we cheated. (detox at the four seasons, los angeles!) -

so, we didn't exactly come straight home from china.


we kinda stopped in L.A. for a few days of jet-lag-detox.

suprisingly, we pushed ourselves by laying around the pool,






eating out,





and shopping.



fresh. i know. but it sure took the jet-lag away.

reasons to come home : #1 & #2

the heart beats a little faster . . .

sofia suarez and the case of the last night blues -

you know how every once in awhile when you're traveling
you run into someone really amazing that you wish you could pack up in a trunk
(something by goyard, but preferably valextra)
and bring back with you.

yep. that's sofia.


we met at the lane crawford party, she's their marketing brand voice creator/keeper/networker person . . . and she's that perfect blend of biting, sweet, funny, and sly.

our last night in HK, she swept us through the city,
from an art auction at the quee club,


where we met her equally adorable/packable friend amy . . .


to drinks and noshing zuma,




to a halloween party at mint,
then drinks late late at some italian bar across from the abandoned police station.






whirlwind. a little like our sofie.

the patterns of this place -

there is a glorious, overwrought repetition that keeps following us around hong kong.
whether the gold leafed screen mounted on the veined marble of the lobby walls:


or the almost lyrical hum of the air conditioners in the tenements, and their dance up the sides of the buildings:



or the suprise of the further chocolates concealed within the chocolate ball,
covered in (suprise!) elaborate pattern:


the tiny glass beads on the outside of a menu at lumiere, on the eggshell tabletops:


the omnipresent (from scaffolding to floral design) rhythm of bamboo in this space:


and the child-like romanticism of their line-work:

this city has an odd sense of graphics:

they are not afraid of the bold. be it in fine art:


or packaging:


or impotence warnings on their cigarette packaging. this made me laugh out loud in a 7-11.
which, in turn, made me a "crazy american" on the spot.
or, just crazy.
still:

reasons i'm never leaving hong kong #4 : the four seasons hotel

the four seasons hotel, hong kong.