HOORAY!!!! The Marvellous Adventures of Maggie and Methuselah has finally arrived!
August 5, 2021 at 4:43 pm | Posted in Hong Kong, new books | Leave a commentTags: Blacksmith Books, Charly Cheung, Government House Hong Kong, Hong Kong history, Hong Kong WWII history, Missing Chater Collection, The Marvellous Adventures of Maggie and Methuselah
After months of waiting…my new book is finally available!! It’s been a marathon for all of us: me, my wonderful publisher Pete Spurrier at Blacksmiths Books (top left) and our fantastic award-winning illustrator Charly Cheung (with Pete, top right). HUGE thanks to all the lovely parents and kids who pre-ordered the book for their patience. By now, the book should be in your hands! We hope you love it as much as we do!
Here’s a bit from the blurb:
Maggie loves hanging out with her best friends Methuselah (her talkative African Grey parrot) and Edmund (the richest boy in Hong Kong), but she loathes attending boring parties with her high-flying mum and dad! Little does she know that a Family Fun Day at Government House will trigger a thrilling adventure involving one of Hong Kong’s greatest mysteries: what happened to the immensely valuable Chater Collection, which was hidden on the eve of the Japanese invasion in World War Two? A funny, exciting story for pre-teens set in one of the world’s most exotic cities, where cultures meet and risks are for the taking!
For readers aged 8 to 12 who love mystery, history and adventure! With 80+ illustrations.
So if you’d like to purchase your own copy, just click here, or visit your favourite Hong Kong bookstore! And keep visiting this blog as I tell you more about the story and the fascinating Hong Kong history behind it!
The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020 is coming your way!
February 21, 2020 at 4:44 pm | Posted in Asia Society Hong Kong, Challenges and activities, Hong Kong, Hong Kong events | Leave a commentTags: Asia Society Hong Kong, Chinese Zodiac, The Great Year of the Rat Challenge 2020, The Tale of Run Run Rat, The Year of the Rat
Are you a primary school student in Hong Kong or mainland China, stuck at home, waiting for schools to reopen in mid-March? Or maybe you live somewhere else, and are lucky enough to be able to go to school right now! Either way, if you love a fun challenge, with lots of great puzzles, pictures and tasks to complete, and with FABULOUS PRIZES, then you’re going to LOVE the GREAT YEAR OF THE RAT CHALLENGE 2020! My friends at Asia Society Hong Kong and I are launching the Challenge on next Monday, 24 January! So make sure you and Mum or Dad visit my blog again on Monday for all the details! Or you can visit my Facebook or Instagram pages! See you then!
Seven big reasons why I love Hong Kong!
February 5, 2020 at 11:21 am | Posted in Chinese New Year, Dragon dance, Hong Kong, Hong Kong events | Leave a commentTags: Banyan Trees, Dragon Dances, Hong Kong, Hong Kong architecture, Hong Kong at Chinese New Year, Reasons why I love Hong Kong, Saikung, The Year of the Rat
For all the recent doom and gloom about viruses and protests, Hong Kong, my home for the last 21 years, is still one of my favourite places in the world! And here are just a few reasons why I ESPECIALLY love Hong Kong at Chinese New Year!
Blue, blue skies above spectacular architecture!
Chinese New Year really is the best time of year in Hong Kong weather-wise, with low humidity and lovely bright days with cool nights – yum! And its buildings are fantastic! Above are just a few that I snapped on a brisk walk from Wanchai into Central the other day!
Flowers, flowers everywhere!
Chinese New Year is the time for spectacular fruit and flower displays at home, in the office, and on every street corner! Above are just a few I spotted on my walk through the city centre!
Extraordinary trees, some literally hanging off the walls!
The city is home to some of the most glorious banyan trees, with their aerial roots and extraordinary root systems making them a unique part of this unique city!
Fabulous decorations in shopping malls!
And in shops…
And in the streets…
And all the excitement of Dragon Dances!
Here’s a short video I took in Saikung village, in the New Territories, where four different teams of dancers, drummers and their followers circulated around the village, spreading good fortune for the New Year! Here you can see a Black Lion entering a small shop, to receive the gift of a lettuce, which it “eats” to ensure the prosperity of the shop for the coming year!
A unique new book about Hong Kong!
November 1, 2019 at 4:01 pm | Posted in Book reviews, China photos, Hong Kong | Leave a commentTags: Lindsay Varty, Sunset Survivors
Say hello to my friend Lindsay Varty, author of the most beautiful, unique new book about Hong Kong! It’s called Sunset Survivors, and it’s all about the traditional tradesmen and women of Hong Kong who are disappearing fast, from fortune telling to face threading and letter writing to bird cage making! It’s a book that everybody who loves Hong Kong should definitely have on their bookshelves, so make sure to tell Mum and Dad all about it! You can hear Lindsay talking all about her new book here.
A fabulous article in The Standard!
May 8, 2019 at 7:21 am | Posted in Book reviews, Hong Kong, media articles | Leave a commentTags: The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Standard, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Ping Pong Pig
Huge thanks to Simon Lau, Chief Sub-Editor (Education) at The Standard, for this fantastic book review about The Chinese Calendar Tales published on 30 April! To see the whole article, click on the link below:
Pigs Rule in Aberdeen, Hong Kong!
February 19, 2019 at 10:35 am | Posted in Hong Kong | Leave a commentTags: The Year of the Pig, Wild Boar in Aberdeen
Now we all know it’s the Year of the Pig, and here’s proof if any were needed! Here are two beautiful wild boar I snapped yesterday as I drove by, casually strolling down the street in Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island! I think the one on the left was Mama Pig, and the one on the right was Teen Pig. They were both looking rather sheepish I have to admit…or should that be piggish? Either way, they didn’t seem in the least afraid, or fazed by the passing traffic!
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