JOJO STRUYS
To Travel … It’s the art of being a sponge – soaking up new cultures and learning about the world along with its many different wonders. It’s also the art of being open-minded because things are so different everywhere you go. Don’t expect a place to conform to your way of thinking because that’s half the adventure of travelling somewhere new.
Discovering Asia … Asia is exotic and so rich in culture. It’s so colourful and diverse. For instance, the culture, language, and customs of Japan are unique to Japan and completely different from say, Nepal or anywhere else in Asia. That’s what I find so mind-broadening about travelling.
Intriguing experience … When I was shooting Jojo’s Diary of Asia, it was a culturally unique experience to step into the shoes of a maiko for a day, which is an apprentice geisha. The make-up was porcelain white. I hardly recognised myself in the mirror! Even the lipstick does not follow the natural shape of your lips. It’s meant to resemble a rosebud. It was like stepping into ancient tradition. I was fascinated!
Eat, Pray, Love … I once checked myself into a beautiful nature retreat by the ocean to meditate in Koh Pha Ngan
island. I then had great European food in Paris and fell in love with the serenity of Ubud. When I was standing under the stars one night, my partner suddenly got on bended knee to ask me if I would
marry him, and I said, “Yes!”