Big excitement and managed to lose first item of clothing (hat with flaps for when I headed north) as I set off from Heathrow on 5th March, to take part in the first Hong Kong Young Readers Festival.
Had to adjust to seeing clouds and fizzing neon below my 25th floor window at the luxe Hotel Icon in Kowloon – I’m normally based in a tiny central London basement so it was a bit of a (pleasant) shock. And even more adjustments … having a pillow menu, a Thai massage, and the opportunity of a swim in the deliciously warm open air pool on the 9th floor. Hmm, it’s a hard life … but much needed pampering as long flight had given me ear-ache, and I had talks about my work to give, comic strip workshops to run and the Bloomsbury comic strip books to promote … including the next in the Kindberg/Turner Productions series … the Comic Strip Book of Dinosaurs, out this summer.
A big thank you to Christa Tam of the Blooming Club for welcoming me to the Commercial Press Bookshop in Kowloon … great buzz and inventive comic strips by children at the workshop. And thanks to Kelyn Yuen for this photo.
Also thanks to Hoi Pa School in Tsuen Wan (see map above) in the New Territories, for enthusiastically hatching numerous dinosaur eggs with great style and sound effects.
Caught one of the Star Ferries (Shining Star) over to Hong Kong and investigated some traditional Chinese medicinal cures for ear-ache but decided against. Later had to visit A&E (thank you author Sarah Brennan for your kindness, and making me laugh) to have my ear checked out before flying on to Shanghai.
Before I left Kowloon, managed to nip into the Science Museum round the corner from my hotel to visit some robotic friends …
