Hi, my name is Michael Cheung, and the purpose of this "Paperclip Challenge" is to start with a paperclip and trade for something better. Then after that I trade and trade and trade until I get myself to the goal of getting a FLAT!!! Nope not a house, A FLAT!!!. It's a daunting task but then again its not called "The Paperclip Challenge" for nothing! If you are interested then please send an e-mail to MHYCheung@hotmail.CO.UK.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

I met the Original Paperclip Guy (Kyle MacDonald) YESTERDAY!!!

I had an awesome Saturday yesterday. I went and met the original man who thought up the paperclip trade, Kyle MacDonald. I found out that he was in the UK promoting his new book which can be seen on his new mini UK website on:

http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/oneredpaperclip/

I finished reading already, it's good BUY IT!!! It was really short notice how I got to meet up with him so I'm really grateful that he gave some of his precious time to meet up. I sent him an e-mail on Thursday night asking if he was gonna be up for meeting up during the weekend and he replied with a number for him to call him on. SWEET!



We then met up on Saturday in London, Camden town at Lock 17, where he was enjoying a pint by the river. He was a really friendly guy and a good person to chat with. In fact what should have been a meeting for a couple of minutes turned into a couple of hours!!! That really made my day!!! We chatted about all sorts of things, what the town of Kipley was like, places he travelled, places to see.

After a round of drinks he even took us to the nearest book store and bought me and my mate Dan (The other fella in the picture below) a book which I traded for a Twister board game!!!


We then went our own ways, he went off to Live Earth concert in Wembly and I went to take in what just happened. What a day out that was!!! He even signed the book for me and gave me a complimentary red paperclip badge. That is gonna go on my T-shirt later once I figure out how to sow :S


Thanks for giving the time to meeti up Kyle, really appreciate the time. Hope you managed to get into the concert yesterday and have a safe trip home!!! You can see his orginal one red paperclip website on:

http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 18, 2007

Trade 7: CANCELLED :( Back to Trade 6 (Mini Motorbike)

Hi guys,

Unfortunately the Paperclip Challenge has taken a small step back. The swap with the Red Peugeot 405 1.8i has been withdrawn because of concerns with the high mileage on the vechicle. I'd like to thank Drew McCrone for being an honest swapper with all the questions I asked. It's a shame I had to pull out, he did nothing wrong on his part, I was also following advice from friends that the high mileage on the car could cause problems for the next trade. I will keep you guys updated for any changes on new trades.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I was on the ANDREW PEACH SHOW and in the Reading Evening Post on Monday!!!!

Hey guys!!!

It's been a hectic past week and a great start to the week. I was LIVE in my workplace in front of my boss and the boss above my boss with all my colleagues on BBC Radio Berkshire on the Andrew Peach Breakfast show!!! THANKS ANDREW FOR INVITING ME ON THE SHOW!!! It was really random I got a missed call from them and called back and then this lady said I was going to be LIVE on air in 2 mins?!?!?!?! I was a bit bewilder when Andrew was speaking to me I just couldn't believe this was happening. I will contact the show again to try and get a recording of the clip from them.

Additionally I was in the Reading Evening Post later on that day!!! BOO YAH!!! I'll hopefully try and arrange to collect my swap sometime next week if all goes well. I'll keep you guys updated!!!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

I was on BBC Radio Berkshire with Maggie Philbin!!!!

Guys I was late to work this morning and being not the ideal employee today. I strolled in around 11am in the morning to work. COS I WAS ON THE RADIO!!!!

I had to get up 6am for this LIVE Radio feed which start at 7am, but they BBC crew must have gotten up way before that. It was quite surreal, got up at 6am and started tidying up the house and making sure everything was in place and then 7am. No one!!! I thought................ did they get lost? Have they found the wrong house? Are they not coming? So I popped out the house and walked out and I saw a MASSIVE tall antenna sticking out the roof of a van. This antenna was HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!

So then I saw Maggie Philbin (well known for presenting of Swap Shop and Tomorrow's World), walking down the road in her radio gear. Very friendly lady!!! I must admit I was abit over energetic chatting to her, I blame it on drinking too much tea :S When we had the interview there were about 4x 5 mins interval from 7am to 9am chatting about the motorbike.

In between the interview she was a great person to chat with, as well as her assistant let's not forget! You can hear the whole conversation once I manage to get a file off the producer so keep checking back to listen in!!! Thanks Doms for giving me half the day off to do that as well!!!

Oh yeah, I asked for her autograph!!! Hells yeah!!!

It's quite late now and have to get ready for work but I will edit and add more to this post tomorrow!!!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

TRADE 6: BOO YAH!!! MINI MOTORBIKE!!!

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Yeah baby YEAH!!! It's a brand new factory fresh mini motorbike. Engine has never been used so it's not got a drop of petrol in it's system yet! Dunno if you need to put motor oil in the engine as well. It's 2 stroke 47cc engine with speeds of up to 40mph (according to the manual). Comes with:

1). Bike stand
2). User manual
3). Decorative Stickers
4). Portable petrol flask (600ml)
5). Tool Kit

(click on image to enlarge)

The story behind this is quite hectic. It started with me driving to Reading on Thursday 1st February to see 5 properties to rent in cos I'm gonna be moving down there on the 19th Feb cos of a new job. In the end I found a really nice place for £433.33 all inclusive!

Then back up to Stamford and then had to prepare and clean up the BMX on Sat morning for a trade in Preston on Saturday 3rd Feb. Still following? Ok good! Since I had to go to Birmingham to meet up with some friends (on Friday 2nd Feb) who I haven't seen for almost a year! Hi Chris, Kiki, Ivan and Judy! Cheers KiKi for letting me stay overnight in your awesome posh flat and most importantly a place to keep my BMX bike! NICE! So went for a dinner out and then a night out in OCEANA with them. It was a really cool night club and an awesome night out.

So then the finally after the Sat night party, got up on Sunday morning to have some Dim Sum with the mates and then headed off with the BMX to Preston on a 2 hour journey from Birmingham. Finally got there after driving through 1 hour of dense fog. It was crazy. Could hardly see in front of me so I had to drive extra slow.

So now I finally get to meet the man, John. Really friendly guy. Even had a drink with him inside after the trade, non-alcoholic of course! Cos kids remember! Don't drink and drive irresponsibly :) His girlfriend took the lovely picture in the lovely dense fog. I always seem to trade in the worst type of weather!

He's moving house so he's trying to get rid of alot of things, good things may I also add! So if anyone has got cash and money to spend. Help John clear out his house of goodies by searching on for his username "Stables01" (he's the username that's located in Lancashire, UK) on Ebay! Cheers John. Enjoy the bike!

OH YEAH! If you guys wanna chat to me or offer a trade I'll can be reached by contacting me on the e-mail address below. I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

Contact e-mail: MHYCheung@hotmail.co.uk

Saturday, January 20, 2007

TRADE 5: Pimped up BMX Bike

Hey guys still got the BMX but already got really good offers so the deadline for the BMX bike is gonna go at the end of this month (January)

Recently I pimped up the bike with

1). New Front and Rear Brake pads
2). Whole new brake cable system (Front and Rear)
3). New Handle Grip
4). New Chain
5). New seat bracket/tightener

Check out the picture below on the new improved bike!

(click on image to enlarge)

Scanner is still broken but will try my best to get it working to put that news paper article on there!

Sunday, December 31, 2006

TRADE 5: BMX Nirve Bike colleceted on NEW YEAR'S DAY!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!! I haven't been doing any trades lately cos I've been waiting. Waiting for the Christmas period to be over. And why you ask???? Where there are new things for Christmas, old things are thrown away!!!

AND BEHOLD!!! The wait is over!!! A Snooker for a BMX!!!. The picture above is Anthony from Kidderminster who wanted to trade on one condition. That I gave him a case of Stella beer. Well I thought this was too much of a good offer to resist.


We traded by meeting up outside Kidderminster in a Safari Zoo at around 2pm today. It was raining heavily as you can tell, but well worth the 3 hours drive to get it!!!

Thanks again Anthony, enjoy the snooker cue and beer.

So let's sum up what I've done so far!!!


I swapped this paperclip with my sister for a wooden ring.


Which I then swapped with Ron from North England for
His teddy bear where I then swapped with Gary from Bristol for
his snooker which comes back to Anthony from Kidderminster and his BMX as seen at the top

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Local Papers, AGAIN!!!





















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I'm in this weeks local papers again! Yay me! I'm getting closer and closer to my goal.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

TRADE 4: Snooker Cue!!!
















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Behold a teddy bear for a snooker cue!!! This must be a one of the best swap uptrades yet. Condition is quite good but does show abit of wear and tear, but nothing that will stop this from being used. Thanks Gary from Bristol for the swap, now my paperclip challenge is rolling!!!

Contact e-mail: MHYCheung@hotmail.co.uk

Friday, November 24, 2006

OH YEAH!!! I'm in the PAPERS!!!



Excuse my excitement, apart pure luck in the past by being there at the right time, I’ve never been in the papers for doing something. This is awesome!

Still haven't got a confirmation on the Barbeque or Tiny Fridge. SO ANYTHING IS UP TRADE!!! Go on! Surely you have something unwanted to trade in the PAPERCLIP CHALLENGE!

THANKS AGAIN STAMFORD MERCURY!!!


(click on image to enlarge)

Contact e-mail: MHYCheung@hotmail.co.uk