By the canal

21 05 2017

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Flowers in New York and Tokyo

21 05 2017

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Above, a rogue florist is turning public rubbish bins into floral art installations in New York. Below, a pop-up womens’ bathhouse designed by photographer Mika Ninagawa to promote Tsubaki (camellia) brand shampoo – open in Tokyo’s Ariake district for the next few months only.

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Sweet

21 05 2017

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Tangy yuzu icecream, served in a frozen yuzu – the higlight of a meal in a faux-Hokkaido restaurant with very un-Japanese florid red wallpaper, loud piano music and a lovely waitress from Cebu, on Friday night.





A night on Le Than Thon

21 05 2017

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An article titled A nocturnal crawl through Saigon’s Japanese ghetto on the fun district of Le Thanh Ton, previously reported on the blog here.





17 05 2017

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Don’t Cry for Me Indonesia

17 05 2017

Today, on the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, two Sumatran men were sentenced to public whipping with a cane. Their crime? Consensual gay sex in private. The victims had been apprehended by a gang of vigilantes who broke into their private room to catch them “in the act”. Its a chilling development in an alarming trend: Indonesia’s slide into the ranks of countries ruled by religious extremism.

The judgement follows on from the appalling, racist and transparently political incarceration of Jakarta’s governor ( a double minority, being Christian and Chinese) for “blasphemy”) an offense that a) it is clear he did not commit and b) should not be illegal anyway in any modern country. The courts have sent a clear message – they will side with the loud voices of religious conservatives.

The same law has been used to persecute the Gafatar minority, whose unorthodox and syncretic blend of Islam – arguably much more representative of Indonesia’s own culture – was deemed to be sacriligious for, among other things, allowing Muslims the choice to pray rather than labelling it as compulsory.

It is a scary time. Despite Jakarta’s new modern art museum and Hooter’s outlet (!) there can be no doubt that one of Asia’s most famously tolerant societies is slipping into a religious dark age. Wake up Indonesia, before its too late!





Southeast Asia Weird

17 05 2017

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In just about the least horrifying news out of Indonesia this week (scroll up) , the decomposing body of a “sea monster” washed up on one of its beaches. It is, most likely, the carcass of a whale.

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Meanwhile Bangkok experienced a new food fad, with a bakery in Pathum Thani gaining online fame for this adorable/creepy dog-shaped coconut puddings. Can’t wait to eat on of these puppies…literally.

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And finally in Singapore, a new “vending machine” for luxury cars opened in the form of an arrestingly designed showroom where with the flick of a switch you can “select” the car you want to test.





Mommy’s little helpers

17 05 2017

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Bangkok model Cindy Bishop features in an acerbic, and colour-saturated, domestic-themed spread for Thai Harpers Bazaar – just in time for (Western) Mother’s Day!

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Back for the bops

17 05 2017

Thai singer Palmy is set to return with a new single being teased online…from the snippet in the clip above it doesn’t seem quite as catchy as her last album, but lets wait and see.





The glorious rattan art of Sopheap Pich

17 05 2017

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16 05 2017

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Weekend report

16 05 2017

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It was a busy weekend, with a Japanese-West African wedding dinner in a skyscraper Lebanese restaurant and laidback Sunday afternoon beers with two Aussies from Perth, one half-Japanese and one half-Colombian. And, again, I enjoyed my little Wong Chuk Hang neighbourhood, with tangy Thai shrimp noodles at Sensory Zero, a quick stop by the Charbon Gallery and a hot afternoon pizza in the 3 3rds roof garden.





Urban jungle

16 05 2017

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HK googie

16 05 2017

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“Googie” was a 1950s architectural movement centred in Los Angeles. It celebrated the sharp angles and aerodynamic planes of the automobile age to leave a legacy of gas stations, motels and freeway diners designed to evoke the sleek jetset age. Reading about the now obscure movement, I realised that there is actually a (modest) example much closer to home in a building I have always enjoyed: the Esso gas station on Wong Chuk Hang Road, with its clean concrete lines.

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Biennale

16 05 2017

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One of the art world’s most glittering events, The Venice Biennale, is on again, in a peupose-built village of national pavilions decked out by different artists by the Venetian lagoon. Australia is this year represented by Tracey Moffatt (below, some of her previous works including the iconic “Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy”)

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Below, the work of Cody Choi who has designed Korea’s 2017 Venice pavilion.

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Dear white people

16 05 2017

I recently enjoyed two great, sharp pieces on race -and specifically blackness – in America. Dear White People is the TV spin-off of the 2014 movie, and actually an improvement on the original. Its funny and involving with a cast of likeable – and all deeply flawed – characters, giving it much more nuance that you might assume from the title.

Get Out, meanwhile, is a witty examination of race and racism through through the lens of a horror flick – and it works, as scary as it is thought-provoking.





What an experience

16 05 2017





10 05 2017

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Dog day afternoon

10 05 2017

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Summer beat

10 05 2017

Miss that tacky Latin pop.





Shoe-shi

10 05 2017

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