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With a few days forewarning, I recently found myself one Monday morning sitting on a 757 at LAX bound for JFK, instead of my normal commute from University Drive to Alton. Was it really Monday morning? A work day?  What about the staff meeting? Thank God I turned my timesheet in on Friday. After surviving the security line and baggage carousel, I was magically transported to the tenth floor of a charming hotel room at 60 Thompson Street, NYC. I found a comfy chair next to the window of my room where I enjoyed a chicken salad and chamomile tea. Monday night? Really? As I looked out the window at the water tower, fire escapes and city skyline, I felt like it must be someone else occupying my body. It didn’t look anything like my home but I immediately felt at home.

I woke up energized and excited to navigate on foot to 75 Spring Street to see David, Margaret and their new digs! My brisk walk from 60 Thompson to 75 Spring felt like I was walking on the streets of a charming European city. I was surprised when the Starbucks Barrista said good morning instead of guten morgen or bonjour.

As the elevator opened into Wimberly Interiors, I was met with a welcoming hug by David, who gave me a tour of the beautiful space and quickly connected my laptop to our familiar intranet site Pete Street. One by one, I met the NY team as the morning unfolded. It was interesting to me that not one person drove a car to work. I loved my bright temporary NY workspace! The cubicle partitions are about one foot shorter than those in Irvine--providing separation yet good visibility to the windows + the team. The bright whites and oranges seemed to give off an energy of their own. I was also amazed by how quickly I felt at home with the team, who I now call my NY family. Amazingly, my three days there were very much like sitting in Irvine and very much the "Wimberly Way" I have known and loved for over 30 years … talent and energy galore! Thanks to our IS team, I actually was productive, at times, bouncing back and forth between our NY and Irvine computer worlds.

Before I knew it, three days of work (along with great food) had come to an end. I did not have time to see more than a half-mile of the actual city, but driving back to JFK, I was amazed to see how close the office and hotel are to the World Trade Center Memorial as it unfolded directly in front of the car for a minute or two, followed next by Lady Liberty with the sun on her head and fog at her feet  … a perfect ending to a short trip + a reality check as to where I was and had been for a week -- really.

The major lesson I learned was the tremendous benefit of working day-to-day + face-to-face.  Priceless, actually.  I feel most fortunate and blessed to have been given this opportunity, especially meeting the NY team.  Thanks to all my WATG/Wimberly Interiors family who made this experience possible + unforgettable.

Wow, it has been hectic and exhausting, but also exhilarating! Shanghai is quite fascinating--now I understand why so many artists and writers moved here in the early 1920's. The Bund, the name of the river, has a stunning wide, elevated river walk with a spectacular view similar to Hong Kong on the Kowloon side but is so much more beautiful and engaging: full of people and families with their kids, even late at night. Beautiful buildings in Neoclassical or Art Deco style with 5-star hotels/high-end retail or government agencies flank the Bund on one side, while the other side has an amazing mixture of bustling high-rise buildings with animated lighting that are constantly trying to outdo each other.

On Tuesday we researched 12 hotels which would be competitors for our new hotel and then took the bullet train to Nanjing. Nanjing is said to be a beautiful city, but all we saw was a hotel and our client's high-tech office headquarters in a business park across from the hotel. The day was filled with multiple presentations before we headed back by train to Shanghai, with client meetings till 10:00pm. Just before midnight we checked into the Waldorf-Astoria, an old grand neoclassical hotel along the Bund. Such a treat, luxury can become so addicting.....sophisticated and stylish pampering. The old building used to be a gentlemen's club--a large new addition was designed in a more contemporary Neoclassical style.

This morning consisted of more hotel research in a charming area consisting of old Shanghai-style brick houses with narrow alley ways turned into chic restaurants and retail--so relaxing and different. Lunch at Shanghai Tang cafe: soy and chili marinated jellyfish with fungus as the appetizer--about as strange and exotic to taste as it sounds--chewy and spicy... We have a design workshop this afternoon with a client and are anxiously waiting for new ideas to finalize all vertical circulation and area locations. We need to resolve all circulation within a few days as the structural engineers are to complete DD drawings within 10 days and they are to start construction in two weeks. The concept design ideas were approved and it is exciting to move forward with this fashion-inspired boutique hotel mixing contemporary hip and cool interiors with a new Art Deco exterior along a narrower river Bund.

It's 10:30 PM, I just moved all my heavy luggage (not all clothing… mostly work samples!) to another hotel, Les Suites Oriente, along the Bund to continue the hotel research--much tighter accommodations, but the bath tub centered at the window overlooking an amazing angular view of the Bund with views to both sides of the river is a unique experience. The bath tub has a headrest but I'm not quite sure if I'm ready for the exposure. The toilet has a phenomenal view as well, yet there's no view from the bedroom; the interiors all have Scandinavian classics blended in as furniture.

Tomorrow is Saturday and I am so ready to relax, explore Xintiandi, a charming old Shanghai-style area, possibly delight in some retail therapy, sip tea at one of the cozy cafes, and explore a bustling underground market with all the designer wares imaginable while holding on tightly to my purse and negotiating with my limited Mandarin language skills. It all seems so fun, passionate and enduring.  After, I'll check out of my loo with a view to explore in depth an eclectic boutique hotel named the Waterhouse that's also on the Bund, but in an area that's barely developed. The hotel is small--19 rooms only, and designed in an old warehouse setting, again, with Scandinavian furnishings..., reminds me of my Danish roots. The hotel has a fabulous cafe with the most tasteful morsels, but one night only and then off to Guangzhou for 2 days of coordination meetings and then a design workshop in Hangzhou, which should be a beautiful city built around a lake that emperors used to bring their concubines to cool off. I forgot to mention it is about 96 degrees with very high humidity; sweat is dripping from my forehead, a melting sensation satiating and layering the exotic experience.

Time to count some Z's.

About a year ago I saw a short movie made by someone who travels a lot for his work. Inspired by what I saw, I decided to make my own to show my family what it's like on one of our trips. Last November I had a long trip to Vietnam & China which seemed like a good opportunity to make a movie. This is the result.

Strip Appeal is an ideas design competition and traveling exhibit, intended to stimulate and showcase creative design proposals for the adaptive reuse of small-scale strip-malls. They asked designers to answer the question, "how might the small-scale strip be reinvented and redeveloped to local advantage?"

My submission focused on re-designing an existing strip mall in Minneapolis, introducing fresh food, public art and community green space to a neighborhood in need of these shared assets.

To view my official submission, click here.

They say that Pete Wimberly was an "outdoors" person and hated air-conditioning. Hopefully he would have approved of our day out of the office enjoying the sun and tropical breezes at the Kohler Southeast Asian Golf Challenge held at the Tanah Merah Country Club representing WATG. On the 10th of November 2011, Robertino Limandibhratha, Nora Kaichung Pui and I had the great pleasure of enjoying a day with colleagues in the design industry on one of the top courses in Singapore, courtesy of our hosts Kohler, who have richly combined their pursuits in hospitality, design and golf.

The morning was greeted with warm hospitality, goodie bags, specially-allocated locker space with our names tagged over it, and a meet-and-greet with Mr. David Kohler himself. The buggies rolled out with all the hopefuls of landing a hole-in-one (after David announced the prize of $80,000 and their brand new "Numi"!). Our golf shoes brushed over dew blanketed fairways, divots were sacrificial and bunkers were not-to-be-mentioned-of. The air was filled with shrieks of joy and grunts of despair as the game progressed under the sweet tropical sun. Playing as a team allowed us to cheer whenever one of us sank a long putt and commiserate together over the bad shots.

What do golf and design have in common?

Both are about immersion and being in the zone, enjoying interventions through acts of the hand and eye and being lost in time and space - being in paradisical landscapes either in our head or in reality. It was great to have the opportunity to share our passions for both the sport of golf and design.

Thank you WATG for the opportunity and Kohler for the great golf day out!

"For me it, it was great to bond with my colleagues and to discover their hidden talents - golf brings out the best and worst in us and my impressions of my cool, tempered colleagues were only reinforced by their style and approach to the game."
     I-Jin Chew

"For me, it was just a priceless moment and what an opportunity to be able to take a break and go out on the course representing the company and having a great time with my colleagues."
    Robertino Limandibhratha

The golf course was beautiful and Kohler as the host, was superb. We should do this more often guys, whether playing golf, tennis or simply picnic in the park. Lets get some "work hard and play hard" attitude going and have some fun together!
     Nora Kaichung Pui

If you go to another WATG office halfway around the world, what would be different? This was the context of my trip as I embarked to London on a four month exchange this summer. Earlier this year, WATG wanted to initiate a staff swap program to foster greater interaction between offices. I think it took me less than a minute to write my request after it was announced. The exchange was discussed and agreed between the Managing Directors and senior leaders of each office. Afterwards, Kirsty Rutherford, my partner in the swap, and I agreed on our exchange date and off we went.

WATG just set up a new office in Fitzroy Square. A lot of moving in and construction noise going on but very impressive. The BT Tower makes for a great landmark and somewhat similar to the Aloha Tower outside the Honolulu office window.

There are two people in the Honolulu Planning team, compared to 16 in London. I think the multiplication factor worked equally in and out of the office. There are 7,825,200 in London, compared with 718,182 in Honolulu. The metropolitan area of London is equal in size to the entire island of Oahu which took some getting used to. Fortunately, all the signs are in English and the public transit system is quite good. My spare time was spent sightseeing; museums, shops, parks, etc. became a daily routine. Contrary to my predilection, I only used my umbrella a handful of times and I never had a bad meal.

Everyone in the London office welcomed me warmly and getting up and running was no problem with all the WATG conventions. Working on projects outside of my usual China projects was challenging but the place-making principles and WATG's philosophy of creating destinations that lift the spirit are very much the same. Also familiar is the great sense of exploration and yearning to discover new places and directions in design. I was fortunate enough to participate on trips to a private garden in Scotland and to Kenya, both of which were personally and professionally enriching. Missing my tropical mountains and ocean, I felt somewhat lost in the urbanity of London. Consequently, I grew to appreciate the open space of London's parks and squares. It made me realize how important open space in and urban environment is in terms of quality of life.

Now looking back at my trip, I still am amazed our global company shares so much in common. There is much to be for our unique locales but we all have a common desire for excellence in design, a curiosity of new and exotic places and a fellowship celebrating our labors at the end of the day over some drinks. And whether it's London, Honolulu, Singapore, Seattle, New York or Irvine, I think we all feel a little more at home with our WATG sign nearby. Much of what we do, we call differently, but there is much similarity both here in Honolulu and London and quite honestly wherever you go, and if we keep that in mind, it really is an incredible world we live in.

Many thanks to everyone who helped to make our staff swap possible: All the staff in the Honolulu and London Offices and Mike Seyle and Diana Stacey from Irvine.

One of the joys of our line of work is that we get to combine our passion for travel with our work. When those two interests overlap on the same trip, it's even better. Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Shanghai for the fist time for a project. Not only was this a client presentation but it was also an opportunity to work across offices with the Singapore interiors team and the  interiors team in Irvine. Prior to our client presentation, Zia Hansen and I met up, booked a car for the day, and armed with a list of hotels, we set off to see what Shanghai has to offer. Alas, our driver did not speak English, so the concierge at hotel was kind enough to translate our 'wish list' so that the driver would know where to take us. This proved to be an adventure throughout the day, as the driver would take us to each location and it was not until we arrived that we knew which hotel we were visiting! We spent the day taking in about 10 hotels, looking at F+B outlets, taking in the vibe of the lobby, walking guest corridors, and when possible asking for room tours.

Our tour included well known brands like Marriott and St. Regis and newer players like Hotel Indigo. We even took in a small property called the Waterhouse that was very charming.

By far the most gracious was our tour of the Waldorf Astoria. Thru some contacts I was able to get an in depth personal tour of the property for us. We walked the hotel up and down, toured the rooms and suites, got to ride in the historic elevators (only operated by select trained staff) and see the famed Long Bar, located in the historic old gentleman club that the new hotel tower is attached to. It was a real treat to get an in depth perspective on a beautifully designed hotel.

Shanghai was thriving, full of energy, and a sight to see. The Bund lit up at night, is a thing of beauty, and the people gathered and walking along the expansive waterfront path is delightful. Across the river, in the Pudong, towering skyscrapers meet Vegas with lighting that illuminate the skyline in a kaleidoscope of LEDs.

In the end is was an exhausting but rewarding day spent learning about properties in the area and gaining insight in the city we would soon be putting our mark on.

The Honolulu office presents a bi-monthly lunch-and-learn program we call WATG-U. Each session builds upon previous presentations and keeps our designers, managers and technical staff engaged in lively conversations about contemporary design techniques and processes. It's a great opportunity to learn … without exams or papers! In this session, the legendary George Berean shares his experiences in working with Pete Wimberly and inspires all of us to think about how we approach design in this day and age.

We had an amazing turnout for parking day. Though the morning started out a bit chilly, the sun eventually arrived along with hundreds of Seattle pedestrians willing to give our Plinko game a try!  WATG's parking-day "park" was bustling for the entire six hours of operation, reaching its peak at lunchtime when most of the WATG Seattle staff came out to lend a hand. By 2:30 pm we had given away more than 300 wildflower seed bombs and 50 tulip bulbs for residents and visitors to plant this fall.

While many people only had a minute to spare on their way to work, some passers-by stopped for longer to hang out and chat, and several people contributed to our green promise tree, committing to personal conservation efforts like walking and recycling.

The best part of parking day was watching the expressions of people who were initially skeptical about our no-strings-attached fun and free prizes. But when most people left the park they were ecstatic about having avoided signing their name to a cause while still leaving with a free seed to plant. The idea of reclaiming a parking space for public use was also entertaining and positive for people, and we definitely converted some skeptics, who may make a park themselves next September in the streets of Seattle.

PARK(ing) Day 2011 is in a few days, and the Seattle team is in full swing preparing for the big reveal. Our theme embraces environmental issues regarding green spaces in keeping with the organization's mission, in a fun way. Our concept is Give & Take: WATG's Seattle office will Give a Seed & Take a Promise of giving back to the planet. Passersby are encouraged to write down that promise on the spot as a reminder. Seed balls are being made in-house as the handout. It's all meant to be fun & informative without being overwhelming. Fun is key -- a giant PLINKO game is being constructed! The temporary 'park' will be on 1st avenue, near the famous Pike's Market and will take up two parking spaces.

Stay tuned as we continue to prepare and actually participate!