EVACOMICS BLOG

(Photo credit: 汉聪) I was invited to conduct a workshop to a group of student correspondents from a local press on 29 October last year. The objective of the student correspondent program was to train them to become future journalists. So in order to let them get some hands-on experience, the press would occasionally invite people to talk about our trade and be interviewed by them.

2016 has been a very tough year for me because I underestimated the time required to finish my second book and the financial stress affected my health greatly. I am glad the book was done and conventions were over, so I have some vitamin M to feel less stressed and improve my health. I also finally cleared the debt I took to self-publish my first book 3 years ago and resumed taking in commission work again. Therefore I am very sorry that I don't have time to do the colorful weekly comic strips and kept on uploading the black and white ones... I am now planning for the 3rd book: Eva, Kopi and Matcha 2, which is a compilation of the comparison comic strips with more countries: US, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. I was debating if I should do a kickstarter because the current arrangment with my publisher is to contra my rotalties (in depreicating Malaysian ringgit) and use it to buy back books at a discount to sell by myself in Singapore. It's quite troublesome with more and

It was my privilege to be invited as guest speaker for Comic Fiesta! I had an event on Saturday so I could only join the convention on Sunday.

Because I thought I wasn't getting a booth at AFA, I applied for a booth at EOY. When I first came back from Japan, I was offered a table to sell my artwork so I was interested to know if it's going to be different after 3 years. ( Blogged about it here )

I initially thought that I wasn't going to get a booth but I guess someone withdrew on the last minute so I was able to squeeze in!!!

Congratulations to Yoga Inc. for opening their 4th branch at the new "Our Tampines Hub"! Yup, that means there are 4 shopping malls at Tampines now O_O.

I was happy to return to the Makers' Block Festival again with other fellow makers after 2 years :)

Remember the Makers' Block when my first book was released ? Well it's back again at The Centrepoint shopping mall located at Orchard!

I was very happy to return to Kinokuniya again after 2 years at its new location! I reached there early to display my prize giveaway: Matcha cat cushion and sticker sheets. Some of my friends reached there early so I asked them to help me take some photos and do FB Live video broadcast later.

(Left: My first book that I self-published, right: my second book with a publisher) Many budding authors feedback to me that they found my article: " 9 Important Lessons learnt on self-publishing in Singapore " very useful, so I am writing another one for authors who are wondering if they should self-publish or sign a contract with a publisher. After experiencing both sides, I would like to put together the pro and con of each side and share with you what I went through so you can decide for yourself which path to take. Self Publishing Pro: You can control everything from the content to the pricing of your book. Higher profit margin if your book cost is low. Retain full copyright to sell to other publishers in various countries, including selling on Amazon.com and publish in any eBook format. Con: You bear the cost of all production, including reprints. You have to store the rest of the books that your distributor did not take and try your blardy best to

Day One:  Cooler Lumpur Festival I was honoured to be invited to this independent literature festival for a panel discussion with famous Malaysian comic artist and doodler Chee Ming Boey. I also got to meet my publisher and editor for the first time!

Some of you were shocked to learn that I have stones in my ears but actually everybody has them. In normal circumstances, they stay inside a chamber with a membrane to keep them from going out. However when a person ages or suffer from a head trauma, these small stones may dislodge and float around in the ear fluid tubes that disturbs the body's balance system (aka vestibular system) and the mind perceives the room as spinning although it isn't, aka vertigo giddiness. The term BPPV means the vertigo is aggravated by certain head positions, comes suddenly and although it seems serious, it is actually not life threatening. However during a vertigo attack, it is very uncomfortable as the whole room seems spinning. BPPV is common among elderly and people with head trauma. So the only thing I recalled doing out of the blue was an aerial yoga session 2 days before and an attempt on tripod headstand the day before. I only felt fatigue on that day and suddenly woke up to a spinning r

If you have been receiving all the posts from my FB and Instagram, you'll know that my book and cat cushions are now selling at all 6 Naiise outlets in Singapore. They opened a brand new flagship store at the Cathay's basement this month and they invited all suppliers to party!

After relentless whining about the lack of support for artists and my expensive monthly medical fees, a friend decided to pledge and encouraged me to finish my second book earlier. And because it was my birthday month, a fan increased her pledge to $10 for this month only, hence for the first time in more than a year, I finally reached the goal of US$600/month!!! ＼(≧▽≦)丿♪ ＼(≧▽≦)丿♪ ＼(≧▽≦)丿♪  But after one day, a fan lowered his pledge for June... ... anyway, at least all patrons are still around!!! It has not been easy and many times I was disappointed because although I have 96,000 likes on FB  and 5,400 followers on Instagram, I have less than 60 patrons supporting me. Which made me wonder WHY??? Sometimes I post about my disappointment on FB, but I would get random readers telling me to stop posting such demoralising posts, so I only post my comics nowadays... #supportlocal ? When my first book was published in 2014, I had around 48,000 likes but sales was slow. I h

Finally a yoga studio near home! I was enthusiastic and purchased Yoga Inc.'s special opening package of 5 classes to try out, sorry offer no more ^^;;

Saigon Central Post Office The Saigon Central Post Office is one of the most popular tourist attraction in HCMC. It has a distinct architecture and colour that you will not miss when you pass by.

We signed up a day tour from Saigon Tours Vietnam to visit Mekong Delta to see their floating market. Because it was a few hours drive from HCMC, the guide stopped by a cafeteria for us to drink Vietnamese coffee and coconut water. Vietnamese coffee tastes very strong and acidic, I became awake not because of the caffeine but because of the strong taste  (￣▽￣;;)　

Wrap and Roll 62 Hai Bà Trưng, Bến Nghé, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam Doanh brought us to a restaurant called "Wrap and Roll" to taste Vietnamese food. As you can see, there is a lot of greens in Vietnamese food, which is great for guts and health! No wonder I did not fall sick when I was in Vietnam but once I come back to Singapore I caught a flu again...

We chose Pullman hotel after reading some good reviews especially about their breakfast buffet. The hotel is located in district 1, which is like the hub of the city and 15min walk to Ben Thanh Market, but crossing Vietnamese traffic can be quite daunting. Key attractions like the cathedral and post office were a bit further but they offer shuttle bus service to these places.

It was a privilege to share my experience about the magazine infringement case with students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law. The panel of speakers included Doanh Nguyen, who is their alumni and legal specialist who helped me in the infringement case.  You can recap what happened here.