Happy Father’s Day to all dads!
June 2011
Take the time to find a gift special enough for your dad on this Father’s Day. Here are some of our favorites dad-centric gifts. We hope you enjoy our choices. Please call us at 808-828-1822 to find out more information. Or even better, to see all of our favorites, come visit us at Kong Lung Trading.
Deborah’s Pick:
LACQUER BOXES
Lacquered boxes have been around for thousands of years. Originally created as an inexpensive alternative to turtle shell or ivory boxes, these super sturdy paper crafts are a staple in Asia. They were used for special, functional purposes such as carrying water, storing rice, or even as specific as for carrying sweets to a wedding party.
These boxes come in many shapes, sizes, and colors.
Kong Lung Trading carries boxes from Pacific Connection and Sakai Toki. Prices from $40 to $150.
Janet’s Pick:
CLOCKS
Is your dad always late? Then the choice is obvious, get him a clock. We have various styles and sizes to suite your dad’s discriminating taste. Perhaps he would like the cool, 
retro-modern Bai Clocks’ styles. Maybe he is more suited for the stylish statement clocks by Jansen + co of Amsterdam (right)? And if your dad is the artsy type, the Kronosworks “Not so small” art clocks from Rickard Studio (left) may be perfect?
Prices from $37 to $275.
Patty’s Pick:
MIDDLE KINGDOM
You probably don’t remember when that was a good thing. But Middle Kingdom strives to revive the luxurious connotation of “Made in China” in their porcelain. Bo and Alison Jia resurrected a reverence for classical Song and Ming aesthetics, which translate well into the modern world.
Their craft is uniquely beautiful and at each stage of creation great attention is paid to quality, workmanship and adhe
rence to the highest standards.
Please visit Kong Lung to see these wonderful and special pieces from Middle Kingdom. Individual prices from $38 to $41. Sets from $74 to $498.
Olive & Mochi’s Pick:
NAMBU TEKKI TOOL BOTTLE OPENERS
This is so dad! These classic tools hand-forged in traditional Nambu Tekki are handsome and useful. The heavy iron pieces pop bottle tops with ease and are an attractive ornament hung along walls or kitchen backsplashes. Nambu Cast Iron was first made in the middle of the 17th century in Iwate, Northern Japan. A master from Kyoto was summoned there to create an iron pot for a tea ceremony, and it was the beginning of the Nambu Tekki (Cast Iron) craft. It became exemplary of Japanese Traditional Craft, and is still popular today. The black color is the result of a Japanese lacquer glaze call urushi which prevents rust.
Choose from hammer, pincers, pliers, and wrench. Prices from $25 to $45.
Book of the Month:
BITE ME
A Stomach-Satisfying, Visually Gratifying, Fresh-Mouthed Cookbook
by Julie Albert & Lisa Gnat
This is not your mother’s cookbook. Bite Me is a sassy, off-kilter and ironically functional everyday cookbook.
“…Bite Me is truly a tale of two sisters – one sisters’ spicy wit, wile and whimsy to another’s sauce of cuisine, craft and confection. Passionate eaters and skilled feeders, these dedicated mothers and businesswomen are full of beans, basil, balsamic vinegar, butter…you get the picture. “What has always been so great for us is that we complement each other, we admire each other for our differences and similarities and that, most important, we make each other laugh.”
Bite Me is the 272-page result of the kitchen odyssey these two sisters embarked on. First self-published in Canada, Bite Me went on to win the 2010 and 2011 Independent Publishers Book Award Silver Medals for cookbooks and has sold over 20,000 copies.