Tasteful Use of Red

Red is not an instantly likeable color. Love it or hate it, it just never fails to catch your attention. But use it appropriately, you get tasteful results (like this mailbox in Tokyo).

They Call It "Ice Stick"

Japanese have a strange way of calling things in English. But because their mistakes are often cute, you kinda forgive them. At least they have good taste and design aesthetics as an excuse. * I picked this up from a convenience store and but didn't get to taste it. Wished I did. Anyone's tried it before?

The Other Side

While the crew was filming the skateboard artists in their small and crowded studio, I took the chance to wander about the neighborhood. I also sat where Peifen is sitting in this picture and remember watching this friendly traffic control-officer holding his lollipop for the occasional folks crossing the streets even though there was hardly any traffic. The only vehicle that sort of constituted traffic was this middle-aged woman in a electronic wheelchair. Despite being wheelchair bound, the woman went about her business very effortlessly. I saw her leaving her house, rolling herself quietly across the street before entering a shop. In less than 10 minutes, she was out of there and on her way home. She even stopped for a moment to exchange a few words with the "lollipop" man. It was a simple neighborhood but it also felt so safe and comforting. http://www.harvest-re.com/index.html

Mother of all Zakkas

This very quaint store in the下北泽district of Tokyo is labeled the "mother of all Zakkas" in a book which I bought. I later "instigated" our So Simple team to visit the store and give it a little feature in episode 7, partly for a selfish motive to fulfil my dream of seeing it in real life. And it turned out to be not only a wonderful experience for those of us who filmed it, it also added a touch of nostalgia, full of old school aesthetic to our show.

http://www.mokuyohkan.co.jp/

Shinzi Katoh

Since I mentioned Yoshitomo Nara, I cannot leave out this other favorite Japanese artist of mine, Shinzi Katoh. His simple and affectionate illustrations have adorned many zakka items sold in Japan and Taiwan. Here in Singapore, you probably can find a small collection in a shop in Orchard Cineleisure.

http://www.shinzikatoh.com/english/index.html

ps: when you go to these Japanese websites, you have to excuse their strange English.

Yoshitomo Nara

In case you are not familiar with the name Yoshitomo Nara （柰良美智), after reading about the AtoZ cafe mentioned below, here's a piece of work by the famous Japanese artist. I am sure you must have recognised his style and his many popular illustrations. Take a look at his masterworks.

http://www.blumandpoe.com/yoshitomonara/

Cool Cafes in Tokyo

The Bio Ojiyan Cafe is in Harajuku at the end of Harajuku street.

"If you find yourself in Tokyo, one thing you'll quickly realize is that there is no lack of stylish cafes, and so new ones are now trying to push the creative envelope in order to stand out. Enter the recently opened AtoZ Cafe, a collaborative project between artist Yoshitomo Nara and design unit Graf. An unlikely rustic setting -- especially unlikely when you consider that the cafe is found on the fifth floor of a building in Aoyama -- welcomes you in what comes off as a sweet and homey environment, with the majority of the tables surrounding a "house" that acts as a sort of showroom/exhibition space for some of Nara's works. Add a well designed menu (decorated of course by Nara, and which you can keep as a souvenir) and tasty selections, and you get a new Aoyama winner in the cafe sweepstakes." - article from www.mocoloco.com/tokyo

Farm Work Abroad

For those of you inspired by our episode on Brown's Field in Japan, you might be interested to check out this website for a list of places you could experience farm work.

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/shortterm/farm_jobs_agriculture.shtml

Annecy, France

There is a city outside Paris, by a beautiful name Annecy. Every year in June, it holds the world renowned Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Which, sadly, is also a period you have to avoid planning your holidays there - no hotels would be available as they would all be taken up by the visitors attending the event. It is a very strange place where the old medieval architecture is right smack in the middle of the modern city. That is also the reason it is very poetically enchanting. Peifen and I could attest to that since we both had the chance to see the place last year, on our separate trips.

http://www.lac-annecy.com/index_gb.php

http://www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=2

Great Western Market, Bath

This is a picture of the Great Western Market in Bath, England, which I took more than 10 years ago with a vintage camera. Bath is a city 2 hour away from London if you set out by train from the Paddingon Station, which children all over the world (I correct, children in the 90's and earlier) know by its famous Paddington bear, created by Michael Bond. The city has the only hot springs in the whole of Britain and was previously colonised by the Romans, hence the origin of its name. http://www.visitbath.co.uk/

Notting Hill, London

A hip London neighborhood. If you had seen the movie Notting Hill, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, you would remember being mesmerised by this place. There is a carnival going on every August and it is a huge affair, though it kinda turns the usually quiet town topsy-turvy with its loud bang. If you are headed for London come August, don't forget to put it on your itinerary.

http://www.nottinghillcarnival.biz/

Random Recommendations

Starting from today, I'd like to share with those of you who still visit our blog, some random ideas and places which might be interesting and inspiratonal to you. And especially if you're taken with the obscure and non-mainstream stuffs - I think I might have quite a bit to show you. Some of them are stuffs I own/places I have seen while others I have researched for work/ interest/ possible future visits. Picture here is Pollock's Toy Museum in London. The first time I was in London, I did a research and stayed at a hotel near the museum just so I could visit it everyday.

http://www.pollockstoymuseum.com/

These very cool (and also expensive) accessories made from old typewriter keys were sold in Kurkku, a designer store in Tokyo's Harajuku. http://www.kurkku.jp/

Character People, Character Places

The skateboard artists in Tokyo.

http://www.harvest-re.com/

These belong to our profiles in Taipei.

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/bonnygb

http://blog.sina.com.tw/shan/

Little Pf is a multi-tasker - she flies, eats, reads, listens to music

and dozes off, all at the same time.

Little Pf, Peifen's evil twin

Little Pf was created to document our production journey in drawings. Peifen calls her her evil twin. In other words, she gets to live out her "inner evils" through Little PF. But in this picture, Little PF is harmlessly sitting in the neighborhood of the Tokyo skateboard artists (Episode 7) kindly feeding a stray cat.

Not The Usual

Making So Simple 2 has opened our eyes to many interesting things and places we normally wouldn't have discovered or included in our plans if we were to go on holidays guided by our "trusty" travel books (which mainly introduce the commercial touristy spots and things). The objective of the show led us to dip deeper and search for people who do things a little differently and yet are able to make an impact in our lives. People Tree in Tokyo Jiyugaoka is one of them. http://www.peopletree.co.jp/

Burger Hangout

Months after our return from Tokyo we're still talking about this great burger hangout. We only ate there once and the impression lasted since. Freshness Burger outlets are not as commonly seen in Tokyo as Mos Burger but we managed to find this one in the Harajuku District. It's one of those nondescript, neigborhood looking establishments but the food is good, judging by everyone's feedback. You may want to check out http://www.freshnessburger.co.jp/ for outlet addresses.

Caught the last episode of the repeat telecast of So Simple 1 last Saturday. Did anyone see it too? Nice right? I know, I know, being one of the production team members I shouldn't be saying this myself. But who can help it? I'm so beaming with pride, and humility goes on vacations, everytime I think or talk about the show.

But seriously, if you asked me, what is it about the show I'm so proud about, I tell you, one of the reasons is the fact that we managed to fight hard to pull a show which by industry standard was considered too niche. It was just not that kind of show that started with a commercial intention. We didn't set out to draw a big audience. We knew it wouldn't. But, what's most important is we managed to attract the right one. And that alone is enough to count as the best thing ever for a production.