shu and joe

Quick trip to LA last weekend found us downtown and in need of breakfast. The Nickel Diner came through with some of the finest doughnuts I’ve tasted in, well, ever. The Samoa nods to its Girl Scout progenitor, and does a good job recreating the depth of texture that makes the cookie so nice. And the bacon maple doughnut with candied apple-smoked bacon — ridiculously good. All of the house-made pastries are the work of Sharlena Fong, whose credentials include time at Per Se.

There’s cuteness everywhere.

Nice Polaroid exhibit at a mall in Causeway Bay. Had no idea they even made a pinhole camera.

Nice signage at the market for the meat section.

Another exhibit inside of the mall — this one filled with handmade cuteness.

The next food craze in Hong Kong: fried chicken rings. Kind of a cross between fried chicken, donuts and onion rings. Sad to see the Krispy Kreme gone inside of Time Square and this, unfortunately, didn’t quite cut it.

200km above the arctic circle, the Ice Hotel in Lapland even has its own church.

The Northwest’s premiere budget boutique hotel – The Ace – will soon have new digs on the east coast. In line with Ace properties in Seattle and Portland, many of the NY rooms will feature shared hallway bathrooms – but at least you’ll have you’re very own in-room turntable. Not kidding.

Along for the ride are west coast delights Rudy’s Barber Shop and Stumptown Coffee (the latter is worth getting excited about). It’s also been rumored that Chinatown boutique Project No.8 will join the party uptown.

The joint will occupy the landmark, yet down on its heels, Hotel Breslin at Broadway and 29th. But many long-time low-income tenants aren’t too keen on the impending gentrification and their possible eviction.

(more images at Curbed)

Kwun Tong is an industrial neighborhood on the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbor — a long way from the galleries clustered near Hong Kong’s Hollywood Road. I have a feeling that this choice of location was intended to put both physical and symbolic distance between Osage Gallery and the oft-underwhelming work on display across the water. The space can be a bit difficult to locate, but if you stand around near the loading dock on the ground floor looking uncertain, you’ll be pointed to the freight elevator and taken up to the fifth floor. Currently on display is the photographic work of Jiang Zhi and a group show titled Site:Seeing.

View from the street.

Jiang Zhi

Jiang Zhi

art swap meet in the desert featuring booths from some of our favorites!

Featured booths by:
Gabie Strong- Smock Shop – Lisa jo & Debo Eilers – Matt Borruso’s Book Store -
Ooga Booga – We Have Photoshop – Amy Yao – Circular File – Lisa Sitko – Anicka Yi & Maggie Peng -
Kye Potter & Julia Dzwonkoski: Grab Bag Sale – Semiotext(e) – Tyson Reeder (Club Nutz)
- Sumi Ink Club/ Elysian Park Museum of Art Store – Michele Abeles – Margaret Lee – Megan Plunkett – Carissa Rodriguez – Young Art

The drop-off in updates during the past two weeks had something to do with the fact that we were in Portland preparing for our impending move to the west coast. There’s a lot to like about Portland. Here are a few examples: Its bridge-laced situation on the Willamette River. Its farmers market. Its compact, traversable urban core and efficient light rail system. Its Rummer-studded suburbs. Its local beers, cheeses and music venues. Its Lawrence Halprin-designed parks. Its green ethos, represented by the proposed “Smart Tower“. And, of course, its biscuits.

Ira Keller Fountain designed by Lawrence Halprin

This was dinner at the mall on the first night. HK cream soda should be exported to Europe and the rest of the world.

Interesting mix of the old and new with the shiny gigantic building in the background and what looks like a Venetian courtyard amidst lots of rubble in the foreground.

Had the chance to learn how to row a dragon boat at this beach. Casually leaning man was not on my team, unfortunately.

Arnault moved his store Kapok to a new location in Wan Chai. The store features the same unique items, but in a slightly smaller space.

Fixed gear bikes in bright colors seem to be all the rage in Tokyo.

When the ground matches your feet. Don’t know what this says, but I’m assuming it’s related to safety?

Spontaneous dancing outside of a music store. I was surprised by how many people were getting down without the shield of a big crowd around them.

Had the chance to go to a football game between Kawasaki and Yokohama.

Coffee in Seoul at Corso Como.

Lots of outdoor food tents all around Seoul.

A Mii/Wii ad featuring a top Korean comic. Apparently all the heads in the image are his.

Theme magazine’s Beijing/Olympics issue is out. It features a condensed city guide that Shu and I helped develop for those checking out the Olympics first hand.

Timezone 8 book shop in Dashanzi, Beijing