baker + hesseldenz design

Weil Residence Dining Chair Fabrication

baker hesseldenz design — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 17:59:23 +0000

We have spent the last two months working with Arroyo Design on the design and production of ten dining room chairs for the Weil residence. The chairs are to be a modified version of Arroyo’s Serna Chair. The biggest change being that this chair is to have a carved wood seat rather than the standard upholstered seat. Arroyo Design usually carves these seats by hand, which is a time consuming and expensive process, but this time we decided to experiment with having the seats carved on a CNC milling machine. The chair bodies are finished and we are now waiting for the seats to be milled. I’ve included a few images of the chair manufacturing process below, and will follow up this post with an update on the production of the seats.

Mesquite lumber selected and ready for glue up.

Book-matched seat deck ready for CNC milling machine.

Test fitting a mesquite chair body.

Blue Elephant

baker hesseldenz design — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:10:38 +0000

One of our favorite adventures was taking Thai cooking lessons at the Blue Elephant in Phuket.

Blue Elephant Cooking School is located at the site of the well-known Phra Pitak Chinpracha Mansion. This historic Sino-Portuguese style was built in 1903 by “Tan Ma Sieng” or Phra Phitak Chinpracha (1883-1949), Chinese Tin Baron, and ancestor of “Tandavanitj patriarch”.

The building is a combination of European and Chinese style. The architecture is European (Sino-Portuguese), while it was decorated in traditional Chinese style, especially with a big ventilator on the rooftop called “Shim Jae”, which is “Hok Kiean” feng-shui science. The front is open to the South and captures fresh breezes throughout the year.

This elegant old mansion is owned by the Tandavanitj tribe. In the past, it was used as the governor’s residence. Since the death of Khun Pracha Tandavanitj in 2006, his wife Khun Jularak Tandavanitj occasionally opened this historic 105 year-old building as a private house museum.

And because of its history and the beautiful scenic surrounds of this mansion, it was used as a location for several movies including “Heaven and Earth”, “the Killing Fields”, and TV’s “Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”. Moreover it is also won a conservation award from the Thai authorities, in the 1990s.

Our class was small, Scott and I and a family from Slovenia spending the summer in Thailand. Their 12 year old son, Nicholas, is a budding chef and a character to say the least.

We started off by taking a trip to the market where we were educated on the local ingredients and spices. We were very pleased to learn that many of the ingredients we grow in our garden. We probably should have video taped the tour of the market. My writing skills are not good enough to accurately describe the experience.

We returned to the Blue Elephant and were assigned our cooking stations. Our menu included :

Massaman Curry with chicken
Stir fried prawns with roasted chili paste
Deep fried spring rooks stuffed with crab meat
Spicy eggplant salad with chicken and prawns

Every dish was amazing! We tasted as we went along, but each finished dish was taken away and kept warmed until we completed all 4 dishes and then we all sat together and ate our meal. We were completely stuffed. Thank god our classmates had a residence there and could take home the left overs.

Blue Elephant

Over view of market

Our instructor

Appetizing little goodies.

Happy couple cooking

Our class

Mary Ann's completed Massaman Curry with chicken

Our completed 4 course meal

Phuket

baker hesseldenz design — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:43:50 +0000

I have family who spent about a month in Phucket in February of 2005, about two months after the disastrous tsunamis of 26 December struck the island. They came home with stories and photos of beautiful, deserted, and quiet beaches. Six years later I am happy to report that Phuket has definitely recovered. Things seem to really be going well here. There is new construction everywhere. New luxury condominium complexes, resorts, and huge private residences are springing up all over the island. One Russian oil tycoon, who looked as if he was 45 tops, just built the most expensive home in Phuket, which totaled nearly 23 million US. I didn’t ask how big the place was, but considering how far the dollar can go here, this house must be absolutely enormous.

The recent influx of the very wealthy seems to have driven the prices of many things through the roof. A day trip to local galleries and antique and gift shops made this glaringly obvious. Fine art by well known Asian painters didn’t seem to affected, for the artists set there prices and therefore a painting at gallery in Bangkok was about the same as in Phuket. Handicrafts were another story all together. The beautiful set of stainless flatware that we pondered over at Chatuchak Market ($135 for 8 place settings) was over $1,400 in Phuket! The really nice little paper lamp that was $45 dollars, but would never have survived the plane ride back, was almost $300. The big bummer was that the things we could afford were total crap. Just tourist knick knacks that I would not want to take up my suitcase space with. Luckily we have 3 more days in Bangkok to do a little shopping.

Another downside to Phuket’s booming economy is that the beaches are now incredibly crowded. The local government has allowed vendors to build little shops practically on the beach, so not only do you have to deal with the throngs of people and the noisy jet skis, you also have to plan your route to the beach so you can avoid the nicely dressed middle-eastern guys trying to sell you a custom made suit. The public beaches we tried were really depressing. We went down to Surin Beach on the first day, and we lasted about 45 minutes before we couldn’t stand it anymore. It was a sea of at least 500 (not an exaggeration) beach chairs. The design snobs in us noted that we maybe could have lasted a little longer if the chairs and umbrellas had matched, but that was not the case. Mary Ann vowed to never stand foot on that beach again. I went down one more time, by myself, to take pictures of this paradise lost. My family said to try Leam Singh Beach, since it is harder to get to. We lasted less than 10 minutes there. Two men were racing each other in jet skis from waters edge to about a quarter mile out, then back again. Not our idea of a relaxing day at the shore.

We took a trip out to the Phi Phi Islands on Thursday, and found it to be a little better. This area is harder to get to, and even though there were still a good amount of people, it was not too bad. The beauty of the place outweighed the Russians in Speedos.

Having said all this, I do think you can still have a great experience in Phuket. The scenery, especially in Phi Phi, is fantastic. You will have to spend a lot more money though. To get the perfect beach to lounge on you will have to stay at resorts like the Chedi ($400+ a night) or the Oberoi (over $600 a night). Resorts like this are built on private beaches and the proletariat can’t get anywhere near them. Paradise. I think it may be easier in the Phi Phi Islands to find paradise, you just have to do a little more homework.

You will notice one photo (the one with my feet in it) that seems to be completely devoid of beach comers. This was part of Bangtao Beach, and was the one shining star in Phuket. Where ever Mary Ann and I go we try to immediately make friends with someone in town who seems to have good taste, and has been around for a while. This 300 yard stretch of beach is the property of the guy who owns the beautiful asian antique store down the street from the hotel. He has built a small beach club for friends and clients with a bar and small kitchen for making a limited selection of Thai dishes for you to enjoy while lounging in your chair. Charoen’s place was pretty close to perfect, and we were usually the only ones there.

To conclude, we did have a great time in Phuket. Neither of us are really big beach people. I love getting there and enjoying the view but don’t really want to just sit there all day. We had great food, had a lot of fun renting cars and exploring the island, met some nice people, and the ten dollar massages were fantastic.

Laem Singh Beach - A more remote and hard to get to beach near our hotel

Surin Beach near our hotel

Trip to Phi Phi Island

On our way to Phi Phi Island

Another Island on our way to Phi Phi

Boat on Phi Phi Island

Scott relaxing at our friend Charoen's beach club on Bangtao Beach

Long Tail Boat on Bangtao Beach

bangtao Beach

Young Boy on Bangtao Beach with a fish

Manathai Hotel – Phuket

baker hesseldenz design — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:22:06 +0000

The Manathai Hotel in Phuket was a complete 180 from the Metropolitian in Bangkok. A boutique hotel, elegantly blending contemporary architectural design with traditional Asia, textures, fabrics and flavours, topped off with an earthly toned décor. The lobby was open to the outside with no exterior walls. The furnishing were filled with pillows for serious lounging.
We ended up spending our early mornings and late evenings in the lobby writing our blog. The staff was friendly, and since we were there for 6 days we got to know a few and even friended them on Facebook. Our room was very comfortable and cozy, we even had our own private patio with a small pool.

Entrance Manathai Hotel

One of two pools

Lobby

Ayutthaya

baker hesseldenz design — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 09:42:29 +0000

After Bang Pa-In we hopped back in the van for the short drive to Ayutthaya. This city was founded in the 14th Century by King U-thong and eventually became one of the biggest cities in Asia. By the end of the 16th Century Ayutthaya controlled a huge territory which included Lanna, and parts of Burma and Cambodia. Thirty-five different kings reigned over the city until the late 1760′s when the Burmese army sacked the city and burned it to the ground. At this time the court moved the capital to Bangkok, where it remains today. Despite the fact that it is no longer the capital, Ayutthaya remains as a very significant place for all Thais. Between 1850 and 1910 the first efforts were made to start to preserve the site for the public. Ayutthaya was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.

The visit here was by far one of my favorite parts of the entire Thailand trip. Walking around the ruins I felt as thought I could almost feel the spirits of the thousands of people who lived and died here over the course of the city’s 400+ year existence. There are only a small handful of the original structures remaining, but from what is there you can easily imagine how breathtaking this site once was.

Viharn Monkholbopit, which houses a 40 foot high bronze buddha, is one of the only structures on the site that has been restored.

Viharn Monkholbopit Bronze Buddah

Chao Phraya River

baker hesseldenz design — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 05:31:38 +0000

After our amazing breakfast buffet at the Pennisula Hotel we decided to take a long boat tour of the Chao Phraya River and canals. We clumsily climbed into our long-tail boat, which are not easy to get into. Once seated we started our journey down the river. About 2 minutes into the tour the boat broke down, the transmission I think. We floated around for awhile until another long boat came and pulled our boat to a nearby dock. We switched boats and we were off again. The first part of the tour, we saw riverside views of luxury hotels and large barges docked. Then we took a side canal and it all changed. The canals were lined with shacks where people lived. The conditions were utterly shocking. The smell at times was almost unbearable, a combination of dead fish and feces. I sat with my mouth and nose covered, looking at shack after shack.

My philosophy has always been, the way we keep our home is a reflection of our spirit and how we feel about ourselves and our lives, but when day to day life is more about survival, does this idea still hold true? I started to look closer. I could see children playing in the water outside their homes, laughing with friends. Two men were working on their long-tail boat, joking with each other as they did repairs. A woman sat cross legged on her porch and was preparing food for a meal. Children where waving and smiling as we drove by..

I looked closely at all the clothing hanging out to dry and was amazed to see, mixed in with traditional style clothing, teeshirts with American popstars, sports teams and fake designer logos. There where satellite dishes on the roofs and people using cell phones. I know people in the states who either can’t afford cable or a cell phone, or simply refuse to embrace.

Every once in awhile we would see a huge modern house being built. Is this a business investment, buying and building in an inexpensive area hoping for future growth, or locals who made it big and want to stay in their neighborhood? Perhaps both.

Then my mind shifted to the hard questions, as I often use humor as a coping mechanism. I asked Scott ”How do they get UPS?” Wondering, what that route must be like for the driver. Do they deliver to the houses or is their a delivery station where people pick up their packages? Scott smiled, patted by back, knowing that after our years together, that my silly questions often don’t need an answer.

Transferring to our new boat

Anchored cargo ship

Houses on the river

Bang Pa-In Palace

baker hesseldenz design — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:36:47 +0000

Through a good friend in Tucson we were connected with Piyanuj Ruckpanik (Piya), an integrative medicine doctor and all-around wonder woman of business in Bangkok. Piya and her good friend and business partner picked us up at the hotel at 9am for a day of sightseeing. First stop was to be the Bang Pa-In Palace, also known the Summer Palace. It is located on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Ayutthaya Province. The Royal Palace at Bang Pa-In has a history dating back to the 17th century, as the first structures were built by King Prasat Thong in and around 1632. The site lay empty and overgrown throughout the late 18th century and early 19th century until restoration of the site began during the reign of King Rama IV (better known as King Mongkut in the West) in 1850′s and 60′s. However, most of the buildings that remain today were constructed by King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn) between 1872 and 1889. There were a large number of structures on the site, but the stand-outs for us were Wehart Chamrunt, a Chinese-style royal palace and throne room, Ho Withun Thasana (Sage’s Lookout), a brightly-painted lookout tower, and the Aisawan Thiohya-Art, a beautiful gold pavilion constructed in the middle of a pond.

We left the palace grounds and walked about 100 yards to a cable car that would take us to Buddhist monastery located on an outer island adjacent to the palace complex. The cable car, operated by local monks, seemed a little precarious, but as the saying goes “When in Thailand….” Most interesting to me was the Neo-Gothic style temple on the island that looked as if it had been transported here from 19th century Europe. From the outside it is very reminiscent of any mid-1800′s Christian church, complete with steeple and stained-glass windows. The difference is on the interior, where a large gold Buddhist shrine sits in place of the typical Christian alter. The temple was built by King Rama V in the 1870′s as a way to show the West that they could be “modern” like the Europeans. Most of South-East Asia had been colonized by either the Dutch, French or English by this time, and maybe this effort by King Rama V to “fit in” helped Thailand avoid a similar fate.

Royal Residence

Aisawan-Dhipay-Asana Pavilion

Ho Withun Thasana (Sage's Lookout)

Detail From Sage's House

Royal Palace

Detail from Royal Palace

Happy Couple in front of the Roayal Palace

Cable Car

Neo-Gothic Temple

Thai Massage

baker hesseldenz design — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:18:28 +0000

After a couple of relaxing hours at the pool, we headed off for our first Thai Massage. The street that the massage place is on is around the corner from the hotel, and is a perfect example of the eclectic and completely random nature of Bangkok. A fine Thai restaurant on one side and a parking/auto garage/out door restaraunt on the other, followed by the Sensa Men’s Club ( “massage for men by men” printed on the door ). A beautiful tall bank building with a high end art gallery on the first floor, with vendors at the curb (mostly selling food), stray dogs and cats poking around in the garbage, etc… A little bit of everything. And then there was the Ajjima Health Spa. The “Spa” was actually about 750 square feet at the most, but was clean, well maintained, warm and cozy. We were taken to private rooms and asked to change into our massage outfits. Even after 20 years in the fashion industry I could not figure out how to tie my pants and my therapist giggled shyly when she saw how I was wearing them. A new trend in Thailand perhaps? Once I laid down I was surprised and happy that they opened the wall between Scott and I. Let the massage begin. We were bent and twisted like pretzels. They climbed on the table, sat on our legs pushing them back to our heads, wrapped themselves around us creating a human corkscrew and twisting us. I had to remind my self to breath and I swear that I felt my internal organs moving. I must admit I had a hard time not laughing when I looked over to see a small man sitting on Scott’s feet pressing his knees into his stomach. I know what you are thinking, did this feel good? After the massage was over Scott and I never felt so relaxed, realigned and loose, in short, the best massage we ever had.
The best part was the price, equivalent to US 24.00 each (including tip) for a two hour massage!

Thai Massage

Boonying

baker hesseldenz design — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:40:24 +0000

While having lunch at an open air riverside restaurant in Ayudhya Province, about an hour outside of Bangkok, Boonying (age 88) floated up to the side of the restaurant next to our table. We chatted with her for a bit, through our new friend Piya, who acted as translator. We learned that her name, Boonying, translates to “Born into good fortune”. She laughed saying “look at me I haven’t lived up to my name”. Piya bought her lunch and we all gave her our empty water bottles. She sang us a song in thanks as she floated away.

Boonying

Floating restaurant on Chao Phraya River

View rom our table

Fried Ruby Fish

Giant Prawn

Chatuchak Market

baker hesseldenz design — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:18:57 +0000

After breakfast we headed off to the CM. Walking to the train station was the first time I really got to see Bangkok, which is a complete 180 from the luxury of the hotel. I was reminded of the times I spent in India. The shop owners standing outside trying to pull you in, traffic that seems to have no rules, exotic smells and sounds. All this is balanced with lush exotic vegetation everywhere, bamboo, beautiful adeniums, exotic palms and orchids growing everywhere. We boarded the train at Sala Daeng, and after a short ride and one train change we were at the end of the line, Mo Chit Station at Chatuchak Market. This weekend market consists of over 15,000 stalls selling just about anything you could imagine. The stalls were a maze and seemed never ending, with food, clothing, live animals, plants, art, jewelry, you name it. Just when we thought we could look no more and were ready to leave, there it was, the art section. We were pleasantly surprised to find some art that was very very good. We took pictures, chatted with some of the artists (sorta, their english is not so good and our thai, well is non existent) and we even bought ourselves a piece. I know I know, where are we going to hang it?

Waiting for train to Chatachuk

Interior shot of the Market

Another interior shot of the market