My Hood - The Recycling Collector

We don't have designated recycling collection days here, where a big truck comes around to empty out your blue box. Instead, there are people that ride around the neighbourhood on these 3-wheeled bike/carts, gathering recyclable materials. And they differentiate - one person may collect scrap metal, one may pick up cardboard, and another may do plastics. This guy I guess is the wood guy.

The Necessities In Life

On the window front of a Chinese restaurant.

Dig the typeface.

Parting Shot

My old Canon IXY Digital L from Japan (thank you Akiko!) finally died after 5+ years. That little camera went with me everywhere and I got a lot of great shots out of it. Made of stainless steel, it managed to get banged around quite a bit, either in one of my bags or in my back pocket, until finally the LCD gave out. Here is the final shot that it gave me. I think it just caught a bit of my finger in the lens before it headed towards the light.. R.I.P. little friend.

I'm temporarily using my dad's old Olympus FE-220 as my carry around, which, although is newer and has higher resolution, actually takes worse pictures and is super slow. It's a great beginner's camera for a non-technical person like my mom or dad, who just wants to capture the occasional family gathering or take pictures of flowers, but for someone who needs a lot of manual controls, it's pretty frustrating trying to get the shots you want.

Anyways, good excuse for an upgrade. I'm thinking GF1.

My Hood - The Cookie Truck

On my way to work in the morning, there's always this truck near my apartment that hustles all kinds of cookies and biscuits out of the back. They're not exactly Mrs. Fields, but they do a brisk business just the same.

Safety First

On the subway in Hong Kong. This lady was wearing goggles. Like lab goggles in chemistry class. Whoa..

Juice x Reebok Pump 20

In Hong Kong again. Went by the Juice store last night to check out the launch party for their collaboration with Reebok. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Pump, Reebok invited 20 of the top retailers in the world to each come up with their own version of this iconic shoe.

Other collaborations included A.R.C., collette, KICKS/HI, Commonwealth, HUF, atmos, and UNDFTD, among others. The one shown here is by Patta, from Amsterdam.

Training

On my way from Guangzhou to Hong Kong again.

Sign Language

At the factory in Guangzhou. I love the overkill of this graphic.

H&M Shinjuku Opening Party

Went to the opening event last night for the new H&M store in Shinjuku. It coincided with the launch of Jimmy Choo's collection for H&M. VIP guests could shop the huge 3 floor layout with glasses of champagne in hand; the alcohol seemed to loosen up the wallets, as girls were buying like nobody's business.

Get Lit

Went to Tokyo Midtown and stumbled upon this amazing light show on the lawn of the adjacent Midtown Garden. With what looked like shooting stars, and accompanied by an ambient soundtrack, it was both beautiful and slightly surrreal.

We also went to see if anything was going on at 21_21 Design Sight. They had an exhibition called The Outline: The Unseen Outline Of Things, showing a collection of works by product designer Naoto Fukasawa and photographs taken by Tamotsu Fujii. It was a nice look at the power of simple design.

The exhibition is ongoing until January 31st.

Nike Flagship Store Tokyo

Back in Tokyo again. Checked out the opening event for Nike's newest flagship store in Harajuku. The expansive 3-level retail space, designed by famed interior design firm Wonderwall, features a "chandelier" of over 400 shoes, and the "Footwear Wall", created from the soles of 1600 shoes. Included are a Runner's Studio, which helps runners analyze their strides, a NikeID Studio for custom footwear, and a Nike Bootroom, which specializes in fitting soccer boots. It was really great to run into a lot of my old Nike Japan colleagues and catch up with them. Congrats on the new store!