category teams are signed up at the June 2014

time of writing: Discovery College (Team DC), Lamma Dragons and Buddhist Tai Hung College.

“The youth race was recommended by the community and the local dragon-boat teams,” explains Joey Li, assistant community relations officer for Discovery Bay Services Management. “Allowing teenagers to form a team provides opportunities for them to build team spirit and have a great workout.”

Young bloods Team DC captain and coach Neil Robbins expects around 16 to 20 teens to come out on race day. If there’s space on the boats, non-DC teens can join in the fun – and the pre-race training.

Dragon boating is a tough sport, and DC students train twice weekly, two months prior to the event. “Dragon boating is a commitment and can test the fitness and coordination of the best,” Neil says. “Developing a sense of teamwork is key to the success of the team – individuals don’t win dragonboat races, and they don’t generate team spirit either! The race itself starts long before the start line – in the mindset of the paddlers, and in the weeks of training leading up to race day.”

For Barak Michaelis, 17, who joined Team DC for the first time in 2012, it’s all about “learning a skill, bonding with others and simply having fun. I am a competitive person by nature,” he adds, “I want to help the DC dragonboat team start to win some races.”

TALKING POINTS

Team DC teens training to compete in this year’s youth category

Water babies Anyone over 14 can join an adult category dragon-boat team, with the rules stipulating that there are no more than eight teens to a team.

Unsurprisingly, you’ll spot more than a handful of keen teens paddling alongside their elders on June 1.

“We’ve had fantastic youth interest and participation this year,” says DB Pirates (Wags ‘n’ Wenches) ladies’ team captain, Renee Fraser. “They are very consistent at turning up at training and very enthusiastic about learning the sport. They bring a lot of energy to the boat which is refreshing.

Next year, we’ll look into entering a youth-team boat at the DB races.”

Eleanor Udall and Chania Baldwin (both 17-year-old DC students) confirm that while dragon boating with the DB Pirates is tough, it’s loads of fun. “There’s a great atmosphere in the boat,” says Eleanor, a keen rugby player, who is paddling for her team for the third year running.

Kelsey Wallace, 16, who also attends

DB Pirates (Wags ‘n’ Wenches) ladies’ dragon-boat team members

DC, has been competing in the DB Dragon-Boat Races for the past two years in the Discovery Bay International Community Church team. She says she first got involved to extend her fitness regime.

Discovery Bay International Community Church dragon-boat team

“I thought that paddling would be a good workout,” she explains. “I was also curious. I heard that dragon boating wasn’t like kayaking or canoeing; I heard that it has its own techniques, and I wanted to know more.”

Find it • Buddhist Tai Hung College, www.bthc.edu.hk • Discovery Bay Dragon-Boat Races, www.dragonboathk.com • Discovery Bay International Community Church, www.dbicc.org • DB Pirates, www.dbpirates.com • Lamma Dragons, www.lammadragons.com • Team DC, dcpta.dragonboat@gmail.com

Find more topical local topics

at www.arounddb.com

June 2014

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MOMENTS

BLAST FROM THE PAST Childhood friends reunited in DB, Stephanie Holland and Jessica Stephens tell Jane Clyde about their parallel lives and fledgling fashion business

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hen Stephanie Holland and Jessica Stephens bumped into each other at the Club Siena bus stop in November 2011, they hadn’t seen each other for 18 or so years. Best friends growing up in Loughborough in the UK, they had lost touch after university and so the chance encounter was serendipitous to say the least.

“We recognised each other immediately and found out we were living in flats five minutes from each other,” Stephanie says. “We also found that our eldest sons are both called Archie, and both our eldest children are a similar age.”

Jessica, 39, had then been living in DB for nearly four years, with her husband Pete. Her children Archie and Aggie were aged five and two. Stephanie, also 39, married to Steve, had just moved to DB. Her kids Archie and Jess (named for Jessica) were four and two. Now both women have three kids: Jessica’s baby Frida is just three-and-a-half months, Stephanie’s youngest, Grace, is two years old.

With all this serendipity going on, it’s no surprise that the ladies are now going into business together.

Stephanie’s background is in sales and marketing, Jessica was an interior designer – their new business, Aurza, is an online service allowing shoppers to dream up their perfect dresses.

The friends relied heavily on friends for the start-up this May. “People have been unbelievably generous with their time, contacts and experience,” Stephanie says. “It is thanks to our friends that we found an awesome factory in Shenzhen and a photographer, Nancy Paddison.”

As is often the way with Discovery Bay ventures, the idea was born in Zak’s in DB Plaza. “We had just had a disastrous shopping trip to try and buy post-baby clothes but fit was a real issue and so was style,” Stephanie recalls. “We believed that finding clothes that we actually wanted and that fitted without compromise was a pretty widespread need for women and one that wasn’t really being met.”

Through Aurza you can design your own dress by changing the neckline, sleeves, skirt-length, trims, fabrics etc.

“With access to millions of different combinations of dresses, you no longer have to wear something that isn’t quite right for your body shape or personality,” Stephanie says.

Business partners It’s clear the two friends are doing something right. At the end of last year, through Indiegogo (an international crowd-funding site where anyone can raise money for small businesses, charities etc.), Aurza dresses leapt off the racks, to the tune of HK$235,000.

“When I came to DB heavily pregnant, Jessica was fantastic,” Stephanie recalls. “I didn’t have help at first so when it was time to get to the hospital to give birth in December 2011 my kids stayed with her family. She got me on the ferry (and then my husband to the hospital just in time). Jessica was my first visitor.”

So are the ladies at all nervous about working together? “We know it can be incredibly stressful setting up on your own, and even more so if you have children desperate for your time,” Stephanie says. “However we have a shared background, similar values and a completely complementary skill set which means we value what each other does rather than look to find holes in it.

We are also pretty open people and we tend to say what we are thinking, with most of the time a good dose of empathy thrown in.”

Photo by Nancy Paddison

Forever friends

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The old friends found they were living in DB for similar reasons. “We both wanted to live somewhere with a good community, open spaces and facilities for families,” explains Jessica. It almost goes without saying that the pair’s husbands and kids get along famously.

Find it Jessica and Stephanie together in DB

Find more local gossip June 2014

• Aurza, www.aurza.com

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ESCAPES

RAJASTHAN’S

RICHES

On a road trip through the ‘maharaja state’, Peter Sherwood revels in exquisite palaces, massive forts and ancient temples, plus all the filth, stench and insanity of incredible India

Photos courtesy of www.galleryhip.com

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aving survived – at times with cosmic wonder – a 1,800-kilometre taxi ride around the explosion of the senses that is Rajasthan, I recommend this trip to everyone.

Making your way anti-clockwise from Delhi through Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaipur and Agra (which is incidentally just across the state line in Uttar Pradesh), Rajasthan’s magnificent sites are staggering. Hire a taxi in New Delhi for under HK$8,000 and you can visit most of them in two weeks; it’s cheaper than staying home – and a lot more entertaining.

Picture yourself in Jaisalmer, an ancient Mughal city that rises magically from June 2014

the sand dunes; in the blue-painted medieval streets of Jodhpur; in Udaipur, an enchanting place where intricate Medieval temples and palaces overlook shimmering lakes; in pink-painted Jaipur with its Rajput and Mughal-style palaces and forts; and of course in Agra at sunrise, getting your first glimpse of the Taj Mahal.

Try, too, to include something of Shekhawati in your itinerary; this region with its frescoed 18thcentury mansions is often referred to as the world’s largest open-air art gallery. Note, too, that in Rajasthan’s Ranthambore National Park, your chances of spotting a tiger in the wild are among the best in India.

You’ll be in the Thar Desert for much of your trip and if you find it to your liking, check out Bikaner and Pushkar.

These holy, hippy desert towns see a lot less traffic than Jaisalmer. Bundi also often gets overlooked by tourists, yet it’s a captivating place to visit, with its lakes, markets, temples and bluepainted houses similar to Jodhpur.

I’ve decided not to go into detail here even about the must-see Rajasthan sites – you must see those for yourself.

Anyway, so jaw-droppingly fabulous are they, that no words of mine could possibly do them justice. Instead, I’m going to give you a real taste of the weird, wacky and totally mad ‘maharaja state’.

ESCAPES

A fusion of Rajasthani and Mughal architectural styles at Udaipur’s City Palace

Of sights and smells When American writer P.J. O’Rourke lumped together the Central Asian states of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Ali G’s Kazakhstan, all under the cynically accurate epithet of ‘Trashcanistan’, Rajasthan was not included. And neither should it be you cry indignantly; it is in India!

Consider though, along what is euphemistically called the state highway system of Rajasthan are towns and villages rich in rubbish (as well as antiquity). And not a garbage bin in the entire state.

Firstly then, I have a couple of questions for the Indian Government.

Have you considered cleaning the place up a bit and buying some bins?

According to the latest figures, your Central Bank is holding US$302 billion in reserves. That’d get you a bin or two. And a few rules might come in handy: India leads the world in road fatalities, with around 134,000 a year. My driver explained how the government has cracked down hard on corruption amongst traffic cops – by institutionalising it.

The lure of the desert

In the past, an INR400 (HK$50) speeding fine could be handled with an INR100 payment to the police.

Now drivers get an official receipt for an on-the-spot fine – and the police are officially paid 25 percent

Breaking trail through piles of muck aside, the trick to travel here is to keep moving. Stand still and you won’t be so much accosted as sidled up to – by young men impersonating Peter Lorre in a Bogart flick, endlessly curious to 

of everything they collect. I could not have invented this.

A note to India’s Ministry of Tourism: please explain the tourism development strategy of the combination main street/ open sewer infrastructure.

And enlighten me as to the nutritional benefits of the plastic bag as a food source for beasts of burden.

June 2014

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ESCAPES

Palace of Winds, Jaipur

Jain temple, Ranakpur

Taj Mahal, Agra

Jaisalmer rising from the desert

Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

establish your country of origin and solve your immediate transportation problems, while attending to your desperate need for a miniature wooden chess set. Being alone here is as alien a concept as a wedding without a few thousand of your nearest and dearest.

Rajasthan is zany and totally incomprehensible. Soon after leaving Delhi for the Thar Desert, camels suddenly appear in a landscape that is outback Australia without the beer and blowflies. Camels! Camels pulling cartloads of bricks and carrying Mr and Mrs Lawrence of Arabia from Brisbane on a half-day voyage of

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June 2014

discovery. Not exactly Peter O’Toole leading the charge into Aqaba, but you get what you pay for.

In the midst of this vast expanse of not very much, I got stuck in a traffic jam on a lonely railway crossing, an embarrassment that might be considered ludicrous anywhere but here, particularly if the Delhi to Jaipur Express had been on time. The Big Question is not why hordes of people choose to make this the most densely populated desert on earth, but why young Rudolph Valentino look-alikes gather here to hold hands (with each other) and giggle and point at tourists.

Camel Fair, Pushkar

On the road Driving here is a video game designed by lobotomy patients. Ripping along a new two-lane highway from Udaipur to Jaipur, a very large truck (VLT) approached us head on, and at around 100 kilometres/ per hour. My driver moved over nonchalantly to let this monster pass, and without as much as a ‘You stupid %#@&*%!’ My bloke’s reaction filled me with an emotion not dissimilar to blind panic.

Such horrors may provide an insight into the bizarre psyche of Rajasthanis at the wheel (or the reins), but 

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ESCAPES

does little to explain the wide and expensive median strips decorated with a profusion of palm trees. Junk Car Racing of America oversees road safety: a crazy course of starving dogs, desperate donkeys, decrepit camels and dozy cattle take the middle lane, or zigzag for variety.

As befits the world’s biggest democracy, you use whatever part of the road takes your fancy, or whichever bit is vacant. Roadside tea shops, the occasional field, or Mrs Singh’s front garden all offer a way forward at high speed and while raging at the wife on your cell phone. Nearing the end of this labyrinth of death and entering Jaipur my driver said matter-of-factly, “You need to put on your seatbelt now”. By now I’m catatonic.

A quick change of underwear and it was off to see the vast and incredible Palace of Winds, and to a temple from where I gave thanks to all 330 million Hindu deities for arriving safely in Jaipur – or anywhere.

The scent of the Taj Finally to Agra and the magnificent Taj Mahal, crown jewel in any Rajasthan tour. As early morning visitors mount the expansive white-marble base and meander towards the rear of this iconic masterpiece to capture the view to the flood plain far below, something

Getting there

and around

Fly into New Delhi direct from Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific or Jet Airways. Many taxi drivers do the Rajasthan tour ‘circuit’ routinely, or you can make the trip by bus, coach, train or plane. Allow yourself 15 to 17 days. (If you only have a week, stick to the so-called Golden Triangle, taking in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.)

When to visit The weather in Rajasthan is most temperate from November to March.

Note though that the world and his wife head to the ‘maharajah state’ over Christmas and New Year.

tials

Itinerary essen

Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Ranakpur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaipur and Agra.

unexpected and overwhelming rises up through the mist to greet them, and literally take their breath away – the putrid stench of the Yamuna River.

This is incongruity in spades. People from all over have come to glory in this extravagant monument to love; and while they do come away with a striking memory of the Taj at dawn, they will never forget that open sewer. Note to the authorities: spray some Pine Fresh on your less than fragrant river.

Find more exciting holiday destinations

Well, OK, India is a poor and developing country (with US$302 billion in reserves and a ferociously well-equipped army). We should hardly expect things to be designed

by Norman Foster and run by IBM. But you don’t get nuclear weapons for HK$100 apiece on eBay. Memo to the Indian Army: melt down a couple of hundred tanks and you could make rubbish bins for the entire state of Rajasthan. That would be really incredible.

at www.arounddb.com

ACTION

ARMY

DREAMERS Photos courtesy of Andy Kendall

Drafted to meet up with Lieutenant Andy Kendall and his young Discovery Bay troop, former air cadet Karmel Schreyer finds out what’s in store for a new recruit

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ou’ll have seen long-term Given the fact that in the era of volunteer instructors.

DB resident, Andy Kendall Twitter and Instagram, today’s youth charging around with a (and many a grown-up, too!) seem So what makes this young troop of group of young people more interested in sharing a bit of DBers want to sweat it out and be aged 11 to 18 on your weekend hikes disorderly conduct than in sticking to bossed around in their off-time? “The around DB. You really can’t miss them. a disciplined regime and respecting army stuff and discipline are a means Kitted out in full combat gear, with their authority figures, these cadets and not an end in itself for these cadets camouflaged faces and replica rifles are certainly a curiosity. But as it to get fit and learn important values, at the ready, they are the Hong Kong turns out the DB Junior Leaders such as responsibility and respect,” Junior Leaders, a DB section of the Troop, which Andy, an 18-year British Andy, who has taught fitness and karate Hong Kong Adventure Corps, which Army veteran, started last December, in DB since 1997, explains. “The main is a voluntary youth group modelled is hugely popular, and now numbers objective is to give youngsters a better TheArmy MdS is Cadet a seven-day, 240-kilometresome stage race25 through the Sahara competitors carrysense everything water and tents in their packs after the British Force. cadets and Desert; six DB-based of except self-reliance, resourcefulness, June 2014

ACTION

The 25-strong DB Junior Leaders Troop, for kids aged 11 to 18, with Lieutenant Andy Kendall seated front right

endurance, perseverance, and community service through a partial curriculum of what the real army does: basic army knowledge, marching, fitness and adventure training, and field-crafts.

“We are a disciplined cadet force, with no connection to paint ballers or war gamers,” Andy adds. “In addition to the military-style formal training programme, we are on call for community service activities, such

as tree planting, beach cleaning and setting out markers for fitness events.”

Who dares wins Alex Bertilsson, 13, certainly knows why he signed up. “First, I am looking forward to the physical challenges and being outside. Hiking and camping are just some of the things that ‘army cadets’ has to offer. Second, I hope to gain military-like experience in an atmosphere which is fun and exciting.

We have already learned about radio communication and I found this very interesting. Lastly, I am hoping that this experience will help me to become mature and responsible. This is the type of adventure that I have been looking for!”

Ryan Ho, 11, admits to following in his brother’s footsteps in joining the programme. “I was inspired by my brother [ Joshua, 12] because he looked really cool in his uniform.  June 2014

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ACTION

The main objective is to give youngsters a better sense of self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance, perseverance and community service through a partial curriculum of what the real army does: basic army knowledge, marching, fitness and adventure training, and field-crafts Cadets on patrol in DB

After I joined, I realised there were other cool things as well, such as drill, working with other cadets in mock section attacks, and learning how to use a radio. Also I realised my selfadministration skills were really bad, as well as my self-discipline, and army cadets has helped me with that.”

David Cheung, 15, got involved to improve his outdoor knowledge and leadership skills. “It is also very good for older kids to show the younger cadets how to take care of themselves, as well as their uniform and kit,” he says. Like David, Jayden Evans, 14, enjoys the way army cadets “teaches you teamwork and co-operation. It’s taught me the importance of discipline, leadership and self-motivation,” he adds, “and I’ve learned new skills, such as first aid and drill work.”

Megan Thomas, 14, a six-year karate student of Andy’s, says she thrives on the varied nature of cadet activities – camping, drill work, working with weaponry etc. “I wanted a better

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understanding of the many different ways the military train their people,” she explains. “I wanted to find out if it was something I would be interested in taking further.”

James Miller, 15, says he joined the programme because he wanted to learn more about map reading and army tactical training. “I also hoped to improve my fitness and get a deeper understanding of how to use some of the equipment that we hear policemen and soldiers use every day,” he says.

“Some of the friends that I have here inspire me the most because they have had lots of training and know what they need to do and when they need to do it.”

To inspire, to achieve Asked about his cadets’ training, Andy lists some 15 different activities.

The basic fitness test alone involves a 5-kilometre run, sit/ press ups, a swimming test, and a fireman’s lift casualty evacuation test. For the combat fitness test, cadets run 7 kilometres

Female cadets enjoy the challenging syllabus

A section attack drill

St John Ambulance instructors teach first aid

carrying weapons and equipment. There are also assault course/ teambuilding exercises, patrol hikes, and shooting and self-defence classes.

Field-craft sessions are particularly popular, involving setting up a camp site, sentry duties, camouflage and concealment, and cooking. With barrack training, once a month, cadets stay at High Island Army Camp in Sai Kung; they clean and iron their own uniforms, polish their boots and make their own beds – just like regular soldiers. Also like army regulars, cadets are taught map and compass reading, radio communications, night navigation, ambush techniques and surveillance.

Importantly, parents can get in on these activities – and why shouldn’t cadet training be a family affair? DB resident Eric Xin explains, “As a proud father of two cadets and a DB Junior Leaders Troop instructor myself, it’s absolutely brilliant that my sons and I are able to spend time doing fun stuff together.

I’ve always been curious about army

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PILATES | YOGA | SPINNING® | ZUMBA® | TRX® | KETTLEBELLS | PERSONAL TRAINING Unit 10, 1st Floor, Block 2, DB North Plaza. Tel: 2987 5852 - www.movementimprovement.com.hk

ACTION

life and I’m just thrilled that I’m now able to experience something similar.

The quality of our training is superb and it’s challenging both physically and mentally. Everyone’s got a great sense of camaraderie and this is what I enjoy most about the experience.”

The main thing Andy gets out of being an instructor is seeing what the young people he works with can accomplish.

“From joining us at 11 years of age right through to 18 and even going on to become instructors, the change that you see is really fascinating,” he says.

“There’s no better feeling than when you are a troop commander and walk out on a Saturday morning to your parade to see 25 or so young people there, smartly dressed, heads held high and looking really proud of their achievements.”

Cadets learn to take pride in their appearance in foot drill

Find it • DB Junior Leaders Troop, www.fitness-pros-db.com • Hong Kong Adventure Corps, www.hkac.org • Lieutenant Andy Kendall, andyfitness923@gmail.com

Find more clubs and activities

at www.arounddb.com

THE RED LANTERN Genuine antiques, small pieces of delightful furniture from the late Ching Dynasty.

4 minutes' walk from the ferry in Mui Wo in the direction of the Silvermine Beach Hotel.

Free Delivery to DB Tel: 2987 0099 Fax: 2980 4833 glandam@netvigator.com

Interdisciplinary Children's Therapy Centre Speech & Language Therapy slots available Monday - Saturday in English and Cantonese.

Supporting Children and their families with school readiness, classroom skills, social skills and special needs. t: (852) 2807 2992 contact@spot.com.hk www.spot.com.hk Location: Central & Wong Chuk Hang

www.facebook.com/zenvarahk

Natural Medicine Solutions for Your Children Our caring doctors and practitioners specialise in: • • • •

Strengthening children’s immunity Overcoming allergies, asthma, eczema Learning and behavioural issues Physical posture and coordination skills

at IMI’s new clinic in DB North Plaza.

Please call 2537 1087 for more information. www.imi.com.hk

enquiriesDB@imi.com.hk

Location: G02 Office Block Two, North Plaza, Discovery Bay

www.yaalidesigns.com YOUR ONE STOP DESIGN SHOP IN DISCOVERY BAY

For practical storage solutions and great quality Furniture book your free initial consultation today.

Interior Design | Furniture | Home Accessories

Tel: 9685 7785 Email: info@yaalidesigns.com

LIFESTYLE

BATHING BEAUTIES

Photos courtesy of Jane Clyde

We may aspire to (and even splash out on) spa-style luxuries but the best bathrooms speak volumes about back-to-basics chic. Jane Clyde reports

The contemporary bathroom is beautiful in its simplicity with its design distinguished by a clean, clear style that is pure Zen

June 2014

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LIFESTYLE

Enjoy the view The home spa appeals to mind, body and spirit, and all five senses. If you have a soothing view – make the most of it!

Regardless, create a New Age ambience with lush plants, scented candles and soothing music. For good feng shui, arrange bamboo plants where they are reflected in a mirror, and decorate in warm, earthy colours to balance all that water energy.

Power up Hip modern bathrooms incorporate a self-enclosed power shower, or better still two vertical shower systems to fit two people! Look out for the so-called ‘shower towers’ that are fitted with multiple nozzles to massage the body from all angles. These can provide as much pleasure as an energising whirlpool bath. The latest designs don’t come cheap but they can deliver 40 litres of water per minute, achieving a natural rainlike effect with water cascading down over the entire body from huge showerheads.

For a true spa-experience, high-tech chromatherapy showers now come fitted with lights to allow for at-home colour therapy.

Dare to bare The more demands we

Bathe in bliss Fit a bath with a floor-standing filler faucet and you can position it anywhere in a room. Opt for a classic Victorian-look tub with claw feet, an acrylic or stainless steel body-contoured bath, a sunken bath built into a platform or, in a small space, a deep-soaking Japanese barrel tub.

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put on them, the bigger our bathrooms are becoming. When remodelling we are stealing space from adjoining rooms, and it’s now common to see expansive shared bed/ bathrooms replacing the traditional en suite. This open-plan look, which has filtered down from resort hotels, is space-saving as well as bang on trend. If you prefer privacy when bathing, or where space is really tight, convert a bathroom into a wet room – these cave-like shower rooms are best lined in wood or slate for that straight-out-of-a-spa resort feel.

LIFESTYLE

A popular spa trend that has made it into the home is the use of slate and wood for walls and floors

I

n recent years the bathroom has blossomed out, from small functional service area to private wellness oasis. The rest of the house is family-focused and wired – large kitchens are hubs of activity, technology is the focus of entertainment and work areas, open-plan living spaces offer little privacy or quiet – and as a reaction, we are choosing to make the bathroom a truly personal zone dedicated to privacy and peace.

The good news for Lantau dwellers is that the personal sanctuary of the domestic spa does not require a huge, cavernous space – quality fixtures and furnishings, and chic wall and floor treatments can make any room a haven.

A soothing natural-and-neutral aesthetic will help you fully relax and de-stress. Clinical white fixtures take on an almost spiritual aspect when set against a taupe, gold or green backdrop, and a top trend sees rooms lined in natural stone or wood. These preferred materials contrast well with edgy up-to-the-minute accents

of stainless steel, aluminium, mirror and glass.

Stone (ideally limestone or slate) is a good option for walls and floors not least because it is easy to care for – you can polish up tiles in an instant. Wood, though slightly less durable, works beautifully for walls, floors and even bath surrounds when properly sealed.

Ceramic mosaic tiles are a sound, inexpensive option, and they work particularly well for floor-throughceiling applications.

as are steam-free heated vanity mirrors and, for the winter months, wall-hung heated towel rails. Bulbs placed around the mirror actor-style, make shaving or applying make-up much easier; simple strip-lighting is standard but it creates ridges of shadow below the nose and mouth. Installing concealed lighting inside bathroom cupboards is another practical, life-enhancing measure.

If you have the disposable income, you’ll want to splash out on a few luxuries: a pulsating shower tower may do it for you or, better, an air-jet Jacuzzi tub. Note though that something as basic as upgrading the bathroom faucets can instantly enhance a scheme.

Modern suites are sculptural-looking rather than simply serviceable and all plumbing, including in many cases the toilet cistern, is now built into the wall.

Streamlined schemes are relaxing to the eye as there is no mess, no clutter.

Flexible, closed storage trolleys are replacing the traditional washstand, and sleek modular units combine washbasin, mirrored cabinet and shelving all in one. A new development sees storage space built into sink pedestals and even below the bath.

By attending to the details, you affect a positive change in your environment and it’s worth making the effort.

Proper (silent) ventilation is a must,

Lastly, well-considered bathroom accessories complete the Zen-inspired picture, coordinating the look and helping with organisation.

Essential extras

Find more on stylish living

at www.arounddb.com

June 2014

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HK HAPPENINGS

10 FUN THINGS TO DO IN HK THIS MONTH!

Photo courtesy of AllRightsReserved

1,600 PANDAS promote conservation!

k!

ic Editor’s p

Look out for the 1,600 papier-mâché pandas (the number of existing pandas left on Earth) arriving in Hong Kong on June 9, as part of a world tour to promote conservation and sustainable development. The pandas are stopping off (for viewing) at 10 Hong Kong landmarks, including the airport and the Big Buddha.

On June 24, you can catch them in Aberdeen Street in Central, to mark the grand opening of PMQ (the former Police Married Quarters), part of the government’s Conserving Central initiative.

Find out more at www.wwf.org.hk.

CHINESE OPERA FEST! Showcasing traditional Chinese culture at its very best, you’ll hear eight different genres of Chinese opera at the Chinese Opera Festival, running from June 20 to August 30 at venues across Hong Kong. As well as stage performances, you can also attend Chinese opera film screenings, talks and exhibitions.

For tickets, visit www.urbtix.hk; for information, visit www.cof.gov.hk.

Cuddle up to 1,600 papier-mâché pandas, and attend Asia’s largest yoga and wellness conference!

Check out Huang Rui’s revolutionary artwork, and read the ultimate classroom guide!

Tune into Chinese opera or some Friend us cool summer on Facebook jazz. Unwind at for event a pool party, or reminders by hiring a junk!

DID YOU KNOW? • Canjun opera originated in the late Zhao dynasty (319-351) and involved just two performers • There are now more than 20 different varieties of Chinese opera • It can take half a day for a top artist to dress for a performance

www.cof.gov.hk

• Exaggerated face painting symbolises a character’s personality. A red face represents loyalty and bravery; a black face, valor; yellow and white faces, duplicity; and gold and silver faces, mystery

Scrummy RICE DUMPLINGS!

Photo courtesy of Café Deco Group

ASIA YOGA CONFERENCE

It’s traditonal to eat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) during Dragon-Boat Festival, and this year, Dim Sum Bar in Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui is a popular venue in which to do just that.

Starting at HK$50, the classic range includes rice dumplings with salted pork, dried shrimp or salted egg yolk, mushroom, peanut or red bean. For reservations, call 2175 3100.

www.galleryhip.com

It’s Asia’s largest yoga and wellness meet, Evolution: Asia Yoga Conference, June 6 to 9 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wanchai.

Bringing together big-name international presenters, it attracts more than 3,000 visitors. The idea is to unite traditions from East and West, so you can expect classes in Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga and Power Yoga, as well as Bollywood Dance, Pilates and Tai Chi. Attendance is free. Find out more at www.asiayogaconference.com.

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HK HAPPENINGS

Email hannah@arounddb.com if you’d like to be included in this section

www.w-hongkong.com

5 of the best:

POOL PARTY! Get set for the first of W Hong Kong’s 2014 summer pool parties, on the evening of June 7. Some 76 floors up, overlooking West Kowloon, Hong Kong’s highest outdoor pool is lined with hammocks and palm trees. Partygoers must fit the Maldives theme by dressing in white, and there’s a chance to win a complimentary trip to W Retreat and Spa – Maldives. The after-party continues at the hotel’s WOOBAR. Purchase tickets, starting at HK$350, at www.hkclubbingtickets.fatsoma.com.

COOL SUMMER JAZZ Hong Kong Summer Jazz Festival sees leading local musicians come together for a series of three concerts, June 1, 2 and 9, at Hong Kong City Hall, Central. Must-sees include the 5422 Collective, Azucar Latina, Soler and Allen Youngblood and Jazbalaya.

DB is ably represented by Shaolin Fez, Soul Traders and Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra.

Email info@poonsinternational.com with programme enquiries; for tickets, starting at HK$150, visit www.urbtix.hk.

Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Summer Jazz Festival

JUNK TRIPS!

Summer is finally here and what better way to spend it than out on the water? Here are five companies to help you make a day of it.

1 Jaspas – enjoy freshly-

made food and free-f low drink for HK$650 per head. www.casteloconcepts.com

2 Jubilee – classic extras include

karaoke and mahjong. Packages start at HK$150 per head. www.jubilee.com.hk

Photo courtesy of Pat Kozyra

50 years IN THE CLASSROOM! Canadian-born Pat Kozyra, who has been teaching in the SAR for the past 13 years, has just published Tips and Tidbits For Parents and Teachers – Celebrating 50 years in the Classroom and Sharing What I Have Learned. You can purchase a copy, for US$23.50 (HK$182.16), from Pat’s website, www.sbprabooks. com/PatKozyra, at www.amazon.com, or www.barnesandnoble.com.

3 Koh Thai – delicious Thai food comes in at just HK$590 per head. www.kohthai.com.hk

4 Lazy Days – splash out on a sleek cruiser with staff to serve you food and free-f low champagne.

Packages start at HK$890 per head. www.lazydays.com.hk

5 Saffron Cruises – charter

everything from a red-sailed junk to an 85-foot motor cruiser.

Prices start at HK$200 a head. www.saffron-cruises.com

vourite!

Family fa

REVOLUTIONARY ART!

www.10chancerylanegallery.com

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Check out Space Structure, a series of Huang Rui’s important early abstract works, dating from 1983 to 1986, on show for the first time in Hong Kong at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, SoHo, through June 14. One of the leaders of Beijing’s first non-conformist artist’s group The Stars (Xing Xing), Rui is also a co-founder of the Dashanzi Art District (Factory 798).

For more information, visit www.10chancerylanegallery.com.

June 2014

www.saffron-cruises.com

FINANCIAL PLANNING ASK THE EXPERT Who am I?

KayeKaye Khemlani (PIBA No. 0032-009006), a native English-speaking insurance advisor, with a strong presence in Discovery Bay and Hong Kong.

My thoughts

I understand we all go through different stages of life and so do our insurance needs. What’s more in recent years, after so many bank scandals and product scandals (think mini-bonds), many investment-linked insurance products have become over regulated, and unappealing.

So what coverage do you really need in order to protect yourself and your family? What products are viable and essential when times are tough? My advice? Go back to the safe, traditional products, such whole-life, term-life and education plans.

Life insurance What you are looking for is guaranteed whole-life insurance, which equates to life insurance + dividends + savings with a fixed cash out.

Note that with whole-life insurance you can also set payment/ contract terms. Payments can be made monthly or annually. And in addition, you can opt to pay a fixed amount over 10, 15 or 20 years and then never have to make a payment again.

For people with kids and/ or mortgages, top-quality term-life insurance is particularly essential. When researching a product, look out for high death benefits and low premiums.

With term-life you can cancel anytime upon annual renewal.

Of course whole life-insurance products include: • Underwriting considerations • Medical exams • Suicide clauses • Waivers of premiums • Periods of contestability So, in addition to examining your needs and budget, be sure to do your homework and read the small print.

My offer: I can do a comparison shop for you free of charge, to ensure that you have made the right choice and check that you have the right product at the right price.

DB FACES

COMMUNITY SNAPS!

Who do you know? Find more familiar faces @ www.arounddb.com

COMPETITION

Photos by www.photosdb.net

Email your photos for DB Faces to info@arounddb.com. Around DB accepts no liability for the photos sent

Great prizes from Uncle Russ Coffee!

A

B

C

Congratulations to last month’s winner Yvonne Chiu!

Please contact our office on 2987 0577 to collect your prize.

Y

our challenge, this month, is to identify which of the three photos above is the exact copy of a photograph featured elsewhere in this issue of Around DB. You need to list the page number the photo appears on, as well as which of the three pictures is the exact copy. Contact us online via the competitions link at www.arounddb.com or email us at info@arounddb.com before June 10. This is your chance to win a complimentary coffee from Uncle Russ every day for a week. Don’t forget to include your name and telephone number with your answer. Good luck!

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View DB property listings @ www.arounddb.com

WORSHIP SERVICE Discovery College Sundays @ 10 am

CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP PRACTICAL BIBLE TEACHING KIDS CHURCH XTREME & RDB TEENS

Pastor James Buckner Tel: 2987 7061 wwww.dbicc.org

Alcoholics Anonymous

NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO?  Counselling for individuals, couples, families & adolescents

If you want to drink, that’s your business.

If you want to stop, we can help.

No dues or fees.

24 hour hotline: 9073 6922 Lantau hotline: 5668 2667 www.aa-hk.org

 Sliding fee scale; affordable options for all clients  English, Putonghua, Cantonese, Hindi, Marathi and Marwadi speaking counselors Call 2523 8979 Now for Appointment http://www.resourcecounselling.org Serving the community over 35 years A Member Agency of the Community Chest

Visit the local business directories @ www.arounddb.com EMPLOYMENT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A COURIER? Michael, an Indian HK resident living on Lantau, seeks post of delivery person for mail/ documents/ small packages in HK. Full or part time, Call 9145 6731

DB-BASED REALTOR SEEKS EAA-LICENSED AGENTS Must have a good command of spoken & written English & Cantonese, an extra language is an advantage.

Strong communication & interpersonal skills, mature outgoing personality, proactive, hardworking & detail oriented.

Attractive remuneration package for the right candidates.

Email your full CV to info@lifestylehomes.com.hk

FINANCE & INSURANCE AUSTRALIAN TAX RETURNS Need to lodge your Australian tax return? If you are an expat or collect rental from Australian property, you must lodge an annual return.

Let us do it for you here in HK. Contact Dwight Stuchbery, Australasian Taxation Services on 3571 8700, dwight@smats.net, or visit www.smats.net

HEALTH & WELLBEING

HOME & REPAIRS

HYPNOSIS &/ OR SHORT-TERM THERAPY

GOLDING DECORATION UK

Quit smoking quickly.

Divorce/ Post-Divorce Coaching.

Resolve: • Fear of Flying/ Public Speaking • Overeating • Couples’ Conflicts • Career & Command-Training Stress • Anger Management • Phobias • Nail biting • Insomnia • Exam Strategies Call Dr Melanie Bryan, Psy.D. Clinical Psychologist & Hypnotherapist on 2575 7707, or visit www.mindmatters.hk

HOME & REPAIRS EXPERT MOVER

• Packing & moving • Cargo collection • Disposal service • Handyman services • Packing material supplies • Storage, with humidity control Professional quality service at a low rate.

Contact 2566 4799, sales@expertmover.hk, or visit www.expertmover.hk

NEED SPACE / STORAGE!

Humidity controlled, small/ large storage space, short or long term.

Competitive rates. Call 2566 4799 or visit www.expertmover.hk

RETAIL ABBELLO WINES

House painter, very experienced in maintenance work, & hanging wallpaper & artwork. 100% customer satisfaction guaranteed. Fast, clean & tidy, providing down-to-earth prices.

Call Colin on 9074 5231

Great Value, High Scoring Wines from Around the World.

Free delivery and Special Offer for Discovery Bay residents.

For details, visit http://abw.hk/db or call 3170 8458.

KIDS

Deadline for July issue Classifieds

EARLY ADVENTURES PLAYGROUP

June 10

A dedicated playgroup with the emphasis on learning through play.

Activities to stimulate all areas of development. Come & look at our facilities. Classes for kids from 20 months to 4 years. Morning & afternoon sessions. Call 9511 2107, or visit www.earlyadventures.net

PETS GOOD NEWS FROM PETCODB

Micro Bubble Bath using Nano technology for pets is now available at PetcoDB. This penetrating clean powers deep into the pores, restoring fur condition, regaining moisture & providing relaxation. No shampoo is used. Recommended for pets with skin allergies, dermatitis & body odour. Call 2914 0382

GMT FOODS DB based Importer of award winning, handmade and all natural fine foods from small British producers.

•

Summer Love at Mypetshop in the North Plaza.

Mercers of Yorkshire conserves and dessert sauces: DB North Plaza Wellcome Store and Market Place

by Jason

•

York Preserves preserves & chutneys: Oliver’s, Market Place by Jason, and Loi Chan Frozen Meat Shop in Mui Wo.

“New delivery of Godminster Organic Vintage Cheddar arriving in May. Don’t miss out on the best cheddar you’ll ever taste…!”

•

Godminster Organic Vintage Cheddar, contact me directly.

•

All products also available at the HMHK monthly market held at DB main plaza

For further details contact: Gillian Thompson, Gillian@ yorkpreserves.com, www.facebook.com/gmtfoods, twitter @Gillian_GMT.

June 2014

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Visit the local business directories @ www.arounddb.com

Summer Mandarin Camp June 30 to August 29

普通話酷我夏令營 Age group: 2.5Y to 8Y Venues: Central & Discovery Bay Program available from 9am -1:30pm / 2:30pm - 5pm Half day morning or afternoon session

Contact us at learn@mandarinformunchkins.com 2486-9062 / 2480-3909 www.mandarinformunchkins.com

Such a great birthday party !

Call 6710 0391 info@ecole-discovery.com

SINCE 1997

OUR SERVICES DOG & CAT GROOMING ( BY APPOINTMENT ) PET FOOD & ACCESSORIES SUPPLIES CAT SITTING SERVICE FREE DAILY DELIVERY Ground floor 11B, Discovery Bay Plaza, Discovery Bay (next to Island Vet) Tel: 2987 0428 / Fax : 2914 1313 / E-mail : petsgallerydb@yahoo.com.hk Open from 9:00 am till 7:30 pm (Mon - Sun)

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June 2014

Visit the local business directories @ www.arounddb.com SERVICES NOTARY SERVICES

Now available in DB at affordable rates. For enquiries, 9143 0799, notary@hpi.com.hk

COMPUTER PROBLEMS?

Free over the phone repair, or home/ office visit for a nominal fee!

15 years’ experience & a passion for resolving computer problems.

Call 9649 9910

TRAVEL CONCORdE TRAVEL

Leisure Travel and Cruise specialists since 1978.

Call 2526 3391 or visit www.concorde-travel.com Licence No 350343

TUITION & COURSES

JAPANESE PRIVATE TUITION

Native speaker, 10 years teaching experience in HK. Any level/ Any purpose/ JLPT. Contact 6050 1731, (WhatsApp, LINE, Viber) micado66@netvigator.com

Deadline for July issue classifieds

June 10

TUITION & COURSES GUITAR TUITION

One of Hong Kong’s foremost players offers home tuition in Classical, Blues, Ragtime & Rock.

Special rates for morning classes.

Contact Graeme on 9627 3043, graememorris1000@gmail.com

CLARINET/ SAXOPHONE/ FLUTE TUITION Available in DB from professional musician with 25 years’ teaching experience & graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK. For enquiries, call 9413 0498, janetwilliams.clarinet@gmail.com

CHINESE (MANdARIN & CANTONESE), MATHEMATICS & ENGLISH

Personal Professional Tutoring Service.

• Curriculum: HSK, IB, GCSE, SAT • ESF & all international schools, Year 1 to 13 • For students & adults (homework/ exams/ business) • Mother-tongue Chinese tutors from the PRC (Levels: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced) • Mathematics tutors (UK B SC) • Native English tutors.

(MA in Education, specialising in Early Childhood Stage) Contact 9107 5655, gracias8@hotmail.com, or visit www.chinesemandarinsite.com

LEARN SPANISH

Native speaker. DELE examiner.

Experienced teacher. IB, IGCSE, A-Levels & HKDSE. Business Spanish, & courses for adults. Flexible schedule & locations. (Special offers to students who live in DB & Tung Chung).

Contact Erik R on 9666 9511, rerikm@hotmail.com

Visit the all-new www.arounddb.com You can list your Lantau business FOR FREE! Just click on Add your Business, at the bottom of the homepage, and follow the instructions.

• Each Lantau district now has its own dedicated section, with a fully comprehensive business directory and property listings.

Find activities for kids and adults, plus information on schools, medical centres, restaurants, stores and more. Post a review of a store, club or restaurant and add your business, all free of charge • www.arounddb.com has over 1,000 Lantau property listings To advertise your property for sale or rent, simply login (either via your Facebook account or by filling in the login form on the website). There is no charge and the process takes seconds • Look to www.arounddb.com for upcoming community events, you’ll also want to visit the photo gallery of past events Read current (and back) issues of Around DB online for the latest on what’s happening throughout Lantau

MANdARIN CHINESE CLASSROOM

In the Greens. Lessons for adults & children, individually & in small groups.

Any level/ time/ purpose.

Call 6071 9643, or visit http://tclearning.sinacool.com

Join your community online at

www.arounddb.com June 2014

77

Check out short-term rentals @ www.arounddb.com PROPERTY DB

STUNNING FURNISHED FLAT SHORT OR LONG-LEASE

PROPERTY DB

FLAT FOR RENT

Designer 2-bed apartment, 1 minute from DB Plaza. Renovated to the highest standard.

Weekly cleaning available. Contact Maeve on 6408 4227, maeveororke@hotmail.com www.shortstaydiscoverybay.com

Bright, fully furnished flat, sleeps 4. Fully equipped kitchen, plus wi-fi & broadband.

Towels & linens provided. Minimum stay 1 month. Email dbstay4@yahoo.com

MODERN EXECUTIVE 1-BEDROOM FLAT FOR RENT

DELUXE SERVICED APARMENTS

Spacious open layout. Quiet, high floor.

Fully equipped kitchen. Shower. Washer/ dryer.

English movies & news, & wi-fi. Just unpack!

Competitively priced. Contact 6680 2007, greenmountain123@gmail.com

For lease. Fully furnished 1-2-bed apartments with beautiful decor, wi-fi & broadband. Well-equipped kitchen, luxurious bedding, weekly cleaning service. Contact Cherry on 2987 2626, annie@appletravel.com

STUDIO FOR SHORT-TERM LET 2-BED APARTMENT FOR RENT At Greenmont Court, nice & fully furnished.

Contact 9108 5525

Comfortable, nicely decorated studio, close to DB Plaza & pier, with fully equipped kitchen. 37” TV, DVD, wi-fi, linens & towels provided. Contact 9190 7348, niceroom_db@yahoo.com.hk

GREENDALE COURT RENTAL GREENDALE COURT RENTAL Brand-new, fully furnished, 533’ 1-bed apartment. Deluxe renovation, on a high floor, with mountain view. Call 9108 5525

MODERN SERVICED APARTMENTS SIENA 2 Quiet with sea views, near Club Siena & tunnel.

Fully furnished, with bed linen & kitchenware.

55’ TVs, wi-fi, Blu-ray home theatre, washer/ drier. Short or long lease. Contact 9317 0624, nialady2011@gmail.com

800’ 2-bed flat with balcony & nice sea view.

Fully furnished, with wi-fi internet access.

Contact Sonya on 5241 9806, syeung72@hotmail.com

CHERISH COURT TO LET Fully furnished, 2-bedroom flat with wi-fi & Now TV. Full sea view & Disneyland-firework view. Photos available.

Contact Jacqueline 9811 0718, jacquelinedb@gmail.com

PROPERTY OVERSEAS

FULLY FURNISHED 1-BED RENTAL

AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY

Smart apartment on a high floor with sea view.

Close to pier & DB Plaza. Available fully furnished.

Call Tiareti on 9732 8985

Everything you need to know about buying a property in Australia. Information on property markets, taxation, finance, migration & legal.

Free online at www.aussieproperty.com

SHORT-TERM LET Newly renovated, 2-bed flat with balcony.

Luxuriously furnished, with TV, cable & broadband. Panoramic harbour views & short walk to pier. Contact Charles on 6140 7971, charles@headlandhomes.hk, Katie on 9150 7319, katie@headlandhomes.hk

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PHUKET PROPERTY FOR SALE Perfect holiday house or investment property, close to Surin Beach. Small development, large pool, close to everything. HK$4 million.

Contact 9124 0157, pea@hk.super.net

Greenland Pest Control Discovery Bay • Tung Chung • South Lantau

JOIN OUR DYNAMIC TEAM IN DB!

Tailored Pest Control Solutions for Rodent, Cockroaches, Fleas, Mosquitoes, Termites, Ants, Ticks etc…

For info please call Thomas 9871 0771 or May 9774 3554 Email: greenlandpest@outlook.com

PART-TIME ADMINISTRATOR We are looking for a part-time administrator to join our great team at Around DB. The right candidate loves working with numbers, and is methodical and well organised. Duties will include invoicing clients, recording their payments, handling their enquiries, and collecting any funds outstanding. Working from our office near DB Plaza, in a fun and stimulating environment, for 12 hours each week.

Interested parties, please send your CV and cover letter to

corinne@arounddb.com

Discovery Bay • Tung Chung • South Lantau

JOIN OUR DYNAMIC TEAM IN DB! DIGITAL MEDIA/ MARKETING INTERNSHIP Around DB is looking for an intern to help with its online marketing, website and social media. Ideally you are a DB/ Lantau resident looking for full-time work – part-time is also a possibility. This is a great opportunity for a recent graduate with excellent English-language skills, who has studied digital media and/ or marketing. This internship is a paid position. The ideal candidate has the potential to grow within the team, as this position could become permanent going forward.

Interested parties, please send your CV and cover letter to

corinne@arounddb.com

B USINESS OF THE MONTH

ACROSS LANTAU

, sports equipment company, Vimtech Endurance athlete and owner of ud Le Magnan talks shop seven-year Pui O resident Pierre-Arna When did you open Vimtech and what makes it unique?

We opened in 1999, making customised products for water sports, car racing and the car industry. In 2008, we added CHIRU Bikes, a high-end mountain-bike brand focused on marathon/ endurance races. In 2010, we added a sports distribution division specialising in trail running, biking, stand-up paddle and surf-ski. We are unique in only distributing highend, European products that are functional and good value.

What resources did you need to start up your own business?

I used half of my savings to start up the company 15 years ago, and I put in a lot of travel and hours of hard work!

Do you enjoy being self-employed?

It’s nice as you can decide your own working hours (I work eight to 12 hours every day!). I get to test products and train for the races we enter as a team across Asia, while promoting the products we distribute. We have two offices (one in Kwai Chung, one in Zhejiang Province on the mainland), and 12 staff – this requires good management.

What has been the most important contribution to your success?

Passion and dedication. Knowing your trade is also key. I can talk about the specifications and advantages of all the products we sell. And I keep up with the latest gear, nutrition and training trends.

How do you keep your customers interested?

I take time to explain how our gear can improve clients’ sport experience and performance.

My golden rule is ‘the customer is king’.

How do you see your business looking in five years’ time?

Photos courtesy of Pierre-Arnaud Le Magnan

We hope to consolidate our position in Hong Kong and China as one of the major distributors of high-end trail running and biking equipment.

Call Vimtech on 2428 1100, or email vimtech@netvigator.com

Join your Lantau community live @ www.arounddb.com

MUI WO FERRY SCHEDULES Mon-Fri (except Public Holidays)

Sat, Sun and Public Holidays

From DB 3.10pm

From DB

From Mui Wo

7.15am ＊ 8.45am # 10.45am 11.45am # 1.15pm 3.05pm # 4.15pm 6.15pm 8.05pm

7.45am ＊ 9.15am # 11.15am 12.15pm # 1.45pm 3.35pm # 4.45pm 6.45pm 8.30pm

From Mui Wo 7.20am -

(Above ferry route via Peng Chau)

＊ Operates on Saturday (except Public Holidays) only ＃ Operates on Sunday and Public Holidays only

Your ultimate guide in Tung Chung and South Lantau

LANTAU NUMBERS

TUNG CHUNG

SOUTH LANTAU

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

AQ Prettiness Jumping Castles Patchwork Jack Shoesee Foldable

FOOD, RESTAURANTS & BARS

9527 6202 9662 1747 9762 1957 9765 2798 FOOD, RESTAURANTS & BARS

360° Sports Bar & Restaurant Airport Izakaya Andante Asian Taste Chef’s Express Deli Viet Bistro Delifrance Café Aficionado China Coast Bar & Grill Dragon Inn Erawan Essence Federal Palace Restaurant McDonald’s Delivery Moccato Olea Pizza Hut Regala Café & Dessert Bar Rouge Skycity Bistro Spaghetti House Starz Wine Bar Zentro Garden

2109 4360 2286 6668 3602 8828 2109 4360 6504 4208 2109 0036 2109 4187 2286 6238 2286 6898 2286 6878 3760 6633 3602 8808 2626 0181 2338 2338 3602 8838 3602 8818 3180 0000 2286 6618 2286 6868 2969 2500 2109 1297 2109 0612 2802 8000

Bahce - Turkish Restaurant Café Bar Bombay Café Caffe Paradiso (Tom’s Café) China Bear Como Lake Deer Horn Restaurant & Bar High Tide Restaurant K’s British Restaurant La Pizzeria Lantana Italian Bistro Lantau Taste Restaurant Maverick’s Restaurant, Pui O Rome Restaurant Sun Fat Restaurant Tak Chai Kee Seafood Taco Loco The China Beach Club The Gallery The Kitchen The Stoep HEALTH & WELLBEING

Dalcroze Impact Fitness Jill Marshall Pilates South Lantau Paddle Club Tony’s Salon

6627 4806 6385 0304 9708 0187 6770 1462 2984 0990 HOME & REPAIRS

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Asian Hairdressers Essential Health Family Clinic Human Health Medical Centre Island Veterinary Services Ltd Pets Central Tung Chung Maternal & Child Health Centre Quality Health Dental Quality Health Medical Raffles Medical

3147 4088 2109 9396 2109 2288 2988 1534 2328 7282 2109 6800 2403 6613 2403 6623 2261 2626

HOME & REPAIRS

Akash Removals Mega Power Engineering/Locksmiths Shun Yu Engineering

2421 8088 9625 1392 2988 1488 HOTELS

Novotel Citygate Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott

3602 8888 2890 6060 3969 1888

Findley Leung Group Koon Wah Hardware Lee Wo Construction Engineering Man Shun Construction & Engineering Mantech Electrical Wah Sing AV Company

Mui Wo Inn Silvermine Beach Resort Tai O Heritage Hotel

5360 0991 2987-8070 2162 5538 6273 7347 6976 8867 3520 3500 2611 9193 6204 7387 2420 1068 2109 3873 2109 4000 3194 5120 2988 8123

LEARNING CENTRES

Buddhist Fat Ho College Lantau International Kindergarten Lantau International School Little Lantau Montessori Kindergarten Mui Wo Owls School & Kindergarten

2985 5150 2984 0069 2984 0302 3689 6709 2984 0006

Home Solutions Real Estate Proper Trip Real Estate

3483 5003 2984 1666 RETAIL

Bikes Mui Wo BMX Shop Friendly Bike Shop Lantau Base Camp Red Hall Chinese Antiques Renge House (clothes & accessories) The Red Lantern ZenvarA

2134 1234 2984 2278 5463 6060 2988 1368 2406 8122 2987 0099 9586 3459

SERVICES & OTHERS

2109 9277 2179 6678 6902 2250 3473 8700 5400 4109 2385 9677 3152 7535 2403 6770

UTILITY, SERVICES & EMERGENCY HOTLINES

Tung Chung Ambulance Depot Tung Chung Fire Station Tung Chung Police Station

2984 7225 6810 0111 2985 8383

PROPERTY AGENCIES

SOCIAL, SPORTS & EQUIPMENT

Caribbean Coast Club House Coastal Skyline Club House Impact Fitness Seaview Crescent Club House Smash Cricket Socatots Stepz Studio Tung Chung Crescent Club House

2984 8334 2984 8487 2984 1802 2984 9833 2819 6823 2984 0587 HOTELS

LEARNING CENTRES

Clement Art School Discovery Mind International Play Centre Greenfield International Kindergarten Kidznjoy Kindermusik Little Academy Salala Kids House Soundwaves English Education Centre Sun Island Education Foundation Sunshine House International Preschool Tung Chung Catholic School (Yat Tung) Tung Yan Day Nursery YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College

2984 0222 2984 1847 2984 0498 2984 9720 2984 0009 3484 3095 2980 3002 2984 8708 2984 8933 6331 8974 3489 1282 5402 4154 2984 7982 2984 0418 2984 1265 9022 5737 2983 8931 2980 2582 9160 5986 2980 2699

2988 8282 2988 1898 3661 1694

Hop Sing Automobile Jumping Castles SPCA Suzanne Goodwin Photography Thai Palin Massage Twig (Design Studio)

2984 1410 9662 1747 2984 0060 9025 3949 9062 0148 6351 8923 TRANSPORTATION

Lee Hing Loong Hon Kee Transportation Company Lantau Tours New Lantau Bus Company Sun Rising Moving Company

2984 2268 2984 8494 2984 8255 2984 9848 9036 3132

Your ultimate guide in DB

DB NUMBERS COMMUNITY & HEALTH Bayside Dental Practice, North Plaza BMSE, North Plaza Catholic Church (Trinity Chapel) DB Alliance Church Community Centre DB International Community Church Discovery Bay Medical Centre Discovery Speech Therapy, North Plaza Health & Care Dental Clinic Herbal Healthcare IMI (Natural Medicine Clinic) Island Health Island Veterinary Services The Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council, North Plaza

2987 0855 2259 3422 2988 1515 2987 8136 2987 7061 2987 5633 8120 7835 2666 6183 2834 7276 2537 1087 2987 7575 2987 9003 2259 3422

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES In Style Little Whale, North Plaza Nomadic Start-rite shoes

2987 8226 3480 1348 2987 8460 2987 2098

FINANCIAL SERVICES HSBC Travelex Money Exchange, North Plaza Luen Fat Securities Co. Ltd

2233 3000 2682 1210 2987 1851

HOME Good Luck Engineering Hoi Yu Transportation Home Services Engineering Hung Kee Co Interior 18 Japan Home Centre Marc James Design, North Plaza Next Furniture Rapee-living Rich Point Hardware Materials Tai Fat Hardware Store Wing On Department Store Yours Electrical Centre

OTHER SERVICES

LEARNING CENTRES

2987 1313 2987 4488 2987 0061 2987 5087 2987 7803 2987 1041 2765 5700 2987 0222 2987 7082 2987 0789 2987 0789 2987 9268 2987 4428

HK School of Highland Dance

Tues & Wed classes at Discovery College 4 to 12 yrs - 2 fully costumed performances a year 8122 9475 admin@actingantics.com www.actingantics.com

Brightsparks Playgroup Fun, safe and interactive environment for your children.

9632 4287

New art studio in DB for 2 year-olds to adults www.bsoahk.com bsoahk@gmail.com 9132 5249

Dumper Trucks & Daisies A Montessori-based playgroup programme that focuses on the growth and development of the whole child.

From 16 months to 4.5 years old 9667 6921 mandy@dumpertrucksanddaisies.com www.dumpertrucksanddaisies.com

Future Stars Dance Academy

Dance classes based on the ISTD requirements conducted in a fun, disciplined and safe environment.

9740 0171 melissa@futurestarsdanceacademy.com

82

June 2014

At Home in DB

A dance school offering ISTD Freestyle, Hip Hop & Tap & RAD Ballet classes from Monday to Saturday at DBRC & Club Siena. All ages welcome.

2987 1571 www.islanddance.com.hk

Information & Services for Residents of DB. Expat Relocation, Newcomer Orientation, Tours, Courses, Networking 9769 4701 sue@athomeindb.com www.athomeindb.com

Harvey Law Group International Canadian Law Firm in DB North Plaza offering you customised legal services on the many aspects of your personal and professional life 2416 8618 www.harveylawcorporation.com

French kindergarten open for registrations for school year 2014-2015 from K1 to P6.

LG-05, DB North Plaza 6710 0391 info@ecole-discovery.com www.ecole-discovery.com

PetcoDB

Little Explorers

Grooming & Pet Services With Trust, Love & Safe Care For the ones you love 2914 0382 info@petcoDB.com www.petcoDB.com

A fun place for little ones to play and have loads of fun, fun, fun!

9327 0507 littleexplorers@team-fear.com

Midget Gems Kid’s Club Established playgroup for children 2-4 years in DB Plaza 6341 5764 dbmidgetgems@gmail.com www.midgetgemskidsclub.com

Amity Shoe Care Bookazine, DB Ferry Dymocks Fotomax Movieland My Pet Shop, North Plaza Pen ‘n Paper Pets Gallery P-Solution The Optical House Well Supreme Laundry Services

2987 4538 2987 1373 2987 8494 2914 2378 2987 7111 2987 8873 2987 8898 2987 0428 2987 1777 2987 1368 2987 5151

REAL-ESTATE AGENCIES

Playtime Kids DB Playgroup run by Montessori-trained teacher. From 18 months to 4 years. 2623 4099; 9054 0565 playtimekidsdb@yahoo.com, www.playtimekidsdb.com

Lifestyle Boats & Homes Let us take the stress out of homework Homework Club and Private Tutoring, conveniently located.

9522 3297 info@wiseowl.com.hk www.wiseowl.com.hk

Woodentots British Studio of Art Hong Kong

The Best Travel Agency in DB 2987 2626 cas@appletravel.com

Island Dance

LEARNING CENTRES

Musical Drama – Acting – Musical Theatre

Apple Travel

Highland Dance classes now available at MI Studio.Teacher qualified by the SDTA. All ages welcome 9123 0863 highlanddancehk@gmail.com

2914 0888 info@lifestylehomes.com.hk www.lifestylehomes.com.hk Centaline Property Agency Ltd EPS Property Consultants Ltd Headland Homes Hong Kong Boats & Homes Kingsland DB Land Master Property Savills Hong Kong Ltd

Woodentots is a Montessori playgroup providing a caring and nurturing environment in the Plaza. Run by a qualified Montessori teacher for children aged 2 1/2 - 5 years.

6108 9131 woodentotsdb@gmail.com Bayview House of Children DB International School (Kindergarten) DB International School (Pri / Sec) Discovery College Discovery Mind International Play Centre Discovery Mind Kindergarten Discovery Mind Primary School, North Plaza Discovery Montessori School, North Plaza DMR School of Ballet Early Adventures Learning Centre HK International Learning Academy, North Plaza L’Ecole Française de Discovery, North Plaza SKH Wei Lun Primary School Sunshine House Int’l Pre-School Sunshine House Kindergarten, North Plaza Treasure House

6114 2436 2914 2142 2987 7331 3969 1000 2987 8028 2987 8088 2914 2202 2987 1201 2987 4338 9511 2107 2416 3088 8191 0813 2987 8608 2987 0813 2987 8143 2987 4217

2987 8484 2987 2023 2987 2088 6055 0146 2987 2987 2987 6238 2987 1919

RESTAURANTS & HOTELS

% Arabica Coffee Roaster & Farm DB North Plaza 2885 1323 info@arabica.hk www.arabica.hk 22º North

2987 2298

Auberge Discovery Bay (Hotel), North Plaza

2295 8288

Berliner

2987 8203

Café Duvet

2987 0966

Caramba Mexican Cantina

2987 2848

Ebeneezer’s

2987 0036

First Korean Restaurant

2987 9123

Fresh Fruit Juice Paradise

2987 4768

Hemingway’s by the Bay

2987 8855

DB NUMBERS RESTAURANTS & HOTELS Figos Seaside Café il Bel Paese Island Café Jaspa’s, North Plaza Kiraku Tei Koh Tomyums La Création Bakery Life Cafe McSorley’s Ale House Mirch Masala, North Plaza Pacific Coffee Paisano’s, North Plaza Peony Chinese Restaurant Solera Subway Super Super The Venue Brazil Churrascaria & Bar Uncle Russ, DB Plaza Uncle Russ, North Plaza Zaks

SOCIAL, SPORTS & EQUIPMENT 2987 2915 2987 0202 2987 9311 2997 8688 2987 2886 2987 0767 2987 1829 2591 1422 2987 8280 2987 1337 2987 1662 2673 4445 2500 1950 2555 0772 2914 0005 2914 1308 2777 8411 2682 0068 2682 8108 2987 6232

All your sporting needs right here in DB 2914 1323 info@sportsworld.hk

Personal Fitness Training (for one to one or small groups) Studio P/S Petra Seeholzer Lang 6605 2727 petraseeholzer@yahoo.com

The HIT Room Bodypump, Grit Strength, Boxing, Core, TRX, High Intensity Training.

Located at North Plaza 6621 7410 www.thehitroom.com.hk info@thehitroom.com.hk

Tinytots A professional sports play program specially designed for children 16 months - 5 years of age.

34887724 info@tinytots.com.hk www.tinytots.com.hk

DB COBRAS JUDO CLUB Offering Judo classes for ages 5+ Mon, Wed & Sat classes available elliot@cobrasportshk.com

Club Siena Discovery Bay Marina Club Discovery Bay Golf Club Discovery Bay Recreation Club

Classical Pilates, Yoga and more!

6624 7812 susan@embody.hk www.embody.hk

2987 7382 2987 9591 2987 7273 2987 7381

TOYS, ACCESSORIES & KIDS’ PARTIES

DB Party Lovers For all your party needs in DB 9132 5249 dbpartylovers@gmail.com www.dbpartylovers.com

Embody

Bo Bo House Toysland

2987 4230 2987 7859

TRANSPORT SERVICES

Movement Improvement Pilates, Yoga, Spinning, TRX, Zumba, Personal Training The complete solution on your doorstep at DB North Plaza 2987 5852 www.movementimprovement.com.hk

Sportsmanship Gymnastics Programs, Health Consultancy, Weight Management & Nutritional Supplements 2870 3524 www.sportsmanship.usana.com

View the business directory @ www.arounddb.com

Limousine Rental

Limo service in HK & China • pick up from / to DB Tunnel • direct transfer to SZ / GZ Airport 5303 3489 / 9654 0899 limo9689@gmail.com ACCESSDB Rehabus DB Golf Cart Services DB Transit Services DB Transportation Services Hire Car Bookings Passenger Telephone Hotline Wiselink Golf Cart Services

6283 9270 2914 2727 2914 0186 2987 7351 2987 6348 2987 0208 2987 9368

UTILITIES, SERVICES & EMERGENCY HOTLINES 24-hour Customer Service Hotline China Light & Power Emergency China Light & Power Information Line Discovery Bay Commercial Services Discovery Bay Fire & Ambulance Discovery Bay Management Discovery Bay Medical Services Discovery Bay Office Centre Discovery Bay Police Discovery Bay Post Office Gas Leakage Emergency Hotline Lantau North Report Room San Hing Gas Co Typhoon Signal Enquiries

WELLBEING

Specialists in Pregnancy & Newborn Care Tel: 2851 9654 clientservices@amotherstouch.com.hk www.amotherstouch.com.hk

Body Talk Holistic therapy for illness, stress, sports injury & learning disorders 6683 5755 angie@bodytalksystem.com.hk www.bodytalksystem.com.hk

Child & Family Development Practice Developing potential, exploring possibilities www.childdevelopment.com.hk info@childdevelopement.com.hk

My Health Coach Lulu Improve your life balance through health and self awareness. I am able to offer a bespoke program just for you. lulu@myhealthcoachlulu.com www.myhealthcoachlulu.com

M Spa Provides door-to-door treatment service. Conveniently located in the Plaza. Reflexology, massage, pedicure/manicure.

2987 0614

Nailed It Professional artificial nail services in DB 2987 2266

MOW | Grooming & Skin Care

HK Dragons Football Club Football for 2.5- to 14- year old girls and boys 2987 4274 www.dragons.hk

2811 0788 2824 5000

A Mother’s Touch

Studio PS

CAISSA Chess Club HK The Club gets together at the DB North Plaza Community Center 9681 2896 contact@caissahk.com www.caissahk.com

Water Fault Reports Water Supplies Department

Sports World

SOCIAL, SPORTS & EQUIPMENT

UTILITIES, SERVICES & EMERGENCY HOTLINES

3651 2345 2728 8333 2678 2678 2987 4242 2987 7502 2238 3601 2525 6798 2238 3388 2987 4052 2987 6046 2435 4511 2988 2369 2987 6738 2835 1473

A unique retail & treatment space at DBN, that caters to your grooming, skin care & therapeutic requirements 2499 8826 / 6773 3103 www.mowhk.com mowhk@mowhk.com Afflatus Hair Workshop, North Plaza Maximum Care Salon De Coiffure Sense of Touch Spa Siena

2987 0283 2987 2060 2987 4112 2987 9198 2987 7382

Around DB's July 2014 issue coming out

June 30 June 2014

83

OUT THERE

Here be dragons In the lead up to the paddling event of the year, Peter Sherwood talks mythical beasts, boats and goats

A

s a kid in Australia I heard dark and scary tales of dragons and weird dragon goats wandering the perilous China coast. Like most information fed randomly into an embryonic mind it got muddled with an annual festival in faraway Hong Kong; confused imagery which eventually took shape after viewing my first dragon-boat event.

It wasn’t about Capra aegagrus (goats) after all: no goats, just teams of diehards in long canoe-like craft flailing away with paddles on the bubonic soup called Victoria Harbour.

Like the Easter bunny, dragon-boat festival is packed with ancient myth, but in an age where historical knowledge is represented by a glance at Google, tradition’s relevance is relegated to the waterproofing of smart phones. Being Chinese history, you can bet your team t-shirt that the story includes a war and a poet hero who commits suicide, and a bunch of fishermen. Then the Hong Kong Tourism Board gets involved, introduces an on-board drummer, and today we’ve got dragon-boat races.

Photo by Vincent Ypersiel

Up the creek – with a paddle

84

There are 30,000 ‘active paddlers’ in Hong Kong, which is not too shabby for a sport that hits the headlines once a year. Where, I wonder, do they all actively paddle outside of dragonboat season. To Peng Chau and back, probably. Or do they become rowers and go sculling on the Shing Mun

Drums look like a good gig; you’re well away from the crazed splashing, and you don’t need to be Ringo Starr river, a squalid outlet to the sea that has the dubious and malodorous distinction of passing through (any amusing reference to intestinal and colonic passage is purely intentional) romantic Shatin?

Rowing: now there’s a quaint pastime.

As the American athlete and sport cartoonist Feg Murray wrote in 1926: “The reason more men don’t go out for crew is that the human being was never intended to get his exercise sitting down and going backwards.”

Gearing up for the DB Dragon-Boat races on June 1, I clicked onto the Lantau Boat Club site. Here was a chance to get involved in dragon boating by seeing what it takes. If you’re serious, it covers everything in frightening detail: endurance, strength,

In a water-borne drama where the reward for everyone except the winner is sand, sweat, heatstroke and a thick mix of salt and stuff-you-really-do-notwant-to-know-about stuck all over you, it is vital to grab one of the key positions on the boat, none of which includes any of the 20 paddling seats. Try steering at the back, or be the drummer at the front. All other situations require considerable exertion.

Drums look like a good gig; you’re well away from the crazed splashing, and you don’t need to be Ringo Starr. The job of steering, while happily devoid of anything as emotional and primitive as hard work, does have the drawback of a soaking if your team is paddling into the wind. Should corruption have seen the best spots sold, apply for a land-based assignment that’s out of the blazing sun, involves little or no movement (particularly no running up and down the beach organising anything) and is near a large tub of cold beer.

Lastly, remember the wisdom of Damon Runyon: “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.”

Peter Sherwood has lived in DB for 15 years. The former head of an international public relations firm, Peter is the author of 15 books and he has written around 400 satirical columns for the South China Morning Post.

Find more from Peter June 2014

speed, psychology, injury prevention and training regime. A quick look and I had to go and lie down.

at www.arounddb.com