Thank you to Anne and Design*Sponge for the mention of Paper Tiger and a sneak peek feature this week into my house!  Truly honored to be included.  谢谢 Xie Xie！

One of my favorite buildings in Shanghai is the Shanghai Exhibition Center on Yan An Zhong Lu/Nangjing E. Road.   It was built in 1955 as the “Sino-Soviet Friendship Building”, and designed in the Russian classical style of architecture.  The land it was built on was originally the private garden of the British-Jewish family, the Hardoon’s, and then occupied by the Japanese Army in the Pacific War.   The building is now an exhibition hall and if you have a chance to get inside, the building is truly magnificent, especially the ceilings.

Despite the cold weather on Saturday, the first Handmade Fair at Sinan Mansions was intimate with a lovely vibe.  Some nice new designers on the scene.  Looking forward to the next one.

Rain or Shine!  Come by and say hello!

My favorite airport in the world is in Japan:  Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport.   My family and I love it so much we plan out how much time we actually get in the airport on our way in, and out, and how we can extend/maximize our hours there.  And, each time we’ve passed through there are new finds to experience.     Our most recent trip took place over Spring Break and was the first time we flew direct from Shanghai in to the international terminal.   Maybe I’ve been in China too long, schlepping through Pudong and Hongqiao Airport, but I thought these waiting benches (below) at Chitose’s international departure terminal were pretty impressive.  I particularly liked the double surfboard wooden bench which looks to be inspired by the Ainu—- an indigenous group from Hokkaido.   Not sure what kind of wood this is,  but the surface is randomly chiseled giving it a beautiful textured surface.   The lower left image is the terminal’s vaulted ceiling.

Our other new discovery was located at the Airport’s “Smile Land” section – Royce Chocolate World.  If there was anything to miss a flight for, this would be it.  Featuring a chocolate museum, factory and shop.  The factory was right out of Willy Wonka’s.  Although heavily automated, it was absolutely fascinating.   I’m actually not a chocolate addict, but there is something about Royce Chocolate World, that makes one go slightly crazy.  The shop had an impressive selection of fresh chocolates–white, milk, dark, mint, with fruits, nuts..etc. and packaged delicately and so beautifully in a way the Japanese do so well.   I was controlled and walked out with some chocolate covered potato chips (heaven), chocolate lollies covered in fruits and nuts and a few milk chocolate varieties.    Cannot wait for my next holiday to Chitose Airport to Sapporo.

The Spring Eco Design Fair is just around the corner on Saturday, April 14 from 10-5pm at the Waterhouse and Cool Docks.  It’s always exciting to connect with other eco-friendly businesses and meeting customers familiar with my paper or just discovering it.

Love this year’s poster which was designed by a British designer from the studio,  It Could Be Like This,  who is based in Shanghai.   I think they captured the fair’s theme of”Explore, Create & Grow”, quite nicely.

Hope to see you that day, and don’t forget to mark you calendars!

Having been hidden behind a construction wall the last few months when I tried to show out-of-town visitors how cool The Glamour Bar is, the wall is finally off and the newly done over Glamour Bar is a refreshing re-do to an already beautiful bar/lounge.   A new entrance makes you zig and zag now until you get to the main lounge which seems to have opened up quite a bit—-perfect for their numerous special events, readings, talks and recitals.   The blend of Shanghai art deco and modern chic is balanced and inspired.

The mirrored bar in the shape of a ship.

Their beautiful cut-glass stemware in hues of blue, yellow and orange looks like a chandelier as it hangs over the bar.

Thank you to Creative Hunt and editor Frances Arnold for a great article on Paper Tiger in this week’s issue.    Click here to read the full post.

Tangs Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur

When we used to live in Singapore, one of my favorite department stores was Tangs on Orchard Road.  I had forgotten about Tangs until my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur over Chinese New Year.  To my delight, there she was at the Pavilion decked out in her finest Chinese New Year garb.  I loved Tangs for its inspired store displays and windows and I wasn’t disappointed at their KL store.

It seems most retailers over Chinese New Year follow the same script—Red, red, gold, red and more red.   I love that Tangs follows their own script and adds pinks, purples and other colors to celebrate this time of year.    Of course red is the dominant color theme in their display, featuring an abundance of silk plum-blossom flowers, chrysanthemums, jasmines…etc,  but it also focuses on the Spring aspect of what the holiday is also referred as —”Spring Festival” (Chun Jie).

'handbag' package of CNY food treats

These beautifully designed packages for Chinese New Year treats are refreshing and inspired.

'Suitcase' made out of heavy cardboard filled with treats

More beautifully packaged treats of biscuits, candies and other traditional Chinese New Year sweets inside.

Truly a nice break from the traditionally garish and gaudy packaged Chinese New Year goods I normally come across!

January 23 is the start of the lunar new year of the Dragon and in China, begins an onslaught of firecrackers and fireworks to rival any military war zone.  With a brief respite in the daytime, firecrackers begin as the sun goes down to ‘chase evil spirits’ away and do not let up until the wee hours of the night.  For our family, the novelty of the fireworks wore off 7 years ago and really, after that first night.   This year we flee to the warm climate of Malaysia, where I’m hoping their celebrations are a little bit more controlled.

Chinese New Year is a time for most Chinese around the world to be reunited with family, no matter where you’re living or working, hence, the massive migration of the people in China during this time to return to their homes.   Living in a small Long Island suburb growing up—my cousins, aunts and uncles would ‘migrate’ from the city to our family’s house to celebrate together.  It was a time of eating a lot, folding paper money to be burned in our front yard for our ancestors, watching the adults playing endless hours of mahjong, and of course receiving ‘hong bao’s’ (red envelopes) filled with money and then gambling it playing dice games to try and double it.    I have such fond memories of those days.

I made some of my own ‘hong bao’s and fortune cookies from some left over paper I had from the holidays.  I took apart a real hong bao envelope and traced out a template using my paper.  For the fortune cookies you can follow these super easy steps from this link here. How are you celebrating Chinese New Year?