two sandwiches

Charles Kane!

2010-03-27T15:23:00.002-04:00

I finally saw this movie. Yes. So I spent a little of my Saturday afternoon piecing together the infamous Kane election poster from five movie stills.

Project X-RAY: Common Sense

2010-02-28T22:17:00.003-05:00

This semester, my friend Craig and I teamed up to build a project, tentatively titled "Common Sense." It's a museum exhibit, infographic, and sculpture piece, all wrapped into one. We're examining the American Dream --- where it came from, where it is now, and where it might go someday.

It's very exciting, and we're hoping that we might get funded by the Pepsi Refresh project. Our website, www.projectxray.blogspot.com, will be updated over the next few months, tracking our progress.

Killer Balloon Art

2010-02-28T22:15:00.001-05:00

Very cool. Incredibly playful. Nearly terrifying. http://www.jasonhackenwerth.com/#

New Portfolio Website!

2010-02-06T17:28:00.000-05:00

Goodbye Coroflot, hello Shownd!

Charts rock

2009-12-02T22:39:00.000-05:00

Chart on the left about says it all, doesn't it?

Philippe Starck at TED

2009-11-21T14:38:00.004-05:00

I never cared much for Philippe Starck until I saw this video. No self-aggrandizement - no slides of his work - just humility. Design may not be "oosless," but I agree that it creates better fiction than reality.

Vanishing Point

2009-09-25T09:38:00.004-04:00

I finally watched Vanishing Point (1971) last night. I have no idea why it took me so long. What an excellent, excellent film.

Crittern Barn lives!

2009-09-20T19:34:00.002-04:00

The folks at Critter Barn found a plot of land near the Tulip City Airport. I thought that the project would be completely, and forever, sidelined by the Great Recession. Tremble and despair at the eternal appeal of furry creatures!

Nostradamus works for AT&T

2009-09-20T17:44:00.004-04:00

These predictions from 1993 are remarkable accurate... worth a watch!

Odds and Ends

2009-09-05T18:18:00.002-04:00

Felini's 8 1/2 was on IFC the other day, and I had to get a picture of those glasses. Sadly, I couldn't wait around for the beautiful sunglasses that show up later.

This is my stepdad Dave's '95 Jeep. Over this past week, I sandblasted, primed, and painted the wheels to match the forest green body. We turned the whitewalls in when we remounted the tires. Looks pretty tough, I think.

Finally --- that's no dual monitor setup. That is the power of TWO desktops?!

Yet another portfolio update

2009-07-29T11:15:00.003-04:00

The last piece of the puzzle: Standard Chartered Bank Experience Design.

New Grcic Table

2009-07-28T12:52:00.000-04:00

This guy kicks so much ass.

Remember when?

2009-07-24T17:20:00.003-04:00

I lived here, once...

NeoCon 2009 Aftermath

2009-07-22T15:08:00.004-04:00

Somehow, Caitlin snagged tickets to a NeoCon afterparty at the House of Blues. What began as an academic day of research and study quickly devolved into a celebration fit for Bacchus. There were snacks!

And dancing.

Mostly, though, there was mugging for the camera.

More Portfolio updates

2009-07-22T15:03:00.005-04:00

I must have job interviews next week... just updated my K60 Lounge Chair project. Reordered a few things, improved some renderings (you can see the original cover page below). Could a SCB update be far behind?

let's not forget

2009-07-21T08:34:00.003-04:00

While we remember the heroism of all those involved in the Apollo space program, let's not forget the efforts of this terribly brave, yet terribly unlucky, man, the George Harrison of Apollo 11.

Another Google Blanket Update!

2009-07-20T11:00:00.002-04:00

I swear, this is the last time that I update this project. I think, now, it's finally at the level at which it needs to be.

Related: 100th post! Updates have been scarce lately; I've been considering grabbing the rudder and changing the direction of this blog, now that I don't have tales from the East to share. Hopefully a new portfolio website is in the cards soon, as well as experiments with Rhino and Alias, more furniture concepts, and maybe even more car design crit...

neocon 2009

2009-07-11T16:18:00.002-04:00

some photographs from this year's NEOCON furniture fair in beautiful downtown Chicago. this was my third year attending... i'm starting to get familiar with a lot of the furniture, so there wasn't much surprising for me this year.

definite highlight of the show: my stacking solution! this little plastic bumper, on the bottom of Haworth's Very Wire Stacker, took up the majority of my time at my internship at Haworth last summer. fun to see it real.

favorite chair from the show: Herman Miller's Setu. comfortable, flexible, constant seating surface: beautiful and functional plastic chassis. simple construction. really excellent.

i think this natural pattern, this idea, is finally on its way out.

it's not a movement, it's an abomination.

cool fabric at the show. from a distance, the print looks like clouds, but up close, it's a matrix of hundreds of different, colorful shapes. very cool stuff. very curious how the artist made the print, manually or through some computer algorithm...

portfolio update!

2009-05-08T22:02:00.002-04:00

it's that magical time of the year! check out the latest addition to my portfolio, the K60 Lounge Chair. above, the quarter scale model that became one week of my life.

chair poster

2009-04-30T00:40:00.003-04:00

things are coming together... the multiply textures and colors might be cheater tactics, but so long as the outcome functions, i'm not going to complain about it.

annie clark

2009-04-21T00:17:00.003-04:00

she's my favorite. her new album comes out next month, but god bless those folks at NPR if they're not streaming it right now. for free.

41

2009-04-20T23:48:00.003-04:00

a few weekends ago, i was blessed with the opportunity to visit the Houston Intercontinental Airport --- the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, natch. inside, i discovered this magnificent bronze statue of number 41.

such grace. such contropasto. such wind-blown elegance.

a dashing, handsome president? mission accomplished.

more chair

2009-04-17T19:50:00.000-04:00

it's coming along!

chair screen grab

2009-04-11T20:02:00.002-04:00

at long last, i'm doing some work.

irish nachos

2009-03-26T01:43:00.002-04:00

right: irish nachos

dubliner cheese

cheddar cheese

cheesy mashed potatoes

taco meat

peas

beans

green onions

radioactive green sour cream

left: green nachos

cooked spinach

fresh jalapeno peppers

green onions

green peppers

cheesy mashed potatoes

peas

beans

quacamole

el ranchero chips (in the green bag)

squeeze of lime

the double starch whammy of nachos and mashed potatoes was a true success.

standard chartered, at long last

2009-03-10T14:33:00.001-04:00

the odyssey is over. my project from hong kong, a redesign of standard chartered's retail experience, is finally posted online at my coroflot webpage.

now it's spring break!

chairs

2009-03-05T02:06:00.001-05:00

the two boards for my midterm presentation for my chair design studio. i'm leaning toward the second option, because it's nearly absolutely useless. not much use for a chair that you can't put up against the wall --- unless you've got a big, beautiful space.

this has been a challenging project, and not just because i've also been trying to finish my china project at the same time. i'm a big fan of my I.D. hooks (like, ooo, it's made out of recycled materials, or, ooo, it folds up!) and bullshit like that, but i've made myself stay away entirely. it's been hard.

it takes a lot of guts to get up in front of some designers and just say "this is my design, what do you think?"

buck wild

2009-03-04T01:30:00.002-05:00

at long last, some real content. two pictures of my full-scale plywood ergonomic buck. she's wide and low, and i have half a mind to make some nice cushions and keep her around the living room.

tomorrow, renderings.

change sushi

2009-03-01T14:27:00.003-05:00

sushi we can believe in.

the future

2009-02-24T21:14:00.002-05:00

watching a live stream on a newspaper website of our black president deliver the state of the union. posted in real time. sometimes i love the future.

art: sunlit couch

2009-02-15T14:13:00.002-05:00

i promised myself i would make time to simply experiment. it took me a little time, but i kept the promise. beautiful and sunny morning, a nap on the couch, and a little photoshop spice.

chair 2

2009-02-13T15:44:00.001-05:00

more chair: here, a form exploration / exploring new tools in Alias, a 3D modelling program.

koolhaus kandle

2009-02-10T09:28:00.003-05:00

one would think that the people who invented fireworks would know how to control fireworks. above, a famous and new rem koolhaas building that roasted down in beijing the other day.

more significantly, this chinese language website with great pictures, altered and otherwise. as a friend back in hong kong would say, "soooo PRC!"

barcelona chair

2009-02-08T19:48:00.002-05:00

the inspiration behind the chair below, and for any upcoming posts about my studio project, is this, Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona chair. our brief for class is, natch, brief: design a timeless, elegant, and classic chair inspired by the design of a classic.

the Barcelona chair had the most hooks to its story (maybe the most famous chair... designed for the German Pavilion in 1929... cool materials...), and I happen to like it, so it got the nod.

calatrava under construction

2009-02-08T19:44:00.002-05:00

really awesome photo of a santiago calatrava building under construction.

side chair

2009-02-04T21:25:00.002-05:00

preliminary model of this semester's project: chair.

japan, day ten

2009-01-29T12:15:00.005-05:00

last day. i won't lie, it was also the most boring. i can't describe how exhausted i was at this point of the trip. we only slept, maybe four hours, after our night out. i honestly, really thought i might collapse on the walk to breakfast.

yet, i abide.

cute spelling.

we went back to shinjuku for one last look around before hopping on the plane to return to hong kong, shop for a souvenirs, for the girlfriends especially.

and to also take a few more pictures in the bright, morning sun.

tokyo. wild style.

after walking around for a while, it was time to head back to the hostel and collect our things. the front desk gave us directions to the nearest train to the airport.

that's where things went wrong. no trip is ever without drama, i suppose.

remember the picture of the tokyo subway system? not only does it look like spaghetti, but there are two separate systems in the city, the tokyo subway and the JR lines. we hopped on the JR, following the map and the instructions we were given. there were no english signs in the station. we should have known better.

four stops later and it became clear that we were on the wrong train. we hopped off, struggled to ask someone about where to go, and then, ultimately, got back on the same train. which, after 40 minutes, dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. we were now less than two hours away from our flight's departure.

a kind, old lady (have i mentioned how great japan is?) waved us over and, though some creative gesturing, explained that we had to wait 45 minutes for the next train to the airport. which would itself take another 45 to reach the airport. it was going to be close. we drank a hot, canned-corn drink.

we got to the airport with maybe 15 minutes to spare, mostly discouraged, but determined not to give up until it was really, completely too late. we ran to the terminal and were treated like triage patients at the northwest terminal. though initially they said we were too late, they were able to rush us through and get us on the plane, not three minutes before it left the gate.

one plane and one taxi later, we were back in hong kong. for three days.

in conclusion, my visit to japan did nothing less than restore my faith in the human race.

japan, day nine

2009-01-28T11:03:00.002-05:00

home stretch here, folks.

morning in the capsule hostel, surveying the damage. most of the other guests had already gone, home to their wives and families.

we spent the next four hours wandering around tokyo, searching for a place to stay for the night. one hostel after another in asakusa was booked up, or, even worse, had only one bed available. we finally travelled deep into the heart of the city to find a room.

with what little afternoon we had left, we decided to visit the Yasakuni Shrine, Tokyo's own controversial war memorial. i was excited. first, the giant gate to the shrine, made out of steel and not the usual wood. after a walk through a street market, and a quick stop at the temple proper, we found the Yushukan, the japanese war museum.

the museum did not disappoint. after a few rooms of ancient samurai swords and armor, it was on to the real meat: revisionist WWII history: germany had no choice but to start the war after suffering such disgrace after WWI. japan fought in nanking with honor, then left its people alone. america forced japan into war WWII by cutting off their oil supplies.

i don't really blame them. they weren't evil and hell-bent on genocide, they were just hell-bent on empire. weren't britain, and spain, and the netherlands, and the french, et. al.? after sealing themselves off from the rest of the world for some hundred years, it was the americans that sailed to japan and demanded they open their borders for trade. with the americans came their guns, and with the guns came a devastating power struggle that opened the way for the power-hungry.

and never forget: samurai hearts.

it was cool to see this zero up close and personal. but the last part of the museum, a few rooms covered floor to ceiling with pictures of dead soldiers, really nearly moved me to tears.

after that sobering trip, we went back to our new hostel to rest up and meet with a handful of austrialians we had met in kyoto. we went to dinner with them, after having had dinner on our own, then went to a club that one of their local tokyo friends had recommended. which sucked.

so we went to another neighborhood, and found another club, this one, a little off the beaten path. things were slow at first, but after a little gin and tonic, things started to pick up, and ultimately, we danced all night with some local folks. it was a great last night in town.

japan, day eight

2009-01-26T14:05:00.004-05:00

after some rest, it was time to head back out for my last day in kyoto to see the b-side temples. not before a delicious brunch at the dorm accompanied by jimmy cliff. have i mentioned how great japan is?

our first stop: Sanjusangen-do, Hall of the Lotus King. before stopping inside, i had a quick drink and examined some hilarious anti-smoking signs. gotta watch out for that neglect.

inside (again, no photographs allowed) were one thousand full-size statues of warriors, flanking a 20-foot tall buddha. one thousand is a very impressive number. there were also around two dozen stone statues of ancient japanese gods. since 1164. 1164. for those who are keeping score, the magna carta was 1215.

everyone at the temple was very kind as well. we met a wonderful old couple who were delighted to see a couple americans off the beaten tourist path. they had met while in college in wisconsin many years ago, they explained, and that we were lucky to visit kyoto in the winter, when the crowds were thin.

walking to the next temple, while crossing the street, a car full of kyoto-ans stopped to let me cross. i gave them a smile and a quick bow. their faces lit up and all four passengers gave me enthusiastic bows in reply, in unison.

have i mentioned how great japan is?

next we walked up the hill to Kiyomizu-dera. kyoto is flanked on three sides by hills, this temple perched off one. some sort of temple has been at this location since the 798, with the current structure dating back to 1644.

mostly, though, it had great views of the city below.

a small street on the way down the hill.

another temple, but at this one, you can see the main attraction without paying a single yen!

finally, we stopped at Nishi Honganji, which was perhaps the most modest, yet most legitimate, temple that we stopped at. as we arrived, a dozen or so priests had arrived for a tour of the temple. after a lot of walking, it was great to sit on the tatami floor and relax for a minute. no cameras allowed, but that didn't stop this person.

another long walk in search of a greek restaurant, which we found after some time. we hopped on a bus and made way for some car dealerships we had seen the day before, hoping to scope some metal and maybe grab some brochures in japanese. which we did. nerds.

finally, we hopped back on the bullet train to return to tokyo for our last few days in japan. we arrived to discover that all the rooms in our old hostel were booked, for the next couple nights. at long last, it was time to buckle down and experience that most japanese of experiences: the capsule hostel.

that's where i spent the night: a plastic box with a built-in TV. i had prepared for some futuristic complex, gleaming, white, and brand-new. instead, it was more like the future, as imagined in the 1970s.

it gets better. anything goes inside the capsule hostel, especially smoking. everywhere. by everyone. a pair of old japanese businessmen, who were loitering around our lockers, were absolutely delighted to see us. which was a little strange. we then made way upstairs to shower, only to discover that the showers were quite communal. sat on upside-down buckets and hosed off like monkeys, then soaked in a cold bath with five other old japanese men.

it was pretty intense.

have i mentioned how great japan is?

W memories

2009-01-26T13:47:00.006-05:00

the New York Times had a fun editorial about the photographic legacy of W. i picked out a few favorites:

remember those days? sigh. goddammit.

goddammit. at least he knows how to make fun of himself?

there's your whole story, right there.

W, right before his last press conference. i thought this was surprising, and revealing, a window past the cowboy bullshit to the heart of a man who's upset to be leaving his post, and perhaps,just maybe, genuinely sad about all the things that went wrong under his watch.

japan, day seven

2009-01-25T10:52:00.005-05:00

i felt more than a little groggy and slow the next day. yet, there were temples to be seen.

first up was kyoto's most famous temple, Kinkaku-ji, or the Golden Pavilion Temple. just look at that gold leaf. how tacky. maybe gold was more acceptable back in 1397. yes, 1397 (though it was rebuilt as recently as 1955). pretty incredible.

at the site, there were a lot of children in school uniforms and kind, old people. a walk through the moss-covered garden finished the trip.

next was the Ryoan-ji, the Temple of the Peaceful Dragon, home of Kyoto's, and the world's, most famous rock garden. after a short walk through the grounds, we sat and looked at the rocks.

and looked some more. no bullshit, no colors, nothing in your face, nothing screaming at you. just relax and look at the rocks. it was fantastic. this garden is around 600 years old. there are fifteen boulders in the garden, placed so that you can only see fourteen at any given angle of view.

according to legend, it is only through enlightenment that one can see the fifteenth stone.

weathered wood.

inside the main temple. no need for furniture.

the rest of the temple was beautiful as well. trees with red leaves, a lovely pond with flirtatious ducks, and an orchard of these dr. seuss trees.

our last best-of-kyoto stop was the Nijo Castle, a 400-year old shogun castle. this bike has nothing to do with the castle, but everything to do with awesome.

pretty impressive. we arrived just as they were closing the castle, and we managed to sneak in for a quick tour - no cameras allowed, of course. which was too bad. the rice-paper windows let in really beautiful light and the hundred-year-old wall-size paintings were incredible. life-size statues colored in the picture in some rooms and gave me a sense of order, duty, and respect.

about half the rooms had secret rooms, closets, really, where samurai would hide and wait - for years - in case the shogun needed help. the coolest part about the castle: the hallway where i walked. underneath, the shogun ordered a system of bells and chimes attached to the floorboards, so that the floor chimes when it's walked upon - the nightingale floor, for defense.

unimaginable wood carving, for intimidation's sake.

what shogun's castle would be complete without koi?

in a giant moat?

the view from the castle keep.

after the long day of sightseeing, i was ready to relax, and spent the rest of the evening taking it easy in the hostel, sitting on my butt, reading more of dreams from my father. made small talk with a few aussies, who told us some tales of our behavior the night before.

gotta make america proud.

japan, day six

2009-01-24T12:56:00.005-05:00

day six: it was time to leave tokyo. ryan and i packed up our things in the room and made way tokyo station to catch the legendary shinkansen, the bullet train. after dropping US$110 each (!) on tickets, we walked, then ran, then sprinted to catch the train in time. our platform was on the opposite end of the massive train station, and we only had ten minutes to cross.

after tearing through the crowds and running the length of the platform, we made it to the train with only a minute to spare. after a few more stops in the city, we were soon rocketing through japan at 180 mph. not that you would know it inside the train, the ride was so smooth and quiet. the bathrooms were fully automated, and the train was right on schedule.

got to hand it to the japanese.

two hours later and we had crossed a third of the island to reach kyoto, japan's place for temples and protocols. all my friends in hong kong who had visited japan gushed about the city, and said it was a must see.

unfortunately, we spent most of the afternoon trying to find a place to eat, and then, a place to sleep. the first hostel we visited - full. the second - abandoned. we left our bags in the store room and wasted no time exploring the city.

kyoto was not nearly a dense or big as tokyo. in fact, by comparison, it's a modestly-sized town of 1.5 million. at this point, i was pretty used to cities in the 7 million - 8 million neighborhood. there were only two subway lines! weak.

above, kyoto tower.

kyoto was the capital of japan, centuries ago. naturally, we first tried to visit the imperial palace. unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was 4, so the sun was already going down and the palace was closed for tours for the day. still managed to eke out another long walk.

we wound our way through kyoto as the sun went down, stopping at the kyoto history museum, which was a major disappointment. it was renovated around 1990, and it was clear that nothing much else had been done to the museum since then.

these cars weren't part of the museum.

ultimately, we wound our way through the major shopping districts of kyoto, then finally made our way back to the hostel where we had left our bags. only to discover that that hostel was full for the night as well. we lugged our bags to the other side of town and finally found our hostel. recently renovated, bar on the ground floor, easily the nicest hostel i've ever stayed at.

ryan and i bought a couple beers and proceeded to be loud entertainment for the rest of the guests at the hostel for the remainder of the evening.

japan, day five

2009-01-22T12:55:00.005-05:00

have i mentioned that ten days is a long time? and that we still manged to fill those days to the brim?

after our late start, we energized with kebabs in asakusa. visiting tokyo really took the piss out of coming back to america, mostly, because of the real food. that and the adequately sized beds. it was almost too much to bear at once.

next up was shinbashi... not another shopping mecca, but yet another city center. there was some wild architecture in this part of town, including this straight-out-of blade runner nightmare. judging by the hanging laundry, i would guess that people live here.

another crosswalk, another view. more dramatic lighting today. my favorite billboard, upper left "Better road and better life."

one of the nearby malls held an advertising design museum. after a little struggle to find the place, we were rewarded by a very professional and concise exhibit on the history of japanese advertising, dating back to the 1800s even. it was at once discouraging and encouraging to learn that even then, even in japan, product placement existed in theatre. the more things change...

however, as a history nerd, i was most taken by the japanese wwii propaganda posters. above, japanese rosie the riveter. rosai, perhaps?

and here, a poster encouraging japanese citizens to grow their own liberty gardens. i guess most things really are universal.

afterwards, a stroll though hamarikyuteien, an old imperial garden and duck hunting grounds. naturally, lots of nature, including many trees sculpted over the decades, full size bonsai.

and beautiful flowers. in the dead of winter.

i couldn't resist some cheesy exposure tricks.

or this adorable fire hydrant cover. for being a bunch of samurais they sure like cute stuff.

a long walk (there were many) followed the park, then a trip to the tsukiji fish market. as in, the fish market. 500 lb frozen tuna as far as the eye can see fish market. tokyo's fish market. the sushi quest was on.

after wandering the small alleys near the fish market and surveying some of the recent catch, including crabs as big as manhole covers (absolutely terrifying), we found the perfect restaurant for our sushi feast. our sushi chef was an old pro who complimented my chopsticks technique --- after i accidentally split a piece in two.

we ate no rolls, just fish on rice, the real style. and to cap it all off, two pieces of the infamous fatty tuna, the king of all fish. with good reason. "melts in your mouth" is usually empty hyperbole. not this time.

then, it was time to head back for asakusa. we had no idea what was in store for us.

on our way down to the hostel lobby, we ran into a pair of brits, one i had met the night before. they were headed out on the town, and after, ten second's deliberation, we decided to join them. the evening started off mild. our two new friends got dinner, and ryan and i watched them fumble with their chopsticks.

we then prowled the dive bars of the neighborhood. one of the brits, a rather cute and precocious girl, would open the door to a small bar and, after being greeted warmly, would quickly and nervously slam the door shut. the fourth time, we pushed in.

inside this bar, there were only four people: the barkeep, a middle-aged businessman, his sidekick and his girlfriend. we sat down. shortly, the barkeep arrived with menus and snacks. i thought we'd beat feet in the next 15 minutes, tops. i decided on the mispelled "wild tukky." the bartender came back over and said that the other gentleman in the bar wanted to buy a round for us. great! within a minute, he greeted us warmly, announcing that he was "gentleman! gentleman!" pointing to himself, also peppered with "japanese."

within minutes our friend, named tomo, waved us over to join his party at their table. that's when the party began. turned out that tomo was a very generous, and very successful, businessman, who was delighted just to have new company in this bar. what started as one round of drinks became round, after round, after round of tequila shots.

tomo then taught us this japanese phrase: "non-DAY-an-ay," which means, "what are you talking about?" and is to be said while hitting your friend, playfully and aggressively, on the shoulder. to which one replies, louder, "non-DAY-an-ay!" and hits back, harder. this goes on until someone gives. this carried on for hours. the british guy complained about the violence and whined that he "bruises like a pear." the chick refused to drink. lousy brits. thank goodness for tomo he had the americans.

tomo also had a thing for armwrestling. armwrestling his friends, his new friends, making his new friends armwrestle... tomo threw down US$50 on a match i had with the brit. meanwhile, tomo's girlfriend served as translator. tomo would ramble on for a few minutes, and she would say, nervously, "tomo is, very glad to meet you... and... he wishes you all the best... and... and, he is very drunk."

finally, after i won a game of darts, tomo started taking his pants off, then passed out at the bar. we got in a cab and went back to the hostel.

this was easily the highlight of the trip.

japan, day four

2009-01-21T11:13:00.005-05:00

fourth day started with a trip to the asakusa temple, one of the largest, oldest, and best temples in tokyo --- one of the few to escape our bombs not seventy years ago. it was a bright, beautiful morning. many locals were paying their respects. the smoke in the foreground is incense.

many locals were about, paying their respects --- simply kneeling in front of the Buddha, tossing coins into a trough, and perhaps lighting a candle. no pictures allowed inside the temple, naturally: imagine a ten-foot sculpture of a Buddha, surrounded by other lesser statues, other gold items, and fruits.

nearby, the pagoda. though it's been rebuilt a few times, this building has essentially been there, in this form, since the 1500s. can't even imagine the craftsmanship and engineering needed to make it happen.

not one single nail, bolt, screw, or otherwise.

next, i returned to the kitchenware/plate district to do some souvenir shopping. though at first i hoped to buy some 70's Japan silverware, i ended up with a few bowls, a few cups. above, a picture of a delivery truck in the neighborhood. even the trucks are pristine in tokyo.

at long last. future toilet technology. heated seat (great idea), push button flush (adequate idea), and bidet function (strange idea). another toilet i saw later would play a flushing noise to cover up... other noises. it also had an aroma dispenser.

there is nothing those japanese won't try to perfect.

after i dropped my purchases off at the hostel, we spent a little time walking around ginza, which is recognized as yet another best place to shop in japan. i think that makes three that i've mentioned. maybe it's an eastern thing. shopping in tokyo wasn't so monolithic a past time as in hong kong, but it was certainly far more important than in, say, chicago, or even new york.

lots of cool architecture and all the major luxury brands that you would expect. there's no escape.

as the sun set, ryan and i hopped on a train to visit a japanese autozone. because we could. ten days was a long trip. check out this rail car --- no rivets, no panels, just solid sheet metal. quality.

visiting near the winter solstice was a real blessing. good lighting.

it was cool to get outside the downtown area, just to see the highway, or get the vibe of the industrial sector. the japanese autozone was a little underwhelming --- it was essentially the same, with aftermarket car stuff that was a little bit nicer.

back to ginza after nightfall for a long-ass walk and dinner --- once again, beef and rice bowl.

i discovered a boutique nissan showroom at the biggest, busiest corner of ginza. inside were two new fairlady z's, a car that hasn't yet been released in america. nissan was really putting on a show, nights, turntables, fancy brochures and 2001: A Space Odyssey decor.

that night, our hostel finally became moderately social. the previous nights, sakura had been all business --- quite literally, two guests in our room left at nine in the morning in suits and ties to interview for jobs. first, we met a french graffiti artist living in japan to research and earn a little money dj'ing. then, a pair of frenchies, one, tall and quiet, the other, short and loud. we had a fun, loud evening with them, repeatedly hassled by the hostel staff to keep it down.

our next morning started a little slow.

long time coming

2009-01-20T21:40:00.001-05:00

"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."

japan, day three

2009-01-19T18:10:00.006-05:00

day three was a little slower than the first, and rainy. a quick stop at 7-11 solved that problem: the best umbrella i've ever had the pleasure of holding. sturdy, slick, and clear, so i could hold it close and still see where i was walking. only 500 yen.

next, we stopped at a small japanese cafe for brunch. inside, the walls were grey, the seats were worn, the music was smooth jazz, and the crowd of eight japanese grandpas chain smoked their cigarettes. ryan and i enjoyed our eggs and toast on decades old plates. it crossed my mind that grandpas may well have served in the war.

our first step was the Tokyo Modern Art Museum. at the entrance, free umbrella storage. the way it should be.

inside, however, was a disappointment. there wasn't much in the way of original Japanese modern art, just carbon copies of every major artist of the twentieth century, from Miro to Pollock to the above Picasso.

only at the end of museum did i find anything worthy. some japanese artist had taken the time to record himself, and a friend, counting out a million years. "98,452 BC... 98,451 BC... 98,450 BC..." a little silly, but it was really effective.

i spent the rest of the day in shibuya, which is usually recognized as the downtown area of Tokyo. it's the first neighborhood Bill Murray visits in Lost in Translation, i hear.

anyway.

i walked around here for hours, darting in and out of a few stores. lots of amazing architecture, including one building that looked like a blend of a gothic cathedral and a space station. peddling disney garbage, if i remember right. stopped by the bathing ape store, though, mercifully, no fools were wasting their money there.

lonelyplanet recommended a stop by an eight-story hardware-supply store in the neighborhood, as the crown jewel of shibuya. hardly. but they did have every last copic marker available.

hours later, and i hadn't found a pair of shoes, a shirt, even some little trinket to waste my money on.

but there was still cool stuff to look at.

especially this. prius on twenties. now THAT'S japan. extra credit for first generation prius. what's more, we saw another pimped prius, a cherry-red new one, also, rolling on chrome. wonder how long it might take for this trend to pick up in america...

japan, day two

2009-01-18T17:21:00.007-05:00

we set out the next day first for roppongi hills, tokyo's fifth avenue, of sorts. not before snapping a picture of one of tokyo's beautiful manhole covers.

the hills were a little underwhelming --- too much like hong kong, just ultra-high-end shopping mixed with a few design objects, like the spider sculpture to the upper left.

walking around the immediate neighborhood was much better. all the architecture in the neighborhood was different, yet different in similar ways. the skinny orange building in the middle was one of my favorites.

tokyo tower. eight feet taller than the Eiffel. take that, frogs!

my next major stop was the national art center. excellent building, inside and out.

even better, i was allowed to take pictures of of the artwork on exhibit. there were rooms and rooms of contemporary japanese calligraphy: large pieces of paper with usually just a few characters rendered, mostly black or dark grey with just a spot of red for the artist's signature. they're all poems, too. that i can't read.

a few other galleries were dedicated to more representative works. this was one of the better ones, really great colors.

this one was easily my favorite.

after leaving the national art center, i stumbled on the 21_21 design museum, the newest art museum in japan. they had a crazy exhibit about, essentially, experimental furniture. the main artist's work was growing chairs and lounges from crystallized salt in giant tanks of water. wild stuff. another highlight was a bonsai tree frozen in a clear cube of ice.

the museum was designed by one of my favorite architects, tadao ando. though he's a japanese architect, he has very few works in tokyo, so i was really glad that we made it here. i wish i could have taken some pictures inside.

afterwards, we went to a nearby mall, the ritziest in tokyo, to have a look around. after handling some famous japanese products, like this heater by one of my favorite industrial designers, naoto fukasawa, we had some noodles and made way for akihabra.

akihabra is the anime-electronics mecca of tokyo. i got lost in a ten-story bookstore, then a ten-story electronics-goods-mega-huge-mall. i spent three hours, easily, wandering around. isles of nothing but mice, three different displays in the mall where one could by an ipod, just a complete overload of things.

afterwards, a walk around the immediate neighborhood drained us of all the energy we had left, and we made way back to the hostel.

Google Project

2009-01-18T14:52:00.002-05:00

i'm finished. check it out here.

japan, day one

2009-01-17T15:26:00.004-05:00

after two days back in hong kong, it was time to travel once again, to the land of the rising sun. if the villages of people's republic of china live on one end of the eastern world, surely japan rests on the opposite end. i had high expectations for the trip. they were surpassed.

the flight to japan was uneventful, save for an excellent tarantino-soundtrack-esque song on the cab ride to the airport, and reading a solid third of president barry's dreams from my father. which was also excellent.

after landing in tokyo's narita airport, ryan and i confronted our first challenge: a pile of spaghetti otherwise known as the tokyo subway system. despite the intimidating mess, the system proved simple to navigate. for the most part...

we spent nearly two hours on the subway, passing through pastoral japan before finally reaching the tokyo proper. first impressions were as i imagined --- an endless, centerless, dense sprawl buildings, none much taller than five stories, like an old european city.

baggage in tow, we explored asakusa, one of the older neighborhoods that comprise tokyo's city center, home to most of the hostels in the city. we counted on the trusty internet to guide us to a hostel. that was a mistake.

soon we were wandering the used-kitchenware district of tokyo. this was a great, exciting find, but we were far more interested in finding a bed and a place to stash our bags. we turned next to our lonelyplanet, which guided us to the sakura hostel, easily the nicest hostel that i have ever seen. impeccable construction, really clean, and a few japanese gadgets in the bathroom. the beds were comfortable and longer than hong kong beds. japan was off to a good start.

we grabbed dinner at our favorite japanese burger chain - mos (mountain ocean sky) burger - before heading to shinjuku, another active japanese neighborhood.

installation artwork in the subway station. excellent installation artwork at that. that's the moment i fell in love with japan.

i was not disappointed above ground. shinjuku was a massive sea of shopping, eating, skyscrapers (tokyo's few), and sex trade. mostly, though: signs. very different than hong kong's: grouped tight against the buildings. such that you could actually read and use the signs.

this sign has a lot going for it.

shinjuku is also one of the hot spots for tokyo's infamous sex trade. an army of david bowie wannabes (leather jackets, teased-tall hair, painted-on jeans) were ready to guide hapless travelers --- like me --- to any myriad show, or hotel, or bar of choice. not that i indulged. the spirit of the street was enough.

all in all, i spent this first evening putting my finger on the pulse of tokyo. my first impressions were of a city entirely sophisticated and free from so much of the bullshit that plagues america.

no top 40 in the fast food joints: smooth christmas jazz.

no mess or civic neglect: cleanliness.

no hollister logo tees, no gucci, no prada: thoughtful, muted clothes with hints of bright color

no cold tones: every space for people was warm in value. i had imagined japan as the city of the future, with gloss and white and silver everywhere. instead, i found a country that, at first glance, was dedicated to simply doing the best it could do, in any context.

yanghsuo, part six

2009-01-16T14:21:00.004-05:00

after moon hill, i hopped back on my scooter for another swing through the villages around yangshuo. i passed through some large and dramatic new development before i found the countryside. there, in the distance: a tire fire.

after some time i realized that it was getting late, i was by myself, and it was time to turn around. not before taking a few more shots.

the next day, my last in yangshuo, was a slow one. i finally managed to get a picture of one of these, well, chinese model t's. twenty year old tractor engine dangling off the front. i couldn't take a picture of the smoke, and noise, it makes when it's running.

before getting on the sleeper bus to return to hong kong, i took a stroll through yangshuo's main park at sundown. passed by a soviet-style monument to the workers of china, blocky and concrete. that's as communist as china ever got.

home sweet home. skyscapers and twelve lanes of traffic. what more could i ask for?

well, japan.

yangshuo, part five

2009-01-15T22:14:00.004-05:00

there it is. the infamous moon hill, so named for the half moon worn out of the hill. after i parked my scooter, i was approached by a small, old chinese woman who spoke, maybe ten words of english.

she walked up the whole hill with me, right by my side.

after ten minutes, i started climbing as fast as i could, to see if i could shake her. i was afraid she might charge me 1000 yuan for a "tour" of the hill, or some other horrible scam. at the end, though, she only wanted to sell me a bottle of water. for about a buck fifty american.

those chinese. anything for a buck.

the view halfway up.

and from the other side of the hill. the village in the distance is, in fact, yangshuo.

the peak! limestone, jutting.

and the hazy-polluted view from the summit of rice paddies below. i bumped into a few other backpackers, including one from the bar the previous night, going on and on about how "somebody nicked my trainers!"

silly brits.

yangshuo, part four

2009-01-13T11:42:00.005-05:00

nightfall in yangshuo. the street peddlers finally calmed down.

ah yes. we new this was the place for us.

i got a late start the next morning, naturally. ryan hit a fierce bit of food poisoning, so i left him behind, rented another scooter, and went off to see some more china.

some places were actually fairly clean, and nice. however, it was already growing late, so i made my way to the famous moon hill to get another perspective.

yangshuo, part three

2009-01-12T11:37:00.003-05:00

after twenty minutes of haggling, ryan and i scooped up our scooters and beat feet for the hinterlands of southern china. naturally, ryan's scooter broke down after five minutes, but it was soon ready to roll. after half an hour of slicing through chinese traffic --- lanes are just an idea, not a reality, and anything with wheels, or feet, is welcome on the roads --- i was out in the countryside.

this was easily the highlight of the trip. i neglected to take pictures while i was driving --- far be it for me to try and be safe --- so some of the greatest things i saw i only captured in my mind: small duck farms, tomatoes drying in the sun, markets with unrefrigerated meat, the smell of burning tires, litter and waste. but, also, some of the most beautiful and unearthly scenery i've ever seen.

we road through empty villages, small neighborhoods of newly built brick buildings, either uninhabited or recently abandoned. the acres of trees covered with tarps were haunting.

we stopped over rivers for our best shots. as the sun was setting, we saw fit to return to town and begin our evening.

yangshuo, part two

2009-01-06T16:53:00.003-05:00

we woke up four hours later, hardly rested but ready to take on the people's republic. by night, yangshuo seemed like little more than a street with buildings and locals trying, desperately, to sell us a ride to our hostel. by day, however, we saw that yangshuo was a bustling tourist town with local trying, desperately, to sell you anything they could.

chinese plumbing. i believe its also called "preserved water."

our walk through town was slow going, as we were stopped every few minutes for pictures, simply for being tall and white. breakfast consisted of copy-pringles and dried plums, which were not pitted, of course. around noon, we made it to the river and saw the scenery that we had come for. really beautiful stuff, otherworldly, even, and ruined only by the constant requests for a bamboo raft ride.

those chinese, they are intrepid, unstoppable businessmen. communists? please.

after taking in the view and a lunch, we wandered the tourists shops of yangshuo, stopping to look at fake antiques and knock off tshirts. i purchased a small, painted duck from an old lady, simply because she did not pester me. then i purchased a set of chinese playing cards from another lady, who, after we completed our transaction, let out a fierce and knowing "mwa ha ha ha!" cackle behind my back.

another stupid westerner, had out of, oh, a dollar maybe?

we kept making friends! she was practicing her english, and did a great job.

at this point, with some afternoon left, ryan and i decided it would be best if we rented a pair of gas powered scooters and head to the countryside to get a taste of real china...

yanghsuo, part one

2008-12-27T16:28:00.004-05:00

travel is over and i'm back in america.

a few weeks ago, however, i was in china. the people's republic, not hong kong, which, i learned, is a very different animal.

my trip started in shenzhen, just across the border from hong kong. though i saw very little, it was immediately clear that shenzhen was a very different place --- darker, dirtier, colder. not a place i wanted to stay for long. thankfully, the sleeper bus arrived quickly.

not that the bus was much of an upgrade. for the next ten hours --- the rest of the night --- i laid in a cramped, uncomfortable bed. on a bus. careening through the south of china.

and i do mean careening. our driver had some very clever ideas about when to pass on the "highway" --- curves, especially, and also in the face of obviously oncoming traffic. highway is a misnomer, as well. more like dirt road. dirt road under construction. not that that stopped our driver from trying to set a time-to-distance record that evening.

though i traveled by night, i was able to catch a glimpse of the countryside. beyond the open space, in stark contrast to hong kong, and the miles of empty buildings, i was most struck by the slave labor camps near the highway. i imagine the workers were receiving some small amount of yuan for their work, but i say, call a spade a spade. in the cold night, they slept only in tents made out of thin acyrilic material, no fires, surely little clothes.

we passed through a few towns, and i could only capture the feeling of the ride with pretentious, blurry photography. while i tried to fall asleep on the bus, i tried to come up with a suitable simile for china. china is like cellophane --- it has some of the qualities of beauty, like gloss, clarity, lightness, but the whole is much lesser than the parts. in fact, the whole is pretty icky when you get up close and touch it.

when ryan and i arrived in yangshuo, we stumbled around in the darkness until we finally found a hostel at which to crash. within five minutes, a gentlemen who purported to be the manager of the hostel knocked on our door to give us a few tips about the yangshuo. a few minutes later, it became clear that the tips were a sorry attempt to net a few round-eyes into paying far too much for a guided tour of the area. it took a lot longer to finally chase him out of our room.

welcome to china.

rising sun

2008-12-18T07:03:00.002-05:00

japan is incredible. i've been here for seven days now, and from the small pleasures of little thoughtful tricks, to the big surprises like partying with a local businessman at a dive bar, it's really been one hell of a trip.

yangshuo, prolouge

2008-12-11T03:12:00.003-05:00

i'm afraid i won't be able to post about this last weekend's trip to inside the people's republic of china until... a while. here's a taste of yangshuo. beyond it's touristy middle, i was able to get a taste of real, undistilled china.

i like hong kong much better. china is a dirty, ruthless place.

AF1s

2008-12-05T06:04:00.002-05:00

and then i bought these sneakers. for hiking?

sai kung paradise

2008-12-05T05:42:00.005-05:00

last tuesday i went on an absolutely beautiful hike in hong kong's sai kung area, right on the coast of the south china sea. after a short 90 minute journey from my apartment, by subway, then bus, then taxi, i found myself in a remote, solitary paradise. most of the time, i couldn't hear a single human-produced sound: no boats, no planes, no motors, no alarms. it was stunning.

the hike started near a reservoir filled with crystal-clear blue water.

we hiked through bamboo forests. the air was clear enough, the light was bright enough, that this photo practically looks like HDR.

the highlight: an amazing beach, nestled between two mountain ridges. massive waves rolling ashore. clean air and sand, and not another soul, save ryan, my comrade.

we had another very, very steep hike on the trail, up 1200ft... a never ending staircase.

the view, however, was more than worth it.

far, far more than worth it.

spectacular.

going down the other side of the mountain, we could see sharp peak in the distance. apt name.

unfortunately, the sun started to go down and we had to cut our hike a little short.

we tried to scuttle back via another trail, but the sun started to get dangerously, if not beautifully, low. then, we took a wrong turn and ended dropping down the mountain on a steep, overgrown trail. soon, the trail led to small, suspicious dam, and we turned around, afraid that snakes or vc might be lurking the trees.

really great hike. after returning from my two major excursions --- mainland china, beginning tomorrow, and then japan --- i plan to finish it before returning to america.

i will miss it here.

sushi, frustration

2008-11-26T08:36:00.004-05:00

US$7 buys you this much sushi in hong kong. small consolation, as things are not looking good for next week's trip to thailand. i've never had a trip cancelled because of political unrest before...

preserved egg

2008-11-25T09:18:00.003-05:00

i ate this local specialty, the "preserved egg," a few days ago. that is an actual egg. wikipedia has a detailed article that explains how they're made. i think the photo is disgusting enough. and, for the record, it wasn't that bad!

"he's gone to sell preserved eggs" is the equivalent of "he's sold the farm"

only in hong kong

2008-11-21T01:35:00.002-05:00

i've been trying to get a picture of this for months now.

in hong kong, even the delivery trucks sport gawdy, unpainted front fascias. riced. out.

polytechnic

2008-11-21T01:26:00.003-05:00

it's high time i posted some pictures of my school.

hong kong polytechnic is a school about the size of the university of michigan, around 25,000 students. the space it occupies is, of course, far, far smaller. furthermore, if i had only one word to describe hkpu, it would be brick. unrelenting, oversaturated brick.

brick, everywhere. architect zaha hadid has designed a new building for hkpu --- for the design department, no less --- slated to be finished 2011. it is not brick, mercifully. it is, however, unfortunately, zaha hadid.

here's the front.

the polytechnic logo. how darling.

and finally, the most recently built building on campus, the tower.

lantau, part ii

2008-11-17T10:29:00.005-05:00

i did not hesitate to return to conquer lantau island. it was an excellent, outdoors day. after getting an earlier start on the day (umm, 11am), ryan and i took the train, then a bus, to the base of the tallest hill/mountain/summit/peak on lantau, lantau peak, appropriately enough. time to do my best sir edmund hillary.

this was the view when we started on what was an innocent enough nature trail. my camera doesn't really capture the size of these ridges, or my perspective. what we saw was a ridge, with a taller ridge behind it, with a taller ridge behind it, lantau peak. we were in for a hike.

this is how we hiked up --- massive stone steps. at many points during the ascent, we were climbing up at 45 degrees. looking forward, all i saw was mountain. each step took a giant, leg bent at 90 degree lift. and i'll be damned if i can figure out just how they built this trail, other than forcing laborers to carry really heavy stones, really far, far up.

the views were incredible, especially near the top of the peak. i could see the whole island, especially, many dramatic cliffs and mountains.

finally, after about two hours of climbing, we made it to the summit. looking back... and out. it was a hazy day, so our views from the peak were limited mostly to silhouettes.

there's my proof. 934 meters. and we started from only a few hundred feet above sea level. climbed with the best shoes i have here --- my sandals. i was disappointed that we did not encounter a kung fu master at the peak.

the hike down the other face of the peak was even more dramatic --- a constant drop without any breaks, practically jumping down from rock to rock, steep drops on each side.

yes, virginia, all the way up there.

at the end of the trail we ran across two great sights. the first was this stonehenge-like monument to the heart sutra. the posts as 40-foot tall halved logs with chinese characters engraved in the side. very cool stuff.

then, finally, we finished with a trip to the tian tan buddha, the tallest seated outdoor bhudda in all of asia, almost 100 feet tall and 250 tonnes in weight. badass. if only it were 1000 years old, not 15... after destroying our legs climbing, ryan and i took the fabled lantau cable car back down to the train to return home, which also offered some great views.

a very solid trip. and as soon as we got back, we finally bought our tickets for thailand and japan. so. so. excited.

lantau, part i

2008-11-15T21:23:00.002-05:00

at long last, i finally made it to lantau island, along with a couple goofball german friends of ours, which is to say, some great friends. we went too late and got a little lost, which is all the more reason to go back.

for instance, next time, i'll climb this hill/mountain

the beach we visited was a little... dirty. maybe it's pollution, maybe it's sediment.

here i used my sunglasses as a photo filter. i'm awesome.

hong kong colors

2008-11-14T23:18:00.003-05:00

i might miss the colors at night, most of all.

trip to stanley

2008-11-10T09:10:00.003-05:00

visited the southern side of hong kong island this weekend --- stanley village. within 45 minutes, i went from the middle of downtown hong kong to a quiet little (tourist) village by way of one public bus. pretty incredible. it was nice to get out of the city, get some fresh air, see some beautiful views! and then, after a couple hours, back on the bus and to hong kong, once again.

one huge city, right behind them thar hills. unbelievable.

my apartment, part iv

2008-11-07T07:34:00.003-05:00

finally, the master bedroom. i've posted the lovely view in an earlier post. this, this is my magnificent, rock-hard, too-short matress. either i sleep diagonally, fetally, or, well... you get the picture.

i do, at least, have a... shelf? and one drawer? also a decent closet which i haven't pictured. and, in all honestly, it's plenty of apartment for me, and ryan. we haven't gone completely off the reservation --- well, not completely, and not yet. and it is in hong kong.

i will, however, probably shed a tear when i sleep in a real bed on christmas eve.

my apartment, part iii

2008-11-07T07:27:00.002-05:00

mercifully, the bathroom is larger than the kitchen. a little, anyway.

again, a very small sink. no counter space. the landlord saw fit to fix a crack with scotch tape. and because i couldn't get a good angle on the bathroom to show this --- the sink is inside the shower. there's no room for it anywhere else.

if you look closely, you can see my reflection in the tile --- that's where my eye level is. you can see that the mirror doesn't quite --- doesn't at all --- show my face when i stand at full height. i am at least a foot taller than most hong kongers.

this little thing, which an american might mistake for a garbage can, is actually a washing machine. you can fit a pair of jeans and maybe a few shirts, if you're lucky, before overloading it. and again --- yes, the opening is the size of my not-oversized palms.

my apartment, part ii

2008-11-07T07:18:00.004-05:00

the kitchen is at best a six foot square. honestly.

there's our lovely propane tank powered cookers, just like back porch barbeque! call a number and a kind mainland chinese man brings you a new on, only HK$100. no stove. no microwave. if i want to make something, it better have noodles.

everything --- everything --- in the apartment is 75% scale. it's like visiting willy wonka's factory. this sink isn't a camera trick, it really is that small.

that's our fridge. look at how much he's grown! soon he'll hit puberty and turn into a real full-grown fridge. i hope, anyway.

my apartment, part i

2008-11-07T07:07:00.002-05:00

this is a very long-overdue post. but now that i am essentially done with school, i expect to start whitling down my hong kong to do list.

we'll start with the living room. it's hard to capture how small my apartment is, no good camera angles, way too much fisheye on my camera's lens. this is our nicest room. there's ryan, on the couch. say hi, ryan!

over here we have our healthy, american-sized tv. it's the only appopriately sized element of our apartment. those doorframes aren't more than 6.5 feet, at best.

this is our couch. i hate our couch.

it's really a loveseat, for one. for two, well, look at it --- this thing wasn't designed for the rigors of supporting to american elephants. apparently six foot tall and over 160 lbs is just well, well beyond the stress test levels for chinese furniture.

you can see here, too, what ryan and i refer to as the "ass-breaker" feature of the couch. the seat supports, maybe, half our thighs, which means we ultimately have to lean back in the couch like we were riding around in a hooptie. after three hours, the curve in the small of my back has been entirely eliminated.

next: the incredible shrinking apartment.

school projects

2008-10-26T04:39:00.003-04:00

i realized that i haven't even posted about the projects that i am working on here at hkpolyu.

my primary studio is a service design project for standard chartered bank: rethinking the brand, the design, and the services offered by the bank. our project centers around designing a flagship branch for the tsim sha tsui neighborhood in hong kong, very close to where i live.

SCB needs some help. they're the chrysler, the also-ran bank in hong kong. the project's been exciting, both to work on service design, a far walk from car design, and to work with a group of other students, and students from here in hong kong to boot. the concepts are difficult enough to talk about between native english speakers --- throw in the language barrier, and we've had some struggles to get through. but actually, things turned out really well in the end.

my other class is centered around sustainable design. our first project was designing a recycling bin for PET bottles, made out of PET bottles. for our second and final project, my team is working on a better cafeteria tray / plate / glass / silverware set for polytechnic. especially now that the SCB project is over, i think we can get some good work out of it!

plover cove county park

2008-10-19T09:32:00.002-04:00

made it out to some nature this weekend --- took the train north to the tai po market stop, then a bus out to the plover cove country park. we rented some bikes after enjoying a delicious thai lunch and made way to some waterfalls. it was great to get out of the city and see some nature, hopefully i can do it again next week.

leave it to china to build a trail to the waterfalls, that never gives you a view of the waterfalls. all i could do was break away from the trail to climb up on the waterfall itself, to see it.

march of progress

2008-10-07T05:25:00.003-04:00

the old hong kong and the new hong kong, coexisting. i've never seen such explosive and dense development as i've seen here in hk, and it's incredible to see it pushing against the older neighborhoods of the city.

in the new territories, 5 40+ story apartment buildings built in the middle of nowhere, next to a complex of ten more apartment buildings, all clearly larger, and soon to be taller, than their neighbors. just crazy.

chi lin nunnery, part two

2008-10-04T01:10:00.003-04:00

i found these beautiful little details all over the place, including these little inversed screens over walkway lights. really beautiful, not overdone or tacky. try finding this back in the states, anywhere.

even the garbage bins are not spared a little bit of special artistry.

this was one of my favorite details. to enter into any new area of the temple, one had to step over a barrier, maybe only six inches tall. but the sensation of having to use care and interrupt walking to enter into a new space was really profound, and appropriate. again, this would never fly in america.

at every large idol (ten-foot tall statues of buddhist deities, handcrafted and covered in gold leaf (!), which i was not allowed to photograph, sadly) the temple displayed some short description of elements of the buddhist faith. this was my favorite, especially the last paragraph.

i was also surprised to learn that buddhism is, essentially, christianity --- a man of god comes to earth, lays out the rules and saves some people, dies, and now we're waiting for him to come back. i think that says something really fundamental about the nature of human belief and hope.

simply a pretty pattern.

chi lin nunnery

2008-09-28T09:59:00.002-04:00

went out to visit a few temples on the outskirts of hong kong --- really cool stuff. this is the chi lin nunnery, which was built quite recently, but used ancient construction methods. there's not a nail in the whole building, for instance. i'll have more detail photos soon.

downtown hong kong

2008-09-27T09:04:00.003-04:00

hong kong makes new land in the city by filling in victoria harbor. leads to some nice contrast between one of the biggest financial centers of the world, and dirt.

icff 2008

2008-09-19T08:34:00.002-04:00

a few things i liked from the international contemporary furniture fair:

cool, elegant flatpack silverwear. though, i suppose, chopsticks pack even flatter...

i don't know what it is, but i sure do think it's beautiful.

the form of this lamp might be whatever, but i do like how warm, simple, and elegant it is. just one led --- and apparently it's rechargeable, no plug. nice antidote for the leaf lamp cold future.

especially in china: the circle is not the only shape for plates...

volt strikes

2008-09-17T05:43:00.003-04:00

forgive the break from hong kong: this is pretty, significant. though i'm not so sure about chevy's new "let everyone see the car two years before we sell it" plan, it's certainly reassuring, and inspiring, to see how far they've come with the volt. thank god it's not as much of a prius knock-off as the new honda hybrid. still excited to see how this pans out, great success or total failure. love the little details on this thing, especially the lights.

macau

2008-09-17T05:32:00.002-04:00

this is macau, from a hill in the center of the island (you can see it larger if you open the picture in another window). macau has the whole range, from new construction and cn tower knockoffs, to stunning(ly-ugly) casino towers and old construction. there's a reason the picture looks smudgy as well --- that's the air pollution blowing in from mainland. today in hong kong, you can hardly see across the bay to hong kong island. it's kind of amazing, in the worst possible way.

macau construction

2008-09-15T11:28:00.003-04:00

this weekend i took a spontaneous trip to macau, the las vegas of china --- only city in the middle country where gambling is legal. however, "city" is a little misleading. macau is actually a giant construction site, and will be a city in five, ten years.

this was one of my favorite pictures, that really illustrates the nature of development in china --- that i've seen so far, anyway. in the foreground are traditional buildings, five stories tall, a vast blanket of weathered textures and colors. those buildings are replaced by the tall tenements, twenty-plus story towers of cheap, small housing, every building the same as the last. finally, in the background, the new monsters that are being built. they are entirely wrapped in green fabric, christo style, and framed by bamboo.

also --- that's not fog, that's air pollution. visibility is two miles, at best.

hong kong loves packaging

2008-09-15T11:24:00.002-04:00

how many bags of cereal in a box? bought a box of crackers the other day, there was plastic wrap over the plastic bag over the plastic tray which had small plastic-wrapped 4-cracker bags inside. this is very much the rule in hong kong.

thirsty

2008-09-11T23:52:00.003-04:00

w.k. would be proud

hong kong by night

2008-09-10T07:04:00.002-04:00

night walk: oddities

2008-09-08T12:38:00.002-04:00

it's as normal as it gets. i recommend mango papaya.

the nerve!

special flavor

2008-09-08T12:32:00.003-04:00

for the record, they're pretty nasty.

the suck

2008-09-08T10:45:00.002-04:00

one of the most profound moments yet of my trip came at a music store in one of hong kong's biggest malls, festival walk. as i've said --- the mall is nearly exactly the same. the same brands, the same superficiality, just the same garbage we eat up in america. the only difference is that malls here build up, not out.

i listened to some of the current music on sale at this music store. above is what is, clearly, absolutely, unabashedly, japanese britney spears. color that background pink, dress her a little more southern, and you're there. and that's just the album cover. the music is the same formula, as is the video, which i happened to catch on tv late the other night. the music is bright, crisp, happy, dance-friendly, but really, most people like the visuals more than the listen.

it got worse. i moved on and met korean backstreet boys --- same glossy production, same harmonies, same image --- and chinese evanescence. evanescence! what is this world coming to that we have to clone evanescence! i was chilled.

i did not expect that going to hong kong would be a journey to another planet. i understand that people are people, the world over, and we all share very similar hopes, dreams, likes and dislikes. but i really expected some regional difference. is that so much to ask? i doubt they listen much to spoon down in alabama, same as i have little patience for the toby keiths of the world. so why doesn't hong kong have it's own, local, fresh music? why must our crap be so slavishly copied and consumed?

granted, the music selection was not all faux american teeny boppers. hong kong seems to have some patience for crooners, and a thing for sugary-sweet canto pop as well. but you go out to the club, and the dj spins applebottom jeans. you walk down the street, you see abercrombie shirts. i knew we loved our cultural shit, but i didn't know that other countries loved it as much as we do. it's a disease, and i fear it's spreading, and there's little we can do to stop it.

everyone speaks english. everyone. i've met friends, not just from china, but from sweden, the netherlands, germany, austria, finland, denmark, spain, and the language we all have in common, that we all use to communicate, is english. that's no new observation, clearly, but the visceral impact, first hand, is really powerful. i really hope that a global language does not portend a global culture, a world without region difference, without place, without variety, a world where nearly everyone fetishizes the same brands, eats the same junk, listens to, lives, loves, the same. exact. crap.

lost in translation part two

2008-09-08T10:38:00.002-04:00

"we really gotta come up with a name for our restaurant."

"the chicago-americana themed one?"

"yeah."

"how about... oh, what's the name of that shithole mega-highway?"

"you mean the one that cuts through and helped create the southside slums?"

"yes! that one! it's perfect!"

lost in translation

2008-09-06T06:25:00.003-04:00

i visited one of the largest malls in hong kong, called festival walk. at first glance, it was exactly the same as an american mall, right down to the store brands. however, we did a little work and started to find some real jewels, like the one below.

we were at a clothing store, the coolest, most local that we could find, a chinese h&m. i spotted a shirt on the wall. it was a hip shirt, with a hip american college on it. what college did they pick, the college among colleges, the classic american college to represent the pinnacle of our celebrated university system?

central fucking michigan university.

poultry training

2008-09-06T06:19:00.003-04:00

you know you're in china when subway signs warn against bringing live chickens on the train. runner up is the warning against spitting in the train. the signs do work, the MTR is london tube clean, shames the MTA and CTA.

room with a view

2008-09-06T06:14:00.002-04:00

on the other end of the view spectrum... this is the view out my window from the lovely kam chung apartments, on the seventh floor of the building. hong kong is a little rough around the edges. these are no slum apartments, we live very close to downtown, mostly with other families in the apartments. families, in 400 sq foot apartments.

recent hong kong

2008-09-06T05:30:00.003-04:00

this is the view from Victoria's Peak at night --- you can see the Batman tower square in the middle of the picture. calling it a beautiful city isn't really fair, it's far more than that. it's a very colorful city, even from this far away.

beyond that, ryan and i have been going to the lan kwai fong district frequently, which i believe translates to old white men trying to get laid district. it was a happening place the first night, but each subsequent visit --- of which there were three --- saw less locals, and more middle-aged british bankers. we've wandered around the local street stalls, ate dim sum and hot pot and all other manner of chinese food. it's been busy, and it's been a blast.

featured portfolio

2008-09-05T01:21:00.001-04:00

my humble portfolio is featured on the coroflot.com main page. fuck yeah.

woosung street

2008-09-03T06:39:00.003-04:00

i've been a little scattered on this thing so far... i'm going to try to update this blog a little more frequently in the days to come. for now --- the above is a picture of the neighborhood right outside my place. i live in the heart of the city, past the financial district, and just past the major shopping and dining center, tsim sha tsui, where most of the other foreigners hang out. it already feels as though i've been here for far longer than a week. soon, hopefully, some of the details will start to emerge.

strange foods 01

2008-09-01T14:10:00.003-04:00

add to the cow's stomach:

-hot mint turtle shell herbal jelly. imagine hot menthol jello with a hint of dirt. that's dessert.
-iced tea with milk and beans. no, not pearl tea. that's what i thought i was getting. no, imagine chili beans instead of tapioca. beans that grow in the ground. imagine iced coffee with a hint of dirt.

sadly, wing-lau says that i can only eat bugs on the mainland.

safe and sound and running around

2008-09-01T06:20:00.002-04:00

i haven't been especially good about this so far --- things have been incredibly busy, and incredibly exciting, so far here in hong kong. however, today was the first day of school, and tonight there's some weather rolling in, so tonight might be the first night yet for relaxing.

at any rate: hong kong has entirely surpassed and surprised any of my expectations. after today's first class, which will have more depth, guidance, and conscience than any i've ever had at ccs, a dozen of my new classmates whisked ryan and i away for a proper dim sum lunch, where i established a beachhead on my weird food list with tripe. beyond that, everyone's very friendly and giving. the city is incredible, diverse, rich, very clean, and very, very easy so far.

pictures, more stories, soon.

updated portfolio

2008-08-14T13:08:00.002-04:00

at long last, my portfolio is quasi-up-to-date.

Ford Taurus

2008-07-28T12:53:00.003-04:00

at extreme risk to my credibility, i want to confess my affection for this monster.

after i read mary walton's book car, i understood how and why this jellybean was designed. if you squint your eyes a little bit, it's actually pretty. not hardly an edge on the whole thing, the jaguar xk-e influence comes through if you know to look for it. it was a case of too much of a good (oval) thing being just too damn much. but a real A-for-effort affair.

NEOCON 04: a few more winners

2008-07-25T22:40:00.003-04:00

this herman miller's new teneo storage system. i really like it, mostly because of its creative use of construction elements, but mostly because those handles are so sweet.

this is just too cool. anyone with a cheapo chandelier and halloween decoration at hand, take note --- you could make your own $3000 light fixture for about $30.

chevrolet camaro

2008-07-25T13:05:00.003-04:00

this is really excellent. i am very, very proud that gm has, at long last, knocked one out of the park. it's sad that gas prices have doomed this car to fail already, because it deserves far better. the gesture is consistent and badass, the details are very well finessed. and it just looks so damn cool.