Friday, November 28, 2008

I get my copy of MONOCLE magazine Issue November 2008 on 7th November 2008 from the Best Eastern (The Mall Gadong), through my subscription at the bookshop. I have subscribed the magazine just after I got its first issue.


ANIME MAGAZINE INSERT: KITA KOGA


As usual, the magazine has an insert in the form of an anime magazine: Kita Koga. Kita Koga is the work of Takanori Yasaka i.e for both the story and the artwork. The anime is exclusively produced for the MONOCLE.

Kita Koga is about a Japanese agent, Niel Watanabe, who try to save the Japan’s interest from being spolied by the terrorists or the rival parties.

COVER STORY: NEW DESIGN ON DIPLOMACY


Meanwhile, the cover story is about how an embassy premise should be. According to MONOCLE, “Embassies should be places of fun, a chance for people to meet, and cultural hubs.” The embassies also take the role as “a sale tools” of their countries.

Therefore, according to MONOCLE, certain embassies do “branding jobs by choosing architects who can sell their respective national values”. In addition, MONOCLE highlights that “modern diplomacy…is public facing, daring and engages with cultures at street level rather than retreating behind barricades.”






And I do not know when will I can drop by at an embassy office just like I drop by at a bookstore or perhaps at a restaurant, here in Brunei Darussalam and in others countries.

DESIGN: ASANO HOME
Still thinking of what my second home will be…May be my next home will be like a spa center where I and my family can unwind and relaxing during weekend and a place to have a family gathering. There should be a place to have a BBQ. In addition, the kitchen and the dining room should openly connected to the exterior of the house, especially the BBQ area. May be, a feature on the Asano home (p.123-127) gives me some idea of certain parts of my next home.

PHOTOJOURNALISM: SUMO
Lastly, MONOCLE presents a feature and a photo essay about Sumo, a Japanese kind of wrestling. The feature touches on the issue that “sumo has been under threat in recent years from the dwindling numbers of homegrown wrestlers, match-fixing allegations, bullying and doping scandals.”

NEXT ISSUE


The December 2008/January 2009 issue will be on sale on 27 November 2008.


(Photos: Abdul Rashid Haji Tahir. Taken on 7 November 2008)

PeachPit (Pearson Education)

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