I’m on the hunt for a new iPhone case since my current hello kitty one is quickly deteriorating (has small cracks and scratches that came out of nowhere…not once have I dropped my phone either!). During my search I saw a bunch of really over-the-top-but- cool designer-inspired aesthetics and I thought it’d be fun to share my favorite ones. I’m all for ultra thin minimalistic phone cases but looking at these kinda make me go “yeah I want one just for the laughs”.
Smoking certainly kills but if I saw a real packet of Chanel cigarettes I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them and keep them forever. Of course I wouldn’t smoke them.
The Le boy handbag look. If only the case had a triple function where not only it protects your phone, enables you to wear your phone, but also can store your small belongings. Now that would be awesome.
Karl Lagerfeld’s got you covered with fur on your phone.
Heard about that Apple watch’s partnership with Hermes? It’s horrible. This case looks better.
Marc’s Melting Metallic by Marc Jacobs.
As of 2014 I’ve been avidly following the Moschino brand thanks to Lee Chaerin, Sandara Park and my favorite designer Jeremy Scott. Jeremy’s the creative director of Moschino and this guy’s just a pure maniac when it comes to designing anything. Moschino is now bolder than ever with a range of luxury items that play on popular culture packed with lots of color, fun and heaps of humor.
One of their popular products is the McDonald’s-inspired design as seen on their clothes and bags (check out their happy meal bag design). The fries are a notable product, my sister has one and it’s just ridiculous to hold and to look at.
Moschino’s Spring / Summer 2016 collection was announced last week and Jeremy introduced another great invention: a Windex iPhone case. Can you get any better than that?! I didn’t buy any of these case designs by the way, I ended up getting another generic hello kitty cover to stay true to my 5-year kitty case tradition. Yep, you can call me crazy 😀
I’m super pleased to announce that I’ve been invited to represent Australia as one of the many featured Asia Pacific artists in AAD’s new publication called ‘AAD Outstanding Illustration Artists in Asia’. It is expected to be released sometime in 2016 as a lead up to a possible thematic exhibition and an exchange seminar in 2016/2017.
AAD (The Asia Art Design Platform) aims to promote illustrators and their remarkable works with a heavy focus on highlighting the style, techniques and visual expression of the artist.
AAD is a non-profit organization devoted to art exchange and design in Taiwan. Since its birth in 2013, they’ve held a series of international design exhibitions and more than 30 international design forums across the globe. They’ve also published several books, with their new one about to be released in 2016 as mentioned above. Here are some of my favorite featured artists already on that list:
So much amazing talent, I’m proud to share the spotlight with these guys! On a side note, I’m particularly loving the comments I’m getting, especially from fellow Indonesian artists: “your surname’s Indonesian but you’re representing Australia?” Hahaha well I have been living in Aus since 1999 after all. Stay tuned for more updates on Asia Art Design’s Facebook page!
Om Nom Dessert Bar – The Alice in Wonderland of all desserts. Just recently I went with my Mom to meet fellow Indonesian and the Head Chef of Om Nom, Christy Tania. As fans of Masterchef and anything food-related, we were keen on trying the signature dishes mentioned on the show. Christy has appeared as a guest chef a few times and we hear she’s at the bar most days of the week. So why not pay her a visit Mom asks. It was a Tuesday evening and Christy was sitting in front of her MacBook (designing a new menu perhaps?). She greets us warmly and Mom instantly speaks Indonesian with her.
My Mom and Christy mainly exchange their experiences as chefs with one another, both agreeing and labelling the job as “stressful but rewarding”. Mom loves dining out at various places and meeting the Head Chefs when she gets the chance. Earlier this year when we were in Indonesia we visited Fukuro and a week later, Ristorante de Valentino. When Ryo (owner of Fukuro) found out mom was a chef he knew that she was his biggest critic of the night – he constantly came back to our table to check up on us, and he didn’t do that to any other table. Chef Marco of Valentino did the exact same, why? Because as Mom says, another chef’s opinion on their food matters more than any regular customer dining that night. Christy didn’t have to check up on us, Mom loves dessert and we knew the desserts we ordered would exceed our expectations.
Chocola Terrarium
The first dessert we ordered was the one in the large glass casing. A huge favorite on the menu, it has cinnamon sugared churros, chocolate ‘gravel’, pistachio and chocolate sponge, chocolate icecream, valhrona manjari mousse and milk foam. I loved the softness of the churros, I’ve only ever eaten churros with a crunchy texture in Melbourne and in LA so tasting this was a little unusual but still tasted pleasant nonetheless! The glass case holds the structure of the dessert and gets taken off as soon as it reaches your table. I thought it was more for show but guess not.
Raspberry Field
I’m sure many Melburnians have seen this mushroom dessert all over Instagram and Facebook last year. I know I did. I hated ruining this awesome plate of food though. It looks relatively simple but there’s different elements and textures that kinda get you confused but you can’t stop eating it because it’s a weirdly good combination. The mushrooms are made of raspberry and lychee sorbets with a baked meringue base. Surrounding it is raspberry panna cotta, rosewater pearls and white chocolate.
I like Om Nom bar because I find it has a nice ambient atmosphere and is a good spot to relax and have a decent talk with a friend or a fancy meeting with a client, seriously. It’s really casual. But taking photos is bothersome given that you’re in a situation where there’s extremely low lighting in the room. I was the only one who awkwardly used a flash on my phone to take these photos, ah well despite the lame looks I got from the waiters, I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.
A right-brainer by day and occasional blogger by night, you've landed on a place where I live and breathe all things art, design, culture and fashion. You'll find me documenting my life in the creative field, endless travels with friends and family and a bit of food.
