Expat Parent October 2018

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October 2018

Hello half-term!

Big days out in the city

International Schools Fair Grab your free ticket!

Kuala Lumpur with kids

Breast cancer awareness month

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CONTENTs 2

Editor’s letter

Hello from the hot desk

4 Contributors

Meet this month’s team 7

What’s on

12

Things you should know

ISSUE 053

38

October happenings

Mountain high

14 News

Trams and typhoons

18

Me & my big idea

Supporting pregnancy loss

20

Book review

War stories

24

My Hong Kong

Tea tales

26

Modern family

50

9

Holidays en famille

28

The big interview

Meeting Madame Fu

32

Cover story

Half-term big days out

44

41 Schools

The inside scoop on Malvern College

50

Life & style

Chattering sparrows

52 Dining

Hong Kong’s top teas

59 Travel

Kuala Lumpur in the spotlight

66

Big day out

Checking out Cheung Chau

72

Flailing spouse

Party time

16 66

teepee fun!

28 Scan and visit our website expat-parent.com

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editor’s message

who’s in charge?

Editorial editorial@hongkongliving.com Editor Carolynne Dear

Managing Editor Gemma Shaw

Contributing Editor Nicole Slater

Editorial Assistant Becky Love

Design anna@hongkongliving.com Graphic Designer Anna Schulteisz

Graphic Designer Sonia Khatwani

Sales & Marketing talk@hongkongliving.com Sales Director Hilda Chan

Sales and Marketing Executive Isamonia Chui

Sales and Marketing Executive Corrie Tang

Sales and Marketing Executive Johnny Wong

Accounting charles@hongkongliving.com Assistant Operations Manager Charles Lau

Publisher

T

his year, as my oldest child bravely sallies forth on her final year of IGCSEs, the family chat is all about her future - the relative merits of BTEC and of IB and of A-levels. About university courses and sports scholarships. Would Canada be a mad idea for tertiary education given it’s a 16-hour flight? Is she sure she wouldn’t like to go to a British university, like mum and dad? (She’s sure, apparently). And what about Australia, the place of her birth? The options are endless. It’s a whirl of unknowns and Gwyneth Paltrow Sliding Doors moments - without wanting to sound too dramatic, decisions made now will alter the course of the rest of her life.

As an international ‘expat’ family, the breadth of educational choices on offer to us are mindboggling. We have access to curricula from across the globe, both for primary, for secondary and for tertiary. Which is both exciting and quite scary. So it’s useful when any kind of help or advice comes our way. Expat Parent will be hosting its inaugural International Schools Fair on October 20, with advice, workshops and talks from industry experts. It’s free, so do drop in from 10am-3pm,The Annex, Nan Fung Place, 173 Des Voeux Road, Central. Plus, there’ll be plenty of entertainment for the kids. I hope to see you there. Happy October!

about the cover

@beyondthehighrise This month’s cover was shot in Hong Kong’s Botanical and Zoological Gardens in Mid-levels. The lovely Leah Hindes models Bonpoint’s Fall 2018 collection, available now in Hong Kong stores, bonpoint.com. The photo was taken by Expat Parent’s designer, Anna Schulteisz.

Tom Hilditch tom@hongkongliving.com

Contact us Admin: 3568 3722 | Editorial: 2776 2773 | Advertising: 2776 2772 Published by Hong Kong Living Ltd, L1 Kai Wong Commercial Building, 222 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong Printer Apex Print Limited, 11-13 Dai Kwai Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Po, Hong Kong

HONG KONG hongkongliving.com Expat Parent is published by Hong Kong Living Ltd. This magazine is published on the understanding that the publishers, advertisers, contributors and their employees are not responsible for the results of any actions, errors and omissions taken on the basis of information contained in this publication. The publisher, advertisers, contributors and their employees expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person, whether a reader of this publication or not, in respect of any action or omission by this publication. Expat Parent cannot be held responsible for any errors or inaccuracies provided by advertisers or contributors. The views herein are not necessarily shared by the staff or publishers. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

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contributors

Amy Overy

Anna Schulteisz

Michelle Proctor

Sailed over to Cheung Chau to check out Hong Kong’s latest glamping spot.

Took our stunning cover shot in Hong Kong’s Botanical Gardens.

Snapped this month’s big interviewee, Connie Aldao-Worker.

My current favourite thing to do in Hong Kong is… spending the afternoon swimming and barbecuing at Cheung Sha Lower Beach.

My current favourite thing to do in Hong Kong is… hiking, mostly for the views but also to get away from the crowds.

My current favourite thing to do in Hong Kong is… a hike with a view that ends up on a beach.

The best mini-break I’ve ever been on was… to Hoi An in Vietnam - culture, sunshine and great food.

The best mini-break I’ve ever been on was… in Singapore. The brunch at the Raffles ruined me for all other free-flows.

The best mini-break I’ve ever been on was… two days in the Maldives. It was a slice of heaven.

Halloween, love it or hate it? I love it - we host a local Halloween party with the kids.

Halloween, love it or hate it? Love it. As long as I don’t have to go near Lan Kwai Fong.

Halloween, love it or hate it? Love it! Hong Kong does it so well, it’s always been a great night out. @michellejproctor

@hongkong_greeters

@designgirl852

Want to write for Expat Parent Magazine? Contact editorial@hongkongliving.com

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what’s on

Diary dates

OCT 5-31

Ocean Park Halloween Fest 2018 Get ready to be spooked at Ocean Park’s annual Halloween fest, with haunted houses and a new interactive, hyper-reality multimedia horror installation. oceanpark.com.hk

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what’s on THROUGHOUT OCT Retykle pop-up

The eco-chic children’s boutique will be showcasing hundreds of designer childrenswear brands. Pop along for pre-loved and new pieces from newborn to 12 years at this eco-conscious shopping event. 57-59 Hollywood Road. retykle.com

UNTIL OCT 17

Giant Moon Rabbit Lumiere Exhibition Hop along to see Australian artist Amanda Parer and her illuminated rabbits. Free. Podium Level, Tsim Sha Tsui and along Lee Tung Avenue, Wan Chai.

UNTIL OCT 31

Disney Halloween Time With spooky attractions, Halloween costumes, festive treats and all your favourite villains, disneyland is full of ghostly surprises this halloween. Hong Kong Disneyland, Lantau Island. hongkongdisneyland.com

Faust workshops, Oct 15-19

OCT 6

Nord Anglia International Pre-School Campuses Open Day

8.30 - 10am. $390. Tai Tam Country Park BBQ Point, Tai Tam. womensfive.com

Explore the learning environment and play-based curriculum in a day of fun and learning, plus free on-site assessments. 9.30am - 2.30pm.

Free. Nord Anglia International Pre-School, Tai Tam and Sai Kung campuses. Register for the assessment at nordangliaeducation.com

OCT 6 & 27

Woodland Preschools Open Day Drop in to find out all about the group’s Hong Kong-wide preschool programme for littlies.

Free, for times and campus details, see woodlandschools.com

Disney Halloween, until Oct 31

OCT 1

National Day Public holiday. Celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China and catch the legendary annual fireworks display over Victoria Harbour from 9pm.

OCT 5

Magic Workshop Suitable for kids aged from 11 to 15 years.

Magician Matt Owen passes on his secret tricks. $200 per child. pelago.me/PlayingCardTricks

OCT 6

Sai Kung Montessori Information Session Learn more about the Montessori philosophy created over 100 years ago by Dr. Maria Montessori, and its teachings. Free. 10am. To RSVP, email info@saikungmontessori.com 8 expat-parent.com

OCT 6-7

Sideways 24-Hour Charity Race with HandsOn Hong Kong Join the ultimate endurance challenge as 15 teams of drivers race throughout the night to raise funds for HandsOn Hong Kong’s community programmes. Sideways Driving Club, 1/F, 65-65A Peel Street, Central. centralsideways-driving-club.com

OCT 6-7

Shakespeare4All Gala Performance Child performers with an interest in theatre, regardless of their status, race or ability, will be performing The Tempest at Shakespeare4All’s annual Gala. Tickets from $130. Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall. s4a.org.hk

OCT 7

Women’s Five - 5km Run A journey of fitness, health and inspiration that ends in a 5km run for women only. Registrations are still open for the run portion of the journey.

OCT 11

Helena May Charity Bazaar Come along and browse all manner of goodies.

Lunch is available from 11am-3pm with snacks and drinks for purchase throughout the day. $10/person, 9.30am-5.30pm, 35 Garden Road, Central. helenamay.com

OCT 13

Bad Gals Night Out Mrs. Pound will be teaming up with Benefit Cosmetics to bring you free-flow cocktails, bites and complimentary makeovers and brow waxes. $350, a portion of the proceeds go to the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation. ticketflap.com/benefitxmrspound

OCT 13

The Hong Kong Maternity and Baby Event Discover all you need to know about babies and pregnancy from top doctors and experts, and shop for premium products and services. Free.

9.30am-4.30pm. JW Marriott hotel, Admiralty.

Register at healthymatters.com.hk

tell me more OCT 15-19

Faust’s Mid-Autumn Programmes The week long theatre workshops include holiday theatre, creative writing and play in a day. Register by October 5th to get a 10% early bird discount. 5/F, Nan Dao Commercial Building 359 & 361 Queen’s Road Central, Sheung Wan Hong Kong. faustworld.com

mum about town

OCT 17

Chung Yeung Festival Public holiday - enjoy the midweek day off.

OCT 20

Expat Parent International Schools Fair A host of vital information about Hong Kong schools for the international expat community. Grab your free ticket from this mont’s cover! 10am-3pm, The Annex, Nan Fung Place, 173 Des Voeux Road, Central.

OCT 21

Hong Kong Cross Harbour Race For over 70 years, the Cross Harbour Race has been one of Hong Kong’s most celebrated events, with thousands of participants swimming 1.8km across Victoria Harbour. hkharbourrace.com

OCT 21

Momentai pop up market The perfect way to spend your lazy Sunday. Kiosk 1, Wau Man Road, Sai Kung, momentai-la.com

OCT 26-28

Diwali divas, Oct 25-27

Hong Kong Super Sixes 2018 The fastest-paced cricket tournament heads to the Kowloon Cricket Club for this annual competition. Will Hong Kong take top spot this year? $350. Hong Kong Cricket Club, Kowloon. hkcricket.org

OCT 26 - NOV 4 Giselle

Revisit one of the greatest romantic ballets of all time with Giselle, a passionate tale of love, betrayal and forgiveness.

Presented by Hong Kong Ballet. $140. Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre, Tsim Sha Tsui. hkballet.com

OCT 27

Dress Pink Day Dress up in pink and help raise awareness and funds to support women with breast cancer across Hong Kong. pink.cancer-fund.org

Shop India Channel your inner Diwali diva this month as local event specialist Mums@PLAY hosts a three-day Fashion & Fun Pop-up to celebrate the Indian festival of lights.

This year Diwali takes place on November 7, although this event is being held October 25-27. Diwali celebrates the glory of light over darkness and hope over despair; organiser Mehroo Turel hopes to make this a more accessible event for Hong Kong’s mums - as well as catering for the large Indian population.

“We hope visitors will enjoy browsing our curated range of ethnic Indian and fusion products,” says Turel. Shop precious stones, ethnic ‘kundan’ jewellery, traditional ‘gota’ pouches and bags, cotton and linen saris and festive ‘diyas’ (lamps) and homewares. A Diwali-themed party is planned for October 25.

Free, 11am-8pm, Usagi, Wah Shin House, 6-10 Shin Hing Street, Central. mumsatplay.com

Shipping forecast Giselle, Oct 26-Nov 4

OCT 27 - 28

Sandcastle Fun Day Part of the Hong Kong Beach Festival, join sandcastle artists who will teach you how to build Instagram-able castles with their specials tools and techniques. $180. Repulse Bay Beach. ticketflap.com/hkbeachfest-sandcastle

Keep the kids busy on the weekend this month with one of Hong Kong’s most interesting boat tours. The SAR is one of the world’s most important container ports and viewing the big boats upclose-and-personal is a not-to-be-missed opportunity. Every Sunday throughout October, hop aboard Jungle Jane and venture inside the container shipping terminal. The day concludes with a BBQ lunch with free-flow alcohol. The on-board guides have been involved with the shipping industry for over a decade and really know their stuff. 11am-3.30pm, $900/adult and $760/child. hongkongyachting.com

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what’s on NOV 1

DEC 1

31st Annual Charity Bazaar

108 Sun Salutations Join the Yoga House in its bid to perform 108 sun salutations for charity. The fun kicks off in Sai Kung’s ‘square’ at 11am participants are asked to bring a mat and come dressed in festive leggings and a santa hat. The event costs $250 per person and all funds will be going towards Operation Santa Claus, Hong Kong’s annual Christmas fundraising event.

Local restaurant Jaspas will be offering participants a free glass of bubbles to ‘rehydrate’ after the event. Yoga House founder Emma Linnitt and Tamika Savoury of Tamika Yoga will be leading the fun. Why 108 salutations? The number has long been considered sacred in Hinduism. facebook.com/ theyogahouse.hk

The American Woman’s Association (AWA) will be holding its 31st Annual Charity Bazaar with 70 vendors selling a range of items from jewellery to Christmas decor. There will also be silent auction and lucky draw. Free. PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Sheung Wan. awa.org.hk

NOV 9 - 11

Clockenflap Grab your tickets to Hong Kong’s biggest music and arts festival in November. The three-day festival will feature big names, including The Vaccines and Peking Duk. Tickets from $820. Central Harbourfront Event Space. clockenflap.com Join Sai Kung’s Yoga House to raise money for Operation Santa Claus, Dec 1

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things to know

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The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is traditionally believed to have too much ‘yang’, rendering it potentially dangerous. Known as Chung Yeung in Hong Kong, the day is also sometimes called the ‘Double Yang Festival’.

Chung Yeung is also called 'Double Yang Festival'

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Expect the city’s cemeteries to be crowded with relatives and the city’s high spots to be busy with hikers. There’s usually also the odd bushfire courtesy of stray, burning incense sticks.

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Like Ching Ming in the spring, Chung Yeung is also a popular grave-visiting day, with locals heading for the hills to clean and tidy up ancestral graves.

Things you need to know Chung Yeung October 17 is a public holiday. Here’s why

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To protect against danger, it’s customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum tea or wear ‘zhuyu’ (a flower that originates from China and Korea).

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It’s customary to pack a picnic including rice cakes known as ‘ko’. The word ‘ko’ sounds like ‘high’ or ‘top’ in Chinese and people eat them in the hope of being elevated in society or promoted at work.

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news

Designer ‘ding dings’ Local artist Florence Traissac has had her work emblazoned on a Hong Kong tram. “Hong Kong Tramways contacted me and loved the idea of having my artwork adorn their trams, especially as it tells a bit of a story about Hong Kong life,” says Traissac. “I created a ‘jigsaw’ of a few pieces and they had it made into a

giant ‘sticker’ in the shape of a tram.”

The tram is now out and about and will be showcasing Traissac’s colourful work for the next two months. More of Traissac’s pieces can be viewed at her gallery, 12 Shing Wong Street, Sheung Wan. artflodesign.com

These shoes weren’t made for walking Pacific Place is partnering with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum to present Shoes: Pleasure and Pain. The thought-provoking exhibition features 140 pairs of shoes from around the globe, from examples that date as far back as the first century BC, to footwear worn by China’s bound feet women and - exclusively to the Hong Kong leg of the exhibition - 14 pairs of shoes from actress and singer Karen Mok’s personal collection.

Iconic designs by Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Roger Vivier for Christian Dior, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Vivienne Westwood, and shoes worn by Elton John and The Queen Mother are also featured.

The event is divided into sections, exploring how shoes can denote social status, transform self-identity and express sexual empowerment, as well as examining design 14 expat-parent.com

Actress Karen Mok poses with her shoe collection

and engineering techniques.

The Asian tour is co-curated by Swire Properties and the exhibition travelled from London to Shanghai for its Chinese debut last year, before moving on to Chengdu, Guangzhou and Beijing. Pacific Place Hong

Kong is hosting the finale to the the tour.

Shoes: Pleasure and Pain runs until October 28 with free entrance, 10am-9.30pm, Garden Court, LG1, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong, shoes.swireproperties.com

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news

In the pink annual fundraising event - the charity works to support breast cancer awareness, providing medical and emotional support for both patients and their families.

Breast cancer is now the most common cancer affecting women in Hong Kong, with around ten diagnoses each day. HKBCF recommends women minimise their risk with moderate exercise (Journal of American Medical Association recommends at least four hours a week); weight control (the recommended BMI is between 18.2 and

25); stress management; limited alcohol consumption; a healthy diet - wholegrain foods and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and kale can lower oestrogen levels and reduce risk; and of course regular breast checks with your GP. Pink Walk for Breast Cancer takes place on October 21, 8.15am-1pm, Peak Road Garden, enrollments cost $350/individual entrant and must be made by October 7, hkbcf.org

Kidding around

Mangkhut causes chaos Photo courtesy Zoe Stevenson @thegreen52

Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation (HKBCF) is hosting a fundraising walk on the Peak to suoport International Breast Cancer Awareness month. The three-and-a-half kilometre Pink Walk for Breast Cancer follows the Peak Circle Walk, taking in some of the city’s most stunning views. Participants need to be aged three years and above (three to 13 year olds must be accompanied by an adult) and are invited to come dressed in pink. There will be awards for Best Dressed and Top Fundraiser. This is HKBCF’s flagship

Indigo Kids new season collection

Indigo Kids has launched its new season collections, with plenty of fun and flexible furniture, accessories and toys.

Danish brands Hoppekids and Sebra have come on board for the first time.

Hoppekids brings an environmentally friendly range created from sustainable sources.

Sebra is renowned for its socially responsible textiles and accessories.

Indigo Kids has also launched a range of fun plush animal heads that can be mounted on the wall - for every ‘trophee’ animal head sold, a donation will be made to Animal Friends of the Globe.

If you’re struggling with your space, Indigo Kids offers a home interior design service. Visit the Horizon Plaza or Yuen Long stores for a free design consultancy session, or book a personalised home visit for $2,000 and redeemable against Indigo Living purchases of $20,000 within three months. designconsultant@indigo-living.com

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Community clear-up: Villagers in Sheung Sze Wan, Clearwater Bay, clearing styrofoam from from the village stream and beach

Typhoon Mangkhut slammed through Hong Kong last month, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

Hong Kong’s schools were shut on both Monday and Tuesday following the storm while the city embarked on a massive clear-up operation.

The typhoon was the most powerful since records began in 1946 and the resultant storm surge caused flood waters to reach their highest levels since 1904. The maximum typhoon signal number ten was issued for ten hours.

Chief executive Carrie Lam was under fire in the immediate aftermath for underestimating the chaos caused by Mangkut and for not declaring a day off for workers. Public transport was crippled on the Monday following the storm, with most bus services suspended. rail

operations partially suspended and many roads blocked by fallen trees. MTR stations were deluged with frustrated commuters.

Over 450 members of the public sought A&E medical treatment during the storm and the number of calls for help were five times higher than when Hato hit town last year, according to the government.

Two days after the storm, outlying islands including Cheung Chau were still without water or electricity.

Meanwhile, a ‘foreign’ man was found dead in Sai Kung’s Inner Port Shelter among debris between storm-damaged sampans.

He was discovered by clean-up workers from the Marine Department. At the time of going to press, police were appealing for help in identifying him.

Box of Hope returns

Wan Chai yoga vibes

Box of Hope, Hong Kong’s popular annual Christmas charity-drive, is back again this year and is now asking for donations and volunteers.

School students are being invited to decorate and fill a shoebox with suitable gifts for delivery to underprivileged children throughout Hong Kong and Asia. Gift items could include stationery, toiletries and a fun toy.

This year the charity hopes to collect a mammoth 33,000 boxes and has so far received support from a number of Hong Kong-based corporates, including Meridian Capital, Wooloomooloo Group, Clifford Chance, Halfords, The Lion Rock Press, Bloom&Grow, Dachser, Redbox Storage, Wah Yuen stationery and Allen & Overy.

The charity will again be running its popular box design competition. Winners will be invited to help hand deliver Boxes of Hope to children living in Hong Kong. To enter, email a photo of your decorated box to siantaylor1@ boxofhope.org before November 15.

All filled and wrapped boxes should be delivered to your school collection point November 5-9.

Pure Yoga has launched the group’s first location in Wan Chai. The 20,000 square-foot Starstreet Precinct ‘zen den’ houses two yoga studios, a private studio and community-inspired Pure Apparel activewear boutique. The venue also boasts a rooftop venue for exclusive group classes as well as a flagship nood food cafe.

Pre- or post-stretch, there’s plenty of space to relax in a sofa-strewn lounge area and there’s a further chill-out area on the second floor.

The space was designed by Elaine Jamieson of Positive Partnership using a relaxing neutral colour palette and natural rattans and bamboos.

This is Pure Group’s 13th Pure Yoga to open in Hong Kong. “We’re thrilled that it’s in such a charismatic hub opposite Pacific Place 3,” said Pure Group co-founder and chief executive officer Colin Grant.

Pure Yoga offers 120 yoga classes every week, with practices to suit all levels, including hot yoga, Hatha, yoga therapy, meditation, aerial yoga, wall rope yoga and yoga for office workers.

Pure Yoga Starstreet Precinct, 3-19 Wing Fung Street, Starstreet Precinct, Wan Chai. pure-yoga.com

Box of Hope’s director Sian Trodd

For more information, to volunteer with box collection of distribution, or to sign your school up as a collection point, see boxofhope.org

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me & my big idea

Feel the love October 15 is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Jenny Ostling and Laura Weeks introduce local support group, Hope Hong Kong So what’s the big idea?

Jenny and I set up Hope Hong Kong five years ago as a support group for people here who are struggling with starting or expanding their family, suffering from loss (miscarriage or stillbirth) or dealing with fertility issues. The group is named after my daughter, Hope, who we lost in 2009 (she died on October 30 at 27.5 weeks and was born on November 1). After many miscarriages, she had given us so much hope, but sadly she died in utero.

How did the idea come about?

My husband and I moved to Hong Kong from Australia in 2007, where we had been for 18 months. We had hoped to start our family there and just assumed that having a baby would be a walk in the park. But we suffered our first miscarriage and after a number of tests, realised that we would probably need help with conception. When we moved to Hong Kong we started our IVF process, and after six years of IVF, six miscarriages and one still birth, our daughter was born healthy and beautiful in February 2011. We have since had two boys, now aged five and three.

It was a very lonely time and I didn’t know how to reach out to women on the same journey. Despite more media coverage in recent years, miscarriage and stillbirth still carries an element of social taboo here, even shame for some people. When you’re going through the hell of losing a baby, or not being able to conceive, it’s difficult to know where to turn.

How did you both meet?

On Hong Kong Moms Facebook page!

Jenny is an Arvigo therapy practitioner treating women dealing with fertility issues and she realised that many of her clients felt lost and alone and wanted to reach out for help. She was also thinking about starting her own family and not finding it as easy as she had imagined. So she posted on Hong Kong Moms, asking if anyone knew of 18 expat-parent.com

Hope Hong Kong was set up to support couples battling fertility issues

any support groups, or if anyone would be interested in setting one up. And together we set up Hope Hong Kong.

are considering surrogacy and adoption, some are in the initial steps of assisted conception.

What sort of support does the group offer?

How will you be marking International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day?

We are a closed Facebook page for privacy, so members know they are in a ‘safe’ space.

Every member has dealt with, or is dealing with, miscarriage, stillbirth or fertility issues.

It’s a place to seek help, offer support or talk about your journey. We don’t allow fertility practitioners to join, for example.

We also hold monthly meetings at Sparadise in Central. They kindly donate their space for a couple of hours, one evening a month for members to meet face-to-face in a relaxed environment. Hope Hong Kong members are of all ages and at all stages of fertility challenges - some

There are a few days during the year which are particularly poignant for people who are finding starting or expanding their families a challenge. International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and even ‘first day of school’ photos that flood social media feeds at this time of year, are all times which can be hard. Hope Hong Kong recognises all these days in our feed on our Facebook page, reminding people they are not alone. facebook.com/groups/Hopehongkong.

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book review

Out this month My October

The Plus One Sophia Money-Coutts British journalist-turned-novelist Sophia Money-Coutts makes her debut with this laugh-out-loud story about 30-year-old Polly, who’s hoping to meet the man of her dreams and become ‘the one’, not just a ‘plus one’. Polly lives in London and works for Posh magazine and barrels through life from one toe-curlingly embarrassing scenario to another. Money-Coutts was formerly features director for British Tatler and now writes a weekly column for the London Telegraph, so expect lots of English high-society shenanigans.

The Last Mrs Parrish Liv Constantine The disturbing tale of troubled Amber Patterson who, after a poverty-stricken and loveless childhood, is determined to obtain a life of wealth, luxury and leisure.

She does this by hatching a plot to ingratiate herself into the life of Bishops Harbor golden girl, Daphne Parrish. Millionaire Parrish lives in a picture-perfect Hamptonsstyle mansion with her husband and two beautiful daughters and has everything Patterson has ever desired. A cleverly told story that will leave you cold.

The Banker’s Wife Cristina Alger Very much in the vein of The Expats

by Chris Pavone, The Banker’s Wife is a slick, fast-paced, made-forthe-silver-screen thriller about a Geneva-based, American expat wife, Annabel Werner, whose husband falls foul of his corrupt banker bosses. After his apparent death in an air crash over the Alps, Annabel is left to pick up the pieces.

Peopled with suitably menacing men in dark glasses, high-speed mountain chases and the obligatory speed-boat escape to a Caribbean Island hideaway, the story is slightly cliched but enjoyable nonetheless.

Eco-conscious clothing Christina Dean and Hannah Lane are the brains behind new publication Dress (with) Sense. Both are heavily committed to promoting ecoconscious decisions in the fashion industry through their work with nongovernment organisation, Redress.

The book is laden with top tips for caring for your wardrobe and making better informed decisions when you hit the shops. The facts and figures about the rag trade make for sobering reading; to produce just one pair of jeans, it takes 3,625 litres of water, three kilos of chemicals, 111 kilowatt hours of energy and 13m2 of harvested land.

“We can all make a start,” says Dean. “Even if you think you haven’t done a lot to contribute, maybe just opting to launder your clothes less frequently or re-purposing that old bag, it all counts. Never be discouraged.”

Lane adds that opting for clothes and accessories already in circulation is a great way to start making a dent. “If you’re choosing between the vintage leather coat and the new eco-conscious jacket, go for the garment already in existence. No matter how eco-friendly a production process is, it still uses resources.” Dress (with) Sense is available from redress.com.hk in soft or hard format.

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Hong Kong Living’s group managing editor Gemma Shaw tells us what she’s into this month What I’m reading I’m not usually into self-help books but The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim caught my eye while I was in a a philosophical mood at Singapore airport last month.

A Korean-born Buddhist monk, Sumin offers spiritual (yet very relatable) about staying mindful in a hectic world. A few pages before bed every night gives me perspective on the days events.

What I’m listening to The Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack - of course! Plus, I’m putting together a playlist for my UK wedding this Christmas so my Spotify is full of that. The swing band we’ve booked set me into panic when they recently suggested a rendition of Beegee’s Staying Alive so now I’m creating a very strict, set list!

What I’m plugging into I’m loving Appearances - British Vogue’s first-ever podcast. Each week contributing editor Steve McQueen invites a highprofile guest to discuss how their physical appearance has helped to define their life.

It’s very inspiring.

What’s in my diary

Christina Dean and Hannah Lane with their new book

A staycation and brunch at Island Shangri-la for my bachelorette party in early November (my bridesmaids have promised to keep it classy!). And a lightening speed trip to Mallorca to see family. Oh, and a trip to Macau to see Mariah Carey in concert (I’m a fan - but I’m not sure I should publicise that!)

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book review

Stanley survivor

Former POW Barbara Anslow reveals what life was like in war-torn Hong Kong. By Carolynne Dear

caption

S

econd World War-survivor Barbara Anslow has published her war-time diaries, seven decades after they were first written. She might be turning 100 this year, but her memories of Hong Kong under the Japanese remain sharp. Now living in the UK, she was keen to expand on her experiences when I reached out to her last month.

She was interned with her sisters and mother shortly after the Japanese invasion in December, 1941, and survived three-and-a-half gruelling years as a prisoner of war in Stanley Internment Camp.

But publication of her daily diary entries written during this time took a circuitous route.

After rewriting them decades later when the journal’s paper started disintegrating, she

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Author Barbara Anslow pictured (centre) in Hong Kong during World War II

began posting extracts to an internet group.

They were read by David Bellis, founder of Hong Kong history website Gwulo, who thought it would be interesting to email daily extracts to a subscriber group so people could relive the events at the pace at which they happened. The feedback was positive and it was suggested Anslow should publish the diary as a book.

Anslow’s relationship with Hong Kong began well before the outbreak of hostilities. She first arrived on board a steamer in 1927 when her father was sent out from England to work in the naval dockyard as an electrical engineer.

“It was a great life for Olive and Mabel (her sisters) and me,” she recalls. “The naval yard used to lay on bathing trips at weekends on a tug, taking us to swim at the lovely beaches, Deep Water Bay, Big Wave Bay, Silvermine

Bay, Cheung Chau and Castle Peak. It was absolute heaven.”

The girls attended Kowloon Junior School and then the Central British School (now ESF King George V School) and when the family moved to Kennedy Road on Hong Kong Island, they attended the former Garrison School which used to stand next to the Lower Peak Tram terminus. It was a one-storeyed building mainly for army children and Anslow remembers the boys escaping out of the iron-barred windows when the teachers’ backs were turned.

Due to her father’s ill health, the family returned to the UK in 1929, but nine years later he was re-appointed and they arrived back in Hong Kong in 1938.

She found work as a government stenographer but as war engulfed Europe, in

book review 1941 she was evacuated on a ship bound for Australia with her sisters and mother, Mabel Redwood. However, on reaching Manila, they received news that Anslow’s father had suddenly died.

“When we heard of dad’s death while awaiting shipment to Australia, we wanted to get back to Hong Kong as soon as possible to find out what happened,” she says. “We returned a month later and there was no sign of the Japanese attacking the colony, so we argued successfully with the naval yard officials that we should stay. Olive and I were the breadwinners and we both had permanent jobs as shorthand typists with the Hong Kong government.”

Anslow found herself living in Happy Valley in the lead-up to the Japanese invasion. She remembers tunnels being dug into the hillside and concrete one-storey bomb-protection buildings called ‘pen shelters’ being erected in residential districts. There were practice blackouts and air-raid wardens, mostly Chinese, were being hurriedly recruited and trained.

“I was working at the Air Raid Precautions headquarters which of course was dominated by war preparations. We were anxious, but hoping for the best,” she says.

On December 8, the Japanese invaded from China. They quickly crossed the New Territories and Kowloon, arriving on Hong Kong Island on December 18. After fierce fighting, the colony surrendered on December 25.

“Life changed completely after December 8,” Anslow remembers. “Most of the women had wartime jobs in nursing or food control.

There was very little public transport and most workers ended up having to find somewhere to sleep close to their place of work as travel became increasingly difficult. My mother and Mabel were nurses, mum at a temporary hospital in the Jockey Club in Happy Valley and Mabel at the Military Hospital on Bowen Road, and I was working in the tunnel underneath Government House.

“Bombs were falling everywhere and we just went onto automatic pilot, doing our jobs.

I remember it being a great shock when the Japanese finally landed on the Island.”

After the surrender, civilians were initially sent to small Chinese hotels - Anslow’s was on Des Voeux Road. “We shared beds and were provided with some food but we weren’t allowed out. We were very worried about what would happen to us.”

Anslow was eventually taken to Stanley with around 2,000 others. She remembers they were left to find bed spaces in intensely cramped conditions in St Stephens College and the prewar staff living quarters of Stanley prison. And

thus ensued three-and-a-half years of hunger, deprivation and desperate conditions. Anslow’s mother recalls a friend trying to cheer her up, reminding her it was “only for three months.

Remember, Winston said so.”

“But if at that moment we had been given the power to see not just three months, but more than three years stretching before us, we just could not have borne it,” she records in her memoirs.

Perhaps the most harrowing event of the war is also documented by Anslow’s mother.

While still stationed at the Jockey Club hospital, Redwood reports the rape of female medical staff by Japanese soldiers following the surrender. “The younger nurses were selected to accompany the soldiers back to their quarters, with the threat: ‘Go Jap - no come, kill all!’” she writes. “At length the poor girls came running back in great distress. Again, they (the soldiers) made a selection… none dared

Bombs were falling everywhere. It was a great shock when the Japanese landed on Hong Kong Island.

refuse lest we should all be slaughtered.” The situation was eventually resolved by the heroic actions of school teacher Marie Paterson, who escaped the hospital disguised as a Chinese woman and walked through the night to inform the authorities.

In the camp, the POWs were provided with two meals a day consisting of vegetables and rice and occasionally “tiny” pieces of meat, and hot water that they had to drink out of tin food boxes. “My mum dropped from 170 to 120lbs,” Anslow remembers. “Somehow we adapted to our situation, thinking that sooner or later the Japanese would be pushed out of Hong Kong.

We never dreamt we would be in the camp for over three years.”

Time passed organising school lessons for the children, putting on concerts and plays, forming small study groups and organising church services for the various denominations.

Despite the hunger, the outworn clothes, the cold in the winter and the anxiety about the future, Anslow says there were happy times.

“We were generally not a miserable lot.”

“I think the war made me more tolerant,”

she says. “Eating, sleeping and living in such cramped conditions, you had to accept other people’s habits. Pre-war I only mixed with British people, but in the camp I made friends with Eurasians, Chinese women married to British soldiers, Dutch, Belgians and Americans, so my outlook broadened. I also take notice of refugees on television these days, remembering when I was in that situation myself.”

Anslow met her husband, Frank, in the camp, and after the war they married and had five children, finally leaving Hong Kong in 1959. She re-visited Stanley with her sister Olive in 1986 and admits it hadn’t changed that much. “But when I returned with family in 2008, it seemed very different. Overbuilt, air conditioning boxes everywhere, shop staff who didn’t seem to speak much English - and I have never in my life seen so many taxis!”

Post-war, Anslow stayed in touch with exPOWs and says the Stanley internet group has brought her in contact with the descendants of ex-internees and revived her memories of the bitter war years.

“But my lasting memories of Hong Kong are happy ones - the thrill of coming into the harbour with Kowloon to one side and the mountains of the Island on the other, of beautifully coloured evening skies, and of my courting days with Frank, walking together on the Peak.”

Tin Hats & Rice by Barbara Anslow is published by Blacksmith Books and is available from Bookazine and Swindon. expat-parent.com 23

PEOPLE

My Hong Kong - the wine producer Sarah Driver grew up on a tea plantation on Lantau.

This month she’s back in Hong Kong to launch English sparkling wine, Rathfinny Estate. By Carolynne Dear I arrived in Hong Kong in 1965, aged one, with my parents and brothers, Robert and Ian Whitehead. My father worked for the government in the Parks Department (he was responsible for the planting of Statue Square) and we lived at Mount Nicholson. We did a tour of three years and then returned for a further tour, but in March 1969 my father suddenly died. We were allowed to remain in our flat to finish the school year - I was at Peak School with Ian, while Robert was at Island School. My mother had been working for the Blind Association, teaching English, and after dad’s funeral she ended up meeting the association’s chairman, Brook Bernacchi, at one of their events. He invited us to his home at Ngong Ping on Lantau (this was before the Big Buddha) and as children, we fell in love with the place. We returned to England, but Brook wanted to take care of us as a family and my mother agreed to marry him and come back to Hong Kong.

We returned to Hong Kong to a very different life. Brook was - and still is - an extremely well known figure here. He came out of the war as a young barrister and stayed in Hong Kong, eventually becoming head of the Bar. He started Hong Kong’s first political party, the Reform Club, and was an urban councillor in Chai Wan. He was a vocal opponent of the government at times and I remember calls from the press at all hours of the day and night. He was a true social philanthropist and was key in the development of social housing and education for all. He founded the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts and the Discharged Prisoner Aid Society.

My childhood on Lantau was unusual. We were the only English family on the island and it used to take the best part of four hours to get home on a Friday evening after school. We stayed on Lantau every weekend and school Sarah Driver with husband Mark at their English vineyard, Rathfinny Estate

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PEOPLE holiday, returning on a Monday morning by waking at 5am, eating hard boiled eggs in the Land Rover to the ferry, doing our homework en route and getting to school just in time for the bell. There was no road to Tai O and we used to travel down the riverbed to shop in the small town. During the week we lived at Carolina Gardens in Coombe Road.

My step-father had started a tea plantation on Lantau in the early 1950s with plants from Sri Lanka, where he’d been stationed during the war. I remember regularly picking tea, the bud and two leaves, and throwing them into large wicker baskets on my back.

The tea was usually made in a small factory at night, when it was cooler. We also had stables with ex-race horses and army polo ponies which we rode across the plateau.

I returned to England after my A-levels to study law at Bristol University. I trained in the City of London with Herbert Smith and then returned to Hong Kong to work with them in the 1980s.

I had my first child, Brook, at Matilda Hospital; it was quite hard to be a working mum in Hong Kong in those days. I had to work full-time and also on Saturday mornings.

Unlike in England where nannies could take children to various activities, our lovely maid, Rose, could not. So Brook spent a lot of time in the car park. I wanted to spend more time with him, and my husband Mark had received a good offer back in London, so that fixed things for us.

Mark decided to retire at 46 which sent me into a panic. I had a busy life with four fairly young children and I couldn’t imagine him being around all day. We had visited vineyards in New Zealand in the 1990s and loved the idea of owning one, but we had no money

Harvesting the grapes

and life with four children got in the way.

Mark revisited the idea when he discovered that England was producing some of the best sparkling wines in the world. He decided to go back to university for a degree in viticulture.

At the same time, Rathfinny came up for sale.

It was a perfect site - the same chalk soils as Champagne in France, and south-facing slopes in one of the warmest and sunniest parts of England. Due to global warming, we are where Champagne was about 30 years ago. But we are able to harvest our fruit later, in October, allowing the grapes to ripen and enhance their flavours.

We bought Rathfinny in 2010, planted our first vines in 2012 and released our first vintages of Sussex Sparkling this year.

Sussex was the first region in the UK to establish a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin). The PDO establishes quality rules about how grapes are grown and wines are produced and each wine has to

be assessed. To be a Sussex Sparkling is a real mark of provenance and quality. I manage the branding and design side of the business, as well as the ‘tourist’ side. We offer tours and accommodation and have recently opened a Cellar Door and a Tasting Room with fine dining.

Our wines are distributed in Hong Kong

by Jebsen Fine Wines. They’re available in restaurants such as Arcane and Bo Innovation and also Wagyu. Production is steadily growing and we hope to be more readily available here over the next few years as vintages are released.

I still have family in Hong Kong and I love coming back. I enjoy going back to Ngong Ping to the house I grew up in and catching up with old friends. And I like to take a long ride on the top of a tram to watch the world go by. I’ve written a memoir about my childhood and am now working on an historical TV series with my son, so I always get inspiration when I’m here. rathfinnyestate.com Driver (third from left) celebrating this year’s vintage with family members

expat-parent.com 25

Modern family

Memory-making with the mother-in-law

How to get the best out of a multi-generational holiday. By Carolynne Dear

A

utumn mid-term break is almost upon us. Yes, it’s granny season, and as Hong Kong temperatures drop to a slightly more liveable level, waves of relatives will shortly be making the long trip east.

But as any frazzled expat mum can tell you, hosting elderly parents plus your husband’s bossy older sister and her kids in a Hong Kong apartment is no walk in the park. In the interests of #selfkindness and #givingyourselfabreak, booking a large, fully serviced villa and getting out of town is often a no-brainer. Welcome to the world of multi-generational holidays, the latest travel industry ‘buzz’ word.

As a concept, multi-generational travel is brilliant. Meeting extended family on neutral turf and perhaps a few hours closer to home - preferably in the sunshine and near a beach - rather than a full-blown long-haul flight followed by camping out in the mother-in-law’s chilly guest bedroom or - shudder, hosting everyone in Hong Kong - has got to be a good thing. The stop-off options between Hong Kong and Europe, or Hong Kong and the US, are numerous and aspirational. Think Sri Lanka, the Maldives, the Middle East; the world really is our oyster.

According to research in the UK, almost 12 million Brits alone were estimated to have taken a holiday involving at least three generations in 2017. Reasons for holidaying with extended family included making up for lost time due to busy schedules and living apart, while splitting the cost of accommodation was also a motivating factor.

But how do these ‘dream’ breaks really pan out?

“We did a lot of trips when my daughter was younger and the grandparents still willing and able to do long distance,” says Janet, a mum-of-one. “In a way they all had the same needs - endless questions, regular stops for the loo, and an early dinner that wasn’t too spicy. I think those of us in the middle end up becoming the parent for everybody.”

It seems the age-old ‘a view, a brew and a loo’ formula remains a winner.

Many report mostly positive memories. “We 26 expat-parent.com

Extended-family holidays have their ups and their downs

do a family holiday every year with my mom, brother and our children,” says Aparna. “We’ve done everything from a chilled beach resort in Boracay to more adventurous trips to Iceland and Australia.”

Preparation and communication are the name of the game pre-departure. Grandparents may be looking forward to spending lots of time with their grandchildren, or they may be dreading having their precious relaxation taken up by demanding toddlers. Equally, parents expecting some decent ‘downtime’ alone as a couple might be surprised when family members are slow to step up.

Either way, expectations need to be discussed before stepping on the ‘plane.

“I must admit, I was nervous when my daughter-in-law suggested we meet in Thailand last year,” says Margaret,

grandmother to six grandchildren between the ages of four and 16. “We were holidaying with her, my son and their two children, aged 10 and four. Thailand is a long and reasonably expensive trip for us and I was worried I would be expected to be on-hand for babysitting duties when all I really wanted to do was relax by the pool. Fortunately this didn’t happen, my son and daughter-in-law were on-hand the whole time and it was nice to be able to enjoy the children in a warm, exotic and relaxed location.”

Finding a location that everybody is happy with is also key.

While a desert island in Indonesia was an amazing experience with the kids one year, a return visit with grandparents in tow the following autumn was a disaster for one family. “We’d completely not factored in my father-in-law’s hip replacement,” says mum-ofthree Jane. “He walks with a stick

modern family and the eco-resort was all sand-based. He really struggled and I felt terrible. It was a good holiday but not as fun for everyone as it could have been. I regret not discussing destination options in more detail.”

“Kids are pretty flexible,” says Janet. “But grandparents are a mixed bag. We once got locked out of our hotel rooms in Singapore for several hours. While my daughter just headed for the pool, it turned out my mother-in-law needed to take medication at specific times of the day, and her pills were locked in the room.”

“If you’re sharing accommodation, it really has to be big enough that you can’t see or hear other people if you don’t want to,” adds one mum. “Also, be clear about shopping or splitting costs. And trying to sort out suitable excursions for such varied age and interest groups is not easy.”

Organising a trip through a professional tour operator can often guarantee a much smoother landing. Lightfoot Travel, which has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, has a heap of destination suggestions to suit varying age groups.

“I’d always recommend a villa holiday over a hotel if you have young children,” says Lightfoot Travel co-founder Lucy Jackson.

“If you’re in your own space, it’s way less stressful and means you can run the day to your own timetable.”

What the experts recommend Lucy Jackson is co-founder of Lightfoot Travel and mum-of-two Soneva Fushi, Maldives This ticks all the boxes for a multigenerational trip. Adults get to enjoy the stunning surroundings, the luxury beachfront villas and amazing spa, while the children can dive into The Den - an incredible kids playground with eightmetre tall pirate ship, DJ corner, mocktail bar, cooking classes, Lego room and teenage lounge. Meet up in the evening at one of the restaurants or enjoy a picnic on the sand.

Meda Gaedara private villa, Sri Lanka This is a seven-bedroom, colonial-style villa in Dikwella which will keep the whole family happy. Step through the antique doublefronted doors to discover a bright living space, followed by a tropical garden and killer ocean views. The kids will love the

Make your break a success Flashpoints to think about pre-departure:

In a way the kids and the grandparents all had the same needs - regular stops for the loo and an early dinner that wasn’t too spicy.

Jackson also recommends inviting travel professionals to tailor the group activities.

“Perhaps teens are looking for adventure, while mum and gran might enjoy trying some gently yoga on the deck. We have local experts on the ground who can recommend all sorts of add-ons to make your holiday a success.” Jackson also stresses that professional tour operators can ensure the nitty gritty elements of a holiday - like flight connections and pick-ups - are seamless and as stress-free as possible. “Things like having the local car come and pick you up fully prepared with baby seats and boosters after a long flight is invaluable.”

villa’s own water slide into a private plunge pool, while the adults can stretch out and relax. There’s space for a game of cricket on the lawns and there’s a private chef onhand to cater for all tastes. lightfoottravel.com Marianne Rogerson is a travel blogger and mum-of-two Hyatt Regency Danang The Hyatt Regency Danang is ideal for family groups, with a choice of two and three-bedroom residences, and also threebedroom beach villas. There’s a kids club, a large swimming pool with a water slide and sandy play area – but also a quieter pool where the grandparents can escape to if they need. There are food and cultural tours locally, plus fabulous restaurants and shopping. And there’s also a golf course down the road.

The Andaman Langkawi The Andaman boasts an enviable location on one of the most beautiful beaches in

Accommodation - a villa offers more freedom and communal space to relax, a hotel more facilities and privacy.

Money - will you organise a group kitty, or are people happier to pay as they go? Plan for varying budgets.

Babysitting - are family members willing to step up? Or would pre-booking a professional babysitter be a better way to go? If you’re in a hotel, is there a kids club?

Catering - how many evenings do individuals expect to eat out? Would booking a local chef to come in for a few nights help?

Amenities - do you have enough bedrooms and bathrooms in your accommodation for everyone to be comfortable? Will you need a cleaner to pop in?

Parenting - clarify if, and which, treats are acceptable for grandparents to be lavishing on the children. And discuss behavioural expectations with the parents of similarlyaged cousins to your own brood.

Asia and as it’s also a private beach, it’s always quiet. The resort has a beautiful swimming pool with water slide and a fun kids club - leave the kids while you treat the grandparents to a round of golf at the Ernie Els designed course next door.

There’s a good choice of easy day trips, including mangrove boat tours and a cable car ride to the Skybridge.

Shangri-La Hotel Singapore For a city-centre hotel, it doesn’t get much better than this. With three different wings, grandparents can choose if they would like to be close by or prefer their own space.

Parents with young kids should opt for the dedicated family floor in the Tower Wing. There’s a fabulous kids club with outdoor water play area and playground, a gorgeous swimming pool and several restaurants. All this and just a 10-minute walk from Orchard Road, or an easy taxi ride from all the family attractions Singapore has to offer mumonthemove.com

expat-parent.com 27

THE big interview

Madame Fu’s executive director Connie Aldao-Worker

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THE big interview

Rendez-vous with Madame Fu Connie Aldao-Worker is the Argentinian chef, mum and expat in charge of one of Hong Kong’s swankiest new dining venues.

Carolynne Dear caught up over tea. Photography by Michelle Proctor

I

t’s been a busy twelve months for chef and restaurateur Connie Aldao-Worker.

The beginning of the year saw her making the move from New Zealand to Hong Kong with her two young sons, and by mid-year she was managing the launch of the city’s much anticipated Madame Fu Grand Cafe Chinois inside Central’s Tai Kwun heritage redevelopment.

Designed by Christian Rhomberg, the founder and chairman of the now-defunct KEE Club - once voted Asia’s ‘best private members’’ club - and early pioneer of the Lan Kwai Fong scene in the 1980s, the space occupies the whole of the top floor of the former Barrack Block. The huge area has been divided into seven lavishly decorated rooms, including a wrap-around verandah, main dining room, two private dining rooms, a lunch room, library and the gloriously lavish Pink Room which within weeks of opening had hosted a Victoria’s Secrets ‘Angels’ shoot. Not without good reason has Madame Fu been nicknamed Hong Kong’s most instagrammable restaurant.

The backstory to the restaurant evoques a Shanghai-meets-Paris ‘grand cafe’ of the 1920s, based around a mysterious fictional persona named Madame Fu. Lavish attention to detail, gorgeous soft furnishings in velvets and silks (my favourite are the lanterns on the verandah that have been created using vintage hermes scarves) as well as much colourful artwork - some of it painted by Rhomberg’s son - has made this one of Hong Kong’s most glamorous spaces.

But of course a restaurant needs substance, which is where Aldao-Worker comes in.

Appointed as the restaurant’s executive director, she is Argentinian by birth, married to the New Zealand consul-general in Hong Kong and Macau, Carl Worker, and arrived in the territory less than a year ago.

Nimbly directing staff and answering queries about various dishes during our interview, Aldao-Worker admits she first started out in the restaurant trade as an officebased employee.

Not without good reason has Madame Fu been nicknamed Hong Kong’s most instagrammable restaurant.

Back in the ‘90s, she was taken on by Argentinian celebrity chef and restaurateur, Francis Mallmann, and helped with everything from organising his cooking shows and cowriting his cookery books to putting together his busy travel itinerary. Eventually she started helping out in the kitchen “a little bit”, and this led to her eventually spending more time kitchen-side than office-side.

Her big break came in 1998 when she set up the award-winning 1884 Francis Bodegas Escorihuela restaurant in Buenos Aires. It went on to place seventh out of the top 50 restaurants in the world listed in the UK’s esteemed Restaurant magazine.

“It was a huge honour,” she says. “Of course myself and the whole team were extremely proud of what we’d achieved.”

In 2003 she married diplomat Carl Worker, who at the time was serving as New Zealand Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. “Francis Mallmann took care of our wedding as a gift to us,” she tells me as we sit down to tea in Madame Fu’s main dining room. “We had a great party. And Nicolas Catena (owner of Catena Zapata Winery and the man credited with putting Argentinian wines on the world map) took care of all the wine.”

In 2009 Worker accepted the position of New Zealand ambassador to China and Mongolia and the family, including AldaoWorker’s two stepsons, Simon and Alex, and

The restaurant bar

her two younger sons, Ollie and Nicky, moved to Beijing.

As an experienced chef, not-to-mention wife of the ambassador, Aldao-Worker took on the management of entertaining at the New Zealand Embassy, which included running the kitchens as well as organising cooking demonstrations and acting as guest chef in several restaurants across the capital - at one point, perhaps portentously, she spent two weeks in the clubhouse of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

“I picked up Mandarin and fell in love with Sichuanese and Beijing cuisine,” she says.

When pushed to name a favourite dish, she insists there are too many stand-outs to pick just one.

The Beijing stint lasted until 2015, at which point the family returned to Waiheke Island near Auckland in New Zealand. Here Aldao-Worker joined the renowned Stonyridge Vineyard as head chef.

Her husband was offered the role of New Zealand consul-general in Hong Kong and Macau in August 2017 and Aldao-Worker moved up at the beginning of this year with her younger boys Ollie, 14, and Nicky, 11, in expat-parent.com 29

THE big interview

Hiking with husband Carl and sons, Nicky and Ollie

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The sumptuous cocktail verandah at Madame Fu

Coming soon…

Tai Kwun is set to welcome a slew of additional dining venues this autumn.

Under the helm of chef David Thompson, Thai specialist Aaharn moves in on the first floor of the Armoury building.

Bar at Armoury on the ground floor will be serving wines by the glass, cocktails, draught beers, premium teas and coffees and a simple menu of modern Thai bar snacks.

Meanwhile, hc:Bistro brings light gourmet dishes and community spirit to the complex. The local bistro is the 13th catering social enterprise project of the non-profit Hong Chi Association, which provides training and a safe working environment for people with intellectual disabilities.

And Aqua restaurant group hosts two flagship restaurants and a ‘luxury’ lounge

in the main police headquarters block.

East-meets-West with The Chinese Library (Chinese specialities) and Statement (British classics), while The Dispensary lounge channels a colonial Hong Kong vibe.

Illustration by Little Jade, Instagram: @little_jadecyn

tow, and who are now happily ensconced at The Australian International School in Kowloon Tong. Her two older stepsons have these days flown the nest. This is Worker’s second stint as New Zealand consul-general in the SAR - he took up the reigns for the first time between 1994 and 1998.

Having settled the family into Hong Kong life, Aldao-Worker landed her current role at Madame Fu just four weeks before the restaurant opened earlier this summer.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” she says.

“It’s a great location and a super set up. As with all new venues, there have been challenges (tense moments include electricity not being fully installed until just hours before the launch party - “it’s pretty normal stuff,” she shrugs, unruffled), especially as it’s a big kitchen.

Divided into four sections - main kitchen, dim sum, barbecue and pastry - there are 25 chefs covering all stations, so yes, it’s very busy.”

She admits that being in Hong Kong she’s keen to learn more about Cantonese food.

“Our dim sum chef has 39 years experience, so I feel I have a good master to follow. I’m hoping to learn a lot from him and his team.”

At the time of our meeting, the restaurant was just about to launch afternoon teas. The main restaurant menu is Cantonese with selected Chinese dishes from the northern provinces - for me the standouts were the braised five spice beef shin and the crispy cod with vinegar glaze and ginger.

Of course holding down a role such as this requires judicious juggling with family demands. And her husband is caught in a similar balancing act. But she remains unphased. “Family is very important and I have to find a balance. Sometimes the kids come in to see me here. And on weekends I try and participate in their activities as much as I can,” she says. “At the end of the day, I enjoy being busy.” madamefu.com.hk

expat-parent.com 31

C ST OV O ER RY

Monkeying around Whether you’re entertaining kids on mid-term break or have in-coming relatives, here’s our round-up of Hong Kong’s best days out

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R VE Y O R C TO S Six-year-old Leah Hindes photographed in Hong Kong’s Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Mid-levels, by Anna Schulteisz. Leah wears dress and shoes from the Bonpoint Fall 2018 collection, available in Hong Kong now. bonpoint.com

expat-parent.com 33

C ST OV O ER RY

20

Tai Kwun on Hollywood Road is Central’s latest heritage project

Tai Kwun

A new entry for 2018, Tai Kwun, or ‘big station’, was opened earlier this year and is the result of the government’s much vaunted $3.8 billion, eight-year heritage restoration project of the former colonial central police station, magistracy and prison compound. It’s now home to numerous dining outlets, exhibition spaces and ‘storytelling’ spots where you can trace the long history of the complex. Great for boosting kids’ historical knowledge, Tai Kwun is a fascinating addition to Hong Kong’s tourist trail - and it’s gratifying to finally see some of the SAR’s colonial history being saved rather than bulldozed. 10 Hollywood Road, Central. taikwun.hk

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This small but fascinating museum is housed in the Old Pathological Institute, which itself is one of Hong Kong’s declared monuments.

The museum mixes traditional Chinese medicine with modern Western techniques for an all-round view of how the medical industry has developed over the years. 2 Caine Lane, Sheung Wan, hkmms.org.hk

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Museum of Eastern and Western medicine

Discover Hong Kong’s rich medical history tucked away in Sheung Wan. Find out how ‘rat bins’ were used in the early days of the colony to control outbreaks of bubonic plague; see x-rays of bound feet; and take a closer look at old-style acupuncture needles.

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fort overlooking Victoria Harbour. The fort was built by the British in 1887 to defend eastern approaches to the harbour. The museum’s permanent exhibition, ‘600 Years of Coastal Defence’, tells the story of the defence of the territory from the Ming Dynasty, through two Opium Wars and on to the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941. There’s lots to keep kids interested as well as extensive outdoor area.

175 Tung Hei Road, Shau Kei Wan, lcsd.gov.hk

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Museum of Coastal Defence

This fun museum is great for kids they’ll love checking out the tanks and canons - and is housed in the former coastal defence

Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware

Discover ancient Chinese tea culture and the art of tea preparation at this small museum in Hong Kong Park. Flagstaff House was once the residence of the commander of the British Forces and was built in 1846.

It is one of Hong Kong’s few remaining colonial buildings. It was damaged under the Japanese occupation during World War II and in 1978 was handed over to the Hong Kong government who took great pains to restore it to its original style. It now houses over 600 pieces of teaware as well as a small children’s

R VE Y O R C TO S

play area with toy tea sets. 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central. hk.art.museum

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Hong Kong Park

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Adventure tours

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Repulse Bay and temple

This eight-hectare park features fountains, lily ponds and play areas, as well as Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, a Thai restaurant, the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware (see above) and The Edward Youde Aviary. Sadly the aviary is currently closed for renovations (it’s due to re-open mid-2019), but there’s still plenty to do. If you’ve got budding botanists on your hands, it’s worth checking out the orchids and plants in the Forsgate Conservatory. There’s also a Tai Chi area and the children’s playground is one of the largest in the city. And don’t forget to stop at the artificial lake which is great for turtle-spotting. If you’ve got visitors in town, the park is a fantastic vantage point for taking pictures of the surrounding skyscrapers.

19 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, lcsd.com.hk

Escape the city and join Wouter van Marle on one of his discovery walks exploring Hong Kong’s exciting ‘backyard’. This month there is a Bats Walk on October 13, which is suitable for children aged four and up and takes you on a nighttime adventure walk around Hok Tau Reservoir and Sha Lo Tung abandoned village in the New Territories. The six kilometre trail is along well-maintained paths and dirt track and lasts approximately two hours. For a more challenging adventure, join van Marle on October 28 for a Ponds and Waterfalls Tour - suitable for kids aged eight and up, adventuretours.hk

Soak up the last of the summer sun and take a dip at popular Repulse Bay beach.

Head along the sands and discover the temple and statues of Kwun Yam - goddess of mercy - and Tin Hau - goddess of the sea.

The traditional Chinese statues stand ten metres high and if you cross the red ‘longevity bridge’ to the shrine, tradition says you will add three days to your life. There is also plenty of flat seafront promenade for littlies to scooter, plus a couple of fun beachside playparks. Fuel up at the wide selection of eats located in The Pulse shopping mall which overlooks the sands. thepulse.com.hk

13

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden

This busy farm was originally set up to help poor farmers in Hong Kong’s New Territories.

It now promotes biodiversity conservation and greater environmental awareness in Hong Kong and southern China. The farm was built in the 1950s in a valley with streams, woodlands and terraces and today includes a rescue and rehabilitation programme for

native animals. Look out for pigsties, a reptile lookout, an insect house, the Jim Ades Raptor Sanctuary and the Piers Jacobs Wildlife Sanctuary. 9.30am-5pm, Lam Kam Road, New Territories kfbg.org

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Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens

The oldest park in Hong Kong and one of the oldest Zoological and Botanical Gardens in the world, Hong Kong’s Botanical Gardens occupies 5.6 hectares in Mid-levels on the northern slope of Victoria Peak. It was founded in 1864 and opened to the public in 1871 - an original pagoda still stands and there is an interesting selection of historical photographs in the ‘time tunnel’. This was the original site of Government House. The park is today home to over 600 birds, 70 mammals and 40 reptiles, although it has been recommended by wildlife experts that the area is returned to its original state as a botanical garden. Enjoy the gardens from expat-parent.com 35

C ST OV O ER RY the cafe at the entrance - there’s plenty of space for the kids to run around and also a children’s playground. lcsd.gov.hk/tc/parks/hkzbg

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Hong Kong Wetland Park

Escape the city for the wildlife of the far north New Territories. The Hong Kong Wetland Park has over 60-hectares of parkland demonstrating the diversity of the territory’s wetland ecosystem. Originally set up as a mitigation area to compensate for wetlands lost due to the Tin Shui Wai New Town development, it now bills itself an international park with visitor centre. Expect to see mangroves, butterflies, birds, reptiles, crabs, fish and more. If you’re coming by car, some parking is available, otherwise catch the MTR to Tin Shui Wai and change for Wetland Park Station/Tin Sau Station on the Light Rail Line. Open everyday except for Tuesday, 10am-5pm, $15 for three to 17 year olds and grandparents over 65, $30 standard, wetlandpark.gov.hk

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Aberdeen Promenade and sampan tour

Stroll along the pushchair-friendly Aberdeen Promenade from the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market at the western end - don’t forget to check out the catch of the day - to the east side where you can hop on a sampan for a tour of the typhoon shelter. Expect to pay around $80/person for a half-hour tour, during which you will get up close to the floating fishing village which is still semihome to a number of the boat-dwelling

Tanka people. And at the other end of the social scale, view the glossy yachts jostling for position in Aberdeen harbour - one allegedly belongs to Hong Kong action hero Jackie Chan. Aberdeen Praya Road, Aberdeen.

9

10,000 Buddhas Monastery

Best attempted at this cooler time of year, the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery is actually five temples, four pavilions, one pagoda - and 430 steep hillside steps to reach them. Make sure Granny is forewarned and forearmed! Alongside the climb are dozens of golden and painted life-size buddha statues, all of which are different,

so take your time and catch your breath while you have a look. At the top are views across the New Territories and the bright red pagoda that appears on $100 bills printed between 1985 and 2002. Take the MTR to Sha Tin, the steps are at the end of Sheung Wo Che Street on the left-hand side.

10kbuddhas.org

8 Chi Lin Nunnery This large Buddhist complex in Diamond Hill, Kowloon, was founded in the 1930s as a retreat for Buddhist nuns. It was rebuilt in the 1990s following traditional Tang Dynasty architecture - it is constructed entirely from cypress wood, using no nails, and is in fact the world’s largest handmade wooden building. Once you’ve viewed the nunnery, let the kids have a scamper over 3.5 hectares of landscaped gardens across the road at Nan Lian Gardens. The gardens also house a tasty vegetarian restaurant and teahouse. Take the MTR to Diamond Hill, 5 Chi Lin Drive, Sheung Yuen Leng, 2354 1888, chilin.org.

7

Kowloon Walled City Park

Kowloon Walled City Park started life as a military stronghold. Its strategic position on the waterfront (these days it’s land-locked and surrounded by high rise) meant in the 1840s it was turned into a garrison with massive stone walls and watchtowers. By the 1940s it housed over 40,000 inhabitants and had become a centre for vice and crime, triad activity and prostitution. In the 1990s it was demolished, the inhabitants resettled, and the area transformed into tranquil gardens. There are water features,

36 expat-parent.com

R VE Y O R C TO S photographic displays tracing the area’s history, a chess garden and paved walkways, as well as a playpark at the entrance on Junction Road. Adjacent to the gardens is a bike park with cycles for hire. Take the MTR to Lok Fu Station, 6.30am-11pm daily, Tung Tau Tsuen Road, Kowloon. amo.gov.hk/b5/monuments_63.php

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Cruise up to Lantau’s ‘big buddha’ and Po Lin monastery

Lantau cable car and Po Lin Monastery

As construction work continues apace on Lantau, this trip becomes ever more fascinating. Be wowed by the juxtaposition of massive-scale engineering projects and nature as you travel south from the airport over rolling emerald mountains towards the Big Buddha and the village of Ngong Ping. The Buddha and surrounding temples are just about saved from Disneyfication (souvenir shops abound) by their authenticity - expect lots of incense burning, prayers and feral buffalo wandering around. Book a return ticket, or there are public buses and taxis available for the 30-minute trip back to Tung Chung. Take the MTR to Tung Chung, parking available at Citygate, np360.com.hk.

expat-parent.com 37

C ST OV O ER RY

5

Shopping madness in Hong Kong’s Temple Street night markets

Temple Street Night Markets

Bag a bargain, haggle to your heart’s content, ‘fess up to a fortune teller, it’s all happening on Temple Street come nightfall.

From handbags to wallets, clothing, trinkets, souvenirs, toys and everything in between, this is a hardcore, fast-paced version of chi chi Stanley Market. And when you’re done, take the weight off your feet (and the pressure off your purse) with a beer and some noodles from a roadside food stall - we’re not talking high glamour here, expect plastic seating and toilet roll napkins. But the service is efficient and the food tasty and inexpensive. Temple Street, TST, nearest MTR station is Jordan. temple-street-night-market.hk

4

Stanley Markets

If you’ve got guests in town, you’re not going to escape a trip to Stanley Markets, so embrace it with a stylish arrival on Aqua Luna followed by a nice lunch. There are restaurants aplenty on the waterfront, a great place for watching the world go by as you catch up on all the news from back ‘home’. On weekends the promenade is pedestrian-only, scooter heaven for the kids. Aqua Luna sails from Central Ferry Pier 9 at midday, picking up at TST and arriving at 1.30pm at Stanley Blake Pier. The return journey leaves Stanley 38 expat-parent.com

at 3.30pm, $280/adult one-way, $190/child, aqualuna.com.hk.

3

Hong Kong’s pink dolphins

2

History tours with Jason Wordie

They may be under threat like never before, but Hong Kong’s pink dolphins are still bobbing around off north Lantau. Meet them with Hong Kong’s most reputable tour group, Hong Kong DolphinWatch. The team has been leading ecological tours to see the endangered dolphins since 1995 and sightings are moreor-less guaranteed - although numbers are diminishing due to Lantau’s huge construction projects, including the airport extension and the Macau bridge. Hong Kong DolphinWatch can pick guests up from 3 Salisbury Road, TST, and drive out to Lantau where you board the viewing boat, hkdolphinwatch.com

Local historian and writer Jason Wordie leads a number of historical tours around the territory. This month he is running a tour of Central on October 1, Wan Chai on October 13, Kennedy Town on October 20, Kowloon City on October 25 and Sham Shui Po wet markets on October 29. The tours last approximately three-and-a-half hours and are crammed with fascinating facts and figures for a much deeper understanding of

Hong Kong life. Suitable for older children and grandparents happy with standing and walking for the duration of the tour, jasonwordie.com

1

Ping Shan Heritage Trail

Hong Kong’s first-ever heritage trail takes you through a part of Hong Kong that has been populated by the Tangs, one of the territory’s ‘clan settlers’ since the Yuan Dynasty in the thirteenth century. See historic buildings belonging to the Tangs, Hong Kong’s oldest pagoda Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda, the magnificent Tang Clan Ancestral Hall, a temple, a study hall, a well and Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery inside an old police station built by the British in 1900 as much to monitor the coastline as to keep an eye on the clan. The trail’s visitor centre is also located in the Old Ping Shan Police Station, Hang Tau Tsuen, Ping Shan, Yuen Long, New Territories, amo.gov.hk

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schools

School news

AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR DROPS IN AT CDNIS Sebastian Kurz, the federal chancellor of the Republic of Austria, paid a visit to the Canadian International School last month to learn about how the school integrates technology with learning. He spent time with students investigating robotics, 3D printers, virtual reality headsets and the use of ipads in class.

expat-parent.com 41

schools

‘Learning differences’ support for parents Hong Kong charity FOCUS is hosting an event to support parents of children with learning differences, including ADHD, next month. Dr Thomas Brown, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences, will be travelling from the US to share the latest research on brain development and functioning. He will be offering support strategies to help parents and teachers better understand how ‘executive function’ weaknesses impact academic, family and social life.

FOCUS aims to provide support for carers of children with mainstream learning differences. The group hosts monthly roundtable talks for parents and teachers to connect and share experiences and seek advice. And once a year, FOCUS sponsors the visit of an internationally recognized expert in the field of child development and learning differences.

This year FOCUS has invited Dr Brown, who will also be spending time at Queen Mary hospital, presenting at the Hong Kong Society of Child Neurology and Developmental Paediatrics and conducting training at Hong Kong International School during his visit.

Brown is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California. He has written five books, including the award-winning Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults, as well as numerous articles about managing children and emotions and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

ADHD is one of the most common behavioural conditions and affects an estimated 11% of school-age children.

Although it has been recognised for over 100 years, it’s usually seen as a behaviour problem and blamed on lack of motivation, high spirits

Parental support is key for kids with learning differences

or poor parenting or diet. Recent research debunks many of these myths and reveals a more complex set of issues relating to the selfmanagement systems of the brain.

According to FOCUS co-chair Madelaine Stellar, in a typical classroom there are likely to be two or three students struggling with SpLD (specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia) or ADHD or both.

“Maybe it’s the class clown, or the child who gets full marks in maths but struggles with reading. Or it could be the quiet girl at the back of the class who doesn’t raise her hand,” says Stellar. “The list of ADHD symptoms is long.

The more obvious hyperactive-impulsive types are restless, may talk excessively or have difficulty waiting or taking turns. We all experience some of these behaviours some of the time, but a person with ADHD will experience a number of these symptoms consistently.”

There is no single test to diagnose ADHD.

“A good evaluation should include a careful history and clinical assessment of the child’s academic, social and emotional functioning and development level,” says Stellar.

Hong Kong currently does not licence those who can diagnose ADHD or related learning differences. It’s recommended parents seek a medical professional such as a PhD clinical psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist or paediatrician with experience in child development and child psychology.

“It’s very important to ask the provider about their experience because most medical school graduates will not have received adequate training in recognising and assessing ADHD unless they have had additional specialised training,” says Stellar.

Smart But Stuck, When Executive Function Malfunctions led by Dr Thomas Brown runs Nov 8-10, for details and booking information see focus.org.hk

Interviews scrapped for kindie kids English Schools Foundation (ESF) has dumped its assessment interview process for preschool children.

In what is likely to be a move welcomed by parents, ESF kindergarten students will no longer have to undergo an interview process to access ESF primary schools.

At present, children are only offered a Year 1 place following a formal meeting with the school they have applied for. Parents often find this stressful for both the child and family.

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From this academic year, a Year 1 place will be offered following “a period of collaborative assessment involving the child’s kindergarten and primary school teachers,” ESF told Expat Parent.

In order to be eligible for the new process, children must have studied at ESF kindergartens since the second term of the first year of K1 and have completed K2.

Children who are deemed to require additional support or have specific additional needs

will be diverted into a separate application process.

The move comes on the back of the launch of ESF’s new ‘one-form’ application process designed to streamline the paperwork involved with accessing the 22 ESF schools across Hong Kong.

“This new approach to admissions is clearer, faster and less stressful for families,” said ESF’s director of education Adam Hughes. esf.com.hk

schools

Schools fair for expats

Find your free ticket to our International Schools Fair on this month’s cover!

Expat Parent is proud to be hosting its inaugural International Schools Fair next month. Whether you’re struggling to figure out Hong Kong’s education system, fine-tuning your applications list, or just want a chat with an expert, the Expat Parent International Schools Fair offers a one-stop-shop for all school info.

We’ll be hosting a number of Hong Kong’s international schools, plus there’ll be advice from educational professionals including Expat Parent’s education editor Amelia Sewell, free workshops and a heap of entertainment for the kids. And don’t forget your free goodie bag!

It promises to be a fun - and hugely informative - day out for the whole family.

So add it to your iCal and drop in on Saturday October 20, 10am-3pm, The Annex, Central.

Email editorial@hongkongliving.com for more info.

expat-parent.com 43

schools

Malvern College steps up Amelia Sewell finds out more about what promises to be an impressive first year for the British style school

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schools

H

‘Mugging up’ in the Malvern library

ong Kong waited patiently for the arrival of Malvern College Hong Kong, and the school finally opened its doors this autumn after nearly four years in the planning. Offering a through-system for children aged five to 18, this is the latest in Malvern’s portfolio of international offerings (two in China, one in Egypt and one more in the pipeline), so parents can be reassured that by now they are well-versed in the art of school-founding.

Back in 2015, Malvern was allocated a campus in Tai Po next to Science Park, and set about creating a state-of-the-art school that would meet the high expectations of Hong Kong parents yet honour the Malvern legacy. And they have not disappointed – from the 450-seat auditorium to the openplan library, and the communal dining hall to the six-lane swimming pool, this is a dazzling addition to Hong Kong’s list of prestigious schools.

The building is light and bright, with seven storeys that will ultimately house 1,000 pupils.

In these initial stages, the school has opened with Primary Years (Prep 1 – 6) to Lower Secondary (Foundation Year 1 – 3). Some sections of the building are – intentionally – unfinished, allowing Malvern to respond to what the schools needs once the first school year has been completed and the demands of the progressing year groups have been understood. But all the key facilities are up and running and wildly impressive, including the auditorium with interchangeable acoustic walls and the cricket nets with a specially designed floor that mimics the bounce of a real wicket. The Malvernians of Hong Kong have no idea how lucky they are.

Whilst Malvern’s other international campuses primarily offer the pairing of IGCSEs & A Levels or perhaps a choice between A Level and IB, the Hong Kong school focuses purely on the IB. The teacher-to-pupil ratio is low at 1:10 and the implementation of a personal tutor system has been set up to ensure that each child receives the optimum level of personalised attention. Every school will say that it goes to great lengths to ensure that no-one slips between the cracks, but the dedicated, regular tutoring time and the tailored academic enrichment programmes at Malvern show a firm commitment to deal with each child as an individual.

The UK school has a long history of scientific excellence, with four Nobel Prize winners among its alumni. It’s therefore not surprising that the Hong Kong campus has put a strong emphasis on developing a firstexpat-parent.com 45

schools

Team spirit

First-day fun in the classroom

rate STEM programme. The learning ethos is based around practical work and focuses on real-life scenarios within technical, social, economic and environmental spheres. The fruits of the students’ scientific labours have been given a prominent platform with an exhibition space – akin to a modern art gallery – at the very front of the school. Malvern also has grand plans for collaborations with its neighbours at Science Park and CUHK, ensuring that the children have broad experience of large-scale programmes.

After STEM, Chinese is high on the school’s priority list. To build students’ fluency, a number of exchange programmes are being established in both Mainland China and Taiwan so that the students are able to put their language skills to work in an immersive environment.

Pastoral care is a fairly British experience, with the house system and personal tutors.

The dining hall also mimics the traditions of Malvern’s founding school, even down to the terminology: the dining hall is known as “The

The school’s impressive library (above and right)

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Grub” and features a professional kitchen, and pupils eat in their houses together with staff, encouraging conversation and a chance for children across year groups to interact.

Happily for this book-loving writer, at the heart of the school is the library, a magnificent, welcoming hub that invites students to sit down and stay awhile. With books in abundance, it is also a place where students can come to work on projects or just relax. In both design and concept, it is modern: libraries are often shadowy places, hidden behind heavy doors and rarely used, but Malvern’s is intentionally designed to be a thoroughfare for daily school life, encircled by the classrooms and seen from all angles.

With CS Lewis as one of the UK school’s other notable alumni, maybe this library will inspire another children’s author to spring from a Malvern education.

Perhaps reassuringly for parents, the headmaster, Dr. Robin Lister, has come directly from the UK school, where he was deputy head for 10 years. As an academicturned-teacher, he has lived and breathed Malvern for nearly 30 years. A stereotypical British schoolmaster in the best sense of the term (think polished shoes, a compelling presence and a voice that reaches the back of any room), he has a tangible enthusiasm for the school and the new campus. He strikes me as a person who knows exactly what is going on, and who will enjoy being a visible presence in daily school life.

For those wanting to really bed down

deep with the Malvern experience, pupils have the opportunity to sidestep over to the UK school in either Year 7 or Year 9. Those moving at Year 7 will spend two years at the prep school, The Downs Malvern, before progressing to the senior school. Certain academic requirements need to be met, however it is encouraging to see a school actively nurturing some synergy between campuses and demonstrating that the Hong Kong campus is more than just the borrowing of a name.

Pupils will also benefit from the association with the Forest School programme, an initiative that promotes outdoor learning as a key part of children’s development. Malvern has taken the unusual step of acquiring a separate piece of land in a deeply rural part of the New Territories in order to offer this experience to the fullest.

It can often be difficult to appreciate what sets each new international school apart, but if you look under the hood of Malvern College Hong Kong, you will find a school that has all the right components: the IB, which acknowledges its international status; a strong Chinese programme, honouring its location in Asia, and an ethos that is securely, but not immovably, anchored in its traditional British roots. We will watch its progress with interest.

Malvern College Hong Kong, 3 Fo Chun Road, Pak Shek Kok, 3898 4699. www.malverncollege.org.hk

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schools

Principal’s office Meeting Malvern College Hong Kong’s headmaster, Dr Robin Lister What are you most proud of at Malvern Hong Kong?

Anyone who sees the school building cannot help but be struck by its architectural beauty – it is quite genuinely eye catching! But what makes me really proud is the Malvern ethos which has already started to permeate the school – bringing together a natural emphasis on the academic curriculum, but combining it with an emphasis on those values which define what a Malvernian has stood for over the course of the last 150 years or more. I do take this aspect of education very seriously indeed and would like to make it what makes Malvern really special.

What role will technology play in the curriculum?

We are a school that rightly recognises the growing importance of technology and incorporate using technology whenever appropriate in and out of lessons to ensure that children are ready and prepared for the 21st century. However, it is very important to recognise that without the foundations in other subjects, an over-reliance on technology may be self-defeating. There is a strong argument to say that without background in the creative arts, without musical expression and hands-on learning, technology will not be utilised properly.

That’s why I would like to see young children involved in making things, in discovering the joys of a musical instrument or public speaking alongside technological expertise.

What is the trickiest part of your job?

One important aspect of running a school like Malvern is to keep the whole, wider school community together, focused on its vision and purpose – providing a challenging, modern, all round education that enables children to develop their abilities and skills ready to face the challenges of the twentyfirst century. This is what defines who we are. Keeping the team going - teachers, IT experts, technicians, teaching assistants, catering and cleaning staff - and ensuring that whatever role one has in the school it is the children who should drive everything forward and it is the children who form the 48 expat-parent.com

Dr Robin Lister at Malvern College Hong Kong, New Territories

very bedrock of our existence, whether we are involved in teaching them, cleaning the floors, cooking their lunch or showing them how to throw a cricket ball.

Since you moved here, what about Hong Kong has surprised you?

There have been many surprises. The heat!

The traffic! The greenery mixed up with urban life! The taxis! There has also been the realization that many children are pressurized in a way that is not generally matched in Britain; many children lead an over-structured life in Hong Kong with little time to fend for themselves, play and (importantly) learn to be bored. That was a shock.

Any favourite spots in Hong Kong?

My first months were spent working in Central and because of that I have become

quite attached the district. It reminds me of Manhattan or Oxford Street in London. I also think the Cathedral is a very special place and a refuge of tranquility and reflection in the middle of such dynamism.

What would you have done if you hadn’t gone into education?

I have always been interested in international relations and had considered a diplomatic career; however, I got caught up in academia and found myself really enjoying teaching – first undergraduates, then children. My youngest daughter is now training to be a teacher whilst my older daughter is also a teacher and assistant housemistress – so it seems to be in the blood. Having said that, my son works in international relations so there’s a definite family link there too!

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life & style

Tile trouble Mahjong tile carving is a dying art in Hong Kong, but artist Karen Cheung is hoping to revive its fortunes

T

he clack of Mahjong tiles is as Hong Kong as dim sum and Cantonese opera. In fact in 2014 it was named ‘an intangible cultural heritage’ by the government, along with umbrella-making and kung fu.

The popular Chinese table game is similar to gin rummy and is currently played by an estimated 350 million Asians. A Singapore Mahjong parlour even made a brief appearance in recent box hit smash Crazy Rich Asians.

But despite that, just a handful of Mahjong carving shops remain in Hong Kong today. The traditional tile has fallen foul to mass produced plastic tiles, electronic Mahjong tables, Mahjong app games and a youth who are spending more and more leisure time glued to their phones. Market research company Ipsos reported earlier this year that just one in 50 young Hong Kongers regularly play, compared with one in 12 five years ago. The once buoyant carving industry is today in the hands of a scattering of octoand nano-genarians.

Artist Karen Cheung was born into a Mahjong family - her father is a traditional carver who took-over the family-run tile factory, Fuk Hing Lung Mahjong Manufacturing Factory, which was set up by her grandfather, supplying Hong Kong’s Mahjong parlours and hotels. But due to competition from mass-produced tiles in China, her father was forced to shut up shop ten years ago.

“The day he closed the factory was so sad for him and my mother,” says Cheung.

“They had to lay off employees who had worked for them for 30 or 40 years. He packed away his tools and didn’t even want to look at them again.”

But Cheung had other ideas. Her creative business, Travel with Pencil & Color, is a sidehustle (“it’s difficult to make a living drawing in Hong Kong,” she says) to her main job as an events organiser. “I come home from work, sleep for an hour or so, and then I draw from 11pm into the early hours,” she says.

Over the last six months, she has 50 expat-parent.com

Karen Cheung’s designs have been carved onto gift sets of Mahjong tiles

painstakingly designed five different Hong Kong scenes which have been carved into sets of Mahjong tiles. The six carved tiles in each set depict different areas of Hong Kong and come with a wind or dragon tile hand carved and painted by her father. North Point owns the North wind, Tung Chung the East, Sai Kung the West and Southside the South.

Central is matched with the red dragon.

Tiny, beautiful details include a miniature Foreign Correspondents’ Club etched onto the Central tiles (quite apt as that is the venue for our meet-up), the Lantau buddha and cable car, seafood shops in Sai Kung and The Repulse on Southside.

“I think my father was ultimately glad to pick up his tools again,” she says. “He understood my excitement about the project.

The challenge for me was managing high labour costs. From packaging to promotion, it’s been a steep learning curve.”

Cheung worked with fellow designers Connie Siu and Maggie Cheung on the project and it has gone on to win the Judges Award at this year’s annual Hong Kong Smarts Design Award, organised by the Hong Kong Export Association. “I think Hong Kong tourism likes this sort of thing as it promotes Hong Kong’s heritage and culture, she says.”

Cheung says the project bridges the gap between traditional craftsmanship and modern art, aiming to reignite the dying art of hand-carved mahjong with advanced printing technology. The trio now find themselves in the top eight finalists of the K11 D Project this year.

Cheung will be managing a pop-up shop in K11 shopping mall this month featuring the Mahjong tiles sets, Travel Mahjong City, and other Mahjong-inspired products. Customers who spend over $350 will receive a set of postcards depicting the mahjong story, while

life & style Hong Kong’s Mahjong carvers There are estimated to be a mere handful of carving shops left in Hong Kong, possibly not even that.

Biu Kee Mahjong is still operational on Jordan Road, Yau Ma Tei (opposite the entrance to Temple Street night markets).

Kam Fat Mahjong is the only female Mahjong carver in Hong Kong and has an under-the-stairs workshop in Hung Hom. Factory-produced, plastic tile sets can be found in most markets, including Stanley and Cat Street.

Where to play Cheung’s father hand-carving tiles

shoppers who spend over $500 will receive a hand-carved ‘Sparrow Mahjong’ tile.

“Sparrow sounds the same as Mahjong in Chinese, the click clack of the tiles being shuffled is referred to as ‘twittering of the sparrows’,” she explains.

Cheung is currently working on a set of tiles to celebrate Christmas and Chinese New Year in the territory - the Lunar New Year is traditionally a

time when families get together to play Mahjong.

“I’ve always loved drawing and I’m so pleased to have been able to turn it into a viable project,” she says.

Cheung’s pop-up shop will open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday between September 28 and October 21, K11, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (MTR TST exit D2), karenaruba.com.

American Women’s Association (AWA) members and American Club members play every Tuesday, 10am-4pm, American Club, Tai Tam, awa.org.hk Australian Association of Hong Kong members play every Monday, 10am1pm, Dynasty Court Function Room, 17-23 Old Peak Road, Mid-levels, ozhongkong.com

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life & style “Once I overcame breast cancer, I wasn't afraid of anything anymore" - Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge

Pink Ribbon Towel 250 from Teresa's $ Turkish Towels 3F Xiu Hua Commercial Building, 211-213 Jaffe Road, Wanchai hkturkish.com

Pretty in pink Celebrate Pinktober in style

Pink Freshwater Pearl Bracelet and Necklace Set with Silver Slider $18,000 (originally $25,800) from Tayma Fine Jewellery, Prince’s Building, 10 Charter Road, Central taymajewellery.com

Artisan Roast Espresso Chocolate Bar $55 from Sweet World, Prince’s Building, 10 Charter Road, Central facebook.com/sweetworldhk Tayma 18KW Pink Freshwater Pearl Drops with 18KW Diamond Hoops $20,800 from Tayma Fine Jewellery, Prince’s Building, 10 Charter Road, Central taymajewellery.com

Camellia Backless Bra $388 from Invisibra (ships to Hong Kong) invisibra.co.uk

Love Yourself Gift Set $434 from Nicole’s Kitchen Great Food Hall, LG 1, Two Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty nicoleskitchen.com.hk

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life & style MINI POP Watch 1,600 from SILA $ kapok, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central sila-paris.com

Pinks with Purpose Lip Colour Duo $380 from Bobbi Brown Shop 105,1/F, ifc Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central bobbibrown.com.hk

Hand and Mind Relief $180 from Origins 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon origins.hk

The Lightweight Short Sleeve Boxer PJ $423 from Victoria's Secret 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay victoriassecret.com

Pinkster Gin 548 from $ HK Liquor Store hkliquorstore.com

Rose Penelope Cake with Vanilla Sponge $580 from Vive Cake Boutique Shop 3, 1/F, H Queen's, 80 Queen's Road Central vive.hk

*All products with

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face" Eleanor Roosevelt

Gucci Bloom eau de parfum $855 Sasa 6 D'Aguilar Street, Central hongkong.sasa.com

Pink Ribbon Murano Charm $299 from Pandora IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central hk.pandora.net

Pink Ribbon Dangle $499 from Pandora, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central hk.pandora.net

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay $208 from Bookazine, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central bookazine.com.hk

donate proceeds to breast cancer awareness charities. expat-parent.com 53

dining

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dining

Sweet treats Guests in town? Wow them with a Hong Kong tea-for-two

Best of British Goughs on Gough is celebrating its first birthday on Gough Street with a classic British afternoon tea. Tea-drinking is a national pastime in the UK and the middle of the afternoon pause is said to have come about back in the mid-nineteenth century when the Duchess of Bedford complained of a ‘sinking’ feeling towards late afternoon. So she took to her boudoir with a pot of tea and some bread and cake. Her friends began to join her and the event flourished into what it has become today.

The New British Afternoon Tea Experience includes a selection of savouries and sweets served with tea or coffee on vintage china hand-picked in the UK. Delicate finger sandwiches contain British classics such as poached chicken and tarragon mayonnaise; beef and wholegrain mustard; and smoked Scottish salmon with creme fraiche and cucumber.

Homemade raisin scones are served warm with clotted cream and jam. Desserts from the tea stand include lemon and mascarpone mousse, chocolate and orange dome cake and carrot cake with buttercream.

The New British Afternoon Tea is available on Saturdays only, $248 per person or $488 for two. goughsongough.com

French crystal inspires Sheraton tea

The best of British fine fancies at Goughs on Gough

Sheraton has partnered with luxury French crystalware producer Lalique for a themed afternoon tea in the hotel’s Sky Lounge.

Soak up some of the city’s most spectacular views along with a yummy tea.

Mon Premier Cristal Afternoon Tea has been inspired by Lalique’s Mon Premier Cristal fragrance collection and every tea diner receives three miniature Lalique Mon Premier Cristal fragrances.

The tea is, of course, divine, featuring a Mont Blanc of raspberry and lychee, a nutty peach tart with almond and white chocolate, a strawberry and lychee pink choux and a pink Oreo cake filled with blackcurrant cream.

Savoury items include foie gras with peach gel and coconut snow, lobster and beetroot sandwiches, crab meat tartlets and crispy-coated Iberico ham croquettes.

And for an additional $30 you can treat yourself to a Rosy Garden cocktail which is whipped up using strawberry and rose sorbet with dried rose petal, pineapple juice and milk. expat-parent.com 55

dining Mon Premier Cristal Afternoon Tea is available 3-6pm (weekdays) and 2-6pm (weekends and public holidays) until October 31, $338/person. marriott.com

Pinkies out for breast cancer Hotel Icon is supporting ‘Pinktober’, or Breast Cancer Awareness month, with a pink-themed ‘Pink Sensation Afternoon Tea’ for the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry (‘The Registry’).

The Registry is a non-government charity organisation supporting Hong Kong’s high risk breast cancer programme by providing free access to genetic screening and consultation for under-privileged, high-risk breast cancer patients and their families.

The features savory and sweet treats including taramasalata with caviar, pastrami reuben sandwiches, shrimp salad on toast, vanilla strawberry rose panna cotta, chocolate-dipped strawberries and a swanshaped raspberry coulis with rose choux.

The hotel will be gifting a Pink Sensation drink to every guest who wears pink to show their support. Diners can also enjoy unlimited Haagen Dazs pink ice cream as well as a $50 Haagen Dazs cash voucher.

Pink Sensation Afternoon Tea is available 3-5pm and 5-7pm until November 30, $288/ person or $546 for two. hotel-icon.com

Madame Fu’s pastry chef, Thelma Tang

East-meets-west with dim sum fun Madame Fu seamlessly mixes east with west in its insta-friendly ‘Pink Room’ at its sprawling location on the third floor of the Barracks Block in the new Tai Kwun heritage development in Central. The tea comes on a traditional stand with an additional steamer basket featuring the dim sum of the day - we were served fluffy char siu bau.

We then tucked into mini quiches, tart mini lemon meringues (my personal favourite), glorious dark chocolate pastries sprinkled with gold, sweet black sesame dumplings, mini mille feuille vanilla slices and a creme patissiere tart.

We were also treated to a ‘pre-launch’ taste of the mini glasses of deconstructed New Zealand pavlova which now also grace the teastand.

And of course, warm scones with cream and berry jam, natch.

The tea was beautifully presented in a silver teapot with fancy English teacups 56 expat-parent.com

Support ‘Pinktober’ at Hotel Icon’s Pink Sensation Afternoon Tea

of the finest china - there’s nothing worse than trying to enjoy your cuppa from thick, clunky cups.

If you’ve got guests in tow this month, this is the perfect setting in which to enjoy a bit of Hong Kong history along with one of the territory’s most popular afternoon foodie pastimes.

Tea is served daily 3-5pm, priced $250 for one or $450 for two, madamefu.com.hk

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dining

Fun buns Get the kids stuck into some healthy dining with ‘build-your-own’ veggie burgers The Babylon Burger Mana! has exclusively shared one of its plantbased pattie recipes with us. Happy cooking!

Ingredients (makes four patties) • 100g mixed mushrooms (shitake and chicken leg work well) • 40g beetroot • 40g rolled oats • 30g tempeh • 25g cooked quinoa • 115g canned or cooked kidney beans • One bunch spring onions, fresh coriander, with stems, mint leaves and flat-leafed parsley • A couple of cloves of roasted garlic • A teaspoon of sea salt • A twist of black pepper • A good pinch of: sea salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, Zaatar (available from Mana! stores), flax seeds, cumin powder, dried chipotle pepper, dried chilli flakes Put it together

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Mana!’s Bobsy Gaia introduces the ‘build-your-own’ veggie burger

ana! is one of Hong Kong’s most popular healthy lunch stops. Its ‘slow fast food’ policy and health-conscious menu hit Soho before ‘plant-based’ was even a thing.

And this autumn, Mana! founder Bobsy Gaia has launched a vegetarian ‘build-yourown-burger’ menu.

Available at its leafy Sheung Wan store in the trendy ‘POHO’ area of Pound Lane, diners get to pick their bun, their pattie, sauces and extra toppings. All the ingredients are freshly homemade, plantbased and bursting with vitamins, protein, fibre and minerals. They also taste pretty good, too.

The four, plant-powered quarterpounders are packed with superfood ingredients such as beetroot, quinoa, cauliflower and lentils. Buns come as 58 expat-parent.com

wholegrain, gluten-free multigrain or ‘naked leaf’, with a choice of homemade sauces and 15 toppings - think pan-fried halloumi, avocado, roasted veggies and free-range, organic fried eggs.

All wrappings are fully biodegradable and made from compostable paper and boxes.

“We want people to eat like it matters,” Gaia told Expat Parent. “These are burgers that deliver phenomenally on taste and nutrition, but don’t cost the earth. We’ve been pioneering incredible vegan and vegetarian cuisine in Hong Kong for over 20 years and are 100% committed to conscious consumption and inspiring change.”

The burgers are available at Mana!, 8 Tai On Terrace, Pound Lane, Sheung Wan or as home delivery through Deliveroo. mana.hk

1. Slice mushrooms, coat with a little olive oil and grill until caramelized. Pulse in food processor to a ‘rustic’ consistency.

2. Peel beetroot, cut into cubes and pulse in food processor until a fine dice is achieved.

3. Pulse oats in food processor until they resemble coarse flour.

4. Cut tempeh blocks into six rectangles each, deep fry, then break into smaller pieces and pulse in food processor to a rustic consistency.

5. Pulse kidney beans in food processor to a rustic consistency.

6. Roughly chop spring onions, fresh coriander, fresh parsley and mint leaves. Pulse in a food processor for a few seconds.

7. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.

8. Mould into patties and fry immediately for two to three minutes on each side, or freeze until needed.

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Travel news

DANANG WELCOMES SHERATON GRAND Sheraton Grand Danang Resort, overlooking the white sands of Nun Nuoc beach, Vietnam, opens its doors this month. The 258-room resort boasts an infinity pool, private beach, watersports, spa and six restaurants and bars. Special short-haul packages, including Spa Indulgence and Stay and Play - which includes a round of golf at the nearby BRG Danang Golf Course - are now available. danang.reservations@sheraton.com

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travel

Vietnamese villa launch

Laos run-ins

Anantara Quy Nhon villas, Vietnam

Luxury travel group Anantara has launched Anantara Quy Nhon Villas, located in a secluded bay in the county’s Binh Dinh province, midway between Danang and Nha Trang.

The all-villa, family-friendly resort features private pools, in-room butler services and spa offerings, plus a menu of indigenous ‘guest experiences’ in this less-tourist heavy part of the country, including rice paper making and hat weaving workshops with local craftsmen.

The 26 one- and two-bed ocean-facing villas are set within seven hectares of landscaped tropical gardens. Locally-sourced materials and traditional craftsmanship have been incorporated to blend with the natural environment - think sleek timber and granite sundecks, oversized bathtubs and private

lap pools. There is even an in-villa wine cellar stocked with fine wines and deli items.

The resort’s signature restaurant, Sea.Fire.

Salt makes the most of the abundant local seafood, or guests can choose to dine in-villa with breakfast-in-bed, poolside barbecues and luxury Vietnamese street food options.

The resort can even conjure up ‘castaway’ island picnics.

The resort is a 40-minute drive from Quy Nhon airport, with daily flights from Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, and fifteen minutes from the regional capital of Quy Nhon.

The resort receives its ‘soft’ opening in next month, will a full opening scheduled for January 2019. anantara.com

Belmond La Residence Phou Vao has launched a ‘marathon runner’ package ahead of this month’s sixth annual Luang Prabang Half Marathon.

Runners will be served a four-course, carb-heavy dinner on the eve of the run; highlights include homemade pappardelle pasta with smoked duck, followed by coconut mango sticky rice with coconut cream and mango sorbet.

The seven, 14 and 21km run routes wind their way through the charming UNESCO town and along the banks of the Nam Khan river. This year HRH Princess Beatrice of York, granddaughter of the UK’s Queen Elizabeth, is expected to take part in the race. Monies raised will support Laos Friends Hospital for Children.

Post-race, participants can recover with a SIP SEN massage in the hotel’s awardwinning Mekong Spa. This traditional Laos massage is an acupuncture treatment designed to energise the body by releasing toxins and activating the lymphatic system to detoxify and restore balance.

The offer also includes daily breakfast and 10% of each booking will be donated to Lao Friends Hospital for Children. The Luang Prabang Half Marathon takes place on October 21. If you’re heading over to take part, best of luck from Expat Parent! belmond.com, luangprabanghalfmarathon.com

Fleets of fancy Luxury sail company Rascal Voyages is set to add two more yachts to its fleet. The group organises bespoke luxury charter experiences through some of the world’s least exploited waters, including Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, The Maldives, Singapore and Malaysia. Each yacht has been meticulously designed, with an extra cabin to allow guests to welcome ‘floating experts’ in residence, such as dive professionals, conservationists and wellness specialists. rascalvoyages.com Sail away with Rascal Voyages

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travel

A greener Park

Flight relief for kids

Park Hotel Group has revealed its flagship Grand Park City Hall, Singapore, following extensive environmentally-led renovations.

The facade of the historic building has now been re-designed to minimise solar heat transmission and photovoltaic panels have been installed on the roof to harness solar energy. A thermal-motion sensor has also been introduced to reduce energy wastage. Every guest room boasts colonialstyle ceiling fans to reduce air conditioning loads and a rainwater harvesting system recycles water that supplies the building’s irrigation system.

An app sends data to building management for better control of energy consumption and guests can control their own lighting, air conditioning and TV operations via a customised smartphone app.

The hotel has been awarded the BCA (Building Construction Authority) Green Mark Platinum rating, recognising its efforts to incorporate green features and practices. parkhotelgroup.com

Emirates has introduced a new range of toys and games for tiny travellers. The Emirates Fly With Me collection and Lonely Planet Kids activity bags are available for youngsters travelling in all classes.

The products include Lewis the Lion, Peek U the Panda, Ernie the Penguin and Savanna the Elephant. Fly with Me Lonely Planet kids activity bags in new designs will be offered to older children, with travel books, craft and puzzle activities. The Fly with Me magazine will also continue to be available on board, featuring puzzles, jokes and activities for children aged seven to 12 years.

Emirates Skywards, the airline’s loyalty programme, has also introduced an enriched loyalty programme called My Travel - this allows family members to pool Skywards Miles for faster redemption of rewards.

Emirates is also adding Edinburgh to its list of European destinations, launching on October 1. emirates.com

Keeping kids busy on-board

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Kuala Lumpur comes of age The Malaysian capital is (finally) starting to demand more attention than a quick stopover, writes Carolynne Dear

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travel

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cramped dormitory room and a spluttering air conditioning system was my first introduction to Kuala Lumpur. Admittedly it was many moons ago during my ‘backpacker’ years, but the difference between then and now is nonetheless astounding.

When I landed back in the Malaysian capital last month, change could even be detected from just a couple of years previously when I last touched down to catch up with an expat bestie who lives in the city. Her residence was surrounded by building sites and scaffolding at the time and it seems all those construction projects have now reached completion. The city is positively gleaming with glinting ‘scrapers.

Back in the day, I recall wondering potholed roads, eating at numerous street food stalls and hailing unreliable taxis, gripping my Lonely Planet guide tightly and hoping I’d end up back at the hostel in one piece.

These days, Kuala Lumpur is more glitz than grunge and this year the capital has welcomed a plethora of high-end hotels. However, despite the new swankiness, the city retains much of its soul through its food and street markets, with countless street stalls, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and markets hawking a delicious messy mix of food cultures representing Malaysia’s Malay, Chinese and Indian residents. Jalan Alor Street 66 expat-parent.com

Pool Deck at the Four Seasons

Food Night Market is a particular favourite.

However, prices are starting to head upwards and a pint of beer will these days set you back MYR28.00, or $50. Those backpacker heydays seem to be on their way out.

And as the (higher-end) tourist dollar continues to be wooed, shopping malls have sprung up on every corner. At 10pm the designer-label heavy Suria KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) was heaving with shoppers. In so many ways, Kuala Lumpur is no longer neighbouring Singapore’s country cousin.

I had been invited to stay at The Four Seasons’ brand spanking new hotel, located slap bang in the city centre next to the famous Petronas Towers and with views over KLCC Park. The enormous development comprises a retail mall - Shoppes at Four Seasons - at ground level, plus 209 hotel rooms and serviced apartments. At 65 floors, it’s the second tallest building in Malaysia as well as the world’s second tallest hotel building. The ambitious project began in 2013, developed by Ipoh-born Singapore tycoon Ong Beng partnering with the Sultan of Selangor.

“It’s an absolutely stunning building in the best possible location in the city,” says general manager Tom Roelens, who has spent the last 12 months assembling a crack team to front the hotel. Built so close to the Petronas Towers, the

Cocktail fun in Bar Trigona

hotel has irrevocably altered Kuala Lumpur’s cityscape.

The impressive building was enjoying its soft opening phase when I visited. My huge room overlooked the hotel pool and was among the best I’ve stayed in. Mod cons included a supremely useful laptop on the nightstand from which you could basically control your stay. Within half-an-hour of arrival I’d booked a massage, reserved a table for dinner in the hotel’s Curate restaurant and ordered tickets to the Petronas Towers. Other useful drop-down menus included baby gear selection (from cots to baths to kid-friendly robes, everything is catered for) and a suggested sightseeing itinerary. You can even choose your type of pillow - I refrained, the bed was pretty dreamy as it was.

The hotel has gone out of its way to recognise younger guests, with a macaroon, photo frame and tiger plush toy on arrival, as well as a special kids check in experience featuring a low counter and child-

travel friendly check in forms.

Dining options include show kitchen Curate, with a suitably laden buffet table and dishes from around the world. This is also where breakfast is served, unless you have access to the pleasant executive lounge - the experienced chef here has been flown in from Four Seasons Resort Maldives and seems to be making his mark on the fledgling Malaysian staff. I was lucky enough to enjoy both breakfast and afternoon tea offerings.

Also worth a look is the glitzy Bar Trigona with killer views over the capital. I checked in for a post Saturday-night dinner cocktail at midnight and the whole place was rocking - the bartender was hard-pushed to find me a seat. Of course once I was settled at my window-view table that first cocktail quickly became a second…

The restaurants are beautifully decorated think colourful pink hibiscus petals floating from the ceiling in Curate and an ambitious mosaic tiled bar in Trigona - but Yun House, the modern Cantonese restaurant, was my favourite.

Elegant velvet chairs sit round tables beside floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the park, while one wall is dominated by an enormous and impressive sculpture-comepainting of wind rushing over a paddy field. It was quite mesmerising. As you would expect from a five-star brand, there has been no skimping on the detail.

There is also a bar and casual dining by the hotel pool, an area which is dominated in a rather instagrammable-way by the surrounding skyscrapers. Again, pinch yourself that you’re not in Singapore. I spent an entirely enjoyable Sunday afternoon on my lounger watching a couple of families with young children splash around happily in the shallows. Sadly, my Sunday night flight back to Hong Kong came around all too soon. fourseasons.com

Kuala Lumpur with kids Petronas Towers A trip to Kuala Lumpur wouldn’t be complete without a trip up the capital’s now iconic twin towers. The Petronas project was begun in 1994 and officially opened in 1999. Between 1998 and 2004 the building held the title of tallest in the world, and to this day remains the tallest twin towers in the world. It was built on the site of Kuala Lumpur’s race track and these days one of Malaysia’s largest shopping malls, Suria KLCC, sits at the feet of the towers.

Further attractions at the base include an art gallery, aquarium and science centre. The trip to the top includes a stop off at level 41 where you can walk across the sky-bridge that links the towers - rather disconcertingly the bridge

The old melds with the new in Kuala Lumpur city centre

isn’t attached to the towers to allow for ‘sway’ in high winds - but the absolute stellar views are to be found right at the top on level 88. petronastwintowers.com.my

Jalan Alor Sample Kuala Lumpur’s best street food offerings on this bustling street. Pick your restaurant, grab a table and take your pick.

South East Asian favourites are a-plenty - we enjoyed chicken skewers and beers (cokes for the kids of course) and then moved on for curries and laksa. The swarming nightlife is endlessly fascinating, as are the open kitchens as the chefs and kitchen hands deftly slice and chop vat-loads of the freshest looking vegetables and salad greens. Service is slick and the kids had a lot of fun making their selections, even if it was just a bowl of plain boiled rice in the nine-year-old’s case. It was also a relief not to have to go to the trouble of booking a restaurant - sometimes it’s nice just to rock up unplanned.

Sunway Lagoon This fun waterpark scored top-of-the-pops with our brood. It’s stuffed with great entertainment for all ages, including the Nickelodeon Lost Lagoon that was perfect for our younger two (seven and nine) and consisted of a huge climbing structure and slides - with the mysterious promise of the water turning into green goo at certain times of the day. The ‘biggies’ (12 and 14) were kept busy on a host of more dramatic rides, including Pirates Revenge, the Tomahawk and African Pythons. This is a big day out and well worth the hour-long taxi journey from the city. My ‘toppest’ tip would be to leave early - we were there when the doors opened

at 10am and enjoyed a very quiet first hour with virtually no queues. sunwaylagoon.com

Wakeboarding in Putrajaya We were tipped off about Putrajaya’s recreational lake by friends based in Kuala Lumpur and it didn’t disappoint. The purposebuilt lake is located in Putrajaya, a planned city ten minutes from the airport and built on marshland. It is now the federal administrative centre of Malaysia and 25km, or a half-hour taxi ride, outside of the city centre. We booked a speedboat and driver for a couple of hours on what was an enormous and empty lake and had great fun. We had totally planned to take a look at the Putra Mosque, but an extra handful of trips around the lake on the donut by our obliging boat driver (“just one more go!” wheedled the seven-year-old) unfortunately put paid to any cultural endeavours. There are impressively spick and span change facilities next to the water. waterski.com.my expat-parent.com 67

big day out

High days on school holidays Treat the kids to a fun day (and night) in the treetops on ‘pirate island’. By Amy Overy

T

ucked away in a quiet corner of Cheung Chau Island is Sai Yuen Farm, a camping and activity centre that nobody seems to know

about…

Cheung Chau Island is a great place to enjoy spending a few hours, or even better, a full day. A popular holiday resort destination with Hong Kongers who want to get away for a weekend, most of the buildings are low-rise and there are NO cars. It’s very easy to navigate on foot, by 68 expat-parent.com

bicycle or by hiring a local sampan.

Cheung Chau is one of the 261 outlying islands belonging to the Hong Kong archipelago and is located in the southwest, between Lantau and Lamma Island.

The translation of the name from Chinese means ‘long-island’, as it mimics the shape of a dumbbell. The main hub of activity occurs along the narrow ‘bar’ between the two rocky landmasses.

It is on the most westerly of these rocky landmasses that you will find Sai Yuen Farm, a new contender for the vacation market, but you won’t find a hotel or bed and breakfast here, oh no, this place is home to Mongolian Ger tents (for glamping), African safari tents for the more traditional style of camping (no airconditioning here!)… or for something a little different, geodesic domes. You may also take your own camping equipment to set up and enjoy the facilities.

Alongside the tents, are some awesome activities for large groups and families to

enjoy in enviable open-space grounds.

Here you can find a range of scheduled activities for all ages.

Little ones can enjoy the model boating pond, feeding the goats or spending an hour of tree climbing practice with Climbing Monkeys (four years and above).

For older children aged eight and above, there is a 10-meter-high treetop canopy walk with the thrill of a zip-line to finish, or the option to join a team for barrier archery combat (ages five and up).

Teenagers are not forgotten with the Segway course through Devil’s Forest (13 years

big day out

Tons of fun at Sai Yuen Farm Camping and Activity Centre

Cheung Chau’s picturesque fishing harbour

and above), where the skill is more how to control the vehicle rather than winning races.

Sai Yuen Farm estate had been derelict for many years, and was formerly been owned by the Lo family, wealthy ship builders from more than a half a century ago. Their home and manicured gardens were perfectly located on the hill overlooking the calmer western bay of the island, Sai Wan. The site was developed in 2016 to encourage more outdoor activities for residents and tourists.

How to get there?

In order to get to Cheung Chau go down to Pier Number 5 on Hong Kong Island, next to the Star Ferry. There are slow ferry and fast ferry

services leaving every 30 minutes. If you have the time I would recommend the deluxe upgrade on the slow ferry so you can enjoy the scenery open-air at the back of the boat.

Weekends are busier than weekdays, but don’t let that stop you. This is also a great place to visit when it is raining. If heading directly to Sai Yuen Farm, there are signs from the ferry pier. Essentially all you need to do is turn right when you exit the ferry concourse and follow the road all the way to Sai Wan with the harbour on your right hand side. You can also enjoy a close-up look at the busy harbour by hiring a sampan driver to take you to Sai Wan pier from the public ferry pier (the smaller

pier next to where the scheduled ferries are docked). This will save you a 30 minute walk.

Turn left up the hill when you reach Sai Wan at Tsan Tuen Road (follow sign post to Peak Road) and the red-walled entrance to Sai Yuen Farm is the located at the top of the hill.

Amy Overy is owner operator of local private tour guide company, Hong Kong Greeters. hkgreeters.com

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marketplace

MArketplace

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To advertise, email talk@hongkongliving.com or call 2776 2772.

X

xx xx.

marketplace

To advertise, email talk@hongkongliving.com or call 2776 2772.

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flailing spouse

Walkies Head for the hills

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nd so ‘hiking season’ is upon us. I realise I’m writing this pre-October, but I’m hoping that by the time you read this column, the skies will be blue, the humidity (and typhoon winds) dropped and the sun shining.

Everybody loves Hong Kong in the autumn. And each year I promise myself I’m going to up my game and make the most of what are the best weather days of the year.

I’m going to climb the heights of Hong Kong, descend the valleys, and get some seriously lust-worthy Insta action going on. And of course lose a couple of inches around my waist, too. (I’m totally #bodyproud, obvs, but you know, it’s always good to trim down, especially with Christmas on the horizon).

However, every year I seem to reach the other side of hiking season (sometime in April) and realise all I’ve managed is a couple of rounds of Lugard Road and a Twin (I get a little bit head spinney on the second one).

So this year, in the spirit of comradeship, I’ve listed a few dos and don’ts so we can all end up having a successful go at Hong Kong’s green bits.

1. Pick your hiking buddies carefully.

Nobody wants to be stuck tackling Dragon’s Back (Asia’s most picturesque hike, apparently) with perfect mum banging on about all the great extracurricular activities her kids are involved with this year.

2. Commit to a day and stick to it. There is nothing worse than foregoing your Sunday night G&T and going to bed nice and early in anticipation of a brisk trot up Violet Hill, to have everyone bail on Monday morning.

3. Be realistic. Sitting on a junk in Millionaires Bay with a sea breeze in August gazing at the lovely mountains it’s very easy to imagine yourselves having the entire MacLehose Trail done and dusted on a weekday morning and in time for school pick-up. It’s tough out there - believe the hiking times the guide books recommend.

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5. Unless you’re trail fit, if anyone mentions they’re keen to join you because they’re ‘in training’, immediately make your excuses (‘Moontrekker’, ‘Green Power’, ‘Trailwalker’ and any sort of half-marathon are words you should be particularly wary of). Otherwise you’ll spend the entire hike scampering along at the back of the power-hiking group and then miss the vital twist in the track at the end of the trail because everyone else has disappeared from view. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.

Our columnist is a longsuffering expat wife, and mother to several energetic, third-culture children.

She lives in Hong Kong.

Every autumn I promise myself I’m going to up my game and climb Hong Kong’s heights.

4. Hong Kong hiking is no walk in the park. Well, technically it is a walk in the (Country) park, but you know what I mean. Every hike contains a mountain (pretty much) and despite the cooler weather, it’s sweaty. Take water, take snacks, take a rest if you need to.

6. Take a hiking pole. It helps with the down bits and it’s also handy to wave around if you spot a wild dog/boar/ snake. It won’t deter the dog/boar/ snake, but it will make you feel slightly more confident before hot-footing it in the opposite direction.

7. If you’re heading anywhere in the direction of the New Territories, take a paper map. Anything in the vicinity of Plover Cove means at some point your vital Google map pin is likely to be kicked off the grid by China Mobile.

8. Take a bin bag - it’s good to have a tidy up even if it wasn’t you who dropped the litter. Saving the planet and all that.

9. Make a day of it - there’s no point putting in all that effort if you can’t reward yourself with a nice al fresco lunch and a relaxed chat somewhere.

Calories out, calories in, it’s just the way the world works.

10. Now you’re a proper hiker, you can invest in some lovely new activewear.

While my husband is of the opinion I tend to head in the ‘all the gear but no idea’ direction, I like to think of every new sport I take up as a great new shopping opportunity. Happy hiking!

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