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Beyond the Highrise

Life in Hong Kong beyond the highrise. By freelance journalist Carolynne Dear

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Carolynne Dear
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Recent Posts

  • All at sea in Myanmar
  • Top new Asian resorts to relax with the family in 2019
  • How Hong Konger Tina Atkinson turned a dusty block of land on Koh Samui into a luxury fitness retreat
  • A beginners guide to skiing Japan
  • Where to take a ‘micro-break’ in 2019

Travel features

  • Borneo
  • Malaysia – Legoland
  • Nikoi with the nippers
  • Laos
  • Australia
  • Macau
  • Thailand
  • Hong Kong for locals
  • Copenhagen with kids
  • Miss Saigon
  • Mallorca
  • Hong Kong welcomes The Murray Hotel
  • Fresh air, fun and great pies on Rottnest Island
  • Four Seasons makes waves in Kuala Lumpur

Interviews

  • Everything’s rosy
  • Lonely planet
  • Old hands breathe new life into Sai Kung’s favourite pub
  • How an expat childhood inspired Soho’s New Punjab Club
  • Talking rhymes and writers block with Julia Donaldson
  • Travel writer Isabelle Demenge on putting the fun into family getaways
  • A meditation in education
  • The wonder from Down Under
  • Nurturing young readers with tales of the Chinese zodiac
  • Sketching Hong Kong with artist Lorette Roberts
  • How to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days (and survive to tell the tale)
  • Women’s advocate Dame Barbara Stocking on girls and smashing those glass ceilings
  • Novelist Madeleine Thien talks China and change
  • Nurturing a Hong Kong boutique into a global brand
  • Hong Kong’s first women’s TEDx event is launched
  • Hong Kong film producer Joanna Bowers releases The Helper Documentary
  • Mother love
  • From London to Paris on foot and by bicycle
  • Hong Kong welcomes The Murray Hotel
  • How a Hong Kong couple transformed a remote Cambodian island into an award-winning eco-resort
  • Artist Helen Bronte Boyd tells Carolynne Dear she’s ready for a new challenge after 16 creative years in Sai Kung
  • A parents’ guide to surviving boarding school
  • On top of the world with Hong Kong’s Bond girl
  • Sharing the love with Mrs Hong Kong World

Heritage Hong Kong

  • Time for tea with the grande dame of Midlevels
  • Hospital drama – discovering the real Matilda of The Peak
  • Life as a British expat ‘back in the day’
  • Hong Kong welcomes The Murray Hotel
  • Memories of wartime Hong Kong by Stanley survivor Barbara Anslow

Flailing spouse – a lighter look at expat life

  • October – Food for thought
  • November – Running woman
  • December – Away in a 777
  • January – Communing with the grandparents
  • February – When I’m 45…
  • March – Homework and other issues
  • April – Drama queen
  • May – From the heart
  • June – Turn on, tune in, drop out
  • Wardrobe wars – July 2018
  • August – Hot spots
  • How it all began – or how a suburban family-of-six bagged a party lifestyle in Honkers
  • September – Party pooper
  • November – Cut the cr*p
  • January – On the piste

Contact info

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Look 👀 out for our fabulous Autumn issue! On bookshelves September 2! #printmedia #magazines #travel #travelwithkids
Yum 😋 A pad Thai lunch by the beach at Sip Song. It was actually too hot 🥵 to lounge around on the sand, so we lounged around in this fab new eatery instead 🍽 #thaifood #repulsebay #summertime
Friday goals... #asia #summerliving #relaxwiththekids #happyfriday
Me: ‘No, no dessert tonight. It’s straight home and homework.’ Waiter: ‘Can I offer you a free top-up of Sauvignon Blanc?’ Me: ‘Oh, thank you so much! And could we see the dessert menu?’ Kids: 😂 😆 #dinnerwithkids #hongkongeats #familyrestaurants
I am mid-trip at the moment, so the suitcases are still out. As I’m writing packing lists this afternoon, I thought I might share some thoughts on family holiday packing: 1) Sundresses rock. Especially loose, floaty ones like this one from @thewhitecompany They won’t judge you when you’ve had one too many Margaritas (both of the cocktail and pizza variety). They also tend to be easy to dress up and down for night and day. 2) Always include a couple of pairs of shorts and tee-shirts for beach walks - @marksandspencer have some good quality linen shorts this year which could well be in the sale by now. And you can’t beat @cosstores for quality tees. Keep colours neutral so you can mix n match. 3) Denim - either a mini skirt or a pair of shorts. So hard-wearing, rarely show stains... 4) I always pack trainers and my Lycra workout gear these days - with kids you never know when you’ll be white water rafting; hiking; cycling; traversing the treetops on one of those dreadful parkour things, etc. Be prepared. 5) A hat. Asia’s hot. Enough said. I buy mine from @bella_blu_design And a cap for when you’re in the water. I’ve had a skin cancer removed once, I’m not going back there. 6) A capacious beach bag. There is no end to the cr*p required for a quick trip to the beach, even with older children. Try @maryandmariebags for a nice range with zip-out washable linings. 7) Don’t bother with heels, they end up looking over-the-top wherever you’re headed. Although for a bit of ‘lift’ I do like a pair of Spanish-style rope wedges. 8) And if you’re heading out of the tropics, a cardy or light denim jacket for cooler evenings. Bon voyage!
Did you know, 50% of our memories are holiday memories? Which makes me immediately want to go and book another holiday 😃 This was us on a trip to Sydney, birthplace of all of my children, and hometown to most of my friends 👭 On this day, we hit Sydney harbour on board the boat of some good friends, stuffed ourselves at Sydney Fish 🐟 Markets, saw a pod of dolphins 🐬, jumped into the water (and then remembered about the sharks 🦈 😱) and did a donut around a cruise ship 🚢 to the shocked delight of the kidlets 😝 #happydays #happymemories #familyholidays #lovesydney #travelwithkids

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