London, Day Four 2014

Day four was the first day without a hint of rain. Ken, Celine and I made and early start, stopping by Gregg's for a quick breakfast and braving the wind chill factor on our wat to the fair. 

The lovely ladies of Jacaranda were already there and ready to pitch my books to potential publishers, thanks, ladies! 

As Ken and Celine were busy taking care of business, I walked around the two halls of booths. It was massive. It makes one realise just how many publishers, authors and illustrators there are out there. The competition is stiff and I now feel that I should have gone into accounting.

Emma arrived shortly after 10am and we went to a panel discussion by the Book Trust. Interesting and informative we were compelled to introduce ourselves to Book Trust Chief Executive, Viv Bird. I broached the topic of her possibly coming to the Asian Festival of Children's Content and she was interested to hear more. Let's hope the Book council can follow up on this.

Auntie Susanna and Mika were at the Singapore Pavilion when I returned and we decided to lunch at one of  the cafeterias. Mika had a vegetarian selection and Auntie Susanna had the braised beef and mash. A famished Annabelle from NAC joined us at our table and all too soon it was time for Kenneth's panel discussion about children's literature in Singapore. My publisher, Edmund Wee and Mei Lin Lee of Marshall Cavendish were also was also a featured on the panel which was moderated by Paul Tan.

But before the panel started, I . had a pleasant surprise when I bumped into the brilliant author, John Dougherty, my fellow panellist from SWF two years ago. It was great catching up again.

And....the panellists did a great job, deftly fielding  the tough questions about publishing in Singapore. 

And my favourite part of the session is the photo below!

With that done, Auntie Susanna and Mika tubed int to Civent Garden for a spot of shopping and Emma and I caught up with the lovely Anita Loughrey for some tea. It's always lovely seeing her.

But she had to dart off for a writer's event, so Emma and I attended the Singapore networking night. Annabelle  busy running around before cocktail hour but I managed to stop her for a quick photo with Emma. Please note Emma is holding the kopitiam cup Mum donated to the booth

Emma's good friend and Award winning author Andrew Weale joined us there. Andrew  is brilliant and hilarious! It was great meeting him and he'll be in Singapore for the AFCC next month.

The social went on till we were told the power would be shut off and so we headed back to the hotel for a quick change and then onto a not so quick dinner at the Troubabor.  

I'm doing laundry tomorrow. I bet you never thought you would hear me say that. Well, neither did I!

London Day One, 2014

So my journey to London was quite an eventful one. Mum and Dad offered to give me a lift to the airport at 6:30am so I could check in by 7am for my 9 am flight. As you can see by the photo below I did make my flight with Auntie Susanna, Mika, Kenneth and Celine (not pictured) several obstacles had to be overcome first.

1. We had left the house when Mum asked if had my passport. I replied that I had but just to be sure I checked only to discover I did not. Panic ensued and Dad u-turned back home. I made a frantic rush back to my room and, thankfully, it was by my printer!

2. We left for the airport once again  and the heavens opened unleashing blankets of rain. We could hardly see in front of us. Dad missed the turning to the expressway to the airport and we drove around before his car started breaking down. We made it to a petrol station near home and tried to call a cab to no avail.

3. My big brother came to the rescue and he drove to the station to pick me up. Thanks, Kor. Once we were off, I realised I left my heavy jacket in the car. He u-turned back to get it and then we floored it to the airport. Auntie Susanna, Ken, Mika and Celine were already there and we checked in and boarded the flight with time to spare. 

4. I was hoping for a smooth flight but three hours in, in the middle of breakfast service, the plane hit turbulence and an airpocket. Someone screamed and I gripped Auntie Susanna's hand till I practically cut off her circulation. thanks Auntie Susanna!

5. We landed at around 4pm and Auntie Susanna, Ken and Mika were met by Auntie Susanna's sister, Auntie Dolly and her daughter, Kim. They looked really happy to catch up again. 

6. While Miks and Auntie Susanna went off with Kim and Auntie Dolly. Ken,Celine and I headed to our hotel before going to Earl's Court Exhibition Centre to check out the Singapore Pavilion at the London Book Fair. It looks good even though it's still under construction. 

Kenneth then headed to catch up with Auntie Susanna and Mika while Celine and I opted for a fish and chips takeaway dinner before calling it a night. Sadly not much sleep was to be had by me. I hate Jetlag!  

Stay tuned for day two.