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Craft, Leather and iPhone

All of a sudden I decided to do a leather case for my iPhone coz I can't accept the fact that I'm carrying an ordinary iPhone case readily available anywhere.  The best case I lust after is the one from Roberu in Japan.

So I decided to make one for myself following Roberu's design and make it my own.  Loving it.

Moleskine Recipe Journal - city'super special edition

This year's best selling Moleskine products for us is definitely the Passions recipe journal!  It has been our number one Moleskine product since Passions' launch.  So we did a special edition to cross promote with our food division.

This also serves as a special product to commemorate our newest and first city'super store in Shanghai, China.  In addition, we finally published our own cookbook after 2 years of production, everything seems to just fall into the right place at the right time.  I'm so happy about making this happen.

Turning an Idea Into Something Real with Kids

I took a birthday leave today supposed to observe my son's class in his school, but he got fever since last Saturday and not yet fully recovered, so we stayed home.

A few days ago out of nowhere, he made a 3D bus all by himself from just a piece of paper, I admired his planning skill and eagerness to do so.  I promised to work with him together to build an even better one with movable wheels, so today is the best day since he is feeling a lot better and becoming active again.

We did some research together on Google and found a right sized paper box as base.  We sat in front of my Mac and started using Illustrator to create the look we both like, measuring here and there trying to be as accurate as possible and eventually having all the elements fit into a piece of A4 paper.

It was so much fun and I think in the process he learned something new: number of sides on a cube/rectangle, how to attach wheels so that they can move when finished (his idea was tooth picks, mine was eyelets), how to measure and create on computer the exact sizes we needed, think before doing anything, find any tools to achieve our purpose.  Most importantly the satisfaction of turning an idea inside our heads into something real.

Not to waste what we did today, you can download this template and play with your kid if you like.

Happiness Through Exercising All Faculties

Lately I've been reading all over again the Richard Feynman books I have to find some inspirations dealing with my 5 years old's upbringing.  As a result, we looked at a dead bee, we found extraordinary ways to describe an object, we smiled at nonsense.  It was way too rewarding, for both of us.

On my way to Shanghai to setup a new store a few weeks ago, I bought the latest book by Jostein Gaarder, "The Castle in the Pyrenees" and started to recoup my inner adventure through his story.  Immensely satisfying.

Then I got an advance copy of "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh for review, together with Zappos' culture book, I dwell on the past dot com era thinking what did we miss doing or possessing comparing to his successes.

At the same time I'm reviewing Revo's Heritage radio to see if it is fit for our retail stores and studying how to make a simple bookmark with pencil attached for book marking.

You can almost tell that I'm happy to forget all troubles and dive into my own world exercising almost all my faculties, while I still can, through Feynman's lectures on science and knowing, Gaarder's deep thinking through story telling, Hsieh's entrepreneurship through culture and a little adventure of my own.  Did I say I'm happy?

Amusement and Attention - You get both when you had too much fun and got sick

Had great fun last Friday when 4 families brought 6 kids to Ocean Park for fun.  It was hot but kids were having so much fun checking out the animals and amusement rides.  The consequence: my son got high fever and we were stuck in our home taking care of him in turns for the past 3 days, he enjoys every bid of our attention though :)

Peeking into Peoples' Bags is Now Acceptable

I'm totally exhausted after a week's stay in Shanghai setting up the new store, our first store in China.  I did carry a lot of useful stationery tools in a travel pouch in and out of the dusty store where I breathed in and out hovering particles, making props and arranging displays, but here's what's in my other bag which might interest you more.

(This photo was on Flickr Explore's #1 position on 19th May 2010!)

This other bag is one made by Lomo called Sidekick, which I have magically put all my essential stuffs inside.  I can lose the pouch but I can't lose this one so I was seen carrying at least one bag all the time, worrying it being stolen if I leave it somewhere.  You know, in construction site, anything can happen.  It contains my most treasured communication, GTD and photography tools:  Canon F1 film camera, Panasonic GF1 (I used it to take this shot, with an adaptor I can can use the f/1.4 Canon lens on my GF1), films, Macbook Air, iPhone, pens, name card in case, USB finger, watch, Moleskine sketchbook, mind.depositor 3, diary, etc.  Check out the flickr photo to see in details.  No wonder I needed those RMB$68 massage sessions after work, my shoulder hurts, even now.

Months ago city'super and Moleskine Asia sat together pounding our heads trying to find a better way to present the two series that would be arriving almost at the same time - Folio Professional and 18 months diaries (after the highly successful Passions journals).  We took the "What's in your bag?" concept and here we go, showcasing and peeking into people's bag, it is fun.  The campaign is still going on, you just take a picture of your bag's content preferably with a Moleskine product inside, together with such a flyer you pick up from our stores, upload to city'super's facebook (preferably "liking" it too) and you get a chance to win a full set of Folio Professional products worth a HK$3,714.  I'm yet to see some quality photos or creative ways to do such shots, so do play with us this little game, see who's photo is the best!  Don't worry about eligibility, if your shot is insanely great, I'll find a way to maybe send you some Moleskines. Check out the campaign details here.

The Impossible Show

Just came back from Shanghai, in time to be able to attend The Impossible Show.  My pictures taken with PX-100 will probably look so dull when displayed among these fellows.  Can't wait to see Wing Shya's photo(s), what is he up to?

 

PX-100 Over Temperature Shots

I'll be heading to Shanghai on Tuesday, without much time to do any outdoor PX-100 shots because of the rainy weather, I thought I would post this report not later but now.

(PX-100 indoor, light bulb, 1 and 2 stop lighten on wheel, 25-28°C)

My PX-100 test films are definitely made between end of March and early April because I am experiencing the nasty LLP (Loose Lamination Problem) as The Impossible Project coined it.  The developer paste leaks almost in every picture taken and I had to clean up my SX-70's roller between each film pack switch.  Luckily The Impossible Project is taking it seriously to compensate by giving out credits for each verified "damaged" image.  Looks like the problem is fixed for newly released films.

(PX-100 indoor light bulb vs indoor sunlight, 25-28°C)

As reported by many, including my beloved Mijonju Show, the film is extremely sensitive to temperature and my shots were all taken over the recommended temperature range (17-24°C), so you will find these images quite dark and brownish (refer to The Impossible Project's 9 Quick Steps For Optimized Results).

(PX-100 sunlight filled indoor setting, 2 and 1 stop towards white on lighten/darken wheel, 25-28°C)

I like the color though, very chocolate, woody and vintage.  The scans you see here is actually showing more contrast than the real thing though.  To compensate the over temperature effect, I took shots with the lighten/darken wheel turned to at least 1-2 stops towards lighten.

(PX-100 short vs long exposure, 25-28°C)

One thing I noticed from these test shots is that the longer the exposure time is, the less apparent the roller's impression shows on the picture.  See if anybody can verify this.

Educate a Jellyfish and Grease Lightening - The Impossible Project PX100 Film Test

I haven't much to say at this late hour but I'm ePXtremely happy to have received a few packs of PX100 test films today to play with and hopefully be able to contribute to an ePXhibition to be held in Kapok from 19th May onward.

OK, I will be refraining myself from saying the "disappoint" word.  TIP have done a lot for the community by reviving the film so I really have nothing to complaint as I would do so typically for any review.

I've done 8 shots in indoor setting and will be doing outdoor during the weekend.  Interesting so far, stay tuned.  What an ePXperience hearing the motor rolling once again!

Traveler's Press - Is "What's in My Bag" Really That Interesting?

Yes I switch gears quite often so in any given day you pick, chances are my bag's content can be entirely different.  And that is interesting to me and perhaps to many people too.  I decided to do "What's in my bag" posts once in a while but the last one was already August 2009, the Seminar Edition.  So here you go, what's in my bag in Feb/Mar 2010.

Well click on the photo to go to the Flickr page and see more precise descriptions on the photo, previous gears are shown in this flickr set in case you want to explore more.  I was traveling to Tokyo and Korea for business and these were all I needed:

Orobianco pen case, Pentel Tradio pen, Staedtler mechanical pencil, Faber Castell perfect pencil wrapped with black MT tape, Canon F1 50mm/f1.2 camera, Pilot capless fountain pen, mind.Depositor 3 with Maruman Mnemosyne, Shiny handy stamp, Kokuyo kadokeshi eraser, Monogram leather film holder, lip balm wrapped in masking tape, paper clips, book dart etc, USB memory customized with leather cover and closure, Midori brass numbered clips, Name card case with dart flight closure, Midori brass ruler, Midori Traveler's notebook, Passport cover, Midori brass pencil.

Midori/Designphil asked me to show what's in my bag back in Feb when they were planning a "TRAVELER's notebook & company" event in Aoyama.  Eventually the photos and my tips to age brass items were included in the Traveler's Press which was being sold at 320 yen at the event.  It looks like a very interesting event with limited edition brass pen with Traveler's Notebook logo, charms, wooden stand, calendar, postcards along side with vintage goods such as tin can, match boxes, etc.  They even have a coffee bean partner creating a special Traveler's Notebook blend so customers can enjoy a cup of coffee with their notebook after the event.  As usual, I wish I were there to experience everything.