The title of this piece is purely a play on words about gingham if that wasn’t obvious enough. Either way, it sure is convenient as it allows me to talk about something I’ve been trying to do for the past few months.

For a lot of you, the grid is basically synonymous with the internet, but for me, it’s basically New York City. I’ll remind you again if you’ve already forgotten since, but I’m as much of a homebody as a hermit.

A lot has happened in the past few months, all of which have been quite exciting despite my monotonous tone. I’ve landed a new gig, that pretty much sounds too good to be true (mainly because I get to work from the best place ever, home). March and April flew by quickly, as that always happen when you’re settling into a new role. I took the freedom of this new job to travel and stay in Japan for almost a month (missing nothing aside from my family and a few friends the whole time I was there). In fact, I actually wouldn’t have mind staying another month.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, for me, New York is just a really nice place to say I’m returning to.

The thoughts of moving out of New York has crossed my mind a lot of times, but it’s slowly sticking and the possibility of this is starting to seem more plausible. Don’t get me wrong, I probably won’t be gone forever, but it would just be nice to be off the New York grid for awhile.

Top: Lovers + Friends c/o Revolve
Cardigan Coat: byTsang
Pants: Topshop
Shoes: Nicholas Kirkwood
Bag: Proenza Schouler PS11 (this color on sale)
Accessories: Fendi Bag Bug

Photos by Ying C.

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Catch My Drift

I’m a pretty direct person so there’s rarely anytime when someone would really need to catch my drift. In fact, many people who know me will gladly agree that sometimes, it’s better if I spoke a few words less.

For someone who likes to stay in bed all day and finds comfort in having no plans whatsoever, I do enjoy talking a lot. And gets irritated when someone tries to have a conversation with me via text when it’s obvious that a call wouldn’t be of inconvenience at all.

I’ve been in a long-distance relationship for the past two years, and “talking” verbally as opposed to “talking” via messages and texts have truly been trialed and tested purposefully. While I’m no self-proclaimed extrovert, I know for a fact that I really enjoy talking (yes I know I said this already). It works out perfectly that my boyfriend is more of a listener. It’s slow at times though, because his usual responses are quite articulate and it takes him at least 5 minutes to react to a small comment because he’s the kind of person that likes to process and think carefully about what he’s going to say before he utters a sound. It’s the worst when we’re having heated arguments and he’s over in a corner processing what to reply to my verbally abusive remarks (that I end up taking back after 2 hours anyway).

For someone like me who isn’t so careful with my words, and easily toss out my feelings orally, sometimes it makes me wonder if cheapens the way I communicate.

My writer’s voice is basically my tone in real life. You’ll be able to tell right away when I’m excited or bored. And as much as I’ve tried to learn to write well and more concisely, I somehow always end up with a lump of run-on sentences.

For a lot of people, who happens to have a fashion related site like mine, it’s usually a struggle for them to keep up with the content because of the lack of visuals as opposed to written materials. But it’s totally the opposite for me. I’ve had this post sitting in my draft for the past month or so with really nothing to say about it until now. I figure that this would somehow end up not getting posted ’til the middle of August and no one would care to even look at a sweater. But thankfully, it’s only the end of May and it’s surprisingly still sane to wear something like this outside in New York.

Jacket: Oak + Fort (similar here)
Sweater: Shopbop
Pants: Topshop
Shoes: Nicholas Kirkwood
Bag: Proenza Schouler PS11
Accessories: Fendi Bag Bug

Photos by Ying C.

Hong Kong, China | Day

Hong Kong was such an adrenaline rush. You’ll get a little of the drift if you read up on my initial thoughts. During the day, Hong Kong was hot and humid, almost unbearable at noon to be quite honest. I’d be lying if I told you that it wasn’t so bad. Admittedly, it was, but it was so exciting that I could care less because no one else seemed to mind it either.

If you think you were tough for crossing the streets with 3 seconds left at the light, you'll be envious of Hong Kong grandmas for pushing their loaded trollies and carts through mid traffic with no f*cks given. They'll run you over too, believe that. Hong Kong didn't discriminate. It doesn't matter if you're old, or young, rich or poor, from the area or abroad -- Hong Kong just needed you to keep it moving.

In a place where the streets are so dirty but the metro is so clean, it made me constantly question why and how this was even possible.

I watched a lot of TVBs, so the red and white cabs stood out right away. But then I learned that there are also blue ones, which reminds me, not everything you learn via a screen is a complete truth. I asked everyone I met what happened when one of the elevators in the masses of high-rise went out of service, and all of the responses I've gotten were chuckles. So I still don't have a clear answer for that. But I just can't imagine taking the stairs to the 30th floor being an option... right?

When I'm traveling, I'm often captivated by what's fantastical about a place. Like watching the sunset from a canal in Venice. But Hong Kong was far, far from that. It was raw, unfiltered and undisguised. It felt so real that it made me forget common norms. Even while I had to wash my own plates in a porcelain bowl of water right at the communal dim sum table, I was fascinated and grinning of excitement just because it was something I never had to do before (visit Lin Hueng if you want to experience this too).

The milk teas in Hong Kong lived up to all of my expectations and more (get your fix at Lan Fong Yuen). I even almost missed my flight back to Tokyo trying to sneak some on the plane (yes, that happened). I had some of the best food which happened to be 100x more appetizing than how Instagrammable they look -- in fact, they made cute pig baos and pineapple filled cookies that are served in a cage at the infamous Yum Cha in Central not even worthy.

Every city changes itself when it turns from day to night, but Hong Kong was an exception. It pretty much stayed the same, except the lights were some of the best I've seen. They weren't fluorescent but they were neon and still as bright in my mind as I can recall (you'll see). I had only 72 hours to spend in Hong Kong but it felt like I've known it for years waking up to a panoramic harbor view from the EAST Hotel for two mornings. I have a feeling I'll find myself back there very soon.

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All Recharged in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has been on my list of places that I needed to visit as of late. Mentally, I’ll be honest, things just haven’t been the best they could be for the past few months or so. New York City was getting dull, and I feel like I’m always in Tokyo these days. It was like my battery was at 20% and I was desperately in need of an energy outlet to recharge my mind.

When it comes to traveling, I love cities that are a mixture of old and new. While the thoughts are still fresh in my mind - here are a few things that made Hong Kong really memorable for me.

I won’t sugarcoat it, Hong Kong is quite intimidating. Even as an Asian person, some of the mannerism can really throw you off. People in Hong Kong will coldly tell you no, go away, and even shrug you off to your face, but don’t let that get to you. That’s just how it goes and keeps moving along here.

The people here don’t treat visitors like gods, unlike most places. If you can’t figure out how to order, your loss, and if you can comfortably get what you want, chances are you’re not in the right places.

If you’re lucky like I am, you’ll be able to find a lot of help though. Quite an introvert, I completely change when I’m traveling. You’ll be amazed at what a simple hello, how are you, and an interest to learn about someone else’s culture or life can open your experiences.

Straight off the airport, I hopped into a signature red and white Hong Kong styled taxi cab, not even knowing what area of the city that I was headed towards. I got comfortable and put on my seat belt (yes, even in the back of the car because it’s required by law here) and mustered up a little courage to ask my cab driver “it’s my first time here, what do you recommend I should do today?” To my complete surprise, he let out a quick chuckle and proceeded to say, “you asked the right person, I actually give tours in Hong Kong sometime!”

The cab ride from the airport to my hotel was 40 min long and when I arrived, my taxi driver was a new friend, KC Chen.

These photos were actually possible because we ended up getting KC’s contact and he was kind enough to let us do a few shot with his ride when he came to take us back to the airport a few days later.

KC wasn’t the only friend I made, but I’ll tell you the rest in a few more Hong Kong posts to come.

Top: GRANA
Corset Tank: Callipygian / Opening Ceremony
Pants: Aritzia
Shoes: Common Projects

Photos by Shun S.

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