When was the last time you tried something new?' Robert Sheriff asks as he effortlessly balances a long board on his head that dwarfs his almost 1.8-metre frame.
'I'm excited,' I lie, albeit enthusiastically. Although eager to experiment with the world's fastest-growing water sport, I realise I have no idea what I'm doing.
Invented in the 1960s by Waikiki surfing instructors as a way to take photos of their clients, stand-up paddle boarding - or SUPing in surfer speak - has attracted a global following in recent years.
In the United States alone, 1.24 million people SUPed last year, up 18 per cent year on year, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Lately, some have combined the sport with another hip activity: SUP yoga.
American surfing star Laird Hamilton is credited with taking the sport mainstream 10 years ago, when he started catching waves standing on an oversized surfboard that he propelled with a long outrigger kayak paddle. In recent years, the sport's popularity has been boosted by a wave of celebrity SUPers including Jennifer Aniston, Pierce Brosnan, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Scherzinger and Sting.
In Hong Kong, signs of the sport's growth are clear: there are a handful of schools giving SUP lessons, with one, HK Aqua-bound Centre at Stanley Main Beach, recently offering a HK$149, two-hour SUP tour on deal website Groupon.