kiteless

i'll assume travelling so:

1) 1st gen. ipod

2) kiehls blue astrigent toner

3) 17" powerbook which is my portable office or the treo 600 i got instead of the blackberry

4) alain de botton "the art of travel" -- i've tried to finish reading it for years

5) a black jil sander non-wrinkle suit

the topic made me laugh for a good five minutes. before i composed myself and write this post i realised the only breed that's more "wack" than the gaikokujin are the japanese "fag hags" that hang around every foreigner in an attempt to come though as more cosmopolitan to their japanese friends. anyone recognise the phenomena?

I saw them live -- twice -- in the past 4 weeks. They're excellent live.

They also dedicated "Victime of a crime" to Hedi Slimane which made me look at the sleeve when I got home to find that the awful sleeve was actually designed by him...

i must say i like it, and i bought a couple of items in paris in september.

the big "yes please" is the leather goods and accesories, all black and no dior logo visible. i changed my wallets, card holders right there on the spot when i saw them.

sorry, jack spade.

The Dover market concept is a bit of hit and miss. The Show Studio (Nick Knight, Peter Saville, Rankin) people are putting on a display there if you're interested.

i've done my share of business stayovers (in 2003 i had more hotel nights in NYC than in my own house) and against the opinions of previous speaker, hotel chelsea isn't worth the money unless you're into the rock n' roll mythology of the place

my favourite is 60 thompson where i stay regularly as service and location is excellent -- hence i've noticed the rates change depending on availability and i've paid everything between 215-300 (with complimentary upgrade). booking directly from the hotel is always cheapest, btw.

as for w - is not worth the money. in my opinion, w in the midtown locations are dumps. union sq and time sq locations may be much talked about - but in the end hotel mercer is better place by miles. mercer will cost you around 350 but worth every penny.

i stayed at the maritime this summer and was quite disappointed. i was literally sickened by the petit bourgeoisie overdrive of the lounge covered in josef frank. also, the service was below par. asking about what kind of breakfast they served in the botega, the girl at the desk said "what do i know, i live in nyc - i don't eat at hotels". eh, but you're working at one. there's no concierge available either, so no leverage when making table reservations at the spice market ... although they apply a democratic flatrate for all their rooms at 245 usd (which in my case meant i had the room next to a rapper-turned-actor with the nasty habit of falling asleep to the tv on top volume), i'd make the gansevoort just a few blocks down the better choice, hey they have a pool.

the best "budget" bet would be the old ian schrager hotels that now goes by the name the morgan group. hudson, morgans and royalton -- they all offer last minute deals or packages on their website ianschrager.com. 195 usd per night seems to be the deal in all cases for the last 2-3 years. for the same rate, you can also get hold of soho/tribeca grand but these two offer smaller rooms, useless service (the hilton concept where even a sneaze will cost you money) and the bars are filled with the tunnel and bridges crowd.

the other one-shop boutique hotels may also run bargains. the alex with the newly opened riingo restaurant curated by marcus samuelson of aquavit is probably around the same rack rates. the library, chambers have all seen better days. a word of caution (or a waiver, rather) as i have not stayed at any of the last three. A last note - the member-only club Soho House offer their smallest room for non-members, but I have no clue what non-members are paying -- but you'll have to discount the cost of very good atmosphere and being around semi-interesting people in a very approachable climate.

if we're talking off-the-path and not art books (which is a completely different matter) i'd suggest shakespeare & co on broadway/washington pl. slightly students-y nevertheless great. except for the previously mentioned you also have: academy just above union sq and the big b&n, st marks books on 3rd ave (4-5 streets down from kiehl's) -- oh btw, don't frown at b&n. their union sq superstore is just super.

as for art books, printed matter in chelsea is the location for editions, multiples and non-published. my other dealer's of class-a stuff are hacker (w 57th) ursus (madison/76) and ex libris e70th (betw lex and 3rd) -- all three for out of print titles. rizzoli's in midtown (a block west from hacker) is a chain but excellent, their west broadway location shut down a few years ago so it may be a question of time before they pack up and head home to italy. also -- if you're looking for superfuture-ish graphic design/typography titles (which will have no relevance whatsoever in few days) and odd post cards to send to your friends at the community-run art school in meguro, ohio or chelmsford, don't forget untitled on prince st, just a few metres west of hotel mercer.

Dear all,

just want to wake this thread again as I'm about to finalize my itinary for the two wks and would appreciate your help. I'm looking at few days in KL and then on to Perenthian Islands then on to Langkawi at the Andaman.

- Any ideas of places I've missed? Especially on the east coast.

- Have pretty much unlimited budget (don't ask) for accomodation, so further suggestions on resorts would be appreciated

- Anyone heard of/been to the Villas at the Sunway Lagoon Resort? the Villas itself looks fantastic but it seems to be located in some Disneyland-like hell....

Thanks for any input

IDEO is the largest product development consultancy in the world, McKinsey of product design.

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in terms of costs you'll find there's a little difference between a place like for instance ladbroke grv, hampstead and primrose hill (zone 2) and a place in zone 1 like chelsea, south ken or marylebone. It's not proximity you'll appreciate or pay for: it's the area. 220 pw inc council tax won't last very far in NW, W - my first flat (1br) in london was 220 + tax, across the street from Saatchi Gallery in St Johns Wood (just north of Regents Pk, zone 2) - this was in 1997. I'd look towards E (Clerkenwell, Shoreditch) but even here, there's been an inflation (the so-called Sam Taylor Wood-effect)

IDEO

i'm slightly ashamed to admit i've worn exclusively paraboot for more than half of my life, since i was fifteen, the only exception being an occasional trainer or two. paraboot may not be the flashest or cutting edge but every pair is handsewn in france and my first pair still look brand new. the quality is amazing, not a single seem have broken on any of my twelve-or-so pairs i have. i've sent a pair for refurbishing to paris which came back with a letter of apology, as the sole had to be replaced after "only" ten years!

as you hear, i swear by them. and then, i've never had to "break in" a pair of shoes or suffered from foot ache for the last fifteen years. and that, my friends, cannot be valued in monetary terms.

sparrow --

i moved to stockholm about five years ago and i've had a flat here before that for years. the wallpaper guide is pretty out of date by now and anything noteworthy and original has either closed down or become passé. besides, it's a very small town with little to offer in terms of variety in shopping, eating, bar, clubbing, work, housing...

the one though i could recommend is the time out guide, edited by people who live here with some street knowledge. as for fashion you'll find that you won't need a guide to get by - you can cover everything in two days. as for restaurants, the most used online resource is alltomstockholm.se -- there have been several attempts to copy/steal the concept of b-guided in barcelona or superfuture (even down to the design) but none of them have made it with any noteworthy reach or with acceptable content.

i wrote a few lines with recommendations and i wouldn't mind elaborating on the subject. plus, if you're moving here, you'll find that in semi-socialist sweden, things don't work the way you're used to....

i've developed a nasty habit of replying my own requests, or maybe you're just ignoring my posts and i'm left to my own devices? anyway, the surface hotel is renamed to hotel on rivington and opening has been pushed back six months to october. surface magazine is still involved -- question is how i could have missed it, despite subscribing to it?

i was just checking out hotel rooms in nyc as my preferred host was fully booked -- and i remembered that surface was branching into a hotelier in lower east side -- http://surfacehotel.com/

does anyone know what happened to the venture? who knows what their business case looked like but surely, it wasn't the cleverest of ideas to launch a hotel in 2004 considering the business climate...

Could I humbly recommend the mssrs, Project on the City/Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping?

I actually mistook the joke for a possible quote from the book

you won't believe it but i was looking for those... (currently working for a public transport project for an european city).

I work with naming/brand development and zero-fee specs are something I don't buy into as a principle -- but I guess they don't have a dime in budget so here goes:

Tarantula

It's the largest spider in Australia and more vicious than its European counterparts, large enough to eat birds whole -- especially the females.

Best time to go: January and July (that's when the sales are). Autumn is dry, spring is wet. Summers are not as bad as NYC but close.

Heathrow is 20 mins from Paddington stn and the closest airport (except for London City Airport for UK/EU destinations only) -- avoid Stanstead (ca 1 hr), Gatwick (40 mins) and Luton (days) like plague. Although sir Norman Foster redesigned the terminal building of the former.

BA leave almost every hour from JFK/EWR with a late flight leaving from JFK. Avoid AA, United and especially Delta at all cost. Another popular idea is to fly AF to Paris-CdG and get on the Eurostar to London or vice versa. Returns cost less than 100 GBP for two.

As for recommendations... check the topics on the forum. Pretty good stuff from all kinds of people.

The housing market in London is relatively pricey but versatile and there's a huge market of apartments and houses to let - both short and long term, as well as flat shares which is more common than most cities. As you're only staying for a short period of time, I recommend you start with your academic institution/work (where flyers advertising flatshares are quite common), and then on to newspapers like The Guardian, Evening Standard on Wednesdays and the Loot. Estate agents are completely unreliable, and wouldn't bother with what you're looking for. For less than 6 mths, there are also corporate apartments in the City and around Westminster that are hotel-like in service. If you're studying, there are some student halls, UCL (the London uni umbrella) have them in Bloomsbury and Islington... good luck, you may need it if you're on a budget; we're talking 250 pounds/wk + utilities and council tax, two months deposit for a dodgy studio in west hampstead....

Barcelona may be overrated and crowded with tourists these days but El Born is still up there as my favourite places anywhere.

On JAL -- Have you noticed that everyone, regardless of nationality, diss their own national flight carrier? I used to be a resident & japanese citizen (in another time and another galaxy) and my parents avoided JAL at all costs -- This was when ANA was still taking it to court to break the JAL monopoly on international flights and american labour unions pressured IATA and US authorities to refuse high service carriers such as Cathay landing rights and slots for US airports... everyone have a love/hate relationship to their national carrier.

As for first vs business class: On BA, the Club World (Business) seats are paired in opposite directions, ie you rub your elbows against some sad Sales Rep for L'Oreal heading for some trade fair (not really, you can feel the presence of the sales rep on the other side of the screen) while in First Class the seats are spaced as singles with a visitor seat for your mistress on all seats. This is pretty much the same on SWISS, LH, AirFrance and others still flying with a first class.

Oh, and don't forget the fast track security line (on LHR it really counts). BA also have their own lounge for first class with free facial treatments and massages...

To revive this topic, any recommendations on hotels in KL?

You're actually the first and only person I've met to approve of agnes b cosmetics line. Don't get me long, I love her menswear and ladieswear (well, the kids shop on St Sulpice makes me want to have kids too) not to mention the persona but I've always found the cosmetics line so below par...

For transatlantic, I'm back with BA since they revamped club world with the flat beds. Lufthansa with their kinky leather seats in Senator Klass or Air France just doesn't do it for me. Delta in this case is by far the worst: It's also the only airline I've filed a complaint against.

Amongst the inter-European flights, their business classes are all bad with the noteworthy mention of the particulary bad ones: SWISS, Austrian and SAS. There's a strange connection between cold-war neutral countries and skanky business classes on their national airlines.

A funny note on SIA -- they're the only airline (I'm aware of) who apply appearance and age discrimination as an open policy. I know one of their ad agencies were summoned by HQ because they chose a girl for their ads which in their opinion looked too Chinese.

Now to a question for debate: ANA or JAL? Discuss.