Springtime

and everything is brand new again.

Faith

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;
it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1

Hi Lemmings

Today, i went for the Architects' Sunday Brunch (just gave it that name! :D) Will update that soon.

I just wanted to say that while i was out, i bumped into not one, but 2 lemming-lets! First into Pammy at Borders(!), then on the way home, i bumped into Honsie, who spent the afternoon.. doing the same thing as me! Guess what? (RR: Everyone in this para has turned into a bread-ie!)

Oks.. i now have some work to start doing and some letters to be writing ! Thank u for your help gardencat !

SUPERSLOTH

Slow Food > resist fast food

Slow Architecture > resist top-down design processes

Often times, I find myself in a position where I have to give up a really good/fun idea for 'pragmatic' reasons - "you need to PRODUCE something, you need to SHOW sketches during consultations, nobody wants to HEAR about ideas, where are your mock models?, submission is in 24 hours" ....

Slow Architecture shall deviate itself from the mad rush to produce design without a thorough thought process. It is less concerned with duration, but more with thoughtfulness and deliberation. It is about encouraging the creative mind to incite more holistic thinking and approaches. Why? Because the most useful ideas are produced this way; ideas that are actually relevant. As designers, we need to be more sensitive in the process of creation and the quality of tangible outcomes such processes produce. Design should never be time-based. Just because the world is obsessed with speed does not mean we have to. Unless of course, your goal is to build faster and nothing else.

These ideas came to me while I was stressing over dissertation writing. The shit feeling I had at that moment was comparable to the regretful feeling I usually get after eating a McDonald's value meal.

I am sure someone out there in this world is thinking the same.

To the cat who is designing for an eco-village:

(I am not sorry for making you look at these. HEE. I just feel too excited for you! )

Vertical Farm for Seattle, Mithun Architect
It is a "Center for Urban Agriculture," a building, located on a .72-acre site, that includes fields for growing vegetables and grains, greenhouses, rooftop gardens and even a chicken farm.

Pierre Sartoux of Atelier SOA
A light-shading skin wraps around the structure and opens to admit sunlight at particular locations for various functional (and aesthetic) purposes. The building’s air, heating and cooling systems are wind-driven and circulate oxygen and carbon dioxide between growing and living spaces. The simple but reinforced structure is designed to handle additional dead loads from the weight of growing floors and also serve to make the entire building more durable (and thus sustainable).

Daekwon Park
He designed this prefab system: "Clipping onto the exterior of existing buildings, a series of prefabricated modules serving different functions would be stacked on top of each other, adding a layer of green space for gardening, wind turbines or social uses to make new green façades and infrastructures. Hmm, smart idea but lack in style!


Sky Farm proposed for downtown Toronto's theatre district, Gordon Graff
It's got 58 floors, 2.7 million square feet of floor area and 8 million square feet of growing area. It can produce as much as a thousand acre farm, feeding 35 thousand people per year and providing tomatoes to throw at the latest dud at the Princess of Wales Theatre to the east, and olives for the Club District to the north.

Diagonal farm,Work AC
“We thought we’d bring the farm back to the city and stretch it vertically,” says Work AC co-principal Dan Wood. “We are interested in urban farming and the notion of trying to make our cities more sustainable by cutting the miles [food travels],” adds his co-principal (and wife) Amale Andraos. Underneath is what appears to be a farmers market, selling what grows above. Artists would be commissioned to design the columns that hold it up and define the space under.

Wayward Machine 1984: The Future of Agriculture
"Robots tend crops that grow on floating platforms around a sea city of the future. Water from the ocean would evaporate, rise to the base of the platforms (leaving the salt behind), and feed the crops."

Happiness is

I found these on my mobile phone and they kept me feeling warm the whole day! :D (even though I am so freaking exhausted right now...)

Hon, do you remember this?

Jessicat, do you remember this?

GRUN IN LONDON

(To Charlie:)

http://www.dazeddigital.com/projects/grun/

So fun! One of the rare moments when I actually wish I was in London!

Tidbit of the day

Another tasty treat from the Gardener! :D

醒悟 says Z-cat

Today, some of my favourite people from architecture school (that includes u, terence!) or in the world ! met and pigged and discussed ideas til late, from shokudo, to starbucks, to jessicat&ziqi's office !

it was great hearing from everyone's perspective, and it really reminded me of all those times we worked together in the last 4 years... on awkward elective module projects we had to do in NUS! (such as RFID in supermarkets, elderly home medical system, SKYLINE gardens & yes even that rude letter we wrote for ES) ;) More updates tmr when..we meet again :|!

Post Earth Day Special!

From Adbuster's Production of Meaning DVD.

Let's make some

MIA's new NYC gal pal, Santogold.

I like her sound! Although she doesn't sound as fresh a transition as MIA from Peaches. I like how they all sound a bit like each other and a bit of some other.:D I am inspired to do some jamtunes myself with the cat and mdm. frou, of course! So beyond exciting! I know it is gonna be just maaaaaaassive.

We will look nothing like these girls. We will sound nothing like them. :D


You can almost hear MIA.


You can almost hear CSS.

KUU is

I spent half a year interning for these lovely people. We are standing at the backyard of KUU, trying to get a decent picture for the office portfolio. I think of them once in a while, all 7 of them.

Winter is beautiful but painful. I always thought that these laundry lines echo

the light constellation we have in the office. Someone decided to paint one the bulbs Doraemon. Cat! I thought you might like this! :D

This is KUU's new meeting room. Before I left, Satoko was talking about green offices. Yasuyoshi says he doesn't like. I think this is the most fabulous meeting room I've ever seen, by far! I am feeling this space in my imagination now...

i fly like piss get high like drains

this here is my brother. he was last seen being driven to heathrow on january 14th. we haven't seen him since then.


here i am tripsoffwhatever, tripsoffyourmum. i just wrote the most enormous entry in the world but the computer crashed on me so, what can i say? my debut sucks.

i fly like (old) piss, get high like (yesterdays) dra

greetings from rickmansworth chiquas. yup, that's rickmansworth. today i read about greyworld, the singing ringing tree and muf. if they don't make you feel better about architecture, ain't nothing going to. but no time for this. hello. im me, tripsoffyourmum, tripsoffthewhatever. people in singapore said i look like this man, i don't, but i do think like him tho. i behaved like him on saturday night, and i am still living with the consequences. such situations are such a long way from sucking on a smoked sausage in takishyma. so hello here's some crap off my mobile phone.



















yup, ladies that's what keeps those tomatos growing. lots of goodness in there. before i left for toa payoh it was too cold to leave my bedroom in the night and its either up two flights or down two more, so the inevitable kind of happened.















this is a poached egg. you slice that sucker up with a knife and fork. i ate this one for lunch today.
















this is the post office in Rickmansworth. a quarter of the shop is booze. that's got to be wrong hasn't it? one stamp please and six cans of special brew please luv! i hope you're disgusted.

this notebook is the thread my life hangs by after my diary and laptop got nicked (it was sitting by my side singapore style - rather than between my legs london style). and that down there's the last day before i turned chinese.

To Rachelle:

Architecture is not boring. It does not suck. It is not hopeless. You will write a fantastic dissertation. You LOVE architecture and what it does for people. You cannot give up now. You just need to be reminded that not all is lost. Don't you remember how much you believed in architecture when you did the monument in scotwoods? or when you spoke to the people who invited you to tea in their houses? or when you saw the happy faces of the shanghainese couple when they stepped into their new apt at tai an road? or when you collected objects from the residents of shimokita in tokyo? Yes?

Yes I remember. But I just can't freaking believe in it right now. The more I write/think about my dissertation hypothesis, the more I am convinced that architecture is whole load of bull. It has become obsolete. It is no longer efficient in today's world. Today I saw a book at the library titled architecture made by people or something that suggested participatory urban design. I flipped through it, saw Wil Alsop's smiling face, held my breath and put the poor book back on the shelf in disgust. What's there left to believe in architecture these days? It is a lie.

If I could do something to change the world right now, architecture would be the last on my mind. I read on New York Times that you could improve 3rd world conditions by giving the people there mobile phones. Architects have NO idea! We are unable to seize reality. We fail to see them where they are. Our search for 'solutions' takes us too far, too deep. We seek it in the clouds, when it is waiting there for us - besieging us on all sides.

Solo party

I am writing to you from the 3rd Level of the Faculty of Architecture at NUS. I am here because I need a powerpoint for my laptop and there is one just next to the elevator. 2 girls from Real Estate are sitting at the same table, chatting up a storm about interview ethics. One is sneezing away, but I am not afraid because I think I have more germs than she does at this moment. I have 3 hours to do a powerpoint presentation before I leave for dance class. Lilian has just sent me a text message to remind me that we are meeting at 2pm tomorrow. I just borrowed 6 useless books from Central Library. I can do this because I paid $130+++ for an ALUMNI MEMBERSHIP. I can't make sense why I have to pay to borrow books in order to write a dissertation for school. Wilson says this is just a 'cock up in the school system'.

Read of the day (besides zumthor/deleuze/holl i am so sick of them)

Rather nationalistic, but still, a good insight into Spanish design. i quite enjoyed reading the newsletter in office just now :)

www.interiorsfromspain.com

Redesigning for little surprises/making changes

:D HAHA

To continue being excited to design in Singapore, i have to take a stand and set some goals of what i would like Singapore to become.

No use of any fantastically fresh design jargon here, but I feel that what is lacking in Singapore's cityscape, amongst the efficient, safe, liveable environment that has been planned for us, are manymany nice little surprises. This is what i would like to work on, on all my future designs that i have in Singapore.

I felt this really strongly, standing at the 49th storey of Duxton Plain housing this morning and looking down at Singapore. Especially, when looking down at the neat and prim Chinatown that we have.

I also decided this in reaction to the sian-ness i feel everytime, having to return to Singapore from overseas. I think that this is probably the biggest reason why i feel so restless when i'm home, and why i love other countries so much more. But hey after im done with Singapore, this will not be the case anymore! ;)

This is also an extension of something i like to say, " The best designs to (me) are those that warm (my) heart, like a good Belle and Sebastian song. " GRINS.



In other news, a taiwanese design ambassador shared with me a project he did in a 14 storey school admin block (http://designwitheyes.blogspot.com/2007/05/instar.html), and we talked about his future plans, making changes to school adminstration systems. Its time we do something abt the somewhat efficient, yet uncaring and undedicated staff we have in school, R! ok?? Lets discuss this when we meet !

The Confessional Works

This is not a cool era to say this, but Dashboard Confessional really works for me at any melancholic moment of any degree.. :)
CHEERS!

Saturday wake up boost

It is but my turn to be a sickling now: got a temperature, runny AND blocked nose at the same time, ulcerous tongue. Am feeling the worst I've ever been since my near death experience in my china apartment.... :(

I'm gonna listen to some jamtunes and try to feel better. It is the weekend afterall AHHHHH.


For Kaili and Darryl: probably the only 2 people in this world that I know who are mad about both the song and the video!


Not a big fan of M's new single. It sounds too much of Timbaland (he is sooo predictable!). And the whole M and JT combo is just sick. But I do dig her nude one-piece in the video, that's pretty hawt.


Jamie Lidell has got the funk. I think I am going to buy his music.

I am happy too

I am happy because too many things in this world cannot and do not bother me anymore. I wouldn't say that I am worryless but I definitely worry less, which is cool. It has been something I've been wanting to achieve since last April - that I would learn to have an inward contentedness that is not affected by circumstances.

Do I care if I don't become a famous designer? Will I really die if I don't get into RCA and study something other than architecture? What if I don't get opportunities in life? What if people around me are doing better? Do I care if I still can't find people who think like me? What if one day I wake up and realise that I am no longer relevant ...

I am sooo thankful that these shit thoughts no longer bother me! They are such a bloody waste of my time.

sipping mermaids collective

2008


2006

Mayday Event

Another kind invitation from G Leow.

Cat, you are -by default- going to this event with me. Who else is up for this? Get out of the bloody offices all you cad monkeys...it is but MAYDAY!

Don't hate me cos I'm cool at the dance studio

one two three four-five six seven eight...(REPEAT)

I could get used to this 8 beat count. Dance class rocks! The girl on the right who is lying on the wooden floor apparently has slightly 'inward' knees. This is why the dance teacher, Rachel, is teaching her how to improve her posture. I am standing here at Studio A of Ecnad - after an hour plus of non-stop jumping, toe pointing, pencil rolling, galloping, learning how to transfer my body weight the elegant way - and thinking to myself: This is so beyond fun! I should have done this a long time ago.

What I can say from my first dance class (since I was 5 or 6) is that I do miss doing these things. I recall being quite a happy ballerina in kindergarten but was too chicken to go for the exams. I loved doing cartwheels (which explains the pair of cartwheeler tights I'm wearing in this picture - Cat I found them! yeah!). And I also quite liked improvising movements, going bonkers and not caring if I looked like a total moron in my mirror reflection. Ballet also gave me good body posture, something I am very grateful for!

Anyway, my first lesson was quite tough since I joined the Wednesday class girls who were into their 3rd lesson. Dancing needs a lot of body strength, something which I so obviously lack! You need strength so that you can transfer your body weight right. Otherwise, you'll pretty much look like shit on stage...

Tis my first step to living the life that I should be living, no more wasting energy and time on rubbish things. Yay me. I am looking forward to meeting myself 2 years from now. I hope that by then I would be able to look back and say, "HELLLLL YEEEAAAHHHH!"

I am happy

Despite being hell tired and falling sick since last weds, my 2 days MC have given me some time to rest and think about the tasks and opportunities I now have at hand.. and theyre really good :D! I must say I'm very thankful for everything I went through the past year.

Now theyre just all waiting for me to start getting organised. And i will :)!

babyRambles says

It is official, my most hated word is ARCHITECTONIC.

heart B.E.A.T

ANNIE vs. ROBYN - Who wins?

Thanks, Moholy Nagy !

In April 2007 (exactly one year ago), I sunk myself into the sea of books in some vain attempts to heal my broken heart. I did not find healing there but I did however find this extremely inspiring quote from Laszlo Moholy-Nagy:

"Space is known first of all by the sense of vision. This experience of the visible relations of bodies may be checked by movement - by the alteration of one's position - and by means of touch. From the point of view of the subject, space can be experienced most directly by movement, on a higher level, in the dance. The dance is an elemental means for realization of space- creative impulses. It is an elementary means of fulfilling the desire to shape space. It can compress space, organize it: space expands, sinks and floats – fluctuating in all directions.”

Now, I'm enrolled as a 'contemporary dance' student with ECNAD PROJECT. My first lesson starts next monday - extremely exciting! I don't know what this means or where it will lead me in my own search for a purer understanding of space. But I have good feelings about it. I think this might be the first step to having things fall into their right places. Maybe I'll be able to put my finger on that thing soon. Can't hardly wait.

___

Here's some nerdy 'research' on modern/contemporary dance to share with you friends of the lemmings:

Modern dance emerged as a Western performance expression during "modernism", a movement of artists, writers and designers who rebelled against late 19th century academic and historicist traditions such as classicism which came to represent bourgeois culture. In dance, the established tradition at this time was ballet. Dance researcher Susan Au writes in her book Ballet & Modern Dance:

Ballet in America in the late 19th century mirrored the state of contemporary European ballet: an increasing emphasis on technical virtuosity and visual spectacle had resulted in the loss of expressional content and depth. Ballet scenes often formed a part of sprawling extravaganzas calculated to dazzle the eye with the splendor and ingenuity of their settings, costumes and stage effects. In this context, dance became little more than an extension of the decorative scheme: entertaining, enjoyable and undemanding.

Modern dance emerged as a counter-expression to ballet which was considered a historicist and elitist tradition originating as the entertainment of royalty in Europe's 16th century courts emphasizing formal values such as clarity, harmony, symmetry and order as well as spectacular display. Au observes that modern dance challenged "contemporary attitudes and preoccupations" through freedom of experimentation.

I am not the only one writing prayers online

http://www.dear-god.net/

I believe that when people pray, things happen. And when we spend time talking to the BIG MAN, he will speak to us through the Holy Spirit that lives in all of us once we believe in Him. His is a quiet and calm voice - we will only hear Him if we seek him earnestly. What most of us forget is that we are only a prayer away from God. He is really not that far away.

Something I noticed recently:
I pray for God to change things, but in the process, I am the one changed.

Sad Trees

Mike Adasczik holds up two pieces of an oak tree Tuesday April 1, 2008 at his home on Newman Drive in Nashua, N.H. Adasczik works for Daley Outdoor Service in the city and was cutting down an oak tree with his crew when he discovered what looked like a frowning face."I've never seen anything like this," Adasczik said. "In all my 10 or more years of landscaping."
(AP Photo/Corey Perrine, The Telegraph)

Yayness to me Part II

I have:

1) signed up for contemporary dance classes with ECNAD PROJECT
They do collaborations with visual/installation artists, designers, blahblah. I think tis a good place to find myself.

2) signed up for Hebrew language course
I will be able to read the Bible in Hebrew .... in 2 months. or so they say.

I need to:

1) brainstorm about GARDEN/ EWE

2) look for a good organisation to do volunteer work

Please congratulate me when you see me. I think tis a bloody good sign that I am doing something.

Proverbs 30: 18-19

There are three things that amaze me -
no, four things that I don't understand:

how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
how a man loves a woman.

Ccc-check my coat in and I paid the dollar

Charlie is a really good story-teller. Here is what he wrote about the worst dance night at Zouk. I can never write paragraphs about Mambo. It is just not possible for me. I can only comment in one sentence: that the bloody room is filled with freaks, sweat and uncool vibes.

___

It’s midnight and I’m moving through a crowded bar area in Singapore’s biggest nightclub on its busiest night - Mambo. I’ve missed going to clubs - even crap ones. Packs of boy students collect around pillars while others jostle for position to check out who’s throwing shapes on the dancefloor. And what shapes they are too! At Mambo every song the DJ plays has its own dance. I say, dance, but really the dancing is more like sign language. So for example the dance for ‘Don’t look back in Anger’ goes something like; so [head down, arms diagonally extended forward forward with palms up], sally [both arms ripple downwards as though moving around sally’s body], can [head crooks to one side], wait [right hand points at imaginary watch on left wrist].

Rachelle hasn’t been here since she was 18 and she’s not warming to the boys in the bar. She moves quickly through the crowd like a nervy cat on unfamiliar territory. “Agghhhh!” She shrieks, ducks her head and veers to the left, repelled by a dark force. “These are not cool people” she woops, thrilled by by the wave of uncool she has successfully ridden

We find a bit of space to the left of the bar. I am drinking as quickly as possible - I know that the sweating throng below is going to be breached soon. Rachelle does her own warm up routine with an understated solo shake-down next to me. Grooving sans-partners in London is normally only for total caners - here it’s what people do.

Downstairs hysteria wraps the dancefloor.Expert signers jostle for position on podiums competing for attention from the crowd - ‘most are really kinda ugly’ Rachelle accurately observes. When the mix comes, they make contact with other signers on podiums and like gunslingers in a shoot-out, compete to make the first moves of the next dance.

I plea to be allowed to stay near the speaker where there’s a bit of space to get a groove on, but I am forced right into the thick of it. I wince as my exposed arms start to collect 30 different types of boy-sweat.

But that’s as far as the touching goes - Asian no-contact rules apply. Everyone has to groove on a sixpence, The only contact I have with anyone is when somebody starts tugging at the cardigan round my waist - a girl i think but i couldn’t be sure. I double knot it.

Periodically I try to make the fun-eyes at Rachelle but she keeps hers behind her fringe looking at the floor. The only way to let rip here is to buy-in to the sign language, otherwise you have to keep your fun in private.

Most of the music is a atrocious - I hear Dr. Alban for the first time since my sailing summer camp in 1994. The other day somebody asked me which five albums I would take with me to my desert island. A more meaningful question might be, if you’re in a dreadful club being subjected to all the worst bits of the 1980s, which records is it reasonable to hope for? On this evidence True Faith, Funky Town, The Blue Monday/can’t get you out of my head bootleg, Leave a light on for me and Brimful of Asha are all there is to hope for. I look at the signers intently during Brimful of Asha - to my great disappointment they sidestep miming bosoms by delicately pressing their hands to their chest. Freshers week at the Southampton Institute this is not.

Back upstairs a DJ's playing house wallpaper to an empty room. I am coming to terms with the fact that I have belatedly realized that Rachelle is wearing the black oily spats from American Apparel. This is quite exciting. I start talking complete crap, she looks like she wants to go to sleep.

We go back to the dance-floor where my fantastic friend Kelquin is now 30 vodbulls to the good, smashing social mores with his pelvis. He gyrates with his sister, then with his friends and then with total strangers. Soon he is gyrating with me and then with Rachelle who seems almost complicit - maybe i was wrong about the touching.

WTF?

[ From www.vogue.co.uk ]

COMME DES GARCONS FOR H&M

H&M HAS announced its next designer collaborator: Comme des Garcons.

The famously avant-garde Japanese label, spearheaded by design powerhouse Rei Kawakubo, will provide a range of both men's and womenswear, as well as childrenswear, accessories and a new unisex fragrance for the retailer. In honour of its Japanese roots, the collaborative line will launch exclusively at H&M in Tokyo in November before being rolled out worldwide a few days later.

"I have always been interested in the balance between creation and business," says Kawakubo of the collaboration. "It is a dilemma, although for me creation has always been the first priority. It is a fascinating challenge to work with H&M since it is a chance to take the dilemma to its extreme, and try to solve it."

"Rei Kawakubo has been on the top of our wish list for a long time and we are thrilled that she has chosen to collaborate with us," adds H&M creative advisor Margareta van den Bosch. "We have tremendous respect for Kawakubo's fashion philosophy questioning fashion's ingrained patterns and we admire her artistic approach to design. We are particularly excited to launch the collection in Kawakubo’s native country at our launch in Japan."

H&M's designer collaborations are the stuff of modern legend - capsule collections for the brand by Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, Viktor & Rolf and, most recently, Roberto Cavalli have proved instant sell-out successes. (April 3 2008, AM)

Leisa Barnett

___

All I can say is wtf???????

OH MY GOSH

This postcard came late, and Yasuyoshi had to scan it for me just so I could read it (now that I'm back in Singapore). I am so embarassed by it. I mean I really enjoy receiving mail, especially from people that I love, but WHYYYYY! Why did Godma have to put my stupid -Japanese- name on the card? And that people in KUU can read japanese and are probably gonna think that I am such a freaking weirdo/psycho/alien.

My gosh. I really can no longer explain myself in any -ANY- way.

Me and my meaningless

Darryl sent me this link:

http://improveverywhere.com/

I don't know if he did that cos he knew it was related to what I was doing for my dissertation, or it was just for fun...Anyway, it made me think about:

How can I tell people that I want to do this shit for the rest of my life? How can I even explain that there is so much more to doing stupid things? and that stupid things are really not stupid at all? and that they're really much more profound than you give them credit for? How can I explain myself? How am I ever gonna make a living out of this sort of thinking? I really have no answers.

And yet, I cannot seem to convince myself to think otherwise.

It's like, I really wanna become this thing, but yet I can't put my finger on this bloody thing.

Does anyone understand what I'm sayin?

Angels

Dear Father in Heaven,

Oh, You are my treasure.

Father I just want to give thanks for giving me brand new eyes. Brand new life. I just want to give thanks for allowing me to see You in my everyday life, to see You in people that You put in my path, to see You in nature, to see You in everything. Father, I just want to give thanks that You care so abundantly for me, and that I am really not so special that You should choose to do this for me. Who am I Father? that You choose to give me more than I can ever imagine or ask for? Father the thought of this gives me goosebumps. You are so awesome.

Father, I could not see you before, but now I do, You are indeed everywhere! I just want to praise Your name forever and a day!

Father I want to thank you for Charlie. I think he is one of those angels that You put in my path all the time. Father, I want to thank you for allowing him to appear in my life. His presence is such an encouragement and it gives me so much hope. The mere existence of such a person, who lives at the other side of the world, is enough hope for me Father. I don't know what I can do with this new hope that You have given me, but I am sure that it will make sense according to Your time, not mine. Father You are so good to me, and even though my human mind cannot always understand the things that You do, I know that they are always for the good of Your people. I can so trust in You Father. You are really all that I ever need.

Thank you Father for allowing me to make sense of my living. Thank you Father for allowing me to understand why I am on Earth, in Singapore, studying architecture, living with my family, do the things I do, and like the things I like. Father, You make existing meaningful.

Father I am so thankful for every single thing in my life. These things, no matter how mundane, are all from You. And I just cannot stop thanking You for them, because I really don't deserve to have so much.

This I pray in Christ's most precious name, Amen.

Cool designers/ architects

Taken from Sub-Studio's design blog:

Tsai Design Studio created this interesting bunk bed as the winning entry to the 2006 36sqm Challenge, a design competition that asked for solutions for large families living in small spaces (36 sq. meters, to be exact). The Nested Bunk Beds were inspired by traditional Russian Matriochka dolls, with five nested beds that can be pulled out for sleeping. The design went from concept to reality after being installed at an AIDS orphanage in Wellington, South Africa.

If I do stay in architecture or become a designer after graduation, I wanna become like these good people from Tsai Design Studio. At least I can put my 5-6 years of design education to good use. These people are so terribly inspiring to me (after Bucky Fuller). Hey Charlie, if you are reading this, I hope it answers your question.

Real or ?

Really? I won't believe it until I see it for myself. I think this fella is just yakking rubbish. What the hell is zero waste fashion? He probably thought that it was a really neat way to sell his bloody clothes.

Chek Jawa with the Hubba Bubba Nightmare himself

This is my only picture of Charlie - with Marcus, our guide for the boardwalk tour. What most people don't know is that Charlie is named after his tote bag. He used the word 'wanker' on me. Hearing it for myself straight out of a brit's mouth is really a whole new experience. Charlie has very gentle movements, something quite unlike people his height. He says he is 28, but he feels kiddish (in a good way). I think he could be our age. Charlie's mom bans him from using the sewing machine because she thinks he is 'girlie enough'. This is so bloody familiar! AH!

Charlie doesn't feel English at all. Hanging out with him felt extremely 'singaporean'. I think that is because we are all fundamentally the same and that race is really just plain rubbish.

He is going back to London in 2 weeks' time, which means I have no one to do nerdy nature things with again. BOO :(

St Nicks Homecoming Funfair thing

I was -THIS- close to getting on it.

This was so fantastic. I cannot believe it was in st nicks.

This is pretty Cheryl. With a damn fabulous bag. 100% handmade, 100% love.

The spectators' stand. Shit loadsa funny memories! the major one involves hiding Monica Toh's remote control that nearly got me expelled.

Tiff and I wanted to set this place on fire when we were 16. It made so much sense at that time.

This kid gave me a fake tattoo.

And this other one wanted to sell me food. Damn cute!

Hockey pitch, where I hit my coach's balls too many times. on purpose.

Same entrance, different guard.

Why didn't I get this sort of funfair when I was still in school? But I probably wouldn't have gone anyway...

8 freaking bucks! No freaking way!

I wanted to get on this so badly.

DAMN YOU! Why was there no freaking arcade games during my time!