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Grade 7 Camp This past week, Gaia’s grade split up for different camping adventures around Hong Kong, for 5 days away from home. She selected a hiking/activities camp in Tai Po in the New Territories. Though we dealt with a severe bout of homesickness, resulting in a mid-week hiatus, we were able to convince her to rejoin her friends for more rock scrambling, mountaineering and barbeque. Photos herein courtesy of Gaia.

The Further Adventures of Sasha In the past weeks, Sasha’s been very busy, both in the classroom and out of it. A couple weeks back, her class visited LegCo, the government offices of Hong Kong to observe the legislative body in session, dissected squids in science class, and hit the woods for 3 days of camp (only 1 photo from camp here, of Archer Sasha, but hoping her teacher shares more shots with us soon).

Despite the lack of posts, the Cecchi-Meyers-Spectors are alive and well! The girls are thriving in school, the new flat is slowly starting to feel like home, and we’ve enjoyed our ongoing explorations of HK, especially as autumn has brought cooler air to town. Recently, the girls spent time away from home at school-organized camps, and in early Oct, the family enjoyed a quick getaway to Thailand for some R&R (both to be posted separately). For now, some scattered shots from our days in HK…

Year 4 is underway! Our return to HK from a summer home has brought with it some changes. We’ve moved into faculty housing built into the school’s brand new lower primary campus in Repulse Bay. Although we were quite sad to leave Red Hill (and its beautiful pool), our new flat is brand new, bigger, and situated in another lovely part of town, also on the south side of HK island. Francesca’s office is an elevator ride away, and the new classrooms and facilities for the school’s youngest students are beautiful. Gaia & Sasha now ride the bus together each morning, as Gaia begins her second year of middle school and Sasha returns to the Tai Tam campus as the school now works on renovating the upper primary building in Repulse Bay. Adam’s commute to work has changed too, and is still taking some getting used to. This first month back has included many reunions (including with teacher friends who are now our neighbors), a junk boat foray, hiking the mountain trails directly behind our new home, swims in the ocean, two typhoons, and of course, meeting new teachers and classmates as the school year gets going.

Beijing (part 2) A few more shots from Gaia’s school trip up north. Many of these photos are from Gaia’s camera, so they’re a tad... artistic (but we love seeing the world from her perspective!)

Beijing Another catch-up post loooong overdue! This past fall, Gaia and her fellow 6th graders made a 5-day trip up to China’s capital. She was quite nervous ahead of time, but the anxiousness quickly turned to excitement as the departure day approached. She found a new close friend in her assigned roommate for the excursion, and had a blast exploring the city with her pals, snapping photos the whole way through. The group visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, learned to make dumplings, and took in an acrobatics show. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance next school year to let her show us around!

#beijing hkispeak

Sri Lanka (pt. 2)

Well, 6 months flew by since this holiday trip to Sri Lanka, and I’m finally getting around to posting part 2 of our photos. After a splendid time on the southern coast of the country, we headed northeast and inland from Hikkaduwa for a couple days of safari in Uduwalawe National Park.

Base camp was a 15-min drive outside the Park, on a quiet stretch of private land adjacent to a lagoon and within walking distance of a beautiful lake and rice fields. Having arrived in the early afternoon, we were able to stretch out for a bit, enjoy lunch among curious cranes and monitor lizards, and then hop in our jeeps for a half day of safari.

We chose Udawalawe over other national parks in southern Sri Lanka partly due to location, but also because it’s on the smaller size, which meant we’d have a better chance of seeing plenty of wildlife in less driving around time. That logic proved justified, as on both days of visiting, we had to venture in just a few minutes before coming face to face with elephants, water buffalo, crocodiles, sambar deer, monitor lizards, langur monkeys, jackals, and a wide variety of birds, including an abundance of the country’s national symbol - the peacock.

Above, many of our sightings of the male peacocks in full bloom were partially obstructed but on our exit from the Park on day 2, we were treated to one in full courtship mode, right on the path ahead of our vehicles. At right, see the female he’s trying to impress (she was nonplussed, but WE thought he did great!)

Below, with some daylight left after Day 2 of safari, a few us took a stroll to the lake and ricefields near our camp, and we received an express lesson on how the community rice farmers work together to ensure irrigation and round-the clock watchdogging of the crops.

After saying goodbye to camp (and the cows that strolled through to graze), we packed into a van and headed back to the west coast to the capital, Colombo, for new years festivities with Hiran’s extended family. It was a long drive, and by the time we arrived in town, we were all ready to unwind in the modern comforts of city hotel living.

Recharged and ready to party, we joined up with Hiran’s folks and sister’s family, offered a quick nod to the synagogue(!) across from our hotel, and headed into the suburbs of Colombo to the home of Hiran’s eldest aunt.

With Fra’s sister in the UK and her parents in Italy, we’ve become quite accustomed to convening abroad to celebrate the holidays in our respective homes away from home. It was thus very special for all of us to be welcomed in by Hiran’s family here, in a further extension of that familiar experience. And a lively celebration it was, indeed, with much music, food and merrymaking.

Had to share this one above: As the evening wound to a close, we found the 4 female cousins in the backyard in deep conversation. Playing “therapist,” they took turns pairing off to hash out their issues. It was pretty intense!

New Years Day was my final day in country, so while others took it easy sleeping off the night’s excitement, I stepped out to the streets of Colombo solo for some city exploring. I shan’t bother linking to much that I checked out, but in a few hours of trekking, I did get a nice taste of the town - from the British colonial influence to the shared aesthetic with India to Buddhist temples with some super funky artifacts.

A little last minute family time, and I was off early the next morning back to work in Hong Kong. But the rest of the group had more time to spare, so while I flew back home, they all boarded the rickety intercity train line to spend a few days in the cultural capital of the country - Kandy, a city nestled into the mountains of the center of the island, famous for its tea plantations, Buddhist shrines, and hilly rainforest.

I was sad not to be able to join them on this last leg of the trip, but from the photos I’m posting here, looks like it was a blast, as they explored markets and temples, attended firewalks and traditional dances, and mixed it up with the locals. A few of Hiran’s bandmates even met up with the family for a spell!

After many, many Christmastime promises among the family that we’d get over to this beautiful country for a big holiday roundup, it was most excellent to have finally done so. Sri Lanka certainly earned a unique place in our hearts.

On a final note to this post, we just lost our main link to this special land, as Hiran’s father recently passed away. A truly kind and gentle man, we will sorely miss Amithra’s warm and dignified presence at future family gatherings, and we’re heartened by the knowledge that our final interactions with him took place on the home soil of his youth, a country of which he was so clearly proud.

#srilanka #udawalawe #colombo #kandy

Tokyo

Last weekend, our very good friends, Matt and Rachel, made their way over from NYC for a 9-day tour of Japan. This was a trip they originally planned to make in November, so we’ve been on call to meet up ever since then, and certainly wouldn’t have missed the chance even at short notice. Leaving the kids at home, Fra and I hopped a Friday afternoon flight to Tokyo to see them. And they made it easy: they arrived equipped with a massive list of recommendations of sites to see and places to eat, so we simply had to agree to keep pace and follow their lead!

Our first stop on Saturday morning was the renowned Tsukiji fish market and its main attraction, the daily tuna auction that draws buyers of the best seafood restaurants on the planet, made (more) famous by Jiro Dreams of Sushi (here’s another clip of the market). In light of imminent jet lag concerns, we opted out of the 4:00 am wake-up necessary to attend the auction and instead made our way over around 8 to explore the market’s many vendors and seafood stalls ahead of the time we’d be allowed to walk through the inner market (only once the wholesale buyers wrap up their shopping).

Strolling through the shops made for a great entree into the country’s culture of perfection, as each small shop displayed in impeccable order its very particular selection of products of which they specialized - from sushi knifes and tuna swords to fresh wasabi stalks and edamame bunches.

Food stalls were all open for business despite the early hour, so pre-breakfast snacking proved inevitable. Matt and Rachel are big foodies, so we went in knowing full well that we’d have to keep up on tastings all day and night.

The market area is laden with tiny sushi spots, tucked into narrow alleys with only enough room for a few seats at a bar. Some offered a standard sushi fare whereas others specialized, including some that serve only uni (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it straight from the source)! After a few minutes of seeking out the ideal place, we soon arrived at the obvious conclusion that any of the stalls were likely to please... and please, they did. 8:00 sushi breakfast? Hells yeah.

With bellies full of fish and a few more minutes to kill until we’d be granted access to the market, we stopped for a quick prayer session at the local temple, and then it was time to go in. Even though the wholesale buyers were mostly done, the market was still bustling as we made our way in, skirting the many turret trucks shuttling styrofoam boxes of fresh flesh to and fro. These speedy and agile vehicles are a trademark of the market and intended only for product (and not people); these folks below must be VIPs to have caught a ride.

The market itself was amazing. Just to get a glimpse of the scale of the operation was impressive, but also to see firsthand the great variety of seafood we pull from our oceans for consumption was astonishing. We were clueless as to most of what was on display, but fortunately we had an expert in Matt (a professional chef who specializes in seafood), identifying each type of animal for us.

Vegans, look away... nothing for you to see here. But for us sushi lovers, oh mamma!!

Go Whalers! (but, y’know, without the whole whaling bit of it)

Below, lots of work still done the old fashioned way. This old timer hauls ice blocks from freezer to vendor, and had the scoliosis to prove it.

A term we learned ahead of arriving in country was “salaryman” - the label for white-collar business professionals who tend to work crazy hours, and look uncannily uniform, in white shirts, dark suits and matching briefcases. This was our first sighting (on a Saturday morning!)

From the fish market in Chuo, we strolled over to the popular shopping neighborhood of Ginza (passing by the Kabukiza Theater - poster of kabuki play above) and landing at a new high-rise mall called Ginza6. Rachel was keen to check out the chic shoppes and fancy food offerings therein. Upscale shopping is something Hong Kong has in abundance, but we were happy to join in on ogling the offerings and sampling some of the tasty delicacies.

No department store in Nippon would be complete without a dedicated samurai sword department.

Above, chocolate snails. Below, ramen done right.

Following a hearty ramen lunch, we hopped aboard the intimidatingly expansive metro to a newer-developed area in Minato called Roppongi Hills, to get some culture at the Mori Art Museum.

The main exhibition wasn’t particularly impressive, but the space was fantastic and offered great views of the city from the 53rd floor of the Mori Tower. There are actually very few skyscrapers in Tokyo, so when you do get up high, it’s easy to see just how massive the megalopolis extends laterally in every direction.

As the afternoon progressed, the sleep deprivation of our companions started to creep in. But thanks to quadruple espressos at Gorilla Coffee (Matt grimaced at having flown all the way across the world just to imbibe a Brooklyn roast), they rallied for the evening session.

First off was a visit to the manic and highly illuminated Shibuya prior to our dinner date at the in(famous) Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku.

A post shared by Adam Meyers-Spector (@_adamms_) on May 27, 2017 at 4:12am PDT

The Robot Restaurant was the only item we planned ahead for with reservations. An epileptic’s nightmare, it was a hot tourist trappy mess, but also totally worth it - blending elements of manga and monster movies with song, dance, and lots and lots and lots of light (though suspiciously few robots!)

Following our eardrum-bursting acid trip of a dinner, we ventured to dull our senses at a nearby area called Golden Gai - a series of charming alleyways dotted with numerous extra tiny bars (most set up to accommodate just 5-6 patrons at a time). It took some hunting to find one that could fit all 4 of us, but we finally settled into a cozy one for some savory sake sipping.

Sunday brunch the next morning brought us to a delightfully hip neighborhood in the larger Harajuku area, full of boutique shops, pancake and coffee houses, and amazing bakeries. It took a great deal of self control to post only 2 photos from this place below - everything super sized and super delish (yes, that’s a single brownie Fra’s dangling).

A couple captures of Tokyo cuteness: Above, schoolgirls and their minders stepping out for a day on the town. Below, I was able to snap a quick shot of the girl behind me. She and her friend had just emerged from a long queue at Luke’s Lobster Rolls on Cat Street - lobster clearly being a new novelty here. Eating while walking is very frowned upon though, so for several blocks, all she could do was sneak whiffs of its unique scent and look adoringly upon it.

Next up was a break from the city streets as we entered the serene grounds of the Meiji Shrine. Entering through a giant torii gate and strolling quiet stone paths, the varied foliage provided cooling cover from the afternoon sun.

Not only did this shrine sport the usual collection of sake barrels, but also an array of wine casks from various European sources (extra insurance for the gods?)

Our last stop before bidding adieu to our pals was Takeshita Street - a rude awakening from the serenity of the Meiji Shrine, this nutty row sports shop after shop of righteous Japanese zaniness - cosplay costumes, candy and crepe sweeteries, owl, cat and hedgehog cafes, and the icing on the cake: an underground "mall” of photoshop booths, crowded with tween girls, spitting out digitally airbrushed selfies.

We selected a booth with no queue; clearly an unpopular one with the usual crowd. Pop in a few coins, strike some poses, and out pops a print of you, skin immaculate, eyes embiggened and chins and frames thinned and disproportioned. Hard to imagine a place where a group of 40-somethings could feel less out of place!

Unfortunately, we were a bit rushed for time, but managed to enjoy the views - kids dolled up like their favorite anime heroes, engorging on sugar-laden treats, and shops offering some hilarious attire.

It was whirlwind weekend, and our friends did a great job leading us around the city. Fra and I said our farewells to Rachel and Matt, grabbed one last sushi meal at the airport and were on our way back home. On many of our weekend getaways here in Asia, 2-3 days is plenty to get a good feel for a place, but in Tokyo it was obvious that we barely scratched the surface. Much, much more to see (and eat) in this fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable town.

P.S. The girls loved their gifts from Crazy Street!

#tokyo #shibuya #ginza #robotrestaurant #ginzasix #roppongihills #tsukijifishmarket #turret coffee #mori art museum #takeshita street #meijishrine #catstreet #naritaairport #goldengai

As the school year winds down, we’ve recently enjoyed concerts by Gaia and Sasha, treating Fra to Mother’s Day fun, and spending time with friends prior to parting for the summer.

During a long weekend last week, we did a Hong Kong staycation. We live in a place dotted with so many islands that even staying away from home in a place a short ferry or car ride away feels like an adventure elsewhere. We camped out at an area called Pui O, on the southern shore of Lantau Island. Despite it being just a hop away from the airport and Disneyland, the sparsely populated black sand beach, mountainous backdrop and numerous water buffalo roaming the village paths helped make it feel a world away. Our sleep in the tent was fitful as we were located near a creek that is home to many loud bullfrogs who croaked throughout the evening and we realized a food packing malfunction when it was time to BBQ for dinner; but the swimming, kayaking and small village exploring easily made up for it. As a treat to the girls for “roughing it” with us, we hit Disney on our way out - no complaints there.

#lantau #mavericks #pui o

Cousins! It’s been many, many months since we've had family from the States swing through, so we were very excited to welcome cousins Carrie, Brian, Samantha, Landon and Aunt Judy to town this past weekend. They stayed in HK for just over 2 days, on their way to Vietnam, but packed in quality family visiting in that short time. Proving quite resourceful, they successfully navigated the mean streets of Wan Chai on their own, exploring cafes and wet markets, and finding their way up to the Peak and to SoHo. We met them in Central for brunch and city trekking on Saturday (Carrie’s birthday!), and then welcomed them to the south side of the island on Sunday for hiking, beaching, and boardwalking. The girls adored Samantha and Landon, and a fun time was had by all.

P.S. Speaking of hosting visitors, these two just became parents on Tuesday, having learned a bun was in the oven somewhere in the middle of Thailand. Congrats Trevor and Jess!

After 2 straight years of big surprise visits, Fra’s birthday weekend was more subdued this year. But we had a great time just the 4 of us, exploring a small corner of the Hong Kong Wetlands and the newly-developed West Kowloon Cultural District. Buon compleanno, Francesca, wǒmen ài nǐ!

#yuenlong #hongkongwetlandpark #west kowloon cultural district

Some more shots of Adam & the girls’ treks around town a couple weeks back, mainly some views of Central (downtown) HK.

Foggy February fun It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but we’re still here in HK! In fact, we’ve opted to take a hiatus from traveling until the summer, and will instead focus our free time on exploring our own town a bit more. Last month, Adam & the girls had a few solo Saturdays as Fra worked, Sasha hosted friends for trampolining and a sleepover for her 9th, and we enjoyed parents night at Gaia’s cotillion class.

Sri Lanka (pt. 1)

For the Christmas-New Year break, with Fra’s parents in tow, we convened with Francesca’s sister, Arianna, and her family in Sri Lanka. Our families have been discussing a holiday get-together on this beautiful island for at least 15 years, and living in HK - a 5 hour direct flight - made the plan instantly more attainable. Arianna’s husband, Hiran, is Sinhalese. His parents moved the family to London in the late 70s, but they still have many close ties to their homeland, so we were happy to have a “local” on our team (and in fact, Hiran’s parents and sister’s family were in-country for the holidays as well).

The predominantly Buddhist country’s history dates back 2,000 years to native kingdoms that built cities, aqueduct and dam systems, and giant temple fortresses carved from rock formations (the most famous of which is Sigirya, a site we unfortunately did not get the chance to visit). More recently, it served as a British protectorate under the name of Ceylon, making its mark as an exporter of fine tea and even finer cricket players. Independent since 1948, Sri Lanka has recently emerged from a decades-long conflict between the main government and Tamil separatists, a development sure to renew interest from east and west in its important ports of entry to the Indian Ocean and investment value in its beautiful coastal and inland jungle terrain.

We arrived a day ahead of Arianna, flying in late at night, and made our way directly to the beach town of Hikkaduwa, located just north of the more populous coastal tourist destination of Galle, checking in to a lovely little guesthouse a short walk inland from the beach.

Soon after jumping in the warm crystal waters, we were amazed to be greeted by a few local residents - giant, gentle sea turtles that swim right up to the shore and happily tolerate beachgoers’ touches in exchange for seaweed snacks.

We quickly adjusted to “island time,” relaxing on hammocks at home and lazily strolling the village roads and shops prior to the rest of our family’s arrival, enjoying the animal life of the area, domesticated and otherwise.

Ari & co. arrived in the evening to many joyous reunion hugs, especially among the girls and their little cousin, Sedona - a clique that proved inseparable for the remainder of the trip. First order of business the next day was to introduce them to our new shelled friends.

(About as close as Sedona was willing to get to the large reptiles, mimicking a shell on her own mamma.)

The afternoon called for more family time, as we welcomed Hiran’s parents, Savi and Amithra, down from their home base in Colombo for the day, for a seafood lunch feast. Personally, my association with them has always been under the gray gloom of London winter days (as I typically only get to UK during the Xmas period), so it was really lovely to be with them on their true home turf, under the equatorial sun and green canopies.

After bidding adieu to the elder Ilangantilekes, the younger ones joined us for a visit to a nearby turtle hatchery. As one of the main coastal areas that five varieties of sea turtle utilize for their breeding grounds, Hikkaduwa prides itself on its efforts to maintain the populations and protect the fragile system required to ensure the little ones make safe journey to the sea. At this nursery, we enjoyed baby loggerheads and olive ridleys at the start of their majestic lives, as well as older turtles rescued from accidents at sea and rehabbed.

These little ones are just 2 days old. By the time I’ve typed this, they’ve (hopefully) already been at sea for a month.

The next morning, we set out early to travel inland by boat for a sunrise tour through to Madu Ganga Lake and its many mangrove islets, home to a wide variety of birds, monkeys, water buffalo, as well as crocodiles!

For breakfast, we pulled up to a small island populated by one - a lone cinnamon farmer. Above, he demonstrates how he plies his trade, stripping the bark from cinnamon branches. Below, the bark drying overhead prior to export (he also provided his homemade cinnamon tea and cinnamon oil to sample, which were both awesome).

At the end of the boat portion of our tour, a quick stop at a fish spa for some natural exfoliation.

Below, Sedona and the proprietor of our guest house, Chami, who personally led us around for the day. He proved a super knowledgeable and helpful resource throughout our time with him.

Our next stop was a short hike through the jungle to reach a waterfall and swimming hole. It was plenty hot in Sri Lanka even in winter, and the cool water proved a welcome respite.

Above, this family hosted us for lunch at a small restaurant they operate behind their house - tons of fantastic Sri Lankan dishes on offer (including jackfruit curry, spicy coconut relish, and pancakes with palm syrup) served with warm smiles. Below, a field of tea plants on our trek through the woods.

After a full day of boating and trekking, we still had time to hit the beach near home for R&R before retreating to a beachside spot for seafood dinner and bed. The waves were quite large here, which made for great body surfing, real surfing by others, and some nervous moments by a certain worried mother. Riptides or no, though, it was tough to get the girls out of the ocean.

For our final day in Hikkaduwa, the group split up. Fra, Ari and our girls set out early for a whale watching trip off the nearby port town of Mirissa. Those of us with more easily nauseated constitutions remained back on dry land with Mario & Stella for a relaxing day at the beach.

Out at sea, the ladies got their money’s worth - spotting both blue whales and sperm whales. The highlight, in G&S’s opinion, though, was the mating sea turtles (below).

The girls returned home exhausted and enriched, and ready for a little more beach time prior to our departing for a different landscape early the next morning (more to come soon)...

#hikkaduwa #srilanka #mirissa whale #chamisplace #topsecretbeach

Macau (or, a Sino-Portuguese Thanksgiving)

For the long T’giving weekend, with Fra’s folks in tow, the gang hopped a high-speed ferry to spend a couple nights across the Pearl River Delta in Macau.

We’d visited Macau twice before, but decided to stay in a new part of town this time, far away from the casinos and busy roads. Our hotel is located on the southern tip of Taipa in an area called Coloane, which was formerly its own island prior to a reclamation project that joined it to its neighbor (as part of the development of the Vegas-like Cotai Strip on the northern end). But at this end, it’s still very quiet, with unpopulated beaches, hiking trails, and small fishing villages that retain a touch of old-European charm.

With an extra day off, Fra and family headed over ahead of Adam, and after settling in at the hotel, headed to Macau’s old city center for exploration.

After a long day of walking, checking out temples, seeing some old ruins, and peeking down picturesque (and some not so much) side streets, everyone picked up Adam and ventured back south for a little R&R before bed.

Buffet breakfast and morning yoga complete, we grabbed a short taxi ride to nearby Seac Pai Van Park, a small but well-kept and very pretty public park that sports flamingos, monkeys, a pond for swans and ducks, and its main attraction, a pair of pandas.

The park recently welcomed 2 new pandas to their roster, but they’re still too tiny to put on display, so we settled for these adorable photos above and having a gander at their mama.

We then headed on foot further round the southern end of Coloane, on our way eastwards to Coloane Village, where we had Thanksgiving lunch reservations.

Below, a quick pose at Macau’s prison/police training HQ, and then on to the village.

It was clear when our stroll had reached its destination, as we soon found ourselves circling a small European roundabout (with park in the middle) and on to an area of narrow stone streets, small piazzas, a lovely church, and low buildings fronted by arched porticos.

It was lovely to explore this little slice of town, an area where time seems to slow down; however, the sea blew a cold wind through the many alleyways, and we opted to pop into our restaurant earlier than our reservation. Most people had recommended a popular Coloane landmark called Fernando’s, but we instead dined at a different Portuguese spot, which turned out great. In fact, the group dining near us had come from Portugal and make a point to eat there each time they visit, so I felt vindicated in my decision.

Above, Mario enjoys(?) his very first egg tart, from the originators of the custardy treat, Lord Stow’s.

Coloane: a place for lovers.. and pirates!

In the evening, we headed north to the casino strip to catch a fantastic show called House of the Dancing Water, a breathtaking stunt and dance show best described as Cirque Du Soleil on water. Friends had highly recommended it and, indeed, it did not disappoint (no photos of the performance, alas, as cameras were strictly prohibited).

On Day 3, we ventured back to the Cotai Strip, to give Mario and Stella a little taste of the artificial grandiosity of the Venetian, Paris and other mega-structures built to serve the gambling hordes that flood in from mainland China and beyond.

They got a kick out of the indoor canals, but as expected, tired of the scene pretty quickly. Adam and the girls stuck around a bit longer to explore the newest casino - Studio City, inspired by the glitz of old Hollywood and the grime of Batman’s Gotham City...

... and we even stumbled upon a few glimpses of home. How bizarre to stand in the middle of a Chinese casino and glance up at a train station departure board ticking off times for Metro-North rail lines!