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Hotel Architect Launches Sumatra Travel Book

Award-winning graphic novel travel series educates and entertains both children and adults

Bumbling Through Sumatra by Tom Schmidt (ISBN 978-988-18066-6-6)

Hong Kong, 20 May 2010 ————– Architect, entertainer and author Tom Schmidt launched Volume Two of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller™ Adventure Series last night at Hong Kong’s historic Fringe Club.  With close to 100 people in attendance, the book launch included book signings by the author in addition to lucky draw giveaways of travel-related prizes donated by ProTrek and Teva, the two sponsors of the event.  Guests from various creative and travel industries were in attendance, as well as various media representatives including the South China Morning Post, Asia Literary Review, and Bloomberg.

Entitled Bumbling Through Sumatra, this educational graphic novel follows on the heels of award-winning Bumbling Through Borneo, the first volume in a book series that seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures.

Book author and illustrator Schmidt contends, “Sumatra is one of the most important and fascinating places on the planet right now.  In today’s era of climate change, the destruction of ancient rainforests, loss of marine and terrestrial habitats, and erosion of traditional cultures around the world is a very serious issue – and Sumatra is a case in point.”

Recently selected as a bronze medal winner in the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Bumbling Through Sumatra is an educational yet comical adventure through the Strait of Malacca, various ports in Malaysia, and across the Indonesian island of Sumatra.  The reader is taken on an entertaining journey of discovery by following the misadventures of a fictitious cast of bumbling characters on a shoestring budget as they stumble across the natural treasures and indigenous cultures of the Indonesian island of Sumatra – including the environmental challenges they currently face.

With over 200 intricately hand-drawn illustrations, UNESCO’s ecologist Robert Lee notes, “It is refreshing to see Schmidt travel the way travel ought to be done — with arms, eyes, and mind wide open.” WWF – Indonesia views Bumbling Through Sumatra as “a very educational and informative book while providing an entertaining way of telling various conservation messages through adventurous stories.”  Legendary American architectural illustrator Frank Costantino agrees with the universal appeal of the book by noting, “For readers of any age and culture, Bumbling Through Sumatra is a uniquely conceived, very entertaining book –– and sheer fun!”

The Bumbling Traveller™ Adventure Series is published by Kakibubu Media Limited and is distributed throughout Asia by Foreign Press Distributors and MPH Distributors Sdn Bhd.  The series is available for international purchase through Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Schmidt is an architect, award-winning writer, illustrator, musician, and part-time stand-up comedian.  Born in the United States, following his studies of Architecture and Environmental Design at the University of Colorado, his wanderlust has carried him through various bumbling adventures in over 70 countries around the world, while based in the Asia-Pacific region.  Schmidt is a licensed US architect, a LEED® Accredited Professional, a founding member of the Hong Kong Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and a member of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI).  He has resided in Hong Kong since 1997, and is founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an architectural consultancy specializing in sustainable hospitality design.

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