Mail box surprises, art, and bicycles!

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Sewon

Yesterday I received three lovely envelopes full of surprises from Taipei, Portugal, and Virginia:

A vintage postcard “save the date” from Barry and Diana, whose wedding I’ll be photographing next year. A letter in Portuguese, feather collection, and a beautiful photograph from Catarina.

Art in Kunming

This is the Loft (Chuangku) art community nestled in an abandoned industrial complex in Kunming. I hear there used to be a lively art community with cafes and galleries, but most artists have moved elsewhere due to rising rent prices. So we mostly found private artists’ studios and a vacant rooftop space.

These are photos from the 943 Studio:

Installation by Chantal Hoefs from Zurich.

I love my bicycle!

And finally, a photo of me and my handy bicycle. I ride it just about every day, rain or sunshine. Are any of you bicycle-lovers, as well?

An exciting news: I have a guest-editor position at the MIT University’s CoLab Radio, where I am doing weekly blog posts about Kunming’s bike lanes posted every Wednesday.

If you’re interested in bicycles, street photography, or urban development, come check it out. I’d love your feedback!

39 thoughts on “Mail box surprises, art, and bicycles!”

ZEOLITE on October 22, 2011 at 2:37 am said:

those bicycle photos are so cute! good luck on your show this weekend

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- Sewon on October 22, 2011 at 3:19 am said:
  
  Thanks!!! I’m so excited.
  
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  - ZEOLITE on October 22, 2011 at 2:11 pm said:
    
    p.s. what are all those little ceramic animals doing on that roof??
    
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    - Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 1:59 am said:
      
      They’re just hanging out! It’s an art gallery, so I’m sure they have their reasons!
      
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Annie on October 22, 2011 at 2:51 am said:

your bike is cute, especially the baby blue! I know what you mean about biking, i love cycling everywhere, clears my mind and feeling the breeze through your hair as you hurtle down a road is pretty wonderful. Congratulations on your new position! Sounds exciting

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 2:06 am said:
  
  Thanks, Annie! Ah, yeah I love that I can move so quickly on my bicycle.
  
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Eileen on October 22, 2011 at 3:08 am said:

Did you just change your hair? Or am I going mad? I am probably going mad. Either way, it’s beautiful!

Your bike is badass. I used to ride my bike when I lived in New England (I actually could compared to South Florida).

I’ve always wanted to do mail but no luck in finding pen pals. xD Ah well.

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 2:08 am said:
  
  Good eye, Eileen! I went to the hair salon to get my roots touched up and my hair trimmed. I think my stylist lightened my hair quite a bit though! Thank you!
  
  Ah, Murakami talks about running and biking quite a bit during his time in Cambridge. New England must be good for outdoorsy activities!
  
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Kailey on October 22, 2011 at 4:00 am said:

Ahh what lovely things to receive in the mail I love bikes as well!

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 4:36 am said:
  
  I know! I was so excited.
  
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Kelly on October 22, 2011 at 6:32 am said:

Mail box surprises are my favourite surprises have a lovely weekend Sewon

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 4:37 am said:
  
  Thank you, Kelly. I hope you’re having a good weekend, too!
  
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catarina on October 22, 2011 at 1:31 pm said:

<3

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 4:37 am said:
  
  <3!
  
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Sarah Ruth on October 22, 2011 at 1:43 pm said:

you’re just so beautiful!

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 4:42 am said:
  
  I’m coming home in December! Let’s bake some bread together. I’ll bring the wine!
  
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Bonjour Juliette on October 22, 2011 at 1:52 pm said:

I’m a bike lover too! And i just told about my bike love here today: http://bonappetitjuliette.tumblr.com/ … Definitely going to check your link out! + I’m hoping to grasp some time this weekend to take care of our snail mail ***

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 4:43 am said:
  
  Ohh your bike is adorable! I’m sorry someone tried to steal it though. :/ :/ P.S. Yay!
  
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Lindsey on October 22, 2011 at 2:57 pm said:

Congrats on the new position! Your bicycle is really cute, mine is a similar colour! I only ride my around the property though, it’s waaay too far to ride to the store (and dangerous, no bike lanes or sidewalk :O)

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- Sewon on October 23, 2011 at 6:09 am said:
  
  Thanks, Lindsey! :] I usually ride my bike around my neighborhood when I’m home, too. It’s too scary to venture out further when there are no bike lanes.
  
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Amelia on October 22, 2011 at 6:21 pm said:

That drawing of the girl next to the please don’t fold bubble is just about the cutest thing I’ve seen all week (and I spent Friday afternoon watching videos of cute cats on youtube).

I do have a question though, why are there ceramic reindeers on that roof?

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- Sewon on October 26, 2011 at 3:10 am said:
  
  Agreed, though cute cat videos are super adorable! I think the reindeers are an installation placed on the art gallery rooftop!
  
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Jenna on October 23, 2011 at 12:09 am said:

Oh I just love mail surprises! So pretty and cute these are x I really have to get myself a bike too

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- Sewon on October 26, 2011 at 3:11 am said:
  
  Thank you!
  
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anastasia on October 23, 2011 at 7:33 pm said:

your bike’s adooorable!! i miss mine, I need to fix her up. And congrats on the new radio position! DD

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- Sewon on October 26, 2011 at 3:12 am said:
  
  Ah, you should take her out! Thanks, Anastasia.
  
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Jenny on October 23, 2011 at 10:37 pm said:

Wonderful little mail surprise! Now that I’m the one picking up the daily mail I really do hold my breathe hoping for something fun to arrive~

Wow, the photo of the vacant rooftop with cinder blocks (I think) is breathtaking. Such lively surroundings.

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- Sewon on October 26, 2011 at 3:13 am said:
  
  I wish mail didn’t take so long to reach me, but it’s all worth the wait!
  
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Celsy on October 23, 2011 at 11:48 pm said:

Ahh Sewon those mails are so so lovely, it’s really nice to get mails from all over the world and then having some sort of persoality put into them I just got a postcard from my friend with her photographs. It’s so lovely!

I always feel oddly sad when a place gets abandoned just like moving away from a home. There’s so much memories in one place, and that space looks like an awesome place. Even when it’s not being used anymore too!

Ahhh your bicycle is adorable!! I love cycling, i have 2nd hand bike but it’s not as lovely as yours. I named her Crystal haha, i haven’t been using her for a while since the weather has been really windy and down. But i can’t wait to use her again once proper summer begins. Seriously interested in that bike lanes posts you’re doing, i can’t wait to read more!

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- Sewon on October 26, 2011 at 9:28 am said:
  
  Aw, I love that you named your bicycle Crystal. Summer is beginning soon in your part of the world, right? It still feels like spring here.
  
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Cookie Cutter on October 24, 2011 at 12:18 am said:

Ah, mailbox goodies are awesome, aren’t they? Always brightens up one’s day.

Love those animal installations on the roof!

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- Sewon on October 26, 2011 at 10:09 am said:
  
  They really do!
  
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Charlotte on October 25, 2011 at 4:47 pm said:

oh i would love to receive such lovely letters!

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Celsy on October 26, 2011 at 1:46 am said:

Ohhh look what i found! have you seen this??
http://vimeo.com/20370519 it’s about bicycles too

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- Sewon on October 26, 2011 at 3:18 am said:
  
  Ohhh thanks so much for sharing this with me, Celsy. What a great documentary project idea! I’m going to click around their website today. Maybe I can get in touch with the director and get some insight. I’m actually working on a short documentary project on bicycles, as well. We started shooting this week!
  
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Emmie Rae on October 26, 2011 at 6:33 am said:

this is a great little collection ! the mail from oly is just gorgeous! of course, i’m especially loving your bicycle. sydney has really terrible infrastructure for biking it makes me sad >_< it is so very hard to commute by bike here! hope you've had a lovely day. xx

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ai on October 27, 2011 at 4:59 am said:

I can’t get over that dangerous-looking rooftop. It’s so cool.

That’s a nice bike with a basket. Good size, too.
I have two bikes. One’s currently got a flat tire. The other is a mountain bike with no basket.

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Lisa on October 30, 2011 at 5:30 pm said:

Hi Sewon, thank you for stopping by at my blog and for your nice comment
I’m glad that this way I got to meet your blog too, I really like it and I especially
like this post: mail, art and bikes are few of my favourite things too!

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Maps and Fragments

Mail box surprises, art, and bicycles!

Art in Kunming

I love my bicycle!

39 thoughts on “Mail box surprises, art, and bicycles!”

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