If you ever find yourself in Japan, you should definitely partake in a spot of drainspotting! This Flickr pool has a fantastic collection of these beautiful artworks from different Japanese districts, the level of detail is amazing.

Favela Painting is an amazing project by two dutch artists Haas&Hahn to revitalise the Favelas of Brazil. It’s great to see an initiative that can bring such an enormous change to what can be dangerous and violent places. (via It’s Nice That)

Locals and Tourists shows various American cities and the volume and locations where tourists take their photos compared to locals. Tourist destinations are an obvious place, but what is most interesting is where the locals take their photos. Potentially a good resource for finding popular spots that aren’t in any travel guides.

The Sandpit is a beautiful stop motion short by Sam O’Hare depicting a day in the life of New York City, in miniature. The tilt shift effect gives the city such a toy-like effect that it almost seems other-worldly.

Ski and snowboard tour operator Wasabi, have a unique way of tailoring the perfect snow holiday.

This short documentary directed by Kate Miller chronicles the progress of photographer Bryant Austin’s efforts to capture our world’s largest mammal in a way never before attempted. Rather than using the industry standard fish-eye lens Austin photographs the whales with a fifty megapixel portrait lens, the final result being an undistorted ‘real’ view of these magnificent creatures.

Beautiful ethereal photography from Mikihiko Kyobashi. Amazing website as well, one of the few where sound adds an extra element to the experience rather than detracting from it.

What an amazing use of technology! Pixelcase, an Australian company specialising in hi-definition virtual tours have put up this excellent aerial tour of New York.

It’s a sad day when decent design blogs die and Pingmag was one of the best of them. Brilliantly written stories covering the fields of art, design, architecture, fashion and many other categories all with a Japanese twist were what made Pingmag so special. Hopefully the site stays up so you can browse the archives (which I highly suggest doing). Farewell Pingmag.

Go To China is the result of a school trip by 17 Norwegian students to Shanghai and Beijing. Packed with some brilliant photography, a unique design and some excellent travel tips this is a great reference for those planning on visiting this amazing place.