801号房. . .内心深处的心声

New Year’s Eve is December 31, the final day of the Gregorian year, and the day before New Year’s Day.

New Year’s Eve is a separate observance from the observance of New Year’s Day. In 21st-century Western practice, the celebration involves partying until the moment of the transition of the year at midnight. Drinking champagne is also a major part of the festivities.

Within many cultures the use of fireworks and other noise making is a major part of the celebration in cities such as Berlin, New York City, Sydney, London, Edinburgh, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Singapore and Tokyo.

We have all been through the highs and lows of 2006. We have witnessed many calamities, political furore and fiscal ups and downs. Many of us would have thought that at least for the last few days at least on Boxing Day would be a peaceful one. As 2 years back we have witnessed how the Asia Tsunami had caused devastating damages to our mother earth and had done damages to the physiological well being of the saviours of that tragedy.

2006, for me is a good one, and though there are some bad times and some downs for me. I choose to walk through them and brave through them. I believe that when there’s a will, there’s a way. I choose to walk them and choose to grow mature with these experiences.

Now, we have come to an end of 2006, I believe that some of us would sit down and slowly reflect on what we have done for the past of 2006. We would then try not to repeat these mistakes again.

Here are a few wishes and thanks I had for those I know and cherish:

Joey, stay the way you are! Work harder for 2007 and play even harder than 2006! Stay healthy! Thank you for short circuit self in studio, the world is a quiet place without you around! Say hi to you boys for me ya!

Christine, stay healthy and eat more always! Thank you for taking care of Joey and me in studio and out there!

Mandy, Happy New Year to you!

J, take care of yourself, thank you for your time and encouragement through this year! I enjoyed my time with you, truly.

Y, thank you, love you the most, thank you! Love the way you are! You are so cute and so lovely! Mucks!

L, you too! Mucks!

I, take care, be strong, and don’t let anyone have a chance to take on you! Remember, I will always be there for you if you need me. I will get all the gals to help you out if anyone ever laid a finger on you!

JS, KN, SL, KC, HY, take you for your patience and time to coach us!

Steven Choy, stay healthy and cheerful always! Thank you for your advice and looking forward for your return to Singapore.

Clement, thanks for your care and guidance. You are always there when I need help. Wishing you and Lynn a year ahead . . .

Rachael, stay cute and cheerful ya! Thanks to faith that we have a chance to work in 2005 and we have a chance to know each other.

Tracy, stay gorgeous and elegant always! Nice to have you as a friend!

Rachael Lim, thanks for your company when I need one! Mucks! Lots of love!

Michelle, it’s nice that we meet! And thanks for all the advice and help when I need one!

BAID (Hons) Cohort 4, best wishes to you all and all the best in your future endeavours.

Just to name a few, the list gets too long . . . and will never end!

May I take this opportunity to wish all bloggers out there a wonderful 2007 ahead and may all your wishes come true and may the world be a better place for living without those wars, natural disasters.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New to all! May your 2007 be a good one!

Usually during December or early January, almost every one of us is minted up by a fanatical wish to map out a wonderful New Year ahead of us! We arrange for vacations, and we envisage that any goal can be achieved. Just like what Joey told me, she wanted to complete all her out-standing assignments before 2007. And that is part of her 2006 resolution, the last one that she made.

We eagerly make New Year’s Resolutions and set our biggest and smallest goals ever! I hope its not small to that extend that would hamper your desire and will to achieve what you want. It’s a perfect time to reflect on the changes we want to or need to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

Resolutions if carried out successfully not only act as short-term goals to achievement but also help in enhance life and conquer that dependency, which we ourselves abhorred.

The untoward authenticity, of course, is that for most people the year goes by with little or no change. We do our jobs and live our lives, but our dreams don’t come true. That sucks right! Knowing that you have planned and work hard for it and yet none came true!

Like Joey wanted to be a Tai-Tai and princess at the same time. In which the latter was realised. She was the princess in my studio, and the one that Christine and I protect and adore. Christine, she always wanted to be a good mum, which she did! She’s our beloved Queen in our studio. As for me, sigh, I wish I have the ability to eat as much wonderful gourmet and keep my shape the way I want. Nope, I doubt so, not for the latter at least for the moment.

Some things do change, but life doesn’t seem all that different. Not really. Not like we hoped. The tradition of taking a resolution at New Year and fulfil it in the coming year, dates back to the early Babylonians. The Babylonians believed that what a person does on the first day of the New Year will affect him or her throughout the year. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment. New Year’s Resolutions offer the first of many important tools for remaking ourselves.

The New Year is a good time to make resolutions but what is the point of resolutions if we can’t keep them? Here are some tippers that can me hope it’s useful to you, at least I hope.

TIPS FOR NEW YEAR RESOLUTION

REVIEW YOUR LAST YEAR’S RESOLUTION.
Have you succeeded, if not, why you failed. Examine it and if necessary keep the same resolution this year too.

SET YOUR GOALS
Maintain a core focus. Be clear if you really want the change. Don’t flow along with the trend.

DON‘T LET THE CUP SPILL OVER
Do not create too many resolutions at a time. They may distract you. Go with one at a time.

LET IT BE FOR A YEAR NOT A DAY
New Year is the time to plan for the entire year. Let the resolution not be something for which you need just couple of days.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRICE, AND DECIDE TO PAY
Any worthwhile human achievement requires sacrifice, risk, effort and perseverance. Of course it does! This is how life works! And, you must pay the full price in advance! Be accountable to some one in case you don’t follow your resolution seriously.

REMINDERS
sometimes it’s easy to forget the resolution after the New Year euphoria passes away, and one is tempted to postpone the resolution to the next year. Plan to remind yourself of it throughout the year. Make a mention of it in the diary, online reminders or if required inform people close to you about your resolution.

STRENGTHS, WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS
Enhance your strengths, act against your weakness, see what and how you can utilize the opportunities for the year and see if you have to prepare yourself against any threats.

PAMPER YOURSELF
Keep a gift for yourself wrapped beautifully and gift it to yourself if you accomplish your resolution at the end of the year.

TOP FIVE NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS:

I will take a good care of my health and will be fit the whole year.

I will enjoy my life more, be optimistic and happy.

I will be more helpful to others and spend some part of my earnings in charity.

I will be organized and disciplined. I will go early to bed and also wake up early.

I will spend more fruitful time with my family and good friends and will make every effort to make them happy.

SOME OTHER NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS YOU WILL LOVE:

To trim down having fast or junk food and stick to food having good nutrients.

To mark at least one day a month as “Buy Nothing Day” .

To keep my vehicles pollution free so that you do not be in those ruining the environment.

To quit smoking and drinking as by this you wreck your own body.

Hope these helps!

Have lunch at Dian Xiao Er with J a while ago. Love the settings, but prefer it if we have time in the evening, as the restaurant overlooks the island of Sentosa. Should be lovely to look at when its nightfall.

We ordered fried rice with seafood in XO sauce, house special Xiao Er bean curd, and broccoli with braised scallops. Thought of going for their famous roast duck, but we are full. Too bad, but don’t care we will go there again and have it another time.

Actually wanted to try another restaurant called the white, red and pure, pardon me if I got the name wrong. Joey knows which one I’m talking about, we saw it yesterday.

And sigh . . . should have order the duck, because, UOB card holder will get to enjoy a 10% discount on a single bill of $50.00!

Joey, shall we try it on next Thursday after meeting Peter?

Entrance of Page One. . . (I feel in love with one retail shop front selling lingerie)
Vivo again, I need to make a trip down to lay my hand on a book on Toyo Ito’s Mediatheque. Been searching high and low for this book, as the rest of the publications on Toyo Ito’s work do not show much of the Mediatheque.

  Sleeves . . .

The shelves,  maybe one of these days, would do a critical design analysis on the spatial organisations of Page One

Therefore, I decided to make a trip down to Vivo Page One instead, knowing that there are only 2 copies on the shelves. Once sold out, I might need to wait for another month or even longer, as it’s not brought in by a local publisher. It’s an overseas publisher. It’s not worth the wait, so I told myself might as well grab one now.

Toyo Ito’s Sendai Mediatheque

Happy that I got it! The next thing on my mind now is; there isn’t much space left on my book shelf now. It’s all stacked up with books, journals, codes and regulations, files, reference books.

Need to find a way to keep all my books, and there are still quite a few in studio and I don’t have a clue how to pack them into my shelf now. . .

There that’s her with Peter!

She still looks good without makeup!

Peter in the most relax mode we ever saw!

Auntie, Auntie Joey came to studio today! Auntie Joey text me this morning, pleading to me not to laugh at her face. Har! Nothing new about it though, Christine and I saw it before. But the moment, she stepped into studio, I tried to hide my laughter. I rose up and walked to the switches, hoping that I can have a close look at her unfinished face! Hahahaha!!!! Yes! I did it! It’s not bad after all! My gosh, you should look at her face! Joey’s face looks so good even without make-up! Looks clean, pimple-less! No flaws! Maybe it’s biotherm that works wonder on her face! Joey, please. . . hahaha! Ok. . .ok! Yes . . . You . . . .You . . . .You…You! You are so gonna die! Hahaha…I feel good . . .I feel so good after hearing those words! Yeah, that’s her alright! J O E Y!

Really, miss Christine! Big Sister, really miss your voice, love to see the blur side of you! Ha! Andy. . .You are so gonna treat her CHICKEN RICE when she’s back! Ha!

We went to Vivo right after Peter leave. We went to look for books. On our way there, opps . . . the bloody stupid Mobile TV show the encore telecast of the food variety show hosted by Michelle Chia and Gurmit Singh. BEEF NOODLES! Watching Gurmit down that mouth full of beef, simply make the 2 of us . . . drool! We look at each other! Gosh! You should and got to take an image of us if you are on that bus! Hahaha!

“What’s on your mind?” “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “Are we there yet?” These are the stuffs that we asked each other!

Vooom…..Flash! We dashed to the food court looking for BEEF NOODLE! Sad! So stupid! Not a single sight of Beef Noodle in sight! Such a huge food court and no beef noodle in sight! So sad! We settled for veg rice and pig organ soup. My pig organ soup sucks! And I do agree with Setoh, the one who hosted Makan Sutra. 90% of Singapore hawkers’ food sucks! They just care of making money not on cooking nice food! That’s true! Singapore food court’s food seldom impresses me though!

Entrance of Pet Safari

Look at her, she’s so cute! Just 3 months old!

Another cute pup, and she’s just 3 months old!

She’s our white husky with blue eyes and she’s cute . . .!

She’s taking her nap. . . isn’t she’s cute!

We went to book Jo’s appointment, went to do some window shopping, then we went to Pet Safari on level 3 next to Daiso! So cool! It’s a white husky! So cute . . . just felt like buying her home! It’s only 4 months old and it cost $2380.00. Hm . . . look on, saw my favourite shiztsuhu (hope I got my spell right) and my favourite toy poodle. Ha! They are all so cute!

Sigh. . . I never got my books! Joey did! And we spent at The FACE SHOP, and bought some stuffs there!

It’s raining . . . decided to head home for an early day . . . meeting Peter next Thursday again!

Cakes from childhood days, yummy! Have not been having a chance to visit my childhood confectionary for a long time, so my sister and mum decided to went back there and help me get some cakes.

Actually, they are a few blocks away from Beach Road, so they thought no harm helping me get it, as I was too lazy to move around, especially in such a cool weather, it’s nice to stay at home. Actually, I did go out, just to collect my N3230. Sad to say, it’s beyond repair, as my phone’s mother board is on the verge of killing itself. So, well I guess I will just bear with it. I’m thinking of getting a new Samsung phone in the middle of next year, or maybe I’ll stick back to my faithful Nokia.

Some of the varieties that my sister bought

One of my most favour! And I still love it

Look at the layers! It’s not a clear shot though

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The cake box! Now it changes design, I love the old design, sierra background and brown characters. . .

Zoom up of it . . .

Oh yes, back to the cakes! Those cakes are so yummy. There are at least 4 layers apart from the top layer. The bottom layer is soft and firm, the middle layer is just a thin smooth layer of cream, finish it off with another layer of thin liner of cake sponge. Lastly the final layer of cake sponge. Lastly the most important layer, the top part! The cream, though it’s simple, but it’s rich and not creamy. The cream’s texture is smooth, easy with your throat.

Of course, it has some difference with the one I had at Bakerzin a month before. This might be the heartlands version of Bakerzin. The population around Beach Road area are mainly old folks; few young families actually choose to reside there. There are a few 1 room HDB blocks. At least about 4 point blocks and at least 2 blocks of private apartments. The famous Fatimah Mosque and the famous Golden Mile market are just within reach. Sometimes, I would take a stroll down that area, as I spent most parts of my childhood days at Beach Room, staying at my granny’s home. Still remember the famous Liu Hong Mei’s murder case? Well, the beach is just within reach. The area is also famous for “Little Thailand”. It’s just behind the Nicoll Highway, which Singapore saw it’s most horrible construction incident.

Hm . . . I guess I will take a walk down that Beach Road again, hopefully I can find the back lane barber, which I used to have my hair cut and yes maybe try to spot the Wayang stage where my mum or granny would bring my sister and I to purchase hot steamy fried oyster, or Wu Xiang Mee Fen. . .

Oh ya, Happy New Year to all!

2 years on and we remembered . . . On 26^th December 2004, huge killer waves struck the Indian Ocean nations leaving approximately over 290,000 dead and few millions homeless. An earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia’s Aceh province while the majority of the population were still in their bed. Many were either drowned or swept away in their sleep. The huge waves caught everyone by surprise. The waves travelled in deadly speed and precision which struck Thailand, Malaysia, and Maldives, and even as far as South Africa.

Tsunami caught every nation by surprise, while everyone still in the mood of Christmas celebration and not knowing that at the other part of the world is experiencing huge nature calamities that claim lives and causes severe damages to properties and economies. Though rescues efforts from neighbouring nations and international relief and rescues operations sprung right into actions, 2 years on and the re-construction efforts are slow.

Many in Aceh province, the worst hit area of the December 26^th Asia Tsunami, are still left homeless, many are still living without proper living shelters. Such situations have left many countries to wonder is the local government capable of things in such big scale. As many had known that Indonesia’s government has been worn down by corruptions and political turmoil, and weak economy, such internal problems might or simply has hampered their re-construction efforts.

2 years on, and the tsunami hit Aceh, is now at the mercy of yet another nature calamity. Localised rain had poured onto many South East Asia countries causing flash floods in Singapore, massive flooding in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.

Aceh and Indonesia for the past 2 years have been experiencing many earthquakes, landslides (which buried the entire village), volcano eruptions and now flood. To many, Indonesia seems to be a nation that is bearing all the impact of nature’s behaviour. So as to say, a living hell in this part of ASEAN countries.

The list of fatalities (tourists and locals), which includes those missing, of the December 26, 2004 North Sumatra tsunami (as for March 1, 2005)

Citizens of 55 countries were killed by tsunami resulted from the December 26, 2004 North Sumatra earthquake. The destructive waves affected more than 5 million people, including more than a million homeless.

All we can do now is to pray for these poor souls, who lost their lives, pray for those missing, even-though many still believe that they are still “alive”.

Merry Christmas to all and May all sentient beings be merry and happy.

Watched . . . .

The Holiday

Cameron Diaz stars as an American tourist who finds solace from her boyfriend trouble when she befriends a similarly afflicted Englishwoman (Kate Winslet) while on vacation in this bubbly romantic comedy written and directed by Nancy Meyers (WHAT WOMEN WANT, SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE).

And yet to be watched . . .

Flags of Our Fathers

It is the most memorable photograph of World War II, among the greatest pictures ever taken. The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for photography and one of the most-reproduced images in the history of photography, the picture has inspired postage stamps, posters, the covers of countless magazines and newspapers, and even the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

“Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” a picture taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945 depicts five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi. The image served as a counterpoint for one of the most vicious battles of the war: the fight to take Iwo Jima, a desolate island of black sand barely eight square miles that would prove a tipping point in the Pacific campaign. Lasting more than a month, the fight was a bloody, drawn-out conflict that might have turned the American public against the war entirely, had it not been for the photo, which was taken and published five days into the battle. The photograph made heroes of the men in the picture as the three surviving flag-raisers were returned to the U.S. and made into props in the government’s Seventh War Bond Tour. Uncomfortable with their new celebrity, the flag-raisers considered the real heroes to be the men who died on Iwo Jima; still, the American public held them up as the best America had to offer, the supermen who conquered the Japanese…

…and then, just as quickly as it had arrived, the glory faded. For two of the surviving flag-raisers, life became a series of compromises and disappointments; for the third, happiness came only by shutting off his war experiences and rarely speaking of them ever again. “Flags of Our Fathers” is a human drama of friendship and love, sacrifice and manipulation, set against the violent conflict of the battle of Iwo Jima. Two-time Academy Award®-winning director Clint Eastwood focuses equally on the war and home, crosscutting between the viciousness of the battle and the manufactured propaganda campaign and careful manipulation of the image that followed – issues that remain prevalent today. As “Flags of Our Fathers” shows how the photograph became the very beginning of celebrity worship, the film questions our need to create and celebrate heroes, sometimes at a cost.

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Curse of the Golden Flower

China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The EMPEROR (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, PRINCE JAI (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing EMPRESS (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous.

For many years, the Empress and CROWN PRINCE WAN (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love CHAN (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor’s daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress’s health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path?

The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the IMPERIAL DOCTOR (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor’s family from the Palace to a remote area. While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, JIANG SHI (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises.

Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Who is behind this brutal rebellion? Where do Prince Jai’s loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.

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Déjà Vu

Everyone has experienced the unsettling mystery of déjà vu – that flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you’ve known all your life or recognize a place even though you’ve never been there before. But what if the feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to the future? In the captivating new action-thriller from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott, written by Terry Rossio & Bill Marsilii, it is déjà vu that unexpectedly guides ATF agent Doug Carlin (DENZEL WASHINGTON) through an investigation into a shattering crime. Called in to recover evidence after a bomb sets off a cataclysmic explosion on a New Orleans Ferry, Carlin is about to discover that what most people believe is only in their heads is actually something far more powerful – and will lead him on a mind-bending race to save hundreds of innocent people.

Been to Vivo City with my girlfriends, last weekend, we have always wanted to go there as a group to catch a movie. It’s hard to get all of us together during normal days, as we are either studying or working. Glad that last weekend was a good one, as the majority of us were in Singapore and just nice, we can get together.

So we decided for a movie instead, before a nice Christmas dinner at Din Tai Fung at Raffles City, a good dinner which we have always long for after our last visit last month. We always do make it a point to have a meal at Din Tai Fung or Crystal Jade at least once a month. These 2 eating places are indeed good for small gathering, as the ambience is just right! We decided on the GV Gold Class instead. We wanted more privacy and more exclusive space for ourselves, so GV Gold Class is the best choice. Tickets were at a $25.00, each and we get to order the snacks we loved and have it deliver it to us. Yeah, we got 6 seats, 2 each. It’s so cosy, and it’s value for money, if you want to enjoy your movie in style. It’s good, as all 3 GV Gold Class have limited seats, thus makes it even more exclusive. I did an on-line purchasing, so it adds up to $156.20 just for the 6 of us. It’s Christmas anyway. Well, we sure enjoy ourselves! Sad, though, I didn’t bring my digital cam out!!! Leave home in a hurry! However, managed to grab some images from the website.

A cluster of 3 Gold Class Cinemas – the ultimate in luxury movie viewing with a private lounge and plush electronic recliner seats comparable to First Class airline seats. GV Vivo City sets a new benchmark for multiplexes in Singapore by introducing a sophisticated club ambience, with 5-star food and beverage (including a top wine list) and a private dining room. The Gold Class cinema seats are all equipped with call buttons for faster and more discreet service. A new level of concierge-style service, hitherto unseen in Singapore cinemas, will be enjoyed by patrons from the moment they arrive all the way through their patronage experience.

Gold Class 1 48

Gold Class 2 24

Gold Class 3 38

Today’s Dong Zhi, mum had actually prepared the dough since yesterday. I used to remember while I was a kid; Dong Zhi means a very huge festival for us. My granny would actually prepare lots of dishes and made offerings to the deities, seeking their blessings and protections and good luck for the family. Now, it’s different, as we all lived a distance from each other, such scene was history.

Mum, cooked her best tuan yuan with peanut soup. This is my Dad’s favourite desert. It’s mine too. The sweet aroma of the peanuts blends well with the flour dough. I love the colour of the dough, red and white, perfect match of the auspicious colour of the Chinese.

Dong Zhi, literally meaning the “arrival of winter”, is the second most important festival of the Chinese calendar, and is considered the thanksgiving of the Chinese calendar. Celebrated on the longest night of the year, Dong Zhi is the day when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. It usually falls between Dec 21 and 23.

Dong Zhi is the last festival of the year. Coinciding with the winter solstice, it is a time for the entire family to get together to celebrate the past good year. Glutinous rice balls known as Tang Yuan are cooked and eaten to signify unity and harmony within the family. Some Chinese “traditionalists” also insist that everyone turns a year older after Dong Zhi.

As early as 2,500 years ago, around the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), Chinese people determined the winter solstice by observing movements of the sun with sundials. It falls on December 22 or 23.

In the Chinese idea of Yin and Yang, Yin symbolizes feminine, negative and dark qualities of the universe, and yang masculine, positive and fiery qualities, and when something goes to one extreme it then goes to the opposite. Winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is the shortest day and longest night. After it, days become longer, which ancient Chinese thought meant yang qualities would become stronger, so should be celebrated.

The winter solstice became a festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and thrived in the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). Han officials organized celebrations and it was recognized as a holiday; frontier fortresses closed and business and travel stopped. In the Tang and Song dynasties, it was a day to make offerings to heaven and people’s ancestors, something both emperors and common people did. According to records from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the day was regarded to be as important as Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year).

The kinds of food people eat during Winter Solstice Festival vary due to different local customs.

In some parts of northern China, like Beijing, people eat dumpling soup (huntun) on this day. It’s said that in the Han Dynasty, when Hun tribes attacked China’s borders, two tribal leaders were the fiercest. One was named Hun and the other Tun. So when people made food to offer to their ancestors and celebrate the festival, they called the dumpling soup they ate huntun to show their hatred for their enemy.

In other parts of northern China, such as Henan, people eat dumplings in honour of a famous doctor named Zhang Zhongjing (150-219). Zhang is remembered not only as a brilliant physician but as being very kind to the poor.

According to local custom, one year the winter was so cold that many people in Zhang’s hometown of Nanyang suffered from painful chilblains. Seeing that his small clinic was no longer able to accommodate an ever increasing number of patients, Zhang asked his brother to put up a tent in the village square. A large cauldron was placed inside the tent to prepare medicine, in which Zhang had dumplings stuffed with mutton boiled. Every patient got a bowl of the soup with two dumplings, and their chilblains disappeared in a day or two. Zhang’s mixture soon became a popular recipe, and when he died, people began to eat dumplings on the day of the winter solstice in his memory.

In northern China, many people eat mutton and dog meat because these are believed to be hot yang foods, bringing warmth to the body and dispelling the cold of yin.

In parts of southern China, people eat tangyuan (rice dumplings), a kind of stuffed small sweet ball of glutinous rice flour. Tangyuan can be used as offerings to ancestors or gifts for friends and relatives. The Chinese word tang (meaning “soup”) sounds like tuan, which means reunion, while yuan means perfect and happy. The entire phrase tangyuan therefore symbolizes “tuanyuan” (family reunion), and eating it at the winter solstice signifies family unity and prosperity. For luck, some families prefer to have pink tangyuan mixed in with white ones.

In other parts of southern China, whole families get together to have a meal of red beans and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and evil. According to one tale, a man named Gong Gongshi had an evil son who died on the winter solstice. After death, he became a spirit that made people ill, but Gong knew his son was afraid of red beans so he taught people to cook red bean rice to keep him at bay.

People in Taiwan have a custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. They make cakes in the shape of chickens, ducks, tortoises, pigs, cows or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them in different layers of a pot. These animals all signify good luck in Chinese tradition. People of the same surname or family clan gather at ancestral temples to worship in age order.

Noodles are popular in many areas; as the days get longer there is s saying that each gets longer by the length of a thread. So noodles specially made for the festival are called Long Thread Noodles.

Though Winter Solstice Festival used to be considered the second most important festival after Spring Festival, its importance has decreased with urbanization and growing interest in Western festivals.

To all my friends and love ones out there . . .

 Taken while I was in UK, 2003, this picture was taken at around daybreak.

MERRY CHRISTMAS . . .  & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

All taken in the same day, 2003, these images were taken at different intervals of daybreak.

Childhood days . . . just exactly do how many of us would have off pat of our childhood days? I sometimes do. It wasn’t that much until Joey posted some interesting post on her blog.

Me, when I learn how to stand and walk . . .

My dad, mum and I (my sister wasn’t born yet)

And when we talked about it in studio on Monday, that we decided to look for our baby photos and put them up here. Hm…sister, I have another idea, why don’t we select our best baby photos and make them into a poster just the 3 of us combine?

My first Birthday with my dad . . .

How does that sounds? And I thought why not we display them and each of us has our own set? Just like the one that you did for us on our studio shoot. Like that idea a lot. I though that this would be a very good memories for us, after all, it’s just the 3 of us in studio anyway.

My baby photos . . .

She’s sophisticated, elegance and sexy in her own way. She’s every child’s angel and she’s our Angel No. 1. She’s intelligent; you wouldn’t want to mess with her. Beware; she will get you if you mess with her. She means business.

Guess who she is?

Answer is right here.

She’s young, cheerful, and cute. She’s sexy in her own way. Loves food and drink. She’s very herself, not acting. The jewel of the class. She’s everyone’s apple. Never fail to jump around, hop around to cheer you up. The bravest lot of the 3. She means business if you provoke her. So guys don’t try to be funny with her. She has an A.I chip inserted in her.

She’s Angel No. 2

Answer is right here.

He’s straight. When it comes to business, he means business. He’s serious and he’s mean when it’s time to get serious. No baloney guy. Eat the most. Laugh the most. Grumble the most. Protector of the lot. Dotes his princess, would make sure she’s protected when she’s in deep shit! When I say shit, I mean its real shit! He makes sure Angel No. 1 has all the necessary weapons and gadgets to accomplish her mission. Better known was Mr. Q of the lot.

He’s Angel No. 3

Answer is right here.

Rainy Sunday, yes, it’s a cooling Sunday to end the week with. This week has been a rather nice and easy week, with some slight surprises coming up here and there.

Been an easy week though, but Monday was a real brain-draining day. We presented our drafts for our thesis proposals, and thankfully, we have tutors on scene to guide us through. If not I doubt we can complete our thesis proposal on time. In fact, we encountered some difficulties in starting it. Thank goodness, we drafted it and submitted for reading. I guess Joey and Christine felt the same way I do. Mentally drained! I’m starting to wonder, does students reading design as a major find it hard in writing? Well, some are real good in designing; some are real good at writing. While some are well-verse like Kent and Jerry! Well, at least, we all agreed on that!

Wednesday, was a pleasant day. Got a call from BS, nice to hear from him again, and a pleasant MSN conversation with JW, and not to forget with Catherine. Thanks to you, if not I wouldn’t know if I can survive the long hours to submission of my thesis proposal.

Yesterday I must say, received real shocking news and a bad one. C’s sister was diagnosed with a lump. I knew how they felt, because I had been through this before. My mum was diagnosed with Uterine Fibroids. It’s a non cancerous tumour found in women’s body. It’s commonly found at the Uterus. My mum was in a state of shock at that point of time.

I recalled that I was in meeting and a Tender briefing with Clement. I was about to start my briefing to the companies, many of which were keen to win our contract for the project. My phone kept ringing. I excused myself and answered the phone. I was shocked when my dad told me what happened. I was in a daze and I don’t know what to do and react. My mind was blank completely. This is because at that point of time, I don’t have a clue on what is Uterine Fibroids. What was that? I called my main office and told them what happened and applied urgent leave.

Clement noticed what happened. He approached me and asked me, do I want to continue with the briefing. He can brief on my behalf. I told him no. I can do it. It’s my job and it’s my responsibility to finish the meeting.

Right after the meeting, I rushed home and spoke to my mum; she’s much better now and her gynaecologist called me to explain what it’s all about. I breathe a sign of relief. Well, my mum’s alright now and everything’s fine. She’s just as good as normal.

C, don’t worry; your sister will be fine! She’s alright! Just have a good trip home and don’t worry, you have JC and I here to look after her.

Just like what you say, pray for her and God Bless her. I’ll perform more recitals and hope my prayers would help her.

记得吃 was the place that J brought me to yesterday afternoon. I guess, she knew how bored I am over the phone. She’s on the happy note on the other hand. Her mum got discharged from Hospital and she’s resting at home.

J told me that this desert shop serves the best ginger desert. And yes, I must agree! It sure does serve the best in town. I tried the ginger soup and the mango desert. Sure, it’s yummy. Price however, is steep on the side though. The cheapest is the ginger soup that cost 80 cents, which is worth it. The most expensive on the menu is $4.00. Quite high for a small bowl though. By the time I finished my 2^nd bowl, the shop was filled with people!

J, she had a bowl of sago and a ginger milk curd. Ginger Milk Curd is just like your ordinary Soya bean curd. But sorry to tell you that, it’s not! The curd like stuff was made out of fresh milk and it taste as smooth as Soya bean curd! The ginger comes in as a mixture. Syrup like, seasoning that you find in your Soya Bean Curd. That cost about $3.00. J told me it’s good! Spare me please; I’m not into milk stuff, so I didn’t try it. Green Bean Soup not that great! Sweet Tau Gee soup not that good either too. She had tried this before, so she’s not impressing with the taste. Well, I won’t bother to try if she doesn’t like it. We had some common when it comes to food and beverages. She loves to eat! But she has a slim figure!

Taken from their Menu

We ate 2 bowls each and had a small plate of Hakka yam snack. The total cost for 2, with the stuffs, we ordered; $15.20.

Suddenly, we both thought of going to the airport. We want to have some quiet time out of the hustle of the city. We sat at the viewing gallery and watch the planes took off amidst the heavy rain. We stayed there till 7pm and had our dinner at Fish and Co.

I was quite happy to see J doze off next to me. She’s sleeping soundly and I don’t have the heart to wake her up. I just let her rest on my shoulder, while I enjoy the tranquil of the viewing gallery, with occasional roar from the jets taking off, faintly in the background.

Hm . . . guess I should stop here, got my Thesis proposal to rush.

Merry Christmas!

Their Business Card (Upper Cross Street is where Hoetl 81, Chinatown is)

Liang Seah Street, is just right infront of Parco Bugis.

Received a call yesterday afternoon, while having lunch with Christine. We were chatting over some chicken rice along Waterloo Street. This chicken rice stall is famous in this small quiet little town, hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the busy urban fabric.

“Andy, where are you?”

“I’m in school with Christine; Joey went home just a moment ago.”

 “How’s your grade? Aiya. . . You pass one lar . . . Sure pass one . . .!”

The moment, I heard this, I knew instantly Christine and Joey passed as well. How about the other one? No one wish to comment, because, we all knew how she performed and presented her “work” during Stage 2.

“Andy, I will be the supervisor for the 3 of you!”

“YES!”

Christine was looking at me in an awe way, smile stretch from one corner to another corner, with some ahem . . . (its joy!) in her eyes!  She’s thrill while I say “Hi Peter!”

Peter’s like our idol now, our angel and our friend. I don’t know, ever since, after the accident, he’s been spending more time with us. More time means, more personal contact. He would spend some time chatting with us and joke with us. Something that he had never done before during my degree time. True enough to mention that, we had disappointed him sometimes.

Despite that, he would still respect us. His favourite phrase to us is “Because you are Masters Students . . . what you do is not right or  wrong . . . Masters is all about experimenting . . .If you can find an answer to your experiment now . . .Congratulations . . . You can take my seat now, you don’t have to study Masters . . .”

J had confirmed with us yesterday afternoon that Peter had mentioned to him that he wants to coach us till we graduate. Just the 3 of us!

You bet! You can imagine how touch Christine and I were. I shared the news with Joey and J later that noon.

J was quite happy to hear that, she had been hearing me mentioning that I want Peter to be my supervisor for this final lapse into my Masters. Hahaha . . . Poor J . . .hear my grumble every time. By the way, J, she’s one of closest girlfriends, beside C, Y, JOEY Lush, and Christine Creative Minds, just to name a few.

J, sorry. Hope you don’t mind my nagging and grumble, every time we are together.

Well, we just can’t wait to start off with Peter, next week.

Christmas vacation’s round the corner. After next week, falls vacation will last till Jan 15 next year. Cool! But anyway, our’s less than that! Ha! Hehehe . . . !

Oh yeah! L sent me an email yesterday. She’s asking me if I’m interested to take up her offering! Frankly speaking, I haven’t slept the whole of last night! I toss and turn in bed. Joey had encouraged me to take up the offers. When Peter was mentioning that he wanted to hire someone from my Cohort, Christine and Joey’s eyes were trained on me! Peter’s eye too! I haven’t thought of that yet. It’s been a good year really, as job offerings are pouring in ever since April this year. And I haven’t got the time to keep up with every one of them. But L, yes I am definitely interested in your offer! I shall reply you shortly!

Merry Christmas!

There are some forms of familiarity concerning non-standard architecture and digital architecture. For non-standard architecture, the use of digital tools and computation for architectural conceptual productions has been around for quite a while. In some areas, these boundaries are gradually softened, with schemes being metamorphosing and time sequences are slowly breaking down. The principles of interrelation, variability and simultaneity now immerse itself very much into the process of defining non-standard architecture.

The widespread use of application programs based on the algorithmic systems changes in design and production tools. To many practitioners, non-standard architectures are a self-reflection on the language of architecture and its applications. This is because we are basing it on the foundation of the convention of the digital elements. Many of the traditional construction methods can now be contrasted with production based on the prototyping of prefabricated architectural component; this is due to the fact that digital process enables the entire architectural ‘development’ visible enough, right from the conceptual stage. This is done through an assortment of experimental entities and prototypes. Thus, through this process a reinterpretation of the history of art and architecture in terms of movement and its nuance.

Many might enquire what does ‘non-standard’ consigns to? This eventually brings us right back to the world of mathematics, for their major theoretical breakthroughs (in which regards themselves non-standard) that cleared the way both for fractal and catastrophe theory and for artificial intelligence. The notion of ‘non-standard’ first appeared in the field of mathematics in 1961, with the work of Abraham Robinson[1]. Its implications are manifold and affect every discipline to which algorithmic systems can be applied, such as artificial intelligence or morphogenesis (the development of structure). Non-standard architecture can now be a part of history which is now being revitalised; this is credited to the development of propositions which were long muffled by the standardisation and technological limitations in the past. The scrawny form of the non-standard – variations from its many norms – has become fairly widespread, but the challenges for non-standard architectures are of a much more radical order: the generalisation of singularity[2], within a new order: the non-standard. Non-standard architectures too have a relationship with Unprocessed Architecture.

Organic architecture itself is a viewpoint in which it encourages social harmony between the human locale and the natural world. This is done through a series of design approach experimentations, in which this belief will then blend itself by accepting and well integrated itself  with the surroundings and the furnishings, thus to become a part of a unified, interrelated composition of the universal environment. Architects such as, Gustav Stickley, Antoni Gaudi, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Bruce Goff, Rudolf Steiner, Bruno Zevi, Imre Makovecz and most recently Anton Alberts are all famous for their work with organic architecture.

The term “Organic Architecture” was coined by the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), though never well articulated by his cryptic style of writing:

“So here I stand before you preaching organic architecture: declaring organic architecture to be the modern ideal and the teaching so much needed if we are to see the whole of life, and to now serve the whole of life, holding no traditions essential to the great TRADITION. Nor cherishing any preconceived form fixing upon us either past, present or future, but instead exalting the simple laws of common sense or of super-sense if you prefer determining form by way of the nature of materials…”

-          Frank Lloyd Wright, An Organic Architecture, 1939[3]

Digital Architecture too was somehow related to Non-Standard Architecture. The emergence of Digital Architecture is dated back in the year 2000. At the end of the 20^th century and the beginning of the 21^st century, the applications of computer have changed the entire design methods. This is evident in the areas of technology showcasing virtual reality, CAD/CAM technology and internet applications. It is through the usage of computers, it enables famous architects like Frank Gehry and Peter Eisenman to create many wonderful designs. Several of the architectural components had been redefined, as such that functions, forms, volumes and space are been experimented and tested out on digital platforms. This new type of structural design produced by the amalgamation of new architecture efforts and digital technology is generally called digital architecture. However, the debate of the computerisation has been shifted from its original focus. That is it has shifted its focus from the more technical issues into areas which relates itself towards the identity of digitally architecture issues and concerns, such as “is digital architecture a transitory phenomenon or a permanent revolution?”. Others might post this question such as “will digital technology hurt the architecture that we are not familiar with?”. Many architects and designers are also facing the real “threat” of revolution by digital architecture, as some of them are trained the conventional ways.

Many architects and designers are trying to demarcate the real definition of digital architecture. They are asking whether digital architecture is a form of new tools, new theory, new age or new revolution towards the conventional architecture. To be sincere, digital architecture in reality is a mode of new contrivance. However, if digital machinery does not manipulate the way we conceive design thinking, design methodology and eventually spatial theory, then this new tool can be classified as a form of new tool, which has little or no impact on the above mentioned items.

No doubt that digital technology is been regard as a breakthrough in architecture practice, on the contrary, it is just merely regards as a tool. However, this form of tool is far more powerful than the drafting invented during Greek Time[4] or the modelling in the Renaissance era. Digital Architecture might also be regarded as a form of new theory. As it is being used to aid and assist in the design thinking process. At the same time, design theory from the Renaissance period[5] will also be changed greatly by the computer aided design and the design with computer. On the other hand, if the design approach, thinking pattern and spatial theory are all changed by the digital architecture, digital architecture will be more than a hypothesis. The digital architecture might thus form a new age if it is considered to have an overall impact on architecture. We should pay more attention to it because if the digital architecture really forms an era, it will influence not only on architecture, but also the value system and aesthetics, as well. Finally, digital architecture can also be defined as a revolution. Every revolution changes human history and life style, agricultural revolution and industrial revolution. Since architecture is only a small part of the social evolution. We can only wait to see what drastic socio-cultural changes will emerge in the digital age.

However, there are gaps in digital architecture. It is not easy to predict the future of the digital architecture, although, it is still progressing with the full speed. There are still gaps between the architectural education, society culture, and digital architecture. The first lull identified here is the gap between professional and non-professional. Why these 2 words. The reason behind this is because, for the latter when it comes to design training, which has long existed without the aid of technology. And many of those who are trained in the various aspects of designs are done in a manual way. However, the former when it comes to training and thoughts are more “dependent” and thus could accept the advancement of technology. The second is the gap between two exiting generation and digital generation. We define the generation every 10 years. It’s not easy for the different generations to communicate with each other. The generation gap between the existing generation and the digital generation can be easily seen in the debate of architectural design process, presentation, space, volume, concept and aesthetics. Digital generation uses computer to white, thinking the traditional writing time-consuming, while the other generation criticizes the writing in the e-mail as “the writing without quality”. The third is the gap between the architectural and non-architectural field. Focusing more on the arts, history and culture, architecture always reacts slowly for the technology revolution. For instance, the communication has been totally digitalized, the architects still merely use metal and glass to express the avant-guard architecture, without digitalizing the design process. Meanwhile, the architectural education hardly puts any effort to keep up with the rapid change of the digital technology.

The last is the gap between digital technology and human science. Emphasizing its philosophical, historical, social and cultural context, architecture is always the essential part of the human science. However, I sincerely believe, the computation will enhance the cultural development a lot, same as the architecture. Thus this could be identified as a new form of revolution for design and architecture. And when it comes to defining architecture in the digital age, a new vision is heavily criticized by the contemporary society. Only few of these new visions can be confirmed and recognized as master pieces. The vision of digital architecture also needs both the personal creativity and the social appreciation. Many people are making their most efforts to define digital architecture. This is another form of digital revolution in digital architecture.

Dagmar Richter is one of them. Her continuous research into the usage of digital technology in architecture forms an invisible layer of revolution in the digital architecture community. She strives to reassess the commonly held notion of territory as an “extension” or “free domain” where architecture is enrolled for the development of town-planning requirements. Rather than using the concept of available space to ascertain the prior qualification of any zone, she substitutes the memory of the events comprising it. The immediacy of this archaeology constitutes the project’s basic material, in a renewed understanding of the urban approach. Beyond any post-modern assimilation, this relationship to history is directly material and tectonic, and it reconstitutes the ground in symbolic sedimentary layers which the architect then uses as a formal resource. To design in architecture is to transform found spatial structure. Dagmar Richter uses the example of the Le Corbusier[6]’s Dom-ino structure. Dom-ino concept was a simple statement about the possibilities of reinforced-concrete construction: a frame of six columns, set back from the edges not unlike the six dots of a domino piece, supporting floating floor and roof slabs, with a cantilevered stair linking the different levels to the ground and the roof. Experimentation with this model provided Le Corbusier with the basis for his Five Points of Architecture. This standardized prefabricated framework of floors, stairs and load-bearing columns were the only fixed parts of the house; everything else was non-structural and hence entirely flexible – allowing an open plan and non-structural façades. The walls, windows, etc were independent and could be added in any arrangement and style that appealed to the owner.

She chose Le Corbusier’s Domino skeleton to test out the spatial and material postulations which were deeply grounded in our design methods and design thinking. This was so; especially with Le Corbusier believe that he had originated a pure and total concept of construction. Dagmar’s research studio had started the process by looking at the construction in layers. The first layer, the hierarchy of the slabs, as the slabs formed part of the communication portion of the construction. The transformations of the layers allow us to take a closer look into the areas of the nomadic life cycles in a constructed environment and permanent constructed biography of the local context. Dammar transformed the found spatial structure and layers in an adaptable domain of changes where this spatial text put forward in different forms of representation, in forms of atmosphere, humidity, temperature, light, recycling, diagrams, photographic material, filmic material as well personal experience, which in turn is automatically transformed through the interpretations of digital technology. Thus the first layer is being break down into a form of skeleton.

As the next layer, the skeleton was extra been transformed into sections where further introduced as a transformative influence. These digital revolution changes of Le Corbusier’s Domino skeleton allow us to witness the different types of living prototypes of typology of living. This is been identified with an unswerving connection towards the surfacing new role of architecture in terms of the surface. The surface here refers to the performance level of the surrounding that has a contributing factor towards the skeleton structure. In which mass has an important factor in the transformation of the newly created digital form of the Le Corbusier’s original creation

Another contributing factor that can be discussed here is the ‘veneer’ and the ‘furnishing’ aspect of the Dom-in (fo) House. Damgar had tried to demonstrate the development of the new conversion via the extensive application of facade created by her research team. This is done by generating fundamental geometrical prototypes and typologies. Testing them against various different performance criteria, such as visual access, filtering, shading, body support and the ability to contain and use water within a specific given dimension.

The test resulted with a possible solution in the stacking of a high-rise structure for either short or long term period. This is essential especially within the areas of metropolitan living are concerned. In areas where, dense living is an issue, the newly digital converted allows the structure to be connect through layers and levels of vertical cityscapes. The options of the low-rise construction methods through the single attached units in the suburban context also establish a platform to allow test for a duration between short and long term living. This second test platform allows, Dagmar Richter to test out the association of the recently designed digital domino assembly with a possible connection the surrounding landscape to the different living units, as well as interconnecting and interweaving water, the outside and inside, and neighbouring constructions. With the results of using digital technology, Dagmar Richter realised that they had experienced a massive paradigm shift in the deeply rooted modernist architectural ideology, in terms of logic of tectonics. The resulting models are attempts to illustrate a new prototype of a topology for living in this digital revolution era.

Let’s take a look at the planning model for Manhattan of 1997 by Dagmar Richter. The region between pier #16 and #18 at Lower Manhattan has been chosen for investigational analysis regarding the new use of digital technology in its relation to spatial zoning planning. The main idea was register on any changes of the society instantaneously to the dynamics of the city as an urban organism. To this area, around the East River, data was collected in terms of spatial and statistical, in which it was then transmuted into a cerebral animated 3 dimensional spatial atlas. These 3 dimensional digital animated layers were then used to understand the inherent and unpredictable dynamics of the city, understood as a large organism[7], influenced by inside and outside events, are the force that animates the model. This new 3-dimensional digital effort allows the creation of a more complex program for the relationship of the city’s section and creates the possibility of the expansion of more public space throughout the volumes of the buildings. Further zoning, was done to understand zone sponge around the areas surrounding the piers. This is to understand the meshing effect scenario on the types of programming that could occupy the data cape of Manhattan. The end results of these digital experimental, envisage that the resulting architecture would then operate itself within a given outline within its volume of the urban organism. This overall, new zoning model generated by digital means would provide a new re-programming and multi-programming within a section of a new urban fabric.

Another project by Dagmar Richter; Shanghai Residential Design Competition 2000 was based her project on the tradition and design of Chinese garden when she came across a piece of Chinese painting. The entire reflection of the design scheme was based on the issues of cultural heritage and the precedence in the non-western cultures. This is because; many Asian cities that had been admit defeat to Western prototypes. And Asian architecture setups were just simply been regarded as an art of stylistic copy. First of all, she has interpreted the current situation as a complex network of complicated conduit which serves a wide range of varied communal spaces. Water and mountains, these two elements which are dominant in the Chinese gardens typology, which help her to create alternative solutions to the current well established western techniques of housing design. Instead of a direct translation of the formal vocabulary of the singular high-rise or low-rise building of the West, she used the old tradition of artificial hill construction to achieve dense and, in some cases, relatively high housing volumes by 3D animation means. Based on the symbolic magnitude of the pinnacle of mountains surrounding Shanghai, she distributed the densely spaces urban housing plan evenly. Water element was also used in order to create voids and distances, thoughtful mirror surfaces which divide evenly but not separate it from the local context.

Spatial and its formal forms are presently connect in an edgy investigate for solutions and experiments to vital questions about the natural world and the identity of the discipline, and digital technology is the prevailing agent for prevailing innovations in design methods and design process thinking. Although, this is really nothing new, as new technology has always been a catalyst for new ideas in design methods, design experiments and design process thinking in our daily practice as a designer or an architect. Digital spatial and formal forms have found it with new forms of digital representations, as information reconfigures into digital visualizations, and projects evolve further as digital fabric fabrications.  However, a clear and critical definition of new principles has to be examined in the wake of these new tools driven towards our implementations of digital forms in spatial fabrications.

The digital box itself has gone from being an isolated box to become part of a gigantic digital network of networks, which shapes our collective future and helped in our creation of forms and spatial language. There are at least six digital phenomena that directly affect the architectural world: miniaturization, being everywhere, global, communing globally in real-time, networking everything, vitality and anamnesis. These phenomena have squeezed, stretched, restructured, reconfigured, and redistributed most major human institutions and architectural theories of the Renaissance period. Consequently, the world’s role in digital architecture and its importance and nature have changed over the years. Architecture has always been traditionally understood as a periphery before has been changed. Many practices now have, however, have been repositioning themselves to take advantage of the new opportunities beyond the bounds of traditional architectural practice with the help of these digital technologies.

To conclude, design, practice, fabrication and construction are increasingly becoming an affair of networking design lab in all design studios and design institutions. These new tools allow practitioners in the design and architecture scene, to be in touch constantly with connectivity and speed via experimentations before been realised in our daily practice. The digital architecture revolution has created a new world which has been recognised and conventional designers and architects are starting to take these transformations and thoughts differently in another mode as compared before the emergence of digital architecture.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Robinson

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_singularity

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_architecture

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_drafting

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

[7] X Y Z, The Architecture of Dagmar Richter 2001:140

Sis, bought this the day before or is it yesterday. Can’t remember.

Its green tea ice-cream! Taste great! She got it from a Japanese supermarket in town. You’ll find the extracts of green tea and it tastes rich. It’s a real treat for ladies, it’s non-fattening. Cost about $6++. It’s worth the money!

Try it! You wouldn’t regret it!

WHAT TREE DID YOU FALL FROM?
Find your birthday and then find your tree. This is really cool and somewhat accurate.Find your tree below and see what you are like…

Jan 01 to Jan 11 – Fir Tree
Jan 12 to Jan 24 – Elm T! ree
Jan 25 to Feb 03 – Cypress Tree
Feb 04 to Feb 08 – Poplar Tree
Feb 09 to Feb 18 – Cedar Tree
Feb 19 to Feb 28 – Pine Tree
Mar 01 to Mar 10 – Weeping Willow Tree
Mar 11 to Mar 20 – Lime Tree
Mar 21 (only) – Oak Tree
Mar 22 to Mar 31 – Hazelnut Tree
Apr 01 to Apr 10 – Rowan Tree
Apr 11 to Apr 20 – Maple Tree
Apr 21 to Apr 30 – Walnut Tree
May 01 to May 14 – Poplar Tree
May 15 to May 24 – Chestnut Tree
May 25 to Jun 03 – Ash Tree
Jun 04 to Jun 13 – Hornbeam Tree
Jun 14 to Jun 23 – Fig Tree
Jun 24 (only) – Birch Tree
Jun 25 to Jul 04 – Apple Tree
Jul 05 to Jul 14 – Fir Tree
Jul 15 to Jul 25 – Elm Tree
Jul 26 to Aug 04 – Cypress Tree
Aug 05 to Aug 13 – Poplar Tree
Aug 14 to Aug 23 – Cedar Tree
Aug 24 to Sep 02 – Pine Tree
Sep 03 to Sep 12 – Weeping Willow Tree
Sep 13 to Sep 22 – Lime Tree
Sep 23 (only) – Olive Tree
Sep 24 to Oct 03 – Hazelnut Tree
Oct 04 to Oct 13 – Rowan Tree
Oct 14 to Oct 23 – Maple Tree
Oct 24 to Nov 11 – Walnut Tree
Nov 12 to Nov 21 – Chestnut Tree
Nov 22 to Dec 01 – Ash Tree
Dec 02 to Dec 11 – Hornbeam Tree
Dec 12 to Dec 21 – Fig Tree
Dec 22 (only) – Beech Tree
Dec 23 to Jan 01 – Apple Tree

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
TREES (in alphabetical order)

Apple Tree (Love) — quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal, and attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous, sensitive, loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful ! and tender partner, very generous, many talents, loves children, needs affectionate partner.

Ash Tree (Ambition) — extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive, demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent,talented,likes to play with fate, can be very egotistic, reliable, restless lover, sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention, needs love and much emotional support.

Beech Tree (Creative) — has good taste, concerned about its looks, materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).

Birch Tree (Inspiration) — vivacious, attractive, elegant,friendly, unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhor! is the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.

Cedar Tree (Confidence) — of rare strength, knows how to adapt, likes unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious, healthy optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.

Chestnut Tree (Honesty) — of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.

Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) — strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give but doesn’t necessarily like it, strives to be content,otimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain knowledge, needs to be needed.

Elm Tree (Noble-mindedness) — pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others, noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.

Fig Tree (Sensibility) — very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, sexually oriented, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great intelligence.

Fir tree (Mysterious) — extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them, hard to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness after long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish, many friends, very reliable.

Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary) — charming, sense of humor, very demanding but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a lasting impression, active fighter for social causes and politics, popular, quite moody, sexually oriented, honest, a perfectionist, has a precise sense of judgment and expects complete fairness.

Hornbeam Tree (Good Taste) — of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition,good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.

Lime Tree (Doubt) – intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones, hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough, but is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices for family and friends, has many talents but not
always enough time to use them, great leadership qualities, is jealous at times but extremely loyal.

Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) — no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

Oak Tree (Brave) – robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground, person of action.

Olive Tree (Wisdom) — loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable, balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm, well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.

Pine Tree (Peacemaker) — loves agreeable company, craves peace and harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write poetry, not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls strongly in love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally soft, low self esteem, needs affection and reassurance.

Poplar Tree (Uncertainty) — looks very decorative, talented, not very self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership seriously.

Rowan Tree (Sensitivity) — full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.

Walnut Tree (Passion) — unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.

Weeping Willow (Melancholy) – likes to be stress free, loves family life, full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic places, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with when pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition, suffers in love until they find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves to make others laugh.

Saw these images in my mail. So I guess why not share it with you. 

Outram Park, 1960s

Bus Stop, Singapore, year unknown

Bugis Street, year unknown

Collyer Quay, year unknown

Traffic Police performing her duty, 1960s

Van Kleef Aquarium

National Theatre, torn down due to structural  issue

Merdeka Bridge

12 is the number! Yes! 12! I posted 12 new posts this week! It’s something I have never done before! Something that I have never tried on a single week! Maybe it’s due to the fact that I have not blog for the past few weeks that’s why!

Here’s a run through of it:

Ming Kee’s Food . . . tastes HEAVEN!
Posted 2006-12-07
11:42:13 am

New Sites Discover!
Posted 2006-12-07
11:32:47 am

6 December. . . The day I realise how . . .
Posted 2006-12-07
11:23:14 am

Mochi Yum . . .Yum . . .
Posted 2006-12-07
11:20:14 am

Bakerzin
Posted 2006-12-07
11:15:35 am

JB, Malacca and KL
Posted 2006-12-07
10:19:33 am

Golf for leisure
Posted 2006-12-06
9:25:29 pm

Proposal Final Semester
Posted 2006-12-06
9:22:29 pm

Studioworks 11 Options
Posted 2006-12-06
9:18:39 pm

You must be Joking . . . No shitting!
Posted 2006-12-06
9:17:22 pm

2:45AM . . . 15hours till D-Hour!
Posted 2006-12-06
9:15:37 pm

CODE NAME: OPs STAGE 2
Posted 2006-12-06
8:57:47 pm

It’s been a long time ever since I last visited Ming Kee. It’s a nice place within the humble neighbourhood of Macpherson Road. It’s a nice restaurant to have a dinner gathering with friends and family.

On the Menu you can find, items like Soon Hock, mussels, clams, and lots more! Lovely! Great! It’s so great that, I recommend you ready Chubby Hubby’s Blog! He wrote such a great post there, which is so delicious that I don’t think I can write that well!

It’s so great, that CH went to Ming Kee and thanks to S and CH for bringing back those great delicious memories that I had at Ming Kee, where my ex-darling and I used to frequent.

Hm . . .should go there one day!

I was serving the web yesterday and chance some interesting sites. I hope the ladies would love it!

Enjoy!

Story of Flora Tea
http://www.softsenses.jp/

Aramsa Spa at Bishan, Singapore
http://www.aramsaspas.com/

Bintan resort
http://www.nirwanagardens.com/default.aspx

6 December. . . The day I realise how . . .

I realised that I have not been posting for sometime now. I was typing away while I was waiting for my print to be ready. Got a submission today for a competition, where SL had pinned hope on us to lead the competition.

There I was tired, and for the first time in weeks, I realised how hungry I was! 

I have to thanks J for spending her days with me for the past 2 days. I know that she should be at home resting her for her leave. Thanks Darling.

Mochi . . .Mochi . . . My Sis got this from her office. I envy her so much, always surrounded with so much Japanese delicacies. She’s working in the Japanese Association Singapore. But I glad she works there too. This means that I got yummy sashimi too! And lots more Japanese delicacies!

Woohooo…..

Mochi . . . Woohooo…..

Mochi taste so soft it melts in your mouth. . . Woohooo…..

I went to Bakezin on Monday right after assessment together with Christine. Joey didn’t manage to tag along. She’s down with fever and she had left her purse at home. Poor girl! We sat down and immediately went from beginning to end of the menu and got ourselves much decided on what to have for the evening.

Christine settled for pasta and an ice coffee. At the same time as I reconcile for their tapas and curry chicken. Oh goodness gracious me!

Their curry chicken was splendid in their gravy and taste! I love it! And their tapas were excellent!

I went back again with J the next day. I got her a tiramisu and a cappuccino to cheer her up. Well you see her mum was diagnosed with liver cancer, and she’s feeling down for a while. So I thought why not, bought her favourite desert to cheer her up. I knew that she’s not been eating well for the past few days. And what do I order for myself? I got myself the shop’s top seller. The Lavande. It infused itself with dark chocolate mousse cake with macaroons on the side. That’s heaven! Taste great!

I got J to taste it, on the buoyant to merriment her. She did! Blame me for my carelessness. I was overjoyed to that extent that I forget to capture her joyful smile. Thanks to Daniel for your Lavande!

Of all locations and outlets of Bakerzin, I still prefer the outlet at Raffles Place. It’s the setting and the design that blends in perfect harmony of the pastry. You got to see for yourself, feel for yourself, and tell your own story! Share it with your love ones!

 
Bakerzin’s Tapas, taste just like heaven!

6:00AM. 10 November 2006.

I’m up and showered, get dressed. Took a bus down to school. And I’m still on a sleepy mode, as I slept late the night before. Service no 190 seems so empty in the early morning. Orchard road in the early morning seems so peaceful and clean. Timing just right, reached the school at about 7:00am. Perfect! Lovely! Great got a few minutes to close my eyes, before waiting for SL to turn up.

This trip was planned by the Masters gang. JS and H turned to us for suggestions, and we volunteered to plan for this to ease the workload of the Pathway Leaders. SL called me to gather the students, while she rushed home to get her files.

Majority of the students and the lecturers arrived at 7:30am sharp. That leaves us with an advantage of leaving early. I was quite delighted at this sight. However, my joy was a short-lived one. We didn’t manage to leave the academy’s compound till 8:30am. Journey to the Tuas Checkpoint was a smooth one, no traffic jams along the way. Lovely! Great!

Our guide, Mr. Choo picked us up at the Malaysian’s checkpoint. We stopped for a short meeting, discussing the route for the day. Our first stop, rest and breakfast break at a small town of Johor Bahru. Nice small little town, slow pace of life. K, KC, C, SL, D and I settled down for a bowl of Wan Tan Mee while SL and D settled for a Tua Bao. Nice food, it’s cheap, due to the currency rate.

It’s on the road again, time now it’s about 10:30. I looked at the time again and again. Things start to run on my mind.

“What shall we do now; do you think we can get there by 11?” “Do you know the way there?” “Do you have the address and the point of contact’s info?”

Took out my mobile and started to dial for help. JS gave me the number in which I passed it to Mr. Choo. Thank goodness, Mr. Chew, our driver was a Malaysian and the guide knew the way there rather well. However, we didn’t manage to reach there on time. It was slightly after quarter to 11 while we were there. Factory visit sounds interesting to the young designers and the degree students. Many of us get to see how the flooring materials are been fabricated. Well, we started off with the usual formalities and the greetings with the management. Presentations by them lasted half an hour, while the tour lasted about 90mins. It was a huge factory, where we need to travel for another 10mins by coach to reach their new factory. Finally ended with a photo taking at their reception area.

Leave JB for Malacca. Things start to run in my mind again. I guess this happens to every event organisers. Time management is always the key factors to all travel. Our travel patterns were rather usual and common, travel, rest and travel. We stopped at Yong Peng for a little R & R. Before hitting the road to Malacca.

Sky’s turning dark. I looked at my mobile. It’s about 3:30pm. We are still on the expressway. I steal a peep at Mr. Chew’s speedometer. It clocked 150km constantly. He’s a skilled driver. Taking care of the safety of his passengers. Rain. It’s raining heavily. Road’s wet and we were delayed slightly due to the wet weather. Traffic accident along the highway, got us slowed down.

“What’s your plan now? Any wet weather program?” “What time can we reached?” “Don’t you think we have spent quite a bit on the road?”

I smiled back and still working out the programs in my head. I consulted Mr. Choo on the programs for the night. And decided that if everything’s fine, no wet weather, Jonker Street would be a good program. Yeah, I hope so, too.

We reached our hotel, Orkid Hotel in Malacca, at about 6pm. Ok, this is the time roll. We hit the road at about 2pm, stopped at Yong Peng at about 3pm, hit the road again at about 3:30pm. Reached Malacca at about 6pm.

Checked in. The students and the lecturers rested for a while, while I explored the entire hotel hoping to find a lounge to do my work later. Sadly no such area. Just a dinning area and a spa. Check out the spa, found nothing interesting. Decided to return to my room and rest till 6:45pm before hitting for the Portuguese restaurant for dinner. Dinner’s great and lovely. And we were entertained by Papa Joe, owner of the restaurant, and he’s an icon of Malacca. He sang us a few numbers, wow! He sure can sing!  

We decided to hit for Jonker. Sigh! It’s raining still, so got Mr. Choo to change it to a shopping trip instead.

We returned back to our hotel slightly after 10pm, while K and C stopped for lok lok. A local food where items like fish balls and others were poked into sticks and you dipped it in a sauce. I turned in early that night. As it’s going to be a long day at KL.

We visited the Fort, Jalan Tokong, went to search for House at Hereen Street, the next day but we can’t find it. And so we have our last meal for the day at a Pernakan restaurant.

We hit the road again for KL.

Reached KL quite early and again been hampered by the rain, we decided to skip some areas due to that. We toured the Performing Art Centre and the Koi Centre instead. PAC in KL was built over an old railway station where the architect salvages the old columns which is about 130 years old for the entire site! Nice place. Nice surroundings! We toured for a while and went to Time Square. Part of the trip is planned to allow the Diploma students to conduct a study trip on how retail outlets were designed and conceptualised. While the degree students did their travelogue. As for C and me, it’s our rest and recreation trip. KL changed a lot! Thought of going out for a drink that night, but I was so tired. So I decided to hit the sack after dinner. My friends and M called me. They were in KL. So I waited for them at the lobby to pick me up. Went for some drink and food. They send me back to the hotel, while I choose to roam around for a while before deciding visiting the hotel’s spa for a nice chill out. Saw lots of people playing pool and watching movie, so I decided to sit down and watch. I order a pint and some nuts to go along with the movie. Finished the movie at about 11pm went to have my long nice bath. Soaked myself in it. I believe I fell asleep there. It’s a nice room compared to the one in Malacca.

Woke up at about 6 to shower. Have my nice long breakfast. And to conclude that day at KL, we visited Chen Si Shu Yuan and some architecture there.

The KL trip ended with a lunch and a shopping trip at Yong Peng. We reached Singapore at about 8pm. Thank goodness, though it’s a working day the next day, C and I choose to rest at home before hitting right back at work on Tuesday for a gruesome month of post graduate diploma assessment.

I miss playing golf . . . I have not touched golf from April this year till now . . . Nope, wait, yes I played only 3 times between September and October. I really miss having some fun in golf. I’m not a good player. I’m just a starter. Not a very keen golfer either. Just a social golfer that gets to have some time with friends that’s all. Well, let’s put it aside first. Get my academic qualifications first then golf.

Oh no! Not another writing! Please let me off! Please, any kind soul out there, please get Joey to write that bloody Proposal for me.

Submission is next Wednesday, so that supervisor could be assigned to us.

Bought this book finally. Have wanted to get this book since June this year, and now finally got it today!

Dagmar Richiter, have to write an essay on her. X, Y, Z. Kill me please! I hate writing essays. Not even 1000 words! It kills too much of my brain juice. I hate it! I remembered we scuffled ourselves with that bloody 3000 words essay. Damn it! Damn the bloody comments that he had gave! You can’t believe how much the class was totally pissed with the way PR and A graded us. And the CP gang too grieve on that too man!

Kill me please, K! Let me die a painless death! Let Joey die in a pretty way, let Christine die, but not at my place please! Oh please, K, grant us our wish!

It’s 2:45am on Monday morning. December 4^th. Everyone’s tucking into their nest and very probable meeting their love ones in their dreams or dream of something lovely.

Well and me? Still working, editing my scheme, for the bloody re-assessment taking place in about 15 hours time.

Christine’s up on the other side working furiously away. Joey, she’s down with fever, sore throat and still working away, battling the damn 3D. As for that one, huh, must I mention it? She’s most likely tuck away nicely in her nice comfy and cosy bed dreaming away.

Honestly speaking, 3 of us knew what she would show in 15 hours time. We all worked hard, bearing in mind what Peter had said 48 hours ago. Let us earn the respect a post graduate should receive. Show us what you are capable of doing. Show us the best part of your presentation.

  These words of advice haunted me throughout the night. I can do it! I keep on telling myself. If Peter can sacrifice sleeping hours during his stint at AA, why can’t I? I can do it! And I must do it! I do it for my parents, I do it for my J, my C and my Y. I know you gals have been messaging me throughout the weekend and Monday morning to keep me going. And Joey, Christine, your fighting spirit kept me going.

Red bull, Pockey and it must be chocolate flavour. My Chiva with tonic water. Halls sugar free( gosh I can’t believe I finished 1 box that night and I opened the second box!) My Earl Grey, my Lush 995, my Class95 and my TV. Thank you, lads for accompanying me.

J, thank you, darling. Thank you, I know without your insistence and persistence to send me off to bed, I wouldn’t have survive till the D-hour that day. Thank you for booking a room for me to rest while you went out for a 2hour shopping trip. C, thanks for your call and message, it’s so heart-warming. Y, thank you for your sweet text messages and your nice warm tea and breakfast. Though, I never ate it. I finished the tea though. Thanks Mum for your soup! Thanks Dad for driving me to the university. Thanks Sis, for your ice-cream!

Clock’s ticking away, and I’m all stone and tired! I can’t collapse! I must hang on! Utmost and Foremost! Charge into Victory! These are the mottos and slogans that kept ringing through me. These are the mottos and slogans during my NS days! Where we all suffer as one and enjoy as one.

I told myself, Joey, Christine and I should carry on the fight till the last blood drawn. We must prevail!

The time then was 3pm and an hour away till D-Hour. . .

Clock’s ticking away . . . . Last man standing wins the battle later!

Yes, it’s finally over! Postgraduate Diploma Assessment took the toll out of my studio lot.

Getting ready . . . Butterflies in my tummy

Most of us are down with fever, flu, cough, you name it, and we got it. I’m not joking! Though it’s a small studio, but I’m telling you that we have countless sleepless night! Week after week of scheme editing, concept planning, story telling, etc. Peter, our studio tutor, work hard with us, we spent most of our time in his office, roughing out our weekends with him. It was quite a dramatic month for the 3 of us. The fourth one, I’m not too eager to say anything about her.

Fool around first before our turn on last Friday . . .Did you smell something?

Everyone’s on the verge of giving up hope on her. I’m starting to wonder does she have any language problem. She doesn’t seem to understand a single word tutors mentioned and what are we trying to put across to her. She just seems to stop talking about office space. To be frank with you, we found nothing in her project. I mean come on, this is a Masters studies. We are not keen to look at how common her office design is! We are not keen on that! We in fact want to hear her story! In reality, little one, come on, she basically shut out all our comments! This really makes all of us wonder what the hell is wrong with her! Her site contextual understanding is really bad! She doesn’t even bother to discover what the phenomenon of her site is! She only cares about how nice her office looks in the end!

Christine and I listening . . .Supporting Joey

In fact we were all thoroughly shock on her slides! She has been showing the same old slides over and over again! From Stage 2 Formative till Stage 2 Summartive! Oh good lord! What on earth is happening! She doesn’t seem to understand the need to present hard-copy for assessment presentation! We strongly believe that in her country the Design Education system sucks! The standard wasn’t really there! In-fact, we realise that in Indonesia it’s even better there! We realised that not only our cohort is facing the same problem with an individual, our counterpart from the CP side too encounter the same with just one chap!

Serious with an exclamation mark and a period! Peter gave all of us another four days to present our scheme again after last Friday. What happened last Friday was that Peter and the rest of the assessors found that 3 of us had fantastic research however the lacking part of our presentation was the essential drawings. As for that little one, she was like you know have to present everything.

Big Sis, at her usual cheerful self, but inside her, she’s nervous

Peter listening to what Joey has to say. He’s our Angel on these 2 occasions! You got to see for yourself how annoyed Peter was. You see, we did all we could to send her text messages to tell her to join us for tutorial sessions with Peter. Well, as usual she did not answer any of our text messages.

Imagine how short the period of time was! In fact 3 of us came out with a scheme, finalise our story and concept within a record-breaking time of 2 weeks!

Stone and tired . . . f I’m did not mistaken the time line. The rest of the time was spent on trying to make our scheme work and design finalised. True enough, 3 of us got stuck on the storyboard collage. Peter helped us by showing us examples from GA collections. He kept our fighting spirit and morale up by telling us stories from his AA days. We were amused to learn that he only met his lecturer once a week for just 10 to 15 minutes! And his lecturer came all the way down from Paris just to conduct his class. He is none other then, Koolhaas’s associates at OMA. And we learn that Zaha Hadid was the only female in AA that could smoke within the AA campus! And we heard stories of how Peter made it through his days in AA. Cool!

Peter and the rest of the assessors’ objectives were meant for our own benefit. As Peter had mentioned, you have 4 more days to work your scheme, leave whatever you have done alone, and just do what I tell you to. And after these 4 days, come out with something that is better, I want to see improvement. At first, our morale was at a low. We sat down at the academy’s café and no one was in the mood of eating. We have not slept much for the past few days. Occasionally, rest our eyes for an hour or two before continue with our scheme. What pissed me off most is that the little have the cheek to mention that she’s stress and have not slept! Darn! She didn’t do anything as far as we are concerned! She didn’t even bother and care! She just basically when it comes to studio tutorial or lecture, she would just sit down there or stand behind you and watch what you are doing! To be honest and frank with you, we are getting annoyed! It’s like we are been leeched! Yeah, Emilee’s right, it aren’t feel good being leeched.

Right after I sat down in the café, my mobile rang off. Peter asked me a question and instantly I knew there is trouble. And he wants to talk to her in private. The small one just walked away and spoke on the phone. Joey, Christine and I just stare at each other and we all knew what’s going to take place in a short while. True enough, our prediction was true. We all need to re-sit for the assessment again.

My turn to present my scheme
Shell shocked and dumb-folded, Joey was the first one to break contact. She noticed Peter was staring at me all the time. Christine noticed that too. I didn’t sense it. I was too stone to notice anything. However, right in our heart we all knew the reason why. And why we are sort of the “accompanying art piece” for the small one in the re-assessment stage.

All in serious mode now!

Christine almost lost her mind right after that! She was on the verge of breaking up. May Day! May Day! This is Studio 505; May Day . . . May Day . . . We need medical assistance to our pilot Christine. She’s experience a moment of depression with a high suicide drive!! Control, this is the co-pilot speaking, request for her husband to treat her! Don’t let her die at my place or Joey’s place. Actually I don’t mind. Opps. . . Hehehe . . .

And the small one she has the cheek to ask for a longer period of extension for final assessment. And guess what worst still! On Monday, she came back with the same slide! Oh good lord! What on earth is she trying to do! Try to be funny huh?!

Well, anyway, we were all pleased, as Peter did mentioned that we showed improvement on the other hand he felt sad as we had left out the juice of our design scheme. He mentioned that our concept’s great, scheme’s great, but we drained off our juice. Sad!

Well, who cares! It’s over! It’s over! OVER!

Final semester, here I’ am!

I haven’t been blogging for a while now. Yeah, was utterly tied down with presentations for major module. I believe that the main blogging part should return next Monday. Yeah, we still have to sit in for another paper on Monday 4pm. And another Paper submission online on the 10 of Dec. . . I accept as truth that Kent, you have let us addicted to blogging! On the other hand, blogging seems to have a very unique effect on Christine, Joey and myself. We blog to de-stress, we read blog to de-stress, we blog to grieve (Not sure if grieve is the right word to use here), nevertheless, blogging to me seems to be a leisure for me, when I’m alone.

However here’s a sneak on what I shall be posting on.

STUDIO :  POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA ASSESSMENT, 01 DECEMBER 2006 (Haven’t thought of the title yet)

Taken while that little was presenting so called “work”

Peter (in white, listening, he was our angel  yesterday, saving the 3 of us)

Peter , truly  upset by what the little one had presented, and everyone’s upset too! Seen here

giving his “words of advice” . . .

JB, MALACCA AND KL FUN . . .

Taken at the hotel dining  in KL( image from Christine)

Taken at Jalan Tokong, Malacca, while I was alone exploring  the essence of our roots . . .