Follow your heart in 2011

Follow your heart! Give it a room and time. You will know how to do! Great wishes to 2011!

Right Positioning

Carrian visiting my home tonight. I clean it up and capture some pictures as I am not sure when I will be back.

Talking and showing some ceramics to her, she encourage me a lot to develope more on artistic pieces of works. I am planning to bring more art materials to Italy, so I can start drawing again. we talking about positioning. She is a bit down as after a six months fashion course in UK and back to HK, she think most of her friends do not understand her.

People in HK move very fast, no time to explain, no time to listen, no time to imagine. She is brave, she changed her direction from advertising agency work to photography. Still an art director but applying more artistic approach to photography. Her new boss has a clear positioning, she is much international. And she accept and willing to let more people to help her to achieve the task. Not so much HK photographers willing to spend on this.

She is brave to take this chance, even cut her salary and reject a fashion job in UK. So go ahead, girl! Don't think too much! You also encourage me to position myself correctly.

Timing

Tomorrow I will bring my dog's used clothes, towls and some stuffs to donate. I hope more dogs have happy lifes.

When I touched the clothes that I bought to him, the feeling was strange and not easy to balance. I try to think positively so that I really can influence my mom. Indeed I know I cannot see him anymore, he was gone. I can remember the feeling to touch his hands, there are 4 sponges underneath. His hair was very soft, but he was too weak.

I remember walking with him, cycling with him and swimming with him. There was a lot of history related to my university life and the beginning of works. People and stuffs were pasting through my life forever.

I cannot see him again. Then I pray to God, please take care of him. Take care of my mom.

Now I realised that Timing is very important. Sometimes when people need help, we shall be there, don't think about next time, next better timing. Something cannot wait. Or we miss the chance to love and to be loved.

I want to tell my mom that Love is always here, I will always love her even I am not with her all the times. It is not easy to let Chinese understand, they always hope children always be with them.

Nice Shop

I like this shop, the atmosphere is alike Agnes' b. There are 2 floors, G/f is a cafe with nice window display and showing the clothes. 1/f is a showroom. No one on the 1/f so I can have my fitting sliently. I like some of the clothes as they have details subtly.

I finally bought one coat and I have a chance to talk with the designer, the boss of this shop. He told me the coat here mainly not just done by the textiles. But they start it from buying a yarn to costruct a textile and then make the cothes. I am suprised that they afford this complicated procedure. The cost is very high.

Indeed, I can see the designs are from a female and he told me he has another female designer to work on the design and he is now in charge of the Cafe. He is not really enjoy doing design but his mother was a famous pattern designer and she is around 80, so when his brother and he were small, they can really feel fashion.

His brother like economy and he in charge of the operation. I asked him if they have exported the goods to Japan as I am quite sure Japanese love this design. Indeed several years ago, some Japanese magazines took interviews to this brand/shop, so customers come from overseas as well.

Builing up and keeping a designer brand is not easy. Especially if designers need to handle the balance of cost & income, most of them hate to do admin. work. In the design strategic course, I have big doubt. That you cannot definate the brand/design is success or not if there are not realistic figure, index to support.

Designer can create great design, but need to substitute the number/ index or it cannot be successfully promote and sustain the brand into the market.

Indeed, I was so excited when I see some beautiful and artistic things. And I ask for internship here that he replied, "why not." I am not sure about Italian culture as one of the Italian professor told us, present doesn't mean anything, kisses means nothing. Then how to translate this wordings?

Eat Pray Love

It is amazing to watch "Eat, Pray, Love" in the plane after 2 months trip from Italy. Many friends told me to watch it when I was in Hong Kong before this trip.

I feel really release after these 2 months, so incredible. I think I really forgive myself. I know I will still doing stupid decisions. I know that I cannot follow the majority. I know in our life, we gain and we lost.

So I am afraid back to Hong Kong. I dislike the compressed environment, compressed thinking method, I dislike lack of choices, I dislike I will sallowed by the big tide and lost again. When successful means having a mansion, having good title, having money, woman getting married before 30, working very hard, prepare money as soon as you can to afford retirment. I was following the rules to achieve success, I feel something wrong and the sign keep knocking on my heart.

Indeed, during this period, I realised that everything surrounding us are not belonging to us. God brings back somedays. We just can do our best to treat them well, we cannot force others to follow our wishes. The things not belong to you is never belong to you.

Thanks God to take away what is not belonging to me as I am not mature to face it.

sleep peacefully dong dong

My little dong dong,

I miss you, sleep & rest peacefully in heaven.

from Sister.

Enjoy your project or you'll be lost

After I have change to share my real feeling among this project with my classmates tonight, I free much better.

So during the way home and waiting 20 mins for a tram coming, I just awake! From Angry to happy. I think the project is nothing comparing the memorable life in Milano. I shall like my project, my work!

If you like your works, you will do your best! Although it is failure! Failure is nothing!

I will enjoy the project.

Simple is good

Borrow from Hanna Melin, http://www.hannamelin.com

Simple is good so I like this drawing.

I am thinking to draw a story of dongdong, I remember when he joined our family. I spend a lot of time with him, using him as a topic of my project in University. When I was living in Japan, I missing him a lot and I am afraid he would die. And now he is too old and I just leave him. I know Mom taking care of him is very tough, but I also fightening to face if he is leaving us.

I hope he know we love him so much. I hope he can go peacefully without pain.

Mom cannot sleep well every night to take care of him, papa is forced to look after him and cannot go out so often. Mom treat him as a child, who is always a child for 16 years. (he come to our home when he is 2 years old). She never give up to save our dog for extending his life one year and one year. And now 2010 is going to the end.

But I really hope Mom can be happy and do not force others to follow her instruction. She insist and to do anything that she believed and for her life time keep doing it. But people surrounding her are often feel hard.

Applied Art

I like some architecture, furniture & interior design here in Milan. I like the using of space, clean and artistic feeling. The visual presentation in this shop is nice, very clean and using red line to linkage the idea. I still feel I am passionate with this visual communication and thinking about how to apply in my jobs.

I keep searching for a relax, comfortable and quiet cafe to have afternoon tea and I found California Bakery. Indeed the one located near Duomo is too crowed and the tables are too close together. That made me missing the cafes in Japan, with nice environment and cozy feeling.

And I talked about my job with my classmate, I still like my pervious job that provide me chances to manage many things about Art direction. It can be related to styling, photography style, props and illustrations. I can decided the location for projects, HK, Japan and Europe.

I am thinking a much suitable way to work and to live. I dislike boring but not willing to have too much pressure. I am still scaring to work with other people as I am not easy to be open and work with, I think. During this course, I am thinking about it. If it is my job, I will be more insist of my idea and Art direction. So how can I compromise with others if I go back to be employer. An open mind, listening ears, understanding heart and good communication skill are very important. Can I improve myself?

I realized almost one year, I am without working. And after finished this course, will be 2 years. I cannot believed that! So I have 9 years need not following others, can I really become an employer? What kind of job is fit for me?

Rainning cats & dogs

I don't think I have changed in these years, I like Art, Nature and Animals. That is why I like Europe. Art and Nature are easy to find and access. Even dogs here are very happy. The owners love to go out with them. Once I saw in Valentino's counter, the dog was shopping with his owners.

In Hong Kong, some brands are positioned very high and people dare not to go inside. But here even the dogs can go inside.

But today is just around 1 degree with rain and snow, it is a bit crazy that the owners still bring the dogs out!

I often think I get stuck in this city, cannot understand their system, their language. And even the weather is sadly rainning almost everyday. I hate this feeling and want to be out of the box!

1st Dec 2010 in Milano

This blog is opened in 2007 but I didn't write a lot, especially after I handling Cloud 9 by myself.

I just read some articles that I wrote before, many sad stories. But they are all my history, the difficulties I go via. And I read one article that mentioned I want to leave my works and go to Venezia. Finally, I really come.

I am now in Italy, this is the first place that I visited in Europe after I guadurated in Poly U. I have a deep memory of Italy & Greece. So I decided to come, this is one of my dream.

Thanks God that I have faith to achieve my dreams, so God please give me big faith to face my life positively.

I visited some of my classmates' blog that make me starting to write again.