“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” ― C.S. Lewis

Friends are such gifts in life.

When we meet friends, we connect with them because there’s often a common thread between us (or multiple common threads), and that reflects a small part of who we are. When we discover those common threads, it’s an unrivalled joy.

We realised that we have some pretty inspiring friends, and so for our blog, we decided to start a series based on our friends. Many of them are very talented, and we wanted to share with everyone who they are, the things they do and thoughts that they have. So we gave them a tote bag, followed them around for a bit, and asked them some questions.

So without further ado, let’s begin the series!

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introducing: Caleb (@calebtwinskitchen) and Shiren (@shirenhomusic).

Left: Caleb with Piñatex DIAGONAL tote bag

Right: Shiren with Natural U tote bag

Q: What is your name and what do you do?

Caleb (C): Caleb Ng (Co-founder of PRESET and Interval Coffee Bar, Common Ground).

Shiren (S): Shiren Ho; Interior designer.

Q: What does a day in your life look like? (Feel free to describe a weekday or a weekend)

C: Work, work and work.

S: A typical weekend: Exercise, relax, meeting family/friends, and dinner at home made by my husband (if I'm lucky).

Q: What are the items that follow you on a daily basis, or you love to bring on your day off?

C: iPad Pro, Apple watch, iPhone, sun glasses, black t-shirt, reusable straw.

S: Sunglasses and umbrella.

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Q: Coffee or tea? What is your go-to order?

C: Morning: espresso, Afternoon: pourover coffee or tea.

S: Coffee; I usually make my own latte or pour over.

Q: What do you love most about the city you live in?

C: The courage to stand against something wrong.

S: The diversity and interesting people. Hong Kong is a city that gathers people from different backgrounds and those who have been exposed to other cultures. This diversity encourages different points of views, which I see as valuable a resource to expand my own horizon.

Q: Share with us one way you express yourself creatively?

C: Cooking.

S: I write songs that mostly reflect on personal experiences. Some of them are related to my faith, some are more light-hearted, but they all intend to bring a cheerful and positive vibe to the listeners. Writing songs allow me to stay creative even outside of work. And since I'm not a professionally trained musician, I also want to encourage those who are not to express themselves through a medium that they like - whether they're good at it or not.

(Editor’s note: Might I add, very beautiful, soothing songs, check them out at https://www.facebook.com/shirenho/)

Iced Latte from (@commongroundhk)

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Q: Introduce us to a cause/belief you care about, and why others should too.

C: Freedom of accepting yourself. A lot of the times we want to be someone else, or we don’t understand our true strength. It’s like Michael Jordan playing baseball. There’s so much power from simply accepting who you really are.

S: Reduce food waste and recycling; We are creating our own future. Don't create it with more garbage!

Q: If there’s a young person who wants to enter your field of work, what advice would you give them?

C: You need to be a workaholic.

S: Be open to failures and challenges. There are many things that you simply can't learn from books, but through the experience of trial and error. When you're not afraid of failing or taking up challenges, it opens up to a lot more possibilities and allows your imagination to expand, which is particularly important in any creative field of work.

Q: If you had a free day all to yourself, and could just pick up your bag and leave, where would you go?

C: A hike at Sai Kung!

S: I would go hiking alone.

(I guess they really are made for each other)

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Q: Share with us an important lesson you learnt over the past few years.

C: Accepting yourself as who you are.

S: Learn better by failing. After a "mistake", take time to intentionally reflect. Don't be too hard on yourself and focus on moving forward. Most of the time, when you make a "mistake", it seems like a big deal at the time but when you look back, that "mistake" usually helps you grow. So be thankful for these "mistakes".

Q: What is the most attractive quality of a person?

C: Kindness.

S: Humility.

Left: Caleb with Piñatex DIAGONAL tote bag

Right: Shiren with Natural U tote bag

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P.S. If you haven’t noticed yet, Caleb and Shiren are expecting a new addition soon, join us in wishing these parents-to-be a wonderful journey and efficient sleep cycles!

We’re launching our tote bags in an all-new material: Piñatex®, a sustainable leather alternative, made with pineapple leaf fibres.

Why Piñatex®

Ever since the launch of our tote bags, plenty of people have asked whether we would be doing leather versions. To be honest, whilst we do want to create a version of these bags in a more durable and luxurious material, we wanted to look for more sustainable alternatives to leather. In our research we came across several options, but when we discovered Piñatex® we immediately resonated with the material, and fell in love with the many different ways that makes it sustainable.

Photo by Jacob Maentz, courtesy of Ananas Anam

Ways that Piñatex® is sustainable

1. Agricultural by-product

According to Ananas Anam, the company that produces Piñatex®, there is approximately 13 million tonnes of waste created annually from global pineapple agriculture. As a natural by-product, pineapple leaves require no extra land, water or other resources to produce, and it helps farmers deal with what would’ve been a large amount of waste.

Photo by Jacob Maentz, courtesy of Ananas Anam

2. Additional income for farmers

Whilst farmers make a humble living growing and selling pineapples, harvesting and processing the leaf fibres offer them an extra income during low-seasons, making Piñatex® an economically sustainable product.

Photo by Jacob Maentz, courtesy of Ananas Anam

3. Biomass

After extracting fibres from pineapple leaves, what’s leftover is considered biomass. The biomass can then be used as a natural fertiliser and returned into farmlands, helping farmers save costs and minimising agricultural waste.

4. Leather Alternative

Piñatex® offers consumers an eco-friendly, vegan and sustainable alternative to leather. Ananas Anam founder Dr. Carmen Hijosa had worked in the leather industry for many years, and after witnessing the environmental damages of leather production in a work trip to the Philippines, she began looking for ways to create an alternative material. With the help of locals, she was led to piña, a fine fibre extracted from the leaves of pineapples that Filipinos have traditionally spun and woven into textiles.

Photo courtesy of Ananas Anam

From the pineapple leaf fibres, Dr. Hijosa developed a non-woven material that would serve as the base of Piñatex®, which is a durable and strong material not dissimilar to leather, and at the same time breathable, light and flexible. The process of harvesting pineapple leaf fibres to forming the non-woven material is done entirely in the Philippines, and it is then shipped to Europe for the final treatments of colouring, applying a coating and textures to mimic a leather-like surface. The end result is a material that is luxurious and great eco-friendly alternative to animal leather.

To learn more about Piñatex®, visit their website here.

Photo courtesy of Ananas Anam

OUR TOTES

Since discovering Piñatex® through our research, we resonated strongly with its goal of sustainability, and wanted to become a part of this revolution in bringing more sustainable and environmentally friendly materials into the market.

To find out more about each style, click on the link or images.

NOTCH Bag in Piñatex® (Charcoal)

Dimensions: 13.5” x 18”

DIAGONAL Bag in Piñatex® (Charcoal)

Dimensions: 13.5” x 18”

U Bag in Piñatex® (Charcoal)

Dimensions: 15” x 25.5”

NOTE: All Piñatex® styles are Made-To-Order only, projected lead-time is 2-3 weeks, based on material availability. For enquiries, please contact us at sales@berayah.com.

The Asia Society is one of the best spots in Hong Kong to get away from the visual overload of the city, and enjoy walking through beautifully minimal complex, weaving between its natural surrounding landscape and connecting between the historic buildings that made up the former Victoria Barracks.

As mentioned, the site is made up of various buildings, new and old. Amongst the historic buildings are those that used to be magazines or laboratories, and are now transformed into gallery, theatre, function and administration spaces. The newer constructions include a multi-function event hall, an amphitheater, a roof garden and a double-deck bridge to connect them all.

Located in Admiralty, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center is a stone’s throw away from the heart of Hong Kong’s civilisation; and with its beautiful architecture, makes for a great spot to spend a couple hours, to take some minimalistic photos and walk through its well curated gallery.

Speaking of gallery, the Chantal Miller gallery space regularly houses different exhibitions, which have included artists such as Yoshimoto Nara, Robert Indiana, Feng Zikai, Shen Wei and Pan Yu-Lin. They are currently holding an exhibition based on the theme of light, and features the work of local artist Hon Chi-fun and Yukaloo, an installation by artist James Turrell.

For more information on visiting the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, visit their website here.

A couple months ago we visited the world’s first Muji Hotel, located in Shenzhen China.

A little confession, I have been a Muji fanboy since I was a teenager. I frequented Muji shops after school just to get a whiff of its scent and a visual flush from the clutters of city life. I was a fan of the simple elegant everyday designs that stripped away the unnecessary, and deeply bought into its warm, minimal aesthetics. Growing up in Hong Kong, a tightly packed, efficiency-driven maximalist city, Muji represents the antidote, an oasis of minimalism. Every time I walked into a Muji store I felt comfortable, not in the sense I was physically comfortable, but my mental state was at peace.

It’s been many years since I was a teenager, but my affinity to Muji remains, so when it was first announced that Muji was opening their first hotel in Shenzhen, it was only a matter of time before the visit happened. So without further ado, here are photos and some words of my experience.

The first time you unlock the doors to your room, the curtain automatically draws open, letting the light softly flood the room through the veils. There’s an immediate sense of welcoming, that the space recognises your presence. As anything Muji, the room is very clean, with wooden floorings and furnishings, beige walls and tall ceilings.

Stepping in, it feels spacious, and the room is furnished with everything you’d expect from a hotel room, nothing more and nothing less. Almost all the products, barring the television set, is Muji’s own products, and the fanboy inside me was well pleased.

The toilet is worth a mention, which automatically lifts its lid when you swing open the door, I mean, who doesn’t love an inviting toilet?

The overall feel of the room is very comfortable, both physically and mentally. And the beautiful aesthetics and brilliance use of light is extended throughout the entire hotel, which also includes a large reading room/meeting area and a gym. Here are some more photos of the rest of the hotel.

The one word to describe the entire experience would be “zen”, a sense of wholistic peace. I enjoyed every moment there, being wrapped in thick bath robes and donning the cushioned slippers, the whole nine yard. After all, a hotel is supposed to provide respite, and where many others succeed in providing comfort, Muji excels at providing rest, for both the body and the mind.

For those who are visiting, it’s located in a new development called 深业上城, it is unfortunately not near any metro stations, but if you’re visiting from Hong Kong it is a short taxi (or Didi) ride from Lok Ma Chau border crossing. The development also has an interesting outdoor shopping area above its mall, which is a popular location for locals to take artsy photos, so be sure to explore a little.

This is also the first time we’ve made a video, if you haven’t seen it, please check it out from the first image/thumbnail or click on the link here.

Any day you get to see Rothko is a good day.

We managed to catch the Mark Rothko: Reflections exhibition at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, entering through the Seeking Stillness exhibition consisting of other contemporary minimal artworks.

Back to Rothko. This was a particularly interesting exhibition, as it showed Rothko's work from various time periods of his career, and gave context to his style journey until he arrived at the iconic coloured blocks.

As Rothko developed into his eventual settled style of blocks of deep, complex hues, he described his abstract style as "the elimination of all obstacles between the painter and the idea and between the idea and the observer". By removing all elements that could lead to external references, Rothko's paintings manages to isolate and engage the viewers' emotions by submerging them into an enveloped experience of colours.

Ultimately, like many abstract expressionist artists, his work invites the observer to give meaning to the art, and for what it's worth, your interpretation and experience as the viewer is as important as anyone else's. That is the precious equality that can be found in Rothko's art, along with his contemporaries of the field.

People often describe standing in front of a Rothko painting as a religious experience. If you're presented with the opportunity to see a Rothko piece, we highly recommend spending some time, submerging into the experience and engaging with the dynamics between the art and one's internal being.