Hong Kong Favourites (15-11)
If there are two things Hong Kong is well known for, it’s shopping and eating. The city thrives on dining and retail experiences and both sectors feature prominently in tourist marketing, lifestyle and culture journalism and online writing in blogs and social media. Of course, the reality on the ground is complex. There are lots [...]
Eleven Things I Can Do Without In 2011
Here’s a list of eleven things I can do without in 2011 Luxury Don’t get me wrong, I like good food, nice clothes and having a comfortable place to live. But luxury, as a way for brands to differentiate themselves, is a tired idea. In fact, anything that uses exclusivity or costliness as it’s main [...]
Daily Patterns
My big, simple goal this year is to be more productive. That doesn’t just mean doing more stuff, it also means putting more stuff out there; music, photos and words. Consequently, I’ve become more attentive to my daily patterns of activity. One way of doing this is using Daytum, a website that allows you to [...]
Getting Home And Clearing The RSS Cache
I normally check my blog subscriptions once or twice a day, usually cherry picking the blogs that take my fancy at the time. But, when the content backs up (especially over a holiday), I just control-click and open all the blog feeds in tabs and work my way (quickly) through all the posts. While clearing [...]
Random Bits Of Hong Kong News
There are a few signs of economic recession around Hong Kong. Stores are closing, sale signs have stayed up in many place long past their normal season. Restaurants and food outlets are making lots of offers (two for ones, free glasses of wine, lunch packages, etc.). The general consumer mood seems to be cautious and [...]
The “Spirit” Of Christmas
The man in the Tommorrowland jacket, Tyler Brûlé wrote in this week’s Financial Times about his desire to reconnect with the idea of Christmas. Of course, Christmas and the Christmas Spirit mean very different things to different people, not always connected with the story of humble beginnings in ancient Palestine. Last night I attended one [...]
One Thing Old Bill Got Right
There were some very interesting phrases in Bill Clinton’s address to the Democratic Convention some months back. But one line jumped out at the time. “People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.” How true – especially in the light of [...]
Creative Districts In Hong Kong?
Someone looking to move to Hong Kong posted an interesting question today on one of the ex-pat forums. They were wondering if there was a district in Hong Kong with an artsy vibe, like the 3rd in Paris or Chelsea in New York. The consensus from the respondents was that Hong Kong can’t offer that. [...]
Time Out – Hong Kong
Good news for Hong Kong residents; we finally have a local version of Time Out magazine. Editor Paul Kay opens up the first edition with an ambitious and truculent editorial, “Some people, I have found, will tell you things about Hong Kong that aren’t true. I’ve heard it said, for example, that there’s no live [...]
Tom Ford Menswear In Hong Kong
Last week my daughter (age 6 3/4), and I were walking around IFC Mall here in Hong Kong. We were talking about the number of shops closed for renovation and renewal. Typically IFC looks like a construction site most of the time. I asked her what shops she though the mall needed. Her reply – [...]
Four Pieces Of Wreckage From The Car-Accident Of Modern Journalism
The local English broadsheet, The South China Morning Post, fits the old cliché about a car accidents – it’s horrible, but somehow you can’t look away. Here’s a few crimes against good journalism from yesterday’s edition. “The failings he outlined are a direct result of British colonial rule.” That one comes from a editorial with [...]
Creators
Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney is Paul Johnson’s follow-up to the excellent Intellectuals. In Intellectuals, Johnson explored a unifying them; that intellectuals are people who care more about ideas than people. This involved looking at the tension between the outward persona (and ideals) and the personal lives of some key thinkers. [...]
Photoshop, Image and Aesthetic Realism
Amber Mac is one of on favourite technology bloggers and she had the courage to pose sans make-up for a piece highlighting how profoundly (and quickly) photoshop can be used to alter a person’s photographic image. I’d encourage you to take a look at the artist’s website to see the stages involved in the retouching [...]
Monocle on Bicycles
Monocle has quickly joined my list of “must read” magazines (along with The Atlantic, New York, Vanity Fair and Sound on Sound). I’ve been describing it as “an intelligent version of Wallpaper*,” which is more than a little ironic since Monocle is actually the product of Wallpaper* founder Tyler Br?ªl?© (see here, here and here). [...]
Happy Birthday To Me
HK-everyday059.jpg Originally uploaded by fernandogros. And another year goes by. Rather nice day pottering around Central Hong Kong. Morning Tea at Le Go?ªter Bernardaud in IFC, lucnh at Al’s Diner in Lan Kwai Fong, afternoon tea at the newly refurbished Mandarin Oriental. As far as presents go, I had the chance to go and pick [...]
Stray Links – Ten For Today
The Church You Know (via Rodd Jefferson) – Rodd linked the excellent vignette on worship leading, but I found the one above on tithing even more cutting and thought-provoking (warning – videos not suitable for those who do not underadnst the educational value of satire). Patti LaBelle, Chrysler Team On Church Tour (via Mattopia) – [...]
The Devil Wears Prada – I
The following is an email I just sent to the BBC, in response to hearing Mark Kermode’s review of The Devil Wears Prada, on podcast. I‚Äôm a regular listener to the Podcast Edition of Mark Kermode‚Äôs film reviews. Normally I agree with his reviews, but with The Devil Wears Prada, I had to take exception. [...]
11 With Mixed Feelings
Not only do I have mixed feelings about continuing these weekly roundups, but I have mixed feelings about all eleven stories below. Little People – London public art project and an interesting study in perspective, but kind of left me wondering, why? On Movies as Spiritual Discipline – Concise and helpful paper on one of [...]
F – Fashion Photographer?
IFC-fashion077.jpg Originally uploaded by fernandogros. No, I’m not about to change career. However, I did quite literally, stumble upon a fashion show on Thursday night while on the way home from picking up some milk and bread. It was the Fleur de Style Gala at IFC, here in Hong Kong. So, I returned the next [...]
P* Phone
A while back I posted on funny piece on phone technology. In that vein, I’ve just spotted my ideal phone attachment. I’m actually pondering using one of these for internet telephony… I saw one of these a few weeks back here in Hong Kong and yesterday spotted it on the very cool Charlie and Marie [...]
11 Links For A Sunday
I have been adding a lot of stuff to my del.icio.us pages and there is a lot of interesting content I wanted to highlight, but haven’t have time to blog about. So here are a few, semi-contextless links for you, Springspotters (also check out the related site, Trendwatching) – Yes, I have signed up. ThisOneNext [...]
Travel and Holiday Trend
Have you noticed that hotels are becoming more and more like monasteries? Technorati Tags: Holiday, Travel, Monastery
Fashion And Being Spiritual But Not Religious
Must-have accessories for the spiritual man, is an article in Tuesday’s International Herald tribune, which draws attention to a longstanding trend in mens’s fashion; jewelry with meaning. The connection here is with the growing band of people, in this case men, who self-identify as Spiritual But Not Religious. As the article highlights, The most inclusive [...]
Fernando Gros is a musician, photographer & writer based in Singapore. Born in Santiago de Chile, Fernando grew up in Sydney and has also lived in London, Delhi and Hong Kong.