LOW CLASSIC, High Fashion

A blend of European simplicity and Korean sophistication - 

LOW CLASSIC (로우클래식)

~All Photos Courtesy of LOW CLASSIC~

Newly founded by Lee Myoung Sin, Park Jin Sun, and Hwang Hyunji in 2009, LOW CLASSIC enjoys unparalleled popularity as a result of Lee's participation in Project Runway Korea.    

Their brand campaign started with hosting temporary pop up stores in Hyundai Department Stores, entering Seoul's hippest select store Åland (에이랜드, which I will introduce next time), and now they are also found in  ÅLAND after ÅLAND 홍대 OUTLET and LOCLE (situated inside Doota).

This is my first piece of LOW CLASSIC, after more than a year, it's still one of my favorite items("賣非佛"，呵呵). I like it so much that I attended my thesis presentation in Sweden last April in this dress.

My second LOW CLASSIC, a suede clutch/shoulder flat folding bag. Price: 59800 won. As KC and I were such mysterious customers, Miss Lee gave us this bracelet as a souvenir.

Black chain bracelet, u.p. 12000 won.

Patched knit leggings. 32000 won. Comes in 2 colors (and I own both, hehe).

I like their sophistication embodied in a simplistic fashion. No mass production, but reasonably priced. Many Seoul fashionistas continue to keep a close eye on LOW CLASSIC. While stocks last. 

Not My Cup of Hennessy (唔係我杯軒尼詩)



Crossing Hennessy (source)

I came accross HMV's 2 for 20 promotion which includes "Crossing Hennessy"(月滿軒尼詩), a movie I've been interested in since its release, so I paired with Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic & Baby. That's how I got the chance to watch it, by chance. I mean, I don't like to risk my money, more specifically I don't wanna risk my expectation, so if it's not on sale, I probably never get to watch it.

So what did I expect of this movie? Not the cast, not the story, but something about Hong Kong. I thought it's a story closely related with Hennessy Road.

But...no. Except some street views and the famous Honolulu Coffee Shop(檀島咖啡餅店), I find it hard to link this street with the story. Hence, it can be named Crossing... Whatever.

Back to the movie (still, I am not writing a review, just sharing personal thoughts). I like Tang Wei (湯唯) and Jacky Cheung (張學友), they did a good job in this movie, and, I am not sarcastic, their characters in the movie, Oi Lin and Loy, are such boring figures that make the movie down to earth and interesting. On the contrary, other supporting roles like Oi Lin and Loy's exes, prinsoner Xu and fashion photographer Man Yu, possess extraordinary characteristics, but pale in the face of Oi Lin and Loy's mundaneness. 

Though the movie somehow intends to relate the story with the Hennessy Road neighborhood, I find this effort umimpressive. Suddenly another movie, Rene Liu's Happy Birthday rings a bell. It's a movie that does not have any geographic implication, but brings a vivid picture of Hong Kong, its scenary, people, and life, in front of my eyes. It's another story.


我對於"月滿軒尼詩"的期待不在演員、故事內容，而在香港，我期待這是一個和香港這塊土地的軒尼詩路有所關聯的一個故事。但我似乎失望了，除了一些街景和壇島咖啡餅店，這部電影叫做月滿羅斯福路或月滿第五大道好像也行。

我不是在寫影評，就像我寫吃喝玩樂一樣，照片照得不讚，也不鉅細靡遺的闡明什麼東西，只想講點個人意見。我看東西一般也不看千篇一律的介紹，而是揀那些因人而異的內容。

回到這部電影。湯唯跟張學友的表現無可挑剔，我也很喜歡他們的劇中角色愛蓮跟阿來，這兩個角色實在是無聊得讓人印象深刻。有著特殊經歷的配角，例如他們的前男女朋友，脾氣暴躁的牢犯和一副老練女強人形象的離婚時尚攝影師，這種街角pub隨處可見的角色，在愛蓮和阿來的平庸面前只顯得黯然失色。

這部片多少想讓劇情和軒尼詩路串在一起，但我卻無法感同身受。我突然想起劉若英的"生日快樂"，沒刻意強調片中背景地點 - 香港，卻在我眼前展現了一副副活生生的香港圖像，有人有事有景。不過這是另一個故事了。

Starbucks Korea 2011 Planner

2010年底，韓國星巴克再度推出喝17杯即可兌換planner的活動。我不在韓國，許小臉獨自終究拚不了那麼多杯，只好直接買，一本17000韓圜，有黑白兩種版本，跑了好幾家，買得黑色的版本。2011年曆沒有特別驚喜，在細節上則大有改進(按圖放大)。

有質感不錯的硬盒包裝(右圖上)，內附帆布pouch。Pouch拉鍊附有兩個貼心的拉頭，上有STARBUCKS刻字，內裡是防震布料，還有一個筆槽。

Planner正反兩面；正面有可愛的飲料圖樣刻紋，有咖啡色鬆緊帶，書籤線(那個線有名字嗎?)有白、咖兩色各一條。

內裡小細節，包括封底的紙pouch，planner編號，各城市地鐵線路圖，2010 ~ 2012 年曆，以及1+1 coupon 3張(右圖)。上下兩張是雨天1+1，中間那張則是任何時候都可使用的1+1(往年3張都是雨天才能使用的)。

內裡一覽。每頁皆有簡單清爽的設計，彩色頁有一如既往的星巴克品牌介紹、咖啡豆產地介紹等；記事頁面的資料很貼心，陽曆、陰曆、節日日期都有標記，每一頁右上方都有該月月曆。

這是我收集的第3本韓國星巴克年曆。做個簡單的比較 : 2009年是可愛取勝，也有一個方便的塑料pouch；2010年的highlight在紀念隨行卡和卡套，年曆本身就乏善可陳；2011年的整體質感典雅，白、咖、金、綠幾個主色的配色概念相當一致，整體來說，新鮮感倒是沒有，但實用性高，幾處貼心設計則最得我心。

A Snapshot of Korean-ness

March 2nd, after visiting Chagall Exhibition at Seoul Museum of Art, we came to Cheonggyecheon (청계천) for Paris Croissant and ran into Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. I managed to take a snapshot and later realized it's quite an interesting one - The Mayor had already hopped into his limo (Hyundai Equus, very politically correct!) and the rest of the personnel bowed to his departure. I like the sunshine in this picture. I like the Koreanness I captured in this picture.

Love Zombies (곰트리)

Bear Tree (곰트리) in Shinchon Hyundai Department Store, a White Day decoration. KC said those polar bears look like zombies.

A New Hip Place in Seoul - Rose Bakery and Comme des Garçons

A new hip place where you can go for classic European style light meal (Rose Bakery) and find something expensive for no reason (Comme des Garçons flagship store).

Rose Bakery is reasonably priced, a coffee for 7000 won, a carrot cake 8000 won. Light meals around 13000 won. I especially recommend carrot cake and cheese scone. Their light meals and latte do not wow me, but their Americano is supremo...ly strong. Worth trying!

Rose Bakery X Comme des Garçons flagship store:

Subway Line No.6, Hangangjin Station Exit 1, walk 3 mins.

( Note to those tight with schedule: This fact may help you prioritize your schedule - there's nothing interesting to see in that neighborhood, except Samsung Leeum Museum. )

Finding Mr/Ms Heo (姓許的好處)

One thing KC believes he's special is the rarity of his surname, Heo (허). According to some statistics, Heo ranks 30ish among all Korean surnames, which makes it pretty handy when finding his name from a list or waiting in a queue formed by alphabetical order.

許小臉自小相信自己是個特別的孩子，原因之一是他的姓氏並不常見，大概排在第30多位。這個事實不但讓他容易被他人記住，也有幾個方便之處，例如前年我陪他到微軟考試時，報到人數大概2、300名，姓氏是ㄱ開頭的，例如姓金(김)的，隊伍長到要排Z字型，許小臉的隊伍是ㅎ開頭，則是隨到隨報。

Here's the seating arrangement of his graduation ceremony, whereas Kim, the most common Korean surname, abounds,

還有個好處就是在名單上找自己很快，例如畢業典禮的座位安排，姓金的有這麼多:

there are only 10 Mr/Ms Heos.
姓許的就這麼10個，找起來實在很方便，科科。