The preserved townscape of Minoshi
 
I think many people who are interested in Japanese paper would have heard of Mino washi paper, especially after it was was designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2014. The origin of this paper dates back to the Nara period (710 ~ 784 CE), and is [...]

 
One big mistake I made when I was planning my trip was that I underestimated the traveling and transferring time of using the public transport in Japan. Trains are punctual and frequent if you are traveling to major and more populated cities, but it becomes more complicated if you want to go [...]

 
Sometimes it doesn't matter how much planning you do before your trip, things would still go wrong... but miraculously, some kind strangers/ locals would appear out of nowhere to help you out. I am sure many people have had these experiences when they travel, and I think it is probably the most [...]

Katayama Bunzaburo Shoten's flagship store in Kyoto
 
When I was going through my pile of leaflets/ business cards that I picked up from my previous trips to Kyoto, one particular leaflet caught my attention. It was from Bunzaburo, a tie-dyed/ shibori (the term means “to squeeze or wring”)  company in Kyoto. Oddly enough [...]

Since I only had four days in kyoto (including a day out at Miho museum with my friend), I didn't manage to fit much shopping in. Hence I targeted a few shops either close to where I was staying or near a sight I wanted to visit. One of the shops that [...]

 
 
I have wanted to visit Japanese potter, Kawai Kanjiro's former house - now his Memorial Museum for a long time. Yet for some reason, I never made it until this trip... it was a timely visit as the museum was like a quiet sanctuary compared to hassle and bustle in the [...]

Neon lights and advertising billboards outside of the iconic Sunbeam Theatre in North Point
 
This post is a follow-up of the previous one on Hong Kong's urban typography... Over the years, I have documented the city's streetscape and the relationships between visual communications, architecture, and its perpetually changing identity.
Hong Kong has always [...]

 
The building and courtyard of CACHe on Western Street, Sai Yun Pun
 
In recent years, an influx of international art galleries and art fairs has somehow transformed Hong Kong – the infamous cultural desert – into Asia's glossy art hub. To be honest, I am not sure if this has had much [...]

Bamboo factory
 
Bamboo is a material that is widely available and used in Myanmar. The sustainable and versatile material is used to build houses, scaffolding, make woven walls, furniture and basketry etc.
We visited a bamboo factory in Mandalay, and it was interesting to see how the hollow and tall bamboo shoots can be [...]

 
Carving has endured a long history in Myanmar. Exquisite wood carvings can still seen at some ancient monasteries and pagodas. Teak is commonly used as it is a native species in the rain forests of South East Asia.
In Mandalay, we visited a wood carving workshop where we saw artisans carving large [...]