Bottled Sky

Project 365 Picks: Pantone buildings, over-caffeinated cats, and a Vietnamese baguette

Nikki Brion — Mon, 02 May 2011 06:02:22 +0000

I jumped on the Project 365 bandwagon two weeks ago, which was only about, oh, a billion years too late. It would have been neater to wait until the beginning of 2012, but I thought it best to start now, now, now! or I might never get around to doing it.

I decided to post my photos daily on the virtual junk drawer that is my Tumblr blog, then sift through the crap and share only my favorites here. These are the non-crap from weeks 1–2:

Day 3: This building near our office looks just like a Pantone color chart.

Day 8: Long meetings mean drinking loads of caffeine and doodling during breaks. Or better yet, doodling over-caffeinated cats on one’s tea cup.

Day 12: Vietnamese baguette, coconut cake and plum soda for dinner.

Watership Down? Is That the One About the Talking Rabbits?

Nikki Brion — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:29:50 +0000

This is a page from my doodle journal where I gush about one of my favorite novels of all time, Richard Adam’s Watership Down. Here’s what I wrote in case you can’t decipher my handwriting:

Although I’ve never had or want to have one as a pet, rabbits will always have a special place in my heart because of Watership Down.

That’s a classic right there! My parents all but forced me to read it when I was 8 years old, but the copy they gave me was moth eaten and brown with age—not exactly appealing to the average second grader. I saw it again at a bookstore when I was in high school, and the rest, as they like to say, was history.

I recommend it to everyone, even if I get the strangest looks when I say that it’s about the secret lives of rabbits. So far I’ve managed to convert only one person to the “Lapine” side. It’s their loss! Long live the warren!

I regretted not taking the book with me when I moved to Singapore, so I’ll make sure to grab it from my old bedroom the next time I visit my parents in Manila. I did find another copy at a thrift store two years ago, the same edition that my parents first tried to make me read, but I passed it to a coworker in the hopes that she would fall in love with it, too.

Care to share your favorite book?

Crazy Colors and a Cat Named Jack

Nikki Brion — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:45:25 +0000

I spent Saturday afternoon eating and (window) shopping on Arab Street and Haji Lane, two of my favorite places in Singapore, with my friend Chrissa.

My company used to rent a studio office in that neighborhood right above a jazz lounge, which was one of our first stops for the day. I just had to take a photo for old time’s sake. I can’t think of many places in Singapore where my lurid dress could blend right into the background.

Lunch was hummus and falafel at Cafe Le Caire on Arab Street. Yummy grub at reasonable prices, what more could you ask for?

We skipped over to Haji Lane after lunch to burn some carbs (and some money). It wasn’t long before Chrissa made her first purchase, a floaty cardigan-shawl hybrid at Zhai. Who knew that bamboo fabric made for such remarkably soft clothes?

There went the happy camper, swinging around her new bamboo cardigan.

We were greeted by this handsome fellow at one of the shops. His name was Jack, and he turned unsuspecting shoppers into cooing, burbling messes without even trying.

So. Freaking. Precious. He made sitting around look like art.

“Fashion is what’s available. Style is what you choose,” the stairs leading to Eight Two Tales, a clothing and accessories boutique, said. Nice touch.

I loved the candy-colored shoes and bags at Sweet Pair. I would have taken one of these babies home had I not been under a self-imposed shoe-shopping hiatus.

After much agonizing (“Well, I don’t really need it… but OMG it’s so damn cute! Should I? Argh!”) I ended up buying a darling mouse pad from Green Poppies. I later realized that it was the same brand as a passport cover I so loved and bought from Hong Kong last year. No wonder they shared the same aesthetic.

Obligatory outfit shot! You can’t tell, but my toe nails were the same yellow as the wall and my bag the same green as the door.

All in all we spent about three hours exploring Haji Lane, a long time for such a small stretch of pavement, and we didn’t even hit all the shops. As we turned the corner to leave, we got one last kick of color from this gaudy pillar. Do I smell a return trip?

Curious Rings

Nikki Brion — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 10:13:35 +0000

I own very few rings, and all of them fall on the quirky side. Just the way I like them. Here are some of my favorites.

The moment I saw these rings on Asos, I knew I had to have them. You’re supposed to stack them on one finger, so it looks like the wolf is walking in the woods. How whimsically charming is that? They should add a bunny ring to the set, so the wolf will have something to snack on when it gets hungry from all that walking.

This faceted crystal ring was a gift from my mom. I love how sparkly it is and how it’s shaped like a crescent moon. My mom says that it’s supposed to fend off negative energy. Maybe that’s why they made it so big, to make it bitch-proof.

This silver question mark ring was another online purchase. I need one in the shape of an exclamation point, so I can stack them on my middle finger and whip them out on those inevitable WTF moments.

Bona Fide Bungee Jumper

Nikki Brion — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:36:22 +0000

If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you probably know how obsessed I am with bungee jumping. I’d been aching to try it ever since I saw a TV feature on it more than a decade ago but hadn’t yet been given the chance — until this month.

You read it right, I finally bungee jumped! I flew all the way to Macau just to leap 233 meters off the Macau Tower, which is currently the world’s highest bungee jump. I loved it so much that as soon as I touched down, I ran back up and did it again. Look at the sheer glee on my face! It’s the most addicting thrill.

Here’s a video of my two jumps. First I did a classic swan dive, albeit a not-so-pretty one, then a back dive, which I found even more exciting.

Can’t see the video? Watch it here.

Afterwards I met up with my travel buddies, so we could tour the rest of Macau before taking a ferry to Hong Kong for the second leg of our trip (a story for another blog post). I was so hopped up on adrenaline that at one point one of them asked me why I was grinning like an idiot. Wouldn’t you, if you’d been in my shoes?

Guess who else had a blast in Macau? The Traveling Book, of course!

I loved strolling down Senado Square. With its candy colored buildings and wavy cobblestone, it couldn’t have been more charming.

Jacq, Chris and I struck our best tourist poses at the Ruins of St. Paul’s, as Gab took our photo. You would never guess from the smiles on our faces that we were about three seconds away from melting onto the sun-baked pavement.

Goodbye, historic ruins. Hello, glittering casinos. While I chose to gamble with my life by bungee jumping, my friends thought it would be less risky to gamble with their money at the slot machines. Sadly no beginner’s luck for them.

How extravagantly decorated were those casinos? Well, live jellyfish served as wall art at the Wynn lobby. You be the judge.

I’ll definitely visit Macau again in the future, if only to enjoy the perks of being a card-carrying bungee jumper. My third jump at nearly half price and my fourth one for free? Now that’s an offer I simply can’t refuse.

My Dad, the Original Hipster

Nikki Brion — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:02:59 +0000

I intended to post these photos over Father’s Day weekend, but I happened to be sans my Mac, checked in at some hotel for our company retreat. I spent Father’s Day eve in a karaoke bar, belting out a badass rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart and dancing to the Wonder Girls with my colleagues, board of directors included. Long story.

Anyway, better late than never! Here are some snapshots of my dad in all his charming, offbeat glory. My mom took these pictures back when they were still dating in 1982. Who knew that nearly three decades later hipsters everywhere would be rocking this exact same look?

Mad About Melbourne

Nikki Brion — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:18:04 +0000

Of all the places I got to visit because of my job thus far, Melbourne is my hands-down favorite. I was there several weeks ago with two other colleagues to attend agIdeas 2010. Highlights of my trip included being equally star-struck by Theo Jansen and by the Twelve Apostles, losing one of my travel buddies while trying to board a sardine can of a tram, and simply basking in the brisk autumn air.

One thing I learned during my week in Melbourne… was that a week in Melbourne simply wasn’t enough. I guess I’ll just have to go back sometime.

Accidental color coordination equals instant photo op.

We walked a lot, and I mean A LOT. Thank heavens for comfortable boots.

These art deco colors caught my eye while shopping on Brunswick Street.

One of these things is not like the others…

Did you think I would leave the Traveling Book behind?

Bubbling Up in Brunei

Nikki Brion — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:16:45 +0000

Bubbling Up, my second Tumblr theme, made it to the Theme Garden not more than a week after I blogged about my newfound love of Tumblr and its bevy of hipster puppies. What do you think? I personally prefer this theme over my first one.

On a totally related note (you’ll see how at the end), I recently went on a business trip to Brunei, where my coworkers and I were lucky enough to stay at the swanky Empire Hotel under a sky this blue:

You know you’re staying in a five-star hotel room when the bathroom is as big as your bedroom at home, when you can walk barefoot on the carpet without fear of contracting a flesh-eating disease, and when the bed is so luxuriously comfortable that you want to marry it and have its babies.

Although the bed turned down my marriage proposal, the three nights we spent together will forever be among my fondest memories.

Want to make furniture look tiny? Put them beside floor-to-ceiling glass windows rising five stories high. Want to see me eat the equivalent of my body weight in cheese and chocolate? Set me loose on a scrumptious hotel buffet.

Unfortunately I soon discovered that there’s only so much yummy a tummy can take. After one of the many unscheduled toilet breaks I ended up taking throughout the trip, I had the following conversation with two of my coworkers. While we were all in business suits. In a conference room. With some of our biggest clients just out of earshot.

Me: I just took a satisfying dump.
Coworker 1: Me, too!
Coworker 2: I love it when that happens. Doesn’t it give you an extra spring in your step?
Me: I should post this conversation on Tumblr later.
Coworker 2: Here, use my iPhone!

That ends the story of how the chat entitled “Bet your workplace isn’t as awesome as mine” ended up on my tumblelog — which, by the way, is currently decked out in my Bubbling Up theme. See, I told you it was all related!

Color Me Surprised

Nikki Brion — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:14:03 +0000

I use the Pantone system to choose what color to paint my toenails and color coordinate my accessories with the precision of an eyedropper tool. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that I have perfect color vision.

Well, at least according to the FM100 Hue Test by X-Rite. I didn’t even attempt to cheat or anything. Go, me! Did you know that one in 255 women and one in 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency? That’s one new thing I learned today.

In other riveting news, I recently made my first Tumblr theme, which you can preview and install by clicking on the screenshot above. I’m kind of in love with Tumblr right now (probably because of gems like this), so I’m quite sure I’ll be designing another one soon.

The Owl & the Pussycat, Edible Edition

Nikki Brion — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:00:02 +0000

I love owls, cats, tin lunch boxes, storybook illustrations, and biscuits on their own. Put them all together and I start hyperventillating with joy. Literally. Oh, it was quite the scene when I first laid eyes on Artisan’s limited edition Two by Two biscuits, 16 owl- and cat-shaped organic butter biscuits stored in a tin lunch box covered in illustrations inspired by the classic Edward Lear poem, The Owl and the Pussycat. I went stupid — there’s just no other way to put it. For two whole minutes afterward all I could say was “WAAAANT”.

I bought mine from Jones the Grocer at Mandarin Gallery in case anyone’s interested. I must admit though that, as wonderfully presented as they were, the biscuits tasted average.