Buddhist Meats are Vegetarian Friendly

Check out an excerpt from my newest contribution to VeggieWala: Chinese cuisine is always said to be particularly difficult to navigate as a veggie foodie. I’m not personally a vegetarian; however, I certainly appreciate the dietary, health, and moral factors, and sympathize with the troubles of eating as a vegetarian. We ordered a variety of dishes, […]

should you design for free?

As I’ve recently been grappling with some brainstorm sessions and possible side projects, this is a nice reminder indeed! Take a look at this flow chart from Jessica Hische at shouldiworkforfree to help you decide too: via designsojourn

Wudaokou’s King of Dates

Since a friend introduced me to the Date Cake shop of Wudaokou (五道口), I’ve been addicted! Continue reading to find out more:   Have you ever had a ‘date cake’? If not, it’s definitely worth the long Beijing commute to try. The little shop on the north side of Chengfu Lu, about 5 minutes walk […]

Happy New Year! (and A Brandnü Way of Thinking)

Happy 2011! Wishing everyone all the best for the coming year :) Here’s to the first post of 2011 and an update of my own! Design Museum Boston is proud to present Tiffany Wan, the newest addition to our correspondents team. A graduate of Syracuse University and currently located in Beijing, Tiffany will be bringing an […]

Beijing’s got Cheese!

Again, apologies for the lapse in time before this post! Allow me to continue… Guess what?! You have no idea how exciting this is: you can find freshly made, artisinal cheese in Beijing! That’s right…fresh. And homemade. Once I heard about the Cheese Maker of Beijing, “Le Formargerie de Peking” or 北京布乐奶酪坊 earlier this year, I […]

a few photos

NanLuoGuXiang Chess:南锣鼓巷象棋 It’s been a while since I posted! Apologies! And this one is going to be short… just a few photos that I’ve taken in the past couple months that I quite like :) 抱歉我最近没写。。这个post也很短,只让你看看我这几个月拍的几张照片儿。我相当喜欢! Tianjin Snacks:天津小吃 Hutong Bikes near Lama Temple:胡同自行车在雍和宫附近

华侨 (HuaQiao) vs. 华人 (HuaRen)

When I first arrived here in China, people would ask “where are you from?” or “你是哪国人?” And I’d respond, I’m from the States, 是美国的. Sometimes they were confused, how could an Asian-looking person be from the States? Other times they asked again, “Are you an overseas Chinese?” “华侨啊?” Sometimes they would use “huaqiao” and sometimes […]

before a move to China: part 2

Before moving anywhere, even to the next neighborhood, it’s always a hassle and headache, let alone across the globe! I previously had a few things to say about some common issues and encounters at the beginning like internet access beyond the GFW and personal care products. Here are a few more points to consider, thanks […]

Happy Magic Water Park

Design friend @ssshaona posted a link to information about the new “Happy Magic Water Park” in Beijing. The Water Cube of the Beijing Olympic park has undergone renovations to be transformed into an indoor water park. After reading the blurb, more than 1 friend here in Beijing has mentioned of hearing the same! Looks like it […]

Internet frustrations and some

I got back to Beijing about two weeks ago and it’s been a slew of things to take care of… First things first, did you know that there are two types of internet here in Beijing? No, it’s not dial-up versus DSL. Internet service here is provided by China Unicom, 中国联通, and there are 2 types […]

local HK charms from G.O.D

I posted about Goods of Desire in the past and here’s another great little take away that they’ve launched. It’s a great way to take a bit of Hong Kong home with you. Part of what makes the travel experience is the “charm”, character, and uniqueness to a place. These small souvenirs from GOD address […]

flickr uploads: food

Just a short note and update, since I don’t have internet set up at the new apartment yet! I’ll be uploading all food photos posted on my blog into a flickr album: Enjoy the archive here! And some photos previously posted from this summer below: 我只写一个短post因为在我新家还不能上网。现在我开始关于食品的照片会在flickr。 让你们看看 :)

before a move to China…

In a few days, I’ll be headed back to Beijing once again and during my time in Boston I had an interesting conversation with ID (Industrial Design) friend @jomiz80. Reflecting on my 1st 4 months in Beijing, it was actually a great experience, even with the handful of negative encounters. Surprisingly, this was the first […]

must know Chinese companies

Recently, China surpassed Japan as the world’s 2nd largest economy. A couple months ago I had a discussion with a classmate about our adjustments to living in Beijing. One of the biggest adjustments that seem so simple and natural in our respective home countries is the idea of brands. We know who to trust, what […]

digital wasteland: South Africa

Simply devastating. People of developed nations often feel like we are doing something good for developing nations when we donate, but it’s difficult to follow the entire process once the product has left our own hands. A dump site for digital technology, Africa’s notorious Agbogbloshie Market is a toxic wasteland where Europe’s outdated computers are scavenged […]

DIY: manage cords, dock the cell

If you know me, or you’re the 1 person who follows my blog, I’m sure you know my obsession for cord management. And when I saw this DIY cell phone cradle, I was so excited! (Yes, it doesn’t take much, sometimes..) Made from any large plastic container (or lotion bottle), you can cut it up and […]

DaShan: 大山

大山, DaShan, (Big Mountain) aka Mark Rowswell is a Canadian who started studying Mandarin in the mid-1980s and has about 40 episodes of a CCTV series titled ‘Communicate in Chinese.’ DaShan is quite well known by all Chinese as a caucasian who speaks Mandarin like a local. I’ve just started to listen to the episodes in the […]

GreenFest Boston

Starting tomorrow is GreenFest at Boston City Hall Plaza, running from August 19-21. Some key take aways from the website are simple: Drink tap water and use reusable containers, recycle, compost, and bike. Boston GreenFest celebrates the many ways we can create a better world by greening our lives and our communities. Among speakers, performers, […]

a note to myself (and readers)

I recently received an email (honestly, I didn’t know anyone was actually reading my babble…!) encouraging me to continue my explorations and lifestyle. I hadn’t realized the interpretation of lifestyle through my blog. I see this as a place to record thoughts, images, products, and adventures that inspire or excite me and make me wonder, ponder, […]

I love dim sum

Inspired by Luxirare‘s Dim Sum series… I had to give it a shot. But my photo skills just aren’t quite there…. Having a look at my series afterwards, the images don’t even come close in comparison to my inspiration. They just aren’t as interesting as I’d hoped. Perhaps the composition of the photos could be […]