Sai Kung & Clearwater Bay Magazine July 2012

Learn to drive like

July 2012

SteveAndMcQueen other manly pursuits

Grooming for dapper gents Boarding school pros and cons

Readers’ Choice Awards

Who gets your vote?

Lantau’s stylish new hotel Dr Carmel Taylor bow-wows out

How to buy a speedboat

JULY 2012

THE PLANNER 4 Happening in July The London Olympics, Chinese opera, children’s arts carnival and more.

LOCAL 12 Food for thought How a Sai Kung resident feeds the needy.

6 Have your say Disappointment on trap neuter release scheme, success at the garage sale.

NEWS 8 Lots of launches New this month: Fuk Man Garden, Kuro Vale pottery, major Ocean Park attractions and a Hong Kong referral website.

INTERVIEW 11 Wild at heart Get muddy with Outward Bound Hong Kong director, Jon D’Almeida.

PETS 35 Last post Dr Carmel Taylor signs off.

GARDENING

VINES IN SAI KUNG LETTERS

EDUCATION 24 Boarding school rules?

The pros and cons of overseas schooling.

14 Pushing limits Stephen Vines on the Heung Yee Kuk, official fencing and reconnecting with radio.

FEATURE 16 Dad town Manly pursuits: ways for dad to play while the family’s away.

EATING 20 Macho meals Man-sized takeouts for one.

INTERIORS 22 Sitting-out areas Furniture for the great outdoors.

HEALTH & BEAUTY 26 Close shaves Grooming for dapper gents.

OUTDOORS 28 How to buy a speedboat All you need to know.

HIKES 30 Drop anchor Jackie Peers enjoys a lunchtime ritual (walking optional).

TRAVEL 32 A night in the nick On staycation at Lantau’s new hotel.

36 Cheering up the shrubbery Jane Ram grows coleus.

MARKETPLACE 38 Your guide to shops and services Cool stuff to buy and do.

BIRD AT MY WINDOW 43 Crested myna David Diskin on Hong Kong birds.

CLASSIFIEDS 44 Local property, holiday lets And loads of other random stuff.

BACK PAGE 46 Last Orders on holiday reading Plus photo competition.

"There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going"

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planner

happening in july

Jul 27-Aug 12 Olympic Games

The biggest sporting event of the year – expect plenty of late nights and early mornings if you watch live. For details, visit www.london2012.com.

Jul 2-27 Hebe Sailing Camps Summer sailing courses for kids. Hebe Haven Yacht Club, Pak Sha Wan, 2710 8692, www.hhyc.org.hk.

Ends Aug 5 Chinese Opera Festival Performances, exhibitions, meetthe-artist sessions and more, featuring different opera styles from all over China. For details, visit www.cof.gov.hk.

Jul 1-2 SAR Establishment Day As the public holiday falls on a Sunday, we all get Monday off too. So you can join the annual demonstration and go on that junk trip.

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Jul 11, 25 Quiz Nights Testing times at Hebe One O One. 8.30pm.

112 Pak Sha Wan, 2335 5515.

Jul 12-22 Saltimbanco Cirque du Soleil’s whimsical, fantastical modern circus.

AsiaWorld-Arena, Lantau. Tickets $349-$788 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

Jul 4 American Independence Day Wave the stars and stripes.

Jul 5 Agua Plus Quiz Night Test the grey matter. 8pm, 72 Po Tung Road, Sai Kung, 2791 2030.

Jul 6-Aug 19 International Arts Carnival A packed programme of family-friendly shows, including the Estonian National Ballet performing “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”, the Edinburgh Fringe best children’s show “White”, Japanese-Canadian puppet show “Harmony”, US clown Moshe Cohen’s “Mr YooWho’s Holiday” and more. For details, visit www. hkiac.gov.hk. Tickets from www.urbtix.hk.

Jul 12-13 Harvard Din & Tonics

Jul 14 Bastille Day Allez les bleus!

Ivy League a cappella. Fringe Theatre, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. Tickets $120-$180 from www.hkticketing.com.

Jul 15 Call for entries Sai Kung Gallery is looking for works by local artists to feature in its Local Ginger (Guts) exhibition. Art should be submitted by July 15. 2/F, 14A1 Po Tung Road, Sai Kung, 2792 3939, www.saikunggallery.com.

july Jul 16-22 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow

Jul 17-31 Ani-Com & Games Fair

Jul 21 W Pool Party

Animation, comics, toys, collectibles and teenagers in cosplay costumes. Fun and games at the Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. For details, visit www.ani-com.hk.

An entire stand-up comedy festival stuffed into one show – “all killer, no filler”. Over15s only. Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central.

Tickets $250-$350 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

Jul 18-24 Hong Kong Book Fair Exhibition, public seminars, meetthe-author sessions and children’s events. Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. For full details, visit hkbookfair.hktdc.com.

Non-stop entertainment on the Wet Deck, plus an after-party at Woobar. 8pm-3am, W Hotel, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon. Tickets $300$850 (including free-flowing champagne) from wetparties.hk@whotels.com, 3717 2783.

Jul 24 The Stone Roses Reunion Tour The Manchester Sound returns. Is it what the world is waiting for? AsiaWorld-Arena, Lantau.

Tickets $388-$988 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288, and Tom Lee branches.

If you have an event in Sai Kung, email the details to editor@saikung.com

Book now AUG 4 SNOW PATROL LIVE The Northern Irish alt rock band plays AsiaWorld-Expo, Lantau.

Standing tickets only, $580-$780 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

Aug 6-10 Hebe Race Week

Aug 22-26 DisneyLive! Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show

Sailing fun on and off the water, with family races, three evenings Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and co put on a talent of activities and dinners, and show. Star Hall, KITEC, Kowloon Bay. Tickets race coaching clinics. The $150-$600 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

Nations Cup on Aug 10 will include a new round-the-island race. Early-bird and sibling discounts available. For details and reservations, contact Hebe Haven Yacht Club, 2710 8692, www.hhyc.org.hk.

Sep 18-30 Potted Potter Sep 21 Maroon 5 Adam Levine leaves the spinning chair and takes the stage.

AsiaWorld-Arena, Lantau. Tickets $888 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

Aug 25 The Beach Boys

Yes, those Beach Boys – still touring after 50 years.

Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. Tickets $588-$1,888 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

Sep 20 The Pretenders Chrissie Hynde and the “Brass in Pocket” boys perform live. Star Hall, KITEC, Kowloon Bay. Tickets $590-$990 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

Sep 25 Noel Gallagher’s Flying Birds Songs from Gallagher’s latest album, plus some arena numbers from his Oasis days. Star Hall, KITEC, Kowloon Bay. Tickets $888 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

The Unauthorised Harry Experience. All seven Harry Potter books and a quidditch game squished into 70 minutes.

Drama Theatre, HKAPA, Wan Chai. Tickets $395-$550 from www.hkticketing.com, 3128 8288.

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letters

have your say

Feral dog decision

Scent packing Booting up

The Sai Kung District Council Committee for Housing and Environmental Hygiene had their meeting and decided they support the Trap Neuter Release scheme [to control the feral dog population] but they do not want it to take place in Ho Chung for various reasons, including hygiene and safety reasons.

Some possible sites were suggested but it is not clear if those sites are suitable.

This decision is a compromise aimed at not angering some local villagers. If the authorities keep saying “we support TNR, but we only do it if everybody agrees”, we will never get it.

Now is the time to show you truly care and support this scheme: write to your district councillor, the district council chairma or your newspaper saying you want the TNR scheme to happen. All we ask for is a CHANCE! Elisabeth Buechi Support Group TNR for Sai Kung

I loved this line from Iain Lafferty’s last column (Sai Kung Magazine, June 2012): “Consider the road system around the infamous Causeway Bay Bermuda Triangle. if you never cross an unbroken white line in this area you will eventually be sucked into a traffic vortex centred on the perfume counter in Lane Crawford.” Hilarious!

Val Chow

Please email your letters to letters@saikung.com. We may edit for length.

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The 2012 Summer Garage Sale at HKUST was very successful with the most ever (yet again) tables – 195 is the absolute maximum, we can't squeeze any more in.

We changed the location of the food and drinks, provided

by Busy Bees Kindergarten at HKUST, and Colour Brown from Sai Kung supplied fair-trade organic coffee from East Timor, which went down very well.

Zero Waste Sai Kung provided the compost and Busy Bees Kindergarten children grew and sold herbs in pots they had decorated themselves. Students from Student Social Service Society of HKUST helped us sort and pack the boxes of goods for donation to charity.

All the vendors, whether selling new goods or their preloved items enjoyed the day and the community spirit. The venue was packed.

Thank you so much for helping promote and make this event known. We had so many enquiries and visitors resulting from seeing the information in Sai Kung Magazine.

Jean Hudson

Is there a Sai Kung issue on your mind? Tell us about it in our Readers’ Choice Awards for the chance to win prizes worth $100,000. Vote now at www.saikung.com.

news And the winner is...

Congratulations, Winnie!

f

Sai Kung Magazine

In June, Sai Kung Magazine held a photo competition on our Facebook page. We invited readers to submit their favourite photos of the area, taken by them, for a chance to win an exclusive copy of "Above Sai Kung and

Clearwater Bay" signed by award-winning photographer Graham Uden.

We got lots of submissions and a fabulous collection of Sai Kung photographs is still on display on our Facebook page. The winner was

Top of the property pops

Pottery gallery opens

Good news for local homeowners: London’s The Telegraph newspaper ranks Sai Kung and Clearwater Bay no.1 in a new list of “Top 10 global investment property hotspots”, ahead of Moscow, Sydney, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and London.

Using information from Savills Research, the article points out that prices in the area have risen 65 per cent since 2008 compared with 80 per cent on Southside.

It says: “Houses with gardens and views typically average around £1,100/sqft (HK$13,425) compared with £2,500/sqft ($30,512) in Southside district on the Island. The discount is sufficiently steep to allow more room for growth over the coming years, particularly as access improves.”

8 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

Kuro Vale is a new pottery gallery and studio just opened in See Cheung Street in Sai Kung old town. Run by Sai Kung mum Joanne Siu, who throws her own pots, Kuro Vale has a store on the ground floor selling pieces by Hong Kong and Beijing artists and a first-floor studio offering courses for children and adults, and available to hire for serious potters.

“I chose the old town because on the same street, you can find alfresco cafes, an organic shop, a Chinese tea shop, Western and Chinese restaurants, boat repair shops – it’s new meets old, east meets west, but looks great and is a very friendly neighbourhood,” Siu says.

“We sell works by three Hong Kong artists and one Beijing artist, with more coming soon.

Among the Hong Kong potters is Yu Tak-wah, my teacher, of EarthLing Studio who has lived in Sai Kung for many years.”

The gallery is currently featuring a new range vases and cups in special glazes from Beijing, as well as figures and unique bowls.

Upstairs, the studio will be offering classes teaching children aged six to 12 the basics of

Winnie Ho who snapped a stunning sunset shot, with clouds she described as like "tofu with sugar". Congratulations to Winnie and thank you to everyone who participated. Check our Facebook page for future competitions!

“handbuilding” clay and transforming their ideas into 3-D pieces. Classes are held in English on Thursdays and Saturdays, and in Chinese on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays ($800 for four 90-minute classes, plus $100 a month for glazes and firing). Adult classes are held 1pm-3pm every Thursday and cost $250 for two hours.

For more details, pop into the shop at 48 See Cheung Street, Sai Kung, or email kurovale@ hotmail.com.

in the know

Chill zone Ocean Park is rugging up for the opening of its latest attraction, Polar Adventure, which will feature animals from the Arctic and Antarctic and will be chilled to a teeth-chattering 8 deg C (coats will be available for hire).

In preparation for the July 15 opening, the park has welcomed a 12-year-old female Pacific walrus, Miru, a refugee from the Japanese tsunami, and an eight-year-old male walrus, Rock.

The walruses will be part of the North Pole Encounter attraction, which will also include Arctic foxes, snowy owls, spotted seals and huge northern sea lions, which are three times larger than the park’s California sea lions.

Another attraction, the South Pole Spectacular, features gentoo, southern rockhopper and king penguins in a chilled pool.

The penguins can be viewed from balconies, walkways and through glass-panelled floors, as well as from the Tuxedos restaurant.

Providing cool facilities in a hot country poses environmental questions.

Ocean Park has worked closely with local “green” architectural practice Leigh & Orange to minimize the Polar Adventure’s carbon footprint.

The Polar Adventure is in the upper section of the park, accessed by cable car or train, and aims to be a conservation platform to inform the public of the threat to polar wildlife from global warming. A fun element is provided by the Arctic Blast family roller-coaster.

“We hope that through presenting these adorable animals, the public will better

appreciate the importance of conservation,” said Suzanne Gendron, Ocean Park’s executive director of zoological operations and education.

For details, visit www.oceanpark.com.hk.

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news

May we recommend...

Park life It’s been three years in the making, but Fuk Man Garden – yes, really – is now officially open above the old nullah near Sai Kung police station. The $70 million park has a maritime theme and includes a 30m ship complete with shade sails, a small pre-school children’s playground, an elderly exercise area, loads of shaded seats and an 8m dragon boat sculpture.

Be prepared for a rash of no-fun notices: “No climbing”, “Please keep clear” and other scrappy laminated warnings are scattered liberally across the facilities. Maybe it’s just us, but isn’t this supposed to be for people to enjoy?

A new Hong Kong-based referral website, refer.me.com, comes online this month with useful tips for everything from accountants to restaurants, via men-with-drills, hairdressers, air-conditioning maintenance companies.

The brainchild of David Beattie and Andrew Primrose, refer.me aims to be the missing link between Hong Kong people and services.

“Even if you are local, you may still be sailing unchartered waters," Beattie says.

"Perhaps you’re expecting your first baby, are renovating a property for the first time, or need a venue for a special occasion. People are constantly looking for recommendations.”

The site is categorised by professions and services as well as geographical area. And you

Material donations Refugee charity Vision First is partnering with TREE this summer. Donation bins have been placed in all TREE stores throughout Hong Kong, inviting the public to donate art and craft materials for the Vision First Women’s

Sound and vision Feel the earth move next time you go to the movies at the new Star Cinema in PopCorn Mall, Tseung Kwan O. Part of the MCL Cinema group, it has six theatres with 622 seats fitted with state-ofthe-art sound technology so the seats quiver, shake and throb with the on-screen action and the sound seems to blow right through you.

It worked like a charm at a recent showing of “Men in Black III”, particularly during a vertigoinducing scene that set seats shaking and knees trembling.

Appropriately for its location, the popcorn comes in a range of eyebrow-raising flavours –

10 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

can also choose who you seek referrals from. If you want to recommend something, the site is direct, with space for contact information and a one-line comment. Once you’ve input a search, the results will be listed according to what has been the most highly referred.

“We want to avoid the verbose nature of other expat-oriented sites,” Beattie says.

“If someone wants a referral, they don’t necessarily want a discussion. Just an email or phone number, plus a few words. We’re not looking for negative comments – it’s not a site for reviews.”

The site is launching simultaneously this month in Hong Kong, several Australian cities, California and London.

grape, anyone? And there are fresh hot chips like mama makes (hand cut, skins on, made from real potatoes) available from New York Fries’ first cinema concession. Word is that the poutine – chips with gravy and cheese – is pretty good.

Go early and take a look around the mall, which is bright, stylish and filled with upmarket shops such as Log-On, Agnes b, Patrick Cox, Chocoolate and a host of international beauty brands. It’s right above Tseung Kwan O MTR station at 9 Tong Yin Street, with parking around the back.

Star Cinema, 2811 0218, www.mclcinema.com.

Support Group in the SAR. The women turn the materials into saleable products to raise money for Vision First and provide a social group activity for these often isolated refugee women.

See visionfirstnow.org for more info.

interview

wild at heart

Jon D'Almeida Get hot, wet and muddy – and change your life, the director of Outward Bound Hong Kong tells Robby Nimmo.

Everyone goes to Outward Bound in New Zealand where I grew up. It’s a rite of passage.

I studied to become a secondary-school teacher then had the opportunity to do a degree in education majoring in educational psychology. I joined Outward Bound in New Zealand after working as a whitewater rafting guide, eventually becoming centre director at Anakiwa Outward Bound, New Zealand.

Then I was offered a job that changed my life.

In 1993, I became the first executive director of Outward Bound in South Africa. The end of apartheid was coming and they wanted a programme that would be up and running with a multi-ethnic facility.

I am Maori, but I look terribly white so I was not certain how I would cope. The whole apartheid thing was so foreign to a Maori boy from New Zealand. However, what an opportunity!

It was a wild ride and, in some respects, everything seems a bit tame by comparison. I recall the demonstrations at the University of Western Cape. Demonstrators threw rocks from pedestrian overpasses. Whites were being shot at country clubs by Inkata Freedom Fighters who carried AK-47s. This freaked me out a bit.

I carried a day pack and had an escape plan to run in the bush.

We have six children. Two in Cape Town plus we have two sons and two daughters back in New Zealand, along with five grandchildren.

It’s like living in the flat above the garage, living where I work. There are 70 people on staff and about 35 live on site. We have one of the biggest backyards in Hong Kong. My wife, Bobsy, swims in Jade Bay every morning.

Sai Kung is the ultimate backyard. There’s a real potpourri of people here. Bankers co-exist happily with Chinese grandmothers, who haggle in the wet market with the same intent and determination as the bankers in their day jobs.

My favourite things in Sai Kung: Jaspas breakfast before golf. I love Colour Brown in the

old town – look up from your coffee and there’s a pair of grandmother’s knickers hanging on a bamboo pole above you. I love mountain biking and I’d happily sail every day.

The waterways are incredible in Sai Kung.

Outward Bound has been fortunate to maximise this with the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, an incredibly benevolent organisation that helped us fund Spirit, a 67-foot ketch that is a former BT Challenge round-the-world yacht.

Outward Bound is about physical wilderness journeys and intense inner journeys to discover one’s best self.

It’s about the journey within oneself, about competing with yourself. It’s not a holiday camp; it’s about finding your strengths and weaknesses, digging deep to find humour in tough times and learning to support others. No maids to help, no going home when it’s cold and wet, or too hot and humid. Experiences like this change you for a lifetime.

Outward Bound was started in Wales during World War II by Kurt Hahn, a German-Jewish teacher at Gordonstoun. The Outward Bound Trust Hong Kong was started in 1970 by former chief secretary Sir David Akers-Jones.

Besides courses teaching resilience and team effectiveness for corporates, experiential courses for school groups and communitybased programmes, there are “ultimate courses” in Tibet, snow programmes in Japan, expeditions to Bhutan, dog-sledding in the Yukon, and trekking in the Oman desert.

There’s not much I’d change about Sai Kung; I wish there was less concrete in the hills.

The challenge in Hong Kong is to spend less time indoors and more time being wild at heart.

Embrace the wilderness, sense its beauty, get wet, hot, muddy and bruised. It’s not about living a careful, protected life, it’s about adventure, the mystery of the challenge!

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 11

local Editorial Jane Steer jane@saikung.com Coco Marett coco@fastmedia.com.hk Art Director Sammy Ko design@fastmedia.com.hk Graphic Designer Heidi Lai heidi@fastmedia.com.hk Sales Director Heung Sai ads@fastmedia.com.hk Online Marketing & Distribution Michelle Lee michelle@fastmedia.com.hk Accounts Manager Clara Chan accounts@fastmedia.com.hk CEO Tom Hilditch tom@fastmedia.com.hk This month’s contributors Graham Uden Carolynne Dear Dr Carmel Taylor MVB Jackie Peers Iain Lafferty David Diskin Jane Ram Robby Nimmo Stephen Vines Laura Tysan Printer Gear Printing 1/F, Express Industrial Bldg 43 Heung Yip Road Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong Published by Fast Media Floor LG1 222, Queens Road Central Hong Kong Give us a call!

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Sai Kung is published by Fast Media 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. Sai Kung 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 pubishers.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

12 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

helping hand

Food for thought Feeding Hong Kong’s Gabrielle Kirstein explains how the charity battles hunger on our doorstep.

It all started when Pak Sha Wan resident Gabrielle Kirstein learned a local store was tipping pallets of fresh bread straight into the bin.

There were, she knew, better ways to dispose of unwanted food.

Before moving to Hong Kong, Kirstein and her family spent years volunteering at a homeless shelter in Manchester, England, and she was keen to continue contributing.

After learning about the wasted bread, she began looking more closely at the situation in Hong Kong and discovered only smallscale ventures; local bakeries and market stalls donating leftovers to nearby charities.

“What was missing was something at scale,” she says. “A single organisation that provided a link between companies with high-quality surplus food and the multiple charities feeding people in need. This is the gap that Feeding Hong Kong now fills.”

Kirstein and a friend, Christina Dean, founded Feeding Hong Kong under Green2greener (now Redress). But an introduction to prominent local humanitarian Kevin Yeung in 2010 took the programme to new heights, establishing Feeding Hong Kong as a charitable organisation with a management team and board.

It now operates two redistribution programmes: a food bank and “food rescue”.

The bank collects bulk volumes of dry goods, fresh produce and frozen products – surplus stock donated by retailers, distributors and manufacturers. This is sorted and stored in Feeding Hong Kong’s Yau Tong warehouse before being distributed to 25 welfare organisations across the territory.

Food rescue involves collecting and redistributing excess perishable and prepared food, such as sandwiches, salads, fresh bread

Gabrielle Kirstein and baked goods from outlets including Pret a Manger, Starbucks and Maxims.

“Unlike other programmes, we do not hand out food to individuals,” Kirstein explains.

“Instead, we specialize in logistics, delivering to charities with effective programmes, who feed thousands of people in need in Hong Kong.”

It’s a win-win situation for all involved. Companies reduce their food waste and are more environmentally friendly, policymakers extend landfill capacity and establish safe and sustainable waste-management solutions, and grassroots charities have additional resources to feed the hungry. For all Hong Kong’s wealth, the harsh reality is that one in five people live below the poverty line.

“It’s not just about getting enough to eat, but enough of the right food,” Kirstein says.

So Feeding Hong Kong not

only tightly manages the quality of food being distributed but has introduced two new programmes, Chefs in the Community and Edible Gardens, to educate those in need about nutrition.

“Over the past three years, I have had the privilege of getting to know many people working on the front line of hunger and poverty relief in Hong Kong as well as companies and individuals that actively support their work,” Kirstein says. “They are testament to that fact that Hong Kong people are warm, generous, caring and have a genuine concern for those in need.”

If you would like to get involved, Feeding Hong Kong is looking for volunteers to pick up donations from stores at closing time, store and pack in the warehouse, make deliveries in the FHK van and help with fundraising and communications. To find out more, visit www.feedinghk.org.

vines in sai kung

stephen says

Pushing the limit Stephen Vines on the Heung Yee Kuk, an official fencing fetish and rediscovering the airwaves.

The kuk that loves to speak in your name Lau Wong-fat, the big boss of the Heung Yee Kuk, is threatening to give cynicism a bad name.

When something upsets him, he says, “This will upset the people of the New Territories.”

Unsurprisingly he’s upset right now because the new administration looks as though it might do something about the absurd freebie of dishing out 700-square-foot plots of land to so-called indigenous villagers.

its village chiefs formed strong ties with the Chinese Communist Party, setting this area apart from others. The net result has been that the pernicious influence of the kuk has remained at bay in Sai Kung but is not entirely absent.

Treatment needed for a fencing fetish The only reasonable explanation for the mass of mind-bogglingly ugly fencing erected in every corner of Sai Kung is that someone in the

In the matter of land rights for village males, the kuk’s position is adamantly at odds with the overwhelming majority of the NT population.

There is no need to get into the rather familiar details of this government-abetted scam but it is worth emphasizing the absurdity of Mr Lau’s claim to be speaking on behalf of the people of the New Territories. There are well over three million people in this area; the kuk represents a distinct minority. In the matter of land rights for village males, the kuk’s position is adamantly at odds with the overwhelming majority of the NT population.

Sai Kung is unusual in having far less kuk influence than other parts of the NT. The bouffant-hairstyled, dark glass-wearing gentlemen who run this organization tend to keep away.

This has something to do with history, because during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong the kuk’s leaders had a shameful record of collaboration with the occupying forces. It was the Japanese who formalized the village representation system that exists today and allows the Heung Yee Kuk to retain its stranglehold over village affairs.

Sai Kung, on the other hand, was a centre of resistance to the Japanese and many of

14 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

District Office has a fence fetish.

Practitioners of the psychiatric trade assure me that this is curable, but while it is allowed to go unchecked the fetish is responsible for an ugly blot on the district.

Many people have welcomed the unveiling of Fuk Man Garden, the new mini-park at the eastern end of Sai Kung town near the police station. It has a boat theme, which is suitable for a district associated with the fishing industry, and it cleverly incorporates an otherwise rather unpleasant nullah. Why on earth has it been decided to encase this park in a purposeless wicker-style fence?

The genius behind this piece of planning is probably the same fetishist who’s been going round the district erecting wire mesh fences and bollards on spare pieces of land accompanied by tatty signs informing us that it is “government land” and trespassing is verboten, or words to that effect. No scrap of land is safe from this form of official vandalism.

I hope those responsible will urgently seek medical help; their condition will only worsen without it.

Blocking the airwaves in Sai Kung A revolution has occurred in the Vines household following the purchase of an Internet radio. For the first time in years I can listen to local radio stations (and a host of others, for that matter) without enduring the gentle sounds of what might be a sandstorm or, er, nothing at all.

Local TV broadcasts remain a vision in cloud.

When I first came to live in Sai Kung, a long time ago, these broadcasts were perfectly clear but, and here things get murky, it appears the comrades from up north didn’t like the strong transmission signal that wafted across the border threatening spiritual pollution of the good people on the mainland.

So the order went out to turn down the transmission strength and Sai Kung has thus become a black spot for broadcasting. Some places in the district, notably Tseung Kwan O, are blighted by their geography as they are surrounded by daunting hills, but elsewhere the broadcasting drought is a product of government bowing and scraping to anyone in the Chinese bureaucracy who sneezes in a meaningful way.

What makes all this doubly ridiculous is that people on the mainland who are really keen to follow Hong Kong broadcasts can do so in a number of ways. As ever the censors are one step behind freedom-loving people.

Lamentably, in the meantime the people of Sai Kung who want to follow the radio and television services they fund through their tax payments, are denied access.

Stephen Vines is a journalist, broadcaster and entrepreneur. He is the former editor of the Eastern Express and Southeast Asia correspondent for The Observer.

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Sai Kung Magazine

* Excluding taxes and surcharges

dad town

FOR THE

BOYS

While the family’s away, dad can play. Here’s how to spend a men’s weekend.

Deep-sea fishing It doesn’t get much more macho than this: battling a mahi mahi, black marlin or bluefin tuna from the deck of a 46ft sports fishing boat. Live out the Hemingway dream by hauling aboard a sailfish or barracuda for the regulation fisherman’s picture – and, no doubt, tall story about your catch’s true size. The waters south of Hong Kong have a surprising population of large pelagic fish within 10-40 miles of the coast, depending on rainfall.

It was this big... Tail Chasers catch of the day.

From April to October, Tail Chasers runs one-day, deep-sea fishing trips from Aberdeen for anglers of all levels of experience, including all fishing gear, and hire of the Bertram Sport Fisher under the expert guidance of Captain Kim Stuart. Trips usually depart from Aberdeen Boat Club at 7.30am and cost $2,300 per fisherman, or $20,000 for a group of up to 10.

Bring your own lunch, drinks, hats and sunscreen. For details, visit www.hongkongfishings.com.

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Scuba scooters Fulfill those James Bond fantasies with Splash Hong Kong’s irresistible toy: the diver propulsion vehicle (DPV). This underwater scooter is designed to enable divers to increase their range, but what it really does is provide a huge amount of fun.

Learn to use one in the waters off Sai Kung, while exploring the area’s coral reefs. Qualified PADI open-water divers can have a go by opting for the DPV course

as part of Splash Hong Kong’s advanced open-water diving course (five dives over two days).

Novices will have to complete the open-water diving course first (five pool dives and four open-water dives, plus theory sessions) and can then go immediately into the advanced course.

Splash Hong Kong also sells Sea Doo Seascooters. For details, call 2792 4495 or visit www. splashhk.com.

dad town

Keelboat training Keelboats are not dinghies. These are bigger boats for bigger boys, with solid keels (the boats, that is) and lots of rigging to play with. In July, Hebe Haven Yacht Club is running an adults-only (over-18s) five-day course spread across four weekends and public holidays covering the basics of keelboat sailing. It will include hands-on training in helming a boat at different points of sail, rigging and boat parts, tacking and jibing, handling a boat under power

for docking and mooring, manoverboard drills, safety, knots and more. Get salty, seadogs.

The course is $5,500 ($4,800 for members); some sailing experience is an advantage but not essential. Additional training with an instructor is available for $900/day ($800 for members), for those who have already completed the course. Keen sailors may be invited to crew on the club’s racing boat. For details and reservations, visit www.hhyc.org.hk.

Clockwise from top: keelboats at HHYC, motorsport in Zhuhai and driving a seascooter.

Drift-racing Ever wanted to drift a car like Steve McQueen in Bullitt – all squealing tyres, clouds of smoke and testosterone-fuelled enthusiasm?

It’s harder than it looks, apparently, but Zhuhai International Circuit in China has drivers lined up to show you how. Those with mainland-registered cars can mangle their own wheels on the racing circuit, while the rest of us can learn the skill in its “partner vehicles” in four different classes.

While you’re there, take a spin on the 110cc mini-bikes (RMB60 for 10 minutes) or the 1km karting track. Or challenge your mates to a karting race day, which includes

warm-ups, practice laps, a 12lap preliminary race and 15-lap final race (from RMB500/person, depending on size of kart booked).

For details and reservations, visit www.zic.com.cn and click on Fans Club.

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 17

dad town Clay-pigeon shooting.

Left, from top: golf at Kau Sai Chau and Mission Hills.

Golf Stag golfing weekends are a perennial favourite, whether you choose to play a round just across the bay at Kau Sai Chau public course, or take a luxury break at the world’s biggest golf resort just across the border in Mission Hills, Shenzhen.

Fifteen minutes from Sai Kung by solar-powered ferry, Kau Sai Chau has three challenging 18-hole courses (two designed by Gary Player) set in beautiful island scenery and available to anyone with a handicap card. There’s also a 60-bay driving range (just rock up

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with your clubs), instructors, and a clubhouse open to the public. For reservations and bookings, visit www.kscgolf.org.hk.

Mission Hills is a much ritzier option, with 10 18-hole courses across two sister resorts in Shenzhen and Dongguan designed by world tour players such as Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki and Vijay Singh. Tee off in the footsteps of Tiger Woods and other championship players on the World Cup Course designed by Jack Nicklaus. As well as golf, the Shenzhen-Dongguan sites have five-star hotels, spas and finedining restaurants.

Over summer, Mission Hills Dongguan resort is offering two-day, one-night golf and spa packages, including a round of golf, a 90-minute After Golf Soothing Ritual treatment and a night in a Grand Deluxe room for RMB2,388 per person (RMB3,088 weekends and public holidays). For details and reservations, visit www. missionhillschina.com.

Hunting, shooting and fishing For the best of all worlds, book a weekend at the Pine Valley Golf & Country Club in Zhuhai, where you can go hunting, shooting and fishing – or play golf.

Sprawling across 800 acres outside Zhuhai, and boasting what the club claims is some of the freshest air in the delta, Pine Valley has country lodge-style rooms, a swimming pool and decent restaurant featuring game and produce raised on the estate.

Shoot your own dinner with a guided hunting expedition into the surrounding woods, or, for the less bloodthirsty, take aim at the skeet

and trap (clay pigeon) shooting range.

Fishing enthusiasts assure us the lake is stuffed with several species of carp – common, grass and golden – making it a fun rather than frustrating day out. And because the lake water is pollutionfree, says the club, successful fishermen get to eat their catch.

The golf course is beautiful, with many holes laid out around a large reservoir. While the holes may not be quite up to the Mission Hills par, this is an enjoyable course, and a great place to kick back with the chaps.

For details and reservations, visit www.pinevalleyclub.com.

eating Macho meals

Man-sized takeout in Sai Kung.

Pizza: Paisano’s In 2009, former golf pro Al Morales opened that hoariest of F&B cliches – the pizza takeaway – and turned it into a revelation, selling the largest and arguably the tastiest New York-style slices in Hong Kong. His pizzas were such a smash in Sai Kung that he now has a chain of five restaurants (and counting) across Hong Kong. The secret is in the crust, which is extra tasty and somehow doesn’t sag even with Paisano’s foot-long slices, and in Morales’ insistence on using the finest ingredients. Sides are just as good (Al recommends the dough balls) and we’re loving the meatball subs.

Invite the boys over and challenge them to the giant 24-inch party pizza ($190, plus $25 for extra toppings). Delivery available. Open daily 11am-11pm. 27 Chan Man Street, Sai Kung, 2791 4445, www.paisanos.com.hk.

Thai: May’s Sawaddee Thailand Because sometimes you like it hot. May’s chef has a deft hand with the spices, producing delicately balanced and wonderfully flavoursome dishes that tread the fine line between chilli heat and chilli burn. The menu features

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all the authentic Thai favourites, including barbecued pork neck salad, chunky satays, spicy tom yum kung, a noteworthy beef panaeng curry, and, for those who relish an extra chilli kick, minced pork with chilli and Thai basil.

Order at lunchtime for reasonably priced specials, including delicious soup and a soft drink. Delivery available. Shop 5, 16 Chan Man Street, Sai Kung, 2791 6399.

Curry: JoJo’s at Bacco JoJo Mess is a Hong Kong institution.

So when it opened a branch upstairs at Bacco, Sai Kung currylovers rubbed their hands in anticipation.

We weren’t disappointed.

The extensive menu includes all our favourites – rogan josh, chicken balti, saag paneer – as well as more unusual dishes such as Goan speciality prawn with cinnamon and garlic and mud-pot cooked lamb from Andra Pradesh. Explore. Delivery to Sai Kung and Clearwater Bay.

M/F, 21 Man Nin Street, Sai Kung, 2547 7477, www.jojofood.com.

Ribs: Anthony’s Ranch If ever a place was designed to be man-friendly, it’s this. The Ranch is billed as a “Real Texas Smokehouse” and the food is suitably butch, with huge portions and big flavours to match. You’ll have to take a seat for a slab of prime US steak or a house-made burger with an ice-cold beer, but if it’s a takeaway you’re after, you can’t go wrong with the smoked babyback ribs – succulent, sticky and fall-off-thebone tender.

Yum. Delivery available.

28 Yi Chun Street, Sai Kung, www.anthonys-ranch.com.

Order hotline: 2791 6116.

Cheese: D’Oli Snack in style by loading up on French delicacies at this new

gourmet store in Sai Kung old town. Tucked away and charmingly old-fashioned in shophouse style, it stocks a small but carefully chosen selection of reasonably priced goodies imported from France, including wines, cheese, pates and rillettes, charcuterie, preserves, cornichons and boulangerie specialities such as madeleines.

Look for top-quality cheeses such as Gaperon D’Auvergne (a soft cheese with garlic and cracked pepper), Banon goat’s cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves, Morbier and Comte. A shipment of cider and perry from Normandy was almost sold out at press time, but friendly owners Olivier and Dolly were hoping to find a new source. Online ordering in delivery are available ($50, free on orders of more than $500). Open 10am-7pm, closed Tuesdays. 21 Sai Kung Tai Street, Sai Kung, 9843 3341, www.saiiltd.com.

Tell us about your favourite Sai Kung restaurant in our Readers’ Choice Awards for the chance to win prizes worth $100,000. Vote now at www.saikung.com.

food to go juice and mint. Sure enough, Tin Tin Bar at the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin is bigging up mojitos for summer, with five versions of the classic cocktail: kiwi, strawberry, passion fruit, peach (all $75) and the non-alcoholic virgin pomelo mojito ($58). 18 Chak Cheung Street, Sha Tin, 3273 1234.

Nibbles Chocoholics can get their hands dirty at a series of chocolatemaking workshops by professional chefs at Black n White Dessert Cafe. Held on alternate Tuesdays, classes include learning to make marshmallow lollipops (July 3), liqueur chocolate bonbons (July 17), and dark chocolate truffles (July 31). $350, including dinner, drinks and dessert, plus your handmade sweets. 7pm8.30pm, 88102 Ivy Street, Tai Kok Tsui, 2789 1330.

Cantonese master chef Qui Wei Guo from the

White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou is cooking up his signature dim sum at Above & Beyond at Hotel Icon from July 2-15. Our pick: the adorable bunny-shaped steamed shrimp dumplings with crabmeat (above). 17 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, 3400 1000.

Summer and cocktails go together like... well, rum, lime

Watch Wimbledon at Hebe One O One the way it should be enjoyed, with two glasses of Pimm’s and strawberries and cream ($98). The deal is available during all tennis matches until July 8. It’s also updating its wine list and holding a bin-end sale in July, slashing prices of discontinued wines by 30 per cent while stocks last. 112 Pak Sha Wan, 2335 5515.

Stock the cellar Have wine delivered to your door.

Watson’s Wine Cellar Trusty Watson’s guarantees next-day delivery on its New and Old World wines. Free delivery on orders of more than $1,200. 22-40 Fuk Man Road, Sai Kung, 2792 6233, www.watsonswine.com.

Essential Fine Wines The best vintages from wine-making regions of Italy, France, Australia and Chile have been carefully selected by a team of experts. Daily deliveries. www.efw.com.hk Winerack Some of the most reasonably priced wines in town, plus boutique beers and cider. Delivers on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; free delivery with 12 bottles or more. www.winerack.com.hk

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 21

interiors Sitting-out areas

Acapulco chair

Furniture for the great outdoors.

Retro chic Acapulco chair from Mirth Home, M/F BT Centre, 23 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, 2553 9811.

Bamboo lanterns Brighten the evening with a bamboo lantern by Rice. Attic Lifestyle, www.attic-lifestyle. com.

Loungers Lie back and relax on the Mermaid hand-woven lounger. Ovo, 20/F, Horizon Plaza, Ap Lei Chau, www. ovostudio.com.hk

Armchair Woven Chair

Rapunzel chair and footstool by Kenneth Cobonpue from Ovo, www.ovostudio.com.hk.

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Deauville chair from the new Vincent Sheppard Outdoor Collection at TREE. 116 Man Nin Street, Sai Kung, www. tree.com.hk.

relax

Day bed Watch the world go by from a Kettal Cottage, Spanish-designed daybed. Everything Under The Sun, 9/F, Horizon Plaza, Ap Lei Chau, 2554 9088, www.everythingunderthesun.com.hk.

Director's chair French-designed canvas director's chair with a pocket for everything. Wicka Designs, 1 Tai Mong Tsai Road, Sai Kung, www.wickadesigns.com.

Red jug Keep the Pimm's close to hand.

Retro Collection red jug, Wicka Designs, www.wickadesigns.com.

Pots Grow your own in these cute pots from Australian company Steadysticks. Wicka Designs, www.wickadesigns.com.

What’s your favourite homeware shop? Tells us in our Readers’ Choice Awards for the chance to win prizes worth $100,000. Vote now on www.saikung.com.

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 23

education

new bugs

New experiences, friends and cultures are some of the benefits of boarding.

Boarding school rules?

Carolynne Dear looks at the pros and cons of sending a child to school overseas To board or not to board? That is the question on the minds of many parents in Hong Kong.

For some families, boarding school is a rite of passage, an event planned since birth. For others, it’s an option that suddenly presents itself because the school system doesn’t meet a student’s needs.

“We see a lot of different reasons for boarding,” says Australian International School counsellor Isobel Coutts-Weakley. “For some students with special needs and disabilities, boarding schools – particularly in the UK or the US – are the only option. For others, it might stem from the parents’ desire to familiarize the students with their ‘home’ country, to form a relationship with a country where they may well spend their adult lives, post-Hong Kong.”

But whatever the reason, it is a decision that is not taken lightly.

“Sending a child away changes the dynamics of the entire family,” says family counsellor and trainer Amanda Mullins. “Imagine the family group as a set of figures hanging from a mobile; if one leaves, the whole mobile needs rebalancing. Preparing siblings for the change is as important as preparing the boarding child themselves.”

Putting the “scaffolding and structure” in place beforehand is crucial, Mullins says.

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The child needs to be made aware of contact numbers of family and friends in the local area and they need to be familiarized with the school timetable, perhaps by looking at the school website. Find out when sports day is, for example, and the school motto or song.

Highlight school holidays on a calendar and make sure the child knows what’s happening at this time. And, of course, it is important the child has viewed the school.

“Homesickness will occur,” Coutts-Weakley says. “That’s a given. The trick is to address it before it happens. While contact with home is important, it also needs to be managed, as you don’t want connecting with family ‘back home’ to take energy away from everyday school-life.”

Mullins agrees. “Vocabulary is important – try not to label it ‘homesickness’ or use words such as ‘anxious’. Make sure the child knows who to seek help from at the school and look into the pastoral care on offer.”

According to Coutts-Weakley, there is no “right age” to send a child to boarding school.

“It depends on the personality of the child, although I would say that 13 seems to be an age when things do change. I have seen 11and 12-year-olds unhappy on school camp, but by the time they hit 14, homesickness issues seem to have dried up.”

Hong Kong resident Jon Brown was sent to board in Britain at age nine. “It felt like a collaborative decision with my parents at the time, but maybe it was more their decision than mine looking back. Interestingly, it was the children whose parents lived nearby that got the most homesick.”

But boarding school is not a happy experience for everyone and counsellors stress it’s important to try to find a school that suits your child. Expat mum Louise Taylor was sent to boarding school at the age of 16.

“I really didn’t enjoy it,” she says. “At around age 16 in Malawi, I was sent to a British boarding school in the north. It was incredibly strict and I resented it from the word go. As an expat parent now myself, I wouldn’t rule out boarding school for my daughter, but I would certainly give the school I was placing her in much more consideration.”

Mullins says it’s important for parents to put their own needs and preferences aside.

“No matter how much you might love a school, if your child is constantly miserable or out of character beyond a term, then it might not be such a great choice. Teenagers in particular need to have a voice that is listened to.”

According to Coutts-Weekly, the reaction of most boarders is extreme. “They tend to either love it or hate it.”

Brown says: “I highly recommend it. It can be hard being away from your parents – but, on the other hand, you're away from your parents!”

Preparing your child School counsellor Isobel CouttsWeakley recommends RAFT for children working through their emotions.

R – Reconciliation of relationships with people in the country you are leaving.

Speak to people, tell them you are going.

Talk about it. Make sure you are leaving healthy relationships behind.

A – Affirmations to people who are important in your life. This could mean sending a card to a neighbour, your helper, your piano teacher – anyone who has played an important part in your life. This is your opportunity to tell them that they have been special to you.

F – Farewell. This is an opportunity to celebrate. Throw a party, or go to dinner with close friends and family. Enjoy what is happening to you.

T – Think about the destination. Mentally move yourself on to your new situation.

health & beauty

Learn to

Close shaves

surf this summer

Call ITS on 2116 3916 or visit www.tuition.com.hk/surf

SURF HONG KONG_120x93.indd 1

And other tales of male grooming.

2, 3 & 5 day camps

all summer book early!

07/05/2012 6:00 PM

Shanghai style at the Mandarin Barber.

Gone are the days when being a “real man” meant dirty fingernails, Chewbacca-inspired facial hair and the ability to bust a beer bottle open with an eyelid. While impressive, those attributes are hardly likely to land that six-figure contract and certainly won’t get the girl. More and more men are cleaning up their act, thanks in part to nostalgic traditional barbers and groomers. A quick cocktail and old-fashioned hot-towel shave during Central’s lunch rush — what’s not to love?

Mandarin Barber Mandarin Barber has set the bar for men’s grooming since it opened in 1963. When the Mandarin Oriental underwent a makeover in the early noughties, the revered barbershop was spruced up too, but much of the original 1930s Shanghai-chic decor remains, including dark wood

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veneers and Chinese screen-printed glass. Many of the discreet staff have been stropping blades for more than 20 years.

But that’s not to say it lacks modern indulgences, such as inmirror televisions at every station so you can watch the game during your treatment.

The same goes for the treatment menu. Its most popular service is the legendary Mandarin Shave ($320), a traditional wet shave with badger-hair brushes, blades (not safety razors) and hot towels. More modern treatments have found their way on the menu including facials, massages and the famous Shanghainese pedicure ($700).

Clients are advised to come early to enjoy the gentlemen’s clubstyle waiting room, where they can relax with a drink and browse the private library. Private VIP rooms are also available.

dapper gents

From top: The Mandarin Barber and Gentlemen's tonic.

H A I R

Like every gentlemen’s club, it has a long list of loyal customers, some who have been regulars for decades – testament to Mandarin Barber’s unmatched service.

For details, visit www.mandarinoriental.com/ hongkong or call 2825 4088.

Gentlemen’s Tonic London barber Gentlemen’s Tonic spread its wings in June 2011, moving from Mayfair to Central and opening its first international branch in the basement of The Landmark.

It quickly became a hotspot, with Central’s bankers, traders and lawyers popping in for a traditional wet shave ($375) with hot towels, blades and a whole range of products. Or for a more indulgent haircut and express hand treatment ($825).

While the Mandarin Barber reflects the heyday of Shanghai, Gentlemen’s Tonic channels vintage London – all wood, leather and marble, with hidden hi-tech goodies such as flat-screen TVs and free wifi. Private rooms are available for a truly peaceful and relaxed experience.

Look for the signature packages, named after some of the world’s greatest men. A hangover relief package, for example, is appropriately named “The Hemingway” and includes a Bloody Mary, aromatherapy facial and massage ($1,800).

We struggle to think of a better way to spend Saturday morning – or Friday afternoon.

Gentlemen’s Tonic, B47-B48, The Landmark,15 Queen’s Road Central, 2525 2455, www.gentlemenstonic.com

&

B E A U T Y

C E N T R E

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Refer a new client & receive 50% off your next haircut New clients receive 10% discount 10 days guarantee on all services Free Consultation

This Month Special:

Book our popular Brazilian Blowout treatment and receive a complimentary bottle of aftercare Shampoo, perfect for taking care of your new look hair 56 Po Tung Road, Sai Kung, NT, Hong Kong

Tel: 2335 1694

www.talashairandbeautycentre.com info@talashairandbeautycentre.com WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 27

outdoors How to buy a speedboat

Picture: Graham Uden

Laura Tyson lives the dream.

With 236 islands to play on, Hong Kong is loaded with idyllic destinations from the Geopark and long swathes of golden sand in Sai Kung to the green turtle nesting site at Sham Wan, Lamma. And one of the best ways to get out there and explore is aboard your very own speedboat. Load the kids, a couple of friends and a cool box filled with drinks and off you go.

Kristy and Jeremy Carr of Clearwater Bay have owned a speedboat for three years and use it almost every weekend for nine months of the year.

“We usually take it to one the nearby beaches, Millionaires or Whisky. The kids love riding the mini-ski rider behind the boat,” they say.

Edward Coebergh of marine brokerage Boats and Yachts recommends a 24-foot speedboat for the average Hong Kong family.

Usually licenced for eight passengers, a 24ft boat is ideal for getting from A to B, towing wakeboarders and able to withstand the sometimes choppy waters beyond Port Shelter.

Broker Martin Laidler of Saffron Marina agrees on the boat size, but suggests buying one with a small cabin. “That way the kids can have a nap if they need it and you can even spend the night out on the water,” he says.

The price of a 24ft speedboat can range from about $80,000 for an old secondhand boat to $800,000 for a new top-brand model.

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Various financing options are available depending on the condition and age of the boat.

For speedboats in good condition, brokers say an engine check by a professional should be sufficient. If the condition is questionable, then a full survey is recommended, at a cost of around $140 a foot, plus shipyard charges. Once you’re happy with the condition it is essential you take the boat for a test drive, ideally in open waters.

Finding a mooring is the trickiest part of buying a speedboat in Hong Kong. The government has halted the transfer of mooring ownership in some marinas, resulting in price increases and long waiting lists. Renting a mooring or a hard stand (storage out of the water, often in multistory racks) from a marina — Clearwater Bay Marina, Hebe Haven Yacht Club, Hong Kong Marina, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club – is your best bet, although you will usually have to join the club first. Costs vary, but Hebe Haven Yacht Club, for example, has published rates for members of $880 a month for a 24ft swing mooring (accessed via a sampan service) or $1,875 for a 24ft hardstand.

Coebergh strongly recommends securing the mooring before buying a boat. “The

ideal scenario is to obtain the rented mooring rights from the boat vendor, which saves you having to wait for a marina or government mooring to become available,” he says.

However, not all marinas allow this so please check with the club’s marine office first.

Before you can drive your speedboat, you will need the relevant license – a Pleasure Vessel Certificate of Competency. To drive a 24ft boat, the skipper requires Grade II master and Grade II engineer certificates.

(Grade II master

iron wind

covers leisure craft up to 15m in length, Grade I covers leisure craft of any length; Grade II engineer covers inboard diesel engines up to 120kW, or you can choose to do a restricted Grade II engineer that covers outboard engines only.) The Marine Department Seafarers’ Certification Section in Central holds regular multiple choice exams for both master and engineer certificates (www. mardep.gov.hk).

Many brokers and marinas offer classes to get you up to speed. If exams are not your thing, and there is a fairly high failure rate, freelance captains can be hired for about $800 a day.

There’s an old adage that owning a boat is like standing in a cold shower ripping up bank notes. While owning a boat is fun, it's not cheap. Speedboat engines require servicing every 200 hours of usage. And if your boat is on a swing mooring (in the sea), it will require dry-docking twice a year for anti-fouling: scraping barnacles and other growth off the keel and propeller and reapplying anti-foul paint. Maintenance costs average $15,000-$20,000 annually, although they can be significantly lower if the boat is kept on a hardstand.

It sounds like hassle, but when you take the wheel, with the wind in your hair and a gin and tonic on ice, it’s worth every second and cent it cost to get there.

Where to buy a boat Boats and Yachts (www.boatsandyachts. com.hk) sells boats of all descriptions and will guide you through the buying process.

Saffron Marina (www.saffron-marina. com) offers similar services and will even hook you up with a potential boat-sharer if you want to stretch your budget.

Check the noticeboards at marinas and boat clubs for secondhand deals, or visit the Hong Kong International Boat Show at Club Marina Cove in Sai Kung in November to see what sort of vessel tickles your fancy.

And if the prospect of exams, moorings and maintenance seem overwhelming, Saffron Cruises (www.saffron-cruises.com) rents speedboats for $8,000-$10,0000 a day.

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 29

hikes

Drop anchor Jackie Peers enjoys a summer ritual at High Island.

Walking optional.

You’ve probably seen them on Sunday evenings, glassy-eyed and sunburned. Mum, having enjoyed maybe one glass of white wine too many, struggles along with a tired dog draped over one shoulder, and a sleeping child on the other. Dad, with a tum full of fried pepper squid and Tsing Tao, herds the rest of the family and hums a favourite tune from his youth.

Chances are they’re returning from a seafood lunch at one of the villages in Leung Shuen Wan, High Island, an established Sai Kung ritual.

It’s an outing ideally undertaken on a fine sunny day, with a bunch of friends and perhaps some newcomers or out-of-towners. They’re bound to be impressed. Ours always are. Leung Shuen Wan is best approached by sea. Take a junk or head to the Sai Kung waterfront where you can hire a sampan, though the redoubtable sampan ladies will certainly put your bargaining skills to the test. (I’ve managed $450 return mid-week, but it's more on a Sunday.)

First, chug out past the pretty islands of Inner Port Shelter and head for the southern end of Kau Sai Chau (the golf-course island) where you can

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the high life visit the Unesco World Heritage temple to Hung Shing, once a mortal Tang dynasty government official and now revered as the God of the Southern Ocean. Pay your respects and ask for a safe journey. Due east from here across the water is our destination and as you enter the bay you can see to the left some of the Geopark’s wonderful hexagonal columnar jointing, and in the bay itself large clumps of fish farms.

To the right is the village of Tung A, where you can alight at the small pier in front of the Yau Ley Restaurant, a firm favourite with yachties.

Immediately south of the restaurant is a pretty beach where kids build sandcastles and pooches knock them down, before happily swimming around some of the anchored boats together. Adults can keep a lookout while applying themselves to the serious business of consuming vast quantities of seafood and cold beverages, and entertaining each other with tall stories and true.

Clockwise from left: A sampan out and about in Inner Port Shelter; the fish farms; drying fish at the Tin Hau temple.

If it’s not too hot, there’s a very pleasant walk around the bay to the village of Pak A, now all but deserted except for Jaspas Beach Club, possibly the most chilled of the group’s restaurants, which offers Western dishes as well as Chinese seafood. En route you’ll pass Hong Kong’s smallest school – now abandoned – and a Qing dynasty Tin Hau temple with a sedan chair and 200kg copper bell. Modern fishermen still pay homage there, in more or less the same way as they have since Sai Kung’s sheltered inlets were first settled in the 14th century.

There are a few choices for your return. You can retain your sampan, and make a round trip of Kau Sai Chau, with its spectacular public golf courses, the fishermen’s cemetery island and the towering wall of the High Island reservoir.

Alternatively, dedicated walkers can hike for 30 minutes up to the reservoir road, and catch a taxi to Pak Tam Chung (and the 94 bus to Sai Kung) or walk 8km along the road, stage one of the MacLehose Trail and, to my puzzlement, more popular than some of the more natural stages.

Enjoy yourselves on what is arguably one of the New Territories' best days out.

Jackie Peers is a director of Walk Hong Kong, a unique company offering guided hikes to areas such as Tai Po Kau. She also runs photography courses in the Sai Kung area.

Details at www.walkhongkong.com.

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 31

travel A night in the nick Take down your particulars at Lantau’s new Tai O Heritage Hotel.

They do things differently in Tai O. While the rest of Hong Kong bulldozes its last remaining colonial relics into landfill, the 300-year-old fishing village in northwest Lantau has taken a more considered approach. It has turned its former police station – a sturdily graceful whitewashed building that guarded the village from 1902 to 2002 – into the idyllic Tai O Heritage Hotel.

Like something from a Chinese fairy-tale, police officers based in the station once heroically warded off sea pirates, mediated family disputes and settled village quarrels. Then a century after it opened, declining crime rates forced the station’s closure, a victim of its own success.

Restoration began in 2009,

32 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

converting the building into a stunning nine-bedroom boutique hotel, which opened in March. The renovation by architects WMKY and interior designers Philip Liao and Partners was in keeping with the building’s status as a Grade II

legal brief

historic monument – effortlessly elegant rather than ultra modern.

Original features have been restored and retained, including the fireplaces, Chinese-tile roof, granite steps, cannons, searchlight and corner turrets. Even the

former cells are still in place.

Fortunately, you won’t be staying there, but in one of the four suites and five guestrooms. Each room has its own name and story: “The Commissioner”, for example, was once the armoury and interview

room, while “Sea Lion” was formerly the officers’ bar.

A neutral palette is used throughout: plenty of white and shades of blue, accented by warm tones of light and dark woods that perfectly complement the seaside charm of Tai O. Chic French windows open onto a verandah lined with graceful arches and pillars overlooking the sea and the surrounding village.

A non-profit hotel, the building is owned by the government and run by local group Hong Kong Heritage Conservation Foundation, with all income used for maintaining the building. It’s on a mission to educate locals and tourists alike about this unique corner of Hong Kong, with 20-minute tours of the hotel, and cultural and experience tours through Tai O’s waterways and alleyways, shrimp paste factories

and causeways. Explore its temples and monuments and get to know the locals.

For something more romantic, take a trip back in time on the Sunset Boat Tour. Hop aboard and watch the sun go down over the sleepy village, sailing under the drawbridge and past Tai O’s iconic stilt houses and General’s Rock.

End the night with dinner and drinks at Tai O Lookout, the hotel’s restaurant. Pre-restoration, the space was merely a slab of concrete collecting dust and foliage. Today, it’s a gorgeous glasshouse restaurant with dark, carved-wood detailing and Portuguese-inspired tiles consistent with the hotel's classic look and feel. On the menu are Western and Asian favourites as well as Tai O specialities that use locally made shrimp paste for an authentic experience.

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 33

pets

curtains

Last post Dr Carmel Taylor bids farewell.

As the time has come for me to move onto other ventures, this will be my last column. I hope that over the years you have found my scribblings informative, thoughtprovoking and even, on occasions, humorous. But much of the work vets do is serious, sometimes depressing. Let me illustrate by sharing a letter I wrote, but never sent, years ago while working for an animal-rescue group.

Dear “Pet Lover” I was the person who found the shih tzu you abandoned on the doorstep of our centre on a cold rainy January morning. Cowering in the small rusted cage, she was shivering, possibly more from fear than cold. She snapped and

snarled as I gently lifted her out of the cage and brought her inside.

Thanks for attaching a note to the door requesting that we “take good care” of your pet. It wasn't really necessary to inform us she had “a small skin problem” – her bleeding, ulcerated feet were a dead giveaway. The unlabelled pills you left along with the note, presumably corticosteroids from a dodgy pet shop, had probably worsened her skin condition.

A quick and inexpensive test revealed that your dog had an infection caused by proliferation of the follicle mite, Demodex, which happens when the immune system is under pressure owing to hormonal problems or cancer.

Yes, cancer, like the large

mammary tumour you failed to mention in your note. You must have noticed this, as it was clearly evident that she had been used for breeding. Was that why you named her “Money”?

I'm pleased to tell you our staff did take good care of her. Bathed and medicated, we moved her to a comfortable, spacious kennel.

We kept her for four days, the mandatory holding period for stray dogs. Although, technically, she wasn't a stray, we hoped you would change your mind and come to reclaim her. After all, you did state that you “loved her very much” and it was “hard to let her go”.

You are correct in your observation that “pedigree dogs are easier to rehome”, but we struggle to find homes for young, healthy, friendly dogs. And the kennels are always full.

During her short stay with us, Money lay listlessly in the back of her kennel, and refused to eat.

Each day, I chatted cheerfully to her as we administered medications, but she remained frightened and miserable.

On the final day, when her time was up, my assistant slipped a lead around her neck and led her to the exam room. Lifting her onto

the table, she struggled initially, but calmed down as my assistant held her firmly. I talked gently to her as I inserted the needle in her vein. As I pushed the plunger, Money looked directly into my eyes, wagged her tail and licked my hand just before her body became limp.

At least one person cried over your dead dog today.

This distressing scenario is played out daily in shelters all around the world, where the number of animals relinquished far exceeds the numbers that can be rehomed.

The SPCA adopted a “no kill” policy in 2002, implementing initiatives to try to put an end to this needless destruction. Despite some progress over the past decade, about 25,000 “unwanted” animals are still euthanized in Hong Kong annually, while the government continues to drag its feet on implementing measures to curtail the import, breeding and sale of animals.

Things can only change if the community at large support our local animal-rescue groups through donating, volunteering and advocacy.

So, have you saved a life today?

Dr Carmel Taylor MVB MRCVS DipAiCVD is a veterinary dermatologist and consults at many different clinics around the territory. For appointments please call 9251 9588 or visit www.cutaneous.com.hk

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 35

gardening Colourful coleus Brighten up the greenery with these easy-to-grow plants. Jane Ram explains how.

For quick colour in pots or in the ground it’s hard to beat coleus. Popular since Victorian times, there’s not much to dislike about these long-suffering plants except their new name, bestowed by botanists, Solenostemon scutellariodes. Like most people, I still call the plants by their more familiar name.

I have just been dealing with assorted trimmings from a friend’s extensive collection.

The leaves are jewel bright for the most part with a few in acid yellow, green and dark purple for variety; some have jagged edges while others are more like oak leaves. En masse they

make a great splash in the shady spot where I have placed them while new roots develop. If they perform as usual, I will soon need to find more permanent homes for these beauties.

When I started gardening I had so many coleus disasters caused by mealy bug and other pests that I stopped growing them for a long time. However, modern varieties seem better able to resist the predators and diseases to which the plants succumbed in the past.

And perhaps I have become better at spotting problems before they become serious. A landscape consultant friend says she always

tries to include a few coleus in mixed beds and troughs because they act as watering alarms, showing signs of stress before most other plants and indicating a good soak is overdue.

Native to Southeast Asia, coleus thrive in good filtered light. Their sappy stems and soft leaves suffer in full summer sun, but they don’t like conditions that are too shady. You might need to try different locations to see where the colours are most intense. They need space to

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a new leaf

develop into good-looking bushy plants and they must be pinched back regularly to stimulate new shoots from the base. Feed them with an all-round fertiliser, remove flowering spikes and they should continue to please you for years.

But they are readily available and inexpensive, so you can almost regard them as expendable.

Coleus is almost too easy to propagate and after a while you may find yourself throwing away pieces or begging friends and neighbours to foster them. This is a good plant on which to practise making softwood cuttings, if you have never tried before. A cut stem will develop

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roots in water within a week or two, but these are easily broken and weaker than roots that develop in soil.

When you trim your plants, prepare a small bucket or a plastic bag with a few centimetres of water to hold the cut ends until you can deal with the next stage. Fill pots with potting mix containing plenty of sharp sand or vermiculite for good drainage.

With a sharp knife or secateurs make a clean cut about 1cm below a leaf growing point.

Remove the next one or two pairs of leaves. Cut off most of the top growth to avoid overtaxing the new roots, use a chopstick or pencil to make a hole in the potting mix and pop in the cutting.

You can put lots of cuttings in the same pot, spacing them about 3cm apart. Tap the pot gently to get rid of air pockets and water gently, leave in a sheltered spot for a couple of weeks. Don’t over-water and healthy new leaves should appear within weeks. As the cuttings thrive you can separate them and then start looking for homes for your new acquisitions. If you try growing coleus from seed, wait until the second pair of leaves develop so you can see the colours and forms before you decide which to keep. Good luck!

July garden tasks 1. As I write, typhoon signal no.1 is hoisted and there is talk of no.3 soon. It’s a timely reminder to take precautions to minimise damage by hurricane-force winds. If you have been thinking about pruning big shrubs and trees, now is a good time for some quick cutting.

A strong gust can topple substantial pots, doing considerable damage. Turn top-heavy pots on their sides and move precious small pots to a safe place.

2. Once the storm is past, check for anything that needs horticultural first aid. A plant that has been uprooted can usually be successfully set back into the soil without too much damage, although you might need to trim some top growth to compensate for torn roots.

3. Look out for pots that are not draining well – sometimes you will find overgrown roots blocking the holes, which means you need to re-pot. As an interim measure, tip out as much surplus water as possible to prevent rot.

Jane Ram is a professional writer with a passion for plants. She has been gardening in Hong Kong for over 30 years and is still learning. Please email her at janetaipeng@gmail.com with comments and queries, and to be kept informed of occasional workshops and excursions for gardeners.

e:info@everythingunderthesun.com.hk t: 2554 9088

www.everythingunderthesun.com.hk

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 37

marketplace To advertise, email: ads@saikung.com Your guide to shops and services BOOKS The Reading Room (Sai Kung)

9199-5900 seasidereadingroom@gmail.com

BUILDERS Best United Eng. Ltd. / awnings, roll shutter & insect screen 23449028 info@bestunited.com.hk www.bestunited.com.hk

Carpet Brooks Thompson Ltd 2851-3665 iqbalhk@netvigator.com

Phoenix Carpet Care Ltd

2328-2287/ 9517-5436 phoenixcarpet@netvigator.com

DINING Hebe One O One

2335-5515 info@101.com.hk www.hebe101.com

ESTATE AGENTS Jones Lang LaSalle International Properties Limited 3759-0918 mei.wong@ap.jll.com www.jllresidential.com/hk_beta/

FOOD & WINE Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin

3723 1234 hongkong.shatin@hyatt.com hongkong.shatin.hyatt.com

PizzaExpress

info@pizzaexpress.com.hk www.pizzaexpress.com.hk

Laithwaites Wine

3071 5085 info@laithwaiteswine.hk http://www.laithwaiteswine.hk

GARDENS & LANDSCAPE Leisure Turf and Landscape Limited 2579-0323 / 9487-4710 LTL@netvigator.com www.leisureturf.asia

Marco Electrician & Plumber 6190-8051

HEALTH & BEAUTY Cambridge Weight Plan Hong Kong 9618-1777 / 9045-5942 www.cambridgeweightplan.hk

Curves

2234-9800 www.curveshongkong.com

Sabai Day Spa 2791-2259 sabaidspa@sabaidayspa.com www.sabaidayspa.com Sense of Touch

2791-2278 ask@senseoftouchhk.com www.senseoftouch.com.hk

38 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

Tala’s Health and Beauty Centre 2335-1694 info@talashairandbeautycentre.com www.talashairandbeautycentre.com

American Sandtable Packages

27”x27”x20”(H) $3,400 $2,400 27”x27”x24”(H) $3,800 $2,600

Package includes Canadian White Play Sand, Cover & Casters

27”x47”x20”(H) $4,600 $2,800 27”x47”x24”(H) $4,600 $2,800 27”x47”x30”(H) $4,600 $3,200 48”x48”x24”(H) $9,800 $7,800

Canadian White Play Sand

$ 380

$ 280

Canadian Colored Play Sand

$ 420

$ 320

Free Delivery in Sai Kung

HOME FURNISHINGS furnishing Canaan Curtain & Decoration Co. Ltd 2792-9892 peter@canaacurtain.com.hk

Chez Uno

2791-9662/ 2723 8990 www.chezuno.com

Everything Under The Sun

2554-9088 info@everythingunderthesun.com.hk www.everythingunderthesun.com.hk

HOME MONITORING AFSCO / Security Electrified Fence 2880-0512 afscohk@gmail.com www.sprintlocks.com

HOUSE PAINTING

Marco 6190-8051 marco_yenug000@hotmail.com

INTERIOR DESIGN Box Design

2573-3323 info@boxdesign.com.hk www.boxdesign.com.hk

COMODO Interior & Furniture Design Co. Ltd. 2808-0991 info@comododesign.com www.comododesign.com

JCAW Consultants

2524-9988 jcawltd@biznetvigator.com

Studio Annetta

9849-1216 suzy@studioannetta.com www.studioannetta.com

MUM & BABIES Wellness & birth, pre & postnatal home care 9022-1779 www.wellnessandbirth.com info@wellnessandbirth.com

SPORTS Hong Kong International Tennis Academy 9048-2810 lea.lai@hkita.com www.hkita.com

Toys Hong Kong Toy Club

8216-3870 support@HongKongToyClub.com www.HongKongToyClub.com

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 39

STRESSED BY YOUR PET?!!!

PET BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS? Hong Kong’s first and only Behavioural Veterinary Practice can help resolve aggression, fear, anxiety, separation related problems, compulsive disorders, inappropriate toileting, noise phobias etc.

Not all behavioural problems are simply training issues.

Dr. Cynthia Smillie BVM&S PG Dip CABC MRCVS

Tel: 9618 2475 cynthia@petbehaviourhk.com

www.petbehaviourhk.com

40 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

Sai Kung Tutors

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 41

Photography Courses

Spend a day on location with Jackie Peers & your camera from bustling market place to the tranquillity of an abandoned village.

Groups are small, and customised to meet each person’s needs.

You can join a group, arrange your own small group or choose a private tour for one.

Prices are available for each.

Contact jackie@jackiepeers.com www.jackiepeers.com mobile 9121 1470

The low-cost solution to high-cost crime Your house is worth millions. Your family is priceless.

Install an unobtrusive AFSCO electric fence – the ultimate in perimeter protection.

Defend… Deter… Deny… Detect Phone: 2880 0512 42 | WWW.SAIKUNG.COM

Email: afscohk@sprintlocks.com

www.sprintlocks.com

bird at my window

The crested myna aka Acridotheres cristatellus

This dark grey bird is widespread throughout Hong Kong although it avoids mountainous and forested areas. It will be familiar to most readers as it tends to live in close proximity to man. It gets its name from the untidy tuft of feathers above the pink bill. Its yellow eyes and legs contrast with the dark plumage, and it has a conspicuous white wing patch when it flies.

The crested myna is a member of the starling family, which nest in holes in natural sites such as rocky cliffs and trees, and more commonly in air-conditioning units and drainpipes. The nest is an untidy mass of dried grasses and other material available in the immediate environment such as discarded paper. Nest sites can be used for years and there is evidence that mates are monogamous and form a long-term pairbond. The female lays four to seven eggs that hatch after two weeks, and the chicks leave the nest after three weeks.

The crested myna is sociable, forming feeding and roosting flocks outside breeding season. A flock of 400 birds was recorded roosting at Ta Kwu Ling in August 2008.

David Diskin is the author of Hong Kong Nature Walks: The New Territories.

Visit www.hknaturewalks.com or www. accipiterpress.com for more information.

TRAVEL Webjet HK

Onlinetravel@webjet.com.hk www.webjet.com.hk

TUITION Craft Box

9014-3262 Simone@craftbox.asia www.craftbox.asia

ITS Global Education Limited 2116-3916 global@tuition.edu.hk www.tuition.com.hk/world

To list your business in our new directory, or to guarantee a listing every month, please email ads@saikung.com

WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 43

LOCAL Property

Overseas Property

5 BED PRIVATE RESIDENCE

Luxury Beach Villa in Cebu Island Philippines for rent.(Fully Staffed) 4 double rooms all with bath. 3 direct flights per day from HK. We have a Private chef, New 50ft sailing yacht, 2speedboats, Hobie Cat and more... www.cebubeach.net or contact owner +852 91625321

SOLE AGENT - HK$130 K Attractively Renovated Detached Gated Villa, 4 Beds + Study, Spacious Accommodation. High Ceilings. Large Living/Dining Room. Well fitted Kitchen & Utility Room. Double Garage. Green & Sea Views. www.thepropertyshop.com.hk 27193977 C-027656

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Asana, Pranayam, Meditation Small size classes within 8 persons location: Sai Kung Town Center, Man Nin St email: info@yoyoyoga.net tel: 9302 3931 website: www.yoyoyoga.net

SPACIOUS LIVING - HK$65 K Unique Detached Townhouse in Small Secure Development. High Ceilings & Spacious Separate Living & Dining Rooms, Study & 4 Bedrooms. Large Garden & Patio, Shared Pool. Garage, Helpers Q / Utility / Storage Area. www.thepropertyshop.com.hk 27193977 C-027656

Tuition & Courses Jesse Taekwondo & Hapkido Korea Kukkiwon Black-belt 5th Dan International Instructor Provide One-on-One personal training, Group training & Family classes. http://www.supra.com.hk/jessetkd Master Chow 9467-7787 VIANNE'S MUSIC WONDERLAND PRIVATE PIANO COURSE @ YOUR HOME ﹣www.mymusicwonderland.com ﹣Experienced tutor accept students aged 3 and over. Student Annual Recital/ Practical Examination/ Competition/ Theory/ Accompaniment/ T:6014 - 9389 for Trial lesson/ mschanpiano@yahoo.com English Tutoring Native English Speaker, Post Graduate Degree Holder, Qualified Teacher offering English lessons for Primary Students in Sai Kung area. Please email saikungenglishtutor@yahoo.com

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PRIVATE VOICE LESSONS IN SAI KUNG Conservatory-trained professional Soprano, recently relocated to Hong Kong offers lessons to students 12 years old and up.

All experience levels welcome. angela.hodgins@gmail.com 6295 6266

MUSIC TUITION AT HOMES. Individual lessons for Piano Repertoire / Music Theory / Piano accompaniment and Aural practice for other instruments' exams/competitions. English/ Chinese instruction. Holder of LTCL with Distinction of Trinity College London. Years of teaching experience. Member of professional charity choir. Please call 9336 8059 for details.

Massage @ Home, Hotel Body massage, Chinese Tui Na, Swedish Massage, lymphatic drainage & aromatherapy massage. Our therapists offers mobile (outcall, housecall) service $700/2hrs (text in Chinese Address & speak in Chinese 66903658 www.ablemassage.com No need to go to Central.....

Cambridge Weight Plan is in Sai Kung and CWB. We help you create an easy-to-manage daily diet plan and provide motivation and support every step of the way. Call our friendly local consultants today! Alison Barnes 9618 1777 Jean Hudson 9045 5942 www.cambridgeweightplan.hk

Travels Need a car in Europe ? Peugeot Open Europe offers the best package: -brand new cars -unlimited mileage -full cover insurance -roadside assistance service contact : fm@netvigator.com www.eurocardrives.com

Home Deliveries Award winning wines from Australia and New Zealand, highest quality, lowest prices directly from the winery to your door! Visit us at www.winestore. com.hk or email justin@winestore. com.hk.

Services PHOENIX CARPET CARE LTD for 20 years Hong Kong’s premier cleaner of carpets & upholstery. Phoenix ensure true quality workmanship at reasonable cost. Hand cleaning of Oriental rugs. Steam extraction of fitted carpets. Upholstery cleaning.

Scotchgard Protection. Call 2328 2287 or 9517 5436 for free quote/inspection.

GERMAN HANDYMAN. If you are looking for: curtain, picture, mirror and shelf hanging, assembling and disassembling of furniture, wall painting, wall repair and patch, floor covering, tiling (floor&wall), bathroom & kitchen repair and much more... just give me a call! Mobile: 61411766 germanhandyman@ymail.com Man with Van for Hire Small Moves Logistics Deliveries.

K & S Van Transport Tel: 5403 5618 www.knsvan.com knsvan@gmail.com COMPUTER SERVICES Microtechhk.com provides onsite support to day-to-day computer (MAC/WINDOWS) usage since 1992, Call us for any Hardware/ software, Internet problems, Virus Removal, Wifi setup, Data recovery Reasonable Price 24/7 hotline : 23976418

Need Storage?

From a box to whole House Low Cost Storage Humid Control Start from as low as HK$500per month Collect & Delivery Call Today : 2578 1865 www.expertmover.hk

ShenZhen DayTrip Shopping HK 2,000. with 7-Seaters Lighting Mall Furniture Mall Art village Homedecoration , Carpet and Rugs.

Franki (90362128) happyday2128@netvigator.com

Charities / Community Enthusiastic tennis players of all abilities sort!

Mondays and Wednesdays 9-10 at Sai Kung courts-near the swimming pool.

Keep fit and meet new people at the same time. Just turn up and have fun!

People Bereaved by Suicide (PBS) An English-speaking support group meets first Wednesday each month, 8pm, at the Mariners’ Club, TST. Free, confidential. Further information, tel 28960000 or check http://www.Samaritans.org.hk

2896 0000 The Samaritans 24 hour Multilingual Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Problems? Depressed? Lonely?

Desperate? Need an empathic, nonjudgemental listening ear in complete confidence? Bereaved by Suicide?

We facilitate an English speaking monthly support group. Please call 2896 0000 or email: jo@samaritans. org.hk

German Kids in Sai Kung Provide your children and toddlers with German language activities for their age, contact our Sai Kung German parents community for playgroups, lessons, and more.

Contact: Uli, u.gast@egdshk.org

DONATE OLD BABY CLOTHES, toys and equipment to mothers in need. Small toys, wraps, bottles and teething toys are desperately needed

by Pathfinders, a charity for that helps migrant mothers find a safe and legal home. Call Kylie: 9460 1450 or Luna (Chinese speaking): 5135 3015.

NEW SONG CHRISTIAN KINDERGARTEN Sai Kung T: 2791 2472 F: 2791 2477 Email: newsong@netvigator.com Website: www.newsonghk.com

URGENT! DOG FOOD SPONSORS Sai Kung Stray Friends We have approximately 35 dogs are on our daily "meal supply".

The cost $2,222 every 8 days.

If you would like to donate to help please deposit directly into our a/c: HSBC 004640085486001 Receipts can be issued.

Much appreciated!

REGISTER AS A VOLUNTEER Give a few hours of your time to Sai Kung Stray Friends.

If you want to do something worthwhile come and help at our holding facility in Sai Kung. Any day or time suitable to you.

Various tasks, sweeping, cleaning, dog walking, paddock Mum or just providing some love to the dogs.

Dads are welcome too for mowing duty!

Email: saikungstrayfriendshk@gmail. com Call Narelle: 9199.2340 (English) Jessie: 9097.4591 (Chinese)

RESURRECTION CHURCH COMMUNITY CHOIR. Enjoy singing? Classical, contemporary or jazz?

This is the community choir for you!!!.

Every Wednesday in Resurrection Church. Pak Sha Wan 7.30 pm – 9pm. Be trained by an expert voice coach and concert pianist. Interested, drop us a line RXchoir@gmail.com

ADOPTION CENTRE Sai Kung Lifestyle Park for Dogs Come and visit our facility at No. 151 Tai Lam Wu,Sai Kung.

We encourage adoption by taking time to build a relationship.

We want our dogs to go to good homes. 7 Days per week.

Call 2335.1128 or Narelle 9199.2340 (SKSF)

TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD

call

2776 2772 DONATE CLOTHES, SHOES, BOOKS, toys and electrical appliances in good condition. Reach out to help the poor and disadvantaged men, women and children in our communities. All profits help the needy in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Collection hotline: 2716 8778. Donation hotline: 2716 8862. Website: www. christian-action.org.hk Blog: http:// siewmei.cahk.org Email: ca@christianaction.org.hk SAI KUNG SOCIETY: Locations around Sai Kung town, villages and country park. Watercolour, drawing, or other medium. All levels welcome.

Free, just bring your own equipment.

Meetings will mostly take place on Saturday mornings once or twice a month. Please see www.hkcolours. typepad.com/ or contact Laetitia at saikungcolours@gmail.com

GUIDE LEADERS WANTED Calling all former Brownies! The Sai Kung Guide Unit in Pak Sha Wan is looking for guides (girls aged 10 and above) and new voluntary leaders for this enthusiastic group that encourages girls to be responsible and reliable through skills such as camping, first aid, crafts and more. Sign up and save the unit from closure! For details, please email to guidesinsaikung@ gmail.com.

Domestic help Experienced Cantonese-speaking and Mandarin-speaking nanny .

Good moral character and childcare knowledge . Qualified teaching background . Available to start in September . Please call 6181 3365 or email : eviefan@hellokitty.com

Are u looking for Driver, Gardener?

ADONIS CANEDO, 33 years old, working in Hongkong for 2 years. Pls contact 51339984.

Seek fulltime job, with the experience in western and chinese family withe 7 yrs in hongkong my former employer is living hongkong if you are interested you can call me in my no#94406877,thanks.

Domestic helper seeks fulltime employer. Jacqueline Liagon, 44yrs old, filipino (married with 2 children). Experience in household chores, children, pets, elderly, baby sitting. I'm hardworking, flexible, can work independently. experience in expat family and chinese family.pls. call me in my mobile no.92478937.

References from previous employers are available on hand.thanks

Super helper/driver looking for a job in Sai Kung. Excellent driver, great with kids, dogs, gardening and handyman jobs. Excellent ref from previous employer. Please contact Shantha, 6701 1512

Part Time Helper available. I am a happy and helpful domestic helper with 8 years broad experience. I have a pleasant demeanor and get along well with babies, children and parents alike. I am available for several times a week or every day part time. Sarah 6715 3093, lady_g2010@yahoo.com

Employment

A Big Brother/Sister /Auntie/Uncle required by energetic 6 year old with autism, to help develop play skills.

Two hours after school twice a week and some Saturday afternoons.

Ho Chung area. Please call 94232910.

Craft Teachers We are looking for people to teach crafts at schools around Hong Kong.

This is a part time role. Please email us info@craftbox.asia for more information

Email classifieds@saikung.com for classifieds booking or call 2776 2772 WWW.SAIKUNG.COM | 45

back page

Last orders Excess baggage?

Portable digital devices the size of a Beano annual can store more books than the ancient library of Alexandria. But they encourage ill-considered choices and the downloading of quantity rather than quality from pushy, upstart mail-order companies. As I prefer my reading material to be paper-based and bound, I face the seasonal dilemma of what books to take on holiday.

Real books are treasured for their physical dimensions and their selection is an enjoyable quandary and an integral part of my packing process.

I like at least one of my holiday books to have a connection with my destination.

I’ve read Gabriel Garcia Marquez in steamy Amazonian one-horse towns, most of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series while in Edinburgh and George Orwell’s “Homage to Catalonia” on the sun-drenched Costa Brava.

The challenge this year, however, is that I am going to Phuket, which may have great beaches and its own airport, but I think even the tourist board would

admit it is something of a literary cul-de-sac.

The summer holidays allow me to tackle the more demanding classics – even the thousand pages of “Les Miserables” flies by like an episode of “Glee” from the vantage point of a shady hammock. However, I gave up on the overrated “Moby-Dick”, when after 20 consecutive pages of detailed description of knots used on 19thcentury whaling boats, I ripped out the offending chapter and used it to light the barbecue.

Under the guise of continued personal development, a single work of non-fiction should also be taken on vacation. Antony Beevor’s opus “Stalingrad” once got me through a misguided summer working as a holiday rep on a French campsite.

The appalling living conditions described in the formidable text seemed rather better than the damp unpredictable weather of

the Loire Valley and my inability to adjust to life under canvas.

Despite all the pretentious quarrels that surround the Man Booker Prize, its winners and nominees are always a good source of reading inspiration.

Like Oprah Winfrey’s book club for people who don’t incessantly clap or cry, it’s a more sober approach to the gratuitous business of book promotion. You

won’t be disappointed if you read anything by Australian author Peter Carey or the magical realism of the secular scribe of fatwa fiction, Salman Rushdie.

Usually I make a point of buying a book on holiday as the experience enhances and forever reminds me of the trip. Again this is where e-book readers lose out. For them, the answer to the question, “Where were you when you bought that book?”, is always, “Sitting impatiently in front of my computer.”

Previous purchases of mine include “A Christmas Carol” from a suffocatingly hot shopping mall in Cebu and “No Half Measures”, the autobiography of Graeme Souness, from a charity shop on Bondi Beach.

Who knows what literary gem I might unearth in the markets and secondhand bookshops of Phuket? Perhaps a mintcondition first edition of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” for a couple of hundred baht? Or more likely a discarded, dog-eared copy of “Moby-Dick” with chapter 41 missing. Iain Lafferty

photo competition

shoot for it

Submit your shots Here at the Sai Kung Magazine office, we love receiving beautiful pictures of Sai Kung and Clearwater Bay from our readers. Each month we publish our favourite. To enter, simply email your best shots of Sai Kung and Clearwater Bay, along with a brief description, to photo@saikung.com. Happy snapping!

This month’s winner: Crispin Dyer "Taken at 6.30am from my rooftop in Wing Lung Road."

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