something to ogle...

Graf & Lantz

Baby I Need Your... Lovin'

sigh... after sigh

blank...

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minimalism








































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lombok...

off to lombok...

this is just a brief update of my upcoming MIA. i must make sure the people who cares knows my whereabouts. I know what potential havoc it may cause if i failed to do so.

i remembered most recently on a sunny day that i decided to fall sick. it was early in the morning that i decided to call in sick. so i texted one my bosses to inform him that i would not be coming in.

decided to sleep in a lil longer before i head out to see the doctor. around 9am i received a text msg from a colleague asking why i wasnt at work today. thinking that he'll eventually be informed by my boss (whom i had informed), i decided to ignore the text and headed out, leaving my phone behind thinking why would i need it except probably having to receive calls from the contractors.

now here's where it gets exciting. so all the while i was out, things got heated up in the office. apparently, my colleague who texted me started to get worried of my no response and decided to call my phone. being away i was unable to take the call. soon the other bosses stepped into the office, and as usual they start questioning my absence. so she started asking everyone (who obviously was clueless because i only texted one person) all except the boss whom i had texted. to be fair, he at that point of time decided to be busy zone, completely ignoring his surrounding. so because no one was there to vouch for my absence, the big boss texted my phone and called several times. with no response from me, naturally everyone got worried. the thought that i might be dead and rotting at home came to her mind. just at that point when she was instructing my concerned colleague to perhaps drive down to my place to check on me, the only boss who knew my absence quickly stopped my colleague from going to see me. he then clarified that i had already texted earlier that i had called in sick. my big boss was furious, and started blasting him of his ignorance. small boss had a real spanking from the big boss.

now that's real drama for you. i like.

breather...

mommy where's dad?

running.

(pause)

from what?

wireless...

im currently writing this entry in my toilet while pooing. "wow, how on earth is he able to do so??" you may ask. yes, the secret of this amazing mobility is... WI-FI!! "whoa! so amazing! you are a god... *bow in aweness" you might react in such a manner. but rest assure... it's no biggie really. the installers came in earlier today to finally set up the new wi-fi which also comes with mio tv at no extra cost. unfortunately i do not have a tv. so i am a bit lacking in taking advantage of the complete package. the installers were rather shocked when they arrived and discovered that there was not a tv to be found. so perhaps its time to get one... the installers hinted to me that pc fair is coming up. can buy cheap outdated tv sets. wonder if flat screens are a dated tv technology these days.
so now, instead of only limited to reading while in the poo... i can now chat/ surf/ skype in the loo as well.
oh stop giving me those green eyes people... go get your own.

theres a song that's been playing inside my head that best describes my current situation... defying gravity

*flush...

TGIF...

woke up this morning realising that i have developed cravings for scones (never browse through food blogs in the morning when the mind is fresh). scones with jam and cream are just sinfully amazing. i remember there was once that i had an obsession with them back in melbourne. so i begin to start learning how to make them, and as how my obsession usually entails... i made lots of them. it's no wonder i gain so much weight. the purpose of making the scones was for the cream and jam. nicelicious. reminds me of the time i had my risotto obsessed month.

and so while having my breakfast this morning (wheatgrass omellete + sauteed mushrooms), i decided to google around for places that would sell scones. i soon discovered that majority of these places that serve scones are hotels for high-tea. why would i want to pay S$80-150++ for lumps of flour with dollops of cream and jam?!

i shall make plans... as soon as i can find the perfect non-expensive scone serving place.

hmmm... ah-teng's bakery looks rather promising. plus the name doen't seem "atas".

Ophiuchus...

my colleagues today pointed out that i may no longer be a Sagitarius. and suddenly my life has taken a drastic turn. apparently there is a 13th zodiac sign which has recently made headlines and quite a stir all across the world. this perhaps changes everything... or maybe not. however, being a christian this does not really mean much to me. but its strange when people ask me of my zodiac sign... i can no longer refer myself as a man with a horse's ass.

decided to find out more and came across a list that describes the sign. let's see if the shoe fits:
1. interpreter of dreams - eh... i struggle to interpret my own at times

2. attracts good luck and fruitful blessings -
i hope so too

3. serpent holder, lofty ideals -
me = idealistic = ?!?

4. a seeker of peace and harmony -
well i usually "siam" from conflict

5. doctor of medicine or science, natural-pathhic -
me? a doctor?! my dad could only dream.

6. adds, increases, joins, or gathers together -
huh?!

7. poetical, inventive nature, expanding qualities -
not sure about the first two, but i'm definitely expanding horizontally in the physical aspect.

8. seeks higher education and wisdom -
seek only lar... never actually get there.

9. overseer, supervisor of work -
hmmm... that explains certain matters.

10. fame- either grand or completely misunderstood -
definitely misunderstood. but i do at times have delusions of grandeur.

11. longevity, aspirations of healing the ills of man -
and again... my dad could only dream.

12. architect, builder, reaches for the stars (figuritively and literally) -
sounds familiar. we have impossible ideas maybe.

13. tax assessor or levys taxes -
i hate paying taxes

14. astrological talents, intuitive -
really? no leh. my sense of intuition sucks.

15. large family indicated, but apt to be separated from them when young -
is 5 a large number?

16. the number twelve holds great significance -
i was born in December

17. foresight and good fortune to benefit from hard times -
hard times? uiseh...

18. has secret enemies in family or close associations -
i'm sure

19. many jealous of this subject -
oh most definitely, whats not to be.

20. notable father, apple of father's eye when young -
i was born right in the middle.

21. high position in life expected (depending on aspects) highest fame and legend comes after death -
dammit! crap! shit! sigh...

22. feelings of granular, wise, genius mentality -
i'm definitely a genius! nice...

23. likes to wear clothing of vibrant colors and plaids in particular -
i wear white. any color which stands next to me would definitely be accentuated.

24. receives the favor of those in authority -
haha... yea man.

upon further contemplation... i'm wondering if the snake actually resembles a certain part of the human body. male specific. woot!

designer's block...

and so a new year begins yet again and thus my fourth year in the island. 201o was the year of change and self re-evaluation. and the year ended so pleasantly with the gathering of good unwithering friendship. as friends we begin to realised how much more we are to cherished moments. every spoken word felt like it would be our last breathe of thought and not to be taken lightly. it was a realisation that time truly passes so inevitably. a scary thought realising what has been done in the past cannot be erased but feeling of uncertainty of what the future would be.
its interesting to observe as the new year begins, the faces of people seem rather hopeful and full of life. people in general seem so fresh and friendly. i personally thing its so full of crap of how we humans like to assure ourself of a hope we ourself are unsure what exactly this hope we are looking forward to. most of the hopes are pretty general... career related, wealth, health, relationships, etc. but if you pry deeper into it, it usually tends not to go any further from that surfaced of hope. hence by mid year, many get tired and deluded. many faces turns black, taxi drivers are less nice and friendly. come year end people just want it all to end hoping to recharge and make a change in the year ahead. an endless cycle for most people. but of course there are others with a larger purpose and goal in life. you can tell by their unphased attitude which sometimes can be seen in their faces. but i'm no philosopher/ intellect to write and comment of such issues. in fact, whatever i just wrote is probably all jibberish stuff.
so anyway, for me it seems its about getting back into the designing. as in designing a whole piece of architecture and not bits and pieces of it. i realised that i have not actually done this for the last 2 years. and i am really very rusty. irony is that when i started out my working career as an architect. i told myself that i would focus on learning/ improving on my lacking of contract administrative skills. learn to how to handle people, write letters, documentation, etc. i told my self that it is THE true way to go far in life. in most ways that would be true, if i become a project manager or work for contractor. but then i realised and after chatting with my boss, what use is an architect if he cant design. designing is still the bread and butter of being a architect. and no matter what people say otherwise. you aint an architect if you don't/ cant design. after 4 years i realised that contract admin has become of my strngths and my comfort zone. i rather sit down trying to crack my head in wrting a AI/ AD. putting/ crafting words carefully together. during yesterdays mini internal design review with the bosses i felt so vulnerable and lacking that confidence in letting out my ideas as compared when i run meetings, solve site peoblems, figuring out how to deal with contractors/ authorities/ consultants, where i know what i want and exactly what i want to do. imagine that i used to dread typing minutes, now i type minutes to relax. i always thought that designing was a subjective manner and it depends solely on preference hence i refuse to dabble with much indepth. instead focus on the more objective manners of contract admin. but actually contract admin can be as subjective as designing. there is no one certain way of doing things as well. its also about preference and style. whichever method works best to get the results. it is an art in itself that not many people can grasp. but just today, i decided that its not something i would wanna be proud of although of course i believe many at my age are no where close to the skills i have. i will not be satisfied until i get the best of both worlds... designing and contract admin. to master both skills and be equally as good at each of it. i want to be... the GREATEST renaisance architect in my era. yes i am dreaming. but nothing wrong dreaming big i supposed. deep down i do feel that i have the heart to design. i just need to brush up that confidence which dearly lacks in comparison with my other skill. sigh. and so... i am sitting hear experiencing my first designer's block in a long time. feels good. hope it gets easier once i break it thereafter. i shall find myself a muse this year to inspire me, which also goes in line with my other resolution to get my plus one by November. the greatest new year resolution.
i think my boss is good in forcing to spend more hours to design and banning me from writing ADs/ AIs. i had a goal of issuing out 100 ADs by the end of the project. unfortunately my boss dictates how many ADs should be issued since she signs them. dammit!

bipolar thoughts...

was in the midst of writing something in this space but ended up digressing and wrote something completely different ---> structural harmony.

Professor Peter Zumthor

pride...

i had one of the most shocking conversations today...

heres a rough outline of it...

me: morning V, i've received your latest structural plans and have a few queries. i realised that the structural beams does not tally with the beam annotations. for example, your annotation for beam x is 250x600mm but when i dimension of the plans... its not as what it says. which do i follow? plus its not really aligned to any of my gridlines. And some of the beam lines are skewed.

c&s: oh... yes... umm. well you just have to follow as per the annotations.

me: you sure? why doesnt it tally?

c&s: oh, normally i dun draw them to scale.

me: (shocked) but why?

c&s: everything would be hidden above the ceiling so it doesnt matter...

me: okay... can you just re-look into your drawings. at least it has no set-out according to my gridlines. if not, how would the contractor establish the positions.

c&s: okay

me: i need this urgently as im currently doing the structural coordination (since you bloody cant do your work) to tally with my architectural plans.

c&s: yes will do.

naturally... he never came back with the revised drawings... wheres your sense of pride in the work you do man. sigh.

and the drawings were a disaster. sigh again.

pheromones...

for the past week, the weather has been completely splendid. it regain my confidence in the truth that we can all live without air-con when you have good natural ventilation. it also made me realised that it wasnt my thoughts that was keeping me awake all night but mostly the heat. the thoughts were just means of distracting me of the heat. alas the week has ended and so has the month of october... hopefully it stays this way. earlier in the shower i figured it could be a sign that God is rewarding me for my wise choice to visit grandma over the weekend. but indeed it was a very good choice. the perfect alibi and reason not to go for the guerilla lighting that i-am-so-glad-its-coming-to-an-end.

recently there is this lil girl who have been trying to ask me out on numerous occasions. first it was for a ballet... then it was some concert... then it was some event at zouk... and then it was the guerilla lighting. well yes... i would had agreed if she was a hot young thang! but unfortunately... she's not and im just superficial that way. but this weekend she finally managed to coerced me into having dinner. well her reason... was something that i just couldnt back down... plus i had no solid alibi this time. long story short... it was awkward. whats worst was that she barely ate.

so i let her decide on the place... since it was her idea. so she chose japanese. decent choice. good old healthy stuff maybe. then it came to the ordering... i jumped when her dinner was a couple of makis. at first i tot she was ordering it as appetizers to s

hare... then when i asked what she would have for her main... she gave me a look as though i was being funny. because THAT was her main. a couple of makis. of course we should not underestimate the filling capacity of the makis. 70% of it is rice. but i was shocked... and i wasnt hiding it. of course then i realised that i shouldnt had judged her eating habits. so i tried to see the positive side (as i am so good at doing) of not indulging into the sin of gluttony. but i cant really blame her... she eats grass on most days. so i guess the maki were really an effort in itself.

slowly and surely dinner was ending... then she started mentioning about the guerilla lighting thing again... telling me had not completely explored all the sites. i looked out of the window pretending as if something interesting had caught my attention... but really figuring out a gentle escape plan. long story short... i wiggled my way out of it. poor girl. but shes only 22... its just wrong. curse us men... who only see the aesthetics of things.

anyway as i mentioned earlier... i hope the good weather will continue for weeks to co

me.

so to end the week... i shall share with you my current obsession. no i am not interested in simon baker... but his character- patrick jane in the drama series... The Mentalist. i also discovered that he's actually australian... it goes to show... being american isnt all that big of a deal. anyone can pull it off.

food repertoire...

in exactly 2 minutes, the weekend will be officially over and its back to the design shop... designing?

so i figured i'd end the weekend, with a list of some of my tummy must have/ favorites.

the importance of seasoning. practically every food item i eat, i must sprinkle at least any of the above items on it. it really does make a difference... its in the details of things.

although i do try to use normal cooking/ veg oil for some of my meals. somehow i have this strange habit of always picking this over the normal oil most of the time. guess it's also due to the fact that i've placed the olive oil bottle at a more convenient location for use. but seriously, i always feel my food would be healthier when i use it.

ever since mom introduced me to breast milk, i have never stopped drinking it. of course i had ceased to drink from the mother's cup for over 20 years. but i have no qualms over its replacement from the moo-moo family.

most singaporeans love their asian black vinegar especially in their bak chor mee. i do like black vinegar... but the angmoh version of it some how gives a different kick to it.

and speaking of kicks... i used to dislike the whole nose to ear sensation you get with mustards. but as time goes by, and with little baby steps (american mustard)... i've grown to love that sensation.

i'm not really a herb obsessed person, i.e. must always add herbs into the food. but there are 2 herbs that i dearly love. i recently made a whole jar of basil pesto. very handy stuff. and the scent of rosemary always brings back memories of my days in melbourne picking those rosemary herbs at flagstaff garden.

having to work like a cow in singapore... i'd have to eat like one as well. and the bitter-peppery taste of rucolas separates it from all the other veggies. i do admit that i used to hate eating raw veggies... but when i realised that its a much healthier option and the discovery of these delicious rucolas, it has become my preferred option.

i once had this month long obsession of risotto making. i made them every other day just trying to get the right texture etc. despite that, i've yet to grow sick of it. unfortunately due the tedious nature of risotto making, it is not an everyday kind of dish i'd make. but whenever i make them... it's gotta be yummilicious. i like the fact that a lot of heart and patience is required in making it.

being an avid lover of milk... it would be natural to love another derivation of it. CHEESE!! but knowing that too much it it makes you a fatty, i do try and control my consumption of it.

i've also discovered that ricotta is a much healthier alternative over thicken cream. hence i've been using it for all my cream based dishes... even for that creamy texture in my scrambled eggs.

i love tomatoes and when i discovered that its good for my prostate. i loved it even better. on top of the usual fresh tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes are an interesting ingredient to add for even say... porridge.

breakfast. my currently most important meal of the day. the fact that i wake up 2 hours earlier than normal just to have breakfast demonstrates how much importance i've placed it to be. i wasnt always a morning person in the past, especially during my archi student days. the mornings somehow rarely existed back then. irony was that i used to date a morning person. strangely it worked out okay.

fish is a very important part of my diet. having told that it makes you smarter, i knew it was an important substance to help nourish my idiosyncratic stupid little useless brain. i am very picking of how my fish is done. making it does not require rocket science, but i think that it usually taste better when heart was put into cooking it. one of my criteria in a partner i supposed is that she should love to eat fish. like cats.

being a person who likes milk and cheese... you must always know where your sources originated from. introducing the mother of all things from the moo-moo land. the moo-moo itself! every inch of it taste good... and it comes in striking red!

decided to include this recent liking of mine... just like sundried tomatoes, you can add it with practically anything and it taste good.
last but not least... i could never live without my coffee fix. it makes a whole lot of difference with/ without it throughout the day. i actually cut down my consumption rate briefly when i was at A61, because i figured it was the healthy thing to do. but now i'm back to my old ways again and it's just splendid.

man oh man... all this talk about food and i realised that it's way past my bedtime!!

the beginning...

the year 1983 was the beginning of a beautiful friendship... and an epitome of improvised standards.

but not for me...

the weeks passes by so quickly. thankfully i still do get to appreciate every single day as it is. i'm satisfied with the decisions i've made thus far. career prospects would be rather puzzling but i think/ hopefully its for the best.

work has somehow gone back on track. no longer would i be distracted with other such nonsensical things, instead now that things are settling and the scope becoming more clearer. i can really sit down and plan/ do my work in a proper manner, without having to worry of some menopausal asshole/ bitch whining and grumbling incessantly. although with much due respect to his experience and all, i still find it amazing that a 60 year old man could behave in such a manner. one word only crosses my mind... bitch.

dad says that people like that are very useful, and at the end of the day gets the project going. i couldnt agree more, however, you tend to wonder why these sort of people even do exist. strange.

but thinking further, reasons why he flaunts his "30 years of experience" so much is simply perhaps because he has nothing else to show about. and before reaching his 30 year mark, he had nothing to flaunt at all. so its an accumulation of something that most people would eventually catch up with. its a tangible skill that perhaps he felt that its something he should seize and take advantage of before its too late. oh well... right now i dun give much of a fuss/ hoots about all these any longer.

mid week...!! and i have to write a complete tender specs for the house.

I may be wrong (But I think you're wonderful)

pictures...

was clearing my digital camera files. these photos were kept in there for such long time was mainly because i really had no idea what to do with them. until today. so i thought i might just post up some of them just to share... since i do rarely upload photos:

improvised mini coffee table.

a man not liking his juice.

suspiciously edible fungus.

sigh...

column smacked in the middle of a room. nice work OMA.

a once messy desk with never ending piles of work.

cake.

spandrel color mockup review.