Today, a home isn’t just a place to live; it has become a space to express oneself. For our 35th anniversary exhibition, At Home in Hong Kong, we enlisted creative personalities from Canto-pop singer Hins Cheung to JJ. Acuna, renowned blogger at The Wanderlister+, to offer a peek into their homes. In this exclusive web series, we delve deeper into the minds of these local leaders.
What is your favourite part of your home? The windows, because they frame the city life in Tai Hang as well as the mountains. I can choose to look out at the natural greenery or at the city life. I also love daylight, so I try to open as many of the windows as possible. I get a lot of energy and inspiration from light.
The five words that you would love people to associate with you: Thoughtful, creative, honest, smart and happy. Living honestly and with integrity is the key to happiness. Life is not about trying to prove things to others or yourself. By the end of the day, we are made exactly the way we should be.
Hong Kong is…? Vibrant, fast and sometimes messy. To some people, it has a lot of boundaries and restrictions because of how people operate here. But I think that within this context, you can make something really interesting out of the city and maximise its full potential.
What is the most underrated virtue? Patience. It is something we see a lot of in other cities. But in Hong Kong, people want to rush from one place to another, when in reality there is so much value in just stopping and letting things flow. People are always on their smartphone and not opening themselves up to a different channel of inspiration.
If you could replace one of your talents for another, what would it be? I have always been envious of people who can play an instrument or who can sing. In the Philippines where I grew up, there are so many people who are good at strumming the guitar or singing love songs. Unfortunately, I did not get any of that through osmosis or natural talent! I do value my creative and artistic side, but I would make that sacrifice just so I could sing.
The one thing you would never ever change about yourself: This is really tough, but I would say my heart. I know it’s lame, but people sometimes are lead by intellect or emotion when making day-to-day decisions. Anytime I do not listen to my heart, I never get what I want. And when I do, life is much easier.
The definition of good taste is… Aligning yourself with who you are. If you spend your whole life trying to keep up with your neighbours, friends, or what magazines say, you will not go anywhere. But if you are true to yourself, then you cannot fail in terms of taste.
The pet peeve that you have tried to tolerate but cannot: [Laughs] I can not go too deep with this. I see a lot of trends with leather shorts, Birkenstocks and mesh shirts… so can we please just move on? They should all go!
What is the most overrated quality in modern society? Consumption for the sake of consumption. In Hong Kong you see so many flashy cars going nowhere, or people buying stuff to fill their afternoons. It’s quite a bizarre thing to do, to walk aimlessly around a shopping mall or spend a lot of money on things you will throw away in a few months…
Take a look into JJ.’s home at our At Home in Hong Kong pop-up exhibition, running from October 23 to 24.
Read the rest of the web series here: Arnault Castel, Michelle Lai , Vicky Lau
The post At Home in Hong Kong: JJ. Acuna appeared first on Home Journal.
