proposition... S.A.

post-christmas and pre-new year at kl was rather relaxing. sadly was not able to find time to use the hotel facilities during my stay. then again guess it wasnt the priority. but i must say that the wedding was a complete bore. it was just shake bride and groom hands as you enter, sit down and make small talk with the people, eat and just eat, witness an average toasting session, shake the bride and grooms hand on the way out. yes... how very exciting indeed. it would had been slightly more entertaining if there was like some speech or special items just to engage with the bored crowd. well it would had been a consolation if there were hot babes around... sadly none at all!!

but apart from that... everything else was good. the food was yummy.

some poor quality photos taken with my HP camera at random...

my mind is gradually becoming more clear headed on things to come.

caffeine high...

the past few days i've been going to bed relatively early and waking up early to arrive at the office 15 minutes early. thats a very good thing. unfortunately i predict this beautiful streak will be broken. me the genius brewed myself a cuppa at 11pm. it comes natural to me to want to drink coffee when i'm working even when i'm at home. so by the forces of nature... i was driven to have that coffee and now i'm regretting it so badly.

so since i'm having trouble trying to sleep. i decided to uhmm... nag. but the plus point is that with my brain being so pumped up by the coffee adrenaline. i've managed to work out on all my letter/ email replies to the contractors. recently one of my contractors have been shooting emails trying to blame the architects for the cause of delay in their works and evade themselves from their responsibilities. writing to refute such erroneous claim is a very tricky thing. in some ways... it could be a trap. on the other hand, i have another contractor who is so onz on getting the job going yet... very poor in their correspondences and paperwork. and i have to write them a whole list of to do works and to help them record every single item discussed and remind them to submit ALL their paperworks. every time i mentioned the word write or report... the contractor would roll their eyes and give me the "do i really have to?" look. i guess it is a very tedious task. i know for sure... because i myself have to do all these administrative things as well. but then i would then give them a long explanation trying to rationalize with them the importance of all these paper work.

i've finally confirmed my reservation at the Westin in KL. perhaps this time i will try and spend more time in the hotel and indulge myself with the facilities. the last time i stayed at the Westin i was barely in it. now i'm thinking whether i should further extend my stay there...

it seems 2010 will be the year many friends are planning to visit KK. majority of them specifically have set their eyes on the mountain. and what better way to save their accommodation fee by staying with a local during their trip. so maybe 2010 would be the year i would pay many visits back home. in a way to compensate the failed trips back home in 2009.

on to other miscellaneous things... i was informed that check shirts are back. yeehaw! *spank that ass... biatch!*

you get what you ask for...

birthday gifts...

surprise mock up of my RC wall that was to be ready on Monday. I spoilt the surprise when i visited the site on Friday.
... and my new Universal Dock that came together with a 100SGD apple voucher because the Magic Mouse was out of stock!!
nice...

reasons why... im still here.

there are 2 projects under my wing that have been sustaining my sanity. but again... one of the project has the potential of driving me insanely nuts. nevertheless both projects are a good example of working with 2 different contractors and projects of vast difference in scale.

finally for the last 3 years we've finally reached the stage of constructing the e-deck. of course the residential units are still no where near its supposedly completed stage. sigh...

but on the other hand, after the long 3 year hiatus. my little house has finally started moving... and moving pretty fast it is. imagine it was suppose to start construction 1 year ago. i must say i am rather proud to see my little baby taking its shape...

below is a photo of the house... preparing the rebars for the swimming pool and the balancing tank. the foreground is the living room. if you notice which i am sure you cant... the contractor had to do a quick improvisation on the rebar and structural changes. had to arm twist the engineer to change the structural design error. i hate it went engineers wants me to compromise on my side as a result of their lack of due diligence and failure to read the architectural drawings in detail. and so i refused to allow the engineer to psyche me in tolerating the stupid cock-up of having a structural column sitting right into my koi pond. he spent 15 minutes on the phone then later in the meeting trying to pacify me and trying to convince me to look at a different angle by accepting a "box-up". i realise both M+E and structural engineers love to use the word "box-up" as a means to solve every error in detail.

the tricky part was that the error was only discovered after the pile cap was completed. so we had to transfer the structure by introducing a tie beam of 500x1000mm to support the column structure sitting on a 125mm cantilevered slab. haha amazing stuff. now i know how capable the structural engineers are... all they need is a little arm twisting stimulation to let them think outside the box. and we all can talk about cost later... i suppose. haha.

apart from the little house on a little island... there is the monstrous condo development. this... structural design is relatively more complicated. literally each floor is supported on a transfer slab due to the stepping terraces. imagine the 6 storey structure is also sitting on a 500mm thick transfer slab. the mother of all the transfered slab in this entire development. haha...
the e-deck finally taking shape... thats the upper e-deck where the BBQ area is located and right below is the function room.
this the handrail design for the typical penthouse. i find it rather too complicated after seeing the mock-up done by the contractor. the design was to resolve the level changes of the steps yet to keep the continuity of the railings. so it was design on the basis that a person can grab and slide their hands along the handrail without any obstruction to its continuity.
a photo of the swimming pool balancing tank...
its true that i do all the fun stuff in the office... haha.

ending in echoes of silence...

finally started sending out my resumes to a couple of firms over the weekend. well, fingers crossed and hope i get the interviews. at the moment i am being very picky and tasteful in the firms i've applied to. i guess its more of the quality and my specific agenda than anything else. unlike 3 years ago where i just spread my net all out to see which kind soul would be so nice to hire me. i was a sponge that wanted to just absorb every single droplet of water that i can possibly absorb. but after 3 years, i've come to realise the certain dos and donts that i wish to include in my learning curve. in a way its like readjusting the steepness of the curve and go straight to the specific things i want to learn.

however, if i do not get the job or find that the place ain't suitable enough... then it might be bye-bye Singapore. i really do hope i get my first preference... it was my first preference of firms when i was applying for jobs in Singapore 3 years ago. surprisingly it still is. unfortunately they were not hiring at the time... and being so popular there is a high chance they might not be either this time, or are very picky on their applicants. sigh.

well another hidden agenda and reason why i hope to get into that company is because of its affiliation with [The Theaterworks]. then perhaps i would have the opportunity to do some stage set designing as well.

so here's a new prayer assignment for you folks!

lately i've been blasting my iPod with lots of rock music. drowning myself within this spectrum of music genre is due to my need to detached myself from the environment... be it in public transport, public areas, and at times at the work place. and perhaps to avoid the need to entertain the silence within my head that would lead to weird thoughts. the band, Foo Fighters, in particular have been my frequent listen. i've been looping their complete discography from The Color and Shapes to their recent Greatest Hits album. thats listening to 7 albums of non-stop head banging music. friggin awesome!

other strange listens would be U2. a band that i am not very fond of in the past, mainly because i hate Bono's annoying ne-ne vocals. but i am beginning to be rather respectful of "the edge's" echoey guitar riffs. it can be rather hypnotic.

aside from Rock music... i still do keep up with my usual listens. the most recent findings is Stan Getz's Bossas and Ballads: the lost sessions

i'm beginning to be able to distinguish clearly his sounds and style of play from other sax players. its a really good album. the sort you can listen early in the morning or late nights before bedtime.

finally got around to buy my ticket to the [Chick Corea] concert. i didnt manage to find anyone that would be interested or available to kawan me. ofcourse... shlim kept insisting i ask Debs to go. but i was reluctant to. don't ask me why.

yummy...

jingle bells... jingle bells...

so today's sermon in church was about treasures in heaven (matthew 6:19~24). we learned that we should not worship money and place it on an alter... instead we should spend! i'm pretty sure the recent obama-hujintao get together is about obama trying to physco china into splurging all that loads of cash hidden underneath them chinese pillows...

here are some of my current ogles...

a Vespa LX150...

or...

Leica M8 range finder... i'm not trying to turn into one them "photogs" but seriously this camera is a beau. i couldn't stop myself from fiddling with Ju's Leica.

budweiser...

it seems rather hard to find a compadre for the chickcorea in december. but nonetheless its something i must not miss. somehow i treat this as a significant milestone of my life... why? because 3 years back when i had just arrived to start my new life in this island... chickcorea was in town. sadly i was not able to go because at that time i was still trying to orientate myself around and sistic.com was the last thing on my mind. but he's back again... and i cant help but wonder if its signifies an ending of a past phase welcoming me as i transition myself to a new.

anyway, bet y'all are probably rolling your eyes right now. so i shall not elaborate any further.

today was the last bible class for the year. finally a break from the tuesday routine. it has been rather swell. i probably wouldnt had made the effort to study about the life of moses if it werent for bsf. somehow i think God wanted class to be on a Tuesday. tuesdays are my site walk days in the morning... where after that im usually all sweaty and sticky. the worst feeling ever. then its the day before my regular wednesday site meeting. which is always a nightmare. normally there would be tons of things to do and follow up prior to the meeting. i must say i was not a regular bible class goer towards these last few months. i think i missed most part of Deuteronomy. yes very ashamed. but at least i managed to catch Moses' last dying days. well unlike most days... i decided to mingle a little longer during the group mingling session and adjourned for dinner after. figured it might be the last time i'd see any of these folks or at least for the rest of the remaining year.

strangely i bumped into a very old OCF acquaintance. i remember him from my ocf days as the tough love hardcore NS cum lawyer christian. funny to discover that he dreaded his ocf days. but i can totally understand why, but coming from him was rather a surprise as well. maybe because i didnt really knew him that well to begin with. but yea although i did share some happy moments and learnt a thing or two during my OCF days... overall it sucked in general.

was video conferencing with the parents over the weekend. apart from sharing my reasons and theories of the complications of finding my "other half" and females in general. it suddenly dawn on me that for whole of 2009... i have not made a trip back to KK. the last time i was back was in christmas. and at the rate i'm in... i do not think i will be breaking that streak. this year would be the first in my decade life away from home that i did not celebrated CNY and perhaps christmas. So now the big question... what am i gonna do this christmas?!

short lived...

as i said i would. here are some photos taken of the built panels. this was taken the night before the exhibition's opening. was not able to see how the finished finished product turned out, the exhibition was only open during working hours only. by the time i headed down from office, the hall was closed and in total darkness. sad.

if you're wondering...

The moon was shining on the lake at night

The Slayer t-shirt fit the scene just right

Smeared mascara, I looked into your eyes, I saw a light

You told me stories about your chickadees

They didn't like BB guns or stupid archery

John the lifeguard, he let them use the pool all day for free

Then the conversation stopped, and I looked down at my feet

I was next to you and you were right there next to me

Then I said girl,

If you're wondering if I want you, (I want you to) I want you to

So make a move, (Make a move) 'cos I ain't got all night

The rest of the summer was the best we ever had

We watched Titanic, and it didn't make us sad

I took you to Best Buy, you took me home to meet your Mom and Dad

Your Mom cooked meatloaf even though I don't eat meat

I dug you so much, I took some for the team

Your dad was silent, his eyes were fixed on what was on TV

Then the conversation stopped, and I looked down at the ring

Your folks were next to you, and you were right there next to me

Then I said girl,

If you're wondering if I want you, (I want you to) I want you to (I want you to)

I swear it's true (I swear it's true) without you, my heart is blue

Girl,

If you're wondering if I want you, (I want you to) I want you to

So make a move, (Make a move) 'cos I ain't got all night

So much pain may come our way

There may come a day when we have nothing left to say

When the conversation stops, and we're facing our defeat

I'll be next to you and you'll be right there next to me

Then I'll say girl,

If you're wondering if I want you, (I want you to) I want you to (I want you to)

I swear it's true (I swear it's true) without you, my heart is blue

Girl,

If you're wondering if I want you (I want you to) I want you to

So make a move, (Make a move) 'cos I ain't got all night

gravity... working against me.

now that my new printer/scanner/ photocopier is finally up and running. i can finally share some of the recent stuff i was being preoccupied with. haha!

my most recent (completed) project would be the designing of exhibition space for SIA at the BEX Asia Exhibition. it was a low budget assignment with a minimal yet very "organic" brief. when i say "organic" is because we had no idea what was going to be exhibited till the very last of days just before the exhibition started.

so let me show some of the thought process...

the site or the designated space we were given was at the far right hand side of the hall smacked in the middle of the main corridor. well for me, i personally love long narrow spaces. simply because i love given the chance to create depth in the narration of the spaces. <-- i bet you all are wondering what the heck do i mean... seriously... i pun tak tahu *shrugs*

anyway, given that it was right at the end of the corridor, that automatically made it the main draw / focal point of the exhibit. and i thought, so how do i draw the viewers attention. initially i thought of using reflective materials to scream at the viewers, then i thought since singapore loves green... why not i just plant a tree ( but that would just be too tacky, and the n-parks booth was just around the corner). instead since reflective materials would probably cost a bomb, i decided to create the drama by drawing the viewers through a series of steps that would lead them to this long wall of about 2.2 meters. in a way it meant to give height to the exhibits and yet the human scale is still retained by the steps.

~ i forgot to explain what the exhibits consisted of. well basically the SIA wanted to exhibit the whole timeline of their involvement with the countries green mission. then the left over space was given to all the other regional architectural institutions to showcase their own stuff. ~

now that would explain the purpose of the wall. because i did not want to distract the main focus that this exhibit is essentially for SIA and the other stuff was just subsidiary of it. the wall becomes the main theme and backdrop of everything. the viewers would naturally know the the heighten wall is the main exhibit and surrounding it being place at random on the steps is the forest of exhibit panels. randomly placed to show that all could be just part or equal to the status of the viewers wanting to crowd around to witness the great SIA wall. haha.

now but there was a problem (apart from the budget constraint). given that we were unsure how many boards would make up the numbers for the regional institutes exhibit, i was not able to plan in advance my little random forest. and if the numbers escalated it would be too bushy a forest for the wall to be effective. so to make things less complicated, i decided to bring forward the wall. but by doing that, the steps would be totally redundant. and so i decided to use the wall as its rightful function... to block and hide and shelter the whatever that lies behind it. but to get into the space, i needed to make a fenestration. hence using the corridor as my reference i opened up the fenestration and concurrently created a sense of depth to the viewers.

because the only thing that we were able to control was the SIA exhibits, the wall then serves as the permanent exhibit and what goes behind it was the organic + transient space. its like the backstage of where all the junk lies. i had no qualms of wanting to connect the 2 spaces because in all truth both exhibits were pretty incongruous with each other. and i couldnt wait for the other institutes to give me a confirmed number.

above is detail sketches of the wall with a pelmet incorporating the T5 lights. the contractor proposed to add sandbags within the 300thk walls to make sturdy the walls without needing the additional chamfered supports that i so wanted to avoid.

i will post up the photos of the finish product shortly. i left the photos in my office PC hardisk.

Postmortem...

now that it is completed and i have seen the finished product and despite the few hiccups here and there. i am reasonably satisfied with the results.

one of the main hiccup was the position of my fenestration that was supposedly to be inline with the corridor somehow was off-set. i was scratching my head on site wondering why the whole damn thing was shifted by at least 3 meters. i tot the contractor had miscalculated and got the setting out wrong or something or perhaps the whole exhibition in itself was set out wrongly. since i couldnt get answers from the contractor as he was out for lunch, i decided to ask the organisers themselves. and as it turns out the reason why

it was off was because at the very last minute without informing anyone, they decided to add an additional stall for their own exhibit hence everything was moved down. i was so upset, even more because i could not do anything about it but to just accept its fate.

the sketch above was done after the whole thing was completed.

after further thought, there were 2 things that i could had done to make it more meaningful:

1.

i personally thought the 2m fenestration was a little too big. it revealed too much of what mystery lied behind the wall. a better size might had probably been half a meter. the viewer would have to reorientate and adjust him/herself by entering the space sideways. in a way the viewers would be forced to make an effort to get into the space behind. ofcourse it would had been politically incorrect if i had actually done that. it would have been very offensive to the other regional institutes exhibits, in particular for the Thai exhibit. Thai king would feel very insulted.

2.

creating a level change with a raised threshold at the fenestration would be an interesting way of informing the people of the transition in space and a good means of emphasizing the focal point of the exhibit.

anyhow... all is over and done with. im glad that the SIA exhibition turn out very different from the other booths which were rather tacky and IMHO too loud. as what Wenhao commented... "... among all it was the most architecturally sensible booth." nice.

As the great Carlos Scarpa (and his many exhibition design exercises) says...

"experiments in designing exhibitions make it possible to test one's own architectural language, serving as an instrument for propagating the prevailing architectonic message..." haha... my message.

happy birthday... to me.

it would definitely be a magical christmas as well if you were mine... magic mouse... caress caress... stroke stroke... click click... touch touch... ooooohhh... aaahhhhhh...

oh i love diagrams...

2 months notice...

the weekend had gone by so fast yet again. highlight for today (apart from groundbreaking ceremony of the sentosa cove house site this morning) was probably my stash of newly purchased CDs. my original intention was to search for the Jersey Boys musical soundtrack. in the end... the cd was not on sale and i ended up buying everything else. i can never turned down a good sale. pity keith jarret CDs just never ever will be on sale. why?!

was supposed to attend some dinner event at Royal China in the Marina Mandarin, instead i decided to spend the rest of the evening at home. i guess turning down the offer to meet Ben Van Berkel and Maksimilio Fuksas was never really a tough decision. hah! i'll be able to hear all that "sublime order" crap shit over the week anyway. the only thing i'm interested to settle is the exhibition gallery for this years BEX Asia at suntec. in the end to meet the budget... the final design is now so much simpler and somehow more organic in its flexibility. given that PAM and all the other regional architectural institutes just cant decide how many boards they wanna exhibit. so i the best option was to bring forward the huge wall and hide all the other stuff behind it. i hope it turns out well.

now i must decide if i should attend the party at the loof or go for bible class on tuesday. i'll decide that when the time comes.

saturday we celebrated SunHo's 6th month. for a change of scenery, we decided to do it at my place. he just cant take his eyes off the place. momzy had trouble breast feeding him because he was just too distracted to nibble on the boobies. why i say nibble? because he has grown 2 little teeths!! haha. carrying that 9kilo pilllow reminds me of my climb up to mount kk... lugging a 9kilo backpack up the Mesilao trail. tough to my weak knees.

As requested, some photos of the dive. looking forward for the next one.

sunburn...

after 3 years of procrastination... i've finally arrived into the world of the underwater! hah!

and there was a huge big puffer fish to welcome me during the last dive of the trip. it was huge!!!!

i must say... God was omnipresent during the whole trip. no hiccups and the weather was decent. not the best condition but decent enough to finish all 5 dives. the current affecting the visibility underwater but thankfully the heavy rain pours only started when we set foot on Mersing jetty. that was a relief.

so... next stop... Sipadan? Taiwan? Thailand? Indonesia? Cairns?

apparently the visibility in Taiwan seas is up to 30meters. thats damn syok!

why do you let me stay here...?

monday again and i feel like shit. i hate the feeling of unaccomplishment at the end of the day. i never ever get to finish what i had planned on doing on most days. theres just too much to do and everything seems to be moving concurrently. even though the office is filled with people, yet somehow i feel so alone. the only support i get from the bosses is stress. i guess my heart and mind has really drifted.

finally the beans is spilled. i guess the bosses just can't whole their tongue any longer. they just had to know. well my somewhat detachment from the office and work was rather obvious or so it seems. the lady boss had been observing me of late... and realise that my work progression has come to a halt. as she puts it... "car engine not able to start..." i was rather surprised at the observation and how badly she wanted to talk to me about it. but it's hard to explain what i'm feeling. there is a reason for my current state but there is no real way of sharing in vagueness. but all i could answer to her queries was that i am ofcourse making plans... much like any other human being in planet earth. plans... thats life. making plans in hopes of achieving it. the whole setting was rather uncomfortable though very amusing, i had never imagine myself in this situation ever before. and it has come to a point of being in the office for a period of time, until the bosses can sense my difference. ofcourse i have not really made a great effort of hiding it, but still i didnt know work had been affected so deeply. but looking back i guess it has... because nowadays i always end the day with the fuck that... i'm going home mentality. this is actually a very bad work attitude. but really... though i feel so sincerely guilty about it, at the same time i just can't help myself. its horrible, because i really want to give my best, but i am unable to contribute further, and my growth in the office is stunt. the direction i'm heading... is perhaps not the direction i intend to seek. and when i generally will stop giving my best when i find sometihng that's not in line with my thoughts or if i think its just not right. i hate being stagnant and been put in a situation where i cant move. the more i'm put in a corner the more i would wanna crash out. thats just human nature.

so im taking this as a sign. besides theres just no way i can go back anymore. and the bosses' observation has served as a confirmation of the plans. well atleast for the first part of it.

so unprepared.

(500) days of... S

coincidence... because fate is a myth.

thinking...

tossing and turning for the past few hours. so i decided to get up have a beer and plan my in-flight itinerary. i managed to reserve my seat, skim through the menu, and uhmm checked out the available movies. they are serving sticky date pudding on the flight! and i expressed cravings 2 days ago. awesome. and this time i think i'll just have champagne throughout. hahar.

apart from that... i have been browsing through OMA's website. i think the MAHANAKHON is undisputedly the current most interesting residential highrise. if not highrise in general. i discovered that Ole Scheeren is only 38 years old and already he's one of the directors at OMA. plus he's married to Maggie Cheung. darn lucky bastard. no matter what the critics say about his contributions in the asian architectural scene. you gotta give it to the man... he's got it all despite it all. hush my little envious friends. hahar.
sigh... i must try and sleep.

largest snake found... dead.

mid week blues...

a good session at no.5. wow i just got to know this girl who is just damn in your face. well, i must say that alcohol in some way does somehow make a person look hotter than they are. so i must maintain my prudence in judgement. she is the first that questioned on my vagueness in describing my address.

"so where do you live...?"

err somewhere central... between toa payoh and novena...

"what the fuck in central? just say where u live"

"u mean j;n rajah? balestier?... bahagia?"

okay i live off bahagia

"yalar then just say lar... you think i dunno where ah. jln rajah... jalan etc"

yeap.

"so do you facebook? are you an active or passive facebooker?"

err how do you define active?

"aiya knowing you probably take forever to add me... plus you also fail to take my HP number..."

okay... i didnt know u mobile these days? haha. whats your number?

i probably wont call u lor

damn direct... shocking.

mid week blues. i decided to voice my thoughts on my current insufficient manpower assistance to one of the directors. unfortunately i reckon the whole conversation was rather unfruitful. in the end... the conclusion was that i was on my own and i have to manage all this shit on my own. damn. the work distribution is fucking unfair. its getting so bad that i really fucking hate my collegues who are having the good life but pretending to be damn fucking stress. if i could... i would tell them that they are years ahead of experience than i am and they better fucking shut up. please stop acting busy. i really think all these talk is just hot air and bullshit. i guess all the martinis are getting the best of me. but i must say, everything seems rather enhance.

i am so glad that sunho is back. the last 2 weeks was rather dreadful. i wanna see the little boy again.

saehoon got me a new cd from korea. apparently she artist is a serious and real artist.

tennis tomorrow. however realised taht i'm moderating tomorrow. sigh. 2nd designers forum. i guess im moderating for all the sessions. tomorrows speaker... WOHA... SURBANA... and some Korean artist. i am so unprepared. and i have yet to prepare the brief for the pavilion competition. sigh.

okay i better read up now.

these are busy times...

CV updating can be such a chore. i find the whole introduction segment so difficult to write. how much awesomeness can one write about themselves. nevertheless its good motivation and rather fun.

been out of the office these couple days. and i hate having to go back into the office after hours just because. thankfully today i had a good excuse to leave the office early. went over to ZARA to pick out a jacket for ping's farewell. i dun like to be sent alone to run these sort of errands... i get tempted to shop for myself. really can't believe that he's actually leaving. but i do respect him, very brave of him to decide to further his studies in Germany. imagine a little thai boy who can barely speak english now has to try and communicate and survive in a much foreign land.

so since i have no one to share my day with. let me share my great achievements thus far to all you readers. i know you all will not be able to appreciate this but you do not have much of a choice anyway.

met up with the client yesterday before he was flying off to Beijing. after the meeting with the potential contractor for the job, we head over to Bulthaup to check out the kitchen i had specified. we had to justify to the client why on earth are we spending money on a $150k kitchen system. well, after spending almost an hour at the showroom, i reckon the wife was pretty impress by the kitchen. i must say... its innovation to the max. these germans really thought of everything for a kitchen. hope they wont scrap the proposal... it would be a very nice kitchen to display in the house. now with that hurdle done... the next step is to justify why i chose a bathtub that cost them $30k. haha. it never ends. think the next time they're back, i'll have to take them to see the specified wardrobe. given that they are currently using B&B wardrobe system, the $100k Rimadesio wardrobes should be a good upgrade. notice i'm highlighting the price tags... because until today... i still rather dumbfounded by all these. and to think... they were complaining that the grass cutter's fee of a $160 is too expensive.

So the next day, i had to run around sourcing for a cheaper grass cutter to trim the grass on site. to my horror most of the other offer was $200 and above. crazy. its times like these that i wish those bangladeshi workers carried mobile phones. and so i was left standing on site scratching my head on how to solve this grass problem. then i realised that i was surrounded by construction sites. so i had the brightest idea one could ever think of. i decided to head over to the biggest construction site that was building the condo right across from my site to negotiate and offer my proposition. i decided to take advantage of the fact that they were using my site as a car park, which in fact they had no right to do so because that would be trespassing into private property. so i told the contractor that out of goodwill i had "allowed" them to park their cars on the site, and since i had allowed that to happen i expected them to do me a favor out of "good will" in return. and so they figured that i was indeed doing them a huge favor and obligedly offered to cut the grass for free. haha! well i'll have to head down site again to check if they had done so. otherwise... i would have no choice but to exercise my rights. damn... so i just managed to help the client save $160 bucks.

after a long hiatus i decided to show up for the design committee meeting. why would anyone turn down a free lunch? i guess these meetings in a way is a breather from all the mundane routine meetings. bunch of young architects trying to inspire and change and educate the singapore population of the world of Architecture. so we had a worrying discussion on the poor attendance for this years Designers Forum series. how do increase the numbers. where is all the young aspiring architects and the students? so we reckon and most definitely due to the over priced registration fee in relation to the level to Architectural superstardom of the speakers. oh well. but i think if we minus all the adults in the committee and hopefully they would turn up less and let us run the show... next years archifest sounds like its gonna be a blast. and perhaps... our first Serpentine gallery? ahah!

then later i headed towards east at jalan sultan to check out the conference table for the new office meeting rooms. i was rather dissapointed by the suppliers office setting, further more the poor PR of the staff. i guess the only people with good human relation was the bosses which made me only wanting to speak to them, i just ignored the staff because they were such dick heads. it was so bad until i just wanted to walk out of the place.

anyway... i have so much more to blab about. but its getting late... talking is easier than typing.

life in slow motion...

i have been looping David Gray's "slow motion" more than 30 times today... beautiful song. i agree that everything in slow motion seems so unreal and the whole motion becomes such a beautiful art-form to marvel at. stupid it seems. like watching federer hit a forehand in slowmotion... makes u wish u could do the same at the same exact speed.

i tell you. one of the scary things about living alone is when you choke on something and theres no one around to save you. you could just choke and collapse there and then. not a single person would know until the foul smell of dead body begins to interrupt the neighbors. *cough cough*

was already sick for the past 2 days... and i hate getting real sick. aweful feeling especially when you just can't get yourself out of bed... but you're dying of hunger. but i forced myself to go to work. forced my way out of bed on friday morning... took me the whole morning to do it. sometimes i just don't know why i do these sort of things... just so i can check on the progress of the office expansion, sent out a few letters/ report, and to conduct a technical meeting with the contractor because they were desperate to clear some issues... even if we were not obligated to entertain such last minute cries.

the night breeze tonight is very cooling. great day to be sleeping outside under the stars. wish i had a balcony or terrace now. man... i love night cool winds.

the meeting of the lawyer went pretty okay. i must give credit to layteng. she is indeed very cute. but sad part is that she only looks good with her thick black frame glasses on. and even sadder is that she doesnt like them. i reckon it makes her look intelligent. the black frames somehow brings out her features. i liked it in a superficial way perhaps. as how Calvino would describe... with and without the glasses one is an entirely different person. a choice of who you seek to be. well i guess it went pretty okay given that we actually adjourned to have tiramisu. but shes only... 22. they come so young, innocent and fresh... so much ahead for them to discover.

movie with the girls after. Bruno. it was a sick sick movie. funny but seriously sick. haha. ah! the worst scene was when he flashed and flipped his dick in the homemade video. horror! well, i guess he had to really go all out for this one to get the sort of hype and reaction he seeks. apparently the movie has been thoroughly screened and censored. i just don;t wanna know what could be worse than what was already shown. sicko.

church tomorrow. 9 or 11? haha. night!

happy birthday...

it has been a grueling 3 weeks. fingers crossed the office renovation will soon be completed. of course then i realised that its only part 1. part 2 has yet to start... and office retro fitting is a much tougher task. but lets not think about it for now.

now... you would think that after 3 years in the field, by now i would had already completed a project. well indeed i have done many designs and proposals etc. but all of them are merely on paper.

so this small ID job will mark the completion of my first built work. pretty exciting innit? well initially, i had hoped my first completed job would had been the ID works for the Urbana penthouse. unfortunately that didnt materialize. the client decided to just sell off the place as it is. he managed to sell it for a decent 10 mil. the renovation work would had cost him around half a million... and he thought that was expensive.

i must say, and it is true that Architects are late bloomers or should i say it takes years before we can see the fruits from our labours.

think about it, a doctor gets to save a life in a matter of seconds, a lawyer can complete a trial in a matter of weeks or days, a accountant would complete an audit in say 3 months, a structural engineer gets to see his superstructure frame completed in 6 months atleast for a high rise building, heck a professional runner can complete his task in a matter of seconds, anyway, well... you get my drift.

let me give you the breakdown of how long it will take before an architect gets to see light at the end of the tunnel:

1 year... spent in finding the right client. client's rarely come to you.

0.5 year... to find the right site

0.5 year to convince self that its the right site

1 year... to study and analyze the site

2 years spent on designing

1 year to obtain the authority approvals

1 year to sort out all the strucutre, mechanical and electrical system

1 year to get the cost right

another 1 year to convince the client that the cost is right

1 year to find the right contractor

0.5 year to negotiate with the contractor on the agreeable price

1 year for the contractor to study and understand the designs

5 years for the contractor to built it ( with constant squabbling with the Architect as of what should be the right way to built it)

1 year spent on rectifying the defects

1 year arguing with the client insisting that this was the design that he approved

0.5 year trying to justify the money spent or more like explaining why the final cost was beyond the stipulated budget

before finally handing over the building back to the client.

and an eternity to be bothered by the clients incessant complaints.

so thats 20++ years to finally have a building completed. its no wonder all architects only become famous in their 50s. sigh.

haha... i know this is an exaggeration... but still... you get my point.

menghitung hari...2

menghitung hari...

post national day. forced myself to the office to check on the contractor's work. vinyl flooring is up. most of the cabinetry framework is up. and the ceiling guy was puttying the ceiling/ partition board. i just can't wait for all this to be over and done with.

saturday was the start of the new tennis lesson cycle. the coach has put up a notch on the training. till today my hand is feeling the aches. getting ready for the big game in september. apparently my backhand is my form of weapon. so i need to brush up on my forehand skills. i have been very skeptical about tennis coaches. took me long time to actually find one that is good. most coaches i've seen around are plain rip-offs. but i dun blame them. coaches for beginner and amateur level does not require any skills. as long as they can hit the ball back to the player then its good enough. heck they dun even need to run for any ball. not a bad option to earn some extra pocket money. but my coach... is the coach among the coaches. damn right he is. he's abit worried because his name is on the line for the tournament as well. haha.

we celebrated sunho's belated 100th day celebration. initially the plan was to have an outdoor event. but everyone didnt think it would be a good idea given the recent hazy days. so we had steam boat instead. woot! i've not done such serious super-marketing in a long while. but pushing the trolly around trying to squeeze my way among the crowd was rather exciting. all the food... delicious.

sunday was singapore's national day and the premier of the singapore idol. i was surprise to see BenChow taking part in the contest. he's got a good voice... but i must agree his audition was slightly OTT. but the cast explained why he was missing out of action from Jazz@SB for such a long time. sad. i amazed myself being able to sit through the whole charity shield match. goes to show i was probably very bored and there was nothing much to do given i only had 3 options to choose from; soccer match, mahjong, continually eating. so obviously i chose the one that required the least amount of activity. hah!

beautiful monday morning it was. sadly it only will last for a day. and soon its back to work at the office. well, counting down my days now before i eventually enter a new phase. the sermon on sunday really confirmed my thoughts. although i am still in doubt of my decision and the execution of the plans made. there are sacrifices that have to be made but also things to be gained as well. oh well, we'll see how the year ends.

passing of the blues... rainy days & mondays.

So use it and prove it

Remove this whirling sadness

I'm losing, I'm bluesing

But who can save me from madness

So save me I'm waiting

I'm needing, hear me pleading

And soothe me, improve me

I'm grieving, I'm barely believing now

sukiyaki...

screwdrivers are the best after a tiring and terrible day. terrible or the degree of it however varies from day to day and the situation. but on fridays... its a good way to end the week despite how tired you are.

now that the ceiling grid is up and ready to install the plaster boards. the boss decides he's not happy with it and wants to change it. i agree perhaps i did not put great effort in figuring out the alignment and had put much needed deep thought into the ceiling rational. but sometimes when you think abt it... who gives a fucking damn? in the end it is not my office, and i guess the one who pays and have to bear all the scrutinization would have to be the boss. this is a chance to showcase the office capability which perhaps i am not up to the task. fuck its never to the standard... especially when standard changes from day to day or mood to mood. as i've said.. there is no right or wrong in design. scrutinization is all a perception. someone might say its bad... but another might differ. so it all depends on who's praises you're in favor of.

i really dont know how to tell the contractor that we need to remove the ceilings and already installed aircond. i wish all this would be over sooner. its another addtional 2 weeks before its all done. i hope theres no further comments and all is locked in. to hell with uncertainty and fickle minded faggots who cant be decisive yet do not want to take the responsibility.

and so he says... " you sure these dimensions are correct ah. you better be sure my files can be slotted in. make sure all the ergonomics are correct. dun follow the old standard of proportions..." and i replied... "fuck you... do it yourself you dumbshit and give me more money." haha! yes i know all you other fuckers life is much tougher and harder than mine. shittier hours and worse bosses than mine. boo hoo!

and now mom dad will start blabbing about how i shouldnt be negative about this. and have abit of PR skill. learn to tolerate and just do the work. its a simple task. do as you're told... bla di bla.

sometimes i do not know why the fuck i write these sort of things. people read these stuff and make their call of fucking judgements and ideas. its just a fucking update of my life. so just chill.

all the stress and having to stand in a dusty room doing standing supervision has given me pimples.

AMILCARE CARRUGA was still young, not lacking resources, without exaggerated material or spiritual ambitions: nothing, therefore, prevented him from enjoying life. And yet he came to realize that for a while now this life, for him, had imperceptibly been losing its savor. Trifles, like, for example, looking at women in the street: there had been a time when he would cast his eyes on them greedily; now perhaps he would instinctively start to look at them, but it would immediately seem to him that they were speeding past like a wind, stirring no sensation, so he would lower his eyelids, indifferent. Once new cities had excited him--he traveled often, since he was a merchant--but now he felt only irritation, confusion, loss of bearings. Before, since he lived alone, he used to go to the movies every evening; he enjoyed himself, no matter what the picture was. Anyone who goes all the time sees, as it were, one huge film, in endless installments: he knows all the actors, even the character players and the walk-ons, and this recognition of them every time is amusing in itself. Well: now even at the movies, all those faces seemed to have become colorless to him, flat, anonymous; he was bored.
- italo calvino

anyway... Happy National Day to the Swiss! go federer... WOOT!

back in the land of... hot pants

just finished showering from night tennis. i immediately went straight to the courts reaching home from the airport. no time to lose man... haha must meet my minimum twice a day tennis for the week. i managed to hit some balls over at KL. although i must say that the so called "synthetic" grass court was horribly maintained. they should just make it hard court.

gastronomical extravaganza at KL. great seeing the guys again. i must say it was a slightly more organized and planned trip up as compared to my previous trips. yes, thankfully it was not all about YUMCHA. but we've decided on the next escapade... BAK KUT TEH @ klang! yumz.
let me list out the foods eaten in an orderly fashion...
palate palette / spare ribs prawn mee / yong tiu fu / coffee @ le passione / hoegarden with roast pork etc / sinful chocolate cakes from some supposedly famous gal couple baker who makes cakes for the Agung / cafe cafe... fettucine with white truffle sauce, wagyu beef cheeks with red wine sauce, duck breast with foie gras, wild rocket salad, lamb shank with... cant remember / lots of wine / fish head noodle / hoegarden / kajang satay

while i wait for my dinner to arrive and laundry to finish. i figured i better start organizing my music and movies. haha. despite having 1 tetra byte of hard disk space i'm still being very nene about using it.

was chatting with momzy and popzy. apart from planning the family get together which in the end had not made any conclusion. i decided to throw them ideas about me heading back kk. its a real tough decision. simply because its a place i fear i will rot. and its not the easiest and best location if i we're to go for my registration. and i fear of being stuck in the life of YUMCHA-ing. OMG i will die out of boredom.

but i think it be quite fun if i can do up the place at kim leng. do some serious renovation work. i'm thinking of turning one of the rooms into a sound proof music studio. hehe. NBT has given additional ideas on that. and i'll knock off the walls to make a bigger open kitchen concept at the back. i'll plant nice bushida trees facing the living area and wall up the whol place from the outside. wow i can already imagine the whole image in my head. feel the rawness of the space.

okay i'm seriously hungry now.

walking on broken glass...

skipped church today to hit some balls at the court. lately i have been browsing around for more tennis courts which are easily accessible from my place and sourcing for available tennis clubs. i realised that i have been skipping all my religious activities of late. so tuesday's bible class i must attend.
but getting up early to stroke some balls is rather therapeutic. i have not played so hard until i've formed blisters on my thumb.

then picnic at fort canning park was ... hot. i love picnics. and this was my first picnic in singapore. i must give credit to the N-parks for providing and maintaining all these lovely parks. but sadly the government can't control the weather. relative humidity... if only there was a gush of wind blowing. that would had made a whole lot of difference.
but i seized the event to open up the punt road dessert wine. woot! finally a rightful occasion before it turns bad.

picnic at the park... with an accordion.

the week went by so quickly. so disappointed that tennis was canceled today. i really must further expand my tennis circle to atleast have 3 circle of tennis groups. then i can rotate myself among the groups. further more, the weather was so fine today.
nevertheless i took advantage of the day my sleeping in. i am actually a very tired boy. put me near the bed and i will just doze off. i need to make friends with tennis fanatics... then i would be able to play at every other day.

skipped bible class this week to catch a movie - paris j'taime. its a series of short films by different directors but all of a common theme - love. very frenchy indeed. it covers on all different languages and types of love not to mentioned different sort of species. its the sort of movie that wants to make u feel all lovey dovey after. i can't wait for the next film to be release - new york, i love you.

okay... off to see the little boy.

guess i'll hang my sweat out to dry...

decided to go back into competitive tennis again. the last time i played tennis competitively was back in Uni. this time around i've signed up for a couple of singles tournaments during the upcoming months.
i decided to sign up for it was because i realised that i am not getting any younger. and i know i will definitely regret my not playing as much competitive matches when i get older. knowing had the opportunity to do so.i will go through the 2 quarter of my life feeling regretful and remorseful of my poor decisions in life.
so i figured i shall not waste any further time. my other agendas of piano lessons etc does not require much of physical strengths and so i still have time. but sporting activities on the other hand has its limit.
the other compeling motivaitonal reason i decided to pursue this with little hesitation was of my newly purchased K6.1 racquet. woot! awesomeness! i figured (and with the help of sis' gut intuition) that no point i wait till i hit 30 plus before i get such a good racquet to play. it would be a great waste of such a good racquet being put to use during my failing physical prime.
and thus lately, i have been stocking up my sporting gear of late and planning my training sessions. so fun! full on man! haha
occupied with my exercising regime... have to cut down on my alcohol consumption. alot of stamina needs to be built. sigh. so unfit.
still a little while more before i hang the racquet from competitive playing... kononnya... spoken like a true pro... jeh.

sam needs a federer racquet...

here's the little Michelin Man!! haha...

a flower is not... a flower

the mid week has passed. i've learned how to make wiser decisions. never ever go mambo-ing on a wednesday night when you know you aren't able to take MC the next day because you have scheduled meetings/ appointments you can't escape from. sigh. i should had stopped and headed home after emerald hill. worst is you can't sleep it off because the minutes and all the extra yet necessary paper work has to be done. well perhaps i say this now that i have truly learned my lesson, but its bound to happen again with the past as my witness. i believe the term is... dejavu all over again.

on another note, i'm not sure if i should feel embarrassed with all the tender queries coming in. i think its a bad testament to the poor and lack of sufficient information. so many grey and unresolved details. i should seriously bury my head into the sand. so tedious it is because you don't want to make the same mistake twice.

i have a feeling that i am being overstretched again. but the more stress and busy i am becoming the more i wanna get away and avoid at all cause. i guess i'm feeling more crappy than usual today because of last night. most days i just take it in with fist full of salt.

i really am getting quite impatient. 30 more days before SH can come out and play. of course this means i still have 30 days to get my place all ready with proper cooking utensils and crockery. i'm currently scratching my head as to where and how we should celebrate his 100th day. something extremely outdoor... picnic!

SH is just so damn cute. i like.

i hate mondays... its that small window between sunday night and the monday morning before work. and i wish fridays would end sooner. don't we all agree?

why do i torture and inflict myself with such meaningless thoughts...

timbuktu...

sometimes life grabs you by the ass without any warning. one moment you're living forgetfully the next thing you realize how fast things turns. really you thing this is really uncalled for. and all you could just wonder and think to yourself... what the fuck?!

really sometimes you are just speechless. after all that and your still caught in the blue. what the heck did just happened??!

well... the last thing you would write about before hitting the sack.

but i must say... truth or dare is seriously very lame.

greatest regret...

today i have made one of the biggest mistake of my life. there was a talk about architecture and the community. one of the invited speakers was the national director for habitat for humanity. an organisation that i have been trying to get involve in, even if it was a half baked attempt due to my complacent nature. but anyway, it was an exciting time because finally a big guy was in our midst and a great opportunity to go straight into the source rather than having to wait in line to await the calling of duty. 

after talk i had wanted to approach the man as what i had always dreamt of doing. sadly i wish my face would had been more thick for things that really matter. immediately after the talk, my friends kept pestering me that we all should leave the place with immediate effect. one wanted to go see her dogs and the other wanted to see his wife. yes i understand their rightful obligation. so instead of pushing my way or just ignoring them i heeded to their proposition and left the place empty handed. the whole journey back i was just so irritated and agitated with myself. why oh why didn't i just do it. sigh. oh well i'll just have to continue my luck with the emails. even now i feel so pissed off about myself. idiot. i can never forgive myself for such idiosyncrasy. he was wide open and ready for me to devour. and i wasted good meat. 

sigh... oh well, atleast the talk has given me clearer ideas on my other proposition. i shall start writing my proposal to the good mother who works for the education ministry. perhaps she can help pull some strings. all for a good cause as always.

went over to Changi avenue to look at marbles in the morning. i still find the whole singapore way of dry-laying of marble ridiculous. first as you know, marble is a stone hence a natural materials. and like all other natural materials it has characters that is beyond the control of us humans. whatever that comes from the mountain is what you will get. its not like wagyu beef where the marbling of the meat can be determined and controled by the amount of  strokes and care you give the cow. unfortunately i do not think that applies in the same for mountains. but the funny thing is in singapore, people want to control everything. the grain of timber or the way it weathers... the type of character in marble patterns... and all other sorts of natural products. so because the developers in singapore have spoilt the end users with such luxury... we architects have to suffer by having to sit in the factory to sort out marbles in the way they want it to look. all this could have been avoided if they had just resorted to homogeneous tiles. these days china can do marble looking tiles. but ofcourse it just wont sell if its not a "natural" material. natural looking materials dont come close. so they want natural materials that look artificial. sigh. how stupid is that. imagine the amount of wastage. and already quarrying for stones is already an unearth friendly activity. so the government got cleverer, in order to be green, the option of natural materials will be out of the question. but i reckon since the mountains are already killed... why cant we go ahead with the marble by accepting the fate of its character. theres no harm to it... in fact it would definitely give a much more natural feel to the space. the romans have built temples out of marbles for years... and i dont think they ever bothered doing these sort of dry-lay sorting. hadrian's villa probably looked spectacular... even if the marble was all over the place. its all in the mind. now what in the world did i just type? bla bla bla... who am i to judge mother natures handiwork?!

the italians are probably giggling to themselves thinking we're a bunch of idiots... suckers!

for mom and dad...

okay... more like this...

rainy sunday afternoon...

now i can totally understand Ben's backpacking mission. well lets hope he can be as successful as Jesse in Before Sunrise. it is a magical encounter to meet someone at random. and meeting someone at these unsuspecting places and situation just makes it more sweeter. both parties find chemistry and aren't afraid to hide it because seriously theres nothing to lose and theres not a care in the world that can stop you from living that self created time. its sublime. 

a friend of mine invited me to watch her perform at a christmas party last year. it was at some mexican restaurant at Rochester park. apparently the singapore music industry is not doing her enough justice. they opt for good looks rather than talent i suppose. sadly i have to agree on that and i think she is really talented. 

stella artois...

sometimes i wonder why i spent the lonely nights working in the den. nobody seriously gives a shit on these projects and are just finding ways to avoid them. in the end... the one doing the work is the biggest loser. 

fuck lar.

so tired. 

i've yet to satisfy my tau hue at selegie road craving. i think supper is a romantic event. simply because it is a vice.

Friday is the presentation... day to call tender... and my last day to submit the waivers. shit. i'm no octopus.

as the saying goes... just pretend its okay and just take all the shit. never make enemies and be a dog to all. woof!

it's always my fault. i just can't manage my time well. i am not in the worst situation. some have endured worst. fuck you. i'm not you and i do not fucking give a damn if you're a shitty workaholic. seriously... fuck you.