Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 27

28-7-2007

When I got up at the morning, which was already 11:30 a.m., I continue the reading of Eric Mead's article of Paul Harris in Magic Magazine, he is quite a guy, very eccentric in my opinion but what an astonishing life that he is leading!

Peter drove me to Roy's shop again, where I met quite a few big boys in the Scottish Card School. Roy gave me a short lesson again, shared some of the stories of John Ramsay with me.

Roy, thank you for being the source of my inspiration and what you have done to card magic.

Session time with Peter Duffie, Gordon Bruce, Gavin Ross, Gary Middleton and Jack McCelements, all of these guys are extremely funny, it's a pity that George McBride wasn't able to make it, but that's still an amazing afternoon [Geroge is putting out a DVD set soon, check it out when it hits the market!].

One extremely important discovery: I never know that I have been doing a wrong handling of the Elmsley Count for 7 years!!!

Speak of the Elmsley Count, Gordon shared quite few stories of different people trying to teach Alex Elmsley how to do his Elmsley Count without knowing the person that they were talking to was Alex Elmsley himself!

Knowing that I am heading back to London and will be going to Magic Circle on Monday night, Gordon gave me the contact of Pat Page and asked me to get in touch with him, erm...well...honestly, not sure if I have the guts to actually make a call to Pat Page, he is a legend, afterall.

Finally, we had the waitress at the Black Bar to take a group photo for us, looking at the photo, I realized I haven't been so happy for a long time.

Peter, Etta and I went to China Blue to have a proper Chinese dinner, haha....the last time I had Chinese food in this country was a takeaway [Fujian Noodles] at Cornwell, and last night I finally had some rice!

I couldn't get used to eating rice with a plate, so I asked for a bowl, and the waitress gave me the bill...er....The message in the fortunate cookie is a very special one:

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, only to return home to find it...

hmmmm...okay, I'll see if I can find my lost copy of The Complete Walton 2 when I get back to Hong Kong.

Another late night session with Peter after we back to home, Peter fried my brain again and again with some moves....by the time we went to bed, it's already 5:30 a.m.!

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 26

27 - 7- 2007

woah!!! Finally!!! The Roy Walton Moment!!!!!!

Peter drove me to Roy's shop and introduced me to Roy, unlike most magicians would say of Roy, he is not shy at all, in fact, Roy is quite talktive. I bought The Complete Walton 1&2 again, just to get them signed by Roy.

I was so eager to show two of my Collectors effect to Roy: Zen Spread Display for Collectors and the 7 cards act. It's such an honour to be able to show my variations to the originator of the plot!

Believe it or Not, Roy taught me how to do:

Trigger
The Classic Pass

He performed:

Stage shout
A card to pocket effect

....again...I am out of words to describe anything...

Gordon Bruce came in and took the picture for me with Roy and Peter, it really is one of the most unbelievable moments in life, it's..too good to be true, I mean..it's way much beyond my imagination! Now, I am sharing the same highlight in magic life as Ray Kosby.

George Mcbride wasn't able to stay long, but we'll come out tomorrow for a session again...

Gordon, Peter and me left Roy's shop and we had some food in a resturant nearby, Gordon started to show me his materials...geees.... all Scottish cardman can do a great pass!!!

After the lunch, we went to a resturant to have some coffee and talked a bit about magic, the session didn't start untill we went to The Horse Shoe, which is an old victorian bar. Gordon showed me his Backfire, Double Covered Pass [something I call CBR Pass, Covered Bottom Retention Pass], Riffle Pop Out move, the Sidesteal [the world's fastest sidesteal!] and 30 other moves or so..it's such a treat!

After the session at Horseshoe, Gordon had to go, and Peter took me to Urban bar, which is a quiet one, now it's time for Peter to blow me away with his falsedeals: Peter did his interchangable dealing -- second, middle and bottom effortlessly....it's just stunning!

Time flies, it's dinner time, Peter took me to see his girlfriend and we went to Casino together, unfortunately I was out of luck, losed some £40 at the slot machine, returned everything I earned from Hilton Casino at Isle of Mann...

On the way Peter driving me home, we talked about titles for books and tricks, and Peter is right when he says sometimes it's harder to think of a name for the book. Well, speak of that, one of the reasons why I named my booklet as 15 Maneuvers is that I want to publish a series, and the next time I could simply name my book 16 Maneuvers and on and on...

Peter suggested a really cool name though, Fiften Unusual Card Knock-outs..hahahaaa...right..I'll use it!

By the time we hit home, Peter started to fry my brain with more routines and effects, his "7 cards trick"...awww....I was badly fooled by it....very very bad...

We talked alot about magic, whenh I hit the bed, it's already 4:30 am!!!

I should talk a bit about Peter as a person, he is such a man.....
You might get an impression that he is a totally cool bloke [yes, he is cool but...] when you check out his website, but he is extremely funny and humorous...

He did one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time, it has something to do with Max Maven's eyebrow and Chinese sticks.....hahhahaaaaaa

Zenneth

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 25

26-7-2007

The weather today isn't very good, such a rainy day, but this still is one of the most magical days in my life!!!

Guess where am I now? I am at Peter Duffie's home!!!

Chris gave me a lift to Plymouth airport at noon, and then I went to Bristol, from there I come to Glasgow! Peter picked me up at the airport and then drove me to his home.

Oh my god! I still can't believe this! It's been years since I first emailed Peter, that was probably 5 years ago, and now I am seeing him in person!!!
Did I say Peter is one of my heros in magic?

So far we still haven't talk much about card magic, but Peter is going to take me to Roy Walton's magic shop tomorrow, and apparently I will be seeing Gordon Bruce, Gavin Ross and George McBride tomorrow!!!

hahaaaa!

Zenneth

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 24

25-7-2007

Actually, I got up quite early this morning, but I wasn't quite willing to get off the bed, I would rather stay dreaming and thinking about the my future path of magic and a couple of card questions.

During the lunch time, Chris again took me to Malcom's magic shop. Malcom performed the Gypsy Thread and the Dream of Aces for me, beautifully done! He searched around his collection and showed me some old magic books, which I couldn't resist but to swap with him again.

I have printed 100 copies of Cards You Softly and 15 Maneuvers before my departure from Hong Kong, for some reasons I can still get hold the majority of them after 13 lectures....well...it's true, people only want DVDs these days...anyway, it's better to trade them for some gimmicks or books than bringing them back to Hong Kong, in exchange, I have got:

The magic of Al Koran
Magic of Pavel
Lecture Notes of Fantasio
Booklets by U.F. Grant
Later Magic
some lecture notes by magicians that I have never heard of before[...but then...I don't really know much about magic anyway...]

Chris is going to deliver a lecture tonight at a nearby area to Plymouth, apparently Gary Jones will be attending too, sounds great, another session.

=)

Chris's lecture was a great treat, he explained a lot of routines and some highly practical materials, believe it or not, he actually gave away two routines that's marketable! [Check out his coin in bottle when it comes out, it's brilliant!]

Sessioned with Gary after the lecture, all I can say is wow, extremely smooth card and coin handling and some highly commercial and entertaining stuffs. Do whatever you can to get a copy of Gary's lecture notes, everything are solid gold workers.

I was treated with a huge glass of beer and obviously that's too strong for me, I almost wanted to throw up when Chris was driving me home ...=(

yack......

Zenneth

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 23

24-7-2007

Officially, the lecture at Plymouth put a full stop to this lecture tour, not many people turned up at the lecture, but it's not bad at all, all attendents were very enthusiastic! Apparently there were quite a few card guys in this club, so they were very pleased with my materials.

Sold quite a few copies of The Zenneth Code, I checked out my handbag, only 3 copies left, one for Roy, one for Peter and the last one for Lee and Danial.

After the lecture, we had a session, Chris seems have unlimited supply of card tricks...I could do that at some stage of my life, but now I only have a small basket of the routines.

Unfortunately, while Chris stay highly concentrated on his performance, members of audience were distracted [many times] by the provocative music videos on T.V.

When we left the bar, it's already 1:30 A.M.

Malcom, thanks alot for putting together this lecture for me, thank you!

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 22

23 - 7 - 2007

A very poorly organized day: London Waterloo - Southampton - Coshaw - Fareham- Havana - Gatwick - Plymouth

Literally spent 12 hours on train and more than £125 wasted....kind of...

Merchant of Magic now has most of the stocks that I brought to U.K. this time, guys, if you are seriously interested in card magic, buy The Zenneth Code DVD when it's still available, normally I don't sell it outside my lectures, you would have to attend my lecture in order to buy it. However, I have brought too many of them with me this time, that's why I wholesaled it to a fewU.K. dealers, but do make an effort to get yourself a copy now, because I will not supply it to dealers again.

When I finally reached Plymouth, it's already 10:30 P.M. Malcom picked me up at the train station and we joined the big boys who wanted to attend my lecture at a bar, they weren't very disappointed, at least, not as disappointed as I did...

The lecture had to be postponed to the next day, 24th, which means I have to cancel my flight to Glasgow as well...

Knowing some of them couldn't attend my lecture on 24th, I decided to show them some convention moves and routines, which means, something that are quite exclusive for magicians. Good, they loved them...

I was so hungary when we left the bar, Chris drove me to another bar nearby and I had a big plate of food, we sessioned awhile, showing each other a lot of convention routines/moves...but I couldn't hold any longer, such a hassle day and I must take some rest.

Chris drove me to his place, showed me around a little bit about his house and his collection as well, he encouraged me to read any book that I like in his collection, thanks but no thanks...my physicality faded away...

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 21

22-7-2007

Stayed in the hotel room for the whole day, just too tired to move or do anything...

Watched "The Titanic" again ...this is probably the fifth time I watch it?

....sleep...

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 20

21-7-2007

Shortly after I got up from the bed, I moved to Waterloo from Battersea, there's a hotel directly opposite to Waterloo train/tube station, the rate is quite expensive, but I just want to settle down myself as soon as possible, so I popped in.

Well, my room wasn't really cleaned up yet, but I didn't even want to wait until the clean up is done, I simply left my suitcases in the room and immediately ran to the bus stop. Mistaken the stop where I should got off as usual, so instead of got off at the bus stop that is very close to the shop, I got off at 1 Clerkenwell Road and walked all the way down to 89 Clerkenwell Road, the weather was very bad, very heavy rain, unfortunately. But it turned out to be one of the most magical afternoons that I ever had in my life.

Jerry was working there, I said hi to him and not sure what to say next because of starstruck...
Bobby Bernard was there...

I chatted awhile with Martin and purchased quite a few DVDs for Steven, he also said Ken and Kit want to buy the competition DVD which Hiyashi won the championship[Ken and Kit work with coins, they are big fans of Hiyashi].

You won't believe this, but its very true, both Hiyashi and myself are doing english tour at the same time, but Hiyashi's tour should be finished on 20th July and head back to Germany, beause of the summer flood, however, his flight was cancelled, so he went to International Magic as well!

Hiyashi is a highly energetic, cool looking but real friendly guy, he can do some most beautiful Matrix ever. He did a video interview with me, and taped a short performance of mine. Guess we will be able to watch the clip online at some point in the future.

Hiyashi signed two cards for Ken and Kit, I am sure that's the best present for them.

I want my cards to be signed by Jerry, but he said he doesn't really do that, okie.....I can understand.

I returned the hotel room with quite some magic materials to read or to watch, but before I had a chance to actually do anything about them, I received a call from Lee, he asked me if I am interested in joining him and few other friends for BBQ tonight. Oh..sure, why not?

So we met up at Charing Cross in less than 30 mins, Lee introduced two friends to me, Sergio and Danial [creator of the Cannabis effect], we had a drink in a bar and the went to Sergio's place for BBQ night.

[to be continued]


I'll talk about Gary soon...

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 19

20 - 7 - 2007

Left Dorking at 12:26 noon, it didn't take long from Dorking to get to London Victoria by train, the fare is relatively cheap too, slightly more than 4 quids or something. But the travelodge at Battersea is not close to London Victoria train station at all, I was mislead by the staff in Dorking Travelodge, incidentally, I stayed in room 13 last night, guess that's where I got my bad luck from.

It's been a long time since the last time that I made rolli, nope, I don't really enjoy making them, it's just the cigarette in this country is too exepensive, so I had to make rollis...but...hmmm...so in the last 18 days...I finished smoking the whole carten of cigarettes? er....

arrh....it's good to get access to internet, I am going to take a very good rest tonight, and tomorrow I'll go to International Magic =0)

Until then!

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 18

19-7-2007

There are two magic shops nearby at Kent, Clive's Card Collection and Peter Nardi's Alakazam, which I have decided to pay a visit.

Clive came to the travelodge and picked me up, he then took me to his shop, woah! I was very very impressed and excited, it's the biggest collection of trick cards and playing cards that I have ever seen. I looked around and searched every shelf, every corner of the shop, and found a lot of treasures, Clive suggested to me for a swap, yeah, of course, pleasure!

Clive, you are a nice man, thank you for taking me to your shop, and it's a real pleasure to meet you.

Alakazam is nearby to Card Collection, so Clive took me to there as well, I chatted with Peter Nardi, owner of the shop. Peter is a very nice guy, he showed me quite a few items that he is going to release, brilliant stuffs!

I showed some of my products and performed part of my lecture contents to him, guess he liked them very much, and he's very interested in carrying them, and I am sure he could give me a good offer, but, well, the offer came a bit late, I have promised to give Dominic the exclusive distributorship of a few items of mine in U.K. when this tour is over, a promise is a promise, afterall.

Mark picked me up from there and drove me to Dorking, suddenly I was very down, we managed to get to the Constutional Club at exactly 8:00 P.M., usually I would be quite worried about getting late to a lecture, but..for some reasons....I didn't care about it...

Oh yeah...I carried the negative emotion, the frustration and the anger with me to Dorking!

I didn't display any smile to anyone in the club as I went there, I was only there to set up my dealer booth, I didn't talk with Colin Peters, and frankly speaking, I didn't bother to do it anyway.

As soon as I put down my products onto the table, some attendents already started to buy them, I should be very happy otherwise, no one ever tried that in this tour! Mark was right, maybe, only if I could be my normal self, I could sell more things at this club than all I have sold in this whole tour.

But I just couldn't put in any energy, I wasn't happy when people buy my products and DVDs, I didn't care whether or not they are going to buy my products, I couldn't even bother to say thank you.

I wanted to finish the lecture as soon as possible, I didn't bother to deliver a good performance, I didn't bother to present everything completely as they were devised. I wasn't happy with my performance, I didn't like what I performed during the lecture, I wanted to finish the lecture as soon as possible...

This lecture, is, no question, one of the two bad performances in this lecture tour.

For that, I personally apologize for the attendents of my lecture at the Leicester Magic Circle and Surrey Society of Magicians, I wasn't being respected by some club managements, and I was unhappy with the organization of this tour, but it really has nothing to do with you guys, that's not your fault.

Edd from Magicwoods attended the lecture, he was very impressed with my performance at the lecture at Surrey Society of Magicians, he said he couldn't tell that I wasn't concentrated when I performing. Edd, thank you very much for your encouragement, but I know I wasn't at my peek form.

Well, the tour that Colin Peters organized for me is now officially over.

But another journey is on, I am going to deliver one more lecture that Malcom put together for me at a such a short notice on the coming Monday at Plymouth, Malcom, thank you very much for your effort, it means a lot to me.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture tour Travelog Day 17

18-7-2007

Shit!!!

What happened to me at Leicester happened again and this time is even worst!!!

Mike Travis, you are by far the most incompetent magic club president that I have ever seen[not seen], but I don't take that as a personal attack because the fact indicates what I said is a fair comment!

Not answering my phone for days because you were away from your area, but I guess you could get someone else to take care of the lecturer? or you could just tell the lecturer beforhand instead of leaving the lecturer stranded at the train station?

Better yet, telling the incorrect date of my lecture to members of your club?

And the lecturer had to deliver lecture at an open space in the restaurant instead of the usual meeting room, so that he had to explain the secrets of his tricks to the attendents of his lecture as well as the diners in the restaurant?

I have never received such a treatment as a lecturer, not being respected and taken care of!!!

If you don't care about the lecturer, why do you book him at the first place? And if you don't care and don't respect the lecturer, why should the lecturer care and respect you?!

After I got to the hotel, I started to wash my clothes, and decided if no one give me a call or anything, I am not going to give the lecture.

The whole day I have been calling Colin Peters and Miki Travis, leaving messages, Miki Travis wasn't even at Kent, and Colin Peters didn't call me until 5:00 P.M. that afternoon, he told me that he is trying to get someone to pick me up from the hotel and send me to the lecture venue.

This is crap! This is fucking crap!!!

However, administrative error has nothing to do with the club members.

Mark, who is actually a member of Surrey Society of magicians, he came all the way long to drive me to the lecture venue as well as driving me to Dorking from Ashford. Mark, I thank you very much for your efford, and I must say it's you who makes me capable of giving the lecture at the Downtown magic club.

It's weired though, I delivered a good performance at Ashford, and people loved it.

I was surprised too, there's something wrong about it but I wasn't so sure of it...

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 16

17 - 7 - 2007

Today's lecture took place at Southampton, the place that I stayed was quite interesting, apparently it's a home stay for overseas students, and I stayed in a room that happen to be a room for a girl that comes from Hong Kong attending secondary school here in U.K., but she has returned to Hong Kong, of course.

The lecture went very well as usual.

Phil was very impressed with my lecture and asked Dominic to take whatever that I would wholesale to him, thanks Phil, I appreciate it!

I had been trying to contact Miki Travis of Downtown magic club of Kent for quite a while, made another call to him, unfortunately no one answered the phone....hmmm...

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 15

16 - 7- 2007

Paul has a huge collection of books and so second handed books for sale, so I have proposed a swap, for 1 copy of each of all my DVDs and products, I get:

Fingertip Fantasies

Ed Marlo's The Cardician

Card Manipulation No.3 by Jean Hugard

Expert Card Techiques [with Vernon chapter in it!]

Tribute to Malini [Vernon]

Wayne Dobson's Profile

LePaul 's The Card Magic of Bro. John Hammon

woah!!! Such a nice deal, well, actually, there are quite a few more books that I want to get, but the suitcase is just too heavy for me to carry.

I have gave Kenny a call this morning to see if when to meet up today, unfortunately he's a bit sick so we had to meet up tomorrow. Since Top Secret Magic is located at Plymouth and it's not far away from Truro, I decided to pay Malcom a visit.

I fall into sleep when I was taking the train, so I had to take the change again at Tutnes and going back to Plymouth, fortunately, there's no lecture for today, and I don't have to worry anything even if I am late for sometime.

So I have wholesaled a bit of this and that to Malcom and now it's time to work out my plan after 19th, to do list:

1) Go to London and meet up more dealers
2) Go to International Magic to meet Jerry Sadowitz [hopefully]
3) Go to Scotland and meet Roy Walton, Peter Duffie and some other Scottish cardicians
[this is a very tempting idea, but I dare not to imagine the traffic cost...]
4) Go to the Magic Circle and buy some playing cards
5) I might get some additional lecture bookings after 19th, will see if that works out or not...but the tour is going to be more zigzag....=.=

!!! Just now as I am updating the blog, someone gave me a call, guess who it is???!!!

Peter Duffie!!!

Peter kindly offered me to stay at his place for a couple of days, which means ...Glasgow, I am coming!!!

yay!!!

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 14

15 - 7 - 2007

Paul gave me a buzz at the morning and took me to his place, wow..what a treat!

Paul was previously a dealer and also a collector of magic books and catalogs, you had to here to witness his super huge collections...I was really excited about the treasure hunt...

I went to the lecture venue and delivered my lecture, the gentleman who fall into sleep quite a few times during the lecture, hmm...I thank you very much for attending the lecture, but you don't have to torture yourself...

I asked for constrcutive criticisms after the lecture and apparently people enjoyed it very much... okie...dokie...you are happy, I am happy...

After the lecture, Paul took me to the Wheel Inn for a fabulous dinner and the Charles Town, I took quite a few photos at both places...

The little lake behind the Wheel Inn and the seaview at Charles Town...

Not really a bad thing afterall, to become a travelling magician...

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 13

14 - 7 - 2007

"Say that again???!!!" I couldn't believe what I have heard at the ticket office. I mean, it's only 7:45 am at the morning, so I thought it was just my mind wasn't quite clear...

"yes sir, that's exactly £108 for the train ticket from here to get to Truro."

"£108!!!" I nearly faint...=.= well, I have just paid £40 last night for my accommodation, and would have to spend a lot of money for tonight as well as Monday night's accommodation, and you are telling me that I would have to pay £108 for a single, one way train ticket?

.......

What choice do I have? No...

Obviously, my lecture fee for a lecture couldn't cover the expense ...at all...

Well, the staff at the Borough train station, thanks for not telling me that I should make the change at Doncaster, even Sheffield being the place that I need to go.

So I went passed the Doncaster train station, and got off the train at Retford. I took the bus and went to Wroksop, from there I changed to another bus and went to Sheffield. After got off the bus, I walked for about 10 mins, finally I arrived the Sheffield train station. [Sweet!!! Did I tell you I have been bringing along with the suitcase that weighted some 30-40 kgs and 2 more handbags plus a backpack?]

Waited at the platform for slightly more than an hour, finally, I got onto the train to Truro.

By the time I arrived Truro, it's already 6 P.M. I asked the taxi drive to take me to the closest and cheapest place that I can stay for a night, she drove me to The City Inn, which is not bad at all, other than all the rooms are at the second floor...[which means I would have to move that world's heaviest suitcase to the second floor]

But, it's only £25, and full english breakfast included! Hurray!!

I walked to the Truro town center and found an internet cafe, but it was already closed...=.=

sigh...

I decided to treat myself better, so I spared 2 quid to buy myself a bottle of beer [Corona], it didn't take long for me to fall into the sleep after I finished the beer...

I am really really tired, physically and mentally...

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 11

12 - 7 -2007

Barry knocked my room at 8:30 a.m. and then he drove me to the train station, I must say he really looked after me to which I am very thankful, barry, I'll definitely email you the text instructional of Change is Eternal when I get back to Hong Kong.

The next stop is Hull, that's ...um....quite close to Scarborough. The tour has been a bit of zigzag, but then again, I guess it's hard to meet up the dates of the meetings of the clubs.

Michael took me to his home and allowed me to use his computer, and he also took me for a meal, thank you very much Michael! Well, more than that, actually, Mike also gave me the contact of Merlins at west yorkshire, which is certainly quite far away from the place that I stay, but then, I had to get there no matter what...

There were quite a few people attended my lecture at Hull, nearly 40, I think? They have a very cool table top handcarfted by one of their members, the table top could be lifted a bit, which fascilitates a better visibility to the attendents as well. Cool!!!

I think people loved my lecture, it was quite fun though, that my first trial of the gag that borrowed from Deal or No Deal worked quite well:

" When you are driving, suddenly a cat pops out from nowhere, which paddle would you put your foot on?"

"Break?"

"Cool, let's take that for 10 mins."

It took nearly a whole 60 seconds to register the gag, but it's well received.

I was very happy with the lecture, there's a significant 100% increase of the sales!!! For each item that I sell in the lecture, overall I was able to sell 2 copies of them! Bravo!!!

The next day, Dominic came over and drove me to west yorkshire, finally I had a chance to visit a magic shop in U.K., I must say it's a fairly spacy one, I mean, when compared with those in Hong Kong, haven't been to other shops so that I can't really comment, but Phil's very nice guy, after the deal is done, we chatted awhile about magic business.

Special thanks to Dominic, without him, I don't think I could make it, espeically in a rainy day. So once again, after an hour of driving, we back to the hotel, and for the first time, I could also have a session with a UK magician.

Michael gave me a call after the session and drove me to ASDA, was able to buy enough stocks for the meals in the next few days, arhaaa, saved quite some money, I was pretty happy, really, but then...that's because I didn't know the outrageous expense that I was about to make the next day.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 10

11-7-2007

Wolverhampton is quite distant from Cleethorpes, can't remember how long it takes for me to get there by Cleethorpes, nearly 5-6 hours by train?

Barry came to the train station to pick me up and drove me to the Westwood hotel, I must say I was very happy when I finally capable of get access to the internet at the town centre, geees, I have already developed some kind of withdrawal for not updating my blog [especially when I have so much to share]

As I was checking emails though, the lecture organiser said International Magic would like to book me for a lecture, unfortunately the lecture had to take place at the second half of August...well...no way...I won't be able to survive.

Fully recharged my energy after spending 3 hours in the internet cafe, yeah!

The lecture took place at The Linden House, and what surprised me was quite a few names came to see me, thank god Barry was able to pull Keith [dealer] to my lecture, so that I could wholesale some of the stuffs, otherwise, I'll be in big trouble.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 9

10 -7 - 2007

Apparently, Scarborough is not close to Cleethorpes, so I had to leave the hotel early and took the early train, whch was 10:30 a.m., by the time I reached Cleethorpes, it was already 4 p.m.? John picked me up at the railway station, he's fast company.

The hotel that I stayed is quite far away from town centre I believe, but it was close to a beach, which I had a walk before the commencement of the lecture, can't help but think of many things when I look forward.

Kif gave me some cup noodles before he left UK, he was right, let's not talk about the health issues at this point, honestly, it is quite tasteful, eventhough I will probably hate eating cup noodles after this tour, for I have had too much of it.

The lecture took place at a bar, some 20 people came to the lecture and they were very happy with what I have performed and explained in the lecture.

One of the attendents - Steve, happen to be a big fan of mine and he was very excited about what I have done and complimented me a lot. Steve, thanks for your nice words, I really appreciate it.

What's really interestin is that after the lecture, Sarah asked me to perform a few tricks for some lay spectators in the bar, it was a group of 7, so I decided to perform a multiple selection routine, and it went very well, of course.

John complained about it, he said I should teach it in the lecture, well....don't be too greedy, I mean, I have already showed you guys the "double optical alignment move".

Once again....exhuasted....

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 8

9-7-2007

Farewelled Kif at Preston railway station, he went back to Heatrow airport and I continued my journey with more stuffs in my suitcase, there were some nearly 50 kgs of stuffs!!!

The train journey to Scarborough from Preston isn't a direct one, I had to change...and during the course of change..hurt my left wrist and my right arm.....sucks....but I have already expected it's coming.

I am going to tell you the most important factor about becoming a magic lecturer in U.K.:

you should work out constantly...if you have decided to become a magic lecturer and your body is weak, you better do something about it. This is because:

1) You will have to do a lot of weight lifting throughout the journey.

2) Since some magic clubs will not send anyone to go to the railway station to pick you up or not able to send you to the train station after the lecture is over, you must have very strong foot and arm to handle your heaviest suitcase in the world.

Anyway, met Jason at Scarborough railway station, and he is a very nice fella!

Jason took me to the hotel, which was a very nice one. Aside from hotel, Scaroborough itself is a lovely town, along with Isle of Mann, they are two of the most beautiful spots that I have visited so far in this tour.

Not many people come to the lecture, but it still was a great one, very nice responses.

I was totally exhuasted after the lecture...couldn't help but fall into sleep as soon as I got back to my room.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 7

8-7-2007

Unfortunately, Richie wasn't able to send us to the railway station, and it's just way too expensive to get to the train station by taxi, so we had to get to the train station by bus, and it turned out we need to change the bus again when we got to the last stop of route 12 bus.

Today's lecture is Blackburn, which is quite close to Blackpool, we went to Preston Railway station, surprisingly, the train ticket is not quite as expensive as what we have expected, it was £8.6? [such a bargain for about an hour of train journey! no pun intended]

The lecture went well as usual, I am sure the attendents loved what my lecture as well as Kif's performance, however, their incentive of buying products and notes is as low as usual.

Finally, Kif was able to sell one set of his products. [which is a real bargain as it comes with a performance only VCD of two professional acts, along with the performance & explanation of his
Co-reading, UV pen, a booklet and Sponge Lips!!! They were offered at a very good price, why people don't want it is totally beyond me...]

So, after the lecture, a member from the club drove us to the hotel, which is far away from the town centre, it's an old english home inn, the view of the landscape around it was very nice. Well, since the sales of the products in the lecture is so bad that Kif had no choice but to return to Hong Kong the next day.

I felt very sorry about it...but then again, we don't have any choice.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 6

7-7-2007

Kif only wanted to stay in the hotel room and for some reasons not quite willing to go around, so he stayed in the room and I went to the town centre to check emails and wandering around.

Took a few pictures and had a "sub of the day" - the only real lunch that I have had in days!

After I returned to the hotel, I talked about the tour with Kif, we went into a heat discussion. It was Kif's original intention to accompany me to finish this lecture tour, but since people don't really buy the stuffs that we sell, especially Kif's product, not even 1 set of them was sold in Liverpool lecture, after much consideration of the cost of doing this tour, we have decided to give a try to one more lecture and see what happens.

I didn't sleep well that night, so did Kif, I guess.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 5

6-7-2007

wow!!! Finally, after nearly a week, I have found an internet cafe here in Wolverhampton!!! Thank god! I was really surprised though, that there are very few internet cafes around.

Okie...so what happened on 6th this month? Well..not much, I went to Town Centre of Liverpool with Kif, we wandered around and took a few pictures. My suitcase was broken, had to replace it...we searched in quite a few shopping malls, and finally found a large suitcase which is £25 and lasted for two mins before it was broken.... sigh....

Obviously, I have overestimated the amount of the products that people will buy in lectures, therefore sent a few emails to UK magic dealers and see if they will be buying or trading some of my DVDs and props.

After the internet session, we went to Conservation Musemum, some 15 mins later, we both decided to return to the hotel.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog Day 4

5-7-2007



Haven't had a chance to update my blogin the last few days, mostly because I don't have a laptop with me and the Premier Travel Inn at Queensdrive[Liverpool] is not quite close to the town.



I had to leave Isle of Mann, despite my unwillingness, before my departure though, I had the good fortune of having breakfast as Paul's place, and I must say I very much enjoy the breakfast made by Paul's lovely wife- Alice. Apparently, I am not the only lecturer who missed out the breakfast because of getting up late.



By the way, that's also the first time that I actually see Paul's Library, he has a huge collection of books, lecture notes and DVDs, including some really rare items- original Marlo magazines and Guy Hollingworth's original "Reformation" VHS tape, among others!



After the breakfast, Paul drove me to the Isle of Mann airport and I left this lovely little island, which I'll definite return to it some point in my life.



When the plane boarded off at John Lennon international airport, the weather was not quite friendly, as usual, it was raining. Fortunately, it didn't take long before Richie came to the airport, he immediately took me to the Lime St. railway station, and Kif was already there awaiting for me. He, however, wasn't happy with alot of things, to which I could understand, but can't really care much.



Richie drove us to the Premier Inn at Queens drive, which is not very far away from the lecture venue, the lecture was very well received, apparently, a lot of people think it was one of the best lectures that they have seen in a long time.



Since I would have to pay the traffic cost on my own, and the rent for the room is extremely expensive, which easily took away 75% of my lecturer fee, and for some reasons, even the attendents really enjoyed what I have done in the lectures, they are not very interested in buying my materials... geees...I am very concerned about my income, I have a feeling that I might not have sufficient funds to go to Scotland. =.=



Hopefully this is not going to be the case.

Mr. Parker, R.I.P.

While I don't know Jack personally, I have visited his website and watched many of his video clips, Jack was a great cardman....great techiques and thinking...

Too bad that we have lost him...

www.jacksdeck.com

Mr. Parker, R.I.P.

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Tour Travelog - Day 3

4-7-2007 Day 3

I got up as early as yesterday, around 6:30 A.M.

Spent a considerable amount of time to wash my clothes and socks...

Finally, when I was ready to go around to have a look, it's already 10 A.M.

Weather is not particularly friendly today, quite misty...but then I don't intend to go too far away from the hotel.

As I was looking around, I spotted a small castle, it turned out to be a real thing which was built back in early 1800s. The castle used to be a hotel, that's Castle Mona Hotel for your information, but apparently due to some financial problems, the last owner sold it and it's temporarily left empty at the moment.

The keeper of the hotel is a gentleman in his 50s or possibly 60s, he was surprised when he found someone [that's your sincerely]acting suspiciously outside the front door of the hotel, but then he was fairly pleased when he knows that I truly admire this kind of thing, casltes and heritages, that is.

He brought me to the ball room and few other rooms in this empty castle...you probably won't believe how I felt at that moment, I was so excited about it. I have been dreaming for a long long time that one day I could walk around in a castle ...you would too, if you watched "Robin Hood" or any other cartoons/fairytales which involves a castle when you were a kid.

The best thing being that I am the only one in the castle, well, not only one, but then, the keeper kindly gave me sometime to wander around and do whatever I wanted to do.

The lamp, the wall, the statues, the paint, ...everything in the caslte is just so delicate and elegant....to sum up...it's wonderous!!!

For a few seconds, I feel like if I was a duke or something and I owned the castle...all the guests dress up and dining, chatting, dancing in the ball room, and they love what the strolling magician doing with a pack of cards.

Part of my childhood dreams has come true and I can't really express my feeling with words...

Now I am back to the hotel and the reality...will share more experience with you soon.

[Time] 5:55 P.M.

Just returned to Hotel, oh..Paul...thanks alot, I love you...don't get me wrong, I love you in a sense that thank you for your arrangement of getting John to take me to the CastleTown this afternoon, of course, John, thank you very much for your effort and treat, much appreciated!

Guys, I published the first half of today's travelog this morning and Paul saw it, he immediately gave me a call telling me that if I have the same fixation about castles as Steve Beam does, I can go to the Castletown, which is a real thing!!! [This also says that Paul is an extremely considerated person, great hospitality!]

I can't really tell you how excited I was and still am!

The real castle, however, is not really a place that's suitable for the accommodation for contemporary human beings. The experience/impact of going into a real castle has rendered me speechless!

Check this out: CastleTown, Isle of Mann

BTW, Isle of Mann is so beautiful that I have decided that I will definitely return here some point in my life, perferablly not on my own.

oooooui.......time to do some preparation for tonight's lecture...

until then...

Zenneth

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog - Day 2

well..this is already day 3 of my UK tour, but I was so rushed up yesterday, and haven't had a chance to update my blog, doesn't matter really, will make it up now.

3-7-2007 Day 2

The sunshine came in from the window and woke me up at the monring, I thought it was already 8 or 9 in the morning, had a look of the watch..arhh...it's just 6:30 A.M.

Strange as it appear to be, I am leading a perfectly balanced life now, I would go to bed early and get up early.

Finished my breakfast at Ramada Jarvis Hotel, which is also the headquarter of Leicester Magic Circle, I proceed to the check out immeidately. Oh boy, that's the begining of a series of misforunate events.

I went to Leicester Rail station and bought a ticket to Liverpool lime street, I must say, the British Railway System is very complicate, it took me quite a few mins to figure out which train/platform to go. To reconfirm it, I asked the staff on the platform to make sure that I am taking the right train,and that was 3 mins before the arrival of the train.

Believe it or not, shortly after I got on the train, the ticket examiner came over and asking for my ticket, I presented my ticket to him, he was in awe and I realised I am in trouble by the look of his face.

"Sir, where are you heading to?"
"Liverpool"
"But we are not going to liverpool!"
"You serious?"
"yeah, this is completely wrong way if Liverpool being your destination"
"oh no....I must catch the flight at 3 p.m."
"I am sorry, but you are not going to make it."
"What?!!!"
" This train is to London St. Pancras."
"And?"
"which we will get there in about 1 and half hour."

I was nearly faint...

Then the lady sitting right next to me told me about 30 seconds before the train arrived, there was a broadcasting saying the train to Liverpool changed to platform 4....oh well....

So I head back to Leicester, which took away 3 meaningful hours of my life by the time that I get there, and then I went to Nuneaton and change the train again to Liverpool Lime Street. By the time I get there, it's already 4 P.M.

Oh, by the way, did I tell you I was bringing nearly 40 kgs of baggages with me?

I rushed to Bus Stop and after waiting for 5 mins, I took the bus to the Liverpool International Airport - The John Lennon Airport. I purchased the ealiest possible air ticket to Isle of Mann, which costed me £58 =.=

Rushed to the security control and the guy told me:" You can't bring those bags onto the plane."

"What?!!!"

"Yes, only one hand bag is allowed to get onto the plane, you would have to check them in."
[that's already 5:10 and the plane will depart in 10 mins time.]

So I rushed back to the counter and check in the bags, the lady said:" Oh,I am sorry, I forgot to tell you that you can only bring one bag onto the plane." [which I have three...]

rush...rush....rush.....

Finally I can sit down and relax a bit...

The landscape of Isle of Mann is breathtaking though, which I take it as a remedy to all these troubles I have experienced.

After I arrived the Isle of Mann, Paul Martin picked me up at the airport, very nice fella he is.

He then drove me to the hotel--Welback Hotel, well...I can't really explain to you how much I love the place, it's b.e.a.utiful!!!

The hotel is situated on a slope, which is also near the sea, the view is simply glamourous! And yes, it does look like what we will normally see on T.V., you know, those travelling programs showing the ultra relaxing scenes in Europe and you could only wish you would have a chance to visit some point in your life but you wouldn't...

It justifies my decision of becoming a travelling magician, despite all the hassles.

Paul then drove me to have a dinner, the resturant serves indian food. Outside the resturant is a little bay, which you can see a lot of boats parked there. The scene reminds me of what I have seen in Universal Studio [Japan], and it's just lovely to see the real thing.

The food is very tasty, but then, other than the breakfast, I had nothing that day.

Isle of Mann is actually an offshore financial centre, the tax rate is super low and the ceiling of the tax you would have to pay is relatively low, irrespective how much money you can earn.

People that born in Isle of Mann is called Manx...

well...forget it ...if you want to know more about Isle of Mann, just google it or do some researches in wikipedia on your own.

I am exhuasted again and before I had a chance to look around the island, I had to recharge myself...

Cheers,
Zenneth

Zenneth Kok 2007 UK Lecture Tour Travelog - Day 1

2-7-2007

After 12 hours of flight and nearly 4 hours of train, I have arrived Leicester in whole. Up till this moment, I still have no idea of how Jim could of convinced to bring that many products and DVDs with me. [aauui....wait a mintue, I have dreamed of this moment before, that I am sitting in this place - a convinence store and doing something in front of a computer, believe it or not.]

Anyway, the very first thing that I like to say is, everything in UK is freaking expensive!

Before my departure, I have made a change of £150, which slightly more than $2000 HKD.

In less than 12 hours time [since my arrival to U.K.], £100 was spent, and that's $1550 HKD! for that much of money, what did I get?

1: Train ticket from Airport to Leicester £45-50? [can't really remember]
2: 2 bottles of Coke £2 [$30 HKD for 2 bottle of coke?...oh...yup]
3: 1 bottle of water £1.35
4: a roll of double sided tape
5: sub of the day at subway + medium sized coke light
6: Voda prepaid account +£15 Top Up credit [which I have already used up]
7: £10 international call card
8: taxi fare from the train station to hotel [£4 for a distance that is only 3-4 mins by walk, I am taking too many bags and luggages with me]
9: Internet access £3 for 1.5 hour
10: some other gadgets: lighter, adaptor....

Jesus....how much you would have to earn in order to live in U.K. [especially @ London, which I believe the price for everything tend to be more expensive than in other areas of U.K.]

I have settled down myself at Ramada hotel which is also the headqurater of Leicester Magic Circle, and done all the preparation works for my lecture...

Part 2:

The first lecture of my UK tour officically started at 7:45 p.m. not many attendets, which I can understand, I suppose that's what a lecture really is in Western countries.

I have probably made a mistake though, for showing too many technically demanding materials in the lecture, I believe, I have successfully convinced certain amount of people not to pick up card magic. lol...

But that's a lesson, the experience helps me to make the necessary changes of the contents of the lecture.

Was nearly exhuasted when the lecture reached its end, I head back to my room and immediately fall into sleep, which also brings the end to day 1 of my 2007 U.K. tour.

Cheers,
Zenneth