The first time we met Miss Hippo, what caught our eye were her big smile, huge Spongebob Squarepants backpack, toned biceps and muscular back. Deceiving us was her fair skin; but in fact she has been obsessed with local outdoor activities for more than a decade: trail hiking, stream hiking, shoreline trekking, rock climbing and kayaking. All these precious experiences are shared online, recorded meticulously on her personal blog as well as her Facebook page.
Miss Hippo’s comics in Forest Run Run Run (走馳綠林), pictures provided by the interviewee
In 2005, Miss Hippo established her personal website, Grass on Brain (腦生草堂). Since then and till now, via her Facebook page Forest Run Run Run, she has been using art to tell her mountain stories. Her arms are strong, and her fingers agile: drawing characters and humorous pictures that even readers without experience in hiking or outdoor activities would be attracted to. Her characters are dynamic and full of personality, such as the always naked Mr. Sea Lion with a backpack, a skinny flower with a pair of thick eyebrows or the walking watermelon head. In reality we do not know these characters, but the more we read her comics, the more it feels as if we have formed a friendship with them.
Miss Hippo and her friends love to cosplay when they are in the wild, photos provided by the interviewee
Taking Charge and Falling in Love with the Mountains
Our first impression was that Miss Hippo enjoyed outdoor activities starting from a young age, so it surprised us when we learned that her first hiking experience was not pleasurable. She was in the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps in secondary school and the instructor planned and arranged hiking for the group that she did not enjoy. It wasn’t until she graduated from university, met her husband and a group of friends, that she started to enjoy the mountains because then they could plan their own routes according to their schedule. They would take turns planning trips, and together visit every corner of Hong Kong by hiking, shoreline trekking and rock climbing and having fun. Some Mondays, she would sneak out from her working desk to take a nap at the washroom because she was still exhausted from the weekends. After all these years, she still fondly recalls these funny stories of her and her friends, but of course there were some thrilling moments too.
“I thought I was going to die! Seriously…” Miss Hippo raised her voice and became emotional. “We planned to swim across Siu Nim Chau (Northeast New Territories, near So Lo Pun), it was less than 200 meters, very short. The weather was good so we decided to eat … we heard thunder in the middle of our meal and the temperature dropped 10°C in 2 minutes. The sky far away turned red so we immediately stopped eating and left. We tried hard to outrun the rain cloud until we ran into a pavilion at Lai Chi Wo, and we thought we were safe … but it became even more scary. There were nonstop lightnings and every strike felt like an explosion right on top of our heads, they were so close and bright … After that day, we discovered the Hong Kong Observatory quoted that as an Educational Resource…”
As Miss Hippo shared about this experience from 12 years ago (in Cantonese only), her daughter, who is under 2 years old, started shouting next to her, probably because she could sense some tenseness in her mother. Has motherhood changed anything? “Actually I am more risk-averse now, and I bring a lot with me, her food, water, diapers, toys, clothes … I don’t go shoreline trekking now, I mostly stick to the main trails.” Photos of family outings are always seen on Miss Hippo’s social media platforms, we can tell the big smile of her child is inherited from active parents who enjoy freedom.
Creating “Note from Megaphone” — protecting our countryside
From sketches to the final piece
Taking TrailWatch’s report incident function icon, and adding her imagination, Miss Hippo created this comic series to promote environmental protection and conservation messages. These comics turn theory into pictures that convey simple messages such as not to dispose of fruit peel in the wild or not to feed wild boars, which everyone can relate to and understand.
If you’re inspired by the work of Miss Hippo, join us today to spread educational messages to protect our countryside. If we want our next generation, like the daughter of Miss Hippo, to be able to enjoy Hong Kong’s natural environment, it starts from you taking action today.
