Spotlight On: Avi (or housemate #1)

For the purpose of memories and general blogging cliche, I'm going to document my perception of the other 9 students doing this global studio. I begin with Avi, since I met him first.

So I'm writhing in my seat on the way to Hong Kong, because, well, does anyone ever sit still on a plane? Didn't think so. Anyway, I notice some guy stand up in front of me and he looks a lot like an Avi Bamra who I am friends with on facebook but not yet in real life. I think I spent about 25 minutes asking myself "Do I go and introduce myself? But what if it's not him?!". In the end I decided I was 90% sure it was THE Avi, and 10% sure I was going to startle him. I was 100% right. I got up and walked over to aisle 62 and in my best 'friendly stranger' voice asked, "Are you Avi?". And the poor chap looks up in fright as though I had said something like "you're under arrest". I've never been mistaken for a policewoman before and to this day I do not understand his reaction.

Avi and I get along very well, I think the way people usually describe it is 'cheese and crackers'. However, I can say that Avi is very opinionated and...so am I, so occasionally we get into a bit of a loggerheads situation. This happens on very rare occasions so it's 'no biggie' as they also say.

Take 5 with Avi:

 (Avi's own Self Portrait, all rights reserved haha)

Favourite lyric = "Niggas aint robots" - Drake.

Favourite drink = Coconut water.

When I get the midnight munchies = I open up a packet of coconut Oreos.

Best font (or is it Typeface...hmm) = Futura (Avi says Louis Vuitton is in Futura)

Best meal in Hong Kong = the sizzling Pepper Lunch dish Vincent and I got at Food Republic

*DISCLAIMER: I didn't actually interview Avi, I sort of filled in the blanks myself but I know all the answers are on point ;)

Friyay?

Day 5 of our global studio was ablaze with sunbeams. We woke from a deep sleep (many thanks to a Bloody Mary or two), dazed and confused because we knew we'd be late for class. Finally arriving at our destination, I looked around and felt content - this Yum Cha house looked a neat 8/10, which is 5 points higher than my personal rating of the Yum Cha house we went to on Wednesday. Sorry 'bout it.

We lost two of our troops somewhere between breakfast and beginning our research. But I was excited to be working with my two lady friends Tania and Myra! Sometimes women do things better together and this was one of those times. With our femme fatale creativity in tow, we scoured the streets looking for traditional crafts and trades. Surprisingly this was quite difficult, it seemed things have changed and the markets are no longer a place to find handmade artistry. Alas, we found a small stall that stocked some rather intricate looking decor, and away we went! Snapping this, sketching that, we began to dissect the stall until there was nothing left to learn. Being growing girls and all, we decided now was a good time to make a pit stop at a bakery and load up on some well deserved carbs. We also took this rare opportunity to begin our PDF, and whadya know, we had the damn thing done in an hour! Take note, this is how women get shit done.

At about 3pm Myra and I met up with the remaining counterparts of our 'Honkey' group. Us Honkeys have been cooking up a series of maps, diagrams and photographs to depict and dissect Canton Street, a mecca of market stalls which serves the local community in MongKok. I won't go into minor details but by about 4pm we were done with group tasks and were willing to indulge in some 'down time' which consisted of a food court lunch, followed closley by a starbucks treat and about half an hour of what I like to call 'Speed Spending'. To give you an idea, today's Speed Spending session resulted in a highly sought after Nars 'Audacious' lipstick, a Monki dress (which I just had to have because of the super kawaii print!) and a packet of extra large hair clips (I believe the point-of-sale product placement technique is still very much a thing).

I foresee another 3 hours of reflecting and uploading photos to Flickr. Go me.

Wanderlust Wishlist

Mulling over why I decided to travel to Hong Kong for our Interdisciplinary Studio, I thought I may as well start by listing what I want to gain/achieve by the end of the experience.

Here are my goals:

1. Independence - I really feel like becoming a proper adult, and fast. Traveling alone for the first time just had to happen sooner rather than any later. I hope I become more aware of my body language when around others, my use of language, my ability to read others, and of course the most obvious things like learning how the be savvy with money and time management. Actually I'd go as far as to say that savvy is my buzzword for the next two weeks and I have to become savvy in every which way I can. Haha.

2. Empathy - I feel like I can't improve as a human until I've come to understand how others less fortunate than me live, and I want to know what I can do to make better decisions in life that reflect my recent enlightenment of how blessed I am. This is super important, mainly for my conscience.

3. Absorb information like a sponge - to explain this concept in lay man's terms, I want to learn as much as I can from everyone else who embarked on this journey with me. I want to open my mind to their perception of design, their discipline and how I can use this information to inform my practice as a fashion designer. I find sponging creativity from interdisciplinary labs has been the most rewarding and mind-expanding experience for me, so this trip should be no different.

I think 3 umbrella goals is quite enough, for now at least. Now I just have to work towards ticking them off step by step ;)

AlphAna (alpha Ana, or first time travelling alone Ana, or alpha-female Ana because I'm sharing an apartment with 4 males...take your pick)

 (cheesy decor = weakness)