20100628

The night that never came

Moon on the other side..


..and sun on the other..

..and shades of blue in between.




All pictures taken in Helsinki June 26th at midnight.

20100627

Midsummer in Helsinki








I traveled to Helsinki to celebrate the Midsummer this weekend. It was like being in a ghost city as most of the people had fled to their summer houses to the lakeside. There were only tourist wandering in the empty streets. Funnily enough, I could find the serenity of the countryside in the heart of Helsinki.

20100625

A beauty



I do not know much about cars. But I sure recognize a beautiful car when I see one. This baby was in front of Yo! Sushi in SoHo the other day.

20100624

Summer 2011 is all about patterns


Photos from GQ Style / Mario Cremona

Luxury labels have been showing their spring/summer 2011 collections in Milan in the past few days. Dolce&Gabbana's spin-off label D&G showed a collection full of patterns. Very gingham, summery and timeless.

20100623

Depth






20100622

20100621

There's nothing like Australia



I saw this Australia's new tourism ad at the movies last week. I have been humming the song since. And I like the ad too. It has a fresh approach in this genre. The ad makes me want to go back down under, because there really is nothing like Australia.

It is all Greek to me





A Greek temple? No. It is the St Pancras Parish Church in London. One can always find exceptionally beautiful buildings in London, like this church with the caryatids which are based on the ones at the Ionic Temple of the Erechtheum on the Acropolis in Athens.

20100620

Nautical patterns






20100619

Swedish royal wedding


Picture from svt.se

I have been watching an online broadcast from Sweden, the wedding of the Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling this evening. The whole ceremony was beautiful, I give them that. But as a republican I find it difficult to accept this kind lifestyle where one family lives above the rest of the people, and with the people's money. The royal family might have some PR value, but as a concept it feels wrong. The recent studies and polls show that the popularity of the monarchy is in decline in Sweden. It is going to be interesting to see whether the Swedish monarchy will survive in the future.

Saturday details






20100618

Changing landscape



I used to take a picture of the view from my Singapore home's window every morning between 05/2009 and 03/2010. This is the result. It is amazing how fast skyscrapers are built and how fast the whole landscape is reshaped.

20100616

Windows





20100612

At The Royal Ballet



I went to see yesterday the last performance of Chroma / Tryst / Symphony in C at the Royal Ballet. It was my first time at the Royal Opera House. My seat was almost touching the clouds at the highest point of the Amphitheatre. Mind you, the ticket was just £11. I thought I could not see a thing, but I did. And I was overwhelmed of what I saw.

The evening consisted of three different performances. I fell in love with the first one, Chroma. Very modern, very sleek, extremely fascinating. The music was something one does not often hear played by a big opera orchestra. Have a look and listen above. The music of Chroma is based on songs composed for a band called White Stripes and their album Aluminium. I just wonder where can I get the opera orchestra versions of those songs?

20100611

Don't go!

20100610

Elf shoes


Now being in rainy England, I had to protect my shoe soles from the occasional wet weather. So I took my leather soled shoes to James Shoecare to be rubber soled. I picked them up today and noticed that the soles have cute little elf figurines on them. How can I now walk with these shoes knowing the little elfs will be pressed against dirty streets. Actually, the shoes are a bit elfy on the top side too, look below.


20100609

My favorite hotel

Incredible chandeliers.

Vibrant hallways.

Spectacular views.


Mandarin Oriental Singapore.

20100608

Wodka



I had a my Sunday dinner in eastern European style at a nice and cozy place called Wodka in South Kensington. Their blinis were good and the menu seemed interesting. I might pay a visit again. And of course they have a wide variety of vodkas, which I did not try at that time.

And talking about eastern European nostalgia, the car I spotted on Sunday has a communistic design vibe.