Buttons

Have started work on a web photo gallery so looking through old photos this week and came upon this photograph from Bangaldesh. Love the buttons and the funny look at this boy (mans?) face.

Jakarta Comes Through

Great day yesterday. I came upon the restaurant/boutique Kedai & Bikin Barang (Jl. Benda Raya, #89, Kemang). Wow! Such creative decor. It's filled with old blown glass bottles, framed album covers, old canteens, tin trays, colanders hung upside down as lampshades, a popcorn machine...an overall electric mix of Indonesian and Dutch furnishings...I'm embarrassed to report I didn't sample the food, but I've heard it's delicious. Check this out:


Note the light fixture made out of bicycle tires. Love it.




My favorite part was how they used old oil drums as tables, like the below. I'm now on the lookout and have asked some Indonesian friends to help me out. If that doesn't work, you can find me at the Jakarta bus depot bargaining for the drums while the drivers look at me like I'm gila (crazy). I wonder how I explain I want it scrubbed free of oil, and please can I buy one that has not been used as a garbage can?

Rickshaw Art

By far the most popular means of transportation in Bangladesh is the rickshaw. In Dhaka alone there are over 600,000! These rickshaws are decorated with 'rickshaw art', and popular themes include the Taj Mahal, nature scenes of rural Bengal, Islamic scenes such as mosques, movie scenes and movie star portraits, futuristic cities, and planes. I've been on the hunt for the right piece to bring home.

Women Jewelry Holders...Know Where I Can Buy One?

There's a fantastic jewelry store in Seminyak, Bali called Libido (this is not a photo of the store...read on). You can find belts, necklaces, rings and earrings in solid brass, silver plate, gold plate and gun metal finish. But I think the real reason I love this store is because there are these two antique, wooden women jewelry holders. Which the store will not sell me, something about them being unique and from a flea market in Paris (humpf). Happily I just found an image of one of these wooden women online (see above) - and even better, its next to another of my favorite decorations - big glass-blown bottles! Jessica Helger designed the room.

Bhutan

In December my mom and I went to Bhutan. Don't feel stupid if you aren't sure where Bhutan is - its a pretty small country. Here it is on a map.

Bhutan is the only country in the world with a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index - an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicator. The four pillars of GNH are the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance.

Below is one of my favorite photos from Bhutan, of a Layap woman. Layap are an indigenous people inhabiting the high mountains of northwest Bhutan, with a population of around 800 people.

A Scandal in Bohemia

In Singapore, we ate at a Mexican restaurant called Montezuma at Clarke Quay, and they put our margaritas on these neat Frida Kahlo coasters. Nevermind if you turned them over there was an advert for Budwiser. I got about 12 of these coasters from the confused waiter, and intend to shrink wrap them or whatever it is called when you coat paper with a plastic covering.

Love these letterpress printed coasters. Thanks Green Chair Press."With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner." And so Holmes invites Dr. Watson to sit down to hear the tale of "A Scandal in Bohemia."