Cheung Chau Bun Festival

It's been a record two weeks since I last posted anything. The last couple of weeks have felt something like being in the middle of a sandstorm. Work has been incredibly busy, not least because of even more media attention. After a particularly sympathetic article last week we had a flood of calls and emails from people wanting to give some kind of assistance. All very exciting but I'm about to collapse!

Apart from two work related newspaper appearances since I last blogged, I've also featured again on TV for something quite different. Nan was in Hong Kong last weekend on her way from London to Sydney and her visit coincided with the annual Cheung Chau Island Bun Festival.

We took the ferry to Cheung Chau and followed the crowd to the centre of the festivities.It was a stinking hot and humid day and the candle and incense smoke didn't help. We'd just arrived at the bun tower when I realised I was going to fry if I didn't find some shade. I turned around, looking for shelter, and found a camera and microphone several centimetres from my nose:

Reporter: This is the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, how do you feel?
Me: Great, it's very exciting (trying to look sincere)
Reporter: (gesturing at the smoke billowing temple) About the ritual, how do you feel?
Me: It's very intersting but I think I would appreciate it more if I understood more about the festival.
Reporter: (gesturing to the tower) About the bun tower, how do you feel?
Me: It very big, I have never seen anything like it before (except possibly, the actual size replica in the history museum)
Reporter: About the race, how do you feel?
Me: What race?
Reporter: Did you know that there will be a race to climb the top of the bun tower.
Me: No, that's amazing!
Reporter: Yes and how do you feel?
Me: Very excited, this festival is very special.

While at the festival I was also interviewed by a newspaper (the same Chinese one that I had featured in the previous week) but I don't know if it was printed. I know that the tv interview showed because my real estate agent saw it. 'What did I say?' I asked her. 'Something like, "good, good, great, exciting, wonderful"' she laughed. 'It must have been short' I said. 'No', she said, 'your interiew was longer than anyone elses'. Oh dear!