theWanderlister+

Seen&Scene: A SPRING Evening With Qiu Zhijie

jj-the-wanderlister — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:00:00 +0800

Last Saturday brought a balmy and drizzly Spring evening to Hong Kong, but at the Wong Chuk Hang Industrial District, it was all smiles and pleasant conversations as the arts community rallied around Spring Workshop’s latest artist-in-residence, Qiu Zhijie, one of the mainland’s most celebrated artist and thinkers of his generation.

Inspired by Spring Workshops’ delightfully expansive and flexible space, Qiu began making full use of the large areas of of wall and floor for a very specific mapping exercise which only can be accomplished in such a site.

The neutralness of the walls and the beige floors allowed Qiu to think of them as a blank canvas, a datum in which ready-made objects, “found, made, free, and confined”, can be categorized and mapped, with a help of students from all of Hong Kong’s schools and universities, namely the University of Hong Kong, City University, Baptist University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Arts School, HKICC/Jockey Club Ti-ICollege, Diocesan Girls’ School, Hong Kong Academy and Po Leung Kuk Laws Foundation College.

And when we went there last Saturday… he was close to completion…

But more was left to do. The exhibit officially starts on May 23rd.

Also a work in progress, but in a completely different scale, is the work of Eric Shuldenfrei and Marisa Yiu of Eskyiu in the back garden area, titled, Industrial Forest.

Below, Marisa sits within her work as she takes photos of me taking photos of the landscape. Behind her stands Laurent Gutierrez of map office, another celebrated mult-disciplinary architectural studio doing great work in / for the city.

The Industrial Forest is a forest composed of metal “bamboo” rods securely placed on artificial topography. This synthetic nature comes alive, the rods swaying back and forth, with the affect of use and natural weather conditions. Imagine a typhoon!

You can find the scale model of the project in the office.

… As well as the architectural drawings.

So many friends and supporters were there that night to rally around the artists as well as founder, Mimi Brown’s non-profit arts initiative. Also spotted were Art Basel Hong Kong’s Director Asia, Magnus Renfrew (Check out our interview with him last year), art patron and writer Alex Seno, restauranteur and creative Alan Lo, art muse Xue Tan, Art Basel Hong Kong’s VIP coordinator Deborah Erlich, creative consultant Louise Wong, write and curator Christina Li, artist/educator Leung Chi Wo, and my pals Katrina, Jason S, Jason R, and Susan.

Dinner was served on the beautiful lawn and deck area outside.

There’s a map on the table…

Balls on the floor can be kicked around to create new word structures, concepts, ideas… the purpose of which to create a more dynamic version of mapping which involves the user and the space, via the propositions of the artist.

Can’t wait to see more from Spring Workshop? Go take a look for yourself. The doors are now open.

VISIT Qiu Zhijie and Eskiyiu’s Industrial Forest @ Spring Workshop, 3F Remix Centre, 42 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, HK

JJ.

Design Notes: From Brune To Blonde, A Luxurious Stage Hong...

jj-the-wanderlister — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:09:00 +0800

Design Notes: From Brune To Blonde, A Luxurious Stage

Hong Kong’s wonderboys of hair, Roland Boutin and David Gouygou, are treating their future and long term clientele starting today with a brand new hair space at the prestigious Grand Hyatt Hotel on Victoria Harbour adjacent to the Hong Kong Convention Centre. With Art Basel Hong Kong less than two weeks away next door, I can imagine these boys will be busy.

The new salon, Bruneblonde, is the next big step for these hair stylists who have made their first bigger move to Asia in the 90’s when they met. And now with their new location designed by architect, Greg Pearce of One Space, they’ve just upped the ante giving the right amount of stage and theatre for those ready and willing for a “Do-Over”.

For the space, Pearce wanted modern intimacy, with a touch of old-world class splendor. The inspiration for the new space was based on classic Parisian apartments and that 1940’s era grand salon. Art and Design objects from the owners’ private collections are accentuated throughout the space to make it more personal for them.

Lining the walls are crafted timber and anthracite panels. Light voids on the reflected ceiling allow for customers, objects, and products to be placed on display. The women’s area is characterized by a soft white palette, while the gentlemen’s styling area looks more like a barber shop utilizing natural grey limestone floors with polished copper walls. There’s even a mural by Italian artist, Vittorio Locatelli.

Bruneblonde is the only salon in Hong Kong to have the entire salon furnished with state-of-the-art Takara chairs, including the Belmont styling chair and the Yume shampoo bed.

From David Gouygou:

We love what we do and we are passionate about exploring new things - from styles to products - to ensure that we are bringing the very best to our clientele who come from all over the world, are from different nationalities and from all walks of life.

And now there’s a seat ready for them at Bruneblonde.

VISIT Bruneblonde, Mezz Floor, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, 1 Harbour City, Wanchai, Hong Kong, +852-2511-3988 / ARCHITECTURE One Space

JJ.

#ARTBASELHK13: Art Fair Month Kicks Off With JMR at JOYCE Gallery

jj-the-wanderlister — Sun, 12 May 2013 10:16:00 +0800

JOYCE Gallery, located inside JOYCE, one of Hong Kong’s premier fashion boutiques, kicked-off the Art Basel fair season with their in-store exhibition of JM Rizzi (JMR), a highly celebrated Brooklyn-based street artist whose unique works reflect a neo-abstract expressionist influence but with a twist of pop art.

While a selection of JMR’s works are available at the gallery for sale, the artist was also able to collaborate with the shop to create unique site-specific works which are based on the theme of “escape”.

According to the gallery, “JMR views painting as a medium through which he can escape the frustrations and the monotony of daily life”… and for most of us city dwellers, these black and white graphic lines may reflect exactly that kind of urban angst.

Other works on display plus a mural specifically for the On Pedder bags and accessories shop upstairs utilize bold colors as an added layer to the “scribbles”. The whole expression feels musical.

A little color IS fun… and a little fun doesn’t hurt anyone. The crowd was sold on Thursday night, with a few pieces already purchased by opening day.

I met up with a few pals in the crowd including, Marika of Lane Crawford, stylist Laura Li, bag designer Michelle Lai of MISCHA, W Hong Kong’s DJ Angus Wong, DJ Miss Yellow, The Armoury’s Alan See, Fashion Blogger Cindy Ko of Cindiddy, Artist Simon Birch, Disney’s Katrina Tran, and bag designer, Grace Chan editor of LUSHGAZINE.

Also met up for the first time with artist, DJ, and director, Mischa Hollenbach, the creator of Perks and Mini, an iconic Australian street fashion label.

One champagne is not enough.

Hood Rats.

AND also met up with street artist and graphic designer, Mark Goss from the UK. Like all things in my life these days, Mark and I met on Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram. And now we collaborate via his blog Curious Fiend, part of Fiend Projects. You’ll see some of my posts on there, and his posts will pop up on my website as well. Together we’ll do our best to cover the region’s art + design shows and exhibits.

We’ll both try to keep it fun and non-pretentious. Exactly like these crazy glasses we’re trying on at On Pedder.

On the way out I saw that JMR painted on these iconic bags, one from Proenza Schouler and the other from Pucci.

Prices upon request.

Of Coz.

VISIT JMR at JOYCE Gallery, G/F New World Tower, Central HK, Opens Daily 10:30am - 7:30pm, +852-28101120, Until 13 JUN 06

JJ.

#JJStyle: Tea With VNIKALI, 7 FAM, and Woobar

jj-the-wanderlister — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:32:00 +0800

Last Sunday a friend of mine, stylist and fashion blogger Veronica Li of the Vnikali Blog, and I finally got together for a life update and a chat with friends, Priscilla and Angus. The tea/coffee get together amongst us was long overdue, and it didn’t hurt that cakes at Woobar in W Hong Kong was part of the equation.

The last time I saw Veronica was at the Black Fleece Flagship launch in town, and it was then that she and I decided that it was time to really schedule a meet up.

Veronica has been working hard with her clients as well as religiously updating her wildly successful blog. Just two months ago, she flew to Vienna for her website’s coverage of the watch brand Omega. She had an opportunity to blog from the Garden Palace Liechtenstein while meeting up with actress, Nicole Kidman.

W Hong Kong pastry chef, Andrea Bonnafini, from Turin, served us an amazing Tea Set just for this month and in collaboration with Le French May, an annual citywide initiative by the Alliance Francaise to spread French culture in Hong Kong via art, entertainment, and F&B channels.

Andrea is like a kid in a candy shop… except his kitchen IS his candy shop, and he invents everything inside it. If you’re lucky you can get dueling edible chocolate robots…

Or potted Tiramisu plants.

After tea, we all headed up to the ~~Pool~~ Wet Deck upstairs to check out the view and take a few shots for the denim brand 7 For All Mankind as part of their Spring/Summer 2013 Social Media campaign.

It was a tad bit cold and windy then… but everyone found a way to warm up. Like Priscilla and Angus below.

Thanks so much 7 For All Mankind and W Hong Kong for a great Sunday get together. I can’t wait until the summer when it gets sunny and hot and the hotel’s famous Sunday DJ pool sessions are in full effect.

WEAR 7 For All Mankind / EAT WOOBAR at W Hong Kong / CULTURE Le French May

JJ.

Much Ado About A Boy Named Sue, Bringing The World's Greenest Fashion To You

jj-the-wanderlister — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:39:00 +0800

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you already know that while Asia and Hong Kong maybe rolling out the red carpet for High Street consumerism from brands like GAP, Zara, Topshop, and H&M, unfortunate accidents like the garment factory disaster in Bangladesh are starting to happen more and more frequently, and producers just can’t keep up with consumer demand for Fast Fashion. I’m as much to blame as anyone else. The lure of a trend or a certain look at an unbeatable price just cant be beat sometimes. That said who knows if even the luxury items we purchase at Lane Crawford or NET-A-PORTER come from a sustainable ecosystem… even if it is a high price? Maybe it just means a high return on investment. There are no guarantees that one item comes from a different factory from another in this day and age.

This is exactly why organizations, such as our friends at REDRESS and the new online shop, A BOY NAMED SUE, are seeking to help consumers re-think their options and what they wear. Every purchase we make goes directly into some eco-system. You can either feed more of the exploitation of human and ecological resources or the fostering of one. REDRESS seek to help us re-use and re-cycle our clothes, and A BOY NAMED SUE goes all over the world to source the best in sustainable fashion products. And what’s best… all these initiatives are based in Hong Kong.

This week, the creators of A BOY NAMED SUE, Tania Reinert and Samantha Wong, have launched A Green Home Shop, a sustainable pop-up initiative in Sai Ying Pun featuring selections from ABNS, plus items from HK Honey, NOOKHA, Grassroots Pantry, SO Soap (my favorite), niin, TREE, David Trubridge, and so much more.

So we sat down the the duo of ABNS, Sam and Tania, to learn more about their new Fashion portal. And as an interesting foot note… this is our second interview with the two of them, the first time being their initial #HKFashionBloggers collaboration with a Fast Fashion brand, ASOS via their blogs SamIsHome and TLikeBubbleTea…. my my how times change.

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theWanderlister+ Profiles Tania Reinert and Samantha Wong of A BOY NAMED SUE. Spring 2013

theW+: Hi Tania and Sam, I cant believe its been just 15 months since we’ve interviewed you both for the ASOS Tea Party, and now you two have come together again to create a new Fashion partal for eco-friendly and sustainable practice independent fashion from around the world… did you ever imagine 15 months ago that you would get this far with your collaborations?

Tania Reinert: No we didn’t to be honest. Although I knew right after our first collaboration that I wanted to work with Sam on more projects. She has a beautiful aesthetics that I am really drawn to. I always wanted to start my own business and Sam came our to be a perfect partner!

Samantha Wong: I think the ASOS event was more like a test on event management and gathering food sponsors and creating a video to match. So it was more like a one-off thing to test our own skills and taste.

theW+: Tania, I’ve noticed that your Fashion/Travel blog TLikeBubbleTea has taken a back seat, would you call your work with A BOY NAMED SUE an evolution of your past website or is it something completely different, do you aim to continue it thematically for example?

TR: I don’t think I will blog again or at least not in the same format in the foreseeable future. I felt like I have exhausted the topics in my blog and wanted to do something very different creatively. It was also a question of time and I have a day job, so I had to prioritize what I wanted to do. A Boy Named Sue is a passion project for me and I wanted to give it my undivided attention. TLikeBubbleTea is still a huge part of me and it was an amazing experience, but I have changed and so have the things that I want to write and share.

theW+: Sam, unlike Tania, you are still very much a blogger updating SamIsHome quite periodically, does your work for one blog inform the work for the website and vice versa?

SW: Like any other discipline- whether a violinist or a chef- requires constant practice. Sam is Home is more of a personal space where I can test all my ideas including photography, styling and delivery/tone of my writing. It’s a sketchbook. While A Boy Named Sue is more of an idea that has been refined and perfected through dabbling in blogging.

theW+: Tell us about “eco-chic” and the “sustainable fashion industries”. People expected all of this to just be a trend, yet here we are and you have launched a new website devoted to it. Do you see longevity in this business?

TR: I think there is longevity, as we run our of resources, pollution rises across Asia and the rest of the world, the climate change becomes more acutely felt and there is more awareness about the dirty business of fashion, businesses will become more keen on introducing sustainable practices and governments will hopefully become more stringent.

SW: Sustainability shouldn’t be perceived as an alternative solution; it should be the standard. We have to start seeing this issue as less of a concept, less of a marketing ploy and really start living it out. It’s fine to say that none of us have the perfect eco solution but I hope the longevity comes from a drive in innovation and creativity when it comes to issues as important as environmental and social stewardship.

TR: Change will come from four sources; raising awareness for the consumer and the government, cost efficiency in how businesses run, and technological process of fabrication ie. digital printing , 3D laser cutting. I hope that it won’t be too late though!

theW+: What are the brands to watch out for and will you carry some of them on your online store?

TR: I love The Sway, Isabell de Hillerin and Hien Le. Although I really love all the brands we stock as Sam and I spent 4 months researching them. For the next season I am really psyched about Svilu and L’Herbe Rouge

SW: I’m really excited for Spring/Summer 2013 because unlike Fall/Winter 2012 which was all executed through a PDF brand pitch and emailing designers about a store we wanted to launch, we actually met up with a lot of our existing designers as well as future ones we’ll be stocking. I’m looking forward to stocking some cool chambray shirts from L’Herbe Rouge and beautiful but fun embroidery work from Thu Thu next season.

theW+: What is your biggest advice to young fashion designers and entrepreneurs who want to promote eco-fashions like you do?

TR: Research, be open and be curious, ask questions, seek solutions and never settle for the mediocre.

SW: Understand the root of your passion because down the road when the challenges start coming, remember why you first started.

SHOP A Boy Named Sue Online / VISIT A Green Home Shop. A Sustainable Pop-Up Store. May 5-12th, 2013, Fuk Sau Lane off Third Street in Sai Ying Pun. Open Daily from 12PM - 7:30PM

JJ.

theW+ HK Spring 2013 Shops Guide: Sun Street, St. Francis Yard & Sau Wa Fong

jj-the-wanderlister — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:28:00 +0800

Based on the weather in Hong Kong lately, it seems like the city is not yet ready to give up on Spring (ie. rainy and chilly). So therefore, while it is still Spring out in the city, take your umbrella and go to some of these shops I checked out with friends, MacArthur and Peter (as in SOM, one of the US’s hottest designers today.)

Peter and Mac getting along just fine!

Not knowing how to spend the Sunday, I decided to meet up with Peter and Mac post-brunch for coffee. Soon after some gossip updates, we all decided that it was best to do some exercise .. and by exercise we mean a walking tour of one of my most favorite neighborhoods… the Sun Street / St. Francis Yard / Sau Wa Fong ~~(triangle?)~~ in ~~Wanchai~~ Admiralty.

+ CARVEN / Moon Street

Our first stop of the tour, straight to Moon Street to check out the latest Spring looks at the newly opened CARVEN boutique.

For those who do not know, CARVEN was founded in 1945 at Rond Point des Champs-Elysees by Madame Carven to house her collection of Haute Couture. The shop has had a few transformations since the 90’s when Mardame CARVEN retired from the label, and since then the brand has been building a collection inspired by CARVEN’s very clean, elegant, and youthfully romantic approach to the “CARVEN” aesthetic.

In 2010 Guillaume Henry joins the CARVEN house as its newest Art Director. His biggest change? Adding the brand’s first men’s collection for the Summer 2012 line.

And by the looks of what’s on offer at the Moon Street CARVEN, this season it’s all about neon tangerines, electric greens, and florals. (A different interpretation of Spring than what we’re all stuck with in HK.)

Im loving the collaborative pieces with PORTER Bags and Zespa Shoes.

The friendly neighborhood CARVEN guy said “Hi”.

+ KAPOK / Sun Street

Next stop, we wanted to show Peter the original KAPOK shops. I know these days there are other locations… but I still think the Sun Street and St. Francis Street shops are the best. KAPOK is where you can go to find labels and goods before they they show up anywhere else in Hong Kong. They’re the true purveyors of fine goods in the city.

This time around we checked out sunglasses by Smith & Norby, the latest wallets by Jack Spade, and card cases by MAKR Carry Goods.

That said, i’m a big fan of these easy to carry Wm.J.Mills&CO. Sailmakers Bags from Greenport NY. (According to the label).

They have KINFOLK!

+ THE MEN’S SHOP by CLUB MONACO / St. Francis Yard

I’m a Club Monaco addict. There I said yet. I think my friend, Whitney and I buy at least one thing from this store every week.

Men in Hong Kong get an an extra special treat with The Men’s Shop concept on St. Francis street because they do ship in some extra special items only found in this store from some independent labels in the states. I’m loving the “needlepoint belts” from Smathers & Branson above.

We we all loved these great pair of loafers from Mark McNairy.

I was also tempted to get this umbrella from London Undercover.

Meanwhile I wore my new Club Monaco blazer for this season. It’s got green and yellow flowers printed all over it like wallpaper… but that’s exactly why I love it. It’s quite quirky.

+ WDSG Art & Craft Department / St. Francis Street

Around the corner we we went to check out the newest goods at the WDSG Shop… which looked more like a General Store from the wild west… That… or Williamsburg today.

From the outside, it doesn’t look like a big shop… but when you go down the stairs, it’s a really big basement space with plenty of very cool and interesting clothes and shoes that will make you ready for a night at the Saloon or jump start on the Oregon Trail.

Besides Moonshine Whiskey and plenty of flannels, denims, and vests… WDSG has a great selection of Red Wing Shoes.

As well as some skincare, toiletries, candles… and other homewares.

Care for an old fashioned shave?

That Sunday there were plenty of free Ice Cold Ye Old Draft Tsing Tao Beer to go around!

We each had one.

I was this close to getting a “JJ”.

And thanks to GIFTWELL, Hong Kong’s newest and classiest, Gift Card program… I gifted myself two new pillows for the house!

+ INCREDIBLES / Sau Wa Fong

Other cool stores we checked out in that hood, the new Incredibles men’s shop in Sau Wa Fong that offers T-Shirts, Jeans, and Backpacks… as an alternative to the T-Shirts, Jeans, and Backpacks that you’re used to.

Incredibles carries eco-friendly brands like UEG, Fidelity and Champion, Tellason Jeans (Made with White Oak Cone raw denim from North Carolina, and various offerings from Tanner Goods.

We loved the shop’s warm environment framed by timber feature screens. Great concept!

+ ARCHITECTZ FACTORY / Sau Wa Fong

Our second to the last stop was the wasteland haven that was Architectz Factory… a mom and pop operation… part design shop, part studio, part coffee shop.

You can come here to find tons of knicknacks for the home, from tea, to teapots, to salt and pepper shakers… theres even a few accessories here like bags and jewelry.

All things old and new curated by the husband and wife team who run this place. I even spotted a Super Famicom!

+ DELSTORE / Schooner Street + Ship Street

The final stop of the day is the very cool DELSTORE. The store is non-descript and hard to miss, but if you walk from Ship Street to Sau Wa Fong or vice versa, I think you’ll be able to spot it.

Inside on offer more menswear and some key women’s pieces. Labels are all generally goods from Japan like Arts & Sciences, Holywood Ranch Market, Nanamica, and other non-Japanese brands like J Panther Luggage Co., Rising Sun, AOC 1961, Yuketen, and Thom Browne Eyewear.

They also have Ha Wan Pao culture and art zine available! Plus other journals.

That’s the sign! Don’t miss it!

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Of course we had to stop by Sau Wa Fong’s resident mayor, the ever lovely lady, Joyce Wang… an Award Winning architect and designer of the studio, WANG. Her latest work most notably that being AMMO at Asia Society.

Again I thank GIFTWELL for their card!

Make sure to give a GIFTWELL gift to your loved ones in Hong Kong. A GIFTWELL card will enable your friend, loved one, buddy, shop at independent shops in Hong Kong that fit them… whether they’re a him, a her, a couple, a “hipster”, a “foodie”, a “well-heeled” person, or a “workahlic”, etc. GIFTWELL cards are accepted at snazzy shops like Kapok, WDSG, The Pawn, Russell Street, The Press Room, MANKS, VIE, Loveramics, Konzepp, Indigo Living, Mama Kid, and much more.

Speaking of The Pawn… that’s where we all ended our shopping excercise… just a few blocks down from Sau Wa Fong and St. Francis Street. We knocked back pints of beer and a cigarette-infused old-fashioned.

Life is short. Enjoy it!

GIVE GIftwell / SHOP Carven Moon Street, Shop B. G/F 1 Moon Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong +852-28041608 / SHOP Kapok on Sun Street, G/F 3 Sun Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong +852-25200114 / SHOP The Men’s Shop by Club Monaco, Shop 4B Bo Fung Mansions, 1 St. Francis Yard, Wanchai, Hong Kong / SHOP WDSG Art & Craft Department, 9 St. Francis Street Wanchai, Hong Kong +852-25283800 / SHOP Incredible, 4 Sau Wa Fong, Wanchai, HK +852-25298639 / SHOP Architectz Factory, 27 Sau Wa Fong St., Wanchai HK +852-2536-4788 / SHOP Delstore, 3 Schooner St, Wanchai HK, +852-2528-1770 / DRINK The Pawn, 62 Johnston Road, Wanchai, HK, +852-28663444

JJ.

Sun Above, Sin Below. SCARLETT and Maggie Choo's Makes Nightlife Lush Again

jj-the-wanderlister — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:38:45 +0800

Bangkok is quite good with super “Designed” Wallpaper*-esque nightlife concepts and offerings and has been since the emergence of “IT” joints like Bed Supper Club, FACE Bar, and Fallabella in the last decade.

While those bars are a memory of what they once were, making waves as of late are two new hotspots located high above the city with, SCARLETT, perfect for those wanting a sunset with a scene, and a new “speakeasy” very low underground, at the new/old Maggie Choo’s, for those wanting a bit of naughty privacy.

If you plan on going to SCARLETT, make sure you get reservations first because patrons come here early to catch the sunset with pre drinks, and then follow-up with delicious Tapaz, cold cuts, and cheese, with wine pairing. In addition, the menu is formulated by 2-star Michelin Chef Manuel Martinez.

The original SCARLETT is located in Beijing. The Bangkok bar is the sister location.

Designed by friends of mine at P49 DEESIGN, one of Asia’s top hospitality design studios, SCARLETT’s has plenty of greens for that softer touch and nice comfy outdoor lounging areas, plus indoor share tables perfect for big groups or impromptu meet ups. Tables are lit with exposed pendant bulbs to have that floating candle-light effect, and are framed by by colorful black, white, and red graphic tiles on the floor to add a bit of that Spanish fun and color but in a modern and subdued way.

It’s located centrally on the 37th floor of the Pullman Bangkok Hotel G where I stayed earlier this Spring. Its very easy to get to.

The sunset views are really the best part of the Pre-Dining experience here.

That same week, my friends and I were trying to figure out where to go for nightlife. And thinking that I wanted to blog about something new, a friend mentioned to me that a new bar, called Maggie Choo’s, just opened up by the same team which includes “IT” designer and “Nightlife Baron”, Ashley Sutton.

You may know Perth-born Sutton’s work via his other destination bars, Iron Fairies and Fat Gut’z. And recently he’s just opened a family friendly eating establishment at Siam Center, Mr. Jone’s Orphanage, and a bookshop/bar called Bookshop Bar. Funny that.

Just when you thought 1920’s Shanghainese fetishism in design has gone been-there-done-that… well, you can change your mind again with Sutton’s version of the concept… a concubine’s haven run by head-mistress, a character named, Maggie Choo.

What’s great about Maggie Choo’s, is that it’s truly a “speakeasy”, even the theatre of the sense of arrival gives you a feeling of naughy (using the word again) anticipation.

The door (as all faux-speakeasies tend to be) is a side door on the Ground floor of an old Novotel on Silom Road. You walk in, see a tiled wall with a picture of men eating noodles, then you notice you’ll need to walk down a flight of stairs (hand carved) and enter a what seemingly looks like an old-school dai pai dong Cantonese noodle bar.

“Is this it?”, you ask yourself, “Where are the concubines on a swing I keep hearing about?”. Just when you thought you’d give it all up, a lady tells you to follow her through a door with curtains.

And then just like some magic trick, the space expands… into this…

…A lush cavernous bar lined with vaults clad in steel and brick, a plush central bar that looks like a bank teller… and swings… everywhere. That night I got there too early so there were no concubines on swings, (they were swinging on their own… ghastly), but I got the point.

You’ll be surprised to know that all the bricks, steel, and vaults were actually already there and were just incorporated by Sutton for the design… so no faux “Disneyfication” here.

The site was originally a 1947 East India Company Bank underground vault. The concept works great with the space. Each vault has a VIP sitting area, and i’m sure you can close it up for privacy. Also each vault area connects to the other vaults so you can have one big party.

We ordered yummy “cantonese” snacks of friend dumplings and chicken wings plus fries and fried peanuts with house cocktails which tasted like the 1920’s.

These two served us.

It’s very well done. Although next time i’ll really want to try the noodles and dumplings at the cafe out front… which you can do before or after drinking!

According to their Facebook Page:

Maggie Choo’s was named after Shanghai cabaret owner who fled her hometown in 1931 following the Japanese invasion that tore the city.

Shortly after arriving in Bangkok, she found a 19th century Thai Chinese shoe box restaurant crammed into a basement 10 meters below Silom road serving authentic Thai chinese shophouse food.

When one day, she discovered behind the walls in the corner of the restaurant an entrance that lead to a derelict 19th century East India company bank built in 1847 used for storing porcelain and spices that the British used to carry back to England for Queen Victoria, her past caught up with her and she converted the old bank into a cabaret, just like when she used to back in Shanghai.

Today the cabaret is yet to be revived again…

Have a great night in Bangkok! We always do!

EAT SCARLETT Wine Bar & Restaurant, 37th Floor, Pullman Bangkok Hotel G, 188 Silom Road +66-2238-1992 / DRINK Maggie Choo’s, Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom Hotel, 320 Silom Road 02-63506055

JJ.

Technology and Visual History Combine For Divine Effect, Works by Wim Delvoye and Ronald Ventura in Hong Kong

jj-the-wanderlister — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:58:00 +0800

If a gallery was a pop-indie-R&B-electronic music promoter whose sole purpose was to import the best in edgy yet mature acts in the world to Hong Kong today, then one can single out Paris/Hong Kong based Galerie Perrotin as that kind of gallery.

I say this not as a critique but an observation based on the current and last few exhibits since the gallery opened in its beautiful 50 Connaught Road space. Exhibitions that aren’t necessarily ”POP” as much as they are “Populist” are extracted from graphic and illustrative cultures of our time, magnified, amplified, choreographed, and exhibited in a nice neat package in the gallery’s light filled space. They’re edgy, but consumable, presented in a nice package like a new CD by the XX or M.I.A. for example. Exhibitions in 2012 by Peter Zimmermann, JR, KAWS, Aya Takano, Bharti Kher, and Farhad Moshiri would fall into these categories. There have been more open ended shows, however, like works in progress or studies by Lionel Esteve and Jin Meyerson. The exhibitions have been fun, bold, and perfect for an Asian audience (maybe the young ones) still focused on refining their curatorial palette.

However as Pop-indie acts go, part of what always makes them relevant is their ability to use digital information and technology to extract visual resources (ever available with google search and a click of the mouse) from the past to the present, then remixed, packaged, and then presented. This remix of visual culture via the technological filter is what the latest solo exhibitions at Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong are all about with two shows by the Philippine’s Ronald Ventura (pictured below) and Belgium’s Wim Delvoye (pictured above).

Exhibited separately in one big space with no curatorial connection between the two, Ventura and Delvoye exhibit works fit for a religious spaces but with a twist. Ventura’s paintings reflect Baroque formal compositions and dutch techniques (playing on light), while Delvoye’s silver sculptures are indeed Baroque-esque in the layers of information, detail, and the way all these are flattened with a play on perspective and drama. Overall the works presented here are grand in gesture, and exaggerated in motion and drama, everything that the Roman Catholic Church just loves. In the 1600s Baroque works aimed to communicate the divinity on speed, but in today’s digital age, is the excess of information a divine gift of which to create?

Ronald Ventura’s fantastical paintings of smoking skulls, sea creatures, monsters, amid Angry Birds (an iOS game app) and BEATS by Dr. Dre Headphones, within bird cages (a thematic trope to put it all together), for Ventura, an aim to materialize his fantasies. His paintings are way for us to see what he sees. Ventura’s work begins with several sketches, then scanned, and remixed on photoshop (with presumably some other visual references from online), and then painted. Compared to Ventura’s other works in the past, the exhibition, titled Voids and Cages, is some of his most mature work yet, and thematically more global than it is regional.

Meanwhile works here by Wim Delvoye is an extension of his show from The Louvre in 2012 which took two years to produce. Unlike Ventura who works alone, Delvoye employes a studio to help him craft together his intricate sculptures, like the “Twisted Dump Truck” pictured above, modeled in a 3D computer program, then laser-cut piece by piece and assembled in Stainless Steel. This and the mirrored bronze sculptures which reflect Rorschach plates, give a sense of work truly in motion. Whats more, the sculptures look like they were gestured by a paint brush, as if Baroque works were actually transitioning from one kind of composition to another one. It is… pretty cool.

These shows will be on exhibit at Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong until 11 May 2013. Click below to see more from the show and details on where to see it.

VISIT Wim Delvoye and Ronald Ventura: Voids and Cages, Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong, 50 Connaught Road, Central HK, Tue-Sat 11am-8pm. Show ends 11 May 2013

JJ.

theW+ x CuriousFiend: 'Hooligan' Simon Birch at Ben Brown Fine Arts

jj-the-wanderlister — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:24:00 +0800

Part of a collaborative series of art, design, and exhibition posts in Asia of note via our friends at Curious Fiend and Fiend Projects

curiousfiend:

Over the weekend we went to Ben Brown Fine Arts to check out the new solo exhibition of British artist Simon Birch, one of Hong Kong’s best known and most celebrated contemporary artists.

The fantastic works in this show are testament to why Birch is so acclaimed, this new exhibition, ‘Hooligan’ features a series of figurative paintings in the dramatic, movement filled style that he is best known for, characterized by a distinctive use of textured oil on canvas.

Taken from the Ben Brown website the following paragraphs explain the concept behind this new series of paintings.

‘Birch is interested in universal ideas of transition, the ambiguous moment between an initiation and a conclusion, the unobtainable now and the future, inevitably crashing towards us. For Birch these ideas translate easily from oil paint, to film, to installations, which engage with myth, history, circus and science fiction, connection and disconnect. He chooses to explore these themes in an enveloping environment of theater and spectacle, where the process of viewing becomes experiential: overwhelming and complex, yet as spectacle and adventure, also approachable’.

‘The striking female forms in Hooligan bear the imprint of an invisible force, as though someone hurled them through space and punched them into the frame. The belligerent title of the show is the only hint about the identity of the aggressor, underscoring the eruptive violence that pervades Birch’s work. We’re in a story that’s been freeze-framed, but not for long: there is a before to this moment, just as there will be a hereafter’.

Simon Birch ‘Hooligan’ runs until the 15th May at Ben Brown Fine Arts and even though the work looks great in the photos it doesn’t come close to the actual paintings so we recommend you check it out.

Ben Brown Fine Arts / 301 Pedder Building / 12 Pedder Street / Central / Hong Kong

#JJStyle: Yo JJ, Where Are Your Glasses From?

jj-the-wanderlister — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:04:12 +0800

Everyday I get asked, “JJ, where are you glasses from?”. And I mean everyday. By friends, work colleagues, followers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook…and if I did allow questions to be asked on Tumblr, I’m sure I would get asked then too. And just yesterday during an intense meeting with a corporate developer client (everyone over 45 years old), one guy closed out the meeting asking me where my glasses were from. He really loved it. It was quite random.

Me. I love my glasses.

They’re so versatile. They go with everything. And they go with all kinds of looks I can put together.

This look below wearing my glasses with a Zal Paleri Jacket, Club Monaco Shirt, Gap Chinos, and Puma Black Label Mirayasuhiro loafers for Blue Carreon’s dinner.

And then this look below with a Suit from TCNY and a pocket square from Jim Thompson.

They even go with my schleppy airport look.

The glasses were actually purchased in Beijing at WUHAO as I’ve mentioned in an earlier post. And they were actually Sunglasses originally. They were an investment then, but today… it’s a gift that keeps on giving.

The glasses are under the Thierry Lasry brand from Paris, but a collaboration with Garrett Leight based in Los Angeles aka Paris meets Los Angeles Collection.

Born in 1984 in Venice Beach, Garrett Leight (below right) is actually the son of Larry Leight and Cindy Lieght, founders of the famous eyeglasses brand, Oliver Peoples. So he pretty much grew up surrounded by eyewear.

GLCO or the Garrett Leight California Optical was created in 2010 and is defined not only by Garrett’s iconic silhouette which aims for strong long lines as compared to Oliver People’s unique round shapes, but the plastic frames of Garrett Leight glasses are produced from custom made cellulose acetate, and handmade at the Mazzuchelli factory in Italy, or sourced from vintage acetate in Japan.

My glasses, titled “The Harding”, is actually part of a first batch of prototypes for his recently released Garrett Leight Icons collection and was inspired by prominent American playwright and essayist, Arthur Miller.

Check out this video below on the process of the design:

“The Harding’s” unique profile is characterized by its flat top bar, wide keyhole bridge, and smoothly rounded rims, to achieve the clean and modern look according to GQ Online.

Thierry Lasry, like Garrett Leight, was also surrounded by eyewear. His father was an optician and his mother, a designer. The brand, based in Paris, was launched in 2006, and is defined by the concept of “Futuristic Vintage” and goes more for the “avant-garde” approach to things. The metal on the sides of my glasses are a signature of the Thierry Lasry look.

(image via HENNYANDMYBLOG)

Some of my other favorite glasses I own… this one by Warby Parker. (Paired with a shirt from COS, and a tailored tux jacket.)

Purchased at their pop-up in New York last year.

And I also own these glasses from Robert Geller from a few years ago. (Paired with PUMA Black Label Hussein Chalayan)

I can go on and on… because for those who have been to my flat… there’s a whole glass bowl of glasses and sunglasses. Some cost 5 USD and other cost 600USD all thrown in and mixed together.

As long as the style is right. You’re good to go!

Above: Carrera x Lane Crawford BLITZ

WEAR Garrett Leight / WEAR Thierry Lasry / WEAR Warby Parker / WEAR Robert Geller

JJ.

Notes From Phuket, Songkran at Maikhao Dream

jj-the-wanderlister — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:31:00 +0800

Songkran a.k.a. Thai New Year starts so much later in the year relative to Western or Chinese New Year, and this year the Thais celebrated this festive day on April 13th.

I was just so happy that I had the schedule to leave Hong Kong’s cold and wet Spring to bask in the Phuket sun as I was attending my first Songrkan while at the same time staying at the Maikhao Dream Resort & Spa in Natai, Phang Nga, one of Phuket’s newest and most luxurious resort properties.

According to Thai tradition, New Year rituals begin early in the morning when Thais rise to give alms to Buddist monks at the temple. As practice, children and the young are supposed to pour scented water over the hand’s of elders, and are then wished good health, happiness, and prosperity in return. This exchange of water for wishes is called “Rod Nam Dam Hua”. However, these days… it’s like an episode of “Thais Gone Wet & Wild”.

It’s the only time of year when Thais let loose and en masse go to the streets to go all water crazy. Using big water guns, pails, and hoses, locals splash water on themselves, other cars, and unsuspecting tourists who should know better. That said, most foreign visitors go to Thailand during Songkran just so they can party and get dangerously wet on the streets.

While my friends opted for Bangkok for the same weekend, I was looking for Phuket’s more chill environment. That said… with trucks and vehicles blasting dance music, and people with water guns all over the street, the Songkran scene in Phuket is not any less than other parts of the country.

Overall the trip was indeed sunny, fun, wild, and wet.

The Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa played extraordinary hosts to the long Songrkan weekend. They had an amazing festive set up on New Year’s Day which included the freshest Thai Food market-style with the best spices, greens, and seafood available.

I mean seriously. The chef went to town. I think I pretty much had the best Pad-Thai of my life at that resort.

The properties, and there are two… one located in Phuket at Maikhao Beach and another one 15 minutes away at Natai Beach in Phang Nga, are rare in that they’re literally beach side (meaning you can step out of your villa and jump right into the water), and that the beaches are surrounded by National Parks, making them completely private, luxurious, and quiet from “party tourists”.

You can literally have breakfast, lunch, and dinner quietly while watching the waves go by.

And if the beach is not your thing, every villa and room has immediate access to the central Salt Water swimming pool… while a few, like my suite, has a private pool extending directly from the room.

The resort’s designers, Bangkok based dwp, opted for a simple, lush, and contemporary subdued style which relates strongly with Thailand’s traditional colonial architectural history.

An Honorable Mention at the 2011 IIDA Global Excellence Awards for quality interior design work was awarded to the designers of the project for such great work.

From the way indoor rooms spatially extend to the outdoors, and the way plants, vegetation, landscapes, and waterscapes frame each villa and their outdoor rooms, I can only imagine the amount of planning and maintenance it takes to keep everything so rightly perfect.

My favorite part…every room focuses on framing views, either to the beach, or to water and nature, as well as maximizing the amount of daylight penetrating windows of the space.

Each villa has a number of amazing feature walls depicting Thai landscapes and iconography, each hand painted and signed by Phuket’s local artisans! Impressive.

It’s these bespoke touches which really add a bit of warmth and personality to a big property like Maikhao, rare in this market and for such big villas. The two bedroom villa is 5,000 sq.ft and the three bedroom is 7,000 sq.ft. They’re so big, that I think they fall on the “House” category instead of villas, which are the biggest in Phuket as of writing this post.

Maikhao Dream VIlla Resort & Spa works as one resort with two distinct properties. In total there are 2 salt water pools, 2 gyms, 2 amazing spas, 3 restaurants, a few bars, 2 beaches, and 7 choices for rooms from 45 sqm. Deluxe Rooms, to 78 sq.m Duplex Rooms, 107 sqm. Pool Terrace Rooms, all the way up to the Villas. The staff are helpful to your every need and are completely attentive.

Make sure you be nice and say hi to Atitaya, the Spa Manager. Not only is she in charge of helping you figure out your treatments, but she has this amazing Ginger-based “Herbal Tea” concoction which she never makes for guests. But if she likes you she will make it and maybe even give you the recipe for it.

Most ingredients at the Spa and the retaurant come from the the resort’s own Herb Garden outside.

Make sure you pick up the hotel’s own Limited Edition Benjarong Porcelain at the properties. It’s their own patented designs and colors.

Also dont forget to go to Phuket Old Town for architecture and independent fashion and design boutiques…

And give Catch Beach Club Surin Beach a try for an excellent Sea Food Buffet, great lounge music, and people watching… only if it gets too quiet for you at the resort. (Although personally, I have no problem with quiet getaways.)

Thank you so much Maikhao Dream Villa Resort & Spa and Medium Asia for a completely stress fee and crazy-wet Songkran weekend in Phuket!

No compaints. One note however…if I must… a shorter more memorable name for the resort would be useful. The current name is a mouth full! Especially when I blog or refer the property to friends. It’s easy to mess up.

That said, I say thank you for the hospitality. And once again… Happy Songkran!

STAY Maikhao Dream Villa Resorts & Spa at Maikhao and Natai Beach, Phuket / NIGHTLIFE Catch Beach Club Surin Beach at Surin Beach / VISIT Phuket Old Town

JJ.

So This Happened. Inflatables Attacked Hong Kong.

jj-the-wanderlister — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:16:00 +0800

The last time images of giant inflatables moved in into a large metropolitan area, everyone was sprayed with toxic laughing gas… then died.

Above. Batman, 1989.

While Mobile M+ may have mirroring motives (ie. to make you happy), death by laughter is certainly not one of them. Warning, a big smile on the face may be a side effect.

How about an air-filled roast pork by China’s Cao Fei in House of Treasures, 2013.

Or perhaps South Korea’s Choi Jeong Hwa’s black lotus flower in Emptiness is Form. Form is Emptiness, 2013?

Floating higher above, a great work by Jiakun Architects of China with With The Wind, 2009 which debuted at the Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism.

Here’s a pile of poo. Thanks to Paul McCarthy from the US with his work titled, Complex Pile, an “inflatable sculpture of a twisted pile of excrement”.

Here’s a roach from Tam Wai Ping, a Hong Kong artist, with his work, Falling into the Mundane World, 2013.

As an architect i’m drawn to this almost 1:1 scale inflatable model of Stonehenge in Jeremy Deller’s Sacrilege, 2012.

Now I have no idea if the following work is part of the Mobile M+: Inflation! Exhibition above in the West Kowloon Cultural District Promenade (WKCD), but this thing happened today at Harbour City in Hong Kong.

Titled Rubber Duck, this 16.5 high floating wonder is conceived by Dutch conceptual artist, Florentijn Hofman. The duck represents a work “with no frontiers, discrimination, or political connotation.” According to Hofman, “the friendly Rubber Duck has healing properties: it an relive tensions as well as define them. The Rubber Duck is soft, friendly, and suitable for all ages.” Harbour City always gets it right. Rubber Duck leaves June 9th, just after Art Basel Hong Kong is over.

Meanwhile the inflation on the WKCD Promenade is part of the Mobile M+ series which began last year. Via their PR Sheet:

“Mobile M+: Inflation!” aims to pose questions about the nature of public art and the ways in which audiences might engage with it. Several of these are derived from everyday objects that have been inflated to outsized proportions as a way of rendering the familiar unfamiliar, more tangible, and uncannily touchable than ever before. Other works in the exhibition question the nature and potential of art and architecture in public space through installations that evoke ephemerality and reflect on human relationships to built environment and to the natural world.

VISIT Mobile M+: Inflation!, West Kowloon Cultural District Promenade, Open all days and Public Holidays except Mondays from 11am to 8pm, Free of Charge / VISIT 16.5-meter-high Gigantic Inflatable Rubber Duck Exhibition, Ocean Terminal Harbour City, Victoria Harbour

JJ.

NOTE: Thank you so much M+, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority for the Photos by Nicholas Tse and Thank you Harbour City for the photo of the Rubber Duck courtesy of Florentijn Hofman.

More Than One Note, Jim Lambie Brings Music To Space

jj-the-wanderlister — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:16:00 +0800

Last week we recently checked out the lastest showing from Pearl Lam Galleries’ newest exhibition, a work by Scottish artist and DJ, Jim Lambie. Newly appointed International gallery director, Althea Viafora-Kress, walked us through the gallery’s roomy 6th floor space at the Pedder Building to see a bold exhibition of bright colors and blue and white stripes that make up an impressive body of work that is obviously prolific as it is “popularist”, a term Althea describes for the artist, Lambie.

Born in the the late 60’s, Lambie graduated from the Glasgow School of Art when he was 30 in 1994. Now almost 50 years yeas old, Lambie is a “visual” artist who creates colorful sculptural installations pieced together from everyday objects, inspired by his everyday life. At Pearl Lamb the most notable piece, titled I Remember (Square Dance), 2009, is a play on the cube formed via an additive process. Vintage chairs sawed in half, painted in poppy hues and stacked together with mirrored handbags, reflecting the moments in Lambie’s life where he sat in bars starring at chairs with women’s handbags. Simple as that.

A classically trained artist, who was nominated for a Turner Prize, Lambie likes to play with structure as a baseline, like the chair’s cube, or covering the gallery floors with blue and white swirls via a work titled The Strokes (like the band) where then each piece from the collection can have equal “weight” no matter how small or large the size. As a whole the show literally reflects a song where each work becomes an important note of which to play of itself or via the floor. It’s a show that exists within its own space, time, and framework.

It’s hard NOT to hear music when the same colors are on repeat frequently from one work to another. Like when colors reveal themselves via each metallic fold as in Metal Box (Instanbul), 2013 or when paint rips through plastic bags like in Plaza, 1999/2013. And as a DJ, one can say that he really is influenced with rythm and repetition. But I did ask Althea if Lambie ever tried to interpet his works back to music… she wasn’t so sure. But that would be really interesting if it ever did happen.

Althea Viafora-Kress, below, in front of Metal Box (Instanbul), 2013.

Records encased in Concrete boxes, in works from the Sonic Reducer 2008 series. Are they floating or sinking. Depends on where you’re coming from.

Colors rip through in Plaza, 1999/2013, inspired by a woman Lambie saw on the bus with milk seeping through her shopping bag.

A belt floats in Venom Wild Pitch, 2002.

England’s Dreaming, 2011 collage.

A special Psychedelic Soul Stick made for each show.

Too hot. Lets cool off. White Belt, 2012 below. Made of Steel.

One can easily get sucked in. Vortex (Into the Void), 2013.

Althea and I spoke briefly about different issues, from moving to Hong Kong, the Chinese art market, and art appreciation in general. She was excited to find out I practice architecture full time, so we started our chat on the subject of how architects see art (via a historical/spatial framework) versus how artists work with art and see art as well (a creative expression from Blankness within its own context). I was obviously drawn to the exhibit because it was so spatial, but interesting to note that Lambie starts each work via just tinkering with materials or being inspired by the everyday experience. The thing itself then gets magnified and constructed in super bold ways which exists in their own vortex.

Good to know that even well established commercial galleries can push the button of the spectator experience to create a point of view. While Pearl Lam is in a position to sell, it’s also good to educate perspective… for themselves and the client.

VISIT Jim Lambie: The Flowers of Romance, 17 April - 15 May 2013 at Pearl Lamb Galleries, 6F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong. Closed Sundays.

JJ.

Vote for The Vagabond Project! Our pals at The Vagabond Project...

jj-the-wanderlister — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:55:15 +0800

Vote for The Vagabond Project!

Our pals at The Vagabond Project are up for best Online Film & Video in the Travel & Adventure Category for this year’s WEBBY Awards. If you don’t remember who they are, they were the ones who interviewed us two years ago at the Ning Lau photo exhibition at G.O.D. in SOHO to ask us about Hong Kong’s creative scene. 20+ Webisodes later, they are now up for an award. Hosted by TV Personality and Project Runway model / yogi from New York City, Millana Snow, the show takes viewers on a journey around Hong Kong and Beijing. The episodes are quick, fast, furious, and handy/helpful guides around Asia. Check out all the shows at http://www.thevagabondproject.tv/ and you can vote for them at the link below.

VOTE for THE VAGABOND PROJECT HERE!

JJ.

Seen&Scene: At Home at Casa Capriz

jj-the-wanderlister — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:52:00 +0800

It was a tough week overall with terrorist attacks in Boston, my sister’s hometown. The attacks plus tighter than usual deadlines at work almost brought me to the end of my rope. So it was quite refreshing to see a “TGIF”-style invite on Facebook for a little get together at Casa Capriz in Chai Wan, an artist’s haven in the industrial area aka. the last stop of the MTR’s Blue Island Line.

The Capriz part of the name refers to studio owner, Irene Capriz, pictured above, the lovely lady of Italian-Malay descent who came all the way to Hong Kong from Bologna, Italy, her hometown. The traditional lifestyle/retail space in Hong Kong’s more central districts maybe tight and expensive, but Casa Capriz’s roomy 2,600 square-foot showroom showcasing curated vintage furniture from around the world, is a breath of fresh air for those who are in a no-pressure mood to search of something different and with a curatorial eye. (Ie. not cheap metal, plastic, flat packed, and mass produced.)

Irene shares the space with Claudia Albertini, director of Platform China, and Paola Sinisterra (below) and Ignacio Garcia of the Tangram fashion label, to create a haven where one can go from trying out furniture, to perusing edgy art, while walking around in one of many Tangram clothes… again just a try. It’s a new way of experiencing shopping for a variety of things at one go while supporting independent creative initiatives.

This past Friday, the Chai Wan collective of artists and designers, known as Chai Wan Mei, organized a neighborhood shindig which included galleries like A0 Vertical Art Space, Latitude 22N, and YY9 Gallery. At Casa Capriz, a selection of erotic art curated by Platform China was on stage with kinky accessories by Sally Coco, a new line of lingerie from Tangram, and an amazing feast of fresh bread and pate from the bespoke bakers at Bread Elements.

The husband and wife team from Bread Elements, sharing their classic “Campagne” Loaf.

I was there with Time Out HK Editor and RTHK Radio Personality, Arthur Tam. We were fresh off our taping of his weekly show “From Top to Bottom” focused on queer issues locally and globally.

I met milliner, Jay Cheng, for the first time, whose studio was also in Chai Wan. Cheng’s hats were on sale and on display around the gallery and the space.

The biggest surprise of the evening was meeting theWanderlister+ reader, Norbyah, a cool mother of three, teacher, and an overall stylish lady… who like Irene, is half malay as well. She wore her market finds from Stanley Market. It’s lovely.

I had such a great time that night. For me a trip to Chai Wan is a creative re-charge, but for these artists and designers who work and live here… this is their everyday. And fingers crossed/pray to God, that the Hong Kong government does something to support all their endeavors.

Enjoy the rest of the photos!

Okay, so Chai Wan wasn’t the last stop. Arthur and I met up with DJ Angus Wong in Central to have a bit of classic Cantonese food at Lin Heung. (We were supposed to go to Ngau Kee, my favorite local cantonese dive, but this weekend they were closing shop and there was a line… so Lin Heung it is.)

I really miss Ngau Kee, but eating in Lin Heung is quite nice as well. The decor takes you back to mid-century life in Hong Kong. The food and sea-food is amazing as per usual. I love the Dim Sum here, but I think I prefer dinner where I can really appreciate the atmosphere and the old-style hospitality without the manic crowd.

Thanks to Chai Wan, Casa Capriz, and Lin Heung for being the light at the end of the dreary tunnel that was last week.

DESIGN Casa Capriz / ART Platform China / WEAR Tangram / WEAR Jay Cheng Milliner / PLAY Sally Coco Intimate Lifestyle Store / EAT Bread Elements / EAT Lin Heung Tea House

JJ.

Contemporary Chic Cantonese, Goes With A View Too

jj-the-wanderlister — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:19:00 +0800

It was a week night, but after a hard day’s work, nothing says “perfection” like an intimate boozy meal of delicious authentic Cantonese fare with a small group of friends.

But first… My Whisky and oily salted peanuts, just the way I like it.

Mandy from Hotel Icon invited a me, our Korean rockstar, Julie, with ChristingC and most importantly, HK Food Blogger extraordinaire, Dan of Hungry Hong Kong, for a chill feast at Above & Beyond, Level 28 at Hotel Icon. I got there first, but it was fine with me. If I had the time, I would spend sunset there all the time whenever I want to be surrounded by the comforts of its space, a room designed as a library by the ever so chic, Conran & Partners from London. (They also designed the other F+B destinations at the hotel like Market and GREEN.)

The venue is “way up there”. I mean that because of its location in the hotel, the quality of the food, and an unbeatable view of Hong Kong Island’s iconic urban panorama. Of course for perfection would be jazz nights on top of the Park Hyatt in Tokyo, but the mood and atmosphere here closer to home, is just fine with me.

The menu is seasonal and excellently prepared each night by Executive Chef, Joseph Tse. Not only does Tse obviously honor tradition with his menu selection and authentic preparation, but he flies off in amazing directions with some special dishes to balance adventure with the classics.

A fatty starter.

Followed by what I have to say… is the richest, most natural tasting, and best Hot & Sour soups I’ve ever had. It makes every Hot & Sour soup I’ve had since taste so much like chemicals and added flavouring. This particular soup is the real deal. It’s all natural flavours with daily fresh ingredients.

In addition we tasted amazing Coral Crab with Glutinous Rice, which is this season’s favorite dish, the house crispy pigeon with Oolong Tea Leaves, and a selection of yummy authentic desserts.

Above & Beyond may very well be my most favorite Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong for the higher end market, but for low end nothing can beat Ngau Kee on Gough Street in NOHO, (which is unfortunately being kicked out due to higher rent.)

They have a house sommelier that can suggest an excellent wine pairing with your meal.

Thanks so much Mandy for your hospitality and a great dinner.

Meanwhile, every time I pass by Patrick Blanc’s green wall downstairs in the lobby and at the restaurant, GREEN, I just stop and stare in awe… for a long time.

Green Walls are Cool.

EAT Above & Beyond, Level 28 Hotel Icon, No.17 Science Museum Road, TST East, Hong Kong

JJ.

ARTINFO Approved Last weekend while I was in Phuket, I received...

jj-the-wanderlister — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 23:52:00 +0800

ARTINFO Approved

Last weekend while I was in Phuket, I received a tweet from BLOUIN ARTINFO Hong Kong about their latest post titled; “Top Art and Fashion Bloggers in Hong Kong”. At first I was just trying to focus on the tweet adressed to me and blogger/stylist, Tina Leung. Actually I was in this beach/sun/pool vacation daze so I wasn’t quite sure what I was reading. Then I asked myself “Why would they tweet me?”. A moment passed when it occured to me that they may have tweeted me because I may have somehow been included on the list. It came out of nowhere. Usually when media includes you in a list they let you know first. In any rate, the wifi at the resort couldn’t load fast enough. When the site finally DID load I was shocked to see my blogs name as one of 7 on the list. Other bloggers include Samantha Wong of the fabulous SAMISHOME, Tina Leung of TinaLoves.com, and Cindy Ko of Cindiddy. All of who have been in my blog in some form or another. All friends.

Its a good list to be on, and very happy that ARTINFO is supportive of our social network community in Hong Kong. Thank you ARTINFO.

ARTINFO on theWanderlister+:

Architect JJ. Acuna is behind theWanderlister+, a Hong Kong-based blog on art, design, men’s fashion, interspersed with some food porn. It is like a blog version of Dwell or Wallpaper. Acuna has the unnerving ability to be first on the scene with the latest gallery openings, boutique openings, art fairs, all while keeping his day job, leading us to suspect he has cloned himself.

Note to ARTINFO… it was expensive… but cloning IS worth every cent.

Original BLOUIN ARTINFO Article HERE.

JJ.

Boston, April 15 2013 I took this photo today at Harbour...

jj-the-wanderlister — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:19:58 +0800

Boston, April 15 2013

I took this photo today at Harbour City for my Instagram account. The Hong Kong skyline was covered in a thick spring haze as I was having “a moment”.

I will not go too much in depth, but the attacks on marathon runners in Boston today hit a bit close to home. Literally. My family is okay in the end, but had one of them taken the decision to go see the marathon at that day at that time… it’s impossible for me to imagine.

Anyway, my thoughts and prayers go to the city of Boston and every victim of these attacks including anyone else affected by acts of terror and war in the world.

There are plenty of ways to make a point and to make a difference in the world, the unnecessary and cowardly murder of innocent unarmed people… this is not the road to take.

Find Light. Live Light. And Have the courage to do so, especially in times of adversity.

JJ.

Bangkok Photobook, April 2013

jj-the-wanderlister — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:08:54 +0800

I’m just so in love with Thailand Style right now, It’s crazy. The country has a good balance of history and culture reflected in its architecture and urbanism, a great amount of personal taste in the way everyday people dress, and a sense of design flare in public gathering areas. Thai people are generally happy with a good disposition about them and are for the most party open for a chat or to offer assistance, despite their limited English speaking skills.

The way Thai people invests in trends quickly, whether it be fashion, architecture, interior design, visual merchandising, or social media, and the way global trends are appropriated then translated within a local context is pretty fascinating to me.

I love places like the Talad Rod Fai (Rot Fai) Railway Station Market or the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) because the organic growth of these new urban gathering places are obvious. In relative terms, the projects seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but are now buzzing with life and activity because there is a certain “want” for them to exist. The stories may be different, for example Rod Fai Market is a community initiative, while the MOCA is a museum of Thai Contemporary works established by one collector, but the commonality lies with the fact that these destinations are new initiatives by local Thais for a local Thai audience. A Tourism draw would just be an added bonus.

When they create things, they create things because they want to, they appreciate the act of creativity, and they do it to please themselves. Nothing is overtly fake about these new places. Even the new Asiatique Complex complete with a now necessary urban Ferris Wheel attached to the master plan make some say that it’s merely Bangkok’s version of “Marina Bay Sands”. But even then, Asiatique has managed to formulate its environment around how Thai people want to spend their leisure hours, designing the “new” around a Thai aesthetic, and keeping things vibrant with that open air market environment. It’s all very interesting.

We thank again Pullman Bangkok Hotel G in Silom and Medium Asia for the hotel stays.

VISIT Talad Rot Fai Weekend Market TRIPADVISOR, Opens Weekends Only after 7PM / VISIT MOCA Bangkok ONLINE / 499 Moo 3 Vibhavadi Rangsit Rd., Ladyao„ Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand / +66 2 953 1005 / Open Daily 10AM - 6PM, Closed on Mondays

JJ.

#JJStyleExclusive: Lorenzo Boglione Takes 100 Year Old Superga To Asia

jj-the-wanderlister — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:52:31 +0800

Tonight Italy descendes upon Hong Kong with a celebration for the world’s first “Rubber Shoes”, and I mean this literally, when Superga launches it’s first flagship store at Harbour City with a harbour side party… where you can see this unusually large Superga shoe.

In 1911, The Superga brand was launched withen a company in Turin started producing waterproof rubber-soled boots for agriculture, and vulcanized rubber-soled footwear. And by 1934, Superga models expanded for use in sports activities like tennis, basketball, yachting, and fitness training, for example.

I got my first pair this past Christmas, when the folks at Superga HK sent me my first ever in this blue color. (via theW+ Instagram)

Safe to say… i’ve pretty much been hooked since then.

That said this week we were able to have a quick 5 minute chat with Lorenzo Boglione (pictured above), Business Developer for the brand, and son of Marco Boglione, whose company, BasicNet Group, owns Superga and other brands like Kappa, Robe di Kappa, Jesus Jeans, Lanzera, K-Way, Anzi Besson, and Sabelt. We discussed his thoughts on Superga, the lifestyle, his expansion to Asia, and being 27 years old.

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theWanderlister+ and Lorenzo Boglione, April 2013

theW+: Lorenzo, congrats on opening a store in Hong Kong! So what excites you the most about Superga?

Lorenzo Boglione: That it’s a brand with more then 100 years of glorious history… but that in the next 5 years we are ready to write the best pages of this wonderful story. Superga with its typical Italian classic and stylish vibe can become the real alternative to the American sneakers.. (it’s so real and genuine that can compete - and beat! – any other shoe brand).

theW: The Superga brand and shoe has had a very long history and has had a great influence on leisure and sport fashion for more than a century, yet it is still quite fairly new and unknown in Asia. How do you see this brand expanding in the East?

LB: The brand changed hands few times in the 90’s… and the international expansion started a little bit late compared with other Italian Brands. Now it’s in our hands… and after a successful repositioning in Europe, It’s ready to expand globally. The Italian DNA of the brand, together with the taste of the designers will make the difference in the Asian market. I see the brand first gaining a strong position in the coolest/ younger part of the market and after that, expanding to a broader public.

theW+: You are fairly young, at 27 years old, representing the further growth of a 100 year old fashion brand. How did you get to where you are now and what motivates you and your work?

LB: I started 3 years ago.. in the Business Development at BasicNet just after graduating in a French University. The Superga team is a very young and dynamic and I was immediately given great opportunities. The motivations are huge when you see such a great potential and you have in your hands all the tools to exploit it. I just see fantastic opportunities in front of me and I can’t wait to grab them all! The fact that my family is the main shareholder of the company adds even more motivations to my job… if needed!

theW+: Not to mention the pressure! So the Superga lifestyle… how do you define it?

LB: Yes indeed! I do live and love the Superga lifestyle because at the end it’s the Italian lifestyle! Italian lifestyle means work hard and have a lot of fun! And that is what we do out there.

theW+: Hong Kong needs more of that fun haha… Do you wear Superga’s and what is your favorite style?

LB: I always wear Superga’s and for sure my favorite style is THE Superga.. the 2750 Cotu Classic.. The question should be what is my favorite color! For Summer white with no doubt.. And I would say Full black in winter.

theW+: The Superga look is quite iconic, will we see more of the same style or will we see different designs in the future?

LB: For sure today Superga is recognizable with one style, but Superga back in the 70’s was a proper tennis shoe and in general a sport shoe, today we already have in our collections many different kind of sneakers together with some Italian style and sailing moccasins.

theW+:What are your favorite places in the world to travel to? Any place in Asia you dream to visit?

LB:I like to say the one I will visit the next! But if I had to chose a few, I would say South America first. All of it, every time I go I discover something new, people are friendly and positive and obviously the nature is amazing. Asia… I am really looking forward to better know the South-Eastern part of Asia… Indonesia and Philippines are places I never had the chance to visit and they are at the top of my wish list!

theW+: Well i’m from the Philippines, and I’d definitely love to give you a few notes on where to go! So anyway, in your opinion, what is the one thing a man can’t live without?

LB:I think that man can’t live without loving and knowing! We can’t live alone, so we need somebody to love that lives this life with us and we can’t live in ignorance, so we must have access to information, culture, education.

theW+ Thanks so much Lorenzo. See you more in Asia we hope!

So Italian…

Music’s latest sensation, Rita Ora, is now the spokes model for Superga.

Check out these ones for kids I saw at Lane Crawford last year.

WEAR Superga / Shop 2607, Level 2, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, Kowloon, 2175 0228, Open Daily 10am-10pm

JJ.