I have seen truly big cities

but the moonlight is not the same as what we have at home. Cliche? yes. Bored and nostalgic? yes.

I MISS EVERYONE. a bit.

Btw, Fann Wong sux, switch off her voice and listen to Mavis Hee's version in my imeem. but the setting is epic, huh? Sometimes, you have to imagine your best memories of Singapore.

mmm

i'm hungry. i think i will go downstairs for hokkie- SHIT! cannot.

i wanna be a street fighter

and kick architecture's ass!

sf3 third strike is the absolute best one in the series. conclu?!

Where time takes us in life

sigh. i'm in america studying architecture now, and i intend to return here or go to europe next year for my masters. i suppose this means that i will become an architect, which is not to say that i do not view this prospect favourably, or have any qualms about such a time consuming lifestyle.

i just went to new york, and the culture there is so strong and compelling it inspires me to be involved in a world of buildings. static yet experiential, arduously conceived, sustained in spite of its long drawn processes... reaching beyond time to craft spaces.

and yet i think i feel some regret that i shall not be applying to work for Stufish, learning to become art director with the team that did the beijing olympics, cirque du soleil, the superbowl, etc. it was like terminating that thread of exploration in the world of theatre. what would have been a natural progression, another simple yes, in that email felt like a kind of set up for disappointment, a trap i set 3 years ago.

sorry wendi, you've moved on in show business, i don't think i can come back until a long long time yet.

Brooklyn Bridge

New York appeared on the horizon like a midnight mirage. We arrived on the coast of Jersey after dark, and scenes from a million movies streamed into view: the skyline by night, the full moon cresting over clouds, the statue of liberty a ghostly glow, an impossible detail in the vision before me. The freeway was elevated over the urban grid, bringing elements of the city within swimmer's range. A refinery decked like a christmas tree floated past and we were suddenly submerged into the Holland Tunnel. We reemerged on Manhattan's edge drowned in the splendour of the moment.

i went to new york

and now i wonder if it was all a dream.


Annie in the front seat.


Roadtrip. Nico John Woobok and me.


Nico. On the Brooklyn Bridge, the most amazing urban gallery i've been to so far (HK doesn't come close you know).




Pier A. And that's Niko Triulzi. There are 3 Nicks in my studio.


Our design context.


John Hsu. Lifting up the model we saw at Battery Park City Authority.


My studio.


Someone realised his lifelong dream. and realised how exaggerated the scale of liberty statue had become in his imagination.


Natale Cozzolongo looks on and Andrew Werner hams it up with the divine Amanda Marge.


The Waterfalls!!!


In this picture: The Empire State, The Met Life, Niko; we are standing outside SANAA's New Museum of Contemporary Art, which was too nondescript to photograph.


Karaoke in K(orea) Town. There are parts of town where English and common sense disappear. Amanda, Andrew, David (Eskenazi) and Natale.


Random hugging, people!




Nick togs Louix Vuitton (courtesy of Na) against the Chrysler Building. Which got overexposed by the BLING!


THERE IT IS!


Wall Street, a day after the crash! no, no crying traders anywhere.


Our tutor Hal Hayes gives an exclusive opinion on the architecture of MoMA. I mean, how much more epic can it get?


Everybody wants to flip their bird in Times Square.


Woobok and John Hsu rock their ride!


On the roof with Woobok at Nico's house.

We have the solution to your troubles.

Actually wouldn't the problem just go away if Alaska was still Russian.




But its not! So America will get a Peter Griffin for president.

evening

the weather is getting cold but its still manageable in typical singapore wear. i still walk around in slippers. evenings in campus are visual treats, our studio opens onto the roofdeck of the theatre and concert hall, and we get a view of Hammerschlag and the Cathedral against sunset.

its really starting to feel like home.

New York City on wednesday. i'll see you when i get back.

its a wee wet this morning.

Sep 10


Sep 12


Sep 14

Its vaguely cool being able to can say the rain i got today was a cat 5 hurricane yesterday. but not like this was any fun for the people stuck down south. that's the third big hurricane america has gone through in the recent months. anyone still voting to drill in Alaska for more climate change in their own backyards?

in case you all get wrong idea

the food here is disgusting, i am losing weight. so come home dun expect fatness. phatness maybe (as always).

i eat subway 3 X a day. its better than eating in campus. today i bought a bowl of steamed brocolli and microwaved pasta in cheese sauce for... USD$7.95.

Gong xi fa cai! knnbccbwtfomg! you in my shoes you will also rather go hungry than buy nonsense for food. Why is the nearest decent chinese take out 20min away by foot?! why have i already eaten EVERYTHING in the chinese menu.

anyone on to less whiny things, i'm going to nyc next wed. keep ya'll posted (yea thats how we say long zong in american).

Amusing things

If Domokun were alive i'd be his best friend.

Let me tell you about baby parties

On Saturday we had a underground singapore student union party in an out-of-town rendezvous location called woodbridge. it was so out of town it was like going to jb, except the streets were not lit and its not so much a town as it is forest. there, we realised that we were strong in numbers and could probably take out the administrative structure of Pittsburgh if needed to and stake out until the SAF arrived and claimed West Pennsylvania for Singapore.

Anyway, there are so many singaporeans in cmu that viable offspring have been conceived. ok la, they're mostly kids who have studying parents. but i have never really touched babies until then, and i've decided that they're somewhat like hamsters. except they've been brainwashed by thomas the train and spake "sodor line cabooze" before learning "mum" and "dad".


this is my best friend joshua.


what did i tell you about hamsters?


joshua and ethan.


joshua knows how to climb up the stairs like sadako, ethan knows how to scream as he slides down the stairs convincingly enough to make you think he's actually hurt.


Mingwei


Cocoa, who was the first singaporean i met in pittsburgh!

Ya, as you can see there are many singaporeans here so don't worry about me getting lonely cos god knows i meet more of our kind here than back home on a daily basis.

sunday night = reminiscence night = why is it monday agaaainnn

aiya, dawn its your fault. what $1.20 ice kachang and cheap eats nasi lemak. i eat gross things here for like US$5 a slop (nothing else cheaper exists ok, and to think inflation hasn't really hit america yet). thinking of my downstairs wet market (that burned down and exploded in full view from my toilet in december) and its savoury offers makes me freaking sad.

2 weeks ago i was boating in lake erie.
3 weeks ago i was celebrating xuda's surprise bday at mt emily.
4 weeks ago i was cycling in bishan park.
5 weeks ago i was floating in the indian ocean with octopus and piperfish friends.
6 weeks ago i was corporate slave taking the commute to tanjong pagar at 9 in the morning.

aiya,
in 2 weeks i will be site surveying in new york city.
in 4 weeks i will be having exams.
in 8 weeks i will be having more exams.
in 12 weeks i will be having submissions.
in 16 weeks i will be in new york city.
in 18 weeks i will see you all again (and eat $2 ice kachangs and hokkien mee)

Dawn have you tried the famous hokkien mee in our market?! the side facing presby, the further one (i think use blue plastic bag). it is (as mollom will put it) mother-good.

i want to sit at home and eats my haagen daaz and watch my taiwan dvds. i miss my view of the reservoirs, pasir gudang port, lower seletar, yishun, castle green and sunset. i want to eat supper with the tertiary boys. i want to make fun of daniel. i want to complain to my mom. i want to go home.

Quotes about my new home!

“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.” Oscar Wilde

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.” Winston Churchill

“Americans have different ways of saying things. They say "elevator", we say "lift"... they say "President", we say "stupid psychopathic git.” Alexei Sayle

“Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages” Dave Barry

“America is a mistake, a giant mistake.” Sigmund Freud

“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.” Anon

de-zoi-ners...

wow, everything you see about america is true, they issue exercises like project runway challenges. this is the first concept - product design i've done in, like, 12 hours!


Inserting a tourism pathway into the world's biggest aluminium parts factory.






















Can't believe i learned photorealistic rendering in 3 hours. Pek dun compare this is my first time!

And i have inflicted Americans here with the Sketch up envy! Sketchuppers power!




I hate to say this, but i'm beginning to feel like this place is becoming more and more like singapore. we're everywhere! in fact, i'm meeting more singaporeans than i would back home on a daily basis. undergrad supper, cell group, sg union dinner, potluck, family excursions... more segments of society than i care about back home!