BRICK

2012

2012-01-15T15:59:00.004Z

Time to get a move on... 2011 hasn't been kind, time were taken and soul was pushed, I look forward to what’s coming in 2012.

The first two weeks stealthily sneaked in without much happenings, I am pretty broke this round so unlike the aftermath of lavish New York trip last year, I don’t feel that empty.

I should write again, every now and then, and this would be a constant reminder of me, by me.

And journalistic it should be.

Last weekend was so great, it’s always good to bask in the arts gleam. Artstage was taken place in MBS convention hall, I have never been to the inaugural last year. It’s an energetic fair, bursting with arts enthusiasts and very inspiring. The company of Kuanth and the immaculate gang made it felt even cooler, haha. I really like how the fair merges works of the old and contemp, traditional and experimental, adroitness and fashion forward. There’s a vast spectrum of artist with good focus on the asians.

Just for the sake of record, I saw Gilbert & George, Anthony Gromley, Joan Miro, Marc Quinn, Picasso, The Gao Brothers, Phunk Studio, Keiichi Tanami, Michael Lee, Heman Chong, Rodel Tapaya (favourite), Navin Rawachaikul (awesome 300 asian icons artist), Murakami, Yoshinara, LaChapelle, and this amazing new found Kondoh Akino (that does Kiya kiya). The whole place is definitely an artist playground and by the time I leave, it didn’t feel like 4 hours have passed.

I am also grateful that I made it to Brian Gothong’s Milk and Honey. It is a very humble show but there’s a personal feeling that’s quite endearing. It also inspired me to start keeping my sketchbooks faithfully so if there’s one day my solo exhibition dream comes true I will have them proudly displayed.

The week ends of with a wonderful movie by Cameron Crowe (who directed Jerry Mcguire and Vanilla sky) – We bought a Zoo. It’s a grief-themed movie, to me a lot of Kodak moments, very fine looking cinematography and indie camera works, comes with soundtrack from Jonis of Sigur Ros. Very my kind of visual and audio, even though the adaptation is a bit predictable, I am glad it wasn’t draggy.

Great weekend.

2011-06-29T09:59:00.000+01:00

TRX day 20 - it has become high intensity training for every session, never realised sprinting could burn so much fat, and i have became best friend with burpees, squat jump, mountain climber and push up.. how great

2011-06-16T14:33:00.002+01:00

TRX day 17 - deadly upper body workout today, 100 atomic push ups and 110 lat pull = half dead

2011-06-14T09:04:00.002+01:00

TRX day 16 - A slight taste of level 2, damn it's tough! Can feel the heart rate rising through the roof the whole time, am really glad I am improving my fitness now and not later.

Lee joon hyuk

2011-06-08T13:51:00.000+01:00

2011-06-08T13:25:00.002+01:00

TRX day 14 - Bad training today, totally lack of energy throughout the lower body workout... need more calf raises and squat jumps!

2011-06-05T14:15:00.001+01:00

TRX day 13 - body blast again.. desperately need to improve my squat jump, overall fitness seems to improve a lot, get it going!

2011-05-31T05:51:00.001+01:00

TRX day 11 - can hold longer on the A pull and the balance lunge.. more strength and mobility please!

2011-05-23T18:10:00.001+01:00

TRX day 8 - Mobility training today, the plank killed me...

2011-05-19T08:23:00.001+01:00

TRX Day 7 - Metabolism blast! First TRX circuit training today and I think i did well, need to work on the heart rate though.

2011-05-17T16:32:00.002+01:00

TRX Day 5 - i can do the balance lunge much better now! and the one leg squat is much easier, good i am progressing ;)

2011-05-10T07:33:00.001+01:00

TRX Day 2 - difficulty up a notch, left me panting like nobody business, at least the weather was kind to me

2011-05-07T06:39:00.003+01:00

TRX day 1 yesterday - feeling sore at all the right places now, hope it works out nicely. No pain no gain!

Getting a new rollerblade should be next on the list!

2011-03-13T08:39:00.002Z

three of my favourite songs, such a shame i didn't choose to go to HK over TW...

2011-03-11T03:44:00.000Z

finally the edge is back!

2011-02-01T02:46:00.003Z

Last day at the ward for now, they have just informed that I could get a mid-day discharge. I am feeling neutral at the moment, glad at the release but not feeling relief because there’s still no explanation for my condition. They did another blood test but still found nothing wrong and now all pending is the readings from the device I had on me the past 24 hours, that’s if they could deduce any conclusion from that.

Still feeling strange while typing this, could it all be just my own imagination? I do not think so. Whenever there’s a chance I always try to exercise my mind and breathing pattern to see if there’s a difference, if it could get rid of this volatility state but none have seen succeeded.

Last night all the previous roommates were removed from the room, one got discharged while two others got transferred away. I was really mean when I yelped with joy knowing the uncle that was beside me was moved away.

I was totally sympathetic with his condition because I knew he was in great great pain, but at the same time, he was being such a negative energy in the room. His groan and mutter often freaked me out and off-putting thoughts ran through my mind as I try to rest. His callous family is the cherry on the icing. I can’t help but sway to the pessimistic side whenever I see him.

On the contrary, the new guys that moved in – another old man who’s in a much peaceful state and a younger man who suffered from hepatitis A create affirmative force much needed for the room.

The old man has got a very caring and carefree family that puts a smile on my face. His sons and daughters were in the wad until late last night, keeping him company while chatting liberally with him and each other. And early at 9am today, one of the daughters was already sitting beside the father reading a book while he is sleeping. That’s what I call a family.

As I am typing this, another younger man moved into the wad and apparently he had abdominal pain while consuming, a lot similar to the case of the previous uncle beside me and I get really concern with him. He has just lost his dad too due to bowel cancer.

I guess I need to get out of this place quite soon, positive atmosphere is essential for me to get well. I am grateful to everyone who has sent me text and well wishes, sorry I have not been responsive because I guess I am in a state of denial to be a patient.

Not to worry guys, I will recover soon.

2011-01-31T03:49:00.003Z

Day 4 – Feeling a little depressed today, partly due to the weather, partly due to the panic attack last night, partly due to the fact that I will not be discharged today.

Early in the morning they came and wheeled me to the cardiac center to do the 2D echo sound heart scan. When the scan was done, they installed on me an ECG monitor that I have to bear for 24 hours, with wires sticking all over my torso. They will remove it tomorrow morning they claimed.

I don’t know is it me or everyone in the ward is feeling grumpy today. The uncle opposite me was having spite with the nurses because they wanted to install the drip on him. I totally understand his frustration; nobody wants to be bounded by the bed here when, walking to the compound downstairs is the only solace you could seek. He was begging the nurses to give him 10 mins while he walked around before getting chained to the bed. Poor guy.

The neighbouring uncle was giving me loads of problem last night with the sound he made too, last night he was trembling so immensely that I can hear the whole bed shaking and him shivering very loudly. It doesn’t help when I just woken up by a bad dream and was in anxiety myself. It was a tough night.

I am very touched that you stayed from 12 to 930 yesterday, keeping me accompany the entire day. I couldn’t have survive the boredom without you, really thanks for being so sweet to me.

Chinese New Year is drawing near and as everyone is spring-cleaning his house, I am spring-cleaning myself. Am I really uncovered to too much stress lately, or am I just nervous about my condition. The scatty sensation no longer lingers as I am typing this so could all this had just been an illusion?

I hope the ECG monitor on me will tell me an answer.

2011-01-30T02:31:00.012Z

2nd morning in the ward. Today is so cold and gloomy everyone is lying on his bed. Across of me, there is a new tenant, checked-in 5am this morning… disrupted my sleep as usual. There is a sweet lady sitting beside him, doing nothing but pondering, staring and waving her toes, occasionally raises her head to check on her sleeping husband. She’s enthusiastic about everything, whenever nurses come, she ask about all the readings and obviously very concern about her pal’s situation.

I really admire her; especially after witnessing the family of the uncle beside me. The affection of their respective wives is beyond comparison. Family of the neighbouring bed have obviously no idea of how is it to be ill on a hospital bed. The wife was only here for a brief hour yesterday after he got warded for the whole day, and already wanted to provoke him for a fight during that short stay, resulting in incommoding silence.

The man was left alone after that, and later of the night, he was moaning in pain. His abdomen was giving him so much trouble. He told the doctor his stomach was burning and acidic stuff was coming out from his mouth. They had to give him the strongest painkiller they have here. I can only imagine the pain.

For him, I guess the pain is not any less than having kids and wife who wouldn’t bother to pat on his shoulder and assure him everything will be all right.

I am so lucky and felt so much love when you guys came to see me. Especially for you who came back twice, kept me accompany the whole afternoon and came back at night again just to watch me fell asleep. I feel bad when you have to fall asleep on the tiny space beside me.

I really needed that laughter yesterday, thanks so much my friends. All these kind gesture gave me the strength to eradicate all the self-doubt and downbeat feelings. It meant a lot to me.

Doctor came today and told me that he’s convinced nothing bad is happening to me, and that I have to be positive.

And Positive I will be :)

2011-01-29T05:46:00.009Z

First day at the ward… well technically 2nd day, counting from 3pm yesterday. Still spotting a weird sensation at the head while typing this, it’s not exactly giddiness, just a discomfort that keeps on distracting my will to concentrate. It’s just annoying that the symptoms persist without any significant cause, I hope they could nail it soon.

Never been warded my whole life, so the experience is daunting. I don’t like it because while I am the sober one, watching other ill patients make me fear, and suffer for them. People are here for all kinds of reason -

old uncle beside me had abdominal pain and letting out hard stools
old uncle opposite me had a stomach the size of 2 big balloons and he wants prata for all his meals
old uncle diagonally across me… I dunno what’s wrong, but I mistaken him as an auntie because another uncle was feeding him porridge when I admitted.

The nurses have been repeatedly coming to me to take my blood, each time poking into a different veins, already 4 holes poked so far, and countless ECG, blood pressure check, and 4 different doctors have came, all asked the same questions over and over again, did the same check over and over again. Each time without a conclusion, I am starting to get a bit impatient.

I have been mentally prepared that no special test would be conducted at least until Monday, so that’s 48 hours for me to kill in a 500 sq feet room, with malfunction tv set, view of the rainy Chinatown, 3 uncles that don’t talk and hospital diet that comes with a selection on glossy menu.

I pray hard that this visit will clear all my doubts and I could get out feeling like a new person again, I have always been a healthy person and I want to be healthy.

And I am really grateful for you, for standing by me all this while. You might not know how much it meant for me to see your smile last night, when I am all by myself in this cold dark room. Thanks for helping me to pull it through.

2011-01-24T04:31:00.004Z

what i call a classic beauty

Hello Blog,

2011-01-02T04:43:00.002Z

It's been months i have neglected you, i want you back!

2011 will be a great year....

did i just jinx it?

wooot

2010-08-03T13:15:00.000+01:00

2009-10-02T17:23:00.003+01:00

d-awwww-nn ;)

A back lot of photos from London

2009-09-15T00:51:00.017+01:00

Took a break from work and found these lovely london memories

2009-09-02T15:15:00.000+01:00

2009-07-09T19:19:00.001+01:00

I was filling up some details for my employment pass application and needed to know the date I started my London studies, so I turned to the first entry of this blog. Emotion rumbles as I plough through the entries. I blog so very often last time and those words and pictures have been such a testament of how I have enjoyed my life in London. I do miss that a lot.

Coming back to Singapore again, I realised the landscape of the country has evolved so much but I haven’t changed a bit myself. I am still late for meetings, troubling friends with my inadequacy, loosing valuables, stubborn for wayward lifestyle... I talk a lot more compared to 3 years ago, but I am still so lacking of self-esteem. Yet, i realised, I have been behaving like that all my life and the reason I haven’t change, is probably due to the fact that I managed to survive on my own all this while. I owe this to many of you, i know. You have been standing by me all this while, despite knowing I bring nothing but last minute panic all the time, calls only when i needed something from you, taking for granted your unconditionally support. I felt shameful and blissful at the same time. Confused, yeah.

One thing that would have change, will be my reaction towards emotion. I have grown to be immune to feelings, I show very little respond to anger, sorrow and compassion. I am this close to being heartless. I won’t know what causes the change, but people cry don’t make me cry anymore. Detachment from emotion is the best defrence i guess, something I have built up over the years. A pastor once say to me, I am a smart person as I built walls around my heart, so nothing could hurt me. I guess that’s true. I used to be so sensitive, but insults over my feelings by different individuals have taken a toll on me. Now i simply don’t care, and i doubt feelings. And i hate dramas.

Nonetheless, I am looking forward to starting a new job, moving into a new place and embarking on a new lifestyle. I want to document the process like how I used to do, and I will return to update this blog as often as I would be. I realised how important this is to a person crossing the border to the next box, yes the dreadful big 30.

To Mike, please stay strong and never let anything bring you down. It’s easy for me to say as I am not you, but please sound out if you need anything. We all worry about different things, but we just can’t predict life. Just make sure whatever you do makes you happy. I was once caught in the same situation, in fear of loosing a job that took care of my bread and butter... but the best thing in life happened to me after I took the plunge. If I am at 30, and not afraid of taking risk, you could do better than me. Jia you!

I love my friends :)

beery beautiful

2009-06-08T22:57:00.001+01:00

Aww look ma, an entry.

All thanks to Talia’s emo song at her blog, it spears my heart and this utterance became a manifestation. Actually in perpetual occasions i feel the need to write, but winds down everytime the hand touches the keyboard. Too much hassle i guess, and i am not exactly that articulate when it comes to these things.

The last week has been quite a wreck. It has been a while since i got myself drunk, you guys know i can’t handle alcohol.. and I hated that feeling. But it has been 3 times this week, I am sick of it. Yet it seems, that was the only way to lift me out from that miserable state of mind. When girls aloud go ‘something’s gonnna oohhh... makes my heart go booom boom...” and i go “yeahh.. and no one gonna gets hurt”.. Call me delusional, i think i am starting to believing in drinking to be happy.

Work has been terribly terribly busy, i have got some of the most exciting projects on my plate and while life should be so perfect, I can’t seem to anchor my heartstring anywhere. I can’t exactly work when I am not feeling the ground. I get floated off to whatever direction the rambling thoughts move.

On the subject of my return, I know i have upset some of you with a much delayed schedule.. but trust me, i am feeling the aggraviation too. I am both irritated and confused actually. It makes it even harder to conform to thinking sensibly. Anyway I am pretty sure the end is near and I would be home very very soon.

And when i am home, i need your TLC ok? I will not hassle the married couples but Talia, you HAVE TO be my full time girlfriend, haha...

Ok finally, call for wish list, please let me know if you have anything you would like from London, Yiyong has ordered his triple chocolate crunch, how about you guys? Let me know soon especially those that requires delivery ok? It could well be my final oppurtunity to bring you something back from here, so don’t be shy.

Now i gonna go finish my gin shaking to Roisin Murphy’s Overpowered... hmm love that song so much!

2009-05-06T14:46:00.002+01:00

It's amazing how all of us (talia, max, mike, me, yean, jeri... everyone!) still keep our natopus link on our blog when she has long abandoned us. How about a revival, ms nutella?

2009-02-28T22:46:00.001Z

photo © charliecha

2009-02-08T00:38:00.006Z

2009-01-19T01:07:00.007Z

some interesting pictures from the last trip

lamb brain... erm anyone?

broccoli mousse.... err anyone?

got these gigantic macaroons at a very small price, happiness!

animal venetian masks... i would get the fish if they are not that exorbitantly priced

gigantic gummy balls!

plate of meringue piggies!

this must be the worst nightmare, licorice as thick as our belts! eeeeeekk!

Look at da jie's Paella! how would i not be proud of her

Sis's german pork chop!

2008-11-21T10:43:00.001Z

and here's Yiyong with his adidas basketball diving suit and Talia with her xtra long and slim body and limbs :p!!

Fren-a-day is back!

2008-10-21T15:18:00.003+01:00

Remember fren-a-day last year? this year i wanna create custom avatar for everyone! First up is of course my bestest friend nat and she is a bird cause she is in love! geddit?

2008-09-22T01:10:00.003+01:00

Hehe finally! :)

2008-09-01T00:48:00.002+01:00

又被愛傷了一遍
無所謂當作成長
剛剛走開的人煙還點著味道卻淡了

我並不是天生愛寂寞卻比任何人都多
就算把世界給我我還是一無所有
我要快樂我要能睡的安穩
有些人不抱了才溫暖離開了才不恨我早應該割捨
我要快樂哪怕笑的再大聲
心不是熱的全都是假的
只有眼淚是真的

把從前想了一遍
謝謝了傷我的人
想做樂觀的人每種雨聲聽了都不冷
我並不是天生愛寂寞卻比任何人都多
就算把世界給我我還是一無所有

我要快樂我要能睡的安穩
有些人不抱了才溫暖離開了才不恨我早應該割捨
我要快樂哪怕笑的再大聲
心不是熱的全都是假的
我的決定是對的

Amsterdam (1)

2008-08-27T12:30:00.033+01:00

2008-08-17T21:48:00.006+01:00

It has been a whirlpool of emotion and I sincerely thank every one of you who has been keeping me in check to make sure I am alright. I am still scornful about things but just don’t have the bloody pluck to end anything. How much, I wonder, will be enough to heave me all out of love.

David Hockney @ the exhibition

Yesterday I went to National Gallery to see this beautiful exhibition revolving theme of Love. An installation by Yoko Ono called Secret Piece III made me tear. There are so much love you can read, all real affection from real people, in all languages, from all aspects. I left a note there.

You guys have no idea how much it touched me when you agree to pull money for my air ticket home. I think the only solace from this incident is to realize how blissful am I to have good friends like you around. I love you all. Yes i do. Love, something that everybody has but always take for granted isnt it?

Frankly I am timid with what to do next, that’s what constancy do to you. After a period of indulging in self fabricated fairy tale, you deprive of the ability to think for your own good, continuously root your decision on two minds. Love you say. Yes it still exists but it can just jolly well be the permission to the next perfidy. I am weak, that’s why I deserved to be taken on a ride again and again.

Is that alright?
I give my gun away when it's loaded
Is that alright?
If you don't shoot it, how am I supposed to hold it
Is that alright?
If I give my gun away when it's loaded
Is that alright
Is that alright with you?

Is that alright?
Is that alright?
Is that alright with you?
Is that alright?
Is that alright?
Is that alright with you?

No.

11 July Middlesex Graduation Ceremony

2008-07-13T17:24:00.011+01:00

2008-05-05T21:50:00.017+01:00

I better blog before Ms Nutella kicks me off her list. Lets talk about this bank holiday weekend I just had, it was fantastic with loads happening but the highlights would be bumping into Laduree the posh tai tai-sh French macaroon shop at Burlington Arcade. It’s true that they don’t only look pretty but wonderfully scrumptious! delish!

Well of course a box of doshy macaroons wouldn’t make the weekend so superb, it is the Cans festival that got me hopping about The cans festival is an amazing stencil street party initiated by Banksy, inviting artists from all over and the public to spray paint the wall in an abandoned tunnel. For once we are allowed to vandalize without getting impeached. I spent a good morning sketching, shading and cutting my own stencil before heading down to check out the tunnel.

The exhibition is remarkable. I was blown away by the amount of high quality stencil art inside the tunnel, the details are so mad they could kill an elephant, or ten. I was quietly embarrassed since my work was so shabbily done but I am glad nonetheless that I could be part of it. Here’s the guerilla artist at work!

Here are the true masterpieces:

Photos credits : Daily Telegraph & Flickr

You would agree with me, they are unbearably good and inspiring, and the crowd is amazing. I would never expect an underground suit like this could be so extravagant and glamorous. It is a bizarre feeling really. What’s missing is heavy aerosol smell, burning cars, angry hoodies, tattoos, piercing and rock music. What’s in place is cozy family affair, with dad holding stencil for the daughter to spray and mom giving feedback whether the position is good to go. Also there were awfully lots of baby prams and professional cameras. Albeit feeling weird and rather annoyed by the prancing crowd, I am glad that it all projects a really healthy impression to the public, and they get a reasonably good idea of how talented these graffiti artists truly are.

Well beside the cans, this weekend is blessed with pleasingly a lot of sun! Brilliant indeed! I can’t wait till the sun gets stronger and I would nap in the sun more often ☺

2008-03-20T15:47:00.002Z

there's not even a close second, no.... hwooo i like that :)

2008-02-02T16:35:00.000Z

So yeah Hui Min has come and gone, and she's probably enjoying some cannabis in Amsterdam now. She didn't exactly come at the right time and she was quite on her own most of the time. The last night before she left, she came into the living room wanted to talk to me but i just left her sitting alone at the couch. When i saw her persisting but couldn't help falling asleep on the couch I actually felt really bad inside. Maybe i didn't show much, but her visit does warm my heart a lot as it has been a while since I can be with friend that truly belongs to me. Miss those brainless laughters and banters, for now.

2008-01-30T10:31:00.001Z

SCNUK Annual Art Show: In the Pit is a 2-Day collaborative showcase of works from Singaporean artists and UK artists. This event is sponsored by Singapore International Foundation and Singapore Creative Network UK.

Date: February 9-10 Feb, 2008
Show time: Saturday12.30pm-11pm Sunday10.00am-2pmLocation:
Venue: The Flea Pit, 49 Columbia Road, London E2 7RG
http://www.thefleapit.com/

Party night is on the 9th of Feb from 5-11pm.
Please RSVP to Che Yok Cere at scnuk_info@yahoo.co.uk

2008-01-07T16:46:00.000Z

I have never felt lonelier.

Maybe it’s the weather.
Maybe it’s the anticipation.
Maybe the sun sets too soon.
Maybe the dinner gets too cold.
Maybe the bed is too big.
Maybe the fireworks are too far.
Maybe the flowers are wilted.
Maybe the plane is not landed.
Maybe…

Maybe WOW will help for a while now

Regents Park day!

2007-12-29T21:07:00.001Z

It's a beautiful day...but i can't wait for summer to come

2007-12-07T01:56:00.001Z

Finally finished what i have been wanting to do! Tada!

Before

After

Cosy at night

2007-11-26T23:31:00.000Z

help! help! If anyone sees the following guide in town can kindly grab a few for me? thks! i ll pay in kind

Photo from http://fakenylon.wordpress.com/

Just kidding!

2007-11-13T09:22:00.001Z

Grinz... ;)

http://www.theaoi.com/Mambo/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=870&Itemid=

2007-09-01T11:44:00.000+01:00

Yay! i am mentioned in Culturepush. Thanks Nai da li for helping me to look through the answers :)

2007-08-23T23:49:00.000+01:00

I really don’t know why am I so weak.
Why am I battling my conscience to accept ridiculous reason
Blinding myself to accept things beyond my principles
Tearing my heart to approve licentious acts

Am I just too naive?
Or simply stupid
The same old familiar feelings
Same old shit.

Dunno la,
Will be sitting on the fence for now.

Did outlines of my graduation fellow today, all in 4 hours. Madness.

2007-08-22T15:49:00.000+01:00

Since it is not a secret anymore, okay la here are the dates for you busy people…make sure you reserve time for me hor. Arriving Mari Kita 14 Oct and prolly leaving for NegaraKu on 21 Oct. I am not sure where I will be staying yet, just chatted with Max and might just go bunk in with him.

It has been a while since I wrote something for my blog, and looking back at the date I started this blog, I can’t believe it has nearly been a year already. My course is ending in 2 weeks and few days ago while working on some graphics for my degree show, I was harked back to the ‘Fusion’ days. Haha. I really miss those days, at least people were easier and fun to work with. I miss the late nights and Ms Amy’s nagging, and Mike Oh, and how we were so united to fight with the product design people, and working with Yuki (hahaha). Now I am stranded with a lousy Lebanese girl and weird classmates that want nothing but an ordinary show. Totally no connection. Speaking about this, has anyone have any idea where Widi is?

Some of you have asked me many times before if I ever miss home. I always give a confident “not yet”, haha, I guess now I finally think I do. I am really looking forward to go home now. And this is the first time ever I actually have the idea of going back for good. Dunno la, I guess after all, my character might not suit to work here, and I am tired of not being able to speak in a natural way. And I hate the weather.

Yea so I really miss all of you and please can we fixed up dates for our mj, ktv, dvd marathon already? And I want midnight blading at ECP and Sunset bay chilling out also! Also can we celebrate YXXX bday in advanced? Haha.Let me plan la since I will be damn free when I got back.

Just now when I was shopping for food I saw this toddler frantically pulling a set of kids accessories from a rack slightly higher than her. She was so determined and when she finally got it off, she quickly ran to her mother in a distance and said “mummy mummy! These came off and fell into my hand… …can I have them?”

2007-08-14T13:38:00.001+01:00

Kakis wanted! Dont watch yet!! Wait for me!! haha...

2007-08-10T15:06:00.000+01:00

Visited Anthony Gormley’s blind light not long ago and besides the light and vapour, there was this invasion of numerous fiberglass and cast iron figures that spreads over a large area that explores the boundary of observable horizon. The installation was just so ambitious and impressive I cant stop thinking about it. Came across these photos today and thought it would be a good idea to steal it to decorate my blog. Hur hur..

pictures credit www.petecarr.net

2007-08-03T08:49:00.001+01:00

A bad mood swing,
It's familiar feeling,
the sort that you're too afraid of failure,
or too plagued by self-doubt,
or just too damn lazy,
to ever really succeed at doing anything.

I get intensely frustrated by feelings,
not of inadequacy, but of mediocrity.

I want to lead an ordinary life,
but ordinary's just not good enough today

2007-07-31T23:53:00.001+01:00

image from bjork.com

2007-07-17T14:59:00.000+01:00

*Rolls eyes so hard they roll to the back of my head*

Xiaxue is one funny girl, haha

2007-06-30T10:07:00.000+01:00

Didnt win anything big haha.. just commendation but thanks a lot guys for

sending me all the well wishes. It is great to be there and the experience itself
is mind blowing enough. Thanks again! I will do better :D

Wimbledon! hehe... no money to watch center court but did get to
see Martina Hingis lost to an unseeded player :p They called the
court 2 the 'graveyard of champions' this yr haha

2007-06-26T23:18:00.001+01:00

old abode

new sojourn

2007-06-25T21:39:00.000+01:00

Creative networking

2007-06-12T00:14:00.000+01:00

Futures
www.futuresnetwork.org.uk

Pecha Kucha
www.klein-dytham.com/pechakucha/
www.pechakucha.co.uk

Likemind
www.likemind.us

Creative Network
www.creativenetwork-staffs.org

CIN
www.creative-cin.co.uk

Chinwag Live
live.chinwag.com

BD4D
www.bd4d.com

Rojak
www.farm.sg/index.php/camera/

Taxi
www.designtaxi.com/

Creative Networks West Midlands
www.creativenetworksonline.com

West of England Design Forum
www.wedesignforum.co.uk

NESTA
www.nesta.org.uk

Creative Entrepreneurs Club
www.creativeentrepreneurs.com

2007-06-01T17:45:00.001+01:00

Remember fren-a-day that i was doing before CNY? Well i havent actually been doing it *ashamed* but i did finish some at the earlier stage.. I will continue to work on them, meanwhile.. see if u can spot urself here? hahaha

*Don't hate me if i have drawn u ugly becuz i think i did for many of u... sorry la cuz these are done in a very short time and i really didnt bother to adjust the details.. so pls dont take it too hard k?

2007-05-30T00:00:00.000+01:00

Another day.

Just Breath.

Just Believe.

2007-05-14T20:58:00.000+01:00

Currently working on my next major project..

2007-05-13T04:36:00.000+01:00

Dear all, i have started a blog to post my art, feel free to drop by :)

2007-04-22T12:28:00.000+01:00

Finally summoned enough courage to bring up the conclusion. I guess I have to do it, or we will be struggling in uncertainty. I am sorry for everything. I am just that screwed up, forever rushing in to start something without taking care of what follows. Even though I know it will not work, we still take it on persistently. I hope this is the right thing to do. I am really not sure. I am sorry.

I guess I am having another crisis in life right now, feeling rather grey about the future.

Too much ambiguity, too much problems, too pessimistic.

I need a good dose of stimulant and great deal of distraction to get away from this drama mama disposition.

Heck, the world is crazy anyway.

Sorry rubbish.

For you, I hope you continue to pick up from here and live a better life from now on. I will miss the fond memories but I will not look back. Nobody is certain about the future but it’s the surprises in life that get us going. All the best, piggy.

For the rest, don’t ask.

2007-04-21T16:40:00.001+01:00

2007-04-17T22:35:00.000+01:00

Support please!! It is only $28 and the multimedia is done by our legendary senior! haha...and Nora Samosir is really good! Go watch and tell me about it k? ;)

Nothing is an exploration of urban alienation. Written and directed by Natalie Hennedige, and performed by Goh Guat Kian, Nora Samosir, Rizman Putra, Peter Sau & Siti Khalijah, the talented cast will play multiple characters, some entirely identifiable, some obscure, some mundane, some elusive to create a poignant, meditative and funny tapestry of the human condition in the midst of urban frantic and noise. It will employ electronic music and noise and a stark stylish set as well original and found text.

See the laundry in the machine. It goes round and round.
See your reflection in the glass you are a great sad clown.
Hello Mister. Hello Miss. Where are you off to now?
May I join you on your way into the great abyss?
I won't say a single word or get in your way
I'll just be a companion. Grey.
It will be a grand nothing day.
Say yes. Say.

2007-04-17T00:28:00.000+01:00

The last post of my easter trip! The breathtaking journey continued as we embarked from Engelberg to Interlaken, a moderate town surrounded by two lakes and right under the peak of the Alpes. Interlaken is really peaceful and there is this silence charm about the place that make people keep thinking about it and wanting to go back. Hmm.. maybe only me. Anyway there are heaps to do there beside skiing and snowboarding, lots of extreme sports and mountain adventures, and it would be fun if we go there in a group. So hint hint to everyone out there, please start saving money.

And so we are constantly pampered by sceneries like these while we were on the train from one town to another. If only Malaysia is like that lor.

After a night in Interlaken, we were all excited in the early morning, ready to go up to the tallest mountain in the whole of Europe. (Still a little shorter than the tallest mountain in South East Asia, which is Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia, standing at 4,095 meters high, children). The journey upward was more or less the same except this time there wasnt any cable car ride but just train ride straight to the top (with many stops and exchanges of trains).

And after about 3 hours (?) of train rides we finally got to the top. Ladies & Gentlemen, may I present to you the top of Europe, Jungfraubahn! Standing at 3,457 meters above sea level with a magnificient glacier across the band of mountains.

We went to the Sphinx to get a good view at Jungfraujoch, the peak of the mountain and grabbed some photos before we ventured to a walk on the glacier. I couldnt possibly take a picture of the Sphinx cause i was inside it so i stole a picture from the internet to show you how crazily beautiful it is.

After coming out from the Sphinx, we were greeted by the great wonder of nature. Never in my life i have been in somewhere so white before, it was so glaring i dont think anyone can survive without sunglasses. We saw a sign telling us the outbound journey into the glacier will take 45 minutes and it should bring us to a restaurant. So both of us very gung ho la, walked out without much thoughts. We started by taking pictures (again!) everywhere, above the ground, under the slope, on the ground, inside a hole, with the skiiers, with ourselves and then started the walk slowly on the endless white path.

Man we were conned! The journey was definitely more than 45 mins and there were a few steep slopes along the way, we were dead tired and hungry by the time we arrived at the restaurant but the experience was really fulfilling. I have just walked on a glacier and played with compact snow! woo hoo!

After the glacier walk, we went to the Plateau to have a good view from the top. Again everything is white white. No wonder they called it 'between heaven and earth', it does look like a place for immortal beings.

So there you go, I am at the top of Europe!!

Have to thank Angela for the nice shots. So yeah, after the Plateau we proceeded to the Eispalast (ice palace) which are tunnels dug into the Jungfrau mount. It is a shame that during this period of time, many activies were suspended until winter comes again. I am particularly interested in this husky ride! Argh!

So all good things come to an end, we have to descend the mountain and the journey downwards is nothing less extraordinary.

Before going back to Interlaken, we had a brief stop over at Grindelwald, a beautiful beautiful town at the foot of the mountain.

We wanted to get to Grindelwald First (thats a part of Grindelwald) but didnt have enough time. Here is a stolen picture again to show you how crazy it would have been.

So yeah, Grindelwald, remember this place! Must go!

The last day in Switzerland was spent on train ride from Interlaken to Geneva, where we were supposed to meet my bro-in-law. I didnt take much photos in the end cause i realised i have been spending way too much time looking at the place through the viewfinder. I needed the final chance to look at them properly. Some pictures to show though, bear in mind i shot all these on a moving train (at 200+kmph) , without a tripod and behind dirty glass panels. The real scene is way much better than the pictures.

Final stop, Geneva. It is a modern town with (another) lake and backed by Mont Blanc. So yeah, this trip I finally saw the real mountains on the toberone, ricola and mont blanc packaging. Yayness.

Summer is quietly creeping by many people were suntanning by the Geneva lake. We spotted a swan that has just gave birth to an egg. Picture shows Ms Swan looking at the Swan.

So yah thats the end of my dreamy holiday. Contented and happy with a chao ta face. Hehe. Thanks for reading ;)

2007-04-15T01:06:00.000+01:00

Many photos coming up! After Bern i went to Geneva and after meeting Angela at the airport, we took a train to Luzern, a really charming lakefront town surrounded by the lower part of the Alpes. When i was very young, my sis and I bought a 2000pcs puzzle and put it up together, the image of the puzzle is the tower and the bridge of Luzern Lake. It has been hanging on our wall for ages without me knowing it is actualy this beautiful place in Switzerland. The feeling is really great when i was finally upfront with the real scenery.

Really grateful for the good weather when we were there

We had our first mountain trip up to Rigi Mt at the high of 1800 meters. The trip started with a boat journey across the lake, followed by a rail train ride all the way to the top. Apparently it is the first mountain rail system in the world. (Do I really sound like a tour guide or what.)

Some sceneries we caught on the boat

Up on Mt Rigi, Angela and I were behaving like suaku kias as that was the first time both of us encounter deep snow. First we got trapped in the snow and laughing like crazy infront of the angmohs. Then we were taking pictures like crazy and spent a whole lot of time playing with the snow. She even made some snow bunnies which later became a tourist attraction where passer by would take pictures of them. We were mad happy and contented with what we saw on this mountain already without realising that there is grander experiences ahead.

The view from the mountain top, overlooking Luzern and its lake.

After whole day of indulgence in the white land we were brought back to greenery by cable cars . Spotted some meh meh on the way to catch the ferry back to Luzern town.

We continued our journey by taking a train to Engelberg, one hour away from Luzern. It is a skii town with lots of hotels and skii shops and it is located just right underneath Mt Titlis, a 3238 meters high mountain with snow all year round. We were really excited as this mountain is almost double the height of the previous one we went. After an hour plus (or is it more?) of travelling on cable cars we were exhalling air of great excitement. Man we were above the clouds! There were lots of skiiers and snowboarders doing their cool stunt while we snapped pictures like China and Indian tourists. It was great fun trying to walk on hard snow and slipped and fell flat on the butt occasionally. Really really cool and cold stuff!

A lot of panaromic to see hor... Sorry for the sloppy job as i am really lazy to joint them nicely la.But trust me, the real scene is nothing like the picture, the impact is hundred times greater! In case you are wondering if we are cold since it seems like we were wearing so little, yes we were very cold! but for vanity sake, we took off our jackets at points of time to take pictures la.. haha

So yeah, we did nothing much except taking pictures and took a silly balloon thing. We took the ski lift as well that flew across a beautiful glacier path and went into an ice cave. The whole experience robbed one day too and then we took the cable cars back down to the ground, blood rushing and still high on the near heaven experience we just had. Okay sorry, sound erotic. Well, it was just very beautiful la.

After the Mt Titlis, we took a train again this time towards Interlaken where we will meet the heart of the Alpes, the top of Europe, the famous Jungfraubahn. Standing tall at 3,471meters high, it is the peak of the Alpes. Couldnt wait, but there was beautiful beautiful sceneries along the way to entertain us.

Never bluff you right? Every where is so breathtaking lor... I wonder if Switzerland is the most photographed country in the world. Well, will never know anyway. Are you tired of reading already? I am tired of updating already, haha... till next post, i will conclude with the finale on the top of Europe and a brief stop at Geneva before this heavenly excursion ends. Tschuess!

2007-04-12T22:33:00.000+01:00

I am back from Swiss! I am coughing badly now with a chao ta face cause that country robbed my breath and ruddiness. It is so damn beautiful even the garbage piles look damn lovely. Ask Angela and she will agree. Haha. The next few posts gonna be long rambling of Swiss worshipping and many many peektures to prove my points. Hehe. But really la, peektures don’t do justice; you really must be there to experience the overwhelming sceneries.

I shall start with the capital of this adorable country. While waiting for the female lead (that everyone wants to see) to arrive, I went alone to Bern and spent a night there before going to Geneva. Bern keyed me up the moment I arrived, the atmosphere feels like a living 17th century. Imagine yuppies and city-dwellers in power suits and hip hop jackets walking on brick road and chatting underneath hundred years old clock towers, trams and cars passing by stone fountains and relic monuments. The historical present in the town exudes very interesting contradiction. I was snapping pictures of buildings and people like a crazy tourist amongst the bustling crowd. Everything looks so interesting from a gothic door knot to a clown face fountain.

There were two parts in the town, the new one on top of the hill and the old one below by the river. The buildings are the same only the old town being dead quiet with only hobby shops and galleries around.

The new part has got penetrating tramways, high fashion boutiques and Einstein house!
He spent 7 years in Bern before moving to Zurich but this is the birthplace of E=mc2! Haha how cool. Actually I am not really interested in learning about him la, just wanted to pass time waiting for my hostel which has closed for lunch break.

I really like the richness on the street and i took so much photos of just people on the streets. Modern people on olden streets.

Yeah so the rest of the day is pretty much point and snap and my excitement went from high to low then to negative. Yeah it was really bad at the evening as everything closed damn early. Suddenly it just went quiet, with not a single soul on the street. (Prove : Check out the first two peektures on the 1st montage above, I am not so crazy to photoshop away the people and cars) I was damn bored alone so I went to watch a Dutch movie with German and French subtitles. Hehe. It was a good film nonetheless, superb cinematography. It is called After the Wedding, nominated for this year's Oscars for best foreign film.

If you think the scene in Bern is pretty much like France, yeah I agree cause at this point of the trip nothing extraordinary seems to happen yet. Stay tune for next part when I met Angela (can hear Nat and the rest cheering eagerly) at Geneva and started my never before experiences ☺

p/s : Blogspot seems to lighten all my pics so they might look dull, but the scenes are really much more vibrant in real life. And one more thing, I do not blog this to show off how am I enjoying life while some of you were busy working or studying, I did it as my own travelogue and if you really think I am showing off, you can either don’t read them or make it a motivation to work harder so in turn you can travel to better places.

2007-04-11T01:55:00.000+01:00

Update soon!

2007-04-05T00:13:00.000+01:00

Not long ago I was in this talk by a Scandinavian design guru Per Hollerup, listened to him talking about his great insight of minimalism and Mies van der Rohe, how we all should strive to design something simple and avoid ornamental elements that serve no purpose in our artwork. I thought it was very motivating and I like his remark of “nowadays there’re so many standards there’re no standards”. I left the talk thinking I must go minimalist.

48 hours later I was on a euro coach reading about how ornament design is coming back with a vengeance. Less isn’t more anymore and people want design that they will get lost in. The new trend of ornamentation is taking over and that is good news for me as embellishment has always been my cup of tea. I finished the magazine thinking I must go back to complicated design and look forward to producing a busy illustration for the adobe award.

16 hours later I arrived in Lyon. France never fails to mesmerize me. There is something about the hue and weather here; I can practically smell romance in the air. Met up with sis and bro in law and they brought me around the town, treated me to good food and explained to me the meaning of many French words. Sis can speak and understand French now. It is gratifying to see how she could slowly adapt to the French world now.
Lyon is beautiful. Like most town, it was built along a river and backed by mountains. The old buildings, some of which are already 400 years old, are very captivating. I always have a thing for brick walls and gothic doors and there are plenty of them here.

This is taken from a church on the hill and how Lyon look from the top.

48 hours later we left Lyon in my bro in law car and drove 2 hours to their French abode in Lons Le Saunier. The journey was scenic and it reminds me a lot of Malaysia actually. The feeling got stronger when we arrived at their town. The place look just like any town in east Malaysia, with the only difference being the language and of course the French are much much much much better looking than the Malays. Sis shares a nice little house with an old French couple and life seems kinda comfortable here. The next day I traveled with sis in train to a slightly bigger town called Besancon where she studies French. This town is much more interesting compared to where they stay and there are tourist attractions all around.

After walking her to school (a very nice building) I was left alone to explore. Besancon is even more picturesque than Lyon with also a river through the town and surrounded by hills. I walked to the Rivotte, where Besancon’s town gate is located. There used to be war in the 16th century and the gate is part of the city’s fortifications. There is this famous castle at the border high up on the hills called La Citadelle.

I reached the peak after climbing hundreds of steps and to my delight, the castle is now converted to a tourist spot and it houses a zoo, an aquarium, an insectarium, a climatorium, two museums and of course the castle itself is worth visiting already. The walk along the parapets offers impressive views of Besancon. I didn’t expect it but ended up spending the whole morning there looking at tigers, monkeys, beetles and learnt how France won over the ruthless Adolf Hitler’s domination.

Top of Besancon

After having lunch with sis, I made a visit to a sizable art museum which houses paintings of some renaissance French painters and some ancient artifacts found during the building of the town. The greatest reward of this trip was to learn about Fraganaud. He sketched with superb line quality and I am in love with his drawings. One funny incident while I was looking at Fraganaud. There were this group of young children, probably doing their kindergarten, were lead by a teacher to look at the drawings. The kids went from drawing to drawing and did Q&A with the teacher. The teacher would ask a question (in French, which I didn’t understand, but it must be something like “Who can tell me what’s in this painting?”). A few paintings away from where they were gathering, there were drawing of a male and female copulating, with uncensored depiction of genital organs and also one with a gentleman sucking a lady’s breast. I was waiting in awe to see what will happen when the kids all move to the two drawings. But too bad, they left shortly after they talked the last drawing they were at.

Yesterday I didn’t go to Besancon with sis, and decided to walk around Lons Le Saunier instead. It is much smaller and really nothing much to do. I spent time walking around looking at brick porch way, gothic window grills, elegant archers, alfresco French and grand facades. Although there were nothing much to do, I still felt great walking amongst the French and smelling the romance.

Today was out with sis to Besancon again. I grew to like this place a lot and I think I like it more than Paris. Paris is too complex but Besancon is just a comfortable portion of France you get for historical and leisure experience. Today I walked around the Porte Noire (black gate) area and visited the famous St. John’s Cathedral. I really like the Rose window and there are a few paintings from the 15th century in it. The weather was too cold today to walk around so I kept running into shops. I must say I am really impressed with their bookshops, any one of them are really huge with anything from cradle to grave. I spent the whole afternoon flipping through art and children books. They have really really nice illustrative books for the kids here. All done tastefully with thick matt laminated cover, spot UV titles and stunning illustrations from skillful French artist. If my dad prints money I probably will take 10 boxes of children paperbacks. Anyway check out Enki Bial, really good artist!

Tomorrow I’m leaving to Bern. That’s the end of France for me this time round. Sis has been such a great host and I really really enjoyed the time catching up with her these few days. We talked so much all the time and it has been so long since I felt like a small boy in her attention. I think I will miss her very much when I am back in London.

Alrighty I am going off to bed already cause I am taking a super early train to Bern tomorrow. Update of Swiss trip soon! Au revoir!

2007-03-19T22:38:00.000Z

2007-03-10T04:56:00.000Z

Sorry guys I see the need to rant again, please do not read on if you are in a foul mood.

It is now 3:45am and I couldn’t get to sleep because a bunch of fucking idiotic morons are shouting and quarrelling outside at the corridor. They are all friends of this fucking mad American man who stayed two rooms away and this is the second Friday night he brought a group of about 10 English fools back to the hall and create commotion. They were fucking shouting at each other like nobody business and as much as I wanted to step downstairs to call the security, I am really hesitant about the idea of getting pass those drunkards safely and also to consider my safety in the future. I am already on really bad relationship with that American bastard as days ago I almost got into fight with him.

I was at the kitchen washing my stuff, NOT cooking anything and there he came kicked opened the kitchen door, stormed in and started warning me saying that I have to turn on the ventilator as smell went into his fucking room bla blah (well I wanted to say that’s what you get for living conveniently next to a kitchen, moron, there’s nothing really as best of both worlds) I just replied casually that I was just there to wash my stuff and I am not cooking anything. He then walked towards the rice cooker (which someone has cooked some rice in it) and shouted “What the fuck is this?!” I got really annoyed, turned around and raised my voice a little “That’s not mine!” There, I have given him a good excuse to get his mad veins working. He started scolding me with all kinds of vulgarities, accused that I raised my voice to him etc. I didn’t even give a damn, just speed up my washing so I can leave the kitchen. After yelling for sometimes and got no response, he came nearer and shouted “Hey! Look at me when I am taking to you! You are fucking rude! You need to learn some fucking manners you fucker!” He got on my nerves so I turned around, stared him in the eyes and asked him what he wanted. At that instance, I actually wished that he would punch me or something so I could go down to the office immediately and make sure they have him removed from the floor. But yeah, as expected, big talk no action. He just continued to yak about how he needs to be respected, how he owns the whole of London bla bla blah…Sigh, fucking noob. I just ignored him and grabbed all my stuff and walked back to my room.

I really don’t understand why ang mohs like to talk and argue so much. So much for their ego huh?. Mike, u remember what we encountered on the eurostar train the last time? Where the two girls go

“You stop!”
“No, You stop!”
“No, You stop 1st!”
“No! seriously, you stop!”
“No! You Stop!”
“No! You Stop!”
“You STOP!”
“NO,YOU….. (and it goes in a loop from the top)

what they are doing outside now is exactly the same, with a harsher tone

“You fucking shut up!”
“No! You fucking listen to me!”
“No! You Shut up!”
“No! You listen to me!”
“Fuck! Shut up!”
“You fucking listen to me!”
“No! Shut the fuck up!”
“NO, YOU…..(and it goes in a loop from the top)

Why?! Why must they do that? Are they not any cleverer than that?

I have a friend who said that I should have maintained a good relationship with the guy so things will be easier for me. I didn’t agree with him because he didn’t know how exactly is it like staying here. I once had quite a good relationship with the American guy when the mad Japanese guy was still here. We were kinda on alliance so we always talked about the jap guy in the kitchen and will greet each other every time we met. In fact until quite recently I still greet him whenever I see him, but what’s the use? He is brainless. He hated the Chinese on the floor for cooking heavy dinner in the kitchen every evening and smell gets into his room, but he couldn’t be bothered to remember which Chinese is which. So no matter how many hellos or byes I have said to him it doesn’t matter cuz as long as I am yellow skin I am responsible to the fucking (aromatic, sometimes roast chicken, sometimes steamed fish) smell that gets into his room.

I really wished I could summon enough courage to get out now and get the security up to shut them up. If not for mom warned me about my extreme bad luck this year (which may bring about serious injuries) and I have read about a news quite recently about this Vietnamese guy (who stays in Wood Green like me) and been here half a year (to study like me) got pushed down to the railway track by a group of young English soccer players and got crushed to death by the train, I would have done something. Anyway I do think the security is scared of them too else how could all 10+ drunkards got passed the gate.

For now, I can only grumble. Is there a plague going on here? Why one after another some morons get this disturbing-others-in-the-night disorder and possess peculiar violence traits that threaten the residence here.

Sigh.. There were once peace and tranquility.

My friend also told me that I shouldn’t complain if I didn’t do anything to prevent or to cure the problem. Well sorry guys, I am really not looking for solutions or revisions of what should have been done out of this, I am ranting cuz I am annoyed. Some of you might know that I have been terribly ill that last two days and just when I got better, I am deterred from sleeping.

Alright I gonna stop and put on my big full cup earphones that I bought to solve this problem (I did think of the remedy la). A if you are reading this, I hope I do not stir your emotion again, must remember how we said we must be determined to get problems out of our lives. I am quite settled on the fact that the mad guy is gonna leave this floor just like the previous mad jap guy if not me first.

2007-03-01T12:24:00.000Z

Take a look at http://www.nemation.sg/, these kids are really good, i wonder if they get proffesional help thou; and dont forget to support this year's fusion. I have missed 2 years in a row liao

2007-02-27T22:14:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone that sms-ed me... I shouldnt have sound so desperate in the last post la.. haha. I do have some cash reserve at home, so no worries k? I'm still alright!

My mac is working fine now after i put back the ventilator and mom seems better when i called her today. Well fridge theft is still a problem but i am not in the mood to talk about it now. Thanks for all the suggestions though, i will consider and seriously think of doing them.

and steady la james and jeri, got mahjong clan blog somemore! what's next? got mahjong clan tour to london or not ar?

2007-02-26T20:31:00.000Z

This post is gonna be pure rant and nothing else.

I was in good mood today and thought I would go to the student office and settle my accommodation fees once and for all. I didn’t do it earlier becuz I had issue with their lousy management. Once there the lady went through the process with me and took my (only) bank card to swipe for payment. She then proceeded to make a call to get authorization and while she was on it, she asked me what is my password with the bank. I thought she meant the pin number but she said it is not the pin but a 5-letter English word.

I was taken aback. I never knew there was a password. (I checked with all my mates later and none of them know there is supposed to be one) I told her I wasn’t aware of any password. She then asked me some other questions like birth date, mother’s maiden name etc. After getting everything right, she asked for the password again. I stressed that I don’t have one.

And you know what happened? She said the bank authority suspected that I am not the owner of the card and asked her to hold my card. I told her it is ridiculous and asked her was there any other way to prove my id. She then proceeded to murmur to the phone and hung up.

“Sorry I can’t give you back the card, I have got instructions to destroy your card now.”

Her stupidity really got my blood boiled. The card has got my full name printed, she has got my student record right in front of her to prove that they are of the same name, I have got my photo student id to prove that I am the person with that name, what is suspicious there?!! I argued a lot with her but all she could say is “Sorry, I can’t give you back the card unless the bank says so!”

I was furious and asked for the bank number. I rang the bank there and then but the officer wasn’t helping at all (as usual). She just yak away strings of nonsensical bank procedures for minutes and went to the conclusion that she couldn’t help me. I totally understood that because she was in no position to prove my id.

And as I was talking to the bank officer, you know what the bitch did? She broke my card into two! I yelled at her but it was too late. I just felt like punching her but I was blocked by the glass. She played it by the point that the bank has to ask her to do that because of the need to protect their account holders. And it was for my own good in case someone tries to use my card. Fucking hell. I totally understand and I didn’t blame the bank at all but that bitch, she knew jolly well that I am the real owner and could have given me back the card and asked me to sort out the password issue with the bank instead.

Fucking retarded.

Now because of what she did, I have to go down to the bank to reapply for a new card that will probably takes ages to arrive and I am left with £3 in my wallet. How am I going to survive for the following days? I told her about this then she resumed her motherly look and whimpered in regret. But what’s the use then.

I have to go for my class thus i didn't have time to argue with her. I just spilled some vulgarities and walked away.

Damn it totally spoilt my day. How can someone be so dim. I have had really bad experiences with the brits. I think they are plain dickheads. I have wasted lots of time trying to get a bank account last time and now a simple action of paying my school fees, I have to waste my time again!

It didn’t help when I came back from school to find out that my food in the fridge got stolen (again!) Sickening. They just take everything, cooked or uncooked. And when they take, they took not just one, but the whole bunch away (i.e. one dozen of yogurt, whole bottle of milk, whole bottle of mayonnaise, whole box of raw chicken etc) and most recently, my Tupperware is gone cuz the thief lust after my half eaten pork chop inside it. How filthy can they get? And besides that we have been loosing our pot and pans. Are we supposed to store pots inside our room too?

We didn’t have this problem before, but weeks ago my flat mates started loosing things in the fridge and since then we have been cutting down our storage there but there are things that simply can’t stay out of the fridge. And yeah great all my meat is gone now and I am left with no money.

I wrote a bloody big sign saying, “Beggars have more honor!” and stick it on the fridge.

I should start putting rotten food in the fridge. Fucking thieves.

Before I came back to my room just now, my temperamental hall mate who was once a lively guy responsible for our dinner every nite told me that he doesn’t feel like cooking anymore (which he did 2 weeks ago but decided to cook again and decided not to again tonite). And he claimed that I still owe him £100 for the previous dinners. Maybe I was in a bad mood but I really don’t think I owe him that much. Given the fact that I have paid him until last dec, and across these two months, I think I have only eaten 3 or 4 days a week, and the last two weeks I have been eating on my own. So it is like almost £5 per dinner last time? If so what’s the point of cooking then? I could have eaten at a restaurant every night.

Damn I really hate arguing for vague issue like this; especially it is between people that stay together.

And my family problem.

And my mac problem.

Arghhh!

Sorry for the outrage, i just need to grumble. Over and out now.

2007-02-18T23:12:00.000Z

Hey updates! Well lets do the necessary first, Happy New Year! Well its kinda weird as CNY whizzed past me so quietly this year. No reunion dinner, no visiting of friends and family, no angpow, no cny goodies, no junk shows on tv, no mahjong and most important of all, not enough sleep and have to drag myself to work whole day on 大年初一. I think it might be a blessing in disguise though, else i might feel super lonely staying back in hall.

I skipped lunch and made a quick trip to chinatown to see the celebration and before I plowed through the massive crowd, i heard cheesy trance music, turned around and i saw this

She was wiggling to the music and totally ignorant to hundreds of trigger happy people around her. Star of the day at leceister square.

Basically theres nothing much to see except endless angmoh heads and lines of really old fashioned red laterns that i think has been recycled for years. The crowd is really amazing and as i was working my way around, i heard loads of insulting remarks. fucking chinese, bloody chinese, oriental crap, ching chiong ching...they were swearing because they thought the chinese causes all that jammed when 80% of the people there were caucasians. I even heard a mother telling her son, "dont go too near the chinese, you will get killed". Oh well...

I managed to catch lion dance before going back to work but the lions could hardly move due to the overwhelming crowd so instead of prancing around, they were carrying the lions' heads squeezing through the crowd and shouting "please move back! we need to go forward!" all the time. But it got the crowd very excited still.

Managed to see my friend in the crowd but i have to wade through the crowd to go back to work. Then i saw people. More people.

You get the idea?

Went back to chinatown after work for dinner. The crowd has cut by half and i thought chinatown looked better at night.

Well, thats it i guess. Back to school tomorrow and a full study timetable ahead before i work my ass off again next weekend. You lucky people enjoy the consecutive days of cny okay? All the best of luck and health to everyone :) Jia you!

2007-02-15T10:12:00.000Z

Breathless

2007-02-14T08:00:00.000Z

祝有情人終成歸屬

2007-02-08T11:54:00.000Z

Just went down and built a snowman :D hehe...

2007-02-08T10:43:00.000Z

it is snowing heavily in London today! :)

Draw-a-friend-a-day

2007-01-25T16:26:00.000Z

Out of a sudden urge i decided to start a draw-a-friend-a-day track as a little CNY project of mine, hehe. The challenge is to take 10 - 15 mins everyday to illustrate a friend, and i shall start with none other than Miss

2007-01-24T15:41:00.000Z

The pleasant surprise came as soon as i opened my eyes this morning... grinz :]

2007-01-24T00:12:00.000Z

sorry cant help but think that specky guy looks a bit like ah boon.. :p

2007-01-16T23:53:00.000Z

The wonderful Matthew Woodson, who is only 23. sigh

2007-01-11T14:43:00.001Z

2007-01-10T03:02:00.000Z

2006-12-28T22:50:00.000Z

Guess who is back??!!!!!!! So preeetttttyyyyyy!!!!!!

I'm sorry but you might see more and more of her pics
in the coming posts! haa :D

2006-12-13T14:47:00.000Z

my abode in london ;D

2006-12-03T12:33:00.000Z

Finally updating my blog. Haha, here is what happened over the past weeks

Went to kinetica to see future sound of london, a british electronic band who does ambient music. Only one of the guys, Gas Cobbain came and i was just sitting behind him!

It was Resfest in London but the shows are costly. Only caught two sessions of shorts and missed some cool talk by Shynola, airside and d.a.d.d.y and the icon chef show. But i am still contented with the quality of shorts i have seen, really good.

Then went down to Brighton during that weekend! It is a long stretch of pebble beach alongside a peaceful little town with very blue sky and very strong wind. We even got a chance to stay with an english family and have english breakfast in an english living room! Haha. It was good fun and i dig their small shops in the lanes. Each of them with large window panel and complicated display. It is so messy that it is interesting to spend time just looking through. Nat and Jeri will love this.

The following week is a quiet week cause i was rushing my flash animation. Can see some screenshots here la but i dare not put up the real thing. Haha... It is not very well done cause i only spent 5 days on this 3 weeks project :p

And then my birthday quietly creeped by. David was very nice to give me my 1st birthday present by buying me to Christina Aguilera's back to basic concert. It was my first free standing concert in London at wembley arena. Totally cool experience and the background motion and music videos by David LaChapelle are very good!

Hmm this year is a quiet birthday for me because i tried as much not to let anyone know about it but there are still very nice friends who remembered. Thanks a lot Nat, Yiyong, Justin, David, Angela, Huimin and everyone who messaged me on MSN. In particularly this sweet girl

Thanks a lot Talia, i really really appreciate that :). Looking forward to seeing you and Mike soon!

And also my cute sister from france :)

and okay, to end the post i will sing a song for all of you and to celebrate my (old) birthday!

(just kidding)

2006-11-14T00:57:00.000Z

Here's a quick update before i go to bed... Last weekend i went down to Mansion House to look at the Lord Mayor's show. It is a parade celebrating the election of a new lord mayor of the city. Unfortunately i was late for the meeting and ended up catching only the tail of the parade. Snapped a pic of the new lord mayor though.

Met my hall mates closed to midnight and we went fabric. It was my first time clubbing in uk after hearing so much about the scene here. And yeah, it was awesome man. The music was good, atmosphere was cool and the crowd was good bunch of fun loving people. Promised nat i will put up some videos we took secretly in the club and here it is... It was a fun night of frisking around, we went back to our hall at 5-ish, tired but relaxed.

2006-11-07T21:22:00.000Z

Just finished a damn full dinner and since i'm lazy to shower now, shall do this update but before that, Happy Birthday to yiyiong again! haha, it's a bit late but i did message you on time la :p u guys are really making me jealous la after seeing that clip, i am laughing so hard just seeing that bit and really miss u guys here... i was just looking through the pics we took during yiyong's birthday last year and nat was missing from the pics, this year is my turn alrady ...sighs

okay here are the updates, lots of peektures as usual...

This is taken outside National Gallery where i saw a lady doing this
massive painting on the floor. Actually can see painters like these
everywhere here but i just happened to see her leaving when
i was leaving the gallery too. It was drizzling but she just very xiao sa de roll up
her painting and walked in the rain... so tempted to follow her
just to see where she's up to

This is a field linked up to a hill nearby my school,
will walk pass it on my journey to school...
find it very nice but photo didnt do justice here

The cinema where i caught my first movie in London central... alone.. hahah

Louis was in town recently and i am supposed to bring him around,
but guess i didnt do a good job as i am still not that familiar with the areas.

Sausages and mashes at S&M. Before that we were struggling if
we should eat at the malaysian restaurant beside it, hahah...
but one nasi lemak for £5 is ridiculous la

Pulled him to brick lane and visited kinetica meseum at old spitafield market.
They are having an exhibition on kinetic and electronic display of life form.
It is kinda cool and got to know that Future Sound of London is going to do a
show there with Yamaha soon! This place gonna be my favourite haunt :D

More of brick lane, more girl stuffs, Jeri and Nat will like this place.

Saw these beauties at Regent st last Saturday. It was a good display
of veteran cars in London, all more than 100 yrs ago. Some have
only 2 horsepowers, 1 cilinder and uses steamer. Amazing.
And their wheels are like huge bicycle wheels and they uses oil lamps
as car light. The part that really give character is the posh
passenger seatings, full leather finish complete with umbrella
holder. Haha.. and the whole english family will dress up really
classy and went on trips on these motors. I am really interested in
knowing what is the maximum speed they can go but
they arent any meters on the car

Fireworks! again... It was Guy Fawkes and London was having
bonfire night every where. I went up to Alexander Palace with my
flatmates and viewed a generous display of fireworks for about
half an hour! I think the amount of powder is enough to let
Singapore run three years of NDP... hehe :p
I have taken some videos of the fireworks, will try to post them up.

p/s : can someone show mel the pics, she sure will be very excited. :D

Ending this post with my new free haircut! hahah..

2006-11-02T09:36:00.000Z

My ipod knows how i am feeling!

Whenever i put on shuffle songs mode, it never fails to play songs that suited my mood at that time and yesterday while i was on my way to school, i was thinking about something and the most suitable song just came on to match.. wahhh together with the fallling leaves and cold air, it was so damn dramatic hahah..

hmm it has dropped to 3 degrees today.. brrrrrr

2006-10-28T11:26:00.000+01:00

I am lazy to type, but photos many many, hahah..

Took these at Camden Lock market, it is really big and notorious for
its punk markets selling gothic stuff and loads of girl stuff.
Nat and Jeri will love this. Check out the humongus chandelier!

Took these at Portobello Market. It sells food and loads of girl stuff.
Nat and Jeri will love this.

Shared this pumpkin walnut muffin with Angela which
eventually became our lunch of the day, hahah

and spotted some cutties too!

Another market! The Borough market. They were in celebration of 250 years
of being established on its current site, so some people dressed up in their
18th century costume and they have dances by costumed ladies and gentlemen,
music performances using period instruments and some fighting play. Quite interesing.
The market sells fusion food and delicacies. Nat and Jeri wont like this.
We had some fun going around stalls sampling their stuff.

Then the itch of playing with my shutter striked again and Angela
became my victim and she had to pose at the busy junction cuz i want
to get some wong kar wai effect. But i failed miserably without my tripod
and the lighting was flat. Nonetheless i had fun shooting her cuz
she is game enough to give funny expressions to the camera eventhough
people are watching. Check out her nice new haircut and stylo coat!
Must ask her out for a proper photoshoot soon! hehe

We stopped by Tate modern for a while on the way to covent garden and
saw the slides by Carsten Holler at the turbine hall.

And it started raining when we left tate modern and as we were walking in
the rain under one umbrella on the railway bridge, we saw this huge rainbow!

so romantic!! I could have take out a ring and proposed alrady! hahaha...
and it has to be the biggest rainbow i have ever seen ;D

Saw this pretty busker on the way to covent garden,
no idea how she manage to make the crystal ball seemed floating in the air

and last monday, i watched my first musical in London!!
It was really good, thanks a lot david ;)

2006-10-18T00:52:00.000+01:00

Finally get to swim today! woo hoo~

2006-10-18T00:31:00.000+01:00

I am typing this entry on the London Southwest trains on my return journey from Addlestone to London. It started with a casual chat with a friend on MSN. I was telling him that I wished to look for a part time job and he gave me his aunt’s contact in London (who owns a Chinese restaurant). On thurs morning, after getting my mobile line, I gave her a call and within 5 minutes into our conversation, she asked me to pack some clothes and she would pick me up to my work place. I was jolted but I went ahead anyway since I have nothing much to do. I am normally not that gutsy but I thought that has to change as I ll never know if I don’t try.

She picked me up at North Greenwich and after what seemed like a rather long journey to me, she left me at her friend’s restaurant, which I will be working at. The place is really far from my hall and I m supposed to bunk in with the workers throughout the weekend. And there I was, out of no preparation at all, spent my weekend there working for two nights and earned myself £70 (this week’s hall fees taken care of :D) The whole experience was somewhat challenging but I got through it anyway and I am glad that I went.

Right now I have to think carefully whether to continue working there as I have worries about the long journey to and fro work and also loosing my weekend to possible outings and activities with friends. The pay is not exceptionally attractive too but somehow I feel that I have a lot to learn from the young fellows there in term of working attitude and life experiences. I know I might not get similar treatment elsewhere especially with Caucasians or ill natured hongkongers. Hmm think think think…

Gonna take a nap now and might drop by Oxford St to get a laptop bag to reward myself :D

2006-10-11T12:01:00.000+01:00

Many nights ago Chee Kuan asked me to go to his room to see something cool on youtube. And so I went and we were totally fascinated by what we saw. The video shows a no-sweat way of folding t-shirt! Check this link to see how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKkSB1yVc1E

We were so excited that we decided to make one ourselves and try it out!

And yeah it works well and I had all my t-shirt folded nicely in my cupboard already (in less than 5 mins :D)

2006-10-07T15:18:00.000+01:00

Friday I had an outing with the classmates. The group met at Oxford Circus and walked down to Chinatown to have lunch. After lunch we hung around Leicester Square and the girls decided that they wanted to do a movie and since the guys wasn’t interested, we went to play games at a nearby arcade instead. That was the first time I spent money playing arcade games in UK and I thought it was really silly because each game cost £1, which is a freaking S$3. Not long after the girls decided to drop the movie idea, we thought of moving to Covent Garden to look for a toyshop. In the midst of our journey, we popped by the National Portrait Gallery (which I had wanted to visit for a long time). I actually was quite fascinated with the paintings but too bad the group found it boring so they moved on quickly. Made a mental note to visit the gallery again and we stopped at Trafalgar Square not long after and it was there they decided to change the destination again. We visited the Institute of Contemporary Art instead and the guys wasted £1.50 looking at empty rooms. Ha ha, very contemporary indeed. After the visit I have to leave the group because the hall mates are meeting up for mid autumn fest dinner. During my journey home I was so anxious because I was supposed to give Angela a call to confirm about the dinner but I have forgotten to bring along her phone no. In the end she waited for me for a long time at Piccadilly Circus. I am really sorry about that.

The dinner was great with warm unity of the Chinese in the halls. Ha ha. There are more Chinese here actually but only 7 of us turned up for dinner but that was good enough. Chee Kuan and Angela did a great job on the food and we were all so full in the end. And Thanks to mom, I have got two mooncakes to share with them :D

Chee Kuan giving tips to the ladies, he is so damn hilarious :D

2006-09-30T12:07:00.000+01:00

Didn’t know getting a bank account in UK can be such a pain. Anyway after talking to 4 banks and still being brought around in circles, I decided to take a break and went back to see some ldf shows. Took a bus down to Leicester Square and took a long and cold walk to Southampton Row to look for Central St. Martins. It was drizzling and I didn’t have umbrella with me. Good thing I had my cap on so I pop on my earphones and braved the rain while listened to some feeling feeling music. It actually feels quite good but too bad I have to stop frequently to look at the map as I didn’t know the way.

After looking through the ma works of csm, which I thought are pretty impressive, I walked down Oxford St to look for Regent St for more exhibits. That was my first time in Oxford St (after hearing it for so long). It was a very busy street, wanted to take some photos to show you guys but I was just too busy dodging passer by and since the drizzle didn’t stop, I‘ll just do it next time.

Stopped at Regent St. to look at Gap Kids window display and Wunderville display, then rushed down to Habitat hoping to see their Room X display but silly me didn’t notice that It has already ended days ago. Since I have some time to kill while waiting for Angela to knock off work, I walked around Piccadilly Circus and decided to take some photos. Here is a view from the big junction:

*sorry for the lousy quality cuz i didnt have tripod with me la..

After that i decided to play with the shutter:

More night scenes:

Here's where Angela works (hmm.. close to i think)

When the poor thing finally done with her work, she brought me to this nice little italian restaurant at Angel for dinner. It was nice, food and ambience. and we had a great fun chat. Hope that lighten her friday night a little since she has been traumatised by her work lately. We are looking forward to travel London with our only common friend too. Nat, u see this? haha

That's Angela with our supersized cheese and pears pizza

More food! The mussels serving was generous!

and dessert :D

2006-09-28T13:12:00.000+01:00

Hey here is a short update. School has started officially. On Monday we had another round of self introduction, I really see no point for them to do it again and again when everybody else just didn’t remember anything at all after that. For instance, I have got a classmate from China that told her friend that I am from Thailand right after the session. Sighs.

I have got a really interesting class cause they are made up of people from different ages, industries and races. There is a 40 yo entrepreneur that owns a dot com, a 30+ yo journalist that writes for several magazines in Norway, a shipping management officer cum navy from Taiwan, a Italian guitar musician etc etc…the most interesting part of all, is that most of them didn’t know anything about the course. When they made their introduction, they went like “I don’t know anything about interactive design. But I have decided to do something different and I think it is fun..” For a moment I forgot that I am actually doing a master course. I mean, how often do you hear Asians do ma for fun?

More surprises came during the second day of studies as they started teaching us how to use flash. It was so basic that I think Singapore taught that to secondary school students. Just when I thought that we should be doing research proposal and all, they were talking about which button does what. Well I guess I must have a good talk with the lecturer soon. At least what I can do now is to learn how to chill like the Caucasians. Half hour of lecture, coffee break, another half hour, cigi break, then another half hour…class dismissed. Haha.

Third day passed by more convincingly as we have a discussion on the history of hypertext. Well most of the time I didn’t know what they were talking about, but that should be it. It sounds more like a ma course that I was expecting, I shouldn’t understand and so I can complain that it is so tough and seek comfort from my friends. I love attending abstract lectures as it confuses everyone so in the end we can all walk out feeling intelligent :p

I wont have school from today till next mon so I have a long weekend! It can be boring since the rest are going to school but I have already a list of things to do lined up in my mind. Shall go now and settle my bank account first. Till then, hope all my sg and msia frens are doing well!

Shit, I just said it is a short update.