I have a weird habit to torture myself. Visiting trade shows and shops in various countries seeing all those great products, I could've asked makers to send stuffs by post or email, but I always choose to carry all those papers and catalogues. Once I carried them with rounds and rounds of swearing throughout the days and lots of shoulder and body pain, everything became more important and some became treasures. I'm not sure if it is healthy or not, sometimes the habit gets to you in other forms, like fighting unnecessary battles against sick capitalistic minds around you.
(Traveler's Notebook, Bonox eyeglasses, wooden Victorinox, Pilot Capless, Leica M240, Rembrandt water color set, Pentel water brush, Shure headphone)
The torture extends to everyday carry (EDC) stuff too, in addition to my Macbook, I carry way too much in many's standard. But if there is just one beautiful capture, be it an image, a drawing, an idea, on any typical day, it would give me tremendous pleasure.
Is it necessary? Is it because I'm too insecure to let go of things I love? I'd love to know your opinions.
(An opened TN I captured tonight at home. I was inviting people to post their opened TN in the Traveler's Notebook Hong Kong User Group on facebook. If your body carries a soul, your notebook should carry your mind)
(9 books I've recently listened. I was either curious, looking for self-assurance, to be inspired or trying to escape from reality(
Anyways, my therapy is mostly done through spending lone time sorting my mind through, or listening to audiobooks during transit. I'd be interested in knowing how others are doing it too.
(Video shot with Leica M240, stablized by youtube)
Imagine flying on a plane looking at my stationery landscape from high above. Beautiful song by Dimitri From Paris featuring Pink Martini. Yup, I was busy flying around HK/Shanghai/Japan/Korea lately. Next trips to Shanghai/Korea in October. Sorry, I'm so slow in my blog, but rest assure the instagram feed is the best place to tag on my journeys.
Syracuse
J'aimerais tant voir Syracuse L'ile de Paques et Kairouan Et les grands oiseaux qui s'amusent A glisser l'aile sous le vent
Voir les jardins de Babylone Et le palais du Grand Lama Rever des amants de Verone Au sommet du Fuji Yama
Voir le pays du matin calme Aller pecher le cormoran Et m'enivrer de vin de palme En ecoutant chanter le vent
Voir le pays du matin calme Aller pecher le cormoran Et m'enivrer de vin de palme En ecoutant chanter le vent
Avant que ma jeunesse s'use Et que mes printemps soient partis J'aimerais tant voir Syracuse Pour m'en souvenir a Paris
Why I did this update? I needed to slow down and turned down going out on Sunday, listening to Jazz radio and dwelling in these beautiful landscapes. So beautiful I had to make a video and bring everybody with me flying for just one minute.
Then all hell broke loose, there are so many stories behind each piece of treasure, I am to write just a little bit here after.
Something annoyed me for a long while, right behind my desk there is this window I hate. Normally I love windows, this one, landlord decided to replace a broken air conditioner with one that must be sealed onto the window, somehow the contractor had to glue the whole thing and the window couldn't be turned open anymore. The heat, the vibration noise, arghhhh, I couldn't even install a curtain anymore, my desktop monitor would be impossible to look at during day time. Anyways, I faced the same problem today, kid just gave me a solution which I never thought of. I got some nice Norens (Japanese fabric dividers) bought from Traveler's Factory and ITOYA, and we just clipped them onto the window and it was almost a perfect day. Beautiful Japanese design. Vibration still goes on, but it is alreay a lot better.
A few days ago, as usual I got pissed off with vague empty monkey ideas which everybody seems to have opinions about how to realize but none could specify exactly how. I could "let it go", but my problem is I couldn't bear such ugly outcome if I were not getting my hands dirty. Luckily I have the experience using SketchUp for close to 10 years now, I found a crack of time and I had to specify it clearly.
Got me into thinking: physical form follows function, conceptual form follows intentions. Yes design is an iteration process, building something starts from fulfilling function with form, great designs infiltrate aesthetics and intentions into the form in the process. Most people forget that the most important aspect of customer experience is YOUR intention, how is that being designed. Losing focus on that, you get a piece of junk sitting around doing nothing.
Got me into thinking: form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Buddhist's word.
Got me into recalling: "Who? Who is but the form following the fuction of what and what I am is a man in a mask". V for Vendetta.
Back to stationery. I usually use my Kaweco SketchUp 5.6 for rough draft, Rotring 800+ (which has a nice twist and hide mechanism to protect the needle head and a nice stylus tip, got it from ITOYA a week ago in addition to my Rotring 800) for finer lines drawn on my Traveler's Notebook. Then I move on to SketchUp for simulation in exact measurement.
Which lead me into another project, a space to be created in a new store coming up in December, for gathering with customers having fun together, once in a while with interesting exhibitions. I can't be fully involved but according to some, this space is important to my departments, so if I don't specify it will go astray to my dismay. Then there was this Saturday afternoon having fun and deeper discussion with partner Out of Stock. What interests me is that picking people's brain trying to integrate and elevate something satisfies me immensely.
Got me into thinking: what's the most common pattern in nature? I was thinking of honeycomb hexagon when designing flexible tables, allowing multiple arrangements and collapsable for storage. Turned out there is no such thing as "the most common", there are variety of patterns in nature, spirals, fractuals, chaos, waves, etc. Thank God I have this wondering journey of discovery and linkage back to my science education, which is mostly an intellectual process I enjoy most for the work I do.
Which leads us back in time for a week when I was in Tokyo/Osaka. It was a 7 days travel to visit trade show, meet suppliers and explore places and spaces. At one point I sat down in a nice cafe in Nakazakicho (中崎町), Osaka, which is a really nice area with small shops and cafes. I thought of my extremity being in certain roles at one time but completely another roles in other times crossing disciplines, it felt almost unbearable having my personality and skills split into compartments, unable to manage it I would become a mad man getting nowhere. How to simplify such management was the thought in that very cafe.
Got me into a thought experiment: Can't just be a lighthouse in a tea cup, able to show direction but knowing just that and in a small world. Can't just be an explorer seeing so much there is no place to berth and share what I see into the future. Can't be both at the same time either. What I need to become? Need to be fluid-like waveform and become Schrödinger's cat, observe me I'm a lighthouse, observe me again I'm an explorer. Can I master this meta personality? I have a long way to go.
(Flannagan, Osaka)
Alright Osaka was fun, I wish I stopped by Kyoto instead but it was a rush decision. I thought I hadn't been there for 5 years so I wanted to see what was changed. Visited 15 stores, two most loved ones are Flannagan and Standard Bookstore. Despite unable to communicate in English, staff at Flannagan tried very hard to explain everything I asked. It has no big difference than the last time I visited, but this time I asked more. Except Meister Tools Pen, which is from Japan, all of their products are imported from Europe/USA. The most recent import was from Russia, a 350 yen 2.0 lead mechanical pencil with a sharpener cap, an attractive deal.
(Standard Bookstore)
Standard Bookstore was relaxing to read, to grab stationery and to have a nice cup of coffee. I got a Apartamento magazine and a book called True Portland. Spent more than the usual time to walk around the stationery and lifestyle product sections and of course a cup of coffee in their cafe. There is a certain rawness in it, kind of organized un-neatly yet organized and motivates a sense of discovery. It is a perfect place to spend an entire day, we need these spaces.
(Trans-Lankhe)
Oh there is another place I stumbled upon, a home/interior shop called Trans-Lankhe, close to Flannagan. I feel that this is a shop managed by Dulton, a brand I love a lot, but I'm not sure. I love their cabinets, far-sight eyeglasses, small things like wooden trays and clips as well as those cans and accessories.
(Doutor Coffee, working on Chronodex planning 5 people's schedule for the next day)
Back further before visiting Osaka, it was almost all business and meetings in Tokyo, except in small chunks of time when I was in Doutor Coffee, ITOYA and Angers.
(ITOYA, Ginza, Tokyo)
ITOYA, ITOYA! I lost a lot of blood over there, it is a family in stationery business I admire a lot. There are intentions and histories there. Yup, you can spend a full day there and it is not enough. Currently their original building is still under re-construction hopefully seeing light into opening in 2015, a temporary building is used but you still get a full 7-8 floors full of stationery, an annex close by called K.ITOYA hosts finer selections of fountain pens, art supplies and study room essentials. Be prepared to die in this heaven, I got a wooden pencase called AvanWood there, well and many other stuffs too, its a poison.
(Angers in KITTE Marunouchi, Tokyo)
Angers originates from Kyoto since 1993, it is one of the stores with stronger intentions you can tell from product selection and merchandise mix, things are right beside each other for reasons, unlike Loft and Hands which are more commercially oriented and you would have no interest to find out who's behind them (they are still far superior than many Western stationery businesses IMHO), Angers shows telltale signs in every corner. To put it simply, signage speaks character, as to what character you can perceive from the store, you just have to visit it.
Oh of course there is the Traveler's Factory in Narita Airport. This time I brought two colleagues to see it, every corner of the store speaks of details. You know all the signages there were painted by hands from the original designer, factory only products, rubber stamps, etc all guarantee a few hours of stay even though it is a tiny shop comparing to the flagship factory shop in Meguro.
Why TN is loved by so many? In addition to the flexibility for customization, the leather, the paper etc, I will tell you why: Serendipity. It's a long story by itself of where this TN movement came from, it is other long stories of how things evolved around my life with it. Simply said, I met a lot of friends from around the world because of it, you too have to step out of your zone and meet other users, it changes your perspectives and I mean it.
(mini meet-up in Tokyo with Shigeru and Rocketman, together with Suzuki and Rita)
For a while, Mr. Shigeru follows my instagram and I thought he only plays Ukulele, nothing to do with stationery or TN. Then this July I saw his feed showing Traveler's Factory Narita in construction as well as Designphil's booth construction in time lapsed video, I got curious and asked if he is involved in the same industry. Turned out he is a contractor for Designphil helping to build these things and he has been a TN user for many years. Alright, let's come out when I visit in Sep I said, then dispite the language barrier we met in Nonbei Yokocho for a drink, together with my visiting colleagues. Then Rocketman joined all of a sudden, I knew him only on Flickr liking his photos and he is actually a TN user too, he is probably uploading the most TN photos to the Flickr group and what a surprise I could finally meet him in person. Rocketman sings in a hobby band, catalogs his meals meticulously on his TN, loves photography just like me and tries to visit new places every year.
Aren't we all connected? Yes but if you are connected to people just on the net and never met any one of them, you missed a lot. There are so much more in each of us that's worth sharing and peeking.
(mini meet-up with Traveler's Notebook Korean users)
Each TN is a conversation starter. Last year I had a great time visiting Korea to join a TN user gathering and we couldn't have enough. So far, users in Korea are way more willing to show and share their TN usage than people in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This year I visited Seoul again for business but at the end of the last day my friend and business partner Mr. Shin said we should head back to his office for discussion, alright we were tired but no problem, a few more hours of hard work will pay off. Turned out it was a surprise gathering with familiar and new faces! I was so happy despite being tired. We swapped TNs to see what's happening lately to each other and how each one added personal touches to their TNs, be it customization or usage.
Who they are? Mathematics teacher in University, fashion industry mercahndiser, fountain pen fanatic with a background in theoratical physics, tour guide, fine art student etc. See the diversity and how everyone enjoys sharing? I learned a lot too.
One unexpected nice gift was from a fine art student who painted in very fine lines my avator onto a TN refill!
Earlier this year, Voloymyr from Ukraine came to Hong Kong travelling with family, we knew each other briefly on facebook only but when he said he was going to leave Hong Kong the next day, I couldn't resist to come out very late a night just to catch up chatting with him. I wondered what is happening in Ukraine, how he can spend 6 months working and then 6 months of vacation with family year after year, etc etc. Stories and life diversity again and again. Well, he didn't really go away, he left for Indonesia with family and filled up 128 pages of his TN and came back to Hong Kong for yet another brief meet up. Amazing, he is back to Ukraine now, hopefully I will meet him again.
August this year, I was in Shanghai for a brief stay to help set up our ¬ [DESKBOUND] campaign (I would love to tell you more about this but maybe later). On the last day I was carrying my luggage walking around the campaign area for a final glimpse, "Breeze in May" came and poking here and there in the TN zone, I was trying to answer her questions as much as possible in such short time. She finally became a TN user, at this moment I think she is working on her USA vacation itinerary on TN :)
I met many new users in Hong Kong too! During the ¬ [DESKBOUND] campaign in Hong Kong in early August, I brought my Kingsley machine to Times Square for a pop-up event, helping customers to emboss their TN with gold foil. A family from Singapore, a secretary, a TN couple, etc etc. We are going to have a great meet-up in Hong Kong soon I promise! How about December when there is a new space we can use?
(¬ [DESKBOUND] event in city'super, Times Square, Hong Kong)
(a sample TN I drew on the cover with gold acrylic for display)
Alright, I'm writing too long and heading nowhere. Before wrapping up, let me give you a little tip on TN.
If you have bought the brass index clip, have you ever wonder how other people are using it so that it won't fall off from the edge? I did. Here's a simple solution for you, just tape the back of the clip onto the page with masking tape, that's it. Masking tapes are easily removable and you can relocate the index clip very easily. Securing the clip using masking tape also helps to prevent excessible movement of the index clip which can easily damage the paper on the edge. Good tip eh?
Finally, back to the Stationery Landscape topic. I travel relatively more than other people, yet I feel seriously not enough coz most of my trips are on very tight business schedule, leaving me not much time to explore with people and places. But life is like that isn't it? Not enough not enough not enough, when can we start to enjoy more? Let's steal time, find cracks, take moral advantages and be explorers meeting new people and making new friends on those common landscapes, I'm sure through that, we can be lighthouses to other people once in a while.
If you have reached this far of this blog post hahahah, its time to go back to the video and enjoy that one minute fly over with me once again, over the stationery landscape of mine.
Beneath my lightweight passport sized notebook and above my wooden tray is the Lumio, an amazing invention by Max Gunawan. I first saw Lumio from Kickstarter and immediately became a backer coz it is totally original with a clean design, most importantly it is non intrusive to my workspace and easily portable to anywhere I want, transforming my environment into pleasing atmosphere anytime I want.
I love the laser-cut walnut cover which quietly matches almost every object I hold dear of. My Lumio arrived in early October, to this date I still have to resist the urge to carry it with me all the time. It is hard to remain un-noticed if you pull it out in public, I had even brought with me to Seoul to show off in front of a dozen of die hard Midori Traveler's Notebook fans.
(photo credit: Barambaram)
(photo credit: Barambaram)
(photo credit: Barambaram)
You get 8 hours of continuous portable bright warm light from one charge through micro USB, extremely efficient. Opening it like a book means it has adjustable light angles from narrow to 360 degrees, allowing you shine direct light only to where you want to, perfect for bedroom reading.
My kid loves it, we even went out at night to check out some of the trees rooting over rocks nearby.
Eager to put Lumio into our shop so that more people can check it out in person, I've been in touch with Max for the past 10 months, patiently waiting for him to fulfill the Kickstarter backers' orders. Finally we met 2 weeks ago when he stopped by Hong Kong.
Max got Lumio into a great start, if you read his updates on Kickstarter or have met him in person, you know he is a solid and hands-on guy doing everything from design to managing production, I sincerely hope he gets good helping hands for bringing Lumio to more people, so that he can focus on the next iteration or new designs. I personally would like to have a Lumio Pocket for ultra portability :)
And talking about light. I found out not long ago GummyGoods nightlight, squeeze the bear belly and Voila! 3 high-powered LED light up the 100-times-bigger-than-the-real-thing Gummy Bear, it has a one hour timer switch so that you don't waste too much battery power, it is perfect for kid's room but I'm sure most of us Gummy Bear loving adults won't be able to resist the temptation. We were lucky to get some colors (red, yellow, green) to put into our stores, but thank God new colors also arrived a week ago, they are gonna be sold out in the next 2 days, I just bought a blue one myself, you know how it excited my kid tonight? Watch the video, it was spontaneous.
Alright it was my turn after he went to sleep, so I hooked up my bear with my Laserpod (wow, it's been a long while you haven't heard anything from Laserpod right?):
So you see, I am kind of obsessed with things which light up differently. Do you light up things differently?
It is time for the release of the next 6 months' worth of Chronodex!
In 2011, my family received thousands of prayers for my father's condition, it was a lot of positive and calming energy and I still appreciate many of your kind messages to this date.
Chronodex as a creative tool was shared to make a difference in traditional and limiting grid-style scheduling. It was also shared to elevate positive energy for myself and my family. This time my wife needs your prayers, tomorrow she will go through an operation as the first battle against breast cancer, there will be a series of followup treatments I hope it will pass like a breeze. I hope to maintain a clear mind and yet being able to take it easy for why things happened the way they are, in terms of work, love, dreams and health (Did I just unconsciously telling myself that I've been putting these in the wrong priority?).
The Chronodex Facebook Page is going to be the center of version releases, news update, hacks sharing, so please do stop by once in a while to see what others are doing with their Chronie.
The Chronodex Flickr Group is a place where nicer photos were taken by users. The Instagram hash tag #chronodex allows you to find yet another bunch of interesting users and the crazy things they've done.
On the other hand, do Google up Chronodex for the fun of it. There have been a lot of mods in various paper sizes (A5, filofax, etc) or altered cores, as long as they are shared free, I'm ok. Some of the Chronodex super fans reported that there are people on Etsy selling Chronodex, that I'm not ok. So far, I've issued no license to anybody for commercial usage, but I will consider if it is a quality implementation.
Although creating your own ways to notate from a Chronodex core is encouraged, be it colors, pinpointing on tick marks or radiate from zones etc, I do have some tips I want to share in 2014. That's why I'm working on an upgrade of the core (now in its version 8, 9 and 10) which will allow you to draw with guides and simply look more elegant and smart. In the mean time, Maryanne Moll (Thanks Maryanne) did some nice videos on youTube sharing her way of using Chronodex, take a look:
For the fun of it, here's some beautiful Chronodex to look at:
(@momojin made this rubber stamp for herself by hand!)
(I've visited Seoul for business at the end of October, we had a great gathering of the Traveler's Notebook Korea User Group, they are absolutely amazing TN and Chronodex users, which I'm gonna talk about it in later posts. Jessica and several of her friends printed the Chronodex core on the passport size and kind enough to find a page not too personal to share here)
Finally, some of you already knew I have a Chronodex stamp under progress. It was too bad one of the parts maker went out of business so I had to find another quality maker to continue the project. I've tried many different ways and I found an elegant solution, I am determined to release a self-inking Chronodex stamp in 2014, you will love it!
Chronodex friends here you go! The July to December 2013 version is released, feel free to download and plan ahead your visual scheduling for the rest of the year.
Here are some of the places you can interact with other Chronodex users:
Yes Chronodex is kind of weird, it looks a bit too complicated, it is not like any other traditional scheduling tools, but it is inspirational and free style. I made it so as to break the rules of scheduling, most diaries/schedule books have rigid grids and timeline which limit the available space for you to write notes related to your schedule, you can use any space on the paper to link your time specific entries thus free from the traditional constraints.
Look at our beautiful cross harbour tunnel, it is a 'grid', it is 'rigid' but it works in mass transportation because it provides a system and create order. It is dull too, especially in times of traffic jam and rainy days. What you have to dissect is that there is a difference between mass order and personal creativity. Chronodex is for your personal creativity in what seems to be a rigid time system, it is for you to exploit/explore the space nobody ever made constraints of.
I've also made Chronodex a free download to share in 2011 when my father was too old and too sick lying on bed struggling, questioning himself feeling useless. We had no way to help, prayers from all of you mysteriously helped somehow IMHO, but the thing is, I wanted to prove that everything is connected, he was not and never useless, if people appreciate Chronodex, it was because of him I existed and being educated by him into a person with inquisitive mind. He should be proud of himself, even though there was no way I could convey this to him during his deterioriation. Today on the Star Ferry lower deck, I saw a grandfather holding his grandson's T-shirt looking over the harbour an European tall ship cruising by, the light tug, the togetherness and a sense of exploration made me sob inside, recalling my own exploration with Dad and his brief time with my own kid.
Tonight, Mom told me her encounter with Dad on his 140th day of passing which happens to be my little brother's birthday. A cicada was standing weakly on the floor where Dad used to stay often, she picked it up with both hands and prayed the Great Compassion Mantra (大悲咒), bringing it to the window seam and left it there. Minutes later, it flew away energetically full of life. The scene reminds us of the Chao Shao-an (趙少昂)'s painting which my Dad loved so much and had been on our living room wall for the longest time, AND it is Lychee season now. Can you see all the connections and emotions?
The stuffs we hold dear of, always leave impressions for people close and around us, these things are proves of our existence painted over with emotions and mysterious connections.
So this coming week, like the last, I will be out of my home town heading Shanghai for a week of intensive preparation of a new store launch. Love the travel, hate the separation, enjoying everything in between.
Meanwhile, Traveler's Notebook fans in Hong Kong had a great time in the Star Ferry ride, after-party and small meet-ups. I hope to do it more often, feel free to drop by our Facebook group. Now, follow me for a 15 seconds tranquil journey across the lovely Victoria Harbour.
My pile of Field Notes laid dormant for a while because they tend to bleed with my fountain pen or roller balls. On a surprising turn of events (meeting Tsuchihashi san and his idea note), I realized I hadn't been jotting down my dreams for a long while and started to look for a handy reliable notebook to do so all over again.
The trigger was a week ago when my Dad passed away. I was expecting to see him at least in my dreams on the 7th day of his passing, realizing that I had to write down every single word I would hear from him, I frantically picked up Field Notes and pondering how I would attach a pen onto it for quick access.
There it was, a few hours of measuring and hammering, I made a leather vest from ~1mm thin leather (Australian Gold) attaching to Field Notes' cover and holds a wooden ball pen from Japan I love.
I guess the insight was "life is what happens when you are busying making other plans". No regret trying.
You can plan so much and things are not happening the way you expected, but the cool thing to realize is that, things would always turn out to be more beautiful, that is, only had you acted.
The leather vest I made was just the right size to allow me rolling the Field Notes in half for compact storage in jackets. The proportion even allows me to use it on a typical thicker (and dull) Moleskine in pocket size.
I encourage you to make one yourself, you should be proud of what you can do and carry inspirations (idea notes) and dreams in your pocket. Fear not losing the notes coz that's only the physical record of what you've already gotten.
Today, I brought my kid out to Cheung Chau island for a leisure cycling, feeling contented my vest and FN, along side with my inspirations and dreams were with me.
Please let me express my deepest gratitude to all of you who have been all along the journey of my Dad's peaceful passing. I have to assure you that, even though my Dad never knew about your prayers, since the day I released Chronodex honoring his inspirations given to me, the blessings and prayers did somehow made things easier, for him and for the family. He left us peacefully with all family members around him, my mom's caresses on his chin, my brother holding his hand, me warming his forehead from the coldness of the oxygen mask. Thank you very much indeed!
(3D rendering of how we would setup the table of our last offering of food he loved)
According to Chinese culture, the person passed away would come back to his home on 7th day to check up his family. That's when we had to setup a table in the living room offering food he loved, the food was also an offering for the Ox Head (牛頭) and Horse face (馬面) whom brought the lost soul to the right place at the right time.
We also had to fill up our rice container, so that when he came back and check the container by his hand, he would know we had enough and feel ready to leave us behind and pass on to the next realm. Dad was to come back 11pm - 1am and leave between 1am - 3am. Mom was supposed to stay in her room not coming out to the living room, otherwise, according to tradition, Dad would see her and miss the family so much he wouldn't want to leave.
Mom was nervous and really wanted him to feel comfortable to go. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep well, so she set her alarm to 3am, that's the time when Dad was supposed to have left and she had to tidy up the living room by throwing everything away.
She woke at midnight, checked the clock, went back to sleep. Woke again at 2am, still not the time yet to clean up, she went back to sleep. The next became interesting. She was sleeping like a kitten and when she woke up hearing the early tram line and people's chattering, it was already 5am in the morning as read by the clock. Then she cleaned up the living room only to realize that there was no signs of Dad's visit (otherwise he would've left his hand mark on the rice in the container), but it was already 6am in all other clocks.
She didn't realize until I told her "Mom! Dad came to see you, he didn't want to scare you by leaving any mark on the rice container. Instead, he stopped your alarm clock for 1 hour so that you could sleep like a kitten. It was his way to take care of you. So don't worry, he came and he is content to go to the next realm"
It was a tremendous relieve when she heard my explanation. It is the greatest love story I've ever known.
Scription has been very slow in the past year of 2012. I thought situation at work would become smoother but it didn't. Simply opening too many stores too fast, losing important connection between sourcing and customer wants/needs. In addition to under staff situation in my departments, I had a lot of tedious problems to tackle for developing new stores in Shanghai. That left me essentially no time in cultivating people and projects at work, let alone my own Chronodex adventure. 2012 was a very tiring year.
(A Room vintage cafe: dolls from the 50s meet present day Traveler's Notebook)
(A Room vintage cafe: Tri-eyes of different ages. Bell & Howell model 333 8mm movie camera vs #turtlejacket on iPhone. 3-lens turret)
(GZ cafe: which I brought a dear Korean Traveler's Notebook super fan/friend there)
I did managed to stop by a few nice places during my business trips, which is like Shanghai every month, such as Le Jardin Secret (秘密花園) restuarant, A Room which is a nice cafe flooded with vintage stuffs and GZ cafe which the owner is always there to chat with.
(Shanghai airport lounge)
(Shanghai airport: roof window looks like leaves from certain angles)
I did managed to steal time, like I said before, to do something I like in small chunks of time too, but that's not too fulfilling and I always feel like missing a lot of things. Like bringing personal projects to business trip hoping I could work on them in hotel but eventually too tired to do so, like I needed to organize ideas floating around but there was never a quiet moment I could use productively. Despite what you think apparently, I myself feel like losing myself bits and pieces here and there. 2013 new year resolution? Be smarter.
Smarter! Like forget about Apple's Map, use Baidu in China once and for all. For the rest of the world, Google Map rocks. Yup, Apple led somebody in Australia to a dessert, it led me to a wrong building too. Not smart to roll out an app like that. Not smart when you don't know you are not ready for it (I'm reminding myself).
(Sensu brush is the best stylus I've ever found! Writing with it on iPad is effortless, not to mention the amazing low friction digital painting in apps like Paper)
(Words notebook: made in USA, carefully chosen paper and ink, size the same as Moleskine Cahier, unique system of notation for tasks and bullets. Fountain pen will bleed through pages, finer rollerballs, pencils and ballpoints are perfect. I would say it is the tasks/bullets version of Field Notes)
(Varacil mechanical pencil PUZZLE, HK$108 kind of challenging to finish, but it is our 2012 Xmas TOP seller! 砌死人嘅鉛蕊筆)
As for product reviews in 2012, I believe I did nothing at all. Did managed to post some pictures with short comments on Instagram/Twitter feed, but no analysis and comparison, zero. Well, Scription is not about product reviews afterall, I am sure you trust what I share here or on Instagram/Twitter has some points of interest. Maybe I filtered too much, should have revealed a little more.
(Kaweco props for retail display: sick and tired of data analysis and fighting against biased opinions on that day, so I played with tihngs on my table for a few minutes)
(Frame and lenses: I was just posting something I stare at for a long time, bet they are pleasing in some ways, to you too)
(Headphones and cameras cleaning day of the year)
Yes I posted porns on my feeds too, judging from the responds I get, I figured people really don't mind. I hope in between these porns, you can see tibits of my life and practise perhaps something good will come out of the sharing.
(Love film, no edit great colors and texture, not too real. Mangrove in Tainan. Canon F1 85mm/f1.2, AGFA Vista plus 200)
Oh meeting people in 2012 was fun, great fun. I took the liberty to further disrupt my work boundaries and went to Tainan University of Technology sharing my retail experience, hope I had inspired some students there. They are very polite and teachers are super friendly, I appreciate the opportunity. I also went to a forum to speak to dozens of secondary school students in Hong Kong, sharing thoughts about creating a sustainable campaign for their Chinese New Year projects. I love sharing, which is part of my very own learning, I just hope I can have more time to do that in our industry as well.
(Thanks world Traveler's Notebook fans @fishball and Colin for sending me lovely greetings! Merry Xmas!)
Lastly, thanks to all of you Scription readers and Chronodex users whom have been heart warming and supportive. Let's continue the Scription journey in 2013!
Please do comment for the Scription content so far, I'd like to see what I can improve.
Blake Mycoskie: Start Something That Matters I don't know why I couldn't finish this book, maybe it was the tone it was being written. Gotta get back to it someday, or not. (**)
Paco Underhill: Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping--Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond Read this book 10 years ago. To read this updated copy is to refresh my memory of how things were done back then and what's changed recently. Although at the beginning it is kind of boring and you may not agree with their research methods, but later in the chapters you will find hidden wisdoms. Just follow the author's logic and see what you can learn from it. (***)
Walter Isaacson: Steve Jobs Love hearing the stories all over again, some of them especially what happened in the past few years are new to me. Most importantly it is a closer portrait of Steve than all other books about him. Isaacson recorded audios during his interview with Steve, check out 60 minutes special and you will hear Steve's own voice. RIP Steve. (****)
Richard Branson: Losing My Virginity Read it like a novel coz you'll find it attractive as a story to follow through. Learn from his character through stories! (****)
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