Category: Reviews

Having recently opened in May 2020, Kintsugi: Spirited Beyond has been garnering a lot of attention – and rightly so; it is a place of serene beauty, lovingly created by NorahBrent and Zalindah.

Kintsugi (金継ぎ, “golden joinery”), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, “golden repair”), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-etechnique. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.

– Wikipedia

I include this description, because Kintsugi: Spirited Beyond grew out of a personal loss experienced by NorahBrent, as Zalinah notes in her profile:

Pulling her grief and transforming it into creativity was her only way of coping. She asked me to join her and I couldn’t resist.

– Zalinah

So it might be said that Kintsugi: Spirited Beyond that has a deep connection for both NorahBrent and Zalinah, and especially offers a means for Norah to mend her loss through creativity, making it a part of her personal expression, making it a part of who she is, rather than trying to disguise or hide it. This is turn gives any visit to Kintsugi a personal element, the visitor sharing not just in the creativity displayed in the completed region, but also in the healing process that is folded into its design and presentation.

The natural beauty of the region is evident from first arrival, but to help encourage exploration, a story as been added; those arriving are asked to find the nine spirits located throughout the setting, with each spirit found within a location: house, forest, water, garden, and more, there secrets revealed through local chat.

Thus, the best way to describe Kintsugi is as a subtle story told through a series of vignettes, each defined by a specific part of the region design, and knitted together as a whole by both the stories awaiting discovery and the natural flow of the landscape across the islands and water-borne elements reached via stepping stones that wind across the shallow, reflective waters that enfold the islands and their treasures.

The Japanese motifs found throughout the region  – Cherry trees, Torii gates, koi pond, raked zen garden, water lanterns and more – are used to marvellous effect, both adding to the spiritual feel to Kintsugi whilst also gently brushing it against the imagination sufficiently for the active mind to call forth stories of its own that might find a home here.

At the same time, there is much to capture and hold the attention of the more casual visitor: the natural beauty of the setting, the mystery of the deserted town on the high hill, the places to sit and appreciate each element within the region’s unfolding story. And obviously, there is much to commend the region to the eye and lens of the Second Life photographer.

Kintsugi is a truly bewitching setting, rich in detail and narrative, fully deserving of a visit. When you do, please consider making a donation at the landing point to help ensure its continued presence in Second Life.

SLurl Details

• Kintsugi, Spirited Beyond (Runaway, rated Moderate)

Thermae generally refers to Roman imperial bathing complexes featuring heated baths and that also formed a centre for socialising among the better-off. Within Second Life, Sage Allegiere – famed for Gardens of Absentia (see: The Garden of Absentia on Second Life) – uses the name for another of her public region creations.

The name is not in any way inappropriate; this is a place where visitors can literally bathe in a creation that reflects nature at her best – although the major structure to be found on the main island might admittedly at first be taken for a spa or similar offering. The setting is that of group of temperate islands  – quite where is entirely up to the imagination – with the outlying isles protecting this, the innermost of the group, as it sits lower and perhaps otherwise more vulnerable to the winds and storms that might otherwise pass.

The landing point sits just off of the centre of the region, on the slopes of one of its highest reaches. An inlet cuts into the island on the far side of this hill, a balloon supported bridge crossing the landward end of the the gorge it forms. Down the slope from the landing point sit a cosy cottage with a wild flower garden guarded by a wrought iron fence. find the opening in  this fence and a gentle grassy path will take you down to a shingle beach, one of four scattered around the island’s coast.

Most of the island is crowned by young trees – although there are some that have reached maturity awaiting discovery along the ruggedness of the island’s back. In fact, so rugged is the island, that there are few laid paths – exploration is a matter of finding the lesser slopes in the grass that lead down and around the rockier parts of the island.

This means that finding your way around the island is a matter of careful exploration – and given there are multiple possible paths, this adds to the richness of discovery through exploration. One of these paths leads to a rock arch that also passes over the inland end of the southern inlet to join with the bridge mentioned above.

The path from here leads fairly directly to the large house mentioned above. Sitting on a high, flat table of rock, it has a open garden and an inner terrace. The garden is set as if for a party, the terrace as well, although at other times it might make for shaded conversations. Inside, the long rooms of the villa are comfortably furnished, one wing forming a lounge, the other a bedroom, the corner between them a rustic-style kitchen.

A second garden sits below this villa, nestled into the south-west of the island. Further around to the north, a second inlet has been formed as a result of water breaking out from a table under the the rocks to splash down over the rocks. A further shingle beach runs around the far side of this inlet, lanterns floating gently over it and the the bay formed by inlet and falls, although reaching it is a case of finding more of the paths running between the trees and the islands cliffs.

The north side of the island is home to another beach, a broad swathe of grass rolling down to it from the uplands of the island, suggesting water may have also once flowed down it to the sea.

Off the coast from this side of the island are three smaller isles that form a line running to the north-west. The outermost of these three looks to be a private home, so straying by air in that direction is perhaps bed avoided so as not to risk invading privacy. A further knob of rock to the north-east is home to a light house.

Sitting beneath a setting Sun, Thermae makes for a high photogenic setting with much to enjoy and plenty of places to sit, in gardens, on benches, on the water and under the trees. In all, a highly pleasing visit.

SLurl Details

• Thermae (Thermae, rated Moderate)

Sitting just off the east coast of Nautilus and at the western each of the clustered private islands to be found there, sits the Mediterraneo Coffee and Lounge Bar, the creation of Franz Markstein. Occupying a quarter of a Homestead region, it is an attractive setting, accessible by both teleport and by air / water.

West-facing, the bar sits above a strip of beach amidst tropical greenery. High-ceilinged and with a small mezzanine, it has a light, airy look and feel, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows along the west side of the bar, while the mezzanine offers a more cosy retreat and seating area. Vines and greenery help to both break up the interior walls and also to give the bar a sense of oneness with the surrounding greenery.

To the side of the main bar are three further rooms that sit as a smaller, cosy lounge, a little music room / gallery space and a library / study. They offer little getaways within the bar’s own sense of getaway.  For those who prefer an outdoor setting, there is both the beach and, between it and the bar, an overgrown but still comfortable garden, a bubbling brook tumbling down the rocks to one side and across the beach to the sea.

Littered by the wrecks and ruins of boats, the beach offers several places to sit, from a look-out tower to deck chairs, all open to the sound of the surf washing up over the sands. At the north end of the beach and tucked below the rocks that hold up the bar, is a long wharf.

With auto return set to zero, this offers those coming by boat or float plane the opportunity to come alongside, enjoy the bar and its modest surroundings without the fear of their boat going poof and leaving them without the means to resume their water journey. A small fishing boat is moored at the wharf, but it still leaves plenty of room for others to come alongside, so long as they are not ridiculously big.

One of the things that makes this bar particularly attractive to me is the manner in which it has been marvellously kitbashed by Franz, using a Funatik building as its base. This gives it an entirely unique styling and look that suits its location admirably, while the overall décor has clearly been considered to give the bar its sense of warmth despite its size.

Whether you arrive by teleport, boat or float plane, the Mediterraneo Coffee and Lounge Bar is a richly detailed delight to visit.

SLurl Details

• Mediterraneo Coffee and Lounge Bar (Campignon DesOs Isle, rated Moderate)