Chat with Jim Spear, co-founder of China Countryside Hotels

The Grameen Foundation field trip has been a boon in more ways than one. On the trip, I met JS and JH. JS, from Beijing, told me about her country home by the Great Wall that also gets let to visitors. I was immediately interested to find out more about the project in Mutianyu Village. As promised, when she got back to Beijing, I got an email from last week with links to China Countryside Hotels, founded by husband-and-wife team Jim Spear and Tang Liang. As for JH, we instantly hit it off when we found out our common interests in developing a social enterprise combining good design, sustainable development and luxury travel. That's how JH and I ended up on an hour-long skype conference chat at 7am this morning with Jim to learn more about his sustainable tourism projects in and around Mutianyu village in addition to setting up luxury guesthouses such The Pavilion:
The Schoolhouse, a restaurant and glass-blowing workshop in a renovated schoolhouse
The Roadhouse, a restaurant
Xiaolumian, a farmhouse restaurant serving noodles


LCL: i'm always looking out for cool places in china like mutianyu, wishing there were more
JS (Jim Spear): Actually, we're just starting out on these village enterprises though I have had a weekend home in Mutianyu (mty) for 15 years

LCL: before we start, let's do brief intros...JH?
JH: i've always been deeply interested in the field of development, and i guess part of that interest stems from having grown up all over the world, thus having this incessant traveller's itch

and the more places i experience (either as a resident or as a traveller) the more i become interested in issues of sustainable development -- preservation of the uniqueness of 'local' whilst benefitting from the advantages of the global, i guess

it was quite by chance that i got to join the grameen foundation sichuan trip, which was a very inspiring trip in many respects
LCL: JH is echoing all my sentiments
JH: and dialogues, experiences, personal reflections etc. that came out of that trip in a way articulated a lot of the ideas that were already floating around in my head, and then i read what you established with the mutianyu project, which seems to be the materialization of everything in a very real way!

two of my passions, travelling and design, that desire to do my bit for the collective, and that dilemma of trying to compromise between the luxury world and the awareness of the real world etc.

so i've always been interested in ways of bridging and bringing together sort of non-profit and for-profit businesses together

LCL: JH is speaking for me as well...and she's doing a great job at it. So Jim, your turn...
JS: we're just taking little steps -- far from perfect. but i think we're on the right track re: sustainability in the village context: local people, local companies, local food, homemade, existing footprints, sensitivity to environment. I am delighted to have the chance to chat with both of you.

i have been living here 23 years -- from the usa -- where i was a phd student at berkeley
LCL: phd in?
JS: political economy re: china/japan but i didn't finish thesis, i took a consulting job in Beijing because i wanted to be where the action was

[consulting on] early jvs in a variety of industries and high tech sales, i started my own trding company that eventually morphed into a wine importer (ASC) and later I worked for many years in the medical field for a NASDAQ company

when i was getting close to 50 and my kids were in college i had a mid-life crisis and chucked everything to move out to our weekend house in mutianyu

JH: haha
LCL: hahaha...jungha and i joke that we are in third-life crisis...hahaha
JH: i was about to say that, haha
LCL: and no regrets?
JS: yeah, haha...life is too short to spend on regrets. of course i have no regrets. i feel i am one of the luckiest people in the world. i have now designed and built 19 houses, made new friends, helped our village, time of my life

when i moved out to the village and re-did my own house a friend asked me to build him a house and the housing part started there. about the same time the mayor sat me down and said: look spear, in case you hadn't noticed, we're having a hard time, you're a rich american and you should give something back, after all we let you live in our village and you should make an investment here to help us

LCL: first Q...how did you pull off buying your first house to begin with? i assume it's not that straight-forward with deeds and stuff
JS: absolutely right. actually we lease peasant residence plots with existing houses on them. not purchase as in freehold.
JH & LCL (at the same time): how long is the lease?
JS: this is also complicated. ranging from 10 to 50 years
LCL: only 10 years??!! and then lease WITH property converts back?
JS: sure, if you don't put a lot into the house it can make sense. we use short term leases for staff housing, for example. the real houses i have done range from 100-900 sqm

market prices have increased dramatically as we have created the demand. so shorter lease costs less money. clients amortize lease improvement over life of lease. not necessarily a good financial investment. BUT that depends. and one client told me recently their mty house was their best invesment (in light of the crisis)

JH: and the range (10-50 yrs) depends on what qualification? and as a foreigner, is it still possible without a local connection somehow to still qualify for a long lease?
JS: period of lease not dependent on citizenship. actual law may limit real estate leases to 20 years. but we have a lot of lawyers who have helped us write what seem to be enforceable leases for longer periods.

LCL: being near the great wall, which is protected...are the laws stricter for such developments as well as building/renovation permits?
JS: it's very complicated and highly political. regulation -- many, many and sometimes competing authorties. this stifles creativity and leads to other issues. i am not against development, just want to help channel it in sustaianble ways that preserve real communities. LCL: were u aware of all the red tape before you started?
JS: red tape? haha. i have been doing business here for decades. my little stuff in the village every bit as complictaed as anything i ever did

LCL: what do you think of Commune?
JS: Commune is very interesting but not for me. I find the houses plopped there - starchitect syndrome. they failed as an enterprise and very poor service/business model. and then brought in kempinski. last time i stayed there was last month. great spa. poor room. they more or less copied the houses to get to 380 rooms. a walled valley. no connection to community. it makes me cry. but there is room in the market for them as well as us.

lots of our customers have been to virtually every five-star hotel and resort. they literally ache for something real

LCL: yes, absolutely...i prefer your model. so you started off helping other people find and build their dream country home by the Great Wall, and then added the F&B and craft components to the village, and now i see you are starting inns?
JS: we have 6 rental houses www.chinacountrysidehotels.com and 3 or 4 more about to come on line. inns -- we have 2 under construction

LCL: what is the cost of buying, say 50-year lease
JS: location key. in mty and nearby yingbeigou a peasant house as is for 30 years now runs about rmb 450-900k

if you go a few km away can get an existing ouse for rmb 150-200k and even less as you go more distant in the hills

LCL: wow! you've added lots of value!
JS: yes -- the peasants now sit on a previously worthless asset. they take the money to start businesses, educate their kids, provide better old age living, etc

JH: are you looking to expand the model onto other parts of china? or continue expanding this region?
JS: i am very intrerested in first expanding in other nearby villages. but i do think that in areas 1-3 hours from major cities in china and perhaps eleswhere this is replicable

remote is harder -- have you seen naked retreats 3 hours from shangai?
LCL: no! wow, i'm soo glad i'm having this conversation...keep finding out more!
JS: naked retreats took missionary houses from pre-liberation and made them into nice weekend places. issue is (to me) maybe not focused on helping community today.

LCL: just one last question...your businesses are set up as businesses, correct?
JS: yes -- for profit businesses. to me that is part of being sustainable. we have been approached by 1 person who is starting a social investment fund to loan funds or take equity in for-profit businesses that have a commitment to sustainable social development

LCL: thank you so much for your time...i'm going to chew on our conversation a little bit
JH: thanks so much for letting me in on your conversation! and you have a very inspiring life! we drool at what you have achieved!
JS: i enjoyed meeting you via this chat, have a great day!
LCL: have a great weekend in the country! ahhh...that clean, crisp air
JS: i will!

Easter Weekend Wrap-Up

I'm smitten with Luang Prabang. I expected to be charmed by the UNESCO World Heritage town, but it is the people who have got me head over heels. There were Mung and Don, our guides who were such good sports (putting up with our group's silly pranks) and gracious hosts. Everywhere we went, from the staff at the hotel to waiters at restaurants, the level of sincerity and service far exceeded our expectations. I dare say it's the best I've encountered in Asia. Not only are they extremely warm and kind hearted people, but they also approach service with a very proactive, common-sensical attitude (which is often lacking even in a supposedly cosmopolitan city such as Hong Kong). There were instances where they knew what we would want even before we asked. For example, the staff at the wonderful JoMo coffee shop and bakery (an American-owned establishment on the same street as La Maison Souvannaphoum on the way to the night market) that brought us all glasses of water to go with out lattes and carrot cakes (which was absolutely divine) before we even asked. There was the hotel restaurant waiter who asked if we would want our individual drinks orders charged back to our own rooms. Waiters would see that we had run out of something and bring us more. Admittedly, the restaurants and hotels we visited were staffed with people who spoke very good English. But what stands out among the people of Luang Prabang is not their skills and abilities, but their pride in what they do and the town in which they live.

Luang Prabang Highlights:
1. If you visit only one temple, it should be Wat Xieng Thong, the most beautiful one of the three we saw. Love the adorable disco, white elephant that spouts water when the Buddha figures are washed.


2. Go on the leisurely, 2-hour boat ride up the Mekong to visit the Pak Ou caves containing thousands of Buddha scultures.



3. Laotian cuisine. The food is not as spicy as Thai food and is a blend of Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese influences. Everywhere we ate, the food was good. We had dinner at L'Elephant, lunch at Three Elephants (Sisavangvong Road; T: +855 71 252525) and another dinner at our hotel's Elephant Blanc. Would have loved to try the restaurant at Apsara, but didn't have time.

Bangkok Highlights:
1. The Eugenia is a wonderful home in Bangkok.
2. Spring (199 Soi Promsri 1; T: +66 2 3922757) is my constant favourite. It serves up great Thai/Asian fusion dishes, and the lawn is absolute bliss to lounge around with friends before and after dinner.



Spa Comments:
1. Blooming Spa in Bangkok was great value for money. A 2 hour, 45-minute combination of foot reflexology and Thai massage came out to only THB1,000.
2. Skip the Angsana spa at La Maison Souvannaphoum. The treatments are done in tents that are set next to the main street. It's noisy and the therapists need more training and experience when it comes to giving massages.

Whole new level of home spa: Miami's Ten Museum Park

Was researching clinical spa for Little Cream Book: Health today and going through Clinique La Prairie's website for details of their Rejuvenation Programme when I saw their press release about their new Chad Oppenheim-designed Ten Museum Park (across from the work-in-progress, Herzog & de Meuron-designed Miami Art Museum), a Clinique La Prairie "Lifestyle Residence", a term that's bound to become this decade's "boutique/design hotel". But I'm a sucker for lifestyle concepts and I love the whole idea of bringing CLP's wellness regimes into your very own condo block. Although it did not appear that they would have any of the more hardcore medical aspects of CLP's practice on premise such as the CLP extract therapy, which involves injecting live sheep embryo cells into your bottom. Ten Museum Park also advertises the privilege of VIP access to Miami's hottest scenes. Condo prices start from US$400,000 to more than 10 times that.

But what I'm really looking for is a residence that is a marriage of Aman's aesthetics and pampering with Mayo Clinic's medical expertise and facilities in a stunningly-beautiful location.

Lech: Hotel Almhof Schneider, Allmeinde Commongrounds

On my favourite run: Rufikopf from Lech to Zurs

Woke up at 3:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. Not sure if it's jetlag or the fact that I can't wait for the day to start so that I can go get a pair of Differences skis to try on my last day of skiing before I head back home tomorrow. Gerold Schneider, owner of Hotel Almhof Schneider, told me I should try them since I like zai skis, of which EN (my INSEAD section-mate) was the founding CEO. I fell in love with zai skis the first time I tried them in Verbier. Differences, Gerold told me, are produced in Vorarlberg nearby.

I met Gerold and his lovely wife Katya yesterday. Have been a fan of their establishments here in Lech for some time. In addition to the hotel, they also own Schneggarai and Klosterle in Zug (Not knowing the family connection, my friends had actually booked my b-day dinner at Klosterle last night). Recently, they converted an old barn into Allmeinde Commongrounds, an art exhibition space/office/library/artist residence. The couple are both trained as architects and they have been working on revamping the family hotel for the past 10 years and Gerold thinks he'll still be working on it for the next time years; Katya reckons five though. They've put in a mini cinema/puppet theatre, a beautiful wine tasting room/cellar, children's playroom complete with Playstation. Their ski boot room is the most beautiful I've seen yet. Each ski boot locker has two sets of boot warmers. The lockers are made from rose oak. They've also revamped the swimming pool, one of the restaurants and the rooms. Most of their 52 rooms are suites and my favourite feature is the huge changing room/closet.

But actually, I was dying to see Allmeinde Commongrounds. So I was really excited to get a call from Gerold yesterday morning (I was meaning to pop by, but he knew where I was staying at Hotel Madlochblick right behind his hotel and found out from Andrea, the hostess, that I had already arrived. That's what I love about Lech, the small town, everyone-knows-everyone, feeling). I met Gerold at the hotel and then we walked up to Allmeinde Commongrounds to meet Katya. My photos don't really do the place justice. Hopefully, I can get some better ones before I leave. The style is minimal, as though it was trying not to intrude on the beauty of the surrounding, while keeping its aesthetic essence of its former life as a barn. It's beautifully conceived and its visual simplicity belies the functional complexity of the building.


The first floor contains an office space, a library with a long table that seems to extend all the way into the snowy slope outside and a serious kitchen (for catering functions). The second floor is an exhibition space. On the right side is a wall of some thickness. I just thought it was storage space behind the wall for hanging artwork. But then, Gerold started to transform the whole rectangular block into a home. Panels opened out to reveal a mini kitchen, storage, toilet, bathroom with shower and sink, a large work desk with desktop computer and a double bed! Quite clever!



Their original idea was to have an artist-in-residence, but they have not found one yet. Currently, there is an exhibition of photographs by Margherita Spiluttini. The space is open most afternoons until 6pm or so. Katya works out of the office most of the time and welcomes visitors. Allmeinde is actually a word that refers to common land that the local community could send their animals to graze.

My Klosterle birthday cake

Inbox Worthy Events: Save Star Ferry Demonstration Tonight, Global Youth Fund, Venice Biennale Forum

Arrived at the office this morning greeted by 30+ of FS's bright, cheery Form 6 students (they were on their way to a picnic, but the got stranded when it started to rain.). They were all sitting on the floor with an awesome picnic spread, which included boxes of Krispy Kreme of course. I was scanning my inbox while munching on fish balls and chicken wings while listening to them question FS about her love life: "How long have you been dating your boyfriend?", "When will you get married?", "How many kids will you have?". It all brought to mind Deborah Solomon's Questions for Dr. Louann Brizendine in this Sunday's NYTimes Magazine. Dr Brizendine, whose debut book is "The Female Brain", explains why "a women's brain structure a good deal of her behaviour, including a penchant for gossiping and talking on the phone".

"The hormone of intimacy is oxytocin, and when women talk to each other, they get a rush of it. For teen girls [and I would have guessed that FS's inquisitive Form Six students were all around 17 years old] especially, when they're talking about who's hooking up with whom, who's not talking to whom, who you like and don't like -- that's bedrock, that excites the girl's brain," explains Dr. Brizendine in the article.

Nothing like real life observations of scientific theory. But what I really wanted to know from the girls was how they would respond to Global Youth Fund's This I Believe essay project, for which an e-newsletter had landed in my inbox. In addition to believing that it would be a waste if beautiful girls did not get married and have children, I wanted to know what else these girls believe in? What are their "personal philosophies, core values and beliefs"? I had met Charles Tsai, the executive director of Global Youth Fund over the summer in Vancouver and was really impressed by his idea to start a fund that invests in projects, selected by youth around the world through a democratic process, addressing some of the world's most urgent challenges such as climate change, poverty, disease etc. So it was great to read news of some of their most recent accomplishments.

There are two other events that landed in my inbox this morning, worthy of a plug:
TONIGHT, 15 December 2006, 7pm: There will be a demonstration to save the old Central Star Ferry Pier from the wrecking balls.
Tomorrow, 16 December 2006, 2-5:30pm @ Permanent Exhibition Gallery, Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre, Kowloon Park, Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui: A forum of Hong Kong's
Venice Biennale (Architecture) exhibitors. Vice Versa was the first exhibition of Hong Kong architecture at the Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition.

Tidbits: Kapok, Kahn and a Bryn Mawr dinner

Was going to blog about Kapok, this really cool shop at 9 Dragon Road in Tin Hau (T: +852 2549 9254), which has a beautiful, huge tree smack dab in the middle of this rather quiet street. But, me being my usual absent-minded self, I forgot my camera, so post will have to wait till Thursday. I only found out about this shop because daytauchung.com hosted a party there on Saturday night after having taken a group of AA (Architectural Association) students on a tour of Hong Kong.

Instead, just had to mention this NY Times article by Nicolai Ouroussoff: Restoring Kahn's Gallery, and Reclaiming a Corner of Architectural History, at Yale. Mainly because Kahn's Yale University Art Gallery was my favourite for the "Y" entry in Little Cream Book: Architecture. In the end, though, Kimbell Art Museum won over Yale as the Kahn representative. Reading the article made me a bit nostagic for the 3 years at Bryn Mawr I spent living in Erdman Hall (another Kahn work), by choice I might add (Erdman was one of the least favoured dorms on campus since most found Erdman cold). At least I can rest easy that Erdman Hall will not go the way of 1 Broadcast Drive, an apartment block in which I spent one year from 1979-1980. The Hong Kong government auctioned off the site a couple weeks ago. Sino Land won with a final bid of HK$1.94 billion or US$240 million (HK$9,868 per square foot)! In Hong Kong, you know you're getting old when your childhood memories start to disappear.

Digressing back to Bryn Mawr, had dinner on Friday at Lumiere (chosen out of practicality, but food turned out to be pretty good, although the bar ambiance was a bit to loud for diners) with a handful of alum and Prof. Toba Kerson, who's in town with her neurologist husband Dr. Larry Kerson to present a paper on the depiction of epileptic seizures in films at the 5th International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health in Hong Kong this week (her thesis is that while depictions of other chronic illnesses such as cancer and AIDS in film have changed dramatically over the decades, depictions of epileptic seizures have not and continue to reinforce stereotypes). Definitely not a topic that comes up much at your typical Hong Kong dinner table conversation, but it was one that I found fascinating. She's trying to compare films across many cultures as well but hasn't come across any Chinese films yet. I'm still trying to come up with some, but coming up blank. Anyone with ideas?

Nan Lian Garden, Starbucks vouchers

A couple of cool things:

NAN LIAN GARDEN (The site's only in English, but here's the link to the LCSD info page in English.)
I visited the gardens yesterday evening with some family friends. We were led around the beautiful T'ang Dynasty style gardens by SC who has been volunteering with them, helping out with the website and various marketing and PR efforts. The gardens opened to the public just last month. I had already heard a lot of praise for the gardens from friends who have been. Normally, gardens aren't really my sort of thing, but I was really impressed with Nan Lian. First of all, it's so easy to get there! From the Diamond Hill MTR station, there are clear sign postings for the gardens that you can't help but find it! It's less than a 5-minute walk from the MTR. Once inside, I was really impressed with the quality of its design and construction (haven't seen such high quality of construction in HK in a long while!). I wish I had gone during the day so I could have taken more pictures, but suffice it to say, it is evident everywhere that a lot of heart and soul went into the creation of these gardens (the vision of the head nun at Chi Lin Nunnery. SC told me it was her dream to create a sort of T'ang Dynasty-land, an urban oasis of calm). The biggest surprise was the vegetarian dinner we had. It was delicious! So if you can get a group of 10-12 people together to tour the gardens, definitely worth booking a table at the second floor restaurant (set menu). If you're just a small group, you can also dine at the ground floor restaurant. There's also a tea appreciation pavillion (a pot of tea here costs HK$120, there's a limited menu of dim sum snacks). The garden is open to the public free of charge from 7am-9pm. There are limits on the number of visitors allowed to visit (1,000 people at any one time), so try to avoid weekends.

I love this detail here. This is on the corner of one of the pavillions to allow the water collected from the roof to flow down. They were so civilized back then! In present-day Hong Kong, we still have to contend with the nuisence of drops of condensation from air conditioners dripping on passers-by below.

STARBUCKS CHRISTMAS VOUCHERS
I just discovered a really cool thing about Starbucks' Christmas vouchers, which I stupidly had not realized in previous years. They're HK$250 for 10 vouchers, each good for a tall beverage customized any way you like it. Every morning, I order a double, tall, light toffee nut, non-fat, no-whip latte, which costs HK$33. With the Christmas vouchers, I save HK$8/day! Needless to say, I bought a whole bunch that should last me until they come out with Chinese New Year vouchers. Funnily enough, that same morning, I came across this Business Week article on how Starbucks is doing very well from sales of their loyalty cards. Don't think the cards would fly here, since we can pay using Octopus cards (HK's cashless payment card that's one of the great things about living here), but I love the fact that pre-paying for 10 coffees (which I would run through in less than 10 days), gives me a 24% discount!

Urbanespaces dig up designer diggs in Singapore

It's always fascinating and inspiring to come across other people who merge their passions with their work. Hajar's email introduction of urbanespaces, a "boutique real estate firm in Singapore specializing in architecturally distinguised, unique properties", landed in my inbox this weekend. I clicked on the link and was intrigued by this very trendy-feeling site (Mercan Dede's music paired with a series of very arty photos). Then I started going through the site and came across a lot of beautiful properties in Singapore for sale and for lease. I like this one in East Coat, whose asking price is S$2 milliion, but if you go through the listings, they're all pretty nice. And then it made me wonder why a company such as this took so long to appear (Hajar says the company's only slightly over a year old). How did it all start? Hajar wrote: "Generic real estate depresses me and I realized this when I first saw a truly well-designed house that was up for rent." And so urbanespaces was born. But what really got me interested in the company was not just their focus on beautiful properties (a lot of companies do that elsewhere in the world), but also their desire to do good and be an active participant in the creative community (for example, organizing an architectural tour for the Singapore Design Festival and an exhibition having to do with critical theory in architecture). In the works now is a charity flipbook project to educate Lebanese children on the dangers of cluster bombs (Hajar's all-time favourite city is Beirut). Am looking forward to hearing more about this project.

Tokyo: Massato Paris, Sushi Restaurant Hashida, Tadao Ando's Omotesando Hills, Asuka

Am posting with the new beta.blogger.com, so please let me know if there are any glitches. Will be updating old posts with labels (i.e. blogger's version of tags) in the next couple weeks.

Massato Paris -- One of the things I like doing in Tokyo is getting my haircut. It’s not expensive and they always do a good job. But if you’re not a Japanese speaker, make sure you go with someone who does or make sure the place you’re going to has an English-speaker on hand. Last year, I went to Kakimoto Arms with LS in Roppongi Hills. This year, MH did the booking, so I joined her at Massato Paris, across the street from Grand Hyatt (above the Versace shop). I like the nice, little touches, like the head and shoulder massage after the final hair rinse and the post-cut tea and candies platter.

Sushi Restaurant Hashida (3-8-11, Kachidoki, Chuoh-Ku, Tokyo 104-0054, Japan; T: +81 3 3533 0341) -- For lunch, SM had booked one of her favourite sushi places near Ginza. She warned us, though, their specialty is BIG sushi. The first time she went, she said the sushi chef looked really angry and barely spoke to her. Towards the end, he just handed her a photo album. Inside were pictures of the likes of Will Smith, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz with the sushi chef in his little sushi restaurant. Lunch is a set menu. The only thing you get to choose is whether you want your explosive, finale sushi to be uni (sea urchin) or ikura (salmon roe). The rest did not disappoint. I rarely eat scallop, shrimp or clam sushi, but the ones served here were delicious and sweet. I ordered uni for my explosive sushi and boy was it explosive! I was served enough uni to make at least 5 pieces of normal-sized sushi. All that sushi for around Y3,000!

The sushi chef did not look so fierce this time around. He was working behind the counter with his son by his side. They made a great father-son team. After the meal, he showed us the famous photo album and even had a brief chat with us. "You have to thank the people who come for dinner," said Hashida-san Sr., because they are the ones subsidizing the low-cost lunch set.

Omotesando Hills -- After lunch, continuing with the starchitect-designed shopping mall theme, we visited Omotesando Hills, Tadao Ando's shopping mall for Minoru Mori. It is supposed to resemble a long street promenade inside the building. MH complained that she didn't like the fact that she had to stroll by all the shops just to get to a shop at the top. It's great for retailers and those who have to lease the space out to potential retailers don't have to deal with the problem of potentially dead spaces. I, personally liked the indoor boulevard feel. The mall is intimate in size, compared to present-day mega-malls (like last week's visit to Toyo Ito's Vivo City in Singapore) and I like that sort of intimacy. And there's a simple logic of having one path to follow. For a shopper, it's much more reassuring, less overwhelming. The formal simplicity actually creates a certain visual/spatial poetry or rhythm, which I like. In a way, it's soothing; true retail therapy.


Asuka -- For dinner, SI had booked kaiseki for us at a restaurant in Shimokitazawa within walking distance from his place, which is in Uemura, a quiet, idyllic neighborhood (SM called it the Greenwich Village of Tokyo). We stopped by SI's place for Champagne before walking to Asuka. SI had arranged for us to sit at the counter, because he thought it would be a more interesting experience. The chef here was a very cheery one. He had a sort of happy buddha kind of serenity to his face.


The food was amazing. We chose the menu with crab for a little under Y10,000 per person. I always think a restaurant is really good when they can get me to try and like things that I normally wouldn't touch. I am not a fan of tofu of the Chinese variety, but I think the Japanese are masters of tofu dishes. So when a broth with milk tofu suspended in it arrived, I thought I'd try it, even though I normally don't like tofu. I did not regret my decision. The milk tofu looked like a ball of mozzarella cheese. The consistency was different from regular tofu, it was kind of elastic. Buried inside was uni.


Even though we had sushi for lunch, the sashimi was still a treat:


But the really unforgettable dish was the crab, which came complete with what my SM translated as crab ovaries (the bright orange gook, which was actually quite tasty!), crab roe (the darker brown bits) and the crab meat. In terms of eating adventures though, last week's sperm of whale at Iggy's in Singapore still takes the cake.

Singapore: Les Amis, Vivo City and INSEAD Meeting in Asia

Had a pretty amazing day today. It all started with an 8am pilates class with Ole at Sky Pilates, followed by a meeting with Page One's editorial team, white truffle lunch at Les Amis, a wander through Toyo Ito's amazingly whimsical urban beach in the sky on the rooftop of mega-shopping mall Vivo City and a very moving auditorium naming ceremony at INSEAD that kicked-off INSEAD's Meeting in Asia weekend of events.


White Truffle Lunch @ Les Amis (1 Scotts Road, #02-16 Shaw Centre; T: +65 6733 2225). Had quite an amazing lunch with EO. Asked the sommelier to recommend a Spanish wine and the bottle of 1997 Cims de Porrera from Priorat was excellent and went very well with the absolutely divine Spanish ham from Jabugo. EO ordered a sunny-side up egg with white truffles for starter, while I decided not to overkill on the white truffles and ordered the grilled toro with sunny side-up egg and oscietra caviar on blini. I saved my truffle quota for the chargrilled pork belly and chocolate fondant with white truffle ice cream. The ice cream was heaven! After lunch, I popped into That CD Shop next door. They have a house compilation label called High Society, pretty decent complilations ranging from Shanghai Divas to classical to lounge to soul etc.




Next stop was Vivo City. Had read about Toyo Ito's mega mall and the renderings looked interesting enough, but every Singaporean I mentioned Vivo City to was not all that enthusiastic about it. TW managed to muster some excitement over the cinema which has electronic reclining seats, but that was about it. Inside the mall, well...it did look like any other suburban-sprawl mall.


But once I got to the rooftop, I was able to experience Toyo Ito's blurring architecture, the melding of Vivo City with its Marine City/Sentosa surroundings. The rooftop garden has an urban beach (which mirrors the beaches of Sentosa on the opposite side) and outdoor amphitheatre.


Interesting how the cranes, which could be aesthetically a real eyesore, are made less so because they just kind of blend in with the palm trees.



The rooftop garden makes Vivo City a great public space, offering a great leisure venue for families.

The coolest thing...

...happened just now. I was going through today's mail and came across the brochure for this year's Asia Cultural Cooperation Forum (9-12 November 2006). They usually manage to bring in some pretty interesting speakers in the creative industries, even though the format of the whole conference is anything but creative. This year, they've got a 3-hour session on "Measuring Creativity, Happiness and Well-Being", but the session that caught my eye was "Experiencing Architecture", since I'm a bit of an archi-buff. I was going down the list of 10 speakers and stopped abruptly at "Mr Charupan Khak WIRIYAWIATT, Director, Naga Concepts, Thailand" (Naga Concepts, you might remember, is the company I mentioned in an entry back in August that will be working with Andre Balazs, Christian Liagre and John Pawson on a residential/resort project in Anguilla). So I immediately call BL; as we both go skiing with Khak (after one intense day of skiing, Khak spent the morning at breakfast moaning, "paaaiiinnn" every time he moved. BL and I have taken to imitating that each time we go skiing/snowboarding now.). BL had no idea that Khak, who's based in Phuket, would be in town next week. As I was browsing through the brochure to give him the details of the talk, I notice, "hey! your company's sponsoring this; you should know about this!".

Life's full of funny surprises. Unfortunately, I will miss the talk since I will be in Tokyo that day. Major bummer.

Burning Man + Art Towns

KC got back from Burning Man and emailed:

"This was a banner year at burning man. the weather couldn't have been more

favorable [given the extremes] and the temperament of the attendees was equally

mild--in a good way. several of the art pieces boggled the mind, notably the colossus

known as the "belgian waffle" and enormous amorphous dancehall constructed entirely

of equal lengths of 2 x 4

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:101393

there were plenty of other very incredible pieces. like a four star hotel with concierge

service [none other than chris weitz of film fame]. i'm not sure the photos do it justice.

they had four spotless suites, available for one night. and all of their structures were

deluxe. in the middle of a prehistoric lakebed, mind you.

http://www.ashramgalactica.com/Home.html

so, yes. we had a wonderful time."

I am so intrigued now. Maybe I'll do a combo Burning Man + Marfa, Texas trip one year. AD tipped me off on Marfa, where Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation and the Prada Marfa store installation by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset can be found. And then there's DR who raves about the real estate prospects of Bisbee, AZ with its vibrant artist community. He mentioned that a friend actually bought a book on artist towns in America and made real estate investment decisions based on towns in that book.

NYC: Zaha Hadid @ Guggenheim

Zaha Hadid is a genius. The way she conceives and visualizes buildings and translates that vision into graphic, abstract paintings is breathtaking. Her current retrospective at Guggenheim Museum runs until 25 October 2006. The exhibition displays paintings, drawings, models, photographs and furniture. I always wondered why Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels (i.e. The Peninsula hotels), the developers of The Peak in Hong Kong didn't actually build her competition-winning entry. Instead, they built what I like to call the big wok by Terry Farrell. I wonder if they are regretting that decision today.

To be honest, I find it difficult understanding her paintings as representations/schematics for her buildings or urban planning projects, but they make beautiful, rhythmic, poetic works of art. In terms of her built buildings, I really liked the BMW Plant Central Building in Leipzig, which is not only a brilliantly-executed, user experience-enhancing environment, but also a successful example of social/corporate engineering through architecture. The building brings plant workers and management together. It reminds everyone working for the company what each person is working towards -- delivering quality, high-performance, luxury automobiles.

Hadid's buildings always make a statement. They are never bland or boring, conventional or safe. Instead, they aim to challenge and push the envelope. Oftentimes, the end result is quite moving. The exhibition is a great retrospective spanning 30 years of Hadid's career that has led to her being the first female architect to be awarded a Pritzker Prize in 2004. Displayed all along the Guggenheim's spiral, it makes for a great journey.

24 Hours in Seattle: Hotel Andra, Pike Place Fish & Double Take

Yes, am a bit behind on my entries, but better late than never!

I flew into Seattle from Jackson. I was glad to hear announcements made in English and Japanese; not many American airports are multi-lingual. It took a while for the luggage to arrive, but getting downtown was a breeze since it was Saturday afternoon and traffic was light. I checked into Hotel Andra on 4th Avenue. It was a toss-up between Hotel Monaco Seattle (it's practically next to the Seattle Public Library), but in the end, I opted for Hotel Andra purely for interior design reasons (if it's not Jacques Garcia, then I tend to go for cleaner, simpler lines). The room I had at Hotel Andra (US$199++ for an Andra studio) was not the most spacious I've been in (in was difficult to find enough space to open up my big, Burton suitcase without obstructing paths), but it was comfortable enough. The Tivoli radio and the bottle VOSS water were nice touches.

As soon as I dumped my bags, my brother (who happened to be in town for work) and I walked down to Pike Place Market.

I, of course, wanted to make my pilgrimage to the first Starbuck. My brother wanted to take me to Pike Place Fish. At first, the thought of watching fish mongers shouting and throwing fish around didn't seem quite as appealing as my usual iced, tall, double shot, no vanilla, non-fat caramel macchiato. But, as soon as I arrived, I was not disappointed. There was a crowd in front of the counter and a huge buzz. No other stall in the entire marketplace attracted to much attention, even though there were quite a few copycats, who shouted out orders. What makes Pike Place Fish special is their passion and their ability to communicate that passion to their customers. They're not just selling fish, they're selling an idea: Success is about building comraderie and friendships, believing in a dream and collectively working towards making it happen. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you give your heart and soul, you will become a success. They've published inspirational books based on their own experiences and they give motivational talks around the world. Of course, standing there, my brother and I just wanted see fish fly. After 10 minutes or so, we finally saw it: a fish flying.

So then, it was off to Starbucks just down the street, where I ordered my drink and bought the mug. The place was packed and it was standing room only. There aren't really any seats around.

The next morning, I walked to Seattle Center, where the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project are. The Space Needle was much shorter than I imagined it to be.

Frank Gehry's building for emp reminded me of Darth Vader for some reason. But I suppose it's apt, since it does also house the Science Fiction Museum.

I had wanted to go to emp to see the Double Take show. The show was great. The premise of the show is to present unusual and thought-provoking pairings/groupings of art from Impressionist/Post-Impressionist with those from modern & contemporary periods. All the pieces are from Paul Allen's collection (who is also the founder of emp). Paul Hayes Tucker, an art historian and leading authority on the works of Claude Monet and other Impressionists, did an incredible job curating the show. This is one show where you must listen to the audio guide. The way Tucker pulls you into the paintings and prods you to think about each one from a fresh perspective is really refreshing. My favourite pairing was a Jasper Johns sulpture (made to look like a painting) and a Monet (who was trying to make his painting more three-dimensional with thick, textured applications of paint). The show runs through 24 September and is definitely worth going. It's not a big show; it took me a little over an hour to go through it all. In conjuntion with the exhibition, there are is also a lecture series. Eric Fischl talks on 24 August and Nan Goldin on 21 September.

And of course, if you have read from my previous post, you will know that I ended up spending the last 4 hours or so of my 24 hours in the truly exceptional Seattle Public Library. It's the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Seattle, and the perfect way to end my stay!

Koolhaas' Awesome Seattle Central Library

Judge not a book by its cover, nor a building by its exterior.

When we were kids, my Dad would to take us to the library every Saturday morning so that we could pick out books to read for the week to come. That was the way we earned our allowance. I think we got about 5 cents for every page we read. He would give us suggestions on books we might be interested in reading, but he never really dictated what we should read. I went through my Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys stage, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories, World War II, dinosaurs, biographies, even Barbara Taylor Bradford, different books at different times. I always enjoyed those Saturday mornings at the library. It not only nurtured our love of books and a curiosity to find out more about our world, both past and present, but it also gave us a sense that no matter what the problem or question was, we would always be able to find an answer at the library (these days, google is a great substitute).

Since graduating from B-school, I haven't really used a library (except for a brief visit to Erik Gunnar Asplund's beautiful Stockholm Library last August). I do love libraries though. When well-designed, they're a real sanctuary (in fact, I am writing this entry from the Vancouver Public Library, because I'm having problems getting high-speed internet service installed in the apartment). They're places from which one can learn, reflect, work, but also to relax, socialize and bond, as we did with our parents. They're wonderful, multi-purpose public buildings that bring the community together. At their best, libraries provoke, inspire and enlighten.

I first came across Rem Koolhaas' Seattle Central Library when researching for Little Cream Book: Architecture. Unfortunately, it got dropped from the list, because we wanted to include more Asian architects, so the S entry went to Toyo Ito's Sendai Mediatheque, just as worthy an entry as the Seattle Library. So when I found myself in Seattle for 24 hours, I just had to visit. It was truly an awesome experience. While the traditional libraries of universities are dimly-lit, sombre halls of learned endeavours (Dont' get me wrong, I actually have a soft spot for such libraries, the ones with the green, banker's desk lamps, long wooden desks and a fierce librarian that glares at you from over her bifocals the moment you make a noise. The old Art & Archaeology library at Bryn Mawr was like a crypt, but I loved it). Koolhaas' library, on the other hand, is a joyous occasion. The moment you walk in, you feel like the world's doors are opening up in front of your eyes. There's an incredible sense of freedom.; your eyes are drawn skyward, your soul feels lifted. There's a feeling of excitment, a buzz. And its all because he dares to inject a bit of bold, playful colours into the whole scheme of things (the 4th floor housing meeting rooms is entirely fire engine red).


This is a view of the 3rd floor entrance to the Living Room area, which houses a gift shop, cafe, teen area etc., from the 5th floor Mixing Chamber, where there are more than hundreds of computers for library users.


The 5th floor Mixing Chamber.There's a layer of mesh on the windows to reduce the glare of the sun. And notice that the frames are painted in sky blue.



The Spiral is an amazing concept for housing the stacks. The floors circle upwards, with a flourescent yellow escalator running through its core, leading up to the Reading Room.





Approaching enlightenment...


...otherwise known as the Reading Room.


And if the books don't inspire you, there's always the art...



Between the sky blue frames, the real plants and the carpet silkscreened with fake plants, it really does feel like the perfect lazy, sunny Sunday afternoon in the park with your favourite book or a copy of the Sunday New York Times.

Dream houses

Villa Malaparte 2
Originally uploaded by picacch.

I came across this beautiful picture of Casa Malaparte while finalizing Little Cream Book: Architecture. I still remember the first time I saw a picture of this house in the 16 July, 2002 Sunday New York Times Magazine (it was an article by Herbert Muschamp). I was absolutely stunned by its beauty. And even today, after having seen many different versions of this picture, it still takes my breath away each time. But funnily enough, BKS was just telling me on Saturday that she has bad memories from staying at the house during her AA (Architectural Association) student days. Apparently, her tutor locked her and her other classmates in the house for days to measure each part of the house for her tutor's research. I thought it ironic since Malaparte actually means "he of the bad place". So it was fitting that BKS should have memories of Casa Malaparte as a "bad place".

Another dream house is Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye, which unfortunately, did not make it into this edition of LCB: Architecture. I spent a whole afternoon absolutely entranced as I walked from room to room of this amazing house set in the absolutely unexceptional suburb of Paris.

Udaipur 2: Cricket & Kengo Kuma; leadership & creativity

25 April -- Am writing this post poolside. Got some spare time before the group checks out of Devi Garh this morning. The 2-day stay went pretty much without hitches – roof terrace formal dinner, cricket match against hotel team, treasure hunt, pool party and of course meetings.

Ahhh, this is the life. Got Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love” playing right now as a cool breeze blows. Am sitting under a white canopy, but still baking under the sun. Finally, I just might get a tan.

The highlight from this trip was watching the group of executives, most of whom had never played cricket, play against a team of locals who pretty much grew up playing the sport. It sounds so clichéd, but sport does really build bonds and team spirit. But only if you have a great team captain. I’m always fascinated to watch people lead. There are many different styes of leadership, but in my experience and observataion, a leader is only credible and effective when there is mutual respect among all players. I have worked with this particular group for 3 years now. From an outsider’s point of view, the group works and plays well together. As with all multi-national groups, there is a diverse mixture of cultural backgrounds, personalities and interests. It’s not easy to get all the individual elements to gel and work together, let alone enjoy playing with each other. That this happens is very much a credit to the individuals, but also to the leader; as the leader sets the tone and the expectations. As in sport, managing an all-star team is never easy. Each person must be given an opportunity or area to shine.

That's why it was interesting to watch the cricket match. R, the team captain had to coax, support and encourage his team of players, some enthusiastic, some not so (but it's interesting to watch how the not-so-keen become more involved during the game. I guess when you're put in a situation where you will either win or lose, most people strive to win.), with different levels of cricket skills. In the end, he said, what was most important was that every person got a chance to bat. Sometimes winning the game isn't everything. Which reminds me of the interesting after-dinner discussion the night before on how different cultures viewed negotiations -- which ones always strove for win-win or win-lose. And sometimes, it's not so transparent. Some cultures (Americans were mentioned) think they are striving for win-win, but may be perceived by others as only going for win-lose outcomes. My observation was that Chinese don't really care about whether the outcome is win or lose as long as everyone perceives that they have won (the face factor). But thinking back to Prisoner's Dilemma, it seems like human nature to look out for self interest even though it may not be in one's own best interest.

Speaking of leadership, I got some insight into what it takes to manage the creative process, which in some respects is even more difficult than managing a business process, because there is no absolute predictor or measure of success (profitability). I had a chance to sit-in on reknowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s talk on his work and creative process. His work is influenced by the aesthetic principles of Katsura Imperial Palace and architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright (minus the ego). He is innovative in working with unconventional building materials; for example, rice paper (Takayanagi Community Center), bamboo (Great (Bamboo) Wall at The Commune), shape-memory alloy (an installation for Krug Champagne). Kuma-san describes the aim of his buildings as “being able to disappear into the landscape”. And indeed they do. He recounted how one taxi driver, upon arriving at Kitakami Canal Museum said he couldn’t find the building. It is about architect that complements and respects the landscape rather than dominating it. In terms of process, because a lot of his work relies on finding new ways to work with materials, it involves a lot of collaboration and input from craftsmen. He recounted how local builders' first reaction to his idea for the house was that it was impossible. But eventually, with a lot of communication and persistence, Kuma-san was able to convince them that it was possible and persuade them to try. In the end, the project was successfully completed. But there were other instances where possibilities reveal themselves only after discussions with craftsmen more knowledgable about the material's properties.