...non periodic oscillations...

Walking through the Bund area, along the side streets is highly recommended. Free from the insane crowd and extremely suffocating retail outlets, one can savour the juxtaposition of the old and the new as well as have the space to stand peacefully without being pushed aside. Everywhere you turn, you witness the constant conflict between the heritage and the effort to preserve it while the New gradually imposes itself in a bid to make its presence felt. There is a character in these buildings that reaches out to the soul even after so many years that no glass box can compete with. The raging debate of our time though is how long should we cling on to the past, and at what expense? Sometimes, annihilating the old and building anew may be the prudent thing to do. Then again, who am I to say what those with the means should do? #shanghai #newadventures #explorechina #nonperiodicoscillations #architecture #design #...

The privilege of being in my position is the freedom to explore the city on a working day. While it may sound very appealing, the need for constant and varied mental stimuli can quickly take the sheen off this. A weekday morning stroll through Nanjing West till The Bund without the maddening crowd gave me an opportunity to savour some Baozis (steamed buns with varied filling | http://bit.ly/2ksbTDh) and Jianbing (Chinese crepe/flapjack/burrito | http://bit.ly/2m256jS) as well as the time to appreciate the physical space and little details. The one thing I hate about this breakfast is the insane amount of single use plastic that is used. Imagine one plastic bag for (usually) one Baozi! Although the Nanjing West commercial area was not crowded I was a bit surprised to see so many people on The Bund promenade in the morning. Tourists, locals, school children practicing song & dance routines for the National Day (I think), fashion photography, jogger...

Art and me? Well, sometimes, I happen to land up in such places because of N. So, this weekend we went to see the "All About Love Speaks Forever" exhibition by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. However, what excited me more, after reaching the venue, was the venue itself :) I've searched for the Fosun Foundation (Shanghai) (http://www.fosunfoundation.com/en/) building on maps for a while but wasn't able to locate it. You can imagine my excitement when I realised that I was standing right in front of it. Is it lame to get excited about a building? LOL! I don't care. Designed by Foster + Partners and Heatherwick Studio, it is a beautiful, sculptural building occupying a prime plot on the historic Bund in Shanghai. The detailing and execution is immaculate. Imagine feeling orgasmic about the staircase handrail ;) Funny thing though - the venue detail webpage only features Heatherwick; nothing about Foster. ...