DelayNoMore

In Cantonese, "Delay No More" translates into "I had sex with your mother."

It is also a line of G.O.D. products

We were excited to read that Douglas Young, co-owner and creative director of Hong Kong's Goods of Desire (G.O.D.), would be speaking at this year's Bangkok Design Festival. We visited a couple of the shops during our visit to HK and were very impressed that something like it was going on in SouthEast Asia. It's hard to explain, but once you've lived here for a few months, it's actually easy to understand. It was held at the newly "re-opened" Bangkok Art and Culture Center, and the lecture was free and open to the public.

HK rusty alley view + Douglas Young.

At the core of Young's drive and inspiration is his love for all things Hong Kong, whether they be childhood nostalgia, relics from the recent past or the current homogenization of Hong Kong as a city of skyscrapers. His aim is to show Hong Kong (and really other Asian countries in the same predicament) that it's okay to take pride in the things that make you culturally unique. This being said, he also identifies that without Britain, HK would not be what it is today. The idea behind the work is that by embracing these things, Asian countries can develop a stronger sense of self esteem instead of looking to Western culture as a sign of success.

His recent redesign of a HK Starbucks as a Bing Sutt (a style of HK coffee houses common in the 1950s and 1960s) received a lot of press globally and has become a photo spot for locals and tourists alike. It also opened another door for a conversation about how designs of the past can be appreciated more if local designers could update traditions in a way that respects and improves the originals. I think that respect is what makes his cheeky play on words and taboos good design and not campy.

Anyway, to end my super fan rant, here's a video of Tsang Tsou-Choi, the "King of Kowloon," an influential HK graffiti artist who truly believed he was the King of Kowloon up until his death at the age of 86 a couple of years ago. Young commissioned artwork from the King of Kowloon, which was used as a print for G.O.D. products... Watch and get a little teary eyed:



A couple quick notes on two Thai companies...

Zebra stainless steel kitchenware (cups, spoons, plates, bowls, etc.)...
As a kid, we ate most of our meals with Zebra soup spoons (don't ask me why; my parents are bootleg!). When we eventually move back Stateside, we'll probably have a whole set of Zebraware, since they are affordable, minimal and utilitarian (oh, and shiny!). For now, we're just starting off with some cups.

Propaganda is designed and made in Thailand. They are most famous for their peeing man character (blah), but I enjoy their tooth shaped bathroom accessories.

toothbrush + dental floss holders

This product is actually made by the Indian company Godrej, but I love the crazy jade colored soap wrapped in red paper.

We've been doing most of our drinking at home, since the neighborhood bar doesn't exist (wah wah wah, where are our Danny's and Bob Inns?!). A few weeks ago we bit the bullet and went out to one of the biggest clubs in Bangkok to see Diplo spin (something we would pretty much never do in Chicago).
I think this guy sums it up pretty well...

Oh wow, it's like Tuman's but with more buckets!

On Friday, CentralWorld mall had their annual International Balloon Art competition (uhh, yeah).

I'm a sucker for giraffes, but you already know that!

All of the balloon art makers were very friendly and let you take pictures with them. This lady and her friend ended up winning the grand prize of $12,000USD cash and a trip to the world balloon conference in the States (???).

A parade of balloon nations, mostly from Japan and Korea.

We finally had our first visitor! Alvaro's older brother was in town after running in a rickshaw rally in India and spending some time in Nepal. We're glad he could get down with Thailand's massive mall culture with us. Although sadly, he and Logan were carried away by a giant balloon dragon.
Just kidding! We hope Ruben will be back after spending a couple months in Cambodia and possibly Vietnam and Burma... man, just thinking about all that traveling is making me feel nappy.

Dinner from Mos Burger (yet another Japanese chain):

Chili dog (too sweet and no beans in the chili, but I could not resist)

Spicy Mos Burger. The boys had the Mos burgers on rice buns instead of bread.

So spring came and went, summer has passed, and now here we are in fall... except it's not really fall here. I can't believe we've already gone through so many seasons! We are missing out on the crunching of leaves and those cool nights that you want to last forever because you know winter will suck. Right now, we're just waiting for rainy season to finally be over, so we can dry our clothes in peace! I will readily admit that I have wasted many an hour on new fall tv watching. What can I say.

My first week off is coming up in a week! I think I have senioritis because I have not finished my lesson plans for the week, and it's after 8pm on Sunday. We're spending most of my break traveling up to Vientiane, Laos, so Logan can renew his visa. I am not super excited about the trip, but time off is time off. I can't be too picky... Although, I was promised a beach vacation come Christmas.

Okay, back to reality and planning out my week with the booger patrol. A couple of random shots to leave you with...


P.S. Thanks to everyone for keeping in touch! I'm sorry I haven't been more attentive to doing the same since starting work.