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.

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.

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!

The Melbourne Memory Game was a little side project that I worked on with Melbourne-based photographer Marieke Kern, this summer.  I designed the box for the game with the images photographed by Marieke and Petra.    The design is influenced by Australia’s colorful and rich Aboriginal art, which I am a huge fan of.  The game is based on the classic memory matching game where you match up 2 identical images.  In this case, the images are Melbourne specific landmarks, well-known locales and neighborhoods.   Info on how to get the game go to their website here.

I recently designed two gift paper patterns for the Beijing Ullens Center for Contemporary Art’s (UCCA) museum store.   The store gave me free reign in designing the patterns, which had to incorporate UCCA’s iconic dinosaur images and logo.  The project was fun and gave me a little break from what I would normally create for my paper collections.    The paper is available now at UCCA Store in Beijing.  What do you think of it?

I usually see these vintage motorcycle with sidecars in the standard military green barrelling around Shanghai and Beijing, but I spotted this beautifully restored model in Xintiandi in Shanghai the other day.   Love the ivory color and black racing stripes down the sidecar.

Loving the skull shaped rear red-light.