dancing on water...

some images from the house thus far...




i took the opportunity to make some drastic changes to the design. it was an immediate reaction when the boss said to me... 'i'm sure after the swiss trip you would alot of new ideas you would want to change for the house...'. and indeed i did, a whole list of them. but it was not so much of the swiss trip instead it was the notion of giving me the green light to do so that prompted the reaction. all along i hated the current look of the house. i had problems with the plans but i struggled to translate the plans into the overall form of the building, which is a more obvious and important aspect of the design. rarely would someone comment much on the plans and how beautiful the layout was, instead its the immediate first impression when staring at the building and experiencing the spaces in 3-dimension. so with my recent swiss influence... i spent the whole of last week reworking the design day and night until i was pretty satisfied with the result. more well suited and less forced as compared to the previous.
well i thought to myself. if i am going to be stuck with this project for the next 1 year. i better be running a job where im happy and excited with the design and be eager to see it evolve into reality.

pink killer...

was unable to sleep last night... so i started browsing through some old photos and found some pretty interesting "artistic" experiments/ projects done throughout the past 4 years.



having so much time on my hands, i decided to make a collage out of it to pass the time. ofcourse as you notice... i got gradually board and sleepy, hence the top right corner is pretty unresolved and the remaining photos just got gradually smaller.


i discovered that our marina competition entry is featured in the latest Singapore Architect magazine. must buy. but i heard the layout was a cookie cutter piece. no respect at all. stupid.

before i call it... a day

Its a Friday evening and i am the last person in the office. Dad says my life is practically non-existent. i beg to differ in some ways. But for sure i need to improve my health regime. I had the confirmation when i received 2 'Men's Health' magazine from the contractor's Archi Coordinator. Yes, i have an unhealthy lifestyle, which is probably why i fall sick so easily maybe. But it could also be due to my weird sleeping hours factoring the cruel weather just now. whatever it is, i need to boost up my immune system. Its global warming people! stop chopping down trees and stop driving! i cant comment on the construction industry, as its my bread and butter.
The reason why me being the last person in the office is because half the office had left for JB to attend one of my colleagues wedding. I was suppose to attend but decided to opt out last minute. Just didnt want to see and hang out with my colleagues anymore. quite tired of laughing and joking and seeing their faces. man, hope i'm not running into a state of depression.
I had a short lunch chat with one of the big bosses. It was a sneak preview of the upcoming dinner with both the 2 bosses. this lunch/ dinner session is apparently the bosses' effort to catch up with us employees to get constructive feedback and to update us on our current progress. The conclusion of the whole discussion from what i can gather was basically me being still very young. hence i still do not have anything solid to offer... this translate as... cheap labor. He observed that i apparently have a lack of "passion" in my quest for Architecture, as compared to my other colleagues, i.e. china and korea. but he later commented that it could be an inward thing, which is more likely true. There are just some things not worth sharing to the bosses. For one, i do not like them to know and pry into my thoughts. Architecture for me is a very private and personal thing. its like telling people the color of underwear i am wearing.
i can work for you and churn out the best possible designs, even though i do not show great enthusiasm all the time. And i'm in still of search for my Architecture. so i'd prefer to listen and reserve my thoughts for now. i know some of you would disagree with my way of thinking. but i dont give a damn on what you think. even if my method is wrong. i am very stubborn and have my own way of doing things. so please spare me the advice. not interested. apologize for the rudeness, but i am in a slightly bad mood.
i took the opportunity to share my concerns of my workload in the office. As i am becoming a little confused on the sort of role i play in some of the jobs. so he obliged to pull me out from one of the jobs, which i was most happy to. I am abit exhausted working with the Korean (dont get me wrong, i do not hate the Korean. I find him a very nice guy. We chat and get along pretty well as friends and infact going for the upcoming Sonny Rollins concert! i think it's mainly the boss' mistake of not giving us a clear understanding of each of our roles in this project. hence things got abit messy in terms of the designated responsibilities among other things).
Later we went into the topic of the recent influx of resignations. Already in May, 4-5 of my colleagues have either submitted their resignation letter or are scheduled to leave. And i suspect that was the bosses' main concern and reason for this session with me. He immediately started assuring me of the reason behind it all. That it wasnt unexpected and in a way it was the their intention for some of them to leave. Sadly this does not translate into a huge upgrade in my salary to ensure my stay. but yet he did not give me a good assurance of my existence in the company. in fact he made it seem that i am fortunate to be in this office and be given so much opportunity, and bla bla. hmmmm... me very young no talent yet so better shut my mouth. the only pseudo-praise i got was me being quite an all rounder... having management/ contract admin/ and design work skills.
Well atleast as a consolation, there will be a pay rise in the coming months of June/ July. but that is tailored and dependant on our individual talents and ability as decided by the bosses. damn, which means a possible no pay rise for me? damn.

On to other things. I've been assigned to run this years designer's talk and to sort out the publications for this years Archi Festival. Man, what sort of hole am i digging myself into. haha. I personally voluntered to do publications, reason being to get some exposure in this field to better equip myself when we do eventually start our own architectural magazine. but unfortunately i was asked to lead the designer's forum as i had prior experience in this line of work. hope i'm able to delegate most of my works to other minions. This reminds me, i still owe Richard an article 3 months ago. by now i should have already submitted 2 articles. must focus.

Theres another competition at stake. this time the prize money is worth well over S$20,000.00. OHHH goodie... money money. but ofcourse its a much complicated brief and it captures a wider participation entry. must think carefully. 25K... perhaps i can go on a sabbatical with that amount of cash.

last but not least... Good bye spidey... Marvel has a new no.1 hero.... IRON MAN!! oh my goodness. he is just so polished and shiny (literally). Its a refreshing take on superheros. Filthy rich, obnoxious, heartless, and no secret identity. that in a way, is being true to yourself.

anyway i think its about time i leave this place. time to play!!

we'll i...

i need to exercise.

cry me a river...

i must blog something before i leave. my small boss has left for the US of A. its a happy stress feeling. Happy because for the next 2 weeks i have one less boss breathing down my neck, stress because now everything has fallen into my responsibility.

The annoying QS has gone from bad to worse. she still incessantly calls at every second of the day. i get phone calls up till 10pm. it has become so frequent that the whole office knows about my so called "prank calls". then when the phone rings after office hours... i could hear giggles at the back and someone telling me to pick up the call because its undoubtedly mine. i refuse to answer the call. but somehow or rather she always manages to get through. sabotaged!
let me give an example of how useless the conversation is...

" phone rings...
me: hello
QS: hello and good-a evening, simiuo
me: yes. oh yes i tried calling your colleague and yourself earlier but no one answered.
QS: is it you call me? when you call?
me: around 6 something
QS: i am in the office at that time. are you sure you called? we were in the office. im very sure of it
me: i dont know. maybe you all left for dinner
QS: no. i was in the office.
me: anyway... what is it you want?
QS: can i check with you something?
me: yes (actually it means NO!!)
QS: it;s about the stone and tile tender
me: what about it?
QS: Can i check with you, is it the supplier comply to your specification?
me: eerr
QS: what i mean is, have you reviewed the sample and is the supplier comply to your specification?
me: why you need to know?
QS: why i need to know ah. is it they comply to your specification? .... (everything is mumbled because i had stopped listening and went back typing my reports).... so is it they comply to your specification? can you let me know
me: hmmm
QS: how about X's submission? is it they comply to your specification?
me: only X complied on their submission for the tiles
QS: how Y? is it they comply to your specification. how about their alternative submission? is it acceptable to you all? they only submit alternative
me: nope. all alternatives were rejected
QS: how about Z's alternative? is it you accept their submission?
me: nope. why are you asking me this?
QS: i need to know is it they comply to your specification
me: are you just being Kay-po?
QS: kay-po!? no i am not being kay-po. this is very important i need to know is it they comply to your specification. hey simiuo, how can you say like that.
me: but i tot we're having a tile interview this friday. can this wait?
QS: i need to prepare myself before hand. so i need to know is it they comply to your specification.
me: okay. for tiles its X supplier. then for stones its Y for durango marble.... Z for the ash grey bla bla
QS: i never ask you about the stone. i only ask you for the tiles. i dont need to know about the stone.
me: oh. okay. as i said X comply to all tiles for the units.
QS: what about the common areas? is it they comply to your specification?
me: all comply for the tiles to the common area.
QS: what about your report? when can u issue it to me?
me: i tot we're having an interview in friday. so i cant issue until thats done.
QS: what about the suppliers alternative proposal?
me: as i said. we reject all alternative proposals. all not acceptable.
QS: can you give me a tabulation on the things.
me: eerr.
QS: are you sure you called at 6? i am at the office at that time. or you make a mistake.
me: no one picked up. what can i do
QS: really? but im sure i at the office.
me: anyway thats not important now.
QS: hey simiuo... i am sure i was in the office... (everything was muffled again as i went back to typing my work...) * silence*..... so what about the stone? is it they comply to your specification?
me: huh?! eh can we have this conversation another time? im trying to finish up my work and its 10pm.
QS: okay. can you call me when you are done with your work?
me: what?
QS: nevermind. just issue me the tabulation if they supplier comply to your specification.
me: okay bye.
QS: thank you bye bye.

half hour later...

me: hello... mkpl architects
QS: simiuo
me: yes
QS: can i check with you something?
me: yes
QS: is it they got the site meeting tomorrow at 9am?
me: yes
QS: so you will issue the minutes?
me: im typing it right now
QS: oh oh... okay. so you will send it to me.
me: yes.
QS: thank you bye.


goodness me. that was a bloody long conversation. i wanted to write some more on my other happenings. but its so late now i wanna go home. sigh.