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.

zip-a-dee-doo-dah... bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

i've finally ran out of fairy dust and am back to living the Asian way of life. Time really had stopped while i was away. nothing was completed and all was left untouched. sigh and you thought life would go on without you... apparently this does not apply in my work life. oh well...

tsk tsk... but soon i will be leaving on a jet plane again in 2 days time! haha! the party is not over yet. and to think i've scheduled a presentation the following Monday. hopefully, things would just miraculously be completed while im away this time.

Will post up pictures shortly. once i've cleaned up all the pictures. i've managed to take over 1000 pictures. thats pretty substantial in my standards for a person like me who rarely takes photographs.
but being assigned as the designated photographer... what choice did i have? its snap this... snap that... " sam.. please take this... please make sure you get a shot of that... sam the lighting ia perfect to take a shot at that angle, make you you get the image with the shadow cast exactly falling 45 degress onto the building..."
its a small price to pay to get a free meal in a posh restaurant and a nice warm bed to sleep every night.

and its off to Zurich...

the week had gone by so painfully quick. so much to do and more so left unfinished.
But then again, work will never end.
the worst part of the week was falling sick right in the middle of the week. I was not able to take leave becaused i've already scheduled 5 meetings. Woke up on the wednesday morning feeling so hot and my body was aching like hell. Was so upset, of all days... it had to be during the busiest week.
but the good news is. Am feeling much better, and i hope my immune system will be in full swing for the trip.
am now in Changi airports newest terminal 3. i must say, the building is indeed a dissapointment. beside from the fact it was done by CPG. the building had no meaning and soul to it. everything around felt like it was done without a reason, but purely ornamental.
Well i think the previous terminal seems more well thought of and planned. of course the good thing is that everything here is still very new.
anyway, just wanna to wish everyone... Ta Ta!

3 more days before the trip!

instead of heading back to the office over the weekend to slave out all my works before the trip. i decided to skip the trip altogether.
Why? its all because of this little creature...



This is ZUMTHOR. the kitty poo. I must say, cats are indeed very clever creatures. it was very easy to toilet train Zumthor. Just one demonstration and she got it.
Just so you know, i did not poo right in front of the cat. that would be just an aweful sight. although it would be good way to train a puppy i think. or maybe little Zumthor is just so brilliant... ain't you zumthor.

The little creature just waltzed in my apartment. So far no one has claimed for ownership. all my neighbors chased it everytime it lingered around their premises. I've asked all the other cats.. and they can't seem to tell me where Zumthor's mommy is.

Zumthor is adapting to this new environment very well. Will show some pictures later of how well its adapted.

did you know cats require 16hours of sleep per day? damn... and they called me a pig.

of course im now looking for a baby sitter while im overseas. any takers?


just to give you an idea of how tiny Zumthor is...

endless paperwork...

i must confess and i'm sure some of you already know this. I utterly hate doing paperwork! but on second thought, it has begun to grow on me. I feel very "office-y" (if you get my drift) every time i'm handling these administrative task.
The down side however, it has become the majority part of my working life. during office hours, its all of that and none of designing. although people approach me to help them resolve their own design works, which is however not beneficial to my own designs.

was sharing with one of my friend yesterday about my current aspirations. I would to design and built a school. But not the sort of schools (in Dubai) my current office are engaged with. Instead it would be great if i could design a village school or missionary schools back in KK/ Malaysia.
I have been dreaming up different ways i would design and built a school referencing from past memories of my old school days experience. Re-envisioning the kind of spaces and environment while i was a teen.
Of course, I am still hoping in some miraculous way being handed a commission to design a resort as well.
All of these seems rather far fetched. But we all must dream. the bigger the better.

Just before my big boss was leaving for home. He offered me to take home his new MacBook Pro laptop to play with. My goodness, i was shocked (i would never let anyone touch my baby, ever!). Ever since i queried him about his laptop. he's been showing it off to me without fail every night. Telling me how wonderful it is and apple is just the greatest. I couldn't agree more, as i myself being an avid devotee to the fruit.
Now that apple is being supported by Intel Core processor, it has now become possible to run Windows on a mac. pretty amazing stuff. So my boss asked me to take his baby home to test out and see how well does Windows run on a mac. if its as smooth as running on a normal PC. heck the PC can really close shop man.

okay. i shall end here and go fiddle with and rape his Apple and watch my Korean drama!

the "happy slave"...

given up for the day... seems like i'm beginning to slow down and gradually am becoming lazier.

some update photos of my life in the office... its a disaster!

biofuels... its a battle between humans and automobiles

its close to the end of the week and yet theres still so much pending work to be done. i really doubt i'm able to sort out all my things before the trip(s).
been feeling so easily fatigue this week. don't know why. it definitely isnt the busiest week i've had. things don't help when you have an annoying QS who keeps calling every 5 minutes every day! call up to asked for stupid stuff or expecting me to answer emails/ queries sent out seconds ago. in addition, she's not even a pretty QS. i know im shallow, but it helps if the QS was pretty or atleast has a sexy voice. this particular one is unfortunately "chingchongy". always need her to repeat her sentences and even that does not help make it any clearer. argh! My boss knows that i cant stand her... so naturally he makes favors for the QS and me having to deal with her and do all the unnecessary dirty work.
Today was a built up of all these sickening calls. true enough, the first call i had for the day was from the QS. Sadly for her, me being in grumpy morning mood had no patients at all. I started raising my voice at her, which i so rarely do (but she annoys me like crazy!). i could tell she knew i wasn't sounding very happy. i kept refusing to answer her quesries and insist she go figure it out herself. She is a persistent little fly and kept pestering me to help her. but she not knowing how to read drawing dimensions cant be my fault, dammit your the QS... calculating quantities is supposedly your forte! damn! thankfully that phone call was miraculously the one and only for the day. atleast some peace of mind from her for a day.

later in the afternoon, i received a phone call from a head hunting agency. Apparently i was head hunted and offered a Project Manager job in Vietnam. how on earth did they track me down? I declined the offer with a slight reluctance on my tone because i was actually quite curious on what this job was about and more so on the offered salary. Did not dare to query further because sitting at close proximity by was my boss. ah nevermind, hopefully another offer would come by my window again. hehe.

i am... contemplating on getting a new apple desktop. just sent my powerbook for repair. apparently the CD drive is busted. and it cost a bomb to replace it. sigh... no money. how come my boss never pay me more?!

other bad news! visit to the Thermal Baths in Vals is not possible! the building is not open to the public during this time of the year! so sad!!!!!!!!!!!! that was the highlight of the trip for me!

it has been awhile...

things i would like to update before i call it a day at the office...

1. swiss trip in less than a month's time. time for shopping!
2. sister coming to singapore... no extra bed/ mattress for the couple. *gasp*
3. spilled coffee onto my keyboard. the letter Q and A abit sticky to press. must sort it out
4 . a gazillion things to do. and it keeps on piling.
5. added 2 new projects into my job scope: a high rise condo and interior designing job for a penthouse unit. this makes it 4 for now.
6. went scouting for some over priced furnitures for the ID job over the weekend.
7. still no where near in finishing my tender documentation for my sentosa house.
8. presentation next monday to the client for the high rise condo project. stress level going up
9. attended the EARTHWINDFIRE/ OMARSOSA/ YANOKAMI in lieu of the Mosaic Music Festival
10. just realised that i have not finish my minutes. but am too tired to do anything now.

and it feels like...

it's already 5pm on a gloomy Sunday. i've got presentation/meeting with the client tomorrow for my third job. this is indeed one of the toughest site to handle. its so hard to juxtapose between the site constraints and the clients wishes.
i have already spent more than a week on this design and still have yet to generate a floor plan. and what's worst is my AutoCAD has seriously hung. i think it has given up on this site.
i have a feeling that i will be in serious trouble tomorrow. despite telling the client that it would be impossible to produce a decent floor plan tomorrow... still all they care about is instant results no matter how difficult it is... their deadline is non-negotiable.
but most of all i am more worried about being slaughtered by my boss. hate it when he panics.



A snapshot of the late-showflat. sadly most good things don't last forever.

its time for... ME COMPLAIN!!

It is so depressing that now 2 out of my 3 clients have gotten hold of my personal handphone number. Which in my opinion is a deadly and terrible thing to happen.
At the moment im in serious trouble with my work. So many things to catch up. i'm running out of things to stall my lapses.

Moved in to my new place. its so far off from where i used to stay.

one of colleague came by my desk to kaypo. then she exclaimed... 'wah so nice you get to design..' at that very moment i was so tempted to shove the drawings into her mouth. Instead i replied... 'syok right? you want to do it?'. she kept quite after that but later went on to say she is much more busier than i am. she handle 2 jobs and my jobs are just so small and simple that its close to being insignificant. despite the fact that i run 2 of my jobs independently, i'll have to do the design, submissions, tender drawings, corresponding with the clients in a simultaneous manner. she came in took on the 2 jobs which have already are in motion. hardly any design issues to handle aside from some petty landscaping layout which can be much less than a 3 days max. all she needs to do is attend meetings and write minutes. all her submission drawings are taken care of. why should she be complaining? plus she hardly ever have to work late at the office. when asked to get involve in the competition... all she does is grumbles. when we win... runs away with the money without giving a portion to poor little me. On top of that! she is my senior... so being more experience her current work should be peanuts.

tbc

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.