I am now in Sendai, Japan
Dear friends, long time havn’t been here to share.
Last few months I was working like hell. Now taking a break and visiting the pretty North Eastern Japan.
Here is a pretty picture I took yesterday in the Matsushima (松島), Miyagi (宮城).
Matsushima, Feb 2008
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Tai O, Hong Kong, Oct 2007
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Tai O, Lantau Island, HK, Oct 2007.
Filed under hong kong, travelling, photography, art | Comments (5)The Scarlet Hotel, Singapore
I have been back from my Singapore trip, which was a rather packed and rush one.
We arrived at Singapore in midnight and then had 3-day seminars from 9:00am until 11:00pm in a roll. All we had for leisure and relax was only the last morning and the last afternoon, right before we taking flight back to Hong Kong.
Althoug we didn’t have much time for sightseeing, I am quite glad that we did choose a quite nice hotel to pamper ourselves even under such high pressure.
The Scarlet Hotel was our choice for this trip. For most people who know me well, you would probably notice that I don’t quite like the chained big hotel brands, except the large but hip Westin and W Group. The small, hip and stylish boutique hotels with design elements are always my cup of tea.
This Scarlet Hotel is a famous boutique hotel in Singapore, which was opened in Dec 2004. It is rebuilt from an ancient old building retaining most of the pretty features of the original building. It is located close to the China Town and next to the Ann Siang Street where one would find quite a number of cultural bars, hip restaurants and concepts shops. The street reminds me of the SoHo area in Hong Kong, which is also with some bars and restaurants and concept shops. I have met many trendy and cultural guys and gals in the restaurants and bars here.
The Hotel is not large, it has only 84 guest rooms in 3 floors. The lobby area is decorated mainly in the colours of red, gold and black. It’s design is elegant, glamorous, daring and bold, with lots of big and pretty crystal lamps and lights. There is one outdoor Jaccuzzi, one gym and a meeting room in the Hotel. All the guest rooms are equipped with internet access. They have an outdoor rooftop restaurant named “Breeze” which has a spectacular view over the China Town.
The size of the guest room is not big, but the interior design and the colour matching are nice and cozy. One would be able to take good rest and relax in the peaceful environment so designed.
If you are having a business trip in Singapore and you wish to try something different, you may wish to try this Scarlet Hotel.
The Scarlet Hotel
33 Erskine Road, Singapore
Tel) 65 6511 3333
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We are now in the Scarlet Hotel, Singapore
Shine and me are now in a trip in Singapore. We left Hong Kong last night and arrived at Singapore at midnight.
We have chosen the Scarlet Hotel, the new boutique hotel, to stay for our 5 days stay.
Now is 4:00am in the morning, and we have some seminars to attend starting from 9:00am until 11:00pm. I have to go off line now and will share some more fun and insteresting parts in our trip with you all tonight. See you!
Filed under Asia, hotel, hip & stylish, travelling | Comments (10)sophie’s gallery
(sunset in Krabi, Thailand, April 2006)
Filed under Asia, thailand, travelling, photography | Comment (0)Halloween Night in Hong Kong
(me in the pumpkin mask)
The Halloween Night in Hong Kong is really a hot and enjoyable event for everybody, even for a local like me.
This is actually my annual event: every year during the Halloween night, no matter it is a weekday or a weekend, I usually hold a party in the Lan Kwai Fong with my friends.
The Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong, apart from its fame of night life, bars and discos, becomes the ultimate playground of all ghosts and monsters during the Halloween night. So, it is highly popular and extremely crowded. If you would like to get a nice table inside one of the bars overseeing the street outside, making early reservation is a must. And, if you wish to get into the Lan Kwai Fong to participate into the event, do arrive there well before 8:00pm, afterwards, there will be crowd control measures imposed by the Police and you would need to spend a long time walking round and round before you could find your friends or settle down.
The peak time of the event is always around 11:00pm to 1:00am. People playing around are obsessed with the imaginary world: one would find all sorts of ghosts, monsters and characters in the famous story books easily. Werewolves, sexy angles, Batman, Spiderman, horror film characters, Chinese dolls, etc., are walking around the streets and attempting to scare other people. I love taking pictures with all these characters.
Next time when you are planning for a trip to Hong Kong, coming by during the Halloween would be a good idea!
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Omotesando Hills 表參道山
Omotesando Hills, Tokyo, Japan
If you have read my earlier post about the famous and stylish Japan Architect, the Ando Tadao (安藤忠雄) and his signature work “The Church of Light“, and that you find you also love the artistic work of Ando, then you should like this place where I am going to introduce to you, the Omotesando Hills.
The Development
The Omotesando Hills project is located in the Aoyama (青山) of Tokyo.
The street of the Omotesando in the Aoyama is very pretty, the street is wide and straight, with a mild slope and with lots of green and talk trees along the two sides of the street. The area is famous for shopping and residential (previously) in Aoyama, which is sometimes termed Tokyo’s Champs-Élysées.
The project is designed by Tadao Ando, which contains over 130 shops and 38 apartments. The Complex so built and designed is not a large and huge commercial building, but rather a humble and pretty building complex blending well with the surrounding environment and adopting every design concept and the philisophy of beauty of its creator, Tadao Ando.
One point about the Omotesando Hills project which worths noting is that the project has been marked by controversy, as the new built shopping arcade and the residential block has replaced the Bauhaus-inspired Dōjunkai Aoyama Apartments, which had been built in 1927 after the 1923 Kantō earthquake. The destruction of the original and antique apartments raised questions about Japan’s interest in preserving historic buildings.
Ando writes about the historic Dojunkai Apartments and his project:
The Dojunkai Apartments were created as a part of the Great Kanto Earthquake reform plans and they were not only important cooperative housing units but also reflected the visions of the people living there and visiting the area. How to save this vision was one of the main subjects I had to contend with in this reconstruction plan. Although restoration of the original building was physically and economically impossible, the residential apartments located on the top floors of the complex provide each resident with enough distance from the hustle and bustle of Omotesando and at the same time affords them a beautiful view of the tree-lined street. ……
I was careful to incorporate the following two subjects so that the memory of the Dojunkai Apartments would not be forgotten. First, I was careful to make sure the height of the complex was close to that of the row of Japanese zelkova trees adjacent to the complex by constructing half the complex space underground. The second was to use the slope of Omotesando Street as part of the public space of the development. The facade continues for 250 meters following the slope of Omotesando Street. Each floor is created on the gradual Omotesando slope, creating an innovative public city space. Furthermore, the rooftop is covered with greenery that integrates with the zelkova trees. What I aimed for was a ‘re-birth’ of the Dojunkai Apartments.
Tadao Ando/Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
安藤忠雄建築研究所
The Design Features & Concepts
Fair face concrete, one of the most favourite materials used by Ando, is again the main material used in the Omotesando Hills. Clean, minimal, natural and basic, are the elements that Ando would like to inspire us through his creation.
If you are familiar with Ando’s work, when you visit the Omotesando Hills, you would immediate recognise Ando’s architectual signature: the use of simple forms, the straight lines and structure, the harmonisation with and even highlighting the beauty of the surrounding environment, the invitation of large amount of natural lights and the feeling of quiet and comfort inside the building.
The height of the complex is carefully designed, it equals to that of the adjacent zelkova trees, creating a harmony between the complex and its surroundings. The complex provides the visitors with an open-air feeling which blends in with the surrounding environment.
The rooftop of the Complex is covered with trees and plants, forming a connection with the Japanese zelkova trees in the street. The Complex in fact draws visitors’ attention to the lovely and pretty trees around and it highlights the pretty of the natural colours and forms of the trees.
The inside of the shopping arcarde is built with a spiral slope winding around the center atrium, which evokes the gradual slope of Omotesando itself. The inside spiral slope serves as the entry way to numerous shops that form a continuous row, as if they were street shops. The spiral form of the Slope creates a feeling of openness and provides visitors with the excitement of walking the streets of Omotesando, giving a unique feeling unlike any in the area within the complex. It is as if the complex welcomes you with Omotesando within itself.
Let’s see another small and tricky element of Ando, using light and form: the straight lines formed by the spiral slope inside the Complex converts into a single point with natural light source. The resulted visual effect is like many light stokes coming out from the light source. A feeling of uplifting and spiritual is successfully created.
Another feature of Ando’s design is the “Re-birth Complex” which uses the walls of the Aoyama Apartments, to provide visitors with a look into history and nostalgia. Omotesando Hills was established not only as a new facility, but as a means to continue and pass on to the next generation the warm atmosphere and picturesque views of Omotesando.
The Shopping Arcarde
Apart from the artistic complex building, the luxury shops in the Omotesando Hills are also spectecular. The shops and their show windows are all artistically designed and it’s really a pleasure to walk along the slope inside the shopping arcade slowly and to do some window shopping alone. Here are some gorgeous show windows and shop design inside the Omotesando Hills.
Although there are many new and exiciting shopping malls and arcades in Tokyo, I still keep going back and visiting the Omotesando Hills. If you like something hip and well designed, the Omotesando Hills is surely your cup of tea.
Omotesando Hills:
- Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Chiyoda Line, Hanzomon Line Omotesando Station Exit A2, Two min on foot.
- Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, Meiji-Jingumae Station Exit 5, Three min on foot.
- JR Yamanote Line Harajuku Station Exit Meiji-Jingu, Seven min on foot.
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Filed under hip & stylish, travelling, architecture, japan | Comment (0)Macau - the good old days
Last week, I talked about the new and grand hotels in Macau. In fact, at the moment, I was missing the Macau in its good old days.
After the huge investments from the Las Vegas corporates and some local entertainment companies, the Macau has been changed drastically. It just like a simple country girl suddenly changed into a Hollywood star. Too gorgeous, too lousy, too commercial for its “old fan” like me.
When Macau was still a quiet small town, when it was still not yet developed, it was rather attractive and with lots of cultural elements. The quiet small streets, the European style churches and buildings, the slow pace, are all my favourites. I used to spend a short weekend there from time to time, to enjoy the good food, to walk around the small streets and churches to take many pictures, to sit on the bench along the sea to have some quiet time during the sunset.
So I miss the good old Macau, let me share with you some of my impressions and memories of Macau. You would be able to tell the great differences.
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Filed under Asia, culture, travelling, fun | Comments (3)Las Vegas of the East - Macau
(photos, from left to right: fortaleza do monte, ruin of st. paul , casina lisboa, )
Macau, is a small city of China just next to Hong Kong (only 45 mins travelling distance on sea). It used to be a quiet town with some old style casinos and lots of European style architecture under the Portugual governance. But it has changed to a new born superstar and has been receiving lots of spot lights and flash lights since the end of 2006.
Macau is an interesting place with its special background. For 442 years it was ruled by Portugal, making it the oldest European colony in the history of East Asia. It has been returned to the China government in the end of 1999.
After the return to the China government, the small town has attracted many international investors for high end hotels and grand casinos and the city has been growing fast in the past few years. And this city has been marked with a new page with the opening of a Las Vegas investment project, a newest and largest hotel development, the Venetian Macau, on 28 August 2007.
Apart from the Venetian Macau, there are still lots of other gorgeous and luxury casinos and hotels newly opened in Macau. I would let you have a brief idea of what are the up and coming talking points in this brand new “Eastern Las Vegas”.
Opened on August 28, 2007 under the developer: Las Vegas Sands. The development consists of hotel, casino, arena, stadium, shopping mall, restaurants and convention and exhibition centres. Other from being the largest and newest development, the focal point is that the setting of the shopping mall is in elegant streetscapes reminiscent of Venice, with small rivers and canals. The room charge is around US$200 - 330 per room per night.
Opened in 19 Oct 2006, the Star World Macau is a hotel, casino and perfomance development under the Galaxy Entertainment Group. It combines travel, entertainment and recreational services together. After its opening, it has been the most attractive entertainment hot spot in Macau. The room rate is around US$250 per room per night.
Opened in 12 May 2007, the Crown Macau is the first extension of Australia’s iconic Crown brand in Asia. It is a luxurious and contemporary hotel and casino that is primarily devoted to the high-end gaming market. The room rate is around US$250 per room per night.
Opened in end 2006, the Wynn Hotel Macau is a hotel and casino development under a Las Vegas Wynn Group. The Wynn Macau is just as sleek and sophisticated at its Las Vegas counterpart. Tasteful decorations, an enormous casino, and plenty of great shopping and restaurants are making the Wynn Macau one of the most popular Macau hotels. The room rate is around US$200 per room per night.
There are some more 6 stars hotels to come in 2007 and 2008 and Macau surely is the Las Vegas of the East. Maybe you could now plan to trip to visit Hong Kong and Macau in one go.
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