my story

growing up, ive spent a lot of time in chinese restaurants with my parents, often way beyond service hours after “dimsum” for family lunches and client meetings. i got to know the staff behind restaurants quite closely, becoming family friends with most of them even after that chinese restuarant i grew up with moved to a new location and most staff moved onto a new chapter. looking back at those times, i associated 酒楼 (chinese restaurants) as my first understanding of ‘third spaces’, so much of chinese, and east asian culture can be felt from dining experiences.

while my parents would be busy chatting away, i would sometimes ‘bother’ the staff by offering to help out with setting up tables, sorting flyers and making sure there were enough toothpicks at each table in exchange for “rewards” that they would give me such as little dessert snacks. this was how it all started with the desire of wanting to do collaborations with small businesses and appreciating the people behind these magical businesses of f&b. f&b are people businesses, and i think art is a people business too.

restaurants and cafes become places that i frequent in my young adult life and soon also become familiar with - i have a deep appreciation for the people that run these businesses, knowing that they are not easy to maintain. these are “businesses'“ that come out of love and compassion. my first part-time job was at a cafe, and seeing the day-to-day operations at a small cafe in hong kong in relation to the profit margins was disheartening, knowing that their efforts weren’t matching up to the numbers. although that cafe closed, i still think back fondly on the moments of serving customers, packing cake orders and the laughs in the kitchen with the community that we’ve created.

newer cafes/restaurants that are independent face a rougher starting period especially if they are not in ‘popular areas’, and being in a their community, i wonder how i can ‘help’ or try to show up for them to encourage them to keep going on. these are dreams, but they’re real. they’re temporary at times, and incredibly admirable.

through creative collaborations, i hope to bring support to these places and create an international community for local communities. i work with places that i have been to, frequented at, and have gotten to know during my stays in different countries. every collaboration starts from a relationship of getting to know the place, the food, and the people that run it.

x common x the motel

t-shirt design / solo-exhibition

Year
2024 [tokyo]

  • partner: common, a cafe by day and bar by night located in Roppongi, tokyo.

    • designed and visualized by kai

    • produced by THE MOTEL shimokitazawa

  • limited print.

summer staff t-shirt design / illustration

Year
2024 [tokyo]

  • partner: i2 cafe, omotesando. opened in april 2023 by the iwate brothers

  • concept: flower garden; a place of rest, relaxation and beauty

photographer: yudai iwate

the rose garden

when i first moved to tokyo, i was a month early from school starting so i went around a lot of different cafes, trying out different foods and doing a lot of live drawings. i didn’t have much friends, and didn’t speak much japanese at all.

i remember going to i2 cafe late in the day around 3pm after finding out about their ‘dutch baby pancakes’ on social media and wanted to try it for myself. i sat at the counter, ordered a caramel banana dutch baby pancake and waited while i drew and sipped on an americano. i quietly ate my dutch baby pancake after taking a photo of the food, then worked on the drawing right then and there. there wasn’t a lot of people there that day, and before i knew it, it was closing time.

the staff quietly told me that they were closing, in which i felt incredibly apologetic and left quickly, but i really wanted to finish my drawing. so i sat at the shop in front of the cafe, called ‘kaikaina’ that served smoothies and fruits sandos. i got myself a smoothie, and continued to work on the piece before two of the staffs that were moving from i2 cafe to kaikaina stopped while seeing my illustration, striking up a conversation. i was a week into my life in tokyo at that time, using my best knowledge of japanese, asking their names as they asked about my life and what i did.

i ended up coming back here every month or so because my hair salon that i went to was right by the corner — also it just so happened that they had different dutch baby pancake flavors every month or so, and there was something to look forward to. every time i come back here, the staff remembers that i’m the ‘travelling artist’ and we manage to talk a little bit more each time my Japanese improved. i would bring friends here occasionally since it was in omotesando and a little bit off the beaten path from harajuku, making it a less-populated area for a nice afternoon catch-up. every time i came by, i just felt really recharged and inspired again.

one day, i went over to i2 cafe while i was in the area and was asked if i do t-shirt designs… and that was how our story of working together started!

illustrations

initial live sketches from sitting at i2 cafe all day

  • working with i2 cafe feels like i gained 5 brothers all at once

  • tshirts are available for purchase at store and online!

x fujibagel

tote bag design / production / brand identity / pop-up

Year
2024-25 [tokyo]

  • partner: fujibagel (& anise scone). opened in 2018 at akabane by a couple and moved to shibuya in 2022.

  • concept: multicolor/ family-type

it was on ‘white day’ that i decided to make a little small appreciation postcard gift as a thank you token to chiyomi mama, that always greeted me with much compassion and kindness. it was my first time writing a full-letter in japanese, and as someone that uses words of affirmation as a love language, i really hoped to express my gratitude that i had for the community and sense of belonging fujibagel has provided me. slowly, we started to show up more in each other’s lives, cheering each other on with our own dreams and trying our best to achieve them!

thank you fujibagel takashi papa and chiyoma mama for trusting me to work on a fun collaborative pop up for fujibagel - being able to bring what i envision into reality and into a space, and existing community has taught me so much. 心から感謝します!

illustrations

ZINE

[BB] bagel book:

  • interactive fujibagel bagel directory map made through photo collage and hand-drawn graphics

  • retouched digitally and reproduced

drawings

anise scone

back in april 2024, i asked chiyomi mama about her dreams. if she had a dream, what would it be? and she told me about starting a cafe one day with her scones, creating a nice community for people to come by. at the time, she has just started anise scone as a part of fujibagel, but it was later in october 2024 that she took the leap and started her own store with ryuse a few blocks down from fujibagel.

seeing her courage of chasing after her own dreams, i want to be there to support her too. i find myself talking to her deeply about life sometimes, whether its about relationships, romance and direction of life. even though sometimes we struggle with language translations, i think we understand each other well through emotions…

spring break in tokyo

in japan, the semester break is from end of january to april - this was quite new to me since previous breaks between semesters in western countries or curriculum calendars that follow the ‘western world’ have their breaks usually in december (around early december to early january) for winter breaks and late may/early june till mid august/september. my first long break in tokyo i decided to stay in the country for 2 months and see how i can potentially ‘work’ and live in tokyo.

as school ended, i no longer had a ‘daily routine’ but also all my friends were once again out and about, traveling or visiting home. i felt slightly guilty for not going back home this time around since i haven’t been able to go back to hong kong for the past 4 years to celebrate chinese new year with family either but i decided to hold it out and figure out ‘life’. so, the only routinely thing that i did was go to fujibagel each week - and it was something that i looked forward to because their menu was always changing. As i visited Fuji Bagel for the first time… I went back the next week, and the next… and before I knew it, i was a regular. It was a trip that I looked forward to every week. Although in their eyes, I may just be a foreigner that spoke some Japanese and liked bagels — but for me, there was an indescribable warmth and familiarity that drew me back every time.

x bakehouse

food illustration / digital social media / postcard design

Year
2024-25

  • partner: bakehouse hong kong

  • concept: groovy/ fun, every-day casual

postcard

illustrations

x midori matcha

food illustration / creative strategy

Year
2022-25

  • partner: midori matcha; los angeles-based cafe located in Little tokyo

  • concept: everyday culture / casual grab-and-go / sweet treat

a bit of home in little tokyo

three years ago when I first moved to los angeles, little tokyo became my “safe space” because of its cultural familiarity to my upbringing in hong kong. i would frequent at @midorimatcha as a “sweet escape” outside of school grounds, and got to know cindy through our conversations and helping out with graphics at midori matcha. the first time we officially met was on a random study day that i decided to take myself out on - i posted a story featuring their account and cindy reached out asking if i would be there later in the day as she would drop by. she came by the store with her son, bennett and we talked a bit, bonding on our upbringing in hong kong. her son was so sweet, and as someone that usually struggles with interacting with children, i was really amazed by his gentleness.

i really admire how cindy ran the store entirely on her own without a manager and also as a full-time mom. i wanted to help out with the skills that i had, in any way possible especially knowing how hard food businesses can be. i started off with helping out with making social media graphics, hoping to aid midori matcha’s messages with visual communications to showcase their beverages and soft serve. our relationship developed as we continued to work together on things here and there, and soon before i knew it, it was a home for me in los angeles.

illustrations