My First Impression of Shanghai 與上海的第一次接觸

Shanghai is blanketed with a thin layer of tissue–––
the greyish air, the powdery flavor.

上海像是蓋了一層的薄紗–––
灰灰的空氣, 粉粉的味道。

How to Get to Know Taiwan in Five Days 如何在五天之內認識台灣

traditional market in Jiali, Tainan

traditional market in JiaLi, Tainan

AnXi night market in Jiali, Tainan

AnXi night market in JiaLi, Tainan

In my humble opinion, the best way to understand the vernacular culture of Taiwan is to visit traditional markets and night markets.

Well, the tip actually applies to any places in the world.

依我個人的淺見, 如何在短短的五天內認識台灣本土的風格是–––逛市場和遊夜市。

嗯, 我實際上就是用這個撇步遊走世界的。

The Smell of China 中國的味道

The chrysanthemum, is one of the four symbolic seasonal flowers in China (the others are being the orchid for spring, the bamboo for summer, and the plum blossom for winter.) It’s the symbolic of nobility and was first cultivated in China as a flowering herb as far back as the 15th century BC.

I use a big yellow or white incurved chrysanthemum to bring the fall season home. Either alone or pairing with similarly colored flowers, its result can often be exquisitely visual, and its woodsy fresh scent always reminds me of the English author R H Blyth’s Haiku, "Infinity grasped in the hand, before the eyes, the hammering of a nail, the touch of cold water, the smell of chrysanthemums, the smell of this chrysanthemum."

And the smell of China.

Confucius Temple Red 孔廟紅

In western cultures, red color symbolizes sexual energy, youth, vivacity and stimulation. Red is power, hence the red power ties for business people and the red carpet for celebrities. 

But red has its more serious side in Chinese culture. Chinese red denotes happiness and prosperity and may be used to attract good luck. Red flag, red lantern, red wedding, red Spring festival couplets... Red is the living color of China!

The Chinese red can be red like vermillion, brick, or the national flag. I personally prefer the red with earth tone highlights, an elegant color like the red wall of Confucius temple in Tainan, Taiwan. The Confucius temple red sumptuously indicates richness, power, and noble and is used to honor the great Chinese thinker and social philosopher Confucius (551- 479BC).

The Art on the Swallow Tail Roof 燕尾脊屋頂上的藝術品

My favorite street in Tamsui, Zhen Li street (淡水真理街)

Green with the drip of dew and rain,

the moss address itself like art on the roof

with curved swallow tail ridge ends.


飽含露水和雨滴的苔蘚,

綠茸茸地將自己襯脫得

像是燕尾脊屋頂上的一件藝術品。

Pray for Japan 替日本祈福

Dear friends, while we're worry about should the Japanese radioactive fallout reach our shores, let's pray for the survivors of the tsunami and the people who are threatened by the ongoing nuclear crisis.

How to help:
American Red Cross
Japanese Red Cross Society
The Red Cross of The Republic of China
Red Cross Society of China
The Salvationarymyusa.org
Care

在擔心日本的輻射塵是否會飄流到我們的國家之餘，讓我們替這些海嘯的倖存者和在核能危機之下生存的人們祈福。

如何幫助：
日本紅十字會
中華民國紅十字總會
中国红十字会
美國紅十字會

Tamsui in Rain 雨中的淡水

Tamsui without rain

is like something without...

something else

沒有雨的淡水

就好像缺了...

什麽的什麽

It Can Be Cold in Taipei. 台北是可以很冷的。

cold in Mandarin

I almost forgot how cold it can be in Taipei...

Regardless of the occasional drizzle and misty wind, I set out to rediscover the city where I used to live. Like a little curious child, my eyes moved from banyan fig to colorful signage to gardenia to roasted sweet potato to temple to Taipei 101 building to incense to coffee shop to osmanthus. I kept walking and searching for the the familiar smell until the sound of school kids' voices filled the late afternoon air on Tun-Wha North Road.

I stepped into Eslite Bookstore and was happy to find my favorite Japanese musician Sakamoto Ryuichi's book "Musik macht frei'. Suddenly I forgot it can be cold in Taipei...

幾乎忘記台北的冬天是可以很冷的...

為了重新認識這個我曾居住的城市, 就暫時不管那才下又停的綿綿細雨和濕答答的寒風。像個好奇的小孩，我的眼睛悠遊在榕樹, 多彩的看板, 栀子花, 烤蕃藷, 寺廟, 台北一零一大樓, 香火，咖啡館, 桂花樹。我行行復行行地尋找那熟悉的味道, 直到孩童放學的嬉鬧聲填滿了敦化北路。

走進誠品書局，居然讓我發現了坂本龍一的書“音樂使人自由”。開懷之下，就這樣忘了台北是可以很冷的...

Lecturing at Xue Xue 在學學開課

I look forward to sharing my story of Taiwan with you once I finish my lectures at Xue Xue Institute, a "Learning Platform" for creativity and culture in Taipei, Taiwan.

Talk with you later, my friends.

朋友們, 我目前正在學學開課, 就等課程結束後再和你們聊聊我的台灣故事了。

Falling in Love with Marie Galante 戀上瑪麗加蘭

A bakery with colorful interior, Grand-Bourg.

An outdoor painting that depicts Caribbean living.

The local farmers still use oxen to plough a field.

The rhum processing factory ruin in Habitation Murat.

An open fish market where people shop for freshly-caught fish, Grand-Bourg.

The colorful chat (cat in French) has a delicious, delicate flavor. Yum...

Lunch at the fine beach in Folle Anse.

The local fruits always taste better...

Tropical flowers in the medical garden at Habitation Murat.

Falling in love with a place, seems to be largely a question of timing. In this scenario, I was extremely lucky to have the chance to discover the unpretentious simplicity of Marie Galante, during my first sailing trip to the French Caribbeans.

As soon as I set foot in Marie Galante, I was enveloped by the fragrance of coconut and rhum. And its timeless-quality of idyllic scenery made my heart singing Zouk–––the sweet, West-African-influenced, electronicised music of the Antilles (Guadeloupe in French.)

Listen to this.

戀上一個地方, 時間絕對是個主要因素。因此, 第一次出航法屬加勒比海便能及時體驗出瑪麗加蘭小島的純樸簡潔, 讓我覺得幸運無比。

一踏進這個小島, 椰子和萊姆的清香立即撲鼻而來。永永遠遠的田園風光讓我心頭低聲吟唱著容克–––這個受到西非音樂影響的甜美法屬瓜露普電子音樂。

聽聽這個吧。

The Cabin Woven by Hand, with Heart 用心編織的小木屋

The cabin, was woven simply by craftsmen, stick by stick like the rhythm of a heartbeat. As a designer, I understand that it's impossible to replicate the special quality that comes from something made by hand, with heart.

We spent a great deal of time walking around admiring this woven cabin in Habitation Murat, the largest sugar cane plantation in Guadeloupe in 1839 and now an eco-museum of arts and traditions in Marie Galante.

The Blessing 祝福

剛從歐洲抵達大雪茫茫的紐約，便隨即登門造訪位在中國城的推拿師父。師父喜氣洋洋地和我道聲“恭禧發財”，我才恍然大悟原來中國新年也已來訪。

中文的讀者們，在此獻上我的“祝福”。

Right after arriving in the snow-blanked New York city from Europe, I went to see my Chinese Tui Na therapist in Chinatown. Only after she cheerfully opened the door to greet me "Gong Xi Fa Cai", I realized that Chinese Lunar New Year is here TOO ...

A sincere blessing (祝福) from me for the Chinese readers.

Dream to be a Skipper

Due to my having two left hands with mechanics, I was assigned to be in charge of cooking and cleaning, the easiest and least challenging duty on boat. But when our boat was anchored and had no moored boats near us, I liked to "play" with the locked steering wheel imaging myself as the French sailing legend, Eric Tabarly, sailing through the big blue ocean.

I don't take life too seriously and I sometimes behave childishly and goofily...

My Luck of Being Seasick

While sailing from Les Saintes to Antiqua, I was feeling nauseous with the violent waves pounding the boat, some slamming up against the side and over and into the cockpit. To reduce the chances of succumbing to seasickness, I followed our skipper's tips–––drank a lot of water, avoided empty stomach, and lay down on deck.

It was a long trip, and I needed to find some fun to keep busy instead of lying immobile and feeling sick and useless. I started to take random pictures, from an unusual angle, to the beautiful sky, the drifting clouds, the birds flying by, the busy crew members, etc.

Some of the photos turned out to be unexpected and interesting. And I was extremely happy to catch the moment while our reliable skipper was checking the sails. This photo was surely my luck of being seasick.

Inspired by The Sea Urchin

One day we anchored in Nonsuch Bay to the South-West of Green Island, an uninhabited island just off the east coast of Antigua. We drove our dinghy over to this beautiful island to explore. I was all over the moon as soon as I set foot in it, and discovered piles of sea urchin shells (tests) lying on the pristine white sand secluded beaches.

The sea urchin, so dangerous yet beautiful, so odd and interesting, serves as an explicit message of paradox and surprise.

As a designer, I admire its alluring form presenting aspects of sharp and smooth for tactile and aesthetic experiences. Many of my designer fellows have came up with witty design objects inspired by the sea urchin such as the interior accessories, jewelry, perfume bottles, etc.

As a food lover, I love the sea urchin's buttery texture, rich and briny with a sweet, mildly fruity finish, and I like to eat it raw with lemon, or soy sauce and wasabi. In the hot summer time in New York, I often treat myself a cool, delicious Uni Soba (sea urchin buckwheat noodles in Japanese) at Soba-Ya.

Just before leaving Green Island, I bent down and picked up a few sea urchin shells, which I can display on the bookshelf of my home to remind myself of the sensation of the Caribbeans.

Celebrate the Sunset with Rhum

Ti'Punch, mixed with Rhum, can sugar, and lime juice, may be the most well-known drink in the French-speaking Caribbean states.

After an exhausting yet enthralling sailing day, we often celebrated the sunset with a few glasses of Ti'Punch on our boat. All crew members agreed that, substituting passion fruit juice for lime juice, emphasizes more the exotic, tropical flavor of Rhum, a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by products such as molasses and sugarcane juice.

In perfumery, Rhum can be explored to interpret the festive mood and the influence of masculine. To name a few of fragrances with rhum in: Guerlain Homme, Locoste Pour Homme, Lolita Lempicka Au Musculin, Hugo Man, and Lubin Indole Du Lubin.

I have no preference for the fragrances, but I'm in favor of the packaging design of Hugo Man: crisp clean and undeniable masculine, just like a slick and beautiful Monohull sailboat.

The Island of Calm in the Caribbeans

As the year of 2010 was approaching to its end, I decided to take a truly luxurious break---be mysterious, unavailable, and unapproachable to the world for a while. Therefore, I joined my sail-loving friends and rented a monohull sailboat in Guadeloupe, the first overseas region of France. Sailing from here to its sisters Les Saintes, and Marie Galante, and then to the English-speaking country Antiqua, we bathed under the Caribbean sun and breathed in the smells of big blue ocean.

Imagined the sailboat Moonlight as my own island of calm, I indulged my senses, and experienced the wonder of the Caribbean islands. And of course, I also managed to preserve a healthy tan to get through the snowy winter in New York and Europe.

In the next few days, please expect to read the articles about my travel highlights in the Caribbeans.

Good-Bye to My Summer Provence (III)

Mons, Provence

Fayence, Provence

Fayence, Provence

Sketch for typical Provencal chimneys

Sketch for typical Provencal roofs

French Provencal Architecture

In Provence I liked to go outside and walk a bit, long enough to forget my worries in New York, long enough to exercise my eyes and mind as I explored in the French Provencal villages, fascinated by the old buildings with their tranquility and sense of timelessness.

To retain the best of the old French Provencal country lifestyle, Architect de France imposes an architectural guideline for rehabilitation and new construction in these historic villages like Flayosc, Tourtour, Mons, etc. The shape, color, height, width, materials and location of the architectural elements, such as chimneys, roofs, columns, windows, and doors, are intended to create a vibrant homogeneous Provencal village, with enough variation to allow individuality and expression of personal taste.

While the number of Beijing hutongs (北京胡同) has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings, I feel blessed to be able to enjoy the best-kept Provencal surroundings––the land painted by Paul Cezanne and Vincent Van Gogh.

Good-bye to My Summer Provence (II)

The Sun-kissed clothes
In Provence, any small village like Mouans-Sartoux, clothes hanging is a work of art. With the colorful walls as background, it can be associated with the vivid mobile art by the American artist Alexander Calder.
Clothes hanging takes on a life on its own. Towels flap and snap. Pants dance. Shirts shudder. And under the bright and cheerful sun, it is filled with the relaxing scent of slow and eco-friendly lifestyle.

Good-Bye to My Summer Provence 跟夏日的普羅旺斯說一聲再見

My summer memories of Provence (普羅旺斯), like the falling leave in the autumn air, flutter to my mind. I come to realize that a fallen leaf is nothing more than a summer waves good-bye.

I still remember––the sun-kissed Côte d'Azur (蔚藍海岸), the warm color palette of architecture, the fig trees, the Pastis and Rosé wine, the herbs, the scent of lavender in the air, the olive tree groves, the wine-fuelled meals, the pine-scented sun, and the occasional naps after reading few pages of a fat book by José Saragamo in a shady balcony...

My friends, please stay tuned for the episodes of my summer Provence.