boy-abroad

Hello

2011-09-21T10:45:00.002-04:00

I'm still alive. and working in the system. life is long and good.

I used to blog late in the night on a black background. it was escapism.

the present becomes the past as soon as it happens.

requiem

2010-02-18T19:04:00.005-05:00

i'm finishing 3 shows in march... which must be a record; but satisfying nonetheless.

just found out i got nominated for best set at Life! Theatre Awards... my second nomination!!!

i will be a civil servant this time next year...

i'll be doing cinderellah at the esplanade end of the year, should be up to 30 shows by the end of the year!! since i started at 19, this means i'm averaging 6 shows a year... i actually wish it was 14 a year.

i'm getting my financial portfolio managed with ippfa, good to start young, since i've got quite a bit of savings now...

but i still need to move faster if i'm already 25.

really need to set up my furniture design brand soon!

i think i will start being more selective with my shows too.

i can't wait to get assignments overseas!!!

i am in a good place in my life now.

2010-01-13T11:04:00.002-05:00

but somehow i feel like things are waiting to capsize around me.

between the start and end of a song, entering the title and finishing this sentence, i have already been thrown off my balance.

ah. life is not perfect. but the evening pretty darned much was.

i love my new job

2010-01-08T02:49:00.004-05:00

did i tell you about the client whose parking lot is bigger than my house?

and about the david gan saloon in her bathroom?

and the indoor basketball court next to the living room?

strangely enough, the thing i loved most was the wet morning breeze.

因为你是我的影子情人。

2010-01-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

午後傾斜照進來的光
和你之間已經告終
我不能告訴你
這一季存留多少美麗

我選擇絕對或者零
不要一些或者中間
假如還有回憶
留給你自己

過去在你身邊
猶如沉默的影子
這一季已結束
夢也該醒了

過去在你身邊
猶如沉默的影子
這一天已結束
我也該走

保重。

2am symptoms

2009-12-13T12:58:00.002-05:00

was brushing my teeth in the kitchen when the furniture struck me with its arrangement logic. as my parents lay sleeping in the next room, i began to wonder how many more years and permutations my kitchen furniture will see. its morbid to be pondering our mortality at 2am in the morning. but the christmas tree reminds me to appreciate the moment.

am already 25. i'm not making my millions yet. so the existential crisis set in last night after meeting up with chuanyang jiaming and zhenghan. thankfully my passion for set design was reaffirmed by morning time. sure the USD$9000 starting pay makes banking sound good, but would i rather be stuck in a bank when i'm 40 or working on my hundredth set design, somewhere nearer to broadway than if i remained a corporate slave?

passion. love. city. theatre. history. games. i just hope there's enough money along the way to not starve.

Empire

2009-08-21T06:27:00.002-04:00

'From the ruins (of the stock market crash),
lonely and inexplicable as the sphinx,
rises the Empire State Building and,
just as it had been a tradition of mine to climb to the Plaza Roof to take leave of the beautiful city,
extending as far as the eyes could reach,
so now I went to the roof of the last and most magnificent of towers.

Then I understood -everything was explained:
I had discovered the crowing error of the city, its Pandora's box.
Full of jaunty pride the New Yorker had climbed here and seen with dismay what he had never suspected,
that the city was not the endless sucession of canyons that he saw for the first time
that it faded out into the country on all sides,
into a expanse of green and blue that alone was limitless.
And with the awful realization that New York was a city after and not a universe,
the whole shining edifice that he had reared in his imagination came crashing to the ground.'

-F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1932

On the night of May 1st, 1931, from Washington, President Hoover pushed a button that he enlighted for the first time, in New York, the Empire State Building:

The Metropolis of Tomorrow

2009-08-16T15:00:00.000-04:00

BUILDINGS like crystals
Walls of translucent glass.
Sheer glass blocks sheathing a steel grill.
No Gothic branch: no Acanthus leaf: no recollection of the plant world.
A mineral kingdom.
Gleaming stalagmites.
Forms as cold as ice.
Mathematics.
Night in the Science Zone.

-Hugh Ferriss

Jan Kempenaers' Spomenik

2009-07-10T13:15:00.002-04:00

Car Free Times Square?!

2009-05-25T06:51:00.002-04:00

Please follow link:

Car-free Times Square in New York

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Iceland Moto Park

2009-05-12T02:19:00.002-04:00

This is a beautiful project drawing on the genius loci of the site, sometimes, you only need to look to the sky for inspiration. How is our own Changi Racing Circuit (etc 2011) going to react to its context in Changi?

WKCD - etc 2031

2009-05-12T01:42:00.003-04:00

Field of dreams?
A global forum on the city's arts hub has praised the direction the project is taking but also raised concerns
24 April 2009
South China Morning Post

When the HK$21.6 billion West Kowloon Cultural District is fully up and running in 2031, 15 venues with grandiose architecture will grace the skyline of the 40 hectares of reclaimed land.

Before that, by 2015, 12 venues are slated to offer up to 24,400 seats for assorted cultural programmes. However, there are already doubts about whether those seats can be filled. The question is how to cultivate an audience to ensure a steady stream of faithful patrons.

One of the biggest concerns is that, in a city which holds some of the biggest private collections of Chinese art in the world, the museum might be disappointing, rather than a leading attraction that showcased Chinese art and helped to educate people about it.

"The whole thing has fallen into a repeated, extremely slow, never-ending cycle of consultation and discussions which are then overturned," he said. "The government does not seem to have any stance about what it wants, and doesn't take the initiative to ask for ideas and opinions from established art institutions, practitioners, artists, collectors and galleries in Hong Kong. The core spirit and idea of the whole West Kowloon Project is still lacking."

Back.

2009-05-12T01:30:00.002-04:00

Took this photo when i came back to Singapore this year. So much to look forward to.

Rambling words of a madman

2009-04-07T18:24:00.004-04:00

Ever since i've been back, i've randomly missed summertime episodes of being in Midwest America, taking boat rides and driving under endless skies. Of course, i was also in the Maldives; this makes my current week all the more unbearable. I've bumped in 2 shows back to back whilst working on my graduation submission. This is almost as bad as the time i was doing Rag in the night and theatre in the day back in 06.

Singapore is really a shithole.

Oh, next week seems so far away... i really need the summer to unwind and live again.

Please let this all be worth it...

All in a day's work

2009-03-20T11:30:00.002-04:00

9.30: SGH to pick up props
11.00: NUS for lesson
12.30: Sembawang factory to pick out plastic leaves
2.00: NUS for meeting
4.00: Plaza Singapura to buy plastic tubes
4.30: Theatre for stage measurement
5.30: Upper Paya Lebar for set inspection

Sigh. a gazillion things to do. I'm always saying yes.

cannot blog anymore

2009-01-12T12:58:00.002-05:00

cos i not abroad anymore mah.

but ya, as i was telling tomaso the other day, free time in sg is supper / homework / play games / earn money time. no time to blog anymore.

we'll see.

rearranged my imeempod to play all my sg emo songs. no more quirky americana like luis miguel, john lennon and josh rouse in yo face.

aight.

thanks for reading. peaceout.

now that i'm back,

2009-01-07T00:06:00.000-05:00

CRAP I DIDN'T GET TO SAY 'NIGGA' IN AMERICA.

i dun advocate chainmails but...

2008-12-21T22:56:00.000-05:00

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order; American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India .

Sadly, the End.

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses...

IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

i really can't believe

2008-12-19T02:05:00.002-05:00

that the Woolworth and Ground Zero are just outside the window.

I live my life for epic moments like this.

I am just a microbe gravitating from protostar to protostar.

Maybe one day i can help create galaxy events.

If its possible in Hollywood, its definitely possible in Singapore.

dun worry singapore

2008-12-18T18:52:00.003-05:00

we will get there...

GFCI just listed Singapore as Asia's most important financial center, ahead of HK this year. Movie industry ppl are placing their bet on Singapore because of MDA. Movie stars and finance gurus are moving to Singapore cos of the weather. So, dunch worry lah. just be ourselves lor. and take more OT.

Uptown

2008-12-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

New York Nocturne 1

2008-12-17T09:07:00.002-05:00

Now the nights of one period are not
the nights of another.

Neither are the nights of one city the
nights of another.

-Djuna Barnes,
Nightwood.

Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1910

I fell in love on Broadway, at the very same spot, 98 years later.

What other city is myth like this?

my christmas was RUINED

2008-12-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

at around 3:14:

phew. tired.

2008-12-15T00:06:00.002-05:00

university applications are GRUELING.

sigh. u work so hard to get into good american universities. and then you work so hard to stay alive in them. its not like any of the hard work is ever going to end?!

If i didn't have to win bread, and if i could live for myself (you know, like be a privileged middle son or only one child out of others), I would be taking things easy and living life.

but at least i have a loving family. can't have my cake and expect it to do architecture for me.

life is one hell of a rat race. dun like being a rat in new york city right now.

lift yo head up hai

2008-12-14T21:37:00.002-05:00

vanity. hunger. betrayal. jealousy. wrath. revenge.

the only thing i can do to distinguish myself is commit to my craft.

these sensations are juvenile.

there are other plateaus to traverse in life. and i will find more meaning at the end. when there will be something still going on when even human life is extinguished.

so here's to anyone who cares: at least i know what i want in life now. and i'm gonna get there. do you?

new york is really awesome. all my concerns in Singapore have been given a new perspective.

soon now, i will standing at the top of the rockefeller and shouting my arrival in the new world.

Am i walking in dreams?

2008-12-13T07:48:00.003-05:00

took a walk in lower and midtown manhattan last evening without a route in mind, just gravitating from icon to icon. it was like retracing foot steps in the memory of a dream. you can't help but feel that you've been to these places before. you don't need a map when its already been mapped out in your mind over and over as a child.

wall street.

liberty park plaza.

rockefeller.

very dramatically ariving at grand central station and the chrysler.

bryant park.

rain rain go away

2008-12-12T06:14:00.000-05:00

from one craziness to another: deciphering ota ward maps in tokyo whilst in lower manhattan is weighty stuff. i suppose i should feel privileged, not being under joe lim's breath now - although the internet allows studio stress to traverse great distances with great fidelity (audio and verbal haha).

auy! the rain and winds in nyc haven't been kind! they would qualify as a cat A storm in Singapore terms - when your umbrella is as good as useless - you know its rain at a whole nother level.

still eager to get out and see the city. meanwhile i'm contented working on my japan studies, uni applications (WHAT A PAIN) whilst having WTC outside the window. Its surreal watching news coverage about ongoing excavations at ground zero and then looking out the window to say, yep there they are alright.

Meanwhile, steel frame skyscraper construction has been delivered right outside the window for my perusal. i can see how metal decking is really being bolted to steel beams right now some 5 feet from my window. its a lot more primitive than i was expecting - or should i say, those construction diagrams in the texts - really as far as construction needs to get.

Not even my birthday yet

2008-12-10T22:37:00.002-05:00

But... its not enough that i'm in the city of my dreams (my window overlooking world trade centre right now)... so i really wasn't expecting the video.

thanks everyone who took part, even the guys i don't really know yet... aaron tan - SHOCKED LAH.

thanks chia meng, you're the closest thing i have to a gor. even my ura colleagues thought u are my brother when u came to see the exhib in jul. want to repay you in kind when i get back in sg. kopitiam beer with naked tiger beer lady on the poster ok?

junfeng and xd got me cake. and we made laksa lol.

11:27pm now not even my birthday yet! (so i still have 24.5 hours to ENJOY OK).

everything has happened so fast since submission last friday. had debrief on saturday, exam on monday, move out tuesday and then last night woobok drove me for 5 hours down to new york, even though he was shit exhausted. we played carols as we drove through winter slumber land, until new york and the statue of liberty came alongside the highway. take care BUDDY i hope to see u in singapore soon.

i'm still in america ok! will stop saying thank you and bye byes and emo things.

turning 24 is wah lau freaking awesome!

OK

2008-12-08T23:01:00.000-05:00

just help me look for

1. Hard Eight

2. Boogie Nights 2 disc

3. Punch Drunk Love 2 disc

all by Paul Thomas Anderson

shopping list

2008-12-07T09:45:00.002-05:00

Dawn - Control (The Miriam Collection) (2007), I'm Not There (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (2007)
CM - I'm Not There (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (2007), Boogie Nights (1997), Punch-Drunk Love (Two Disc Special Edition) (Superbit Collection) (2002), David Lynch's Inland Empire (Limited Edition Two-Disc Set) (2006)
Alfian - Eduardo Galeano's 'The Book of Embraces'
Dong - Minolta Hi-Matic AF2-MD AF Motor Camera w/Flash from Goodwill
CY - 700g of supplements

and stuffs for all my frengs.

homeboy

2008-12-07T01:09:00.002-05:00

Exciting to see Manny Pacquiao go from local Manila champ (at the time i was there in Apr 07) to beating Oscar de la Hoya over here yesterday!

Used to watch WWF (back when it wasn't WWE) with my grandpa as a p6 kid. I guess i grew up and realised that they were all just ACTING. but not manny pacquiao - the only person more famous than politicians in manila. talking about the Philippines, did u know it used to be the second richest country in Asia after Japan?! What happen?!

I WANT TO EAT SUSHI... and.. and... ok i shall compile a list:

1. Hokkien mee downstairs
2. 328 Laksa
3. Wanton mee downstairs
4. HK Island Beef Brisket Noodle (aiya i want to go back hk)
5. Hainan Roast Chicken rice at AMK S11
6. Hotel Miramar eat all u can Japanese buffet (salmon salmon salmonella!)
7. Long bar steakhouse Pot Roast at Raffles Hotel
8. HK Cafe East Coast Road
9. Hans on Upp Thomson St (lousy food, favourite place in singapore)
10. Thai Restaurant on Seah St

0. (ultimate) drink teh si hot in a kopitiam off some beaten trail.

Sigh! I am staring at my pizza now. YUCK.

wthhh

2008-12-06T16:43:00.003-05:00

i got top design for fourth year. wtf. i almost didn't even show up.

they said the "idea was so weird" it won.

my tutor told me that they were having a huge debate on it in the morning - when i was in between emo and seh on my bed. auy.

Final review suddenly converged on the notion that schools should possess distinct methodologies. i guess the exchange schemes were really so different. The Dutch designs had 1:20 technical sections (can see air lock cavity all). and my design was probably as un-NUS as it could be. I guess u could tell us apart from american students. Xianghua, the Singaporean in year 5 also won top in level. So apparently Singaporeans have been spoiling market in CMU since the days of Yu Hsien - who is also working in URA now. Xiang Hua is with JTC.

My tutor Hal.

Walked outside into a winter wonderland. Goodbye College of Fine Arts!

Goodbye Hammerschlag Hall!

I have a headache from eating too much snow. why does snow taste sour? its probably polluted right?!

YOU WIN, PERFECT.

2008-12-05T03:45:00.003-05:00

Nick has rebalanced his chi - SHORYUKEN!

Andrea! I found the Harrods' Hamster.

i'm up.

2008-12-05T02:43:00.006-05:00

you can just hear edina of ab fab hovering in the subtext, "rich sparkle diamonds diamonds glamour-shot, skyline, pan, pan, tableau, dramatic city shot, give-me-gorgeous, construction worker, sparkle sparkle aaaand next shot, next shot darling."

or you could just be hearing the soundtrack to new asia bar.

isn't it amusing how 'city views' begins with a shot of shanghai completely choking in smog?

i must be an urban planner.

at crit today,

"this project is so humanistic and everything is woven in with so much grace."

but also,

"oh my god i can't believe you're recreating 9/11. do you realise what you've just done?!"

ah.

nick meets abrasive critic from new york, noo yawk dammit. they loved it and hated it.

3 years ago i got stage fright talking to a british drama teacher in school. today i argued with a bona fide architectnista from new york. if people just aren't going to cut you slack, you can stare them down (when you're already up) and be all like, "so?". and they will love you for it. hell yea.

severe disorientation.

2008-12-04T22:44:00.003-05:00

when i go home and sit under the coconut trees, what will things that happened abroad mean anymore.

why leave in search of dreams while reality changes beyond recognition back home.

my reservoirs and upp thomson kopitiam will not be the same.

i will have to find my way around again.

4 months of being with new people only reveals the same old me to myself.

i miss home.

but i want to run away from singapore.

maybe i just want an island somewhere. destress. destress. destress.

woobok, john and i gonna drive to new york as early as tuesday i hope.

whats that - a hint of excitement?

no lah, just some confused hormone.

wasey i have never been so confused before.

come back i show you my american accent.

4 months of work

2008-12-04T22:17:00.005-05:00

My panels today

model

kitchen

scheme got selected for exhibition.

meaning i have to present to the whole school on saturday.

sigh.

not looking forward to new york.

miss home like mad.

just wanna sleep in my own bed and wake up from this dream.

feels like a half life.

my routine so f***ed up.

dunno when i'm hungry or tired anymore.

cut myself this morning.

my blood felt like tears.

hello, vitamin d supplement? someone get me some prozac. i need antidepressants.

2008-12-02T22:37:00.002-05:00

RIP uncle hansong.

the funeral will be same day as my crit.

i'm sorry i didn't get to say goodbye.

2008-12-01T19:13:00.003-05:00

walking in the cold at night is always difficult. no amount of protection can shield you from the arctic winds. (i'm serious, that's where they're coming from). and the skies are the dark red of impending storms. (well, thats just the colour of snow clouds in this country).

you look up and the skies are boiling.

but then it suddenly starts to snow.

standing on the kerb i saw snow flakes rippling off the asphalt. that was when i noticed that they had christmas lights in the trees.

sometimes so much shit happens that they become irrelevant to the mere act of observing.

and breathing. and being alive.

and i already have my panels. what could possibly go wrong?

stupid shows

2008-12-01T00:08:00.004-05:00

one year ago pek shuxian jiayi and yanghan and i* designed this. it went to london and Opera Magazine said, "the best Barbiere I have ever seen".

now that i'm in America, i wish i never saw this.

after submission, i'm going to new york, and then to tokyo. i don't want to come home.

*because jia scold me

excited

2008-11-24T17:39:00.002-05:00

panel mock ups today.

ok i didn't sleep last night. time for a nice nap.

ALRIIIIGGGHTTT

2008-11-24T00:34:00.002-05:00

Singaporeans are turning more awesome by the day...

woah look at the auntie in black going for those hits!

bus 88! must be 2 of my lao3 xiang1 nehburhoot aunties, or amk vs bishan!

lol at the english translation commentary going on towards the end.

World city yet? I think so!!!

oh. my. god.

2008-11-22T17:14:00.001-05:00

the palm has exploded in dubai.

sci fi singapore

2008-11-22T12:29:00.003-05:00

lolololololol

i dreamt of Singapore! Sci fi singapore! I was standing on the opposite shore (dunno where), it was night, and the Singapore was on an island like HK! With mountains behind it! And there were 3 Bank of Chinas behind Singapore skyline!

And then as my friends drove me away we had to go up road and over the mountain tops and down to Orchard road.

i don't plan to have these dreams.

but i think they mean something.

pet parrots are cooool

2008-11-22T02:02:00.000-05:00

hamster can't do this lei

why isn't it over.

2008-11-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

if they hadn't pushed this back...

i'd be in new york now.

Photoshop CS 5

2008-11-19T14:34:00.003-05:00

Studio madness: my nerves are too frayed to be doing work. This is what my photoshop looks like now.

.
.
.

10 hours later:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i need a holiday.

TOKYOOO

2008-11-18T03:13:00.003-05:00

Is this the best year EVER or what?!

Jan 08 - Hong Kong: HK-SZ Architecture / Urbanism Biennale
Sep 08 - NYC design field trip
Jan 09 - Tokyo design field trip.

I will be transfering from New York to Tokyo after new year's eve! This means i'll only be back in Singapore on the 11th of Jan, but... TOKYO!!!!

How is this not being staged in SG

2008-11-18T01:33:00.001-05:00

the guan yin skit near the end is the best

jc days flashback

2008-11-16T18:42:00.003-05:00

what with everyone's post submission/exam high back home infecting me across cyberspace i am now caught up in a jc times holiday mood. cos of imeeming that kylie minogue song out of nowhere alvin, i am reminded of my reckless youth 7 years ago.

remember? remember? after cca meetings then stay back in school until 9pm and then go to coro drink bubble tea and take bus go home pass by lornie road.

crap man! i miss those days!

we're never living in the moment until those moments are over.

its still good being a student.

sydneylicious

2008-11-16T13:20:00.002-05:00

sydneylicious so delicious she make the rest look local.

The new $2.5bil Barangaroo waterfront development reiterates a common vision shared by asia pacific cities par excellence: Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and perhaps soon Shanghai, are going for waterfront gardens now that they've got waterfront skylines, waterfront promenades, waterfront cultural centers... each bigger than the rest. one waits with bated breath to see what latest accessory will be touted in their inimical quest for differentiation. Or maybe they don't want to be different, not until the title of second financial center after Tokyo is clearly in their hands.

my president

2008-11-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

more dreams

2008-11-15T14:53:00.003-05:00

last night i had another one of my recurring dreams. this one was about the hdb houses i've stayed in (in dream land).

So, there're all these different estates i got to live in, with different kinds of houses. they're all hdb. and there was one wonderful one i'll always wish i could go back to. wonderful because it had a good view.

strangely enough i can't recall what that view was. i'm sure there was some good urban vista or nice forest view. but i do know that nothing else after that, not even the nicest villas, could compare to that house we left behind.

one of those subsequent houses had the eeriest, shadowiest kitchen i'd ever seen. it was horrible because that's where my mum will be. its going to be really important to me that my mum and sis have nice parts of the house when i get my house. cos they're always at home.

anyway, back to that special special place, i think there was a beach, there was sunshine, and there was a beautiful progression of spaces leading up to the house.

hum. i have to say my home in amk is pretty awesome already. its near the reservoirs, and from my window you are overlooking the northern half of singapore with its forests and the distant ports in malaysia.

this comes as houses are burning down in the CA forest fires.

what might have been 2 - ferris wheel

2008-11-14T20:32:00.001-05:00

Alsop Architects. New ferris wheel concept. Now called the Shanghai Kiss.

We got. Singapore Flyer.

what might have been 1 - stadiums

2008-11-14T14:51:00.001-05:00

Alpine Consortium: beaches around kallang bay, observation tower, psychadelic facade and lighting schemes:

too bad alpine didn't win.

the zaha strikes!

2008-11-14T06:37:00.003-05:00

"Mobile buildings and museums could adorn the cities of the future, renowned architect Zaha Hadid said during the launch of her latest project in Hong Kong -- a nomadic, UFO-shaped art pavilion.

The curved, fluid creation by Hadid was assembled in Hong Kong on the first leg of a two-year global promotional tour for contemporary art inspired by luxury goods brand Chanel.

"I really believe in the idea of the future," said Iraqi-born Hadid, known for her futuristic designs.

"The idea of temporary or mobile pieces could be a way of regenerating the city in an interesting way through architecture," she told reporters in Hong Kong."

how far would mobile accessories contribute to city regeneration? how would we prevent it from becoming a bidding game? like the olympics? what if we used architecture as a weapon? contributing more to city degeneration by denial than promoting actual changes in cities who want change?

a zaha is like jewellery though. which pompous arrogant bastard of a city wouldn't want to have his or her own piece of zaha? oh zaha! you are babylon personified!

lol. Most famous Singaporean ever.

2008-11-12T18:51:00.007-05:00

"On Aug 26, 2008, Gong Li was reported to miss a Singapore citizenship ceremony, where new Singapore citizens collect their new identification cards and formally become Singaporeans. A seat was labeled "Gong Li" but it was vacated during the whole ceremony. Due to confidentiality, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore was unable to confirm the identity of the person who was assigned to the seat [15]. On Nov 10, 2008, Gong Li attended a citizenship ceremony held at Teck Ghee Community Club and received her Singapore citizenship certificate from Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah. It was also confirmed that she applied for Singapore citizenship in 2008 and absent from the citizenship ceremony earlier in August 2008"

TECK GHEE CC! Wah lao eh! Now Gong li's neighbourhood club! Can u imagine Gong Li signing up for Line Dancing, Malacca excursion and Nyonya Kueh courses? And then all the other aunties will talk shit behind her back for being a xiao long nu!

"巩俐也是宏茂桥集选区的居民" Maybe i will see her at the next elections, casting her vote for the PAP! Unless SDA returns to contest.

So did Xiao Long Nu i mean Gong Li take cab or bus to Teck Ghee CC? Cab fare so ex these days. I bet all the aunties kept talking shit about her for rolling her eyes and beijing mandarin at them. I think Gong Li needs to make friends with Li Jiawei, or Quan Yifeng and form self help group. I confirm David Gan already got Gong Li on speed dial, but he will still style Zhang Ziyi's hair at the oscars. Zoe Tay and Fann Wong need new stylist liao!

EDIT:
"Hairstylist David Gan, a good friend of the actress, confirmed that she had applied for a Singapore passport.

The Sunday Times tried to contact her through him but he said she did not return his call. " ST

Lol.

yea! pride!

2008-11-10T21:16:00.002-05:00

Let's sing along! and ride out the envy! Sing-a-pore... is a better prace than hong kong is...

joe lim!

2008-11-10T13:24:00.001-05:00

i got joe lim! hallo huilian dawn paul vanessa jason kokming yanliang and 2 other ppls i dunno!

i have dreams.

2008-11-09T12:58:00.003-05:00

ya last night i dreamt all of us were finished with submission and deciding what to do and we were about to watch a 12 hour long movie. it was a semi horror movie that was supposed to be really funny. and we were part of the cast.

breathing.

2008-11-08T16:25:00.004-05:00

hell week ended last night at 12.40am in the morning. it was drizzling when i stepped out of baker hall. i was numb when i got home to my apartment, and there was nothing of interest on tv. there was, finally, echoing silence as i sat against the solitary light of my worktable. i flipped the calendar another month ahead, 7 days late into november; and then i could count 8 remaining weeks left in america.

last night i dreamed of checking into a hotel in hong kong late at night. it wasn't hong kong as it is recognisable today; like the tokyo and new york which i have visited in dreams before, i was in a hong kong from a futuristic past. there were alien forms extending into the sky, reaching across the harbour and bridging a black, neon reflecting sea. there was a promenade on mountain top, and a very long walk.

i woke up feeling chills. like brian once told me, dreams are theatres of our subconscious.

JIAYOU

2008-11-07T01:36:00.003-05:00

all my freng back in nus for submission...

or maybe you've already submitted. or maybe its the countdown to the final 4 hours.

after this you can go and be traffic hazards in town again! like have drunken dim sum at sunshine, or hong kong cafe at vivo, or movie marathon until everyone's asleep in the cinema.

see you all soon!

time lapse 1

2008-11-03T15:54:00.003-05:00

in the midst of a million submissions, i am having cold turkey for new york city. words can't describe the experience of going to and leaving that place. i've taken the highway into nyc by night, twice, and i still think its the only way to it.

this one is for you dawn, roadtrip 2009 - LA to NYC!!!

celebrity politicians

2008-11-02T15:48:00.001-05:00

guess who i met in times square over the weekend?????

I LOVE NEW YORRRRKKKKK!!!!

the scared hamster

2008-10-30T21:47:00.002-04:00

HAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA

yes! new york here i come (again)!

obama's 30 min infomercial

2008-10-29T21:41:00.001-04:00

you might cry.

phwoar

2008-10-29T17:49:00.000-04:00

SLEEPY.

2008-10-29T06:39:00.002-04:00

Sigh.

i miss living normally.

George Tsypin

2008-10-27T01:45:00.003-04:00

I was working on my design for Battery Park City when i chanced on a planned carousel project:

surprise surprise!! George Tsypin is designing the carousel fixtures! George is one of the world's most accomplished scenic designers:

and my favourite one for now:

Tolstoy's War and Peace, where Moscow is depicted as a real 3 dimensional burning backdrop.

This is a really good article about Tsypin and how great designers derive signature styles.

I am inspired by how George began as an architect in moscow, and then studied set design in new york university, before doing brilliant designs through out america, to finally debut at broadway with the Little Mermaid. (I. need. to. watch. that.) just goes to show that i shouldn't be such a baby and keep on designing sets! as well as buildings!

interestingly, just on the topic of signature style, what does it say about designers who make distinct aesthetic choices like zaha hadid and klaus gruenberg as opposed to designers who are so undeniably signature but design with wider palettes? i can think of some possible candidates, but they mostly seem to be scenic designers: and tsypin is one.

we welcome IDR with open arms

2008-10-27T00:05:00.001-04:00

what does this all mean? what does this all mean!?!?

another one

2008-10-24T04:05:00.002-04:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

you know how stressed i am to be discovering so many videos whilst agonising over design.

RIP JBJ 1926 - 2008

2008-10-23T18:26:00.001-04:00

I only found out through talkingcock.com

everything you need to know about elections 08

2008-10-22T11:39:00.001-04:00

i'm supposed to be designing!

nick is hopping for joy

2008-10-21T23:24:00.000-04:00

he has heat!

awesomeness

2008-10-21T15:16:00.000-04:00

so, i'm skipping class for this life changing event. try and stop me.

ufo for architects

2008-10-20T15:09:00.004-04:00

hahhahahahhaha! if you have identified this within 1-2 seconds you are a good architect.

to everyone else: this one came out in news when triangle ufo landed in bras basah area and unloaded replacement MM cyborg before transfering back to space.

i go hiking.

2008-10-19T22:34:00.003-04:00

then the ohiopyle park like a scene from hero. almost got ziyizhang.

cocoa and brian! who were the first singaporeans i met in cmu. they have given me stationery, dinner, grapes and invites to the coolest parties in cmu.

spiderman was here!

the countryside was beautiful. yards decked out for halloween. cows grazing in fields. men in white frocks and pitchforks getting ready for halloween. the only problem was someone had come along and stuck signs saying mccain-palin all over people's gardens. now why would people want that?!

i announce my endorsement of barack obama

2008-10-19T13:46:00.003-04:00

now that even colin powell (a republican) has come clean about obama, i feel like it is time that the obama campaign can leverage on my celebrity status to win this election. which is why i, albeit reluctant at first, now publicly endorse obama.

this man has fractured americans!

so my man obama was out at the st louis arch on saturday and damn he made heself look like the blessed martin luther king.

mid sem is OVER!

2008-10-16T01:30:00.010-04:00

what a rush. headrush! we had our mid sem review, lighting exam, lighting project submission all within hours of each other. now i'm slaving over linguistics and urban reports for tomorrow. who said exchange was going to be relaxing?

i had a really great review though:

stuff from the past 2 weeks. another 8 more weeks to go...

i'm in really NEW territory sials. never been so curvy. ok. its really difficult to model these things in 3D. my design is for a museum / liberty ferry service / retail / park hybrid on battery park manhattan. my concept about reinstating immigration imagery and creating infrastructure for bird migration into the city was rather well received. see, americans are really so much more open!

singapore first question will be, bird shit how. bird flu how.

americans seem to be more eager to look at things with broader positive spin offs: ie this could be a system that replicates itself all over the city? (having sky habitats for migratory birds)

a whole new learning environment:

John at crit

Woobok at crit

Amanda at crit

Jeff at crit

na's drawing!!!

na's concept sketch

natale's plan.

natale's model. phonetically u can say, ne-t-elz mo-d-el.

niko at crit. today niko has 4 hair colours.

david at crit

my one, lols.

last last friday night the fifth years invited me to their potluck. i thought it was tara's birthday. she had a really pimp place though.

amanda likes hamming it up for me.

i'm going on a fall hike in the wilderness this sat. so that's going to be in celebration of our ONE DAY mid sem break. nus score 1 : cmu 0 on this one.

whew! i'm beat. nick out.

i got first dibs!

2008-10-12T15:12:00.003-04:00

phwoar sey, who was expecting marina barrage to have such an epic view corridor? props to the guys who designed it, and for keeping it under wraps for so long. got both sides of the skyline, win liao.

unfortunately, the skyline is certainly going to be obscured by the casinos so frengs you better do your photoshoots before we lose this epic moment of place and time.

dong! tertiary guys, better plan entire series of photos before i come back, i come back the casino will be topping off top floor already. no more epic view!

hahaha

2008-10-10T22:44:00.003-04:00

suddenly i'm just sitting in front of my blog and singing along to all my songs on a friday night.

whew, what a week its been. and what a week its gonna be next week: mid sem review, lighting exam, lighting project submission, urban essay due, linguistics paper due.

SIAO.

auy, sometimes i give up editing photos and posting up here cos i get too darned tired. so, tonight is another lazy post.

ya hallo hallo ppls and frengs from singapore. why you all never come and visit me.

ok as u can tell i'm all seh and sleep deprived now.

it must be the rain

2008-10-08T23:46:00.002-04:00

that flies horizontally and soaks your feet as you trudge through landscapes of grey and traffic sounds.

or it might be alvin's song. that tanya chua is a suicide siren.

but i suppose its the fact that i'm finally at the half way point of this exchange period - when the thrill of new experiences have ended and the end is also nowhere in sight.

i came to america to rediscover life. not find more of the same. but i guess you're still stuck with yourself no matter where you go.

anymore nostalgia and i will drown.

SKYSCRAPER WARS!

2008-10-06T17:41:00.004-04:00

I really got into the whole architecture thing because of skyscrapers. In fact i still dream about them. There was this exhibit at the HK-SZ archi biennale that really got me excited because, finally! someone was making a statement about the way chinese cities were looking at each other and saying, hey i'm bigger! i've got more! they're longer!or in as many ways as you can continue the phallic references.

White team: Citic Plaza, GZ + Taipei 101, TP
Black team: Oriental Pearl, SH + Guangzhou TV Tower, GZ

Now mind you, i've been doing this since i was in primary school, and i lived through the first skyscraper wars in the far east: that of Singapore and Hong Kong's in the 80s - 90s (yea singapore had her day in the spotlight before).

OUB Plaza actually drew first blood and was the world's tallest skyscraper outside of America for half a decade. Ah, the heroism of that age - the metabolist experiments and SPUR drawing to a close in Singapore, who were, Rem Koolhas calls it, "in over 3000 years, architecture's first non white avant gardes". Architecture and the skyscraper project are now centered in the far east, but the epicenter has moved away from the city that once dared to dream.

Round 1:
Singapore 0 : Hong Kong 1

Banksy

2008-10-06T00:50:00.003-04:00

Banksy does brilliant grafitti art. he should be offered citizenship in singapore. there's more irony if you re-read that statement.

anyway. fall does have its redeeming moments. like taking that stroll through pittsburgh university park during the evening watching the world turn red gold and violet.

i don't feel like blogging, so here is banksy's grafitti advice for my friends who are potentially law breaking:

"• Think from outside the box.

• Collapse the box and take a fucking sharp knife to it.

• Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access.

• Leave the house before you find something worth staying in for.

• Spray the paint sparingly onto the stencil from a distance of 8 inches.

• Be aware that going on a major mission totally drunk out of your head will result in some truly spectacular artwork and at least one night in the cells.

• When explaining yourself to the Police its worth being as reasonable as possible. Graffiti writers are not real villains. I am always reminded of this by real villains who consider the idea of breaking in someplace, not stealing anything and then leaving behind a painting of your name in four foot high letters the most retarded thing they ever heard of.

• The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don’t go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit."

I have seen truly big cities

2008-09-27T17:34:00.003-04:00

but the moonlight is not the same as what we have at home. Cliche? yes. Bored and nostalgic? yes.

I MISS EVERYONE. a bit.

Btw, Fann Wong sux, switch off her voice and listen to Mavis Hee's version in my imeem. but the setting is epic, huh? Sometimes, you have to imagine your best memories of Singapore.

mmm

2008-09-24T23:48:00.001-04:00

i'm hungry. i think i will go downstairs for hokkie- SHIT! cannot.

i wanna be a street fighter

2008-09-23T00:25:00.003-04:00

and kick architecture's ass!

sf3 third strike is the absolute best one in the series. conclu?!

Where time takes us in life

2008-09-22T02:39:00.002-04:00

sigh. i'm in america studying architecture now, and i intend to return here or go to europe next year for my masters. i suppose this means that i will become an architect, which is not to say that i do not view this prospect favourably, or have any qualms about such a time consuming lifestyle.

i just went to new york, and the culture there is so strong and compelling it inspires me to be involved in a world of buildings. static yet experiential, arduously conceived, sustained in spite of its long drawn processes... reaching beyond time to craft spaces.

and yet i think i feel some regret that i shall not be applying to work for Stufish, learning to become art director with the team that did the beijing olympics, cirque du soleil, the superbowl, etc. it was like terminating that thread of exploration in the world of theatre. what would have been a natural progression, another simple yes, in that email felt like a kind of set up for disappointment, a trap i set 3 years ago.

sorry wendi, you've moved on in show business, i don't think i can come back until a long long time yet.

Brooklyn Bridge

2008-09-21T01:32:00.002-04:00

New York appeared on the horizon like a midnight mirage. We arrived on the coast of Jersey after dark, and scenes from a million movies streamed into view: the skyline by night, the full moon cresting over clouds, the statue of liberty a ghostly glow, an impossible detail in the vision before me. The freeway was elevated over the urban grid, bringing elements of the city within swimmer's range. A refinery decked like a christmas tree floated past and we were suddenly submerged into the Holland Tunnel. We reemerged on Manhattan's edge drowned in the splendour of the moment.

i went to new york

2008-09-20T23:36:00.007-04:00

and now i wonder if it was all a dream.

Annie in the front seat.

Roadtrip. Nico John Woobok and me.

Nico. On the Brooklyn Bridge, the most amazing urban gallery i've been to so far (HK doesn't come close you know).

Pier A. And that's Niko Triulzi. There are 3 Nicks in my studio.

Our design context.

John Hsu. Lifting up the model we saw at Battery Park City Authority.

My studio.

Someone realised his lifelong dream. and realised how exaggerated the scale of liberty statue had become in his imagination.

Natale Cozzolongo looks on and Andrew Werner hams it up with the divine Amanda Marge.

The Waterfalls!!!

In this picture: The Empire State, The Met Life, Niko; we are standing outside SANAA's New Museum of Contemporary Art, which was too nondescript to photograph.

Karaoke in K(orea) Town. There are parts of town where English and common sense disappear. Amanda, Andrew, David (Eskenazi) and Natale.

Random hugging, people!

Nick togs Louix Vuitton (courtesy of Na) against the Chrysler Building. Which got overexposed by the BLING!

THERE IT IS!

Wall Street, a day after the crash! no, no crying traders anywhere.

Our tutor Hal Hayes gives an exclusive opinion on the architecture of MoMA. I mean, how much more epic can it get?

Everybody wants to flip their bird in Times Square.

Woobok and John Hsu rock their ride!

On the roof with Woobok at Nico's house.

We have the solution to your troubles.

2008-09-16T16:16:00.006-04:00

Actually wouldn't the problem just go away if Alaska was still Russian.

But its not! So America will get a Peter Griffin for president.

evening

2008-09-16T01:09:00.002-04:00

the weather is getting cold but its still manageable in typical singapore wear. i still walk around in slippers. evenings in campus are visual treats, our studio opens onto the roofdeck of the theatre and concert hall, and we get a view of Hammerschlag and the Cathedral against sunset.

its really starting to feel like home.

New York City on wednesday. i'll see you when i get back.

its a wee wet this morning.

2008-09-14T02:49:00.002-04:00

Sep 10

Sep 12

Sep 14

Its vaguely cool being able to can say the rain i got today was a cat 5 hurricane yesterday. but not like this was any fun for the people stuck down south. that's the third big hurricane america has gone through in the recent months. anyone still voting to drill in Alaska for more climate change in their own backyards?

in case you all get wrong idea

2008-09-13T02:34:00.003-04:00

the food here is disgusting, i am losing weight. so come home dun expect fatness. phatness maybe (as always).

i eat subway 3 X a day. its better than eating in campus. today i bought a bowl of steamed brocolli and microwaved pasta in cheese sauce for... USD$7.95.

Gong xi fa cai! knnbccbwtfomg! you in my shoes you will also rather go hungry than buy nonsense for food. Why is the nearest decent chinese take out 20min away by foot?! why have i already eaten EVERYTHING in the chinese menu.

anyone on to less whiny things, i'm going to nyc next wed. keep ya'll posted (yea thats how we say long zong in american).

Amusing things

2008-09-11T00:44:00.000-04:00

If Domokun were alive i'd be his best friend.

Let me tell you about baby parties

2008-09-08T22:09:00.003-04:00

On Saturday we had a underground singapore student union party in an out-of-town rendezvous location called woodbridge. it was so out of town it was like going to jb, except the streets were not lit and its not so much a town as it is forest. there, we realised that we were strong in numbers and could probably take out the administrative structure of Pittsburgh if needed to and stake out until the SAF arrived and claimed West Pennsylvania for Singapore.

Anyway, there are so many singaporeans in cmu that viable offspring have been conceived. ok la, they're mostly kids who have studying parents. but i have never really touched babies until then, and i've decided that they're somewhat like hamsters. except they've been brainwashed by thomas the train and spake "sodor line cabooze" before learning "mum" and "dad".

this is my best friend joshua.

what did i tell you about hamsters?

joshua and ethan.

joshua knows how to climb up the stairs like sadako, ethan knows how to scream as he slides down the stairs convincingly enough to make you think he's actually hurt.

Mingwei

Cocoa, who was the first singaporean i met in pittsburgh!

Ya, as you can see there are many singaporeans here so don't worry about me getting lonely cos god knows i meet more of our kind here than back home on a daily basis.

sunday night = reminiscence night = why is it monday agaaainnn

2008-09-08T01:39:00.002-04:00

aiya, dawn its your fault. what $1.20 ice kachang and cheap eats nasi lemak. i eat gross things here for like US$5 a slop (nothing else cheaper exists ok, and to think inflation hasn't really hit america yet). thinking of my downstairs wet market (that burned down and exploded in full view from my toilet in december) and its savoury offers makes me freaking sad.

2 weeks ago i was boating in lake erie.
3 weeks ago i was celebrating xuda's surprise bday at mt emily.
4 weeks ago i was cycling in bishan park.
5 weeks ago i was floating in the indian ocean with octopus and piperfish friends.
6 weeks ago i was corporate slave taking the commute to tanjong pagar at 9 in the morning.

aiya,
in 2 weeks i will be site surveying in new york city.
in 4 weeks i will be having exams.
in 8 weeks i will be having more exams.
in 12 weeks i will be having submissions.
in 16 weeks i will be in new york city.
in 18 weeks i will see you all again (and eat $2 ice kachangs and hokkien mee)

Dawn have you tried the famous hokkien mee in our market?! the side facing presby, the further one (i think use blue plastic bag). it is (as mollom will put it) mother-good.

i want to sit at home and eats my haagen daaz and watch my taiwan dvds. i miss my view of the reservoirs, pasir gudang port, lower seletar, yishun, castle green and sunset. i want to eat supper with the tertiary boys. i want to make fun of daniel. i want to complain to my mom. i want to go home.

Quotes about my new home!

2008-09-06T13:53:00.002-04:00

“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.” Oscar Wilde

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.” Winston Churchill

“Americans have different ways of saying things. They say "elevator", we say "lift"... they say "President", we say "stupid psychopathic git.” Alexei Sayle

“Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages” Dave Barry

“America is a mistake, a giant mistake.” Sigmund Freud

“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.” Anon

de-zoi-ners...

2008-09-06T02:33:00.002-04:00

wow, everything you see about america is true, they issue exercises like project runway challenges. this is the first concept - product design i've done in, like, 12 hours!

Inserting a tourism pathway into the world's biggest aluminium parts factory.

Can't believe i learned photorealistic rendering in 3 hours. Pek dun compare this is my first time!

And i have inflicted Americans here with the Sketch up envy! Sketchuppers power!

I hate to say this, but i'm beginning to feel like this place is becoming more and more like singapore. we're everywhere! in fact, i'm meeting more singaporeans than i would back home on a daily basis. undergrad supper, cell group, sg union dinner, potluck, family excursions... more segments of society than i care about back home!

i fat meh

2008-09-02T00:22:00.003-04:00

robin scold me say put more pictures of me here. its just odd cos i haven really friend ppls enough to pai2 zao1 (ma-lai-xi-ya accent) so i take my own photo sials.

you're right. i am fat. got the folds and the infolds and the overfolds of skin already. woohoo!

anyway, the linguistic challenges i have faced here deserve a mention. they consist mainly of everyday reflex vernacular that i, a hokkien beng, am not equipped to comprehend and respond to.

"hihowdydoandhowmayiserveyou"
(counting change at the cashier) "huh?"

"Whatsup?"
"... er i dunno."

"Thereyougoandyouhaveaniceone"
"... have a nice what?!"

See, in Singaporeland, most people go only as far as,

"Ah.(whatyouwant)"

Anyway, just because i presume you know me well enough and will be vaguely comforted by random bits of news about me, there was a fire alarm just now and there was smoke on the second floor and i was honestly hoping that something will at least aggravate my hundred year old apartment (and make my rent worthwhile) but nothing did. looks like the students valued their debt saddled lives whilst the actual residents didn't even bother looking out their windows to behold - alas - barefooted kids in the carpark wondering if they over reacted.

heart in bishan park ass in pittsburgh chair

2008-08-31T00:42:00.004-04:00

i may be in pittsburgh, but memories are returning me to regular haunts in singapore.

taken last last sunday.

homesickness is also when u want to go downstairs for iced milo ta pao but can't.