Middle of the week... tired.

starting to realize what dad meant when he said as time goes by its more of administrative/ contractual work rather than designing.

Evidently during the past three days or even since the week before. i have been bogged down with endless paper work. typing emails/ reports/ letters/ talking to clients/ attending meetings and site visits. Recently been given a new project to run on a temporary basis. somehow rather it feels like its gradually becoming permanent. already the client has become quite accustomed to my voice. its rather fun actually even though alot of my designing time has been eaten up. the worst part is now im running 3 jibs independently. its high time i request for a personal assistant!

Moving house this weekend. the movers quoted $200 for a full service. sigh, lots of money being wasted just to move. i should pay the port a visit and purchase me a container.

Been asked to chaperon the PAM Sabah chapter's visit to one of our office's built works this Saturday on the company's behalf together w angmoh boss. Looking forward to see the bunch. haha

Lately my stomach has been of much nuisance. i get hungry and it starts to growl very so often. sometimes less than 2 hours after my lunch or dinner. I complaint to my boss about it, and he said its because i've been using my brain alot... which he then comment and realized that this would suggests that all the while i've not been using it up till of recent times. damn!

Vamos!

smoking will kill... 1 billion people

i decided to take my parents advice and meet more people rather than buildings for a change. after all, the end users of architecture are the humans and i should get to know better of the species. haha. and so for the first time, buildings were less thought of and a more human oriented focus was adopted. i even picked Conrad over my usual architectural readers for the plane ride back home to KK.
So for the past few days, i have been in and out of the house seeing old friends. friends i've not seen for the last 5-8 years, which were quite a number of them. It's amazing that even after so many years, no one has really drastically changed apart from the physical bit for a few.
Suffice it to say, the most talked about topic was nonetheless about money. and everyone are making their plans of how they can make their monetary breakthrough, all hoping sooner than later.
at times i feel like an idiot sitting through these conversations. thinking I must be living in a world of solipsism. something is wrong with me for being purely interested in architecture and not eyeing to run after for the big bucks. of course i do yearn for a luxurious lifestyle and job opportunities, but all architecturally related.
Everyone wants to venture into the business sector. no one is deeply passionate about their current work, but only the incentives it gives. instead, most hate their jobs and dream to retire and relax as soon as they have the chance. only me being the odd one who sees my architectural pursuance being eternal. perhaps i'm still very optimistic of my life in the profession. due to my insufficient working experience. only being out for a year, i probably have not truly felt and experience the wrath/jaded effect of the working world.
However, one thing is for sure that we all can agree on is the fact that we're all being underpaid!

Finally some wedding bells within the circle. it is indeed a joyous occasion when one of your friends are tying the knot. just the other day, i was talking to my parents about marriages within my circle of friends and realizing maybe my group of friends are undoubtedly a pathetic bunch of hopeless fellas being nowhere near the stage of making prenuptial agreements.
Perhaps everyone is waiting around for each other to make that first step. For the bunch of guys i know, marriage seems to be somewhat of an embarrassment. no one wants to be the first to enter into the realm of fatal amalgamation. But at the end of the day... WE are still very young to be thinking of stepping into such territories. for sure its a thought that will never cross our minds, atleast for the remaining singles.
back to my friend, he was indeed reluctant and slightly scared to share such an auspicious occasion to me. it took him 3 days to finally blurt the thing out. ofcourse it is still to be kept in the dark. However, there is a reason for the early invitation. dad warns of having to eat shit on the groom's behalf- literally. nevertheless, still very honored indeed. muahaha! So that was the important news... 1 down... 8 to go!

Happy Chinese New Year...

I was summoned by my boss to his his office. fear rushed through my head not knowing what to do but to just follow instructions. i thought to myself, " this is it... this is D-day that i will be slaughtered for God knows what." I always have this lingering thought in my head that one day... i'll be whacked by my boss for whatever reason. don't know why, but just is.
I grabbed a stool and positioned it 3feet away from my boss.with anticipation, i watched him as he turns his body, legs crossed towards me with his eyes piercing straight into mine. all i could think was that i wished i had closed the door shut behind me, avoiding the embarrassment i aspect to face with.
however, instead of being slapped in the face, his serious yet shriek-y voice suddenly changed to a smile and said. "just to let you know, we (the partners) have decided to pick you for the study tour to Switzerland in April." he went on mumbling other things... which i just nod my head in agreement.
"however!" he continued, " please bare in mind, you must now plan your workload wisely, and ensure no outstanding work to be pending during the week we leave for Switzerland."
my stress level started to elude my joy as the thought of unending piles of work and the cant help thinking of what the consequences will be after the study tour. having no strings attached is definitely wishful thinking.
nevertheless, still very excited... to be able to visit the land of the swiss cheese fondue. and the opportunity to meet the great architects such as MarioBotta, PeterZumthor, HerzogDeMeuron, GigonGuyer and RogerFederer in the flesh. I will get to physically caress the great swiss buildings with my own hands and be one step closer to understanding the thoughts that ran through the mind of the great LeCorbusier.
wow. but must first finish all my work... and it doesnt help being a one man band for the projects im in-charged of.

also... finally managed to find a new place. no longer will i be in Chinatown. instead i will be moving to Whampoa. some strange place with no MRT in proximity but heaps of buses. atleast theres a direct bus to work. the location isnt seedy as the previous one in commonwealth and its bigger than my current place. plus i guess it was a blessing in disguised that i inherited all the furniture/ household items from this current apartment.

yet again... another competition

and so it begins yet another exciting year ahead. the pistol was fired and we're all off running like wild dogs with a leash.
friday is the deadline. and i have got nothing at hand apart from photos and base cad drawings. the canvas is still blank as it was when the competition was announced.

the office's theme for this year is... "no excuse, be the best!"
how? must shine and stand out from the rest. no choice.

possible trip to... switzerland

this will be Heath Ledger's last movie. so sad... very sad indeed.
maybe this had something to do with the tragedy... shouldn't speculate.

old school funk...

i bought tickets to the EarthWind&FireExperience at the esplanade theater !! Thank goodness i bought it early... tickets are selling like hot cakes. did not want to wait for my colleague to make his decision so i just decided to buy mine first. its a once in a lifetime experience, for whatever is left of the band ofcourse. people aged you know.

short update...

back in singapore after the long Christmas/ new year break. think i managed to put on some weight... which is not encouraged. but what to do... food yummy must eat like theres no tomorrow.

highlights... spend the first day of the new year constructing my new kitchen counter table. built it with supplementary shelfs and wheels. will post a picture of it. thank goodness Ben was around... i would not have been able to carry all the scrap from people's park back home. good weight lifting non the less.

other than that... working. things are beginning to pick up. holiday mood is almost gone.

upcomings... going to watch a play next friday- " the invisible life of mr robert finch'.

current... going home soon. had meetings the whole day. chaired my first site meeting. its obvious my senior is slowly taking the back seat.

improvisation...

my probable new year resolution...


is to play the piano like a cat. damn! indeed a winning combo.

i'll be home for christmas...

the office is empty. some have gone to catch their flight/bus back to their hometown. others have gone home to meet their wifes/ family earlier than usual. and a few have gone for drinks to celebrate and bid their farewell to colleagues leaving for studies. which i so politely declined. i have just about enough of attending office social events and such for the year. it has been one helluva year this year. so many many things happened that i had not foreseen at all. good pr nonetheless- but apparently its part of my training to socialize.

it was good meeting up ben over the past few days. dont know when will be the next time we meet.

ofcourse the only foreseen matter was the working like crazy... and still more to come. it was good to get some minor feedback from the bosses of the year long performance and most importantly the early year end bonus... tsk tsk.

so here i am being the last person in the office, trying to clear up as much as i can before the break. flooding out as many emails to clients and such so i that i could have a good nights sleep. and clearing most but unfortunately not all my overdue workload. after hours are the best times to work actually. because that is the only real time i get to concentrate. damn.

i guess this is the time of the year to reflect back on what has been done.

but seriously, i cant wait for Christmas. ,my personal favorite season of the year. dont exactly know why but just is. as what my colleague would say... "Heck Care".

this entry is very scattered as always. anyway time to go PLAY!!

article from business times

Winning debut in Singapore...

many exciting things have happened recently... just check out this comprehensive compilation on the recent marina south competition for further details... SKPS Projects

I personally don't quite agree to the articles written about us... basically theres no simple and short way of describing our scheme, perhaps maybe the others but definitely not ours!
So disappointing!

I'll post up snippets of the plaque/ trophy later. But seriously... please show us the MONEY!!

fallen sick...

realized that my stress level has been gradually increasing. which is indeed a concern.
explains my sleepless nights... just cant sleep coz of work.
horrible!! i need a distraction or something to deviate my thoughts away from work.
need to get my sleep time!!

quick reminder...

must collect bus ticket asap...
book accommodation in kl/pj - seapark maybe.
venue at holiday villa

query SIA regarding eligibility to attend fest FOC.

oh la la...

ow.. my neck is seriously aching.
trying to push for submission for my house. finally the client has been active again. i think things would have been much more convenient if the client was based locally. then again... convenience can also be a hazard. no freedom!

think i should stop and continue at home. the more i work on the house... the more i feel like staying there. yes im ineffectively praising my own work. but seriously, its becoming very personal to me. however, its still a dream up until the client gets seriously involve in the design. hope they are a compliant bunch.

still in the office...

kopi pun dah habis minum...

so sick of staring at each other's face...

never ending prints...

a sneak peak of the end result...

moving to chinatown...

in every job that's to be done, there is an element of fun.
you find the fun and.... BAM!
the job's a game.

Just a kilo full of sugar, helps the bitterness go down... in the most delightful way.

silence in the dark...

lately been busy with work. but on top of that, was asked to organise and lead a group of us in the office (still under the associate's watchful eyes ofcourse) to take part in this competition which is due in less than a months time.

it was pretty fun having just us colleagues working on the scheme. but then my superior insisted in getting really involve in the scheme... hence it was all reverted back to his propaganda.
he reminded us we shouldnt take his comments too literally as they are just mere oppinions. its more like "guidelines" for us to work on. because techincally he is not to get involve.
however, even though he insists on it being mere oppinions... the boss is still and will always be the boss. he has the final say on everything.

its a pity i was not able to present my personal scheme today... thought i had a pretty good scheme in my pocket. but then again... you're always biased towards your own work.

nevertheless... i can always try to wiggle or weave my ideas into the overall scheme. it be such a waste not to use this refine idea of mine.

partially looking forward to the trip up KL this weekend. its all part of the competition's working process as we're collaborating with an architect there. since he made the effort to come down... boss feels its fair we go up as well, since we were the ones who invited him to collaborate.

everyone seems quite excited especially the ones who've yet to visit... but for me, i feel... sigh theres work to be done.

but! if the office is paying, then why not. haha.

okay time to wrap up and go home.

I can C/U...

everyone in the office was handed a book- 'contract administration guide to the singapore standard form of building contract' to read. its a big signal for us to start registering ourselves. well atleast the book is FOC.

Signed up to attend a talk by Claudio Silvestrin (JohnPawson's ex-partner). Looking forward to it this coming thursday. He was featured in the Straits time few months back, where he was interviewed on matter of TASTE. ofcourse indirectly he was trying to say that basically good taste is HIS taste. but nevertheless he done some pretty nice works.

returning back to my title of C/Us. during my trip back to KK. i finally found my way around the kk city (something i've wanted to do for a long time). i managed to cover a fair bit of the CBD area. there is one thing that until today i can't quite understand and am very annoyed about is the lack/ no consideration for C/Us in the design process.

As we all, in Asia there is never enough aircond to go around. however, being such an obvious matter that man can't live without the Aircond, why do Architects still never factor it into the design considerations? ofcourse clients will always want the architect to maximize land the plot as usable space, but still... how much space can you save anyway, if you sacrificed it for C/U compartments. well, atleast have the courtesy to screen it off.

but the next problem is no one ever consider the fact of expansion, i give the architects the benefit of the doubt when they atleast provide C/U pockets, but after seeing so many buildings over flooding the facade with additional C/Us, then now architects should consider to over provide for the future.

seriously it is as simple as that... either you strongly insists that your building must not be airconditioned or you just have to give in and provide.

1234
1. It seems like this Post Modern building is undergoing its natural puberty phase... zits popping out of nowhere.
2. For this image, i'm not sure if i should give credit to the M+E and strangle the Architect or just leave it that the client just ran out of budget and couldnt afford the screens
3. Well, atleast the architect decided to integrate the C/Us into the facade making a strong statement of how we humans just can't live without them.
4. Amazingly managed to make the same mistake twice. or was it... intentional?

i in KK now...

its been awhile. i've taken a slightly extended weekend to take a break back home in KK. its always good to be home. i was welcomed with heavy down pours, rain always makes it nicer to sleep.

I am amazed how early i woke up this morning. way before my usual time which is 30 minutes after my alarm clock rings. partially due to mom bringing me a glass of her special brew of applejuice with 'other' ingredients.

must distract myself away from thoughts of work. todays agenda... relax. might pop by innotech and visit my former employer. must catch up with whats been happening in the KK construction industry.
ofcourse hopefully if the weather is fine, dad is bringing to some project site for view.

theres one building im keen on visitng. the old kk public library. see if i can take some photos.

the new maid has smelly armpits... its horrible. i can smell her scent all over the place. sigh... and buddy is freakin FAT!! like a big balloon. oh deary me! and ofcourse i got to sit in the new camry. so nice.

the long awaited images...

the great Angkor Wat... Detail.

the... temple where tomb raider was shot.



one of my favourite temple. i terlupa its name.


detail. interesting combination betwenn larva stone/brick/sandstone.

the only modern building in siem reap.

that's me... ready to leave.

theres more... but these are just some of the highlights.