I thought I was more interested in architecture, but I didn't go to the architect master Tadao Ando's talk last week. Instead I went to Vivienne Westwood's exhibition to get some fashion inspiration.

I believe most of us know about Westwood from the products in her shops, namely the handbags, wallets, belts and clothes. Most of you will remember her trademark symbol, which is a planet thing with a cross at the time. Actually, Westwood's creativity and styles are more than those things that you can buy, and her design attitude is very much inspiring.

Right at the entrance of the exhibition, she already posted this line up, and she is the rebel type. Perhaps, all designers are born or trained to be like a rebel, defying everything in life and searching for the roads that nobody has walked on before.

However, she didn't just aim high. She started with all the basics on how to make clothes and on histories of fashion. She read and tried to understand all the bits of fashion in our life, from past to present. Only in that way, can she seek the new ideas from what she knows.

She also said that creativity came from technique, and that is very true. Too many people these days fail to understand this and just go design. Without the basics, you won't be able to realize the dreams in a fine and detailed way.

Now let's talk a look at her works which once shocked her countries and the whole world, and some of them still shock our mind.

Then after some crazy ideas and exaggerating colors and patterns, she also tried something more played-down, but still having a striking look and style.

And she is not afraid of anything, being a complete just-do-it lady...a peacock on the head!

In shoes, she also tried very different things, refining our usual perceptions of shoes...

You may think that many of these things cannot be worn, or that if you wear them you won't go out onto the streets without being looked at. However, that is what design is all about. Sometimes you just need to push boundary. Maybe the outcome is not practical, but at least you try and do it or even finish it. It is the inspiration for others that matters, not just practicality. I believe that if everyone is just thinking about typical shirts and trousers in fashion, then there will be no new things for us to see and to choose from. If these great designers didn't impress us with all these beautiful and jaw-dropping works, we won't have the inspiration or be stimulated to try more in other fields of design.

I admire her, for she is the real designer. She said, "Fashion is a baby I picked up and never put down." Such passion is exactly what drives her, and also the world, to achieve more and more. It is not just her fahsion that changes the world, but also her determination and way of design that continue to shock and inspire all of us.

Okay, just to add back one more shot for the Zaha Hadid thing. I took it some days ago in the morning, and this is when it was just completed.

You know...I love it!

Finally! The Chanel Mobile Art Container is open! It was open yesterday actually, and is situated at the top of the City Hall parking lot. I am too lucky to be sitting in the office where I can overlook the site directly, and yes, that means I saw it being built up bit by bit every day. This is one of the images I took during its construction (HDRI, taken in the morning with Canon 70-200mm f/4 USM IS)

Designed by the famous female architect Zaha Hadid, the container is to be taken to different places in the world for exhibition. The cities are Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York. Tonight I was trying to be the first to take a look at this interesting building. The next two images are the original design renderings of this container:

Now let's take a look at the real thing! First is the...tickets!

Then the entrance and the surronding...

Then you wait there until the staff slowly moves you in. The container is not big and there is a strict control over the circulation. Of course, without the tickets you cannot go in, and that's why the tickets are divided by a 15-minute interval, and are limited in quantities.

Oops, then, I can show you no photos because inside we are not allowed to take pictures. No worry, in the official website you can see everything. Please go to www.chanel-mobileart.com to check the interior, which is VERY COOL! Inside, you will see different interesitng pieces of installation and visual art, and they are very creative using strange materials and surprising way of presentations.

When we came out, it was already 7pm and the sky was dark. It made the container even sexier!

So do check the official site now and get some inspiration!

Last night I went to the Hong KongBook Fair, an annual event. You can probably guess what Hong Kong is like: a commercial city, shoppers' paradise and a city of all cuisines. You (and me too) may not think that Hong Kong people are that into reading. They just don't have time to read! Surprisingly, this annual event is just much more popular than you think. It is insanely crowded.

I went there after work with my friend, and it was cool because I always look forward to getting some really cool novels and design books. I bought three books this time, a novel (love), a funny picture diary (about a girl living in Japan alone for 5 years) and a graphical book (concept art book by Ballistic Publishing). I also bought some books actually some days ago but damn it was much cheaper at the book fair! First let me show you the concept art book. You can find the details here. It is US$55 online (just released!) but here I don't need to pay the shipping, and I even got an 20% off! It is just US$38!

Very beautiful you should check the page gallery on that website too. Sevral days ago I already bought the matte painting book too. Very inspiring!

Then, it is a funny and stupid book called "A Handy Guide: Nosepicking for Pleasure". I just finished it and it is really stupid. But it makes you laugh so it is quite a relaxing reading

I have to finish my other novels too, Pride and Prejudice and Tuesdays with Morris...damn, so much to read!

What is your modern living like? Any lifestyle?

I am now working on some interior design for a hotel, and I know it is gonna be fun. I am doing a research on different elements in a room and so I need to understand more about lifestyle and design. Then I come across some really cool examples and designs. Check this out: Mocoloco. There are so many cool things on that web, from art to accessories. Okay, let's start from art then:

And then we go into something more useful...a true blend of art and daily product...

Finally some really cool household products...

You see all these things areso good and pleasing, and that's really the essence of life. When you can survive (ie, basic things fulfilled like you got a home and you got food and stuff), you need all these things to keep your life going. Some may say luxury but I think it is more like the beauty, the art of living. Being able to live and how to live are two things, after all. Now you want to humify the air? Get a chimney:

Yes, a chimney! This is design. It is an integration of real objective with transformed image and conception. When it comes to design concepts, you should check this: Industreal. Now this thing is actually an hourglass. Okay, it doesn't allow you to see ANYTHING, but to heartick tak sound. Its concept is, if you wanna know the time, check your clock because you must have one in your room. Now it is only the sound that you may need in order to be reminded, so they make this:

You may think this is redundant, but my point is, there is thought behind that counts. I really like such a design process, and what I have been learning and doing so far are all about this.

Get a life? No, get a lifestyle too.